The Beast of Bodmin Moor likes sausages

This new Walls Sausages advert shows an active interest in the Beast of Bodmin Moor. Personally I always thought it would prefer a bit of bacon.

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Spring-Heeled Jack

Spring-Heeled Jack appeared in various parts of England, in fact there was an epidemic of Spring-Heeled Jacks during the 19th century. He seems to have been less active in modern times but still appears from time to time to frighten unwary walkers in the night.

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The Beast of Bodmin Moor

Bodmin Moor is a lonely place in Cornwall, down in the south-west corner of England. The people there are of Celtic, not Anglo-Saxon, descent and they have their own language, Cornish, although English is now universally spoken.

Tales of dark and dangerous animals on Bodmin Moor have existed for centuries but now the stories are beginning to be backed up with evidence. The Beast of Bodmin is usually described as a huge black creature, probably of the cat family, and having the usual refinements of burning eyes and fiery breath. Since about 1980, the stories of encounters have concentrated less on the supernatural aspects of the Beast and more on its resemblance to a leopard or puma.

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The Brahan Seer

If any people have the Second Sight then it’s the Scots. The Second Sight, more correctly called the Two Sights, is the ability to see both this world and another world at the same time. The Second Sight has never been regarded as witchcraft in Scotland, it’s seen more as a curse. “Ah, take patience with the lad for he has the Sight and it is a terrible affliction.”

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Crop Circles in England

Many people believe that crop circles are a new phenomenon, a product of the 20th century. This is a mistake, crop circles and other patterns go back, at least, to the 16th century when one was reported in Assen, Holland, in 1590.

Robert Plot, an English scientist writing in the 17th century, put forward a theory that they might be caused by rapidly descending blasts of air. His theory was resurrected in the late 20th century but the cause of these descending blasts of air has never been satisfactorily explained.

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Maggie Ramsay, The Witch O’ The Auld North Burn

Maggie Ramsay

In 18th century Scotland, in the town of Airdrie, lived a woman called Maggie Ramsay. Maggie was believed to be a witch, even to be in league with the devil, for she spent much of her time walking by the Auld North Burn (Old North Stream). Here was where she gathered the herbs and flowers for use in her potions. She spoke as she walked, some said to herself, others said to demons.

The banks of the burn were gloomy at the best of times and, when Maggie perambulated there, most folk left her to herself. She was known to walk the place at night but nobody was brave enough to follow her to see what she did. In fact, nobody cared to enquire too closely into Maggie’s comings and goings.

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