The Lore of the Land: A Guide to England's Legends, from Spring-heeled Jack to the Witches of Warboys

by Jacqueline Simpson (Author), Jennifer Westwood (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2005

  $36.64

  Stop off at any English village or town or wander through the countryside and you will almost certainly brush up against some deep-rooted local legend - whether it's the pub that claims to have given lodgings to Dick Turpin, or the haunted stately home, or the hill that is supposed to contain buried treasure, or the grave that is said to mark the last resting place of Robin Hood. This magnificent new and lavishly illustrated survey looks at all these stories, county by county, explaining when they date from, how they arose and what basis - if any - they have in fact. If you want to know how Devil's Dyke in Sussex got its name, or why medieval stories link King Arthur with Lanercost Priory in Cumberland, or where Cornish legends about the evil Jan Tregeagle come from, then The Lore of the Land will provide the answers and show you at the same time just how deeply embedded in our culture these legends have become.

• Used

  Paperback
  2006

  $37.15

  Where can you find the 'Devil's footprints'? What happened at the 'hangman's stone'? Did Sweeney Todd, the demon barber of Fleet Street, ever really exist? Where was King Arthur laid to rest? Bringing together tales of hauntings, highwaymen, family curses and lovers' leaps, this magnificent guide will take you on a magical journey through England's legendary past. 'A fascinating county-by county guidebook to the headless horsemen, bottomless pools, immured adulteresses and talking animals that make up the hidden landscape of the country.' - London Review of Books . 'Evokes an England terrified by screaming skulls, tantalized by hidden treasure, spooked by the unearthly clanging of bells, bewitched by fairies and hobgoblins' - Country Life . 'Wonderful...Contains almost every myth, legend and ghost story ever told in England' - Simon Hoggart, Guardian .