Tales of Britain and Ireland
Channel Details
Tales of Britain and Ireland
A storytelling and folklore podcast. Telling some of the famous and not so famous British and Irish myths, legends and folktales, in no particular order. Coming direct from South Yorkshire it is currently regularish, and will feature all of the above and whatever other miscellaneous snippets ta...
Recent Episodes
55 episodes55: Gold-tree and Silver-tree
A bloody Scottish tale featuring a locked room mystery, something fishy, unusual naming conventions (women only), and a little ENM to top it off.
54: The Knife against the Wave
Returning with a splash, this episode I'm telling one of my favourite Irish tales.
We're on the west coast and knives are out, the waves...
53: More like Croglin Strange, am I right?!
A bonus Halloween episode featuring a very well known terrifying tale of a supernatural encounter in Cumbria.
Featuring: Victorians! A perfectl...
52: Giants
This time we've an appropriately huge episode of tales about British Giants - all stuck together with a vague framing narrative involving the surprisi...
51: Boggart discussion with Dr. Simon Young
A very special episode - the podcast's first ever expert discussion section! An interview with the world's leading boggart expert Dr Simon Young answe...
50: Boggarts
The 50th episode! A huge milestone for me and I'm using it to concentrate on one of my favourite topics I've only touched on so far: Boggarts.
...
49: Childe Rowland
This episode we've a nice normal fairy story about Elves, and one boy's bloody Tarantino-esque quest to get his ball back (and maybe something else as...
48: Glasgow - Gold, Green and Iron
This episode we're off to Glasgow - the largest city in Scotland, for stories about Saints and Monsters set along the river, by turns in a Dear Green...
47: The Witch of Eagle’s Crag
This episode we have a tale featuring Lancashire Witches, phenomenal cosmic power, a sort of gap year/nature documentary, an unexpected promotion and...
46: The Hobyahs
A fairy tale like story that's meant for children... and may be the most traumatic and violent I've covered yet.
Meet the family: an old woman,...
45: Third Branch of the Mabinogi(on) - Manawydan
Branch Three of the Mabinogi(on) featuring marrying mothers, misty magic, market disruption, mice, milquetoast Manawydan and much much more!
44: Petticoat Loose
A collection of stories telling the life and active afterlife of one of Ireland's most notorious and corporeal ghosts, with a rather unusual nickname....
43: The Lad of the Skins (Fenian Cycle Pt 5.)
A tale of Fionn and the Fianna featuring heroism (maybe), murder (definitely), theft, even more animal transformations and other laddish pursuits. Sti...
42: Cornish Wrecking
Storms, shipwrecks, salvaging, surprising donkeys and satanic forces all feature in two tales of wrecking on the Cornish Coast.
For musi...
41: Irish Fairylore 2 - Fairymore?
The second of two episodes on Irish fairy lore with three more tales of the Aos Sí. Featuring a new trendy get rich quick scheme (robbery), absolutely...
40: Irish Fairylore 1 - Aos Sí what you did there
The first of two episodes on Irish fairy lore - featuring three tales of the Aos Sí and there's not a pair of gossamer wings in sight.
Di...
39: Kelpies and the each-uisge
This episode features a number of accounts of encounters with the fearsome Scottish water-horse known alternately as the Each-Uisge and the Kelpie. Th...
38: King Herla & the Wild Hunt
This episode is the second from the collection of Medieval chronicler of oddities, miscellanea, and forteana - Walter Map. Featuring two weddings, a s...
37: The Buggane of St. Trinian’s
This episode we've a tale from the Isle of Man featuring a folkloric Kaiju, a super-powered Saint, unusual ordinance, a brave little tailor(but not th...
36: The Dead Hand
This episode we've got a tale that draws strongly from Folk-horror, the strange world of the Lincolnshire Carrs (marshlands), a fairly unnecessary sec...
35: Kate Crackernuts
This episode we have a delightful Fairy Tale. With fairies, castles, witches, princesses and princes, step mothers and ugly step sisters (alignments t...
34: Manchester 2, Manchester Unite-Dead
More tales from Manchester. Three stories with an emphasis on the post-mortem, with a light dusting of Boggarts and faeries to keep things interesting...
33: Manchester 1, Bizarre Botany and Curious Collections
Come with me to Cottonopolis where we’ve got two stories and an introduction. There’ll be more ill-advised ways to win a woman (see the last episode),...
32: The Shoemaker of Constantinople
Walter Map’s charming little tale of a Princess, ambition, obsession, one of the most taboo acts known to humanity, an unlikely weapon from an unlikel...
31: The Seeker Knight
A Knight! A Dark and Stormy night! A Castle! A quest! A hot headed wizard! A damsel! Northumberland! What more could you possible want? Musical credit...
30: The Trows’ Christmas (Christmas bonus)
A short bonus episode about the lovable little Trows and their delightfully happy Christmas adventures! Proceed with caution. Musical credits, sources...
29: Mabinogion Branch 2, Part 2: War and Peace and Feasts
This time we’ve got the conclusion to the Second Branch of the Mabinogion. There’s talking heads, the non-talking dead, talking birds, and I bitterly...
28: Mabinogion Branch 2, Part 1: Branwen
A tale taken from the premier text of Welsh mythology, with part one of a story of London, giants, magic, marriage, international diplomacy and the ag...
27: Brother Jucundus
This episode join us in York, for the story of Brother Jucundus... a liminal tale of monks, wild partying and coincidences. Musical credits, sources a...
26: Stone circles (I was petrified)
This episode we've got three short stories of Stone circles. There's poor wedding planning, there's a beautiful view ruined, and there's a remote isla...
25: Robin Goodfellow: His Mad Pranks and Merry Jests
Do you like prank(e)s? Do you like jests? Do you like them mad and merry? Do you like characters who are cruel, capricious and also have super powers?...
24: The Enchanter of Pengersick Part 3, feat: an Enchanter
The final part of the tale of the Enchanter of Pengersick, features destinies fulfilled, wizard school, magical battles, renovations and, just in the...
23. The Enchanter of Pengersick, Part 2, Plots and Schemes
The second part of the Cornish tale of the Enchanter of Pengersick! There are plots, there's poison, there's ghosts, there's pirates! An Enchanter you...
22: The Mistletoe Bride (Christmas bonus)
This time we have a short Christmas bonus episode for you, because it's the season for it. And because the episode we're meant to have isn't done yet....
21: The Enchanter of Pengersick Part 1, Dastardly Deeds
In this episode we start a three part Cornish legend where Magic, marriage, murder and mayhem abound, in a story packed with more folkloric elements t...
20: The Spectre Horseman
And we’re finally back! This time with a spooky story from Lancashire featuring, amongst other things, class politics, horses, a kiss and a lot of sto...
19: London Legends Part 2: Residents
This time we’ve got the second in a two parter telling tales from the biggest smoke: London town. This time there are three stories of residents of th...
18: London Legends Part 1: Visitors
This delayed Tales of Britain and Ireland is the first of two episodes looking at some legends from that Heart of Darkness itself: London town. This t...
17: Fionn MacCumhaill Part 4: Oh deer (Oisín)
This episode we continue working our way through the origin phase of the Fenian cycle featuring everything you’ve grown to expect from a Fionn story:...
16. Fionn MacCumhaill Part 3: Bran
Today we're back in the world of mythological Ireland, as we return to the tales of Fionn MacCumhaill. It's backstory time and changes are afoot, not...