If he was, I'd like to think it was penance for dragon bothering 🐉

Source: FW Bennett, Tiddyoody Pie (1930)
📷 by me

Cross made from blackthorn spikes with "blood" splattered over the centre.

An elm tree on the roadside between Bidford-on-Avon and Wixford was known as the St George’s Elm as he was believed to be buried under it. The elm had grown from a stake driven through the saint’s body. If the bark was cut, his blood would seep from the fissure.
#FolkloreSunday

The Hall is now Ettington Park Hotel

📷 by Richard Croft via Wikimedia Commons

Photo of Ettington Park Hotel as the Hall now is. Gothic to the extreme.

Ettington Park, where part of The Haunting (1963) was filmed, is reputed to be haunted by a woman in a long white dress. A spectral child in medieval clothing has also been seen running down the main staircase.
#PhantomsFriday

I'm corporeal again after BlueSky's server being offline all day, so here's Hamlet's Father's Ghost (again) to encourage another brilliant day of #ghost-related posts tomorrow: #folklore, literature, poetry, art, history, haunted sites, popular culture etc etc.
#PhantomsFriday #ghosts #hauntings

close up of carved green man face on tree trunk chair

Green Man chair in Ryton Woods

Green Man chair at Ryton Woods SSSI

Hullet is owl in Cumbrian dialects Owl is one of the Three Elders of the World, the others are Eagle, and Blackbird. An owl appearing in your dreams represents transformation and hidden wisdom #mythologymonday #owlishmonday 📷 Roy Rimmer

Hullet is owl in Cumbrian dialects

Owl is one of the Three Elders of the World, the others are Eagle, and Blackbird. An owl appearing in your dreams represents transformation and hidden wisdom

#mythologymonday #owlishmonday
📷 Roy Rimmer

A “Devil's purse" or Mermaid's purse, these washed-up egg cases were believed in Cornish folklore to protect against misfortune.They represent fertility, rebirth, and mysteries of the sea.They are sometimes used to seal in spells for prosperity #Folklore #FolkloreSunday

The Haunting (1963) always unnerves me. The banging on the walls especially and the viewer being drawn to the inevitability of Eleanor's death at the end.

📷 by Francis C. Franklin via Wikimedia Commons

Goldfinch sitting on a branch

A local name for the goldfinch is “the proud tailor” because of its colourful plumage.

In 1895 Leamington resident George Morley noted that despite the Wild Birds Protection Act, the Birmingham bird catcher would regularly visit the town to catch goldfinches for their feathers.

Millie, a tabby cat, looking thoughtful

Millie, the Folklore of Warwickshire cat, pondering why there's no feline equivalent of Black Shuck or Padfoot.
#NationalPetDay

It's on my "to visit" list 🙂

Art by Francis Mosley to accompany a tale by M. R. James. Two figures watch a carriage ride by. Leafless trees, dark, and full moon.

The bloedkoets (blood carriage) was said to be a ghostly carriage from Flemish folklore that was often seen in the streets of Aalst. According to the tales, masked men walked beside it and abducted children. The blood that the carriage collected was sent to Paris.

#PhantomsFriday

The Maxstoke monks had a reputation for being pretty debauched in life. Just as some spirits carry grudges they had in life with them, it looks like debauchery carries on beyond the grave too !🫨

Absolutely 🙂

📷 by Malcolm Neal via Wikimedia Commons

The unseen hands may possibly belong to spectral monks. The church has a reputation for being haunted by the former monks of Maxstoke Priory who in life had a reputation for being boisterous party animals.

path leading to the church of St Mary and All Saints

People walking on a path leading to the church door of St Mary & All Saints, Fillongley, have reported a feeling of being obstructed by something unseen. Those who try to continue on their way experience a sensation of being forced back by unseen hands.🧵
#PhantomsFriday

#PhantomsFriday tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to seeing (and learning) more about the #folklore, art, literature, popular culture and places associated with #ghosts. Feel free to use the hashtag to join in the feed.
#artsky #BookChatWeekly

Source: J. Harvey Bloom, Folk Lore, Old Customs and Superstitions in Shakespeare’s Land (1929).

Old rhyme reflecting the county’s village rivalry:

🦵🦵The Armscot boys are very good boys,
The Newbold boys are better,
The Halford boys can stand on one leg,
And kick them all into the gutter.🦵🦵

I'm in the midlands and have been able to keep mine outside all year round but right up by the house wall and in a sunny spot. I brought the aeonium inside in previous years as I don't have a greenhouse, but they've never been happy (leaf loss, death, etc).

Toy bear wearing spectacles with bunny ears attached and a headband with bunny ears and carrot attached

Chambearlin, the Warwickshire County Record Office mascot in full Easter regalia.

I like that convention 🙂

📷 by me

Sparkly running hare brooch

On Easter Day, the young men of Coleshill would catch a hare and present it at the rectory. In return the rector would provide them with a breakfast of calf’s head and 100 eggs.

Unfortunately not able to get to Whitby for May but this looks so cool 👇

Hen, chicks and bunny post-box topper in Warwick

Hen, chicks and hoopoe post box topper in Tredington

Easter post box toppers at Warwick (L) and Tredington (R).
#FolkloreSunday

(📷 by me. NB the Tredington pic was taken during yesterday's high winds)