Tales of Britain and Ireland
Episodes
58: Guy of Warw1ck - Part 1
29 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
This first episode in the beginning (the beguyinning?) of my telling of one of England's formerly most popular legends. This episode features young lu...
57: The Ghosts of Donaldgowerie House
01 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A Ghost Story episode for Christmas from the pen of.... well not the master teller of ghost stories. In 1911 Elliot O'Donnell released Scottish Gho...
56: Peak Mermaid
09 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tales of Mermaids far from the sea, also featuring Sailors, Witches and Watches, discussions of mermaid biology and by far my longest discussion secti...
55: Gold-tree and Silver-tree
14 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A bloody Scottish tale featuring a locked room mystery, something fishy, unusual naming conventions (women only), and a little ENM to top it off. M...
54: The Knife against the Wave
07 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
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 are rollin...
53: More like Croglin Strange, am I right?!
28 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A bonus Halloween episode featuring a very well known terrifying tale of a supernatural encounter in Cumbria. Featuring: Victorians! A perfectly nam...
52: Giants
09 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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
02 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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
07 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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. Bogga...
49: Childe Rowland
29 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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
10 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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
29 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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
20 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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, an old...
45: Third Branch of the Mabinogi(on) - Manawydan
21 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Branch Three of the Mabinogi(on) featuring marrying mothers, misty magic, market disruption, mice, milquetoast Manawydan and much much more! For mus...
44: Petticoat Loose
08 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
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.)
20 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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
02 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Storms, shipwrecks, salvaging, surprising donkeys and satanic forces all feature in two tales of wrecking on the Cornish Coast. For musical credits,...
41: Irish Fairylore 2 - Fairymore?
27 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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), absolutel...
40: Irish Fairylore 1 - Aos Sí what you did there
24 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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. Discover the ...
39: Kelpies and the each-uisge
04 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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
07 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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
16 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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
09 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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
20 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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
23 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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
27 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 episo...
32: The Shoemaker of Constantinople
05 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 unlik...
31: The Seeker Knight
27 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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)
24 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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
31 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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 bitte...
28: Mabinogion Branch 2, Part 1: Branwen
22 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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
27 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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)
17 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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
05 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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
11 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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
06 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
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)
21 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
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
27 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
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
22 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
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 s...
19: London Legends Part 2: Residents
26 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
18: London Legends Part 1: Visitors
01 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
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)
19 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
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
29 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
15: Christmas Ghosts part 2: The Shadow
07 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The second part in our look at Festive Ghost stories this episode is an unusual one for this podcast, featuring a straight reading of E. Nesbit’s wo...
14: Christmas Ghosts part 1
07 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In this slightly delayed festive (read: spooky) episode we’ve got a number of ghost stories from the British Isles, featuring peculiar Medieval spoo...
13: The Black Bull of Norroway
17 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
A Scottish fairy tale, name checked by none other than J.R.R. Tolkien features a whole lot of threes, an Epic Battle (off camera), a very valuable app...
12: Mabinogion Branch 1, Part 2: Rhiannon
27 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Concluding the first Branch of the Mabinogion we pick up again with Pwyll and Rhiannon. This time they'll be contending with legal technicalities, mur...
11: Mabinogion, First Branch, Part 1: Pwyll
06 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This episode we begin our look at the renowned collection of medieval Welsh tales, the Mabinogion. Join Pwyll prince of Dyfed on an unusual job swap, ...
10: The Hand of Glory (Bonus Halloween episode)
29 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
With Halloween right around the corner we have a short bonus episode looking at another spooky tale. This story from Kent is not strictly about Hallow...
9: The Buried Moon
17 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
A creepy Lincolnshire legend features a collection of evil creatures that haunt the darkness, spells to keep them away and a possible moral about know...
8: Origins of Britain Part 2: Brutus
23 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Concluding our look at the mythic origins of Britain we learn about the link between Troy and the founding of London by way of a murder packed cruise ...
7: Origins of Britain 1: Albina
02 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This episode we take a look at the surprising mythical origins of Britain. Without giving too much away this turns out to feature Syria, giants, a hos...
6: A curious collection of churches
15 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Three (well sort of four) stories vaguely linked by the theme of Churches: featuring Devilish plots both thwarted and not, great marketing and a young...
5: The Dragon of Wantley
23 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This episode we've a lighter tale in the form of The Dragon of Wantley. There is everything you'd expect from a good dragon slaying story: a Knight, a...
4: The Boyhood of Fionn Part 2
03 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
We continue our look into the beginnings of the Fenian cycle with a grisly plot item, a definitive answer to the question of whether fish-oils are goo...
3: The Boyhood of Fionn Part 1
09 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
We dip a tiny toe into the vast lake of Irish Mythology with the beginnings of the Fenian cycle, a King called Conn, a warrior called Cumhaill and a b...
2: Tamlin
09 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
A second Scottish border ballad, this time with the wrong character named in the title and featuring our old friends the Fair Folk. Musical credits, s...
1: Thomas the Rhymer
09 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
A retelling of this ballad from the Scottish borders featuring all your favourite Elves and Bards. Musical credits, sources and more at https://taleso...