The Three Ravens Podcast

On this week's very special Local Legends episode, Martin gathers round the Three Ravens campfire with England's first-ever Storytelling Laureate, the folklorist and author Taffy Thomas.In his younger years Taffy was a drama teacher and entertainer, founding the highly influential theatre company Magic Lantern. Then a debilitating stroke at the age of 36 changed Taffy’s life, and he turned to storytelling as self-imposed speech therapy. In the years that followed he became England's leading proponent in the art of traditional storytelling, collecting tales from oral sources and folklore, writing books, touring nationally and internationally, and earning the MBE in 2001. He was appointed England’s first Storytelling Laureate in 2009, then in 2010 received The English Folk Dance and Song Society Gold Badge Award and in 2013 won a British Award for Storytelling Excellence. Now 75, with over a dozen books and storytelling albums to his name, he is the patron of the Society for Storytelling and artistic director of Tales in Trust, the Northern Centre for Storytelling in Grasmere, where he is regularly to be found spinning yarns. In this chat, Taffy discusses his long career, including learning his craft from iconic Somerset storyteller Ruth Tongue, how his path crossed over with the likes of Paul Simon and Bob Dylan, and his life of performance, story collecting, love and laughter. Along the way, he tells stories, of course, and discusses the character of Westmoreland and Cumbria through tales both tall and not so tall - including the story of how he acquired his iconic storytelling hat...You can learn more about Taffy's work on his website at http://www.taffythomas.co.uk/ and be sure to listen to the end of the episode to hear Taffy's telling of The Tale of Aira Force from his album Legends of the North.Otherwise, we'll be back on Monday with the first episode in our month-long miniseries of ghost stories and spooky content for October - our second annual Haunting Season! The Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays (Magic and Medicines about folk remedies and arcane spells, Three Ravens Bestiary about cryptids and mythical creatures, Dying Arts about endangered heritage crafts, and Something Wicked about folkloric true crime from across history) plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast

On this week's bonus episode, Martin takes us back to colonial South America for a tale of mass murder, witchcraft, sex, torture, and Jesus's ghost peering disappointedly down upon the sinful...Part of the "Something Wicked" series, we start by chatting through the ancient history of the western coast of South America, from the Nazca, Inca and Mapuche through to the arrival of Spanish conquistadors and their subjugation of indigenous populations.Out of this heady patch of history, we then explore the salacious legends of Chilean aristocrat Catalina de los Ríos y Lísperguer, better known to the world as La Quintrala – a flame-haired beauty with a reputation as a witch, seductress, and mass murderer who, to this day, is seen as a scion of familial evil.With her story encompassing several different flavours of murder, the torture and killing of hundreds of enslaved people, government corruption, bewitchment, earthquakes, private militias and more, it's a legend that beggars belief. And for good reason, as, despite what you might read about La Quintrala on the internet, there's a massive gap between what the historical record tells us she did and the narratives we know today, all of which paint her as a sex-crazed monster, sadist, and Devilish bogeyman feared in Chile and Peru alike.The Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays (Magic and Medicines about folk remedies and arcane spells, Three Ravens Bestiary about cryptids and mythical creatures, Dying Arts about endangered heritage crafts, and Something Wicked about folkloric true crime from across history) plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast

Because this is our last "County Episode" for a while, what with next Monday seeing the start of our month-long Haunting Season of spooky content, for this week's episode we've pulled out all the stops, going a bit bonkers for the half-forgotten history and folklore of Westmoreland!We start off chatting about various Harvest Fair traditions, including beliefs about Michaelmas, "Lawless Hours" and the delightfully anarchic Kidderminster Fray - after which we wend our way to Westmoreland.Aside from chatting about some of the county's history, including its flooded Corpse Road, the Romantic 'Lake Poets' who called it home, and sites like Kendal, Grasmere, Appleby and Lake Windermere, Martin throws the sweet and savoury together for this week's County Dish, with delights including Westmoreland Sweet Lamb Pie and the county's traditional Pepper Cake!When it comes to folklore, interspersed with some excerpts from next Saturday's Local Legends interview with the one and only TAFFY THOMAS!!!! (yes, you read that correctly) England's first-ever Storytelling Laureate who shares two tales in just this episode, we talk about Westmoreland's murderous giant Girt Will, Mary Baines the Witch of Tebay, the Curse of Levens Hall, and much more besides.Then it's on to the main event: Martin's take on "The Somnambulist" which draws together William Wordsworth, the legend of Aira Force, elves, dragons, questing knights, and a healthy dose of the supernatural...We really hope you enjoy the episode, and we'll be back on Thursday with a new Something Wicked bonus episode about the glamorous 17th century mass murderess La Quintrala ahead of Saturday's full Local Legends chat with Taffy, and the launch of Haunting Season 2024 next Monday!The Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays (Magic and Medicines about folk remedies and arcane spells, Three Ravens Bestiary about cryptids and mythical creatures, Dying Arts about endangered heritage crafts, and Something Wicked about folkloric true crime from across history) plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast

This week's Local Legends episode sees Martin gather round the Three Ravens campfire with the rather extraordinary Dr Kevan Manwaring, a multi-talented son of Northamptonshire who is also a true champion of the underdog.Kevan has written in the region of 30 books, including his collections of Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire Folk Tales, and his tremendous collection Ballad Tales - and that's not to mention his academic writing on the Bardic tradition, or his poetry and novels!These days he is the course leader for the MA in Creative Writing at Arts University Bournemouth, with his current academic focus being around ecofiction – a subject we’ll explore in some depth during our conversation. For many people though, he will be more familiar as a storyteller and performance poet, in which guise Kevan has performed all over the place, including live on BBC One, at Glastonbury Festival, and at innumerable bookshops, museums, heritage sites, and in schools. Touring both solo and in group shows, he has performed internationally in Germany, Italy, Greece, and North America, and has written so much, across so many forms, it’s frankly a bit ridiculous.Elsewhere, he has contributed articles to journals including English Review, was an academic consultant for BBC 4’s The Secret Life of Books, and is a panellist on BBC Radio 3’s Free Thinking.In our chat we cover a dizzying array of topics, from Dungeons & Dragons to Kevan's friendships with the likes of Alan Moore and Ronald Hutton, the life and legacy of the poet John Clare, Northampton's role in the birth of the Goth movement, ghosts, animism, the Bardic tradition, and much more besides.You can learn more about his work on his website at https://thebardicacademic.wordpress.com/, though before you do, have a listen to him in conversation, as he’s outstanding company!Otherwise, we'll be back on Monday with a bumper-length county episode (bumper-length as it's our last for a little while) all about the history and folklore of Westmoreland, all before we begin our month-long miniseries of ghost stories and spooky content for October - our second annual Haunting Season! The Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays (Magic and Medicines about folk remedies and arcane spells, Three Ravens Bestiary about cryptids and mythical creatures, Dying Arts about endangered heritage crafts, and Something Wicked about folkloric true crime from across history) plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast

For this week's bonus episode, Eleanor trims her baleen into lengths, finds our natural waists, and loosens the laces of underwear history to explain the rich heritage of Corsetry and Stay Making!Part of the "Dying Arts" series, we start by discussing the basics of what corsets and stays even are before we whisk back to Ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt to explore how ladies' underwear used to work, and how it has then changed and developed across the centuries.From the Middle Ages into the Renaissance, the Romantic and Victorian eras through to the modern day, it's a story as much about how expectations around the female body and shifts in fashion changed underwear across time, including through some surprising feats of engineering, the use of materials ranging from whale keratin to steel, linen to silk, and the rather late development of the waist-constricting fashions so commonly associated with corsets today.Encompassing some wild ideas, including the 'Pigeon Bras' worn by soldiers in World War 2 to the historic undergarments worn by ancient royal effigies, myths about measurements, examples of Victorian image manipulation and misleading portraiture designed to portray 'perfect' bodies, it's an episode filled with surprises, and one that explores how marriages of form and function have worked brilliantly for centuries - while certain innovations have prompted wide-scale protests, 'bra burnings', and a modern tendency to sideline clothing items deemed essential by generations of women from the dawn of recorded history...The Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays (Magic and Medicines about folk remedies and arcane spells, Three Ravens Bestiary about cryptids and mythical creatures, Dying Arts about endangered heritage crafts, and Something Wicked about folkloric true crime from across history) plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast

On this week's episode we've traveled to the heart of England to rifle through the rich history and folklore of Northamptonshire!We start off trying to revive interest in St Tecla's Day, including Tecla's penchant for getting into trouble with naughty old St Paul, her ability to avoid electrocution, and her lucky escape from killer seals - after which we navigate to "The Rose of the Shires!"After chatting about some of the county's history, including its legacy in shoemaking, Great Fire, bizarre slang, and sites including the Rushton Triangular Lodge, Eleanor sets about trying to give us all diabetes with this week's County Dish: a 17th century recipe for 'A Curious Fresh Cheese' which is sculpted into the shape of a hedgehog before serving...When it comes to folklore, interspersed with some excerpts from next Saturday's Local Legends interview with the wonderful Dr Kevan Manwaring, author of Northamptonshire Folk Tales and many other great books besides, we talk about the ghosts of Northampton, the tale of another fiddler sent into a dangerous underground tunnel, the Grey Lady of Delapré Abbey, and more!Then it's on to the main event: Eleanor's story for this week - her take on "Dionysia, The Female Knight," in which it is proven, without question, that boys aren't the only ones who can waggle their lances about...We hope you enjoy the episode, and we'll be back on Thursday with a new Dying Arts bonus episode about Corsetry and Stay Making and, if you're a Patreon Supporter, this month's episode of the Three Ravens Film Club about 1984's The Children of the Corn - all ahead of next week's county episode, when Martin will be whisking us back up north to Westmoreland!The Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays (Magic and Medicines about folk remedies and arcane spells, Three Ravens Bestiary about cryptids and mythical creatures, Dying Arts about endangered heritage crafts, and Something Wicked about folkloric true crime from across history) plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast

This week's Local Legends episode is a very special conversation in which Martin gathers round the Three Ravens campfire with Tim Laycock, an inspirational, multi-talented person and a true champion for the county of Dorset.Author of books including Dorset Folk Tales, writing is just the tip of the iceberg with Tim, who came to the attentions of many in the British folk community through his work as part of Magic Lantern with the one and only Taffy Thomas. Music is absolutely key to Tim’s life. He is a tremendous singer and multi-instrumentalist, and, like a crafty folk song magpie, he has been finding stories and songs, and story-songs, and bringing them out and into the light across his many years of performance. With a rich catalogue of wonderful recordings available as CDs and through streaming services, his talents stretch yet further, including into theatre, where he has worked with the likes of the National Theatre, Shakespeare’s Globe, Festival Theatre Chichester, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, and many others.He has written ten plays, too, some award-winning, and has had a long and successful career as a performer and director. Being a Dorset man, it’s perhaps necessary that Thomas Hardy would feature in that mix, and Tim is also the Artistic Director of the New Thomas Hardy Players, while also performing Hardy’s poetry and works as part of his work as a storyteller and entertainer.On top of which, he is an extremely friendly and knowledgeable chap, so, please settle in and get comfortable for one of the richest, most interesting conversations we've had for Local Legends so far. One that folds in everything from nativity plays with John Eliot Gardiner to the Dorset Oozer, the poetry of William Barnes to false teeth being lost off fishing boats.It's a great one, as is Tim himself. And to learn more about Tim and his work, do visit his website at https://timlaycock.co.uk/ Otherwise, we'll be back on Monday with our brand new episode all about the history and folklore of Northamptonshire! The Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays (Magic and Medicines about folk remedies and arcane spells, Three Ravens Bestiary about cryptids and mythical creatures, Dying Arts about endangered heritage crafts, and Something Wicked about folkloric true crime from across history) plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast

Dust off your halo and flap your wings, dearest ravens, as today we're rejoicing in the absolutely bonkers history of Angels, following up on last year's "Haunting Season" episode about Demons.Part of the "Three Ravens Bestiary" series, we start by discussing how words for things like "angels" and "God" in ancient texts have created a mess of confusions across the ages. Then we leap straight down from heaven (or out of a hidden dimension, at the very least) to discuss how ancient ideas like Animism and Polytheism laid the foundations that enabled the introduction of Angels into early Abrahamic religious texts.Through discussions of Zoroastrianism, Yahwism, and ancient apocryphal mystic writings, we dig into some fascinating stuff, including 'Guardian Angels' in general, specific Angels, like Michael, Gabriel, Samael, and Metatron, and chat about how a proliferation of esoteric writings throughout the Dark Ages and Medieval Era spun 'Angelologies' out in some pretty weird directions.From the mysteries of Gnosticism and the Kabbalah to descriptions of what Cherubum, Seraphim and Elohim actually look like (which is not as you might expect) it's an episode of big ideas and bizarre truths that might just change how you think about Angels. And likely modify how you describe your loved ones. Because if your children or significant other really are "angels" then, frankly, you should be cowering in terror!The Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays (Magic and Medicines about folk remedies and arcane spells, Three Ravens Bestiary about cryptids and mythical creatures, Dying Arts about endangered heritage crafts, and Something Wicked about folkloric true crime from across history) plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast