Northumbrian Folk Tales

The Witch of Seaton Delaval The Lambton Worm The Tide at Morpeth The Cauld Lad of Hylton

The Brawn of Brancepeth The Fish and the Ring The Ploughman

The Stanhope Faeries Flodden Field The Ji-jaller Bag

These stories come from North East England and although they have been passed from generation to generation in the oral tradition, I have written them down just in case they get lost and forgotten. I have to take a moment here to credit Freddie Grice for inspiring me; had it not been for his 'Folk Tales of the North Country' (Nelson & Son, 1944) which I read at school, lots of these tales might be lost. Although my renditions differ from Freddie's, I have retained most of his titles.


If you tell the bairns these tales, make sure you add a little intrigue and passion! This queer little fella is the Cauld Lad of Hylton: "Wae's me, wae's me! The acorn's not yet fallen from the tree that's to grow the wood thats to make the cradle that's to rock the bairn that's to grow a man that's to lay me!" Click on his story and see what he's been up to ...


There are some 50-odd stories in the collection ... plus Songs & Poems and some traditional Sayings and Rhymes