Cornwall's Cats

Cornwall, England has been a hotspot for sightings of so-called "Alien Big Cats" (or ABCs, as they are known), as this local media story demonstrates. And it's not only big cats that people are seeing: there's also a report of a wolverine roaming around the land!

Beware of Psychic Backlash

My latest Mysterious Universe article deals with a subject that - as I know, personally - more than a few people in the Fortean world have experienced: psychic backlash. It starts like this...

"While it is certainly true that undertaking research into the collective world of the unknown can be illuminating, stimulating and exciting, it can also be downright hazardous. Sometimes, when a person becomes immersed in an investigation to a very deep and significant degree, the phenomenon under the microscope appears to realize that it is being watched and responds in violent, and sometimes even deadly, fashion. Welcome (if that’s the right word to use) to the world of what is known as psychic backlash.

"A classic example comes from a good friend of mine, Jon Downes, the director of the UK-based Center for Fortean Zoology. For years, Jon deeply investigated the mystery of the Owlman of Cornwall, England – surely the closest thing the nation has to the infamous Mothman of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, USA. But there was something deeply sinister about the winged, glowing-eyed Owlman. Every time Jon dug deep into the heart of the enigma, things would go wrong – as in big time."

Superstitions of Cornwall

Back in the early 1970s, when I was about 7 or 8, my parents bought me a great book, which I still read to this day: Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain. It was (and still is!) packed with tales of ghosts, witches, strange beasts, superstitions, legends and more, which kept a young, wide-eyed Nick Redfern entertained for hours.

Much space is given in the book to the myths of the English county of Cornwall, an ancient land filled with magic and mystery.

But, if you don't have the book, no worries, you can find some fascinating data on the high-strangeness-based superstitions of Cornwall in a new post from Kithra.

As she notes:

"...many of these old superstitions have now died out in Cornwall, which is I'm sure a very good thing. But, in some parts of the county I suspect that a few of them still persist. Such is the old 'magic and myth' of this beautiful place in which I'm lucky enough to live."

PS: Yes, that's my now tattered and battered copy of Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain, photographed this morning. And, looking inside, I see it was published in 1973. Forty years has flown by since I first immersed myself in its cool and creepy pages...!

Kithra and the Cornish Hare

For those who, like me, have a fascination for British folklore, the new article from Kithra will be of interest.

 

It starts as follows...

 

"Hares have had a mystical reputation around the world, and here in Cornwall there are myths surrounding the white hare.

 

"The most famous belief about white hares in Cornwall is that they are the spirits of girls who had been deserted by their lovers; as a result of which the girls died broken-hearted due to grief. Thus, with their spirit being unable to rest, they chose the form of a white hare in which to return and haunt their deserters. In this guise they are invisible to all except the one who jilted them, and they will haunt him until he finally dies.

 

"For both fishermen and miners hares were associated with witchcraft and deemed to be ill omens. Whether on board a ship or down a mine they were thought to bring bad luck and would be chased away by not only miners but also farmers who believed they were witches in an altered form."

 

And here's the full story of the folklore surrounding the Cornish hare...

The Ghostly Black Dogs of Cornwall

 

 

Stories of ghostly black dogs from Britain of centuries-past have long fascinated me, which is why it's very good to see a new article on this subject from good friend, Kithra.

 

Specifically, Kithra focuses on those blazing-eyed hounds from her native English county of Cornwall, a place rich in myth, folklore and legend.

 

She says:

 

"The local name that the Cornish have for these creatures is Dando's Dogs, or Dandy Dogs. As in many other places, it is believed that to hear them baying is a sign of imminent disaster. And, should you actually see them then you will meet a sudden death. The name itself arises from the tale of a dissolute priest called Dando, and many believe that they only appear on a Sunday.

 

"The story of Dando is one where he sells his soul to the Devil. As generally told Dando was a priest at the old priory church in St Germans, and he was a great sinner who enjoyed all the pleasures of life that priests weren't supposed to indulge in. This included hunting, even on a Sunday, and while doing so he continued his love of drink to the point of disregarding crops and fences as his hounds and henchmen followed him wherever the prey went. Yet he was loved by his parishioners as, being such a sinner himself, he always forgave then their own sins."

 

And here's where you can find the complete article.