Hob Hole Cave – Runswick Bay

 The Hob Holes are a group of small caves located in the cliff face half way along Runswick Bay, 6 miles to the north-west of Whitby.

 In folklore circles, the Hob Hole cave is famous for being the dwelling place of one of those short, dwarf-like beings known as a Hob. The first reference to the Runswick Hob appears to be in the early 1800’s when the cave was described by the Rev. George Young in his History of Whitby (Young, 1817) ….

 “Curious caverns are sometimes formed in the alum-rock by the operation of the tides. Hob-hole in Runswick bay once presented a most romantic appearance, the entrance being divided by a double pillar, as in the annexed drawing. This cave is still 70 feet long, and 20 feet wide at the entrance; but the pillar is now gone. “
“Another aerial being, which we may suppose to have been a hobgoblin, had his dwelling in Hob-hole, near Runswick. He was more benevolent than Jeanie; for his powers were exercised in curing young children of the hooping- cough. When any child in Runswick or the vicinity was under that disease, one of its parents carried it into the cave, and with loud voice thus invoked the demi-god of the place: “Hob-hole Hob! my bairn’s got kink-cough: take’t off; take’t off!” It is not very many years since this idolatrous practice was dropt.”

This Week i have been mostly listening to …

An ancient Finnish Lullaby  played on the Kantele by Merja Soria.

(Not sure why i like this, perhaps i have some Nordic roots? )

In the mythology of Finland,  the first Kantele was made by Wainamoinen – a primordial god of chants, poetry and song, who helped bring life to the world. When he played the kantele all creatures would come to listen to him.

The Fairy Butter Tree – Scugdale

 Scugdale is a long valley cutting into the Cleveland Hills just to the South of Swainby village, ten miles to the south of Middlesbrough.

 The first edition OS map (1857) marks a ‘Fairy Butter Tree’ alongside Rank Crags at the head of the Scugdale valley. This curious name does not appear on later edition maps, so in order to get a grid reference for its location, the old map was overlaid as accurately as possible onto the newer OS map. This, combined with the Google Earth images, seemed to suggest that a tree still exists at that location (SE 52801 99357). Could it possibly be the same tree all these years later?

Hob in the Hole and the Giant’s Lapstone – Baysdale

 Hob Hole is located alongside a ford crossing Baysdale Beck, on the road between Kildale and Westerdale, five miles to the south of Guisborough.

 Up until the early 1800’s, a large boulder known as the ‘Giant’s Lapstone’ sat on the hillside overlooking the ford at Hob Hole. Around the year 1830, a great storm caused a landslip, which carried the boulder down the hillside and into the beck. The large rock must have come to rest close to the crossing, as it diverted the flow of water running over the ford. This led to the boulder being removed, which due to its size, had to be broken up.
(See this Youtube video of Gavin Parry and Bob Fischer at Hob Hole discussing the story behind the Lapstone boulder).

The Dannsa Na Cailleach – Dance of the Old Woman

   A previous post (Cailleach an Dùdain) suggested that the North York Moors folklore figure known as the ‘Old Wife’, could well be related to the legendary Cailleach, who is to be found further north, in Scotland. Gavin Parry’s ongoing project to map locations connected with this archetypal ‘Old Woman’ is both fascinating and illuminating, and shows just how widespread a figure she was.  In later times, the Cailleach (Old Woman) seems to have played an important role in the harvest, with the last sheaf cut on a farm being called the Cailleach, which was then formed into a corn doll, and treated as an honoured guest at the harvest celebration. The corn doll figure was believed to contain the luck, fertility, and prosperity of the harvest, and was hung up in the farmhouse until the following year.