The Man and Maiden Wishing Stones – Filey Brigg

  Filey Brigg is a long and narrow headland extending out into the North Sea at Filey on the Yorkshire east coast.

  The headland is almost one mile in length, and forms the north side of Filey Bay. It is comprised of a ridge of high cliffs, which then drop down to a bed rock platform pushing further out into the sea. This rocky projection is the actual ‘Brigg’ (or Bridge), and a local legend records that it was built by the Devil using his large hammer to pave the way. Where the bridge was going is not recorded, but the Devil seems to have given up when he lost his hammer in the sea.

Gormire lake – ‘A wild and bottomless tarn’

“As we descended the hill there was no distinct view, but of a great space; only near us we saw the wild (and as the people say) bottomless tarn in the hollow at the side of the hill. It seemed to be made visible to us only by its own light, for all the hill about us was dark.”

1802 Journal of Dorothy Wordsworth

  Gormire lake is located at the foot of Sutton Bank, 4 miles to the east of Thirsk.

  The lake sits in a secluded location in woodland below the high rocky cliffs along the edge of Sutton bank. The land at this point rises abruptly from the low lying vale of York in the west, to the higher ground of the Hambleton Hills and moorlands further east. This steep rise forms a west facing escarpment with sheer rock faces known as the Whitestone cliffs or White Mare Crags, from the top of which there are extensive views across the vale to the Yorkshire Dales.

  The half-moon shaped lake is about 1 mile in circumference, and sits in a hollow below the cliffs. This location effectively hides the lake, which can only really be seen from the cliff tops above. Gormire is one of only four naturally formed lakes in Yorkshire, and this, along with its hidden location, seems to have led to it featuring strongly in local folklore.

The Fairy Stones – Burdale

   The Fairy Stones are located in a valley at Burdale, 3 mile to the north of Fridaythorpe in East Yorkshire.

  The Fairy Stones are a group of large rocks sitting high up on the valley side. The valley itself is called Fairy Dale, and the Fairy Stones are the only visible rocks in that part of the valley. The stones are pieces of a weathered outcrop of a Breccia type rock, made up of chalk, limestone, and flint fragments, fused together.

  The fairy name of the stones and the dale point to this location being connected with the fairy folk in the past, however, any folklore about them appears to have been lost. The Fairy Stones name does appear on the first edition OS map (1854), and in his ‘East Yorkshire Folklore‘ John Nicholson notes that …

“The superstitious among men, in order to see their future love, would hie them to the fairy stones, at Burdale, and there, with the full moon brightly shining, at midnight, would see the one who should be all the world to them.” (Nicholson, 1890)

Nothing new under the sun

  I was struck by the hand prints (above right) on a recent visit to Saklikent Gorge in southern Turkey. Visitors to the gorge have dipped their hands in muddy silt, and pressed them onto the rock face – leaving their mark at this impressive natural feature. Perhaps it was the location, but for some reason i found the hand prints fascinating, and they somehow resonated strongly with the images of ancient hand prints dating back tens of thousands of years. (above left).

The Nafferton Fairy Stone (site of) – Driffield

  The Nafferton Fairy Stone originally stood alongside the road between Nafferton village and Driffield in East Yorkshire.

 In his book ‘East Yorkshire Folklore’, John Nicholson records …

“About half way down the hill forming the eastern slope of Nafferton Slack, by the road-side, to prevent waggons leaving the roadway, stood a large stone, which was believed to have wonderful powers. At night, at certain seasons, it glowed like fire, sometimes it seemed but the portal of a well-lighted hall ; and one old stone-breaker declared he had heard wonderful music issuing therefrom, the like of which he had never heard before ; while on one occasion he had seen troops of gaily-dressed elfins repairing thither, some on foot and some in carriages, and they all went into this mysterious hall. The old man is dead, the stone is gone, and the fairies have departed.” (Nicholson, 1890).