There seemed to be a shortage of forbidding creatures in these islands… but nonetheless a fair number of people turned up to tell and listen: Gary, Janet, Ian, Dan, Paul, Maddie, Raph, Mike.
Gary turned to Wales, where Hywel Wyn, the road-agent, and his wife, Gwen Lin, both perished as a result of his attempts to acquire permanent ownership of a beautiful horse from The Other Side.
Paul went even further west, to the Isle of Man, where an Irishman’s attempts to cheat a Manxman by sailing back home in secret were thwarted by a buggane who had fallen asleep on his ship, and did not want to be taken away from his native island. The buggane raised a storm and was about to wreck the ship when St Trinion intervened in response to the Irishman’s prayers. Everything has its price – in this case the erection of a church dedicated to the saint. However, the buggane was so annoyed by the interference in his vengeance that he hindered the construction in every way possible, and although the saint advised the builders how to proceed there were forgetful individuals among them, and the church remains roofless to this day. Even a bold tailor, who undertook to sew a pair of britches in the place, could not succeed in breaking the spell. And you can read a version of the tale here https://archive.org/details/cu31924029911769/page/n103/mode/2up
Maddie and Janet exchanged tales of Badgers, who, with their powerful jaws and penchant for under-cooked steamed puddings, may well be counted as forbidding creatures.
Raph chose The King of Elfland as his forbidding creature, and told us how Childe Rowland managed to rescue his sister, Burd Ellen, and his two brothers, from The Dark Tower. And you can read a version of it here http://www.gutenberg.org/files/7439/7439-h/7439-h.htm#link2H_4_0023 and be warned not to play football near a church, and certainly not to go round that building widdershins to get the ball back.
Mike told a story of his own about Jenny Greenteeth, and you’ll be able to read it under the title Under the Bridge on his mikerotheatre blogspot shortly.
Ian closed the evening with a three-episode version of The Farmer and the Boggart – and you can refresh your memory here
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boggart#The_Farmer_and_the_Boggart
And here is the Buggane and the Tailor!
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