Скачать или смотреть Shropshire and Wrekin Folklore of Charlotte Burne: The Devil and Giants

Charlotte Sophia Burne (Lotty) (1850–1923).
Charlotte was born just over the border in Staffordshire, at Moreton vicarage.
In 1875 Burne became friendly with Georgina Frederica Jackson, who was collecting material for her Shropshire Word Book (1879) and its companion work with the provisional title of 'Folk-lore Gleanings'.
Jackson's demise led Burne to take over her material, adding her own collection of tales to produce Shropshire Folk-Lore: A Sheaf of Gleanings.
Any visitor to Shropshire will be impressed by the majesty of the Wrekin.
At 1,335 it is smaller than Brown Clee to the south.
But lying on a plane it seems particularly impressive.
The giant Gwendol Wrekin ap Shenkin ap Myynddmawr for some reason, had a grudge against the Mayor of Shrewsbury and its people.
Some say he was Welsh, although his name could simply be Bretonic.
But certainly, with the Anglo Saxon conquest of Shrewsbury from the Celts, there is a long standing animosity between the Welsh and Shrewsbury.
He decided to dam the River Severn, to flood the town.
So, he set off, carrying a spadeful of earth, and walked trying to find the way to Shrewsbury.
On his way from Wales he became tired and lost, and close to Wellington, he fell exhausted.
Where he was met by a cobbler, who lived in Wellington, and went once a fortnight to Shrewsbury to collect his customers' old boots and shoes, and take them home with him to mend.
Gwedol explained his mission to the cobbler and asked to be taken to Shrewsbury.
Fearing a loss of his living the cobbler refused.
And where he put down his load there stands the Wrekin hill to this day.
Even the earth he scraped off his boots became little Ercall to the side of the Wrekin.
The Devil’s Chair on the Stiperstones is said to have been created after the devil dropped stones from his leather apron.
In one version he was carrying them to the Wrekin.
Others say that he was carrying them to Ireland.
But another that he was simply going to fill in Hell’s Gutter on the other side of the Stiperstones.
The leather apron is said to have broken spilling the stones.
Feeling tired the devil then rested on his chair.
On the longest night of the year, the Devil sits on his chair and summons all his local followers - witches and evil spirits - and they choose their king for the year.
Unfortunately, the back of the chair is no longer intact.
Although the weather can often change dramatically on the Stiperstones still giving the feature a very eery quality.