Book excerpt: Description The myths and legends of England’s South West are full of what is called "local colour" and are richer in legend than any other part. The legends in this volume are infused with Celtic poetry and symbolism, inherent in the blood of the people of the West They afford us not only glimpses of ancient times and of old habits of thought and life, but also of the country itself at different times of the year. Stories like THE LOST LAND OF LYONESSE which for part of the Arthurian legends, home to Tristan, which is said to have sunk beneath the waves. However, almost 100 years ago, the Great Western Railway realised the value of these stories to travellers and has saved 12 of these precious remnants of old England and put them into print for us. The stories in this volume are: The Church the Devil Stole The Parson and the Clerk The Weaver of Dean Combe The Demon Who Helped Drake The Samson of Tavistock The Midnight Hunter of the Moor The Lost Land of Lyonesse The Piskie's Funeral The Spectre Coach St. Neot, the Pigmy Saint The Old Man of Cury The Hooting Carn The Padstow May Day Songs (Supplement) Because so many old stories were passed on orally by storytellers, with the advent of the industrial revolution printed books became more common and these stories became “lost” as less attended the once popular storytelling sessions. Then in 1870 the UK Education Act undertook to teach all children how to read and the art of storytelling all but died out altogether. This volume is sure to keep you enchanted for hours, if only not because of the content, but because of their quality, and will have you and your young wards coming back for more time-and-again. ============ KEYWORDS/TAGS: folklore, fairy tales, myths, legends, children’s stories, bedtime, fables, wonder tales, West country, myth, legend, land, , Abbey, ancient, awe-inspiring, beasts, beautiful, black, Bodmin, Brent, Buckfast, Buckfastleigh, Buckland, Carn, cave, centuries, Church, clerk , Cornish, Cornwall, Dartmoor, Dawlish, Dean, demon who helped drake , Devil, Devon, discover, Dodge, Drake, Exeter, gates, glorious, golf, grave, Great, headless, heart, Hooting, hooting carn , hound, journey, King, Knowles, lamentation, Land's End, Lanreath, Lelant, Lizard, Looe, lost land of lyonesse , love, magnificent, mermaid, midnight hunter of the moor , miners, moor, moorland, Mullion, neighbour, Neot, night, old man of cury, Bodmin Moor, Ordulph, padstow may day songs , Parson, Penzance, picturesque, piskie's funeral , pixie, Plymouth, prehistoric, priest, Queen, railway, Richard, rock, saint, samson of tavistock , sand-hills, Scillies, Isles of Scilly, sea, Seven, spectre coach , spectre-pack, spirit, st. neot the pigmy saint , stole , Stones, stupendous, Talland, Tavistock, Tavy, thieves, thunder, Tor, transform, weaver of dean combe , weird, West, wild, Wish, world