Legends of the Sea & Shore

The coast and the deep water hold their own company — mermaids and selkies, drowned bells and sunken lands, the ghost ships and warning lights of the wrecking coasts. These are the stories of communities that lived by a sea that gave and took in equal measure, and of the shoreline as a threshold between worlds.

GiantsAscapartSouthampton, Hampshire, EnglandA thirty-foot giant encountered by the knight Bevis of Hampton on the coast of Southampton Water — first his enemy, then his devoted servant, and the most vivid character in the whole Bevis romance. His name and memory survive in Southampton's Bargate and in local heraldry. BeastsAwd GoggieYorkshireA boggart-like spirit lurking in orchards and gooseberry bushes across Yorkshire, set to guard the ripening fruit from children. Its rustling presence in the leaves was enough to keep small hands at bay — whether it was real or merely a parents' invention, none could say for certain. GiantsBarclodiad y GawresLlanfaelog, Anglesey, WalesBarclodiad y Gawres, the Giantess's Apronful, is a Neolithic passage tomb on the coast of Anglesey. Legend says a giantess dropped the stones from her apron after learning how far she still had to travel. The decorated chamber stones and the site itself are protected by Cadw. Sacred SitesBehy court tombBelderrig, County MayoThe court tomb of Behy is a megalithic monument in the townland of the same name, near Belderrig in the north of County Mayo, Ireland. The monument is located within the Céide Fields complex, 150 meters above sea level on the slope of Maumakeogh hill, and is the most westerly of the thirty or so tombs in the Killala group. The site commands wide views across the sea to the north and to the Stags of Broadhaven. Aquatic LegendsBen VarreyIsle of ManThe Manx mermaid — 'Woman of the Sea' — a creature of ambivalent character who could grant wishes, warn of storms, or lure fishermen to their deaths. Several Manx families claim descent from a Ben Varrey who married a mortal and lived ashore until she found her way back to the sea. Legendary FiguresBeowulfAnglo-Saxon EnglandAnglo-Saxon hero who slew the monster Grendel with his bare hands in the Danish hall of Heorot, then killed Grendel's mother in the depths of her mere, and finally died old, fighting a dragon alone, for the sake of his people. Legendary FiguresBevis of HamptonSouthampton, Hampshire, EnglandOne of England's great medieval romance heroes — a knight of Southampton who slew giants, fought Saracens, rode the matchless horse Arundel, wielded the sword Morglay, and whose adventures filled a hugely popular tale told from the 13th century onward. His giant companion Ascapart and his bones lie buried, according to tradition, in Arundel Castle. BeastsBlack Dog of Bouley BayBouley Bay, JerseyThe Black Dog of Bouley Bay, or Lé Tchian du Bouôlay, is a Jersey storm hound said to haunt the cliffs above the bay. Its glowing eyes, dragging chain and howls warned fishermen of bad weather; one tradition suggests smugglers encouraged the tale. GhostsBlack Eric of ShetlandFitful Head, Shetland, ScotlandBlack Eric was the feared hermit-rustler of Fitful Head who terrorised Shetland crofts by night, aided by a supernatural Tangie sea-horse, until crofter Sandy Breamer killed him in single combat; his cursed iron staff, repurposed as a mill spindle, tore the mill apart on Halloween night and vanished into darkness. BeastsBlack ShuckNorfolkA spectral black dog with blazing eyes the size of saucers, said to roam the coastline and heathlands of East Anglia. A single glance is an omen of death within the year. PiratesBlackbeardBristolEdward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, may have been born in Bristol. His fearsome image outgrew his short career: tales of buried treasure, ghostly lights at sea and his headless spirit searching the coast made him one of the defining figures of pirate folklore. DragonsBlue Ben of KilveSomersetA blue dragon said to have lived in the cliffs at Kilve and served as the Devil's steed. When it fell into the sea, locals later pointed to fossil bones as proof of the beast. BeastsBoobrieArgyll, ScotlandA vast shape-shifting water monster from the lochs of Argyll — taking the form of a gigantic black bird or a water horse — said to prey on cattle and horses wading into the shallows, dragging them under with a cry like a bellowing bull. GiantsBran the BlessedLondonA giant king of Britain so vast no house could contain him. He carried his armies across the Irish Sea on his own back. His severed head, buried beneath the Tower of London, was said to protect Britain from invasion — until Arthur dug it up. Fae & SpiritsBuccaCornwallA Cornish spirit of the sea, mines, and weather, sometimes treated as a hobgoblin and sometimes as something older and darker. Fisherfolk left offerings to keep Bucca friendly. DeitiesCailleach BhéaraCounty Cork, IrelandThe ancient hag of the Beara Peninsula — one of the oldest figures in Irish and Scottish mythology. She has lived through seven human lifetimes, each renewed by marrying a young husband who aged and died. She shaped the mountains, drove her cattle across the sky as clouds, and now sits as stone at the tip of the peninsula, waiting. Sacred SitesCantre'r GwaelodCardigan Bay, WalesWales's 'Atlantis' — a fertile kingdom in what is now Cardigan Bay, drowned overnight when its drunken watchman forgot to shut the sea-gates. Locals say its church bells still toll beneath the waves. Sacred SitesCarrowmoreCarrowmore, County SligoOne of Europe's oldest tomb clusters — older than Newgrange — said to be stones spilled from the sky by the Cailleach, and the resting place of the eloping lovers Diarmuid and Gráinne. Aquatic LegendsCeasgNorth Kessock, Black Isle, HighlandScotland's ceasg—half-woman, half-young salmon—grants three wishes if caught, but lures unwary men to drown with her singing. At Kessock on the Black Isle, Paterson stripped scales from her tail to bind her into human form, married her, and fathered children—until one of his own children found the hidden scales and she vanished into the firth forever. Aquatic LegendsChildren of LirCounty Mayo, IrelandFour children transformed into swans by their jealous stepmother for nine hundred years — three hundred on the waters of Lough Derravaragh, three hundred on the Sea of Moyle between Ireland and Scotland, three hundred on the waters of Erris. Their singing was so beautiful that all who heard it forgot their sorrows. Legendary FiguresCorineusCornwallThe Trojan hero granted Cornwall as his kingdom after helping Brutus defeat the giants of Albion. He delighted in wrestling giants — his greatest feat was hurling Gogmagog from a Cornish cliff into the sea below. The cliff has been known ever since as Gogmagog's Leap. Aquatic LegendsCrodh MaraHebrides, Scottish HighlandsFairy cattle of the Scottish sea — hornless, dun-coloured beasts that emerge from the ocean and interbreed with mortal herds, improving the stock. They bring prosperity while they stay, but if called back by the sea they lead the entire herd into the waves and vanish. BeastsCu SithIsle of Skye, ScotlandA vast fairy hound of the Scottish Highlands — the size of a young bull, dark green, paw-prints the width of a man's hand, and silent until it bayed. It gave voice three times; after the third bay, those who had not reached shelter were seized by fatal terror. It hunted for the fairy court. GhostsCyhyraethRiver Tywi Valley and Glamorganshire coast, WalesA Welsh death omen — a disembodied wailing voice heard in the dark, always three times, always before a death. It has no body to see, only a sound described as a fading, groaning cry, most often heard near water or along the coast of Glamorgan before a wreck.
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