Subtitled ‘Legends & Traditions from Around the Shores of Britain and Ireland’ the 510 pages of this weighty tome reveal the origins of many a dark tale and some amusing stories.

The place of superstition in forming and embellishing folk tales and traditions is illustrated in this well researched book. It is fascinating how many tales of ghostly apparitions, monsters, and weird sights are reported from the points of view of ‘witnesses’ who have not actually seen them at first hand, but who have known someone who was there. The natural tendency of the narrator of strange events to embellish and embroider their tales of the unexpected, added to the probability of further exaggeration by that common phenomenon of Chinese whispers, most likely explains the reality of these extraordinary stories.

They are none the less fascinating for that. Many readers love to read or to listen to such tales and dip into the potential terror the bogeyman, ghost, headless horseman, etc, can inflict on us as we sit by the fire safe and sound.

There are similarities in many of the tales that emerge from different geographic sources. The superstition of sailors and fishermen is strongly represented by stories set on the high seas, especially those forged in the days before much science was understood. The very act of setting out across a body of water that’s unpredictable, dangerous, unknown, and moody is enough to engender terror in the stoutest heart, after all.

Reading in the comfort of the armchair before the roaring fire, of course, renders such stories as the fairy tales and imaginings they almost all are. Even the factual tales of derring-do suffer a little from embroidery. And it is good that the authors debunk several well-known myths and instead relate the facts as they are known. In fact, the book is probably worth reading for these stories alone.

It’s a ‘big read’, and one best undertaken as a series of short swims, rather than a continual long-distance crawl.

[Any review is a personal opinion. No reviewer can represent the view of anyone else. The best we can manage is an honest reaction to any given book.]