Stephen G. Rae

📣 arriving 29 July 2025; available in print and ebook; online or can be ordered at your local bookstore: "Folklore of the Lake District" ghost stories, folk tales, nature lore, dialect, verse bardofcumberland.com/folklore #bookologythursday #lakedistrict

dew-drops caught in the spider's web a string of diamonds dew-drops caught in the spider's web a string of tears from: "often I stop and look back" bardofcumberland.com/poetry/ #Haiku #poetry #nature

In the August 2025 edition of @cumbrialakeland my regular article on Cumbrian folklore, and this month, King Arthur and his Cumbrian connections #folklore #lakedistrict #cumbria

Based on the 14th century, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight; who, in local folklore, lived in Inglewood Forest. "Red is the color of lust. But green is what lust leaves behind, in heart, in womb" #folklore #fantasy #film The Green Knight, 2021 dir. David Lowery

#WordoftheDay : fuzzy-ganny is caterpillar in Cumbrian dialects some day that caterpillar will wake up as a butterfly or moth, so it's often associated with transformative magic bardofcumberland.com/folklore/ #folklore #nature #Cumbria 📷 by me

Trow live on Orkney and Shetland. Their name is derived from the Scandinavian Troll. They live in earth mounds called Trowie Knowes, venturing out at dusk to listen to music, and to kidnap musicians to their knowes. #folklore #Scotland art: Stephen G. Rae

I missed #InternationalFairyDay yesterday, so here's my belated contribution 🧚‍♂️🧚‍♀️ The 17th century Church burial records of Lamplugh reveal four people were frighted to death by fairies; one was led into a pond by Will o' Wisp; another died in a dual using frying pan and…

Red campion, the 'thunder flower', and property of the fae folk. Sharing some plantlore 🌸 #wildflowers #folklore #lakedistrict

Nestled in a patch of Autumn hawkbit (and grass!) and sharing some plantlore 🌼 #wildflowers #folklore #lakedistrict

#ThoughtoftheDay 🤔💚 "We need myths that will help us to identify with all our fellow-beings, not simply with those who belong to our ethnic, national or ideological tribe. We need myths that help us to realize the importance of compassion, which is not always regarded as…

Find the full #WestmorlandDalesFestival 2025 programme on our website now: westmorlanddalesfestival.org . Join us in Kirkby Stephen on Saturday 26 & Sunday 27 July for a packed weekend of exploration, events & entertainment for all - we can’t wait to see you there!

"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished" ~ Lao Tzu 📍 #lakedistrict

Adam Bell, known as the 'Robin Hood of the North' 🏹 He lived in Inglewood Forest, was a famous archer, and was arrested for stealing game with companions William of Cloudsley and Clym of the Clough. bardofcumberland.com/folklore/ #fairytaletuesday #lakedistrict art: Richard Dadd

#ThoughtoftheDay 💚 "Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life. Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. The more clearly we can focus our attention on the…

The Nuckelavee, thought to derive from the Orcadian word  knoggelvi, meaning "Devil of the Sea". It's a demon from folklore that combines both equine and human elements; it's breath like a poison. #folklore #supernatural #orkney 🖼 Joan Llopis Doménech

If you take myth and folklore, and these things that speak in symbols, they can be interpreted in so many ways that the interpretation is infinitely blurred, a sort of enormous rainbow of every possible colour you could imagine. ~Diana Wynne Jones✨

The Red Lady of Woodland "an apparition I witnessed in the spring of 2019; a female ghost attributed a woman killed in a fit of passion" folklore @BardCumberland bardofcumberland.com/folklore/ #folklore #ghoststory #lakedistrict

Orange hawkweed: one of my favourite non-native wildflowers. It grows in abundance in this area of Lakeland. In folklore, it's associated with the devil. #folklore #wildflowers #lakedistrict

I've spent the morning rescuing toads of all sizes, who somehow managed to climb 60cm into potato bags. They have been relocated to the compost heap. in Cumbrian dialects, paddock is toad out walking, if a toad crosses your path it's good luck; but if you find a toad in your…