Our Sources

In the UK a written work stays in copyright until 70 years after its author died, so we use writers who died before 1956. We retell every tale in our own words and name its source on the page.

Used on this site so far

• Arthur J. Evans, “The Rollright Stones and their Folk-Lore”, Folk-Lore, vol. 6 (1895). Internet Archive.
• Ranulf Higden, Polychronicon (14th century), with John Trevisa's English translation, Rolls Series vol. 8 (1865). Internet Archive.
• Thomas Percy, Reliques of Ancient English Poetry (1765), vol. 2, with Thomas Deloney's ballad of Fair Rosamond (1612) and Percy's notes quoting Holinshed, Stow and Speed. Internet Archive.
• Thomas Hughes, The Scouring of the White Horse (1859), illustrated by Richard Doyle, with Francis Wise's Letter to Dr. Mead (1738) and the verses of the shepherd Job Cork. Project Gutenberg.
• Percy Manning, “Stray Notes on Oxfordshire Folklore”, Folk-Lore, vol. 13 (1902), from the notes of Thomas J. Carter. Internet Archive.
• John H. Ingram, The Haunted Homes and Family Traditions of Great Britain (1884; illustrated edition 1897). Internet Archive.
• Robert Plot, The Natural History of Oxford-shire (1677). Internet Archive.
• Sir Walter Scott, Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft (1830). Project Gutenberg.
• Charles G. Harper, Haunted Houses (1907). Internet Archive.
• Herbert A. Evans, Highways and Byways in Oxford and the Cotswolds (1905), illustrated by Frederick L. Griggs. Internet Archive.
• James Parker, The Early History of Oxford, 727–1100 (1885), with William of Malmesbury's account of St Frideswide. Internet Archive.
• George Sinclair, Satan's Invisible World Discovered (1685; 1769 edition). Internet Archive.
• Andrew Lang, Cock Lane and Common-Sense (1894). Project Gutenberg.
• William Henderson, Notes on the Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties of England and the Borders (1879). Internet Archive.
• The French Chronicle of London, translated by H. T. Riley in Chronicles of the Mayors and Sheriffs of London (1863). Internet Archive.

The books we'll be reading next

We add a free-copy link for each one when we first use it.

• Haunted Britain: Catherine Crowe, The Night-Side of Nature (1848).
• England by region: the Folk-Lore Society's County Folk-Lore series; Charlotte Burne, Shropshire Folk-Lore (1883); Robert Hunt, Popular Romances of the West of England (1865); William Bottrell's West Cornwall books; William Henderson, Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties (1866, 1879).
• General: Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology; Joseph Jacobs, English Fairy Tales and More English Fairy Tales; Sabine Baring-Gould, A Book of Folk-Lore and Curious Myths of the Middle Ages; E. S. Hartland, English Fairy and Other Folk Tales.
• Wales: Wirt Sikes, British Goblins; John Rhys, Celtic Folklore; Marie Trevelyan, Folk-Lore and Folk-Stories of Wales.
• Scotland: Hugh Miller, Scenes and Legends of the North of Scotland; J. F. Campbell, Popular Tales of the West Highlands; J. G. Campbell, Superstitions of the Highlands.
• Ireland: Lady Wilde, Ancient Legends of Ireland; W. B. Yeats, Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry.

For the places

• Historic England's National Heritage List for England, and county Historic Environment Records through the Heritage Gateway.
• Ordnance Survey OpenData and OpenStreetMap for locations.
• Visiting details from the people who look after each site (English Heritage, the National Trust, Cadw, Historic Environment Scotland or the site's own trust), checked on the date shown and written in our own words.

The plates

Our pictures come from public-domain books and paintings, for example the British Library's collection on Flickr Commons, the illustrated books above and Wikimedia Commons. We check each one's licence and credit it on the page where it appears.