Midlothian Folk Tales For Children

Which misunderstood creature still lives in Leith, hidden away in their home? Who is the sleeping lady, resting under Roslin Castle after all this time? What man could sell his own sister's dead body? Where does the headless coachman steer his carriage on a stormy night? Did an ogre really stalk the Pentland Hills? What is the Portal Tree? These are just some of the secrets waiting to be discovered within this collection of sixteen folk tales. Stretching from the mysterious Moorfoot Hills all the way to the magical coast of Portobello, each story unearths a new place to visit and explore. Some tales are magical, some are historical, some uncover the mysteries of mythical creatures, some are about animals and some will help you find the magic hidden in everyday life.

Storyteller Lea Taylor brings together stories from the rugged coastlines, rushing rivers, uplands and sweeping valleys of Midlothian. In this treasure trove of tales you will meet kings and queens, saints and sinners, witches and wizards, ghosts and giants, fools and tricksters – all as mysterious and powerful as the landscape they inhabit. Retold in an engaging style, and richly illustrated with unique line drawings, these humorous, clever and enchanting folk tales are sure to be enjoyed and shared time and again.

What do you think happened when Jack refused to do his chores? Do you think you're clever enough to hide from Dundee's dragon? Watch out for Lefty the spider dying to tell you his story about life in the glen ... The stories in this book are of animals, beasties and monsters that are fast and cunning and scary and big. And they are ready to tell their tales to you ...

Did you know that there are more than twenty-one rivers in London? Many of them have been forced underground by the development of the city but they all have their own history and their own stories to tell, from Roman times to the present day. Anne and Sef have dredged these tales from the silt, bringing them to the surface for you to enjoy. Tales of mudlarks and refugees; a pirate queen and Vikings; a young boy running away from enslavement, and many more all flow through the pages of this collection. Seas and oceans have been crossed, dangers overcome, and these ancestors of ours come to life as they tell their stories once more.

Come one, come all for a ride upon Dame Fortune's wheel! Join many a medieval character as some ride high on good luck, while others fall foul of greed, jealousy and anger. For in this book, storyteller Dave Tonge has adapted traditional tales of proud princes, discontented doctors, mean merchants, covetous cooks, heroic hounds and many more besides. Mixing them with morsels of history, Medieval Folk Tales for Children will give young readers a fair and fine flavour of the ups and downs of life from 500 to 1,000 years ago.

Richard III, King of England from 1483 to 1485, made good laws that still protect ordinary people today. Yet history concentrates on the fictional hunchback as depicted by Shakespeare: the wicked uncle who stole the throne and killed his nephews in the Tower of London. Voices have protested during the intervening years, some of them eminent and scholarly, urging a more reasoned view to replace the traditional black portrait. But historians, whether as authors or presenters of popular TV history, still trot out the old pronouncements about ruthless ambition, usurpation and murder. After centuries of misinformation, the truth about Richard III has been overdue a fair hearing. Annette Carson seeks to redress the balance by examining the events of his reign as they actually happened, based on reports in the original sources. She traces the actions and activities of the principal characters, investigating facts and timelines revealed in documentary evidence. She also dares to investigate areas where historians fear to tread, and raises some controversial questions. In 2012 Carson was a member of Philippa Langley's Looking For Richard Project, which provided important new answers from the DNA-confirmed discovery of the king's remains. Her involvement in Langley's Missing Princes Project, with its international research initiative on the 'princes in the Tower', has now informed her revelatory extra chapter.

From a cantankerous brownie in Dolphinton to the vampire with iron teeth who terrorised Glasgow, this collection of tales spans fourteen centuries of Lanarkshire's history and happenings. Here you will find the legends of William Wallace's love and loss in Lanark and Saint Mungo's bitter feud with the Pagan hierarchy and Druids, alongside totemic animals, unique Scottish flora and fauna, warlocks, herb-wives and elfin trickery. Allison Galbraith combines storytelling expertise with two decades of folklore research to present this beguiling collection of Lanarkshire stories, suitable for adults and older children.

Did you know that if you look closely around Scafell Pike in the winter you might find a great dragon? Or that hidden in the forest around Egremont you might catch a glimpse of the fabled fairy folk? What, you don’t believe me? Read these tales then take a look for yourself. This collection is full of stories that Taffy has told over the years, and that children love to hear time and again. Including a gang of smugglers and an ugly-face pulling competition, not only will children love to read them, or listen to them being read, the tales will also stimulate an interest in the area, and help children engage with their own surroundings.