This week I drove down to London from North Yorkshire to stay with my friend for the Winter Solstice and Christmas. It was a bit of wrench to be away from the Dales after so recently completing the purchase of my new house; but it was long planned and also very nice to be with a friend and their family over the holiday period as my children are both living abroad.

The reason I was driving rather than getting a train was that I had quite a load to bring with me, including a Christmas tree, which extended from front to back in my rather small and economical car. The good thing about this was that it smelled wonderful! The scent of Christmas all the way with me on the long drive. I also listened to an audio book of Stephen Fry reading ‘Jeeves’. So brilliantly observed and narrated! I was ‘wry-smiling’ the whole way down with a fair smattering of chuckles and the occasional snigger.

Being so close to a Christmas tree – literally cheek to branch - for such a long time whilst hemmed in by heavy lorries driving through a dystopian landscape of linear infrastructure and logistics warehouses, my imagination escaped to wilder worlds. Listening to Jeeves helped too, as it instilled a good mood that freed me from the surrounding motorway.

I thought about folklore and tales of beasts and fairies that live in the gills, forests and rivers. The mysterious Barghest that stalks Troller’s Gill below the gardens of Perceval Hall; and crosses the Ivelet Bridge on the corpse road in Upper Swaledale. The hobs who hide in the Buttertubs on the high pass between Thwaite and Hawes in the shadow of Shunnerfell; and of course, Janet, Queen of the Fairies, who lives behind a waterfall in Gordale Beck near Malham Cove.

I can’t tell the story of Janet any better than Katherine Langrish in her meticulously researched and beautifully written website of folklore ‘Seven Miles of Steel Thistles’, so I’ll just put a quotation here and a link at the bottom of this blog so that you can read the history and the tales yourselves:

“Before you reach Gordale Scar itself, at about the half-way point in fact, the winding up-and-down path brings you to the brink of a deep pool at the foot of a small and beautiful waterfall – Janet’s Foss. On the far side of the pool is a shallow cave tucked under a ledge of rock which can be reached by crossing the natural stepping stones that dam the pool. If you’re feeling adventurous though, and the water isn’t roaring down too hard, you can clamber up the rock-face to the right of the waterfall and wriggle your way into a much smaller cave that’s actually hidden behind the fall itself. It’s pretty damp. Never mind: it is the home of Janet, the local fairy queen.”

Reading ghost stories and folklore tales is one of my favourite things to do on a dark winter’s evening as they light up my imagination. So, during the holidays when you’re out walking in the countryside to work off some Christmas cheer, or strolling in the afternoon dusk in wooded city lanes and parks, and you hear a rustle of leaves – you have to wonder, is it the wind, or the fey folk?

I’m away from the internet for a few days and won’t be able to reply to comments, so wishing you all the best for a peaceful and happy Christmas.

Rowan on the Moor

A Moodscope member

Katherine Langrish’s website about Janet, Queen of the Fairies:

https://steelthistles.blogspot.com/2020/11/searching-for-janet-queen-of-fairies.html