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In the heart of Yorkshire lies a grave different from any other in England. Guarded by heavy iron bars in the grounds of a private residence in the old parish of Dewsbury and hidden within the shadows of ancient woodland, it stands forlorn and dilapidated after centuries of exposure to the elements.
According to 18th-century folklore, the slab that covered the grave, already severely damaged by that time, possessed magical powers; passers-by would take away pieces of the stone as a cure for ailments, depleting what remained of the outer shell. While the site itself might be of interest to the archæologist, for the historian the grave presents a different challenge. The flat stone slab is decorated with a long cross ending with a stepped base, as used in the Middle Ages to represent Christ’s death on Calvary, and flanked by a vague inscription that has long ceased to exist. In its place now stands an 18th-century tombstone marked with a curious epitaph commemorating the life of the man whose remains are said to be interred below. Although the inscription is written in an unrecognisable form of archaic English, the message is clear. In modern English it reads:
Here underneath this little stone
Lies Robert, Earl of Huntingdon
No archer as he was so good
And people called him Robin Hood
Such outlaws as he and his men
England will never see again.
Died 24 December 1247
Traditionally, the legendary outlaw Robin Hood met his end in the gatehouse of Kirklees Priory after he was bled to death by an evil prioress and her forbidden lover, Roger of Doncaster, while receiving medical attention at the priory. Some versions of the legend tell that with his last act Robin shot an arrow through the gatehouse window, and with his dying wish was buried where the arrow fell. The death scene is among the oldest of the Robin Hood legends and is recorded in two of the earliest surviving accounts of the outlaw, namely the ballads Robin Hood’s Death, and A Gest of Robyn Hode. Its credibility is enhanced by the location of the grave some 600 metres from the old gatehouse, albeit out of range for a dying archer, and its existence was even noted by several antiquarians during the 16th and 17th centuries. Yet despite the site being famed as Robin Hood’s final resting place, questions regarding whether the outlaw even existed continue to persist. And with each passing century, the gulf between history and legend continues to grow.
Read more:
Fortean Times: Robin Hood and the Templars of Doom
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In the Meiji period (1868-1912), Japan ended centuries of isolation and entered a period of rapid modernization after opening its doors to the world. The ensuing social and technological changes inspired a number of interesting urban legends.
- Phantom trains
Railroads played a key role in the modernization of Japan. After the first trains started running in 1872, railroads quickly expanded across the country. But as the number of trains increased, so did the frequency of phantom train sightings.
Most often seen by train conductors working late at night, these phantom trains — which looked and sounded like ordinary trains — tended to emerge suddenly from the darkness ahead. Shocked by the sight of an oncoming locomotive, conductors typically reacted by grinding their train to halt. Phantom trains usually vanished just before a collision occurred.
These phantom trains, whose sightings have been documented by scholars such as ethnologist Kunio Yanagita and folklorist Kizen Sasaki, were often thought to be the work of shape-shifting animals such as the kitsune (fox), tanuki (raccoon dog) and mujina (badger), because the carcasses of these animals would often be found near where sightings took place.
According to one old Tokyo tale, a phantom train used to appear frequently on the J?ban line. One night, while passing through Tokyo’s Katsushika ward, a conductor spotted the notorious phantom train barreling toward him. Convinced it was nothing more than an illusion, he kept charging ahead without applying the brakes. At the moment of impact, there was a loud shriek as the phantom train disappeared into thin air.
Read more:
Pink Tentacle: Urban legends from Meiji-period Japan
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Forget your run-of-the-mill imaginary bogeyman — children in one part of Japan are haunted by demons.
Or, at least, marauding men dressed up as monsters … but does it really matter to a little kid?
In what has to be one of the world’s more unusual child-rearing traditions, the youths of Japan’s Oga Peninsula in Akita Prefecture get annual visits from straw-clothed, mask-wearing Namahage demons. The demons — usually young men from the area — carry torches and go door-to-door, visiting each home in search of young miscreants and “lazy” new brides. The demons usually threaten to drag any offenders off into the snow-covered mountains.
As the children scream, the parents usually assure the demon that all the kids (and new brides) in the home are good — and offer up a sacrifice of snacks and sake.
Read more:
AOL News: ‘Demons’ Terrify Japanese Children
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Archaeologists have begun the search for an ancient civilization in southern Spain that some believe could help pinpoint the legendary lost city of Atlantis.
A team of researchers from Spain’s Higher Council for Scientific Study (CSIC) are examining a marshy area of Andalusian parkland to find evidence of a 3,000-year-old settlement.
They believe that Tartessos, a wealthy civilization in southern Iberia that predates the Phoenicians, may have had its capital in the heart of what is now the Donana national park.
Until now historians had dismissed the region as a possible site believing that it had been submerged since the ice age. But it is claimed new evidence suggests the waters may have receded in time for the Tartessians to build an urban centre, which was later destroyed in a tsunami.
The Hinojos marshes, an area close to the mouth of the Guadalquiver river where it meets the Atlantic, have now been pinpointed as the site most likely to provide evidence of a lost city.
Archaeological findings have already proved the existence of Tartessian culture at sites on the opposite bank of the river.
Read more:
Telegraph: Lost city of Atlantis ‘could be buried in southern Spain’
