Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #85259 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-28
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 928 pages

Simon Hoggart, The Guardian, 12 November, 2005
It appears to contain almost every myth, legend and ghost story ever told in England...a wonderful dipping book.

Philip Pullman. 6th November, 2005
A real treasury...I'm sure I shall plunder it for years to come.

Synopsis
Where can you find the 'Devil's footprints'? What happened at the 'hangman's stone'? Did Sweeney Todd, the demon barber of Fleet Street, ever really exist? Where was King Arthur laid to rest? Bringing together tales of hauntings, highwaymen, family curses and lovers' leaps, this magnificent guide will take you on a magical journey through England's legendary past. 'A fascinating county-by county guidebook to the headless horsemen, bottomless pools, immured adulteresses and talking animals that make up the hidden landscape of the country.' - "London Review of Books". 'Evokes an England terrified by screaming skulls, tantalized by hidden treasure, spooked by the unearthly clanging of bells, bewitched by fairies and hobgoblins' - "Country Life". 'Wonderful...Contains almost every myth, legend and ghost story ever told in England' - Simon Hoggart, "Guardian".

Customer Reviews

Lore of Poor Scholarship
Peppered with inaccuracies throughout, the entry on Highgate Cemetery serves as a pointer to just how poor the "scholarship" is in Lore of the Land.

The task befell Jacqueline Simpson to provide the entry on London's most famous graveyard which included more than a passing reference to its vampire. Simpson, according to Oxford University's Library Journal, is "an esteemed British folklore expert." This makes her coverage of the case of even greater concern.

"When the apparition was first discussed in the local press in 1970, it was merely called a ghost," she begins. It was called all manner of things when first discussed, but was already being described as a vampire locally; even from as early as 1965. What Simpson is alluding to is the plethora of readers' letters in the Hamsptead & Highgate Express where various correspondents spoke of a figure, spectre, ghost and vampire. The British Occult Society, too, often used the term "spectre," but this does not contradict the term "vampire." What she blurs is the fact that vampires (predatory demonic entities) exhibit a certain spectral aspect.

Simpson continues: "The publicity was initiated by a group of adolescents calling themselves the British Occult Society." An adolescent is surely someone between childhood and adulthood. The man she is misrepresenting throughout this entry was past his mid-twenties at the time of the early media curiosity and television interviews. Many of those involved or showing interest in the Highgate Vampire case within the British Occult Society were considerably older.

"David Farrant, their [the British Occult Society's] leader, spent the night there," she claims, despite evidence to the contrary. Farrant did not "lead" the Society. In fact, he owed no connection to the British Occult Society which was originally formed as an umbrella organisation circa 1860. Fellow members and close colleagues included Peter Underwood, Professor Devendra Prasad Varma, Seán Manchester and similar luminaries. Prior to its dissolution on 8 August 1988, it was presided over by Seán Manchester. He featured in a programme on 13 March 1970 (Today, Thames Television) to represent the Society's investigation into happenings in and around Highgate Cemetery that had been accumulating since the mid-1960s. A number of witnesses to a vampire spectre were also interviewed by Sandra Harris. These consisted largely of children and a young man who was captioned "David Farrant." Seán Manchester was captioned "President, British Occult Society." No confusion existed as to who "led" the British Occult Society.

Simpson then wrongly insists: "Hardly two informants gave the same story." What was notable, apart from a couple of rather dubious entries subsequently found to be disingenuous, was the similarity in the accounts recorded by the media, not least the local press. Most spoke of a tall, floating figure with burning eyes and an evil aura.

She continues to describe "another local youth, Seán Manchester" (the Oxford Dictionary defines "youth" as "adolescence" and "inexperienced" etc) and attributes the quote "a 'King Vampire from Wallachia'" to him. That precise phrase did not appear in print but a similar sentiment was expressed. However, Seán Manchester did not say anything of the kind and apparently explained at length in a book which Simpson read several years prior that the term "King Vampire" was a journalistic embellishment.

Referring to Highgate Cemetery, Simpson erroneously states: "both conducted rituals of exorcism." Farrant did not perform exorcisms. Seán Manchester carried out a spoken exorcism at Highgate Cemetery during August 1970 with consent. This was reconstructed for BBC television and transmitted on 15 October 1970.

Though completely unrelated to either Highgate Cemetery or the Highgate Vampire, Simpson includes: "Manchester challenged Farrant to a 'magical duel' on Parliament Hill." Seán Manchester did not challenge Farrant to a "magical duel," as confirmed by statements made by him at the time and coverage of this occasion in the Hampstead & Highgate Express (articles in April and May 1973) and in the work From Satan To Christ (1988) where the invitation to exorcise Farrant was incidental to the event itself. Farrant cried off and failed to appear. The Parliament Hill "Ring of Prayer" had nothing to do with a "magical duel" though some exploited it as such due to misinformation fed them by a publicity-hungry David Farrant. Retractions were published.

Curiously, Simpson refers to only one criminal conviction: "Farrant ... was jailed in 1974 for damage to memorials." Farrant, in fact, was sentenced to four years and eight months imprisonment in June 1974 for malicious damage, ie tomb vandalism, at Highgate Cemetery by inscribing black magic symbols on the floor of a mausoleum; offering indignities to remains of the dead, ie desecration via black magic rites where photographs were taken of a naked accomplice in a tomb where occult symbols were marked out on the floor; threatening police witnesses in a separate case where his black magic associate was subsequently found guilty of indecent sexual assault on a minor; theft of items from Barnet Hospital where Farrant worked briefly as a porter in 1970; possession of a handgun and ammunition kept at his address where discovery was made of a black magic altar beneath a mural of the Devil that had featured in the press. Simpson obviously felt she needed to downplay the seriousness of Farrant's part in the Highgate Cemetery matter in view of her determination to lump him in with Seán Manchester.

Jacqueline Simpson was president of the Folklore Society from 1993 to 1996 and is currently its honorary secretary. She has written misleading and grossly inaccurate statements in The Lore of the Land, having placed reliance on her American colleague Bill Ellis whose flawed material in his own Raising the Devil is even more defamatory and damaging. Some of the press cuttings referred to in his book are wrongly attributed and what he has to say is biased by an agenda to dismiss all things supernatural.

I would give Lore of the Land a wide berth unless a fictionalised version of cases like the Highgate Vampire investigation is all that is required.

Excellent....
Lore of the Land does exactly what it claims - it is a comprehensive A-Z of folklore, legends and ghost / paranormal tales organised by County. It's not in the right format to read in bulk, but is absolutely fascinating for local interest and research purposes.

Highly recommended - this is the most accurate and thorough book I have seen on the subject. Not cheap but worth it.

Beautiful and thorough
This book is not only perfectly designed for browsing, but clearly very well researched.

It works on various levels too. If you are touring or visiting England, or if you live here and want to delve into the legendary and curious aspects of England then just buy this book. It is also thorough enough to be an important source for researchers.

It's also dedicated to the wonderful Katharine Briggs.