Why area is known for its hobgoblins and fairies

Hobgoblins, dancing fairies and water with magic powers form part of the stories being told in an exhibition exploring myths and folklore.

Boggles, Ghosts and Ragwells examines superstitions from an area known as the Wold Newton Triangle, which runs from Scarborough down to Driffield and stretches east towards Flamborough.

Fiona Jenkinson, curator at Beverley Guildhall where the exhibition is being held, said the area was thought to be the third most important area of ritual monuments in Britain, after Salisbury Plain and Orkney.

The topic is the subject of the latest episode of the Hidden East Yorkshire podcast and the free exhibition runs until 30 May on Wednesdays and Fridays.

According to Ms Jenkinson, the area is home to a number of Neolithic barrows, which are large artificial hills of earth and stones built over the remains of the dead.

One of many stories explained is how one of those barrows, Willy Howe, sited alongside the road from North Burton to Wold Newton, was believed to be a home for fairies.

Ms Jenkinson said legend had it that anyone who ran around it nine times without stopping and then put their ear to it would hear the singing and dancing of the fairies.

At the centre of the area is the Rudston Monolith, an ancient stone measuring almost 8m (26ft) tall.

Mike Thornton, who reformatted and republished a book about the area written in 1890 by John Nicolson called Folk Lore of East Yorkshire, said the monolith had an interesting past.

He said: "When the landowner, Sir William Strickland, did an excavation, he found a load of human skulls at its base so some sort of ritual had been carried out."

Mr Thornton said how the stone arrived here remains a mystery.

"The grit stone it is made of occurs on the North Yorkshire Moors and the very nearest is at Cayton Bay about 10 miles away," he added.

"One theory says a glacier brought it and another that it was brought by humans. It was probably dragged all the way here, which would have been an immense task."

As well as the monolith and barrows, water plays a significant part in the myths and legends of the area, according to Ms Jenkinson.

She said: "Waters were said to have magical powers. They are the stuff of life and so many of the wells and water sources have myths attached to them.

"There are wells around Goodmanham because it is a very ancient Celtic place.

"They have ragwells, where people would take rags and tie them to hawthorn trees to ensure good health.

"They used hawthorn trees because the spikes made good arrows for the fairies."

Kloskk Tyrer, who is a researcher at the Guildhall, said the Gypsey Race stream also had a fascinating history.

The chalk stream is famous for the way it flows underground and then resurfaces in Rudston.

"The Gypsey Race stream isn't running all year round," she explained.

"Sometimes, even if there has been no rain, it just rises suddenly. It is called the waters of woe and predicts bad events, so it comes up a year before something bad happens.

"It predicted the two world wars, a plague and the civil war."

Heather Drewery, who lives next to the stream, added: "It is actually the furthest north chalk stream we have in the UK and so when you look at it, it is perfectly clear."

Although she does not believe in the superstitions surrounding the area, she said that at certain times of the year people leave gifts that celebrate pagan events.

Also part of the exhibition are the stories connected to boggles who, according to Ms Jenkinson, were an imaginary hobgoblin that brought fear.

They were thought to haunt wells and springs around the East Riding and the name comes from words such as bogeyman or bugbear.