The Three Ravens Podcast

For our final County Episode of Series 7 we're chatting about the heritage and folklore of the largest Welsh historic county, Carmarthenshire!
A county that still exists, it's home to one of the truly ancient settlements of Britain, Carmarthen, which continues to thrive today having been consistently occupied since the Bronze Age.
Elsewhere on this bumper-sized season finale we're talking about the county's highs and its lows, its many ghost stories, terrifying river monsters, contributions to Welsh identity - including the codification of Welsh national dress - and much more besides.
We're stopping by ancient tombs, Merlin's birthplace, paying our respects to the bones of Dylan Thomas, discussing the erased marginalia of Wales' oldest book, bat demons that hatch out of rocks at New Year, and perhaps the most famous legend in all of Wales - one that recurs in all 13 Welsh historic counties though firmly rooted in Carmarthenshire
It's this tale that inspired our Local Legends guest for this week, Francesca Simon MBE, to write her new novel inspired by this same story.
Some call it "The Lady in the Lake of Llyn y Fan Fach." Some called it "The Three Blows." For her version, Eleanor has called it "Farewell to the Lake" and it's a cracking conclusion to our new tellings of the folk tales of Wales.
We sincerely hope that you enjoy the episode, and will speak to you again on Thursday for our brand new, seasonally-appropriate episode of the Three Ravens Bestiary all about Leprechauns!
Three Ravens is a Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.
Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on a historic county, exploring the heritage, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, we take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...
Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.
With a range of exclusive content on Patreon too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?
REGISTER FOR THE TALES OF SOUTHERN ENGLAND TOUR

Visit our website

Join our Patreon

Social media channels and sponsors
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week's episode of Local Legends Martin is chatting with award-winning broadcaster, anthropologist and author Will Millard.
Will has presented major BBC Two anthropology series, including Hunters of the South Seas and the BAFTA-Cymru award-winning My Year With The Tribe, where he lived with the Korowai people of West Papua. His work for BBC Wales focuses on British heritage, including series on rivers, urban exploration, and history.
He is also an international best-selling author. His debut, The Old Man and the Sand Eel chronicles a journey across Britain to reconnect Will with his fishing roots, and The Way of the Hermit has become a viral success on both sides of the Atlantic.
He is also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and has received awards from the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust for his remote field research.
As you can imagine, Will is a busy person – learn more here – though the reason I especially wanted to speak with him is the series Hidden Wales he made, with the BBC, along with Hidden Cardiff as well.
This week we have been talking about Merionethshire – not a famous historic Welsh county, and not one where a whole tonne of folk tale scholarship has been done for over 50 years. So Will was very brave coming onto Local Legends for this conversation, but as you will here, the things he has to say about the area are fascinating – you are in for a real treat!
As such, gather in close around the Three Ravens campfire and let’s listen in to a chat about a county that no longer exists – Merionethshire – including its monuments, incredibly deep mines and quarries, its flooded places, and much more besides...
We really hope you enjoy this episode, and will speak to you again on Monday for our final County Episode of our folkloric tour of Wales, all about the historic county of Carmarthenshire!
The Three Ravens is a Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.
Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on a historic county, exploring the heritage, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...
Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.
With a range of exclusive content on Patreon too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?
REGISTER FOR THE TALES OF SOUTHERN ENGLAND TOUR

Visit our website

Join our Patreon

Social media channels and sponsors
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Get ready for some vigorous shaking of bottles, because in today's episode of Magic and Medicine we're talking all about Homeopathy and Herbal Medicine!
Although herbal medicine has very deep roots, stretching back to Ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, India and China, theories about disease and its transmission have been pretty varied over time.
From foul, stinking miasmas to the adorably named 'animalcules', mysterious lichen and even the humble cup of coffee, ideas about the causes of disease have certainly evolved.
In the 19th century, a time of cholera epidemics, bloodletting, leeches and other sticky things, a doctor named Samuel Hahnemann began experimenting with the system he would develop into homeopathic medicine.
Almost from its beginnings, homeopathy has attracted a storm of criticism - quite the backlash, in fact, for a manner of treatment which is gentle, holistic, and plant-based!
Our discussion covers the history and politics of homeopathy, the memory of water, the effect of modern austerity measures on the alternative medicine community, and the many people who have sought to prove that it really is all just nonsense!
Unlike Hahnemann's remedies, though, we promise this one isn't diluted...
We really hope you enjoy the episode and we will speak to you again on Saturday with our new Local Legends interview with the wonderful Will Millard!
Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.
Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...
Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.
With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?
REGISTER FOR THE TALES OF SOUTHERN ENGLAND TOUR

Visit our website

Join our Patreon

Social media channels and sponsors
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On our penultimate County Episode of Three Ravens Series 7 we're off to the heartland of Welsh language-speaking in Merionethshire!
Abolished in 1974, its flag, showing three goats rampant above the dawning sun, still flies in the area, which is filled with monuments like Harlech Castle, Tomen y Mur, some of the deepest slate mines in Wales, and a town guarded by demonic flaming cartwheels.
Taking its name from the founder of the Kingdom of Gwynedd, its most famous saint founded a monastery on an island now filled with the bones of 20,000 saints.
On its most famous mountain Idris the giant once watched the stars and threw loads of stones about.
In its deepest lake lives Teggie, the Welsh version of the Loch Ness monster - and there's indications she actually exists!
Including excerpts from this Saturday's Local Legends guest writer and broadcaster Will Millard, host of BBC's Hidden Wales, we'll talk you through it - from the strangeness of Port Merion to the shimmering wonder of the Dolgellau Gold Belt and beyond.
Then we come to Martin's story for this week, "The Werewolf of Gellilydan" which is a one of a kind Victorian legend that might just unsettle you...
We hope that you enjoy the episode, and will speak to you again on Thursday with our brand new episode of Magic and Medicines all about Holistic and Herbal Healing!
Three Ravens is a Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.
Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on a historic county, exploring the heritage, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, we take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...
Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.
With a range of exclusive content on Patreon too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?
REGISTER FOR THE TALES OF SOUTHERN ENGLAND TOUR

Visit our website

Join our Patreon

Social media channels and sponsors
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week's episode of Local Legends Eleanor is chatting with anthropologist and author of The Folklore of The Tanat Valley, Dr Jack Hunter, all about Montgomeryshire.
In addition to being an academic, teacher and very prolific writer, Jack has a fascinating variety of research interests. He’s explored spirit possession and shamanism, he’s a research fellow for the Parapsychology Foundation, and he’s involved in the Fairy Investigation Society too. Jack takes an immersive approach to research, fully involving himself in experiences in order to study them. That includes, in the course of his PhD at the University of Bristol, an ethnographic study of contemporary trance and physical mediumship.
We talked about Spiritualism, and seances - and yes, a fair bit of ectoplasm too!
Jack is currently a tutor with the Sophia Centre for the Study of Cosmology in Culture, and on the University of Wales MAs in Ecology and Spirituality and Cultural Astronomy and Astrology. As if all that wasn’t enough to keep him busy, he also tutors on Consciousness, Spirituality and Transpersonal Psychology at the Alef Trust.
We had a great chat about the history and stories about an often overlooked part of Wales. Find out more about Jack at jack-hunter.yourwebsitespace.com.
We really hope you enjoy this episode, and we will speak to you again on Monday as well for our next County Episode, all about the historic county of Merionethshire!
The Three Ravens is a Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.
Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on a historic county, exploring the heritage, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...
Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.
With a range of exclusive content on Patreon too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?
Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcast
REGISTER FOR THE TALES OF SOUTHERN ENGLAND TOUR

Visit our website

Join our Patreon

Social media channels and sponsors
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.