New Forest Myths and Folklore

by Brice Stratford

The New Forest is an old, old forest. The stories, like the forest which defines them, are at once fresh and blossoming with each telling, but ever rooted in the deep, dark soil of our history and our heritage.From King Arthur and Robin Hood, to Rufus the Red and Bevis of Hampton, award-winning storyteller Brice Stratford guides you through the folk heritage and mythological past of Britain's most haunted national park, taking in five headed dragons, giant ettins, and shape-shifting pixies along the way.

264 pages, Paperback

Published November 15, 2022

Reviews

[Sian Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant book, my friend lent this to me and I was not disappointed. Some of the tales I have heard from locals before but I’ve also learnt so much about my home. I liked that it has two halves and personally I really enjoyed the ghost stories.

[Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book of two halves. The first half is arguably old wives tales told to the writer in the pub by locals willing to chat for a pint. The second half is better: we have attributable sources, and dates that are backed up to events rather than hearsay.
I would have liked a bibliography at the back of the book, as well as an index to find the stories again, but perhaps this was not within the author’s intention.
The stories themselves are the usual mash up of mythology and wishful thinking, for the first half, with various historical characters finding themselves drawn into fanciful accounts fuelled by perhaps too much cider. The second half is a more interesting collection of murder, ghost, amusing tales (that of the bell ringers being spooked by the deputy surveyor is delightful) and sad suicides.
In terms of buying this book…. Well… probably an idea to borrow a friend’s copy first (or your father in law’s copy…) read it, and then decide if it can stay to grace your bookshelves. It must be said that having chatted to my FiL, who has been in the forest for at least half a century, very few of the stories in this book have been heard by him…. which might indicate the strength of the provenance of some of these tall tales.
Alternatively, it might be fun to make up your own, using these as a basis and inspiration! Who knows, if you tell a story enough times, it becomes folklore itself, and might end up in book 2….!!

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is described as a comprehensive guide of folklore and myths of the forest. I would describe it as the authora pet project and a book of two halves - 1 is about myths/legends and supported with some research, the 2nd seems to be the author finding out about various ghost stories they have heard from people in pubs. I personally enjoyed the myth section and was disappointed with the amount of the book dedicated to ghost stories. One positive I will say is that the author clearly loves the New Forest and wants others to as well. He has tried to research and support the stories they are describing particularly in regards to smugglers but I would struggle to recommend this book.

[Simone Smith]

Got about 40% through this, but it's felt like a chore to read, and I keep forgetting what I've read almost immediately, so it feels pointless to continue.