Rise up comrade, and rage against the machine, as on this month's episode of Forgotten Melodies we're talking about Protest Songs!

With Eleanor still recovering from her operation, we brought back-up this time, in the shape of Katie Sommers, Eleanor's long-time partner in puppet theatre company Rust & Stardust. If you're a regular listener than you will hear Katie's singing voice regularly, but on this episode she speaks!

What about? Well, three different songs exploring three different historical causes of protests in England!

The first, Goose and the Common, is all about land rights and enclosure.

The second, Rigs of the Times, is about profiteering - originally following the French Revolution.

The third, The Blackleg Miner, is about strike breaking.

Along the way, we - Katie, Ben, Eleanor and Martin - all discuss various aspects of these protest songs, things we feel like protesting, and protest movements in general - and we very much hope you enjoy the episode!

Speak to you again on Thursday for our Lang Fairy Tale double-bill featuring The Enchanted Pig and Norka before Friday's May Update Episode and Saturday's Three Ravens Live recording from our appearance last month at Treadwells Books!

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

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Join our Patreon

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this week's very special, seasonally appropriate Local Legends episode we have something really special for you - a good long chat with Philip Carr-Gomm!

Philip lives locally to us here in Sussex in Southern England, and is a psychologist, psychotherapist, and author who served as the Chosen Chief of The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids (OBOD) for 32 years. He is widely recognized for his work in blending modern psychology with Druidry and nature-based spirituality, and if only for The Book of English Magic he deserves everyone's thanks and praise.

With May Day/Beltane coming up fast, this chat sees Martin and Philip reflecting on some big topics, including how Philip's childhood and teenage training in Druidry opened his eyes up to wider spiritual worlds, the legacy of Iolo Morganwg, the Push-Pull nature of Gurus and Ashrams, the afterlife of Philip's mentor Ross Nichols, UFOs, astral projection, and much more besides.

We truly hope that you enjoy it, and will speak to you again on Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday this coming week - it's gonna be a big one!

Visit Philip's website: https://philipcarr-gomm.com

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.

Our Lang Fairy Tale for today is another Madame d'Aulnoy story, Princess Rosette.

Also known in some places as The King of the Peacocks or The Black and the White Bride, it's packed full of whimsy, but what is it actually about?

We get lists of fun foods and wonderful creatures, sojourn with side characters with nothing to do, and end up with a kind of take on The Goose Girl.

Considering d'Aulnoy is most known for writing fairy tales for adults, and coined the term 'Fairy Tale' in the first place, perhaps she knew better what ought to go into one.

Then again, should you lock your children up in towers for all their lives? Or impulsively decide to marry a ruler of birds?

Also, what the heck is a cockchafer?!

If you are unfamiliar with the Lang Fairy Tales, these seminal collections were assembled between 1889 and 1913 by a married couple, folklorists and translators Nora and Andrew Lang, with most of the work done to compile them completed by Nora, also known as Leonora Blanche Alleyne.

Assembled and published in 12 colour-coded "Fairy Books," the corpus the Langs put together included 798 fairy tales from across cultures, many of which had never before been translated into English.

They were amongst the most influential books of their time, changing the course of children's literature - although they're hardly just for children, and often deal with quite challenging concepts.

Today, purchasing a complete set of the Lang Fairy Books in good condition costs over £4,000 ($5,000+).

Thankfully, the collections are all out of copyright, meaning that we can now tell these stories, in podcast form, many for the first time, and share them with a global audience, for free.

Our plan is to release the stories between main series of Three Ravens, performing them straight (though with plenty of silly voices) letting the tales speak for themselves in all their madcap, sharp-edged, often quite bizarre glory.

The only edits we have made are to amend some culturally-insensitive epithets, which typically pertain to ethnicity, with any such edits made by Eleanor Conlon.

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.

What's that coming over the hill with fists full of sheep and improbably large trousers on? It's a new episode of Three Ravens Bestiary of course, all about the mythology and folklore of Giants!

We begin with a brief chat about Gigantism, the rare medical condition which makes people grow larger than normal - and other examples of very large human ancestors, from extremely tall Egyptian pharaohs and Roman Centurions to the Gravettian Hunters - the 'Giants of the Ice Age.'

Soon though we're digging into appropriately enormous questions, such as, how tall are Giants actually meant to be? What do we know about the first Giant mentioned in writing, and how did we get from concepts of the snake-tailed Ancient Greek 'Gigantes' of classical mythology to the 19th century concept of Giants as blundering nitwits easily bested by things as simple as holes in the ground?

Surprise surprise, there's something about the whole idea related to how 'modern people' view the past, and the foreign, whether that be in the case of David slaying Goliath, Heracles helping Zeus and his siblings to quell rebellions, or Norse deities using the corpse of a giant to build the world around us...

Featuring one or two puns, and a whole host of other stuff - such as apotropaic giant magic, a gender-swapping relationship counsellor, and plenty of linguistic nerdery from all over the world, it's a big topic, but like many warriors before us we've brought it down to our level!

We also hope you are thoroughly pleased by our new episode art, as drawn by our good friend Tom Peteuil of Creature Castle - check out brand new 'G is for Giants' merch from us here and visit the Creature Castle shop for prints and other wonderful things here.

Speak to you again on Thursday for this week's Lang Fairy Tale, Princess Rosette, before Saturday's Local Legends interview with the man who was head of the largest Druid order in the world for 35 years, Philip Carr-Gomm!

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, 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.

For our first Three Ravens Live Show release of 2026 we have a recording from Farnham Literary Festival in March, all about the history and folklore of Surrey!

Recorded at Farnham Town Hall, a stone's throw from the town's Norman castle, we begin by offering a whistle-stop tour of the ways in which the historic county of Surrey has been shaped by conflicts, including Bronze Age tribal clashes, Viking invasions, and the seemingly unstoppable growth of neighbouring Greater London.

Despite the county having traditionally been overlooked in terms of its folklore and folktales, this episode is packed to the gunnels, from the legacy of local witch Mother Ludlam to the dragon converted to Christianity by St Martha, the eerily haunted natural spring known as 'The Silent Hill' to persistent horse demons, eccentrics buried upside-down, the Devil's various doings in the county, and much more besides!

For our story, Eleanor transports us to Chertsey during the Wars of the Roses for a romance that stopped time - The Legend of Blanche Heriot - underscored by Martin doing his best with bells, cymbals and coconuts, after which we discuss the story's provenance and open the floor for a Q&A pleasingly enlivened by contributions from The Farnham Folklore Society.

Thank you so much to everyone who came along, Farnham Town Council for hosting the event, and if you would like to come and see us recording Three Ravens Live at one of our upcoming events then do please take a look at our Events Calendar and book yourself some tickets!

We really hope you enjoy the episode, and will speak to you again on Monday for a new episode of the Three Ravens Bestiary all about the history and mythology of Giants!

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.

For today's Lang Fairy Tales episode we have a tale with its very own ATU number - The Master Thief!

First recorded, to our knowledge, by Herodotus in the 5th century B.C. the story became popular in Europe due to a single writer in the Italian Renaissance who popularised the "Rise Tale" - the story of someone from a more modest background outwitting the rich to become rich themselves.

In this case, with the Langs taking their version from Asbjørnsen and Moe, we have a youngest son who is a trickster, cross-dresser, huntsman, passable fake corpse, and torturer of priests.

Is he a hero? Perhaps not - but is that perhaps the point, with European society being so unfairly organised that only the deceitful can succeed within it?

Naturally we have a chat about all that, and about the story's clear roots in commedia dell'arte, at the end.

If you are unfamiliar with the Lang Fairy Tales, these seminal collections were assembled between 1889 and 1913 by a married couple, folklorists and translators Nora and Andrew Lang, with most of the work done to compile them completed by Nora, also known as Leonora Blanche Alleyne.

Assembled and published in 12 colour-coded "Fairy Books," the corpus the Langs put together included 798 fairy tales from across cultures, many of which had never before been translated into English.

They were amongst the most influential books of their time, changing the course of children's literature - although they're hardly just for children, and often deal with quite challenging concepts.

Today, purchasing a complete set of the Lang Fairy Books in good condition costs over £4,000 ($5,000+).

Thankfully, the collections are all out of copyright, meaning that we can now tell these stories, in podcast form, many for the first time, and share them with a global audience, for free.

Our plan is to release the stories between main series of Three Ravens, performing them straight (though with plenty of silly voices) letting the tales speak for themselves in all their madcap, sharp-edged, often quite bizarre glory.

The only edits we have made are to amend some culturally-insensitive epithets, which typically pertain to ethnicity, with any such edits made by Eleanor Conlon.

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.

We're back in the saddle after Eleanor's operation and talking all about the history of Exorcism!

One of those complex kinds of topic we so enjoy discussing on Magic and Medicines, belief in Exorcism is rather predicated on personal faith, including in Demons or other supernatural entities.

It's also a tradition impossible to separate from the seminal movie The Exorcist of 1973 due to that film's staggering cultural impact.

Thing is, Exorcism is a practice which seems to predate the written word.

Almost every world religion has a version of it, with several forms of modern Paganism also embracing concepts of spirit manipulation and cleansing.

So, how should we think of Exorcism as distinct from what's contained in The Exorcist?

Why is it quite so popular with Catholics, and was it always?

Can anybody become an Exorcist, and what protects vulnerable people from being taken advantage of by hucksters and worse?

Also, should we not be thinking about Jesus and his Twelve Disciples as Exorcists, considering Exorcism is one of the things they are most celebrated for in the Gospels?

Does this, in turn, mean many heroes of mystic Jewish tradition were actually the first Ghostbusters?

As ever, we really hope you enjoy the episode and we will speak to you again on Thursday with our new Lang Fairy Tales episode before Saturday's release of Three Ravens Live @ Farnham Literary Festival!

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.

And we finish our week of releases with another double bill - including one story that's pretty great, and another that loses its way a bit...

The more successful of the two is the first Irish legend to feature in the Lang collections, The Black Thief and Knight of the Glen, performed by Martin, which is a shaggy dog story featuring thrilling flights of fancy and a surprisingly clever plot.

Then comes Brother and Sister, read by Eleanor, which is a tale of two dipstick siblings who opt not to become tigers.

It has a ghost, as well - albeit the payoff to that whole section feels pretty lame, so thank goodness the story is at least mercifully short!

We of course get into this, along with the whole issue the Langs seemed to have with stepmothers.

Why?!

Answers on a postcard, please!

If you are unfamiliar with the Lang Fairy Tales, these seminal collections were assembled between 1889 and 1913 by a married couple, folklorists and translators Nora and Andrew Lang, with most of the work done to compile them completed by Nora, also known as Leonora Blanche Alleyne.

Assembled and published in 12 colour-coded "Fairy Books," the corpus the Langs put together included 798 fairy tales from across cultures, many of which had never before been translated into English.

They were amongst the most influential books of their time, changing the course of children's literature - although they're hardly just for children, and often deal with quite challenging concepts.

Today, purchasing a complete set of the Lang Fairy Books in good condition costs over £4,000 ($5,000+).

Thankfully, the collections are all out of copyright, meaning that we can now tell these stories, in podcast form, many for the first time, and share them with a global audience, for free.

Our plan is to release the stories between main series of Three Ravens, performing them straight (though with plenty of silly voices) letting the tales speak for themselves in all their madcap, sharp-edged, often quite bizarre glory.

The only edits we have made are to amend some culturally-insensitive epithets, which typically pertain to ethnicity, with any such edits made by Eleanor Conlon.

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.