The Three Ravens Podcast

• Local Legends #40: Jack Raven

  On this week's episode of Local Legends, Martin is joined around the campfire by folklorist, YouTuber, and all-round champion for Staffordshire, Jack Raven!As anyone familiar with his documentaries and video essays will know, 'Jack Raven' is a character - a talking, animated corvid - inspired by the 20th century Staffordshire folklorist and musician Jon Raven (he of the Black Country Three) who was, alas, only human.In addition to creating and maintaining the Staffordshire Folklore YouTube channel though, and having a sharp beak and pinions as dark as shadows, Jack also manages two other YouTube channels dedicated to Staffordshire’s history and folk heritage.Plus, he also collects folklore from his local area, and, while also being very funny, creative, imaginative, and generous, he is truly dedicated and careful in his research too.That this episode is slightly longer than the average Local Legends interview speaks to how enjoyable he is to talk to, and his passion for Staffordshire's history and legends. We could have gone on for hours!It's a fascinating conversation, featuring, in addition to plenty else, Black Country chain makers, Staffordshire potteries, infamous poisoners, Hands of Glory, and the reality behind the many unsettling legends of Cannock Chase...You can learn more about Jack and his work through his Campsite here, and the comparative map tool he mentions in the conversation is available here.But for right now, let us settle in, nice and close, around the Three Ravens campfire and listen in to a chat about crumbling Gothic ruins, the infamous case of Staffordshire ne’er do well William Booth, the life of a folklore YouTuber, and so much more, with a true Local Legend: Jack Raven.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?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 Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• Forgotten Melodies #4: Villain Songs

  Cover your faces and wield your flintlocks with care, as on this month's Forgotten Melodies bonus episode we're talking all about Villain Songs - in particular, Van Diemen's Land, The Female Highwayman, and The Lincolnshire Poacher! As ever, the episode contains new takes on all three of these songs from Eleanor and Ben, as well as plenty of chat about the history behind each song, and the English traditions of poaching and roadside robbery.From the nation's 18th century penchant for sending people to what is today called Tasmania for even the most minor of crimes to quite possibly the worst girlfriend ever, and the folk of Lincolnshire's very proud tradition of pinching stuff from the landed gentry, it's a fun episode underpinned by some serious concepts.After all, these songs do have dark underbellies - and how ought we feel about crime and punishment? Should we still be singing songs with misogyny baked into them from conception? And does our love of the 'English rebel' obscure an awkward fact: that we seem to often want to cheer on those who have clearly broken the law...As always, we really hope you enjoy the episode, and what's that in your pretty coin purse there? Well, well - stand and deliver!The 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?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 Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• Series 6 Episode 11: Staffordshire

  On the week's episode of Three Ravens we're mining out the black gold of history and folklore of Staffordshire - a county with some pretty dark parts, and some very silly ones, too.We start off discussing the tradition of Rogationtide, a week-long celebration that would have started today, which basically involved smacking the ghosts out of your village, all before we sally forth to Staffordshire!We begin with some pretty cool bits of history, including the Black Country industry of chain-making and its relation to the Chained Oak of Alton, the mythical slaughter that gave Lichfield its name, and the rather lofty 'Old Man of Mow,' all before Martin tries to excite us with pretty meagre fare, before pulling out a military-themed pudding for this week's County Dish.Next, we get elbow-deep in folklore, from the doings of Jacobean giant 'Big Wally' Parsons and the church-eating Dragon of Wednesbury to boggarts including Rawhead and Bloody Bones and Dumb Baw to so much else besides, all enhanced by some excerpts from Saturday's upcoming Local Legends interview with Jack Raven, the canny corvid behind the Staffordshire Folklore YouTube channel.Then it's on to the main event: Martin's telling of "The Mermaid of the Black Mere of Morridge" - a slightly murky legend about love, murder, and a mysterious pool that might just lead down the fairyland...We really hope you enjoy the episode, and will be back on Thursday with both a new Forgotten Melodies bonus episode about Villain Songs and a Patreon-exclusive episode of Three Ravens Film Club about 2001's Session 9, all before the full interview with Jack Raven comes out on Saturday!The 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?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 Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• Local Legends #39: Dr Rory Waterman and Dr Anna Milon

  On this week's episode of Local Legends, Martin is joined around the campfire by Dr Rory Waterman and Dr Anna Milon of the Lincolnshire Folk Tales Project!Rory leads the Lincolnshire Folk Tales project, and is an Associate Professor of Creative Writing and Modern & Contemporary Literature at Nottingham Trent University. Anna, meanwhile, is a postdoctoral research fellow on the Lincolnshire Folk Tales Project, having recently obtained her PhD from the University of Exeter. In term of this thing that has brought Anna and Rory together, The Lincolnshire Folk Tales Project, it's dedicated to preserving, sharing, and promoting the rich but often overlooked oral storytelling tradition of Lincolnshire, and its legacy in written and recorded literature. For over a year, the project has focused on collecting, recording, presenting, reinterpreting and discussing folk tales, legends, and myths that have been passed down through generations in the region, and this has all culminated in the first of two books, Lincolnshire Folk Tales Reimagined, which was released in February and is available to purchase right now.You can learn more about the Lincolnshire Folk Tales Project, Rory, Anna, and buy the book, through lincolnshirefolktalesproject.com – a website that is also spilling over with amazing lore and stories.For right now though, gather in close around the Three Ravens campfire and listen in to a chat about creepy little fairy men pretending to be babies, and werewolves on windswept coastal islands, fen magic, tiddy mun, and so much more, with two true Local Legends: Dr Rory Waterman and Dr Anna Milon.We really hope you enjoy it, and will be back on Monday with our brand new County Episode all about the history and folklore of Staffordshire!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?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 Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• Three Ravens Bestiary #17: Hellhounds

  For this week's Bonus Episode we're padding through mists on silent paws and peering, with eyes of flame, at the history and folklore of Hellhounds!With so much to talk about, there's no mucking around: we dive straight into prehistory, discussing how humankind's domestication of the dog set the stage for conceptions of the Hellhound. From our earliest rock art through to the very first toys and statues, dogs were with us.But what about their dark double - the 'Demon Dog' or 'Hellhound?' From vengeful Ancient Mesopotamian afterlife creatures like the Shadu and Sharru to the role the Jackal (and Jackal-headed deity Anubis) played in Ancient Egyptian belief, via Classical notions about dogs and Hellhounds like Cerberus, it's startling how consistent beliefs about these 'Not Dog' monsters have remained. And descriptions of Demon Dogs across time have been wild and absurd. But, from Roman notions of the 'Duties of a Dog' through to Medieval and Renaissance attitudes to the fae and 'Other,' we, as a species, kept it nice and weird, trying to define the paranormal pooch as uncanny and terrifying, even though individual Hellhounds are often quite nice to people!From England's most famous example in the shape of Black Shuck to monsters with dog bodies and human heads, canine boggarts that grow to the height of houses to talking Hellhounds that just want to snuggle in your pocket, we're embracing it all. So, join with us beneath the light of the moon, and let our howls float on the breeze, singing of doom and portents.For in this episode, we look into the dark mirrors of our minds, and see what is reflected there.Not 'man's best friend' but something else with fur, four legs, a tail, and its own agenda that we simply cannot understand.Therefore, we howl.The 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?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 Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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