Off the Grid, The Epic Tale of The Dun Cow…

Stories abound of how the giant cattle of the fairy folk were sometimes our saviours

“There was once a bright-white milch-cow which travelled round the world, giving milk enough for all comers. Whoever drank of her milk immediately became wise, and was healed of whatsoever disease he had. She left calves behind her in every place, and from her all the milch-cows in the world are descended.”

Not so long ago, I was invited to give a talk about Shropshire Folklore. My research led me to a Bronze Age megalithic circle known as Mitchell’s Fold, located on Stapeley Hill near Priest Weston, in the Welsh Marches, and an age-old folk tale associated with the place.

One of the stones still standing at Mitchell’s Fold — or is it the petrified witch? [photograph © Stephanie Hayes / Shropshire Hills AONB Partnership, used by kind permission]

…or How Now Brown Cow?

A long, long time ago, the people of Priest Weston suffered a terrible drought. Crops failed, livestock was dying, and the people were starving. A local witch claimed that she could end the drought with her spells. She asked the people to pay her in bread and cheese, which were in scarce supply and their only dwindling source of sustenance. They began giving their food to the witch, which she either ate herself or sold back to the folk. As the wicked witch grew fat, the drought continued unabated…