Legend Land, Vol. 3: Being a Further Collection of Some of the Old Tales Told in Those Western Parts of Britain Served by the Great Western Railway

In Short

This collection gathers traditional folklore from the western reaches of Britain to enrich the journeys of modern travelers. Across its pages, a prince executes a cunning bargain with a shapeshifting sorcerer, a holy woman shelters wild hares, and King Arthur slumbers beneath a Welsh cavern alongside his knights. Out at sea, a lady’s magical voice hypnotizes marine life, while onshore, a clever doctor outwits an oppressive giant. Produced by a railway company, the book preserves local myths—from Cornish witch trials to ancient sea-battles—to transform ordinary landscapes into places of historical wonder.

The Story

The narrative opens in Wales with Prince Manawyddan, who discovers a army of field mice destroying his wheat fields. Capturing a single mouse, he prepares to hang the thief upon a tiny wooden gallows. Despite lucrative ransoms offered by passing travelers, the prince holds firm until a bishop admits the captive is his shapeshifting wife. Driven into a corner, the sorcerer yields to the prince's demands: he lifts all curses from the region, restores the missing kingdom, and frees the landscape into permanent fertility.

From this triumph of wits, the focus turns to the sanctuary of St. Melangell. Fleeing an unwanted marriage, the maiden hides in the wilderness for fifteen years among wild animals. When Prince Brochwel’s hounds pursue a hare into her thicket, the huntsman finds his horn glued to his lips. Acknowledging her holiness, the prince grants her the surrounding lands as a permanent asylum for wild creatures. Nearby, within the cavernous depths of Craig-y-Ddinas, King Arthur and his knights lie in age-old slumber around a mound of treasure. A greedy traveler twice raids the vault, but his clumsy movements sound a silver warning bell, narrowly avoiding the knights' awakening before he loses the entrance forever.

In Ireland, Princess Bronwen endures severe degradation, forced to work as a palace cook after a feud breaks out between her Irish husband and her British kin. Across the sea in Carnarvonshire, a careless maiden named Grace forgets to cover a sacred spring. The resulting deluge submerges surrounding farmland to form Llyn Glasfryn, and Grace is transformed into a maiden-headed swan doomed to swim the lake forever. Meanwhile, along the rocky coast of Pembrokeshire, St. Govan finds shelter from sea-pirates inside a miraculous rock fissure that expands to fit any faithful visitor.

Moving southward into Cornwall, fairy folk dance among sea pinks at Treen, while at Dodman Point, a brave village doctor bleeds a tyrannical giant to death under the guise of medical treatment. At Pengersick Castle, a mysterious Saracen lady uses her ethereal singing voice to calm her sorcerer husband and enchant surrounding sea life. Farther east, St. German confronts stubborn heretics at Rame Head, weeping tears that carve permanent springs into the cliff face. At Rosewarne, an avaricious lawyer named Ezekiel Grosse unearths buried gold guided by a ghost, only to be tormented into insanity by the phantom’s mocking laughter. Finally, a young bride's mercy spares an old woman from execution as creeping sands threaten to bury Hellenclose, and a traditional "Three Man's Song" celebrates the historic naval victory of Cornish hero Nicholl over the French marauder John Dory.

How It Unfolds

The Prince and the Sorcerer Prince Manawyddan catches a mouse stealing his wheat and constructs a miniature gallows to execute it. He refuses ransom offers from a scholar, a priest, and a bishop, forcing the bishop to admit he is a sorcerer and the mouse is his wife. Manawyddan trades her freedom for the complete removal of curses over his land.

Sanctuary in the Hills St. Melangell shelters a hunted hare beneath her robes, causing a huntsman's horn to stick fast to his mouth when he ignores her pleas. Moved by the miracle, Prince Brochwel grants her the surrounding valley to establish a holy convent. She spends the rest of her days protecting wild animals, which locals call her "lambs."

The Golden Cavern A Welshman discovers King Arthur and his armored knights sleeping around a table of gold inside Craig-y-Ddinas. He successfully steals a portion of gold by reassuring the awakened knights that it is still night. However, his second attempt fails when his greed causes him to strike a silver warning bell, sealing the cave's location forever.

Tales of Transformation and Doom Princess Bronwen is reduced to a palace cook in Erin following a family feud, while a careless girl named Grace neglects a sacred well, causing a flood that creates Llyn Glasfryn. As punishment, Grace is transformed into a maiden-headed swan bound to the lake until the Day of Judgment. Meanwhile, a clever doctor tricks a giant into being bled until he passes out, then kicks him off the Dodman cliffs.

Spectres and Songs Ezekiel Grosse uses a ghost's directions to find buried gold, but the phantom haunts his banquets until he surrenders his ill-gotten wealth. Nearby, an encroaching sandstorm threatens a lord's fourth hall, where a bride's act of mercy saves an accused witch. The volume concludes with "John Dory," a folk song recounting a Cornish sailor's victory over a French pirate.

The People

• Manawyddan: A resolute prince who outwits a powerful enchanter through stubborn adherence to his own justice.
• St. Melangell: A gentle hermit whose deep spiritual authority subdues huntsmen and secures protection for wildlife.
• King Arthur: The legendary monarch who slumbers beneath Craig-y-Ddinas alongside his armored knights, awaiting Britain's hour of need.
• Grace: A careless village girl whose failure to cover a sacred spring causes a catastrophic flood, leading to her eternal transformation into a swan.
• The Doctor of St. Goran: A resourceful physician who uses standard medical practices to weaken and destroy an oppressive giant.
• The Saracen Lady of Pengersick: A beautiful, sorrowful woman whose enchanted singing voice soothes her sorcerer husband and mesmerizes nature.
• Ezekiel Grosse: An avaricious attorney whose greed drives him to claim ghostly treasure, resulting in his ultimate ruin and isolation.
• Nicholl: A brave Cornish mariner from Bohyde who sails a black bark to defeat the feared pirate John Dory.

In Its Own Voice

"These romances are perhaps the most 'genuine antiques' that our country can offer, and they come from the corners of our land where romance still lingers and where, to the country folk, rocks and lakes, streams and great hills, are matters of history--not geology."

This passage from the foreword invites readers to set aside modern skepticism and view the British countryside through ancient imagination.

"The holy woman smiled and the huntsman regained his speech, his horn dropping to the ground."

Here, the gentle power of St. Melangell easily overcomes brute force, demonstrating the spiritual authority running through these regional tales.

"To complete a perfect cure, the doctor explained, the giant must sit on the edge of the cliff at the point of the headland, and the giant obeyed the instruction."

This moment captures the grim humor of Cornish folk logic, where trickery easily defeats overwhelming physical force.

What It's Really About

Behind its light, promotional origin, the collection examines how human communities make sense of their geography through narrative. The stories frame the rugged landscapes of Wales and Cornwall not as sterile rock and water, but as living monuments to human choices, spiritual interventions, and moral struggles. The text repeatedly pits human cunning and mercy against raw force, whether a prince outwitting a sorcerer, a doctor ridding a village of a tyrant, or a bride showing compassion to an accused witch. Beneath the charm lies an argument for preserving regional memory against the flattening effects of modern industrialization.

Why Read It Today

This collection offers a delightful glimpse into early twentieth-century travel writing, blending authentic folklore with regional topography. Readers who enjoy British history, Celtic myth, or historical travelogues will appreciate its concise storytelling and vivid local color. The prose is unpretentious, accessible, and thoroughly atmospheric, evoking the sea winds, rocky headlands, and quiet chapels of western Britain.

The book’s structure reflects its original purpose as a series of railway leaflets, meaning the stories are short and episodic rather than deeply developed narrative arcs. Modern readers may occasionally encounter archaic phrasing or period-typical romanticizing of rustic life, but these elements only enhance its vintage appeal. What stays with you is the sense of place—the idea that every headland, lake, and ruined wall holds a story waiting to be remembered.