Beachcombing's Bizarre History Blog

We are in Orkney 1898. The people of Staxigoe, a village about two miles from Wick, were much excited on Saturday when they discovered that a mermaid had been washed ashore. The head was wanting, but what remained left no doubt in the good folks’ minds that a genuine mermaid lay stretched before them. Body […]

Soviet soldier feeds owl.

Had something stolen? A close friend has been murdered? Or has there been a kidnapping in the family? Help unfortunately is not at hand. The FBI are busy with the Patriot Act, the A Team are lost in the Los Angeles Underground and Le Chevalier C. Auguste Dupin is regrettably fictional. However, do not despair for […]

This is a well known urban legend, but what is of great interest here is the documented splash it made in the UK and particularly at English dinner parties. We are in 1913 so not really Victorian England, but surely the content justifies its inclusion in the series? The tale, at least this variant of […]

A Blake image I had not seen before this summer.

Dated 1940

USS Anzio

How do urban legends spread and how quickly? The following is a suggestion for an experiment involving the creation and propagation of a new urban legend. First phase: a team creates a credible story and each member changes details but not narratives. Second phase: they, then, on a given day, release the story on an […]

Trotsky meets Kahlo: a few months before the icepick.

On this site we have frequently examined how fairies have changed through the generations. For example, the way that fairy wings have gone from being a minority convention in art to being practically de rigueur for the fay; or the way that the size of fairies has changed. However, these are superficial baubles in the […]

14 Cent BC Anatolian

Nice mermaid story from 1886 (anon). A young man comes across a mermaid in Aberdeen harbour. Interestingly the experience ended in a police court. The latest ‘mermaid’ story is a local one. It evolved itself in the Aberdeen Police Court on Monday this wise: About seven o’clock Sunday a young son of the sea who […]

This story came out in the Pall Mall Gazette, in early January 1885. It has that sharp cordite smell of urban legend and is, truly, as the journalist says, ‘an amusing story’. Massive kudos to anyone who can send in other nineteenth or twentieth century examples: drbeachcombing AT gmail DOT com An amusing story reaches us […]

Beach is happy to announce that just two days ago Gibson Square released Magical Folk: British and Irish Fairies (a topic close to the heart of many readers of this blog). The book is choc full of fairy experts and includes three chapters on European emigrant fairies in the New World. The authors are: Magical […]

Dear Reader, November a pleasant month after the hell of October (ever forget): lots of writing and proofreading. Thanks for all good wishes. There follow the most interesting words sent in to StrangeHistory. Thanks to all contributors and linkers… Beach Big Brother Urban Legends: Filip G with some great East bloch examples… Cruiser Tank: NH gives […]