As you travel the road between Heatree Cross and Hound Tor you come upon one of Dartmoor's most poignant monuments, the raised grave of Kitty Jay.
Standing on an earthen path and guarded by a tangle of skeletal trees, Jay's Grave has a distinct aura mystery about it and no-one who pauses alongside it can fail to be moved by its melancholic feel.
Although little is known about the woman who supposedly lies here, tradition tells that she was an 18th century workhouse orphan who, having been ruined and deserted by a fickle lover, hanged herself and was buried at a crossroads with a stake driven deep into her heart, as was the custom for dealing with suicides then.
In 1860 her bones were re-discovered and re-buried in this wayside grave on which for years afterwards, fresh flowers would mysteriously appear each morning.
Even when the blizzards of winter had covered the moor with a thick blanket of snow, the flowers would appear, although no footprints were ever found in the snow surrounding Jay's Grave.
Today there are frequent reports of a footless, female figure that is often seen floating eerily above the wayside grave of Kitty Jay.
Folklore Tapes is an open-ended research project exploring the vernacular arcana of Great Britain and beyond; traversing the myths, mysteries, magic and strange phenomena of the old counties via abstracted musical reinterpretation and experimental visuals. The driving principle of the project is to bring the nation’s folk record to life, to rekindle interest in the treasure trove of traditional culture by finding new forms for its expression.
Sunday, 11 December 2011
Friday, 2 December 2011
Tuesday, 4 October 2011
Friday, 2 September 2011
Tuesday, 2 August 2011
Friday, 29 July 2011
first ten folklore books (2 witches)
Here be the first half of 'volume one' of the 'devon folklore tapes'- 'two witches'. A limited run of twenty books will make up the first release.
Monday, 18 July 2011
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