The Storyteller: Sabine Baring-Gould’s spirit lives on in more ways than one

Sabine Baring-Gould was a man of many talents and interests, but the area we share in common is our love of local folklore.

He would go amongst the native population and collect their traditional folk songs, with a view to preserving them for posterity, while I like to research, study and investigate Dartmoor myths and legends so that I can share my findings with any audience I can muster, whether that be places like this, with the written word, or orally with my talks, walks and tours.

I’m not trying to compare myself to the great man, but I know there are many others, locally, who, like me, are following in his footsteps and would like nothing more than to bask in his shadow for a moment.

Sabine was actually born in St Sidwells, Exeter, not far from where I currently live, in 1834. He ended his very full and diverse life as squire and parson of his family home, at Lewtrenchard, to the north of Dartmoor, in 1924, aged 89.

As well as a collector of traditional folk songs, he was an antiquarian and novelist in his own right, with his vast output including books on ghosts and even werewolves, but his most famous works are of a more religious nature, the hymns Onward Christian Soldiers and Now the Day is Over.

His varied career took him all around the country, but when his father died, he inherited his family home on the edge of the moors, where he was able to indulge his interest in Dartmoor archaeology, carrying out some of the first authorised excavations of hut circles and preserving its many standing stones for future generations.

These are antiquities that I’m also very much into, having visited most of them since I arrived on Dartmoor’s doorstep in 1987. However, I feel my connection to this vast wilderness dates back to the fact my parents honeymooned in the area back in 1962, and nine months later I was born, with an essence of Dartmoor in my DNA...

When I came to launch my group TIP (Torbay Investigators of the Paranormal), with Dave and Adrian, armed with our own fascination into local ghosts and folklore, we were thrilled to come across a fellow scholar of the subject, in Totnes, the one and only Bob Mann.

Bob has been running his own Ghost Walks around the town since he wrote his book, The Ghosts of Totnes, back in the 80s. He now publishes other books on the subject, bringing it to a new audience of folklore enthusiasts, in the same way that Sabine did, of whom Bob is a fellow admirer.

Another seeker and sharer of local tales is Phil Smith, AKA The Crab Walking Man, whom I met many years ago and have enjoyed many walks and adventures with since. More recently, when he heard of my intentions to hold walks in Bovey Tracey, he pointed me in the direction of the stunning memorial to the Gurney sisters in St John’s churchyard.

They tragically drowned in a boating accident on the River Nile in 1875. The story of their brother, Edmund, and how he chose to live his life after surviving when his sisters didn’t, is fascinating and worth joining me on that particular walk for.

My good friend, David Hammond, accompanies me when we go out to record my take on folklore stories in the locations where they allegedly took place. He then airs them on his Thursday morning radio show on Riviera FM, under the title South Devon Folklore. It’s worth tuning in for those alone!

Another lover of all things spooky is Lawrence Patrick McNeela, who first got in touch with me when he wanted an interview for his slot on Palm FM. He recorded some of my stories, not just once but several times. More recently, he has included me on his new YouTube channel, sharing more of my experiences there.

He has also written a couple of books with a Dartmoor setting, one of which I’ve just read, all about Sabine Baring-Gould’s passing interest in werewolves, which gets him roped into the hunt for a fictionalised real-life Beast of Dartmoor...a most interesting read.

Then we come to someone who could be described as a modern incarnation of Sabine Baring-Gould in his dogged pursuit of all those tidbits for inclusion on his mighty opus, The Dartmoor Folklore Map. I give you Ethan Pennell. We first met, serendipitously, last year, at the Museum of Dartmoor Life, in Okehampton, when he was there putting the finishing touches to their guest display, Magic and Myth: Folklore on Dartmoor Today, on the first day of the season.

I was there, with David, making some recordings, ahead of the launch of my Ghost Walks. Our paths crossed in the foyer as I was purchasing his map, which he signed for me, and we expressed our mutual love of the subject. Last Halloween, we met again at The Old Exeter Inn, in Ashburton, after he had hosted an afternoon of performances, inspired by his map, ably assisted by students from the costume design department at Plymouth University, at Field System, across the way.

Each model illustrated one of the enigmatic women featured on said map as Ethan told their story. The ladies all looked awesome as they drank amongst us, adding a certain frisson ahead of our ghost hunt in the pub that night.

The other week, he popped up again, this time supporting my endeavours at Field System, where Helen Bruce and I were putting on an evening of storytelling that I had dubbed Bad Friday, all about the Devil coming to Dartmoor, alongside tales of witchcraft, dotted around the moors, forming my Witches Triangle.

The event was modestly attended, largely due to my choice of the Bank Holiday weekend and the inclement weather, but those present had a thoroughly enjoyable evening, and that included Ethan. He was there, notebook and pen in hand, to record any of those aforementioned tidbits for inclusion in his planned book to accompany the map.

When we went for a drink afterwards, with Milly and Mark, the owners of Field System, he assured me he would credit me if he used any of my stories, and we promised to share any new discoveries, of a folkloric nature, with each other for our mutual benefit.

He then went on to declare that his task was neverending, a bit like the painting of the Forth Bridge, in that, once his planned book is finished, he might have to update the map to include all the new bits of information he has gathered. I feel a book of haunted pubs might also be on the cards, as he added a couple more to his list that night, and he has asked me to accompany him on any necessary pub crawl...

Finally, I can’t end this article about fellow sharers and collectors of folklore without paying tribute to my partner in crime over the Bad Friday event, Helen Bruce. She was amazing and so laid-back about the whole thing.

She quite happily took my lead from the outset, arranging the evening with just one face-to-face meeting, a couple of emails to discuss choices of stories, no rehearsal, just straight in, and BOOM...we smashed it! Our banter with each other and the audience was just right. Mark and Ethan couldn’t believe that we had never worked together before; it was seamless. She was a joy to work with, and we have plans to do it again very soon.

We first met at a Visit Dartmoor networking session at the Two Bridges Hotel last year. Helen and her boss from the DPA (Dartmoor Preservation Association) both approached me, having recognised me in my Steampunk attire, expressing a desire to work with me in some way. The upshot of that meeting was that I submitted a couple of articles for their website last Halloween, and I’m leading a walk around my Witches Triangle, as part of their walking season, next Halloween.

When Helen mentioned she ran her own storytelling group, Solstice Storytelling Circle, and was looking out for venues to gig in, it seemed a no-brainer for us to combine forces. Field System seemed the ideal location for our first go, and I’m grateful to Milly and Mark for giving us the opportunity. Our different styles complement each other perfectly, with Helen, a more traditional storyteller, and I, the researcher, looking for the factual nature of the tales we tell.

I can’t wait to go again. Hopefully, that will be in June, but before then, I will be running another series of my Ghost Walks throughout May... More details available soon...or just contact me to express your interest and book, as places will be limited: davidtiptrips@gmail.com