Here Be Dragons

Dragons are everywhere in the British countryside! They are woven into the folk history of villages and hamlets, they snarl from church decorations and they survive in mumming plays and other pageants. Tracing their remains, in whatever form they are to be found, is no only a fascinating pastime but a glimpse into how our rural forefathers thought and behaved, for dragons played the vital role of representing evil and destruction in the pantheon of the country dweller.

Ralph Whitlock has found almost 200 places in England, Scotland and Wales where there is evidence of a dragon tradition. He describes every one in a comprehensive Gazetteer, and also provides in his long introduction an examination of dragon legends throughout history and in other lands. He examines, too, the ways in which the Church made use of dragon lore to put across its ideas - an intriguing example of the meeting of pagan and Christian.

The text is illustrated by 59 engravings and photographs, and will be an important source for folklorists as well as providing hours of fascination for would-be dragon-hunters.