A journey into a magical land
Illustrated Tales Of Wales is a fascinating book that will inspire you to head for the hills to discover the real places linked with Wales’ most remarkable and magical stories, writes Jenny White...
ARED and a white dragon fighting tooth and claw in the moonlit sky, mischievous fairy folk luring unwary travellers deep into their underground lairs, a kindhearted mermaid saving the lives of those in peril on the high seas and a charmed boy who transforms into an otter and a bird to outrun a wicked witch.
In Illustrated Tales Of Wales, Wales’ resident folklore and Forteana expert Mark Rees explores the fantastical myths, legends and folk stories of Wales which have long fired the imagination of young and old alike. From the medieval tales of the Mabinogion to those rooted firmly in Arthurian mythology, they are by turns quirky and macabre and tell of heroic pets, strange superstitions, devious devils and restless spirits.
A south Wales-based journalist and writer, Mark’s previous books have explored Welsh tales of ghosts, witchcraft and other curiosities and his new book has the same engaging style and spirit of inquiry. All of the tales are rooted in real places that can be visited – but Mark notes that you might need a good pair of hiking boots to reach some of them.
“I wrote it alongside my last book Paranormal Wales and they both involve travelling around Wales in search of the weird and wonderful,” says Mark. “The scarier stories about ghosts and poltergeists went into Paranormal Wales and the more fantastical tales about wizards and giants are in Illustrated Tales Of Wales.
“My main motivation was writing about tales that concern real places and, as such, can be explored in person after reading them. Luckily, I finished writing it just before the pandemic struck in early 2020 – it would be a very different book had I written it during the many lockdowns.”
Mark rarely visits anywhere without checking beforehand what quirky features there might to explore – there are always clues to be found in the architecture, the landscape, by talking to the locals and by checking the archives.
“As a result, I’ve built up decades’ worth of research that’s cluttering up my computer and my office at home is littered with stacks of old clippings and folklore books,” he says. “The real
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challenge wasn’t finding stories but deciding which ones to use, because most places in Wales have a story to tell when you scratch beneath the surface.”
Mark always aims to cover as many parts of Wales as possible – so while it would have been easy to write a book entirely about tales from Snowdonia, he has ensured there are also tales covering everywhere from Ynys Môn in the Irish Sea to Chepstow on the English border.
“I love writing about tales that concern real places, as opposed to vague stories that took place ‘once upon a time’ and ‘somewhere in Wales’,” he adds. “This gave me a longlist to start with and, as my publisher specified that the book needed to be heavily illustrated with photographs – hence the name – I narrowed it down to a selection of stories in places that, while not necessarily photogenic, lend themselves well to photography.
“One thing that became apparent is just how varied the different parts of Wales really are. Much like the dialect and accents that change as you travel the country, so do the stories we tell.
“Snowdonia and the surrounding areas, for example, are unsurprisingly mystical and dotted with tales of legendary figures, while the more industrialised parts of the south are far darker in their accounts of ghosts and goblins. There are also shifts over time – for example, y Tylwyth Teg, the Welsh fairy folk, were once prevalent in the northern mountains, but by the 19th century they had established the Neath Valley as their new headquarters and, to the best of my knowledge, they’re still haunting the waterfalls today.”
He wanted the tales to be as authentic as possible, so as well as being a great storyteller, he also recounts the stories from a historian’s perspective, explaining where they came from and how they might have changed over the years.
“I also hope that, while the book has been written for an adult audience, it’s family-friendly enough that younger readers can enjoy the tales in a Horrible Histories way,” he adds. “A good example is the story of St Dwynwen, the Welsh patron saint of lovers who, in the most common version of her story, is a heartbroken princess who turns her back on love to dedicate herself to God’s service.
“But the tale has evolved over time and there are different versions out there that range from the violent to the overly sanitised and my approach is to tell the tale while acknowledging that other versions exist and, as a result, there might be more to the story.”
Mark’s work – and his engaging posts on Twitter and Instagram – reflect a lifelong love of reading old collections of Welsh folklore, folk tales and legends. He particularly likes those written by people who genuinely believed in the subjects they are investigating.
“Unlike me, they weren’t simply recording old folk tales about vampires, they were recording hard evidence about vampires that lived in the dark forests outside their windows and that takes you right back to a different time and a different belief system,” he says.
“My main influence in writing a book of this nature would probably be Peter Underwood, an English ghost-hunter who started travelling Britain in the 1970s to collect local ghost stories and who popularised the idea of writing books about strange subjects based on location. I devoured his book about Wales and now here I am, many years later, walking in his very large footsteps.”
Other influences range from reading Y Mabinogi to watching Ghostbusters on the big screen – and he’s fascinated by the way that aspects of Welsh culture have inspired fantasy blockbusters from The Lord Of The Rings to The Witcher.
“Because of this, people around the world are now being captivated by these tales just as they’ve always captivated me,” he says.
“I’ve always been curious about things and even the most extraordinary of legends involving dragons and giants often have their roots in reality, even if it’s just people in earlier times trying to explain what was to them unexplainable, much like the myths from ancient Greece.
“On the other hand, there are many more tales that are less easy to explain away and go beyond our current understanding – and maybe future generations will look back at us in the same way. To misquote The X-Files, the truth is out there... in Wales!”
The book is beautifully illustrated with 100 full-colour photographs, ranging from epic Snowdonian landscapes to more intimate photos of the Mari Lwyd dancing around Gower.
“They really are a vital part of the storytelling process – not only are you reading about a mermaid, for example, but you can see where she is said to swim and where her statue stands on the side of the water and, as a result, if you pay a visit will know exactly where to look,” says Mark, who has thoroughly enjoyed the process of creating the book.
“Writing a book of this nature is as much a journey of discovery for me as it is for the reader,” he says. “I love having the excuse to spend hours every day discovering or reacquainting myself with these old tales and I’d probably be doing the same thing even if I wasn’t writing the book. I also ended up with a long list of places to visit myself and, now that the world seems to be returning to some kind of pre-pandemic normality, I’m hoping to make up for lost time.”
There’s no doubt that his enthusiasm is infectious – and this is exactly what he hopes for.
“I hope the stories help to re-enchant the land a little, by reintroducing a sense of magic to places that we often overlook as we whizz past during our daily lives,” he says. “Even the most mundane of locations can be home to the most fantastical of tales, it’s just a case of slowing down and being curious enough to look a little closer.
“If this book can help to suggest some new places for readers to explore, or shed new light on familiar places, that would be great.”
Looking to the future, he is now working on two new ghost books simultaneously – they are sequels of sorts to Paranormal Wales and will take a more detailed look at some of Wales’ most haunted places.
“The research will involve reopening some creepy old cases,” he says. “I’m really looking forward to getting started because this time there’ll be a lot less poring over dusty old tomes and a lot more late nights in spooky old buildings!”
Anyone wanting to delve deeper can look forward to the return of Ghosts Of Wales – Live! later this year, a paranormal party Mark hosted annually until 2020 when the pandemic struck.
“Date and venue TBC, but it will involve lots of fantastical tales, a little ghost-hunting and some spooky surprises,” he says. “If anyone wants to get involved, has any ideas or wants to know the date when confirmed, they can get in touch via my website or social media.”
■ Illustrated Tales Of Wales is out now, published by Amberley Publishing. For more information about the author, visit www.markreesonline.com or on social media @reviewwales