Hob in the Hole and the Giant's Lapstone - Baysdale

 Hob Hole is located alongside a ford crossing Baysdale Beck, on the road between Kildale and Westerdale, five miles to the south of Guisborough.

 Up until the early 1800's, a large boulder known as the 'Giant's Lapstone' sat on the hillside overlooking the ford at Hob Hole. Around the year 1830, a great storm caused a landslip, which carried the boulder down the hillside and into the beck. The large rock must have come to rest close to the crossing, as it diverted the flow of water running over the ford. This led to the boulder being removed, which due to its size, had to be broken up.
(See this Youtube video of Gavin Parry and Bob Fischer at Hob Hole discussing the story behind the Lapstone boulder).

Dannsa Na Cailleach - 'Dance of the Old Woman'

  A previous post (Cailleach an Dùdain) suggested that the North York Moors folklore figure known as the 'Old Wife', could well be related to the legendary Cailleach, who is to be found further north, in Scotland. Gavin Parry's ongoing project to map locations connected with this archetypal 'Old Woman' is both fascinating and illuminating, and shows just how widespread a figure she was.

 In later times, the Cailleach (Old Woman) seems to have played an important role in the harvest, with the last sheaf cut on a farm being called the Cailleach, which was then formed into a corn doll, and treated as an honoured guest at the harvest celebration. The corn doll figure was believed to contain the luck, fertility, and prosperity of the harvest, and was hung up in the farmhouse until the following year.