Loremen Podcast
Join the Loremen (James Shakeshaft and Alasdair Beckett-King) as they "investigate" local legends and forgotten folklore.
Episodes
July 25, 2024 • 61 mins
Eleanor Morton returns, with the remarkable tale of an Edinburgh haunting - and a school trip to the site of the nightmare! These are the legends of Mary King's Close, an underground street with more supernatural activity than you can shake a disembodied arm at.
Eleanor has a new book out on August 15th, and an upcoming Edinburgh Festival Fringe show all about ghosts. Plus, we decide once and for all whether there are...
Eleanor has a new book out on August 15th, and an upcoming Edinburgh Festival Fringe show all about ghosts. Plus, we decide once and for all whether there are...
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July 18, 2024 • 41 mins
Alasdair takes James to Gallipoli (with layovers in Glasgow and the North East of England) for a brace of chilling First World War ghost stories. (Which are slightly undermined by James's bizarre donkey conspiracy theories.)
Our source is Raymond Lamont Brown's 1975 Casebook of Military Mystery. So hop aboard Loremen Airways and enjoy the authentic 70s air travel experience. Stow your inhibitions in the overhead lock...
Our source is Raymond Lamont Brown's 1975 Casebook of Military Mystery. So hop aboard Loremen Airways and enjoy the authentic 70s air travel experience. Stow your inhibitions in the overhead lock...
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July 11, 2024 • 26 mins
Get ready to cream your teas, because the boys are going to Cornwall. Join us, and meet West Country witches, the long-fingered ghost of Looe Island and a gritty reboot of Rumpelstiltskin. As James will tell you, Cornwall is such a mysterious county that no one really knows where it is.
These Cornish Terrors spring from the pages of The Folklore of Cornwall by Tony Deane & Tony Shaw. So this episode boasts more th...
These Cornish Terrors spring from the pages of The Folklore of Cornwall by Tony Deane & Tony Shaw. So this episode boasts more th...
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July 4, 2024 • 36 mins
James lures Alasdair to a bad mannered manor house in Dorset*. We're in Sandford Orcas - which is a village, not pod of Free Willies - and the place is simply brimming with ghosts!
From Ghosts in the South West by James Turner, Shakey tells a tale of troublesome monks, lunar assassins and one very macabre way of not getting blamed for farts. And you'll be pleased to know that this spooky/farty manor is currently on s...
From Ghosts in the South West by James Turner, Shakey tells a tale of troublesome monks, lunar assassins and one very macabre way of not getting blamed for farts. And you'll be pleased to know that this spooky/farty manor is currently on s...
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June 27, 2024 • 42 mins
The Loremen have been transported back to the Midnight Library, and Miranda has a selection of bonecurdling bedtime stories to horrify and delight you. These are original tales from the shelves of the Midnight Library, and they get rather grisly. Younger listeners and the timid-of-ear be warned!
Content Warning: body horror and sound effects
LoreBoys nether say die!
Join us for another Loremen Live ...
Content Warning: body horror and sound effects
LoreBoys nether say die!
Join us for another Loremen Live ...
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June 20, 2024 • 37 mins
If you manage to guess the nature of this episode's cryptid then please write in and claim your prize!
Inspired by Steve Cliffe's Moor Mysteries, James and Alasdair return to Derbyshire's Peak District. The Loremen are on the hunt for stones adorned with strange carvings. We're on the hunt for the truth about Parma Violets. And we are on the hunt for the most surprising beast in the podcast's history.
You ar...
Inspired by Steve Cliffe's Moor Mysteries, James and Alasdair return to Derbyshire's Peak District. The Loremen are on the hunt for stones adorned with strange carvings. We're on the hunt for the truth about Parma Violets. And we are on the hunt for the most surprising beast in the podcast's history.
You ar...
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June 13, 2024 • 45 mins
The Loremen return to the good old U S of America.
Inspired by a gift from a listener, the boys head to Monterey Bay, CA, and tangle with a whole bunch of sea beasts. (Or should that be school? Pod? Flock? What is the collective noun for aquatic cryptids?) We meet the monkey-faced Old Man of Monterey (AKA Bobo) and some real-life red-haired sea serpents.
So join us, under the sea! It's enchanting!*
*...
Inspired by a gift from a listener, the boys head to Monterey Bay, CA, and tangle with a whole bunch of sea beasts. (Or should that be school? Pod? Flock? What is the collective noun for aquatic cryptids?) We meet the monkey-faced Old Man of Monterey (AKA Bobo) and some real-life red-haired sea serpents.
So join us, under the sea! It's enchanting!*
*...
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June 6, 2024 • 30 mins
The Loremen lived again - again! This is the second installment of the live show recorded in Oxford (famed birthplace of the comma) as part of the Saint Audio Podcast Festival. James guides our live audience around the spooky environs of Oxford, this time courtesy of John Richardson's Oxford & County Ghost Stories.
In Part 2, the boys encounter a pair of workmen's ghosts up the Woodstock Road, we witness a clay-ta...
In Part 2, the boys encounter a pair of workmen's ghosts up the Woodstock Road, we witness a clay-ta...
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May 30, 2024 • 28 mins
The Loremen lived again! This episode was recorded in Oxford (the Cambridge of Oxfordshire) as part of the Saint Audio Podcast Festival. James takes Alasdair and a live lorefolk audience on a tour of the county, courtesy of Mike White's book The Ox-Files.
In Part 1, the boys encounter an apparition in Burford, a haunted cellar and a teeny-tiny crocodile (deceased).
Apologies in advance for James's American...
In Part 1, the boys encounter an apparition in Burford, a haunted cellar and a teeny-tiny crocodile (deceased).
Apologies in advance for James's American...
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May 23, 2024 • 43 mins
Welcome to Bamburgh Castle! Make yourself at home, especially if you're name's Lancelot du Lac. Don't mind the enormous venom-spitting toad. There's a funny story behind that, actually. It's the Laidly Worm of Spindleston Heugh...
The boys visit Bamburgh, possibly England's most dramatic castle, rising up from the waves on a volcanic dolerite outcrop. And the legends surrounding the ancient Northumbrian settlement are...
The boys visit Bamburgh, possibly England's most dramatic castle, rising up from the waves on a volcanic dolerite outcrop. And the legends surrounding the ancient Northumbrian settlement are...
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May 16, 2024 • 52 mins
Richard Herring, a comedian who straddles England's North/South divide like a podcasting colossus, joins the boys for a deep dive into one of Somerset's deepest dives.
It's Cheddar Gorge! Somerset's answer to the question, "Which Somerset attraction is almost as good as Wookey Hole?" Prepare to meet the Witches of Pocklington, the Devil (himself), grumpy gravediggers and what might be the birth of a new cryptid...
...
It's Cheddar Gorge! Somerset's answer to the question, "Which Somerset attraction is almost as good as Wookey Hole?" Prepare to meet the Witches of Pocklington, the Devil (himself), grumpy gravediggers and what might be the birth of a new cryptid...
...
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May 9, 2024 • 35 mins
The Loreboys meet the audacious Scottish con man "Sir" Gregor MacGregor. Calling himself the Cazique of Poyais, this charismatic ex-soldier is the mastermind behind a debacle that will make Fyre Island look like Centre Parcs.
He's selling land and government bonds belonging to the Central American kingdom of Poyais. The big problem being: Poyais doesn't exist. The year is 1823, and this South Sea bubble is going to p...
He's selling land and government bonds belonging to the Central American kingdom of Poyais. The big problem being: Poyais doesn't exist. The year is 1823, and this South Sea bubble is going to p...
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May 2, 2024 • 45 mins
Where wolves? James attempts to answer that question with a midnight excursion to Cannock Chase. This Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is home to a range of distinctly unnatural creatures. We're talking lycanthropes, black eyed children, numerous UFOs and at least one pigman.
In fact, there are many reports of uncanny incidents in Cannock Chase, James went all the way to Staffordshire to investigate. Alas, our intr...
In fact, there are many reports of uncanny incidents in Cannock Chase, James went all the way to Staffordshire to investigate. Alas, our intr...
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April 25, 2024 • 40 mins
Thersa Matsuura of Uncanny Japan joins the Loreboys for a tale with more human faces than you've had hot dinners with human faces*. We look at a bunch of Yōkai that can take a look right back at us. From fish with a face to a blister with a kisser, these jinmen will give you the jitters. Especially the fish, because they're real. (No seriously... there are videos.)
* Unless you dine exclusively on McCain's Smiles.
...
* Unless you dine exclusively on McCain's Smiles.
...
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April 18, 2024 • 35 mins
James lures Alasdair back down to the water's edge for an Important Mermaid Update! The Hayfield Mermaid first appeared in Series 2 (get up to speed here). Somehow, the Loreboys managed to overlook yet another freshwater mermaid in a nearby bottomless pool. And the grasping creature that dwells in the waters of Blakemere has a heck of a backstory.
It's Hayfield Mermaids 2: Mere-lectric Mere-galoo!
Disclaimer:...
It's Hayfield Mermaids 2: Mere-lectric Mere-galoo!
Disclaimer:...
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April 11, 2024 • 44 mins
This year's live show at the Leicester Comedy festival was a delight. The lorefolk were in fine form and James rustled up a folkloric feast, including 'facts' from Geoffrey Hodson's 1925 book Fairies at Work and at Play.
Sadly, fairy mischief meant that our recorder batteries died towards the end of the show, so the final portion of this episode has been reconstructed from a low-quality backup. You'll hardly notice! U...
Sadly, fairy mischief meant that our recorder batteries died towards the end of the show, so the final portion of this episode has been reconstructed from a low-quality backup. You'll hardly notice! U...
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April 4, 2024 • 44 mins
April is the time for fooling, especially in Scotland where the first of the month is Huntigowk Day: a day for tartan paint, long stands and other bootless errands. James and Alasdair (a pair of anti-prank killjoys) spent this April Fool's investigating Loch Ness, a body of water which has seen more than its share of hoaxes. But one monster prank from April 1st 1972 really takes the cake.
Is that cake? Or is it an en...
Is that cake? Or is it an en...
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March 28, 2024 • 46 mins
The cats from Long Cat Media came back! Lindsay Sharman and Laurence Owen (who are so award-nominated they seem to have gained another nomination since last week) return. And they bring with them a first-hand sighting of a cryptid. That's right, Laurence saw Derbyshire's elusive Beast of Belper.
Meanwhile, James Shakeshaft has not been shake-shirking his research duties. He's on the trail of the Surrey Puma, and he'...
Meanwhile, James Shakeshaft has not been shake-shirking his research duties. He's on the trail of the Surrey Puma, and he'...
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March 21, 2024 • 44 mins
The cats from Long Cat Media lure the Loreboys to the wild, wild east. Lindsay Sharman and Laurence Owen (the excessively award-nominated podcasters behind Mockey Manor and Magenta Presents) are on the trail of a hound with a thunderous bark and eyes like saucers. It's a terrifying beast that can turn even the bravest churchgoer into a quivering, crumpled crisp packet of a man...
Yes, this episode brings the Loremen ...
Yes, this episode brings the Loremen ...
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March 14, 2024 • 37 mins
[RECORD SCRATCH] I suppose you're wondering how we got here? Well, it all started when James told Alasdair the story of a spectral hound that dwells on the border of Devon and Dorset. (AKA In-Dorset and Next-Dorset.)
A sighting of the black dog could be a bad omen, but it might just make you rich. (There is actually a third option, but that involves helium and a peculiarly shaped nozzle...)
No dogs were inf...
A sighting of the black dog could be a bad omen, but it might just make you rich. (There is actually a third option, but that involves helium and a peculiarly shaped nozzle...)
No dogs were inf...
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