I’ve started a new writing project that will test my research skills like never before. I’m currently digging into local folklore, but I purposefully want to avoid the most famous tales. You know the ones, those that always get covered in published works about Devon, and particularly Dartmoor, so I don’t want to cover the likes of the Hairy Hands, Jay’s Grave, and, if I can help it, pixies.

I absolutely love all those tales, and I grew up hearing about them plenty, but I want to unearth something that’s been buried for years, something that is new to me. I think there’s a good chance that if I love that sort of thing, it’ll appeal to others too.

Finding lesser-known tales is really challenging me to research in new ways. I have never looked through old newspaper articles (www.findmypast.co.uk has been a godsend) and old maps like this before, but I’ve been discovering some fascinating background on some of my local areas and traditions. Once I find an interesting lead, it’s exciting to see where else it takes me as I start down the rabbit hole and see how the stories about them change over time.

It’s going to be a huge undertaking, but it’s exciting to have something to sink my teeth into that focuses on something I’m personally interested in. Notepads, Trello boards, and all that planning. I love that sort of thing. The main hurdles are learning how else to dig out these more obscure tales, who to speak with, and where else to look, but I’m committed to giving it my all.

Because I want to find those hidden gems, I can’t just go searching for “folklore”, but identifying different locations, areas, events, or keyphrases has led to some fantastic results. I didn’t think I’d find so many leads quite so quickly, so the past few days have really shown me I can do this. I just need to stick with it.

As a side note, I found something amusing in an old newspaper that made me laugh. It was about some kids harassing an old man on his way back from church by hurling insults at him. The thing that made me laugh is that one of the insults they used was “Lord Dictionary”, and now I think that might be my new favourite insult.