Myth and Legend Analysis
Ancient stories with modern implications. We trace the origins and evolution of myths, legends, and folklore across cultures, investigating what historical events might have inspired these tales and why certain stories persist across millennia.
The Border Wars – Did Devon Invent the Cornish Pasty?
The law says a pasty must be Cornish. A 1510 ledger from Plymouth disagrees. We audit the medieval records that challenge the £300m PGI monopoly.
The Cornish Pasty Claim About an Arsenic Handle
The legend claims the crimp was a disposable handle against arsenic. However, archival photos show miners using ‘crib bags’ instead. We test this theory against estimated daily energy needs to see if the story is history or fakelore.
Cornish Pasty – The Ingredient Audit
The law insists on beef, yet 1862 wage logs prove the miner could not afford it. We audit the ‘pig economy’ to reveal how the PGI protects an upmarket feast rather than the working-class reality.
The Keeper’s Gamble – Systemic Failure in the Lighthouse Service
Three keepers broke their service's cardinal rule and left their lighthouse unmanned. The official report blamed a freak wave, but this investigation explores a different cause. A system in which the fear of a fine for lost equipment proved deadly.
The Narrative Killers – A Psychological Autopsy of the Flannan Isles Mystery
The story of the Flannan Isles is defined by fictions that are more memorable than the facts. This is a psychological autopsy of why the human mind prefers a good story over a true one, and how narrative can kill a record.
Rogue Waves – The Flannan Isles Case and the Draupner Evidence
In 1900, a lighthouse team vanished from the Flannan Isles. In 1995, a North Sea platform measured a wave twice the expected height. The two events, nearly a century apart, reveal how rogue seas were dismissed until instruments proved them real.
The Flannan Isles Forgery – A Case File on the Pulp Hoax Machine
The most famous evidence from the Flannan Isles mystery, a terrified logbook, was a lie, invented in 1929 for a pulp magazine. We investigate the economics of sensation and the industrial process of myth-making that turned historical fact into profitable fiction.
The Flannan Isles – A Rogue Wave, a Bad Poem, and a Century of Fiction
Everyone knows the story of the Flannan Isles keepers who vanished leaving an untouched meal. The official 1900 report tells a different story: one of a clean kitchen, a catastrophic wave, and a century of myth-making.
The Dragon That Never Was – Why the Fossil Theory is Wrong
The main scientific theory is that dragons came from dinosaur bones. There’s one problem. The earliest dragons in history were not four-legged reptiles; they were snakes. The familiar winged monster is a medieval invention from a thousand years later.
The Green Children of Woolpit
Two mysterious children appeared from a pit in medieval Suffolk. Green-skinned, speechless, and displaced, their story echoes through folklore and forgotten history.