A newly published book by Paul Darroch
Jersey’s landscape and history are steeped in its folklore and legends. In Illustrated Tales of Jersey, local author Paul Darroch explores a multitude of mysterious myths and strange tales from centuries past. The book reveals the legends of the dragon that once tormented Jersey, the giant storm hound that preyed on Bouley Bay, and the long-lost bridge across the water to France.
The tales span the Island, from Geoffrey’s Leap in St Martin to the manor of La Brecquette in St Ouen, which was supposedly swept away by the waves and became Jersey’s very own Atlantis. The author tells of the martyrdom of Saint Helier and the day that de Carteret’s horse made its impossible leap across the void.
True tales from Victorian times include the heartbreaking tragedy of the SS Stella, and the curious reign of Philippe Pinel, the Hermit King of the Ecréhous.
These strange and remarkable stories are accompanied by almost a hundred of the author’s photographs of places featured, making for a hugely engaging and entertaining read.
Paul Darroch has written about Jersey’s history for over a decade, and his first two books, Jersey: The Hidden Histories and Jersey: Secrets of the Sea, remain widely available. Meanwhile his Facebook page, The History Islands, has over 9,000 followers and he regularly releases new podcasts and newsletters. In the introduction to his new book, Darroch explains what drove him to bring Jersey’s ancient legends to a modern audience;
‘Thousands of miles of clear cold ocean lie between St Ouen’s Bay and the nearest westerly shore. In ancient times, Jersey seemed to be poised on the edge of eternity, an Island shrouded in fog, peppered with mysterious dolmens. The Island stands at a threshold, where sky, sea and earth fuse into one.
Jersey might be a mere nine miles by five, doubling in size with its lowest tide; yet it is rich in ancient tales, handed down through the generations in its native tongue of Jèrriais. The terrifying power of the sea, as a force of mutability and destruction, lies behind so many of Jersey’s ancient myths.
A modern traveller might assume that the splendid coastline, its stark granite cliffs and sandy beaches, must be as old as the hills. Yet our precious shores are barely a few thousand years young, carved out in the blink of a geological eye.
We are perched here above the flood. All around us lies the original, drowned world; the hunting trails of our ancestors that have been swept away by the waves. Around six or seven thousand years ago, the land bridge to the continent was finally severed. The Island of Jersey was born.
Folk memories of an older world lingered on. Consider the curious legend of La Planche, featuring a sixth-century bishop who crossed a wooden bridge from Normandy to the Ecréhous reef, which lies to the north-east of Jersey. Another local myth tells of the lost manor of La Brecquette, which nestled amid rich orchards in St Ouen. Legend says that on one terrible night in 1356, it was swept away in a violent tempest: simply erased from the map.
The churning seas brought successive waves of terror: raiding parties, smugglers, ferocious storms, and the fear of the rising tide. Many of the ancient legends recounted in this book – of the Bull of St Clement, the Cris des Tombelènes and the Black Dog of Bouley Bay – give voice to these ancient, lingering fears. In the wake of the fall of the Roman Empire, the world seemed chaotic and frightening. The land and sea were teeming with mystery. Stories were one way to bring sense to a terrifying world.
Eventually William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, seized the English throne. The Channel Islands became the only surviving remnant of his ancient domain. Perched on the frontier of clashing kingdoms, the Island would spin new legends. Stories are one way that a culture reveals itself, and how voices from centuries past continue to speak to us today.
The ancient site of La Hougue Bie has inspired one of the oldest legends of them all. This is the tale that opens the book – of the fearsome dragon that once tormented Jersey, unbound and seething, and whose breath was pure fire.’
Illustrated Tales of Jersey is available on Amazon UK and in Jersey bookstores, including the Harbour Gallery, Société Jersiaise and Jersey Museum.
