Devon and Cornwall's Oddest Historical Tales

The West Country's colourful past encompasses a pageant of historical figures and peculiar stories - from Lawrence of Arabia's flamboyant motorbike forays across Dartmoor and the terrifying account of a lion attack on the Exeter mail coach, to Devonian wives still being sold at auction until the 1900s and the unsolved mystery of the Devil's footprints at Dawlish. Here too lies the truth about the location of Arthur's Lyonesse, the devilish deeds of the murderous pirate queen of Penryn, and the Cornish knight who ordered his corpse to overlook St Mullion for eternity. All these tales and more can be found in this collection of amusing, surprising and downright odd true stories from Devon and Cornwall.

John Fisher is a writer who has worked in publishing, advertising and print media. Since retiring he has been a 'Learning Volunteer' with The National Trust at Montacute House, Somerset, teaching Tudor history to school parties. He lives in Ottery St Mary, Devon.