Vampires In The British Isles

Sadly, this part of the world does not have many vampire myths. While the rest of Europe is full to the brim with vampire stories there are very few from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. But there are some…

Ireland:
Here we find the vampire known as the dearg-due, who’s name means “Red Blood Sucker” (super creative). This is an ancient and once greatly feared vampire dating perhaps to pre-Celtic or early Celtic days. Very little is written about this vampire but what we do know is that to keep it from hunting and feeding you need to pile stones on the grave of anyone you suspect will become a vampire. The most famous tale of the dearg-due is the story of a beautiful woman who was supposedly buried in Waterford, in a small churchyard near Strongbow’s Tree. Rumors are that several times a year she rises from the grave, using her beauty to lure men to their doom.

Scotland:
Scotland’s vampire myth is that of the Baobhan-sith, a vampire that disguises itself as a gorgeous woman dressed in green to lure unsuspecting men to their deaths. This vampire is said to be a kind of fairy and will invite their victims to dance. As the dance proceeds the victim becomes weaker and weaker, not realizing that the vampire is feeding as they dance, the victim then dies of blood loss.
This vampire doesn’t feed with fangs like regulard vampire but instead it uses it’s long nails to draw blood. As for weaknesses, since this vamp is a fairy your bet bet is to use something made of iron to destroy it.
While this vampire always appears as a beautiful woman some myths say that she has hooves instead of feet and others say that she can take the form of a wolf.

Wales:
Now the Welsh have a very odd kind of vampire myth., one of a vampire… chair. Yes, you read that correctly, a vampiric chair. The story says that this chair feeds on blood and whoever sits in it will stand up finding teeth marks on their body.  Weird indeed.

England:
I’m afraid to say that England doesn’t appear to have its own unique vampire myth. It’s vampire species all originate from other lands. But there is one story I can tell and that is the story of the Lord of Alnwick Castle. The man, who wasn’t perfect himself, suspected his wife of being unfaithful. So to catch her in the act he went onto the roof so that he could look down into his bedroom. Unfortunately he instead fell off the roof to his death. Shortly after his burial he was seen walking around town and during this time an “unknown disease” broke out and killed many people. The sickness was blamed on the vampire, the man. The local priests and some faithful townsfolk then went to the cemetery where they uncovered the man’s corpse appearing to be gorged full of blood. After deciding that this vampire was feeding on the people in the town the body was then taken out and burned. Shortly after the plague ended and all was well again.

And there you have it, a few vampire stories from the Brits.

– Moonlight