Free Folklore of Yorkshire by Kai Roberts

upland massif between Airedale and Wharfedale, of which Ilkley Moor forms the northern edge. In some versions of the legend, the stray missile which formed Almscliffe Crag was thrown at Rombald not by the Devil but by the giant’s formidable wife. Rombald himself is supposed to be responsible for the natural basins which score the surface of the Crag, which he created when he strode across to Almscliffe from his home above Ilkley and left his footprints embedded in the rock. On another occasion when the giant was stepping between these two points, he missed his footing and gouged a mark in face of the Cow, largest of the famed Cow and Calf Rocks – a favourite recreation spot for locals and day-trippers alike for many centuries.
    Rombald’s wife was also credited with the Hitching Stone, a huge boulder on Keighley Moor above Cowling, reckoned to be one of the largest single pieces of rock in the entire county. This monolith is further distinguished by a tubular cavity which runs for 20 feet through the rock at an angle of forty-five degrees from the top of the stone to a substantial recess on the west rock-face, known as the Druid’s Chair. Geologists believe this feature was formed by a fossilised tree which once ran through the boulder but has since corroded away. Local folklore, however, claims that the cavity is the result of the female giant driving a broom handle into the stone and flinging it over her head from Rombald’s Moor!
    As Yorkshire giants go, the fame of Rombald and his wife was matched only by that of Wade and his clan, who occupied the North York Moors around Eskdale and indulged in similar behaviour. Legend records that Wade had a wife named Bel and a proportionally gigantic infant son. One day, the child had been left to his own devices whilst Bel milked her herd of cows on Swarth Howe above Aislaby, but growing impatient for attention, he took a huge rock and hurled it at his mother. For once in such a story, the giant’s aim was true and it struck Bel with enough force to send her flying to the ground where she left the imprint of her form in the rocks. Sadly, the stone that supposedly bore the impression of the giantess has long since been quarried away.
    Sometimes giants not only leave their mark on the landscape, but become personified in the landscape itself. A nearly forgotten tale from West Yorkshire relates that a tribe of giants once dwelled in Magdale near Huddersfield. When a daughter of this tribe went missing, her frantic father scoured the surrounding countryside until he heard that she had last been seen on the hills above Holmfirth. The giant leapt from Scar Top at Netherton with such force that he left his footprint embedded in a stone there, and landed at Wolfstones Height, where he found his daughter’s prostrate form. At first he thought she was merely sleeping, but as he drew closer he saw that she had succumbed to exposure and died. He left her in that place to rest, which is why the summit of Wolfstones Height forms the simulacrum of a recumbent child and is known locally as the Child o’th’Edge.
    Another West Yorkshire legend recalls a more solitary and rather less tender giant, who made his home on the moors above Haworth and quickly became the scourge of the district. To sate his considerable appetites he would steal the livestock from local farms and valuables from travellers on the road across the tops. For many years, his neighbours turned a blind eye to the giant’s behaviour, as they were afraid to confront such a terrible monster. However, during one particularly harsh winter when food was scarce, the giant began to eat people. At this point, the local folk finally decided that they could tolerate no more and they formed a mob to drive their tormentor out.
    Like many of his race when confronted with an equal adversary, the giant proved to be a coward. He saw the mob coming and tried to flee, but they pursued their quarry at length and caught the brute at the