EDWARD Fairfax of Fewston – off the A59 beyond Harrogate – was, by all accounts, an accomplished writer who was praised by John Dryden, the future Poet Laureate. But he also seems to have been pretty unpleasant.

When he inherited Newhall (now submerged beneath Swinsty Reservoir) in the early 1600s, he described it as “such a wild place… such rude people, upon whose influence God have mercy!”

Not surprisingly, he fell out with his neighbours – and in 1621, the tensions between them erupted. This being the 17th century, the eruption took a peculiar form.

Fairfax accused eight Fewston women of witchcraft, claiming they had worked enchantments on his three daughters that caused them to suffer from fits, trances and ‘irrational behaviour’. It was Yorkshire’s own version of the Salem witch trials.

The unfortunate ‘witches’ were dragged – twice – before York Assizes. Thankfully, the York authorities proved themselves more enlightened than their Salem counterparts, and the women were all found not guilty. “Following their release, the women held a great celebration in Timble Gill, over which Fairfax insisted the Devil himself had presided,” writes Kai Roberts in his fascinating new book Folklore Of Yorkshire.

Roberts’ book bristles with witches (mainly misunderstood or bad-tempered women) and giants, dragons and serpents, phantom hounds, ghosts and tales of the Devil.

All the strange creatures and mythical beasts you’d expect from the folklore of a county as rich and historic as Yorkshire, in fact.

It’s a scholarly book, more concerned with attention to detail and accuracy than exaggeration – but all the better for it. A treasure trove of Yorkshire mythology.