Farewell to the Lake | Series 7 Episode 13: Carmarthenshire

For our final County Episode of Series 7 we're chatting about the heritage and folklore of the largest Welsh historic county, Carmarthenshire!

A county that still exists, it's home to one of the truly ancient settlements of Britain, Carmarthen, which continues to thrive today having been consistently occupied since the Bronze Age.

Elsewhere on this bumper-sized season finale we're talking about the county's highs and its lows, its many ghost stories, terrifying river monsters, contributions to Welsh identity - including the codification of Welsh national dress - and much more besides.

We're stopping by ancient tombs, Merlin's birthplace, paying our respects to the bones of Dylan Thomas, discussing the erased marginalia of Wales' oldest book, bat demons that hatch out of rocks at New Year, and perhaps the most famous legend in all of Wales - one that recurs in all 13 Welsh historic counties though firmly rooted in Carmarthenshire.

It's this tale that inspired our Local Legends guest for this week, Francesca Simon MBE, to write her new novel inspired by this same story.

Some call it "The Lady in the Lake of Llyn y Fan Fach." Some called it "The Three Blows." For her version, Eleanor has called it "Farewell to the Lake" and it's a cracking conclusion to our new tellings of the folk tales of Wales.

About Three Ravens 🔮

Three Ravens is a completely independent English myth and folklore podcast where we share stories, celebrate folk culture, and fall backwards through the hedgerows of history.

Hosted by real-life couple Eleanor Conlon and Martin Vaux, and mostly recorded at our home in rural Sussex in southern England, Three Ravens is rated 4.8/5 from over 500 reviews and has grown by word of mouth care of our lovely listener community ‘The Conspiracy of Ravens.’

We release three episodes a week, on Mondays, Thursday and Saturdays, through which we explore folktales, folkways, fairy stories, folk songs, mythology, local heritage, seasonal customs and traditional beliefs.

Our research inspires our retellings of stories from across history and culture, with episodes standing alone but connected together across over 500 chatty, mostly light-hearted, swear-free installments driven by passion, kindness and curiosity.

Now ranked as an all-time Top 5 podcast across several categories by Goodpods, charting in the Spotify, Apple and Rephonic UK Fiction Top 10 across 2024, 2025 and 2026, if you’re interested in ghosts, monsters, regional beliefs, and the things that unite us all, then join us round the campfire and listen in…

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