EAST Yorkshire is rich with legends, ghost stories and folklore, as you expect of a landscape as ancient as this.

There's the dragon who drowned off the coast near Filey, and whose body hardened to form Filey Brigg; eerie ghost stories such as that of the Byland Abbey baby who was born too soon and died - then visited his father after death to ask for a name; and the legend of the witch's milking stool, used to steal all the milk from farms at Ugthorpe.

When irate farmers went to ask the witch what she'd done with their milk, it poured in streams from the stool's leg.

Every bridge, road, farm and wood in East Yorkshire seems to have its own tale of strange creatures, odd goings on or eerie happenings.

York-based author and storyteller Ingrid Barton has gathered many of the best together in this collection of 34 tales, which includes everything from the Staithes mermaids to the Holderness frog prince and the screaming skull of Burton Agnes.

The stories have all been retold in Barton's own flowing, gossipy style. With a beautiful cover illustration by Katherine Soutar, this is a book that will delight lovers of old folk stories.

* Ingrid Barton will be signing copies of her book during the Flying Man Festival at St James Church, Pocklington, from May 9-10