Gothic Legends

The Devil has carved his own reputation into words, phrases and names.  The following below,  are merely the most frequently encountered Devil phrases .

• DEVIL’S ADVOCATE  – someone taking the opposing side of an argument, purley for the sake of debate, so that all sides of the questions are covered.
• THE DEVIL AND ALL - means everything; sometimes everything evil.
• DEVIL’S APPLE -  sometimes SATAN’S APPLE - is a name given to the MANDRAKE (South European plant once beleived to have mystical powers due to its root resembling the human body).
• THE DEVIL’S APRONFUL - a name given to a group of rocks near SIMON’S SEAT, in Wharfedale, West Yorkshire.
• THE DEVIL’S ARROWS - are three aligned standing stones southwest of Boroughbridge in Yorkshire.  The highest is over 22 feet.

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  One of the Stones

• THE DEVIL IS AN ASS - this is the title of a comedy by Ben Johnson produced in 1616, exposing and/or ridiculing the projectors, witchfinders etc of his day.
• BAG O’ NAILS - a generic name for an inn.  The prase is said to be a corruption of the ‘bacchanals’ (drunken, riotous revellers, devotees of Bacchus).
• THE DEVIL’S BED AND BOLSTER - is a chambered long-barrow near Trowbridge, WIltshire.  About 85 feet long and said to be 5000 yrs old.
• DEVIL’S BEDPOST - is the Four of Clubs playing card (also see ‘Books’ below).
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• DEVIL’S BEEF-TUB - is a sheer-sided hollow northwest of Moffat in Scotland.  It is said it was used as a hiding place for stolen cattle.
• DEVIL’S BELLOWS - is a deep cleft in the rocks nears Asperagus Island, off Lizard Head in Cornwall.
• BLACK - the phrase ‘the Devil is not so black’ means that there is some good regarding a given situation or personality.
• BLIND - ‘when the Devil is blind’ is a saying to represent ‘never’ – also like ‘when Hell freezes over’.
• DEEP BLUE SEA - ‘between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea’ means between two equal evils
• DEVIL’S BONES - these are dice, original used in games of chance and made from bone.
• DEVIL’S BOOK - or DEVIL’S PICTURE BOOK - is a set of playing cards.  The Devil’s Bible  is the same thing.  A Dutch proverb describes playing cards as ‘the Bible of fifty-two leaves’.
• DEVIL’S BRIDGE -in Cardiganshire, Wales.  An old woman is supposed to have cheated the Devil here.
• CANDLE - ‘to hold a candle to the Devil’  means to give support to something which is wrong.
• THE DEVIL CARD - one of the twenty-two Tarot cards.
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• DEVIL’S CAULDRON - is a chasm near Lednock, Perthshire.
• DEVIL’S CAUSEWAY - is the Roman road that runs from Hadrian’s Wall via Hartburn to Longframlington in Northumberland.
• DEVIL’S CAVE - is in the Kincraig Hills, 3 miles southwest of Colinsburgh in Fife. 
• CHAIR - the most famous of the numerous Devil’s Chairs is the rock at Plemont Point on the northwestern point of Jersey.
• CHEATING - someone who ‘cheats the Devil’ is doing evil for his own gain.

OK – will stop here for now, please excuse any spelling mistakes!!  More Devil’s sayings to come so check back.  Also check out my website www.gothiclegends.co.uk - see you soon  xx   

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