On Friday 22nd March we were treated to a visit from Mike O’Leary professional storyteller, author and retired teacher. He entertained students with a range of traditional tales.
We heard about sleeping warriors under a local hillfort who are dangerous if they are woken up! We travelled to Ireland with him in our imaginations to hear the tragic story ofSadhbh, (pronounced Sythe) who was turned into a deer by a druid.
We heard about witches and dragons, enchanted geese and ghosts. He treated us to an array of sound effects from curious instruments such as a thunderbox and Northumbrian pipes.
In between stories, he explained how stories are crafted and let us into some writer’s tips of the trade, such as placing strange characters under a hill or deep in a lake. He explained how things tend to come in threes in traditional stories, and we listened to thunder approaching from the distance (using the thunderbox) and thought about how to describe it.
A visit which was very entertaining, and also very educational!
