4 days ago
The mysterious Lake District animal that was born to 'fleece tourists'
A whole host of folklore tales and fascinating stories revolve around Windermere, the Lake District's largest lake.
One of the most intriguing tales is the story behind the legendary Tizzie-Whizie.
It was allegedly first spotted by a Bowness boatman all the way back in 1900.
He regaled tourists in the town's Stag's Head Hotel about his thrilling encounter with the extraordinary creature.
Shy, water-loving creatures, Tizzie-Whizies are reputed to have the body of a hedgehog, the tail of a squirrel or fox and a pair of bee-like wings.
But the real truth might just be the work of incredible marketing from an ingenious Cumbrian.
How the legend came to be:
After the "sighting", it is said that the boatman headed to the pub, naturally.
According to legend, as he started his third pint, six tourists from London flocked inside.
He looked at them, raised his right eyebrow, and took a deep puff from his pipe.
The night crawled on, and he mustered up the energy to talk to the young crowd.
They loved his local accent and a young lady asked, 'So you've been here a long time, you absolutely must tell us about some of the regional myths and legends.
"I love that stuff. I've bought hundreds of books and gone on fairy hunts throughout England.'
Tourists loved the story and even agreed to go on 'Tizzie Whizie Hunts' (Getty) (Image: Getty)
The Boatman took another long draw from his pipe and looked around the room.
A painting of a hedgehog hung on the wall and several flies banged into the cobwebbed lamp.
He told them of the Tizzie Whizie.
They loved his story and so the boatman used to conduct Tizzie Whizie hunts, charging of course.
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The evasive Tizzie Whizie would invariably finish under one of the piers and one of the tourists engaged in the hunt would be 'accidentally' pushed into the lake.
Sometimes the boatmen would say that it had escaped to Belle Isle and if any of the hunt followers wished they could be taken across the lake to look for it.
When asked why they couldn't see it flying across the lake, the reply was 'because it was a very good underwater swimmer'.
