Filey Brigg
Filey Brigg is a long ridge of rocks jutting into the North Sea, associated with folklore concerning the Devil and a dragon.
The Devil dropped his hammer into the sea whilst making the ridge, and thus he plunged his hand into the water to retrieve it. When he pulled his hand out, he had not grabbed his hammer but a fish. Shouting out "Ha, Dick" the Haddock got its name.
This story is supposed to explain the distinctive markings on all haddocks, as the location where the Devil held the fish.
Another story concerns a dragon, which had been tricked into eating a large quantity of parkin: the sticky cake got stuck to its teeth so it went to the sea to wash them. At this point the locals ambushed the dragon and drowned it. Therefore it was also thought that Filey Brigg was the fossilised bones of this local dragon.
On a stranger note there have been reports of a sea monster off the Brigg. The most notable was by coastguard Wilkinson Herbert on February 28th 1934. He witnessed a thirty foot creature just off shore: "...Suddenly I heard a growling like a dozen dogs ahead.
Walking nearer I switched on my torch, and was confronted by a huge neck, six yards ahead of me, rearing up three feet high! The head was a startling sight, - huge tortoise eyes glaring at me like saucers. The creature's mouth would be a foot wide and the creature's neck would be a yard around."
Perhaps a relative of the local dragon.
Directions: Reached via a footpath from Filey. Filey is off the A165 to the South of Scarborough.