These true tales bring back to life some of our historic West Country's most fascinating people, places and happenings. Each story introduces one of the many characters who have found a place in the history of the region: Catherine of Aragon on a mule, Lady Nelson on a second honeymoon, John Betjeman waxing poetical about his favourite seaside town. All these stories and more are told here, from the French prisoners on Dartmoor to Jane Austen taking the plunge at Lyme - and along the way the unsolved mystery of the Devil’s footprints at Dawlish and the astonishing account of the lion’s attack on the Exeter coach, each tale chosen to amuse, intrigue or shock today’s travellers.