Devon


<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="998" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/devon/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2025/10/emmacunis-CREDIT-STEVE-HAYWARD.jpg" alt="Emma Cunis Dartmoor's Daughter Credit Steve Hayward" class="wp-image-80459" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/devon/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2025/10/emmacunis-CREDIT-STEVE-HAYWARD.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/devon/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2025/10/emmacunis-CREDIT-STEVE-HAYWARD-800x532.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/devon/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2025/10/emmacunis-CREDIT-STEVE-HAYWARD-1000x665.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/devon/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2025/10/emmacunis-CREDIT-STEVE-HAYWARD-768x511.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Credit Steve Hayward</figcaption></figure>



<p>Hairy hands, red-eyed hounds and coaches made of bones&#8230; If you&#8217;re a keen walker, or are interested in the ancient folklore and legend of Dartmoor, then chances are you&#8217;ve heard of Emma Cunis. She&#8217;s the granddaughter of Eric Hemery, author of Dartmoor’s&nbsp;Bible,&nbsp;<em>High Dartmoor: Land and People</em>&nbsp;(1982) one of the most celebrated books on the region. She is also founder and owner of the evocatively named <a href="https://www.dartmoorsdaughter.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dartmoor&#8217;s Daughter</a>, curating walks, talks and nature experiences around the National park. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="1498" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/devon/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2025/10/emmacunis-creditclairetregaskis.jpg" alt="Emma Cunis Dartmoor's Daughter credit Claire Tregaskis " class="wp-image-80461" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/devon/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2025/10/emmacunis-creditclairetregaskis.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/devon/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2025/10/emmacunis-creditclairetregaskis-534x800.jpg 534w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/devon/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2025/10/emmacunis-creditclairetregaskis-668x1000.jpg 668w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/devon/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2025/10/emmacunis-creditclairetregaskis-768x1150.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Credit Claire Tregaskis</figcaption></figure>



<p>Emma&#8217;s personal story of burn-out and the call to return to her native Devon roots is all too familiar. Twenty years in corporate account management while working in London, Australia, New York and Hong Kong took their toll, and as anyone who&#8217;s ever left to work elsewhere knows, the county&#8217;s coast and moors exert a magnetic pull. One day while back in in Devon, she went walking on the moor and heard the words &#8216;Dartmoor&#8217;s granddaughter&#8217; and made the decision to return to her moorland roots. She is now a qualified Hill &amp; Moorland Leader (HML) and has been awarded the &#8216;Travellers Choice Award&#8217; by Trip Advisor every year since 2021.</p>



<p>With a new book fresh out  <em><a href="https://www.dartmoorsdaughter.com/books/p/dartmoor-myths-legends-book" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dartmoor Myths &amp; Legends: Exploring Origins and Inspirations</a></em> (£14.99), and a Devon-based talk series of the same name happening this month, we caught up with Emma to find out more.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-hi-emma-i-never-expected-you-to-be-a-former-high-flying-global-exec">Hi Emma, I never expected you to be a former high-flying global exec?</h2>



<p>I had already left my job and returned to Devon to recover my health before hearing the phrase ‘Dartmoor’s Granddaughter’ &#8211; this phrase kept returning to me over the over, every time I walked up on the moor for about three months until I started to wonder if perhaps it was a calling or invitation of some kind. I eventually shortened it to Dartmoor’s Daughter. If someone had said to me when I was working, &#8216;Come and meditate on the moors&#8217;, I&#8217;d have looked at them like they were mad! I think I act as a bit of a bridge between the logical, action-oriented person and the New Age.  </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-inspired-you-to-put-pen-to-paper">What inspired you to put pen to paper?</h2>



<p>It was actually a coach tour travel director who had heard some of my talks while I was guiding the walks. My first thought was, &#8216;Don&#8217;t be ridiculous, I can&#8217;t write a book&#8217;. But then I thought, why not? I was nervous to put it out, especially locally, but the response so far has been really good. </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-give-us-an-idea-of-what-s-in-it">Give us an idea of what&#8217;s in it.</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="724" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/devon/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2025/10/Old-Crockern-C-Gina-Hemery-1196-x-866.png" alt="Rockern Tor illustration by Gina Hemery " class="wp-image-80471" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/devon/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2025/10/Old-Crockern-C-Gina-Hemery-1196-x-866.png 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/devon/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2025/10/Old-Crockern-C-Gina-Hemery-1196-x-866-800x579.png 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/devon/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2025/10/Old-Crockern-C-Gina-Hemery-1196-x-866-768x556.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<p>It&#8217;s about 70 pages long, comprising 10 well-known Dartmoor tales, including stories like Kitty Jay, Coach of Bones and The Hairy Hands. I have a history degree, so what&#8217;s behind the tales interests me as much as the tale itself. How did it come about in the first place? So, I also explore the origins and the history behind the folklore. The book also has beautiful original artwork by my aunt, Gina Hemery. We did a journey around the places together &#8211; I would tell her the stories and she would sit and sketch.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-so-was-there-really-a-kitty-jay">So, was there really a Kitty Jay?</h2>



<p>A landowner did find the bones of a young woman there, interred on the crossroads, but we don&#8217;t know if it really was an 18th century housemaid who&#8217;d committed suicide having been abandoned by her lover. But we do know it&#8217;s a tradition among travellers to leave flowers there, although other people might say it&#8217;s the pixies&#8230;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-about-the-hairy-hands">What about the Hairy Hands?</h2>



<p>That story grew up around a series of accidents around Higher Cherrybrook Bridge in the 1920s, reputedly caused by a pair of hairy hands taking the steering wheel and forcing vehicles off the road. It was due to a camber in the road, nevertheless it caught the attention of newspapers like <em>The Daily Mail</em>, and the stories continued. As recently as the 1960s of a woman camping nearby reported seeing a ghostly pair of hands appear at her caravan window.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-did-your-grandfather-get-you-interested">Did your grandfather get you interested? </h2>



<p>My grandfather was a guide in the 1950s, taking visitors on pony treks and walks, while my grandmother was involved making teas and cakes, and my mother helped with the walks and the ponies. He was unusual in that he was the only guide at the time who covered the whole of Dartmoor. I didn&#8217;t know him well as my grandparents divorced, so many of the stories I heard were told to me as child by my grandmother and my mother.  </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-do-you-think-dartmoor-lends-itself-to-folklore">Do you think Dartmoor lends itself to folklore?</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="818" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/devon/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2025/10/Coach-of-Bones-C-Gina-Hemery-1.png" alt="Coach of Bones by Gina Hemery " class="wp-image-80475" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/devon/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2025/10/Coach-of-Bones-C-Gina-Hemery-1.png 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/devon/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2025/10/Coach-of-Bones-C-Gina-Hemery-1-800x436.png 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/devon/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2025/10/Coach-of-Bones-C-Gina-Hemery-1-1000x545.png 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/devon/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2025/10/Coach-of-Bones-C-Gina-Hemery-1-768x419.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Coach of Bones by Gina Hemery</figcaption></figure>



<p>There&#8217;s something about the rawness of the landscape, the ruggedness &#8211; its bogs and elevated terrain which feels very wild, even though, of course, it is quite managed. The climate can change quickly from sun to hail to thick fog &#8211; all in a day &#8211; and the willow-the-wisps can appear from nowhere. If you&#8217;re caught out in it, it can feel quite mystical. But it&#8217;s also the long history of people who have lived there, the migrant populations &#8211; from Neolithic farmers and Bronze Age Beaker People to Saxons and Celts, all bringing their own stories and human interactions. Using the land to weave their stories and pass on oral traditions. </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-many-talks-are-you-doing-about-the-book">How many talks are you doing about the book?</h2>



<p>Seven <a href="https://www.dartmoorsdaughter.com/talks" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">talks</a> in total, all around Devon, from Thurs 9 Oct to Thurs 27 Nov. Some are in collaboration with other local authors, such as <em><a href="https://dartmoortorsfestival.co.uk/tall-tales-and-strange-stories-dartmoors-daughter-in-conversation-with-sophie-pierce/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Tall Tales and Strange Stories</a></em> at St Lawrence Church in Ashburton (Thu 9 Oct) with Sophie Pierce. Sophie has written a book of her own about the Dartmoor tors, <em>Rock Idols</em>, so I&#8217;m sure she&#8217;ll have plenty to add. I&#8217;m also in conservation with the renowned folklorist and award-winning writer Terri Windling, an American author and writer who lived in Chagford for decades. It was her suggestion so I&#8217;m really honoured to be asked. My aunt Gina who provided the illustrations for the book will be there too, with some of her art for sale.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-are-you-doing-autumn-walks-too">Are you doing autumn walks too?</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1001" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/devon/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2025/10/EMMACUNIS-dartmoorsdaughter.jpg" alt="Emma Cunis Dartmoor's Daughter " class="wp-image-80472" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/devon/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2025/10/EMMACUNIS-dartmoorsdaughter.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/devon/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2025/10/EMMACUNIS-dartmoorsdaughter-800x534.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/devon/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2025/10/EMMACUNIS-dartmoorsdaughter-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/devon/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2025/10/EMMACUNIS-dartmoorsdaughter-768x513.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Foraging and dowsing in ancient Dartmoor</figcaption></figure>



<p>Yes, I guide one or two walks a month, and not just on folklore. There&#8217;s navigation skills for beginners where you can learn to use a compass and map read, and a Fungal Foray &#8211; with an expert mycologist of course as I wouldn&#8217;t want to poison anybody! For folklore there&#8217;s my <a href="https://www.dartmoorsdaughter.com/public-walks?category=Walks" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Witches on Dartmoor: Samhain Walk</a>. Far from being wicked old women, witches were most likely community mid-wives, herbalists, and fortune-tellers. You still get wart charmers, and ring-worm charmers on Dartmoor today although they don’t necessarily advertise themselves on websites!</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-i-read-that-sometimes-you-encourage-people-to-enjoy-the-silence">I read that sometimes you encourage people to enjoy the silence?</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1002" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/devon/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2025/10/emmacunis-stonecircle.png" alt="Emma Cunis Dartmoor's Daughter leading a walk on the moors to a stone circle " class="wp-image-80484" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/devon/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2025/10/emmacunis-stonecircle.png 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/devon/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2025/10/emmacunis-stonecircle-800x534.png 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/devon/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2025/10/emmacunis-stonecircle-1000x668.png 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/devon/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2025/10/emmacunis-stonecircle-768x513.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<p>Yes, I might just invite people to sit, notice what&#8217;s around them, take a few deep breaths and encourage them to notice how they feel. It has such a relaxing impact on the nervous system. Or if we go to a stone circle, I invite people to explore it first, to walk around it, sit in the middle. Once it&#8217;s sparked their imagination and they&#8217;ve had a chance to notice the details and ask themselves questions, I link back to what they&#8217;re seeing. For me, it&#8217;s engaging and experiential, and they may leave caring more about Dartmoor, thinking more about the life cycle of the trees, birds even in their own gardens back at home.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-which-walks-do-you-find-yourself-drawn-back-to-when-you-re-not-guiding">Which walks do you find yourself drawn back to when you&#8217;re not guiding?</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1001" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/devon/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2025/10/emmacunis-dartmoorwalk.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-80474" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/devon/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2025/10/emmacunis-dartmoorwalk.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/devon/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2025/10/emmacunis-dartmoorwalk-800x534.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/devon/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2025/10/emmacunis-dartmoorwalk-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/devon/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2025/10/emmacunis-dartmoorwalk-768x513.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<p>I love all the moor, but I find myself drawn to the places I know best, around where I live, above Chagford, Throwleigh, Belstone, Gidleigh&#8230; It&#8217;s so stunning and less busy because you don&#8217;t have the massive car parks! You often don&#8217;t meet a soul &#8211; just me and my sheepdog, Skye.  </p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-want-to-win-a-copy-of-emma-s-book">Want to win a copy of Emma&#8217;s book? </h2>



<p>Find out more about <a href="https://www.dartmoorsdaughter.com/talks" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Emma&#8217;s book tour</a>, then head to Muddy Devon Instagram to win a copy of <em><a href="https://www.dartmoorsdaughter.com/books/p/dartmoor-myths-legends-book" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dartmoor Myths &amp; Legends: Exploring Origins and Inspirations</a></em>.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-in-the-mood-for-more">IN THE MOOD FOR MORE?</h2>



<p><a href="https://devon.muddystilettos.co.uk/life-2/people/interview-rock-idols-authors-sophie-pierce-alex-murdin/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Tor de Force! Muddy meets <em>Rock Idols </em>author, Sophie Pierce</a></p>



<p><a href="https://devon.muddystilettos.co.uk/life-2/people/emily-hadley-art-curator-no13-my-cultural-kicks/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Art curator, Emily Hadley: My Cultural Kicks</a></p>



<p><a href="https://devon.muddystilettos.co.uk/life-2/people/muddy-meets-on-the-edge-author-unmumsy-mum-sarah-turner/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Muddy meets Sarah Turner: What the Unmumsy Mum Did Next</a></p>


Local legend! Muddy meets Dartmoor’s Daughter

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