Charting British folklore through time

Members of the National Folklore Survey for England team, Professor Owen Davies and Dr Ceri Houlbrook, have this week published a groundbreaking new book: something that promises to be the definitive guide to British folklore, past and present.

It’s a beautiful looking thing…

Published by Manchester University Press, Folklore: A journey through the past and present moves the narrative very firmly away from the notion of folklore being the preservation of the dim and distant past, and instead emphasises the significant role it plays in contemporary life. ‘Folklore is and always has been ubiquitous, dynamic and political,’ its description states. ‘It is a living tradition that draws from many sources, including migrant communities, and is forever being renewed and updated.’

So thorough is its approach to folklore that we decided to use its chapter plan as a basis to structure our survey, featuring the holidays, festivals and the ritual year; storytelling, including legend; the natural world; domestic life; the unexplained and unexpected; and modern media.

The book is on tour over the next few months, including a date at Sheffield’s Off The Shelf festival where our very own project lead, Dr David Clarke, will chair the event:

25 September: Waterstones Leeds

7 October: FANE, online

9 October: RNCM, Manchester

14 October: Topping and Co, Bath

19 October: Off The Shelf, Sheffield

30 October: East Anglian Folklore Centre

4 November: Warwick Books

13 November: Blackwell’s, Edinburgh

19 November: Heffers, Cambridge

22 November: Conway Hall, London