Folkloric traditions haven’t gone away…
We invite guests to tell us a little about how they work with folklore. This is a guest blog post by writer, Shelley Dootson-Greenland.
Folkloric play and practice: a hobby horse.
Folklore is all around us. It exists in colourful and vibrant play between humans and nature – with bells on!
I’ve been fascinated by folklore for the longest time, and I have fond childhood memories of my grandfather’s stories of Devil’s Bridge by the Lancashire mosses, the inherited superstition of Jenny Greenteeth who lurks beneath the water of the marshes, and the many practices associated with the seasonal calendar: Lughnasadh (Lammas), the time of the corn harvest and my birthday, for example, and Samhain for death, rebirth, and the magic which flows within us, through everything…
The awareness of storytelling, for me, developed around the age of two and I’ve been told that my favourite daily request was highlighted by the words, “Mum show book.” Growing up, I adored the words and associated imagery of European fairy tales of Hans Christian Anderson and the Brother’s Grimm, drawn to the mystery of stories set within nature such as Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, and I craved the magic which was to be found inside The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis and The Enchanted Castle by Edith Nesbit. I was drawn to the elements of light and dark, the folklore and the folk horror.
A Lincolnshire wheat field at Lughnasadh.
It was inevitable that a practice of storytelling would follow, and I developed a craft, originating with rhyming couplets at primary school, to articles, short stories, and poems published through various mediums, and most recently, through to a PhD in creative writing at the University of Lincoln.
As a practicing Druid, I have a deep connection with nature, and living in rural Lincolnshire in an eighteenth-century farmhouse, provides a close relationship with the seasonal and agrarian wheel of the year. It was here, surrounded by landscape, unscathed by industry, that folklore has tip-toed and jingle-jangled throughout my life and my work, yet it was through the writing of my novel, The Hind in the Ley, half of which is submitted for my PhD, that I researched specific subject areas of superstition and ritual practice intensely, formulating connections with our nationwide traditions and beliefs, weaving them into a unique story of memories passed and of manifestations present.
The Hind in the Ley, and its critical analysis, took around five years to write, yet the story has been with me all my life – unearthed from woodlands, discovered up snicket paths, and amalgamated in mysterious buildings down cobbled streets.
Is it commonplace to cry real tears when reading chapters of your own work?
Of course!
I do, because my work has feeling - not just from this lifetime, but from past lives mingled with those of our ancestors from whom we continue to learn about ourselves.
Folklore exists within everything we do: in our annual ritual celebrations with family, friends, and community throughout the year such as birthdays, bonfire night, Christmas or other religious festivals. Folklore is right there imbedded within our recipes, games, and the things we teach to children. It appears to us through the traditional crafts and assemblages we make in our homes such as wreaths on doors or woodworking. And it could be argued that folklore exists each time you mow your lawn or create a boundary around your home – in essence you’re beating the bounds or perhaps warding off unseen entities.
Folklore traditions haven’t gone away, we just need reminding of the practices. Folklore is all around us. It’s within everything. Listen out for the bells of the hobby horse. They’re closer than you think.
Shelley Dootson-Greenland
Find out more about Shelley and her work here: https://www.facebook.com/SNDootson/