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Previous Folklore Society Events

Creativity during the Covid lockdown: Life and Renewal During the Pandemic

  • 07-08/10/2021
  • 10:00 - 17:00
  • online

Folklore and Anthropology in Conversation: The Sixth Joint Seminar of The Folklore Society and The Royal Anthropological Institute ‘Creativity during the Covid lockdown: Life and Renewal During the Pandemic’ A Virtual, Two-Day Conference Date:  Thursday 7 and Friday 8 October, 2021. Time:  10 AM to 5:30 PM. The Royal Anthropological Institute, and The Folklore Society...

Fairy-stricken in Iran

  • 21/09/2021
  • 18:00-19:30
  • Online talk

Shara Atashi, freelance writer and translator, will tell of the Persian poet Fayez-e Dashti, known as the “fairy-stricken vagabond.” The legend of Fayez was put together by the people of Bushehr from the poet’s  double-couplets, in which he sang of the visitation of a fairy, his falling in love with her, their bond, his breaking...

The Sky in Legend and Tradition

  • 4th and 5th September 2021
  • Medieval Hall, Cathedral Close, Salisbury SP1 2EY

The Sky in Legend and Tradition The Fifteenth Legendary Weekend of The Folklore Society Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th September 2021 The Medieval Hall in Cathedral Close, Salisbury SP1 2EY The flying pigs are knocking on Heaven’s door while thunderbirds circle the Merry Dancers and a woman standing on the moon bends over Endymion. Dragons...

The Suburban Boggart: The Survival and Revival of a Manchester monster

  • 13/07/2021
  • 18:00-19:30
  • Online talk

Dr Ceri Houlbrook (University of Hertfordshire), will talk about the Boggart of Boggart Hole Clough, Manchester. The Boggart was living quite happily in its nineteenth-century rural dell. But what happened when its rural dell became a Manchester suburb? Not far from the little snug smoky village of Blakeley, or Blackley, there lies one of the...

Henry Glassie and Doc Rowe in Conversation

  • 06/07/2021
  • 18:00-19:30
  • Online talk

Following a recent documentary film portrait of the celebrated American folklorist and ethnologist Henry Glassie, ‘Henry Glassie: Field Work’, the Folklore Society are pleased to host a conversation with Henry himself and Doc Rowe, himself a dedicated field worker in folklore and tradition in the UK. We will host this event via Zoom and there...

The Strange History of Mother Shipton

  • 22/06/2021
  • 18:00-19:30
  • Online talk

Prof. Richard Jenkins (University of Sheffield) asks ‘Who was Mother Shipton? Was she a real person? How did she end up as the theme of a visitor attraction in Knaresborough, Yorkshire?’ This talk will trace the development of ‘Mother Shipton’ as a legendary figure: from the prophetess of seventeenth-century Civil War pamphlets, to the presiding...

Old Clem! Blow the fire, blow the fire: St Clement’s Day and Dickens

  • 08/06/2021
  • 18:00-19:30
  • Online talk

Online talk by Dr Paul Cowdell (University of Hertfordshire), Tuesday 8 June 2021, 18:00–19:30 November 23rd is St Clement’s day. The patron saint of blacksmiths, his day was celebrated by processions, dinners, effigies, poetry and appeals for money at village forges and, more rowdily, at dockyard smithies. It also merged with similar celebrations 2 days...

Folklore, Learning and Literacies conference

  • 21-23/05/2021
  • Friday 21 to Sunday 23 May. from 09:30 to 17:30 GMT
  • Online conference

The rescheduled Folklore, Learning and Literacies conference will be online, Friday 21 to Sunday 23 May 2021 Keynote speaker: Prof. Michael Rosen: ‘”Don’t say that!” – how my parents negotiated Yiddish.’  (Friday 21st) In this talk, Michael Rosen explores how his parents who had both come from Yiddish-speaking households, retained many Yiddish phrases and words...