Books

Presented here is a selection of items from the Margaret Murray Collection in the Folklore Society Archives. Murray’s notes and correspondence relate mainly to witch beliefs and legends, seasonal customs, and fairy lore – including first-hand accounts of sightings of fairies and other apparitions. Of particular interest are the materials concerning Fenland legends, the Dorset...

Popular ballads provide a vibrant record of Welsh society over the last two hundred years. The contributors study both Victorian parlour songs and Welsh street-ballads. Their production and dissemination are examined, as well as their vital role in forming public opinion, making this collection invaluable for students of popular culture both in and outside Wales.

Papers from a colloquium of The Katharine Briggs Club at Maddingley Hall near Cambridge, April 1991. Contents: Hilda Ellis Davidson, Introduction; Alan W. Smith, Crossing the Other Line: Some Arctic Analogues of the Traditional Equator Ceremony; Patricia Lysaght, Beataine: Irish Maytime Customs and the Reaffirmation of Boundaries; Samuel Pyeatt Menefee, Megalithic Movement: A Study of Thresholds in Time; Juliette Wood, Another...

Until a century ago cunning-folk were well-known figures in English and Welsh society. These practitioners of popular magic offered to solve a myriad of problems relating to ill health, theft, love and the future. Their significance and role in English and Welsh society in the early modern and modern periods requires much further study. This...

Forgetting Frolic provides a lively and readable account of the history of marriage traditions in Ireland. Fashions in wedding gowns, accessories, presents and celebrations are all considered, as are questions as to how partnerships were brought about before marriage and organised afterwards. The text and illustrations are of interest to the student of social history and...

Roy Judge has followed up his Jack-in-the-Green with an invaluable guide to the literature on May Day, from its disputed origins to its current practice. He considers the customs associated with May Day, their religious and political aspects, local celebrations, the roles taken by children, sweeps and milk-maids, and links to other folkloric topics such...