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...
The industrial revolution and the massive change it wrought in traditional ways of life are clearly reflected in the traditional music of the period, and Roger Elbourne has used material from the weaving towns of Lancashire to study this change. He begins by looking at the social upheaval of the years from 1780 to 1840,...
This volume in the Mistletoe Series is concerned with contemporary religions and healing practices. Dr Williams spent ten months in the Recôncavo area of north-east Brazil, obtaining first hand information about the popular religion of the area, known as “Candomblé” and the healing practices of its adepts or curandeiros. He begins with a description of the...
Described as one of the key ‘bridge-builders in international folklore studies,’ Dr Jacqueline Simpson’s contribution to the study of English and Scandinavian folklore is highlighted in this commemorative volume. Drawing on her substantial contribution to Folklore, the journal of The Folklore Society, of which she was Editor for many years, this volume presents a selection of...
This study of cante-fable narratives collected by Dr Okafor among the Tonga of Southern Zambia selects one long, elaborate tale, ‘The Banished Child’, for a detailed analysis. This story is given in full, in the original and in translation. Okafor discusses the mixture of prose and poetry in such tales, the participation of the audience,...
British traditional drama has generated fierce scholarly debate, as the 280 works listed in this bibliography can testify. The three authors, all members of the Traditional Drama Research Group, guide us through the vexed questions of mumming’s origins to more sociological investigations. The bibliography draws out the ties with other traditional drama, points to overseas...
When the Protestant reformers of the early sixteenth century attacked Roman Catholic ‘superstitions’, one of the chief areas where differences between the new and old doctrines appeared was over the question of purgatory. The formal and precise Roman Catholic teaching on the fate of the soul after death that had been evolved in the later...