Imagine you live in the 17th century. After surviving the ordeal of childbirth, you now have to find enough food for your family and keep a roof over your head. You might think that’s plenty to worry about on its own. But for some families, the extra worry of changelings was very real. alt=”In folklore, […]
Folklore
Did the Hand of Glory really work or is it a myth?
The Hand of Glory is a peculiar artefact. It appears in the folktales of northern England, and examples even exist in museums around the country. But this is a strange one for this blog because Hands of Glory weren’t simply a folk tale. They really did exist. Question is, how true were the stories about their potency? You can […]
[Book Review] A Treasury of British Folklore: Maypoles, Mandrakes and Mistletoe
It’s a testament to the growing interest in folklore as both an area of academic study and a topic worth further investigation by the general public that the National Trust would commission a collection of folklore. Written by #FolkloreThursday‘s own Dee Dee Chainey, A Treasury of British Folklore: Maypoles, Mandrakes and Mistletoe collects lore from the […]
Boost your New Year with Twelfth Night folklore!
Twelfth Night is an often forgotten festival in the English calendar. In the Christian tradition, it marks the start of Epiphany. To cut a long story short, that’s when the Magi visited Jesus. It’s moved around the calendar, but now the traditional date of Epiphany is January 6th. While Twelfth Night is the eve of Epiphany, […]
What are the festive links with holly and Christmas?
Holly and Christmas are like chocolate eggs and Easter. You can’t imagine one without the other. And there’s something so delightfully festive about holly garlands or wreaths in December. But how did this glossy but prickly plant become such a central part of Christmas decorations? So what are the links between holly and Christmas? As […]
What strange folklore lies behind mistletoe and Christmas?
Mistletoe is a strange plant. Neither tree nor shrub, it grows between soil and sky on the branches of other trees. It’s rarely found on the oak and ancient Druids viewed mistletoe as sacred if it was. Felling an oak that played host to the parasitic plant invited disaster. In fact, Margaret Baker recounts the story […]
