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The Folklore Year - February
Folklore Customs, Ceremonies and Events
taking place throughout Britain this month.
The Folklore Year Month by Month
For previously published articles,
please
click here.
Don't forget - every month,
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Past features and
articles
~
Traditional Food and Drink
~ Sport ~
Witches, Monsters and
Fairies ~ Seasonal
Celebrations ~
~ Costume
and Fashion through the Ages ~
Authors, Poets and
Playwrights Full List of
Past Features and Articles
Wassailing
The Wassailing
celebrations generally take place on the Twelfth Night, 6th January,
however the more traditional still insist in celebrating it on ‘Old
Twelvey’, or the 17th January, the correct date that is
before the introduction of the Gregorian calendar messed things up
in 1752....
Pantomime
Pantomime is British. No one
else has it, and it is a marvellous and wonderful (if a little
eccentric!) British institution.....
Charles Dickens
The year 2012 sees the 200th
anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens, whose own life provided
much inspiration for his novels....
Pantomime
Pantomime is British.
No one else has it, and it is a marvellous and wonderful (if a little
eccentric!) British institution...
Christmas Crackers
All over Britain
on Christmas Day, families can be found sitting around their
dining tables enjoying a traditional lunch of roast turkey with
all the trimmings - and all, regardless of age, wearing coloured
paper hats. So why this
quaint tradition? Where do these paper hats come from? The
answer is the Christmas Cracker....
Remember,
Remember the 5th of November...
Bonfire Night - why
do the British celebrate with fireworks, bonfires - and set fire
to 'Guy'?
Halloween
Halloween or Hallowe’en is celebrated across the world on the night
of 31st October. Modern celebrations generally involve groups of
children dressed in scary costumes roaming from house to house,
demanding “trick-or-treat”. The origins of these celebrations however
date back thousands of years, to pagan times...
The Pendle Witches
Perhaps the
most notorious witch trial of the 16th Century. In the
year 1612 at Lancaster gaol, ten people were hanged for the
crime of witchcraft. They became known as the Pendle
Witches...
Michaelmas - 29th September
Michaelmas,
or the Feast of Michael and All Angels, is celebrated on the 29th of
September every year. As it falls near the equinox, the day is
associated with the beginning of autumn and the shortening of days...
Thomas Hardy, novelist and poet
Thomas Hardy was shy to a fault. He surrounded his house with a
dense curtain of trees, shunned publicity and when visitors
arrived unexpectedly he slipped quietly out of the back door in
order to avoid them. Furthermore, following the death of his
first wife Emma, he burnt, page by page, a book-length
manuscript of hers entitled "What I think of my husband". This
behaviour of Hardy's therefore begs the question: did he have
something to hide...
Well Dressing
What is Well
Dressing? And why, when and where is it done?
Wimbledon
Ah, Wiimbledon....the sound of tennis balls
on racquets, strawberries and cream, the great
British summer weather, Henman (or Murray?)
Hill....celebrate 125 years of this famous
tennis tournament....
Etiquette
Substantially more than just good table manners......
May Day in Merrie Olde England
Down
through the centuries May Day has been associated with fun,
revelry and perhaps most important of all, fertility......
Jane Austen
Jane
Austen’s appeal never fades. Maybe that’s why each year
thousands of visitors continue to flock to Winchester in
Hampshire to get closer to the ‘real’ Jane Austen.....
Saint George - Patron Saint of England
St Georges Day is (usually!) celebrated on April 23rd. But how much do we know
about England's patron saint?...
Easter Customs and Festivals
Egg rolling, morris dancing, pace-egging, bottle kicking and the
nutters dance....
Christmas Crackers
All over Britain
on Christmas Day, families can be found sitting around their
dining tables enjoying a traditional lunch of roast turkey with
all the trimmings - and all, regardless of age, wearing coloured
paper hats. So why this
quaint tradition? Where do these paper hats come from? The
answer is the Christmas Cracker....
Christmas
Traditions in Wales
Including the unique Boxing Day custom of beating young girls
with boughs of holly......
Fox Hunting
It
is believed that the custom for a fox to be tracked, chased and
often killed by trained hunting hounds and followed by the
Master of the Foxhounds and his team on foot
and horseback, originated from a Norfolk farmer’s
attempt to catch a fox using farm dogs in 1534......
Pearly Kings &
Queens of London
Includes footage of this years Pearly
Kings and Queens Society Costermongers Harvest Festival Parade 2010
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
The English poet Alfred
Tennyson was born on 6th August 1809. He is the author of the famous poem, 'The Charge of
the Light Brigade', Poet Laureate, and one of the most quoted poets
after Shakespeare...
Straight from the
Horse's Mouth
The horse’s contribution to Britain’s rich history and culture is
significant. From the early image of Queen Boudicca in a chariot being
drawn by her two chargers into battle with the Romans, the horse has
long been part of life in Britain.
Pace Egging
An ancient Lancashire
custom....
.
More...Nursery Rhymes
In our earlier article concerning
children’s nursery rhymes, we outlined how many of the seemingly
childish playground chants appear to have their roots based in historic
fact. We now attempt to shed light on why they couldn’t put Humpty
together again, the tax implications surrounding that Baa Baa Black
Sheep, and suggestions as to why, ‘when the boys came out to play’,
Georgie Porgie ran away...........
Clog Dancing
During the Industrial Revolution, the working classes of
northern England flocked to work in coal mines, pits and cotton mills to
make a living. Not the most likely place for the birth of a traditional
pastime? Well actually, yes. It was among these cobbled streets that the
English tradition of clog dancing was born.....
Queen Victoria - A Life in Pictures
The film, 'The Young Victoria' is released in cinemas this month.
Princess Beatrice of York, great-great-great-great-granddaughter of
Queen Victoria, appears briefly in the film as one of Victoria's ladies
in waiting. Victoria was born on May 24,
1819....
The Darker Side of Christmas Beware -
archives reveal the darker side of Christmas! What do fairies, cordial
water and sitting in church have in common? Apparently all three can be
lethal. The strange deaths have been taken from the burial register of
the parish of Lamplugh between 1656 and 1663.......
The Cornish Pasty
The famous symbol of Cornwall, the Cornish Pasty was developed as a
all-in-one meal for Cornish tin miners....
Yorkshire Pudding
Yorkshire
puddings, as the accompaniment to the “British Sunday Roast”, have
become such a part of the British institution that they have been
nominated their own day of celebration – the first Sunday of
February....
Polo
Polo is perhaps the oldest team sport;
the first recorded tournament was in 600 B.C. between the Turkomans and
the Persians (the Turkomans were victorious). The first game in
Britain of “hockey on horseback” was organised on Hounslow Heath in
1869...
Chester Mystery Plays
First performed almost 700 years ago, Chester’s Mystery
Plays originally date back to the 14th century and recreate the iconic
stories from the Bible.
Strange Phrases in the English Language
“I’m told he’s just got the sack for being a peeping Tom, but
then I’ve always said he’s as mad as a hatter.” Many such
strange phrases and expressions have their roots firmly established in
the rich history of the English people themselves..........
Rugby
Football "A game played by gentlemen with odd shaped balls"
Anon.
Reigning World Champions England try to defend their title at
the Rugby World Cup 2007 in France later this month....
The
Great British Pub Renowned the world over, the great British pub
is not just a place to drink beer, wine, cider or even something
a little bit stronger, it is a unique social centre, very often
the focus of community life in villages, towns and cities
throughout the length and breadth of the country.
British Costume
Fashion
through the Ages - Part One. 1050 to 1490: 11th to 15th
century
British Costume
Fashion through the Ages - Part Two.
16th and 17th centuries: Tudors and
Stuarts
British Costume
Fashion through the Ages - Part Three.
1730 to 1830: The Georgians / Regency
period
British Costume
Fashion through the Ages - Part Four.
The 19th and 20th centuries: The
Victorians, Edwardians, Roaring Twenties, WWII, New Look,
Swinging Sixties
Witches in
England
True stories of the persecution of witches in
England. Not for the faint hearted!
John Bull
John Bull is an imaginary figure who is a personification of
England, similar to the American 'Uncle Sam'. But where did he
come from, and what does he stand for?
Cigarette Cards
The hobby of collecting cigarette cards is known as Cartophily.
These cards were originally given away in cigarette packets as
a
marketing gimmick, primarily to encourage people to buy more
cigarettes. They eventually evolved however, into miniature reference
books with fine illustrations and detailed texts that captured
snapshots of the social history of the day.
Folklore
Destinations UK
The Lunar Society
The
Lunar Society met in and around Birmingham, England between 1765 and
1813. The members cheerfully referred to themselves as the ‘lunatics’,
but these men would change the face of the world forever.......
Icons of England
Nominate your own icon of England. A cup of tea? The Routemaster
bus? The F.A. Cup?..
The Folklore
Year Folklore Customs, Ceremonies and Events taking place
throughout Britain, listed by month
A Day out
with Jack and the Bogies May Day Celebrations in
Hastings....
A Taste of Wales
The food and flavours of Wales...
The Legend of St Nectan
There are conflicting legends surrounding this 5th century
saint.......
The Best of Brits
Great British inventions.........
Old Glory and the Cutty Wren
An ancient tradition which until 10 years ago was
almost lost......
The Tichborne Dole
The Tichborne Dole
is an ancient tradition which takes place in the village of Tichborne
near Alresford in Hampshire
every year on March 25th (Lady’s Day)
and dates back to
the 13th century. This tradition has a curse attached to it........
A Whiter Shade of Fey
Many plant-based myths seem to involve protection from,
or for, witches and fairies. Today’s Wiccans hold white to be the colour
of the Goddess.....
John Wesley
John Wesley and his brother Charles were the founders of the
Methodist Movement. There are now almost 20 million members throughout
the world......
"Women
and Children First"
How the
great naval tradition of “women and children first” was established.....
The Wise Men
of Gotham
Who were the Wise Men of Gotham, and were they really wise?
Wise is perhaps not the correct word to use …a better description would
appear to be ‘The clever and cunning men of Gotham’.....
That was the year that was....1953 In
1953 Queen Elizabeth II was crowned in Westminster Abbey, and Edmund
Hillary and Sherpa Tensing became the first people to scale the summit
of Mount Everest. A year to remember! But the everyday life of the
ordinary citizen in Britain was, by the standards of today, quite
simple. But it was all about to change.....
Lady Godiva
Some 900 years ago an extraordinary occurrence took place on
Market Day in the English Midlands town of Coventry. Two monks
at St. Albans Abbey in Hertfordshire first recorded this amazing
story in Latin. Roger of Wendover wrote of it in the twelfth
century and Mathew Paris in the early thirteenth century ....
The Queens Champion
Did you know that the Queen still has a Champion?.....
Bramah's Lock
Joseph Bramah, a farmer’s son, was born in 1748 and is best
known for his invention which is still in use today – the Bramah
Lock. His wager that no-one could pick this lock went unbeaten
for 67 years.....
The Throne of Sir John Harrington - by Royal Appointment
Thomas Crapper has been credited with the invention of the
flushing toilet.. but the actual inventor was Sir John, godson
of Queen Elizabeth I ......
A Deadly Curse!
The cursing power
of Psalm 109, 'Let his children be fatherless and his wife a widow', was
once a widely held superstition.
It was this 'cursing poem' that is said to have brought about
the worst ship wreck ever recorded in the Isles of Scilly......
The Most Noble Order of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter is the oldest European order of
chivalry...
 The
Old Lady of Threadneedle Street
This is the nickname for the Bank of England - but was there really an
"old lady of Threadneedle Street"? Indeed there was...
Mother's Ruin
In the
mid-eighteenth century the effects of gin-drinking on English society
makes the use of drugs today seem almost benign!....
Pearly Kings and Queens
One of the great traditions of London, the Pearly Royals started in
Victorian days and some still reign today in their various London
districts....
Moonrakers
The legend that explains why Wiltshiremen are also called 'Moonrakers'
..
...
Smugglers and Wreckers Throughout the centuries smuggling has
been considered by the British people to be a very profitable way of
life...
Spring-Heeled Jack
He terrorised Victorian society, but who was this 19th century Batman?
 The
Nation's Favourite Take-Away - Fish and Chips
Afternoon Tea - a great British tradition
The Ancient Fenland Tradition of the "Split Goosefeather........and
the part it played in the life - and death - of a King
"How much is your wife worth?"
Until the first Divorce Court was established in 1857 it was very
difficult and costly to get rid of a wife...
"This Is England"
A
new radio programme available via the
Internet...
Celtic chalk figures
White horse and hill figures are among the most interesting features of
the chalk downlands in southern England. These figures were cut into the
chalk in antiquity by
the Celts......
Did you know?.. A Quiz - Who was responsible
for making bathing respectable; what is the connection between
Alexander Pope the poet and weeping willow trees in
America......
The Loch Ness
Monster The first recorded account of 'Nessie' is
that of an eyeball to eyeball confrontation with the Irish
saint, St. Columba in the 6th century.....
Stones - their secrets, myths and legends
Ancient
stones, standing stones, sacred stones, healing stones,
enchanted stones.....
Cricket - The sweet sound of leather on willow
A warm summers day, a picturesque village green, the sound of
leather on willow, a polite ripple of applause ...
The
Other Man in the Iron Mask!
More English eccentricity.......
Ring a Ring O' Roses.. Children
learn nursery rhymes at their mother's knee - are these apparently
childish rhymes just nonsense or political satire of their times ?
Undying Heroes!
Heroes of the past who will rise to fight again in order to save
England in her hour of need...
Pub and Inn Signs of Britain
Inn signs: a unique record of the history of Britain and the
people who made it.
 Food,
Glorious Food!
Roast Beef
and Yorkshire Pudding, Trifle, Steak and Kidney Pie, the British
Curry...can we link traditional British food to the
history of Britain?
Unquiet Graves
Things
that go bump in the night ..Famous and
not-so-famous hauntings.
Do you believe in fairies?
Stories about fairies abound throughout history - but in the
21st century, surely we don't still believe in them - or do we?
Trendsetters
Many
everyday items are known by the names of the people who first
set the trend. Read on for how 'wellies' became 'wellies' and
how compulsive gambling led to the invention of a simple food!
Great
British Eccentrics
Britain
may be a small island but it seems to have more true eccentrics
than many larger countries. Meet a few of them here!
 Literary
Giants
Nearly every county in England can claim a 'literary giant' who
has lived within their boundaries....
Folk
remedies, charms and potions
Or thank goodness for the National Health Service! Who were
the 'Quake doctors', how do you cure warts and what was
the King's Evil? Read on...
Superstitions
Do
you feel uneasy when walking under a ladder? Check out these
customs and superstitions.
ALSO
"Readers'
Corner"
Your experiences of Britain
and the British!
Featuring
contributions and articles from readers.
The Folklore Year
Folklore Customs, Ceremonies and Events taking
place throughout Britain, listed by month
The Folklore
Year - January
The
Folklore Year - February
The Folklore Year - March
The Folklore Year - Easter
The Folklore Year - April
The Folklore Year - May
The Folklore Year - June
The Folklore Year - July
The Folklore Year - August
The Folklore Year - September
The Folklore Year - October
The Folklore Year - November
The Folklore Year - December
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