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First mentioned by William Langland in the late fourteenth century,
Robin Hood comes down to us through ballads and folksongs, old
chronicles and plays, medieval allusions, folklore and place names.
Today Robin Hood folk songs are found in the USA as well as in
England and Scotland, and place names and traditions are widely
located in England. The earliest stories are centred on Barnsdale
in Yorkshire, but later the emphasis shifts to Nottingham and
Sherwood Forest. Originally a yeoman, Robin was upgraded to
aristocrat in the sixteenth century, but he remains essentially a
champion of the poor and oppressed and a social nonconformer. How
far Robin Hood was based on a historical character and how far he
is an archetypal outlaw or a Greenwood myth (who must withdraw from
society and commune with nature) is the subject of the Doels'
wide-ranging study. This new edition is complete with an updated
gazetteer of Robin Hood sites and an annotated filmography. It
includes almost 50 illustrations (including performances by
present-day mummers).
For 400 years Kent was associated with the cultivation of hops. The
harvesting of the hop was done by an itinerant workforce drawn
mainly from London's east end, and gypsies coming from as far away
as Ireland. This book evokes the bygone world of hopping through a
fascinating illustrated selection of tales, songs, anecdotes and
social records covering 400 years of local history, featuring both
the 'rose-tinted' image and the harsher reality of a distinctive
aspect of Kentish life.
In 1909, Canterbury antiquarian Percy Maylam published his research
and remarkable photographs of the fascinating Kent tradition of the
hooden horse. He caught the custom in its last traditional phase,
but his work inspired a revival after the Second World War. Percy
Maylam also published a famous essay on the Kent custom of
Gavelkind when this was abolished by Act of Parliament just before
the First World War. Percy's great-nephew Richard Maylam has
long-wished for these two works to be reprinted. For this special
edition Richard has unearthed additional, unpublished photographs
and written a biographical essay on his great-uncle. Together with
Richard, Mick Lynn and Geoff Doel have worked to make Percy
Maylam's text available to a new generation of potential hoodeners
and their audiences.
An exploration of the traditional culture of Sussex through its
folklore, seasonal customs, folksongs and legends and traditional
occupations such as shepherding and inshore fishing and those
outside the law, such as smugglers, highwaymen and poachers. From
saints to smugglers, from may garlands to mummers, from wife-sales
to witchcraft and legends in the landscape-this book gives an
insight into the traditional culture, beliefs and practices of
rural Sussex in the context of landscape, antiquities, settlement
patterns, belief practices and economics. The Book contains much
original research and an examination of primary sources. Topics
include: 'Legends in the Landscape'; 'Spring & Summer Customs';
'Religion and Folklore-Saints, Witches and Guy Fawkes Night'; 'The
Winter Solstice and Celebration of Christmas; 'The Law of the
Forest and Poaching'; 'Folk Drama'; 'Songs of the People'; 'The
Shepherds of the Downs' and 'The Cinque Ports & Smuggling'.
Who exactly was King Arthur? What is the evidence for him as a
historical figure, and how does this figure relate to the hero of
medieval romances and other legends? Fran and Geoff Doel trace the
cultural development of the legendary and literary Arthur, through
medieval Welsh sources, the French Romances, and the tradition of
courtly love to Thomas Malory's "Le Morte D'Arthur" and the Tudor
myth.
Providing readers with a seasonal anthology of the county, this
collection of Sussex carols and customs, seasonal recipes and
literary tales, re-examines the rich heritage of Christmas past
from around the county. It features Christmas disasters, such as
the Lewes avalanche, to well-known seasonal songs - such as Good
King Wenceslas.
The Green Man has many facets, many dimensions. He peers through
his leaf mask in hundreds of church misericords and stone carvings.
His innate link with the changing seasons and fertility is revealed
in the medieval poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and in summer
folk customs such as Jack in the Green, the Castleton Garland and
the Burry Man. Perhaps he even lurks in the legendary hero of the
Greenwood, Robin Hood. The Authors have been running summer schools
and courses on the Green Man for many years, and in this
fascinating study they discuss his significance in medival times
and explore the modern development of the concept of the Green Man.
The book also contains a detailed gazetteer of over 200 sites,
featuring almost 1000 carvings (many photographed by Felicity
Howlett).
Kent boasts a plethora of characterising traditions which include
hop-growing, smuggling and saints. All this reflects the curious
history and geography of the area. It is bounded by sea on three
sides, has the longest coastline of any English county and was the
base for much maritime activity. This included trade and invasions,
which gave rise to communities rich in sea-lore. This book also
covers topics such as seasonal customs including harvest
traditions; drama; witchcraft, saints and holy wells; and the
background and songs surrounding fruit and hop-growing. This book
charts the traditional culture of a populous and culturally
significant southern county.
Folklore of Dorset explores the rich heritage of the county's
traditions, seasonal customs and songs. Included are saints' lore
and smugglers, wife sales, wrecking, witchcraft, wise men and West
Gallery Music, hill figures, hempseed divination and holy wells,
mummers' plays, May garlands and maypoles, Oosers and Oak Apple
Day, bonfires and Beating the Bounds. The sources used include the
poems and non-fiction of William Barnes, Thomas Hardy, the
historian of Dorset John Hutchins, the Victorian and early
twentieth-century folklorist John Udal and the Hammmond Brothers'
collection of Dorset folksongs. The authors critically engage with
the extent to which Hardy and Barnes can be regarded as primary
sources for Dorset folklore. There is also considerable original
research and use of oral material. Nearly 100 fascinating
photographs illustrate the text and there is an appendix of a full
mummers' play.
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