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.

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).

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 For this special edition Richard has unearthed additional, unpublished photographs and written a biographical essay on his great-uncle.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.

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.

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.