Monumental Lies: Early Nevada Folklore of the Wild West opens the door to understanding how legends and traditions emerged during the first decades following the "Rush to Washoe," which transformed the region beginning in 1859. During this Wild West period, there was widespread celebration of deceit, manifesting in tall tales, burlesque lies, practical jokes, and journalistic hoaxes. Humor was central to these endeavors and practitioners easily found themselves scorned if they failed to be adequately funny. This ethos became central to the way folklore emerged during the formative years of the Nevada territory and state. The tens of thousands of people who came to the West, attracted by gold and silver mining, brought distinct cultural legacies. The interaction of diverse perspectives, even while new stories and traditions coalesced or simply appeared, was a complex process. Author Ronald M. James addresses how the fluidity of the region affected new expressions of folklore as they took root. Mark Twain, often a go-to source for collections of early tall tales of this region, cannot be overlooked, but his interaction with local traditions was specific and narrow. More importantly, William Wright—publishing as Dan De Quille—arose as a key collector of legends, a counterpart of early European folklorists. With a bedrock understanding of what unfolded in the nineteenth century, it is possible to consider.

By considering the folklore of Cornwall in a Northern European context, this book casts light on a treasury of often-ignored traditions. Folklore studies internationally have long considered Celtic material, but scholars have tended to overlook Cornwall's collections. The Folklore of Cornwall fills this gap, placing neglected stories on a par with those from other regions where Celtic languages have deep roots. The Folklore of Cornwall demonstrates that Cornwall has a distinct body of oral tradition, even when examining legends and folktales that also appear elsewhere. The way in which Cornish droll tellers achieved this unique pattern is remarkable; with the publication of this book, it becomes possible for folklorists to look to the peninsula beyond the River Tamar for insight. A very readable text with popular appeal, this book serves as an introduction to folklore studies for the novice while also offering an alternative means to consider Cornish studies for advanced scholars. The comparative analysis combined with an innovative method of The Folklore of Cornwall is not to be found in other treatments of the subject.

By considering the folklore of Cornwall in a Northern European context, this book casts light on a treasury of often-ignored traditions. Folklore studies internationally have long considered Celtic material, but scholars have tended to overlook Cornwall's collections. The Folklore of Cornwall fills this gap, placing neglected stories on a par with those from other regions where Celtic languages have deep roots. The Folklore of Cornwall demonstrates that Cornwall has a distinct body of oral tradition, even when examining legends and folktales that also appear elsewhere. The way in which Cornish droll tellers achieved this unique pattern is remarkable; with the publication of this book, it becomes possible for folklorists to look to the peninsula beyond the River Tamar for insight. A very readable text with popular appeal, this book serves as an introduction to folklore studies for the novice while also offering an alternative means to consider Cornish studies for advanced scholars. The comparative analysis combined with an innovative method of The Folklore of Cornwall is not to be found in other treatments of the subject.

This is the eighteenth volume in the acclaimed paperback series...the only county series that can legitimately claim to represent the past and present of a nation. "Cornish Studies" has consistently - and successfully - sought to investigate and understand the complex nature of Cornish identity, as well as to discuss its implications for society and governance in contemporary Cornwall. The article which provides the cover illustration is a fascinating account of the rise and importance of swimming matches in Victorian Cornwall. These demonstrated both the beneficial aspects of the sport, and the importance of swimming prowess in life-saving around the Cornish coast - an important consideration for the developing tourist trade - the latter providing a significant antidote to the simultaneous construction of maritime Cornwall by a range of English writers as a dangerous region inhabited by wreckers, smugglers and pirates. This latest and diverse collection also includes articles on mining in both nineteenth century and contemporary Cornwall, an exploration of identity using material gathered through individual interviews, an assessment of research into Cornish folklore, discussion of the modern growth of alternative 'Celtic spiritualities' in Cornwall, and a fresh perspective on the Middle Cornish language of medieval Cornish drama. Cover Illustration: Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1890, it shows the start of a race from the 1896 swimming matches in St Ives.

The twentieth volume in the acclaimed paperback series . . . the only county series that can legitimately claim to represent the past and present of a nation. Cornish Studies has consistently - and successfully - sought to investigate and understand the complex nature of Cornish identity, as well as to discuss its implications for society and governance in contemporary Cornwall. Publication of Cornish Studies: Twenty marks two decades of this internationally acclaimed paperback series The volume discusses Cornish medieval and early modern studies, examines the efforts of Cornish language revivalists past and present, and considers the relation between Cornish folk tradition and Cornish identity, as well as evaluating Cornish literature in Cornwall and Australia, investigating the distinctive features of Cornish politics in the first half of the twentieth century, analysing the separation of wives and husbands during Cornwall's 'Great Emigration, and reviewing Cornish mine accidents. "For the past twenty years, Cornish Studies has stood at the very heart of the ongoing scholarly conversation over what it means - and what is has meant - to be Cornish. Interdisciplinary and internationalist in its approach, the series adopts a wide variety of perspectives in order to set the people of Cornwall - and the wider Cornish diaspora - in a truly global context". Mark Stoyle, Professor of History, University of Southampton

Spent cartridges. The pieces of an original Tabasco Pepper Sauce bottle. Shards of a ceramic pot, stained red. For archaeologists each of the thousands of artifacts uncovered at a site tells a story. For noted Comstock authority Ronald M. James, it is a story resulting from decades of research and excavation at one of the largest National Historic Landmarks in America, the Nevada town that, with the discovery of the Comstock Lode, became a boomtown microcosm of the American West. Drawing on the work of hundreds of volunteers, students, and professional archaeologists, Virginia City: Secrets of a Western Past shows how every detail-from unearthed artifacts to reports of local saloons to plans for the cemetery to surviving nineteenth-century buildings-adds to our view of Virginia City when it was one of the richest places on earth. James recreates this unlikely epitome of frontier industry and cosmopolitan living, the thriving hub of corporate executives, middle-class families, miners, prostitutes, and barkeepers-and more foreign-born residents per capita than anywhere else in the country-in a spot that had begun its life a few years earlier as the mining camp of several lucky guys. An excavation of the history of Virginia City, a window on the heyday of the American frontier, James's book is also an enlightening look at how archaeology brings the story of the past to life.

The fifteenth volume in this acclaimed paperback series has been redesigned and includes articles on the Cornish language and early modern Cornwall, Cornish migration and settlement in Victoria (Australia) and Nevada (America), Cornish politics and economics, the poet John Betjeman, and popular music in contemporary Cornwall.