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The Lost Folk: From the Forgotten Past to the Emerging Future of Folk
'An exceptionally thoughtful and beautifully written.' Maxine Peake
'Erudite, questing and endlessly fascinating . . . the book that British folk has long needed.' Katherine May
'A splendid museum full of strange and wonderful things.' Peter Ross
A fresh and engaging celebration of the customs, places, objects and peoples that make up what we know as 'folk' in Britain.
By its nature, folk is tricky to define, hard to preserve and even more difficult to resurrect. But folk culture is all around us; sitting in our churches, swinging from our pubs and dancing through our streets, patiently waiting to be discovered, appreciated, saved and cherished.
In The Lost Folk, Lally MacBeth is on a mission to breathe new life into these rapidly disappearing customs. She reminds us that folk is for everyone, and does not belong to an imagined, halcyon past, but is constantly being drawn from everyday lives and communities. As well as looking at what folk customs have meant in Britain's past, she shines a light on what they can and should mean as we move into the future - encouraging us to use the book as an inspiration, and become collectors and creators of our very own folk traditions.
'Erudite, questing and endlessly fascinating . . . the book that British folk has long needed.' Katherine May
'A splendid museum full of strange and wonderful things.' Peter Ross
A fresh and engaging celebration of the customs, places, objects and peoples that make up what we know as 'folk' in Britain.
By its nature, folk is tricky to define, hard to preserve and even more difficult to resurrect. But folk culture is all around us; sitting in our churches, swinging from our pubs and dancing through our streets, patiently waiting to be discovered, appreciated, saved and cherished.
In The Lost Folk, Lally MacBeth is on a mission to breathe new life into these rapidly disappearing customs. She reminds us that folk is for everyone, and does not belong to an imagined, halcyon past, but is constantly being drawn from everyday lives and communities. As well as looking at what folk customs have meant in Britain's past, she shines a light on what they can and should mean as we move into the future - encouraging us to use the book as an inspiration, and become collectors and creators of our very own folk traditions.
392 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 17, 2025
35 people are currently reading
711 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 22, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️½
August 1, 2025
I found this exploration of Folk fascinating. It took me a long time to read as i found myself wanting to know more about things mentioned so would go on Youtube or Wikipedia deep dives. I'm seeing many things I encounter on a daily basis in a different way now.
October 4, 2025
This is a fascinating and well researched book, that has the power to make you look with different eyes at the world around you. The celebration of the local, the handmade, the eccentric, of things that are ephemeral, cheap, or even free, is essential in an age of globalisation and the dominance of tech giants (what does folklore teach us about the over-mighty?)
Lally Macbeth writes persuasively against the concept of authenticity, showing how meaningless it is, when we can't really tell if a practice dates from antiquity or was invented by the victorians. It doesn’t matter, as long as it's meaningful today.
Lally Macbeth writes persuasively against the concept of authenticity, showing how meaningless it is, when we can't really tell if a practice dates from antiquity or was invented by the victorians. It doesn’t matter, as long as it's meaningful today.
September 2, 2025
Well written and a good inclusive message but overall quite disorganised and dry. I wasn’t sure what this was about — the lost collectors or lost folk art and customs? The latter is far more interesting but the book had quite a strong emphasis on the former. It felt quite academic and without much to keep me reading at times.
June 3, 2025
I was enchanted from the very first pages of The Lost Folk. This is a wonderful exploration through custom, tradition, and the imagination of remarkable everyday people. Myth plays a huge role, both in the creation and curation of what makes up folk, but that doesn’t make it fiction; not one bit. It is the entire lives of some, entirely dedicated to craft and creation.
Part of the huge importance of folk, I learned, is that it is a show of ancient and modern Britain holding hands; and even more relevant, how it embraces all cultures, newcomers and deeply rooted alike. Folk does of course have its darker sides, its political, and its immutable, which is a hugely important part of its debate.
It’s an impossible book not to be invested in, guided by Lally’s incredible insights, and realise that the thing you’ve loved for all those years, since your youth . . . is folk! You’ve seen folk, and touched it. Herein is the wisdom of how to preserve and embrace it.
This book is a remarkable feat of passion, research, and wide-reaching fascination. It is worth it for the conclusion alone.
Part of the huge importance of folk, I learned, is that it is a show of ancient and modern Britain holding hands; and even more relevant, how it embraces all cultures, newcomers and deeply rooted alike. Folk does of course have its darker sides, its political, and its immutable, which is a hugely important part of its debate.
It’s an impossible book not to be invested in, guided by Lally’s incredible insights, and realise that the thing you’ve loved for all those years, since your youth . . . is folk! You’ve seen folk, and touched it. Herein is the wisdom of how to preserve and embrace it.
This book is a remarkable feat of passion, research, and wide-reaching fascination. It is worth it for the conclusion alone.
June 19, 2025
When I saw the artwork for this one I knew I needed it on my shelf ... luckily I have an interest in folk customs too, so when the publishers very kindly sent me a copy I was very excited to get stuck into it!
This is a beautifully crafted journey through Britain’s forgotten folklore... the strange seasonal figures, regional customs, and half-remembered rituals that sit just on the edge of mainstream memory. It’s a blend of travel writing, cultural history, and personal reflection and it manages to be both deeply grounded and slightly otherworldly.
I loved how she tackled idea of cultural memory and how certain stories and symbols survive while others slip into obscurity. MacBeth doesn’t just mourn these lost characters, she resurrects them on the page. We learn how pub signs, flowerbeds and local festivals are still considered part of the rich tapestry that makes up 'folk' in Britain today. She makes it clear that these aren’t just oddities, they’re remnants of a more communal (and arguably more connected) life and a seasonal understanding that we are missing in the modern world.
There’s also a powerful exploration of place and belonging. MacBeth travels from the Scottish Highlands to the rocky coasts of Cornwall, linking each folkloric figure with the land they come from along the way. For example, we learn of The Obby Oss in Padstow, a strange, chaotic spring ritual involving a horse-like creature and costumed dancers. MacBeth doesn’t just describe the scene, she reflects on how the ritual shapes a sense of local identity, even as the meaning of the ritual itself shifts over time.
What I really enjoyed was the tone of MacBeth's writing, it’s reverent and respectful without being dry, poetic but never precious. She clearly loves the subject and that comes through in every page. Her writing is full of small, sensory details, peat smoke, sea mist, ringing bells, all the textures of rural Britain, woven in with a sense of quiet enchantment.
That being said, I did sometimes want more. The author states early on that there is not enough time to go deeply into some of the folklore (of Scotland, Ireland and Wales particularly) but I still found some of the sections felt quite fleeting, just as I was getting properly drawn in, we’d move on. I found myself longing for a bit more historical context, or deeper commentary, especially around how these traditions were shaped by (and resisted) power structures like the church. That’s a little niggle really, the book is clearly intentionally wide-ranging and it does its job well... but I was enjoying it so much I could have taken more.
Still, The Lost Folk is a gorgeous, thoughtful book inside and out. It’s perfect if you’re folklore-curious, or if you’re drawn to the kind of storytelling that reveals the magic in the everyday.
This is a beautifully crafted journey through Britain’s forgotten folklore... the strange seasonal figures, regional customs, and half-remembered rituals that sit just on the edge of mainstream memory. It’s a blend of travel writing, cultural history, and personal reflection and it manages to be both deeply grounded and slightly otherworldly.
I loved how she tackled idea of cultural memory and how certain stories and symbols survive while others slip into obscurity. MacBeth doesn’t just mourn these lost characters, she resurrects them on the page. We learn how pub signs, flowerbeds and local festivals are still considered part of the rich tapestry that makes up 'folk' in Britain today. She makes it clear that these aren’t just oddities, they’re remnants of a more communal (and arguably more connected) life and a seasonal understanding that we are missing in the modern world.
There’s also a powerful exploration of place and belonging. MacBeth travels from the Scottish Highlands to the rocky coasts of Cornwall, linking each folkloric figure with the land they come from along the way. For example, we learn of The Obby Oss in Padstow, a strange, chaotic spring ritual involving a horse-like creature and costumed dancers. MacBeth doesn’t just describe the scene, she reflects on how the ritual shapes a sense of local identity, even as the meaning of the ritual itself shifts over time.
What I really enjoyed was the tone of MacBeth's writing, it’s reverent and respectful without being dry, poetic but never precious. She clearly loves the subject and that comes through in every page. Her writing is full of small, sensory details, peat smoke, sea mist, ringing bells, all the textures of rural Britain, woven in with a sense of quiet enchantment.
That being said, I did sometimes want more. The author states early on that there is not enough time to go deeply into some of the folklore (of Scotland, Ireland and Wales particularly) but I still found some of the sections felt quite fleeting, just as I was getting properly drawn in, we’d move on. I found myself longing for a bit more historical context, or deeper commentary, especially around how these traditions were shaped by (and resisted) power structures like the church. That’s a little niggle really, the book is clearly intentionally wide-ranging and it does its job well... but I was enjoying it so much I could have taken more.
Still, The Lost Folk is a gorgeous, thoughtful book inside and out. It’s perfect if you’re folklore-curious, or if you’re drawn to the kind of storytelling that reveals the magic in the everyday.
July 14, 2025
1. Summary (No Spoilers – because there are no folk tales to spoil)
According to six rave reviews on the back cover — including one calling it “lively and deeply researched” — this book promised a fresh, erudite take on British folk customs, past and present. I settled in expecting maypoles, Morris dancers, and perhaps a recipe for wassail.
Instead, what I got was... a 327-page introduction to the people who once collected folk traditions. Not the traditions themselves — heavens no. That would have been far too folksy. This is a book about the people who talked about the people who once collected folk tales. A sort of folklore inception.
2. What I Liked
The cover. Gorgeous. The font choices — solid.
Lally Macbeth does write well. You can almost hear the BA (Hons) and her postgraduate funding whispering from the margins. If this book had been marketed as “an academic meditation on archival folk studies and the legacy of post-war collectors,” I would’ve known what I was getting.
But it wasn’t. It was marketed as Folk. And that’s where the folk-ing disappointment began.
3. What I Didn’t Like
I came for cheese rolling, pancake tossing, and perhaps an anecdote about someone setting fire to a wicker goat.
I stayed out of stubbornness, hoping page 198 might finally describe a single folk custom. It didn’t.
The book reads like one long preface — a beautifully bound prologue that never gets to the party.
There’s no mention of the vibrant, odd, muddy traditions I remember from school assemblies or village fetes.
And that signed copy sticker? A sticky label with the author’s name Sharpie’d on like a raffle ticket. What next — a limited edition with “Best Wishes” printed in Comic Sans?
4. Final Thoughts
This isn’t a book about folk traditions. It’s a book about the people who used to talk about them. If that’s your thing, great. But if, like me, you were hoping for a literary tour of British folklore with bells on — you’ll have better luck googling "Morris dancing YouTube compilation".
Will I trust this publisher with another £20 of mine? No. Not even if their next title is Folklore: Now With Actual Folk. Fool me once…
According to six rave reviews on the back cover — including one calling it “lively and deeply researched” — this book promised a fresh, erudite take on British folk customs, past and present. I settled in expecting maypoles, Morris dancers, and perhaps a recipe for wassail.
Instead, what I got was... a 327-page introduction to the people who once collected folk traditions. Not the traditions themselves — heavens no. That would have been far too folksy. This is a book about the people who talked about the people who once collected folk tales. A sort of folklore inception.
2. What I Liked
The cover. Gorgeous. The font choices — solid.
Lally Macbeth does write well. You can almost hear the BA (Hons) and her postgraduate funding whispering from the margins. If this book had been marketed as “an academic meditation on archival folk studies and the legacy of post-war collectors,” I would’ve known what I was getting.
But it wasn’t. It was marketed as Folk. And that’s where the folk-ing disappointment began.
3. What I Didn’t Like
I came for cheese rolling, pancake tossing, and perhaps an anecdote about someone setting fire to a wicker goat.
I stayed out of stubbornness, hoping page 198 might finally describe a single folk custom. It didn’t.
The book reads like one long preface — a beautifully bound prologue that never gets to the party.
There’s no mention of the vibrant, odd, muddy traditions I remember from school assemblies or village fetes.
And that signed copy sticker? A sticky label with the author’s name Sharpie’d on like a raffle ticket. What next — a limited edition with “Best Wishes” printed in Comic Sans?
4. Final Thoughts
This isn’t a book about folk traditions. It’s a book about the people who used to talk about them. If that’s your thing, great. But if, like me, you were hoping for a literary tour of British folklore with bells on — you’ll have better luck googling "Morris dancing YouTube compilation".
Will I trust this publisher with another £20 of mine? No. Not even if their next title is Folklore: Now With Actual Folk. Fool me once…
August 4, 2025
Excellent book about folk - what is folk? How did it become lost, how has it merged with new or old traditions into something else?
This is a detailed book covering all sorts of things from mummers and Morris sides to model villages and corn dolls. It left me with more questions and wanting more information though - if ships heads and shipwreck museums are folk then are Gansey knits and scrimshaws (as these aren't mentioned)? I'm sure not everything can fit in one book - which is why I want a sequel!
This is a detailed book covering all sorts of things from mummers and Morris sides to model villages and corn dolls. It left me with more questions and wanting more information though - if ships heads and shipwreck museums are folk then are Gansey knits and scrimshaws (as these aren't mentioned)? I'm sure not everything can fit in one book - which is why I want a sequel!
November 5, 2025
A great look into folk collections and practices in the UK. There was a heavy focus on collectors, but it was a great reminder of the people and collections that time can easily forget. Lally MacBeth's desire for people to realise that folk can be a lot of items and customs as well as the fact that evolution can be a good thing shines through in all the chapters. Overall an enjoyable read from someone who has a love of learning about different folk practices and collections.
August 7, 2025
In the conclusion, Macbeth says, "...people will only grow tired of folk when they grow tired of being alive." It's hard to argue, having read this brilliant book.
August 8, 2025
I thought this was a lovely read, a lot of the places and folk customs the author spoke about, are things I have seen growing up on family trips so it felt really nostalgic and comforting!
December 12, 2025
Extremely fascinating, and worthy of five stars for assistance this gave when writing my dissertation. Such uniqueness in British folklore and love the idea of it rebirthing as fresh term.
December 26, 2025
A delightful dip into the unique and surreal of folk customs and traditions in Britain.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews