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Finding Albion: Myth, Folklore and the Quest for a Hidden Britain
Zakia Sewell is on a quest for another Britain. Traversing the length and breadth of our island from Somerset to Scotland, she's seeking out a different story - one that lies beyond divisive national myths and symbols.
In Finding Albion, Zakia uncovers an alternative spirit of Britain that is vividly alive today. It is found in otherworldly folk songs, ancient legends, Celtic seasonal rites and mystic stone circles that punctuate our landscape. Her journey begins as the sun rises on the spring equinox over Glastonbury Tor, where she meets neopagans reclaiming traditions from our pre-Christian past. At summer's peak at Notting Hill Carnival she hears cultural echoes that passed along the slave trade routes from the Caribbean. On All Hallow's Eve she encounters the ghosts of Empire that are still haunting the nation, and in the depths of a Cornish winter she asks if today's new folk revival could unite our increasingly divided country?
Finding Albion brings a hopeful story of Britain out from the shadows, giving us a deeper sense of who we are, and heralding the promise of a brighter future.
In Finding Albion, Zakia uncovers an alternative spirit of Britain that is vividly alive today. It is found in otherworldly folk songs, ancient legends, Celtic seasonal rites and mystic stone circles that punctuate our landscape. Her journey begins as the sun rises on the spring equinox over Glastonbury Tor, where she meets neopagans reclaiming traditions from our pre-Christian past. At summer's peak at Notting Hill Carnival she hears cultural echoes that passed along the slave trade routes from the Caribbean. On All Hallow's Eve she encounters the ghosts of Empire that are still haunting the nation, and in the depths of a Cornish winter she asks if today's new folk revival could unite our increasingly divided country?
Finding Albion brings a hopeful story of Britain out from the shadows, giving us a deeper sense of who we are, and heralding the promise of a brighter future.
288 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 19, 2026
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March 23, 2026
In this book, Sewell explores Britain’s folk traditions by travelling across Britain, Scotland and Wales. Through this examination she highlights that Britain has many different identities, and that the official version, shaped by empire, monarchy, and nationalism, is only one of them.
“Albion,” the ancient name for Britain, becomes a symbol for an alternative story rooted in folk traditions, myths, and local cultures rather than power and empire.
These include pagan practices, folk music, seasonal rituals, and community celebrations that feel more grounded, spiritual, and connected to place. Paganism, for example, is presented not just as a religion but as something anti establishment, tied to nature, pre Christian beliefs, and even linked to other traditions such as Caribbean spiritual practices. At the same time, the book reminds us that much of what we think we know about Britain’s past comes from colonial perspectives like Roman accounts, which often dismissed native cultures in order to justify colonisation.
A key idea running through the book is that national identity is not fixed but invented and constantly reshaped. Traditions like Morris dancing show this clearly. They feel ancient and authentic, but are often partly reconstructed or even recently created, especially during the Victorian period. Morris dancing though it provides belonging, does have minstrelsy and facist appropriation in its history. Instead of ignoring this, the book argues that English identity should be understood as complex and contradictory. Folk culture can be both empowering and problematic, and that tension is part of what makes it meaningful. The same applies to larger ideas of Britain itself, which has always been shaped by mixing, borrowing, and reinvention rather than a single pure origin.
The book also connects British identity to its colonial past, especially through examples like carnival. The Notting Hill Carnival, rooted in Caribbean traditions, reflects a history where British and colonial cultures were deeply intertwined. Caribbean carnival itself began as an elite European tradition before being reclaimed by enslaved people as a form of resistance and satire. This shows how British folk culture is not separate from empire, but deeply shaped by it. Traditions, music, and customs moved back and forth across the empire, changing both Britain and the places it colonised. Recognising this challenges the idea of a simple, purely “English” culture and instead shows a shared and often difficult history.
Another major theme is that Britain is still haunted by its past, especially its colonial violence. While ghost stories often focus on harmless or nostalgic figures, the real “ghosts” of empire,including enslaved people and victims of colonial conquest, are largely absent from national memory. This absence shapes how Britain understands itself today. The book suggests that failing to confront this history has created a kind of collective unease and confusion about identity. At the same time, modern Britain is marked by a loss of community and shared ritual, partly due to historical changes like the rise of capitalism, Protestantism, and the suppression of festivals and communal practices. This has contributed to a sense of isolation and disconnection in contemporary society.
In response, the book looks at both revived and newly created traditions as a way forward. These can be more inclusive, adaptable, and relevant to modern communities. For example, newer versions of rituals can include environmental awareness or bring together different cultural groups. The idea of *dùthchas* in Scotland, meaning a deep connection to land, ancestry, and place, highlights something that has been largely lost in England through industrialisation and empire. This loss helps explain why people often search for meaning in spirituality, travel, or even nationalism. Some turn to older traditions for healing, while others cling to myths of national greatness.
In the end, the book argues that Britain needs a new, more honest and inclusive story about itself. Folk traditions, songs, and customs can help build this by bringing in voices and histories that have been ignored. Instead of relying on official symbols like the monarchy or the Union Jack, the book imagines a richer and more diverse Britain. This is a place shaped by many influences, full of contradictions, and still evolving. It is a Britain where ancient myths, colonial histories, local traditions, and modern identities all exist together, and where people have the power to rethink what the nation means today.
Notes & Quotes
“Now with hindsight, I can see that this is partly why I was so entranched with Pentagles music on that fateful summer’s night. Like the old myths of albion, their other worldy folksongs seemed to emminate from a very different kind of Britain to the one envoked by anthems like God Save the King and Rule Britannia. Or by the union jack. These folksongs had little to do with glorifying the empire, the military or the monarchy. They were alternative stories of Britain, told from the ground up.”
Ch1: Glastonbury, Somerset - Spring Equinox
* Glastonbur Tor: Avalon, Glastonbury
* Pagan comes from latin paganous meaning countryside, used for non belivers, uncivilised who still worshipped the old gods
* Paganism is one Britains fastest growing religions
* prechristian, pre colonial, nature based religion
* “…hungry for Britains pagan past. I liked the idea of a free spirited, pre christian, pre colonial, nature based religion. There seemed to be something a bit punkrock, a bit anti establishment about it that mirrored the herbal medicines and magical practices I had heard whispered about in the Caribbean.”
* “But we must remember to take what these Romans sag with a pinch of salt. Only a few of their reports are eye witness accounts, and they were after all colonisers setting out to justify their civilising imperial mission in Britain. Using language that mirrors the later writings of British colonialists, a Roman soldier writing between AD 97 and 105 described Britains native tribes dismissively as retunculi, meaning wretched little brits.” ⭐️
* grandfather of Wicca, Gerald Gardner began researching into traditional medical practices, he too observed the similarities between African derived voodoo and European witchcraft, which he believed was suggestive of an older, shared culture and a forgotten shared past.”
* From Caliban and the witch: “As in the carribean folk practices and religion pose a threat to the existing order. Although this time the order was not the plantation society but the burgeoning capitalist system. They were seen as a danger because they were seen as an illicit form of power and a way of obtaining things without work…In both slavery era carribean and early modern Britain, folk magical practices were feared by the establishment for their prenicious potential. They put power into the hands of ordinary people, beyond the reach of the established systems of governance and the christian church. For some contemporary pagans, reclaiming these practices is a subversive and defiant act.”
* prechristian traditions
Ch2: Oxford, Oxfordshire - May Day
* 1836 May Day Pole dance
* reimagining of england in victorian era during a time when everything was changing
* Morris dancing: low countries with french origins but very english flavour
* Morris dancing and other other folk traditions provide a new way of wnglish identity
* folk and fascism are bedfellows both in UK and Germany
* regernative power of folk
* folksongs and customs = race products = truer patriot (Cecile Sharpe)
* black face in morris dancing-> minstralcy
* “Im not convinced that folk traditions like morris dancing represent and entirely progressive aspect of english culture, at least not in the political sense. To brand folk culture as entirely progressive would be to airbrush out some of the darker details of its history and although ive certainly considered toppling cecile sharpes bust and watching it smash into smitherines, im not sure that is entirely necessary either. Instead, perhaps there is value in embracing folk cultures complexities and contradictions. Morris dancing is seen as a quintessentially English dance and yet it is supposedly moreish and came to England via Europe, its a diy, anti establishment, working class tradition that was promoted by conservative victorians to control the masses. And it contains traces of minstracy and facism, which whether we like it or not are both aspects of this nations complex history. Perhaps, in this sense, its a perfect expression of english identity.”
Ch 3: Laugharne, Carmerthenshire - Summer Solstice
* 1707: Great Britain combined England, Scottland and Wales
* “If we can accept the fact that nations are always to a certain extent invented, perhaps it gives us permission to dream our nations a new. Who could the Welsh be if they acknowledge their position as both colonised and coloniser? Or if the english took a cue from wales and drew from their oldest stories for their sense of belonging and identity. what would happen if we reestablished the tale of albina and her thiry syrian sisters, a story which imagined Britain as a place of refuge for outsiders as our foundational British myth? Perhaps then wed be able to let go of the fantasies that no longer serve us, whether that be the fantasies of victimhood or of indesputable greatness and to envisage a new national story, one that reflects who we aspire to be today.”
Ch4: Notting Hill, London - Lammas
* Nottingham Carnival
* takes a place a few weeks after Lammas, the start of summer
* First carribean carnival 1959 in London in the face of racism (Jones), Rhaune Laslett in 1966 first time outside and first time in Notting Hill. Combo of Traditional English Fair and Carribbean History
* “The mass tradition began after emmancipation, when the newly freed former slaves used costumes as a form of satire and subversion. Sticking two fingers up to their former masters. But while Trinidedean Carnival and its traditions later became a power symbol of resistance and independence for people across the carribbean, it acctually began life as a form of folk entertainment for the islands white slave owning class. The island of trinidad shared a similar fate to many of its neighbouring islands. Originally inhabited by indigenous south americans, it was colonised by europeans in the 16th century. When the island was established as a plantation economy and carved up into sugar, coffee and cotton estates that were worked by enslaved africans. The island was ruled by the Spanish, the French and finally the British in 1797, until it gained independence in 1962. Under British rule, the number of enslaved people increased dramatically and the island swayed with new settlers from England, Ireland and Scotland drawn in by the lucrative offerings of plantation life. Both enslaved and enslaved, arriving on Trinidadean soil for very different reasons, carried their traditions along with them, sowing seeds for the carnival as we know it today. Before the emancipation of the enslaved in 1838, the carnival was a high society affair where planters would host lavish masked balls and promenade through the streets in their carriages before lent, adorned in expensive costumes. The parade reflected the folk origins of the islands mixed planter community, blending Roman Catholic traditions with May Day customs, but the festivities were structly off limits to the enslaved… While these practices are well remembered in the Carribbean, in Britain we rarely hear about the folk customs that were exported to the colonies and especially not in this context, where customs were used by the planter classes to mock the alteadg oppressed population, who were often outlawed from practicising their own traditions or even speaking their own lagauges and to reinforce the strict boundaries of Trinidads highly stratified enslaved society. The history of the carinval in Trinidad, the ancestor of the Notting Hill Carnival, provides yet another shadowy countervision to merry England and to the bells and hankies paraded through British streets on May Day. It reveals a dark truth about British folkculture that has for too long been kept out of sight and out of mind. The fact that it too like to mant aspects of British heritage and culture is interwoven with the threads of colonial empire. After emmancipation, everything changed. The white plantations folk origins were reimagined and reclaimed bt the former enslaved people, who turned the carnival on its head. Using it as an opportunity to mock their former masters and express their new found freedom. The newly liberated population danced and revelled in the streets, imitating the speech and clothing and gestures of the planter class. In fact many of the masquerade characters that are now synonymous with the carnival drew on British traditions and imperial power as a form of satire.”
* Creole: african roots with British empire
* Sea shantys, carribbean origin
Ch6: York, Yorkshire -Samhai
* “But dehmanising the other came with a spiritual and psychological cost. This is one of the most powrful spectres haunting the nation: our inability to come to terms with our colonial past and the racism that was used to justify it. Our colonial history is the ghost in the attic, the skeleton in the closet, which colours our sense of self, the actions in the present and the way we view our most ancient past. Britain is haunted. Not just by headless school teachers and victorian children, but by the unacknowledged victims of the empire and the slavetrade, by the 3.4 million enslaved african transported on british ships, the millions of who were killed dueing Britains imperial conquest in Africa, India and the Middle East, the indigenous people of North America, Australia and New Zealand who were violently dispossed and displaced of their lands, the maroons, the mau maus and the countless nameless victims of British exploitation, occupation, between the 16th and 18th century who suffered and were sacrified in order for Britain to become great. These real ghosts are notably absent from British ghost lore. There are very few ghosts stories that reference the empire or its victims, perhaps because Britains colonial activies happend elsewhere, out of sight and out of mind.”
Ch7: Penzance, Cornwall - Winter Solstice
* “One of the benefits of these newer customs, is that they can be designed to the needs of communities today without the fear of getting things wrong or being chastised for falling to honour tradition. In Meg and Ellens revived tradition, the community gathered together to protect the wren rather than to hunt it, adding an ecological spin to the days proceedings. Customs can also be tailor made to be more inclusive than some of our existing traditions. Meg and Ellen have already resched out to some of rhe newer Ukrainian and Bulgarian residents of the town in preparation for next years tradition. Their keen to collaborate with and include different cultures.”
* “We Brits have a reputation for being a bit repressed, stifled by the curse of a stiff upper lip. Especially when there is no alcohol involved. But this wasnt always the case. Our contempotary inhibitions about letting go, could be seen as a consequence of the clamp down on communal activies that took place between the 16th and 17th centuries alomgside the rise of protestantism, the birth of capitalism and the pursuit of empire. In Dancing in the Streets, the cultural historian Baraba erren writes that a brilliant exploration of dance and ritual, she argues that European encounters with the inhabitants of the new world solified the association of Western restraint with civilisation and superiority. The essence of rhe western mind and particularly the male western upper class mind, she writes, was its ability to resist the contagious rhythm of the drums, to wall itself up in a vision of ego and rationality against the seductive wildness of the world. Rituals and festivities that included communcal dancing or estatic elements were deemed primitive and unsavory, evidence of colonial subjects savage nature. And there was a similar distain for festivities of the working classes of Britain, which were seen as a fervent of dissenting ideas and rebellious behaviour as was Londons fates and fairs…”
* Puritains abolished all festivities
* Austerity, isolation = loneliness, UK, collectively bad mental health, community shaped hole in UK
* Communities of place vs communities of interest, online
Ch.8: Isle of Erraid, Inner Hebrides - Imbolc
* Dùthchas is a Scottish Gaelic word for connection to place, ancestry, and heritage
* “So much has been lost in England, which became modern and industrialised long before the highlads and which set its distinct sense of identity as it embarked on its imperial pursuits under the banner of Britishness. Many have little sympathy for a nation that has so for so long been in a position of power, a colonising and slaving nation, that has destoryed so many forms of knowledge, traditions, customs and entire communities in its quest for world power. But as England consumed and destoryed the other, it became cut off from itself, plunging the nation into a profound collective malaise.”
* Gaelic culture
* “Though for many it remains unconcious, I feel it is this sense of loss that drives people to places like the highlands searching for the old ways, rhat sends flocks of travellers to India, Bali and the amazon rainforest in search of spiritual healing and wisdom. Others, meanwhile, find solace in nationalism and the lofty myths of power and supremacy, which replace the older identities rooted in community, tradition and custom.”
Ch.9: Stonehenge, Wiltshire - Spring Equinox
* “I believe that the old songs and stories and customs can help us to form a more inclusive and progressive sense of identity in Britain. An odentoty that is more balanced, more honest and which is informed by the voices and perspectives of those who have been traditionally excluded from the national imaginary. Stories that are remembered in folk songs and dance steps, both her and across the former empire. For too long our institutional emblems and myths, handed down to us by those in power, have obscured the nations magic, it eccentricity, its magical heart, they have pasted over the dark legacies of colonialism that shaped the nation, the acts of political resistance that fought for the rights we have today and the weird, mischievious and unruly aspects of our culture, leaving us with a story of Britain that is flavourless and dull. My quest for Albion has revealed a nation that is far more vivid than Britishness evoked by the crown and the union jack, it has brought into view a land of morris dancers, myh bearers and carnival goers, a land of disparate tribes each with their own customs and traditions, locked ina struggle for power. A land of druids and bards, where imperial spectres haunt ghost stories by cambridge dons and hippies on acid clash with policemen on top of historical burial mounds. A land of class hierachies and divisive histories, dreamed anew by utopians and radicals, who believed another better Britain was possible.”
“Albion,” the ancient name for Britain, becomes a symbol for an alternative story rooted in folk traditions, myths, and local cultures rather than power and empire.
These include pagan practices, folk music, seasonal rituals, and community celebrations that feel more grounded, spiritual, and connected to place. Paganism, for example, is presented not just as a religion but as something anti establishment, tied to nature, pre Christian beliefs, and even linked to other traditions such as Caribbean spiritual practices. At the same time, the book reminds us that much of what we think we know about Britain’s past comes from colonial perspectives like Roman accounts, which often dismissed native cultures in order to justify colonisation.
A key idea running through the book is that national identity is not fixed but invented and constantly reshaped. Traditions like Morris dancing show this clearly. They feel ancient and authentic, but are often partly reconstructed or even recently created, especially during the Victorian period. Morris dancing though it provides belonging, does have minstrelsy and facist appropriation in its history. Instead of ignoring this, the book argues that English identity should be understood as complex and contradictory. Folk culture can be both empowering and problematic, and that tension is part of what makes it meaningful. The same applies to larger ideas of Britain itself, which has always been shaped by mixing, borrowing, and reinvention rather than a single pure origin.
The book also connects British identity to its colonial past, especially through examples like carnival. The Notting Hill Carnival, rooted in Caribbean traditions, reflects a history where British and colonial cultures were deeply intertwined. Caribbean carnival itself began as an elite European tradition before being reclaimed by enslaved people as a form of resistance and satire. This shows how British folk culture is not separate from empire, but deeply shaped by it. Traditions, music, and customs moved back and forth across the empire, changing both Britain and the places it colonised. Recognising this challenges the idea of a simple, purely “English” culture and instead shows a shared and often difficult history.
Another major theme is that Britain is still haunted by its past, especially its colonial violence. While ghost stories often focus on harmless or nostalgic figures, the real “ghosts” of empire,including enslaved people and victims of colonial conquest, are largely absent from national memory. This absence shapes how Britain understands itself today. The book suggests that failing to confront this history has created a kind of collective unease and confusion about identity. At the same time, modern Britain is marked by a loss of community and shared ritual, partly due to historical changes like the rise of capitalism, Protestantism, and the suppression of festivals and communal practices. This has contributed to a sense of isolation and disconnection in contemporary society.
In response, the book looks at both revived and newly created traditions as a way forward. These can be more inclusive, adaptable, and relevant to modern communities. For example, newer versions of rituals can include environmental awareness or bring together different cultural groups. The idea of *dùthchas* in Scotland, meaning a deep connection to land, ancestry, and place, highlights something that has been largely lost in England through industrialisation and empire. This loss helps explain why people often search for meaning in spirituality, travel, or even nationalism. Some turn to older traditions for healing, while others cling to myths of national greatness.
In the end, the book argues that Britain needs a new, more honest and inclusive story about itself. Folk traditions, songs, and customs can help build this by bringing in voices and histories that have been ignored. Instead of relying on official symbols like the monarchy or the Union Jack, the book imagines a richer and more diverse Britain. This is a place shaped by many influences, full of contradictions, and still evolving. It is a Britain where ancient myths, colonial histories, local traditions, and modern identities all exist together, and where people have the power to rethink what the nation means today.
Notes & Quotes
“Now with hindsight, I can see that this is partly why I was so entranched with Pentagles music on that fateful summer’s night. Like the old myths of albion, their other worldy folksongs seemed to emminate from a very different kind of Britain to the one envoked by anthems like God Save the King and Rule Britannia. Or by the union jack. These folksongs had little to do with glorifying the empire, the military or the monarchy. They were alternative stories of Britain, told from the ground up.”
Ch1: Glastonbury, Somerset - Spring Equinox
* Glastonbur Tor: Avalon, Glastonbury
* Pagan comes from latin paganous meaning countryside, used for non belivers, uncivilised who still worshipped the old gods
* Paganism is one Britains fastest growing religions
* prechristian, pre colonial, nature based religion
* “…hungry for Britains pagan past. I liked the idea of a free spirited, pre christian, pre colonial, nature based religion. There seemed to be something a bit punkrock, a bit anti establishment about it that mirrored the herbal medicines and magical practices I had heard whispered about in the Caribbean.”
* “But we must remember to take what these Romans sag with a pinch of salt. Only a few of their reports are eye witness accounts, and they were after all colonisers setting out to justify their civilising imperial mission in Britain. Using language that mirrors the later writings of British colonialists, a Roman soldier writing between AD 97 and 105 described Britains native tribes dismissively as retunculi, meaning wretched little brits.” ⭐️
* grandfather of Wicca, Gerald Gardner began researching into traditional medical practices, he too observed the similarities between African derived voodoo and European witchcraft, which he believed was suggestive of an older, shared culture and a forgotten shared past.”
* From Caliban and the witch: “As in the carribean folk practices and religion pose a threat to the existing order. Although this time the order was not the plantation society but the burgeoning capitalist system. They were seen as a danger because they were seen as an illicit form of power and a way of obtaining things without work…In both slavery era carribean and early modern Britain, folk magical practices were feared by the establishment for their prenicious potential. They put power into the hands of ordinary people, beyond the reach of the established systems of governance and the christian church. For some contemporary pagans, reclaiming these practices is a subversive and defiant act.”
* prechristian traditions
Ch2: Oxford, Oxfordshire - May Day
* 1836 May Day Pole dance
* reimagining of england in victorian era during a time when everything was changing
* Morris dancing: low countries with french origins but very english flavour
* Morris dancing and other other folk traditions provide a new way of wnglish identity
* folk and fascism are bedfellows both in UK and Germany
* regernative power of folk
* folksongs and customs = race products = truer patriot (Cecile Sharpe)
* black face in morris dancing-> minstralcy
* “Im not convinced that folk traditions like morris dancing represent and entirely progressive aspect of english culture, at least not in the political sense. To brand folk culture as entirely progressive would be to airbrush out some of the darker details of its history and although ive certainly considered toppling cecile sharpes bust and watching it smash into smitherines, im not sure that is entirely necessary either. Instead, perhaps there is value in embracing folk cultures complexities and contradictions. Morris dancing is seen as a quintessentially English dance and yet it is supposedly moreish and came to England via Europe, its a diy, anti establishment, working class tradition that was promoted by conservative victorians to control the masses. And it contains traces of minstracy and facism, which whether we like it or not are both aspects of this nations complex history. Perhaps, in this sense, its a perfect expression of english identity.”
Ch 3: Laugharne, Carmerthenshire - Summer Solstice
* 1707: Great Britain combined England, Scottland and Wales
* “If we can accept the fact that nations are always to a certain extent invented, perhaps it gives us permission to dream our nations a new. Who could the Welsh be if they acknowledge their position as both colonised and coloniser? Or if the english took a cue from wales and drew from their oldest stories for their sense of belonging and identity. what would happen if we reestablished the tale of albina and her thiry syrian sisters, a story which imagined Britain as a place of refuge for outsiders as our foundational British myth? Perhaps then wed be able to let go of the fantasies that no longer serve us, whether that be the fantasies of victimhood or of indesputable greatness and to envisage a new national story, one that reflects who we aspire to be today.”
Ch4: Notting Hill, London - Lammas
* Nottingham Carnival
* takes a place a few weeks after Lammas, the start of summer
* First carribean carnival 1959 in London in the face of racism (Jones), Rhaune Laslett in 1966 first time outside and first time in Notting Hill. Combo of Traditional English Fair and Carribbean History
* “The mass tradition began after emmancipation, when the newly freed former slaves used costumes as a form of satire and subversion. Sticking two fingers up to their former masters. But while Trinidedean Carnival and its traditions later became a power symbol of resistance and independence for people across the carribbean, it acctually began life as a form of folk entertainment for the islands white slave owning class. The island of trinidad shared a similar fate to many of its neighbouring islands. Originally inhabited by indigenous south americans, it was colonised by europeans in the 16th century. When the island was established as a plantation economy and carved up into sugar, coffee and cotton estates that were worked by enslaved africans. The island was ruled by the Spanish, the French and finally the British in 1797, until it gained independence in 1962. Under British rule, the number of enslaved people increased dramatically and the island swayed with new settlers from England, Ireland and Scotland drawn in by the lucrative offerings of plantation life. Both enslaved and enslaved, arriving on Trinidadean soil for very different reasons, carried their traditions along with them, sowing seeds for the carnival as we know it today. Before the emancipation of the enslaved in 1838, the carnival was a high society affair where planters would host lavish masked balls and promenade through the streets in their carriages before lent, adorned in expensive costumes. The parade reflected the folk origins of the islands mixed planter community, blending Roman Catholic traditions with May Day customs, but the festivities were structly off limits to the enslaved… While these practices are well remembered in the Carribbean, in Britain we rarely hear about the folk customs that were exported to the colonies and especially not in this context, where customs were used by the planter classes to mock the alteadg oppressed population, who were often outlawed from practicising their own traditions or even speaking their own lagauges and to reinforce the strict boundaries of Trinidads highly stratified enslaved society. The history of the carinval in Trinidad, the ancestor of the Notting Hill Carnival, provides yet another shadowy countervision to merry England and to the bells and hankies paraded through British streets on May Day. It reveals a dark truth about British folkculture that has for too long been kept out of sight and out of mind. The fact that it too like to mant aspects of British heritage and culture is interwoven with the threads of colonial empire. After emmancipation, everything changed. The white plantations folk origins were reimagined and reclaimed bt the former enslaved people, who turned the carnival on its head. Using it as an opportunity to mock their former masters and express their new found freedom. The newly liberated population danced and revelled in the streets, imitating the speech and clothing and gestures of the planter class. In fact many of the masquerade characters that are now synonymous with the carnival drew on British traditions and imperial power as a form of satire.”
* Creole: african roots with British empire
* Sea shantys, carribbean origin
Ch6: York, Yorkshire -Samhai
* “But dehmanising the other came with a spiritual and psychological cost. This is one of the most powrful spectres haunting the nation: our inability to come to terms with our colonial past and the racism that was used to justify it. Our colonial history is the ghost in the attic, the skeleton in the closet, which colours our sense of self, the actions in the present and the way we view our most ancient past. Britain is haunted. Not just by headless school teachers and victorian children, but by the unacknowledged victims of the empire and the slavetrade, by the 3.4 million enslaved african transported on british ships, the millions of who were killed dueing Britains imperial conquest in Africa, India and the Middle East, the indigenous people of North America, Australia and New Zealand who were violently dispossed and displaced of their lands, the maroons, the mau maus and the countless nameless victims of British exploitation, occupation, between the 16th and 18th century who suffered and were sacrified in order for Britain to become great. These real ghosts are notably absent from British ghost lore. There are very few ghosts stories that reference the empire or its victims, perhaps because Britains colonial activies happend elsewhere, out of sight and out of mind.”
Ch7: Penzance, Cornwall - Winter Solstice
* “One of the benefits of these newer customs, is that they can be designed to the needs of communities today without the fear of getting things wrong or being chastised for falling to honour tradition. In Meg and Ellens revived tradition, the community gathered together to protect the wren rather than to hunt it, adding an ecological spin to the days proceedings. Customs can also be tailor made to be more inclusive than some of our existing traditions. Meg and Ellen have already resched out to some of rhe newer Ukrainian and Bulgarian residents of the town in preparation for next years tradition. Their keen to collaborate with and include different cultures.”
* “We Brits have a reputation for being a bit repressed, stifled by the curse of a stiff upper lip. Especially when there is no alcohol involved. But this wasnt always the case. Our contempotary inhibitions about letting go, could be seen as a consequence of the clamp down on communal activies that took place between the 16th and 17th centuries alomgside the rise of protestantism, the birth of capitalism and the pursuit of empire. In Dancing in the Streets, the cultural historian Baraba erren writes that a brilliant exploration of dance and ritual, she argues that European encounters with the inhabitants of the new world solified the association of Western restraint with civilisation and superiority. The essence of rhe western mind and particularly the male western upper class mind, she writes, was its ability to resist the contagious rhythm of the drums, to wall itself up in a vision of ego and rationality against the seductive wildness of the world. Rituals and festivities that included communcal dancing or estatic elements were deemed primitive and unsavory, evidence of colonial subjects savage nature. And there was a similar distain for festivities of the working classes of Britain, which were seen as a fervent of dissenting ideas and rebellious behaviour as was Londons fates and fairs…”
* Puritains abolished all festivities
* Austerity, isolation = loneliness, UK, collectively bad mental health, community shaped hole in UK
* Communities of place vs communities of interest, online
Ch.8: Isle of Erraid, Inner Hebrides - Imbolc
* Dùthchas is a Scottish Gaelic word for connection to place, ancestry, and heritage
* “So much has been lost in England, which became modern and industrialised long before the highlads and which set its distinct sense of identity as it embarked on its imperial pursuits under the banner of Britishness. Many have little sympathy for a nation that has so for so long been in a position of power, a colonising and slaving nation, that has destoryed so many forms of knowledge, traditions, customs and entire communities in its quest for world power. But as England consumed and destoryed the other, it became cut off from itself, plunging the nation into a profound collective malaise.”
* Gaelic culture
* “Though for many it remains unconcious, I feel it is this sense of loss that drives people to places like the highlands searching for the old ways, rhat sends flocks of travellers to India, Bali and the amazon rainforest in search of spiritual healing and wisdom. Others, meanwhile, find solace in nationalism and the lofty myths of power and supremacy, which replace the older identities rooted in community, tradition and custom.”
Ch.9: Stonehenge, Wiltshire - Spring Equinox
* “I believe that the old songs and stories and customs can help us to form a more inclusive and progressive sense of identity in Britain. An odentoty that is more balanced, more honest and which is informed by the voices and perspectives of those who have been traditionally excluded from the national imaginary. Stories that are remembered in folk songs and dance steps, both her and across the former empire. For too long our institutional emblems and myths, handed down to us by those in power, have obscured the nations magic, it eccentricity, its magical heart, they have pasted over the dark legacies of colonialism that shaped the nation, the acts of political resistance that fought for the rights we have today and the weird, mischievious and unruly aspects of our culture, leaving us with a story of Britain that is flavourless and dull. My quest for Albion has revealed a nation that is far more vivid than Britishness evoked by the crown and the union jack, it has brought into view a land of morris dancers, myh bearers and carnival goers, a land of disparate tribes each with their own customs and traditions, locked ina struggle for power. A land of druids and bards, where imperial spectres haunt ghost stories by cambridge dons and hippies on acid clash with policemen on top of historical burial mounds. A land of class hierachies and divisive histories, dreamed anew by utopians and radicals, who believed another better Britain was possible.”
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This book is supposed to be a search for a new less divisive national identity, an attempt to find Albion. Unfortunately I don't think the author had a very clear idea of what she was trying to find and we are left with a very muddled book that left me confused as to what lessons I was supposed to take from it.
Pagan, folk, ancient and made-up by Victorians - it all gets added to the mix. Hippies at Stonehenge, communes, new age shops and rituals at Glastonbury. I would have liked to have seen more exploration of genuine ancient rituals and how they have been changed over the years. A bit of archaeology would have been nice rather than endless chats with new age pagans.
There are some interesting ideas about British traditions that have been taken to the colonies and adapted but I wish the author had linked that back more closely to Britain adopting and adapting European traditions for thousands of years as we were invaded again and again. She mentions that Beowulf is based on a Scandinavian story but doesn't really follow up on what this shows us about our so-called indigenous traditions.
The author is stronger exploring the growth of new local traditions that have been reborn from older ideas and become part of new community festivals. I love the idea of adapting ancient rituals to create more inclusive traditions that can serve to bring communities together rather than shut people out.
This is also quite an Anglo-centric look for a national identity. The author does have family connections to Wales and the book does explore Celtic identity, including Cornwall, but I would have liked more on how Wales has long struggled to hang on to a sense of identity when it's English neighbour's culture dominated half the world. The success of keeping the language alive and the 'Yma o Hyd' pride already suggests that Wales have their own identity to explore and that will have little to do with the author's nebulous sense of Albion.
I did find this book thought-provoking but largely because I didn't agree with a lot of the author's conclusions and had to try and pull together my own ideas into something more coherent so I could argue against them! But maybe that is part of what the author is trying to do - make us think.
Pagan, folk, ancient and made-up by Victorians - it all gets added to the mix. Hippies at Stonehenge, communes, new age shops and rituals at Glastonbury. I would have liked to have seen more exploration of genuine ancient rituals and how they have been changed over the years. A bit of archaeology would have been nice rather than endless chats with new age pagans.
There are some interesting ideas about British traditions that have been taken to the colonies and adapted but I wish the author had linked that back more closely to Britain adopting and adapting European traditions for thousands of years as we were invaded again and again. She mentions that Beowulf is based on a Scandinavian story but doesn't really follow up on what this shows us about our so-called indigenous traditions.
The author is stronger exploring the growth of new local traditions that have been reborn from older ideas and become part of new community festivals. I love the idea of adapting ancient rituals to create more inclusive traditions that can serve to bring communities together rather than shut people out.
This is also quite an Anglo-centric look for a national identity. The author does have family connections to Wales and the book does explore Celtic identity, including Cornwall, but I would have liked more on how Wales has long struggled to hang on to a sense of identity when it's English neighbour's culture dominated half the world. The success of keeping the language alive and the 'Yma o Hyd' pride already suggests that Wales have their own identity to explore and that will have little to do with the author's nebulous sense of Albion.
I did find this book thought-provoking but largely because I didn't agree with a lot of the author's conclusions and had to try and pull together my own ideas into something more coherent so I could argue against them! But maybe that is part of what the author is trying to do - make us think.
March 25, 2026
3.5 stars
I found this endlessly fascinating and it was enjoying to read. I was worried it would be too "intelligent" for me, as I don't really want to have to work to enjoy a book. But this was instantly accessible. I did have a few niggles with it though. It didn't flow well for me; I understand the order she's put it in, but at times they felt a bit random which meant each section felt separate. The chapters are also a little long for my liking but I find non-fiction chapters tend to be longer. I like how honest she's been. Also, I felt at times that Zakia didn't really know what angle she was going for, or what she was hoping to discover, so it did get a bit lost at times. She hasn't sugar-coated anything, or hidden the less savoury elements of British history and I think that's powerful.
I found this endlessly fascinating and it was enjoying to read. I was worried it would be too "intelligent" for me, as I don't really want to have to work to enjoy a book. But this was instantly accessible. I did have a few niggles with it though. It didn't flow well for me; I understand the order she's put it in, but at times they felt a bit random which meant each section felt separate. The chapters are also a little long for my liking but I find non-fiction chapters tend to be longer. I like how honest she's been. Also, I felt at times that Zakia didn't really know what angle she was going for, or what she was hoping to discover, so it did get a bit lost at times. She hasn't sugar-coated anything, or hidden the less savoury elements of British history and I think that's powerful.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
A quest to find new symbols and stories for a multicultural Britain. This focused more on socio-political commentary than on folklore, which was unexpected, but I found it both moving and thought-provoking. The writing is well-researched, engaging, and has inspired me to think more deeply about my cultural identity - or lack thereof - and how it can be more inclusive.
March 23, 2026
Resonates on multiple levels, so learning about Geoffrey of Monmouth, Mabinogion, Morris dancing and all those asshats who have a myopic, nationalistic view of folklore and history. Good, relevant, engaging, and illuminates these themes far outside the British isles. Forward-looking even when steeped in history, and inspirational. Recommended.
March 22, 2026
This book actually made me hopeful about the future of this country. So thoughtful written and presented to the reader, it makes you feel as though you are reading a documentary. Anyone struggling to reconcile their English identity should read this book.
March 21, 2026
4.5 🌟
March 23, 2026
This was such an interesting read - well researched, in depth and very very fascinating. It's a door being opened onto a Britain you have not seen before, but is not romanticised. In fact, Sewell does the opposite, using a critical lens to examine these traditions and whether they are still needed today. i would highly reccomend reading this.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Finding Albion by Zakia Sewell is a non-fiction read looking at the past and present of British folk traditions and the influences that shape it. This is a topic that I do not know much about but the book was brought to my attention based on its inclusion in the Women's Prize for Non-fiction 2026 I am so glad that it did as this is not a book I would necessarily have gravitated towards otherwise but I really enjoyed my time reading it. I loved the way Zakia went about exploring the areas and traditions that have influenced this topic. The exploration of significant places across the space of a year felt like a fun and accessible way to explore such a range of ideas. I enjoyed how the author linked all these areas to a particular subject and explored the historic influences as well as its current impact and how this may shape the future aspect as well. Zakia does not shy away from the more difficult aspects of British history and how this plays into the current state of British culture. I really enjoyed Zakia's exploration of her own heritage and how that influences her own journey with folk traditions and also how this fits into the past and future. Overall I thought this was a brilliant non-fiction book that discussed a topic that I did not have much prior knowledge about in an interesting and accessible way. I feel this took a current and informative take on the subject of British folk and tradition. Highly recommend!
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