Maypoles, Mandrakes and Mistletoe: A Treasury of British Folklore

Treasury of Folklore

by Dee Dee Chainey

Did you know, in Yorkshire it was believed a person lying on a pillow stuffed with pigeon’s feathers could not die? Or that green is an unlucky colour for wedding dresses—in Scotland they would not even serve green vegetables at the wedding breakfast? In the West Country, the seventh son of a seventh son has the power to cure ringworm. You’ve heard about St. George, but how about the Green Man, who was believed to rule over the natural world? Or Black Shuck, the giant ghostly dog who was reputed to roam East Anglia? As well as looking at the history of this subject, this book has a directory of places you can go to see folklore alive and well today. The Whittlesea Straw Bear Festival, for example, or wassailing cider orchards in Somerset.

Genres: Nonfiction, Folklore, History, Mythology, Fairy Tales, Short Stories, Historical

204 pages, Hardcover

First published April 5, 2018

About the author

Dee Dee Chainey is author of 'A Treasury of British Folklore: Maypoles, Mandrakes and Mistletoe' from National Trust Books, and co-founder of the digital folklore project, #FolkloreThursday.com.

Reviews

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book that I happened to come across at one of my National Trust visits. The cover looked intriguing and the content even more so. This is a rather short read, but definitely not a dull one.
The layout of this book, to me, reads like a list of customs, instead of wonderful descriptions like I was expecting. I think this does enable one to soak up the snippets of knowledge quicker, though. At the back of the book are references and a list of places where one may find out more about folklore. There are also some gorgeous illustrations in here, to accompany the text. This book tells us the marvellous history of the British, and their superstitions and beliefs, and, since this is my first read on the subject of folklore, I am rather interested in finding out more.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even in these days of 24/7 news, a world of knowledge at your fingertips and the ability to talk to almost anyone else on the planet, there are still things that we do and say that can trace their origins back hundreds of years. Some of the stranger ones have sadly vanished from the common vernacular, but thankfully we have people like Dee Dee Chainey who has scoured the legends, crept past the giants and kelpies and learnt about the customs and included them in this charming little book.

So if you want to know who the green man was, which tree it is rumoured to be safe to stand under in a thunderstorm and when in the farming year they would shout 'Hurrah! Hurrah for the neck. As you'd expect, there are hounds, white harts and fairies. You can discover which fairies like to help and which use blood to dye their caps. The supernatural gets a section to itself as well as the hatched, matched and despatched themes that still dominate life today.

It is a good overview of the weft and weave of folklore that permeates our lives even today. If it does lack a little depth, but it is a concise summation of all things folklore. That said, there is an extensive bibliography and references and more importantly a comprehensive list of places to find folklore for those that want to uncover much more about this fascinating subject. I loved the bold woodcut illustrations by Joe McLaren too, they are a certain gravitas to the book

[Arie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though the content of the book does succumb to being mostly a listing of customs, with little description or loveliness of language, it is startlingly easy to read and does manage to gather (in a very short space) an astounding array of folklore knowledge and stories. A nice place to start in a search for locations and stories - and the book itself is a lovely object. Four stars to be generous.

[G. Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

A charming little book, not long, but very interesting. It's a hop-skip guide over the folklore of Britain taking in many regions, superstitions and customs. Not an in-depth guide, but certainly an interesting one. Appears longer than it is because of a great deal of really quite lovely illustrations.

[Fern A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Folklore is one of those subjects that I find really fascinating. Why do people believe certain things and what makes them stick? The regional variations, stories passed on, superstitions and traditions give such a great insight into so much more. As an aside I often wonder how much the telling and creation of fairy stories and folklore tales in a nation is a way of holding trauma and shaping it into a narrative.

This book is a very good starting point to people knew to exploring folklore with a general overview of widely known tales, events, and superstitions. Readers already aware of a lot of these might find it a bit more disappointing, though there are definitely lots of little factoids of folklore throughout. It’s well written and easy to sit and read through in one go. What I especially liked was the list at the end for further reading and a calendar of when certain events happened. A great overview to folklore in the British Isles.

[Ebony · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! It's a wonderful collection of all the little bits of folklore that populate the various regions of the UK. It's a joyful read which makes the everyday appear a little more magical once you've heard that bees were thought to get lonely if you didn't speak with them. Obviously well researched, with social and historical context interwoven throughout.

[Doria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very nice little book, with elements of British folklore arranged thematically into chapters. It’s a bit of a mishmash of superstitions and traditions, but these are enhanced by the occasional charming woodcut image. Not recommended for serious folklorists, but rather nice for anyone with a fancy for English oddities. I never knew about toads in kettles being believed to stop the water boiling; wouldn’t that be the least of the trouble?? And how about this charm against bad luck:

Sweep the floor and make a dust pile;
Leave the pile for three days;
Cover with a black cloth made of drilling (what’s that?);
Beat the pile with an elm branch, assisted by a witch (how?).

Seems impractical.

Also, don’t put a loaf of bread upside down. How did anyone get anything done???

[El Maslin]

Reading about all these traditions was a journey into the absurd & made me realise how weird humans can be. A lot of folklore reflects nature which is so alive yet so quiet so we have to insert stories into it as part of the human condition to understand eg fairies & elves prancing in woodlands. It was also a way to try & take back control when there was no proper medicine or science.

Some funny & bizarre beliefs including a sneeze in Hertfordshire on Wednesday means a letter is coming, it’s very unlucky to eat the whole Christmas cake on Christmas eve in Lincolnshire & some we still recognise today eg it being bad luck to open an umbrella indoors & hanging up horseshoes for luck.

Some notable quotes:
‘The imagination of people in the mysterious past reaches out to touch our own time’
‘Folklore is the soul of a community’
‘It’s difficult to experience the changing landscape from our homes in built-up city areas’

[Laura Mosley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice little introduction to some British folklore. It's very superficial and doesn't go into anything in great detail as it aims to provide a summary. For this reason, I didn't get as much out of reading it as I'd hoped, but still a pleasant read nonetheless.

[Emma Mullins · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting overview. Abysmally proofread.

[Sephy Hallow · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated, but often rambling and inaccurate on basic history.

[Turtlo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its nice that humans fundamentally have had the same worries for many a year. Glad we also collectively love robins.

[Rose English · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 29 of my Goodreads Challenge

This is a beautiful little treasure trove of a book, split into three parts giving a wonderful and varied selection of tales from British Folklore.

Part One: Of the Land, Plants and Animals
An apt place to begin with short insights into the seasons and the folkloric year. For example did you know that

... a sneeze on Wednesday in Hertfordshire means a letter is coming.

Part Two: Witchcraft, Magic and Heroic Tales
This section also includes several ghosts and hauntings along with various versions of stories of the hauntings of the Hell Hound

Part Three: The Milestones of Life
This sections as expected covers births and deaths, love and marriage etc. One thing that interested me here was the prominent part that cheese seems to play in a birth ceremony often called 'the groaning cheese'

In Oxfordshire, a ring was cut into the middle of the cheese, and the child would be passed through it for luck on their christening day.

Where to find Folklore
This wonderful list of festivals can be found at the end of the book. Each festival is listed under the month in which it is celebrated, and often includes a link for further information.

All in all a beautiful book with simple black and white illustrations dotted throughout. Great for dipping in and out of at your leisure.

[Terri Stokes · Rating 4 out of 5]

An incredible collection of folk lore, myths and superstitions from all over the Britain, ranging from the smallest of things to the biggest and covering all the other things from our homes lives, to births, death and love, to sailors out on the ocean and the fairies in the bottom of the garden.

We see the foundation of some of the lore that most people know, the places it came from and the reason behind the well known thoughts and sayings. From Cornwall to Scotland and in between, we visit all over Britain for the lore and customs and even the superstitions. It's an easy read and perfect for people who are just starting to get in to folklore and don't want to read anything which could be too heavy and filled with page after page of knowledge. It's a wonderful addition to any person's bookshelf and collection.

[Richard Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an enjoyable gallop through a number of superstitious, legends and myths. The whole of the British Isles is covered but not Ireland which would warrant a very large volume for itself. I do recognise a number of them from my own childhood in Essex but I suspect they are now vague memories rather than clear folk tales.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good survey of British folklore in a number of different categories. Nothing goes too in depth or focuses on the history. But there are lots of interesting tidbits to explore further!

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating overview for anyone with an interest in myth, ritual, tradition and folklore. Practice and story, a small proportion of which spilled over into my own childhood, can be glimpsed in the pages of this short offering. A great introduction that will surely encourage a deeper study into areas of this rich and still living subject.

[Tanya (Novel Paperbacks) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️
A lot of interesting information that gives a good overview of British folklore. But doesn’t go into too much detail.

[G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was not so much a ‘treasury’ as a compendium; a ‘bits n bobs’ collection of British Folklore. That being clarified, it’s a pretty good read for lots of little interesting tidbits. Why, for example, cutting your nails on a Sunday means that for the following week you’ll be ruled by the Devil, or why getting married on a Saturday is a harbinger of bad luck. Completely irrational, of course, but if you enjoy a whiff of whimsy then there loads of these little insights into a whole world of superstitions, legends and folk tales.

What is a tad frustrating here are the prevailingly superficial explanations, or complete absence, of these beliefs’ providence. i.e. why did these strange codes of belief and behaviour endure for so long? How did they slot into a wider network of pagan/Christian ideologies?

This is a subject I find absolutely fascinating. Beneath The UK’s modern surface image as a declining European power ruled by corrupt Tory neoliberals and outright anarcho-capitalists, the British Isles contain cultures steeped in myth, legend and folklore. It can be seen today in its world famous annual music festivals; vast celebrations of midsummer after the long, bleak winter set to pulsing beats and unbridled ecstasy, natural and chemically induced. Vast networks of peoples and cultures who remain fiercely tribal, as seen through, again, world famous football teams and sporting cultures. I am convinced we are a people who are, at heart, rural and pagan who have been conditioned to operate in the modern world over a hardwired programming of these ancient beliefs and practices.

If this book had explored these questions a little more, or perhaps had taken the effort to provide a clearer narrative structure it would have paid off in dividends. Instead, it’s just quite interesting. Good for research, if folklore is your bag.

[Daniel Faria · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Treasury of British Folklore by Dee Dee Chainey is a collection of folklore, magic, superstitions, customs and traditions on Great Britain. I highly recommend this book so we can understand more about these customs and some origins of celebrations and traditions we know today.

Watch my video recommending the book here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLQpU...
Read my full review with pictures here: https://www.santuariolunar.com.br/en/...

The first part of the book is dedicated to the land, plants, animals, and other things directly related to Nature. So, if you are used to working some Natural Witchcraft, this part is going to offer a lot of information for you!

The second part is the best part - but also the darkest one. In the beginning of this part, we learn about many heroes and giants. There's much more than Arthur and Robin Hood! Then, we are presented with Gods, Goddesses, Demons and other beings. So yes, we find the Green Man, Dôn - a Welsh equivalent to Danu - and the fact the "Many bridges, hills and dykes in Britain are named after the Devil."

In this last part, we find a lot of things related to giving birth, growing up, getting married, living and dying and etc. This part contains many spells and incantations for getting married! So, if you're in need, you can try some of these!

[Patricia Furstenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dee Dee Chainey's book "Maypoles, Mandrakes, and Mistletoe: A Treasury of British Folklore" takes readers on a delightful journey through the rich tapestry of British mythology and legends.
Chainey has painstakingly unearthed strange tales of folklore that have faded, leading us past giants and kelpies to explore the customs and superstitions of different regions. Despite its brief length, this book provides an intriguing look into British folklore. It's a charming overview that keeps you intrigued by the various traditions and stories.
One of the book's best features is its enchanting illustrations, which add a magical touch to the text. These visual elements enhance Chainey's narrative, making the reading experience both educational and visually appealing.
Whether you're a folklore enthusiast or simply interested in the cultural heritage of Britain, this book is a delightful addition to any collection. It's a compact treasure trove of stories and customs that provides a satisfying, albeit quick, journey into the world of British folklore.

[Lagobond]

I bought this book expecting stories, but it's an introductory ethnographic work (i.e. nonfiction), and more superficial than I would like. Read this if you're looking for a plain-language listing of various beliefs/superstitions, customs, and legends collected across Britain. There are three parts, each divided into five subcategories:

1. Of the Land, Plants and Animals
2. Witchcraft, Magic and Heroic Tales
3. The Milestones of Life

It's a gorgeous little volume: the gold lettering against the cream-colored cover is very elegant and enticing, and the book is quite pleasant to hold. It's a quick read, but I couldn't really get into it because I would prefer to actually be immersed in a story rather than to read about a story.

I'm not going to rate this book because it's not the author's fault I went into it with faulty expectations :)

[John Appleton · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fairly short read, at about 150 pages, and despite that it covers quite a lot. Split into sections around nature, legendary beings and everyday life, we're offered snippets of the legends, mythology and folklore of places all around Britain (and Ireland, to a degree).

The fact that so many beliefs are covered, both little and widely-known, comes with a price, which is that there's not so much room for those to be dwelt on or looked at in more depth. That's not necessarily a failing, as it serves as a good introduction to the folklore of Britain, and of course for anyone wanting to delve further into something, there's probably a good deal of that literature out there.

But it's an enjoyable enough book, shining a light on some of the more bizarre customs and legends that British people have entertained over the years. A treasury, indeed.

[Anastasiia Shafran · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exactly what it promises to be - a teaser to a versatile world of British folklore.

The book doesn’t offer a deep dive into the customs or myths, but instead offers a multitude of snippets, a sort of tasting of the supernatural. It’s followed by a multitude of sources for a deeper look if desired.

It’s a short overview of possibilities in the world where there’s too much information. A map that could help plot a route. As someone who is easily overwhelmed during research phase of writing, I wish there were more books like this, offering a bird’s eye view of a national folklore.

That said, even though it reads easily, the choice of which myths to zoom in on or not seemed a bit random and slightly disjointed.

[El Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

low-key felt like someone's dissertation on folklore in the best way. I enjoyed so much of this but honestly wished it was even more in-depth. go all out. give me full chapters on the account of redcaps and brownies. give me details on Scotland's witch trials. I'm thankful at least for the sources and further reading inclusion but I would of loved to see the author dive deep into this world more.
my absolute highlight was potentially autistic children being assumed to be faerie changelings. as a neurodivergent person this changes my whole outlook on my attachment and fascination with folklore and faeries in the best of ways. if I had know both these things as a child I would have been ecstatic, no one would have been able to convince me I wasn't a changeling

[Adam Dobson · Rating 4 out of 5]

My new project is British folklore. This is a great primer and Ms Chainey structures her stories and anecdotes in a logical way. The various stories provide a comprehensive overview of the folklore of the British Isles and has left me hungry for more. It's a super quick read and does not offer much in the way of explanations but as a gateway into the subject I found it ideal. I did have to read it with my phone next to me so that I could look up the locations and artefacts she mentioned which I found riveting. Could be argued it's a bit too light on details, but I enjoyed it for what it was. Lovely, friendly style which conveyed the author's love of the subject.

[Archie Cansdale · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was a nice read to pick up every now and then, but i must stress it isn’t very easy to “read” as a book, rather than if one finds themselves interested in a particular area of British folklore, they should pick up this book and read w chapter on it at said time.
However, I certainly learned a lot, even if most of it was easily forgotten due to the overwhelming amount of facts presented that were never as fully fleshed out as one would hope. I would recommend this to someone wanting to learn a lot about British folklore, but must stress it is probably better for igniting interests to be followed up by further reading, than to sufficiently sate one’s appetite for knowledge!!

[Eris Varga · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful little trove packed full of diverse folklore - I picked it up for its beautiful cover and didn't even realise there were lovely woodcut-style illustrations inside. I wish it went into a bit more detail for each superstition re: time period and reasons for the traditions but to be fair to the author there is a huuuuge bibliography and further reading list at the back. Also appreciate the index!!!

Overall I was thrilled to see so many places in the UK featured, as Irish/Scottish folklore often dominates these kinds of books where there's so much to learn about England/Wales/Cornwall too.

[Hollie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this but sadly the writing style let it down for me personally. It was written like a list of different folklore tales across Britain rather than full on descriptions. Barely enough time is spent on any of them to give the reader any kind of understanding or intrigue. I sometimes how ended up feeling both bombarded by information at the same time as knowing nothing in about any of the takes or traditions.

That being said the illustrations were gorgeous and I liked the calendar of folklore events in the back. There were some really nice parts to this book but sadly just not for me

[Helen Erwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book. Deadpan and humorous in its descriptions of our ancestors' beliefs, making it a fun and very informative read. There was so much to think about, so many things to keep track of to feel safe and have control, how to eat an egg, how to place your your silverware. I was struck by how these customs might mean one thing in one village but mean something else in another village.

While reading I was reminded of things my mom used to believe and talk about, like how to remove warts! She insisted it worked, (not going to spoil it here by saying what it is) but her neighbor didn't and they used to argue about it. :)

Highly recommend this book.