A Dictionary of English Folklore

by Jacqueline Simpson, Steve Roud

With 1250 entries ranging from dragons to Mother Goose, May Day to Michaelmas, this enchanting dictionary unfurls the colorful history behind the holidays, customs, legends, and superstitious beliefs of England.
Ever wonder why we kiss under the mistletoe at Christmas or think a rabbit's foot brings good luck? Two folklore authorities provide reliable and often surprising answers to these and other curiosities that have shaped daily life in England for centuries. They explore the festivals and past
celebrations of the English calendar, from St. Andrews Day and its tradition of drunkenness and cross-dressing to Twelfth Night and its king and queen cake. They also provide concise portraits of real and legendary characters that populate the public memory, including Robin Hood, The Brothers
Grimm, Lady Godiva, Puck, and The Sandman. Fairies, mermaids, hobgoblins, and changelings are but a few of the supernatural forces surveyed here. However, as folklore encompasses the mundane as well as the fantastic, numerous other entries illuminate the significance of colors, numbers, flowers,
animals, and household objects. Learn the curious history behind our distrust of the "black sheep," popular credence in "wishbone" wishes, folk cures for nosebleeds and warts, and persistent old wives' tales. In addition to ancient and medieval folklore, you will find many contemporary urban
legends, e.g., the vanishing hitchhiker--a spooky figure seen ominously by travelers in Britain and the United States--and the Tooth Fairy.
An entertaining resource, The Dictionary of English Folklore will be a fascinating companion for readers of English literature, history, cultural studies, and fantasy.

Genres: Folklore, Reference, Nonfiction, History, British Literature, Research, Mythology

411 pages, Hardcover

First published July 27, 2000

About the author

Dr. Jacqueline Simpson (born 1930) is a United Kingdom researcher and author on folklore and legend.
She studied English Literature and Medieval Icelandic at Bedford College, University of London. Dr. Simpson has been, at various times, Editor, Secretary, and President of the Folklore Society. She was awarded the Society's Coote Lake Research Medal in 2008. In 2010 she was appointed Visiting Professor of Folklore at the Sussex Centre of Folklore, Fairy Tales and Fantasy at the University of Chichester, West Sussex. She has a particular interest in local legends (as opposed to international fairytales), and has published collections of this genre from Iceland, Scandinavia in general, and England (the latter in collaboration with the late Jennifer Westwood). She has also written on the folklore of various English regions, and was co-author with Steve Roud of the Penguin Dictionary of English Folklore. She lives in West Sussex, England.
She has been a point of reference for Terry Pratchett since he met her at a book signing in 1997. Pratchett, who was then researching his novel Carpe Jugulum, was asking everyone in the queue how many magpie rhymes they knew; and whilst most people gave one answer – the theme from the TV series Magpie – Simpson stated that she knew "about nineteen". This encounter eventually led to collaboration.

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I grew up in a small village where the locals still quoted wives tales and farming anecdotes. Where houses had their own little historical stories to tell and where old names would conjure up their own mythology and legends. And what is more when you visited the next village along the road they would have their own versions of the same stories and legends and tales.
I know some feel in this modern world there is neither space or need for such things but I disagree - apart from keeping in touch with my childhood and all its wonders I keep alive the words of my grandparents and their grandparents and theirs .... as they told tales and stories of the country around them. This book lists just a fraction of them, with links and references. It is a treasure trove of facts and details and where every detail I find and learn there are ten times more that I was not expecting which draw me further in to the book. At times it can be a little difficult to locate something specific I am looking for (I live down the road from a village called Hallaton where each Easter there is the tradition of bottle kicking - yes go look it up) and its these links in to folklore I love to learn about.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me the best reference books are those which not only provide a entry matching your initial query but which also encourage you to browse and read other not always related entries. This Dictionary does it for me on both counts: authoritiveness and readability. Folklore here is rightly interpreted as including aspects of modern popular culture as well as topics beloved of antiquarians.

Authored by two stalwarts of the Folklore Society--who should then know what they are talking about--the Dictionary contains over 1250 entries covering a wide range of topics including seasonal customs, traditional tales, superstitions and beliefs. Key figures involved in the recording of lore are noted here, and evidence presented that folklore is part of a continually evolving process. What makes this book particularly worthwhile is that not all so-called traditional lore is accorded uncritical acceptance.

For those wanting more there are relevant references and a bibliography, and in common with many in this Oxford reference series, pretty pictures are excluded in favour of more text.

[Pete daPixie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Certainly a great source of reference for those with interest in Folklore. Not just English, the authors have also provided links to British and European lore, where applicable.
As a dictionary/reference book it is not something that is read cover to cover, but I have browsed through the alphabetical chapters over a few days, picking out my points of interest. Over four hundred pages from Abbots Bromley Horn Dance to Yule.
For the sceptics who scoff at the reader...there are cures for earache. Popular tradition lays particular stress on the efficacy of raw onion rubbed on wasp and bee stings, and on warm onion juice dropped into the ear for earache. Failing that, snails are recommended for earache. Prick with a needle and drip the juice into the ear.
Who needs the National Health Service?

[Bethnoir · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to browse, but the areas I know something about I felt were very basically explained, as if for children or slow adults, so although I learned some new things it was overall rather unsatisfying.

[[ J o ] · Rating 4 out of 5]

[ to review at a later date - possibly even re-read at a later date as well, though not urgent ]

[Katherine Sas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great resource.

[Lisa]

A dictionary of English folklore by Jacqueline Simpson (2003), Reissued with new covers