‘Folklore’? What do you Mean? And Why?

Laying a wreath at the grave of William John Thoms © Paul Cowdell

You’re obviously already interested enough to know what folklore is, right? Yet the more we look at folklore, the less confident we can be about straightforward certainties.

Courting the Wild Twin

I first caught the perfume of my wild twin by walking with muddy boots through wet grasses to my scrubby woodland den as a six-year-old. As the trees swirled I caught a scent and started to cry without understanding. I wove a pheasant feather in my hair. I hear it now in the owl court who hoot across the frost grass and moon-touched lawns of my cottage. There’s more than book smarts in that chill delirium. These are not domestic tones, not corralled sounds, but loose as Dartmoor ponies on the hill. They give me ecstasy. Not safety, not contentment, certainly not ease, not peace, but ecstasy. It’s almost painful. Makes me restless.

Bringing Venetian Folklore to the Big Screen: The Plague Doctor

Poster artwork for The Plague Doctor— Barrett Biggers

Though we’ve not lost any of our academic appreciation for the hearthside story or campsite tall tale, it cannot be denied that we as a species have moved into the art of mass producing our spoken heritage. The film maker may not ever replace the greatest of our local tavern heralds, but like any story […]

England’s Dark Dreaming: A Response to a Mythic Past, and an Uncertain Future

Ritual, Part IV (England’s Dark Dreaming № 15) © Paul Watson Charcoal drawing of a woman making rock art handprints

Paul Watson speaks to Dee Dee Chainey about the inspiration behind ‘England’s Dark Dreaming’, his second book of myth and folklore inspired artwork, available August 2018.

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