The Clarke Charm Collection: Of Witch Bottles, Witch Cakes and Hag Stones
Clarke’s charm collection reveals a range of uses, including cures for sore throats, the protection of seafarers from drowning, and good luck charms.
Gruesome Folk Healing: The Curious Cures for Warts and Wens
These remedies, many of them fairly gruesome to our ears, were recorded only 100 years ago by Mrs Ella Mary Leather at the beginning of the 20th century, from the towns and villages of Herefordshire. Here are the folk memories of people who remembered these remedies being used and, what’s more, being efficacious. They are […]
Japanese Folklore: Maruyama Ōkyo and the Ghost of Oyuki
In 1750, Edo-period Japan, Maruyama Ōkyo opened his eyes from a fitful sleep and beheld a dead woman.
London Folklore: The Legendary Frost Fairs of the River Thames
he legendary frost fairs on the River Thames are depicted in a number of works of art that show just how cold, icy and severe the weather became during winter, in comparison to the weather experienced in London in modern times.
British Legends: The Madness of Merlin (Part 2)
The Vita Merlini, written by Geoffrey of Monmouth in the twelfth century, tells the story of Merlin after the Battle of Camlann, where he ruled over South Wales, had a wife named Guendoloena and a sister named Ganieda.