Folklore Quotes

“Crossing the threshold was a ritual social contract allowable only at specific moments of the calendar.28 The Mari Lwyd in South Wales is a classic example. The small party of costumed performers would tour around houses in their community with a striking hobbyhorse consisting of a decorated horse's skull on a pole covered in a white sheet that also concealed the man carrying the Mari Lwyd. At the door of each house a competitive song would be sung called the pwnco, which consisted of the repeated request to enter and then the rebuttals from inside as to why they could not, until finally the excuses ran out and the party was allowed to enter.”
― Owen Davies, Folklore: A journey through the past and present

“In 1932 the Aberdeen Press and Journal printed a big headline, ‘Is Hogmanay Dying Out?’ and lamented the ‘southernisation’ of the day. But in some villages, it insisted, one could still hear the children's refrain: Get up, guidwife, an’ shak’ yer feathers And dinna think that we are beggars; For we are bairnies oot to play, Get up an’ gie's oor Hogmanay.”
― Owen Davies, Folklore: A journey through the past and present

“Since the 1950s, the British religious year has been invigorated by the communal celebration of non-Christian festivities, such as Diwali, which marks the start of the Hindu New Year. The date is determined by the position of the moon, but it usually falls between October and November. It will have been celebrated in Britain as long as there have been immigrant Hindu communities there, but it was in the mid-1900s that large-scale communal celebrations began to take place.”
― Owen Davies, Folklore: A journey through the past and present

“The word ‘holiday’ means ‘holy day’, and in the Catholic medieval era there were dozens of religious days of celebration and commemoration that punctuated the arduous working year and were often occasions for free drink, food, and entertainment. Most of these religious holidays were done away with following the Protestant Reformation, but over ensuing centuries the ritual calendar developed to become a complex mix of events based around the Christian liturgical year, the agricultural cycle, momentous national events, politics, charity, and commercial interests.”
― Owen Davies, Folklore: A journey through the past and present

“It is a Tuesday, considered a lucky day by some in the region, but unlucky by others. You choose the more positive interpretation. As you put your boots on you feel an itch on the sole of your right foot. This augurs well. The journey will be a pleasant one. It is a fine spring day, but on stepping out of your cottage you see the sheep flocking together. Hmm. A sign of rough weather ahead. But you also see the first lamb of the season staring at you: a fortunate sign for the start of the walk. A few yards later, however, you stumble and drop your walking stick. Ah, that betokens bad luck! Maybe one will cancel out the other, you hope. Stick firmly back in hand, you make progress in good spirits, but then you meet a white horse. Bad omen. But by spitting on your little finger you turn this encounter into a positive omen. Phew! A good half an hour later you spot a coin on the road. Hopefully it is head's side up for good fortune. Damn! The tale's side is showing. No good will come of that. Things get worse. While crossing a field you come across an old knife – a very bad omen, according to Davies. You are tiring a little now, what with the exercise and the anxious changes of fortune, so you rest against a tree and your hat catches in a branch. That means someone has fallen in love with you. Things are getting better! You start off again, but your new-found good spirits disappear as you pass by a young woman. Perhaps she's the one. Oh, but she's whistling – a very unlucky encounter. Finally, as you haul your weary legs along the final stretch you begin to feel the heel of your left foot itching. You know what that means.”
― Owen Davies, Folklore: A journey through the past and present