Folklore of Dorset explores the rich heritage of the county's traditions, seasonal customs and songs. Included are saints' lore and smugglers, wife sales, wrecking, witchcraft, wise men and West Gallery Music, hill figures, hempseed divination and holy wells, mummers' plays, May garlands and maypoles, Oosers and Oak Apple Day, bonfires and Beating the Bounds.The sources used include the poems and non-fiction of William Barnes, Thomas Hardy, the historian of Dorset John Hutchins, the Victorian and early twentieth-century folklorist John Udal and the Hammmond Brothers' collection of Dorset folksongs. The authors critically engage with the extent to which Hardy and Barnes can be regarded as primary sources for Dorset folklore. There is also considerable original research and use of oral material. Nearly 100 fascinating photographs illustrate the text and there is an appendix of a full mummers' play.

The spectacular and varied landscape of Dorset, with its giants, hill forts, Jurassic coast and ancient buildings is the source and inspiration for many curious stories that have been passed down in families and village communities for generations. This book contains a rich and diverse collection of those ancient legends rooted in the oral tradition. From the absorbing tales of the Old King of Corfe and the Thorncombe Thorn to the intriguing Buttons on a Card and George Pitman and the Dragon, these illustrated stories bring alive the landscape of the county's rolling hills and coastline. Dorset actor, singer and storyteller Tim Laycock has a lifelong interest in the folklore and oral traditions of the county. Many of the stories in this collection have been passed on to him by Dorset residents, and appear here in print for the first time.

Dorset is full of mythical creatures from Britain's most legendary folk tales, including demons, dragons, Jack-o'-lanterns, giants and mermaids. Read on to bring the landscape of the country's rolling hills and Jurassic coast alive, and let author Tim Laycock inspire you to rediscover the county you thought you knew.

A captivating volume that’s brimming with traditional Dorsetshire folktales and superstitions. John Symonds Udal provides enthralling insight into the rich history of folktales, legends, and superstitions in Dorset. Detailing many of the county’s traditional customs, including those surrounding birth, marriage, and death, this volume is a fantastic read for those interested in English folklore.

This book reassesses Hardy’s fiction in the light of his prolonged engagement with the folklore and traditions of rural England. Drawing on wide research, it demonstrates the pivotal role played in the novels by such customs and beliefs as ‘overlooking’, hag-riding, skimmington-riding, sympathetic magic, mumming, bonfire nights, May Day celebrations, Midsummer divination, and the ‘Portland Custom’. This study shows how such traditions were lived out in practice in village life, and how they were represented in written texts – in literature, newspapers, county histories, folklore books, the work of the Folklore Society, archival documents, and letters. It explores tensions between Hardy’s repeated insistence on the authenticity of his accounts and his engagement with contemporary anthropologists and folklorists, and reveals how his efforts to resist their ‘excellently neat’ categories of culture open up wider questions about the nature of belief, progress, and social change.