Folkways: The Folklore of Britain and Ireland Archiv

A warm welcome to the first episode of Season 2, where we're heading deep into the marshes for the Bells of Minsmere.


Also included is March's mini-almanac, where we muse the Spring Equinox, do some 'shriving' and learn the true origin of Mothering Sunday.


Soundtrack to The Bells of Minsmere by Big Big Sky https://spoti.fi/3hwjFG4


Become a Friend of Folkways https://bit.ly/34awiDB


️ Buy me a coffee https://bit.ly/3dxssVw


Get in contact folkwayschannel@gmail.com


Folkways Youtube https://bit.ly/3hIwlcZ


Connect with Folkways on Instagram or Twitter @folkwayschannel





|  LINKS + SOURCES  |


The Bells of Minsmere is a folk tale that has almost disappeared. It has been compiled from our own orally-collected sources, combined with Kirsty Hartsiotis's work (see below). Please become a Friend of Folkways to review more detailed show notes.


Hartsiotis, Kirsty 'Suffolk Folk Tales'. Gloucestershire: The History Press https://bit.ly/3KffGtO


Hill, Susan 'The Magic Apple Tree'. London: Hamish Hamilton https://amzn.to/3JwpFvn


--------


Ditchfield, P.H. 'Old English Customs: Extant at the Present Time'. (London: Methuen, 1896) https://bit.ly/3vMRKKf


Dunlop and Tirion 'Night Sky Almanac: A Stargazer's guider to 2022'. (Glasgow: Collins, 2021) https://amzn.to/3FTHfqL


Hutton, Ronald 'The Stations of The Sun'. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997) https://bit.ly/3hG1Wft


Lagram, Anne Marie 'Country Wisdom and Folklore Almanac'. (Talking Trees Books, 2020) https://www.talkingtreesbooks.co.uk


Leendertz, Lia 'The Almanac: A Seasonal Guide to 2022'. (London: Gaia/Octopus Publishing Group, 2021) https://www.lialeendertz.com/


Roud, Steve 'The English Year'. (London: Penguin Books, 2008) https://bit.ly/3txP9RQ


Wright, Jonathan 'The Forager's Calendar'. (London: Profile Books Ltd, 2019) https://www.foragerscalendar.net

It's Christmas Eve! Wrap up warm, pour yourself a mulled cider and hop on board as tonight we take a sleigh ride through Christmas. We're visiting Newgrange for the Winter Solstice, dropping by on a Roman Saturnalia, as well as encountering the Holly King and that jolly Saint Nick. 


If you enjoyed, feel free to buy me a coffee https://bit.ly/3dxssVw


If you have any thoughts on today’s show, please get in contact folkwayschannel@gmail.com | Connect with Folkways on Instagram or Twitter @folkwayschannel


Music by Big Big Sky @big.big.sky  |  Excluding Many Points of Light by Judson Lee | Christmas piano carols by Roberto Diana

The final instalment in our popular mini-series Still Waters Run Deep. Today we hike through both Snowdonia and the Otherworld as we discover further tales of the Gwragedd Annwn, or, the ladies of the lakes.


️ If you enjoyed, feel free to buy me a coffee https://bit.ly/3dxssVw 


If you have any thoughts on today’s show, please get in contact folkwayschannel@gmail.com


Connect with Folkways on Instagram or Twitter @folkwayschannel


Soundtrack by Big Big Sky @big.big.sky  |  Excluding Many Points of Light by Judson Lee


|  LINKS + SOURCES  | Myddfai Memories https://bit.ly/2WboSIN (with thanks to William Britton) Davies, Jonathan Ceredig 'Folk-Lore of West and Mid-Wales' Ebook, P. 93 https://bit.ly/3mk5Fio Further discussion of Nelferch from lake Llyn y Forwyn https://bit.ly/2Lq8zp9 Folklore of the Welsh Lakes overview  https://bit.ly/3nJWLfm. Sikes, Wirt (1880) ‘British Goblins: Welsh Folk-lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions’. Reprint, Glastonbury: The Lost Library, 2010 https://bit.ly/3lCV95U Ralls-Maclead, Karen (2000) 'Music and the Celtic Otherworld'. Edinburgh: Polygon https://bit.ly/37n3Ugx Stevenson, Peter ‘Welsh Folk Tales’ Gloucestershire: The History Press, 2017 https://bit.ly/3nSqR10

Soundtrack by Big Big Sky @big.big.sky  |  Excluding Many Points of Light by Judson Lee 

We’re returning to our exploration of the the Ladies of the Lakes as we rejoin Rhiwallon in the Brecon Beacons, as the dramatisation of the lady of Llyn y Fan Fach concludes. The second episode in a three-part mini-series.


️ If you enjoyed, feel free to buy me a coffee https://bit.ly/3dxssVw 


If you have any thoughts on today’s show, please get in contact folkwayschannel@gmail.com


Connect with Folkways on Instagram or Twitter @folkwayschannel


Soundtrack by Big Big Sky @big.big.sky  |  Excluding Many Points of Light by Judson Lee  |  Maenwen and Rhiwallon played by voice actors Ruth Pownall and Dafydd.


|  LINKS + SOURCES  |   1. Llyn y Fan Fach and directions (Coordinates 51°52′55″N 3°44′31″W)  https://bit.ly/36YfNrx    Folklore of the Welsh Lakes  https://bit.ly/3nJWLfm.    YHA Youth Hostel Info  https://bit.ly/395p5Vr.    Sikes, Wirt (1880) ‘British Goblins: Welsh Folk-lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions’. Reprint, Glastonbury: The Lost Library, 2010 https://bit.ly/3lCV95U     Stevenson, Peter ‘Welsh Folk Tales’ Gloucestershire: The History Press, 2017 https://bit.ly/3nSqR10        

Today we’re getting out our hiking boots and heading into the mountains to dive into the world of the Gwragedd Annwn: the water women of the Welsh lakes. We start with the most famous lake lady of all - the keeper of Excalibur in the legends of King Arthur - before finding ourselves in the Brecon Beacons for the story of Rhiwallon and the Lady of Llyn y Fan Fach. The first of a three-part mini-series.


️ If you enjoyed, feel free to buy me a coffee https://bit.ly/3dxssVw 


If you have any thoughts on today’s show, please get in contact folkwayschannel@gmail.com   


Connect with Folkways on Instagram or Twitter @folkwayschannel 


Soundtrack by Big Big Sky @big.big.sky https://spoti.fi/3wqTA2d  |  Excluding Many Points of Light by Judson Lee





|  LINKS + SOURCES  |    Sikes, Wirt (1880) ‘British Goblins: Welsh Folk-lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions’. Reprint, Glastonbury: The Lost Library, 2010 https://bit.ly/3lCV95U Stevenson, Peter ‘Welsh Folk Tales’ Gloucestershire: The History Press, 2017 https://bit.ly/3nSqR10       Malory, Thomas (1485) ‘Le Morte D’Arthur’. Reprint, Independently published, 2019  https://amzn.to/2FiGmhl     

We’re talking to Rob Jones of Black Dog Zine - a striking new publication looking at East Anglian landscape and lore. We talk cities that fell in the sea, black dogs, white dogs and green children. Plus our relationship with the landscape around us, experimental music scenes, “deep touristing” and the lingering touch of MR James. Not to be missed!     


️ If you enjoyed, feel free to buy me a coffee 


If you have any thoughts on today’s show, please get in contact folkwayschannel@gmail.com


Connect with Folkways on Instagram or Twitter @folkwayschannel


Soundtrack by Big Big Sky @big.big.sky https://spoti.fi/3wqTA2d  |  Excluding Many Points of Light by Judson Lee


|  LINKS + SOURCES  |    Black Dog Zine www.blackdogzine.co.uk Instagram @blackdogzine    Newell, Martin (1999) 'Black Shuck: The Ghost Dog of Eastern England'. https://bit.ly/2ZE9I0y     Mike Burgess, 'Shuckland: The biggest collection anywhere of East Anglian legends and encounters with the ghostly hound Black Shuck' https://bit.ly/35A71Rz     Mike Burgess, 'Hidden East Anglia: Landscape Legends of Eastern England' http://www.hiddenea.com     Abraham Fleming, 'A Strange and Terrible Wunder' Original pamphlet published in 1578 https://bit.ly/3lVr6rm     Unlikely Records https://bit.ly/2RsEvJu     Leendertz, Lia (2019) 'The Almanac: A Seasonal Guide to 2020.' London: Octopus Publishing Group Ltd. https://bit.ly/3iqf72N     Toulson, Shirley (1979) 'East Anglia: Walking the Ley Lines and Ancient Tracks'. London: Wildwood House. https://bit.ly/2ZEoXqp    Adam Scovell, ’“No Diggin’ ‘Ere!” Revisiting the ghostly locations of A Warning to the Curious’ BFI.org.uk, 28 October 2018. https://bit.ly/2QW92Pl   

Welcome to the show's second episode on Midsummer! We're taking a deep-dive into the customs surrounding the Summer Solstice - from fires on the hill tops of Ireland, dreaming of your future lover, to the occult past of St John's Wort.      


️ If you enjoyed, feel free to buy me a coffee


If you have any thoughts on today’s show, please get in contact folkwayschannel@gmail.com


Connect with Folkways on Instagram or Twitter @folkwayschannel 


Soundtrack by Big Big Sky @big.big.sky https://spoti.fi/3wqTA2d  |  Excluding Many Points of Light by Judson Lee


Additional thanks to voice actor Johnpaul Wright.