To think more should be made of our local myths, folklore and traditions

[Feelingathomenow]

Britain, and indeed the whole of the western world, seems to be becoming increasingly divided. Political ideologies v political ideology, Religion against religion, race against race, sex against sex.

For a society to be strong, it needs common values, common beliefs and common rituals. It needs shared stories we can relate to and make reference to.

This is where myths and traditions have always played a vital part. Britain is full of local stories that people have all eagerly shared, stories everyone knew that brought people together. story telling is so very important to humanity and always has been. Traditions where everyone played their part either as participator or spectator, either way it brought a community together, these kinds of rituals have proven benefits for all.

People in Devon and Cornwall always knew about the pixies and people round here often blame/thank the Pixies for good/bad luck. We have the Tar barrels every November which provides a focus for people, newer traditions referencing the old, like the pirate festival, celebrations around the landing of William of Orange etc. People talk about hairy hands grabbing the steering wheel of your car on a certain road, people know about Kitty Jays grave where fresh flowers appear on the grave of a suicide victim buried at cross roads even if your back is turned for a second or the Devil riding out across the moors with his hell hounds.

Many of these myths and legends have made it into some of the most popular stories, The hell hounds on Dartmoor made it into the hounds of the Baskerville (thanks to Doyle’s coach driver (a mr Baskerville) when he visited Dartmoor.obviously the Fantastic JK Rowling has introduced Dobies and Boggarts to children far beyond Scotland/East of England respectively. People across the world read these stories

So should we be talking about these things more, esp in schools to give common stories of Britain (or wherever you live) not so tied to the big religions or political ideologies, things that do however, fulfil the need for common stories and rituals based in the landscape of where people live? Should more be done to encourage everyone to take part in local traditions to bring communities together? Also interested to hear of any local legends/traditions etc.

I totally agree and find some of the folklore and stories really interesting (sometimes scary!!)

No, I think the local faux-deities / geographical spirits aren’t entities I would like to see celebrated / promoted.

I agree. I can’t think of any to hand, but they interest me so much

Interesting, why not?

Are there any that you have found particularly interesting or, indeed, scary?

I love those stories and traditions. I live near where the Tar Barrels are rolled and the town takes it very seriously! Apparently it was done all over England once, to scare away evil spirits. It is seriously dangerous to the point where you can't believe they allow it (have a Google!) but exciting.
Sometimes there's a hint of the supernatural, or at least some kind of awe, in our daily life and I think it's to be celebrated. Gives us depth and a sense of history.

Would you like to see them talked about more as say part of the school curriculum?

Yes! I love this sort of thing.

I think we could do far more to celebrate our own culture. But we are very bad at that in the UK and either ridicule our own traditions (see Morris dancing) or oppose them (see bonfire night).

I'm British but live overseas and there is a real sense of pride here which is missing in the UK and a lot of the western world.

Stories, traditions, folklore are all shared in an inclusive way here so foreigners like me can learn and enjoy.

I've always been interested in this kind of thing wherever I have travelled in the world, it's fascinating.

The UK has such a long and varied past and so many stories and tales to tell which a lot of people would be interested in, why do we seem almost ashamed of it all now?

I agree. I moved from England to Wales as a young child and found the folklore and tales of dragons so fascinating. They're part of a country/county's fabric, same for anywhere else and they shouldn't be allowed to die out.

We have Jack Valentine in Norfolk who is a trickster and ding dong dashes aand leaves gifts for children on the doorstep. He is alive and well here and readily celebrated each valentine's day.

I want to see the orange races in Totnes back. Absolutely agree with you comment “Gives us depth and a sense of history” - these things are so important to any society .

As part of history/geography we do cover the local area in primary school. This won't necessarily extend to folklore unless relevant to the development of the local area.

I feel as life has changed over the years there is a lack of wanting to know about local history. Many of us live in the here and now with our daily lives and that alone can be a struggle, so you need the luxury of free time to explore local legends and folklore that has been lost over the years.

It would be fun if more off these stories were taught in schools! I think the fact they're more local would capture the imagination

I totally agree. I live in Scotland now and was hooked on reading about myths and legends as soon as I heard about selkies! It is definitely an important part of our history and culture and can be so magical and engaging for children too.

I totally agree. There’s a fantastic Morris side the Beltane Border Morris https://www.beltaneborder.co.uk/ if people get chance to see them they should.

I no longer live in the UK (and am not British), but there’s a lot of interest and knowledge in folklore where I live now (there’s an active folklore department at the local university, several longrunning oral history projects that include it, but also a lot of it being disseminated by podcasts and Instagram). It’s come hand in hand with more nature awareness. I was at the local art college’s degree show in June, and I reckon a good quarter of the graduating students’ shows had some component of folklore/genius locii/ popular religion.

I don't know where you live, but come to Wales - our mythology is very much alive and well. In fact Visit Wales ran a big campaign in 2017 all around legends:

It's huge over here - there isn't a soul who hasn't heard of The Mabinogion - and we've got a bloody big dragon on our flag - what could be more mythical than that?! Our local Waterstones has a whole table dedicated to Welsh folklore books. There isn't a corner of this land that doesn't hum with tradition and stories.

I'm going to a talk given by this guy next month: https://www.welshstoryteller.com

It's a massive part of Welsh culture - we sing about it, write about it, eat and drink it - maybe you need to move here?!

I like folklore, but an awful lot of it is made up shit the Victorians and others sentimentalised into existence, isn't it? I think there's something quite naff about that.

I think the risk with folklore is always that it can so easily be used to promote a fake version of history that keeps people believing the past was a happier place than the present and needs 'recovering'. I don't love that.

For example, you would not believe how many people fall for the idea that strange-looking marks on buildings are 'witch marks' and will bend your ear about how, once upon a time, women's power was revered and these marks were believed to keep houses safe.

Usually when you look at what they're calling witch marks, they're ordinance survey benchmarks.

Yes introducing kids to Myths and Legends, esp local ones is so important at sense of belonging and igniting the imagination

I agree.

My family is Manx in origin and there are some wonderful stories. My grandma used to tell them all to us when we were young.

There was the story about the church that couldn't keep a roof. My grandma insisted that it was true.

And, even into her 80s, my aunt wouldn't cross the Fairy Bridge without insisting we all said hello to the little folk.

There are so many fantastic children’s books out there on this subject.

I think that Scotland, Wales and Ireland are much more connected to local myths and legends and celebrate this much more than in England for some reason.

I think though, once you understand these things even the way the Victorians created their own mythologies is so interesting and in itself is historically so valuable. There was a lot of shifting in the Victorian era regarding women’s position in society, and alternative spirituality, eg spiritualism, the Golden Dawn (and other magical groups) often were conduits for women to speak about women’s rights in an atmosphere of equality.

It’s not the tradition itself, it’s the lack of education round it that causes the issues you’re talking about.

I agree, but would add Devon and Cornwall in there too. I suspect it’s the Celtic links