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.

Ah, that’s true.didn’t read it properly. Maybe that’s the dividing line. Wonder how she feels about Faustian pacts at cross roads though

I love folklore and love hearing about local legends and superstitions. The Folklore Podcast is fab if anyone is looking for somewhere to find out more.

I really should attend the tar barrels one year as I'm not very far away (waves at fellow Devonians!). I do go to a Wassail each year. Some English folklore is popular - Robin Hood. And King Arthur, although he's shared with the Welsh, Scots and Cornish!

I think a strong cultural identity is a good thing and can result in the opposite of racism and fascism. If you love and appreciate your own culture, you can be similarly fascinated and appreciative of other people's. I know my own love of folklore means I enjoy finding out about the legends and superstitions of other cultures.

Actually I've just remembered that DS1 did a topic on Beowulf in year 6 and adored it.

I'd say my kids know way more Norse and Greek mythology than English. Interesting to see the discussion of eg Rowling and Pratchett - it feels like we're more comfortable with these things firmly in fiction than as part of a national story.

We used to do a lot of folk festivals, and one of the best parts was always listening to the storytellers. We've heard so many stories over the years, sitting in the fisherman's club in Whitby, or the park in Sidmouth, or the pub in Towersey.

One of our favourite storytellers is Taffy Thomas, who has a story for every place in Britain and an amazing embroidered coat covered with illustrations.

www.taffythomas.co.uk/frame1.html

I think that’s a very valid point. It can spark a curiosity, esp when you start to notice commonalities

I'm Manx and never go over the Fairy Bridge without saying hello, don't want to upset the little folk

We have a lot of traditions here and there's a lot of very pround Manx people, also a lot of visitors seem to love our traditions, folklore and mystical creatures

I believe that industrialisation, empire and now the internet make conversations about "indigenous peoples" and "traditional cultures" quaintly redundant.

Our modern capitalist world is one where people and cultural artefacts from across the globe are highly mobile. I can watch traditional or modern Peruvian dance or Thai music on YouTube in my home. People in Peru and Thailand can experience British culture from Benjamin Brittan to the Beatles to Peppa Pig easily. Peruvian and Thai culture are now modern flexible cultures that embrace multi-national influences, just as European culture is. I think it's unrealistic to think about discrete cultures as if we lived in sealed environments and seek to preserve them as if it was the 19th century.

I observe that the people trying to do that politically tend to be on the right and that they often are associated with nationalism, xenophobia and racism. Using language like "British culture and heritage is being erased in the name of multiculturalism" is, in my opinion, dangerous and inflammatory.

It's also not true. No-one's taking away stories of Welsh dragons or Cornish pixies, your Morris dancing or folk music. They're all there for you if you want to tell them, play them, celebrate them, share them.

It's true that they now exist as part of a "global meaning market" of ideas where we are all exposed to more stories and foods and religions and art and ideas, and where maybe only the most compelling may survive. I think that can be positive and enriching but, above all, I think it's inevitable. Personally, I'm not going to be spending too much time defending Morris dancing or tripe and onions when we've been exposed to jazz and spices. Your view may vary.

We = the world.

Rock and roll and soul are huge popular genres globally. UK folk music, not so much.

Blind Guardian's Mordred's Song is quite heart-breaking

I live in Ottery where we have pixie day & the tar barrels. I have a child at pre school & primary school & although they don't seem to do anything around pixie day they have done a little bit about the Nov 5th/ tar barrels at school & even had relay races with some plastic ones in the playground & they even had a little barrel at pre school for the little ones to carry so I assume there must have been some discussion as to why they were doing it but having said that alot of the children at the schools take part in the tar barrels or are pixies anyway. I attended the schools here but I don't remember ever learning about it so it could be relatively new.

Surprisingly my view does vary. You seem to view the world as one giant homogeneous blob. Just because you have been exposed to other cultures doesn’t mean that those cultures aren’t distinct. The very fact that you talk about someone in Peru being exposed to British culture indicates there is something distinct about British culture.

Globalisation is a danger to humanity, we are a tribal species, There’s a phrase about ADHD and associated depression. “Feels like they fit in everywhere but they belong no where” globalisation removes tribes and removes the sense of belonging.

Im interested (assuming your British why you are so desperate to move away from anything that might hint at your Britishness. Do you describe yourself as a global citizen rather than British.

“Empire” has existed practically from the moment man sat on a horse or elephant. Interested people have often used this to try and spread their own cultures, but often these attempts have not succeeded whole scale. Indeed, often people’s objections (esp re the British Empire is that it attempted to displace local cultures which indicates people still see local cultures as very important

You see, no one can take away the stories but they can try and kill them off by shouting down people who mention them bu calling them racist/far right etc. The Left have always been far more “Brave New World” with their Dystopia.

Ah, you speak for the entire world😂😂😂

Love the line “murder the dawn” - could be applied to quite a few posters on MN😂

Hansi’s voice is just one of the best - keep missing them live😭

It's interesting, having grown up in an educated, middle class, Communist family to now be called a racist, right winger. My parents always voted Socialist or Labour (as do I), we've always had multicultural friends, mostly left wing, teachers, doctors and lawyers, a lot of them Eastern European, Jewish, although my family is not.

I grew up on a diet of American folk; Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger. But also a lot of British Folk music and history, traditional tales and myths. My family has Irish and Orcadian blood and we feel deeply rooted in these lands.

I'm guessing that if that Peruvians and Thais chose to embrace their own culture rather than The Beatles or Benjamin Britten, they would not be accused of racism or xenophobia. I suspect that this reverse snobbery is something reserved for the British, or more specifically the English.

😂
Hansi seems to be guesting with Ayreon quite a lot.

No, I have observed that rock'n'roll and soul are hugely more popular globally than English folk music. Are you suggesting this in incorrect?

Well, I think after a discussion above we can add in heavy metal to folk music so probably not😀. What are you counting as “rock and roll” ?

He’s been around a lot😂

I haven't read the full thread, but absolutely agree with this. My grandmother lived in Alderley Edge when I was growing up, and my other aunties and uncles in central Manchester, and Elidor and the Weirdstone of Brisingamen were as magical to me growing up as the music of the Smiths was 7/8 years later.

My absolute favourite was The Owl Service, though, which made me want to study Welsh literature and opened up lots of Arthurian literature and myth and thereby lots of British history for me.

I loved Susan Cooper too although wasn't as familiar with that landscape, but I think I must have located it in the Somerset countryside which was near where I lived.

I don't know of any similar, more modern books but would love recommendations too. Sorry for the tangent but what a lovely memory. I haven't thought about some of those books for years.

I hear what you’re saying but I don’t think there is any undercurrent of nationalism or xenophobia on this thread. I am absolutely not right leaning at all and I’ve found this discussion quite refreshing. The ‘modern capitalist world’ and globalisation has a significant negative impact on population mental health - there are countless studies and books on this very topic. The fact that we are more socially mobile now is positive in lots of ways, however it has disadvantages- people are more disconnected from communities and each other, it is harder to form lasting connections and put down roots. I say this as someone who has travelled extensively and been fortunate enough to live in many different places. Have you been to New Zealand? Or Lombok? Or the Outer Hebrides? I can assure you that conversations about indigenous peoples and traditional cultures are not ‘quaintly redundant’.

It is brilliant enough to have access to the internet to be able to hear the music / watch the dancing of other cultures etc but it is absolutely not the same as experiencing this in person. If that was the case, no one would travel or go anywhere. It is also great to have a wide variety of food options in most places in the UK to be able to experience food from other nationalities and cultures, of course. But paying attention to and celebrating the nature, myths, legends and folklore where you live does not mean that you are rejecting of or discriminatory against other cultures. On the contrary I find that I am more curious, interested and open minded about the way other people live in different places due to these interests.

To try to pretend different cultures don’t exist and that we can get the same culturally enriching experience watching Balinese dancing (for example) on YouTube as we would actually being in Bali is deliberately obtuse and ignorant. Knowing where you come from and your history can be a key part of your personal identity. It is pretty sad that we are at a point in society where this even needs saying.

Great post. I find it sad that this has been such a lovely thread that seems to have evoked lots of lovely memories for so many yet there still seems to be people who want to make unkind comments and try to insinuate xenophobic intentions.

Our primary manages it. We’re in London, so they focus on Roman London, the Great Fire of London, the Blitz, Windrush etc. Always related back to the local area in one way or another.

I find it sad that there are so many people who think folklore is only for them, not for anyone who feels differently - even if those others enjoy folklore and feel a deep connection to it. Such sad and small-minded gatekeeping.

I’m not sure exactly what you’re getting at here!

Agree, it feels like all cultures can be proud and share except this one, there's an idea that it's nothing to be proud of or that it's shameful or carries with it some dark history. I am from an immigrant family myself and notice this. It's important to have a cultural pride, knowledge and identity.