A Companion Guide to the Folklore, Myths & Customs of Britain

Folklore, Dec, 2004 by Eddie Cass

A Companion Guide to the Folklore, Myths & Customs of Britain. By Marc Alexander. Stroud: Sutton Publishing, 2002. 356 pp. Illus. 25.00 [pounds sterling] (hbk). ISBN 0-7509-2359-8 May Day to Mummers. Folklore and Traditional Customs in Oxfordshire. By Christine Bloxham. Charlbury: Wychwood Press, 2002. 314 pp. Illus. 12.99 [pounds sterling] (pbk). ISBN 1-90227911-5

The attitude of the present generation of folklorists to earlier generations of scholars is inevitably an ambivalent one. There is, of course, a feeling of gratitude that the study of folklore was established as a discipline, but this is tinged with some regret about just how that discipline was established and the weaknesses in research methods, attitudes and viewpoints that were sometimes carried forward for us to inherit. Nowhere are these weaknesses more manifest than in the persistence of the belief that most of our seasonal customs and events have origins in "pagan times." While we have only our forebears to blame for this state of affairs, it is a matter of regret that, on occasions, these forebears are relatively recent. Despite the fact that many writers have pointed out the weaknesses in any evidence for such beliefs, the myth/ritual theory seems to appeal to something in the human psyche and remains an attractive concept for newspapers and magazines when writing of folklore. By the nature of the material, much folklore literature has a limited readership and those writers such as Ronald Hutton, Theresa Buckland, Juliette Wood and the late Roy Judge, to name but a few who have rightly argued against the ritual origins of seasonal customs, cannot expect a large audience in a wider public. Books that might act as a corrective to the widespread beliefs are those such as this book by Marc Alexander. It is clearly intended to have a wide appeal: it is attractive, well produced and well illustrated. It also contains many articles that are well written, such as that on the Mabinogion, but the overall impression given by the book is one of disappointment at an opportunity wasted. The book is often mistaken in its views and incorrect in the supposedly factual information it contains.

The caution that must be exercised in using this book is obvious from the very first entry, which is on the Abbot's Bromley Horn Dance. Alexander states "... it is known that [the dance] was performed at the Barthelmy Fair in 1226." There is no evidence to support this assertion and none is offered. Most scholars would not wish to go beyond Plot and the seventeenth century. Moreover the dance is performed on the Monday after the first Sunday after 4 September, not the first Monday in September. The Britannia Coconut Dancers (p. 205) dance at Bacup in Lancashire, not Barcup, and they have disks at their waists, knees and wrists--not cups. The event that takes place at Hallaton on Easter Monday is the Hare Pie Scrambling and Bottle Kicking, not the other way round (p. 31). One of the casks is not left empty; it is a dummy cask made of solid wood. Not all "the eatables are scattered and scrambled for" at Hare Pie Bank; the Penny Loaves are distributed on the green. The "Traditional sword dancers going through their paces" in the colour illustration between pages 196 and 197 are not sword dancers at all, but Conwy Morris performing a border morris dance. It is not necessary to cite more examples of such elementary errors. Some of these errors might represent poor proofreading, but, nevertheless, they weaken the value of the book as a work of reference.

What is equally disturbing is the questionable scholarship shown in some of the entries. I know of no folk play scholar who would accept much of the history of the mumming play (pp. 199-200) outlined by Alexander. In his entry on witchcraft (p. 321) Alexander states that "Dr Margaret Murray's conclusion that witchcraft was a remnant of paganism that went 'underground' as Christianity became increasingly powerful is generally accepted today." I was of the very firm impression that the reverse was in fact the case and that no serious academic scholar of witchcraft today believed in Dr Murray's theories. Despite two editions of the widely reviewed work of Roy Judge on the social history of Jack-in-the Green, Alexander persists in reiterating the view that the custom (p. 148) is "a relic of ancient tree worship." Once more, little is to be gained by citing further examples of similar suspect scholarship.

This review has been critical of a book the reviewer would have liked to be able to praise. It is from a reputable publisher with an interest in our field. It is generously produced. One wonders, however, what is the purpose of the work. The number of factual errors this reviewer was able to identify negates the value of the book as a work of reference. Similarly, the questionable views in many of the entries devalues the work as a summary of contemporary scholarship. It is, however, impossible to ignore such books. They continue to purvey outmoded views of what British folklore actually is, as well as providing incorrect descriptions of our customs when it would be so easy to get the descriptions right. Such books are unfortunate because of their possible appeal to an audience that is likely to take them at their face value.