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Key research themes
1. How do traditional beliefs about fairy-led disorientation vary regionally in British folklore, and what factors influenced their persistence or decline?
This theme focuses on the folk belief of humans being led astray by fairies—often called pixy-led—which remains a significant aspect of British folkloric traditions, especially in the southwest counties like Devon and Cornwall. Understanding regional variations and the endurance of such beliefs provides insights into localized cultural worldviews, the interaction of folklore with environment (such as moorlands), and the factors modulating belief in supernatural guidance or misguidance over time.
Key finding: Analysis of over four centuries of sources reveals that pixy-led disorientation is predominantly documented in Devon and Cornwall, with Devon contributing roughly three-quarters of sources. Factors such as local landscape... Read more
Key finding: Documents historical and folkloric instances where children are purportedly taken by fairies at harvest time, particularly in Cornwall and Yorkshire. The harvest changeling motif reflects a seasonal vulnerability to fairy... Read more
Key finding: Through 19th-century accounts from Merseyside and Liverpool, the paper uncovers urban and rural-urban continuities of fairy belief into an industrializing context. It documents the practice of magical communication with... Read more
2. What roles do spirit-beings and supernatural entities play in British regional folklore, and how are these linked to specific cultural and geographical contexts?
This theme explores the characterization and distribution of diverse spirit-beings, including fairies, knockers, pixies, and other supernatural creatures within British folklore. Research addresses how local ecological, occupational, and ethnic identities shape these figures, examining their social functions, symbolic significance, and transformations across space and time.
Key finding: This chapter details the tradition of Cornish miners’ beliefs in ‘knockers’— subterranean spirits linked with mining activity. It demonstrates that knockers served both protective and punitive social functions within mining... Read more
Key finding: Catalogues 292 spirit-beings across northwestern Europe, including Celtic and Anglo-Saxon regions. Provides detailed accounts of region-specific entities such as the Manx Arkan Sonney, English Brownies, and Cornish Pixies,... Read more
Key finding: Augments prior comparative studies demonstrating that Cornwall’s and Devon’s pixie traditions, while neighboring, are distinct and not simply diffusion variants. The paper provides early textual references dating to the... Read more
3. How have material folk customs, such as 'dressed trees’ and folklore-derived narrative traditions, evolved in British landscapes and cultural memory?
This theme investigates the manifestation and transformation of tangible folk customs, including the incidence of dressed or rag trees and the formation of folklore inspired legends and performance art. It addresses how such customs reflect evolving social, religious, and cultural significances, serving as markers of heritage and sites of community memory within changing historical and pandemic contexts.
Key finding: This study documents the resurgence and reinterpretation of 'dressed trees' in southern England from 1990s onward. It highlights how these trees, once primarily associated with healing wells in the 19th century, have accrued... Read more
Key finding: Analyzes the Morgawr sea monster narrative of Cornwall as an example of the folkloresque—a modern folklore-inspired cultural product originating as a 1976 hoax and evolving into a sustained belief and tourist attraction. The... Read more
Key finding: Though focused primarily on Irish folk expressions, this paper introduces the concept of ecotypes to explain how localized folk expressions develop according to environmental and socio-cultural factors, using... Read more