Cambridgeshire Customs and Folklore (RLE Folklore)

Enid Porter

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781138842564
• eBook ISBN: 9781000155976
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Teaching Social Science

Enid Porter spent many years collecting and recording from Cambridgeshire people the folk beliefs and customs held and observed in the country, both past and present. The subjects covered in the book, first published in 1969, range from the folklore of courtship, marriage, birth and death, of trees and plants and the whole world of nature to traditional Cambridgeshire food and drink; from ghosts and witchcraft and the cure of disease to charity and land-letting customs. The traditional occupations of the county, as well as the dress worn by the workers in the various crafts and the tools and implements they used, are also recorded, and there are accounts of various Cambridgeshire sports and pastimes. There is a section on University customs, ranging from the ancient procedure observed at examinations and degree ceremonies, through College Stamps and Mock Funerals, to the appointment made formerly of a Christmas Lord in the Colleges. Miss Porter spent most of her life in Cambridge and her mother's family have lived there since the sixteenth century, so she includes information based on her own observations and on those of members of her family. The Fenland material has largely been provided by W. H. Barrett, well known through his collections of Fen Tales.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Original Title Page
• Original Copyright Page
• Acknowledgement of Plates
• Table of Contents
• Map
• List of Plates
• Introduction
• 1 Folklore and Customs of Human Life: Courtship, Marriage, Pregnancy, Birth, Child Care and Education, Death and Burial
• 2 Folklore of Nature: Birds, Flowers and Plants, Insects and Reptiles, Mammals, Moon and Stars, Trees, Water, Weather
• 3 Curing the Sick
• 4 Calendar Customs
• 5 The World of Magic: Ghosts and Witchcraft
• 6 Narratives and Traditions: Local Legends, Curious Characters and Strange Incidents
• 7 Games, Sports and Pastimes
• 8 University Customs
• 9 Customs of Municipal and Corporate Life
• Appendix I Charity, Land-Letting and Rental Customs
• Appendix II Food and Drink
• Appendix III Sayings, Proverbs and Rhymes
• Appendix IV Miscellaneous Beliefs and Customs
• Select Glossary
• Select Bibliography
• Index of Subjects
• Index of Places