Steve RoudReviews

Fascinating meander through the history of childrens playground games. Lots of memories of games played in the pastsome that I thought were unique to my school weren't

Whilst not encyclopaedic, this is certainly fairly exhaustative. It covers all sorts of traditions and rituals in England, mani not but also Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It has an interesting anecdotal entry and there are some details about when and how these beliefs began and where in the uk they originated. Fascinating for those that are interested but there's enough here to fascinate the general reader too.

An up-dated and expanded version of the original 'Penguin Book of English Folk Songs' by RVW.

No more to say really - includes copious notes as well as the words and music. The introduction
includes a short introduction to 'modes' which give many 'folkies' nightmares (including me!).

Does what it says on the tin: A lengthy 'social history' of 'folk music' in England, and rather a good one at that.

This is not a 'tune book', there are almost no musical examples in the book for reasons which the authors explain.
My personal preference would be for tunes to be included - the consequent doubling in size (and price) of the book
would not have put me off.

The book contains much that is of interest to the English 'folkie' including a sensible and (more or less) comprehensible
discussion of modes (a notoriously 'difficult' topic for those without formal musical training), and a re-appraisal of the
activities of the Victorian and Edwardian collectors such as Vaughn-Williams, Grainger, Sharp, et.al.

Re-assesses the '2nd folk revival' and provides (amongst other things) a counterbalance to A. L. Lloyds similarly
named book, which some regards as suffering a little from Lloyds tendencies to pepper his writing with (mild) left
wing bias, too many East European examples, a little romanticism regarding his own biography and an inclination
to re-write songs to fit the situation in which he found himself (singing, writing, radio production).

To know Steve Roud is to -- be amazed.

In other words, let it be said that I have a slight personal bias. But I don't know Jacqueline Simpson, and my personal contacts with Steve Roud are slight; we live on different continents and almost certainly will never meet. I know him primarily through his Folk Song Index, one of the great works of ballad scholarship.

That same scholarship is evident here. This is a very thorough book, and gives more detail than any comparable modern volume. It lists key sources, and also provides clear cross-references.

It should be noted that the title is correct; it is a dictionary of English folklore. Not British, and certainly not world folklore. You won't find Scots or Irish or Welsh material here, let alone material from the rest of Europe. The scope is quite restricted. But, within that scope, the level of detail is substantial. It will probably be many, many years before something arises to replace Simpson & Roud.

Better to dip into than to read, and less depth than I'd hoped for, but good to dip into.½

For me the best reference books are those which not only provide a entry matching your initial query but which also encourage you to browse and read other not always related entries. This Dictionary does it for me on both counts: authoritiveness and readability. Folklore here is rightly interpreted as including aspects of modern popular culture as well as topics beloved of antiquarians.

Authored by two stalwarts of the Folklore Society--who should then know what they are talking about--the Dictionary contains over 1250 entries covering a wide range of topics including seasonal customs, traditional tales, superstitions and beliefs. Key figures involved in the recording of lore are noted here, and evidence presented that folklore is part of a continually evolving process. What makes this book particularly worthwhile is that not all so-called traditional lore is accorded uncritical acceptance.

For those wanting more there are relevant references and a bibliography, and in common with many in this Oxford reference series, pretty pictures are excluded in favour of more text.