Description:
Piskies, mermaids, giants, and a revenant bridegroom: the stuff of legend. In the hands of skilled storytellers - the famed droll tellers of Cornwall - the result was magical. Considered in the context of narratives throughout Northern Europe, enchantment can be understood as well as enjoyed in this new way to look at Cornwall. 10b&w illus.
Brief description:
Ronald M. James has taught and published in the fields of history and folklore for five decades. He was adjunct faculty at the University of Nevada, Reno, and is a retired state historic preservation officer, also serving as chair of the National Historic Landmarks Committee. An I.T.T. Fellow studying folklore in Ireland, 1981-1982, he is a bard in the Gorsedh Kernow. He has authored or co-authored thirteen books and contributed chapters and articles to many more, including The Folklore of Cornwall: The Oral Tradition of a Celtic Nation (UEP, 2018), which was a finalist for the Katharine Briggs Award.
Review Quotes:
In short, we have here a truly grown-up and up-to-date study, supported by a preface from the pen of Philip Payton of Flinders University. As an appendix we have a much-needed type-index for Cornish narrative, bringing together references to tales from many parts of north-west Europe. As James points out, the list can and should be augmented by additional research. Take for instance ML 6055, 'Fairy Cows', where much remains to be discovered about the relationship between Hunt's variant and the much longer one provided by Bottrell, let alone about the place in the system of congeners from farther afield. There are copious and detailed notes, and a wide-ranging bibliography that will be welcomed not least by students wedded to a comparative approach. ...The study of Cornish folklore has well and truly entered the twenty-first century.
--J. B. Smith "Devon and Cornwall Notes and Queries"