Subject: LL-L: "Folk Beliefs" [E] LOWLANDS-L, 13.JUN.1999 (03)

[Lowlands-L Administrator]

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From: Pat Reynolds <pat at caerlas.demon.co.uk>
Subject: Folk Beliefs

In message <37631614.E05E1074 at geocities.com>, Lowlands-L Administrator
<sassisch at geocities.com> writes
>Reading into the local dialects here in the West Country (Wessex, the
>south-west of England), I've come across a phenomenon that seems to have no
>parallel in my own Lowland Scots culture. It involves the ways rural people
>see and describe the natural world, and I was wondering if in any other
>Lowland cultures, whether rural or urban, illogical (to us) behaviour was
>once the norm and, an whether some of these things are or were widespread?

I think one has to distinguish between the folklore of foolishness (of
which you give us some great examples) and of folklore being in itself,
foolish.

First, folklore of foolishness.  The best example I can dredge up from
memory is of Gornall (West Midlands) where, it was said that people 'put
the pig on the wall, to watch the band go past' (the reference is to
putting children on the yard wall - folks in Gornall are supposed to be
so stupid that they can't tell their children from their pigs - this is
pig-rearing in an urban setting, of course!). (A story told me by my in-
laws from nearby Great Bridge and Dudley).

I also remember a place-name story from, I think, the East Midlands
(maybe even my own native Northamptonshire).  The place is called
'something'-in-England (maybe Ashby-in-England - I can't recall it).
Anyway, the story goes that a man fell asleap on a hayrick, and the
meadow flooded, and he was carried downstream.  He woke, surounded by
water, with a church in the distance, and as he drifted down, saw people
on the higher land.
"Where am I?" he called
"Ashby" they said.
"Where?", he said, "Where?  Ashby in England?"
Since when it's been known as Ashby-in-England.
The true derivation of 'England' is not, in this case, England-the-
country, but ing-land (ing = meadow).

To reverse this question - are England-Ireland and France-Belgium the
only pairings of National foolishness?  Do other lands have regions of
foolishness (the rumour is that the Irish do).

Second: is folklore foolish?  The evidence I recall (from a study of
iron-making practices in Africa, to the condition of being 'hag-ridden')
seem to suggest that a goodly proportion of belief _is_ 'foolish', but a
significant proportion isn't.  A great deal of human behaviour is
undertaken merely on the basis that one's parents or peers have said
that's what should be done.  For example, during a thunderstorm, I
unplug my computer, and disconect the TV aerial.  Now, I can explain the
computer (in terms of power shortages), but it took me a minute to think
out the tv.  And I can't say, 100% that a lighning strike down from the
aerial to the tv would damage it, in the same way that I am sure that a
power surge will damage the computer.  Or to take something non-
technical.  I have heard that a few years ago the EU said that to be
very hygenic, as commercial preparation areas need to be, all counters
need to be made of steel, because steel can be more easily disinfected
than, for example, wood, which has lots of crevices in which dirt can
lodge.  Guess what - wooden surface are actually more hygenic than steel
surfaces, because they have in-built antibacterial properties. Now, I
can't recall what the source of this information is, but I have made my
wooden block my meat block, because I believe that wood is more hygenic
than glass or plastic.  Call me (and/or the EU) foolish, if you like!

Best wishes to all,
--
Pat Reynolds
pat at caerlas.demon.co.uk
   "It might look a bit messy now, but just you come back in 500 years time"
   (T. Pratchett)

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at geocities.com>
Subject: Folk Beliefs

Pat wrote (above):

> In message <37631614.E05E1074 at geocities.com>, Lowlands-L Administrator
> <sassisch at geocities.com> writes

Let it be known that this is the result of hitting the reply button without
replacing the name.  The originator of that message was not I but our esteemed
friend Sandy Fleimin/Flemming who has earned a great number of frequent
contributor miles.

Regards,

Reinhard/Ron

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From: "john feather" <johnfeather at sceptic1.freeserve.co.uk>
Subject: Folk Beliefs

Sandy

My mother came from Norfolk and was a strong believer in a small number of
superstitions. She always opened the front and back doors during a
thunderstorm "to let the lightning run through", though she didn't cover
mirrors. In Norfolk they have a set of stories about the fools who live in
Coggeshall and I suspect Hornblotton is a local equivalent, no more.

John Feather
johnfeather at sceptic1.freeserve.co.uk

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