Folklore
Much of the folklore of the United Kingdom pre-dates the UK. Though
some of the characters and stories are present across Britain, most belong to
specific
countries
or
regions.
Common
folkloric
beings
229
include pixies, giants, elves, bogeymen, trolls, goblins and dwarves.
While
many legends and folk-customs are thought to be ancient, such as the tales
featuring Offa of Angeln and Weyland Smith,
others date from after the
Norman invasion; Robin Hood and his Merry Men of Sherwood and their
battles with the Sheriff of Nottingham being, perhaps, the best known.
During the High Middle Ages tales originated from Brythonic
traditions, notably the Arthurian myth.
Deriving from Welsh source; King
Arthur, Excalibur and Merlin,
while
the Jersey poet Wace introduced
the Knights of the Round Table. These stories are most centrally brought
together within Geoffrey of Monmouth's
Historia Regum Britanniae
. Another
early figure from British tradition, King Cole, may have been based on a real
figure from Sub-Roman Britain. Many of the tales and pseudo-histories make
up part of the wider Matter of Britain, a collection of shared British folklore.
The Loch Ness Monster is a cryptid that is reputed to inhabit Loch
Ness in the Scottish Highlands. The legendary monster has been
affectionately referred to by the nickname
Nessie
since the 1950s.
TheLeprechaun figures large in Irish folklore. A mischievous fairy type
creature in emerald green clothing who when not playing tricks spend all their
time busily making shoes, the Leprechaun is said to have a pot of gold hidden
at the end of the rainbow, and if ever captured by a human it has the magical
power to grant three wishes in exchange for release.
In mythology, English
fairy tales such as
Jack and the Beanstalk
helped form the modern perception
of giants as stupid and violent, while the legendary dwarf Tom Thumb is a
traditional hero in English folklore. English fairy tale
Goldilocks and the
Three Bears
is one of the most popular fairy tales in the English language.
Some folk figures are based on semi or actual historical people whose story
has been passed down centuries; Lady Godiva for instance was said to have
ridden naked on horseback through Coventry, the heroic English
figure Hereward the Wake resisted the Norman invasion, Herne the Hunter is
an equestrian ghost associated with Windsor Forest and Great Park,
and Mother Shipton is the archetypal witch.
The chivalrous bandit, such
as Dick Turpin, is a recurring character, while the colourful English
pirates Blackbeard and Calico Jack are renowned.
The Gremlin is part
of RAF folklore dating from the 1920s, with gremlin being RAF slang for a
mischievous creature that sabotages aircraft, meddling in the plane's
equipment. Legendary figures from 19th century London whose tales have
been romanticized include Sweeney Todd, the murderous barber of Fleet
Street, and serial killer Jack the Ripper. On 5 November, people in England
make bonfires, set off fireworks and eat toffee apples in commemoration of
the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot centred on Guy Fawkes, which became an
annual event after
The Thanksgiving Act
of 1606 was passed.
The Guy
Fawkes mask is an emblem for anti-establishment protest groups.
Halloween is a traditional and much celebrated holiday in Scotland and
Ireland on the night of 31 October.
The name
Halloween
is first attested in the
16th century as a Scottish shortening of the fuller
All-Hallows-Even
,
and
according to some historians has its roots in the gaelic festival Samhain,
where the Gaels believed the border between this world and
the otherworld became thin, and the dead would revisit the mortal world.
In
1780, Dumfries poet John Mayne makes note of pranks at Halloween;
"What
fearfu' pranks ensue!"
, as well as the supernatural associated with the
night,
"Bogies"
(ghosts).
The bard of Scotland Robert Burns' 1785 poem
"Halloween" is recited by Scots at
Halloween, and Burns was influenced by Mayne's composition.
In
Scotland and Ireland, traditional Halloween customs include; Guising —
children disguised in costume going from door to door requesting food or
coins – which became practice by the late 19th century,
turnips hollowed-out
231
and carved with faces to make lanterns,
holding parties where games such
as apple bobbingare played.
Other
practices
in
Ireland
include
lighting bonfires,
and
having firework displays.
Further contemporary imagery of Halloween is
derived
from Gothic and Horror literature(notably Shelley's
Frankenstein
and Stoker's
Dracula
), and classic horror films (such as Hammer Horrors). Mass
transatlantic Irish and Scottish migration in the 19th century popularised
Halloween in North America
Достарыңызбен бөлісу: |