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Lore_of

1 year

My next book in the Lore of... series is out on 5th October 2023! 🌛💫Lore of the Stars 🪐🌞 is an illustrated treasury of folklore from the skies, stars, planets and beyond. Pre-order your copy here:

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Lore_of

@Loreofbooks

1 year

In Dutch folklore if a baby laughs in their dreams it means they are talking to angels. #dailyfolklore 🎨Warwick Goble

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1 year

Ghosts are said to most frequently appear at crossroads. #dailyfolklore

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2 years

Goats are said to disappear for one hour in every 24 in order to find the devil so he can comb their beards. #FaustianFriday

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2 years

Uldra are fairies from Lapland. They live underground but come out during the winter to look after all the hibernating animals. #FolkloreThursday 🎨Ida Rentoul Outhwaite

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2 years

In England dragonflies are known as the devil’s darning needle and are said to sew up the mouths of children who tell lies. #WyrdWednesday

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1 year

In Derbyshire it is said that fairy rings, created by fairies dancing together, cannot be destroyed by a plough. #FolkloreSunday 🎨The Fairy Ring; the Enchanted Piper (c. 1880) by William Holmes Sullivan

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2 years

Across England it is considered unlucky to kill a spider, the traditional rhyme goes: 'If you wish to live and thrive, Let a spider run alive'. #SuperstitionSat

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2 years

A strange black cat coming to your door should never be driven away as the black cat represents luck and if your turn it from your door then your luck will depart with it. #FolkloreSunday 🎨 Arthur Rackham

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1 year

It is unlucky to kill a spider as this traditional rhyme attests: 'If you wish to live and thrive, Let the spiders run alive.' #dailyfolklore

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2 years

In Germany it was said to be wrong to slam a door in case you accidentally pinched a ghost. #FolkloreThursday

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11 months

If you catch the first falling leaf you see in autumn then you will have twelve whole months of happiness. #FolkloreSunday

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1 year

Japanese folklore tells that when lightning strikes the forest floor it makes any fungi growing there multiply. #dailyfolklore

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2 years

In Cambridgeshire it was believed that any baby born at the stroke of midnight would grow up able to see ghosts and foretell the future. #FolkloreThursday

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11 months

After heavy snow overnight on 8 February 1855, numerous witnesses in south and east Devon reported finding 4-inch long hoofprints covering c.100 miles. They quickly became known as the Devil's footprints but what exactly occurred that night may never be known. #FolkloreSunday

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@Loreofbooks

1 year

Never take a nap under an elder because its said that the scent from the berries are so heady that you'll fall into a sleep from which you'll never wake. #FolkloreSunday

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11 months

In England hares are said to be witches in disguise and one seen running through the village streets portends fire. #FolkloreSunday

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2 years

In England it is said that bees should never be bought; they must either be given or stolen. #SuperstitionSat

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10 months

In England people planted birch trees beside their front doors. This was because before she could enter a house a witch would be obliged to count every leaf on the tree, an arduous task which would put off all but the most determined of witches. #dailyfolklore #halloween

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2 years

The hourglass has long been used as a symbol of death. In art Death himself is often pictured with an hourglass and the symbol is also often seen on gravestones. A winged hourglass represents man's fleeting time on Earth. #FolkloreThursday

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2 years

In Scotland it was said that until a newborn baby first sneezes it is under the spell of the fairies. #dailyfolklore

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11 months

Goats are said to disappear for one hour in every 24 hours when they go to find the Devil to have their beards combed. #dailyfolklore

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1 year

Houses were traditionally decorated with spring blossoms on May Day. In England hawthorn blossom was most commonly used but in Cornwall and Devon the lilac was preferred and known as the 'May-flower'. #FolkloreSunday

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2 years

It is said that the two stone lions outside the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge wake each night at midnight, stretch, jump down from their pedestals and take a drink from the gutter in Trumpington Street. #FolkloreSunday

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2 years

Witches are said to be especially averse to the colour red and on Halloween to protect the household from their curses, branches of rowan with red berries and spools of red thread were tied about the house. #FolkloreSunday

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1 year

They say that you should never answer a witch's question, or else she can take something from you. #dailyfolklore

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2 years

If the flame of your candle jumps then it means your neighbour has some good gossip to tell you. #FolkloreThursday

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2 years

A chime child is any baby who is born as the clock strikes the hour. These children enter the world when the veil is thin and are destined to be able to see ghosts. #FolkloreSunday

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1 year

If a bee lands on the lips of a baby then it is a sign that the child will grow up to be a great poet. #FolkloreSunday

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2 years

In Greece a story explains that bats used to be mice. A hungry mouse snuck into a church but all it found was wafers of the eucharist. It chose not to eat the holy wafers so was rewarded by God who gave the mouse wings so it could fly and find food more easily. #FolkloreSunday

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@Loreofbooks

1 year

If you're enjoying the lore shared here then take a look at my sumptuously illustrated book on the folklore of landscape 🌲⛰️ Lore of the Land 🌋🌄 Available in all good bookshops or via this link:

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@Loreofbooks

1 year

Robins are one of the few UK birds that sing all year round, however their spring and autumn songs are different. The spring song to attract a mate is jaunty, while the autumn song which begins after the birds moult in late summer is more melancholy in character. #FolkloreSunday

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1 year

In Dutch lore cats were suspected of being terrible gossips and so people never shared secrets if a cat was in the room. #FolkloreSunday

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2 years

In Germany mice were said to have been created by witches who made them from scraps of cloth. #FolkloreThursday

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2 years

In Yorkshire to break the bad luck of seeing a single magpie it is advised to salute the bird by raising your hat. #dailyfolklore

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1 year

In North America it's said that the hotter it gets the more quickly a cricket chirrups. To calculate the rough temperature in Fahrenheit people would count the number of chirrups in fifteen seconds and add 37. #FolkloreSunday

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2 years

Folklore from the Netherlands suggests that cats are terrible gossips! People are advised never to discuss their deepest, darkest secrets when a cat is in earshot. #FolkloreThursday

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2 years

In England live spiders were thought of as a cure for rheumatism. The patient would either eat a live one, or carry it in a small box, replacing it with a fresh one each time it died. #dailyfolklore

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2 years

🌋🏜️Lore of the Land 🌄🐚 is out now in all good bookshops featuring myths, legends and folklore of the wild earth. Buy your copy here:

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2 years

Rosemary is considered a great hair tonic which encourages shiny hair. Washing your hair with rosemary is also said to prevent grey hairs. #FolkloreSunday

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1 year

The children of witches are known as 'holdikens'. They often take the shape of butterflies, bees or moths and are used by the witches to torment livestock. #dailyfolklore

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1 year

In England oak trees have long been said to be the favourite home of the elves. Any traveller approaching a grove of oaks would turn the coat inside out in order to remain immune to their charms. #dailyfolklore

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1 year

A rhyme from English folklore reminds us how to tell the difference between grasses, sedges and rushes: 'Sedges have edges, rushes are round, and grasses are hollow right up from the ground'. #dailyfolklore

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1 year

Foxgloves are beautiful but poisonous and are the favourite plant of the fairies. In Norwegian the plant is known as the ‘fox-bell’. It was thought that fairies had taught foxes to ring the bell-shaped flower to warn other foxes that there were hunters nearby. #FolkloreSunday

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2 years

In the British Isles owls have generally always been associated with death and so it was seen as a protective talisman against death to hang an owl feather over the door. #FolkloreSunday

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2 years

In traditional English folklore children born at the 'chime hours' - three, six, nine or twelve - have special abilities to see things that others cannot. #dailyfolklore

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1 year

German lore has numerous feldgeister, or field spirits, thought to lurk in amongst the crops. These include the Haferbock (goat of the oats), Halmbock (goblin who hides in straw stalks) and Kartoffelwolf (potato wolf). #dailyfolklore

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1 year

Groundsel is a common weed and it used to be believed that it grew where witches had once walked. Large patches of groundsel were thought to show where groups of witches had gathered. #dailyfolklore

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1 year

Cornflowers are also known as bachelor's buttons in England because young men would wear one in their buttonhole to signal that they were looking for love. #FolkloreSunday

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1 year

In Cornwall it's said that white hares are the reincarnation of lovers who have died of a broken heart. #dailyfolklore

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2 years

My follow up to Lore of the Wild is Lore of the Land and will be out in all good bookshops on 6 September 2022. It features folklore, myths and legends of wild places such as mountains, oceans, woodlands and wetlands.

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2 years

Hares are often thought to be witches in disguise so it is considered very unlucky to bring a live hare inside a house. #dailyfolklore

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2 years

In 19th century Russian fairy tales Snegurochka is a girl made from snow. In one tale she is the daughter of Spring but when she falls in love with a shepherd her heart melts. 🎨 Snow Maiden (1899) by Victor Vasnetsov #FolkloreSunday

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1 year

In Yorkshire it's said that fairies like to make their homes in foxglove bells. #dailyfolklore

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2 years

To catch the first falling leaf of autumn that you see is considered a sign you will have good luck for a whole year. #FolkloreSunday

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@Loreofbooks

1 year

According to Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics (1884): 'On the Walpurgisnacht, the German Witches are wont to gather Fern to render themselves invisible. As a protection the country people, fetch a certain Thorn, and stick it at their house door.' #FolkloreSunday

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1 year

If you catch a falling leaf, you will have twelve months of continued happiness. #dailyfolklore

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2 years

Anton Mesmer believed that all humans and animals had a fluid running through their body which if blocked could cause illness. Mesmerism, as it became known, was the practice of unblocking the flow of liquid with the power of the mind. #FolkloreSunday

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2 years

In the Fens it was said you should plant a monkey puzzle tree at the edge of a graveyard as it was seen as an obstacle to the devil and prevented him from hiding in the branches to watch a funeral. #FaustianFriday

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1 year

Rabbits gathered together will twitch their ears in the direction from which a thunderstorm is coming. #FolkloreSunday

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2 years

Charles Dickens had a pet raven named Grip who would sit on his shoulder while he read and was very mischievous. One day it drank a can of lead paint and died so Dickens had it stuffed. Today Grip can be seen at the Free Library in Philadelphia. #FolkloreSunday

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2 years

In Shropshire it's said that the Devil lingers at crossing places such as stiles. If you have difficulty crossing a stile then you should turn your clothes inside out and this will scare the Devil off. #dailyfolklore

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1 year

Hares were often thought to be witches in disguise and for this reason the Irish eschewed the eating of hares, claiming 'it'd be liking eating your own granny'. #dailyfolklore

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2 years

Holly was considered a good protection against witches so anyone walking home alone through the Fens would arm themselves with a holly branch. #dailyfolklore

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9 months

Never place your child in a cradle made from elder wood because the fairies will kidnap them. #dailyfolklore

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2 years

In the Fens it is said that rabbits gathered together will twitch their ears in the direction from which a thunderstorm is coming. #dailyfolklore

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1 year

In Chile the lakes are said to be haunted by the Cuero, a strange creature that resembles a cow's hide. It floats up to swimmers and grabs them with its hooked claws. The only way to defeat it is to throw a cactus at it. #FolkloreSunday

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1 year

In England it was said that spring had arrived when you could put your foot on at least seven daisies in one spot. #FolkloreSunday

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11 months

In the Cambridgeshire fens, rabbits are thought to twitch their ears in the direction that a storm is coming from. #FolkloreSunday

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2 years

If a sprig of Christmas holly is thrown on the fire and burns with a crackling noise, it is a sign of good luck; but, if it burns with a dull flame and does not crackle, it is a sign of a death in the family within the year. #dailyfolklore

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1 year

The Irish say that the speckled marks on foxgloves are the handprints made by tiny fairies. #dailyfolklore

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1 year

The weather will be good if a snail puts out its horns when you say: 'Snail, snail, put out your horns, I'll give you bread and barleycorns.' #dailyfolklore

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2 years

In England it's said that bees should never be bought, instead they must either be given or stolen. #dailyfolklore

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2 years

Blackberries should not be eaten after Michaelmas (29 September) as it is believed that the devil would either pee or spit on any left on the bush after this date. #SuperstitionSat

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1 year

The ancient Greeks saw the kite as a harbinger of spring. When the first kite was spotted it was said to be time to start work in the fields and garden. #FolkloreSunday

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1 year

Walking across ferns should be avoided as they are believed to cause the hiker to lose their bearings and become lost. #dailyfolklore

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2 years

It is unlucky to tell one's dreams before breakfast. #dailyfolklore

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2 years

Bucca are Cornish mermen who travel on the sea winds. If treated nicely by fisherman with offerings of fish from the catch or a few drops of ale then they will warn of storms at sea. #WyrdWednesday

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11 months

Goats were thought to attract evil so farmers often kept a goat with their flocks of valuable animals to ensure the goats absorbed any bad spirits, keeping their other animals healthy. #dailyfolklore

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2 years

In Japan spiders are thought to be demons in disguise. In the day they go unnoticed in spider-form but at night, when everyone is asleep, they transform back into their demon form and carry out evil deeds. #FaustianFriday

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1 year

Yarrow is also known as Achillea millefolium, named after the Greek hero Achilles who was said to have used the plant to heal the wounds of his fellow warriors. #FolkloreSunday

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2 years

In German lore the primrose is regarded as a key. Anyone stumbling across a hidden fairy door could unlock it by touching it with a primrose, opening the way into the fairy's underground realm. #WyrdWednesday

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2 years

A traditional method of laying ghosts (getting rid of them) was to set them an impossible task such as making a rope out of sand or emptying a pool of water with a sieve. #FolkloreThursday

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2 years

Alklha is a huge black dragon from Siberian Buryat mythology whose body and wings fill the night sky with impenetrable and endless darkness. The waxing and waning of the Moon is caused by Alklha snacking on the silvery orb. #WyrdWednesday 🎨J. D. Batten

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1 year

In the Fens warm and sunny weather was foretold if a yellow frog jumped out of the wet grass as you walked through it. #FolkloreSunday

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2 years

Frau Dorothea Viehmann was one of the few genuine peasants who shared traditional tales with the Grimms for their 2nd edition. She provided so many stories for them that Wilhelm asked younger brother, Ludwig Emil, to draw a picture of her to use in the volume. #FairyTaleTuesday

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1 year

In German tradition hazel branches waved in front of a witch can make her return any plants or animals she had cursed to wither back to full life. #dailyfolklore

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1 year

In Wales it was believed that whoever found the first daffodil of spring would go on to find gold in the coming months. #FolkloreSunday

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1 year

In the UK the arrival of migrating geese signals the end of summer and the beginning of autumn. Traditionally it was said if the geese arrived early in September then it predicted an especially hard winter ahead. #FolkloreSunday

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1 year

It's said that ivy will not cling to the gravestones of the restless dead. #dailyfolklore

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2 years

A tooth found in a church yard can help get rid of toothache if you rub it against your cheek. #dailyfolklore

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2 years

One of my favourite Arthur Rackham illustrations is this 1920 depiction of a cat in 'Hansel & Grethel & other tales'. I like to think of it as the great fairy cat Cat Sith. If you look deep into Cat Sith's eyes you can see the whole fairy realm. #FolkloreSunday

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2 years

In South Yorkshire in the 19th century locals still celebrated 'footing the cuckoo'. On the day they first heard the cuckoo call they would gather as much beer as possible and head to the woods to make merry. #dailyfolklore

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1 year

Don't pick the first flower that blooms in your garden in the spring but instead say 'Increase and grow, and so also my luck!' and you will have good fortune. #FolkloreSunday

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2 years

In Yorkshire if crossing a stream by bridge you may make a wish in the centre of the bridge and it will come true. #dailyfolklore

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11 months

In Scotland it is said to be bad luck to see an owl in the daytime. #FolkloreSunday

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2 years

It's said that during the first month of its life a baby will see the whole of its future in its dreams. #dailyfolklore

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1 year

In Cambridgeshire it was said that witches made their brooms out of hawthorn branches. #dailyfolklore

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1 year

In France its thought to be good luck to see a spider spinning its web in the afternoon. #dailyfolklore

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2 years

In the Netherlands it is said that cats are terrible gossips and so you should never share your secrets when they are in the room. #SuperstitionSat

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1 year

In Slavic folklore butterflies were regarded as the separated soul of a witch. The witch was thought to be able possess people by flying in butterfly form into their open mouths while they slept. #dailyfolklore

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