The Cornish Traditional Year – by Simon Reed and Devon Witchcraft and Folk Ways – by Sarah Hewett are now available from Troy Books.
The Cornish Traditional Year is a valuable resource for those with an interest in regional traditional customs and festivals. In addition to the better known Cornish festivals, such as Helston’s ‘Flora Day’ and the Padstow ‘Obby ‘Oss, Simon guides the reader through the numerous lesser known, and sometimes bizarre feasts and festivals of the Cornish Traditional year.
“Just as the language of Cornwall is crucial to the continued survival of the Cornish people, so it is equally crucial to practice and understand our distinctive Cornish calendar. This book presents to all the people of Cornwall the full exposition of the yearly cycle that forms such an important part of our culture. Celebrating together leads to strong communities and positive sense of identity, by adopting, reviving or preserving this heritage we take giant steps towards ensuring the future of the Cornish culture into the 21st Century and beyond.”
Click to visit Troy Books home
Devon Witchcraft and Folk Ways – This fascinating collection of West Country ‘old ways’ was originally gathered by Sarah Hewett as part of her book ‘Nummits and Crummits’ first published in 1900 at a time when many of the old Devonshire folk beliefs and practices were retained by living memory or even continued.
The selection presented here forms a veritable treasure trove of West Country customs, beliefs and magical practices including Witch charms for healing and protection, the casting and countering of curses, love divinations, seasonal superstitions and customs, omens and death tokens, dream interpretation, things lucky and unlucky, evil days of the year, weather lore and ‘wise saws’ and more.
Devon Witchcraft and Folk Ways will be a worthy addition to the bookshelves of those with an interest in regional folk beliefs, customs and magic.
