Product Description

Few places are so steeped in folklore as London, a city with almost as many ancient legends and deep-rooted customs as it has streets and landmarks, and in "London Lore" leading folklorist Steve Roud brings together an astonishingly rich selection of them: tales of ghosts and witches, stories about fabled events, heroes and villains, and accounts of local superstitions and beliefs. His range extends right across the capital, from Hampstead in the north, where wild beasts were once thought to roam the sewers, to Anerley Wood in the south, haunt of the much feared Norwood Gypsies, and from Hounslow Heath with its notorious highwaymen to Bethnal Green, long associated with Earl Henry de Montfort, better known as the Blind Beggar.But "London Lore" does more than simply retell these stories and traditions; it also delves through layers of hearsay and speculation to investigate how and why they arose in the first place. In the process, it shows how the familiar story of Dick Whittington and his cat has connections with the ancient Middle East. It explains why lions rather than ravens at the Tower of London were once felt to be inextricably bound up with the city's fate.It pinpoints precisely where the story of Sweeney Todd, the demon barber of Fleet Street, was first recorded. And it explores the origins of the once widespread custom of handing out 'farthing bundles' of ribbons, buttons and beads to poor children in the East End. Some of these stories and beliefs are shown to have their origins in actual historical events; others to have stemmed from contemporary preoccupations and fears. What they all reveal is the powerful hold that London has exerted on the popular imagination over the centuries, as each successive generation has reshaped existing tales and added new ones of its own.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10439 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10-09
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 444 pages

From the Inside Flap
Few places are so steeped in folklore as London, a city with almost as many ancient legends and deep-rooted customs as it has streets and landmarks. In London Lore leading folklorist Steve Roud brings together an astonishingly rich selection of stories about fabled events, heroes and villains, tales of ghosts and witches, and accounts of local supersitions and beliefs. His range extends right across the capital, from Hampstead in the north, where wild beasts were once thought to roam the sewers, to Anerley Wood in the south, haunt of the much feared Norwood Gypsies, and from Hounslow Heath with its notorious highwaymen to Bethnal Green, long associated with Earl Henry de Montfort, better known as the Blind Beggar.

But London Lore does more than simply retell these stories and traditions; it also delves through layers of hearsay and speculation to investigate how and why they arose in the first place. In the process, it shows how the familiar story of Dick Whittington and his cat has connections with the ancient Middle East. It explains why lions rather than ravens at the Tower of London were once felt to be inextricably bound up with the city’s fate. It pinpoints precisely where the story of Sweeney Todd, the demon barber of Fleet Street, was first recorded. And it explores the origins of the once widespread custom of handing out ‘farthing bundles’ of ribbons, buttons and beads to poor children in the East End. Some of these stories and beliefs are shown to have their origins in actual historical events; others to have stemmed from contemporary preoccupations and fears. What they all reveal is the powerful hold that London has exerted on the popular imagination over the centuries, as each successive generation has reshaped existing tales and added new ones of its own.

From the Back Cover
From the traditions surrounding the London Stone in Cannon Street to a Georgian account of the malevolent Stockwell ghost, London Lore is a magnificent exploration of the folklore, superstitions and traditional stories to be found the length and breadth of the capital city.

About the Author
Steve Roud recently retired from his position as Local Studies Librarian for the London Borough of Croydon and served as Honorary Librarian of the Folklore Society for over fifteen years. He has been researching British folklore for over thirty years and is the author of many books on the subject, including The English Year, published to great acclaim in 2006, and The Penguin Guide to the Superstitions of Britain and Ireland, which won the Katharine Briggs Folklore Award in 2004. He is also joint author, with Jacqueline Simpson, of the Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore. His other work in folklore includes compiling the Folk Song Index and the Broadside Index, two internationally renowned computer databases of traditional folk and popular song.

Customer Reviews

Fascinating book
This is a fascinating book for anyone who loves London, and an eye-opener if you have ever wondered whether cities have any folklore apart from ghost stories. Steve Roud divides London into seven regions, and finds an amazing variety of tales and customs (past and present) to discuss in each one, and links them to the buildings and streets. In the section on the City of Westminster, for instance, you get gruesome tales of hangings at Tyburn, conspiracy theories surrounding the fate of Cromwell's corpse, the custom of wife-selling, May Day celebrations by chimney sweeps, plague pits, the fair at Mayfair, gypsy fortune tellers, a school Pancake Day custom, the famous ghosts of 50 Berkeley Square and Newgate Gaol, and much more.

Roud doesn't just tell the story or describe the custom. He looks into its history and assesses the evidence, quoting directly from old or influential accounts. He has a rational, often amusing, way of dealing with nonsense and wild theories. We may have to wave goodbye to some favourite notions (about Sweeney Todd, or the Tower ravens, or Ring a Ring o' Roses), but the reasons behind them are always interesting. London's real traditions are even more entertaining than the fictions.

Highly recommended
I can't recommend this book too highly. It is sensible, erudite and completely fascinating, and tells you more about the folklore and traditions of London than you would ever believe possible. Horn fairs, dancing chimney sweeps, the real Dick Turpin and the truth about Ann Boleyn's well, pig-faced ghosts, witches, murders and even a vampire. The only problem is that once you have started reading it is very hard to stop.

Sheer Brilliance
Clever, witty, remarkably easy too read and broken down for easy reference. The book is one of the most enthralling I've read I would tell anyone with even a small interest in the mysterious side of London to buy it. Just hope Roud may think of doing something similar with other cities York, Nottingham etc...