Product Description

Cunning-folk were local practitioners of magic, providing small-scale but valued service to the community. They were far more representative of magical practice than the arcane delvings of astrologers and necromancers. Mostly unsensational in their approach, cunning-folk helped people with everyday problems: how to find lost objects; how to escape from bad luck or a suspected spell; and how to attract a lover or keep the love of a husband or wife. While cunning-folk sometimes fell foul of the authorities, both church and state often turned a blind eye to their existence and practices, distinguishing what they did from the rare and sensational cases of malevolent witchcraft. In a world of uncertainty, before insurance and modern science, cunning-folk played an important role that has previously been ignored.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #144329 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 246 pages

About the Author
Owen Davies is Reader in Social History at the University of Hertfordshire and the author of Murder, Magic, Madness: The Victorian Trials of Dove and the Wizard (2005).

Customer Reviews

A very interesting study of the British Cunning Folk
This is a great book on the history of the Cunning Folk in Britain (and Europe, briefly) drawing evidence from the Middle Ages right into the twentieth century. Owen Davies uses various sources to draw together his work and relies heavily upon the trials of the Cunning Folk who were prosecuted by their customers. He also looks at inventories, written charms left behind, and occult pamphlets or booklets written within the time period.

'Popular Magic: Cunning-folk in English History' is a nice easy read which, believe me is not always the case when it comes to Historical works which tend to be extremely dry and well, boring. There's a lengthy bibliography at the back of the book as well as being indexed and fully footnoted (notes found at the back of the book). I was taught a history module by Owen Davies at university so I knew when I came across this book that it would be well worth the read! This book will be of particular interest for modern Witches, who would do well to understand the disparities between Witches and the Cunning Folk.

For anyone that is unaware, the Cunning Folk were basically Christian folk magic practitioners who sold their services to whoever needed it; they would often remove the bewitchment of so-called 'black witchcraft', curse others in return, cast love spells and perform divinatory readings (among other things mentioned in the book).

The book is well arranged and is divided into the following chapter headings: The Cunning Folk and the Law, For Good or Evil?, Who and Why, Services, Books, Written Charms, European Comparisons and Cunning Folk in the Twentieth Century. My favourite chapter was without a doubt the one on books used by the Cunning Folk; which was based on the evidence of one or two inventories of some Cunning Men. It was interesting to me that these people not only used Psalms in their practice but were rather well learned and even read the more avaliable Ceremonial Grimoires -- indeed many made use of astrological observances as well. Davies made an interesting point in the final chapter as to whether modern magic practitioners and Witches had any right to the word 'Cunning Man or Woman'; whether their magical systems and beliefs correspond to that of the Cunning Folk.

Having read the book I did come to the conclusion that the Cunning Folk were not witches, nor were they 'white witches' as they were variously described at the time. Modern Witchcraft is very dissimilar to what the Cunning Folk practiced and a lot of witches tend to honour Pagan gods, something the Christian Cunning Folk would have found abhorrent. The Cunning Folk were also in the trade for profit rather than spiritual development which is another huge disparity, indeed the lengths some Cunning Men/Women would go to to secure profit was something that Davies illustrated comprehensively. Some of the anecdotes in the work made me laugh, and 'brought home the history' as it were. I also found myself feeling sorry for a few of the Cunning Men that were tricked out of their wages by crafty clients!

Davies theorises on the decline of the Cunning Folk, and why this occurred. He came to the conclusion that they were no longer needed once the age of science and reason had moved in; a time when superstition and fear of witches was no longer of concern for most people, that was the true death of the Cunning Folk as a means of help to the people. This was an interesting point and the final chapter provided some advantageous food for thought -- what the culture may have gained technologically, they also lost spiritually and culturally.

Overall, a highly recommended and well researched book about a widely ignored piece of British history.

Cunning Folk
Popular Magic: Cunning-folk in English History is firstly a re-titled reprint of his book Cunning folk so if you have that book there is no point getting this one.
All in all a very interesting and informative book which is well written and remarkable accessible for a book written by an academic. I really have only few criticisms, it could have done with illustrations in places, and though the other chapters were quite comprehensive I thought the last chapter was a little weak.
My last criticism regards the author's use of his definition, firstly `he' decides on a definition of what a cunning person was and then discounts those who don't fit into his definition as not being cunning folk. Explanation: the author decides that the defining characteristic of a cunning person is (among the many arts of the cunning folk to choose) un-bewitching; if a person is no longer recorded as doing un-bewitching the author has decided that that person is no longer a cunning person. I really don't think that this holds much water after all cunning folk practiced/practice the magic that their clients ask for, it's therefore not surprising that as demand for a service falls away that they less likely to provide that service. Also as a service like un-bewitching becomes less socially expectable its provision becomes more concealed. Anyway who said that Cunning Folk 'had' to do un-bewitching in the first place.

Derfel Cadarn
An excellent book.

Even people who claim themselves to follow and practice pagan witchcraft should be enlightened by reading it and they would benefit from a thorough reading.