Here in the 21st century, death and burial often occur as part of a sanitised process. Death happens away from home, often in hospitals, and funerals are usually tidy, respectful affairs. We can forget that this wasn’t always the case. Our quaint, inner city gardens were sometimes putrescent burial grounds, crammed with rotting remains. Even […]
The Folklore of Lychgates and Popular Burial Monuments
You would absolutely know a lychgate if you saw one. Lychgates make popular backdrops for wedding photos, and provide a quaint air of rustic charm to country churchyards. They’re the wooden or stone gateway, complete with tiled roof, that marks the entry into the churchyard. Not all churches have them, and they’re far more common […]
Folklore and Church Names: Preserving Local History
I started out with the intention of looking at unusual church names. The problem was, this offered the potential to accidentally poke fun at their congregations. It also didn’t help that most churches in the UK have pretty similar names. They’re named for individual saints, like St Nicholas’ Cathedral in Newcastle, or even all saints […]
Origins of Sports Team Names: Preserving Folklore and History
This month, we’ve been exploring the origins of various names; streets, places, and even pubs. Looking at the origins of sports team names might seem antithetical to folklore. Yet sport forms part of the ritual calendar for many people, whether on a personal or a mass scale. Look at the good luck rituals people follow […]
The Folklore of British Pub Names Linked to Local History
There is no shortage of bizarre pub names in the UK. Some of them appear to be a combination of random objects, like the Frog and Nightgown. Others have a local story behind their odd name. I’ve covered unusual pub names before, so consider this Part 2. Yet when I started researching these examples, it […]
Strange Street Names: From The Philog to Dog Leap Stairs
Unlike place names, which often give us information who once lived somewhere, street names can be a different case entirely. Sometimes they bear the names of notable (and often now infamous) people. Other times they refer to long-gone industries performed in the area – you can guess what happened on Cock Lane in London, site […]
