The Penguin Guide to the Superstitions of Britain and Ireland

The Penguin Guide to the Superstitions of Britain and Ireland
Author: Steve Roud
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 1004
Release: 2006-04-06
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0141941626

Are black cats lucky or unlucky? What should you do when you hear the first cuckoo? Since when have people believed that it's unlucky to shoot an albatross? Why does breaking a mirror lead to misfortune? This fascinating collection answers these and many other questions about the world of superstitions and forms an endlessly browsable guide to a subject that continues to obsess and intrigue.

Soil and Soul

Soil and Soul
Author: Alastair McIntosh
Publisher: Aurum Press Limited
Total Pages: 492
Release: 2004-08-26
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1845137957

It is easy to feel helpless in the face of the torrent of information about environmental catastrophes taking place all over the world. In this powerful and provocative book, Scottish writer and campaigner Alastair McIntosh shows how it is still possible for individuals and communities to take on the might of corporate power and emerge victorious. As a founder of the Isle of Eigg Trust, McIntosh helped the beleaguered residents of Eigg to become the first Scottish community ever to clear their laird from his own estate. And plans to turn a majestic Hebridean mountain into a superquarry were overturned after McIntosh persuaded a Native American warrior chief to visit the Isle of Harris and testify at the government inquiry. This extraordinary book weaves together theology, mythology, economics, ecology, history, poetics and politics as the author journeys towards a radical new philosophy of community, spirit and place. His daring and imaginative responses to the destruction of the natural world make Soil and Soul an uplifting, inspirational and often richly humorous read.

History of British Folklore

History of British Folklore
Author: Richard Mercer Dorson
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 558
Release: 1999
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780415204767

First published in 1999. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Stations of the Sun

Stations of the Sun
Author: Ronald Hutton
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 566
Release: 2001-02-15
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0191578428

Comprehensive and engaging, this colourful study covers the whole sweep of ritual history from the earliest written records to the present day. From May Day revels and Midsummer fires, to Harvest Home and Hallowe'en, to the twelve days of Christmas, Ronald Hutton takes us on a fascinating journey through the ritual year in Britain. He challenges many common assumptions about the customs of the past, and debunks many myths surrounding festivals of the present, to illuminate the history of the calendar year we live by today.

The Little Book of Hogmanay

The Little Book of Hogmanay
Author: Bob Pegg
Publisher: The History Press
Total Pages: 154
Release: 2013-09-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 0750951532

The Little Book of Hogmanay is a feast of information exploring the history, folklore, tales, customs, food, drink and celebrations of Hogmanay, from its pagan roots to its pagan present. Whether you need a user’s guide or an anthology of entertainment, The Little Book of Hogmanay will tell you all you ever wanted to know about Scotland’s most widely, and wildly, celebrated festival.

Scottish Gothic

Scottish Gothic
Author: Carol Margaret Davison
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2017-03-08
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1474408214

Written from various critical standpoints by internationally renowned scholars, Scottish Gothic: An Edinburgh Companion interrogates the ways in which the concepts of the Gothic and Scotland have intersected and been manipulated from the mid-eighteenth century to the present day. This interdisciplinary collection is the first ever published study to investigate the multifarious strands of Gothic in Scottish fiction, poetry, theatre and film. Its contributors - all specialists in their fields - combine an attention to socio-historical and cultural contexts with a rigorous close reading of works, both classic and lesser known, produced between the eighteenth and twenty-first centuries.