Folklore Fieldwork’s Findings: May 2025
A roundup of what’s been going on recently.
Welcome May’s instalment of ‘Folklore Fieldwork’s Findings’ a monthly roundup of what I’ve been reading, researching and generally getting up to in relation to Folklore Fieldwork.
What’s Coming Up:
I know I’ve been promising this for a while! But the final instalment of the ‘Missing Fairies of Norfolk’ series (Part 6) is coming up in June! Then I’ll be moving on to the ‘Lesser Spotted Fairies of Suffolk’. 🧚🏽
Going forward I’m aiming to send out my free newsletter on Fridays focusing on the subjects of:
Fairies
Seasonal Folklore
Folklore fieldwork/research
Monthly round ups (like this!)
Newsletters for paid subscribers will go out on Wednesdays on the with exclusive content such as:
Personal essays
A new series about East Anglian witches
Book reviews & comparisons
Serialised excerpts of the novel I am currently writing (see below for the first tidbit!)
I am currently writing a historical fiction novel involving many of my favourite things: Fairies, May, History and Norfolk and Robin Goodfellow plays a major part. Here’s a little introduction to Old Robin:
‘Tis rather troublesome to describe someone whose appearance changes so frequently, there is one form that he favours over others however and it has been said ‘tis his natural state. Wavy, shoulder length hair that is one moment the colour of dark, damp earth and another glinting the deep green of a holly leaf in mid-winter, there’s always a leaf or twig to be seen amongst it. His slightly too-large eyes are at once mesmerising and disconcerting; the colour of new moss, bright green and sparkling like a pair of unripened acorns. His face has an uncanny symmetry to it, with high cheekbones, a pointed chin, a short, goatee beard and curled moustache. He has a pale, glowing complexion, with rufus cheeks and lips that look as though he’s recently feasted on cherries. The clothes he favours are made from homespun linen (although in whose home it is spun is unclear) chestnut brown trousers, a loose cream shirt and waistcoat the colour of newly unfurling ferns. If on any given day he has an aristocratic inclination he favours silk and velvet (with exquisite embroidery) in his customary colours. Shoes, he detests them, but will appear shod if he deems it a necessity to his disguise. His height, it differs, one cannot ascribe a stature to him as this is the aspect which he finds hardest to remember from one day to the next, it often depends on his mood and how tall or short the people or creatures he wishes to interact with are.’
What I’ve Been Reading:
The Ghosts of Nothing By Cecily Walters
I recommended Cecily’s Substack in my last Folklore Fieldwork Findings round up (it’s about all things fairy!) and she very kindly sent me the audio book of her novel ‘The Ghost’s of Nothing’. This is the blurb:
“The town of Nothing is haunted…
Or so its citizens believe. Sixteen-year-old Nelly is skeptical of the stories until one night she spots a strange light sneaking through the abandoned house on her family’s farm.
When she investigates, she finds … fairies.”
I listened to ‘Ghosts of Nothing’ over the course of a few days this month and I absolutely loved it! Amazon tells me the recommended reading age for it is 13-18 years but let me tell you this 35 year old mum of two couldn’t stop listening 😆 Cecily has an immense knowledge of fae-lore and the way she has woven it into the story is truly magical. If you like fairy-lore, historical mysteries, quaint (but haunted) New England towns and a bit of mild peril then you need to add The Ghost’s of Nothing to your reading list (and it’s book one in a series so there are more coming!)
The Magic By Rhonda Byrne
This book was recommended to me by a friend and I have seen others mentioning it on social media so I thought I’d give it a read. ‘The Magic’ is a self help book that encourages the implementation of daily gratitude practices to help bring in a greater sense of appreciation for the life you have and perhaps bring in a bit of what you want too. The book lists 28 daily practices to implement over the course of a month. I’m currently still reading the book and am yet to implement the principles so cannot yet report on effectiveness! But the wonderful Holistically Teri over on Instagram is planning to run a series in July that anyone can follow along with going through each of the steps day by day. If you fancy joining in here’s her Instagram @holisticallyteri I certainly will be.
Substack Discoveries:
When you type ‘folklore’ into the Substack search bar - which is a necessity as there is currently no Folklore sub-category (@
anything you can do about that?) Nicola Blackwell’s publication Lost in Folklore pops up. Nicola’s fabulous story telling and delightful choice of topics (jewellery, flowers, foxes and hares to mention a few) are a real treat. Definitely one to subscribe to (assuming you haven’t already) if you’re a folklore fan; I reckon you might be if you’re reading this!
Francis very kindly re-stacked my Missing Fairies of Norfolk: Part 3 - The Disappearance of the Will-O-the-Wisp which led me to his Substack only to realise he was the Author of a book I have recently bought (but am still yet to read 😅) Twilight of the Godlings. His newsletters are thoroughly researched and expertly written (as would be expected of a prolific author and Dr of History!) I recently read the newsletter linked below about the Thetford Treasure which includes the ancient spoons found there with representations of the Roman God Faunus which I have mentioned in a couple of posts. Definitely worth a read and a subscribe (if you aren’t already).
What’s Been Going On:
Slightly interesting news: I’ve started another SubStack publication:
Bit of a change from folklore! With the slight cross over of my ‘food of the folk’ videos. Over there I will be sharing batch cooking tips and cupboard staple recipes (which is what I cook in ‘real life’ most of the time and share on my TikTok account) - so I suppose it is the food of my folks in the present day.
I’ll be keeping my ‘notes’ folklore based and Folklore Fieldwork will remain my primary publication. Thought I’d make this pretty mundane announcement in case you’re wondering why I’ve changed my handle - for reference it’s now just my name
Notes:
A few Substack Notes posts from the month
All this researching and writing takes me quite a while. If you’d like to support my work but don’t want to commit to a monthly subscription please consider ‘buying me a coffee’ through my Ko-fi page so I can continue to share my findings.
Recent Posts:
The Missing Fairies of Norfolk: Part Five
In Part Four of my ‘Missing Fairies of Norfolk’ series I posited the theory that Norfolk folk lack knowledge of their fae, in part, due to the Puritans. I think, however, there is another massive factor that has led to our forgetfulness.
The Merry Month of May: Part One
The fair maid who, the first of May, Goes to the fields at break of day, And washes in dew from the Hawthorne tree, Will ever after handsome be
Rare Tales of Norfolk Folk
Anthologies of Norfolk folktales are somewhat rarer than those of many other British counties but they can be found here and there.
And that’s it for May! I’ll be back with another Folklore Fieldworks Findings at the end of June.