Canal Culture: Life and Traditions on the Midlands Canal System

Description

A study of the work and play traditions of people living and working on canals, with particular reference to the Grand Union Canal in Northamptonshire. Fieldwork was conducted in and around the village of Stoke Bruerne. The study contains eight chapters. The first introduces the Grand Union Canal, outlines the rise and fall of canal usage and describes present-day canals. Chapter Two concerns the people of the boats, and looks at the origin of the canal boatman. Chapter Three describes canal boat decoration, the building of the boat and the use of paint and rope. The fourth chapter concentrates on the family boat, with sections on the cabin and the dress of narrowboat people. Chapter Five looks at work and play, with sections on horse haulage, navigating the canals, earnings, singing, dancing and storytelling. Chapter Six discusses the language and education of the boat people, whilst the seventh chapter relates supernatural legends associated with the canals. The final chapter concerns traditions connected with birth, marriage and death. A glossary of boatman's terms, line drawings, postcard prints and photographs (taken at the Waterways Museum (now the Stoke Bruerne Canal Museum)) are included.

Metadata

Identifier phrqq1wj
IRN 410123
Class Mark LAVC/SRP/2/087
Level File
Type of Record Archives - ISAD(G)
Peristent Link http://prototype1.library.leeds.ac.uk/phrqq1wj
Collection(s) Leeds Archive of Vernacular Culture
Category Archive
Parent Record Undergraduate Dissertations
Creator(s) Douglas, Peter A
Date 1965
Size and Medium 51 unbound typed leaves; 5 colour photographs.

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