Sound Recordings, Somerset

Description

[Collector announcement]; Fred Patten talks about a Devil's Stone; the local church; egg shackling (children's game); Oak Apple Day; local curses and Barrington Hill; protection against the Devil; battle on Barrington Hill, ref. to will o' the wisp; Shrove Tuesday church clipping; blason populaire - people of ? called Dabchicks; local hills known as Devil's stepping stones; dialect words; magpies; ghost story; story of buried treasure on land between ? church and a farm in Cudworth. [Date and location of recording not known.] [Tr. 6] Kingsley Palmer reads from 'Somerset Life' (Vol. 2, No. 8, p. 39), re. legends associated with North Somerset villages of Dunster and St. ?; and of villages beneath the sea. [Tr. 7] [Collector announcement: names of informants and location]: Mr. Bragg and Mrs. Bragg [?recorded in their home in Broadway] talk about Christmas Eve traditions - burning the ashen faggot, wassailing apple trees, and talk of local haunted places. Further informants relate local legends concerning Broadway and the Devil, ghosts, local tunnels linking a mansion/farms with the village church, haunting of the church and the building of the church. Also reference to Knight's Field, Cromwell Tree and the plague in Broadway due to a contaminated well. Informants from Broadway, Donyatt and Buckland St Mary . [Tr. 8] [Collector announcement: names of informants and location]: Mr. Wilson of Stewley talks about local mineral wells; Mr. Withers of Sea Mills, near Ilminster, talks about secret tunnels and ghosts (in Donyatt); Mr. Gould and Mrs. Gould of Peasmarsh talk about ? Hillcombe fields and well; Mr. England from near Ilminster talks about ashen faggots, cider drinking, wassailing apple trees, beliefs concerning whitethorn, Skivver's Well at ? Merryfield and May Day face washing (to remove freckles); local stones known as the Devil's Three Jumps; belief re. rain; Miss Medcalfe of Sea talks about a woman burned as a witch, and local hauntings; Ruth Tongue, recorded at home, talks about local ghost/black dog legends; a dragon legend; the Devil's Stone at Staple Fitzpaine; beliefs associated with cocks crowing; hobgoblins; Skivver's Well at Merryfield and removal of freckles (includes rhyme recited to make water rise); fairy wells; legends concerning the appearance of the Devil; ? Hillcombe Well legend; injured Squire saved by cobwebs; witch legends. [Tr. 1]. This interview concludes on tape LAVC/SRE/A232r. 1 of 5.

Metadata

Identifier qvpkty57
IRN 414281
Class Mark LAVC/SRE/A231r
Level Item
Type of Record Archives - ISAD(G)
Peristent Link http://prototype1.library.leeds.ac.uk/qvpkty57
Collection(s) Leeds Archive of Vernacular Culture
Category Archive
Parent Record Audiotape Sound Recordings
Creator(s) Palmer, Kingsley
Date c. 1968-1969
Size and Medium 1 x 12.7cm open reel spool, Duration: 97' 47".

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