A Book Of Folk-Lore

What It's About

A wide-ranging survey of British folk belief, moving from the nature of the human soul and body, through ancient gods, sacrifice, and death customs, to more localised traditions involving fetches, skulls, pixies, brownies, and the rituals surrounding birth and marriage. Drawing on material from Devon, Cornwall, and across the British Isles, it treats popular superstition not as mere curiosity but as a surviving remnant of much older religious and mythological systems.

Key Concepts

Running through the book is the idea that folk customs preserve traces of pre-Christian belief — animism, spirit-lore, and the cult of the dead — long after their original meaning has been forgotten. The chapters on skulls, fetches, and pixies are particularly strong examples of this, showing how ancient ideas about the soul, doubles, and supernatural beings persisted into Victorian rural life in recognisable, if distorted, forms.

About the Author

Sabine Baring-Gould (1834–1924) was an Anglican clergyman, squire, antiquarian, and prolific writer who spent much of his life at Lew Trenchard in Devon, where he served simultaneously as rector and lord of the manor. He had an unusually broad range of interests and a vast output — over a thousand published works — covering theology, fiction, history, and folklore. He is probably best remembered today as the author of the hymn "Onward, Christian Soldiers."