Folklore Unique to Lhoba People in Medog

Medog,tuckedaway in thesouthernpart of theeastern Himalayas,featureshigh peaks,dense forestsand complicated geography.Bisected by the YarlungZangbo and Dainba Rivers,the county enjoys springlikeconditions all year round     

Review Article — The Buildings of England Series — the Second Editions

Abstract

An account of the excavation by members of the Somerset Industrial Archaeological Society of a stone built engine house dating from the mid-nineteenth century. Documentary evidence indicated that a portable engine pumped and wound from Smoky Bottom mine. The archaeological and historical evidence has enabled a conjectural restoration of the building and machinery.     

Thirty Years of Monitoring in England — What Have We Learnt?

Abstract

Over the last thirty years, over sixty separate episodes of monitoring waterlogged archaeological sites have been carried out in England. This paper lists these projects, summarizes basic information about them, and reviews what we have learnt over these last thirty years. Recommendations are given to help improve future monitoring projects. In particular, it is suggested that more work is needed on assessing the state of preservation of a site before monitoring is considered; that a proper project design needs to be developed at the outset of the work; and that more thought should go into deciding why monitoring is needed for a given site, including identifying mitigation options that can be initiated if monitoring data suggest optimum conditions for survival are no longer being maintained.     

Son Chint’ae and the Foundations of Modern Korean Folklore Studies

Although there were various antecedents, the academic discipline of folklore did not begin in Korea until the third decade of the twentieth century. The leading figure in the country’s development of the discipline is Son Chint’ae, who brought rigour to the methods of research and the collection of material; used a comparative method drawing on research from anthropology, ethnography, folklore, archaeology, and history; and saw ‘Korea’ in the broader context of North-east Asia. A nationalist during the Japanese colonial period, Son used the concept of minchok (the people) both to analyse his material and to serve as a means to revitalize the Korean nation.     

Athabaskan–Siberian Folklore Links: In Search of Na-Dene Origins

The North American Na-Dene languages, most of them belonging to the Athabaskan branch, are possibly related to the Yeniseian languages of Siberia. A series of episodes of traditional narratives link the Na-Dene with the Altai-Sayan region. The creators of the Sumnagin culture of eastern and north-eastern Siberia, who possibly reached Alaska in the Early Holocene, seem the most plausible candidates for the proto-Na-Dene speakers, although interpretation of corresponding archaeological materials remains controversial.     

Geologists and Folklorists: Cultural Evolution and “The Science of Folklore”

As has been made clear by recent inquiries in FLS News (Spittal 1996; Wylie 1966) and the republication of Kathleen Basford's 1978 book The Green Man (1996), there is a great deal of interest in the enigmatic “Green Man,” that foliate head which appears so frequently among medieval church carvings. The term itself came into general usage following Lady Raglan's 1939 article in Folklore, “The ‘Green Man’ in Church Architecture,” but examination of her original work reveals that her choice of the term “Green Man” was, on her own evidence, based more upon inspiration than fact. As a means of beginning an inquiry into the nature and meaning of the phenomenon, the present article is an investigation into the true name of the Green Man.     

Something ‘Wyrd’ This Way Comes: Folklore and British Television

Outlining key elements of folk horror, this article discusses the influence of British 1970s television upon post-2000 folk-horror revivalists, arguing that television is of vital importance to social and cultural folklore. With reference to Mikel Koven’s ‘mass-mediated ostension’, this study brings together folkloristics and screen studies, and proposes ‘wyrd’ as a term to apply to eerie, hauntological media with folkloric themes. Supernatural tropes are examined alongside a case-study analysis of the BBC series Ghost Stories for Christmas to illustrate how folkloric content is represented on screen, and how the eerie atmosphere of 1970s television was created.     

“Folklore” and “popular religion” in Britain during the middle ages

This article explores whether the bi‐polar model of “elite” and “folk” or “popular religion” can be maintained for the medieval period. In fact, there were many strands to medieval religious culture, and people from a variety of backgrounds participated at a variety of levels on different occasions. Using a variety of chronicles and other sources, rather than the more dogmatic penitentials and canon law texts usually cited, this article argues that historians should make room for “local religious culture” in their taxonomies, in which both elites (including clerics) and people could participate.     

Fossil Folklore from India: The Siwalik Hills and the Mahâbhârata

Many medievalists, especially scholars of Celtic literature, have observed that red-eared white animals are associated with fairies and other supernatural beings. What has not been satisfactorily answered is why this should be so. This article offers a possible explanation, suggesting that this widespread phenomenon is rooted not in fantasy but in zoology.     

Mediæval Military Architecture in England

Recent survey of the late twelfth- to early thirteenth-century chancel of St Mary's church, New Shoreham (Grade I listed) has revealed traces of two consecutive medieval paint schemes on the architecture, dating from c. 1210. No previous research or publication has taken account of these remains, which indicate the original interior appearance of this large and historic parish church. Samples of the paint have been scientifically analysed, revealing the pigments used and their stratigraphic relationship across the survey area; the identification of carbon black on architectural features is particularly important. Comparison with other ecclesiastical buildings in England and on the Continent indicates that St Mary's chancel is a key example of a widespread decorative scheme of red-and-black architectural polychromy, reinforcing its significance as an exemplar of early Gothic style in medieval England.