Charmers and Charming in England and Wales from the Eighteenth to the Twentieth Century

Charmers have long been recognised as an important aspect of folk medicine. Unfortunately, however, they have usually been conflated with cunning-folk and consequently the welldefined tradition of charming has been rather obscured. Charmers were quite a diverse group of healers but, in general, they all shared several characteristics that separated them from other practitioners of folk medicine. Popular faith in charmers was undoubtedly very strong, and several traditional forms of charming have continued up till recently. The present article not only examines the question of who the charmers were, but also explores their practices and their place in a wider religious and medical context. It is a companion-piece to the author's previous article published in Folklore 107 (1990):19–31.     

The Nightmare Experience,Sleep Paralysis,and Witchcraft Accusations

Witch-trial records, and other early-modern writings on witchcraft, reveal that in various European societies people complained of being physically oppressed at night by witches and other supernatural beings, the victims of these nocturnal assaults describing a similar set of symptoms. Contemporary English authors termed the experience the "mare" or "nightmare." In the twentieth century, it has been identified as a manifestation of "sleep paralysis." Medical studies and surveys of the condition help us make better sense of the historical accounts, while an awareness of the historical evidence illuminates modern reports of sleep paralysis experiences. [1]     

Neoliberalising the Fordist University: A Tale of Two Campuses in Frankfurt a. M., Germany

Abstract: In 2009, the central building of the new IG Farben Campus of Johann Wolfgang Goethe University (JWGU), Frankfurt, Germany was occupied by students protesting against the neoliberalisation of higher education. While similar occupations at the old Bockenheim Campus were usually tolerated, if not welcomed, by the university management, this time 176 students and members of staff were forcefully evicted after only 3 days, when the university's presidential board called in the police. To better understand this way of ending such protest, a level of oppression almost unheard of at a German university in the last 20 years, we reconstruct the way in which JWGU, as part of the state apparatus university, has produced the two campuses as particular places that are bound up in and expressions of the national and local condensations of forces of Fordism and neoliberalism respectively.     

Towyn-y-Capel,and the Ruined Chapel of St. Bride,on the West Coast of Holyhead Island: with Notices of the Curious Interments there Discovered

Conservation of the Cosmati pavement in Westminster Abbey included the compilation of a record of remains first revealed in 1868–70. Study of these showed two phases of building dating to the mid-eleventh century and the reconstruction of the Abbey in the mid-thirteenth century. Parts of the plan of the mid-eleventh-century eastern end and the presbytery were recovered, including details of the pier bases. A reconstruction of the profiles show that there must have been two steps between the presbytery and the sanctuary.     

Transport Infrastructure in the Mountains: Why and How to Protect Landscape with Human Activity as Part of its Heritage

In mountain areas without permanent settlements, human activity is entirely dependent on spatial interaction. For centuries, local and regional traffic has followed livestock trails and footpaths. Mainly during the 20th century, new public and private roads changed this situation significantly in large parts of Norway. While mountain summer farming decreased, hydropower development and leisure use became dominant. Protected areas have been established to preserve possibilities for outdoor recreation and ‘wilderness’. However, seasonal farming activity is still an important upholder of cultural heritage. In the investigated area in western Norway, parallels between accessibility and human activity on mountain summer farmsteads have been identified with the abandonment of dairy production between ca 1905 and 1973, recent use by landowners and hikers’ use of publicly accessible tourist cabins. Increased differences in accessibility and protection status have resulted in diversification of human activity in different locations. Custom and tradition represent different principles according to which cultural landscape can be maintained—with emphasis on dynamics or invariance, respectively. Recent landscape protection focuses primarily on tradition. The necessity of easy access to maintain the living cultural heritage in addition to ‘wilderness’ areas, however, requires taking both concepts into account, most probably treated as geographically separate.     

Reference codes for wear states in the mandibular cheek teeth of sheep and goats

Reference codes are described for wear states in the mandibular cheek teeth of sheep and goats.