Rough Music: Folk Customs, Transgression and Alternative Britain

(Hardback)

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Description

Rough Music explores transgression and shame in British folklore and customs. It takes in a wide array of examples including Bonfire Night, Wassail, Morris dancing, Mari Lwyd and Twelfth Night, along with events like the Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake, and street football. Liz Williams explores the roots and roles of violence, mockery, protest and public shaming. She also addresses alternative culture and modern protests, such as the Battle of the Beanfield and the Stonehenge Free Festival. The interaction between racism and traditions involving blackface, alongside the emergence of all-female Morris sides, is also examined. Finally, it looks at folklore's evolution in the digital age, highlighting new developments such as ghost bikes. This engaging book offers an entertaining yet rigorous look at British folklore and culture.

Reviews

'A lively and well-informed account of traditional British popular customs, with a novel and valuable pair of twists: showing the close relationship of those customs with subversion and disorder, and following their observance up into the current time. It is thus a revealing commentary on both past and present.' Ronald Hutton, Professor of History, University of Bristol, and author of Pagan Britain

Author Bio

Liz Williams is a writer and journalist. She lives in Glastonbury. Her books include Miracles of Our Own Making: A History of Paganism (2020), also published by Reaktion Books.