Fairy Tales: English Folklore, the Quintessence of Practicality

In the nineteenth century, searching for the "true" national identity was all the rage. Part of that search involved collecting folklore, tales from the supposedly unadulterated, "pure" nation's past.

Intellectuals of the nineteenth century had a lot in common with current academics who invest in theoretically manufactured "pure" group identities.

Although awash with as much national pride as other countries, the English never entirely embraced the "English" identity in folklore. (Perhaps due to already having an extensive empire.) Unlike even the Scots and Irish, English lore remained consistently local.

The local and regional emphasis explains a great deal about the lore of colonial transplants. A belief in witchcraft as well as the accoutrements of lore--riddles, songs, and traditions--moved to the North American colonies with the English. However, beliefs in fairies and pixies didn't travel as well. Location or place (that hill, that mound, that forest) was home to such creatures. Separation from the home meant separation from the creatures.

One of the many, many reasons for the Salem Witch Trials was likely the near-obsession by early Puritan lore collectors like the Mathers with witches and poltergeists--and I ponder if that near-obsession stemmed from loneliness. They'd lost their fairies and pixies and water monsters when they crossed the ocean. Witches and demons were all they had left to fill the wilderness and town.

So, yes, ghosts, poltergeists, and witches show up all over Puritan tales while the tales that influenced Shakespeare stayed put in the homeland--as did the legends (King Arthur, Robin Hood). Consequently, many of the English tales that have "carried" beyond local towns and hamlets--such as the Horatio Alger tale "Dick Wittington and His Cat"--contain little to no magic. Place and time and practicality rule the day.

For reading, I recommend Folktales of England, edited by Katharine M. Briggs. Richard Dorson's forward to Briggs' book does a fantastic job detailing the chronology of English lore collectors. I use Dorson's American Legends when I teach American Folklore, which book also addresses the problem of regional versus  a nationally common lore. Dorson and Briggs focus on what actually gets told again and again and again, and they were  prepared to embrace urban legends, which older antiquarians were reluctant to do. In 1965, Dorson and Briggs, along with Jan Harold Brunvand, were way ahead of the game. 

In addition, the tales in Folktales of England are introduced with contextual notes, which I always appreciate.