Telling the Bees and Other Customs: The Folklore of Rural Crafts

Format: Paperback / softback 20 Illustrations, black and white
Publisher: The History Press Ltd
Imprint: The History Press Ltd
Edition: New ed
ISBN: 9781803992617
Published: 16 Mar 2023
Classifications: Folklore, myths & legends, Traditional trades & skills, Rural crafts
Weight: 220g

Throughout the history of civilisation, traditional crafts have been passed down from hand to skilled hand. Blacksmithing, brewing, beekeeping, baking, milling, spinning, knitting and weaving: these skills held societies together, and so too shaped their folklore and mythology.

Exploring the folklore connected with these rural crafts, Telling the Bees examines the customs, superstitions and stories woven into some of the world’s oldest trades. From the spinning of the Fates to the blacksmith’s relationship with the devil, and the symbolism of John Barleycorn to a ritual to create bees from the corpse of a cow – these are the traditions upon which our modern world was built.