Introduction

Work plays a significant part in the lives of most of people: it provides the means by which we live and tends to take up the majority of our time. This being the case, it is perhaps not surprising that people have made up stories and songs dealing with various aspects (often negative) of work. At the same time, particular occupations and professions have their own traditions, practices, rituals and superstitions that their practioners adhere to and pass on to new recruits.

In this seminar we will consider the representation of work in the folklore of Europe.

Seminar Question

• How are crafts and work represented in the folklore of Europe?
• What is the relationship between folk songs and music and work?

Required Reading

Koch, Gertrand, 'Work and Professions', in Regina F. Bendix and Galit Hasan-Rokem, eds, A Companion to FolkloreLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window (Malden, MA, 2012), pp. 154-168.

Norman, Mark, Telling the Bees and Other Customs: The Folklore of Rural CraftsLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window (Cheltenham, 2020) [Choose and read one chapter]

Listen to and analyse at least one of the following work songs:

Poor Paddy (Paddy Works on the Railway)Link opens in a new window - info and lyrics hereLink opens in a new window

Fourpence a DayLink opens in a new window - info and lyrics hereLink opens in a new window

Weary Whaling GroundsLink opens in a new window - info and lyrics (to a slightly different version of the song in the video) hereLink opens in a new window

Streiklied (Mann der Arbeit, aufgewacht!)Link opens in a new window - lyrics (and English translation) hereLink opens in a new window

Two sea shanties: South AustraliaLink opens in a new window - info and lyrics hereLink opens in a new window; A Kom Till Mig Pa Lordag KvallLink opens in a new window - info and lyrics hereLink opens in a new window

Further Reading

Link opens in a new windowLink opens in a new windowThe Folklore Podcast: Grind the Corn - the Miller in FolkloreLink opens in a new window

The Folklore Podcast: Women and Fairies at WorkLink opens in a new window

The Folklore Podcast: Spindle, Shuttle and NeedleLink opens in a new window

Workers and Trade Union Songs (Belfast, 1980)Link opens in a new window

Evans, George Ewart, Ask the Fellows who Cut the Hay (London, 1962)

Evans, George Ewart, Horse Power and Magic (London, 1979)Link opens in a new window

Evans, George Ewart, The Crooked Scythe (London, 1993)

Evans, George Ewart, The Farm and the Village (London, 1975)

Evans, George Ewart, The Horse in the Furrow (London, 1960)

Evans, George Ewart, Where Beards Wag All: The Relevance of the Oral Tradition (London, 1970)

Marek Korczynski, 'Music at Work: Towards a Historical Overview', Folk Music Journal, Vol. 8, No. 3 (2003), pp. 314-334Link opens in a new window

Kingshill, Sophia, and Jennifer Westwood, The Fabled Coast: Legends and Traditions from Around the Shores of Britain and Ireland (London, 2014)Link opens in a new window

McCarl, Robert S., 'Occupational Folklore: A Theoretical Hyphothesis', Western Folklore, Vol. 37, No. 3 (1978), pp. 145-160Link opens in a new window

McDowell, Robert, 'The Folklore of Finance', Folklore, Vol. 124, No. 3 (2013), pp. 253-264Link opens in a new window

Messenger, Betty, Picking up the Linen Threads: A Study in Industrial Folklore (London, 1978)

Ó hÓgáin, Dáithí, The Lore of Ireland: An Encyclopaedia of Myth, Legend and Romance (Woodbridge, 2006)

Power, Rosmary, '"After the Black Gold": A View of Mining Heritage from Coalfield Areas of Britain', Folklore, Vol. 119, No. 2 (2008), pp. 160-181Link opens in a new window

Roud, Steve, and Julia Bishop, eds, The New Penguin Book of English Folk Songs (Harmondsworth, 2014), Part VI I 'Can Guide a Plough ... Rural Life and Occupations',Link opens in a new window

Roud, Steve, Folk Song in England (London, 2017), Chapter 16Link opens in a new window

Roud, Steve, The Penguin Guide to the Superstitions of Britain and Ireland (Harmondsworth, 2003)Link opens in a new window

Simpson, Jacqueline, and Steve Roud, A Dictionary of English Folklore (Oxford, 2003)Link opens in a new window

Westwood, Jennifer, and Jacqueline Simpson, The Lore of the Land: A Guide to England's Legends, from Spring-Heeled Jack to the Witches of Warboys (Harmondsworth, 2005)

Westwood, Jennifer, and Sophia Kingshill, The Lore of Scotland: A Guide to Scottish Legends (London, 2009)Link opens in a new window

Electronic Resources

Mainsail CafeLink opens in a new window - Online database of sea shanties from around the world

Alan Lomax, Folk Music of Italy: Italian Work Songs - part 1Link opens in a new window, part 2Link opens in a new window, part 3Link opens in a new window, part 4Link opens in a new window

See here.