Thank you Roland for this!

I am a social anthropologist and current history teacher to 6th grade students in Guatemala. I am proud of my Cornish heritage and try very hard to share it with my students. There is also a kind of "mini Cornwall" in Mexico, about an hour or so from Mexico city called Real Del Monte, where miners emigrated to that I hope visit in the coming months.

I would like to know what methods or folklore narratives would be great to share with my students to introduce them to Cornwall. I have tried in the past but it is very difficult with such a big geographical location and difference in culture.

Another question I have is how does Cornish folklore impact on Cornwall and the Cornish currently? (again striving to give current examples of the effects folklore has to my school)

Why are Cornish Pasties so damn delicious?

Hi Prof. James,

First, please let me say thank you for hosting this AMA, and also for your broader contributions to AskHistorians and historical outreach. Your work here has been deeply inspirational and absolutely fascinating.

To start with a very broad question, as someone who knows very little about the classification or regionalisation of folklore in Europe - what is the 'Celtic Fringe,' as your conceive of it in your work? Are there broad trends or themes in the folklore of the 'Celts' which differentiate them from that of other Northern European cultures?

Thank you for your time. I have a few questions ranging from amazingly broad to, if not targeted, than at least less broad.

1. What is and isn't folklore? What is the use in the distinction?

2. What do we do with folklore that depicts certain groups in disparaging ways or perpetuates racial or ethnic stereotypes (Thinking Uncle Remus or goblin stories that reek of antisemitism).

3. Favorite lore of all time...and why?

​ ​​ Many thanks for doing this AMA! Looking forward to more great insight.

I have a more general question on music and folklore. When living in Ireland for a while I was struck by how ingrained folk music seems to be still in daily life. Could you comment on the role music played/plays in Irish or more generally Celtic folklore? This could be in stories, or also as part of the storytelling process itself.

As an example I seem to remember connections between the sídhe and harp music in the Cú Chulainn legend, though it's been a while since I read it.

It seems to me that there's a tendency to associate folklore with oral tradition, illiteracy/preliteracy, peasants, poor people, etc--and in another answer here, you refer to "popular" culture a couple of times. Does this arise from the idea that with respect to literate levels of society (even if not everyone can read), we have other sources, so folklore is how we get at everyone else? Is it because "folklore" tends to imply to non-specialists "supernatural and superstition"?

Basically: what would a class-based analysis of folklore-the-concept (not the content of stories and beliefs themselves) and folklore scholarship look like?

Also, thank you for everything.

I think its no secret that I think you do some incredible work on here, so thank you greatly for both this AMA and the sheer amount of fantastic answers you contribute. I almost went to post-secondary to become a folklorist, so much of your writings are exactly what fascinated me in the first place.

I'm not entirely sure of the best way to phrase my question, so apologies in advance if it comes off a bit weird.

Pop culture seems to be pretty aware of the still strongly existing believe of fairies and the fey folk in Iceland for example. Is there still a fairly strong belief in similar things in Cornwall? Do you have locals defending fairy circles or homes from construction like you (occasionally) see in articles for Iceland?

As a separate question, is there a meaningful difference between terms like Folklore and Superstition?

A question on Druidism. Growing up with North Cornwall/the Camel Valley, we were always led to believe that our local druid, Ed Prynn represented an unbroken line frrom the "original celts" (whatever they were) and was also a known authority on our folklore. Are either of these things likely to be true?

Thank you for this AMA!

When you speak of "folklore" I have an intuitive feeling for what it is - a certain class of stories with supernatural themes and elements that seem to bridge our everyday lives to the magical and mysterious, but that's shaped by my own (Scandinavian) exposure to it. I tend to associate folklore to Celtic, Germanic, Romance and Slavic cultures (the last one mostly because of Vladimir Propp, I suppose).How applicable do you think the concept of folklore is to the broader world? Is it easy to identify as a genre within living oral tradition, suggesting perhaps that it reflects something deeper about the way humans view and relate the world, or do you think it is more of an ethnographic "category of convenience"?

There's been some criticisim of the Gorsedh Kernow as being an inauthentic tradition. Has the gorsedh contributed to the preservation of Cornish oral folklore traditions?

Which stories and/or folk tales are uniquely Cornish, or originated there rather than in other parts of Europe?

I've heard somewhere (here?) that Jack the Giant Slayer was originally Cornish, but I don't know if that's true. (Just a "for instance".)

Thanks for doing this AMA, Dr. James.

I'm curious to know if there are elements of Cornish folklore that deal with its relationship to the sea, or its inhabitants' relationship to the sea. I realize Plymouth is across the Tamar from Cornwall proper, but I'm curious if being near the sea (as, of course, all of Britain is) and near that large base had an influence on the people of Cornwall.

How well can modern folklorist reconstruct pre-Christian religious beliefs/folklore? Do you know of any instances of religious syncretism specific to Cornwall?

How can Cornish people better connect with their Folklore and past?

I vaguely remember reading on the Wikipedia page for Cornwall that the Cornish language is almost extinct and there's only a handful of native speakers left.

Is this true? Is Cornish taught in schools in Cornwall?

What role have the piskies and fae had in structuring the local interpretation of Catholicism thereabouts?

Hi /u/itsallfolklore. Looking at your articles posted on academia.edu, I see that you often refer to folktale and legend type indexes for comparisons. I assume you’re using indexes in your book. Isn’t that an old-fashioned approach? How do you deal with that? Thanks

Thank you! This is fantastic. I have two questions. How has Cornish folklore adapted to and influenced the folklore of countries where Cornish people have settled? Are there connections between Cornish and Breton folklore?

As someone who considers himself Cornish, but never learned the language and knows little about the folklore: do you have any favourite stories, or aspects of Cornish folklore that you consider really unique to the peninsula?

First off, thank you for taking time off from your busy life to do this. Secondly, what difficulties have you faced working with oral traditions and how have you overcome them? Furthermore, how do you analyze them with regards to their origin and composition, or is that even a concern?

If you could add three items/volumes/collections of folklore to the standard US high school required-reading list, what would they be, and why?

Are we losing our folklore?

Or is the human impulse to learn/create/share folklore simply finding new ways of expressing itself?

(I'm thinking along the lines that we no longer gather down at the pub or around the fire to tell stories, but we do create memes and vines and videos etc)

Cornishman currently working in outback Australia here. Book sounds fantastic will have to have a read although will be worried I’ll end up missing home too much! It’s already hard enough to be far from the sea/pub. Keep up the good work. Meur ras!

Not sure if this AMA is now "over" but I'd love to know about the witches of Cornwall please!

What were they thought to be able to do, and what did they actually do?

Any local flora of Cornwall that would have featured particularly in their remedies?

What was their role in society? Were they respected? Shunned? Both at once?

Thanks!

I have a simple question:

Was there any symbolism or superstition about people born on Halloween?

Thanks for the AMA! I'm Cornish by heritage (and I look like the Cornish family) and I'm always eager to learn more about the culture and stories.

​

I grew up with the story of "The Mousehole Cat", being a young child at precisely the right moment to love that book and demand that we go to Mousehole when my family visited years later. We also tried to swim in the sea there and just about froze to death, but that's another story - us stupid Australians!

Do you have an opinion on the story of Tom Bawcock which it draws on, and the festival's claim to celebrate a 16th century fisherman or even come from an earlier pre-christian midwinter festival?

(My family is not from Mousehole, we're from St Agnes, but Mousehole is very pretty and I've been back as an adult too)

I recently finished reading the tale Tristan and Iseult in Le Morte D'Arthur. I was wondering if you could elaborate on whether this is a tale that arises or is connected in any deeper way to Cornish folklore or is it something that springs up solely within courtly romances but is less connected to the rest of Cornish folklore. I was curious as it's the only example of Cornwall's folklore I'm familiar with.

Thanks for doing this fascinating AMA. I'd like to ask what, if anything, we know about the real Jan Tregeagle, the historical figure behind the Faust-like trickster villain of a load of Cornish legends. I've read that he may be based on an early modern Cornish landowner and magistrate.

Do any goddesses feature in Cornish folklore?