Cumbrian Language in its Cultural Context

Cumbrian Folklore.

The folklore of Cumbria is closely tied to that of the rest of rural northern England. The most prominent and well-described pieces of folklore are to be found in 19th-century volumes, although broader northern trends can be found in folklore compendiums. As any rich culture of superstitions does, rural English folklore attributed more agency to natural processes than Euroamerican science might.

A few aspects of the lore, particularly those related to creatures of the countryside and household, might hark back to a broader northwestern European tradition. The words used to describe these creatures are often annoyingly vague, which could also be said of equivalent words in Old English such as ĂŚlf, eoten and dweorg, which I dare not even give translations for without a lengthy diversion explaining the possible interpretations of them.

I have found, leafing through (mostly Victorian) literature on the subject, that these writers have a keen interest in what they perceive to be the paranormal. It’s this interest, after all, that has driven them to write the books. This interest means that a lot of occultist ideas, which were in vogue at the time, permeate the works, and the descriptions of the folklore end up being very influenced by these ideas. Whether the average rural person would have identified with those aspects of the lore is questionable. I am sure that my own biases will play into this chapter, but I will try to avoid this as best I can.

We cannot know how people 200 or 400 years ago saw the world. We can make some suggestions: for example, it seems likely that people largely saw folklore and superstition as part of their everyday lives, distinct from their religion. It seems like folklore may have affected their everyday undertakings in small ways; certain stories call for a horseshoe or a bowl of salt to be left by the doorstep to keep away certain things.

Brownies, hobs or dobbies were little men who inhabited particular households and rarely or never allowed themselves to be seen. They are supposed to have sometimes helped the homeowner in their daily tasks, gathering hay or tidying up.

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