Owen Davies

The ancient oaks talk. Love this description from antiquarian John Aubrey (1626-1697):

"when an oake is felling, before it falles, it gives a kind of shreikes or groanes, that may be heard a mile off, as if it were the genius of the oake lamenting"

It's the year 3226 and in the toxic wasteland previously known as the UK people scrape up moss from the decaying ruins for something to eat.
The desperate survivors still hear the nasally cry of "This is why we need a proper Brexit" ringing from the darkest recesses of what were once the sewers.

If you have ever wanted to hear me talk about the role of Forteana and folklore within Hookland in an East End pub …. April is your lucky month.

Thanks! It includes an acknowledgement to you in the section on arthurian housing estates.

Latest in my occasional series of jolly gibbet postcards! It'll be in my forthcoming book "Legend and Landscape: An Alternative History of Britain."

Our brand new podcast, Folklore Matters, launches today.

David Clarke, Sophie Parkes-Nield, and Diane Rodgers speak to people working with or researching folklore to find out more about their work, how they discovered folklore, and to get their thoughts on the findings of the Survey.

Today was our inaugural wassail, with staff & folklore students waking the apple trees on @herts.ac.uk campus allotment with historic lyrics, the pouring (& drinking) of mulled apple juice & the hanging of toast on branches. Wake up, wake up, it's time to wake up! #uhwassail #HertsMAFolkloreStudies

I'm trying a new "see how well AI image gen is" test. This time I'm going to ask it to draw a map of the world, and then zoom in to Europe, the UK, Yorkshire and York to see when things start to get hazy.

All of these are with the free models using the smart/thinking variants. 1/n

Manchester Histories Salon - Unburied: The True Story of Hannah Beswick Discover the macabre tale of an eighteenth-century woman immortalised in folklore as the 'Manchester Mummy' in the first of our 2026 Salons.

I'm giving a talk on my book, Unburied: The True Story of Hannah Beswick, the Manchester Mummy) for the Manchester Histories Salon this Thursday! It's a free event, and it starts at 6pm (in person at Manchester Histories Hub in Central Library or online). www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/manchester...

Collecting Children's Lore! February is going to be all about Children's Lore, which is defined as the folklore created, shared, and maintained by children. So it's not folklore about children, but rather spread by them! A lot...

I'm still collecting children's folklore for my next podcast theme, and I'm getting some amazing responses - monsters, urban legends, games, even a Tin God! Still time to add yours to this Google Form: forms.gle/D8mLW7q2um5Z...

Many thanks for the kind words, Mike.

On the trail of witches, cannibals, ghosts & outlaws, @odavies9.bsky.social & I will be talking about 'Legend Tripping in the British Landscape' (including the Edge of Alan Garner) in Goostrey on 28 March: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/legend-tri...

Witch of Endor. Occasional reminder that my article on "The Witch of Endor in Folklore and History" is free for download here.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Some inspiration for a cold day during bleak times.
Half million year old handaxes from Boxgrove, Sussex, laid out for a photoshoot with Dr Claire Harris at the @britishmuseum.bsky.social
#MondayMotivation
🦣🏺

Tomorrow! Get your tickets now for tomorrow evening's online talk, 'The Art of English Dialect Literature'

Happisburgh or: Whatever happened to our fear of quicksand? I've seen more than one person ask this question online. Quicksand was an ever-present threat in the films of our youth, but now you never h...

Liberal England... Happisburgh or: Whatever happened to our fear of quicksand?

It's true that we used to hear far more about quicksand. And it's even possible to put figures on that.

Book launch 26 Feb 2026 working class movement library

Pleased to be doing the northern leg of my book launch at @wcmlibrary.bsky.social with Isaac Rose and the Greater Manchester Tenants' Union on 26 Feb. Northerners, book now!

‘All the Kids Wanna Sniff Some Glue’: glue-sniffing, deindustrialization, and moral panic in 1980s Britain Abstract. This article analyses anxieties surrounding glue-sniffing in 1980s Britain and their entanglement with the era’s accelerated deindustrialization.

Brilliant new article by @malcolmrussell73.bsky.social on glue-sniffing panics, youth boredom and deindustrialising towns c. 1970s-80s, published in @mbhjournal.bsky.social

This began life as an exceptional MA dissertation at @uclhistory.bsky.social

Congrats Malcolm!

doi.org/10.1093/tcbh...

Crop circles. Just finished writing about them in the broader context of the paranormal landscape, for new book. I was digging this circular Late Neolithic/Bronze Age site near Silbury Hill in 1989 as Cereology really took off. Interesting times for an archaeologist/folklorist

I have indeed, and much appreciated them!

I’m going to finish blogging as the Urban Prehistorian at the end of 2026 after 14 years and - hopefully - 200 posts. I’m going to select my favourite ten posts in the coming weeks. But I would also love to hear from anyone out there who has read a blog post of mine & enjoyed it! #UrbanPrehistory

Granted myself a day off (Freelance Lyfe) and snuck down to Coventry to check out Leah Gordon's Monument to the Vanquished Peasant exhibition at the Herbert Gallery, championing the spirit of resistance against land enclosures in the English countryside 💪...

This beautiful pin was gifted to me by a very generous folklore student recently returned from Ukraine. The label says it's an amulet that "symbolises the unity & indomitability of the Ukrainian state. On the Motanka, elements of clothing from nine historical and ethnographic regions are depicted" ❤️

Trump steps up Greenland annexation demand and attacks European leaders at Davos US president tells business and political leaders in Davos his country needs ownership to defend ‘unsecured island’

Once again, every mainstream media outlet sane washes Trump. His speech was a rambling, deluded, demented mess of lies and narcissistic grievance. But pick out a few highlights and hey presto, kind of normal! Sick of this. www.theguardian.com/business/202...

I just spoke to the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History in an online talk about the Franciscans in Bury St Edmunds, and the Suffolk Records Society currently has an INSANE offer where you can buy my £60 book on the Bury Franciscans for *£10* 😯 suffolkrecordssociety.com/publications...

Cover of the book Folklore by Owen Davies and Ceri Houlbrook, ivory with reddish-brown title and text, black folklore symbols like a cross, broom, lock, and UFO.

Sad to finish this wonderful book--I wished it was twice as long. Fascinating topics and beautifully, lucidly written. May we have a sequel, please? #Folklore @odavies9.bsky.social @cerihoulbrook.bsky.social

Very kind of you Chris. Glad you enjoyed it!

Time for the Reverse Rapture. When all the millions of supposed Christians in the USA get beamed up to Hell in one go for supporting a heinous, wicked man.

Conspiracy theories erupt after unique cloud appears over eastern North Carolina Some asked if the National Weather Service was running a “satire account.”

"Conspiracy theories erupt after unique cloud appears over eastern North Carolina"
www.charlotteobserver.com/news/state/n...

Getting an academic job following our PhDs is looking scarily slim right now in the UK. So, in the spirit of our rec lists, let's put together a resource list of non-uni based jobs where a Gothic, arts or humanities PhD is still desired!
Leave your suggestions below and share this post!