Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Owen Davies @odavies9.bsky.social · 9h

Oh grief. Where to start .. I've kind of given up trying to correct all this stuff now. Social media has set things back so bad. A few years ago I heard a guide at the Pitt-Rivers explaining that cunning-folk "lived in the woods".

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Ceri Houlbrook @cerihoulbrook.bsky.social · 13h

For anyone in Bath tomorrow (Tues 14th) come along to Topping Books to hear me & @odavies9.bsky.social talk #Folklore www.toppingbooks.co.uk/events/bath/...

Folklore: A Journey Through the Past and Present at Topping & Company Booksellers of Bath

www.toppingbooks.co.uk

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Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · 2d

And people tell me the libs have no knack for messaging.

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Ceri Houlbrook @cerihoulbrook.bsky.social · 3d

Have been lucky enough to visit some beautiful little indie bookshops over the last few weeks to sign #Folklore & chat with the lovely owners, from Colours May Vary in Leeds Corn Exchange to The Book Case in Hebden Bridge @booksaremybag.bsky.social #bookshopday

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Owen Davies @odavies9.bsky.social · 2d

2/2 witch trial documentaries... Attempts to “lighten” a deadly topic. And presenting exceptional trials as the norm. It requires the nuance, knowledge, and introspection that contemporary television now lacks.

Owen Davies @odavies9.bsky.social · 2d

Documentaries about the witch trials are rarely successful. Unable to deal with the complexities due to the format, simplification just makes things worse. Too much “story board” steer from the film makers/presenters & not the experts. (1/2)

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Owen Davies @odavies9.bsky.social · 2d

Documentaries about the witch trials are rarely successful. Unable to deal with the complexities due to the format, simplification just makes things worse. Too much “story board” steer from the film makers/presenters & not the experts. (1/2)

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Manchester University Press @manchesterup.bsky.social · 3d

Join us at Topping & Co. in #Bath to discover the weird yet everyday world of British folklore.

Leading experts @odavies9.bsky.social & @cerihoulbrook.bsky.social are the ultimate guides to folklore past and present.

Tickets still available here: www.toppingbooks.co.uk/events/bath/... #booksky

Folklore: A Journey Through the Past and Present at Topping & Company Booksellers of Bath

'This book draws a cultural map of who we are, where we've come from and how we think and feel about our surroundings. Meticulously researched, imaginative in scope and rich in strange stories and…

www.toppingbooks.co.uk

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Owen Davies @odavies9.bsky.social · 2d

Bants presenting the witch trials is not a good combination.

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Owen Davies @odavies9.bsky.social · 3d

Indeed! In far-right think, tampons were made of eggs or even better, mince.

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Owen Davies @odavies9.bsky.social · 3d

A folklorist sees the modern far-right trigger motifs and reads it like a folk tale of distraction ... #vegans #tampons #toilets #NationalTrust. So simple. Don't be a sucker. See through it.

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National Folklore Survey for England @nfsengland.bsky.social · 3d

It’s black pea season - in certain parts of the country. How do you eat them?

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Owen Davies @odavies9.bsky.social · 5d

Welcome on board as the West Berks boulder rep on the new committee.

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Owen Davies @odavies9.bsky.social · 5d

Will have to take up your offer - so I can form a UK Committee on Boulders, county by county.

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Owen Davies @odavies9.bsky.social · 5d

Folklore. Reading an excellent Scottish article from 1872, full of place legends:

"First Report by the Committee on Boulders"

I would like to be on a "Committee on Boulders". Offers open.

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Buckinghamshire Archives @bucksarchives.bsky.social · 5d

Here's an illustration from the Drayton Parslow Parish Register in 1780 - a skull and bones with a floral motif. A morbid doodle or a helpful way to mark a section of burials?

A black skull and crossed bones next to a floral motif, drawn in the Drayton Parslow Parish Register, 1780. Handwritten entries are above and below it showing burials, including several infants.

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Jo Edge 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 @hagenilda.bsky.social · 6d

I wrote something on my time on returning to Goldsmiths as an associate lecturer, 17 years after graduating with my first degree. It’s a plea to Frances Corner’s successor to learn from mistakes made over the last 6 years and change course. #UCU #UKHE

ucucommons.org/2025/10/06/c...

Cutting Corners: a message to the next Vice Chancellor at Goldsmiths

On 1 October 2025, a short announcement was put on Goldsmiths’ website to say that Vice Chancellor Frances Corner was stepping down with immediate effect. This came off the back of an announcement …

ucucommons.org

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The Secret Barrister @barristersecret.bsky.social · 6d

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Ceri Houlbrook @cerihoulbrook.bsky.social · 8d

The best kind of indie bookshop is one that stocks 8 copies of your book, has somewhere cosy for the littlun to sit while you sign them, & can involve a muddy trek through a beautiful clough to get there

P.S. there are 8 signed copies of #Folklore in Hebden Bridge's The Book Case

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Owen Davies @odavies9.bsky.social · 7d

Folklore in the landscape garden. Fancy a maypole? Researching 18th-19thC garden aesthetics. Influential Thomas Whately (1726-1772) suggested:

"if a situation can be found for a May-pole, whence it would not obtrude itself on every view, that also might not be improper"

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Jane Winters @jfwinters.bsky.social · 13d

Join us on 20 November for the Annual Digital Lecture, a partnership between The National Archives, UK and the School of Advanced Study. The wonderful @nannathylstrup.bsky.social will be speaking about ‘When saving becomes loss: archival memory in the digital age’. Free to register!

When saving becomes loss: Archival memory in the digital age

Explore archival memory, data loss, and attempts to preserve the past in the digital age at this year’s Annual Digital Lecture.

www.eventbrite.co.uk

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Owen Davies @odavies9.bsky.social · 9d

Enjoy!

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Carole Cadwalladr @carolecadwalla.bsky.social · 10d

Thanks @pressgazette for this report on @thenerve.news first week.

We’ve blasted past through our targets. New newsletter out today so please do sign up www.thenerve.news & a huge thank you to everyone who’s supported us so far! 🙏🙏 🙏

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Owen Davies @odavies9.bsky.social · 10d

Folklore & nature. When modern understanding trumps the idea of "folk wisdom". A century ago & more, hedgehogs and grass snakes were terribly persecuted in Britain. Killed in their many thousands because they were thought to suck the milk from cows. Read more in our new book.

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Matthew Cobb @matthewcobb.bsky.social · 10d

No, @thebookseller.com this is not the full list of books used to train Anthropic’s AI. It excludes many books (including mine) that were stolen and used but which do not meet the specific criteria of the settlement. Books not copyrighted in the US are excluded, so UK editions get nothing.

Screenshot saying “Full list of books used to traunAnthropic AI model released”

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The Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) @themerl.bsky.social · 11d

New Absolute Units is live!

Join us and @katrinanavickas.bsky.social as we explore resistance to enclosure in the modern era: from riots, to raves, to Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

Listen below, or search 'Absolute Units' wherever you get your podcasts!

merl.reading.ac.uk/explore/abso...

Absolute Units - a podcast from The Museum of English Rural Life.

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