Dr Francis Young
@drfrancisyoung.bsky.social
Historian of religion and belief | folklorist | Balticist | indexer | lay canon @stedscath.bsky.social | series editor for @universitypress.cambridge.org
Pinned
I’m delighted that ‘Silence of the Gods’ is one of
@universitypress.cambridge.org's Books of the Year! Currently on display at @cambridgebookshop.bsky.social, and on special offer online too: www.cambridgebookshop.co.uk/products/sal... 📚
@universitypress.cambridge.org's Books of the Year! Currently on display at @cambridgebookshop.bsky.social, and on special offer online too: www.cambridgebookshop.co.uk/products/sal... 📚
A reminder that I'll be speaking at St John's Church in Bury St Edmunds on 12 December about M. R. James and theology networksuffolk.org.uk/2025/11/terr...
November 29, 2025 at 10:46 PM
A reminder that I'll be speaking at St John's Church in Bury St Edmunds on 12 December about M. R. James and theology networksuffolk.org.uk/2025/11/terr...
Congratulations to @crystalennis.bsky.social - I indexed this book, and the reward is richly deserved!
To my great delight and astonishment, my book, Millennial Dreams in Oil Economies: Job Seeking and the Global Political Economy of Labour in Oman, has received the 2025 AGAPS Biennial Book Award! agaps.org/agaps-awards...
November 29, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Congratulations to @crystalennis.bsky.social - I indexed this book, and the reward is richly deserved!
This feels like a holy water for our ultra-processed age
November 29, 2025 at 5:13 PM
This feels like a holy water for our ultra-processed age
Reposted by Dr Francis Young
Kentigern's Well is back. See in particular the video at the foot showing clear water running at last. I initially thought the artwork was rather tacky, but now I know the materials, and that it's suspended, I'm rather less apprehensive.
#Glasgow
karinepolwart.substack.com/p/the-well-w...
#Glasgow
karinepolwart.substack.com/p/the-well-w...
The Well Within
Lessons in health, healing and enough-ness via an abandoned medieval well at Glasgow Cathedral
karinepolwart.substack.com
November 29, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Kentigern's Well is back. See in particular the video at the foot showing clear water running at last. I initially thought the artwork was rather tacky, but now I know the materials, and that it's suspended, I'm rather less apprehensive.
#Glasgow
karinepolwart.substack.com/p/the-well-w...
#Glasgow
karinepolwart.substack.com/p/the-well-w...
Reposted by Dr Francis Young
“These Siths or Fairies… are said to be of middle nature between Man & Angel… somewhat of the nature of a condensed cloud”
Robert Kirk’s SECRET COMMONWEALTH OF ELVES, FAUNS & FAIRIES (c.1691) sought to unify the natural & supernatural worlds
#BookWormSat #C17
www.thebottleimp.org.uk/2016/12/the-...
Robert Kirk’s SECRET COMMONWEALTH OF ELVES, FAUNS & FAIRIES (c.1691) sought to unify the natural & supernatural worlds
#BookWormSat #C17
www.thebottleimp.org.uk/2016/12/the-...
The (super)natural worlds of Robert Kirk: Fairies, Beasts, Landscapes and Lychnobious Liminalities - The Bottle Imp
On 14 May 1692 Rev. Robert Kirk (1644–1692), an accomplished Gaelic scholar and Episcopalian minister of Aberfoyle, set off for an evening stroll on the Doon Hill behind the manse. When he did not ret...
www.thebottleimp.org.uk
November 15, 2025 at 11:26 AM
“These Siths or Fairies… are said to be of middle nature between Man & Angel… somewhat of the nature of a condensed cloud”
Robert Kirk’s SECRET COMMONWEALTH OF ELVES, FAUNS & FAIRIES (c.1691) sought to unify the natural & supernatural worlds
#BookWormSat #C17
www.thebottleimp.org.uk/2016/12/the-...
Robert Kirk’s SECRET COMMONWEALTH OF ELVES, FAUNS & FAIRIES (c.1691) sought to unify the natural & supernatural worlds
#BookWormSat #C17
www.thebottleimp.org.uk/2016/12/the-...
Oh no, I have unwisely attracted the attention of the type of reply guy who wants to share with me his personal theory in long form in a 100+ reply thread 😞
November 29, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Oh no, I have unwisely attracted the attention of the type of reply guy who wants to share with me his personal theory in long form in a 100+ reply thread 😞
Proudly endorsed by me! A terrific book, it should be on all your shelves 📚
If you live in the UK, you can now pre-order 'Stories of the Stones' directly from Reaktion Books or your favourite bookseller. Publication date is 1 February, 2026!
Pre-order here: reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/stories...
Pre-order here: reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/stories...
November 29, 2025 at 10:15 AM
Proudly endorsed by me! A terrific book, it should be on all your shelves 📚
Happy Bedfordshire Day!
Celebrating Bedfordshire Day at the Priory Church in Dunstable. #Localhistory #BedfordshireDay
November 29, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Happy Bedfordshire Day!
First @churchtimes.bsky.social advert I’ve seen asking for a Chantry Priest in Charge 😆
November 28, 2025 at 5:03 PM
First @churchtimes.bsky.social advert I’ve seen asking for a Chantry Priest in Charge 😆
Reposted by Dr Francis Young
We've updated the Abbey of St Edmund, Reborn Project on our website so you can now view all the information on the project, including updates, at a dedicated microsite. Just click the 'Abbey of St Edmund, Reborn' button on our homepage.
November 21, 2025 at 5:05 PM
We've updated the Abbey of St Edmund, Reborn Project on our website so you can now view all the information on the project, including updates, at a dedicated microsite. Just click the 'Abbey of St Edmund, Reborn' button on our homepage.
Overhearing someone talking about how a person they knew at school is now a ‘deputy MP’, and I wasn’t aware this office existed
November 28, 2025 at 9:38 AM
Overhearing someone talking about how a person they knew at school is now a ‘deputy MP’, and I wasn’t aware this office existed
‘When a doctor told me I’d come close to dying, and that the play had to stop using real knives, I remember thinking: “You just don’t understand theatre.”’
Actor stabbed with a real knife during a performance of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. #drama #tragedy #edfringe www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
Experience: I was stabbed in the back with a real knife while performing Julius Caesar
Our student theatre group had the bright idea of using actual knives on stage for authenticity. The blade missed my aorta by about a centimetre
www.theguardian.com
November 28, 2025 at 8:21 AM
‘When a doctor told me I’d come close to dying, and that the play had to stop using real knives, I remember thinking: “You just don’t understand theatre.”’
Reposted by Dr Francis Young
Such an interesting and friendly evening with @odavis.bsky.social and @cerihoulbrook.bsky.social discussing the changing nature of folklore at @treadwells-books.bsky.social.
Thank you for making me feel so welcome! I look forward to coming back for future events.
#Folklore #Booksky #Writersky
Thank you for making me feel so welcome! I look forward to coming back for future events.
#Folklore #Booksky #Writersky
November 27, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Such an interesting and friendly evening with @odavis.bsky.social and @cerihoulbrook.bsky.social discussing the changing nature of folklore at @treadwells-books.bsky.social.
Thank you for making me feel so welcome! I look forward to coming back for future events.
#Folklore #Booksky #Writersky
Thank you for making me feel so welcome! I look forward to coming back for future events.
#Folklore #Booksky #Writersky
Reposted by Dr Francis Young
🖼️ Did exile ultimately give women more freedom?
Using the example of French exile Hortense Mancini, Dr Annalisa Nicholson shows how these women played a pivotal role in shaping elite culture in Restoration England ⬇️
buff.ly/2yV89M5
@apuddleofmuddle.bsky.social @kingsdllc.bsky.social
Using the example of French exile Hortense Mancini, Dr Annalisa Nicholson shows how these women played a pivotal role in shaping elite culture in Restoration England ⬇️
buff.ly/2yV89M5
@apuddleofmuddle.bsky.social @kingsdllc.bsky.social
The original influencers: exiled women and the French salon in European culture
A new book explores how exiled women played a pivotal role in shaping elite culture in Restoration England through the introduction of the French salon model.
buff.ly
November 27, 2025 at 10:21 AM
🖼️ Did exile ultimately give women more freedom?
Using the example of French exile Hortense Mancini, Dr Annalisa Nicholson shows how these women played a pivotal role in shaping elite culture in Restoration England ⬇️
buff.ly/2yV89M5
@apuddleofmuddle.bsky.social @kingsdllc.bsky.social
Using the example of French exile Hortense Mancini, Dr Annalisa Nicholson shows how these women played a pivotal role in shaping elite culture in Restoration England ⬇️
buff.ly/2yV89M5
@apuddleofmuddle.bsky.social @kingsdllc.bsky.social
Omg one of my favourite weird 70s stories! “I am the keeper of the jewel of the Masquerade, which lies waiting safe inside me for you… or eternity.”
One of the most beautiful bits of english eccentricity and glorious design is coming back to Sotheby’s and should be bought by a musuem (or me) for THE NATION. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
Jewelled golden hare that sparked national treasure hunt set for auction
Artist and author Kit Williams hid a golden hare with clues to its precise location given in his 1979 book
www.independent.co.uk
November 27, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Omg one of my favourite weird 70s stories! “I am the keeper of the jewel of the Masquerade, which lies waiting safe inside me for you… or eternity.”
Which breed of dog can create print-ready proofs?
A Type Setter.
A Type Setter.
November 26, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Which breed of dog can create print-ready proofs?
A Type Setter.
A Type Setter.
Reposted by Dr Francis Young
LLM-based gen AI for writing, audio, art, and video are "digital vultures bloated on stolen books [and other human-made things] which they churn together and vomit out in imitations of words from actual thinking, feeling brains."
buttondown.com/surekhadavie...
buttondown.com/surekhadavie...
Basement adventures showed me why ChatGPT can only ever be garbage.
In The British Library. Photo by Surekha Davies. Hallo readers, First, a news flash: Join me for a virtual book launch for HUMANS: A MONSTROUS HISTORY...
buttondown.com
November 26, 2025 at 7:25 AM
LLM-based gen AI for writing, audio, art, and video are "digital vultures bloated on stolen books [and other human-made things] which they churn together and vomit out in imitations of words from actual thinking, feeling brains."
buttondown.com/surekhadavie...
buttondown.com/surekhadavie...
Reposted by Dr Francis Young
Sherlock the cat a big fan of @robincdouglas.bsky.social & @drfrancisyoung.bsky.social 's 'Paganism Persisting'
November 25, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Sherlock the cat a big fan of @robincdouglas.bsky.social & @drfrancisyoung.bsky.social 's 'Paganism Persisting'
With this year's re-issue of Katharine Briggs's Dictionary of Fairies, Matthias Egeler's book on Elves and Fairies and my new history of Fairies coming in spring, it feels as though we are living through a moment of reawakening for fairy studies
November 25, 2025 at 6:41 PM
With this year's re-issue of Katharine Briggs's Dictionary of Fairies, Matthias Egeler's book on Elves and Fairies and my new history of Fairies coming in spring, it feels as though we are living through a moment of reawakening for fairy studies
Just ordered a book that my local university library doesn’t have, which I get at a publisher discount, which makes buying it cheaper than travelling to the library anyway… stuff like this is why my house is full of books 🙄
November 25, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Just ordered a book that my local university library doesn’t have, which I get at a publisher discount, which makes buying it cheaper than travelling to the library anyway… stuff like this is why my house is full of books 🙄
This has me picturing a miniature gallows for moths
November 25, 2025 at 11:34 AM
This has me picturing a miniature gallows for moths
Trying to find books on Georgian mythology in languages I can read, it’s not going well 🇬🇪
November 25, 2025 at 9:07 AM
Trying to find books on Georgian mythology in languages I can read, it’s not going well 🇬🇪
Reposted by Dr Francis Young
My talk about learning Latvian as a native speaker of English - discussed: why streets have no beginnings in English, the mysteries of the letter "ķ", is Latvian very literal or is English just weird, and much else...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XQi...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XQi...
Learning Latvian as a native English-speaker - Will Mawhood
YouTube video by Valodu māja - House of Languages
www.youtube.com
November 21, 2025 at 9:11 PM
My talk about learning Latvian as a native speaker of English - discussed: why streets have no beginnings in English, the mysteries of the letter "ķ", is Latvian very literal or is English just weird, and much else...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XQi...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XQi...
On the ‘it’s pretentious to style yourself Dr’ debate – sure, it probably is, but on the other hand the titles and the robes are just about the only fun part left in academia, and I’m not willing to cede them to the grey, managerial fun police just yet. Embrace the pomposity.
November 24, 2025 at 5:21 PM
On the ‘it’s pretentious to style yourself Dr’ debate – sure, it probably is, but on the other hand the titles and the robes are just about the only fun part left in academia, and I’m not willing to cede them to the grey, managerial fun police just yet. Embrace the pomposity.
Reposted by Dr Francis Young
Thrilled to see this advance review for ‘Stories of the Stones’ from @drfrancisyoung.bsky.social!
November 24, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Thrilled to see this advance review for ‘Stories of the Stones’ from @drfrancisyoung.bsky.social!