The Lore of the Landscape

Abstract

‘Owd Ma, brought tha bowder down in ‘er pinny .’ In this article Simon Poole explores the complex relationship between people and landscape and provides food for thought as to the potential use of folk narratives about landscape as part of a creative geography curriculum I came across this remarkable piece of folklore recently from my home region of Cheshire, more specifically the region that is the magical sandstone ridge that divides the county in two like a sedimentary backbone. Folklore is one of those aspects of culture which is often forgotten, yet it permeates every individual and community: Like an accent or dialect, it is an impossibility not to have. And similarly to an accent or dialect it is always regionally located. Folklore lives organically within and as part of our cultures, changing and adapting as time passes, sometimes dying, sometimes being created or being reborn, nevertheless always carrying an individual or communities identity. It is a people’s cultural inheritance and as an oral tradition, folklore is passed on, and exists in many different forms, as: myths; legends; ballads; indeed as dialect; and as folktales. This is by no means an exhaustive list but it is the latter form which this article will be concerned with: The folktale.