Denham Tracts
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The Denham Tracts constitute a publication of a series of
pamphlet A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a Hardcover, hard cover or Bookbinding, binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' ...
s and jottings on
folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...
, fifty-four in all, collected between 1846 and 1859 by
Michael Aislabie Denham Michael Aislabie Denham (1801''1841 England Census'', ''1851 England Census'' – 10 September 1859) was an English merchant and collector of folklore. Life A native of Gainford, County Durham, Denham was in business at Kingston-upon-Hull in the ...
, a Yorkshire tradesman. Most of the original tracts were published with fifty copies (although some of them with twenty-five or even thirteen copies). The tracts were later re-edited by James Hardy for the
Folklore Society The Folklore Society (FLS) is a registered charity under English law based in London, England for the study of folklore. Its office is at 50 Fitzroy Street, London home of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. It wa ...
and imprinted in two volumes in 1892 and 1895. It is possible that J.R.R. Tolkien took the word ''
hobbit Hobbits are a fictional race of people in the novels of J. R. R. Tolkien. About half average human height, Tolkien presented hobbits as a variety of humanity, or close relatives thereof. Occasionally known as halflings in Tolkien's writings, ...
'' from the list of fairies in the Denham Tracts.


List of the original tracts

I. * «A collection of Proverbs and Popular Sayings related to the Seasons, the Weather, and Agricultural pursuits. Gathered chiefly from oral tradition.»
''Lond. printed for Percy Society by T.Richards, 100. St. Martin's Lane. 1846, pp. 73.'' II. * «A Myth of Mildridge; a story anent a Witless Wight's Adventures with the Mildridge Fairies in ye Bishoprick of Durham; now more than two centuries ago.»
''A Broadside of three columns, August 1849. Fifty copies.'' III. * «The Noble Nevills.» A notice of their Monuments in Staindrop Church, co. Durham.
''A Broadside of two pages. Oct. 1849. Fifty copies'' IV. Slogans; and War and Gathering Cries. * (1) «Slughorns of the North of England.»
''1st edit. Six pages, January 1850. Fifty copies.'' * (2) «The Slogans; or, Gathering Cries of the North of England.»
''2nd edit. Twenty-four pages, Decem. 1850. Novo-Castro-Sup-Tynam. Printed by M. & M.W.Lambert, Grey-st. Fifty copies.'' * (3) «Slogans of the North of England.»
''3rd edit., beautifully printed in colours, with many engravings. One hundred and ten pages. June, 1851. Newcastle upon Tyne, imprinted by George Bouchier Richardson, at the sign of the River God Tyne, 38, Clayton-st., West. Cr. 8vo., a few copies printed in 4to.'' V. * «A Collection of English Border Rhymes, Proverbs and Sayings in connexion with the Feudal Period.»
''Twelve pages, July, 1850. Fifty copies.'' VI. Co: Pal: Durham. – Five Parts. * Part I. «A collection of Bishoprick Rhymes, Proverbs and Sayings, in connexion with the Border and Feudal periods.»
''Twelve pages, August, 1850. Fifty copies. Inscribed «To the families of Hylton and Conyers.»'' * Part II. «A collection of Rare and Popular Rhymes, Proverbs, Sayings of Reproach and Praise, &c., &c., relating to the City of Durham and its Inhabitants.»
''Pages 13 to 28, January 1851. Fifty copies. Inscribed «To ye Clargy, Lawers, and Olde Maids, of ye afore-named Cittie, &c.»'' * Part III. «Rare and Popular Rhymes, Proverbs, Sayings, Characteristics, Reproaches, &c., &c., relating to the Inhabitants of certain Towns and Villages; and also to particular Families and Individuals in the County of Durham.»
''Pages 29 to 50, April, 1851. Fifty copies. Inscribed «To Joseph Ritson, Esq.»'' * Part VI. «Rare and Popular Rhymes, Sayings, Characteristics, &c., &c., relating to certain Towns and Villages in the County of Durham.»
''Pages 51 to 78, May, 1851. Fifty copies. Inscribed «To Sir Cuthbert Sharp.» Civ. Dunelm. Imprinted by Will. Elliott Duncan & Sons, in Saddler-street.'' * Part V. «Supplement to the Local Rhymes, Proverbs, Sayings, &c., &c., of the County of Durham.»
''Eight pages, September 1858. Fifty copies. Civ. Dunelm. Imprinted by Will. Duncan & Sons, in Saddler-street, 1859.'' and 42 more pamphlets.


List of spirits and fairies

This is a long list of spirits, fairies, bogies and other creatures, based on an older list in the '' Discoverie of Witchcraft'', dated 1584, with many additions, a few repetitions and mention of many creatures that do not appear elsewhere. While the fact that the tracts contain creatures that are not referenced anywhere else could indicate that Denham had researched the subject more thoroughly than others of his time, a lack of other sources makes some think this unlikely despite Denham being regarded as a trustworthy source of information. ''"What a happiness this must have been seventy or eighty years ago and upwards, to those chosen few who had the good luck to be born on the eve of this festival of all festivals; when the whole earth was so overrun with
ghost In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...
s,
boggle ''Boggle'' is a word game introduced in 1972 and in which players try to find as many words as they can from a grid of lettered dice, within a set time limit. It was invented by Allan Turoff and originally distributed by Parker Brothers. Rules ...
s, Bloody Bones, spirits,
demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in Media (communication), media including f ...
s, ignis fatui, brownies,
bugbear A bugbear is a legendary creature or type of hobgoblin comparable to the boogeyman (or bugaboo or babau or cucuy), and other creatures of folklore, all of which were historically used in some cultures to frighten disobedient children. Etymology ...
s, black dogs,
spectre Spectre, specter or the spectre may refer to: Religion and spirituality * Vision (spirituality) * Apparitional experience * Ghost Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Spectre'' (1977 film), a made-for-television film produced and writt ...
s, shellycoats,
scarecrow A scarecrow is a decoy or mannequin that is often in the shape of a human. Humanoid scarecrows are usually dressed in old clothes and placed in open fields to discourage birds from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops. ...
s,
witch Witchcraft is the use of magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to ''Enc ...
es, wizards,
barguest In Northern English folklore, the Barghest or Barguest is a mythical monstrous black dog with large teeth and claws; This in turn cites: * Wirt Sikes, ''British Goblins'' (1880) *'' Notes and Queries'', first series, ii. 51. * Joseph Ritson, '' ...
s, Robin-Goodfellows, hags, night-
bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...
s, scrags, breaknecks, fantasms,
hobgoblin A hobgoblin is a household spirit, appearing in English folklore, once considered helpful, but which since the spread of Christianity has often been considered mischievous. Shakespeare identifies the character of Puck in his '' A Midsummer Nigh ...
s, hobhoulards, boggy-boes, dobbies, hob-thrusts, fetches,
kelpie A kelpie, or water kelpie (Scottish Gaelic: '' each-uisge''), is a mythical shape-shifting spirit inhabiting lochs in Scottish folklore. Legends of these shape-shifting water-horses, under various names, spread across the British Isles, appea ...
s,
warlock A warlock is a male practitioner of witchcraft. Etymology and terminology The most commonly accepted etymology derives '' warlock'' from the Old English '' wǣrloga'', which meant "breaker of oaths" or "deceiver". The term came to apply special ...
s, mock-beggars, mum-pokers, Jemmy-burties, urchins,
satyr In Greek mythology, a satyr (, ), also known as a silenus or ''silenos'' ( ), and sileni (plural), is a male List of nature deities, nature spirit with ears and a tail resembling those of a horse, as well as a permanent, exaggerated erection. ...
s, pans,
faun The faun (, ; , ) is a half-human and half-goat mythological creature appearing in Greek and Roman mythology. Originally fauns of Roman mythology were ghosts ( genii) of rustic places, lesser versions of their chief, the god Faunus. Before t ...
s, sirens, tritons,
centaur A centaur ( ; ; ), occasionally hippocentaur, also called Ixionidae (), is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse that was said to live in the mountains of Thessaly. In one version o ...
s, calcars,
nymph A nymph (; ; sometimes spelled nymphe) is a minor female nature deity in ancient Greek folklore. Distinct from other Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature; they are typically tied to a specific place, land ...
s, imps, incubuses, spoorns, men-in-the-oak, hell-wains, fire-drakes, kit-a-can-sticks, Tom-tumblers, melch-dicks, larrs, kitty-
witch Witchcraft is the use of magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to ''Enc ...
es, hobby-lanthorns, Dick-a-Tuesdays, Elf-fires, Gyl-burnt-tales, knockers,
elves An elf (: elves) is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology, being mentioned in the Icelandic ''Poetic Edda'' and the ''Prose Edda''. In medieval Germanic-speakin ...
, rawheads, Meg-with-the-wads, old-shocks, ouphs, pad-foots,
pixie A pixie (also called pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, piskie, or pigsie in parts of Cornwall and Devon) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are speculated to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas around Devon and Cor ...
s, pictrees,
giants A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore. Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to: Mythology and religion *Giants (Greek mythology) * Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'g ...
,
dwarf Dwarf, dwarfs or dwarves may refer to: Common uses *Dwarf (folklore), a supernatural being from Germanic folklore * Dwarf, a human or animal with dwarfism Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Dwarf (''Dungeons & Dragons''), a sh ...
s, Tom-pokers, tutgots, snapdragons, sprets, spunks, conjurers, thurses, spurns, tantarrabobs, swaithes, tints, tod-lowries, Jack-in-the-Wads, mormos,
changeling A changeling, also historically referred to as an auf or oaf, is a human-like creature found throughout much of European folklore. According to folklore, a changeling was a substitute left by a supernatural being when kidnapping a human being. ...
s, redcaps, yeth-hounds, colt-pixies, Tom-thumbs, black- bugs,
boggart A boggart is a supernatural being from English folklore. The dialectologist Elizabeth Mary WElizabeth Wright described the boggart as 'a generic name for an apparition'; folklorist Simon Young defines it as 'any ambivalent or evil solitary super ...
s, scar- bugs, shag-foals, hodge-pochers, hob-thrushes, bugs, bull-beggars, bygorns, bolls, caddies, bomen, brags, wraiths, waffs, flay-
boggart A boggart is a supernatural being from English folklore. The dialectologist Elizabeth Mary WElizabeth Wright described the boggart as 'a generic name for an apparition'; folklorist Simon Young defines it as 'any ambivalent or evil solitary super ...
s, fiends, gallytrots, imps, gytrashes, patches, hob-and-lanthorns, gringes, boguests, bonelesses, Peg-powlers, pucks, fays,
kidnapper Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...
s, gallybeggars, hudskins, nickers, madcaps,
troll A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human bei ...
s, robinets, friars' lanthorns,
silkies A brownie or broonie ( Scots), also known as a or (Scottish Gaelic), is a household spirit or hobgoblin from Scottish folklore that is said to come out at night while the owners of the house are asleep and perform various chores and farming ...
, cauld-lads, death-hearses,
goblin A goblin is a small, grotesque, monster, monstrous humanoid creature that appears in the folklore of multiple European cultures. First attested in stories from the Middle Ages, they are ascribed conflicting abilities, temperaments, and appearan ...
s, hob-headlesses, bugaboos, kows, or
cowes Cowes () is an England, English port, seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked b ...
, nickies, nacks, waiths, miffies, buckies,
ghoul In folklore, a ghoul (from , ') is a demon-like being or monstrous humanoid, often associated with graveyards and the consumption of human flesh. In the legends or tales in which they appear, a ghoul is far more ill-mannered and foul than go ...
s,
sylph A sylph (also called sylphid) is an air spirit stemming from the 16th-century works of Paracelsus, who describes sylphs as (invisible) beings of the air, his elementals of air. A significant number of subsequent literary and occult works have be ...
s,
guests A guest is person who is given hospitality. Guest or The Guest may refer to: * Guest (surname), people with the surname ''Guest'' * USS Guest (DD-472), USS ''Guest'' (DD-472), U.S. Navy ''Fletcher''-class destroyer 1942–1946 * Guest appearance, ...
, swarths, freiths, freits, gy-carlins, pigmies, chittifaces, nixies, Jinny-burnt-tails, dudmen, hell-hounds, dopple-gangers, boggleboes, bogies, redmen, portunes, grants,
hobbit Hobbits are a fictional race of people in the novels of J. R. R. Tolkien. About half average human height, Tolkien presented hobbits as a variety of humanity, or close relatives thereof. Occasionally known as halflings in Tolkien's writings, ...
s,
hobgoblin A hobgoblin is a household spirit, appearing in English folklore, once considered helpful, but which since the spread of Christianity has often been considered mischievous. Shakespeare identifies the character of Puck in his '' A Midsummer Nigh ...
s, brown-men, cowies, dunnies, wirrikows, alholdes, mannikins, follets, korreds, lubberkins, cluricauns,
kobold A kobold (; ''kobolt'', ''kobolde'', cobold) is a general or generic name for the household spirit (''hausgeist'') in German folklore. It may invisibly make noises (i.e., be a poltergeist), or helpfully perform kitchen chores or stable work. ...
s,
leprechaun A leprechaun () is a diminutive supernatural being in Irish folklore, classed by some as a type of solitary fairy. They are usually depicted as little bearded men, wearing a coat and hat, who partake in mischief. In later times, they have bee ...
s, kors,
mares A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four y ...
, korreds, puckles, korigans, sylvans,
succubus A succubus () is a female demon who is described in various folklore as appearing in the dreams of male humans in order to seduce them. Repeated interactions between a succubus and a man will lead to sexual activity, a bond forming between them, ...
es, blackmen,
shadow A shadow is a dark area on a surface where light from a light source is blocked by an object. In contrast, shade occupies the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross-section of a shadow is a two-dimensio ...
s,
banshees A banshee ( ; Modern Irish , from , "woman of the fairy mound" or "fairy woman") is a female spirit in Irish folklore who heralds the death of a family member, usually by screaming, wailing, shrieking, or keening. Her name is connected to t ...
, lian-hanshees, clabbernappers, Gabriel-hounds, mawkins, doubles, corpse lights or candles, scrats,
mahound Mahound and Mahoun are variant forms of the name Muhammad, often found in medieval and later European literature. The name has been used in the past by Christian writers to vilify Muhammad. It was especially connected to the demonization of Muham ...
s, trows,
gnome A gnome () is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and widely adopted by authors, including those of modern fantasy literature. They are typically depict ...
s, sprites,
fates The Fates are a common motif in European polytheism, most frequently represented as a trio of goddesses. The Fates shape the destiny of each human, often expressed in textile metaphors such as spinning fibers into yarn, or weaving threads on a ...
, fiends,
sibyl The sibyls were prophetesses or oracles in Ancient Greece. The sibyls prophet, prophesied at holy sites. A sibyl at Delphi has been dated to as early as the eleventh century BC by Pausanias (geographer), PausaniasPausanias 10.12.1 when he desc ...
s, nicknevins, whitewomen,
fairies A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Cel ...
, thrummy-caps, cutties, and nisses, and apparitions of every shape, make, form, fashion, kind and description, that there was not a village in England that had not its own peculiar ghost. Nay, every lone tenement, castle, or mansion-house, which could boast of any antiquity had its
bogle A bogle, boggle, or bogill is a Northumbrian,''Rambles in Northumberland, and on the Scottish border ...'' by William Andrew Chatto, Chapman and Hall, 1835 Cumbrian and Scots term for a ghost or folkloric being,''The local historian's tabl ...
, its spectre, or its knocker. The churches, churchyards, and crossroads were all haunted. Every green lane had its boulder-stone on which an apparition kept watch at night. Every common had its circle of fairies belonging to it. And there was scarcely a shepherd to be met with who had not seen a spirit!"''


References

{{Reflist


External links

* ''The Denham tracts : a collection of folklore'' Complete text and scans of the 1895 edition at archive.org. 1846 in literature 1846 introductions Book series introduced in the 1840s English folklore Northumbrian folklore Pamphlets Works about folklore