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 Gainford or Gainford on Tees is a village on the north bank of the River Tees in County Durham, England. It is half-way between Barnard Castle and Darlington, near Winston, at OS map reference NZ 1716. History In Anglo-Saxon times, Gainford ...

, Denham was in business at

Kingston-upon-Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually shortened to Hull, is a historic maritime city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Est ...

in the early part of his life. Ultimately he settled as a general merchant at

Piercebridge Piercebridge is a village and civil parish in the borough of Darlington and the ceremonial county of Durham, England. It is situated a few miles west of the town of Darlington. It is on the site of a Roman fort of AD 260–270, which was built ...

, near Gainford, where he died on 10 September 1859.

Works

Denham collected local lore. His works were: * ''A Collection of Proverbs and Popular Sayings relating to the Seasons, the Weather, and Agricultural Pursuits, gathered chiefly from oral tradition'', London, 1846, printed by the

Percy Society The Percy Society was a British text publication society. It was founded in 1840 and collapsed in 1852. The Society was a scholarly collective, aimed at publishing limited-edition books of rare poems and songs. The president was Lady Braybrooke, ...

. * ''The Slogans, and War and Gathering Cries of the North of England'', 1850, and with additions, Newcastle upon Tyne, 1851. * ''A Collection of Bishoprick Rhymes, Proverbs, and Sayings'', to which he afterwards added four tracts of the same kind, completing the last about 1858. * ''Cumberland Rhymes, Proverbs, and Sayings'', in four parts, the last of which appeared in 1854. * A similar work relating to

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland''R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref>) is an area of North West England which was Historic counties of England, historically a county. People of the area ...

, in two parts, 1858. * ''Roman Imperial Gold Coin'', a description of a coin of the

Emperor Maximus Magnus Maximus (; died 28 August 388) was Roman emperor in the West from 383 to 388. He usurped the throne from emperor Gratian. Born in Gallaecia, he served as an officer in Britain under Theodosius the Elder during the Great Conspiracy. I ...

urham (?) 1856 under the pseudonym "Archæus". * ''Folklore of the North'', in six parts, the last appearing in 1856. * ''Folklore, or a Collection of Local Rhymes, Proverbs, Sayings, Prophecies, Slogans, &c., relating to Northumberland, Newcastle-on-Tyne, and Berwick-on-Tweed''; Richmond, Yorkshire, 1858. Limited to fifty copies. * '' Minor Tracts on Folklore'', to the number of twenty, starting about 1849 and ending about 1854. * ''A Classified Catalogue of the Antiquarian Tomes, Tracts, and Trifles'', referring to the works Denham had edited himself, 1859.

References

External links

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Denham, Michael Aislabie 1800s births Date of birth missing 1859 deaths English merchants English folklorists People from Gainford, County Durham 19th-century English businesspeople