David Castleton (Author) on Nostr: According to 'The English Year' by folklorist Steve Roud: "One element of Christmas ...

According to 'The English Year' by folklorist Steve Roud: "One element of Christmas that has virtually disappeared is storytelling ... there was a very strong tradition of the family gathering to tell stories round the fire which, at this season at least, was often a 'roaring' one. A Christmas storytelling session would almost always be dominated by tales of the supernatural - ghosts, witches, fairies, hobgoblins, and the Devil himself. These tales were all the more scary for the youngsters present because they usually referred to people and places in the immediate neighbourhood, so that many a listener dreaded going to bed, or worse, going outside for the rest of the evening." #Christmas #Yule #Story #folklore #history #gothic #weird #Psychogeography