Folklore of Cornwall

Ronald M. James is a historian and folklorist.  He was adjunct faculty at the University of Nevada, Reno, where he taught history and folklore. He is currently associated with the Department of World Languages and Cultures at Iowa State University. He has authored or co-authored thirteen books and contributed chapters and articles to many more, including Cornish Studies: Second Series published by UEP.He was the nation’s I.T.T. Fellow to Ireland in 1981-1982, where he conducted graduate studies at the Department of Irish Folklore, University College, Dublin, under the direction of Bo Almqvist (1931-2013). James was mentored by noted Swedish folklorist Sven Liljeblad (1899-2000), himself a student of the renowned Carl Wilhelm von Sydow (1878-1952).In 2014, James was inducted into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame. In 2015, he received the Rodman Paul Award for Outstanding Contributions to Mining History from the Mining History Association. In 2016 he was elected to the College of Bards of Gorsedh Kernow.

• AcknowledgementsPreface by Philip PaytonIntroductionChapter 1 The CollectorsChapter 2 The Droll TellersChapter 3 Folkways and StoriesChapter 4 Piskies, Spriggans, and BuccaChapter 5 Piskies and Migratory LegendsChapter 6 Seeking the Companionship of PeopleChapter 7 MermaidsChapter 8 The Spectral BridegroomChapter 9 GiantsChapter 10 Knockers in the MinesChapter 11 Tommyknockers, Immigration, and the Modern WorldConclusionAppendix: Type Index for Cornish NarrativeBibliography

In making available and drawing our attention to folklore which has too often been left unnoted and unanalyzed, this volume is a gift to Cornish studies, an easy-to-read, scholarly work, which provides historic and theoretic perspective along with its valuable body of cultural information.