Country Wise #1

Countrywise is a collection of memories of living in the English Countryside. They feature understandings of culture, folklore, magic, religion, language, myth and memory! Originally from a series of newspaper articles, they’ve now all been collected together in a series of books!

Things that our customers will find of particular interest in this issue-

Countrywise One contains within it all kind of things that may intruige our customers!

Of Particular note in this issue, we find information on naturally made inks, blackberry folklore, the Lord of Misrule at Yule, Fire magic, Need fires, the ‘Bishops curse’ and Lightning Folklore.

We also see Samhain and the dead as well as burial customs, charnel houses and bone fires. There’s some pages on dowsing, herbal charms, sand and symbology, wheat and rice magic, Hekatean craft and iron.

We see Witchcraft and folk magic with scissors, rowan, ash, salt and witch bottles. Information on Corn Dollies, mirrors, silver, apostle spoons, hagstones. We also see notes on Shrove Tide, Ash Wednesday, Maundy Tuesday, Palm Sunday, divination, spinning, hops and the devils door.

We see paragraphs on the Holly Boy and Ivy Maiden, plant magic, cleansing rites. We have notes on Diana and Vesta, as well as folklore on copper coffin rings! We see mermaids, graveyards and lych gates too!

The Countrywise series is written by Raymond Rush.

Why we love it

All the countrywise volumes have fascinating tidbits of folklore- showing us the beliefs, customs and rituals of yesteryear. There’s lots of information in these tomes that don’t make it into modern folklore, folk magic and witchcraft books.

Disclaimer:

These books catalogue regular life for those in the English Countryside past and present- as such, it will contain descriptions of hunting, death, war, capital punishment, violence and animal death.

Many of the things within this book are of their time and place. Please be aware that there are representations of Native Tribes within this book series that are not considered acceptable. We offer this book as a snapshot of the past, and do not condone some of the language and imagery used. 

You may also notice terms for Romani and Travellers in this book series that are deemed unacceptable in countries such as the US- however these terms are still in use in the UK and were voted on by the GRT community to retain the full GRT acronym to describe these communities. For more information, or to support GRT communities, please visit the ‘Friends, Families and Travellers’ or ‘Gypsy-Traveller.org’ Charity website for more. 

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