If folklore as a discipline enjoys a fringe festival, then the Folklore Society’s annual Legendary Weekend is it. Taking place over the weekend of 31 August to 1 September, the theme this year was ‘Water in Legend and Tradition’. Convened in the nave of the former St Peter’s by the Waterfront Church in Ipswich, Suffolk (a town needful of some re-enchantment), the floor was “open to anyone – folklorists, healers, hydrologists, bargees, dowsers and storytellers”. A 20-minute slot was available for each participant to lecture, tell a story or perform a song, “whether… into holy wells or woe waters, hauntings or hydromancy”, with contributions welcome “on eerie ponds, inland mermaids, canal culture, early spas, baptismal customs, lake monsters, and the lore of fords, falls, fountains, floods and fish pools”.
Accordingly,…