London Lore: The Legends and Traditions of the World's Most Vibrant City

London Lore surveys the capital’s folklore by district, bringing together ghost stories, local superstitions, annual customs, legends and traditional beliefs. Steve Roud ranges from the City of London and Westminster to the capital’s western, northern, eastern and southern suburbs, showing how stories attach themselves to streets, buildings and communities.

Among the subjects are Spring-heeled Jack, the Victorian figure whose existence was debated; Sweeney Todd and the early record of the demon barber; and Dick Whittington’s links beyond London. Roud also examines the Pearly Kings and Queens, blue-bead necklaces worn by working-class Londoners in the 1920s, beliefs surrounding the Tower of London, and reports of wild beasts in North London sewers.