The Little History of Storytelling in Cornwall

The Little History of Storytelling in Cornwall traces the county’s storytelling traditions from bardic times to the present, asking how tales developed, who carried them and why they endured. Mike O’Connor considers the settings in which stories were told, from firesides and public houses to fields, mines and ships at sea.

Alongside the history of oral storytelling, the book discusses Cornish folk traditions and familiar tales including the Mermaid of Zennor and Jan Tregeagle. It also considers travelling storytellers, dialect recitations and the Cornish word hwedhlow. The stories’ casts include piskeys, knockers, spriggans, giants, mermaids, heroes and heroines, revealing how folklore reflects Cornwall’s people, places and past.