The Dorsetarian

Sherborne Folklore and Ghosts
Folklore, Customs and Ghost Stories in Sherborneby Elisabeth Bletsoe Sherborne is a small market town in north-west Dorset; formerly a Saxon burgh. It evolved through the cloth, gloving and silk industries and boasts two castles, a Benedictine Abbey and the renowned public school for boys established since Edward VI. The town is embedded in varied countryside united by scarps of Jurassic ...

Well Dressing and Sacred Water
Well Dressing and Sacred Waterby Chris Tripp Water Worship - The Filly Loo Ceremony around the village pond, Ashmore. Water is the foundation of all life on Earth. Our bodies are mostly made up of it. A human being can survive many days without food in a hostile environment, but deprived of water for a much shorter period of time and our bodies quickly start to malfunc...

Folklore of William Barnes
The Folk-Lore of William BarnesBy John Symonds Udal I have been asked to write a short paper or article on "Dorsetshire Folk-Lore" for our "Year Book." But I feel some difficulty in doing so, for two reasons; first, because it is impossible in such a limited space to give any fair idea of what the folk-lore of the Dorset people consists; and, secondly, because I am myself just...

Some Dorset Superstitions
Some Dorset Superstitions By Hermann Lea In employing the term superstition, it is in the sense defined by Franz v. Schonthan : — Zwar nicht wissen — aber glauben Heisst ganz richtig — Aberglauben. (Not to know, but to believe; what else is it, strictly speaking, but superstition?) It is natural, no doubt, that superstition should decrease in the s...

Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy - A Dorset Novelist and Poet Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy was born on 2nd June, 1840, at Higher Bockhampton, a hamlet in the parish of Stinsford, some two and half miles east of Dorchester. The author's grandfather, Thomas Hardy (the first), settled in Bockhampton in 1801, in a house which his father had built for him. By trade he was a master mason but hi...

Easter Customs and Traditions
Easter Customs and Traditions By Robert Newland 'Easter Tide’ is the most important festival of the Christian year, symbolising the ‘Redemption of Man’ and the confirming of the fundamental belief in ‘Life Everlasting’. Easter holy week begins with ‘Palm Sunday’, which commemorates the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem before his tri...

Cerne Abbas
Cerne AbbasA Brief History of the Village with Local Legendsby Anon. Amid the rolling, grassy hills of the picturesque Dorset hinterland nestles a perfect gem of typical English villages - Cerne Abbas.Cerne, by its very geographical situation, might eventually have competed with Dorchester for the honour of being the county town, but all who love the unspoiled English countryside would not have...

Fossil Folklore
Sea Dragons, Fairy Loaves& Serpents of StoneFables & Fossils of Lyme Regis by Dr. Karl P.N. Shuker Dr. Karl Shuker and life-size megalodon jaws,Lyme Fossil Shop, Lyme Regis In July 2010, I visited Lyme Regis on Dorset’s south coast, a relatively small town but one that is to fossil enthusiasts what Hay-on-Wye on the Welsh-English border is to book love...

Skulls in Folklore
Skullsby Sabine Baring-Gould. In medieval churches, castles, and mansions where there is a parapet rising from the wall and obscuring a portion of the roof, this parapet is supported at intervals by corbels, that usually represent heads of either men or beasts, very frequently grotesque. These corbels are not of any great structural importance, though they add to architectural decoration. T...

Ghosts and Hauntings
Ghosts and Things that go Bump in the Night by David Kingston. The word Ghost is described in the Oxford dictionary as, "a person's spirit appearing after his or her death." But then what about the reports of horses galloping down the lanes on a dark night and other such apparitions? Why do certain countries, houses and places appear to have more than there fair share of Ghosts?Great Britai...

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Events

May Pole Dancing This page brings you current news of events from annual conferences to festivals and local community events.

The information below has been compiled with the best of intentions and I am afraid we cannot accept any responsibility for any of these events being cancelled or venue changed. Always phone before you set out on your journey, especially if you are travelling long distances.

If you are running or attending an event that is suitable to be posted here, please contact us in advance.

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Current Events:

The Filly Loo, Ashmore, Dorset

Starts Friday 18th June 2010 until Friday 18th June 2010

The Filly Loo

The Filly Loo, Ashmore, Dorset The Filly Loo at Ashmore, near Shaftesbury, a great annual free event outdoors around the village pond. A celebration of the longest day, held on a Friday near to June 21st, when villagers dance beside this singular village pond. Starts at around 7.30pm when The Hambledon Hopstep Band play and call from a cart decorated in greenery to the crowd, dancing in the street.

A Green Man arrives in a procession and takes part in the first dance to start the evening. There are display dances followed by public dancing, then at dusk, the celebrations reach their climax with the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance. This is a torchlit procession with six antlered deer-men and four other costumed characters: a Maid Marion, a bowman, a hobby horse and a fool. The procession and dance is accompanied by a haunting solo melody in a minor key which is very atmospheric. The celebration finishes with the torches in the ground around the pond and everyone holding hands around the pond for the last dance.

Telephone 01747 811413 for more details.

Events just passed

Dorset Folklore and Folklorists: Sacred and Secular, Sound and Scene

On Saturday 26th November 2011

Dorset Folklore and Folklorists: Sacred and Secular, Sound and Scene On Saturday 26th November 2011 at the Dorset County Museum, Dorchester. The Dorset Local History Group day school will see a panel of speakers explore the rich field of Dorse...

Granny Cousins Halloween Walk of Poole

Starts Sunday 31st October 2010 until

Granny Cousins Halloween Ghost Walk of Poole As the shadows lengthen at Halloween, step behind the Great Quay, down the the tight alleyways and you never know what, or who you might meet. Now in its thirteenth year, local Victorian cha...

Weymouth Ghost Walks Halloween Week 2010

On Tuesday 26th October 2010

Weymouth Ghost Walks Halloween Week 2010 Dare You Find Out What Lurks In The Shadows Of A Happy Holiday Town? Follow in the footsteps of our experienced ghosthunter guide and discover the unquiet former residents who still roam the streets a...

Convention of Alternative Archaeology & Earth Mysteries 2010

Starts Sunday 3rd October 2010 until

Convention of Alternative Archaeology & Earth Mysteries 2010 On Sunday October 3rd at Poundbury, Dorchester, Dorset. The 7th Convention of Alternative Archaeology &; Earth Mysteries will be held. Bringing together those seeking d...

'FREE' Morris Workshop with the 'Anonymous Morris'

Starts Thursday 16th September 2010 until

'FREE' Morris Workshop with the 'Anonymous Morris' Anonymous Morris are a brand new Border Morris side based in Poole, Dorset. They are running a free Border morris workshop at Poole Old Town First School, Green Road, Poole, BH15 1QB on Thur...

Weird Weekend 2010

On Friday 13th August 2010

Weird Weekend 2010 From the 13th to the 16th of August this year, the sleepy North Devon village of Woolsery is to play host to the largest gathering of monster and mystery researchers in the world. Having run unbroken for eleven ye...

Wessex Morris Men Dancing Programme 2010

On Thursday 29th July 2010

Wessex Morris Men Dancing Programme 2010 The Wessex Morris Men are a Cotswold morris side that has danced in West Dorset, England and the bordering areas of Somerset since 1957. The side are the owners of the infamous Dorset Ooser, ...

Dorset Legend & Mythology Exhibition

On Saturday 3rd July 2010

Dorset Legend & Mythology Exhibition Portland Arts CentreThe Old LaundryBrymers AvenueFortuneswellPortlandDorsetDT5 1JS Private View Saturday 3rd July 7 - 9pmExhibition opening times Every week Thursday, Friday, 11am - 4pm. Saturd...

The Filly Loo, Ashmore, Dorset

On Friday 18th June 2010

The Filly Loo The Filly Loo at Ashmore, near Shaftesbury, a great annual free event outdoors around the village pond. A celebration of the longest day, held on a Friday near to June 21st, when villagers dance beside this singular villa...

The Wimborne Folk Festival 2010

On Friday 11th June 2010

The Wimborne Folk Festival 2010 Friday 11th to Sunday 13th June sees the annual Wimborne Folk Festival. A colourful spectacle of traditional folk dance and music was first held in August 1980 as a one day event. It was such a success that i...

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