Folk culture is everywhere, sitting in our churches, swinging from our pubs and dancing through our streets, patiently waiting to be discovered. In The Lost Folk, Cornish-based writer Lally MacBeth is on a mission to breathe new life into these rapidly disappearing customs.

 

By its nature, folk is ephemeral: tricky to define, hard to preserve and even more difficult to resurrect. Lally MacBeth reminds us that folk is for everyone, and does not belong to an imagined, halcyon past, but is constantly being drawn from everyday lives and communities. As well as looking at what folk customs have meant in Britain's past, she shines a light on what they can and should mean as we move into the future - encouraging us to use the book as an inspiration, and become collectors and creators of our very own folk traditions.

​

‘A treasure trove of both British folk memory and new and emerging forms.' -- Kathleen Jamie, New Statesman

'In her infectious enthusiasm, proper joy can be found.' -- Jude Rogers, Observer

'The Lost Folk is an exceptionally thoughtful and beautifully written celebration of the creative power that lives and breathes within our communities, in the form of folk art and traditions. And it is a timely reminder that it is incumbent on us to ensure their future.' Maxine Peake

'Erudite, questing and endlessly fascinating, this is the book that British folk has long needed. Essential reading.' Katherine May​​