HULDUFOLK
Huldufolk, or hidden people, are elves in Icelandic and Faroese folklore. They are supernatural beings that live in nature. They look and behave similarly to humans, but live in a parallel world. They can make themselves visible …
LONDON STRETCHER RAILINGS
One of my readers, and a close friend, sent me this story of London Stretcher Railings, which I had never heard before. I’ve walked by …
GOLDEN FLEECE AWARDS
These are the first Golden Fleece Awards I’ve given for quite some time. That doesn’t mean that public officials have made less stupid decisions, or …
FOLK FESTIVALS OF BRITAIN
The weird and wonderful folk festivals of Britain are largely unknown outside of the rural locations where they are practiced. They are performed by the …
POPULAR ETYMOLOGIES
“Popular etymologies are apocryphal” is the lead caption of an article I found in the latest edition of The Economist. The article looks at the …
TRIPLE COOKED CHIPS
Triple cooked chips are one British chef’s answer to soggy, under-cooked potato fingers that almost all of us love. I’m not talking about French fries …
BIPHASIC SLEEP
Most of us have never heard of “Biphasic Sleep”, let alone heard of “First Sleep” or “Second Sleep”. However, they seem to have been normal …
FOGGING UP YOUR WINDSCREEN
You would think that “Fogging up your windscreen” would be a thing of the past by now. Certainly, the smeary vision we put up with …
WHO ACTUALLY DISCOVERED THE CARIBBEAN
The question of who actually discovered the Caribbean is a mystery that has been perplexing anthropologists for centuries. When Columbus arrived on Hispaniola in the …
NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS
The beginning of a New Year makes many of us make New Year resolutions, and most of us break them in the first few hours, …