Folklore of Lancashire

Lancashire, like all other counties of England, has historically had its own peculiar superstitions, manners, and customs, which may or may not find parallels in those of other localities.

Boggarts in Lancashire included Clapcans, a noise-making bogie reported in the Greater Manchester area.

Another Lancashire dialect word for supernatural beings was 'Feorin'' (frightening things): this was sometimes applied to fairies.

Take, for instance, Owd [Old] Rollison at Worsley with his small library of occult books.

His contemporaries, including 'the Chronicler' (an anonymous Wigan writer),[10] William Thornber (for Blackpool)[11] and Samuel Bamford, contributed local traditions.

[12] Bamford, a working-class author, provided a raw, authentic insight into local beliefs and superstitions, distinguishing his works from Roby’s romanticized narratives.

[13] Central were Harland and Wilkinson's works including two jointly-authored monographs Lancashire Folk-Lore and Lancashire Legends, Traditions, Pageants, Sports &c.[14] The writers of this period moved beyond mere collection to analyze and compare folklore themes.

Axon, who explored folklore in a controlled manner, comparing Lancashire traditions with those of other regions and countries.

Henry Cowper included a remarkable chapter on the folklore of Hawkshead in his book on the same parish (then part of Lancashire).

Sheep Boggart encountered near Carnforth - "The supposed sheep aroused itself and as if with indignity at the insult, swelled out as the man affirms, into the size of a house". Art by Jantiff Illustration
An illustration of Ann Redferne and Chattox, two of the Pendle witches, from Ainsworth's novel The Lancashire Witches
Samuel Bamford, one of Lancashire's first folklore writers.
John Higson, one of the mid-nineteenth-century Lancashire folklorists.