Sources
The books the old calendar is taken from, oldest first. Every entry names the page it comes from and links to a scan of it, so you can read the original for yourself.
By tag
-
725
Bede's De Temporum Ratione
Bede, De Temporum Ratione (The Reckoning of Time), written in Latin at Jarrow in 725, whose chapter on the English months is the only early account of the heathen English year.
Get a copy: Amazon · Bookshop.org · AbeBooks
Written in Latin in 725. Modern English translations are published as The Reckoning of Time.
-
1573
Tusser's Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry
Thomas Tusser, Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie (1573; enlarged 1580), the farming year in verse, month by month, grown from his Hundreth Good Pointes of 1557.
Get a copy: Amazon · Bookshop.org · AbeBooks
First published in 1573 and reprinted many times; the English Dialect Society edition of 1878 is the one most often reprinted, and modern editions turn up.
-
1583
Stubbes's Anatomie of Abuses
Philip Stubbes, The Anatomie of Abuses (1583), a Puritan attack on the pastimes of Elizabethan England: the Lord of Misrule, May games, church-ales and wakes.
Get a copy: Amazon · Bookshop.org · AbeBooks
First published in 1583; Furnivall's edition for the New Shakspere Society (1877 to 1879) is the one most often reprinted, and a modern scholarly edition appeared in 2002.
-
1648
Herrick's Hesperides
Robert Herrick, Hesperides: or, The Works both Humane and Divine (1648), poems written as vicar of Dean Prior in Devon, many of them on the customs of the year.
Get a copy: Amazon · Bookshop.org · AbeBooks
First published in 1648 and in print ever since; any complete edition of Herrick's poems has these.
-
1663
Poor Robin's Almanack
Poor Robin, the comic almanac published every year from 1663, attributed at first to William Winstanley, with a mock calendar and verses on each month's feasts and customs.
Get a copy: Amazon · Bookshop.org · AbeBooks
A new issue every year from 1663; single old issues turn up at auction, and several are free to read as scans.
-
1686
Aubrey's Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme
John Aubrey, Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme (written 1686-1687), edited by James Britten for the Folk-Lore Society (1881).
Get a copy: Amazon · Bookshop.org · AbeBooks
Written 1686 to 1687 and first printed by the Folk-Lore Society in 1881. Facsimile reprints of that edition are easy to find.
-
1696
Aubrey's Miscellanies
John Aubrey, Miscellanies, upon Day-Fatality, Omens, Dreams, Apparitions and other subjects (1696).
Get a copy: Amazon · Bookshop.org · AbeBooks
First published in 1696, the only one of his books printed in his lifetime; a second edition followed in 1721, and it is in the Library of Old Authors (1857). Facsimile reprints are easy to find.
-
1725
Bourne's Antiquitates Vulgares
Henry Bourne, Antiquitates Vulgares; or, the Antiquities of the Common People (Newcastle, 1725), the book Brand's Observations on Popular Antiquities grew from.
Get a copy: Amazon · Bookshop.org · AbeBooks
One volume, Newcastle, 1725, and reprinted whole in Brand's Observations on Popular Antiquities (1777). Facsimile reprints turn up; originals are rare.
-
1731
The Gentleman's Magazine Library
The Gentleman's Magazine Library: readers' letters to the Gentleman's Magazine from 1731 to 1868, edited by George Laurence Gomme; Manners and Customs (1883) and Popular Superstitions (1884).
Get a copy: Amazon · Bookshop.org · AbeBooks
Twenty-nine volumes, 1883 to 1905, each on one subject; Manners and Customs (1883) and Popular Superstitions (1884) are the ones for the calendar. Facsimile reprints are easy to find.
-
1771
Pennant's Tours
Thomas Pennant, A Tour in Scotland, 1769 (1771), A Tour in Scotland and Voyage to the Hebrides, 1772 (1774-1776) and A Tour in Wales (1778-1783), the naturalist's accounts of the country and its customs as he rode through it.
Get a copy: Amazon · Bookshop.org · AbeBooks
The Scottish tours of 1769 and 1772 and the Welsh tour went through many editions; old volumes turn up second-hand, and modern reprints of each tour are easy to find.
-
1777
Brand's Popular Antiquities
John Brand, Observations on Popular Antiquities (1777), arranged, revised and enlarged by Sir Henry Ellis (3 vols, 1848-1849).
Read it free: Vol. 1 · Vol. 2 · Vol. 3
Get a copy: Amazon · Bookshop.org · AbeBooks
First published in 1777 and enlarged by Henry Ellis; the three-volume Bohn edition of 1848 to 1849 is the one most often reprinted.
-
1787
Grose's Provincial Glossary
Francis Grose, A Provincial Glossary, with a Collection of Local Proverbs, and Popular Superstitions (1787).
Get a copy: Amazon · Bookshop.org · AbeBooks
One volume, 1787, with a second edition in 1790 and a third, enlarged, in 1811. Facsimile reprints are easy to find.
-
1791
Sinclair's Statistical Account of Scotland
Sir John Sinclair, ed., The Statistical Account of Scotland, drawn up from the Communications of the Ministers of the Different Parishes (21 vols, 1791-1799), each parish described by its own minister.
Get a copy: Amazon · Bookshop.org · AbeBooks
Twenty-one volumes, 1791 to 1799. A county-by-county reissue appeared from 1973 to 1983, and odd original volumes turn up second-hand.
-
1794
Hutchinson's History of Cumberland
William Hutchinson, The History of the County of Cumberland, and Some Places Adjacent (2 vols, Carlisle, 1794).
Get a copy: Amazon · Bookshop.org · AbeBooks
Two volumes, Carlisle, 1794, issued in parts to 1797. Facsimile reprints turn up; originals are scarce.
-
1801
Strutt's Sports and Pastimes
Joseph Strutt, Glig-Gamena Angel-Deod, or The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England (1801).
Get a copy: Amazon · Bookshop.org · AbeBooks
First published in 1801, and re-edited by William Hone in 1830; old copies and facsimile reprints are easy to find.
-
1815
Roberts's Cambrian Popular Antiquities
Peter Roberts, The Cambrian Popular Antiquities; or, an Account of some Traditions, Customs, and Superstitions of Wales (1815).
Get a copy: Amazon · Bookshop.org · AbeBooks
One volume, 1815, with coloured plates. Originals are scarce; facsimile reprints turn up.
-
1818
Taylor's Antiquitates Curiosae
Joseph Taylor, Antiquitates Curiosae: The Etymology of Many Remarkable Old Sayings, Proverbs, and Singular Customs, Explained (1818; second edition 1819).
Get a copy: Amazon · Bookshop.org · AbeBooks
Published in 1818, with a second edition in 1819. Facsimile reprints turn up; originals are scarce.
-
1824
Forster's Perennial Calendar
Thomas Forster, The Perennial Calendar, and Companion to the Almanack: Illustrating the Events of Every Day in the Year, as Connected with History, Chronology, Botany, Natural History, Astronomy, Popular Customs, and Antiquities (1824).
Get a copy: Amazon · Bookshop.org · AbeBooks
One volume, 1824. Rarely reprinted; original copies turn up second-hand.
-
1825
Brockett's Glossary of North Country Words
John Trotter Brockett, A Glossary of North Country Words, in Use (Newcastle upon Tyne, 1825; enlarged 1829, and in 2 vols, 1846).
Get a copy: Amazon · Bookshop.org · AbeBooks
First published at Newcastle in 1825, enlarged in 1829 and again in two volumes in 1846. Facsimile reprints are easy to find.
-
1825
Hone's Every-Day Book
William Hone, The Every-Day Book, or Everlasting Calendar of Popular Amusements (2 vols, 1825-1827).
Get a copy: Amazon · Bookshop.org · AbeBooks
Two volumes, 1825 to 1827. Later editions bind it with the Table Book, and old sets turn up second-hand.
-
1827
Hone's Table Book
William Hone, The Table Book (1827-1828).
Get a copy: Amazon · Bookshop.org · AbeBooks
Published 1827 to 1828. Later editions bind it with the Every-Day Book.
-
1832
Hone's Year Book
William Hone, The Year Book of Daily Recreation and Information (1832).
Get a copy: Amazon · Bookshop.org · AbeBooks
One volume, 1832. Later editions bind it with the Every-Day Book and the Table Book.
-
1833
Sandys's Christmas Carols
William Sandys, Christmas Carols, Ancient and Modern; including the most popular in the West of England, with an introduction and notes (1833).
Get a copy: Amazon · Bookshop.org · AbeBooks
One volume, 1833. Facsimile reprints turn up; originals are scarce.
-
1846
The Denham Tracts
Michael Aislabie Denham, The Denham Tracts: folklore from the tracts and pamphlets he printed between 1846 and 1859, edited by James Hardy for the Folk-Lore Society (2 vols, 1892-1895).
Get a copy: Amazon · Bookshop.org · AbeBooks
Two volumes, 1892 and 1895, published by the Folk-Lore Society. Facsimile reprints are easy to find.
-
1862
Chambers's Book of Days
Robert Chambers, The Book of Days: A Miscellany of Popular Antiquities in Connection with the Calendar (2 vols, 1862-1864).
Get a copy: Amazon · Bookshop.org · AbeBooks
Two volumes, 1862 to 1864. Facsimile reprints are easy to find, and original sets turn up second-hand.
-
1866
Henderson's Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties
William Henderson, Notes on the Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties of England and the Borders (1866; new edition for the Folk-Lore Society, 1879).
Get a copy: Amazon · Bookshop.org · AbeBooks
First published in 1866; the enlarged edition of 1879 for the Folk-Lore Society is the fuller one. Facsimile reprints are easy to find.
-
1876
Dyer's British Popular Customs
T. F. Thiselton Dyer, British Popular Customs, Present and Past, Arranged According to the Calendar of the Year (1876).
Get a copy: Amazon · Bookshop.org · AbeBooks
One volume, 1876, in Bohn's Antiquarian Library, reprinted in 1891. Facsimile reprints are easy to find.
-
1896
Owen's Welsh Folk-Lore
Elias Owen, Welsh Folk-Lore: a Collection of the Folk-Tales and Legends of North Wales, the prize essay of the National Eisteddfod of 1887 (Oswestry and Wrexham, 1896).
Get a copy: Amazon · Bookshop.org · AbeBooks
One volume, Oswestry and Wrexham, 1896. Facsimile reprints turn up; originals are scarce.
-
1905
Hazlitt's Faiths and Folklore
W. Carew Hazlitt, Faiths and Folklore: A Dictionary of National Beliefs, Superstitions and Popular Customs, Past and Current (2 vols, 1905), a reworking of Brand's Popular Antiquities.
Get a copy: Amazon · Bookshop.org · AbeBooks
Two volumes, 1905. Facsimile reprints are easy to find, and original sets turn up second-hand.
-
1909
Trevelyan's Folk-Lore of Wales
Marie Trevelyan, Folk-Lore and Folk-Stories of Wales (1909).
Get a copy: Amazon · Bookshop.org · AbeBooks
One volume, 1909. Facsimile and modern reprints are easy to find.
We may earn a small commission if you buy through these links.