CONFERENCE: Trade in Legend and Tradition: the Twentieth Legendary Weekend of The Folklore Society
Date 5 September 2026 - 6 September 2026
Location Tuckers Hall, Fore Street, Exeter EX4 3AN
The glove is up as apes surround the pedlar and sell him into the land of Egypt. When the pin drops out of the candle I will have my bond, but nobody to know what it is; only the Devil, whose bargain with a fool and his money was made at Horn Fair. With which eye do you see me? That pig in a poke may turn out to be a dark horse when apes, ivory and peacocks have paid their toll at Goblin Market. New lamps for old! Sold to the gentleman who scratched his nose for a string of beads and a beanstalk. Simple Simon met a court of pie powder when the fishwife was sold at Smithfield, but what the old man does always follows the flag. Buy one brandy for the parson, get one free baccy for the tooth fairy if you pay on the nail. Your cat is a pearl of great price, Robin Hood told the potter, but let the buyer beware if he places his money in vinegar. Turn again, Dick Whittington, who will buy my sweet tulip mania for a luck penny?
Join us for our two-day conference on Trade in Legend and Tradition, to be held on Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th September as the twentieth Legendary Weekend of The Folklore Society, at Tuckers Hall, home of the Guild of Tuckers, Weavers and Shearmen in Fore Street, Exeter EX4 3AN.
Whether you’re into fairs or fairy gold, merchant gilds or markets, the lore of trade, commerce or business--from smugglers to street cries and the South Sea Bubble, from murdered pedlars to plague stones--and whether you're a folklorist, entrepreneur, economic historian, storyteller, captain of industry or jack of all trades, all are welcome to join us.
The conference fee is £35 for speakers, £70 for others attending. If you would like to attend, please contact the organisers, Jeremy Harte and Sophia Kingshill: jrmharte@gmail.com and skingshill@gmail.com at The Folklore Society, 50 Fitzroy Street, London W1T 5BT