Folklore beliefs among soldiers

[knittinganddeath]

Some evidence to support the theory that enlightenment and education had beaten folklore beliefs out of people by the late 19th century -- from an 1897 review of Dracula of all things:

A writer who attempts in the nineteenth century to rehabilitate the ancient legends of the werewolf and the vampire has set himself a formidable task. Most of the delightful old superstitions of the past have an unhappy way of appearing limp and sickly in the glare of a later day, and in such a story as Dracula by Bram Stoker, the reader must reluctantly acknowledge that the region of horrors has shifted its ground. Man is no longer in dread of the monstrous and the unnatural... It is an artistic mistake to fill a whole volume with horrors.

Edited 21 November , 2022 by knittinganddeath

[ilkley remembers]

19 hours ago, knittinganddeath said:

Some evidence to support the theory that enlightenment and education had beaten folklore beliefs out of people by the late 19th century -- from an 1897 review of Dracula of all things:

A writer who attempts in the nineteenth century to rehabilitate the ancient legends of the werewolf and the vampire has set himself a formidable task. Most of the delightful old superstitions of the past have an unhappy way of appearing limp and sickly in the glare of a later day, and in such a story as Dracula by Bram Stoker, the reader must reluctantly acknowledge that the region of horrors has shifted its ground. Man is no longer in dread of the monstrous and the unnatural... It is an artistic mistake to fill a whole volume with horrors.

 

Given the enduring popularity of Stokers novel and literally thousands of adaption’s it would appear that The Guardians reviewer was spectacularly wrong in his or her assessment of its merit. Dracula isn’t simply a horror story but a complex mix of genres, surprising in its modernity in which Stoker pits primitive beliefs of Eastern Europe against reason and rationality of a more advanced cultural mindset which ultimately triumphs. I suppose that might tally with the assertion in this thread that ‘enlightenment’ and education led to the abandonment folklore traditions. Perhaps, on the other hand. however, it could be argued that in a largely urbanized society belief in mythical creatures was simply a rural relict which had little relevance to most people.

[geraint]

The following may be of interest.

Many homeless veterans, ill or psychologically traumatised in this part of Denbighshire found themselves taken to the Ruthin Union Workhouse in Ruthin. As happened in most other workhouses in Britain. In 1946, with the advent of the Welfare State, the Workhouses were to be closed and local councils required to house the patients and inmates. In Ruthin, the council ultimately built the Awelon Home to cater for the new act, and the workhouse people moved in during the mid 1960s. They would now be in their sixties. An interesting legend began - the Blue Needle.. It was believed that a phantom with a Blue Needle walked Awelon, visiting the veterans, and using the Blue Needle to euthanise individual ex-soldiers who died in the night. People were terrified - staff and inmates swore blind that they'd seen it, and families tried to withdraw members out of Awelon. The town and surrounding area were well aware,of this and some even believed that it was state execution to get rid of burnt out ex-soldiers. I was told that men refused to sleep alone in their rooms and insisted on sharing, to keep an eye for the Blue Needle Phantom.

I was told variations of this story by numerous individuals when I researched Ruthin and the Great War and families today still recall the horror of their grandparents in the days of the Blue Needle.

 

[Pat Atkins]

Interesting! I wonder how many other relict myths/superstitions of the Great War there might have been, and how long they lasted? (off the top of my head, the three-match rule for lighting cigarettes was still prevalent in the late 70s when I was a teenager)

[knittinganddeath]

17 hours ago, geraint said:

some even believed that it was state execution to get rid of burnt out ex-soldiers

This is a fascinating (and horrible) story -- thank you for sharing it. Did any of your informants say what the phantom looked like?

My first thought was actually of Angel of Death nurses/doctors who turn out to be serial killers.

 

[geraint]

The people I spoke to were sons and daughters of veterans, as well as locals in their sixties who still live/lived in the streets in the immediate vicinity of the Workhouse and Awelon. Ruthin today is a small town of 5,000 (4k during the war), and though the Workhouse was demolished in 1974, the Infirmary and attached school still stand today. The Infirmary being the town's hospital, and the school moved to newer premises nearby. Awelon was built during the 60s - within half a mile of the old workhouse. The streets surrounding the workhouse especially Rhos Street were working class and most of he houses provided men during the war. The relationship between the workhouse and locals was varied and usually negative. Many recalled the misery of life in the workhouse, and staff were remembered as being greedy and horrible people towards the inmates (many being Ruthin people related to Rhos Street.) When Awelon opened -most of the workhouse staff transferred to the new home, and their reputation went with them! As veterans aged and died, the idea rather than actual sighting of a phantom came into being. The words "When John died; Dai in the next room swore that he saw the Blue Needle - and thats what got poor old John!" Others would mutter "Wouldn't surprise me if the bloody government was behind this!" Another family told me that Grandad was terrified that his time had come. He was certain that the Blue Needle would get him. He was dead within the week!

So unfortunately, no-one could describe the phantom - it was a visitation by the Blue Needle!

[battle of loos]

good evening,

 

I found in a CCS dump, in the rest of the Service Dress of the Canadian Machine Gun Corps, 2 blue beads.

I think it comes from a votive Aboriginal Canadian tribe.

michel

[seaJane]

I have a lot of folklore books, and for Christmas was given The Fabled Coast, a book of folklore of sea and coastal lore and legends in the British Isles and Ireland. In this I found that, for example, there was a noted uptick, during the Great War, in the trade in cauls (human birth membranes), which sailors bought because they were supposed to preserve the owner from drowning.

There was at least one other GW-related episode, but I'll have to look it up, as I can't remember it.

Edited 27 February , 2023 by seaJane

[knittinganddeath]

22 hours ago, seaJane said:

The Fabled Coast, 

I found it on Archive.org and it looks like a book I'll want to read in its entirety, so thank you for that.

[seaJane]

4 hours ago, knittinganddeath said:

I found it on Archive.org and it looks like a book I'll want to read in its entirety, so thank you for that.

I hope they've paid the ALCS fee!