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Mass observations:1 Social encounters between folk informants and clerics in late-nineteenth-century Britain

Oliver A. Douglas, University of Reading

Paper prepared for ‘Clerics and the Vernacular’; Draft updated 11/11/2010

Abstract

The late-nineteenth-century saw numerous clergymen participate in the examination of vernacular forms.

While they shared the common factor of the church, their collecting practices were illustrative of a wide

range of social discourse. Such engagements were subject to disciplinary advice, which attempted to shape

the role that such individuals ought to play in folk ethnography. Ideas stemming from anthropology—

inclusive of colonial and missionary contexts—were incorporated into collecting guidelines issued by the

Folklore Society. However, despite advice suggesting that informants might resist or deceive clerical

researchers, their place as investigators was nevertheless affirmed. The fine-grained detail of encounters

between religious professionals and folk informants suggest a far more complex picture than it is possible

to convey in a single paper. As such, I propose three broad and intersecting forms that such clerical

activity may be seen to have taken: (a) clerics participating in major, centrally-orchestrated surveys, (b)

clerics contributing towards works endorsed by the Folklore Society, and (c) parson-scholars operating

independently of major Society input. This paper seeks to highlight the social agencies at play in these

different modes of encounter and to examine the degree to which the work of churchmen reflected or

contrasted with academic expectations.

Antiquarian antecedents and reformist ideology

As with so many histories of the British study of vernacular culture I begin with the part

played by the 1846 arrival of William John Thoms’ neologism ‘folk-lore’ (Merton, 1846).

Important as this episode was in the wider development of the movement, the roots of

investigations conducted by religious professionals lay in much earlier activity. Thoms’

1 Connections between the activities of nineteenth-century clerics and Mass Observation—a social research organization that operated in Britain between 1937 and the early 1950s—are undeniably limited. However, certain linkages arguably excuse the crude reference and pun. Religious professionals undertook fieldwork within their own parishes, essentially utilizing congregations as informant samples. Furthermore, Mass Observation itself was concerned with 'anthropology of ourselves' (Mass Observation Archive, 2010). As this paper argues, clerics were prominent amongst the intellectual antecedents of what has elsewhere been termed auto-anthropology (Strathern, 1987), contributing towards the honing of ethnographic field methods and a model of homeland research that reached fruition in Mass Observation.


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baptismal passage included an implicit reference to John Brand’s Observations on Popular

Antiquities (1777). An expanded version was issued by Henry Ellis in 1813 and many take

this date to mark the commencement of British folklore studies, a teleological

perspective running through to the foundation of the Folklore Society in 1878 (Dorson,

1968b, ix, Dorson, 1968a, 17, Dorson, 1973, 17, Newall and FLS, 1980, xix). I argue that

this postdates and fails to accommodate various important trends. My revisionist

argument centres on intersections between the disciplinary establishments of

archaeological, anthropological, and folkloric thought (Douglas, 2010). To date I have

largely ignored the part played by religious discourse in such contexts but this paper

provides an opportunity to focus on various clerical agencies at the heart of this

narrative.

The parson-scholars of proto-archaeology are well known, forming a major

component of the early membership of the Society of Antiquaries of London (Sweet,

2007, 54). The best-known barrow diggers of the eighteenth century were the Reverends

Bryan Faussett and James Douglas (Marsden and Nurse, 2007, 95), their works indicative

of a predilection towards religious subjects, including remnants of funerary practices and

church monuments. Returning to textual origins, the precursor to Brand and Ellis’ works

was a volume by Henry Bourne called Antiquitates Vulgares or The Antiquities of the Common

People (1725). The year preceding its publication had seen Bourne’s appointment as curate

of All Hallows Church, Newcastle. In the context of our wider discussion it seems only

right to pay reference to this early, clerically-linked thinker who lays claim, in my view at

least, to having written one of the key foundational texts of British folk ethnography. If

an originating date for the wider movement is required, I favour an earlier one to call

attention to his contributions.

Antiquitates Vulgares offered ‘reflections’ on ‘ceremonies and opinions’, showing

which should be ‘retain’d’ and which ‘laid aside’. As Bourne wrote:

‘I would not be thought a Reviver of old Rites and Ceremonies to the Burdening

of the People, nor an Abolisher of innocent Customs, which are their Pleasures

and Recreations: I aim at nothing, but a Regulation of those which are Being

amongst them, which they themselves are far from thinking burdensome, and

abolishing such only as are sinful and wicked.’ (Bourne, 1725, ix-x)


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Religious motivation aside, Bourne’s work was clearly proto-folkloric, focussing as it did

on the origins of seemingly outmoded beliefs. It drew upon his knowledge of religious

ceremonies, the thirty-one chapters addressing subjects including funeral garlands, holy

wells, soul bells, corpses, altars, churchyards, and Christmas traditions. Many of these

were later examined by other antiquaries and folklorists (Douglas, 2010), such as the

work of Reverend George William Minns (Minns, 1901). Bourne’s analysis of folk

customs was not only facilitated by his being an officer of the church but the clerical

connection instilled religious impetus and knowledge in his practice, exploring as he did

the peculiarities of regional Christianity.

Bourne’s explicitly reformist incentive arguably undermines the notion that his

work exemplified early folklore research (Sutton and Sweet 2004). However, a similar

drive was to prevail in the work of many nineteenth-century folklorists and thinkers.

Indeed, Edward Burnett Tylor is one such example whose influential theory of ‘survivals

in culture’ gave rise to an anthropological school within British folklore studies. Tylor’s

survivalist doctrine was not a neutral exercise but an agent of progressionist ideology

(Hodgen, 1931, 323, Saler, 1997, 2, Hoyt, 2001, 332-333). As stated in the concluding

lines of his seminal work Primitive Culture:

‘It is a harsher, and at times even painful, office of ethnography to expose the

remains of crude old culture which have passed into harmful superstition, and to

mark these out for destruction. Yet this work, if less genial, is not less urgently

needful for the good of mankind. Thus, active at once in aiding progress and in

removing hindrance, the science of culture is essentially a reformer's science.’

(Tylor, 1871, 410)

Vernacular idiosyncrasies were the target of cultural sterilization,2 a reformist sentiment

that harked back to the values of Tylor’s antiquarian predecessors, in particular to

Bourne’s clerical ‘reflections’ (Bourne, 1725). His survivalist ideas emerged in the 1860s

(Tylor, 1867), and were fore-grounded in the outlook of the Folklore Society from 1878

onwards. ‘Savage’ folklorists inspired by Tylorian thought presided over a cross-

fertilization of ideas between folklore and anthropology, and ethnographic methods

became commonplace in homeland investigation. Echoing the role of clerics in

2 This evolutionary mechanism was akin to—and operated alongside—the eugenics of Francis Galton.


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eighteenth-century antiquarianism, many churchmen contributed extensively towards an

anthropological folklore. Such discourses were subject to disciplinary advice, which

aimed to shape the part that amateurs—inclusive of clergy—might play in relation to folk

culture. However, in spite of both this and the common factor of the church, their

individual approaches resulted in vastly differing forms of social encounter.

The variability of relations between clerics and informants suggest a far more

complex picture than it is possible to convey here. For the sake of expediency I offer an

overview of late-nineteenth-century clerical collecting, using case studies to illustrate

three broad models. Firstly, the participation of clerics in large-scale and centrally-

organized studies, namely the Ethnographical Survey of The United Kingdom instigated

by the British Association for the Advancement of Science (British Association) in the

1890s. Secondly, the involvement of clerics in Folklore Society activities, like their

provision of loans to a prominent folklore exhibition in 1891, their regional collecting

efforts, and their vital role in the survey work of Society members such as Robert Craig

Maclagan. Thirdly, work initiated directly by clerics and conducted independently of

bodies like the Folklore Society or British Association. As well as other figures, all three

models explore the involvement of Reverend Walter Gregor, and the final model outlines

contributions by Father Allen Macdonald. This paper highlights social processes in

different modes of encounter, examines discrepancies between academic rhetoric and

fieldwork practice, and attempts to discern whether anything exceptional occurred in

instances of collection where clerics were involved. Before turning to these different

models I must first explore the influence of anthropology and missionary work on the

aforementioned guidelines regarding clerical activity.

Anthropology, fieldwork, and folklore

Much has been written about the formulation of early anthropological guidelines (Urry,

1993, 18, Petch, 2007). The standardization of such directives began with the production

of a French questionnaire in 1800.3 A direct line of influence is traceable from this work

through to its first British equivalent, Queries Respecting the Human Race to be Addressed to

Travellers and Others (1841). Produced by the British Association it was reissued the

3 As produced by Joseph-Marie Degérando, whose work was the basis for a pamphlet issued by the Ethnological Society of Paris in 1840 (Urry, 1993, 18).


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following decade under the new title A Manual of Ethnological Enquiry being a Series of

Questions Concerning the Human Race (1851). The second volume was distributed overseas in

large numbers, reportedly being sent to numerous missionaries (Urry, 1993, 19-20).

Advice concerning the role of missionaries in colonial fieldwork was incorporated into its

successor Notes and Queries on Anthropology for the use of Travellers and Residents in Uncivilized

Lands (1874).4 Although the title underlined its application in foreign contexts, for the

second edition (1892) the reference to Uncivilised Lands was removed (Coote, 1987, 261,

Petch, 2007, 23), implying that anthropology’s hunting grounds had broadened to

reincorporate homeland enquiry. Either way, this initial volume came to have an

enduring influence on folklore scholarship.

This book was not be confused with the ‘weekly miscellany’ of the same name

launched by Thoms in 1849 (Anonymous, 1849, 2, Dorson, 1968a, 86, Simpson and

Roud, 2003, 261, Roper, 2007, 204), although his journal of collations almost certainly

inspired the title of the later book (Urry, 1972, 55). As with ‘folk-lore’, baptismal as

Thom’s brainchild was it was not intended to disseminate practical advice but to offer a

context for exchanging folkloric fragments (Simpson and Roud, 2003, 261). As the first

number stated, it was ‘a medley of all that men are doing… of the antiquary, and the

artist, the man of science, the historian, the herald, and the genealogist’ (Anonymous,

1849, 2). Markedly absent was the cleric. Nevertheless, religious professionals came to

fulfil the roles mentioned by Thoms, and ‘man of science’ captured the essence of what

anthropological folklorists aspired to be. Thoms’ Notes and Queries was therefore more

descriptive than instructive of disciplinary endeavour.

Preparations for its anthropological namesake began in 1872 (British Association

et al., 1874, iii, Urry, 1972, 46-47, Gosden, 1999, 41, Petch, 2007, 21-22), its object being

to facilitate the amateur supply of information for the ‘scientific study of anthropology at

home’ (British Association et al., 1874, iv). This emphasized the division of labour

between field collectors on the periphery and knowledge-generating gentleman-scholars

at home (Stocking, 2001, 175). Mention of ‘home’ was telling, underlining the domestic

goals of anthropology and highlighting the vitality of acquiring comparative information

from within Britain. The introductory passages stressed inaccuracies that were believed to

result from amateur contributions. In particular, travellers often appeared to be interested

4 Several alternatives were also published around this time, including volumes entitled the Admiralty Handbook and Hints to Travellers (Urry, 1972, 48). However, Notes and Queries was by far the most popular.


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only in things that resonated with their own experiences (Urry, 1993, 21). Information

was seen to be ‘lamentably distorted in order to render it in harmony with preconceived

ideas’, the authors feeling the need to stress the fact that ‘false theories are often built

upon imperfect bases of induction’ (British Association et al., 1874, iv-v). This was a

transparent critique of proselytizing and unscientific missionary scholars whose findings

were too affected and biased to be of value.

Despite unguarded criticism of these potential users, Notes and Queries was rapidly

adopted, usefully applied, and became ‘indispensable’ in overseas contexts (Edwards,

1992, 109-110, Poignant, 1992, 42, Petch, 2007, 26-27, Kuklick, 2008, 56, 295). Beyond

its introductory manifesto, the volume comprised three sections, one on physical

anthropology, a second on ‘culture’ penned mostly by Tylor, and a third offering practical

hints (British Association et al., 1874, vii-xiv). Despite the absence of a section devoted

to folklore such evidence was nevertheless relevant, as indicated by Tylor’s contributions

on religion, superstition, magic, witchcraft, mythology, and customs (British Association

et al., 1874, 50-63, 66-67). His section on religion examined obstacles to the recording of

belief systems, offering direct guidance concerning clerics. He advised on the best

methods of appropriating evidence from informants who, fearing scorn, might conceal

doctrine or purposefully mislead their questioners. He paid reference to the pitfalls of

engaging the clergy as fieldworkers, noting that they were more likely than their secular

counterparts to meet with unwilling informants (British Association et al., 1874, 50).

Tylor’s misgivings about the clergy may have been partly informed by his Quaker

background but his intentions were really to maximise the return of comparatively

unbiased data. In spite of these caveats the volume was circulated liberally amongst

missionaries and they nevertheless came to play a central role in the development of field

methods.5

The nineteenth century saw a shift in the character of missionaries. The early

decades had been dominated by ambitious, self-educated men who attempted to establish

‘theocratic regimes’. From the 1850s onwards missions were predominantly filled by

university-educated men, who arguably brought with them greater empathy with

indigenous concerns (Stocking, 1995, 34). Some brief examples of these enlightened,

anthropological missionaries are worthy of discussion here. Lorimer Fison was born in

Suffolk in 1832, converted to Methodism in Australia in 1861, and began his missionary

5 It is reported that the first edition sold out (Petch, 2007, 23).


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career in Fiji in 1863 (Stanner, 2006). Ever the perceptive observer, he was mindful of

the clerical advantage of becoming a longstanding member of the community, writing

that:

‘When a European has been living for two or three years among savages he is

sure to be fully convinced that he knows all about them; when he has been ten

years or so amongst them, if he be an observant man, he finds that he knows very

little about them, and so begins to learn.’ (Quoted in Stocking, 1995, 42).

Similar sentiments resonated in the findings of observers back home.6 The role of pastor

was such that it afforded a lengthy stay, often in a place hitherto unfamiliar, and provided

the perfect context for the embedded surveillance favoured by Fison.

Robert Henry Codrington, something of a protégé of Fison’s, was another

influential figure. This well-educated son of an Anglican clergyman was himself ordained

in 1855. He joined a Melanesian mission in 1867, attempting to remain separate from

those whom he saw as the self-serving constituents of colonialism (Stocking, 1995, 34-38,

Davidson, 2003). For Codrington like Fison time was a critical factor. As George

Stocking puts it, this was ‘not simply because it took time to learn another system of

belief, but because the passage of time helped to give one the humility that such learning

required’ (Stocking, 1995, 41). In other words, his ethnographic goals and spiritual path

were able to converge in fruitful ways. Echoing this model, clerics at home were free to

engage with their parishioners for long periods of time, unlike other professionals. For all

that Tylor and others were fearful that religious zeal might prove off-putting to potential

informants, in practice it might equally have served as a subtle foil, distracting from the

science of observation and rendering the clergyman a valid member of the community

where others remained the untrustworthy outsider.

Tylor’s concerns nevertheless fed through into the first formal guidelines produced under

the auspices of the Folklore Society. The same concerns that were being ignored on a

widespread basis overseas soon became ripe for similar disregard at home. The twenty

year hiatus between the first and second editions of Notes and Queries was punctuated by

the Folklore Society’s slow preparation and eventual publication of the Handbook of

6 Indeed, following his supervision of the British Association-inspired archaeological survey of Pembrokeshire, Edward Laws wrote: ‘I always flattered myself that I did thoroughly understand my native county, and now, alas! I find I know absolutely nothing about it’ (Laws, 1897, 75).


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Folklore (1890) (Urry, 1972, 48). In this volume, Charlotte Burne repeated Tylor’s

warnings, observing that the clergy could not be relied upon to amass folklore because

people were suspicious of telling them about non-Christian beliefs. Burne argued that

other well-placed middlemen—gentlemen-farmers, lawyers, doctors, and land agents—

should be employed instead as they not only came into contact with the right people but

unlike their religious peers, were also trusted by them (Burne, 1890, 327).7 However,

clerics were eager middlemen, whose place in society also afforded them the correct

contacts. Regardless of academic rhetoric, they therefore became central players at all

levels, from academy-sanctioned contexts through to their position at the vanguard of

autonomous collecting.

Clerical contributions to centralized surveys

Clerics were enthusiastic supporters of the centralized surveys that became popular

during the final decades of the nineteenth century. Although the aforementioned British

Association Survey has been explored in greater detail elsewhere (Urry, 1984, Douglas,

2010), the degree to which religious professionals participated has not been examined.

Endorsed by the Folklore Society, this scheme resulted from the efforts of several

influential figures, including Alfred Cort Haddon and Edward William Brabrook. Whilst

Brabrook drove the idea forward, it was really Haddon’s brainchild. One of the most

significant names in anthropology and folklore at this time, he had instigated regional

surveys in Ireland that became a fieldwork model for the British Association project.

Echoing Haddon’s broad-based approach, the latter targeted systematic gathering of

information in five key areas: Physical types; current traditions and beliefs; peculiarities of

dialect; monuments and ancient culture; and historical evidence regarding race (British

Association et al., 1895).

Although the literature made no direct mention of the risks of clerical collection,

voluntary contributors were encouraged to make use of the book Notes and Queries for

anthropometric techniques (British Association et al., 1895, 2), and the Handbook of

Folklore for current beliefs (Brabrook, 1894, 648, British Association et al., 1895, 7, 17). It

soon became apparent that these comprehensive volumes were ‘too voluminous for

7 It seems incompatible with present-day stereotypes concerning estate agents and solicitors, to observe that their nineteenth-century equivalents were deemed more trustworthy in the eyes of the general populace than priests or vicars.


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general use’ (Brabrook, 1898, 453), their dogmatic content quite possibly proving off-

putting. A shorter, more accessible booklet was produced which stated:

‘Valuable practical hints are given in the Handbook of Folklore, a small volume that

may be bought for half-a-crown and carried in the pocket. Confidence between

the collector and those from whom he is seeking information is the prime

necessity. Keep your notebook far in the background and beware of letting the

peasant know the object of your curiosity, or even of allowing him to see that you

are curious… Do anything to establish a feeling of friendly sympathy. Never

laugh at your friend’s superstitions—not even if he laugh at them himself; for he

will not open his heart to you if he suspect you of despising them.’ (British

Association et al., 1895, 17-18)

Aversion to the usefulness of clerics was unmentioned. Only if they purchased the more

comprehensive literature would clerics see any discouragement of their involvement. In

the shorter guidelines the notion that certain people might encourage resistance or pour

scorn on folk beliefs was couched in very general terms, perhaps because a good many

potential respondents were religious professionals and it was deemed more important to

maximise the number of possible fieldworkers.

The Survey required that correspondents propose sites deserving of study, which

were to ‘contain not less than 100 adults, the large majority of whose forefathers have

lived there so far back as can be traced (Brabrook, 1894, 621). They responded with 264

places in the first report, rising to a total of 367 the following year (Urry, 1984, 92). Many

clerics made suggestions, usually drawing upon villages within their own or neighbouring

parishes.8 Reflecting the reluctance expected of informants faced with interrogation, one

clerical respondent noted of the Highlands that:

‘…the visitor (who must of course talk Gaelic) would have to incur, besides his

hotel bills, some small outlay on whisky to induce men to talk freely and throw

8 In the first report alone, Canon Mathews and Reverend J. Wharton suggested locales in Westmorland, Canon Isaac Taylor in Yorkshire, Reverend Augustus Jessopp in Norfolk, Reverend J. O. Bevan in Hereford, Reverend C. W. Bennett in Somerset, Reverend Alexander R. Eagar in Cornwall, Reverend G. N. Godwin and Very Reverend G. W. Kitchin, Dean of Winchester, in Hampshire, Archdeacon Thomas in Radnor, Carnarvon, Denbeigh, Merioneth, and Montgomery, Reverend Iorwerth Gray Lloyd in Pembroke, Reverend Professor Ellis Edwards in Merioneth, Reverend James Macdonald in The Highlands, and Reverend Robert Hawley Clutterbuck in Derby and Hampshire (Brabrook, 1894).


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off the ordinary restraint Highlanders have in the presence of strangers’

(Brabrook, 1894, 641)

Although there were no priests amongst the respondents, Roman Catholic clergymen

were involved in the Irish Survey, operations of which were kept separate. Space does

not permit lengthy discussion of the Irish works in this context.9 A lack of Catholic

involvement in England and Wales stemmed from the need for subjects to come from

families long established in their communities. This excluded the growing numbers of

Scots or Irish Catholics. In the Welsh context the emphasis was placed more firmly on

archaeology than folklore but several clerics were nevertheless involved.10

Despite initial interest, of the cleric respondents few would make meaningful

contributions. The Reverend Robert Hawley Clutterbuck mentioned Lullington,

Derbyshire, where as curate he had become interested in the history of parish families

(Brabrook, 1894, 626). He also drew attention to the Test Valley, Hampshire, where his

own parish Penton Mewsey contained a significant dataset of 274 inhabitants (Brabrook,

1894, 637).11 Reacting to acknowledgement of his suggestions he wrote directly to

Brabrook referring to survivals, witchcraft, mumming, offering to secure a costume, and

to complete some forms.12 Whether he fulfilled these promises is unclear but he certainly

went on to write an intriguing account of an initiation ritual—‘the Horning of the

Colts’—at a hiring fair at Weyhill, a site less than two miles from his own village. A

landlord described to him the details of this rowdy event that until recently had taken

place at several different inns within the parish (Clutterbuck, 1896, 140-141). The passage

was illustrated by a sketch and made mention of Clutterbuck acquiring an artefact. Both

forms of evidence—objects and drawings—had been requested in the first Survey report

(Brabrook, 1894, 648). Relations between cleric and landlord belied a degree of

uninhibited engagement with the subjects of his investigation.

Subsequent publications contained further evidence of clerical impact, inclusive

of anthropometric contributions towards the Survey. Reverend Fletcher Moss of

Didsbury, Lancashire, provided measurements and ‘other observations’ (Brabrook, 1896,

9 I have elsewhere discussed these contexts and examples in greater detail (Douglas, 2010). 10 Again, I have elsewhere discussed these contexts and examples in greater detail (Douglas, 2010). 11 Other work published following his death in 1896 also utilized a parish-based approach (Clutterbuck and Webb, 1898). 12 FLS T258, Letter, Clutterbuck to Brabrook, 27 December 1893


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608), and Reverend J. Frome Wilkinson, Rector of Barley, Hertfordshire, enticed

Haddon and others to measure and photograph ‘different ranks of society’ from amongst

his parishioners:

‘Their attention was drawn… to strong historical evidence as to the continuity of

race furnished by entries in the parish registers and other local records going back

to an unusually early time, to the existence of remains of ancient culture hitherto

almost unnoticed in the county histories, and to the survival to a late period of

early forms of land cultivation in this parish’ (Brabrook, 1895, 510)

Haddon later reported that Wilkinson afforded him ‘every facility in his power, and

induced several of his parishioners to be measured’ (Haddon, 1898, 503). Clerics

therefore carried a degree of sway in fieldwork contexts.

The only salaried Survey position was filled by another cleric, the aforementioned

Walter Gregor (Brabrook, 1895, 511). Gregor was a well-known folklorist in his own

right (Porter, Buchan and Olson, 1997, Miller, 2000, Miller, 2005). His regional

gatherings of measurements, folklore, and material culture from southwest Scotland were

the greatest achievement of the entire Survey.13 Plans to extend his special regional works

were cut short by Gregor’s untimely death in 1897 (Brabrook, 1895, 511). However,

reports of work completed before this date provide information concerning the nature of

his interaction with informants. Cited by Stephen Miller, a review of an 1894 work by

Gregor described his efforts as ‘original collections from the mouths of the folk’

(Anonymous quoted in Miller, 2005, 220). His contributions comprised an impressive

733 separate items of folklore (Gregor, 1898), and a large number of measurements taken

in Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire (Gregor et al., 1898). As Miller notes, the

folklore listings contained several duplicates where items were collected in more than one

locale, meaning the actual number of items was higher still (Miller, 2005, 222).

Working parish by parish Gregor relied upon the hospitality and local knowledge of non-

working class residents, without whose help little could have been accomplished. Each

individual statement was listed according to the parish of acquisition. In several instances

his local advisors were themselves clergy. Reverend Paton of Soulseat ‘used every

exertion’ to show Gregor to the ‘parishioners whose ancestors had been for the longest

13 Recent work by Stephen Miller has provided detailed discussion and analysis of Gregor’s Survey activities and material culture interests (Miller, 2009, Miller, Forthcoming).


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period in Galloway’, avoiding those whose forebears were Irish. Reverend J. Reid,

minister of Minnigaff, ‘spared no pains’ to drive him to see those ‘considered able to

help’ (Gregor, 1896, 612). These agents facilitated Gregor’s meeting with numerous folk

informants and he reported that ‘every opportunity of collecting folklore was laid hold

of, and a good deal of it, some of which will prove of interest, was gathered’ (Gregor et

al., 1898, 501). It is hard to gauge how many informants Gregor encountered or what

length of time he spent with them. On the anthropometric side he acquired

measurements from at least 116 separate ‘Galloway folk’ (Gregor et al., 1898, 501),14 and

it seems likely that he spoke directly with a good deal more to acquire over 733 items of

folklore.

Gregor’s anthropometric efforts were facilitated by various local men including

Reid once again, Reverend Cavan of Dromore Free Church, Reverend Gutteridge of

Logan Episcopalian Church, Reverend Philip of Kells Presbyterian Church,15 and

Reverend Allan of Mochrum Presbyterian Church (Gregor et al., 1898, 501).16 This

indicated engagement with ministers from different denominations, albeit they were all

Protestant. The efficacy of clergy was sufficient in the eyes of the Survey organisers that

the vacancy left by Gregor was filled by another minister, Reverend H. B. M. Reid. At the

same time they appointed Reverend Elias Owen to undertake comparable work in Wales

(Brabrook, 1898, 454).17 This whole example ran contrary to the expectation that clerics

would find informants obstructive and contradicted advice suggesting it was wise to keep

one’s scientific intentions hidden. Gregor’s own words echoed such endorsement of

clerical contributions:

‘I have only to add that nothing could exceed the kindness and courtesy with

which I was received by all, and the readiness with which all gave themselves to

be measured, and that all were much interested in the survey.’ (Gregor, 1896, 613)

This readiness was in part a reflection of a comparatively enlightened ministry. Indeed,

contrary perhaps to one’s expectations of the church, it was reported that one clergyman

who aided Gregor had remonstrated successfully against abolishing a traditional

14 82 men and 34 women. 15 Probably Reverend P. Philip. 16 Probably Reverend William Allan. 17 H. B. M. Reid made at least one comment on Gregor’s work that was based on his own observations (Gregor, 1898, 458).


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Hogmanay burning barrel procession that was deemed by the authorities to be too

drunken (Gregor, 1896, 622). Furthermore, superstitions regarding the unlucky nature of

meddling with ministers, several of which were recorded by Gregor, may well have

played a minor role in the extent to which informants were agreeable to sharing beliefs

and superstitions (Gregor, 1898, 622).

Clerics and the Folklore Society

Besides the aforementioned advice of their Handbook of Folklore, the Folklore Society

offered comparatively little to either recommend or discourage the participation of

clergymen. Despite these few dispiriting words clerics nevertheless participated in the

group’s operations, contributing towards certain key projects. Motivated by educational

reform, railways, and the rapid onset of industrialization the Society sought to promote

urgent collection of folklore. Ideas circulating within the folklore movement at this time

pointed towards salvage efforts being most easily orchestrated on a regional stage, with

metropolitan rhetoric filtering down to the county and parish level (Douglas, 2010).

Nineteenth-century Britain saw a wider interest in regionalism, such sub-national scales

being vital administrative units. Ordnance Survey maps reinforced a top-down sense of

place (Smith, 2003, 83), highlighted boundaries, and curtailed continuity. Local

Government Acts of England and Wales (1888) and Scotland (1889) introduced well-

defined boroughs, and mandatory election of parish councils. In short, the parish became

more rather than less important at this time.

District-based analyses first became commonplace in eighteenth-century

antiquarian circles and by the late nineteenth century such approaches were being actively

promoted by bodies like the Society of Antiquaries (Urry, 1984, 87).18 One example was

George Payne’s collation of Kentish material culture, which was driven by a sense of

local stewardship (Payne, 1882, 3). In such contexts, lineally-defined regional spaces

formed the margins of research, this methodology playing out quite literally through

mounting interest in traditions of beating the bounds or the community-centred

approaches of Gomme and his interest in early village life (Gomme, 1883). Returning

18 The British Association had already sanctioned attempts by ‘area-district’ representatives to collate provincial artefactual datasets into local chronologies (British Association, 1888, 168). By 1892 regional archaeological surveys were so popular that John Evans championed them in his address to the Society of Antiquaries (Evans, 1892, 145).


14

briefly to the Survey, one contributor of potential sites in Wales noted that in districts

where there were no villages scholars should observe members of ‘the various places of

worship’ as these were seen to be ‘practically the centres of the different communities’

(Brabrook, 1894, 422). For the Folklore Society and its supporters the parish offered a

framework for collecting, analysing, and comprehending data. These ecclesiastical

structures complimented the potential fruitfulness of provincial clubs, local Society

representatives, and county committees.

In November 1889, in an attempt to encourage county-based collecting, the

president and director of the Society, Andrew Lang and Gomme respectively, printed

members’ names under headings that indicated their county—or, for Ireland, Scotland,

and Wales, country—of residence, suggesting that these individuals rekindle provincial

collecting efforts. Some amongst those listed were already well-known collectors, some

of whom were familiar clergymen who would also play a part in the British Association

project. For example, Gregor himself was singled-out for praise for ongoing works and

Owen was named in relation to North Wales (Lang and Gomme, 1889, 357, 363), later

being appointed under the British Association to undertake special work in the region

(Brabrook, 1898, 454, Hartland, 1899, 713). Although most were relative unknowns and

the exercise resulted in little action, the Society nevertheless saw definite potential in the

clergy and named a total of fifteen religious professionals in this context (Lang and

Gomme, 1889, 357-364).19 These clerics comprised over ten percent of a total

membership of 142 individual subscribers, a significant proportion.

In the context of this discussion, the most noteworthy response came from Dr Robert

Craig Maclagan, an Edinburgh-based businessman who proceeded to conduct an

epistolary Survey of West Highland Folklore (Douglas, Forthcoming, Douglas, 2010).

Although not a religious professional, in 1893 he sent circulars to numerous clergymen

and several contributed extensively to his research. These clerical agents gathered

material in their parishes and sent it to Maclagan for collation and publication through

the Society. His most productive field agents included Reverend Neil Campbell of

19 Besides Gregor and Owen in relation to Scotland and North Wales respectively, clerics named included Reverends T. Harley and E. P. Larkin [Larken] in Surrey, Reverends F. W. Jackson and C. A. Williamson in Yorkshire, Reverend Edward Bickersteth Birks in Cambridgeshire, Reverend John Frederick Watkinson Bullock in Essex, Reverends R. H. Codrington and W. R. W. Stephens in Sussex, Reverends Hilderic Friend and F. H. I. McCormick in Cumberland, Reverend W. S. Lach-Szyrma in Cornwall, Reverend T. Lloyd Phillips in Kent, and the Very Reverend Dean of Lichfield in Staffordshire (Lang and Gomme, 1889, 357-364).


15

Kilchrenan and Elizabeth May Kerr, niece and housekeeper to Reverend James

Macmillan of the Free Church, Islay. Maclagan wrote to Macmillan at the beginning of

his project, recruiting Kerr as a result. She took advantage of her church-related standing

in the community to facilitate her acquisition of information (Douglas, 2010, 224-225).

Kerr elsewhere assisted with the flow of information from other clergymen, such as

Reverend George Sutherland of Mull, who owned a stick said to be from the last need

fire ritual performed in Scotland (Douglas, 2010, 202).

Maclagan rated the services of clergymen highly enough to approach the

Episcopalian Bishop of Argyll and the Isles, Reverend James Robert Alexander

Chinnery-Haldane, whose Chaplain and Secretary, Reverend Donald Cameron of Saint

John’s Rectory, Ballachulish, replied:

‘[T]he Bishop thoroughly approves of your praiseworthy efforts to… collect and

preserve for future generations what cannot fail to be most interesting, and what

is in danger of being lost, of the primitive habits and customs, and sayings and

traditions of our primitive Celtic forefathers of the Western Highlands and

Islands; and that he sincerely hopes that the labours of the Folk-Lore Society in

each department of your prospectus will be crowned with much success. But his

Lordship feels sorry that, not being Gaelic-speaking and the people of this district

not knowing much English, personally, he will be unable to collect any

information for you. However, I am directed to inform you that he has entrusted

to me, who am a native of this district, to do what I can for you both with respect

to (if possible) finding one or two collections and also contributing personally to

your stock of material. As the pastor of the largest congregation of Gaelic-

speaking Episcopalians in Scotland, I cannot, with so many calls on my time,

produce much: but I shall have much pleasure in doing something...’20

Whilst Cameron never assisted Maclagan, his letter highlighted the need to gain

ecclesiastical support in such endeavours, and emphasized familiarity on the part of the

clergy with the rhetoric of salvage. Instead of hindering progress in collecting, having the

church onside quite probably aided Maclagan in his efforts. It is worth reiterating the fact

that Gaelic language was an essential prerequisite of success in this area and that most of

20 MMS 110-110a-b, Letter, Cameron to MacLagan, 11 October 1893


16

Maclagan’s clerical correspondents would have had at least rudimentary Gaelic skills

(Douglas, 2010, 222-223).

The Society’s efforts represented the attempt to re-instigate an antiquarian culture

of collecting at the local level. Complementing this goal, at least one named cleric—

Reverend T. Lloyd Phillips of Kent—was an active member of the Society of

Antiquaries. Phillips was probably familiar with Payne’s contemporaneous Survey of his

own county. Codrington, discussed above in relation to missionary work, was also

amongst those named. Having returned from Melanesia in 1887 he was serving as vicar

of Wadhurst, Chichester (Davidson, 2003, 175).21 With a demonstrable interest in the

cultural peculiarities of his congregation, he must have seemed an ideal candidate to

contribute to this increasingly anthropological field. However, his collecting interest

evidently lay only in the Pacific. Like Codrington, many of the clergymen named were

active professionally, residing as they did in vicarages, deaneries, and rectories at the heart

of potential informant datasets. Their addresses emphasized an unspoken promotion of

parochial methodology and silently hinted towards a congregational model of

engagement between clerics and parishioners. New information that it was believed

would result from increased county activity and from the anticipated publication of

Society’s Handbook would necessitate fresh analysis. Alongside tabulators responsible for

folktales of different nations appointments were made to oversee the examination of

customs and superstitions. Again, clerical expertise was evident in this context, Gregor

being placed in charge of ‘death and burial customs’ (an appropriate topic for a man of

his profession), and Reverend E. P. Larken [Larkin] chosen to oversee ‘folk medicine’

(Lang and Gomme, 1889, 369). Overlapping as it did with witchcraft, this field was an

intriguing specialism for a churchman, implying the disdain expected from clerics in

relation to profane ideas was a figment or an irrelevant hangover from Tylor’s missionary

advice.

Clergymen were clearly vital participants in the Society’s works but their value

was probably equal to that of other collectors and fieldworkers of similar social standing.

Indeed, as with the Society’s county ambitions, the catalogue of the International

Folklore Congress Exhibition held at Burlington House, London, in 1891, contained

material loaned by a limited number of relevant individuals. These contributions were set

alongside the artefacts provided by the dominant figures in the Folklore Society, amateur

21 Returning briefly to Melanesia in 1892 he retained this position until 1893.


17

and professional scholars, overseas contributors, and other interested parties (Ordish,

1892). As ever, Gregor was a central figure loaning as he did two marriage ribbons and a

small cross made of rowan (Ordish, 1892, 450-451). His possession of the ribbons clearly

reflected the fact that he presided over marital proceedings as part of his day job.

Intended as a protective amulet against witches, the cross was a more intriguing

possession for a cleric to exhibit. This further supports the notion of a far more relaxed

attitude on the part of both Gregor and the informant from whom he obtained the

artefact than that implied in the Society’s Handbook of Folklore.

Turning to less familiar names, Reverend Spencer W. Phillips of Kent provided a

staff formerly used to summon a manorial court (Ordish, 1892, -459),22 and Reverend

Samuel Rundle of Helston loaned a form of harvest figure known as a neck, some plants

associated with local folklore, music relating to a calendar custom performed in his

parish, and another wedding item, this one a horn blown in front of the house of the

newlyweds (Ordish, 1892, -459). These artefacts again reflected local interests and

knowledge and connected to the role of the cleric as a central community figure. The

only other clergyman to contribute was Reverend James Sibree, a missionary who

displayed ‘anthropological’ items connected with his work on behalf of the London

Missionary Society in Madagascar (Ordish, 1892, 459). His presence once again placed

emphasis on the connections between the ethnographic works of overseas missionaries

and the local researches of cleric folklorists at home. These parallel datasets could coexist

within the intellectual milieu and theoretical framework of the Folklore Society. This was

in effect the Society’s strength, acting as a hub into which various strands of collecting

fed, whether they stemmed from clerics or other types of middlemen. Indeed, advice

concerning clergymen was not of paramount importance, the significant factors being the

very gathering of folklore, the resultant material itself, and its systematization. As a

consequence Burne’s passing references to the shortcomings of clerics were not only

sidelined but steamrollered into irrelevance.

Clerics as independent collectors

The strong influence that anthropology developed over approaches to folklore came

largely as a result of figures like Tylor and Haddon. Haddon’s own experiences in remote

22 The object was known as the ‘Dumb Borsholder of Chart’.


18

coastal communities sparked an interest in vernacular culture that preceded his

involvement with the Folklore Society, which began in 1888 (Urry, 1984, 87). During

tours of the early 1880s (Douglas, 2010, 124), and research in the Aran Islands in 1891

(Haddon and Browne, 1892), he recruited priests as primary and secondary sources.

Haddon promoted his situational opportunism to Gomme, proposing that ‘drawing

room meetings on folklore’ might provide a boost to local interest. Gomme soon road-

tested this approach in a clerical context:

‘It is a good plan your drawing room meetings on folklore. Mine in Staffordshire

was impromptu and in this way. Miss Burne had taken us over to a Parsons to

lunch… After lunch we “launched” Folklore. Nobody knew anything about it,

nor cared about it. But soon one of the daughters heard of the villagers doing (a),

Mrs Daltry heard of them brewing in (b) and the Parson had heard of a “silly”

story… Then we fired away. I have sent him the Handbook and hope to make

him a convert. This seems to me to be “the method”. Let things be done by way

of conversation. Note down everything, particularly securing the locality of each

item. Then having noted the jottings of one meeting… accidentally got together,

put them into shape for the next meeting and tell them of the scientific

importance of what they had told you about.’23

Although not only oriented towards clergymen and operating with the wider Society

goals in mind, the potential of independent collectors was nevertheless emphasized.

Collection was therefore also seen as something that people could undertake in isolation

from or ignorance of the wider movement.24 The longer term interests of such

individuals—duly enlightened as to the centralised value of their labours—were

potentially to be secured through careful guidance and suitable appreciation. With the

community role of the church and the bureaucratic significance of ecclesiastical

boundaries it is unsurprising that this mechanism was first tested in a parson’s front

room. The centrality of the average cleric’s home to village and parish made them a

convenient context in which to extol the virtues of folklore studies. The Gomme

23 ACH 3058, Letter, Gomme to Haddon, 1890s 24 In his study of Yorkshire folklorists of the period John Ashton identified a series of regional amateurs who exemplified this very point, inclusive of a number of religious professionals. Whilst they appear to have been conversant with the evolutionary ideas of the time, these were not their main ‘intellectual preoccupation’ (Ashton, 1997, 22).


19

example echoes another domestic incident. In a letter written to Tylor in 1897, Albert

William Brown described a conversation in the anthropologist’s drawing room regarding

the superstition of carrying the tip of a tongue as an amulet. He explained that he had

obtained a ‘genuine specimen’, probably in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. This letter has been

elsewhere used to illustrate the social connections involved in Tylor’s acquisition of

material culture (Brown et al., 2000), a form of network analysis that could be applied to

the contacts of nineteenth-century clerics. These incidents highlight the social

stratifications at play within the movement. The webs in which clerical contributors

operated extended from working class congregational informants, through professional

and middle class drawing rooms, and beyond the parish boundaries to heart of emergent

social science.

The centralized endeavours discussed above all made use of scholars whose

works had begun prior to their involvement in such bodies. Many works, conducted

largely independent of major bodies or their affiliates, were initiated directly by

churchmen or—as with Haddon—made use of clergy as informants. Such piecemeal

clerically-linked scholarship was motivated by individuals and not wider groups. As with

the previous two models of clerical involvement, Gregor’s personal collecting practices

offer an ideal case study. His interests were ignited as far back as the 1860s (Miller, 2005,

220), well before the influx of Tylorian thought and Haddon-inspired regionalism. With

the majority of the fieldwork conducted prior to Folklore Society’s foundation, Gregor

released his first major publication through this fledgling organization. As Miller points

out Notes on the Folk-Lore of the North-East of Scotland (1881) offered a detailed account of

traditions within his own parish of Pitsligo, Aberdeenshire (Miller, 2005, 220). Like

charity, folklore it seemed began at home. However, it soon expanded further afield, his

later work reflecting other regions of Scotland where, as with his British Association

efforts, he made extensive collections of folkloric items (Miller, 2005, 221).

Gregor’s artefactual interests reflect these regional explorations. Besides objects

obtained during Survey work he made a handful of other acquisitions and was involved

in artefactual transactions on behalf of others. He occasionally acted as an intermediary

passing other peoples’ objects to organizations like the Society of Antiquaries of

Scotland, such as a ‘Luckenbooth’ brooch (Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 1893).25

Furthermore, apparently functional items—lamps, rush-lights, tinderbox, candle-mould,

25 NMS H.NO.48.


20

besom-rushes, oatcake basin, and yarn-reel—were tempered by less profane material—a

shepherd’s club engraved with a cabbalistic score, and numerous rowan crosses to

protect against witchcraft, amongst others.26 Stemming from both his immediate locality

and further afield these objects reflected not only a direct understanding of his parochial

community and the practical challenges faced by its constituents but explored more

spiritual components of folk belief, many of which came into conflict with Christian

thought. This dual purpose echoed the role of the minister as both compassionate

listener and church advocate, if not outright evangelist.

Another cleric whose interests also began before wider involvement in the

development of folklore studies is Father Allan Macdonald. The surviving folklore

notebooks of this priest, poet, and collector reveal comprehensive works, which began in

1887 and ran until 1897, comprising a wide range of data gathered on South Uist and

Eriskay (Campbell and Hall, 1968, ix). In point of fact, Macdonald’s fame in Scottish

ethnological circles stems largely from the cooption of his work into the copyist output

of the now infamous and better-known folklorist and psychical researcher Ada

Goodrich-Freer, also known as ‘Miss X’. Goodrich-Freer took much of her published

work directly from Macdonald, making few changes and effectively passing it off as her

own (Campbell, 1958, 179, Campbell and Hall, 1968, ix-x). The fact that Macdonald’s

work was utilized in this way is arguably representative of the wider folklore movement

at this time. Rather than out-and-out plagiarism as John Campbell and Trevor Hall more

or less suggest (Campbell, 1958, 179-180, Campbell and Hall, 1968, xii), this was an

extreme version of the trickle-down data-gathering intentions of bodies like the Folklore

Society —to whom Goodrich-Freer presented information (Goodrich-Freer, 1899)—and

illustrated the take-up of locally-gathered parochial folklore from clerical fieldworkers

lower down in the disciplinary hierarchy. Macdonald was to Goodrich-Freer as Kerr and

Campbell were to Maclagan or the Staffordshire parson was to Gomme.

Much like the affectations and biases of missionary scholarship that were the

scourge of Notes and Queries (British Association et al., 1874, iv-v), the services of such

clerical fieldworkers were welcomed suffice that their evidences were channelled for

central analysis. In other respects besides the appropriation of his researches by the

exploitative Goodrich-Freer, Macdonald’s approach echoed that of many of his

26 These artefacts have been discussed in greater detail elsewhere (Douglas, 2010, Miller, Forthcoming).


21

equivalents. Following training in Valladolid in Spain he was ordained in Glasgow in

1882 and soon posted to the mission at Oban. Here his interests in oral tradition began.

They were later cemented by his 1884 appointment as parish priest to the mission of

Dalibrog in South Uist (Campbell, 1954, 7-10). He immersed himself in the language,

mastering the local Gaelic dialect and adopting a sensitive attitude towards his immediate

locality. His congregation was large—some 2300 souls—and offered a ready sample of

folk informants. Most likely encouraged by Reverend Alexander Campbell, another Uist

priest, he began to note down items of folklore. As John Campbell notes, Father Allan

had by 1892 ‘already collected a large quantity of folklore before any outside influence

was brought to bear on, or outside interest taken in, him’ (Campbell, 1958, 177). Between

1892 and 1893, as a result of poor health, Eriskay was divided off from Dalibrog as a

separate parish and Macdonald was posted there.

It is worth considering denominational factors in this instance. I have mentioned

only a handful of comparable Roman Catholic examples, namely works undertaken by

Haddon in conjunction with priests in western Ireland. In a context of unequal rights for

Catholics, both in terms of land questions and scholastic issues, Macdonald and his

fellow priests had to explain to people what their rights were and became a conduit

through which the local populace were able to make representations and attempt to

secure firmer political grounds (Campbell, 1954, 10-12). The fact that Macdonald

performed these agentive functions indicates in part why people felt able to trust him and

impart to him folklore that was often unchristian in outlook. Furthermore, the fact that

he was also well liked by local Protestants serves to illustrate that he was diplomatic,

patient, and conversant with matters of local importance (Campbell, 1954, 12), all

character traits that no doubt aided his success as a collector. Despite the single largest

connection being the nominal issue of Macdonald’s community being itself a mission,

this degree of sympathy is reminiscent of the spiritual qualities that Fison believed made

for a successful clerical scholar in overseas and colonial contexts. Macdonald’s work may

have developed in relative isolation from the wider folklore movement but it relied on

the same sense of parochial familiarity identifiable across all the examples I have

discussed.

Some conclusions


22

I have covered few spiritual, doctrinal, or denominational issues in the course of this

paper and these are clearly areas where further work would be beneficial. It is also clear

that the broad models I have outlined are relatively fluid and that individual folklorist

clerics such as Gregor may be seen to have easily fulfilled the criteria of all three. It is

interesting to note that, despite the sentiments of their antiquarian predecessor Bourne

and the survivalist progressionism of Tylor, late-nineteenth-century clerics do not appear

to have passed judgement on their folk informants any more than their secular

counterparts did. In many cases they seem to have been more tolerant and sympathetic

to parishioners’ views and opinions than the broader rhetoric of the movement. Further

to this, neither do they appear to have encountered the barriers to collection envisaged of

missionaries by Tylor’s contributions to Notes and Queries or of homeland churchmen by

Burne’s warnings in the Handbook of Folklore. Their position in society afforded them the

connections that the alternative middlemen of Burne’s advice were thought to provide.

In sum, clerics played a clear, vital and influential role in the development of

ethnographic fieldwork methods at home, much as they did in overseas missionary

contexts. Although they lacked direct and formative influence on the structures and

methods being promoted by the wider movement, their contributions were to have a

powerful and lasting effect on the direction that folklore studies took from this point

forward.27 In the savage heart of Weyhill in Hampshire, who better to befriend the

indigenous publican and coax from him the narrative details of strange rites of passage,

than the local vicar, Reverend Clutterbuck.

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