You may have heard on the folk grapevine (it’s loud) that I’m starting a radio show and you’d have heard correctly.

Found Sounds is my new monthly show on Brewing Folk Radio

Expect sounds from the deep past and the far future of folk. This month’s episode has a May theme because what is better than the merry month of May? There’s snippets from Padstow and Helston, and a majestic dulcimer track and some songs about rising very early in the morning.

You can listen in here!

On April 23rd The Lost Folk paperback enters the world, its got a springy new cover…

To celebrate its arrival I’m back out doing some events. Here’s a list of upcoming dates (and if you’d like me to come to you please get your local bookshop/festival/events space to get in touch!)

Events:

8th May - Fowey Literary Festival, tickets here

16th May - Get Together Festival, Sheffield, tickets here

23rd May - Buttermarket Redruth (more info soon, keep your eyes on my website)

27th August - Ludlow History Festival, tickets here

More dates soon!

x

Photo Credit: Max Crow Reeves

Photo Credit: Amy Webb

Through a tangle of bramble and briar I can see the sun.

Feel the sun dappling, pooling on skin and waking stiff limbs

I’m trapped....How long have I been sleeping?

Hungry.......

Nibble munch relish tender stem

Gobble gorge push up through

Feast for stomach, feast for eyes

First sight of bird flying through sky

First smell of badger, ah here’s its path

Push and thrust and nibble through and....

Free

What can I see?

Sap running fast through my mind, I have never seen such straight lines, how did they they get there in the sky? They are growing up from the ground, but they don’t look like tree

Where am I?

Lick the air, Inhale unfamiliar scents

What messages are these?

My seed stuffed sack cloth heart beats fast

As I cautiously hoof through this strange new forest

Eyes made from mouse nibbled hazelnut.... can’t comprehend

Ears of buckskin leather hear a roar...humming throbbing buzzing undersound of life

I was born.

Photo Credit: Steve Pope

Or was I made?.....Born. Emerging from the rift between ecological collapse and our deep-rooted longing for reconnection with the land

Born. From kin. My fellow beasts that amble and gambol and hoof the earth

Made. Hands with sharp carving tools on spalted beech; rushes gathered from slow deep waters, air dried and tail plaited, sewn and hammered and tried up in a bushel...I was born.

And now

I walk on metalled roads, standing with my human friends in solidarity, crying out for restoration of the land

I look down at my hooves and they have changed in shape and size once again!

I frolic through meadows and re-wilded places revelling in the abundant sights and sound

I caper with children, taking delight in the flora, investigating the vegetation

I dance with Morris. Fiddle, drum, fife and tabor are my beats

I sing of what the earth can be

For I still hear the old tunes

Photo Credit: Harry Key

Written By Ruth Webb of the Lost Giants

The Rewilderbeest is the last of its kind—a mythical creature born from the rift between ecological collapse and our deep-rooted longing for reconnection with the land. Part folk hero, part ecological spirit, the Rewilderbeest roams moorlands, meadows, cities and woodlands in search of restoration and belonging. A gentle grazer and moss enthusiast, the Rewilderbeest invites us to question, to share knowledge, and spark conversations about land stewardship and our connections to natural materials.

http://www.thelostgiants.co.uk/

https://www.instagram.com/thelostgiantmakers/

A few months ago Simon from Ånd Fragrances and I sat down and had a chat about creating a scent kit. I wanted something that would bring alive some of the smells that I’d read about when researching old fayres and markets. They were so rich and diverse from the Frost Fayres of the Thames filled with gingerbread stalls to the floral gloved hand that is raised at Charter Days across the country, and the hot pennies that are thrown to children at Honiton in Devon. There seemed like there was a lot to play with scent wise… it turned out I was right and Simon set to work crafting six scents that now form this incredible scent kit:

Timmer Mårket

Bonifåce Fåyre

Frost Fåyre

Måzzård Fåyre

Chårter Dåy

Goosey Fåyre

The idea is that they each transport you to the fayre, the kit comes with a card that explains a little of the history of each fayre and the inspiration behind the scents.

You can nab your own kit here now.

I hope you are all well. I’m writing to say I’ve three Autumn dates coming up including my first online talk/in convo…

Here are the details:

7th October - Dublin History Festival, Online

Tickets

16th October - The Bookshop in Helston, Cornwall

Tickets

26th October - Falmouth Book Festival

Tickets

It would be so lovely to see some of you there!

With all best wishes,

Lally X

We had such a brilliant conversation and Sam asked really brilliant and pertinent questions, so it was a lot of fun. We tackle some tricky topics but also some fun ones - which I think for me is what folk is all about.

You can listen now here

I thought it might be helpful to have a quick list of everywhere I’ll be in the next little while incase one is nearby…

17th July - in conversation with Jodie Matthews at Rare Mags, Stockport - Tickets

18th July - Well Dressed x Stone Club evening at The Wardwick, Derby - Tickets

19th July - Well Dressed x Stone Club afternoon at Sidney & Matilda, Sheffield - Tickets

20th July - in conversation with Matthew Shaw, The Festival of the Garden, Charleston, Sussex - Tickets

25th July - in conversation with Matthew Shaw, Rock Oyster Festival, Cornwall - Tickets

27th July - in conversation with Zakia Sewell and Charlotte McLean, Southbank Centre, London - Tickets

28th July - Stone Club at The Social, London - Tickets

3rd August - in conversation with Norfolk Folklore Society, Black Shuck Festival, Bungay - Tickets

I have always had a fascination with lost objects, things that would otherwise be discarded if it were not for someone deciding they have sentimental or historical significance.

In The Lost Folk I explore a number of lost folk objects – items that connect us to our folk histories across the United Kingdom. Within my own archive I have a number of such objects, and here are five that are of particular importance to me . . .

You can read the full article here

Hello!

You may well have seen on socials I am doing a number of dates accross the country to celebrate the release of The Lost Folk into the world.

I thought I’d lay them all out here for ease with ticketing links. It would be wonderful to see some of you there and please if you’re coming along do bring your own items of ‘lost folk’ to share - family photographs or artefacts. I really LOVE learning from people about what happens in their towns and villages, what has faded from exsistence and what still happens…

Tour Dates

19th June - Homecoming Festival, Heligan Gardens, Cornwall - Tickets

(don’t forget if you want to book tickets for Homecoming there is a 30% discount code just type in folkarchive at checkout)

25th June - Waterstones Truro, Cornwall - Tickets

28th June - Weird England: Zaffar Kunial, Lally MacBeth & Rebecca Tamás, Ledbury Poetry Festival, Herefordshire -Tickets

3rd July - In Conversation with Matthew Shaw and Angeline Morrison, Tate St Ives, Cornwall - Tickets

4th July - Alma Arts Festival, Newquay, Cornwall -Tickets

17th July - In Conversation with Jodie Rhian Matthews, Rare Mags, Manchester - Tickets

18th July - Well Dressed X Stone Club, The Wardwick, Derby - Tickets

19th July - Well Dressed X Stone Club, Sidney & Matilda, Sheffield - Tickets

20th July - Festival of the Garden, Charleston, East Sussex, East Sussex - Tickets

27th July - Folk Dance: For and of the People, Southbank Centre, London -Tickets

29th August - End of the Road Festival - Tickets

20th September - Hidden Notes, Stroud - Tickets

I look forward to sharing The Lost Folk with you all.

Lally x

Hello!

I am delighted to be able to say I have a 30% discount code to offer newsletter readers to all events across the 10 days of Homecoming festival at The Lost Gardens of Heligan.

The code is folkarchive which you can type in at checkout, and this will give you 30% off tickets.

Some things that might be of particular interest in the programme:

Sunday 15th June, 11am-5pm - Jeremy Deller, peace activist Satish Kumar, Tim Taylor (the inventor of Time Team!) and Paul Powlesland from Right to Roam - Tickets here

Sunday 15th June, 6pm - Sam Lee supported by Daisy Rickman - Tickets here

Wednesday 18th June, 11am-5pm - illustrator and author Jackie Morris, artist John Abell and archaeologist David Gibbins - Tickets here

Thursday 19th June, 11am-5pm - mycologist and author Merlin Sheldrake, ecologist Dan Ryan, nature writer James Canton, author Wyl Menmuir and me on my new book The Lost Folk - Tickets here

Thursday 19th June, 6pm - Gwenno supported by Angeline Morrison - Tickets here

Saturday 21st June, 11am - 9pm - musician Clara Mann, a performance of Ness by Hayden Thorpe, Reuben and Manni Coe, A Year in a Field film screening and poet Simon Armitage - Tickets here

You can find the full programme here

The Ffern Folk Foundation Logo by Lukas Palumbo

I have long been a fan of the work of Ffern, their campaigns are exceptionally beautiful but also, very importantly, genuinely embedded in communities - have a look at this brilliant film they made a few years ago about rhubarb growers in Wakefield and Leeds, and of Featherstone Male Voice Choir singing, a frankly delicious, song about rhubarb.

It comes then as no surprise that they are once again striving to create something fresh and very exciting, this time for the world of British Folk. Ffern have selected 5 leading voices in British Folk to form a Guild, they are: Charlie Cooper, Ben Edge, Sam Lee, Alex Merry, and Zakia Sewell. The Guild will work alongside Ffern in guiding the Ffern Folk Foundation and its aims for the coming years.

So, what are their aims? Well, The Ffern Folk Foundation looks to keep the story of folk alive for the present. Folk, as we well know, is not something inert and static but something that is living, breathing and always growing. It is a force that can be used to bring attention to problems we face in the present in a way which is hopeful and solution led:

“We see a future for British Folk as a thriving, diverse, and widely appreciated part of modern life. Moreover, in a time of ecological crisis and social dislocation, we believe that Britain’s Folk Arts and Traditions are fundamental to the deepening of our bonds with the environment and each other.” Ffern Folk Foundation

The foundation will not only host Ffern’s own creative projects but will also offer up to £50,000 a year to people making exceptional work in the field of folk. Each year this will either be awarded as £50,000 to one person or collective or as a series of smaller grants of to multiple practitioners. The aim being that the grant is used to fund a project designed to help progress their work and bring it to wider audiences. A rare and beautiful opportunity to see folks arts, and the people working in this area celebrated.

Boss Morris, photographed by Hollie Fernando

The grant for 2025 has been awarded to the magnificent Boss Morris. With the support of the Ffern Folk Foundation, Boss Morris will look to expand their outstanding work across multiple initiatives. These range from creating a portfolio of educational materials, to curating an ambitious and exciting programme of new performances. I for one, cannot wait to see what comes out of this year!

So who will be the grant winner of 2026? Could it be you?

You can apply now for the Ffern Folk Foundation Grant 2026, by following this link to their Application Portal.

Application Portal

The application deadline is 18:00 on Friday the 19th of September 2025. For more information on the application process, please refer to the Ffern Folk Foundation FAQs.

First up on the day The Lost Folk comes out on June 19th I’ll be at Homecoming Festival at The Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall. There is a whole range of amazing stuff happening that day including talks from Merlin Sheldrake and James Canton, as well as walks around the garden, yoga, and music around the gardens. You can nab a ticket here for the day! In the evening Gwenno and Angeline Morrison are playing (dream gig!) and tickets for that can be found here.

(also a small shout out to the fact Sam Lee is playing there supported by Daisy Rickman on Saturday 15th June, one not to miss, it will be utterly magic! Tickets here).

On Wednesday the 25th June I’ll be headed to my hometown bookshop of Waterstones Truro to do an in conversation, answer questions and sign books. You can book tickets here…

And here’s an at a glance list (with handy links!)

Cornish Tour List:

June 19th - The Lost Gardens of Heligan

June 25th - Waterstones, Truro

July 25th - Rock Oyster Festival

Procession, In Honour of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, St Peter's, Italian Church, Clerkenwell Rd, Clerkenwell, Camden, Islington, 1992

Transportation to other realms is an important tool in many folk customs. A sense of another world, another time or indeed another place. On a very hot afternoon in London one July, I was having coffee at an Italian cafe in Clerkenwell when I looked out of the window and witnessed the tail end of a procession. The people were all in ecclesiastical dress, a priest in a beautifully embroidered chasuble at the helm with clouds of incense emanating from a gold censor that he waved from side to side as if he were in centre of a basilica. I spent several moments puzzling over what was happening: was it a vision? Had I found myself transported to the Vatican?

Read more

This is my first ever book, and the project has been such a labour of love and research so I have been delighted by the reaction to it. I feel it captures the content of the book perfectly. I am so looking forward to sharing that with you all very soon…

It was designed by the brilliant team at Faber with illustrations by Tabby Booth.

The Lost Folk is out on June 19th. You can pre-order a copy from a variety of places:

Bookshop.org

Waterstones

Faber

Amazon

Cambridge Evening News, 9th January 1996

First up a curious dance from Histon in Cambridgeshire where the Cambridge Morris Men got together to celebrate Plough Monday which is the first Monday after January 6th. The dance performed is a fertility dance with the aim that the ensuing year will be a rich and fertile one for the plough men. Often it includes broomsticks which you can see in the short clip about Plough Monday dances in the Fenlands below, a trigger warning for this as it includes wide spread use of blackface and justification of the practice:

Although it says in the newspaper cutting that this tradition was only prevalent in East Anglia there are records of Plough Monday celebrations across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, Cumbria, the East Midlands and as far away as Cornwall. It was an important date in the calendar, and if you wanted a good harvest then a vital event to honour.

(content warning, some of these films contain police violence)

Grove Carnival, 1981

watch here

Carnival of Tears, 1976

watch here

Notting Hill Carnival, 1989

Paracarnival, 2014

Mas, 2020

Leeds West Indian Carnival, 1974

Leeds West Indian Carnival, 1976

Leeds West Indian Carnival, 1977

A poem to celebrate World Poetry Day

The Great Mother by Clare Cameron

“If we think with the Earth spirit, our souls become populous with beauty, for we turn the cup of our being to a spring which is always gushing.” A.E.

The Great Mother sustained me at that time

Of the bare earth and the cold rime

With the purity of her clear air,

The acceptance of the seasons year by year,

The serenity of patience in her face

That soothed the heart and slowed my pace.

Wher’er I walked, by hill or field or shore,

In summer time she never gave me more.

 

Her calm, her majesty and powers

Strengthened me and taught me in those hours.

Under the open sky, or through the shadowed wood

New truths were given and were understood.

Vast and deep her wisdom. With her lore

Our souls are fed, perhaps as ne’er before.

In winter quiet, where frozen is the rill

Herself she gives, our emptiness to fill.

Clare Cameron, Memories of Eden London: The Mitre Press, 1976

Here are some postcards of it in the 1960s, it doesn’t look like it has fared too badly, although I do like the jaunty green and yellow railings better than the black ones:

Book your free place here!

The Burryman 2022, images courtesy of Jacob O’Sullivan