Cunning Folk and Practical Magic with Dr Tabitha Stanmore

Cunning Folk and Practical Magic with Dr Tabitha Stanmore

Author: Icy Sedgwick June 7, 2025 Duration: 52:30

In this first episode of our Witches, Cunning Folk & Magic theme, I'm talking to Dr Tabitha Stanmore!

She's a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University of Exeter on the Leverhulme-funded Seven County Witch Hunt Project, investigating the people affected by the 1640s witch trials in eastern England. Her doctoral research was funded by the South, West and Wales Doctoral Training Partnership (part of the AHRC), and published as Love Spells and Lost Treasure: Service magic in England from the later Middle Ages to the early modern era by Cambridge University Press.

She has appeared on Radio 3’s Free Thinking and BBC Radio London discussing magic in the early modern period, written for The Conversation, and TIME Magazine and BBC History Magazine, among others. Her debut non-fiction book CUNNING FOLK was published by The Bodley Head (UK) and Bloomsbury (US) in 2024, and the paperback came out on 28 May!

In this chat, we talk about what cunning folk are and how they differ from witches, how members of different classes approached magic and what they used it for, and why Magic Studies is such a valuable approach to history!

Get your copy of Cunning Folk: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/12992/9781529931563

Find Tabitha online: https://www.tabithastanmore.co.uk/

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Each week, Fabulous Folklore with Icy offers a compact, fifteen-minute dive into the strange and storied shadows of our world’s traditions. Host Icy Sedgwick, a writer steeped in fantasy and Gothic horror, brings a storyteller’s eye to the material, weaving together tales of local legends, deep-rooted superstitions, and ancient myths. The podcast moves beyond simple retellings to consider the cultural soil from which these stories grew-why people believed what they did, how these narratives functioned in society, and the peculiar, often unsettling details that make them endure. You’ll hear about the oddities and occult practices that textbooks often overlook, all delivered with a blend of curiosity and a slight chill. It’s a consistently engaging exploration for anyone fascinated by the weird corners of history and human belief, a weekly reminder that our world is far more mysterious than it seems. Sedgwick’s background ensures the tales are told with both authority and a palpable sense of wonder, making each short episode a perfect gateway into a larger, fabulously folkloric universe. This isn’t just a catalog of curiosities; it’s an invitation to look at the familiar landscapes around us and imagine the layers of story hidden just beneath the surface, all packed into a brief, compelling listen that easily fits into a daily routine.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Fabulous Folklore with Icy
Podcast Episodes
From Coven to Hot Coffee: The Folklore of Place Names Part 2 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 21:25
Place names are important and pass on a lot of valuable information, even if we no longer understand how to interpret it. Within them, they tell us who used to live in an area, or what natural features were important. So…
Goats in Folklore: From the Farmyard Doctor to the Devil [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 21:46
When I decided to write about goats in folklore, I thought I would find plenty of content. After all, they appear in mythology. Look at Amalthea, the goat reputed to have raised Zeus in Greek myth. Or the goats associate…
Race and the European Fairy Tale with Prof Kimberly Lau [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:15
Kimberly J. Lau is a professor of literature at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is the author of Erotic Infidelities: Love and Enchantment in Angela Carter's "The Bloody Chamber" (Wayne State University Pre…
Pigs in Folklore: From Piggy Banks to Spectral Sows [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 18:59
Pigs appear in folklore in somewhat unusual ways. Sometimes, they choose the location where a church should be built. Or they appear as phantoms, haunting misty moorland. Sailors or fishermen considered pigs unlucky, and…
Cows in Folklore: From Fairy Cattle to Spectral Calves [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 23:24
Certain animals might spring to mind when it comes to folklore. Hares, horses, deer, cats - they all have an otherworldly quality to them. Would you consider the same of cows? There's a surprising amount of folklore abou…
Sheep in Folklore: From Medical Remedies to Good Luck Charms [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 19:05
Following on from 2024's theme of the Folklore of Animals, this month we'll examine the Folklore of Agricultural Animals. This week, we'll explore the folklore, legends, and even folk medicine associated with sheep. Shee…
Sámi Myths and Legends with Niina Niskanen [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:27
Niina Niskanen is a Finnish artist, writer and a folklorist who specialises in Finnish, Baltic and Sámi Mythology. She is an online educator and hosted “Heart of Mielikki,” one of the first online courses about Finnish m…
Mourning Folklore: From Giving Rings to Wearing Black [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:22
If you think of the phrase "to be in mourning", you'll probably imagine a Victorian scene. Perhaps a black-clad widow ushers similarly black-clad children to a desolate graveyard in the depths of autumn. Or maybe you pic…
The Green Children of Woolpit: Fairies, Aliens, or Something Else? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 18:58
According to legend, two green children wandered into a village in 12th-century Suffolk. No one knew who they were or where they came from. Their refusal to eat and unfamiliar language made locals wary. Over time, they g…
The Folklore of Dowsing, aka Water Witching [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 21:18
Dowsing is a fascinating form of divination since it is often used to find water, minerals, or even lost items. While other forms of divination like tarot or botanomancy seek to provide information, here the information…