birds Archives - Bone and Sickle

Swan-Upping and Other Curious British Customs

June 18, 2023 boneandsickle birds, Britain, curiosities, EPISODE, folk customs, folklore, history, holidays, local legends, London, Midsummer, Victorian

Explore some curious British Customs with us, including those of Midsummer, swan-upping, egg-hopping, St. Bartholomew’s knives, and the violent tradition of[…]

The Gibbet, Hanged in Chains

October 10, 2020 boneandsickle ballads, birds, Britain, butchers, crime, criminals, crows, death, dissection, England, EPISODE, execution, folk medicine, folk music, folklore, gallows, ghost stories, ghosts, Gibbet, gore, history, horror, La Corriveau, law, murder, punishments

The gibbet was a hanging iron cage used to display the corpses of criminals in 18th and early 19th-century England.[…]

Murdered Sweetheart Songs

February 12, 2020 boneandsickle ballads, birds, broadsheets, crime, criminals, death, EPISODE, folk music, folklore, ghosts, gore, history, Scotland, seduction, suicide, superstition, United States, Victorian

As a special Valentine’s episode, we present collection of folk songs known as “sweetheart murder ballads.” We begin with two[…]