The Reliquary, 1860-1908

I’ve discovered a fascinating and lavishly illustrated quarterly, published from rural Derbyshire by a Derbyshire antiquarian named Llewellynn Jewitt. Full of articles on barrow openings, local folklore and sayings, songs, old signs, and the like — mostly from Derbyshire and the Peak, and even a few items from North Staffordshire. As time goes on it seems to get sidetracked into tedious ecclesiastical and worthy-family histories, but generally it’s marvellously eclectic and local.

The Reliquary, 1860-1861 (Vol.1, No.1)
The Reliquary, 1861-1862
The Reliquary, 1862-1863
The Reliquary, 1863-1864
The Reliquary, 1865-1866
The Reliquary, 1866-1867
The Reliquary, 1867-1868
The Reliquary, 1868-1869
The Reliquary, 1869-1870
The Reliquary, 1870-1871
The Reliquary, 1871-1872
The Reliquary, 1872-1873
The Reliquary, 1873-1874
The Reliquary, 1874-1875
The Reliquary, 1875-1876
The Reliquary, 1876-1877
The Reliquary, 1877-1878
The Reliquary, 1878-1879
The Reliquary, 1879-1880
The Reliquary, 1880-1881
The Reliquary and illustrated archæologist, 1881-1882
The Reliquary and illustrated archæologist, 1882-1883
The Reliquary and illustrated archæologist, 1883-1884
The Reliquary and illustrated archæologist, 1884-1885
The Reliquary and illustrated archæologist, 1885-86

Then, after the death of the editor, a second series ran from 1887-1908. The new series appears to have ranged much more widely than the first, and had more ecclesiastical material since it was then edited by the Rev. J. Charles Cox.

The Reliquary and illustrated archæologist, 1887
The reliquary and illustrated archæologist, 1888
The Reliquary and illustrated archæologist, 1889
The Reliquary and illustrated archæologist, 1890
The reliquary and illustrated archæologist, 1891
The reliquary and illustrated archæologist, 1892
The Reliquary and illustrated archæologist, 1893
The reliquary and illustrated archæologist, 1894
The Reliquary and illustrated archæologist, 1895
The Reliquary and illustrated archæologist, 1896
The Reliquary and illustrated archæologist, 1897
The Reliquary and illustrated archæologist, 1898
The Reliquary and illustrated archæologist, 1899
The Reliquary and illustrated archæologist, 1900
The Reliquary and illustrated archæologist, 1901
The Reliquary and illustrated archæologist, 1902
The Reliquary and illustrated archæologist, 1903
The Reliquary & illustrated archæologist, 1904
The Reliquary and illustrated archæologist, 1905
The Reliquary and illustrated archæologist, 1906
The Reliquary and illustrated archæologist, 1907
The Reliquary and illustrated archæologist, 1908

An Index to The Reliquary, First Series, Volumes 1-26, 1860-86

Photograph of a bust made by William Henry Goss. A full account of his life and many interests is to be found in Goss’s The Life and Death of Llewellynn Jewitt.

Notes on a Portion of the Northern Borders of Staffordshire: Superstitions

I’ve unearthed a new addition to the folklore bibliography of North Staffordshire…

* W. Beresford, “Notes on a Portion of the Northern Borders of Staffordshire: Superstitions”, The Reliquary, 1866-67.

Summary: Collected from the Moorlands. Farm superstitions. “The belief in fairies, by the way, still lingers with some here, and in witches with many”. Candle and dream omens, and petty superstitions. Methods of foretelling future husbands. There was then still a “popular belief in Moorland “ghosts”” — sometimes called a skug, a boggart, or a tuggin.