The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren

Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1960. Reprint. Very Good +/very good +. Based on information collected from 5,000 children in England, Scotland and Wales, this volume is a disclosure of the lore and language natural to the modern schoolchild when out of school. It is a record of his strange and primitive culture, including seasonal customs, initiation rites, superstitious practices and beliefs, innumerable rhymes and chants, catcalls and retorts, stock jokes, ruderies, riddles, slang-epithets, nicknames and the traditional juvenile argot which continues to flourish in the street and playground largely unknown and certainly unheeded by the adult world. This study is the first full survey of its subject to have been made. The historical annotation tghroughout the work reveals that many of the formulas children use today are the same as they have been for generations; and the comparative lore which has been assembled from other countries, particularly the United States, establishes that much of the schoolchild's chant and custom is international. Mylar cover; slight scuffing of paper dust jacket.Dark blue boards with writing to spine.shelfwear. clean tight pages.heavy book so post and packing to be adjusted accordingly. First Edition AB69