Candlelight History Talks: The Myths & Legends of the Sea

Diane Purkiss is taking the myths and legends of the sea to The Guild Church of St Katharine Cree on Thursday 22 October, as part of the Candlelight History Talks series by Seed Talks. The whole idea behind the series is to uncover forgotten history by candlelight, and this one looks at the stories sailors tell about the water: the Flying Dutchman, the magic of keeping a cat on board, whistling up a wind, and the taboo of never saying the word 'pig'.

Purkiss is a Professor of English at the University of Oxford and a fellow of Keble College, and she's an expert on witchcraft and folklore. She's published on fairies and the English Civil War—the occasion of England's biggest witch-hunt—and has appeared in more than a dozen television documentaries, so she knows her way around the kind of folk-belief and superstition that keeps a crew talking on a long voyage. The talk runs for an hour and a half, and there's a Q&A afterwards if you want to pick her brain.

It's an over-18s session, so it's more of an evening out than a family thing. Doors open at 8:00 PM and the talk starts at 8:30 PM, with tickets costing £16. The venue is The Guild Church of St Katharine Cree, 86 Leadenhall Street, EC3A 3BP, right in the City.