ABSTRACT
The survival, well into Victoria's reign, of what has been usefully dubbed 'the prior culture' is hardly in doubt. The major facets of this conventional wisdom, despite the local diversity of its expression, may be readily identified. Popular attitudes during much of the first half of the nineteenth century were still concerned with three matters. The first was the correct observance of established practices, whether these involved the customary prosecution of annual or day-to-day activities like planting or cleaning the house, the performance of private rituals, or obedience to certain taboos. Second, tradition taught that it was possible to anticipate the future in certain ways, and having done so either to take avoiding action where that was possible or, more often, to accept one's fate. Third, if dire and unanticipated misfortune did strike, however, even though the customary procedures had been observed, society could yet turn to the doings of the witch as the ultimate explanation.
