Michael Aislabie Denham

Michael Aislabie Denham (1801^[1] – 10 September 1859) was an English merchant and collector of folklore.^[2]

A native of Gainford, County Durham,^[1] Denham was in business at Kingston-upon-Hull in the early part of his life. Ultimately he settled as a general merchant at Piercebridge, near Gainford, where he died on 10 September 1859.^[3]

Denham collected local lore. His works were:^[3]

• A Collection of Proverbs and Popular Sayings relating to the Seasons, the Weather, and Agricultural Pursuits, gathered chiefly from oral tradition, London, 1846, printed by the Percy Society.
• The Slogans, and War and Gathering Cries of the North of England, 1850, and with additions, Newcastle upon Tyne, 1851.
• A Collection of Bishoprick Rhymes, Proverbs, and Sayings, to which he afterwards added four tracts of the same kind, completing the last about 1858.
• Cumberland Rhymes, Proverbs, and Sayings, in four parts, the last of which appeared in 1854.
• A similar work relating to Westmorland, in two parts, 1858.
• Roman Imperial Gold Coin, a description of a coin of the Emperor Maximus [Durham (?) 1856], under the pseudonym "Archæus".
• Folklore of the North, in six parts, the last appearing in 1856.
• Folklore, or a Collection of Local Rhymes, Proverbs, Sayings, Prophecies, Slogans, &c., relating to Northumberland, Newcastle-on-Tyne, and Berwick-on-Tweed; Richmond, Yorkshire, 1858. Limited to fifty copies.
• Minor Tracts on Folklore, to the number of twenty, starting about 1849 and ending about 1854.
• A Classified Catalogue of the Antiquarian Tomes, Tracts, and Trifles, referring to the works Denham had edited himself, 1859.

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Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1888). "Denham, Michael Aislabie". Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 14. London: Smith, Elder & Co.