Alice Bertha Gomme

author

Alice Bertha Gomme

1853–1938

A pioneering British folklorist, she helped show that children’s games and rhymes were worth serious study. Her work preserved everyday traditions that might otherwise have disappeared.

2 Audiobooks

The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland (Vol 2 of 2) With Tunes, Singing-Rhymes, and Methods of Playing etc.

The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland (Vol 2 of 2) With Tunes, Singing-Rhymes, and Methods of Playing etc.

by Alice Bertha Gomme

The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland (Vol 1 of 2) With Tunes, Singing-Rhymes and Methods of Playing etc.

The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland (Vol 1 of 2) With Tunes, Singing-Rhymes and Methods of Playing etc.

by Alice Bertha Gomme

About the author

Born in London in 1853, Alice Bertha Gomme became one of the key figures in British folklore studies. Writing as Alice Gomme, and later known as Lady Gomme, she is especially remembered for treating children’s games, songs, and playground customs as an important part of cultural history rather than simple amusements.

She was a founding member of the Folklore Society and spent many years active in its work. Her best-known achievement is the large collection The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland, which gathered, compared, and organized games from across Britain and Ireland with unusual care for its time.

Gomme also took an interest in other forms of traditional life, including food history, and she served as the first president of Florence White’s English Folk Cookery Association. She died in London in 1938, leaving behind a body of work that still matters to readers interested in folklore, childhood, and the history of everyday life.