author

Alice Dracott

A collector of Himalayan folk tales, she brought stories from Simla village life into print at the start of the twentieth century. Her work offers a rare glimpse of oral storytelling traditions, with an eye for local character and atmosphere.

1 Audiobook

Simla Village Tales; Or, Folk Tales from the Himalayas

Simla Village Tales; Or, Folk Tales from the Himalayas

by Alice Dracott

About the author

Alice Dracott, also known as Alice Elizabeth Dracott, was an English folklorist who is listed on Wikisource as Alice Elizabeth Goodall (1863–1939), with Dracott given as her married name. She is best known for Simla Village Tales; Or, Folk Tales from the Himalayas, published in 1906.

That collection gathered stories from the Simla region and helped preserve tales that had been passed along orally. Her name also appears in connection with individual stories later discussed as folktale variants, including pieces collected from Simla.

A later book, The Voice of Mystic India: My Psychic Experiences, was published in 1930. Reliable biographical detail about her life seems limited in easily available sources, so the strongest picture that remains is of a writer interested in folklore, India, and the recording of traditional stories.