author
Elphinstone Dayrell
1869–1917
Best known for preserving folk stories from Southern Nigeria, this British colonial official helped bring Efik and Ibibio storytelling traditions to a wide English-language audience. His collections remain the source for famous tales such as "Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky."
2 Audiobooks
Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria, West Africa
by Elphinstone Dayrell
Ikom folk stories from Southern Nigeria
by Elphinstone Dayrell
About the author
Born in 1869, Elphinstone Dayrell was a British colonial official who served in Southern Nigeria, including as District Commissioner at Ikom. Records also note that he was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and of the Royal Anthropological Institute, and that he died in 1917.
Dayrell is remembered today for collecting and publishing stories he heard in Southern Nigeria. His best-known book, Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria (1910), gathered forty tales from the region and appeared with an introduction by Andrew Lang. A later manuscript and related materials show the same continuing interest in recording local storytelling traditions.
Because his work was shaped by a colonial role, it is best read with that historical context in mind. Even so, his books helped preserve and circulate stories from Efik and Ibibio traditions, and several of those tales have continued to live on in retellings for new generations.