M. A. (Margaret Ann) Courtney

Margaret Ann Courtney was a Cornish poet and folklorist based in Penzance. Born in 1834, she spent her life closely connected to Cornwall, and her writing became an important record of the region’s traditions, seasonal celebrations, and local speech.

She is best known for Cornish Feasts and Folk-Lore (1890), a work that brought together customs, beliefs, and festive practices from west Cornwall. She also co-authored Glossary of Words in Use in Cornwall with Thomas Quiller Couch, showing her interest not only in stories and rituals but in the texture of everyday language.

What makes her work last is its sense of place. Rather than treating folklore as something distant or decorative, she wrote about the living habits of her community, helping later readers understand Cornwall through the voices and traditions of the people who knew it best.