Ruth Tongue
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Ruth Tongue was born in Handsworth. She was the third and youngest child of Edwin Tongue, a Congressional Minister, and his wife Mabel Jones. The family moved to Taunton during Ruth's early childhood, and then to Middlesex in 1909. As a young woman, Tongue took classes at the London College of Music and later studied at the London City Literary Institute. She worked as a teacher, taking an interest in both music and drama. In the 1950s, she moved to Crowcombe, Somerset, where she began giving storytelling performances and talks on folklore, both to local audiences and on the radio. She contributed stories to the collections of folklorist Katharine Briggs, who helped her prepare her own manuscripts for publication, and collaborated with her on the book Folktales of England.[3]
Although Tongue was from an educated middle-class upbringing, she felt a deep rapport with the country folk of Somerset. She claimed to have been born during the Chime Hours on a Friday night, giving her a unique connection with people of the countryside; records indicate she was born on a Monday.[4] She told stories of the asrai, sea-morgan, Lazy Lawrence, hyter sprites, oakmen, and many other creatures[5] which appeared in Briggs' Encyclopedia of Fairies, and in later collections of folklore or fantasy.
