#jane cox

Rocky Horror's Broadway revival received nine Tony nominations!

Best Musical Revival

Best Leading Actor - Luke Evans

Best Leading Actress - Stephanie Hsu

Best Featured Actress - Rachel Dratch

Best Choreography - Ani Taj

Best Costume Design of a Musical - David I. Reynoso

Best Sound Design of a Musical - Brian Ronan

Best Scenic Design of a Musical - dots

photo by Gemma Gary

Troy Books are a Cornwall based publisher of folklore and witchcraft that has been publishing exceptional volumes over the past 7 or so years. Co-operated by Jane Cox and author Gemma Gary they have produced some wonderful volumes of folk craft tradition that reveal a living current of folk tradition in Cornwall and the West country of the UK.

I spoke to Jane about the fascinating work of living folk traditions and book publishing she and Gemma are involved with, and the many facets of traditional Cornish craft customs that are thriving in our overly modern world.

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A Passion for Folk Magic An Interview with Jane Cox of Troy Books

Troy started in 2011 and has matured into an exceptional publisher in a very short time. What has guided your work to such a solid catalogue of authors and particularly beautiful bindings and book designs?

Troy really got going I suppose as a potentially full-time occupation for us around 2011, but it really started in 2008 with the publication of Gemma’s first book ‘Traditional Witchcraft a Cornish Book of Ways’. Gemma had long thought about the idea of forming a small publishing business, along the lines of what Oak Magic was doing with its small booklet type publications, so the idea of doing something had been there for several years.

Once her first book was nearing completion she started thinking about who to approach to submit the book to for possible publication. I had no doubt that the book would be successful as it contained so much wonderful information. Not only that, but it was an insight into Gemma's practice which she has always been so passionate about since she was a quite young. After a lot of discussion, we asked ourselves the question, why not do it ourselves? At the time, I was doing photography based work and working with local artists, photographing paintings and producing accurate prints of their work for them to sell.

We were also building websites for others and Gemma was doing the odd bit of graphic design work which she has always had a flair for. Gemma is an artist and used to run a gallery, and she always assumed that was what she would be doing and never imagined she would end up making a living from writing.

So, between us, we felt we had enough skills to start our own publishing business to publish Gemma's book. Not only that, but due to the fact we had no money we decided to print and bind the books ourselves. For the price of a small print run we could buy a laser printer and a few things to bind the books with. So that is what we did, with the help of a guillotine, a large staple gun and a bit of research online I was all set to have a go. Amazingly the first attempt kind of worked and within a few weeks we had the first ever saleable copy of the book.

After putting the book on Gemma's website within a couple of days we were getting orders! Not only that but we were getting orders from the USA and Canada the Australia and so on. Gemma thought the book might only sell locally in small numbers, so to be getting international orders was a big surprise!

From there it grew slowly for a year or two, and we added a couple of books one being ‘The Cornish Traditional Year’ by Simon Reed. That really sparked an interest in us for publishing books on folklore as well. Gemma and I are very involved with the various traditions described in the book so it felt natural for us to go in that direction.

We have been guided really by the passion we have for the subjects we publish. This has been the main drive for us to build Troy into what it is today. Gemma and I are both perfectionist I guess, although perfection is nigh on impossible, we always strive to do the best we can and we hope this comes through in our books.

We were very inspired by other great Occult publishers such as Three Hands Press and the wonderful Scarlet Imprint. We dared to think that one day we might produce amazing Fine Editions ourselves, I still pinch myself sometimes that we actually do that now.

Gemma's wonderful design talents are a huge asset to Troy and between us we have the means to do every aspect of a book. These days though we do have some amazing help but it was essentially just the two of us for years. Of course we would not be full time publishers without the wonderful authors we have worked with. We have been very fortunate to attract great authors over the years so this has been a very important part of the success of Troy.

photo by Gemma Gary

The folklore of Cornwall and the West country is something that is embedded in the local culture, and yet massively influential far beyond Cornish shores. What role do you and Gemma play in the Cornish Culture Association?

As I mentioned above we are both very involved in the local traditions. We are both members of the Cornish Culture Association and are members of the community festival band in Penzance called The Raffidy Dumitz Band. The band is a ‘Guise’ band formed for the Montol midwinter festival in Penzance. We also play throughout the year at other events and festivals that have been revived or formed in Penzance by the association. The CCA was started by Simon Reed the author of ‘The Cornish Traditional Year’. We have also been involved in the creation of Pole Osses, or ‘Obby Osses’ that appear at the festivals. Gemma was for a time the operator/rider of Kasek Nos which appears at the Montol festival.

These traditions are so important to keep going and revive as they are so important in building a sense of community. We all get together and have a wonderful time, it's what makes Penzance such a special place for me. I play various stringed instruments, mainly an Irish tuned Bouzouki and Gemma plays the Bodhran Irish drum and a shruti box on occasion. Both of us would not be playing music if it wasn't for the festivals so I have a lot to thank this part of the world for.

Montol Festival photo by Paul Betowski

Rural traditions seem to be reviving in interest in younger generations, there is an occult revival happening at this very moment. Do you see an enthusiastic crowd for traditional events in Cornwall? Is the music culture of Cornwall something that keeps those traditions going?

Very much so, it's very heartening to see young people getting involved, there are a huge amount of younger people attending the festivals. They are so lucky that they are growing up with these traditions, I came to them later in life in my early 40’s. We both feel the traditions will endure because of this, this is something that also drives us to publish books about tradition.

I think that in the modern technology driven and connected world we live in, people are also looking to the old traditions to redress the balance. The web and social media are amazing at connecting people but they are no substitute for an evening with great friends. Celebrating Guldize for instance, the harvest festival, with an evening of music and dancing and much ale! Of course Facebook etc now play an important role in informing people about the events and sharing photos afterwards. It's probably a big reason why these festivals are doing so well as people find out about them online.

Is there fear among the older participants of the traditional Cornish folk traditions that these events could become more spectacle, tourist attractions that lose their local folk spirit? 

I guess there probably is, it's inevitable that these festivals if they are wonderful and successful they are going to attract more people year on year. Padstow Obby Oss is a classic example, it can get so packed there it's uncomfortable but it carries on. The Golowan festival in Penzance has got huge and is more carnival than anything these days. It started as a midsummer celebration and now is a huge event, wonderful in its own right though and has some elements of its roots still. The Montol Festival is growing, and is now very popular and very well attended, but being at the cold and dark time of the year I guess it will never attract the sometimes uncomfortably huge crowds that summer events have the potential to. If it's cold and wet you have to be very enthusiastic to carry on, but carry on people do and it's always amazing. So to sum up it’s something that you cannot control so there is no point in worrying about it I guess.

Montol Festival photo by Paul Betowski

There have always been people in any town that complain about these types of rural customs. In the US towns often attempt to limit or ban Hallowe'en events. Does Cornwall have its prudes who would rather the traditional customs go the way of the videocassette?

Yes, sadly that is the case, unfortunately some religious people have not been happy about the Montol midwinter festival as they see it as pagan. This is not actually the case as its very much a secular event and is meant to bring people together of all faiths. Montol features everything from traditional carols sung in the street to the burning of a Yule log, or rather the ‘mock’ as it was known in Cornwall.

I can see why there is confusion when you see a horse’s skull on a pole dancing through the streets with a ‘rider’ concealed underneath a black costume! Like the Welsh Mari Lwyd though these are old folk customs, and we don’t really know their original meanings, if indeed they had any, perhaps they’ve always been a mystery? I am not saying there isn’t a pagan element in the crowd, but it is not a ‘pagan festival’ so it's a shame it's viewed in that light by certain people. More than once organisers have been told we would all be dammed for taking part in the event!

Have you worked with the Folklore Society in London at all?

No not so far, there are plans to take the Raffidy Dumitz Band to London around midwinter to showcase what we do here which will be fun. It would be good to take part in events further afield, but time often does not really allow that for us. Troy and the CCA events keep us more than busy.

Montol Festival photo by Paul Betowski

What projects do you have in the works for Troy? Any announcement of the next in your Classic Grimoires series? 

This coming year will see a lot more titles, we are very pleased to be re-publishing Nigel G. Pearsons other well-known book ‘Walking the Tides’ it's a companion book to his ‘Treading the Mill' which has been popular with many of our customers as it's a brilliant book. We are also looking forward to the second book in the trilogy by the wonderful Corinne Boyer, the first book is titled 'Under the Witching Tree'. Corinne describes herself as a Folk Herbalist and really knows her subject.

Alex Langston of Spirit of Albion has written a book for us titled ‘Granite to Sea - The Folklore of Bodmin Moor and East Cornwall’. Alex has really done his research and has uncovered folk tales that have not made it into print before, we think it's going to become an important book on Cornish folklore.

Another major book for us will be a book about JHW Eldermans, people will know his work through the Museum of Witchcraft in Boscastle from the Richel collection, and the beautiful Three Hands Press book ‘The Occult Reliquary’. There has been much speculation as to why he produced such an amazing amount of drawings, carvings, and other items. Was he just fascinated by the Occult or was he a practitioner? This is a quest that drove the Dutch author Wilmar Taal to look into his life, his writing and art, and to try and understand the man and the vast body of work he produced. Taal's forthcoming book ‘The Silent Listner – The Life and works of JHW Eldermans’, is the result of many years of research and is a full account of his life and Wilmar’s thoughts on the question.

photo by John Stedman

Sounds like a fantastic lineup of books! Could you ever have imagined you would become so involved in esoteric publishing?

I never set out to be a full-time publisher so it's a huge surprise still for me to have ended up doing this for a living. Especially publishing books on witchcraft, because of Gemma and the genera of books we publish, people naturally assume I'm also a witch. Although I have been around witchcraft and the Pagan world now for many years, I am not a practicing witch. This is a surprise to a lot of people I think, I sometimes feel kind of guilty that I have an opportunity to work with Gemma on a magical level all the time and I don’t, something a lot of people would love the chance to do. I have a great interest in the craft and am fascinated by it, but I have never felt the calling. Having grown up in the countryside I have always felt a deep connection to the natural world and the spirit of place. I guess I express this and connect in my own way through music and the seasonal festivals. Gemma introduced me to this whole other world which really made sense to me and it's taken over my life, both in being involved in the occult community and through publishing, I count myself very lucky. Even if money were no object I would probably still do what I do, sadly most of us have to make money to survive, and so Troy has to make money so that it can continue, but we never publish a book just because we think it will make money, it has to resonate with us. Considering how much time and effort goes into each book, I could never publish a book I didn't like. A lesson I learnt a few years back to my cost, it has to feel right or we don't publish it.

  You can find the many amazing titles published by Troy Books here: