Synthesising previous strands of work on radicalism and national identity, this research comes in two halves: the first seeks to identify what is meant by folk culture (in an English context), as distinct from popular culture, and employs a trans-disciplinary approach to arrive at a working definition as valid for the present as for various periods of the past. This interpretation is applied to four centuries of English history - the early seventeenth century to the present - to refresh and recast the traditional narrative. To further the first part, I am currently collecting oral testimony from current practitioners of folk culture - artists, musicians, craftspeople - who reflect on their relationship with the community and with the past. Further information about this research project can be found at http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/projects/english_folk/EFS/index.html.