{"id":"MUS2026-119","label":"English folk bullroarer, Suffolk (Lovett collection, NMAH)","people_or_site":"English folk (Suffolk)","country_current":"United Kingdom","historic_region":"Suffolk, England","macroregion":"Europe / British Isles","local_name":"woozer","source_term":"bull-roarer","source_language":"English","object_description":"Three wooden Suffolk bullroarers: Edward Lovett's blade with its rope coiled round it; a 203 mm slat from Bungay, roughly cut from a wooden box and notched all along; and the woozer, 139 x 61 mm, with deeply indented sides.","function_summary":"English children’s folk toy.","attestation_type":"museum_specimen","source_key":"nmah_collections","source_type":"museum_collection","source_url":"https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_319141","page_or_plate":"NMAH DL.211913; PRM 1894.42.1; Pitt Rivers 1894 annual report","map_confidence":"medium","plot_status":"plot_with_caveat","coordinate_basis":"Suffolk county-level anchor; no parish recorded","jade_complex_role":"","blurb":"While Victorian anthropologists compared the secret bullroarers of Australia and New Guinea, the same instrument still rattled through English childhood. Edward Lovett's Suffolk specimen is a six-and-a-half-inch wooden blade with its rope wound neatly around it, ready to be carried in a pocket and unwound for play.","pull_quote":"","pull_quote_translation":"","pull_quote_cite":"","term_gloss":"woozer = Suffolk name for the bullroarer, recorded in 1902 with a deeply side-notched blade.","cls":"play_practical","class_label":"Play / practical","color":"#24766D","is_candidate":false,"flags":["toy_survival"],"f_jade_complex":false,"f_women_taboo":false,"f_women_special":false,"f_snake":false,"sources":[{"citation":"Smithsonian National Museum of American History, DL.211913 (Suffolk, England; Edward Lovett collection); Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, 1894.42.1 and 1902.16.1","url":"https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_319141","archive":"https://web.archive.org/web/20250808121214/https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_319141"}],"source_citations":"Smithsonian National Museum of American History, DL.211913 (Suffolk, England; Edward Lovett collection); Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, 1894.42.1 and 1902.16.1","source_display":"Smithsonian National Museum of American History, DL.211913 (Suffolk, England; Edward Lovett collection); Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, 1894.42.1 and 1902.16.1","date_citation_display":"","object_display":"Three wooden Suffolk bullroarers: Edward Lovett's blade with its rope coiled round it; a 203 mm slat from Bungay, roughly cut from a wooden box and notched all along; and the woozer, 139 x 61 mm, with deeply indented sides.","function_display":"English children’s folk toy.","confidence_display":"medium","attestation_label":"museum specimen","etymology_hedge":"","people_key":"english folk","display_name":"English folk bullroarer, Suffolk (Lovett collection, NMAH)","image":{"full":"assets/objects/review_2026_07_15/MUS2026-119_prm_1894_42_1.jpg","thumb":"assets/objects/review_2026_07_15/thumbs/MUS2026-119_prm_1894_42_1_thumb.jpg","alt":"Bungay English folk bullroarer cut from recycled wood, with shallow scallops along its long edges and a cord attached at one end.","credit":"Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford (1894.42.1)","license":"© Pitt Rivers Museum — non-commercial/educational reuse with attribution","source_page":"https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/collections-online#/item/prm-object-39634","rehosted":true,"representative":false,"caption":"Bungay bullroarer cut from recycled wood, with its terminal cord, Pitt Rivers Museum 1894.42.1.","additional":[{"full":"assets/objects/expansion_2026_07/nmah_DL211913.jpg","thumb":"assets/objects/expansion_2026_07/thumbs/nmah_DL211913_thumb.jpg","alt":"Suffolk wooden bullroarer with deeply notched edges, a line of holes through its face and several cords wrapped around the blade.","credit":"National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution (DL.211913)","license":"Usage Conditions Apply (Smithsonian)","source_page":"https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_319141","rehosted":true,"representative":false,"caption":"Wooden bull roarer from Suffolk, England, collected by folklorist Edward Lovett — National Museum of American History DL.211913."},{"full":"assets/objects/review_2026_07_18/MUS2026-119_prm_1902_16_1.jpg","thumb":"assets/objects/review_2026_07_18/thumbs/MUS2026-119_prm_1902_16_1_thumb.jpg","alt":"The Suffolk woozer: a palm-sized blade sawn into deep teeth along both edges.","credit":"© Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford (acc. 1902.16.1)","license":"© Pitt Rivers Museum — non-commercial/educational reuse with attribution","source_page":"https://prm.ox.ac.uk/collections-online#/item/prm-object-39643","rehosted":true,"representative":false,"caption":"The Suffolk woozer: a palm-sized blade sawn into deep teeth along both edges, its cord still coiled (PRM 1902.16.1)."}]},"slug":"mus2026-119-english-folk-suffolk"}