A new book on certain aspects of Maltese folklore dispels a number of myths and contains a mine of information about Malta's social history.

The book, Bejn Storja U Drawwa, by Edwin Lanfranco, one of Malta's foremost folklore specialists, deals with history and customs which have radically changed over the past 100 years or so.

Writing about the intricately designed Maltese clocks known as Tal-Lira, Mr Lanfranco convincingly argues that it is a misconception that these clocks were so called because they cost Lm1.

He says they were available in the 16th century, when the lira was not part of Malta's currency, and even if it were, the amount of work involved in making them rendered them more expensive than that.

In the book, Mr Lanfranco writes about poverty and beggars, and how some beggars were still seen in the streets until the mid-1970s.

"Pre-war Malta had little in the way of social services and pensions and there was a degree of poverty.

People used to go round knocking on doors asking for money to buy some food.

Hans Christian Andersen, who came to Malta in 1841, spoke about the beggars he saw in Malta," Mr Lanfranco said.

An article about cigars and cigar making contains several interesting anecdotes including one about a stump of a cigar Winston Churchill left behind at San Anton Palace in November 1943, which was picked up by a waiter who gave it to John Scerri, a tobacconist from Hamrun, who framed it and hung it as an attraction in his shop!

The book also deals with the use of candles, the coal industry, methods of cooking, oil lamps, snow storms in Malta and a host of other topics.

"I try to write about aspects that are hardly written about," Mr Lanfranco said, adding that his research into such topics was ongoing.