Cambridgeshire Folk Tales for Children E-Book

Chip Colquhoun

• Herausgeber: The History Press
• Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 132

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Beschreibung

Why is Cambridgeshire so flat? Probably because of all the giants who used to stomp around it! If you travel to or live in the land of Cambridgeshire, you could be walking in the footsteps of monsters, kings… or even the Devil! Journey through time to meet the giant-slayers of Saxon times, the shapeshifters of Tudor times, women who were incredible survivors… and even Victorian men who travelled on two legs faster than a steam train! What is truth, and what is myth? Decide for yourself after reading these tales of Cambridgeshire – the home of heroes from history.

Leseprobe

This book is dedicated to Jean‘Betty’ Stubbens (1926-2006),my legendary hero of Cambridgeshire.

CONTENTS

Title

Dedication

List of Illustrations and Thank Yous

Introduction

1

    Why is Cambridgeshire so Flat?

2

    The Land of Gogmagog

3

    Jack’s Catch

4

    Why the Fens are Marshes

5

    The Wisbech Giant

6

    The Eel Catcher’s Daughter

7

    King John’s Jewels

8

    Whirlin’ Sunday

9

    Donkey Boy

10

    The Shapeshifter

11

    The Ghost of the White Horse Inn

12

    The Ballad of Eliza Woodcock

13

    The Histon Giant

14

    The Fastest Men in the World

15

    Fearless Mary

16

    The Soham Rail Disaster

Conclusion

Tips For Sharing

More About the Stories

About the Author and Illustrators

Copyright

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

BY ELLIE BENTLEY

Why the Fens are Marshes * Whirlin’ Sunday * The Histon Giant

BY DAVE HINGLEY

Front Cover (Gogmagog and Corineus) * Why is Cambridgeshire so Flat? * The Land of Gogmagog * The Wisbech Giant * The Ballad of Eliza Woodcock * Fearless Mary * The Soham Rail Disaster

BY EMMA MARSH

Introduction * The Ghost of the White Horse Inn * Conclusion * The Battle of the Holme

BY ERICA TERRY-ROSE

Jack’s Catch * The Eel Catcher’s Daughter * King John’s Jewels * Donkey Boy * The Shapeshifter * The Fastest Men in the World * King John and His Men

THANK YOUS

As you’ll find out from several of the characters in this book, such as Robin Goodfellow and Jim Nightall, two of the most important words you can say are ‘thank you’! This whole book would not have happened without all the help I had from a lot of people. I’m pretty sure I can’t remember them all, so I’ll start by saying a massive thanks and sorry to anyone I’ve missed!

First of all, a huge thanks to my editor, Nicola Guy, and her friends at The History Press. This book was their idea, and I was honoured to write it for them. Their help in bringing it all together has been fantastic.

I’m also grateful to my friends at The Society for Storytelling – especially Liz Berg, Christine Willison, Paul Jackson, Tony Cooper, Pippa and Del Reid, Vanessa Woolf, Wendy Stewart, Kevin Blackburn and Mike Forbes – who all strive to keep storytelling strong across the UK.

Thanks also to the Cambridge Storytellers for their support of this book, especially Malcolm Busby and Rachel O’Leary who helped us make sure that the book had a lovely first birthday!

Loads of thanks also to my illustrators Dave Hingley, Ellie Bentley, Emma Marsh and Erica Terry-Rose. They made this book extra fun!

As you’ll see in the introduction, all these stories had to be passed to me somehow, so a big thanks to everyone who did! That includes: Ami, Ben and Amelie from Petersfield Primary School; Maureen James, author of the original Cambridgeshire Folk Tales; Tamsin Wimhurst from the Cambridge Folk Museum; and loads of bloggers, authors and storytellers whose names would fill up this book if I could remember them all!

Then there’s how I tell the stories, which is influenced by those who have told stories to me or with me. My big thanks here go to Ashley Ramsden, Tilda Stickley, Gloria Lagou, Jane Bower, Bob Hartman, Amber Lickerish, Kat Smith, John Row, L-J Ross, Nicholas Lee, David Ault and Graham Langley. Bigger thanks go to Tracy and Paul (also known as Mum and Dad!) who started me storytelling in the first place. But biggest of all goes to Amy Robinson – if she hadn’t come up with the idea for Snail Tales, I wouldn’t be saying that storytelling is my job!

And finally, mahoosive thanks to my lambent Emma Sutcliffe and my kitten Tito, who both give my own story a happy ending every day.

Now… on with the stories!

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to Cambridgeshire! Do you live here, or are you just passing through? Either way, did you know you could be walking in the footsteps of kings, fairies… or even giants?

This book is a little bit history, and a little bit magic. How can it be both? Well… Right at the beginning of Britain, Cambridgeshire was one of the most important places in the country. If it wasn’t for some of the people who lived here, the whole country (maybe even the whole world!) might have looked very different.

But because they didn’t have cameras or phones back then, all news was passed on through stories.

Now when tellers have important news, they like to know that whoever listens is really listening. And listeners really listen when they enjoy what they hear. So tellers often made the characters bigger… the dangers greater… and each list at least three things long…

This was the magic that turned history into stories. You know the phrase ‘magic spell’? That may be where it came from: tellers ‘spelling’ more exciting words into their news. These ‘magic spells’ turned big men into giants… creepy feelings into ghosts… and very tasty muffins into cakes made by angels…

That’s not all. For stories to spread, tellers needed their listeners to share the stories with others. If a listener really enjoyed a story, they were bound to tell it to someone else. This is probably where we got the idea of being ‘spellbound’.

So the more important the news, the more amazing the story became. As you discover the stories in this book, see if you can spot the important messages in each one. And if you really like the messages or the stories, why not share them with people you know? That way, even more people will discover what the legendary heroes of Cambridgeshire can teach us.

Our first story starts with a question you’ll definitely ask if you ever try tobogganing around here…

1

WHY IS CAMBRIDGESHIRESO FLAT?

Before people like you and me were born, the land was home to giants with amazing powers. They were known as gods.

Some gods were fierce and mean, and the fiercest and meanest of all was Warrior God. He wanted to rule the world, and was always fighting the other gods.

But there were friendly gods too. Sun God had powers of heat, light, growth… and destruction. He used his powers wisely, however. He only used destruction to remove old trees and make space for new forests.

There was also Mother Goddess, whose power was creation. She could ask the land or the animals to give her anything nature could make – and they would!

Sun God and Mother Goddess often walked together through the hilly forests of Cambridgeshire. Those hills were huge! The gods loved running up one side, then rolling down the other! Have you ever tried that on a hill?

At the start of this story, though, Sun God and Mother Goddess were picnicking at a beach in Suffolk when, suddenly, Mother Goddess saw flames flickering on the horizon… ‘Oh! The forests of Cambridgeshire! They’re on fire!’

Sun God and Mother Goddess both ran to their favourite land. But as they arrived… CLANG! A huge cage fell from above, trapping them both!

From behind a nearby hill appeared Warrior God. ‘Got ya! You can’t get out of that cage – it’s made from a metal harder than anything in nature! So your favourite forests of Cambridgeshire will burn to ashes, unless you give me what I want!’

Sun God raised an eyebrow. ‘And what do you want?’

Warrior God grinned. ‘I want your powers of heat, light, growth… and destruction!’

But Mother Goddess just chuckled. ‘We’ll get out of this cage in no time. All I need to do is ask the land for an axe – made from the hardest material in nature!’

And what’s the hardest material in nature? That would be diamond.

The land below Mother Goddess pushed out an axe with a diamond blade. She lifted it high and swung it at the cage, but… CLANG! The bars didn’t even scratch and the axe shattered into a thousand pieces!

Sun God frowned. ‘This metal might be hard, but I’ll melt it with my heat.’

He focused all his power on the cage, turning the bars red with heat, but they wouldn’t melt.

Warrior God laughed. ‘I told ya! This cage isn’t made from anything in nature! It’s made from ultra-hard nano-twinned cubic boron nitride, which I made myself! It’s even harder than diamonds! So you’re not getting out… Not until you give me your powers of heat, light, growth… and destruction!’

Sun God looked sadly at the burning forests of Cambridgeshire, then sighed. ‘Oh well. It’s a shame about Cambridgeshire. But at least Gobblewobbleshire is safe.’

Now it was Warrior God’s turn to frown.

‘Gobblewobbleshire? What’s Gobblewobbleshire?’

Sun God shrugged. ‘That’s our most favouritest land in the world.’

Mother Goddess nodded. ‘That’s right. It’s our most favouritest land in the world ever!’

Warrior God growled. ‘Well, not for much longer! I’ll find Gobblewobbleshire and set fire to that land too! Then, when I come back, you’ll have to give me your powers of heat, light, growth and destruction!’

With that, he ran off into the distance.

Sun God turned to Mother Goddess. ‘Quick! We haven’t got much time! We need to think of a way out of here!’

But Mother Goddess looked worried. ‘How can we break out of this cage if the bars are made of ultra-stiff… cubic-twinned… nitric thingie?’

Both gods thought really hard.

Suddenly Mother Goddess cried, ‘I’ve got it!’

First, she asked some spiders to make her a huge sack from spiderweb. The spiders set to work, and the sack was ready in about a minute.

Then Mother Goddess held the sack open and told Sun God to blow heat into it. Sun God did so and, slowly, the sack began to float…

They’d made a hot-air balloon!

The sack rose, then lifted the cage up… and up… and up… and Sun God and Mother Goddess were free!

By now, the forests in Cambridgeshire burned beneath a raging fire. All Sun God and Mother Goddess could do was stamp out the flames with their giant feet. And, as they did, the land got flatter and flatter.

Just as they stamped out the final flame, Warrior God returned.

‘Hey! There’s no such place as

        Gobblewobbleshire!

                And… oh! You escaped my cage!

                            How? Waaaa … ’

Warrior God sat down, and burst into tears.

Wearily, Sun God said, ‘It’s alright. I’m getting old now. I’ll happily give you my powers anyway.’

Mother Goddess shook her head frantically. ‘No! He’ll only use them for destruction!’

But Warrior God looked happy. ‘You will?’

Sun God nodded, and told Warrior God to look into his eyes.

Warrior God poked his tongue out at Mother Goddess, then gazed into Sun God’s eyes. He could feel the power of destruction entering his body, and building up… and up… and up…

‘W-w-wait… I… I can’t take it!’

But Sun God didn’t stop. He kept feeding his power into Warrior God until, suddenly, Warrior God exploded!

So Warrior God was no longer a problem for anyone. But the land of Cambridgeshire had been burned and flattened so much, it never looked the same again.

Of course, there are still some hills in Cambridgeshire. For example, a large hill called Gogmagog is quite close to Cambridge city. Where did that hill come from? Find out in…

2

THE LANDOF GOGMAGOG

3

JACK’SCATCH

By the year AD 470 (that’s the fifth century), most of the Romans had left Britain. The people who stayed called themselves ‘Britons’, and divided the land into several kingdoms. But they didn’t really like each other, and were usually fighting.

Not only that, there were also other countries who wanted to take over Britain. So Britons were also fighting armies from France and Saxony (a land that we now know as Germany).

Not only that, but there were still some giants roaming about! Some were friendly, like Gogmagog, but even the nice ones still needed a lot to eat.

So ordinary people like Jack, a boy who lived with his mum, sometimes found it very hard to get food – especially since they lived in the Fens, the fields north and east of Cambridgeshire.

Remember the fire made by Warrior God? That had left the Fens very dry, almost as dry as a desert! Plants wouldn’t grow there, only grass and weeds. So Jack and his mum couldn’t grow vegetables.

Instead, every morning, Jack left their cottage to hunt, taking his bow, some arrows, and his dog, who was called Riothamus.

That’s a funny name for a dog, isn’t it. Jack had named him after the king of Cambridgeshire back then – a Saxon called Riothamus – but Jack usually called his dog ‘Rio’ for short.

Jack and Rio would wander the Fens until they saw a nice juicy bird flying through the sky. Then Jack would raise up his bow, aim an arrow, and… ping!

Jack was pretty good with his bow and arrow, and usually hit a bird first time.

As the bird fell from the sky, Rio would run after it… ‘WOOF!WOOF!WOOF!WOOF!’ …and, after a while, he would run back carrying the bird in his mouth: ‘WMMF!WMMF!WMMF!WMMF!’.

Jack would then take the bird home for his mum to cook.

This is how they passed every single day. Jack and Rio would wander the Fens until they saw a nice juicy bird flying through the sky. Then Jack would raise up his bow, aim an arrow, and… ping!

As the bird fell from the sky, Rio would dash after it… ‘WOOF!WOOF!WOOF!WOOF!’… and, after a while, he would race back carrying the bird in his mouth: ‘WMMF!WMMF!WMMF!WMMF!’.

Jack would then take the bird home for his mum to cook.

Now, can you imagine eating the same food every single day? Well, that’s what it was like in that cottage!

However, at the start of this story, Jack and Rio had hunted for a whole week – and still hadn’t found any food. Every bird in the sky had already been caught by the armies or the giants. So Jack, his mum and Rio were all very hungry.

As Jack put on his hunting boots once more, his mum said, ‘Oh Jack. Don’t hunt today. There aren’t any more birds and I’m worried a giant might eat you instead!’

But Jack smiled. ‘Cheer up, Mum! We’ll catch a bird today, I’m sure! Come on Rio!’

So off they went, wandering the Fens. Half the day had gone when, suddenly, Jack heard a sound above them… CAW!

It was a bird, and it was the largest bird he’d ever seen! Quickly, he raised his bow, aimed an arrow, and… ping!

As the bird fell from the sky, Rio dashed after it… ‘WOOF!WOOF!WOOF!WOOF!’… and, after a while…

Then, after a longer while…

Then, after a really long while…

Now Jack felt nervous. What was taking Rio so long? Had he been picked up by… a giant?

Rushing as fast as he could, Jack crossed that field – and several more fields – until, at last, he found Rio.

Rio was sat on a riverbank. He whined.

Jack understood. The bird had landed on the other side of the river. ‘Oh Rio, you can’t bring the bird back from the other side of the river on your own? Well, we’ll just have to trudge over there and get it together, won’t we!’