One of the things I’d been hoping to do last year was learn a few Island folklore tales for telling at Island Storytellers sessions. The Thing put paid to those events, of course, but as a sort of new year resolultion, I’ve started digging.
There are a few well worn island tales that appear in pretty much every “tales of the Wight” collection, however it’s themed (smugglers, ghosts, legends, folklore, wrecks, etc) and I guess tales that people still tell within families, so to not just rehash every other story, I figure I need a new way in to some of them.
So I’ve started trying to work up a pattern that takes a place, a time, either a bit of law or a bit of lore, and one or more events as a basis for “researching” a story, from which I can generate:
a) the simple telling, which in many cases may appear on the surface to be a rehash of all the other tellings of the same story;
b) a deeper layer that colours each bit of the story for me and provides more hooks for how to remember it.
Using the place is important because it means I can start to anchor things in a memory palace based on the island. Using the data also provides an opportunity to hook things in the memory palace in temporal layer that allows stories in the same time period to colour and link to each other, as well as stories in the same place to colour the place over time. At some point, I daresay characters may also become pieces in the memory palace.
As far as digging around the stories goes, I’ve started looking for primary and old-secondary resources. Primary in the form of original statutes, places and photos (I intend to visit each location as I pull the pieces together to help situate the story properly), court reports (if I can find them!) etc. And old-secondary sources in the form of old books that tell the now familiar, perhaps even then familiar, tales but from the different historical context of the time of writing.
So for example, there’s a wealth of old tourist guides to the Island, going back a couple of hundred years or so, including the following, which can all be found via the Internet Archive or Google Books:
- The Isle of Wight: its towns, antiquities, and objects of interest, 1915?
- Legends and Lays of the Wight, Percy Stone, 1912
- The Undercliff Of The Isle Of Wight Past And Present, Whitehead, John L. 1911
- Isle of Wight, Moncrieff, A. R. Hope & Cooper, A. Heaton, 1908
- Steephill Castle, Ventnor, Isle of Wight, the residence of John Morgan Richards, Esq.; a handbook and a history, Marsh, John, 1907
- A Driving Tour in the Isle of Wight: With Various Legends and Anecdotes, Hubert Garle, 1905
- The Isle of Wight, George Clinch, 1904 (2nd edition 1921)
- The New Forest and the Isle of Wight, Cornish, C. J., 1903
- A pictorial and descriptive guide to the Isle of Wight, Ward, Lock and Company, ltd, 1900
- The Isle of Wight, Ralph Darlington 1898
- Letters, archaeological and historical relating to the Isle of Wight, Edward Boucher James, 1896
- Fenwick’s new and original, poetical, historical, & descriptive guide to the Isle of Wight, George Fenwick, 1885
- A visit to the Isle of Wight by two wights, Bridge, John, 1884
- Jenkinson’s practical guide to the Isle of Wight, Henry Irwin Jenkinson, 1876
- Briddon’s Illustrated Handbook to the Isle of Wight, G. Harvey Betts, 1875
- Nelson’s Handbook to the Isle of Wight: Its History, Topography, and Antiquities, William Henry Davenport Adams, 1873
- The tourist’s picturesque guide to the Isle of Wight, George Shaw, 1873
- Mason’s new handy guide to the Isle of Wight, James Mason, 1872
- Black’s Picturesque Guide to the Isle of Wight, 1871
- The Isle of Wight, James Redding Ware, 1871
- Methodism in the Isle of Wight: its origin and progress down to the present times, Dyson, John B 1865
- The Isle of Wight, a guide, Edmund Venables Rock, 1860
- The pleasure visitor’s companion in making the tour of the Isle of Wight, pointing out the best plan for seeing in the shortest time every remarkable object, Brannon, 1857
- Barber’s picturesque guide to the Isle of Wight, Thomas Barber, 1850
- Bonchurch, Shanklin & the Undercliff, and their vicinities, Cooke, William B., 1849
- Glimpses of nature, and objects of interest described during a visit to the Isle of Wight, Loudon, Jane, 1848
- Owen Gladdon’s wanderings in the Isle of Wight, Old Humphrey, 1846
- A topographical and historical guide to the Isle of Wight, W.C.F.G. Sheridan, 1840
- Vectis scenery : being a series of original and select views, exhibiting picturesque beauties of the Isle of Wight, with ample descriptive and explanatory letter-press, Brannon, George, 1840
- The Isle of Wight: its past and present condition, and future prospects, Robert Mudie 1840
- The Isle of Wight Tourist, and Companion at Cowes, Philo Vectis, 1830
- Tales and Legends of the Isle Of Wight, Abraham Elder, 1839
- The beauties of the Isle of Wight, 1826
- A historical and picturesque guide to the Isle of Wight, John Bullar, 1825
- A companion to the Isle of Wight; comprising the history of the island, and the description of its local scenery, as well as all objects of curiosity, Albin, John, 1823
- The delineator; or, A description of the Isle of Wight, James Clarke, 1822
- A journey from London to the Isle of Wight, Pennant, Thomas, 1801
- A Tour to the Isle of Wight (two volumes), Charles Tomkins, 1796
- The history of the Isle of Wight; military, ecclesiastical, civil, & natural: to which is added a view of its agriculture, Warner, Richard, 1795
- Tour of the Isle of Wight (two volumes), Hassell, John 1790
- The History of the Isle of Wight, Richard Worsley, 1781 ? 1785
Many of the above recount the same old, same old stories; but from a quick skim, there is often a slightly different emphasis or bit of colourful interpretation.
But the tours also include occasional new stories, and illustrations and fragments of primary material or commentary, and/or references to the same (which will hopefully give me new ratholes to chase down:-).
Many of them also appear to have a fondness for anecdotes about the weather, architecture, landscape, and people encountered, so I’m hopeful of finding some new to me stories in there too…
…such as why there was an Act of James I posted in the entrance to Godshill Church “which enacts that every female who unfortunately intrudes on the parish a second illegitimate child shall be liable to imprisonment and
hard labour in Bridewell for six months”…
LIST OF BOOKS AND LINKS
The Isle of Wight: its towns, antiquities, and objects of interest 1915 Thomas Nelson Publishers https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=4nB8CxCiZHYC
Legends and Lays of the Wight Percy Stone 1912 https://archive.org/details/legendslaysofwig00ston
Isle of Wight : its churches and religious houses Cox, J. Charles 1911 https://archive.org/details/isleofwightitsch00coxjuoft
The Undercliff Of The Isle Of Wight Past And Present Whitehead, John L. 1911 https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.502008
The Victoria history of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Doubleday, Herbert Arthur 1908 https://archive.org/details/historyofhampshi03doubuoft
Isle of Wight Moncrieff, A. R. Hope & Cooper, A. Heaton 1908 https://archive.org/details/isleofwight00moncuoft
Steephill Castle, Ventnor, Isle of Wight, the residence of John Morgan Richards, Esq.; a handbook and a history Marsh, John 1907 https://archive.org/details/steephillcastlev00mars
A Driving Tour in the Isle of Wight: With Various Legends and Anecdotes Hubert Garle 1905 https://archive.org/details/adrivingtourini00garlgoog
The Isle of Wight (original edition: 1904) Clinch, George 1921 https://archive.org/details/isleofwightwithi00clinuoft
The New Forest and the Isle of Wight Cornish, C. J. 1903 https://archive.org/details/newforestisleofw00corn
A pictorial and descriptive guide to the Isle of Wight Ward, Lock and Company, Ltd 1900 https://archive.org/details/guidetoisleofwig00ward
The Isle of Wight Darlington, Ralph 1898 https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=-oMuAAAAMAAJ
Letters, archaeological and historical relating to the Isle of Wight, Edward Boucher James 1896 https://archive.org/details/lettersarchaeolo01jameuoft
The Isle of Wight Cornish, C. J. 1895 https://archive.org/details/isleofwight00cornrich
A history of Hampshire, including the Isle of Wight Shore, Thomas William 1892 https://archive.org/details/historyofhampshi00shoruoft
The Oglander memoirs: extracts from the mss. of Sir J. Oglander, Oglander, John, Sir, 1888 https://archive.org/details/oglandermemoirse00oglaiala
Fenwick’s new and original, poetical, historical, & descriptive guide to the Isle of Wight Fenwick, George 1885 https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=qQwHAAAAQAAJ
A visit to the Isle of Wight by two wights Bridge, John 1884 https://archive.org/details/avisittoislewig00bridgoog
Tourist’s guide to Hampshire, including the Isle of Wight Phillips Beva, G. 1881 https://archive.org/details/touristsguideto05bevagoog
Jenkinson’s practical guide to the Isle of Wight Jenkinson, Henry Irwin 1876 https://archive.org/details/jenkinsonspract00jenkgoog
Briddon’s Illustrated Handbook to the Isle of Wight Harvey Betts, G. 1875 https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=P6lYAAAAcAAJ
Nelson’s Handbook to the Isle of Wight: Its History, Topography, and Antiquities 1873 Davenport Adams, William Henry https://archive.org/details/isleofwightitshi00adam
The tourist’s picturesque guide to the Isle of Wight Shaw, George 1873 https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=1AkHAAAAQAAJ
Mason’s new handy guide to the Isle of Wight Mason, James 1872 https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=sAsHAAAAQAAJ
Black’s Picturesque Guide to the Isle of Wight Black, A. and C. 1871 https://archive.org/details/blackspicturesq00unkngoog
The Isle of Wight Ware, James Redding 1871 https://archive.org/details/isleofwight00warerich
Methodism in the Isle of Wight: its origin and progress down to the present times Dyson, John B 1865 https://archive.org/details/28682709.1865.emory.edu
Nelsons’ Hand-book to the Isle of Wight: Its History, Topography, and Antiquities, with Notes 1864 by William Henry Davenport Adams https://archive.org/details/nelsonshandbook00adamgoog/page/n18/mode/2up
The Isle of Wight, a guide Venables Rock, Edmund 1860 https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=shMHAAAAQAAJ
The pleasure visitor’s companion in making the tour of the Isle of Wight, pointing out the best plan for seeing in the shortest time every remarkable object Brannon 1857 https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=m6lbAAAAQAAJ
Papal Rome, the foretold and foredoomed apostasy, anathematized of God : and under the ban of divine excommunication; a sermon preached in Ventnor Church, Isle of Wight, Sunday, Nov. 24th, 1850 Coleman, John Noble 1851 https://archive.org/details/a629414400coleuoft
Barber’s picturesque guide to the Isle of Wight Barber, Thomas 1850 https://archive.org/details/barberspicturesq00barbuoft
Owen Gladdon’s wanderings in the Isle of Wight Old Humphrey 1850 https://archive.org/details/owengladdonswan00humpgoog
Bonchurch, Shanklin & the Undercliff, and their vicinities Cooke, William B. 1849 https://archive.org/details/bonchurchshankli00cook
The "Undercliff" of the Isle of Wight; its climate, history, and natural productions 1849 Martin, George Anne https://archive.org/details/undercliffofisle00mart
Glimpses of nature, and objects of interest described during a visit to the Isle of Wight Loudon, Jane 1848 https://archive.org/details/glimpsesofnature00loudiala
The tourist’s guide through the Isle of Wight Baker, T. 1846 https://archive.org/details/touristsguideth00ofgoog
Owen Gladdon’s wanderings in the Isle of Wight Old Humphrey 1846 https://archive.org/details/owengladdonswand00oldh
St. Lawrence’s well Sheridan, Henry Brinsley 1845 https://archive.org/details/stlawrenceswell00sher
A topographical and historical guide to the Isle of Wight Brettell, Thomas 1840 https://archive.org/details/atopographicala00bretgoog
Vectis scenery : being a series of original and select views, exhibiting picturesque beauties of the Isle of Wight, with ample descriptive and explanatory letter-press Brannon, George 1840 https://archive.org/details/vectisscenerybei00bran
The Isle of Wight: its past and present condition, and future prospects Mudie, Robert 1840 https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vOAHAAAAQAAJ
A topographical and historical guide to the Isle of Wight Sheridan, W.C.F.G. 1833 https://archive.org/details/atopographicala00shergoog
The Isle of Wight Tourist, and Companion at Cowes Philo Vectis 1830 https://archive.org/details/islewighttouris00vectgoog
The Vectis directory, or Isle of Wight general guide Isle of Wight 1839 https://archive.org/details/vectisdirectory00ofgoog
Tales and Legends of the Isle Of Wight Elder, Abraham 1839 https://archive.org/details/talesandlegends00eldegoog
The beauties of the Isle of Wight Isle of Wight 1826 https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=2AkHAAAAQAAJ
A historical and picturesque guide to the Isle of Wight Bullar, John 1825 https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=wBIHAAAAQAAJ
A companion to the Isle of Wight; comprising the history of the island, and the description of its local scenery, as well as all objects of curiosity, Albin, John 1823 https://archive.org/details/companiontoisleo00albi
The delineator; or, A description of the Isle of Wight Clarke, James 1822 https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=MAoHAAAAQAAJ
A new and accurate description of all the direct and principal cross roads in England and Wales, and part of the roads of Scotland Paterson, Daniel, 1811 https://archive.org/details/anewandaccurate00freegoog
The beauties of England and Wales, or, Delineations, topographical, historical, and descriptive, of each county Brewer, James Norris, 1801 https://archive.org/details/beautiesofenglan18brew
Observations on the western parts of England, relative chiefly to picturesque beauty : to which are added, a few remarks on the picturesque beauties of the Isle of Wight Gilpin, William 1808 https://archive.org/details/observationsonwe00gilp
Journey From London To The Isle Of Wight. Vol. 2 Pennant, Thomas 1801 https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.43052
A journey from London to the Isle of Wight, vol 1 Pennant, Thomas 1801 https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.1891
Beauties of england and wales Britton 1801 https://archive.org/details/beautiesofenglan14brit
The rural economy of the southern counties; comprizing Kent, Surrey, Sussex; the Isle of Wight Marshall, Mr. (William) 1798 https://archive.org/details/ruraleconomysou00wilgoog
A Tour to the Isle of Wight (two volumes) Tomkins, Charles 1796 https://archive.org/details/atourtoislewigh00tomkgoog
The history of the Isle of Wight; military, ecclesiastical, civil, & natural: to which is added a view of its agriculture Warner, Richard 1795 https://archive.org/details/historyofisleofw00warniala
Tour of the Isle of Wight (two volumes) Hassell, John 1790 https://archive.org/details/tourislewightdr00hassgoog
The trial, with the whole of the evidence, between the Right Hon. Sir Richard Worsley, bart. … and George Maurice Bisset Worsley, Richard 1782 https://archive.org/details/b3038834x
The History of the Isle of Wight Worsley, Richard 1781 https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=wOZWAAAAcAAJ
Letters between Col. Robert Hammond, governor of the Isle of Wight, and the committee of lords and commons at Derby-House, General Fairfax, Lieut. General Cromwell, Commissary General Ireton, &c. relating to King Charles I Hammond, Robert, 1621-1654; Ashburnham, John 1764 https://archive.org/details/lettersbetweenco00hammuoft
An Observation of an Extraordinary Damp in a Well in the Isle of Wight; Communicated in a Letter from Mr. Benj. Cooke, F. R. S. to Mr. Peter Collinson, F. R. S. Benj. Cooke 1737 https://archive.org/details/paper-doi-10_1098_rstl_1737_0063/mode/2up
OUseful.Info, the blog... 