ANOTHER TIME, ANOTHER PLACE

British Folk Tales - New Versions by Kevin Crossley Holland
Published by Orchard Books         ISBN 1-85213-021-0

This is an excellent book from which to choose stories to read to children. As one does so, the dimly remembered tales which form a part of our folk heritage become vivid and detailed. There many stories included in this work will probably be familiar: Dick Whittington, Tom Thumb, and Jack and the Beanstalk amongst them. There are other stories which re-work themes with which we are very familiar, but in a different setting. One story of this kind is Three Heads of the Well which narrates that:--

Less than twelve months after the death of his wife, the King at Colchester married for a second time. He married for money.
The King's new wife had a nature as bad as her looks (she was hook-nosed, hump-backed and had yellow skin) and her dowdy daughter was little better. From the very day they moved into the palace, they began to spread false rumours about Eleanor, the King's own daughter. There was no place for Eleanor in her own home...

That last phrase may strike a chord with some Nationalists(!).

Another unusual re-working of a common theme (that of the transformation of man to animal and vice-versa) is The Black Bull of Norway. Contact with other worlds is a theme dealt with in a number of tales, including Sea Woman and The Green Children. Interestingly the main characters are always depicted as being homesick and longing to return (some do). What does this say of the folk wisdom?

More unusual tales are The Slumber King which is related to the Arthurian mythology and its theme of the once and future King; and A Village of fools. This last is a very amusing story about a village that blockades the road to stop King John from passing.
Their reason is logical enough :--

they lived from their tolls, and wherever the King passed became a public road.

To avoid punishment, however, they pretended to be fools, engaging in daft stunts like trying to drown eels in the village pond!

This book is delightful, and comes with our recommendation.

Another Time, Another Place may be purchased on-line :   Amazon.com 
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