Round the Herne

 I've been thinking a little about Yule traditions. Like many people I not only follow the widespread practices but also have my own particular habits that I repeat every midwinter season. Mine are mostly centred around stories which I like to enjoy. For me it is a time to listen to the audio recording made by theatrical legend Simon Callow of the Charles Dickens' story 'Doctor Marigold's Prescription'. This was one of Dickens regular performances during his touring days, a first-person narrative of a traveling cheapjack's life from his birth through to a Christmas-time reunion with his beloved adoptive daughter. Like all of Dickens' work it is full of sentiment and an observation of the brutal excesses of mid-Victorian life, and perfectly pitched with the balance of humour and pathos. Callow's performance is excellent and filled with a real enthusiasm that might be expected from an acknowledged expert on the author. This is also the season when I love t...

I know a couple of stories about Robin Ddu, a cunning man from North Wales who may either be a wizard or a con man (depending on your point of view). Apologies for the erratic pronunciation of Welsh words - still working that. I'll record other tales in due course but this one recounts how he uses a skull to recover the jewels of the landed gentry. This character has definite echoes to the 18th century Ipswich cunning man, Old Winter, about whom I have written on a number of occasions and the TV characters of the Crowman (from Worzel Gummidge) and Catweazle, both rural magicians brought to life by the late Geoffrey Bayldon back in the 1970s. Speaking of which, I contributed a short chapter to Tis Magic (an anthology about the Catweazle show). My copy arrived in this morning's post -  http://www.hiddentigerbooks.co.uk/tis_magic_catweazle.htm

Two days ago the sad news was announced that British character actor Geoffrey Bayldon had died at the grand age of 93. Younger readers may not recognise the name, he having been retired for a while, but those old enough to remember Worzel Gummidge and Catweazle certainly will know him as the both the Crowman whose magic brought scarecrows to life, as well as the ancient time travelling wizard who landed in 1970s Britain to discover the perverse magic of electrickery and telling bones. He also appeared in a long old list of TV shows and films. His magical characters inspired me with the visual image of Doctor Winter, a real life Cunning Man who lived in the 1700s and early 1800s in Ipswich. When writing fiction I find it helps if I can put a face to my characters, so often draw on both celebrities, people I know, and random strangers I see whose faces interest me. I wanted to restore Winter to life as the sleuth in a short story called 'A Doctor Calls' (part of the crime anth...