The Green Harper…

‘…Peedy Weedy…Pally Ludy… Lady Whistle… Lody Wassel and Great Big Hodyman Dod…’

-Traditional Toe Counting Rhyme

…Wen becomes pensive for awhile, ‘we need to go to Cerne Abbas…’

‘Father Corn…?’

‘Possibly…and then there’s the Long Man of Wilmington…whose ‘long man’ is no longer visible and of course, Gogmagog…’

‘…At a girl! I’m thinking these are all chalk figures…’

‘They were all hill figures once though Gogmagog no longer exists…but he was also a rock…and was later split in two and represented in the stonework of Cathedrals…and other media…wicker-work figures carried at the Lord Mayor’s show for one…the ‘gianting’ traditions of our country and others in Europe for that matter are still very much alive and kicking and that’s even before we start to consider the biblical references…’

‘The Giants are right up our street then…so to speak…or a street nearby… when do we start?’

‘We do…,’ smiles Wen, ‘and I think we already have… you know the Long Man of Wilmington is an Opener…at least, that’s one interpretation of his stance, but the ‘door jambs’ could also be staves…or sight-lines…’

‘In which case the Long-Man… is a Dod-Man…and responsible for marking out the Leys…’

‘We still don’t really know what those energies actually are…’

‘On the contrary my dearest Wendolina… I know…precisely… what those energies are.’

‘Can you wait while I swallow this mouthful of food before telling me?’

‘Your faith in me… is most reassuring…but you will like this…ready now?’

‘Uhuh… ready…’

‘The Ley-Lines are Cause-Ways…’

‘…You’re right… I do like that… where is it from?’

‘It’s from the Myth of the Green Harper…’

‘When I was little, ‘Peedy Weedy’ was a little piggy that went to market, ‘Pally Ludy stayed at home, ‘Lady Whistle’ ate roast beef, ‘ Lody Wassal had none, and Great Big Hodyman Dod, well he went… pee wee wee wee wee… all the way home.’

‘That’s pretty much what happened when I was little too, although in a slightly different order. Interesting though, the emphasis on polarity.’

‘And on bodily maintenance.’

‘But it does seem to imply that it is possible to walk home.’

‘So, how do we get back home?’

‘By walking the earth…’

Excerpt from Heart of Albion

***

HEART OF ALBION

Stuart France & Sue Vincent

Unwittingly drawn into the mysterious and magical landscape of The Initiate, Don and Wen pondered the visual language of symbols, stumbling across revelations and realisations that would alter their perception of the age-old stories they thought they knew… tales that entwine across the tapestry of time.

A hilltop steeped in tragedy, a child whose eyes see too much… a Word-Weaver’s birth into darkness… strange forms shimmering on the edge of vision. They learned to walk the Living Land, listening to the whispers of Earth memory and the ghosts of the most ancient past. And from those tales, another line of communication opens as they explore the folklore, legends and traditional tales handed down, from heart to heart, over the millennia.

As the two friends travel between the sacred sites of Albion, they discover stories that tell how the leys were made, the true origins of the hillforts and the reason why Father Fish had breakfast in Slug Town.

Striding across this landscape of myth are the giants. From Cerne Abbas to the top of the Beanstalk, from Camelot to the Castle of Maidens, how and why is their presence stamped on the Living Lore of the land by their seven-league boots?

Join Don and Wen as the adventure continues, unravelling its mysteries and the magical relationship between Albion and its people.