The UnNatural History of Cornwall Lecture Series - the story of the Pencarrow Hunt and Black John Thursday, 9 September 2021. 20:00 – 21:30 BST
"The Unnatural History of Cornwall - curated by Dr.Amy Hale brings stories of the weird and wonderful from Cornwall to a wider audience, with an emphasis on Cornish voices from the past and the present.
"Traditional ballads and the tunes that go with them can be quite separate entities that connect and part company as they travel through time. There is a sense in which both carry the stories and interpretations of the people and communities with which they engage. Indeed, these stories and meanings will often tell us more about these people and their social milieu than the origins of the tradition. During the course of its travels the story of the Pencarrow Hunt and Black John has connected with some interesting characters and provides the perfect study for an 'unnatural history'.
"The origins of the story are satisfyingly obscure. Black John was manservant, master of the hounds and court jester for Lord Arscott and there are several historical candidates for both characters in 17th and 18th century Cornwall, but none quite match the story. It seems to have become a ballad through the mischievous pen of Robert Stephen Hawker, Cornwall’s (and probably the world’s) first hippy as he mused on the cliff tops of North Cornwall in his scarlet cloak, seaman’s boots and wacky baccy. It went on to encounter the romanticism of Folk Song collector Sabine Baring Gould and the contrasting world views of Cecil Sharp and his English folk song society and Henry Jenner’s Celto Cornish revival. In the 21st century it returned to its mystic roots as the lament for the Beast of Bodmin. "