Moneymaker Jack | Series 5 Episode 9: Berkshire
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Show notes
This week, Eleanor has finally sufficiently recovered from her really horrid flu to not only speak audibly, but also whisk us all the way across to the 'Royal County' of Berkshire!
We start by discussing the Boar's Head Feast, Sow Day, and St Adelaide's Day traditions, with St Adelaide having not only dug her own way out of jail but also single-handedly led the Holy Roman Empire, and become a warrior nun! After that, it's time to get properly back to business, and dig into the history and folklore of Berkshire.
We chew over a load of fascinating stuff, including Piers Gaveston's astonishingly daft methods for upsetting the nation's lords from his base at Wallingford Castle, the significance of Greenham Common in the English cultural consciousness, Berkshire's 'Swan Upping' traditions, and plenty else, all before Eleanor reveals some tasty options for this week's County Dishes, including the largely forgotten Reading delicacy, Cock's Sauce...
On the folklore front, interspersed with some excerpts from next Saturday's Local Legends interview with storyteller and author David England, we talk about the nigh-on psychopathic dating habits of Lady Frances Hendrick of Calcot Park, a mouse-loving ghost who's stuck in a pond, the methods Kintbury's local wizard might recommend for removing a church bell from the river Kennet, and much more besides.
Then it's on to the main event: Eleanor's story about Newbury's industrious 16th century folk hero "Moneymaker Jack."
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Three Ravens is a completely independent English myth and folklore podcast where we share stories, celebrate folk culture, and fall backwards through the hedgerows of history.
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