Badass King John

@PeacockTaleFolkIndieDuo On the 7th anniversary of my rapping this as part of the civic unveiling of the statue of King John in Lynn (Oct 12 2016), an unexpected climax for the tour phase of the Doin Different project, here is a new version as a duo as heard on our double album of the project DONE DIFFERENT (releases November 2023). The entire civic ceremony (including the rap) was filmed in a borough council film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXE9BdSGCgM and it was the lead story on BBC LOOK EAST primetime news that day, including footage of the rap and an interview with yours truly.afterwards. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07xps0n Badass King John was Ballad 7 in the 39 ballad book https://www.poppyland.co.uk/products/B79622 and is track 4 on the new album. https://peacocks-tale.bandcamp.com/album/done-different (link goes live November 2023).

The impressive statue, cast in bronze, was made by Scottish sculptor Alan Beattie Herriot, who was in the town to see it unveiled. Legend has it that on October 12, 1216 King John lost the crown jewels in the Wash, and the £22,000 statue was unveiled 800 years to the day later.

The Vicar of Stiffkey

Another offering from Doin Different, our not so slim Poppyland volume of folk ballads published in 2015. The long-promised musical album of the book is approaching completion and is scheduled (fingers crossed) for release this Christmas.

Chronicling Norfolk ( and East of England) history from Boudicca and Fiddler's Hill - a haunted bronze age barrow in Binham -  to UEA and a contemporary carol at Lynn Minster, the book at this point reaches the (in)famous  tale of 'Little Jimmy', The Rector of Stiffkey, the 31st of 39 ballads, a story which gripped the nation at the time and is an emblem of the inter-war battle between the 'Victorian' establishment and the more permissive values of modern times. We hope you like our seaside postcard approach to the subject. 


PS 'Victorian' is in scare quotes because the period was actually one of the most progressive in history -  the abolition of slavery (its repression enforced by the royal navy), Married Women's Property Act, Universal Manhood suffrage, public sanitation, enormous advances in science and technology etc etc - but yes there was plenty to be progressive about.

The Book of Margery Kempe of Lynn

The Book of Margery Kempe is believed to be the first autobiography in the English language. In this new Poppyland pamphlet by Gareth Calway the author examines the history of the book itself and the manuscript that emerged in 1934. He explores its content and explains why it was such a pioneering work, the places that are still associated with Kempe and its influence on modern day writers, historians and dramatists. A selection from the full Bhas Allan photoshoot (see below) supporting the text is also included in the pamphlet.

The anchorhold in All Saint's, South Lynn, Lynn's oldest church.

Lynn Minster, whose foundation deed as St Margaret's refers to the building in honour of St Mary Magdalen, St Margaret and all holy virgins. Perhaps, as a tribute to its pioneering parishioner, Margery, independent wives should be added to that roll!

Fourteenth century brasses from St Margaret's, showing the Mayor and his wives. Margery's father was Mayor and MP a generation later.

St Margaret's from the south.

St Margaret's tower - with a sense of Margery's visionary eye.

The Whitefriars Gate, the only survival of a building in which the illiterate Margery is believed to have dictated her Book to a scribe. With a plaque containing at least two howlers addressed in the pamphlet.

Lynn mediaeval waterfront, from West Lynn. Margery's merchant father and burgess husband worked here and Margery sailed from a point somewhere in the middle of this view, which would have been marked then by a large pilgrims' cross. However, she sailed on her most famous pilgrimage to the Holy Land from Great Yarmouth (whose plaque - also reproduced in the pamphlet - accurately describes Margery as the author of her own Book.)

Richard Castre, Vicar of Sedgeford, and later of St Stephens in Norwich, was a friend and supporter of Margery.  She certainly needed support against some very powerful opponents, including the Archbishop of York (and the Mayor of Leicester) who charged her with heresy.

Post script. In response to the third comment below, here is the passage in which Margery describes her meeting with Julian in her cell in Norwich. (chapter 18, Book 1)

What a night! 'Doin different' at Elsing Church Saturday September 10

Doin different -job done. A pic by John MacLennan that says it all. 

The Breckland View - Paul Young interviews us in Elsing Church pre-show for the Norfolk radio station and website.* (*The Night Train To Dis? - hear it here)

More than a preview of Gamorra's last show, also a record of an amazing partnership. 

Plus Vanessa Wood-Davies gives the view from the harpist's chair. 

Songs from a book... Pics by Bhas Allan

 

and Maz Calway's view...

 Half God Half Nelson and the whole cast

Lovehearts & Redwine in full flight.

showing tonight!!! DOIN DIFFERENT DOIN THE DISSENT THING...

RESOURCES FOR THE DOIN DIFFERENT PROJECT  
(AUDIOS AND VIDEOS OF THE SONGS; HISTORICAL SUPPORT)

A church fundraising event with a difference comes to Elsing this Saturday 10 September.
Church of England listing for Doin different!

'Doin different' by Gareth Calway and featuring the author in performance with a galaxy of musical composers and collaborators tells the story of religious and political dissent in Norfolk from Boudicca to the present. Norfolk was at the forefront of both for much of this time.

There is a special emphasis on religious rebels like the Lollard heretic William Sawtrey of Lynn, the first man to be burned for his beliefs in England and on political radicals like Robert Kett of Wymondham and Tom Paine of Thetford. Their stories are told through an exciting collection of folk ballads and also through theatre and dramatic readings.

The thousand year struggle of the common man and woman for a voice in the spheres of politics and religion is traced: the Peasants' Revolt, the Reformation and the English Civil War are brought alive in 'Dissolution Row (The Ballad of Binham Priory)' and 'The Ballad of Freeborn John.'

Homage is also paid to heroes and heroines of the copybook headings like Lord Nelson of Burnham and Edith Cavell of Swardeston who actually 'did different' and broke ranks at least as much as their more obviously dissenting Norfolk compatriots.

'Doin different, 39 new ballads from the East of England' was published by Poppyland last year and the author has been successfully touring East Anglian festivals like the Ely Folk Festival, Folk in a Field and Lynn's Hanse Festival as well as theatres and heritage spaces with a rolling collective of musical collaborators since May.

This 20th - and penultimate - tour date features chief collaborating composer punk-folker Anto Morra, whose 2015 album 'Boudicca's Country' sets 12 lyrics from Calway's book and has received glowing reviews like Fatea magazine's "a collection of fine songs, all of which are capable of passing into folk tradition." 

Rockier notes are struck in Saturday's performance by Tim Chipping on electric guitar and more classical ones  by harpist Vanessa Wood-Davies and soprano Gill Sims-McLennan.

Tickets are £10 on 01362 637331 or on the door.

'Doin different' by Gareth Calway (Poppyland Publishing) is on sale at Jarrold's, Waterstones and via www.poppyland.co.uk It includes musical scores, historical information, pictures of performers and links to online resources about the characters. Full details of tour and book are on www.garethcalway.co.uk

or to put all that another way (Tim's preview) 

Doin’ Different: New ballads from the East of England.

Elsing, St Mary’s Church.

The Doin’ Different Tour comes to St Mary’s Church, Elsing, NR20 3EA on Saturday 10^th September 2016, 7.30pm.

Based upon the new Poppyland Publishing book of the same name, its author Gareth Calway is joined by his musical collaborators Vanessa Wood-Davies (Harp), Anto Morra (voice and guitar - as heard at the centenary memorial service of Edith Cavell’s execution broadcast on BBC Radio 4’s Morning Worship programme from Norwich Cathedral), Tim Chipping (voice and guitar) and a guest spot for Gill Sims-MacLennan (classical soprano), to present a show spanning a thousand years of Norfolk history in ballad form.

Traversing the local landscape from Lynn to Yarmouth, Thetford to Wells and back to Norwich, each new ballad tells a “cracking story”; history, tragedy, murders, legends, outlaws, ghosts, love, man and woman against the odds, the exploits of a cast of the county’s famous, infamous and forgotten-about heroes and heroines. We meet Boudica, Queen of the Iceni defying the might of Rome, the ill-fated Fiddler of Fiddler’s Hill, Admiral Lord Nelson,  Margery Kempe, Robert Kett leader of the Peasant’s Revolt of 1549, Edith Cavell, Anne Boleyn, the Cod Fisherman of Lynn, Yarmouth and Wells, the ghost of  Susan Nobes of Sedgeford and Tom Paine, author of The Rights of Man.

Although always respectful to this long list of characters, Doin’ Different has a rumbustious edge to its mix of drama, song, spoken word and music and, whilst humour and a playful use of language are an integral part to the performance, you will also find yourself moved to ponder the “human condition” and man’s inhumanity to his fellow man. Doin’ Different is therefore a celebration in music of the rich history of this region, a tapestry of tales woven not only to entertain but to inform and enthuse its audience to find out more about these people who did indeed do different.

Tickets £10, advance booking from Tim on 01362 637331 (includes glass of wine and canapes).

All profits will go towards repair of the north side gargoyles of Elsing church.

Go on, get out from in front of the telly.....................Support live local music and theatre!

(P.S. Thanks if you've already booked , look on this as a reminder..............yes, we've had folks buy tickets in the past and forget to come!)

See you there.

DOIN DIFFERENT - AUDIO, VIDEO AND HISTORICAL RESOURCES