| WOSAS : F1124 |
WOSAS/CD356/track4 R1186.wav |
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Thorn in the King's Foot,
The
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| Sound recording, story; The Thorn in the King's Foot, a wonder tale from the Scottish traveller tradition told by Robin Williamson, at The Crick Crack Club at The King of Hearts Arts Centre, Norwich, 5th October 1991. | |
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| A story introduced by Robin Williamson, including comment of having heard this story from Duncan Williamson, followed by story told by Robin Williamson accompanying himself on harp. A story about a mean King who treats his people harshly. When a King's wife gives birth to a hunch-backed son, the King sends one of his men into the woods with the baby to kill it. The baby is taken in and raised by an elderly women with a deformed face. The Queen dies of a broken heart. The women realises that the boy is the King's son and curses the King, so that one day the he gets a thorn stuck in his foot, which no-one can remove. The hunch-backed son grows up. His adpotive mother tells him the story of his birth and the son vows to find his father. The hunch-backed son travels to the King, and agrees to remove the thorn in the King's foot. In return he demands that the King, lays his hands on the old women's face to cure her, and that he must go out amongst his people while the hunch-backed son rules the kingdom in his place. The King discovers the suffering of his people, and returns to rule fairly. The King invites his son to rule beside him, but the hunch-backed son refuses and returns to his adpotive mother. | |
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| R1090 is a recording of the same story told by Duncan Williamson in 1988. | |
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| The programme note reads - 'Robin is well known as the founder of "The Incredible String Band". Over the past fifteen years he has devoted himself to exploring Celtic music and story, and has developed a style of telling which is both enchanting and moving. Robin is recognised as one of Britain's finest harpers. Tonight is a rare chance to see him perform in such intimate surroundings. Book Early!' | |
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| audience:- | adult |
| recording quality | |
| condition:- | good |
| completeness:- | complete |
| duration:- | 0 hours, 12 minutes, 26 seconds |
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| This is one of a series of recordings made by Marc Jobst to create a pilot of a series of radio programmes entitled Cracking Tales for broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Pilots were made, but the programme was never broadcast. | |
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| The Crick Crack Club was founded by Ben Haggarty in 1987 and was the first regular performance storytelling club to be established in the UK. From the outset, the club operated with a programme of storytellers put in place by an artistic director, Ben Haggarty. It had no 'floor spots' whereby anyone had the opportunity to tell stories. The club was created in response to a recognised need for there to be sufficient UK storytellers to perform competent, formal evening shows for adult audiences in the proposed 1989, 15 day long, Third International Storytelling Festival at London's South Bank Centre. In the autumn of 1987 the first season of 26 weekly Crick Crack Club events was launched in a pub theatre (The Chair) in Ladbrook Grove, with the expressed aim of trying out new artists and providing an opportunity for established artists to develop their skills and repertoire for adults. Jenny Pearson of the Kew Storytellers helped Ben Haggarty with the organisation of this first season.The Crick Crack Club promoted weekly events in various venues in London between 1987 and 1995, and then monthly events at the Spitz from 1995 to 2001. During this time it also organised numerous monthly events and mini-festivals in regional arts venues throughout England. In 1991/92 wth £10,000 from the Arts Council Literature department it tried to establish a touring circuit promoting 120 events in a year. Daniel Morden gave invaluable administrative support during this period. In 1993, in partnership with David Ambrose of St. Donats Arts Centre in Wales, the Crick Crack Club Club created the Beyond the Border International Festival of Storytelling and Epic Singing. Ben Haggarty co-directed Beyond the Border from 1993 to 2005. Since 2001 the Crick Crack Club has worked on a peripatetic basis, programming in various venues and in partnership with various organisations, and in 2003 began a long-term partnership with Barbican Education in London, to promote 9 events a year in the Barbican Pit Theatre | |
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| storytelling:- |
storyteller; singer; musician: Robin Williamson male / Irish |
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| origin:- |
Scotland
traveller |
| use:- |
BBC Radio 4 Marc Jobst radio broadcast pilot |
| administration & programming:- |
administrator; programmer: The Crick Crack Club administrator; programmer; Artistic Director: Ben Haggarty |
| storytelling:- |
Norwich, Norfolk, England: The King of Hearts: The King of Hearts
Arts Centre
25 Apr 1991 storytelling club: The Crick Crack Club public performance radio production |
| gift from:- |
Marc Jobst |
email to The LCIS