We had the pleasure of receiving a journal new to us last week – Fiddler’s Green Peculiar Parish Magazine, a beautiful thing unto itself – and felt inclined to say something about both the journal and the folklore behind the name. So we have, with mention of Fredrick Marryat, Neil Gaiman, sea shanties, irrelevant trivia and all. We’re like that – shameless.
SIDENOTE: We should say that this particular parish magazine is stylish, informative and relevant, and thus utterly unlike those produced by our own Yorkshire parish of St. Botolph-in-the-Wolds – do not confuse the two.
It’s always important to go backwards, and so we start with answering the question you didn’t ask: What the heck is Fiddler’s Green? Well, dear listener, it is either a mythical location or a state of mind, or both, but don’t be put off. We shall explain…
THE MYTH
The term comes from the lore of 18th and 19th century mariners, and the hope that after being crippled, shot at and exposed to various sicknesses at sea for years, there’s somewhere better at the end of it all. A non-denominational place which avoids questions of heavenly harps and infernal torments, and which suits the weary sailor.
An excellent outline is given in the work of writer Frederick Marryat (1792-1848), who was also a Royal Navy officer, and who we mentioned a while back with regard to the origins of the Flying Dutchman legend – http://greydogtales/blog/well-ill-be-a-flying-dutchman/
Fiddler’s Green appears in Frederick Marryat’s novel Snarleyyow; Or The Dog Fiend, which was published in 1856:
“Come, Jemmy, my hearty, take your fingers off your fiddle, and hand in your pot,” continued Coble; “and then, if they are not going to dance, we’ll have another song. Bill Spurey, wet your whistle, and just clear the cobwebs out of your throat. Here’s more ’baccy, Short.”
Short made no reply, but he shook out the ashes, and filled his pipe. The music did not strike up again, so Bill Spurey sang as follows:—
Says the parson one day, as I cursed a Jew,
Do you know, my lad, that we call it a sin!
I fear of you sailors there are but few,
St. Peter, to heaven, will ever let in.
Says I, Mr Parson, to tell you my mind,
No sailors to knock were ever yet seen,
Those who travel by land may steer ’gainst wind,
But we shape a course for Fiddler’s Green.
For Fiddler’s Green, where seamen true,
When here they’ve done their duty,
The bowl of grog shall still renew
And pledge to love and beauty.
Says the parson, I hear you’ve married three wives,
Now do you not know that that is a sin?
You sailors, you lead such very bad lives,
St. Peter, to heaven, will ne’er let you in.
Parson, says I, in each port I’ve but one,
And never had more, wherever I’ve been;
Below I’m obliged to be chaste as a nun,
But I’m promised a dozen at Fiddler’s Green.
At Fiddler’s Green, where seamen true,
When here they’ve done their duty,
The bowl of grog shall still renew,
And pledge to love and beauty.
Says the parson, says he, you’re drunk, my man,
And do you not know that that is a sin?
If you sailors will ever be swinging your can,
To heaven you surely will never get in.
(Hiccup.) Parson, you may as well be mum,
’Tis only on shore I’m this way seen;
But oceans of punch, and rivers of rum,
Await the sailor at Fiddler’s Green.
At Fiddler’s Green, where seamen true,
When here they’ve done their duty,
The bowl of grog shall still renew
And pledge to love and beauty.
Herman Melville (1819-1891) also cogitates on the place in Chapter Two of his book Billy Budd, Sailor (begun in 1888 but not published until 1924):
But are sailors, frequenters of fiddlers’ greens, without vices? No; but less often than with landsmen do their vices, so called, partake of crookedness of heart, seeming less to proceed from viciousness than exuberance of vitality after long constraint…
Back to the Land
A later iteration of the concept is given in a poem associated with the American cavalry, and used at memorial services. The origins of this are said to go back to the previous century:
Halfway down the trail to Hell in a shady meadow green,
are the Souls of all dead troopers camped near a good old-fashion canteen,
and this eternal resting place is known as Fiddlers’ Green.
Marching past, straight through to Hell, the Infantry are seen,
accompanied by the Engineers, Artillery and Marine,
for none but the shades of Cavalrymen dismount at Fiddlers’ Green.
The First Cavalry Division Association has this to say on their website:
“The cavalry paradise reference seems to be associated with the 7th US Cavalry from the post Civil War era and the Indian Wars period (circa 1860-1870). Now, there is a link between the 7th US Cavalry and Ireland. Many Troopers of the 7th Cavalry were of Irish origin, and the 7th Cavalry’s own insignia has the phrase “Garryowen” on it. “Garryowen” is a derivative of the Irish Gaelic Garraí Eóin which means Owen’s Garden. Owen’s Garden was a commons (open field) in Limerick, Ireland that gave rise to a drinking ballad of the same name. The 5th Royal Irish Lances, an Irish cavalry unit, used that drinking ballad.
“The story of Fiddler’s Green was first published in the 1923 volume of the Cavalry Journal. According to this article, it was inspired by a story told by Captain “Sammy” Pearson at a campfire in the Medicine Bow Mountains of Wyoming.”
Which reminds us of the concept of the path to the Fernie Brae, or Elfland, a place between Heaven and Hell for the Chosen and the Taken, as given in the ballads about Thomas the Rhymer, or Thomas of Erceldoune, the 13th century Scots seer:
“O see ye not yon narrow road
So thick beset with thorns and briars?
That is the path of righteousness,
Tho’ after it but few enquires.
“And see ye not that braid, braid road
That lies across that lily leven?
That is the path of wickedness,
Tho’ some ca’ it the road to heaven.
“And see ye not that bonny road
That winds about the fernie brae?
That is the road to fair Elfland
Where thou and I this night maun gae.”
Naturally, many readers will be more familiar with the Neil Gaiman haunt and character from the Sandman comics and graphic novels. Fiddler’s Green is a location in the Dreaming (as the result of sailors’ dreams for centuries) and is also personified in a character given a great likeness to G K Chesterton.
The character is addressed as Gilbert, and… well, Gilbert K Chesterton. The illustrations tell you the rest.
As a peculiar addendum, there is a well-known and very popular folk song about Fiddler’s Green which is not, as many believe, a traditional ballad revived. It was penned anew by John Conolly, of Grimsby on our belov’d North Sea coast – in 1966, we believe.
We have written much of our upbringing by that cold grey sea – http://greydogtales.com/blog/whale-road-widow-maker/ – and so were delighted to find a recording of John performing his song in Bridlington, in a pub that old greydog remembers well from the nineteen seventies. Small world, and all that sort of thing (for those youngsters in a rush, the song starts around 1min50).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhMjZtMdKb4
More about John here:
And a little more on the origins of the myth and the tune can be found here:
http://www.oldsaltblog.com/2008/12/fiddlers-green/
THE MAGAZINE
The Fiddler’s Green Peculiar Parish Magazine, on the other hand, emanates from a real location in Berkeley, California, via the kind offices of Clint Marsh, editor and publisher, who says:
“In ecclesiastical terms, the word ‘peculiar’ refers to a district outside the jurisdiction of the Church. It’s also a good word for describing my own view of reality, and likely yours as well. And so here is a “peculiar parish magazine” for anyone who doesn’t feel the need to have their inner life directed by others. If it is peculiar that we wish to govern our bodies and souls ourselves, then let us be peculiar.”
Which is cool, as our own Editor-in-Chief’s favourite beer is Old Peculier, from Theakston Brewery in Yorkshire. And that is named “after the peculier of Masham, a peculier being a parish outside the jurisdiction of a diocese.”
Anyhow, the journal is a high quality production, delightfully laid out and printed on lovely stock, which is a pleasure to leaf through, especially as it contains numerous black and white illustrations by talented artists and photographers. We hold Issue Six in our paws, and it’s obvious a lot of love has gone into it. However, we wouldn’t have sounded so gushy had we not found the content to be neat as well.
This issue includes, for example:
- Illustrated details of acquisitions at the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic, Boscastle in the UK (by Lara C Cory). Known as “the world’s largest collection of paraphernalia and artifacts related to folk magic, witchcraft, Wicca and ritual magic”, the museum appeals to our particular interest in the Cunning Folk, those practitioners of ‘low’ and folk magic who once offered their skills in villages across Europe to avert curses and thwart other malevolent workings.
- ‘The Confederacy of the Green Door’ – the reflections of Eldred Wormwood, a folklorist from London, on a most curious door at the back of a bookshop basement (illustrated by Gerhard).
- An introduction to Megalithic Donegal by illustrator Sean Fitzgerald.
- ‘Musings of an Urban Herb Hunter’ – practical advice and commentary on searching for useful herbs, by Chicago-based writer and illustrator Johnny Decker Miller.
More of Gerhard’s fine art can be investigated at http://gerhardart.com/
Along with other articles in this packed 52 page issue, there is also a nice ‘Books Received’ section which covers a wide range of publications, including, funnily enough, England’s Dark Dreaming by artist Paul Watson, who we interviewed on greydogtales a while back: http://greydogtales.com/blog/the-dark-folk-arts-of-paul-watson/
As you can see, the content ranges widely, so there should be something for everyone. Our copy also came with a teensy but stylish booklet by Clint Marsh and Gerhard, on the smoking of pipes, and more surprisingly, a flexidisc, entitled Kilgour’s Tale, by Kitchen Cynics and Grey Malkin. Now we have to go into the loft to get out a turntable…
In summary: Fascinating and well worth getting hold of a copy. Find out more at their website.
https://www.fiddlersgreenzine.com/
IN OTHER NEWS, old greydog himself is interviewed by Holmesian author Hugh Ashton on his website – learn all the things you didn’t want to know about weird fiction, Mr Bubbles, and even a bit about the lurchers:
NEXT TIME: greygdogtales is cranking itself back into regular ramblings again, so do check back in a week or so…