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Merrie England: A Journey Through the Shire
Join Joseph Pearce on a journey into the real Shire—a voyage into the mysterious presence of an England which is more real than the one you are accustomed to seeing, the one which seems to be in terminal decline. The England Pearce wants us to know is an enchanted and unchanging place, full of ghosts who are as alive as the saints. It is an England that is rural, sacramental, liturgical, local, beautiful . . . a place “charged with the grandeur of God”. In this wonder-filled journey, Joseph Pearce shows us the true England through the splendor of the Good, the True, and the Beautiful. He shows us an England that can never die, not because it lingers like a fading coal in the memory of mortal men, but because it exists as a beautiful flower in the Gardens of Eternity.
110 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 20, 2016
7 people are currently reading
149 people want to read
About the author
Joseph Pearce
182 books296 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author with this name on GR
Joseph Pearce (born 1961) is an English-born writer, and as of 2004 Writer in Residence and Professor of Literature at Ave Maria University in Ave Maria, Florida; previously he had a comparable position, from 2001, at Ave Maria College in Ypsilanti, Michigan. He is known for a number of literary biographies, many of Catholic figures. Formerly aligned with the National Front, a white nationalist political party, he converted to Roman Catholicism in 1989, repudiated his earlier views, and now writes from a Catholic perspective. He is a co-editor of the St. Austin Review and editor-in-chief of Sapientia Press.
Joseph Pearce (born 1961) is an English-born writer, and as of 2004 Writer in Residence and Professor of Literature at Ave Maria University in Ave Maria, Florida; previously he had a comparable position, from 2001, at Ave Maria College in Ypsilanti, Michigan. He is known for a number of literary biographies, many of Catholic figures. Formerly aligned with the National Front, a white nationalist political party, he converted to Roman Catholicism in 1989, repudiated his earlier views, and now writes from a Catholic perspective. He is a co-editor of the St. Austin Review and editor-in-chief of Sapientia Press.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 3, 2025
As a Catholic, with a deep love of England, this journey through various locations across the English (and briefly, Welsh) landscape, reflecting on their spiritual significance, was a joy to read. Mr. Pearce has a wonderful evocative style, rich in the poetry of place, and manages to make his reflections both deeply personal and universal to all those who have fallen in love with Albion. Some locations he highlighted I have visited myself, which brought back fond memories, such as his sections on Oxford, Ely, Nottingham, and Walsingham. Other locations I would very much like to visit, especially the Peak District and the Lake District. I share Mr. Pearce's sentiment that the heart of England is to be found primarily in the land itself as opposed to what is built over it in the form of industrialized cities. This is very in keeping with Tolkien's imagery, and I shared the sense of melancholy over the fate of Sherwood Forest when I visited Nottinghamshire, a semi-mythical center of legendary gravity I did my best to recreate in my Robin Hood retelling series. I also shared the general haunting sense of loss that hovers over so many places throughout the country that speak strongly of its Catholic past, and the history of the schism that created a bloody rift between England from the rest of Christendom. A particularly moving chapter taking the reader to the city of York covers the story of St. Margaret Clitherow, merry in life and brave in death, embodying the very best attributes of the English national character. My own current trilogy of novels deals with the legacy of English recusants and martyrs, so this book added to my inspiration as I work on world-building. I highly recommend this read to any Anglophiles who want to get the sweet sense of going “home" to an England that is eternal in our hearts.
July 24, 2017
I had very high expectations going into this little volume. Poetry, England, and a wonderful writer, these are a few of my favorite things. There were glimpses of greatness, even enough, to make me read this again sometime slowly rather than
during a flight, but not enough to give it more than 3 stars for now.
during a flight, but not enough to give it more than 3 stars for now.
April 21, 2022
An incredible little book that packs a punch with its breathtaking prose, and also pays quite a wonderful homage to Hilaire Belloc and Chesterton. I bought a secondhand copy on Amazon, and to my delight it is signed by author, which increased my enjoyment all the more!
August 14, 2018
Another 5 star Joseph Pearce book. I'm totally not biased.
November 8, 2023
Just the right mixture of morbidity and the sublime that really gels with me, expansive horizons up and down our beautiful Isles are indicative of both death and the magnanimity of God. Pearce writes in that Christian, essentially English and patriotic mode that I love so much - he probably enjoys a good coronation chicken sandwich and a can of G&T from M&S, yet isn’t chanting colonial verses from Kipling or being an insufferable conservative arse (aside from lamenting the prevalence of materialism and the ugliness of modern English cities - but who could deny him that? He’s bloody spot-on, even if he does sometimes indulge in grumbling with the affectation of a jaded and cantankerous old man).
Anything that acknowledges the particularity of the English countryside, which manages to recognise its slight daemonic quality (in the same way that Socrates would describe his poetic bent as daemonic), is worth reading. Despite appearances, and even in spite of our national characteristic of bearing a stiff upper lip and of possessing a mediocre utilitarian/scientific temperament (just look at how scathing Nietzsche was when it came to the British), there’s a reason why folk-horror has such deep roots here and has borne such an abundance of fruit.
But of course everything in this book has an overbearing dimension of beauty as well, and to emphasise the bleakness, the wonderful bleakness of these vistas, their barren quality, would be to do Pearce a disservice. The Cathedrals he visits, the poets he quotes, the little spots he takes a break in during his long pilgrimage, they’re all perfectly lovely - and I say perfectly not in the sense of it just being sufficient, or to try to demean their significance in anyway whatsoever, they are all truly wonderful and provide a great comfort.
But the allusions to death are many, England is a land of ghosts, is animated and energised by these ghosts, which are more significant than those who wander blindly through the streets. And remember: always travel by foot! That is how one attains both revelations and madness, just ask Werner Herzog. (also my town was mentioned, big up the C-town massive, the largest crater and cesspit to ever be cobbled together on Blighty’s pictureseque shores, the true arsehole of the world).
Read this if you want a more Christian and human counterpart/companion to J.A. Baker’s The Peregrine.
“In between, vast and unavoidable, lies London. Its suburban outcrops creep, relentless and uninvited, to the very edge of Belloc’s beloved Sussex, crawling into Crawley and looming as an ever-present threat to the rural virginity of the weald.”
“Hedgerow, farmland, copse, and meadow, serenaded by robin, thrush, and blackbird, feast his eyes and ears. Wandering through villages with the delightful names of Good Easter and High Easter, his heart is resurrected. Here, at last, we see nature nurturing nativity and life itself defying the culture of death.”
Anything that acknowledges the particularity of the English countryside, which manages to recognise its slight daemonic quality (in the same way that Socrates would describe his poetic bent as daemonic), is worth reading. Despite appearances, and even in spite of our national characteristic of bearing a stiff upper lip and of possessing a mediocre utilitarian/scientific temperament (just look at how scathing Nietzsche was when it came to the British), there’s a reason why folk-horror has such deep roots here and has borne such an abundance of fruit.
But of course everything in this book has an overbearing dimension of beauty as well, and to emphasise the bleakness, the wonderful bleakness of these vistas, their barren quality, would be to do Pearce a disservice. The Cathedrals he visits, the poets he quotes, the little spots he takes a break in during his long pilgrimage, they’re all perfectly lovely - and I say perfectly not in the sense of it just being sufficient, or to try to demean their significance in anyway whatsoever, they are all truly wonderful and provide a great comfort.
But the allusions to death are many, England is a land of ghosts, is animated and energised by these ghosts, which are more significant than those who wander blindly through the streets. And remember: always travel by foot! That is how one attains both revelations and madness, just ask Werner Herzog. (also my town was mentioned, big up the C-town massive, the largest crater and cesspit to ever be cobbled together on Blighty’s pictureseque shores, the true arsehole of the world).
Read this if you want a more Christian and human counterpart/companion to J.A. Baker’s The Peregrine.
“In between, vast and unavoidable, lies London. Its suburban outcrops creep, relentless and uninvited, to the very edge of Belloc’s beloved Sussex, crawling into Crawley and looming as an ever-present threat to the rural virginity of the weald.”
“Hedgerow, farmland, copse, and meadow, serenaded by robin, thrush, and blackbird, feast his eyes and ears. Wandering through villages with the delightful names of Good Easter and High Easter, his heart is resurrected. Here, at last, we see nature nurturing nativity and life itself defying the culture of death.”
February 21, 2024
Nothing ground breaking or particularly amazing, just an enjoyable series of essays from a long walk around England
July 7, 2024
My first of many reads of Joseph Pearce to come. I miss Merrie England!
(Thinking of you Stephen and Jules while I was reading)
(Thinking of you Stephen and Jules while I was reading)
July 1, 2016
A series of meditations based on a pilgrimage around England . The connection between place, history, tradition and meaning is compelling.
However, for a Protestant this is a hard read as the writer Roman catholicism is very prominent.
However, for a Protestant this is a hard read as the writer Roman catholicism is very prominent.
April 18, 2017
beautiful, poetic telling of the author's pilgrimage through England, but very heavily Catholic.
August 23, 2017
Unless you're Catholic, you probably won't enjoy this book. The author took a pilgrimage across England to find what was left of Catholicism there. I heard about the book on EWTN's Kresta in the Afternoon when Al Kresta interviewed the author one afternoon. Having visited England last year, I was intrigued. I wasn't disappointed. I enjoyed the book thoroughly and remembered many of the places Joseph Pearce visited.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews