Tales from the Fens

Tales from the Fens

by Walter Henry Barrett, Enid Porter (Editor)

1963. First Edition. 203 pages. Illustrated dust jacket over blue cloth boards. Gilt lettering. Contains black and white illustrations. Clean pages and illustrations with light tanning and mild foxing throughout. Moderate tanning to free endpapers due to dust jacket flaps. Binding remains firm. Boards have mild edge wear with slight rubbing to surfaces and bumping to corners. Gilt lettering is darkened. Visible wear marks to boards. Unclipped jacket. Panels and spine have light edge wear with tears and creases. Moderate tanning and wear marks to flaps, panels and spine.

203 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1963

Reviews

[Ali Jon Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the greatest collections of folk tales I've ever read. Forget fairies and and talking animals, these tales are full of prostitutes, poachers, lecherous priests, fist fights and glorious booze ups.

The collection preserves a snapshot of a way of life that was dying as the landscape itself was stolen from its folk, when the wetlands were drained for farming. These tales are told by old men used to famine and flooding, who think men are soft for having roads to their house and enough money to own a teapot.

[Hallie Day · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tales From the Fens (1963) by W. H. Barrett. Edited by Enid Porter

A mostly fun collection of short stories giving me a much-needed appreciation for the place that I'm now living. My favourites are How Littleport Began, How Stilts Came into the Fens, Dowser and Sam, and The Legend of Gold Hill. The introductions by Barrett and Porter respectively are both also fab. Some silly stuff, some gripping stuff, some not-so-interesting stuff, but all-round worth the read and I'm looking forward to reading More Tales From the Fens in another month or two.

[Particle_Person · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are folk stories, somewhere between fact and fiction, from the region of East Anglia, England. Many are ghost stories. You can't take them for literal truth, but often the details preserve folk customs that have died out. This book is now increasingly rare, and the sequel (which is even better), "More Tales from the Fens" is even rarer. I hope someone preserves and reprints these books one day, or the information will be lost.

[John M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting collection of short pieces, factual, fictional, and anecdotal. Some of the tales presented here are Fen folklore, others brief historical passages of dubious authenticity, the remainder recollections of the author’s own childhood. Much of the material has been largely lost to time which makes this book a remarkably significant account of a landscape and people that have vanished or been irrevocably altered.