Jack in the Green

Discover the story behind Hastings Traditional Jack in the Green in this imaginative Podcast. Written by Patrick J. A. Knight with respect for the history and folklore of and around Jack in the Green. Supplemented with the beautiful music of Gravity Noir. During the 13 episodes story we are introduced to all kinds of mystical, magical and, above all colorful, imaginative individuals. In this way,...

Part 13 of Jack in the Green, Once the parade made it to the top of the hill, Jack was lifted upon the stage by the bogies. “What shall we do with Jack in the green? “, the bogies asked the excited crowd. “Slay him, Slay him!”, the crowd chanted. The bogies started to strike Jack in the green with large sticks. Thousands of ivy leaves started to fly up in the air and over the cheerful crowd. Every...

Part 12 of Jack in the Green, Also just outside of Hastings, there lived a little boy named Tommy. He was very poor and didn't have much, but he did have a little drum that he loved dearly. Every day, he would play his drum as he searched for leftovers in garbage cans and animal troughs to fill his hungry tummy. On the day of the parade, as Tommy was wandering through the village, he spotted a...

Part 11 of Jack in the Green, In the charming village of Hastings, there lived a group of cheerful milkmaids. These milkmaids were known for their delicious milk and their joyful singing as they went about their daily chores. Every morning, they would gather in the village square, ready to deliver fresh milk to the villagers. During the parade, as the milkmaids were preparing their milk cans, they...

Part 10 of Jack in the Green, When Jack made his appearance, the people cheered out loud “Hooray for spring, hooray for spring’s surprise, hooray for our Jack in the green!”. Music was played, Morris dancers waved their handkerchiefs in the air and the parade made its way dancing through the beautifully decorated streets of Hastings heading towards the top of the hill. And all the way up front was...

Part 9 of Jack in the Green, In the early morning of the 1st of May, way before the break of dawn, everyone in the village got themselves ready for the big festivities. They put on their finest clothes and wore the most beautiful garlands they had made. They remembered what spring had told them and gathered near the seafront. They stood and watched with anticipation, to find out where exactly the...

Part 8 of Jack in the Green, Meanwhile, Jack’s parents still couldn’t believe what had happened. Their son Jack was no longer a young man, but a walking talking bush. Spring had also warned them they could not touch Jack with their bare hands. If they would, they would also change into green men. They tried everything. They even tried cutting down the branches, but they would only grow back in a s...

Part 7 of Jack in the Green, It was just a few weeks away from the 1st of May and spring made sure she had grown enough extra flowers and ivy. So the rest of the villagers had the chance of making their own beautiful garland. Spring left the good people of Hastings a message that she had prepared a surprise for them this year. On the 1st of May, they would find her surprise inside a cottage. The o...

Part 6 of Jack in the Green, Suddenly, spring noticed a trail of new ivy leaves, which had been dropped along the path leading all the way to Jack’s cottage. Spring looked through one of the windows and found Jack in the middle of his bedroom completely covered by the garland, which he and his parents had made. “What have you done?” spring asked. “Is it not so that everyone gets a chance to make a...

Part 5 of Jack in the Green , Spring was getting ready for the big mayday festivities. She went to have a look if all was going as planned. She was sure that the sun had been doing it’s very best to grow the mostbeautiful flowers and the greenest ivy ever produced. But she had the shock of a lifetime finding every single flower had been picked and not a single ivy leaf was left to find for miles a...

Part 4 of Jack in the Green , Jack’s mum had already been very busy making string out of straw and advised Jack to start working on their garland. The garland started to take shape and grew longer and longer. Because of its length and with the contest in mind, Jack had the garland put round him in a circle. “Is it not quite long enough Jack?” mother asked. “If we want to win this year’scontest, we...

Part 3 of Jack in the Green , So Jack got out of bed, stretched his arms wide above his head and gave a big final yawn for the day. He walked towards his curtains and opened them. “Look mum”, Jack said, “the sun has announced that spring has arrived. Soon it will be mayday and I am determined to win this year’s contest for the most beautiful garland, if not the longest! The prize money would surel...

Part 2 of Jack in the Green , Their son, a young lad called Jack was still asleep when one of the sunbeams found its way through one of the tiny holes in his bedroom curtains. The sunbeam managed to reachJack’s nose and started to tickle him. It didn’t take long for Jack to wake up. The tickling of his nose would surely make him sneeze. And it did. Jack took a deep breath and emptied his lungs and...

Part 1 of Jack in the Green , It was in the early morning of the 21st of March when winter left the country of England. He left the door open from an old scabby cottage in Hastings, a small seaside town in Sussex. This was because spring would soon arrive and the first sunbeams were already gently finding their way all across the land and in particular towards the old cottage near the sea. The fam...