Jack Mary Ann is a

folk hero A folk hero or national hero is a type of hero – real, fictional or mythological – with their name, personality and deeds embedded in the popular consciousness of a people, mentioned frequently in folk songs, folk tales and other folklore; a ...

whose legendary exploits in the

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

area of Wales in the 1920s and 1930s are celebrated in a series of jokes and tales transmitted in local

oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (1985) ...

. Jack was a coal miner. Jack's

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

comes from the common practice of distinguishing local men (in an area known for its poverty of surnames) by the use of the wife's Christian or given name. Jack may be considered an archetypal

trickster In mythology and the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a character in a story ( god, goddess, spirit, human or anthropomorphisation) who exhibits a great degree of intellect or secret knowledge and uses it to play tricks or otherwi ...

figure and the tales involve his various intrigues with hostile authority figures such as landlords, bailiffs and employers. His legendary activities celebrate his fecklessness and irresponsibility. Jack's quick tongue does not generally save him from the consequences of his actions but provides an ironic commentary on his plight and on the values of more respectable citizens. The popularity of the Jack Mary Ann tales may suggest an undercurrent of local opposition to the respectable and supposedly dominant norms of non-conformist Christianity generally held to be an expression of Welsh identity in this period.

The tales

Mary Ann fell one night ill and asked Jack to go for the

doctor Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

. Jack was reluctant to do so because he was afraid of being attacked while walking through a rough area at night. Eventually he grabbed a kitchen chair and made to leave. Mary Ann called Jack back and asked him what he wanted the chair for. Jack said that if he did meet anyone who wanted to fight him, he would tell them he was moving house secretly to avoid paying the rent and that there were five men behind him with the other chairs and the kitchen table. Jack and Mary Ann avoided paying rent on their cottage. One day a bailiff called to serve them with notice to quit. They hid when he knocked. He tried to push the notice under the door. Jack took the bellows from the fire and blew the notice back outside. As the bailiff walked away he was heard to remark, "No wonder Jack won't pay rent on a draughty old place like that!" The landlord decided to give up the struggle about the rent and called at the house one day and told Mary Ann he was going to give them the house. Jack returned from the

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

and Mary Ann told him about their surprising good fortune. Jack asked Mary Ann if she'd accepted the house. When she said she had, he became angry: "You stupid woman! We paid nothing before, now we'll have to pay the rates!" Surprisingly, Jack used to work as a

policeman A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

. This ended when the new police inspector walked into a local pub which was still open after licensed hours and found Jack with a pint in one hand leaning on the pub piano leading the bar in a chorus. The inspector, amazed at this gross breach of duty, brought out his notebook intending to record Jack's name and offence, and asked Jack, "Who are you?" Jack replied, "I'm the bobby that's just lost his job".

References

*John Bagshaw, Broughton - Then and Now, Bridge Books, Wrexham, 1992 pp. 176 - 180. *Linda M. Ballard. 'The Concept of the Character', ''Lore and Language'', Vol. 5, No. 1 1986. *Roger Laidlaw, 'Jack Mary Ann and the Myth of the Sinning Deacon: Images of Nonconformist Asceticism in Fictive Folklore', ''Oral History Journal'', Vol 24, No. 2, 1996. Welsh folklore Legendary Welsh people