Fitzroy Richard Somerset, 4th Baron Raglan FRAI (10 June 1885 – 14 September 1964) was a British soldier, author, and amateur anthropologist. His books include ''The Hero, A Study in Tradition, Myth and Drama'' and ''

Monmouthshire Houses ''Monmouthshire Houses: A Study of Building Techniques and Smaller House-Plans in the Fifteenth to Seventeenth Centuries'' is a study of buildings within the county of Monmouthshire written by Sir Cyril Fox and Lord Raglan and published by the Na ...

'', with

Cyril Fox Sir Cyril Fred Fox (16 December 1882 – 15 January 1967) was an English archaeologist and museum director. Fox became keeper of archaeology at the National Museum of Wales, and subsequently served as director from 1926 to 1948. His most ...

Life

FitzRoy Richard Somerset, heir to the title of

Baron Raglan Baron Raglan, of Raglan in the County of Monmouth, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 20 October 1852 for the military commander Lord FitzRoy Somerset, chiefly remembered as commander of the British troops ...

, was born on 10 June 1885 to George Fitzroy Henry Somerset, 3rd Baron Raglan and his wife Lady Ethel Jemima Ponsonby. He was educated at

Sandroyd School Sandroyd School is an independent co-educational preparatory school for day and boarding pupils aged 2 to 13 in the south of Wiltshire, England. The school's main building is Rushmore House, a 19th-century country house which is surrounded by the ...

, Eton and the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infant ...

, and received a commission as Second lieutenant in the

Militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

regiment the

Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers The Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers (Militia) is the most senior regiment of the British Army Reserve. The regiment was formed in 1539 during the reign of by King Henry VIII, making it the second oldest regiment of the British Army (The Hono ...

on 10 June 1902. In 1905 he entered the British Army and was commissioned in the

Grenadier Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

. His military career included working as an aide-de-camp to the governor of Hong Kong, service in the Egyptian army from 1913 to 1919, district commissioner in Sudan and as a political officer in Palestine and Transjordan. In recognition of his services in Egypt he was made an Officer of the

Order of the Nile The Order of the Nile (''Kiladat El Nil'') was established in 1915 and was one of the Kingdom of Egypt's principal orders until the monarchy was abolished in 1953. It was then reconstituted as the Republic of Egypt's highest state honor. Sultana ...

. He retired from the Army in 1922 as a major. With the death of his father in 1921, he assumed the title 4th Baron Raglan and, after retiring from the army, returned to his ancestral home,

Cefntilla Court Cefn Tilla Court, Llandenny, Monmouthshire, Wales, is a country house dating from the mid-19th century. Its origins date from 1616. During the English Civil War, the court was the headquarters of Thomas Fairfax during the siege of Raglan Castle ...

near

Usk Usk ( cy, Brynbuga) is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, northeast of Newport. It is located on the River Usk, which is spanned by an arched stone bridge at the western entrance to the town. Usk Castle, above the town, overlooks th ...

in Monmouthshire. Very active in local affairs, he was a Justice of the Peace for the county as early as 1909 and served for twenty-one years (1928–49) as a member of the former Monmouthshire county council. He took a great interest in the Boy Scout movement, was county commissioner for Monmouthshire for 27 years (1927–54), and served as

Lord Lieutenant of Monmouthshire This is a list of people who served as Lord Lieutenant of Monmouthshire. Before the English Civil War, the lieutenancy of Monmouthshire was held by the Lord Lieutenant of Wales, except for the period from 1602 to 1629, when it formed a separate lie ...

from 1942 until 1964. During his life he studied and wrote on topics such as anthropology, political science, and architecture. His interest in the antiquities of Monmouthshire led him, with Sir Cyril Fox, to write three volumes on the county's medieval and later domestic architecture, ''

''. In 1933 he became president of Section H (Anthropology) of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, and from 1945 to 1947 he served as president of the

Folklore Society The Folklore Society (FLS) is a national association in the United Kingdom for the study of folklore. It was founded in London in 1878 to study traditional vernacular culture, including traditional music, song, dance and drama, narrative, arts an ...

. Chairman of the art and archaeology committee of the

National Museum of Wales National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

(1949–51) and president of the National Museum of Wales from 1957 to 1962, he was also president of the Royal Anthropological Institute from 1955 to 1957. On 9 April 1923 Raglan married Julia Hamilton (7 January 1901 – 17 April 1971), daughter of Lt.-Col. Robert Hamilton-Udny, 11th Lord Belhaven and Stenton by his marriage to Kathleen Gonville Bromhead. The Lord and Lady Raglan had five children, the first of whom died a few days after birth. Julia, Lady Raglan also contributed to the study of folklore. In an article in the journal ''Folklore'' in 1939, she coined the term "Green Man" to describe the foliate heads found in English churches. Her theory on their origin is still debated. Lord Raglan was the source of various controversies over the course of his life. In 1938 he declared his wish to give up his job at the Ministry of Information on the grounds that he was not doing enough work to justify his salary. In 1958 he agitated

Welsh nationalist Welsh nationalism ( cy, Cenedlaetholdeb Cymreig) emphasises and celebrates the distinctiveness of Welsh culture and Wales as a nation or country. Welsh nationalism may also include calls for further autonomy or self determination which includes ...

feelings by declaring Welsh a 'moribund' language. Demands were made for his resignation from the National Museum of Wales, but he stood fast. (The motto of the Raglan barony is ''Mutare vel timere sperno'': 'I scorn to change or to fear'). Lord Raglan died on 14 September 1964.

Literary works

Not only an active member of many societies and interested in administrative duties in national institutions, Lord Raglan also published a number of books and papers on archaeology and anthropology. His first book, ''Jocasta's Crime – An Anthropological Study'', a study of incest and incest taboos, was published in 1933. He followed with ''The Science of Peace'', a work on the origin, development, and prevention of

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

. Lord Raglan's work, ''The Hero, a Study in Tradition, Myth and Drama'' was published in 1936. The book's central thesis is that

hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''her ...

figures of

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narra ...

have their origin in ritual

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

, not historical fact. In the book's most influential chapter, he outlines 22 common traits of god-heroes which he calls the " mythic hero archetype". Raglan then encapsulates the lives of several heroes and awards points (marks) for thematic elements for a possible score of 22. He dissects Oedipus,

Theseus Theseus (, ; grc-gre, Θησεύς ) was the mythical king and founder-hero of Athens. The myths surrounding Theseus his journeys, exploits, and friends have provided material for fiction throughout the ages. Theseus is sometimes describ ...

, Romulus,

Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptiv ...

, Perseus,

Jason Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Medea. He ...

, Bellerophon,

Pelops In Greek mythology, Pelops (; ) was king of Pisa in the Peloponnesus region (, lit. "Pelops' Island"). He was the son of Tantalus and the father of Atreus. He was venerated at Olympia, where his cult developed into the founding myth of the O ...

, Asclepios,

Dionysos In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label= Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label ...

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek reli ...

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

, Moses,

Elijah Elijah ( ; he, אֵלִיָּהוּ, ʾĒlīyyāhū, meaning "My El (deity), God is Yahweh/YHWH"; Greek form: Elias, ''Elías''; syr, ܐܸܠܝܼܵܐ, ''Elyāe''; Arabic language, Arabic: إلياس or إليا, ''Ilyās'' or ''Ilyā''. ) w ...

Watu Gunung Watu Gunung is a figure in the foundation mythology of the Indonesian island of Java (island), Java. He is a descendant of the gods, the son of King Palindriya of Gilingwesi and Sita, Dewi Sinta. One day, when he is very young, his mother scolds him ...

Nyikang Nyikang is a semi-legendary founder of the Shilluk Kingdom, in the 16th century. He is a notion by which the Shilluk people apprehend a unity and coherence Coherence, coherency, or coherent may refer to the following: Physics * Coherence ...

Sigurd Sigurd ( non, Sigurðr ) or Siegfried (Middle High German: ''Sîvrit'') is a legendary hero of Germanic heroic legend, who killed a dragon and was later murdered. It is possible he was inspired by one or more figures from the Frankish Merovin ...

or Siegfried, Llew Llawgyffes,

Arthur Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more wi ...

, and

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is dep ...

. Oedipus earns the highest score with 21 marks. The pattern has been applied to other heroes including Beowulf and Harry Potter. Significantly, Raglan excludes

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

from the study, even though Jesus matched a number of the identified traits. Raglan later claimed to have omitted Jesus to avoid conflict with his publisher. An outspoken atheist and active

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "human ...

, in the 1960s, Raglan was among the MPs and peers who established the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group in the British Parliament. He was a member of the

British Humanist Association Humanists UK, known from 1967 until May 2017 as the British Humanist Association (BHA), is a charitable organisation which promotes secular humanism and aims to represent "people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious b ...

, serving on its advisory council.

Bibliography

*''Jocasta's Crime: An Anthropological Study'', Methuen (London), 1933, Fertig (New York, NY), 1991 *''The Science of Peace'', Methuen, 1933, reprinted by Pierides Press, 2007 *''If I Were Dictator'', Methuen, 1934 (contributor) *''The Hero: A Study in Tradition, Myth and Drama'', Methuen, 1936, reprinted by Dover Publications, 2011 *''How Came Civilisation?'', Methuen, 1939 *''Death and Rebirth'', C. A. Watts, 1945 *''The Origins of Religion'', C. A. Watts, 1949 *(With

) ''Monmouthshire Houses, Parts I-III'', National Museum of Wales, 1951–54 *''The Temple and the House'', Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1964, Norton (New York, NY), 1965

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raglan, Fitzroy Somerset, 4th Baron 1885 births 1964 deaths Amateur anthropologists People educated at Sandroyd School Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom British atheists British humanists British anthropologists British male writers Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Grenadier Guards officers Lord-Lieutenants of Monmouthshire People educated at Eton College Fellows of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland Presidents of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland FitzRoy Somerset, 4th Baron Raglan Eldest sons of British hereditary barons 20th-century anthropologists Presidents of the Folklore Society