folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

, Jack o' Legs (also spelled Jack O'Legs) is a

giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...

from Hertfordshire,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Jack is said to have been an

archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...

who, like

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 ...

, robbed the rich to give to the poor. His supposed grave is in the churchyard of Holy Trinity Church, Weston.

Legend

According to local legend, Jack lived in a cave in a wood at

Weston Weston may refer to: Places Australia * Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Weston, New South Wales * Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra * Weston Park, Canberra, a park Canada * Weston, Nova Scotia * ...

near the mediaeval town of

Baldock Baldock ( ) is a historic market town and unparished area in the local government district of North Hertfordshire in the county of Hertfordshire, England, where the River Ivel rises. It lies north of London, southeast of Bedford, and north n ...

. When one year there was a poor harvest the Baldock bakers raised the price of flour, so Jack ambushed the bakers and gave the flour to his friends in Weston. In revenge, the bakers caught and blinded him. They gave him a final wish. Jack asked to be pointed in the direction of Weston, so he could shoot an arrow with his bow. Where the arrow landed, he wished to be buried. The bakers gave him his huge bow which nobody else could pull. He shot his arrow three miles, into the churchyard of Holy Trinity Church, Weston, which is where he was buried.

Basis

Jack has many similarities to

Jack in the Green Jack in the Green, also known as Jack o' the Green, is an English folk custom associated with the celebration of May Day. It involves a pyramidal or conical wicker or wooden framework that is decorated with foliage being worn by a person as part ...

or the

Green Man The Green Man is a legendary being primarily interpreted as a symbol of rebirth, representing the cycle of new growth that occurs every Spring (season), spring. The Green Man is most commonly depicted in a sculpture, or other representation of ...

, a popular figure from English folklore derived from prechristian fertility cults. He preferred living in caves and woodland and had a disregard for authority. There are also similarities to the woses or wildmen carved inside many English churches, but unusually in this instance Jack is the hero rather than a sidekick similar to

Little John Little John is a companion of Robin Hood who serves as his chief lieutenant and second-in-command of the Merry Men. He is one of only a handful of consistently named characters who relate to Robin Hood and one of the two oldest Merry Men, al ...

. The representation of the Bakers of Baldock may be a satire on the Knights Templar who founded the town. This monastic order would have been able to dictate bread prices because they owned the banks, the surrounding farmland, the flour mills, and the marketplace. They also had the power to punish thieves and outlaws.

History

A polemical poem attacking Cardinal Wolsey, ''Speak Parrot'', by John Skelton, written c. 1521, mentions that "The gibbett of Baldock was made for Jack Leg". Baldock was founded c. 1148, so the legend dates from after that time. The practice described in the legend of capturing and locally executing a person caught in the act of stealing, called infangthief, is early mediaeval. Nathanael Salmon recorded the legend in his 1728 ''History of Hertfordshire''.

Legacy

Two stones, supposed to be apart, mark the head and foot of Jack's grave. The field on the site of Jack's cave is called 'The Cave' and the neighbouring field is called 'Weston Wood'. A steep incline on the Great North Road near Graveley is called " Jack’s Hill". There is a Jack o' Legs storyboard sign on Weston village green. Tring Brewery brews an ale named after Jack o' Legs.

References

External links

Mysterious Britain Gazetteer - The Mysterious Sites of Hertfordshire

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jack Olegs Burials in Hertfordshire Legendary English people History of Hertfordshire People from North Hertfordshire District Baldock English giants Robin Hood Medieval legends