8 March 2009
Cambridge
(BBC) --
Continuing with the second of four interviews, the
BBC's Lydia Frost talks with Alexandra Hawkins, an exchange student at
the University of Cambridge, regarding her historical find. Below is
the transcript for the second interview.
Frost: Welcome once again, Ms.
Hawkins! It is truly a pleasure to have you back with us.
After the wonderful response to your first interview, I think I can
speak for our audience when I say how interested we all are to hear
about the rest of your discovery.
Hawkins: Thank you, Ms. Frost. It has been overwhelming how incredible the response has been to these stories. I am just glad other people find it as interesting as me!
Frost: Well, let's jump right back into it. If I understand correctly, the second event that inspired Jacobs's fairy tale "The Old Witch" dealt with two nieces of King James I.
Hawkins: Yes, that is correct. A lot of family members in the royal court of King James were involved in these events. The two girls we are discussing here were the daughters of King James's sister-in-law Elizabeth. From what I can gather, their father was involved in a conflict across seas and desired peace. He hoped to form an alliance by the means of the marriage of one of his daughters to his enemy's only son. As was the custom back then, the eldest daughter should have been granted that honor, but the girls' father doted on his youngest and decided a competition to settle the matter.
Frost: (Interjecting) Women competing for a man! Evidently our society has not evolved as much as we would like to think. Look at the American television show "The Bachelor" - talk about competition.
Hawkins: (Laughing) Yes, that is a very good point! Their father asked a local wise woman who helped him devise the competition. The wise woman suggested to the father to send his daughters on a scavenger hunt of sorts to determine the girls' tenacity as well as their virtue. The girls' objective was to bring their father a jar of the finest goat's milk. This milk could only be found in a small town north of their own. The wise woman and the father decided to place peasants needing help at each crossroads the girls would come upon. How the girls treated those in need would reveal their true character. The eldest daughter went first. She took a carriage to the other town and completely ignored the peasant who beseeched her for help. She returned the jar of milk to her father in record time. The youngest worried that she would not be able to beat her sister's time. She set off in her coach, but immediately stopped to aid those who implored her for help. It took her far longer to return with the milk. However, the wise woman and the father were aware of the compassion she had shown the strangers. Much to the older sister's chagrin, the youngest was rewarded with the honor of marriage to solidify the alliance.
Frost: Intense! What
happened to the elder sister?
Hawkins: No one really knows for sure. She faded away into history ,I suppose.
Frost: Once again, the Good Samaritan comes out ahead! So how did Jacobs twist this event around into a fairy tale?
Hawkins: Rather easily, I suspect. He naturally makes the wise woman a witch and the two girls come from a poor family. Jacobs uses the idea of the witch and the poverty of the family in his fairy tale to depart from the historical origins. Each girl goes away to seek her fortune. The youngest constantly helps others on her journey. She comes across a vast amount of money belonging to an evil witch and upon cleverly obtaining it, those who she helped hide her when the witch sets out for revenge. The eldest follows her lead, but refuses to help anyone along the way. Having once gotten the money from the same witch, she is immediately caught because no one would help hide her. Instead of using people, Jacobs has the youngest help out things in nature, such as taking bread out of a crowded oven or milking a cow who has not been milked in days. It is an extremely interesting tale and very entertaining. Just as in the historical event, a marriage takes place for the youngest daughter!
Frost: Wow! Jacobs was such a smart man and used his inspiration well. Unfortunately, that is all the time we have for this week. Ms. Hawkins, I am looking forward to our interview next week. Thank you so much again for talking with me!
Hawkins: No, thank you, Ms. Frost for having me on the show!
"The Old Witch" By Joseph Jacobs, from
English Fairy Tales (1890).
Web Source: Sacred Texts
Image(s) Information (From Top to Bottom):
BBC Logo
Word Press
"Red Border"
Absolutle Backgrounds
Clare College, Cambridge [University], England
Bugbog
"Noble Woman of the Mid-17th Century"
Women's History
Frost: Welcome once again, Ms.
Hawkins! It is truly a pleasure to have you back with us.
After the wonderful response to your first interview, I think I can
speak for our audience when I say how interested we all are to hear
about the rest of your discovery.Hawkins: Thank you, Ms. Frost. It has been overwhelming how incredible the response has been to these stories. I am just glad other people find it as interesting as me!
Frost: Well, let's jump right back into it. If I understand correctly, the second event that inspired Jacobs's fairy tale "The Old Witch" dealt with two nieces of King James I.
Hawkins: Yes, that is correct. A lot of family members in the royal court of King James were involved in these events. The two girls we are discussing here were the daughters of King James's sister-in-law Elizabeth. From what I can gather, their father was involved in a conflict across seas and desired peace. He hoped to form an alliance by the means of the marriage of one of his daughters to his enemy's only son. As was the custom back then, the eldest daughter should have been granted that honor, but the girls' father doted on his youngest and decided a competition to settle the matter.
Frost: (Interjecting) Women competing for a man! Evidently our society has not evolved as much as we would like to think. Look at the American television show "The Bachelor" - talk about competition.
Hawkins: (Laughing) Yes, that is a very good point! Their father asked a local wise woman who helped him devise the competition. The wise woman suggested to the father to send his daughters on a scavenger hunt of sorts to determine the girls' tenacity as well as their virtue. The girls' objective was to bring their father a jar of the finest goat's milk. This milk could only be found in a small town north of their own. The wise woman and the father decided to place peasants needing help at each crossroads the girls would come upon. How the girls treated those in need would reveal their true character. The eldest daughter went first. She took a carriage to the other town and completely ignored the peasant who beseeched her for help. She returned the jar of milk to her father in record time. The youngest worried that she would not be able to beat her sister's time. She set off in her coach, but immediately stopped to aid those who implored her for help. It took her far longer to return with the milk. However, the wise woman and the father were aware of the compassion she had shown the strangers. Much to the older sister's chagrin, the youngest was rewarded with the honor of marriage to solidify the alliance.
Hawkins: No one really knows for sure. She faded away into history ,I suppose.
Frost: Once again, the Good Samaritan comes out ahead! So how did Jacobs twist this event around into a fairy tale?
Hawkins: Rather easily, I suspect. He naturally makes the wise woman a witch and the two girls come from a poor family. Jacobs uses the idea of the witch and the poverty of the family in his fairy tale to depart from the historical origins. Each girl goes away to seek her fortune. The youngest constantly helps others on her journey. She comes across a vast amount of money belonging to an evil witch and upon cleverly obtaining it, those who she helped hide her when the witch sets out for revenge. The eldest follows her lead, but refuses to help anyone along the way. Having once gotten the money from the same witch, she is immediately caught because no one would help hide her. Instead of using people, Jacobs has the youngest help out things in nature, such as taking bread out of a crowded oven or milking a cow who has not been milked in days. It is an extremely interesting tale and very entertaining. Just as in the historical event, a marriage takes place for the youngest daughter!
Frost: Wow! Jacobs was such a smart man and used his inspiration well. Unfortunately, that is all the time we have for this week. Ms. Hawkins, I am looking forward to our interview next week. Thank you so much again for talking with me!
Hawkins: No, thank you, Ms. Frost for having me on the show!
Coverpage
Author's
Note: I really enjoyed this fairy tale when I was
researching my topic. I had some trouble trying to figure out how
I would incorporate it into the royal court of King James. The
idea of the Good Samaritan can be found all over history. Using
it as a basis to tell an "historical" event was very enjoyable for
me. I am a firm believer in helping those who need aid. I
wanted to highlight this specific lesson especially. When I first
decided on this topic, I did not think that I would have a member of
the royal family doing something good, but I am really happy with the
way this story turned out. It was a little tedious doing some
background on KIng James's family. I had to make the girls his
nieces because he was an only child. The interview format is
working very well for my topic. It does become rather difficult
at times to change up the pictures and the way the interviewer
interacts with the interviewee. I want to keep the stories
similar, but with differences to keep my audience interested.
Thinking about Jacobs's fairy tales as being based in fact is
fascinating to me and I am attempting to convey my interest into my
version of the story so that other people will get into the topic.
Bibliography:
Image(s) Information (From Top to Bottom):
BBC Logo
Word Press
"Red Border"
Absolutle Backgrounds
Clare College, Cambridge [University], England
Bugbog
"Noble Woman of the Mid-17th Century"
Women's History