Disir
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One fine spring morning the men of Gotham were busy about the village and their fields.
Gotham from the Anglo/Saxon, āGatta ā hamā ā Goats Homestead. The village is surrounded on three sides by hills. On the high ridge to the south of the village, an insignificant looking mound marks the site of the Anglo/Saxon Rushclife āHundredā. In the woods, to the west of this site, is hidden Gothamās greatest treasure, the Cuckoo Bush Mound, ā probably a Bronze Age tumuli. The mound is the place where according to legend, the āWise Men of Gothamā tried to prevent a cuckoo from flying away by building a hedge around the bush in which it sat. The famous āTales of the Wise Men of Gothamā are said to be the foolish āstuntsā performed by the villagers to keep away King John. The Tales, at first glance, are a collection of popular jokes, but a closer look shows that a small number of the over one hundred stories, ā the Cuckoo Bush Tale, ā speak of ancient ritual. At the centre of these ancient rituals is the ancient archetypal figure of the āDevine Foolā.
In 1540, twenty of the Gotham Tales were published for the first time. They appeared in a single chap-book volume call āThe Merry Tales of the Mad Men of Gothamā, (later Wise Men). The book remained popular and with very little change remained in circulation for the next 400 year.
We know now that it was a later edition of this book, which inspired the American writer Washington Irving to label the Dutch New Yorkers āGothamitesā and to go on to call their area of New York Gotham. The rest as they say is history.
So, a story from the Wise Men of Gotham showed up on my TikTok. This offered the most detail that I could find on half a cup of coffee. The lengths they went to in order to keep King John away are fantastic.
Gotham from the Anglo/Saxon, āGatta ā hamā ā Goats Homestead. The village is surrounded on three sides by hills. On the high ridge to the south of the village, an insignificant looking mound marks the site of the Anglo/Saxon Rushclife āHundredā. In the woods, to the west of this site, is hidden Gothamās greatest treasure, the Cuckoo Bush Mound, ā probably a Bronze Age tumuli. The mound is the place where according to legend, the āWise Men of Gothamā tried to prevent a cuckoo from flying away by building a hedge around the bush in which it sat. The famous āTales of the Wise Men of Gothamā are said to be the foolish āstuntsā performed by the villagers to keep away King John. The Tales, at first glance, are a collection of popular jokes, but a closer look shows that a small number of the over one hundred stories, ā the Cuckoo Bush Tale, ā speak of ancient ritual. At the centre of these ancient rituals is the ancient archetypal figure of the āDevine Foolā.
In 1540, twenty of the Gotham Tales were published for the first time. They appeared in a single chap-book volume call āThe Merry Tales of the Mad Men of Gothamā, (later Wise Men). The book remained popular and with very little change remained in circulation for the next 400 year.
We know now that it was a later edition of this book, which inspired the American writer Washington Irving to label the Dutch New Yorkers āGothamitesā and to go on to call their area of New York Gotham. The rest as they say is history.
THE WISE MEN OF GOTHAM
by Frank E Earp āOn a tyme, the men of Gottam would haue pinned in the Cuckoo, whereby shee should sing all the yeere, and in the midst of ye town they made a hedge round in compasse, and they got ā¦
nottinghamhiddenhistoryteam.wordpress.com
So, a story from the Wise Men of Gotham showed up on my TikTok. This offered the most detail that I could find on half a cup of coffee. The lengths they went to in order to keep King John away are fantastic.