Robin Hood (Penzance)
Locality | |
---|---|
Coordinate | 50.118443, -5.537491 |
Adm. div. | Cornwall |
Vicinity | At Corpus Christi fair; on the Market Place? |
Type | Artifact |
Interest | Robin Hood name |
Status | Defunct? |
First Record | 1935 |
By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2017-09-19. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2021-01-07.
Danish seaman and travel writer Knud Andersen visited the Corpus Christi fair at Penzance in 1935 (c. June 20),[1] noting among the various rides and attractions an air gun named Robin Hood in one of the shooting galleries. For date etc., see the page 1936 - Andersen, Knud - High Tide at Dover (7). The Corpus Christi fair is still held.[2] The coordinates in the infobox and indicated on the Google map are those of the Market Place. I am not sure if the fair is in fact held there.
Allusions
1936 - Andersen, Knud - High Tide at Dover (7)
Her var Forhindringsløb og Gallopløb på kulørte Træheste, Verdens største omrejsende zoologiske Have, Skydebaner, Rutschebaner, Gynger og Vægte, hvor man blev vejet gratis, hvis Ejeren ikke kunde gætte, hvor tung man var. Gyngerne bar navne som "Aquitania", "Majestic", "Queen Mary" og andre af de store Oceanflyvere, mens Luftbøsserne hed "Lange Tom", "Tykke Bertha" og "Robin Hood". Her var Astrologer og Spaakvinder, som med Garanti stillede Horoskoper af forskellig Kvalitet helt op til 5 Sh. pr. Stk. Her var Karuseller, trukket med Haandkraft, mens man red paa "Pegasus", "Windsor Lad", "Golden Miller" eller andre af de berømte Væddeløbsheste, hvis Navne hver Englænder kender bedre end Navnene paa de store Profeter.
[IRHB translation:]
There were steeplechases, horse-races on colourful wooden horses, the world's largest travelling zoo, shooting galleries, switchbacks, swings, and weighing scales where weighing was free if the owner could not guess your weight. The swings carried names like "Aquitania", "Queen Mary" and other such great ocean flyers, while the pellet guns were named "Long Tom", "Fat Bertha" and "Robin Hood". There were astrologers and fortune-tellers who drew up horoscopes, warranted to be of varying quality and set you back up to 5s. apiece. There were hand-drawn carousels where one rode the "Pegasus", "Windsor Lad", "Golden Miller" or one of the other famous race-horses, whose names every Englishman knows better than the names of the great prophets.[3]
Gazetteers
- Not included in Dobson, R. B., ed.; Taylor, J., ed. Rymes of Robyn Hood: an Introduction to the English Outlaw (London, 1976), pp. 293-311.
Maps
Centered on Penzance.
- 6" O.S. map Cornwall LXXIV.NW (1887; surveyed 1876-77)
- 6" O.S. map Cornwall LXXIV.NW (1909; rev. 1906)
- 6" O.S. map Cornwall LXXIV.NW (1909; rev. 1906) (georeferenced)
- 6" O.S. map Cornwall LXXIV.NW (1939; rev. 1936)
- 6" O.S. map Cornwall LXXIV.NW (1945; rev. 1938).
Background
- Calendar-13.com: 1935
- Penzance Town Council: Town Charter Information
- Wikipedia: Corpus Christi (feast)
- Wikipedia: Knud Andersen (forfatter) (in Danish)
- Wikipedia: Penzance.
Also see
Notes
- ↑ For date on which Corpus Christi fell, see Calendar-13.com: 1935
- ↑ Penzance Town Council: Town Charter Information.
- ↑ Andersen, Knud. Højvande ved Dover (København, 1936), p. 288.
Image gallery
Click any image to display it in the lightbox, where you can navigate between images by clicking in the right or left side of the current image.
The Fairground, Penzance a.k.a. The Fair, Dame Laura Knight, 1916 / Sotheby's – Eurpean Art (2017).
The Corpus Christi fair at Penzance, 1969 / Picture Penzance: Penzance fair, posted by 'pzpirate'.