The Battle of Hastings

Although it is not a traditional folk tale, reciting this monologue is where my performing began – almost 60 years ago. As a teenager I discovered the comic poems written by Marriott Edgar. These had long been an established part of British popular culture, and I loved them.

Edgar’s own performing style was very different: a droll, dry flat delivery with piano accompaniment, as this recording shows. Edgar’s stage friend, Stanley Holloway, is more usually associated with the monologues. He used the same style, so it was clearly one they knew worked in the music halls. (Probably the most well known of all the poems was “Albert and the Lion”.)

I preferred a more expressive way of handling the text – an experience which has stood me in good stead as a storyteller. The monologues also provided great training in timing.

In the 1960s, after Christmas dinner in St. Peter’s Vicarage, Congleton, my father (who was the vicar) would call on me to perform my “party piece” for the assembled guests. Each year I’d have a new monologue, but “The Battle of Hastings” was the first – and has remained a great favourite ever since.

The historical battle
Visit the Battle and District Historical Society website.

A note about accent
Congleton is in Cheshire, and as a teenager my language was (to my mother’s horror) coloured by the local accent. However, until the age of 10 we had lived in the south of England, so I do not claim any particular authenticity for my speech.
Edgar’s texts are written in a northern accent, and always performed that way.