Sunderland Alice: July 2015

Friday, 31 July 2015

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John Tenniel
(1820–1914)
Illustrator of Alice in Wonderland

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Wednesday, 29 July 2015

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From Chapter I

Down The Rabbit- Hole

From Chapter VIII

The Queen's Croquet-Ground

Tuesday, 28 July 2015

by

Alice Sunderland

With thanks to Alice Sunderland for kindly allowing me to include her work

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Fashion & Design

by

ALICE SUNDERLAND

Photograph by Herman van Gestel

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The Caterpillar

A Wonder Ah-Sunder be the land

Ah-Sunder?

Where they bridge the gap

What gap?

Between red and white

And the colour of light

The colour of light?

Where all things are bright

Because it's dark at night

Monday, 27 July 2015

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Sunday, 26 July 2015

Saturday, 25 July 2015

Your Alice in Sunderland

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Competition Info

I would like to thank Richard Callaghan for permission to work on images from the Alice in Sunderland Web site.

Slide down Bunny Hill
And you'll not need a pill

To feel ten feet tall
As long you don't fall

Before Washington Road

Wednesday, 22 July 2015

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History of the Lambton Worm

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Download The Book

The Lambton Worm

One Sunday morn young Lambton
Went a-fishin' in the Wear;
He catched a fish upon his heuk,
He thowt leuk't varry queer,

But whatt'na kind of fish it was
Young Lambton couldna tell.
He waddna fash to carry hyem,
So he hoyed it in a well.

Chorus:

Whisht! lads, haad ya gobs,
Aa'll tell ye aall an aaful story,
Whisht! lads, haad ya gobs,
An aa'll tell ye ‘boot the worm.

Noo Lambton felt inclined to gan
An' fight in foreign wars.
He joined a troop o' Knights
That cared for neither wounds nor scars,

An' off he went to Palestine
Where queer things befel,
An' varry seun forgot aboot
The queer worm in the well.

Chorus:

But the worm got fat an' graad an' graad,
An' graad an aaful size;
With greet big teeth, and greet big mooth,
An' greet big goggley eyes.

An' when at neets he craaled ‘oot
To pick up bits o' news,
If he felt dry upon the road,
He milked a dozen coos.

Chorus:

This feorful worm wad often feed
On calves an' lambs an' sheep
An' swally little bairns alive
When they laid doon to sleep.

An' when he'd eaten aall he cud
An' he had had his fill,
He craaled away an' lapped his tail
Seven times roond Pensher Hill.

Chorus:

The news of this most aaful worm
An' his queer gannins on,
Seun crossed the seas, gat to the ears
Of brave an' bowld Sir John.

So hyem he cam an' catched the beast
An' cut ‘im in three halves,
An' that seun stopped him eatin' bairns
An' sheep an' lambs and calves.

Chorus:

So noo ye knaa hoo aall the folks

On byeth sides of the Wear
Lost lots o' sheep an' lots o' sleep
An' lived in mortal feor.

So let's hev one to brave Sir John
That kept the bairns frae harm,
Saved coos an' calves by myekin' halves
O' the famis Lambton Worm.

Final Chorus:

Noo lads, Aa'll haad me gob,
That's aall Aa knaa aboot the story
Of Sir John's clivvor job
Wi' the aaful Lambton Worm.

The Poem Translated From The Local Accent

Jabberwocky Details

There is little argument regarding the fact that Lewis Carroll produced most of his poem Jabberwocky while visiting relatives in Sunderland, there is documentary evidence of the fact, which can be found further on in the Blog.

It is claimed that Lewis Carroll based his ideas for the Jabberwocky on the local Legend in Sunderland of the Lambton Worm.

The poem, "The Lambton Worm" tells of how the Worm could wrap its body Seven times roond Pensher Hill, which is now spelt Penshaw.

The area behind Penshaw Monument is still a little rural enclave of Sunderland.

Down from the monument is the small village of Cox Green.

In the village there is a small well, which is known as Alice's Well, which was rebuilt in 1895. It is commonly thought the well was named after Alice (Liddell), though I have never been able to find conclusive evidence, it could be truth.

With a number of events taking place in Sunderland to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Alice in Wonderland there has been a renewed interest in the story and you never know one day conclusive evidence might be found.

A decade before the publication of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and the sequel Through the Looking-Glass, Carroll wrote the first stanza to what would become "Jabberwocky" while in Croft on Tees, close to Darlington, where he lived as a child, and printed it in 1855 in Mischmasch, a periodical he wrote and illustrated for the amusement of his family. The piece was titled "Stanza of Anglo-Saxon Poetry" and read:

Twas bryllyg, and ye slythy toves
Did gyre and gymble in ye wabe:
All mimsy were ye borogoves;
And ye mome raths outgrabe.

Carroll wrote the letter-combination ye throughout the poem instead of the word the, using the letter Y in place of the letter þ (Thorn) in combination with the superscript E, as in þe, a common abbreviation for the word the in middle and early modern English, presumably to create a pseudo-archaic impression.

The rest of the poem was written during Carroll's stay with relatives at Whitburn, near Sunderland. The story may have been partly inspired by the local Sunderland area legend of the Lambton Worm.

Source:

Cox Green

Cox Green around 1900

Cox Green is a small village on the south bank of the river Wear (pronounced We-Are), which is near Pensaw Hill. Inserted into the image of the village I have placed a small photograph of Alice's Well, when the well was rebuilt in 1895 it was the only source of fresh water in the village.