Annotation - Page 5

• (1:5) "Fools Circel 9wys"

The map at the beginning of the book shows the place names in this song moving inward in a spiral. See places for more about the significance of each.

Horny Boy rung Widders Bel
Stoal his Fathers Ham as wel
Bernt his Arse and Forkt a Stoan
Done It Over broak a boan
Out of Good Shoar vackt his wayt
Scratcht Sams Itch for No. 8
Gone to senter nex to see
Cambry coming 3 times 3
Sharna pax and get the poal
When the Ardship of Cambry comes out of the hoal

On a map of Kent, the spiral's points are easy to see with their modern names. Horny Boy: Herne Bay. Widders Bel: Whitstable. Fathers Ham: Faversham. Bernt Arse: Ashford. Fork Stoan: Folkestone. Done It Over: Dover. Good Shoar: Deal. Sams Itch: Sandwich. Cambry: Canterbury.

9wys might be pronounced "nine ways" or "ninewise"; there are nine towns mentioned in the rhyme. The spiral from Herne Bay to Canterbury makes the shape of a figure 6, or an inverted 9. It is a counterclockwise spiral; moving counterclockwise (widdershins) has long been thought to have magical significance, and to be unlucky if done around a church.

Vackt his wayt = vack your wayt = evacuate, move on. Sharna pax = sharpen ax (though "pax" is also schoolyard slang for "truce"); poal, a pole which will have someone's head stuck on it.

Ardship of Cambry: Archbishop, or Hardship, of Canterbury.