View source for Jack o' Legs

{{Short description|Legendary giant from Hertfordshire, England}}
[[File:Jack O'Legs mural Letchworth.jpg|thumb|right|Mural depicting the Legend of Jack o' Legs in Grange Junior School in [[Letchworth]] in [[Hertfordshire]]]]
In [[English folklore|folklore]], '''Jack o' Legs''' (also spelled '''Jack O'Legs''') is a [[giant]] from [[Hertfordshire]], [[England]]. Jack is said to have been an [[archery|archer]] who, like [[Robin Hood]], robbed the rich to give to the poor. His supposed grave is in the churchyard of [[Holy Trinity Church, Weston]].
==Legend==
[[Image:Jack O'Legs Grave Weston1.jpg|thumb|The Grave of Jack o' Legs in the churchyard of Holy Trinity Church, Weston]]
According to local legend, Jack  lived in a cave in a wood at [[Weston, Hertfordshire|Weston]] near the mediaeval town of [[Baldock]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.baldockhistory.org.uk/history-of-baldock-knights-templar.html | title=History of Baldock: The Knights Templar | publisher=Baldock Museum & Local History Society | accessdate=2013-06-12 | archive-date=2012-04-26 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426011603/http://www.baldockhistory.org.uk/history-of-baldock-knights-templar.html | url-status=dead }}</ref> When one year there was a poor harvest the Baldock bakers raised the price of flour, so Jack ambushed the bakers and gave the flour to his friends in Weston. In revenge, the bakers caught and blinded him. They gave him a final wish. Jack asked to be pointed in the direction of Weston, so he could shoot an arrow with his bow. Where the arrow landed, he wished to be buried. The bakers gave him his huge bow which nobody else could pull. He shot his arrow three miles, into the churchyard of Holy Trinity Church, Weston, which is where he was buried.<ref name=BBC>{{cite web | url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/threecounties/content/articles/2008/09/05/herts_myths_jack_o_legs_feature.shtml | title=Myths and Legends: Jack O'Legs: A tall tale! | publisher=BBC | date=September 2008 | accessdate=2013-06-12 | author=Lewis, Katy}}</ref>
==Basis==
Jack has many similarities to [[Jack in the Green]] or the [[Green Man]], a popular figure from English folklore derived from prechristian fertility cults. He preferred living in caves and woodland and had a disregard for authority. There are also similarities to the [[woses]] or wildmen carved inside many English churches, but unusually in this instance Jack is the hero rather than a sidekick similar to [[Little John]].
The representation of the Bakers of Baldock may be a satire on the [[Knights Templar]] who founded the town. This monastic order would have been able to dictate bread prices because they owned the banks, the surrounding farmland, the flour mills, and the marketplace. They also had the power to punish thieves and outlaws.
==History==
A polemical poem attacking [[Cardinal Wolsey]], ''Speak Parrot'', by [[John Skelton (poet)|John Skelton]], written c. 1521, mentions that "The gibbett of Baldock was made for Jack Leg".<ref name=BBC/> Baldock was founded c. 1148, so the legend dates from after that time.<ref name=BBC/> The practice described in the legend of capturing and locally executing a person caught in the act of stealing, called [[infangthief]], is early mediaeval.<ref name=BBC/> [[Nathanael Salmon]] recorded the legend in his 1728 ''History of Hertfordshire''.<ref name=BBC/><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jancQQAACAAJ | title=The History of Hertfordshire describing the County and its Ancient Monuments | author=Salmon, Nathanael | year=1728}}</ref>
==Legacy==
Two stones, supposed to be {{convert|14|ft}} apart, mark the head and foot of Jack's grave.<ref name=BBC/> The field on the site of Jack's cave is called 'The Cave' and the neighbouring field is called 'Weston Wood'. A steep incline on the [[Great North Road (United Kingdom)|Great North Road]] near [[Graveley, Hertfordshire|Graveley]] is called "[[Jack’s Hill]]". There is a Jack o' Legs storyboard sign on Weston village green. [[Tring Brewery Company Ltd|Tring Brewery]] brews an [[ale]] named after Jack o' Legs.
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
* [http://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/england/hertfordshire/weston.html Mysterious Britain Gazetteer - The Mysterious Sites of Hertfordshire]
* [http://www.mythsandlegends.com/mythsandlegends/story37-the-giant-jack-olegs.html The Giant Jack O'Legs (animated story)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311015937/http://www.mythsandlegends.com/mythsandlegends/story37-the-giant-jack-olegs.html |date=2007-03-11 }}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jack Olegs}}
[[Category:Burials in Hertfordshire]]
[[Category:Legendary English people]]
[[Category:Hertfordshire folklore]]
[[Category:People from North Hertfordshire District]]
[[Category:Baldock]]
[[Category:English giants]]
[[Category:Robin Hood]]
[[Category:Medieval legends]]
[[Category:Wild men]]