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34-580: The Dun Cow is a common motif in English folklore . "Dun" is a dull shade of brownish grey. The Dun Cow was said to be a savage beast roaming Dunsmore Heath, an area west of Dunchurch , near Rugby in Warwickshire , which was reputedly slain by Guy of Warwick . A large narwhal tusk is still exhibited at Warwick Castle as one of the ribs of the Dun Cow. The fable held that the cow belonged to

68-405: A giant , and was kept on Mitchell's Fold (middle fold), Shropshire . Its milk was inexhaustible; but one day an old witch who had filled her pail, wanted to fill her riddle (sieve) as well. This so enraged the animal that she broke loose from the fold and wandered to Dunsmore Heath, where she was slain by Guy of Warwick. Isaac Taylor , in his Words and Places (p. 269), says the dun cow

102-653: A "cluster of motifs" constituted a "plot", influencing Russian formalists like Vladimir Propp , whose study prefigured Thompson's Motif-Index , as has been pointed out. In the book The Folktale , Thompson invokes this phrase "cluster of motifs" in several passages, as here, in connection with tales involving the dead helper: The chain of circumstances by which this helper joins the hero and certain details of his later experience are so uniform and well articulated as to form an easily recognizable motif, or rather cluster of motifs. This fact has caused some confusion to scholars who have not sufficiently distinguished between such

136-515: A considerable period regarded as part of the body of George of Warwick. George Cavendish , the biographer of Cardinal Wolsey , described carved and painted royal heraldic beasts in a garden at Richmond Palace . Wolsey said a dun cow (referring to a badge of the Earldom of Richmond or Warwick ) was also found in the heraldry of Thomas Boleyn and was a portent of the relationship of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII. There are many public houses in

170-484: A hostel for the skilled masons and master builders brought in to oversee the construction of St Peter and St Paul's (later known as Shrewsbury Abbey). A British music hall song, "When the Old Dun Cow Caught Fire" (also known as "The Old Dun Cow"), refers to a pub named the Dun Cow, which catches on fire in the beginning of the song. The singer's friends, most notably a man named Brown, decide to raid

204-467: A limited extent. For surveys, see Examples of related folklore studies indices include the following: George Cavendish (writer) George Cavendish (1497 – c.  1562 ) was an English writer, best known as the biographer of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey . His Thomas Wolsey, Late Cardinall, his Lyffe and Deathe is described by the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography as

238-503: A motif and the entire tale of which it forms only an important part. But in this instance, Thompson is warning that the motif cluster is rather "only a framework for the adventures of the hero", containing "at least three different tales within". Thompson also explains that a single motif may be found in numerous folktales "from all parts of the earth" (383). Many folklorists have produced extensive motif and tale-type indices for culture areas not covered by Thompson, or covered only to

272-481: A power to persist in tradition. In order to have this power it must have something unusual and striking about it". But in the Motif-index itself, Thompson had also provided a more "cautious" definition: "[a]nything that goes to make up a traditional narrative ... When the term motif is employed, it is always in a very loose sense, and is made to include any of the elements of narrative structure". This use of

306-634: Is a corruption of the Dena Gau ( Danish region) in the neighbourhood of Warwick , with Gau in German meaning "region or country". If this explanation is correct, the great achievement of Guy of Warwick may have been a victory over the Danes , and taking from them their settlement near Warwick. A similar legend applies to Dun Cow Rib Farm in Halfpenny Lane, Whittingham, Lancashire , just outside

340-455: Is the sole authentic record of a multitude of events highly important in a particularly interesting section of the history of England. Its importance as a product of biographical literature was first emphasised by Mandell Creighton , who insisted on the claim of Cavendish to be recognised as the earliest of the great English biographers, and an individual writer of charm and originality. He writes with simplicity and vividness, rarely yielding to

374-605: The Motif-Index of Folk-Literature in his autobiography, A Folklorist's Progress: Reflection of a Scholar's Life . In producing the motif-index, Thompson built upon the research of Finnish folklorist Antti Aarne , who in 1910 published an index of European tale-types. Thompson himself had revised this in 1928 to cover the region from Europe to Asia: this is known as the Aarne-Thompson tale type index . In his Motif-Index , Thompson then compiled, classified, and numbered

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408-523: The "most important single contemporary source for Wolsey's life" which also offers a "detailed picture of early sixteenth-century court life and of political events in the 1520s, particularly the divorce proceedings against Catherine of Aragon . Cavendish was born in 1497, the elder son of Thomas Cavendish (d. 1524), who was a senior financial official, the "clerk of the pipe", in the Court of Exchequer , and his wife, Alice Smith of Padbrook Hall, Suffolk. He

442-435: The 19th century it was believed that the book was the composition of George Cavendish's younger brother William, the owner of Chatsworth House , who also was attached to Wolsey. Joseph Hunter proved this to be impossible, and definitely asserted the claim of George. The latter is believed to have died at Glemsford before July 1562. The intrinsic value of Cavendish's Life of Cardinal Wolsey has long been perceived, for it

476-469: The ATU indices are regarded as standard tools in the study of folklore. For example, folklorist Mary Beth Stein said that, "Together with Thompson's six-volume Motif-Index of Folk-Literature , with which it is cross-indexed, The Types of Folktale constitutes the most important reference work and research tool for comparative folk-tale analysis. Alan Dundes , who was an outspoken critic, also said substantially

510-420: The Dun Cow's cellar for alcohol and end up heavily intoxicated, partaking in shenanigans such as trying to prevent the firefighters (implied to also be seeking alcohol) from entering the cellar, washing their clothing in a tub of port wine (or stale beer in some versions), and using their slacks to nail up a makeshift roof after the pub partially collapses. Motif (folkloristics) The motif-index and

544-740: The United Kingdom called The Dun Cow, including one on High Street West in Sunderland , beside the Sunderland Empire Theatre . A pub called The Dun Cow in Sedgefield , County Durham, was visited jointly by British Prime Minister Tony Blair and American President George W. Bush in 2003. The Dun Cow, Shrewsbury , is one of the oldest pubs in the UK, built by Rodger De Montgomery, first Earl of Shrewsbury circa 1085 as

578-416: The cow would quench its thirst at "Nick's Water-Pot", a well on the summit of Parlick hill. In reality, the rib is probably from a whale or Bronze Age aurochs . Local legend states that the city of Durham was founded in 995 AD by divine intervention. The 12th-century chronicler Symeon of Durham recounts in his Libellus de exordio atque procurso istius, hoc est Dunhelmensis that, after wandering in

612-501: The destination, they erected the vestiges of Durham Cathedral, a "modest building" none of which survives today, having been supplanted by the Norman structure. Symeon states that this was the first building in the city. A tourist guide from 1923 states that: In the glorious church of St Mary Redcliffe ... may still be seen the "Dun Cow" bone, the rib of a cow whale, now the only remaining trophy of Cabot 's expedition of 1497, but for

646-418: The following overview of the motif-index: The idea has been expressed that a combined set of motifs (in the motif-index) may constitute a folktale narrative (cf. the description of the Motif-Index as "a huge catalogue of folk narrative elements that may variously combine to form whole folk narratives" by Jan Harold Brunvand ). This idea had already been anticipated by Alexander Veselovsky who wrote that

680-470: The niece of Sir Thomas More . Probably aided by his father's position at the exchequer, in about 1522 Cavendish entered the service of Cardinal Wolsey as gentleman-usher, and stayed in his service until Wolsey's death in 1530. His position required him personally to attend the Cardinal at all times, as well as responsibilities for the lavish entertainments that Wolsey enjoyed. During this time Cavendish

714-484: The north, Saint Cuthbert 's bier came to a miraculous halt at the hill of Warden Law and, despite the effort of the congregation, would not move. Aldhun , Bishop of Chester-le-Street and leader of the order, decreed a holy fast of three days, accompanied by prayers to the saint. Bede recounts that during this fast Saint Cuthbert appeared to the monk Eadmer with instructions that the coffin should be taken to Dun Holm. After Eadmer’s revelation, Aldhun found that he

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748-564: The noun motif is specialized to the field of folklore studies. According to the Oxford English Dictionary , folkloristic use of the noun motif is not summed up in the definition for literary criticism ("Motif", def. 3a), but deserves its own separate sense of this definition ("Motif", def. 3b). Similarly, the compound noun motif index is used in cultural anthropology to denote "an index of standard motifs, esp. those found in folk tales". Thompson discusses composing

782-452: The offer of a position as gentleman usher from Henry VIII. He was only thirty years of age, but his appetite for being acquainted with strange acts and persons was apparently sated, for we do not hear of his engaging in any more adventures. It is likely that Cavendish had taken down notes of Wolsey's conversation and movements, for many years passed before his biography was composed. Between 1554 and 1558, he wrote it out in its final form. It

816-674: The rhetoric which governed the ordinary prose of his age. George Cavendish appears as a minor character in Dame Hilary Mantel 's novel Wolf Hall , a fictional biography of Thomas Cromwell . Cavendish is portrayed (by Robert Wilfort in the TV adaptation) as a devoted servant who genuinely admires Wolsey; in the novel, Cromwell describes him as "a sensitive sort of man". Actor David Oakes portrays Cavendish in David Starkey 's 2009 documentary series Henry VIII: The Mind of

850-461: The same thing, without confining the application to comparative studies: "[the indices] index constitute two of the most valuable tools in the professional folklorist's arsenal of aids for analysis". Concise outlines of both indices appear in Thompson's The Folktale (1946). In the context of the index, Thompson has defined motif as follows: "A motif is the smallest element in a tale having

884-453: The town of Longridge . Embedded in its wall is a large rib, supposedly from a giant dun cow that gave milk freely to all comers, but died of shock when an old witch asked it to fill a riddle instead of a pail. An alternative legend claims that the giant cow's milk saved the local inhabitants from the Plague and that it was buried at nearby Cow Hill, near Grimsargh . It was also claimed that

918-466: The traditional motifs of the mostly European folktale types in the tale-type index. Thompson's motif-index organizes thousands of motifs. Entries are first organized by an umbrella topic (for example, category S is "Unnatural Cruelty"). Entries are then divided into more specific subcategories. For example, entry S50 "Cruel relatives-in-law" contains the sub-entry S51.1 "Cruel mother-in-law plans death of daughter-in-law". Thompson's The Folktale includes

952-472: Was able to move the bier, but did not know where Dun Holm was. By chance later that day, the monks came across a milkmaid at Mount Joy who stated that she was seeking her lost dun cow which she had last seen at Dun Holm. The monks, realising that this was a sign from the saint, followed her. They settled at a "wooded hill-island formed by a tight gorge-like meander of the River Wear". When they arrived at

986-513: Was called before the privy council and closely examined as to Wolsey's latest acts and words. He gave his evidence so clearly and with so much natural dignity, that he won the applause of the hostile council, and the praise of being "a just and diligent servant." He was not allowed to suffer in pocket by his fidelity to his master, but retired, as it would seem, a wealthy man to his estate of Glemsford , in West Suffolk, in 1530, having refused

1020-457: Was first printed in 1641, in a garbled text, and under the title of The Negotiations of Thomas Wolsey . The genuine text, from contemporary manuscripts, was published in 1810. Singer published the first complete edition in 1825: The Life of Cardinal Wolsey, and Metrical Visions; from the original autograph manuscript . The "metrical visions" were his tragic poems: laments in the voice of ill-fated contemporary figures like Lady Jane Grey . Until

1054-400: Was not, however, possible to publish it in the author's lifetime, but it was widely circulated in manuscript. Evidently one of these manuscripts fell into the hands of William Shakespeare , for that poet made use of it in his Henry VIII , and Samuel Weller Singer even said that Shakespeare "merely put Cavendish's language into verse." Thomas Wolsey, Late Cardinall, his Lyffe and Deathe

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1088-468: Was often separated from his wife, children and estates. Cavendish also knew Anne Boleyn when she was first a 'debutante' at Henry VIII 's court in 1522. He was adamant that she remained a virgin until her marriage, despite Catholic rumours to the contrary. However, although he attested to her sexual morals, he never forgave her for her hatred of Cardinal Wolsey or her animosity towards the Pope. Cavendish

1122-707: Was the great-grandson of Sir John Cavendish from whom the Dukes of Devonshire and the Dukes of Newcastle inherited the family name of Cavendish . George was an English courtier and author and the brother of William Cavendish , the second husband of Bess of Hardwick . He was probably born at his father's manor of Cavendish , in Suffolk . Later the family resided in London, in the parish of St Albans , Wood Street, where Thomas Cavendish died in 1524. Around this time Cavendish married Margery Kemp, of Spains Hall, an heiress, and

1156-423: Was wholly devoted to Wolsey's interests, and also he saw in this appointment an opportunity to gratify his master-passion, a craving "to see and be acquainted with strangers, in especial with men in honour and authority." He was faithful to his master in disgrace, and showed the courage of the "loyal servitor." It is plain that he enjoyed Wolsey's closest confidence to the end, for after the cardinal's death Cavendish

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