CHAP Summer 23 delves into the heart of British folklore.
This Summer sees the Chap taking its first look at the folklore of Britain, delving into the heart of ancient Albion via Green Men, pagan priests and folk horror films. Our starting point is of course The Wicker Man, which celebrates 50 years since its release in 1973, as well as other key films in the folk horror genre like The Blood on Satan’s Claw (below) and Witchfinder General.
An encounter with hedge priest Peter Owen-Jones looks at the relationship between the Christian church and more ancient English belief systems, while a journey north meets a man who is covered in flowers and thorns every year as part of a Scottish folkloric tradition. We also pay a visit to the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic in Boscastle, Cornwall. A feature about Cryptozoology sheds light on the mythical origins of The Mugwump, The Ozark Howler and The Mongolian Death Worm.
The third Grand Flaneur Walk, the dandies’ version of a folkloric procession, is celebrated in a series of photographs, while we also visit Eastbourne with Ruby Demure to road test some of Geoff Stocker’s ladies’ headscarves, in anticipation of a pocket square collaboration between the silk maestro and this publication. In the meantime, you can view the Geoff Stocker Archive and acquire some rare one-off men’s neckties, pocket squares and ladies’ headscarves.
The Straw Boater features prominently in this issue, including a new ‘Am I Boater?’ section, in which readers’ submitted photographs of themselves in their boaters are assessed, while we also look at the frequent appearances of the Straw Boater in films, from The Ice Man Cometh (1973) to Chariots of Fire (1981).
‘English as tuppence, changing yet changeless as canal water, nestling in green nowhere, armoured and effete, bold flag-bearer’ – the legend that was Vivian Stanshall is recalled in a moving tribute by Andrew Roberts. Another musical iconoclast and inventor of hep cat language and dictionary Vout-O-Reenees is Slim Gaillard, who is fondly remembered by his one-time collaborator Chris Sullivan, who helped relaunch Slim’s career in London in the 1980s.
Our main interview is with the Scottish star of Braveheart, Highlander and The Outlaw King James Cosmo, who explains how his devotion to the poetry of Robert Burns led him to distill his own blend of whisky. Elsewhere, our Motoring section looks at royal automobiles and Wolseley Police Cars. All this plus The Wit of Cricket, League of the Lexicon, Drinking Folklore, How to Form a Cult, The Aquatic Chap, Catherine Daniel’s faery paintings and Ask The Chap.
CHAP Summer 23 is in UK newsagents on 17th June 2023
