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Wodewose clubs
“In search of British Bigfeet” [FT425:30-36] mentions the wode-wose (the wild man of the woods). The article says that wodewose in mediæval manuscripts were often depicted with clubs. There is a good example of this in a book I possess called The Chronicles of the Wars of the Roses (Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1988). On page 138 is a picture of the martyrdom of St Apolline, beneath which are four wodewose. Two are female holding shields which conveniently cover their bodies; the other two are male with clubs on the floor by their side.
In children’s television programmes, cartoons, comedy sketches and so on, cavemen are often depicted with clubs. To my knowledge there is no evidence to indicate if cavemen used clubs or not.
I don’t know if l am the first person to make this connection – indeed, I would be surprised if I am – but it seems there is a collective idea of what a ‘primitive’ man is like. I wonder where this comes from. Did people making stereotype cavemen images get inspired by mediæval manuscripts – or is there a subconscious memory of such things in our collective mind?
Clive Watson
By email
Not Christopher Lee
Phil Brand says that he recalls reading that Hammer Horror star Christopher Lee, while on a flight to Los Angeles, noticed the words “Tyrone Power is Dead” emblazoned across the sky [FT425:62].
I’m afraid his Los Angeles to NewYork City – where the said portentous skywriting was confirmed as grimly, and spookily, accurate by an old acquaintance at Price’s hotel – on 15 November 1958. Tyrone Power had died suddenly of a heart attack in Madrid at the approximate time Price was winging his way to NewYork. Price lost a friend, but gained a corking anecdote by way of fortean recompense.
