Happy St. George’s Day … be kind to Dragons?

Posted on by 26soldiersoftin

Airlifted! A charming illustration by Robin Jacques, from The Book Of Dragons, written by Ruth Manning Sanders.

These retelling of old folk tales from around the world feature stories that probably date back way past the Napoleonic era and the 19th Century. However that is how Robin Jacques chose to depict these three ‘soldiers’ in The Dragon and his Grandmother, a German folk tale.

Shakos for these Steadfast Tin Soldier style soldiers?

Later in the book (The Three Dogs, German folktale) there are more soldiers depicted in shakos.

I wonder if the Bronte children, early RPGers and writers of ImagiNations, would have enjoyed this illustration?

It’s St. George’s Day today, traditionally a day more honoured in the breach than the observance in England …

other countries that celebrate St George’s Day include Canada, Croatia, Portugal, Cyprus, Greece, Georgia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Republic of Macedonia.

St George is also the Patron Saint Of Scouting in some countries.

Robin Jacques (1920-1995) was the brother of British comedy actress Hattie Jacques (Hancock’s Half Hour, Carry On films)

https://web.archive.org/web/20070310234024/http://www.glassgrapes.com/jacques.html

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-robin-jacques-1612378.html

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I don’t think they are related but cannot find if Robin is related to Brian Jacques the author of the Redwall anthropomorphic medieval children’s fantasy series of books, focussed on mice and small native creatures.

“I do not like the term ‘fantasy’. It smacks of swords and sorcery and dungeons and dragons, and this is not at all the feeling of my books. I like to think of my books as old fashioned adventures that happened ‘Once upon a time, long ago and far away…’; in fact, good yarns is how I describe them.” (Undated Random House interview). https://redwall.fandom.com/wiki/Brian_Jacques

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St. George’s Day April 23rd is also traditionally Shakespeare’s Birthday ( 1564 and also his death day as well in 1616).

https://poundstoreplasticwarriors.wordpress.com/2020/10/26/shaxbeard-the-armada-and-war/

My Bill Shaxberd conversion from a medieval knight

April 23rd is also the day that WW1 poet and writer Rupert Brooke died in 1915 en route to Gallipoli https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/13076/the-soldier

Happy St. George’s Day

Blog posted by Mark Man Of TIN, 23rd April 2023

Published by 26soldiersoftin

Hello I'm Mark Mr MIN, Man of TIN. Based in S.W. Britain, I'm a lifelong collector of "tiny men" and old toy soldiers, whether tin, lead or childhood vintage 1960s and 1970s plastic figures. I randomly collect all scales and periods and "imagi-nations" as well as lead civilians, farm and zoo animals. I enjoy the paint possibilities of cheap poundstore plastic figures as much as the patina of vintage metal figures. Befuddled by the maths of complex boardgames and wargames, I prefer the small scale skirmish simplicity of very early Donald Featherstone rules. To relax, I usually play solo games, often using hex boards. Gaming takes second place to making or convert my own gaming figures from polymer clay (Fimo), home-cast metal figures of many scales or plastic paint conversions. I also collect and game with vintage Peter Laing 15mm metal figures, wishing like many others that I had bought more in the 1980s ...

3 thoughts on “Happy St. George’s Day … be kind to Dragons?”

  1. I am fond of this song by Jan Struther-

    When a knight won his spurs, in the stories of old,
    He was gentle and brave, he was gallant and bold
    With a shield on his arm and a lance in his hand,
    For God and for valour he rode through the land.

    No charger have I, and no sword by my side,
    Yet still to adventure and battle I ride,
    Though back into storyland giants have fled,
    And the knights are no more and the dragons are dead.

    Let faith be my shield and let joy be my steed
    ‘Gainst the dragons of anger, the ogres of greed;
    And let me set free with the sword of my youth,
    From the castle of darkness, the power of the truth.

    I heard it for the first time in the mid eighties in a school l worked in and have had a fondness for it since.
    The author was a writer, poetess and hymn writer too. An interesting output including Mrs Miniver.

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    1. Good choice – I remember this singing this in assembly and class as a 70s / 80s schoolchild. I quite liked its Narnia, Dungeons and Dragons-ness.

      It’s also a bit melancholy and acknowledges that life isn’t going to be easy, but if you have faith or steadfast values …
      “Though back into storyland giants have fled / And the knights are no more and the dragons are dead …” always seemed so downbeat. Abandon fantasy here, kids, grow up, real life is out there … but it doesn’t take much imagination to find “the dragons of anger, ogres of greed and castles of darkness” today. Just read any Sunday newspaper …
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      I didn’t connect this with the writer of Mrs Miniver (clunky propagandist film, based on much more interesting short stories through period pieces now).

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