Writing in Margins
  • Home
  • The Thumbling Project
    • Type 700 Tales
    • Thumblings
    • Motifs
    • Timeline >
      • Tom Thumb Timeline
    • Film
    • Theater
    • Tom Thumb Weddings
    • Resources
  • The Snowwhite Project
    • As White As Snow
    • Type 709 Tales
  • The Rapunzel Project
  • Lists of Fairies
    • The Little Folk
    • Mermaids
    • The Denham Tracts
    • Individual Fairies
    • Faerie Feast
    • Faerie Fashion
  • Story CSI
    • Ruth Tongue
    • Andrew Lang
  • About and Contact

Tom Thumb in Tattershall

6/26/2017

8 Comments

 
Most editions of the Tom Thumb fairytale end with the king erecting a monument in memory of the pint-sized hero.

Here lies Tom Thumb, King Arthur's knight,
Who died by a spider's cruel bite.
He was well known in Arthur's court,
Where he afforded gallant sport;
He rode a tilt and tournament,
And on a mouse a-hunting went.
Alive he filled the court with mirth;
His death to sorrow soon gave birth.
Wipe, wipe your eyes, and shake your head
And cry,--Alas! Tom Thumb is dead!

In fact, there is a real tomb for Tom Thumb.


There was once a blue flagstone serving as his tombstone at the Lincoln Cathedral. According to a 1819 edition of the Quarterly review, the tradition was that Tom Thumb died at Lincoln, and "the country folks never failed to marvel at [the blue flagstone] when they came to church on the Assize Sunday; but during some of the modern repairs which have been inflicted on that venerable building, the flag-stone was displaced and lost, to the great discomfiture of the holiday visitants." (The Quarterly Review, 1819, p101). Here is more on the renovations, although it has no mention of the flagstone.

What we do still have is a tombstone and a house for Tom Thumb, roughly twenty miles away, in Tattershall, Lincolnshire.
Picture
"T. Thumb, Aged 101, Died 1620." Is there really someone buried under this marker? Could he be connected to the fairytale?

The tombstone is located in the Holy Trinity Collegiate Church and can be found in the floor, near the font. The website of an affiliated church group notes that this Tom Thumb was "47 cm tall" or about 18.5 inches. An Atlas Obscura article cites rumors that he frequently visited London and was a favorite of the King.

The date of 1620 is intriguing, because it puts this local legend of Tom Thumb right about the same time we have our first surviving textual mentions of the name - the grave is marked 1620, and the earliest known printing of Tom Thumb was in 1621. (See the Tom Thumb Timeline.)

The grave is usually seen decorated with flowers and a poem. Here is an excellent shot from the Atlas Obscura article.
Picture
Elizabeth Ashworth's blog has another photo, with a closer look at the poem, as well as more history on the church. The poem, by Celia Wilson, doesn't have much information besides this is Tom Thumb's grave, he'd probably have a lot of stories to tell.

​Then there is Tom Thumb's house, not far away. Most articles on the grave mention it as if it is the actual home of the buried T. Thumb. However, further research shows that it's not a house that anyone ever lived in. It's a decoration.

It is located on the ridge of Lodge House, in the Marketplace. The Lodge House is itself a building of historical interest. According to Historic England; ​"On the roof ridge is a ceramic [14th century] louvre in the form of a gabled house, known as 'Tom Thumb's House'."  

On medieval buildings, a louvre or louver was a kind of turret or domed structure on the roof, which allowed in air and light but not rain. 

The Tattershall and Tattershall Thorpe Village Site, available through Wayback, informs us that "The tiny house was thought to keep evil spirits out of the main building. Tom Thumbs house changed from one side of the Market Place when Mr Wright sold his shop."
 
Here's the Lodge House on Google Maps. Can you see Tom Thumb's house?
Picture
Try looking at this photo from the Village Site.
Picture
So: two traditions that Tom Thumb died somewhere around Lincoln. And one of them is dated around the same time as the first existing mentions of Tom Thumb.

If any of you readers go to Tattershall any time soon... you know what your homework is.
Text copyright © Writing in Margins, All Rights Reserved
8 Comments
Kristin link
7/18/2017 05:15:56 pm

fascinating!!

Reply
betty smith
4/3/2019 10:59:04 am

i have seen this grave of Tom Thumb and have got a photo of the grave stone in Tattershall Church i took the photo way back in the middle 70s

Reply
Writing in Margins
4/5/2019 09:38:10 am

That's awesome! I would love to visit there someday.

Reply
Becky
7/10/2019 09:24:20 am

Sat outside Tattershall Castle as I type! Just been to visit his grave in the church, so after the castle might go for a mission to find the house!

Reply
Writing in Margins
7/10/2019 08:30:17 pm

VERY cool!! I wonder what kind of condition the house is in now?

Reply
Wendy Morby
10/2/2019 05:09:29 pm

The house is in very good condition I live just around the corner its actually quite amazing to see

Writing in Margins
10/2/2019 06:47:36 pm

That's great to hear, Wendy! Are there any local traditions about it?

Andy the Geocacher
8/11/2020 12:58:08 pm

Staying nearby , I found a Geocache that took me to Tom's house , regrettably the church was locked , probably due to covid 19

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    About

    Researching folktales and fairies, with a focus on common tale types.

    ​The Thumbling Project is a collection of different versions of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina from around the world.
    The Snow White Project ​and The Rapunzel Project are similar lists.

    ​​
    Text © Writing in Margins

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015

    Categories

    All
    Africa
    America
    Analysis
    Arabian Nights
    Astronomy
    Beauty And The Beast
    Book Review
    Boy Man
    Boy-Man
    Changelings
    Christmas
    Cinderella
    Creatures
    Dwarves
    Fairies
    Fairy Debunking
    Flood Myth
    General Tom Thumb
    Hans Christian Andersen
    History
    Hop O' My Thumb
    Issunboshi
    King Arthur
    Kirikou
    Little Red Riding Hood
    Mermaids
    Miniature Wedding
    Nang Ut
    Nursery Rhymes
    Perrault
    Peter Pan
    Pinocchio
    Puss In Boots
    Queen Mab
    Rapunzel
    Research
    Review
    Rumpelstiltskin
    Sleeping Beauty
    Snow White
    Tam Lin
    Tatterhood
    The Schools Collection
    The Three Little Pigs
    The Thumbling Project
    Thumbelina
    Tom Thumb
    Werewolves

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • The Thumbling Project
    • Type 700 Tales
    • Thumblings
    • Motifs
    • Timeline >
      • Tom Thumb Timeline
    • Film
    • Theater
    • Tom Thumb Weddings
    • Resources
  • The Snowwhite Project
    • As White As Snow
    • Type 709 Tales
  • The Rapunzel Project
  • Lists of Fairies
    • The Little Folk
    • Mermaids
    • The Denham Tracts
    • Individual Fairies
    • Faerie Feast
    • Faerie Fashion
  • Story CSI
    • Ruth Tongue
    • Andrew Lang
  • About and Contact