Jack o' Kent.
A legendary wizard, hero of a cycle of humorous anecdotes in Herefordshire and Gwent. Some concern the rivalry between Jack and the Devil, each trying to outwit the other or to set the other a task he could not perform; Jack is invariably the winner. Many common international tales appear here, for example the mowing contest won by cheating, and the trick ‘sharing’ in which the dupe gets only straw when he chooses ‘bottoms’ of a wheat crop, and only leaves when he chooses ‘tops’ of turnips. Jack is also said to have hurled various standing stones in the Wye Valley, and kicked a cleft in the side of the Skirrid mountain; he is credited with magical powers of flight, and over animals. He sold his soul to the ... ...
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