BLIND JACK OF KNARESBOROUGH – A True English Children’s Story: Baba Indaba Children's Stories - Issue 205

By Anon E. Mouse and Narrated by Baba Indaba

ISSN: 2397-9607 Issue 205
In this 205th issue of the Baba Indaba’s Children's Stories series, Baba Indaba narrates the English folktale about “BLIND JACK OF KNARESBOROUGH.”
Blind Jack's proper name was John Metcalfe, and he was born in the town of Knaresborough in Yorkshire, in 1717AD into a relatively well-off family. He was quick of mind and had a good memory and his teachers were proud of him, and prophesied that he could become a great scholar. Struck down with small-pox in his 8th year, Jack went blind. He learned to walk around his home without bumping into any furniture and was soon venturing further afield, even climbing trees and delivering messages, to the extent that his mother found it almost impossible to keep Jack in the house. By the age of fifteen he was famous throughout Knaresborough, which had grown quite proud of him. He had also learned to play the violin and was soon being asked to play at weddings and in the local pub on a regular basis. In 1732, he was officially offered the post of fiddler at Harrogate. Amid many more adventures and events, he even acted as a guide for strangers to the area. He fell in love with Dorothy Benson, who returned his advances. However, Dorothy’s father was not keen on the match and arranged for Dorothy to marry a sighted man. But Jack and Dorothy had other ideas and plans. Were Jack and Dorothy’s plans successful or did Dorothy’s father win the day and ruin their lives forever? You’re invited to download and read the whole story of “BLIND JACK OF KNARESBOROUGH” and the many eventful and groundbreaking events that made up the rest of his life.

Baba Indaba is a fictitious Zulu storyteller who narrates children's stories from around the world. Baba Indaba translates as "Father of Stories".

Each issue also has a "WHERE IN THE WORLD - LOOK IT UP" section, where young readers are challenged to look up a place on a map somewhere in the world. The place, town or city is relevant to the story. HINT - use Google maps.

33% of the profit from the sale of this book will be donated to charities.
INCLUDES LINKS TO DOWNLOAD 8 FREE STORIES
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Abela Publishing
• Release date: May 4, 2017
• ISBN: 9788826085173

Book preview

BLIND JACK OF KNARESBOROUGH

An English Fairy Tale

Baba Indaba Children’s Stories

Published By

Abela Publishing, London

2016

BLIND JACK OF KNARESBOROUGH

Typographical arrangement of this edition

©Abela Publishing 2016

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Abela Publishing,

London, United Kingdom

2016

Baba Indaba Children’s Stories

ISSN 2397-9607

Issue 205

Email: [e-mail]

Website: www.AbelaPublishing.com

An Introduction to Baba Indaba

Baba Indaba, pronounced Baaba Indaaba, lived in Africa a long-long time ago. Indeed, this story was first told by Baba Indaba to the British settlers over 250 years ago in a place on the South East Coast of Africa called Zululand, which is now in a country now called South Africa.

In turn the British settlers wrote these stories down and they were brought back to England on sailing ships. From England they were in turn spread to all corners of the old British Empire, and then to the world.

In olden times the Zulu’s did not have computers, or iPhones, or paper, or even pens and pencils. So, someone was assigned to be the Wenxoxi Indaba (Wensosi Indaaba) – the Storyteller. It was his, or her, job to memorise all the tribe’s history, stories and folklore, which had been passed down from generation to generation for thousands of years. So, from the