The Stonecutter's Tale

The form of the narrative poem is probably the earliest written record of the English language as it emerged during the middle ages. The poets were intelligent and inventive and the scraps and fragments that remain for study continue to fascinate and amuse readers and listeners today. Simon Kellow-Bingham has employed a similar method as these ancient rhymers to bring an old story to a new audience. The Stonecutter's Tale takes two stories, that of Saint Erkenwald, an anonymously penned 14th Century alliterative poem and the timeless folk story, The Peddler Of Swaffham, and brings them together into twenty-five verses of rhyming couplets. First performed in 2001 The Stonecutter's Tale has been refined over ten years to become the poem within these pages. This edition includes an updated introduction and note on the text with a select bibliography for further reading.