Talk:Uncle Tom Cobley

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Has anyone searched in Widecombe parish records etc to see if Bill Brewer, Jan Stewer, Peter Gurney, Peter Davy, Daniel Whiddon, Harry Hawke, and Tom Cobley existed in reality? The event looks like the sort of thing that might have happened: They drank heavily at the fair, and on the way back trusted the carthorse to know the way back; but this time the horse took ill, leaving the men stranded on the shelterless houseless moor for the night in cold and bad weather, and they had no overnight camping gear with them. The drink made them feel warm, but made them lose body heat faster. and alcoholic sleepyness and hypothermia made an end of them. Anthony Appleyard 11:26, 20 Nov 2004 (UTC)

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There is no record of any of these characters actually living in Widecombe (at least, no one has found anything so far). However, as the song suggests, the likelihood is that they travelled from afar to trade at the Fair. Indeed, there is a Tom Cobley buried at Spreyton, to the north of Dartmoor, and claimed by locals to be the man himself. Jon C 08:09, 22 November 2004 User:JonC

There's a strong element of faery in the song, unless I'm mistaken, viz. "all along lee". Perhaps we should cross reference to ley lines. Snow 19:30, 2 July 2005 User:24.205.64.176

I live in Spreyton and there is a portrait in the Tom Cobley Tavern that is meant to be a picture of Tom C himself. This brings into question if Tom Cobley was a man wealthy enough to afford a portrait and not wealthy enough to afford a horse? - PW 18:55, 23 December 2005 User:PBwassell

"Lee" probably means "meadow", or possibly "leeside". Nothing about ley lines. Anthony Appleyard 17:27, 24 January 2006 (UTC)