Here is the tale of Hereward,
The one they call The Wake,
The warrior from the deepest Fen,
Who gathered around him mighty men,
To keep at bay that William,
For precious England’s sake.

A hell-raiser from Lancashire,
He fought against his father,
And wore him down with arguments
And a rebellious streak that wouldn’t relent.
So long this feud was allowed to ferment
That his Father snapped, his clothes he rent,
And with the blessings of good King Ed,
Banished his son to the continent
To rediscover honour.

And so he stormed away in anger
As heat burned in his head,
No kind words to his kin addressed,
No sin he thought should he confess,
He left them in their sore distress
As onwards he did tread.

Inspired by Malcolm Guite’s ‘Galahad and the Grail’, I thought I’d try a similar ‘ballad’ approach to tell the story of Hereward the Wake. This one’s going to take more than a day to write, and so I’m going to post a bit each day as they’re drafted and see where they take me. To be continued…
(06.06.26)

© Ben Quant 2026
John Cassell, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons