Raglan and A Man of Constant Sorrow

Truth be told, I didn't make it to class on Tuesday, but at least it gave me the chance to utilize Rio's Smartpen recording!

After hearing about Lord Raglan, a strange familiarity hit me. Sure enough, years ago my dad - the family genealogist - had established a familial connection to William ap Thomas, a minor Welsh aristocrat who was granted the title "Blue Knight of Gwent" after being knighted by Henry VI. Sir William accumulated considerable power in Wales and through marriage was able to attain the Raglan estate, upon which he initiated the construction of Raglan Castle. After William's death in 1445, the castle was passed on to his son, William Herbert the 1st Earl of Pembroke, who continued its building. During the War of the Roses, a young Henry Tudor (a.k.a. Henry VII) resided within Raglan Castle under Herbert's custody - until the Earl fell out of favor with the Lancastrians and was summarily executed.

Although the use of William as a first or middle name seems eerily common throughout my more recent ancestors (including my father and grandfather), the genealogical roots are pretty tangled. I remember something about a name change not taking place; supposedly we would be the Wilsons otherwise. William Wilson has a nice alliterative ring to it. Anyways, regardless of my dad's fanciful family map-work, I'm not the distant relative of the Lord Raglan mentioned in class. Eventually, Raglan Castle came into the possession of the Somersets of the House of Beaufort, of which the hero-theorizing 4th Baron Raglan, Fitzroy Richard Somerset, was a member.

Here's a cool link to Lord Raglan's hero pattern, with point amounts given to heroes of different traditions and mythologies (from Krishna to Harry Potter):

The Hero Pattern

On an almost completely different note, one of the songs played in class was the folk traditional "(I Am A) Man of Constant Sorrow". While the version from O Brother, Where Art Thou? is great, there's a ton of other recordings made over the last century, before and after the Stanley Brothers popularized it in the 1950s - including one by Bob Dylan. One of my favorite recordings is by Roscoe Holcomb from An Untamed Sense of Control, who hauntingly sings the tune a cappella. If you're interested in folk music, I've uploaded it to a file hosting site. Follow the link below.

Download "I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow" by Roscoe Holcomb