Where we are

[shewhomust]

We are, as the sign says, in Blakeney. So far we have seen neither seals nor fiddlers, but the week is young, and all things are possible...

ETA: A little booklet about the history of Blakeney casts some light on the fiddler. There is a story -

The story goes that a tunnel was once found running from Blakeney Guildhall to Binham Priory. A fiddler was the only person brave enough to enter, and so set off with his dog while the mayor and corporation of Blakeney followed above ground, guided by the noise of the fiddle. When the fiddle music stopped they believed the Devil had taken him and the dog, and they erected a mound to mark the last spot where the fiddler was heard!

After a little poking arond the internet, this is the version I like best, because it inks the story to the barrow known as Fiddler's Hill.

And now I know that story, I see that the sign shows the fiddler and his dog about to walk into the tunnel.

Comments

[sovay]

We are, as the sign says, in Blakeney. So far we have seen neither seals nor fiddlers, but the week is young, and all things are possible...

I associate the name "Blakeney" almost strictly with the Scarlet Pimpernel, I'm sorry, but I've heard the story of the fiddler and the tunnel! That's a great piece of weird fiction.

[shewhomust]

I have seen no sign of Sir Percy, not a single little red flower, alas.

I'm not sure whether I'd met the story of the fiddler and the tunnel before or not, it's such a familiar pattern for a story. No doubt it's told about all sorts of places...

[poliphilo]

I believe the story about the fiddler is also told about the tunnels under Dover Castle- only there it's not a fiddler but a drummer.

[shewhomust]

Ah, that may be why it felt familiar!