B orn in Ludlow in 1978 and graduating from Aberystwyth University in 2000, Bath-based author Jem Roberts has a publishing heritage which goes back over 20 years, with extensive magazine experience as well as being a performer, with shows all round the United Kingdom.
Although he has made himself the biographer of choice for comedys elite the official, authorised historian for Im Sorry I Havent a Clue, Blackadder, Douglas Adams and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and now Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, in Soupy Twists Jem has been a committed childrens writer for a lot longer.
As a journalist, he edited titles including Pokmon World, Disney & Me and Disneys Puzzle Land, and has been a contributor as storyteller for Muffin the Mule, Disney Girl, Winnie the Pooh and many other publications. His short story Little Wee (about a very annoying baby llama) was published as part of charity fairytale collection Homespun Threads in 2012, and he continues to write his own tales as well as adapting traditional ones.
JEMROBERTS.COM
TALESOFBRITAIN.COM
Tales of Britain
By Brother Bernard
As told to Jem Roberts
This edition first published in 2018
Unbound
6th Floor Mutual House, 70 Conduit Street, London W1S 2GF
www.unbound.com
All rights reserved
Jem Roberts, 2018
The right of Jem Roberts to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
ISBN (eBook): 978-1-912618-45-3
ISBN (Paperback): 978-1-912618-44-6
Design by Mecob
Printed in Great Britain by Clays Ltd, St Ives Plc
For Terry Jones
Sit by the fire, and I shall make soup from your stories,
And well have our hopes for bread.
Jem Roberts -- Tales of Britain
3
Other books by
Jem Roberts
The Clue Bible: The Fully Authorised History of Im Sorry, I Havent a Clue
The True History of The Black Adder
The Frood: The Authorised and Very Official History of Douglas Adams
Soupy Twists: The Official Fry & Laurie Story
Contents
Dear Reader,
The book you are holding came about in a rather different way to most others. It was funded directly by readers through a new website: Unbound.
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Founders, Unbound
Teresa Ankin
Joshua Arnett
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Elizabeth-Jane Baldry
Jem Barnard
Emma Bayliss
Joshua Bergenroth
Jurek Bijak
Julian Birch
C Blanche
Alan Bonnyman
Tom Boon
David Bowyer
Tracy Boyle (Bailey)
The Braakenburg Family
Beatrice Brailey
John Brassey
BrotherRock
Jon Buckeridge
Colin Callan
Elizabeth Childs
Karen Christley
Freyalyn Close-Hainsworth
Rosie Corlett
Stephen Cox
Julia Croyden
Ian Cummings
David
Ashley Davies
Andy Davis
John de Jong
John Dexter
Emma Dixon
Gemma Donald
Cormac Dullaghan
Laura urinec
Valerie Duskin
Christopher Easterbrook
Barnaby Eaton-Jones
Brian Edwards
Karl Egerton
Mark Everden
Peter Faulkner
Stuart E. Fewtrell
Paul Fillery
Terence Flanagan
John Fulton
Steve Gall
Antonia Galloway
Tim Gee
Mark Gethings
Matthew Gilbert
Tony Gill
Marcus Gipps
The unholy sprites at Godchecker.com
Susan Godfrey
Paul Godfrey
Caroline Goldsmith
Amy Gore
Mike Griffiths
Mark Griffiths
David Haddock
Dorothy Halfhide
Nick Hamil
Samantha Handebo
Kate Harbour
H Hargate
Dianne Harmata
Perry Harris
Tilly & Lucy Harris
Christine Harris Fosdal
Jane Hayward
Mark Hewlett
Sheila Higgins
Steve Higgins
Jacquelyn Higgins
Tanya Hinton
Robert Hoare
Anne Hobson
Stephen Hoppe
Violet Horne
Gareth Hughes
Laura Humphrey
Neil Innes
Joseph and Adam Jackson
John Jencks
Amanda Jennings
Tristan John
Davey Jones
Julie Jones
Jan Keeling
Michael Kelly
Rik Kershaw-Moore
Philip King
Taylor Lankford
Nick Lansbury
Rick Le Coyte
Kim Le Patourel
David Learner
Alan Lee
Mike Lewis
Helen Lewis
John & Christine Lomax
Kari Long
Robert Lukins
Dave Lusby
James Lydon
Dirk Maggs
Jane Malcolm
Peter Maloy
Larry Mandt
Alasdair Mathieson
Carol McCollough
Anna McDuff
Ian McGill
Lucy McGrath
Kt Mehers
Oliver Mernagh
Jonny Mohun
Rowan Molyneux
Ross Montgomery
K. Murray-Brooks.
Chris Newman
Clare Norris
Gabriel & Stella OConnor
Elizabeth OHara
Lev Parikian
Matthew Pellett
Justin Pollard
Beki Pope
Glenn Prangnell
Janet Pretty
Arthur Prior
Francis Pryor
Jameson Rainha
Colette Reap
Carlos Rehaag
Helen Reid
Nick Roberts
George Roberts
Tony Robinson
Stian Rdland
Paul Rose
Sam Ross
Emma Samuel
Jenny Schwarz
Jonathan Seamons
Dale Shaw
Andrew Shead
Josephine Sherwood
Rachel Simon
David Simpkin
SisterRainbow
Helen Smith
MTA Smith
Simon Smith
Richard Soundy
Henriette B. Stavis
Kelly Stevens
Jim Stevens
Jason, Lisa & Joseph Stevens
Arielle Sumits
Scott Sundberg
Steven Sutton
Ewan Tant