Joan the Wad

[John Winter]

My mate Dave had come across a small metal object whilst detecting. He didn’t know what it was …
Joan the Wad | johnwinter.net

 

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[G.I.B.]

Where is the story?

Do we have to get redirected to your personal webpage?

Is this simply a way to drive traffic to your site?

 

[John Winter]

NO and YES.
I love you too! :-)

You don't have to click on the link.
I have checked with the administrators of the forum and they don't object.

 

[G.I.B.]

I would think that if you are just using TN to drive traffic from here to your site you would at least pay for a Charter Membership...

 

[John Winter]

This isn't the first time you have had a go at me ... getting a bit tedious now.
My posts generate discussion on this site and, I will stop posting if yours is the general consensus.
I don't intend to upset anybody and will leave quietly if that is the case.

 

[Msbeepbeep]

I can't open any URL from my ph "no app for that"....have to get the kids to fix it for me.

 

[diggummup]

[h=1]Figured I'd post the material for those that can't get there.


Joan the Wad[/h][FONT=&quot]9 June 2016 — 10 Comments[/FONT]


[FONT=&quot][h=2]Joan the What?[/h][h=4]I’m ashamed to say that I was a naughty boy … at the age of eleven or twelve I used to steal fags from my mother’s handbag. She was a ‘secret’ smoker and I knew that it was comparatively safe if ever caught in the act. It was a much different age then and female cigarette smoking was frowned upon. Regular readers knew about this, because I confessed on a previous occasion, but have more to add. It’s what old men do … repeat themselves. (post lost).[/h][h=4]There was one item in that handbag that scared me and because I was afraid I never touched it voluntarily. With hindsight and galloping maturity I now understand what that amputated furry ‘thing’ was meant to do …[/h][h=4]My parents didn’t have much money, but were never in debt, were scrupulously honest and very superstitious. My mother kept a rabbit’s foot in her handbag. I have since learnt that it was carried as an amulet, believed to bring good luck – and that belief is (or was) held in a great number of places around the world – even amongst the Celts. Why should this be one of humanity’s oldest superstitious icons?[/h][h=4]Mr Google tells me that because rabbits are prolific breeders they are seen as symbols of fertility, but I guess that wash’t why it was carried by Me Ma (sic). No, I reckon it was in the handbag because it was supposed to bring good luck and prosperity. Perhaps she should have been stroking it on a Saturday night when Dad was taking part in a weekly ritual – checking his football pools coupon. Or, perhaps not! The rabbit lived underground, the foot was often linked with darkness, witches and the devil. Now, we’re getting somewhere. My Mother was often called ‘Winnie the Witch’.[/h]

Advert for Joan the Wad courtesy of Brian Hunt of pelTorro.com – click to enlarge

[h=3]THE SMALL ADS[/h][h=4]I was reminded the other day of those small black and white panels that used to appear in newspapers of my childhood advertising the Cornish ‘piskie’ Joan the Wad. My parents swallowed the guff about it bringing them good fortune and wealth even though it meant depriving them of a shilling to do so. Were most people so gullible in forties and fifties?[/h][h=4]My mate Dave had come across a small metal object whilst detecting. He didn’t know what it was and I was able to tell him. Joan the Wad is a mythological creature in Cornish folklore and was Queen of the piskeys or pixies, a race of tiny creatures associated with that area. The word ‘wad’ is an archaic term for torch. The use of the term suggests that Joan is associated with the fairy light phenomenon, usually referred to as will-o’-the-wisp.[/h]
© JW Click to enlarge

[h=3]MY LUCKY CHARM[/h][h=4]I saw the light on a local market stall recently and spied a couple of ‘Joans’ hanging from a ribbon. I couldn’t resist handing over a pound coin for them both. Here’s hoping[/h][h=4]they bring me good luck! The genes have been handed down … do you think that I am also gullible, naive, or just nostalgic for the good old days when life was just slower, a lot simpler and people were more naive![/h][h=4]Anyone like to borrow Joan and her sister when they next go detecting and see if they bring any luck?[/h]______________________________________________________________
© Rodger Shearer Click to enlarge

[h=4]Detectorist Rodger Shearer from up in Bonny Scotland has sent me a Joan that he found earlier. I guess it must be an earlier (or later) model. Unlike the one I show, Rodger’s gal is quite voluptuous with a kindlier face. I prefer his Joan to mine![/h][h=4]The Polperro Piskey Shop[/h]

“The Piskey folk according to Couch’s History of Polperro are about a span long, clad in green and wearing straw hats or little green caps on their heads. Two only are known by name, JOAN THE WAD and JACK O LANTERN. The Piskie’s are the cheery wonder workers of Cornwall. their power is incalculable and wherever they abide good luck attends, Sir Arthur Quiller Couch in one of his books described how the maidens go to the well to intercede with the Pisky folk for the name of their true love. The charm is guaranteed dipped in water from the Saint’s well. Do not be misled by spurious imitations.”
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I am unable to find the original comments left with this blog posts originally published in 2012
[h=4]The Searcher magazine has provided an identification service for readers for years. Because of the lack of suitable technology, anyone needing help twenty years ago had little choice but provide a sketch of the artefact they had found. Photographs were usually poor, black and white, rather dark and therefore unsuitable for publication.[/h][h=4]In the September 1996 edition there was a crude sketch submitted by ‘Mr. Picton’ of an item he had found. The person doing the identification was rather circumspect and on the ball. ID’s must have been difficult in those days.[/h][h=4]What he said was, “(The item) would need to be viewed before any useful opinion could be arrived at. An ancient date is possible, but then so is a modern charm.”[/h][h=4]So, full marks to the (unknown) person who did the ID. Let’s hope that Mr. Picton carried the talisman whenever he went detecting and that his finds’ rate increased … even though he may not have been aware of the reason![/h]__________________________________________________
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