Black Giles the Poacher & Tawnwy Rachel the Fortune-Teller by Hannah More
Black Giles taught his children many cunning schemes to beg and steal. He is against education and promotes laziness and bad behavior as a way of life. When they came across widow Brown’s apple tree, their actions had surprising consequences.
Tawny Rachel, his wife, wormed her way into farmer’s homes and then offered to tell fortunes which she used to cheat them out of their money. Rachel tricked a woman by promising a husband, but Rachel’s own fortune was soon to be known.
Original title: Black Giles the Poacher: Containing Some Account of a Family Who Had Rather Live by Their Wits Than Their Work. Part 2 - History of Widow Brown’s Apple-Tree.
Original title: Tawny Rachel: The Fortune-Teller, with Some Account of Dreams, Omens, and Conjurers.
Paperback 4X6; 112 pages; 3 illustrations; ISBN 9781941281864
HANNAH MORE (1745-1833) was born in Stapleton, Bristol, England. Early in her life she was interested in the theater and wrote plays. For six years her fashionable social life grew to include many important people, but when it lost its appeal she turned to religion. Dr. James Stonhouse is credited with Hannah More’s spiritual awakening, but it was John Newton’s influence that gave energy and devotion to her spiritual walk, and she became a strong Evangelical Christian. Education was a strong theme in her life and William Wilberforce encouraged her to start schools for the education and moral advancement of poor village children. To counteract immoral forces in society, Hannah More, her sister Sarah, and others wrote a series of successful chapbooks called the “Cheap Repository Tracts.” She was also active with a group called the “Clapham Sect” that met at Henry Thornton’s house in Clapham. She had a vast social circle and wrote a multitude of letters. Her talent for writing also produced many books of drama, poetry, hymns, fiction and religious instruction.
