Chapter 3
The Footpath
The Will-o’-the-Wisp Medieval Fair is situated in the Yanwath Wood, north of Arkham Hall, and bordered to the east by the River Lowther. Once a year, from the twenty-fifth of September through Halloween, the secluded road running through the quiet woodland is opened by the good Earl of Lonsdale, Viscount Lowther, Baron of Whitehaven and Lord of the Manor of Threlkeld.
The fair provides a “living history” of medieval England, but with a bit of amusement and liveliness, too. Dancers, magicians, jugglers, musicians, beggars, singers, rogues, peasants, priests, and princesses are everywhere, talking, laughing, eating, and rabble-rousing as they stroll down enchantingly named paths, such as “Castlerigg Lane,” “Brigand Alley,” and “King Richard’s Avenue.” They devour sw
