Hobberdy Dick

It is mid-seventeenth-century England. Hobberdy Dick, a hobgoblin whose charge it is to guard Widford Manor in the Cotswolds, watches unhappily as new tenants, a city merchant and his family, move in. What makes it even worse is the fact that they are Puritans. Hobberdy Dick knows that now the happy days of mumming and Maying, of Christmas dancing and fireside games are things of the past.
It seems a bleak outlook, until Dick sees hope for the future in Anne Seckar, the penniless cousin of the Culvers, and Joel, the merchant's eldest son, who loves the country and the old ways.

Hobberdy Dick is the hobgoblin who protects Widford Manor and has for countless years. The house has changed hands and no longer belongs to the original family, and Dick isn't too keen on the new owners. He does take a liking to the older son, though, and also a young maidservant, who, it so happens, is the only living relative to the original inhabitant and therefore the rightful heir to the riches buried in the old stable...

I started this one without high expectations, to be honest - I assumed it would be another children's book from the '50s that hasn't aged well - but I was very happily surprised. You can't help but love Dick and his well-meaning antics, and the young protagonists are very easy to root for. I also loved the keeping show more up of old traditions and beliefs, as lovingly told by the author as they are respected by the manor's working folk. Definitely recommended. show less

One of the most wonderful tales I've ever read. For the first time in a long, long while, I had the experience of being completely engrossed in a story. I couldn't put it down. It was a complete pleasure!