Jack o' Kent

Jack o' Kent (or Jack of Kent) is a mythological character in English folklore based in the Welsh Marches and English border counties. He is alternately referred to as either a human cleric or wizard who regularly beats the Devil in bets and games. He is most well known around Herefordshire and Monmouthshire and his legends are used to tell the origin of many of the geological formations around the region. For instance, he bet the Devil that the Sugar Loaf Mountain, Wales was higher than the Malvern Hills and when Jack proved the devil wrong, the Devil tried to put more soil on top of Malvern, but his carrier broke and dropped at the end of the island forming a small lump. He also liked to outsmart the Devil by entering into bargains and then fulfilling the letter of the bargain but not the spirit. He and the Devil made a deal so that Jack's crops would prosper, Jack would plant the crops and the devil would make sure the sun and rain came in proper amounts. Jack asked the Devil which part of the crops he wanted; the tops or the bottoms? The Devil picked tops, thinking of wonderful high wheat. But Jack planted turnips and left the Devil with the useless leaves. Next year the Devil thought he'd get the best of Jack and picked bottoms. Jack planted wheat, and once again the Devil was cheated.

In another story, he gets the Devil to help him build a bridge, promising the first soul that crosses it. They build the bridge and then Jack tosses a bone over the bridge and a hungry dog runs across. There is some question that he could be Siôn Cent, however its more likely he was a combination of many people and myths. [cite book|title=Jack O' Kent and the Devil: Stories of a Welsh Border Hero Told in Verse|last=Greene |first= William Henry |year=1974|id=ISBN 0900278218] [cite book |coauthors= Jaqueline Simpson, Steve Roud |title = A dictionary of English Folklore |publisher = Oxford University Press |year = 2000 |doi = |isbn= 978-0192100191A dictionary of English Folklore, Jaqueline Simpson and Steve Roud. Oxford University Press, 2000.] [ cite web|url=http://www.btinternet.com/~llantilio/villagesite/lswebpages/folklore.htm |title=The folklore, stories,legends and facts of Skirrid Fawr, Black Mountains, Monmouthshire. |accessdate=2008-06-01 |date=2004-11-14 ]

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