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The Knotsman
The Knotsman does not exist, you will not find him in history books or collections of 'bygone' skills. But Math Jones has created him, and his fellows, in a time very like the English Civil War.
There he is, going from house to house, village to village, poem to poem, battlefield to gallows, unravelling knots and problems, physical, emotional and psychological; a new kind of cunning man, not always welcome, not always quite as clever as his fingers and picks would have him believe. No one knows what the knotty man knows - or no one knew - here knots of love, domesticity and death, children's rhymes, deep poems, songs and snatches created by Math Jones build folklore around a character so wholly believable he will surely become entwined in our host of otherworldly creatures. The Knotsman has secured a place in my imagination and this is a volume I will turn to time and time again to help me unravel the important questions. Dr Fay Hield Math Jones is a natural at merging poetry with engaging narrative and syntax. Despite a 17 th century setting about poems focusing on a cunning protagonist, ( a Knotsman with an alchemy for untying various knots) these also to me represented a modern allegorical critique on an unravelling political world we inhabit today. With a finesse in his rhyme and a beat to his controlled and structured poems this is a consistently good read where each poem is well crafted with the same discipline of the character which the poems represent. Anthony Owen The mysterious Knotsman travels far and wide, unhitching and unravelling, rewriting vows and improving lives. He is so convincing that you almost want to look him up - is this a recently discovered manuscript, a Chaucerian character that has slipped our notice? None of these. In his "mess of superstitions" Math Jones has created a distant, mystical world where strings speak, knots stand in for relationships and the centuries fall away. One to read aloud by a log fire. Kathy Gee
There he is, going from house to house, village to village, poem to poem, battlefield to gallows, unravelling knots and problems, physical, emotional and psychological; a new kind of cunning man, not always welcome, not always quite as clever as his fingers and picks would have him believe. No one knows what the knotty man knows - or no one knew - here knots of love, domesticity and death, children's rhymes, deep poems, songs and snatches created by Math Jones build folklore around a character so wholly believable he will surely become entwined in our host of otherworldly creatures. The Knotsman has secured a place in my imagination and this is a volume I will turn to time and time again to help me unravel the important questions. Dr Fay Hield Math Jones is a natural at merging poetry with engaging narrative and syntax. Despite a 17 th century setting about poems focusing on a cunning protagonist, ( a Knotsman with an alchemy for untying various knots) these also to me represented a modern allegorical critique on an unravelling political world we inhabit today. With a finesse in his rhyme and a beat to his controlled and structured poems this is a consistently good read where each poem is well crafted with the same discipline of the character which the poems represent. Anthony Owen The mysterious Knotsman travels far and wide, unhitching and unravelling, rewriting vows and improving lives. He is so convincing that you almost want to look him up - is this a recently discovered manuscript, a Chaucerian character that has slipped our notice? None of these. In his "mess of superstitions" Math Jones has created a distant, mystical world where strings speak, knots stand in for relationships and the centuries fall away. One to read aloud by a log fire. Kathy Gee
- GenresPoetryMagical Realism
114 pages, Paperback
Published April 11, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 27, 2020
A lovely collection of poems surrounding Math Jones’ mythology of the the knotsman. A brilliant idea and the variety in structure from poem to poem kept me reading.
April 2, 2026
An absolutely fascinating and very original piece of work. I couldn't resist reading it aloud to myself - it lends itself so well to being voiced - challenging though that be. I enjoyed being a performer of it! I look forward to doing so again, outdoors, loudly, while pacing back and forth along a beach or in a park. And I love Tom Charlesworth's eye-capturing cover design.
April 25, 2023
Ah, such a gnarl this world
and not a knotsman in it.
A compelling tale brilliantly told in verse. Imagine a knotsman to unravel all your cares, but leave untouched what binds us in life and love for the better. An allegory for our twisted world offering the hope that we might be unbound.
and not a knotsman in it.
A compelling tale brilliantly told in verse. Imagine a knotsman to unravel all your cares, but leave untouched what binds us in life and love for the better. An allegory for our twisted world offering the hope that we might be unbound.
May 30, 2025
Wonderfully creative, strikes that itch of a certain subset of modern historical fiction but through inventive and evocative poetry.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews