The South Downs with Neil Gaiman Comic book capers in the Park
Neil Gaiman’s works take us from Hell to the American Midwest and everywhere in between. And once, he took us to the South Downs…
NEIL GAIMAN IS rightly praised for the way he writes characters; after all, he has invented thousands of his own (think of Aziraphale and Crowley in Good Omens or Yvaine in Stardust), as well as writing stories for Batman, Superman, Judge Dredd and Doctor Who. But he can’t half write about places, too.
Gaiman is one of Britain’s most successful living authors, and one of the most acclaimed comic book and graphic novel writers of all time. His work, also including American Gods, The Graveyard Book, The Ocean at the End of the Lane and Coraline, has won him pretty much every award in the publishing industry. Novels, screenplays, short stories, radio dramas, comics: his output is jaw-dropping.
But whatever story he tells, the location is key, whether it’s the hidden London of the Underground in Neverwhere or the spectacular but terrifying world of the Other House in Coraline.
And for this literary special, we take you back to one of his earlier masterpieces, because it evokes a particular place we love very much.
Gaiman wrote his comic book series The Sandman for DC Vertigo between 1989 and 1996 and it swiftly established his reputation as a master of intelligent, allusive fantasy. It’s an anthology series
– different stories, created with input from different artists, but united by the figure of Dream, aka Morpheus; a personification of dreams, stories and all that is not real. Each story has a defined sense of place, but if you want to understand why we love him at Country Walking, seek out the third volume, Dream Country, because it includes
A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
The story is set in the Sussex Downs on Midsummer’s Eve in 1593. William Shakespeare and his company have been forced out of London; the theatres are closed due to the Plague (which of course has eerie resonance today) so Shakespeare, Richard Burbage, Will Kemp and the rest of the crew are obliged to tour the countryside, performing at inns. Alongside Shakespeare is his young son, Hamnet.
But something deeper is happening. Shakespeare leads the company to the Long Man of Wilmington, the famous chalk figure on the downs near Alfriston, where he meets with Dream, and both allude to a long-standing Faustian deal that exists between them. Dream has commissioned a new play from Shakespeare, titled A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and tonight Shakespeare and Co are to perform it for a very specific audience.
At a word from Dream, the Long Man (here named as Wendel) comes to life and leans over, revealing that his ‘sticks’ (or staves) are not actually sticks at all but the frame of a colossal door, which he opens to permit the arrival of the genuine faerie characters named by Shakespeare in his new play: Oberon (named Auberon here), Titania, Peaseblossom, Mustardseed, Cobweb, Moth and company – plus, of course, the mischievous sprite Robin Goodfellow, better known as Puck.
As the human players perform, the lines between fantasy and reality become beautifully blurred. Puck decides to take a more active role in the show, monstrous faerie characters gossip as they try to understand what’s going on in the dialogue, and there are several references to the real-life fate of poor little Hamnet. It’s hilarious one minute, sinister the next, poignant the one after.
And it’s all happening in the chalky coombe at the foot of the Long Man. The Downs are sumptuously brought to life by illustrator Charles Vess: every shade of lush midsummer green forms the backcloth of the story initially, and the panels turn blue, turquoise and lilac as the manic evening draws on. If you’ve ever walked the Down on a summer’s day – and on a summer’s evening – you’ll recognise it at once.
There’s a good reason it’s set here: Gaiman has strong connections with these hills. He was born in Portchester in Hampshire, at the western end of the South Downs, and grew up in East Grinstead in the Sussex Weald. He also studied at Ardingly College near Haywards Heath, with the Downs on his horizon every day.
There are grains of realism to the story, too. Druid communities hold the Long Man to be a sacred site, and some have indeed suggested he may mark a portal between the real world and the supernatural.
And Shakespeare’s company (the Lord Chamberlain’s Men) did indeed vacate the London theatres during outbreaks of the Plague, and tour countryside venues that could afford to pay them. Their only known Sussex engagement was at Rye, where they performed at the Mermaid Inn as part of a mayor-making ceremony in 1597. (You can visit the Mermaid to this day, and find a fair bit of Shakespearean memorabilia to mark the occasion, of course.)
Many of Gaiman’s works have been adapted for film and TV, including American Gods, Coraline, Good Omens, Neverwhere and Stardust. So might we see his Sussex Downs on screen? Well, possibly. Netflix is currently filming a Sandman TV series, with hopes of streaming it in 2022. We don’t yet know if A Midsummer Night’s Dream will form part of the series. But if it does, it’d be nice to think they’ll film it at the real Long Man.
For now, let’s leave the last word to Puck, who has the last word in the original play, and pretty much the same last words in Gaiman’s story.
So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends, And Robin shall restore amends.
WALK HERE: Download Alfriston and the Long Man at walk1000miles.co.uk for a fabulous walk in the footsteps of Gaiman’s Dream.
“Every shade of midsummer green forms the backcloth of the story initially, and the panels turn blue, turquoise and lilac as on.” the manic evening draws