Malt 379 Posted January 27, 2008 Report Share Posted January 27, 2008 The guy who PM'd me earlier,heres the book,just PM me your Addie and name,I will put it in the post sometime this week....................... i am told that after his death in 1976? i think it was ,. his family burnt his old house boat at shep whites , gypsy tradition ? Yeah, it is an old gypsy tradition. There's a gypsy camp not far from where I used to live. I used to work with some gypsy girls, cleaning at an oil refinery when I was 16. You can sort of see where the camp is from certain points at the refinery, and one of the girls once pointed out a big plume of smoke coming from the camp one day, & told me what it was. They were burning a caravan that had belonged to some old fellow that had passed on. Apparently, they burn the van with all of the possesions inside. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Will F 0 Posted February 5, 2008 Report Share Posted February 5, 2008 Yeah I have read collin Willocks book on Kenzie several times and i still find it brilliant. Kenzie is a ledgendary poacher from Lincolnshire but more importantly he became a professional wild fowling guide, taking many people on the marsh after the pinks ect. He poached during the war time for food but mainly it ran in his blood, the sheer thrill of being out at night in all conditions, out witting game keepers. I am glad to say it also runs in my blood and there is no where i would rather be than out walking by night Quote Link to post Share on other sites
J Darcy 5,871 Posted February 5, 2008 Report Share Posted February 5, 2008 I love that book. read it and re-read it when i was a youth. It sums up just about everything i like in fieldsports. Not about the death , but about the pursuit. Not about the money, but about the sheer sport of it all......Its a top-class book about a top-class fella.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Phil Lloyd 10,738 Posted February 5, 2008 Report Share Posted February 5, 2008 I don't know if the links tell ye this - haven't time to check them - but, as Maccer said, the book was indeed by Colin Willock and was called " Kenzie ~ The Wild Goose Man ". Good old read, as I remember. He certainly was a character and Willock made a fine job of the story too You are quite right there Ditchy,... And what an excellent book it was... Kenzie certainly was a right auld character,..they don't make them like that anymore... I saw him at a Game Fair many years ago... He was doing various wildfowl calls and had a large group of guys standing around listening to his accurate impressions.. Kenzie managed to portray the lonely, haunting calls of the various Marshland ducks and waders,. He was real good at it,..and unlike some of today's showmen, when he did a hare or fox call it didn't sound as though he was having some kind of stomach wrenching spasm whilst suffering from a debilitating bout of GastroEnteritis AS for him poaching game 'just for the love of it',... Well,..you certainly don't get any 'Brownie Points' for declaring that you only 'do it' for the love of the chase etc... This is an unrealistic option,...but I can appreciate how such an opinion comes about,.and I respect it.... However,.the truth of the matter is that anyone who has killed game 'in quantity' will HAVE to move it on,...! You cannot keep piles of rotting flesh lying around just in order to take photos or stand looking at it,.... Back then,..Fifty pheasants ,.shot at roost, or a handful of Roe or a brace of Fallow would soon fill the freezer,..it WAS best to cash 'em in.... Kenzie loved the game as we all do,.but he was no 'Romantic ' fantasy figure, and all the mouchers/hunters that I have known,.lived for their work,.but they still had to put some money on the table....Business is business... What an exciting life these old style guys must of lived,...will we ever see their like again....? Cheers,.CHALKWARREN.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DUCKWING 302 Posted February 5, 2008 Report Share Posted February 5, 2008 WELL YES SIR ! ........... VERY TRUE WORDS !! ITS NOT JUST COINCIDENCE THAT ALL OF THE TOP CLASS POACHERS IVE MET OVER THE YEARS .. WERE VERY PROFESSIONAL ABOUT THEIR TRADE ........ AS WELL AS...... LETS SAY ? ........ " HAVING A COMPLETE LACK OF SCRUPLES " WHEN IT CAME TO CATCHING SALEABLE GAME AND THE DISPOSEING OF IT ALL THE BEST DUCKWING Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mackenzie 0 Posted February 8, 2008 Report Share Posted February 8, 2008 Hiya , today i was talking to a mate about `stuff ` and he started to tell me about a bloke called McKenzie Thorpe . As `legend` has it he could call in hares from all around with a strange cry which it seemed they could not resist ,and apperently in the 70`s ( i think ) he made a few tv apperances and demonstrated this `cry ` on tv . Now im not one to dismiss something i dont know ,and i wondered if anyone has seen these clips or heard of McKenzie Thorpe ( a romany ) or any other characters like these , and maybe these stories get better with age but who am i to say ? I`ve never heard of him ( appologies for my ignorance ) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mackenzie 0 Posted February 8, 2008 Report Share Posted February 8, 2008 Hiya , today i was talking to a mate about `stuff ` and he started to tell me about a bloke called McKenzie Thorpe . As `legend` has it he could call in hares from all around with a strange cry which it seemed they could not resist ,and apperently in the 70`s ( i think ) he made a few tv apperances and demonstrated this `cry ` on tv . Now im not one to dismiss something i dont know ,and i wondered if anyone has seen these clips or heard of McKenzie Thorpe ( a romany ) or any other characters like these , and maybe these stories get better with age but who am i to say ? I`ve never heard of him ( appologies for my ignorance ) Hi Mackenzie Thorpe was my grandfather I spend many summers on the marsh with him staying in the houseboad that he built. It is true it was burnt down by my Uncle Raymond I think it was a combination of gypsey and my Uncle was upset with the loss. MacKenzie is buried in the Sutton Bridge church yard behind the church. Mackenzie was a gruff man a mans man he liked a drink and loved to play billards at the local legion. He always smelt of liniment for his joints. It was not unusual to see guns in the house and men comming to go out to the marsh on hunting trips they would stay in the house boat. One time I remember a man came but he was in a wheelchair and wanted to go so bad that Mackenzie or my name for him was pop took him alomg and put him on his back and carried him all over the marsh. Pop started poaching for food to feed the family 6 children and a wife my grandmother her name was eliza ann wilkinson he nick name given to her by Pop was Sis .He also poached a Sandringham the Queens estate. Bird calls he new how to call anything mostly geese. in my nan and pops back yard he dug up and made a pond for the geese he brought home and also he purchased a peacock whiched we all liked to watch open its wings. He also painted landscapes of the marsh and geese landing im lucky to have one he painted it when I was born.We are desendents of romany and my greatgrand father and grandmother were true gypseys. the 6 children are Raymond England Barbra Utah USA Mackenzay Australia Rachel london Eng Wendy USA my mother Fay Canada . I have many family members 5 sets of twins also so Pop would be proud to thinkl their are so many of us. best of luck grand daughter Rachel Ontario Canada Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest buster321c Posted February 8, 2008 Report Share Posted February 8, 2008 (edited) Edited February 8, 2008 by buster321c Quote Link to post Share on other sites
J Darcy 5,871 Posted February 9, 2008 Report Share Posted February 9, 2008 The fact of the matter is he made his living being a guide to visiting wildfowlers..... The man was obsessed with geese and he once said "Outwitting a wild goose is better than bagging a thousand driven pheasants" Not everyone who has/is still bagging large numbers of game does it for the money...... When profit is the driving factor then all that matters is a kill, and not the journey IMHO... A great many hunt for the love of it........ to quote McKenzie " It's the sport man, it's the sport" Just my romantic point of view i guess!! JD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FJager 0 Posted February 9, 2008 Report Share Posted February 9, 2008 In Australia my Grandfather is considered the same when it comes to birds, particularly wildfowl and regardless of whether these men were considered poachers or whatever, their knowledge is indispensible. The Fisheries hated my Grandfather in his heyday and persecuted him when they could (not very often) but the mongrels still came to him for advice when they needed it with waterfowl habitat and the like, arseholes, typical government. Men like these legends have forgotten more than most of us will ever learn and I take my hat of to them, they do more good than any 'conservation' officer. Men like this are my Idol. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mackem 26,459 Posted February 9, 2008 Report Share Posted February 9, 2008 Did you get the book mate?I sent it recorded Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mikekemp100 0 Posted June 26, 2008 Report Share Posted June 26, 2008 Hi, McKenzie Thorpe to my knowledge first appeared on TV on "Nationwide" introduced by Frank Bough in c.1972 he then had a brief TV series called "McKenzie Thorpe Lincolnshire Poacher" ( mostly filmed at night) which showed him doing his stuff for about 6 episodes. I seem to remember him either with a moustache or full beard? regards Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mackem 26,459 Posted June 26, 2008 Report Share Posted June 26, 2008 That series would be interesting to see Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gooseman 0 Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 Hiya , today i was talking to a mate about `stuff ` and he started to tell me about a bloke called McKenzie Thorpe . As `legend` has it he could call in hares from all around with a strange cry which it seemed they could not resist ,and apperently in the 70`s ( i think ) he made a few tv apperances and demonstrated this `cry ` on tv . Now im not one to dismiss something i dont know ,and i wondered if anyone has seen these clips or heard of McKenzie Thorpe ( a romany ) or any other characters like these , and maybe these stories get better with age but who am i to say ? I`ve never heard of him ( appologies for my ignorance ) there is a book about mackenzie thorpe called kenzie the wild gooseman it was about his life of poaching and shooting in the fens a great read Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gonetoearth 5,144 Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 Hiya , today i was talking to a mate about `stuff ` and he started to tell me about a bloke called McKenzie Thorpe . As `legend` has it he could call in hares from all around with a strange cry which it seemed they could not resist ,and apperently in the 70`s ( i think ) he made a few tv apperances and demonstrated this `cry ` on tv . Now im not one to dismiss something i dont know ,and i wondered if anyone has seen these clips or heard of McKenzie Thorpe ( a romany ) or any other characters like these , and maybe these stories get better with age but who am i to say ? I`ve never heard of him ( appologies for my ignorance ) Hi Mackenzie Thorpe was my grandfather I spend many summers on the marsh with him staying in the houseboad that he built. It is true it was burnt down by my Uncle Raymond I think it was a combination of gypsey and my Uncle was upset with the loss. MacKenzie is buried in the Sutton Bridge church yard behind the church. Mackenzie was a gruff man a mans man he liked a drink and loved to play billards at the local legion. He always smelt of liniment for his joints. It was not unusual to see guns in the house and men comming to go out to the marsh on hunting trips they would stay in the house boat. One time I remember a man came but he was in a wheelchair and wanted to go so bad that Mackenzie or my name for him was pop took him alomg and put him on his back and carried him all over the marsh. Pop started poaching for food to feed the family 6 children and a wife my grandmother her name was eliza ann wilkinson he nick name given to her by Pop was Sis .He also poached a Sandringham the Queens estate. Bird calls he new how to call anything mostly geese. in my nan and pops back yard he dug up and made a pond for the geese he brought home and also he purchased a peacock whiched we all liked to watch open its wings. He also painted landscapes of the marsh and geese landing im lucky to have one he painted it when I was born.We are desendents of romany and my greatgrand father and grandmother were true gypseys. the 6 children are Raymond England Barbra Utah USA Mackenzay Australia Rachel london Eng Wendy USA my mother Fay Canada . I have many family members 5 sets of twins also so Pop would be proud to thinkl their are so many of us. best of luck grand daughter Rachel Ontario Canada thank you for that i read kenzie the wild goose man in my youth a great read Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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