Talk:Hugglestones

Well, not quite "spoof-free", when you consider Paul Kidby's rendition of Ponder Stibbons.--Old Dickens 16:28, 16 May 2007 (CEST)

Thasnks, I missed that one! Now you come to mention it... This may be a storm in a teaup, but I gather our man and the delightful Joanna Katherine aren't getting on at the moment:-

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/4732385.stm

Less than that, I suspect. The English press has tried for years to promote a feud, with little success.--Old Dickens 15:57, 17 May 2007 (CEST)

For what it's worth, I'm ambivalent about JKR. I feel she deserves the same verdict that Douglas Adams delivered on Isaac Asimov: some brilliant ideas and set-pieces, but the writing style stinks. In some respects not even original, as her biggest achievement seems to lie in re-inventing the public school potboiler (think Enid Blyton's Malory Towers from the 1940's, or Billy Bunter's Greyfriars from even earlier)for modern kids to lap up... every genre goes in and out of literary fashion, I suppose...--AgProv 00:43, 17 May 2007 (CEST)

Interested to know where andwhy the Name Hugglestones was chosen?! Its my surname and found this link in Google?! We get asked so many times how our Surname came about- so it'd be interesting to see how the author came up with using it in a book! Im on Facebook UK. Leanne x

The name Hugglestone seems to show up in a Welsh context when Googled; our AgProv might have an idea. I think it has a great balance of Olde Englishe goofiness and cold gray stone: a Druidical knee-slapper of a name. Terry has been known to flip through a telephone book for names, though. . --Old Dickens 01:02, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

An inspiration particle hit me, as recollected on the article page. The reason why Hugglestones evokes JKR's Hogwarts is in the rhyme: Hugglestones is a Hogwarts for Muggles, ie, non-magical people. --AgProv 16:35, 14 February 2011 (CET)

Oh, and if rephrased in Welsh and permeated through all permissible spellings, you can make a case for "hugylstowyn" - which in a mangled kind of way means, very loosely, "place of secrets", "concealed settlement" or just "hard to find". But those are VERY loose associations generated by a few minutes freewheeling thought, supported by the University of Lampeter's online dictionary. --AgProv 16:59, 14 February 2011 (CET)

Another association: with the ascetic Bishop Trevor Huddleston (d.1998), a product of the austere Lancing College, and a churchman who went to South Africa out of vocation until he was deported for being subversive (ie, anti-apartheid). If Hugglestones were to have a religious dimension, this might seal it - founded by an austere priest or church to glorify the God through education and sport? This prelate is also alleged to have had a sexuality of a sort which is associated with male public schools, although mystery, disinformation and denial surrounds the stories. It was certainly the Bureau of State Securitys's stated reason for expelling him from SA (indecency offences contravening the Racial Seperation Laws in a nation nt renowned for being gay-friendly - two offences for the price of one) and was dismissed as a convenient slander, but a Google search reveals he was questioned by British police for alleged similar offences not long after returning to the UK.... The darker side of Hugglestones? --AgProv 19:25, 13 July 2011 (CEST)

Terry's own comment on the JKR similarity can be found here: http://www.ansible.co.uk/sfx/sfx069.html "I pointed out that I had indeed been pinching stuff from Harry Potter books for, oh, about 18 years now, and had definitely never run across words like fuggles, struggles, smuggles, snuggles and juggles. I will perhaps be sued by whatever remains of the 70s pop duo Buggles, though." Daibhid C (talk) 17:42, 5 June 2014 (UTC)