The New Murrey and Blue blog

culture

What does a horner do….?

Nov 24, 2022

art, culture, sources

Calendar of Patent Rolls, drinking horns, Guilds, horners, Kavanagh Charter Horn, Richard II, Worshipful Company of Horners

In recent days I’ve been happily trawling my way through the Calendar of Patent Rolls concerned with the reign of Richard II, and came upon the 1389 entry below. My curiosity was pricked. What sort of horn did a horner deal with? The musical instrument? Animal horn? So I did a little investigation, and discovered…
A virtual tour of 17th-century London….

Nov 19, 2022

anniversaries, buildings, culture, Science

executions, Great Fire of London, mediaeval London, Robert Hubert, tours, virtual reality

I love virtual video tours of places and have just come upon an excellent one of mediaeval London. Well, 17th-century actually, but to my mind the scenes are appropriate for the 14th-15th centuries. You’ll find the tour here . Just scroll down the page a little. It’s well worth a look.
Charles the Bold and his hairy throat….

Nov 10, 2022

anniversaries, art, culture

Charles the Bold, facial hair

I know, the title is a little reminiscent of Father Jack’s “hairy hands syndrome”, but this is definitely a hairy throat. Maybe I’m being forgetful here, but I have never before seen a beard that consists of a hairy throat and that’s it, apart from a tiny tuft under the lower lip. But now…
The art that made us

Nov 8, 2022

anniversaries, art, battles, buildings, culture, humour, religion, Science, television reviews

Aphra Benn, Armada, Arts and Crafts, Barbara Hepworth, Battle of Hastings, Bayeux Tapestry, BBC2, Beowulf, Black Death, Bloomsbury Group, British Empire, Burns, Charles I, Colonel Blimp, Cool Britannia, Damien Hirst, David Hockney, David Threlfall, Death and the Gallant, Elizabeth Gaskell, Elizabeth I, embroidery, English Civil War, Festival of Britain, First World War, Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, Geoffrey Chaucer, Great Fire of London, Hanif Kureishi, Harry Potter, Hogarth, Industrial Revolution, Jane Austen, Jarrow march, John Foxe, John Milton, Jonathan Swift, Joshua Reynolds, Julian of Norwich, kitchen sink drama, Llancarfon, Margery Kempe, Mary Stuart, murals, Norman conquest, Oliver Cromwell, Phillip Larkin, Piers Plowman, poetry, pre-Raphaelites, Reformation, Restoration, Richard II, Roman Britain, Rubens, satire, Second World War, Sir Christopher Wren, Sir William Orpen, St. Cadoc’s church, St. Paul’s, stained glass, Stuarts, The art that made us, The Fighting Temeraire, The unknown soldier, Tracey Emin, Trainspotting, Turner, urbanisation, van Dyck, Walter Sickert, Welsh Bible, William Cobbett, William Morgan, William Shakespeare, Wilton Diptych, York Minster

This is another fascinating BBC2 series, illustrating English and British history through the evolution of our art. The eight one-hour episodes, narrated by David Threlfall (Men of the World), feature:The Roman and pre-Roman periods, Beowulf, the Norman conquest and the Bayeux Tapestry; The Black Death, Wilton Diptych, Piers Plowman, Chaucer, Julian of Norwich,…
EDWARD IV’S Magical Medicine

Nov 2, 2022

anniversaries, culture, humour, sources

burnet, dragonys, Edward IV, feverfew, marigolds, plague, remedies, rye, scrofula, sorrel

In this time of our own ‘plague’, it is interesting to see that Edward IV had his own concoction for an unpleasant disease recorded as ‘the rayning sickness’ (raining, reigning?–not sure what this word translates as– maybe the King’s Evil (scrofula?)) The recipe was a handful of rue, a handful of marigolds, half a handful…
Was the Bard having a go at Robert Cecil when he wrote Richard III….?

Oct 15, 2022

culture, humour, religion, The play’s the thing

“Princes”, Elizabeth I, James VI/I, Matthew Lewis, Richard III, Robert Cecil, satire, secret Catholics, William Shakespeare

Matt Lewis is, of course, a force to be reckoned with when it comes to supporting Richard III and this link is a very interesting article he’s written concerning why Shakespeare may have bad-mouthed Richard. I had no idea the Bard could have been a secret Catholic who wanted the return of the old…
Henry VIII, a turkey leg and the Mandela Effect….

Oct 12, 2022

anniversaries, culture, Science

false memory syndrome, Henry VII, Henry VIII, Mandela effect

I’d never heard of the Mandela effect. Apparently it occurs when a person believes that their distorted memories are, in fact, accurate recollections. They can clearly remember events that happened differently or events that never occurred at all. The bottom line is that the Mandela Effect does not involve lying or deception, it’s genuine. I’d…
Just how clean WERE we in medieval times….?

Oct 10, 2022

culture

hygiene, Richard III, rivers, Victorians, worms

Well, according to this article we were a lot cleaner than our present-day selves insist on thinking. Our naughty bits weren’t to be scrubbed, for fear of making them even naughtier…but it seems it would have been okay to splash around in a river every day (in the summer, at least). Plus, you could…
A medieval woman who competed in a mounted duel and won….!

Oct 7, 2022

buildings, culture, law

ABC News, Agnes Hotot, chivalry, female jousting, John V Duke of Brittany, Kenilworth Castle, Order of the Ermine, Order of the Garter, titles

While searching for an explanation of why some women in the 14th century were termed “Dame” I found that it meant they were a knight’s wife/widow. Apparently Dame preceded Lady, which came about in the 17th Century—or so it seems. I can’t quite believe that. Anyway, I also learned that it wasn’t unknown for women…
Bolingbroke and his flute….!

Sep 30, 2022

anniversaries, battles, culture, humour

“Lancastrian”, flutes, Henry IV, Henry VII, Lancastrians, lutes, music, Richard II, usurpation, Wars of the Roses

I feel it’s time to take another pop at a Lancastrian King Henry. On this occasion it’s Henry IV, the warlike Lancastrian usurper who murdered his cousin Richard II and stole the crown. A process that led to the Wars of the Roses. So definitely not one of my favourite kings. When it comes to…