Events
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“….THERE will be thrills and spills of a distinctly ghostly type in Skipton this month as stroke survivor Malcolm Hanson conducts his once-famous ghost walks around the town’s supernatural hot spots on Friday evenings….” The above extract is from the Craven Herald and I hope most sincerely that Malcolm’s ghost walks are a spooky…
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Good news for all those who support Richard III or are simply interested in all things mediaeval. The Bosworth Mediaeval Festival is returning this summer after two years. It starts on 20th August AND THE TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW!!!!
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There must have been a brisk trade in illustrations of boating parties in the Merry Month of May…and Flemish painter Simon Bening (circa 1483-1561) stepped up to the mark! Mind you, I’m a little perturbed as to how the good Simon managed to paint the above in 1575 if he died in 1561. I suppose…
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We all know that pinpointing Easter in the medieval period is awkward – well, it’s awkward in any period, come to that. I want to know exactly when Easter Day fell in 1394. But do all the clever-clogs sites agree? Nope. They say they give you the correct date, but one of them had moved…
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When the remains of Richard III were sought and then discovered, A magazine entitled Current Archaeology covered it prominently on a number of occasions: “….Current Archaeology reported on the unfolding story in detail, with no fewer than three ‘cover’ features, in CA 272, CA 277, and CA 294 (November 2012, April 2013, and September…
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The following is an extract from this site. :- “….The season wraps up with “The Gentle Villainy of Richard III, Troubler of the Poor World’s Peace,” an adapation of William Shakespeare’s “Richard III” running April 21-May 1 at the Outcalt Theatre….” Oh, dear (heavy sigh). Shoving the word “gentle” in front of “villainy” doesn’t…
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“….and grant of the said manor and lands to Sir Walter for two years from this date, rendering one primrose a year at the Purification…” You’ll find the above extract at this site. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-close-rolls/ric2/vol3/pp296-298 It records an agreement between Sir Walter de Cokesseye and the more famous Sir Hugh Calveley, who was a famous…
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My reaction to Lucy Worsley’s Christmas Carol Odyssey….
“Tudor” propaganda, “Tudors”, Anglo-Saxons, bias, Catholics, Charles “III”, Christina Rossetti, Christmas carols, Christmas truce, Edward VI, Ely Cathedral, Father Christmas, First World War, French Revolution, Gustav Holst, Henry VII, Henry VIII, Jacobites, Lucy Worsley, Methodists, music, mystery plays, Napoleonic wars, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Reformation, Reverend Phillips, wassailingSometimes the stories behind our much-loved Christmas carols are quite disheartening, involving as they do national and international strife and religious rivalry that was both bloody and filled with hatred. Yet every year we sing the resultant carols with joy. The reactions of the human race are sometimes contradictory. To say the least! I am…
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While the traditional Yule Log is associated with Great Britain – as its television broadcast/DVD version is associated with America – it seems to have originated in the misty past of Central Germany and Westphalia. It is certainly of pagan origin as are many of our Christian customs. To quote Sir James George Frazer in…
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“….the beautiful, unspoiled Mediterranean town of Patara is the birthplace of the bearded gift-giver, who we look out for with such excitement on Christmas Eve. Or rather, the birthplace of the third century Christian saint whose life of kindness and miraculous do-goodery created a legend which has evolved down the centuries, and given us the…
The New Murrey and Blue blog 