humour
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We know that both Mr. Rochester and Captain Mainwaring are possibly based, to some extent, on Edward IV’s life and family. What about Hi-de-hi? I ask because one episode of this 1980s comedy featured TED Bovis (Paul Shane) seeking to become engaged to a camper with “my late mother’s ring”, only for Spike Dixon (Jeffrey…
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A group of ram-raiders in Dedham, Essex drove their vehicle into the facade of a plain, old Co-Op, causing considerable damage–and revealing behind the 1950’s front a timbered-framed merchant’s house built around 1520, with earlier medieval features such as a hearth and a large cauldron blocking the doorway, possibly as a talisman to ward off…
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After this case, this one, this one and this one , here is another secret marriage. The groom was the conductor Andre’ Previn KBE and the bride was the violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, both of whom were born in Germany. Here is an obituary for Mr. Previn, or Preview if you prefer. Things are looking dark for…
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So if Edward IV ….
“Tudor” propaganda, ballads, Brat Farrar, Captain Mainwaring, Edward IV, Edward Rochester, Elizabeth of York, Elizabeth Wydeville, Henry VII, Huckleberry Hound, Josephine Tey, Kenneth Williams, Manuel, marriage, Oh my darling Clementine, Portuguese marriage plans, Rambling Syd Rumpo, Round the Horne… is either Mr. Rochester or Captain Mainwaring and other characters have been identified, is Henry VII represented in popular culture, other than here? You may recall that he promised to marry Elizabeth of York, OR one of her sisters if she was already taken, which is more about becoming Edward IV’s posthumous son-in-law than is…
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… Edward IV is either Mr. Rochester or Captain Mainwaring, which other fictional character may be based on one of his contemporaries? John, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, posthumously Edward’s father-in-law, who was identified after the battle of Castillon by the gap between his teeth might be Terry-Thomas? Domenico Mancini, a foreign visitor who barely understood…
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Next month, David Starkey will be talking about Henry VIII on television again (1). However, in this Telegraph interview, he is compared to Henry in several ways, even suggesting that he is that King’s reincarnation. Sadly, the interviewer seems not to understand which of Henry’s marriage ceremonies were valid, or the difference between divorce and…
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Here’s an amusing little tale, that I think is factual. It is taken from here . “William Shakespeare was very much alive above the ears and below the waist. A surprisingly high proportion of the documentary trail concerns his racy and bawdy exploits. “An important anecdote, from John Manningham’s 1601 diary, concerns a performance of…
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A few years ago, when Leicester City won the Premier League, some people connected the success to the then-recent discovery of Richard’s remains in the city. This is a fanciful idea. However, there are three major clubs that play in Richard’s colours. Aston Villa This historic club is by far the largest in the Midlands. They…
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The above image depicts Henry V receiving a box of tennis balls from the French Dauphin. Right. I know this was supposed to have happened – well, Shakespeare said so – but this doesn’t look like Henry V to me! It looks more like a Tudorised Richard III! Wearing Nora Batty’s wrinkled stockings. More bah,…
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Drifting in and out of various history groups on the net, a very strange thing has become apparent. There are some out there who truly believe Richard III’s death was ‘the end of the Middle Ages’ and that he stood in the way of the wonderful, burgeoning Renaissance like some great big dinosaur with both…