The New Murrey and Blue blog

humour

Richard III and Football

Feb 24, 2019

Events, heraldry, humour

Aston Villa, Birmingham, Burnley, football, London, Middleham, midlands, Stratford, trophies, West Ham, Yorkshire

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…
Henry V and the tennis balls….?

Feb 23, 2019

art, battles, humour

Charles VIII, Henry V, Hundred Years War, tennis balls

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,…
A question of age

Jan 22, 2019

battles, humour, The play’s the thing

“Tudor” propaganda, age, Battle of Bosworth, Edward IV, Francis Viscount Lovell, Henry of Buckingham, Henry VII, NPG, portraits, Richard III, Shakespeare

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…
A big bang under Henry VII? Oh, I wish….

Jan 18, 2019

anniversaries, humour

Elizabeth of York, Explosives, fireworks, Henry VII, marriages

Did anyone know that although fireworks were probably used in England from the late 13th century onwards, they didn’t begin to become truly popular until at least 200 years later? The first documented use of fireworks is the wedding of King Henry VII in 1486. What a pity it all “went off” splendidly…a nice explosion…
On twentieth century comedy

Jan 9, 2019

humour, law

alcoholism, Barry Mainwaring, bigamy, Captain Mainwaring, Dads’ Army, Edward IV, Elizabeth Wydeville, Fiona Gray, George Duke of Clarence, Lady Eleanor Talbot, pre-contract

Here we commented on a literary attempted bigamist, whose first name just happened to be Edward. Anyone who has visited the Dads’ Army Museum in Thetford may have noticed some parallels. Captain George Mainwaring, although ten inches shorter than Edward IV, has a drunken brother and feelings for a widow named Gray/ Grey (Fiona, played…
Schrodinger’s royal marriages?

Jan 4, 2019

anniversaries, humour, law, religion

“Perkin”, adultery, Anne Boleyn, annulments, Catherine of Aragon, dispensations, executions, Henry VII, Henry VIII, Katherine Howard, Low Countries, paradox, Treason Acts, Tyburn

Anne Boleyn and then Katherine Howard thought they had married Henry VIII. Then he annulled them both, as he did with his first and fourth weddings, such that they were deemed to have been invalid from the start. However, he had these second and fifth Queens executed for treason in that they committed adultery whilst…
I wonder …

Dec 31, 2018

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

A Hard Day’s Night, Clarence Sale, Josephine Tewson, Laurence Olivier, Peter Sellers, Plantagenet Evans, rhyming slang, Ronnie Barker, Seven of One, The Two Ronnies

Was the late Ronnie Barker a Ricardian? He made something of a habit of referring to Richard’s family. In “The Two Ronnies”: His rhyming slang vicar spoke of “a small brown Richard III” (bird), The pair did a Shakespeare scene mentioning as many television programmes as they could (eg “…the Tyrannies…” for themselves), Peter Sellers…
HISTORICAL CORRECTIONS-THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF ST THOMAS BECKET

Dec 29, 2018

anniversaries, buildings, humour, religion

assassination attempts, Canterbury Cathedral, GRU, Henry II, Putin, Salisbury Cathedral, terrorism, Thomas Becket, tourism

Well, folks, even in 1170 it seems they were hell-bent on giving out improbable excuses! (This amusing cartoon parodying the recent events in Salisbury made me smile.)
Mugging with Henry VIII

Dec 18, 2018

humour, law

annulments, Christmas shopping, coffee, Henry VIII, mugs, royal marriages

And for your Christmas feast, a mug fit for a King. Or maybe a mug for a mug… You can now wake yourself up with a splash of caffeine whilst gazing at Henry VIII’s portly charm and watching his unfortunate ‘wives’ (due to the marriages being annulled , he technically only had two wives, not…
Anne Neville was a Tudor….?

Dec 13, 2018

anniversaries, genealogy, humour

“Tudors”, Anne Neville, Catherine de Valois, Catherine of Aragon, Gregory, Henry VIII, inaccuracy, novelists, Richard III, Richard of Warwick

Sooo….her guilty secret is finally revealed. According to this post , Anne Neville was a Tudor! No wonder she‘s shocked…and Richard is giving her a sideways look. Oh, dear.