The play’s the thing
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Whenever I see a reference to Shakespeare’s Dark Lady, I can’t help thinking of George Harrison’s Dark Sweet Lady. (Go here Bing Videos if you wish to hear it.) There’s no connection at all, of course, except for the title! What caused me to make the above comment? Why this article The mystery of…
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I am heartily sick of certain historians – or ‘historians’ in some cases – who use the ‘tyrant’ word as a badge to stick on the rulers they dislike as a sort of badge of disgrace. These people invariably gloss over the similar – no, let’s be plain, worse, far worse! – deeds of the…
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“…..’Richmond! When last I was at Exeter,The mayor in courtesy show’d me the castle,And call’d it Rougemont: at which name I started,Because a bard of Ireland told me onceI should not live long after I saw Richmond.’…” from Richard III by Shakespeare (Act 4, Scene 2, Lines 103-7) So wrote Shakespeare of Richard III’s arrival at…
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The royal and noble descent of Jane Birkin
actresses, bastardy, Charles II, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Dukes of Bedford, Earls of Bedford, Edward I, Edward III, France, George II, Henry Earl of Surrey, Henry III, House of Hanover, Howards, James IV, Jane Birkin, Joan “Beaufort”, Lady Elizabeth Grey, Lancastrians, Mowbrays, poets, Prince William Henry, Ralph Earl of Westmorland, Serge Gainsbourg, Seymour-Conways, singers, Thomas Grey Marquess of Dorset, van KeppelsThe late actress and singer Jane Birkin, who would have been 77 today, had some interesting ancestors. As this first table shows, these were all through her father David, a naval Lieutenant Commander with a Russell mother, through whom Jane was descended from the Dukes of Bedford, along with several other peers: the van Keppels,…
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Life wasn’t always a bed of roses for Geoffrey Chaucer. We may laud him today, but in his own time he sometimes got into debt. His works are brilliant, there’s no doubt about that (I rate him above Shakespeare) and he made a fortunate marriage to one Philippa de Roët. Who she? Well, she was…
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The other morning I saw an interesting news item about what Shakespeare’s original audiences heard when they watched his plays or heard his sonnets. The two gentlemen concerned in the news item were British linguist David Crystal) and his actor son Ben Crystal. I gather that David and Ben have been entertaining us with this…
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Well, if you follow this link—https://maxmymoney.org/the-difference-between-insane-and-genius-10-bad-guys-who-werent-actually-bad-but-misunderstood/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThe%20Difference%20Between%20Insane%20And%20Genius%E2%80%9D%2010%20%E2%80%98Bad,Richard%20III%3A%20Victim%20of%20Propaganda%20…%20More%20items *— you have to scroll down to Number 8 to read this: “….Richard III, the much-maligned figure in Tudor history, may have been unfairly demonized, according to one historian. The Tudors’ portrayal of Richard III was influenced by their political agendas and physical deformity, making it difficult to discern…
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13 October was the Feast of the Translation of Edward the Confessor, who was Richard II’s most cherished saint and king. So great was Richard’s veneration that he even impaled the Confessor’s arms with the royal arms of England. See above. And on this day every year of he presented a gift at the saint’s…
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Well, this only such-and-such actors can play such-and-such roles has reared its silly head again. I thought the whole point of being an actor was to play (and immerse yourself in) numerous different roles, but now we have Michael Sheen pronouncing that only Welsh actors should play Welsh roles, see here. Eh? Why, pray? Aren’t…
The New Murrey and Blue blog 