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The above illustration is of Edward IV receiving a book from Anthony Woodville. With the king are his queen, Elizabeth Woodville, and his heir, the future Edward V. Looking at it, I found myself wondering if the man in blue and ermine, third from left, might be Richard III. As Duke of Gloucester, of course.…
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Did someone acquire a nice little New Year treat? At noon on 4th January, in Leyburn, North Yorkshire, the books in the above illustration were up for auction. https://www.the-saleroom.com/…/lot-02e2b5da-0bc6-4ca7-a3ff-… Here’s the description of Lot Number 58:- “RICHARD III Buck (George) The History of the Life and Reigne of Richard the Third, 1647, London, W. Wilson, 4to,…
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Richard III’s body is brought back to Leicester. Artwork by Victor Ambrus We all know the grim, but glorious way poor Richard met his death, his body maltreated at the callous behest of Henry Tudor – who was destined to die in his own bed. He isn’t listed in the link below, but his was…
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As we take down our Christmas trees and put away our recordings of “Santa Baby,” perhaps some of the readers of the Murrey and Blue are preparing to stroll forth on Twelfth Night to sing the charming “Gloucestershire Wassail” song for friends and neighbors this January 5th of the new year 2017. This is the traditional day…
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This is the story of a medieval murderess who got away with a clutch of bloody crimes. It all began with the murder at Coulsdon in Surrey, of 13-year-old Edmund de Pashley and his valet on 13th March 1328. Edmund was a son of rich Sir Edmund de Pashley, a Sussex landowner (and lawyer) who…
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This marvellous illustration is called Headless Horseman Speedy by Jonake920 I love a ghost story on New Year’s Eve, and so here is one to send some shivers down your back. No, it is not a sample of my fiction-writing—well, not quite—but is actually said to have happened back at the end of the 14th…
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‘Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone….a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint, from which no steel had ever struck out generous fire; secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster. The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shrivelled his…
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( Edward IV’s first marriage probably took place in the Warwickshire estates of Lady Eleanor Talbot, his bride, on 8 June 1461 (1). However, this ceremony was not to become public knowledge until twenty-two years later, by which time both had died. Indeed, Edward only revealed his…
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This interesting article shows how John Shakespeare, as Bailiff of Stratford-upon-Avon, was forced to paint over some mediaeval murals. As a clue to what really happened, remember that Michael Wood thinks both John and William Shakespeare to have been Catholics. Let me reassure you that Henry VIII wasn’t still King sixteen years after he died,…
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