poetry

I wonder …

Jan 19, 2024

anniversaries, genealogy, heraldry, law, religion

“Tudor” rebellions, Anne Boleyn, Charles II, Dukes of Norfolk, Edward I, Edward III, Edward of Buckingham, Edward VI, executions, Henry Earl of Surrey, Henry VIII, James VII/II, John Howard Duke of Norfolk, John of Gaunt, Katherine Howard, Lords Howard of Effingham, poetry, Sir Matthew Pinsent, Sir Thomas Wyatt, St. Edward the Confessor, Strutts, succession, Thomas of Brotherton, Thomas of woodstock

We all know that Sir John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk, was descended from Thomas of Brotherton, a younger son of Edward I. Several branches of the Howard family have held the title ever since, except for periods under attainder from 1485-1514, 1547-53 and 1572-1660. Were any of them descended from more recent monarchs? Henry…
Chaucer or Shakespeare?….Chaucer wins every time….!

Oct 25, 2023

anniversaries, buildings, culture, religion

Geoffrey Chaucer, Middle English, poetry, St. crispin, Westminster Abbey, William Shakespeare

I’m afraid that I’m not a lover of Shakespeare’s works. I think the blame for this can be laid squarely at the feet of ‘O’ English Literature. I was bored rigid. But when it came to the much earlier Geoffrey Chaucer, which I didn’t read until after leaving school, I loved every word. Maybe if…
Another Ricardian poem …

Oct 23, 2023

anniversaries, battles

“hump”, “murders”, “Tudor” propaganda, “withered arm”, Battle of Bosworth, betrayal, Loyalty Binds Me, poetry, Richard III, Science Fiction, scoliosis, Thomas Stanley, Ursula K. leGuin

… but this one is by Ursula K. leGuin, better known as a science fiction writer, before her 2018 death: Richard Loyalty bound him. Not deft, not flexible. Stanley betrayed him. Why did he fight so hard to die so sorely hurt? Did he foresee the hump, the murders, and the theft, the withered hand,…
The art that made us

Nov 8, 2022

anniversaries, art, battles, buildings, culture, humour, religion, Science, television reviews

Aphra Benn, Armada, Arts and Crafts, Barbara Hepworth, Battle of Hastings, Bayeux Tapestry, BBC2, Beowulf, Black Death, Bloomsbury Group, British Empire, Burns, Charles I, Colonel Blimp, Cool Britannia, Damien Hirst, David Hockney, David Threlfall, Death and the Gallant, Elizabeth Gaskell, Elizabeth I, embroidery, English Civil War, Festival of Britain, First World War, Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, Geoffrey Chaucer, Great Fire of London, Hanif Kureishi, Harry Potter, Hogarth, Industrial Revolution, Jane Austen, Jarrow march, John Foxe, John Milton, Jonathan Swift, Joshua Reynolds, Julian of Norwich, kitchen sink drama, Llancarfon, Margery Kempe, Mary Stuart, murals, Norman conquest, Oliver Cromwell, Phillip Larkin, Piers Plowman, poetry, pre-Raphaelites, Reformation, Restoration, Richard II, Roman Britain, Rubens, satire, Second World War, Sir Christopher Wren, Sir William Orpen, St. Cadoc’s church, St. Paul’s, stained glass, Stuarts, The art that made us, The Fighting Temeraire, The unknown soldier, Tracey Emin, Trainspotting, Turner, urbanisation, van Dyck, Walter Sickert, Welsh Bible, William Cobbett, William Morgan, William Shakespeare, Wilton Diptych, York Minster

This is another fascinating BBC2 series, illustrating English and British history through the evolution of our art. The eight one-hour episodes, narrated by David Threlfall (Men of the World), feature:The Roman and pre-Roman periods, Beowulf, the Norman conquest and the Bayeux Tapestry; The Black Death, Wilton Diptych, Piers Plowman, Chaucer, Julian of Norwich,…
John Montagu, 3rd Earl of Salisbury (c 1350-1400)

Nov 7, 2022

anniversaries, battles, genealogy, religion

Anne Neville, Barons Montagu, Christine de Pizan, Cirencester, Conwy, Counter-Appellants, Edward I, Epiphany Rising, Henry IV, Henry V, Ireland, Isabel Neville, Joan “Beaufort”, Joan of Acre, John Earl of Salisbury, Lollards, Lord Mayors of London, Lord Morley, Mary de Bohun, Maud Francis, Monthermer Barony, Nevilles, Orleans, Parliament, poetry, Prussia, Ravenspur, Richard II, Richard of Salisbury, Richard of Warwick, summary executions, Thomas Earl of Salisbury, Thomas of woodstock, Wakefield, William Earl of Salisbury

John Montagu (or Montacute) was the son of Sir John Montagu, 1st Baron Montagu (d 1390) and Margaret de Monthermer. It follows that he descended from Joan of Acre, and through her, from King Edward I. He was also the nephew (and, as it proved, the heir) of William Montagu, 2nd Earl of Salisbury. There…
A pedant writes…

May 15, 2022

culture

abduction, Anglo-Saxons, chivalry, copyhold, Geoffrey Chaucer, John, Magna Carta, marriage, Norman conquest, Norman-French, Normans, novels, pedantry, poetry, property, Richard II, serfdom, slavery, tenants in chief

In the aftermath of certain historical novels I have read recently, I should like to give the following information, in the hope it will be helpful to authors, editors (if they still exist) and indeed readers. SLAVERY – Although slavery was quite common in England in Anglo-Saxon times, it was became less usual after the…
Was Keats an admirer of Margaret of Anjou….?

Oct 3, 2021

anniversaries, battles, The play’s the thing

English Literature, John Keats, Meg Merrilees, poetry, Shakespeare, Siegfried Sassoon

When I was at school (before the Flood in 1960!) and studying O level English Literature I had to endure Memoirs of a Fox-hunting Man (Siegfried Sassoon)😟, Henry IV Part I (the Bard, of course)😦 and Keats 🙃. Well, Keats was OK, I suppose, but what I remember about him most was all the sniggering…
A Song for the Stanleys

Sep 23, 2018

anniversaries, battles, humour

Battle of Bosworth, Blore Heath, Edward IV, France, Louis XI, poetry, Richard III, Stanleys, Towton, treachery, Wars of the Roses

On the battlefield of Towton We were rearmost of the rear We were tasked to guard the baggage And to keep the exits clear But when the foe was vanquished And ran away in frantic fear We charged right in (We charged right in) We charged right in (We charged right in) We showed them…
Back to life

Aug 24, 2018

anniversaries, battles

Battle of Bosworth, poetry, Richard III

I can hear the clash of swords and halberds I see him, he will be mine I go straight towards my target I need to do it for my people, my kingdom, myself nothing is lost yet. My horse runs, the drum in my chest beats fast my breath warms my face under the…
Colyngbourne was the rat….!

Jul 10, 2018

anniversaries, law

Buckingham rebellion, Cecily Duchess of York, Charles Ross, Edward Hall, executions, feast of St. Luke, Francis Viscount Lovell, Gairdner, Henry VII, Paul Murray Kendall, poetry, Poole, Richard III, Sir Richard Ratcliffe, Tower Hill, William Catesby, William Colyngbourne, Wiltshire

The following passage is from The Darlington and Stockton Times “The rat, the cat and Lovel our dog, Rule all England under a hog.” “This seemingly innocuous verse was in fact a searing criticism of those in power at the time it was written in 1484, and was found pinned to the door of St…