Medieval drawing of an archer. Good resistance exercise to get the muscle/fat ratio on the healthy side?
‘Leaping is an exercise very commendable and healthful for the body.’
The Compleat Gentleman 1634
Thomas Fuller in his book published in 1642 says:
Running, Leaping, and Dancing, the descants on the plain song of walking, are all excellent exercises. And yet those are the best recreations which besides refreshing enable, at least dispose, men to some other good ends. Bowling teaches mens hands and eyes Mathematicks, and the rules of Proportion: Swimming hath sav’d many a mans life, when himself hath been both the wares, and the ship: Tilting and Fencing is warre without anger; and manly sports are the Grammer of Military performance. But above all Shooting is a noble recreation…..
‘The Holy State’ by Thomas Fuller B.D. and Prebendarie of Sarum
Published St Pauls Churchyard 1642
The Holy State is a fascinating book – it provides instruction on how to be the Good Wife; the Good Advocate; the Good King; Bishop etc. etc.; has general rules of behaviour; some case studies of good lives to emulate and discussion of profane states not to emulate.
15th of November 1712 A Famous Duel between Lord Mohun and the Duke of Hamilton
‘In short, they fought at seven this morning. The dog Mohun was killed on the spot; and while the Duke was over him, Mohun shortening his sword, stabbed him in at the shoulder to the heart. The Duke was helped towards the Cake House by the Ring in Hyde Park (where they fought) and died on the grass, before he could reach the house; and was brought home in his coach by eight, while the poor Duchess was asleep.‘
Jonathan Swift ‘The Journal to Stella’ 1712
Lord Mohun seemed to be the villian, not only making the initial affront, but also issuing the challenge and stabbing his rival in such an underhand way! After the Duel there was fighting between the servants of the men, and the seconds had to flee to avoid arrest. Duels were illegal but remained a part of upperclass society into the 19th Century. Pehaps, Thomas Fuller’s advocacy of fencing as a good keep fit exercise is not such a great idea!
Text taken from ‘A London Year’ Compiled by Travis Elborough and Nick Rennison
To read my post on Jonathan Swift and Chelsea Buns see my post here.
As the winter comes nearer and the St Martin’s Summer comes to an end – make sure you have good stocks of firewood. Here, is some ancient advice on the burning of wood:
Beechwood fires burn bright and clear If the logs be kept a year Oaken Logs if dry and old Keep away the winter’s cold Chestnut’s only good they say If for years ’tis laid away But ash-wood green or ash-wood brown Are fit for a King with a golden Crown Elm she burns like the churchyard mould Even the flames are cold Birch and pine-wood burn too fast Blaze too bright and do not last But ash wet or ash dry A Queen may warm her slippers by.
My own very limited experience of firewood is from the very occasional fires I lit during Christmas past. I found a particular joy in burning IKEA furniture which had failed during the year. My kindling of choice was dried Christmas tree, which pops and crackles like a good indoor firework. I suspect burning IKEA furniture, however good for the soul, is appalling for the environment, so please don’t do it! Take a pickaxe to it instead, or even better, upcycle it.
The nightmare that is a flatpack!
A postscript on IKEA. To appreciate the joy this gave me, you have to understand my dislike of shopping in IKEA. And my even greater frustration at putting together the flatpack items. I have a form of flatpraxia which begins with an inability to spot key construction information cryptically hidden in those little drawings. Magically, as you survey the slightly wonky creation in front of you at ‘completion’, my mind finally resolves the importance of tiny details on those little diagrams. Understanding comes with the realisation that I have put it all together in the wrong sequence. This added with a ham-fisted DIY disability means, my IKEA is full of quirks such as drawers that are not the smooth sliders you dream of. So, when an alternative piece of furniture comes to my attention, with more character and, crucially, already put together, the IKEA is ready for its joyous ritual disappearance from my house.
First Published 14th November 2022, revised 14th November 2023, 2024 and 2025
I first came across the story of Old Parr, when I lived in Camden Town. It was the name of a local pub, in Plender Street, near to my flat. I found out it was named after a very long-lived man called Thomas Parr. He was said to be 152 years old when he died in 1635. He was on his way to visit King Charles 1st in London.
If we are to believe his story, he was born in 1483 and was married when he was 80. He fathered two children. Then married for a second time at 120 years old. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.
There are, or I should say were,, 3 London Pubs named Old Parr’s Head or Parr’s Head. They were in Camden, Islington, and West Kensington. But have all closed either converted to flats or into a branch of Jigsaw (Islington).
His tomb in Westminster Abbey has this inscription:
The famous William Harvey (discoverer of the circulation of blood) undertook an autopsy. He found Parr’s internal organs to be in a good state. He suggested this might be due to Parr’s diet of:
‘subrancid cheese and milk in every form, coarse and hard bread and small drink, generally sour whey’ and lived free of care.‘
However, medically his age is nigh on impossible to believe. Wikipedia has the following 10 oldest verified humans. All I think, female:
Wikipedia lists the top 100. The oldest man is a mere 116 years old. A Guardian article reports on a study on Maria Branyas, number 8 above. It concludes she had a number of genetic factor that made her less vulnerable to killer diseases like heart attack and diabetes, But she was also not overweight, ate a lot of yoghurt, did not drink or smoke, and had a lively social life in her local area.
BP Doughty thinks Parr might have been over 100 when he died, although others suggest perhaps only as old as 70 – 80. Doughty BP. Old Parr: or how old is old? South Med J. 1988 Jul;81(7):906-8. doi: 10.1097/00007611-198807000-00023. PMID: 3293237.
Old Parr’s death is reputed on different days in the sources I found. But it seems he was buried on 15th November 1635, but died on 13th, not 14th, of November.
Yarrow (achillea millefolium) – image by CongerDesign
This is the time to gather yarrow which is often still flowering. It grows everywhere creeping through its roots and spreading with its seeds, until it becomes a garden weed.
Traditionally, it is one of the most useful of medicinal plants. It had a myriad of uses and a plethora of names (see thefreedictionary for a comprehensive list). It was used for wounds (aka ‘Soldier’s Woundwort’); staunches nose bleeds (aka ‘Nosebleed’); inflammations (aka ‘Stauchweed’). It also slows hair lose, reduces pain of tooth-ache and good for those who cannot hold their water. Generally, it was considered excellent for stomach problems, diabetes, periods pains, anything to do with blood flow (aka ‘Bloodwort’)..
It also has a devilish tradition so used for divination by spells, and thus aka Devil’s Nettle, Devil’s Plaything, Bad Man’s Plaything.
On a gentler note, hopeful lovers will put it under their pillow and dream, thereby, of their future spouse. (Mrs Grieve). In Sussex and Devonshire, so Wikipedia tells me, one should pick Yarrow from a young man’s grave and recite this poem:
Yarrow, sweet yarrow, the first that I have found, in the name of Jesus Christ, I pluck it from the ground; As Joseph loved sweet Mary, and took her for his dear, so in a dream this night, I hope, my true love will appear.
The yarrow is then put under the pillow. preparatory to falling asleep and dreaming of someone dark and handsome.
See my post below on the medical and other effects of Dandelions.
Old Parr was first published on 14th November 2022. Revised 14th November 2023, and 13th November 2024. Yarrow was first published on 14 November 2022, revised 13 November 2023, and combined with Old Parr in 2024.
A late warm patch is now often called an ‘Indian Summer’. This term was first used in the United States in the 19th Century. It may refer to a warm period in which Indigenous Americans could continue hunting.
Previously, in England, a warm patch in the Autumn was called a ‘St Martin Summer’. It could also be called ‘a Halloween Summer.’ St Martin’s Day is the 11th November, and is, in a normal year, the day around when the weather turns to feel wintry. See my post on St Martin’s Day.
A Very Warm early November.
The Met Office in the UK has stated that we had a particularly warm October, and a record breaking early November. They explain:
‘As November began, a flow of warm air from the south swept across the UK. This southerly pattern, combined with cloudy skies, helped trap warmth overnight, leading to unusually high daily minimum temperatures. ‘
They note that the warmest November 5th on record was at Teddington on the Thames in West London, and the average temperature was 14.4 deg C (58F).
But I can’t really call it a St Martin’s Summer because although warm it wasn’t very sunny. We had some sunny but didn’t feel summery.
A warm spell is, in fact beneficial to many plants. The problem comes if it is followed by a quick cold spell. Plants need time to harden off to prepare to face cold weather. A warm winter will also allow many insects to survive and so in the summer plants will be adversely affected by a plague of pests.
It was a holiday in Germany, France, Holland, England and in Central Europe. People first went to Mass and observed the rest of the day with games, dances, parades, and a festive dinner, the main feature of the meal being the traditional roast goose (Martin’s goose). With the goose dinner, they drank “Saint Martin’s wine,” which was the first lot of wine made from the grapes of the recent harvest. Martinmas was the festival commemorating filled barns and stocked larders.
It was celebrated with Bonfires in Germany, and with St Martin’s Beef and Mumming plays in England. Following the Reformation, its place in the Calendar has been taken by Halloween and Bonfire Night.
St. Martin of Tours
St Martin of Tours, 20th Century Stained Glass, St James Church. Chipping Camden.Window 1925 Commemorating World War 1. St Martin’s Feast Day is Armistice Day.Photo K Flude
Martin was a soldier in the Roman Army who would not fight because of his Christian beliefs. When he met a beggar, he cut his cloak in half and shared his cloak. He rose in the hierarchy of the Gallic Church and became Bishop of Tours. According to legend, his funeral barge on the River Loire was accompanied by flowers and birds. He died in AD397. He is one of the few early saints not to be martyred. Martin is the saint of soldiers, beggars and the oppressed. Furthermore, he stands for holding beliefs steadfastly and helping those in need.
St Martin’s in the fields
Early 20th Century Image of Trafalgar Sq. St Martin’s is in the top right-hand corner.
There are two famous Churches dedicated to St Martin in Central London with possible early origins. St Martin’s in the Fields, near Trafalgar Square, has been the site of excavations where finds show a very early settlement, with early sarcophagi. It is the one place where a convincing case can be made for continuity between the Roman and the Anglo-Saxon period. It is possible, that the Church was founded soon after St Martin’s death (397AD). A kiln making Roman-style bricks was found. A settlement grew up near the Church and this expanded to become Lundenwic, the successor settlement to Londinium.
St Martin’s Within
Old Print of London c1540 showing St Pauls, with St Martin’s by the wall to the left of the photo
The other St Martins is St Martins Within, just inside the Roman Gate at Ludgate. Many early churches are found at or indeed above Gates. This one also has legendary links to burial places for King Lud, and for King Cadwallo. He. Cadwallon ap Cadfan, was the last British Kings to have any chance of recovering Britain from the Anglo-Saxons. Geoffrey of Monmouth says that Cadwallo was buried here in a statue of a Bronze Horseman. This was thereby a ‘Palladium’ – something which protects a place from invasion. (See my post about Palladiums of London). It has been suggested by John Clark, Emeritus Curator at the Museum of London, that Geoffrey of Monmouth might have used the discovery of a Roman Equestrian Statue as an inspiration for the story.
St Martin was also the saint of Travellers, and this might explain the location of the Church near the gate. Although there is nothing but legendary ‘evidence’, it would make sense for an early church to be built near Ludgate,. This is the Gate that leads to St Pauls which was founded in 604AD from Lundenwic which was booming in AD650.
Although the City seems to have mostly devoid of inhabitants from the end of the Roman period to the 9th Century, the presence of St Pauls Cathedral means that Ludgate was most likely still in use or at least restored around this period. It leads via Fleet Street and Whitehall, almost directly to the other St Martin.
St Martin and lime plaster
Michaelmas was also the time of year when lime plaster was renewed because lime needs to be kept moist when renewed. It takes three to four days to form the calcite crystals that make it waterproof. Lime plaster was used on most timber framed buildings.
(Originally, posted 11 Nov 2021, revised 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)
November 11th is Martinmas so the Pigs need to be finished fattening and prepared for slaughter. Martinmas was the beginning of winter, and was, traditionally, when livestock were slaughtered for winter provision.
Gervase Markham (1682) says
‘...feed them for the first week with Barley sodden till it breaks; then feed them with raw malt from the floor; then for a week after give them dry Peas or Beans to harden their flesh. Let their drink be the washings of Ale-barrels and Sweet Whey. This manner of feeding breeds the whitest, fastest, and best flesh that maybe….’
Markham’s English Huswife was published in 1615.
The English Huswife by Gervasse Markham, frontispiece
The English Huswife: Containing the Inward and Outward Virtues Which Ought to Be in a Complete Woman: as her Phisicke, Cookery, Banqueting-stuffe, Distillation, Perfumes, Wooll, Hemp, Flaxe, Dairies, Brewing, Baking, and all other things belonging to an Houshold.
Sculptors Claudius, Castorius, Symphorian, and Nicostratus refused to carve a ‘graven image’ of Aesculapius (the Greco-Roman god of Medicine). So, they were condemned to die in the reign of Diocletian (AD 284-305), placed in lead barrels, and drowned in the Danube.
Their story is more confused than most, there are a total of 9 Crowned martyrs in a group of five and a group of four. Four soldiers were killed for refusing to worship Aesculapius, and five sculptors refused to carve a statue. Or vice versa, or it’s all a mix-up. To cap it all, their Saint’s Day has been changed from November 8th to the 9th. I’ll let you sort it out by looking it up here!
Patrons of sculptors, stonemasons, stonecutters; against fever; and for a reason, I have not been able to find out: cattle.
The crowned martyrs were venerated in Saxon England as the Venerable Bede mentions a Church to them in Canterbury. It is thought relics were sent to Kent in 601. Perhaps because St Augustine came from a monastery near their Church in Rome: Basilica of Santi Quattro Coronati in Rome.
Droeshout Portrait of Shakespeare from the First Folio
On November 8th in 1623, the First Folio was registered at Stationer’s Hall near the publishing district around St Pauls Cathedral in London. It was actually called:
Mr. William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies
Sketch of the First Folio
It was put together by his actor friends, John Heminge and Henry Condell seven years after his death. They wanted to replace all the corrupt editions of his plays and poems that had been:
“stol’n and surreptitious copies, maimed and deformed by frauds and stealths of injurious impostors”
The true texts of his plays and poems “are now offer’d to your view cured, and perfect of their limbes; and all the rest, absolute in their numbers as he conceived them.” Wikipedia
Shakespeare at the Frankfurt Book Fair
In fact, the plays were ready earlier than 1623, as they entered into the catalogues for the Frankfurt Book festival to appear between April and October 1622. How amazing is it that the Frankfurt Book festival is still the dream of any aspirant writer? Wikipedia tells me that hand-written books were traded at the general trade fair in Frankfurt from the 12th Century. But 1462 is the date that appointed as being when the Book Fair was certainly established.
The First Folio offers plenty of proof that Shakespeare was the author of the plays. He left gold rings of remembrance to Heminge and Condell in his Will. They were part of his Players Company, and had worked together on many of the plays. The Folio has forewords by people extolling the virtues of the writer. Enough proof for any reasonable person.
Heminge and Condell
Heminge and Condell are commemorated in the Garden of St Mary Aldermary behind the Guildhall. They were Churchwardens of St Mary. A few streets away lived William Shakespeare in 1611. True friends, so don’t go telling me he didn’t write the plays!
St Mary Aldermany monument to Shakespeare, Heminge and Condell and the First Folio.
There was a wonderful BBC festival of Shakespeare on in 2023/24 to celebrate. If you look at this link, here. You will find great content. Much of it is available if you search BBC Sounds, or BBC iPlayer.
City Farm, Hackney. Small flock of Bluefaced Leicester Sheep, the big golden one is the Ram, the others are the ewes he has tupped. Photo K Flude
The old Shepherd’s saw is:
‘In with a bang and out with the fools’.
The bang is Guy Fawkes Day on November 5th, and the fools are a reference to All Fools Day on April 1st. The gestation period of a ewe is 147 days (on average). (sheep-farmers-year). So farmers introduce the Ram into a field of Ewes on or around November 5th. This means the lambs will be born around the beginning of the traditional lambing season.
The Ewes have been enjoying themselves in the fields, The flocks have been thinned out, with the young ones being sent to market, mostly for meat. The grass has been growing at the end of the summer, with the wetter weather. The ewes will be in excellent condition, and will have been thoroughly checked by the shepherd.
The chosen ram will be dressed with a harness on his chest, which will have a sheep’s crayon on it. The crayon is known as raddle or reddle. The ram, also know as a tup, will mate with whichever of the ewe(s) that catch his eye. Each one he tups (mounts or covers) will be left with a paint mark, from the reddle on his chest, on her back. The farmer will inspect the ewes periodically. A ewe with two or more reddle marks on her back, will be taken out of the field. This will force the ram to spread his attentions to the, as yet, untupped, ewes. He will continue until all ewes have been tupped. And then onto the next field full of ewes. Diggory Veen is the Reddleman in Hardy’s ‘Return of the Native’. I talk about him, lambing and reddle in my post here.
Some of the young ewes will be kept to reinforce the flock. Males will only be kept if they will be sold to another farmer as a tupping ram. They cannot breed on the farm as this will lead to inbreeding. So, a ram will be purchased or swapped from another farm. The farmer will want to choose one that fits into his/her idea of what the ideal sheep is. whether it is grown for meat, or to be hardy, or for its wool etc.
Bluefaced Leicester Sheep and my Hat!
I was delighted to see my local City Farm had a small herd of Bluefaced Leicester Sheep. I was visiting with my Grandson when I took the photograph at the top of the page. The sherderdess told me the blue-marking in this case was not a result of mating. She thought 2 or more of them were already pregnant, however.
My association with the breed comes from a lovely yarn shop in Conwy (Ewe Felty Thing) which had a rail of clothes marked ‘wearable art’. I bought a woolly beanie which they told me was:
‘Hand-spun, hand knitted from a bluefaced leicester sheep.‘
Hand-spun, hand knitted Beanie from a Bluefaced Leicester sheep. purchased at (Ewe Felty Thing) Photo K Flude
I still have it. It cost a small fortune, but worth every penny!
A bluefaced Leicester Ram, might cost £1000 if a bought as a lamb, £4,000 if bought as a shearling, or up to £40,000 if a prize lamb. It is one of the biggest lambs with a long back, and longwool with ringlets. There is no wool on the face and neck so you can see its blue-grey skin, below the white hair – hence its name. It is often bred with hill sheep ewes, which combines the prolificacy of the ram with the mothering abilities of the ewes.
Generally, nowadays the wool from a shearing will only be worth about 80p in today’s market. This will not pay for the cost of the shearing, but it is necessary for health and hygiene reasons.
The Gunpowder Plotters, culminating on the 5th of November
Soon, after the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot, Parliament legislated for an annual commemoration of the Catholic Plot. The date they chose was the anniversary of finding Guy Fawkes with a lantern next to piles of barrels of Gunpowder underneath Parliament. This was the occasion of the State Opening of Parliament, 5th November 1605. The King, his Queen, the King’s children. The Lords from the House of Lords & MPs from the House of C would all have been blown up.
The Ashmolean Lantern
Guy Fawkes Lantern at the Ashmolean Museum
This was the one held by Fawkes. It was given the Museum by Robert Heywood in 1641. He got it from his brother, Peter, who was a Westminster Magistrate among the party who arrested Guy Fawkes in the cellar. Peter Heywood, took the lantern from Guy Fawkes to stop him setting fire to the pile of gunpowder barrels. Or at least that is the story Robert Heywood told.
A commemoration of fireworks and bonfires was clearly appropriate given that it has been estimated that the amount of gunpowder in the barrels would have killed the king, the Royal Family, the House of Lords and the House of Commons and devastated a huge area around Westminster. But some suggest that the nature of the commemoration draws some elements from Halloween – use of bonfires and dressing up. Halloween was frowned upon by puritans, but they supported Guy Fawkes Day as it was anti-catholic.
Banner in Lewes
The anti-catholic nature of the celebration is a fact, but it really isn’t something we think about today. There is little anti-Catholic prejudice in Britain (except in one or two very specific places). Irish friends are amazed we still celebrate it, but for the vast majority of people in Britain it is really just Fireworks night, nothing to do with anti-catholic sentiment.
The Lewes Bonfire
Traces of the original anti-catholic nature of it do continue in places like Lewes, which is one of the most traditional Fireworks Nights. This consists of clubs who organise a parade through the town. Then it ends with the burning of an effigy of the Pope and, more recently, other unpopular figures on the contemporary scene. Click here for more on Lewes.
Procession in Lewes
Tar Barrel Rolling
Ottery St Mary continues the tradition of using Tar Barrels. These are wooden barrels in which tar and tinder are set on fire. The Barrels are either rolled through the Town, or down a hill. But in Ottery they are carried on the shoulders of volunteers (see video below). This has a pedigree which goes back before 1605 as there are references to tar barrels and displays in Protestant processions to celebrate the accession to the throne of Edward VI and Elizabeth 1.
King James 1 took credit for discovering the plot as he is said to have deciphered the warning given in a letter, written to William Parker, 13th Baron Morley, 4th Baron Monteagle. Monteagle wrote the letter at his house in Hoxton, London (commemorated by a plaque in Hoxton Street near where I live) which warned against turning up at Parliament but was not explicit as to the nature of the threat.
Letter Lord Monteagle passed on to King James 1
My lord, out of the love I beare to some of youere frends, I have a care of youre preservacion, therefore I would aduyse you as you tender your life to devise some excuse to shift youer attendance at this parliament, for God and man hath concurred to punishe the wickedness of this tyme, and thinke not slightly of this advertisement, but retire yourself into your country, where you may expect the event in safety, for though there be no apparance of anni stir, yet I saye they shall receive a terrible blow this parliament and yet they shall not seie who hurts them this cowncel is not to be contemned because it may do yowe good and can do yowe no harme for the dangere is passed as soon as yowe have burnt the letter and i hope God will give yowe the grace to mak good use of it to whose holy proteccion i comend yowe.
James realised this sentence: ‘they shall receive a terrible blow this parliament and yet they shall not seie who hurts them‘ implied an explosion. His father, Lord Darnley, was killed in a Gunpowder Plot in Edinburgh, so perhaps he was particularly attuned to the threat. On the other hand, there is a possibility that the King’s Secret Service were aware of the plot and arranged matters, so the King could receive the credit for its discovery.
The Fifth of November
Remember, remember! The fifth of November, The Gunpowder treason and plot; I know of no reason Why the Gunpowder treason Should ever be forgot! Guy Fawkes and his companions Did the scheme contrive, To blow the King and Parliament All up alive. Threescore barrels, laid below, To prove old England’s overthrow. But, by God’s providence, him they catch, With a dark lantern, lighting a match! A stick and a stake For King James’s sake! If you won’t give me one, I’ll take two, The better for me, And the worse for you. A rope, a rope, to hang the Pope, A penn’orth of cheese to choke him, A pint of beer to wash it down, And a jolly good fire to burn him. Holloa, boys! holloa, boys! make the bells ring! Holloa, boys! holloa boys! God save the King! Hip, hip, hooor-r-r-ray!
