Jane Austen’s London Walk 2.30pm Sun 31st May 2026 To Book
The First Blitz – Zeppelin London New Walk! 6pm Sun 31 May 2026 To Book
Roman London – Literary & Archaeology Walk 3pm Sat 6th June 2026 Tobook
The Rebirth Of Saxon London Archaeology Walk 11am Sun 7th June 2026 To book
Tudor London – The City of Wolf Hall 3pm 4th July 2026 To Book
Jane Austen’s London Walk 2:30pm Sun 5th July 2026 To book
London. 1066 and All That Walk 11.30am Sun 12th July 26 Tobook
Bloody, Flaming, Poxy London 3pm Sun 12th July 26 To book
Myths, Legends, Archaeology and the Origins of London 3pm Sat 1 Aug 2026 Tower Hill Underground To book
The Decline And Fall Of Roman London Walk 11:15am 2nd Aug 26 To book
Jane Austen’s London Walk 2:30pm Sun 2nd Aug 26 To book
Chaucer’s Medieval London Guided Walk 11.00am Sat 5th Sept 2026 To book
Jane Austen’s London Walk 2:30pm Sun 5th Sept 2026 To book
Jane Austen’s London Walk 2:30pm Sat 24th Oct 2026 To book
For a complete list of my guided walks for London Walks in 2026 look here
June & Juno, Queen of Goddesses June 1st
June is, probably, named after Juno, the leading lady of Olympus, sister and brother to the Great God Jupiter (Jove). In Welsh, it’s ‘Mehefin’ – Midsummer. Gaelic: ‘An t’Og mhios’ – the Young Month. Anglo-Saxon, ‘Litha’, the month of the Midsummer Moon.
June in Ferrara
The Fresco of June is from Palazzo Schifanioa, which was the home of the Este Family, theDukes of Ferrara. Borso D’Este in the 15th Century initiated the frescos on the wall of the Hall of the Months. There is one for each month, although not all survive in recognisable form. But above is June. The top panels show the Gods of the Month with their chariots or waggons. Below are the star signs for the month, and at the bottom a scene from the 15th Century seen from an aristocratic perspective. June has a delightful agricultural scene. Ferrara is a beautiful UNESCO World Heritage City.
June in the Kalendar of Shepherds
The picture above is from the Kalendar of Shepherds, with its 15th Century French Illustration. It shows shearing as the main occupation for the month but set within a flowery summer scene. In the roundels are the Gemini twins and the Cancer Crab, the star signs of June.
The text of the Kalendar of Shepherds gives a lyrical view of the joys of June:
Ovid and June
June might come, not from Juno’s name, but from an Indo-European word for youth or vital energy. Ovid in Fasti, his poem about the Roman Year, lets Juno make her own case:
‘O poet, singer of the Roman year,
Who dares to tell great things in slender measures,
You’ve won the right to view a celestial power,
By choosing to celebrate the festivals in your verse.
But so you’re not ignorant or led astray by error.
June in fact takes its name from mine.
It’s something to have wed Jove, and to be Jove’s sister:
I’m not sure if I’m prouder of brother or husband.
If you consider lineage, I was first to call Saturn
Father, I was the first child fate granted to him.
Rome was once named Saturnia, after my father:
This was the first place he came to, exiled from heaven.
If the marriage bed counts at all, I’m called the
Thunderer’s Wife, and my shrine’s joined to that of Tarpeian Jove.
If his mistress could give her name to the month of May,
Shall a similar honour be begrudged to me?
Or why am I called queen and chief of goddesses?
Why did they place a golden sceptre in my hand?’
Translated by A. S. Kline © Copyright 2004 All Rights Reserved
June named after juvenis, “youth”
In the previous Book (on May), Ovid told another story that June was named for young men.
‘So I deduce that the elders gave their own title
To the month of May: and looked after their own interests.
Numitor too may have said: ‘Romulus, grant this month
To the old men’ and his grandson may have yielded.
The following month, June, named for young men’
Gives no slight proof of the honour intended.’
The Latin for ‘Young men’ comes from the Latin iuvenis, “youth”)
But let’s not go into Indo-European roots, and let’s simply accept the most wonderful month is named after Juno, the Queen of Goddesses, the deity of marriage and women. Probably most famous for hating the Trojans – she had a grudge against Paris, as he ruled against her in that famous divine beauty competition. And more seriously, what other reaction can the Deity of Marriage, have to the man who showed such disregard for the sanctity of marriage that he ran away with the already spoken for Helen?
‘A sweet season, the senses perfume and the spirits comfort.’
Here is a treat for June. This is from Bellerby and so who make Globes in London. Click on the video to see their work.
First Written in June 2023 and revised June 2024, 2025, 2026
First Zeppelin Raid on London, May 31st 1915
On May 31st, 1915 Zeppelin LZ38 came into UK airspace over Margate. It proceeded to Stoke Newington in N London at 10.55. It was a dark, moonless night. No searchlights found the ship, no guns fired. 15 aeroplanes scrambled but only one got a sighting. Engine trouble ended the pursuit.
The Zeppelin sailed up to 10,000 feet above London unopposed.
16 Alkhan Road was hit first but with no injuries. In Cowper Road Samual Leggart’s house was hit. In the panic the family got the children out, but found one was missing, found later, burnt to death while hiding under the bed.
187 Balls Pond Road was next to be hit, the Zeppelin following the A10 South towards Central London. Thomas Sharpling and family escaped, but 2 lodgers were found dead, kneeling by their bed praying.
The next bombs landed in Southgate Road, Hoxton and Shoreditch. In Hoxton Street a Russian Nightwatchman was attacked coming out of a burning building, mistaken for a German saboteur. The following days, ‘German’ shops in the area were attacked.
The attack continued to Bishopsgate Goods Yard, Spitalfields, Whitechapel, as the Zeppelin began its journey home via Whitechapel and Commercial Street. A bomb in Christian Street injured 9 pedestrians and killed one 8 year old boy. Then to Stepney, Stratford, Leytonstone where 6 bombs were dropped.
The raid took 20 minutes to traverse Central London 7 premises were destroyed. 7 dead.£18,000 of property damage. 91 incendaries, and 28 High Explosive bombs were dropped plus 2 grenades.
Source London 1914-17 The Zeppelin Menace by Ian Castle.
More Zeppelin stories in the Almanac of the Past.
Pallio di Ferrara May 31st
Last year, on an archaeological reunion to Ferrara we attended the Ferrara Pallio. Museum of London archaeologists, in the 1980’s worked with Italian archaeologists excavating medieval town houses in the centre of the historic town of Ferrara. Here is a video of the history of Ferrara and the excavations which includes a picture of a young me. (I’m standing up in grey cap-sleeved t-shirt.)
https://youtu.be/v4zQxFA_dYA?si=EdBMR3XZ3oDEBKOH
The Pallio is a traditional event taking place since 1259. The town is divided into 8 contrade and each mounts a procession to the centre. Here there is some tremendous flag waving and hurling accompanied by drums and trumpets. Then the procession to the Piazza di Ariosto, where there is a stadium for a horse track. The procession marches around the stadium. Then there are foot races, a donkey race and finally a horse race. There is intense rivalry between the groups but a lovely atmosphere.
Spectators have to be patient during the events to allow the joy of the winners to be shared with the winning contrade. The final horse race takes an absolute age to begin because the horses will not settle. Apparently, there is some gamesmanship by trying to exhaust the other teams horses. It certainly exhausted me. And once they got started at very long last they were recalled almost immediately. I decided to go to bed.
But you can see edited highlights on the official Ferrara youtube post here.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zs0Vel67KpA
First posted June 2nd 2025, Zeppelin content added 2026.
Cotswold Olimpicks May 30th
The Cotswold Olimpicks take place on the Thursday and Friday of the week of Whitsun, normally between mid-May and mid-June. This year it was on May 29th. The Olimpicks were set up by Robert Dover on Dover’s Hill near Chipping Camden, in the early 17th Century. Inspired by the Greek Olympics, he felt the modern world could do with an infusion of the original spirit.
The Olimpicks has a collection of tradition sports such as the sack race, and the tug of war. But the one that receives the most attention is shin-kicking. Two contestants try to knock each other over by kicking each other in the shins! They are not supposed to pull or push their opponent over. Or use Judo style throws. Protective gear is supplied in the form of straw or hay packed down the socks.
For more, see the official site below:
For other Cotswold content, look at my posts:
coopers-hill-cheese-rolling-may-26th/
campden-house-fire-sunday-march-23rd-1862/
chipping-campden-murder-august-16th-1660/
On This Day
70 – Siege of Jerusalem moves towards its end as the Roman legions breach the Outer Wall of Jerusalem. The Romans build a circumvallation, around the City cutting it off.
1381 – Beginning of the Peasants’ Revolt in England. John Bampton arrives in Brentwood demanding payment of unpaid Poll Tax. He interrogates Thomas Baker of Fobbing. Violence breaks out Bampton flees to London, three of his clerks and some townsfolk are killed. (see my post on the Peasants Revolt here.)
1431 – 19-year-old Joan of Arc is burned at the stake in Rouen. France (for her canonisation see my post here. Near the bottom under On This Day section).
1842 – Assassination attempt on Queen Victoria as she drives down Constitution Hill near Buckingham Palace in London. John Francis had tried to shoot her on the previous day near the Mall. His gun misfired and he escaped. On the 30th May, Queen Victoria deliberately went out again to try to encourage a second attempt. Francis shot his pistol, but didn’t hit anybody. He was arrested and sentenced to death (later commuted to life imprisonment).
First published 1 June 2025, Revised OnThis Day added May 30th 2026
Oak Apple day May 29th
Today is both Oak Apple Day and Garland Day. Oak Apple Day was set up by Parliament in 1660 as “An Act for a Perpetual Anniversary of Thanksgiving”. They were celebrating the restoration of Charles II to the throne in May of 1660. It was abolished in 1859, but a few places continue to celebrate the day.
The Oak was chosen partly as a symbol of England but particularly because Charles II hid in an Oak Tree while escaping from Cromwell’s Parliamentary Army. Charles II attempt to restore the Monarchy ended with his defeat at the Battle of Worcester (September 3rd 1651). This was Cromwell’s Lucky Day as he also won the Battle of Dunbar on September 3rd (1650). (For more on these two battles see my post: https://chr.org.uk/anddidthosefeet/oliver-cromwell-and-his-lucky-day-september-3rd/) The Oak Tree was near Boscobel House in Shropshire which was on the route of his epic journey to the South Coast and the safety of France.
People wore oak apples (or shick-shacks) which are a type of ‘plant-gall‘. . If Oak Apples are not available, people used sprigs of Oak leaves instead.
The text of the Parliamentary Bill said:
That in all succeeding ages, the 29th of May be celebrated in every parish Church and Chapel in England and the Dominions thereof, by rendering thanks to God for the Kings (Charles II’s) restoration to actual possession and exercise of his legal authority over his subjects’
Church Services for the Restoration; for the preservation from the Gunpowder Plot and the death of Charles the First were kept until the year 1859.
Oak Apples
The oak apples are a type of ‘plant-gall‘. This is an abnormal growth from a point of irritation on a plant. The irritation normally comes from the larvae of an insect. Oak Galls on leaves are called Oak Apples. But they can also form on the shoots, where they check and distort growth.
Oak galls are full of gallic or tannic acid. They were very useful in tanning and dyeing. Medically, they were used against dysentery, diarrhoea and cholera, using a tincture. By injection they were used against gonorrhoea and leucorrhoea.
You might like to look at my posts on the Civil War period:
The Castleton Garland Day
The Castleton Garland Day is a procession led by a man dressed in a big bell shaped Floral Garland. Research cannot trace it back further than the later 18th or early 19th Century. But it may have developed from the rush bearing ceremonies, where a procession led by Morris Men went to the Church to renew the strewing herbs on the floor of the Church which once were of beaten earth. Strewing herbs were sweet smelling or insect repellent, and added insulation to the floor. Strewing herbs included: Lavender, Camomile, Meadowsweet, Thyme, Oregano, Rue, Rosemary and Tansy. In historic properties, visitors are often told that the word ‘threshold’ stems from the wooden timber that held the thresh or strewing herbs in place. However, etymologists suggests the thresh comes from an old English word to trample.
Abbotsbury in Dorset has its own Garland Day on May 13th. It consists of making and blessing Garlands in the Church and taking them either to Boats, or to the War Memorial.
First Published 2025, and revised 202 with the Addition of Oak Galls, and Castleton Garland Day
St Augustine & the Origins of Christianity in Britain May 27th
This post is about St Augustine and Christianity in Roman and Post Roman Britain. But first:
On This Day
On May 27th 1798, Prime Minister Pitt, a Tory, meet George Tierney on Putney Heath for a two pistol duel. In the absence of the Whig Leader Charles James Fox, Tierney questioned the Prime Minister’s plan to increase the Royal Navy’s man power. Pitt suggested Tierney’s opposition came about through ‘desire to obstruct the defence of the country’. Tierney objected, the Speaker upheld his complaint. Pitt refused to withdraw the remark. Tierney sent his second to demand satisfaction. Pitt accepted. Both missed their first shots, Pitt shot his second shot vertically up. The seconds stopped Tierney responding. The King was furious that Pitt should put his own pride against the interests of the Country. The other two people are the seconds.
The Cartoon above shows, skinny Pitt on the right, Tierney on the left under the shadow of the Gibbet. Britannia is horrified with the British Lion in the background. Behind them is one of the new Telegraph systems which is conveying news of the duel.
The Augustinian Mission
St Augustine brought Christianity to England, leading the mission sent by Pope Gregory to Canterbury in 597AD. He was the Abbot of a Monastery in Rome before the Pope sent him to convert the Angles. I tell the story of the mission in my post: March-12th-St-Gregory-Punster-Extraordinary/.
Augustine is the patron saint of England and the Anglican Communion. But he is not the person who brought Christianity to Britain. To England, maybe. Britain. No. The Romans did this. I summarise the evidence in my post on St Lucius, who is claimed to have brought Christianity to Britain in the 2nd Century. Our first martyr was St. Albans. (see my post on St Albans here.
Feast Day(s) of St Augustine.
We have a variety of days to celebrate St Augustine of Canterbury. These are according to Google; 26 May (Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and Catholic Extraordinary Form calendar in Great Britain). 27 May (Catholic Ordinary Form calendar). 28 May (Catholic Extraordinary Form calendar outside Great Britain).
Perhaps, like the Venerable Bede he died after Dusk? (see yesterday’s post.)
Romano-Britain and Christianity
There is good reason to think Christianity was strong in Roman Britain, particularly in towns. There is also some evidence of non-Christian religious centres surviving in the countryside (the Roman word for non-Christians, pagans, comes from the Latin word paganus, which meant someone who lived in the country.)
After the Romans, the Christian Church continued to thrive, with a host of Saints particularly in Cornwall, and Wales. The first substantial eye-witness account of post-Roman Britain, dated to the early 5th Century, concerns the Catholic Bishop Germanus. This shows a battle for souls in Britain not between Christians and Pagans, but between Catholics and other Christians who the Catholic Church targeted as heretics. I talk about this in my post about St Germanus here.
The next insight comes from the conversion of the Irish to Christianity later in the 5th Century. St Patrick’s account gives an eyeyewitness view. What is interesting is that St Patrick’s family were living in a town where aspects of Roman life were still continuing. After being kidnapped by Irish raiders, St Patrick went on to lead the conversion of the Irish (with the help of St Bridget). See my post on St Patrick here, St Bridget here.
I cannot see any sense of personality or charisma in the story of St Augustine. But Welsh history shows him to be an unsympathetic hierarchical character.
Clashes with Celtic Christianity
What many people forget is that St Augustine came to a country with over two hundred years of Christian belief. So, meetings were held between the British Church and St Augustine, culminating in the Synod of Chester in the early 7th Century. Seven British Bishops and others prepared for their response to St Augustine’s insistence on the primacy of the Roman Catholic Church. One of the contentious issues was the ‘computus’ for deciding the date of Easter. Another was the style of the monks’ tonsure. But it was a major step for the British churches to align themselves with a foreign ecclesiastical structure.
The delegates were advised by a wise hermit to arrive late at the planned meeting with St Augustine to see how he reacted. If he got up and welcomed them, then he was a fit leader to follow. If he acted imperiously, then he was not worthy. St Augustine failed the test, the meeting was a failure. And St Augustine cursed the British, which was said to have led to a military campaign against them by the Anglo-Saxons. The British lost the subsequent battle of Chester. It was said that 2000 monks from the nearby monastery of Bangor-in-Dee were slaughtered. This seems like a huge exaggeration, unless the definition of a monk was just loosely people associated with the Monastery..
The battle severed the connections between the British Kingdoms in Cumbria and Scotland from the Kingdoms in Wales and made it very unlikely that the British would ever regain control of Britain from the English.
The two churches were reconciled at the Synod of Whitby (664AD). For more about the calculations for Easter and the Synod of Whitby look at my post here.
First written on 27th May 3025, revised On This Day added 2026
The Venerable Bede Died – May 26th 735AD
He died on the evening of what we would call the 25th. In ancient times, the Day changed at dusk. So for his contemporaries, he died on 26th May. But, as he shares his day with St Augustine, some celebrate the Venerable Bede on May 27th!
Called the Father of English History, the Venerable Bede was an excellent historian. He set the tone and standard for many centuries of English Historiography. Mostly remembered for the ‘Ecclesiastical History of the English People’. This provides the most trusted account of the events of the Post Roman, Migration, and Anglo-Saxon periods. But he also wrote on time and bible commentaries. (see below). He is said to be the only Medieval Englishman, other than Chaucer to be read by every generation.
Dante’s Bede
So well regarded is he that he is the only Englishman mentioned in Dante’s Paradiso. (I have just discovered that there is another Englishman mentioned. But he is the murderer Guy de Montfort, who fled after the battle of Evesham. He then murdered his cousin in a church, and is in hell according to Dante.)
Bede is in Heaven and in the fourth sphere of Prudence. This is the Sun. Dante and Beatrice are surrounded by bright sparks which are the souls of 12 men. These the wise, who illuminate the earth intellectually.
‘Next, see the glowing breath of Isidore of Seville flame out, of Bede, and Richard of SaintVictor, who in contemplation exceeded Man. The one from whom your glance returns to me, is the light of a spirit, who, of profound thought, seemed to himself to reach death too slowly: it is the eternal light of Sigier, who, lecturing in the Rue du Fouarre, syllogised truths that brought him hatred.’
https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Italian/DantPar8to14.php#anchor_Toc64099872Bene
Venerable?
He is Venerable. But not only in the general sense of being wise, old and respected, but also in the technical Catholic sense:
‘ a title given to a deceased person who has attained a certain degree of sanctity but has not been fully beatified or canonized.‘ (Oxford Languages)
In 1899, the Catholic Church honoured him with the title of Doctor of the Church. This title is given to someone holy who has contributed to the theology of the Church.
He is considered by some to be the best historian in olden times, only equalled by Herodotus (said Thomas Carlyle). Thucydides surely says I! (Note: Herodotus is known as the ‘Father of History’ for his storytelling and breadth of the scope of his attention. While Thucydides didn’t tell tales, he concentrated on empirical evidence and so is known as the Father of Scientific History).
A Good Historian?
Bede is so good because he checked his sources and had access to a wide range of books. He even had a line to the Vatican so he could check his facts with Vatican records. This in the 8th Century! The Venerable Bede is the polar opposite of Geoffrey of Monmouth, (writing in the 12th Century). If Bede mentions a person or an event then they are accepted as part of the story of the English. By contrast, if Geoffrey of Monmouth mentions a person or event, without further corroboration, then historians tend to consider it a story, myth or simply made up by Geoffrey.
But, the truth is not so straightforward. Bede is not without his biases. Nor were his sources always reliable. And he is not above accepting myth, legends and miracles as fact. Geoffrey also has access to some, probably, oral traditions. So that some (but which?) of his many tales of the Kings of Britain may hold considerable historical information.
Bede’s Influence on English History
Bede followed Gildas (A British Monk writing in the 6th Century) in wondering why God allowed the native Christian Britons to be defeated by the foreign Pagan English. Gildas assumed God was punishing the Britons because of the evil deeds of their so-called Christian Kings. Bede extends this to argue that God is punishing the Britons for not trying to convert the English to Christianity. God knows that the English, when converted, will be much better Christians than the Britons seems to be Bede’s understanding.
This starts a histographical trend for the English to think of themselves as the chosen people. By contrast, the Britons (Welsh, Scots and Irish) are feckless Barbarians (they thought). Bede concentrates on the English. Countless generations of Historians have either left out the Britons, or demeaned them in their histories of England and indeed of Britain.
For example, most histories of Kings, deal only with England. They either begin with William the Conqueror or Alfred the Great and omit any British, Welsh, Scots or Irish Kings. Except, of course, for my book on the Kings and Queens of Britain. This starts with the largely legendary Kings of Britain, and includes some Welsh and Scottish Kings. To buy it, you will find details of it here.
So Bede is a great historian without whom we would have an even less clear idea about what happened in the centuries following the Roman Period. He also, contributed to an Anglo centric view of history. He was writing in Northumberland at the Monastery of Jarrow. So is more sympathetic to Northumbria than to Wessex, Mercia, and the British Kingdoms.
Bede’s Books
He wrote over 60 books. One was about the theological science of computus. In particular, the dating of Easter. The British Church had one method, the Catholic Church another. This contributed to a series of confrontations between the 2 Churches. And was only finally resolved at the Synod of Whitby in the favour of the Catholic Church.
Bede was instrumental in making Dionysius Exiguus idea of dating from the birth of Christ as the standard system. He also thought the Catholic calculation that Jesus was born 5000 years ago was wrong. He used the Bible to calculate the more ‘correct’ date was was 3952 BC. Archbishop Ussher in the 17th Century took Bede’s calculation and improved it and suggested the proper date was 4004 BC.
For more about Dionysius Exiguus and the division of time, see my post here.
First Written on May 26th 2025, revised and Dante expanded 2026
Coopers Hill Cheese Rolling May 25th
Today, is the Day to go Cheese Rolling in the Cotswold! Coopers Hill Cheese Rolling takes place near Birdlip in Gloucestershire. For at least the last 200 years, people have gone to the top of the Hill, sent a Double Gloucester Cheese rolling down the hill at up to 70 miles an hour. Then chased after it despite the steep slope. Its mayhem. Watch the video above.
The cheeses are specially made, and encased in a wooden frame so they can survive the plummet down hill. The cheese is let go and the runners chase after it. They do not have to get to the bottom before the cheese but before anyone else. It is mayhem as the slope is so steep that most people fall down, Some roll head over heels countless times. There are many injuries too. There are various group races, men, women, boys, girls etc.
The race was originally on Whitsun Monday and part of country games (the wake) such as:
Grinning for the cake
Jumping in the bag
Chattering for a bladder of snuff by old women.
But it was cancelled as it became too rowdy, but the cheese rolling survived. It may be a ‘ceremony of record’ in which locals hold an event to maintain ancient rights of public access. (like beating the bounds).
Uffington Cheese Rolling
Uffington, famous for its white horse, had its cheese rolling.
For more information on Cooper’s Hill cheese rolling, see this web site:
https://www.cotswoldshideaways.co.uk/whats-on/event/coopers-hill-cheese-rolling-26th-may-2025
For more of my posts on the frolics of May see here:
First Published on May 26th 2025, revised with help from ‘The Customs and Ceremonies of Britain’ by Charles Kightly 2026
Whitsun
Today, is Whitsun or Pentecost. (Sun, May 24th 2026). It is celebrated on the 7th Sunday after Easter, 50 days after the Crucifixion. The Day the Holy Ghost descends on the disciples. According to one of my teachers, it gave the disciples the power of expression and turned them from grieving Disciples to self-confident Apostles. They could now begin to spread the Christian message.
The week following is called Whitsuntide. It was one of three holiday weeks enjoyed by the medieval peasants. The villein had to work on the Lord’s land (desmesne) in exchange for the use of farm land. But this week he was free of that obligation.
Whit Monday was a Bank Holiday until 1972. But was then replaced by the Spring Bank Holiday. This was on the last Monday in May and so does not vary unknowably like Whitsun. ( 16 May 2027, 4 June 2028).
Giotto di Bondone
By Sailko – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ File:Andrea_di_bonaiuto,_via_veritas,_chiesa_trionfante_17.JPG, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=189631337
Giotto’s painting shows the Apostles with their halos in the chamber. There are 12 of them, St Matthias having replaced the dead, Judas. The Holy Spirit is represented by the little dove in the centre of the Ceiling. The narrative is carried by the two men in the foreground leaning towards each other. We imagine them saying something like ‘What’s all this about! Galilean nonentities, lost their guru and yet, confident, speaking authoritatively to all and sundry? ‘
Giotto was a forerunner of the Renaissance. According to the great Giorgio Vasari (30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) who wrote about the advances in painting achieved by Italian artists:
‘that very obligation which the craftsmen of painting owe to nature, who serves continually
as model to those who are ever wresting the good from her best and most beautiful features and striving to counterfeit and to imitate her, should be owed, in my belief, to Giotto, painter of Florence, for the reason that, after the methods of good paintings and their outlines had lain buried for so many years under the ruins of the wars, he alone, although born among inept craftsmen, by the gift of God revived that art, which had come to a grievous pass, and brought it to such a form as could be called good.‘
The miracle was that this boy, a poor shepherd with no training in art, was able to show nature its true face.
‘One day [the artist] Cimabue, going on business from Florence to Vespignano, found Giotto, while his sheep were feeding, drawing a sheep from nature upon a smooth and solid rock with a pointed stone, having never learnt from anyone but nature.’
Moving towards Perspective
One of the points Vasari is making is that Byzantine Art had lost the use of perspective, something the Romans knew. Paintings had become cartoon-like spaces with no real three-dimensionality. Groups of people seemed to be standing on each other’s shoulders. If you look at the painting above you will the room the Apostles are in has the beginnings of a realistic space, the rafters slope down to a vanishing point. The Apostles are ranged convincingly around the space. Their faces are rounded and realistic. They are separated from the outside world by a dividing wall. And two dudes at the front are convincingly on the ground, rather than hovering in midair (though I might have cropped the photo too closely!)
It would be over one hundred years before photo realistic portraits and realistic perspective paintings were rediscovered, but Giotto showed the way.
For more on Giotto see my post here. And on Italian art and perspective my post here
First published on June 8th 2025, revised 2026
Frankin’s Day, Late Frosts & May Lore May 21st
Frankin was a Devon brewer who was put out of business by Cider makers. So he sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for 3 days of frost from May 21st. He hoped the cold would destroy the apple blossom and ruin the Cider Crop.
In fact, today is warm and sunny. It seems to me to be the day to cast my clouts out. (see my post clouts and casting here.) We started with very nice May weather, and then it went wintery. But we have had a few warm days now and I have just put all my winter and spring coats and wolly socks away. But I haven’t yet got the short-sleeved shirts out of underbed storage. Frankin’s legend is another warning about cold weather in May . We have also heard about the Ice saints such as St Pancras who are supposed to bring icy weather to mid May.
Cold Sheep
Sheep farmers are also warned to beware cold weather in May:
‘Shear your sheep in May
You’ll shear them all away.’
The poor sheep will die in thunder and lighting:
‘Thunder in May
Frightens the Summer Away‘
Green Jean and Marrying in May
Marrying in May is also supposedly unlucky (and I did see a bare shouldered bride regretting her dress choice on a cold day in Stratford-upon-Avon!).
‘Married in May and kirked in green
Both Bridge and Bridgroom won’t long be seen
O’ Marriage in May
Bairns die in decay’
This was recorded in 1892. Green is an unlucky colour in Scotland for wedding dresses, and there are a number of ghostly Green Ladies in Scottish Castles such as Wemsyss. Here she is called ‘Green Jean’. She is beautiful, tall, slim lady with a long dress of green who swishes as she glides bu startled observers.
For more on Wemsys Castle and Green Jean look here. But note that you only face death if you marry in May AND wear a green wedding dress.
My research suggests many people ignore this advice:
Thanks again to Charles Kightly’s delightful ‘The Perpetual Almanack of Folklore’. You might like to buy it here. (no kickback to me!).
First Published May 21st 2026
Titus Oates flogged from Aldgate to Newgate May 20th 1685
This post is about Titus Oates and the Popish Plot but first more on May 20th
On This Day
On May 20th Castor was mortally wounded. Castor and his brother Pollux raped and abducted Phoebe, and her sister Hilaira. Their betrothed attacked the twins, and ran Castor through. Jupiter, Pollux’s father, saved Pollus, who cried
‘Father, hear my words:
That heaven you grant me alone, share between us
Half will be more, then, than the whole of your gift.’
So Jupiter saved Castor and allowed the divine Twins to change places in Mount Olympus alternately. For more about the Gemini, read my piece on heteropaternal superfecundation and the Twins.
1609 – Shakespeare’s sonnets published in London, by the publisher Thomas Thorpe. The sonnets are endlessly controversial, as to how autobiographical they are.
1954 – Bill Haley & His Comets released ‘Rock Around the Clock’
1964 – Discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation by Robert Woodrow Wilson and Arno Penzias. This was the key experimental evidence of the Big Bang theory.
Titus Oates
He was a con-man. He accused leading Catholics of participating in a plot to kill King Charles II and restore a Catholic monarchy. Among his targets were the Queen, and the King’s Brother’s wife.
Titus Oates had a complicated past. He was a Baptist who turned to the Church of England on the Restoration of King Charles II. He studied at Cambridge. But was accused of being a ‘Great Dunce’ and never took his degree. His next about turn saw him in St Omer to train as a Jesuit. He accused a man, whose job he wanted, of sodomy. Then, he became a Naval Chaplain. But he was, himself, accused of buggery and dismissed from the Navy. He was received into the Catholic Church while, at the same time, he wrote a series of anti-Catholic Pamphlets. He made accusations against over 500 people. This became known as the Popish Plot.
As a result, twenty-two people were executed. Some were ‘Hanged, Drawn and Quartered’ because of Oates’ baseless accusations. The Diarist, Samuel Pepys, was caught up in the anti-Catholic frenzy. Pepys was Secretary of the Navy during the Plot and was close to the Catholic, James, Duke of York. He was accused of selling secrets to the French. Awaiting trial for treason, he was imprisoned in the Tower of London. Eventually, he was able to clear himself and resume public life. (read this article on the /the-plot-against-pepys/.
Whipped from Aldgate to Tyburn
It was only with the accession of James II that the climate of opinion changed. Then Titus Oates was found guilty of perjury. Perjury was not punishable with death, so Oates’ punishment was a long-drawn-out affair instead. He was sentenced to be imprisoned for life. And ‘whipped through the streets of London for five days a year for the remainder of his life.’
Oates was put in the pillory at Westminster Hall, where passers-by pelted him with eggs. He was again pilloried the next day in the City. On the third day, stripped, tied to a cart, and whipped from Aldgate to Newgate. The following day he was whipped from Newgate to Tyburn. (Source Wikipedia)
However, when the Catholic King, James II was deposed and replaced by the joint Protestant monarchs William and Mary in 1689, Titus Oates was released and given a pension. He died in 1705.
For Pepys at the Execution of Charles I see my post here.
First Published in 2024, republished in 2025, On This Day added 2026