Category: Almanac of the Past

A perpetual almanac of the Year. Folklore, Customs, Myths, Legends, Religions, Ceremonies. Calendars, How the year, months, days, hours, minutes work. Who started them. How different societies have different arrangements. Zodiacs, Seasons, Folklore, Gods and Goddesses. Its all here day by day.

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The Venerable Bede Died – May 26th 735AD

A Scribe – possibly the Venerable Bede. Late 12th Century from Lives of St Cuthbert.

He died on the evening of what we would call the 25th, but 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, who set the tone and standard for many centuries of English Historiography.  He is mostly remembered for the ‘Ecclesiastical History of the English People’ which provides the most trusted account of the events of the Post Roman, Migration, and Anglo-Saxon periods.

So well regarded is he that he is the only Englishman mentioned in Dante’s Paradiso.  This is the third part of the Divine Comedy.  The other parts are about the bad people in Hell and Purgatory.  Bede is with the Angels in Heaven.

He is Venerable not only in the general sense of being wise, old and respected, but also in the technical sense:

‘(in the Roman Catholic Church) 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 – someone holy who had 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)

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 and his sources were not themselves always reliable, nor 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 AND by being generally not a great bunch of Christians. God knows that the English, when converted, will be much better Christians than the Britons.

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 and 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 and start either with William the Conqueror or Alfred the Great and omit any British, Welsh, Scots or Irish Kings. Except for my book on the Kings and Queens of Britain, which 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.  But also, contributed to an Anglo centric view of history. He was writing in Northumberland at the Monastery of Jarrow, and 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 AD /BC system. He also thought the Catholic calculation that Jesus was born 5000 years ago was wrong and used the Bible to calculate the more ‘correct’ date 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

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Coopers Hill Cheese Rolling May 26th

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 this video:

For more information, 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

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The Ashmolean Museum First Opened May 24th 1683

The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford Photo K. Flude

The Ashmolean is a lovely museum. It’s like a miniature combination of the British Museum, The National Gallery, and the V&A. It has a superb collection including the Cretan Archaeology excavated by the Museum’s Director, Arthur Evans in Knossos. Not only that, but it is Britain’s oldest secular Museum, opening over fifty years before the British Museum.

But its origins are even older. This is a story near to my heart. And and I’m going to tell the story as it was told to me by Mrs Nicholson. She founded the Garden History Museum (now Garden Museum) and a formidable person. I was the part-time Curator for a few years in the 1990s.

The Museum is in St Mary’s Church, Lambeth. The Church, despite being the last burial place of various Bishops of London, was going to be made redundant. Mrs Nicholson was not having this and launched a campaign to preserve it. In the graveyard was the grave of the famous Gardeners the Tradescants, father, son, and grandson. So, she hit on the idea of making the Museum into the Museum of Garden History. One of the first in the world, apparently. Some years later, I was employed as the part-time Curator, despite knowing very little about flowers or gardens.

So What Has This to do with the Ashmolean Museum

Elias Ashmole in a frame by Grlinling Gibbons, Ashmolean Museum, Photo K Flude

You are wondering?

When Mrs Nicholson came into the Church she stamped on the floor. I enquired why? And was told that this was where Elias Ashmole was buried. He being the founder of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. This is the wonderful story which I tell every time I take a group to the Ashmolean Museum.

The Tradescants

John Tradescant the Elder, Ashmolean Museum photo by K Flude

Apart from being among the first famous Garderners in the UK, the Tradescants ran Britain’s first Museum. It was in Lambeth, London and was called the Arc. The cabinet of curiosities was famous in Britain and Abroad. It had many wonders, shells, sculptures, weapons, clothes, shells, a piece of the True Cross, a Vegetable Lamb, and the lamp held by Guy Fawkes in the Gunpowder plot

John Tradescant the Elder, collected for the Duke of Buckingham. He also helped build the fortifications at the La Rochelle for Buckingham’s disastrous expedition. Tradescant travelled as far afield as Africa to collect curiosities. He also wrote to Ships’ Captains travelling to Africa to bring anything strange back for him.

John Tradescant Junior and Elias Ashmole

When he died, his son, John Tradescant the Younger, took over. Both the Gardening and the Museum. His neighbour Elias Ashmole helped out, and together they created Britain’s first Museum Catalogue (shown below).

Catalogue of the Museum Tradescantianum

Sadly, the third John Tradescant, died. His father was bereft, and feared what would come of the wonderful collection. The collection his father had left him and which he had augmented. He travelled to America and bought back some of the oldest Native American clothing surviving, including Powhatan’s Mantle (or cloak).

Native American objects collected by John Tradescant the Younger.
Powhatan’s Cloak – probably a religious cloth not a cloak

One day, he went to the pub at Elias Ashmole’s request. They discussed the problem of the survival of the collection. Ashmole took out a document and told Tradescant that if he signed it, it would ensure that the collection survived. Tradescant signed it. Went home, his wife, Hester called him a fool and told him to rescind it. Ashmole refused pointing out it was a legal document that had been freely signed before witnesses.

Hester Tradescant and the Ashmole Museum

John Tradescant and his friend, Roger Friend with the collection of shells. right Hester Tradescant, daughter and John Tradescant the Youngest. Ashmolean Museum, photo K Flude

Tradescant died. His wife, who had control of the collection till she died, was legally harassed by Ashmole. He accused her of profiting from the collection. She was found dead in her garden pond. Ashmole shipped the collection up the Thames to Oxford. He made a legal agreement with the University to provide it a permanent home. They built the original Ashmolean which is still on Broad Street but is now the Museum of the History of Science. The building was not used just a collection of ‘knic-knackery’ as it was called but also a laboratory, dissection theatre, and with meeting rooms.

The Original Ashmolean Museum in Broad Street. Photo k Flude

Now, the problem with all this according to Mrs Nicholson, was twofold. Firstly, Ashmole was responsible for the death of Hester. Secondly, the oldest Museum in Britain should be called the Tradescant Museum, not the Ashmolean. The core of the Museum was, after all, Tradescant’s Arch, although Ashmole added his own collection to it. Mrs Nicholson could never forgive Ashmole for stealing the Tradescants’ glory. Arthur MacGregor, Director of the Ashmolean Museum was a trustee of the Museum of Garden History, and would point out that without Ashmole the collection might well not have survived.

First Published May 24th 2025.

For other posts relevant to Tradescant and Ashmole, see the following posts:

Cog Almanac’s on Display at the Ashmolean Museum:

https://www.chr.org.uk/anddidthosefeet/making-my-own-cog-almanac-for-my-halloween-walk/

the Duke of Buckingham and the True Cross:

https://www.chr.org.uk/anddidthosefeet/may-3rd-roodmas-the-true-cross-and-the-coronation/

Mr Ashmole’s cure for toothache:

https://www.chr.org.uk/anddidthosefeet/february-9th-st-apollonia-a-day-to-cure-the-toothache/

Arts and Crafts at the Ashmolean Museum:

https://www.chr.org.uk/anddidthosefeet/december-12th-ashmolean-advent-calendar-the-singing-pierides/

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Helston Furry Dance May 8th

Of course, the real news today is a new Pope and the 80th Anniversary of Victory in Europe Day.  But, I can let other media covers those stories. (But more on VE Day below.)

Helston Furry Dance

At the end of the May Day/Beltane Festival, Helston in Cornwall holds its Furry (or Floral) Dance. It is normally on the 8th May. But it changes date if the 8th is a Sunday or a Monday (Helston’s market day). But it isn’t. So the Floral Dance was held asusual on the 8th May.

Padstow holds, perhaps, the most famous May Day festival on May 1st. Padstow feels more of a ‘pagan’ festival, while Helston is a more sedate, gentlemanly, dance. Padstow is more fuelled by a belly full of ale, while Helston by a Pims No 1, or a Gin and Tonic?

Do, have a look at both youtube videos and watch the Padstow one until at least you see the ‘obby ‘orse and the teaser dancing.

Children born between the two days, May 1st and May 8th are considered to have been ‘born with the skill of man and beast and power over both.’

On This Day

1945 – Victory in Europe Day.    Official end of the War in Europe with the definitive surrender of Nazi Germany to the Allies, signed by Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel in Eisenhowers HQ on 8 May 1945 (VE Day).  Churchill broadcast the official end of the war at 3pm.  In 2025, it was the 80th Anniversary of the defeat of Fascism. A truly significant date with a diminishing number of veterans and eye witnesses surviving to carry the torch.  My 97 year old Father is one and he went to London to celebrate that magical day when the war in the west was over. this is what my dad wrote in his recently publish autobiography ‘A Boy from Haggerston:

At last, the War in Europe was over. This day would forever be known as VE day. Both my grandparents had survived the Blitz and only Uncle Charlie’s (my dad’s elder brother) two sons had lost their lives – Charlie died at Salerno and is buried near the beach in the war grave, and Jimmie died, aged 18, at the battle of Reichwald Forest, and is buried in the war grave in the forest. According to David Warren, who is now a battlefield tour guide, received information that Jimmie was reported by the Commanding Office as a typical bright Cockney lad.

Following the end of the war, we were then introduced to images of the emaciated prisoners in the recently freed concentration camps in the newspapers, and in the Pathé news broadcast at the cinema. The terrible news that the Nazis killed millions of Jews in an attempt to wipe out the Jewish race in occupied Europe, spread to a horrified world. This vile campaign is now known as the Holocaust, but is more precisely described as ethnic cleansing.

Jean and I went up to London for VE Day and later also for the VJ Celebrations, where there was singing and dancing in the streets. We went by train to Waterloo, and then walked to Piccadilly. We went with our friends Esther and Bob. It was a great time.

Front cover of 'A Boy fomr Haggerston' by Ben Flude
Front cover of ‘A Boy fomr Haggerston’ by Ben Flude

Available on Feedaread. https://www.feedaread.com/books/A-Boy-from-Haggerston-9781835970515.aspx at £4.18

Or Amazon At £7.99 https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=benjamin+flude&crid=2FVJ1OX1BU88E&sprefix=benja%2Caps%2C1475&ref=nb_sb_noss_2.

Now, it is up to us and the young to stop such a war ever starting again. What we know is that the vast majority of us don’t want war, but somehow we let it happen.  That is our task how to create a world where war is unthinkable. 

First Published May 2024, revised 2025

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May the 4th be with you

Content moved to May 4th

First published 2024, revised 2025 moved 2026

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St George’s Day Again? April 28th

Picture for St George’s Day. St. George, Donatello, 1416-17, Bargello Florenz-03
By Rufus46 – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35346561

St George’s Day is normally on 23rd April but not this year!

When St George’s Day falls between Palm Sunday and the Second Sunday after Easter it is transferred to the Monday after the Second Sunday of Easter.

Got that? No, nor did I. Not many people know that. it seems. Last time it happened, Keir Starmer, Theresa May, and London Mayor Sadiq Khan all got it wrong in 2019. The first time I heard about this was 2025, when Keir Starmer appeared to have got it wrong again. A cleric fulminated about illiterate people who get it wrong!

But I think the Church should stop such silly practices. Either it is or it isn’t.

To see my post on St George’s Day please follow this link.

On this Day

1789 Fletcher Christian led the Mutiny on the Bounty. Captain Bligh is buried

1945 Populist, Fascist, Dictator Benito Mussolini captured by partisans and killed.

First Published on 2025 April 28th

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Guernica & War from the Air April 26th 1937

Tiled wall in Guernica after Picasso’s famous painting. Photo By Tony Hisgett from Birmingham, UK – Guernica, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=64155674

Franco ordered the bombing as part of his campaign to overthrow the Basque Government. The Town was badly damaged and 1,654 civilians were killed. It was undertaken by ‘the Condor Legion of Nazi Germany‘s Luftwaffe and the Italian Aviazione Legionaria‘ (Wikipedia). Picasso began his famous painting almost immediately after he heard an eyewitness account of the attack. The iconic painting was finished by 4 June 1937. The bombing showed the potential damage war from the air could do to crowded Cities. The painting became one of the most famous campaigning works of art.

The War from the Air

“The War in the Air” by H. G. Wells. London: George Bell & Sons, 1908. First Edition
Illustration by A. C. Michael of Pall Mall Magazine –

Aerial warfare became a reality as soon as the Montgolfier Brothers flew the first Hot Air Balloon. In the Revolutionary Wars, the French used them for reconnaissance. Napoleon considered transporting troops by balloon in an invasion of Britain. With the arrival of planes and the development of the Zeppelin. Air warfare became a feature of speculative fiction, and began to absorb the planners.

H G Wells book, illustrated above, featured a war between Germany and the United Statesin which New York is obliterated by Aerial Bombing. This was written in 1908

In World War 1 London was the focus of a series of Zeppelin and Aeroplane raids. These killed over 500 people. (see my post on the London Zeppelin raid of Sept 8th 1916). As planes developed in capacity, war departments created plans that seem now to have been exaggerated. It is thought that Appeasement was partly a response to the feared casualties from war in the air. Before the Blitz, the authorities were planning for 1 million killed in London and double that number of people deranged by fear. In the event, casualties were far less, some 43,000 killed. However, 2 million houses were destroyed. The scale of destruction was fairly accurately predicted but the casualties exaggerated.

(see my post on the-ultimate-raf-london-blitz-story)

On this Day

1994 The new South African constitution came into force and democratic elections were held.

First Published on April 26th 2025

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Vortigern April 2nd 1796

Bill for the 1796 play Vortigern and Rowena Public Domain Wikipedia

Content Move April 2nd 2026 to:

https://chr.org.uk/anddidthosefeet/?p=5187

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Not Archaeology Day 10th February

Yesterday was Almanac of the Past Misinformation Day! I have just found out that you received a post which was not only empty of content but also wrong! Details of that below. But, here are a couple of interesting archaeology projects I have been planning to post about.

Lost Books from the Ancient World

What has excited me most is the news that burnt scrolls from Heraculeum have been digitally unrolled. Then ‘read’ using AI. The scroll was in the library of Julius Caeser’s father in law it is thought. There are over 1,000 carbonised scrolls found in 1750 in the Villa of the Papyri. And this one reveals details of Plato’s last hours. But more than that, the technology opens the possibility of other lost books being discovered. Of the ‘known unknowns’ I would like to see are the lost history books of Tacitus. But perhaps the ‘unknown unknowns’ are even more exciting. What might we find out?

Here is an excellent introduction to the discoveries:

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/feb/05/ai-helps-scholars-read-scroll-buried-when-vesuvius-erupted-in-ad79

Cerne Abbas Giant

Cerne Abbas Giant 2017 photo by K Flude

The giant is one of the icons of Hardy’s Dorchester. It is ‘drawn’ or sculpted by cutting the turf to reveal the white chalk below. Chalk Cut figures appear particularly in the South West. The Vale of the White Horse chalk cut figures has been dated to the Late Bronze Age. Most people thought the Cerne Abbas Giant was in the Romano-Celtic tradition so was either pre-Roman, or perhaps Hercules and Roman.

Some dissenters believed the lack of references to the Giant showed that it could not have been cut until the 17th Century. Some even thought it might be a ‘cartoon’ of Oliver Cromwell!

How we laughed!

The National Trust embarked on a project to get the Giant properly dated. They used Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating which had also been used on the White Horse. But the results came back were shocking. It appears to have been cut in the Late Saxon period.

I do admit to a certain amount of scepticism. The art style is similar to British Art of the Iron Age, part of the Celtic Art tradition. Also, how reliable is OSL dating? The process depends on taking soil samples from the soil nearest the chalk, and OSL measures the time since the soil was last exposed to light. It’s a relatively new technology although based on Thermoluminescence dating of pottery which has been around since the 1970s. There was also some corroboration in the form of snails which were not indigenous to the UK?. So a date of 700-1100AD is suggested. And I have nothing other than a gut reaction to the date they propose. Maybe I’m just disappointed by a Saxon date as I have no way of understanding the context.

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/dorset/cerne-giant/history-of-the-cerne-giant

Here is a cartoon I really like:

Homer and the Cerne Abbas Giant, Image from Facebook of unknown origin.

Not the Archaeology Day but the Festival of Archaeology?

So, yesterday was not Archaeology Day. But it was last year and run on February 10th by the Council for British Archaeology. This year (2025) they are running their normal Festival of Archaeology from the 19th July to the 3rd of August. It is nationwide, and they have numerous local events which you can check out on their website here.

So how did this happen? I must have seen a reference to an archaeology Day on February 10th, assumed it would be an annual event. So, I added a ‘stub’ post to remind me about it. These, normally are stored in the ‘drafts’ folder, which I will then develop and post. But for some reason, this one got in the ‘Scheduled Posts’ Folder. And as I was working flat out preparing my ‘Jane Austen’s Bath’ Virtual Tour, I did not spot it. So, it was automatically posted. (The VT went very well, thank you very much).

Today, I looked up ‘Archaeology Day 10th February’ and found my post was the number one google source. In normal circumstances, this would be a matter of chest beating. I have been putting significant effort into improving my ‘SEO’ (search engine optimisation). Sadly, I got to the top of Google only because there are only two posts referring to an Archaeology Day on the 10th of February. Mine and a Council of British Archaeology, post who ran the event in York.

So, today is the Not Archaeology Day.

First published on February 10th 2025, and republished on February 11th 2025, text copied to Gemini Post on February 10th, 2026

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The Jorvik Viking Festival February 2025

Screen shot from the Jorvik Viking Festival Site showing all the fun to be had if the Vikings invade your town!

The annual Jorvik Viking Festival is on from Monday 17th – Sunday 23rd February 2025 in York. The illustration above show there are Viking Trails, Feasts, Crafting, Berzerkering and encamping. And more! Visit the web site here.

The excavations under the floor of the Jorvik Centre. Photo K. Flude

York or Jorvik as the Vikings knew it as, has become the centre of all things Viking in the UK. Viking York came to the fore with the Coppergate Excavations in the 1980s. Underneath what is now a shopping mall and Primark, were the streets of Viking York in all its waterlogged glory. The waterlogging allowed the survival of organic material that rarely survives.

Excavation of Jorvik visible under the floor of the Museum. Photo By Chemical Engineer – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=58524883

At the time, the excavations were a sensation. York Archaeological Trust made a bold decision to turn part of the site into a ‘Dark Ride Experience’. The remnants of the excavation were preserved under glass, and nearby a replica of the townscape was created. Tourists sat in ‘cars’ with an audio guide and given a guided tour. It was very successful. The extensive profits were used for other York Archaeological Trust projects such as the reconstruction of medieval Barley Hall. Other historic towns followed suit and soon there were Dark Rides in Canterbury, London, Oxford and others. All, as far as I know have died a death except for the Jorvik Centre which continues to enthral visitors to York.

Tableau from the Jorvik Centre with Fishermen working. Photo By Chemical Engineer – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=58524883

The next best thing about Vikings are their colourfull names. Jorvik history vibrates with the deeds of ‘Ivan the Boneless’, Sihtric ‘the Squinty-eyed’and Erik Bloodaxe. For more on nicknames read my post!

First Published in February 2025