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.
St Mellitus (Source: from saint-mellitus-of-canterbury-died-624
St Mellitus was the first Bishop of London (AD604) and the third Archbishop of Canterbury. But was he really? No, he was the first Bishop of London of the English Church. There were many before him. We know there were bishops of London from Britannia during the Roman period. And, according to John Stow, London’s first history. there were also post-Roman bishops. That line of Bishops ended, in 584 AD, when the 14th Bishop, Theanus, fled London. He headed for Wales to escape the Anglo-Saxon threat. However, even Stow was uncertain whether the list was genuine.
In 314 a Church Council or Synod was called at Arles, in France. Amongst those attending were three bishops from Britain, (and a Deacon and a presbyter) :
Adelfius “de civitate Colonia Londenensium” – that is, from the “colonia of the people of London”.
(Wikipedia)
The fact that two came from London suggests to some a mistake. Adelfus, perhaps, was either from Lincoln or Colchester which were Colonies. The Synod was called by the Emperor Constantine. Amongst its acts were to order that Easter should be held at the same time throughout the Empire. (See also my post on the Synod of Whitby which fixed the date of Easter in Britain as late as 684). They also banned Races, and Games. and excommunicated all actors and charioteers. (Synod_of_Arles). But it gives us our first certain facts about the origins of Christianity in Britain.
The Augustinian Mission and Mellitus
St Mellitus Burial Place, St Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury. Photo K. Flude
In 597, the Augustinian Mission came to Kent. Mellitus was sent by Pope Gregory to join St Augustine’s mission in 601AD,. He was then sent to London to set up St Pauls and become its bishop (604). But he was kicked out in 618AD when King Sæberht of Essex died and was replaced by a pagan son. Mellitus went into exile in Gaul but came back to become the third Archbishop of Canterbury. He was buried in St Augustine’s Abbey in Canterbury. He is known as St Mellitus of Canterbury. London reverted to paganism until 654AD when St Cedd became its next Bishop.
St Mellitus had gout so is the go-to Saint for sufferers of gout.
Also on this day
1925 – McVitie’s Chocolate Digestive was created. There were made in Stockport and in Harlesden, London. I have moored my narrowboat outside the factory and been kept awake by the churning of chocolate in vast vats. Or so I imagine. News stories suggest that the Digestive was meant to be eaten with the chocolate on the bottom side. This is one of the most ridiculous things I have heard! But you can read this page for the facts. And this one for more on the history of the Chocolate Digestive.
Shakespeare’s death date is given by the burial register at the Holy Trinity Church, Stratford on Avon where he was buried. His baptismal record also survives at the same church and is on April 26th 1564. So, we don’t actually know when he was born, but christening were held soon after birth for fear of the high infant mortality rates, so 23rd April, three days before, has been assigned to be Shakespeare’s birthday.
St George’s Day is normally on 23rd but not this year!
When St George’s Day falls between Palm Sunday and the Second Sunday after Easter it is transfered to the Monday after the Second Sunday of Easter. Soin 2025, It is on April 28th. Not many people know that including Keir Starmer, Theresa May, and London Mayor Sadiq Khan who all got it wrong the last time in happened in 2019. I got it wrong too! But I think the Church should stop such silly practices. Either it’s St George’s Day or it isn’t. Why does it matter?
Shakespeare’s Birthday, ‘taking to the chamber’
His mum, Anne Shakespeare would have ‘taken to her chamber’ about four weeks before the due date. The windows or shutters were fastened, as fresh air was thought to be bad for the birthing process. Female friends and relatives came to visit; the room was decorated with fine carpets, hangings, silver plates and fine ornaments. It was held that external events could influence the birth, any shocks or horrors might cause deformities and anomalies, so a calm lying-in room was clearly a good idea.
When labour began, female friends, relatives and the midwife were called to help out. A caudle of spiced wine or beer was given to the mother to strengthen her through the process. The maternal mortality rate for the 16th Century is estimated at 1500 per 100,000. Today, it’s 7 per 100,000. So most women would have heard of or attended the birth of a women who had died during or following children birth. There were also no forceps so if a baby were stuck and could not be manually manipulated out, then the only way forward was to get a surgeon to use hooks to dismember the baby to save the life of the mother. Doctors were not normally in attendance, but could be called in emergency,
Swaddling the Baby
Immediately after washing, the baby was swaddled. The swaddling was often very tight and could affect the baby’s growth, and might have affected the learning process, as movement of hands and feet are now considered significant in the early learning process. Swaddling lasted eight to nine months, and only went out of fashion after Jean Jacques Rousseau wrote against the practice.
Detail of tomb of Alexander Denton and his first wife Anne Willison, and her baby dressed in swaddling clothes Photo Wikipedia Hugh Llewelyn
Dangers of Childbirth
Puerperal fever killed many women even after successful childbirth, for example Queen Jane Seymour who died after 5 days. During these dangerous early days, the mother was kept in a dark room, and then, perhaps three days after birth, friends were invited to celebrate ‘upsitting’ when the mother was no longer confined to bed. This is when christening would take place. Edward VI was christened to a huge audience in the chapel at Hampton Court three days after his birth.
Licensed midwives could baptise newborn babies provided they used the correct wording and informed the Church so that the registration could be properly reported. Thomas Cromwell was responsible for the law in 1538 which insisted on a parish register to record weddings, christenings, and funerals. The law was reaffirmed by Queen Elizabeth in 1558 and registers had to be stored in a locked chest in the Church. (In 1597, the records had to be on parchment not paper, and in 1603 the chest had to have three locks!).
If the christening were in the church, the mother might not be there as she was expected to stay in her chamber for another week or so.
Churching and Breastfeeding
A week or a few weeks later, the mother would be ‘churched.’ This was a thanks-giving ceremony, although Puritans did not like the idea as it might be confused with a purification ceremony.
Breastfeeding would last a year or so but many high status women choose to use a wet-nurse. There was a real concern to find a suitable wet nurse as it was believed that the breast milk was important for the babies’ development both physically and temperamentally. Poor children who lost their mothers were very unlikely to survive as, without breast milk, the baby would be fed pap – bread soaked in cow’s milk.
On the corner of Leadenhall Street and St Mary Axe in the City of London is one of the very few medieval Churches that survived the Great Fire of London is 1666. It was sheltered by the firebreak that was the Leadenhall, a big market building made of stone. This is where the great London historian John Stow is buried. His Survey of London is one of the best sources for Medieval and Tudor London. Every three years, there is a commemorative service and his quill is changed. Last year it was on the 22nd April. The Lord Mayor attends and it is organised by Stow’s Guild – the Merchant Taylors.
John Stow records that his father returned to his home at Austin Friars one day to find his house had been moved. He had no warning, nor payment for the loss of land. He had the misfortune to live adjourning the property of Thomas Cromwell.
St Andrew Undershaft
The Church is the Maypole Church as it was here the Maypole or the shaft was stored under the eves of the Church. Hence, St Andrew’s sobriquet of ‘Undershaft’. The May Day riot of 1517 put an end to the dancing around the Maypole but the pole itself survived until 1547. Then, in a Puritan riot, the ‘stynking idol’ was destroyed. (see my May Day blog post here for more more details.)
There is also a plaque to Hans Holbein, but no one knows for sure where he is buried. He died in London in 1543, possibly of plague. The present church was built in 1532, but it is first recorded in the 12th Century.
Drawing of a Stained glass window depicting Saint Beuno. D A R C 12345 – Own work
Today is St Beuno’s Day. St Beuno is also known as St Bono. He was an 8th Century Welsh Abbot of some power. The grandson of a prince of Powys in Wales who was descended from Vortigern. (see my post on Vortigern here.) Vortigern was a predecessor to King Arthur. Beuno was educated in Bangor Monastery, one of the foremost Celtic monasteries in Wales. During his ministry he restored 7 dead people to life including St Winifred (or Winefred).
Winifred & St Beuno
St Winifred’s Holywell, from Facebook.
She was Beuno’s niece, a virgin who refused the advances of a certain Caradog. Furious at her taking vows, Caradog tried to seduce her, but she refused. So, he chopped her head off.
Where her head landed a spring sprung amd became a holy spring. The spot, in Flintshire is still called Holywell. It has been described as the Lourdes of Wales and one of my tours go past it that is how I heard about St Beuno.
Anyway the story goes that Beuno put his niece’s head back on her shoulders and restored her to life. How he did that, is a mystery or is that a miracle?
From Facebook
She lived a full life with a brilliant Church career. Of course she is the patron of those who have suffered unwanted advances (but believe me there are many other candidates for that particular honour amongst the female Saints! Have a look at my post on St Agatha for another example of male sexual abuse).
More on St Winefride’s on her feast day on 3rd November.
Medieval Powys, & Neglected Parts of the Female Anatomy
I drafted this in January 2025, when I came across a reference to St Beuno in a fabulous exhibition at the British Library. The show was called ‘Medieval Women – In their own Words’.
On display amongst the many wonderful manuscripts and books of the 11th – 15th Century was a Welsh poem. The author was Gwerful Mechain (1460–1502), the only female medieval Welsh poet with a surviving and a substantial body of work. She is known for her erotic poetry, in which she praised the vulva among other things.
What is extraordinary is that I should, by complete chance, be publishing this the day after posting about the statue of the erect Minotaur! So, you can see how even-handed I am? Erect penises one day, love poem to the Vagina the next!
Here it is in full, in a modern translation:
To the Vagina by Gwerful Mechain
Every poet, drunken fool Thinks he’s just the king of cool, (Every one is such a boor, He makes me sick, I’m so demure), He always declaims fruitless praise Of all the girls in his male gaze. He’s at it all day long, by God, Omitting the best bit, silly sod: He praises the hair, gown of fine love, And all the girl’s bits up above, Even lower down he praises merrily The eyes which glance so sexily; Daring more, he extols the lovely shape Of the soft breasts which leave him all agape, And the beauty’s arms, bright drape, Even her perfect hands do not escape. Then with his finest magic Before night falls, it’s tragic, He pays homage to God’s might, An empty eulogy: it’s not quite right: For he’s left the girl’s middle unpraised, That place where children are upraised, The warm bright quim he does not sing, That tender, plump, pulsating broken ring, That’s the place I love, the place I bless, The hidden quim below the dress. You female body, you’re strong and fair, A faultless, fleshy court plumed with hair. I proclaim that the quim is fine, Circle of broad-edged lips divine, It’s a valley, longer than a spoon or hand, A cwm to hold a penis strong and grand; A vagina there by the swelling bum, Two lines of red to song must come. And the churchmen all, the radiant saints, When they get the chance, have no restraints, They never fail their chance to steal, By Saint Beuno, to give it a good feel. So I hope you feel well and truly told off, All you proud male poets, you dare not scoff, Let songs to the quim grow and thrive Find their due reward and survive. For it is silky soft, the sultan of an ode, A little seam, a curtain on a hole bestowed, Neat flaps in a place of meeting, The sour grove, circle of greeting, Superb forest, faultless gift to squeeze, Fur for a fine pair of balls, tender frieze, A girl’s thick glade, it is full of love, Lovely bush, blessed be it by God above.
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!
Sorry to send an additional post but coming up are a couple of fascinating Virtual Tours which I would like to remind you of!
Tonight is an exploration of early 19th Century London. It is based on the 1809 Picture of London Guide book. An original copy was given to me by someone grateful to have attended one of my lectures at the Old Operating Theatre Museum. It is a tour of what Jane Austen could have visited on her walks around London. There are Austen associations, but mainly we are looking at London in 1809.
Jane Austen’s ‘A Picture of London in 1809’ Virtual Walk Mon 7.30 27th Jan25 To book
Yesterday, I was asked to give a Cromwell’s London walk as a 75th Birthday present. I haven’t done one for at least 25 years. But I really enjoyed the research. So added a guided walk and a virtual tour to my programme. This is the first time I have done this VT and it is a cracking story.
The Civil War, Restoration and the Great Fire of London Virtual Tour 7:30pm Thurs 30th Jan25To book
Finally, April is the month we go on pilgrimages, as Chaucer said (in Old English). So, in addition to my Chaucer Walks, I have added a Virtual tour so we can go all the way to Canterbury.
Chaucer’s London To Canterbury Virtual Pilgrimage 7.30pm Friday 18th April 25 To book
I may add one or two more before the Sun comes back
Sementivae, was a festival dedicated to seed and to Ceres. Ceres is an Earth Goddess who gives her name to our word cereal. The festival was also called. Paganalia. The Mediterranean world had many names for the Earth Goddess. Tellus, Demeter, Cybele, Gaia, Rhea etc..
Ceres can be seen on the top left roundel resting on the Globe on the marvellous Ceramic Staircase at the V&A (photo above). And in my slightly out of focus photograph below. (To be honest, in real life, it looks a little more like my photo than the gorgeous photo above!)
Ceres represented Agriculture, Mercury Commerce, and Vulcan Industry. Old Photo by the Author.
Sementivae Dies – a moveable feast.
To create life, we need earth and water to nurture and seeds for fertility. And so into the cold dead world of January the Romans created a festival of sowing. It had two parts, one presided over by Mother Earth (Tellus) and the other by Ceres, the Goddess of Corn. The actual day of the festival was chosen not by rote on a set day of the calendar but by the priests, in accordance with the weather. This seems very sensible, as there is no point sowing seeds in terrible weather conditions. I’m assuming the Priests took professional advice!
On the 24th-26th January Tellus prepared the soil, and in early February seeds were sown under the aegis of Ceres. Tellus Mater (also Terra Mater) was known as Gaia to the Greeks.
Gaia
Gaia was selected by James Lovelock & Lynn Margulis in the 1970s as the face of their Gaia hypothesis. To me, the importance of the idea is not the scientific principle that environments co-evolve with the organisms within them. But, rather in Gaia as a personification of our world as a complex living ecosystem. One that we have to care for. Gaia exists as a series of feedback loops. Lovelock hypotheses that she will spit us out unless we can live in balance with our alma mater.
Ovid and Sementivae
This is what the Roman Poet Ovid has to say in his poetic Almanac known as ‘Fasti’ (www.poetryintranslation.com)
Book I: January 24
I have searched the calendar three or four times, But nowhere found the Day of Sowing: Seeing this, the Muse said: That day is set by the priests, Why are you looking for moveable days in the calendar? Though the day of the feast ís uncertain, its time is known, When the seed has been sown and the land ís productive. You bullocks, crowned with garlands, stand at the full trough, Your labour will return with the warmth of spring. Let the farmer hang the toil-worn plough on its post: The wintry earth dreaded its every wound.
Steward, let the soil rest when the sowing is done, And let the men who worked the soil rest too. Let the village keep festival: farmers, purify the village, And offer the yearly cakes on the village hearths. Propitiate Earth and Ceres, the mothers of the crops, With their own corn, and a pregnant sow ís entrails. Ceres and Earth fulfil a common function: One supplies the chance to bear, the other the soil. Partners in toil, you who improved on ancient days Replacing acorns with more useful foods, Satisfy the eager farmers with full harvest, So they reap a worthy prize from their efforts. Grant the tender seeds perpetual fruitfulness, Don’t let new shoots be scorched by cold snows. When we sow, let the sky be clear with calm breezes, Sprinkle the buried seed with heavenly rain. Forbid the birds, that prey on cultivated land, To ruin the cornfields in destructive crowds. You too, spare the sown seed, you ants, So you’ll win a greater prize from the harvest.
This was 5 years after his death. It is now celebrated around the world, making clear the importance of Robert Burns.
Burns himself would have been astonished at the spread of Burn’s Night. He was modest about his attainments, saying, in his introduction to the Commonplace Book:
‘As he was but little indebted to scholastic education, and bred at a plough-tail, his performance must be strongly tinctured with his unpolished rustic way of life. ‘
Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face, Great Chieftain o’ the Puddin-race! Aboon them a’ ye tak your place, Painch, tripe, or thairm: Weel are ye wordy of a grace As lang ‘s my arm.
The groaning trencher there ye fill, Your hurdies like a distant hill, Your pin wad help to mend a mill In time o’ need, While thro’ your pores the dews distil Like amber bead.
His knife see Rustic-labour dight, An’ cut ye up wi’ ready slight, Trenching your gushing entrails bright, Like onie ditch; And then, O what a glorious sight, Warm-reekin, rich!
Often bypassed by the tourists on a visit to the wonderful City of Edinburgh is the Writer’s Museum. It is in one of those remarkable Tower houses which seem unique to the High Street in Edinburgh. Inside, it gives a great introduction to the great writers of Scotland.
‘Is it not strange’ wrote philosopher David Hume in 1757 ‘that a time when we have lost our Princes, our Parliament, Independent Government …..that we shou’d really be the people most distinguish’d for literature in Europe?’ (source: Museum display panel)
Edinburgh Writer’s Museum Burns, Scott, Stevenson.
A Visual for Burn’s Night ‘Window in the Writer’s Museum, Edinburgh’ Photo by K Flude
Writer’s Museum photo K. Flude
First published Jan 2023, republished Jan 2024, 2025
