Category: Events

Posted on

Remember, Remember, the 5th of November

Old print showing the plotters for the Gunpowder plot
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.

Tar Barrels in Ottery St Mary
Stephen and Claire – 2 Zany Brits on YouTube

Discovering the Plot

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.

National Archives

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!

English Folk Verse (c.1870)

See my post on preparing for Guys Fawkes day here:

First published 5th November 2021, revised 2024, 2025

Posted on

The Horned God & Preparing for Guy Fawkes Day November 4th

medieval monks seat showing carving of a Horned man (with Ram's Horn) at Stratford on Avon Holy Trinity Church) Photo: K Flude
Horned God (with Ram’s Horn) at Stratford on Avon Holy Trinity Church) Photo: K Flude. Carving of a dolphin to the left (symbol of Christ) a goat to the right (symbol of the damned – as Christ divides the sheep from the goats who are going to hell)

Horned Gods

November 4th is dedicated to hunting gods such as Herne, the Horned God, Cernunnos, The Green Man and Pan.

Herne the Hunter first appears in Shakespeare:

There is an old tale goes, that Herne the
Hunter
(sometime a keeper here in Windsor Forest)
Doth all the winter-time, at still midnight
Walk round about an oak, with great ragg’d horns;
And there he blasts the tree, and takes the cattle,
And makes milch-kine yield blood, and shakes a chain
In a most hideous and dreadful manner.
You have heard of such a spirit, and well you know
The superstitious idle-headed eld
Receiv’d, and did deliver to our age
This tale of Herne the Hunter for a truth.

William Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act 4, scene 4

I have recently seen a brilliant staging of the Merry Wives of Windsor at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford. I saw it three times and think it one of the best Shakespeare productions I have seen. The lead actor, John Hodgkinson, with whom I used to play cricket, was a fantastic Falstaff.

Cernunnos

Cernunnos comes from karnon which means “horn” or “antler”. This may be the source of the name ‘Cerne’. (Please note that the Cerne Abbas Giant has just been redated from the Celtic to the Anglo-Saxon period.) Cerney and Cirencester in Gloucestershire might have similar origins for their names.

Ginger Cake

Felicity Cloake The Guardian Parkin

Ginger cake is the traditional accompaniment to a cold night watching the Fireworks. There is a good recipe in Markham’s The English Housewife of 1683. But I’m suggesting you use this recipe from the Guardian for Parkin Cake. ‘Parkin is a gingerbread cake traditionally made with oatmeal and black treacle, which originated in Northern England.’ (Wikipedia).

For my post on November the 5th look here.

London picture Penny for the Guy on Guy Fawkes Day

I haven’t seen children asking for ‘a penny for the Guy’ for a while. But it was part of my childhood. We would create a ‘Guy’ out of old clothes and take it into the streets to raise money. The Guy is named after Guy Fawkes, who was discovered on 5th November 1605 in a cellar under Parliament. He was by a pile of barrels of gunpowder with a slow match. The plan was to blow up the King and Parliament, on the occasion of the Opening of Parliament on the 5th of November.

Once the plot had been broken and the plotters hanged, drawn and quartered, the King ordered that November 5th should be commemorated throughout the Country. Bonfires were a part of the seasonal celebrations at the time, used at Halloween, but this aspect was transferred to November 5th and continues as a major British event every year.

The money we raised, we spent exclusively on ‘bangers’ loud explosive fireworks not pretty fountains, Roman candles nor rockets. The bangers just made a horrendously loud bang. One stunt we experimented with was to cycle through the streets and to put a lit banger into the handle bars, which would act as a rocket launcher! Don’t try this at home.

Meanwhile, we would collect wood for the village bonfire:

A stick and a stake
For King George’s sake
Will you please to give us a faggot
If you won’t give us one, we’ll steal you two
The better for we and the worse for you.

English Folk Verse (c.1870)

First published 4th November 2021, republished 4th November 2024, 2025

Posted on

Douai Martyrs Saints Day October 29th

Thomas Bilney martyred in Smithfield. Black and white engraving
Thomas Bilney martyred in Smithfield.

Today, is the feast day of 158 English Martyrs from the English School at Douai. They were killed by the English state between 1577 and 1680.

On the accession of the Protestant Queen Elizabeth, Catholics who preferred exile gathered in Douai (125 Kilometres South of Calais). An English School was set up, which was in essence a Catholic Oxford College in Exile. Its mission became to train priests to re-enter England and minister to the many Catholics who wanted to continue to practice their faith despite official intolerance.

Catholic worshippers were fined if they did not attend Church of England services in their local churches. Catholic Priests re-entering England could be charged with High Treason and, if found guilty, hanged, drawn and quartered. This was often at Tyburn (at the west end of Oxford Street in London).

In the short reign of Mary I, nicknamed ‘Bloody Mary’, over 250 protestants were burned at the stake for heresy. In the long reign of her sister, Elizabeth I, over 300 Catholics were executed for Treason by being Hanged, Drawn and Quartered. Elizabeth is known as ‘Good Queen Bess’. There is no value in balancing evil, but pro-rata Mary’s reign was much more bloody. Elizabeth would probably also suggest that she did not execute Catholics because of their belief, but because the policy of the Catholic Church was to destroy Elizabeth’s regime. So, the Priests were not executed for heresy but for treason. However, this is a fine distinction to be made, in such horrendous blood-letting.

The number of martyrdoms from one institution shows incredible bravery in the face of intolerance, and the Douai Martyrs were a remarkable group of people. Most have been beatified by the church, some have been made ‘venerable’, twenty have been canonised. A few remain simply as ‘martyrs’

In London in Ely Place is St Etheldreda’s Church, which has memorials to Catholic Martyrs, and no mention of Protestant Martyrs. A few hundred yards away in Smithfield is a plaque to the Protestant Martyrs under Queen Mary and no mention of the Catholic Martyrs. Personally, I think it is about time the two traditions made it clear that both groups of martyrs are worthy of equal distinction, and the authorities who allowed such toxic intolerance to triumph deserve our contempt.

Two examples of martyrs in Smithfield:

John Forest, a Franciscan Monk was burnt at the stake at Smithfield and commemorated in St Etheldreda’s Church. He was Catherine of Aragon’s Confessor, and refused to accept King Henry VIII as head of the Church of England.

John Rogers was a scholar and worked to continue William Tyndale’s work in translating the bible into English. He was the Vicar of the Holy Sepulchre Church, which is halfway between Smithfield and St Etheldreda. He was the first person to be burned during Queen Mary I’s reign, and mentioned on the memorial in Smithfield.

Thanks to my friend Derek, who suggested I cover this topic. His children went to a school in London named after the 158 English Martyrs,

For a longer look at the Protestant Martyrs at Smithfield have a look at my post which deals with the martyrdom of Thomas Thompkins a simple honest man burnt at the stake.

Anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth I and the end of burning of heretics November 17th

For more on St Etheldreda look at my post here.

First published in 2024, revised 2025

Posted on

The Miracle of the Testicles October 20th

Image from Facebook, illustrating the miracle of the testicles

I’m having technicals problems, as well as being away from home. I posted this a few days ago but it doesn’t seem to have been posted to subscribers. So posting it again.

Today, almost my favourite of many bizarre tales of Saints. St Artemios is the patron saint of male genital disorders, more specifically, hernias and ruptures. His Saint’s Day is October 20th St. Artemios was Governor of Egypt during the reign of Julian the Apostate (331 – 26 June 363). Julian was a philosopher. Nephew to Constantine the Great, who tried to turn the tide and return to traditional Roman religious practices.

Artemios was called to a military meeting with Julian where he witnessed and objected to abuse of Christians. He was tortured with red hot irons, and miraculously cured. Then he was taken to the Amphitheatre where there was a big stone broken in half. He was put on half stone and the other half was raised above him and released, crushing Artemios. He was presumed dead, and left for a day. But he was still alive, broken boned, disembowelled, eyeless and remained unwilling to renounce his religion. Julian ordered his beheading.

A noble woman took his body to Constantinople where his shrine soon started attracting miracles. In the 7th Century, an anonymous author compiled a record of the miracles. St Artemios had become known for healing hernias and genital disorders ‘mostly in men.’ I’m not sure entirely why. Perhaps because of the red-hot pokers? The disembowelling? Maybe the stone that crushed him was round?

I first came across the Saint when I was given a wonderful book called ‘A Medieval Miscellany‘. Tales are selected by Judith Herrin and with an introduction by the great Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie (see Jan 27th Post to read about Montaillou and Ladurie). It had a colourful spread called ‘The Miracle of the Testicles’. This was the story told by Stephen, a 7th Century deacon of St. Sophia in Constantinople who ‘suffered a rupture, whether from shouting acclamations or from a heavy weight, I cannot say.‘

To cut a long story short, Stephen was very embarrassed by his condition. He tried many cures but finally undertook surgery. This was successful, but very soon the condition reoccurred which left him to despair.

Scrotal Hernia Operation, italy
Scrotal Hernia Operation, italy

So he planned to visit the shrine of, Artemios, the great healer of testicles. However, he was too embarrassed to stand in the Church, ashamed to be seen by friends. But passing by one day he nipped into the Tomb, descended to where the relics were and ‘cast’ some of the Saint’s holy oil on his testicles. He then found, much to his surprise, that the doors to the Coffin itself were open. Seeing this as a divine intervention he jumped onto the coffin, straddled it face down, so that the corner of the tomb was rubbing his testicles and prayed:

‘And with tears, I spoke again to the martyr: “St.Artemios, by God, Who has given you the gift of cures, no doctor on Earth will ever touch me again. So if you please, cure me. But if not, to your everlasting shame I will live thus without cure.‘

He was not cured immediately. Later he went to the Hot Baths and bathed, and on leaving the baths, thanks be to St Artemios, he was completely cured.

I have transcribed the translation of Stephen’s writings and place it here below as it has many fascinating aspects and remember it is a 7th Century account. But what an extraordinary tale: that it seems reasonable to steal into a tomb, take the holy oil, rub your genitals all over the shrine, and then tell the Saint that it will be to his everlasting shame if he does not make the cure!

For more on the Hospital of Sampson click here. Livanon is one of the Roman Baths in Constantinople and it is interesting that the cure follows bathing in them. The Oxeia is a neighbourhood in Constantinople connected with St Antemios. A cautery is a method to remove or close off a part of the body. It can be hot, cold or chemical.

At long last I disclosed the misfortune to my parents, and after many treatments, (how many!) had been performed on me. Finally, after taking counsel with them, I entrusted myself for surgery to the surgeons in the hospital Sampson, and I reclined in the hospital room near to the entrance to the area devoted to eyes.

After I had been treated all over for three days at night with cold cauteries, surgery was performed on the fourth day. I will omit to what horrible things I experienced while on my back.

To sum up everything, I state that I actually despaired of life itself at the hands of the physicians. After God, entreated by the tears of my parents, restored my life to me, and after the scar from the incision and the cautery had healed, and just as I was believing that I was healthy, a short time later, the same condition recurred and so I reverted to my former state…

I had a plan to approach the holy martyr, as I had heard of his many great miracles. Still, I was unwilling to wait in the venerable church feeling ashamed before friends and acquaintances to be seen by them in such condition. But I frequently used to pass by (for at that time, I was staying in the Oxeia). And so I descended to the holy tomb of his precious relics, and I cast some of his holy blessing, I. e. oil on my testicles, hoping to procure a cure in this manner. And frequently, I entreated him to deliver me from the troublesome condition…

After descending to the holy tomb, I found the doors in front open and I was astounded that they were opened at such an hour. This was the doing of the martyr, in his desire to pity me, Stretching out facedown on the holy coffin, I straddled it, and thus contrived to rub the corner of the same Holy tomb on the spot where I was ailing. And with tears, I spoke again to the martyr: “St.Artemios, by God, Who has given you the gift of cures, no doctor on earth will ever touch me again. So if you please, cure me. But if not, to your everlasting shame I will live thus without cure.’ And after some days I went to the bath in the court of Anthemios, the one called Livanon to bathe by myself at dawn in order not to be seen by anyone . And entering the hot chamber, I noticed that I still had the injury. But upon exiting, I had no injury, and recognising the act of kindness on the part of God and the martyr which is befallen me… in thanksgiving… I do now glorify them proclaiming their deeds of greatness throughout my whole life.

From Medieval Miscellany selected by Judith Herrin Pg 54 the Miracle of the Testicles

First published in 2023, revised 2024 and 2025

Posted on

St Etheldreda October 17th 679

St Etheldreda or St Audrey By monk – [1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32907989

I’m republishing this post as I dated it to February 17th rather than October 17th and a few other egregious typos.

Etheldreda, also known as Audrey or Æthelthryth or Æðelþryð or Æþelðryþe is celebrated on October 17th, (the date her remains were ‘translated’ from her burial place to the Church at Ely) and on 23 June the date she died,

She lived from March 4th 636 to June 23rd 679. She is one of the well-born Saxon Virgin Saints of the 7th Century. This is when many royal Abbeys were founded by female members of the Anglo-Saxon Royal families, in the years following the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. She is the daughter of King Anna of East Anglia, and the sister of Saint Sexburga (widow of King Erconbert of Kent).

Etheldreda is said to be a Virgin despite being married twice. Etheldreda was widowed after three years of her first marriage. Then she married Egfrid, son of King Oswy of Northumbria. Egfrid got fed up with her virgin state. With the support of St Wilfrid, St Etheldreda was released to a Nunnery run by Wilfred’s aunt. In 672 she founded the famous double monastery at Ely, which is where the wondrous Cathedral of Ely still stands.

Here she died, and the many miracles that followed, led to Ely being one of the main destinations for Pilgrimages. St Sesxburga took over as Abbess after her death. By the number of Churches and holy days remembering Etheldreda show she was perhaps the most famous female saint of the era.

Tawrdy Audrey

Etheldreda died of a neck tumour, which she blamed on the heavy jewellery she wore around her neck before she became a nun. So she is a patron of those with neck or throat ailments. Accordingly, on February 3rd St Etheldreda’s Church in London holds the Blessing of the Throats ceremony. St Blaise is also a saint protecting the throat and you might like to read my post about him and throats here.

Pilgrims used to buy cheap, old-fashioned linen from the market at Ely, which they would wear around their neck to protect or cure them of throat illnesses. Puritans satirised the practice by coining the word Tawdry, from St Audrey, which came to represent cheap goods sold to gullible pilgrims.

Mopsa the shepherdess in Shakespeare’s Twelfth night says to her sweetheart:

“Come, you promised me a tawdry-lace and a pair of sweet gloves.

Have a look at this excellent article to read more about Tawdry and St Etheldreda.

However, I thought something was amiss and searched for Tawdry in the excellent website SHAKESPEARE’S WORDS by DAVID CRYSTAL & BEN CRYSTAL (which I use all the time). And indeed Mopsa is not in Twelfth Night but in the Winter’s Tale which I saw recently at the RSC. Mopsa’s man can’t buy it for her as he has been cheated out of his money by the fey Autolycus.

St Etheldreda’s Church in Ely Place London

Church of St Etheldreda., Ely Place London
Church of St Etheldreda., Ely Place London

St Etheldreda’s in London is in Ely Place, near Hatton Garden. There is a lovely old pub there called the ‘Ye Olde Mitre’ (which is a reference to a Bishop’s Mitre). The Church was founded (1250 and 1290) as the London residence of the Bishops of Ely. Inside are memorials to Catholic martyrs executed during the Reformation. (see my post on the Douai Martyrs here).

Ely place was lived in by John of Gaunt following the destruction of his Savoy Palace in the Peasants Revolt. Christopher Hatton rented parts of it in the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. During the Civil War it was used to hold Royalist Prisoners of War. Agnes Wicks fictionally lives at Ely Place. (Agnes is the woman David Copperfield should have married, rather than the ridiculous Dora).

In the 19th Century, the former Chapel was bought by the Catholic Church and restored by George Gilbert Scott.

Etheldreda is remembered in the Church of England with a Lesser Festival on 17 October according to Book of Common Prayer tradition, and alternatively 23 June in the Common Worship calendar of Saints. (Wikipedia.

First Published on October 17th 2025

Posted on

Tally Sticks & Parliament burning down October 16th 1834

The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, 16th October, 1834. Joseph Mallord William Turne Public Domain (Wikipedia). Cleveland Museum of Art

In 1834, the Government decided to end the use of Tally Sticks by the Exchequer and replace them with paper ledgers. They decided to burn the sticks that had been used to record financial transactions for six hundred years. Richard Weobley, the Clerk of Works decided not to give the Tallies to staff as firewood, but to burn them in two stoves below the House of Lords. The chimney was designed for coal not for wood, and it started a fire that destroyed virtually the entire Houses of Parliament and most of the ancient Palace of Westminster.

Engraving of the Old , Pre-fire, Palace of Westminster.

Architects including Sir John Soane and Robert Adams warned about the dangers of a fire at the complex which were built before modern fire prevention methods, such as fire walls, and fire doors. But they were ignored. There was no Fire Brigade just a few antiquated old Parish Engines. but, the Insurance companies had created the London Fire Engine Establishment (LFEE) led by the charismatic James Braidwood. However, the Palace was not covered by insurance.

None the less the LFEE turned up. Initially they could do little as the Thames was low and they could not get enough water to help stop the fire. But later as the Tide rose, the water supply improved. Also, the LFEE could now bring up its LFEE’s floating fire engine from storage in Rotherhithe. Braidwood got his men to spray the famous Hammer beam roof with water, and the 11th Century, Westminster Hall survived. The roof was installed by Master Carpenter, Hugh Herland in the 14th Century when the Hall was reroofed. The timber came from the Farnham area of Surrey. (for more on the Fire look here).

The Hammerbeam Roof of Westminster Hall, Saved by James Braidwoof’s Fire Engine Establishment.

The fire was such a conflagration that thousands of Londoners came to see it. It was not long after very unpopular Acts of Parliament including the Great Reform Bill of 1832, which failed to give the vote to the working class, and the Poor Law Amendment which Dickens attacks in Oliver Twist. (see my post of the Chimes for more on Dickens’s Social Journalism).

It is said the Londoners cheered as the Palace burnt down. Thomas Carlyle, remembered: ‘the crowd was quiet, rather pleased than otherwise; whew’d and whistled when the breeze came as if to encourage it: “there’s a flare-up (what we call shine) for the House o’ Lords.”—”A judgment for the Poor-Law Bill!”—”There go their hacts” (acts)! Such exclamations seemed to be the prevailing ones. A man sorry I did not anywhere see. (reported in Wikipedia.

Tally Sticks

Sketch up Sketch of Tally sticks. The Foil is the shorter part at the bottom of the picture, and the Stock is the longer L-shaped piece. The lines represent pounds, shillings and pence. The V represents £20.

From the Medieval period, England used Tally Stick for public finances. These were held by the Exchequer. The Government’s financial division gets this name from a chequered cloth which was used to help reckoning up revenues. They used 6 inch lengths of Willow cut on the banks of the Thames, to keep records of transactions. The willow would be marked with lines to represent the amount of money involved in transactions – say a sale of a farm. The willow tally would be split longways about 5 inches of its length. One piece the foil would be given to the debtor, and the other piece, the stock, would be kept by the creditor ~(usually the Government). Each part of the Tally also had the details of the transaction in ink. The pieces could also be used to transfer the debt, and could act almost like currency.

But the genius of the ideas is that it is effective against fraud. The two parts of the stick, would not only have to match with the lines which were cut across them but also the natural grain of the wood, which would provide a unique fingerprint, proof against fraud.

Screenshot from UK Parliament Web site https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/building/palace/estatehistory/from-the-parliamentary-collections/fire-of-westminster/tallysticks/

To read more about Tally Sticks, please read:

https://www.geoffreymhodgson.uk/secret-history-of-tally-stick

Or BBC’sTim Harford https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-40189959

Exchequer, in British history, the government department that was responsible for receiving and dispersing the public revenue. The word derives from the Latin scaccarium, “chessboard,” in reference to the checkered cloth on which the reckoning of revenues took place. (https://www.britannica.com/money/Exchequer)

First Published on October 16th, 2025

Posted on

Battle of Hastings October 14th 1066

William the Conqueror before hte Battle of Hastings sitting on his throne with his pudding basin haircut and shaven face

Today is the anniversary of the most fateful battle in British History.  The victory by William the Bastard led to over 300 years or so of control of England by a French aristocratic elite. 

French replaced English as the language of the ruling elite which, over the long term, changed the English language to a powerful, nuanced hybrid language.

Arguably, it also established a class system in which the ruling class was separated from the ruled by language, education, culture, and wealth.  And which has reverberations down to the present time.

It pivoted England from a North Sea power to a European state.  And it may have contributed to England becoming a less community-based society.  To put it briefly, if England had remained focussed on the North Sea region, might we now have a society more like the Scandinavian Countries? – more willing to spend money on the public realm, a more equal and a happier society? A society in which the elite are less willing to educate their children in fee paying schools separate from the people of the country?

Harold’s Strategic Errors

Map of 1066

Personally, I’m quite angry with King Harold II.  He should have won the Battle of Hastings, or at the very least made sure that defeat at that battle did not mean conquest by the Normans.

Harold was in a strong position following the astounding victory over Harold Hadarada at Stamford Bridge, in Yorkshire.  Particularly, if Harold Had not rushed to confront William, but rested and gathered his troops.  This would have allowed his troops to recover and give time for fresh troops to join him .See my posts on the Battle of Stamford Bridge and the Battle of Fulford.

The 1066 claimants to the Throne of England

While waiting, Harold could have arranged the harrying of William’s army. Attacked their supply lines, increasing their anxiety, and sapping their resolution.  When Harold had reached maximum strength, then would be the time to take on the weakened Norman Army.

But also, he should have had a succession plan. What would happen if he lost the battle?  Who was to succeed him?  As it was, he took his two brothers with him to the Battle, where all three of them died, leaving no clear adult heir to the throne.  The English soon surrendered to William after the Battle of Hastings, precisely because there was no clear adult successor, unless that person was William himself. 

Why did the English surrender to William?

Given the catastrophe for the English ruling class that William inaugurated, it’s difficult to understand why the English magnates decided to accept William as King.  But let’s have a shot at looking at it from their perspective, they remembered that the reign of King Cnut, a Dane, created a successful fusion of English and Danish culture that was more stable than that of the weak English King Edward the Confessor.  So, recent history taught: better a strong foreign King than a weak English King.

They were not to know that William would ensure that virtually all English nobles, church leaders, language and culture, would be swept aside and replaced by Norman and French alternatives. England would never be the same.

The Battle of Hastings

As to the Battle itself, there is no definitive account of what happened.  We don’t know the composition of the armies nor their number.  Estimates vary from 7,000 to over 20,000. But it was a ferocious battle which lasted all day and was often in the balance. 

Harold fought the battle early, probably for 2 main reasons.  Firstly, he had won the Battle of Stamford Bridge with the same tactics of fighting immediately after a long march, surprising the enemy and winning an overwhelming victory.  Secondly, William had landed on Harold’s own personal land and Harold would not have easily borne a foreign power devastating his people. 

Normans burning English houses.
Reading Museum copy of the Bayeaux Tapestry Photo Kevin Flude

So, he matched as quickly as he could from London to Senlac near Hastings, where Battle Abbey would be later sited.  He chose the top of a ridge, with a stream or ditch in front of it.  William accepted battle and fighting began early in the day.  Troops were still arriving to reinforce Harold.  All he needed to do was hold his ground till dark and reinforcements would probably have made William’s position untenable.

Harold would have established his shield wall, although there are suggestions this was done while the Normans attached. 

Mounted Normans confront the Saxon Shield Wall. 
Reading Museum copy of the Bayeaux Tapestry Photo Kevin Flude

Harold seems to have held the ground until late afternoon.  There are suggestions that his army was weakened by their rash pursuit of the retreating Normans down the hill.  The Normans thought William was killed but he showed his face to reassure his troops, rallied his troops and turned on the English who, without the protection of their shield wall and the high ground, were badly mauled.  The Normans renewed their attack.

At some point Harold’s brothers were killed, followed by Harold himself, possibly after being injured in the face by an arrow, but that is not proven. 

Is it Harold? Is this an Arrow in his eye? Is this what killed him?
Reading Museum copy of the Bayeaux Tapestry
Is this the fatal blow that, delivered by a Norman horseman, killed Harold?
Reading Museum copy of the Bayeaux Tapestry

As darkness fell the English retreated, pursued by the Normans.  The English fled back to London.  In the following days, the Normans attached London Bridge, but Londoners stoutly defended the Bridge. They were led by the  Portreeve Ansgar. He h ad been wounded at Hastings and was carried in a litter during the siege. The Portreeve was the King’s official in London, similar to a Shire Reeve.  He also had the Danish title of ‘Staller’.  The next day the Witangemote met in London and elected Edgar the Atheling as King. He was a nephew of Edward the Confessor, but only about 14 years old.

The Normans retreated from London and proceeded to harry the South, trying to find a crossing point over the Thames. We will return to the story in the following weeks.

Charlie Watts and the Bayeaux Tapestry

Charlie Watts owned a 19th Century reproduction of the Bayeaux Tapestry and this has recently been sold. It was photographed by a V&A photographer. ( To see more follow the link below.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/29/bayeux-museum-lands-19th-century-reproduction-of-tapestry-for-16000?utm_term=65b730e6db0a371ac9c15f2aed7f9cf8&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayUK&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=GTUK_email

The Tapestry is also coming to the UK on exhibition at the BM in 2026

On This Day

1586 Mary, Queen of Scots put on trial accused of Treason

1964 Martin Luther King wins Nobel Peace Prize. (see also my page on his visit to St Pauls Cathedral)

First Published in 2024, revised 2025

Posted on

I went to the Stratford-upon-Avon Mop on October 12th

2024 Statford-upon-Avon Mop. Photo Kevin Flude

This year the Stratford Mop fair was on the 11th and 12th October, and I was there to see it!As I reposted a long post about the Mop a couple of days ago, I thought I should report back. To recap, the Mop began as a Michaelmas (Old Style) Hiring Fair, and has continued in Stratford ever since. But the modern incarnation is no longer a Hiring Fair and no shepherds were to be seen.

2024 Stratford on Avon Mop. Photo Kevin Flude

The centre of the Town was crowded with a cacophony of shooting galleries, games to win soft toys, stalls selling toffee apples, candy floss, burgers, and all things bad for you. And interspersed with the stalls were all sorts of rides, carousels and all the raucous fun of the fair.

Stratford-upon-Avon Mop Festival (2023 sign)

You might have noticed I have labelled the photographs differently, one Stratford-upon-Avon, the other Stratford-on-Avon. Most prefer the ‘upon’ but I thought this wrong as the Council building in Church Street uses the simpler ‘on’. Having looked it up, I see that the answer is both are correct. Stratford-upon-Avon is used for the Town, and Stratford-on-Avon for the Town and area around the town. Now you know!

Now, I cannot find any reference in Shakespeare to a funfair, and all references to a Mop, are to the thing you mop the floor with. But he does mention St Bartholemew’s Fair obliquely, and certainly knew his friend, Ben Jonson’s Play ‘St Bartholemew’s Fair’. It is a great play based in London, at the annual fair in Smithfield. It was one of the great Wool fairs of England. It was held every year on St Bartholemew’s Day August 24th, and lasting sometimes weeks long. Please read my post on Bartlemas here.

Posted on

Going to the Mop in Stratford-upon-Avon & Henley-in-Arden 11th & 12th October

The Mop Festival in Stratford-upon-Avon

This year the Stratford mop festival was on the 11th and 12th October. I am in Stratford. The the centre of town is a cacophany of shooting galleries, stalls selling toffee apples, candy floss, burgers and all things bad for you. And a fun fair.Nothing at all sophisticated, or literary or dramatic, or folkloric. Just a good old-fashioned fun fair in the middle of the town. Quite raucous, but they leave Henley Street, and Shakespeare’s’ Birthplace, free of it. Below I tell the story of my discovery of the Mop.

2024 Statford-upon-Avon Mop. Photo Kevin Flude
2024 Stratford on Avon Mop. Photo Kevin Flude

In 2023, I was on my way to Stratford-upon-Avon Railway station, I saw the sign at the top of this page, but had no idea what on earth a Mop was. I put it to the back of my mind as I took the train to Henley-in-Arden. My interest in the town was that Shakespeare was born in Henley St. And his mother was called Mary of Arden. So, naturally, I wanted to find out about Henley-in-Arden. To turn curiosity to action, it took our Tour Coach Driver telling me he lived there and that it was a pretty but small town.

Mary Arden doesn’t live here any more!

I had a free afternoon from my duties as Course Director on the ‘Best of England’ Road Scholar trip. I got on the very slow train to Henley-in-Arden. One of the first stops was Wilmcote, where Mary Arden’s House is. I visited two years ago, when I was astonished to find it was a different building to the one I had visited in the 1990s! In 2000, they discovered they had been showing the wrong building to visitors for years! Mary Arden’s House was, in fact, her neighbour Adam Palmer’s. And her house was Glebe Farm.

On that visit, I walked from Stratford-upon-Avon to Anne Hathaway’s Cottage. Then to Mary Arden’s House and back to Stratford along the Stratford Canal. It is a lovely country walk if you are ever in the area.

The Forest of Arden

The train route to Henley is through what remains of the ancient forest of Arden. The forest features in, or inspired, the woody Arcadian idylls which feature in several of Shakespeare’s plays, particularly the Comedies. ‘As You Like It’, for example, is explicitly set in the Forest of Arden, as this quotation from AYL I.i.107 makes clear:

Oliver:  Where will the old Duke live?

Charles. They say he is already in the Forest of Arden, and a many merry men with him; and there they live like the old Robin Hood of England: they say many young gentlemen flock to him every day, and fleet the time carelessly as they did in the golden world.

Guildhall, Henley-in-Arden

Henley-in-Arden

Not much remains of the old Forest. It was cut down to make timber-framed buildings and ships for the British Navy – the so-called Wooden Walls. Henley has a beautiful high street. Further down the road is a lovely Heritage Centre full of old-fashioned and DIY Information panels. And that is not a criticism, it provided a very enjoyable visit full of interesting stuff. And gave me a couple of snippets of information I have not seen anywhere else.

One, was a panel dedicated to the Henley Mop. A mop turns out to be a hiring fair. Think of Gabriel Oak in Hardy’s ‘Far from the Madding Crowd’. His attempt to become an independent farmer destroyed when his sheepdog runs amok. The dog sends his sheep over a cliff to their doom. So he takes his shepherd’s crock to the hiring fair or Mop as they are known in the Midlands. There, potential employers can size up possible employees and strike mutually agreeable terms and conditions. And Gabriel becomes the shepherd for the delightful and wilful Bathsheba Everdene.

So, a shepherd would take his staff, or a loop of wool. A cleaner her mop (hence the name of the fair). A waggoner a piece of whipcord. A shearer their shears etc. Similarly, in the Woodlanders (by Thomas Hardy) the cider-maker, Giles Winterborne, brings an apple tree in a tub to Sherborne, to advertise his wares.

The retainers thus employed would be given an advance and would be engaged, normally, for the year. So there was quite a widespread moving around of working people to new jobs and often new housing. Not quite how we imagine the past?

The perceptive among you will have noted the bottom of the sign in Stratford which advertised the ‘Runaway Mop’. This was held later in the year, so that employers could replace those who ran away from their contracts. And those who ran away could find a better, kinder or more generous boss. See also my post of Gabriel Oak and Pack Rag Day which is another hiring fair which was help on Martinmas Old Style.

Henley Mop – panel from the heritage centre

Court Leets and Barons

Also of interest to me was the panel about Court Leets and Barons. These were the ancient courts which dealt with, respectively, crime and disorder, and property and neighbourhood disputes. Henley still has its ancient manorial systems in use, at least ceremonially. The Centre shows a video of the installation of a new Lord of the Manor at the Guildhall. The title had been purchased by a cigar-smoking Stetson-wearing large rich American.

Johnson’s Coaches

Another panel was the story of a Coaching Company. When I lead the Best of England programme we are driven around by Johnson’s Coach Company. It was a delight to discover that it has a history that can be traced back to 1909 in Henley. I conveyed this information to our group on the next day as we toured the Cotswolds. Curtis, our driver, was able to update the panel. He told us that the family were still involved with the firm, which is still operating from the area. He said the two brothers who run the company come in every working day. They do everything they require of their drivers to do; i.e. they drive coaches, clean coaches, sweep the floors and generally treat their staff like part of a big family. I should have asked him whether he got his job at the Mop, while holding a steering wheel in his hands!

Johnson’s Coach Company -Panel from Henley Heritage Centre

Note: It seems that Johnson has now merged with another company. But it keeps its depot in Henley and maintains its connection with the town.

First published in 2023 updated 2024, 2025

Posted on

Michaelmas Old Style – October 11th

Michaelmas Old Style. St. Michael weighing souls during the Last Judgement, Antiphonale Cisterciense (15th century), Abbey Bibliotheca, Rein Abbey, Austria (Wikimedia by Dnalor_01 license (CC-BY-SA 3.0))

I am catching up as I have been away. So I’m a little behind in my days.

October 11th is the day that the Devil fell out of heaven and landed in a Blackberry Bush. So. you are, therefore, not wise to eat them after October 11th. St Michael’s Day is now celebrated on September 29th (see my post here). But before September 1752, it was celebrated on what is now October 11th, now styled ‘Michaelmas Old Style’. The change of date is due to the introduction in the UK of the Gregorian Calendar.

Saint Michael is the chief of the archangels. Saint Gabriel was celebrated on the eve of the Annunciation on 24 March (see my post here). St Raphael on the 24th October, But more recently the Churches celebrate all the Archangels at Michaelmas. It is now called the celebration of St Michael and All Angels.

Terms. Colleges, Lawyers and Quarterdays

Apart from its religious significance, St Michael’s Mass was an important date on the civic calendar. Terms began, rent fell due, and work contracts ran out. It was the end of the ploughman’s year, and the day when Hiring Festivals or Mop Festivals took place. Look at my post on the Stratford Mop festival

So in Oxford, the autumn term is called Michaelmas. The Spring Term Hilary on St Hilary’s Festival of January 14th. The third term is called Trinity, which takes place on Trinity Sunday the first Sunday after Pentecost. The law courts also have a Michaelmas term.

It is one of the Quarter Day’s of the year, close to the Solstices and the Equinox into which the medieval and early modern world was divided:

(The above list is copied from Wikipedia).

Eat a Goose for Good luck at Michaelmas

It is probably too late to tell you this year. But “if you eat goose on Michaelmas Day you will never lack money all year“. Or as they said in Yorkshire: ‘He’at eateth goose on Michaelmas won’t find his pockets short of brass.’ Jane Austen wrote to Cassandra on Michaelmas 1813 ‘I dined upon goose today, which I hope with secure a good sale of my second edition.’ Pride and Prejudice was published in 1813.

St Michael is one of several archangels. He was protector of the Israel. He has four main roles in heaven. He is the leader of the heavenly host in its defeat of Satan. He is the Angel of Death, the Weigher of Souls, and the Guardian of the Church. For more on archangels, see the second half of my post on Michaelmas here.

On this day

The Romans celebrated ‘meditrinalia’ where they celebrated the new wine and the Gods that made it possible. They toasted the wine chanting:

‘I drink old and new wine to cure old and new disease.’

First Published in 2024, revised in 2025

Privacy Policy Proudly powered by WordPress