Category: Folklore

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June & Juno, Queen of Goddesses

Palazzo Scifanoia, Ferrara Showing Fresco of June

June is, probably, named after Juno, the leading lady of Olympus, sister and brother to the Great God Jupiter (Jove). In Welsh, it’s ‘Mehefin’ – Midsummer. In Gaelic, ‘An t’Og mhios’ – the Young Month. In Anglo-Saxon, ‘Litha’, the month of the Midsummer Moon.

I am in Ferrara where I worked on a joint UK/Italian excavation in the 1980’s. We are currently at a reunion, in the beautiful UNESCO World Heritage City. The weather is beautiful, and so are the people and the City! One of its gems is the Palazzo Schifanioa, which was the home of the Este Family, Dukes of Ferrara. Borso D’Este in the 15th Century initiated the frescos on the wall of the Hall of the Months. There is one for each month although not all survive in recognisable form. But above is June. The top panels show the Gods of the Month with their chariots or waggons. Below are the star signs for the month, and at the bottom a scene from 15th Century seen from an aristocratic perspective. June has a delightful agricultural scene. You will see more of these in future months. Although I won’t say much today as its difficult to do anything serious without a desk and a decent internet connection.

Black and white engraving for June from Kalendar of Shepherds.
Kalendar of Shepherds. Title page for June

The picture above is from the Kalendar of Shepherds, with its 15th Century French Illustration. It shows shearing as the main occupation for the month but set within a flowery summer scene. In the roundels are the Gemini twins and the Cancer Crab, the star signs of June.

The text of the Kalendar of Shepherds gives a lyrical view of the joys of June:

From Kalendar of Shepherds, 17th Century Text Wellcome Library
From Kalendar of Shepherds, 17th Century Text Wellcome Library

June might come, not from Juno’s name, but from an Indo-European word for youth or vital energy. Ovid in Fasti, his poem about the Roman Year, lets Juno make her own case:

‘O poet, singer of the Roman year,
Who dares to tell great things in slender measures,
You’ve won the right to view a celestial power,
By choosing to celebrate the festivals in your verse.
But so you’re not ignorant or led astray by error.
June in fact takes its name from mine.
It’s something to have wed Jove, and to be Jove’s sister:
I’m not sure if I’m prouder of brother or husband.
If you consider lineage, I was first to call Saturn
Father, I was the first child fate granted to him.
Rome was once named Saturnia, after my father:
This was the first place he came to, exiled from heaven.
If the marriage bed counts at all, I’m called the
Thunderer’s Wife, and my shrine’s joined to that of Tarpeian Jove.
If his mistress could give her name to the month of May,
Shall a similar honour be begrudged to me?
Or why am I called queen and chief of goddesses?
Why did they place a golden sceptre in my hand?’

Translated by A. S. Kline © Copyright 2004 All Rights Reserved

In the previous Book (on May), Ovid told another story that June was named for young men.

‘So I deduce that the elders gave their own title
To the month of May: and looked after their own interests.
Numitor too may have said: ‘Romulus, grant this month
To the old men’ and his grandson may have yielded.
The following month, June, named for young men’
Gives no slight proof of the honour intended.’

The Latin for ‘Young men’ comes from the Latin iuvenis, “youth”)

But let’s not go into Indo-European roots, and let’s simply accept the most wonderful month is named after Juno, the Queen of Goddesses, the deity of marriage and women. Probably most famous for hating the Trojans – she had a grudge against Paris, as he ruled against her in that famous divine beauty competition. And more seriously, what other reaction can the Deity of Marriage, have to the man who showed such disregard for the sanctity of marriage that he ran away with the already spoken for Helen?

The Judgment of Paris 1700 by Daniel Purcell. Houghton Museum (Paris, Venus, Juno, Minerva)

‘A sweet season, the senses perfume and the spirits comfort.’

First Written in June 2023 and revised June 2024, 2025

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May & June: Dandelions, Hinder Fallings and Bed Wetting

This post sprang from something that my grandson said to  in the middle of the park. He was curious as to why I was concerned that the park toilets were out of action. He told me I could, like him, just pull down my trousers and wee, right here, right then, up against the tree in the park. My attempt at explanation drew a perplexed, ‘What?’ ‘What?’ is his new word. After an explanation, his next word is invariable another ‘What?’.Hopefully the relevance of this will become apparent.

May and June are the most prolific months for dandelions, which used to be known as ‘piss-a-beds’. They are diuretic and were often eaten, and so might well have consequences for the young trainee child.

John Hollybush in his 1561 ‘The Homish Apothecary’ says:

‘When a young body does piss in his bed either oft or seldom: if ye will help him take the bladder of a goat and dry it to powder, and get him to drink with wine, or else take the beans or hinder fallings of a goat, and give him of the powder in his meat morning and evening, a quarter ounce at every time.’

(quoted in ‘The Perpetual Almanac by Charles Kightley)

Hinder fallings are what falls out of the hind-quarters of a goat. I’m not sure even an indulgent Grandparent is allowed to give droppings and wine to the little ones. Nor can I find any mention of goat products in modern medical recommendations. So I won’t be recommending this as a practical aid.

Medically, dandelions were very well regarded. Mrs Grieve’s ‘Modern Herbal’ reports that it are diuretic and a general stimulant to the system but particularly the urinary system. They were good for liver and kidney complaints; gall-stones; and piles. They were considered excellent to eat and drink. Particularly, dandelion sandwiches using young leaves, with salt, pepper, and lemon juice. They were also taken in salads, teas, and beers.

We used to blow the seeds from the dandelion seed head saying ‘She loves me. She loves me not’ at each blow, until the truth was revealed.

First written in June 2023, revised june 2024,2025.  Rewritten 2025

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Cotswolds Olimpicks May 30th

screen shot from https://youtube.com/shorts/wBOPAZ2131Y?si=UEED_F8QjSb_wW6Z

I’m in Ferrara, in the Po Valley near Bologna.  Hence, falling behind on posts!  I am on holiday but attending a reunion of Archaeologists who excavated here in the 1980’s.  It was a collaboration between Italian and UK archaeologists.  The British contingent was mostly from the Museum of London.  More to follow over the next few days.

But on the 30th May I planned to tell you about the Cotswolds’ Olimpicks.  This was set up by Robert Dover on a hill near Chipping Camden, in the early 17th Century.

Inspired by the Greek Olympics, he felt the modern world could do with an infusion of the original spirit.

The Olimpicks has a collection of tradition sports such as the sack race, and the tug of war.  But the one that receives the most attention is shin-kicking.  Two contestants try to knock each other over by kicking each other in the shins!  They are not supposed to pull or push their opponent over. Or use Judo style throws.  Protective gear is supplied in the form of straw or hay packed down the socks.

For other Cotswolds content look at my posts

coopers-hill-cheese-rolling-may-26th/

campden-house-fire-sunday-march-23rd-1862/

chipping-campden-murder-august-16th-1660/

First published 1 June 2025

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Oak apple day May 29th

Charles II from an old illustration
Charles II from an old illustration

Oak Apple Day was set up by Parliament in 1660 as “An Act for a Perpetual Anniversary of Thanksgiving”.  They were celebrating the restoration of Charles II to the throne in May of 1660. The Day was abolished in 1859, but a few places continue to celebrate the day.

The Oak was chosen partly as a symbol of England but particularly because after Cromwell’s Parliamentary Army defeated the Royalists at the Battle of Worcester (September 3rd 1651), Charles hid in an Oak Tree near Boscobel House in Shropshire on his epic journey to the South Coast and the safety of France.

People wore oak apples (or shick-shacks) which are a type of ‘plant-gall‘. This is an abnormal growth from a point of irritation on a plant. Or they were used sprigs of Oak leaves.

The text of the Parliamentary Bill said:

That in all succeeding ages, the 29th of May be celebrated in every parish Church and Chapel in England and the Dominions thereof, by rendering thanks to God for the Kings (Charles II’s) restoration to actual possession and exercise of his legal authority over his subjects’

Church Services for the Restoration; for the preservation from the Gunpowder Plot and the death of Charles the First were kept up until the year 1859.

You might like to look at my post:

Charles I’s Martyrdom & ‘Get Back’ January 30th
and I posted on John Evelyn’s reaction to the Restoration
John Evelyn’s Death 27th February 1706

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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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St Pancras May 12th

Ruins of St Pancras, Canterbury Photo: K Flude (note the reused Roman Bricks.)

Pancras means ‘all-powerful’ in Greek. St Pancras was a 14 year old who refused to give up his Christian Faith during the persecution of Christians by the Emperor Diocletian. He was beheaded on the Via Aurelia, traditionally, on 12 May 303 AD. His youth makes him the Patron Saint of children, but he is also the patron saint of jobs and health. He is ‘invoked’ against cramps, false witnesses, headaches, and perjury. His body was buried in the Catacombs, but his head is kept in a reliquary in the Church of Saint Pancras in Rome, where he was buried.

Ice Saints

He is also one of the Ice Saints.  These are saints with feast days from May 11th to May 14th.  They are: St. Mamertus, St. Pancras, and St. Servatius (and in some countries, Saint Boniface of Tarsus – Wikipedia). They represent a belief that there was often a cold snap in early May.  Although modern statistics disprove this, it is however true that a late frost can cause havoc with crops.  So  the Ice Saints help persuade farmers to delay sowing.

St Pancras in England

St Pancras, Old Church, London (Photo: Kevin Flude)

Pope Gregory is said to have given St Augustine relics from St Pancras when his mission came to Kent in 597AD. They built a church dedicated to St Pancras. The ruins still survive in the grounds of what is now St Augustine’s, Canterbury (see picture at tope of post).

This story is partly responsible for the claims that St Pancras Old Church, in Camden (pictured above) is a very old foundation. The idea being that there was a late Roman place of worship here. But there is very little solid evidence for this. It is also argued that, if it isn’t late Roman, then it dates to just after 604AD. This is when St Mellitus, sent by St Augustine, established St Pauls Cathedral. It is suggested that he also founded St Pancras Church. St Pancras’ Church was a Prebend of St Pauls Cathedral (a Prebend provides the stipend (pay) to support a Canon of a Cathedral). But this is not evidence it was established as early as the Cathedral was, and there really isn’t any other credible evidence for a 604 date.

When the Church was restored, the architects said it was mostly Tudor work with traces of Norman architecture. However, the suggested finding of a Roman tile or two, reused in the fabric, is used as evidence to keep the legend going.

If you read the Wikipedia page, you will see evidence of two strands to the contributions. One is playing down the legends of its early foundation. The other trying to keep hold of its place as among the ‘earliest sites of Christian worship’. Read the wikipedia page here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Pancras_Old_Church to make up your own mind.

It is a lovely Church, on an impressive site, with links to Thomas Hardy, and Sir John Soane whose tomb is the design inspiration for the iconic Red Telephone Box.

The End of Hardy’s tree

Headaches

As Patron Saint of Headaches, St Pancras Day is a good day to make worms come out of your head. Or so say the Fairfax Household Book of the 17th/18th Century as quoted in Charles Kightly’s ‘The Perpetual Almanac’:

‘To make a worm come out of the head. Take, in May, the marrow of a bull or cow, and put it warm into the ear, and the worm will come forth for sweetness of the marrow.’

Generally, willowbark was used for headaches. We know this would have worked as the bark contains salicin, which is converted by the body into salicylic acid. This is a precursor to aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid). But it is not as effective.

First Published in 2024, revised 2025

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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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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