I wanted to find something about the winter as experienced in World War 1. Why? Because I watched a very moving film about World War 1 by Derek Jarman called ‘War Requiem’. It put images to the music by Benjamin Britten. I also listened to a radio piece on ‘Spring Offensives’ to give a long view on what was happening in Ukraine. And below I talk about the offensive near St Eloi.Trenches
I found this war poem which vividly sets a winter war scene:
Searchlight F. S. Flint
There has been no sound of guns, No roar of exploding bombs; But the darkness has an edge That grits the nerves of the sleeper.
He awakens; Nothing disturbs the stillness, Save perhaps the light, slow flap, Once only, of the curtain Dim in the darkness.
Yet there is something else That drags him from his bed; And he stands in the darkness With his feet cold against the floor And the cold air round his ankles. He does not know why, But he goes to the window and sees A beam of light, miles high, Dividing the night into two before him, Still, stark and throbbing.
The houses and gardens beneath Lie under the snow Quiet and tinged with purple.
There has been no sound of guns, No roar of exploding bombs; Only that watchfulness hidden among the snow-covered houses, And that great beam thrusting back into heaven The light taken from it.
Trenches at St Eloi
My search also showed that, on this day in 1915, the British retook trenches at St Eloi. St Eloi was just behind the Southern edge of the Ypres Salient, a bulge of allied territory surrounded on three sides by German forces and the site of the five battles of Ypres. Fighting continued here from 1914 through into 1918 when the Germans were finally pushed out of the Salient.
World War I destruction in Ypres (wikipedia)
St Eloi struck a bell as St Eloy, is mentioned in the Canterbury Tales as he was a very popular saint in the medieval period. The Saint was also responsible for converting Flanders to Christianity in the 7th Century. Properly called St. Eligius he is the patron saint of horses and cattle, farriers, blacksmiths, metalworkers, goldsmiths. And also of mechanics in general (including the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, forerunners of whom fought at Ypres).
According to legend Eligius was having trouble shoeing a horse, which he thought was possessed. So he cut the horse’s leg off, re-shoed the amputated leg and then reattached the leg back on the horse. The horse trotted off none the worse for the experience. St Eloy was noted for refusing to swear an oath, and it is ironic that the Prioress swears, according to Chaucer, by St Eloy. His Saint’s Day is 1 December.
For this was St. Valentine’s Day When every bird came there to chose their mate. Of every type, that men think may And that so huge a noise did they make That earth and sea and tree and every lake So full was, that hardly was there space For to stand so full was the place.
St Valentine’s Patronage
This is the first reference to St Valentine’s as a romantic day. And some people charge Chaucer with making the whole thing up! St Valentine, is supposed to have been martyred in the 3rd Century (290AD) on the Via Flaminia on February 14. He refused to stop marrying people in the Christian rites. He is therefore the patron Saint of lovers. He is also the patron Saint of epileptics, fainting and beekeepers. According to legend, Valentine taught a young blind girl how to look after Bees, and, sometime later, her eyesight was restored. He also is said to have treated a young man of epilepsy. Epilepsy was sometimes called the Falling Sickness, and so he is also the Saint of Fainting.
But until Chaucer, there was no particular link with romance. In fact, there are at least three Saint Valentines who were martyred in the Roman period. Their relics are scattered around Europe (have a look at this National Geographic article for the full S.P.). These include bones in Glasgow and his heart in Dublin. There are 11 Saints called Valentine in the list of Catholic Saints.
St Valentine’s Day and Birds
Chaucer’s poem suggests one possible route to the link with romance. This is about the time when birds pair off. If they want to have their chicks at the optimal time, then they need to get going before spring has really sprung.
When I think of love, I don’t think of birds. Maybe, this is because I live by a Canal. Outside my garden, I frequently see and hear a Coot chasing his pair across the water before violently mounting her. But then they are fiercely monogamous and defend their nest, fearlessly, against much bigger birds. And swans glide by in beautiful family groups. But Magpies are my favourite lovebird because you see one, and then look around, and you very often see the partner. I have adopted an old tradition that you are supposed to say:
‘Hello, Mr Magpie! Where’s Mrs Magpie?’
And look for the mate. It is good luck if you see her and bad luck if you don’t. (Please feel free to assign your own favourite gender!)
‘One for Sorrow’ is a well-known nursery rhyme found in many variations, and is an example of ‘ornithomancy superstition’ whereby the number of Magpies you see determines some aspect of your future. As to the likelihood of seeing thirteen magpies together – they always appear to be in pairs to me, or singletons, and occasionally threes. Magpies normally mate for life, and are not gregarious during the nesting season, but thereafter, they ‘join together in large wintering flocks of more than 20 or so birds.‘. So, perhaps we need at least another seven lines for the rhyme? So, far I have never seen a flock of them. If you have a photo of a flock, please send it to me!
One for sorrow, Two for joy, Three for a girl, Four for a boy, Five for silver, Six for gold, Seven for a secret, Never to be told. Eight for a wish, Nine for a kiss, Ten a surprise you should be careful not to miss, Eleven for health, Twelve for wealth, Thirteen beware it’s the devil himself.
Here is another, more dangerous version (you are more likely to see the Devil)
One for sorrow, Two for mirth Three for a funeral, Four for birth Five for heaven Six for hell Seven for the devil, his own self
For details of the history of versions of this poem, click here:
Magpies don’t have a good reputation, traditionally being regarded as thieves and scavengers with untidy nests and eating habits. They are supposed to be attracted to shiny things, but Exeter University did some research which found that they have the normal Corvid’s curiosity for objects. But they are as happy to snatch a dull object as a shiny one. So, we can see they are very intelligent as well as faithful lovers. For me, a good-omened bird (as long as I see the two of them).
The Greeat Freeze. ‘Skating on the Serpentine’ by Lucien Davis Antique wood-engraved print. Illustrated London News double page from 2 March 1895 (print owned by K Flude)
The Great Freeze
London, February 12. There is no abatement of the abnormally cold weather which has prevailed in northern Europe for the last week. The Upper Thames is frozen over, and huge blocks of ice breaking away from the mass are floating down, the river, causing much damage to the smaller shipping craft. Water traffic is consequently at a complete standstill.
Many cases of death from cold and exposure are reported, the privation and distress in the east end of the city being particularly severe. The cold is so intense that birds are found frozen to death on the branches of the trees, and thousands are perishing. The severe weather has also directly caused considerable mortality, a number of deaths from exposure having been reported among postmen, omnibus drivers, cabmen, and labourers.
Winter of 1895 Limehouse to left, Tower of London to right. Images from Isle of Dogs blog.
1895 was the culmination of a decade of particularly cold winters (and for some the end of the so-called Little Ice Age). On the 11th February, the coldest day in British History was recorded at Braemar at −27.2 °C. February 1895 was the second coldest on record, with the lowest minimum temperatures on record. Shipping in the biggest port in the world was stopped. Many workers were laid off, and had to resort to what were then called ‘soup kitchens’ and now ‘food banks’. Winter death rates were said to be doubled, with people dying in the street and in unheated homes.
Record minima were set for these dates in February 1895:
7th: −21.7 °C or −7.1 °F
8th: −25.0 °C or −13.0 °F
9th: −23.9 °C or −11.0 °F
10th: −25.6 °C or −14.1 °F
11th: −27.2 °C or −17.0 °F
12th: −20.6 °C or −5.1 °F
13th: −21.9 °C or −7.4 °F
14th: −21.7 °C or −7.1 °F
16th: −23.9 °C or −11.0 °F
17th: −23.9 °C or −11.0 °F
18th: −23.9 °C or −11.0 °F
19th: −22.2 °C or −8.0 °F
Source Wikipedia.
On the flip side people resorted to ponds around London particularly the Serpentine which had 6 inches of ice and 50,000 skaters, with speed skating competitions.
1554 – Lady Jane Grey was executed after a trial at the Guildhall. Her husband was executed on the same day. Her adoption as heir to the throne was ordered by her cousin Edward VI. His minister, John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, (and Jane’s Father-in-Law) arranged for the Privy Council to accept Jane as the next monarch. They were trying to prevent Henry VIII’s Catholic daughter, Mary taking the throne. Jane was Queen for 9 Days. The Privy Council swapped sides as support for Jane collapsed. Jane was the Great-granddaughter of Henry VII and cousins to Mary, Elizabeth and Edward VI.
Published February 12th 2024, and republished 2025
Saint Apollonia. Woodcut. Saint of Toothache Wellcome Collection. Public Domain Mark. She is shown with forceps and extracted tooth and the martyr’s palm.
The 9th of February is St Apollonia’s Day. She was martyred at Alexandria in 249 AD during the persecution of Emperor Decius. She was attacked during an anti-Christian riot and struck around the face knocking her teeth out. Then, she was taken to a bonfire and told they would throw her in if she did not renounce her faith. So, without waiting, she spoke a prayer and walked into the fire. This information is recorded in a near-contemporary letter from St Dionysius of Alexandria. This is rare well documented martyrdom. Because her teeth were knocked out she is, therefore, Saint of Toothache.
Cloves for Toothache
I can remember my Grandmother prescribing cloves for me when I had toothache. And this was, and is, a common remedy. In my case, we would keep a clove or two in the mouth close to the site of the pain. According to Natural Ways to Sooth an Toothache cloves contain
‘Eugenol, a natural form of anaesthetic and antiseptic that helps get rid of germs. Eugenol is still used in dental materials today’
Dr John Hall, Shakespeare’s son-in-law, tended to use a pill to soothe sore gums. He also used an oil from a wood called ‘Ol. Lig. Heraclei’ which may be oil from the Bay Tree. (‘John Hall and his Patients’ by Joan Lane). Most of his tooth cases seem to be sore gums. This suggests to me Dr John Hall did not generally do dental work.
Death by Toothache
To get a tooth drawn you could go to a Barber Surgeon, a Blacksmiths or specialist Tooth Drawer. It would be terrifyingly painful. Probably only done when the pain was unbearable. Just think what a premium you would pay for a really competent drawer? The drawers would probably not have any formal training, but the skills would be passed on by the drawer to his apprentice or assistant. ‘Teeth’ was a common cause of death – most likely from infection or an abscess.
List of causes of death, London during the plague of 1665. Teeth killed 11 people
Magic and Toothache
John Aubrey, an erudite and educated 17th Century writer, reports on the use of Magick for tooth care. When he relates these unlikely cures he often provides information that the person who told him the story is worthy of belief. So he seems to give some credence to the efficacy of these magical ‘cures’. But, judge for yourself; this is what he wrote:
To Cure the Tooth-ach.
Take a new Nail, and make the Gum bleed with it, and then drive it into an Oak. This did Cure William Neal, Sir William Neal’s Son, a very stout Gentleman, when he was almost Mad with the Pain, and had a mind to have Pistoll’d himself.
To Cure the Tooth-ach, out of Mr. Ashmole’s Manuscript Writ with his own Hand.
Mars, hur, abursa, aburse. Iesu Christ for Marys sake, Take away this Tooth-ach.
Write the words, Three times; and as you say the Words, let the Party burn one Paper, then another, and then the last.
He says, he saw it experimented, and the Party immediately Cured
May, Williams and Bishop at the Old Bailey accused of murder in pursuit of bodysnatching
Teeth and the Body-Snatchers
In 1832, in London Bishop, Williams and May were accused of bodysnatching. After killing the Italian Boy ( wonderful book by Sarah Wise ‘The Italian Boy‘) they jemmied out his teeth. Then, took the teeth to a South London Dentist. with whom they bargained for a good price. (They used the term ‘cheapened’ – I cheap, you cheap, we are cheapening: meaning to barter). The dentist wanted to use the dead boy’s teeth for false teeth for his patients. If memory serves, he paid £1 for them.
The teeth were used as evidence in the trial of the murderers. When the trial was over and the accused punished, the dentist asked for the teeth back! Two of the murderers were hanged but the third freed for turning King’s Evidence. Thereafter, the teeth were released back to the Dentist. He promptly put them in the window of his surgery as an advert for his professional skills!
Earlier, one of the Borough Boys Resurrectionist gang (based in Southwark, London) toured the battlefields of the Peninsular Wars collecting teeth. He made a substantial sum selling them to dentists as false teeth. They became known as Waterloo Teeth.
When I first wrote this in I added ‘How things have changed!’ But in recent years there have been reports of people undertaking their own dental work, if they cannot get access to an NHS dentist. Effectively, it seems that the Conservative Government was allowing dentistry to slip out of the NHS just like it did with eye health. For a study in what has happened to Dentistry in the UK in recent years, please look at this report here.
First written February 2023, revised February 2024, 2025
Screen shot from the Jorvik Viking Festival Site showing all the fun to be had if the Vikings invade your town!
The annual Jorvik Viking Festival is on from Monday 17th – Sunday 23rd February 2025 in York. The illustration above show there are Viking Trails, Feasts, Crafting, Berzerkering and encamping. And more! Visit the web site here.
The excavations under the floor of the Jorvik Centre. Photo K. Flude
York or Jorvik as the Vikings knew it as, has become the centre of all things Viking in the UK. Viking York came to the fore with the Coppergate Excavations in the 1980s. Underneath what is now a shopping mall and Primark, were the streets of Viking York in all its waterlogged glory. The waterlogging allowed the survival of organic material that rarely survives.
Excavation of Jorvik visible under the floor of the Museum. Photo By Chemical Engineer – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=58524883
At the time, the excavations were a sensation. York Archaeological Trust made a bold decision to turn part of the site into a ‘Dark Ride Experience’. The remnants of the excavation were preserved under glass, and nearby a replica of the townscape was created. Tourists sat in ‘cars’ with an audio guide and given a guided tour. It was very successful. The extensive profits were used for other York Archaeological Trust projects such as the reconstruction of medieval Barley Hall. Other historic towns followed suit and soon there were Dark Rides in Canterbury, London, Oxford and others. All, as far as I know have died a death except for the Jorvik Centre which continues to enthral visitors to York.
Tableau from the Jorvik Centre with Fishermen working. Photo By Chemical Engineer – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=58524883
The next best thing about Vikings are their colourfull names. Jorvik history vibrates with the deeds of ‘Ivan the Boneless’, Sihtric ‘the Squinty-eyed’and Erik Bloodaxe. For more on nicknames read my post!
Eleanor Parker’s book, on the Anglo-Saxon Year, is a wonderful book. It has a poetry about it, that also provides an insight into how Anglo-Saxon thought the world works. For a non-Old-English speaker, it, also, really gives some understanding of the language. It reveals that for the Anglo-Saxons, Winter’s End was on the 7th February. We are now in the season of ‘lencten’. This probably comes from ‘lenghtening days’ or Spring as we call it. The word eventually got absorbed into the Christian calendar, giving us the name of the fasting season, which is ‘Lent’.
So Winter began, for the Anglo-Saxon, on 7th October and ended on the 7th February. January was called ‘Gēola‘ the month of Yule. February ‘Sol-mōnaþ‘ which is Mud month. The Venerable Bede in the 8th Century calls this the:
‘month of cakes which they offered to their gods in that month’.
Bede tells us that before conversion to Christianity, the Anglo-Saxons had two seasons – Winter and Summer. Winter began on the first full moon of October, which they called Winterfylleth. The summer was called ‘sumor’ or ‘gear’ which developed into our word ‘year’.
Thought to be the Venerable Bede, the first historian of the English
Roman, Celtic and Saxon Winter’s End
There is some sense in Winter’s End on February 7th. Lambs are being born; buds and shoot are appearing on branches and poking up from the cold earth. So, their winter is essentially, the time when nothing is growing, while ours is more aligned to the coldest period.
The Roman author Marcus Terentius Varro divided the Roman Year into 8 phrases and his Winter/Spring divide is also on 7th February. This is when, in Italy, the west winds began to blow warmer weather. So farmers ‘purged’ the fields, readying them for planting. They would be cleared of old growth and debris. Then blessed, weeded, pruned with particular attention given to preparing the grain fields, the vineyards, olive trees and fruit trees.
The Celtic year began at Halloween, and the spring begins with Imbolc, a week earlier than the Saxon on the 1st of February.
Anglo-Saxon Winter
In the section on Winter Eleanor Parker gives a poetic description of winter. What seems particularly interesting about it is that the harshness of winter is often paired with descriptions of the ruins of Roman Civilisation. So, the despair of winter, the barren soil, the fight for survival is made more melancholic by the comparison to failed civilisation. Nature battering away at the useless ruins, and the destruction of people’s dreams.
Here, is a flavour of the juxtaposition of the bleakness of winter and the sadness of lost society. It is from ‘The Wanderer’ an alliterative poem from the Exeter Book, dating from the late 10th century. I have presumed to change a couple of words to make it a little more accessible.
Who’s wise must see how ghostly it has been when the world and its things stand wasted — like you find, here and there, in this middle space now — there walls totter, wailed around by winds, gnashed by frost, the buildings snow-lapt. The winehalls molder, their Lord lies washed clean of joys, his people all perished, proud by the wall. War ravaged a bunch ferried along the forth-way, others a raptor ravished over lofty seas, this one the hoary wolf broke in its banes, the last a brother graveled in the ground, tears as war-mask.
“That’s the way it goes— the Shaper mills middle-earth to waste until they stand empty, the giants’ work and ancient, drained of the dreams and joys of its dwellers.”
As I read this I wonder if it is a tradition that began in the cold of Scandinavia? England, at least Southern England, can often have mild, rather than ferocious winters?
However, there is also an idea about the circularity of life and the interconnectedness of everything. There are 4 Seasons, 4 Ages of Man, and the cycle was from childhood to old age, from Spring to Winter. We start young, and become vigorous, and then we decline and eventually die. And so does the world of the Anglo-Saxons. The world of Adam was young, restored to vigour by the coming of Jesus. Now the World was in its old age awaiting the Apocalypse, before the Day of Judgement. So Winter was connected with Old Age and Death.
Bede’s Metaphor for Winter
Parker recounts a beautiful image of Bede’s. The King of Northumberland is thinking of taking his wife’s religion. He, therefore, invites the Christian evangelist, Paulinus to his court. Inclined to convert. He asks the opinion of one of his pagan advisers, who answers to the effect.
‘We are in the Great Hall, gathered warm with friends and family around the roaring fire, with Winter raging outside. A sparrow comes in from a hole in the end wall, flies through the warm of the Hall, and flies out through the other side. Such is life. The Hall is this world, we are the Sparrow, and as pagans we have no idea what happens before we enter the Hall, nor what happens after we leave. How much better it is to embrace a religion that can give us certainty as to what happens when we leave the hall.’
Lovely image, although, the pagan adviser does seem to have made his mind up?
Procession of female saints leaving Classis (bottom left) behind the Three Kings heading to the Virgin Mary (bottom right between four angels). Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo (pic. Wikipedia)
When I revised my Saint Agatha post (link see below), I felt I needed an early image of Agatha. After all, her cult spread early on, and therefore, was likely to be genuine.
As I started to track down her image I was led, with some joy, to one of the most amazing Churches in the wonderful town of Ravenna. I visited the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo with some wonderment when working as an archaeologist at Ferrara, in Emilia-Romagna. I found out that Agatha was one of 22 female Saints on one of the walls. I discovered a pretty comprehensive description of the Church. As I looked at it, I found the record was made by, or involved, Professor Bryan Ward-Perkins. He was the Director of the site my friends and I worked on in Ferrara!
Medieval Excavation in Ferrara. The author is in the centre of the photo,
Ravenna
I’m guessing Bryan suggested we visit Ravenna on one of our trips to the beach at nearby Rimini. Ravenna was so awesome because the City became the capital of the Roman Empire in the west. It took over when Rome fell, then it was part of the Ostrogothic Kingdom, then of the Byzantine Empire. It spanned the period of the Arian Heresy.
And so, it was provided with some of the great glories of 5th and 6th Century Architecture. These include the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, the Neronian Baptistery, the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, the Arian Baptistery, the Archiepiscopal Chapel, the Mausoleum of Theodoric, the Church of San Vitale and the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare in Classe.. Its hard to overestimate the impact on a young British archaeologist of seeing 5th Century buildings with roofs and astonishingly detailed mosaics still intact. Please visit!
Detail showing the first four female saints behind the Three Kings. Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo wikipedia
Bryan Ward-Perkins description says ‘All the saints are haloed, bear crowns and are dressed in elaborate court dress. Unlike the men …., all have essentially the same youthful features. The only saint with a distinguishing attribute is Agnes, who is accompanied by a lamb ‘ St Agatha, the list says, is the Saint next to Agnes with her lamb; the third in precedent. You can see her above and in detail below.
St Agatha Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo wikipedia
Motorcycling from Ravenna to Inferno
Enough of the sublime! Now for the ridiculous. Whether on this visit or another, we decided to have a day at the beach at Rimini. After the day on the beach, a collective decision to stay over was made. The reason was to go to one of the big clubs (did we still call them discos?) probably to dance to ‘Frankie Goes to Hollywood’.
Archaeologists, Italian and English, on the beach at Lido di Spina
However, the hotels were all full. So I decided, late at night to go back to Ferrara, on my own on my 175 cc Yamaha motor bike.
My Yamaha 175cc bike looked something like this but was red. A thing of underpowered beauty.
Thing was, I had started the day in Ferrara in the blazing Italian summer heat. So, I had and hopped onto my bike dressed in shorts and t-shirt. Ferrara was 77 miles away (says google). One hour into the trip back I was getting pretty cold, and really not enjoying driving through the lonely countryside. So I decided to pull off the main road to find a rural hostelry for what remained of the night.
Now, I remember this very vividly – the only likely road I could find was signposted to ‘Inferno’. I shrugged my shoulders, wondering what that was about, and drove towards it on a very deserted road. Eventually, I came to a sign which told me I was about to enter ‘Inferno’.
There was something very surreal about the situation. My courage failed me! I was not going to stay in a ‘motel’ in a place called ‘inferno’! I had seen too many horror films set in Motels and one in Inferno seemed madness. So, I turned round and continued my cold journey to Ferrara.
Inferno
Whenever I tell this story, I have some doubt about this story. Did I really drive into a place called ‘Inferno’? But I have, for the first time, checked Google. It tells me that the road off the Rimini to Ferrara road goes through somewhere called: Vicolo Inferno, 40026 Imola BO, Italy.
Saint Agatha, detail from a painting of Francisco de Zurbarán – she is carrying her severed breasts
She is a Sicilian Saint, who refused to sleep with a powerful Roman (Quintianus) in the third Century. St Agatha was imprisoned, tortured, had her breasts pincered off, and still refused to sleep with him and died in prison. She is remembered in Sicily by cakes shaped as breasts eaten on her feast day (I kid you not).
Minne di Sant’Agata, Sicilian (Wikipedia)
She was martyred, at the age of 20 (231-251AD), in the last year of the reign of Emperor Decius (c. 201 AD – June 251 AD). Thus, she is an early martyr whose cult was established in antiquity. But many of the details of her life and death are, as usual, apocryphal and from later traditions.
St Agatha Patronage
‘She is also the patron saint of rape victims, breast cancer patients, martyrs, wet nurses, bell-founders, and bakers. She is invoked against fire, earthquakes, and eruptions of Mount Etna.’
(Wikipedia).
St Agatha’s Church, Kingston on Thames
Bell Founders and Bakers? So, the bakers and bell founders, it is suggested, may have mistaken the trays of breasts as bells or loaves? Unlikely in my opinion, as Google image search shows they look clearly like breasts. They are cakes, of course, so that can help explain the Bakers, but the Bell Founders?
Results of a search for images of St Agatha in Google
St Agatha and Etna
Detail of a Portrait of St Agatha by Cariana (Paintedin 1516-17). In the backgrouns is Catania
A year after her death, Mount Etna erupted. According to the story, the Christians of her home town of Catania lifted the Martyr’s veil towards the flowing lava. And the City was saved as the lava flow stopped. Hence, she protects against eruptions and by extension, earthquakes, and fire. This part of the story I got from my friend Derek who sent me the link to a piece written by Father Patrick van der Vorst. This also has the full image of the detail of painting by Cariani I show here.
19th Century illustration of St Blaise’s Chapel, Westminster Abbey
The Blessing of St Blaise helps protect the throat. The way it is works is that blessed candles are made into a cross.These are then touched against the throat of the afflicted one. Why? Because a story was told that Blaise, on his way to martyrdom, cured a boy who had a fish bone stuck in his throat. So, he is the patron Saint of Sores Throats.
Blaise is thought to have been an Armenian Bishop of Sebaste, martyred (316AD) in the persecution of the Emperor Licinius.
Sage Advice for Sore Throats:
In the spirit of St Blaise, here is advice for care of your throats.
Sage Tea is said to be excellent for many things including dental hygiene and alleviating sore throats. The Kalendar of Shepherds tells us how to treat our throats:
Good for the throat honey, sugar, butter with a little salt, liquorice, to sup soft eggs, hyssop, a mean manner of eating and drinking and sugar candy. Evil for the throat: mustard, much lying on the breast, pepper, anger, things roasted, lechery, much working, too much rest, much drink, smoke of incense, old cheese and all sour things are naughty for the throat.
The Kalendar of Shepherds 1604
The Martyrdom of St Blaise
So far, an uplifting, healing story. However, the Medieval Church’s propensity for the gruesome and its peculiar need to allocate a unique method of martyrdom to each early saint leads us to Blaise being pulled apart by wool-combers irons. Then he was beheaded.
Hence, he is also the patron saint of wool-combers, and by extension, sheep.
Internet Archive book illustrations collection on Flickr. (from wovember see below)
Wikipedia tells me that ‘Combing: was a regular form of torture.
Combing, sometimes known as carding (despite carding being a completely different process) is a sometimes-fatal form of torture in which iron combs designed to prepare wool and other fibres for woollen spinning are used to scrape, tear, and flay the victim’s flesh.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combing_(torture)
Gory Martyrdoms Explained?
I am horrified by the goriness of these martyrdoms, and it needs some explanation. If we believe in Richard Dawkins idea of the meme we can find an explanation. Allocating a different and gory death to each and every saint has advantages for the survival of the cult. It brings a uniqueness to the story of the Saint. Particular details of death suggests authenticity. The extreme death creates an example of stoicism in the face of challenge to faith, and provokes empathy and piety. There is, also, we have to accept, a very human attraction in the bloodthirstiness of stories.
But, there is, I suspect, a financial interest too. In order for these cults to survive, they need adherents, acolytes, worshippers, donors, patrons. They require income streams that can help support the expensive clergy and the fabric of the Church or chapel. One source of income is from the wealthy, but in the medieval town, urban wealth was held within the booming guild structure. If the martyred Saint, could attract a particular Guild then then (the sponsoring Priests, or Church) were quids in.
Wool was one of the mainstays of industry in the medieval period, particularly in Britain. A martyr like St Blaise would prosper wherever there were people working with wool, cloth or sheep. So, is it too cynical to suggest some one with an eye for the main chance added the detail of the wool combing death to attract donations from rich wool merchants? As a successful meme, it spread throughout Europe.
Also, there were any number of endemic diseases and occupational hazards for which there was no clear cure. So if the Saint can become the Saint of common, preferably chronic, illnesses, he/she can attract all those who suffer from that or similar diseases.
Of course, it may not always be a cynical drive for more income. In exchange, the Church offered the sufferer comfort in the face of suffering. This quality would have maximised the placebo effect. The effect has been scientifically measured. And would often be more effective a cure as than the available, often bizarre, medieval remedies.
Blaise’s hagiography suggests he was a physician. The cult was able to grow into being not only the Saint for Sore Throats and Sheep but one of the go-to saints for diseases in both humans and animals.
Blaise in Britain
His cult came to Britain when King Richard I was ship wrecked on Crusade. Richard was helped by Bishop Bernard of Ragusa where Richard was washed up. When the Bishop was deposed he sought sanctuary in Britain and was made Bishop of Carlisle where he promoted the cult of Blaise. Several churches in the UK founded churches named for him.
St Blazey in Cornwall is named after his Church and celebrates him by a procession of a ram and a wicker effigy of the Saint. Milton, in Berkshire, dedicated its Church to St Blaise, probably because the village’s wealth depended on sheep. The village held a feast on the third Sunday after Trinity, and the day after held the Tadpole Revels at Milton Hall. Tadpole is thought to be a corruption from the word ‘Tod’ which means cleaned wool.
Blaise in London
Westminster Abbey has a chapel dedicated to Blaise (see image at top of page). In the Bishop’s Palace at Bromley is St Blaise’s Well. It is thought to have begun as a spring when the Palace ‘was granted to Bishop Eardwulf by King Ethelbert II of Kent around 750 AD.’ A well near the spring became a place of pilgrimage and an Oratory to St Blaise was set up. In the 18th Century the chalybeate waters of the well were considered to be useful for health. It still exists to day.
On February 3rd St Etheldreda’s Church in London holds the Blessing of the Throats ceremony. It was a Catholic Church in the medieval period, then, in Reformation was used for various purposes until returned to the Catholic Church in 1876. It has memorials for Catholic Martyrs killed in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I
One of London’s oldest guilds is the Worshipful Company of Woolmen, first mentioned in 1180, when fined, for operating without a license, by Richard 1’s dad, Henry II.
Candlemas is a very important festival of the Church, celebrated throughout the Christian world. It is the day Jesus is presented to the Temple as a young boy when Jesus is prophesied to be ‘a light to lighten the Gentiles’. The day is therefored celebrated by lighting candles.
It is also called the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is 40 days after the birth of Jesus which was fixed as the 25th December by Pope Liberius by AD 354. So it is the end of the postpartum period ‘as the mother’s body, including hormone levels and uterus size, returns to a non-pregnant state’.
Candlemas a Cross Quarter Day.
It is also one of the cross quarter days of the Celtic tradition, that is halfway between Winter Solstice and May Day. The candles also suggest a festival marking the lengthening days. It is probably another of those festivals where the Christian Church has taken on aspects of the pagan rituals, so Brigantia’s (celebrated at Imbolc on February 1st) role in fertility is aligned with the Virgin Mary’s.
Weather Lore for Candlemas
Folklore prophecies for today: ‘If it is cold and icy, the worst of the winter is over, if it is clear and fine, the worst of the winter is to come.’ This suggests that 2025 has the worst of winter yet to come.
It’s also the official end of all things Christmas. For most of us Christmas decorations were supposed to be pulled down on January 5th, but, the Church itself puts an end to Christmas officially at Candlemas so Cribs and Nativity tableaux need to removed today.
Last day of medieval Christmas and the Lords of Misrule.
John Stow, in the 16th Century describes the period between Halloween and Candlemas being the time that London was ruled by various Lords of Misrule and Boy Bishops (see my post here). In the piece below, Stow goes on to talk about a terrible storm that took place in February 1444.
Against the feast of Christmas every man’s house, as also the parish churches, were decked with holm, ivy, bays, and whatsoever the season of the year afforded to be green. The conduits and standards in the streets were likewise garnished; amongst the which I read, in the year 1444, that by tempest of thunder and lightning, on the 1st of February, at night, Powle’s steeple was fired, but with great labour quenched; and towards the morning of Candlemas day, at the Leaden hall in Cornhill, a standard of tree being set up in midst of the pavement, fast in the ground, nailed full of holm and ivy, for disport of Christmas to the people, was torn up, and cast down by the malignant spirit (as was thought), and the stones of the pavement all about were cast in the streets, and into divers houses, so that the people were sore aghast of the great tempests.’
Robert Herrick has a 17th Century poem about Candlemas:
Ceremony Upon Candlemas Eve
Down with the rosemary, and so Down with the bays and misletoe; Down with the holly, ivy, all Wherewith ye dress’d the Christmas hall; That so the superstitious find No one least branch there left behind; For look, how many leaves there be Neglected there, maids, trust to me, So many goblins you shall see.
