Category: Archaeology

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Wife-Selling & the bonds of Marriage October 1837

October 1837, Wolverhampton Chronicle. A case of wife-selling

A strange and unwonted exhibition took place in Walsall market on Tuesday last,” the Wolverhampton Chronicle said about a case of wife-selling.

“A man named George Hitchinson brought his wife, Elizabeth Hitchinson, from Burntwood, for sale, a distance of eight or nine miles. They came into the market between ten and eleven o’clock in the morning, the woman being led by a halter, which was fastened round her neck and the middle of her body. “

“In a few minutes after their arrival she was sold to a man of the name of Thomas Snape, a nailer, also from Burntwood. There were not many people in the market at the time. “

“The purchase money was 2s 6d [about 13p today] and all the parties seemed satisfied with the bargain. The husband was glad to get rid of his frail rib, who, it seems, had been living with Snape three years, at any price, erroneously imagining that because he had brought her through a turnpike gate in a halter, and had publicly sold her in the market before witnesses, that he is thereby freed from all responsibility and liability with regard to her future maintenance and support.”

Wife-selling and the Mayor of Casterbridge

Readers will note the similarity of this to the plot of the Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy, published in 1886. Michael Henchard, gets drunk on spiked Furmity. This is also known as frumenty – a mixture of Corn, milk, raisins and currents. The Furmity Woman at Weydon-Priors Fair adds Rum. Henchard, in a drunken rage, offers his wife for safe. She is purchased by Richard Newson, a sailor who goes on to have a successful relationship with Henchard’s wife until the sailor is drowned.

A cruel humiliation or a practical solution?

While not exactly legal, records show that wife-selling at markets happened occasionally from the 17th Century onwards. As in the case at Walsall Market, it seems to have been a recognised mechanism to end an unsuccessful marriage. In both factual and fictional cases, the wife accepts the sale to rid herself of a difficult husband. The husband is relieved of his lifelong duty to be financially responsible for his wife, and, for a fee, he passes that duty on to the buyer.

The sale seems to a modern onlooker to be a humiliation. But the public nature of it might be rather a public acknowledgement that the marriage has irrevocably broken down, and that another union has superseded the failed marriage. In the Walsall case, the new husband has, in fact, been living with the wife for some years.

At this time, there was no legal way to divorce except by the means of an expensive private Act of Parliament, far beyond the reach of any but the richest. Marriage itself was also a looser institution than we think. Hand-fasting and common-law marriages were very common in pre-Victorian times. The difficulty of divorce is also a theme in Hardy’s ‘The Woodlanders’.

A recipe for frumenty:

To make a rich frumenty for 10 people. Steep 1 lb of whole grain of wheat in water overnight, and then boil the steeped grains in one pint of milk until the whole be soft. Add thereto raisins and sultanas, honey a nutmeg freshly grated, a little cinnamon, brandy and cream: and serve it forty hot or cold.

Mistress Bartons Cookery book c1680. quoted in Charles Kightly’s Perpetual Almanac of Folklore

You might like to also see my post on the shaming skimmity ride, which also appears in the Mayor of Casterbridge.

The Skimmity Ride

On This Day

1415 St Crispin’s Day and the Battle of Agincourt.

This is part of the famous speech by Henry V, put in his mouth by William Shakespeare.


He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam’d,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say “To-morrow is Saint Crispian.”
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say “These wounds I had on Crispin’s day.”
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he’ll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words—
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester—
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb’red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be rememberèd—
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.

First published in July 2022, revised and reposted October 2024 and 2025

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Goddess Felicitas’s Festival October 9th

Copy of plaque found Pompeii outside of a bakery, fellicitas dwells her
Copy of plaque found Pompeii outside of a bakery, Translation is ‘Felicitas dwells here’ Wikipedia. Wolfgang Sauber. CC BY-SA 3.0

Felicitas is the Roman Goddess of happiness, blessedness, prosperity. And a far more reliable creature than Fortuna. Fortuna rode the wheel of fortune. So you could either be at the top of the wheel or at the bottom of an unfortunate cycle. By contrast, Felicitas was always on the happy upbeat.

She had her own temple in Rome from the 2nd Century BC, and had two official festivals a year. The July 1st one shared with Juno and the October 9th (Fausta Felicitas) one on her own. She was often depicted on coins. Identified by her cornucopia and her staff called a caduseus.

Denarius of Macrinus showing Felicitas with her caduseus in her left hand and cornucopia in her right. By NumisAntica – http://www.numisantica.com, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36585800

Why the association with the erect penis?

Steve Coates wrote in the New York Times,

“There seems to be phalluses everywhere. Enormous ones, tiny ones, doubles, singles; attached to men, gods or satyrs in every medium or in dismembered splendor; over doors, carved into the pavement, on chains and serving trays, turned into lamps, winged like birds, with bells on. Even some of the phalluses have phalluses. “

Quoted in Priapus and Phalluses in Ancient Rome webpage.

Parents hung them around the necks of their children as amulets of good luck. I’m guessing they are a symbol of a healthy body and a beating heart. As well as being the bringer of the greatest joy, we mere mortals ever experience in our lives. (having children I mean!)

Here are two I’ve come across on my travels. Both from the Roman Fort on Hadrian’s Wall at Chesters.

Phallus from the courtyard of the Principia (HQ) of the Roman Fort at Chesters
Phallus from the courtyard of the Principia (HQ) of the Roman Fort at Chesters Photo K Flude
Carving of phallus from John Clayton Museum, Chesters Photo k Flude
Carving of phallus from John Clayton Museum, Chesters Photo k Flude

See March 7th for my post on Saint Felicitas

First Published on October 9th 2025

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The Archaeology of London Walk

Roman layer opus signinum,
Roman layer opus signinum,

This is Kevin Flude’s Walk for London Walks. It normally starts in the early evening and from Exit 3 Bank Underground Station To See if the walk is running soon follow this link.

Legend says that London was founded as New Troy. Historians believed it was founded as Londinium after the Bridge was built by the legionaries of the Emperor Claudius in AD 43.   Archaeologists in the 1970s and 1980s discovered that London was refounded as Lundenwic in the 7th Century and again in the 9th Century when it was called Lundeburg.

This walk tells the epic tale of the uncovering of London’s past by Archaeologists. And provides an insight into the dramatic history of the Capital of Britannia, and how it survived revolts, fires, plagues, and reacted to the decline and fall of the Roman Empire.  It became the foremost English City but with periods under Viking and Norman control.

We tell the story in the streets of the City of London, beginning in the valley of the River Walbrook by the Temple of Mithras, and visit many sites where important archaeological discoveries were made.

See my Roman London

Updated 7th October

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Roodmass and the Legend of the Holy Cross September 14th

Roodmas is celebrated September 14th (and May 3rd). It was celebrated with processions, and the cooking of Cross-shaped food. Parish Churches used to have a Rood Screen separating the holy Choir from the more secular Nave. This screen was topped with a statue of the Crucified Jesus.

Roodmas commemorates the discovery of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem in 326 by Helena, wife of Constantius Chlorus and mother of Constantine the Great. Most of the Cross was sent back to the care of Constantine the Great in Constantinople. The part of the Holy Cross that was left in Jerusalem was taken by Persians but recovered by the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius in 628. The two events are celebrated on the two dates for Roodmas.

Over the years, the cross was shivered into ever smaller pieces as Emperors, Kings, Dukes, Counts, Popes, Bishops, Abbots and Abbesses swopped relics with each other. The fragments were cased in beautiful reliquaries and had enormous power for those of faith and those who could be helped by healing by faith.

The Rood in Stratford-upon-Avon

One of my favourite places to go is the Chapel of the Guild of the Holy Cross at Stratford-upon-Avon. It is a medieval chapel, opposite the house Shakespeare was living in when he died, and near the school he went to. The Guild which ran it was dedicated to the legend of the Holy Cross, or the Rood as it was called in the medieval period. The Guild also ran the local council.

The Guild Chapel was built in 1269 and developed in the 15th Century. The legend of the Holy Cross held that seeds from the Tree of Knowledge were grown on Adam’s Grave, honoured by the Queen of Sheba, buried by King Solomon, possibly used in the building of the Temple, and used as the Cross to crucify Jesus. Then buried and found, with the nails, and the crown of thorns by St. Helena. She knew it was the real thing as a deathly sick women was revived by contact with the timber of the Holy Cross.

In the 15th Century Hugh Clopton, former Lord Mayor of London and richest man of Stratford on Avon, paid to enlarge the Chapel. Included in the restoration was a new paint scheme for the interior of the Chapel. This is now thought to be one of the most complete survivals of a unified medieval decorative Church interior design. What makes it even more interesting is that in 1564, the person responsible for defacing the wall paintings was one John Shakespeare, father of William.

The most striking part of the scheme is ‘Doom’ which is high on the Chancel Arch. The detail of the figures are pecked out and defaced, but the outline of the bodies can be seen. It shows Jesus in the middle. with corpses sitting upright in their graves, as they are called to Judgement. To the Left is the City of God, still in good condition, and on the right is the mouth to hell. Hellish creatures are collecting lost souls, brandishing huge clubs. Hellfire is seen in a building above the hellhole, where figures representing the Seven Deadly Sins are seen.

Other set pieces including the story of Adam, the Whore of Babylon, an illustrated poem: Earth to Earth, St Thomas, St Christopher. The left-hand side of the nave contains traces of a French scheme called the Dance of Death which shows a pope dancing with a skeleton dancing with a Cardinal, dancing with a skeleton dancing with a Patriarch dancing with a skeleton and so on through the ranks of society. All equal in the face of death, and rendered in a vivid vermillion. There was a version of it in the Pardon Cloister, at St Pauls in London which is where Clopton might have seen it. A poem on the subject was written by John Lydgate.

For my post on Charles III, his coronation, and the True Cross please look here:

Féill Ròid – in Scotland

In Scotland, Roodmas (or Féill Ròid) is the beginning of the rutting season for deer. And if the night before was wet, it would followed by a month of dry weather, so the farmer need not worry about his crops.

Please return to the page as I will add images when I return to London.

First draft September 2024, revised 2025

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World Wide Web goes World Wide August 23rd 1991

Title Page of publication Published 1 February 1980
Archaeometry

Today is the day that the World Wide Web was first introduced to the world. I was working as a freelancer helping set up computer systems for the Freud Museum, in London. The Freud Museum was funded by an American organisation who wanted to support the history of Freud and Psychoanalysis. They were early adopters of email, and one of the staff, Tony Clayton, I think, introduced me to this new thing called the World Wide Web. How soon it changed our lives!

So, this post is the first in an occasional series on my role in digital heritage. 

My use of computers began in 1975/6 when I worked in the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, Keble College, Oxford University. I was a Research Assistant working with Mike Barbetti. He was a Research Fellow from Australia and an expert on the science of the earth’s magnetic field, and a pioneer in archaeomagnetism.

So what was it all about? In short, the Magnetic Pole does not always point due north. From time to time,  it wanders around and sometimes reverses completely, pointing south. Also, the intensity of the magnetic field changes with time. Mike was interested in the science behind these reversals but also interested in the archaeological by-products of the findings.

We were using archaeology to get well dated samples to plot accurately magnetic fluctuations through time. It was hoped the changes in direction or intensity of the magnetic field would allow archaeological sites to be dated. Secondly, we could use the readings to determine whether clay deposits had been heated or not.  The iron particles in clay would, when heated, align to the contemporary magnetic field.  Mike had collected samples from Africa including the famous Olduvai Gorge, and we contributed to the discussions on the first use of fire by the genus homo.

It turned out that dating applications were severally limited, as it proved difficult to create an effective reference curve. But sporadically, a use for archaeomagnetism crops up in the literature.

Mike was kind enough to include me as joint author on 3 papers which were accepted by Nature and which remain my most cited papers.

When I thanked him, saying how kind it was for him to include me.  He made a point of telling me I had every right to have my name on the papers as I not only did a lot of the work, but I contributed ideas to the study. He taught me a lesson that you should always be generous acknowledging contributions.

The specimens he brought back, were encased in plaster of Paris, I went to a shed in the garden of the terrace house that was the Research Lab. There I cut them up with a saw.  We then measured the intensity and direction of the magnetic field in the samples.  The results were processed by a computer program written by Mike. I prepared the experimental results on magnetic cards and uploaded them for a data run on the main frame computer at the Oxford University Computer Centre. The Computers were the size of a house, but there was a Unix minicomputer in the basement of our lab. There was always mistakes on the first run and then you reran the programme with edit cards at the front which were coded to do things like: ‘change 127 on the first card to 172’.  The corrected results were rerun the next day. Seems very primitive and slow now but then it was cutting-edge technology.

After a couple of years, I began my career as a field archaeologist. Having seen how powerful computers could be, I decided, in the late 1970’s, that Archaeology needed computers. So I set out to find out how to use them for myself and where they might come in useful.  This took me on an exciting journey of exploration which began with signing up for a Part-time PhD at Birkbeck College in Computer Applications in Archaeology, while I continued working at the Museum of London as an archaeologist. The study consisted of creating a database structure to hold archaeological field records, and to link this to digitised copies of context plans. I was hoping to show that we could interrogate the data, asking questions like ‘Draw a site plan of all contexts which have pottery dating to the Flavian period’. This would, perhaps, speed up the post excavation work, and enable a more sophisticated analysis of data.

To be continued.

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Time for Ice Cream August 20th

Photo of Ice House in grounds of Keystone Pub, York, from Doubletree Hilton
Ice House in grounds of Keystone Pub, York, from Doubletree Hilton Photo K Flude

In 2023 I noticed a strange brick building dug into the bank in front of the City Wall. I could only see it from my Hotel Window, near Monk Bar. ‘Very curious.’ I thought, as I looked, ‘It’s either a kiln or an Icehouse. ‘ A ridiculous place for a kiln, I concluded, and as the weather was nice, I went out to explore.

By Monk Bar (Bar means Gate in York) I found a pub called the Keystones. Through its yard I could see the round brick structure, in the photo below.

Ice House in grounds of Keystone Pub, York
Ice House in grounds of Keystone Pub, York Photo K Flude

‘Icehouse!’ I thought to myself with increasing confidence. The ladder to the cavernous conical hole beneath it proved the point. It dates to about 1800.

Detail of Ice House in grounds of Keystone Pub, York Photo K Flude

I wrote a brief history of Ice Houses in November 2022. This you can read in my post ‘How to Make a Dish of Snow’ here. But it doesn’t say much about ice cream. I have been meaning to write a piece on that subject since I read an article on the history of Ice Cream. It was in the Friends of the British Museum magazine. I intended to précis it and do a little research and include here. But, in the meantime, I received an email from ‘Jetpack’, a plugin for WordPress users, that offered me an AI plugin, which I wanted to try. So this is the first AI generated piece of information I have ever used (Aug 2023).

WARNING AI GENERATED TEXT!

Ice cream has a long and fascinating history. It’s believed that the ancient Chinese were the first people to eat a form of ice cream, flavoured with fruit and honey. The Persians also had a version of ice cream using ice and grape syrup. In the 13th century, Marco Polo brought the idea of ice cream to Europe from China. The dessert became popular in Italy, where early recipes called for flavoured snow and ice. By the 18th century, ice cream was regularly served in English and American households. Today, ice cream is enjoyed all over the world in many variations and with a plethora of flavours.

JetPack AI Generated (I’ve improved spelling and grammar.)

Now, settle yourself down with that pistachio and ciocolata gelato and read real writing on the subject. This from the British Museum. Please note that the ice house pictured below is also, weirdly, just by a City Wall. But this time in Mesopotamia.

Blog Page from British Museum showing picture of an ancient Mesopotamian Ice House by a defensive wall.

To read the British Museum Post click British Museum Blog ice-cream-inside-scoop

First published August 2023, republished August 2024. August 2025

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Hardy’s Henge Given Protected Status August 19th

Through the window of Hardy’s Max Gate house, you can see a Prehistoric Sarsen Stone, originally part of a neolithic stone circle or henge. (bottom right window pane, top left corner). Photo: Kevin Flude of Hardy’s Henge

Author of ‘Tess of the d’Urbervilles’ Thomas Hardy was an architect and designed his own house. During the work on Max Gate, the builders came across a large block of sandstone. The stone is of a type called ‘Sarsen’ at Stonehenge. it is ‘a type of silcrete, a rock formed when sand is cemented by silica (quartz)‘. It is a hard sandstone.

Hardy, who loved history, had it relocated into his garden and called it his ‘druid stone’. This recalls one of the most famous scenes in ‘Tess’. She is sleeping on the Altar Stone at Stonehenge as the Police move in to arrest her for murder. Angel, her lover, persuades the Police to let her enjoy a few more minutes of peaceful sleep. After which they arrest her, try her, find her guilty and hang her at Winchester. Spoiler alert?

The Altar Stone at Stonehenge, by the way, has very recently been discovered to be from Scotland. A discovery that confirms that Stonehenge was an immensely important site in the Neolithic and Bronze Age.

Sarsens at Max Gate
Sarsen stone at Max Gate (photo Kevin Flude)
Sarsen stone at Max Gate
Sarsen stone at Max Gate (Photo Kevin Flude

Hardy loved history. How glad he would have been to know his house was in the middle of an important Henge. Hardy’s Henge (aka Flagstones) turns out to be older than Stonehenge. In the 1982. a geophysical survey in advance of the Dorchester Bypass was undertaken. It found evidence of a circular enclosure outside Hardy’s house. This was followed by an excavation in 1987-8. This discovered a large circular bank 100m in diameter, from the Neolithic period.

Half of Flagstones, is largely preserved beneath Max Gate, and has now been officially listed and protected. The excavations suggested a date of construction of 3,000 BC, about the time of Stonehenge’s first construction. But it has just been redated to 3,200BC making Flagstones older than Stonehenge!

Max Gate, Hardy’s House on the outskirts of Dorchester, Dorset. Photo Kevin Flude

In 2022, targeted excavation designed to explore the other half of the circle revealed further dating evidence. This suggests it was built 500 years before Stonehenge, earlier than 3,500BC. The suggested date of 3650BC makes it one of the earliest in the South West. It was giving listed protection on the August 19th, 2024. (redated to 3650BC)

Susan Greaney – Greaney, S. et al. (2025) “Beginning of the circle? Revised chronologies for Flagstones and Alington Avenue, Dorchester, Dorset”. Antiquity, First View (28). Cambridge University Press: 1-17. (Source Wikipedia)

The enclosure consists of a single ring of unevenly spaced pits, forming an interrupted ditch system roughly circular. The dating evidence does not prove that this circuit was built before 3,500 BC. But it does show there was a neolithic presence on the site at this early date. Burials were found in the bottom of the pits forming the enclosure. Four of these pits were had markings on the lower pit walls. These were cut by flint forming pictograms of varying forms from curvilinear, to linear. There was little activity in the Late Neolithic. The site seems to have been reused for funerary and ‘other practices’ during the Bronze, Iron Ages and Roman period.

Flagstones sketchup sketch from original by Jennie Anderson (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cge12yeqv43o)

These recent finds make Hardy’s Henge an important precursor to Stonehenge. The site is built on a ridge parallel with the River Frome. Dorchester, a couple of miles from Max Gate, is another ‘ritual landscape’ like Stonehenge. Here are a cluster of important Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments. In the centre of the Town, was found evidence of a massive wooden circle. The postholes are found marked on the floor of the town centre car-park as shown below. The Great Henge is a massive 360m in diameter, covering much of the much later Town Centre. It was built in around 2100 BC.

Neolithic Circle in Dorcester (photo Kevin Flude)

Just outside of Dorchester is a Roman Amphitheatre. This is where Hardy sets the reunion of the Mayor of Casterbridge and Susan Newson. She was the wife he sold at a county fair, years ago when he was a young man. But it began life as another Neolithic circular enclosure. This had an external bank, and an inner Ditch in which were dug 44 tapering pits, up to 10m in depth. Antler picks, chalk objects, including chalk phalluses, were found. The disused amphitheatre was used for executions in the early modern period.

Maumbury Rings – Neolithic Enclosure, Roman Amphitheatre, place of execution, Civil War defense, and fictional meeting place of the Mayor of Casterbridge and his estranged wife, Susan Newson (or Henchard!)

A few miles away, at the Iron Age Hill Fort of Maiden Castle, is a Neolithic Causewayed Enclosure. Hardy also wrote about Maiden Castle, and an excavation.

Maiden Castle. Iron Age Hillfort. the East End was originally a Neolithic Causewayed Enclosure

These ritual landscapes, such as Dorchester, Stonehenge, Avebury, Heathrow and elsewhere shows a clustering of ritual places in important landscapes. It suggests evidence of regional organisation. Stonehenge, however, continues to lead the way for evidence of not only regional but international importance. It drew people, and objects from not only England, Scotland and Wales, but also from the continent.

For further details of the Flagstones listing and excavation, here is the official listing document:

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1489792?section=official-list-entry

For more of Thomas Hardy on my Almanac of the Past see:

The End of Hardy’s tree
Forecasting the Harvest & the Downfall of the Mayor of Casterbridge. St Swithun’s Day July 15th
Wife-Selling & the bonds of Marriage October 1837
The Skimmity Ride

Revised 19th August 2025

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St Germanus Day & Original Sin July 31st

St Germanus of Auxerre, Window in St Paul’s parish church, Morton, Lincolnshire, made by Sir Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris in 1914. Photo by Jenny of Jules & Jenny from Lincoln, UK (CC BY 2.0 Wikimedia Photo by Jenny of Jules & Jenny from Lincoln, UK)

St Germanus is the source of one of the few contemporary references to Britain in the 5th Century (the Dark Ages). One of his followers wrote his life story. The Saint, a Bishop in France, was sent to Britain because the Pelagian Heresy was endangering the Catholic version of Christianity. Pelagius was a highly educated British (or possibly Irish) priest who moved to Rome in the late 4th Century. He lived by a strict moral code, attacking Catholic laxity and opposing St Augustine of Hippo’s theory of Divine Grace. By contrast, Pelagius promoted human choice in salvation and denied the doctrine of original sin. Wikipedia tells us that he:

considered it an insult to God that humans could be born inherently sinful or biased towards sin, and Pelagius believed that the soul was created by God at conception, and therefore could not be imbued with sin as it was solely the product of God’s creative agency.

17th Century print of Pelagius

Germanus was sent to Britain, where he confronted Pelagian converts in a public debate which is thought to have taken place in a disused Roman amphitheatre. The author is not interested in Britain, per se, so does not tell us which town it was, but, it is mostly assumed to be St Albans, although London is possible.

In the stadium, the Saint and his acolytes confound the heretics and, so, convert the town’s people sitting watching the debate. St Germanus goes to a nearby shrine of St Alban to thank God, falls asleep in a hut, and is miraculously saved from a fire. He then comes across a man called a Tribune, and helps defeat a Saxon army in the ‘Alleluia’ victory. The importance of all this is that it gives us a few glimpses of Britain, in about 429AD, two decades after the Romans have left.

The British Bishops were led in their heresy by someone called Agricola. The writer describes these bishops as ‘conspicuous for riches, brilliant in dress and surrounded by a fawning multitude’. The use of the title ‘Tribune’ in the story suggests Roman administrative titles are still in use 19 years after the date of the ‘formal’ end of Roman Britain, 410AD. The Alleluia victory over the Saxons also gives us an early date for Saxon presence in the country as an enemy.

St Albans is the favoured choice for the location of the event because, Bede tells us St Albans was born, martyred and commemorated in Verulamium, now called St Albans. Archaeology shows possible post Roman occupation of the town. And it has a famous Amphitheatre.

However, Gildas, who is writing 200 years or more before Bede, tells us St Alban was born in Verulamium but martyred in London. This makes sense as London was the late Roman Capital and more likely to be the site of a martyrdom. There is also a church dedicated to St Albans close to the Roman Amphitheatre, where Gildas tells us the execution took place. Unfortunately, the Church cannot be, archaeologically dated back to 429AD.

Bede’s account of the martyrdom of St Albans is also somewhat farcical, as God divides the waters of the River Ver for Alban to get to his martyrdom more quickly. The bridge was said to be full of people walking to witness Alban’s execution, and blocking Alban’s path to Heaven. But the Ver is but a piddle, and it would be easy to walk across without even needing wellington boats, let along a miracle. This story is much more impressive, in Gildas’ version who has the miraculous crossing over the River Thames.

Had Pelegius won, and the Roman Church had a more optimistic view of the human spirit, would it have made any difference? It’s a big question, but maybe it would have left less room for pessimism and guilt?

Frances Marsden on Quora wrote:

What were the effects of original sin? …. it damaged our relationship with God. He seemed distant, we became mistrustful. We lost sanctifying grace. The weakening of the will, making us more prone to temptation. The darkening of the intellect. Increased vulnerability to sickness and disease. Spiritual death.

Germanus died in Ravenna.

For more on Nick Fuentes and his theories on St Germanus, St Patrick and King Arthur click here:

For St Germanus and St Genevieve click here:

First written in January 2023, copied to its own page in July 2024, and republished 2025

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Stone of Destiny Attacked with a Hammer at Perth Museum July 13th 2025

Screenshot of BBC Webpage annoucing the attack on the Stone of Destiny

I just tried to book a visit to see the Stone of Destiny, at Perth Museum. But I was told it was closed until at least the end of August. The reason being that a case had been damaged. A quick search revealed this notice that an Australian had attacked the case containing the Stone with a hammer. They are now repairing the Case, and double checking the condition of the stone, which is thought to be undamaged. The Stone is well protected in a special room of the Museum. But, until now, those booking to see it are not searched. So I imagine that this will become more formal in future.

Below is my post of 2024, updated on March 30th 2025.

New Home for the Stone of Destiny

Old Photograph of the Stone of Destiny beneath the Coronation Chair.
Old Photograph of the Stone of Destiny beneath the Coronation Chair.

Last year, the Stone of Destiny was set up in its new permanent place. The Stone was unveiled in a room at the centre of the redeveloped Perth Museum, in Scotland. This is near to its ‘original’ home at the Palace of Scone.

The Museums Association reported:

‘£27m development project ….funded by £10m UK government investment from the £700m Tay Cities Deal and by Perth & Kinross Council, the museum is a transformation of Perth’s former city hall by architects Mecanoo.’

As well as the Stone of Destiny, the Museum has Bonnie Prince Charlie’s sword and a rare Jacobite wine glass. Both on public display for the first time. This is the first time the sword has been in Scotland since it was made in Perth in 1739. https://perthmuseum.co.uk/the-stone-of-destiny/. Since I first wrote this I have visited about 5 times. Entry is free but needs to be booked. It is held in a separate structure in the open space at the heart of the Perth Museum. There is an excellent-animated introduction, and then the doors open and the Stone is revealed in a glass cabinet. It is very effective.

Webpage of the Perth Museum show a photo of the Stone of Destiny
Webpage of the Perth Museum show a photo of the Stone of Destiny

The Stone of Destiny in the Modern Era

Before Perth, the Stone was in London for a brief visit for the Coronation of King Charles III (6 May 2023) . It was put back, temporarily under the Coronation Chair. Before that it was on display in Edinburgh Castle. Tony Blair’s Labour Government sent it back to Scotland as a symbol of the devolution of power from Westminster. This was on the occasion of the restoration of the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh in November 1996. Until then the Stone was under the Coronation Chair, where Edward I put it after he stole it (1296) from Scone. Virtually every English and British King has been crowned upon the Stone of Scone.

However, the Stone had a brief holiday in Scotland in 1950/51.  Four Scottish students removed it from Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1950. After three months, it turned up at the high altar of Arbroath Abbey. It was briefly in a Prison Cell, then returned to Westminster for the Coronation of Elizabeth II.

Poor photograph of a press cutting on display at the Palace of Scone (Photo by me!)
Poor photograph of a press cutting on display at the Palace of Scone (Photo by me!)

Declaration of Arbroath

I’m guessing the-would-be liberators of the Stone, thought Arbroath was the most suitable place to return it. For it was the Declaration of Arbroath which is the supreme declaration of Scottish Independence from England.

Following the Battle of Bannockburn the Scots wrote to the Pope of their commitment to Scotland as an independent nation. They said:

“As long as a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be subjected to the lordship of the English. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself”

The Pope agreed and Scotland remained independent until voluntarily joining England in the United Kingdom in 1707.

For an analysis of the Stone of Scone please look at my post here.

The Stone of Destiny at Scone Palace

Before Edward 1 stole the Stone, it was at Scone Palace. Here most of the Kings of Scotland were crowned, including Macbeth (August 14, 1040).

Moot or Boot Hill where Scottish Kings were crowned. Palace of Scone Photo Kevin Flude)
Moot or Boot Hill where Scottish Kings were crowned. Palace of Scone Photo Kevin Flude)

Those who attended the coronation traditionally shook their feet of all the earth they had brought from their homelands.  This over the centuries, grew into Boot Hill, aka Moot Hill. So the mound represents the sacred land of Scotland. 42 Kings were crowned upon its soil on its Stone. (but not Mary Queen of Scots she and her son were crowned at the Chapel Royal of Stirling Castle).

Where was the Stone of Destiny before Scone?

Before Scone, it was, possibly, in Argyllshire where the Gaelic Kings were crowned. Their most famous King was Kenneth MacAlpin. He united the Scots, Gaelic people originally from Ireland, the Picts, and the British. And created a new Kingdom which was originally called Alba, but became Scotland.

MacAlpin was the first king to be crowned on the Stone at Scone in 841 or so. He made Scone the capital of his new Kingdom because it was a famous Monastery, associated with the Culdees, an early sect of monks. MacAlpin brought sacred relics from Iona to sanctify the new capital. And Scottish Kings were by tradition crowned at Scone and buried on the holy Island of Iona.

Legend has it that the Scots bought the Stone from Ireland when they began to settle in Western Scotland (c500AD). The Scots, it is said, got the Stone from the Holy Land. Jacob lay his head on the stone to sleep. He had a dream of Angels ascending and descending a ladder to Heaven. Jacob used the stone as a memorial, which was called Jacob’s Pillow (c1652 years BC).

Fake, Copy or Genuine?

But, questions about the Stone remain. Firstly, would the Monks of the Abbey meekly hand over the stone to a raging King Edward I?  Sacking the Abbey was one of the last events of Edward’s failed attempt to unite the two countries. Isn’t it more likely that they hide the original and gave him a fake?

Secondly, was the Stone brought to Scone from Western Scotland in the 9th Century? Or was it made in  Scone?

These questions of doubt are based on the assumption that the Stone is made of the local Scone sandstone. If it were brought to Scone from somewhere else, it would be in a different type of stone, surely? So, either it was made in Scone, possibly for MacAlpin’s Coronation or the Monks fooled the English into taking a copy. The English would then have been crowning their Monarchs on a forgery.

Ha! Silly English but then the Scots have spent £27m on the same forgery.

Before bringing the stone to Scone, Historic Environment Scotland undertook a new analysis  of the stone. This confirmed:

‘the Stone as being indistinguishable from sandstones of the Scone Sandstone Formation, which outcrop in the area around Scone Palace, near Perth‘.

It also found that different stone workers had worked on the stone in the past. It bore traces of a plaster cast being made. It had markings which have not yet been deciphered. There was copper staining suggesting something copper or bronze was put on the top of it at some point in its life.

So it seems the Stone of Destiny was made in Scone. The simplest explanation is that it was made for MacAlpin in the 9th Century. But it does not rule out that it is a copy given to Edward I. But if this is the case it is still an awesome relic of history as so many Kings and Queens, Scottish and English, have been crowned upon it.

For more about MacBeth and St Margaret of Scotland see my post here:

 

First published in 2024, republished in 2025

Posted on

St Margaret of Antioch July 20th

St Margaret about to be beheaded.  Castle Howard (if I remember rightly from the label, this is by William Morris)

Apologise for being a day or two late with St Margaret’s story. I’m thinking this might be the last post about a converted Christian young woman, who declares her virginity and is then tortured and executed by a rich Roman official who wants to marry her. But St Margaret was a very important Saint in Medieval England, there were 250 churches in England dedicated to her. Perhaps the best known one being St Margaret’s in Westminster which is Parliament’s Parish Church.

Margaret is probably fictitious, but the martyrdom is placed in the early 4th Century near Antioch. When I worked for the V&A, I walked past her Altarpiece most days. You can see it below. I always stopped to look at it. I would wonder why medieval martyrdoms were so very bloody, frankly, sadomasochistic.

St Margaret of Antioch's Altar Piece. North Germany c 1520. Victoria and Albert Museum. Photo by K. Flude
St Margaret of Antioch’s Altar Piece. North Germany c 1520. Victoria and Albert Museum. Photo by K. Flude

Her story is of a young women, who finds Christ, and vows to stay a virgin. She is desired by a powerful pagan Roman who she refuses. So he has her imprisoned, tempted by the devil, and tortured. First, with iron combs, then scourged, eaten by a dragon, boiled in a vessel of pitch, and finally beheaded.

The interesting bit is the dragon. She survives being eaten (does a dragon not have teeth?). And, in the dragon’s stomach, her Cross makes the dragon bursts open. She is ejected alive. But there is no respite, and resumes her torture. But because she comes out of the dragon’s stomach, she is the Patron Saint of Child bearing! It’s a mad story and all depicted in graphic detail on the central section of the altarpiece. Her beheading is on the right hand section.

If you, like me, do not understand all this holy violence, you will want to click on the link below. This will lead you to an fascinating essay on Martyrdom, written for St Margaret’s Day. For another Martyr, with a parallel story, have a look at my post of St Catherine.

Saint Margaret: Reflections on Martyrdom

First Published in July 2024, revised 2025

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