The 15th Century French illustration, above, shows February as a time to cut firewood, dress warmly and stay by the fire. Food on the table is a nutritious pie and the fish are there to remind us it is the month of Pisces. In the other roundel is the other February star sign the Water Carrier, Aquarius.
Star signs of February
February in the Kalendar of Shepherds
The poem above is a reference to the Candlemas celebration of the presentation of the child Jesus at the Temple. The paragraph below the line (above) gives a summary of February. It ends with the idea that runs through the Kalendar. There are twelve apostles, twelve days of Christmas, twelve months in the year. So, there are twelve blocks of six years in a person’s allotted 72 years of life. In the January entry the Kalendar suggests the essential uselessness of 0-6 year old children. But for February, it allows that 6-12 years old children are beginning to ‘serve and learn’.
The Kalendar’s View of February
Pisces From the zodiac from kalendar of shepherds
Below, is the text for February. This gives a rural view of life in winter. It ends with the line that February:
‘is the poor man’s pick-purse, the miser’s cut-throat, the enemy to pleasure and the time of patience.’
Description of February in the Kalendar of Shepherds
About the Kalendar of Shepherds.
The Kalendar was printed in 1493 in Paris and provided ‘Devices for the 12 Months.’ The version I’m using is a modern (1908) reconstruction of it. It uses wood cuts from the original 15th Century version and adds various texts from 16th and 17th Century sources. (Couplets by Tusser ‘Five Hundred Parts of Good Husbandrie 1599. Text descriptions of the month from Nicholas Breton’s ‘Fantasticks of 1626.) This provides an interesting view of what was going on in the countryside every month.
Hesiod, in his ‘Works and Days’ describes February as a merciless cold, windy time. Hesiod was writing around 700BC. He gave us ‘the story of Prometheus and Pandora, and the so-called Myth of Five Ages.’ (Links are to Wikipedia.)
Avoid the month Lenaeon, (February) wretched days, all of them fit to skin an ox, and the frosts which are cruel when Boreas blows over the earth. He blows across horse-breeding Thrace upon the wide sea and stirs it up, while earth and the forest howl. On many a high-leafed oak and thick pine he falls and brings them to the bounteous earth in mountain glens: then all the immense wood roars and the beasts shudder and put their tails between their legs, even those whose hide is covered with fur; for with his bitter blast he blows even through them, although they are shaggy-breasted. He goes even through an ox’s hide; it does not stop him. Also he blows through the goat’s fine hair. But through the fleeces of sheep because their wool is abundant, the keen wind Boreas pierces not at all; but it makes the old man curved as a wheel. And it does not blow through the tender maiden who stays indoors with her dear mother, unlearned as yet in the works of golden Aphrodite, and who washes her soft body and anoints herself with oil and lies down in an inner room within the house, on a winter’s day when the Boneless One (an Octopus or a cuttle?) gnaws his foot in his fireless house and wretched home; for the sun shows him no pastures to make for, but goes to and fro over the land and city of dusky men, and shines more sluggishly upon the whole race of the Hellenes. Then the horned and unhorned denizens of the wood,] with teeth chattering pitifully, flee through the copses and glades, and all, as they seek shelter, have this one care, to gain thick coverts or some hollow rock. Then, like the Three-legged One (an old man with a stick) whose back is broken and whose head looks down upon the ground, like him, I say, they wander to escape the white snow.
The Roman month Februarius was the month of purification. Februa was the name of the purification ritual held on February 15 (full moon) in the old lunar Roman calendar. The Romans originally considered winter a monthless period of the year. So they only had 10 months to the year. Later they added January and February. March was the first month, so September was the 7th month, October the 8th, November 9th and December the 10th and final month. Names derived from the Latin for 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th.
Photo of London Fields in the snow of 2022 by Kevin Flude
January 1776:
‘On the 27th much snow fell all day, and in the evening the frost became very intense. At South Lambeth, for the four following nights, the thermometer fell to 7, 6, 6, and at Selborne to 7, 6, 10, and on the 3ist of January , just before sunrise, with rime on the trees and on the tube of the glass, the quicksilver sunk exactly to zero, being 32 degrees below the freezing point’ Gilbert White
Gilbert White and Darwin
He, of course, is talking Fahrenheit, so well below zero. If there was a Giant upon whose shoulders Charles Darwin climbed, then Gilbert White owned one pair.. He was one of many churchmen of the 18th and 19th Century who spent their extensive leisure time, on observing God’s wonderful creation in their gardens and parishes. What made White so important was that his practice was ‘observing narrowly’ and regularly. For example, his observations of the importance of earth worms were fundamental to Charles Darwin’s own studies. When Darwin came back from his travels on the Beagle, he settled in a country property in Orpington. Like White, he used his garden and the local area as his laboratory. Here he worked to prove his theory of evolution.
Gilbert White and Earth worms
Earth worms were one of Darwin’s passions. This is what Gilbert White wrote about their contribution to nature:
“Earth-worms, though in appearance a small and despicable link in the chain of Nature, yet, if lost, would make a lamentable chasm. For, to say nothing of half the birds, and some quadrupeds which are almost entirely supported by them, worms seem to be the great promoters of vegetation, by boring, perforating, and loosening the soil, and rendering it pervious to rains and the fibres of plants, and, most of all, by throwing up such infinite numbers of lumps of earth called worm-casts, which, being their excrement, is a fine manure for grain and grass.”
By such minute and repeated observations, Gilbert White investigated the food chain, and the migration of birds (which was at the time disputed). He laid the foundations of what we now call ecology.
Gilbert White’s Career
He became Dean of Oriel College in Oxford. But chose to spend his career in the relatively humble occupation of Curate. A Curate is the bottom-feeder in the Anglican Church food chain. A Curate hardly earned enough to maintain a position in the Gentry (£50 p.a.). Although, White was upgraded to the title of Perpetual Curate. He still would only be pulling in, I guess, something like £200 p.a. (Patrick Bronte was also a Perpetual Curate). Essentially, it is Vicar looking after a part of a too large Parish.
Financially, White didn’t need much, he inherited his father’s property at Shelborne, Hampshire. White’s grandfather was the Vicar at Shelborne. But Gilbert could not inherit the title because he went to Oriel College. The ‘living’ of the Parish of Shelborne was ‘in the gift of’ Magdalen College. And they were not going to give the role to an alumnus of a rival college.
Gilbert White & The Austen Family
The house, now open to the public, is just around the corner from Chawton. This is where Jane Austen spent her last years. He was born in 1720; was 55 when Austen was born, and he died in 1793, when she was 18. He lived 4 miles away, so the families knew of each other. We know Jane Austen’s brother wrote a poem about Gilbert White and his natural history observations, particularly on birds.
From ‘Selbourne Hanger’ by James Austen
Who talks of rational delight } When Selbourne’s Hill appears in sight } And does not think of Gilbert White? } Such sure he was – by Nature grac’d With her best gift of genuine taste; And Providence – which cast his lot Within this calm, secluded spot, Plac’d him where best th’enquiring mind Might study Nature’s works, and find Within her ever open book Beauties which others overlook. Enthusiast sweet! Your vivid style The attentive reader can beguile Through many a page, and still excite An Interest in what you write! For whilst observant you describe The habits of the feathery tribe Their Loves and Wars – their nest and Song, We never think the tale too long.
For more information on White and Austen, go to Gilbert White’s House’s web page here:
More Snow!
Here is more of that epic cold January 1776
‘… but by eleven in the morning, though in the shade, it sprang up to I6J,1 — a most unusual degree of cold this for the south of England. During these four nights the cold was so penetrating that it occasioned ice in warm chambers and under beds ; and in the day the wind was so keen that persons of robust constitutions could scarcely endure to face it. The Thames was at once so frozen over both above and below bridge that crowds ran about on the ice. The streets were now strangely encumbered with snow, which crumbled and trod dusty ; and, turning grey, resembled bay-salt : what had fallen on the roofs was so perfectly dry that, from first to last, it lay twenty-six days on the houses in the city ; a longer time than had been remembered by the oldest housekeepers living…..’
‘The consequences of this severity were, that in Hampshire, at the melting of the snow, the wheat looked well, and the turnips came forth little injured. The laurels and laurustines were somewhat damaged, but only in hot aspects. No evergreens were quite destroyed ; and not half the damage sustained that befell in January, 1768. Those laurels that were a little scorched on the south-sides were perfectly untouched on their north-sides. The care taken to shake the snow day by day from the branches seemed greatly to avail the author’s evergreens. A neighbour’s laurel-hedge, in a high situation, and facing to the north, was perfectly green and vigorous ; and the Portugal laurels remained unhurt.’
More Frost!
‘We had steady frost on to the 25th, when the thermometer in the morning was down to 10 with us, and at Newton only to 21. Strong frost continued till the 31st, when some tendency to thaw was observed ; and, by January the 3d, 1785, the thaw was confirmed, and some rain fell.’
Rosemary flowering in my garden, photo by Kevin Flude
Gilbert White’s House is open to the public and also contains a display on Lawrence Oates, who died on Scots Antarctic expedition. For more information look at my post here.
There is another mention of Gilbert White in the Almanac of the Past here.
Herbs: Winter savory, parsley, chervil, coriander, rosemary, bay, sage
Cheeses: Stilton, Lanark Blue
(from the Almanac by Lia Leendertz)
On This Day
1754 – Horace Walpole coined the new word ‘serendipity’ from the ‘Three Princes of Serendip’ fairy tale. The Princes ‘ere always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of.’
1898 – Walter Arnold became the first motorist to be fined for speeding. He was going 8 miles an hour in a 2 mile an hour area in Kent
1986 – Explosion of US Space Shuttle Challenger. All 7 astronauts killed, including teacher Christa McAuliffe who would have been the first civilian in space.
The food section posted originally in 2023, the part on Gilbert White written on 28th January 2024, revised 2025, On This Day added 2026
Sementivae, was a festival dedicated to seed and to Ceres. Ceres is the Corn Goddess who gives her name to our word cereal. The festival was also called. Paganalia. The Mediterranean world had many names for the Earth Goddess. Tellus, Demeter, Cybele, Gaia, Rhea etc. who is celebrated around this time of the year with Ceres.
Ceres can be seen on the top left roundel resting on the Globe on the marvellous Ceramic Staircase at the V&A (photo above). And in my slightly out of focus photograph below. (To be honest, in real life, it looks a little more like my photo than the gorgeous photo above!)
Ceres represented Agriculture, Mercury Commerce, and Vulcan Industry. Old Photo by the Author.
Sementivae Dies – a moveable feast.
To create life, we need earth and water to nurture and seeds for their fertility. And so into the cold dead world of January the Romans created a festival of sowing. It had two parts, one presided over by Mother Earth (Tellus) and the other by Ceres, the Goddess of Corn. The actual day of the festival was chosen not by rote on a set day of the calendar but by the priests, in accordance with the weather. This seems very sensible, as there is no point sowing seeds in terrible weather conditions. I’m assuming the Priests took professional advice!
On the 24th-26th January Tellus prepared the soil, and in early February seeds were sown under the aegis of Ceres. Tellus Mater (also Terra Mater) was known as Gaia to the Greeks.
Gaia
Gaia was selected by James Lovelock & Lynn Margulis in the 1970s as the face of their Gaia hypothesis. To me, the importance of the idea is not the scientific principle that environments co-evolve with the organisms within them. But, rather in Gaia as a personification of our world as a complex living ecosystem. One that we have to care for. Gaia exists as a series of feedback loops. Lovelock hypotheses is that she will spit us out unless we can live in balance with our alma mater. I cannot believe he was not knighted. However, he is one of my heros.
James Lovelock. The original uploader was Bruno Comby at English Wikipedia. – Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons., CC BY-SA 1.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3873472. I hope the Goddess in the background is Gaia
Here is a tribute to Lovelock by his friend Bryan Appleyard. In it. He claims that work done by Lovelock ‘saved the world’. Lovelock invented a device that enabled the detection (and eventual eradication) of DDT and CFCs. If you remember, CFCs were destroying the Ozone layer until international agreement phased them out. Lovelock also worked for MI5. Appleyard, writing in The Sunday Times, described Lovelock as “basically Q in the James Bond films”.
Ovid and Sementivae
Ovid allocated January 24th to Sementivae but explains it is a variable date. But let’s let the Roman Poet Ovid has to say in his poetic Almanac known as ‘Fasti’ (www.poetryintranslation.com)
Book I: January 24
I have searched the calendar three or four times, But nowhere found the Day of Sowing: Seeing this, the Muse said: That day is set by the priests, Why are you looking for moveable days in the calendar? Though the day of the feast ís uncertain, its time is known, When the seed has been sown and the land ís productive. You bullocks, crowned with garlands, stand at the full trough, Your labour will return with the warmth of spring. Let the farmer hang the toil-worn plough on its post: The wintry earth dreaded its every wound.
Steward, let the soil rest when the sowing is done, And let the men who worked the soil rest too. Let the village keep festival: farmers, purify the village, And offer the yearly cakes on the village hearths. Propitiate Earth and Ceres, the mothers of the crops, With their own corn, and a pregnant sow ís entrails. Ceres and Earth fulfil a common function: One supplies the chance to bear, the other the soil. Partners in toil, you who improved on ancient days Replacing acorns with more useful foods, Satisfy the eager farmers with full harvest, So they reap a worthy prize from their efforts. Grant the tender seeds perpetual fruitfulness, Don’t let new shoots be scorched by cold snows. When we sow, let the sky be clear with calm breezes, Sprinkle the buried seed with heavenly rain. Forbid the birds, that prey on cultivated land, To ruin the cornfields in destructive crowds. You too, spare the sown seed, you ants, So you’ll win a greater prize from the harvest.
For more on Ovid look at my post on Ovid and Juno here. Or you can search for Ovid in the Search box for other my posts on the Roman poet.
On This Day
1788 – Foundation of the first colony of European Settlers at Port Jackson, now Sydney. It is now Australia Day, a public holiday.
1841 – Hong Kong became a British Sovereign Territory
1926 – The first Public demonstration of a TV image given by Scottish electrical engineer John Logie Baird (1888-1946)
1998 – ‘I did not have sexual relations with that woman’ or so said Bill Clinton, lying through his teeth. (although I guess it depends on your definition of lying?) For more, look at the Time article here.
First Published in January 2023, republished in January 2024, 2025, 2026
In January, the ‘coney is so ferreted that she cannot keep in her borough’ says Nicholas Breton. He wrote in the January entry of the Kalendar of Shepherds. (See my post here). In modern speech he means, ‘the rabbit is so hunted with the aid of ferrets that she cannot keep to her burrow’. The London Illustrated Almanac of 1873 chose the Rabbit as its wild animal of the month.
Good Luck Rabbits!
If you need good luck say ‘Rabbit, Rabbit’. No less a person than FD Roosevelt used to say this. No one knows why. Rabbits’ feet are lucky too. I remember some of my friends had them in our Surrey village in the early 60s. Some of Dad’s neighbours kept ferrets, and I remember dead Rabbits hanging from walls. The merits of the feet are given by the history.com website:
“A 1908 British account reports rabbits’ feet imported from America being advertised as ‘the left hind foot of a rabbit killed in a country churchyard at midnight, during the dark of the moon, on Friday the 13th of the month, by a cross-eyed, left-handed, red-headed bow-legged Negro riding a white horse,’
As to why, no one really knows. But Pliny the Elder in 71AD reported that cutting off the foot of a live hare could cure gout. There are European traditions of rabbit and other animal’s feet amulets curing all sorts of ailments. There are associations with witches, who could shape-shift into a rabbit. So a rabbit’s foot would be witchy and therefore powerful. In March, I reported on the Hare, and their, similar, associations with witches:
For lovers (?) of music, Chas and Dave’s hit song ‘Rabbit’ has a chorus of ‘Rabbit, Rabbit’. According to the Cockney singers (they do love a Knee’s Up) it comes from the Cockney Rhyming Slang expression: Rabbit and Pork. This means ‘Talk’ because it rhymes with ‘Pork’. But, according to the rules of Cockney, you can shorten the phrase to Rabbit. To hear about the origins of the song, and royal connections, click here. To watch the official video. (It is misogynistic and of its day. Also, you may have to listen to an advert, but I don’t make any money from the ad!)
Now, I must stop rabbiting on. Time to get things done.
Hermes the ram-bearer, Roman 1st BCE copy of 5th Greek statue
Lambing
You are getting another copy of this because it was published without additions I made to the On This Day section.
If a lamb be born sick and weak, the Shepherd shall fold it in his cloak, blow into the mouth of it and then, drawing the Dam’s dog, shall squirt milk into the mouth of it. If an Ewe grow unnatural, and will not take her Lamb after she has yeaned it, you shall take a little of the Clean of the Ewe (which is the bed in which the Lamb lay) and force the Ewe to eat it, or at least chew it in her mouth and she will fall to love a Lamb naturally. But if an Ewe have cast her Lamb, and you would have her take to another Ewe’s Lamb, you shall take the Lamb which is dead, and with it rub and daub the live Lamb all over, and so put it to the Ewe, and she will take to it as naturally as if it were her own.
Gervase Markham, ‘Cheap and Good Husbandry’ 1613 (quoted in the Perpetual Almanac by Charles Kightly).
All about Lambing
Lambing can begin in the second part of Janauary in the south-west of the UK. But it gets progressively later as you travel north. Itinerant shearers, now often from New Zealand, travel the country shearing sheep. They will begin in the south and then progress north.
March and April are peak lambing time in the UK. But the season runs from February to April. Some farmers even lamb before Christmas (and it is not unknown to lamb in November).
The country expression is ‘in with a bang and out with the fool’ which suggests an ideal time to tup, is November 5th, on Fireworks Night. So that the lambs will be born, 5 months later, around the 1st of April. A litter is normally one or two but occasionally more. Ewe’s get fed depending on how many lambs they will be having.
Thomas Hardy & the Reddle Man
In the ‘Return of the Native’, Thomas Hardy has a character called Diggory Venn, he is a reddle man. He travels the country in a little pony and trap selling reddle. This is a red ochre dye with which shepherds mark their flock. Part of the plot is about the reluctance of women to marry a man whose red, reddle-stained face, makes him look like a devil.
The reddle is used to mark sheep, particularly before lambing. The ram is given a collar or girdle with a marker full of reddle in it. When he mounts the ewe, she will have a red mark on her back. When she has been tupped twice, she will have two red marks on her back. She will then be taken out of the field, to encourage the ram to impregnate the others. Reddle and other dyes can be used to mark lambs chosen for slaughter, or dipping, or weighing etc
(Tup is a country verb: I tup. You tup. We are tupping etc., and means what happens when the ram ‘covers’ the ewe).
1486 – Dynastic marriage of King Henry of Lancaster (Henry VII) to Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV, ends rivalry that led to the War of the Roses
1779 – Peter Mark Roget, physician, scholar, thesaurus creator was born, brought into this world, delivered, popped out, brought forth, sprogged, engendered, begat, birthed.
1896 – First xray generating machine displayed to the public by American H L Smith, but building on the work of English physicist William Crookes and German, Wilhelm Röntgen. Portable machines, designed for hospital use on the Battlefields were developed by Spaniard Mónico Sánchez Moreno and the Polish/French scientist Marie Curie.
Gervase Markham was born in 1568, in Nottinghamshire, and was a prolific writer. Today, prompted by the Perpetual Almanac by Charles Kightly, I am looking through Markham’s eyes at Apples. Apples were an important source of joy as well as nutrition through a cold winter, as fresh produce became unavailable.
Markham wrote detailed books for use by the householders, the Husbands and the Housewives. And with the coming of frost, the survival of food in your food store might depend upon reading Markham’s books. When the frosts hit, as they are now doing in the UK, you had to look after your store of apples. They were an important sweet food source over the winter.
For the women, he wrote the English Housewife, published in 1615. Here is his recipe for Apple Tart.
For the Housewife How to Make Apple-tart
Take apples and peel them and slice them thin from the core into a pan with white wine, good store of sugar, cinnamon and rosewater, and so boil it all shall it be thick. Then cool it and strain it, and beat it very well together with a spoon, and then put it into your coffin or crust and bake it. It carrieth with the colour red.
Gervais Markham, the English Housewife 1683 version (quoted by Charles Kightly).
For the men, he wrote the English Husbandsman, published in 1613 and ‘Printed by T. S. for Iohn Browne, and are to be sould at his shop in Saint Dunstanes Church-yard.’ This is the St Dunstan’s in Fleet Street, I think (near Sweeney Todds, the Barbers.) The book is available on Project Gutenberg (Gervase Markham the English Husbandman. Project Gutenberg).
So to the frost – Markham ends his extensive piece on the best way to store apples as follows:
To keepe Fruit in frost. If the frost be very extreame, and you feare the indangering your fruit, it is good to couer them somewhat thicke with fine hay, or else to lay them couered all ouer either in Barley-chaffe, or dry Salte: as for the laying them in chests of Iuniper, or Cipresse, it is but a toy, and not worth the practise: if you hang Apples in nettes within the ayre of the fire it will kéepe them long, but they will be dry and withered, and will loose their best rellish.
I remember my Grandmother would store her excess apples from the tree, wrapped in paper and stored in cupboards in the pantry or outbuilding. They were often wrinkled but always delicious, and I think were Russets, which remain my favourite apple.
At the bottom of the piece, I include the rest of Markham’s advice for storing apples. To summarise it: Don’t store them near the ground. Place them on shelves ordered by variety based on which variety lasts longest. So at the back will be the long-lived species such as Russets and Pippins, to eat as spring approaches. The front the ones you need to eat now such as the ‘Costard, Pome-water, Quéene-Apple‘ varieties.
Marocco, Pocahontas and the Rhino – performing at the Bell Savage
Markham wrote many books, including one on the famous performing horse Marocco. He starred in shows at the Bell Savage, just outside Ludgate in the City of London. The horse would whinny in triumph with the naming of an English King. But snort with derision with the naming of a Pope. He could also count and add up. He was rumoured to have been burnt at the stake as a witch in Edinburgh. But this does not appear to be true. Also, appearing at the Bell Savage in the 17th Century was a Rhinoceros, other prodigies and Pocahontas.
How to Keep Apples extended version
For a more modern text on what to do with excess apples from your tree, have a look here. However, do read on to get an insight into life and the varieties of Apples that were eaten in the 17th Century.
The place where you shall lay your fruit must neither be too open, nor too close, yet rather close then open, it must by no meanes be low vpon the ground, nor in any place of moistnesse: for moisture bréedes fustinesse, and such naughty smells easily enter into the fruit, and taint the rellish thereof, yet if you haue no other place but some low cellar to lay your fruit in, then you shall raise shelues round about, the nearest not within two foote of the ground, and lay your Apples thereupon, hauing them first lyned, either with swéet Rye-straw, Wheate-straw, or dry ferne: as these vndermost roomes are not the best, so are the vppermost, if they be vnséeld, the worst of all other, because both the sunne, winde, and weather, peircing through the tiles, doth annoy and hurt the fruit: the best roome then is a well séeld chamber, whose windowes may be shut and made close at pleasure, euer obseruing with straw to defend the fruit from any moist stone wall, or dusty mudde wall, both which are dangerous annoyances.
The seperating of Fruit. Now for the seperating of your fruit, you shall lay those nearest hand, which are first to be spent, as those which will last but till Alhallontide, as the Cisling, Wibourne, and such like, by themselues: those which will last till Christmas, as the Costard, Pome-water, Quéene-Apple, and such like: those which will last till Candlemas, as the Pome-de-roy, Goose-Apple, and such like, and those which will last all the yéere, as the Pippin, Duzin, Russetting, Peare-maine, and such like, euery one in his seuerall place, & in such order that you may passe from bed to bed to clense or cast forth those which be rotten or putrefied at your pleasure, which with all diligence you must doe, because those which are tainted will soone poyson the other, and therefore it is necessary as soone as you sée any of them tainted, not onely to cull them out, but also to looke vpon all the rest, and deuide them into thrée parts, laying the soundest by themselues, those which are least tainted by themselues, and those which are most tainted by themselues, and so to vse them all to your best benefit.
Turning your Fruit
Now for the turning of your longest lasting fruit, you shall know that about the latter end of December is the best time to beginne, if you haue both got and kept them in such sort as is before sayd, and not mixt fruit of more earely ripening amongst them: the second time you shall turne them, shall be about the end of February, and so consequently once euery month, till Penticost, for as the yéere time increaseth in heate so fruit growes more apt to rot: after Whitsontide you shall turne them once euery fortnight, alwayes in your turning making your heapes thinner and thinner; but if the weather be frosty then stirre not your fruit at all, neither when the thaw is, for then the fruit being moist may by no meanes be touched: also in wet weather fruit will be a little dankish, so that then it must be forborne also, and therefore when any such moistnesse hapneth, it is good to open your windowes and let the ayre dry your fruit before it be turned: you may open your windowe any time of the yéere in open weather, as long as the sunne is vpon the skye, but not after, except in March onely, at what time the ayre and winde is so sharpe that it tainteth and riuelleth all sorts of fruits whatsoeuer.
‘Drawing for Twelfth Cake’ at St. Annes Hill ’12th Night Cruikshank, Isaac, 1756-1811 printmaker. Published Janr. 10, 1807 by Thomas Tegg, 111 Cheapside’
Twelfth Night/Twelfth Day
Yesterday was Twelfth Night for the modern Church of England, but today is Twelfth Night for the Catholic Church and in England in former times ~(yesterday was Twelfth Day Eve. It is also Epiphany or Three Kings Day and because of calendrical differences, Christmas Eve for the Orthodox Church.
In Ireland, it is Nollaig na mBan. This is Women’s Little Christmas; when Women get to rest and let men do the work. This is a typical Saturnalia-style reversal of roles.
‘Drawing for Twelfth Cake’ at St. Annes Hill
I used the print above, three years ago for my post on New’s Day, then moved it to Twelfth Night. I also use it for lectures on Christmas and Jane Austen. But the focus of my presentation here is explaining the Twelfth Night Cake and the game that was played. But in fact, this is a very political satirical cartoon. More of that, later, let’s begin with the more trivial aspect of the print above.
Twelfth Night Performance, Party
It used to be the big party night, featuring the famous Twelfth Night Cake and theatrical entertainments; mumming and wassailing. Essentially, these terms mean wandering around the Town or Village dressed in costume and drinking beer, cider, or wine cups. The tradition of performance also was kept by the Royal Court and by institutions such as City Livery Companies and the Inns of Court in London.
These traditions saw someone chosen as the King for the night, and often someone else chosen as Queen. In 1606 Ben Jonson’s masque Hymen was performed before the Court. In 1613 Lord Bacon gave Gray’s Inn permission to a Twelfth Night Masque at Whitehall. During the performance, a character called Baby Cake brought in a ‘great cake with a bean and a pease’. On the Candlemas Feast of 2 February 1602 Middle Temple performed a play called Twelfth Night that the lawyers had commissioned from one William Shakespeare. Candlemas was the end of the Christmas Season. See my post on Candlemas here.
The cake has disappeared from current Christmas celebration, probably because it transmuted into our present Christmas Cake. This, I regret. I have had a lifetime when a very heavy Christmas Dinner is followed, first, by Christmas Pudding. Then, overloading with food, the Christmas Cake is brought out. No one, in their right mind, wants a slice of heavy Christmas Cake after a Christmas Dinner, and Christmas Pudding! Many of my American friends disparage fruit cake, but they are mistaken. Good Christmas Cake is something to be thoroughly enjoyed, but on the days following Christmas Day.
I gave a recipe for the Twelfth Night Cake in another post, (here it is). But the important point is that it had a bean and a pea in it. The one who got the bean was selected as King for night and the pea the Queen. The rest of the Christmas Party draw cards. Traditionally, the women draw a card from a ‘reticule’ (bag) and the men’s from a hat. But there are no women at this satirical party (pictured above).
The cards detailed a role the party goers were to play for the rest of the night. The card began with an introductory speech, or rhyme, for the person to speak. The King and Queen led the way, and for the rest of the evening the party members adopted their persona. They might be an aristocrat, a soldier, a cook, a parson, a dairy maid etc. The French do something similar with their Galette des Rois. The bean is called the feve, and may be replaced by a porcelain model. Other places have a King’s Cake for epiphany.
Twelfth Night Satire
So, as I was rushing to get the original Twelfth Night post done, I failed to examine it in any detail. I assumed the cards gave them satirical occupations which would be funny to the contemporary audience in 1807. But then, I noticed the title mentioned St Anne’s Hill. I looked it up and discovered myself down a deep and very enjoyable research rabbit hole.
St Anne’s Hill & Charles James Fox
Now, let’s go down that rabbit hole and look a little deeper.
The caption mentions St Anne’s Hill. I believe this refers to St Anne’s Hill, near Chertsey (SW of London on the River Thames). Here, there was a grand house which was owed by Charles James Fox. He was the leader of the Whigs, a persistent opponent of King George III. He was a supporter of the American and French Revolutions. This explains the red bonnet used to pull out the cards in the illustration.
The central figure is then, Fox. But he died in September,. 1806. The print is dated January 1807. Just before he died, his Foreign Slave Trade Bill of 1806 began the dismantling of this pernicious trade in the British Empire. He was Foreign Minister, who assumed a couple of civil chats with the French would end the long-standing war. But he soon discovered that Napoleon was not to be trusted in negotiations. The war went on for another 9 or so years.
Charles James Fox was a mercurial figure with many radical views. He was also a notorious gambler and loved the high life. One of his many lovers was Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. He eventually married, Elizabeth Armistead, an ex-mistress of the Prince of Wales. St Anne’s Hill was her house. I am pleased to report that she is credited with calming his life-style. He now spent more time at St Anne’s where they would ‘read, garden, explore the countryside and entertain friends’ (Wikipedia).
Isaac Cruikshank’s ‘Drawing for Twelfth Cake’ at St. Annes Hill
Cruikshank’s illustration is, of course, not designed to document quaint Twelfth Night customs but is a political satire and I discovered that the British Museum has the original version of this print, and. It is dated to 1799 which makes much more sense!
At the back right of the print is a notice which says:
‘Rules to be observed at this Meeting 1. That the Cake be decorated with appropriate insignia 2 That the tickets be deposited in a Bonnet Rouge and drawn in Rotation 3 That the Old Fashioned Game of King and Queen be exploded & Catch as Catch can Substituted in its stead.’
The bonnet rouge is a ‘redcap worn by ardent supporters of the French Revolution’ or ‘an extremist or revolutionary’. (defined by the Collins Dictionary as). Point 3 relates to Fox’s opposition to the King and the Republicanism of the French Revolution. The expression Catch as Catch Can refers to a free form of wrestling without rules, and presumably a satire on ideas of democracy.
Opponents of William Pitt
The characters in the scene (all men) are all political figures. They are associated with the opposition to the very right-wing Government of William Pitt. During the war with France, the opposition was led by a supporter of the French Revolution. For those on the right, which included Pitt’s government, supporting the French Revolution was tantamount to treason. Pitt suspended many civil liberties in ‘Pitt’s Reign of Terror’. He arrested and indeed executed leading members of those demanding political change. The Government even suspended Habeas Corpus to make it easier to arrest their opponents,
Fox is seen drawing a 12th Night Game ticket which is marked ‘Perpetual Dictator’. To his right is Frances Burdett. He was a radical politician, who supported universal male suffrage, equal electoral districts, vote by ballot, and annual parliaments. Note that this is well before these aims became the core of the Chartists campaign for electoral reform.
Frances Burdett
Burdett is shown holding a ticket saying ‘Keeper of the Prison in Cold Bath Fields’. This is a satirical reference to a serious political crisis. The Cold Baths Fields was the site of a medical spring in Clerkenwell, London. It was a prison where radicals were imprisoned. Conditions were very poor, despite the recent rebuilding under the aegis of the prison reformer, John Howard. Burdett exposed the scandalous conditions in the House of Commons. He began a campaign against the magistrates involved in the arrests. Francis Burdett married into the fabulously rich banking family the Coutts. His daughter was the famous Angela Burdett Coutts who was a philanthropist who collaborated extensively with Charles Dickens.
Edward and Catherine Despard
One of the prisoners was Edward Despard who had associations with many radical groups. These included the London Corresponding Society, the United Irishmen and United Britons. Despard married Catherine, the daughter of a free black woman from Jamaica. She, with Burdett, led the campaign against her husbands and other arrests without trial. Catherine wrote a letter to the Attorney General who replied in a demeaning manner:
‘it was a well-written letter, and the fair sex would pardon him, if he said it was a little beyond their style in general’
He did not comment on her colour. She described the imprisonment of her husband as being :
“in a dark cell, not seven feet square, without fire, or candle, chair, table, knife, fork, a glazed window, or even a book”
Despard was freed in 1802, went to Ireland. He returned to London. He was arrested again. And accused of a being the ringleader of a plot to assassinate the King. There was little real evidence. Horatio Nelson was a character witness, and appealed to the King for clemency. Clemency was granted. But only in so far as Despard was not disembowelled. Just ‘Hanged and Drawn’ at Horsemonger Lane Gaol in Southwark (1803). He was the last person to be drawn through the streets at the tail of a horse before execution for treason. These are his last words:
Fellow Citizens, I come here, as you see, after having served my Country faithfully, honourably and usefully, for thirty years and upwards, to suffer death upon a scaffold for a crime which I protest I am not guilty. I solemnly declare that I am no more guilty of it than any of you who may be now hearing me. But though His Majesty’s Ministers know as well as I do that I am not guilty, yet they avail themselves of a legal pretext to destroy a man because he has been a friend to truth, to liberty, and to justice
(a considerable huzzah from the crowd)
and because he has been a friend to the poor and to the oppressed. But, Citizens, I hope and trust, notwithstanding my fate, and the fate of those who no doubt will soon follow me, that the principles of freedom, of humanity, and of justice, will finally triumph over falsehood, tyranny and delusion, and every principle inimical to the interests of the human race.
(a warning from the Sheriff)
I have little more to add, except to wish you all health, happiness and freedom, which I have endeavoured, as far as was in my power, to procure for you, and for mankind in general.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Despard
After his death, his family denied that Catherine was his wife but merely his ‘house-keeper.’ I assume, this was because they wanted the inheritance rather than, or perhaps, as well as naked prejudice.
@Phew! This is what I love about what I do, you find things out that link disparate parts of your knowledge, creating an ever-interwining web of history.
On this Day
1066 Harold Godwinson crowned King of England on January 6, 1066, the same day as the funeral of the previous king, Edward the Confessor.
On the twelfth day of Christmas My true love gave to me Twelve drummers drumming, Eleven pipers piping, Ten lords a-leaping, Nine ladies dancing, Eight maids a-milking, Seven swans a-swimming, Six geese a-laying, Five golden rings, Four calling birds, Three French hens, Two turtle-doves And a partridge in a pear tree.
Twelfth Night
In 1775, William Snooke recorded in his diary, that he sat down to a fine dinner with:
‘Mr and Mrs William Clifford and their seven children (and maid), John Fox Snr. and Sally Twining, Mr and Mrs William Fox, and William Weale.’ To feed this crowd took “Ham, Greens, 3 fowls roasted, Soup, Leg of Mutton, potatoes, Boiled rump of beef (large)”
Dessert included pudding, mince pies and a forequarter of home lamb. For supper, the assembled party consumed tarts, stuffed beef, mince pies, cold mutton, oysters, cold sliced beef, cold lamb, apple pies and pears.
A recent ‘tradition’ for a Tweltfh Night procession has been established on the south side of the River Thames in London. The Lions Part Company begin their entertainments at the rebuilt Globe. The parade has all the traditional mummers characters, including the Green Man, and the Holly Man. They perform the Combat Play of St George. This involves the Old ‘Oss (which is the centre point of the May Day festivities at Padstow in Cornwall. They also have Twelth Night Cakes containing a bean and a pea. These are used to crown the King and Queen of the Day.
Photo of Twelfth Night Celebrations in Southwark, London on the South Bank
I’ve posted about this before but just to make sure those who find themselves on this page understand the issue:
Many people start their count of the Twelve Days of Christmas on the 25th December. But some folklore sources going back in time count from Boxing Day. For example, Gervase Markham’s ‘The English Husbandman of 1635 counts it from Boxing Day.
The Daily Express reveals that the Protestants count from Christmas Day and the Catholics from Boxing Day. That maybe it, but I wonder if the confusion more complicated than that? The religious festival really makes sense if it begins with Christmas Day, and ends with the Epiphany. This is the day the Three Kings from the Orient come to worship Jesus. But Epiphany is on the 6th January, which is 13 days from Christmas. 13 days of Christmas would be ill-omened. So two solutions: make the end of the Twelve Days the Eve of Epiphany, i.e. the 5th, or start the 12 days from Boxing Day.
I suspect there is a fudge going on here. Twelve is the magic number, twelve Apostles, 12 months in the year, so twelve Days of Christmas. But clearly, for Christians it stretches from Christmas Day to Epiphany. Two ways to square that 13 day difference. One is to begin the twelve days on Boxing Day. The other is to end with a Twelfth Night party on the Eve of Epiphany. Have a look at Notes&Queries for different viewpoints.
Time to take your decorations down- January 5th or Candlemas
However, we currently all seem to agree that January 5th is the day to take down your Christmas decorations. If you fail to do it now, you have to keep them until Candlemas, which is at the begining of February. See my Candlemas post to see the official end of Christmas.
Toss your unwanted Christmas Tree on the Pavement Day
In London, today and yesterday have seen people throw out their unwanted Christmas Streets out on the street, for someone else to pick up and throw away. This became a thing a few years ago not. But, no, people you are supposed to take them to a Recycling Centre, or arrange to have them picked up. Not just throw them on the street.
1753 People gathered around the Holy Thorn in Glastonbury. The Thorn normally blossomed on Christmas Day, but the Gregorian Calendar had been introduced the year before. Christmas Day was now 11 days earlier. on December 25th, it did not blossom. On the 5th, it blossomed, proving that the new Christmas Day was a fraud, From then on January 5th was called Christmas Day Old Style. Other festivals, and events thereafter kept their traditional slot in the year, by changing the date to the Old Style, and ignored the New Style.
Twelfth Night Cake at the Museum of the Home, photo Kevin Flude
Twelfth Night Cake
On the 11th day of Christmas My true love sent to me 11 pipers piping; Ten lords a-leaping; Nine ladies dancing Eight maids a-milking; Seven swans a-swimming Six geese a-laying Five golden rings (five golden rings) Four calling birds; Three French hens; Two turtle-doves And a partridge in a pear tree.
Now is your last chance to make your Twelfth Night cake, its the 11th hour after all! Of course, Stir Up Sunday would have been the best day. Here is a recipe from 1604 by Elinor Fettiplace:
Take a peck of flower, and fower pound of currance, one ounce of Cinamon, half an ounce of ginger, two nutmegs, of cloves and mace two peniworth, of butter one pound, mingle your spice and flower & fruit together, but as much barme [the yeasty froth from the top of fermenting beer barrels] as will make it light, then take good Ale, & put your butter in it, saving a little, which you must put in the milk, & let the milk boyle with the butter, then make a posset with it, & temper the Cakes with the posset drink, & curd & all together, & put some sugar in & so bake it.
The Quadrantid meteor shower appears from the point of the Plough’s handle. It continues to January 12th but peakon January 4th. At the peak there may be 100 meteors an hour. But, it will be low in the north-eastern sky and best seen from low light pollution areas. Twinkling above the Southern Horizon will be Sirius and this month’s brightest star. In the NE, the Plough can easily be seen. The Orion nebula south of Orion’s belt will be seen as a hazy patch with the naked eye. (from the Night Sky. Month by Month by Gater and Sparrow).
We are also seeing the Wolf Moon, as it moves closer than usual to the Earth and so feels bigger. It got its name as Wolves were said to Howl at the Moon more when the Moon came close.
On This Day
1642 Charles I marched on the House of Commons to arrest five Members of Parliament. It failed, the MPs fled to Guildhall in the City of London. Charles followed and was surrounded by citizens of the City of London shouting ‘Priviledge of Parliament. He fled London and the Civil began soon after. See my post charles-i-raises-the-standard-august-22nd-1642
Today: Sow alpine seeds. This give them the period of cold they get in the wild, which is essential for their germination in spring. Take root cuttings. Lift and divide overgrown clumps of herbaceous perennials. ‘Gardening through the Year’ by Ian Spence. RHS.
Marble statue of Bacchus from the Temple of Mithras London. The inscription reads ‘hominibus vagis vitam’ Translation … (give) life to men who wander. Bacchus is in the middle, the little old man on the left is Silenus. The drunken tutor to Bacchus.
On the eighth day of Christmas my true love sent to me: 8 Maids a Milking; 7 Swans a Swimming; 6 Geese a Laying 5 Golden Rings 4 Calling Birds; 3 French Hens; 2 Turtle Doves and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
Closing Time
The 8th day, New Years Day, is the day of the Throbbing Head. In ‘Closing Time’ Leonard Cohen wrote about drinking to excess. I like to think he refers to Christmas and New Year’s Day:
‘And the whole damn place goes crazy twice And it’s once for the devil and it’s once for Christ But the boss don’t like these dizzy heights We’re busted in the blinding lights of closing time.
Trouble is the song mentions summer. Oh well. You can enjoy the official video on YouTube below:
Hangover Cure
What you need is a hangover cure. Nature provides many plants that can soothe headaches. And in the midst of the season of excess, let’s start with a hangover cure.
Common ivy Photo by Zuriel Galindo from unsplash
Ivy and Bacchus
Ivy, ‘is a plant of Bacchus’…. ‘the berries taken before one be set to drink hard, preserve from drunkenness…. and if one hath got a surfeit by drinking of wine, the speediest cure is to drink a draft of the same wine, wherein a handful of ivy leaves (being first bruised) have been boiled.’
Culpeper Herbal 1653 quoted in ‘the Perpetual Almanac’ by Charles Kightly
Bacchus often wore an ivy crown around his head. Romans used Ivy to fend off hangovers.
Bacchus and Wine Making
The image of Bacchus, at the top of the post, is from a fascinating article by the Museum of London on wine making in Roman Britain. It suggests wine in Britain was first made in Brockley Hill, in South East London as little as 20 or 30 years after the Roman Conquest of AD43. The evidence was the discovery of Roman Wine Amphora made locally. This is taken as evidence that the amphorae were made to contain local wine. Direct evidence of a vineyard has been found in Northamptonshire but fron the 2nd Century AD.
Bacchus is the Roman version of the God Dionysus who was the God of ‘wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre.’ Essentially anything that could make you loss your head, and escape your inhibitions. But he could also relieve pain, reduce anxiety, free you from subjugation and therefore he was subversive. The Roman State suppressed and regulated the Bacchanalian Festivals.
Skullache, and Willow,
Crack Willow Trees on the Oxford Canal, August 2021
Now, if that gives you a headache, one of the best documented folk hangover cures is willow bark, useful for headaches, earaches, and toothaches. Here is a record of how simple it was to use:
‘I am nearly 70 years old and was born and bred in Norfolk… My father, if he had a ‘skullache’ as he called it, would often chew a new growth willow twig, like a cigarette in the mouth.’
‘A Dictionary of Plant Lore by Roy Vickery (Pg 401)
In the 19th Century, they discovered that Willow contained salicylic aciacid, from which aspirin was derived. As a child, I remember chewing liquorice sticks in a similar way. We chewed, supposedly for the pleasure and the sweetness, not for the medicinal virtues of the plant.
Country Weather
January 1st’s weather on the 8th Day of Christmas was cold, but bright in the morning, a little bit of rain at lunch time, and a dry but cloudy afternoon. So, according to Gervase Markham, the 8th Month, August, will be sunny to begin with, with some rain in the middle, and cloudy end of the month. (source: ‘The English Husbandman’ of 1635.)
On this Day
Today, is the Day the Nymphs in Greece dedicated to Artemis, Andromeda, Ariadne, Ceres. (according to the Goddess Book of Days by Diane Stein.)
First Published in 2024, republished in 2025, 2026
