Fascinating read about the King’s Evil by Andrew Taylor
Here is a post on the King’s Evil, that I forgot to post yesterday.
Aries & Noses
We have just entered Aries. Now according to astrology, Aries is associated with health issues of the face. This, according to ‘Skin and Astrology Signs‘ is because of the “level of heat in their bodies”. So Arians tend to have problems such as “flushing, heat rashes, skin eruptions, and rosacea”. They suggest using chilled cucumber for the eyes and forehead, and using beauty products with soothing aloe vera in them.
Charles Kightly, in his Perpetual Almanac enjoins us to ‘Observe the features of the face which are ruled by Aries and seek cures for ills of the nose’.
The first example, Kightly gives is from an 18th Century publication which explains how to understand people by studying their noses:
Nose round with a sharpness at the end signifies one to be wavering of mind; the nose wholly crooked, to be sure unshamefaced and unstable; crooked like an eagle’s beak, to be bold. The nose flat, to be lecherous and hasty in wrath; the nostrils large, to be ireful.’
The Shepherd’s Prognostication 1729
A Fungous Nose & the King’s Evil
The second rather revolting tale is from John Aubrey.
Arise Evans had a fungous Nose and said, it was revealed to him, that the king’s hand would cure him At the first coming of Charles II into St James Park he kissed the king’s hand and rubbed his nose with it: which disturbed the king, but cured him.
People believed that Scrofula, could be cured by touching the Monarch. Tuberculous cervical lymphadenitis was, thus, known as the King’s Evil. So, the King or Queen would make herself, very reluctantly, available for his sick public to touch her.
Scofula and the King’s Touch
Sketch of Dr Johnson from a portrait.
Dr Samuel Johnson suffered from Scofula and received the “royal touch” from Queen Anne on 30 March 1712 at St James’s Palace. He was given a ribbon, which he wore around his neck for the rest of his life. But it did not cure the disease, and he had to have an operation.
It took place in the winter, between Michaelmas and Easter, when cold weather provoked the disease. The lucky few who were allowed the Touch, would be touched or stroked by the King or Queen on the face or neck. Then a special gold coin, touched by the Monarch, was put around their neck. Readings from the bible and prayer finished the ceremony. Before Queen Elizabeth, the Touch was said to cure many diseases such as Rheumatism, convulsions, fever and blindness, but after it was reserved for Scrofula.
Who Started touching for the King’s Evil?
It was only the French and the English who believed the King’s touch could cure people. The French claimed it began with Philip 1 in the 11th Century. The English claimed Edward the Confessor as the first. But this was denied by the French who claimed that the French King of England, Henry 1 introduced it to the English. The practice lasted until George 1 who resolutely refused to have anything to do with it.
For more on the King’s Evil have a look at this blogpost. Or read the book pictured at the top of the post.
The day after the Equinox we look at the cardinal points of the compass:
“chief, pivotal,” early 14c., from Latin cardinalis “principal, chief, essential,” (online etymological dictionary).
The Importance of South
On its annual cycle, the Sun is always on the move. At the Equinox the Sun now rises due East, and sets due West. It then rises every day further towards the north and sets further to the South until the Solstice. The Solstices mark the extreme Northerly and Southerly rising and settings. Dawn and Dusk vary accordingly.
So, the only real fixed point in the Sun’s entire journey (as seen from Earth) is Noon. Every day of the year, every day of our lives, the Sun is at the highest point at Noon. And this is the definition of South. But the Sun never strays into the North. So the North is the polar opposite of the South- cold, remote, more mysterious, unknowable almost.
To my mind, it makes, of the Cardinal Points, the South very special. At Stonehenge, there are two exits. The biggest is aligned to the Midsummer Sunrise and Midwinter Sunset axis. But there is a smaller second entrance and this aligned due South. There is also a uniquely small standing stone in the main circle of Sarsens, which is aligned to the South. (Although we don’t know if this stone is original). However, there was some sort of corridor heading South through the mysterious wooden phase which precedent the stone Stonehenge. So, we can be fairly sure South was important at Stonehenge.
Sketch of Stonehenge showing the smallest Sarsen stone to the North of the Southern Entrance
Noon, derives from ‘nona hora’ in Latin and is ‘one of the seven fixed prayer times in traditional Christian denominations.’ (Wikipedia)
The Predominance of the North?
And yet, North, has come to be the principal of the cardinal points. It is shown on virtually all modern maps. It is the direction that people of my generation and hemisphere think of as being ‘up’.
The Google generation sees things differently. There are countless tourist maps on walls or plinths where North is no longer at the top. Up is shown as being the way you are facing. Users have to fight with Google Maps to put North at the top of the map. My children mock me when I say ‘Out of the Tube station, turn up the High street northwards.’ Their view of maps is completely contextual. They do not see any reason to know where the cardinal points are. I point out that the Tube probably has two exits on either side of the road. So, it doesn’t work to say ‘turn left out of the tube’.
There may also be an element of sexual difference, with men more likely to have a cardinal point view while women navigate more by landmarks. ‘Walk past the M&S, turn left to the Park and straight on’. One paper says: ‘during spatial navigation, women typically navigate an environment using a landmark strategy, whereas men typically use an orientation strategy.’
Although I see this decline of the north as being part of the Decline of the West. I also ‘things were better in my day’. But in fact it is simply returning to the way maps were produced in the past. Here is an example below.
Representation of a Roman Map with the top being roughly East.
The Magnetic Poles
Of course, there is another version of the cardinal points: the magnetic cardinal points. The magnetic North wanders over time. It does not necessarily coincide with geographic north. In recent times they are close enough. But in the past there have been huge variations. Occasionally, the earth has had geomagnetic reversals when the North Pole has pointed in different directions, including south. The last one was 780,000 years ago. On average, they take place very roughly every 500,000 years.
The magnetic pole is caused by the molten iron in the earth’s core and mantle, which creates a dipole. Fluctuations in the dynamo flow of the molten iron cause occasional reverses. The science is very complicated and, even now, not entirely understood. Is it a random consequence of flow dynamics? Or do external events, like sinking continents, or meteor strikes cause the reversal?
Since the first use of compasses for navigation in the 11th/12th Centuries, the magnetic pole hasn’t wandered enough to be of concern to navigation. It has wondered a few hundred miles over the last 500 years. Now, it is speeding up, from 9km a year to 52km (since 1970). This Wikipedia page is pretty good at an explanation.
My Job Tracking the Cardinal Points
My first proper job after university was as a technician then research assistant at Oxford University studying these phenomena. I say ‘proper’ because when I left University, I became an itinerant archaeologist. This led me to digs in Switzerland, Northampton, East Anglia and Nottingham. Then, I got the job at the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, at Keble College, Oxford.
I worked for Dr. Mike Barbetti who was an expert on the wanderings of the Magnetic Pole. His interest was firstly in the pure science of the subject. But he was keen to explore the applied uses in Archaeology as well. So, after being appointed as a Research Fellow at Oxford, he set up an epic journey from his native Australia to Oxford. It went via some of the iconic sites of Palaeolithic Archaeology, including Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. The site of excavations by Mary and Louis Leakey.
To plot the movements of the magnetic north, scientists needed dated samples. Early human sites provided dated sites over a long time span. Also, archaeomagnetism, as the discipline became known, offered the possibility of dating sites. Another application was to determine whether deposits were fired or not. One of the sites Mike sampled was a candidate for the first evidence of fire in human existence.
Cutting up Samples
As I said, Mike’s interest was discovering how the magnetic field of the earth changed over time. And, more importantly, what was the mechanism. He shipped back to Oxford samples of soil cast in Plaster of Paris. My job was to cut the samples up. I cut them up with an electric saw in a shed in the backyard of the Laboratory. Then we measured the direction and intensity of the magnetic field in the samples.
Soil contains particles of iron, and they align randomly. So a sample of soil has a low magnetic intensity and a random direction of magnetic field. But once heated up, the iron particles align to the current direction of the magnetic pole. Its intensity is proportional to the intensity of the Earth’s magnetic field. These measurements provide a method of plotting the changes of the magnetic field over time. And from these data, models can be constructed explaining how the iron in the earth’s core worked as a giant magnet.
Once we had built a reference curve for the movements and intensity of the magnetic pole over time, we hoped to develop another dating method. Other methods such as radio carbon, thermoluminescence, and tree ring dating, were being developed at the Research Laboratory in Oxford.
My part in Digital Heritage Part 1
Having got the results, I took them to the Oxford University Computer Centre. There, I typed them up onto machine-readable cards. Added a copy on cards of our computer programme written in Fortran, and gave them to the Computing Staff. The program and data were run through the Centre’s mainframe computer. (probably an IBM or ICL computer, the size of a house!). 24 hours later, I received a print-out to proofread.
I located mistakes, ran an editing run of punched cards, essentially instructing the computer: ‘on card two replace 2.5 with 2.6, and run the programme again’. I would pick up the results 24 hours later. It seems extraordinarily primitive now, but then it was an enormous saving of time.
And that, patient reader, was my early contribution to Digital Heritage and pure science. Mike published many articles of which I was joint author of three articles, two in the prestigious Science Journal Nature. And it is annoying that my citations in the groves of academia are still dominated by articles I co-wrote in the late 1970s/80s!
Mike’s work was important in the development of the study of the earth’s magnetic field. However, the use of archaeomagnetism has never risen above strictly limited. Occasionally, in specific circumstances, it can be useful. But those circumstances tend to be times when no other methods have worked. Most often, it is used in attempting to date kilns.
These are the papers:
Barbetti. M and K. Flude, ‘Palaeomagnetic Field Strengths from Sediments baked by Lava flows of the Chaine des Puys, France.’ Nature, Vol. 278 No 5700. 1979
Barbetti M., Y. Taborin, B. Schmider and K. Flude ‘Archaeomagnetic Results from Late Pleistocene Hearths at Etoilles and Marsangy, France’. Archaeometry 22. 1980
More on my contribution to Digital Heritage in posts to come.
Video by Heike Herbert of Druids at the Spring Equinox at Tower Hill, London
So, Spring has sprung, not only meteorologically speaking but also astronomically. We are 20 days into the meteorological Spring which started on 1 March (see my post here.) Today, we are starting the astronomical or solar Spring.
The 20th of March is the Spring Equinox, or Vernal Equinox, midway between the Winter Solstice and the Summer Solstice. The sun has been rising further north each day since December 21st. Today it rises due East, and sets due West. The day and night are roughly equal in length (although by no means exactly). At 9.00am today, the Sun was directly overhead at the Equator.
The term vernal comes from the Latin for Spring, and today is the primavera, the first day of Spring. The Anglo-Saxons originally used the word lencthen (Lent) for Spring. But later adopted the idea of the ‘springing’ of the year when the plants bud. In Middle English, the word Spring is also used for sunrise, the waxing of the moon and the rising tides. These are called spring tides. But also for the sprouting of the beard and the first appearance of pubic hair! Happy Spring Time!
Up to the 15th Century, the English also used the French term ‘prime-temps’ in the sense of ‘first times’. This follows the idea that the year is young, while Winter represents old age. As we shall see, on March 25th, there was also a belief that the world was created in Spring at the Equinox. Jesus was also conceived at this point of the annual cycle. (see my post /march-25th-the-beginning-of-the-universe-as-we-know-it-birthday-of-adam-lilith-eve-conception-of-jesus-start-of-the-year)
Zodiacally, if that is a word, Spring is Aries (brave and impulsive); Taurus (sensual and stubborn), and Gemini (dynamic and talented).
Druids at Tower Hill
Druids at the Spring Equinox Tower Hill London, Photo by Heike Herbert
The Druids have a ceremony at Tower Hill every year on the Spring Equinox. When I last attended I remember the druid costumes were often made with nylon sheets, and their footware was mostly tennis shoes. I see from the photos the nylon has at least been replaced with cotton, and the plimsolls with trainers. Not quite sure what that pair of black trainers are doing in the picture!
As my photos are getting long in the teeth, I have used photos by Heike Herbert. She attends most years. The ones above from 2 years ago. She has also been there today. However, she reports that the atmosphere has been affected by a street food market,. This restricted the space for the Druid Circle. The food stalls are there every Thursday, so it only impacts the Druid assembly once every 7 years! I wonder if anything similar happened at Stonehenge?
Tower Hill, Spring Equinox, 2025 and street food, Photo by Heike Herbert
Modern Druids
I say modern druids because there is no convincing evidence that the modern fellowships of Druids can trace their origins back to prehistory. Druidry was reinvented in the 18th Century — for example, the Ancient Order of Druids was formed in 1781. They were set up as societies in the tradition of the Freemasons. They held to belief in the fundamental importance of nature. However, one group, the British Circle of the Universal Bond, claim descent from a group persecuted by the Bishop of Oxford in 1166. Look at their website for more details and for an idea of their beliefs.
Prehistoric Spring Equinox
When did the Equinox first had importance for human society? The answer is, probably, at least as long as we have been reasoning creatures. On January 14th, I draw attention to a recent discovery by an amateur ‘citizen scientist’. He suggested there was evidence in Cave Painting for the use of a Palaeolithic Calendar. Follow this link to see the post.
Stonehenge and the Sun
At Stonehenge, in the old Car Park, they found three huge Pine post-holes in a line. Dating evidence shows they were erected in the Mesolithic period, thousand of years before Stonehenge. They align to the direction of the Mid-Summer Sunrise and Mid-Winter Sunset (NNE/SSW). If, and it’s a big if, you were sighting from Stonehenge itself, which was built some 5000 years in the future.
Imaginary reconstruction of the Carpark Postholes
It is a bit of a stretch using two pieces of evidence so far apart in time. But recent excavations have revealed that there are natural periglacial striations in the soft chalk bedrock at Stonehenge. These lines point to the Solstices. They not only predate Stonehenge but also the three post holes. The striations may well have been visible from the time they were created when the glaciers melted.
Around 12,000 years ago (date from my memory so approximate), the climate changed and the glaciers melted. This left a lot of water rushing around the landscape. At Stonehenge, it gouged out striations in the chalk. By chance, or as ordered by the Gods/Goddesses/Divine Nature, the striations pointed to the Solstice Axis. Richard Jacques excavations in the Stonehenge area revealed that the aurochs came to the Stonehenge area for grazing and water. Aurochs are huge wild cows with enough meat on them to feed 200 people. So, the solar axis is near a place where the Gods/Goddesses/Divine Nature provided super-abundance in the guise of herds of Aurochs.
Foreground shows the periglacial striations aligned on the Solstice. Source Current Archaeology?
Burial Mounds aligned to the Equinox
This is confirmed by the alignment of many megalithic monuments dating from 3,600 BC onwards, including, of course, Stonehenge. Also, all around the UK are long barrows and other burial mounds, many of which are indeed sited/sited E-W to the Equinoxes. Many are fairly approximate. But at Loughcrew, County Meath in Ireland the Vernal Equinox shines right into the burial chamber. The sun’s light shines onto a stone marked by stone carvings. Similar alignments exist at Knowth and Dowth in the Boyne Valley. More about Loughcrew in my post here)
Harmony & the Spring Equinox.
The Equinox also has another role, which is to be the anchor of the cardinal points. The world is orientated to North, South, East, West. The Equinox is a time when there is a harmony, a balance in the universe. Therefore, it is a fortunate, a lucky time, a time to fall in love or undertake notable undertakings. But, in the Christian world marriage traditionally had to wait a little longer, until after the commemoration of the death of the Messiah,
First Written in March 2023, and revised in March 2024, 2025
Display of Antarctic Explorer’s Kit 1912 (reconstruction) at Gilbert White’s House in Hampshire
Last year, I went to Gilbert White’s House in Selborne. The naturalist’s House also houses the Oates Museum for Lawrence ‘Titus Oates’ and his uncle Frank. Oates was one of the ‘heroes’ I read about as a child. He epitomised what was sold as the British virtues of pluck, self-sacrifice, restraint.
Here is part of the story of Oates self-sacrifice over the days from February 29th to March 16th as told by the commander of the expedition Captain Scott:
Wednesday, February 29th 1912
Lunch. Cold night. Minimum Temp. -37.5°; -30° with north-west wind, force 4, when we got up. Frightfully cold starting; luckily Bowers and Oates in their last new finnesko; keeping my old ones for present. Expected awful march and for first hour got it. Then things improved and we camped after 5 1/2 hours marching close to lunch camp—22 1/2. Next camp is our depot and it is exactly 13 miles. It ought not to take more than 1 1/2 days; we pray for another fine one. The oil will just about spin out in that event, and we arrive 3 clear days’ food in hand. The increase of ration has had an enormously beneficial result. Mountains now looking small. Wind still very light from west—cannot understand this wind.
A finnesko is ‘a boot of tannedreindeer skin with the hair on the outside’.
Monday, March 5th 1912
Lunch. Regret to say going from bad to worse. We got a slant of wind yesterday afternoon, and going on 5 hours we converted our wretched morning run of 3 1/2 miles into something over 9. We went to bed on a cup of cocoa and pemmican solid with the chill off. (R. 47.) The result is telling on all, but mainly on Oates, whose feet are in a wretched condition. One swelled up tremendously last night and he is very lame this morning. We started march on tea and pemmican as last night—we pretend to prefer the pemmican this way. Marched for 5 hours this morning over a slightly better surface covered with high moundy sastrugi. Sledge capsized twice; we pulled on foot, covering about 5 1/2 miles. We are two pony marches and 4 miles about from our depot. Our fuel dreadfully low and the poor Soldier nearly done. It is pathetic enough because we can do nothing for him; more hot food might do a little, but only a little, I fear. We none of us expected these terribly low temperatures, and of the rest of us Wilson is feeling them most; mainly, I fear, from his self-sacrificing devotion in doctoring Oates’ feet. We cannot help each other, each has enough to do to take care of himself. We get cold on the march when the trudging is heavy, and the wind pierces our warm garments. The others, all of them, are unendingly cheerful when in the tent. We mean to see the game through with a proper spirit, but it’s tough work to be pulling harder than we ever pulled in our lives for long hours, and to feel that the progress is so slow. One can only say ‘God help us!’ and plod on our weary way, cold and very miserable, though outwardly cheerful. We talk of all sorts of subjects in the tent, not much of food now, since we decided to take the risk of running a full ration. We simply couldn’t go hungry at this time.
Pemmican is made of tallow, dried meat and dried berries. It is a calorie rich food stuff created by native American groups and used by expedition like Scotts. The name says Wikipedia ‘comes from the Cree word ᐱᒦᐦᑳᓐ (pimîhkân), which and adopted is derived from the word ᐱᒥᕀ (pimî), ‘fat, grease”. Sastrugi is a Russian word which are ripples or craters in the surface of the snow caused by strong winds. They make progressing through the terrain much more difficult.
Scott begins his March 16th entry unsure what the actual date is.
Friday March 16th
Lost track of dates, but think the last correct. Tragedy all along the line. At lunch, the day before yesterday, poor Titus Oates said he couldn’t go on; he proposed we should leave him in his sleeping-bag. That we could not do, and induced him to come on, on the afternoon march. In spite of its awful nature for him he struggled on and we made a few miles. At night he was worse and we knew the end had come.
Should this be found I want these facts recorded. Oates’ last thoughts were of his Mother, but immediately before he took pride in thinking that his regiment would be pleased with the bold way in which he met his death. We can testify to his bravery. He has borne intense suffering for weeks without complaint, and to the very last was able and willing to discuss outside subjects. He did not – would not – give up hope to the very end. He was a brave soul. This was the end. He slept through the night before last, hoping not to wake; but he woke in the morning – yesterday. It was blowing a blizzard. He said, ‘I am just going outside and may be some time.’ He went out into the blizzard and we have not seen him since.
I take this opportunity of saying that we have stuck to our sick companions to the last. In case of Edgar Evans, when absolutely out of food and he lay insensible, the safety of the remainder seemed to demand his abandonment, but Providence mercifully removed him at this critical moment. He died a natural death, and we did not leave him till two hours after his death. We knew that poor Oates was walking to his death, but though we tried to dissuade him, we knew it was the act of a brave man and an English gentleman. We all hope to meet the end with a similar spirit, and assuredly the end is not far.
I can only write at lunch and then only occasionally. The cold is intense, -40º at midday. My companions are unendingly cheerful, but we are all on the verge of serious frostbites, and though we constantly talk of fetching through I don’t think anyone of us believes it in his heart.
We are cold on the march now, and at all times except meals. Yesterday we had to lay up for a blizzard and to-day we move dreadfully slowly. We are at No. 14 pony camp, only two pony marches from One Ton Depot. We leave here our theodolite, a camera, and Oates’ sleeping-bags. Diaries, &c., and geological specimens carried at Wilson’s special request, will be found with us or on our sledge.
From the display at Gilbert White’s House, in Selborne Hampshire
How much Oates story is tarnished by discoveries published in 2002, I will leave you to read here.
This post commemorates the death of John Evelyn. It should have been published yesterday, but I had to publish my post on Fat Thursday. Being a moveable feast, it moved to February 27th this year. You will find more about Evelyn below. But first, I must report back on my success or failure of the Lardy Cake I cooked to celebrate Gioverdi Grasso.
lardy cake being madeLady Cake overcooked!Slice of Lardy Cake
Ok, so my first error was to forget to put the sugar in! Secondly, I was distracted so did not put the timer on, so it was a little overcooked, but not disastrously. I also used Wholemeal flour rather than Strong White flour, which Paul Hollywood suggested. I’ve had about 4 slices, last night and this morning. Verdict: Quite Good. But buy it from a shop next time. Don’t apply to appear on Bake-off. Its ok, if you sprinkle a little sugar on. Next slice I might try some jam. It is more like a fruit bread than a lardy cake. I have now washed the utensils 4 times, and they are still covered in lard! But at least it’s less fat ingested.
Back to John Evelyn
27th February, 1661. Ash Wednesday. Preached before the King the Bishop of London (Dr. Sheldon) on Matthew xviii. 25, concerning charity and forgiveness.
John Evelyn is, with Pepys and Wren, one of the great figures of 17th Century London. Unlike Pepys he was an avowed Royalist who hated Oliver Cromwell and all he stood for. He went into exile with his King and gives a great description of Paris (see below). Dr Sheldon, the Bishop of London mentioned above, went on to become Archbishop of Canterbury. He was a friend of Wren’s Father, and commissioned Wren to build the Sheldonian Theatre, in Oxford.
Like Pepys, John Evelyn was a diarist and a writer. And they, like Wren, were alumni of the Royal Society, one of the great scientific societies. John Evelyn was a founding fellow. It was innovative in that it employed an experimenter. He was Robert Hooke – one of the great early Scientists, who also worked with Wren rebuilding London after the Great Fire. The Royal Society encouraged scientists to experiment, write up, and submit their theories to for peer review. This is the foundation of Western Science, and a bedrock of the Enlightenment.
Frontispiece of ‘the History of the Royal-Society of London by Thomas Sprat. John Evelyn was a founder member
Evelyn the Writer.
Evelyn has a place in my history because, in the 1980’s I worked. with Paul Herbert, on a project to create an interactive history of London. It was financed by Warner Brothers, and in cooperation with the short-lived ‘BBC Interactive TV Unit’. One part of it was a Literary Tour of London. And this is where I came across John Evelyn using several of the quotations on this page.
Evelyn was a prolific traveller and a polymath. He wrote on the need to improve London’s architecture and air in Fumifugium (or The Inconveniencie of the Aer and Smoak of London Dissipated).
Here is an extract from his Furmifugium.
‘That this Glorious and Antient City, which from Wood might be rendred Brick, and (like another Rome) from Brick made Stone and Marble; which commands the Proud Ocean to the Indies, and reaches to the farthest Antipodes, should wrap her stately head in Clowds of Smoake and Sulphur, so full of Stink and Darknesse, I deplore with just Indignation.
That the Buildings should be compos’d of such a Congestion of mishapen and extravagant Houses; That the Streets should be so narrow and incommodious in the very Center, and busiest places of Intercourse: That there should be so ill and uneasie a form of Paving under foot, so troublesome and malicious a disposure of the Spouts and Gutters overhead, are particulars worthy of Reproof and Reformation; because it is hereby rendred a Labyrinth in its principal passages, and a continual Wet-day after the Storm is over. ‘
And he was an expert on trees. Author of: Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-Trees (1664). He lived at Sayes Court in Depford near Greenwich, which he ill-advisedly rented to Peter the Great of Russia. Letting to Peter was a lot-like inviting a 1960s Rock Band to trash your mansion.
John Evelyn the Exile
Here is a taste of Evelyn’s time as an Exile. It is a short extract from a long entry on the splendid Palaces in and around Paris.
27th February, 1644. Accompanied with some English gentlemen, we took horse to see St. Germains-en-Laye, a stately country house of the King, some five leagues from Paris. By the way, we alighted at St. Cloud, where, on an eminence near the river, the Archbishop of Paris has a garden, for the house is not very considerable, rarely watered and furnished with fountains, statues,[and groves; the walks are very fair; the fountain of Laocoon is in a large square pool, throwing the water near forty feet high, and having about it a multitude of statues and basins, and is a surprising object. But nothing is more esteemed than the cascade falling from the great steps into the lowest and longest walk from the Mount Parnassus, which consists of a grotto, or shell-house, on the summit of the hill, wherein are divers waterworks and contrivances to wet the spectators; this is covered with a fair cupola, the walls painted with the Muses, and statues placed thick about it, whereof some are antique and good. In the upper walks are two perspectives, seeming to enlarge the alleys, and in this garden are many other ingenious contrivances.
When Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660, this was Evelyn’s reaction:
May 29th 1660:
This day came in his Majestie Charles the 2d to London after a sad, and long exile… this was also his birthday, and with a Triumph of above 20,000 horse and foote, brandishing their swords and shouting with unexpressable joy; the wayes strawed with flowers, the bells ringing, the streets hung with Tapisry, fountains running with wine: ‘
‘The mayor, Aldermen, all the companies in their liveries, chaines of gold, banners, Lords and nobles, cloth of Silver, gold and velvet every body clad in, the windows and balconies all set with Ladys, Trumpetes, Musik, and myriads of people … All this without one drop of bloud …it was the Lords doing…
I was failing to find anything of significance to post when I came across a London Walks post about Stanley Green. Green was born on 22nd February in 1915. Most people who lived in London, knew of him. He was always to be seen patrolling Oxford Street and other Central London Streets with his placard. He mounted a one-man campaign against too much protein. He thought it was a factor in promoting Lust. Lust was a bad thing. He campaigned, religiously, from 1969 to 1993, when he died.
Whether you agree with his views or not it is doesn’t diminish the impact an ordinary person had on an entire City. For more about him, including a podcast, have a look at the London Walks page here:
Mr Stop Brexit
Another one man campaigner, Mr Stop Brexit, Steve Bray, was to be seen outside Parliament, most days in the run up to Brexit. He perfected photobombing techniques, appearing in the background of interviews of prominent Brexit campaigners, or was heard over his megaphone. He was from Splott in Wales, and said he lost all his friends because they supported Brexit. He continues to campaign.
Steve Bray, also known as Stop Brexit Man. (Wikipedia CC0)
I must admit, I briefly considered dedicating my life to attending events Jacob Rees-Mogg attended, shouting ‘Brexit Opportunities!’ and collapsing in ironic laughter.
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 it was Gilbert White’s. 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.
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, it really means a Vicar but without a 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
‘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 n, 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 ; 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.’
‘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 3ist, 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.
There is another mention of Gilbert White in the Almanac of the Past here.
Foods in Season
Here, as a bonus, are food stuffs that are in season now.
Many plants can be used for hedges, but hawthorn is the most common. It can be planted as bare-root from Autumn to Spring, so January is as good a time as any. It can also be grown from the seeds from its red berries. But this takes 18 months to achieve. Interspersed along the hedge should be trees—either trees for timber, or crab-apples or pear-stocks. Trees were also useful as markers. Before modern surveys, property would be delineated by ancient trees. Hedges could be removed. Trees were more difficult to eradicate.
Hawthorn hedges are an oasis for insects, mammals and migrating birds (who eat the berries). It is a lovely plant for May. In fact, it is often called May, or the May Flower or May Tree and also whitethorn. The berries are called ‘haws’ hence hawthorn. For more on this, look at https://whisperingearth.co.uk.
Hawthorns & Folklore
Hawthorn produces white flowers in Spring. So, it is one of the great pagan fertility plants, its flowers forming the garlands on May Eve. One of the chemicals in the plant is the same as one given out in decay of flesh. It is, therefore, associated with death in folklore, and not to be brought into the house.
It was also said to be the thorn in the Crown of Thorns, so sacred. A crown from the helmet of the dead King Richard III was found on a hawthorn bush at the Battle of Bosworth Field. The victorious Henry VII adopted it for a symbol. . For more on the plant, https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk
A ‘Quarry’ of Stained Glass showing the Crown, a hawthorn Bush and initials representing Henry VII and his, Queen, Elizabeth of York. Possibly from Surrey. Early 16th Century and from the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Public Domain).
The virtues of Hawthorn
John Worlidge, wrote in 1697
‘And first, the White-thorn is esteemed the best for fencing; it is raised either of Seeds or Plants; by Plants is the speediest way, but by Seeds where the place will admit of delay, is less charge, and as successful, though it require longer time, they being till the Spring come twelvemonth ere they spring out of the Earth; but when they have past two or three years, they flourish to admiration.’
Hawthorn is an excellent wood for burning, better than oak. It has the hottest fire so that its charcoal could melt pig-iron without the need of a blast. It is also good for making small objects such as boxes, combs, and tool-handles. It takes a fine polish, so also used for veneers and cabinets. For advice on the best wood to burn read my post.
Hawthorn has many medicinal benefits according to herbalists. Mrs Grieve’s Herbal suggests it was used as a cardiac tonic, to cure sore throats and as a diuretic. But don’t try any of these ancient remedies without medical advice!
What to plant in late January
This is the time, according to Moon Gardeners, to plant and sow plants that develop below ground. So rhubarb and garlic, fruit trees, bushes, bare-root plants and hedging plants.
First Published in January 2023, revised in January 2024
On This Day
1785 – ‘Boys play on the Plestor at marbles & peg-top. Thrushes sing in the Coppices. Thrushes & blackbirds are much reduced.’ From Gilbert White’s Garden Kalendar in Gilbert White’s Year. the Plestor is the village green. peg-top is a spinning top game. For more on Gilbert White, the inspirer of Darwin, see my post.
This page is about the discovery of evidence for an Ice age Lunar Calendar. The alignment of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments shows that there was a calendar of the year in use. At Stonehenge, there are suggestions that the alignments to Midsummer and Midwinter Solstices stretch further back into the Mesolithic period. (For more about Stonehenge see my post)
But in 2023, evidence of a Palaeolithic Calendar was discovered by an ‘amateur’. Furniture maker Ben Bacon studied markings in cave paintings at Lascaux, Altamira and other caves.
Sketch of 23,000 year old cave painting, below the head of the animal are 4 dots which are thought to be lunar months of the mating season
He collaborated with Professors at UCL and Durham. They interpreted markings showing the use of an Ice age Lunar Calendar to mark the mating season of particular animals. A Y shaped mark he interpreted as meaning ‘giving birth’. The number of dots or dashes drawn by or in the outline of the creature coincided with their mating season. They determined this by studying the mating season of modern animals.
1437 – Workmen discovered a giant Mallard which inaugurated ‘Mallard Day’ at All Souls, College, Oxford. It must have been remarkably big as they celebrated with an annual torchlit duck hunt on the nearby River Thames. It has been relegated to a once-a-century event. Now they only sing the song:
Griffin, Bustard, Turkey, Capon, Let other hungry mortals gape on, And on the bones their stomach fall hard, But let All Souls men have their Mallard. Oh! by the blood of King Edward. Oh! by the blood of King Edward. It was a whopping, whopping mallard.
Therefore, let us sing and dance a galliard, To the remembrance of the mallard. And as the mallard dives in pool, Let us dabble, dive and duck in bowl. Oh! by the blood of King Edward. Oh! by the blood of King Edward. It was a whopping, whopping mallard
1375, French Caesarian Birth, (caesarians at this time would have killed the mother or be performed when she was already dead or dying.)
When Britain reluctantly joined the Gregorian Calendar, in 1752, we lost 11 days. So if you add 11 to 31st December you get to New Year Old Style. You can do this with any date, and when celebrating, feel you are being really authentic.
So, anything you did on the New Year’s Eve New Style (31st Dec), you can do today. Except, of course, when you call in sick because of a hangover you will need to convince your boss of the illegitimacy of the Gregorian Calendar! In case you have forgotten what you should be doing on New Year’s Eve you can look at my post here to find out.
Witches
It’s a particularly ‘witchy’ evening because it is the traditional Eve, not the newfangled one. Reginald Scot in his ‘Discovery of Witchcraft’ first published in 1584 reports on a way to find witches:
‘a charm to find who has bewitched your cattle. Put a pair of breeches upon the cow’s head, and beat her out of the pasture with a good cudgel upon a Friday and she will run right to the witch’s door and strike it with her horns‘
Reginald Scott’s book is available on this website and is a fascinating read. But, perhaps I need to say: don’t try this at home, as it is not supported by scientific research.
When I first posted this in 2022. I did not, to my shame, know the background to the book. I assumed the book was advocating this nonsense that a cow could lead you to whoever bewitched it. On the contrary. Reginald Scot was trying to debunk the absurd claims for witchcraft and magic. His book tries to prove that witchcraft and magic were rejected both by reason and religion. He believed that manifestations of either were ‘wilful impostures or illusions due to mental disturbance in the observers’.
The book is evidence that the large number of people who were executed as witches in the 16th and 17th Century, were the victims of a QAnon-like conspiracy which was rejected by many educated and rational people. Please have a good look at the cover of this 17th Century edition of Reginald Scot’s book. It gives a good idea of what he was setting out to counteract. Scot was a member of Parliament for New Romney, in Kent.
Carmentalia
Carmenta or Nicostrata , Goddess of Prophecy, Childbirth, Midwives and Technical Innovations. Published by Guillaume Rouille (1518?-1589) – “Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum”
It is also Carmentalia, the festival for Carmenta, the Roman Goddess of prophecy and childbirth. She was a much loved Goddess in the Roman pantheon. But little is known about her, perhaps because she has no clear match in the Greek pantheon. However, she was thought to be a nymph of the Arcadians, called Themis.
She has a long history in the story of Rome. This may surprise you, she was the mother of Evander. Who is he? I hear you shouting! Well, he is the founder of Pallantium. Where on earth is that? You cry. It is the City on the site of Rome (on the Palatine Hill) that predated Rome! Who knew that? (The people at Vindolanda Roman Fort know, and they have a great page on Carmenta here). The City was supposed to be of Greek origin, founded 60 years before the fall of Troy. Later, it was absorbed into Rome.
Carmenta had two sidekicks who were her sisters and attendants. Postvorta and Antevorta, They might be explained by Past and Future. (or, After and Before) as part of her role in prophecy. Or the two figures could represent babies that are either born head or legs first. She was an important enough Diety to command one of the fifteen flamen. These were priests of state-sponsored religions. One of their jobs was to ensure no one came to the temple wearing anything of leather. Leather was created from death, and not suitable for the Goddess of Childbirth, who was all about life.
The Vindolanda post makes the point that 2% of pre-modern births are likely to have caused the death of the mother. Because there was a high child mortality the Roman Mother would have to have 5 children on average to keep the population stable. With a 2% death rate, and 5 children, they estimate that each mother had a 12% chance of death by giving birth. Good reason to have a Goddess on the Mum’s side. She is also the Goddess of Midwives.
She was originally known as Nicostrata. She was credited with creating the Latin Alphabet by adding additional letters to the Greek one. So, she is also the Goddess of Technological Innovation. Some Goddess!
First published in Jan 2022, revised January 2024, 2025
