The Temple of Vaccinia at Dr Edward Jenner’s House and Garden in Berkeley, Gloucestershire. (‘watercolour’ from a photo)
Edward Jenner returned to Berkeley, Gloucester having finished his medical training in London. (Jenner trained as a surgeon under John Hunter is St George’s Hospital, London) He noticed that milkmaids did not get smallpox. There had also been other experiments in use of cowpox. On May 14, 1796 he took cowpox pus from the hand of milkmaid Sarah Nelmes and placed it into a small cut on James Phipps’ arm. Phipps was Jenner’s gardner’s son. Sarah caught cowpox from a cow called Blossom. Blossom’s skin hangs on the wall of the St George’s Medical School library, now in Tooting, London.
The first vaccinations were done in the small hut above, which Jenner nicknamed the Temple of Vaccinia. It has just reopened after conservation work supported by public grants. The museum is at The Chantry, once Jenner’s home. It includes the Physic Garden, the Old Cyder House, and the Temple of Vaccinia. It opened in 1985. Jenner gave his inoculations free and did not patent the idea. ~Jenner chose Vaccinia because vacca is the latin word for cow.
After inoculating James Phipps with cowpox, Jenner took some smallpox and put it into a cut on James Phipps arm but Phills did not catch smallpox. This is, perhaps, not the most ethical way to proceed, but Jenner was proved right and now the world has virtually eradicated Small pox.
Inoculation and Variolation
Jenner himself was inoculated with a dose of smallpox as a 13 year old boy. This was called Variolation. Smallpox affected between 20 and 30% of the population, but if a small dose was taken from an infected patient and given to someone without an infection, the chance of death was 1-2%. But the person was prevented from further infection. 30% of people with smallpox died, so given how prevalent smallpox was it was a wise gamble. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, whose brother died of smallpox, was disfigured by smallpox. In Turkey she witnessed inoculation, and had her 5 year old son inoculated. On its success she promoted inoculation in England.
Jenner’s insight was that cowpox was similar to smallpox, although not deadly, and if given to people it gave immunity to the smallpox, without the risk of death.
A swarm in May Is worth a load of hay A swarm in June Is worth a silver spoon A swarm in July Is not worth a fly.‘
‘Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry’ published 1573, suggests we should:
‘Take heed to thy Bees, that are ready to swarm, the loss thereof now, is a crown’s worth of harm.’
According to Hillman’s ‘Tusser Redivus’ of 1710, swarming in May produces particularly good honey. ‘Their hours of swarming are for the most part between the hours of ten and three, and they ought to be watched every day.’ He advises following the bees to retrieve them:
‘You are entitled by custom to follow them over anyone’s land and claim them … but only so long as you ‘ting-tang’ as you go, by beating some metal utensil – the sound whereof is also said to make your bees stop.’
Much of the above is quoted from The Perpetual Almanac of Folklore by Charles Kightly.
Queen Bee
Bees swarm when a new Queen Bee takes a proportion of the worker bees to form a new colony. They will latch unto a branch or a shrub, even a car’s wing mirror. Then sending worker bees out searching for a suitable new home, such as a hollow tree. There may be hundreds or even thousands in the new colony. This may be very alarming. But, at this point, they will not be aggressive as they do not have a hive to protect. Look here for more information on swarming.
Sweet, Long Distance Flyers
An average hive will produce 25 lbs of honey, and the bees will fly 1,375,000 miles to produce it. This is like flying 55 times around the world (according to the British beekeepers Association (and my maths)) https://www.bbka.org.uk/honey
Swarming in Hackney
Swarm of Bees, Hackney (Photo Kevin Flude 30th May 2018). The Swarm is at the top of the Column and on the edge of the porch roof.
In 2018, on 30th May, I was perturbed to find a swarm of Bees hanging outside my front door. Frightened of leaving my house, I rang a local beekeeper, who came to take possession of the Bees and take them to a new home. By the time he came, they had moved 20 yards to a Buddleia bush.
Swarm of Bees, having moved 20 yards to a second perch, being ‘rescued’ by a bee keeper. You can see the swarm above his head.
Helping Bees
Bees are still having a hard time as their habitats are diminishing and threats increasing. In July, DEFRA hosts Bees’ Needs Week 2026: 13 to 19 July. This aims to increase public awareness of the importance of pollinators.
They suggest we can help by these 5 simple actions
Grow more nectar rich flowers, shrubs, and trees. Using window or balcony boxes are good options if you don’t have a garden.
Let patches of garden and land grow wild.
Cut grass less often.
Do not disturb insect nests and hibernation spots.
Think carefully about whether to use pesticides.
Patron Saints of Bees include: St. Ambrose, St. Gobnait, and St. Valentine. Click here to see my post of St Valentine.
On This Day
1821 – Napoleon dies in exile on the island of Saint Helena.
1835 – The first railway in continental Europe opens between Brussels and Mechelen, which is 36 kms.
1964 – Europe Day is launched by the Council of Europe but the European Union celebrates Peach and Unity in Europe on May 9th
First Published 2024, revised 2025, rearranged 2026
The Stinking Idol : An Imagined Scene at the Maypole at St Andrew Undershaft
This post is about the end of the Maypole in London but first:
On This Day
Old Print of the French Executioner dispatching Anne Boleyn with a sword rather than an axe.
1536 – Anne Boleyn arrested on ‘charges of adultery, incest, treason and witchcraft.’ But, Claire Ridgway in her post here and her book, show that she was never accused of witchcraft in court. The stories of extra fingers, and teats, are all later Catholic propaganda aimed at weakening Elizabeth’s claims to the throne. She was accused of adultery. Five men were executed for sleeping with her: her brother George Boleyn, (Lord Rochford); Sir Henry Norris, groom of the stool; courtier Sir Francis Weston; courtier William Brereton, and musician Mark Smeaton. Incest with her brother (one possible explanation of the incest is the idea that she desperately needed a baby and if she needed a surrogate then her brother was safest as the child would have a family resemblance to her and not rouse any suspicions from Henry of adultery. The other explanation is that Anne never commited incest!). Treason, well sleeping with someone other than the King risked imperilling the blood line of the Royal Family. It also gave a motive for killing the king.
A new portrait has been claimed to be of Anne Boleyn, the only one to have been done in her lifetime. But it has been revealed by AI, and some art historians are not convinced. Follow this link to see for your self.
1559 – John Knox returns from exile to Scotland to lead the Scottish Reformation.
1568 – Mary, Queen of Scots, escapes from Lochleven Castle. You could blame John Knox for the hostility Mary faced as a Catholic governing a country rapidly turning Presbyterian.
1611 – The King James Version of the Bible is published by printer Robert Barker. His printshop was at Northumberland House, Aldersgate Street, in the City of London. (as far as I can see no one else seems to know where the printing was done.)
Northumberland House marked in yellow nearAldersgate. The Map of Early Modern London, Edition 7.0, edited by Janelle Jenstad, U of Victoria, 05 May 2022, mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/NORT2.htm. INP.
The Printer then went on to create the worst possible error in publishing history by omitting the word NOT in the 6th or 7th Commandment, ‘Thou Shalt Commit Adultery’. This edition became known as the Wicked Bible. Barker & Howard are still in the publishing industry and have offices in the East End of London.
The King James Bible introduced many phrases into the English language, including:
The apple of his eye The four horsemen of the apocalypse Baptism of fire Chariots of Fire O death, where is thy sting? Like a thief in the night Weighed in the balance and found wanting
1670 – King Charles II of England granted a charter to the Hudson’s Bay Company. In 1917 my 17 year old Grandfather sailed to the Hudson bay as an able seaman for the Hudson’s Bay Company.
1982 – The British nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror sunk the Argentine cruiser ARA General Belgrano. It was controversial as the Belgrano was outside the Exclusion zone, and said to be sailing away from the conflict. 323 Argentine sailors were killed. The event, arguably, changed Mrs Thatcher political fortunes.
1995 – Allies Statue unveiled. The Statue of Churchill and Roosevelt set up to commemorate 50 years of peace. 30 years later, how we wonder what Churchill and Roosevelt would say about the current state of NATO? https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/11351
‘Allies’ Roosevelt and Churchill by by Lawrence Holofcener, unveiled on May 2nd 1995 by Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon
The Maypole or rather ‘This Stinking Idoll’
Philip Stubbes, wrote a vitriolic attack on pagan practices in his ‘Anatomy of Abuses in 1583’. He fired a broadside at the tradition of dancing around the Maypole. He said they had: ‘as Superintendent and Lord ouer their pastimes and sportes: namely, Sathan Prince of Hell‘ as they erected ‘this stinking Idoll’. By which he meant the Maypole. Stubbes suggested that of the maids who went out to the woods on May Eve, less than one-third returned ‘undefiled‘.
Evil May Day Riots
The Maypole was stored at St Andrew Cornhill, which became known as St Andrew Undershaft. In 1517, it was attacked during the ‘Evil May Day riots’. The main focus of the riot was foreign workers. The Under Sheriff of the time, Thomas More, tried to quell it, meeting the rioters at the corner of Cheapside and St Martin’s Legrande. But 5,000 troops commanded by the Duke of Northfolk was necessary to regain control of the City. 300 rioters were arrested. One hanged, drawn and quartered, 13 hanged and nearly 300 pardoned after the intercession of Woseley and/or Katherine of Aragon (depending on which historian you read). The shaft was returned to its place under the eves of the houses in Shaft Alley. But apparently banned from being raised again.
1549 May Day Riots
However in 1549, the curate of nearby St Katharine Cree Church made an inflammatory speech. This incited a Puritan mob, who cut the shaft into pieces and burnt it. I always imagine the Curate’s sermons to be along the same lines as Phillip Stubbes attack on the Maypole.
Maypole: this Stinking Idol, Rather
Here is a longer description of the May Day Celebrations by Stubbes.
‘But their chiefest iewel they bring from thence is the Maie-poale, which they bring home with great veneration, as thus: They haue twentie, or fourtie yoake of Oxen, euery Oxe hauing a sweete Nosegaie of flowers tyed on the tip of his homes, and these Oxen drawe home this Maie-poale (this stinking ldoll rather) which is couered all ouer with Flowers and Hearbes, bound round about with strings from the top to the bottome, and sometimes painted with variable collours, with two or three hundred men, women and children following it, with great deuotion.
And thus being rearedvp, with handkerchiefes and flagges streaming on the top, they strawe the ground round about, bind green boughes about it, set vp Summer Haules, Bowers, and Arbours hard by it. And then fa! they to banquet and feast, to leape and daunce about it, as the a Heathen people did, at the dedication of their ldolles, whereof this is a perfect patteme, or rather the thing it selfe. I haue heard it crediblie reported (and that viua voce) by men of great grauity, credite, and reputation, that of fourtie, threescore, or a hundred Maides, going to the wood ouemight, there haue scarcely the third part of them returned home againe vndefiled.‘
The unraised pole seems to have survived until the beginning of the Civil War, (1644) when it was destroyed. But at the Restoration of Charles II a new and huge Maypole was ordered. It was joyously erected 134 ft high (41 metres) in the Strand. This one was danced around till 1713 when it was replaced. The original was sold to one Isaac Newton. He used it to support the biggest telescope in Europe, which was erected in Wanstead by a friend.
And that, my friends, is how you get from Superstition to Science in one easy story.
Old Print of Isaac Newton
Postscript.
I have always told people that the sermon leading to the destruction of the Shaft in 1549 was made at St Paul. I cannot remember where I read this. The suggestion that the Maypole in Cornhill was not used after 1517 seems strange. Why then would an unused maypole rouse a crowd to riot in 1549? Of the sources I have at hand, the London Encyclopedia mentions the riot of 1517 in its entry on St Andrew Undershaft but doesn’t elaborate more. ‘Layers of London‘ says ‘It was last raised in 1517 when ensuing riots led to the celebration being banned.’ which is definitive sounding. But is it? I wonder if it was banned for a year or two, then allowed again, and finally stopped in 1549?
William Shakespeare by Martin Droeshout from the 1st Folio
By tradition, Shakespeare was born on St George’s Day April 23rd 1564. He died on the same day in 1616 at age 52. Cervantes died on the same day.
Shakespeare’s death date is given by the burial register at the Holy Trinity Church, Stratford on Avon where he was buried. His baptismal record also survives at the same church and is on April 26th 1564. So, we don’t actually know when he was born, but christening were held soon after birth for fear of the high infant mortality rates, so 23rd April has been assigned to be Shakespeare’s birthday.
Taken to the chamber
Anne Shakespeare would have ‘taken to her chamber’ about four weeks before the due date. The windows or shutters were fastened, as fresh air was thought to be bad for the birthing process. Female friends and relatives came to visit; the room would be decorated with fine carpets, hangings, silver plates and fine ornaments. It was held that external events could influence the birth, any shocks or horrors might cause deformities and anomalies, so a calm lying-in room was clearly a good idea.
When labour began, female friends, relatives, and the midwife were called to help out. A caudle of spiced wine or beer was given to the mother to strengthen her through the process. Today, the maternal mortality rate is 7 per 100,000. An estimate for the 16th Century is 1500 per 100,000. So most women would have heard of or attended the birth of a women who had died during or following children birth. There were also no forceps. So if a baby were stuck and could not be manually manipulated out, then the only way forward was to get a surgeon to use hooks to dismember the baby. This was the only way to save the life of the mother. Doctors were not normally in attendance, but could be called in emergency,
Swaddling
Detail of tomb of Alexander Denton and his first wife Anne Willison, and her baby dressed in swaddling clothes Photo Wikipedia Hugh Llewelyn
Immediately after washing, the baby was swaddled. The swaddling was often very tight and could affect the baby’s growth. Also, it might have affected the learning process. The free movemenb of hands and feet are now considered important in the early learning process. Swaddling lasted eight to nine months, and only went out of fashion after Jean Jacques Rousseau wrote against the practice.
Christening & Registration
Puerperal fever killed many women even after successful childbirth, for example Queen Jane Seymour who died after 5 days. During these dangerous early days, the mother was kept in a dark room. Perhaps three days after birth, friends were invited to celebrate ‘upsitting’ when the mother was no longer confined to bed. This is when christening would take place. Edward VI was christened to a huge audience in the chapel at Hampton Court three days after his birth.
Licensed midwives could baptise newborn babies provided they used the correct wording and informed the Church. This allowed the registration of the birth to be properly reported. Thomas Cromwell was responsible for the law in 1538 which insisted on a parish register to record weddings, christenings, and funerals. The law was reaffirmed by Queen Elizabeth in 1558. Registers had to be stored in a locked chest in the Church. In 1597, the records had to be on parchment not paper. In 1603 the chest had to have three locks! Since writing this I have realised the significance of the three locks. In St Eadburga’s Church in Broadway in there is a locked box for alms, and it has three locks too. This was so that it could only be opened when all 3 Church Wardens were present.
If the christening were in the church, the mother might not be there as she was expected to stay in her chamber for another week or so. A week or a few weeks later, the mother would be ‘churched.’ This was a thanks-giving ceremony. Puritans did not like the idea as it might be confused with a purification ceremony.
Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding would last a year or so but, buty high status women choose to use a wet-nurse. They went to some effort to find a suitable wet nurse. It was believed that the quality of the breast milk was important for the babies’ development both physically and temperamentally. Poor children who lost their mothers were unlikely to survive. For without breast milk, the baby would be fed pap – bread soaked in cow’s milk.
1016 – Edmund Ironside succeeded his father Æthelred the Unready as King of England. Unfortunately, Edmund dies soon after dividing England with Danish King Cnut. Subsequently, Cnut takes over the entire country.
1661 – King Charles II crowned in Westminster Abbey. Read my post on John Evelyn’s reaction to the restoration of Monarchy after the the Commonwealth period of Republican Government.
1942 – World War II: German bombers hit Exeter, in what became known as the Baedeker Raids. They were in retaliation for the success of the British bombing of Lübeck, and of Rostock. In the following days the Luftwaffe bombed Bath, Norwich and York. A German official said they would bomb every building with three stars in the Baedeker Tourist Guide. Hitler said the English were: ‘beings with whom you can only talk after you have first knocked out their teeth‘
First published in 2023 and republished in April 2024. On This day added 2026
Pilgrims leaving the Tabard for the Canterbury Pilgrimage
Canterbury Pilgrimage
Tonight (April 18th 2026 7.45pm) , I am leading my annual Canterbury Tales Virtual Pilgrimage. This is the day Chaucer’s pilgrims leave London to ride to Canterbury. (For more details or to book look here.) Also, at 11am today i do my Chaucer’s London walk – for details click here.
And I have just realised the above paragraph is wrong! Chaucer mentions it is April 18th in the Man of Law’s Tale which is told on the day they leave Dartford, the second day of the pilgrimage! According to an academic 1387 was the year and the timetable is:
Tuesday 16 April Gather at the Tabard Wednesday 17th April Leave the Tabard early in the Morning. Ride to Dartford Thursday 18th April leave Dartford after 10am which annoys Harry Bailly. Overnight in Rochester Friday 19th April Probably overnight at Ospringe Saturday 20th April travel to Canterbury, Probably overnight in Chequer of Hope, Mercery Lane but this comes from medieval fan fiction as Chaucer doesn’t say much about what happened in Canterbury, But tells of their riotous time in Canterbury.
Dating the Pilgrimage
At the beginning of the prologue, Chaucer gives clues as to the date. They go when April showers and Zephyrus’s wind is causing sap to rise in plants, engendering flowers. It is also when Aries course across the sky is half run. The pilgrims are accompanied by Harry Bailly who is the landlord of the Tabard Inn in Southwark. He was a real person and a fellow Member of Parliament of Chaucer. He is jolly and quite knowledgeable. In the Man of Law’s prologue we get a glimpse of Harry time telling in the days before clocks.
Telling the Time
A mass clock (scratch dial) at Steventon Church. Hampshire, Photo K Flude
Chaucer mentions ‘artificial day’ and this is a reference to the way days were divided into hours. There were twelve hours in the daylight part of the day, and twelve hours in the dark night. So in the winter daylight hours were short, and in the summer long.
Romans used water clocks. King Alfred used candles marked into hours. Harry Bailly knows how to tell the time by the height of the Sun. Harry tells the pilgrims it’s about time they got underway. Here is an extract:
Essentially, he is telling the time by the length of the shadows. On April 18th the shadows of trees are equal in length to the tree. Showing that the Sun has climbed 45 degrees and in this latitude it must be 10 o’clock. Time to get going on the Pilgrimage!
Mass Clocks & Time Divisions
The illustration of the mass clock at Jane Austen’s Church at Steventon shows how easy it was to tell the time by the sun. The first mass clock I noticed was at St James’ Cooling in Kent. Dickens used this in Great Expectations, where Pip’s brothers and sisters were buried. Once you find one mass clock, you suddenly discover them everywhere!
Telling the time, before mechanical clocks, was not complicated. The basic unit is the day and the night, and we can all tell when the dawn has broken. The Moon provides another simple unit of time. The month’s orbit around the Earth is roughly every 29 days. The new, the crescents and full moons provide a quartering of the month. For longer units, the Earth orbits around the Sun on a yearly basic. But it is easily divided into four, the winter solstice; the spring equinox, the summer solstice and the autumn equinox.
Nature’s Way of Time Telling
But there were other ways of marking days in the calendar, with natural time markers marked by, for example, migrating birds, lambing, and any number of budding and flowering plants such as snowdrops, daffodils and elm leaves:
When the Elmen leaf is as big as a mouse’s ear, Then to sow barley never fear; When the Elmen leaf is as big as an ox’s eye, Then says I, ‘Hie, boys” Hie!’ When elm leaves are as big as a shilling, Plant, kidney beans, if to plant ’em you’re willing; When elm leaves are as big as a penny, You must plant kidney beans if you mean to have any.’
In my north-facing garden, I have my very own solar time marker. All through the winter, the sun never shines directly on my garden. Spring comes appreciably later than the front, which is a sun trap facing south. But on 17th April, just after 12 o’clock the sun peeks over the block of flats to the south of me. It finds a gap between my building and the converted warehouse next door. For a short window of time, a shaft of a sunbeam brings a belated and welcome spring. This for my garden is the real beginning of spring. I took a photo of it this year.
The First Chink of Sun in the year in my Garden. Photo K Flude
New Light on Thomas Becket’s Window at Canterbury
Recent research has revealed the true story behind stained glass windows at Canterbury which had been reassembled wrongly. The story is told here:
On This Day
2026 The Tweed Run is a mass cycle ride around London with everyone dressed in Tweeds. It’s a twelve-mile ride around London (not a run). This year it is starting near Spa Fields, which is near Exmouth Market in Islington. The route is only published on the day of the race. See here for some photos of last year’s run. https://www.tweedrun.com
Magnolia and Cherry blossom in Weymouth Terrace Haggerston London. Photo K Flude
It might already have peaked in London, but there are lots of lovely magnolias still flowering. This year, last week was very hot and plant experts feared it would lead to a brief spring. However, the shirt-sleeve warmth was soon followed by a cold spell, dropping in some places to 0 degrees C. This may have saved the situation and prolonged the spring flowering.
Magnolias, Earnest ‘Chinese’ Wilson, said were the most esteemed of all flowers. He introduced new species from the Himalayas. Magnolias are among the oldest flowers and have their origins in the Cretaceous period. They evolved 100 million years ago before the evolution of bees. So they are pollinated by beetles, which is one reason for the size of the flowers.
The first magnolias to come to Britain were from America. John Banister sent Magnolia Virginiana to Henry Compton Bishop of London, who was also highly involved in the colony in Virginia. Compton sent Banister out as a missionary, but both loved flowers. Banister wrote the first flora of N. America which was included in John Ray‘s Historia Plantarum. Sadly, he was accidently shot while exploring.
Magnolias were named after the French botanist Pierre Magnol (1638-1715) ‘Professor of Botany and Director of the Royal Botanic Garden of Montpellier’. Magnol invented the idea of plant families, which Linnaeus developed.
Herbal uses
Mrs Grieve’s ‘A Modern Herbal’ suggests Magnolia was used for rheumatism and malaria. A warm infusion was thought to be laxative, sudorific (induces ‘sweating so that the sweat runs down the body in rills!’), If cold. If warm was antiperiodic (useful against diseases like malaria which keep coming back) and mildly tonic.
Where to see Magnolias
In London, they can be seen everywhere but Google suggests:
Kensington (Phillimore Gardens, The Boltons), Chelsea (Carlyle Square), and Notting Hill (Lancaster Road). And of course Kensington Gardens and Kew Gardens. My favourites ones are in the roads around my house, often in the most unprepossessing of places.
Magnolias and Camelias in Albion Square, Haggerston,. London. Photo by K Flude
But it is a delight to go to Hidecote the National Trust Property in Mickleton just off the edge of the Cotswolds. In April, it has spectacular magnolias. Unfortunately, I don’t have any good photos except this one which shows all the magnolia petals on the ground!
Hdcote in Magnolia time. Photo K Flude
Ernest ‘Chinese’ Wilson 1876 – 1930
Prunus Serrula, (aka Tibetan Cherry) brought to England by Ernest Wilson. My favourite tree because of its bark which feels like copper. Photo K Flude
He was born in Chipping Camden where there is a lovely memorial garden which contains my favourite tree, and many plants he introduced. He brought back over 2000 species into the West of which 60 are named after him. One of his expeditions took place during the Boxer revolution. So he adopted a native disguise and risked execution.
At 16, he was apprenticed at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. Then he worked at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. His next adventure was to be hired as the Chinese plant collector with James Veitch & Sons (originally based in Chelsea). He eventually moved to America, where he became keeper of the Arnold Arboretum in Boston. Unfortunately, he and his wife died in a car accident in 1930.
1116 (or 1117) – St Magnus the Martyr Executed. He was executed because of dynastic disputes amongst Vikings in the Orkneys. Magnus lived a pious life refusing, for example, to fight in the Battle of Menai Straits in Wales, and various miracles took place after his death. He is remembered by the Church of St Magnus at the foot of London Bridge in London. But that was, before the 18th Century, thought to be dedicated one or other of the other many St Magnus’s (6). The Church is by Christopher Wren, and very high Church Protestant. On the occasion I visited on his feast day I felt like I was in a Roman Temple.
Marie Antoinette was about 28 when this portrait was made, She was about 10 years from her death by guillotine. The painting featured in the V&A’s exhibition about the Queen of France which has just finished. It was not my favourite V&A block-buster exhibition. I think mainly because I came out not knowing very much more about Marie, than when I went it. But I had seen countless extravagant dresses. Yes, she commissioned a lot of dresses, and as patron and model influenced French fashion. And, yes, she wasn’t the air-head of the ‘let them eat cake’ version of history. But I’m not much the wiser.
I’m more interested in the painter, Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun. This is what Wikipedia says about her:
‘She enjoyed the patronage of European aristocrats, actors, and writers, and was elected to art academies in ten cities. Some famous contemporary artists, such as Joshua Reynolds, viewed her as one of the greatest portraitists of her time, comparing her with the old Dutch masters.’
And I have never heard of her, I’m fairly sure nor have you! You might like to see my post on 17th female painter Mary Beale. My original shortlist for Object of the Day were these two items from the Exhibition:
Guilotine blade from the French Revolution, purchased by the sons of Madame Tussaud as the blade that killed Marie Antoinette. Photo Kevin FludeSketch of the Triumph of Liberty Hairdress, associated with Marie Antoinette. It is her most famous headress. Created to celebrate the victory of the French over the British Navy in the American War of Independence.
Both these objects did no favours to the Queen’s neck! And lastly, those a few of those dresses:
Centre piece of the V&A exhibition on Marie Antoinette, photo K Flude.
The Stormy Borrowing Days of March
Sir Walter Scott recorded that ‘the last three days of March are called the borrowing days; for as they are remarked to be unusually stormy, it is feigned that March has borrowed them from April to extend his sphere of his rougher sway.’
There are various traditions and poems that record the borrowing days, and this is in the Scotch dialect:
March borrowed from April Three Days, and they were ill: The first was frost, the second was snaw, The third was cauld as ever’t could blaw.
The Borrowing Days in Spain
There is a Spanish story which explains this a little more. A shepherd asked March to calm the winds to suit his flock of sheep, in return for a lamb. March compiled but, then, the Shepherd refused to hand over the lamb. So, March borrowed three days from April and made them fierce and stormy. Versions of this tale are known from Staffordshire, North England and Scotland. (Source ‘Weather Law’ by Richard Inwards 1994 (first published 1893).
Warm days at the end of March or the beginning of April bring the Blackthorns into bloom. This can be followed by a cold snap which is known as a ‘Blackthorn Winter.’
February 2023 in Haggerston Park, London showing early blossom (Blackthorn?) Photo K Flude
For more on blossom and Haggerston Park follow my link to haggerston-park/
On This Day.
Photo of cover of Chambers Book of Days
2024– I purchased the Chamber’s Book of Days, updated from the original 1864 publication, and began adding occasional ‘On This Day’ epilogues to my posts.
1461– The Battle of Towton, England’s bloodiest battle, in which Edward IV defeated the Lancastrian forces of Queen Margaret, thus securing the throne for the Yorkists. Margaret, her husband, Henry VI, and son, fled to Scotland.
1871 – Official Opening of the Royal Albert Hall
1912 – Captain Scott’slast entry in his diary.
‘We shall stick it out to the end, but we are getting weaker, of course, and the end cannot be far, It seems a pity, but I do not think I can write more.’
Fascinating read about the King’s Evil by Andrew Taylor
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. ‘Touching’ by the King could also cure certain nose conditions, particularly if caused by ‘The King’s Evil’.
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 The Shepherd’s Prognostication of 1729 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.’
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.
Now, on the subject of revolting nose conditions, I have just been reading a review of a book ‘Civility and the Theatre in Early Modern England’. The author, Indira Ghose, is studying early self-help books of manners and conduct, and how they influence or appear in contemporary plays. One such manual by Giovanni Della Casa has the following advice:
‘when thou hast blowne thy nose, use not to open thy handkerchief, to glare uppon thy snot, as if thou hadst pearles and Rubies fallen from thy braynes’.
Galateo: The Rules of Polite Behaviour published in Venice in 1558. It was translated into French (1562), English (1576), Latin (1580), Spanish (1585), and German (1587), (Wikipedia). Galateo translates as etiquette.
There is no need to thank me for passing on such good advice! I bet “Miss Manners” Judith Martin didn’t pass this particular gem on, but Wikipedia claims that modern books of manners are influenced by Galateo.
Scofula and the King’s Touch
Sketch of Dr Johnson from a portrait.
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. 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 (with a coin strung on it, I think see below). But it did not cure the disease, and he had to have an operation.
The Touching 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 I, 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.
On This Day
1312 – The Knights Templars are abolished by Pope Clement. King Philip of France had a massive debt owed to the Templars, following his war with England. He chose to avoid payment by accusing the Templars of impious acts, and homosexuality. Evidence was collected by torture and thus unreliable.
1622 – Jamestown massacre: 347 English settlers killed by Powhatan People of Tsenacommacah. This is estimated as a third of the colony’s population, during the Second Anglo-Powhatan War. Powhatan (Chief Wahunsunacawh) was the father of Pocahontas (aka Amonute, or Matoaka and Rebecca Rolfe). But it was Powhatan’s son, Opechancanough, who was in charge during the massacre. They were of the Algonquian peoples.
1888 – The English Football League was founded at Anderton’s Hotel, Fleet Street. Representatives from Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Preston North End and West Bromwich Albion met. They discussed other teams that might join. Another meeting was called at the Royal Hotel in Manchester on 17 April 1888 to establish the league. The 12 founding members were: Accrington, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Burnley, Derby County, Everton, Notts County, Preston, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, Wolverhampton Wanderers. None from London. In season 1894–95 Woolwich Arsenal joined the 2nd Division of the Football League as the first London Team. For more information see: the-football-league-conceived-in-fleet-street-born-in-manchester/
First published in 2024, revised in 2025, Etiquette and On This Day added 2026
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.
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 sure South was important at Stonehenge.
Sketch of Stonehenge showing the smallest Sarsen stone near 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, which has East at the top.
Representation of a Roman Map with the top being roughly East.
I have since looked further on this subject of North and Maps, particularly finding my answers on this web site: why-is-north-up-on-maps. It tells me that the earliest map the Turin Papyrus, has South at the top. This is probably because the Nile was the fount of all things in Egypt so it is in pride of place at the top of the Map. Other maps tend to have East at the top. The thinking is that the North was cold and who would want to go there?, The West was where the Sun went down, so the Sunrise direction should be at the Top. Often Jerusalem was in the middle with the East at the top. To this day, we talk about orienting ourselves, which means literally means finding your direction eastwards. But the 16th Century things flipped, and North became the top of the map. Was this because the Age of Exploration depended on the North Star? Maybe not because it was used for navigation for a long time before the 16th Century. Was it because of the use of the compass which pointed North? Perhaps not because the compass was first used in the 10th Century. The answer seems to be that Flemish geographer and mapmaker Gerardus Mercator in 1569 put North on top of the map. His projection became the most used map, and everyone started to follow suit.
Mercator projection of the world between 85°S and 85°N. Note the size comparison of Greenland and Africa, and the massive inflation of Antarctica’s landmass. CC BY-SA 3.0
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 at the same time.
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.
OnThis Day
630 – Emperor Heraclius returns the True Cross, one of the holiest Christian relics, to Jerusalem. (see my post on the True Cross and Roodmas)
1152 – Annulment of the marriage of King Louis VII of France and Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine. She went on to marry Henry II of England which makes this one of the most amazing events of the medieval period. The transfer of lands from French control to English control as a result was huge. She eventually was imprisoned by her new husband for supporting their children’s rebellion.
1556 – Former archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer executed for heresy in Oxford. He had recanted, but recanted his recantation when he discovered there were still going to burn him. By rights, he should have been reprieved, but Queen Mary was determined to make an example of the man who help Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell make England a Protestant state. The fire was on Broad Street, and he is said to have thrust his arm that signed the recantation into the fire, calling it ‘that unworthy hand.’
1829 – Duel Day is celebrated at Kings College when the Duke of Wellington fought a duel against George Finch-Hatton, 10th Earl of Winchilsea, because of disagreement about Roman Catholic Emancipation. The duel took place in an asparagus fields which would later become Battersea Fields. Wellington shot first and either missed or deliberately shot wide, and Winchilsea aimed high. He then apologised to Wellington. For more details see www.kcl.ac.uk/duel-day.
First written March 2023, revised 21st March 2024, Revised and Mercator added 2026
Video by Heike Herbert of Druids at the Spring Equinox at Tower Hill, London
New content will be found at the bottom in the ‘On This Day section.’ 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 14:45 today, the Sun is 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!
Printemps
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 3 years ago. In 2025, she reported 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! In 2026 the Druids meet at Tower Hill at 12 noon.
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
That the major movements of the Sun were of interest to Neolithic and Bronze Age society is confirmed by the alignment of many megalithic monuments dating from 3,600 BC onwards, including, of course, Stonehenge. 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,
On This Day
Today, is The International Day of Happiness. This was set up by the UN on 28 June 2012. This year’s theme:
‘explores the relationship between social media and happiness, highlighting thepotential challenges for our wellbeing as well as ways we can all use tech for good.‘
Go to the web site for more information. But these are the three steps they suggest: (I’ve cut and pasted them from the site)
Step 1: Choose
Be mindful of if, when and how much you are on social media.
Pause and ask yourself, “What do I really want to do right now?” Keep a list of analogue activities you can do instead, like playing music, drawing, gardening or going outside for a walk.
Set a timer so scrolling is a short snack rather than a wormhole.
Give your mind space to think, keep the bedroom phone free, try a ‘digital sabbath’.
Step 2: Connect
Don’t let scrolling be a substitute for real connection.
Phone a friend for a chat, or send some voice notes, instead of scrolling.
Make plans offline, get excited about your next adventure with loved ones.
Use social media to connect with supportive friends and communities that are meaningful to you.
Step 3: Curate
Personalise your experience to support your wellbeing.
Share and amplify uplifting stories, messages and ideas, be aware of misinformation.
Be kind in the comments, it matters more than you think.
If you have found this useful, spread the word and encourage others to do the same. Use the hashtag #InternationalDayOfHappiness.
The World Happiness Report
This is published annually by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford. More details here. Finland is top for the 9th year in a row. US is 23rd, UK is 29th. These are the top 25 happy countries:
