Category: Science

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The Ashmolean Museum First Opened May 24th 1683

The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford Photo K. Flude

The Ashmolean is a lovely museum. It’s like a miniature combination of the British Museum, The National Gallery, and the V&A. It has a superb collection including the Cretan Archaeology excavated by the Museum’s Director, Arthur Evans in Knossos. Not only that, but it is Britain’s oldest secular Museum, opening over fifty years before the British Museum.

But its origins are even older. This is a story near to my heart. And and I’m going to tell the story as it was told to me by Mrs Nicholson. She founded the Garden History Museum (now Garden Museum) and a formidable person. I was the part-time Curator for a few years in the 1990s.

The Garden History Museum

The Museum is in St Mary’s Church, Lambeth. The Church, despite being the last burial place of various Bishops of London, was going to be made redundant. Mrs Nicholson was not having this and launched a campaign to preserve it. In the graveyard was the grave of the famous Gardeners the Tradescants, father, son, and grandson. She hit on the idea of saving the Church by making it into the Museum of Garden History. One of the first in the world, apparently. Some years later, I was employed as the part-time Curator, despite knowing very little about flowers or gardens.

So What Has This to do with the Ashmolean Museum

Elias Ashmole in a frame by Grlinling Gibbons, Ashmolean Museum, Photo K Flude

You are wondering?

When Mrs Nicholson came into the Church she stamped on the floor. I enquired why? And was told that this was where Elias Ashmole was buried. He being the founder of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. This is the wonderful story which I tell every time I take a group to the Ashmolean Museum.

Tradescants Ark

John Tradescant the Elder, Ashmolean Museum photo by K Flude

Apart from being among the first famous Gardeners in the UK, the Tradescants ran Britain’s first Museum. It was in Lambeth, London and was called the Ark. The cabinet of curiosities was famous in Britain and Abroad. It had many wonders, shells, sculptures, weapons, clothes, shells, a piece of the True Cross, a Vegetable Lamb, and the lamp held by Guy Fawkes in the Gunpowder plot

John Tradescant the Elder, collected for the Duke of Buckingham. He also helped build the fortifications at the La Rochelle for Buckingham’s disastrous expedition. Tradescant travelled as far afield as Africa to collect curiosities. He also wrote to Ships’ Captains travelling to Africa to bring anything strange back for him.

John Tradescant Junior and Elias Ashmole

When he died, his son, John Tradescant the Younger, took over. Both the Gardening and the Museum. His neighbour Elias Ashmole helped out, and together they created Britain’s first Museum Catalogue (shown below).

Catalogue of the Museum Tradescantianum

Sadly, the third John Tradescant, died. His father was bereft, and feared what would come of the wonderful collection. The collection his father had left him and which he had augmented. He travelled to America and bought back some of the oldest Native American clothing surviving, including Powhatan’s Mantle (or cloak).

Native American objects collected by John Tradescant the Younger.
Powhatan’s Cloak – probably a religious cloth not a cloak

One day, he went to the pub at Elias Ashmole’s request. They discussed the problem of the survival of the collection. Ashmole took out a document and told Tradescant that if he signed it, it would ensure that the collection survived. Tradescant signed it. Went home, his wife, Hester called him a fool and told him to rescind it. Ashmole refused pointing out it was a legal document that had been freely signed before witnesses.

Hester Tradescant and the Ashmolean Museum

John Tradescant and his friend, Roger Friend with the collection of shells. right Hester Tradescant, daughter and John Tradescant the Youngest. Ashmolean Museum, photo K Flude

Tradescant died. His wife, who had control of the collection till she died, was legally harassed by Ashmole. He accused her of profiting from the collection. She was found dead in her garden pond. Ashmole shipped the collection up the Thames to Oxford. He made a legal agreement with the University to provide it a permanent home. They built the original Ashmolean which is still on Broad Street but is now the Museum of the History of Science. The building was not used just for a collection of ‘knic-knackery’ as it was called but also a laboratory, dissection theatre, and with meeting rooms.

The Original Ashmolean Museum in Broad Street. Photo k Flude

Now, the problem with all this according to Mrs Nicholson, was twofold. Firstly, Ashmole was responsible for the death of Hester. Secondly, the oldest Museum in Britain should be called the Tradescant Museum, not the Ashmolean. The core of the Museum was, after all, Tradescant’s Ark. (Ashmole did add his own collections to the Gift).. Mrs Nicholson could never forgive Ashmole for stealing the Tradescants’ glory. Arthur MacGregor, Director of the Ashmolean Museum was a trustee of the Museum of Garden History, and would point out that without Ashmole the collection might well not have survived.

For other posts relevant to Tradescant and Ashmole, see the following posts:

Cog Almanac’s on Display at the Ashmolean Museum:

https://www.chr.org.uk/anddidthosefeet/making-my-own-cog-almanac-for-my-halloween-walk/

the Duke of Buckingham and the True Cross:

https://www.chr.org.uk/anddidthosefeet/may-3rd-roodmas-the-true-cross-and-the-coronation/

Mr Ashmole’s cure for toothache:

https://www.chr.org.uk/anddidthosefeet/february-9th-st-apollonia-a-day-to-cure-the-toothache/

Arts and Crafts at the Ashmolean Museum:

https://www.chr.org.uk/anddidthosefeet/december-12th-ashmolean-advent-calendar-the-singing-pierides/

First Published May 24th 2025, revised 2026

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The most important weather forecast in History D Day June 6th

D Day Weather Forecast. North Atlantic chart of weather for June 6th 1944.  . Showing occupied Europe with observations obtained from the enigma machine

No Pressure – D-Day Weather Forecast

In 2014 or thereabouts, I went to a play by David Haig which was based on the true story of a weather forecaster’s role in D Day. James Stagg’s advice was that the weather on June 5th, the intended day, was too volatile. He suggested the 6th June 1944 instead.

The play, ‘Pressure’, is great because it really conveyed the enormity of the decision that Ike, Churchill, and others had to make.  To go ahead in bad weather risked enormous casualties and the failure of the Landings.  To postpone, might mean Hitler discovered the location of the invasions and might lead to disaster.

Major characters portrayed in the play included Ike and his driver, Kay Summersby with whom he was very close. Also depicted was an American forecaster who disagreed with the British meteorologist James Stagg.  How much of the play was for dramatic effect and how much is true, I’m not entirely sure but it is a fascinating D Day story.

The maps were hand drawn. They are partially based on intercepted data decoded by the enigma machine.  Stagg recommended postponing the landings one day from the 5th to the 6th of June. This provided the ideal combination of calm seas, low water at first light and a full moon would occur.

D Day Weather Maps have recently been  up for sale and are discussed here https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-68845546

For more information the weather forecast for DAY read this article from the BBC website https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/articles/c2995n9wgz8o.

On this Day

1683 – Ashmolean Opens, Britain’s longest surviving Museum, and the World’s First University Museum. Or at least June 6th is the opening date according to some people, and May 24th for others. See my post on the Ashmolean Museum here.

First published 2024, republished 2025., OnThis Day 2026

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Edward Jenner, First vaccination, May 14th,1796

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.

First Published May 14th 2026

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May the Swarm of Bees Be with you! May 5th

Photo by Alvin David on Unsplash

A Swarm of Bees in May

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 new home, being 'rescued' by a bee keeper.
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

  1. Grow more nectar rich flowers, shrubs, and trees. Using window or balcony boxes are good options if you don’t have a garden.
  2. Let patches of garden and land grow wild.
  3. Cut grass less often.
  4. Do not disturb insect nests and hibernation spots.
  5. 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

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The Maypole, This Stinking Idol & the End of May Day May 2nd

An Imagined Scene at the Maypole at St Andrew Undershaft
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

To find more look here

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 reared vp, 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.‘

Phillip Stubbes from ”A Critical Edition Of Philip Stubbes’s Anatomie Of Abuses‘ edited by Margaret Jane Kidnie.

Restoration Maypole

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
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?

For more on May Day see yesterday’s post.

First written in 2023 and revised on May 2nd 2024, 2025 On This Day expanded 2026

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St George’s Day, Shakespeare’s Birthday  April 23rd

shakWilliam Shakespeare by Martin Droeshout from the 1st Folio
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.

Thanks very much to Alison Sim’s book ‘The Tudor Household’ for a lot of the above.

On This Day

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

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Canterbury Pilgrimage April 18th

Pilgrims leaving the Tabard for the Canterbury Pilgrimage
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 at Steventon
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

First published in 2023, revised 2025, 2026

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Peak Magnolia April 16th

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.

For my post on Chipping Camden click here.

On This Day

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.

Published on 16th April 2026

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The Stormy Borrowing Days of March 29th

small tree in a bleak windy landscape Photo by Khamkéo Vilaysing on Unsplash
Borrowing Days – Windy Days. Photo by Khamkéo Vilaysing on Unsplash

This post is about the stormy borrowing days of March. But first Object of the Day:

Object of the Day

Marie Antoinette with a Rose by Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun. 1783, Photo by K Flude

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 Flude
Sketch 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?) Photos K
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
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’s last 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.’

See also my post Lawrence-oates-i-am-just-going-outside-and-may-be-some-time.

1971 – Charles Manson found guilty

First Published 2023, On This Day added in 2024, Revised 2025 and Object of the Day added in 2026

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Aries, the Nose and the King’s Evil March 22nd

Fascinating read about the King’s Evil by Andrew Taylor

Aries & Noses

aries star sign

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.

John Aubrey Miscellanies 1695. (for more miscellany from Aubrey read my post here.

Etiquette and Handkerchiefs

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.
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