Category: Georgian

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Royal Africa Company Founded by Charles II January 10th 1663

Map of the Guinea Coast and Colonial territories
‘Negroland and Guinea with the European Settlements, Explaining what belongs to England, Holland, Denmark, etc’. By H. Moll Geographer (Printed and sold by T. Bowles next ye Chapter House in St. Pauls Church yard, & I. Bowles at ye Black Horse in Cornhill, 1729, orig. published in 1727) Source Wikicommons.

Note to the receivers of emails. I published the last couple of days from my laptop but the emails did not get posted. So here is one of the backlog and others to follow.

The Royal Africa Company

The Royal Africa Company was set up with a monopoly on trade with the west coast of Africa in:

“redwood, elephants’ teeth, negroes, slaves, hides, wax, guinea grains, or other commodities of those countries”

On January 10th. 1663 King Charles II affirmed the new charter for the Company that, above all else, was responsible for British continuing involvement in enslavement. Shareholders included his nephew, Prince Rupert, Samuel Pepys, and much of the British Establishment, Aristocracy, and City Merchants. Its headquarters were in Cornhill, not far from the East India Company’s HQ. The company was closed in 1752.

Guineas

Gold from the Gold Coast in Guinea was used to make coins, which became known as ‘guineas’. They were originally made from one quarter of an ounce of gold. Below is a sketch of a two guinea coin from the reign of Charles II. Note the elephant at the bottom of the coin.

Sketch of a two guinea coin from the reign of Charles II showing an elephant below the image of the King, referencing Africa and the use of an elephant on the Royal Africa Company of which Charles was the patron
Sketch of a two guinea coin from the reign of Charles II showing an elephant below the image of the King.

The guinea was original worth 1 pound but fluctuated with the price of Gold. Pepys records it at 24 or 25 shillings. It was eventually phased out, but it became a posh way of expressing value. Ordinary goods would be priced in pounds, but expensive ones in Guineas. By then valued at 21 shillings. (£1 pound 5 pence). Wikipedia suggests it was used for ‘prices of land, horses, art, bespoke tailoring, furniture, white goods and other “luxury” items‘. I remember going shopping with my parents in London and wondering at the fur coats being priced in Guineas. It died out, as a practice, in the 70s.

Enslavement, Government & the Royal Africa Company

There are many sites giving a history of slavery, and the British involvement with it. But, here, I would just like to point out how involved the British Royal Family was in the trade. One of the instigators of the Trade, in the 16th Century was John Hawkins. He secured investment in his second slaving expedition from: Queen Elizabeth I, Robert Dudley, Edward Clinton, Lord Burghley amongst others. Royal involvement in the foundation of the Royal Africa Company was only one of many connections between Royalty and Slavery.

It should be noted that the British education system has emphasised the role of Britain in the abolition of slavery. We are more reluctant to highlight our involvement in setting it up and continuing it. This has begun to change. A new generation of school children in London can visit the excellent London: Sugar & Slavery Gallery at the Museum of London in Docklands.

Compensation for Slavery & Reparations

University College, London has undertaken a profound project where they took the records of compensation payments to:

The slaves, you are thinking?

No, to the slave owners!

The compensation of £20m pounds was provided by a loan to the Governemt by Rothschilds Bank in the City of London. It probably represents around £16billion in modern terms. I have been unsure of the case for historic ‘reparations’. But when ‘we’ compensated the slave owners, it makes the case for compensation overwhelming. The least we can do is to fund projects to correct the educational and life disadvantages of people and countries impacted by slavery. And £16 billion seems like the right amount.

Legacies of British Slave-ownership project

UCL have created a resource where you can click on the streets of London and other areas, to find out the holders of slaves who were compensated in that street.

I looked at the UCL resource looking for the closest slave owner in my area of the East End of London. The nearest person lived about 500 yards away from me. Here are the abridged details from the database. It is very simple to use. Have a go by following this link.

Solomon Nunes Flamengo of Kingston, living at Mutton Lane in Hackney when he wrote his will in 1778.   Merchant. Estate probated in Jamaica in 1779. Slave-ownership at probate: 6 of whom 2 were listed as male and 4 as female. 4 were listed as boys, girls or children. Total value of estate at probate: £21356.26 Jamaican currency of which £332.5 currency was the value of enslaved people.

I guess the value of his compensation was £332.5. Solomon was Jewish, which is unusual for the records, by far the majority being Christian. I chose Solomon simply because he was the closest to my house. The UCL website is at https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/.

Britain began regulating the Slave trade in the late 18th Century, abolished the Slave Trade in 1807.   Slavery, with the compensation to slave owners in 1833, was abolished but they replaced slavery with apprenticeship – in effect bound labour.  This was ended in 1838. For more details look at https://www.parliament.uk/

Slavery or Enslavement

Finally, I have seen several exhibitions and TV documentares in recent months where victims of the pernicious trade are referred to as ‘enslaved’ and not slaves.

It is a profound difference. The victims did not make themselves slaves, they did not identify as slaves.  They were forced into lt by violence, kidnap. rape, murder, torture, imprisonment, trafficking, forced exile.  They were enslaved.

Published January 2024, revised 2025

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A Radical Twelfth Night January 6th

Drawing for Twelfth Cake' at St. Annes Hill 'Twelfth Night Cruikshank, Isaac, Frances Burdett and Charles James Fox
‘Drawing for Twelfth Cake’ at St. Annes Hill
’12th Night Cruikshank, Isaac, 1756-1811 printmaker. Published Janr. 10, 1807 by Thomas Tegg, 111 Cheapside’

Twelfth Night

Yesterday was Twelfth Night for the modern Church of England, but today is Twelfth Night for the Catholic Church and in England in former times. It is also Epiphany or Three Kings Day and because of calendrical differences, Christmas Eve for the Orthodox Church. In Ireland, it is Nollaig na mBan. This is Women’s Little Christmas; when Women get to rest and let men do the work. This is a typical Saturnalia-style reversal of roles.

I used the print above, three years ago for my post on New’s Day, then moved it to Twelth Night. I also use it for lectures on Christmas and Jane Austen. But the focus of my presentation is explaining the Twelfth Night Cake and the game that was played. But in fact, this is a very political satirical cartoon. More of that, later, let’s begin with the more trivial aspect of the print above.

Twelfth Night and Christmas Cake

It used to be the big party night, featuring the famous Twelfth Night Cake and theatrical entertainments; mumming and wassailing. The cake has disappeared from current Christmas celebration, probably because it transmuted into our present Christmas Cake. This, I regret. I have had a lifetime when a very heavy Christmas Dinner is followed first, by Christmas Pudding. Then, overloading with food, the Christmas Cake is brought out. No one, in their right mind, wants a slice of heavy Christmas Cake at that time. Many of my American friends disparage fruit cake, but they are mistaken. Good Christmas Cake is something to be thoroughly enjoyed, but on the days following Christmas Day.

I gave a recipe for the Twelfth Night Cake in another post, (here it is). But the important point is that it had a bean and a pea in it. The one who got the bean was selected as King for night and the pea the Queen. Traditionally, the women draw a card from a ‘reticule’ (bag) and the men’s from a hat. But there are no women at this satirical party. The cards detailed a role they were to play for the rest of the night. The card began with an introductory speech, or rhyme, for the person to speak. The King and Queen led the way, and for the rest of the evening the party members adopted their persona. They might be an aristocrat, a soldier, a cook, a parson, a dairy maid etc. The French do something similar with their Galette des Rois. The bean is called the feve, and may be replaced by a porcelain model. Other places have a King’s Cake for epiphany.

Twelfth Night Satire

So, as I was rushing to get the original Twelfth Night post done, I failed to examine it in any detail. I assumed the cards gave them satirical occupations which would be funny to the contemporary audience in 1807. But then, I noticed the title mentioned St Anne’s Hill. I looked it up and discovered myself down a deep and very enjoyable research rabbit hole.

St Anne’s Hill & Charles James Fox

Now, let’s go down that rabbit hole and look a little deeper.

The caption mentions St Anne’s Hill. I believe this refers to St Anne’s Hill, near Chertsey (SW of London on the River Thames). Here, there was a grand house which was owed by Charles James Fox. He was the leader of the Whigs, a persistent opponent of King George III. He was a supporter of the American and French Revolutions. This explains the red bonnet used to pull out the cards in the illustration.

The central figure is then, Fox. But he died in September,. 1806. The print is dated January 1807. Just before he died, his Foreign Slave Trade Bill of 1806 began the dismantling of this pernicious trade in the British Empire. He was Foreign Minister who assumed a couple of civil chats with the French would end the long-standing war. But he soon discovered that Napoleon was not to be trusted in negotiations. The war went on for another 9 or so years.

Charles James Fox was a mercurial figure with many radical views. He was also a notorious gambler and loved the high life. One of his many lovers was Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. He eventually married, Elizabeth Armistead, an ex-mistress of the Prince of Wales. St Anne’s Hill was her house. I am pleased to report that she is credited with calming his life-style. He now spent more time at St Anne’s where they would ‘read, garden, explore the countryside and entertain friends’ (Wikipedia).

Isaac Cruikshank’s ‘Drawing for Twelfth Cake’ at St. Annes Hill

Cruikshank’s illustration is, of course, not designed to document quaint Twelfth Night customs but is a political satire and I discovered that the British Museum has the original version of this print, and. It is dated to 1799 which makes much more sense!

At the back right of the print is a notice which says:

‘Rules to be observed at this Meeting
1. That the Cake be decorated with appropriate insignia
2 That the tickets be deposited in a Bonnet Rouge and drawn in Rotation
3 That the Old Fashioned Game of King and Queen be exploded & Catch as Catch can Substituted in its stead.’

The bonnet rouge is defined by the Collins Dictionary as a ‘redcap worn by ardent supporters of the French Revolution’ or ‘an extremist or revolutionary’. The last point relates to Fox’s opposition to the King, and the expression Catch as Catch Can refers to a free form of wrestling without rules.

The characters in the scene (all men) are all political figures. They are associated with the opposition to the very right-wing Government of William Pitt. During the war with France, the opposition was led by a supporter of the French Revolution. For those on the right, which included Pitt’s government, supporting the French Revolution was tantamount to treason. Pitt suspended many civil liberties in ‘Pitt’s Reign of Terror’. He arrested and indeed executed leading members of those demanding political change. The Government even suspended Habeas Corpus to make it easier to arrest their opponents,

Fox is seen drawing a 12th Night Game ticket which is marked ‘Perpetual Dictator’. To his right is Frances Burdett. He was a radical politician, who supported universal male suffrage, equal electoral districts, vote by ballot, and annual parliaments. Note that this is well before these aims became the core of the Chartists campaign for electoral reform. (for other people in the illustration look at the British Museum notes on the print. )

Frances Burdett, Edward and Catherine Despard

Burdett is shown holding a ticket saying ‘Keeper of the Prison in Cold Bath Fields’. This is a satirical reference to a serious political crisis. The Cold Baths Fields was the site of a medical spring in Clerkenwell, London. This was where a prison was situated where radicals were imprisoned. They were held in poor conditions despite the recent rebuilding under the aegis of the prison reformer, John Howard. Burdett exposed the scandalous conditions in the House of Commons. He began a campaign against the magistrates involved in the arrests.

One of the prisoners was Edward Despard who had associations with many radical groups. These included the London Corresponding Society, the United Irishmen and United Britons. Despard was married to Catherine, the daughter of a free black woman from Jamaica. She, with Burdett, led the campaign against these arrests without trial. Catherine wrote a letter to the Attorney General who replied in a demeaning manner:

‘it was a well-written letter, and the fair sex would pardon him, if he said it was a little beyond their style in general’

He did not comment on her colour. She described the imprisonment of her husband as being :

“in a dark cell, not seven feet square, without fire, or candle, chair, table, knife, fork, a glazed window, or even a book”

Execution of Edward Despard

Despard was freed in 1802, went to Ireland. But returned to London, where he was arrested again. But this time he was accused of a being the ringleader of a plot to assassinate the King. There was little real evidence. Horatio Nelson was a character witness, and appealed to the King for clemency. It was given. But only in so far as Despard was not disembowelled but ‘only ‘Hanged and Drawn’ at Horsemonger Lane Gaol (1803). This was the last time someone was drawn through the streets at the tail of a horse before execution for treason. These are his last words:

Fellow Citizens, I come here, as you see, after having served my Country faithfully, honourably and usefully, for thirty years and upwards, to suffer death upon a scaffold for a crime which I protest I am not guilty. I solemnly declare that I am no more guilty of it than any of you who may be now hearing me. But though His Majesty’s Ministers know as well as I do that I am not guilty, yet they avail themselves of a legal pretext to destroy a man because he has been a friend to truth, to liberty, and to justice

(a considerable huzzah from the crowd)

and because he has been a friend to the poor and to the oppressed. But, Citizens, I hope and trust, notwithstanding my fate, and the fate of those who no doubt will soon follow me, that the principles of freedom, of humanity, and of justice, will finally triumph over falsehood, tyranny and delusion, and every principle inimical to the interests of the human race.

(a warning from the Sheriff)

I have little more to add, except to wish you all health, happiness and freedom, which I have endeavoured, as far as was in my power, to procure for you, and for mankind in general.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Despard

After his death, his family denied that Catherine was his wife but merely his ‘house-keeper.’ I assume, was because they wanted the inheritance rather than, or perhaps, as well as naked prejudice.

Francis Burdett married into the fabulously rich banking family the Coutts. His daughter was the famous Angela Burdett Coutts who was a philanthropist who collaborated extensively with Charles Dickens.

@Phew! This is what I love about what I do, you find things out that link disparate parts of your knowledge, creating an ever-interwining web of history.

On this Day

1412 Joan of Arc was born. (it is believed).

Written 2022, and revised 2024, and 2025

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Twelfth Night? Time to take down your Christmas decorations, January 5th

To show a Christmas celebration in the Victorian period, probably twelfth night

On the twelfth day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
Twelve drummers drumming, Eleven pipers piping, Ten lords a-leaping,
Nine ladies dancing, Eight maids a-milking, Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds, Three French hens, Two turtle-doves
And a partridge in a pear tree.

Twelfth Night

In 1775, William Snooke recorded in his diary, that he sat down to a fine dinner with

‘Mr and Mrs William Clifford and their seven children (and maid), John Fox Snr. and Sally Twining, Mr and Mrs William Fox, and William Weale.’ To feed this crowd took “Ham, Greens, 3 fowls roasted, Soup, Leg of Mutton, potatoes, Boiled rump of beef (large)”

Dessert included pudding, mince pies and a forequarter of home lamb. For supper, the assembled party consumed tarts, stuffed beef, mince pies, cold mutton, oysters, cold sliced beef, cold lamb, apple pies and pears.

This is recorded in a fine Pinterest post about Twelfth Night.

Twelfth Night Celebrations in Southwark

A recent ‘tradition’ for a Tweltfh Night procession has been established on the south side of the River Thames in London. The Lions Part Company begin their entertainments at the rebuilt Globe. The parade has all the traditional mummers characters, including the Green Man, and the Holly Man. They perform the Combat Play of St George. This involves the Old ‘Oss (which is the centre point of the May Day festivities at Padstow in Cornwall. They also have Twelth Night Cakes containing a bean and a pea. These are used to crown the King and Queen of the Day.

Photo of Twelfth Night Celebrations in Southwark, London on the South Bank
Photo of Twelfth Night Celebrations in Southwark, London on the South Bank

Confused by Twelfth Night?

It is of interest that the above meal was on January 6th, not the 5th. So why is there such confusion as to when is twelfth night? I have a suggestion as to the basis for the confusion as to when the Twelve Days of Christmas begin. It would seem perverse to leave Christmas Day out of the Twelve Days of Christmas. So many people start their count on the 25th December. But some folklore sources going back in time count from Boxing Day. For example, Gervase Markham’s ‘The English Husbandman of 1635 counts it from Boxing Day.

The Daily Express reveals to me that the Protestants count from Christmas Day and the Catholics from Boxing Day. That maybe it, but is the confusion more complicated than that? The religious festival really makes sense if it begins with Christmas Day, and ends with the Epiphany. This is the day the Three Kings from the Orient come to worship Jesus. But Epiphany is on the 6th January, which is 13 days from Christmas. 13 days of Christmas would be ill-omened. So two solutions: make the end of the Twelve Days the Eve of Epiphany, i.e. the 5th, or start the 12 days from Boxing Day.

I suspect there is a fudge going on here. Twelve is the magic number, twelve Apostles, 12 months in the year, so twelve Days of Christmas. But clearly, for Christians it stretches from Christmas Day to Epiphany. Two ways to square that 13 day difference. One is to begin the twelve days on Boxing Day. The other is to end with a Twelfth Night party on the Eve of Epiphany.

Time to take your decorations down- January 5th or 6th or Candlemas

However, we currently all agree that January 5th is the day to take down your Christmas decorations. If you fail to do it now, you have to keep them until Candlemas, which is on February 2nd. See my Candlemas post to see the official end of Christmas

Tomorrow I will look at Twelfth Night festivities.

Published 2024, revised 2025

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Last chance to make the Twelfth Night Cake & the Night Skies, January 4th

Twelfth Night Cake at the Museum of the Home
Twelfth Night Cake at the Museum of the Home, photo Kevin Flude

Twelfth Night Cake

On the 11th day of Christmas
My true love sent to me
11 pipers piping; Ten lords a-leaping; Nine ladies dancing
Eight maids a-milking; Seven swans a-swimming
Six geese a-laying
Five golden rings (five golden rings)
Four calling birds; Three French hens; Two turtle-doves
And a partridge in a pear tree.

Now is your last chance to make your Twelfth Night cake, its the 11th hour after all! Of course, Stir Up Sunday would have been the best day. Here is a recipe from 1604 by Elinor Fettiplace:

Take a peck of flower, and fower pound of currance, one ounce of Cinamon, half an ounce of ginger, two nutmegs, of cloves and mace two peniworth, of butter one pound, mingle your spice and flower & fruit together, but as much barme [the yeasty froth from the top of fermenting beer barrels] as will make it light, then take good Ale, & put your butter in it, saving a little, which you must put in the milk, & let the milk boyle with the butter, then make a posset with it, & temper the Cakes with the posset drink, & curd & all together, & put some sugar in & so bake it.

I found this on the excellent www.britishfoodhistory.com, where you can find more cooking instructions for Twelfth Night Cake and much more. If you want a more modern recipe, here is one from the BBC.

Whichever you choose, you should add a pea, and a bean to the recipe. These will be useful once you have read my Twelfth Night post.

The Night Skies in January.

The Quadrantid meteor shower appears from the point of the Plough’s handle. It continues to January 12th but is peaking today, (January 4th). At the peak there may be 100 meteors an hour. But, it will be low in the north-eastern sky and best seen from low light pollution areas. Twinkling above the Southern Horizon will be Sirius and this month’s brightest star. In the NE, the Plough can easily be seen. The Orion nebula south of Orion’s belt will be seen as a hazy patch with the naked eye. (from the Night Sky. Month by Month by Gater and Sparrow).

On This Day

1642 Charles I marched on the House of Commons to arrest five Members of Parliament. It failed, the MPs fled to Guildhall in the City of London. Charles followed and was surrounded by citizens of the City of London shouting ‘Priviledge of Parliament. He fled London and the Civil began soon after.

Revised January 4th 2025

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The French Revolutionary Calendar — January 2nd

French Revolutionary Calendar Pocket Watch

On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me 
Nine ladies dancing, Eight maids a-milking, Seven swans a-swimming, 
Six geese a-laying, Five golden rings, 
Four calling birds, Three French hens, Two turtle-doves, 
And a partridge in a pear tree. 

Ripping up the Year

On this day in 1793 the National Convention in Revolutionary France decreed that Year II of the Republic had begun the day before. That is on New Year’s Day, January 1st. But, by October, they decided that the French Revolutionary Calendar should have begun on the Autumn Equinox. So they, retrospectively, made 22 September 1792 the first day of Year I.

By choosing a radical and rational reform of the Calendar the Revolutionaries were following Julius Caesar’s example. His Julian Calender tidied up the old Roman Calendar but kept many of the essentials in place. The French, by contrast, almost completely ripped up the calendrical rule book. For more on the Julian Calendar read my post here.

Wheezy, Sneezy and Freezy Months

Let’s start with the names of the months. The concept of the month they kept but got rid of the irrational Latin-based names. They replaced them with neologisms derived from seasonal indicators as you will see.

But it’s more fun to begin with the names as reported, satirically, by John Brady. He published these in England in 1811. The list starts with ‘October’ as the year began at the Winter Solstice. The seasons are separated by semicolons.

Wheezy, Sneezy and Freezy; Slippy, Drippy and Nippy; Showery, Flowery
and Bowery; Hoppy, Croppy and Poppy.

The historian Thomas Carlyle suggested somewhat more serious English names
in his 1837 work ‘The French Revolution: A History’ namely:

Vintagearious, Fogarious, Frostarious; Snowous, Rainous, Windous; Buddal,
Floweral, Meadowal; Reapidor, Heatidor, and Fruitidor.

The actual revolutionary names were: Vendémiaire, Brumaire, Frimaire; Nivôse, Pluviôse, Ventôse; Germinal, Floréal, Prairial; Messidor, Thermidor, Fructidor

Each month was a rational 30 days, leaving 5 days of the solar year to be sorted out. These were given to the Sans Culottes as holidays and called complimentary days. The leap year was similarly given to the Sans Culottes; an extra day, every 4 years. It was a copy of the Egyptian year, which had inspired Caesar to make the Roman year rational.

Working flat out 10/10

And like the Egyptians, the 7-day week went out the window. The month was divided into three décades of 10 days. The tenth day, the décadi, being a day of rest. By my calculations, the ‘lucky’ Sans Culottes gained 5 days at the end of the year. But lost 16 Sundays, a net lost of 11 days over the year. I’m guessing they would have been compensated somewhere in the year? By time off to celebrate various revolutionary festivals, such as the 14th July (celebrating the storming of the Bastille)? The days were called primidi (first day) duodi (second day) tridi (third day) etc.

The hours of the day were decimalised. So each day was divided into 10 hours, rather than the 24 hours we use. The hours into 100 decimal minutes, and the minute into 100 decimal seconds. This meant that an hour was 144 conventional minutes; a minute 86.4 conventional seconds, and a second 0.864 conventional seconds.

Thank you, Napoleon?

So, had we adopted the French Revolutionary Calendar as we did the metric system this would be Tridi 13th Nivôse, Year 233. (According to the calculator at French Calendar.)

The French Revolutionary Calendar did not survive Napoleon, who recalled the conventional calendar. Time keeping returned to the Gregorian standard on 1 January 1806.

I do like the idea of the 10-day week. But I would like it to be 6 days of work and 4 days of leisure, thank you. I do wish we could rename our months: Wheezy, Sneezy and Freezy; Slippy, Drippy and Nippy; Showery, Flowery and Bowery; Hoppy, Croppy and Poppy.

To find out more look at Wikipedia and consult John Brady (1812), Clavis Calendaria: Or, A Compendious Analysis of the Calendar; Illustrated with Ecclesiastical, Historical, and Classical Anecdotes, vol. 1, Rogerson and Tuxford

On this Day

Today, is special for the Cybele, Isis, Aphrodite and Ishtar, and is the Vigil for St Genevieve of Nanterre. Paris. (more tomorrow).

Sorry to post so many today, but had to catch up after New Year’s Eve. Where is that willow bark?

First Published Jan 2nd 2023, republished Jan 2024, and 2025

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Hangover Cures & Bacchus – January 1st

Marble statue of Bacchus from the Temple of Mithras London. The inscription reads ‘hominibus vagis vitam’ Translation … (give) life to men who wander.

On the eighth day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
8 Maids a Milking; 7 Swans a Swimming; 6 Geese a Laying
5 Golden Rings
4 Calling Birds; 3 French Hens; 2 Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree

Closing Time

The 8th day, New Years Day, is the day of the Throbbing Head. In ‘Closing Time’ Leonard Cohen wrote about drinking to excess. I like to think he refers to Christmas and New Year’s Day:

‘And the whole damn place goes crazy twice
And it’s once for the devil and it’s once for Christ
But the boss don’t like these dizzy heights
We’re busted in the blinding lights of closing time.

Trouble is the song mentions summer. Oh well. You can enjoy the official video on YouTube below:

Hangover Cure

So what you need is a hangover cure. Nature provides many plants that can soothe headaches. And in the midst of the season of excess, let’s start with a hangover cure.

Common ivy Photo by Zuriel Galindo from unsplash

Ivy and Bacchus

Ivy, ‘is a plant of Bacchus’…. ‘the berries taken before one be set to drink hard, preserve from drunkenness…. and if one hath got a surfeit by drinking of wine, the speediest cure is to drink a draft of the same wine, wherein a handful of ivy leaves (being first bruised) have been boiled.’

Culpeper Herbal 1653 quoted in ‘the Perpetual Almanac’ by Charles Kightly

The image of Bacchus, at the top of the post, is from a fascinating article by the Museum of London on wine making in Roman Britain. Bacchus is often shown with an ivy crown around his head as Romans were wont to wear them to fend of hangovers.

Skullache, and Willow,

Crack Willow Trees on the Oxford Canal, August 2021

One of the best documented folk hangover cure is willow bark. It could be used for headaches, earaches and toothaches. Here is a record of how simple it was to use:

‘I am nearly 70 years old and was born and bred in Norfolk… My father, if he had a ‘skullache’ as he called it, would often chew a new growth willow twig, like a cigarette in the mouth.’

‘A Dictionary of Plant Lore by Roy Vickery (Pg 401)

In the 19th Century, Willow was found to contain salicylic acid from which aspirin was derived. As a child I remember chewing liquorice sticks in a similar way. However, we chewed, supposedly for the pleasure and the sweetness not for the medicinal virtues of the plant.

Country Weather

January 1st’s weather on the 8th Day of Christmas was warm and wet all day. So, according to Gervase Markham, the 8th Month, August, will be similarly warm and drenched. (source: ‘The English Husbandman’ of 1635.)

On this Day

It was the Day of Nymphs in Greece dedicated to Artemis, Andromeda, Ariadne, Ceres. (according to the Goddess Book of Days by Diane Stein.)

First Published in 2024, republished in 2025

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Next Guided Walks

Here are listed the public guided walks and tours I have currently got in my diary. I will be adding others all the time.

Jane Austen’s London Anniversary Walk 2.30 pm Saturday 25th Jan25
To book
Jane Austen’s ‘A Picture of London in 1809 Virtual Walk Mon 7.30 27th Jan25 To book Charles I and the Civil War. Martyrdom Anniversary Walk Booking details to follow
The Civil War, Restoration and the Great Fire of London Virtual Tour 7:30pm Thurs 30th Jan25To book
Roman London – Literary & Archaeology Walk 11.30 am Sat Feb 9th 2025 To Book
Jane Austen’s London Anniversary Walk 2.30 pm Sunday 9th February 25 To book
A Virtual Tour of Jane Austen’s Bath 7.30pm 10th February 2025 To book
Roman London – Literary & Archaeology Walk To book
Jane Austen’s London Anniversary Walk 2.30 pm Saturday 8th March 25 To book
Jane Austen’s London Anniversary Walk 11.30 pm Sunday 6th April 25 To book
Chaucer’s Medieval London Guided Walk Sun 2:30pm 6 April 2025 to Book
Chaucer’s London To Canterbury Virtual Pilgrimage 7.30pm Friday 18th April 25 To book
Roman London – Literary & Archaeology Walk 2.30 am Sat May 4th 2025 To book
For a complete list of my guided walks for London Walks in 2025 look here

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Archive of Guided Walks/Events for 2025

Every year I keep a list of my walks, and tours on my blog the ‘Almanac of the Past’. Here are the walks I have so far done in 2025.

Here is my ‘Almost Complete List of Walks, Study Tours, Lectures’

Ring in the New Year Virtual Guided Walk

Old New Year Card

Monday 1st January 2025 7.00 pm
On this Virtual Walk we look at how London has celebrated the New Year over the past 2000 years.

The New Year has been a time of review, renewal, and anticipation of the future from time immemorial. The Ancient Britons saw the Solstice as a symbol of a promise of renewal as the Sun was reborn. As the weather turns to bleak mid winter, a festival or reflection and renewal cheers everyone up. This idea of renewal was followed by the Romans, and presided over by a two headed God called Janus who looked both backwards and forwards. Dickens Christmas Carol was based on redemption and his second great Christmas Book ‘The Chimes’ on the renewal that the New Year encouraged.

We look at London’s past to see where and how the New Year was celebrated. We also explore the different New Years we use and their associated Calendars – the Pagan year, the Christian year, the Roman year, the Jewish year, the Financial year, the Academic year and we reveal how these began. We look at folk traditions, Medieval Christmas Festivals, Boy Bishops, Distaff Sunday and Plough Monday, and other Winter Festival and New Year London traditions and folklore.

At the end, we use ancient methods to divine what is in store for us in 2023.

The virtual walk finds interesting and historic places in the City of London to link to our stories of Past New Year’s Days. We begin, virtually, at the Barbican Underground and continue to the Museum of London, the Roman Fort; Noble Street, Goldsmiths Hall, Foster Lane, St Pauls, Doctors Commons, St. Nicholas Colechurch and on towards the River Thames.

Here are previous archive of guided walks/events/

Archive of Events/Walks 2024
Archive of events/Walks 2023
Archive of Events/Walks 2022
Archive of Recent Walks (2021)
Archive of Resent Walks (2019-2020)

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Childermas & Christmas Games December 28th

Pick-up-sticks or Spillikins

On the fourth day of Christmas
My true love sent to me
Four calling birds, Three French hens, Two turtle-doves
And a partridge in a pear tree.

Holy Innocents Day or Childermas is dedicated to children on the day Herod ordered the slaughter of children aged two or under, in an attempt to kill the prophesied Messiah.

It is, therefore, as far as folklore is concerned, an ill-omened day so don’t begin any new enterprise or, indeed, attempt to go back to work. And remember, as Childermas falls on a Saturday this year, Saturdays throughout the year are all ill-omened days. Weather wise, as the fourth day of Christmas is warm, expect the fourth month, April to be similarly warm.

Christmas Games

So, despite your desire to go back to work, it’s best to spend the time in Christmas Games. The one I remember, most fondly, is pick-up-sticks or spillikins. You drop a pile of sticks onto a table-top and then have to pick up as many sticks as you can without disturbing any others. Your go ends when you move a stick. Different sticks have different values.

Another game we played at parties was, I discovered when researching for my Jane Austen’s Christmas Walk, also played in the Austen family. They called it Bullet Pudding. I don’t think we had a name for it, but it involves putting flour in a bowl, upending it on a plate, putting a bullet (in our case a coin) on the top. Players cut off bits of the flour until the coin falls into the basin and the unlucky player (me this year!) has to pick it up with his teeth.

Bullet Pudding Christmas game as played in the Flude family 24th December 2024

I have moved all the 18th Century Jane Austen Christmas Games content from here to the page shown below, as it was repetitive.

As the post partly concerned bullet pudding, here is a photo of the one we played with on 24th December, my 97-year-old dad is in the background. You can see what a messy game it can be!

Christmas with Jane Austen December 20th

Santa Klaus for the Elite

I enclose a link to a discussion about the origins of the American Santa Klaus and how this was a method for the elite to keep control of the rowdy working class in New York. The argument, in a nutshell, is that the folk Christmas was outside and rowdy, while Clement Moore who wrote “A Visit from St. Nicholas” introduced a domesticated indoor middle class version of Father Christmas. It’s a fascinating spin on the traditional story.

https://skippedhistory.substack.com/p/professor-stephen-nissenbaum-on-santa-a48?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=53190&post_id=90879443&isFreemail=true&utm_medium=email

First written on December 28th 2022, revised and republished in December 2023, 2024

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Drink & Be Merry at a Georgian Christmas December 23rd

Wassail Bowl being brought in by a Servant into a dining hall on Christmas Day
From ‘Old Christmas’ by Washington Irving

The drink of choice was port. Then brandy, claret, punch, rum, porter. So says my source Henry Jeffreys in his book ‘Empire of Booze’ and in this Guardian article:

Claret, probably, originally outsold port. But the wars against France and the difficulty of importing French wine, saw a transfer to wines from our ‘oldest ally’ Portugal. But the travel distance was longer, so the wine was fortified to help preserve it better. Hence, the British addiction to port. Sherry was also popular for similar reasons, being a fortified white wine. Shakespeare calls it ‘sack’ and sometimes ‘Canary’. (Toby Belch ‘says thou lack’st a cup of canary ‘ in ‘Twelfth Night’, which is a Christmas play.) See below for more on Sack and Shakespeare.

Louis Philippe Boitard 'Imports from France' Looking east towards the Tower of London. Barrels at the front right are marked Claret, Burgundy and Champagne
Louis Philippe Boitard‘s satirical engraving ‘Imports from France’ Looking east towards the Tower of London. Barrels at the front right are marked Claret, Burgundy and Champagne.

Consumption was prodigious. Samuel Johnson said, ‘All the decent people in Lichfield (where Johnson came from) got drunk every night and were not the worst thought of’. The Prime Minister. William Pitt the Younger said, ‘I have drunk three bottles of port without being the worst for it. University College has witnessed this.’ He is referring to his college at the Oxford University, and so he might be considered to be another of our Prime Ministers who have first disgraced themselves at Oxbridge only to rise to rule the unfortunate British. However, in those days, Port was sold in pint measures (45cl) and was 16%, while now it is 20% and sold in 75cl bottles. So, not quite that bad?

Even so, three bottles is still a lot and a drunken population would have not only increased the death rate but also increased violence and abuse. Gout was one result of too much drinking and a rich diet.

Gout. 18th Century Bath

However, this is Christmas so let’s end on a high note, so here are a couple of recipes!

To make ye best punch

“Put 1½ a pound of sugar in a quart of water, stir it well yn put in a pint of Brandy, a quarter of a pint of Lime Juice, & a nutmeg grated, yn put in yr tosts or Biskets well toasted.”

Katherine Windham’s Boke of Housekeeping, 1707

And Gin? The cheap gin panic had calmed down by the 1770s after no less than eight Gin Acts of Parliament. Booths and Gordon’s Gins were established in London during this period and Gin almost a respectable drink.

There appears to have been a shortage of Gin punch recipes in the 18th Century, but by the end of that century this recipe survives from London’s Garrick Club

– half a pint of gin, lemon peel, lemon juice, sugar, maraschino, a pint and a quarter of water and two bottles of iced soda water.

You would not need many of these to become quite relaxed quite quickly!

Sack and Falstaff.

Sir John Falstaff in Henry IV eulogies on sack saying it not only makes for excellent wit but also the best soldiers:

“A good sherris sack hath a two-fold operation in it. It ascends me into the brain, dries me there all the dull and crudy vapors which environ it, makes it apprehensive, quick, forgetive, full of nimble, fiery, and delectable shapes, which, delivered o’er to the voice, the tongue, which is the birth, becomes excellent wit“. 

The second your excellent sherris is the warming of the blood; which
cold and settled, left the liver white and pale, which is the
badge of pusillanimity and cowardice; but the sherris warms
and makes it course from the inwards to the parts extremes.
illumineth the face, which, as a beacon, gives warning to all
rest of this little kingdom, man, to arm; and then the vital
commoners and inland petty spirits muster me all to their
captain, the heart, who, great and puff’d up with this
doth any deed of courage—and this valour comes of sherris.
that skill in the weapon is nothing without sack, for that
it a-work; and learning, a mere hoard of gold kept by a devil
till sack commences it and sets it in act and use. Hereof
it that Prince Harry is valiant; for the cold blood he did
naturally inherit of his father, he hath, like lean, sterile,
bare land, manured, husbanded, and till’d, with excellent
endeavour of drinking good and good store of fertile sherris,
that he is become very hot and valiant. If I had a thousand
the first humane principle I would teach them should be to
forswear thin potations and to addict themselves to sack.

in the Merry wives of Windsor Falstaff is still always drinking sack.  He asks Bardolph ‘Go fetch me a quart of sack; put a toast in’t.‘ Toast is thought to freshen up stale sack.  Also, it could be drunk hot as suggested by Falstaff asking for:

‘Go brew me a pottle of sack finely.’

Bardolph asks if he wants the sack with eggs but Falstaff refuses asking for his sack to be a

‘Simple of itself; I’ll have no pullet-sperm in my brewage.’

A simple is the opposite of a compound, so pure with no additions (apart from the toast!).  Pullet sperm is, in think, a dismissive reference to eggs. Sack posset was original a medicine but later a popular treat made with eggs, cream, spices and sack. Once concocted, the top would be a foamy or crusty cap, the middle a custard and the bottom a spicy hot alcohol.

First Published in 2022 and revised December 2023 and 2024