Category: Modern

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Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Crocus and Saffron February 19th

Photo Mohammad Amiri from unsplash. Notice the crimson stigma and styles, called threads, Crocus is one of the characters in Ovid’s Metamorphoses

The story of Crocus and Smilax is in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The book tells the  story of myths which involve the metamorphosis of a person to a flower, or to a constellation, or to an echo or some supernatural change in being. This poem is one of the most famous in the world, written in about 6 AD. It influenced Dante, Bocaccio, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Keats, Bernard Shaw, and me.  Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes have translated modern versions of some of the tales.

The mechanicals in ‘The Midsummers Night Dream’ perform Ovid’s story of Pyramus and Thisbe, Titian painted Diana and Actaeon. Shaw wrote about Pygmalion, and we all know the story of Arachne. She claimed to be better than Athene at weaving. And then was turned into a spider.

The poem is about love, beauty, change, arrogance and is largely an Arcadian/rural poem. This is a contrast to Ovid’s ‘Art of Love’ which I use for illustrations of life in a Roman town. The stories are all about metamorphoses, mostly changes happening because of love. But it is also an epic as it tells the classical story of the universe from creation to Julius Caesar.

Ovid’s Metamorphoses and the Crocus

‘Crocus and his beloved Smilax were changed into tiny flowers.’ Ovid tell us, but chooses to give us no more details. So we have to look elsewhere. There are various versions. In the first, Crocus is a handsome mortal youth, beloved of the God Hermes (Mercury). They are playing with a discus which hits Crocus on the head and kills him. Hermes, distraught, turns the youth into a beautiful flower. Three drops of his blood form the stigma of the flower.  In another version, Crocus and the nymph Smilax, fall in love. And are rewarded by immortality as a flower. One tale has Smilax turned into the Bindweed. 

Morning Glory or Field Bindweed photo Leslie Saunders unsplash

Ovid’s Metamorphoses and Bindweed

It turns out that Smilax means ‘bindweed’ in Latin. Bindweed is from the Convolvulus family, and I have grown one very successfully in a pot for many years. But they have long roots. According to the RHS ‘Bindweed‘ refers to two similar trumpet-flowered weeds. Both of which twine around other plant stems, smothering them in the process. They are difficult to remove. This, could suggest that Smilax is either punished for spurning Crocus, or that she smothered him with love. Medically, Mrs Grieve’s Modern Herbal says all the bindweeds have strong purgative virtues, perhaps another insight into Smilax’s psychology?

The Metamorphosis of Data and the correct use of the plural

Apparently, in the UK some say crocuses and others use the correct Latin plural, croci. On an earlier version of this post I used the incorrect plural crocii.

On the subject of Roman plurals, the Financial Times editorial department made an earth-shattering decision, a couple of years ago. They updated their style guide to make the plural word data (datum is the singular form) metamorphise into the singular form.

So it is now wrong to say ‘data are’ but right to say ‘data is’. For example, it was correct to say:  ‘the data are showing us that 63% of British speakers use crocuses as the plural’ but now, it is better to write ‘the data is showing us that 37% of British people prefer the correct Latin form of croci’.

Violets and Crocuses

Violets and crocuses are coming out. They often come out for St Valentine’s Day, and so obviously associated with Love. White croci usually represented truth, innocence, and purity. The purple variety imply success, pride and dignity. The yellow type is joy.’ according to www.icysedgwick.com/, which gives a fairly comprehensive look at the Crocus.

Crocus & Saffron

The autumn-flowering perennial plant Crocus sativus, is the one whose stigma gives us saffron. Roman civilisation spread the plants around Europe.   They used it for medicine, as a dye, and a perfume. It was much sought after as a protection against the plague, and extensively grown in the UK.  Saffron Walden was a particularly important production area in the 16th and 17th Centuries.

Saffron in London

Snowdrop, Crocus, Violet and Silver Birch circle in Haggerston Park. (Photo Kevin Flude, 2022)

The Bishop of Ely grew Saffrom in his beautiful Gardens just outside of the City of London. The area remembered by the London street name: Saffron Hill.  It is home to the fictional Scrooge. This area became the London home of Christopher Hatton, the favourite of Queen Elizabeth 1. His garden was on the west bank of the River Fleet, in London EC1, in the area now known as Hatton Garden. (For more on Christopher Hatton see my post on nicknames Queen Elizabeth I gave to her favourites).

I found out more about Saffron from listening to BBC Radio 4’s Gardener’s Question time and James Wong.

Croydon (on the outskirts of London) means Crocus Valley. A place where Saffron was grown. The Saffron crops in Britain failed eventually because of the cost of harvesting, and it became cheaper to import it. So, we now import it from Spain, Iran, and India amongst other places. But it is being reintroduced in Norfolk, Suffolk, Kent, and Sussex. These are – the hot and dry counties. The plant enjoys a South-facing aspect. But it needs protection from squirrels and sparrows who love it. To grow it, look at this post from the Garden Doctor.

Saffron Photo by Vera De on Unsplash

Violets

Viola odorata CC BY-SA 2.5 Wikipedia

The Celts used Violets as cosmetics; the Athenians to moderate anger; the Iranians for insomnia, and are loved by all because of their beauty and fragrance. They have been symbols of death for the young, and used as garlands, nosegays posies, which Gerard says are ‘delightful’.

For more on Ovid, use the search facility (click on menu) or read my post here.

On This Day

197 – The Battle of Lugdunum sees the victory of Septimius Severus over Clodius Albinus reputedly the bloodiest battle between Roman armies. The previous emperor Pertinax died in 193 during the Year of the Five Emperors. Three main contenders emerged Severus who was African, Niger was from Central Italy, Albinus was the Governor of Britain.

1800 – Napoleon proclaims himself First Consul making him the dictator of France.

1846 – The Republic of Texas officially transfers power to the State of Texas government and becomes part of the United States.

1878 – Thomas Edison patents the phonograph.

1945 – Battle of Iwo Jima began with the landing of 30,000 US troops.

First written 2023, revised 2024, 2025 and 2026

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Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday Forehead Ash Cross.  Photo by Ahna Ziegler on Unsplash

Lent & Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday this year is early and on 18th February.  It is the First Day of Lent, the solemn time which runs up to Easter, and is symbolic of Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness.

In Anglo Saxon the name for the season of Spring was ‘lencthen’. It is thought to derive from the idea of the lengthening days. Days do suddenly seem to have got longer. These are the official times for the evening:

Sunset: 17:21

Dusk (Civil twilight ends) : 17:55

Nightfall (Nautical twilight ends) :18:34

Full Darkness starts (Astronomical twilight ends) : 19:13

Did you know it was that complicated? But https://www.thetimeandplace.info/uk/london-city-of-london does.

Quadragesima

So strictly, Lent means Spring. The Romance languages use the term which derives from the Latin ‘Quadragesima’ which means the 40 days of Fast. Spanish (Cuaresma), French (Carême), and Italian Quaresima). For Germans, it is the fasting time: fastenzeit. In England, Lent became a specialised word for the fast period. And Spring took over as the name of the season.

A time of fasting? Time for reflection? Maybe once upon a time. When I was young, it was 40 days when you were supposed to give something up. Smoking, or drinking, or chocolate. An idea taken up by a new generation, as, for example, Dry January? A time of reflection? No, never did that.

Dust to Dust and Stardust

Ash Wednesday is named after the ashes smeared on the heads of worshippers to remind us that we are dust. I’ve never seen this done either. My footballing Vicar friend Andrew missed our Wednesday Game so that he could mark foreheads with ash crosses. The ashes were traditionally made from palms used for Palm Sunday decorations, which is indeed what Andrew did. Look here to see my post on Palm Sunday.

“In the midst of life we are in death, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection.”

— Thomas Cranmer

On the subject of dust, here are some spiritual lyrics by Joni Mitchell. Something profound in the true idea that we are all stardust.

We are stardust
We are golden
And we’ve got to get ourselves
Back to the garden

Woodstock by Joni Mitchell

40 Days

We all know that there are 40 days in Lent, except there are not. It’s 46 this year. This was pointed out by Tim Harford who presents a BBC radio programme called ‘More or Less’. It is a programe about statistics, or more widely about Fact Checking statistics in the news. Last year he discussed the 40 days. One answer proposed was to take away Sunday. But, my mathematics tells me this still leaves 42. The answer Tim Harford came up with is that 40 days just means a long time.

It is the length of time of Lent, but also:

The duration of the Great Flood
The time Moses was on Mt Sinai
The time the Israelites spy on Canaan
Goliath trails Saul
Elijah Walks
Jesus is tempted n the Desert
The time from Resurrection to Ascension

In other words, a long time to be doing any one thing. As Hartford says, it’s like our word ‘umpteenth’. As in ‘Kevin this is the umpteenth time I’ve told you to tidy your bedroom’. That’s what my mother said to me as she threw my clothes out of the window.

Read about Shrove Tuesday in my post here. To read about the ‘Month of Purification’ in Latin.

First published 2024, revised 2025, 2026

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Shrove Tuesday – Pancake Day – Mardi Gras – End of the Carnival

Les_Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry February (Detail) The people inside are warming their legs and their hands in front of a roaring fire.
Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry February (Detail) The people inside are warming their legs and their hands in front of a roaring fire.

Shrove Tuesday & Carnival

This year, February 17th is Shrove Tuesday, the end of the Carnival. Etymology-on line says the origins of the term Carnival are:

1540s, “time of merrymaking before Lent,” from French carnaval, from Italian carnevale “Shrove Tuesday,” from older Italian forms such as Milanese *carnelevale, Old Pisan carnelevare “to remove meat,” literally “raising flesh,” from Latin caro “flesh” (originally “a piece of flesh,” from PIE root *sker- (1) “to cut”) + levare “lighten, raise, remove” (from PIE root *legwh- “not heavy, having little weight”).

Folk etymology has it from Medieval Latin carne vale ” ‘flesh, farewell!’ ” Attested from 1590s in the figurative sense of “feasting or revelry in general.” The meaning “a circus or amusement fair” is attested by 1926 in American English.Related entries & more 

www.etymonline.com

Pancake Day/Shrove Tuesday

Pancake Day is another name for Shrove Tuesday. It is the day we eat up all our surplus food. Then on Ash Wednesday we must begin our lenten fast and turn our mind to repentance. Pancake Day, in the UK, is celebrated with a simple pancake with lemon and sugar. Here is a recipe from the BBC. On the other hand, Shrove Tuesday can be a day of excess before the 40 days of restraint. Shrovetide was normally three days from the Sunday before Lent to Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. (Here is my post on Ash Wednesday).

Mardi Gras

In France, it’s called Mardi Gras which means Fatty Tuesday, in Italy Martedi Grasso. In New Orleans it stretches from Twelfth Night to Shrove Tuesday. But as we saw, in my post on Fat or Lardy Thursday‘ the Carnival period was more normally a week. In most other places it is one to three days. In Anglo-Saxon times there was ‘Cheese Week’, ‘Butter Week’, ‘Cheesefare Sunday’ and ‘Collop Monday’, preceding Ash Wednesday.

Shrove Tuesday the Day to be Shriven

Shrove Tuesday is the day we should be ‘shriven’ which means to make confession. The Church has been leading up to Easter since Advent – before Christmas. (See more on Advent Sunday here). Easter is the date of the conception and, also, the date of the execution and apotheosis of Jesus Christ. So the pious should confess their sins, then undertake their lenten fast before entering the Holy Week purged and sin-free.

In the Anglo-Saxon Church, there was a custom called ‘locking the Alleluia.’ The Church stopped using the word Alleluia from 70 days before Easter. Alleluia represented the return from exile in Babylon. So, with the approach of the death of Christ it was not felt appropriate to be celebratory.

The sombre nature of this block of time was highlighted by Ælfric of Eynsham (c. 955 – c. 1010).

Now a pure and holy time draws near, in which we should atone for our neglect. Every Christian, therefore, should come to his confession and confess his hidden sins, and make amends according to the guidance of his teachers; and let everyone encourage each other to do good by good example.

Ælfric, Catholic Homilies Text Ed. Peter Clemoes quoted in ‘Winters in the World’ Eleanor Parker

Time for Football!

Shrove Tuesday was the traditional time for football games, in the days before football had any rules to speak of. It was a wild game. Teams tried to get a bladder from one end of town to the other, or one side of a field to the other. In Chester, the Shrove Tuesday football game was held on the Roodee island. It was so rowdy that the Mayor created the Chester Races specifically to provide a more sedate alterative to the violence of the ‘beautiful game.’

Here is a youtube video of Shrovetide Football at Royal Asbourne in Derbyshire. You will notice it seems chaotic but if you look at the participants directed the action you can see how involved they are in it.

Royal Asbourne Shrove Tueday Football

In London, Henry Fitzstephen wrote about Shrove Tuesday Games in London in the late 12th Century:

‘Every year also at Shrove Tuesday, that we may begin with children’s sport, seeing we all have been children, the school boys do bring cocks of the game to their master, and all the forenoon they delight themselves in cockfighting. After dinner all the youths go into the fields to play at the ball. The scholars of every school have their ball, or baston in their hands. The ancient and wealthy men of the City come forth on horseback to see the sport of the young men and to take part of the pleasure in beholding their agility.’

Fitzstephen was the first biographer of Thomas Becket.

Pancake Race

The City of London has an annual pancake race at the Guildhall Yard. It is an inter-livery company competition. The Livery Companies also known as medieval Guilds, have to run across the Guildhall while holding a frying pan and pancake. There is a zone marked out where they have to toss the pancake. Here is a youtube video of the 2023 race.

Pancake Day/Shrove Tuesday Pancake Race

First published on February 21st, 2023 republished on February 13th 2024, and March 4th 2025, February 17th 2026

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British Recapture trenches near St Eloi February 15th 1915

The Prioress with her Rosary Beads from the Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer from the Ellesmere manuscript
The Prioress from the Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer from the Ellesmere manuscript. Her only oath is ‘By St Eloi’

When I read a reference to a Battle at St Eloi, it struck a chord as he is mentioned in the Canterbury Tales. It is an oath sworn by the delicate Prioress:

There was also a nun, a prioress,
Who, in her smiling, modest was and coy;
Her greatest oath was but “By Saint Eloy!”
And she was known as Madam Eglantine.
Full well she sang the services divine(5)
Intoning through her nose, becomingly;
And fair she spoke her French, and fluently.
At table she had been well taught withal,
And never from her lips let morsels fall,
Nor dipped her fingers deep in sauce, but ate(10)
With so much care the food upon her plate
That never driblet fell upon her breast.

General Prologue Canterbury Tales. Full Text here.

The reason is sticks in my mind is that the Prioress is shown as a cultured, well-mannered, delicate woman. And yet, she tells the most tremendously anti-Semitic tale. I hope that Chaucer meant this contrast. Someone who knows the forms of good behaviour without a clue in her hand that the most important of the Commandments is ‘Love Thy Neighbour like thyself.’ Another irony is that St Eloy was noted for refusing to swear an oath, and yet, the Prioress swears, by St Eloy.

St Eloi

Anyway, St Eloi was a very popular saint in the medieval period. According to legend, he was was having trouble shoeing a horse, which he thought was possessed. So he cut the horse’s leg off, re-shoed the amputated leg and then reattached the leg back on the horse. The horse trotted off, none the worse for the experience.

Properly called St. Eligius he is the patron saint of horses and cattle, farriers, blacksmiths, metalworkers, goldsmiths. The Saint was also responsible for converting Flanders to Christianity in the 7th Century. His Saint’s Day is 1 December. To look at the charge of rape against Chaucer look at my post here.

St Eloy in London

I have just discovered that there is a Holy Well dedicated to St Eloy in Tottenham London! To find out more look at this page.

Trenches at St Eloi

The Ypres Salient. St Eloi is just behind the ‘line’ above HOLLEBEKE
. Downloaded from http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/15480 wikipedia

St Eloi is also the patron saint of mechanics in general (including the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, (forerunners of whom fought at Ypres). This brings me to what happened on this day in 1915, the British retook trenches at St Eloi. St Eloi was just behind the Southern edge of the Ypres Salient, a bulge of allied territory surrounded on three sides by German forces and the site of the five battles of Ypres. St Eloi had a mound which provided a perfect position for machine-guns to dominate the area and so became the focus of fierce fighting from 1914 through into 1918 when the Germans were finally pushed out of the Salient.

World War I destruction in Ypres (wikipedia)

Bravery at St Eloi

Here is a citation from a medal for bravery:

´For gallant behaviour on the morning of the 15th February 1915 at St. Eloi. A party of six stretcher bearers carrying wounded men from the firing line came under a heavy and sustained rifle fire. The bearers left their stretchers and ran to cover leaving Private Wright, D.C.L.I. (shot through the knee) and Private A. Stevenson, D.C.L.I. (shot through stomach) lying in open under heavy fire.

7679 Lance Sergeant T. Spanton, 6170 Rifleman E. Largen, and 1126 Company Sergeant Major S.M. Clay [together with Captain Brady] rushed some 50 yards across the exposed fire zone and carried in to cover the stretcher bearing Private Wright, whilst under heavy rifle fire. Private Stevenson, who was lying beside Wright, was found to be dead, and so was not carried in until dark. Lance Sergeant Spanton, Company Sergeant Major Clay, and Rifleman Largen have on several occasions done noticeably good work, showing fearlessness, resource, and devotion to duty.´

For details of the medals follow this link.

Fighting continued here from 1914 through into 1918 when the Germans were finally pushed out of the Salient.

War in Winter

I wanted to find something about the winter as experienced in World War 1. Why? Because I watched a very moving film about World War 1 by Derek Jarman called ‘War Requiem’. It put images to the requiem by Benjamin Britten. I also listened to a radio piece on ‘Spring Offensives’ to give a long view on what was happening in Ukraine.

I found this war poem which vividly sets a winter war scene:

Searchlight
F. S. Flint

There has been no sound of guns,
No roar of exploding bombs;
But the darkness has an edge
That grits the nerves of the sleeper.

He awakens;
Nothing disturbs the stillness,
Save perhaps the light, slow flap,
Once only, of the curtain
Dim in the darkness.

Yet there is something else
That drags him from his bed;
And he stands in the darkness
With his feet cold against the floor
And the cold air round his ankles.
He does not know why,
But he goes to the window and sees
A beam of light, miles high,
Dividing the night into two before him,
Still, stark and throbbing.

The houses and gardens beneath
Lie under the snow
Quiet and tinged with purple.

There has been no sound of guns,
No roar of exploding bombs;
Only that watchfulness hidden among the snow-covered houses,
And that great beam thrusting back into heaven
The light taken from it.

Published 2025, Revised February 2026

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St Valentine’s Day & Magpies February 14th

Picture of a magpie in a field. Photo by Rossano D'Angelo on Unsplash
Magpie – A Bird for St Valentine’s Day? Photo by Rossano D’Angelo on Unsplash

St Valentine’s Day in a Poem by Chaucer

For this was on Seynt Valentynes day,
Whan every foul cometh ther to chese his make,
Of every kinde, that men thynke may;
And that so huge a noyse gan they make,
That erthe and see, and tree, and every lake
So ful was, that unnethe was ther space
For me to stonde, so ful was al the place.
Parliament of Fowls, Geoffrey Chaucer

This is my ‘translation’

For this was St. Valentine’s Day
When every bird came there to chose their mate.
Of every type, that men think may
And that so huge a noise did they make
That earth and sea and tree and every lake
So full was, that hardly was there space
For to stand so full was the place.

St Valentine’s Patronage

This is the first reference to St Valentine’s as a romantic day. And some people charge Chaucer with making the whole thing up! St Valentine, is supposed to have been martyred in the 3rd Century (290AD) on the Via Flaminia on February 14. He refused to stop marrying people in the Christian rites. Therefore, he is the patron Saint of lovers. Valentine is also the patron Saint of epileptics, fainting and beekeepers. According to legend, he taught a young blind girl how to look after Bees, and, sometime later, her eyesight was restored. He also is said to have treated a young man of epilepsy. Epilepsy was sometimes called the Falling Sickness, and so he is also the Saint of Fainting.

But until Chaucer, there was no particular link with romance. In fact, there are at least three Saint Valentines who were martyred in the Roman period. Their relics are scattered around Europe (have a look at this National Geographic article for the full S.P.). These include bones in Glasgow and his heart in Dublin. There are in total 11 Saints called Valentine in the list of Catholic Saints.

Another theory is that St Valentine has taken over the aspect of the God Cupid, as a Christian attempt to create a holy festival to replace the Lupercalia. See my post on the Lupercalia here.

St Valentine’s Day and Birds

Chaucer’s poem suggests one possible route to the link with romance. Early February is about the time when birds pair off. If they want to have their chicks at the optimal time, then they need to get going before spring has really sprung.

When I think of love, I don’t think of birds. Maybe, this is because I live by a Canal. Outside my garden, I frequently see and hear a Coot chasing his pair across the water before violently mounting her. But then they are fiercely monogamous and defend their nest, fearlessly, against much bigger birds. And swans glide by in beautiful family groups. But Magpies are my favourite lovebird because you see one, and then look around, and you very often see the partner. I have adopted an old tradition that you are supposed to say:

‘Hello, Mr Magpie! Where’s Mrs Magpie?’

And look for the mate. It is good luck if you see her and bad luck if you don’t. (Please feel free to assign your own favourite gender!)

‘One for Sorrow’ is a well-known nursery rhyme found in many variations, and is an example of ‘ornithomancy superstition’ whereby the number of Magpies you see determines some aspect of your future. Magpies normally mate for life, and are not gregarious during the nesting season, but thereafter, they ‘join together in large wintering flocks of more than 20 or so birds.‘. So, perhaps we need at least another seven lines for the rhyme? So, far I have never seen a flock of them. If you have a photo of a flock, please send it to me!

One for sorrow,
Two for joy,
Three for a girl,
Four for a boy,
Five for silver,
Six for gold,
Seven for a secret,
Never to be told.
Eight for a wish,
Nine for a kiss,
Ten a surprise you should be careful not to miss,
Eleven for health,
Twelve for wealth,
Thirteen beware it’s the devil himself.

As to the likelihood of seeing thirteen magpies together – well I have seen them often in pairs, occasionally in threes and often alone.

Here is another, more dangerous version of the rhyme (you are more likely to see the Devil)

One for sorrow,
Two for mirth
Three for a funeral,
Four for birth
Five for heaven
Six for hell
Seven for the devil, his own self

For details of the history of versions of this poem, click here:

Bad Birds

Magpies don’t have a good reputation, traditionally being regarded as thieves and scavengers with untidy nests and eating habits. They are supposed to be attracted to shiny things, but Exeter University did some research which found that they have the normal Corvid’s curiosity for objects. But they are as happy to snatch a dull object as a shiny one. So, we can see they are very intelligent as well as faithful lovers. For me, a good-omened bird (as long as I see the two of them).

More on Chaucer in my post for April 18th. For my post on Blackbirds see here.

On This Day

44BC – Julius Caesar was appointed dictator in perpetuum. Or perpetual dictator of the Roman Republic. Coins were issued with the phrase DICT PERPETVO.

1400 -Richard II died shortly after Epiphany Rising, a failed plot to restore him to the throne. Some think he was starved to death in captivity in Pontefract Castle. Or he starved himself. His body was taken to London and put on display in St Paul’s Cathedral on 17 February. His remains were taken to one of his favourite palaces at King’s Langley Priory on 6 March. Henry V had his remains ‘translated’ to Westminster Abbey. King’s Langley was a Royal Palace lived in by Eleanor of Aquitaine and Edward II, as well as Richard II. It is near Slough.

Jan-Marie Knights author of The Plantagenet Socialite lists possible scenarios:

‘The accepted tale of the king’s death is that in despair and grief at the death of his friends, King Richard refused to eat or drink, although a few say he was purposely starved to ensure he died as if from a natural death. Another rumour is that when an esquire mentioned the words ‘King Henry’ while he was eating dinner, Richard struck him with the knife he was using. Guards charged in and the king, pushing the table away, took a bill out of one man’s hand and managed to slay four of them but one leapt onto the chair he had vacated and felled him with a stroke of his poleaxe.’

1876 – Alexander Graham Bell applies for a patent for the telephone

1895 – The Importance of Being Earnest, first produced at the St James’s Theatre, London

1918 – Russia finally adopts the Gregorian calendar. see my post here.

First Published in February 2023, revised and updated in February 2024, 2025 On This Day added 2026

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St Apollonia Day. A Day to Cure the Toothache February 9th

Saint Apollonia. Woodcut. Saint of Toothache Wellcome Collection. Public Domain Mark. She is shown with forceps, extracted tooth and the martyr’s palm.

The 9th of February is the Feast of St Apollonia. She was martyred at Alexandria in 249 AD during the persecution of Emperor Decius. (see also my post on St Agatha) She was attacked during an anti-Christian riot and struck around the face knocking her teeth out. Then, she was taken to a bonfire and told they would throw her in if she did not renounce her faith. So, without waiting, she spoke a prayer and walked into the fire. This information is recorded in a near-contemporary letter from St Dionysius of Alexandria. This is rare well documented martyrdom. Because her teeth were knocked out she is, therefore, Saint of Toothache.

Suicide or Martyrdom?

St Augustine of Hippo touches on this spat of martyrs, often young women, killing themselves rather than losing their virginity, or like St Apollonia embracing death in the face of violent persecution. His answer is that like Samson, they are commanded by God to take their own lives, which is ok. Elsewhere, he condemns suicide as it is against the commandment ‘Thou shalt not kill’. He explains that God did not add ‘thy neighbour’ to it so it also forbids killing oneself. By contrast, it was added to ‘Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour’. The rest of St Augustine’s argument comes from Plato’s Phaedo. The introduction to the book on the Project Gutenberg web site sums up the arguments:

According to one explanation, because man is a prisoner, who must not open the door of his prison and run away—this is the truth in a ‘mystery.’ Or (2) rather, because he is not his own property, but a possession of the gods, and has no right to make away with that which does not belong to him. 

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Phaedo, by Plato translated by  Benjamin Jowett

Cloves for Toothache

I can remember my Grandmother prescribing cloves for me when I had toothache. And this was, and is, a common remedy. In my case, we would keep a clove or two in the mouth close to the site of the pain. According to Natural Ways to Sooth an Toothache cloves contain

‘Eugenol, a natural form of anaesthetic and antiseptic that helps get rid of germs. Eugenol is still used in dental materials today’

Dr John Hall, Shakespeare’s son-in-law, tended to use a pill to soothe sore gums. He also used an oil from a wood called ‘Ol. Lig. Heraclei’ which may be oil from the Bay Tree. (‘John Hall and his Patients’ by Joan Lane). Most of his tooth cases seem to be sore gums. This suggests to me Dr John Hall did not generally do dental work.

Death by Toothache

To get a tooth drawn you could go to a Barber Surgeon, a Blacksmiths or specialist Tooth Drawer. It would be terrifyingly painful. Probably only done when the pain was unbearable. Just think what a premium you would pay for a really competent drawer? The drawers would not have any formal training, but the skills would be passed on by the drawer to his apprentice or assistant. ‘Teeth’ was a common cause of death – most likely from infection or an abscess.

A bill of mortality for London 1665, showing 11 deaths caused by 'teeth' (as opposed to 353 for 'feaver'
List of causes of death, London during the plague of 1665. Teeth killed 11 people

Magic and Toothache

John Aubrey, an erudite and educated 17th Century writer, reports on the use of Magick for tooth care. When he relates these unlikely cures he often provides information that the person who told him the story is worthy of belief. So he seems to give some credence to the efficacy of these magical ‘cures’. But, judge for yourself; this is what he wrote:

To Cure the Tooth-ach.

Take a new Nail, and make the Gum bleed with it, and then drive it into an Oak. This did Cure William Neal, Sir William Neal’s Son, a very stout Gentleman, when he was almost Mad with the Pain, and had a mind to have Pistoll’d himself.

To Cure the Tooth-ach, out of Mr. Ashmole’s Manuscript Writ with his own Hand.

Mars, hur, abursa, aburse.
Iesu Christ for Marys sake,
Take away this Tooth-ach.

Write the words, Three times; and as you say the Words, let the Party burn one Paper, then another, and then the last.

He says, he saw it experimented, and the Party immediately Cured

John Aubrey’s Miscellanies 1695

May, Williams and Bishop at the Old Bailey accused of murder in pursuit of bodysnatching

Teeth and the Body-Snatchers

In 1832, in London Bishop, Williams, and May were accused of body snatching. After killing the Italian Boy (wonderful book by Sarah Wise ‘The Italian Boy‘) they jemmied out his teeth. Then, took the teeth to a South London Dentist. with whom they bargained for a good price. (They used the term ‘cheapened’ – I cheap, you cheap, we are cheapening: meaning to barter). The dentist wanted to use the dead boy’s teeth for false teeth for his patients. If memory serves, he paid £1 for them.

The teeth were used as evidence in the trial of the murderers. When the trial was over and the accused punished, the dentist asked for the teeth back! Two of the murderers were hanged but the third freed for turning King’s Evidence. Thereafter, the teeth were released back to the Dentist. He promptly put them in the window of his surgery as an advert for his professional skills!

Earlier, one of the Borough Boys Resurrectionist gang (based in Southwark, London) toured the battlefields of the Peninsular Wars collecting teeth. He made a substantial sum selling them to dentists as false teeth. They became known as Waterloo Teeth.

When I first wrote this in I added ‘How things have changed!’ But in recent years there have been reports of people undertaking their own dental work, if they cannot get access to an NHS dentist. Effectively, it seems that the Conservative Government was allowing dentistry to slip out of the NHS just like it did with eye health. For a study in what has happened to Dentistry in the UK in recent years, please look at this report here.

On This Day

1907 – the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS or Suffragists) organised the so-called the Mud March. This was the ‘first large procession’ in support of votes for women. It was called the Mud March because of the downpour of rain on the day.

1916 – Conscription started in World War 1 with the call-up of unmarried men aged between 18 – 41.

1933 – The Oxford Union passed the resolution ‘the House will in no circumstances fight for King and Country.’

Bird of the Month The Blackbird. The common Blackbird is a true Thrush. The male is black with a yellow beak and the female is dark brown with a yellow beak. The Blackbird begins to sing as early as January, and is one of the birds who sing first early in the morning. British Blackbirds do not migrate, but Northern European Blackbirds often migrate to the UK in the winter for warmer weather. Viruses have put the species under some threat and they need help to get through the winter. ArkWildlife suggests this is what you should feed blackbirds:

For more bird advice see https://www.arkwildlife.co.uk/ from which the above feeding advice is taken.

Here is a blackbird song, royalty free, from https://creazilla.com/search/audio/blackbird.

Four and Twenty Blackbirds backed in a pie

Is an 18th Century nursery rhyme which refers to the medieval habit of baking a pie crust, and putting it over a bowlful of live birds. When it was opened all the birds, well sing the song to remind yourself what they do?

Sing a song of sixpence
A pocket full of rye
Four and twenty blackbirds
Baked in a pie
When the pie was opened
The birds began to sing
Wasn’t that a dainty dish
To set before the king?

The king was in his counting house
Counting out his money
The queen was in the parlor
Eating bread and honey
The maid was in the garden
Hanging out the clothes
When down came a blackbird
And pecked off her nose

Sing a song of sixpence
A pocket full of rye
Four and twenty blackbirds
Baked in a pie
When the pie was opened
The birds began to sing
Wasn’t that a dainty dish
To set before the king?

A stinging Cure for Lust

Another story told of the Blackbird is a similar tale I have told before about holymen and temptation. So St Benedict was pecked on the cheek by a Blackbird. Next day he finds himself assailed with lust. It was the Devil disguised as the Blackbird he decides that infected the Monk. Then Benedict did what a number of saints did in similar circumstances. He threw himself, naked, in a patch of nettles and brambles and rolled around, until his body was sore afflicted. But he had overcome his lust.

Then St Kevin held out his hand and a blackbird laid her eggs in it. So he stayed still for the two weeks it took the fledglings to hatch! (for more on St Kevin see my post here)

Icy Sedgwick has an excellent website on the folklore of Birds, containing a nice podcast, which for those who love a north-east accent will enjoy.

The Folklore of Garden Birds: Blackbirds, Sparrows, Wrens & Robins

For my post on Robins and Wrens look here.

First written February 2023, revised February 2024, 2025. On This Day, Bird of the Month were added 2026

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Annual Grimaldi Memorial Service, All Saints, Haggerston. First Sunday in February

Annual Grimaldi Memorial Service at All Saints Church, Haggerston.

Today, was the Annual Grimaldi Memorial Service in Haggerston, Hackney, London. It began as a memorial service for the famous Regency Clown Joseph Grimaldi. But it has become a service to celebrate Clowns. The service takes place on the first Sunday in February. The service used to be at Holy Trinity Church, but has switched to Haggerston.

Joseph Grimaldi

Grimaldi as Clown, showing his own make-up design. George Cruikshank – http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/people-pages/grimaldi-the-clown/ Public Domain

Grimaldi was born on 18 December 1778. He died in poverty on 31 May 1837. In between, he was the most famous clown. He transformed the Harlequin role and made the white-faced clown the central part of the British Pantomime. The part became known as a Joey after Grimaldi. He performed at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, the Sadler’s Wells and Covent Garden theatres.

All Saints Church, Haggerston

Video by K Flude of Annual Grimaldi Clown Service in Haggerston

All Saints Church, Haggerston is 5 minutes walk from where I live and 2 minutes from where my Dad was born. (see my post here). So I popped in today and took this video. The service, which has been held since the 1940s, attracts clown performers from all over the world who attend the service in full clown costume. The Spitalfield’s Life blog has a very full description of the service, and lots of very good pictures. Follow the link below:

At The Annual Grimaldi Service

First Published February 1st 2026

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Gilbert White & The Cold of January 1776 January 28th

Photo of London Fields in the snow of 2022
Photo of London Fields in the snow of 2022 by Kevin Flude

January 1776:

‘On the 27th much snow fell all day, and in the evening the frost became very intense. At South Lambeth, for the four following nights, the thermometer fell to 7, 6, 6, and at Selborne to 7, 6, 10, and on the 3ist of January , just before sunrise, with rime on the trees and on the tube of the glass, the quicksilver sunk exactly to zero, being 32 degrees below the freezing point’ Gilbert White

Engraving of Gilbert White's House

Gilbert White and Darwin

He, of course, is talking Fahrenheit, so well below zero. If there was a Giant upon whose shoulders Charles Darwin climbed, then Gilbert White owned one pair.. He was one of many churchmen of the 18th and 19th Century who spent their extensive leisure time, on observing God’s wonderful creation in their gardens and parishes. What made White so important was that his practice was ‘observing narrowly’ and regularly. For example, his observations of the importance of earth worms were fundamental to Charles Darwin’s own studies. When Darwin came back from his travels on the Beagle, he settled in a country property in Orpington. Like White, he used his garden and the local area as his laboratory. Here he worked to prove his theory of evolution.

Gilbert White and Earth worms

Earth worms were one of Darwin’s passions. This is what Gilbert White wrote about their contribution to nature:

“Earth-worms, though in appearance a small and despicable link in the chain of Nature, yet, if lost, would make a lamentable chasm. For, to say nothing of half the birds, and some quadrupeds which are almost entirely supported by them, worms seem to be the great promoters of vegetation, by boring, perforating, and loosening the soil, and rendering it pervious to rains and the fibres of plants, and, most of all, by throwing up such infinite numbers of lumps of earth called worm-casts, which, being their excrement, is a fine manure for grain and grass.”

(Quoted from https://gilbertwhiteshouse.org.uk)

By such minute and repeated observations, Gilbert White investigated the food chain, and the migration of birds (which was at the time disputed). He laid the foundations of what we now call ecology.

Gilbert White’s Career

He became Dean of Oriel College in Oxford. But chose to spend his career in the relatively humble occupation of Curate. A Curate is the bottom-feeder in the Anglican Church food chain. A Curate hardly earned enough to maintain a position in the Gentry (£50 p.a.). Although, White was upgraded to the title of Perpetual Curate. He still would only be pulling in, I guess, something like £200 p.a. (Patrick Bronte was also a Perpetual Curate). Essentially, it is Vicar looking after a part of a too large Parish.

Financially, White didn’t need much, he inherited his father’s property at Shelborne, Hampshire. White’s grandfather was the Vicar at Shelborne. But Gilbert could not inherit the title because he went to Oriel College. The ‘living’ of the Parish of Shelborne was ‘in the gift of’ Magdalen College. And they were not going to give the role to an alumnus of a rival college.

Gilbert White & The Austen Family

The house, now open to the public, is just around the corner from Chawton. This is where Jane Austen spent her last years. He was born in 1720; was 55 when Austen was born, and he died in 1793, when she was 18. He lived 4 miles away, so the families knew of each other. We know Jane Austen’s brother wrote a poem about Gilbert White and his natural history observations, particularly on birds.

From ‘Selbourne Hanger’ by James Austen

Who talks of rational delight }
When Selbourne’s Hill appears in sight }
And does not think of Gilbert White? }
Such sure he was – by Nature grac’d
With her best gift of genuine taste;
And Providence – which cast his lot
Within this calm, secluded spot,
Plac’d him where best th’enquiring mind
Might study Nature’s works, and find
Within her ever open book
Beauties which others overlook.
Enthusiast sweet! Your vivid style
The attentive reader can beguile
Through many a page, and still excite
An Interest in what you write!
For whilst observant you describe
The habits of the feathery tribe
Their Loves and Wars – their nest and Song,
We never think the tale too long.

For more information on White and Austen, go to Gilbert White’s House’s web page here:

More Snow!

Here is more of that epic cold January 1776

‘… but by eleven in the morning, though in the shade, it sprang up to I6J,1 — a most unusual degree of cold this for the south of England. During these four nights the cold was so penetrating that it occasioned ice in warm chambers and under beds ; and in the day the wind was so keen that persons of robust constitutions could scarcely endure to face it. The Thames was at once so frozen over both above and below bridge that crowds ran about on the ice. The streets were now strangely encumbered with snow, which crumbled and trod dusty ; and, turning grey, resembled bay-salt : what had fallen on the roofs was so perfectly dry that, from first to last, it lay twenty-six days on the houses in the city ; a longer time than had been remembered by the oldest housekeepers living…..’

‘The consequences of this severity were, that in Hampshire, at the melting of the snow, the wheat looked well, and the turnips came forth little injured. The laurels and laurustines were somewhat damaged, but only in hot aspects. No evergreens were quite destroyed ; and not half the damage sustained that befell in January, 1768. Those laurels that were a little scorched on the south-sides were perfectly untouched on their north-sides. The care taken to shake the snow day by day from the branches seemed greatly to avail the author’s evergreens. A neighbour’s laurel-hedge, in a high situation, and facing to the north, was perfectly green and vigorous ; and the Portugal laurels remained unhurt.’

More Frost!

‘We had steady frost on to the 25th, when the thermometer in the morning was down to 10 with us, and at Newton only to 21. Strong frost continued till the 31st, when some tendency to thaw was observed ; and, by January the 3d, 1785, the thaw was confirmed, and some rain fell.’

Rosemary flowering in december
Rosemary flowering in my garden, photo by Kevin Flude

Gilbert White’s House is open to the public and also contains a display on Lawrence Oates, who died on Scots Antarctic expedition. For more information look at my post here.

There is another mention of Gilbert White in the Almanac of the Past here.

Foods in Season

Here are food stuffs that are in season now.

Wild Greens: Chickweed, hairy bittercress, dandelion leaves, sow thistle, winter cress

Vegetables: Forced Rhubarb, purple sprouting broccoli, carrots, brussels sprouts, turnips, beetroot, spinach, kale, chard, leeks, Jerusalem artichokes, lettuces, chicory, cauliflowers, cabbages, celeriac, swedes

Herbs: Winter savory, parsley, chervil, coriander, rosemary, bay, sage

Cheeses: Stilton, Lanark Blue

(from the Almanac by Lia Leendertz)

On This Day

1754 – Horace Walpole coined the new word ‘serendipity’ from the ‘Three Princes of Serendip’ fairy tale. The Princes ‘ere always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of.’

1898 – Walter Arnold became the first motorist to be fined for speeding. He was going 8 miles an hour in a 2 mile an hour area in Kent

1986 – Explosion of US Space Shuttle Challenger. All 7 astronauts killed, including teacher Christa McAuliffe who would have been the first civilian in space.

The food section posted originally in 2023, the part on Gilbert White written on 28th January 2024, revised 2025, On This Day added 2026

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Holocaust Memorial Day & Montaillou January 27th

photo of The Kindertransport statue, Liverpool Street Station, London 2006 by Frank Meisler and Arie Oviada.
Holocaust Memorial Day photo fo The Kindertransport statue, Liverpool Street Station, London 2006 Statue by Frank Meisler and Arie Oviada Photo by K Flude

Statue for Holocaust Memorial Day

The statue commemorates the arrival of Jewish children by train at Liverpool St Station, In London. This was 1938/9 in the Kindertransport. They were sent by parents desperate to save their children from fascist genocide in Germany and Austria. The children were unaccompanied and, as depicted in the statue, stand proud as they arrive in a strange country. They are tagged. And the train track represents both the trains to the death camps, and the train to safety. There are some great photos and more information on the statue in: talkingbeautifulstuff.com

Holocaust Memorial Day and Montaillou

My copy of Montaillou by Emmanual Le Roy Ladurie

On the subject of prejudice, genocide and abuse of power. I was reminded of one of the formative reads of my life. The great Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie was at dinner at my father-in-law’s house in the 1980s. I was awestruck. Because Montaillou was one of the early histories ‘from below’. The focus was not on kings, queens nor on the flux of states and empires. No, the focus was on the lives (and deaths) of ordinary people. Something that has continued as a focus of my historical interest.

Nor, before Ladurie, had I imagined that medieval lives could be so minutely brought to life. The book was a sensation, selling over a quarter of a million copies. Professor Ladurie became a media star, and, it remains one of the great historical reads. (Of course, the book and the historiography now attracts some criticism, but do read it!)

The context of the story is appalling. In 1208, the Pope decided to launch a crusade against heretics in the South of France. This is about the genocide of the Cathars. The lives of the persecuted are revealed under interrogation by the Cathodic Inquisition. Cathars had many unorthodox and ‘heretical’ ideas. They believed in a Good God and an Evil God. We, humans, are all angels trapped in this terrible world by the Evil God. Women and men were equal and could be reincarnated into each other’s bodies. Our lives are spent awaiting the time we became ‘perfect’ and released to our spiritual form for eternity.

“Kill them all, the Lord will recognise His own”

From the 21st Century, these ideas seem no more nor less irrational than mainstream religions. But these opinions ‘justified’ a Crusade and Inquisition that followed which were truly savage, with many thousand slaughtered. For example, on 22 July 1209, the Catholic forces were led by Arnaud-Amaury. He was not only the Commander of the army but also a Cistercian Abbot. Many of the citizens of Béziers were seeking refuge in St Mary Magdalene. The abbot ordered the doors to be battered down to get at the refugees inside. When asked how the soldiers could separate the Catholics from the Cathars. He replied:

“Caedite eos. Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius“—”Kill them all, the Lord will recognise His own”.

All 7,000 men, women, and children were killed. Thousands more in the town were mutilated, blinded, dragged behind horses, used for target practice and massacred. Arnaud-Amaury, remember an Abbot, wrote to Pope Innocent III:

“Today your Holiness, twenty thousand heretics were put to the sword, regardless of rank, age, or sex.”

But, despite this savagery in the name of religious purity, reading Montaillou is a pleasure. It brings those persecuted souls back to life in all their human glory.

We are all equally human

The Cathar Crusade is another reminder that it is by intolerance and ‘othering’ of normal homo sapiens which allows the conditions for evil to flourish. Massacres of the innocents becomes possible when sets of people are ‘othered’. Put in a category which, of itself, justifies their treatment. We have a very recent example with the Press Secretary at the White House. She has now referred to US citizens shot by ICE as ‘domestic terrorists’. These statements were made before due consideration of the facts. She may or may not be right, I’m not in a position to be definitive.

But we know that when the Press Secretary made them, no one could know whether she was right, or wrong. She is, in effect, saying: ‘Don’t worry about it. These are bad people who have been killed. No need to look into it too deeply. ‘ (for more on this story look here). We have to treat all human life as equal and sacred. And bring to bear our human empathy before passing judgement. Anything less allows the slaughter of the innocent.

Lessons from the Past

Holocaust Memorial Day offers a chance to remember and it is only by remembering that we can learn from the past. Sadly, more and more school are not marking the day any more. Perhaps as the survivors become fewer? However, other new sources claim that the massacres in Gaza are a cause. This is short-sighted.

Hitler’s rise to power is studied by historians who show how a functioning democracy can be taken down in a series of easy stages. Discrediting new sources, telling lies as if they were fact, subverting the legal system, making use of new media, creating a para-military force not bound by normal restraints. But the one that I think we most need to be aware of is the fact that honest, moral conservatives supported Hitler, despite their qualms about his more extreme policies. It is vital that people speak up before it is too late and too dangerous to oppose the tyranny.

On This Day

Today is also the Roman Festival of Castor and Pollux. (more on the divine twins on my post on the 15th July at the other festival of the Dioscuri).

98 – Trajan succeeds his adoptive Father Nerva

417 – Pope Innocent I declares Pelagius, a British Priest who held opposing views to Augustine of Hippo, excommunicated. For more see my post on Pelagius and Original Sin here.

1606 – The trial of Guy Fawkes and other conspirators begins, ending with their execution on January 31st. See my post on Guy Fawkes and his lantern here.

1880 – Edison received a patent for his electric incandescent lamp.

1910 – Death of Thomas Crapper,in Bromley

1945 – Auschwitz & Birkenau Liberated by Soviet Troops

1973 – Vietnam War cease fire came into effect.

First written in January 2023 and revised Jan 2024, 2025,2026

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Civil War Parade through Westminster Last Sunday in January

Photos by Kevin Flude, Charles I, Martyr Parade
Photos by Kevin Flude, Charles I, Martyr Parade

Every year the English Civil War Society commemorates the execution of King Charles I, Martyr, on the last Sunday in January. Charles was executed on January 30th. Please look at my post about the execution here.

This year, I went to the Parade for the second time, and include some photos below. The reenactors met at St James Palace and marched along the Mall to Horseguards Parade. There they assembled, and then a detachment went to the Banqueting House where Charles was lawfully executed/murdered/martyred, depending upon your attitude. Here they lay a wreath.

Charles I Martyr?

He was a tyrant who tried to subvert the rule of Magna Carta and undermined Parliament. Then started a Civil War which killed 85,000. For the numbers behind the Civil War look here. So I’m going for lawfully executed, and I might say good riddance, but I don’t believe in the death penalty. By the way, the legal arrangements made for the unprecedented trial of the Head of State, laid the foundations for trials such as those at Nuremberg, and Kosovo. The Prosecutor was a lawyer called John Cook. Please read about him in this excellent book . The Tyrannicide Brief: The story of the man who sent Charles I to the scaffold. By Robertson, Geoffrey (2005). Chatto & Windus/Vintage. ISBN 978-0-09-945919-4. Cook is remembered on Wikipedia as ‘Regicide’. But he was a pioneer of legal action against Tyranny. Another hero.

Here is the official publicity for Sunday’s Parade, followed by some of my photos.

January 25th 2026 Reenactors commemorating the execution of Charles I in Westminster

Pikes at the Palace: English civil war re-enactors to march through London
Photos by Kevin Flude, Charles I, Marytr Parade
Photos by Kevin Flude, Charles I, Marytr Parade

If you are interested, then you must either come to my walk, this Friday or attend my Virtual Tour, on Friday 30th January, evening. And you will find I am far more even-handed that this post suggests!

Kevin Flude’s walks to commemorate the Martyrdom of Charles I

Charles I and the Civil War. Martyrdom Anniversary Walk 2.30pm Jan 30th 26 To book

The Civil War, Restoration, and the Great Fire of London Virtual Tour 7:30pm Fri 30th Jan26 To book

First written on January 26th January 2026