Category: Time Period

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Winter December 2nd

lullingstone mosaic for winter
Roman Mosaic from Lullingstone Villa, Kent representing winter

This is the second day of Winter. Winter is hiems in Latin; Gaeaf in Welsh. Geimhreadh in Old Irish; Wintar in Anglo-Saxon. The Anglo-Saxons counted years by winters, so a child might be said to be 4 winters old.

Winter, meteorologically speaking, is described in the Northern Hemisphere as being December, January, and February, which is, of course, a convention rather than a fact. There is nothing about December 1st that makes it more ‘wintery’ than November 30th or December 2nd. Astronomically, winter starts with the Winter Solstice when the sun is at its lowest and so stretches from around December 21st to the Equinox around March 21st.

Logically, the solstice, when the Sun is at its weakest, should be the coldest day, and a midpoint of winter rather than the beginning of it. With 6 weeks of winter on either side of it. This is roughly what the Celtic year does, winter starts at dusk on 31st October (Halloween/Samhain) and continues to the evening of 31st January (Candlemas/Imbolc). So a Celtic Winter is November, December, and January.

As far as the Sun goes, this is logically correct. In fact, because of the presence of the oceans (and to a lesser extent) the earth, the coldest time is not the Solstice when the Sun is at its weakest. But a few weeks later in January. Heat is retained by oceans (and the landmass), and so the coldest (and the warmest) periods are offset. Therefore, January 13th is probably the coldest day, not December 21st.

Medieval Liturgical Calendar for December. Note the image at the top which suggests this is the month for hunting bears.

My Own Winter

My personal calendar suggests that winter begins on November 5th because this is the day I generally notice how cold it has suddenly become. The house smart meter also identifies the week of November 4th being the day when the heating bill goes through the roof. However, this was not true this year, where in the London area we had a warm spell.

A final thought about Winter. Isn’t it strange that a small change in the axis of the planet should create such opposites? Cold and little growth, then hot and an explosion of flowers. Opposites just with a little tilt of the Globe towards the Sun. This, in the vastness of space, with unimaginably cold and unbelievable hot places and spaces. These make tiny the little difference between Summer and Winter seem insignificant. And yet to us, they are opposites and central facts to our existence as a species. In places, temperature ‘extremes’ make it hard to survive in. Some think this is because God made the Universe just for us. But, just think, we are completely adapted to our lives on our very own, blue planet.

A Roman View of Winter

Ovid, the great Roman poet wrote this poem on his exile from Rome to Tomis, on the Black Sea in what is now Romania. We don’t know why he was exiled, but he felt it bitterly. And winter is used to effect to show his pain.

Winter in Tomis

Harsh lands lie before him
As he struggles to keep his wit
Malicious thoughts infecting-
Crippling the morale of his spirit
Shattered visions of the fallen begin to transpire..
An awful nostalgia consumes him.
A crooked smile forms..exalting the dead

So began the fall of a mastermind.

Realizing as his mind falls to pieces
They are but catalysts – parts of a puzzle to a different plan
As the images surfaced, his virtue descends
Living amongst those barbarians
Though a fierce complication
Their tact was that of a wounded creature
And they were overrun

“I remain in exile
My bones grow weak like the sun
Descending into the trees
To end this daily affliction
As winter shows its pallid face
And the earth veiled with marbled frost
Forsaken –  this gradual madness consumes my mind
Perdition in Tomis

Undead armies of Tomis
Commanded only by the presence of my absense
Brought to life by the death of myself
Risen to ease this torment
Sacrilege; The second chance to formulate a reason
The relapse crucifixion forthwith to go into effect
Casting him away; instead insuring their demise.

I remain in exile
My bones grow weak like the sun
Descending into the trees
To end this daily affliction
As winter shows its pallid face
And the earth veiled with marbled frost
Forsaken –  this gradual madness consumes my mind
Perdition in Tomis

Each day passing now I beg for some remorse
Desperately grasping at what I feel to be my last bit of life
But unlike the cycle of the attic
I feel as though there is no recourse
I’ve withered to nothing.”

“Save me from drowning, and death will be a blessing.”
Hope for his designed tomb
“Rescue my weary spirit from annihilation
If one already lost may be un-lost”

Ovid abandoned writing his almanac poem because of his exile, so it never got beyond the Summer. To read about this see my post here or search for Ovid from the menu.

On this day

1859 – John Brown was hanged, following his raid on Harpers Ferry, violently opposing slavery.

1954 – Joseph McCarthy was formally censured by the Senate for the methods used in his anti-communist campaigns.

Published in 2024, and revised adding Ovid in 2025

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Advent Sunday

Colours of the Church Year

Advent Sunday 2025 was yesterday, November 30th. It is the beginning of the Christian Liturgical year, its name comes from the Latin ‘adventus’, or ‘coming’. It is the four Sundays before Christmas, the ‘coming’ of Jesus. So, therefore, the serious part of the Christian year and of the Messiah’s life begins here. His birth and his death. It begins with the ‘Hanging of the Greens’ when Churches and other public buildings were bedecked with seasonal foliage. The ‘Liturgical colours’, which are violet, green, gold (or white) and red – are changed to purple and used for altar linen, clergy robes and other hangings.

Advent divides the world into those who love to plan; who love to anticipate, and people like me who buy all my presents in a mad flurry on Christmas Eve. Surely, my nephew will like the Arsenal Yearbook, my father ‘The History of the Spitfire’ and my brother the remastered version of the early Fleetwood Mac LP that I have, he tells me, already bought him twice before. (In my defence, not the middle-of-the -road Fleetwood Mac but the one with Peter Green in it and capable of the Green Manalishi. Play it here).

Advent Calendars

It dates back to 480AD; although it was the Council of Tours in 567 that ordered monks to fast every day in December until Christmas time. This was sometimes known as St Martin’s Fast or Nativity Fast. The Fast might simply mean no more roasts but eating fish, and soups and stews. Other traditions including Advent wreaths and Advent Calendars, these are 18th or 19th Century in origins. Originally, they may have had pictures or texts for each day, but now it is mostly chocolate that counts down the year. However, recently, more expensive Advent Calendars might have a different gin or whisky. tea or in my grandsons’ case a different dinosaur each day.

Fortum and masons christmas advent calendar
Fortum and Masons, Piccadily. A living Christmas advent calendar

Too Late to wed before Advent

Traditionally, you could not marry after Advent and before 12th Night. So it’s now too late to marry before that bump gets too big!

First Published 28th November 2022. Republished Dec 3rd 2023, 2024, 2025

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December and Kalendar of Shepherds December 1st

French 15th Century December and the ‘Kalendar of Shepherds’

December comes from the Latin for ten – meaning the tenth month. Of course, it is the twelfth month because the Romans added a couple of extra months especially to confuse us. For a discussion on this, look at an early blog post which explains the Roman Calendar.

In Anglo-Saxon it is ærra gēola which means the month before Yule. In Gaelic it is An Dùbhlachd – the Dark Days which is part of An Geamhrachd, meaning the winter. The word comes from an early Celtic term for cold, from an ‘ancient linguistic source for ‘stiff and rigid’’, which describes the hard frosty earth. (see here for a description of the Gaelic Year). In Welsh, Rhafgyr, the month of preparation (for the shortest day).

For the Christian Church, it’s the period preparing for the arrival of the Messiah into the World. (see my post on Advent Sunday which this year was yesterday November 30th).

For a closer look at the month, I’m turning to the 15th Century Kalendar of Shepherds. Its illustration (see above) for December shows an indoor scene, and is full of warmth as the bakers bake pies and cakes for Christmas. Firewood has been collected, and the Goodwife is bringing something in from the Garden. The stars signs are Sagittarius and Capricorn.

Sagitrarius star sign

The Sparrow and the Warm Hall

The Venerable Bede has an interesting story (reported in ‘Winters in the World’ by Eleanor Parker) in which a Pagan, contemplating converting to Christianity, talks about a sparrow flying into a warm, convivial Great Hall, from the bitter cold winter landscape. The sparrow enjoys this warmth, but flies straight out, back into the cold Darkness. Human life, says the Pagan, is like this: a brief period in the light, warm hall, preceded and followed by cold, unknown darkness. If Christianity, he advises, can offer some certainty as to what happens in this darkness, then it’s worth considering.

This contrast between the warm inside and the cold exterior is mirrored in Neve’s Almanack of 1633 who sums up December thus:

This month, keep thy body and head from cold: let thy kitchen be thine Apothecary; warm clothing thy nurse; merry company thy keepers, and good hospitality, thine Exercise.

Quoted in ‘the Perpetual Almanack of Folklore’ by Charles Kightly

December in the ‘Kalendar of Shepherds’

The Kalendar of Shepherds text below gives a vivid description of December weather. Dating from 1626 it gives a detailed look at the excesses of Christmas, which people are on holiday, and who is still working hard. But it concludes it is a costly month.

Nicholas Breton’s ‘Fantasticks of 1626 – December from the Kalendar of Shepherds

Six Dozen Years – a Lifespan

The other section of the Kalendar then elaborates on the last six years of a man’s life, with hair going white, body ‘crooked and feeble’. (from 66 to 72). The conceit here is that there are twelve months of the year, and a man’s lot of ‘Six score years and ten’ is allocated six years to each month. So December is not just about the 12th Month of the Year but also the last six years of a person’s allotted span. The piece allows the option of living beyond 72, ‘and if he lives any more, it is by his good guiding and dieting in his youth.’ Good advice, as we now know. But living to 100 is open to but few.

Kalendar of Shepherds

Interesting from my point of view as I have reached the end of my life span as suggested by the Calendar, and my father is 98 and approaching his hundred!

About the Kalendar of Shepherds.

The Kalendar was printed in 1493 in Paris and provided ‘Devices for the 12 Months.’ The version I’m using is a modern (1908) reconstruction of it. It uses wood cuts from the original 15th Century version and adds various texts from 16th and 17th Century sources. (Couplets by Tusser ‘Five Hundred Parts of Good Husbandrie 1599. Text descriptions of the month from Nicholas Breton’s ‘Fantasticks of 1626.) This provides an interesting view of what was going on in the countryside every month.

For more on the Kalendar look at my post here.

The original Kalendar can be read here: https://wellcomecollection.org/works/f4824s6t

To see the full Kalendar, go here:

On This Day

1981 – Launch of the BBC Micro

1990 The UK was rejoined to Europe for the first time for 8000 years, when the Channel Tunnellers breached the final wall of rock. French and British workers exchanged flags and shook hands. The Tunnel was opened to traffic in 1994 more than 10 years after work started and 200 years since Napoleon proposed the idea. Read what ICE has to say about the (ICE – Institute of Civil Engineers!).

Britain was connected to the Continent until about 6,100BC, the North Sea, the Channel, and the Irish Sea were all dry (or marshy lands). Water levels were rising and ice melting. the Storegga Slides in Norway saw huge cliffs of ice slipped into the sea. This caused a tsunami over 30ft high and penetrating 25 miles inland. Read the BBC here.

Since then, Britain has been an Island. Archaeologists have been exploring the flooded area which is known as Dogger Land, after the Dogger Bank. (for more on Dogger Land.)

First Published in 2024, republished 2025

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St Andrew’s Day November 30th

The Saltire – flag of Scotland

Saint Andrew was the first Apostle and, it was he who introduced his brother, Simon Peter, to Jesus. He was a simple fisherman. Not much about his later life is known, but the idea that he was martyred on a X-shaped cross, the saltire, is probably a medieval invention. As a fisherman, he is patron of fishermen, and fishmongers. Furthermore, the patron saint of Scotland and Russia; of singers and pregnant woman, and efficacious in offering protection against sore throats and gout.

His association with Russia comes from Eusebius, who quotes Origen recording that Andrew preached in Scythia. The Chronicle of Nestor says he travelled to Kiev and Novgorod and so became a patron saint of Ukraine, Romania, and Russia. (Wikipedia).

Scottish legends has St Andrew both visiting Scotland himself and some of his relics coming to Fife in the 4th Century or the 8th Century. St Rule (aka St Regulus) was tasked with taking some of Andrew’s relics to the edges of the world. In the 4th Century he turned up in Fife where he was welcomed by the Pictish King, Óengus I. He brought with him a kneecap, arm, and finger bone of St Andrew, which were kept in St Rule’s Church. This gave St Andrew’s name to the town. Óengus I is actually an 8th Century Pictish King, so perhaps the relics came to Scotland in the 8th Century which is a little more realistic. The relics were transferred to the Cathedral, but they were destroyed in the Reformation. In 1979, the Archbishop of Amalfi gifted a piece of Saint Andrew’s shoulder blade to St Andrews and Pope Paul VI gave further remains to Scotland in 1969.

The Town of St Andrews

The earliest recorded name for the town is Gaelic and is Cennrígmonaid, which means something like the King’s Peninsula near the Moor. The fame of the Church changed the name of the town to St Andrews (no apostrophe, as it was named before the French gave us apostrophes in the 1600s). St Andrews is also famous as the home of golf and the oldest University in Scotland, (founded in 1412).

St Andrew’s Day Celebrations

The Day is an official bank holiday in Scotland and is celebrated with events all over the country, including a torchlight procession in Glasgow. (https://theculturetrip.com/europe/united-kingdom/scotland/articles/what-is-st-andrews-day-and-how-do-people-celebrate-it-in-scotland/). Celebrate with a Haggis and a Whisky!

In Kent and Sussex Andrewtide gave the right to hunt squirrels, and in Hasted’s History of Kent (1782) the day is said to allow the ‘lower kind’ to form a lawless rabble hunting any manner of hares, partridges, and pheasants. (Perpetual Almanac by Charles Kightly).

St Andrew in London

John Stow. Old Print
Dancing Around the Maypole 17th Century Print
St Andrew Undershaft Photo K Flude

On the corner of Leadenhall Street and St Mary Axe in the City of London is one of the very few medieval Churches that survived the Great Fire of London is 1666. It was sheltered by the firebreak that was the Leadenhall, a big market building made of stone (but with a big lead roof).

The Church is the Maypole Church, as it was here the Maypole or the shaft was stored under the eves of the Church when not in use. Hence, St Andrew’s sobriquet of ‘Undershaft’. The May Day riot in 1517 put an end to the dancing around the Maypole but the pole itself survived until 1547 when, in a Puritan riot, the ‘stynking idol’ was destroyed. (see my May Day blog post here for more details of Mayday.)

John Stow and Hans Holbein, memorials in St Andrews

This is where the great London historian John Stow is buried. His Survey of London is one of the best sources for Medieval and Tudor London. Every three years, on April 5th or thereabouts, there is a commemorative service and his quill is changed. The Lord Mayor attends. The service is organised by Stow’s Guild – the Merchant Taylors.

John Stow, author of the ‘Survey of London‘ first published in 1598. Available at the wonderful Project Gutenberg: ‘https://www.gutenberg.org/files/42959/42959-h/42959-h.htm’

There is also a plaque to Hans Holbein, but no one knows, for sure, where he is buried. He died in London in 1543, possibly of plague.

Agas Map 1561 showing St Andrews (right centre)

Last Day to get married before Advent.

Traditionally, you could not marry after Advent and before 12th Night. So now might be the last chance to marry before that bump gets too big! This may be the reason that Shakespeare had to organise a special licence to get married in 1582! Advent that year was on 2nd December. See my post on their wedding here.

19th Century Illustration (From Author’s Collection)

Wedding dresses were traditionally whatever pretty dress you had. White only became de rigueur once Queen Victoria wore one, and the costs of material reduced because of mass production.

The Saltire

The story of the Saltire stretches back to the Picts. In 832AD Picts under the High King Angus MacFergus were returning from a punitive raid into Northumbria. They were chased by the North Anglians led by Athelstan (not the English King) into East Lothian at place still called Athelstaneford. It is to the south of Edinburgh. Angus led prayers to St Andrew for victory. Above the battle appeared in the clowds a white diagonal cross, against a blue sky. Angus promised St Andrew he would become the Patron Saint of the Country. (at the time called Alba, and later called Scotland). Athelstaneford still calls itself ‘Birthplace of the Scottish Flag.’ the-flag-heritage-centre/the-legend-of-the-saltire/

First Published on 30th November 2022, Revised and republished on 30th November 2023, Advent weddings added in 2024, Revised and Saltire added 2025

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How to make a Dish of Snow & Ice Houses November 29th

Photo Zdenek Machacek -unsplash

Yesterday, I posted about the exciting discovery that Ann Shakespeare might have stayed in London with her husband. Here you can read the academic article about the research. Really worth reading!

A Dish of Snow

There is a 0% chance of snow, in London and 90% chance of snow in Glen Shee, Scotland, according to the Snow Risk Forecast. And here is an appropriate medieval recipe:

To make a dish of Snowe

Take a potte of sweete thicke creme and the white of eight egges and beate them altogether with a spoone then putte them into your creame with a dish full of Rose Water and a dishfull of Sugar withall then take a sticke and make it cleane and then cutt it in the ende fowre square and therewith beate all the aforesayd thinges together and ever as it ariseth take it of and putte it into a Cullander thys done take a platter and set an aple in the middest of it and sticke a thicke bush of Rosemarye in the apple then cast your snowe upon the rosemarye and fill your platter therewith and if you have wafers cast some withall and thus serve them forth

From Medieval Manuscripts, British Library. Blog. https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/medieval-history/page/2/

BF – Before Fridges

Before fridges, snow gave the chance for ice cream and other cold desserts. The problem was keeping it for longer than the cold spell. So many Stately Homes had ice-houses. The V&A had an ice-house just outside their glorious, Henry Cole commissioned restaurant. There is an ice house preserved at the Canal Museum, in Kings Cross. It was set up by Carlo Gatti in 1857 to store ice shipped in from Norway. Another one, in Holland Park, dates from 1770 and served the infamous Fox family (PM Charles James Fox etc).

The first ice house was in Mesopotamian, but in the UK they were introduced by James 1 at his palaces in, first, Greenwich Park, and then Hampton Court. An ice house generally consists of a pit in the ground, brick lined, which tapered to a point. Above was a circular, often domed building. The ice was protected by insulation such as straw, and this structure would allow ice to be available all through the summer.

Ice House Dillington, Somerset
Ice House Dillington, Somerset, photo K Flude

My great-grandmother hung a basket outside the window in winter to keep things cold. On my fridge-less narrow boat, I have been known to keep milk and butter outside the door on the front deck. And to suspend and submerge wine in a plastic bag in the canal in high summer. Butteries and Pantries were typically cut into the ground to make them cooler. A Roman Warehouse in Southwark, of which the wooden floor still survived, had a ramp down to the floor which was cut into the ground surface. The ramp suggests it was used for storing barrels, where they were kept cool.

Sketch of Roman Warehouse found in Southwark.

For more on Icehouses (and an Icehouse in York) and the history of ice cream, see my post from August.

Time for Ice Cream August 20th

Written November 28th 2022, revised and republished 2023, 2024,2025

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The Shakespeares’ Wedding November 28th 1582

Droeshout Portrait of Shakespeare from the First Folio
Droeshout Portrait of Shakespeare from the First Folio

Shakespeare was married at 18 years old. This was unusually young for the age. Young men generally entered into a 7-year apprenticeship followed by several years of wage labour as a journey man (from the french, jour, to denote being paid by the day.) At 18, he would have been unusual if he could afford a wife and household at this tender age. His wife was 26-year-old Anne Hathaway. This is slightly late for a woman to be married in the 16th Century, 22-23 would be more usual. Susanna, their daughter was baptised 26 May 1583, 6 months later. Twins, Hamnet and Judith, were baptised 2 February 1585.

The fact that Shakespeare was younger than Anne Hathaway, and that the baby was premature, has led many Shakespeare scholars to believe Shakespeare may have left Stratford to escape an unhappy marriage. This is often expressed in misogynist terms. But, there is an unstated assumption that Mrs Shakespeare stayed in Stratford while Shakespeare spent most of his life in London.

However, a new interpretation of a 1978 fragment has, for the first time, revealed evidence that, Mrs Shakespeare stayed with her husband in London. The piece is a request to Mrs Shakespeare in Trinity Lane (Little Trinity Lane today see map below) to pay the money her husband was holding on behalf of a young apprentice. Why Shakespeare was unable or unwilling to pay we have no idea. But perhaps the fact that it reveals that his wife was in London and seems to have independent means is more important.

How do we know this anything to do with our William Shakespeare? The answer is that the fragment was found in Hereford Cathedral’s Library as part of a binding of a book published by Richard Field. Field was from Stratford on Avon, and it was he who published Shakespeare’s ‘Venus and Adonis’ and ‘the Rape of Lucrece’. It seems unlikely it is about another couple of Shakespeares.

So, it really does change the view of the relationship. Little Trinity Lane is shown on the map below. It is near Southwark Bridge, and Mansion House Underground Station.

Map of the part of the City of London, Little Trinity Lane is in the ventre with an orange boomerang shape below it. Southwark and the Millenium Bridges can be seen at the bottom, and St Pauls top left corner.

I would recommend you read the original article, which discusses in detail all the evidence pertaining to these fragments. Here it is online for you to peruse.

On This Day

2003 My first edit on Wikipedia. As Director of the Old Operating Theatre Museum, I set about making sure the pages associated with the Museum, St Thomas Hospital and Guy’s Hospital were up to date. This is the latest version of the page I first updated. I updated the history of the Hospital. The earliest recovered wikipedia page was on January 15th 2001.

First Published on November 28th, 2025

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Jimi Hendrix in London November 27th

Jimi Hendrix in London at Montague Place

To my mind, THE genius of the electric guitar, and a great singer and songwriter.

Born Johnny Allen Hendrix in Seattle on 27th November 1942. He was spotted by ex-Animals Chas Chandler (bassist) when performing in small cafés In New York as Jimmy James. Chandler suggested he came to England. On the flight, they decided to change his name to Jimi. He arrived on September 24, 1966.

“It’s a different kind of atmosphere here. People are more mild-mannered. I like all the little streets and the boutiques. It’s like a kind of fairyland”

https://www.independent.co.uk Jimi Hendrix’s London.

On his first day in London, he met Kathy Etchingham,. She found them a flat on the upper floors of 23 Brook Street, which is now part of Handel&Hendrix in London. This is a a small museum to the two musical giants who lived next door to each other (if they were time travellers that is!).

For the English middle class, it’s comforting to know that Jimi bought the furnishings of the flat from their favourite, the nearby John Lewis Department store. However, he got his swinging 60s look from Carnaby Street and Portobello Road Market.

The Blues and London

London wasn’t an arbitrary choice for a young American Bluesman. The wave of British Bands that came to international prominence in 1964, was based on the almost forgotten (by the mainstream media) Black American Blues legends such as Woody Guthrie and Ledbelly. Bands like the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, and the Animals loved this music, and began their careers playing cover versions in Clubs in London. (For more on the British Blues Revival, look here🙂

Hendrix’s younger brother, Leon, spoke about the importance of London to Hendrix

“He loved England ‘cos it was like Seattle. It was like home. It was the same climate, y’know? And this is where all the music was. This is where all of his friends were – Eric Clapton, The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Brian Jones, everybody…”

He concluded: “After people played, they all went and jammed together. Like, when Jimi played a concert that was only the warm-up… After the concert, he was out and about lookin’ for somebody to play with and somebody’s studio to jam at. They’d just be jammin’ all night ’til, like, seven or eight in the morning. It was awesome.”

Reported in Mouth Magazine 2018 and quoted in https://faroutmagazine.co.uk

Hendrix and Hey Joe

Chas Chandler was interested in managing bands, and thought Hey Joe, which he heard Hendrix play, could be a hit single. Hey Joe got to no 6, in January 1967 in the UK Top Ten, but failed to make an impression in the US.

Here is a YouTube film of Hendrix playing ‘Hey Joe’.

Finally, have a look at this bill for bands on at the Saville Theatre.

One month in 60s London!

For details of Hendix Gigs look at the Set list Web site, which shows he performed at the Saville Theatre in Jan,May and June 1967 on his First European Tour, and again in Aug and Oct on his 2nd European Tour.

The Independent website above gives a good guide to Hendrix in London. An excellent documentary on Hendrix was recently aired on BBC Sounds, Everything but the Guitar.

On this Day:

Eels are now in Season. (for Eels, Eel Pie Island, and its amazing musical heritage click here🙂

1703– The Great Storm

‘About one this morning, the terrible storm arose, which continued till past seven, the wind southwest, the light not known in the memory of man; blew down a vast number of the tops of houses, Chimneys, etc.; the damage incredible., the lady Nicholas and a great many people killed and many wounded: most of the boats and barges forced ashore; an East India ship cast away near Blackwall, besides several merchant ships and colliers; divers of the great trees in St James’s Park, Temple Grayes Inn, etc, blown down; and we are apprehensive we shall hear of great losses at sea.‘

From Narcissus Luttrell, diary, 1703, quoted from ‘A London Year’ compiled by Travis Elborough and Nick Rennison.

First published on Nov 27th 2022, as part of Stir Up Sunday! And revised onto its own page on the same day, 2023, and updated 2024 and 2025

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Thanksgiving Day in the USA (4th Thursday in November)

Plate 1 of The Birds of America by John James Audubon, depicting a wild turkey (Wikipedia) eaten for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a festival given over to celebrating God’s Bounty. There are unanswerable debates about which was the ‘First’ Thanksgiving, but the date of the 4th Thursday in November was set by Abraham Lincoln. It is basically a harvest festival, but was adopted by Lincoln as one method to unite a divided nation during the Civil War.

Thanksgiving today is mostly roast turkey with stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie. But there are many variants and additions such as a first course of soup, and vegetables like Brussels sprouts and broccoli. Very like an English Christmas dinner, but replacing the Christmas Pudding with pumpkin pie.

Food eaten on the first Thanksgiving.

As to what the first Pilgrims would have eaten is not known, but their chronicler Edward Winslow noted:

“Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together, after we had gathered the fruits of our labours; they four in one day killed as much fowl, as with a little help beside, served the Company almost a week.”

https://www.history.com/topics/thanksgiving/first-thanksgiving-meal

So the birds shot by 4 marksmen would have been wild turkey but also other birds such as ducks, geese, and swans. Seafood; Mussels, lobster, and eel were also available.

As to ‘gathering the fruits of our labors’. This might have included onions, beans, lettuce, spinach, cabbage, carrots, and peas. Stuffing might be seasoned with sage, thyme, parsley, marjoram, fennel, anise or dill, The Pilgrims had plenty of Corn from their first harvest which would have been turned into cornmeal, and eaten as a mush if savoury or sweetened with molasses as a porridge, or made into cornbread, or for stuffing. Perhaps not so different to Frumenty. (see my post on Wife selling and Frumenty.

Native Americans & Thanksgiving

Indigenous Wampanoag Americans might have been present, but only to investigate the shooting of canons in celebration by the Pilgrims. Relationships were tense between the native Americans and the immigrants. Some Indigenous Americans consider it a day of mourning; others use it as a day of gathering for the family, but generally, consider images of the Pilgrims and Indigenous Americans sitting down peacefully celebrating together to be ‘a lie’. (Native Americans and the First Thanksgiving.)

First Published on 24th November 2022, Republished on 23rd November 2023, 27th November 2025

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Murmurations of Starlings and Queen Branwen November 26th

Starlings Photo by Rhys Kentish on Unsplash

Starlings begin to roost in September but their numbers increase as November passes. The RSPB says:

They mainly choose to roost in places which are sheltered from harsh weather and predators, such as woodlands, but reed beds, cliffs, buildings and industrial structures are also used. During the day, however, they form daytime roosts at exposed places such as treetops, where the birds have good all-round visibility.

RSPB Website

Starling numbers have been declining because of ‘loss of permanent pasture, increased use of farm chemicals and a shortage of food and nesting sites in many parts of the UK.’ The Starling was the most popular bird reported in gardens, it has now fallen to fourth. Prior to the year 2000, the starling was regularly the most numerous species recorded in the survey. This year it is behind the house sparrow, the blue tit and the wood pigeon.

Murmurations

Early evening, up to 100,000 birds will rise above their roosts wheeling and turning in tight formations. Research suggests that they achieve this not by following leaders but by, each bird, making small adjustments in accord with the birds immediately around them. Scientists have been able to construct algorithms that mimic the movement of a murmuration. These will allow flocks of drones to be easily controlled on mass with implications for agriculture, aerial displays and warfare. (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment)

Sacred Birds

Starlings were sacred to the Celts and were used for divination by the Romans. Their augurs scrutinised the geometric patterns made by the murmurations to interpret the will of the Gods. In the Welsh Mabinogian a starling appears in the story of Bran, God-King of prehistoric Britain and his sister, Branwen, who was married to the King of Ireland.

Bran's head taken to Tower Hill
King Bran’s head buried at Tower Hill

To cut a long story short, (a version of which you can read on my February 18th’s blog post here), Branwen was banished to the scullery. So she trained a starling to send a message to her brother. He took an army over the Irish Sea to restore her to her rightful state, but Bran was mortally wounded in the battle that followed. He told his companions to cut off his head and take it back to the White Hill, London. His head was as good a companion on the way back as it was on the way out, but the journey home took 90 years. At last, they got to London and his head was buried on the White Hill, near the Tower of London, and as long as it were there Britain was safe from invasion. This was one of the Three Fortunate Concealments and is found in ‘the Triads of the Island of Britain.’

I am giving a Walk on the Myths, legends, and Archaeology of London, for London Walks on 24th January 2026.

Shakespeare and Starlings

Shakespeare in Henry IV Part 1 has Hotspur, annoyed with Bolinbroke say:

I’ll have a starling shall be taught to speak nothing but ‘ Mortimer,’ and give it him

Now if you think the idea of a talking starling is nonsense, have a look at this video.

First published on November 26, 2023. Revised in 2025.

Posted on

Stir Up Sunday! Late November

1803 Christmas Cartoon of Napoleon and Mr and Mrs John Bull
By William Holland, 1803 showing plum pudding probably stirred-up on Stir-up Sunday.

Stir-up Sunday is the last Sunday before advent and the day for stirring the Christmas Pudding. And I missed it! Last year it was on the 24th November. This year, November 23rd. Stir-up Sunday gets its name from the Book of Common Prayer, which has a verse:

“Stir-up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people;
that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works,
may of thee be plenteously rewarded, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.’

So, the Christmas pudding was made with dried fruit and had 13 ingredients for Jesus and the Disciples. It is stirred from west to east, in honour of the Three Wise Men, and stirred by every member of the household who get to make a secret wish.

These are the ingredients, and here is the recipe.

Ingredients
225g/8oz golden caster sugar
225g/8oz vegetarian suet
340g/12oz sultanas
340g/12oz raisins
225g/8oz currants
120g/4oz chopped candied peel
120g/4oz plain flour
120g/4oz fresh white breadcrumbs
60g/2oz flaked almonds
Zest of 1 lemon
5 eggs, beaten
1level tsp ground cinnamon
1level tsp mixed spice
1 level tsp freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of salt
150ml/5fl oz brandy or rum

Add a Silver Joey to Stir-up Sunday Christmas Pudding.

Normally, a coin in put in the pudding for the lucky one to get. My grandma, a Londoner, used to put in a couple of ‘silver joeys’, long out of legal tender even when I was young. She would watch us like a hawk while we ate, and claim the coins back as soon as we found them! She would then put them in an old folded brown envelope and put them away for next year.

MJ Hughes Coins website gives the following excellent history of the Silver Joey:

‘Originally a Joey was the nickname given to a groat (4 pence) but when that went out of circulation in 1855 the silver 3 pence inherited the name. The name came about due to the reintroduction of 4 pence coins in the 1830s by the politician Joseph Hume, MP (1777-1855).‘

For some great, coin-based facts! Look no further.

https://mjhughescoins.com/how-quids-bobs-florins-tanners-and-joeys-got-their-names

A Digression on Nicknames: Toad Testicles, Foul-Beard and Broad-Arse’

Joey is a nickname. This digression is prompted by my ‘rediscovery’ of a History Today essay from March 2023. It is by PhD student Tristan Alphey. entitled ‘Toad Testicles, Foul-Beard and Broad-Arse’ Tristan is researching nicknames before 1000. It’s a tough gig but someone had to do it!

I have long had an interest in nicknames, since a school bully, when I was about 7, decided he was going to call me Acid. He explained his logic. Flude sounds like fluid and acid is a fluid. It never caught on perhaps because chanting ‘Fludey is a rudey’ in the playground was more fun! In my dad’s day, anyone called Clarke was nicknamed Nobby, and anyone small ‘Lofty’. Why Clerks are ‘nobby’ no one really knows. But the best bet is because clerks were well educated, and with a public facing role had to be smarter that the average member of the public. So clerks were posh. Posh people were called ‘nobs’. Hence, Nobby Clark. (for more on nobby look here.

Generally, only a few people got themselves primarily identified by nicknames. This will, of course, be the meat of Tristan’s PhD. The social significance of the nicknames.

The Border Reivers

My interest was revived when reading a book about the Border Reivers, (by Allistair Moffet). These clans terrorised the borders between Northumberland and Scotland, particularly in the 13th – 17th Century. The people were controlled by a clan leader of ‘Heidsman’ and all his followers being in the same clan had the same surname. And the Names were many Armstrongs, Batesons, Bells, Croziers, Elliots, Glendinnings, Hendersons, Irvines, Johnstones, Scots, Moffets, Nixons, Routledges, Thomsons, Maxwells, Kers, And not to forget the Carletons, Fenwicks, Forsters, Robsons, Turnballs, Selbys, Storeys, Guthries.

The problem arose because there were so many with the same surname, and with the restricted use of a small number of first names (John being by far the most popular) a way of differentiating people was necessary. As I am short of time, I will cut and past from the Wikipedia page:

‘Some Border Reiver nicknames referred to physical injuries or impairments, such as “Fingerless,” “Gleyed” (blind in one eye), “Burnt Hand,” “Half-Lugs,” or “Lugless” (missing ears). Others followed a tradition similar to Highland naming customs, where the father’s (and occasionally the mother’s) name was added to the son. Many nicknames described physical appearance, such as “Black Heid,” “Hen-Heid,” “Sweet Milk” (meaning beautiful), or “Fergus the Plump.” Some appear to reference mental health or emotional states, including “Unhappy Anthone” and “Jock Unhappy.”‘

‘A number of nicknames seem metonymic or ironic, reflecting professions or roles, such as “The Sheriff,” “The Lawyer,” or “The Priest.” Intriguingly, certain names may hint at queer or LGBT identities, including “Buggerback,” “The Lady Elliot,” “The Lady Scott,” “The Lady Kerr,” “Bang-tail,”[108] and “Sym ‘the Lady’.” Other nicknames defy easy interpretation, such as “Hob-Wait-About-Him,” “Laird-Give-Me-Little,” “Bide Him Jock,” “the Pleg,” “Dog-Pyntle” (Dog Penis),[109] “Geordie Go Wi Him,” and “Cheesebelly,” illustrating the creative and often enigmatic nature of Border Reiver culture.’ Wikipedia entry

By the way ‘Buggerback’ Elliot was related to ‘the Lady Elliot’, and also, if I recall correctly, to Dog pyntle.

Tristan Alphey’s study takes the study back before 1100, wwhere wecan find King’s nicknames such as

Edward the Confessor, Alfred the Great, Edmund Ironsides, and Aethelred the Ill-advised (redeless). Further down the scale he presents: Alfred ‘Toad-Testicles from Winchester, where were also Alwin ‘Pebbles, Aelfstan ‘Broad-Arse’, Aelfstan ‘the Bald’, Thurstand ‘Buttock’, Aethelstan ‘The fat’, Osferth ‘Blackbeard’, Aelfstan ‘Limping’. Elsewhere we have Alvin ‘Sardine’, Wulfric ‘Large Pole’, Eadwig ‘the Wholly Drunk’, Wulfwiug ‘Wild’, Aelfric ‘Foul-Beard’.

Women are less frequently given nicknames, but we have Athelgifu ‘the Good’ and King Harold’s first wife, the beautiful Edith ‘Swan-Neck’.

To finish my look at nicknames, we go to Viking York among whom are the peerless warriors: ‘Ivarr the Boneless’, Sihtric ‘the Squinty-eyed’and Erik Bloodaxe. Other Vikings include Thorkell the Tall and Thorkell Thorfinn. An archaeologist believes he has found the burial place of Ivar the Boneless – have a look here for more details.

First Published Nov 27th 2022. The Jimi Hendrix content transferred to its own page, and this post republished Nov 26th 2023, revised with a section on nicknames in 2024,2025