Category: Tudor/Stuart

Posted on

The Ashmolean Museum First Opened May 24th 1683

The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford Photo K. Flude

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

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

The Garden History Museum

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

So What Has This to do with the Ashmolean Museum

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

You are wondering?

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

Tradescants Ark

John Tradescant the Elder, Ashmolean Museum photo by K Flude

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

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

John Tradescant Junior and Elias Ashmole

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

Catalogue of the Museum Tradescantianum

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

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

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

Hester Tradescant and the Ashmolean Museum

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

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

The Original Ashmolean Museum in Broad Street. Photo k Flude

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

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

Cog Almanac’s on Display at the Ashmolean Museum:

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

the Duke of Buckingham and the True Cross:

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

Mr Ashmole’s cure for toothache:

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

Arts and Crafts at the Ashmolean Museum:

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

First Published May 24th 2025, revised 2026

Posted on

Cotswold Olimpicks May 30th

Shinkicking part of the Cotswold Olumpicks. screen shot from https://youtube.com/shorts/wBOPAZ2131Y?si=UEED_F8QjSb_wW6Z 2025

The Cotswold Olimpicks take place on the Thursday and Friday of the week of Whitsun, normally between mid-May and mid-June. This year it was on May 29th. The Olimpicks were set up by Robert Dover on Dover’s Hill near Chipping Camden, in the early 17th Century. Inspired by the Greek Olympics, he felt the modern world could do with an infusion of the original spirit.

The Olimpicks has a collection of tradition sports such as the sack race, and the tug of war.  But the one that receives the most attention is shin-kicking.  Two contestants try to knock each other over by kicking each other in the shins!  They are not supposed to pull or push their opponent over. Or use Judo style throws.  Protective gear is supplied in the form of straw or hay packed down the socks.

For more, see the official site below:

The History

For other Cotswold content, look at my posts:

coopers-hill-cheese-rolling-may-26th/
campden-house-fire-sunday-march-23rd-1862/
chipping-campden-murder-august-16th-1660/

On This Day

70 – Siege of Jerusalem moves towards its end as the Roman legions breach the Outer Wall of Jerusalem. The Romans build a circumvallation, around the City cutting it off.

1381 – Beginning of the Peasants’ Revolt in England. John Bampton arrives in Brentwood demanding payment of unpaid Poll Tax. He interrogates Thomas Baker of Fobbing. Violence breaks out Bampton flees to London, three of his clerks and some townsfolk are killed. (see my post on the Peasants Revolt here.)

1431 – 19-year-old Joan of Arc is burned at the stake in Rouen. France (for her canonisation see my post here. Near the bottom under On This Day section).

1842 – Assassination attempt on Queen Victoria as she drives down Constitution Hill near Buckingham Palace in London. John Francis had tried to shoot her on the previous day near the Mall. His gun misfired and he escaped. On the 30th May, Queen Victoria deliberately went out again to try to encourage a second attempt. Francis shot his pistol, but didn’t hit anybody. He was arrested and sentenced to death (later commuted to life imprisonment).

First published 1 June 2025, Revised OnThis Day added May 30th 2026

Posted on

Oak Apple day May 29th

Charles II from an old illustration
Charles II from an old illustration

Today is both Oak Apple Day and Garland Day. Oak Apple Day was set up by Parliament in 1660 as “An Act for a Perpetual Anniversary of Thanksgiving”.  They were celebrating the restoration of Charles II to the throne in May of 1660. It was abolished in 1859, but a few places continue to celebrate the day.

The Oak was chosen partly as a symbol of England but particularly because Charles II hid in an Oak Tree while escaping from Cromwell’s Parliamentary Army. Charles II attempt to restore the Monarchy ended with his defeat at the Battle of Worcester (September 3rd 1651). This was Cromwell’s Lucky Day as he also won the Battle of Dunbar on September 3rd (1650). (For more on these two battles see my post: https://chr.org.uk/anddidthosefeet/oliver-cromwell-and-his-lucky-day-september-3rd/) The Oak Tree was near Boscobel House in Shropshire which was on the route of his epic journey to the South Coast and the safety of France.

People wore oak apples (or shick-shacks) which are a type of ‘plant-gall‘. . If Oak Apples are not available, people used sprigs of Oak leaves instead.

The text of the Parliamentary Bill said:

That in all succeeding ages, the 29th of May be celebrated in every parish Church and Chapel in England and the Dominions thereof, by rendering thanks to God for the Kings (Charles II’s) restoration to actual possession and exercise of his legal authority over his subjects’

Church Services for the Restoration; for the preservation from the Gunpowder Plot and the death of Charles the First were kept until the year 1859.

Oak Apples

Oak apples on Quercus robur leaf. Photo Ivar Leidus – Own work: CC BY-SA 4.0

The oak apples are a type of ‘plant-gall‘. This is an abnormal growth from a point of irritation on a plant. The irritation normally comes from the larvae of an insect. Oak Galls on leaves are called Oak Apples. But they can also form on the shoots, where they check and distort growth.

Oak galls are full of gallic or tannic acid. They were very useful in tanning and dyeing. Medically, they were used against dysentery, diarrhoea and cholera, using a tincture. By injection they were used against gonorrhoea and leucorrhoea.

You might like to look at my posts on the Civil War period:

The Martyrdom of Charles I & ‘Get Back’ January 30th
and I posted on John Evelyn’s reaction to the Restoration
John Evelyn Died February 27th 1706

The Castleton Garland Day

Screenshot from https://www.castleton-garland.com/ showing the Garland King (possibly representing Charles II hiding in an Oak tree)

The Castleton Garland Day is a procession led by a man dressed in a big bell shaped Floral Garland. Research cannot trace it back further than the later 18th or early 19th Century. But it may have developed from the rush bearing ceremonies, where a procession led by Morris Men went to the Church to renew the strewing herbs on the floor of the Church which once were of beaten earth. Strewing herbs were sweet smelling or insect repellent, and added insulation to the floor. Strewing herbs included: Lavender, Camomile, Meadowsweet, Thyme, Oregano, Rue, Rosemary and Tansy. In historic properties, visitors are often told that the word ‘threshold’ stems from the wooden timber that held the thresh or strewing herbs in place. However, etymologists suggests the thresh comes from an old English word to trample.

Abbotsbury in Dorset has its own Garland Day on May 13th. It consists of making and blessing Garlands in the Church and taking them either to Boats, or to the War Memorial.

First Published 2025, and revised 202 with the Addition of Oak Galls, and Castleton Garland Day

Posted on

Titus Oates flogged from Aldgate to Newgate  May 20th 1685

Titue Oates & Popish Plot. Set of playing cards themed on the Plot c1679 after a design by Francis Barlow

This post is about Titus Oates and the Popish Plot but first more on May 20th

On This Day

On May 20th Castor was mortally wounded. Castor and his brother Pollux raped and abducted Phoebe, and her sister Hilaira. Their betrothed attacked the twins, and ran Castor through. Jupiter, Pollux’s father, saved Pollus, who cried

‘Father, hear my words:
That heaven you grant me alone, share between us
Half will be more, then, than the whole of your gift.’

So Jupiter saved Castor and allowed the divine Twins to change places in Mount Olympus alternately. For more about the Gemini, read my piece on heteropaternal superfecundation and the Twins.

1609 – Shakespeare’s sonnets published in London, by the publisher Thomas Thorpe. The sonnets are endlessly controversial, as to how autobiographical they are.

1954 – Bill Haley & His Comets released ‘Rock Around the Clock’

1964 – Discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation by Robert Woodrow Wilson and Arno Penzias. This was the key experimental evidence of the Big Bang theory.

Titus Oates

He was a con-man. He accused leading Catholics of participating in a plot to kill King Charles II and restore a Catholic monarchy.  Among his targets were the Queen, and the King’s Brother’s wife.

Titus Oates had a complicated past. He was a Baptist who turned to the Church of England on the Restoration of King Charles II. He studied at Cambridge. But was accused of being a ‘Great Dunce’ and never took his degree. His next about turn saw him in St Omer to train as a Jesuit. He accused a man, whose job he wanted, of sodomy. Then, he became a Naval Chaplain. But he was, himself, accused of buggery and dismissed from the Navy. He was received into the Catholic Church while, at the same time, he wrote a series of anti-Catholic Pamphlets. He made accusations against over 500 people. This became known as the Popish Plot.

As a result, twenty-two people were executed. Some were ‘Hanged, Drawn and Quartered’ because of Oates’ baseless accusations.  The Diarist, Samuel Pepys, was caught up in the anti-Catholic frenzy. Pepys was Secretary of the Navy during the Plot and was close to the Catholic, James, Duke of York. He was accused of selling secrets to the French. Awaiting trial for treason, he was imprisoned in the Tower of London. Eventually, he was able to clear himself and resume public life. (read this article on the /the-plot-against-pepys/.

Whipped from Aldgate to Tyburn

Old Print of Samuel Pepys

It was only with the accession of James II that the climate of opinion changed. Then Titus Oates was found guilty of perjury.  Perjury was not punishable with death, so Oates’ punishment was a long-drawn-out affair instead. He was sentenced to be imprisoned for life. And ‘whipped through the streets of London for five days a year for the remainder of his life.’

Oates was put in the pillory at Westminster Hall, where passers-by pelted him with eggs. He was again pilloried the next day in the City.  On the third day, stripped, tied to a cart, and whipped from Aldgate to Newgate. The following day he was whipped from Newgate to Tyburn. (Source Wikipedia)

However, when the Catholic King, James II was deposed and replaced by the joint Protestant monarchs William and Mary in 1689, Titus Oates was released and given a pension.  He died in 1705.

For Pepys at the Execution of Charles I see my post here.

First Published in 2024, republished in 2025, On This Day added 2026

Posted on

Beheading of Anne Boleyn May 19th 1536

Old Print showing the beheading of Anne Boleyn

The beheading of Anne Boleyn began at 8am with her speech.

‘Good Christian people, I am come hither to die, for according to the law, and by the law I am judged to die, and therefore I will speak nothing against it.

I am come hither to accuse no man, nor to speak anything of that, whereof I am accused and condemned to die, but I pray God save the King and send him long to reign over you, for a gentler nor a more merciful prince was there never: and to me he was ever a good, a gentle and sovereign lord.

And if any person will meddle of my cause, I require them to judge the best. And thus I take my leave of the world and of you all, and I heartily desire you all to pray for me. O Lord have mercy on me, to God I commend my soul.’

She was blindfolded. She knelt down, putting her neck on the block and repeated:

‘To Jesus Christ I commend my soul; Lord Jesu receive my soul.’ The French Swordsman then chopped off her head.

Recorded by Edward Hall (spelling modernized)

Henry ViiI had allowed his wife the mercy of a French expert swordsman from English Calais. According to a letter from William Kingston to Thomas Cromwell:

‘And then she said “I heard say the executioner was very good, and I have a little neck,” and put her hand about it laughing heartily.‘

For more see: https://www.hevercastle.co.uk/news/19th-may-anniversary-of-anne-boleyns-execution

Here is a slightly annoyingly American youtube feature recreating what Anne Boleyn might have looked like. (adverts may preceed it from which I derive no advantage!).

You might like to read about Queen Elizabeth I’s nicknames for her chief advisers, here.

On This Day

1649 – England declared a Commonwealth by Parliament – and stays a republic for eleven years. (see my post on the execution of Charles 1st)

1798 – Napoleon Bonaparte and his expeditionary force leave France to invade Egypt. The idea was to reduce British influence in the Eastern Mediterranean and in India. But Nelson defeated the French Navy in the Battle of the Nile and Napoleon returned to France to take over control. The British took over the booty the French had seized and the Rosetta Stone came to the British Museum.

1962 – Marilyn Monroe sang “Happy Birthday” to John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden.

Published in 2024, and revised in 2025, 2026

Posted on

St Pancras May 12th

Ruins of St Pancras, Canterbury Photo: K Flude (note the reused Roman Bricks.)

St Pancras and the Ice Saints

It has been unusual cold in the last few days. You can blame this on the St Pancras and the Ice Saints.  These are saints with feast days from May 11th to May 14th.  They are: St. Mamertus, St. Pancras, and St. Servatius (and in some countries, Saint Boniface of Tarsus – Wikipedia). They represent a medieval belief that there was often a cold snap in early May.   So  the idea of the Ice Saints was probably to help persuade farmers to delay sowing until later in May. But modern statistics disprove this, but it is true that a late frost can cause havoc with crops.

St Pancras in Rome

He was a 14 year old who refused to give up his Christian Faith during the persecution of Christians by the Emperor Diocletian. He was beheaded on the Via Aurelia, in Rome, traditionally, on 12 May 303 AD. His body was buried in the Catacombs, but his head is kept in a reliquary in the Church of Saint Pancras in Rome.

Pancras means ‘all-powerful’ in Greek. His youth makes him the Patron Saint of children, but he is also the patron saint of jobs and health. He is ‘invoked’ against cramps, false witnesses, headaches, and perjury.

St Pancras in Canterbury

Pope Gregory is said to have given St Augustine relics from St Pancras when his mission came to Kent in 597AD. They built a church dedicated to St Pancras in Canterbury. The ruins still survive in the grounds of what is now St Augustine’s, Canterbury (see picture at top of this post).

St Pancras in London

St Pancras, Old Church, London (Photo: Kevin Flude)

This story is partly responsible for the claims that St Pancras Old Church, in Camden (pictured above) is a very old foundation. It is claimed there was a late Roman place of worship here. But there is very little solid evidence for this. It is also argued that, if it isn’t late Roman, then it dates to just after 604AD. This is when St Mellitus, sent by St Augustine, established St Pauls Cathedral. It is suggested that Mellitus also founded St Pancras Church. St Pancras’ Church was a Prebend of St Pauls Cathedral (a Prebend provides the stipend (pay) to support a Canon of a Cathedral). But this is not evidence it was established as early as the Cathedral was, and there really isn’t any other credible evidence for a 604 date.

When the Church was restored, the architects said it was mostly Tudor work with traces of Norman architecture. However, it was reported that a Roman tile or two were reused in the fabric. This is about the only evidence, but it helps keep the legend going.

If you read the Wikipedia page, you will see evidence of two strands to the contributions. One is playing down the legends of its early foundation. The other trying to keep hold of its place as among the ‘earliest sites of Christian worship’. Read the wikipedia page here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Pancras_Old_Church to make up your own mind.

It is a lovely Church, on an impressive site, with links to Thomas Hardy, and Sir John Soane whose tomb is the design inspiration for the iconic Red Telephone Box.

The End of Hardy’s tree

Headaches

As Patron Saint of Headaches, St Pancras Day is a good day to make worms come out of your head. Or so say the Fairfax Household Book of the 17th/18th Century as quoted in Charles Kightly’s ‘The Perpetual Almanac’:

‘To make a worm come out of the head. Take, in May, the marrow of a bull or cow, and put it warm into the ear, and the worm will come forth for sweetness of the marrow.’

Generally,willow bark was used for headaches. We know this would have worked as the bark contains salicin, which is converted by the body into salicylic acid. This is a precursor to aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid). But it is not as effective.

On This Day

113 – Trajan’s Column is finished in Rome. Reliefs sculptures on the Column celebrate his victory over the Dacians. There is a copy made of plaster on display at the V&A. The sculptures provide a prime document on the Roman army.

1593 – London playwright Thomas Kyd is arrested and tortured. He lived with Christopher Marlowe. In the search of their rooms, it was claimed they found evidence of atheism and blasphemous documents, including the claim that Jesus was homosexual. Kyd claimed the documents were Marlowe’s. Marlowe was awaiting news of whether he was going to prosecuted, when he was murdered in a tavern in Deptford, possibly by Government agents.

First Published in 2024, revised 2025 OnThis day added in 2026

Posted on

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

Photo by Alvin David on Unsplash

A Swarm of Bees in May

A swarm in May
Is worth a load of hay
A swarm in June
Is worth a silver spoon
A swarm in July
Is not worth a fly.‘

‘Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry’ published 1573, suggests we should:

‘Take heed to thy Bees, that are ready to swarm, the loss thereof now, is a crown’s worth of harm.’

According to Hillman’s ‘Tusser Redivus’ of 1710, swarming in May produces particularly good honey. ‘Their hours of swarming are for the most part between the hours of ten and three, and they ought to be watched every day.’ He advises following the bees to retrieve them:

‘You are entitled by custom to follow them over anyone’s land and claim them … but only so long as you ‘ting-tang’ as you go, by beating some metal utensil – the sound whereof is also said to make your bees stop.’

Much of the above is quoted from The Perpetual Almanac of Folklore by Charles Kightly.

Queen Bee

Bees swarm when a new Queen Bee takes a proportion of the worker bees to form a new colony. They will latch unto a branch or a shrub, even a car’s wing mirror. Then sending worker bees out searching for a suitable new home, such as a hollow tree. There may be hundreds or even thousands in the new colony. This may be very alarming. But, at this point, they will not be aggressive as they do not have a hive to protect. Look here for more information on swarming.

Sweet, Long Distance Flyers

An average hive will produce 25 lbs of honey, and the bees will fly 1,375,000 miles to produce it. This is like flying 55 times around the world (according to the British beekeepers Association (and my maths)) https://www.bbka.org.uk/honey

Swarming in Hackney

Swarm of Bees, Hackney (Photo Kevin Flude 30th May 2018). The Swarm is at the top of the Column and on the edge of the porch roof.

In 2018, on 30th May, I was perturbed to find a swarm of Bees hanging outside my front door. Frightened of leaving my house, I rang a local beekeeper, who came to take possession of the Bees and take them to a new home. By the time he came, they had moved 20 yards to a Buddleia bush.

Swarm of Bees having moved 20 yards to a new home, being 'rescued' by a bee keeper.
Swarm of Bees, having moved 20 yards to a second perch, being ‘rescued’ by a bee keeper. You can see the swarm above his head.

Helping Bees

Bees are still having a hard time as their habitats are diminishing and threats increasing. In July, DEFRA hosts Bees’ Needs Week 2026: 13 to 19 July. This aims to increase public awareness of the importance of pollinators.

They suggest we can help by these 5 simple actions

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

Patron Saints of Bees include: St. Ambrose, St. Gobnait, and St. Valentine. Click here to see my post of St Valentine.

On This Day

1821 – Napoleon dies in exile on the island of Saint Helena.

1835 – The first railway in continental Europe opens between Brussels and Mechelen, which is 36 kms.

1964 – Europe Day is launched by the Council of Europe but the European Union celebrates Peach and Unity in Europe on May 9th

First Published 2024, revised 2025, rearranged 2026

Posted on

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

An Imagined Scene at the Maypole at St Andrew Undershaft
The Stinking Idol : An Imagined Scene at the Maypole at St Andrew Undershaft

This post is about the end of the Maypole in London but first:

On This Day

Old Print of the French Executioner dispatching Anne Boleyn with a sword rather than an axe.

1536 – Anne Boleyn arrested on ‘charges of adultery, incest, treason and witchcraft.’ But, Claire Ridgway in her post here and her book, show that she was never accused of witchcraft in court. The stories of extra fingers, and teats, are all later Catholic propaganda aimed at weakening Elizabeth’s claims to the throne. She was accused of adultery. Five men were executed for sleeping with her: her brother George Boleyn, (Lord Rochford); Sir Henry Norris, groom of the stool; courtier Sir Francis Weston; courtier William Brereton, and musician Mark Smeaton. Incest with her brother (one possible explanation of the incest is the idea that she desperately needed a baby and if she needed a surrogate then her brother was safest as the child would have a family resemblance to her and not rouse any suspicions from Henry of adultery. The other explanation is that Anne never commited incest!). Treason, well sleeping with someone other than the King risked imperilling the blood line of the Royal Family. It also gave a motive for killing the king.

A new portrait has been claimed to be of Anne Boleyn, the only one to have been done in her lifetime. But it has been revealed by AI, and some art historians are not convinced. Follow this link to see for your self.

1559 – John Knox returns from exile to Scotland to lead the Scottish Reformation.

1568 – Mary, Queen of Scots, escapes from Lochleven Castle. You could blame John Knox for the hostility Mary faced as a Catholic governing a country rapidly turning Presbyterian.

1611 – The King James Version of the Bible is published by printer Robert Barker. His printshop was at Northumberland House, Aldersgate Street, in the City of London. (as far as I can see no one else seems to know where the printing was done.)

Northumberland House marked in yellow nearAldersgate. The Map of Early Modern London, Edition 7.0, edited by Janelle Jenstad, U of Victoria, 05 May 2022, mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/NORT2.htm. INP.

The Printer then went on to create the worst possible error in publishing history by omitting the word NOT in the 6th or 7th Commandment, ‘Thou Shalt Commit Adultery’. This edition became known as the Wicked Bible. Barker & Howard are still in the publishing industry and have offices in the East End of London.

The King James Bible introduced many phrases into the English language, including:

The apple of his eye
The four horsemen of the apocalypse
Baptism of fire
Chariots of Fire
O death, where is thy sting?
Like a thief in the night
Weighed in the balance and found wanting

To find more look here

1670 – King Charles II of England granted a charter to the Hudson’s Bay Company. In 1917 my 17 year old Grandfather sailed to the Hudson bay as an able seaman for the Hudson’s Bay Company.

1982 – The British nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror sunk the Argentine cruiser ARA General Belgrano. It was controversial as the Belgrano was outside the Exclusion zone, and said to be sailing away from the conflict. 323 Argentine sailors were killed. The event, arguably, changed Mrs Thatcher political fortunes.

1995 – Allies Statue unveiled. The Statue of Churchill and Roosevelt set up to commemorate 50 years of peace. 30 years later, how we wonder what Churchill and Roosevelt would say about the current state of NATO? https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/11351

‘Allies’ Roosevelt and Churchill by by Lawrence Holofcener, unveiled on May 2nd 1995 by Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon

The Maypole or rather ‘This Stinking Idoll’

Philip Stubbes, wrote a vitriolic attack on pagan practices in his ‘Anatomy of Abuses in 1583’. He fired a broadside at the tradition of dancing around the Maypole. He said they had: ‘as Superintendent and Lord ouer their pastimes and sportes: namely, Sathan Prince of Hell‘ as they erected ‘this stinking Idoll’. By which he meant the Maypole. Stubbes suggested that of the maids who went out to the woods on May Eve, less than one-third returned ‘undefiled‘.

Evil May Day Riots

The Maypole was stored at St Andrew Cornhill, which became known as St Andrew Undershaft. In 1517, it was attacked during the ‘Evil May Day riots’. The main focus of the riot was foreign workers. The Under Sheriff of the time, Thomas More, tried to quell it, meeting the rioters at the corner of Cheapside and St Martin’s Legrande. But 5,000 troops commanded by the Duke of Northfolk was necessary to regain control of the City. 300 rioters were arrested. One hanged, drawn and quartered, 13 hanged and nearly 300 pardoned after the intercession of Woseley and/or Katherine of Aragon (depending on which historian you read). The shaft was returned to its place under the eves of the houses in Shaft Alley. But apparently banned from being raised again.

1549 May Day Riots

However in 1549, the curate of nearby St Katharine Cree Church made an inflammatory speech. This incited a Puritan mob, who cut the shaft into pieces and burnt it. I always imagine the Curate’s sermons to be along the same lines as Phillip Stubbes attack on the Maypole.

Maypole: this Stinking Idol, Rather

Here is a longer description of the May Day Celebrations by Stubbes.

‘But their chiefest iewel they bring from thence is the Maie-poale,
which they bring home with great veneration, as thus: They haue
twentie, or fourtie yoake of Oxen, euery Oxe hauing a sweete
Nosegaie of flowers tyed on the tip of his homes, and these Oxen
drawe home this Maie-poale (this stinking ldoll rather) which is
couered all ouer with Flowers and Hearbes, bound round about
with strings from the top to the bottome, and sometimes painted
with variable collours, with two or three hundred men, women and
children following it, with great deuotion.

And thus being reared vp, with handkerchiefes and flagges streaming
on the top, they strawe the ground round about, bind green boughes about it, set
vp Summer Haules, Bowers, and Arbours hard by it. And then fa!
they to banquet and feast, to leape and daunce about it, as the
a Heathen people did, at the dedication of their ldolles, whereof this
is a perfect patteme, or rather the thing it selfe. I haue heard it
crediblie reported (and that viua voce) by men of great grauity,
credite, and reputation, that of fourtie, threescore, or a hundred Maides,
going to the wood ouemight, there haue scarcely the third part of them returned home againe vndefiled.‘

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

Restoration Maypole

The unraised pole seems to have survived until the beginning of the Civil War, (1644) when it was destroyed. But at the Restoration of Charles II a new and huge Maypole was ordered. It was joyously erected 134 ft high (41 metres) in the Strand. This one was danced around till 1713 when it was replaced. The original was sold to one Isaac Newton. He used it to support the biggest telescope in Europe, which was erected in Wanstead by a friend.

And that, my friends, is how you get from Superstition to Science in one easy story.

Old Print of Isaac Newton
Old Print of Isaac Newton

Postscript.

I have always told people that the sermon leading to the destruction of the Shaft in 1549 was made at St Paul. I cannot remember where I read this. The suggestion that the Maypole in Cornhill was not used after 1517 seems strange. Why then would an unused maypole rouse a crowd to riot in 1549? Of the sources I have at hand, the London Encyclopedia mentions the riot of 1517 in its entry on St Andrew Undershaft but doesn’t elaborate more. ‘Layers of London‘ says ‘It was last raised in 1517 when ensuing riots led to the celebration being banned.’ which is definitive sounding. But is it? I wonder if it was banned for a year or two, then allowed again, and finally stopped in 1549?

For more on May Day see yesterday’s post.

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

Posted on

May Day May 1st

May Day – Bringing the Maypole, Bedfordshire. Image from ‘Romantic Britain’

May morning would commence with dancing around the Maypole, followed by feasting, and summer games. Maypoles were often stored during the year. A few days before May Day they were repainted, and bedecked with May Garlands – mostly made from Hawthorn. The Maypole used in London in 1660 was 134 feet high. Tall straight trees were used, sometimes of Larch, and they might be spliced together to get the requisite height. John Stow says that each parish in London had their own Maypole, or combined with a neighbouring Parish. The main Maypole was on the top of Cornhill, in Leadenhall Street. It was stored under the eves of St Andrew’s Church, which became known as St Andrew’s Undershaft as a result. For more about Maypoles and May Day see my post may-2nd-this-stinking-idol-the-end-of-may-day/.

Padstow May Day Festival

Padstow holds, perhaps, the most famous May Day festival on May 1st. It feels very ‘pagan’ or do I mean it is fuelled by an enormous amount of drink? Here is a video, watch until you see the ‘obby ‘orse and the teaser dancing.

Why May Eve?

The celebrations begin on May Eve because the Celtic calendar starts the day at Dusk. This seems strange to us who, perversely, ‘start’ our day at Midnight just after everyone has gone to bed! The other choice, and maybe the most logical is Dawn? But Dawn and Dusk are difficult to fix. Midnight was chosen by Julius Caesar when he created the Julian Calendar. Midnight has the virtue of being a fixed metric, being half way between Dawn and Dusk. From the Celtic point of view, the day ends when the Sun goes down over the western horizon. So the end of the old day, is the beginning of the new day. Makes sense?

For Walpurgis Nacht see my post on April 30th here: walpurgis-nacht-april-30th/

Beltane Fire

Celebrations centred around the Bonfire. The day was sacred to the fire God Belenus (Gaulish: Belenos, Belinos, British Belinus, Bel, or Beli), and May Day was called Beltane. Bonfires continued to be a part of the celebration into the 16th Century, and in places until the 2st Century. According to folklore tradition, the bonfire should be made of nine types of wood. They must be collected by nine teams of married men (or first born men). They must not carry any metal with them. The fire has to be lit by rubbing oak sticks together or a wooden awl twisted in a wooden log.

Participants, have to run sunwise around the fire. Oatcakes are distributed, with one being marked with a black spot. The one who collects it has to jump through the fire three times. Bonfires would have been, by choice on the top of hills. But then they were also held in the streets in London. May celebrations have a similarity to Halloween. This was also a fire festival and both are uncanny times when sprites and spirits abound.

Hawthorn

Hawthorn was a favoured wood not only because of its beautiful may flower. It was also said to be the wood the crown of thorns was made from. Hawthorn had the power of resisting supernatural forces. Therefore, it was used to protect doors, cribs, cow sheds and other places from witches.

Protecting Babies from Witches

Witches, it was said, got their power to fly from potions made from chopped up infants. The best protection was Christening. The custom was to have the christening as early as possible. Normally three days after birth. Shakespeare was baptised on 26th April 1564, so we celebrate his birthday on 23rd April. See my post for more on this subject. Cribs would be bedecked with Hawthorn and protection might be augmented by a bible, rowan, and garlic.

Special May Babies

Babies born between May 1 and 8 were thought to be special. They were destined to have power over man and beast. Weddings were frowned upon in Lent and in May, so April became a popular choice for marriage.

May Dew

After celebrations on May Eve (April 30th), women would go out in the woods to collect May, and other flowering plants. They would wash their faces in May Dew, preferably from the leaves of Hawthorn. If not from beneath an oak tree, or from a new-made grave. The dew was said to improve their complexion. It was also used for medical conditions such as gout and weak eyes.

Thinking Can Make it Happen?

Thinking of one’s lover on May Day might bring marriage within the year., it was thought This is a little like the modern woo-woo technique of ‘Manifesting’. Woo-woo or just woo is slang for something to do with crystals or other new age nonsense. Manifesting can either be a visualisation technique, whereby visualising the thing you want happening helps you concentrate on making it happen. The woo-woo part of it is that if you think it hard enough, you will get the universe to help make it happen. An analysis I heard on BBC Radio 4 showed that people who believe in the power of manifesting to alter the universe were more reckless in their endeavours and had a higher rate of bankruptcy and investment losses. It seemed they were more willing to take the risk. On the other hand, those who thought through the process of achieving their goals and the obstacles in the way of success were more successful.

Belenus

is a Celtic God of whom very little is clear and unambiguous. He was linked in Gaul with Apollo. The name, some people think, comes from ‘Shining’ but others disagree and think it means ‘Master of Power.’ His association with Irish mythology and the festival of Beltane suggests he was a powerful god in Celtic Europe. Geoffrey of Monmouth has a King called Belinus, and spins a yarn about Belinus and Billingsgate. Linguists prefer the idea that Billingsgate is named after some unknown Saxon called Billings. This may be a little more likely but far less interesting.

See my post on Midsummer for more on Celtic Festivals.

On This Day

305 – Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman emperor. Diocletian was a systems man. and changed the Empire so there were 2 Emperors, 4 Caesars, a lot of Prefects, and a shed load of Governors. It was supposed to make the Empire more efficient and less liable to Civil War. He also introduced a Wages and Prices freeze. For more about this see my post on Diocletian’s reforms here.

1328 – Wars of Scottish Independence end: By the Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton, England recognises Scotland as an independent state. (Wikipedia)

1707 – The Union of Scotland and England Proclaimed. In which Scotland voluntarily (aided by bribery and corruption) gave up its independence.

1851 – Opening of the Great Exhibition of All Nations in Hyde Park, inspired by Prince Albert and put into place by Henry Cole. See the V&A on the building of the V&A.

1945 – German Fascist Goebbels kills himself and his entire family

Revised May 1st 2024,2025 and 2026

Posted on

Time to guard children against witches April 29th

Witches From ‘The Wonderful Discoveries of the Witchcrafts of Margaret and Phillip Flower’, London, 1618

As May Eve approached, which like Halloween, was considered a particularly uncanny time, people were warned to guard against witches stealing their babies:

He (the Devil) teacheth the witches to make ointments of the bowels and members of children, whereby they ride in the air and accomplish all their desires. So as, if they be any children unbaptized, or not guarded with the sign of the cross or orisons: then the witches may and do catch them from their mother’s side at night, or out of their cradles. …. and after burial steal them out of the graves, then seethe them in a cauldron until their flesh been made possible.

Reginald Scott ‘The Discovery of Witchcraft’ 1594 (from ‘The perpetual Almanack of Folklore’ by Charles Kightley). Please note that Reginald Scott’s book was actually against the idea of witchcraft, i.e. he was debunking it. (for more on Reginald Scott read my post here)

Keeping Witches away

Ways to keep witches away were various, but baptising your children early was the best method. As you will have seen in previous posts, children were normally baptised as soon as possible. Normally, three days after birth in the early modern period.) There were various ways of protecting against witches including saying prayers (orisons), hanging garlic, bread, rowan-leaves, around the cradle.

Witch marks

In archaeological surveys of timber framed buildings increasing numbers of reports of ‘witches’ marks have been discovered. They are now so ubiquitous that it seems most people felt the need to deploy them to secure their houses. Or was it the Carpenters and Builders who felt the need to protect their work? It was believed that witches gained entry where there was an inlet of wind. So doors, windows, chimneys, and anywhere there was a draft. These would be marked by pentagons, which represent the five wounds of Christ. Also used were a variety of other marks ‘chequerboards, mesh patterns, peltas (a type of knot work design) and circle’. https://theartssociety.org/arts-news-features/ancient-symbols-once-used-ward-away-witches is an excellent read and gives more detail.

Also this article makes the case that they are not specifically anti-witch marks, but general marks to ward off evil. This is worth reading. The illustration below comes from the article.

Tam O’Shanter

Robert Burns poem ‘Tam O’Shanter’ gives a graphic, fictional, account of a witches’ coven presided over by the Devil (auld Nick) himself which features ‘wee, unchristen’d bairns‘. Tam, drunk, has come upon a witches coven, presided over by the devil himself.

And, vow! Tam saw an unco sight!
Warlocks and witches in a dance;
Nae cotillion brent new frae France,
But hornpipes, jigs, strathspeys, and reels,
Put life and mettle in their heels.
A winnock-bunker in the east,
There sat auld Nick, in shape o’ beast;
A towzie tyke, black, grim, and large,
To gie them music was his charge:
He screw’d the pipes and gart them skirl,
Till roof and rafters a’ did dirl.—
Coffins stood round, like open presses,
That shaw’d the dead in their last dresses;
And by some devilish cantraip slight
Each in its cauld hand held a light.—
By which heroic Tam was able
To note upon the haly table,
A murderer’s banes in gibbet airns;
Twa span-lang, wee, unchristen’d bairns;
A thief, new-cutted frae a rape,
Wi’ his last gasp his gab did gape;
Five tomahawks, wi’ blude red-rusted;
Five scymitars, wi’ murder crusted;
A garter, which a babe had strangled;
A knife, a father’s throat had mangled,
Whom his ain son o’ life bereft,
The grey hairs yet stack to the heft;
Wi’ mair o’ horrible and awefu’,
Which even to name wad be unlawfu’.

I talked more about Tam O’Shanter and the Cutty Sark here and to read the whole poem see below. Please do have a look and when you read it read it quick. Loud and don’t worry about how to pronounce it or understand it, just enjoy the ride!

Tam o’ Shanter

Have a look at my post on the Cutty Sark for more of Tam O’Shanter.

Written in 2023 revised April 2024, 2025, 2026