On September 15th 1940 Ray Holmes, World War 2 RAF Pilot, flying a Hurricane, took on three Luftwaffe Bombers over Central London. He shot one down, chased another off and engaged the third which seemed to be heading for Buckingham Palace.
Between the 8th and 13th of September 1940, the Palace had been hit 5 times. The London Blitz had only ‘begun’ on September 7th though the first raid on the City of London was on the 25th August on Fore Street.
Holmes, by now had ran out of bullets, but deliberately targeted the fin of the Dornier Bomber, and crashed into it causing the bomber to crash down into Victoria Station. Holmes’ Hurricane, spiralled down out of control, but he was able to bail out and landed in a dustbin, much to the bemusement of the locals. Holmes died aged 90 in 2005.
This post is heavily based on the story below, where it is told in full detail.
Roodmas is celebrated September 14th (and May 3rd). It was celebrated with processions, and the cooking of Cross-shaped food. Parish Churches used to have a Rood Screen separating the holy Choir from the more secular Nave. This screen was topped with a statue of the Crucified Jesus.
Roodmas commemorates the discovery of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem in 326 by Helena, wife of Constantius Chlorus and mother of Constantine the Great. Most of the Cross was sent back to the care of Constantine the Great in Constantinople. The part of the Holy Cross that was left in Jerusalem was taken by Persians but recovered by the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius in 628. The two events are celebrated on the two dates for Roodmas.
Over the years, the cross was shivered into ever smaller pieces as Emperors, Kings, Dukes, Counts, Popes, Bishops, Abbots and Abbesses swopped relics with each other. The fragments were cased in beautiful reliquaries and had enormous power for those of faith and those who could be helped by healing by faith.
The Rood in Stratford-upon-Avon
One of my favourite places to go is the Chapel of the Guild of the Holy Cross at Stratford-upon-Avon. It is a medieval chapel, opposite the house Shakespeare was living in when he died, and near the school he went to. The Guild which ran it was dedicated to the legend of the Holy Cross, or the Rood as it was called in the medieval period. The Guild also ran the local council.
The Guild Chapel was built in 1269 and developed in the 15th Century. The legend of the Holy Cross held that seeds from the Tree of Knowledge were grown on Adam’s Grave, honoured by the Queen of Sheba, buried by King Solomon, possibly used in the building of the Temple, and used as the Cross to crucify Jesus. Then buried and found, with the nails, and the crown of thorns by St. Helena. She knew it was the real thing as a deathly sick women was revived by contact with the timber of the Holy Cross.
In the 15th Century Hugh Clopton, former Lord Mayor of London and richest man of Stratford on Avon, paid to enlarge the Chapel. Included in the restoration was a new paint scheme for the interior of the Chapel. This is now thought to be one of the most complete survivals of a unified medieval decorative Church interior design. What makes it even more interesting is that in 1564, the person responsible for defacing the wall paintings was one John Shakespeare, father of William.
The most striking part of the scheme is ‘Doom’ which is high on the Chancel Arch. The detail of the figures are pecked out and defaced, but the outline of the bodies can be seen. It shows Jesus in the middle. with corpses sitting upright in their graves, as they are called to Judgement. To the Left is the City of God, still in good condition, and on the right is the mouth to hell. Hellish creatures are collecting lost souls, brandishing huge clubs. Hellfire is seen in a building above the hellhole, where figures representing the Seven Deadly Sins are seen.
Other set pieces including the story of Adam, the Whore of Babylon, an illustrated poem: Earth to Earth, St Thomas, St Christopher. The left-hand side of the nave contains traces of a French scheme called the Dance of Death which shows a pope dancing with a skeleton dancing with a Cardinal, dancing with a skeleton dancing with a Patriarch dancing with a skeleton and so on through the ranks of society. All equal in the face of death, and rendered in a vivid vermillion. There was a version of it in the Pardon Cloister, at St Pauls in London which is where Clopton might have seen it. A poem on the subject was written by John Lydgate.
For my post on Charles III, his coronation, and the True Cross please look here:
Féill Ròid – in Scotland
In Scotland, Roodmas (or Féill Ròid) is the beginning of the rutting season for deer. And if the night before was wet, it would followed by a month of dry weather, so the farmer need not worry about his crops.
Please return to the page as I will add images when I return to London.
James Lovelock is one of my heroes. He came up with the idea that the Planet Earth is, or can be considered to be, a living being. He named her Gaia, after the Greek Mother Goddess and the mother of all life.
He suggested that the Earth was a self-regulating entity that kept the essentials for life on our planet in balance. Further, he speculated that human activity was putting a strain on the feedback systems that kept the environment sweet for life. Gaia, he suggested, might spit out the cause of the disruption, if we didn’t mend our ways.
On September 12, 2024 a new book on Lovelock was published. The Guardian ran this lovely article on the contribution of love and Dian Hitchcock to the formation of the theory. Dian and James worked together on the idea when they both worked for Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California in the 1960’s.
My own take on his theory, is that Gaia keeps the atmosphere and climate within a safe range by a series of feedback loops. Lovelock pointed out that as strains in the system develop, the feedback loops might fracture, readjust and the Earth find a new stable feedback system. This new equilibrium may or may not be compatible with a comfortable environment for humans.
Chris Stringer’s book on the Palaeolithic in Britain (‘Homo Britannicus’), shows that during the 900,000 years of genus Homo’s life in Britain, five or so times the climate has changed in these mild islands so it has become inhospitable for humans. He also suggests that there is evidence that the last Ice Age ended fairly swiftly, and that Britain changed from being tundra to a temperate climate perhaps in as little as twenty years. It is only for around 12,000 years that Home Sapiens have lived continuously on these islands.
So, we know climate change is inevitable, and that when it happens it may not be a gradual change. We also cannot be sure it will make the UK warmer because Britain’s temperate climate depends on the warm air of the Gulf Stream and if this is affected Britain may revert to the colder climate of other countries at our latitude like Scandinavia.
Queensberry House to the right, home of the The Queensberry House Cannibal. The Scottish Parliament in the background. Royal Mile, Cannongate in the foreground. (Photo: K. Flude)
Ian Rankin’s Edinburgh
One of my favourite books on Edinburgh is by Ian Rankin. It is one of the Inspector Rebus series. What makes Rankin a great crime writer is how the author makes Edinburgh central to the story. It adds realism to his stories. As you read the stories you enjoy learning about Edinburgh, its culture, history, people, streets and topography. And get insights into Edinburgh’s moods.
Model of the Scottish Parliament, with Queensberry House in the bottom right hand corner.
I haven’t read all the Rebus books but the one I want to feature is ‘Set in Darkness’ published in 2000. It is set in the period immediately after the success of the Scottish Referendum to set up a Scottish Parliament. The story also takes us back to 1979 when the first Scottish Referendum ‘failed’.
The Queensberry House Cannibal
The book begins with a body found in Queensbury House, which is being preserved and incorporated into the new Scottish Parliament buildings.
Scottish Parliament Building (photo by the author)
This setting was suggested by the well-known tale of the Queensberry House Cannibal; James Douglas the 3rd Marquess of Queensberry and, for a time, the Earl of Drumlanrig. The tale begins on the day, in 1707, that the Scottish Parliament agreed to disband itself. The Parliamentarians voted for an Act of Union with the United Kingdom.
On that day, the young Lord was left alone in Queensbury House with no one to look after him, except a kitchen boy. James had mental issues, and when the adults came home, they discovered that he had eaten the kitchen boy by spit-roasting him. The ghost of the boy is said to haunt the house. Or so the story goes. It’s always treated as a true story, but there is a suspicion it was a black calumny on those who agreed to the end of the Scottish Parliament.
The Restoration of the Scottish Parliament 11th September 1997
So, as today is the anniversary of the day the Scots voted Yes to a restoration of its Parliament (11th September 1997), let’s have a look at the long history of devolution. We will take the story backwards.
The referendum asked the Scots two questions. The first was: did they support a separate Parliament for Scotland? The second. Should it have the power to vary levels of taxation? 74.3% voted yes to the Parliament, and 63.5% voted yes for powers of taxation. On the 1st July 1999 the Scottish Parliament was set up by the Blair Government. The new Parliament was elected by the Additional Member system of proportional representation. The country is split into regions, the regions into constituencies, and each constituency elects a member of the Scottish Parliament by first part the post system. Each region has a party list of additional potential members, and the seats are allocated between the parties to make the final result as proportion as possible. This is said to combine the advantages of constituency MPs, and PR.
The ‘Failed’ 1979 Referendum
But this wasn’t the first vote for a measure of independence. In 1979, the Scottish Act set up a referendum for a Scottish assembly. James Callaghan was the Prime Minister, and the act followed a Royal Commision on the Constitution. The Referendum was won with a majority of 52%, but an amendment to the Act had a stipulation that there had to be a vote of at least 40% of the registered electorate for the vote to succeed. It won only 32% of the 62% turnout so the Act failed. (if only Cameron had done something similar for the Brexit Referendum!).
So it would be another almost 20 years before the Scots got their own debating chamber.
1707 Act of Union
The Scots lost their Parliament on the 1st May 1707 when the Act of Union with England was enacted. The Scottish Parliament had been in existence since the early 13th Century. The Scots had no House of Commons, but its unicameral Parliament had representatives from the Three Estates: prelates representing the Church; Aristocrats representing the nobility, and Burgh Commissioners representing the Towns. Later, Shire Commissioners were added to represent the countryside.
The decision to disband the Parliament of Scotland was very controversial, and blamed on the self-interest of the Nobility against the wishes of the people. Scotland had lost out on the huge profits being made by the Empire by England, excluded as the Scots were by the Navigation Acts from trading freely within the British Empire. So the Scots set up their own Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the Indies which invested in the disastrous Darién scheme,
The idea was to build a colony on the Isthmus of Panama. 80% of the participants in the settlement died, and the 20% of Scottish wealth which was invested in the scheme was lost. Many of the Scottish members of Parliament lost money in the Scheme, and compensation and bribery offered by the English encouraged the Parliamentarians to accept the advantages of free trade within the British Empire and to join the Westminster Parliament.
Joint Monarchies
In 1603, the Scottish and English monarchies joined in the person of James VI of Scotland who became James 1st of England on the death of his childless aunt, Queen Elizabeth 1. But the Scots kept their own Parliament and legal system. There were attempts to bring a closer Union, but these all failed until 1707.
England Overlording it?
From the early beginnings of Scottish existence as an independent nation, the English Monarchy claimed to be the feudal overlord of Scotland. Scotland was normally able to deny this until the reign of Edward I. After the battle of Bannockburn the Scottish made a declaration of their complete independence from England at Arbroath. It was sent to the Pope who accepted it. This helped the Scots defy England until 1603 when the two monarchies joined.
Rowan Berries, hips and haws should be ripening in Hedgerows around the country. Hips are from Rose bushes, and haws from the Hawthorn. So lots of fleshy red fruits, which will ripen from August to October.
A heavy crop is said to promise a hard winter: ‘Many haws, many snows.’
Rowans were the most powerful plant against witches.
‘Rowan tree and red thread
Hold the witches all in dread’
So, Charles Kightly, tells us in his ‘Perpetual Almanac of Folklore’. It was hung above doors, planted in gardens and made into walking sticks and other household and farming utensils. It was made into wine, and jam and a jelly delicious while eating hare.
Recently, I read that one of the burials a friend of mine excavated has been reexamined and reanalysed. The dig was at Bull wharf near the Vintry in the City of London. The burials dated to the 9th Century (approximately).
Bull wharf is by the River Thames, south of St Paul’s. The discovery of two burials, dating to just before the Alfredian restoration of the City of London, was in itself sensational. Archaeology had shown that the City was abandoned after the Romans left. It is revived only in the late 9th Century when King Alfred restored it.
Did these burials suggest that the restoration of the City began before Alfred came to the throne? Perhaps London was restored by the Mercians and not by Alfred and Wessex?
Perhaps this is too much to place on a couple of burials and a dating that was not precise.
However, the recent reevaluation makes the burials even more interesting. One of the two burials was in a shallow grave with a brushwood cover. Originally it was thought to a ‘proper’ burial rather than a casual interment.
But recent examination shows the woman was badly beaten a short time before she was killed. Her many wounds had begun to heal. Maybe two weeks later she was killed again with astonishing violence. She had multiple blunt force injuries.
The burial position was on the Mercian shore of the Thames at London. But was looking towards the Wessex shore across the River. This has led to speculation that the place of burial might have been a highly significant and visible site. Other Saxon execution sites have similar attributes i.e. at significant sites or at liminal locations. (I’m thinking of the Saxon execution at Stonehenge as a fr’instance.)
The recent piece I read ignores the second burial. Originally it was said to be buried with less ceremony than the other. But now, it must suggest both are executions. Unless they are both murders….
Skeletons at York
Decades ago a potential gladiatorial burial ground was found near Mickelgate. The attribution was made because a large proportion of the burials were young men, many with healed injuries to heads, arms, fingers. Over 40 of them were decapitated, much higher than the normal 5% of Roman burials.
One has recently been reexamined. The inspection showed teeth marks on the pelvis. These have now been identified as the teeth marks of a lion.
On my tours of various amphitheatres I have talked about the exotic animals that literary sources suggested Romans used for entertainment. But I would point out that the evidence comes mostly from literature and mosaics from prestigious places. I always suggested that London, Cirencester, Chester, Verulamium and York probably used bears, bulls, boars maybe dogs but, perhaps, nothing more exotic. But here is evidence that the Romans used Lions in the distance province of Britannia.
A silhouette of a Zeppelin caught in searchlights over the City of London
On the night of September 8th, 32 year old, Kapitanleutnant Heinrich Mathy piloted Zeppelin L 13 across Central London, dropping bombs as he went. This was the most damaging airship raid of the war.
Background to the War
Before World War One London was the centre of the largest Empire the world had ever known. It was the first great era of globalisation; international trade and finance was booming. London was full of the mega-rich, but poverty and substandard housing was extensive. Such extremes of rich and poor have only recently began to appear in our society.
Inner London was still the home of Industry, and home to large immigrant communities. Political dissent was widespread, with the Labour Party beginning to erode the Liberal Party’s power base. The issue of Female Suffrage was rocking society. Then, catastrophe struck as ‘the lights went out all over Europe’.
The Hague Convention in 1899 banned bombing from balloons or other aerial craft. But as the aircraft and air balloons developed, the threat moved from theoretical to actual. Zeppelins could undertake long flights at a speed of up to 47 mph. They could ascend and descend quicker than winged aircraft and achieve higher altitudes. The gas that held up the Zeppelins was held in over 200,000 bags of cattle intestines. The huge number needed in the war effort led to a shortage of sausages in Germany! But it also made them very difficult to be shot down with the technology available to Britain, France and Russia.
The Kaiser originally forbade bombing raids on London in deference to his relatives, the British Royal Family. But he progressively reduced restrictions until he allowed bombing of London itself. He first allowed bombing of the London docks on February 12th 1915, and on May 5th allowed London, East of the Tower of London to be bombed. The first Zeppelin raid on London took place on 31st May 1915. On July 20th, he allowed unrestricted bombing of London (albeit sparing historical and religious buildings).
On the 8th September, 1915 Mathy crossed the North Sea to the coast at King’s Lyne. He arrived at 8.45pm. The aircraft came South via Cambridge, Ware, circled to the North East of London and via Golders Green. Here he dropped 12 bombs at 10.40., and followed the Finchley Road to Primrose Hill, Regent’s Park. Over Euston he was at 8,500 ft, and slowed down to 37 mph.
The first incendiary bomb in Central London landed just north of Russell Square at Woburn Place. The next one landed in the garden in the middle of Russell Sq. He dropped his first Central London explosive bomb in the garden in the centre of Queen’s Square, near the Great Ormond St Hospital, where it is marked with a plaque. He was turning east along the Theobald’s Road where he dropped a number of bombs. One hitting the National Penny Bank killing a person standing outside. Another landed on the nearby Dolphin pub, blowing out the front of the pub and killing someone standing there. If you visit the Pub, on the wall you will see the clock that was stopped when the bomb exploded (10:40pm).
The next strike was on a cycle club, to the West of Gray’s inn. Then Gray’s Inn itself. At Portpool Lane his incendiary bombs killed three children and injured 25 others.
Maxim Gun
Near here are the workshops where Hiram Maxim developed the Maxim Gun that killed so many in the trenches in WW1. Unfortunately, the design was not kept as a state secret and in the War No Man’s Land was being strafed by British, French, German, Russian and later in American versions of the same gun. He had the idea for it when as a child his shoulder was broken by the recoil of a shotgun. He realised that the recoil could be used to load the next bullet. This created a machine gun that was far superior to the Gatling Gun.
A Bomb called the Love Gift
Hatton Garden and Farringdon were also hit, and the Zeppelin continued to Smithfield. The Zeppelin had one 660 lb bomb on board. Mathy’s ‘Love Gift’ fell on St Bartholomew’s Close. It shattered all the building fronts and killed 2 men running for cover when they emerged from a pub.
The Zeppelin kept north of St Paul’s and next bombed City workshops and warehouses in Wood St, Addle St, Basinghall St and Aldermanbury – just missing the historic Guildhall. He also failed to bomb the Bank of England which was a mere 300 yards south,
Searchlights were now scouring the sky and anti-aircraft guns were firing, but they were ;all firing too low’. An American reporter, William Shepherd wrote:
‘Among the autumn stars floats a long gaunt Zeppelin. It is dull yellow – the colour of the Harvest Moon. The long fingers of searchlights, reaching up from the roofs of the city are touching all sides of the death messenger with their white tips. Great, booming sounds shake the city. They are Zeppelin bombs falling- killing – burning. Lesser noises – of shooting – are nearer at hand, the noise of aerial guns sending shrapnel into the sky.’
The final bombs were released over Liverpool Street. Just by the station, an explosive bomb hit a No 35a bus, wounding the driver and killing the conductor and some of the passengers. Another bomb landed by a No 8 bus, killing the driver and 8 passengers.
Mathy turned north towards Edmonton and climbed to over 11,000 ft as an anti-aircraft gun on Parliament Hill put a shell uncomfortably close to the Zeppelin. He returned safely to Germany where he reported to the Kaiser. The raid killed 17 people, injured 78 and caused half a million pounds worth of damage. It was the most effective raid of the war.
The authorities in Britain were faced with a stark reality which was that a single German Airship could fly through the heart of Britain, into its Capital and bomb its people without any defensive measures capable of resisting attack. Although when we consider the horrors of civilian deaths in the 20th and 21st Centuries, the shock of random attacks on civilians should not be underestimated.
I will conclude Kapitanleutnant Heinrich Mathy’s story on October 1st, and add more images to this page.
Thanks to Ian Castle and his book ‘London 1914-17 ‘The Zeppelin Menace.
Tonight, the Earth will move directly between the Sun and the Moon. This is an eclipse. The earth will block out the sun’s light which will not be reflected back to us. As we move in and out of the eclipse, the sun’s light will be scattered by our atmosphere. The blue light will be removed, leaving only the red light which has a longer wavelength. This will give the Moon a reddish colour. (https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/articles/czr6px4dpgmo).
The best view will be in Asia and Australia. But, here in the UK, go to a highpoint at 7.15pm and look East. It should be visible on the horizon. Clouds willing!
Celtic Eclipse
We have reason to believe the Celts celebrated the eclipse and were able to predict them. The Celtic Coligny Calendar, written on bronze and written in Celtic, shows they began their months with a full moon. The Calendar probably dates from the 1st Century BC, and is on display at the Palais des Arts in Lyon. It shows that the Celts kept a calendar which achieved complete synchronisation between the solar and lunar cycles. We, in the West, ignore the moon in how we set up our months. Of course the word month, obviously comes from the word Moon. Otherwise, our months are not at all synchronised with the moon.
Rabbit, Rabbit
The Celts celebrated the Rabbit and the Hare at an eclipse. They were very fertile and therefore linked to Aphrodite, who was herself associated with the Moon. Philostratus the Elder wrote:
‘For you know, I imagine, what is said of the hare, that it possesses the gift of Aphrodite to an unusual degree.‘.
For more on Hares and Rabbits look at my post here. I will be writing more about the Coligny Calendar on November 1st. In the meantime you might like to look at these posts:
September 3rd was Cromwell’s Lucky Day. This was because it was the date of two of his most famous victories. On September 3rd 1658 he refused to accept that he was dying because it was his lucky day. Unluckily, he was wrong.
The Battle of Dunbar September 3rd 1650
Engraving of Charles I
After the execution of King Charles I, the Scots chose Charles II as their King. This changed the Scots from allies of the English Parliament to enemies. The Lord General of the New Model Army, Thomas Fairfax, refused to lead an attack on their erstwhile allies. So Oliver Cromwell was promoted to command. He launched a preemptive attack but the army was ill prepared, and the campaign seemed in danger of failing. They took Arthur’s seat and bombarded Edinburgh and Leith from its heights. But they could not take Edinburgh.
In need of supplies, Cromwell retreated to Dunbar, which is on the North Sea, close to the Firth of Forth. The Scots advanced on Dunbar, and Cromwell came out to meet them. After a hard battle, the English Calvary outflanked the Scots and the Battle was won. Pride, Monk, Lilburne and Lambert were all involved in the Battle. Cromwell claimed to have killed 4,000 Scots and captured 10,000. Scottish sources suggested over 1,000 Scottish casualties and 5,000 prisoners.
The Battle enabled Cromwell to seize control of Edinburgh, and Leith. So he could then cross the First of Forth and attack Fife, where he was also successful.
Cromwell interpreted the overwhelming victory as a
“A high act of the Lord’s Providence to us [and] one of the most signal mercies God hath done for England and His people”.[ (Wikipedia)
Meanwhile, the Scottish Army marched South in to England. in an attempt to raise the support of English Royalists. King Charles II was now with them, They hoped Cromwell would be held up in Fife, but he wasn’t. He secured Perth and put General Monck in charge in Scotland. Lambert was sent to harrass the Scottish Army as they marched south. Meanwhile, Cromwell forced marched his way to the Tyne. General Harrison had collected fresh troops from Newcastle and joined Cromwell. Thomas Fairfax came out of retirement and raised troops in Yorkshire. The Southern troops were collected at Banbury by General Fleetwood. 14,000 militia men from the trained bands of London joined the march to intercept the Scottish Invasion.
The Battle of Worcester September 3rd 1651
The decisive battle took place at Worcester, which the Royalist occupied. It was an unusual battle in that it took place on both sides of the River Severn. Cromwell delayed the start of the battle to build two pontoon bridges. This meant he could reinforce his troops on either side of the River. It also delayed the start of the battle to his lucky day.
The pontoon bridges proved decisive. The Parliamentary side had over 30,000 troops while the Royalists only 16,000. Cromwell could shore up besieged formation with troops from the other side of the River. The Royalists were pushed back to the High Street. Here, they rallied to allow King Charles II to escape. And that was the end of the Second English Civil War. (The first being the defeat of Charles I, the second the defeat of Charles II).
Charles II made a hair-raising escape from England, hiding in an Oak Tree. Eventually, finding a ship on the South Coast at Shoreham, in Dorset to take him into a long exile. (see my post on Charles’ escape here🙂
Of the Scottish army, perhaps 3,000 men were killed and 10,000 taken prisoners. Some prisoners were conscripted into the New Model Army and sent to fight in Ireland. Many of the rest (perhaps up to 8,000) were forced into indentured labour. They were sent to New England, Bermuda, the West Indies or the Fens. Others were taken to London and detained in prison camps. One of which was at Tothill Fields in Westminster. Conditions were often appalling, leading to death by disease and malnutrition.
American Presidents pay their respects to the ‘famous’ Battlefield.
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson visited the site of the Battle in 1786. Adams reported:
‘The people in the neighborhood appeared so ignorant and careless at Worcester that I was provoked and asked “And do Englishmen so soon forget the ground where liberty was fought for? Tell your neighbors and your children that this is holy ground, much holier than that on which your churches stand. All England should come in pilgrimage to this hill, once a year”‘
And indeed will now only see the battle as one of the many battles of the Civil War. Generally, we are not aware of its special significance.
Cromwell’s Death September 3rd 1658.
By now, the Monarch in all but name, Cromwell, the Lord Protector fell ill, probably of malaria. Then, when weakened, his kidney stone infection turned to septicemia. On August 30th, there was a mighty storm, the like Europe had not seen for hundreds of years. And there was talk of the Lord taking him away in the furious storm. As he weakened he was asked to name his successor. He appeared to affirm when the name of his son Richard was spoken to him. But, it wasn’t very clear. He rallied, perhaps hoping that if he could survive to September 3rd, he would overcome his illness.
On the day, he said to his doctors ‘I tell you I shall not die this hour; I am sure on’t …. I speak the Words of Truth upon surer grounds than Galen and Hippocrates furnish you with.’
But he died on his lucky day. He was given a splendid funeral and was buried in state among the Kings and Queens in Westminster Abbey. And then in 1660 dug up, executed posthumously at Tyburn and buried under the Gibbet.
Love this monument in St Margaret’s Uxbridge to Dame Leonora Bennet.
She lies there resting on her arm with an insouciant air. She had three husbands before spending the rest of her life on good works. And the sculptors John and Matthew Christmas seem to me portray her as an attractive woman.
Love the contrast with the glimpse into the Charnel House below with the jumbled bones almost fighting to get out.
The Tomb of Leonora Benet. St Margaret’s Church, Uxbridge.The scene from the charnel house at the bottom of the tomb of Leonora Benet. St Margaret’s Church, Uxbridge.
I’m going to let this Quora answer speak for itself today. This is by Daniel Tiede and is his nomination for the last Germans to surrender in World War Two. You can find the article here:
