Tag: misenum

Of Setting Hens (and Spring Chickens)

Gervase Markham who wrote a heap of farming and horticulture books in the 17th Century, wrote about Spring Chickens in ‘Cheap and Good Husbandry’. He starts by suggesting this is the time to impregnate them.

The best time to set Hens to have the best, largest, and most kindly Chickens;, is in February, in the increase of the Moon, so that they may hatch or disclose her Chickens; in the increase of the next new Moon, being in March; for one brood of March Chickens; is worth three broods of any other: You may set Hens from March; till October, and have good Chickens;, but not after by any means, for the Winter is a great enemy to their breeding….

To read this section of the book follow this link.

To read about March Hares, March Chickens and more on March Chickens, look at my post: https://www.chr.org.uk/anddidthosefeet/march-28th-as-mad-as-a-march-hare/

The expression comes from the 17th Century when Spring/March Chickens were more profitable that old chickens that had gone through the winter. Commonly, it is used in the negative as in ‘Kevin ain’t no spring chicken.’

On this day

February 26th 1797 First Pound Note:

The Bank of England issued it’s first ever one pound note (although some sources say March 1797). The Bank had been issuing paper notes since the late 17th Century, but this was the first £1 note. They still had to be signed by hand and allocated to a specific person. The hand signed white paper notes were withdrawn in 1820, and the pound note was, finally, withdrawn in 1988. The £1 in 1797 was worth the equivalent of £157.46 today, so quite a big note! (see here for the calculator.)

Pound note first published 2024, Spring Chicken February 26th 2025

Interesting Archaeology discoveries.

The following discoveries were reported in Salon IFA the newsletter of the Society of Antiquaries of London in Salon: Issue 526  7 February 2024, which you can see here:

Pliny the Elder’s Villa found near Vesuvius?

The 1st Century seafront villa, with views of the Bay of Naples and of Mount Vesuvius, has been excavated at the town of Bacoli, which was the port of Misenum. Pliny commanded the fleet as ‘Praefectus classis Misenensis’. Pliny tried to rescue his friends and family, ignoring warnings saying ‘Fortune favours the brave’, ‘Audentes Fortuna luvat’. It didn’t and he died, at Stabiae, by toxic fumes. Read more about the villa here:

Face Reconstructed for a Victim of Roman Crucifixion

A male skeleton found, 4 years ago, in a Roman cemetery in Fenstaton in Cambridgeshire was found with a 2-inch nail through his heel bone. BBC 4 has made a documentary about the recent reconstruction of the man’s face by, as Salon reports it:

‘US forensic artist Joe Mullins, of George Mason University, Virginia. He usually works with law enforcement agencies, reconstructing the faces of modern-day crime victims. ‘

To follow the details, read more here, or watch the BBC documentary, ‘The Cambridgeshire Crucifixion’, which can be viewed on BBC iPlayer.

For more archaeology read my post: https://www.chr.org.uk/anddidthosefeet/london-before-london-and-dna/

Published in February 2024, revised 2025