Tag: music

The mystery castle I didn’t know I was passing in 1957-1960….

In 1958-1960, when I lived just outside Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, I remember that about 1.74 miles/2.80 kilometres from my home I often passed an old farm close to a parish church. I simply noticed, that’s all. Back then I wasn’t particularly interested in history. I was a teenager, more concerned with the likes of Buddy Holly,… Continue reading The mystery castle I didn’t know I was passing in 1957-1960….

Autocorrect strikes again

Here is Henry VI‘s wife, who bore her only child today in 1453. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you … Margaret of Banjo! {illustrated by SHW} I was checking the MS of a certain novel, and Autocorrect wanted to change Margaret of Anjou to Margaret of Banjo. This amused me, and immediately I thought of… Continue reading Autocorrect strikes again

Bolingbroke and his flute….!

I feel it’s time to take another pop at a Lancastrian King Henry. On this occasion it’s Henry IV, the warlike Lancastrian usurper who murdered his cousin Richard II and stole the crown. A process that led to the Wars of the Roses. So definitely not one of my favourite kings. When it comes to… Continue reading Bolingbroke and his flute….!

Songs about Richard III (revised)

This is a revised edition of the original book which is about the songs I have written for my Richard III music project. It includes the lyrics for the songs which have been released on the albums which have been recorded as The Legendary Ten Seconds. The songs that I have written and recorded tell… Continue reading Songs about Richard III (revised)

My reaction to Lucy Worsley’s Christmas Carol Odyssey….

Sometimes the stories behind our much-loved Christmas carols are quite disheartening, involving as they do national and international strife and religious rivalry that was both bloody and filled with hatred. Yet every year we sing the resultant carols with joy. The reactions of the human race are sometimes contradictory. To say the least! I am… Continue reading My reaction to Lucy Worsley’s Christmas Carol Odyssey….

What is the name for someone who plays the shawm….?

I have an odd question. Well, odd in that it concerns medieval minstrels/musicians and what they are called according to the instrument they played. For instance, those who played trumpets were (still are) called trumpeters and those who played fiddles were fiddlers and pipes are played by pipers, all of which seem recognisable enough to… Continue reading What is the name for someone who plays the shawm….?

An Irishman abroad but not for much longer?

“Red” Hugh O’Donnell (1572-1602) was an Irish chieftain who fought a series of battles against English armies between 1595 and the beginning of 1602 (during the Nine Years’ War which actually ran from 1593 to 1603), one of his less successful opponents being the Earl of Essex. O’Donnell ruled Tir Chonaill in the extreme north-west… Continue reading An Irishman abroad but not for much longer?

So Master Porker picked up his bagpipes and let rip….!

We’re all accustomed to the wonderful gargoyles adorning our churches, abbeys and cathedrals, illuminations on manuscripts and the beautiful carvings on misericords, but sometimes they are truly amusing. On this occasion the apparently comedial figures are pigs playing the bagpipes. Yes, really. And not only in Scotland, I hasten to point out, because bagpipes are… Continue reading So Master Porker picked up his bagpipes and let rip….!

A piece of Richard’s sarcophagus….

  Here is an interesting little comment: “….in the Picnic Chapel, which contains a small stone that is a remaining part of the stone used to make Richard III’s sarcophagus in Leicester Cathedral….” This stone is at Nevill Holt Opera, near Market Harborough, and the sentence is right at the end of this link. this… Continue reading A piece of Richard’s sarcophagus….