Today we all worry about global catastrophe, with terrible weather phenomena and all manner of fearful occurrences. Well, we understand more now, but what if we’d lived in medieval England? Back then everyone believed quite genuinely and fearfully in the supernatural, magic, Otherworldly beings, the wrath of God and the evil of the Devil. It… Continue reading The end of the world 1385 style….?
Tag: Scotland
The de Courcy Matter, Part II: The French side of the story….
I hope that by the time you read this article you will already have visited yesterday’s Part I, which relates the English version of Marguerite de Courcy’s return to France. She left England under the cloud of having lived far too high a life for a governess and of stealing some English royal jewels. These… Continue reading The de Courcy Matter, Part II: The French side of the story….
“Time-honour’d Lancaster” was given to pressing on at the expense of his men….
In late April 1388, John of Gaunt‘s son-in-law Sir John Holand returned to England from the Spanish peninsula, where he had been constable of Gaunt’s army. Gaunt had invaded the peninsula in pursuit of the Crown of Castile, to which he had a claim through his marriage to the Infanta Constanza. I am now going… Continue reading “Time-honour’d Lancaster” was given to pressing on at the expense of his men….
Josephine Tey honoured in her homeland of Scotland….
“…Josephine Tey, a beloved Scottish crime writer, is poised to join the esteemed ranks of women honored on the Mapping Memorials to Women in Scotland map….” Well, what more need be said? Tey redeemed Richard III at a time when he was definitely regarded as the awful creature conjured by More, Shakespeare and the truly… Continue reading Josephine Tey honoured in her homeland of Scotland….
Digging for Britain (series 11)
As another year dawns, it must be time for another series of Britain’s archeological highlights, divided into five regions. This time, it started in the north with Carlisle Cricket Club hosting a dig associated with the bathhouse of the emperor Septimius Severus, a particularly steep part of the Grampians and Lowther Castle, a site that… Continue reading Digging for Britain (series 11)
“Becoming Elizabeth”
This drama series, from Starz but now broadcast on Channel Four, follows the momentous but unheralded reign of Edward VI through the eyes of the future Elizabeth I. It features the literally fratricidal feud between the Seymour brothers as the elder, the Duke of Somerset, becomes Lord Protector but also the King’s governor, powers that… Continue reading “Becoming Elizabeth”
When, oh when, did Henry Percy fight the “battle” of Duns….?
If, like me, you had never heard of the Battle of Duns, here’s a brief outline. Late in the 14th century Henry Percy, 4th Baron Percy (created 1st Earl of Northumberland in 1377) led an army of 7,000 over the border into Berwickshire and made camp at Duns to await reinforcements. One night the sleeping… Continue reading When, oh when, did Henry Percy fight the “battle” of Duns….?
Further Royal ancestry – twice over this time
Who do you think you are, the celebrity genealogy show with some surprising results, has returned to BBC1 on Thursday evenings. The twentieth series, of nine episodes, began with Andrew, Lord Lloyd Webber, whose parents, cellist brother Julian and late son Nick were also known to be musically talented, but makes some uncannily similar connections… Continue reading Further Royal ancestry – twice over this time
The Battle of Largs
During the first quarter of the second millennium, Scotland did not have a clear northern or western border. There was the North Sea to the east and England to the south, where the exact line varied on occasion, but the status of the west coast was far more nebulous. There was a Gaelic kingdom of… Continue reading The Battle of Largs
Buc
Here it is at last, a publication sponsored by the Society of Antiquaries and the Richard III Society. Over forty years after his last edition of Buc‘s magnum opus, Arthur Kincaid has managed to remove the “wrapping paper” added by the author’s less painstaking great-nephew and namesake so that only the original remains. Through the… Continue reading Buc
murreyandblue 