Mudlarks of the River Thames

In the 18th and 19th Centuries, many London made a meagre living from searching the riverbanks of the Thames for cargo that had fallen off passing boats, or trinkets dropped into the water from the barges and wherries. If English literature is to believed, this practice began much earlier, maybe even Tudor children and poor women scoured the beaches at low tide for treasure they could sell for the price of a meal.

In 1904, a person could still claim "Mudlark" as his occupation, but by 1936 the word is used merely to describe swim-suited London schoolchildren earning pocket money during the summer holidays by begging passers-by to throw coins into the Thames mud, which they then chased for an amused audience. It persists today in the form of beachcombing as part of the tourist experience for those interested in London's past.

The viscous, slate-coloured Thames mud with its distinct sulphurous smell is anaerobic [devoid of oxygen] which makes it a highly-effective preserving agent. An example of what has been found is bone that has been sawed and is still rough from the saw cut, and pottery that was "finished" by having salt flung at it, with the granules still visible after 400 years. A Roman roof tile was discovered once, with puppy footprints on it. A Roman puppy trotted across a tile when it was still soft from the oven approximately 1800 years ago!

Iron Age Glass Bead

The most common items found are 16th Century clay pipes - usually broken and often found close to the surface as opposed to buried in the silt. These were sold pre-filled with tobacco yet, although they could be re-used, they were generally thrown away, especially by the dock workers, which explains why there are so many in the river. 

Work conditions were filthy and uncomfortable, as excrement and waste would wash onto the shores from the raw sewage, and sometimes the corpses of humans, cats and dogs as well. The income generated was small, but a mother-of-pearl button or an old coin could earn enough for a meal. Fnders kept everything they made, but today, anything over 300 years old becomes the property of the Museum of London (though the finders are rewarded).

Henry Mayhew in his book, London Labour and the London Poor published in 1861, includes the "Narrative of a Mudlark", an interview with a thirteen-year-old boy, under the heading “Those that will not work,” for in the 19^th century mudlarks were dismissed as thieves. The chapter was entitled “Felonies on the River Thames” alongside smugglers and pirates, though here is a resourceful child scraping a living in the worst circumstances.

The Society of Thames Mudlarks - founded in 1980 has a special licence issued by the Port of London Authority for its 51 licenced members to search the Thames mud for treasure and historical artifacts. Amongst the historic items which have been found are Tudor bricks, 18th Century clay pipes, coins, chain mail and Georgian jewellery. The Museum of London now holds over 200 such objects in its Medieval Gallery alone.

Left - Mudlark Steve Brooker found this 17^th Century Ball and Chain in 2009

Southwark was once known for its drunken sailors, thieves, prostitutes, cut throats and the Clink Prison where some of the best places to go mudlarking still exist. Others are: beneath the Millenium Bridge, outside Tate Modern on the south bank, the north bank near St Paul's Cathedral, where hundreds of clay pipes lay on the surface. Also, the beach below Gabriel's Wharf, and Blackfriars Bridge on the north bank.


There is a pub called The Mudlark  in Montague Close, Southwark. The Museum of London also houses the Cheapside Hoard, a collection of 400 pieces of Elizabethan and Jacobean jewelry, dating from 1560 to 1630. No one knows who buried the hoard, or why it was never reclaimed, but it was most likely sometime during the early 1600’s and discovered in 1912, by workmen digging in a cellar in Cheapside.

Steve Brooker also found this knuckle guard from a medieval gauntlet [left] at the Customs House near the Tower of London.

Further Information:

This site is somewhat zany but there are pictures of some extraordinary finds by modern mudlarks

Steve Brooker's Website
Amazing Finds
The Cheapside Hoard

~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anita Davison is a Historical Fiction Author whose latest release, Royalist Rebel, is published under the name Anita Seymour by Claymore Press.
~~~~~~~~~~~~

Manufacturing a Mythology: Brutus, the Legendary Founder of Britain

by Rosanne E. Lortz

If you’re an ancient Greek, you have wrathful Achilles, the “swift-footed son of Peleus” who defeats Priam’s mighty son Hector and paves the way for the eventual destruction of Troy. Or if guile is more your style, you have Odysseus, the resourceful hero who wanders the world for ten years on his homeward voyage, braving Cyclops, Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis, before slaying the scores of suitors ensconced in his own halls.

If you’re an imperial Roman, you have Aeneas, striding proudly out of the flames of Troy, escaping the wiles of Dido of Carthage and carving out a new home in Italy.

Aeneas' Flight from Troy, by Federico Barocci (1598)

But if you’re British and living in the ninth century A.D., you have…nothing. And frankly, it’s kind of embarrassing. Or, at least, it was to the historian Nennius.

How could a country have a proper pedigree if it could not trace its ancestors back to the siege of Troy?

The answer? It couldn’t. And so Nennius began his Historia Brittonum with this story of the legendary “founder” of Britain, a story that seems, almost certainly, concocted from his own fertile imagination since no other versions of the tale precede it.

Aeneas, after the Trojan war, arrived with his son [Ascanius] in Italy; and having vanquished Turnus, married Lavinia, the daughter of king Latinus….  

But Ascanius married a wife, who conceived and became pregnant. And Aeneas, having been informed that his daughter-in-law was pregnant, ordered his son to send his magician to examine his wife, whether the child conceived were male or female. The magician came and examined the wife and pronounced it to be a son, who should become the most valiant among the Italians, and the most beloved of all men.  

In consequence of this prediction, the magician was put to death by Ascanius [who presumably thought that he was the most valiant and most beloved?]; but it happened that the mother of the child dying at its birth, he was named Brutus; and after a certain interval agreeably to what the magician had foretold, whilst he was playing with some others he shot his father with an arrow, not intentionally but by accident.  

He was, for this cause, expelled from Italy, and came to the islands of the Tyrrhene sea, when he was exiled on account of the death of Turnus, slain by Aeneas. He then went among the Gauls, and built the city of Turones, called Turnis. At length he came to this island, named from him Britannia, dwelt there, and filled it with his own descendants, and it has been inhabited from that time to the present period.

This story, spun by Nennius, was taken by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his twelfth century Historia Regum Britanniae and embellished even further. He expanded the simple tale into a chapter that numbers twenty-one pages in my edition of the work.

The "Brutus Stone" in Totnes in Devon,
where Geoffrey of Monmouth
says Brutus landed.

Brutus, now the great-grandson (not the grandson) of Aeneas, shows his cunning and prowess as he assembles an army of exiled Trojans, wins victories in Gaul, and crosses the channel into Britain where he must defeat a fierce band of giants. He even builds a capital city on the banks of the Thames, calling it Troia Nova—“New Troy.”

After Geoffrey of Monmouth, the legend of Brutus became widely known and promulgated. The anonymous author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight commences his story thus:

When the last assault had been delivered, and the siege of Troy was over, and the city was destroyed by fire and lay in ashes, Prince Aeneas sailed away with his noble kindred, and they conquered new realms…. And far over the French flood [i.e. the English Channel] Felix Brutus, with joy in his heart, founded a broad realm on the hills of Britain….

And in a charming inclusio, once the story of Sir Gawain has been fully told, the author brings us back to Brutus to conclude his tale:

This adventure happened in the days of King Arthur, and the books about Britain, that Brutus founded, record it. And many other adventures like it have befallen since the siege and assault ceased at Troy and the bold knight Brutus first made his way to this land. 

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is just one example among many of how the story of the legendary Brutus became commonplace over the next several centuries. Holinshed’s Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland, which was published in the sixteenth century during the life of Shakespeare, gives more than a nod to the story and treats it as proper history:

After…came Brutus the son of Sylvius with a great train of the posterity of the dispersed Trojans in 324 ships…. [He] brought them also wholly under his rule and governance, and dispossessing the peers & inferior owners of their lands and possessions, he divided the country among such princes and captains as he in his arrival here had led out of Greece with him.

A pic of Brutus of Troy
from 1553

Although Shakespeare, to my knowledge, did not mention Brutus (or, at least, this Brutus), he did use Holinshed’s Chronicles as a source for some of the works in his corpus. His plays King Lear and Cymbeline, both about semi-mythical kings of Britain, show that he was fascinated by the early, legendary days of England. His play Troilus and Cressida (which is set during the fall of Troy) shows that he was also fascinated by the “matter of Rome”—as they called classical mythology.

Geoffrey of Monmouth took Nennius’ few short paragraphs and penned an adventure-filled saga of twenty-one pages. What literary brilliance could Shakespeare have achieved if he had taken Geoffrey of Monmouth’s history and plotted a play about Brutus, the legendary founder of Britain? That is a play I would have enjoyed reading....
~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rosanne E. Lortz is the author of two books: I Serve: A Novel of the Black Prince, a historical adventure/romance set during the Hundred Years' War, and Road from the West: Book I of the Chronicles of Tancred, the beginning of a trilogy which takes place during the First Crusade.

You can learn more about Rosanne's books at her Official Author Website where she also blogs about writing, mothering, and things historical.
_________________


BIBLIOGRAPHY

Geoffrey of Monmouth. The History of the Kings of Britain. Trans. Lewis Thorpe. London: Penguin Books, 1966.

Holinsheds Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland. 1587 Edition. Found at The Holinshed Project. http://www.english.ox.ac.uk/holinshed/toc.php?edition=1587

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Translated by M.R. Ridley. Found in Medieval Romances, edited by Roger Sherman Loomis and Laura Hibbard Loomis. USA: Random House, 1957.

Marriage Law in 1818: The Less Romantic Side of Regency England

by Christy English

Imagine with me, if you will, that you are a young and lovely girl with your whole life ahead of you. The man you met at a ball and fell in love with has courted you, and with the full approval of your parents, he has asked you to marry him. The wedding is sure to be beautiful and swift, because the year is 1818 and you are living in England, and Regency engagements were short.


Bridal Gown 1816

Double Book Giveaway by Julian Stockwin!

Julian is giving away one signed copy of Betrayal and one signed copy of Conquest to each of two winners. International. You can read about the books HERE. You will be prompted to return to this page to enter the drawing by commenting below. Please be sure to leave your contact information.

Spy? Why, sir - I am no spy...!

A quick guide to ‘information technology’ during the Peninsular War

by Jonathan Hopkins


Military intelligence is a contradiction in terms or so the old joke runs. Of course that was based on generals’ continued fallback option in later wars: throwing masses of lightly armed and unprotected men against emplaced infantry, machine guns and artillery in the forlorn hope they commanded higher numbers than the opposition and the basic tactic of 18th century warfare still worked.^.

It’s far different nowadays, in an age of satellite imaging and unmanned drones. But even though the Duke of Marlborough had famously written that ‘no war can be conducted successfully without early and good intelligence’ it wasn’t until 1803 that a Department of Military Intelligence was proposed in Britain, by Robert Brownrigg who had accompanied Frederick, Duke of York, as his military secretary, on the abortive expedition to Holland in 1799 and who realised the system of using local knowledge, in widespread operation at that time, was rubbish, basically.

But Brownrigg found recruiting operatives to the DMI was a major headache. Though governments employed spies, the army was above such ungentlemanly shenanigans. Intelligent young officers, attracted originally by a home posting, soon found sifting through mounds of often conflicting information far less attractive than they had first imagined, apart from the fact that many were ostracised by friends once their occupation became known.

A spy? Hrrrmph! Not the done thing, old boy.

Most transferred out of the fledgling department pretty sharpish once they realised this, so by the time Wellington landed on the Portuguese coast in August 1808 he was no better off than Marlborough had been on his march across Europe to the Danube a hundred years earlier.

The first problem the British had was a dearth of maps. Wellington originally relied on those of cartographer Tomas Lopez (‘tolerably accurate’ according to the University of Southampton). Their main failing was they showed few contour details, critical information when it came to moving large numbers of troops and quantities of equipment by road. Or dirt track, which is what Iberian thoroughfares usually were.

It was exactly this which prompted Sir John Moore, in the autumn of 1808, to gamble on splitting his force in three when he crossed Portugal into Spain. Locals convinced him that because of the state of the roads, the only way he could get his horse drawn artillery safely to Salamanca was on a circuitous journey through Estremadura, to the south of his preferred line of march

As it turned out, the guns could have managed Moore’s central route without too many problems, so since he did not know exactly where the French were he had risked any one of his under-strength divisions meeting the enemy unexpectedly through a lack of good intelligence.

Once Wellington returned to Iberia the following year he set about solving these problems. He saw immediately how useful intimate local knowledge was when Colonel John Waters, who had remained in Portugal after the British left, found boats which enabled Wellington’s troops to cross the Douro at Oporto un-noticed by Marshal Soult’s army and create a strongpoint from which they were able to run the French out of the city and thence from Portugal, at least for a time.

The Duke had no specialist cartographers, but he did have a few engineers who possessed similar skills. When not required on other projects these men were sent out, often with a cavalry escort, initially to map areas ahead of the British line of advance, but later to survey vast tracts of Portugal and Spain. As they moved about the country and became familiar to the local populace they would often receive information from the natives about French positions which they passed on to headquarters, and thus the more generally known role of ‘Exploring Officer’ (they were called ‘Observing Officers’ in many period despatches) was born.

Edward Charles Cocks was one such officer, though he was a captain in the 16th Light Dragoons rather than an engineer. As well as mapping the countryside Cocks watched for troop and supply movements which might indicate where the enemy were likely to strike next. His cavalry escort meant he was usually able to pass messages back quickly, without needing to either return to headquarters personally or risk Portuguese or Spanish couriers of unknown reliability.

As the war progressed, however, the network of known partisans grew. Messages could travel shorter distances between couriers so went faster. In addition, Wellington had made it known he paid cash for captured French dispatches, and it seems he did not much care how they were obtained. There are anecdotal tales of them being received still smeared with their original carrier’s blood. For their part the French pursued a policy of extermination against any individual or group they believed had helped the British, fueling the growth of Iberian guerrilla movements and ensuring even more information reached Wellington’s ears.

Exploring Officers wore full uniform for the simple reason that if they were captured they could claim they were combatants (which, technically, they were) and should be afforded all privileges their rank demanded. Spies caught in civilian clothes would likely be shot, though that did not stop many Exploring Officers going about in disguise. Captain Dashwood, an officer on Moore’s staff, dressed himself in a Spanish shepherd’s cloak and hat before walking brazenly into the occupied village of Rueda to check on the numbers of French troops in residence, before strolling casually back out again.

The most important piece of Exploring Officer’s equipment was usually a good horse. John Waters was captured at one point but bided his time until his escort was distracted. Then he galloped off, outrunning pursuers thanks to his mount’s superior fitness and stamina.

Being able to live by your wits helped, too. When Colquhoun Grant was captured in 1812 he somehow got sight of a letter from Marshal Marmont accusing him of spying and suggesting he be refused exchange for a captured French officer, normal practice at the time. Grant considered this allowed his to break his parole - his promise not to try to escape. Passing himself of as American, he made his way to Paris and mailed a number of intelligence reports to Wellington from the capital before escaping back to Britain by boat.

Eventually, semaphore stations were constructed in Portugal, helping messages travel even faster, though these were restricted to coastal areas. They never made it into the Spanish interior and it seems likely that was due to the terrain. But given the number of times the British advanced into and retreated from Spain between 1809 and 1813 it’s unclear how much use they would actually have been.

And I suppose the final piece of our IT jigsaw was George Scovell’s success in finally cracking the Grand Chiffre, France’s method of coding messages.

So there you have it. The Peninsular War was really won using wits, pen and ink, fast horses and friendly Spaniards. They would’ve loved Google Earth and SatNav.

Well, maybe not SatNav ;)

~~~~~~~~~~
Jonathan Hopkins is a Napoleonic Cavalry enthusiast.
His second novel Leopardkill - A Cavalry Tale is now available on Kindle with the paperback to follow on 1st October 2013.

The Flavian Palace at Fishbourne: Luxury Unparalleled in Europe North of the Alps

by Mark Patton

Close to the modern city of Chichester is a Roman palace that bears comparison with Nero's "Golden House" and the Palace of Domitian in Rome itself. Much of it is now hidden beneath modern housing but, in its heyday, it had a larger footprint than Buckingham Palace. Not only is it, by far, the most lavish Roman dwelling ever built in Britain, it is also one of the earliest, having been built within a few decades of the Roman invasion of 43 AD.

                          Imagined reconstruction of Fishbourne Roman Palace.

There are two main theories regarding the construction and ownership of the palace. The first, suggested by the original excavator, Professor Sir Barry Cunliffe, is that it was built between 73 and 79 AD for Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus, a native British king known for his loyalty to Rome. The second, suggested by Dr Miles Russell, of Bournemouth University, is that it was built in the AD 90s, possibly for the Roman Governor, Sallustius Lucullus. I have always found the first hypothesis to be the more compelling, but there is no conclusive proof either way.

What is clear is that it must have been erected by Roman builders and craftsmen brought to Britain especially for the purpose. Nothing remotely like this had ever been seen in Britain before. The palace has an entrance-hall; a formal audience chamber; residential suites with mosaics and under-floor heating; a bath complex; and accommodation for guests, and for servants or slaves. It also has an "aisled hall" (an unusual feature with a door onto the street, which may have been used in religious ceremonies, public addresses and/or entertainments) and an elaborate formal garden.

The earliest mosaics of the Flavian Palace are predominantly black and white, featuring geometric motifs.

It was not the first building on the site. Beneath the garden of the Flavian palace (the Flavian period, encompassing the reigns of Vespasian and his sons, Titus and Domitian, lasted from 69 to 96 AD) were found the remains of an earlier palace, built in the 60s AD; two substantial timber buildings of the 50s AD; and military granaries built soon after the Roman invasion.

If Cogidubnus provided the Emperor Claudius with a safe harbour and a supply base for his legions, this might go some way towards explaining why his Claudius's eventual successor, Vespasian, rewarded him so generously.  Vespasian and Cogidubnus may have become friends in the months following the invasion: we know that the Second Legion, which Vespasian then commanded, campaigned in Hampshire and Dorset. Vespasian may have cultivated Cogidubnus as he would later cultivate the Jewish leader, Josephus.

Bust found at Fishbourne. Is this the face of Cogidubnus, or of one of his sons?

We do not know the name of the architect who designed the palace, but there are close parallels between Fishbourne and the Palace of Domitian in Rome, close enough to suggest that it may have been designed by the same man, and built with the assistance of some of the same craftsmen, or by their former apprentices.

                                  The Palace of Domitian in Rome.

"Awesome and vast is the edifice, distinguished not by a hundred columns but by as many as could shoulder the gods and the sky, if Atlas were let off. The Thunderer's palace next door gapes at it,
and the gods rejoice that you are lodged in a like abode...So great extends the structure and the sweep of the far-flung hall, more expansive than that of an open plain, embracing much enclosed sky and lesser only than its master..." Statius, Silvae, 4, describing the Palace of Domitian.

The Fishbourne palace remained in use until it was destroyed by fire in around 270 AD, and may have passed through several hands. Some of the more elaborately coloured mosaics date to the Second and Third Centuries AD.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mark Patton's novel, An Accidental King, is published by Crooked Cat Publications, and can be purchased from www.amazon.co.uk and www.amazon.com. He will be giving a public reading at Fishbourne Roman Palace on 10th August 2013 (details available at http://sussexpast.co.uk/event/an-accidental-king-reading-at-fishbourne).

The ABCs of Historical Fiction

by Mary Tod

In 2012, I conducted a reader survey that reached more than 800 people from around the world. Participants explained why they read historical fiction, what time periods and geographies they prefer, their reading habits, favorite authors and favorite sources of recommendations.

In The Historical Novel, Jerome de Groot suggests that those who write historical fiction “put the flesh back on the skeleton that is history”. Readers, it seems, love the ‘flesh’ that de Groot refers to and relish the learning that goes along with their enjoyment.

What seems obvious and was reinforced by the survey is the following ‘equation’:
Authors + Books => Conversations.


A: Let’s talk about authors first.

In the 2012 survey, favorite authors abound with over 400 different names mentioned. Of the Top 40, readers chose 29 female authors and 11 male authors, likely a reflection of the high percentage of female participation. Several Top 40 authors, like Plaidy, Seton and Austen are deceased. Even though each geographic region reads its own authors to some extent, people from those regions still nominated the same ‘global’ authors in high proportions. Except Colleen McCullough (Australia) and Geraldine Brooks (Australia and US), all Top 40 authors live in either UK or US.

For the most part, these authors base their stories in long ago periods, writing about well-known historical figures either in a central or significant role. Many have written series or have concentrated on a particular time period so readers know what to expect and are familiar with their main characters.

I’ve interviewed a number of the top 40. All are serious researchers who work hard to select compelling bits of history and to ensure historical accuracy. All are dedicated storytellers who are passionate about their characters. Many invest considerable time interacting with readers. Most talk about luck and perseverance, about trusting their instincts and the long struggle to achieve recognition.

B: And then there are the books these authors create.

Based on further analysis and my own reading, I believe that the following ingredients make these favorite authors stand out.

• Superb writing. This ingredient covers prose, pacing, emotional resonance, plot twists and entertainment value. Table stakes for high quality fiction of any genre.

• Dramatic arc of historical events. In essence, successful authors are masters at finding and selecting what Hilary Mantel calls ‘the dramatic shape in real events’.

• Characters both heroic and human. Readers want to experience famous figures as believable characters complete with doubts and flaws. Readers also seek stories showing every day people accomplishing heroic tasks in times very different from today.

• Immersed in time and place. Activating all senses, authors like Sharon Kay Penman, Bernard Cornwell, Margaret George and others transport readers to another era from the very first paragraphs of their novels.

• Corridors of power. Whether Ancient Rome, Tudor England or the American Civil War, best selling novels expose the structure, corruption and machinations of monarchy, military, religion, law, nobility, and upper-class society.

• Authentic and educational. Readers love to learn. The hallmark of a top historical fiction author is meticulous research followed by carefully chosen information to create a seamless blend of history and story.

• Ageless themes. Favorite historical fiction dramatizes thought-provoking themes that are as important today as they were long ago.

• High stakes. Life, kingdoms, epic battles, fortunes, marriage, family. In historical fiction, characters risk on a grand scale.

• Sex and love. Men and women from long ago rarely chose their partners. Love was often thwarted. Women were pawns. Favorite authors incorporate this type of conflict into their stories. In addition, sex is frequently depicted as a turning point in the lives of heroes and heroines.

• Dysfunctional families. Kings beheading their queens, brothers killing brothers, daughters betrothed at the age of six, incest, rivalry between father and son, wives banished or locked away – merely a few examples of dysfunctional family life that are the subjects of successful historical fiction.

C: Authors create books; books create conversations.

Readers have always talked about the books they enjoy whether one on one with friends, in book clubs, or in gatherings and conferences dedicated to books. The online sphere has enhanced such conversations such that we can talk to almost anyone, anywhere, anytime about books, authors and the reading experience.

One survey insight that surprised me is the extent to which people are engaging in conversations about the books they read using purpose-built venues like Goodreads, Shelfari, and Library Thing, online retailers like Amazon and Barnes & Noble, the online versions of more traditional publications like The London Review of Books or USA Today, and an endless (and growing) number of book review blogs and book forums.

In the 2012 survey, 562 participants listed their favourite reading oriented websites, blogs and social media sites. The winners in connecting readers with other readers through book reviews and related topics share three attributes: thoughtful, trustworthy information about books, opportunities for an exchange of ideas, and a community of like-minded readers.

People love to talk about books.

They engage in lively debates about titles both popular and obscure. They choose to hang out with like-minded folks based on genre, author, time period or geography. They write reviews that are as good as (if not as lengthy as) many well-known reviewers. They catalogue their titles and share them on Facebook, Twitter and other places. They participate in monthly book read-a-longs and yearly challenges. They dedicate time and thoughtful effort to the craft of reading with an ever-widening circle of connections in the online world.

Beyond readers in conversation with other readers, authors are finding new ways to converse with their audience both during the writing process and afterwards. Take Elizabeth Chadwick as an example. Almost every day, Elizabeth posts the opening and closing lines from that day’s work on Facebook. It’s an intriguing way to stay connected while in the midst of the lengthy story-writing process. Let’s hear from some other top 40 authors on how they connect with readers.

“I maintain an active social media presence … as well as an e-mail address where any reader can write to me. I answer all my e-mail personally, even though the volume can be overwhelming at times.” C.W. Gortner

“I confess I was hesitant about venturing onto Facebook at first, but I soon became addicted. In addition to my personal Facebook page, my readers have set up three Facebook fan clubs, and I try to stop by as often as I can.” Sharon Kay Penman

Beyond blogging and Facebook, Susan Higginbotham runs a reader-oriented bulletin board, Historical Fiction Online. “… I’ve made some wonderful friends through these sites and have had some great discussions about books and history.”

“I try to make myself as accessible as possible, particularly [to] those with questions about the history behind the books.” Michelle Moran

“I talk to readers at Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads and on blogs, and I just treat them as I would like to be trated myself when talking to someone about a subject I’m interested in. I chat. I sometimes have a giggle … I’m just me.” Elizabeth Chadwick

“I blog, I am on Facebook and Twitter, and I do phone-in chats for reading groups. I also answer all of my personal email myself … if someone takes the time to write an email or letter, they will get one back.” Deanna Raybourn

“I love chatting and ‘meeting’ new people online.” Helen Hollick

Authors are connecting much more directly with readers. Information about upcoming books is more accessible than in the past. Book related conversations, along with those who curate them, are gaining more and more influence.


Authors. Books. Conversations. It’s a changing world.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

M.K. Tod writes historical fiction and blogs about all aspects of the genre at A Writer of History. Her debut novel, UNRAVELLED: Two Wars. Two Affairs. One Marriage, will release in paperback and ebook formats in September 2013. To contact Mary, send an email to mktod [at] outlook [dot] com or on Twitter @mktodauthor. She is also on Goodreads and Facebook.

HMS Victory

by Julian Stockwin

Julian Stockwin in front of the HMS Victory

There have been many famous ship’s in Britain’s long history – Mary Rose, Golden Hinde, Cutty Sark, Trincomalee, Great Britain, Discovery – to name just a few. But one ship stands head and shoulders above the rest, I’m referring of course to HMS Victory, now in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, and currently undergoing a major restoration to ensure her preservation for unborn generations.

England’s – and the world’s – most iconic ship already had a quite a number of years’ service before her most famous role as Nelson’s flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar, October 21, 1805.

In 1797 she returned to England, 32 years old, scarred and battle-weary. Late in that year, considered unfit for service, it was ordered she be converted into a hospital ship and eventual disposal. But Fate intervened – as it would several times in her career – and when the first rate Impregnable was lost in Chichester Harbour there was an urgent need for another three- decker for the Channel Fleet. Victory was to be given a new lease of life! Refitting commenced at Chatham Dockyard in late 1800.

Over the course of her active service she was flagship to many famous admirals – Keppel, Hyde Parker, Kempenfelt, Howe, Hood, Jervis, Saumarez – and Nelson.

Her keel was laid at Chatham Dockyard in 1759, the year of victories, annus mirabilis, probably the most significant year in British history since 1066. Admiral Boscawen defeated the French off the southern coast of Portugal; on the other side of the globe Wolfe took Quebec and Hawke saw a magnificent victory at Quiberon Bay. And in that year a young Horatio Nelson celebrated his first birthday.

The ship was officially christened Victory on 30 October 1760 in recognition of the victories of the previous year, although some had misgivings as the previous ship of that name had been wrecked with the loss of all hands!

A ship of the line like Victory required a great deal of timber for her construction; around 6000 trees were felled for the cause, mainly oak from the Wealden forests of Kent and Sussex. Her statistics are impressive: the vast amount of canvas that could be set meant a maximum sail area a third larger than a football pitch; if laid end for end, cordage used for her rigging would stretch 26 miles.

Despite her age, she once stayed at sea for two years and three months without entering port.

Victory’s magnificent figurehead is two cupids supporting the royal coat of arms surmounted with the royal crown. The arms bear the inscription of the Order of the Garter: ‘Shame to him who evil thinks.’ The current figurehead is a replica of the original one carved in 1801 at a cost of £50, which was damaged during the Battle of Trafalgar.

The Figurehead of HMS Victory

When I began to think about writing my Thomas Kydd series I came across some incredible statistics. In the bitter French wars at the end of the 18th century, there were, out of the six hundred thousand or more seamen in the Navy over that time, only 120, who, by their own courage, resolution and brute tenacity, made the awe inspiring journey from the fo’c’sle as common seaman to King’s officer on the quarterdeck. This meant of course that they changed from common folk to the gentry; they became – gentlemen. And that was no mean feat in the eighteenth century. 

Of those 120, a total of 22 became captains of their own ship – and a miraculous 3 became admirals! After Nelson and Hardy the two most important men aboard Victory at Trafalgar were of this mould, both originally common seamen – John Quilliam, first lieutenant and John Pascoe, the signal lieutenant.

Nelson was fatally shot at 1.15 pm October 21, 1805 by a French sharpshooter in the mizzen mast of Redoubtable.

Victory suffered the highest casualties of the British ships. Including Nelson, 57 were killed and 102 wounded.

The day after Trafalgar, Collingwood summoned Lieutenant John Lapenotiere in command of the schooner Pickle, the fastest vessel then at his disposal, and ordered him to sail to Plymouth with dispatches and then with all haste proceed to the Admiralty.

Lapenotiere was forced by weather conditions to land at the Cornish port of Falmouth. From there, his journey to London, 425 km, took 21 changes of horses and carriages and his expenses amounted to £46 19s 1d - nearly half his annual salary. Finally, the coach clattered into the Admiralty courtyard at 1 am in the morning of 6 November, 1805. Most of the officials had retired for the night but William Marsden, secretary to the Navy board, was on his way to his private apartments, having just finished work in the board room. Lapenotiere handed over the dispatches with the simple words, ‘Sir, we have gained a great victory. But we have lost Lord Nelson.’

Captain Hardy's Day Cabin in HMS Victory

Victory took Nelson’s body back to England for a state funeral. Myth persists that after he died he was preserved in a cask of rum and that on the way home some of the sailors drilled a small hole in the cask and drank the rum, hoping to imbibe some of his strength and courage. To this day, Royal Navy rum is known as ‘Nelsons blood’.

Nelson had made it clear that he did not wish his body to be committed to the deep. Surgeon Beatty was faced with the task of preserving the body. There wasn’t sufficient lead on board to make an airtight coffin and he had neither the knowledge or equipment for embalming. After cutting a lock of his hair for Lady Hamilton, Beatty placed Nelson’s shirt-clad body in a water leaguer, the largest barrel aboard. He then filled this with brandy, probably taken from a French prize and lashed the barrel to the mainmast in the middle of the deck, guarded 24/7 by an armed marine.

En route to Gibraltar a sentry got the fright of his life when the lid of the barrel began to rise, no doubt as result of release of internal gases. At Gibraltar Beatty found that the body had absorbed a quantity of the brandy, which was replaced by spirits of wine, a better preservative. The journey, owing to bad weather, took more than four weeks and over the course of it the cask was renewed twice with two parts brandy to one part spirit of wine.

Horatio Nelson

Back in England, Nelson’s body was placed in the L’Orient coffin, then sealed into an ornate outer coffin to lie in state. The L’Orient coffin is one of the most unusual battle trophies of all time. Captain Hallowell of HMS Swiftsure made it from wreckage of L’Orient, the French flagship that blew up at the Battle of the Nile in 1798. He presented it to Nelson with a covering letter: ‘My Lord, herewith I send you a coffin made of part of the L’Orient’s mainmast that when you are tired of this life you may be buried in one of your own trophies – may that period be far distant is the sincere wish of your obedient servant.’

Although his officers were shocked, Nelson was amused and for some time had the coffin standing upright against the bulkhead of his cabin. Subsequently it was stored with his agent. During a brief period of leave just before Trafalgar Nelson instructed that a certificate of authenticity be engraved on the lid adding, ‘I think it is highly probable that I may want it on my return.’ Was this a presentiment of his early death?

Although she was now well over 40 years old, considerably past the normal life span of a ship-of-the-line, Victory went on to further service in the Baltic and other areas. Her career as a fighting ship effectively ended in 1812. Ironically, she was 47 years old, the same age as Nelson had been when he died.

In 1831 Victory was listed for disposal but when the First Sea Lord Thomas Hardy told his wife that he had just signed an order for this, Lady Hardy is said to have burst into tears and sent him straight back to the Admiralty to rescind the order. Curiously, the page of the duty log containing the orders for that day is missing.

Victory was permanently saved for posterity in the 1920s by a national appeal led by the Society of National Research.

Restoring HMS Victory, by William Lionel Wyllie

To this day Victory is manned by officers and ratings of the Royal Navy and now proudly fulfils a dual role as flagship of the First Sea Lord and a living museum of the Georgian navy.

It was my great privilege to have been given virtually unlimited access to the ship when I wrote my book VICTORY. Of course this was by no means my first visit, I must have toured over her a dozen times before!

HMS Victory Website

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Julian Stockwin was sent at the age of fourteen to Indefatigable, a tough sea-training school. He joined the Royal Navy at fifteen before transferring to the Royal Australian Navy, where he served in the Far East, Antarctic waters and the South Seas. In Vietnam he saw active service in a carrier task force. After leaving the Navy Julian attended university; he became a teacher and later practised as an educational psychologist. Julian lived for some time in Hong Kong, where he was commissioned into the Royal Naval Reserve. He was awarded the MBE and retired with the rank of Lieutenant Commander. He now lives in Devon with his wife and literary partner Kathy. More information can be found on his website. Julian also posts his own blog, BigJules and is on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

He has written thirteen books to date in his Thomas Kydd historical action adventure fiction series. Although they form a series each title can be read as a stand-alone novel. The titles, in order are KYDD, ARTEMIS, SEAFLOWER, MUTINY, QUARTERDECK, TENACIOUS, COMMAND, THE ADMIRAL’S DAUGHTER, TREACHERY (published in the US as THE PRIVATEER’S REVENGE), TREACHERY, INVASION, VICTORY, CONQUEST AND BETRAYAL. Julian has also written a non-fiction book, STOCKWIN’S MARITIME MISCELLANY.
His next book is CARIBBEE, out in October.

How much for an ear? Saxon Legal Codes

by Richard Denning

In the first decade of the 7th century, King Aethelburht of Kent laid down the first set of Legal Codes that survive from the Anglo-Saxon period. The codes still exist although in a copied volume of law codes and genealogical records called the “Textus Roffensius” – the Rochester Book – which was made (and is still held) at Rochester Cathedral around 1120. This document gives us our first glimpse of laws and legal traditions from the Saxon Period.

One fundamental principle of these law codes that date back to Germanic and Anglo-Saxon traditions is that of Weregild and compensation. In essence these laws laid down the means whereby a man guilty of a crime would be expected to pay a fine to the victim. In our modern world where first of all we look to punish crime by imprisonment or (until the 1960′s in the UK)  death in the case of murder, the Saxons took an approach that tried to avoid a blood feud.

To understand this one has to think back on years where these law codes evolved. In the chaotic and bloody years of the Anglo-Saxon settlement  and probably drawing from earlier traditions in the Germanic homelands when there was no real legal structure, it would be very easy for harm to a man to be avenged by the victim’s family. This could easily lead to tit for tat retaliation.  So in those years the principle of a ‘weregild’ evolved meaning literally 'man’s worth' . Every man had their weregild. If they died at another man’s hand the value of this would be paid to avoid retribution.

For centuries the exact values of weregild were recorded and passed on orally or if written down we have no record of it in the UK. There are however earlier legal codes compiled by the Franks - the earliest of which was written by Clovis the first  king of the Franks as early as the late 5th century which contain these principles.

In England, this first legal code of Aethelbehrt gives us a snapshot of these fines as they existed during his time.

‘If someone slays another man he shall pay-over a proper compensation of 100 shillings.’ The code even goes on to specify that 20 shillings must be paid over the grave as the man was being buried and the rest within 40 days.

Not all men are born equal in these codes. A slave killed would leave to compensation of between 40 and 80 shillings dependent on the value of the slave.

The law codes are incredibly elaborate and do not just talk of fines for murder. In fact they go on to specify just about every conceivable injury:
‘If the ear is pierced the compensation shall be 3 shillings’
‘If the eye is put out the aggressor shall pay in compensation 50 shillings’
‘For each finger nail, a shilling’

There is even an attempt to establish rules for separations:
‘Is she  (a wife) wishes to leave with the children let her have half the money’

and adultery:
‘If one freeman lies with another’s wife he shall render the weregild (code is not clear how much)  and procure with his own money and second wife for the man. ‘

The codes also cover property damage, trespass and other areas of non violent crime:
‘If someone is first to force his way into someone else’s premises he shall pay in compensation 6 shillings, the next 3 and each subsequent man 1 shilling’
‘If someone seizes goods whilst inside he shall pay back three fold’

These codes do something else which is vital in the development of the land that will one day be called England. It establishes the authority of the king, places the king at the heart of the law and also provides revenue for the crown.  Many of the codes deal with much larger and heavier fines due to the king in the event of harm to him or his property or household:
‘If a freeman steals from the king he shall pay back ninefold.’

Any crime committed near the king, in his presence or even in the same locality whilst he was resident would lead to fines being paid to the king in addition to the weregild going to the family of the victim.  A king was entitled to compensation for every freeman killed. ’50 shillings shall go to the king as compensation for loss of a subject.’

This approach did not just extend to the King. Aethelburht was the first Anglo-Saxon King to convert to Christianity and, mindful of potential threat to the incoming missionaries from reluctant Saxons, he enshrined within his codes protection for the church and its property: ‘God’s property will be compensated 12 fold’  This meant he was placing a very clear higher value on the church than that which he placed on himself.

What we see here is the beginnings of a formalization and drawing under state control the legal systems. Later codes such as those of Alfred the Great and others would establish legal courts and elaborate on these basic codes but this set of laws written 14 centuries ago are the earliest striving towards an orderly state that we have any record of.

There is a superb book on this subject called Early English Law by Bill Griffiths.

~~~~~~~~~~~~