Let's Talk About Money...

by Octavia Randolph

The money we use everyday is a mere representation of wealth.  Few of us have ever owned a gold coin - although a chest full of doubloons would make a delightful Yuletide present - and even our silver coins contain very little of the metal. Paper money, with almost no intrinsic worth, is of course the ultimate representation of value, a proxy granted agency by the issuing government.  Let's take a moment and look at the history of coinage in England.

Coins were not struck by the continental Angles and Saxons, and save for the errant Roman coin it is unlikely that any coins were used by the early settlers in their new homeland. The first coins employed by the Anglo-Saxons were the gold solidus (about 4 grams) and smaller tremisses from Meringovian Gaul, brought over to England between 550 and 650 AD. A number of these gorgeous coins ended up being used as decorative pendants and thus were not truly in circulation. King Penda of Mercia struck gold coins, circa 650 AD, but generally speaking silver sceattas, and not gold coins, were the standard Anglo-Saxon issue.

From the time King Offa of Mercia took over the Canterbury mint in 785, silver pennies of such compelling design were minted with his name and likeness, and also with the likeness of his wife, Cynethryth, that they were copied by continental mints - a first, for usually the Franks set the tone in everything stylistic.

The Offa/Cynethryth Coin

Offa introduced pennies; unlike the sceattas which were pellets hammered between two dies, pennies were struck from blank discs. Pennies bore portrait heads, and a distinct reverse bearing the name of the moneyer. It is difficult to know what exactly a penny was worth; the scholar James Campbell suggests it may have been roughly equal to a day's work. (A pound was of course, literally a pound of silver, equaling 240 new unworn pennies.) Because silver pennies were too valuable to be used much in everyday trade - coins were mostly used by professional merchants; ordinary folk relied upon bartering goods and services - Ælfred the Great (871-99) introduced the half-penny. To help in their adoption, coins were oftentimes minted with a cross scoring the obverse, so that they could be fairly divided into halfs and quarters.

A penny of Ælfred's. The reverse spells out "London", where the coin was struck.

With the partitioning of England into the Danelaw during the 880's, the Danes of East Anglia began striking their own pennies upon the model established by Ælfred. Many of these Danish-minted coins even bear Ælfred's name, but they are clumsy imitations and under-weight as well. The Vikings of York did better. Their coins were often of original design, sometimes combining Christian and heathen motifs, such as representations of St. Peter with a Thor's hammer.

Foreign coins collected at English seaports from returning merchants were re-minted on the spot, assuring the creation and continuation of mints at Canterbury and London. Obviously the making of money could only be entrusted to persons of undisputed integrity, and severe penalties were imposed upon moneyers caught debasing coinage. The punishment was excruciatingly apt: coiners were to have their hand nailed to their front door for daring to debase or counterfeit the realm's currency. In Athelstans' reign (924-39) there were eight mints in London, seven in Canterbury, and six in Winchester; by 1066 there were over 20 in London and 12 in York.

Coins were of course subject to all sorts of abuse, from rasping off bits of silver from the edges to complete recasting with admixtures of base metals. By the end of Edgar's reign (959-75) a truly standardized design for the penny was created, with dies supplied from one mint. The design of the coins was changed at fixed intervals, at first from six, and then three years; coins in circulation were to be turned in and re-minted in the new design.

 photographs: Saxon and Norman London by John Clark
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Octavia Randolph's The Circle of Ceridwen Saga is set in 9th century England, when men were men, women were women, sheep were sheep, and coinage was real silver...

Richard Arkwright - An Entrepreneurial Life

by Catherine Curzon

Portrait of Richard Arkwright
by Joseph Wright of Derby, 1790

Sir Richard Arkwright (23rd December 1732 – 3rd August 1792)

Throughout history much has been said of the self-made man, that fabled sort who dragged himself up by his bootstraps to make his mark on the world and usually make a fortune at the same time. Sir Richard Arkwright is truly the model of this Georgian dream; from humble beginnings he triumphed through a combination of his own ambition, shrewd business dealings and, some might say, other people's innovation to get to the top of the business world. Today his name is still known throughout England, forever linked to stories of the Industrial Revolution and the rich industrial heritage of the nation

Arkwright was one of 13 children born to Sarah and Thomas, a tailor in Preston, Lancashire. With so many siblings there was no opportunity for the boy to undertake formal education but Arkwright was fortunate enough to have a cousin who could read and write, and she passed on these vital skills to him. The man who would make a fortune in the mills began his career as a barber and wigmaker, apprenticed first to Mr Nicholson and then the proud proprietor of his own establishment at Churchgate in Bolton, opened when he was just 20 years of age.

Arkwright's clients were the gentlemen who made Bolton into a town of industrial might and they demanded the best of everything, so to have the Lancashire drizzle wash the expensive dye from their periwigs was hardly a recipe for customer satisfaction. Whilst re-dying his client's wigs Arkwright realised that there was an opportunity for innovation at hand and he laboured to produce a dye that was waterproof, turning his shop into the go-to place for the latest in wig innovation. Sensing an opportunity for speculation he took to the roads of England, collecting discarded human hair and turning it into fashionable, waterproof wigs using his secret dying method. However, the fashion for wigs was not going to last forever, and when it began to fade the would-be entrepreneur already had his next venture in mind.

Arkwright's water frame

Growing up in Bolton in a tailor's household, Arkwright had spent his childhood surrounded by textile mills and workers, and he knew of the arduous task of running the machinery that transformed raw cotton into thread, a laborious and strung-out process. With his thirst for invention unquenched and well aware that the passionate millworkers of his hometown would not take kindly to innovations that would help the owners but possibly cost them their jobs, the young wigmaker followed the textile trail to its centre in Nottingham. Here he worked alongside clockmaker John Kay to develop and patent the spinning frame (later the water frame), a machine that could produce yarn at a fraction of the cost and a much faster speed than human workers.

Arkwright's name and reputation began to spread through the textile producers of England and the factory he opened with new partner John Smalley added yet another machine to its line, the groundbreaking carding engine. In need of expansion capital, Arkwright went into partnership with Jedediah Strutt and Samuel Need, who financed his innovations until a dispute over Arkwright's speedy expansion brought the partnership to an abrupt end. At a cost of more than £10,000 he completed the carding engine, perfecting and fully mechanising the process, yet as with so many tales of success, others were quick to follow his lead. The engine was patented in 1775 and his contemporaries rushed to copy Arkwright's innovations, eventually causing him to take legal measures to enforce his patent rights.

The gateway to Arkwright's Mill at Cromford

Juggling court cases on one hand and business on the other, Arkwright opened a horse-driven mill in Preston and later became the first to use steam to power the waterwheel that fed the machinery. His Cromford Mill was a state of the art building, with Arkwright bringing in whole families to staff it and live in the newly-built cottages on site. Providing his millworkers with homes, holidays and social gathering places, he also pioneered the use of shift workers and was considered a fair and decent employer.

All of this innovation came at a price and as the 1770s progressed, Arkwright found himself embroiled in ever more bitter legal disputes. His patents of 1775 were subject to a decade-long series of challenges from inventors who claimed that Arkwright had based his own inventions on their work. As he faced these ruinously expensive cases Arkwright's factories were the subjects of industrial espionage as well as the ire of workers, terrified that the mills of the future would be staffed not by men, but by machines. However, Arkwright continued to innovate, and it was under his patronage that Birkacre Mill in Chorley was fully refitted, though it was destroyed by anti-machinery protesters in 1779.

By 1785 the entrepreneur's patents had been overturned and many in the industry looked forward to what they hoped would be the downfall of an apparently egotistical, arrogant man. However, despite his fury that his professional integrity was in dispute, Arkwright was delighted to accept a knighthood in 1786 and the following year became High Sheriff of Derbyshire. Arkwright was a born entrepreneur; he made partnerships only when he had no other choice and as soon as the finances were in place, bought out his partners at the best rate possible. With an unshakable belief in his own abilities and talent, he had a canny business acumen that led him to amass a fortune. He employed tens of thousands of workers and licensed intellectual property rights to elements of his designs at keen rates, ensuring that even the smallest innovation was monetised at every opportunity.

When Arkwright died in 1792 his son took over the business and inherited a fortune that some said was made on the backs of others. The self-made entrepreneur is memorialised across Britain to this day, his name synonymous with the very fabric of industrial England.


References:

Fitton, RS; The Arkwrights: Spinners of Fortune (Manchester University Press, 1989)
Fitton, RS & Wadsworth, AP; The Strutts and the Arkwrights, 1758–1830 (Harvard University Press, 1958)
Griffin, Emma; Liberty's Dawn: A People's History of the Industrial Revolution (Yale University Press, 2013)
Osborne, Roger; Iron, Steam & Money: The Making of the Industrial Revolution (Bodley Head, 2013)
Trinder, Barrie; Britain's Industrial Revolution: The Making of a Manufacturing People, 1700-1870 (Carnegie Publishing Ltd, 2013)


Glorious Georgian ginbag, gossip and gadabout Madame Gilflurt, aka Catherine Curzon, is the author of A Covent Garden Gilflurt’s Guide to Life. When not setting quill to paper, she can usually be found gadding about the tea shops and gaming rooms of the capital or hosting intimate gatherings at her tottering abode. In addition to her blog and Facebook, Madame G is also quite the charmer on Twitter. Her first book, Life in the Georgian Court, will be published by Pen and Sword Books.

What's in a Name? - Euston Station

by Grace Elliot

The Duke of Grafton's coat of arms

Do you ever stop to wonder what’s in a name?
Recently my son had such a moment when he travelled through Euston station, London, and asked me, “Why is Euston station called Euston?” This is a perfectly reasonable question but I didn’t know the answer. Not being the sort of person who can forget about such things, I looked into the origins of Euston’s name and in the process unearthed some interesting historical trivia.

Euston Hall circa 1806

The short answer is that Euston station was named after Euston Hall, in Suffolk –but the long answer is far more interesting…

The concourse of the modern day Euston Station.

Euston Station was built in early Victorian times as the main terminus for the London to Birmingham track. The location on the edge of the expanding city was selected in the 1830’s by George and Robert Stephenson. At that time farmland abutted the plot and the principal land owner was the Duke of Grafton, and the new station was named after the Duke’s country estate, Euston Hall…and this is where we take an interesting digression.

The first Duke of Grafton, Henry Charles Fitzroy

The title ‘Duke of Grafton’ was created in 1675 by Charles II for his illegitimate son, Henry Fitzroy. The child's mother was Charles' favourite mistress, Barbara Palmer, with whom he had five children and whose influence was so great that she was known as the ‘uncrowned queen of England’. To understand how Euston Hall came into the possession of Henry Fitzroy, we must taken another digression and consider the history of Euston Hall itself which can be traced  back to the Domesday Book. The manor was mentioned in 1087 as belonging to Bury St Edmunds Abbey. In 1578, Queen Elizabeth I stayed there on a journey to Norwich.

The eleventh Duke of Grafton outside Euston Hall

A little under a hundred years later the estate, in a state of near ruin, was bought by the Earl of Arlington (Secretary of State to the newly restored Charles II) and indeed, the king visited on several occassions. Charles took an interest in all his illegitimate children and in 1672 Charles arranged the marriage of his son Henry Fitzroy, to the heiress daughter of the Earl of Arlington. The young couple eventually married in 1679 (the bride being just 12, but having reached the minimal legal age to marry with consent) and they inherited Euston Hall in 1685.

The temple in the grounds of Euston Park, Suffolk

The Euston estate had a circumference of some thirty to forty miles enclosing various hamlets and villages over which subsequent successive dukes took an almost parental interest. The verdant woodland, flowing stream and rolling fields are here celebrated in a poem, The Farmer’s Boy:

Where noble Grafton spreads his rich domains

Round Euston's water'd vale and sloping plains,

Where woods and groves in solemn grandeur rise,

Where the kite brooding unmolested flies;

The woodcock and the painted pheasant race, 

And skulking foxes destin'd for the chase.

Over the centuries the house  and surrounding park land were rebuilt by various designers and architects including Capability Brown and William Kent. The latter was party to reintroducing the influential Palladian style to Georgian England and landmarks such as the Treasury buildings at Whitehall (demolished in 1830) and the Horse Guards building.

The modern day Euston Station

So…is Euston station deserving of a name so rich with history? I’ll let you be the judge.

Coming soon from Grace Elliot:

Home of the Winter Solstice

Sunlight can only enter the tumulus chamber
for 20 minutes on midwinter day 

by Arthur Russell

The Neolithic tumulus of Newgrange on the northern bank of the River Boyne in Ireland has become a place of pilgrimage at this time if year for people who want to witness the phenomenon of the Winter Solstice sunrise as it sends a thin shaft of sunlight right to the back of the chamber deep within the circular mound, which was constructed over 5000 years ago by the earliest dwellers of the Boyne Valley. It is the only time of year that this happens and represents an impressive logistical and technical achievement for the society that created it.



The Newgrange tumulus structure predates the Giza pyramids in Egypt by 500 years; Stonehenge on the sister island of Great Britain by a millennium. It bears witness to a level of building prowess as well as astronomical awareness which is truly amazing. 

The unique “Solstice effect” is created by the precise alignment of the rising sun on the shortest day of the year with the back of the chamber and the window box over the entrance to the 19 metre passage which joins the chamber to the outside world. 

The passage is lined by a series of large stones which weigh several tons each. The mound is encircled by a series of huge kerbstones, most with distinctive carvings. Each stone that makes up the monument had to be dragged for many kilometers to be finally put in place; this at a time when only man and horse power was available to perform such tasks. It is also speculated that the several stones in the structure which did not originate from the local area had to be transported by boat from sites along the east coast of Ireland, via the Boyne estuary. It is estimated that the building project must have taken a huge commitment in terms of time and labour from the society who devised, planned and built it. It is thought the work was done over a prolonged period involving at least 2 but possibly more generations of that society. This indicates a peaceful and stable society who had the peace and freedom to see such a complex project through from beginning to end. 

Outside, the base of the mound
is retained by 97 large stones,
lying horizontally, many of which
have beautifully carved designs:
spirals, lozenges, zigzags, and other
ancient symbols. The huge stone at
the entrance is the most famous of
all; especially the carvings of a
triple spiral, double spirals,
concentric semi-circles, and lozenges
similar to those found at Gavrinis.

Above the entrance is a 'roof-box', which precisely aligns with the rising sun at the winter solstice so that the rays touch the ground at the very centre of the tomb for about 20 minutes. Many of the upright stones along the walls of the 19 metres (62ft) passage, which follows the rise of the hill, are also richly decorated. The cruciform chamber inside the mound measures 6.5 x 6.2m, has three recesses, and is topped by a magnificent corbelled roof reaching to a height of 6m above the floor. In the recesses are three massive stone basins that presumably had some ritual purpose.

The distinctive trifoliate carving in the chamber
which symbolizes life, death and eternity

The Newgrange monument raises many questions that can never be satisfactorily answered.

Did it and the nearby satellite sites at Knowth and Dowth have a purely religious focus? Or was the focus on sun worship. i.e was Newgrange a monument of light?

Another theory is that its main focus was ancestor worship?

The reasoning for this is that the tumulus was designed to be a complex repository for the cremated remains of the great and the good of Neolithic society that were found in the huge stone basins in the chamber when it was discovered? Or was it a curious mixture of all three?

What is certain is that 5000 years ago there was a relatively sophisticated society living in the Boyne Valley who had the knowledge and ability to read the skies above them, who were able to follow through to make such impressive constructions using Stone Age technology.

Who were these people who lived on a remote island in north western Europe which had not so long emerged from the Ice Age - and what became of them?

The likelihood is that they and their culture continued to exist and evolve over the aeons; but had to accept and absorb the impositions of later influxes and invasions of tribes from Europe, who brought their own beliefs and technology to help form what eventually evolved into what was to become the ancient Gaelic culture which preceded Christianity when it arrived in the 5^th century AD. This probably explains why the monuments fell into disuse, and out of memory until they were rediscovered in more recent centuries.

The passage entrance kerbstone (with distinctive carvings);
along with the window box through which sunlight enters
the chamber on mid-winter day.

The tumulus was “lost” after the Neolithic era, though the nearby site of Rossnaree was reputed to be the burial place for a succession of Irish High Kings until early Christian times; a fact which spawned its own share of myths and legends centred on the same area located on the bend of the river Boyne. Newgrange lived on in folklore until it was accidentally discovered by the landowner of the site in 1699 AD. It quickly became an object of interest to antiquarians some of whom conducted superficial excavations and who could only guess at its role and purpose.

An extensive excavation was initiated under the guidance of Professor M J O’Kelly which started in 1962 and finished in 1975. This comprehensive study yielded much valuable information that allowed academics to reach significant conclusions on the purpose of the complex. Despite this, the monument retains its aura of mystery which will probably never be completely deciphered. Also as part of the investigative work, the site was developed so that it could be opened to the public in the site now called “Brú na Bóinne” (The Boyne Centre). It is one of the main tourist sites in Ireland which hosts streams of visitors every year in its excellent interpretive centre which endeavors to explain the Newgrange and Boyne valley phenomenon. Every year at Solstice time, crowds gather to be present as the sun emerges over the high ground to the east. The sunlight is reflected off the white quartz façade which has been rebuilt around the main entrance. A lucky few visitors, who are chosen by lottery months before; are allowed to enter the chamber to witness the yearly miracle of sunlight shining into the chamber.

How the Newgrange monument works

Archaeologists believe that the chamber at the end of the passage was designed to be a place for a ritualistic “capturing of the sun” or “sun temple” on the shortest day of the year. The object is to mark the lowest point or “turning” of the year; and to anticipate the gradual return of the sun as deepest Winter slowly turns to Spring.  From now on days are set to get longer, nights get shorter. Only on these 2-3 shortest days of the year, and for a period of less than 20 minutes on those mornings, starting at 8.50 GMT; does a thin shaft of sunlight come through the window-box over the entrance to the tumulus, and penetrate to the base of the back wall of the stony chamber.  This illuminates the entire chamber with a light, which many describe as “magical”.

The Newgrange tumulus.
Foreground - the River Boyne

The chamber contains large dish shaped rocks in which deposits of burnt and unburnt bones were found when the tumulus was discovered in 1699. Analysis and carbon dating of surviving remnants established that these dated from 3200 BC, predating Egypt’s Pyramids by half a millennium.

The Winter Sun shines into this resting place for the dead at a time when the forces of darkness and death in nature are considered to be at their strongest. The precise alignment with the winter solstice sunrise at Newgrange is further strengthened by the discovery of similar sun alignments in the nearby Neolithic sites of Knowth and Dowth; as well as the Loughcrew cairns, 30 kilometers to the northwest. Loughcrew actually predates the Boyne Valley site by several centuries. While the cairns there are much simpler structures, this suggests that the Boyne Valley complex probably represents a steady development and evolution of knowledge and building prowess in a society which made careful study of the sun’s changes throughout the year and wanted to honour the unfailing cycle of decline and recovery which these changes represented.

We can never really be sure of what was in the minds of the creators of Newgrange and similar Neolithic sites in Ireland, Britain and Continental Europe, as they built these awesome monuments to life, death and resurrection.

Inevitably Newgrange will forever keep its secrets; while this and future generations will continue to wonder about them.

Solstice place, cave of Death

Sun's abode on darkest day

Passing aeons
 have never changed

The yearly tryst
 to light your walls

The world in death looks back in mourning

Looks out expectant
 to new Spring dawning

No Resurrection without a birth


A Christmas pledge in lightened tomb?

Newgrange and its associated Neolithic sites of Knowth and Dowth in the Boyne valley are now a UNESCO World Heritage site called Bru na Bóinne, which shares many characteristics with similar but much smaller Neolithic sites in Orkney (Maeshowe), Wales (Bryn Celli Ddu), and Brittany in France (Gavrinis).

Note - Newgrange gets its modern name from the fact that by 1142 AD, the site had become part of the nearby Cistercian Mellifont Abbey farm. Such farms were known as “granges”. By the 14th century the site was known as the 'New Grange'. In early Irish mythology, Newgrange was not only considered the burial place of the prehistoric kings of Tara, but also the home of a race of Irish supernatural beings, known as 'Tuatha de Danann' : the people of the goddess Danu. Newgrange was also considered in preChristian times to be the house of the patriarchal god Dagda.

Arthur Russell, author of this post; is a native of Co Meath, Ireland. He is author of the Historic fiction book ‘Morgallion’ which was published in April 2012. ‘Morgallion’ tells the story of Cormac MacLochlainn and his exploits during the invasion of Ireland by Edward Bruce, brother of King Robert of Scotland, in 1314.

For more information see morgallion.com

Tradition English Christmas Carols: The Coventry Carol and The Holly and the Ivy

by Lauren Gilbert

English: Madonna and Child with Saints, Crucifixion and Nativity. 1350-60, Detroit Institute of Arts.

I find the old religious carols very moving and an important part of the festive season.   I thought it would be interesting to consider (and listen to) two of my favourites.

The Coventry Carol, surprisingly, is not a Christmas carol at all. It is actually a part of the Feast of the Holy Innocents, celebrated December 28th, commemorating the massacre of the young children of Bethlehem ordered by King Herod in an attempt to eliminate the Messiah. The song is supposed to be rooted in one of the Coventry Corpus Christi plays which was the “Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors,” (one of a cycle of medieval mystery plays where local people performed theatrical productions based on Bible stories). Basically, this song is a lament, women singing a last lullaby for their murdered children.   It is lovely, sorrowful, and haunting.  Another interpretation has it as Mary’s lament for the future fate of her newborn Son.   It seems a strange song for a festive time, but brings home part of the deeper meaning of the holiday for me.

The origins of the Coventry Carol as we know it are not clear.  The play was performed in the 15^th century for Queen Margaret of England in 1456 and for Henry VII in 1492.  It may go back as far as 1392.  The lyrics known today are attributed to Robert Croo 1534 (based on early 19^th century copies of a manuscript that was destroyed in 1875), and the music to an unknown composer in 1591.  There are conflicting references for this song, but it is known to have been performed and popular in the 16^th century in some form, and are still popular today.  A lovely version is available on You Tube, with the Westminster Cathedral Choir: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIvH5GdY4JE

The Holly and the Ivy, on the other hand, is a more "modern" work, from about 1700.  However, it has its roots in even more ancient traditions, to those of the Druids and Romans.    The holly was symbolic of man (rigid with prickly leaves and berries like drops of blood) and the ivy of woman (gentle, clinging, requiring support).  Holly was associated with the Roman Saturnalia, while ivy was associated with Bacchus, the Roman god of wine.   Holly was considered lucky and a symbol of immortality; the Romans used it to decorate their homes and to make wreathes for celebrations such as weddings.  The Romans considered ivy a symbol of prosperity, charity and fidelity.

In Celtic tradition, holly was a feature of summer and winter solstice celebrations.  From earliest times, decorating with evergreens during the dark winter months was popular.  When absorbed into Christian tradition, the holly represented Christ (the Crown of Thorns, and the Blood of the Crucifixion), and the ivy Mary. Apparently, the bitterness of holly’s bark was associated with the vinegar and gall given to Christ during the Crucifixion. The twining habit of ivy was supposed to remind the faithful to rely on God.

The words were first published in 1710 in a broadside sheet. They are not logical, and ivy is only mentioned in the title and the first verse. This absence leads to speculation about missing verses, or changes of lyrics. The song may have derived from earlier songs in which holly and ivy feature, of which there are many including one version supposedly set to music by Henry VIII. The music with which we are familiar today was documented in 1909, but the origins are apparently unknown. It also has a mournful quality, but I don’t find it as haunting as the Coventry Carol. In any event, I really enjoyed this version done by Kings College, Cambridge in 2008, shown on You Tube:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7eHtDtZ7hs

Both of these carols are a complete contrast to most of the other music so beloved at this time of year, whether secular or religious.  In spite of their sad overtones and foreshadowing of later tragedy, they bring a depth of meaning to the Christmas season that enhances the joy and gives substance to the festive mood.

Sources:

About.com Landscaping. “The Holly and the Ivy” Meaning Behind a Curious Christmas Carol’ by David Beaulieu.(No post date.) http://landscaping.about.com/od/holidayplants1/a/holly_and_ivy.htm

Early Music Notes blog. “The Coventry Carol (Lully, lullay) posted by Cody Sibley 12/13/2010. http://earlymusicnotes.blogspot.com/2010/12/coventry-carol-lully-lullay.html

Patheos website. “Coventry Carol: A Bit of History” by Thomas L. McDonald. Posted 12/22/2012. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/godandthemachine/2012/12/coventry-carol

Google Books. Christmas Music Companion Fact Book by Dale V. Nobbman.  2000: Centerstream Publishers. http://books.google.com/books?id=_3WBhALsuYsC&pg=PA48&lpg=PA48&dq=holly+and+the+ivy+carol+history&source=bl&ots=JEHwOhId-9&sig=hvT93NDuiWp1wo6lWJx77fD_abg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=O-6wUtTWIMmosQT9vYFQ&ved=0CCgQ6AEwADgU#v=onepage&q=holly%20and%20the%20ivy%20carol%20history&f=false

Google Books. A COMPANION TO THE MIDDLE ENGLISH LYRIC.Thomas Gibson Duncan, ed.  2005: D. S. Brewer, Cambridge.  http://books.google.com/books?id=cteyEYBjdTsC&pg=PA169&dq=coventry+carol+origin&hl=en&sa=X&ei=py-yUvvkEqes2wW4jYHwBA&ved=0CDkQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=coventry%20carol%20origin&f=false

Google Books.  The Christmas Carolers’ Book in Song and Story.  1935: Hall & McCreary Co., USA.  Preface by Torstein O. Kvamme.  http://books.google.com/books?id=43W_cwcQJQIC&pg=PA56&lpg=PA56&dq=coventry+carol+origin&source=bl&ots=I5s3EFuEcI&sig=ijkTlObmFfHwGpPj751t485C9qg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=tuqwUta_HYqxsQTN3oHwCw&ved=0CFoQ6AEwCDgK#v=onepage&q=coventry%20carol%20origin&f=false

Google Books. The Winter Solstice: The Sacred Traditions of Christmas by John Matthews.  1998, 2003: Godsfield Press,  Quest Books, The Theosophic Society in America, Wheaton, IL.  http://books.google.com/books?id=Zep7heD4twsC&pg=PA90&lpg=PA90&dq=holly+and+the+ivy+carol+history&source=bl&ots=lpaqAR5mak&sig=bfaveSwMisBoaZXIeaxp-J1p6Ns&hl=en&sa=X&ei=fu6wUtuZLJLksASKz4KYDw&ved=0CFoQ6AEwCDgU#v=onepage&q=holly%20and%20the%20ivy%20carol%20history&f=false

Saturday Chorale website. “Feast of the Holy Innocents: The Coventry Carol – Collegium Vocale Gent.” http://saturdaychorale.com/2011/12/28/feast-of-the-holy-innocents-the-coventry-carol-collegium-vocale-gent

The Telegraph on line. “The story behind the Carol: The Holly and the Ivy” by Rupert Christiansen, posted 12/14/2007. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/3674119/The-story-behind-the-carol-The-holly-and-the-ivy.html

The Waits Website. “Coventry Waits”. http://www.townwaits.org.uk/history_coventry.shtml

WhyChristmas.com. “The Holly, Ivy and Christmas Plants.” (No posting date.)  http://www.whychristmas.com/customs/hollyandivy.shtml

Image: Wikimedia Commons.  http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/41/11_Madonna_and_Child_with_Saints%2C_Crucifixion_and_Nativity._1350-60%2C_Detroit_Institute_of_Arts..jpg/421px-11_Madonna_and_Child_with_Saints%2C_Crucifixion_and_Nativity._1350-60%2C_Detroit_Institute_of_Arts..jpg   Note the Nativity and Crucifixion shown in the same work.

Lauren Gilbert, author of HEYERWOOD: A Novel, lives in Florida with her husband.  There is a holly bush in her back yard.  Visit her website at http://www.lauren-gilbert.com.

English vs. French: The Hundred Years' War and Its Effect on Language

By Rosanne E. Lortz

“…we few, we happy few, we band of brothers.”

The St. Crispin’s Day speech, written by Shakespeare and placed in the mouth of King Henry V, contains some of the most stirring phrases in the English language. Yet, interestingly enough, that very language might not have been what spilled from Shakespeare’s pen had the Hundred Years’ War not been fought.

Before the war began in 1337, French—not English—was the language of literature and the language of the aristocracy in England. It does not take much digging around to unearth why. The Norman Conquest in 1066 established a monarchy and a ruling class who spoke French, and the later Plantagenet kings—Richard the Lionheart comes to mind—continued to spend as much (or more) time in their continental holdings as they did in England.

English, the language of the conquered Anglo-Saxons, existed of course, but only for menial, non-important purposes. Historian Elizabeth Hallam writes that:

Although in 14th century England everyone spoke some form of English, French was still the language of polite society, and used for less formal governmental business which was not transacted in Latin. The country gentry and middle class continued to use French for normal correspondence: there are almost no extant English letters before 1400. Proclamations in London were still made in French, which was also the language of the law….

So what changed? How did the language of English gain ascendancy over French? Hallam hypothesizes that, “the transformation was almost certainly a result of the surge of patriotism and nationalism associated with the Hundred Years’ War: the French language came to be associated with the enemy.”

During the same time period that the battles of Crecy and Poitiers were fought, schools began to use English in the classroom as a medium with which to teach Latin. And in 1363, a couple years after the treaty of Bretigny, “parliament was opened by a declaration of the summons in the native tongue,” something that had previously always been done in French. According to the philologist Oliver Farrar Emerson, “Soon English petitions to parliament, English wills, letters, and gild statutes appear.”

Because of the war with France, the language of English began to be used by all levels of English society for all manner of purposes. Books were the last hold out. But by the last quarter of the century, Geoffrey Chaucer showed that the vernacular could be a fitting vehicle for great literature, and English began to be used in that arena as well.

The change in language effected by the Hundred Years' War was radical. At the beginning of the fourteenth century, French was the accepted language of all formal discourse in England. By the end of the fourteenth century, Oxford University was forced to urge the learning of French “lest the Gallic tongue be utterly forgotten.”

Which leads us back to one of those interesting what-if’s in history: if not for the Hundred Years’ War and the animosity it created between French and English, would the Bard’s St. Crispin’s Day speech have been written entirely in French?

“…nous frères d’armes.”

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Rosanne E. Lortz is the author of 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 Author Website where she also blogs about writing, mothering, and things historical.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Emerson, Oliver Farrar. “English or French in the Time of Edward III.” Romanic Review 7.2 (April-June 1916): 127-143.

Hallam, Elizabeth, ed. Chronicles of the Age of Chivalry. London: Salamander Books Ltd., 2002.

Celts: Fact or Fiction?

by Rob Godfrey

If you ask the average person: ’who were the Celts?’ they might come up with a description of ‘ancient peoples’ of Western Europe; if from Britain they might mention the Scottish, Irish, Cornish and Bretons as living descendants of ‘Celtic’ ancestors. Someone is bound to mention that they probably had red hair too. Druids often get a mention here, along with so-called Celtic crosses (actually much later Christian artefacts) and perhaps a little about their dress sense (mostly Woad paint!) and quarrelsome nature.

Unfortunately the term ‘Celtic’ has been used to describe many different peoples and cultures over many different ages and locations. Try Googling ‘Celtic’ and you will more than likely be confronted with facts and figures of a particular Scottish football club. Clearly it means many different things to different people. This brief article will try to explain away some of the fuzzier associations and perhaps give a more specific answer to the original question.

History is written by the victors*

In our case the first written records of Celtic people have come to us from Greek and Roman sources. The Greeks referred to peoples beyond their northern borders as ‘Keltoi’, which roughly translates into barbarian. This fitted in nicely with the Roman attitude to the uncivilised (non-Romanised) living beyond their borders. The typical inhabitants were variously described by Romans as superstitious, violent, hot-headed, proud but lacking the finer characteristics of the citizens of Rome. In part the Romans came to justify their imperialistic conquests as bringing civilisation to these ‘savages’.
It did not help that these so-called barbarians had no tradition of writing and seldom built in stone; the written and architectural evidence remaining seemed to confirm the Roman view that little of value was produced before they took control. When reading Roman accounts of their dealings with the Celts a little scepticism is required; there is often a fine line between fact and propaganda.

The truth is out there

Well, more precisely, the truth is under our feet. The more archaeologists have unearthed, the more tangible evidence of sophisticated societies occupying much of Central and Western Europe that pre-date the Roman conquests emerges to challenge the Roman version.

History as taught to me at school seemed to be a rather uninspiring set of facts and dates: In August 55 BC Julius Caesar first landed in Britain, In 1066 AD the Normans invaded, the Great Fire of London happened in September 1666, The Declaration of Independence was adopted by the US Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. But of course all these events didn’t just happen in a vacuum; human History is surely a continuous and unbelievably complex process of cause and effect.

One convenient system used to give some order to pre-historic processes is the division into ‘Ages’. So we have the Stone, followed by the Bronze and lastly the Iron Age. Each name indicates the materials used to make tools and artefacts.

Unfortunately these ‘Ages’ occurred at different times in different localities and tended to overlap to a greater or lesser degree. Some areas even seemed to have skipped ages completely (part of Africa never going through a Bronze Age). In Britain use of Bronze begin around 2100 BC and continued until Iron became available around 750-700 BC (there is much discussion about these dates). Of course this does not mean that everyone overnight discarded their Bronze tools and weapons, but Iron became increasingly available and because it could take a harder edge and was more durable it gradually superseded bronze as the material of choice.

So prior to the Roman expansion into Central and Western Europe people had access to not only iron and steel but bronze (an alloy of tin and copper) as well as gold and silver. There have been some spectacular finds from this period that show just how sophisticated the metalworkers were (see 1 & 2 below). These are not simple implements used to cut down trees or harvest crops; these are fine works of art.

Considering just how much time the creation of these artefacts must have taken (not to mention the time taken beforehand to learn the skills to make them) leads you to the inescapable conclusion that these must have been settled societies. No community can have individuals engaged in these full-time, non-essential activities unless there are sufficient and reliable surpluses of resources, year after year.

Not only does the quality of the unearthed artefacts indicate a settled, sophisticated society but also the variety of sources of them show that long distance trade existed right across mainland Europe, including the Atlantic coast and the British Isles. For example, it is well established that tin was a major export of south west Britain to the whole of Western Europe for many centuries before the arrival of the Romans. Wine from the Mediterranean countries was widely consumed throughout western and central Europe (including southern Britain and Ireland).

Cultural Centres and the spread of ideas

Two centres of culture that widely influenced the rest of Europe are the Hallstatt and La Tène (see 3 & 4 below). The Hallstatt territory (800-600 BC) centred across modern day Switzerland and the La Tène culture (450-50 BC) further to the west. Varying degrees of similarity of these cultures were adopted and shared right across Europe from the Atlantic Isles in the west as far as Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) in the east.

It’s not a great leap of logic to assume that ideas and goods travelled then much as they do today, which is by copying, exchange and theft (with or without the use of violence). The existence of extensive trade routes provided the means for widely separated peoples to come into contact with new ideas and adopt them to their local circumstances.

The Celts in Northern England

My particular focus of interest is the lives of people living in Wharfedale in northern England around 500 BC. This is due to the simple fact that I live here and the area is particularly rich in rock-carvings and ancient earthworks about which little is as yet known. I have called them Celts rather than the long-winded British Iron Ages people, but of course they would never refer to themselves as Celts. As far as is known this area was inhabited by a loose confederation known (at least to the Romans) as the Brigantes. Their territory occupied a swathe of northern England coast to coast, from the River Mersey to the Humber in the south and a line running from the Solway Firth to the Tweed in the North. Much of the north-south axis is dominated by hills and (at the time) marshy river valleys; as a result settlements were small and quite widely scattered.
One key resource was mining and various metals and precious stones have been mined and quarried almost continuously from pre-historic to modern times (see 5 below).

Here are some examples of the stone-carvings found on the moors above the Wharfedale valley:

The Badger Stone

The Swastika Stone

Hanging Stones

Much research has been undertaken to try and accurately date these carvings. It’s not an easy task as erosion inevitably degrades the stone and most have been exposed and buried/overgrown at varying times since they were carved. However, knowing when they were carved does not answer the question of why or what for?

Knowing that there was a major east-west trade route running along the southern edge of the valley at the time (see 6 below) we can be certain that the inhabitants of this fairly remote valley had knowledge of their cousins on the continent and would have been exposed to some of the cultural ideas and goods of that area. There is some argument about whether there were different strands of languages (Continental and Insular Celtic) but it is highly likely that passing traders would have been understood.

Local lives

The roundhouse is the quintessential dwelling place of the era. As it was built entirely from locally available materials (the majority of which were biodegradable) the remains are usually restricted to circles of post holes or circular stone walls. Wharfedale has a long tradition of building with stone and remains of stone-sided roundhouses have been found at Green Slack Crag on Ilkley Moor. The flat valley floor was not yet drained and was mostly swamp; yet a rich source of fish and waterfowl no doubt.

Another typical (and I must say very appealing) Celtic dwelling was the crannog; here is a roundhouse built on a platform raised over water. Again the construction materials were biodegradable and any remains of those built alongside rivers usually being destroyed as valleys were drained, etc. Nearly all evidence of past crannog sites have been found on lake shores. Several modern reconstructions have been built across Europe (see link 7 below).

Roundhouses could be large enough for a whole family to eat and sleep within and may have been shared with livestock in colder weather (probably none too fragrant but providing extra warmth).

What was on the menu?

Much detailed evidence of diets is coming to light as analysis of the contents of cooking pots and even the remains stomach contents found in bodies buried in peat (accidentally or otherwise). Here’s a (not exhaustive) list:

Meat from domesticated (pigs, sheep and cattle) and wild animals.
Dairy products
Fish, Fowl
Cereals (Barley, Wheat, Oats and Rye) as bread and porridge.
Beans (Broad & Field), Peas, Vetch
Acorns, Hazel Nuts
Beer/Ale (non-hop), Meads, Teas (fruit & herb based)
None of the following:
Tomatoes, Potatoes, Aubergines, Peppers, Chillis, Squash (all these are from the as yet undiscovered New World).
Mediterranean Herbs, Grapes, Plums, Figs, Sour Cherries, Pears, Apricots, Peaches, Oranges and Lemons may have been available to people nearer to southern Europe, but for the most they had to wait for the Romans to bring them.

Many of these crops and the rearing of animals, require long term settlement and stability. The work involved to clear virgin forests and establish fields for annual cereal crops is immense; it cannot be achieved or sustained by nomadic or hunter gatherers.

By today’s standards a much simpler diet then. But of course everything would have been either Free Range or Organic!

There is disagreement as to whether fish formed part of the diet. It does seem odd if this presumably abundant natural resource was not exploited though. Eric Cowling uncovered many flints and evidence of long term visits/occupation (near modern day Leathley) that at the time was on the shore of a shallow lake covering the whole of the lower Wharfe valley. Dogs were also commonly kept and anyone who has fed them raw carcasses (for example, fish or small mammals) will know that nothing is left uneaten. So you don’t necessarily find fish remains where people have caught them.

What’s in your wardrobe?

Some remarkably intact bodies from this period have been discovered in peat bogs across Europe. As well as providing evidence of diet these burials have also enabled the analysis of the clothing that sometimes has been amazingly preserved. Wool seems to have been used in abundance, from light shirts/smocks to heavy cloaks (waterproofed with animal fats). What has been revealed is that the Celts were fond of vibrant colours (see 8 below). Certainly these rich colours could have been produced in Wharfedale from plants indigenous to the area (e.g. Woad, Madder and Weld). One myth that seems to have been disproved is that Woad was used to paint the body; it seems it is woefully inadequate for this purpose.

As well as making use of a range of colours, different weaving techniques and patterns were employed. Put this knowledge together with the availability of metals, minerals/precious stones (for beads and brooches, etc) and you have the ingredients for a range of fashion accessories. It’s a universal human trait to adorn the body; the more settled and prosperous a society the more sophisticated this adornment becomes. No doubt Wharfedale was not the Paris of the day, but perhaps La Tène was.

What can we say about the inhabitants of Wharfedale?

At the time in question (500BC) there were long-established settlements in northern England occupied by people who shared many aspects of their culture with their continental cousins. Unlike the descriptions often recorded by the Romans, these people spoke a common language, dressed in richly coloured clothes and ate a fairly broad, nutritious diet. They knew of and used the wheel (wagons and chariots); travelled and traded widely. The various tribes may have resorted to violence to resolve conflicts but the society as a whole was stable and productive enough to support specialised craft workers capable of producing highly sophisticated works of art. There must also have been an appreciative audience for these works.

The social structure of this society is harder to deduce. The tradition of passing on stories via song and the spoken verse not surprisingly says little about the day to day bureaucracy or social strata. The religious side of people’s lives seems even more uncertain and is often speculative at best. Concrete evidence of the influence of Druids on the lives of the average Celt is almost completely lacking.

However, it would appear that the Roman’s did not introduce civilisation to an ignorant set of barbarians, more that they replaced a viable, flourishing one with their own (more or less at the point of the sword). Were there ‘Celts’ anywhere? Well, probably not. Are there people alive today who have inherited some of the cultural traditions and languages of people living over 2000 years ago, probably yes.

Rob Godfrey’s website

Author of the Historical Fiction set in the year 500BC: Year of the Celt: Imbolc
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Sources:
*A quote often attributed to Winston Churchill, but not everyone agrees on this.
1. Iron Age Jewellery: http://www.lessingimages.com/search.asp?a=L&lc=20202020443F&ln=Schweizer+Nationalmuseum%2C+Zurich%2C+Switzerland&p=1
http://www.yorkshiremuseum.org.uk/Page/ViewNewsArticle.aspx?ArticleId=63
2. Grave Goods: http://www.waa.ox.ac.uk/XDB/tours/europe5.asp
3. Hallstatt Culture: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallstatt_culture
4. La Tène Culture: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_T%C3%A8ne_culture
5. Examples of minerals from the Yorkshire Dales: http://www.pbase.com/hajar/yorkshire_minerals
6.COWLING Eric T., ROMBALDS WAY The authoritative work on the stones, artefacts and remains on Ilkley and surrounding moors. William Walker & Sons 1946
7. Crannogs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crannog
8. Huldremose woman’s clothes:
http://natmus.dk/en/historical-knowledge/denmark/prehistoric-period-until-1050-ad/the-early-iron-age/the-woman-from-huldremose/the-huldremose-womans-clothes/

Giveaway: To Die For: A Novel of Anne Boleyn by Sandra Byrd

To Die For: A Novel of Anne Boleyn is the first book in the Ladies in Waiting Series by Sandra Byrd.  It was named as Best Book Picks for 2011 by Library Journal. You can read more about the book HERE and enter to win a signed copy by commenting below; please leave contact information.  Giveaway is open to US, Canada, and International addresses; winner will be chosen via Random.org.

The Animals of Cottage and Castle: Cows, Bulls and Oxen

by Katherine Ashe

Cattle are among man’s most ancient domesticated creatures; they were common in Egypt and Mohenjo-daro, and have been serving mankind ever since. Our cattle are the descendants of the prehistoric aurochs, bovines native to the entire Eurasian continent. Amazingly, aurochs survived in their primordial form in the forests of Poland until 1627.

Aurochs don’t look very different from domestic cattle, but they were considerably larger than their barnyard kin. While a medieval ox might come up to a man’s chest, an aurochs bull could be 6 feet tall at the shoulder and weigh nearly two tons. And aurochs were wild, with all that implies.

Even the roar of the aurochs was terrifying, resonant with power. To command magical powers imitations of such sounds -- the weird bellowing noise made by a “bullroarer,” a serrated piece of wood tied to a long string and whirled in varying arcs -- have been used in rituals from ancient Ireland to present-day Australia.

The bull of domesticated breeds is far from being a docile animal that one can approach with confidence. (There’s always the odd individual: a neighbor of mine had a huge Hereford bull that liked to be ridden.) Most male calves are either castrated, becoming oxen, or are slaughtered for meat (veal) while still very young.

The complex of cultural and technological features that composed the Bronze Age, from Britain to China, included ritual sacrifice of bulls as a central element of fertility rites. The bull well deserves to be the exemplar of fertility: a single bull can keep a large herd of cows suitably pregnant.

Wealth, for cattle-raising peoples*, is counted in head of cattle, but a particularly able bull is the highest of prizes and, in one instance, purportedly was the cause of a war. The Irish legend Tain Bo Cuailgne, or The Cattle Raid of Cooley, tells of a bet Queen Maeve of Connaught made with her husband, Ailill, that she was richer than he was. However, Maeve’s magnificently fertile bull, Finnbhennach, loath to be possessed by a woman, had transferred himself to Ailill’s herd. Maeve took action as only a woman can, against both her husband and Finnbhennach, by acquiring an even more potent bull from the herd of Cooley by offering its owner “the friendship of my own two thighs.”

In the Mediterranean the use of bulls in rituals took on some exotic forms. On Crete young Minoans, both boys and girls, were taught to grab onto a charging bull’s horns and acrobatically flip over the bull’s head and onto his back. Nobody but the Minoans seems to have been eager to try this.

The cult of Mithra undoubtedly brought its particular variety of bull sacrifice to Britain with the Roman legions. Roman bas reliefs of bulls, festooned with ropes of blossoms, being led by maidens to sacrifice might indicate that the animal docilely tolerating such a procession was drugged.

The magnificent animal of the Romans looks very like a handsome breed discovered in France in 878 AD, now known as the Charolais. It would be surprising if this breed was unknown to the Normans, although the British Charolais Cattle Society claims the Charolais was the first continental breed to be introduced into Britain – and that was in the 1950s. Breed societies must deal with what is on record in breeding books.

In the Middle Ages there was little interest in the pure breeding of farm animals, and even less interest in recording such animals’ genealogies. The same animals were used for milking, for meat and, as oxen, for pulling heavy loads.

The medieval plow required as many as six oxen, yoked in a line two by two, to plow a furrow. The villain house-bondsman, as the holder of a village cottage and rights to a certain number of furrows in the communal manor fields was called, would be required to keep at least one ox and would share with his neighbors to make up an adequate team for the brief time of plowing of the “spring” and wheat fields.

What did his ox do for the remainder of the year? He could pull carts, and the medieval cart could be very large and heavy. (King Henry III made an edict that roads should be wide enough for two ox carts to pass, or six horses being ridden abreast.) While the horse collar was devised apparently in the 11th century, it didn’t come into widespread use on Britain’s manorial fields until late in the 13th century. Oxen were slower, but they were a byproduct of meat and milk production and were easier to care for than horses.

Free-ranging cattle were common in Scotland where the ground was too steep for tilling. But on the manor lands of the three-field system cattle grazed the fallow field, manuring it as they munched. It was matter for immediate action if the cattle strayed from their allotted field. Little Boy Blue is blowing his horn in alarm that the cow’s gotten into the wheat (corn) field. In England, chiefly it was sheep, not cattle, which were sent in great numbers to summer pasture in hill country.

In the agrarian year-cycle of the past, meat livestock were slaughtered in November to save the cost of feeding over the winter and to make use of the cold weather to reduce putrefaction. It’s a misconception that the people of the Middle Ages used massive amounts of spices to conceal the rottenness of their meat. Meat that is partially decomposed is considered “well hung” and is preferred to this day. Spices were used because they were a demonstration of wealth and people liked the taste.

Meat was preserved in warm climates, and to last beyond cold weather, by smoking, salting, and the use of nitre: potassium nitrate, also known as saltpeter. Its use has been common since Roman times and is advocated in De Re Coquinaria, attributed to the 1st-century gourmet Apicius.

The cottager would use the slaughtered young bull almost entirely, the various innards being chopped, mixed with salt and herbs from the garden -- thyme, rosemary, sage, coriander and fennel -- and packaged into lengths of the animal’s well-scrubbed intestine. The resulting sausage would be hung from a hook in the chimney until it was dry, hard and well enough preserved to last through the summer -- by which time the tidy cottager scraped the mold off the surface and found his sausage well-aged and delectable.

In the cities cattle were driven to the Shambles, the street of butchers where they were slaughtered in small yards behind the shops. There were butchers among the shopkeepers on London Bridge who enjoyed the convenience of throwing slaughter refuse down a chute and into the river. The sounds of early morning in the cities -- the cry of the water carrier with his wheeled barrel, the calls of early vendors of fish and eggs -- were punctuated by the hysterical bellowing of cattle being killed.

Gradually, and more emphatically in the 19th century with the rise of breeders’ organizations, cattle were bred for specialization as milk or meat producers.

Here are some of Britain’s oldest breeds: a Sussex cow:

An Old Gloucestershire cow:

And an endearing Scottish Longhorn. (Both cows and bulls have horns. With most breeds the horns’ roots are burnt away shortly after the calf’s birth. But that’s not needed with these mild-tempered Scottish creatures.)

The milch breeds now have a very different appearance from the meat breeds. With most of the cow’s resources going to milk production, her body, compared to the burly meat cow, looks rather like a bag of hide strung across a frame of hip, rib and shoulder bones, with a prodigious milk-bag hanging beneath. In Britain and the United States, most milch cows in commerce are German Holsteins, those familiar white cows with big black spots that have become the cartoon images for all cows. Holsteins produce tremendous amounts of milk, the record being held by Ever-Green-View 1326ET -- she gave 72,160 pounds of milk in one year. But it was Karlie, a nice young Jersey, who sold for the record price of $170,000 in March 2013. (People still bank on cows.)

A milch cow must be milked twice a day, approximately at dawn and sunset. That herd “winding slowly o’er the lee” is lowing because they need to be milked. Their parade is led by their queen. As with other domestic animals, a strict hierarchy is observed within a particular herd. (The cow of a neighbor of mine went down on her knees and cried when she was moved to a station she perceived to be of too high precedence in the barn. She feared the outrage of her betters, and indeed there was bellowing and much butting until she was moved back to her proper place.)

A milch cow gives far more milk than her calf will need. When her milk dries up and she’s ready to breed again, she may indicate her condition by attempting to mount other cows as if she were the bull. Since it’s rather a dangerous thing to expose a valuable cow to an amorous bull, cows since the 19th century chiefly have been bred by artificial insemination. To determine the optimal moment for that large syringe or introduction to the bull, the dairyman reaches up to the elbow inside the cow to feel the presence of the ova. He will often take part as midwife in the birthing process, having to turn a breech-presenting calf within the mother, or he risks losing the lives of both animals.

A castle or manor house provided a large byre to shelter the cattle in winter -- separate from horses. A shed would serve the poor cottager. Someone wealthier might have a barn where cows, oxen, horses and goats could mingle and express their own ideas of precedence; horses have been known to be quite fond of goats.

The cow, the bull and the ox (also called steer), though little known directly by most people nowadays, have been with us since the beginnings of recorded time, and upon them we humans still depend.

In memoriam of the 30,000 cattle that froze to death -- steers, heifers and pregnant cows -- in the American Midwest in early October 2013, after heavy rains turned the ground to deep mud, then freezing winds killed the cattle where they stood locked in new-made pools of ice.

*In the early 1970’s, in pursuit of “peace through trade,” I embarked on a business of selling ampoules of quick-frozen bull sperm from Agway to China’s Inner Mongolian Grasslands Institute. I explained my happy industry to a new friend in Virginia by saying that the Mongol people of western China still followed the ancient practice of saving their earnings not in the form of currency in banks, but as heads of cattle. My new friend put me in my place by remarking that was how her farming family banked their wealth as well.

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Katherine Ashe is the author of Montfort, the four volume historical novel on Simon de Montfort and the thirteenth century.

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A Little Christmassy Mystery From the Welsh Marches

The Empty Tomb ...

by Anne O'Brien

The career of Blanche Parry is well documented. Born into a prominent local family in 1587/8 at Newcourt, in the small settlement of Bacton in Herefordshire, the county in which I live, Blanche became chief gentlewoman of Queen Elizabeth I's Privy Chamber and Keeper of her Majesty's jewels, her personal papers, books, furs, linens and for two years the Great Seal of England. I expect that all this was far less trouble to her than care of the Queen's musk rat (thought to be a ferret). Such details are easily accessible to those interested in Tudor history and Blanche has been much mentioned in Tudor fiction.  Here she is, looking serene and beautifully dressed.

My interest in her, in the physical remains of Blanche's life, however, was born out of a chance visit to St Faith's, the little church in Bacton under the shadow of the Black Mountains in the Welsh Marches.

There the eye is taken by the obvious Tudor figures on one of the memorials, and one of the figures, facing forward to greet the visitor, is immediately recognisable as that of Queen Elizabeth herself. This is the tomb that Blanche had prepared for herself, intending to be buried here. It is dated to before November 1578 when it was noted in her first will, written to her dictation by William Cecil, Lord Burghley, her friend and cousin, during a period of Blanche's severe illness. Despite it being tucked away in this remote corner of England it is a tomb of great importance for it is said to be the earliest known depiction of Elizabeth as an icon, as Gloriana. 

It must have been truly impressive when painted, vibrant with colour as many Tudor tombs were, standing in its original position where the organ is today. 

But Blanche was not to be buried there in Bacton. Despite becoming blind in the 1580s, she continued to live at Court. When she died in 1589 she was buried at Saint Margaret's Church, adjacent to Westminster Abbey, where the Queen paid for her funeral and the memorial. It is impressive, but without the grandeur of Blanche's choice in Bacton (or so I think.) At least, in London, it allows far more Tudor aficionados to see the remains of Blanche Parry. Bacton is too far distant for many to make the pilgrimage. Here is Blanche's tomb in St Margaret's, Westminster, with a fine representation of Blanche.

But my interest in Blanche did not stop there. This is a Tudor stained glass window commemorating Blanche Parry which was originally installed at Bacton Church.

Now it is to be found in St. Eata's Church at Atcham, near Shrewsbury in Shropshire. It was moved there in 1811 at the expense of Mary, wife of Henry Burton who was vicar at Atcham from 1780 to 1831. Mary Burton was a descendant of Blanche Parry's family, and so obviously was moved by a need for family ownership of this lovely little window. Such is a covetousness!  The stained glass depicts Queen Elizabeth with Blanche at her side. An inscription records that Blanche died in 1589 at the age of 82, her body being buried at Westminster Abbey and 'her bowells' at Bacton. 

Is this true? Who's to say. Perhaps there are remnants of Blanche still at Bacton today - but a shame about the window. 

What can also be seen at Bacton is another gem of Queen Elizabeth's reign with a strong connection to Blanche. A beautiful, framed, silk Altar Cloth, cut from an Elizabethan court dress which it is thought belonged to the Queen herself, and might have been a gift from the Queen to her close friend. If the fine embroidery was done by Elizabeth's own household, it is a charming thought that Blanche herself may have worked on the lovely flower motifs.

The Altar Cloth was framed in 1909 and is there on the wall to be seen by any visitor. 

So the mystery of the empty tomb? There is no mystery at all, merely a change of plan. But how fortunate we are in the Welsh Marches to have this representation of Queen Elizabeth and her life-long confidante, Blanche Parry. 

And the final words of the epitaph on Blanche's Bacton tomb? 'Always with Maiden Queen, a Maid did end my life.' 

A most suitable memorial.

My novel of Katherine de Valois, The Forbidden Queen, will be released in the US in February 2014.  Visit my website or follow me on Facebook to keep up to date with events and the release of The Scandalous Duchess the magnificent love affair of Dame Katherine de Swynford and John of Lancaster, in the UK in March 2014.
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