Chaucer’s Medieval London Guided Walk 11.00am Sat 18th April 2026 To book
Chaucer’s London To Canterbury Virtual Pilgrimage 7.45pm Sat 18th April 26 To book
Jane Austen’s London Walk 11.00am Sun 19th April 26 To book
Tudor London – The City of Wolf Hall 6pm 1st May 2026 To Book
Myths, Legends, Archaeology, and the Origins of London 11:15am Sat 2nd May 26 to Book
London Bridge to Bermondsey 2:15pm Sat 2nd May 2026 To book
Jane Austen’s London Walk 2.30pm Sun 31st May 2026 To Book
The First Blitz – Zeppelin London New Walk! 6pm Sun 31 May 2026 To Book
Roman London – Literary & Archaeology Walk 3pm Sat 6th June 2026 Tobook
The Rebirth Of Saxon London Archaeology Walk 11am Sun 7th June 2026 To book
Jane Austen’s London Walk 2:30pm Sun 5th July 2026 To book
London. 1066 and All That Walk 11.30am Sun 12th July 26 Tobook
Bloody, Flaming, Poxy London 3pm Sun 12th July 26 To book
The Decline And Fall Of Roman London Walk 11:15am 2nd Aug 26 To book
Jane Austen’s London Walk 2:30pm Sun 2nd Aug 26 To book
Chaucer’s Medieval London Guided Walk 11.00am Sat 5th Sept 2026 To book
Jane Austen’s London Walk 2:30pm Sun 5th Sept 2026 To book
Jane Austen’s London Walk 2:30pm Sat 24th Oct 2026 To book
For a complete list of my guided walks for London Walks in 2026 look here
Canterbury Pilgrimage April 18th
Canterbury Pilgrimage
Tonight (April 18th 2026 7.45pm) , I am leading my annual Canterbury Tales Virtual Pilgrimage. This is the day Chaucer’s pilgrims leave London to ride to Canterbury. (For more details or to book look here.) Also, at 11am today i do my Chaucer’s London walk – for details click here.
At the beginning of the prologue, Chaucer gives clues as to the date. They go when April showers and Zephyrus’s wind is causing sap to rise in plants, engendering flowers. It is also when Aries course across the sky is half run. The pilgrims are accompanied by Harry Bailly who is the landlord of the Tabard Inn in Southwark. He was a real person and a fellow Member of Parliament of Chaucer. He is jolly and quite knowledgeable. In the Man of Law’s prologue we get a glimpse of Harry time telling in the days before clocks.
Telling the Time
Chaucer mentions ‘artificial day’ and this is a reference to the way days were divided into hours. There were twelve hours in the daylight part of the day, and twelve hours in the dark night. So in the winter daylight hours were short, and in the summer long.
Romans used water clocks. King Alfred used candles marked into hours. Harry Bailly knows how to tell the time by the height of the Sun. Harry tells the pilgrims it’s about time they got underway. Here is an extract:
Essentially, he is telling the time by the length of the shadows. On April 18th the shadows of trees are equal in length to the tree. Showing that the Sun has climbed 45 degrees and in this latitude it must be 10 o’clock. Time to get going on the Pilgrimage!
Mass Clocks & Time Divisions
The illustration of the mass clock at Jane Austen’s Church at Steventon shows how easy it was to tell the time by the sun. The first mass clock I noticed was at St James’ Cooling in Kent. Dickens used this in Great Expectations, where Pip’s brothers and sisters were buried. Once you find one mass clock, you suddenly discover them everywhere!
Telling the time, before mechanical clocks, was not complicated. The basic unit is the day and the night, and we can all tell when the dawn has broken. The Moon provides another simple unit of time. The month’s orbit around the Earth is roughly every 29 days. The new, the crescents and full moons provide a quartering of the month. For longer units, the Earth orbits around the Sun on a yearly basic. But it is easily divided into four, the winter solstice; the spring equinox, the summer solstice and the autumn equinox.
Nature’s Way of Time Telling
But there were other ways of marking days in the calendar, with natural time markers marked by, for example, migrating birds, lambing, and any number of budding and flowering plants such as snowdrops, daffodils and elm leaves:
When the Elmen leaf is as big as a mouse’s ear,
Then to sow barley never fear;
When the Elmen leaf is as big as an ox’s eye,
Then says I, ‘Hie, boys” Hie!’
When elm leaves are as big as a shilling,
Plant, kidney beans, if to plant ’em you’re willing;
When elm leaves are as big as a penny,
You must plant kidney beans if you mean to have any.’
In my north-facing garden, I have my very own solar time marker. All through the winter, the sun never shines directly on my garden. Spring comes appreciably later than the front, which is a sun trap facing south. But on 17th April, just after 12 o’clock the sun peeks over the block of flats to the south of me. It finds a gap between my building and the converted warehouse next door. For a short window of time, a shaft of a sunbeam brings a belated and welcome spring. This for my garden is the real beginning of spring. I took a photo of it this year.
New Light on Thomas Becket’s Window at Canterbury
Recent research has revealed the true story behind stained glass windows at Canterbury which had been reassembled wrongly. The story is told here:
On This Day
2026 The Tweed Run is a mass cycle ride around London with everyone dressed in Tweeds. It’s a twelve-mile ride around London (not a run). This year it is starting near Spa Fields, which is near Exmouth Market in Islington. The route is only published on the day of the race. See here for some photos of last year’s run. https://www.tweedrun.com
First published in 2023, revised 2025, 2026
On This Day April 14th
This was meant to be at the end of my post on Magnolias, but I didn’t manage to finish it on the day, so moved to April 16th, leaving On This Day adrift here, till next year!
On This Day
1471 – The Battle of Barnet; War of the Roses War in which the King Maker, the Earl of Warwick was killed and allowed Edward of York to recover the throne from Henry VI.
1775 – Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage Society set up in Philadelphia by Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush. It is the first abolition Society in the United States.
1865 – Abraham Lincoln is shot by John Wilkes Booth at the Theatre. The play he was watching was Tom Taylor’s Our American Cousin. It was a ‘farcical comedy about a redneck American who travels to England to claim his inheritance from aristocratic relatives’ (what-play-was-abraham-lincoln-watching-when-he-was-shot).
1912 – Titanic hits an iceberg in the North Atlantic and begins to sink.
Published April 2026
Peak Magnolia April 16th
It might already have peaked in London, but there are lots of lovely magnolias still flowering. This year, last week was very hot and plant experts feared it would lead to a brief spring. However, the shirt-sleeve warmth was soon followed by a cold spell, dropping in some places to 0 degrees C. This may have saved the situation and prolonged the spring flowering.
Magnolias, Earnest ‘Chinese’ Wilson, said were the most esteemed of all flowers. He introduced new species from the Himalayas. Magnolias are among the oldest flowers and have their origins in the Cretaceous period. They evolved 100 million years ago before the evolution of bees. So they are pollinated by beetles, which is one reason for the size of the flowers.
The first magnolias to come to Britain were from America. John Banister sent Magnolia Virginiana to Henry Compton Bishop of London, who was also highly involved in the colony in Virginia. Compton sent Banister out as a missionary, but both loved flowers. Banister wrote the first flora of N. America which was included in John Ray‘s Historia Plantarum. Sadly, he was accidently shot while exploring.
Magnolias were named after the French botanist Pierre Magnol (1638-1715) ‘Professor of Botany and Director of the Royal Botanic Garden of Montpellier’. Magnol invented the idea of plant families, which Linnaeus developed.
Herbal uses
Mrs Grieve’s ‘A Modern Herbal’ suggests Magnolia was used for rheumatism and malaria. A warm infusion was thought to be laxative, sudorific (induces ‘sweating so that the sweat runs down the body in rills!’), If cold. If warm was antiperiodic (useful against diseases like malaria which keep coming back) and mildly tonic.
Where to see Magnolias
In London, they can be seen everywhere but Google suggests:
Kensington (Phillimore Gardens, The Boltons), Chelsea (Carlyle Square), and Notting Hill (Lancaster Road). And of course Kensington Gardens and Kew Gardens. My favourites ones are in the roads around my house, often in the most unprepossessing of places.
But it is a delight to go to Hidecote the National Trust Property in Mickleton just off the edge of the Cotswolds. In April, it has spectacular magnolias. Unfortunately, I don’t have any good photos except this one which shows all the magnolia petals on the ground!
Ernest ‘Chinese’ Wilson 1876 – 1930
He was born in Chipping Camden where there is a lovely memorial garden which contains my favourite tree, and many plants he introduced. He brought back over 2000 species into the West of which 60 are named after him. One of his expeditions took place during the Boxer revolution. So he adopted a native disguise and risked execution.
At 16, he was apprenticed at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. Then he worked at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. His next adventure was to be hired as the Chinese plant collector with James Veitch & Sons (originally based in Chelsea). He eventually moved to America, where he became keeper of the Arnold Arboretum in Boston. Unfortunately, he and his wife died in a car accident in 1930.
For my post on Chipping Camden click here.
On This Day
1116 (or 1117) – St Magnus the Martyr Executed. He was executed because of dynastic disputes amongst Vikings in the Orkneys. Magnus lived a pious life refusing, for example, to fight in the Battle of Menai Straits in Wales, and various miracles took place after his death. He is remembered by the Church of St Magnus at the foot of London Bridge in London. But that was, before the 18th Century, thought to be dedicated one or other of the other many St Magnus’s (6). The Church is by Christopher Wren, and very high Church Protestant. On the occasion I visited on his feast day I felt like I was in a Roman Temple.
Published on 16th April 2026
The Month of Love Roman Months April 15th
April was Aphrodite’s month. The goddess of love and beauty. Hence, the month of love. It is also National Couple Appreciation Month! (‘National Couple Appreciation Month was founded in 2010 by Blissful Escapes to, in the words of the company, “encourage couples to do something special to re-enforce and celebrate their relationship.”’ Quote taken from this site.). But first, the new section of:
On This Day
1738 –George Frideric Handel’s Serse, has its premiere performance in London, England. From 1723 Handel lived in a House at 23, Brook Street which is in Mayfair. The House became a museum. Jimi Hendrix lived next door. And so now it is the Handel Hendrix House.
See my post on Hendrix in London.
1755 – Samuel Johnson published his famous ‘A Dictionary of the English Language’.
He had a team of clerks in his attic in Bolt Court. They wrote down his definitions and illustrations of their use. He was often quite naughty in including funny, rude or idiosyncratic definitions. For example, a lexicographer was ‘A writer of dictionaries. A harmless drudge.’ A Second Marriage was: ‘ A triumph of hope over experience.’ Oats. ”A grain which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people.’ The innovation of his dictionary was that the definitions came with copious illustrations of a word’s use from well-known authors. While researching he borrowed books from friends. When he eventually returned them they were marked with lots of underlining and annotation in the margins.
1912 – Titanic sinks at 2:20 a.m. This was 2 hours and 40 minutes after she hit the iceberg. 1514 people were lost of 2,224.
1923 – Insulin becomes generally available for use by people with diabetes. Its development involved decades of work over 2 continents, but it was extracted by a team from the University of Toronto in 1921.
1945 – Bergen-Belsen concentration camp is liberated. The Imperial War Museum writes: ‘Thousands of bodies lay unburied around the camp and some 60,000 starving and mortally ill people were packed together without food, water or basic sanitation. Many were suffering from typhus, dysentery and starvation.… Nearly 14,000 died after the liberation.’
1989 – 97 Liverpool fans packed into the Hillsborough Stadium, were crushed to death watching the FA Cup Semi-final. 766 were injured. The Police tried to cover up the events, and the press blamed the Liverpool fans, particularly Rupert Murdoch’s the Sun.
Roman Months
I have spoken about the Roman Calendar in previous posts. Today, I’m concentrating on the Months. The Romans wrote about a ‘legendary’ calendar, set up by Romulus when he founded Rome. It consisted of 10 months of 30 and 31 days followed by a winter period not divided into months. This allowed them to extend the year so that it fitted into the Celestial cycle. The year began in March, suitable names were given to March, April, May and June.
Having given names to June the Romans gave up and the next 6 months were given numbers from 5th month to 10th month as in the diagram above. The Calendar was not well regulated and the months eventually began to lose their integration with the seasons, and needed reform.
The Calendar was reformed several times. January and February were added by the legendary Numa Pompilius about 713 BC replacing the monthless winter period. But, Julius Caesar undertook the major reform in 46BC. This was the so-called ‘Year of Confusion’. This first year was 445 days long. This is how far out of sync the Calendar had got. The Julian Calendar realigned the calendar to the seasons.
The Year began on January 1st, with 365 days, 12 months and a 4 year leap year cycle. This held sway until the 16th Century when a further reform was ordered by Pope Gregory as the year is not exactly 365.25 days long. It was not adopted in the UK until 1752 when we lost 11 days to align ourselves with Europe.
More on the Ides and the Kalendes of the month here. For more on Numa Pompilius or see my post.
First published in November 2022. Republished April 2025, and 2026 when On This Day was added.
One Potato, Two Potato, Three Potato, Four. April 10th
Plant your taters when you will
They won’t come up until April
Early potatoes will nowabouts be ready, says Charles Kightly in the Perpetual Calendar of Folklore.
Potatoes were imported to Spain from Peru in the early l6th Century. Sir Walter Raleigh brought them to Britain and Ireland. He had them planted on his estate near Cork, Ireland in 1586. Raleigh was not impressed, he tried the berries, but they possess the narcotic properties of Deadly Nightshade. Or so Mrs Grieve says in ‘A Modern Herbal’. He ordered the potatoes to be rooted up, which his Gardener did. But he discovered the tubers, found them to be wholesome and the rest is history.
The Tubers are not the roots, which is why they are not poisonous. They are underground stems which, shortened and thickened, store starch for the use of the plant. The English and Irish took to them and originally called them Potatoes of Virginia to distinguish them from Sweet Potatoes. The Continent was slower to succumb
‘The use of these potatoes was forbidden in Burgundy (where they call them Indian artichokes) for that they were persuaded the too frequent use of them caused the Leprosy).‘
Gerard Herbal 1597
Mrs Grieves Modern Herbal
I frequently quote Mrs Grieve. She was born in Upper Street, Islington. She moved to India, had a lifelong interest in Herbs. Back in England at Chalfont St Peters she set up a nursery. But changed it to a herb farm at the outbreak of World War 1. She wanted to help fill the shortfall in medicines caused by disruption of normal trade. She participated in various bodies promoting the medicinal use of Herbs, and published:
I came across it when I was director of the Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret. I managed the Museum for 25 years and had to prepare displays and lectures. Mrs Grieve was almost a constant companion. She not only gives you everything about the plant, and its medicinal uses. But also gives great quotes from people like Pliny, Dioscorides, Culpepper, Gerard etc. John Fowles, author of the French Lieutenant’s Woman, was another admirer of the rich references in Mrs Grieves Modern Herbal. He was also the Curator of the Lyme Regis Museum for 10 years. If you want to buy a copy I would suggest looking for a second hand copy at Abebooks. (£20).
Medical benefits of Potatoes
Mrs Grieve says, although potatoes don’t do much for growing muscles, it does have citric acid. This helps against scurvy and potatoes have a lot of phosphorus, more than apples. She makes the point that it is paramount to keep the skin on the potato while cooking. Otherwise, one half of the goodness is lost. (the skin also contains the Deadly Nightshade chemicals, but it is dissipated during cooking, you will be relieved to know.)
Put a Raw Potato in your pocket!
Potatoes were thought to be good against rheumatism. Ladies ‘in former times’ had special pockets in bags and dresses to put small potatoes in. Experiments, she says, show that Gout and Rheumatism can be reduced by potato juice. Also, good for sprains. Peeled and pounded potatoes were used as a poultice helped with burns. She also praises Potato Brandy, and potato flour for making cakes.
Now, this was written in 1931 so don’t take her word for it. Modern science says that potatoes are a source of polyphenols, and should not be, nutritionally, looked down upon.
One Potato
My family had potatoes for every main meal, very rarely having anything like pasta or rice as a carbohydrate. As children:
‘One potato, two potato, three potato, four
Five potato, six potato, seven potato, more‘
Was used all the time. All the participating kids put their ‘spuds out’ – their fists. The counter counted the fists to the rhyme above. When ‘more’ was said, the fist that had been hit was put behind the back.
Repeat
Until only one fist is left, and that person is IT. The rest of us would un away to hide or chase or whatever game we might be playing.
Here is a very annoying character leading singing of ‘One Potato, two potato, three potato, four‘. But please spare yourself for starting watch at 1 minute 25.
For more from Mrs Grieve, see my post here.
First Published on April 10th 2026
Beginning of the Financial Year April 6th
Why is April 6th the Beginning of the Financial Year?
If you remember, in the medieval period, the official New Year was on March 25th. This was the Day of the Annunciation, the Day Mary conceived Jesus. (for much more on this see my post march-25th-feast-of-the-annunciation/). But in 1752, we followed belatedly, Pope Gregory’s reorganisation of the Julian Calendar. We had to put our days back in sync with the Sun. This had gone 11 days out of kilter since Julius Caesar’s reorganisation of the calendar (see my post here!). As we lost 11 days, we had to put them back. So the beginning of the Financial Year in 1753 was changed to April 5th. A further adjustment in 1800 was necessary, as this would have been a leap year. So the new Financial Year moved to April 6th. And it has remained so ever since. For more on the Gregorian Calendar look here.
Today, we breathe a sigh of relief if we have transferred money into our ISAs or briefed our investment advisers, or rue the day that we didn’t get around to any of it, yet again, or didn’t have any money to take advance of tax breaks.
Exploring Mayfair
On April 6th 2025, and 2026. I did Jane Austen in Mayfair walks. Today, I met my client at Claridges, (£930 a night). Arriving early, I had a chance to look around, and work out some changes to my Jane Austen walk. I decided to start it at Bond Street, rather than Green Park. This gives a chance to look at Hanover Square, where the tedious Palmers fictionally live (Sense & Sensibility). It is also the location of St George’s Church where Henry Crawford is telling Fanny he will marry her (Mansfield Park). (He won’t).
I really love exploring Cities, and here are a few reasons. I knew the Tyburn River used to flow near here. So, I was delighted to see a place where the road to the west rose in height and the road to the east also climbed a small hill. This was the valley of the Tyburn. As I reached the depression, looking left and right, instead of grand boulevards were two pokey little lanes, cutting at an angle in which you could imagine the babbling brook.
Post walk research confirmed the guess, this was the course of the Tyburn. Below is an open-source map from the Londonist. Look at their post for more on the Tyburn.
Further down Brook Street were a couple of delightful buildings. First a juxta-position of a Georgian town house with a fine brutalist tower, and then a fabulous triangular brick corner house.
Brook St, London, Photos K Flude
Finally, in Bruton Street just where the Tyburn would have crossed the road was the very epitome of an old inn – the Coach & Horses which survives since 1770, 5 years before the birth of Jane Austen! It is the ‘oldest surviving unreconstructed tavern in Mayfair.’ If you want to do my Jane Austen walk for London Walks, please follow this link.
Object of the Day – Allies
On my walk, like last year, we saw the statue of Churchill sitting on a park bench chatting with Roosevelt. Seemed like it was from a different world? Given President Trump’s recent statements on NATO?
Wise Words on Tariffs.
As it’s the end of the financial year I might be forgiven for keeping in this post words from last year when, coincidentally, I did the same walk. Last year the issue was Tariffs. This is what President Ronald Reagan said about high tariffs.
First Published 6th April 2025, Mayfair content added and post revised 2026
Anglo-Saxon Easter
The German name for Easter is Ostern. The English name is Easter which the Venerable Bede, in the 8th Century, derived from the Goddess Eostra. They probably have the same derivation. But this is all the evidence there is for the Goddess, despite many claims for the deep history of Easter traditions.
Easter, Estry and Canterbury
Philip A. Shaw has proposed that the name of Eastry in Kent might derive from a local goddess, called Eostra. Canterbury had a leading place in the development of the early Church both in England and Germany. So, perhaps, this led to the adoption of a local cult name in these two countries. Otherwise, the name for Easter in Europe derives from Pascha which comes from the Hebrew Passover and Latin. In French it’s Pâques, in Italian Pasqua, Spanish Pascua; Dutch Pasen, Swedish Påsk; Norwegian Påske and so on.
The Church’s Choice for the Date of Easter
The timing of Easter is the first full moon after the Spring Equinox. I have already explained that Spring was the time the Church set for the Creation, the Crucifixion and other key points in the Christian Calendar. See my post the-beginning-of-the-universe-as-we-know-it-birthday-of-adam-lilith-eve-conception-of-jesus-start-of-the-year.
Eleanor Parker in her lovely book ‘Winter in the World’ gives a lyrical insight into how the dates were chosen. The Anglo-Saxons held the belief that God would only choose the perfect time for the Creation and the events of Easter. The Creation began with the birth of the Sun and the Moon. So it was fixed to the Equinox, when the days were of equal length, and the fruits of the earth were stirring into life. But Holy Week also needed to be in harmony with the Moon. Therefore, Easter was tied, like Passover, to the first full moon after the Equinox, which is also when the events take place in the Gospels.
The quotations Parker uses from early English religious writing and poetry shows a profound interest in nature and the universe. It is a very appealing viewpoint. It seems to me that this is something the Church lost in later times, and replaced with a fixation with dogma and ‘worship’ of the Holy Trinity, rather than a spiritual sense of wonder at the Universe.
Celtic & Roman Churches in Conflict
At the time, fixing the date of Easter was very controversial as the Celtic Church in Britain had a different calendar to the Roman Catholic Church. Easter fell on a different day. The Anglian King of Northumberland, for example, celebrated Easter on a different day to that of his wife. King Oswiu was exiled to Ireland where he was influenced by Celtic Christianity. His wife, Eanflæd, from Northumberland, had been baptised by the Roman Catholic missionary, Paulinus.
Easter and the Synod of Whitby
Oswiu, became King of Northumberland and ‘Bretwalda’ (ruler of all Britain). He encouraged a reconciliation. This culminated at the Synod of Whitby (664AD), between the two churches. The Celtic Church finally agreed to follow the Catholic calendar and other controversial customs. The Abbess at Whitby during the Synod was Hilda of Whitby. The Celtic position was defended by Bishop Colmán and the Roman position by St Wilfred. Bishop Colmán resigned his position as Bishop of Lindisfarne, returned to Iona and then set up a monastery back in Ireland. Wilfrid studied at Lindisfarne, Canterbury, France and Rome. After her husband’s death, Queen Eanflaed became Abbess of Whitby,
The antagonism between the two churches went back to the time of St Augustine in the early 7th Century. In a meeting between St Augustine and Celtic churchmen, St Augustine was judged to have been arrogant, unwilling to listen. So agreement was not reached. Sometime afterwards, the Anglo-Saxons attacked the Celts at the Battle of Chester. Hundreds of monks from the Abbey at Bangor were slaughtered.
Days off at Easter & Rituals
Ælfric of Eynsham gives a powerful commentary on the rituals of the Church over Easter. They were full of drama and participation. These included Palm leaf processions on Palm Sunday, feet washing and giving offerings to the poor on Maundy Thursday. Then followed three ‘silent days’ with no preaching. Instead there were rituals and services aiming to encourage empathy for the ordeal of Jesus. This included the nighttime service of Tenebrae. All lights were extinguished in the Church while the choir sang ‘Lord Have Mercy’. The darkness represented the despair that covered the world after Jesus’ death. Good Friday was the day for the adoration of the Cross. The Cross would be decorated with treasures and symbolised turning a disaster into a triumph.
It seemed to me that I saw a wondrous tree
Lifted up into the air, wrapped in light,
brightest of beams. All that beacon was
covered with gold; gems stood
beautiful at the surface of the earth,….
The Dream of the Rood quoted in Eleanor Parker’s ‘Winter in the World’
The Harrowing of Hell
The days before Easter Sunday are known as the ‘Harrowing of Hell’. This was a very popular theme in the medieval period (featuring in Piers Plowman for example). Jesus went down to hell to free those, like John the Baptist, who had been trapped. Becauase when he died the world had no saviour until the first Easter. The name ‘Harrowing’ comes from ‘Old English word hergian ‘to harry, pillage, plunder’. The ‘Clerk of Oxford’ Blog provides more information on the Harrowing of Hell on this page,
The Clerk of Oxford Blog is written by Eleanor Parker. She started in 2008, whilst an undergraduate student at Oxford. The blog won the 2015 Longman-History Today award for Digital History‘.
The above is but a very poor précis of Eleanor Parker’s use of Anglo-saxon poetry and literature. She brings an Anglo-Saxon Easter to life. So if you are interested to know more please get a copy of her book.
Easter Days off
King Alfred’s law code gave labourers the week before and after Easter off work. This made it the main holiday of the year.
First Published in 2023 and republished in 2025, 2026
Francis Drake Knighted at Deptford April 4th
The Queen’s half share in the profits of the Golden Hind’s circumnavigation of the world, amounted to more than her normal annual income. So it is no wonder she knighted the Captain, Sir Francis Drake. The ceremony took place in the dock in what is now South East London at Deptford.
The Spanish were furious that a Pirate should be so honoured. The Queen may have given a French man the honour of dubbing Sir Francis. She did this, perhaps to encourage the French to support the English against the Spanish?
The annual Royal Income for King Charles III is £86.3 million. This is paid in the Sovereign’s Grant. It gives you an idea of Drake’s booty. But I imagine she had a greater share of the nation’s wealth than Charles, as she was the Government not just a honorific cutter of ribbons.
Francis Drake. Hero or Bloodthirsty Pirate?
Francis Drake was one of the British heroes I read about as a child. I had a thick book with stories about people King Alfred the Great, Hereward the Wake, Robin Hood, Drake, Charles II, Bonny Prince Charlie, Flora MacDonald, Florence Nightingale, David Livingstone etc. Some of them horrifically Imperialist and racist!
Drake is remembered for being the first English person to sail around the world. And his exploits in ‘singeing the beard of the King of Spain’ on his piratical raids on the Spanish Main.
In the books I read, the Spanish were the bad guys, and we were on the side of the Angels. Drake was one of the swash-buckling heroes who turned Britain from a not very important country on the edge of Europe, to one of the World’s Great Powers.
On the other hand, he was also a pioneer of the Slave Trade, was involved in atrocities in Ireland and in the Spanish Territories. He summarily executed one of his crew in dubious circumstances. Perhaps more significantly, his contemporaries did not entirely trust him.
Francis Drake and the Spanish Armada
As the Spanish Armada sailed along the southern coast of England, the English Navy sniped at the heels of the Spanish ships. Drake was tasked with leading the nighttime harrying of the Armada up the Channel. The idea was to stop them landing and to drive them away and into the hostile waters of the North Sea. Drake in the Revenge was leading the pursuit, and the other ships were told to follow. He was to keep a single lantern alight in the stern of his ship. But the Lantern went out, and the British pursuit was disrupted.
The next morning, Drake comes back having captured the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora del Rosario, flagship of Admiral Pedro de Valdés. The ship contained the gold to pay the Spanish Armada, which Drake seized. Was this a fortuitous accident which rebounded to Drake’s considerable financial advantage or something more deliberate?
In the end, the lantern incident did not stop the British forcing the Spanish to flee around the North of Scotland. On this perilous voyage only about 60 of their ships returned to Spain out of about 130. And Britain was saved from the Spanish Armada.
Nuestra Señora del Rosario and Agatha Christie
I used to lead an Agatha Christie program which included a visit to Torre Abbey in Devon. And it was here that the Spanish ship’s crew were imprisoned after Francis Drake took the ship.
The Abbey was a Premonstratensian Abbey. Its tithe barn was used to hold the prisoners of war from the ship of whom there were 397.
Sir John Gilbert, who was Sheriff of Devon at the time, used 160 Spanish Prisoners of War to develop his estate above the River Dart. The Estate is in a magnificent position, overlooking the drowned valley of the Dart. It is now enjoyed by those millions of visitors to what became the summer home of Agatha Christie (Greenway). The Poison Garden in the Garden of the Abbey is themed around poisons used in Agatha Christie’s books.
The Golden Hind & Deptford
Queen Elizabeth I decided that the Golden Hind should be permanently docked in Deptford. So the ship was placed in a ‘dry’ dock filled with soil. The ship decayed and by 1660 nothing much was left.
I remember as a young archaeologist that some of our team took time out to work with Peter Marsden. He is one of the great experts in Naval archaeology, and he led a search to find Drake’s ship. There was a huge fanfare in the London newspapers. ‘Find the Hind’ I think must have been the hopeful Headlines. But, rather embarrassingly, given the build up, they failed to find anything of significance.
Further exploratory excavations took place in 2012, with no greater success.
Golden Hind souvenirs
The Keeper of the Naval Stores at Deptford made chairs from the ruins of Drake’s ship, and one of them is on display at the Divinity Hall, Oxford.
Sir Francis Drake and Middle Temple Hall
In London, Sir Francis Drake visited Middle Temple Hall, off of Fleet St regularly. A table (called the cupboard) is reputedly made from the hatch cover of the Golden Hind. This is where the newly qualified barristers stood to have their registration entered into the Inn’s books. Sadly, it did not survive the bombing of 1941.
The lantern which hung in the entrance Hall allegedly came from the ship’s poop deck (so not the one he failed to keep lit!). Other famous mariners associated with the Middle Temple include Sir Martin Frobisher and Sir Walter Raleigh. Shakespeare’s company performed Twelfth Night in the Middle Temple Hall
https://www.middletemple.org.uk/about-us/history/elizabethan-and-jacobean-times
On this day
The Romans celebrated the Great Mother, the Cybele in the festival of the Megalesia. To celebrate bringing a meteorite of Cybele to her temple in Rome in 204BC. Celebrated by the Games of the Great Mother
1660 – Declaration of Breda by King Charles II promises a general pardon to all royalists and opponents of the monarchy for crimes committed during the English Civil War. Excluded were the Regicides who signed Charles I’s death warrant.
1814 – Napoleon abdicated and on April 11 ordered into exile in Elbe.
1949 Twelve nations sign the North Atlantic Treaty creating NATO. They were the Western Union – ( France, UK, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg) and the United States, Canada, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland
1968 – Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated by James Earl Ray in Memphis, Tennessee
First published 2024, revised 2025, On This Day added 2026
Chelsea Buns, Hot Cross Buns. Long Rope Day & Good Friday
This year, Good Friday is on Friday 3rd of April, and the day we eat Hot Cross Buns. The Hot Cross Bun is a simpler sort of bun than the Chelsea Bun, which was the bun to have at Easter in London in the 18th Century.
Hot Cross Buns Good Friday Traditions
There seem to be all sorts of dubious traditions around the origins of the Hot Cross Bun. It has been suggested that the Greeks knew how to put a cross on a bun. Also, that the Anglo-Saxons celebrated the Goddess Eostre with the crossed bun. It is suggested that the cross represents, not the cross, but the four quarters of the moon, the four seasons and the Wheel of the Year. But there is very little evidence for Eostre other than the Venerable Bede’s mentioning her name. Bede says:
‘‘Eosturmonath has a name which is now translated ‘Paschal month’, and which was once called after a goddess of [the English people] named Eostre, in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month’ (quoted from florencehrs.substack.com/p/eostre-pagan-fertility-goddess)
So nothing is known about Eostra herself nor her rituals and customs. So her association with Hot Cross Buns cannot be known. However, the cross, and the association with Easter, makes the bun powerful, so there are many superstitions on record. A piece of an Easter Hot Cross Bun given to the sick may promote a cure. It was said that a bun cooked and served at Easter will not go off for a year. This might help explain the traditions that hanging them up on a string or ribbon is a good thing. One hung in a kitchen prevents fire. On a ship prevents sinking. In East London, the Widow’s Son Pub in East London has an old bun. This remembers a sailor-son who never returned to eat it on Good Friday.
Making and Eating Hot Cross Buns
The technology of putting a cross on a Bun requires nothing more complicated than a flour and water paste so it might well be an ancient tradition. A more impressive cross can be made with shortcrust pastry. The bun itself is simply flour, milk, butter, egg, salt, spices and mixed fruit. Here is a recipe from the BBC www.bbcgoodfood.com
In my opinion, they need to be purchased from a shop. Home-made Hot Cross Bun might be better but would be strangely disappointing. It’s normally eaten toasted and buttered although I prefer the soft doughy untoasted and unbuttered bun. But then I can get carried away and eat the entire pack of four.
The Good Friday Chelsea Bun
‘RRRRRare Chelsea Buns’ as Jonathan Swift called them in a letter to Stella in 1711.
Fragrant as honey and sweeter in taste
As flaky and white as if baked by the light
As the flesh of an infant soft, doughy and slight.
The buns were made from eggs, butter, sugar, lemon and spices. The tradition was that, on Good Friday, 18th and 19th Century Londoners would go to Chelsea to buy Chelsea Buns. Thousands of people would turn up at the Five Fields. These stretched from Belgravia to what is now Royal Hospital Street. There were swings, drinking booths, nine pins and ‘vicious events that disgraced the metropolis’. The Bun House was on Jew’s Row as Royal Hospital Street was then called. As several King Georges visited the Bun House it became known as the Royal Chelsea Bun House. It was run by the Hands family. They were said to sell 50,000 Buns on the day. Stromboli tea garden was nearby.
Chelsea Cabinets of Curiosity
Inside the Chelsea Bun House was a collection of curiosities. Chelsea became known for its collection of curiosities in the 18th Century. Of course, there was the great Hans Sloane’s collection which was the founding collection of the British Museum. And then there was Don Saltero’s which was a coffee house that had curiosities on the wall. The Bun House displayed clocks, curiosities, models, paintings, and statues on display to attract a discerning Public.
Find me a Chelsea Bun! (Or make one yourself!)
Me. I love a Chelsea Bun above all buns, But can you get them any more? The British Library Cafe was the last place I found that sold them. And that was 7 years ago. I did Chelsea Buns on sale in the Empire Cafe in Newbury but apart from that nada. Their place has been taken first by Danish Pastries and more recently the ubiquitous Cinnamon Bun. If you see any Chelsea Buns on sale please let me know.
To make yourself one follow this link. https://www.christinascucina.com/chelsea-buns-british-buns-similar-to-cinnamon-rolls/
Long Rope Day
There is a tradition of Skipping on Good Friday. I can’t say I ever saw it – in my school skipping was a perennial activity, mostly enjoyed by the girls, but the boys would sometimes be intrigued enough to join in.
There is a great article about Long Rope Day in the Guardian with a wonderful picture of a collective skip. Find it here! https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/apr/06/english-heritage-tradition-skipping-aeaster
More Easter traditions here. My post on Pancake Day. For Lardy Cake read my Fat Thursday post.
First Written in 2023, and combined with the Chelsea Bun in April 2025, Revised and Newbury added April 3rd 2026
The Month of April
The name of the Month of April comes from Latin. From Aperilis from aperio meaning ‘to open’. This is the month when the Earth opens up, the blossoms bloom, buds budding, the flowers flowering.
In Anglo-Saxon times, the Venerable Bede mentioned that they called the month Eostremonath. But there really is no other evidence for the Goddess Eostre. But it is from her that we get our word ‘Easter’. In Gaelic it’s the Cuckoo’s month ‘Ceitein na h-oinsich’. In Welsh it is Ebrill which comes from the Latin.
The image from the medieval Kalendar of Shepherds shows all the beautiful flowers blooming. The central figure is a rich man bearing bows of tree and flowers. Behind him is a female sitting on the grass embroidering. Love is in the air, and a castle on the hill. The star signs of the month are shown in the roundels.
Star Signs as Greek Deities
I can’t remember where I found this illustration nor its justification. But, is it strange that the Greek God Ares is not the patron of the Star sign Aries? Of course, Ares/Mars has March named after him. Ares is a fire sign, its colour is red, and ruled by the planet Mars.
Aries is no ordinary Ram, he has wings and is called Chrysomallos. Ino the step-mother of Phrixus and Helle, wife of the King of Boeotia, hated her step-children, and plotted their death. But they were rescued by the flying Ram which had a Golden Fleece. Unfortunately, Helles fell off and drowned in what became known as the Hellespont, Phrixus came to safety in Colchis, and in an act of terrible piety, sacrificed the poor lamb to Zeus as a “Thank You”! The fleece was later taken by Jason and the Argonauts. (So, now we know why Zeus is the patron God of Aries!)
Hestia is the Goddess of the Heath. In other words, she is the Goddess of all those wonderful things that are encompassed by the word ‘Home’. (You’ll find more on Hestia in my reflections-on-the-solstice/)
The Month of April in the Kalendar of Shepherds
The Kalendar of Shepherds as usual gives a lyrical insight into the countryside in the month of April:
It continues with a poem. Beneath the poem is text which describes what happens to the child in the fourth set of 6 years. January represents a child’s life from 0 – 6, February 6 – 12. So April represents the ages 18 – 24 – the spring time of Man. But also a time when the struggle between vice and virtue in the young mind.
For more about the Kalendar of Shepherds read my post.
First written on 7th April 2025, (some content was moved from its original April Fools Day post home). Revised and section on Aries added 2026