Sliding Ducks & the Equivocation of Prophecy – November 3rd

Ducks in Winter 
Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@timromanov?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash">Timur Romanov</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/ducks-on-water-a5U8v7Pm-yg?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash">Unsplash</a>
Timur Romanov, Photo from Unsplash

Folklore is full of ways of predicting the future – mostly about the weather or love. The Perpetual Almanac by Charles Kightly features many of these in rhyme form of the ‘Sky at Night Shepherd’s Delight’ type. Here is a seasonal one.

If ducks do slide at Hallowentide
At Christmas they will swim
If ducks do swim at Hallowentide
At Christmas they will slide

From my experience, in the south of the UK, this is simply not true as we very rarely get ice in early November, and don’t get snow at Christmas that often. But maybe, the further north you go, the truer this becomes. But it’s good to remember what Macbeth said on seeing the wood moving to Dunsinane ‘(I) begin to doubt the equivocation of the fiend, that lies like truth.’ as he realises that prophecy is a double-edged sword which has led him to his doom. He had been told by the Three Witches that he:

‘shall never vanquish’d be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him’

Still, as he heads to the final battle, Macbeth knows he is invincible and that ‘none of woman born shall harm Macbeth’.

But in his savage fight with Macduff, he is told that Macduff was not of woman born, but rather ‘from his mother’s womb / Untimely ripped’. And Macbeth is killed.

In reality Macbeth, was a successful King who reigned for 17 years, and was one of the last Gaelic Kings as Scottish society was changing with contact with England.

This is a draft of the text that forms part of my best-selling book ‘Divorced, Beheaded, Died’ The Kings and Queens of Britain in Bite-sized Chunks’

King Macbeth (Mac Bethad mac Findlaích) 1040 – 1057

Macbeth was nicknamed the Red King. He was a Gaelic speaker, descended from the Kings of Dal Riata. Macbeth’s father, Finlay MacRory, was Mormaer (Grand Steward) of Moray. He was murdered by Gillacomgain, who took MacRory’s title. Gillacomgain was burnt to death with 50 of his followers, probably by Macbeth, who thus not only regained the title as ruler of Moray but married his dead rival’s widow, Gruoch. She was the granddaughter of Kenneth II. Macbeth was also himself descended from the Kings of Scotland via his mother Donada probably daughter of Malcolm II.

His claim to the throne was therefore strong, and following the disasters of King Duncan’s reign, Macbeth seized the opportunity to take the throne for himself.

He ruled well for nearly 2 decades imposing a strong sense of law and order, encouraging Christianity and leading successful raids across the border into England. In 1050 he went on pilgrimage to Rome. Exiled Normans, supporters of Edward the Confessor were settled in Scotland in Macbeth’s reign. There is no evidence that Macbeth was any more evil then the rest of the early Scottish Kings.

In 1057 Macbeth was killed in battle against Duncan I’s son who became Malcolm III. Macbeth is buried on Iona. He and Gruoch had no children but Guoch’s son, Lulach, son of Gillacomgain briefly followed Macbeth as king before being assassinated by Malcolm III

‘Divorced, Beheaded, Died’ The Kings and Queens of Britain in Bite-sized Chunks’ for more details look here.

Prophecy ‘lies like the truth’ a trope that is used in many ancient tales such as Oedipus Rex.

The 3rd of November is the Hilaria, the last day of the festival of Isis/Osiris, the day of the rebirth of Osiris. Isis was the wife (and brother) of Osiris God-King of Egypt who was killed by his brother. Isis restored his body to life for long enough to conceive their son Horus, who revenged his father, regained the throne, restored Cosmic Order and completed the resurrection of Osiris. Isis is normally shown holding the baby Horus in a pose that may have influenced images of the Virgin Mary. Londinium would have had a celebration on this day as there is a pot found near London Bridge inscribed ‘At London, at the Temple of Isis).

Roman pot with Isis inscription, London

First Posted on 3 November 2021. Revised 3 November 2023 & 2024

November ‘the month of immolations’

Kalendar of Shepherds November

November is the 9th Month of the Roman Calendar, 9 coming from the Latin for nine. But the Romans added two months to the calendar during the time of the Dictator, Julius Caesar (for his reforms click here) so it is now the 11th Month.

In Welsh it is ‘Tachwedd’ which means the month of slaughtering. Blōtmōnaþ (Blotmonath) in Anglo -Saxon – the month of blood. These reference the fact that this was the month when the surplus animals were slaughtered or as the historian, Venerable Bede has it, ‘the month of immolations’.

The image above from the Kalendar of Shepherds shows some aspects of November – star signs Scorpio and Sagittarius; Pigs are fattening up on the acorns in the forest and then being slaughtered, smoked or dried to preserve them through the hard winter. The text of the Kalendar gives a good summary of what early modern life in November was like. In summary, the day when the ‘poore die through want of Charitie’.

Kalendar of Sherherds – November

All Souls’ Day – November 2nd

Picture of window sill with skulls, Chrysanthemums  and pictures of remembrance
El Dia de los Muertos.

The Mexican Day of the Dead, in fact, the second day of El Dia de Muertos. Here is a video from Mexico, which you will enjoy for its Latin song and images of the Day of the Dead in Mexico. (It’s on Facebook, so may not work unless you have a login). And here is a YouTube explanation of celebrations in Mexico.

Today is the day to celebrate all those loved ones who have passed away. To keep them in mind, to remind you, you still care about them. It is the third day of the season of Allhallowstide, following All Hallows Evening (Halloween), and All Saint’s Day.

Beata, who comes from Poland, tells me that, November the 1st is the day when relatives visit the cemeteries of the dead loved ones bringing chrysanthemums to decorate the graves. It’s a happy day for the dead because they are being remembered and visited by their loved ones. Today, November 2nd, is a more sombre day – a day to stay at home and think of the loved one’s perhaps looking through albums of photographs.

In England, it was the time of year in which ‘Souling’ used to take place. Households made soul-cakes, children or people in need of food come to visit and are given soul cakes in exchange for praying for the dead.

Soul, soul, for a souling cake.
I pray good Missus for a souling cake.
Apple or pear, plum or cherry.
Anything good to make us merry.

Traditional rhyme from Shropshire and Cheshire

This is based upon the idea of Purgatory, and the belief that intervention on Earth can influence the amount of time an ancestor spends in purgatory for their sins.

John Aubrey (1626 – 1697), antiquarian, collector of folklore and writer, mentions a custom in Hereford which shows a variant of the idea.

In the County of Hereford was an old Custom at Funerals, to hire poor people, who were to take upon them all the Sins of the part deceased. One of them I remember (he was a long, lean, lamentable poor rascal). The manner was that when a Corpse was brought out of the house and laid on the Bier; a Loaf of bread was brought out and delivered to the Sin-eater over the corps, as also a Mazer-bowl full of beer, which he was to drink up, and sixpence in money, in consideration whereof he took upon him all the Sins of the Defunct, and freed him (or her) from Walking after they were dead.v

John Aubrey, Remains of Gentilism 1688

John Aubrey (Wikipedia)

This belief in the power of action in the Here and Now to lubricate passage through Purgatory to the Ever After was a major part of fund-raising for Catholic Institutions before the Reformation. For example, in the records of St Thomas Hospital, Southwark, a wealthy widow called Alice (de Bregerake – if I remember the spelling correctly) left her wealth to the hospital in return for an annual Rose rent; lifetime accommodation in the Hospital in Southwark, and for the monks and nuns to pray for her soul and the souls of her ancestors.

Ludovico Carracci: English: An Angel Frees the Souls of Purgatory (Wikipedia)
Ludovico Carracci: English: An Angel Frees the Souls of Purgatory 1610 (Wikipedia)

One of London’s most beautiful churches is dedicated to All Souls. It is All Souls, Langham Place. It is just near the BBC HQ and on a wonderful site, as it is on a bend in Regent’s Street which shows it to great advantage. The architect was John Nash (1824) as part of his transformation of the West End with his boulevard from Regent’s Park south to Westminster. As he could not get all the property owners on the alignment of the road to sell him the land, he disguised this enforced bend with a magnificent Church.

All Souls Langham Place By David Castor (dcastor) – Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6516081
Regent’s Street looking north to All Souls (photo Kevin Flude)

Revised 2nd Nov 2024, 2023 and first published 2nd Nov 2021

Tree of the Year Competition Results October 29th

Here is a cautionary tale about AI. On the 29th of October I posted to announce the winner of the ‘The Woodland Trust’s 2024 Tree of the Year. This is what I wrote:

‘I looked at the website at 4.30pm today and no result listed that I can find on the Woodland Trust Site, But google AI says:

The winner ‘is the Capon Oak in Jedburgh, Scottish Borders. The Capon Oak is a remnant of the ancient Jedforest and one of the last surviving trees from the area. Its unusual shape may have saved it from being felled because its wood would have been of little use for shipbuilding.’

Being cautious, I wrote that I assume ‘google AI has information from a press release?’ because I could not find any notice of a winner on the Woodlands Trust website.

I checked a couple of days later and found that AI had indeed got the result wrong!  How it did this, I do not know. Did it think there was no announcement so it then, by some means, worked out what it thought was the best guess? But in a question like this there are only two valid answers: 1. we don’t know 2. the correct answer. Anything else is wrong.

Here is the text of the BBC announcement, as seen on my phone:

To look at the woodland trust website, click here.

All Hallows Day – November 1st

 chrysanthemums
Chrysanthemums Flowers for the Dead (the author’s back garden)

How the Celtic festival that marked the beginning of Winter became All Hallows is not clear. Some say the Church set up its own festival independent of the Northern European traditions, but it is as likely that the Church adopted existing pagan festivals, and gave them a Christian spin.

Samhain, on October 31st, was, for Celtic religions, not only the beginning of Winter but also the beginning of the Year. As I noted on my Halloween post the Festivities began on the evening before the day because Celtic and Germanic traditions began their day at Dusk. So Halloween is not, in fact, the evening before, it is the start of the day of the festival.

Facebook Image

The Church adopted the Roman tradition of the day beginning not at Dusk but at Midnight. So the festival of All Hallows is on November 1st not October 31st. But the Church mimicked the old ways of doing things by celebrating the evening before as the Vigil of All Hallows’ Day which was called All Hallows Evening or Halloween.

In London there is a Church called All Hallows, which was associated with Barking Abbey which was founded in the 9th Century. It is known as All Hallows Barking or All Hallows by the Tower. It has a prominent position on Tower Hill, which would have been visible from boats coming up the Thames. It has the earliest Post Roman arch in a Church in the City of London which is made of reused Roman bricks and in the crypt were Roman tessellated floors.

The Roman floors look domestic rather than from a Roman temple or church but its position on the hill would have made it a good position for a Roman temple. In the 6th Century Pope Gregory wrote to St Augustine suggesting to him that he should adapt pagan practices into Christian ones, so a temple should not be wrecked but should be converted to a Church and a sacrifice of an ox into a feast dedicated to God. Is this what happened at All Hallows? Here is what the Pope wrote:

Now, I don’t want to be shot down in flames because there is no evidence that there was a Roman Temple here, nor indeed a Roman or immediately Post Roman Church. But it is one of the earliest Churches in the City of London, and there must have been Christian Churches in Roman London, and this would be on my list of candidates. It is simply that the attribution to All Hallows provides a possible link to Celtic festivals.

For the Celts Samhain was an uncanny day when all the sprites and spirits are alive and in the world. The Church took that, and span in on its heads, so it became a ‘hallowed’ holy day when all Saints are celebrated and alive to us, and celebrated on October 31st and November 1st.

A celebration of All Saints was originally in May in the Church but was changed to the 1st November in the 7th Century by Pope Boniface, later swapped back to May, and in the 9th Century fixed on the 1st November. It is followed on the 2nd by All Souls’ Day.

So on the 1st November, those celebrating the pagan festival would be in full swing after a hard night of celebration. The embers of the Fire would be still burning, stones left around the fire would be inspected for the prophecy they told of the future. Each person had a stone, and if it was still intact it was good luck, if it had disappeared the future was not good.

In France, All Hallows or All Saints is called La Toussaint, and flowers such as Chrysanthemums, which blossom in late October, were put on the graves.

In Spain, it is Dia de Todo Los Santos and is a national holiday upon which people put flowers on the graves of the dead.

In Mexico, Dia de los Muertos celebrates Holy Innocents on the 1st – Dia de los Inocentes. People create altars to the lost ones, with their favourite flowers, toys, food stuffs,, photographs. People argue about the pre-colombian aspects of the festival as there are similarities to European All Saints Days celebrations but Quecholli, was a celebration of the dead that honoured Mixcóatl – the god of war. It was celebrated between October 20th and November 8th.

My correspondent in Mexico has sent back these pictures of the festivities in Mexico.

The female figure to the left is La Catrina. This image was popularised by an early 20th Century design by José Guadalupe Posada and developed in a mural by Diego Rivera. For more details click here.

First published in 2022, revised in 2023 and 2024.

Halloween October 31st

From the Perpetual Almanack of Folklore by Charles Kightly

I began my perpetual Almanac of the Past three years ago on the 31st October 2021. This was the first line:

‘This blog is to celebrate the Year. I will post, hopefully, once a day, so we can follow the seasons, as they happen naturally, and as people in Britain and Ireland have responded to the changes in the year.’

It was inspired by Charles Kightly’s book, which is a pot-pourri of folklore taken mostly from old Almanacs. I haven’t managed, yet to create a post for every day of the year, nearly managed it in the winter but falling badly behind in the Summer when I take Road Scholar groups around the UK. My plan is to fill in the gaps, improve posts and get rid of typos. Another aim is to add more London-specific content.

Cover of Charles Knightly's Perpetual Almanac
Cover of Charles Kightly’s Perpetual Almanac

I started on Halloween because Samhain (pronounced Sow-in) was the beginning of the year for the Celtic world. It may mean Summer’s End. In Wales, it is Calan Gaeaf (first day of winter) and Kala Goafiv (beginning of November in Brittany).

Why did the Celts start their year at such an unlikely time? A clue is that they began the next day at dusk. The Sun dies at dusk so it is the end of the day, and the next day begins with the death of the old day. 

So the New Year begins with the Death of the Old Year. Now that might suggest the Winter Solstice as the best time to start the year as this celebrates the death of the old Sun. But if you think about it, this time of the year is the end of the year. The harvest is in, the fruits in the trees and the nuts are harvested, all the growth of the Summer is over and collected.  Plants are dead or dormant, except some evergreens. It is the end of the growing year. The seeds have fallen from the trees and shrubs and are nestling in the soil, ready to begin their cycle again. All is over and all is ready for the new year. Makes sense?

It also explains eves; Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve, May Eve, All Hallow’s Eve.  They are not the night before the day, they are the beginning of the day.  This is when you begin the celebration.

For the Romans, today is the day that Adonis is injured hunting a wild boar. Against his lover’s (Venus)  advice, he descends to the underworld. Nature withers and dies until he returns from the underworld. His blood stains a flower and was transformed into the Crimson Anemone. There is a similar story in Babylon of Ishtar and Tammuz.

By Alexander Marshall, crimson and other anemones
Binyon 1898-1907 / Catalogue of drawings by British artists, and artists of foreign origin working in Great Britain (5(c))

Adonis comes back on May Day when he meets Venus again, so the world flourishes and is bright and warm.

Julius Caesar says the Gauls venerated the God Dis Pater on this day – an aspect of Pluto, the God of the Underworld, ruler of the Dead. There was a Roman Festival on the Kalends of November dedicated to Pomona, the goddess of the fruit of trees. This may influence the use of Apples, which are prominent in Halloween festivities.

Halloween Tour link broken

Sorry to post yet again BUT my second attempt to provide readers with a viable link to my Halloween Virtual Tour on October 31st at 8pm failed.

So if you would like to book a ticket please click this link:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/myths-legends-halloween-virtual-walk-tickets-1034655541577

Hope it works because, for technical reasons, I can’t test it.

And sorry for sending too many posts today.

Douai Martyrs Saints Day October 29th

Thomas Bilney martyred in Smithfield. Black and white engraving
Thomas Bilney martyred in Smithfield.

Before we get to the Martyrs, here is the link to Thursday’s Halloween Virtual Tour. The email sent to subscribers seems not to have included the Eventbrite link. So if you are interested in joining me for my Halloween zoom, please click here to book.

Today, is the feast day of the 158 English Martyrs from the English School at Douai who were killed by the English state between 1577 and 1680. Catholics who chose exile upon the death of the Catholic Queen Mary I, and the accession of the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I gathered in Douai where an English School was set up which was in essence a Catholic Oxford College in Exile. Its mission became to train priests to re-enter England and minister to the many Catholics who wanted to continue to practice their faith despite offical intoleration.

Catholic worshippers were fined if they did not attend Church of England services in their local churches, while Catholic Priests re-entering England could be charged with High Treason and, if found guilty, hanged, drawn and quartered, often at Tyburn (at the west end of Oxford Street in London).

In the short reign of Mary I, nicknamed ‘Bloody Mary’ over 250 protestants were burned at the stake for heresy. In the long reign of her sister, Elizabeth I, over 300 Catholics were executed for Treason by being Hanged, Drawn and Quartered. Elizabeth is known as ‘Good Queen Bess’. There is no value in balancing evil, but pro-rata Mary’s reign was much more bloody. Elizabeth would probably also suggest that she did not execute Catholics because of their belief, but because the policy of the Catholic Church was to destroy Elizabeth’s regime, and the Priests were not executed for heresy but for treason. However, this is a fine distinction to be made, in such horrendous blood-letting.

The number of martyrdoms from one institution shows incredible bravery in the fact of intolerance, and the Douai Martyrs were a remarkable group of people. Most have been beatified by the church, some have been made ‘venerable’, twenty have been canonised. A few remain simply as ‘martyrs’

In London in Ely Place is St Etheldreda’s Church, which has memorials to Catholic Martyrs, and no mention of Protestant Martyrs. A few hundred yards away in Smithfield is a plaque to the Protestant Martyrs under Queen Mary and no mention of the Catholic Martyrs. Personally, I think it is about time the two traditions made it clear that both groups of martyrs are worthy of equal distinction, and the authorities who allowed such toxic intolerance to triumph deserve our contempt.

Two examples of martyrs in Smithfield:

John Forest a Francisan Monk was burnt at the stake at Smithfield and commemorated in St Etheldreda’s Church. He was Catherine of Aragon’s Confessor, and refused to accept King Henry VIII as head of the Church of England.

John Rogers was a scholar and worked to continue William Tyndale’s work in translating the bible into English, He was the Vicar of the Holy Sepulchre Church, which is halfway between Smithfield and St Etheldreda. He was the first person to be burned during Queen Mary I’s reign, and mentioned on the memorial in Smithfield.

I will add more images when I return to my desk and apologise for a Protestant Martyr heading up a feature on Catholic Martyrs! And thanks to my friend Derek, who suggested I cover this topic. His children went to a school in London named after the 158 English Martyrs,

For a longer look at the Protestant Martyrs at Smithfield have a look at my post which deals with the martyrdom of Thomas Thompkins a simple honest man burnt at the stake.

Myths, Legends & Halloween Virtual Tour October 31st 2024

Bran's head taken to Tower Hill
King Bran’s head buried at Tower Hill

Virtual Walk: Thurs 31st October 2024 8.00pm

On Thursday, I am doing my first London Walk Virtual Tour of the winter season.

The walk tells the story of London’s myths and legends and the Celtic origins of Halloween.

The walk will tell the story of London’s Myths and Legends, beginning with the tale of London’s legendary origins in the Bronze Age by an exiled Trojan called Brutus. Stories of Bladud, Belinus, Bran and Arthur will be interspersed with how they fit in with archaeological discoveries.

As we around the City, we also look at the origins of Halloween celebrations and how they may have been celebrated in early London


The virtual route starts at Tower Hill, then down to the River Thames at Billingsgate, to London Bridge and Southwark Cathedral, to the Roman Forum at the top of Cornhill, into the valley of the River Walbrook, passed the Temple of Mithras, along Cheapside to the Roman Amphitheatre, and finishing up in the shadow of St Pauls.

To book:

REVIEWS (from London Walks website)
“Kevin, I just wanted to drop you a quick email to thank you ever so much for your archaeological tours of London! I am so thrilled to have stumbled upon your tours! I have wanted to be an archaeologist since 1978 at the ripe old age of 8 years,… I was told for years that I could not be an archaeologist [for any number of reasons, which I now realise are completely ridiculous!], so I ended up on a different course of study. And now at the age of 50, it is my one great regret in life. So, I am thoroughly enjoying living vicariously through you, the digs you’ve been on, and the history you bring to life for us! British archaeology would have been my specific area of study had I pursued it. ?? Thank you SO MUCH for these! I look forward to them more than you can imagine, and honestly, I’ll be sad if you get them down to 1.5 hours! They’re the best 2 hours of my week! 🙂 Best, Sue

St Simon and St Jude’s Day October 28th

Image by Christian Wöhrl from Pixabay

A day when it is ‘certain to rain heavily’. Well, that wasn’t true last year.  On this day you, supposing you want to find who your true lover is, must:

Carefully peel an apple in one piece.
Turn round three times with the peel in your right hand
Drop the peel over your left shoulder
See what shape letter the peel forms on the ground, and this will be the first letter of your true love’s name.
And if it breaks into pieces, you are doomed, probably, to never finding your true love.
To make this work, you also have to recite:

St Simon and St Jude, on you I intrude
By this paring I hold to discover
Without any delay, to tell me this day
The first letter of my own true love.

Jude is the Saint of:

Lost Causes
Desperate causes
Hopeless causes
And if that is not enough also the Hopeless and the Despairing.

So maybe the apple peel isn’t going to work for you (although Jude is also the Patron Saint of the Impossible!)

Jude aka Thaddeus was martyred with an axe. Simon the Zealous was martyred by being sawn in half, and is, of course, therefore, the patron saint of woodcutters and lumberjacks. They are linked by the same Saint’s day because they went to Syria together to preach where they were met their fates, and they are also associated with woodworking.

WikipediaBy Bruce Andersen – Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1855844

There are at least four Judes. One of them may have been Jesus’ brother. He or another Jude wrote the Epistle of St. Jude.

More on St Simon and St Jude