‘Negroland and Guinea with the European Settlements, Explaining what belongs to England, Holland, Denmark, etc’. By H. Moll Geographer (Printed and sold by T. Bowles next ye Chapter House in St. Pauls Church yard, & I. Bowles at ye Black Horse in Cornhill, 1729, orig. published in 1727) Source Wikicommons.
The Royal Africa Company was set up with a monopoly on trade with the west coast of Africa in:
“redwood, elephants’ teeth, negroes, slaves, hides, wax, guinea grains, or other commodities of those countries”
On January 10th. 1663 King Charles II affirmed the new charter for the Company that, above all else, was responsible for British continuing involvement in slavery. Shareholders included his nephew, Prince Rupert, Samuel Pepys, and much of the British Establishment, Aristocracy, and City Merchants. Its headquarters were in Cornhill, not far from the East India Company’s HQ. The company was closed in 1752.
Gold from the Gold Coast was used to make coins, which became known as ‘guineas’. They were originally made from one quarter of an ounce of gold. Below is a sketch of a two guinea coin from the reign of Charles II. Note the elephant at the bottom of the coin.
The guinea was original worth 1 pound but fluctuated with the price of Gold. Pepys records it at 24 or 25 shillings. It was eventually phased out, but it became a posh way of expressing value. Ordinary goods would be priced in pounds, but expensive ones in Guineas. By then valued at 21 shillings. (£1 pound 5 pence). Wikipedia suggests it was used for ‘prices of land, horses, art, bespoke tailoring, furniture, white goods and other “luxury” items’. I remember going shopping with my parents in London and wondering at the fur coats being priced in Guineas. It died out, as a practice, in the 70s.
Sketch of a two guinea coin from the reign of Charles II showing an elephant below the image of the King.
There are many sites giving a history of slavery, and the British involvement with it, which I encourage everyone to investigate. But, here, I would just like to point out, how involved the British Royal Family was in the trade. Also, to note that the British education system has emphasised the role of Britain in the abolition of slavery, rather than our involvement in setting it up and continuing it. This has begun to change, and a new generation of school children in London can visit the excellent London: Sugar & Slavery Gallery at the Museum of London in Docklands.
University College, London has undertaken a profound project where they took the records of compensation payments to:
The slaves? No, not to them but to the slave owners! UCL have created a resource where you can click on the streets of London and other areas, to find out the holders of slaves in that street. The compensation of £20m pounds is probably around £16billion in modern terms, and it makes me believe that the least we can do is to fund projects to correct the educational and life disadvantages of people and countries impacted by slavery to the tune of £16 billion.
I have just looked for the closest slave owner in my area of the East End of London, and it is about 500 yards away from me. Here are the abridged details from the database. It is very simple to use. Have a go by following the link below.
Solomon Nunes Flamengo of Kingston, living at Mutton Lane in Hackney when he wrote his will in 1778. Merchant. Estate probated in Jamaica in 1779. Slave-ownership at probate: 6 of whom 2 were listed as male and 4 as female. 4 were listed as boys, girls or children. Total value of estate at probate: £21356.26 Jamaican currency of which £332.5 currency was the value of enslaved people.
Presumably, the value of his compensation was £332.5. Solomon was Jewish, which is unusual for the records, by far the majority being Christian. I chose Solomon to show simply because he was the closest to my house.
Britain began regulating the Slave trade in the late 18th Century, abolished the Slave Trade in 1807. Slavery, with the compensation to slave owners in 1833, was abolished but they replaced slavery with apprenticeship – in effect bound labour. This was ended in 1838.For more details look at https://www.parliament.uk/
Finally, I have been updating, revising and republishing many posts which you might enjoy reading before Christmas and the New Year seem too far in the past!
‘Drawing for Twelfth Cake’ at St. Annes Hill ’12th Night Cruikshank, Isaac, 1756-1811 printmaker. Published Janr. 10, 1807 by Thomas Tegg, 111 Cheapside’
I used the print above, two years ago for my post on New’s Day (in fact this is an update of it) and I use it in lectures on Christmas and Jane Austen. But I have always presented it in the context of explaining Twelfth Night Cake and the game that was played on Twelfth Night, which is, satirically, illustrated here.
Rushing to get the post done, I didn’t examine it in detail but assumed the papers they were reading, gave them satirical occupations to pretend to be, which would be funny to the contemporary audience in 1807. This year, I noted the title mentioned St Anne’s Hill, and thought I ought to at least try to find out what that referred to. And I then went down a deep and very enjoyable research rabbit hole.
But, more of that, later. Let’s begin with the more trivial aspect of the Print above from 2022 January 6th post, edited a little.
Yesterday was Twelfth Night for the modern Church of England, but today is Twelfth Night for the Catholic Church and in England in former times. It is also Epiphany or Three Kings Day and because of calendrical differences, Christmas Eve for the Orthodox Church. In Ireland, it is Nollaig na mBan: Women’s Little Christmas; when Women get to rest and let men do the work.
It used to be the big party night, featuring the famous Twelfth Night Cake and theatrical entertainments; mumming and wassailing. The cake transmuted into our present Christmas Cake. This, I regret because I have had a lifetime when a very heavy Christmas Dinner is followed both by Christmas Pudding and, then, the Christmas Cake is brought out. No one, in their right mind, wants a slice of heavy Christmas Cake at that time. Many of my American friends disparage fruit cake, but they are mistaken. Good Christmas Cake is something to be thoroughly enjoyed, but on the days following Christmas Day.
I gave a recipe for the Twelfth Night Cake in another post, (here it is) but the important point is that it had a bean and a pea in it. The one who got the bean was selected thereby as King for night and the pea the Queen. Cards/papers were then given to all the participants detailing a role they were to play for the rest of the night, with an introductory speech, or rhyme The King and Queen led the way and for the rest of the evening the party members adopted the persona; an aristocrat, a soldier, a cook, a parson, a dairy maid etc. The French do something similar with their Galette des Rois. The bean is called the feve, and may be replaced by a porcelain model.
In the illustration above, you will see the participants, pulling their role cards out of their hat. In the game, the women’s cards were drawn from a ‘reticule’ (bag) and the men’s from a hat. In the illustration above, the hat seems to be a revolutionary sans culotte’s cap. (and I have only just realised, while doing a third proofread of this article, that all the people in the Print are men.)
Here is an example of a Twelfth Night gathering, attending William Snooke were:
‘Mr and Mrs William Clifford and their seven children (and maid), John Fox Snr. and Sally Twining, Mr and Mrs William Fox, and William Weale. To feed this crowd took “Ham, Greens, 3 fowls roasted, Soup, Leg of Mutton, potatoes, Boiled rump of beef (large)” Desert included pudding, mince pies and a forequarter of home lamb. For supper, the assembled party consumed tarts, stuffed beef, mince pies, cold mutton, oysters, cold sliced beef, cold lamb, apple pies and pears.
6th January 1775, William Snooke’s Diary taken from this Pinterest post
St Anne’s Hill
Now, let’s go down that rabbit hole and look a little deeper.
The caption mentions St Anne’s Hill. I believe this refers to St Anne’s Hill, near Chertsey (SW of London on the River Thames) where the grand house was owed by Charles James Fox, the leader of the Whigs, a persistent opponent of King George III. He was a supporter of the American and French Revolutions, which explains the red bonnet used to pull out the cards in the illustration.
I am, as I write, researching this and am now struck with the fact that Fox died in Sept. 1806, but the print is dated Jan. 1807. But if I am right about St Anne’s Hill, the central character is Fox who, just before he died, saw his Foreign Slave Trade Bill of 1806 began the dismantling of this pernicious trade in the British Empire. He was Foreign Minister and assumed a couple of civil chats with the French would end the long-standing war, but he soon discovered that Napoleon was not to be trusted in negotiations and the war went on for another 9 or so years.
Charles James Fox was a mercurial figure with many radical views. He was also a notorious gambler and loved the high life. One of his many lovers was Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. He married, Elizabeth Armistead, an ex-mistress of the Prince of Wales, and it was in her house that they lived in at St Anne’s Hill. I am pleased to report that she is credited with calming his life-style time, and he spent more time at St Anne’s where they would ‘read, garden, explore the countryside and entertain friends’ (Wikipedia).
Cruikshank’s illustration is, of course, not designed to document quaint Twelfth Night customs but is a political satire and I have now just discovered the British Museum version of this print, and. It is dated to 1799 which makes much more sense!
At the back right of the print is a notice which says:
‘Rules to be observed at this Meeting 1. That the Cake be decorated with appropriate insignia 2 That the tickets be deposited in a Bonnet Rouge and drawn in Rotation 3 That the Old Fashioned Game of King and Queen be exploded & Catch as Catch can Substituted in its stead.’
The bonnet rouge is defined by the Collins Dictionary as a ‘redcap worn by ardent supporters of the French Revolution’ or ‘an extremist or revolutionary’. The last point relates to Fox’s opposition to the King, and the expression Catch as Catch Can refers to a free form of wrestling without rules.
The characters in the scene (all men) are all political figures, mostly associated with the opposition to the very right-wing Government of William Pitt. During the war with France, the opposition was led by a supporter of the French Revolution, a position that, many on what we would now call the left of the political spectrum, agreed with. But, for those on the right, which included Pitt’s government, this was tantamount to treason. Pitt suspended many civil liberties in ‘Pitt’s Reign of Terror’; arrested and indeed executed leading members of those demanding political change. The Government even suspended Habeas Corpus to make it easier to arrest their opponents,
Fox is seen drawing a 12th Night Game ticket which is marked ‘Perpetual Dictator’. To his right is Frances Burdett, a radical politician, who supported universal male suffrage, equal electoral districts, vote by ballot, and annual parliaments. Note that this is well before these aims became the core of the Chartists campaign for electoral reform. (for other figures, look at the British Museum notes on the print. )
Burdett is shown holding a ticket saying ‘Keeper of the Prison in Cold Bath Fields’. This is a satirical reference to a serious political crisis. The Cold Baths Fields was the site of a medical spring in Clerkenwell, London, where a prison was situated where radicals were imprisoned. They were held in poor conditions despite the recent rebuilding under the aegis of the prison reformer, John Howard. Burdett exposed it in the House of Commons and began a campaign against the magistrates involved in the arrests.
One of the prisoners was Edward Despard who had associations with the London Corresponding Society, the United Irishmen and United Britons. Despard was married to Catherine, the daughter of a free black woman from Jamaica, and it was she who, with Burdett, led the campaign against these arrests without trial. The attorney general spoke about her letter in this demeaning manner:
‘it was a well-written letter, and the fair sex would pardon him, if he said it was a little beyond their style in general’
He did not comment on her colour. She described the imprisonment of her husband as being :
“in a dark cell, not seven feet square, without fire, or candle, chair, table, knife, fork, a glazed window, or even a book”
Despard was freed in 1802, went to Ireland, and back to London, where he was arrested again and accused of a being the alleged ringleader of a plot to assassinate the King. There was little real evidence. Horatio Nelson was a character witness, and appealed to the King for clemency. It was given, but only in so far as Despard was not disembowelled but ‘only ‘Hanged and Drawn’ at Horsemonger Lane Gaol (1803) – the last time someone was drawn through the streets at the tail of a horse before execution for treason. These are his last words:
Fellow Citizens, I come here, as you see, after having served my Country faithfully, honourably and usefully, for thirty years and upwards, to suffer death upon a scaffold for a crime which I protest I am not guilty. I solemnly declare that I am no more guilty of it than any of you who may be now hearing me. But though His Majesty’s Ministers know as well as I do that I am not guilty, yet they avail themselves of a legal pretext to destroy a man, because he has been a friend to truth, to liberty, and to justice
(a considerable huzzah from the crowd)
because he has been a friend to the poor and to the oppressed. But, Citizens, I hope and trust, notwithstanding my fate, and the fate of those who no doubt will soon follow me, that the principles of freedom, of humanity, and of justice, will finally triumph over falsehood, tyranny and delusion, and every principle inimical to the interests of the human race.
(a warning from the Sheriff)
I have little more to add, except to wish you all health, happiness and freedom, which I have endeavoured, as far as was in my power, to procure for you, and for mankind in general.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Despard
After his death, his family denied that Catherine was his wife but merely his ‘house-keeper.’ I assume, without knowing, this might have been because they wanted the inheritance rather than, or perhaps, as well as naked prejudice.
Francis Burdett married into the fabulously rich banking family the Coutts, and their daughter was the famous Angela Burdett Coutts who was a philanthropist who collaborated extensively with Charles Dickens.
@Phew! What a ride – this is what I love about my job, you find things out that link disparate parts of your knowledge, creating an ever-interwining web of history.
I have republished my post of the Chinese New Year which you can see here:
On the twelfth day of Christmas My true love gave to me Twelve drummers drumming, Eleven pipers piping, Ten lords a-leaping, Nine ladies dancing, Eight maids a-milking, Seven swans a-swimming, Six geese a-laying, Five golden rings, Four calling birds, Three French hens, Two turtle-doves And a partridge in a pear tree.
Twelfth Night
In 1775, William Snooke recorded in his diary, that he sat down to a fine dinner with
‘Mr and Mrs William Clifford and their seven children (and maid), John Fox Snr. and Sally Twining, Mr and Mrs William Fox, and William Weale. To feed this crowd took “Ham, Greens, 3 fowls roasted, Soup, Leg of Mutton, potatoes, Boiled rump of beef (large)” Desert included pudding, mince pies and a forequarter of home lamb. For supper, the assembled party consumed tarts, stuffed beef, mince pies, cold mutton, oysters, cold sliced beef, cold lamb, apple pies and pears.
This is recorded in a fine Pinterest post about Twelfth Night.
Confused by Twelfth Night?
It is of interest that the above meal was on @January 6th, not the 5th. So why is there such confusion as to when is twelfth night? I have a suggestion as to the basis for the confusion as to when the Twelve Days of Christmas begin. Most people agree you start counting from Christmas Day, but some folklore sources going back in time count from Boxing Day. For example, Gervase Markham’s ‘The English Husbandman of 1635 counts it from Boxing Day.
The Daily Express reveals to me that the Protestants count from Christmas Day and the Catholics from Boxing Day. That maybe it, but is the confusion more complicated than that? The religious festival really makes sense if it begins with Christmas Day, and ends with the Epiphany, the day the Three Kings from the Orient come to worship Jesus. But Epiphany is on the 6th January, which is 13 days from Christmas. 13 days of Christmas would be ill-omened. So two solutions: make the end of the Twelve Days the Eve of Epiphany, i.e. the 5th, or start the 12 days from Boxing Day.
I suspect there is a fudge going on here. Twelve is the magic number, twelve Apostles, 12 months in the year, so twelve Days of Christmas. But clearly, for Christians it stretches from Christmas Day to Epiphany. Two ways to square that 13 day difference. One is to begin the twelve days on Boxing Day, the other is to end with a Twelfth Night party on the Eve of Epiphany.
I don’t think I am alone in being confused. If you know any better, please let me know! Tomorrow I will look at Twelfth Night festivities.
However, we currently all agree that January 5th is the day to take down your Christmas decorations. If you fail to do it now, you have to keep them up until Candlemas, which is on February 2nd.
I have republished my post of the Chinese New Year which you can see here:
I keep an archive of the walks I have done each year. This is the first entry for 2024.
My new year’s resolutions for my walks are:
Make the Virtual tours shorter.
Try some new technology to make the virtual tours more like a walk.
Begin publishing them.
I should note that 1 and 3 have long been on my list of desired improvements.
Ring in the New Year Virtual Walk
Old New Year Card
Monday 1st January 2024 7.00pm On this Virtual Walk we look at how London has celebrated the New Year over the past 2000 years.
The New Year has been a time of review, renewal and anticipation of the future from time immemorial. The Ancient Britons saw the Solstice as a symbol of a promise of renewal as the Sun was reborn. As the weather turns to bleak mid winter, a festival or reflection and renewal cheers everyone up. This idea of renewal was followed by the Romans, and presided over by a two headed God called Janus who looked both backwards and forwards. Dickens Christmas Carol was based on redemption and his second great Christmas Book ‘The Chimes’ on the renewal that the New Year encouraged.
We look at London’s past to see where and how the New Year was celebrated. We also explore the different New Years we use and their associated Calendars – the Pagan year, the Christian year, the Roman year, the Jewish year, the Financial year, the Academic year and we reveal how these began. We look at folk traditions, Medieval Christmas Festivals, Boy Bishops, Distaff Sunday and Plough Monday, and other Winter Festival and New Year London tradition and folklore.
At the end we use ancient methods to divine what is in store for us in 2024
ROMAN LONDON – A LITERARY & ARCHAEOLOGICAL WALK
Reconstruction View of Roman Riverside Wall being built
Sunday 21st Jan & 3rd March 2023 11.30 am Monument Underground Station
Our Guides will be Publius Ovidius Naso and Marcus Valerius Martialis who will be helped by Kevin Flude, former Museum of London Archaeologist, Museum Curator and Lecturer.
We disembark at the Roman Waterfront by the Roman Bridge, and then explore the lives of the citizens as we walk up to the site of the Roman Town Hall, and discuss Roman politics. We proceed through the streets of Roman London, with its vivid and cosmopolitan street life via the Temple of Mithras to finish with Bread and Circus at the Roman Amphitheatre.
REVIEWS “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 look forward to them more than you can imagine! They’re the best 2 hours of my week! 🙂 Best, Sue
Jane Austen’s London Sunday Jan 21st 2.30 pm Green Park underground station,
An exploration of Mayfair, the centre of the London section of Sense & Sensibility and where Jane came to visit her brother
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a Jane Austen devotee in possession of the good fortune of a couple of free hours today must be in want of this walk.”
People associate Jane Austen and her characters with a rural setting. But London is central to both Jane Austen’s real life and her literary life. So, this tour will explore Jane’s connections with London and give the background to Sense and Sensibility, a good part of which is based in this very area. We begin with the place Jane’s coach would arrive from Hampshire, and then walk the streets haunted by Willougby; past shops visited by the Palmers, the Ferrars; visit the location of Jane Austen’s brother’s bank and see the publisher of Jane’s Books. The area around Old Bond Street was the home of the Regency elite and many buildings and a surprising number of the shops remain as they were in Jane Austen’s day.
This is a London Walk Guided Walk lead by Kevin Flude
Myths, Legends, Archaeology and the Origins of London
Druids at All Hallows, by the Tower
Sunday 4th February & Saturday 23 March 2024 11.30pm Tower Hill Underground
The walk tells the stories of our changing ideas about the origins of London during the Prehistoric, Roman and Saxon periods.
The walk is led by Kevin Flude, a former archaeologist at the Museum of London, who has an interest both in myths, legends and London’s Archaeology.
The walk will tell the story of the legendary origins of London which record that it was founded in the Bronze Age by an exiled Trojan and was called New Troy, which became corrupted to Trinovantum. This name was recorded in the words of Julius Caesar; and, then, according to Legend, the town was renamed after King Ludd and called Lud’s Dun. Antiquarians and Archaeologists have taken centuries to demolish this idea, and became convinced London was founded by the Romans. Recently, dramatic evidence of a Bronze Age presence in London was found.
When the Roman system broke down in 410 AD, historical records were almost non-existent, until the Venerable Bede recorded the building of St Pauls Cathedral in 604 AD. The two hundred year gap, has another rich selection of legends. which the paucity of archaeological remains struggles to debunk.
The walk will explore these stories and compare the myths and legends with Archaeological discoveries.
The route starts at Tower Hill, then down to the River at Billingsgate, London Bridge, and into the centre of Roman London
Tudor London – The City of Wolf Hall
Sunday 4th February 2024 2.15pm Barbican Underground Station
Tudor London – The City of Wolf Hall Virtual Tour Sunday 4th February 2024 7.30 pm To book
Thomas Bilney martyred in Smithfield.
The Walk creates a portrait of London in the early 16th Century, with particular emphasis on the life and times of Thomas Cromwell and Thomas More during the Anne Boleyn years.
More and Cromwell had much in common, both lawyers, commoners, who rose to be Lord Chancellor to Henry VIII, and ended their careers on the block at Tower Hill.
The walk starts with an exploration of Smithfield – site of the stake where heretics were burnt alive and of St Bartholomew’s Monastery – given to Richard Rich after his decisive role in the downfall of Thomas More. We continue to St Paul where Martin Luther’s books were burnt, and later, where Puritans preached against dancing round the Maypole.
We walk along the main markets streets of London, to Thomas More’s birthplace, and to the site of More’s and Cromwell’s townhouses before, if time allows, finishing at the site of the Scaffold where More and Cromwell met their ends, overlooking where Anne Boleyn was incarcerated in the Tower of London
The Leap Year Pub Walk Thurs 6pm 29 February 2024 Tower Hill Underground
Sketched from a photo by simple-aign on pixaby
Thurs, 29 February 2024, 6pm Tower Hill Underground
We explore London, the Leap Year and 29th February through history A strange amazing day – and walk – that comes only once every four years. For the rest of the time it does not “exist.” A day – and walk – of temporal tune-up. A day – and walk – of unlocked potential. A day – and a walk – of unlocked London.
As the Sun, Moon and Seasons have different cycles and don’t fit into a set number of days, Londoners have had to cope with fixes to their Calendars to align the Cosmos with everyday life. As we walk through the streets of the ancient City of London, we explore how Londoners organised and celebrated their year throughout history
One of the most popular forms of publication in London was the Almanac. It was full of seasonal advice, of prophecy, traditional wisdom, and important events past and future. We will look at Almanacs and Diaries to find how Londoners spent their Leap Year.
We start with the Romans at the City Wall, near the Tower of London, and walk through history until we reach a historic pub to celebrate the New Year.
The Leap Year Almanac of the Past Pub Walk is led by Kevin Flude, a lecturer, curator and former archaeologist at the Museum of London. Join him to explore London’s History through its celebrations, festivals, calendars and almanacs.
This is a London Walks Guided Walk.
Roman London – A Literary & Archaeological Walk Sun 11.30 am 3rd March 2024 Monument Underground Station To book Jane Austen’s London Sun 2.30 pm 3rd March 2024 Green Park Underground station (Green Park Exit. Fountain in Green Park), To book Myths, Legends, Archaeology and the Origins of London Sunday 11.30am 23rd March 2024 Tower Hill Underground
London. 1066 and All That Walk
Old illustration Chapel of St Johns Tower of London
Sunday 2.30pm 23rd March 2024 Blackfriars Underground Station The Archaeological Walk that explores the City of London at the end of the Saxon period and at the beginning of the Norman.
The Norman Conquest of 1066 defines Britain in a way unmatched by any other event. And on this walk we explore the London that William conquered and how he changed England for all time.
London was England’s most important City, but not yet the capital. It was crucial to William in his attempt to conquer the realm. But his army could not fight their way across the heavily defended London Bridge after the defeat of the English King, Harold, at the Battle of Hastings.
The future of England was in the balance as he ravaged the country seeking a way across the river and to persuade the English that resistance was hopeless.
Once across the river, the English leaders sued for peace, and William was crowned at the newly built Westminster Abbey. The English hoped for a strong King who would rule with the people. But William began by building Castles to oppress the Citizens, and soon swept aside the English Aristocracy and establishment and replaced them with the Conquerors.
This was a death blow to Anglo-Saxon culture, but the City made an accommodation with the new regime and the first Lord Mayor of London was an Englishman.
So, on the walk we explore the Late Saxon City of London, and how it changed in the last 11th and 12th Centuries.
Walk is by Kevin Flude, former Archaeologist at the Museum of London Kevin
On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me Nine ladies dancing, Eight maids a-milking, Seven swans a-swimming, Six geese a-laying, Five golden rings, Four calling birds, Three French hens, Two turtle-doves, And a partridge in a pear tree.
On this day in 1793 the new National Convention in Revolutionary France decreed that Year II of the Republic had begun the day before. However, in October they decided that the Revolutionary year should begin on the Autumn Equinox and retrospectively made 22 September 1792 the first day of Year I.
By choosing a radical and rational reform of the Calendar the Revolutionaries were following Julius Caesar’s example, but unlike Caesar who introduced the Julian Calendar, they almost completely ripped up the calendrical rule book
Let’s start with the names of the months. The concept of the month they kept but got rid of the irrational Latin-based names and replaced them by neologisms designed to hint at the seasons and the weather. I’m going to begin by giving you the names as reported, satirically, by John Brady in England 1811 (starting with ‘October’ and separating seasons by semicolons).
Wheezy, Sneezy and Freezy; Slippy, Drippy and Nippy; Showery, Flowery and Bowery; Hoppy, Croppy and Poppy.
The historian Thomas Carlyle suggested somewhat more serious English names in his 1837 work ‘The French Revolution: A History’ namely:
The year began with the Autumn Equinox and each month was a rational 30 days, leaving 5 days of the solar year to be sorted out. These were given to the Sans Culottes as holidays and called complimentary days. The leap year was similarly given to the Sans Culottes; an extra day, every 4 years. It was a copy of the Egyptian year, which had inspired Caesar to make the Roman year rational.
And like the Egyptians, the 7-day week went out the window. The month was divided into three décades of 10 days, with the tenth day, the décadi, being a day of rest. In effect, by my calculations, the ‘lucky’ Sans Culottes gained 5 days at the end of the year and lost 16 Sundays, a net lost of 11 days over the year. I’m assuming they would have been compensated by time off to celebrate various revolutionary festivals, such as the 14th July (celebrating the storming of the Bastille). The days were called primidi (first day) duodi (second day) tridi (third day) etc.
The hours of the day were decimalised and so each day was divided into 10 hours, rather than the 24 hours we use. The hours into 100 decimal minutes, and the minute into 100 decimal seconds. This meant that an hour was 144 conventional minutes; a minute 86.4 conventional seconds, and a second 0.864 conventional seconds.
The calendar did not survive another dictator, and Napoleon recalled the conventional calendar and time keeping returned to the Gregorian standard on 1 January 1806. I do like the idea of the 10-day week, but I would like it to be 6 days of work and 4 days of leisure.
Today, is special for the Cybele, Isis, Aphrodite and Ishtar, and the Vigil for St Genevieve of Nanterre. Paris. (more tomorrow).
From ‘Old Christmas’ by Washington Irving
Time to go around and about your neighbourhood and share the Wassail Bowl.
Into the bowl is first placed half a pound of sugar in which is one pint of warm beer; a little nutmeg and ginger are then grated over the mixture, and 4 glasses of sherry and 5 pints of beer added to it. It is then stirred, sweetened to taste and allowed to stand covered for 2 to 3 hours. Roasted apples are then floated on the creaming mixture and the wassail bowl is ready.
The Curiosities of Ale and Beer, by John Bickerdike, published about 1860 from a Jesus College, Oxford recipe of 1732. (From Recipes of Old England by Bernard N. Bessunger
Wassailing is either a gently social activity, or it is an anti-social custom in which the drunkards get to stand outside your house caterwauling and in effect demanding drink with menaces. The first mention I can find is in Geoffrey of Monmouth (12th Century), and he has Vortigern, Hengist and Rowena participating in the custom in the 5th Century AD.
It seems particularly associated with apple trees. On New Year’s Eve, wassallers went to the oldest tree in the apple orchard, poured a liberal dose of wassail over the roots of the tree; pulled down the branches to dip the end of the branches in the punch, decorated the tree, and then drank the wassail themselves. Geoffrey tells us that the word means ‘Good Health’ or as we would say ‘Cheers!’
First Published Jan 2nd 2023, republished Jan 2024
On the seventh day of Christmas My true love sent to me: 7 Swans a Swimming; 6 Geese a Laying; 5 Golden Rings; 4 Calling Birds; 3 French Hens; 2 Turtle Doves and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
First an admission, there is a lot of confusion out there as to which is the First day of Christmas. According to my muse, Charles Kightly, the first day of Christmas is Boxing Day, the 26th of December. This makes Twelfth Night January 6th, which is Epiphany – when the three wise men rocked up with their fabulous presents. But that is a Christian day of importance, and most other authorities begin the counting on Christmas Day. So, Twelfth Night is Epiphany Eve, i.e. January 5th. Have a look at Notes&Queries for different viewpoints. One suggestion was that the Church had to accept that the Twelve Days of Christmas were taken up with pagan activities and allowed it to go on until the night before Epiphany. I have gone back and rearranged my days of Christmas accordingly and am I going to take my Christmas decorations down before going to bed on the 5th January. Twelfth Night.
New Year’s Eve
This is a day of preparation, and perhaps of anxiety. Have we got an invitation anywhere tonight? Is anyone going to come to our party? Can I take another blow out feast, a belly full of alcohol and a very late night? For years in my life, New Year’s Eve was spent with my parents watching some inexplicable variety show hosted in Scotland. Google has helped me remember that it was the ‘White Heather Club’ hosted by Andy Stewart. Up to 10 million people watched this between 1960 and 1968. I never understood the pleasure of it, and it seemed a symbol of an old-fashioned world that was passing and irrelevant.
More recently, if not spent at a party, New Year’s Eve is spent with Jools’ Annual Hootenanny, which is a music show masquerading as a live New Year’s Eve party. It features really excellent bands and singers. It is, however, recorded earlier in December (15th, 20th are dates I have seen) and hence a New Year’s fake. Here is a 2007 except starring Madness’s ‘House of Fun’. The fun of this is to spot the stars grooving along to the music.
New Year’s Day needs a lot of preparation. Folklore suggests that this should include finishing off any unfinished work or projects, as a task carried forward is ill-omened. Your accounts for the year should be reconciled, and as Charles Dickens suggests in the Chimes, your moral account with the world should also be addressed so that you can come into the New Year with a clean slate, good conscience and plans for a better new year. And don’t we all need that for 2023!
I update this from time to time to keep track of walks I have done and to keep them on the internet in case anyone is searching for someone to give a walk on one of ‘my’ subjects.
The ‘London Before and After the Roman invasion Walk’ was a brand new walk, although I had done it as a virtual tour.. But as an actual walk it was new and quite a challenge. Although the Roman finds are concentrated in an area that can reasonably be ‘walked’ the prehistoric element is spread all over Greater London. So I did quite a lot of waving my arms and saying ‘Over there, archaeologists found….’ or ‘To the South East was the Kingdom of the Atrebates, whose King Verica fled to the Romans asking their help to regain his throne. ‘ or ‘Claudius crossed the Thames with Nine Elephants some where, almost certainly to the West of us.’ It went quite well, although the sunny weather changed into a downpour which made the climax of the tour a bit of a damp squib.
But I learnt a lot, because it made me read Dominic Perring’s new book on Roman London ‘London in the Roman World’ more closely than I otherwise would have. I should say that I worked with Dominic when we were young archaeologists at the Museum of London. He is now a Professor at the Institute of Archaeology, and, occasionally, I am lucky enough to join him and a few archaeological friends, watching our football team, Tottenham Hotspur.
Tomorrow is my Plough Tuesday as I spent today, my last day of my ‘holiday’ period, bringing my boat up the Regent’s Canal to outside my flat in Hackney and what a glorious January day it was! Tomorrow I have a meeting to sort out my Road Scholar lecturing for the year and Wednesday is my first day lecturing at College.
Below are the walks I have done so far this year
Ring in the New Year Virtual Walk
Old New Year Card
Monday 1st January 2024 7.00pm On this Virtual Walk we look at how London has celebrated the New Year over the past 2000 years.
The New Year has been a time of review, renewal and anticipation of the future from time immemorial. The Ancient Britons saw the Solstice as a symbol of a promise of renewal as the Sun was reborn. As the weather turns to bleak mid winter, a festival or reflection and renewal cheers everyone up. This idea of renewal was followed by the Romans, and presided over by a two headed God called Janus who looked both backwards and forwards. Dickens Christmas Carol was based on redemption and his second great Christmas Book ‘The Chimes’ on the renewal that the New Year encouraged.
We look at London’s past to see where and how the New Year was celebrated. We also explore the different New Years we use and their associated Calendars – the Pagan year, the Christian year, the Roman year, the Jewish year, the Financial year, the Academic year and we reveal how these began. We look at folk traditions, Medieval Christmas Festivals, Boy Bishops, Distaff Sunday and Plough Monday, and other Winter Festival and New Year London tradition and folklore.
At the end we use ancient methods to divine what is in store for us in 2023..
The virtual walk finds interesting and historic places in the City of London to link to our stories of Past New Year’s Days. We begin with the Druids at Tower Hill, and walk around the Roman City of London, and through London History until we get to St Pauls Cathedral
The London Winter Solstice Virtual Tour
Druids at All Hallows, by the Tower
Fri 22 Dec 2023 19:30
We explore London’s History through its celebrations, festivals, calendars and almanacs of the Winter Solstice
Winter Solstice festivals have been a time of review, renewal and anticipation of the future from time immemorial. The Ancient Britons saw the Solstice as a symbol of a promise of renewal as the world entered bleak mid winter. The Roman season was presided over by Janus, a two headed God who looked both backwards and forwards, and Dickens based his second great Christmas Book on the renewal that the New Year encouraged.
We look at London’s past to see where and how the Solstice might be celebrated. We also explore the different Calendars – the Pagan year, the Christian year, the Roman year, the Jewish year, the Financial year, the Academic year and we reveal how these began. We look at folk traditions, Medieval Christmas Festivals, Boy Bishops, Distaff Sunday and Plough Monday, and other London winter traditions and folklore.
At the end we use ancient methods to divine what is in store for us in 2023.
An exploration of Mayfair, the centre of the London section of Sense & Sensibility and where Jane came to visit her brother
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a Jane Austen devotee in possession of the good fortune of a couple of free hours today must be in want of this walk.”
People associate Jane Austen and her characters with a rural setting. But London is central to both Jane Austen’s real life and her literary life. So, this tour will explore Jane’s connections with London and give the background to Sense and Sensibility, a good part of which is based in this very area. We begin with the place Jane’s coach would arrive from Hampshire, and then walk the streets haunted by Willougby; past shops visited by the Palmers, the Ferrars; visit the location of Jane Austen’s brother’s bank and see the publisher of Jane’s Books. The area around Old Bond Street was the home of the Regency elite and many buildings and a surprising number of the shops remain as they were in Jane Austen’s day.
This is a London Walk Guided Walk lead by Kevin Flude
We look at how Jane Austen spent Christmas and at Georgian Christmas traditions and amusements.
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a Jane Austen devotee in possession of the good fortune of a couple of free hours must be in want of this virtual walk.”
This is a special walk, which looks at the traditions of Christmas during the Regency period and how Jane Austen might have celebrated it. It will give some background to Jane Austen’s life and her knowledge of London. We used her novels and her letters to find out what she might have done at Christmas, but also at how Christmas was kept in this period, and the range of ‘Curiosities, Amusements, Exhibitions, Public Establishments, and Remarkable Objects in and near London available to enjoy.
This is a London Walks Guided Walk by Kevin Flude, Museum Curator and Lecturer.
Review: ‘Thanks, again, Kevin. These talks are magnificent!’
Roman London – A Literary & Archaeological Walk Saturday 16 Dec & 21st Jan 2023 11.30 am Monument Underground Station To book
Dickens London. Life, Work and Christmas Virtual Tour
From ‘Old Christmas’ by Washington Irving
Friday 15th December 2023 7.30pm
A Virtual Tour of Dickens London with a dash of Dickensian Christmas
The Virtual Tour weaves an exploration of Victorian London with Dickens London Life and writing. On the tour we have a look at London at Christmas and the contribution Dickens made to it by his Christmas Books
Dickens writing always has a moral element as exemplified by his Christmas Books. ‘Christmas Carol’ was based on redemption and his second great Christmas Book ‘The Chimes’ on the renewal that the New Year encouraged.
We start in Southwark, visit sites associated with the Christmas Books and others and end at Staple Inn with the Christmas Book ‘The Haunted Man’.
Chaucer’s Medieval London Guided Walk
Medieval City Gate
Aldgate Underground Sunday 12 November 2023 11.30pm
A Walk around Medieval London following in the footsteps of its resident medieval poet – Geoffrey Chaucer
One of the spectators at the Peasants Revolt was Geoffrey Chaucer, born in the Vintry area of London, who rose to be a diplomat, a Courtier and London’s Customs Officer. He lived with his wife in the Chamber above the Gate in the City Wall at Aldgate. His poetry shows a rugged, joyous medieval England including many scenes reflecting life in London. His stories document the ending of the feudal system, growing dissatisfaction with the corruption in the Church, and shows the robust independence with which the English led their lives.
His work helped change the fashion from poetry in French or Latin to acceptance of the English language as suitable literary language. This was helped by the growth of literacy in London as its Merchants and Guildsmen became increasingly successful. In 1422, for example, the Brewers decided to keep their records in English ‘as there are many of our craft who have the knowledge of reading and writing in the English idiom.’
Chaucer and other poets such as Langland give a vivid portrait of Medieval London which was dynamic, successful but also torn by crisis such as the Lollard challenge to Catholic hegemony, and the Peasants who revolted against oppression as the ruling classes struggled to resist the increased independence of the working people following the Black Death.
A walk which explores London in the Middle Ages, We begin at Aldgate, and follow Chaucer from his home to his place of work at the Customs House, and then to St Thomas Chapel on London Bridge, and across the River to where the Canterbury Tales start – at the Tabard Inn.
This is a London Walks event by Kevin Flude
London before and after The Roman Invasion
View of London from the SE as it might have looked before the Roman Invasion
October 29th
The walk looks into the evidence for a prehistoric London and tells the story of the coming of the Romans in AD43
The walk is led by Kevin Flude, a former archaeologist at the Museum of London.
The walk investigates the City of London before and after the the Roman Conquest. What is the evidence for settlement before the Romans set up town of Londinium? Why did the Romans establish the town on this spot? Who were the early Roman Londoners and what made their choice of site so successful?
The fledgling Town was then burnt down by Queen Boudiccan and her Icenian rebels. We look at the evidence for the Revolt and London’s recovery to became the capital of Britain.
This is a London Walks Guided Walk. Look at their web site for a list of other of their amazing walks.
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 look forward to them more than you can imagine! They’re the best 2 hours of my week! 🙂 Best, Sue
London Before London – Prehistoric London Virtual Walk
View of London from the SE as it might have looked before the Roman Invasion
October 29th
An exploration of London before the foundation of Londinium
It was long thought that London was founded by a Trojan Exile in the Late Bronze Age. But historical analysis and archaeological excavation gradually demoted the idea to a myth.
On this tour we explore what was in the London area before the Romans. We begin at Heathrow and tour Greater London for evidence from the Paleolithic to the invasion of the Emperor Claudius.
We concentrate on the period since the introduction of farming, and bring together evidence for the prehistoric Kingdoms that controlled the area on the eve of the Invasion. We look for henges, barrows, hill forts, hut circles and look at genetic evidence for identity of prehistoric Londoners. The tour will end in the City.
This is a London Walks event by Kevin Flude, ex Museum of London Archaeology and Museum Curator
The Peasants Revolt Anniversary Guided Walk (virtual tour on the same day at 7.30) Aldersgate Underground Sunday 11th June 2023 10.45am
A Virtual Walk tracking the progress of the Peasants as they take control of London
On the anniversary of the Peasants Revolt we reconstruct the events that shook the medieval world. In June 1381, following the introduction of the iniquitous Poll Tax, England’s government nearly fell, shaken to the core by a revolt led by working men. This dramatic tour follows the events of the Revolt as the Peasants move through London in June 1381.
We met up with the Peasants at Aldgate, force our way into the City. We march on the Tower of London as the King makes concessions by ending serfdom, at Mile End. But the leaders take the mighty Tower of London and behead the leaders of Richard’s government. Attacks follow on the lawyers in the Temple, the Prior at St. John’s of Jerusalem, Flemish Londoners, and on Lambeth and Savoy Palaces.
The climax of the Revolt comes at Smithfield where a small Royal party confront the 30,000 peasants. To Book:
Tudor London – The City of Wolf Hall
Friday 28 April And June 4th 2023 5.15pm Barbican Underground Station
The Walk creates a portrait of London in the early 16th Century, with particular emphasis on the life and times of Thomas Cromwell and Thomas More
More and Cromwell had much in common, both lawyers, commoners, who rose to be Lord Chancellor to Henry VIII, and ended their careers on the block at Tower Hill.
The walk starts with an exploration of Smithfield – site of the stake where Heretics were burnt alive and to St Bartholomew’s Monastery – given to Richard Rich after his decisive role in the downfall of Thomas More. We continue to St Paul where Martin Luther’s books where burnt, and later, were Puritans attacked dancing round the Maypole. We walk along the main markets streets of London, to Thomas More’s birthplace, and to the site of More’s and Cromwell’s townhouses before, if time allows, finishing at the site of the Scaffold where More and Cromwell met their ends.
Myths & Legends of London May Eve Special Guided Walk
Druids at All Hallows, by the Tower
Sunday 30th April 2023 3.00pm Tower Hill Tube Station
The walk tells the story of London’s legendary past, explores May Day and the Celtic Festival of Beltane
The walk is led by Kevin Flude, a former archaeologist at the Museum of London, who has an interest both in the archaeological evidence as well as the myths and legends of London’s origin.
The walk is one of a series about London’s Myths and Legends which take place on or around one of the significant festivals of the calendar. On this walk we celebrate May Day, or Beltane – the celebration of the coming of Summer.
The walk begins with the tale of London’s legendary origins in the Bronze Age by an exiled Trojan called Brutus. Stories of Bladud, Bellinus, Bran, Vortigern and Arthur will be interspersed with how they fit in with archaeological discoveries. As we explore the City we also look at evidence for ‘Celtic’ origins of London and how May Day may have been celebrated in London.
The route starts at Tower Hill, then down to the River Thames at Billingsgate, to London Bridge and Southwark Cathedral, into the valley of the River Walbrook, past the Temple of Mithras, along Cheapside towards the Roman Amphitheatre and St Pauls.
This is a London Walks guided walk. Look at their web site for a list of other of their amazing walks.
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
Myths, Legends of London May Day Special Virtual Tour
Monday 1st May 2023 7.30pm
The virtual tour tells the story of London’s myths and legends and the Celtic Festival of Beltane
The virtual tour is led by Kevin Flude, a former archaeologist at the Museum of London, who has an interest both in the archaeological evidence as well as the myths and legends of London’s origin.
It is one of a series about London’s Myths and Legends which take place on or around one of the significant festivals of the Celtic calendar. On this tour we celebrate May Day, or Beltane – the celebration of the coming of Summer.
The walk begins with the tale of London’s legendary origins in the Bronze Age by an exiled Trojan called Brutus. Stories of Bladud, Bellinus, Bran, Vortigern and Arthur will be interspersed with how they fit in with archaeological discoveries. As we explore the City we also look at evidence for ‘Celtic’ origins of London and how May Day was celebrated in 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
This is a London Walks Virtual Walk. Look at their web site for a list of other of their amazing walks.
To Book: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/myths-and-legends-of-london-special-may-day-virtual-tour-tickets-601341648057
Chaucer’s Medieval London Guided Walk Aldgate Underground Sunday 16 April 2023 11.30pm
A Walk around Medieval London following in the footsteps of its resident medieval poet – Geoffrey Chaucer
One of the spectators at the Peasants Revolt was Geoffrey Chaucer, born in the Vintry area of London, who rose to be a diplomat, a Courtier and London’s Customs Officer. He lived with his wife in the Chamber above the Gate in the City Wall at Aldgate. His poetry shows a rugged, joyous medieval England including many scenes reflecting life in London. His stories document the ending of the feudal system, growing dissatisfaction with the corruption in the Church, and shows the robust independence with which the English led their lives.
His work helped change the fashion from poetry in French or Latin to acceptance of the English language as suitable literary language. This was helped by the growth of literacy in London as its Merchants and Guildsmen became increasingly successful. In 1422, for example, the Brewers decided to keep their records in English ‘as there are many of our craft who have the knowledge of reading and writing in the English idiom.’
Chaucer and other poets such as Langland give a vivid portrait of Medieval London which was dynamic, successful but also torn by crisis such as the Lollard challenge to Catholic hegemony, and the Peasants who revolted against oppression as the ruling classes struggled to resist the increased independence of the working people following the Black Death.
A walk which explores London in the Middle Ages, We begin at Aldgate, and follow Chaucer from his home to his place of work at the Customs House, and then to St Thomas Chapel on London Bridge, and across the River to where the Canterbury Tales start – at the Tabard Inn.
This is a London Walks event by Kevin Flude
Archaeology of London Guided Walk
London in the 5th Century Reconstruction painting.
Sunday 16th April and 4th June 2023 2.30 Exit 3 Bank Underground Station
Legend says that London was founded as New Troy. Historians believed it was founded as Londinium after the Bridge was built by the legionaries of the Emperor Claudius in AD 43. Archaeologists in the 1970s and 1980s discovered that London was refounded as Lundenwic in the 7th Century and again in the 9th Century when it was called Lundeburg.
This walk tells the epic tale of the uncovering of London’s past by Archaeologists. And provides an insight into the dramatic history of the Capital of Britannia, and how it survived revolts, fires, plagues, and reacted to the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. It became the foremost English City but with periods under Viking and Norman control.
We tell the story in the streets of the City of London, beginning in the valley of the River Walbrook by the Temple of Mithras, and visit many sites where important archaeological discoveries were made, including the Roman Forum, Amphitheatre. Bath Houses, Temples, Roman roads and the City Walls.
Chaucer’s London To Canterbury Virtual Pilgrimage Sunday 16th April 2023 7.30pm A Virtual Walk from Chaucer’s London on pilgrimage along the route of the the Canterbury Tales to Canterbury
One of the spectators at the Peasants Revolt was Geoffrey Chaucer, born in the Vintry area of London, who rose to be a diplomat, a Courtier and London’s Customs Officer. He lived with his wife in the Chamber above the Gate in the City Wall at Aldgate, while he wrote the Canterbury Tales. His poetry shows a rugged, joyous medieval England including many scenes reflecting life in London.
His stories document the ending of the feudal system, growing dissatisfaction with the corruption in the Church, and shows the robust independence with which the English led their lives, following the Black Death.
A walk which explores London in the Middle Ages, and takes us on the pilgrimage to Canterbury. We begin at Aldgate, and follow Chaucer from his home to his place of work at the Customs House. We cross to Southwark via the famous London Bridge where we start the Pilgrimage at St Thomas Chapel. Then to the Tabard to meet the Pilgrims and onto the Old Kent Road to Canterbury. This is a London Walks event. Look at their web site (www.walks.com) for a list of other of their amazing walks.
Archaeology of London Guided Walk Sunday 2nd April 2023 11:15 Exit 3 Bank Underground Station
A TALE OF FOUR CITIES
Legend says that London was founded as New Troy. Historians believed it was founded as Londinium after the Bridge was built by the legionaries of the Emperor Claudius in AD 43. Archaeologists in the 1970s and 1980s discovered that London was refounded as Lundenwic in the 7th Century and again in the 9th Century when it was called Lundeburg.
This walk tells the epic tale of the uncovering of London’s past by Archaeologists. And provides an insight into the dramatic history of the Capital of Britannia, and how it survived revolts, fires, plagues, and reacted to the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. It became the foremost English City but with periods under Viking and Norman control.
We tell the story in the streets of the City of London, beginning in the valley of the River Walbrook by the Temple of Mithras, and visit many sites where important archaeological discoveries were made.
Jane Austen’s London Sat 2.30 pm 02/04/23 Green Park underground station, London (north exit, on the corner)
An exploration of Mayfair, the centre of the London section of Sense & Sensibility and where Jane came to visit her brother
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a Jane Austen devotee in possession of the good fortune of a couple of free hours today must be in want of this walk.”
People associate Jane Austen and her characters with a rural setting. But London is central to both Jane Austen’s real life and her literary life. So, this tour will explore Jane’s connections with London and give the background to Sense and Sensibility, a good part of which is based in this very area. We begin with the place Jane’s coach would arrive from Hampshire, and then walk the streets haunted by Willougby; past shops visited by the Palmers, the Ferrars; visit the location of Jane Austen’s brother’s bank and see the publisher of Jane’s Books. The area around Old Bond Street was the home of the Regency elite and many buildings and a surprising number of the shops remain as they were in Jane Austen’s day.
This is a London Walk Guided Walk lead by Kevin Flude
CHAUCER’S MEDIEVAL LONDON VIRTUAL WALK
The Vintry 14th Century London
Sunday 12 February 2023 7.30pm
A Virtual Walk around Medieval London following in the footsteps of its resident medieval poet – Geoffrey Chaucer
One of the spectators at the Peasants Revolt was Geoffrey Chaucer, born in the Vintry area of London, who rose to be a diplomat, a Courtier and London’s Customs Officer. He lived with his wife in the Chamber above the Gate in the City Wall at Aldgate. His poetry shows a rugged, joyous medieval England including many scenes reflecting life in London. His stories document the ending of the feudal system, growing dissatisfaction with the corruption in the Church, and shows the robust independence with which the English led their lives.
His work helped change the fashion from poetry in French or Latin to acceptance of the English language as suitable literary language. This was helped by the growth of literacy in London as its Merchants and Guildsmen became increasingly successful. In 1422, for example, the Brewers decided to keep their records in English ‘as there are many of our craft who have the knowledge of reading and writing in the English idiom.’
Chaucer and other poets such as Langland give a vivid portrait of Medieval London which was dynamic, successful but also torn by crisis such as the Lollard challenge to Catholic hegemony, and the Peasants who revolted against oppression as the ruling classes struggled to resist the increased independence of the working people following the Black Death.
A walk which explores London in the Middle Ages, We begin at Aldgate, and follow Chaucer from his home to his place of work at the Customs House, and then to St Thomas Chapel on London Bridge, and through London to Poultry, Bucklersbury and Cheapside before visiting the Guildhall and St Pauls. We will walk in the muddy City Streets, exploring the unhealthy conditions and poverty amidst great riches and pageantry.
This is a London Walks event by Kevin Flude
THE REBIRTH OF SAXON LONDON ARCHAEOLOGY VIRTUAL WALK
Reconstruction of Dark Age London
Sunday 29 January 2023 7.30pm
An exploration of what happened following the Roman Period. How did a Celtic speaking Latin educated Roman City become, first deserted, then recovered to become the leading City in a germanic speaking Kingdom?
The Romans gave the name of Saxons to the barbarian pirates that plagued the North Sea region in the Late Roman Period. Historians link them with the Angles and Jutes who, according to the Venerable Bede, conquered the Roman Province of Britannia and turned it into England. London became its leading town.
But excavation and DNA analysis make the traditional story more difficult to sustain and although the Anglo-Saxons have a rich history how much of it can be trusted? Was there a Dark Age? Or was it just a ‘transition’ from Roman to English? How did English become the main language sweeping aside native Celtic and Latin languages? Much of the story of Saxon London has been founded on myth and dubious historical sources, but archaeological, documentary and genetic research are, perhaps, beginning to provide a clearer narrative.
Following the fall of Roman Britain, London was almost deserted. On this walk we explore how London recovered and grew to be the most important City in England by 1066. We begin our walk in the heart of the City at Bank, and walk through the City to St Pauls, Then along Fleet Street and the Strand to Covent Garden..
This is a London Walks event by Kevin Flude, ex Museum of London Archaeology and Museum Curator
The Decline And Fall Of Roman London Archaeology Virtual Walk
Reconstruction View of Roman Riverside Wall being built
Sunday 22nd January 11.30am Exit 2 St Pauls Underground Station
An exploration of what happened at the end of the Roman Period, and how the City became deserted, and then, reborn as an English City.
The first British Brexit? The Roman Britons kicked out the Romans in 407AD, and, soon, asked them to come back after a catastrophic collapse. Faced with plaque, civil war, invasion, mass immigration, industrial decline, reversion to barter; the authorities struggled against anarchy and descent into a dark age.
But was that how it was? Wasn’t it a rather a transition into the Late Antique period in which life for most people went on much as before except paying taxes to local rulers rather than distant Romans?
The walk investigates why the Roman system in London broke down, and what really was the impact of the end of the Roman system in London? What is the evidence? and can we trust it? Or can we really do nothing much more than guess?
We tramp the streets of London in search of light to shine on the dark age of London.
The Decline And Fall Of Roman London Archaeology Virtual Walk
Reconstruction of Dark Age London
Sunday 22nd January 7:00pm
An exploration of what happened at the end of the Roman Period, and how the City became deserted, and then, reborn as an English City.
The first British Brexit? The Roman Britons kicked out the Romans in 407AD, and, soon, asked them to come back after a catastrophic collapse. Faced with plaque, civil war, invasion, mass immigration, industrial decline, reversion to barter; the authorities struggled against anarchy and descent into a dark age.
But was that how it was? Wasn’t it a rather a transition into the Late Antique period in which life for most people went on much as before except paying taxes to local rulers rather than distant Romans?
This virtual walk explores why the Roman system in London broke down, and what really was the impact of the end of the Roman system in London? What is the evidence? and can we trust it? Or can we really do nothing much more than guess?
We tramp the virtual streets of London in search of light to shine on the Dark Ages in London.
London Before And After The Roman Invasion
View of London from the SE as it might have looked before the Roman Invasion
Tower Hill Underground Sunday 8th January 2023 11.30pm
The walk looks into the evidence for a prehistoric London and tells the story of the coming of the Romans in AD43
The walk is led by Kevin Flude, a former archaeologist at the Museum of London.
The walk investigates the City of London before and after the the Roman Conquest. What is the evidence for settlement before the Romans set up town of Londinium? Why did the Romans establish the town on this spot? Who were the early Roman Londoners and what made their choice of site so successful?
The fledgling Town was then burnt down by Queen Boudiccan and her Icenian rebels. We look at the evidence for the Revolt and London’s recovery to became the capital of Britain.
This is a London Walks Guided Walk. Look at their web site for a list of other of their amazing walks.
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 look forward to them more than you can imagine! They’re the best 2 hours of my week! 🙂 Best, Sue
London Before London – Prehistoric London Virtual Walk
Sunday 8th January 7pm
An exploration of London before the foundation of Londinium
It was long thought that London was founded by a Trojan Exile in the Late Bronze Age. But historical analysis and archaeological excavation gradually demoted the idea to a myth.
On this tour we explore what was in the London area before the Romans. We begin at Heathrow and tour Greater London for evidence from the Paleolithic to the invasion of the Emperor Claudius.
We concentrate on the period since the introduction of farming, and bring together evidence for the prehistoric Kingdoms that controlled the area on the eve of the Invasion. We look for henges, barrows, hill forts, hut circles and look at genetic evidence for identity of prehistoric Londoners. The tour will end in the City.
This is a London Walks event by Kevin Flude, ex Museum of London Archaeology and Museum Curator
A New Year Walk on the Myths, Legends and the Origins of London
Sunday 1st January 2023 2.00pm Tower Hill Underground
The walk tells the stories of London’s myths, legends and archaeology to find out what they say about the origins of London. As its New Year we also look at New Year as it was celebrated in London through the ages.
The walk is led by Kevin Flude, a former archaeologist at the Museum of London, who has an interest both in myths, legends and London’s Archaeology.
The walk will tell the story of the legendary origins of London which record that it was founded in the Bronze Age by an exiled Trojan called Brutus. The new City was called Troia Nova or New Troy, which became corrupted to Trinovantum, and then changed to Lud’s Dun or London. When the Roman system broke down in 410 AD, historical records were almost non-existent, until the Venerable Bede recorded the building of St Pauls Cathedral in 604 AD. The two hundred year gap, has another rich selection of legends. The walk will explore these stories and compare the legends with Archaeological discoveries. We also look at New Year Customs and Folklore, and the arrangements of the Calendar for different cultures.
The route starts at Tower Hill, then down to the River at Billingsgate, London Bridge, and into the centre of Roman London.
This is a London Walks Guided Walks. Look at their web site for a list of other of their amazing walks both physical and virtual.
Ring in the New Year Virtual Walk
Sunday 1st January 2023 7.00pm
On this walk we look at how London has celebrated the New Year over the past 2000 years.
The New Year has been a time of review, renewal and anticipation of the future from time immemorial. The Ancient Britons saw the Solstice as a symbol of a promise of renewal as the Sun was reborn. As the weather turns to bleak mid winter, a festival or reflection and renewal cheers everyone up. This idea of renewal was followed by the Romans, and presided over by a two headed God called Janus who looked both backwards and forwards. Dickens Christmas Carol was based on redemption and his second great Christmas Book ‘The Chimes’ on the renewal that the New Year encouraged.
We look at London’s past to see where and how the New Year was celebrated. We also explore the different New Years we use and their associated Calendars – the Pagan year, the Christian year, the Roman year, the Jewish year, the Financial year, the Academic year and we reveal how these began. We look at folk traditions, Medieval Christmas Festivals, Boy Bishops, Distaff Sunday and Plough Monday, and other Winter Festival and New Year London tradition and folklore.
At the end we use ancient methods to divine what is in store for us in 2023..
The walk finds interesting and historic places in the City of London to link to our stories of Past New Year’s Days. We begin with the Druids at Tower Hill, and walk around the Roman City of London, and through London History
The drinks of choice were: port. Then brandy, claret, punch, rum, porter. So says my source Henry Jeffreys in his book ‘Empire of Booze’ and in this Guardian article:
Claret, probably, originally outsold port. But the wars against France and the difficulty of importing French wine, saw a transfer to wines from our ‘oldest ally’ Portugal. But the travel distance was longer, so the wine was fortified to help preserve it better. Hence, the British addiction to port. Sherry was also popular for similar reasons, being a fortified white wine. Shakespeare calls it ‘sack’ and sometimes ‘Canary’. (Toby Belch ‘says thou lack’st a cup of canary ‘ in ‘Twelfth Night’, which is a Christmas play.)
Louis Philippe Boitard‘s satirical engraving ‘Imports from France’ Looking east towards the Tower of London. Barrels at the front right are marked Claret, Burgundy and Champagne.
Consumption was prodigious. Samuel Johnson said, ‘All the decent people in Lichfield (where Johnson came from) got drunk every night and were not the worst thought of’. The Prime Minister. William Pitt the Younger said, ‘I have drunk three bottles of port without being the worst for it. University College has witnessed this.’ He is referring to his college at Oxford University, and so he might be considered to be another of our Prime Ministers who have disgraced themselves at Oxbridge only to rise to rule the unfortunate British. However, in those days, Port was sold in pint measures (45cl) and was 16%, while now it is 20% and sold in 75cl bottles.
Even so, three bottles is still a lot and a drunken population would have not only increased the death rate but also increased violence and abuse. Gout was one result of too much drinking and a rich diet.
Gout. 18th Century Bath
However, this is Christmas so let’s end on a high note, so here are a couple of recipes!
To make ye best punch
“Put 1½ a pound of sugar in a quart of water, stir it well yn put in a pint of Brandy, a quarter of a pint of Lime Juice, & a nutmeg grated, yn put in yr tosts or Biskets well toasted.”
And Gin? While by the 1770s the fear of the effects of cheap gin had ceased to be hot news, and after no less that eight Gin Acts of Parliament to control misuse, its cheapness was not such a threat to an ordered society. Booths and Gordon’s Gins were established in London during this period.
There seems to be a shortage of Gin punch recipes for the 18th Century, but by the end of that century this recipe survives from London’s Garrick Club
– half a pint of gin, lemon peel, lemon juice, sugar, maraschino, a pint and a quarter of water and two bottles of iced soda water.
You would not need many of these to become quite relaxed quite quickly!
As the Sun enters the House of Capricorn remember the poor Coachman travelling all day everyday in all weathers. Washington Irving in his ‘Old Christmas’ (Originally ‘The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon’ pub. 1819) describes him with a broad red face, a broad body widened by drinking beer; swathed with any numbers of layers of coats trying to keep the cold out. He has many worries on his mind as he has a coach full not only of people who need looking after but also a lot of parcels and commissions that need to be carried out in the many stops along the way. He is delivering parcels, turkeys, geese, presents, children, you name it he is responsible for its safe delivery.
Feel sorry for the people crowded inside the carriage but even sorrier for those sitting on the roof. They have umbrellas in a vain attempt to keep dry, but the umbrella will be poking you in your ear, and the run off from the canopy of the umbrella might trickle down your necks. Inside you are next to a large man who is not very salubrius looking nor too worried about pressing his thighs against you.
John Keats blamed his consumption on a stage-coach journey from London to Hampstead on a cold day in February.
Capricorn: ‘The man born under Capricorn shall be iracundious and a fornicator; a liar, and always labouring.
….The woman shall be honest and fearful, and have children of three men, she will do many pilgrimages in her youth and after have great wit.’ From Kalendar of Shepheards 1604 quoted in ‘The Perpetual Almanac of Folklore by Charles Kightly’.
Sam Syntax Cries of London 1820s from the Gentle-author. Hot Plum Pudding Seller.
