Category: London

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St Gregory.  Punster Extraordinary March 12th

St Gregory and the Angles

St Gregory the Great

Gregorius I is known as Saint Gregory the Great. Pope from 3 September 590 to his death on 12th March 604. So 12th March is traditionally his feast day. It was changed to September 3rd, the date of his elevation to Pope because 12th March was often in Lent.

His is the 2nd most popular name for Popes. This is the top 18. I guess St Peter was too hard an act to follow, but then there are 6 Pauls?

  • John (23),
  • Gregory (16),
  • Benedict (16),
  • Clement (14),
  • Leo (13),
  • Innocent (12),
  • Pius (12),
  • Stephen (9),
  • Urban (8),
  • Alexander (7),
  • Adrian (6),
  • Paul (6),
  • Sixtus (5),
  • Martin (5),
  • Nicholas (5),
  • Celestine (5),
  • Anastasius (4),
  • Honorius (4).
  • Source: https://conclaveblog.wordpress.com

St Gregory is the patron saint of musicians, singers, students, and teachers. It is traditionally believed he instituted the form of plainsong known as Gregorian Chant. He was a formidable organiser and reformer. He made changes that helped the Catholic tradition survive Arian and Donatist challenges. To read more about the Arian Heresy look at my post on St. Hilary and the Arians.

In the UK St Gregory is venerated with St Augustine for bringing Christianity to the largely pagan Anglo-Saxons. The caption to the illustration above tells the story of how he came to send a mission to the pagan Angles in Briton. It includes his two most famous puns, riffing on the similarity of the words Angles/Angels and Aella/Alleluia. But in between these two he also punned on the name of Aella’s kingdom. This was called Deira which later joined with Bernicia to become the Kingdom of Northumbria. St Gregory said he would save them from the wroth of God which is ‘de ira’ in Latin. The ire of God.

St Augustine’s Mission

In 597AD St Gregory sent St Augustine to Canterbury. His mission to convert the Germanic peoples of the former Roman Province of Britannia. Canterbury was chosen because its King was the ‘Bretwalda’ of Britain. This enigmatic title was given to Britain’s most powerful King. At the time, it was Ethelbert of Kent. He, was married to Bertha, a French Princess already a Christian. So, it was a relatively safe haven for St Augustine’s mission. The King was baptised, shortly, after in Canterbury.

Stained glass window showing Baptism of King Ethelbert of Kent by St Augustine watched by Queen Bertha. In St Martins Church, Canterbury
Stained glass window showing the Baptism of King Ethelbert of Kent by St Augustine watched by Queen Bertha. In St Martins Church, Canterbury

Archbishop of London?

The mission came with a plan to recreate the ecclesiastical arrangements set up in the Roman period. From the early 4th Century there were archbishops in the two main capitals at London and York. After Kent was converted, St Augustine sent St Mellitus to London. London was part of the Kingdom of Essex, ruled by St Ethelbert’s nephew, Sæberht. Mellitus established St Pauls Cathedral in AD604 in London. St Paulinus was sent to convert Northumbria and established a Cathedral in York.

Unfortunately, for the plan, Sæberht died. His sons returned to paganism and Mellitus was kicked out. He returned to Canterbury, where he, eventually became Archbishop. Ever since we have had an Archbishop of Canterbury and York and never had an Archbishop of London.

Photo of St Martin's Church - where the Church of England began. showing Roman tiles in the wall.
St Martin’s Church, Canterbury – where the Church of England began. Note the Roman tiles in the wall.

St Gregory and England

It is possible to argue (and I do) that St Gregory’s encounter with the Angles is why we are called English. He sent St Augustine to set up the Church of the Angles, not the Church of the Saxons. Saxon was the normal name used by the Romans for Germanic barbarians. The old Roman province of Brittania was by now divided into 3 Saxon Kingdoms. Essex, Wessex, and Sussex. (East, West, and South Saxons). 3 Anglian Kingdom, Mercia, East Anglia and Northumbria. (Middle, East and North Angles). And Kent, which the Venerable Bede says was a Jutish King of Germans from Jutland. These Kingdoms were often at war. After the attacks of the Vikings were beaten back and the conquered Kingdoms were ‘liberated’. The united Kingdom became known as Angeland or England. The Church of England had made the term Anglish/English became a unifying term to unite Angles, Saxons and Jutes. Otherwise, the ‘liberated’ Angles and Jutes would have to swallow being part of Greater Wessex, rubbing in their loss of independence.

St Gregory in Amsterdam

On a visit to Amsterdam and the Rijksmuseum I came across this painting which features Pope Gregory the Great. He is in the left hand part of the Triptych, shown in green kneeling down. It shows Utrecht in the background.

Triptych of the Crucifixion.  Showing the vision of the Crucifixion that St Gregory had while celebrating Mass (left). Crucifixion centre.  St Christopher (right)

What is fascinating is all the paraphernalia of the Crucifixion above Gregory’s head.  You’ll see 30 pieces of silver, dice to decide who gets Jesus’  robes, flails and torture devices, sponge and spear etc. Close up below.

Detail Triptych of the Crucifixion. 

For King Ethelbert’s Feast Day see my post: st-wapburga-and-st-ethelbert-of-kents-day

Lazy Day in Anglo-Saxon Times

In the Laws of King Alfred the Great, this day was a day off for freemen.  I will be writing about Days off in the Anglo Saxon Calender on August 15th.

First published in 2024, republished in 2025

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Heritage with my Grandson 2 – British Library & British Museum March 9th

Grandson on a visit to the British Library and British Museum. Photo of the Beethoven Exhibition, British Library, March 2022

A visit to the Britsh Museum & British Library? I think this might be worth reposting in the absence of anything else compelling for the day!

So this was my outing with my grandson on March 9th 2022.

For our second museum outing we went to the British Library. He he didn’t like the Beethoven exhibition. It was too dark and nothing to surreptitiously climb on. He definitely does not like dark exhibitions. This is a shame because it seems to be the design idea of the moment. The Nero and the Stonehenge exhibitions were also dark spaces. The desigers working on creating atmospheric views using bright colours, spot lighting and spectacular objects on a dark background. But it doesn’t work for a sensitive 20 month year old!

Nor did the largely text based Paul McCartney’s Lyrics exhibition attract a second of his attention. ‘Paul who?’ he seemed to be saying as we stumped past to the very quiet sound of ‘Hey Jude’.

What he did like was the escalators. We went up and down, and up and down, and then onto the second set where we repeated the repeat.

British Library – note the escalator to the right

And then we went down and back up again, and no time to see the enigma machine. We ate in the upstairs Restaurant, which is a really pleasant place to spend a lunch time.

Enigma Machine, British Library

Time for him to have a sleep so we walked to the British Museum through Bloomsbury. However, there was very little sign that he wanted to nod off. But we found a couple of interesting revolutionaries of the 19th Century en-route. The first was to Robert Owen, the founder of the Cooperative Movement, famous for his model factories in New Lanarkshire.

Plaque to Robert Owen ‘father of the Cooperative Movement’, Burton Street

Then to Cartwright Gardens, named after John Cartwright, who was called ‘the Father of Reform’. He had quite an amazing life. He refused to serve in the Navy against the American Colonists in the War of Independence. Not only that, but he supported reform of Parliament, universal suffrage, annual Parliaments and secret ballots.

John Cartwright Statue Cartwright Gardens.

The milk soon did its job and my grandson was asleep. So I took him to the Member’s Room for a cup of tea.

Sleep in the Member’s Room overlooking the Great Court

When he woke we whizzed around the third Floor. But he was reluctant to leave his buggy because it was much more crowded than our last visit. Then he could run free around the almost empty galleries which he loved.

But, I was able to visit old favourites like the Portland Vase. This was smashed into hundreds of pieces, in 1848 by a drunken visitor. He threw a sculpture into the case and smashed the vase. It was restored, but 37 pieces were missing. In 1988 the vase was reunited with the missing pieces and expertly restored.

The Portland Vase – 15BC = 25AD Cameo Glass
Plate Cameo Glass 15BC – 25AD

For more exploration of Museums with toddlers see my post: https://www.chr.org.uk/anddidthosefeet/museums-for-toddlers/

First Published 5th March 2022.. Revised and reposted 2025

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International Women’s Day March 8th

The Soviet Union 1949 CPA 1368 stamp (International Women’s Day, March 8. (Wikipedia)

Today, is International Women’s Day. It began, as an idea within Socialist organisations in 1909/1910. Following the February Revolution in Russia and women gaining the vote, March 8th was chosen as the day to celebrate. The wider feminist movement adopted it in the 1960s followed by the UN in 1977. Since when, it has been a day to celebrate women’s achievements and campaigns worldwide.

The Harper Road Burial Southwark a photo of a skeleton in a museum case with grave goods.
The Harper Road Burial Southwark (museum of London web site)

I have decided to post about the Harper’s Road burial. I was reminded about it by reading Dominic Perring’s new book ‘London in the Roman World.’ He uses it to establish that Southwark was a place where people lived both before and after the Roman Conquest in 43AD. The burial was found in the 1970s’ and dated to 50 – 70 AD (Roman Invasion of Britain was in 43 AD). Recent scientific analysis has shown that the burial was of a woman (21 – 38 years of age). She had brown eyes and black hair and was brought up in Britain. Her grave goods indicate she was wealthy. She had both imported Roman pottery but also typically British Iron Age objects. The combination shows some adaption between her native culture and the new Roman ways.

Her British objects included a bronze necklace (a torc possibly of Catevalaunian or Trinovantian origin) and a mirror. Dr Rebecca Redfern & Michael Marshall ) on the Museum of London’s website make a case for her being a:

‘Powerful women in late Iron Age London’.

They make a case for the mirror being

‘used by women for divination and magic, and were a source of knowledge that only women could command. Being able to use and read the mirror meant that the woman was highly regarded by her community.’

To read about her story follow this link:

Iron age burials are often found either with a sword or a mirror and the thinking is that the mirror reflects an equivalent status to a sword. I think we can say that the finds do reflect someone of standing, but as to the use of the mirror that must be speculation. Divination using a mirror is called ‘scrying’ and the British Museum has John Dee’s scrying apparatus from the 16th Century. You can buy scrying mirrors on etsy. https://www.etsy.com/uk/market/scrying_mirror. But to make a case that Mirrors were not just utilitarian and prestige objects but also in use for supernatural/religious purposes is surely just speculation?

Melanie Giles & Jody Joy in ‘Mirrors in the British Iron Age: performance, revelation and power published in 2007 (and available to read here) concludes:

‘Iron Age mirrors, whether made of iron or bronze were beautiful,  powerful, and potentially terrifying or dangerous objects. They were used in the  preparation and presentation of the body and prestigious displays, but may also have been associated with powers of augury and insight into the past, or access to ancestral or spiritual worlds.’

The evidence we have for iron communities is for a powerful role for women in contrast to the Romans. The Romans dismissed women when they wrote that Boudicca was ‘uncommonly intelligent for a women’. In fact, she nearly forced the Romans to abandon their conquest of Britain. We also know that Queen Cartimandua of the Brigantes had executive power in the North of Britain. The Britons also worshipped the three Mother Goddesses, which focussed on the value of woman as maidens, mothers, and grand-mothers.

For more about Roman Southwark read my post of Roman Mosaic is biggest found in London for 50 years.

A book to order for International Women’s Day is ‘Patriarchs’ in which Angela Saini investigates when the Patriarchy took over. I heard her talk about it and it seems an excellent introduction.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/mar/08/the-patriarchs-by-angela-saini-review-the-roots-of-male-domination

First Published in 2023, and revised in 2025

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Shrove Tuesday – Pancake Day – Mardi Gras – End of the Carnival

Les_Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry February (Detail) The people inside are warming their legs and their hands in front of a roaring fire.
Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry February (Detail) The people inside are warming their legs and their hands in front of a roaring fire.

Shrove Tuesday & Carnival

This year, March 4th is Shrove Tuesday, the end of the Carnival. Etymology-on line says the origins of the term Carnival are:

1540s, “time of merrymaking before Lent,” from French carnaval, from Italian carnevale “Shrove Tuesday,” from older Italian forms such as Milanese *carnelevale, Old Pisan carnelevare “to remove meat,” literally “raising flesh,” from Latin caro “flesh” (originally “a piece of flesh,” from PIE root *sker- (1) “to cut”) + levare “lighten, raise, remove” (from PIE root *legwh- “not heavy, having little weight”).

Folk etymology has it from Medieval Latin carne vale ” ‘flesh, farewell!’ ” Attested from 1590s in the figurative sense of “feasting or revelry in general.” The meaning “a circus or amusement fair” is attested by 1926 in American English.Related entries & more 

www.etymonline.com

Pancake Day/Shrove Tuesday

Pancake Day is another name for Shrove Tuesday. It is the day we eat up all our surplus food. Then on Ash Wednesday we must begin our lenten fast and turn out mind to repentance. Pancake Day, in the UK, is celebrated with a simple pancake with lemon and sugar. Here is a recipe from the BBC. On the other hand Shrove Tuesday can be a day of excess before the 40 days of restraint. Shrovetide was normally three days from the Sunday before Lent to Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. (Here is my post on Ash Wednesday).

Mardi Gras

In France, it’s called Mardi Gras which means Fatty Tuesday, in Italy Martedi Grasso. In New Orleans it stretches from Twelfth Night to Shrove Tuesday. But as we saw, in my post on Fat or Lardy Thursday‘ the Carnival period might be up to a week. In most other places it is oneto three days. In Anglo-Saxon times there was ‘Cheese Week’, ‘Butter Week’, ‘Cheesefare Sunday’ and ‘Collop Monday’, preceeding Ash Wednesday.

Shrove Tuesday the Day to be Shriven

Shrove Tuesday is the day we should be ‘shriven’ which means to make confession. The Church has been leading up to Easter since Advent – before Christmas. (See more on Advent Sunday here). Easter is the date of the conception and, also, the date of the execution and apotheosis of Jesus Christ. So the pious should confess their sins, then undertake their lenten fast before entering the Holy Week purged and sin-free.

In the Anglo-Saxon Church, there was a custom called ‘locking the Alleluia.’ The Church stopped using the word Alleluia from 70 days before Easter. Alleluia represented the return from exile in Babylon. So, with the approach of the death of Christ it was not felt appropriate to be celebratory.

The sombre nature of this block of time was highlighted by Ælfric of Eynsham (c. 955 – c. 1010).

Now a pure and holy time draws near, in which we should atone for our neglect. Every Christian, therefore, should come to his confession and confess his hidden sins, and make amends according to the guidance of his teachers; and let everyone encourage each other to do good by good example.

Ælfric, Catholic Homilies Text Ed. Peter Clemoes quoted in ‘Winters in the World’ Eleanor Parker

Time for Football!

Shrove Tuesday was the traditional time for football games in the days before football had any rules to speak of. It was a wild game. Teams tried to get a bladder from one end of town to the other, or one side of a field to the other. In Chester, the Shrove Tuesday football game was held on the Roodee island. It was so rowdy that the Mayor created the Chester Races specifically to provide a more sedate alterative to the violence of the ‘beautiful game.’

Here is a youtube video of Shrovetide Football.

Royal Asbourne Shrove Tueday Football

In London, Henry Fitzstephen who was a biographer of Thomas Becket and is writing about Shrove Tuesday Games inLondon in the late 12th Century:

‘Every year also at Shrove Tuesday, that we may begin with children’s sport, seeing we all have been children, the school boys do bring cocks of the game to their master, and all the forenoon they delight themselves in cockfighting. After dinner all the youths go into the fields to play at the ball. The scholars of every school have their ball, or baston in their hands. The ancient and wealthy men of the City come forth on horseback to see the sport of the young men and to take part of the pleasure in beholding their agility.’

Pancake Race

I have just found a video of the pancake race at the Guildhall Yard in the City of London. It is an inter-livery company pancake race competition. The competitors, representing the medieval Guilds, have to run across the Guildhall while holding a frying pan and pancake. There is a zone where they have to toss the pancake. There is also a novelty costume race. Here is a youtube video of the 2023 race.

Pancake Day/Shrove Tuesday Pancake Race

First published on February 21st, 2023 republished on February 13th 2024, and March 4th 2025

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Walk of Socialists 28th February 1887

Victorian lampoon on Socialist Values 'Yes Gentlemen, these is my principles, no King, no Lords, No Parsons, No Police, No Taxes, No Transportation, no No'thing.'
Victorian lampoon on Socialist Values ‘Yes Gentlemen, these is my principles, no King, no Lords, No Parsons, No Police, No Taxes, No Transportation, no No’thing.’

Walk of Socialists at St. Paul’s 28th February 1887

My French friend went yesterday to St. Paul’s and saw a large procession of socialists. It is a strange move of the socialists to visit all the Churches. The Archdeacon of London preached to them from: “the rich and poor meet together, and the Lord is the maker of them all.” A noble sermon, they behaved fairly well.

Helen G. McKenney, Diary, 1887 (source: A London Year. Compiled by Travis Eldborough and Nick Bennison)

The quotation is from the Bible, Proverbs 22, where it sits with a number of other wise sayings. Perhaps, number 16:

‘One who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and one who gives gifts to the rich—both come to poverty‘

is most likely to stir a Socialist. I imagine the Archdeacon was also making a point that the Lord made the Rich and the Poor. So there is nothing wrong with being Rich, as long as you are generous to the Poor. Equally, nothing wrong with being Poor.

Bloody Sunday

It’s rather lovely to imagine the Walk of Socialists walking around Wren’s masterpieces in the City of London. However, later in 1887, things turned much worse. The Social Democratic Federation and the Irish National League organised a march against Unemployment and the Irish Coercion Acts. The Police had been trying to prevent the ever-increasing use of Trafalgar Square and Hyde Park as protest venues. So, on November 13th, Bloody Sunday, the Police Commissioner, Charles Warren, ordered a massive police presence. He backed this up with 400 Soldiers. He aimed to prevent the entry to Hyde Park. Among the 10 to 30 thousand citizens presence were William Morris, Annie Besant , George Bernard Shaw and Eleanor Marx.

By the end of the day there were 2 people dead, 100 seriously injured, and 45 arrests. There were 75 accusations of police brutality but also many Police Casualties. Warren was acting as a caretaker until a new Commissioner was in place. He had already resigned following criticism of the failure to find Jack the Ripper.

Engraving from The Graphic (published 19 November 1887). Wikipedia describes it as ‘depicting a policeman being clubbed by a demonstrator as he wrests a banner from “a Socialist woman leader, one Mrs. Taylor”, while other people are covering their heads to protect themselves from raised police batons.’ Pubic Domain

Progressive Politics

Before the Foundation of the Labour Party, progressive politics were in the lukewarm hands of the Liberal Party. This developed from the Restoration period Whig Party. The Liberal Party had a radical wing, but it had a reluctance to put forward working-class candidates. In the early 19th Century, much of the agitation was led by a movement called the Chartists. But as their goals became adopted by the main two parties, progressive politics was led by various reform, radical, socialist, marxist and anarchic groups.

I have not been able to find out who led the 1887 Walk of Socialists around the City Churches. However, William Morris’ presence suggests the Socialist League? In 1885, the Socialist League was an offshoot of the Social Democratic Federation. But it was not a harmonious group. Its most famous members were William Morris, and Eleanor Marx. It included Fabians, Christian Socialists and Anarchists. By 1887 it was split ideologically into three main factions, Anarchists, parliamentary orientated Socialists, and anti-parliamentary Socialists. William Morris was the editor of their newspaper, ‘the Commonweal’ but he was sacked and replaced by Frank Kitz as the Anarchists took over the organisation.

So, without going into a long history of Socialism in London, what happened was that the Socialist groups made very little impact until the Independent Labour Party was set up in Bradford 1893. And in 1900, Keir Hardie, who was already an independent MP in Parliament, set up the Labour Representation Committee in 1900. This was was soon renamed the Labour Party. The Independent Labour Party joined, and Labour began to take over control of the working-class vote. It fought for this with the Liberal Party. It was not until after World War 1, with the decline of the Liberal Vote that it was able to secure minority Governments. It was only after World War 2 that it replaced the Liberals as one of the two Political Parties which could win a majority in Parliament.

London was one of the places where the Party experimented with left wing policies. The East End areas of Poplar, Limehouse and Bermondsey were particularly important. These led to the National Health Service,

My Grandma who was born in Hoxton in 1902, voted for Labour all her life. I’m pretty sure it was out of class loyalty because I always thought her opinions were more traditional than progressive. For more on Hoxton and revolution you may be interested in my post on Hoxton and the Gunpowder plot.

Tomorrow isn’t the 29th but if it were you would want to see my post on leap year and the Roman Calendar – February 29th/

First Published in February 2024, republished in 2025

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John Evelyn Died 27th February 1706

Portrait of John Evelyn holding a book
Portrait of John Evelyn by Godfrey Kneller 1687 (Wikipedia)

Lardy Thursday’s Baking

This post commemorates the death of John Evelyn. It should have been published yesterday, but I had to publish my post on Fat Thursday. Being a moveable feast, it moved to February 27th this year. You will find more about Evelyn below. But first, I must report back on my success or failure of the Lardy Cake I cooked to celebrate Gioverdi Grasso.

lardy cake being made
lardy cake being made
lardy cake being made
lardy cake
Lady Cake overcooked!
lardy cake being made
Slice of Lardy Cake

Ok, so my first error was to forget to put the sugar in! Secondly, I was distracted so did not put the timer on, so it was a little overcooked, but not disastrously. I also used Wholemeal flour rather than Strong White flour, which Paul Hollywood suggested. I’ve had about 4 slices, last night and this morning. Verdict: Quite Good. But buy it from a shop next time. Don’t apply to appear on Bake-off. Its ok, if you sprinkle a little sugar on. Next slice I might try some jam. It is more like a fruit bread than a lardy cake. I have now washed the utensils 4 times, and they are still covered in lard! But at least it’s less fat ingested.

Back to John Evelyn

27th February, 1661. Ash Wednesday. Preached before the King the Bishop of London (Dr. Sheldon) on Matthew xviii. 25, concerning charity and forgiveness.

John Evelyn’s Diary from https://www.gutenberg.org/

John Evelyn is, with Pepys and Wren, one of the great figures of 17th Century London.  Unlike Pepys he was an avowed Royalist who hated Oliver Cromwell and all he stood for.  He went into exile with his King and gives a great description of Paris (see below).  Dr Sheldon, the Bishop of London mentioned above, went on to become Archbishop of Canterbury. He was a friend of Wren’s Father, and commissioned Wren to build the Sheldonian Theatre, in Oxford.

Like Pepys, John Evelyn was a diarist and a writer. And they, like Wren, were alumni of the Royal Society, one of the great scientific societies. John Evelyn was a founding fellow. It was innovative in that it employed an experimenter. He was Robert Hooke – one of the great early Scientists, who also worked with Wren rebuilding London after the Great Fire. The Royal Society encouraged scientists to experiment, write up, and submit their theories to for peer review. This is the foundation of Western Science, and a bedrock of the Enlightenment.

Frontispiece of ‘the History of the Royal-Society of London by Thomas Sprat. John Evelyn was a founder member

Evelyn the Writer.

Evelyn has a place in my history because, in the 1980’s I worked. with Paul Herbert, on a project to create an interactive history of London. It was financed by Warner Brothers, and in cooperation with the short-lived ‘BBC Interactive TV Unit’. One part of it was a Literary Tour of London. And this is where I came across John Evelyn using several of the quotations on this page.

Evelyn was a prolific traveller and a polymath. He wrote on the need to improve London’s architecture and air in Fumifugium (or The Inconveniencie of the Aer and Smoak of London Dissipated).

Here is an extract from his Furmifugium.

‘That this Glorious and Antient City, which from Wood might be rendred Brick, and (like another Rome) from Brick made Stone and Marble; which commands the Proud Ocean to the Indies, and reaches to the farthest Antipo­des, should wrap her stately head in Clowds of Smoake and Sulphur, so full of Stink and Dark­nesse, I deplore with just Indignation.

That the Buildings should be compos’d of such a Congestion of mishapen and extravagant Houses; That the Streets should be so narrow and incommodious in the very Center, and busiest places of Intercourse: That there should be so ill and uneasie a form of Paving under foot, so troublesome and malicious a disposure of the Spouts and Gutters overhead, are particulars worthy of Reproof and Reforma­tion; because it is hereby rendred a Labyrinth in its principal passages, and a continual Wet-day after the Storm is over. ‘

And he was an expert on trees. Author of: Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-Trees (1664). He lived at Sayes Court in Depford near Greenwich, which he ill-advisedly rented to Peter the Great of Russia. Letting to Peter was a lot-like inviting a 1960s Rock Band to trash your mansion.

John Evelyn the Exile

Here is a taste of Evelyn’s time as an Exile. It is a short extract from a long entry on the splendid Palaces in and around Paris.

27th February, 1644. Accompanied with some English gentlemen, we took horse to see St. Germains-en-Laye, a stately country house of the King, some five leagues from Paris. By the way, we alighted at St. Cloud, where, on an eminence near the river, the Archbishop of Paris has a garden, for the house is not very considerable, rarely watered and furnished with fountains, statues,[and groves; the walks are very fair; the fountain of Laocoon is in a large square pool, throwing the water near forty feet high, and having about it a multitude of statues and basins, and is a surprising object. But nothing is more esteemed than the cascade falling from the great steps into the lowest and longest walk from the Mount Parnassus, which consists of a grotto, or shell-house, on the summit of the hill, wherein are divers waterworks and contrivances to wet the spectators; this is covered with a fair cupola, the walls painted with the Muses, and statues placed thick about it, whereof some are antique and good. In the upper walks are two perspectives, seeming to enlarge the alleys, and in this garden are many other ingenious contrivances.

John Evelyn’s Diary from https://www.gutenberg.org/

John Evelyn and the Restoration of Charles II

When Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660, this was Evelyn’s reaction:

May 29th 1660:

This day came in his Majestie Charles the 2d to London after a sad, and long exile… this was also his birthday, and with a Triumph of above 20,000 horse and foote, brandishing their swords and shouting with unexpressable joy; the wayes strawed with flowers, the bells ringing, the streets hung with Tapisry, fountains running with wine: ‘

‘The mayor, Aldermen, all the companies in their liveries, chaines of gold, banners, Lords and nobles, cloth of Silver, gold and velvet every body clad in, the windows and balconies all set with Ladys, Trumpetes, Musik, and myriads of people … All this without one drop of bloud …it was the Lords doing…

For Evelyn’s opinion of Cromwell have a look at this post of mine: january-28th-31st-charles-i-martyrdom-get-back/

First Published 2024, republished 2025

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Spring Chickens 26th February

Spring Chickens appear in Cheap and Good Husbandry by Gervaise Markham London 1664

Of Setting Hens (and Spring Chickens)

Gervase Markham who wrote a heap of farming and horticulture books in the 17th Century, wrote about Spring Chickens in ‘Cheap and Good Husbandry’. He starts by suggesting this is the time to impregnate them.

The best time to set Hens to have the best, largest, and most kindly Chickens;, is in February, in the increase of the Moon, so that they may hatch or disclose her Chickens; in the increase of the next new Moon, being in March; for one brood of March Chickens; is worth three broods of any other: You may set Hens from March; till October, and have good Chickens;, but not after by any means, for the Winter is a great enemy to their breeding….

To read this section of the book follow this link.

To read about March Hares, March Chickens and more on March Chickens, look at my post: https://www.chr.org.uk/anddidthosefeet/march-28th-as-mad-as-a-march-hare/

The expression comes from the 17th Century when Spring/March Chickens were more profitable that old chickens that had gone through the winter. Commonly, it is used in the negative as in ‘Kevin ain’t no spring chicken.’

On this day

First £1 note,1797 Bank of England Museum source Joy_of_Museums Public Domain cc by sa 4.0
First £1 note of the Bank of England Museum 1797
Source Joy_of_Museums Public Domain (CC by sa 4.0)

February 26th 1797 First Pound Note:

The Bank of England issued it’s first ever one pound note (although some sources say March 1797). The Bank had been issuing paper notes since the late 17th Century, but this was the first £1 note. They still had to be signed by hand and allocated to a specific person. The hand signed white paper notes were withdrawn in 1820, and the pound note was, finally, withdrawn in 1988. The £1 in 1797 was worth the equivalent of £157.46 today, so quite a big note! (see here for the calculator.)

Pound note first published 2024, Spring Chicken February 26th 2025

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Coltsfoot & Smoking & Cholera February 24th

Coltsfoot by Andreas Trepte Wikipedia

Coltsfoot is a daisy-like plant which is flowering about now. Gerard’s Herbal of 1633 suggests that the ‘fumes of the dried leaves taken through a funnel’ is good for those with coughs and shortness of breath. He suggests that it is smoked like tobacco and it ‘mightly prevaileth.’

This idea, Mrs Grieves says in her herbal (1931), is endorsed by ‘Dioscorides, Galen, Pliny, and Boyle’. And Coltsfoot is ‘nature’s best herb for the lungs’. (This is historic information re herbs and NOT current medical advice, as Coltsfoot can be very dangerous!).

engraving of a man smoking Lobspruch deß edlen hochberühmten Krauts Petum oder Taback Nuremberg, 1658 New York Public Library Public Domain
Detail from Lobspruch deß edlen hochberühmten Krauts Petum oder Taback Nuremberg, 1658 New York Public Library Public Domain

My grandson and parents found a 19th Century pipe bowl, much like the one above, by the Thames where there were many fragments of clay pipe. For more on 17th Century smoking, have a look here.

Cholera in London


The news of the Cholera being in London has been received abroad. According to the feelings of the different nations towards England, France, who wish to court us has ordered a quarantine in her ports of three days; Holland, who feels aggrieved by our conduct at the conference, one of 40 days. The fog so thick in London that the illuminations for the Queen’s Birthday were not visible.

24th February 1832 Thomas Raikes, Diary 1832 (from ‘A London Year’ Compiled by Travis Elborough and Nick Bennison, 2013,

This was the second Cholera Pandemic, but the first to reach the UK. The second landed in Sunderland in October 1831. The extract above was written on 24th February 1832. Cholera killed over 6,000 in London. It was called the Asiatic Cholera based on its origin. The Cholera came more virulently in subsequent decades. It was thought to be spread by a miasma in the air. John Snow proved it was caused by polluted water, but I will tell that story in another post.

I think the Conference mentioned above was the London Conference of May 1832, which aimed to establish a Kingdom of Greece with King, It was set up by Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston without discussion with the Greeks and ended up giving them a Bavarian King. King Otto.

Doesn’t seem likely that a great power would make decisions without including the main protagonist in the discussions, does it?

Otto was forced from the throne in a revolution in 1862, and replaced by a Danish King, from whom Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh was descended.

First published in February 2024, republished in 2025

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Stanley Green, the Protein Man of Oxford Street February 22nd

Stanley Green, the Protein Man, in Oxford Street, London, 1977 CC by 4.0 Deed

I was failing to find anything of significance to post when I came across a London Walks post about Stanley Green. Green was born on 22nd February in 1915. Most people who lived in London, knew of him. He was always to be seen patrolling Oxford Street and other Central London Streets with his placard. He mounted a one-man campaign against too much protein. He thought it was a factor in promoting Lust. Lust was a bad thing. He campaigned, religiously, from 1969 to 1993, when he died.

Whether you agree with his views or not it is doesn’t diminish the impact an ordinary person had on an entire City. For more about him, including a podcast, have a look at the London Walks page here:

Mr Stop Brexit

Another one man campaigner, Mr Stop Brexit, Steve Bray, was to be seen outside Parliament, most days in the run up to Brexit. He perfected photobombing techniques, appearing in the background of interviews of prominent Brexit campaigners, or was heard over his megaphone. He was from Splott in Wales, and said he lost all his friends because they supported Brexit. He continues to campaign.

Steve Bray, also known as Stop Brexit Man. (Wikipedia CC0)
Steve Bray, also known as Stop Brexit Man. (Wikipedia CC0)

Below, you can see him upstaging one of the people who ruined this country, the dreadful Jacob Rees-Mogg

I must admit, I briefly considered dedicating my life to attending events Jacob Rees-Mogg attended, shouting ‘Brexit Opportunities!’ and collapsing in ironic laughter.

For my long view of Brexit see my post https://www.chr.org.uk/anddidthosefeet/brexit-day-31st-january-31-2021/

first published in 2024, republished in 2025.

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Feralia – the Roman Festival of the Dead February 21st

To illustrate rainwear in the Roman period and to illustrate winter showing Philu from Cirencester
Tombstone of Philus from Cirencester (Corinium Dobunnorum) showing his rain cloak

Feralia & Parentalia

Feralia is the last day of Parentalia a 9-Day Festival for the spirits of the Dead. It is described in some detail by the Roman Poet, Ovid, in his Almanac of the year called the ‘Fasti’. Here, he describes how to honour a parent:

And the grave must be honoured. Appease your father’s
Spirits, and bring little gifts to the tombs you built.
Their shades ask little, piety they prefer to costly
Offerings: no greedy deities haunt the Stygian depths.
A tile wreathed round with garlands offered is enough,
A scattering of meal, and a few grains of salt,
And bread soaked in wine, and loose violets:
Set them on a brick left in the middle of the path.
Not that I veto larger gifts, but these please the shades:
Add prayers and proper words to the fixed fires.

There is much more Ovid says about Feralia, and you can read it for free, in translation by A. S. Kline (which I used above, at www.poetryintranslation.com)

For more about Parentalia look at my earlier post about the February festivals of the Romans.

Roman Cemeteries in London

In London, archaeologists have found many Roman cemeteries around the City of London. The Romans forbade burial inside the City limits. So, the dead were buried alongside the main roads out of the City Gates. Aldgate towards Colchester, Bishopsgate to the North. Ludgate along Fleet Street to the West. Newgate to Holborn and the North West. From London Bridge to Southwark and the South. These are the places that parents would be remembered at Feralia or before.

Map of Roman Cemetaries from Museum of London exhibition on the Roman Dead
Map of Roman Cemeteries from the Museum of London exhibition on the Roman Dead, showing the River Thames and River Fleet. Holborn is to the left, marked ‘Western Cemetery’.
Roman Mortaria

Various rites have been observed. Both inhumation and cremation were practised. I remember excavating a Roman mortaria with a hole in the bottom with the ashes of the dead in it. These large bowls were used as a mortar for grinding foodstuffs. The bottom was deliberated gritted, but they often wore through, and sometimes were reused to hold cremation ashes. I like to imagine, granny being buried in her favourite cooking vessel (or maybe a grandad who baked?).

Many bodies were covered in chalk, perhaps to help preserve the body. A surprising number of bodies are found with the head by the knees. The large number of cases fuels speculation that this was a burial rite, of whom only a percentage were beheaded as a punishment. Some graves shown signs of a funeral pyre.

Author’s photograph of a skeleton displayed at the Roman Dead Exhibition, Museum of London, She was between 26 and 35 years old, who lived a hard life, and possibly had anaemia. Her head was severed either: before and causing death, or shortly after death, and placed between her legs as shown.

Procurator Classicianus.

The rich and powerful were remembered with huge monuments, prominently sited along the main roads. The most famous are the burial stones found at Tower Hill of the Procurator Classicianus. What makes this special is that he is mentioned in Roman accounts of the Boudiccan Revolt of AD 60-61. He suggested to Nero that the Province would only be saved if the revenge against the British was de-escalated. Nero wisely withdrew the vengeful Roman Governor Suetonius Paulinus and replaced him with someone ready to conciliate. The Romans held the province successfully for 350 years or so more.

Reconstruction drawing of two stones found while building Tower Hill Underground Station. They read, something like, ‘To the Spirits of the Dear Departed Fabius Alpini Classicianius, Procurator of the Province of Britannia.Julia, Indi (his wife) Daughter of Pacata of the Indiana voting tribe. Had This Set up.
Sketch of a stone Eagle found in 2013 at an excavation at the Minories just outside the eastern side of the Roman Wall in the City of London.

A beautiful carved eagle which adorned a tombstone was found in the Cemetery in Tower Hamlets. Recently a very grand mausoleum was found in Southwark. To find out more, have a look at the BBC website here:

Finally, last year, an excavation ran by MOLA discovered a ‘funerary bed’ just outside Newgate in Holborn. It was on the banks of the River Fleet, a tributary to the River Thames. The fluvial location meant that there were extraordinary levels of preservation, which included this bed. It was dismantled and buried in the grave. It may have been a bed used as a grave good, perhaps for use in the hereafter. Or it might have been the bed upon which the deceased was carried to the funeral. (Or both?)

sketch of Roman 'Funerary' Bed found dismantled in Holborn, London
Reconstruction of a Roman ‘Funerary’ Bed found dismantled in Holborn, London (Sketch from a MOLA reconstruction drawing)

They found other grave goods. These included an olive oil lamp decorated with an image of a gladiator; jet and amber beads and a glass phial.

Sketch of Roman burial goods from Holborn 2024
Sketch of Roman burial goods from Holborn, London

For more look at www.mola.org.uk/discoveries

First Published in February 2024, revised 2025