Boo: The Halloween Edition
Coming to you a bit later than usual because this month’s newsletter is all about mysteries, spells and lovely little spiced cakes, just in time for Halloween.
But first, some blog business. I was super excited to have a guest post written for us by Emma Manners, the Duchess of Rutland up on the blog a few weeks ago. The Duchess has a new book out and took some time to tell us about some of the women in Belvoir Castle’s history. Have a read of it here. Also I reviewed a book by John Lambshead called The Fall of Roman Britain - And Why We Speak English. Drawing on genetic research as well as what’s in the sources, it’s a new look at how Roman control of Britain ended and its effect on the general public.
If you’re interested in Medieval women, come and have a look at the write up of my visit to Ewelme to see the tomb of Alice Chaucer, William de la Pole’s Duchess of Suffolk. There’s a bit about her in my book, where I talk about her achievements, role and enduring legacy. Keep a look out for more news (I’m still writing it!). In the meantime check out the post here. Oh, and I also shared a recipe that was handed down to me in my family that dates from the 1950s. A lovely, stodgy, sprinkled with sugar, Bread Pudding.
By the way, if you’re local to Reading, you can see my historic artwork up on the wall in John Lewis’ café in Broad Street, Reading Biscuit Factory close to Oxford Road (mine is on the left of the bar upstairs) and, until the end of the month, Reading Berkshire Hospital, outside the Radiology Dept. Get in touch if you’d like a commission or want to buy prints or originals. I’ll also be at Creativ.Spaces’ Christmas market with a stall in Caversham in November.
So, onto Halloween. Whether you’re carving pumpkins and planning your outfit or just snuggling up with a film it feels like the right time to talk about unsolved mysteries, odd goings-on and times long past. Over on the blog I talk about The Mysterious Disappearance of Sir Francis Lovell, which involves a hurried flight from battle, a royal punishment and a dusty skeleton found in a hidden chamber two hundred years later. Read the post and let me know what you think.
There’s also this post about the Witches of Reading, with real-life accusations of spells written on paper and placed in a fireplace and another which apparently caused a man to fall in the town with ‘shaking fits’. You can also have a read of my review of the brilliant The Last Witches in England by John Callow. Definitely a good book to read as we approach the spooky season. Why not also check out these I’ve recommended too?
Also, MJ Trow has another theory about what happened to the Princes in the Tower, I talked a while ago about some of the forgotten women murderers of Stuart London and remember that thing that happened to me at Hampton Court? Not kidding. It was weird. And don’t forget to bake up a batch of these Tudor Soul Cakes, traditionally eaten on Halloween by our ancestors. The recipe’s based on one from 1604.
I’ll leave you with a tale I recently read in Leland’s Itinerary, written in the sixteenth century. Riding into Rutland, John Leland stopped and asked locals to tell him about local history and legends, writing them down in his book. Here, he noted:
“that there was one Rutter, a man of great favour with his prince, that desired to have of reward of him as much land as he could ride over in a day upon a horse of wood, and that he rode over as much as now is in Rutlandshire by art magicke, and that he was after swallowed into the earth.”
See you in November.
Stay well!