Forget Glastonbury and the Notting Hill carnival - the Bartholomew Fairs of old would have dwarfed them, and far outdone them for debauched behaviour too. For his August post, Prof Nick Groom looks at England's history of late summer fairs... The end of harvest in England was usually celebrated in the ... Read More...
History
Douglas Dalrymple considers American attitudes to genealogy and knowing one's place... Uncle Marv numbers his socks with permanent marker, “1” for left and “2” for right. That way he gets each one on the correct foot and his toes are happy. He’s retired now but used to work on computers for ... Read More...
Today is the 189th birthday of John Newton, a man whose life, even in outline, reads like fiction. Born on this day in 1725 into a family of merchants, John Newton went to sea with his father at the age of 11, was later press-ganged into the Royal Navy, attempted to ... Read More...
Keats, Chatterton, Shelley, Byron, Wollenstone, Burns... they all died in their prime. But what would it have meant, for art and for the world, if they had lived their full three score and ten? Professor Nick Groom offers a counterfactual history of the long-lived Romantics... What would have happened if John ... Read More...
Rita discovers the story of a little Quaker town that became the capital city of the U.S. for just one day... The charming little town of Brookeville is nestled in the suburban sprawl of Washington D.C. as it once nestled in the green and pleasant Maryland countryside. But suburban sprawl maintains ... Read More...
Today is St Swithin's Day, and if it's raining you can expect another forty days' worth of it. But why? As ever, Prof Nick Groom is our guide to English legends, lore and seasons... In the Roman calendar, this month was named Julius to honour Julius Caesar. In English this was ... Read More...
Nige visits the French town of Dieppe, once home to Oscar Wilde, Frits Thaulow and a society of Anglophile artists... About this time last year I headed for Dieppe to spend a few days as a summer flaneur, a thoroughly restorative trip. Dieppe retains its unique, slightly faded charm, and its ... Read More...
Visiting Stonehenge this half-term? Here's Alexandra Harris' post on its influence on British culture, from Turner to Hepworth... Stonehenge is a good example of how a particular landmark in the English countryside could inspire different kinds of appreciation. Its image was particularly potent because it signified strength and endurance while at ... Read More...
From speaking in tongues to cheese rolling in Gloucester, this month Professor Nick Groom looks at the origins, customs and meaning of Whitsun... Whit Sunday is the seventh Sunday after Easter, also known as ‘Pentecost’ (from the Greek for fiftieth, counting inclusively). It is therefore part of the cat’s cradle of Eastertide dates ... Read More...
From the Dabbler's rich archives, Toby Ferris examines the place of teeth in the art of fifteenth century Italy and Northern Europe... I have come to realise that if I am to make any real progress on my much anticipated, much delayed History of Whistling, I will first have to address ... Read More...
