"As the antients had their Capitoline and their Olympian Jupiter, so we had our virgin of Winchester and our virgin of Walsingham: and as there were temples to the Capitoline Jupiter in other places, as well as on the Capitoline hill, and one at Athens in particular; so we had places dedicated to the virgin of Winchester, in other places as well as ( Read more... )

True Fire by Gary Meehan. Teenage pregnancy in rural fantasy setting turns rapidly into a kind of Meg Rossoff's How I Live Now with crossbows and swords and a political-religious movement which makes Boko Haram, ISIS, the Lord's Resistance Army and their likes seem positively cuddly. With an eye to film adaptations, there's a strong supporting role ( Read more... )

From The St James's Chronicle or British Evening Post, 27 December 1764:

"We hear that there are Cabbage Roses now blown in the garden of Mr. Snelgrove, at Heytesbury, as beautiful as if it were the Month of June."

Also posted at http://sir-guinglain.dreamwidth.org/2013/11/26/cabbage-roses.html.

From the Public Advertiser, 2 November 1779 ( Read more... )

Written by Henry Hawley, ed. C.T. Atkinson, Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research vol. 25 (1947), p 154 ( Read more... )

...and overthrow parliamentary government and constitutional monarchy! Bring back the Stuarts!

If Bennett Zon at Durham University is right, that's the subliminal message we could be taking away with us from O Come All Ye Faithful. It has some superficial plausibility, but I'd need to read the paper.

ETA: It's old news - Zon had already mentioned ( Read more... )

"The English list of ships of war is long and formidable, but not a tenth part of them are at any one time fit for service, numbers of them are not in being; yet their names are pompously continued in the list, if only a plank be left of the ship: and not a fifth part of such as are fit for service can be spared on any one station at one time. The ( Read more... )

“We are informed, that the Lord Mohun being lately at Callais, happened to quarrel with a Capt about some horses he would had to be carryed to Dunkerke; insomuch there they fought and the Lord Mohun was ran through the body ( Read more... )

"Mr Bridges Father in Law to the D:[uke] of Shrewsbury Dyd sudenly by cutting the nail of his Toe Gangrened, & the next day his Leg was cut off & he dyed the Morning after."

Bod MS Carte 211 fo. 138, Ralph Wingate to an unknown correspondent, c. 4 September 1713.

The joke has probably aged well, if it was a joke at all in 1713, which I doubt; but the letter in front of me, discussing political events in code, and dated 22 June 1713, refers to the House of Commons as the 'portion of Fungal' - that is, if I'm reading the handwriting correctly.