Tag: history
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Eat like a medieval peasant
I’ve just finished reading, or rather, listening to the audiobooks of the Shardlake Series by CJ Samson. They’re set in Tudor England during the time of Henry VIII and follow a hunchback barrister called Matthew Shardlake who reluctantly gets tangled in murder mysteries he’s forced to solve under request from Thomas Cromwell and later by…
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All you need is lovage
We saw a bird of prey tussle with another bird today before dispatching it right in front of us. There was a loud screeching then the two birds spilled out onto the path. The victim fell silent and still. We’re not sure what the bird of prey was but likely a buzzard or falcon (update:…
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The Secret Diary of Henry VIII at Drum Castle by The Three Inch Fools
Last night we were at Drum Castle watching The Three Inch Fools performing The Secret Diary of Henry VIII. This is an activity we’ve done almost every year since we moved here – except for the covid years – and we all love it. Last year it was Robin Hood, also produced by The Three…
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The Battle of Corrichie re-enactment
We had a terrific day in the field next to Milton of Crathes watching a re-enactment of The Battle of Corrichie: a bloody clash in Aberdeenshire between the forces of Mary Queen of Scots against the Earl of Huntly on the 28th October 1562. There was also a fascinating living history camp, a birds of…
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Never was there such slaughter in our islands
I’ve finished reading The Last Kingdom series by Bernard Cornwall. There are 13 books in the series and while they are works of fiction they follow the history of how England came to be, as far as we understand it today. The books start with Alfred the Great and end with his grandson, King Æthelstan,…
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King Robert the Bruce
Earlier this year I was reading the kids a children’s book on Scottish history. In it was a chapter on Robert the Bruce and although I had heard of him before and seen statues of him (there’s one in Stirling), I’d never heard his story. At the end of the chapter I was thinking, “Oh…
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Be kind to living things
I’ve haven’t written much lately because I’ve been busy. Everyone is busy, I know. All the snow has melted here but it hung around for a long time. Usually when we get snow it’s all gone within a couple of days. The chances of a white Christmas now are very remote. It looks like we’ll…
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