Pinafore Smith
Art Neuendorffer
. Shem the PENman to Shaun the Postman:
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.oxford-shakespeare.com/oxfordsletters1-44.html
. http://www.tiny.cc/VnVtD
.
[=34] Cecil PAPERS 88/101 (bifolium, 232mm x 170mm),
Oxford to [Robert] Cecil; 7 October 1601 (W337;F593).
.
*MY VERy good BROTHER* ,
.
.... *I AM ADUISED* , that I may passe *MY BOOKE* from her
Magestie, yf *A WARRANT* may be procured to my cosen *BACON*
and Seriant [=Sergeant] *HARRIS* to *PERFET [=perfect] yt* .
Whiche *BEINGE DOONE* , I know to whome *FORMALLYE* to thanke,
but reallye they shalbe, and are from *ME, and MYNE* , to
be *SEALED VP in an AETERNALL REMEMBRANCE to yowre selfe*
And thus *WISHINGE ALL HAPPINES* to yow....
.
7th of October from my House at Hakney. 1601.
Yowre most assured and louinge BROOTHER.
(signed) Edward Oxenford (ital.; 4+7)
.
Addressed (O): To the ryghte honorable & my VERy good BROOTHER
Sir Robert Cecill on [=one] of her Magestyes pryvie Councel
and principall Secretarie giue thes at the Coorte. [seal]
Endorsed: 1601 7 October: Erle of Oxenford to my Master.
--------------------------------------------------
<<Most curious is the fact that, although Shakspere's name appears
in a tax demand dated 6 October 1600 as a resident of the Liberty
of the Clink, he has not been found in any of the annual lists of
residents of the local parish, St. Saviour's, compiled by the
church officers who collected tokens purchased by churchgoers for
compulsory Protestant Easter communion. This is intriguing, and
perhaps significant. Such hints might tend to suggest that the
absence of personal revelation in his works, which has fueled
the fantasies of the conspiracy theorists, is no accident.>>
. - p. 271 _Shakespeare_ by M. Wood.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Religion, Literature, & Art',
. Oskar Seyffert, 1995 edition by Gramercy Books.
.
<< The LAPIS manALIS was lifted up three times a year
(August 24th, October 5th, November 8th), and the MANES
were then believed to RISE to the upper world: on this account
those days were religiosi, i.e. no serious matter might be
undertaken on them. Sacrifices were offered to them as to the dead;
water, wine, warm milk, honey, oil, and the blood of black sheep,
PIGS & OXEN, were POURED on the grave; ointments and incense
were offered; and *the grave was DECKED with FLOWERS*
, roses & violets by preference.>>
--------------------------------------------------------------------
October 6, 1542 => Thomas Wyatt dies (father's Tower CAT: ACATAR)
October 6, 1573 => Henry Wriothesley born (Tower CAT: Beatrice)
October 6, 1576 => Roger Manners (5th Earl of Rutland) born
October 6, 1586 => Edward Manners (3rd Earl) Fotheringhay juror
October 6, 1592 => Registration Kyd's _The Spanishe tragedie_
.
October 6, 1600 => Shakspere in the Clink
.
October 6, 1891 => Baconian [W]illiam [H]enry Smith dies at 66
October 6, 1892 => Alfred Lord TENNYSON dies at 83
---------------------------------------------------
William Henry Smith (politician)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
.
<<William Henry Smith (24 June 1825 ' 6 October 1891) was the son of
William Henry Smith (1792-1865). He was born in London and educated at
Tavistock Grammar School before joining the business with his father in
1846. As a result of his involvement, the business became a household
name (W H Smith), and the practice of selling books and newspapers at
railway stations began. In 1868 he was elected Member of Parliament for
Westminster as a Conservative, and was appointed Financial Secretary to
the Treasury six years later when Disraeli returned as Prime Minister.
In 1877 he became First Lord of the Admiralty. The appointment
gave rise to the character of Sir Joseph Porter, KCB, in
Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera H.M.S. Pinafore).
W. S. Gilbert's Pinafore lyrics are scathing:
.
I grew so rich that I was sent
By a pocket borough into Parliament.
I always voted at my party's call,
And I never thought of thinking for myself at all.
I thought so little, they rewarded me
By making me the Ruler of the Queen's Navee!
.
Smith would be known by the derisive nickname "Pinafore Smith"
during his three years in the post of First Lord. Smith held
this office for three years until the Liberals returned to power.
.
In 1885 a redistribution of seats led to Smith now standing for the
Strand division in Westminster, and served as Chief Secretary for
Ireland for a short period in the following year. He was twice Secretary
of State for War, the first time during Lord Salisbury's brief ministry
between 1885 and 1886, and the second when the Conservatives won the
1886 General Election. He succeeded this appointment in 1887 as First
Lord of the Treasury and Leader of the House of Commons, and became Lord
Warden of the Cinque Ports in 1891, dying shortly afterwards at Walmer
Castle. His widow was created Viscountess Hambleden, taking the title
from the village close to the Smiths' country house of Greenlands, near
Henley-on-Thames. One of the few ministers personally close to Lord
Salisbury (apart from the latter's nephew Arthur Balfour), Smith was
dubbed "Old Morality" due to his austere manner and conduct.
---------------------------------------
<<In 1856, William Henry Smith put forth the claim that the author
of Shakespeare's plays was Sir Francis Bacon, a major scientist,
philosopher, courtier, diplomat, essayist, historian and
successful politician, who served as Solicitor General (1607),
Attorney General (1613) and Lord Chancellor (1618).>>
.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespearean_authorship_question
.
<<The first direct statements of doubt about Shakespeare's
authorship were made in the 18th century, when unorthodox views
of Shakespeare were expressed in three allegorical stories.
.
In _An Essay Against Too Much Reading_ (1728) by a
'Captain' Golding, Shakespeare is described as merely
a collaborator who "in all probability cou'd not write English".
.
In _The Life and Adventures of Common Sense_ (1769)
by Herbert Lawrence, Shakespeare is portrayed as
a "shifty theatrical character ... and incorrigible thief".
.
In _The Story of the Learned Pig_ (1786) by an anonymous author
described as "an officer of the Royal Navy," Shakespeare is
merely a front for the real author, a chap called "Pimping Billy."
.
Around this time, James Wilmot, a Warwickshire clergyman and scholar,
was researching a biography on Shakespeare. He traveled extensively
around Stratford, visiting the libraries of country houses within a
radius of 50 miles looking for records or correspondence connected
with Shakespeare or books that had been owned by him. By 1781, Wilmot
had become so appalled at the lack of evidence for Shakespeare that
he concluded he could not be the author of the works. Wilmot was
familiar with the writings of Francis Bacon and formed the opinion
that he was more likely the real author of the Shakespearean canon.
He confided this to one James Cowell. Cowell disclosed it in
a paper read to the Ipswich Philosophical Society in 1805
(Cowell's paper was only rediscovered in 1932).>>
---------------------------------------
The Shakespearean Ciphers Examined: An Analysis of Cryptographic Systems
Used as Evidence That Some Author Other Than William Shakespeare Wrote
the Plays Commonly Attributed to Him
Book by Elizabeth S. Friedman, William F. Friedman;
Cambridge University Press, 1957. 303 pgs.
.
CHAPTER I THE GREAT CONTROVERSY
IT seems that the first man to question Shakespeare's sole
authorship of the plays was a certain 'Captain' Goulding.
In a small book called An Essay against Too Much Reading,
published in 1728, he hinted at one of the anti-Stratfordian
arguments. The plays, he said, are so superlative that
' Shakexpear has frighten'd three parts of the World from
attempting to write; and he was no Scholar, no Grammarian,
no Historian, and in all probability cou'd not write English'.
.
Goulding then introduces the first ghost:
.
Although his Plays were historical . . . the History Part was given
him in concise and short, by one of those Chuckles that could give
him nothing else. . . . I will give you a short Account of Mr. Shake
spear's Proceeding; and that I had from one of his intimate Acquaint
ance. His being imperfect in some Things, was owing to his not
being a Scholar, which obliged him to have one of those chuckle
pated Historians for his particular Associate . . . and he maintain'd
him, or he might have starv'd upon his History. And when he
wanted anything in his Way . . . he sent to him. . . . Then with his
natural flowing Wit, he work'd it into all Shapes and Forms, as his
beautiful Thoughts directed. The other put it into Grammar. . . .
One may see here the germ of much future ingenuity; there is
also a probable reference back to Jonson's remarks about
Shakespeare's scholarship, Heminge and Condell's testimony to
his facility, and Shakespeare's own comment on the poetic
imagination ('The poet's pen, Turns them to shapes, and
gives to airy nothing A local habitation and a name').>>
---------------------------------------
Doubts About Shakespeare's Authorship
' Or About Oxfordian Scholarship'
http://www.willyshakes.com/doubts.htm
.
© Irvin Leigh Matus
Created Saturday, April 19, 2003
Updated Sunday, April 20, 2003
.
1728 - Publication of Captain Goulding's Essay Against Too Much
Reading in which he comments on the background Shakespeare would
require for his historical plays and suggests that Shakespeare probably
had to keep 'one of those chuckle-pated Historians for his particular
Associate ' or he might have starvd [sic] upon his History.' Goulding
tells us that he had this from 'one of his (Shakespeare's) intimate
Acquaintance.'
.
' 'History of Doubts surrounding the authorship of Shakespeare's Works,'
.
from the Shakespeare-Oxford Society Home Page
.
After the earliest allusion to Shakespeare, in 1592, it took over 190
years before the first unequivocal doubt about his authorship of the
renowned plays is heard (which wasn't made public until 1932 ' by
Allardyce Nicoll, a Shakespearean scholar, it so happens). Another
sixty years would pass before doubts got into the public realm,
when one Joseph C. Hart expressed them in his book
'The Romance of Yachting,' in 1848.
.
From the Shakespearean point of view, the doubts spring from the
sea-change in the author's reputation, from a brilliant, if crude,
dramatist, into an omniscient genius, which began with the publication
of Samuel Johnson's edition of his works in 1765, and propelled still
higher in 1769 when the greatest actor of his age, David Garrick, staged
the 'Shakespeare Jubilee' in Stratford-upon-Avon. This marked the
apotheosis of the author ' not one of the plays was performed.
Bardolatry was born.
.
Oxfordians assert that generations of critics were led astray by the
remarks of Ben Jonson and John Milton, persuading them into believing
Shakespeare was 'child of nature.' They have searched high and low in
the years between 1592 and 1769, for clues that others perceived the
truth: the son of a craftsman in a provincial town, with a grammar
school education (if that), cannot possibly have written works in which
they perceive the experience and knowledge available only to someone of
good breeding ' an aristocrat, a nobleman. The problem was finding
someone from an early day who agreed with them.
.
And then ' O frabjous day!
.
On that day, an Oxfordian visited the Houghton Library, the rare book
repository at Harvard University. Perhaps he was the originator, or was
he the lucky discoverer, of a note slipped into a small book entitled An
Essay Against Too Much Reading, published in 1728. The note reads, 'the
earliest known publication of any questioning Shakespeare's having
written the works attributed to him. See pp. 12 and 13.'
.
An odd little book, the first part of it consisting of 36 pages,
includes an essay, 'The Whole Lives and Proceedings Of Sancho and
Peepo,' and another about the 'So Many Processions' in the town of Bath
in the preceding year. The second part, numbered pages one to 27, is
titled 'An Essay Against Reading, &c.' It is here that the Shakespeare
revelations are to be found. Hooray, for Captain Goulding! (Except it
probably wasn't him. This attribution is based on an item on the verso
of the last page of the book, 'A Speech to Royal Highness, the Princess
Amelia on her Birth-day, by Captain Goulding, at his Procession.' There
is nothing in this speech in common with the author of the essay. But
let's call him Goulding, for the sake of convenience.)
.
I discovered this remarkable news in a link to the 'History of Doubts'
on the Shakespeare Oxford Society site on the PBS Frontline web page for
the mockumentary The Shakespeare Mystery, which it has twice broadcast.
Two things immediately came to mind. First, find the book and see for
myself. Second, isn't there something not quite right, maybe even a
little odd, about the information that the Oxfordians present' I can't
quite put my finger on it '
.
I'll leave you to ponder this. In the meanwhile, I found the book in the
Folger Shakespeare Library and, for your better consideration of the
matter, I shall begin with some excerpts that will give you flavor of
this authoritative tome to prepare you for what Oxfordians commend as
credible, factual, authentic scholarship (perhaps because of its
resemblance to their own). Then you will get, in full, the excerpts
about Shakespeare. (I will most often use modernized spelling and
punctuation. A vertical line in the text indicates page divisions.
Shakespeare's name is in bold face.)
.
AN
ESSAY
AGAINST
READING, &c.
.
[Pages 1-3] I have spent a little time in considering the Reason why
all our Poets are so low, and the Wit of our present Age is so much
inferior to some Ages past. I can attribute it to nothing but the
present indolent Course of Life. Reading, that unactive Course, is the
forerunner of all distempers. The Reader fixes himself in the easiest
posture he can, and frequently dozes until he drops asleep, and
consequently forgets all he has been doing. Reason, and our Physicians,
tell us that inactivity is the forerunner of all distempers; if so, for
health's sake, we ought to restrain ourselves as much as possible from
it. But this is the most inconsiderable reason I shall give, 'tis my
business to set forth the disadvantages, to the improvement of human
Reason in general. |
.
The Reader believes that his memory is able to retain all he can
discover with his eyes; if he could, it would be an indifferent
exchange, to lose his own thoughts to borrow another's. Only consider,
in reading one line, there's a moment lost to yourself by giving it to
the Author; you can never read and think at the same time, yourself
shall be the judge: Suppose you had a pen in hand instead of a book,
whether your moments might not afford as material thoughts as any
Author' No doubt but you shall say, Not; and that God intended the whole
creation to serve each other. Admit that, but not in sublime thought;
there Nature dictates, and none but the lame and the lazy look out for
assistance, and of course must always limp behind.
.
Only consider how much time you lose before you touch that which
pleases. By constant Reading you discover a great deal bad as well as
good, to which your own thoughts might have been superior. Admit it was
all good, after eight or ten years perusal, then you are entitled to
say, I ought to do something, after seeing every thing. When you sit to
write, your head is so stuffed with so many Authors and fine things, you
known not where to begin, nor how to serve yourself, without touching
other men's works: Your spirits are sunk with the difficulty, then away
to the Coffee-House, repeating your old histories, which makes you pass
for a clever Man; and at the same time 'tis an imposition, and what any
School-Boy might do, that has a memory. So you drone away your time till
death, without serving your Country. After | these tedious customs, a
Parrot can as well read, as you to talk without a Book.
.
[Page 7] As to my Historian, I traveled about three weeks with him,
and he was the cleverest fellow I ever met with that way in my life;
there's scarce a Book from the beginning of writing to a sixpenny
pamphlet, but he will give a handsome account of, and he had studied
Physick [ as in physician] likewise; that with his old danby covered
Books of a thousand years old, he had stuffed my body like a library,
and with gally-pots [gallipot, a small glazed pot used by apothecaries]
and Physick stuffed my head like an Apothecary's Shop; and I have not
been right well ever since. We went a courting, and when at the
teatable, dinner, or supper, there was nothing but History and Physick,
Physick and History; he knew nothing of courting, so faith, we came home
like Fools as we went, left the girls in a surprise; and what is worse,
he almost ruined me, for I could talk of nothing but History and Physick
for two months after.
.
[Page 10] I have been acquainted with some persons at the University,
and in several Colleges; and I have been in the hundreds, at several
taverns, such as the Rose, Rummer, Fountain, and Horse-Shoe; and I have
heard there is at the former more lewdness, debauchery, vile swearing,
out-o'-the-way romancing, and being drunk every night; in short, more
Variety of Wickedness than at the latter. There was nothing wanting but
the females to make it a true picture of the other; so that one would
think the V[ice] Ch[ancel]lor must have had a cloven foot, or there
would have been a method taken to prevent such profligate wretches from
their vile ways. Some were obliged to quit the College, for fear he
would have appeared in some surprising shape. I have heard 500 say it is
the Fountain of Virtue and Knowledge, and have heard a thousand say it
is of Vice.
.
Intermission
.
As we can see from the meticulous scholarship, the scientific
methodology, this is what we would nowadays call a definitive study of
the acquisition of knowledge and of the status of reading, history and
universities in early 18th-century England. We are thus prepared to
delve into the insights of this penetrating scholar 'on the background
Shakespeare would require for his historical plays,' and his
unquestionable belief, based on first hand knowledge he got secondhand,
that Stratford Will did not have any such grounding. Thus, without
further ado, with every reference to Shakespeare in context, we offer:
.
Shakespeare in the Essay Against Reading, &c.
.
[Page 3] These Books take all young fellows off from thinking; they
are lying about in every house; custom has made it so natural, they run
to it and there pause for some time. If they had any concise thoughts,
which scarce any's without, they are immediately drowned, and of course
thrown away. Then consider the Ancients were but mortal as thou art, and
why superior to thyself, not any ways inspired' Thy business is to go
forward, and not look back for crutches to bring thee creeping behind.
Study without Book, then you'll be supplied with thoughts at the
firsthand; don't lie droning thy time away in a Library, gazing and not
knowing where to fix; like as if thou wast staring at promiscuous gems,
still at a loss, not knowing where to make choice. Thou may'st call over
thy Virgil and Homer, Milton and Shakespear [sic], all fine Names. So
thou may'st the Diamond, the Sapphire, the Emerald and Ruby, and still
be at a loss, not knowing where there's most beauty. Thou canst not
command one hour, and after thou hast almost finished a seven years
perusal, Death strikes thee, and all's gone to the World: which if thou
hadst writ thy Works, would have survived thy name.
.
[Pages 12-15] Those that have not a capacity, nor never will endeavor
to write, they may read Novels, Plays, Poems, History, or whatever their
inclinations lead them to; but I would not have Numps [a silly or stupid
person] think it would give him a new capacity, or furnish him with any
thoughts to make him capable of writing, without a great deal of
plagiarism, which is soon found out. But men of very good understanding
are frightened after reading so many beautiful things so well done.
Shakespear has frightened three parts of the World from attempting to
write; and he was no Scholar, no Grammarian, no Historian, and in all
probability could not write English. Although his Plays were historical,
as I have heard, the History part was given him in concise and short, by
one of these Chuckles that could give him nothing else. Then Shake|
spear, like the swift hawk that wings his way in pursuit of his game,
takes his flight, and soars so much higher, that his vast lengths, with
such variety, turns, and delightful changes, ravish all Spectators with
admiration and amazing wonder. You may then observe their eyes lifted
up, crying, Oh! immortal and inimitable Shakespear! whither art thou
gone! Now thou hast taken too great a flight ever to return, unless thou
hadst taken us with thee. Here we are left in a melancholy World,
without a Spark of new Wit to revive our drooping spirits. These foolish
reports give him such a supernatural character, that it sends everybody
to read him; and, in short, they find such fine similes, sublime
thoughts, and beautiful turns, it frightens a young Fellow from ever
presuming to write, if he had it in his thoughts before. And the world
is crying, there is nothing can ever come up to him, like blockheads.
.
Why may not another be better than him' There are ten thousand better
Scholars, for he was none; and I am assured there are an hundred
Shakespears in England at this time; but this way of talking frightens
them. I don't tell you they are at the University; their beautiful
thoughts are being driven out by being stuf[fed] with History; besides,
their Tutors teach them to think pretty near almost the same way. Some
Universities, in our days, afford us nothing surprising, but a little
Religion, and now and then there comes out another spick and span-new
Way to Heaven. The Lord grant that we may not be put into so many paths,
and lose the right at last. Yes, sometimes a new Physician is sent | us,
and the poor country souls put their lives in their hands, to give them
the practical part; but I will never take any of their prescriptions
'till they have been in the hands, and under the Directions of such
celebrated and ingenious Men as Dr. Bave; and in all probability, Dr.
Harrington must be a very safe Physician, the World allowing him to be a
Man of fine Sense, a regular Liver, and a graduate Physician: besides
the vast advantages he has gained in being in so many consultations, and
having perpetually his Father's Directions and Rules of Practice for his
Improvement.
.
I will give you a short Account of Mr. Shakespear's Proceeding; and that
I had from one of his intimate Acquaintance. His being imperfect in some
things was owing to his not being a Scholar, which obliged him to have
one of those chuckle-pated Historians for his particular Associate, that
could scarce speak a word but upon that subject; and he maintained him
or he might have starved upon his History. And when he wanted any thing
in his [the historian's] Way, as his Plays were all Historical, he sent
to him, and took down the heads what was for his purpose in Characters,
which were thirty times as quick as running to the Books to read for it.
Then with his natural flowing Wit, he worked it into all shapes and
forms, as his beautiful thoughts directed. The other put it into
Grammar; and instead of Reading, he stuck close to writing and study
without Book. How do you think Reading could have assisted him in such
great thoughts' It would only have lost time. When he found his thoughts
grow | on him so fast, he could have writ forever, had he lived so long.
.
Mr. Congreve writ his first Play before he was sixteen years of age. Do
you think he was a Historian before he was done with his School-Books'
No; the Dictates of Nature only refined his judgment, which was
surprising in a Youth. But I am afraid he fell into the other way, being
over-curious of seeing what Shakespear, and others, had done, which
forewarned him of great difficulties; or was afraid he should not excel
those that gave him the surprise: whereas, otherwise, it would have been
almost as easy as writing a common letter.
.
[Page 16] I have a Play almost ready for the Stage. I keep but just
within in the bounds of Religion and Law; to all other Passions I am
boundless, and expect to be raved at for Romantick Bombast; but let them
mend it, that shall not fright me; and if it's damned, they may be
d[amne]d for their pains, for what I care. I do assure you, I would not
read any of Shakespear's or Congreve's Plays for fifty pounds, for fear
it should puzzle or surprise me with wonder, that might dispirit me from
going on. He that writes must think himself the best, or else he writes
in fear, and consequently his Works will come to nothing: Courage is
half the proceeding in any undertaking.
.
There You Have It
.
But wait, you say: what happened to 'Captain Goulding's' 'comments on
the background Shakespeare would require for his historical plays''
Where are they' It does appear that Oxfordians, who often miss what is
there, have been compensated by a knack for finding what is not there.
.
One thing that is not missed, just missing, is what they assert the
essay's author was actually saying about Shakespeare keeping an
historian. As Oxfordians' fashion it in their 'History of Doubts,'
Goulding 'suggests that Shakespeare probably had to keep 'one of those
chuckle-pated Historians for his particular Associate ' or he might have
starvd upon his History'.' In other words, Shakespeare, 'not being a
Scholar,' would have starved on his own knowledge of history.
.
However, as we see, the passage actually says that Shakespeare hired
'one of those chuckle-pated Historians for his particular Associate,
that could scarce speak a word but upon that subject; and he maintained
him, or he might have starved upon his History.' The italicized portion
is what the Oxfordians omitted. In context, I believe, the correct
interpretation is that it was the 'chuckle-pated historian,' not
Shakespeare, who would have starved upon his historical knowledge had he
not been employed by the playwright. For historians, according to
Goulding, the only other means for sustenance is 'to make his fortune by
marriage.'
.
Agreed, that passage in full is ambiguous ' it can be read either way.
With the portion in italics omitted, as the Oxfordians did, it leads the
reader to think that there is only one way it can be read ' the way they
want it to read, the way they want you to believe.
.
Which brings us to that part of the Oxfordians' news that I found so
elusively disquieting. As they put it:
.
Goulding tells us that he got this from 'one of his (Shakespeare's)
intimate Acquaintance.'>>
-----------------------------------------
Art Neuendorffer
Art Neuendorffer
June 24, 1604: Edward de Vere dies
June 25, 1634: John MA(r)S(t)ON dies
------------------------------------------------------------
. BloomsDay of James Joyce's _Ulysses_:
. Thursday June 16, 1904 exactly 301 (52 week "years")
. after Oxford's death Thursday June 24, 1604
---------------------------------------------------------------
S.D. Can't WEAR GREY until a year & a day: June 24, 1604
.
<<de Vere: originally spelled both "Wier" & "WEAR".>>
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~lgboyd/chapter5.htm
------------------------------------------------------------
. Edward de Vere faked death: June 24th, 1604
. the Festival Day of St. John the Baptist
.
<<John's ministry and life ended when he admonished Herod and his
wife, Herodias, for their sinful behavior. John was imprisoned and
was eventually beheaded. Saint Jerome wrote that Herod kept the
head for a long time after, stabbing the tongue with his dagger in
a demented attempt to continuously inflict punishment upon John.>>
.
<<In addition to being the initial Patron Saint of Freemasons, the
Baptist was also considered to be the Patron Saint of the following:
Bird dealers, convulsions, cutters, epilepsy, furriers,
. hailstorms, Knights Hospitaller, Knights of Malta,
. lambs, monastic life, printers, spasms, and oars.>>
-----------------------------------------------------------
. St. John the Baptist, Patron Saint
.
- Phillip G. Elam, Grand Lodge of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons
.
<<By history, custom, tradition and ritualistic requirements,
. the Craft holds in veneration the Festival Days of
.
. St. John the Baptist on June 24th, and
. St. John the Evangelist on December 27th.
.
Eleven or more medieval trade guilds chose John the Baptist as
their Patron Saint. Even after exhaustive research by some of the
best Masonic scholars, no one can say with any certainty why
Freemasons adopted the two Saints John, or why they continue to
celebrate feast days when they once held a far different significance.
.
St. John the Baptist was a stern and just man, intolerant of
sham, of pretense, of weakness. He was a man of strength and fire,
uncompromising with evil or expediency, and, yet, courageous, humble,
sincere, and magnanimous. A character at once heroic and of rugged
nobility, the Greatest of Teachers said of the Baptist:
.
"Among them that are born of woman,
. there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist."
.
What do we know about John the Baptist? John was a Levite. His father
Zechariah was a Temple priest of the line of Abijah, and his mother
Elizabeth was also descended from Aaron. The Carpenter from Nazareth
and John the Baptist were related. Their mothers, Mary and Elizabeth,
were cousins. John the Baptist was born 6 months before the Nazarene,
and he died about 6 months before Jesus. The angel Gabriel separately
announced the coming births of the Great Teacher Christ and John
the Baptist. Zechariah doubted the prophecy, and was struck dumb
until John's birth. John lived in the mountainous area of Judah,
between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. John's clothes were made
of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist.
His food was locusts and wild honey.
.
John had a popular ministry. It is generally thought that his
ministry started when he was about the age of 27, spreading
a message of repentance to the people of Jerusalem. We are told
that John the Baptist baptized Jesus after which he stepped
away and told his disciples to follow Jesus.
.
John's ministry and life ended when he admonished Herod and his wife,
Herodias, for their sinful behavior. John was imprisoned and was
eventually beheaded. Saint Jerome wrote that Herod kept the head for
a long time after, stabbing the tongue with his dagger in a demented
attempt to continuously inflict punishment upon John. After he was
murdered, John's disciples came and buried his body, and then went
and told the Great Teacher all that had happened. The Carpenter
responded to the news of John's death by saying, "John was a
lamp that burned and gave Light, and you chose for a time
to enjoy his Light."
.
On June 24th, we observe the festival of summer sun and on December
27th, we observe the festival of the winter sun. The June festival
commemorates John the Baptist and the December festival honors John
the Evangelist.
.
These two festivals bear the names of Christian Saints, but ages ago,
before the Christian era they bore other names. Masonry adopted these
festivals and the Christian names, but has taken away Christian dogma,
and made their observance universal for all men of all beliefs. St.
John's Day, June 24, symbolically marks the summer solstice, when
nature attains the zenith of light and life and joy. St. John's day
in winter, December 27, symbolizes the turn of the sun's farthest
journey - the attainment of wisdom, the rewards of a well-spent
life, and love toward one's fellow man.
.
The first Grand Lodge organized in England in 1717, on the
Festival Day of the Baptist. The United Grand Lodge of England
was created in 1813 on the Festival Day of the Evangelist.>>
---------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.wilsonsalmanac.com/book/jun24.html
.
Then doth the joyfull feast of John
. The Baptist take his turn,
When bonfiers great, with loftie flame,
. in every town do burne;
And yong men round about with maids,
. doe daunce in every streete,
With garlands wrought of Motherwort,
. or else with Vervain sweet.
.
Barnabe Googe (1540 - 1594); Foure Bookes of Husbandrie, collected by
M.
Conradus Heresbachius, Counseller of Cleue; Contayning the whole arte
and trade of husbandry, with the ambiguitie, and commendation
thereof;
quoted in William Hone, The Every-Day Book, or a Guide to the Year,
William Tegg and Co., London, 1878; 1825 - 26 edition online
.
In worshyp of Saint Johan the people waked at home, and made three
maner
of fyres: one was clene bones, and noo woode, and that is called a
bone
fyre; another is clene woode, and no bones, and that is called a wood
fyre, for people to sit and wake thereby; the thirde is made of wode
and
bones, and it is callyd Saynt Johannys fyre.
'An old homily'; quoted in Hone, ibid
.
'Kangaroo Dance of King Georges Sound', in Eyre, Edward John,
Journals of Expeditions of Discovery into Central Australia and
Overland
from Adelaide to King George's Sound, in the years 1840-1; ...
Including
an Account of the Manners and Customs of the Aborigines and the State
of
their Relations with Europeans. ( London, T. and W. Boone, 1845)
Ferguson 4031. Vol. II.
.
June 24th. Time slips away, and we grow old with the silent lapse of
years; there is no bridle that can curb the flying days. How quickly
has
come round the festival of Fors Fortuna! Yet seven days and June will
be
over. Come, Quirites, celebrate with joy the goddess Fors! On Tiber's
bank she has her royal foundations. Speed some of you on foot, and
some
in the swift boat, and think no shame to return tipsy from your
ramble.
Ye flower-crowned skiffs, bear bands of youthful revellers, and let
them
quaff deep draughts of wine on the bosom of the stream. The common
folk
worship this goddess because the founder of her temple is said to
have
been of their number and to have gained the crown from humble rank
[i.e.
Servius Tullius]. - Ovid, Fasti, VI. 771 Roman calendar
.
In Sweden the ceremonies associated elsewhere with May Day or
Whitsuntide commonly take place at Midsummer. Accordingly we find
that
in some parts of the Swedish province of Blekinge they still choose a
Midsummer Bride to whom the 'church coronet' is occasionally lent.
The
girl selects for herself a Bridegroom and a collection is made for
the
pair, who for the time being are looked on as man and wife. The other
youths also choose each his bride. A similar ceremony seems to be
still
kept up in Norway. - Sir James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, 1922
.
In Sardinia the gardens of Adonis are still planted in connection
with
the Great Midsummer festival which bears the name of St John. At the
end
of March or on the first of April, a young man of the village
presents
himself to a girl, and asks her to be his comare (gossip or
sweetheart)
... At the end of May the girl makes a pot of the bark of the cork-
trees,
fills it with earth, and sows a handful of wheat and barley in it.
The
pot being placed in the sun and often watered, the corn sprouts
rapidly
and has a good head by Midsummer Eve ... The pot is than called Erme or
Nennere. On St John's Day the young man and the girl, dressed in
their
best, accompanied by a long retinue and preceded by children
gambolling
and frolicking, move in procession to a church outside the village ...
they sit down in a ring on the grass and eat eggs and herbs to the
music
of flutes. Wine is mixed in a cup and passed round, each drinking as
it
passes. This is the general Sardinian custom. As practised at Ozieri
it
has some special features ... on the Eve of St John the window-sills
are
draped with rich clothes, on which the pots are placed, adorned with
crimson and blue silk and ribbons of various colours. On each of the
pots they used formerly to place a statuette or cloth doll dressed as
a
woman, or a Priapus-like figure made of paste ... The correspondence of
these Sardinian pots of grain to the gardens of Adonis seems complete
...
. Customs of the same sort are observed at the same season in Sicily.
Pairs of boys and girls become gossips ... on St. John's Day, by
drawing
each a hair from his or her head and performing various ceremonies
over
then. Thus they tie the hairs together and throw them up in the air,
or
exchange them over a potsherd, which they afterwards break in two,
preserving each a fragment with pious care. The tie formed in the
latter
way is supposed to last for life ...
. We have seen that the rites of Tammuz or Adonis were commonly
celebrated about midsummer; according to Jerome, their date was June.
Frazer; ibid
.
But the season at which these fire-festivals have been most generally
held all over Europe is the summer solstice, that is Midsummer Eve
(the
twenty-third of June) or Midsummer Day (the twenty-fourth of June) ...
we
cannot doubt that the celebrations dates from a time long before the
beginning of our era. Whatever their origin, they have prevailed all
over this quarter of the globe, from Ireland on the West to Russia on
the East, and from Norway and Sweden on the North to Spain and Greece
on
the South. According to a mediaeval writer, the three great features
of
the Midsummer celebration were the bonfires, the procession with
torches
round the fields, and the custom of rolling a wheel ... and he explains
the custom of trundling a wheel to mean that the sun, having now
reached
the highest point in the ecliptic, begins thenceforward to descend.
Frazer; ibid
.
'Tis not strange to see this land
lighted up bright on St John's night.
And the bonfires with their fiery tongues
looking skyward so far to capture a lucky star.
Showing just for a day, if only once a year, the
starry beautiful light of the Levante night.
Alberto Cortez
.
The Rose ... the grandest, the noblest of Nature's symbols. To the
Rosicrucian the 'Rose' was the symbol of Nature, of the ever prolific
and virgin Earth, of Isis, the mother and nourisher of man,
considered
as feminine and represented as a virgin woman by the Egyptian
initiates.
Helene Blavatsky, Secret Doctrine, Vol. V, 292; today is the day of
Rosa Mundi Source
.
Come forth, come forth, my maidens, we'll gather myrtle boughs,
And we shall learn, from the dews of the fern, if our lads will keep
their vows. If the wether be still, as we dance on the hill, and the
dew
hangs sweet on the flowers, Then we'll kiss off the dew, for our
lovers
are true, and the Baptist's blessing is ours. An old ballad from the
banks of Guadalquivir, Spain; quoted in Hone, ibid
.
The young maid stole through the cottage door,
And blushed as she sought the plant of pow'r -
"Thou silver glow-worm, O lend me thy light,
I must gather the mystic St John's-wort tonight,
The wonderful herb, whose leaf will decide
If the coming year shall make me a bride."
An old German poem; quoted in Hone, ibid
.
Before St John's day we ray for rain: after that we get it anyhow.
English traditional proverb; GL Apperson, Wordsworth Dictionary of
Proverbs: A Lexicon of folklore and traditional wisdom, Wordsworth,
UK, 1993, 545
.
Cut your thistles before St John,
You will have two instead of one.
English traditional proverb; Apperson, ibid
.
Never rued he man
That laid in his fuel before St John.
English traditional proverb; Apperson, ibid
.
Previous to St John's Day we dare not praise barley.
English traditional proverb; Apperson, ibid
.
Rain on St John's Day and we may expect a wet harvest.
English traditional proverb; Apperson, ibid
.......................................
June 24 is the 175th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar
(176th in leap years), with 190 days remaining.
.
Old Midsummer Day, Britain
.
This day is very important in most parts of Europe because it is both
Midsummer Day - strictly speaking, not the same as the Summer Solstice
-
and the feast of one of the most important saints, John the Baptist.
.
"The observances connected with the Nativity of St John commenced on
the
previous evening, called, as usual, the eve or vigil of the festival,
or
Midsummer eve." People kept the leafy boughs up on their houses,
because
they protected against thunder, storm and "all kinds of noxious
physical
agencies". - Robert Chambers, (Ed.), The Book of Days:
.
In old England today was a time for moving house. It is known as a
quarter day. "On this day some may quit, some may remain;
all must pay - that can!"
.
The bonfires were lit at midnight on Midsummer Eve. There were,
anciently, sacrifices, and the people danced around the fire and
leaped over it. Firebrands were taken out and the ashes were
scattered to the wind in a custom that was thought to dispel evil.
.
"Traditional locations for St John's Day fires are often
places where the sun was observed in former times."
Pennick, Nigel, The Pagan Book of Days, Destiny Books, Rochester,
Vermont, USA, 1992, 82
.
In the olden days in Britain, a girl, first born, was dressed as a
bride. There was much feasting, dancing and leaping; by the sea they
poured some salt water into a narrow-necked vessel and into certain
things belonging to each of them. At this point a girl would be asked
what the future held, and she would take out of the vessel the first
thing that came to hand, show it, and give it to the owner, with a
suitable prognostication.
.
In Cornwall they went from village to village with lighted brands. As
late as 1800, in a custom that calls to mind ancient Druidic
practices,
a farmer would burn alive his finest calf to dispel disease from his
ill
cattle.
.
At Northumberland, stools were put out with cushions of flowers. A
layer
of clay was placed on a stool, and flowers put in it. This was
exhibited
in doors of the villages and in streets where the attendants would
beg
money, to enable them to have an evening feast and dancing.
.
West Country, England: (to divine future husband) "... girls put
egg-white and water in the sun at noon and left it for five minutes
before examining the result". The evening, too, was a suitable time.
(Newall, Venetia, An Egg at Easter: A Folklore Study, Routledge &
Kegan
Paul, London, 1971, 63)
.
Midsummer (more strictly, the Summer Solstice, or Litha) is one of
the
eight solar holidays or sabbats of Neopaganism. Among the Neopagan
sabbats, Midsummer is preceded by Beltaine and followed by Lughnasadh
or
Lammas. See also Wheel of the Year.
.
In Europe, there were originally pagan celebrations with wild
dancing.
Midsummer Day was Christianised as the Feast of St John the Baptist,
patron of Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen) in Germany. There, German people
thronged on his day, June 24, for the dancing. In 1374, the Rhine
flooded and the dancing of the peasants, whose lives were sorely
afflicted beyond their normal poverty, went wild. The "dancing
madness"
became known as St John's Dance. The mania spread after a few months
to
Maastricht, Utrecht, Liege and elsewhere. It died out after six
months
in the Low Countries. In Germany, the authorities tried to suppress
it but it continued for centuries. Recorded in 1518, tthis was later
called St Vitus's Dance after that saint (feast day June 15).
.
Feast day of the Nativity of St John the Baptist
(St John's wort, Hypericum pulchrum, is today's plant,
dedicated to this saint)
.
John the Baptist is the only Christian saint whose birth date is a
feast, as well as the day of his death (August 29). He was born six
months before Jesus (whose birthday of December 25 roughly equates
with
the Winter Solstice of December 22), so the Church fixed his nativity
at
the Summer Solstice, which has altered over the centuries by a few
days
for astronomical reasons ('Calendar Shift', about six hours per
year).
In ancient times, today was as important as a calendar marker as its
opposite, Christmas. Today celebrates the elements of fire (bonfires)
and water (baptism; cleansing).
.
He is said to have been a cousin of Jesus Christ and the son of
Zachary,
a priest, and Elizabeth, a descendent of Aaron. An angel brought
Zacharia news that his wife would bear a child who was filled with
the
Holy Spirit from the moment of his birth. Doubting, Zachary was
struck
dumb until Elizabeth gave birth.
.
John died a victim of the vengeance of a scheming woman. In about the
year 30 he was imprisoned by King Herod Antipas (b. 20 BCE), whom
John
had rebuked for the sin of having sexual relations with Herodias, the
wife of his brother Philip (Luke 3:19). John's prison cell was in the
castle of Machaerus, a fortress on the southern extremity of Peraea,
about 16 km (about 9 miles) east of the Dead Sea.
.
It was here that John was beheaded at the instigation of Herodias who
prompted her daughter (unnamed in the Biblical text but called Salomé
in
Christian mythology) to ask Herod for John's head when Herod offered
the
daughter a wish in exchange for her dancing, which had pleased him.
(Josephus simply attributes John's execution to Herod's uneasy
jealousy
over John's influence.) John's head was brought to Salome on a
platter
and she gave it to her mother; his body was buried by Jesus'
disciples.
According to St Jerome (c. 340 - September 30, 420), Herodias kept
John's head for a long time after, occasionally stabbing the saint's
tongue with a dagger. John was buried at Sebaste, Samaria, the
mountainous northern part of the area that we now call the West Bank.
.
The Bible says St John was sent to "prepare the way of the Lord". He
is
represented in art in a coat of sheepskin, because of his life as a
hermit in the desert. He either holds a rough wooden cross with a
pennon
that says Ecce Agnus Dei, or is shown with a book on which a lamb is
seated. Sometimes John is depicted holding in his right hand a lamb
surrounded by a halo, and bearing a cross on the right foot.
According
to the Bible, St John met his death by decapitation.
.
In the early 16th century, a visitor to a monastery in France was
shown
what the cleric said was the skull of St John the Baptist. "Ah! The
monks of another monastery showed me the skull of John the Baptist
yesterday," said the visitor. "True", said the cleric, "But those
monks
only have the skull of St John when he was a young man. We have the
skull of John the Baptist when he was much older and wiser." Or, so
it
is said.
.
The patronage of St John includes baptism, bird dealers, converts,
epileptics, farriers, hail, hailstorms, Jordan, Knights Hospitaller,
Knights of Malta, lambs, monastic life, motorways (because he said
"Make
straight the way of the Lord"), printers, spasms and tailors. As a
baptizer, he is associated, naturally enough, with the healing
qualities
of water and sacred wells and springs, so he is also the patron saint
of
Jordan, Florence, Genoa and Turin and the patron of spas.
.
The fruit of the Carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua) is also called St
John's
bread because John ate it while he wandered in the wilderness.
However,
the main plant associated with today, as with the Eve of St John, is
Hypericum, St John's wort.
.
Blackburn and Holford-Strevens (Blackburn, Bonnie and Holford-
Strevens,
Leofranc, The Oxford Book of Days, Oxford University Press, 2000)
tell
us that "in Lazio, Italy, St John was considered a protector of
witches,
who flew into Rome on broomsticks to cavort throughout the night,
returning at first light to the walnut tree in Benevento at which
they
gathered. In contemporary Rome, Italians gather near the church of
San
Giovanni in Laterano to feast on snails on this day" (paraphrase from
School of the Seasons).
.
John the Baptist is regarded as a prophet by at least three
religions:
Christianity, Islam, and Mandaeanism. Adherents of the latter believe
that they follow the true teachings of John and that Jesus was a
false
prophet.
.
St John's Day celebrations in Spain
.
On the banks of the Guadalquivir, maidens would go forth on the
morning.
They would gather flowers to dress a wether. These young women
learned
from the dew on ferns about their loved ones-to-be.
.
And in Germany
The divination with St John's wort also done here.
.
According to tradition, the apostle John had a hobby raising pigeons.
On one occasion a fellow church leader who was returning from a
hunting
trip stopped by John's place and found him playing with one of his
birds
and gently corrected him for wasting his time.
.
John, noticing his friend's hunting bow, said that the string was
loose
whereupon the man replied, "Yes, I always loosen the string of my bow
when it's not in use. If it stayed tight, it would lose its
resilience
and fail me in the hunt."
.
"And I am now relaxing the bow of my mind," said John,
"so that I may be better able to shoot the arrows of divine truth."
.
St John of the Divination, Greek Macedonia
.
Today was also known as the Feast of St John of the Divination
because
of the practice of fortune telling on this day. Young girls drew
water
from wells and left it out all night in a jug, with the white of an
egg.
By perusing the results, she would find out the identity of her
future husband.
......................................
I am withered like an old apple-john.
Shakespeare; Henry IV, Part I, III, iii.
"An apple so called from its being mature about St John the Baptist's
Day, 24 June. The French call it Pomme de Saint Jean. We are told
that
apple-johns will keep for two years, and are best when shrivelled.
"Incorrectly, they were called Apples of King John, other probable
names are Deus Ans, Dusand, Dewsum, Jewsum and Pomme de Fer.
Evans, Ivor H, Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable,
......................................
Midsummer lore in the Book of Days
Summer Solstice: June 21
Midsummer Eve: June 23
.
Hogueras de San Juan:
.
The bonfires of San Juan, Alicante, Spain (Jun 20 - 28)
.
Tradition says that the night of San Juan is a magical one and anyone
swimming in the sea or who washes his/her face with sea water at the
stroke of midnight will preserve eternal beauty.
.
Alicante is famous for its Summer Solstice week bonfires, the
'bonfires
of San Juan', which, although they do not culminate until June 28,
reach
a climax on the feast day of St John the Baptist. Tonight is called
Nit
del Foc, and following a huge palmera (a firework display that can be
seen all over the city) at St Barbara Castle, the monuments that have
been paraded this week are fuel for the cremà or bonfires.
.
"The 'cremá', or burning, is the big day of the festival, held on 24
June, the feast night of St John the Baptist, a farewell ceremony. At
midnight from the top of Mount Benacantil, commanded by the imposing
Santa Barbara Castle, a monumental display of white fireworks looking
like a palm tree signals the beginning of the 'cremá', and hundreds
of
adult bonfires and children's bonfires surrounding their respective
'barracas' are set to the torch. [Alicante will be amass in flames,
and people will dance and sing, or perhaps shed a tear ...] Around
the
official bonfire installed in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, hundreds of
young people will defy the heat of the flames with the help of the
local
firemen, who douse them with water, producing what is known as the
typical 'banyá' or 'bath'. Meanwhile the gentle sea breeze will cool
the city, as poetically described in the official Bonfire Hymn in the
Valencian vernacular: 'A la llum de les fogueres, s'abaniquen les
palmeres' (In the light of the bonfires, the palm trees wave).
.
"On 25 June the city slowly gets back to normal, looking like nothing
has happened the night before, despite all the flames. But in fact
the
fiesta continues. People find new strength to go on, with new
attractions in the town: along the narrow streets and tiny plazas of
the
old town quarter, a medieval marketplace is set up to sell decorative
objects, fashion jewellery and typical food and drink from the
region,
offering puppet shows and traditional music. At night, as of twelve
o'clock, there are fireworks displays, continuing up to 29 June, the
feast day of St Peter, when the bonfire action finishes for the year.
[People flock to the Postiguet beach to stand beside the sea and
watch
the beautiful fireworks competitions staged by renowned national and
foreign pyrotechnic companies.] Following these displays, bright
hundred-metre-long strings of firecrackers are set off along the
nearby
Gómiz promenade." Source
.................
Rites of Ishtar and Tammuz, Babylon (Jun 23 - 24)
In the Syrian and Graeco-Roman traditions, rites of Astarte,
Aphrodite,
Venus and Adonis.
.
Festival of the Burning of the Lamps, ancient Egypt
Egyptian mythology: A festival held in the city of Sais (Greek Zau)
in
the temple of Isis, known also in the guises of Athena and Neith.
Priestesses and priests assembled with initiates in an underground
chapel beneath the main temple, carrying lamps and marching in a
procession around a wooden coffin for the god Osiris, symbolising
the life-giving power of the moon, that Isis could rekindle life
in the dead god's body.
.
Feast day of Fors Fortuna, ancient Rome
Proclaimed on behalf of the goddess of good fortune by Servius
Tullius,
the sixth King of Rome, because he dedicated a shrine to Fors Fortuna
beside the Tiber, outside the city of Rome, in the month of June.
.
Roman festivals and notable days in the Book of Days
.
Inti Raymi, Incan Winter Solstice Festival of the Sun,
Sacsayhuaman, Cuzco, Peru (Jun 24 - Jul 2)
.
Inti Raymi is a major Incan festival of the Winter Solstice, and the
main festival of Peru, also celebrated as the Day of the Indian
throughout Peru. It was reinstituted in 1944 and integrated with
Dia del Cuzco, a local festivity.
.
It is now the second largest festival in South America and hundreds
of
thousands of people converge on Cuzco from all over Peru, South
America
and the world for a nine-day celebration.
.
In the original celebrations, the Incas invoked their mythical
ancestors
in their order of importance, beginning with the 'Hacedor', the
'Creator', called Viracocha and Pachacamac, followed by the Sun. This
page is an excellent resource for more information.
.
Pictured above: Inka Marka photographed in Coffs Harbour, Australia.
They're all Aussies from many lands and play great South American
music,
including a beautiful song for Peru's Winter Solstice Festival of the
Sun. They very graciously permitted me to take their photo and I told
them I would put it on my site and recommend that people get hold of
their CDs.
.
Wianki, Festival of Floating Wreaths, Poland (Jun 23 - 24)
.
Feast day of St Amphibalus
Feast day of St Bartholomew of Farne (of Dunelm; of Durham)
Feast day of St Faustus and Companions
Feast day of St Germoc
Feast day of St Henry
Feast day of St Heros
Feast day of St Ivan
Feast day of St John of Tuy
Feast day of St Jean (John the Baptist), Voudon (Voodoo)
Feast day of St John of the Divination, Greek Macedonia
Feast day of St Joseph Yuen
Feast day of St Kundegunda
Feast day of the Martyrs of Rome under Nero
Feast day of St Orentius
Feast of Seven Brothers (Orthodox Christian Church)
Orentius, Pharnacius, Eros, Firmus, Firminus, Kyriakos and Longinus.
Feast day of St Theodulphus
...............................................
. born on June 24
.
1519 Theodore Beza (Theodore de Beze or de Besze) (d. October 13,
1605),
French Protestant Christian theologian and scholar who played an
important role in the early Reformation. He was closely associated
with
Calvinism. He lived most of his adult life in Switzerland.
.
1542 St John of the Cross, mystical Spanish poet (Spiritual Canticle)
(feast day December 14)
.
1777 John Ross (d. 1856), naval officer and explorer
.
1813 Henry Ward Beecher (d. March 8, 1887), American abolitionist,
and
advocate of women's suffrage and temperance; younger brother of Uncle
Tom's Cabin novelist Harriet Beecher Stowe.
.
1825 Baconian William Henry (Pinafore) Smith
.
1842 Ambrose Bierce (d. 1913 or 1914, speculative), American author
noted for his cynical epigrams (The Devil's Dictionary). A fictional
account of his last days is related in Old Gringo (1989) by Mexican
novelist Carlos Fuentes (adapted to screen in 1989, directed by Luis
Puenzo, starring Jane Fonda and Gregory Peck).
.
1848 Albert Parsons, radical American editor and printer, former
Confederate soldier, husband of radical labor organizer and anarchist
(later Communist), Lucy Parsons (1853 - 1942). He was one of the
anarchists unjustly accused of and executed November 11, 1887 (amid
international protest) for the Haymarket bombing in Chicago, USA.
.
1850 Horatio Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener of Khartoum (d. 1916),
British Secretary for War in World War I, original Order of Merit
member
.
1860 (?) Robert Bradford Williams (d. 1942), African-American-New
Zealander lawyer (Class of 1885, Yale), born a slave in Georgia. He
was
a 'black minstrel' in Australia for a lengthy period beginning in the
late 1880s, a colleague of Orpheus Myron McAdoo in the Fisk Jubilee
Singers. Williams later became the longest-serving Mayor of Onslow, a
suburb of Wellington, New Zealand.
.
"He graduated from Yale in 1885, and from 1886 to 1889 travelled in
England, Australia and New Zealand with the Fisk Jubilee Singers.
During
this period he studied law and was admitted to practice in New
Zealand
in 1889, and was a lawyer in Wellington until 1910, and then
elsewhere.
Listed among his credits are his Judgeship and his being the Mayor of
a
suburb of Wellington. His granddaughter and great-grandchildren still
live in New Zealand ... Robert Williams died in New Zealand in
1942 ..."
Source
.
"ROBERT BRADFORD WILLIAMS bn 24 June 1860 Augusta, GA. and his
parents
AIKEN WILLIAMS bn abt 1843 and JANE BRUCE? bn abt 1842. In 1880
census
the family excluding Robert was in Richmond, GA.along with Aiken's
parents GEORGE WILLIAMS bn abt 1809 and LUCRETIA bn abt 1810. Robert
Bradford would have been attending Williston Seminary, Easthampton,
Mass. at time of census but unable to find record. What school did he
attend in Georgia? ... " Source
.
1883 Victor Franz Hess, American physicist
.
1915 Professor Fred Hoyle (d. 2001), British cosmologist
. and science fiction author
....................................
England's garter a witch's badge?
1348 The exact day is not known, but some time between this day and
August 6, King Edward III of England (1312 - '77) instituted the
Order
of the Garter, with St George as the patron.
During a festival at court, a lady happened to drop her garter. King
Edward picked it up, and noticed that the others were giggling. He
said,
with displeasure, "Honi soit qui mal y pense" - "Shame to him who
thinks
ill of it". In the spirit of gallantry, perhaps to prevent any
further
impertinence, he put the garter around his own knee. Or, so it is
said.
Traditionally, the lady was the Countess of Salisbury. The garter was
an
object of note in the year preceding June 24, 1348. Garters with the
motto embroidered on were common, as were banners and couches with
the
motif, and a surcoat provided to the king in 1348 was covered with
garters.
.
The Australian folklorist, Rabbi Dr Rudolph Brasch, says the story
is hardly convincing. "Fourteenth-century ladies, even those
attending
royal functions, were not so finicky or modest that the mere loss
of a garter would have caused them to blush or feel uncomfortable,"
he writes.
.
The choice of the garter may also owe something to the princess's
girdle
in the article on St George in The Golden Legend (Aurea Legenda),
compiled by Jacobus de Voragine, 1275, which she used to lead the
monster once St George had speared it with his lance.
.
Author Margaret Murray advances a different theory. In the
14th Century the garter symbolised witches. To lose it was to give
away her allegiance to Satan and was an acute danger. Her very life
was threatened. By making light of it, the king was protecting her
honour, saving her life. By picking up the garter, King Edward was
showing his confidence that she was not a witch. Perhaps.
.
1374 At Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen),
. Midsummer dancing madness on a large scale broke out.
.
1398 Death of the Hongwu Emperor of China (b. 1328),
. founder of the Ming Dynasty.
.
1439 Death of Frederick IV of Austria,
. Regent of Tyrol and Further Austria.
.
1441 Eton College was founded.
.
1497 North America: John Cabot (real name Giovanni Caboto),
a Venetian navigator in the service of the English King Henry VII,
landed on either at Newfoundland or Cape Breton; the first
European discovery of the region since the Vikings.
.
1497 Cornish 'traitors' Michael An Gof and Thomas Flamank
. were executed at Tyburn, London.
.
1502 The Perpetual Peace - the peace began on this day between
England and Scotland. Margaret, daughter of Henry VII, was
betrothed to James IV of Scotland. The treaty concluded
when in 1513 the Scots invaded England.
.
1509 Henry VIII was crowned King of England.
.
1519 Death of Lucrezia Borgia (b. 1480), duchess of Ferrara.
.
1527 Basel, Switzerland: Paracelsus (1493-1541), Swiss alchemist
. and physician, burned the books of Galen and Avicenna.
.
" ... on June 24, 1527, surrounded by a crowd of cheering students, he
burned the books of Avicenna, the Arab 'Prince of Physicians,' and
those
of the Greek physician Galen, in front of the university." Source
.
1534 Jacques Cartier made the European discovery
. of Prince Edward Island.
.
1596 John Stewart, Master of Orkney, charged with consulting
. a witch, Anne Balfour, Mistress of Ornery.
.
1597 The first Dutch voyage to the East Indies reached Bantam (on
Java).
.
1604 Death of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford,
. hereditary Lord Great Chamberlain of England.
.
1664 The colony of New Jersey was founded.
.
1692 Kingston, Jamaica was founded.
.
1717 The formation of the Grand Lodge of English Freemasons in London.
.
1782 According to the Oxford Dictionary, today saw the first recorded
use of the word 'quiz', and it was not as the popular tale tells it.
.
"The story goes that a Dublin theatre proprietor by the name of
Richard
Daly made a bet that he could, within forty-eight hours, make a
nonsense
word known throughout the city, and that the public would give a
meaning
to it. After the performance one evening, he gave his staff cards
with
the word 'quiz' written on them, and told them to write the word on
walls around the city. The next day the strange word was the talk of
the
town, and within a short time it had become part of the language.
This
picturesque tale appeared as an anecdote in 1836, but the most
detailed
account (in F. T. Porter's Gleanings and Reminiscences, 1875) gives
the
date of the exploit as 1791. The word, however, was already in use by
then, meaning 'an odd or eccentric person', and had been used in this
sense by Fanny Burney in her diary on 24 June 1782. 'Quiz' was also
used
as a name for a curious toy, something like a yo-yo and also called a
bandalore, which was popular around 1790. The word is nevertheless
hard
to account for, and so is its later meaning of 'to question, to
interrogate', which emerged in the mid-19th century and gave rise to
the
most common use of the term today, for an entertainment based on
questions and answers." Source
.
1793 The first republican constitution in France was adopted.
.
1812 Napoleonic Wars: Napoleon's invasion of Russia began.
.
1856 Universal male suffrage was established in South Australia.
.
1861 Tennessee became the 11th and last state to secede from the USA.
.
1902 King Edward VII of the United Kingdom underwent an emergency
appendicectomy - one of the earliest ever performed - just two days
before his proposed coronation.
.
1902 Struggling to meet a deadline for Blackwood's, Joseph Conrad
upset
an oil lamp and burned the second instalment of The End of the Tether.
.
1910 Japan invaded Korea.
.
1912 "Until the Executive Order of June 24, 1912, neither the order
of the stars nor the proportions of the [American] flag was
prescribed.
Consequently, flags dating before this period sometimes show unusual
arrangements of the stars and odd proportions, these features being
left to the discretion of the flag maker. In general, however,
straight rows of stars and proportions similar to those later
adopted officially were used."
.
1918 The giant cannon Big Bertha began bombardments on Paris.
1932 A military coup ended the absolute power of the king of Siam.
.
1947 USA: The first well publicised sighting of UFOs: Kenneth Arnold,
flying over Mt Rainier, Washington, noticed nine disc-shaped luminous
discs coming from Mt Baker, flying "like speedboats on rough water".
He later referred to them as "flying saucers".
.
1948 Start of the Berlin Blockade. The Soviet Union made overland
travel between the West with West Berlin impossible. After the
Soviets blockaded Berlin, the Allies began the Berlin Airlift
and relieved the city with food and essential supplies.
.
1953 John F Kennedy & Jacqueline Bouvier announced their engagement.
.
1963 Zanzibar was granted internal self-government by the UK.
.
1974 The UPC label was used for the first time
. to ring up purchases at a supermarket.
.
1983 Sally Ride, first female American astronaut, returned to earth.
.
1990 In Belfast, Ireland, two women deacons were ordained priests of
the Anglican Church, the first female priests in the history of
Europe.
-----------------------------------
Art Neuendorffer
Art Neuendorffer
.
WILLIAM HENRY SMITH (1825-1891), English man of business and
statesman,
was born in London on the 24th of June 1825. His father was the
founder
of the great distributing firm of W. H. Smith & Son, in the Strand,
and
at an early age he became a partner and devoted himself to the
business.
He betrayed no political aspirations until 1865, when he came forward
as
a Conservative to contest Westminster against John Stuart Mill and
the
Hon. Mr Grosvenor. Defeated on that occasion, he triumphed in 1868,
winning a victory when his party was in general vanquished on all
sides.
The prestige thus obtained combined with wealth and his business
abilities to recommend him to Disraeli, who in 1874 made him
secretary
to the Treasury. In 1877 he gained cabinet rank as first lord of the
Admiralty; in 1885 he was successively secretary for War and chief
secretary for Ireland; in 1886 he was again at the War Office; and
when
late in that year Lord Randolph Churchill's resignation necessitated
a
reconstruction of the ministry, Mr Smith found himself first lord of
the
Treasury and leader of the House of Commons. He was no orator, and
made
no pretence to genius, but his success in these high offices was
complete, and was admittedly due, not merely to business ability, but
to
the universal respect which was gained by his patience, good temper,
zeal for the public service, and thorough kindness of heart. He died
at
Walmer Castle (which he occupied as Warden of the Cinque Ports) on
the
6th of October 1891. In recognition of his services a peerage in her
own
right was conferred on his widow, with the title of Viscountess
Hambleden. Lady Hambleden (b. 1828) had been a Miss Danvers, and
before
marrying Mr Smith had been the wife of Mr B. A. Leach, by whom she had
a
family. Her eldest son by the second marriage, the Hon. W. F. D.
Smith
(b. 1868), rowed in the Oxford boat, and on his father's death became
head of the business; in 1891 he was elected Conservative M.P. for
the
Strand (London), and was re-elected in 1892, 1895, 1900 and 1906. He
married in 1894 Lady Esther Gore, daughter of the earl of Arran.
Art Neuendorffer
I had nEVER before been spoken to by a man in a *COPATAINE* hat.
Mr Shakespeare was tall and thin, and he wore that hat with
an air of great authority. He had also a quilted silken doublet,
goose-turd GREEN; grey velvet hose; and *A SCARLET CLOAK* .
NEVER believe those who tell you he was not a dandy.
---------------------------------------------------
. GOOD FREND FOR [IE]{SVS}' S[AKE]_F{OR}[BE]{ARE},
___ TO DIGG THE DV[ST] ___ EN[CLO]ASED [HE]{ARE}:
.
. BLESTE BE Ye MAN Yt SPA[RE]S THES STONES,
. AND CVRST BE HE Yt MO[VE]S MY BONES.
.
http://library.thinkquest.org/5175/images/grave1.jpg
.
___________ [IE] [AKE] [BE] [RE]
__________ [ST] [CLO] [HE] [VE]
.
. in a manner highly reminiscent of Ben Jonson's
. "two feet by two feet will do for all I *WANT* "
.....................................................
<<Sir Joseph realizes that Ralph should have been the Captain,
and the Captain should have been Ralph. He summons both, and they
emerge WEARing one another's uniforms: Ralph is now middle-class,
and in command of the *PINAFORE* , while the former Captain is
now a common sailor. Sir Joseph's marriage with Josephine is
now impossible. As he explains it, "love levels all ranks...to a
considerable extent, but it does not level them as much as that."
He gives her to now-Captain Rackstraw. The former Captain, with
his rank reduced, is free to marry Buttercup. Sir Joseph settles
for his cousin *HEBE* , and all ends in general rejoicing.>>
-----------------------------------------------------------------
. Phantom of the Opera - Gaston Leroux
. Chapter V: A Visit to Box Five
.
Right on top of the cliff, lost in M. Lenepveu's copper ceiling,
figures grinned and grimaced, laughed and jeered at MM. Richard
and Moncharmin's distress. And yet these figures were usually
VERy serious. Their names were Isis, Amphitrite, *HEBE* ,
Pandora, Psyche, Thetis, Pomona, Daphne, Clytie, Galatea
and ARETHUSA. Yes, ARETHUSA herself and Pandora,
whom we all know by her box, looked down upon the two new
managers of the Opera, who ended by clutching at some piece of
wreckage and from there stared silently at Box Five on the grand TIER.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dwebb:
<< Our Order has always had nine Unknowns at its highest TIER,
Art, even in its later incarnation in Westphalia as the Vehmgericht.>>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TIRE , n. [Aphetic form of atTIRE; OE. TIR, a TIR.]
.
1. AtTIRE; apparel. [Archaic] ``Having rich TIRE about you.'' --Shak.
.
2. A coVERing for the head; a headdress.
.
On her head she wore a TIRE of gold. --Spenser.
.
3. Furniture; apparatus; equipment. [Obs.] ``The TIRE of war.'' --
Philips
.
4. A child's APRON, covering the breast and having no sleeves;
. a *PINAFORE* ; a *TIER* .
--------------------------------------------
http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/
.
<<Sir Kenneth Clark wrote of the Eleventh Edition
. [of the Encyclopedia Britannica]:
.
SHAKESPEARE, WILLIAM (1564-1616), English poet, player and
playwright, was baptized in the parish church of Stratford-upon-Avon
in Warwickshire on the 26th of April Birth 1564.
.
Meanwhile London remained his headquarters. Here Malone thought that
he
had evidence, now lost, of his residence in Southwark as early as
1596,
and as late as 1608. It is known that payments of subsidy were due
from
him tions. for 1597 and 1598 in the parish of St Helens, Bishopsgate,
and that an arrear was ultimately collected in the liberty of the
Clink.
He had no doubt migrated from Bishopsgate when the Globe upon Bankside
was opened by the Chamberlains men. There is evidence that in 1604 he
lay, temporarily or permanently, in the house of Christopher Mountjoy,
a TIRE-maker of French extraction, at the corner of Silver Street
and Monkwell Street in Cripplegate.
.
About 1610 Shakespeare seems to have left London, and entered
upon the definite occupation of his house at New Place, Stratford.
Here he lived the life of a reTIREd ~ gentleman,
.
Certainly his reTIREment did not
imply an absolute break with London life.
.
Again (lxii.-lxv.) he looks to his verse to give the friend
immortality.
He is TIREd of the world, but his friend redeems it (lxvi.-lxviii.).
.
It is possible that these plays, Shakespeares last plays,
with the unimportant exceptions of his contributions
to Fletchers Henry VIII. and The Two Noble Kinsmen,
were written in reTIREment at Stratford.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
. A Midsummer Night's Dream Act 3, Scene 1
.
FLUTE Most radiant Pyramus, most LILY-WHITE of hue,
. Of COLOUR like the red rose on triumphant brier,
. Most brisky juvenal and eke most lovely Jew,
. As TRUE as TRUEst HORSE that yet would nEVER TIRE,
. I'll meet thee, Pyramus, at NINNY's tomb.
---------------------------------------------------------------
. The Merry Wives of Windsor Act 3, Scene 3
http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/playing-cards/tmfaq/diamonds.html
.
FALSTAFF:
. I see how thine eye would emulate the Diamond:
. thou hast the right arched beauty
. of the brow that becomes the ship-TIRE,
. the TIRE-valiant, or any TIRE of Venetian admittance.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://ce.eng.usf.edu/pharos/wonders/gardens.html
.
<<The approach to the Garden sloped like a hillside and the sEVERal
. parts of the structure rose from one another TIER on TIER...
. On all this, the earth had been piled...
. and was thickly planted with trees of EVERy kind that,
. by their great size and other charm, gave pleasure to the
. beholder... The water machines [raised] the water in great
abundance from the riVER, although no one outside could see it.>>
. -- Diodorus Siculus
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Art Neuendorffer