PETER COOKE – Author and Publisher

A few days ago,the branches of our Rowan tree were laden down with berries and as they slowly ripened to a deep red, the bush looked glorious. This morning, we looked out of the window to find that there was not a single berry left on the bush. Neither my wife, nor I, had ever seen a bush stripped so efficiently in such a short time before. Add to that the only bird we have noticed in the bush has been a robin. I hardly think the robin has eaten them all, or it would be the size of an ostrich and like one, unable to fly!

I’m interested to find out which birds are responsible. None of the other trees round about seem to have suffered the same fate.   We do feed the birds, but mainly the small tits and of course the robin and an occasional blackbird. Of course, like many urban gardens, we do have ringed doves from time to time, but we haven’t seen them on the Rowan at all.

Can anyone shed any light on the mystery?

D is for

DANCING

Elizabeth loved to dance and it was an essential part of any entertainment at court. She particularly loved the faster dances, the coranto, the galliard or particularly the lavolta, where the young men took off their cloaks and rapiers and danced in their doublets. Leaping, running and lifting their partners high into the air. Robert was a fine exponent of this dance and Elizabeth in the earlier days of her reign loved to dance with him. In the candlelight the dancers in their brilliantly coloured gem-studded costumes made a fascinating spectacle. It all seems very healthy, but one prominent reformer called it “the horrible vice of pestiferous dancing…what kissing and bussing (more kissing), what smooching and slobbering, what filthy groping and unclean handling is not practised everywhere in this dancing?” Sounds familiar!

DRUGS

Cannabis was listed as a garden plant that was good for earache. William Turner wrote “the hemp seed taken out of measure taketh men’s will from them.” He also noted that “the juice of the black poppy called opium dulls the aches and brings sleep, but if a man takes too much of it it is hurtful for it taketh away a man’s memory and kills him.” For an overdose make him vomit and administer a ’sharp clyster’ (enema) and wake him up by putting ’stinking things unto his nose’.

DUDLEY

Lord Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester and Elizabeth were life-long friends and, it was rumoured also lovers. Robert’s father John, took part in the attempt to put Lady Jane Grey on the throne of England, but Mary Tudor won the day and Robert was imprisoned in the Tower and narrowly escaped death. Elizabeth was also committed to the Tower and they were both later released. Elizabeth needed financial help and Robert sold some of his lands to help her. Elizabeth never forgot this help and when she became Queen, she rewarded him with titles and wealth. He was a masterly horseman and Elizabeth made him her Master of Horse and often rode with him. She attended his wedding to Amy Roberts and over the course of several years, their relationship became ever closer. The death of Amy in suspicious circumstances prevented any wedding plans. Frustrated after years of waiting, Robert married Lettice Knollys, the widow of the Earl of Essex. He married without Elizabeth’s consent and she was furious and banned him from court for a long time. She eventually forgave him and he stayed close to Elizabeth until his death.

This was the second lecture in the above theme at Burton Agnes Hall, that wonderful example of an Elizabethan  country house near Driffield.  It’s very close to Bridlington and Scarborough and York.  The next talk in the series will be on Wednesday 1st September 2010 in the library.  If you’re in the area, why not join me.

September is also the 400th anniversary of the completion of the Hall.  And it’s been in the same family all that time.  The gatehouse is spectacularly Elizabethan and the plasterwork is fantastic in the Great Hall.  Well worth a visit.

You will be able to get some very special offers on Wednesday.  Anyone who buys one of my books in the Glassmaker series will get great discounts.  If you sign up for the new book Blood-Red Goblet, out soon, you will not only get £2.00 off the book, but a FREE entry into a prize draw for the exquisite Elizabeth I necklace.  This is an exclusive design for Giacomo Bellini Jewellery.  See previous post.  The necklace is priced at £130.00 an is made from superb quality Murano Glass Beads. See the whole range at http://www.boutiquejewellery.co.uk/giacomo-bellini-jewellery-c-129.html

C is for

CECIL.

Sir William Cecil, later Ist. Baron Burghley, was Princess Elizabeth’s adviser and helped to steer her through the fraught years when it seemed impossible she would survive. When Elizabeth became Queen, Cecil was appointed Secretary of State. Elizabeth, who had a penchant for giving nicknames to her advisers and members of the court, called Burghley, ‘my Spirit’. He was a devout Protestant, but not a zealot. A most astute and honest councillor, he was never afraid to make the hard decisions that Elizabeth shrank from taking. His tight control over the nations finances, his leadership of the Privy Council, his backing for the reform of the Navy by Admiral Sir John Hawkins and his creation of a highly effective intelligence service under Sir Francis Walsingham, marked him out as the most important minister throughout the majority of Elizabeth’s reign.

After his death, in 1598, his son, Robert Cecil, succeeded him as Secretary of State and went on to serve Elizabeth’s successor James I with great distinction, building Burghley House.

CODPIECES

These were a curious expression of male dominance during Elizabeth’s reign. They gradually faded away being replaced with buttoned up , or lace-up fastenings by the end of the century. They were stiffly padded and hollow, varying in shape from a banana to avocado pear. Sewn to the front of the breeches, they stuck up and out from the lower end, being tied to the breeches further up, by a lace, or point that was easy to untie. They were seldom plain, often with panes, puffs and bows. In the days before pockets, they were a place to keep your kerchief and a safe place for your purse. Since pins were much in use to hold ruffs etc., they also made a handy pincushion! As the line of a poem ran:

A round hose, madam, now’s not worth a pin

Unless you have a codpiece to stick it in.

CARVING

Carving at table as any gentleman of the times knew, was an art, best left to the carver. There were thirty-eight special terms for carving. Not for them, simply carving a joint, you had to:

trush that chicken, tame that crab, break that deer, rear that goose, barb that lobster, wing that partridge, disfigure that peacock, alay that pheasant, splat that pike, undertranch that porpoise, wing that quail, thigh all manner of small birds, list that swan and culpon that trout. Whew. No wonder they left it to the expert who knew The Book of Kervinge by Wynkyn de Worde, published in 1508, backwards . Having done all of that, the carver was just starting. He had to make sure, that every dish had the appropriate sauce. In less exalted homes, the butler might do the carving, but if left to the husband, it could lead to social disgrace, if he was inept. It was enough to drive you to ready-made meals! Well, perhaps not that far, but you know what I mean.

It was my wifes birthday recently and as usual there was the hiatus of what to buy her.  Although we have only been married for a short time, I know from experience that whist she likes surprises, it is wise to check about something as important as a birthday.  Imagine my surprise, when having turned down several suggestions, Ann decided that what she really wanted was a new cooker!  OK that threw me for a while, but I decided that the surprise would have to be to go somewhere special on the day.   In the end, I chose the Timble Inn, in the lovely little village of Timble near Otley, in North Yorkshire.  Paul and Marie have done a splendid job of refurbishing the old inn.  We stayed for dinner, bed and breakfast and we had a fabulous stay.  The food was excellent and the decor and comfort of the bedrooms were absolutely luxurious.  We would have no hesitation in recommending them to anyone.

B is for

BABINGTON PLOT

Sir Anthony Babington was a leading English conspirator of a plot to assassinate Elizabeth I and put the former Scottish Queen, Mary Stuart on the throne of England and re-establish the Catholic faith. He seems to have been somewhat of a Walter Mitty character and although the plot bears his name, it is likely that others such as Savage and Ballard were the prime movers. Babington made a full confession in the hope he would be pardoned. He even offered a very large sum of money to the Queen to allow him to go into permanent exile. After being found guilt, he and his fellow plotters were hung, drawn and quartered. A particularly barbarous end. The discovery of the plot in 1586, by Sir Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth’s spy catcher, lead directly to the trial for treason of Mary Stuart and her subsequent execution.

BLACK DEATH OR BUBONIC PLAGUE.

Bubonic plague is basically a rodent disease that is spread to humans by infected fleas. The bite causes the bacillus to enter the bloodstream. It causes a characteristic swelling (bubo) in the neck, groin, or armpit. Two thirds of those infected die.  In a poem by Thomas Nash in 1600 called “In Time of Plague,” these lines are very evocative of the effect on and total despair of the victims:

…Rich men, trust not in wealth,

Gold cannot buy you health;

Physic himself must fade;

All things to end are made;

The plague full swift goes by;

I am sick, I must die.

Lord have mercy on us…

In 1563, nearly a quarter of London’s population died. It seems to have come around in a four year cycle. No wonder most summers when the risk was highest, Queen Elizabeth and the whole court left the capital and went on progress.

BESS OF HARDWICK

Elizabeth, Countess of Shrewsbury was the richest woman in the Elizabethan era. Born in 1527, she entered service with only a small dowry after her father died. She married her first husband, a rich young landowner called Robert Barlow,n !541, who died and left her a third of his income as her widow’s pension. In 1547 she married the extremely wealthy William Cavendish and had eight children by him, only four of whom survived. Together, they bought the Chatsworth estate for a total of £600 (About £150,000 today by RPI).

Bess became a Lady in Waiting to Queen Elizabeth, but in 1557, Cavendish died, leaving Chatsworth to Bess. Two years later, Bess met and married Sir William St. Loe who was even more wealthy. When he died in 1564, he loved Bess so much, he endowed all of his possessions to her and her heirs. She then married George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, a very rich and powerful man. Bess now had a fortune of £60,000(About £168 million pounds today). She now built the new Hardwick Hall, which remains today, as a splendid example of an Elizabethan house. Through her grandchildren, Bess is an ancestor of our Queen, Elizabeth II.

A is for…

ARMADA

The defeat of the ‘invincible’ armada sent in 1588 by Philip II of Spain to punish England for the execution of Mary Stuart, changed England from a small off-shore island to a major force in the world. The fact that England had such a powerful navy was entirely due to the Secretary of State Sir William Cecil and Admiral John Hawkins. Cecil, later made First Baron of Burghley and the Lord Chancellor, was a devout protestant, but a man of business; he believed the Lord would favour the side with the heaviest artillery. Hawkins was put in charge of the Navy and set about rebuilding the ships, which were in a parlous state. He cleaned up the corrupt ship-building side of the Navy and his innovative designs transformed lumbering sea-based castles with troops, into sleek gun platforms manned by sailors.

ACTS OF SETTLEMENT

The Elizabethan Religious settlement was Elizabeth I’s answer to the divisions created by the changes in religion wrought by the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and Mary I. Under Henry and later Edward, the Catholic religion had been replaced by the Protestant religion. Mary had reversed this and many Protestants who refused to recant were burned at the stake. Elizabeth by these two Acts, tried to heal the divisions that occurred.

The Act of Supremacy of 1559, declared the Church of England to be independent from Rome and Parliament conferred the title of Supreme Governor of the Church of England on Elizabeth.

The Act of Uniformity of 1559 set out the form of the Church of England, and established the Book of Common Prayer in English.

ALIENS.

No, hot little green men with pointy ears, this was the description used in Elizabethan times for foreigners.  In Elizabeth’s day,England was well-known as the only place in Europe where someone who protested against the Pope’s authority  could be tolerably safe.  As England’s prosperity increased, there were economic migrants as well.  Nothing changes much, does it?  Foreigners had there uses.  In 1599, a Dutchman who had lived in London all of his life wrote this.  ‘the most toilsome, difficult and skillful works are chiefly performed by foreigners.’  But, many were prosperous.  Jacobo Verseline had left his native Murano to set up a glass-works in Crutched Friars before 1568. n He revolutionized glass production in England , which until then had been purely window glass.  His drinking glasses made of soda glass in the facon de venice style allowed him to retire a rich man.

I have at last found time to make some postings on Facebook.  I intend to do much more on this in the coming months.  Have set up a new page called Peter Cooke & his historical novels.  You can find details and cover pictures of my books on this page.  I invite any readers using Facebook to becomes fans of the page.  I will be making some interesting offers regarding the new book soon so why not become a fan and take advantage of the offers.

The ash cloud over the UK had a great effect on the first day of the fair.  There were many gaps in the programme and personally I had a lot of meetings cancelled.  Thanks to the meetings arranged through the Independent Publishers Guild, the second day was very good.  I had a number of extremely interesting meetings and made some good contacts which I hope will bearo fruit in the near future.  I’ll keep you informed.