#battle of Worcester

[thejohnberry]

I hadn't realized the significant challenges that depicting King Charles II in the Boscobel tree would present for subsequent pub sign artists. I looove the way they are all, without exception wild. I particularly love the huge crown above the tree as a slight hint for the Roundheads but the two where the artist obviously just thought fuck it and had him boozing on his own up in his tree are the best!

[cromwellrex2]

The Battle of Worcester, 3rd September 1651: ‘say you have been at Worcester, where England’s sorrows began, and where happily they are ended.’

The “Crowning Mercy” and the end of the Civil Wars

Source: The Douglas Archives website

THE BATTLE of Dunbar shattered the fragile unity of the alliance gathered around Charles II to restore the Stuarts to the throne of England. The King was rapidly wearying of the dour Puritanism of the Covenanters and the constant lecturing he was receiving from Presbyterian ministers, suspicious of the sincerity of Charles’ conversion to the Calvinist cause. The “Kirk Party” (the old Covenanters who had reclaimed the government of Scotland after the failure of the Engager faction in the second civil war) began to lose ground. Charles was said to have been secretly delighted at the Kirk’s defeat at Dunbar, and looked to the rise of an authentic Scottish Royalism to propel him to his lost throne. His greatest hope was that the Catholic and pro-Suart Highlanders would come to his aid and he fled Edinburgh for Perth in October 1650, only to fall back into the hands of Covenanter forces as the promised Highland rebellion fizzled out.

At this point, the Presbyterian unity was also broken by the formation of a new military group known as the Western Association, based in the south-west of the country and under the command of a number of Covenanter officers. Their view was that the priority now was to defend the Solemn League and Covenant against the victorious Commonwealth forces, and that Charles Stuart should look to his own devices. On 2nd October the Western Association issued a ‘remonstrance’ to the Committee of Estates that blamed the defeat at Dunbar on the Kirk Party’s flawed strategy of supporting a King who continued to be surrounded by Anglican Royalists and whose personal conversion to Presbyterianism was skin-deep at best. A second remonstrance was released in which the Western Association effectively seceded from the Covenanter army, refusing to have any truck with the attempt to restore Charles to his throne. This resulted in a fundamental breach in the Scottish government in which the new faction, known as the “Remonstrants” was ranged against the Kirk Party.

With an English army dominant in Scotland and now the Covenanter government itself riven, Charles unexpectedly found himself in the welcome position of becoming the focal point of Scottish resistance against the invaders. Although most Scottish people entertained suspicion of Charles’ motivations and sincerity, they nonetheless recognised him as their sovereign, around whom they could rally to eject the hated English schematics of the New Model Army. Charles became head of an organic national Royalism that could yet transform his fortunes. The Kirk Party therefore determined to work with the Royalists to bring the Remonstrants to heel, but before they could, Cromwell and Major-General John Lambert did their work for them. The Western Association army was commanded by Colonel Gilbert Ker, who becoming aware of the Kirk’s intent to force the Remonstrants into compliance, thought his best option was to gain credibility and renown for his faction by defeating the English. Cromwell meanwhile had already decided to destroy Ker’s small army before moving on to contend with the Committee of Estates’ remaining forces under David Leslie. Initially Ker met with success, stymying Cromwell at the Clyde in late November and then moving to meet Lambert’s troops, whom he believed he outnumbered, outside Hamilton. On 1st December Ker entered the town believing Lambert’s troops had withdrawn, only to be ambushed by the Commonwealth forces as he did so. In the following short sharp battle, the Western Association army was destroyed.

The decisive defeat of the Remonstrants, although welcomed by the Committee, also deprived it of an army it had hoped to bring back into the fold. The government therefore quickly renounced previous strictures that had prevented Royalists, Anglicans, former Engagers and other “schematics” from forming armed forces. With the reluctant acquiescence of the Presbyterian ministers, the Kirk Party was able to increase its military strength to twenty five regiments by creating what was a genuinely Scottish national army, named the Army of the Kingdom. This paved the way for the formal coronation of Charles as King of Scotland at Scone, near Perth on New Year’s Day 1651. Charles was crowned by Archibald Campbell, Earl of Argyll, head of the Scottish government and now, at the apex of his power, kingmaker too.

However, despite the new optimism brought about by this display of national unity, what should happen next was not at all clear. Cromwell controlled the capital and all routes into England; Charles’ natural heartland of the Highlands was cut off from him and although Leslie had adopted a strong defensive line across the Firth of Forth, there was no immediately obvious military strategy that could feasibly deliver victory. Winter became spring which became summer with no movement by either side until Cromwell at last resolved to force the issue. In mid-July he ordered an amphibious crossing over the Forth, using flat-bottomed boats, and Commonwealth troops were soon landed on the Fife shore under the command of Lambert. The Scots moved to repulse the English force but Leslie’s soldiers were raw recruits who, in open battle, were no match for Lambert’s ironsides. The two armies met on the hills outside the town of Inverkeithing and it took just fifteen minutes for the experienced New Model troops to scatter their opponents. Over 2,000 Scots were killed in the ensuing rout, 1500 men were taken prisoner and the defensive front around Fife collapsed. There was now only one option left open to Charles and Leslie: to launch an invasion of England.

The evidence is that this is precisely what Cromwell wanted Charles and the Scots to do, because he removed his own forces from the roads into England and proceeded to attack and capture Perth. It is likely that the King and Leslie knew that they were heading into a trap, but Charles continued to entertain the hope that once the Royal standards were sighted in England, Royalists would rally to his cause and the relatively small army of 12,000 that commenced the march south on 31st July, would soon grow to become a force equal to those that could be fielded by the Commonwealth south of the border.

The Scots army crossed into England on 6th August. Charles’ high spirits did not last long. Not only did Argyll refuse to join the expedition on the grounds he thought it was folly, but the hoped-for rally of English Royalists did not happen. There was an abortive attempt to join Charles by Lord Stanley from the Isle of Man but, apart from this, just 200 reluctant recruits from Manchester joined the Royalist army. In truth, the English population were tired of war. They had no real love for the Puritan Commonwealth, but at least the New Model Army could enforce peace and slowly, over the last two years, life had begun to return to some sort of normality. Furthermore, there was no affection for the Scots who made up most of Charles’ army, either. This was the fourth Scottish invasion of England in twelve years and the destruction and plunder that had accompanied previous incursions had not been forgotten. Meanwhile, leaving George Monck to continue to hold Commonwealth positions in Scotland, Cromwell led an infantry-based force in pursuit, while Lambert and Colonel Thomas Harrison followed Charles at the head of two small cavalry forces, harrying his troops all the way. Finally, on 31st August, the Royalists arrived at Worcester, where Leslie determined the decisive battle needed to be fought.

Worcester did make sense as a base of operations from a Royalist perspective: the city had historically supported the King; it was bounded by the River Severn and was close enough to the Royalist heartlands of Cornwall and Wales. It was also defensible with a number of bridges into the city which could be destroyed or be blocked and it was partially walled. However, as the Royalists settled into their new stronghold, they were effectively surrounded. Cromwell, Harrison and Lambert had combined their forces and, supplemented by local Parliamentary levies, the Commonwealth army now numbered 31,000 men, significantly outnumbering Charles’ force. On 3rd September, Cromwell ordered an assault from the south, under Lambert, who built pontoon bridges to cross the Severn with 11,000 troops, while Cromwell himself positioned artillery to the east of the city and commenced a bombardment. Lambert’s troops encountered stiff resistance as they tried to cross the River Teme at Powick Bridge (ironically the site of the first skirmish of the first civil war) necessitating Cromwell to lead reinforcements to force the crossing. This in itself left the Commonwealth eastern flank exposed enabling Charles himself to lead a mounted charge out of the city that nearly broke the extended Parliamentary line. Fighting uphill, the Royalists were unable to pursue their advantage and when Cromwell’s troops returned, Charles was forced to retreat back into the town. Meanwhile Lambert had defeated the Scots facing him and the battle degenerated into a vicious street by street struggle. This ended when Cromwell captured Fort Royal and turned the city’s guns onto the Scots. The stubborn Royalist retreat became a rout with soldiers fleeing the city best they could.

The Royalist army was almost completely destroyed. 3,000 men were killed and 10,000 were captured, including Leslie and all his senior officers. Charles himself miraculously managed to escape and spent six weeks on the run, hunted by Roundhead troops and helped by a network of mainly Roman Catholic aristocratic safe houses. He almost certainly did seek refuge for at least one night in the oak tree at Boscobel while Parliamentary soldiers searched for him underneath its branches. Charles eventually managed to escape to France on 16th October. While he remained alive, the dream of the restoration of the monarchy remained intact, but in all practical terms, the Royalist cause was dead.

Cromwell himself knew that the nine year English civil war was indeed over. In his despatch to the Council of State, describing his final military victory in the Parliamentary cause, he summed up the country’s prevalent feelings of relief as much as triumph at the outcome of the battle, when he described Worcester thus: ‘It is, for aught I know, a crowning mercy.’

[une-sanz-pluis]

So, we know Thomas Percy, Earl of Worcester was at Shrewsbury with the 16-year-old Hal (Prince Henry, the future Henry V etc.), whose guardian and governor he was. We know that some point before the 20th, Worcester slipped away from Shrewsbury to join with Henry "Hotspur" Percy in the lead up to his rebellion, bringing with him "a significant proportion of the garrison" and according to Walsingham, perhaps having stolen money and treasures from the Prince.

I sometimes wonder if Worcester had hoped to or tried to abduct Hal to serve as a hostage against Henry - or perhaps hoped to get him to defect to their side.

And can you imagine this poor 16-year-old kid discovering his guardian just abandoned him to join a rebellion against his father and the city's about to be under siege and his dad's nowhere in sight and a lot of the garrison's troops are gone? And he's in charge?

[bluefalcon1983]

What is Sera Reading? The Facemaker By Lindsay Fitzharris

Lindsay Fitzharris with her copy at the UK Launch. Old Operating Theatre in central London. May 25 2022. A gentleman walked into the library at Stourport and handed this book directly to a college and me on the staff pod. He had taken The Facemaker off our newly arrived titles less than two weeks ago, and now he had to make sure someone else would read this amazing tribute. He was blownaway by…

[steellegacy]

⚜️ Broadsword of Oliver Cromwell, England, c. 1650

Medium: Iron alloy (steel), partially engraved; chiseled; silver wire; wood

Length (overall): 96.8 cm

Blade: 82.6×4.9 cm

Hilt: 12.9×11.7 cm

Pommel: Height-5.4 cm, Diameter-3.3 cm

Weight: 1405 g

Facts:

▪️ August 9, 1655 - Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell divides England into 11 districts

▪️ Cromwell is an iconic figure in British history

▪️ He was a key figure in the trial and execution of King Charles I

▪️ He has the peculiar distinction of being the only political criminal to be executed two years after his death

Cromwell was exhumed from his grave in 1661 and put on trial by the late king's son, Charles II. Posthumously convicted of high treason, Cromwell's corpse was hanged and beheaded, and his head was impaled on a 6-meter spike atop Westminster Hall. The mummified head remained on the spike for more than 20 years

▪️ In 1960 (300 years after Cromwell's death), Dr. Horace Wilkinson donated the head to Sidney Sussex College at Cambridge, Cromwell's alma mater

"Cromwell's head is buried somewhere in the college chapel, supposedly in a biscuit tin" (says Stuart Orme, curator of the Cromwell Museum)

▪️ Cromwell's most famous quote is "Put your trust in God, my boys, and keep your powder dry," but there's no proof that he actually said it. The line comes from a 19th-century poem called "Oliver's Advice" based on a "well-authenticated anecdote" associated with Cromwell

▪️ September 3 is a fateful date: Cromwell routed the Scots at Dunbar (1650). The Battle of Worcester would prove to be the final action of the English Civil Wars (1651). Cromwell's first Parliament met on 3rd September, 1654.

▪️ Cromwell died suddenly at age 59 on 3rd September 1658. He suffered from a lethal combination of malaria and typhoid fever.

- -

⚜️ Палаш Оливера Кромвеля, Англия, ок. 1650

Материалы: сталь, гравировка; серебряная проволока; дерево

Длина (общая): 96,8 см

Лезвие: 82,6×4,9 см

Рукоять: 12,9×11,7 см

Навершие: высота-5,4 см, диаметр-3,3 см.

Вес: 1405 г

Факты:

▪️ 9 августа 1655 г. Лорд-протектор Оливер Кромвель делит Англию на 11 округов

▪️ Оливер Кромвель - человек, повлиявший на ход истории Англии

▪️ Он был ключевой фигурой в судебном процессе и казни короля Карла I

▪️ Известен тем, что является единственным политическим преступником, казненным через 2 года после своей смерти. Был эксгумирован в 1661 г. и предан суду сыном покойного короля Карлом II. Посмертно осужденный за государственную измену, труп Кромвеля был повешен и обезглавлен, а его голова была пронзена 6-метровым штырем. Мумифицированная голова оставалась на крыше Вестминстерского дворца более 20 лет

▪️ В 1960 г. (через 300 лет после смерти Кромвеля) доктор Гораций Уилкинсон пожертвовал его голову колледжу Сидни Сассекс в Кембридже, альма-матер Кромвеля.

"Голова Кромвеля похоронена где-то в часовне колледжа, предположительно в банке из-под печенья" (Стюарт Орм, куратор музея Кромвеля)

▪️ Самая известная цитата Кромвеля: "Уповайте на Бога, мальчики мои, и держите порох сухим", но нет никаких доказательств того, что он действительно это сказал. Эта строка взята из стихотворения XIX в. под названием "Совет Оливера", основанного на "достоверном анекдоте", связанном с Кромвелем

▪️ 3 сентября - роковая дата Кромвеля. В этот день он одержал победу над шотландцами при Данбаре (1550), разгромил отряды Карла I в Вустере (1651). Первое заседание созданного Кромвелем парламента (1654), после чего этот день был объявлен Днем благодарения.

▪️ Умер 3 сентября 1658 г. в возрасте 59 лет от малярии и брюшного тифа

#кромвель #Cromwell #Broadsword #палаш #меч #вооружение #armsandarmor

[scotianostra]

On 1st January 1651 the coronation of Charles II took place at Scone.

His coronation was the last to take place in Scotland. His father, Charles I, having been put to the axe 30th January 1649, Charles II was declared king of Great Britain and Ireland by the Scottish Parliament the following month, but the English Parliament quickly made that proclamation illegal. Meeting and losing to Cromwell in battle at Worcester in September, 1651, Charles spent almost the next decade exiled on the Continent.

The monarchy, the House of Lords, and the Privy Council were abolished and Oliver Cromwell, after much roiling of the traditional power structure of England, during which several parliaments rose and fell, became “Lord Protector” of the Commonwealth with all but dictatorial power. It would not be until Cromwell’s death in 1660, and the removal of Richard, Cromwell’s son and successor, that Charles II issued the Declaration of Breda in April of 1660, allowing as how he would return to the throne of England under certain conditions.

In Winchester Abbey, 23 April 1661, Charles II was crowned the second time, and all relevant documents thereafter were dated as if he had succeeded his father in 1649.

His first coronation was also the last time “The Honours” were used to crown our monarch, that is the Scottish crown Jewels. They were then placed in Edinburgh Castle. In the absence of a resident sovereign, the regalia were taken to sittings of the Parliament in Edinburgh to signify the sovereign’s presence and his or her consent to the passing of each Act. When the Scottish Parliament was dissolved in 1707, they were locked in a chest in the Crown Room at Edinburgh Castle where they remained, forgotten until 1818 when Walter Scott got permission to look for them, they have been on display at the castle since then.

[blackswaneuroparedux]

No man is a leader until he is ratified in the minds and hearts of his men.

- Field Marshal Sir Bill Slim, 1st Viscount Slim (1891-1970)

I’m not the only one, as an army veteran, to have gotten goosebumps when the assembled soldiers of all the regiments of the British armed forces cheered their new king and commander-in-chief. I never felt more proud to have had the privilege to serve in the best army in the world.

The newly crowned King Charles III inspected thousands of military personnel who lined up in the lush gardens of Buckingham Palace as he returned from Westminster Abbey. King Charles and Queen Camilla stepped out onto the West Terrace steps to look upon the assembled four thousand men and women who hadn’t faced him throughout the coronation procession but had led the way. This was their opportunity to see their sovereign face to face. And it was glorious. The gusto of the ‘hip hip hurrays’ was incredible, more so because it was sincere.

Those who have served in the British armed services - and those relatives and friends who have someone they know who serves or has served - know how deep the bond is between the royal family and the regiments that make up the British army as well as of course the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. The royals have faithfully served as colonel-in-chiefs of many regiments and corps, and they have taken the responsibility seriously.

When he was the Prince of Wales, Charles was the colonel-in-chief of the Army Air Corps and he took particular interest in the welfare of the men and women of the regiments. He was very personable and appreciative of the service of every soldier and officer did, and in return he earned the loyalty and respect of every serving soldier I knew.

While King Charles III may be the head of the whole of the UK's Armed Forces, there is one company with which the sovereign has a special connection. The King's Company Grenadier Guards have a role at the centre of every coronation, but their relationship with His Majesty is far more personal than that - he is also their Company Commander.

One of the oldest bodies of troops in the Army, the King's Company was founded in 1656, even pre-dating the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660. Following King Charles II's defeat at the Battle of Worcester in 1651, he escaped to Holland with the help of loyalists, who hid him and helped him throughout his exile and with his plan to return to the throne. From these loyalists, the King created his most trusted personal troops, that would go on to become the Life Guards and the Grenadier Guards. King Charles II ordered that the command of the first company of the first regiment of Foot Guards would be reserved for him, and they would be known as The King's Own Company.

In 1656, the exiled King Charles II issued the first Colour bearing his cypher to The King's Own Company. Every monarch since has presented their company with their own Royal Standard. King Charles III presented a new Colour bearing his cypher interlaced and reversed with his crown to The King's Company.

In keeping with tradition, this new Royal Standard is of heavily gold embroidered and tasselled silk and it is much larger than the standard regimental Colours seen elsewhere on parade in the modern Army - the fabric alone is more than 6ft square.

The King's Company Colour, Royal Standard of the Regiment, has personal significance to both King Charles and Queen Camilla, as Her Majesty is the new Royal Colonel Grenadier Guards. A smaller version of the Royal Standard of the regiment is also commissioned and is proudly flown above the Captain's office desk in barracks or on the wall of the operations room if deployed abroad.  The smaller version is simply known as the Company Camp Colour and will be laid upon the coffin after the monarch's death and buried, as happened with the late Queen Elizabeth.

A lesser-known fact is that The King's Company does not have a sitting company commander, because the reigning monarch vested the executive authority for the daily administration of the company to a trusted and favoured subject, the appointment being designated the Captain Lieutenant – the title means quite literally to hold or 'tenant' the Captaincy, in lieu of the King. Shortened nowadays to simply 'The Captain' (who holds the rank of Major), this appointment has persisted for 367 years with 136 Captains over time leading the company on a Sovereign's behalf.

Due to this arrangement and to prevent any confusion, The King's Company second in command (who holds the rank of captain) is referred to as 'The Second Captain.' Within the wider regiment, all members of the company are collectively known as and nicknamed The Monarch's Mob.

The new sovereign assumed command of The Sovereign's Company on accession, meaning that on the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022, the company's name changed from The Queen's Company back to The King's Company. The connection of the sovereign to the company is a close one beyond the public ceremonial, as the Captain will update the sovereign regularly on the company’s activities and operational commitments. Every Christmas, the King will receive The Captain's Statement, a brief annual report, along with a leather-bound photo album containing photographs of The Company's year. The soldiers who serve under the Captain are among the fittest and most able Guardsmen in the regiment and must demonstrate the highest values and standards and aspire to excellence.

It was fitting that it was the King’s Company that led the three cheers to the newly coronated King.

Vivat Regina Camilla! Vivat Rex Carolus! Vivat! Vivat! Vivat!

[fideidefenswhore]

so, coa was patron to provincial appearances as well but there are some interesting gaps...1517-1518 are her first, then 1520, then a gap of eight years (!) of none which seems to coincide with henry fitzroy's birth and ennoblement...another gap, then she continues to have them during the great matter, one twice a year (in 1530) which was unusual for her, her last in 1531, the year of her exile (make sense)...

anne boleyn made large use of them (unsurprising, she had an uphill battle in reinforcing her legitimacy as queen to the public), from the year of her coronation onwards... five appearances in 1533 alone (in exeter, worcester, cambridge, crowle 2x), one in 1534, two in 1535...

"David Starkey writes that Anne ‘wanted to make sure her title as queen would be unimpeachable’. Henry, Anne, and her faction realized Katherine’s popularity with the commons [...] ; the ceremonies surrounding her formal entry into London and her coronation were designed to exceed and overshadow any celebrations connected with Katherine — in other words, to advertise Anne’s status as the rightful queen. So perhaps it is not mere coincidence that the Exeter records identify a troupe as Queen Anne Boleyn’s minstrels in 1533, the year of her coronation, and birth of the future Elizabeth I.

Anne [...] seems to have appropriated Katherine’s entertainers, as well as John and William Slye from Princess (now Lady) Mary’s defunct troupe. Queen Anne’s players also appear in records from Worcester in 1533, and from Cambridge, and Crowle, Worcestershire, where they performed twice. In just this one year, records published to date indicate that provincial appearances by Anne’s performers equal the total number of such appearances by Queen Katherine’s performers over her entire twenty-four years as Henry’s queen. Anne’s performers continued to tour under her name for the following two years, appearing in records from Battenhall, Worcestershire in 1534, and from Dover in 1535. Might it be that Anne believed it prudent to advertise her status as queen while the popular ex-queen was still alive in ‘retirement’ fifty miles from London at Kimbolton? It does seem probable that Queen Anne used drama, as did Thomas Cromwell and the earl of Oxford, as a means to propagandize [religious] reforms and the break with Rome."

Advertising Status and Legitimacy: or, Why Did Henry VIII’s Queens and Children Patronize Travelling Performers?, James H. Forse

jane seymour, of comparable frequency, although not to as great an extent as anne's first year as queen (three, in 1536), none for anne of cleves, katherine howard one performance for each year as queen...

"During Christmas celebrations in 1540, her players entertained the court with a play named Godly Queen Hester. Several scholars believe the play was meant as an allegory, paralleling the biblical queen Esther, her sponsor and relative Mordecai, and their roles in the downfall of the evil minister Haman with Queen Catherine Howard, her uncle Norfolk, and the downfall of Thomas Cromwell."

Advertising Status and Legitimacy: or, Why Did Henry VIII’s Queens and Children Patronize Travelling Performers?, James H. Forse

katherine parr one for each year as queen except then four for 1547 alone, interesting (trying to promote herself for what she believed was likelihood of regency, maybe?), until widowed:

"Possibly because of these uncertainties at court, and her Protestant sympathies, Queen Catherine’s entertainers were as active in the provinces as had been those of Anne Boleyn. Their presence in the provinces is recorded every year during her tenure as queen consort — in accounts from Canterbury (1543), Cambridge (1544), Dover (1545 and 1547), Maldon, Essex (1546 and 1547), Norwich (1546), and Bristol (1547). Given the fact that Henry gave her free reign in 1544 in reorganizing her household, it seems plausible that Catherine herself may have sent her players out to promote her status, and possibly also Protestant reforms. Catherine was a patron of Nicholas Udall, who wrote two anti-papal plays, Ezechias and De Papatu. She could have been following the examples of Queen Anne Boleyn, the earl of Oxford, and Thomas Cromwell, whom we know were connected to an acting company led by John Bale that performed pro-Protestant plays about the kingdom. We get a hint that such might be the case from the Norwich records, which indicate a reward to her players ‘for an interlude whose matter was the market of mischief’. This interlude might have dramatized Thomas Cromwell’s exposé of the Rood from Boxley Abbey in 1538, when, in marketplaces in Maidstone and London, he revealed the hidden machinery that made the lips of the idol move."

Advertising Status and Legitimacy: or, Why Did Henry VIII’s Queens and Children Patronize Travelling Performers?, James H. Forse

on to henry viii's children...in the next installment.

[public-transportation-tournament]

Round 1!

The TCAT, Tompkins County, NY, USA vs Seattle Center Monorail, Seattle, WA, USA

M1 (or Millennium Underground Railway, but also known as "the small underground" by locals), Budapest, Hungary vs Grande Recife, Recife, Brazil

London Underground, Greater London, England vs Rotterdam Metro, Rotterdam, Netherlands

Beamish Tramway, Beamish Museum, Beamish, England vs Catbus/Nekobus, Sayama Hills, Saitama Prefecture, Japan (My Neighbor Totoro)

The New York City Subway system, New York City, NY, USA vs Corviknight Flying Taxi, Galar (Pokémon Sword and Shield)

Buenos Aires Underground (Subte), Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Argentina vs Monte Toboggan, Funchal, Madeira, Portugal

The Stargate Network, throughout the Milky Way and Andromeda Galaxies (the Stargate franchise) vs the Deepsea Metro, Inkopolis Bay (Splatoon)

CAT, Perth, Western Australia vs SkyTrain, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Brolly Rail, Nevermoor (Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend) vs Métro Ligne 4, Paris, France

Tyne and Wear Metro, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom vs the REM, Montreal, Quebec, Canada (upcoming)

Jeepney, the Philippines vs Sea Train, Water 7, connecting it with St. Poplar, San Faldo, and Pucci, as well as the Judicial Island Enies Lobby (One Piece)

The MTR, Hong Kong, PRC vs the Omnibus, New York, NY, USA (1832)

SeaBus, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada vs Wuppertaler Schwebebahn, Wuppertal, Germany

Ice Highway, the Nether Roof (Minecraft) vs Battle Subway, Unova (Pokémon Black and White)

WY Metro, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom vs Tunnelbana, Stockholm, Sweden

MRT (Moda Raya Terpadu/Mass Rapid Transit), Jakarta, Indonesia vs An Luas, Dublin, Ireland

RIPTA (Rhode Island public transit authority) (it’s buses), Rhode Island, USA vs Bakerloo Line, London Underground, London, England

Mount Vesuvius Funicular Railway, Mount Vesuvius, Italy (opened in 1880, destroyed by volcanic eruption in 1944) vs AquaBus, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Yarra Trams, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia vs SEPTA (southeast pennsylvania transportation authority), Pennsylvania, United States

Cable Cars, San Francisco, California, United States vs MAX Light Rail system, Portland, Oregon, United States

Amtrak, United States vs Fenelon Place Elevator, Dubuque, Iowa, United States

Ninky Nonk, Night Garden (In The Night Garden) vs Prague Metro, Prague, Czech Republic

Polar Bear Express, between Cochrane and Moosonee, Ontario, Canada vs the Crosstown Express, Robot City (Robots (2005))

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (the T), Greater Boston, Massachusetts, United States vs Worcester Regional Transit Authority, Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States

Kakola Funicular, Turku, Finland vs Angkutan Kota (Angkot), Indonesia

Galaxy Railways, the Milky Way (The Galaxy Railways (銀河鉄道物語, Ginga Tetsudō Monogatari)) vs The Ride, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States

MST Trolley, Monterey, California, United States vs People Mover, Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World, Florida, United States

Public Transit Victoria, Victoria, Australia vs Carmelit, Haifa, Israel

The L, Chicago, Illinois, United States vs Leadhills and Wanlockhead Railway, South Lanarkshire, Scotland

Personal Rapid Transit (PRT), Morgantown, West Virginia vs Helsingin seudun liikenne/Helsingforsregionens trafik/Helsinki Regional Transport, Helsinki, Finland

Gondolas, Venice, Italy vs the Trolley from the Trolley Problem (Philippa Foot came up with it originally, but in media it was also presented in "the good place")

Zahnradbahn Stuttgart (die Zacke), Stuttgart (Marienplatz to Degerloch), Baden-Württemberg, Germany vs Detroit People Mover, Detroit, Michigan, United States

Warp Pipes (Super Mario Bros.) vs SCMaglev, Yamanashi, Japan

Transport Canberra Bus Network, Canberra, Australia vs Stagways, Hallownest (Hollow Knight)

Roosevelt Island Tram, Roosevelt Island, New York, NY, United States vs NJ Transit (Northeast Corridor), New Jersey, United States

Sunrail, Orlando, Florida, United States vs Bay Area Rapid Transit, Bay Area, California, United States

Purple Route (Charm City Circulator), Baltimore, Maryland, United States vs Alderney Ferry (Halifax Transit), Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Millennium Line, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada vs MARTA, Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Dual Mode Vehicle (DMV), Asa Coast Railway, Shikoku, Japan vs Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway, Lynmouth, England, UK

Hovercraft, Portsmouth - Ryde, UK vs Funiculars, the Questionable Area (Psychonauts 2)

WildNorWester, Sodor (The Railway Series) vs Shinkansen, Japan

Métro de Paris, Paris, France vs Metro do Porto, Porto, Portugal

Deutsche Bahn, Germany vs UC Davis Unitrans Bus System, Davis, California

Vaporetti, Venice, Italy vs Harbour Bus, Copenhagen, Denmark

[elixirvitae]

Alucard- Occult References

I’m putting my slideshow into text post format, so buckle up! It’s history lesson time!

The “Cromwell Initiative” is most likely a reference to Oliver Cromwell, a leader of Parliament armies during the English Civil War during the 17th century. Despite being one of Britain’s most widely regarded controversial figures, he was chosen as one of the Ten Greatest Britons” in a 2002 BBC poll.

A legend surrounds Cromwell. It is said that on the eve of the Battle of Worcester, Cromwell snuck away from the camp and met the Devil in the woods. In exchange for 7 years of prosperity, he would give his soul. He died precisely seven years after. So, who in Hellsing Cromwell contract sold his soul? Alucard to Abraham for survival, or Abraham to Alucard in exchange for a lethal weapon he could wield and monetize?

Alchemy is referenced in the content of Alucard’s characterization as well. The quote inscribed on Alucard’s coffin (in Ultimate, it is written in its original Greek language) is translated as “The Bird of Hermes is my name/ Eating my wings to make me tame.” This quote is taken from the 15th century alchemical work known as the Ripley Scroll. While George Ripley is the suspected author and artist behind the scroll, the Hermes named is a reference to Hermes Trismegistus, a philosophy figure that was the product of merging the Greek god Hermes with Thoth, the Egyptian god of knowledge and wisdom.

The quote is taken from a part of the scroll that allegedly details the way to obtain the Philosopher’s Stone, a commonly sought after target by alchemists seeking power, immortality, and enlightenment.

The Left-Hand Path, which is one part of a dichotomy opposite the Right-Hand Path, focuses more on the elevation of the self through reaching one’s own potential, while rejecting religious authority and most commonly rejecting the notion of a higher power. Laveyan Satanism, Theistic Satanism, and Luciferianism are all Left-Hand Paths. We see references to Satanism in Alucard’s gestures, both in the inverted cross commonly (and widely mistakenly) associated with Satanism, and in the positions of his hands which match those of the iconic imagery of Baphomet.

Speaking of his hands, let’s look at his gloves. Working from the outside in, we find Theban script, also known as the Witches’ Alphabet. Hirano’s Theban is poor, but we can make out enough to correct the script into what translates to “Hellsing”, “Hell’s Gate Arrested”, and “Shine Heaven Now”. 

Closest to Alucard’s wrist, we see a number of 812. Knowing Hirano, this could just be a random number but I think the number refers to Gematria, a Jewish alphanumeric code that assigns numeric value to words and phrases, originally meant for the Torah. My favorite phrase I found that has a Gematric value of 812 is “Lucifer Begotten Son”, which would fall in line with the byname “Dracula” translating to “Son of the Dragon/Devil”. 

And then we have the sigil, all placed within a circle. The sigil itself is reminiscent of those belonging to Goetic demons, found in the Ars Goetia, a section of “The Lesser Key of Solomon”. In the Ars Goetia, the Goetic demons images, descriptions, and sigils are displayed. For example, here is Astaroth’s sigil.

I think the way the sigil glows during the Cromwell Invocation means the sigil acts like a binding to Alucard as the sigils of the Goetic demons act to them.  The characters around the five-pointed star in Alucard’s sigil contain the alchemical symbols for Uranus and Neptune, representing the elements of Air and Water respectively, and stylized characters from other languages and cultures that represent the other three elements Fir, Earth, and Spirit.  And that’s all I can remember now, save for the references made in Stoker’s novel. I hope these are fun facts, because I have had fun picking up on them over the years.

[ltwilliammowett]

Hannah Snell “The Woman in Men's Cloaths”

Hannah Snell was born on 23 April 1723 in Worcester, England. She moved to London in 1740 and married James Summes, a Dutch Sailor, on 6 January 1744. Two years later their daughter Susannah was born and died after only one year. Her husband had left her while she was still pregnant and now without husband and child she saw no other way out than to look for him.

Hannah Snell, a woman who passed as a soldier. Mezzotint by J. Young, 1789, after R. Phelps. (x)

She borrowed men's clothes from her brother-in-law James Gray and used his name. According to her account, following the death of her daughter, on 23 November 1745, she joined John Guise's regiment, the 6th Regiment of Foot, in the army of the Duke of Cumberland against Bonnie Prince Charlie. She deserted when her sergeant gave her 500 lashes and moved to Portsmouth and joined the Marines. At this point it was not true, because the events and dates she gave, as well as the chronologies of her life, make it unlikely that she served under John Guise.

Rather, after the death of her daughter, she went to Portmouth to look for him and learned that he had been executed for murder. What motivated her to join the Marines is not clear. Some historians suggest that she had hoped to find him at sea or at a naval base and joined the Marines before learning of his death. What is certain, however, is that she boarded HMS Swallow on 23 October 1747 and sailed for Lisbon on 1 November of the same year. In August 1748, her unit was sent on an expedition to capture the French colony of Pondicherry in India. She later also took part in the Battle of Devicotta in June 1749. She was wounded eleven times in the legs and once in the groin. She either managed to treat her groin wound without revealing her sex, or she enlisted the services of a compassionate Indian nurse.

(x)

In 1750, her unit returned to Britain and travelled from Portsmouth to London, where she revealed her gender to her shipmates on 2 June. She asked the Duke of Cumberland, the commander-in-chief of the army, for her pension. She was then honourably discharged and, because of her good service, was promised a pension in November 1750. Hoping for the pension but uncertain that she would receive it, she sold her story in June to Robert Walker, a publisher in London, who published it in two different editions. 

Hannah Snell, a woman who passed as a male soldier. Wood engraving, 1750. (x)

Curious about who this woman was, more and more people wanted to see her and so she appeared in public and in theatres in her uniform and told of her adventures, showed her fighting skills and sang marching songs. Three painters painted portraits of her in her uniform and The Gentleman's Magazine also covered her story in July.

Hannah showing her skills (x)

After her pension was approved Hannah retired to Wapping and began running a pub called The Female Warrior or The Widow in Masquerade - sources disagree on this - but it did not last long. She then moved to Newbury in Berkshire in the mid-1750s. In 1759 she married a second time to a man called Richard Eyles, with whom she had two children. And in 1772 she married a third time to a man called Richard Habgood from Welford, also in Berkshire, and they moved to the Midlands. In 1785 she was living with her son George Spence Eyles, a clerk, in Church Street, Stoke Newington, but in that year her pension was withdrawn.

One edition of Hannah’s Story, published by Rober Walker 1750 (x)

She appeared to be suffering from Alzheimer's disease and her health deteriorated gradually but not dramatically. This suddenly changed in 1791. she was admitted to Bethlem Hospital on 20 August and died on 8 February 1792. she was then buried in Chelsea Hospital, which had already been a hospital and let's call it an old people's home for veterans of the British army and also functioned like the Royal Navy Hospital in greenwhich is now even an old people's and nursing home.

[wessexroyalfamily]

Anchor:  It was a northern invasion this morning at White Hall as Princess Margaret of Lancaster arrived officially to take up residence in Wessex with her family from the Kingdom of Lancaster.

Anchor: The Princess is the niece of King William I of Lancaster and set to marry Crown Prince William of Wessex in two months time. In the meantime Margaret and her family will live at White Hall, located in Woodstock Park, near the royal palace.

Anchor: Royal insiders are confirming the Crown Prince has taken up residence at Woodstock Palace in a private apartment used by his grandmother the late Queen Mother. 

David Worcester-Scott: Your wife is all over the news.

Crown Prince William of Wessex: She is not my wife yet.

Peter Carnegie: Have you spoken with her?

William: Spoken with her, I haven't even seen her in person yet.

David: Yeah they’ve been communicating through letters for the past year. 

William: Apparently my father went down to see her this morning. 

David: (chuckles) Well he must get his dynastic match, of course. You should have heard the hard-on my father had just talking about it this morning. 

David: And what a more perfect day for the new Princess of Wessex to arrive. 

Peter: Better that she arrived this week than last week, and avoided all of those protestors outside the palace.

David: Like that really matters, there's always a fuss about how much the royals spend.

Peter: Well since I’m the only one in this room who didn’t grow up in a palace, I think I know more _

David: Please “Mr. Proletariat”, educate us simple minded bourgeoisie.

Peter: The public is upset about losing the war and the government’s failed policies, including our alliance with the Kingdom of Lancaster.

David: We didn't lose because of Lancaster, we lost because Sussex invaded us and Wales put their ships in the channel, we were fighting on two fronts.

Peter: Exactly! If we went with the government's plan to align ourselves with Wales instead of Lancaster, so many of our men wouldn’t have lost their lives in battle. 

David: No one which have to do with the Princess.

Peter: Expect the fact that this marriage is a symbolic representation of our alliance with Lancaster, that essentially cost us the war...didn't your family lose land too?  

William: Alright, shut it you too.

Peter: maybe we should have went to greet, as show of support?

William: I'll see her in three days at the banquet, no matter how I feel about it or how the people feel about her, we are to be married so what is the difference if our first meeting is now or later?

[une-sanz-pluis]

The 1403 rebellion bears the hallmarks of a rash and reckless act on the part of Hotspur. Before the rebellion itself, Percy's dream of establishing his Anglo-Scottish lordship was for the first time a real possibility and it is difficult to imagine that the old campaigner would abandon that for which he had consistently worked over several decades, to suddenly attack his king. Yes, he had helped remove Richard II from the throne, but the situations were radically different. In 1399, Percy had been part of a broadly based coalition moving with great force and purpose against a massively unpopular monarch who was no great friend of the Percy family. In 1403 however, the forces that met Henry at Shrewsbury were a hastily cobbled together,`ramshackle' army drawn almost exclusively from one county, and whose allegiance was based upon the lie that Richard II was about to return. The rebellion was the brainchild of Hotspur. It is difficult to imagine Percy planning, or even approving of, such a scheme. In the summer of 1403, he had far too much to lose. Hotspur did as well, but he seemed not to have recognised that fact. That the 1403 rebellion was Hotspur's scheme also accounted for the frankly bizarre timing of Percy's movement south. If he had stayed in the north as part of the plan for the rebellion, in order to guard the marches, as has been suggested, then why wander down into Yorkshire some days after the battle had taken place? If the campaign had been well planned, one would expect that Percy would have either stayed in the north to guard the march, or moved south at the same time as Hotspur in order to support his forces, and not simply get caught in between. Hotspur's movement south was reminiscent in its recklessness of his actions at Otterburn, and the late movement south by Percy suggested that he, as well as the king, had been taken by surprise by his own son's actions.

Kris Towson, "Henry Percy, first earl of Northumberland: ambition, conflict and cooperation in late mediaeval England" (PhD thesis, 2005)

[maypoleman1]

16th January

St Sigebert’s Day/ Old Twelfth Night

Source: UCANR website

Today is St Sigebert’s Day. Sigebert was another Anglo-Saxon king who renounced his throne in favour of the monastic life. However, when the fearsome pagan king of Mercia, Penda, attacked Sigebert’s former realm of East Anglia, his ex-subjects persuaded him to come out of retirement in order to save them from the pagan’s wrath. Remaining true to his vows, Sigebert agreed to resume his throne, but insisted he be armed with a wooden sword and so avoid taking a human life in battle. Unfortunately for the pacific Sigebert and his East Anglians, Penda’s Mercians destroyed his army, conferring immediate martyrdom on the holy king, as well as sainthood.

Today is also Old Twelfth Night, being the last night of Christmas according to the old calendar. For that reason apple wassailing continued on the night of the 16th for over 200 years after the date of Epiphany Eve moved to 5th January. On this night men would gather by firelight in orchards to toast the apple trees with cider and to wish the spirits of the trees a Happy New Year and exhort them to allow their trees a bountiful late summer harvest. A typical verse sung by the wassailers was:

Old Apple Tree we wassail thee and hope that thou wilt bear,

For Lord doth know where we shall be till apples come another year.

Although the Old Twelfth Night wassailing tradition died out in the early twentieth century, it was revived in the 1980s and enthusiastic wassailing now takes place in the orchards of Much Marcle near Ledbury in Hereford and Worcester; Norton Fitzwarren outside Taunton in Somerset and Carhampton, also in Somerset. Amazingly, the revivals were sponsored and funded by cider makers Westons, and Taunton Cider.

[venicepearl]

The new Æthelflaed statue outside Tamworth Railway Station, erected to commemorate 1,100 years since her death in Tamworth. Her spear points visitors towards the town centre and Tamworth Castle.

Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians (c. 870 – 12 June 918) ruled Mercia in the English Midlands from 911 until her death. She was the eldest daughter of Alfred the Great, king of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex, and his wife Ealhswith.

Æthelflæd was born around 870 at the height of the Viking invasions of England. By 878, most of England was under Danish Viking rule – East Anglia and Northumbria having been conquered, and Mercia partitioned between the English and the Vikings – but in that year Alfred won a crucial victory at the Battle of Edington. Soon afterwards the English-controlled western half of Mercia came under the rule of Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians, who accepted Alfred's overlordship. Alfred adopted the title King of the Anglo-Saxons (previously he was titled King of the West Saxons like his predecessors) claiming to rule all Anglo-Saxon people not living in areas under Viking control. In the mid-880s, Alfred sealed the strategic alliance between the surviving English kingdoms by marrying Æthelflæd to Æthelred.

Æthelred played a major role in fighting off renewed Viking attacks in the 890s, together with Æthelflæd's brother, the future King Edward the Elder. Æthelred and Æthelflæd fortified Worcester, gave generous donations to Mercian churches and built a new minster in Gloucester. Æthelred's health probably declined early in the next decade, after which it is likely that Æthelflæd was mainly responsible for the government of Mercia. Edward had succeeded as King of the Anglo-Saxons in 899, and in 909 he sent a West Saxon and Mercian force to raid the northern Danelaw. They returned with the remains of the royal Northumbrian saint Oswald, which were translated to the new Gloucester minster. Æthelred died in 911 and Æthelflæd then ruled Mercia as Lady of the Mercians. The accession of a female ruler in Mercia is described by the historian Ian Walker as "one of the most unique events in early medieval history".

Alfred had built a network of fortified burhs and in the 910s Edward and Æthelflæd embarked on a programme of extending them. Among the towns where she built defences were Wednesbury, Bridgnorth, Tamworth, Stafford, Warwick, Chirbury and Runcorn. In 917 she sent an army to capture Derby, the first of the Five Boroughs of the Danelaw to fall to the English, a victory described by Tim Clarkson as "her greatest triumph". In 918 Leicester surrendered without a fight. Shortly afterwards the Viking leaders of York offered her their loyalty, but she died on 12 June 918 before she could take advantage of the offer, and a few months later Edward completed the conquest of Mercia. Æthelflæd was succeeded by her daughter Ælfwynn, but in December Edward took personal control of Mercia and carried Ælfwynn off to Wessex.

Historians disagree whether Mercia was an independent kingdom under Æthelred and Æthelflæd but they agree that Æthelflæd was a great ruler who played an important part in the conquest of the Danelaw. She was praised by Anglo-Norman chroniclers such as William of Malmesbury, who described her as "a powerful accession to [Edward's] party, the delight of his subjects, the dread of his enemies, a woman of enlarged soul". According to Pauline Stafford, "like ... Elizabeth I she became a wonder to later ages". In Nick Higham's view, medieval and modern writers have been so captivated by her that Edward's reputation has suffered unfairly in comparison.

[scotianostra]

On March 28th 1642, the Scots Guards Regiment was formed.

In 1642 Archibald Campbell, the 1st Marques of Argyll, as seen in the forst pic, was also instructed by The King to raise a Royal Regiment of 1,500 men to act as Royal Guard to the King when he visited Ireland. This Regiment was named the ‘Marquis of Argyll’s Royal Regiment’ and Argyll appointed Sir Duncan Campbell of Auchinbreck as Lieutenant Colonel of the Regiment, which swiftly moved to Ireland. It remained in Ulster while Civil War raged in England and Scotland until 1649, when King Charles I was executed. The much depleted Regiment then crossed to Scotland and was referred to as the ‘Irish Companies’.

In 1650 it welcomed King Charles II to Scotland from France who was proclaimed King of Scots. The King took the ‘Irish Companies’ as his ‘Lyfe Guards of Foot’ and were soon engaged in action at the Battle of Dunbar, were the Scottish Army was defeated by Oliver Cromwell’s New Model Army. In 1651 King Charles II once again engaged the Parliamentary Forces at the Battle of Worcester and was once again defeated. The King managed to escape to France but the Regiment was scattered and ceased to exist.

King Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660 after the abdication of Richard Cromwell (son of Oliver Cromwell) as Lord Protector in 1659. The Regiment was reformed in 1661 as the ‘Scottish Regiment of Foot Guards’ and garrisoned at Edinburgh and Dumbarton Castles. The Regiment was engaged in Scotland suppressing the Convenanters uprising against the King, who challenged many of the religious reforms imposed on them, finally defeating them at the Bothwell Brig in 1679.

The regiment has fought in all major conflicts over the past 380years and nowadays comprises of the Battalion (the fighting component), F Company (ceremonial), Scots Guards Association (veterans), charity, recruiting team as well as the Pipes and Drums*