thatwritererinoriordan

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Latest edge :)

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From WB, the Looney Tunes cartoon short, LONG-HAIRED HARE, directed by Chuck Jones and starring Bugs Bunny, was released #OnThisDay in 1949.

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inside george pearl's 1975 albuquerque main library. albuquerque, n. mex. february 2024.

© tag christof

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"The Diary of a Young Girl," also known as "The Diary of Anne Frank," was first published on June 25, 1947.

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Anthony Bourdain, June 25, 1956 – June 8, 2018.

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Happy 82nd, Carly Simon.

With James Taylor

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Some Midsummer Rituals from the North of England.

Happy Litha everyone! To mark the occasion, here's a collection of customs and rituals pertaining to Midsummer, taken from The Denham Tracts by Michael Denham (1846-59).

The Quarrel of Oberon and Titania by Sir Joseph Noel Paton (1849).

Midsummer Cushions

"This was a custom, used some seventy years ago at many places in the North of England ; but it, like almost every other of the innocent and pleasing customs and amusements of our fore-elders, is fast vanishing away, if it has not altogether done so. The young lads and lasses of the town or village having procured a cushion or, in accordance with local phraseology, a whishion, and covered it with calico, or silk of showy and attractive colour, proceeded to bedeck it with every variety of flower which they could procure out of their parents' and more wealthy neighbours' gardens, displaying them in such a manner so as to give it a most beautiful appearance. All this done, they placed themselves, with their cushion of Flora's choicest gems, in the most public place they conveniently could soliciting of every passer-by a trifling present of pence, which, in numerous cases, was liberally and cheerfully bestowed. A set form of words was made use of (in rhyme, I believe) when soliciting those gifts, the precise version of which I have never been able to obtain. This custom prevailed from Midsummer Day to Magdalene Day, which latter has long been corrupted to 'Maudlin Day'."

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Wells

In Durham, the Lambton Well was used as a wishing well. A crooked pin along with a pebble on which is inscribed the initials of the 'wisher' is thrown into the well at Midsummer and the name of the 'wisher' is entered into a book. When the wish must be reversed, the name is erased from the book, and the pebble and pin are collected.

"Half a century ago it was in repute as a wishing well, and was one of the scenes dedicated to the usual festivities and superstitions of Midsummer Eve. A crooked pin (the usual tribute of the ' wishers ') may sometimes be still discovered, sparkling amongst the clear gravel of the bottom of its basin."

The Colwell, a little north of Hexham, the villagers used to dress their well with flowers, and in Erring Burn near Chollerton on or around 4th July (old Midsummer) -

"... great crowds of people used to assemble here from all the surrounding hamlets and villages. The scene has been described to me as resembling a fair, stalls for the sale of various refreshments being brought from a distance year by year at the summer solstice. The neighbouring slopes had been terraced, and seats formed for the convenience of pilgrims and visitors. One special object of female pilgrims was, I am informed, to pray at the well, or express a silent wish as they stood over it for the cure of barrenness. If the pilgrim's faith were sufficient, her wish at the Bore Well would be certain to be fulfilled within the twelve months."

Over in Monkton near Jarrow, the well of the Venerable Bede was said to have healing properties (as did the wells of Jesmond and Holystone), and children with any infirmities would offer a crooked pin and then be dipped into the well.

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Bonfires

Midsummer Night by Nikolai Astrup (1926).

Rev. Gr. R. Hall, quoted in The Denham Tracts, said:

"The fire festivals or bonfires of the summer solstice at the Old Mid- summer until recently were commemorated on Christenburg Crags [Cumbria] and elsewhere by leaping through and dancing round the fires, as those who have been present have told me..." The driving of cattle through the smoke of the need-fire, as a supposed preventative of murrain, and the carrying from farm to farm as quickly as men could ride the sacred self-lighted fire, made by two pieces of dry or rotted wood being rubbed together very quickly, has occurred at Birtley within the last thirty years ; and this forms one of the most recent survivals of the adoration once so generally rendered to the great orb of day and to the element of fire".

Rev. J. E. Elliot Bates, rector of Whalton (Northumberland) recorded a similar ritual:

"The bonfire ... was lighted a little to the north-east of the well at Whalton, and partly on the footpath, and people danced round it and jumped through it. That was never interrupted."

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After the match

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Hey, do think RFKJR might be an incredible idiot?

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Shakespearean Royals

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poetry recommendations (june)

when you don't know what to do with yourself, read a poem

here is a list of poems collected over some months, including my favourites from @threewordusername, @two-bees-poetry, and @fateology

long live human poetry!

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Tom and Bella

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nothing sexier than that picture with the italian players on top of eachother after the win and the english ones going through the 5 stages of grief in the back

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Colleen Dewhurst and George C. Scott in the NYSF Theater Production of “Antony and Cleopatra” in 1959.

Dewhurst and Scott were married twice, divorced twice, and had two children together.