(Due to current refugee/immigration hysteria, this seemed like a good time to remind readers that 1) net migration to the UK has been steadily going down and 2) more than 380,000 British people emigrated FROM the UK last year and 3) that immigration is good for the economy and 4) roughly 28% of NHS doctors who… Read more There is a LONG History of Immigration in Britain
The Mari Lwyd is a traditional folk custom that managed to survive in South Wales, particularly around the area of Glamorgan. It involves a hobby horse, which is a horse’s skull mounted on a pole with glass eyes, being carried by a person hidden under a large sheet of decorated white cloth, and it can freak… Read more Mari Lwyd Rides in the Vale of Glamorgan
Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford, 7th Earl of Gloucester, 3rd Lord of Glamorgan, 9th Lord of Clare, was a terrible person, greedy and heartless to the point of psychopathy … so he did very well in the Middle Ages. (Psychopaths do well for themselves in almost any era, really.) He was known as… Read more Gilbert de Clare, The Red Earl
George II was crowned King of Great Britain and Ireland on 11 October 1727 at Westminster Abbey. History hasn’t been kind to the second Georgian monarch, in part because “in the memoirs of contemporaries such as Lord Hervey and Horace Walpole, George is depicted as a weak buffoon, governed by his wife and ministers” and… Read more The Reign of King George II
First, it should be noted that the title to this blog post should be sung like the chorus of the Pet Shop Boy’s 1984 song “West End Girls” because I am old and my mental playlist is mostly 80s hits. If you are older than 40, you too now have “West End Girls” playing in… Read more Cymru Stones and Wessex Girls
Robert (Rabbie) Burns was born on 25 January 1759 in the village of in Alloway, near Ayr, not far from the River Doon (Brig o’ Doon), which would later feature in his epic poem “Tam O’Shanter“. The poets birthplace is now commemorated as Burns Cottage Museum, but no one had any inkling that the newborn Rabbie would grow up to… Read more Scotia’s Bard
Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, was almost certainly a more rightful claimant to the throne of England than his cousin, King Henry VI. York was the descendant of King Edward III’s second son, Lionel of Antwerp, while Henry VI was the great-grandson of King Edward’s third surviving son, John of Gaunt. The Duke of… Read more The Death of the 3rd Duke of York
Some lives change history. Some deaths change history. If Margaret, Maid of Norway, had lived, the entire history of Great Britain would have been altered and thousands of lives would have been spared from subsequent warfare. Margaret, Maid of Norway, was born on 9 April 1283, the daughter of the 15 year old King Eric… Read more Margaret, Maid of Norway, Queen of Scots
Robert the Bruce was reportedly born on 11 July 1274, the first son of Robert de Brus, 6th Lord of Annandale and Marjorie, Countess of Carrick, and died the King of Scotland on 7 June 1329. The bits in between his birth and death were quite interesting. Although he is a hero of Scottish Independence,… Read more Happy Birthday Robert the Bruce
Cecily Neville, Duchess of York was born (or at least Christened) on 3 May 1415. Her father was Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland and her mother, Joan Beaufort, Countess of Westmorland, was the granddaughter of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster and Katherine Swynford. Thus Cecily was the great-granddaughter of King Edward III.… Read more Cecily Neville, Duchess of York