Saturday, 26 September 2020
a noted place called Saddletor from the hills near which the Lomen or as we now call it, the Lemon — “ fetcheth her fountain”
Tor — and here I quote from Crossing’s Guide to Dartmoor where he says ‘Risdon speaks of a noted place called Saddletor from the hills near which the Lomen or as we now call it, the Lemon — “ fetcheth her fountain” . The nearest stream to the tor is the Sig which rises on Bag Tor Down about 1/4 mile S of it . . . it falls into the Lemon (the springs of which are near Lud Gate)Despite the claim by the Norman-Welsh Geoffry of Monmouth in his Historia Regum Britanniae that Ludgate was so called for having been built by the ancient British king called Lud—a manifestation of the god Nodens—the name is believed by later writers to be derived from "flood gate" or "Fleet gate", from "ludgeat", meaning "back gate" or "postern", or from the Old English term "hlid-geat", meaning "postern" or "swing gate". just below Sigford, and immediately after having received the waters of the Langworthy Brook.’ All of which we shall be investigating in due course. This particular stream, which becomes the River Sig, runs past Bugtor cottages and is typical of these moorland streams, deep set in ferns and bright flowers among the rocks as they chatter busily onwards, and it was here that Syd Wills, now living at St Budeaux, spent many happy hours of his childhood, and where he told me, ‘It was an unwritten law to let the foxes drink before you collected the duy’s water supply from the brook.’ He went on to tell me of the two Indies who once ran Bagtor House and the Barton as guesthouse nnd farm, their names Miss Blankiron and Miss Cross. Memories of them too came from Miss Catherine Haines, now in lu>r 80s and living at Bridford. She was a groom at Bagtor House in the 1920s. And here once again the tragedy of fire touched the Lemon’s tributary, the Sig. Early one morning she got up at five to go cubbing and saw clouds of smoke coming from the neighbouring liirm of Westabrook, an old thatched house standing near the banks of the river. She rushed down to wake up the Retallick family, who lived there, and to help the oldest member of the family from his bed and into the barn for safety. Eventually the fire engine arrived, ‘B ut,’ she said, thore was some problem over getting the pump started to take water I rom the stream, and I had to chase off to another farm for fuel. Meanwhile Mr Retallick was concerned about his watch which, as was his habit, he had tied to the bedpost for the night. It was resn ii‘(l — only to be stolen from him later. His son, Mr H. Retallick, now farms Bagtor Barton and he told me that recently when they were doing some repairs at Bagtor cottages they took down a partition and uncovered a small cubby hole like the ones from which lickots are sold at railway stations. ‘My guess is that is where they paid the men who worked in Newtake and Crownley M ines,’ he said and there are also the remains of a blacksmith’s shop and blowing house on the common.’ lie too remembered the two ladies from the Big House. ‘Proper 7
which have occurred on its banks. Here, at its beginnings, controversy once raged, for water used to be taken from it to feed the leat or pot water, the sole supply for Ilsington village, and Dick Wills, parish historian of Narracombe, whose family have farmed there for fourteen generations, told me there were many accusations from the thirteenth century onwards that too much water was taken, thus depriving the manor mill, Bagtor, of its supply, whilst the leat was feeding the mills of Ilsington, Liverton and Pool. ‘It seem s,’ he said ‘that there was a trough at the source and from a hole in this the water ran through the fields to Ilsington. The villagers used to go and make the hole bigger so more water ran their way. This caused a certain amount of ill feeling! ’ But for a moment we come back to the present century. On the night of 6 March 1970, when the Bovey police and their 250 guests were enjoying their twenty-first annual ball, soon after midnight everyone was asked to file out of the ballroom into the courtyard, and as they went they saw smoke pouring from the air vents, and outside flames were leaping from the roof of the hotel. The police tackled the fire with extinguishers until ten appliances arrived with sixty firemen, but all they could do was to stop the blaze Irom entirely destroying the hotel. A large section of the upper floor was wiped out and extensive damage caused to the ground floor. It was thought that the fire had started as the result of faulty wiring, but fortunately at least there were no casualties, four children who had been asleep upstairs being carried to safety. The following morning the police had to open up a special depot for people to pick up their coats at the police station in Newton Abbot, among them a silver mink. Much to everyone’s relief the draw money and prizes had also been saved! It was the biggest hotel fire in the area for years, and now it is known as the Hotel with no Guests, for it has remained an empty shell ever since. All you can hear as you stand looking over the gate is the whistling of the wind through the glassless windows. The owners did want to rebuild it on a bigger scale, but the plan was turned down by the Dartmoor National Park Comm ittee. At the entrance is a board which states CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. Could it perhaps be forever? Let us look now at something beautiful instead, for it is only fair to visit the Lemon’s main tributary while we are on this part of the moor — the River Sig which rises in Bagtor Mire under Rippon
Tuesday, 15 September 2020
Seven Lords’ Lands,
Close to Hennesbury Gate is a hut-circle known as Seven Lords’ Lands,
‘A gunshot or two from Hennesbury Gate, and close to the parish boundary wall, is a very perfect hut circle, or aboriginal dwelling, known from medieval times as Seven Lords’ Lands, for it is a boundary point where seven manors meet.’
What a very evocative name – Seven Lords’ Lands,
does not that conjure up images of seven noble knights standing on a hilltop and surveying the extent of their vast estates? If this was the case then they certainly were not the first to do so because despite what both Page and the Ordnance Survey of 1889 tell us Seven Lords’ Lands is in fact a prehistoric cairn.
The now vegetation covered pile of rocks dates back to the Bronze Age and today stands at about 0.6m at the centre with a 10m diameter . There is evidence that a kerb of closely spaced surrounded the cairn which displays six of the original stones still in-situ.
A sickening shallow depression in the centre of the cairn suggests that at some stage the monument has suffered at the hands of either antiquarians or looters. However for once this was not so for in 1946 Hansford Worth reported that the cairn circle had been converted into a shelter trench by; “some ingenious soldier.”
However, despite this intrusion the cairn remains in a fairly good state of preservation when compared to some of Dartmoor’s cairns. So much so that in Butler’s opinion there still may be an undisturbed burial underneath. If one looks at the wider landscape this cairn is by no means the only example in the area and is probably associated with the Bronze Age settlement at Foale’s Arrishes.
To find an explanation of the place-name one must move away from the prehistoric era and leap forward to the medieval period when either by design or accident the cairn supposedly became a meeting place of seven manorial bounds. This theory held good for many years and has been proffered by many Dartmoor writers, . In all reality the seven manorial bounds co-join within the vicinity of the cairn not exactly at the cairn, these manors are; Widecombe Town, Natsworthy, Buckland, Bagtor, Halshanger, Great Houndtor and Dunstone with Blackslade. This phenomenon is by no means exclusive to Seven Lords’ Lands as up and down the country there are numerous examples of boundaries using prehistoric landscape features as markers. This can be argued is because such monuments have always been regarded as sacred and therefore afforded the respect of later generations.
This story took an exciting turn in the 1990s when Dave Brewer stepped beyond the obvious and moved into the realms of Saxon ‘Hundreds’ and in particular the Kerswell Hundred which later became the Haytor Hundred. The Kerswell Hundred was split into two sectors, the first had its administrative centre around what is now Kingskerswell. The second sector although being called the Haytor Hundred did not encompass Haytor itself, it did however comprise of the following manors; Widecombe Town ( North Hall), Natsworthy, Spitchwick, Blackaton Pipard, Jordan, Buckland and Dunstone with Blackslade. It is known from the Cartulary of Torre Abbey that the sworn men of the Kerswell Hundred used to meet on a monthly basis at a hill then known as Kyngesdone. The purpose for these meetings was to allow the delegates to discuss and debate the various issues that had arisen within their respective hundred, . Therefore if this was the norm for Anglo Saxon administration would it not have been logical to say that also such sworn men from the Haytor Hundred also met on a monthly basis?
In 1994 Mike Brown found a small piece of parchment lodged in the bowels of the West Devon Record Office which turned out to be a record of the beating of Buckland bounds from 1683. The description of Seven Lords’ Lands was as follows: ‘Hoartsberry where the seven Lords meete and seven stones are pitched up together to each Lord a stone, and the stone that belongs to the Lord of the Manor of Buckland is the South Stone save one‘, p.14. Clearly this entry does not give the date and origins of this custom but along with the evidence from the Cartulary of Torre Abbey would suggest a long tradition. If meetings were held at Seven Lords’ Land then this would in effect classify the place as a ‘Moot Hill’, moot stemming from the old Saxon word for a court or council – möt. Other indicators to the age of the area can be seen in nearby Harefoot Cross and Harefoot Mires, both contain the element hēre which is an Anglo Saxon word meaning ”dignity or importance, Clark Hall,p.18. Could this allude to Seven Lords’ Land as a place of importance or where dignitaries met?
There is enough evidence to show that Seven Lords’ lands has an important place in the historical record of Dartmoor especially as it is, to the best of my knowledge, the only place of its kind on the moor. However the monument has not been without its trails and tribulations as noted above but now the monument has suffered the indignation of being covered with gorse to such an extent that it’s almost invisible. The Dartmoor Magazine reported in the spring of 2008 that the editor on four occasions has reported this deplorable state of affairs to the Dartmoor National Park Authority. The then Chief Executive responded with the normal DNPA arrogance stating that as the monument was scheduled and that the authority had no responsibility of care towards it, Stanbrook, p.4. Stanbrook also reported that a member of the public had informed her that they too had written to the DNPA complaining about the state of the cairn. That was two years ago and there has been no reply forthcoming – what a surprise. It is interesting to see that the brand spanking new information centre which has just been built two miles down the road at Haytor was in 2007 projected to cost £336,750.00p? Well, finally (September 2009) the gorse was cleared and again you can see the Seven Lord’s Lands cairn in all its glory, however the march of gorse and bracken is timeless and by 2014 it had started to regrow as can be seen from the photo above. In the summer of 2016 there was a mini digger doing some kind of work near to the cairn circle so maybe the vegetation will once gain be removed.
Monday, 7 September 2020
saltash
Welcome, good wenches.
Thy Prince hath not forgotten your loyal act,
and, because of it, we are pleased to-day to bestow a favour on the burgesses of Saltash, which favour our herald shall now proclaim. Ho there,
herald! The proclamation.
H e r a l d :
Know that of our special favour with the assent of our Council we have
granted, for ourselves and our heirs, to the Mayor and Burgesses of our
town of Saltash in the County of Cornwall, that they should have the
proceeds and revenues of a certain Ferryboat in our said town of Saltash
for a term of thirty years, by returning to us and our heirs annually, during
the said thirty years, instead of the aforesaid proceeds and revenues,
ten pounds at Michaelmas in equal portions.
God save the King. {Cheers.)
Ho ! I see another friend—that roistering knave, William Leache. Come
hither, rascal. By my faith, thy face is as honest and as ugly as ever.
{Leache kneels). Nay, do not kneel, We have been comrades in arms,
and thou hast ever served me with unswerving fealty.
But, thou hast lost an ey e! Was it at Poitiers ? Ay, I mind it now,
and, by the rood, to-day I will requite thy loss as I can. Thou shalt have
thirty marks each year charged to our privy purse. But look to it that
the saucy wenches of Saltash take it not from thee, for, by my soul, they
would seduce blessed Antony himself. And, friend William, thy one
eye has a roving look that would do the work of two.
And now we must press on, for the king’s work is urgent. Farewell, my
friends. Forget not your allegiance to the Lord Christ, and—Edward
and England for ever ! {Cheers. Exit procession, followed by townspeople).
GEpteobe 4 .— &ixteentfj Ccnturp
DRAKE’S DREAM.
‘As every schoolboy knows’—and schoolgirl, too, one would add
To Macaulay’s egregious phrase—Queen Elizabeth
Never in life set foot in the Duchy of Cornwall.
To-night we may well rub our eyes on beholding her ghost
Transported from Westminster Abbey to dance at Saltash,
A point far beyond the range of her longest Progresses !
But pageants, like poets, are granted a measure of licence.
What though the incident be but a figment of fancy ?
No one can argue that Drake, as here shown, did not dream it.
See him, pacing with troubled mind the green deck of the field.
For safer bestowal the treasure new-taken from Spain
Know not, sirrah !
He has moved from ships in the haven to Trematon Keep,
Instead of despatching it under strong guard to the Tower.
Truth to tell he is sorely reluctant to part with it.
For, knowing Elizabeth’s greed for gold and for jewels,
He doubts if, after her fingers have dipped in the coffers,
Anything will be left for himself and his mariners :
A sackful of silver, it may be, flung to her sea dogs,
A gracious reprieve from the hangman’s rope for their Captain !
And now word is come that the Queen is storming and swearing
Because of the long delay in receiving the plunder.
“ She suspects me," growls Drake, “ ’twere wise to tarry no longer :
The waggons shall set forth at dawn." And, filled with foreboding,
He flings himself down, and dreams in the lee of the hedgerow.
(Drake is seen dreaming. Enter men with maypole followed by Mayday procession
of children, May Queen, etc., and townspeople who enter singing a Mayday madrigal.
At end of song man runs in shouting).
News, news, my masters ! News, I say. (All gather round. Shouts of
“ What is it ? ” )
’Tis said that the Queen is approaching Saltash and will be here at any
moment.
Not our good Queen Bess ! Out upon thy lying tongue ! What should
bring her here ?
Nay, that I know not. I can only tell you as ’twas told to me.
Perchance she comes to join in our Mayday revelling ? (Laughter from
crowd).
Out upon thee for a saucy knave! Have a care, or that tongue of
thine will lose thee thine head, and a good riddance too say I !
(Laughter.)
(Cheers heard in distance. Great excitement. Shouts of " What is it ? ’’)
The Queen ! The Queen is here ! The Mayor is greeting her even now.
Come on now, we will give her a real Saltash welcome. (Shouts of “ Ay,
ay, that will we.” Enter Queen, ladies-in-waiting, etc., Mayor and other
townspeople.)
Good Mr. Mayor, methinks our visit to this our ancient Borough of Saltash
is well-timed, for I see the maypole yonder, and, if my eyes mistake not,
a fair maid who is to be crowned Queen of the May. Such customs are
dear to us, and we shall be graciously pleased to watch your revels, but
first there is a matter that concerns us closely, and demands oui instant
attention. Where is Master Drake, for it is his affairs that have brought
us hither, and we would have speech with him at once.
My liege, I know not if he is to be found on the quay------
Ods bodikins, thou hads’t best find out forthwith
or it will be the worse for thee. Go, send a messenger at once, and see
to it that Drake is brought here instantly.
(Drake groans and stirs uneasily in his sleep).
It shall be as your Majesty commands. Giles Gosling, thou art fleet of
foot. Hie thee to the quay and see if Frankie Drake has arrived, and if so
bring him hither at once. (Exit messenger.)
Now let the ceremonies begin. Bring thy May Queen hither and Elizabeth shall crown her. By the rood, a merry je st! A queen to crown a
queen! The idea doth please us mightily. (May Queen and attendants
come forward to Queen and curtsey) It is our royal pleasure to crown thee
Queen of the May. See to it that thou dost rule thy subjects with love
and justice. So shalt thou find happiness in thy kingdom. (Leads her
to the throne) And now the Maypole. (The maypole is danced.
Messenger arrives running to Mayor).
Your Grace, Captain Drake is here. Will your Majesty be pleased to
have speech with him in the inn yonder ?
Nay, what we have to say shall be said here in the presence of you all.
Bring him to me.
(Exit messenger to fetch Drake. Some consternation among the crowd, and
an atmosphere of uneasiness. Enter Drake and his sea-dogs. He pauses
on seeing the Queen)
Stand forth, Master Drake. (Drake advances and kneels.)
My gracious liege !
Drake, is’t true that thou hast seized three Spanish treasure ships and
anchored them off the quay here? Speak out and be speedy. Thou
wert better dally with a lioness than with Elizabeth.
’Tis true, your Grace, I see no reason to deny it.
See no reason! Have a care, Master Drake, beshrew me, but that head
of thine is in deadly peril. Where are the gold and treasure that thou
didst seize ? It hath not reached oui coffers. Where is it, I say ?
Stored in a safe place, most gracious lady, against the day when it can
be given over to your Majesty’s still safer keeping.
Thou hast a smooth tongue for a pirate, Master Drake, for by my father’s
beard, that is all thou art! But thou canst not trick us, so have a care.
What is the amount of this treasure, sirrah?
Some £60,000, my liege, an all too poor a gift for your gracious Majesty.
£60,000! ! ’Tis a princely sum. Look to it that it doth reach our coffers
within a sennight, Drake, or it will be the worse for thee. £60,000! !!
Methinks thy queen must pardon thee and graciously accept thy gift.
£10,000 shalt thou keep for thyself as a mark of our esteem. But oh !
I fear me thou art a sorry rog
(Drake kneels and kisses Queen’s hand during her speech. Meanwhile his
wife, with her father and brother, has entered and has watched rather fearfully. A t end she conies forward joyfully but shyly to Drake)
B u t whom have we here ? Part of the treasufe, Frankie ?
A y, your Grace, a treasure in very sooth, once known to Saltash folk as
M ary Newman, and now m y own dear wife.
Mistress Drake, we are glad to greet thee, for thy wooing b y our Frankie
touched all hearts. Keep an eye on th y man, for he is over venturesome
on the high seas. W ilt lend him to th y queen for a space ? Then come,
Drake, th y h a n d ! W e will tread a M ayday measure. (Dance follows.)
Now, good people, our royal coach awaits us, and we must away. E lizabeth of England will not easily forget this M ayday, nor her subjects’ loving
welcome. The burdens of a sovereign are heavy, but it doth ease them
m ightily to know that th y queen can claim the allegiance of such loyal
and trusty hearts. Farewell.
(Exeunt omnes to m usic)
C p tso be 5 — C isfjtee nt!) C e n tu r p
POWDER AND PATCHES.
In pageantry Time's leaden feet to quicksilver change :
The slow-moving centuries race, years dwindle to minutes.
A magical carpet now bears us to Georgian days
O f silk and brocade on a background of rags and tatters.
A turbulent age when beggars cut throats for a shilling
And gentlemen settled their quarrels with rapiers, killing
With no more excuse than the slight o f a lifted eyebrow.
A n age none the less of curtseys and exquisite manners,
O f tuneful gavotte and quadrille, stately dances which taught
A reverence for women (not notably practised, maybe,
By a manhood largely composed o f rakes and of roues)
Tonight Lady Betty descends from her new sedan chair
To step, with friends at the Manor upon the smooth lawn,
A minuet, daintiest o f measures, undreaming of days
When, deafened by raucous percussion and saxophone discord,
We dance with a shuffle derived from the amorous ape.
Hark ! From that tuneful, quieter England of yesterday
x
Thursday, 3 September 2020
The Teign Gorge is located in the north eastern section of Dartmoor National Park close to the ancient stannary town Chagford and the pretty villages Drewsteignton and Dunsford. The National Trust's Castle Drogo is at the mouth of the gorge.
Teign Gorge
The Teign Gorge is located in the north eastern section of Dartmoor National Park close to the ancient stannary town Chagford and the pretty villages Drewsteignton and Dunsford. The National Trust's Castle Drogo is at the mouth of the gorge. The National
Trust's Dunsford Wood and Steps Bridge are to the east.
We've been walking the Teign Gorge on a regular basis for over seven years now and never tire of its natural beauty. It's widely recognised as being one of the most stunning areas in the National Park. We've positioned the Teign Gorge on Google maps so zoom in on the 'Satellite' setting to see its exact location.
Cut by the River Teign that rises at two sources on Dartmoor's high north plateau, the gorge is a wooded, steep sided valley that runs for miles towards the National Park border.
If you are visiting for the first time, explore the area between Castle Drogo and Fingle Bridge. There's ample parking at both attractions. Follow the Hunter's Path along the northern lip of the gorge and return on the Fisherman's Path that follows the course of the River Teign. The views from the Hunter's Path around Sharp Tor (Teign Gorge/North East Dartmoor) are particularly impressive. You'll see Chagford and the high moors around Hangingstone Hill to the west.
Within the gorge, we'd recommend visiting Castle Drogo, Fingle Bridge with its pub and Sharp Tor. Across the valley from Castle Drogo is the superb Whiddon Deer Park. Cranbrook Castle Hillfort offers immense views of Dartmoor National Park and large areas of Devon. Paths have been opened up on the southern side of the gorge under the name Deer Stalkers Paths.
Given the high number of attractions within the Teign Gorge, plan a weekend break to Chagford to explore the area. There's a top walk along the gorge from Chagford. In Spring and Autumn, it's particularly stunning.
If this is your type of thing, try also the Dart Gorge and Lustleigh Cleave, Tavy Cleave and the wooded valleys around Burrator Reservoir.
In early August 2013, the National Trust and Woodland Trust announced that they had acquired, and were set to restore, a stretch of woodland in the middle of the Teign Gorge between the National Trust's Castle Drogo Estate and the National Trust's woodland around Steps Bridge. This woodland is known as Fingle Woods (National Trust/Woodland Trust). The acquisition means that the entire length of the gorge is now managed by the National Trust and Woodland Trust. A statement from the National Trust explained: 'Together we'll be able to create almost 30 miles (48km) of footpaths for visitors who will be able to see and enjoy the woodlands and get a real feel for the enormity of the place. The woodlands now belong to us jointly and we are ready to start the restoration process for the benefit of wildlife and people over the next 50 years. It also now allows us to manage a 10km long landscape of woodland in the Teign Gorge on Dartmoor'.
Holne,
Mel Pool, Holne, Dartmoor National Park
Wild swimming is popular in Dartmoor National Park. Mel Pool is one of the most beautiful, and remote, places in which you can enjoy it. A stretch of cascades and calm pools of water on the River Dart in the stunning Dart Gorge, it's relatively difficult to get to although nothing too challenging for a fit person.
We've positioned the Mel Pool area on Google maps so zoom in on the 'Satellite' setting to see its location.
The Dart Gorge is an amazing steep-sided gorge cut by the River Dart as it flows from the north moor down to Dartmouth. Mel Tor is a rocky outcrop on the north lip of the gorge. Bench Tor is another rocky outcrop on a spur of land on the south side of the gorge. Between Mel Tor and Bench Tor, all the way down at the bottom of the gorge, is Mel Pool where the Dart bends through particularly wild woodland and runs towards another wild swimming area called Sharrah Pool. Heavily wooded gorge walls tower above you and amplify the sound of water as it flows east.
To visit, follow the road that runs from Ashburton to Holne. Continue past Holne to Venford Reservoir on the edge of the south moor. There are two car parks on either side of the reservoir. Start from the car park to the east. From that car park, walk north west to the corner of the railings that surround the reservoir dam and water works. Drop down to a disused road. This runs round the spur of land on which Bench Tor is located. Follow the disused road for a few minutes and you'll see a track to your left that cuts down through bracken. It runs alongside Venford Brook as it drops to the edge of the River Dart. A path runs east. Follow the river downstream. You'll pass cascades, a waterfall and other pools of water in which you can swim. Somtimes you walk by the river. Sometimes you leave the bank and walk above the river. Mel Pool is located on the bend of the river as marked on the Ordnance Survey Explorer OL28 'Dartmoor' map. There are giant slabs of granite and stretches of calm water.
Note that you can follow the river on foot down to Sharrah Pool. It's very difficult walking on narrow tracks and across slippery rocks. There are some steep climbs and drops so be very careful. Don't try this route if you are not a confident walker or reasonably fit. That said, we've done this with young kids so, in the scheme of things, it's not that difficult.
Tuesday, 25 August 2020
tmôr yr afon the river sea dating from the 3800s BC. The Levels were the location of the Glastonbury Lake Village as well as two Lake villages at Meare Lake. Several settlements and hill forts were built on the natural "islands" of slightly raised land, including Brent Knoll and Glastonbury.
The city of Swansea is the largest settlement on the Welsh coast of the Bristol Channel. Other major built-up areas include Barry (including Barry Island), Port Talbot and Llanelli. Smaller resort towns include Porthcawl, Mumbles, Saundersfoot and Tenby. The cities of Cardiff and Newport adjoin the Severn estuary, but lie upstream of the Bristol Channel itself.
On the English side, the resort towns of Weston-super-Mare, Burnham-on-Sea, Watchet, Minehead and Ilfracombe are located on the Bristol Channel. Barnstaple and Bideford are sited on estuaries opening onto Bideford Bay, at the westernmost end of the Bristol Channel. Just upstream of the official eastern limit of the Channel, adjoining the Severn estuary, is the city of Bristol, originally established on the River Avon but now with docks on the Severn estuary, which is one of the most important ports in Britain. It gives its name to the Channel, which forms its seaward approach.
Bristol Channel floods, 1607
On 30 January 1607 (New style) thousands of people were drowned, houses and villages swept away, farmland inundated and flocks destroyed when a flood hit the shores of the Channel. The devastation was particularly bad on the Welsh side, from Laugharne in Carmarthenshire to above Chepstow on the English border. Cardiff was the most badly affected town. There remain plaques up to 8 ft (2.4 m) above sea level to show how high the waters rose on the sides of the surviving churches. It was commemorated in a contemporary pamphlet "God's warning to the people of England by the great overflowing of the waters or floods."
On 30 January 1607 (New style) thousands of people were drowned, houses and villages swept away, farmland inundated and flocks destroyed when a flood hit the shores of the Channel. The devastation was particularly bad on the Welsh side, from Laugharne in Carmarthenshire to above Chepstow on the English border. Cardiff was the most badly affected town. There remain plaques up to 8 ft (2.4 m) above sea level to show how high the waters rose on the sides of the surviving churches. It was commemorated in a contemporary pamphlet "God's warning to the people of England by the great overflowing of the waters or floods."
Tuesday, 14 January 2020
Love o’ the ground, All healand True Love, Mothers wort and Queen of the Meadows. As for a salve wherewith to anoint the forehead against visits from “Elf or goblin night visitors,
Country Contentments
STO LEN goods are sweetest when a title is needed for extracts from the “ Cunynge Curiosities” of 10th- to 18th-century writers; books “wherein, thou o Reader (if thou canst but read) art sure to finde abundance and plenty of matters most dainty.” Gervase Markham, the author of 16th-century Country Contentments, writes, like Sir Hugh Platt in The Garden of Eden, “to the pleasuring of others,” and title thief though I am, I can not feel that kindly Master Markham grudges me my stolen heading. “ I shall not blush to tell you I had some ambition to publish this book” for the “ pleasing” of “ all Gentlemen and Ladies and others delighting in God’s vegetable creatures.”
“When the greate books at large are not to be had but at greate price,” or after hours of search in ancient libraries, many modern readers must be denied access to the “Truths and Mysteries” early writers deemed all important, and occasionally, as Platt says, “rolled up in the most cloudy and darksome speech” after having“wrung them from the earth by the painfull hand of experience for your good entertainment.” Surely in a world which pessimists insist is being given over to the devil all should hear of a reliable Anglo-Saxon Salve against “Temptations of the Fiend”? A famous politician begged for the inclusion of a “Leechdom against a man full of elfin tricks,” and suggested that certain citizens of the U.S.A. would welcome “A lithe soft drink against a devil and dementedness,” and might not Scotland Yard consider the possibilities of a prescription said to be infallible “If any evil tempting occur to a man” ? Such simple remedies, brewed, pounded or devised from garden herbes— “honest wortes,” mingled with Holy water, prayers, and flowers whose very names bring healing:— Love o’ the ground, All healand True Love,
Mothers wort and Queen of the Meadows. As for a salve wherewith to anoint the forehead against visits from “Elf or goblin night visitors,” our nurseries still need it, while an ointment inducing Elves to return and restore our lost childish faith in them would be of even greater value to some of us. 2
Miss Rohde in her exquisite Garden of Herbs quotes a 16th-century receipt
“ To enable one to see the fairies,”
a charm I never saw written down,
though one very similar was told me over thirty years ago by an old woman in the West Country.
As in Miss Rohde’s version,
Rosewater and Marigold water, herbs and flowers gathered to the East, played their part, but first in importance
— or perhaps first in my memory— was, thyme and grass from a fairy ring.
I often wanted to test its magical properties, but never succeeded in waking at dawn.
According to my informer, dawn, or just before set of full moon, was the correct hour at which to make one’s first bow to the little unseen folk.
At that time of my life the inner wonder of her beliefs and friendship with the fairies— which none of her neighbours seemed to doubt— was just as it should be, and nothing much out of the ordinary.
Now, when I could better appreciate it and have no unsympathetic nursemaid to scoff at pleadings to be allowed a hedgehog in bed to keep me awake on important business, the old lady sleeps forever, and the wood where she said the fairies could be found was cut down in 1916.
To have missed collecting all the details for preparing such a truly content-giving charm still makes me “monstrous melancholy” ; old adjectives, “prodigious,” “vastly,” and their like, express better than modern words the seriousness of such a loss.
The loss of enjoyment and belief in ancient charms and customs, not to mention courtesies, has spread like a pest amongst country-folk since Trippers “boomswisshed” into their midst,
Trippers ready to believe that their name denotes: a rider in bangs, a litter distributor, one willing to murder flowers and behead wild rosebuds with paper streamers: not “one who walks nimbly, or dances with light feet.” Motor horns seem to be “The passing bell, also called the soul bell, ” sounding the knell of better days.
The above paragraph was gently censored by one with a knowledge of “ Gardens and their Godly treasure to be found therein” that ranks him kin to Thomas Hill, who wrote as finale to The Profitable Art of Gardening, “The favour of God be with thee always.”
At his suggestion I add a quotation from Grose: 4
“ The passing Bell was antiently rung for two purposes, one to bespeak the Prayers of all good Christians for a Soul just departing; the other to drive away evil Spirits who stood at the Bed’s foot, and about the House, ready to seize their prey, or at least to molest and terrify the Soul in its passage: but by the ringing of that Bell (for Durandus informs us Evil Spirits are much afraid of Bells) they were kept aloof and the Soul like a hunted Hare gained the start or what is by Sportsmen called Law.” Even if many of the old Contentments are gone beyond recall, we can, as he says, loudly “ring the funerall peale” over such fiendish customs as the games of “Mumble Sparrow” and “Cat in Bottle”— inflicting intense suffering on helpless animals.
The charm and sheer word magic of most of the old writers incline one to forget that the Country Contentments of our ancestors generally were balanced by discontentments.
The New Art and Mystery of Gossiping and early issues of The Tatler and Spectator hint that 17th- and 18th-century Housewives were faced with difficulties similar to the troubles of a Maisonette wife or Flat-wife of to-day. 5
STO LEN goods are sweetest when a title is needed for extracts from the “ Cunynge Curiosities” of 10th- to 18th-century writers; books “wherein, thou o Reader (if thou canst but read) art sure to finde abundance and plenty of matters most dainty.” Gervase Markham, the author of 16th-century Country Contentments, writes, like Sir Hugh Platt in The Garden of Eden, “to the pleasuring of others,” and title thief though I am, I can not feel that kindly Master Markham grudges me my stolen heading. “ I shall not blush to tell you I had some ambition to publish this book” for the “ pleasing” of “ all Gentlemen and Ladies and others delighting in God’s vegetable creatures.”
“When the greate books at large are not to be had but at greate price,” or after hours of search in ancient libraries, many modern readers must be denied access to the “Truths and Mysteries” early writers deemed all important, and occasionally, as Platt says, “rolled up in the most cloudy and darksome speech” after having“wrung them from the earth by the painfull hand of experience for your good entertainment.” Surely in a world which pessimists insist is being given over to the devil all should hear of a reliable Anglo-Saxon Salve against “Temptations of the Fiend”? A famous politician begged for the inclusion of a “Leechdom against a man full of elfin tricks,” and suggested that certain citizens of the U.S.A. would welcome “A lithe soft drink against a devil and dementedness,” and might not Scotland Yard consider the possibilities of a prescription said to be infallible “If any evil tempting occur to a man” ? Such simple remedies, brewed, pounded or devised from garden herbes— “honest wortes,” mingled with Holy water, prayers, and flowers whose very names bring healing:— Love o’ the ground, All healand True Love,
Mothers wort and Queen of the Meadows. As for a salve wherewith to anoint the forehead against visits from “Elf or goblin night visitors,” our nurseries still need it, while an ointment inducing Elves to return and restore our lost childish faith in them would be of even greater value to some of us. 2
Miss Rohde in her exquisite Garden of Herbs quotes a 16th-century receipt
“ To enable one to see the fairies,”
a charm I never saw written down,
though one very similar was told me over thirty years ago by an old woman in the West Country.
As in Miss Rohde’s version,
Rosewater and Marigold water, herbs and flowers gathered to the East, played their part, but first in importance
— or perhaps first in my memory— was, thyme and grass from a fairy ring.
I often wanted to test its magical properties, but never succeeded in waking at dawn.
According to my informer, dawn, or just before set of full moon, was the correct hour at which to make one’s first bow to the little unseen folk.
At that time of my life the inner wonder of her beliefs and friendship with the fairies— which none of her neighbours seemed to doubt— was just as it should be, and nothing much out of the ordinary.
Now, when I could better appreciate it and have no unsympathetic nursemaid to scoff at pleadings to be allowed a hedgehog in bed to keep me awake on important business, the old lady sleeps forever, and the wood where she said the fairies could be found was cut down in 1916.
To have missed collecting all the details for preparing such a truly content-giving charm still makes me “monstrous melancholy” ; old adjectives, “prodigious,” “vastly,” and their like, express better than modern words the seriousness of such a loss.
The loss of enjoyment and belief in ancient charms and customs, not to mention courtesies, has spread like a pest amongst country-folk since Trippers “boomswisshed” into their midst,
Trippers ready to believe that their name denotes: a rider in bangs, a litter distributor, one willing to murder flowers and behead wild rosebuds with paper streamers: not “one who walks nimbly, or dances with light feet.” Motor horns seem to be “The passing bell, also called the soul bell, ” sounding the knell of better days.
The above paragraph was gently censored by one with a knowledge of “ Gardens and their Godly treasure to be found therein” that ranks him kin to Thomas Hill, who wrote as finale to The Profitable Art of Gardening, “The favour of God be with thee always.”
At his suggestion I add a quotation from Grose: 4
“ The passing Bell was antiently rung for two purposes, one to bespeak the Prayers of all good Christians for a Soul just departing; the other to drive away evil Spirits who stood at the Bed’s foot, and about the House, ready to seize their prey, or at least to molest and terrify the Soul in its passage: but by the ringing of that Bell (for Durandus informs us Evil Spirits are much afraid of Bells) they were kept aloof and the Soul like a hunted Hare gained the start or what is by Sportsmen called Law.” Even if many of the old Contentments are gone beyond recall, we can, as he says, loudly “ring the funerall peale” over such fiendish customs as the games of “Mumble Sparrow” and “Cat in Bottle”— inflicting intense suffering on helpless animals.
The charm and sheer word magic of most of the old writers incline one to forget that the Country Contentments of our ancestors generally were balanced by discontentments.
The New Art and Mystery of Gossiping and early issues of The Tatler and Spectator hint that 17th- and 18th-century Housewives were faced with difficulties similar to the troubles of a Maisonette wife or Flat-wife of to-day. 5
Saturday, 11 January 2020
Saturday, 12 October 2019
Blackfriars ship
Blackfriars ship
This Roman ship was discovered by Peter Marsden in 1962 in the bed of the River Thames, off Blackfriars in the City of London, and excavated in 1962-1963. The ship was a wreck that lay about 120 metres from the Roman shore at the south-west corner of the Roman city of Londinium.
The construction of the ship was dated to about AD 150 by dendrochronology, and its sinking soon after by associated pottery and a coin.
The remains of the forward half of the ship and the extreme aft timbers were excavated, and only the forward half was destroyed during the modern construction work.
The aft half remains unexcavated.
The wreck was about 14m long and 6.5m wide, and comprised the bottom and parts of the collapsed sides of a Romano-Celtic ship. The vessel was built of oak (Quercus) and had no keel, but instead two broad keel-planks. A stempost lay at the bow and a sternpost at the stern. The planks were carvel laid and fastened by large iron nails to oak frames - massive floor-timbers in the bottom, and lighter side-frames at the sides. The bottom nails had partly cone-shaped heads hollowed to contain a caulking of thin slivers of hazel (Corylus avellana) in pine resin, and the sides had fully cone-shaped heads similarly caulked. The pointed ends of all nails had been turned over the inboard face of the frames. Between the strakes was a caulking of hazel (Corylus avellana) shavings in a pine resin.
The mast-step was a rectangular socket in a transverse floor-timber about one-third of the length of the vessel from the bow, and in the bottom of the step was a votive offering of a worn bronze coin of Domitian that had been minted in Rome in AD 88-89.
Enough remained to reconstruct the sides up to over 2.5m above the bottom, and this enabled a hydrostatic analysis to be undertaken. This showed that the vessel could probably carry a cargo of about 50 tonnes at a draught of about 1.5m.
The hold lay in the middle of the ship and was lined with a ceiling of oak planks. The wreck was carrying a cargo of building stone by the rivers Medway and Thames from the Maidstone area of Kent, south-east England, to London. Forward of the mast-step in the bottom was an unfinished millstone of Millstone Grit, probably either from the Pennine Hills of northern England or, more likely, from the Namur region by the river Meuse in Belgium.
The ship had certainly sailed at sea for traces of Teredo and Limnoria borings existed in the planks. It appears to have sunk by accident in a collision.
Some timbers are preserved at the Shipwreck Heritage Centre, Hastings, and in the Museum of London, England.
Thursday, 27 June 2019
Fusarium graminearum
Gibberella zeae
| Gibberella zeae | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Division: | |
| Class: | |
| Order: | |
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| Species: |
G. zeae
|
| Binomial name | |
| Gibberella zeae
(Schwein.) Petch, (1936)
| |
| Synonyms | |
| Botryosphaeria saubinetii Dichomera saubinetii Dothidea zeae Fusarium graminearum Fusarium roseum Gibbera saubinetii Gibberella roseum Gibberella saubinetii Sphaeria saubinetii Sphaeria zeae | |
Contents
Life cycle[edit]
F. graminearum is a haploid homothallic ascomycete. The fruiting bodies, perithecia, develop on the mycelium and give rise to ascospores, which land on susceptible parts of the host plant to germinate. The fungus causes fusarium head blight on wheat, barley, and other grass species, as well as ear rot on corn. The primary inocula are the ascospores, sexual spores which are produced in the perithecia.[4] Spores are forcibly discharged and can germinate within six hours upon landing on the plant surface. The scab disease is monocyclic; after one cycle of infection with ascospores, the fungus produces macroconidia by asexual reproduction.[5] These structures overwinter in the soil or in plant debris on the field and give rise to the mycelium in the next season.Host and symptoms[edit]
The pathogen is capable of causing a variety of diseases: head blight or 'scab' on wheat (Triticum), barley (Hordeum), rice (Oryza), oats (Avena), and Gibberella stalk and ear rot disease on maize (Zea). Additionally, the fungus may infect other plant species without causing any disease symptoms.[6]Maize
In Gibberella stalk rot, the leaves on early-infected plants will turn a dull greyish-green, and the lower internodes will soften and turn a tan to dark-brown. A pink-red discoloration occurs within the stalks of diseased tissue. Shredding of the pith may reveal small, round, black perithecia on the stalks.[7] Gibberella (red) ear rot can have a reddish mold that is often at the ear tip. The infection occurs by colonizing corn silk and symptoms first occur at the ear's apex. The white mycelium turns from pink to red over time, eventually covering the entire ear. Ears that become infected early don't fully develop the reddish mold near the ear tip, as the mold grows between the husks and ear.[6]
Rice
Gibberella zeae can turn affected seeds red and cause brown discoloration in certain areas on the seed or the entire seed surface. The surface of husks develop white spots that later become yellow and salmon or carmine. Infected grains are light, shrunken and brittle. Stem nodes begin to rot and wilt, eventually causing them to turn black and disintegrate when they are infected by the fungal pathogen.[7]
Wheat
Brown, dark purple-black necrotic lesions will form on the outer surface of the spikelets, what the wheat ear breaks up into. The lesions may be referred to as scabs, but this is not to be confused and associated with other scab diseases such as those with different host and pathogen. Head blight is visible before the spikes mature.[7] Spikelets begin to appear water-soaked before the loss of chlorophyll, which gives a white straw color. Peduncles that are directly under the inflorescence can become discolored into a brown-purple color. Tissues of the inflorescence typically become blighted into a bleached tan appearance, and the grain within it atrophies.[6] The awn will become deformed, twisted and curve in a downward direction.
Barley
Infections on barley are not always visible in the field. Similar to wheat, infected spikelets show a browning or water-soaked appearance. The infected kernels display a tan to dark brown discoloration. During long periods of wetness, pink to salmon-orange spore masses can be seen on the infected spikelets and kernels.[6] The cortical lesions of infected seeds become a reddish-brown in cool, moist soil. Warm soil can cause head blight to occur after emergence, and crown and basal culm rot can be observed in later plant development.[7]
Infection process[edit]
F. graminearum infects wheat spikes from anthesis through the soft dough stage of kernel development. The fungus enters the plant mostly through the flowers; however, the infection process is complex and the complete course of colonization of the host has not been described. Germ tubes seem not to be able to penetrate the hard, waxy surface of the lemma and palea which protect the flower. The fungus enters the plant through natural openings such as stomates, and needs soft tissue such as the flowers, anthers and embryo to infect the plant.[8] From the infected floret, the fungus can grow through the rachis and cause severe damage in a short period of time under favorable conditions. Upon germination of the spores on the anthers and the surface of the developing kernel, hyphae penetrate the epicarp and spread through the seed coat. Successively, the different layers of the seed coat and finally the endosperm are colonized and killed.[9]
Management[edit]
The control of this disease can be achieved using a combination of the following strategies: fungicide applications, resistance breeding, proper storage, crop rotation, crop residue tillage, and seed treatment. The correct usage of fungicide applications against Fusarium head blight can reduce the disease by 50 to 60 percent.[10] Fusarium refers to a large genus of soil fungi that are economically important due to the profound effects they have on crops. Application of fungicides is necessary at early heading date for barley and early flowering for wheat, where the early application can limit the infection of the ear. Barley and wheat differ in fungicide application because of their differences in developmental traits.[11] The disease generally develops late in the season or during storage, so fungicide use is only effective in the early season. Management against insect pests such as ear borers, for corn, will also reduce the infection of the ear from wounds caused by insect feeding.[12]Cultivating a variety of hosts that are resistant to Fusarium head blight is one of the most evidence-based and cost-effective ways to manage the disease. Using varieties that have looser tusks that cover the ear are less vulnerable to Fusarium head blight. Once the crop has been harvested, it is essential to store it at low moisture, below 15%, as this will reduce the appearance of Gibberella zeae and Fusarium species in storage.[12]
Avoiding the planting of small grain crops following other small grain crops or corn and tillage of crop residue minimizes the chances of Fusarium head blight in environmentally favorable years. The rotation of small grains with soybean or other non-host crops has proven to reduce Fusarium head blight and mycotoxin contamination.[10] Crop rotation with the tillage of residue prevents crops from remaining to infect on the soil surface. Residues can provide an overwintering medium for Fusarium species to cause Fusarium head blight. As a result, the chances of infection are greatly improved in the succeeding small grain crop.[10] If minimal or no tillage occurs, the residue spreads and allows the fungus to overwinter on stalks and rotted ears of corn and produce spores.
The seeds (kernels) that colonize with the fungus have less resistance because of poor germination. Planting certified or treated seeds can reduce the amount of seedling blight, which is caused by the seeds colonized with the fungus. If it is necessary to replant seeds that were harvested from a Fusarium head blight infected field, then the seeds should be treated to avoid reoccurrence of the infection.[10]
Importance[edit]
The loss of yield and contamination of seed with mycotoxins, alongside reduced seed quality, are the main contributions to the impact of this disease. Two mycotoxins, trichothecene deoxynivalenol, a strong biosynthesis inhibitor, and zearalenone, an estrogenic mycotoxin, can be found in grains after Fusarium head blight epidemics.[13] Deoxynivalenol is a type of vomitoxin and, as its name states, is an antifeedant. Livestock that consume crops contaminated with vomitoxin become sick and refuse to eat anymore. Zearalenone is a phytoestrogen, mimicking mammals' estrogen. It can be disastrous if it gets into the food chain, as zearalenone causes abortions in pregnant females and feminization of males.[14]In 1982, a major epidemic affected 4 million hectares of the spring wheat and barely growing in the northern Great Plains of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota. The yield losses exceeded 6.5 million tons worth approximately $826 million, with total losses related to the epidemic near one billion dollars.[7] Years that followed this epidemic, reported losses that have been estimated between $200-$400 million annually. Losses in barley because of Fusarium head blight are large in part due to the presence of deoxynivalenol. Barley prices from 1996 in Minnesota fell from $3.00 to $2.75 per bushel if the mycotoxin was present and another $0.05 for each part per million of deoxynivalenol present.[7]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Bai G, Shaner G (2004):Management and resistance in wheat and barley to Fusarium head blight. Annual Review of Phytopathology 42: 135-161 [1]
- ^ De Wolf ED, Madden LV, Lipps PE (2003): Risk assessment models for wheat Fusarium head blight epidemics based on within-season weather data. Phytopathology 93: 428-435. [2]
- ^ Beyer M, Aumann J (2008): Effects of Fusarium infection on the amino acid composition of winter wheat grain. Food Chemistry 111: 750-754. [3]
- ^ Beyer M, Verreet J-A (2005): Germination of Gibberella zeae ascospores as affected by age of spores after discharge and environmental factors. European Journal of Plant Pathology 111: 381-389. [4]
- ^ Beyer M, Röding S, Ludewig A, Verreet J-A (2004): Germination and survival of Fusarium graminearum macroconidia as affected by environmental factors. Journal of Phytopathology 152: 92-97.[5]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Rubella, Goswami; Kistler, Corby (2004). "Heading for disaster: Fusarium graminearum on cereal crop" (PDF). Molecular Plant Pathology. 5 (6): 515–525. doi:10.1111/J.1364-3703.2004.00252.X. PMID 20565626.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f "headblight of maize (Gibberella zeae)". www.plantwise.org. Retrieved 2017-10-25.
- ^ Bushnell WR, Leonard KJ (2003): Fusarium head blight of wheat and barley.APS Press, St. Paul, Minnesota
- ^ Jansen C, Von Wettstein D, Schäfer W, Kogel K-H, Felk A, Maier FJ (2005): Infection patterns in barley and wheat spikes inoculated with wild-type and trichodiene synthase gene disrupted Fusarium graminearum. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 102: 16892-16897 [6]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Managing Fusarium Head Blight in Virginia Small Grains". Retrieved 2017-10-25.
- ^ Alqudah, Ahmad M.; Schnurbusch, Thorsten (2017-05-30). "Heading Date Is Not Flowering Time in Spring Barley". Frontiers in Plant Science. 8: 896. doi:10.3389/fpls.2017.00896. ISSN 1664-462X. PMC 5447769. PMID 28611811.
- ^ Jump up to: a b User, Super. "Fusarium and gibberella ear rot (extended information)". maizedoctor.org. Retrieved 2017-10-25.
- ^ Guenther, John C.; Trail, Frances (2005). "The Development and Differentiation of Gibberella zeae (Anamorph: Fusarium graminearum) during Colonization of Wheat". Mycologia. 97 (1): 229–237. doi:10.1080/15572536.2006.11832856. JSTOR 3762213.
- ^ Volk, Tom. "Gibberella zeae or Fusarium graminearum, head blight of wheat". botit.botany.wisc.edu. Retrieved 2017-10-25.
External links[edit]
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