Edward VIII: A Royal Abdication
At 10:00 AM on December 10, 1936, Edward VIII, King of the United Kingdom, the British Dominions, and Emperor of India signed the Instrument of Abdication in which he irrevocably renounced all claims to the…
Tag: British Isles
Disaster at Sea: The Loss of the White Ship
While my main focus of interest is usually Lord Nelson and his Navy, today I'm writing about a ship of a very different era: la Blanche-Nef, aka, the White Ship, which sank during the twelfth…
Beyond the Shire: Memories of Reading “The Lord of the Rings”
The climb used to seem dangerous to reach the correct tier of the waterfall, the best one for reading, especially reading Tolkien. Safe there from the rest of the world, ready to be absorbed into…
Companion in Affliction: The Private Life and Wartime Trials Lord Charles Cornwallis
Lord Charles Cornwallis is a name that is inextricably linked with the British surrender at Yorktown and the end of the American Revolution in the popular imagination. Few think of him as more…
Voice of a Kingdom
They ask me why I love this land, Then mock me for my lack of words; How can I define such a mystic thing, Bound by a cord that cannot be traced, Swelling in my…
I. Magi. Nation. Inspiration: the Pagan Experience
Two years ago, when I studied abroad in England, we happened to take a trip out to Avebury. As soon as I stepped off the bus, though, we were told we’d only have a short…
Lessons in Love from Five Royal Marriages
In the vocation of marriage, there are various nuances and complexities that make each and every couple share a unique story. History provides us with many stories of such couples whose long-suffering endurance and time-tested…
Robin Hood, King Arthur, and the Call to Stand for Justice
Somewhere between the ages of 5 and 6, I fell in love with the legend of Robin Hood via the charming Disney animated classic depicting him, most appropriately, as a dashing, clever, and empathetic forest…
Scottish Plant Lore
Apple Parts used: the fruits and bark Gaelic: Ubhall Latin: Malus sylvestris (crab apple), Malus domestica, Pyrus malus Lore: Apples are associated with Avalon (Apple Land) and the Celtic Otherworld. An apple branch can…
The Keys of Canterbury: A Reflection on the Murder of St. Thomas Becket
I recently saw it written that the burden of the Church is too unappealing, too much for anyone to be expected to bear: too much blood, too much sin, too much self-abasement, too strict a…