Cooking the Books

Cooking the Books is the blog of the Tudor Kitchens cookery project at Hampton Court Palace.

Learn how they interpret original recipes like this one:

Roast Beef
Salmon Fress Boiled
Capon Stewed
Ryse of Genoa
Strawberye

I'm Henry the Eighth I am - Are You?

2009 is a big anniversary for Tudor history - the 500th anniversary of the accession of Henry VIII.

It will be a busy year for Past Pleasures Ltd, "the UK's leading costumed interpretation company". They hold the re-enactments contract with the UK's Historic Royal Palaces, who run Hampton Court amongst other addresses.

According to their ad in the October BBC History Magazine, PP wish to recruit "a man" to play Henry VIII at Hampton Court during the celebrations next year

Candidates need to be:

* Over 6 foot tall with "a large frame"
* Playing age 40-50.
* Able to grow a beard.
* Live within an easy commute of Hampton Court (they don't specify by river or horse).
* Have an interest in and knowledge of history, especially the Tudor period.

Good to see the old Henry we know and love is back - JRM need not apply!.

So you want to be a re-enactor?

If you are into, or think you might get into, the strange business of historical re-enactment, then travel writer Tim Moore's new book I Believe in Yesterday is for you.

Moore time-travelled through 2000 years in the company of re-enactors, from the Iron Age to the American Civil War, and I can't do better than quote the Random House publicity blurb:

"I Believe in Yesterday is an odyssey through 2,000 years of filth and fury, where men were men, the nights were black, the world was your outside toilet and everything tasted faintly of leeks."

Telegraph.co.uk has an extended extract covering his visit to the Great Annual Recreation at Kentwell Hall, Suffolk, the UK's leading Tudor re-enactment site.

Moore is unexpectedly appointed to the role of Chamberlain (newbies normally get lowly duties), which includes greeting the feared school visit parties.

He soon learns his lines: "And how many summers have you, childer of Romford, in the county of Essex?", as the brats snigger at his codpiece. Great stuff.

Kentwell Hall has posted two DVD extracts on Youtube on Tudor Clothes and Food. There are also plenty of other Youtube uploads on events at Kentwell.

Half Term at Hampton Court

Between Saturday 16th and Sunday 24th Feb, Hampton Court Palace has a program on Children of the Tudor Court. What was it like for Henry VIII's children growing up at the Tudor Court? What lessons did they learn and who were their teachers?

The reenactors at Hampton Court are very good so this event is recommended if you are looking to keep your kids entertained at half-term.

Oddly, the Hampton Court Palace website does not yet seem to be advertising this event, so best to telephone first 0870 7527777 in case the reenactors have gone to the block..

Picture: the engraving by Francesco Bartolozzi shows Henry with his children Edward, Mary and Elizabeth. The slightly mysterious figure at the rear is Henry's jester Will Sommers.

Peidiwch a Trio Hyn Adref! Holiday Notes Part 1

Some holiday notes from a week on the island of Anglesey, where posh Scousers and those mad enough to like driving behind caravans on the A5 congregate to enjoy sitting on a windy beach with a view of Snowdonia. Hence title of today's post in Welsh (over 60% of those on Anglesey use it as first language)....this is taken from the website of the Ardudwy Knights reenactment group (Anglesey is big on reenactments, of which more later), who entertained us at Beaumaris castle, all for charity. The translation is "don't try this at home!".

The journey from London is 4.5 hrs according to the AA, which calculates to 6 hrs when breaks for "i need a wee wee" and "the sweets have run out" are factored in. The first "are we there yet?" was after approx 5.5 miles. To break the journey an overnight stop was made near Oswestry (the children could not believe they had sat in a car for 3.5 hrs and were not yet in Wales), in the Fitzwarine House B&B at Whittington.

The advantage of staying here is that it is opposite Whittington Castle, (pictured) which may be the only English castle owned by the local community on a 99 year lease. They have a new tea shop courtesy of the Heritage Lottery fund, and there are useful info boards describing the role of the castle as a border stronghold in the 12th and 13th centuries. It was held by both English and Welsh lords at various points, and also figured in the Civil War before falling into disuse. There are also interesting Iron-Age earthworks adjacent to the castle.

No doubt in an effort to attract more tourism, the castle claims links to Dick Whittington, Robin Hood, and of course the Holy Grail. After a strenuous exploration of the ramparts, the adjacent White Lion pub does a decent pint of Bass.

Next installment to follow...

John Wilkes thrown out of the Commons for lewd "Essay on Women", 21st February 1764

John Wilkes (unflattering etching by Hogarth on right) was thrown out of the Commons in February 1764 for his lewd "Essay on Women"; today in history 2/21.

John Wilkes was an important radical politician in 18th century England, whose ugly features did not prevent him successfully chasing women whilst at the same time championing the cause of Liberty, to the annoyance of George III and his government.

Here's an extract from an entertaining book review by Geoffrey Robertson in the Times Online from March 2006:

Lord Sandwich (famous for declining to rise from his gaming table for lunch, ordering instead “two slices of bread with something in between”) read the poem to the House, declaring that:
“. . . life can little more supply Than just a few good f***s and then we die.” [sorry , had to censor this! - CW]
This was a golden moment in the history of British hypocrisy. Sandwich faltered, but their lordships shouted “Go on, go on” before condemning Wilkes for publishing an obscene and blasphemous libel. Wilkes had the last laugh — to Sandwich’s suggestion that he would die either by hanging or the pox, he famously quipped: “That depends on whether I embrace your lordship’s principles or your mistress.”

Wilkes was regarded as a hero of Liberty in the United States, and John Wilkes Booth , assassin of Abraham Lincoln, was indeed named after him.

More on John Wilkes from Wikipedia .

Men who commanded their own firing squads part 2: Admiral John Byng, March 1757

Admiral John Byng of the Royal Navy, like Marshal Ney in last week's post, gave the order to fire to his own firing squad, in his case by dropping a white handkerchief onto the deck of his flagship "Monarch", on which he was shot at Portsmouth in March 1757.

Byng had been found guilty by court-martial of "failing to do his utmost" in preventing the French capture of Minorca in 1756, at the start of the Seven Years War.

Many thought Byng had been made a scapegoat, and Voltaire wrote about his death in Candide, recording that in England 'it is thought good to kill an admiral from time to time to encourage the others' (pour encourager les autres)

Byng's end is recorded in typically terse naval style in the Master of the 'Monarch's' log recording the execution: 'at 12 Mr Byng was shot dead by 6 Marines and put into his coffin'.

Links: the National Maritime Museum , Peter Davis' site (where you can also download a Windows simulator for a square-rigged frigate) , Letters from Voltaire re. Byng on the Voltaire Soc. America site.

Other posts on this blog of naval interest:
The Spanish Armada
The Battle of Sole Bay
The Capture of Napoleon by the Bellerophon