Anglo-Saxon Church Eaves and Baby Burials May 11, 2015
Author: Beach Combing | in : MedievalBurial customs are always interesting and often mysterious. Consider this one. In early medieval Britain, particularly, it seems in Anglo-Saxon regions, fetuses and children were regularly buried up against church walls or extremely close to the same. Archaeologists have long recognized that strange constellations of bodies appeared in Christian cemeteries in Anglo-Saxon England; there are […]
Daily History Picture: Germany Quits May 10, 2015
Author: Beach Combing | in : Historical PicturesAmazing photograph, first publication thanks to Leif. ‘Burtonwood US Army Air Force Base, Cheshire, England on 8 May 1945. The newspaper is the ‘Stars and Stripes’, published by the US Army.’
The Rudest Diplomatic Letter Ever Written? May 10, 2015
Author: Beach Combing | in : Modern***Thanks to Chris from Haunted Ohio Books for putting me onto this story*** There are many uncertainties about the letters that follow, so let’s give the orthodox version, then the letters themselves and move on from there. In the 1670s the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire in cooperation with the Khan of the Crimea […]
Wild Man Circus Fakery May 9, 2015
Author: Beach Combing | in : ModernThe wild man was a staple of nineteenth-century circuses and penny shows. This personality was typically black, mostly undressed and the possessor of a cannibal’s grin. He (and it was invariably a male who took on the role) would stomp back and forth in his cage every so often lunging at some unwary child, allowing […]
Daily History Picture: Randy Nineteenth Century May 8, 2015
Author: Beach Combing | in : Historical PicturesHortatory Names May 8, 2015
Author: Beach Combing | in : ModernHortatory names were names given by Puritans in South-East England and, to a much lesser extent, in New England in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. A hortatory name exhorts correct Christian behaviour with the few syllables of the first name available. A tame example might be Hope Smith, a more dramatic example might be Nicholas If-Jesus-Christ-Had-Not-Died-For-Thee-Thou-Hadst-Been-Damned Barbon, […]
Bizarre Seventeenth-Century Jury List May 7, 2015
Author: Beach Combing | in : ModernThere follows a jury panel list from Sussex in the UK dating to the seventeenth century. A simple question: what is wrong with it? Beach has placed the forenames in bold and the surnames in italics: the final names are the local towns. Accepted Trevor of Norsham Redeemed Compton of Battle* Faint-not Hewit of Heathfield […]
Daily History Picture: American Gothic Originals May 7, 2015
Author: Beach Combing | in : Historical PicturesThe Nile’s Flooding and the Limits of Logic May 6, 2015
Author: Beach Combing | in : AncientHerodotus was fascinated by Egypt, a kind of topsy-turvy version of his Greek world, and above all, in the second book of the Histories, he shows that he was fascinated by the Nile that ran through Egypt. The great mystery with the Nile for Herodotus and his readers, though it seems to have little bothered […]
Daily History Picture: Titanic Iceberg? May 6, 2015
Author: Beach Combing | in : Historical PicturesA myth? This photograph is supposed to be the iceberg that ‘did it’ to the Titanic. See the paint along the side… 25 May 2015: NH has strong feelings… Not, I suggest. This photograph was up for sale in 2012 It is similar but marked as taken from a different ship. The entry says there […]
Execution by Cannon May 5, 2015
Author: Beach Combing | in : Contemporary, ModernHuman beings have long showed remarkable ingenuity at getting rid of their fellow human beings, especially perhaps human beings that they do not like. Once the cannon was invented it was only a matter of time before someone tied a prisoner to the front and lit a fuse, blowing his body into a constellation of pain, the […]
Daily History Picture: Bomb Berlin! May 5, 2015
Author: Beach Combing | in : Historical PicturesThe Manufacture of Chinese Wildmen May 4, 2015
Author: Beach Combing | in : ModernThis comes from a British newspaper and 1892. It appeared in a curiosity column along with an item on marrying trees (really!). All this to say that this material should probably be treated with circumspection if not downright superstition. Or perhaps someone recognizes an obscure Chinese custom or institution: drbeachcombing AT yahoo DOT com Beach would […]
Hono Heke, A Maori Chief from Ireland?! May 3, 2015
Author: Beach Combing | in : ModernIn the Middle Ages the Irish were for ever finding Gaels in surprising parts of the world. The soldier who pierced Christ’s side on the cross was Irish, Simon Magus was an Irish druid, etc etc. It is a shock to find, though, that this endearing habit lasted into the nineteenth century. In June and […]
Self Serving Capital Punishment May 2, 2015
Author: Beach Combing | in : Contemporary, ModernWhere are our modern executioners? Most people would have problems answering this because there are no modern executioners as such, at least in the US. There are guards (who get overtime), there are governors, there are wardens, there are doctors and, outside some death chambers, there are members of the general public and journalists. It might […]