Beachcombing's Bizarre History Blog

You are a modest farmer in one of the English shires and you have twenty fields to your name. Note that these fields are not the ‘quarters’ of the North American prairies, from Manitoba to Iowa. These are the irregularly shaped bits (often very small bits) of arable land begged from the landscape and from […]

This is the book I’m most excited by this month. Richard Sugg (who was planning a book on poltergeists?) Mummies, Cannibals and Vampires  

This description from Judge, Some West Surrey Villages, 34, introduces us to the ghost of the Silent Pool at Albury near Guildford (Surrey, Southern England) and also some of the problem associated with it. When we quit Albury Park and the old church, we are within a few yards of the Silent Pool, which is said […]

British soldier fighting south in Burma

Imagine that you have a problem in your west African village. A witch is believed to be among you, or worse still someone has been indulging in cannibalism. How do you deal with such miscreants: there is no police force with the resources, and the local chief is at the end of his tether. Well, […]

Marvellous illuminated squirrels…

Time Square with wires….

***Thanks to Ricardo for sending this one in*** One of the most heart-breaking aspects of the rise of ISIL/ISIS/DAESH is the way the Daeshites have butchered their way through the brilliantly coloured mosaic of ethnic, linguistic and, of course, religious tiles, in northern Iraq. In twenty years when the Caliphate has been consigned to the […]

Interesting folklore here… A phallus nest or a phallus tree? Usually connected with witchcraft not nuns…

Lots of ghosts knock, but this one was monotonous in technique and timetable. We are in Black Rock just outside Dublin. During the last four or five weeks, the residents in Blackrock have been kept state of excitement the constant nocturnal visitations of a rival of the ancient spectral denizen of Cock Lane. The place […]

Aussies at Gallipoli

How well do American and European secondary schools train children in history? Beach is a world-weary type and so is rarely surprised by just how badly his students do: but he does sometimes find himself wondering whether we couldn’t do better. Here is a nice example of the low levels of general knowledge among university […]

Ok a re-release but I somehow missed this… John Dougill, In Search of Japan’s Hidden Christians  

Try and decode this Babylonian text from the seventh century B.C. After Anu [a god] had created the heaven Heaven had created the earth The earth had created the rivers, The rivers had created the marsh And the marsh had created the worm. The worm went weeping before Shamash [god of Justice] His tears flowing […]

Simon R. Doubleday, The Wise King Mirror of kings… Not my favourite genre but this one is in Spain.