Hi there, come on in, sit down. We are in
strange times and I know some people might
feel a tad isolated so I thought I’d offer
to have a bit of a chat. Let me invite you
into my favourite room in our house. The one
with all the books. When things are taking
a low turn this is the place I come to find
a bit of calm. I think we all need to find
the positive is this enforced separation from
the world and how lovely to have the time
to dip in and out of some ancient volume.
I struggled a great deal with lonliness as
a child and it was always books which kept
me company.
This is one of my favourites. It’s called
The Book of Days. Actually the full title
is The Book of Days – A miscellany of Popular
Antiquities in Connection with the Calendar,
Including Anecdote, Biography & History, Curiosities
of Literature and Oddities of Human Life and
Character. Isn’t that great? Terrible title
for a movie.
This lovely leather bound version is from
1878 although the book was first published
14 years earlier. It was written by a Scottish
author Robert Chambers and it is one of my
favourite books of all time. It’s actually
slightly bizarre. It’s as though Chambers
sat down to write something every day and
just meandered about with whatever he found
interesting. It works like a calendar with
information about each day of the year and
it never ceases to spark a chain of curiosity
in me. I have always found comfort in history,
lots of these book are about history. I like
knowing what human beings have been through
in the past. So let’s take a look at what
Robert thought significant about today, March
21.
I’ll be honest it doesn’t start well.
Not exactly cheerful. March 21. Edmond of
Woodstock, Earl of Kent, beheaded, 1330. That’s
all it says. 1330. I don’t think it means
half past one. It was more that it was a long
time ago. What do I know about Edmond of Woodstock?
Well, Edward III had him killed. The King
was only 18 at the time. Maybe it says something
about letting young people be in charge. No
one at the time thought it was right. Just
a bit of bad temper. In fact they had to get
a convicted murderer to do the beheading in
exchange for a pardon. I don’t know whether
the general thinking was that a murderer must
know how to do it. I wouldn’t know where
to begin.
So far all a bit miserable but then you come
to Charlotte Tremouille, Countess of Derby
and she is fantastic. I am always seeking
out great women in history but so often they
fall through the cracks of recorded time.
She is described here as simply “heroic
defender of Latham House, and of the Isle
of Man, 1663”. I think Chambers is suggesting
she passed away on March 21 but oh, what a
life she had first. I should love to have
met her.
We have to go back to the first English Civil
war which kicked off in 1642. What was it
about? To be honest so many wars, it all seems
a bit silly now but if you wanted to pick
teams you either had to be on the side of
the Royalists or the Parliamentarians. Charlotte
was a Royalist. She lived in Latham House
which to me sounds like something mid terrace
but it was actually a fabulous castle.
Charlotte came to live there from France where
she was born in 1599 so I think for this story
you need to imagine that she had an excellent
accent. She married the 7th Earl of Derby,
and she moved in to his house which demonstrated
the general confusion with titles in this
country – he was the Earl of Derby, the
castle was in Lancashire. I once met the Duke
of Kent. Stuck for conversation I told him
how much I liked Kent to which he replied,
‘Yes, I’ve never really been.”
Anyway, during the war Charlotte’s husband
was sent off by the King to do Royalist things
on the Isle of Mann and left Charlotte at
home. Then in February 1644 Parliamentary
forces turned up at the door or drawbridge
maybe, demanding the castle for themselves.
I think the soldiers thought – it’s a
woman, it will be a pushover.
Back then war had a bit more decorum about
it. It was all very politely done. Sir Thomas
Fairfax, who was in charge of the besieging
Parliamentarian forces, popped in and asked
Charlotte to surrender. She said that surrendering
was quite a big ask and she needed a week
to think about it which he apparently thought
was so reasonable that he agreed. So he left
to do I don’t know what, camping with his
men I imagine. Meanwhile Charlotte cracked
on. She gathered anyone who was good with
a gun and happy to be on her side. There were
2,000 Parliamentary soldiers outside but she
managed to muster a small army of 300. Game
girl. I mean I feel beseiged in my house and
haven’t been able to muster toilet roll.
A week later the soldiers outside got fed
up and started firing canons at her but Charlotte
held on for months until a load of Royalist
forces turned up and finally helped her get
out. She went off to see her husband on the
Isle of Man where she also spent time refusing
to surrender. Spoiler alert – I’m afraid
her side lost in the end but there are those
that say Charlotte had “the glory of being
the very last person in the three kingdoms
– so Scotland, England and Ireland - who
submitted to the victorious rebels".
She was courageous in a way no woman at the
time could ever have been expected to be.
Hats off to her. It reminded me there was
a poem written about the seige of Charlotte’s
castle by a woman called Letitia Elizabeth
Landon. I don’t think she’s all that well
known these days but other women poets like
Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Christina Rossetti,
thought she was fab.
Letitia was an English poet and novelist born
in 1802 in London. If you look for her work
you may find she was better known by her initials
L.E.L. because heaven knows, you couldn’t
really enjoy a poem back then if you knew
a woman had thought of it. Anyway, I think
her poetry is wonderful and wanted to read
a bit from her verse entitled Lord and Lady
Derby, which commemorates Charlotte Tremouille’s
tremendous courage. It’s a piece which for
those having to dig deep at the moment and
find courage, feels really good to hear right
now. Funny how you can so often find what
you are looking for in the past.
'Tis in such troubled times, the few
Find they have powers they never knew;
And yonder highborn dame, who stands
With flowerets in her graceful hands,
With broidered robe, and ringlet fair,
Scarce breathed on by the fragrant air,
Dreamed not that she should stand alone
When pikes were raised, and trumpets blown,
And gathered foes around the wall,
And she sole chief in Lathom Hall.
But ere she put aside her fears,
And woman’s weakness—woman's tears,
How many a long; and anxious hour
She must have passed in secret bower,
Till she stept forth, the calm and proud
To meet and animate the crowd.
I love that
'Tis in such troubled times, the few
Find they have powers they never knew;
That is true today. That is what we are finding.
I also think it’s time to reach out, meet
and animate the crowd. If you feel isolated
then I’m sending you a virtual hug. Do read
if you can. You will be less alone. Read and
given a choice of what to do, be kind. Honestly,
it’s usually easier. Take care.
