This anthology recalls Christmas in Shakespeare's day, when it was an expansive festival, dominated by strict religious observance on the day itself, but including a long season of merrymaking, feasting and, most important of all, masques and plays. "Measure for Measure" was one of many of Shakespeare's plays first performed by "His Majestie's plaiers" during the 12-day festival at the Royal Court. Also included are little-known delights such as: the story of how Elizabeth I interrupted Shakespeare's performance by walking across the stage and dropping a glove at his feet; the 32 dishes expected to grace the table of a "modest home", including delectable Elizabethan desserts and Shakespeare's "roasted crabs hissing in the bowl"; how the barristers at Inns of Court danced before the judges; the ballad by George Wither of an Elizabethan Christmas, celebrated 16th-century poet Robert Herrick's verse on the ceremonies for Christmas, and the winter poem by the Catholic martyr, Father Robert Southwell. "The Masque of Christmas" by Shakespeare's contemporary, Ben Jonson, appears here complete, and readers learn of the ignoble goings-on of the Lord of Misrule.
A social history of wartime dining and a collection of over sixty delicious and healthy seasonal recipes with a vintage twist.
Growing up in the 1930's and 1940's left me with a lasting impression of a life far distant from the life we all live today.It is my hope that these stories bring back great memories to many of you who shared those years. For those of who are younger it will enlighten you about life during your parents' and grandparents' time.
Jeoffry was a real cat who lived 250 years ago, confined to an asylum with Christopher Smart, one of the most visionary poets of the age. In exchange for love and companionship, Smart rewarded Jeoffry with the greatest tribute to a feline ever written. Prize-winning biographer Oliver Soden combines meticulous research with passages of dazzling invention to recount the life of the cat praised as 'a mixture of gravity and waggery'. The narrative roams from the theatres and bordellos of Covent Garden to the cell where Smart was imprisoned for mania. At once whimsical and profound, witty and deeply moving, Soden's biography plays with the genre like a cat with a toy. It tells the story of a poet and a poem, while setting Jeoffry's life and adventures against the roaring backdrop of eighteenth-century London.
The finest and most authentic collection of Icelandic folk tales to be published in the English language
A compelling autobiography detailing life in Rothwell Children's Home and the years beyond
The definitive guide to understanding and interpreting mountain weather systems
Children's folk tales from Cornwall especially selected by a professional storyteller
Including a gang of smugglers and an ugly face-pulling competition, not only will children love to read them, or listen to them being read, the tales will also stimulate an interest in the area, and help children engage with their own surroundings wherever they live .
The county's folklore is engrained in every port, cliff and bridge, passed on through whispered accounts of witches long dead, legends of strange creatures or the bawdy tales of adventuring heroes.
Chapman tells the story of how Land Rovers have tamed the planet's toughest terrain with their unstoppable off-road capability
The tribe of the Durotriges was listed by the Greek geographer Ptolemy in the second century AD. Here, for the first time, the evidence for the Durotriges is made accessible to both archaeologists and those who simply have an interest in the British Iron Age, the Romans or the history of this area.
WINNER OF THE BRITISH SPORT BOOK AWARDS - RUGBY BOOK OF THE YEAR This is the story of 15 men killed in the Great War. The Final Whistle plays tribute to the pivotal role rugby played in the Great War by following the poignant stories of fifteen men who played for Rosslyn Park, London.
These Somerset tales, newly collected or retold with a strong sense of the land and the waters that shaped them, reflect our enduring interest in the natural landscape.
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