1621
William is Cumbria’s very own blend of Robin Hood and William Tell - with a happy ending, too.
Outlaw William Cloudsley could not resist one last visit to his beloved wife and children. But the Sheriff of Carlisle was waiting for him...
Picture: © Karl and Ali, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.. Source.
Posted March 13 2015
1622
A classic tale from Switzerland of overbearing authority and a father with a very steady hand.
Whenever royal families married, fought and died in Mediaeval Europe, the borders of their realms changed, and their long-suffering peoples were told to forget whatever loyalties they had sworn last, and swear new ones. There were always those willing to prosper by spying on their fellows, and according to legend, one day a Swiss archer named William Tell was spotted in an act of lese-majesty.
Picture: © böhringer friedrich, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.5.. Source.
Posted March 13 2015
1623
Handel’s anthem sets to glorious music words sung at English coronations for over a thousand years.
George Frederic Handel’s anthem ‘Zadok the Priest’, shamelessly plagiariased for UEFA’s ‘Champions League Anthem’, has been part of every coronation in England since 1727, and the words were chosen by a saint over a thousand years ago.
Picture: From Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted March 13 2015
1624
The Jay Treaty can be seen as the start of the ‘special relationship’ between Britain and America.
In 1794, America had to choose between France, a new republic like herself, or Britain, whose oppressive rule she had just thrown off. America’s choice was surprising - but wise, as events quickly showed.
Picture: © JayHeritageCenter, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 4.0.. Source.
Posted March 13 2015
1625
As the storm raged around him, raindrops fell like music on the pianist’s heart.
In 1838, Chopin and Georges Sand (a lady whose real name was Amantine-Lucile-Aurore Dupin) stayed at a Carthusian monastery in Valldemossa, Mallorca. While seated at the piano during a storm, Sand tells us, Chopin experienced a disturbing dream.
Picture: © Gryffindor, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0.. Source.
Posted March 13 2015
1626
Sending a hero off to ‘certain death’ never seems to work out...
The goddess Hera hated Heracles, so the ancient Greek myths tell, because he was one of the many love-children fathered by her consort Zeus, king of the gods of Olympus. But time after times, her efforts to destroy him were frustrated.
Picture: © Heinz Schmitz, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.5.. Source.
Posted March 13 2015