From a late 19th century natural history book for children

Page 112/3 By Sea-Shore, Wood and Moorland – by Edward Step, fourth edition

From a wonderful old book, found at the Castle Book Shop in Bedford, and now lost:

‘did you ever see a squirrel’s nest – ‘Squeggies’s jug’ it is called in parts of Surrey…..

 …it is not difficult to tame a squirrel and make a pet of him, but it is a needless cruelty to shut up in a small cage a creature that is in nature accustomed to scamper freely to the topmost boughs of the highest trees, and to take flying leaps from one tree to another. Men may sometimes be seen in the streets with a very docile squirrel sitting upon their hands and offering it for sale. Do not be tempted to purchase any of these, for what looks like tameness is in reality only a want of life and spirit. The poor creatures have been poisoned – not sufficiently to kill them at once, for that would not suit the dealer’s purpose. As a rule they die a few days after they have been purchased.

 I remember many years ago my brother purchased one of these very ‘tame’ squirrels, which seemed to be the perfection of docility. But a few days into natural health enabled it to overcome the effects of the poison, and at night it gnawed through the bars of its roomy hutch, and was loose about the house. I well remember catching it the next day – aye, and I did catch it! Though this happened five and twenty years ago, I still bear the mark upon my thumb where its front teeth met in my flesh. We caught it several times with difficulty, but it regularly made its escape at night. It seemed to be perfectly mad.

 This went on for more than a week, when one evening a strange cat got into the house. In the dead of the night the two creatures met and quarrelled. There was a terrible uproar up and down stairs, and much scattering of fur. In the morning we found both dead; and so ended my first and last experience of ‘tame’ squirrels.

The Ancient Order of Stone Cutters

Quarry man Sculpture at Langton Mantravers, Dorset

There is nothing better than hopping along for the ride when a friend offers to take you on a trip! We visited the beautiful South of England, journeying to the Isle of Purbeck in the county of Dorset. We were not disappointed and found much to amuse and educate.

Lyme Regis is famous for its fossils, but many will tell you that although they spend hours on the beach there, they don’t find a thing. However, the beach experience and the busy street down through the town is certainly worth stopping for!

Beach combing brought to light some small, smoothed pieces of glass, rounded by the pounding waves. I thought they may look good on a homemade ceiling hanging or light shade – or even perhaps a mobile that could be hung outdoors. They are certainly unique shapes, catching the light in different shades – I thought up cycling these bits would suit someone who loved arts and crafts.

Recent landslides had claimed lives in Dorset after a wet summer – and there has been some coastal erosion at Lyme Regis. The landslide which had fallen from the cliffs turned out to be an old rubbish dump – and it had spilled its contents over the rear of the beach. One old comber, unafraid or oblivious to the danger, was picking his way through the rubbish, although it seemed to us that the stuff couldn’t be more than thiry years old. We didn’t think the beach looked too clean, but it was interesting and extremely scenic. Signs made the danger clear to the visitors and there was a museum.

A further nosey mosey saw us calling into the small village of Corfe – with its iconic ruined castle on a hill above, and a visit to the coast at Worth and Langton Mantravers outside Swanage.

This is the land of quarries and there is a rich history concerning occupations regarding stone, closely tied in with the area.  Corfe was the place where the quarry-men updated their ‘Ancient Order of Purbeck Marblers and Stonecutters’ agreements (on Shrove Tuesday every year, before a game of football). We visited the Fox pub where the meetings had always taken place and saw a few artifacts in the tiny museum opposite, which used to be the village lock up!

A walk around the coast near Worth took us to St Aldhelms Head – a scenic path looking out over cliff tops with the blue sea fading into the sky in the distance. The view was superb and the wild flowers were dazzling.

A short distance away was the village of Langton Mantravers with two pubs, a church and a lovely little museum. Barely changed from the seventeenth century it was a little gem, and valued its quarrying history. The museum showed a 20 minute film about the stone quarries of the area and how the stone was used. Apparently there are more farming exhibits for the museum but no place to show them – so sadly they are in storage. The charming museum building had been the vicars stables, behind the church, which itself had been very small at one time, but enlarged over the centuries. One church warden is commemorated even though he was a brandy smuggler who hid his booty in the church roof. When the weight of the brandy caused the roof and walls to collapse, his identity was discovered, because his son had written down all the activities in his diary! I believe this church warden was transported to Australia!

We ended our nosy mosey at the remains of the coastal quarry at Langton Mantravers. Called Dancing Ledge, I think this quarry got its name because of the scrambling and balancing needed to get across and down to the edge of the sea. It really is like dancing when you have to look so closely at where you are putting your feet!

The sun shone on the glittering waves and baked the quarry stone. Some rugged types jumped into a hole which had been blasted by dynamite to allow people to swim without chancing the dangerous tides. Dorset – what a place!

Corfe Castle
Beach at Lyme Regis

Ghosts – The Battle of Olney Bridge

Oh the English Summer – what a joy to burble about on a Sunday dreaming of the England of yester-year…oh how my mind is haunted…..

To explain – I was going for a walk to Emberton, Bucks because it was a nice day and I had spent too long slaving over a hot computer (so hot it got stuck).

The way to the country park was over a bridge. On the bridge I paused because I saw a plaque, and the plaque said that on the bridge back in 1643 The Battle of Olney Bridge took place. This had my blood racing, for I realized that at this place I was in the land of my ancestors.

I knew that at least one or two of my family were involved in the English Civil War, but  Civil War records were not kept properly, if at all.

The connections hinge on one Sir Samuel Luke who was the head honcho at the Newport Pagnell barracks. He was a staunch Parliamentarian and Puritan – to the point that some wit wrote a satirical poem about him in a rather unflattering way.  ‘Hudibras’ published after the restoration of the monarchy in 1663 by Samuel Butler was basically a mock heroic poem criticizing the Puritans – later the style was called ‘Burlesques’. Butler actually worked as a secretary for Sir Samuel Luke – its as if he was stalking him for a literary attack in his own home!

Sir Samuel Luke was also the squire at the Manor of Haynes, the residence of my folks in the early 1600s. Being a smallish place the gentry would have known and employed the village people. By 1643 the Luke family had been in Haynes for two generations and my family would also have been there for two generations. Or would they?

The records are a jumble- the oldest son was always named after the father….and theories can fail.

Sir Samuel Luke

Ice Cream and Iron Age Huts

The hot summer sun eventually slid from behind the clouds and the sky changed from a blue bruise, to the blue that accompanies lashings of ginger beer. A quest was sort, a quest was made, but nothing from the quest was gained. Not materially anyway!

To explain – the Reckless Relic fraternity set out for a car boot and on arrival at the country farm destination – no one had ever heard of it!

I believe it happens frequently that someone has a good idea, tells the world via the internet, then forgets to let the world know when the idea falls through. So on a lovely hot day we ended up in a nature reserve, the fish were jumping, the kids were playing and someone had slapped together a reconstructed iron age hut that looked like it would probably dissolve in the next squall of wind and rain. We spotted some heavy duty screws and some plastic, so I predict it will be half the disaster it could have been, but on the day of its demise it is still going to look right sorry.

 

I sometimes wonder how people managed back in those days – what a hard, short life. Nothing like the constant pressure of survival to make a person value what little they own and what little time they had got on the planet. Our ancestors would scoff at us for our little gripes about trivial things.

Mind you – I bet they wouldn’t have said no to a minty Cornetto – you know the day can’t have been a dead loss when ice cream is involved!

The Queen and the Emperor

Catching up with friends meant a trip to Rochester and peering into the wonderful cathedral brought me eye to eye with Her Majesty The Queen – two huge images of her in what is called the Jubilee Photo Mosaic, commissioned to commemorate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Made from five thousand photos, it was quite stunning. The artist was Helen Marshall, aided by Polly Tiles, a computer art expert. The piece is exhibited in the Nave of Rochester Cathedral from 8 to 19 August.

Finding pictures for my books is never easy but I came across a fantastic artist who has allowed me to use a picture in a book about the Emperor Tarot Card. Her name is Steph Roche and her website is: http://www.steph-roche-art.co.uk

She studied at Blackheath School of Art in London, then went on to Leeds. A copy of her contribution is shown here, I believe she has called it ‘Underworld Duality’ and for me it gives an evocotive view of early man’s perception of leadership, representated by a figure wearing stag’s antlers seated on a throne (as we know the Stag is the Lord of the Forest). So I am over the moon that Steph has allowed me to use her brilliant picture.

Steph Roche is currently exhibiting her amazing art at ‘Postcards From the Astral’
La Terre, 22 High Street, Glastonbury, Somerset.
From 14 Aug to 30 Sept 2012

Picture By Stephanie Roche
The Queen at Rochester Cathedral

A Storm In A Tea Cup

Its a frustrating thing when you just want to get on and the weather puts a stop to your plans. Three days in a row I have had to turn off the computer because the rumble of thunder is just too close. And therein lies the frustration – I am unable to carry on with my projects and have to think about boring things like housework. I have danced in the rain already last week, and marvelled at the rainbow that went over the house – (then the sky went a very peculiar orange!)

Plans to go camping have been scuppered (especially after seeing how badly the Isle of Wight Festival went this year). As for a getting a tan – don’t make me laugh! I’m an English girl and the weather is my constant companion.

So to make up for the lack of sun, or exercise – and the interruptions to writing my book and setting up this website, I invited my cousins around for tea, during which time my cousin Andrew was DJ for the Diamond Seeds Pod Cast (number 3) which became a Cousins Edition. http://soundcloud.com/diamond-seeds/diamond-seeds-podcast-03

The night ended on a jolly as we looked at some family pictures I had scanned onto the computer. These were among the first pictures I had tried to restore and the early attempts were not too successful. Hence there was general hilarity at one picture of my grandmother, whose face I had cleaned up successfully, but had not got round to her neck and shoulders! (I think she was wearing a ball gown). My cousins saw the mistake and found it very funny!

So having an evening off with family was all very well, but now I have found another job waiting to be done – and still the thunder rolls which has me dashing for the off button and the plug socket!

Some days its better to just pick up the guitar and write a song!

 

 

A Double Rainbow means twice as much good luck?

About Reckless Relic

Reckless Relic

Reckless Relic, a name coined from a curious nature, an inquiring mind. The magic of discovering art in  museums all over the world. The psychological impact, the pondering of history. Marvelous stories and wonder at the variation within  human culture. Reckless Relic was always going to end up on clothes. An appreciation of art that you can wear!

The project

The website became a shop, but it is also a place to share pictures and information about  fantastic objects. Life drives and seduces a person into many directions, but Reckless Relic will continue while we write books and make music. It is part of the creative structure of our lives.