The White Queen and my thoughts

A lot of people will have enjoyed the White Queen on tv. I wished I had enjoyed it more. But I'm one of those people who go on about zippers in medieval clothes, and heroines who barely age between 24 and 46 in spite of living in perilous times and bearing 12 children. At the end of the series, Elizabeth's jawline was firm, sculptured and would be the envy of any sixteen year old. True, they made her look pale and sometimes she had a hint of bags under her eyes, but that's all.

Richard was never well cast in my view. There was something strange about Richard as portrayed here, and perhaps the fault lies in the dialogue he was given, but he always seemed wooden, as if that lovely padded jacket he wore was in reality a steel corset that kept him rigid. And the lines themselves - "I am the King! You will breathe for me!" he says to his dead son. No actor could make those lines work. Maybe the actor wanted to give Richard a brooding sense of wickedness held in check, but if he did he ought to have realised it did not blend well with the character's actions and dialogue.

The series never made clear who dealt the Princes in the Tower the final blow. (or if it did I missed it!) Was it Anne Neville? Or Margaret Beaufort? The curse on the boys' killer, made by Elizabeth and her daughter Elizabeth, seems to point to Anne (she died and her son died) but not to Margaret, whose son lived to father sons of his own, but then one son died.  One survived, but all Henry VIII's sons died, of course. Well, make of it what you will, the curse was a stroke of genius on Phillippa Gregory's part. I'm assuming the idea originated with her, and wasn't some folk tale she'd tapped into.

I thought the it was also a stroke of genius on the part of the film-makers to have the actor's breath cloud the air even when they stood in front of a roaring fire, hinting at the coldness of their surroundings. So many of the scenes were set in stone castles or churches, and they would have been cold indeed. But then they went too far. The Battle of Bosworth Field was fought on 22nd August and they filmed it in snowy, winter conditions with leafless trees!

My other gripe was that two actors looked so much like each other that I never got them straightened out. I think one bearded  gent was on Tudor's side and the other was on Richard's side. But have two big burly men with curly brown hair and beards made it so easy to confuse them. I think the acting award for the series goes to the actor who played Stanley. The one who played Margaret Beaufort was good, but by the end I had had enough of her mouth rolling grimaces, and to go to a man and ask him to sacrifice his son for hers was a step too far...the woman was obsessed and borderline mad. But there I go, confusing character and actor, so she must have been good.

Post Battle Sex

I set out to watch The White Queen when the series began and lost interest after two episodes. Zips fastening gowns are so uncool in a medieval series. Zips have to be easy for the costume department, I understand that, but if they must use them instead of the authentic and quite erotic criss-cross lacing, then why don't they make sure the cameras don't catch the wretched things? Think of the love scenes involving laces they could do....

This last episode featured Richard of Gloucester, and I was curious. Always a Richard supporter, I think the casting director must have taken note of the facial reconstruction on Richard's skeleton done recently, because the actor portraying the character has a distinct resemblance to that model head. It's just a pity he lacks charisma. He gives very little to the camera, hasn't a distinctive voice, and his role is to stand by a lot of the time. He comes across as shy, earnest and a tad boring.

But then, Gregory's novels always give dramatic precedence to the women and of course, it is Elizabeth Woodville's story. I do wonder at the seeming preference for filming women-on-top sex. In the three episodes I've watched, I think every sex scene showed the men lying passive beneath an active woman. Perhaps the men were just too tired when they got home after all those battles.

For me, the best acting award goes to Janet McTeer, who died slowly in this weeks's episode. I also thought she had a distinct resemblance to Ms Gregory, though if they stood  side by side the disparity in their height would ensure absolute recognition! I heard Gregory speak at Alnwick Castle a few years ago, and she is tiny, hardly more than five foot two I should imagine. Inside that small frame there lurks a forceful personality and a strong work ethic.  I've often wondered if some of the characteristics of her characters rub off on Ms Gregory!

The pic is of Tim, who knows how to relax!

Rejections, hashtags and freebies

I've just returned from a meeting with writer friends and so my spirits are high in spite of two rejections this week. One rejection came whizzing back within 3 hours, which must be a record! I alternate between thinking that a) the agency is super efficient or b)that my submission was complete and utter rubbish.

Great strides have been made this week by my discovery of #hashtags when using Twitter.  I've always wondered what function they had, and that other funny little @ symbol - well, now I know and it's all thanks to a great little download from Kindle - Indie Author Book Marketing Success.

Also FAR AFTER GOLD is going free on Kindle today and tomorrow and the times are Pacific Coast times. This means that for my UK friends, the offer will run on after midnight UK time. If someone reads, enjoys and cares to post a review on Amazon, that would be great.

I see there is to be a further programme on Richard III this week. The 27th February to be exact, on More 4 at  9pm. The Radio Times claims this will feature the tests carried out after the discovery of his bones, so I shall be watching. I thought the earlier programme a little light in that department, and have high hopes of this one. I shall be surprised if there isn't a flurry of historical novels on Richard being published in the next few months. A certain Ms Gregory must be smiling every day! Nearly as much as Hilary Mantel after the furore over her speech at the London Book Review - anyone who hasn't read the full speech ought to do so - http://www.lrb.co.uk/v35/n04/hilary-mantel/royal-bodies

Blogger seems reluctant to upload my new pictures thoughI don't know why, so the one above was taken on a trip to Stirling a couple of years ago. I have no idea what kind of transaction was taking place!

Richard and the Silver Boar

Like every other history buff the world over, I watched the Channel 4 programme on Richard last night. While I was fascinated, I was also irritated by the chopping and changing deemed necessary by the programme makers! Just as we got to some interesting bit, then the story would revert back to how Phillipa felt as she stood over the R painted on  the tarmac of the car-park, or the frizzy haired presenter would warble on about what he thought, or Laurence Olivier's dreadful performance as the king would declaim a few choice words from the Shakespeare play. Which reminds me - no one ever explained the significance of the R on the tarmac. Who put it there, and why? (Reading newspaper reports today, I gather it meant Reserved space and had nothing to do with the fact that Richard was buried beneath it.)

I wanted more detail on the bones and what they told us, so I'll have to wait for the scholarly write up. What about his diet? Did they  investigate his teeth so they could us where he passed his childhood, why were so many of his teeth missing; were they lost in the burial, knocked out at the point of death, or generally lost sometime in life? One sentence said he had an upper class diet with plenty of fish and meat. There must be more than that to come.

Facial reconstructions have been done before, by the same Dundee University team, and I have held the sneaking thought that they all looked rather alike. I think what I see as a likeness is given by the plastic used in the method of creating the facsimile head. This one was passably close to the portraits of Richard, which was pleasing, and made him look very young, even for thirty-two. This is a link  here to the Richard III Society for anyone who wants more background, or to try and understand the reason for all the fuss. I'll be popping back myself, as well as waiting for the scholarly reports. It will be interesting to see if any other university undertakes comparitive tests, and if their conclusions agree with those of Leicester. And I do wish they'd decide to bury him at York Minster; after all, he was the Lord of the North and lived a good part of his life in Yorkshire.

It is Richard III

The Leicester press conference has just confirmed that the bones sought and found in the car park are indeed those of Richard III. There is a Channel 4 programme tonight about the search and the results, and it will be interesting to see what kind of reach it has in viewing figures.
There are a lot of excited history buffs commenting on Twitter, but all at once 120 new Tweets arrived, most of which were people attempting to be funny and wanting to know if Richard would have a valid car parking ticket since he's been parked there for 526 years. I suppose it's mildly funny the first time, but the 119th comment is a bit of a drag.
However, I think it would be wonderful if instead of burying Richard in Leicester, they took his remains to York and buried him in the minster. York was always his city and the good people of York had the guts to write of their feelings for him once Henry was proclaimed king. "to the great heaviness of this city...."
I wonder if there will be a spate of books about Richard now he's in the news, so to speak? Richard's ghost seeks vengeance - I can see it now. Somebody is bound to write of his quest to hunt down Henry Tudor...maybe even get to grips with the current monarch. I expect he'd be shocked to see that it is a female. Just wouldn't fit with his mind set.

PS If they decide to make a film of Richard's life, I can see Richard Armitage as Richard III

Carlisle Castle

Entering the Gatehouse

For anyone who isn’t familiar with the area, Carlisle is at the western end of Hadrian’s wall in modern day Cumbria, only fourteen miles from the present day border with Scotland. Strategically placed at the northern end of a steep bluff, overlooking the confluence of the Rivers Caldew and Eden at the northernmost tip of Carlisle city centre, the castle has seen 800 years of continuous military use. So close to the Scottish border, it functioned both as the first line of defence against marauding Scottish armies and as a focal point for English military campaigns against the Scots.

Click

Portcullis, Outer Gatehouse

As early as AD 70, there was a turf and timber Roman fort, known as Luguvalium, where the present castle stands. Excavations located parts of the west and south defences of this fort, including a waterlogged and remarkably well preserved timber gateway. In the second and third centuries, the fort extended as far south as Abbey Street and Castle Street. After AD 330, there is little information to be had, though crudely built stone structures dating to the late fourth century have been found on the site of the present day fort's barracks.

The existing castle is built upon the central and northern half of the Roman fort, and I’m recording this information because the castle features in my story!They say William II built a timber and earth construction in 1092 and thirty years later Henry I gave money to fortify the town with 'a castle and towers.' The siege of 1217 damaged it badly but the Scottish wars of Edward I meant that repairs were necessary, and by 1290 they were completed.

The old building work (as opposed to Victorian interventions) consists of two lengths of Carlisle city wall adjacent to the curtain walls of the castle, the towers and outer gatehouse, with the bridge over the moat, and an inner ward with its gatehouse, keep, ditch, and curtain walls. The Main gate was rebuilt circa 1380, and from 1422, Carlisle became the centre of the Western March and sums were allocated to ensure that Carlisle was defensible. The inner gatehouse (or Captain's Tower) went up mid-C14 and the Tile Tower in 1483 (when Richard III was Lieutenant of the North and in charge of Carlisle.)

 

The Rose of Raby

from the Raby website

In August this year University of Leicester archaeologists began searching for Richard III beneath the car park on Grey Friars Road, Leicester. They discovered the garden of Robert Herrick, a former mayor of Leicester. Christopher Wren senior (the father of the architect), recorded in 1612 that he had visited the mayor’s garden and noted a memorial stating that ‘here lies the body of Richard III sometime King of England.’ This was the last record of the location of the medieval king’s body.

Radar equipment helped pinpoint where to dig, and on September 5^th the team discovered the lost Franciscan friary known as the Church of the Grey Friars. This week human remains have been found – male, showing evidence of battle wounds and a slight curvature of the spine. Excitement is sky high, though battle wounds as a cause of death would not be unusual in 1485, and it would be a reasonable guess that in times of poor nutrition, bone deformities like rickets would also be common.  DNA testing of the bones will take eight to twelve weeks. Any DNA found will be cross-referenced with that of Michael Ibsen, whose mother was a direct descendant of Richard’s eldest sister, Anne of York.

Richard III was the youngest surviving child of Richard, the third duke of York, and Cecily Neville, who was known as the Rose of Raby because of her beauty.  Raby Castle and estate is in Country Durham, not far from me, and so she feels like a local girl. Mad, I know!

http://www.rabycastle.com/Raby_History

I have to say it always amazes me that:

a)    DNA can be obtained from bones 527 years old

b)   That there can possibly be any link with someone alive today

c)    The links always end up with someone not living in the UK

d)   People who do the family trees can be so certain of their links when they deal in a period where births and deaths were never recorded, and names were so commonly used.

 

Barnard Castle once again

I found the pics I thought I had lost!

When I recharged the camera battery, they simply reappeared, so here are my pics of Barnard Castle, famously one of Richard III's homes for the ten years or so 1474-1485. The walls enclose a large area, and loom over a sharp drop to the River Tees on the south side. We didn't go in as it was cold, windy and I wasn't up to staying long enough to justify the £4 entrance fee, but on another day - hopefully a warm, sunny day, it will be on my list of places to visit.

It is curious that the whole town goes by the name of the Castle, and it is certainly a town that repays walking about in it, for there are lots of old houses and buildings, and intriguing side streets to follow.

I'll add more pics over the next week or so.

Barnard Castle and Richard III

Barnard Castle. Friday. Lovely drive down to Teesdale into the market town, then a short walk and a scone and coffee in Penny's Tearoom opposite the Market Cross.

I enjoyed the day and took loads of pics, but it must have tired me more than I realised, for that evening I lost all the pics while trying to transfer them from the camera to the laptop - usually a simple operation. So instead of giving you my own pic of Barnard Castle, I've used this one taken from http://www.visitcountydurham.com

The castle was built shortly after the Norman Conquest but Sir Robert Bowes of Streatlam was beseiged there in the sixteenth century and had to surrender for lack of victuals. After that the castle fell into disrepair.

There is a plaque in a little rose garden near St Mary's church in memory of Richard III, who was lord of Barnard Castle from 1474 to his death in 1485. He did much for the town and they thought well of him.

I'm still wondering where my pictures went. Bill thinks they're lurking somewhere on my laptop, but I can't find them there, and they certainly are no longer on my camera. Still, let's look on the bright side - it's a super excuse to go and visit Barnard Caastle again!

Strange things

The old Roller drove 55 miles from Brora to Thurso to carry the bride to church, and then drove 55 miles back again, so I thought it deserved an honourable mention!

Speaking of battlefields yesterday made me remember a few other memorable things. I've driven through Glencoe many times, in good weather and bad, and not felt a twinge.

Hermitage Castle is dour on the best of days, and holds terrible stories of boilings in oil and dungeons where people were forgotten. There is no spookiness but I don't think I'd like to be left there overnight. Come to think of it, I wouldn't want to be left overnight in Newcastle Keep, either.

But...I went to Bosworth Field on a glorious warm sunny day and walked down to the stone that marks the spot where Richard died. It is a small grassy corner, surrounded by trees, and a stream nearby. Nothing dramatic, only a stone, for all the world like a smaller version of the Callanish stones, yet ... tears welled and I could not stop them. I think I embarrassed the friend who was with me.

And talking of the Callanish stones reminds me...I visited one of the outlying rings with my sister-in-law and nephew. This was many years ago, when he was about twelve. It was a bright breezy day and we fooled about a bit until I found that one of the stones seemed warm. Only one, and only for me. If I stood close to it, the wind died, and the stone warmed me. I ought to go back one day, and see if it is the same.