On the ninth day of Christmas my mummy sent to me
Nine rumours brewing,
Eight tame historians,
Seven pots of French gold,
Six spies of Morton,
Five malmsey butts,
Four Papal pardons,
Three suns of York,
Two little princes,
And a crown in a hawthorn bush.
On the eighth day of Christmas my mummy sent to me
Eight tame historians,
Seven pots of French gold,
Six spies of Morton,
Five malmsey butts,
Four Papal pardons,
Three suns of York,
Two little princes,
And a crown in a hawthorn bush.
On the seventh day of Christmas my mummy sent to me
Seven pots of French gold,
Six spies of Morton,
Five malmsey butts,
Four Papal pardons,
Three suns of York,
Two little princes,
And a crown in a hawthorn bush.
On the sixth day of Christmas my mummy sent to me
Six spies of Morton,
Five malmsey butts,
Four Papal pardons,
Three suns of York,
Two little princes,
And a crown in a hawthorn bush.
On the fifth day of Christmas my mummy sent to me
Five malmsey butts,
Four Papal pardons,
Three suns of York,
Two little princes,
And a crown in a hawthorn bush.
On the fourth day of Christmas my mummy sent to me
Four Papal pardons,
Three suns of York,
Two little princes,
And a crown in a hawthorn bush.
On the third day of Christmas my mummy sent to me
Three suns of York,
Two little princes,
And a crown in a hawthorn bush.
On the second day of Christmas my mummy sent to me
Two little princes,
And a crown in a hawthorn bush.
At our December General Meeting one of the highlights were familiar Christmas carols with new – Ricardian – texts. One of them was ‘Henry Tudor’s Christmas Wish List’. This Tudor version of ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ has been a favourite with our branch for a long time, so long in fact that nobody can remember who originally penned it. Could the original author please come forward, we would like to award you a virtual laurel wreath!
We will bring you our version of this carol over the twelve days of Christmas and hope you enjoy it as much as we have done.
Henry Tudor’s Christmas Wish List
On the first day of Christmas my mummy sent to me
A crown in a hawthorn bush.
What exactly happened at the Battle of Stoke Field (1487) and who on earth was Lambert Simnel?
Tudor propaganda asks us to believe that a young boy of only 10 or 11 years, without traceable name, history, antecedents or any noticeable talent or position, was chosen by the still powerful Yorkist faction to be their leader and figurehead while trying to overthrow Henry Tudor. We are further asked to believe that the king’s mother-in-law risked everything (and indeed lost virtually everything) by backing this unknown child to take the throne in preference to accepting her own daughter as existing queen of England and her son-in-law as king. Furthermore, John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln – Richard III’s appointed heir and therefore the one truly entitled to claim the throne for himself – instead chose to fight for this young nobody to rule the country in his place. Indeed the entire Yorkist faction fought a great and terrible battle, suffering death, injury and eventual overthrow – for what? To put this little nobody up as king? The presumption is frankly ludicrous. Read the rest of this entry »
