Henry Tudor’s Christmas Wish List

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.

Tags: Henry Tudor, Holiday

Henry Tudor’s Christmas Wish List

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.

Tags: Henry Tudor, Holiday

Henry Tudor’s Christmas Wish List

On the second day of Christmas my mummy sent to me
Two little princes,
And a crown in a hawthorn bush.

Tags: Henry Tudor, Holiday

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.

Tags: Henry Tudor, Holiday

It’s the time for good news, also for our branch.  After the previous hiccup with the original batch of the December 2011 Ricardian Bulletins, the replacements have just arrived and have been mailed out today.  With a bit of luck, you might still get your copy before the holidays.

We all hope that there will be no more problems with missing or duplicated pages.  However, should there be any problems, please do not hesitate to let me know.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Stephen from the parent Society for all his efforts in getting this so quickly sorted out.  I am sure that all of us appreciate the phantatstic job he is doing.

Tags: NSW Branch, Richard III Society

One of the most poignant finds at the recent discovery of the “real” battlesite at Bosworth was a gilt solid silver boar, which was found by a metal detectorist (see here).  Now another boar brooch has been found, this time near the village of Stillingfleet in Richard III’s “home” county of Yorkshire.

The brooch depicting a wild boar has been dated to the 15th Century, which makes a connection to Richard, whose symbol was the white boar, likely.

The above photograph shows a modern day replica of the Bosworth boar.  Items like this are worn with pride by our branch members at Ricardian events.  They are available from the Richard III Society (go to ‘Society Shop’, it is on page 7 of the Catalogue).

Source:

‘Two medieval brooches discovered’, Selby Times (17 December 2011).  URL:  http://www.selbytimes.co.uk/news/local-news/district-news/two_medieval_brooches_discovered_1_4059814 Date accessed:  18 December 2011

Tags: Archaeology, Richard III

Well, maybe not the whole chapel…

Like so many of the historic buildings in Britain – our branch just recently supported the Middleham Church Appeal with a donation – St Georges Chapel at Windsor is dependent on donations to raise the funds necessary for the conservation of the fabric of the chapel and associated buildings, as it is not the financial responsibility of the State, the Church or the Crown. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Church, Edward IV, Richard III, Richard III Society

Our last branch meeting of the year was held on 10 December 2011. The Sydney Mechanics’ Institute meeting room was once again filled with members and guests, as well as friends like Jenny Savage visiting from overseas, but sadly with a number of regulars missing, as well, who had given their apologies. They were missed!

Introductory remarks were made by our branch president Judith Hughes, who welcomed us to this celebratory gathering. Her words were followed by the treasurer’s, secretary’s and webmaster’s reports. Our finances are healthy, and the website has many visitors. However, the branch library holdings pose a problem, especially as they are not being utilised by members; a discussion was held about the future of the library. A number of ideas were mooted such as donating books to the Medieval Studies Department of one of the local universities, or to the Mitchell Library. People were happy to have the fiction sold at the upcoming conference in Mittagong, or elsewhere, to add to the branch’s coffers.

We also welcomed Rosemary Burgess’ personal impressions of the Society AGM in the UK, which she had attended.  Judith Hughes and Jacqui Turner told us about the Old Vic production of Shakespeare’s Richard III with Kevin Spacey, which is currently showing in Sydney.

Our full program for the day was delightful and varied, and had obviously required much imagination, work, and rehearsal by our committee, as well as the hard work of several participants from the audience.

First there was a presentation by Julia Redlich about the importance of astrology in Ricardian times, surprisingly joined and assisted in a theatrical vignette by Isolde Martyn as Henry Tudor sharing his intended policies if he were ever king. One example was equality for women, so that they too could lose their heads if they crossed him.

After which there was a Star Signs Quiz, requiring players to match the astrological character description with the right Ricardian personage offered as a multiple choice. With infamously strong characters like Henry VII, Elizabeth Woodville, and Margaret Beaufort, it was a fascinating challenge to try to match them up with the hints. It was actually quite hard but pleasurable work, with most members managing to answer at least some of them correctly, even if by sheer luck, and receiving prizes of chocolates. At the end, it appeared that everyone was munching happily, whether or not they had guessed correctly.

Isolde Martyn (in full medieval male garb), Jenny Savage, and Julia Redlich then presented several Christmas standards rewritten as Ricardian themed parodies, being Henry Tudor’s Christmas List (sung to the tune of the Twelve Days of Christmas) and We Three Kings, with the audience invited to join in on the choruses.

Raffles were drawn then, with many people going home happy with their lovely winnings, along with purchases from the Bring and Buy table which had been laden with the usual appealing fare. Afternoon tea was then provided by the Committee, who always takes such good care of us. It was a lovely ending to another excellent year of programs!

The first meeting of the New Year will be on a different time-table than usual, so please take note: the first Saturday of the month, being 4 February 2012, with an invited guest speaker discussing Medieval Architecture.

Tags: Henry Tudor, NSW Branch, Richard III

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 »

Tags: Lambert Simnel, Perkin Warbeck