Hump Day Hook.

Hi everyone…it’s Hump Day again and time to read some amazing excerpts from loads of talented writers. So to indulge in some brilliant reading visit this site and enjoy.

Following on from last week and my WIP Ellis Stephen and Ellis are planning how Stephen can sneak into the house without his Mum seeing the tear in his trousers…..now read on;

‘ Mebbe you could sneak into back yard and into the lavvy and…and…’ Ellis stood there, still staring at the offending rent while rubbing a grubby finger up and down his snub nose; always a sign that he was thinking. I knew what he meant, and still smarting and annoyed I snapped, ‘And what, eh? Run passed me mam without me bloody trousers on?’

‘Ahm sorry, Stevie, I was only trying to help’. Ellis’s eyes pooled with tears,his bottom lip trembled and I was immediately contrite. I couldn’t stay angry with Ellis for long…and moving to his side, I laid a hand on his thin,narrow shoulder. ‘Sorry Ell..ah didn’t mean to snap’.

Ellis sniffed and wiped his sleeve along his snotty nose.’Well it might work yer know if yer mam’s busy in’t kitchen’, he said, his sun kissed freckled face brightening, ‘she’ll have ‘er back turned and she mebbe won’t see if you run fast’.

Oh, Ellis, Ellis, how simple things were for you, and us then.

A-Z Challenge….The Final Day.

is for The Zouch Chapel.

The Zouch Chapel is in York Minster and is a place of quiet prayer and contemplation but is not open to the public.

The chapel was built in memory of William la Zouch, Archbishop of York (1292-1352) William wrote his will in 1349 probably during the worst of the Black Death outbreak which was claiming so many of the clergy. And in it, he left instructions for a Chantry to be built in his memory. However, in the event and such was the dire situation of the economy after the ravages of the plague that only a chapel was endowed in his name. The Zouch Chapel

The Chapel has some of the most beautiful stained glass to be seen and many of the windows depict animals, birds and even in one….a spider.

This charming scene of a wren and a spider is my favourite. Just look at the expression on the birds face. But is he hungry or just curious, and did anyone notice that the poor arachnid has only six legs. Perhaps it sacrificed the other two to the wren.

Here to, in a corner of the chapel is a well which is known as Saint Peter’s Well. It was here, according to tradition that King Edwin of Northumbria (Born: 586 AD, Deira Died: 630 AD, Hatfield)
was baptised by Paulinus on Easter Eve 627. And this is why York Minster is called St Peter’s Cathedral.

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St Peter’s Well

More Beautiful Glass

To read more about this lovely little chapel…..visit this site and see some more beautiful stained glass and stone carvings.

A-Z Challenge

is for Yew Trees, wise guardians of the dead.

If I had a garden….I would plant it with masses of conifers. Tall ones, small ones, dwarf and spreading, I love them; but my favourite of all is the Yew.
Because when seen in a typical English country churchyard, all rich dark green and sometimes sooty black…clipped and often shaped to that never intended by nature; they appear to be watching and waiting for….something. I don’t know what these stunning trees could be waiting for but I wouldn’t be surprised if….come night fall when the village sleeps, they uproot themselves and wander around their melancholy domain just because they can….maybe.

Yes, I know that’s really fanciful but that’s how I see Yews. They live, breath and think and are blessed with the wisdom of ages. They never fail to give me goosebumps when I see them flanking a path to the church door, or grouped almost protectively around graves as in the image below. The Yew, then has been the subject of myth, legend and worship for centuries, and it is said that this is rooted in Plato’s teachings that evergreen plants are associated with the immortality of the soul.

Beautiful ancient clipped yews among table top graves. The Yew has been the subject of myth, legend and worship for centuries, and it is said that this is rooted in Plato’s teachings that evergreen plants are associated with the immortality of the soul, and in Wales the Yew is indeed the symbol of immortality arising from the pre-Christian beliefs and customs of Celt Druids. Yews were planted around Pagan temples and later, this custom was adopted by Christians as a ‘Holy Symbol’ and consequently Yews were planted in British graveyards as a symbol of everlasting life.

Yews can live for hundreds of years, indeed some say thousands of years and some very ancient British Yews are the only survivors of lost Medieval villages. Yews have a maximum height of 33ft they grow very slowly and larger trees have two or more trunks growing and uniting through fusion. And in this case, they can have a circumference of up to 57ft. So goodness only knows how old these trees are. I wonder what they could tell us if they could talk.

Yews in Borley church yard, Suffolk

Can you see the ghost nun amongst the Yews? Borley church yard

A-Z Challenge

is for Xanadu and the Poem Kublai Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Now I don’t know a great deal about poetry much less Coleridge’s Kubla Khan….but trying to find something to write about beginning with X was very um…trying. So, I thought ‘Ah, Xanadu!’ And looked it up and Bingo! I found where it was from and the poem where it is mentioned.

The poem was written (or at least started) in 1797 after an opium influenced dream Coleridge apparently had after he’d read a book describing Xanadu, the summer palace of the Mongol ruler and Emperor of China KublaKhan. When he woke up, he began to write the lines of poetry that came from the dream. He was interrupted in the middle of his writing by a visitor, consequently he did not complete his work because the interruption caused Coleridge to forget the lines. One wonders if he was, in fact suffering from an opium induced hangover as the effects of the drug wore off.

However, Coleridge did publish his epic poem in 1816 on the advice of his old pal George Gordon Byron…but unfortunately some of Coleridge’s contemporaries denounced the poem and questioned his story about its origin ( they obviously didn’t partake of the poppy then) But years later Kubla Khan is now hailed by critics as one of Coleridge’s greatest works along with The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Christabel

I’ll have to take their word for it I’m afraid.

Here then…for your delight is the first verse….with the word Xanadu in the first line 😄

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.
So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers were girdled round:
And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,
Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;
And here were forests ancient as the hills,
Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.

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A-Z Challenge

is for (Saint) Michael’s Mount or Karrek Loos yn Koos in the ancient Cornish language, which means ‘grey rock in the woods.‘

St Michaels Mount is probably one of the most romantic places in England; a fairy tale castle standing on top of a tiny island 400 yards off the Mounts Bay coast of Cornwall. It is united with the town of Marazion by a man-made causeway and can be reached on foot at low tide.

Of course, being so other-worldly’ in appearance The Mount does have its fare share of legends and myths as does most of Cornwall.

It is said that a giant once lived on The Mount; he was named Cormoran and he used to wade ashore to steal cows and sheep to eat because, being a giant Cormoran had an enormous appetite.
But….one night, a local lad, Jack rowed out to the island and dug a deep pit while old Cormoran was sleeping off his last big meal of knocked-off livestock.

When the sun came up, our hero, Jack blew a horn to wake the giant up, who, still half asleep staggered down from the summit….was blinded by the rising sun…fell into the pit and died. Poor giant.

The Mount has been a place of pilgrimage for centuries and the devout have come here and looked out over the rocky ledge on the western side of the island. It was here…where an ancient stone chair stands, that, according to another legend the Archangel St Michael appeared to a group of fisherman in the year 495.

Hmm, one wonders if said fisherman hadn’t partaken of too much cider that evening.

But the Mount is steeped in spiritual energy and religious roots and although most of the people who go their now are tourists, the spirit of the past and the pilgrims (the tourists of their day) who sought spiritual comfort and enlightenment there is very much alive and well on Saint Michael’s Mount.