8 November: Robin Hood

In 1247, the possible date of the death of Robin Hood. The inscription on his alleged grave at Kirklees reads “Obiit 24 kal: Dekemris 1247” which in the Roman calendar would mean “23 days before the beginning of December” – which would be November 8. Truth is, nobody has been able to prove he even existed, let alone the exact date he died.

1. Most of what we know about Robin Hood comes from a handful of early texts and ballads. The first time he is ever mentioned is in a text called Piers Plowman, dated to about 1377 and written by William Langland, a contemporary of Geoffrey Chaucer. The earliest surviving ballad about him is Robin Hood and the Monk, written in the 15^th century. It's from this one that we get the association with Nottingham and its sheriff.
2. However, there is a fair bit of evidence associating him much more closely with Yorkshire than Nottinghamshire. Another 15^th century collection of stories called A Gest of Robyn Hode has him living in Barnsdale rather than Sherwood Forest. Indeed, most of what is left of Sherwood Forest today is actually in Yorkshire. There are manuscripts in the British Museum which state that he he was born around 1160 in Lockersley, which is probably modern day Loxley, a suburb of Sheffield. Yet another account says he was a native of Wakefield. So Sheffield and Doncaster are perfectly justified in naming their airport after him. Robin Hood’s Close and Little John’s Close in Whitby were so named because, allegedly, the two men had an archery contest, shooting arrows from the roof of the monastery there, and the closes are where the arrows landed.
3. That doesn't mean to say none of the story happened in Nottingham – there are places there, too, mentioned in the legends, like Robin Hood's Well, near Newstead Abbey and the Church of St. Mary in Edwinstowe. Also in Nottinghamshire is The Major Oak, an 800 year old tree which is said to have been used by Robin and his Merry men to hide in. However, while it might be possible to hide a few people in the huge tree now, in Robin Hood's time it would have been little more than a sapling.
4. The idea of Robin being an outlawed nobleman called Robin of Locksley was Sir Walter Scott’s interpretation of the legend. The early ballads say he was a “yeoman” which means he wasn't a mere peasant, but he was slightly below the status of a knight. He may have been a landowner or an artisan, but he wasn't a noble.
5. Another departure from the original stories is that Robin's king was Richard I, when according to the ballads, the king he served was Edward II.
6. The Gest of Robyn Hode introduces several of the Merry Men, including Little John, Will Scarlet and Much the Miller’s Son, but not Maid Marian. She is a 16^th century addition, when representations of Robin Hood in May Day festivals demanded he should have a love interest. In fact, one early story, Robin Hood's Birth, Breeding, Valor, and Marriage, he has a different girlfriend - Clorinda the Queen of the Shepherdesses. Some later accounts get around this by claiming Clorinda was an alias used by Maid Marian.
7. Friar Tuck wasn't mentioned until the 15^th century, either. He is first mentioned in the play Robin Hood and the Sheriff from 1475. He may have been based on a real person called Robert Stafford, chaplain of Lindfield in Sussex who used the name Frere Tuk when he committed robberies in around 1417. Even in modern times, characters are being added to the Merry Men. Since the 1980s it has been common to include a Saracen, or Muslim, character among Robin Hood's followers. This character has variously been known as Nasir, Azeem and Djaq.
8. Talking of aliases – Robin Hood may not have been the folk hero's real name. "Robin Hood" may have been a stock alias used by thieves and outlaws. In those times, Robin was a diminutive form of Robert, a common name. The surname Hood was fairly common, too, and could be applied to people who made hoods, or people who wore them. So there would have been any number of men with the name Robin or Robert Hood, and some of them were bound to break the law at some stage. Legal records from the York Assizes dating back to 1226 mention a Robert Hod, a real person who owed money to St Peter's in York, and his worldly goods, amounting to 32 shillings and 6 pence (less than £2) were confiscated, thus making him an outlaw.
9. It's not even certain that Robin Hood wore “Lincoln Green” as a 19^th century poem has him dressed in scarlet, while the Merry Men, presumably including Will Scarlet, are in green. Nor do any of the early poems make any mention of Robin Hood stealing from the rich to give to the poor.
10. He is said to have died at Kirklees priory, and was taken there when he became and ill, because his aunt was the prioress there and it was presumed she'd take care of him. However, she wasn't on his side at all – she was willing to kill her own nephew at the request of Sir Roger de Doncaster. She slowly bled Robin to death. When Robin realised what she was doing, he used the last of his strength he blew his horn and Little John came to his aid, but it was too late to save Robin Hood. Robin asked Little John to put a bow in his hand and carry him to a window, from which she shot one last arrow. He told Little John to bury him where the arrow landed.

NEW!

Golden Thread

Terry Kennedy is inexplicably and inexorably drawn to the small town of Fiveswood as a place to live and work after university. He is sure he has never visited the town before, but when he arrives there, it seems oddly familiar.

Fiveswood has a rich and intriguing history. Local legends speak of giants, angels, wolves, a local Robin Hood, but most of all, a knight in golden armour. Fiveswood's history also has a dark side - mysterious deaths blamed on the plague, a ghostly black panther, and a landslide which buried the smugglers' caves.

Terry buys an apartment in The Heights, a house which has been empty for decades, since the previous owner disappeared. Now he has finally been declared dead, developers have moved in and turned it into six flats. Terry has the odd feeling he has lived in this enigmatic house before. But that is not all. Since childhood, Terry has had recurring, disturbing dreams which have been increasing in frequency so that now, he has them almost every night. To his dismay, the people from his nightmares are his new neighbours.

Except, that is, for Eleanor Millbrook. She is refreshingly unfamiliar. After Terry saves her from a mysterious attacker, they become close. However, Terry's nightmares encroach more and more on his waking life, until they lead him to a devastating discovery about who he really is.

Available on Amazon:

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7 November: Tongue Twister Day

Today is Tongue Twister Day, so here is a selection of them to get your tongue twisted around.

1. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. How many pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?
2. She sells seashells by the seashore. The shells she sells are sea-shells, I'm sure. For if she sells sea-shells on the sea-shore Then I'm sure she sells sea-shore shells.
3. Susie works in a shoeshine shop. Where she shines she sits, and where she sits she shines.
4. The seething sea ceaseth and thus the seething sea sufficeth us.
5. Betty Botter bought a bit of butter. The butter Betty Botter bought was a bit bitter And made her batter bitter. But a bit of better butter makes better batter. So Betty Botter bought a bit of better butter Making Betty Botter's bitter batter better.
6. How much wood would a woodchuck chuck. If a woodchuck could chuck wood. He would chuck as much wood as a woodchuck could chuck. If a woodchuck would chuck wood.
7. A Proper Copper Coffee Pot.
8. The sign language equivalent of a tongue twister is called a finger-fumbler. The phrase Good blood, bad blood is a tongue-twister in English as well as a finger-fumbler in ASL.
9. The sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick.
10. Tie twine to three tree twigs.

NEW!

Golden Thread

Terry Kennedy is inexplicably and inexorably drawn to the small town of Fiveswood as a place to live and work after university. He is sure he has never visited the town before, but when he arrives there, it seems oddly familiar.

Fiveswood has a rich and intriguing history. Local legends speak of giants, angels, wolves, a local Robin Hood, but most of all, a knight in golden armour. Fiveswood's history also has a dark side - mysterious deaths blamed on the plague, a ghostly black panther, and a landslide which buried the smugglers' caves.

Terry buys an apartment in The Heights, a house which has been empty for decades, since the previous owner disappeared. Now he has finally been declared dead, developers have moved in and turned it into six flats. Terry has the odd feeling he has lived in this enigmatic house before. But that is not all. Since childhood, Terry has had recurring, disturbing dreams which have been increasing in frequency so that now, he has them almost every night. To his dismay, the people from his nightmares are his new neighbours.

Except, that is, for Eleanor Millbrook. She is refreshingly unfamiliar. After Terry saves her from a mysterious attacker, they become close. However, Terry's nightmares encroach more and more on his waking life, until they lead him to a devastating discovery about who he really is.

Available on Amazon:

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Kindle

6 November: Noah's Ark jokes

6 November 2948 BC - According to 17^th Century Irish Bishop James Ussher, today was the birthdate of Noah. So here are 10 Noah jokes.

1. Need an ark? I Noah guy.
2. After it was all over, and Noah lowered the gangway from the ark for all the animals to leave, he told the animals to "go forth and multiply." All the animals left except two Snakes who lay quietly in a corner of the ark. "Why don't you go forth and multiply?" demanded Noah. "We can't," answered one snake. "we're adders."
3. What if Noah had missed the boat?
4. In the Bible it rained for 40 days, they called it a disaster. In England we call it summer.
5. Where did Noah keep his bees? In the Ark hives.
6. Noah floated a limited company when the rest of the world had been liquidated.
7. I think the Aardvark just made up that name when he heard that Noah was taking the animals onto the ark in alphabetical order. Matt King
8. Who was Joan of Arc? Noah's wife.
9. Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the Ark, professionals built the Titanic. Elizabeth May
10. Into every life a little rain must fall, but I think someone’s mistaken me for Noah. Allison Raul

NEW!

Golden Thread

Terry Kennedy is inexplicably and inexorably drawn to the small town of Fiveswood as a place to live and work after university. He is sure he has never visited the town before, but when he arrives there, it seems oddly familiar.

Fiveswood has a rich and intriguing history. Local legends speak of giants, angels, wolves, a local Robin Hood, but most of all, a knight in golden armour. Fiveswood's history also has a dark side - mysterious deaths blamed on the plague, a ghostly black panther, and a landslide which buried the smugglers' caves.

Terry buys an apartment in The Heights, a house which has been empty for decades, since the previous owner disappeared. Now he has finally been declared dead, developers have moved in and turned it into six flats. Terry has the odd feeling he has lived in this enigmatic house before. But that is not all. Since childhood, Terry has had recurring, disturbing dreams which have been increasing in frequency so that now, he has them almost every night. To his dismay, the people from his nightmares are his new neighbours.

Except, that is, for Eleanor Millbrook. She is refreshingly unfamiliar. After Terry saves her from a mysterious attacker, they become close. However, Terry's nightmares encroach more and more on his waking life, until they lead him to a devastating discovery about who he really is.

Available on Amazon:

Paperback

Kindle

5 November: Fire

It's bonfire night and all over the UK people are lighting fires. Fire is defined as a rapid chemical change which produces heat and light, or for the more scientificially minded, the exothermic oxidation of a combustable substance. Ten facts about fire.

1. Three things are necessary for fire to happen: fuel, Oxygen and heat. Fire extinguishers work by removing one of those three things. Pouring Water on a fire removes the heat, a CO2 extinguisher removes the oxygen, for example. Hence Earth is the only planet in our Solar System where fire can exist. There's not enough oxygen on any of the others.
2. A flame is basically a mixture of gases and solids chemically reacting. Hence the colour of a flame varies according to what is being burnt and the oxygen level, not by how hot it is. This is why candle flames are blue at the bottom, because there they take up fresh air with more oxygen. At the top of the flame a lot of that oxygen has been burnt off, making the flame Yellow.
3. A candle flame burns at 1,000 degrees centigrade; a blowtorch at 2,200 degrees. If you burn a book, the paper burns at 451 degrees fahrenheit, which is why Ray Bradbury titled his book Fahrenheit 451 after his editors told him his original title, The Fireman, was too boring.
4. No one knows who invented the fire hydrant, because the patent was lost... in a fire. Talking of fire hydrants, during the great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, just one fire hydrant survived long enough to be put to use putting out the fires started by the quake. That fire hydrant was painted gold in memory of the event. It's still there, in the Mission District at the top of Dolores Park. Every year, on the anniversary of the earthquake, it gets repainted.
5. When organic materials, such as wood, wax or petrol burn, oxygen combines with the hydrogen in the material and creates water. Chances are if you see a clear liquid dripping from the exhaust pipe of a car, it's the water produced by the controlled fire in the engine.
6. Early humans worshipped fire, and in time, personified it with fire deities. Some fire gods are: Ra and Sekhmet (Egypt); Fuji (Japan); Bridgit and Grannus (Celtic); Hephaestus (Greek); Vulcan (Roman); and Mixcoatl, the Aztec god who is said to have introduced fire to humanity.
7. Whatever you do, don't try to stick anything made of Cotton with superglue, because applying superglue to cotton makes it catch fire. Health and safety instructions will tell you not to wear cotton gloves or even Blue jeans, when using superglue.
8. In mythology, salamanders are associated with fire, because the creatures tend to hang out in rotting logs. When these logs were used as firewood, the salamanders would come out, and people thought they had been magically created by the flames.
9. Forest fires, or wildfires, travel faster uphill than downhill. The steeper the slope the faster the fire spreads. 90% of them are caused by human activity.
10. You can make fire using ice. The ice must be perfectly clear, however. To make a fire, carve it into the shape of a lens. Then it can be held over dry tinder in sunlight in the same way you might use a magnifying glass.

NEW!

Golden Thread

Terry Kennedy is inexplicably and inexorably drawn to the small town of Fiveswood as a place to live and work after university. He is sure he has never visited the town before, but when he arrives there, it seems oddly familiar.

Fiveswood has a rich and intriguing history. Local legends speak of giants, angels, wolves, a local Robin Hood, but most of all, a knight in golden armour. Fiveswood's history also has a dark side - mysterious deaths blamed on the plague, a ghostly black panther, and a landslide which buried the smugglers' caves.

Terry buys an apartment in The Heights, a house which has been empty for decades, since the previous owner disappeared. Now he has finally been declared dead, developers have moved in and turned it into six flats. Terry has the odd feeling he has lived in this enigmatic house before. But that is not all. Since childhood, Terry has had recurring, disturbing dreams which have been increasing in frequency so that now, he has them almost every night. To his dismay, the people from his nightmares are his new neighbours.

Except, that is, for Eleanor Millbrook. She is refreshingly unfamiliar. After Terry saves her from a mysterious attacker, they become close. However, Terry's nightmares encroach more and more on his waking life, until they lead him to a devastating discovery about who he really is.

Available on Amazon:

Paperback

Kindle

4 November: Dwight D. Eisenhower

On this date in 1952 Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected the 34th president of the United States. He served as President from 1953 to 1961 and was one of the most popular Presidents in history. Here are 10 things you might not know about him.

1. His name was actually David Dwight Eisenhower. He was named after his father although his middle name was different so he couldn't be referred to as "Junior". His mother switched the two names around to avoid any confusion caused by having two Davids in the house. The President's working retreat, Camp David, was re-named by Eisenhower in 1953 after his father and Grandson. It was previously known as Shangri-La.
2. Eisenhower was an anglicised version of the German name Eisenhauer, which means "iron miner". His ancestors were farmers in Germany.
3. He came from a military background. He went to West Point and played a role in both world wars, although he didn't see any active combat. During WWI he trained tank drivers and by WWII he'd achieved a high enough rank that he didn't actually fight. He eventually reached the giddy heights of General of the Army, five-star, which only nine Americans have ever achieved.
4. He was the first president to use a Helicopter for short trips in and out of the White House. At his own suggestion, this mode of transport was adopted because it was safer than using a limo. His first such trip was in 1957 when he left the White House in a helicopter as part of an evacuation drill.
5. Generals of the Army never actually retire but remain on active duty till they die. Hence in 1961, when he retired as President, he went back to active duty.
6. When he was 58, he took up painting. He'd been inspired by watching a painter produce a portrait of Mamie Eisenhower, and was given a painting set as a gift by the artist, Thomas E. Stephens. He was encouraged to take up the hobby by Winston Churchill. Eventually, he painted about 250 pictures but never rated his own work very highly. When his paintings were shown at an exhibtion, and a reporter asked him what one of them symbolised, he replied, "They would have burned this shit a long time ago if I weren't the President of the United States."
7. He had a reputation as an excellent writer of speeches, letters and reports, and contributed to a guidebook about WWI battlefields. He was sufficiently good that William Randolph Hearst tried to headhunt him as a military correspondent for his magazine. Eisenhower declined, even though he would have earned three times as much as a journalist than he did in the military.
8. He was an avid golfer, too, which was bad news for the Squirrels which lived around the White House and used to bury their acorns on the putting green. This annoyed Eisenhower so much that he instructed his valet to shoot any squirrels seen near the green. Luckily for the squirrels, White House staff decided instead to trap them and release them into Rock Creek Park.
9. One enduring legacy from his presidency is the Interstate Highway system in the USA. Inspired by the autobahns in Germany, Eisenhower saw the advantages of such a system, not least to enable cities to be evacuated if they were targeted during a war. While driving in the US you might see commemorative signs reading "Eisenhower Interstate System" under a circle of five stars. The stars represent his five star rank in the military.
10. He was the first president to be limited to only serving two terms under the 22nd Amendment. While it was actually passed during Harry Truman's term, he lost the next election anyway. He was also the first to get a lifetime pension, paid staff and security.

NEW!

Golden Thread

Terry Kennedy is inexplicably and inexorably drawn to the small town of Fiveswood as a place to live and work after university. He is sure he has never visited the town before, but when he arrives there, it seems oddly familiar.

Fiveswood has a rich and intriguing history. Local legends speak of giants, angels, wolves, a local Robin Hood, but most of all, a knight in golden armour. Fiveswood's history also has a dark side - mysterious deaths blamed on the plague, a ghostly black panther, and a landslide which buried the smugglers' caves.

Terry buys an apartment in The Heights, a house which has been empty for decades, since the previous owner disappeared. Now he has finally been declared dead, developers have moved in and turned it into six flats. Terry has the odd feeling he has lived in this enigmatic house before. But that is not all. Since childhood, Terry has had recurring, disturbing dreams which have been increasing in frequency so that now, he has them almost every night. To his dismay, the people from his nightmares are his new neighbours.

Except, that is, for Eleanor Millbrook. She is refreshingly unfamiliar. After Terry saves her from a mysterious attacker, they become close. However, Terry's nightmares encroach more and more on his waking life, until they lead him to a devastating discovery about who he really is.

Available on Amazon:

Paperback

Kindle

November 3: November

Here are 10 facts about the month of November.

1. The word November comes from novem, the Latin word for nine, as it was the ninth month in the Roman calendar. Even when a couple more months were added to the year, and November became the eleventh month, it kept the name.
2. The birthstones for people born in November are topaz, citrine, obsidian and onyx.
3. Their birth flower is the Chrysanthemum.
4. Names given to the full Moon in November by various Native American cultures include: The Moon The Rivers Begin to Freeze; Deer Rutting Moon; Moon When The Water is Black With Leaves; Geese-going Moon; Time of Much Poverty; Moon of The Falling Leaves; Moon When All is Gathered in; and Snowy Mountains in The Morning Moon.
5. If you get a clear night sky in November, you might witness the Anromedid, Leonid, Monocerotid, North and South Taurid, Phoenicid or Orionid meteor showers.
6. In weather lore, the folk saying goes If there's ice in November to bear a duck, there'll be nothing after but sludge and muck.
7. November is said to be a lucky month in which to get married. One folk saying declares: "Married in veils of November mist, Fortune your wedding ring has kissed"; and another, "If you wed in bleak November, Only joy will come, remember!"
8. Awareness campaigns which have adopted November as their month include: Alzheimer's Disease, Aviation History, Diabetic Eye Disease, Family Stories, Drumming, Lung Cancer, AIDS, Diabetes, Epilepsy, Adoption, Autobiography wiriting, Bone marrow donation, Neurofibromatosis, Pepper, stamp collecting, Native American Heritage and Veganism.
9. There's also Movember, a portmanteau of "Mo" (short for moustache, and November), during which men grow moustaches to increase awareness of health issues specific to men, in cluding prostate and testicular cancer, and male suicide. Movember started in 1999 when a group of young men in Australia had the idea of growing moustaches for charity. Since 2010, the International Man of Movember is chosen from 21 national winners at the end of the month and is the face of Movember for the coming year. The first winner of the title was Mark Knight from London.
10. Another annual November event is NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) which enourages writers to produce a 50,000 word manuscript in the course of the month. This, too, began in 1999. A website (www.nanowrimo.org) provides encouragement and the chance for participants to share their work. The focus is on getting the novel written - the editing comes later. People who donate at least $300 to the website (or at least the first 250 of them) get tickets to "The Night of Writing Dangerously" a write-a-thon for charity which includes food, talks, contests, and much writing.

NEW!

Golden Thread

Terry Kennedy is inexplicably and inexorably drawn to the small town of Fiveswood as a place to live and work after university. He is sure he has never visited the town before, but when he arrives there, it seems oddly familiar.

Fiveswood has a rich and intriguing history. Local legends speak of giants, angels, wolves, a local Robin Hood, but most of all, a knight in golden armour. Fiveswood's history also has a dark side - mysterious deaths blamed on the plague, a ghostly black panther, and a landslide which buried the smugglers' caves.

Terry buys an apartment in The Heights, a house which has been empty for decades, since the previous owner disappeared. Now he has finally been declared dead, developers have moved in and turned it into six flats. Terry has the odd feeling he has lived in this enigmatic house before. But that is not all. Since childhood, Terry has had recurring, disturbing dreams which have been increasing in frequency so that now, he has them almost every night. To his dismay, the people from his nightmares are his new neighbours.

Except, that is, for Eleanor Millbrook. She is refreshingly unfamiliar. After Terry saves her from a mysterious attacker, they become close. However, Terry's nightmares encroach more and more on his waking life, until they lead him to a devastating discovery about who he really is.

Available on Amazon:

Paperback

Kindle

2 November: Day of the Dead

Today is the Day of the Dead. 10 things you might not know about this holiday.

1. The Day of the Dead, or Dia de Muertos is best known as a celebration which take place in Mexico, with its roots in Aztec rituals to honour the dead. However, there are also celebrations, with some regional variations, in the Philippines, Brazil, Ecuador, Belize and the USA.
2. Dia de Muertos is a public holiday in Mexico.
3. A feature of the celebrations is brightly coloured skulls made from sugar and people painting their faces. There's more to that than simply creating a riot of bright colours - the colours which are commonly used all mean something. Yellow means sun and unity, because under the sun, we are all the same. White stands for purity, purple is for grief, red is for the blood of life and Pink means happiness.
4. Skulls aren't the only symbols which crop up. Butterflies represent the soul of the departed, and marigolds are also used for decoration, because their scent is thought to lead the departed spirits back home.
5. Aztecs, Toltecs and other pre-Hispanic cultures believed that death was simply another phase in the continuum of life, and that dead people were still very much part of the community. The Day of the Dead is the day their spirits return for an annual visit. Unlike Halloween, where spirits are meant to be malevolent and scary, on the Day of the Dead they are welcomed with joy and celebration.
6. Families build altars, or ofrendas, in their homes on this day to encourage their departed relatives to drop by. The altars will contain the person's favourite foods, photos and, if the departed was a child, toys.
7. It's also a day when families visit family graves, clean and decorate them, and leave offerings.
8. A literary tradition associated with this day is Calaveras literarias (which translates as skulls literature), which consists of short poems, usually in the form of epitaphs. Alongside that, cartoons of skeletons, often dedicated to public figures, appear in newspapers.
9. The Day of the Dead is recognised by UNESCO as a part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. It was added to the list in 2008.
10. Mexico City's huge Day of the Dead parade has only been happening since 2016, and was inspired by the Day of the Dead Parade featured in the James Bond film, Spectre. Large parades are also held in Chicago and Los Angeles.

NEW!

Golden Thread

Terry Kennedy is inexplicably and inexorably drawn to the small town of Fiveswood as a place to live and work after university. He is sure he has never visited the town before, but when he arrives there, it seems oddly familiar.

Fiveswood has a rich and intriguing history. Local legends speak of giants, angels, wolves, a local Robin Hood, but most of all, a knight in golden armour. Fiveswood's history also has a dark side - mysterious deaths blamed on the plague, a ghostly black panther, and a landslide which buried the smugglers' caves.

Terry buys an apartment in The Heights, a house which has been empty for decades, since the previous owner disappeared. Now he has finally been declared dead, developers have moved in and turned it into six flats. Terry has the odd feeling he has lived in this enigmatic house before. But that is not all. Since childhood, Terry has had recurring, disturbing dreams which have been increasing in frequency so that now, he has them almost every night. To his dismay, the people from his nightmares are his new neighbours.

Except, that is, for Eleanor Millbrook. She is refreshingly unfamiliar. After Terry saves her from a mysterious attacker, they become close. However, Terry's nightmares encroach more and more on his waking life, until they lead him to a devastating discovery about who he really is.

Available on Amazon:

Paperback

Kindle