Folklore, customs & beliefs in ancient places ...

Old buildings here often have various markings on them. Some are on the outside stones - a makers mark of the stone carver or inside on the timbers, a sort of signature of the mason.  I have a general understanding of them from visits to many churches & historic places here. 

This past week,  I joined a podcast chat by two people I have followed on Instagram  because they look at the folklore of the many customs we unconsciously participate in without a thought to the origins, particularly how marks were supposed to protect people & places from witches & malevolent forces.

The talk was held in the evening at a local English Heritage property that I often take visitors to - Boscobel House.

I blogged about its connection to King Charles II when he was hidden there after the Battle of Worcester & that of the nearby White Ladies Priory. 

It is the first time the house has been opened to an evening event & we arrived keen to see it in a different light.  It is a striking black & white building which looks on to a field where the Royal Oak is (where King Charles II spent a night in the oak tree, hiding from Cromwells men.) 

We wandered around & joined our small group of about 20 people in the stables tearoom for hot chocolate & a chat before heading to the house. 

  

The parlour is accessed by a side door, crossing a small room, under the inside balcony, up some stairs & into quite a dark room, even in the day time. The fireplace is black slate with carved images of the history of the house, while the dark panelling & magnificent sideboard hold their own in the space.

What a fascinating evening with two very knowledgeable ladies speaking about the history of witches who were often just women with special skills of herbs, of healing in a time of home medicine & of women who were deemed a threat for whatever reason. They became targets with terrible consequences as they were burned at the stake, drowned, hung etc. 

The famous witch trial of Pendle near Lancaster is well known but it is just one of many such trials at that time. The Salem witch trials in America are notorious too. 

This information plaque is in The Quarry in our county town of Shrewsbury & tells the story of Mrs Foxall burned at the stake for poisoning her husband in 1647. (Not a great photo I took a few years ago ...)

She was burned at the stake on 23 December 1647.

Was it a deliberate poisoning, accidental, was he ill prior to the meals, who made the claim etc 

Can you imagine - burned at the stake? 

Homes often had protective marks put on entrances & near chimneys to prevent malevolent spirits entering - witches marks. 

Boscobel house has 'burn marks' above an entrance - these marks were deliberately made to protect the house against fires. The same upstairs rooms has a M mark to (Mary) to protect against ill fortune & spirits.  

I have been in those rooms several times previously but not understood what they were, so thanks to the EH curator who took us up & pointed them out. 

Many of our modern day customs stem from these folklore beliefs - bodies leaving a house feet first after death so the spirit is confused & won't return. In previous times coffins were taken on corpse roads across rivers, in an even path so the spirits did not know how to return etc on the way to the church for burial. The coffin could not just be put down anywhere when the bearers were tired because it could 'ground' the spirit to that place so consecrated coffin stones were used en route to rest the coffin on.  

This is a lych gate I photographed recently at St Andrew's Church, Hope Bowdler in Shropshire 

The history of lych gates at churches makes sense too. They are a covered porch like structure over a gate at the entrance to churches.  I have passed through dozens of them but they were where coffins were placed prior to funerals, sometimes overnight with someone staying to watch over the coffin for its safety. This space under the cover often had seating on either side where the coffin was placed.  It is where the priest would conduct the first burial ceremony from before moving in to the church. 

Lychgates serve to differentiate consecrated and unconsecrated space, and serve as a liminal space. Stone lychgates may create an increased aural awareness of the transition from one space to another by creating a tangible contrast between sounds inside and outside. In England, there was a folk belief that the spirit of the last person buried stands watch at the gate until the next is buried, leading to funeral fights at the entrance to decide which corpse should be buried first.

Lych is the ancient Saxon word for corpse & then the history of the various lych or knell bells came in to the discussion. Church bells were rang to signal that someone in the parish was close to death, different number for men, women or children & it was a harbinger of bad news to follow.  Some funerals still have a funeral bell toll (For Whom the Bell Tolls ... )  

A fascinating evening of folklore, much that is still in our customs & traditions today. 

Boscobel House was splendid lit up at night & it was a great space to hold this talk with the dark countryside all around the house & the night sounds filtering in. 

I hope you have enjoyed the history too; do you have any of these observances that supposedly ward off evil or protect your home?  Tell all & thank  you for stopping by, 

Dee ⛪️🙏

Reverse appliqué update

 I recently shared how I experimented with Reverse appliqué. 

It was a technique I had not tried previously & I learned how the technique works but it also highlighted the pitfalls I needed to be aware of in the choice of the fabrics. I used 4 linen colours for mine, arranging them how I wanted the layers to be.  

The link explains the technique I used …

I love working with linen fabric but the weave was too loose to hold the shape without bits coming off. 

I had to reinforce the outline with a row of machine stitching to give it a firm outline. 

However, I liked the row of stitching as it held the cut out together. 

I applique was an outline of the angels I had photographed in Bran castle in Transylvania because it was an interesting take on angel wings. 

The juxtaposition of the angel wings & the dark history of Dracula appeals to me because it was such a fascinating place & country. 

Because the reverse applique panel is just mine, I experimented by adding an outline of the castle in pale threads alongside the angels. 

It is subtle with pale red stitching for the roof, the building outline in pale stitching so it did not distract from the applique but added to it, giving it context in some way. 

The rocky base had only a few stitches to balance the heavier stitching at the top. 

I had wanted to try this edging technique of using a larger length of backing fabric which is stitched on the fabric edge, then the fabric is trimmed to a set length all the way around. 

The next step is for the outer fabric to be folded to the panel edge, ironed flat then folded on to the panel to be top stitched. 

This is the cut fabric folded in half to the edge of the panel, the next step is to fold it on to the panel with this edge enclosed. 

I ironed the fabric at each stage & used sewing clips to hold it in place for stitching. 

I did a small whip stitch across the edging & panel to secure them. 

The whip stitch is straight across on the front, angled at the back. 

On the next one I will mitre the corner fabric but this is a neat finish to a panel. 

Several techniques practiced, lessons noted for next time & a finished item reminding me of a fantastic visit to Transylvania. 

Any hints for the mitres corners are welcome please. I really need to conquer that technique so it comes naturally. 

Thank you for stopping by, it is appreciated. 

Dee 🧵📍🪡🏰🏯

A fortified house / castle in our Shropshire countryside

On a free midweek day,  I realised that I had not visited the lovely Stokesay castle / fortified manor house for some years. It is set in beautiful Shropshire countryside & it is a  lovely drive out to it. Hubby had not visit it in about 15 years, I was there several times in that time, so he was keen to revisit. 

It sits in a small group with the church to the side & then the view of the distinct yellow timbered gatehouse with the castle to the side of it. 

The castle is actually a fortified manor house with a moat around it & the interesting jutting out parts with leaded windows.  

Stokesay one of the finest fortified manor houses in England. This is a plan of the buildings from Wikipedia . The church is to the fight of G. 

You enter the enclave of buildings through the timbered yellow gatehouse, then in to a large enclosed space with the castle in front of you. The great hall has a massive wooden door that would have kept it safer. The windows in the hall & castle side have latticed wooden inserts & the others are closed off with substantial shutters.  The roof has massive wooden beams that are about 700 years old. 

This photo shows the views both ways with the steep wooden stairs of the north tower leading to the jutting out part, the other side leading to the South Tower buildings with blacksmith below etc. 

A steep wooden stairway leads to the jutting out part overlooking the church - generous room with views to the countryside too. The massive fireplace was needed to keep the chill at bay in these places as the wind whistled through any gaps in the shutters & doors. 

People were hardy in those times - they had to be. 

Back downstairs in the hall & on the opposite side is another set of stairs - just a little rise to a series of rooms to that side. The first one, the Solar block has another generous fireplace & it has two wooden doors to either side. In times past, this room was panelled. However, these two little wooden doors open to give a view of the hall below. 

I could see other visitors in the hall below & because it was half way up the wall, I could catch snatches of conversations too. I'm sure the two windows were in great demand to know what was happening in other parts of the house, to see visitors enter & to overhear news or gossip.  

These quirks are always fascinating as they give us a window in to life as it was. 

The South Tower behind this room had a little room then a room of stone, set to the side with two stone windows & this was a loo in times past; a loo with a view & a chilly one at that as the wind could blow from two sides. 

More stairs led to some more rooms then a steep, narrow set of stone stairs led up on to the roof area of the castle side with great views over the complex of buildings, of the church & the countryside. Essential to protect the fortified house. 

The rooms at the bottom of the castle was the space used by a blacksmith who would have been essential to provide all the metal work like hinges, catches, door fastenings & for shoeing the horses etc. 

We popped in to the church on our way out - the low ceiling in the entrance probably made it feel quite cosy & it would have been well used by the residents of the adjoining house / castle. I always light a candle & offer up a prayer when I visit churches, it is those quiet moments of reflection. 

I'm glad we seized the moment to revisit & to enjoy the countryside as the autumn colours set in. This is a great place to view the countryside from with its many openings in all directions, some shuttered, many not. 

There are notices about the South Tower for the bats that roost in the castle where it is dry & warm. We did not see any, but there is evidence of the mud swallow nests in the rafters. 

I hope you have found it as fascinating as I did, thank you for stopping by. It is always appreciated. 

Dee 

A little sewing project ...

 I bought this protea fabric ages ago with the intention of it going with the woollen winter curtains in the dining room because it is the same oatmeal colour that is in the tartan curtains. 

However, it was lost & forgotten about until I changed the airy summer curtains to the heavy winter ones this past week & found the 2 meters of fabric in the curtain container.

It was still the long length that I had bought it in so it was hemmed all around to be used on the dining room table. 

Our Living-room has a vase of beaded proteas I bought in South Africa & another vase of silk ones that I am rather fond of so continuing the protea look across both rooms is good. 

I had bought some panels a while back & two of them had proteas right on the side. I decided it was time to make them in to two useful items for the sideboard & console table in the dining room but they could be used elsewhere in the house too. 

I didn't want the large size of the panels so I cut them down to a size I wanted, cut heavy cream backing fabric too. The two parts were ironed very well,  then I took it to the machine to be hemmed. 

The corners were pinned & I left a gap in the bottom edge for turning through. After stitching all around, I trimmed the corners then turned it through. 

It was again pressed very well & the bottom gap was pinned. I top stitched all around, close to the edge so I caught in the gap, closing it with the top stitching. 

More pressing then they were taken to the dining room where the cream, pink & greens look rather nice. The oatmeal protea table cloth picks up the same colour in the pattern of the heather colour in the tartan curtains. 

I don't know why I have put off hemming them all because they fit in well. 

Who else buys lengths of fabrics as table cloths? Our conservatory table extends & bought cloths are often the wrong size so I hem fabrics I like for there. 

Thank you for stopping by & visiting, it is appreciated. 

Dee 🧵🪡📍

Signs of Autumn at home & in the woods ...

 Somehow, the year is galloping by & the misty mornings remind us that Autumn is here. 

The nights are drawing in & the morning light takes its time to arrive now. 

Early morning mists drew us out to some local woods to enjoy the changing seasons & have a walk in the woods. 

I love misty mornings when things seem mysterious, when the woods are more silent & half hidden, when you hear voices long before figures appear in the misty light. 

The dampness highlighted the many cobwebs on the trees - somehow they really like the prickly holly bushes. 

The woodland floor is spongy with decades of fallen leaves & more drifted down all the time, along with the sound of little branches falling. 

I picked up some spindly branches with little pinecones & carefully places their curving branches in my bag where they flapped around with each step. 

I picked up some conkers & one of the pricky outer shells/ They are freshly fallen & very prickly still so had to be content with just 1. 

The cool, moist woods are the perfect growing conditions for a multitude of fungi, nestled in the fallen leaves & twigs. 

I do not know one from another & do not actually like mushrooms so am content to just photograph them. 

I added 2 little branches with red berries & my woodland collection looks rather good. I prefer it to a fake, commercial one & it reminds me of time in nature.

Once home, I carefully put the foraged twigs, leaves & berries in this vintage vase (bought from a charity shop some years back).

The spindly pine bracts I picked up survived their journey around the forest in a shopping bag I grabbed from the car as we stopped. 

The H.J. Woods Indian Tree vase is generous & sturdy enough to hold an assortment of twigs & leaves. It also has similar colours to the Spode plates that I had in mind. 

The conservatory sideboard is long overdue a change. The woodland vase nudged me to fetch the few Spode Woodland plates I have - 6 - from their retail shop in Stoke on Trent a few years ago. 

The 2 yellow deer plates were from Next a few years ago. They sometimes appear at Christmas with their pretty flower adorned antlers but fit in well with the Spode plates so they are out too. They are a good match to the vase too - I must bring them out more often. 

The beautiful ruby glass decanter was a gift from Ms M a few years ago, along with the vintage custard cups with their little handles. They are the perfect size for sherry on dark days ... 

A little jig around & I think it is looking perfect for Autumn. What do you think? 

Do you also come back from a walk with a pocket (or bag) of things you foraged or picked up? 

The Autumn sideboard has things I have had for a long time but they are greatly enjoyed & make a welcome appearance from time to time. 

Thank you for stopping by & visiting. It is always appreciated. 

Dee 🪾🪵🌳🍁🍂