The Soldier in later Medieval England is a historical research project that seeks to 'challenge assumptions about the emergence of professional soldiery between 1369 and 1453'. They've compiled impressive
databases of tens of thousands of service records. These are perhaps of interest only to specialists; but the general reader may enjoy the
profiles of individual military men: these run the gamut from regional non-entities like
John Fort esquire of Llanstephan ("in many ways a humdrum figure" though once accused of harbouring a hostile Spaniard!) to more familiar figures such as rebel Welsh prince
Owain Glyndŵr, who began his soldiering,
as did many compatriots, in the service of the English king. Between such extremes of high and low we find, for example,
Reginald Cobham, who made 6,500 florins ransoming a prisoner taken at
Poitiers and rests eternal in a splendid tomb; and various
men loyal and rebel who fought at the bloody
Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403.
posted by Abiezer
on Dec 5, 2009 -
15 comments
Smuggler's Britain tells "the fascinating story of smuggling in 18th and 19th century Britain, when high taxes led to an dramatic increase in illegal imports. As the 'free trade'" grew, smugglers openly landed contraband in full view of the customs authorities: columns of heavily-armed thugs protected the cargoes." Includes a gazetteer with Google maps links so you can scope out some lonely
cove to land contraband of your own in the footsteps of your forefathers and introduces you to
famous smugglers like
Isaac Gulliver, who never killed a man in a long career. Though of course, it was an enterprise where things often would turn
ugly.
posted by Abiezer
on Oct 9, 2008 -
7 comments
A week before Jimi Hendrix died in London he
(probably) recorded the Welsh anthem "
Land of our Fathers" (embedded audio). The eight-track recording languished in a corner of a recording studio until recently.
posted by Rumple
on Dec 31, 2006 -
30 comments
Llareggub! Dylan Thomas reading Dylan Thomas and host of others (Shakespeare, Milton, Yeats, Auden, Hardy, and more). 11 volumes of mp3s on Salon, reached after watching a Salon premium ad.
[via boingboing]
posted by carter
on Oct 7, 2005 -
12 comments
Gathering the Jewels. Welsh culture online. 'The goal of the project was to put the cream of Wales' cultural history, from repositories throughout Wales, on the Internet for people to learn from and enjoy. ' Politics, religion, sport, domestic life, emigration (the
Welsh in Patagonia), the Welsh landscape etc. Via
the 24 Hour Museum.
posted by plep
on Oct 19, 2003 -
14 comments
And death shall have no dominion.
Dead men naked they shall be one
With the man in the wind and the west moon;
When their bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone,
They shall have stars at elbow and foot;
Though they go mad they shall be sane,
Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again;
Though lovers be lost love shall not;
And death shall have no dominion.
Fifty years ago,
Dylan Thomas - one of the greatest poets of our time -
drank himself to death in New York's Hotel Chelsea at the age of 39.
Swansea, his Welsh hometown, will be commemorating his life all year, culminating in a
festival in the fall.
[more]
posted by madamjujujive
on Jun 18, 2003 -
58 comments
The Stone Pages. 'Over the last 14 years we have personally visited and photographed all 529 archæological sites you will find in these pages (117 in the six national sections and 412 in our Tours section), creating the first Web guide to European megaliths and other prehistoric sites, online since February 1996.'
Related :-
Ancient Stones, a personal photographic guide
to the stone circles of Britain;
Megalithic Walks, diaries of days out visiting some of these places;
the
Prehistoric Monuments of Wales;
the interactive
Megalith Map. These sites also have great links pages to more megalithic resources.
posted by plep
on Mar 28, 2003 -
13 comments
Rotating Ski Slope. This seems a little far fetched, if not dangerous. Skiers travel down the side of the revolving slope at the same time as it moves upwards. The result is that the ski run is effectively much further than the actual 300-metre length of the incline. It is in Wales though - which will be nice.
posted by Spoon
on Feb 26, 2002 -
12 comments
ULTRa set for take off in Cardiff! Urban Light Transport is finally here, and trials are under way in Cardiff, Wales for these four passenger driverless cars. It is estimated that the cost of implementation ($60m) will be 1/3 to 1/2 of that of a comparable light rail system.
posted by Why
on Feb 24, 2002 -
10 comments
9/11 Conspirators Stole Identities of Murdered Students: "HAD FBI agents bothered to ask college lecturers in South Wales about the terrorist bomber they supposedly taught over a decade ago, then security chiefs would have realised how Osama bin Laden had carefully created a generation of impostors . . . his agents stole the identities and life histories of at least a dozen Western-educated young men who were all murdered in 1990, according to a former head of the CIA."
posted by ryanshepard
on Sep 22, 2001 -
15 comments
UK Govt. votes to ban hunting in England and Wales. Browsing the web last night, several national polls were showing that more of the British Public were against a ban than in favour. Will the MPs who turned up to vote but not to debate (not very democratic?) live to regret their decision as the debate turns from animal welfare to civil rights?
posted by nico
on Jan 18, 2001 -
29 comments
