This article was originally published on my WordPress blog – August 2014. The fireship attack by the English fleet on the Spanish Armada off Calais on the night of 7th/8th August 1588 was the turning-point of the Armada campaign. The attack temporarily dispersed the Armada, drove it into the North…
This article was originally published on my WordPress blog – August 2017. Although this 1956 reconstruction was intended to represent the Pilgrim Fathers’ 120-ton ship Mayflower of 1620, its design was largely based on late 16th century English sources. As such it gives a good idea of the appearance of the privately-owned ships in the…
This article was originally published on my WordPress blog – July 2014. Monument to Edmund Norton, gentleman, who received a pension for ‘his good service by seae in Anno Domini 1588’ (St Bartholemew’s Church, Hyde, Winchester, Hants). Edmund died on 10th July 1600. And on 20th July (see below). BREAKING NEWS!!! 426…
This article was originally published on my WordPress blog – May 0214. The St Winnow ship carving, late 15th/early 16th centuries The storm is violent, and eternal. Clouds like thick folds of cloth gather over the ship. A demon’s face looks out from one corner of the sky, its bulging…
This article was originally published on my WordPress blog – March 2014. A thank-offering for a successful voyage, or a fearful prayer before setting sail? A 13th/14th century ship graffito in Rochester Cathedral, Kent. To many people the word ‘graffiti’ conjurs up images of desecrated walls, gang-tags and urban decay. …
This article was originally published on my WordPress blog – July 2014. Not the ship called Barry, but a small fishing boat near Nerja, Spain, 1984: it carries the sort of apotropaic eyes on the bow that could be seen on ships in the ancient Mediterranean Emotional. Cultural. Spiritual. Political. Legal,…