Book Spotlight and Excerpt: The Last Blast of the Trumpet by Marie Macpherson

 

Conflict, Chaos and Corruption in Reformation Scotland.

 

He wants to reform Scotland, but his enemies will stop at nothing to prevent him.

 

Scotland 1559: Fiery reformer John Knox returns to a Scotland on the brink of civil war. Victorious, he feels confident of his place leading the reform until the charismatic young widow, Mary Queen of Scots returns to claim her throne. She challenges his position and initiates a ferocious battle of wills as they strive to win the hearts and minds of the Scots. But the treachery and jealousy that surrounds them both as they make critical choices in their public and private lives has dangerous consequences that neither of them can imagine.

 

In this final instalment of the trilogy of the fiery reformer John Knox, Macpherson tells the story of a man and a queen at one of the most critical phases of Scottish history.

 

Praise for The Last Blast of the Trumpet

  

‘Macpherson has done for Knox what Hilary Mantel did for Cromwell.’

 

Scottish Field

 

‘This richly realized portrait of a complex man in extraordinary times is historical fiction at its finest.’

 

Linda Porter, author of Crown of Thistles; Katherine the Queen, Royal Renegades; Mistresses: Sex and Scandal at the Court of Charles II

 

‘Marie Macpherson has once again given us a cavalcade of flesh and blood characters living the early days of the Scottish Reformation in a complex tale told with economy and wit.’

 

S.G. MacLean, author of The Seeker Series and Alexander Seaton mysteries

 
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Excerpt

The Last Blast of the Trumpet
Marie Macpherson

Part 1 Chapter One

 

The Wrath of the People

 

The Parish Church of the Holy Cross of St John the Baptist, Perth, 11 May 1559

 
‘John Knox has come.’
 
The words took flight, leaping from lip to lip, echoing round the kirk, ringing to the rafters, and striking terror into his soul. The seething mass of humanity surged forward only to be shoved back by metal-clad men-at-arms. Knox stood rooted to the threshold. The kirk was crammed full: he hadn’t expected such a crowd nor such a clamour. Panic gripped his throat and crushed his lungs.
 
An elbow nudged him and a voice muttered in his ear, ‘The folk have tramped from all the airts to show their support for their preachers and to await your guidance, master.’
 
Swallowing deeply, Knox steeled himself to follow in the wake of Sir Patrick Lyndsay’s lean, lofty figure cutting a swathe through the swarm that parted like the Red Sea before Moses. The biblical comparison inspired him. In the midst of the throng, folk stood on tiptoe, craning their necks to catch sight of him; those at the front stretched out their hands. Faces rough-hewn by the unforgiving Scottish climate glowed with expectation and excitement. His ain folk, he thought: humble hinds and herdsmen in fusty sheepskin blankets, ploughmen and draymen in worsted tunics jostled cheek by jowl with masons and skinners in worn leather jerkins and aprons, in stark contrast to the docile, dutiful gentry of his Geneva brethren.  More like the Berwick horde before he’d tamed them, Knox reminded himself. He should not fear this unruly flock but seek to win them over.
 
‘Is thon the mighty preacher everyone’s talking about?’ a voice piped up. ‘He’s gey wee.’
 
Lyndsay grabbed the offender by the throat. ‘Short in stature he may be, but his voice makes the heart dirl like thunder. Afore I rip out your blasphemous tongue, shift your fat arse and let him pass.’
 
Cowed, the man slunk away while the rest of the crowd fell silent. Patrick, Master of Lyndsay, a blunt and fierce soldier, was not a man to be crossed.
 
‘Never fash, Preacher Knox, my men-at-arms will guard the kirk doors lest the priors of Perth dare to thwart your sermon. And I’ll no shrink from turning them loose on the rabble if trouble breaks out.’
 
Rather than inspire confidence, the warrior’s words filled Knox with foreboding. ‘I want no violence used on the brethren. We need to show that we come in peace.’
 
Lyndsay’s hefty shoulders lifted in a non-committal shrug before he stomped off down the nave. Knox headed for the foot of the pulpit where he was greatly cheered to see a well-kent face amongst the group.
 
John Willock, the minister who had married him to his beloved Marjory, now clasped him to his broad chest. ‘We give thanks that the Lord has sent you here in our hour of need to stand fast with our brothers in Christ,’ he said and introduced his fellow preachers. John Christison was another former friar, while Paul Methven, a baker, and William Harlaw, a tailor, were self-educated guildsmen who had taken up the cause. ‘All good men and true.’
 
‘Not in the eyes of Marie de Guise who’s charged us with sedition and heresy,’ Methven growled. ‘Her daughter’s marriage to the French dauphin has emboldened the French sow and she’s cracking the whip.’ The blunt-spoken baker clenched fists swollen from constant kneading. ‘The regent has broken her promise to permit us to practise our faith. Just before Easter she commanded everyone to attend mass, make confession in a priest’s lug and take the sacrament on the tongue.’
 
‘It’s true. With an eye on the Vatican’s support, the regent has taken to heart the papal dogma of extra ecclesiam nulla salus,’ John Christison added.
 
Knox gave a nod of understanding. ‘Outside the Roman Church there is no salvation. Paul IV is a severe and unbending prelate. Thon Antichrist vowed that even if his own father were a heretic, he’d gather the wood to burn him.’
 
Willock clasped Knox’s hand. ‘Now’s the time to break from the fetters of Rome, brother. Scotland is on the brink of civil strife and we’re in dire need of a skipper to take the helm.’
 
‘What about thon Lords of the Congregation?’ Knox asked. The signatories to the bond had led him a merry dance over the past few years. He’d lost count of the number of times they had called him back to Scotland, assuring him the time was ripe to return. After several false starts and delays in Dieppe, he’d finally arrived home and, with barely time to regain his land legs, he’d been whisked into the midst of the maelstrom.
 
‘Many of the lords are biding their time, waiting to see which way the die falls,’ Willock replied. ‘The regent still has the support of her stepson, Lord James Stewart, the Earl of Argyll as well as the Hamiltons. Her commander-in-chief, Châtelherault, is one of those who benefits from a lavish French pension.’
 
Knox gave a contemptuous snort. ‘So, the glister of the profit has blinded their eyes. It was ever thus.’
 
‘Nevertheless, the Ayrshire lords, including Glencairn and Ochiltree, have aye stood firm.’
‘Never mind thon band of noble ne’er-do-weils,’ Methven broke in. ‘Craftsmen and guildsmen like us champion the poor and needy who’re clamouring for reform. It’s not only the roasting of our martyr, Pastor Milne, that has provoked our brethren but your warning call, Mr Knox. The folk have taken to heart your words.’
 
Baffled, Knox asked, ‘What do you mean?’
 
‘Do you no mind? The Beggars’ Summons posted on the gate of every friary and monastery throughout the land on the first of January?’ Methven handed him a tattered scrap of paper.
 
Knox quickly scanned the summons. Written on behalf of the blind, the crooked, the bedridden, widows and orphans and all other poor folk, it ordered the flocks of friars to hand over their ill-gotten gains and quit their religious houses by Whitsun. Or else be forced out on Flitting Friday, the 12th day of May.
 Knox looked up. ‘But that’s tomorrow. Who’s going to evict them?’ The eyes of all gazing upon him gave the answer.
 
Lyndsay stepped forward. ‘The faithful await a signal from you, master.’
 
Knox felt trapped, the knot in his stomach tightened. Everyone believed he’d written this anonymous warning and looked to him for the next step. He should speak the truth but his thrapple felt so dry he doubted he could utter a sound. The same fear that had seized him before his first sermon at St Andrews now threatened to strangle him into silence. His back throbbed from injuries sustained in the galleys, firing tentacles of pain up the back of his neck and into the base of the skull. The words from Ezekiel came unbidden into his mind: I will make your tongue cleave to the roof of your mouth so that you will be dumb and unable to rebuke them, for they are a rebellious people.
 
Knox had come home expecting to head a religious reformation not lead troops into battle.
 

Marie Macpherson

Scottish writer Marie Macpherson grew up in Musselburgh on the site of the Battle of Pinkie and within sight of Fa’side Castle where tales and legends haunted her imagination. She left the Honest Toun to study Russian at Strathclyde University and spent a year in the former Soviet Union to research her PhD thesis on the 19th century Russian writer Mikhail Lermontov, said to be descended from the Scottish poet and seer, Thomas the Rhymer. Though travelled widely, teaching languages and literature from Madrid to Moscow, she has never lost her enthusiasm for the rich history and culture of her native Scotland.

Writing historical fiction combines her academic’s love of research with a passion for storytelling. Exploring the personal relationships and often hidden motivations of historical characters drives her curiosity.

The Knox Trilogy is a fictional biography of the fiery reformer, John Knox, set during the 16th century Scottish Reformation. Prizes and awards include the Martha Hamilton Prize for Creative Writing from Edinburgh University and Writer of the Year 2011 awarded by Tyne & Esk Writers. She is a member of the Historical Writers’ Association (HWA), the Historical Novel Society (HNS) and the Society of Authors (SoA).

Website • Twitter • Facebook • Instagram

Penmore Press

Scientists Unravel Secrets of a Hidden Room Within a Hidden Room in English Tudor Mansion

Ancient Origins

A team of scientists provided with 3D laser scanners have disclosed the secrets of a hidden room, known as a "priest hole," in the tower of an English Tudor mansion linked to the failed "Gunpowder Plot" to assassinate King James I in 1605.

 New Study Reveals Secrets of the “Priest Holes”
The secrets of a hidden room in Coughton Court, a Tudor mansion associated with the plot to assassinate King James I in 1605, have been revealed in a new study. The double room was a hiding place for priests during the anti-Catholic persecutions of the 16th and 17th centuries and was leased by Sir Everard Digby, one of the leading conspirators of the plot. According to Christopher King, an assistant professor in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom, and one of the lead researchers of the study, the “hidden” priest holes were originally built inside walls and between floors, as places where a priest could hide from their prosecutors, while the family of the house pretended to supposedly live an ordinary life. King told Live Science "We know that priests were hiding in these spaces for up to three days while people were searching the properties. Some of them are really very small, where the priest would be in quite an enclosed box-like space."

Coughton Court, Warwickshire ( CC by SA 3.0 )

 A Little History Behind That Dark Era for Catholicism

During the 16th century, Europe was under the religious leadership of the Roman Catholic Church. However, over time, protests against the Catholic Church and its influence eventually led to the formation of the Protestant movement. The separation of the Church of England from Rome under Henry VIII in 1537 brought England alongside this broad Reformation movement. Under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England , which began in 1558, Catholics were persecuted by law and priests were imprisoned, tortured, and frequently executed. As a result of this oppression, wealthy Catholic families began building secret chambers and passages in their homes called ‘priest holes’ in order to hide priests when the ‘priest hunters’ came searching. Priest hunters took their job very seriously, sometimes searching a house for days or even weeks. They would move furniture, lift floorboards, bang the walls for sounds of a hollow cavity, and plunge their swords between cracks and crevices. They counted windows from the outside and inside, and measured the height of ceilings and the length of walls, in the hope of detecting hidden chambers. Clearly, the priest holes had to be very cleverly constructed to evade such extensive searches.

The consequences if a priest were captured. Engraving by Gaspar Bouttats. ( Wikipedia)

Priest holes and were frequently built into fireplaces, attics, and staircases. Sometimes, a network of passages led to the final hiding place, at other times the priest hole was hidden inside another chamber, making it more difficult to find. However, more often than not the priest holes were tiny with no room to stand or move. Priests sometimes had to stay for days at a time with little to no food and water, and no sanitation. Sometimes, they would die of starvation or suffocation if the priest hunts went on for too long.

 The Importance of the 3D Laser Scanning Equipment
The priest hole in Coughton Court was first discovered in the 1850s, but more details have now been revealed than ever before thanks to 3D laser scanners. In order to understand better how the priest hole was constructed and hidden from searchers, King and his colleagues used 3D laser scanning equipment to accurately spot the secret chambers and determine their location in relation to the rest of the building and its grounds.

The priest hole (in color) was built in a closed-off space in a tower of Coughton Court, as a place for Catholic priests to hide from search parties. Credit: University of Nottingham

The compound images and 3D computer models generated from the laser scans show the chamber's "double-blind" construction, which was constructed this way to deceive priest hunters into thinking they had found an empty priest hole, King told Live Science . “When they're searching, they think they've found the priest hole but it's empty, but actually the priest is hidden in the more concealed space beyond." And continues, "And that's what happens at Coughton: there's one chamber under the floor in the turret of the tower, and then there is another trap door that goes through into a second space, which we assume is where the priest was actually hiding." Ultimately, King’s colleague Dr. Lukasz Bonenberg of Nottingham University, emphasized on the significant help modern technology contributed to this project, “Terrestrial laser scanning is an important new technology for recording ancient monuments as they capture a huge amount of data very quickly and this is the first time that TLS has been used for the purpose of visualising hidden spaces inside Tudor houses. Digital visualizations of historic buildings are vital tools for helping the public to picture the past,” said as Daily Mail reports.

 Top image: The priest hole at Coughton Court, England ( CC by SA 3.0 )

 By Theodoros Karasavvas

In case you missed it... Top 10 historical Cornish words

History Extra

c1870: the busy fishing port of Newlyn in Penzance, Cornwall. (Photo by Gibson/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Cornish, or Kernowek – a descendant of the language spoken by the British population before the Anglo-Saxons arrived – has survived and resisted over the centuries.
In 1549, during the Reformation, the Act of Uniformity decreed that the Book of Common Prayer in English should be used by everyone in place of Latin worship. This proved so unpopular with the speakers of Cornish that there was a massive uprising – the Prayer Book Rebellion. Thousands of rebels died, striking a massive blow to the already dwindling language.
However, Cornish struggled through until the 19th century when – entirely replaced by English – it was declared a dead language. Famously, the last native speaker of Cornish was Dolly Pentreath of Mousehole, who died in 1777.
As Cornish declined and was replaced with English, the two intermingled to develop a rich Cornish dialect of English. This dialect, while English, has elements of Cornish grammar, and lots of Cornish vocabulary.
In the mid-19th century there was a resurgence of interest in the Cornish Language and dialect, despite the fact it had been in decline some years earlier. In an effort to record and preserve it, several scholars wrote grammars, dictionaries and glossaries.
The language preserved in these books shows a Cornwall that is pragmatic and occasionally bawdy; hardworking, and dependent on the landscape.
Cornish still survives today and is now an official minority language, although it is notably stronger in the older generations. There is a growing number of bilingual native speakers, and Cornish-language books and films are being made.
Let’s look back at some notable 19th-century Cornish dialect words:
EGGY-HOT – Hot beer whisked with eggs and sugar, sometimes flavoured with rum.
TIDDLEYWINKS or KIDDLIWINKS – A pub. Innkeepers would keep smuggled brandy hidden from the law in a kettle. Those in the know would then WINK at the kettle when they wanted some. It’s likely that after an evening’s hard winking at the kettle, it didn’t stay secret for long.
VESTRY – When a baby smiles in its sleep.
EAR-BOSOMS – Glands in the neck. When they’re swollen, you say “my ear-bosoms are down”.
POKEMON – Clumsy. Unrelated to the Japanese POKEMON, which is a contraction of Pocket Monsters.
DUMBLEDORE – A thorn or bramble. This word, which also appears in early modern English meaning a bumblebee, inspired JK Rowling.
BOWLDACIOUS – Brazen or impudent, as in “You bowldacious hussy”.
GOD’S COW – A ladybird. Because what is a ladybird if not a tiny, red, holy cow?
AIRYMOUSE – A bat. A more modern Cornish dialect word for bat is LEATHERWING, which is equally lovely.

NESTLE-BIRD, CHOOGY-PIG and PIGGY-WHIDDEN – The smallest and weakest pig in a litter. The number of words for this demonstrates how important animals were in daily life.

Secret Notes Found Hidden in a Bible Reveal Unexpected Details on the Reformation of Henry VIII

Ancient Origins

Hidden annotations in England’s first printed Bible, published in 1535, show there was a short transition period between the Catholic era in England and the Reformation that violently transformed English religious history.

A few years after the Reformation began, the reformers brutally repressed the last vestiges of Catholic Church practices and adherents.
The historic Bible was later owned by a pickpocket who was hanged at Tybourn in 1552, an inscription on the back page shows. The Bible’s preface was written by Henry VIII and later recorded a transaction between the pickpocket and another man.
The historian Eyal Poleg, who did the research, told Phys.org:

“The book is a unique witness to the course of Henry’s Reformation. Printed in 1535 by the King’s printer and with Henry’s preface, within a few short years the situation had shifted dramatically. The Latin Bible was altered to accommodate reformist English, and the book became a testimony to the greyscale between English and Latin in that murky period between 1539 and 1549. Just three years later things were more certain. Monastic libraries were dissolved, and Latin liturgy was irrelevant. Our Bible found its way to lay hands, completing a remarkably swift descent in prominence from Royal text to recorder of thievery.”

Hidden annotations were found mixed with biblical text in the 1535 Latin Bible. (Lambeth Palace Library)

“Until recently, it was widely assumed that the Reformation caused a complete break, a Rubicon moment when people stopped being Catholics and accepted Protestantism, rejected saints, and replaced Latin with English,” Dr. Poleg, of Queen Mary University, told the university’s news service about his research.“This Bible is a unique witness to a time when the conservative Latin and the reformist English were used together, showing that the Reformation was a slow, complex, and gradual process.”

“Edward VI and the Pope: An Allegory of the Reformation.” By an unknown artist. (c. 1547 to 1570s) National Portrait Gallery, London. (Public Domain)

That said, the religious movement did involve quite a bit of upheaval.
“The terrorists who sparked Bonfire Night were fighting a regime which imposed the protestant religion with hangings, burnings and bloodshed,” says an article in The Telegraph on Guy Fawkes Day.

• Lavish banquet hall where Henry VIII entertained visiting royalty is discovered beneath playground
• Hiding to Avoid Hanging: Priest Holes, Hidden Chambers, and Secret Passages
• Researchers Claim Glastonbury Ancient Legends Made Up By Cash-Strapped Monks

 “[T]he truth is that the Reformation was not a gentle evolution achieved by a few Parliamentary acts and redrafted ecclesiastical canons. It was a violent rupture with our country's recent history, achieved at the point of a sword,” The Telegraph says. “Here in England we had our own fanatics — men like Thomas Cromwell, who plundered the Church and universities to line his pockets and those of his henchmen, and who used the power of the State to ruthlessly murder those who got in his way, irrespective of gender or age.”

Portrait of Thomas Cromwell. (c. 1532 and 1533) By Hans Holbein the Younger. (Public Domain)

Dr. Poleg and Graham Davis, a specialist in 3D X-ray imaging in the university’s school of dentistry, used advanced imaging to examine the Bible, which is England’s oldest Bible. Henry VIII’s printer published the Bible.
At first the Lambeth copy seemed completely clear of any hidden texts. But upon closer inspection Dr. Poleg saw that heavy paper was pasted over some of the book’s blank parts. His job was to reveal the annotations without damaging the Bible, he said.

A pasted page with the Library stamp. (Lambeth Palace Library)

Drs. Poleg and Davis took two images in long exposure, one using a light sheet beneath the pages and one without. The first showed the annotations mixed with the printed text, the second just the print.
Dr Davis wrote unique software to remove the second image from the first, which left a clear picture of the annotations, according to the university’s press release.

• Bloody Mary: The Marriage, Reign, and Death of a Queen of England
• Numerous skeletons of sexually perverse Nuns discovered in Oxford
• Gold pieces retrieved from Thames River most likely part of elaborate Tudor era hat

The annotations were written in later, between 1539 and 1549 and are from the Great Bible of Thomas Cromwell. The Great Bible is considered the epitome of the English Reformation. Later someone covered over the annotations, around 1600.

Isolation of hidden annotations. (Lambeth Palace Library)

Dr. Poleg traced the Bible’s later owners, after the time Latin Bibles fell out of use in England. On the Bible’s back page, he uncovered a handwritten transaction between William Cheffyn of Calais and James Elys Cutpurse (a pickpocket) of London.
The inscriptions say that Cutpurse would pay 20 shillings to Cheffyn or he would have to go to Marshalsea, a prison in Southwark. Dr. Poleg did research and determined that Cutpurse was hanged in Tybourn, another notorious prison.
“Beyond Mr Cutpurse’s illustrious occupation, the fact that we know when he died is significant. It allows us to date and trace the journey of the book with remarkable accuracy – the transaction obviously couldn’t have taken place after his death,” said Dr. Poleg.
Featured Image: Images merging text from both sides of the paper in a 1535 Latin Bible. (Lambeth Palace Library) Portrait of Henry VIII (1537-1547) by the workshop of Hans Holbein the Younger. (Public Domain)
By Mark Miller

St George’s Day: 10 things you (probably) didn’t know about him

History Extra

St George slaying the dragon. © Lebrecht Music and Arts Photo Library / Alamy

St George’s Day is upon us once again, and interest surrounding the festival of England’s primary patron saint shows no sign of abating. It’s common knowledge that, according to legend, St George killed a dragon, but what else do you know about him?


Here, writing for History Extra, Jonathan Good, associate professor of history at Reinhardt University in Georgia, brings you 10 lesser-known facts about England’s patron saint…

1) St George is not English

If he ever existed (and there’s no proof he did), George would likely have been a soldier somewhere in the eastern Roman Empire, probably in what is now Turkey. According to legend, he was martyred for his faith under Emperor Diocletian in the early fourth century, and his major shrine is located in Lod, Israel.

2) His earliest legends were so outlandish that the Pope condemned them

Early Christians were known to exaggerate the tortures endured by their martyrs, but St George is in a league all of his own. According to one source, St George was torn on the rack, hit on the head with hammers until his brains oozed out, forced to drink poison, torn on a wheel, boiled in lead, and much else besides – all over a period of seven years.
A fifth-century decree attributed to Pope Gelasius declared that, lest it give rise to mockery, the details were not be read out in church.

3) He was one of several military saints honoured in the Byzantine Empire

Others included Theodore, Demetrius, and Mercurius. All of these saints had been soldiers when alive, and continued their patronage of the Byzantine army in death – especially St George, who became the most popular.
Crusaders to the Holy Land in 1099 adopted this tradition of military saints, and brought the veneration of St George back to Western Europe.

4) St George is also connected to agriculture

His name means ‘earth-worker’ – that is, farmer – and his feast day of 23 April is in the spring, when crops are starting to grow. Many people throughout European history have prayed to St George for a good harvest.

 

5) The dragon was not always a part of St George’s story

The earliest legend that features St George rescuing a princess from a dragon dates to the 11th century. It may have started simply as a way to explain icons of military saints slaying dragons, symbolising the triumph of good over evil.
For the permanent association of St George and the dragon we have to thank the Golden Legend, a popular collection of saints’ lives written in the 13th century.

6) He is the patron saint of many places

These include countries like Ethiopia, Georgia and Portugal, and cities such as Freiburg, Moscow and Beirut. George was seen as an especially powerful intercessor, and the dragon story has a universal appeal.

7) St George was known as ‘Our Lady’s Knight’ in medieval England

As a patron of crusading, St George easily became the quintessential knight. And every knight needs to serve a lady – who better than the Blessed Virgin Mary herself?

8) Edward I is ultimately the reason why St George ‘became’ English

As a crusader, Edward I (r 1272–1307) acquired an affinity for St George, and back in England outfitted his troops with the St George’s cross when fighting the Welsh. He raised St George’s flag over Caerlaverock Castle in Scotland in 1300, among other things.
Later, Edward III, hoping to revive the glories of his grandfather’s reign, founded the Order of the Garter under the patronage of St George.

9) St George appeared to the English army at the battle of Agincourt in 1415

King Henry V (r 1413–22) was especially devoted to St George, as is reflected in Shakespeare’s play. The idea later arose that St George had actually appeared to the English during the battle of Agincourt in 1415, which was a stunning victory for them against the French.

10) The Reformation was not kind to St George

Even King Edward VI himself mocked the legend as improbable. But the poet Edmund Spenser, among others, kept George’s legend alive as a romantic and nationalistic story. And it is one that shows no signs of losing its appeal.

Jonathan Good’s The Cult of St George in Medieval England (Boydell & Brewer) was recently updated, and is now available in paperback. To find out more, click here.

History Trivia - Parliament accepts the Act of Supremacy: Henry VIII is head of the Church of England

November 3

 1394 Jews were expelled from France by Charles VI.

1468 Liège was sacked by Charles I of Burgundy's troops.

1470 Edward V, King of England was born.

1507 Leonardo da Vinci was commissioned to paint the Mona Lisa.

1529 London - first sitting of the Reformation Parliament.

1534 English Parliament accepts the Act of Supremacy: Henry VIII is head of the Church of England.