MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Pauline Baynes illustration of Edmund meeting Jadis
from The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe

GROUPER | H E A D A C H E

Gennady Spirin's frogs

various illustrations by Gennady Spirin
 mainly from 'Frog Song' by Brenda Z. Guiberson

the art of embroidered books

Book of Common Prayer

back cover of 17th Century embroidered satin book with metal clasps

Whole Booke of Psalmes, 1639, London

embroidered velvet book, 16th Century

New Testament of our Lord Jesus Christ, London, 1609

The Whole Book of Psalmes, collected into English Meeter, 1625

17th Century embroidered Booke of Psalms, 1635

Booke of Psalms, 1641, London

English Authorised Bible, 1645-46

embroidered satin book, 1640


David and Goliath image from embroidered Book of Psalmes


Embroidered satin in silks, plaited with silk and silver threads,
seed pearls, metal, leather, lined with watered silk, 1652

The Whole Book of Psalmes, 1636

Canvas covered with satin, embroidered with silver and silver-gilt threads,

spangles and coloured silk, 1631

embroidered bible and book of prayer, 1607

Bible, King James version, 1628

tapestry bound devotional book with plaited bookmark, mid 17th Century

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images found on pinterest

Review: The Facts In The Case Of M. Valdemar

The Facts In The Case Of M. Valdemar by Edgar Allan Poe
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

M. Valdemar, nearing death is 'mesmerised' by the narrator as part of an experiment, and held in hypnotic 'suspension' for seven months until he is 'woken' and his foul body disintegrates into putrescence. A charming bedtime story.

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fire blackened banksia pod
photo by simone-walsh

"It was a castellated, gothic mansion, built according to the fashion of the times, in the grandest style of architecture, and consisted principally of dark winding corridors, and vaulted tapestry rooms, magnificent indeed in their size, but ill-suited to private comfort, from the very circumstance of their dreary magnitude. A dark grove of pine and mountain ash encompassed the castle on every side, and threw an aspect of gloom around the scene, which was seldom enlivened by the cheering sunshine of heaven"

from The Spectre Bride, by William Harrison Ainsworth

Holly

Holly is a staple foliage at Christmas - instantly recognisable and colourful, it has been used to brighten up interiors and churches for centuries - the holly leaf motif is seen on everything from wrapping paper, to baubles, socks and ghastly festive jumpers - and of course adorning many doors, incorporated into Christmas wreaths. Yet Holly has more complex and traditional associations. Here I have attempted to collate information and trivia regarding this most festive and striking tree.

Cicely Mary Barker's interpretation of a Holly flower fairy, 1930's

The Holly was believed to have protected the inhabitants of a house from faeries with malicious or malevolent intentions - Holly brought into the house by the owners was to prevent discord between the human inhabitants and any potential faerie visitors. Preventing them from causing chaos on the domestic front by spoiling milk, putting out the fire, and getting up to other such mischief. Any Holly brought into the home must be burnt on Imbolc (Holly burns at a high temperature)  to ensure that faerie visitors don't stick around all year. A small branch can be hung outside the front door to protect from lightning. Holly will also ward off witchcraft if planted near a house.

"of all the trees that are in the wood
the Holly bears the crown..."

From the tail end of Summer until the time of the Winter Solstice in Celtic Mythology, the Holly king ruled, before being defeated by the Oak King who reined over the period of Spring until Summer. These figures were incorporated into mummers' plays which were acted out during the Christmas festivities - and similarities between the two kings and the figure of the Green Man are obvious.

Robert Graves included the Holly King in his seminal work 'The White Goddess' which has been adopted by many neopagans as a source of contemporary belief and practise.

Hollies which grew amongst hedgerows and bushes were left alone and not cut along with the rest of the foliage - this was believed to prevent the nocturnal path of witches who were believed to travel along the top of hedgerows and field boundaries, and Holly was used generally to ward off witches and malevolent otherworldly powers. It was seen as very bad luck to cut down a Holly, though it was used alongside Ivy to create costumes for a boy (who wore Holly) and a girl (wearing Ivy) in pre-Christian folkloric customs. Traditionally Holly with prickles was descrived as 'he-holly' and seen as representative of masculinity, whearas the non-prickly holly, being femininity - was referred to as 'she-holly'.

Ever since encountering Deptford Jack welcoming in the summer in London, photographer Sara Hannant has gone on a journey around England to capture rituals which mark the changing seasons. The Hollyman in this photo wassails (toasts) the people of London and River Thames on Twelfth Night - the end of Christmas festivities - to encourage a fertile year ahead.

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Despite looking incredibly unpalatable, the leaf of the Holly tree was in fact frequently used as food for farm animals - ground up it became edible and certainly must have been more pleasant to digest! Holly wood was frequently utilised in the construction and fashioning of farm implements as it was believed to have possess the property of control - hence it was used to make whips and other items related to horse riding.

The Holly was also seen as an indication of the coming seasons - if it flowered abundantly during the Spring months and yielded a copious amount of berries during the Autumnal months - a hard Winter was believed to follow. The logic behind this was that nature was providing a bumper crop of berries for the birds to consume.

Of course Holly also had Christian connotations - the evergreen nature of the tree was adopted to symbolise eternal life -the prickly green leaves suggestive of the crown of thorns, whereas the intense and eye catching red of the berries reflected the lifeblood of Christ - the white flowers reflecting the purity of the Virgin Mary.

"No spear to thrust, no shield against the shock of battle,
But in one hand a solitary branch of holly
That shows greenest when all the groves are leafless;"

from 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight' ca 1370 - 1390, author unknown

W I N T E R

Arthur Rackham, Winter Scene


Gustav Tenggren

Theodor Kittelsen, 'Nordic Thoughts'

John Bauer, 'Frau Holle and Tomte'

Reginald & Horace Knowles, illustration for Nordic Fairy Tales
by Peter Christen Asbjornsen

Ivan Bilibin, illustration for Morozko


Kay Nielsen, illustration from East of the Moon and West of the Moon

E.H. Shephard, illustration for Winne The Pooh


Arthur Rackham, Father Christmas


P.J. Lynch, illustration for A Christmas Carol


Edmund Dulac, illustration from The Snow Queen


Angela Barrett, illustration for The Snow Queen

Roman acorn shaped flask, glass

Naga Morsarang (container for magical objects)

Toba Batak people, 19th Century, Sumatra, India

water buffalo horn, wood

Review: The Chimneys Of Green Knowe

The Chimneys Of Green Knowe by L.M. Boston
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book centers around a series of stories exploring the history of Green Knowe. Tolly has returned but meets different characters from the house's past this time, his Grandmother is stitching together a quilt from remaining clothes of the house's past inhabitants (she's obviously a keen upcycler - although one hopes she isn't terrorizing people to buy her stuff with some naff etsy account) - as she works on the quilt every evening, more secrets and stories from the past are divulged.

The use of the 'n' word really jarred with me and I'm not sure if this would have been used historically at this time - if so it still feels uncomfortable in a children's book which doesn't explicitly chronicle black history per say (where for example in a historical novel it's usage might be seen as permissible to document language and terms people used at the time?) Maybe this educates children about how white people viewed black people but I just felt it was unnecessary. A lot of the characters are unpleasant and out for themselves, but I did like that whilst all and sundry are judging the sole black character for the colour of his skin, and the blind girl - they themselves are very happy in each other's company and simply do not see each other's differences - it simply isn't an issue as they are more caught up in sharing their imaginations.

There's a bit of adventure, a bit of mystery and a bit of nostalgia - and wonderful black and white illustrations. Recommended to anyone who likes classic children's literature.

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Review: The Ghost Downstairs

The Ghost Downstairs by Leon Garfield
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Short story about Mr. Fast who is a money hungry, power obsessed lawyer's clerk - who makes a Faustian pact with a strange stinking old man who dwells in the basement and boils endless beetroots to make soup. He surrenders 7 years off his life in return for becoming a millionaire - but at a cost.

Thinking himself wonderfully clever, Mr. Fast writes the small print of the document which is drawn up between them - not specifying which part of his life the 7 years are to be taken from. As a result Mr. Fishbane (the beetroot soup boiling basement dweller) takes the first 7 years of his life, and Mr. Fast loses that part of him, along with his hopes and childhood dreams and memories. His childhood is literally embodied in the form of the phantom 'Dennis' - the junior Mr. Fast, who lurks and haunts him (in a guise similar to the youth in Mann's 'Death in Venice') until he is driven to an untimely demise.

Short and intense, this is a stark and whimsical cautionary tale of greed vs. character. Quite adult in many ways, and I enjoyed this a great deal more than 'Smith' which I read a few months ago. Has a moral to it in a similar vein to Dicken's 'A Christmas Carol' - ultimately Mr. Fast realises there is more to life than money and wealth and that instead of people loathing and despising him, it is actually far more rewarding to be liked and admired - to help and assist people - in short, to be a caring and companionable citizen.

Wonderful illustrations by Antony Maitland really bring the text to life. A spooky and unsettling historical ghost story with a difference.

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Review: The Snow Spider

The Snow Spider by Jenny Nimmo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Read for Bookclub December 2016 | Suggested by Laura.

I feel I would have enjoyed this a great deal more if I hadn't previously read Susan Cooper's writing. This attempts a very similar storyline and concept, but the writing in 'The Dark is Rising' series is in my opinion of a higher caliber, the characters more complex and human. Regardless this is still good and I enjoyed it. It is more simplistic in style and not as realistic as Cooper's series - not as believable. I think this is intended for a younger audience.

I liked the friendly Snow Spider, so often feared by young children, here she becomes a protector or guardian figure, weaving its webs of wonder around bedroom to reveal glimpses of the other world where his sister resides. The magic seemed a little far fetched to me. It didn't have the same mythological background as other children's books I've read, and there wasn't an explained 'magical system' as such, it was more abstract. I loved the eccentric witchy Grandma figure of Nain, who seemed to be the guiding force for young Gwyn, with his emerging wizardly powers - the descriptions of her house swathed in scarves, pot plants and cascades of books closely resembles my idea of a dream living space! I imagined her as a Vali Myers type figure.

Gwyn's father was a miserable old wretch. The transformative figures in the story were all female - the spider Arianwen, Nain, Gwyn's mother and sister, - despite the lineage of wizards being male. I like close knit rural fantasy, and this ticked a lot of boxes, though ultimately not as rewarding or complex as The Dark is Rising series, it is none the less an enjoyable and intriguing read. There are many unanswered questions here, and I would certainly try the next two in the series to find out more about Bethan, the strange white world she arrives from, Nain and the adventures of Gwyn himself.

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William Henry Fox Talbot