#Master of James IV of Scotland

[beautiful-belgium]

Detail of St. Nicholas from a book of hours made in Flanders (probably Bruges), c. 1510-1520 MS 1058-1975

“This volume showcases the final and most exuberant phase of manuscript illumination. It represents the highest point in the development of the Book of Hours, the quintessential text for private devotion and a cornerstone of the European book trade by c. 1500. 

Introduction

This Book of Hours combines features typical of manuscripts made for the open market with unique elements designed for the volume’s discerning patron, a Cardinal. Although Books of Hours are often associated with lay women, in fact many were produced for male patrons, both secular and religious. This example demonstrates the crowning achievement of Flemish scribes and artists, the leading suppliers of deluxe manuscripts for local use and for export across Europe. It contains illuminations by two of the most innovative artists of the Northern Renaissance, the Master of the Dresden Prayer Book and the Master of James IV of Scotland.” - The Fitzwilliam Museum

[scotianostra]

On February 1st 1329, Sir James Douglas bestowed land and money to Newbattle Abbey before he left for with The Bruce's heart for the Holy Land.

The Good Sir must have known it was a dangerous journey he was going to undertake, he gave the land so that each year a mass would be sung for St Bride and 13 poor people would be fed so the saint would intercede with God for his immortal soul.

In the 1849 book Registrum S. Marie de Neubotle the story is told as such:

On St. Bride’s day, or the 1st of February, in the end of the year 1329, at the park of Douglas, the “good Sir James of Douglas,” being then about to depart for the Holy Land with the heart of his royal master, bestowed on the monastery of Newbattle his half of the land of Kilmad, the other half of which it already possessed by gift of Roger de Quinci; while the monks, on their part, became bound to sing a mass at St. Bridget’s altar within their abbey church on the feast of St. Bridget, yearly for evermore, and to feed thirteen poor folk, that the saint might make special intercession with God for the weal of the good knight.

If you are wondering why it says "in the end of the year 1329" it is because we were still using the Julian calendar back then, the New Year began on March 25th.

The pic shows a statue of Sir James Douglas on The Scottish National Portrait Gallery, note the chain and casket around his neck, which contained the heart of Robert the Bruce, King of Scots. Of course most of you will know that Douglas only made it to Spain, landing at Santander where a stone, now lost, recalled the hero ‘El Duglas’. Douglas and the Scots joined King Alfonso XI of Castile in his war against the Sultan of Granada, Muhammed IV.

In Castile an English knight marvelled at Douglas’s unscarred face - he expected the famed warrior to be covered in battle scars, as he himself was. Douglas replied, ‘God be praised, I always had my hands to defend my head.’

On August 30th 1330 Douglas alongside several Scots, including Simon Lockhart of Lee, William Keith, Robert Logan of Restalrig and Walter Logan, William Borthwick, Kenneth Moir, William St Clair of Rosslyn and John St Clair, charged into battle against The Moors at The Battle of Teba, Douglas and the Scots knights died at Teba. James’s body was found by the silver casket. Muhammed IV had the bodies of the Scots sent with guard of honour to King Alfonso. The surviving Scots, Sir William Keith and Sir Simon Lockhart, cut out their friends’ hearts and boiled their bodies down in a cauldron. They took the knights’ bones and hearts back to Scotland.

This was when the Douglas Arms were changed, the heart being added to show his devotion to The Bruce. The second pic is by the late Andrew Hillhouse, depicting the event.

[thelibraryghost]

An Overview of Life in Tudor England

The 1500s in England saw Henry Tudor die; his second son take the throne as Henry VIII; and his daughter Margaret Tudor wed to James IV of Scotland. Catherine of Aragon, a Spanish princess, married Arthur, Prince of Wales; upon his death, she married then-prince Henry and bore his first daughter, Mary Tudor. After Henry VIII established the Anglican Church and annulled his marriage to Catherine, he married Anne Boleyn, who bore the future Elizabeth I before being executed in 1536. Henry would go on to have four more marriages, only one of which produced a son: Edward.

More information below the cut and here.

General information     Banijay History. "Norwich: Wool Trade and Revolution - Britain's Most Historic Towns." YouTube. Posted October 11, 2024.     BBC Select. "Catherine of Aragon's 7-Year Wait To Marry Henry VIII | The Six Queens of Henry VIII | BBC Select." YouTube. Posted January 12, 2022.     History Hit. "Ray Mears discovers 400-Year-Old perfectly preserved Warbows Salvaged From a Sunken Tudor Warships." YouTube. Posted December 5, 2022.     Oxford University Department for Continuing Education. "Enter a rabble of plebeians! Social disorder in Shakespeare's England." YouTube. Posted September 28, 2015.     Ridgway, Claire. "Henry VIII’s ONLY Acknowledged Illegitimate Son - The Rise of Henry Fitzroy." YouTube. Posted September 12, 2024.     YaleCourses. "2. 'The Tree of Commonwealth': The Social Order in the Sixteenth Century." YouTube. Posted March 9, 2011.

Arts and architecture     Historic Royal Palaces. "Conservation of a Tudor ceiling at Hampton Court." YouTube. Posted March 10, 2020.     Historic Royal Palaces. "Henry VIII's Astronomical Clock at Hampton Court Palace." YouTube. Posted September 23, 2011.     Historic Royal Palaces. "The lost Tudor wall of Henry VIII's Hampton Court Palace." YouTube. Posted March 21, 2019.     Marchant, Katrina. "Hans Holbein's Portrait Drawings: A View of the Tudor Court." YouTube. Posted May 8, 2020.

Economy and trade     Marchant, Katrina. "Dr Kat and 'The Great Debasement'." YouTube. Posted December 13, 2019.     Marchant, Katrina. "Foundations of Empire: The Origins of the East India Company." YouTube. Posted November 19, 2021.     Marchant, Katrina. "Masters of 'Mystery': Apprentices in History." YouTube. Posted February 24, 2023.     Teysko, Heather. "Renaissance English History Podcast Episode 156: Medieval and Tudor Wool Trade." YouTube. Posted March 19, 2021.     The Exploress Podcast. "A Lady's Life in Tudor England, Chapter VIII: Women of Business." YouTube. Posted October 4, 2021.

Food and drink     History Hit. "We Cooked an Authentic Tudor Feast!" YouTube. Posted December 21, 2022.     Historic Royal Palaces. "Henry VIII's Kitchens at Hampton Court Palace." YouTube. Posted March 23, 2009.     Historic Royal Palaces. "King's Confectionary." YouTube. Posted June 24, 2009.     Historic Royal Palaces. "Lighting a Tudor fire without matches!" YouTube. Posted June 24, 2009.     Historic Royal Palaces. "Show and tell with spices." YouTube. Posted June 24, 2009.     Historic Royal Palaces. "Tudor Christmas Cookalong: Sauge." YouTube. Posted December 15, 2016.     Historic Royal Palaces. "Turning the spit." YouTube. Posted June 24, 2009.     Historic Royal Palaces. "What the cooks wore and why." YouTube. Posted June 24, 2009.     The Landmark Trust. "The Tudor Christmas kitchen." YouTube. Posted December 4, 2020.

Games and entertainment     History Hit. "The History Of 'Real Tennis' At Henry VIII's Royal Court | Tudor Tennis Challenge." YouTube. Posted April 6, 2022.     Marchant, Katrina. "Renaissance Prince: Henry VIII and His Music." YouTube. Posted January 4, 2025.     Marchant, Katrina. "Richard Burbage: Shakespeare's Star?" YouTube. Posted August 19, 2022.     Moriarty, Colm. "A hoard of 16th and 17th century children’s toys." Irish Archaeology. Posted February 16, 2013.     Pittaway, Ian. "Greensleeves: Mythology, History and Music. Part 2 of 3: History." Early Music Muse. Posted .     The National Archives UK. "Filling in the Blankes: The Life of a Black Tudor." YouTube. Posted April 25, 2023.

Health and medicine     Historic Royal Palaces. "Henry VIII: medicine in Tudor England." YouTube. Posted May 22, 2009.     Marchant, Katrina. "Dr Kat and Our Filthy Ancestors?" YouTube. Posted March 20, 2020.     Marchant, Katrina. "French Pox, Bloody Flux and Other Historical Illnesses." YouTube. Posted February 23, 2024.     Marchant, Katrina. "Pregnancy in the Past: 'The Birth of Mankind'." YouTube. Posted September 6, 2024.

Literature and education     FolgerLibrary. "Inside the Collection: A best-selling book and a 16th-century woodblock." YouTube. Posted April 18, 2018.     History West Midlands. "The Chained Library." YouTube. Posted September 9, 2019.     Marchant, Katrina. "What Was Literacy?: Perceptions of Intellect in History." YouTube. Posted December 10, 2021. Travel and transportation     AFP News Agency. "Treasures from England's Mary Rose ship resurface." YouTube. Posted May 30, 2013.     Historic Royal Palaces. "Meet the Shire horses of Hampton Court Palace." YouTube. Posted October 23, 2019.     Marchant, Katrina. "Dr Kat and the Spanish Armada." YouTube. Posted August 23, 2019.

[miscellaneous-art]

Flemish workshop of the Master of James IV of Scotland Spinola Hours - December Calendar Page; Slaughtering Pigs; Capricorn About 1510–1520

«With miniatures displaying astounding plays of spatial illusionism, the luxurious personal prayer book known as the Spinola Hours is one of the most visually sophisticated Flemish manuscripts of the sixteenth century. A book of hours contains a calendar of Church holidays, the Hours of the Virgin, which is a cycle of prayer services devoted to the Virgin Mary, the Office for the Dead, and other prayers, hymns, and readings. This particular book augments these contents with a special series of weekday offices and masses, providing even more possibilities for rich illuminations. (…)»

J. Paul Getty Museum

[thegothicera]

The Tree of Jesse by Master of James IV of Scotland, Flemish, ca. 1510-1520

[dsandrvk]

Monday, June 2 - Stirling to Glasgow Airport

View over to Abbey Craig and Wallace Monument with highlands behind

Robert the Bruce

James V on the corner of his palace

King's Knot and the King's Park below the castle

Mary og Guise's throne room

Some of the replica Stirling Heads on the ceiling in the King's throne room

Replica of Head of James V

A burst of color on a gloomy day

The western face of Stirling Castle

It was a gloomy day, but no rain was in the forecast, so we packed up our rain gear along with all our other stuff except our small day packs, and left it at the hotel to pick up later. Buying tickets to Stirling Castle on-line saves money, so we did that just before we headed out, as we had to specify a half-hour time window for entrance, and we dawdled just enough on the walk up through town to get there at just the right time.

The castle is a Scottish Heritage property, and they have worked hard on restoration and interpretation, and we spent over four hours there, wandering through exhibits and outdoor spaces. The views from the ramparts were wonderful - no wonder it is said that who controls Stirling Castle controls Scotland. It is easy to see how this is the gateway to the highlands, too, as the hills are just to the north, while the flatter plains of the various battlefields stretch to the south and east. Indeed, the castle was always changing hands between the Scots and the English - in the 1300's control changed eight times in 50 years.

A large palace was built here in 1540 for James V of Scotland, and no expense was spared to show that Scotland was just as "civilized" as the rest of Europe. The exterior has lots of gargoyles and carved depictions of people and demons, as well as beautiful gardens, all within the older defensive perimeter. His presentation room has a ceiling with 56 colorfully painted carved heads depicting ancestors, mythical figures, as well as James and his wife, Mary of Guise (Marie de Guise in her native France). The originals have been removed and some are in a gallery on site, and some are in museums, but they have been faithfully recreated by master carvers, and installed on the ceiling in the palace.

In addition, a series of tapestries, based on The Hunt for the Unicorn, have been recreated by master weavers over a 13 year period. These are now in Mary's presentation room, and are probably similar to ones owned by James V, which were originally created in the Netherlands. There is a wonderful exhibit elsewhere on the castle grounds explaining how the new tapestries were made by hand, and highlighting the artists who worked on them, as well as explaining the symbolism in each one of the seven. The unicorn is a symbol of Scotland, but also is considered to be a Christ figure.

James V died in 1542 after a botched attempt at invading England, so didn't get to spend much time in his palace. His widow, Mary, ruled as regent for her infant daughter, now known as Mary, Queen of Scots, Mary, Queen of Scots' son, James VI eventually became James I of England, finally uniting the two kingdoms.

Other parts of the castle included an older section occupied by James VI, now the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Regimental Museum, as well as a chapel built for Mary of Guise, and a great hall built by James IV. It is always a little disturbing to me that no expense was spared during festivities in these spaces, while the peasants were often barely existing, but it is fascinating to see how they lived. James VI wheeled in a 5 meter long fully rigged replica ship here with 36 brass guns, filled with fish made from sugar as a celebration of his son Henry's baptism. It's good to be the king.

Eventually we made our way back through the gates and down the "back walk" into town, passing the old hospital, old jail, and other places in this historic town. We stopped for some fish and chips before retrieving our luggage, and continuing on to Glasgow by train, where we took the airport bus out to our airport hotel.

The plan is to get up tomorrow around 3 AM to be able to check in and drop bags for our 6 AM flight, since there aren't any kiosks to make it go faster. Then three flights to Grand Junction and a night there with friends before heading back home. It's been a long trip, but we've seen so many marvelous things and met a lot of wonderful people. It will take time to process everything, as well as sort out pictures and memories. Traveling is always a thrill, but I look forward to my garden.

[corebionics]

Golf is a sport that has a rich history dating back centuries, with origins that are both fascinating and mysterious. The exact beginnings of golf are somewhat shrouded in the mists of time, but one thing is certain: it has evolved over the years into the globally popular game we know today. The origins of golf can be traced back to Scotland in the 15th century. The earliest mention of golf in historical records dates back to 1457, when King James II famously banned the game because it was taking away valuable practice time from archery, which was crucial for national defense at the time. The ban didn't last long, however, as King James IV became an avid golfer himself and lifted the ban in 1502. One of the oldest golf courses still in existence today is the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland. This iconic course has been played on for centuries and is considered the "Home of Golf." The layout of the Old Course is said to have evolved naturally from the rugged coastal landscape, with features like sand dunes, bunkers, and undulating fairways adding to the challenge and charm of the game. The early golfers played with primitive equipment compared to what we use today. The first golf balls were made of wood, often carved by hand, and the clubs were simple sticks with wooden heads. The game itself was much different as well, with players aiming for targets like trees or landmarks instead of holes in the ground. As golf continued to evolve, so did the rules and regulations of the game. The first known set of rules for golf was written in 1744 by the Gentlemen Golfers of Leith, who later became the Honorable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. These rules established the basic principles of the game, such as playing the ball from the spot where it came to rest and counting strokes to complete a hole. The popularity of golf began to spread throughout Europe and eventually around the world. In the 19th century, golf clubs were established in countries like England, Ireland, and the United States, further solidifying the game's place in global sports culture. Tournaments and competitions began to be organized, with the first British Open taking place in 1860 at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. The development of technology and equipment also played a significant role in the evolution of golf. The introduction of the gutta-percha ball in the mid-19th century revolutionized the game, as it was more durable and provided better distance and control. Clubs began to be mass-produced, and innovations like steel shafts and rubber grips improved the performance of golfers on the course. Today, golf is played and enjoyed by millions of people around the world. Professional tours like the PGA Tour and LPGA Tour attract top talent from all corners of the globe, showcasing the skill and excitement of the game to fans everywhere. Major championships like the Masters, the U.S. Open, and the Open Championship continue to captivate audiences and inspire new generations of golfers. In conclusion, the origin of golf may be somewhat murky, but its enduring appeal and evolution over the centuries are undeniable. From humble beginnings on the rugged Scottish coastline to the glitzy tournaments and high-tech equipment of today, golf has remained a beloved pastime for people of all ages and backgrounds. It is a sport that challenges both the body and the mind, fosters camaraderie and competition, and provides endless opportunities for players to improve and excel. As we look back on the storied history of golf, we can appreciate the traditions and innovations that have shaped this timeless game into what it is today.

[metall-and-dust]

2.02 FLODDEN

Just gonna pop in here because I've seen people wondering if it was Catherine who murked King James at the battle of Flodden. I was rewatching it this morning and it looks like it was actually George Douglas, (father of Angus Douglas) - who also died at the Battle of Flodden. 

If you watch the scene more closely, James is killed on the field almost instantly after George Douglas (probably where the confusion came from). Not that I would put it past TSP to have Catherine pull the trigger. 

[beautiful-belgium]

Workshop of the Master of James IV of Scotland (Flemish, before 1465 - about 1541) - Spinola Hours

Labours of the months January to June including saints, biblical stories and astrological signs

[scotianostra]

On November 29th 1512 the Auld Alliance was renewed between Scotland and France.

This wasn’t the first time it was renewed, it also happened in 1484 and1492, this renewal however would have dire circumstances for our Renaissance Monarch, King James IV.

The English King, Henry VIII was flexing his muscles and threatening war, he was feeling isolated after his break from the Catholic church. At the start of Henry’s reign, it seemed as if England and Scotland might have had the opportunity for a fresh start with regards to their historic relationship. James IV of Scotland had married Margaret, the sister of Henry. Henry had hoped that the new brother-in-laws might have a more positive relationship but he was wrong. James felt far more of a kinship with France.

The “Historic Works of James IV. (1488-1513), King of Scotland wrote that……

"The 29th of November, this same year, [1512,] the ancient league and amity renewed and confirmed between the crowns of Scotland and France; at which time, the Lord ambassador de la Motte, from his master the French King, presents King James with a great ship of 35 pieces of ordnance, laden with wine and ammunition of all sorts, for war.”

Buying the Scots off with alcohol, sounds about right!

The French seen this as a counterbalance to England's involvement in the anti-French schemes of Pope Julius II. This later drew the Scottish into a disastrous war against the English.

The following July James IV responded to pleas for assistance from France to invoke the terms of The Auld Alliance and declared war on England.

A Scottish army, with it’s King leading it invaded England. The invasion achieved the wider objective of drawing English forces from northern France, but Flodden was a cataclysmic defeat for the Scots. King James IV had risked everything by committing the manpower resources of his kingdom to one major battle, he paid with his life, it was the last time a Monarch lost his life on the battlefield in The British Isles.

[heaveninawildflower]

‘Saint Julianus and his Wife’ ( 1510 - 1520 ).

Tempera colours, gold, and ink on parchment by Master of James IV of Scotland (Flemish, before 1465 - about 1541).

Image and text courtesy The Getty.

This image is available for download, without charge, under the Getty's Open Content Program.

[imagediver]

Click on the image to see the detail in a zoomable context.

Detail from Saint Dominic, Master of James IV of Scotland, 1510-1520

[thegothicera]

St. Dominic by the Master of James IV of Scotland, Flemish, ca. 1510-1520

[william-shakespeare-official]

Here's THE masterpost of free and full adaptations, by which I mean that it's a post made by the master.

Anthony and Cleopatra: here's the BBC version, here's a 2017 version.

As you like it: you'll find here an outdoor stage adaptation and here the BBC version. Here's Kenneth Brannagh's 2006 one.

Coriolanus: Here's a college play, here's the 1984 telefilm, here's the 2014 one with tom hiddleston. Here's the Ralph Fiennes 2011 one.

Cymbelline: Here's the 2014 one.

Hamlet: the 1948 Laurence Olivier one is here. The 1964 russian version is here and the 1964 american version is here. The 1964 Broadway production is here, the 1969 Williamson-Parfitt-Hopkins one is there, and the 1980 version is here. Here are part 1 and 2 of the 1990 BBC adaptation, the Kenneth Branagh 1996 Hamlet is here, the 2000 Ethan Hawke one is here. 2009 Tennant's here. And have the 2018 Almeida version here. On a sidenote, here's A Midwinter's Tale, about a man trying to make Hamlet. Andrew Scott's Hamlet is here.

Henry IV: part 1 and part 2 of the BBC 1989 version. And here's part 1 of a corwall school version.

Henry V: Laurence Olivier (who would have guessed) 1944 version. The 1989 Branagh version here. The BBC version is here.

Julius Caesar: here's the 1979 BBC adaptation, here the 1970 John Gielgud one. A theater Live from the late 2010's here.

King Lear: Laurence Olivier once again plays in here. And Gregory Kozintsev, who was I think in charge of the russian hamlet, has a king lear here. The 1975 BBC version is here. The Royal Shakespeare Compagny's 2008 version is here. The 1974 version with James Earl Jones is here. The 1953 Orson Wells one is here.

Macbeth: Here's the 1948 one, there the 1955 Joe McBeth. Here's the 1961 one with Sean Connery, and the 1966 BBC version is here. The 1969 radio one with Ian McKellen and Judi Dench is here, here's the 1971 by Roman Polanski, with spanish subtitles. The 1988 BBC one with portugese subtitles, and here the 2001 one). Here's Scotland, PA, the 2001 modern retelling. Rave Macbeth for anyone interested is here. And 2017 brings you this.

Measure for Measure: BBC version here. Hugo Weaving here.

The Merchant of Venice: here's a stage version, here's the 1980 movie, here the 1973 Lawrence Olivier movie, here's the 2004 movie with Al Pacino. The 2001 movie is here.

The Merry Wives of Windsor: the Royal Shakespeare Compagny gives you this movie.

A Midsummer Night's Dream: have this sponsored by the City of Columbia, and here the BBC version. Have the 1986 Duncan-Jennings version here. 2019 Live Theater version? Have it here!

Much Ado About Nothing: Here is the kenneth branagh version and here the Tennant and Tate 2011 version. Here's the 1984 version.

Othello: A Massachussets Performance here, the 2001 movie her is the Orson Wells movie with portuguese subtitles theree, and a fifteen minutes long lego adaptation here. THen if you want more good ole reliable you've got the BBC version here and there.

Richard II: here is the BBC version. If you want a more meta approach, here's the commentary for the Tennant version. 1997 one here.

Richard III: here's the 1955 one with Laurence Olivier. The 1995 one with Ian McKellen is no longer available at the previous link but I found it HERE.

Romeo and Juliet: here's the 1988 BBC version. Here's a stage production. 1954 brings you this. The french musical with english subtitles is here!

The Taming of the Shrew: the 1980 BBC version here and the 1988 one is here, sorry for the prior confusion. The 1929 version here, some Ontario stuff here, and here is the 1967 one with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. This one is the Shakespeare Retold modern retelling.

The Tempest: the 1979 one is here, the 2010 is here. Here is the 1988 one. Theater Live did a show of it in the late 2010's too.

Timon of Athens: here is the 1981 movie with Jonathan Pryce,

Troilus and Cressida can be found here

Titus Andronicus: the 1999 movie with Anthony Hopkins here

Twelfth night: here for the BBC, here for the 1970 version with Alec Guinness, Joan Plowright and Ralph Richardson.

Two Gentlemen of Verona: have the 2018 one here. The BBC version is here.

The Winter's Tale: the BBC version is here

Please do contribute if you find more. This is far from exhaustive.

(also look up the original post from time to time for more plays)

[signorformica]

Lazarus's soul is carried to Abraham (detail). Master of James IV of Scotland ~ ca.1510 Getty Museum • via Bibliothèque Infernale on FB

[longitudinalwaveme]

Victorian Flash

A weird AU.

Location: 1860s London 

Flash #1: Jason Garrick, age 70. Born in the 1790s, has been operating as the Flash since the 1810s. (Queen Victoria took the throne in 1837, and he also lived during the reigns of William IV, George IV, and George III.) In his civilian life, he works as a scientist and as a university professor. Married to Joan Garrick (neé Williams). 

Flash #2: Bartholomew Allen, age 40. Born in the 1820s, became the Flash in the mid-1840s. Married to Iris Allen (neé West), a (in this time period rare) female journalist. Member of the City of London Police. Iris works for The London Gazette.

Flash #3: Wallace West, age 25. Born in the mid-1830s. Became Kid Flash at 10 years of age. Nephew to Bartholomew and Iris; works a variety of odd jobs. Married to Linda West (neé Park), a young Korean woman he met while traveling the world (with super speed). The two have twins, Jason and Iris West (both age 5). 

Captain Cold: Leonard Snart, age 38. Born in the 1820s in Southwark, the son of a (frequently drunken) tinker, became Captain Cold in the mid-1840s after a freak accident led to his pistol gaining the ability to shoot out beams of intense cold. Already a thief, the Captain used this power to seek greater riches….leading him into conflict with the second Flash. Cold is also the de facto leader of the Rogues, who operate out of Seven Dials. 

Golden Glider: Elizabeth Snart, age 33. Younger sister of Leonard Snart (Captain Cold); born in the early 1830s in Southwark. Elizabeth worked for a number of years as a dressmaker, but her true passion was ice skating...and through this hobby she met the love of her life, Roscoe Dillon, Esq (better known as the Top), whom she followed into a life of crime as one of London’s most notorious female criminals at the age of 26. 

The Top: Roscoe Dillon, Esq, age 36. Born in the mid-1820s, the only son of a shrewd businessman who started up his own factory, making himself thousands of dollars. Highly intelligent (an Oxford graduate), Dillon nevertheless chose to go into a life of crime in the late 1840s (for what reason, no one was quite sure), putting his not inconsiderable talents as an inventor to use in order to do so. He subsequently fell in love with Elizabeth Snart, the younger sister of his ally Captain Cold, at the age of 28, and the two claim to be engaged.

Mirror Master I: Samuel Joseph Scudder, age 36. Born in the mid-1820s to a poor widow who worked as a laundress in the Whitechapel District. By the time he was eleven, Samuel had turned to crime in an attempt to support her, and, by the time she was killed by cholera on his sixteenth birthday, he was entrenched in London’s underworld. However, what made Samuel unusual was his remarkable scientific aptitude-something that allowed him to utilize mirrors in ways undreamed of by the educational and scientific communities, and also allowed him to help form the so-called “Rogues” of London’s Seven Dials. Samuel is also quite fond of smoking cigars. 

Weather Wizard: Mark Mardon, age 37. Son of a tutor and a former governess; younger brother of Clyde Mardon, a famous scientist who was making groundbreaking work in the field of meteorology. Unlike his sibling, Mark was something of a wastrel, prone to gambling, drinking, and hanging around with unsavory people. His life probably would have gone by without him doing anything of importance had he not stumbled into his brother’s lab while fleeing his creditors. His brother had died of heart failure, but he had left behind a most remarkable invention-a wand that could control the weather. Mark decided to use the wand as a way to pay off his debts...by becoming yet another of London’s “Rogues”. 

Trickster: James Jesse (probably an alias), age unknown (but likely in his early thirties). James Jesse arrived in London with a traveling circus in the 1840s….and promptly took up a career of pestering the city’s greatest hero, the Flash, seemingly because it amused him. Not much else is known about him; though he is an expert thief and con man. He also invented shoes that use the power of steam to let him walk on air. 

Heat Wave: Michael Rory, age 42. Born to rural farmers in the late 1810s; moved to London at age 15 after the family farm burned down under mysterious circumstances. Worked for a number of years as a baker before his bakery burned down (also under mysterious circumstances) and he disappeared. He resurfaced a few years later, working with the Rogues and armed with an incredible gun that shot flames. 

Captain Boomerang: George Harkness, age 37. Born in Australia in the 1820s; joined Her Majesty’s Navy as soon as he turned 18, where he managed to earn the rank of Captain. He arrived in London in the mid-1840s after being discharged from the Navy thanks to a leg injury that left him with a permanent limp. This limp did not, however, prevent him from making the decision to embark on a life of crime. Thanks to his use of the boomerang-a weapon whose use he had learned from the native people of the island on which he had been born-the papers gave him the moniker of “Captain Boomerang”, and he eventually joined the Rogues of Seven Dials. He has a noticeable accent. 

Mirror Master II: Evan McCulloch, age 26. A native of Glasgow, Scotland, where he was born in the mid-1830s. Abandoned as an infant, McCulloch was taken in by a Mrs. McCulloch, who raised him until her death from scarlet fever. Orphaned again at the age of 16, Evan turned to a life of crime. When his crimes in Glasgow garnered too much attention, he fled to London, where he stumbled upon some of the technology that the original Mirror Master, Samuel Scudder, had abandoned. Quickly mastering its use, he was soon dubbed the second Mirror Master by the press and the police...something which brought him into conflict with the original. However, Captain Cold thought that the newcomer had potential, and invited him to join the Seven Dials’ Rogues-much to the frustration of Samuel Scudder. Has a noticeable Scottish accent. 

The Pied Piper: Sir Hartley Rathaway, son of Osgood Rathaway, an Earl, and Rachel Rathaway, his wife. 29 years old. Born into extreme wealth, Hartley Rathaway was cut off from his fortune and thrown out of his parent’s estate at the age of 18 when he told them that, when he came of age, he planned to give away most of his money to London’s poor. While wandering through the slums of London (after being mugged twice), he stumbled upon a mysterious flute...one that enabled him to control the actions of those around him. He used the flute to steal money from his parents and then proceeded to give the money to the poor. He soon became famous as a Robin Hood figure, and his fame eventually led him to become a member of the Rogues...none of whom know he is still technically in line to become an Earl. 

Axel Walker: Age 15; a native of the Seven Dials. A street urchin with sticky fingers; Axel idolizes the Trickster and wants to follow in his footsteps. Most of the Rogues find him annoying; just useful enough to bother keeping him around. His mother is alive, but is always working and seems unable to control her son, and his father is a complete mystery.

If any British people want to correct me on my geography, I would appreciate the help.