#the red comyn

[scotianostra]

On February 24th 1303 The Battle of Roslin took place. 

This is one of the largest battles within Scotland during the First Scottish War of Independence, and has been largely glossed over in our history books.

Although many of the details are debated nowadays, without victories, like at Roslin on this day in 1303 we may never have been able to secure victory at the most famous of all battles at Bannockburn over 11 years later.

As the English army advanced through Scotland in another retaliatory campaign for the Guardians earlier expulsion of Edward I’s sheriffs and bailiffs, they initially met little opposition. The accounts talk of the army being divided up into three divisions, which approached  Roslin mid February and made camp.

IIt was while in their respective camps that the English divisions were surprised by an attack led by mounted Scottish knights, led by John “The Red”  Comyn and Simon  "The Patriot" Fraser and some sources suggest William Wallace although we don’t know this for sure. The Scots had ridden overnight from Biggar and attacked the occupants of the first camp, the survivors of this assault then warning the occupants of the second camp. The men in the second camp collected their arms and defended themselves against the Scots who had moved on from their first target. There was vicious hand to hand combat, in which the English almost succeeded in gaining the upper hand. However, rallied by their leaders the Scots renewed their assault and took the camp. No sooner had this combat ended than the third English division appeared, presumably better prepared for action than either of the first two. Again with the encouragement of their leaders the Scots re-entered the fray and to the astonishment of all won their third victory, though not before putting the survivors of the first two battles to the sword and taking their horses.

While the defeated army was acting on behalf of the English king, it is also likely to have contained many Scots loyal to Edward. The English army, in line with normal practice of the time, appears to have been split into three ‘battles’, or divisions, while on the march, each commanded by Sir John Segrave, the First Lieutenant of Scotland for Edward I, Ralph Manton, the Cofferer (Treasurer) of Edward I, and the third under either Sir William Latimer or Sir Robert Neville. There is unfortunately no information on the reasons behind the army being split in this way. Fordun, who was writing in the 15th century, states that it was simply due to the lack of suitable camping ground to accommodate the entire army, whereas others, such as Buchanan, writing in the 17th century, think it was a tactical disposition. The fact that medieval armies did generally fight in three divisions does suggest that there is more to the decision than the availability of camping space, as does the fact that the army is reported to have arrived in Roslin already divided into three. Scots:

There is very little specific information available on the Scots army, save that the force were mounted, which allowed them to carry out the surprise attack, and that they were under the command of John Comyn and Simon Fraser.

The earliest accounts seem to offer unrealistically high numbers, especially for the English army. This inflation is likely to be nothing more than pro-Scottish propaganda geared toward glorifying the scale of the victory, but I myself am not too convinced about this, for reasons I will come to after going through the numbers. According to Scotland’s Sovereignty asserted by Thomas Craig the English consisted of 30,000 men split into the three ‘battles’ which consisted of three brigades of knights and at least 10,000 mercenary soldiers. Now Craig’s account wasn’t written until 1695, a time when Scotland was still an Independent country with a great pride in it’s past victories, that’s not to say it should be dismissed, again I will come to that. Here is a brief description of the battle by the Scottish Chronicler John of Fordun, who lived between 1360 and c. 1384

. …there never was so desperate a struggle, or one in which the stoutness of knightly prowess shone forth so brightly. The commander and leader in this struggle was John Comyn, the son… But John Comyn, then guardian of Scotland, and Simon Fraser with their followers, day and night, did their best to harass and to annoy, by their general prowess, the aforesaid kings officers and bailiffs… But the aforesaid John Comyn and Simon, with their abettors, hearing of their arrival, and wishing to steal a march rather than have one stolen upon them, came briskly through from Biggar to Rosslyn, in one night, with some chosen men, who chose rather death before unworthy subjection to the English nation; and all of a sudden they fearlessly fell upon the enemy.

Forduns account also embellishes the story with the tale of a love affair, I have posted about this before, in my own mind it is a good yarn, but medieval battles were not fought over the love of a woman, this is not Braveheart we are describing here!

The Scots are said to have numbered anywhere between 8 and 10 thousand, again all these numbers are from historians telling the story between the 17th and 18th centuries, so we have no real way of knowing for sure how accurate they are.

As to the dead, well I have used Wikipedia in the past and they had numbers on their page, these now seem to have been removed for some reason, in fact the whole post there is quite pathetic, all it says under casualties and losses is that “At least 16 knights captured” on the English side, nothing on the Scots losses. All of the historical sources state that the Scottish army slaughtered many of the English force; however, no specific numbers are quoted, though Sir Thomas Gray says in the Scalacronica, a Northumbrian chronicle of the era states that Ralph Manton was slain, apparently by Sir Simon Fraser, and Sir Robert Neville is also thought to have been killed during the second Scottish attack. Given the information available from the sources and the surviving place-name evidence, it does appear the casualties on the day may have been extremely high, I am from the area and there are some great place names said to have sprung up from the battle, Shin Banes Field; The Hewan and Killburne, Killbrne ( A burn being a small stream) is said to have been discoloured with blood for three days afterwards.

I have to try and bring this long post to an end by explaining why history seems to have so few real facts about, what was a massive victory for the Scots. Well from an English point of view it was a humiliating defeat, so they are not going to write about it in any real depth, it is also said that this was a secret or a punitive expedition, this would suggest their numbers were nowhere near the 30,000 quoted in places.

On the reasons the Scots history books have little about Roslin, between Fordun in the 14th century until Craig in 1695 there is nothing I can find, well that comes down to history being written by the victors. Yes the Scots won a famous victory, but who was at the head of this victory? Well the subject of a post exactly two weeks ago, John Comyn III of Badenoch, nicknamed the Red, sworn enemy of Robert the Bruce and murdered by Bruce. The Scottish King may very well have suppressed stories of John Comyn’s prowess as a warrior at a time he would have been only interested in his own achievements, even after his death in The Brus  by John Barbour written around 1375 there is no mention of Roslin, The Brus was written for King Robert II to honour his namesake,Barbour was paid a pension for life for this, he wasn’t going to boast about Comyn’s exploits in it was he!

The pics of the memorial were taken by me an a cold February day in 2016.

[shakespearenews]

“Fashioned by Sargent” installation view. Far left, ‘‘Beetle Wing Dress’’ for Lady Macbeth. Sargent’s painting of the actress Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth, in the shimmering gown (which boasts actual beetle wing cases affixed to its surface), hangs nearby. The dress was created by Alice Laura Comyns-Carr. Credit...Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

If his portraiture approached theater, Sargent also had a way of turning moments from the stage into images richly steeped in the history of painting. His painting of the actress Ellen Terry in the role of Lady Macbeth, which she played to great acclaim at London’s Lyceum Theatre in 1888, recasts her as a Pre-Raphaelite heroine with long red plaits and a shimmering blue and green gown known as the “Beetle Wing Dress” (which boasts elaborate draped sleeves and actual beetle wing cases affixed to its surface). The costume, made by the designer Alice Comyns-Carr in collaboration with Terry and the dressmaker Ada Nettleship, is exhibited alongside the painting and may be the show’s most spectacular garment.

[clementinefight]

cold summer

My stress this summer is so bad, my neck is permanently stiff. Rigid, nervous, stone. A girl wakes in the middle of the night, she's alone in a deep world of empty houses, and in the dispossessed sleep of her childhood branches have started to grow from her arms, limp orange muddy leaves have overcome her hair, and she is rooting from toes down into floorboards. Nobody to ask a thing, like whether or not her experience of life is normal. So the branches grow, gather, then she is this isolated nature in her isolated bedroom, turned over to a cyclical light of day or night she sees only through gaps in her own weather, and so big with bushiness she can’t get out the manufactured door and enter the wood where, unbeknownst to her, are the others just like her, made of branches and leaves and who have solitary spirits also, though still need their roots to touch the roots of another. Or something. Sometimes, and I’m not proud of this, I look out at the green backyard and I see the peach-juice sun in the sky and I see the invisible breezes of July curling with tendrils of dark flora and it seems not like I'm here, but like I’m watching television, something bright and far away. I forget it’s my day, that I can even go over there and touch if I wanted to, I could even pee on the land like a dog would, if I wanted to, and claim this in some way.

Haven’t swam enough, haven’t walked enough, I’m becoming a little suburbanite cruising around in my dented car, seeing everything through eyes of windshield. The bushes, the houses, the pink sinking light—it’s all over there, and nothing is here but the music. This puts a strange layer of distance between me and summer, me and real things. I will make a point later to stick my toe in some mud – or press my bare hand into black pavement, will the asphalt to deflate like it’s a hot chocolate cake. Wouldn’t you like for the parking lots to liquify and sink below ground every summer, and for the black waves to rock our heat glistened cars around, up towards the marshmallow clouds; or for the greenery to not stop where it stops but extend until it’s like a shag of shining lime hair over the shopping mall, the movie theatre. If you don’t have a car, good for you, stay pure

Something else I’ve noticed — I’m such an impulse buyer. Buying feels close and friendly, like putting on some leather gloves. I would never want to see me at an auction. Stressed, my emotions lift to a crescendo where they then collapse from jitters into an almost hysterical net around my entire body—a pantsuit of stress, and it’s three colours: blue, red and purple, the baby. Feels warm, then cold. Here I either go to the grocery store to buy new condiments, shortbread, or jarred vegetables in brine or oil; or I’ll buy books online.

Today it was books. A small NYRB haul. I guess this is a fairly tame impulse, but I’d really rather be that one who stresses out and goes for a walk, or a swim, or a bike ride, or a scream into their pillow. Instead I just fill my cart, and it’s like filling a hole for a little while. Hate my methods. Look forward to the books. The Liar by Martin A. Hansen (“and for years now Johannes has lived alone”), My Friends by Emmanuel Bove, Machines in the Head by Anna Kavan and The Juniper Tree by Barbara Comyns. I’m drawn to stories with the desperate or resigned thud of loneliness in them; it’s what I relate to most; or maybe it’s not; it’s funny, even when people reach out for connection, I still want to believe it’s being alone I’m most capable of, even made for (I say that in a soldierly way, which makes it even more embarrassing). Björk was in a movie called The Juniper Tree, which was inspired by the Brothers Grimm fairy tale as was the novel by Comyns. Maybe I’ll read that too.

Today I’m in Montreal. I'm visiting my little brother. His balcony looks out onto other nondescript buildings, and he leaves the door wide open while he naps and I work on my laptop out here on the couch; trucks and cars roar a kind of grating metal noise down below, this noise feels prehistoric rather than modern, like out of sight the earth has split under lava and now we are getting not the sight but the noise, the noise. I decide to welcome it. The noise is not a fixed feature of my life anyway, but of his life, in this way it’s easy to welcome. Brief everything. Brief and body me. Bonobo plays on the television, then Seabear, and last night we watched some episodes of King of the Hill—the tornado episode had some beautiful red and green skies. My coffee this morning brought on nausea and I thought I could wave this dislocation off by eating a raisin croissant, but that made it worse, though at least it was good. Now I sit here with a foggy head taking forever to get my work done. EEEEEK

Later going to meet my brother’s girlfriend for the first time over some ramen! Then going to see the 10:15 show Oppenheimer with both of them, all three of us together.

In two weeks I leave for my trip! Ireland, Scotland, London, Iceland!

[triviareads]

can you recommend good enemies to lovers hr like TVWLM and It Happened One Autumn

Yup! I've organized it from cutesy enemies to would-kill-you-if-needed enemies.

The Viscount Always Knocks Twice by Grace Callaway: If you liked TVWLM and IHOA, you'll love this: Violet is a sporty, spirited gal who doesn't like Richard because he's uptight and a killjoy (Viscount Killjoy, that is), and Richard dislikes Violet because he thinks she's a shallow flirt who's trying to entrap his brother. The high point in their enemy era was her shoving him into a dyed-red champagne fountain at a ball after he taunted her spelling skills. But like 4 chapters later, they can't keep their hands off each other. In priest holes. In magic cabinets. In rando's rooms after discovering nipple clamps. Classic Grace excellence.

Sutton's Surrender by Scarlett Scott: Pretty similar in vibes to the previous rec actually: Penelope is friends with the hero's brother Aiden, who wants to marry her just to piss his aristocratic family off (her family runs a gambling hell). The hero, Garrick (aka Lord Lordly), is a deeply repressed uptight man who basically storms into Penelope's house and calls her a slutty fortune hunter. Scarlett, as per usual, more does an excellent job of writing a man just getting so unhinged over the heroine, and and that moment that *breaks* them is always a pleasure to read.

Sidenote: Garrick has a KITTY. Her name is Rosebud and she's ADORABLE and it's hella hot of him to have a cat tbh.

His Countess by S.M. LaViolette: Gideon unexpectedly inherits the earldom that Alys's husband once held. Gideon is a slutty slutty man, so obviously he thinks Alys is a prudish thin-blooded aristocrat (he just calls her a bitch; I'm being nicer), and she dislikes him because, well, he's a slut and disgustingly nouveau riche. If you wanna see a hero banging a lot of women who are not the heroine (obviously before he bangs the heroine a lot), here's the book for you! Alys does a loooooot of voyeuring (he catches on real fast and pretty much puts on a show for her lolol) before they actually go at it.

Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase: Jess thinks Dain is a debauched man leading her brother astray, and Jess's voice gives Dain Etonian trauma-induced flashbacks. The (sexual) tension between them is so insane all of Paris is waiting with bated breath, and it does come to a head: He ruins her and refuses to marry her. She shoots him. Then she tries to make the police arrest her so she can spill every dirty secret about Dain (for example, his habit of saying really simpy shit in Italian— "baciami Jess, abbracciami" haunts me to this day) in a court of law. The extent this woman is willing to go to ruin his life is FABULOUS.

Heartless Duke by Scarlett Scott: Okay, we're veering into actual political enemy territory from here on out. This is Victorian England. Leo leads a secret branch of the Home Office in charge of rooting out Irish "insurrectionists". Bridget is an Irish insurrectionist. He shoots her in the arm (to be fair... she did turn a gun on a 10 year old), and when she wakes up, he's chained her to a bed. He does bathe her at some point. He calls her "banshee" (affectionate). And eventually does tie her up for real. A+

The Ghost by Monica McCarty: This is set in Medieval Britain. Joan Comyn is a Mata Hari-esque spy for Robert the Bruce in England (as in, she "seduces" men for information). Alex is ordered to root out this spy. On top of everything, Joan's reputation kinda precedes her because of her (fake) seductions so Alex thinks she's a bit of a slut, but obviously that doesn't stop him from going for her. I'd strongly recommend reading the rest of the Highland Guard series (especially because Joan's mom Bella is a pretty badass heroine herself) before getting to this one.

The Viking's Concubine by Caitlin Crews: If you'd like a more detailed summary, see here. The gist of it is, Ulfric and Ethine have an M/s relationship, but Ethine is Ulfric's literal slave because this is Viking Britain and slavery was practiced back then, so there is... a natural enmity, if not very dubious consent here (to clarify, he doesn't physically force her, but the very nature of their relationship is dubious). On top of that, Ethine ran away from Ulfric prior to the start of the book, and now that he's found her again, he is... not happy. It's very well written, and very erotic.

The Conquering of Tate the Pius by Sierra Simone: This is a part of the Villain I'd Like To F... anthology. Tate is the abbess at Far Hope Abbey during the time of the Norman invasion of England. Adelais is a Norman warlord (warlady?) come to take over the abbey, and Tate offers her three nights of sex in exchange for leaving the abbey and its inhabitants alone. They do veer into rough sex, some consensual non-consent, oh, and a dagger hilt is employed. It's beautifully written, which is on par for Sierra.

[alegriavida]

I found this beautiful poem on a website with Middle English texts. It's about a rooster...or something

I Have a Gentle Cock

I have a gentil cok, Crowyt me day; He doth me rysyn erly, My matyins for to say.

I have a gentil cok, Comyn he is of gret; His comb is of reed corel, His tayil is of get.

I have a gentyl cook, Comyn he is of kynde; His comb is of red corel, His tayl is of inde.

His legges ben of asor, So gentil and so smale; His spores arn of sylver qwyt, Into the wortewale.

His eynyn arn of cristal, Lokyn al in aumbry; And every nyght he perchit hym In myn ladyis chaumbyr.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 2.10

1258 – The Siege of Baghdad ends with the surrender of the last Abbasid caliph to Hulegu Khan, a prince of the Mongol Empire. 1306 – In front of the high altar of Greyfriars Church in Dumfries, Robert the Bruce murders John Comyn, sparking the revolution in the Wars of Scottish Independence. 1355 – The St Scholastica Day riot breaks out in Oxford, England, leaving 63 scholars and perhaps 30 locals dead in two days. 1502 – Vasco da Gama sets sail from Lisbon, Portugal, on his second voyage to India. 1567 – Lord Darnley, second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, is found strangled following an explosion at the Kirk o' Field house in Edinburgh, Scotland, a suspected assassination. 1712 – Huilliches in Chiloé rebel against Spanish encomenderos. 1763 – French and Indian War: The Treaty of Paris ends the war and France cedes Quebec to Great Britain. 1814 – Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Champaubert ends in French victory over the Russians and the Prussians. 1840 – Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom marries Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. 1846 – First Anglo-Sikh War: Battle of Sobraon: British defeat Sikhs in the final battle of the war. 1861 – Jefferson Davis is notified by telegraph that he has been chosen as provisional President of the Confederate States of America. 1862 – American Civil War: A Union naval flotilla destroys the bulk of the Confederate Mosquito Fleet in the Battle of Elizabeth City on the Pasquotank River in North Carolina. 1906 – HMS Dreadnought, the first of a revolutionary new breed of battleships, is christened. 1920 – Józef Haller de Hallenburg performs the symbolic wedding of Poland to the sea, celebrating restitution of Polish access to open sea. 1920 – About 75% of the population in Zone I votes to join Denmark in the 1920 Schleswig plebiscites. 1923 – Texas Tech University is founded as Texas Technological College in Lubbock, Texas. 1930 – The Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng launches the failed Yên Bái mutiny in hope of overthrowing French protectorate over Vietnam. 1933 – In round 13 of a boxing match at New York City's Madison Square Garden, Primo Carnera knocks out Ernie Schaaf. Schaaf dies four days later. 1936 – Second Italo-Abyssinian War: Italian troops launch the Battle of Amba Aradam against Ethiopian defenders. 1939 – Spanish Civil War: The Nationalists conclude their conquest of Catalonia and seal the border with France. 1940 – The Soviet Union begins mass deportations of Polish citizens from occupied eastern Poland to Siberia. 1943 – World War II: Attempting to completely lift the Siege of Leningrad, the Soviet Red Army engages German troops and Spanish volunteers in the Battle of Krasny Bor. 1947 – The Paris Peace Treaties are signed by Italy, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Finland and the Allies of World War II. 1954 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower warns against United States intervention in Vietnam. 1962 – Cold War: Captured American U2 spy-plane pilot Gary Powers is exchanged for captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel. 1964 – Melbourne–Voyager collision: The aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne collides with and sinks the destroyer HMAS Voyager off the south coast of New South Wales, Australia, killing 82. 1967 – The 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified. 1972 – Ras Al Khaimah joins the United Arab Emirates, now making up seven emirates. 1984 – Kenyan soldiers kill an estimated 5,000 ethnic Somali Kenyans in the Wagalla massacre. 1989 – Ron Brown is elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee, becoming the first African American to lead a major American political party. 1996 – IBM supercomputer Deep Blue defeats Garry Kasparov in chess for the first time. 2003 – France and Belgium break the NATO procedure of silent approval concerning the timing of protective measures for Turkey in case of a possible war with Iraq. 2009 – The communications satellites Iridium 33 and Kosmos 2251 collide in orbit, destroying both. 2016 – South Korea decides to stop the operation of the Kaesong joint industrial complex with North Korea in response to the launch of Kwangmyŏngsŏng-4.

[brood-mother]

jadedimp replied to your post: i live my life every day with the burden of...

Did you not kill enough englishmen? I can’t remember who he is but he sounds like someone who would be fighting the English.

i’ve barely killed any sassenachs, i’m a failure to the family name

[weavingthetapestry]

2nd January 1264: Marriage and Murder in Mediaeval Menteith

(Priory of Inchmahome, founded on one of the islands of Lake of Menteith in the thirteenth century)

On 2nd January 1264, Pope Urban IV despatched a letter to the bishops of St Andrews and Aberdeen, and the Abbot of Dunfermline, commanding them to enquire into a succession dispute in the earldom of Menteith. Situated in the heart of Scotland, this earldom stretched from the graceful mountains and glens of the Trossachs, to the boggy carseland west of Stirling and the low-lying Vale of Menteith between Callander and Dunblane. The earls and countesses of Menteith were members of the highest rank of the nobility, ruling the area from strongholds such as Doune Castle, Inch Talla, and Kilbryde. Perhaps the best-known relic of the mediaeval earldom is the beautiful, ruined Priory of Inchmahome, which was established on an island in Lake of Menteith by Earl Walter Comyn in 1238. Walter Comyn was a powerful, if controversial, figure during the reigns of Kings Alexander II and Alexander III. He controlled the earldom for several decades after his marriage to its Countess, Isabella of Menteith, but following Walter’s death in 1258 his widow was beset on all sides by powerful enemies. These enemies even went so far as to capture Isabella and accuse her of poisoning her husband. The story of this unfortunate countess offers a rare glimpse into the position of great heiresses in High Mediaeval Scotland, revealing the darker side of thirteenth century politics.

Alexander II and Alexander III are generally remembered as powerful monarchs who oversaw the expansion and consolidation of the Scottish realm. During their reigns, dynastic rivals like the MacWilliams were crushed, regions such as Galloway and the Western Isles formally acknowledged Scottish overlordship, and the Scottish Crown held its own in diplomacy and disputes with neighbouring rulers in Norway and England. Both kings furthered their aims by promoting powerful nobles in strategic areas, but it was also vital to harness the ambition and aggression of these men productively. In the absence of an adult monarch, unchecked magnate rivalry risked destabilising the realm, as in the years between 1249 and 1262, when Alexander III was underage.

(A fifteenth century depiction of the coronation of Alexander III.  Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Walter Comyn offers a typical picture of the ambitious Scottish magnate. Ultimately loyal to the Crown, his family loyalties and personal aims nonetheless made him a divisive figure. A member of the powerful Comyn kindred, he had received the lordship of Badenoch in the Central Highlands by 1229, probably because of his family’s opposition to the MacWilliams. In early 1231, he was granted the hand of a rich heiress, Isabella of Menteith. In the end, there would be no Comyn dynasty in Menteith: Walter and Isabella had a son named Henry, mentioned in a charter c.1250, but he likely predeceased his father. Nevertheless, Walter Comyn carved out a career at the centre of Scottish politics and besides witnessing many royal charters, he acted as the king’s lieutenant in Galloway in 1235 and became embroiled in the scandalous Bisset affair of 1242.

When Alexander II died in 1249, Walter and the other Comyns sought power during the minority of the boy king Alexander III. They were opposed by the similarly ambitious Alan Durward and in time Henry III of England, the attentive father of Alexander III’s wife Margaret, was also dragged into the squabble as both sides solicited his support in order to undermine their opponents. Possession of the young king’s person offered a swift route to power, and, although nobody challenged Alexander III’s right to the throne, some took drastic measures to seize control of government. Walter Comyn and his allies managed this twice, the second time by kidnapping the young king at Kinross in 1257. They were later forced to make concessions to enemies like Durward but, with Henry III increasingly distracted by the deteriorating political situation in England, the Comyns held onto power for the rest of the minority. However Walter only enjoyed his victory for a short while: by the end of 1258, the Earl of Menteith was dead.

Walter Comyn had dominated Scottish politics for a decade, and even if, as Michael Brown suggests, his death gave the political community some breathing space, this also left Menteith without a lord. As a widow, Countess Isabella theoretically gained more personal freedom, but mediaeval realpolitik was not always consistent with legal ideals. In thirteenth century Scotland, the increased wealth of widows made them vulnerable in new ways (not least to abduction) and, although primogeniture and the indivisibility of earldoms were promoted, in reality these ideals were often subordinated to the Crown’s need to reward its supporters. Isabella of Menteith was soon to find that her position had become very precarious.

At first, things went well. Although one source claims that many noblemen sought her hand, Isabella made her own choice, marrying an English knight named John Russell. Sir John’s background is obscure but, despite assertions that he was low born, he had connections at the English court. Isabella and John obtained royal consent for their marriage c.1260, and the happy couple also took crusading vows soon afterwards.

But whatever his wife thought, in the eyes of the Scottish nobility John Russell cut a much less impressive figure than Walter Comyn. The couple had not been married long before a powerful coterie of nobles descended on Menteith like hoodie-crows. Pope Urban’s list of persecutors includes the earls of Buchan, Fife, Mar, and Strathearn, Alan Durward, Hugh of Abernethy, Reginald le Cheyne, Hugh de Berkeley, David de Graham, and many others. But the ringleader was John ‘the Red’ Comyn, the nephew of Isabella of Menteith’s deceased husband Walter, who had already succeeded to the lordship of Badenoch. Even though Menteith belonged to Isabella in her own right, Comyn coveted his late uncle’s title there. Supported by the other lords, he captured and imprisoned the countess and John Russell, and justified this bold assault by claiming that the newlyweds had conspired together to poison Earl Walter. It is unclear what proof, if any, John Comyn supplied to back up his claim, but the couple were unable to disprove it. They were forced to surrender all claims to Isabella’s dowry, as well as many of her own lands and rents. A surviving charter shows that Hugh de Abernethy was granted property around Aberfoyle about 1260, but it seems that the lion’s share of the spoils went to the Red Comyn, who secured for himself and his heirs the promise of the earldom of Menteith itself.

Isabella and her husband were only released when they promised to pass into exile until they could clear their names before seven peers of the realm. John Russell’s brother Robert was delivered to Comyn as security for their full resignation of the earldom. Having ‘incurred heavy losses and expenses’, which certainly stymied their crusading plans, they fled.

In a letter of 1264, Pope Urban IV described the couple as ‘undefended by the authority of the king, while as yet a minor’. However, though Alexander III was technically underage in 1260, he was now nineteen and could not be ignored entirely. Michael Brown suggests that Isabella and her husband may have been seized when the king was visiting England, and that John Comyn’s unsanctioned bid for the earldom of Menteith may explain why Alexander cut short his stay in November 1260 and hastily returned north, leaving his pregnant queen with her parents at Windsor. Certainly, Comyn was forced to relinquish the earldom before 17th April 1261. But instead of restoring Menteith to its exiled countess, Alexander settled the earldom on another rising star: Walter ‘Bailloch’ Stewart, whose wife Mary had a claim to Menteith.

Mary of Menteith is often described as Isabella’s younger sister, although contemporary sources never say so and some historians argue that they were cousins. Either way, Alexander’s decision to uphold her claim was probably as much influenced by her husband’s identity as her alleged birth right. Like Walter Comyn, Walter Bailloch (‘freckled’), belonged to an influential family as the brother of Alexander, Steward of Scotland. From their origins in the royal household, the Stewarts became major regional magnates, assisting royal expansion in the west. The promising son of a powerful family, Walter Bailloch was sheriff of Ayr by 1264 and likely fought in the Battle of Largs in 1263. In 1260 Alexander III had the opportunity to secure Walter’s loyalty as the royal minority drew to a close. Conversely John Comyn of Badenoch found himself out of favour and was removed as justiciar of Galloway following the Menteith incident. The king would not alienate the Comyns permanently, but for now, the stars of Walter Bailloch and Mary of Menteith were in the ascendant.

(Loch Lubnaig, in the Trossachs, another former possession of the earls of Menteith)

Isabella of Menteith and John Russell had not been idle in the meantime. Travelling to John’s home country of England, they probably appealed to Henry III. In September 1261, the English king inspected documents relating to a previous dispute over the earldom of Menteith. On that occasion, two brothers, both named Maurice, had their differences settled before the future Alexander II at Edinburgh in 1213. The elder Maurice, who held the title Earl of Menteith and was presumed illegitimate by later writers (though this is never stated), resigned the earldom, which was regranted to Maurice junior. In return the elder Maurice received some towns and lands to be held for his lifetime only, and the younger Maurice promised to provide for the marriage of his older brother’s daughters.

It is probable that Isabella was the daughter of the younger Maurice, and that she produced these charters as proof of her right to the earldom. Perhaps Mary was her younger sister, but it seems likelier that Isabella would have wanted to prove the younger Maurice’s right if Mary was a descendant of the elder brother, and therefore her cousin. However despite Henry III’s formal recognition of the settlement, he did not provide Isabella with any real assistance: for whatever reason, the English king was either unable or unwilling to press his son-in-law the King of Scots on this matter. Isabella then turned instead to the spiritual leader of western Europe- Pope Urban IV.

(A depiction of the coronation of Henry III of England, though in fact the English king was only a child when he was crowned. Source: Wikimedia Commons)

A long epistle which the pope sent to several Scottish prelates in January 1264 has survived, revealing much about the case. Thus we learn that Urban was initially moved by Isabella and her husband’s predicament, perhaps especially so since they had taken the cross. Accordingly, he had appointed his chaplain Pontius Nicholas to enquire further and discreetly arrange the couple’s restoration. Pontius was to journey to Menteith, ‘if he could safely do so, otherwise to pass personally to parts adjacent to the said kingdom, and to summon those who should be summoned’. But Pontius’ mission only hindered Isabella’s suit. According to Gesta Annalia I, the papal chaplain got no closer to Scotland than York. From there he summoned many Scottish churchmen and nobles to appear before him, and even the King of Scots himself. This merely antagonised Alexander III and his subjects. Although Alexander maintained good relations with England and the papacy throughout his reign, he had a strong sense of his own prerogative and did not appreciate being summoned to answer for his actions, especially not outwith his realm and least of all in York. Special daughter of the papacy or not, Scotland’s clergy and nobility supported their king and refused to compear. Faced with this intransigence, Pontius Nicholas placed the entire kingdom under interdict, at which point Alexander retaliated by writing directly to the chaplain’s boss, demanding Pontius’ dismissal from the case.

Urban IV swiftly backpedalled. In a conciliatory tone he claimed that Pontius was guilty of ‘exceeding the terms of our mandate’ and causing ‘grievous scandal’. To remedy the situation, and avoid endangering souls, the pope discharged his responsibility over the case to the bishops of St Andrews and Aberdeen, and the Abbot of Dunfermline. Thus the pope washed his hands of a troublesome case, the Scottish king’s nose could be put back in joint, and Isabella’s suit was transferred to men with great experience of Scottish affairs, who should have been capable of satisfactorily resolving the matter. However, there is no indication that Isabella was ever compensated for the loss of her inheritance, and when the dispute over Menteith was raised again ten years later, the countess was not even mentioned (probably she had since died). Possibly her suit was discreetly buried after it was transferred to the Scottish clerics, a solution which, however frustrating for the exiled countess, would have been convenient for the great men whose responsibility it was to ensure justice was done.

(Doune Castle- the earliest parts of this famous stronghold probably date to the days of the thirteenth century earls of Menteith, although much of the work visible today dates from the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries)

The Comyns could not be dismissed so easily. Never resigned to losing Menteith, John Comyn of Badenoch claimed the earldom again c.1273, on behalf of his son William Comyn of Kirkintilloch. William had since married Isabella Russell, daughter of Isabella of Menteith by her second husband.* The 1273 suit was unsuccessful but William Comyn and Isabella Russell did not lose hope, and in 1282, William asked Edward I of England to intercede for them with the king of Scots. In 1285, with William’s father John Comyn long dead, Alexander III finally offered a compromise. Walter Bailloch, whose wife Mary may have died, was to keep half the earldom and he and his heirs would bear the title earl of Menteith. William Comyn and Isabella Russell received the other half in free barony, and this eventually passed to the offspring of Isabella’s second marriage to Sir Edward Hastings. Perhaps this could be seen as a posthumous victory for Isabella Russell’s late parents, but their descendants would never regain the whole earldom (except, controversially, when the younger Isabella’s two sons were each granted half after Edward I forfeited the current earl for supporting Robert Bruce).

Conversely, Walter Bailloch’s descendants remained at the forefront of Scottish politics. He and his wife Mary accompanied Alexander III’s daughter to Norway in 1281, and Walter was later a signatory to both the Turnberry Band and the Maid of Norway’s marriage negotiations. He also acted as a commissioner for Robert Bruce (grandfather to the future king) during the Great Cause. He had at least three children by Mary of Menteith and their sons took the surname Menteith rather than Stewart. The descendants of the eldest son, Alexander, held the earldom of Menteith until at least 1425. The younger son, John, became infamous as the much-maligned ‘Fause Menteith’ who betrayed William Wallace, although he later rose high in the service of King Robert I. Walter Bailloch himself died c.1294-5, and was buried next to his wife at the Priory of Inchmahome on Lake of Menteith, which Walter Comyn had founded over fifty years previously. The effigies of Walter Bailloch and Mary of Menteith can still be seen in the chapter house of the ruined priory: the worn faces are turned towards each other and each figure stretches out an arm to embrace their spouse in a lasting symbol of marital affection.

(The effigies of Walter Bailloch and Mary of Menteith at Inchmahome Priory, which was founded by Walter Comyn in 1238 and was perhaps intended as a burial site for himself and his wife Isabella of Menteith. Source: Wikimedia Commons).

The dispute over Menteith saw a prominent noblewoman publicly accused of murder and exiled, and even sparked an international incident when Scotland was placed under interdict. For all this, neither Isabella of Menteith nor John Comyn of Badenoch triumphed in the long term. Even Walter Bailloch eventually had to accept the loss of half the earldom after holding it for over twenty years. In the end the only real winner seems to have been the king. Although at first sight the persecution of Isabella and her husband looks like a classic example of overmighty magnates taking advantage of a breakdown in law and order during a royal minority, Alexander III was not a child and his rebuke of John Comyn did not result in any backlash against the Crown. Most of the Scottish nobility fell back in line once the king came of age, but the king in turn had to ensure that he was able to reward key supporters if he wanted to expand the realm he had inherited. Although it was important to both Alexander III and his father that primogeniture and were accepted by their subjects as the norm, in practice both kings found that they had to bend their own rules to ensure that the system worked to their own advantage. The thirteenth century is often seen an age of legal development and state-building, but these things sometimes came into conflict with each other, and even the most successful kings had to work within a messy system and consider the competing loyalties and customs of their subjects.

Selected Bibliography:

- “Vetera Monumenta Hibernorum et Scotorum”, Augustinus Theiner (a printed version of Urban IV’s original Latin epistle may be found here)

- “John of Fordun’s Chronicle of the Scottish Nation”, vol. 2, ed. W.F. Skene (this is an English translation of the chronicle of John of Fordun, made when Gesta Annalia I was still believed to be his work. It provides an independent thirteenth or fourteenth century Scottish account of the Menteith case

- “The Red Book of Menteith”, volumes 1+2, ed. Sir William Fraser

- “Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland, Preserved Among the Public Records of England”, volumes 1, 2, 3 & 5, ed. Joseph Bain

- “The Political Role of Walter Comyn, earl of Menteith, during the Minority of Alexander III of Scotland”, A. Young, in the Scottish Historical Review, vol.57 no.164 part 2 (1978). 

- “Scotland, England and France After the Loss of Normandy, 1204-1296″, M.A. Pollock

- “The Wars of Scotland, 1214-1371″, Michael Brown

As ever if anyone has a question about a specific detail or source, please let me know! I have a lot of notes for this post, so hopefully I should be able to help!

[inky-duchess]

Hi there! I was wondering if you have any juicy stories about John (the red) Comyn III 😍

I don't have any on him but I love the whole Scottish War of Independence. The Black Douglas, iconic. Robert de Bruce, a King. Entire nation of Scotland, independent. Amazing 😍

[blindrapture]

Under the Read More, I will put a single-sentence question, followed by its answer. This is from Finnegans Wake. For the record, the question is asking “who was the person who matched this description.”

What secondtonone myther rector and maximost bridgesmaker was the first to rise taller through his beanstale than the bluegum buaboababbaun or the giganteous Wellingtonia Sequoia; went nudiboots with trouters into a liffeyette when she was barely in her tricklies; was well known to claud a conciliation cap onto the esker of his hooth; sports a chainganger’s albert solemenly over his hullender’s epulence; thought he weighed a new ton when there felled his first lapapple; gave the heinousness of choice to everyknight betwixt yesterdicks and twomaries; had sevenal successivecoloured serebanmaids on the same big white drawringroam horthrug; is a Willbeforce to this hour at house as he was in heather; pumped the catholick wartrey and shocked the prodestung boyne; killed his own hungery self in anger as a young man; found fodder for five when allmarken rose goflooded; with Hirish tutores Cornish made easy; voucher of rotables, toll of the road; bred manyheaded stepsons for one leapyourown taughter; is too funny for a fish and has too much outside for an insect; like a heptagon crystal emprisoms trues and fauss for us; is infinite swell in unfitting induments; once was he shovelled and once was he arsoned and once was he inundered and she hung him out billbailey; has a quadrant in his tile to tell Toler cad a’clog it is; offers chances to Long on but stands up to Legge before; found coal at the end of his harrow and mossroses behind the seams; made a fort out of his postern and wrote F.E.R.T. on his buckler; is escapemaster-in-chief from all sorts of houdingplaces; if he outharrods against barkers, to the shoolbred he acts whiteley; was evacuated at the mere appearance of three germhuns and twice besieged by a sweep; from zoomorphology to omnianimalism he is brooched by the spin of a coin; towers, an eddistoon amid the lampless, casting swannbeams on the deep; threatens thunder upon malefactors and sends whispers up fraufrau’s froufrous; when Dook Hookbackcrook upsits his ass booseworthies jeer and junket but they boos him oos and baas his aas when he lukes like Hunkett Plunkett; by sosannsos and search a party on a lady of this city; business, reading newspaper, smoking cigar, arranging tumblers on table, eating meals, pleasure, etcetera, etcetera, pleasure, eating meals, arranging tum-blers on table, smoking cigar, reading newspaper, business; minerals, wash and brush up, local views, juju toffee, comic and birthdays cards; those were the days and he was their hero; pink sunset shower, red clay cloud, sorrow of Sahara, oxhide on Iren; arraigned and attainted, listed and lited, pleaded and proved; catches his check at banck of Indgangd and endurses his doom at chapel exit; brain of the franks, hand of the christian, tongue of the north; commands to dinner and calls the bluff; has a block at Morgen’s and a hatache all the afternunch; plays gehamerat when he’s ernst but misses mausey when he’s lustyg; walked as far as the Head where he sat in state as the Rump; shows Early English tracemarks and a marigold window with manigilt lights, a myrioscope, two remarkable piscines and three wellworthseeing ambries; arches all portcullised and his nave dates from dots; is a horologe unstoppable and the Benn of all bells; fuit, isst and herit and though he’s mildewstaned he’s mouldystoned; is a quercuss in the forest but plane member for Megalopolis; mountunmighty, faunonfleetfoot; plank in our platform, blank in our scouturn; hidal, in carucates he is enumerated, hold as an earl, he counts; shipshaped phrase of buglooking words with a form like the easing moments of a graminivorous; to our dooms brought he law, our manoirs he made his vill of; was an overgrind to the underground and acqueduced for fierythroats; sends boys in socks acoughawhooping when he lets farth his carbonoxside and silk stockings show her shapings when he looses hose on hers; stocks dry puder for the Ill people and pinkun’s pellets for all the Pale; gave his mundyfoot to Miserius, her pinch to Anna Livia, that superfine pigtail to Cerisia Cerosia and quid rides to Titius, Caius and Sempronius; made the man who had no notion of shopkeepers feel he’d rather play the duke than play the gentleman; shot two queans and shook three caskles when he won his game of dwarfs; fumes inwards like a strombolist till he smokes at both ends; manmote, befier of him, womankind, pietad!; shows one white drift of snow among the gorsegrowth of his crown and a chaperon of repentance on that which shed gore; pause and quies, triple bill; went by metro for the polis and then hoved by; to the finders, hail! woa, you that seek!; whom fillth had plenished, dearth devoured; hock is leading, cocoa comes next, emery tries for the flag; can dance the O’Bruin’s polerpasse at Noolahn to his own orchistruss accompaniment; took place before the internatural convention of catholic midwives and found stead before the congress for the study of endonational calamities; makes a delictuous entrée and finishes off the course between sweets and savouries; flouts for forecasts, flairs for finds and the fun of the fray on the fairground; cleared out three hundred sixty five idles to set up one all khalassal for henwives hoping to have males; the flawhoolagh, the grasping one, the kindler of paschal fire; forbids us our trespassers as we forgate him; the phoenix be his pyre, the cineres his sire!; piles big pelium on little ossas like the pilluls of hirculeads; has an eatupus complex and a drinkthedregs kink; wurstmeats for chumps and cowcarlows for scullions; when he plies for our favour is very trolly ours; two psychic espousals and three desertions; may be matter of fact now but was futter of magd then; Cattermole Hill, exmountain of flesh was reared up by stress and sank under strain; tank it up, dank it up, tells the tailor to his tout; entoutcas for a man, but bit a thimble for a maid; blimp, blump; a dud letter, a sing a song a sylble; a byword, a sentence with surcease; while stands his canyouseehim frails shall fall; was hatched at Cellbridge but ejoculated abrood; as it gan in the biguinnengs so wound up in a battle of Boss; Roderick, Roderick, Roderick, O, you’ve gone the way of the Danes; variously catalogued, regularly regrouped; a bushboys holoday, a quacker’s mating, a wenches’ sandbath; the same homoheatherous checkinlossegg as when sollyeye airly blew ye; real detonation but false report; spa mad but inn sane; half emillian via bogus census but a no street hausmann when allphannd; is the handiest of all andies and a most alleghant spot to dump your hump; hands his secession to the new patricius but plumps plebmatically for the bloody old centuries; eats with doors open and ruts with gates closed; some dub him Rotshield and more limn him Rockyfellow; shows he’s fly to both demisfairs but thries to cover up his tracers; seven dovecotes cooclaim to have been pigeonheim to this homer, Smerrnion, Rhoebok, Kolonsreagh, Seapoint, Quayhowth, Ashtown, Ratheny; independent of the lordship of chamberlain, acknowledging the rule of Rome; we saw thy farm at Useful Prine, Domhnall, Domhnall; reeks like Illbelpaese and looks like Iceland’s ear; lodged at quot places, lived through tot reigns; takes a szumbath for his weekend and a wassarnap for his refreskment; after a good bout at stoolball enjoys Giroflee Giroflaa; what Nevermore missed and Colombo found; believes in everyman his own goaldkeeper and in Africa for the fullblacks; the arc of his drive was forty full and his stumps were pulled at eighty; boasts him to the thick-in-thews the oldest creater in Aryania and looks down on the Suiss family Collesons whom he calls les nouvelles roches; though his heart, soul and spirit turn to pharaoph times, his love, faith and hope stick to futuerism; light leglifters cense him souriantes from afore while boor browbenders curse him grommelants to his hindmost; between youlasses and yeladst glimse of Even; the Lug his peak has, the Luk his pile; drinks tharr and wodhar for his asama and eats the unparishable sow to styve off reglar rack; the beggars cloak them reclined about his paddystool, the whores winken him as they walk their side; on Christienmas at Advent Lodge, New Yealand, after a lenty illness the roeverand Mr Easterling of pentecostitis, no followers by bequest, fanfare all private; Gone Where Glory Waits Him (Ball, bulletist) but Not Here Yet (Maxwell, clark); comminxed under articles but phoenished a borgiess; from the vat on the bier through the burre in the dark to the buttle of the bawn; is A1 an the highest but Roh re his root; filled fanned of hackleberries whenas all was tuck and toss up for him as a yangster to fall fou of hockinbechers wherein he had gauged the use of raisin; ads aliments, das doles, raps rustics, tams turmoil; sas seed enough for a semination but sues skivvies on the sly; learned to speak from hand to mouth till he could talk earish with his eyes shut; hacked his way through hickheckhocks but hanged hishelp from there hereafters; rialtos, annesleyg, binn and balls to say nothing atolk of New Comyn; the gleam of the glow of the shine of the sun through the dearth of the dirth on the blush of the brick of the viled ville of Barnehulme has dust turned to brown; these dyed to tartan him, rueroot, dulse, bracken, teasel, fuller’s ash, sundew and cress; long gunn but not for cotton; stood his sharp assault of famine but grew girther, girther and girther; he has twenty four or so cousins germinating in the United States of America and a namesake with an initial difference in the once kingdom of Poland; his first’s a young rose and his second’s French-Egyptian and his whole means a slump at Christie’s; forth of his pierced part came the woman of his dreams, blood thicker then water last trade overseas; buyshop of Glintylook, eorl of Hoed; you and I are in him surrented by brwn bldns; Elin’s flee polt pelhaps but Hwang Chang evelytime; he one was your of highbigpipey boys but fancy him as smoking fags his at time of life; Mount of Mish, Mell of Moy; had two cardinal ventures and three capitol sinks; has a peep in his pocketbook and a packetboat in his keep; B.V.H., B.L.G., P.P.M., T.D.S., V.B.D., T.C.H., L.O.N.; is Breakfates, Lunger, Diener and Souper; as the streets were paved with cold he felt his topperairy; taught himself skating and learned how to fall; distinctly dirty but rather a dear; hoveth chieftains evrywehr, with morder; Ostman Effendi, Serge Paddishaw; baases two mmany, outpriams al’ his parisites; first of the fenians, roi des fainéants; his Tiara of scones was held unfillable till one Liam Fail felled him in Westmunster; was struck out of his sittem when he rowed saulely to demask us and to our appauling predicament brought as plagues from Buddapest; put a matchhead on an aspenstalk and set the living a fire; speared the rod and spoiled the lightning; married with cakes and repunked with pleasure; till he was buried howhappy was he and he made the welkins ring with Up Micawber!; god at the top of the staircase, carrion on the mat of straw; the false hood of a spindler web chokes the cavemouth of his unsightliness but the nestlings that liven his leafscreen sing him a lover of arbuties; we strike hands over his bloodied warsheet but we are pledged entirely to his green mantle; our friend vikelegal, our swaran foi; under the four stones by his streams who vanished the wassailbowl at the joy of shells; Mora and Lora had a hill of a high time looking down on his confusion till firm look in readiness, forward spear and the windfoot of curach strewed the lakemist of Lego over the last of his fields; we darkened for you, faulterer, in the year of mourning but we’ll fidhil to the dimtwinklers when the streamy morvenlight calls up the sunbeam; his striped pantaloons, his rather strange walk; hereditatis columna erecta, hagion chiton eraphon; nods a nap for the nonce but crows cheerio when they get ecunemical; is a simultaneous equator of elimbinated integras when three upon one is by inspection improper; has the most conical hodpiece of confusianist heronim and that chuchuffuous chinchin of his is like a footsey kungoloo around Taishantyland; he’s as globeful as a gasometer of lithium and luridity and he was thrice ten anular years before he wallowed round Raggiant Circos; the cabalstone at the coping of his cavin is a canine constant but only an amirican could apparoxemete the apeupresiosity of his atlast’s alongement; sticklered rights and lefts at Baddersdown in his hunt for the boar trwth but made his end with the modareds that came at him in Camlenstrete; a hunnibal in exhaustive conflict, an otho to return; burning body to aiger air on melting mountain in wooing wave; we go into him sleepy children, we come out of him strucklers for life; he divested to save from the Mrs Drownings their rival queens while Grimshaw, Bragshaw and Renshaw made off with his storen clothes; taxed and rated, licensed and ranted; his threefaced stonehead was found on a whitehorse hill and the print of his costellous feet is seen in the goat’s grasscircle; pull the blind, toll the deaf and call dumb, lame and halty; Miraculone, Monstrucceleen; led the upplaws at the Creation and hissed a snake charmer off her stays; hounded become haunter, hunter become fox; harrier, marrier, terrier, tav; Olaph the Oxman, Thorker the Tourable; you feel he is Vespasian yet you think of him as Aurelius; whugamore, tradertory, socianist, commoniser; made a summer assault on our shores and begiddy got his sands full; first he shot down Raglan Road and then he tore up Marlborough Place; Cromlechheight and Crommalhill were his farfamed feetrests when our lurch as lout let free into the Lubar heloved; mareschalled his wardmotes and delimited the main; netted before nibbling, can scarce turn a scale but, grossed after meals, weighs a town in himself; Banba prayed for his conversion, Beurla missed that grand old voice; a Colossus among cabbages, the Melarancitrone of fruits; larger than life, doughtier than death; Gran Turco, orege forment; lachsembulger, leperlean; the sparkle of his genial fancy, the depth of his calm sagacity, the clearness of his spotless honour, the flow of his boundless benevolence; our family furbear, our tribal tarnpike; quary was he invincibled and cur was he burked; partitioned Irskaholm, united Irishmen; he took a svig at his own methyr but she tested a bit gorky and as for the salmon he was coming up in him all life long; comm, eilerdich hecklebury and sawyer thee, warden; silent as the bee in honey, stark as the breath on hauwck, Costello, Kinsella, Mahony, Moran, though you rope Amrique your home ruler is Dan; figure right, he is hoisted by the scurve of his shaggy neck, figure left, he is rationed in isobaric patties among the crew; one asks was he poisoned, one thinks how much did he leave; ex-gardener (Riesengebirger), fitted up with planturous existencies would make Roseoogreedy (mite’s) little hose; taut sheets and scuppers awash but the oil silk mack Liebsterpet micks his aquascutum; the enjoyment he took in kay women, the employment he gave to gee men; sponsor to a squad of piercers, ally to a host of rawlies; against lightning, explosion, fire, earthquake, flood, whirlwind, burglary, third party, rot, loss of cash, loss of credit, impact of vehicles; can rant as grave as oxtail soup and chat as gay as a porto flippant; is unhesitent in his unionism and yet a pigotted nationalist; Sylviacola is shy of him, Matrosenhosens nose the joke; shows the sinews of peace in his chest-o-wars; fiefeofhome, ninehundred and thirtunine years of copyhold; is aldays open for polemypolity’s sake when he’s not suntimes closed for the love of Janus; sucks life’s eleaxir from the pettipickles of the Jewess and ruoulls in sulks if any popeling runs down the Huguenots; Boomaport, Walleslee, Ubermeerschall Blowcher and Supercharger, Monsieur Ducrow, Mister Mudson, master gardiner; to one he’s just paunch and judex, to another full of beans and brehons; hallucination, cauchman, ectoplasm; passed for baabaa blacksheep till he grew white woo woo woolly; was drummatoysed by Mac Milligan’s daughter and put to music by one shoebard; all fitzpatricks in his emirate remember him, the boys of wetford hail him babu; indanified himself with boro tribute and was schenkt publicly to brigstoll; was given the light in drey orchafts and entumuled in threeplexes; his likeness is in Terrecuite and he giveth rest to the rainbowed; lebriety, frothearnity and quality; his reverse makes a virtue of necessity while his obverse mars a mother by invention; beskilk his gunwale and he’s the second imperial, untie points, unhook tenters and he’s lath and plaster; calls upon Allthing when he fails to appeal to Eachovos; basidens, ardree, kongsemma, rexregulorum; stood into Dee mouth, then backed broadside on Baulacleeva; either eldorado or ultimate thole; a kraal of fou feud fires, a crawl of five pubs; laid out lashings of laveries to hunt down his family ancestors and then pled double trouble or quick quits to hush the buckers up; threw pebblets for luck over one sodden shoulder and dragooned peoplades armed to their teeth; pept as Gaudio Gambrinus, grim as Potter the Grave; ace of arts, deuce of damimonds, trouble of clubs, fear of spates; cumbrum, cumbrum, twiniceynurseys fore a drum but tre to uno tips the scale; reeled the titleroll opposite a brace of girdles in Silver on the Screen but was sequenced from the set as Crookback by the even more titulars, Rick, Dave and Barry; he can get on as early as the twentysecond of Mars but occasionally he doesn’t come offbefore Virgintiquinque Germinal; his Indian name is Hapapoosiesobjibway and his number in arithmosophy is the stars of the plough; took weapon in the province of the pike and let fling his line on Eelwick; moves in vicous cicles yet remews the same; the drain rats bless his offals while the park birds curse his floodlights; Portobello, Equadocta, Therecocta, Percorello; he pours into the softclad shellborn the hard cash earned in Watling Street; his birth proved accidental shows his death its grave mistake; brought us giant ivy from the land of younkers and bewitthered Apostolopolos with the gale of his gall; while satisfied that soft youthful bright matchless girls should bosom into fine silkclad joyous blooming young women is not so pleased that heavy swearsome strongsmelling irregularshaped men should blottout active handsome wellformed frankeyed boys; herald hairyfair, alloaf the wheat; husband your aunt and endow your nepos; hearken but hush it, screen him and see; time is, an archbishopric, time was, a tradesmen’s entrance; beckburn brooked with wath, scale scarred by scow; his rainfall is a couple of kneehighs while his meanst grass temperature marked three in the shade; is the meltingpoint of snow and the bubblingplace of alcohol; has a tussle with the trulls and then does himself justice; hinted at in the eschatological chapters of Humphrey’s Justesse of the Jaypees and hunted for by Theban recensors who sniff there’s something behind the Bug of the Deaf; the king was in his cornerwall melking mark so murry, the queen was steep in armbour feeling fain and furry, the mayds was midst the hawthorns shoeing up their hose, out pimps the back guards (pomp!) and pump gun they goes; to all his foretellers he reared a stone and for all his comethers he planted a tree; forty acres, sixty miles, white stripe, red stripe, washes his fleet in annacrwatter; whou missed a porter so whot shall he do for he wanted to sit for Pimploco but they’ve caught him to stand for Sue?; Dutchlord, Dutchlord, overawes us; Headmound, king and martyr, dunstung in the Yeast, Pitre-le-Pore-in Petrin, Barth-the-Grete-by-the-Exchange; he hestens towards dames troth and wedding hand like the prince of Orange and Nassau while he has trinity left behind him like Bowlbeggar Bill-the-Bustonly; brow of a hazelwood, pool in the dark; changes blowicks into bullocks and a well of Artesia into a bird of Arabia; the handwriting on his facewall, the cryptoconchoidsiphonostomata in his exprussians; his birthspot lies beyond the herospont and his burialplot in the pleasant little field; is the yldist kiosk on the pleninsula and the unguest hostel in Saint Scholarland; walked many hundreds and many score miles of streets and lit thousands in one nightlights in hectares of windows; his great wide cloak lies on fifteen acres and his little white horse decks by dozens our doors; O sorrow the sail and woe the rudder that were set for Mairie Quai!; his suns the huns, his dartars the tartars, are plenty here today; who repulsed from his burst the bombolts of Ostenton and falchioned each flash downsaduck in the deep; apersonal problem, a locative enigma; upright one, vehicule of arcanisation in the field, lying chap, floodsupplier of celiculation through ebblanes; a part of the whole as a port for a whale; Dear Hewitt Castello, Equerry, were daylighted with our outing and are looking backwards to unearly summers, from Rhoda Dundrums; is above the seedfruit level and outside the leguminiferous zone; when older links lock older hearts then he’ll resemble she; can be built with glue and clippings, scrawled or voided on a buttress; the night express sings his story, the song of sparrownotes on his stave of wires; he crawls with lice, he swarms with saggarts; is as quiet as a mursque but can be as noisy as a sonogog; was Dilmun when his date was palmy and Mudlin when his nut was cracked; suck up the sease, lep laud at ease, one lip on his lap and one cushlin his crease; his porter has a mighty grasp and his baxters the boon of broadwhite; as far as wind dries and rain eats and sun turns and water bounds he is exalted and depressed, assembled and asundered; go away, we are deluded, come back, we are disghosted; bored the Ostrov, leapt the Inferus, swam the Mabbul and flure the Moyle; like fat, like fatlike tallow, of greasefulness, yea of dripping greasefulness; did not say to the old, old, did not say to the scorbutic, scorbutic; he has founded a house, Uru, a house he has founded to which he has assigned its fate; bears a raaven geulant on a fjeld duiv; ruz the halo offhis varlet when he appeared to his shecook as Haycock, Emmet, Boaro, Toaro, Osterich, Mangy and Skunk; pressed the beer of aled age out of the nettles of rashness; put a roof on the lodge for Hymn and a coq in his pot pro homo; was dapifer then pancircensor then hortifex magnus; the topes that tippled on him, the types that toppled off him; still starts our hares yet gates our goat; pocketbook packetboat, gapman gunrun; the light of other days, dire dreary darkness; our awful dad, Timour of Tortur; puzzling, startling, shocking, nay, perturbing; went puffing from king’s brugh to new customs, doffing the gibbous off him to every breach of all size; with Pa’s new heft and Papa’s new helve he’s Papapa’s old cutlass Papapapa left us; when youngheaded oldshouldered and middlishneck aged about; caller herring everydaily, turgid tarpon overnight; see Loryon the comaleon that changed endocrine history by loeven his loaf with forty bannucks; she drove him dafe till he driv her blind up; the pigeons doves be perchin all over him one day on Baslesbridge and the ravens duv be pitchin their dark nets after him the next night behind Koenigstein’s Arbour; tronf of the rep, comf of the priv, prosp of the pub; his headwood it’s ideal if his feet are bally clay; he crashed in the hollow of the park, trees down, as he soared in the vaguum of the phoenix, stones up; looks like a moultain boultter and sounds like a rude word; the mountain view, some lumin pale round a lamp of succar in boinyn water; three shots a puddy at up blup saddle; made up to Miss MacCormack Ni Lacarthy who made off with Darly Dermod, swank and swarthy; once diamond cut garnet now dammat cuts groany; you might find him at the Florence but watch our for him in Wynn’s Hotel; theer’s his bow and wheer’s his leaker and heer lays his bequiet hearse, deep; Swed Albiony, likeliest villain of the place; Hennery Canterel—Cockran, eggotisters, limitated; we take our tays and frees our fleas round sadurn’s mounted foot; built the Lund’s kirk and destroyed the church’s land; who guesse his title grabs his deeds; fletch and prities, fash and chaps; artful Juke of Wilysly; Hugglebelly’s Funniral; Kukkuk Kallikak; heard in camera and excruciated; boon when with benches billeted, bann if buckshotbackshattered; heavengendered, chaosfoedted, earthborn; his father presumptively ploughed it deep on overtime and his mother as all evince must have travailled her fair share; a footprinse on the Megacene, hetman unwhorsed by Searingsand; honorary captain of the extemporised fire brigade, reported to be friendly with the police; the door is still open; the old stock collar is coming back; not forgetting the time you laughed at Elder Charterhouse’s duckwhite pants and the way you said the whole township can see his hairy legs; by stealth of a kersse her aulburntress abaft his nape she hung; when his kettle became a hearthsculdus our thorstyites set their lymphyamphyre; his yearletter concocted by masterhands of assays, his hallmark imposed by the standard of wrought plate; a pair of pectorals and a triplescreen to get a wind up; lights his pipe with a rosin tree and hires a towhorse to haul his shoes; cures slavey’s scurvy, breaks barons boils; called to sell polosh and was found later in a bedroom; has his seat of justice, his house of mercy, his com o’copious and his stacks a’rye; prospector, he had a rooksacht, retrospector, he holds the holpenstake; won the freedom of new yoke for the minds of jugoslaves; acts active, peddles in passivism and is a gorgon of selfridgeousness; pours a laughsworth of his illformation over a larmsworth of salt; half heard the single maiden speech La Belle spun to her Grand Mount and wholed a lifetime by his ain fireside, wondering was it hebrew set to himmeltones or the quicksilversong of qwaternions; his troubles may be over but his doubles have still to come; the lobster pot that crabbed our keel, the garden pet that spoiled our squeezed peas; he stands in a lovely park, sea is not far, importunate towns of X, Y and Z are easily over reached; is an excrescence to civilised humanity and but a wart on Europe; wanamade singsigns to soundsense an yit he wanna git all his flesch nuemaid motts truly prural and plusible; has excisively large rings and is uncustomarily perfumed; lusteth ath he listeth the cleah whithpeh of a themise; is a prince of the fingallian in a hiberniad of hoolies; has a hodge to wherry him and a frenchy to curry him and a brabanson for his beeter and a fritz at his switch; was waylaid of a parker and beschotten by a buckeley; kicks lintils when he’s cuppy and casts Jacob’s arroroots, dime after dime, to poor waifstrays on the perish; reads the charms of H. C. Endersen all the weaks of his evenin and the crimes of Ivaun the Taurrible every strongday morn; soaps you soft to your face and slaps himself when he’s badend; owns the bulgiest bungbarrel that ever was tiptapped in the privace of the Mullingar Inn; was bom with a nuasilver tongue in his mouth and went round the coast of Iron with his lift hand to the scene; raised but two fingers and yet smelt it would day; for whom it is easier to found a see in Ebblannah than for I or you to find a dubbeltye in Dampsterdamp; to live with whom is a lifemayor and to know whom a liberal education; was dipped in Hoily Olives and chrysmed in Scent Otooles; hears cricket on the earth but annoys the life out of predikants; still turns the durc’s ear of Darius to the now thoroughly infurioted one of God; made Man with juts that jerk and minted money mong maney; likes a six acup pudding when he’s come whome sweetwhome; has come through all the eras of livsadventure from moonshine and shampaying down to clouts and pottled porter; woollem the farsed, hahnreich the althe, charge the sackend, writchad the thord; if a mandrake shricked to convultures at last surviving his birth the weibduck will wail bitternly over the rotter’s resurrection; loses weight in the moon night but gird girder by the sundawn; with one touch of nature set a veiled world agrin and went within a sheet of tissuepaper of the option of three gaols; who could see at one blick a saumon taken with a lance, hunters pursuing a doe, a swallowship in full sail, a whyterobe lifting a host; faced flappery like old King Cnut and turned his back like Cincinnatus; is a farfar and morefar and a hoar father Nakedbucker in villas old as new; squats aquart and cracks aquaint when it’s flaggin in town and on haven; blows whiskery around his summit but stehts stout upon his footles; stutters fore he falls and goes mad entirely when he’s waked; is Timb to the pearly mom and Tomb to the mourning night; and an he had the best bunbaked bricks in bould Babylon for his pitching plays he’d be lost for the want of his wan wubblin wall?

Answer: Finn MacCool!

[scotianostra]

On February 10th 1306, The Red Comyn, a leading claimant to the vacant Scottish throne, was murdered in a Dumfries church.

I say the vacant throne, but in reality 20 years beforehand Edward, King of England had  formally stripped John Balliol of his kingship. Scotland, as a Kingdom was basically abolished, and reduced to the status of a mere ‘land’ administered by Englishmen for Edward’s benefit. According to a later chronicle, Edward handed over custody to a governor with the derisive comment: “He does good business, who rids himself of shit.”

And so it was about 20 years later on this day in1306, the most important political murder in Scottish history took place. John, “the Red” Caomyn,, was killed by Robert the Bruce, Earl of Carrick, and his followers in an outburst of violence in the church of the Franciscans, the Greyfriars, at Dumfries.

The second post today where the events will never be fully known, history favours the victor, and as such we really only get The Bruce account of that day, although since then slightly differing accounts have surfaced, this being one of them..

Comyn and Bruce were leading members of the Scottish nobility. They had been rivals and had recently fought on opposing sides in the wars between Edward I of England and the Scots. In early 1306 with Edward finally recognised as ruler of Scotland, the two lords met together in the Greyfriars church. At first the men seemed friendly and Bruce talked alone with Comyn before the high altar.

Suddenly the mood changed. Bruce accused his rival of treachery. Making to walk away, Robert Bruce then turned back with sword drawn and struck Comyn. Bruce’s followers then rushed in, raining blows on John Comyn who fell to the floor. Comyn’s uncle, who joined the melee, was cut down. Bruce left the church. Mounted on Comyn’s horse he led his followers the short distance to Dumfries Castle where King Edward’s justices were holding court.

Breaking in, Bruce arrested the king’s men but then he heard news that Comyn was still alive. He dispatched two of his men to the friary. They found John Comyn tended by the friars in the vestry, wounded but not dying.

After allowing him to hear confession, Bruce’s men dragged Comyn back into the church and killed him on the altar steps, spattering the altar itself with blood. While Comyn’s corpse was abandoned to the friars, Bruce rode from Dumfries to begin the uprising against Edward I which would climax with his crowning as king of Scots six weeks later.

Those seeking to understand these events saw Comyn’s death as a deliberate step on Bruce’s path to the throne. The English investigation of the murder in 1306 concluded that Comyn was killed because “he would not assent to the treason that Bruce planned against the king of England, it is believed”. In English chronicles of the period, Bruce lured Comyn to Dumfries to kill him. In Scottish accounts, by contrast, Bruce and Comyn agreed to work together for Scotland’s freedom. Comyn, however, betrayed Bruce’s plans to Edward I and was killed in revenge for his treachery.

All these versions agree in identifying Bruce in February 1306 as a man preparing to launch a bid for the kingship and killing Comyn to clear the way. The portrayal of Bruce as either cold-blooded killer or clear-sighted champion of his people suited the conflicting perceptions of later years. It placed the murder at the heart of a planned coup which would also involve Bruce’s seizure of the throne and his war against the English king, a war which ultimately secured recognition of Scotland’s independence.

However, these interpretations also relied on a heavy dose of hindsight. If viewed from the perspective of February 1306 do the conclusions of these accounts seem quite so clear? Was Bruce at that time focused on the seizure of the throne? Was the killing of Comyn on holy ground, an act bound to appal and alienate many Scots, a deed of calculated revolution? Did the immediate aftermath of Comyn’s death, the six weeks before Bruce was crowned king, witness the unfolding of a planned coup? We will never know the answer.

[meyanderings]

Castle #14 on our 🏰 tour:

Balvenie Castle, now in ruins, is one of Scotland’s oldest stone castles and was actually a stronghold for more than 500 years.

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Built for the Comyn earls of Buchan, it was taken by Robert the Bruce in 1308. Sir James Douglas held it in the early 1400s, but it eventually fell into the hands of King James II, who leased it to the Stewarts for a single red rose a year.

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Over 250 years, the clan transformed the medieval structure into an attractive Renaissance residence.

The castle has lent its name to the prestigious and world-famous single-malt Scotch whisky that is produced in a distillery literally a couple of yards away.

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#heritage #aristocracy #castlesofscotland #scotch #whisky #roadtrip #discoverscotland #scotlandshots #highlands #scotland #meyanderings

[the-busy-ghost]

onceideals said: Can someone explain why would she crown him?

Hi! Hope you don’t mind me weighing in on this as the OP, because I never tire of telling Isabella MacDuff’s story. 

Basically, since at least the twelfth century if not earlier, the earls of Fife had occupied a very important position in Scottish politics. While they might not always be the strongest magnates, militarily or economically, they seem to have been regarded as first among the Scottish earls, not least because of their close associations with the Scottish Crown. These were both political (as close allies of the Canmore kings) and symbolic, as the earls of Fife had gradually acquired a central role in the Scottish coronation process, where they were charged with setting the new king of Scots on the stone of destiny and thus investing him with his title. (Probably Isabella of Fife did not actually physically crown Robert Bruce either, but install him on the throne- nonetheless this coronation pose has become so deeply associated with her legend that it’s no wonder it was used on film). In any case, as a daughter of one of the earls of Fife, this was Isabella’s heritage, and even after ten years of English attempts at conquest, and nearly twenty years of political uncertainty, it was clearly important in the minds of the Scottish political community that tradition be satisfied. At the last Scottish coronation, that of the ill-fated John Balliol in 1292, the earl of Fife’s role had been carried out by a knight named John of St John, but this was because the earl- Duncan MacDuff- was then probably a very small child. This earl of Fife was either Isabella’s brother or nephew, but whatever the case Isabella clearly felt that she was entitled to act in her kinsman’s absence in 1306, as Earl Duncan was in English captivity when Robert Bruce made his bid for the kingship. 

There were a few snags of course. Not everybody in Scotland was happy to see Robert Bruce crowned king, especially since, not only was the deposed King John still alive, but Bruce had recently murdered the better claimant- King John’s nephew John ‘the Red’ Comyn of Badenoch- in a church. Since Robert Bruce proclaimed himself king not long afterwards, this drove the Comyns and their allies- formerly as active on the ‘patriotic’ side as any other major Scottish nobles- firmly into the English camp, and sparked a civil war in Scotland between the supporters of the Balliols and Comyns, and the supporters of the Bruces, which would rear its ugly head many times over the next fifty years or more. Chief among the disgruntled kinsmen of Comyn of Badenoch was his powerful cousin, John Comyn, Earl of Buchan, a major Scottish magnate, especially in the north, and whose father and grandfather had dominated thirteenth century Scottish politics (you see him for like two seconds in Outlaw king, sporting a bad haircut in the courtyard of Linlithgow Palace). And it was this earl of Buchan, one of Bruce’s chief enemies until his death in 1308, who was Isabella of Fife’s husband. 

To this day it is unclear why Isabella MacDuff acted as she did in March 1306 (and so, in that sense, we can’t actually explain why she’d crown Bruce). Like many of the women of the wars of independence, we know so little about her private- or even public- thoughts that many people have speculated about her backstory. Some novelists and other popular writers have suggested she was in love with Bruce (which, though not impossible, has no evidence to back it up and smacks of a kind of ‘women can only ever do anything out of love for a man’ attitude), others have speculated about the nature of her relationship with her husband (again, no evidence for any ill treatment, but by the end there was certainly no love lost between them). Possibly she saw supporting the Bruce claim as the most likely strategy to secure Scotland’s independence, or perhaps she just wished to take a rare opportunity to act politically in a man’s world. There’s also the possibility that her father had been aligned to the Bruce party in the 1280s. Whatever the case, as soon as she heard that Bruce intended to have himself crowned, Isabella quit her husband’s house and rode quickly to Scone, intending to play her part in the proceedings. She arrived too late- the coronation had already gone ahead, but Isabella’s claim must have been impressive, as two days later they went through the whole process again, so that tradition could be satisfied when the blood of the earls of Fife placed Robert Bruce on his throne (no stone of destiny, this, like Isabella’s brother, had also been removed south to England).

It was a bold act, but in the end Isabella paid dearly for her defiance of both her marital house and the English king. Along with other ladies of Bruce’s court, including at least two of his sisters, his wife Elizabeth de Burgh, and his daughter Marjorie, Isabella was captured at Tain only a few months after Bruce’s coronation and sent south into English captivity. According to some chronicles her own husband Buchan called for her to be put to death for her treachery, however she was instead condemned to be imprisoned in a cage, suspended in a tower at Berwick-upon-Tweed (one of King Robert’s sisters Mary Bruce was imprisoned in a similar cage at Roxburgh Castle, and there may also have been plans to have young Marjorie Bruce imprisoned in one at the Tower of London though this was soon discarded and she was sent to a nunnery instead). Isabella does not seem to have lived to see her actions vindicated- while Bruce began winning back Scotland from 1307 on, she is not recorded after 1313, suggesting she may have died as a result of her harsh captivity, a year before the other ladies were released following Bannockburn. Either way her short career offers a fascinating insight into the ways in which women could act politically in the fourteenth century, and how they viewed their own family heritage, as well as how this could conflict with the political allegiance of their marital house

Sources and further info here. 

[dearorpheus]

what're some of your fave things pertaining to fairy tales/folklore?

My god, I am so glad you said “some”. I’m going to use “some” as the operative word here. These are a variety of things I’ve been working over lately. 

The Tinder Box. (Denmark, Hans Christian Anderson)How Children Played Butcher with Each Other. (Germany, Grimm’s)The Poor Boy in the Grave. (^)The Fisherman and His Wife. (^)The Blood Brothers. (^)The Twelve Brothers. (^)The Hand and the Knife. (^) The Juniper Tree. (^)Bluebeard (France) / Fitcher’s Bird. (^)The Lindworm. (Norway)The Golden Root. (Italy)The Bamboo-Cutter and the Moon Child. (Japan)The Boy and the Wolves, or, The Broken Promise. (England)The Maiden with the Rose on Her Head. (Portugal)The False Prince and the True. (Portugal)The Eye Juggler. (Native America)The Lute Player. (Russia)The Death of Koschei the Deathless. (Russia)The Descent of Ishtar to the Underworld. (Western Asia, I think?)The Arabian Nights. (Middle East)

Shorts:Snow, Glass, Apples, Neil GaimanAmong The Thorns, Veronica Schanoes (based on The Jew in the Brambles, which I do not like)Ekaterina and the Firebird, Abra Staffin-Wiebe

Collections:The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories, Angela CarterAngela Carter’s Book of Fairy TalesRed as Blood, or Tales from the Sisters Grimmer, Tanith LeeThe Language of Thorns, Leigh BardugoIrish Fairy and Folk Tales, W. B. YeatsMy Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me (haven’t read it but was recommended it by @girlwithouthands and I trust her)

–Interval: I would love to talk about creatures of folklore as well but that would be starting something that I’ll absolutely never come close to finishing so let me just impart to you awareness of the Gashadokuro (x), although… you should probably check out the Yōkai in general–

Books:The Juniper Tree, Barbara ComynsTam Lin, Pamela DeanThe Goose Girl, Shannon HaleUprooted, Naomi NovikDaughter of the Forest, Juliet MarillierDeathless, Catherynne M. Valente

Poetry:Transformations, Anne SextonIntroduction to the Body in Fairytales, Jeannine Hall GaileyMrs Beast, Carol Ann DuffyFairy-tale Logic, A. E. Stallings

Non-Fiction:Beauty and the Beast: Classic Tales About Animal Brides and Grooms from Around the World, Maria TatarWomen Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype, Clarissa Pinkola Estés

Articles:The Importance of Being Scared: Polish Nobel Laureate Wisława Szymborska on Fairy Tales and the Necessity of Fear“Once Upon a Time” and Other Formulaic Folktale FlourishesIt Was or It Was Not: Femininity in Arabic FolktalesWhy Are Old Women Often The Face Of Evil In Fairy Tales And Folklore?Beauty and Bestiality

Films:Tale of Tales (2015), dir. Matteo GarroneThe Brothers Grimm (2005), dir. Terry GilliamPan’s Labyrinth (2006), dir. Guillermo del ToroRed Riding Hood (2011), dir. Catherine Hardwick (okay, listen, look at me, listen. I know. I know it’s bad. but I find the ending very gratifying and the atmosphere during the film is tasty)La Belle et La Bête (2014), dir. Christophe GansSnow White and the Huntsman (2012), dir. Rupert Sanders (Charlize Theron as the Evil Queen and the immense beauty of the forest scenes and Breath of Life are too compelling to ignore but you should probably black out the rest)Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013), dir. Tommy Wirkola

Miscellaneous:these illustrations based on Aesop’s FablesThe Wolf by Fever Ray (song)this videothis professor examining the specifics of a university course, Grimms’ Children’s and Household Tales

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 1.29

Holidays

Axe Day (French Republic)

Blue and Pink Day

Bowling Green Massacre Day

Bubblegum Sculpture Day

Carnation Day (a.k.a. Red Carnation Day)

Curmudgeons’ Day

Feast of Overdue Expectations

Fields Day

Freethinkers’ Day

Gab Union Appreciation Day

Hall of Fame Day (MLB)

Holiday of the Three Hierarchs (Greece)

I Don’t Like Mondays Incident Anniversary Day

Jigsaw Puzzle Day

Martyr’s Day (Nepal)

Milton Friedman Day (California)

National Colin Day

National Day of Remembrance for the Quebec City Mosque Attack (Canada)

National Day of Transgender Visibility (Brazil)

National Lady Gaga Day

National Police Anniversary Day (Philippines)

National Puzzle Day

Nevermore Day

Oprah Winfrey Day

RNLI SOS Day (UK)

Romeo and Juliet Day

Sahid Diwash (Martyrs’ Day; Nepal)

Seeing Eye Dog Day

Thomas Paine Day

Victoria Cross Day

World Automobile Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Gnocchi Day (Argentina)

National Corn Chip Day

Pork Belly Day

Potato Day

Sugar Cone Day

Weisse Beer Day

5th & Last Monday in January

Cyber Monday (Russia)

Aukland Day (New Zealand) [Monday closest to 29th]

Nelson Day (New Zealand) [Monday closest to 29th]

Northland Anniversary Day (New Zealand) [Monday closest to 29th]

Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day [Last Monday]

Independence & Related Days

Constitution Day (Gibraltar)

Kansas Statehood Day (#34; 1861)

Larsonia (Declared; 2017) [unrecognized]

Festivals Beginning January 29, 2024

Bierfest Kunstmann Valdivia (Chile)

Dark Beer Festival (Leighton Buzzard, UK) [thru 2.2]

St. Moritz Gourmet Festival (St. Moritz, Switzerland) [thru 2.3]

WSWA Access Live (Las Vegas, Nevada) [thru 2.1]

Feast Days

Andrei Rublev (Episcopal Church (USA))

Anton Chekov (Writersim)

Aquilinus of Milan (Christian; Saint)

Barnett Newman (Artology)

Blue and Pink Day (Shamanism)

Charge Candles by Moonlight Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Concordia I: Irene’s Day (Pagan)

Constantius of Perugia (Christian; Saint)

Curmudgeons Day (Pastafarian)

Dallán Forgaill (Christian; Saint)

Edward Abbey (Writersim)

The Equiria in the Campus Martius (a.k.a. The Pacalia; Ancient Rome)

Francis of Sales (Christian; Saint)

Gamelion Noumenia (Festival to All Gods & Goddesses; Ancient Greece)

Gildas the Albanian or Scot or the Wise (Christian; Saint)

Gildas the Wise (a.k.a. Badoncius; Christian; Saint)

Happy Hedgehog Day (Pastafarian)

Hesiod (Positivist; Saint)

House Blessing Day (Celtic Book of Days)

Juniper (Christian; Saint)

Paddy Chayefsky (Writersim)

Parade of the Unicorns (Everyday Wicca)

Patrick Caulfield (Artology)

Romain Rolland (Writerism)

Sabinian of Troyes (Christian; Saint)

Sabrina T. Pagebottom (Muppetism)

Samuel Worcester Rowse (Artology)

Sulpicius Severus (Christian; Saint)

Sulpitius I of Bourges (Christian; Saint)

Theo Wujcik (Artology)

Valerius of Trèves (Christian; Saint)

Valero’s Feast (Spain; Saint)

Vasant Panchami (Celebrating Saraswati, Hindu goddess of knowledge)

Willy Wonka Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Lucky Day (Philippines) [6 of 71]

Prime Number Day: 29 [10 of 72]

Shakku (赤口 Japan) [Bad luck all day, except at noon.]

Tycho Brahe Unlucky Day (Scandinavia) [7 of 37]

Very Unlucky Day (Grafton’s Manual of 1565) [8 of 60]

Premieres

Alice, by Avril Lavigne (Song; 2010)

All My Sons, by Arthur Miller (Play; 1947)

All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque (Novel; 1929)

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Pt. 2 (WB Animated Film; 2013)

The Beggar’s Opera, by John Gay (Ballad Opera; 1728)

Donald’s Tire Trouble (Disney Cartoon; 1943)

Doorway to Danger or Doom in the Room (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S2, Ep. 94; 1961)

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louise Stevenson, adapted by J. Comyn’s Carr (Play; 1910)

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Film; 1964)

Fantasia (Animated Disney Film; 1941)

Faust, complete play, by Goethe (Play; 1829)

Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand/Sie Liebt Dice, recorded by The Beatles (Songs in German; 1964)

Kung Fu Panda 3 (Animated Film; 2016)

Matinee (Film; 1993)

Million Dollar Carton or Jack in the Box (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S4, Ep. 199; 1963)

My Little Buckaroo (WB MM Cartoon; 1938)

Out and Out Rout (WB MM Cartoon; 1966)

Peaceful Neighbors (Color Rhapsody; 1939)

Pests for Guests (WB MM Cartoon; 1955)

The Raven, Edgar Allan Poe (Poem; 1845)

Rock-a-Bye Gator (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1962)

The Seapreme Court (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1954)

She’s All That (Film; 1999)

Skelton Frolic (Ub Iwerks Cartoon; 1937)

Sleeping Beauty (Animated Disney Film; 1959)

Two at One Blow or The Devil Beheader (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S4, Ep. 200; 1963)

Up at the Villa, by W. Somerset Maugham (Novella; 1941)

Window Pains or The Moosetrap (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S2, Ep. 93; 1961)

Today’s Name Days

Gerd, Gerhard, Josef, Valerius (Austria)

Tvrtko, Valerije, Zdeslav, Zdravko (Croatia)

Zdislava (Czech Republic)

Valerius (Denmark)

Valmo, Valter (Estonia)

Valtteri (Finland)

Gildas (France)

Gerd, Gerhard, Josef (Germany)

Varsamia (Greece)

Adél (Hungary)

Aquilino, Costanzo, Valerio, Vitale (Italy)

Aivars, Valērijs (Latvia)

Aivaras, Girkantas, Valerijus, Žibutė (Lithuania)

Herdis, Hermann, Hermod (Norway)

Franciszek Salezy, Gilda, Hanna, Walerian, Waleriana, Waleriusz, Zdzisław (Poland)

Ignatie (Romania)

Gašpar (Slovakia)

Valerio, Valero (Spain)

Diana (Sweden)

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Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 29 of 2024; 337 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 1 of week 5 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Luis (Rowan) [Day 9 of 28]

Chinese: Month 12 (Yi-Chou), Day 19 (Ren-Chen)

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Hebrew: 19 Shevat 5784

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J Cal: 29 White; Eightday [29 of 30]

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Moon: 86%: Waning Gibbous

Positivist: 1 Homer (2nd Month) [Hesiod)

Runic Half Month: Elhaz (Elk) [Day 5 of 15]

Season: Winter (Day 40 of 89)

Zodiac: Capricorn (Day 8 of 28)

Calendar Changes

Homer (Ancient Poetry) [Month 2 of 13; Positivist]

[zed-air]

CKUA - The Midway: 2018

______

The Midway was a special program which typically aired from 9:00am-12:00pm (or sometimes 10:00am-2:00) on CKUA from 2016-2019 during statutory holidays.

Click “keep reading” below for my 2018 Midway playlists.

Explore my playlist history for other dates and programs.

- - - - -

AIRTIME // TITLE // PERFORMING ARTIST // ALBUM

2018-02-19

^^ listener recommendation ++ selected from CKUA’s “house blend” playlist

09:00 // Monday Morning // Pulp // Different Class

09:06 // Cowboy Song // Thin Lizzy // Uncut Nov 2001

09:11 // Glory Hallelujah // The Give ‘Em Hell Boys // Barn Burner

09:19 // Navajo Rug // Ian Tyson // All the Good ‘Uns

09:21 // S Lazy H // Corb Lund // Things That Can’t Be Undone

09:29 // Winter // Celeigh Cardinal // Everything and Nothing At All

09:35 // Viva La Vida // Coldplay // Viva La Vida…

09:39 // Shop Around // Smoky Robinson & the Miracles // Motown Forever

09:43 // You Really Got a Hold on Me // The Beatles // With the Beatles

09:48 // Another Day // Paul McCartney // Wingspan

09:54 // I Was Born Under a Wandering Star // Lee Marvin // Paint Your Wagon

10:02 // Be There // Kimberley MacGregor // I Am My Own

10:06 // Mary Jane’s Last Dance // Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers // Greatest Hits

10:11 // Back in Black // AC/DC // Back in Black

10:18 // Rose of the Valley // Duane Eddy // Road Trip

10:21 // Like Water // Graftician // Wander/Weave ++

10:26 // No Wrong // Bahamas // No Wrong 45 ++

10:32 // Devil in Disguise // Elvis Presley // Hits

10:35 // Christine’s Tune // The Flying Burrito Bros // 20th C. Masters

10:38 // I’m No Elvis Presley // Lindi Ortega // Little Red Boots

10:42 // Pretty Thing // Michael Rault // Crash! Boom! Bang!

10:44 // Not Fade Away // The Rolling Stones // Grrr!

10:46 // Maggie’s Farm (live at Newport) // Bob Dylan // No Direction Home

10:52 // You Keep Me Hanging On // Vanilla Fudge // Classic Rock 1968

10:56 // Why Do You Love Me? // Jom Comyn // I Need Love

11:01 // Leaving the Table // Leonard Cohen // You Want It Darker

11:07 // Rabbit in Your Headlights // UNKLE & Thom Yorke // Psyence Fiction ^^

11:12 // My Soul’s in Louisiana // Otis Taylor //  ________ ^^

11:16 // Give Me a Sign // Edward Sharp & the Magnetic Zeroes // Give Me a Sign 45

11:20 // Distant Sky // Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds // Skeleton Tree

11:27 // He’ll Have To Go // Jim Reeves // Essential Jim Reeves ^^

11:30 // Once in a Lifetime // Talking Heads // Remain in Light

11:34 // Murder in the City (live) // The Avett Bros //  _________ ^^

11:39 // Love is the Drug // Roxy Music // The Collection ^^

11:43 // I’ll Take You There // The Staples Singers // Greatest Hits

11:48 // Fun Fun Fun // The Beach Boys // Good Vibrations

11:50 // Do You Remember Rock & Roll Radio? // The Ramones // Greatest Hits

11:55 // Memories // Leonard Cohen // Death of a Ladies’ Man

- - - - -

2018-03-30

^^ listener recommendation ++ selected from CKUA’s “house blend” playlist

09:00 // Friday on My Mind // The Easybeats // Greatest Hits

09:05 // Walk of Life // Dire Straits // Greatest Hits

09:09 // Walk on the Wild Side // Lou Reed // Transformer

09:14 // Love Minus Zero // The Walker Bros // Take It Easy With the WB

09:17 // All Along the Watchtower // Jimi Hendrix // Electric Ladyland

09:21 // When the Ship Comes In // The Hollies // Hollies Sing Dylan

09:24 // Here’s That Rainy Day // Bob Dylan // Triplicate

09:31 // Laugh Laugh // The Beau Brummels // Greatest Hits

09:36 // No Surprises // Radiohead // OK Computer

09:39 // You Don’t Scare Me // Whitney Rose // Rule 62

09:44 // Come To Me // Sue Foley // The Ice Queen

09:48 // I Ain’t Cool // The Sheepdogs // Changing Colours ^^

09:52 // Bad Bad News // Leon Bridges // Good Thing

09:56 // Ain’t That Good News // Sam Cooke // Ain’t That Good News

10:03 // The Priests of Golden Bull // Buffy Sainte-Marie // Medicine Songs

10:09 // Whiskey // Joey Landreth // Whiskey EP

10:12 // Bad Bad Man // The Give ‘Em Hell Boys // Barn Burner

10:16 // After Midnight // Eric Clapton // Complete Clapton

10:19 // Give Me One Reason // Tracy Chapman // _____

10:24 // Still Crazy After All These Years // Paul Simon // The Essential

10:28 // The Addams Family Theme // Vic Mizzy // Greatest Hits of TV

10:31 // Winter // Celeigh Cardinal // Everything and Nothing At All

10:37 // Go // Kimberley MacGregor // I Am My Own

10:42 // Everybody’s Coming To My House // David Byrne // American Utopia

10:47 // I Wanna Prove To You // The Lemon Twigs // Do Hollywood

10:51 // This Winter Revisited // F&M // ______ ^^

10:54 // North To Alaska // Johnny Horton // The Essential

10:58 // I Can See For Miles // The Who // The Who Sell Out ^^

11:02 // Shining in the Distance // The Stray Birds // Magic Fire

11:08 // When You Ain’t Home // Lindi Orgega // Faded Gloryville

11:12 // I Don’t Know Why I Love You But I Do // Clarence “Frogman” Henry // Collected Works

11:14 // Heroes (live) // King Crimson // DGM Live

11:20 // Goldfinger // Bill Frisell & Thomas Morgan // Small Town

11:26 // Secret Love // Nels Cline // Lovers

11:30 // Zoot Allures // Frank Zappa // Zoot Allures

11:34 // 13 Engines // What If We Don’t Get What We Want? // _____ ^^

11:38 // Nedayeh Bahar // Habibi // Cardamom Garden

11:41 // Disarray // Preoccupations // New Material

11:45 // Say it Louder // Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats // Tearing at the Seams

11:49 // Don’t Stop Me Now // Queen // Greatest Hits

11:52 // Heart of Oak // Richard Hawley // Hollow Meadows

11:56 // Goodbye Stranger // Supertramp // Retrospectacle

- - - - -

2018-05-21

Today’s theme: because Victoria Day falls between Mothers’ Day and Fathers’ Day, the theme of this program is going to be parents & music. I want to hear from you. Get in touch with names of formative songs your parents introduced to you, and/or songs you introduced to your parents that turned their cranks.

^^ listener recommendation ++ selected from CKUA’s “house blend” playlist

09:00 // Monday Morning // Pulp // Different Class

09:06 // Victoria // The Kinks // Arthur

09:09 // These Days Is Coming Soon // The Lemon Twigs // Do Hollywood

09:12 // Today // Jefferson Airplane // Surrealistic Pillow

09:17 // Somebody That I Used To Know // Gotye // Making Mirrors

09:21 // Masseduction // St. Vincent // Masseduction

09:25 // Physical // Juliana Hatfield // Sings Songs of Olivia Newton John

09:30 // We’ve Come This Far // Sloan // Commonwealth

09:34 // Just Like Romeo & Juliet // Sha-Na-Na // __________

09:37 // Romeo & Juliet // Dire Straits // Priviate Investigations

09:45 // Four Out of Five // Arctic Monkeys // Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino

09:51 // Treat Her Right // Mr. T. // Greatest Hits

09:55 // Axel F. // Angela Dubeau & La Pieta // __________

10:01 // Nunca Es Suficiente; Natalia Lafourcade; Hasta la Raiz

10:06 // Layla (Strange Brew) // Le Onde Blu // Italy 1960s Beat

10:10 // Nessuno Mi Puo Guidicare // Gene Pitney // Definitive Collection

10:13 // Save the Last Dance for Me // The Shanes // Anthology

10:16 // California Sun // Ola & the Janglers // Swedish Rock & Roll Hits

10:19 // She Taught Me to Yodel // The Scarlets // Collection

10:22 // Boys Night Out // Johnny Reimar // Greatest Hits

10:24 // A Swinging Safari // Bert Kaempfert // Classics

10:29 // My Bonnie // Tony Sheridan & the Beat Bros // Tony Sheridan & the Silver Beatles

10:34 // Why Do You Have To Break My Heart Again? // The School // Reading Too Much Into Things

10:38 // Neon Lights // Kraftwerk // The Man-Machine

10:42 // Das Model // The Cardigans // B-Sides

10:47 // Wipeout // The Eliminators // Planetary Pebbles - Behind the Iron Curtain, vol 1

10:50 // Crazy Guitars // Boomerangs // Planetary Pebbles - Behind the Iron Curtain, vol 1

10:52 // Can Can // Can // Singles

10:57 // Lakes of Mars // Doug Hoyer // Walks With the Tender & Growing Night

11:01 // Hello in There // John Prine // Souveniers ^^

11:09 // Carry Me // The Stampeders // Best of ^^

11:12 // Ghost Riders in the Sky // Gene Autry // Essential ^^

11:16 // I’ve Been Everywhere // Hank Snow // Essential ^^

11:20 // Happy Brasilia // James Last // __________ ^^

11:24 // Crazy Train // Ozzy Osbourne // Anthology ^^

11:27 // Oxygene II // Jean-Michel Jarre // Oxygene ^^

11:30 // Froggy Went a-Courtin’ // Red Allen // Essential ^^

11:35 // Welcome to Earth (Pollywog) // Sturgill Simpson // A Sailor’s Guide to Earth ^^

11:40 // Late Night Radio // Gary Brown // __________ ^^

11:45 // A Sweet Beginning Like This // Fats Waller // Anthology ^^

11:49 // You Make Me Feel Like Dancing // Leo Sayer // You Make Me Feel Like Dancing

11:52 // Twist & Shout // The Isley Bros // Essential

11:55 // End of the Line // Traveling Wilburys // Vol 1

- - - - -

2018-07-02

Due to some scheduling kerfuffles at the station, the July 2, 2018 instalment of The Midway will last longer and start a whole lot earlier! Coming to your receivers from 6AM-10AM MST, tune in for our post-Canada Day extravaganza.

The theme of this episode is a simple one: what is the best Canadian artist/song you’ve discovered in 2018? It can be a new release, or any Canadian that you weren’t previously aware of - regardless of era.

^^ listener recommendation ++ selected from CKUA’s “house blend” playlist

06:00 // Monday Morning // Pulp // Different Class

06:06 // Changing Times // Iwan Rheon // Changing Times single

06:10 // Hippy Hippy Shake // Chan Romero // USA Roots of the UK Invasion

06:12 // The Devil in His Heart // The Donays // USA Roots of the UK Invasion

06:15 // Twist & Shout // The Isley Bros // Essential

06:19 // Robotic // Hannah Georgas // Hannah Georgas

06:23 // Crash Years // The New Pornographers // Together

06:31 // Psychopath // St. Vincent // STV

06:36 // Summer Sounds // Robert Goulet // Summer Sounds

06:38 // Under the Boardwalk // The Drifters // Greatest Hits

06:40 // Summer Holiday // Cliff Richard & the Shadows // Summer Holiday

06:45 // Suck It and See // The Arctic Monkeys // Suck It and See

06:48 // Street Life // Roxy Music // Collection

06:51 // Everybody’s Coming To My House // David Byrne

06:56 // Houses of the Holy // Led Zeppelin // Houses of the Holy

07:03 // Troubled Mind // Dan Mangan // Troubled Mind single

07:08 // Wendy // The Beach Boys // Good Vibrations

07:11 // Gorilla Song // Sha-Na-Na // Greatest Hits

07:13 // Bananaphone // Raffi // Bananaphone

07:16 // Carry On // Coeur de Pirate // Roses

07:19 // Breaking Down // Florence & the Machine // Ceremonials

07:23 // Stepping Out // Joe Jackson // Night and Day

07:32 // Everything // Celeigh Cardinal // Everything and Nothing At All

07:35 // Tommaso // nehiyawak // Tommaso single

07:39 // My Back Pages // Marshall Crenshaw // Bleecker Street

07:44 // Only a Pawn in the Game // Bob Dylan // The Times They Are A-Changin’

07:48 // The Godfather Waltz // Nino Rota // The Godfather Soundtrack

07:53 // Wish You Were Here // Pink Floyd // Wish You Were Here

08:01 // Radio // Client // City

08:05 // Radio, Radio // Elvis Costello // This Year’s Model

08:08 // Shape Shifter // Lera Lynn // Resistor

08:12 // In the Aeroplane Over the Sea // Neutral Milk Hotel // In the Aeroplane Under the Sea

08:17 // Maybe Tonight // Nicole Atkins // Neptune City

08:21 // Girl Don’t Come // Sandie Shaw // Hits of the 1960s

08:24 // I Only Want To Be With You // Dusty Springfield // Hits of the 1960s

08:26 // Moonshiner’s Daughter // Rhiannon Giddens // Factory Girl

08:31 // Decomposing Composers // Monty Python // Monty Python Sings

08:35 // Girl From Ipanema // Stan Getz & Astrud Gilberto // Super Samba

08:39 // Xanadu // Juliana Hatfield // J.H. Sings Olivia Newton John

08:43 // I Wanna Prove To You // The Lemon Twigs // Do Hollywood

08:48 // Depth of My Soul // Thievery Corporation // Saudade

08:51 // No More Disguises // Thievery Corporation // Saudade

08:56 // You’re Nobody ‘Til Somebody Loves You // Dinah Washington // Blue Box 2

09:01 // O Canada // Osyron // O Canada (music video)

09:04 // Who Do You Love? // Ronnie Hawkins & the Hawks // Rock & Roll Originals ++

09:07 // One Foot // Doug Hoyer // To Be a River ^^

09:10 // Glory // Layten Kramer // Glory ++

09:15 // Always For You // J.J. Shiplett // Something To Believe In ^^

09:19 // You Don’t Scare Me // Whitney Rose // Rule 62 ^^

09:25 // Norwegian Wood // Greenwich, Breau, Bickert // Toronto Sessions ^^

09:31 // Changes // Gordon Lightfoot // Original Lightfoot

09:33 // Been Waiting // The Flashing Lights // Sweet Release ^^

09:40 // The Silent // The Bolt Actions // TBA EP

09:42 // Don’t Wanna Hear It // Lindi Ortega // Cigarettes & Truckstops ^^

09:45 // Bye Bye Blackbird // Ringo Starr // Sentimental Journey

09:48 // Blackbird // The Beatles // The Beatles

09:51 // End of the Line // The Traveling Wilburys // Volume 1

09:54 // I’ll Be Seeing You // Francoise Hardy & Iggy Pop // Triple Best

- - - - -

TITLE // PERFORMING ARTIST // ALBUM // AIRTIME

2018-08-06 - 09:00-12:00

The theme of this episode: what recent folk-festival performance/performer has astonished you? It can be during the current festival season. It can be an artist you’ve loved for years, or someone you’ve only just discovered.

^^ listener recommendation ++ selected from CKUA’s “house blend” playlist

Monday Morning // Pulp // Different Class // Mon 09:01

Maggie’s Farm (live Newport ‘65) // Bob Dylan // The Bootleg Series Vol. 7 // Mon 09:06

Polka Dot Undies // Bowser & Blue // Polka Dot Undies (Single) // Mon 09:12AM

Let The Good Times Roll // JD McPherson // Let The Good Times Roll // Mon 09:17AM

Country House // Blur // ______ // Mon 09:20

Rockaway Beach // Ramones // Loud, Fast Ramones // Mon 09:25AM

Do You Need My Love // Weyes Blood // Front Row Seat To Earth // Mon 09:30AM

Surrender // kd lang // Tomorrow Never Dies Soundtrack // Mon 09:36AM

Underneath the Mango Tree // Diana Coupland & Monty Norman // Dr. No Soundtrack // Mon 09:40AM

Nobody Does It Better // Carly Simon // Clouds In My Coffee: 1965-1995 // Mon 09:43AM

You And Whose Army? // Radiohead // Amnesiac // Mon 09:48AM

Four Out Of Five // Arctic Monkeys // Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino // Mon 09:54AM

She’s Electric // Oasis // (What’s The Story) Morning Glory // Mon 10:02AM

Lille (live at EFMF 2013) // Lisa Hannigan // Live at the CKUA Tent // Mon 10:09AM

Driver’s Seat // Sniff ‘n’ the Tears // Driver’s Seat single // Mon 10:12AM

Breakfast at the Ace // The Rapiers // The Rapiers // Mon 10:16AM

Ford Fairlane // Confusionaires // Make a Little Mess With the Confusionaires // Mon 10:22AM

Big Sunglasses // Dylan Farrell // Blues Before // Mon 10:24AM

Would You Be My Dog? // Celeigh Cardinal // Everything And Nothing At All // Mon 10:30AM

Bizarre Love Triangle // Give 'Em Hell Boys // Barn Burner // Mon 10:34AM

City Lights // King Of Foxes // Golden Armour // Mon 10:38AM

Rock Pool // Cate Le Bon // Rock Pool EP // Mon 10:42AM

Twisting By The Pool // Dire Straits // Twisting By The Pool // Mon 10:47AM

Enola Gay // OMD // Organization // Mon 10:51AM

Bad Luck // Neko Case // Bad Luck (Single) // Mon 10:59AM

Total Eclipse // Klaus Nomi // Klaus Nomi // Mon 11:06AM

From a Logical Point of View // Robert Mitchum // Calypso is Like So // Mon 11:07AM

Phenomenal Woman // Ruthie Foster // The Phenomenal Ruthie Foster // Mon 11:12AM ^^

Gotta Serve Somebody // Mavis Staples // Tangled Up In Blues: Songs Of Bob Dylan // Mon 11:16AM ^^

Mr. Monday // Kobo Town // Jumbie In The Jukebox // Mon 11:22AM ^^

The Letter // Joe Cocker // Sounds Of The Seventies: 1970 // Mon 11:26AM ^^

Steppin’ Out // Joe Jackson // Night and Day // Mon 11:32AM ^^

Preachin’ To The Choir // Rodney Crowell // Fate’s Right Hand // Mon 11:37AM ^^

You Can’t Judge a Book by the Cover // William Prince // You Can’t Judge a Book by the Cover // Mon 11:43AM ^^

And I Love Her // Passenger // The Boy Who Cried Wolf // Mon 11:46AM ^^

And I Love Her // The Beatles // A Hard Day’s Night // Mon 11:51AM

End Of The Line // The Traveling Wilburys // Traveling Wilburys Collection // Mon 11:53AM

I’ll Be Seeing You // Francoise Hardy & Iggy Pop // Triple Best // Mon 11:56AM

- - - - -

2018-09-03 - 09:00-12:00

The theme of this episode: what is one of your essential live albums? It can be new, old, filled with cheating overdubs, lo-fi, hi-fi, whatever!

^^ listener recommendation ++ selected from CKUA’s “house blend” playlist ~~ today’s featured album: Richard Hawley’s Live at the Devi’s Arse

Monday Morning // Pulp // Different Class // Mon 09:01AM

Maggie’s Farm (live at Newport Folk 1965) // Bob Dylan // No Direction Home // Mon 09:07AM

Goldfinger // Bill Frisell & Thomas Morgan // Small Town // Mon 09:14AM

Four Out Of Five // Arctic Monkeys // Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino // Mon 09:19AM

Oliver Cromwell // Monty Python // Sings // Mon 09:28AM

Reelin’ In The Years // Steely Dan // Can’t Buy A Thrill // Mon 09:30AM

Help Me Rhonda // The Beach Boys // Good Vibrations: 30 Years Of The // Mon 09:36AM

Hideaway // John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers // Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton // Mon 09:39AM

Going Down // Freddie King // Ultimate Collection // Mon 09:43AM

Steppin’ Out // Memphis Slim // Rockin’ the Blues // Mon 09:46AM

Shake Your Money Maker // Paul Butterfield Blues Band // Paul Butterfield Blues Band // Mon 09:51AM

Darlin’ // Richard Hawley // Live at the Devil’s Arse // Mon 09:54AM ~~

The Devil in Disguise // Richard Hawley // Live at the Devil’s Arse // Mon 09:57AM ~~

Ain’t That a Shame // Cheap Trick // Live at Budokan // Mon 10:06AM

Hot Rod Lincoln // Commander Cody // 70s Classics // Mon 10:15AM

Rambler // The Madmen // Swedish Rock & Roll Hits // Mon 10:16AM

Pistoleros // The Shanes // The Shanes Anthology // Mon 10:17AM

Satumaa // Reijo Taipale // Satumaa 45 // Mon 10:22AM

Satumaa // Frank Zappa & the Mothers // You Can’t Do That on Stage Anymore 2 // Mon 10:25AM

Impossible Germany (live, 2012) // Wilco // Ashes of the American Flag // Mon 10:31AM

I Wonder If Care As Much // Richard Hawley with Lynn & Jean // Live at the Devil’s Arse // Mon 10:40AM  ~~

Lille (live at CKUA Tent, EFMF 2013) // Lisa Hannigan // Live at EFMF 2013 // Mon 10:45AM

Distant Sky // Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds // Distant Sky Live in Copenhagen // Mon 11:51AM

Smoke on the Water // Deep Purple // Made in Japan // Mon 11:00AM

Comfortably Numb // Roger Waters & Van Morrison // The Wall Live // Mon 11:10AM ^^

That Silver Haired Daddy of Mine // Simon & Garfunkel // Live 1969 // Mon 11:14AM ^^

Folsom Prison Blues // Merle Haggard // Live // Mon 11:19AM ^^

New Favourite // Alison Krauss & Union Station // Live // Mon 11:25AM ^^

Murder By Numbers // Sting & Friends // Broadway the Hard Way // Mon 11:29AM ^^

Do You Feel Like I Do? // Peter Frampton // Frampton Comes Alive // Mon 11:31 ^^

Lakes of Mars // Doug Hoyer // REC-YEG Concert Sessions 2012 // Mon 11:39AM

1952 Vincent Black Lightnight // Reckless Kelly // R.K. Was Here // Mon 11:47AM ^^

Just Like the Rain // Richard Hawley // Live at the Devil’s Arse // Mon 11:48AM ~~

That’ll Be the Day // Cliff Richard & the Shadows // The Rock & Roll Years // Mon 11:52AM

Don’t Ever Change // The Beatles // Live at the BBC // Mon 11:54AM

I’ll Be Seeing You // Francoise Hardy & Iggy Pop // Triple Best // Mon 11:58AM

- - - - -

2018-10-08 - 09:00-12:00

The theme of this episode: a smorgasbord of tunes - food, mood, and gratitude. We’ll also feature some leftovers - songs which listeners recommended for earlier editions of The Midway, but which were not broadcast when received due to time constraints or other impediments. Sharing a feast for the ears.

^^ listener recommendation ++ selected from CKUA’s “house blend” playlist

Monday Morning // Pulp // Different Class // Mon 09:01AM

Hi Hello // Johnny Marr // Hi Hello // Mon 09:07AM

The Right Stuff // Noel Gallagher // Chasing Yesterday // Mon 09:12AM

Snow Bank // Doug Hoyer // Walks With the Tender & Growing Night // Mon 09:19AM

Strawberry Fields Forever // The Beatles // Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club // Mon 09:27AM

Strawberry Cake // Johnny Cash // Strawberry Cake // Mon 09:35AM

You Don’t Scare Me // Whitney Rose // Rule 62 // Mon 09:38AM

The White Witch // Ivoux // Frozen // Mon 09:43AM

Winter // Celeigh Cardinal // Everything And Nothing At All // Mon 09:48AM

Dunes // Alabama Shakes // Sound And Color // Mon 09:55AM

Satin Devil // Dirty Dirty Devils // Dirty Dirty Devils // Mon 10:04AM

Help Me // Joni Mitchell // Hits // Mon 10:08AM

My Favorite Things // John Coltrane // _____ // Mon 10:11AM

Big Rock Candy Mountain // Harry McClintock // O Brother, Where Art Thou? // Mon 10:14AM

Morning Has Broken // Yusuf / Cat Stevens // The Very Best Of Cat Stevens // Mon 10:17AM ^^

Blame It On the Bossa Nova // Eydie Gorme // Greatest Hits // Mon 10:21AM

Telstar // The Tornados // The Tornados // Mon 10:23AM

Telstar (Original Demo) // Joe Meek // Joe Meek Anthology // Mon 10:28AM

Take a Bow // Muse // Black Holes & Revelations // Mon 10:31AM

Money // The Backbeat Band // Backbeat Soundtrack // Mon 10:40AM

Rockaway Beach // Ramones // Loud, Fast Ramones // Mon 10:42AM

Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer // Nat King Cole // Greatest Hits // Mon 10:45AM

Crocodile Rock // Elton John // Greatest Hits // Mon 10:47AM

Money // Pink Floyd // The Dark Side Of The Moon // Mon 10:53AM

Statesboro Blues (Live) // The Allman Bros Band // At Fillmore East // Mon 11:01AM ^^

The Tourist Song // Brad Bucknell & the oHNo Band // self-titled // Mon 11:06AM

Wiggle Wiggle // Bob Dylan // Under a Red Sky // Mon 11:11AM

Bad Guy // Jesse & The Dandelions // True Blue // Mon 11:14AM ^^

Danceland (Come With Me) // The Garrys // Surf Manitou // Mon 11:17AM

Loneliness // Rebekah Higgs // Sha La La // Mon 11:21AM

Trigger // The New Haunts // The New Haunts // Mon 11:25AM ^^

I Wanna Thank You // Sloan // Navy Blues // Mon 11:29AM ^^

Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut // Almond Joy // Vintage Commercials // Mon 11:35AM

Fireworks // First Aid Kit // Ruins // Mon 11:37AM

The Way It Is // Nicole Atkins // Neptune City // Mon 11:44AM

Ice Dance // Danny Elfman // Edward Scissorhands Soundtrack // Mon 11:47AM

Apple Tree // The Hearts // ______ // Mon 11:49AM

Blistered // That Pedal Show Band // Blistered // Mon 11:56AM

I’ll Be Seeing You // Francoise Hardy & Iggy Pop // Triple Best // Mon 11:58AM

- - - - -

2018-11-12 - 09:00-12:00

^^ listener recommendation ++ selected from CKUA’s “house blend” playlist

Monday Morning // Pulp // Different Class // Mon 09:00AM

Lollipop (Ode To Jim) // Alvvays // Antisocialites // Mon 09:05AM

Danceland (Come With Me) // The Garrys // Surf Manitou // Mon 09:09AM

Christmas All Over Again // Tom Petty // A Very Special Christmas 2 // Mon 09:13AM

I Will // The Beatles // The Beatles (Stereo Remaster) // Mon 09:20AM

Is He Really Coming Home? // The School // Loveless Unbeliever // Mon 09:22AM

The Spell of City Lights // J.D. McPherson // ______ // 09:25AM

The Future Age // The Hearts // Equal Love // Mon 09:30AM

Arnold Layne // The Pink Floyd // Arnold Layne 45 // Mon 09:34AM

Anne of 1000 Days // John Moore // Knickerbocker Glory // Mon 09:42AM

Journey // Sarah Nixey // Night Walks // Mon 09:44AM

Start As You Mean To Go On // Black Box Recorder // The Facts of Life // Mon 09:47AM

Xanadu // Juliana Hatfield // Sings the Songs of Olivia Newton John // Mon 09:53AM

Africa // Weezer // Africa // Mon 10:00AM

Hold the Line // Osyron // Hold the Line // Mon 10:05AM

Do You Remember Rock ‘N’ Roll Radio // Ramones // Greatest Hits // Mon 10:09AM

Breaking Down // Florence & The Machine // Ceremonials // Mon 10:13AM

Time Of The Season // The Zombies // Pop Music: The Golden Era 1951-1 // Mon 10:19AM

True Love Ways // Peter & Gordon // Greatest Hits // Mon 10:23AM

Wonderful Land // The Shadows // Shadows Are Go! // Mon 10:25AM

Midnight // The Shadows // Shadows Are Go! // Mon 10:27AM

While My Guitar Gently Weeps // The Beatles // White Album // Mon 10:31AM

(Nice Dream) // Radiohead // The Bends // Mon 10:37AM

A Boat Lies Waiting // David Gilmour // Rattle That Lock // Mon 10:41AM

Get Ready // The Temptations // The Motown Box // Mon 10:48AM

Did You Feed My Cow? // Sharon, Lois, and Bram // Smorgasboard // Mon 10:50AM

Damn Tattoo // John Wort Hannam // Brambles And Thorns // Mon 10:54AM

Little White Lines // Sweet Vintage Rides // Road Trip // Mon 10:58AM

Time Is Tight // Booker T. & The MG’s // Beg Scream & Shout!: The Big Ol’ // Mon 11:02AM

Take Me Home, Country Roads // John Denver // Behind The Music: The John Denver // Mon 11:07AM

Imagine // Neil Young // ______ // 11:10AM

This Magic Moment // Lou Reed // Lost Highway Soundtrack // Mon 11:13AM

You Belong To Me // Jo Stafford // Pop Music: The Golden Era 1951-1 // Mon 11:18AM

Lodestar // Sarah Harmer // You Were Here // Mon 11:21AM

Crosstown Traffic // Jimi Hendrix // Electric Ladyland // Mon 11:28AM

Quickstep Medley: I’m a Believer, Simon Smith & his Dancing Bear, The Happening, Georgie Girl // Joe Loss & His Orchestra // Top Pop Dance Time

Tous les garcons et les filles // Francoise Hardy // Tous les garcons et les filles // Mon 11:38AM

My Autumn’s Done Come // Hooverphonic // Sit Down and Listen // Mon 11:41AM

Darlin’ (live 2008) // Richard Hawley // Live at the Devil’s Arse // Mon 11:47AM

Memories // Leonard Cohen // Death of a Ladies’ Man // Mon 11:50AM

I’ll Be Seeing You // Francoise Hardy & Iggy Pop // Triple Best // Mon 11:57AM