Look Where You're Stepping!

Dearest St Margaret of Antioch

Please could I ask that you watch where you're putting your feet.....it seems that it may not have come to your attention, but you're squashing a dragon!

Yours sincerely

Arilx [a dragon lover]

It is a little peculiar what you see depicted in stained glass windows if you take the time to stop and stare. The story behind this is, following various punishments after she refused to marry, Margaret was swallowed by Satan disguised as a dragon, but was coughed up whole and unharmed. The Saint gives her name to the parish church of Warnham in West Sussex. We spent a pleasurable hour or so exploring the village on Sunday. More details tomorrow.

Arilx

Vantastic!

If you're going to use your mode of transport to advertise your business and you want it noticed by Joe Public then it needs to be memorable. This one with the Aboriginal artwork and appropriate registration plate or the witty use of wordplay on the one below tick all the boxes for me.

I've seen these two within the last couple of weeks. Vantastic!

Arilx

Condolences

I've just returned from a day away working and caught up with the very sad news that Sue over at The Cottage at the End of the Lane lost her husband yesterday. My thoughts are with her family.

Arilx

The South Downs

Lots of sewing of tatters onto Mr GBT's new Mythago jacket [he cuts and pins them on] this week has meant not much other material suitable for blogging so instead I'm sharing this rather lovely poem by Arthur Beckett.

The Spirit of the Downs

Oh, do you know the Downland where the sward is short and sweet,

Where the gorse is like a golden flame,where fairies you may meet?

You may see them dancing in their "rings" or swinging from a spray

Of bramble-bush, if you go there at the purple close o'day.

You must be there at moon-rise, when light floods all the dells,

'Tis then you'll hear the fairy- horns, the sound o' fairy bells,

For night time is the witching time;'tis then you must away

And climb the slope to Downland at purple close 'o day.

And uncouth forms you there may see above the swelling mounds

Of barrows or of tumuli; perhaps too, hear the sounds

Of words you will not understand; perchance you'll see the fray

For bloody fights are fought there are purple close o'day.

And if you climb up old Caburn to view the Celtic Camp,

And look across the Wealden plain where mists rise thick and damp,

You'll see about the foot 'o Firle the Romans brave array,

Of Saxon soldiers coming home at purple close 'o day.

And as you sit upon the cliff and sniff the salty sea,

You'll see a smuggler standing in, men wading to the knee;

The horses are soon loaded, the lugger sails away,

The "Gentlemen" are hard at work at purple close o' day.

The distant down is dappled with a thousand grey-white sheep,

The tuneful tinkle of their bells steals from the far-off steep;

And as you watch the shepherd calls, "Goo, fetch um home, good Tray!"

The faithful collie folds the flock at purple close o'day.

Oh, have you heard the skylark above the Downland sing,

Ascending from the dewy grass near Chanctonbury Ring?

I've heard his song there eight months long, and most of all in May,

But I  love the Downland lark the best the purple close o' day.

I've smelt the summer gorse at eve a-top o' Kithurst Hill,

As I stood to gaze upon the scene from thence to Selsey Bill;

But of all the subtle Downland breaths, the best of all, I say,

Comes from the violet thymy banks at purple close o' day.

You may vaunt to me of visions dreamed in any other shire,

No wolds and fells, or heathy dells, but these my heart inspire;

I know them all, they're at my call when'er I go away.

To Downland, to Downland at purple close o'day.

Hope you all have a smashing weekend.

Arilx

Slightly Strange

There is a church on the outskirts of Horsham which is always known locally as The Doomsday Church. It's set against a woodland backdrop off a fairly isolated road with only a few houses nearby and is always locked. It's got no great age [Victorian I believe], but it's had a reputation for being haunted for as long as I can remember.  On the land behind is a plague pit where the bodies were burnt before being buried en mass and during WWII there was supposedly an Italian POW place nearby and one of the prisoners hung himself.

Despite its rather fearsome reputation the church is actually called St John's and I decided to pay it a return visit a few weeks ago as it's bang opposite the Sun Oak.

It's not much of a looker really, but it's not a place that I've ever detected any kind of atmosphere. I don't go looking for such things, but am quite open minded about the paranormal. However, this photo has had me scratching my head a little.....

If you double click it to enlarge it there looks to be some grey fingers cosying up to my pink ones...I'm sure it's just a reflection yet I still can't work out what exactly it is I'm looking at. Hmm very slightly odd that one. If you're wondering, this is the place where the events dramatised for last week's episode of the Channel 4 series "True Horror" was based [although they used a different location for the filming]

Arilx

New Life

Quite often it's not clear to me at the start of the week what sort of content will make up the forthcoming week's blog posts. Yesterday morning I had no idea, but I've learnt not to force the issue as often something will fall into place. The pond up the road provided the perfect answer....an evening stroll with Mr GBT and his camera......

The Mandarin Duck was an unexpected added bonus.

Arilx

Medieval Etchings

There is an excellent title called "Medieval Graffiti" by Matthew Champion which has opened my eyes to a world of hither to hidden scratchings on the columns and around door jambs in churches particularly. Once you start to find them it all becomes quite fascinating.

Champion suggests that most of the images would have been done with shears which were a common tool available to everyday women and men. They apparently wouldn't have been viewed as a desecration of a sacred space, but very much part and parcel of the body of the church, brightly coloured and festooned with visual images of all kinds as it would have been at the time. Some were in memorial to loved ones, others for good luck or just marking everyday life with the portrayal of musicians. Many, as you might expect, are of a religious nature. It's not a field I know a great deal about, but the book is well worth a read if you want to know more.

Expertise I may lack,but enthusiasm not! Despite it being a Mythago heavy weekend with our filming commitment and a full day at the Rochester Sweeps Festival on Saturday, I whipped into the cathedral during our lunch break and managed to get a few basic shots of some of fine examples of Medieval handiwork in there.

Ship graffiti. These are found inland, but mostly in coastal areas.

A rather strange human finger with legs.

Possible shields.

This is known as a hexfoil or daisy wheel.

No idea what this is!

A face peering out of the gloom.

A decorative cross possibly.

Poor old Mr GBT will be thrilled to hear there's even more I'm going to be looking out for in churches from now on!

Arilx