Current reading

A couple of bits of non-poetry reading from the last few weeks...

Firstly, Blood And Roses, by Helen Castor. It looks at the famous Paston Letters, correspondence between members of a minor noble family in Norfolk in the 15th century. It's not exactly 'history-lite', but it's certainly not a dry academic text either, as Castor uses well-chosen excerpts from the letters to drive along a horrendously complex but very compelling narrative. She lets the characters of the family members come through, with the brave, indomitable Margaret and the patient, easy-going John III being particularly engaging. Above all, she foregrounds the surprising similarities between our own society and lives and those of 15th century England, without ever making any comparisons or labouring her point. Highly recommended.

Secondly, I've rediscovered this fine website, From Watford Gap To Camelot, after a few years away. It's a ramble across the middle of England, taking in all manner of historical and folkloric diversions (Fairport Convention even come into it, and that's never a bad thing). Again, well worth a few hours of your (employer's) time.

Hare care

This discussion of Charlotte Mew’s The Farmer’s Bride has been going on at the Guardian books blog this week. It’s a fine poem, I think, and well worth a close reading. I don’t share the reservations of some about the attempt to capture the farmer’s speech, and I don’t think it goes too far towards pathos. But I was interested too by some of the other directions the discussion takes – hares and their mythological connections (they're my favourite British mammal*, although it was only fairly recently I read that the Brown Hare is non-native - it was the Mountain Hare the Celts were thinking of); the wonderful folk song The Bonny Black Hare (I've written about Fairport Convention's version before); and Ian Duhig's equally fine poem The Lammas Hireling - it's all worth reading.

* I don't see too many, although the wide, rolling fields around Blatherwycke in Northants always seem to turn up a few when I'm out Red Kite watching. But earlier this year, as I was driving along the narrow lane from Eyebrook Reservoir towards Stockerston, a young Hare was sitting in the road. It showed no inclination to move, and I wondered if it was injured. But it finally slipped through the fence, and then waited as I pulled alongside, and was able to watch it from a few feet away. Eventually, it proved its rude health to my satisfaction by exploding into a lightning fast dash across the field to cover.