Today on Writing with Labradors I’m delighted to host author Ronan Beckman who is here to talk about his short story, recently published in the latest Historical Writers Forum anthology. To Wear a Heart So White features seven stories about Crime and Punishment. Ronan’s contribution is called Carte de Viste and he is about to tell you the story behind it.
“I’m sure you didn’t know we had a knight in our family!”
That was absolutely true. But another fact was that this family was all new to me. I was adopted as a child, so everything about my past was new to me. Only through a lot of challenging detective work was I able to become reconnected to my birth family at the age of 36. And having tracked down a 2nd Cousin through a genealogy website, I now had this fascinating piece of history to explore. Out of all the newfound ancestors I had, this one intrigued me the most.
My 3x Great Grandfather, Sven Stenander, was the knight in question. My cousin sent me a poem in Swedish, along with a translation in English, which outlined his life. She assured me that there were newspaper articles about his life (which my later research confirmed to be the case), so there was a very nice stack of material for me to follow up on. Most intriguing for me was a copy of an actual photograph of this man in his late eighties. Staring at it, I saw the reflection of a man born in the 18th Century. A warrior who participated in battles of the Napoleonic War and fighting the Norwegians in their unsuccessful quest for independence. And on his chest, I could see a distinctive medal, the St. George’s Cross. This was the source of his knighthood. But I wanted to know more.
The poem was relatively vague in details. A stanza roughly translated to this: In the war, he served with distinction in many ways and was awarded medals for valour. The recognition was great, but not anything like the St. George Cross he received from the Emperor that made him a Knight of the St. George’s Order. Who was the emperor? After some time, I was able to find news articles that provided a little more information. They reported that he was awarded the St. George’s Order, 5th Class, from Tsar Alexander of Russia (an ally of Sweden at the time). This raised a few more questions than it answered. Why was a Russian Tsar bestowing a medal on a Swedish soldier? And researching the Russian Order of St. George was a bit challenging for me, as I am very much not a military history expert. I seemed to be able to only find references to the 1st class through to the 4th, no mention of a 5th class.
After 20 years, I have finally been able to solve the mystery (only just today!). I discovered through an American forum on military medals that Tsar Alexander had bestowed numerous St George’s Cross medals to British troops in gratitude for their participation in the Battle of Waterloo. These included 5th Class medals for subalterns (those ranked below a Captain) and soldiers. The higher-class medals tended to be reserved for those with an officer ranking.
Further digging into medal collector forums resulted in the discovery of a similar scenario where the Russian Tsar demonstrated his appreciation for Swedish soldiers battling Napoleon. Apparently, Sweden and Russia did a trade of medals to be awarded to their soldiers. 200 Swedish bravery medals were exchanged for 200 Russian St George’s Cross medals, which were for soldiers and non-commissioned officers (thereby making them 5th Class). Once exchanged, each nation awarded these medals to their soldiers as they saw fit. So, Sven did not receive his by direct command of the Tsar (that mystery solved!). But another revelation was brought to my attention. These medals were not actually what was often assumed. Many soldiers went back home, stating that they were now a knight of the Russian Order of St George. But these medals were actually considered a lower class of St George medal, one which did not confer a title of knighthood. So, a family legend (and one that was repeated in the press over the years) has been quashed. It is often said that family lore doesn’t always hold up to scrutiny. Nevertheless, being the recipient of one of only 200 medals is still quite an honour.
I have long wanted to write about my most interesting ancestor, but didn’t feel that I had enough information to sustain a whole novel or a non-fiction biography. But another interesting occurrence did help me with this quandary. A Facebook writing group I belong to, Historical Writers Forum, were creating a collection of short stories around the theme of ‘Crime and Punishment’. Remember that copy of the photograph of Sven I had? Well, I discovered a newspaper article about my ancestor being sent to prison over this photo. He had accused a neighbour of stealing this photo from his home. The court stated that there was no evidence for this and imprisoned Sven for the false accusation. The press, however, were treating the 78-year-old war veteran as some kind of folk hero – an old warrior bravely facing his sentence. I tried to imagine how Sven would have spent his time in incarceration. The poem sent by my cousin served as an inspiration for me to reflect upon his life and forms the basis of my short story, Carte de Viste, one of seven short stories by seven authors featured in the anthology To Wear a Heart So White (available through Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DKFZRRLC ). His life was so full of quirks and interesting occurrences. One last tale before I finish: Sven was nearly ninety-years-old and on his sickbed while being watched by his neighbour, the painter Tiselius, as the family went about some errands. Drunken Tiselius insinuated that Sven must have stolen the medals, and in no way deserved them. With all his remaining strength, old Sven grabbed his walking stick and whacked it hard over the head of his tormenting neighbour. The family legend is that proud Sergeant Sven Stenander was buried with the medals he treasured so much.
Ronan Beckman is a retired former educator living in Northampton, England. He writes historical fiction and biography, often based on characters discovered while researching family history. You can find out more on his website: www.ronanbeckman.com
Today I’m delighted to welcome James Spivey who is here to talk about his debut historical novel The Last Duel. Set during the Crimean War, this is a tale of war, romance, feuding brothers and terrifying military incompetence.
Welcome to Writing with Labradors, James. To start with, what made you want to write The Last Duel? Did you always have ambitions to be an author or was it this particular story you wanted to tell?
Writing with Labradors is an excellent name for a group. My childhood companion was a Labrador and the most wonderful, handsome, goofy sod I ever knew.
They generally are.
I’ve always had an interest in history and paid more attention in those classes at school than others. But it was the TV Series Sharpe that really accelerated my interest. I read the books obsessively then moved onto biographies. It was period drama I originally wanted to write and ten years ago wrote a script, which provided the template for The Last Duel. However commissioning such a drama is not inexpensive and I didn’t expect it to go anywhere, but when lockdown went ahead in 2020 I decided to adapt it to a novel.
Why the Crimean War – how did you become interested in it?
If Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe was my first love, then George MacDonald Fraser’s Flashman series was my second. His writing is peerless and even Bernard Cornwell dedicated a book to him. If you don’t know, it’s a comic and subversive take on the boys own adventure in which the protagonist is the antithesis of a stoic Victorian hero, even though he looks like one. While I was aware of the Charge of the Light Brigade, it was his magnificent book Flashman at the Charge which fired my interest.
This year was the 170th anniversary of those great and shambolic battles; The Alma, Balaklava and Inkerman and there was a disappointing lack of attention given to them. The veterans of Crimea, who endured so much, have been overshadowed by the Napoleonic Wars on one side and two World Wars on the other. But if you study the Crimean campaign you’ll see how it foreshadowed the events of WW1 and the US Civil War; a naïve expectation of a rapid victory turning to an industrialised slaughter in the trenches and a slow, grinding, attritional slog.
The reason I chose it as the setting for my story is because it was the nadir of the ancien regime and the purchase structure in the army. Britain was becoming a modern, industrialised nation while the likes of Lucan and Cardigan were anachronisms who embodied aristocratic entitlement and ineptitude. It also matched the timeframe for the eradication of duelling.
I loved the book. It looks as though a lot of research went into it. Can you tell me a bit about it. What sources did you use? How hard was it to find material? There are loads of published accounts of the Peninsular War, which is my own period. What about the Crimea?
I was ridiculously lucky. I started the novel in the first winter lockdown, but when I went back to work, the writing stalled. A chance conversation with a colleague revealed that her father, John Cotterill was a Veteran of the Sherwood Foresters and a battlefield guide who had toured the Crimea 13 times before that modern Tsar, Vladimir Putin decided he wanted it. John had a bookshelf of materiel which he was kind enough to lend me for a year, thereby imposing a deadline that I just managed to keep. Kinglake’s 9 book series is the most comprehensive. Terry Brighton’s Hell Riders provides an excellent chronological analysis with supporting testimony from the Light Brigade. Obviously I read the journals of Fanny Duberly and William Russell. I think I identified with them as sceptical writers more than the obedient soldiers. “Theirs not to reason why?” I’d have been the first to say, “get stuffed.”
Yes, it’s difficult sometimes to imagine what it must have been like for those men just to have to ride into that.
I’m interested in the idea of the duel and its importance in your book. Did you read much about duelling? How common was it in the run up to this period? I mean during the Peninsular War it was fairly common, it used to make Wellington furious. Which is rich given that he went on to fight a duel. But if this was the last duel, what stopped it?
I started writing about the Crimean War because I was already interested in it, but I only read what I needed on the topic of duelling once I had decided to write about it. I wanted to signal the end of an era in the most dramatic way possible. Social attitudes had changed significantly by the Victorian era so duelling was less common, though naturally Lord Cardigan had fought one in dubious circumstances and avoided prosecution on a technicality concocted by the House of Lords. There was widespread public disgust and Cardigan himself was chased out of a theatre by an angry mob.
The last (recorded) fatal duel in England was fought in 1852 between two French emigres; Barthélemy and Cournet. Barthélemy killed his opponent and was charged with murder. Meanwhile in Ireland, British troops had fired upon a crowd of unarmed Irish peasants and killed six of them. They were arrested and charged with murder but the Attorney General had them released on bail. Barthélemy’s lawyer argued for the same leniency, as they were “honourable” duellists. Unsurprisingly this request was denied, but in doing so, the judiciary had to come down hard on the practice of duelling. It was now harder to escape the penalties, though I suspect a good many more were hushed up.
I suspect you’re right about that. You mingle your fictional characters with real personalities very well. Who would you say was your favourite real character to write about and why?
Fanny Duberly by Roger Fenton, 1855 (Wikimedia Commons)
Easy: Fanny Duberly. It took a huge amount of nerve to smuggle herself to the front line (would you leave your home to go to the front line in Ukraine today?) and a good deal more to defy the social norms of the time, not to mention Lord Lucan. She undoubtedly used her charms to get what she wanted from men, so naturally the gossips had a field day, but there is no evidence of anything else. In fact she never conceived a child, which makes the more scurrilous rumours less plausible. In this day and age her rehabilitation is long overdue.
I think you’ve done a good job of it in the book. Following on from that, who was your least favourite real character? Was that because they were difficult to portray or because you just didn’t like them? That does happen – you should hear me on the subject of Thomas Picton some time.
Lieutenant General James Thomas Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan
Thomas Picton turned out to be a nasty piece of work didn’t he? I was very disappointed when I found out about his conduct in Trinidad. Yet he was a brave and effective commander. Physical bravery isn’t always accompanied by decency as my two candidates for this accolade prove. Lucan and Cardigan (it’s a toss up between the two) were thoroughly detestable, narrow-minded snobs and frequently lacking good judgement. Terry Brighton’s Hell Riders was the first non-fiction I read on the subject and he laid out their failings in technicolour. Spoilt bullies who never grew up and were incapable of admitting fault. I got heartily sick of them.
What did you make of Lord Raglan? In my books of course, he’s Fitzroy Somerset, Wellington’s young military secretary. Everyone loves him and he has his whole life and career ahead of him. What is he like by the time you’re writing about him? What went wrong?
Field Marshal Lord Raglan (Wikimedia Commons)
I don’t think anything went wrong with his character, he just grew old. The fact that he died on campaign tells you the impact it had on his health. He thought it was a mistake to invade Crimea, but he believed it was his duty to do so once ordered. It would have been better for everyone if he’d passed the job on to someone else, though I suspect it would still have been too much for him if he’d been younger. After all, the Duke of Wellington preferred obedience to initiative and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that some of his junior officers foundered without his instructions to follow.
The logistical failings of the Crimean campaign began in Whitehall and Raglan didn’t really get on top of them. The bureaucracy must bear the brunt of the blame for these failings, but one of the reasons that Raglan failed to confront them was that, unlike his mentor Wellington, he was too averse to confrontation. For example, when dealing with Lucan and Cardigan over their conduct he merely kept them stationed miles apart instead of disciplining them, thus their feud continued and seeds of disaster were sown.
The fact that the campaign did not have a Commander in Chief like Eisenhower 90 years later was deleterious to the allied effort. The French wanted to attack at the Alma, so Raglan agreed to support them without knowing what it entailed. The result was that British troops took the heaviest casualties. Then the French refused to follow up the victory when the Russians expected Sebastopol to fall immediately and Raglan went along with it when his instinct was to advance. After Balaklava, Lucan told him not to station the survivors of the Light Brigade on the heights above Sebastopol where they were exposed and isolated. But the French requested it and so Raglan insisted upon it. Consequently the horses starved, the men froze, both became sick and died. When Raglan got things right, he was talked out of it, when he got things wrong, he went ahead regardless.
I think that’s a very interesting point about Wellington’s officers. Of course some of them did go on to prove themselves effective commanders – Sir Harry Smith being an obvious example. But he had that kind of personality from the start. More to the point, he remained on active service whereas poor Raglan spent most of his career behind a desk. And I suspect his time with Wellington honed his diplomatic skills more than his tactical ability.
This is your first novel. What was the hardest thing about writing it?
Starting. There’s nothing more intimidating than a blank page. After that it was finding the time. I work about 10 – 11 hours a day, usually 5 days a week. For a year I worked, then came home to write.
Harry and Jack. Where did the idea for their feud come from? Did you find yourself sympathising with both of them or were you firmly on one team?
Oh Team Jack all the way. Their feud isn’t based on any real life equivalent, though I’m sure there were similar ones. But when you have both a huge inheritance and a beautiful woman to fight over, things are bound to get nasty.
And Eliza. Where did the idea for her character come from? Did you realise when you started that she was going to step in and take over?
I first floated the idea for this story on a night out after leaving Uni many years ago and I’m ashamed to say in my original iteration she was merely a plot device to cause friction. It’s a good job I waited another 16 years before writing it because that gave me time to mature. Eliza herself is something of a cocktail, consisting of one measure of Lizzy Bennett and one measure of Miss Marple with a dash of my own quirks thrown in. That mixture happened by accident in the meet-cute with Jack when I wanted to demonstrate her intelligence whilst simultaneously helping the exposition. Suddenly she’s a young Miss Marple and that altered her trajectory somewhat. I had no idea she would have this kind of presence.
I’d say this was definitely a case of one of your characters taking over. I wanted to ask you a bit more about Fanny Duberly who is obviously a real character. I’d come across her in passing but really didn’t know much about her. She was remarkable. Can you tell readers a little bit about her?
I’ll just add a little more to my previous answer. She was born to an affluent middle class family, her elder brother was a cavalryman and that seemed to form an impression on her. She was exceptionally beautiful and was soon married to a cavalryman. When war broke out she was determined to accompany him to the front and wrote a journal of the campaign and provides an eyewitness report of Balaklava. After the Crimea she followed her husband to India where she was again in the thick of it during the Indian Mutiny. I wish I knew more about her life after the war because I’d like to keep her in any future stories, should I write them.
I hope you can manage it. She’s a real gift to a novelist.
Writing battles can be challenging but you really set yourself up for a big battle in your first book. Tell me about the Charge. What was it like to write about it? Did you find it difficult?
This was the moment I had always intended to write about, so was excited when I reached it. My daily word count increased significantly when I started Balaklava. In some respects it was easier to write as the work is already done for you. I took the eyewitness accounts and worked them into my description. The tricky bit was the chronology. There was so much information to stay on top of. At one point I confused the events of my original script with documented fact! Thankfully my editor picked up on that.
There have been so many opinions about this but I’m curious to hear yours. Who do you think was mostly responsible for what is known as one of the most infamous blunders in British military history?
Captain Louis Nolan (from Wikimedia Commons)
There has been a move in recent years to blame Nolan and claim that he deliberately charged the Don Cossack battery on purpose to prove a point he wrote about in his book on cavalry tactics. I don’t buy that for a minute. The accusation depends upon conflating his original assertion; that cavalry could take an enemy battery if it had previously been subjected to bombardment, with what happened at Balaklava, which was a frontal assault against a battery, which had not been softened up by artillery and was flanked by two other batteries of cannon. In these circumstances a frontal assault was suicide and he would have known this. Furthermore if he survived he would have been court martialled because Captains don’t get to decide strategy on the hoof (no apologies for the pun) without consequence. So either he committed career suicide or actual suicide.
George Bingham, third Earl of Lucan (from Wikimedia Commons)
However I do believe he bears a large portion of the blame for not relaying the message carefully. He let his personal feelings cloud his judgement and misdirected Lucan, who ought to have had the sense to clarify his orders, but he too responded poorly to be being addressed impudently by a junior officer.
Raglan himself made a mistake by ordering an advance in the first place. After restricting any initiative from Lucan and refusing him the ability to attack when opportunities presented themselves, Lucan can be forgiven for being confused by his Commanding Officer’s switch from extreme caution to recklessness. Raglan’s orders, as intended were foolish anyway. Sending a cavalry division, unsupported by infantry against troops that were occupying hilltop redoubts was pure folly and shows how much pressure he was feeling at that moment. Given that his orders specifically mentioned infantry support too, its hardly surprising Lucan was confused when told to attack immediately.
Cardigan really was not to blame for the charge, but he was to blame for deserting his men immediately afterwards. The speed with which he returned and his own justification that there was nothing else to do at that point is extremely poor and demonstrates why Lucan and Raglan were right to be cautious of giving him any authority.
So to summarise, Raglan issued a poorly worded, foolish order, which was miscommunicated and then misunderstood by a hot-tempered ADC and a General who was both over arrogant and under intelligent. So there’s quite a bit of blame to share around.
Yes, it’s hard to pick one single culprit out of that lot. It was genuinely shocking that Cardigan just disappeared off without at least finding out what happened to the men who survived. I believe some of them were taken prisoner by the Russians weren’t they?
Yes, 58 troopers were taken prisoner and one of them, Private Wightman, wrote an account of their treatment at the hands of their Russian captors. Apparently they lived in better conditions than their comrades camped outside Sebastopol. The Russians were quite impressed by them and treated them with respect, giving them the freedom of the town and a plenty of food. One, Private Henry was given over to the custody of a Russian lady and stayed in her home. He was quite distressed when he was exchanged in a prisoner swap and returned to his regiment. Very Flashman behaviour!
What’s been the biggest learning curve as a first time author?
Discovering exactly how much research is required and even then you may fall short. Myths are being busted all the time. I may write something with absolute certainty and discover afterwards that is not the case. I spent longer than I should have liked trying to discover whether “Trooper” referred to the horse or the rider. Research is like an onion, you just keep peeling off one layer after another.
Oh, I’ve also discovered that I’m not as grammatically astute as I always thought. My editor’s red pen corrections demonstrated that.
And the big question, and I know you’ve already been asked this…are you going to write a sequel? If so – without spoilers of course – what should we expect?
I hadn’t envisaged one when I started writing, but by the end I had an idea for a sequel that picks up where I left off. It’s tricky to describe without spoilers, but the emphasis will be on Bayons Manor, not the Crimea and will give Eliza a chance to exercise her little grey cells. Once again my biggest obstacle is time, but I am going to give it a shot. I’ll still probably finish my next book before George RR Martin releases Winds of Winter though.
I think that’s entirely likely, and I genuinely hope so. James, thank you for joining Writing with Labradors today. The book is great and it’s fascinating to learn a bit more about how it came to be written. Good luck with it.
James Spivey was born in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. From an early age, films and history were his twin passions. He graduated from Bradford University and now works for ITV as a cameraman. He spent several years as a Parish Councillor and is a volunteer for a canine search and rescue team. His pastimes include roaming the English countryside often with a dog or two by his side, running an Airbnb and exploring places with a rich cultural heritage whether at home or abroad. Meet him on Twitter / X here.
Sir Home Popham and the 1807 Bombardment of Copenhagen
Today I’m delighted to welcome historian Dr Jacqueline Reiter, my good friend, partner-in-crime and fellow Popham fan (?) with an excellent post about Sir Home Popham and the 1807 bombardment of Copenhagen. Jacqueline has recently released a brilliant biography of Popham, Quicksilver Captain, which I really recommend to anybody wanting to know the story of his extraordinary life.
My apologies for the late arrival of this post, which should have appeared in celebration of Popham’s birthday. Presumably through the machinations of those enemies who always persecuted him, the website refused to work until today. Happy Belated Birthday Popham.
Those of you who have already read my Manxman trilogy will know my version of what Popham got up to during that campaign. Here, Jacqueline tells the real story…
Sir Home Popham, by Anthony Cardon after Mather Brown, 1807. (Public domain, Yale Centre for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection)
Sir Home Popham (1762–1820) is a fascinating character of the Napoleonic period whose exploits are almost too incredible even for fiction. This is why I am so impressed with Lynn Bryant’s take on him. Her Popham is very much as I imagine the real article would have been – bombastic, clever, unctuous, and with an overdeveloped sense of self-preservation – and I am curious to see where she takes him next. Today, however, I’d like to tell you a little more about the real Popham around the time we first meet him in the Manxman novels: as Captain of the Fleet at the 1807 bombardment of Copenhagen.
Popham first rose to prominence as an expert in disembarking and re-embarking troops under fire – a very useful skill, as Britain’s involvement in the wars against Revolutionary and Napoleonic France often meant carrying large numbers of troops to places that could easily be reached by water. Over the years Popham expanded his portfolio to include diplomacy, work with experimental weapons, intelligence, and acting as an unofficial government advisor. He managed to worm his way into the confidence of the most important men in the country, largely by telling them what they wanted to hear.
Attack upon Buenos Aires by General Beresford, engraver unknown, 1806. (Public domain, Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection, Brown University Library)
The year 1807, however, didn’t start well for Popham. He returned in disgrace from South America, where he had embroiled Britain in an unauthorised campaign by attacking the Spanish-held city of Buenos Aires. The invasion had initially gone well, but the inhabitants had rebelled and captured nearly every single British soldier involved. Popham was court-martialled for his role in this disastrous expedition and found guilty, but the government wasn’t ready to cashier such a useful officer just yet. Popham got off with a “severe reprimand” (a slap on the wrist) and was immediately re-employed as Captain of the Fleet at Copenhagen, effectively aide-de-camp to the commanding admiral, Sir James Gambier, and equivalent to a rear admiral in rank.
James Gambier, by George Clint after William Beechey, 1808. (Public domain, The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs, The New York Public Library)
This appointment did make some sense. Popham had a track record of facilitating amphibious operations, and the assault on Copenhagen involved 25,000 British troops alongside a fleet of 120 ships. The campaign would also require finesse, along with some difficult decision-making. An unexpected alliance between Russia and France in the summer of 1807 threatened British interests in the Baltic, where many essential naval stores came from. France had lost a lot of its naval power at Trafalgar in 1805, but British politicians feared Napoleon might “borrow” the fleet of another country – in this instance, that of Denmark. Denmark was a neutral power, but now Russia had sided with France the British politicians feared it might put pressure on Denmark to join the war against the British. British intelligence suggested Denmark’s fleet consisted of 18 ships of the line and 11 frigates, along with several smaller vessels. [1] The British government therefore decided to capture the Danish fleet before France could seize it – but this would mean a pre-emptive attack on a neutral power. The British commanders, Lieutenant General Lord Cathcart and Admiral James Gambier, were not enamoured at this prospect. Popham, however, had no such qualms.
But Popham’s appointment was a startlingly tone-deaf thing for the government to do, so soon after his well-publicised court-martial. Popham had never been popular in the Navy; he had been promoted to post-captain in 1794 at the request of the Army, and most of his employment had taken him way from the quarterdeck. By 1807, although Popham had been a post-captain for 13 years, he only had about five years’ worth of active experience. Under these circumstances, his appointment as Captain of the Fleet caused a furore. Questions were asked about it in the House of Commons, with one prominent opposition MP claiming Popham’s appointment represented “the encouragement of all insubordination, and the subversion of all discipline”. [2] Three captains serving as commodores on the expedition to Denmark – Sir Samuel Hood, Richard Keats, and Robert Stopford – issued an official protest expressing their “extreme sorrow and concern”:
The principles under which we have been brought up induce us to make any sacrifice that the service of our country may require. We are ready to proceed to any immediate service, but we rely that as early measures will be taken without injury to the service as can be effected to relieve us from the humiliating situation in which the appointment of Sir Home Popham as captain of the fleet we feel ourselves placed. [3]
The Portland ministry had only been in power a handful of months and was not strong. Its members were all too well aware there might be political repercussions from their choice of Captain of the Fleet, particularly if Popham did something stupid – which he had a track record of doing. The First Lord of the Admiralty, therefore, pressed Popham to keep his head down as much as possible. Frustratingly for the historian (but not for the novelist!), Popham is uncharacteristically missing from the records of the Copenhagen expedition, despite his privileged position as Captain of the Fleet.
The bombardment of Copenhagen, by Johan Lorenz Rugendas II, 1820. (Public domain, Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection, Brown University Library)
The four-day bombardment of Copenhagen, a neutral city, in September 1807 left a bitter taste, and Popham’s involvement may not have done him any more favours. At first, however, Popham expected to be well rewarded for participating: “All I ask of the present Administration & of my Country is to give me a patent Place not less than a thousand a Year.” [4] But the timing of the end of the campaign was catastrophic for Popham. In mid-September, news arrived in London of the definitive failure of Popham’s experiment in South America. General Whitelocke had been sent in March with 10,000 men to re-capture Buenos Aires, but this had ended in complete disaster. The outcome of the second Buenos Aires expedition did not make the government keen to reward Popham, and the horrified reaction of the rest of Europe to what had happened at Copenhagen only made things worse for him.
Popham received no reward for Copenhagen. He complained to his patron Melville: “There is a damn’d deal of ingratitude in the World.” [5] Did Popham’s refusal to investigate disease-ridden transports weigh against him with the powers that be? Was he subsequently involved in the court-martial of a member of His Majesty’s Army? We will never know, as the records on his involvement are so thin. But you can read more about such speculation in Lynn’s books.
References
[1] Intelligence report from Captain Francis Beauman, 25 July 1807, TNA ADM 1/5
[2] Speech by Windham, 31 July 1807, in The Times, 1 August 1807
[3] R.V. Hamilton (ed.), Letters and Papers of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Thomas Byam Martin (London: Navy Records Society, 1898), vol. 1, pp. 330–331
[4] Popham to Melville, 11 September 1807, William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan, Melville MSS, Box 23
[5] Popham to Melville, 23 November 1807, British Library Loan MS 57/108, no. 8
About Jacqueline Reiter
Jacqueline Reiter received her PhD from the University of Cambridge in 2006. Her first book, The Late Lord: the Life of John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham (Pen and Sword, 2017), illuminated the career of Pitt the Younger’s elder brother. Her articles have appeared in History Today and the Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research; she has written for the History of Parliament and co-written a chapter with John Bew on British war aims for the Cambridge History of the Napoleonic Wars. Her latest book, Quicksilver Captain: The Improbable Life of Sir Home Popham, is published by Helion.
Welcome to THE COLOUR OF BONE, the eleventh novel in the popular Seb Foxley series by Toni Mount, set in fifteenth century London.
It’s May 1480 in the City of London.
When workmen discover the body of a nun in a newly-opened tomb, Seb Foxley, a talented artist and bookseller is persuaded to assist in solving the mystery of her death when a member of the Duke of Gloucester’s household meets an untimely end. Evil is again abroad the crowded, grimy streets of medieval London and even in the grandest of royal mansions.
Some wicked rogue is setting fires in the city and no house is safe from the hungry flames. Will Seb and his loved ones come to grief when a man returns from the dead and Seb has to appear before the Lord Mayor?
Join our hero as he feasts with royalty yet struggles to save his own business and attempts to unravel this latest series of medieval mysteries.
Prologue
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The Charnel House, St Paul’s Cathedral in the City of London
**
My goodwife believes I be quite mad to wish to spend time in such a dismal place as this.
‘Who would want to pass time willingly with the remains of our ancestors long dead?’ she asked when I informed her of my intentions. ‘Why do you crave the company of their empty skulls and crumbling limbs?’
‘Though my art does not demand it, the knowledge I acquire there will aid me in my portraiture,’ I explained. ‘Understanding the shape and underlying form and structure of the skeleton will make my representations of the living of more substance and, well, more lifelike.’
I realised that argument sounded perverse, if not absurd, but it happens to be true.
Thus, upon most Saturday afternoons of late, when the shop closes for the half day, you will find me in St Paul’s Charnel House, with the permission of the Dean and Chapter, of course. Here I sit in this chill, heartless ossuary with chalks and charcoal, drawing scores of images for future reference, surrounded by a thousand hollow-eyed skulls. Silent they may be, yet they have much to say and teach me.
I see that the skeletal forms of men and women be different in ways other than simply height and sturdiness and that there be every degree in between, from the daintiest female to the burliest male. I learn to know and recognise the signs of age upon teeth and joint, the lesions left by injury or long sickness. Even years of abiding in poverty leave their mark. The forgotten citizens of London each have a story to tell.
And so I work to my great profit, garnering new knowledge here amongst the dead, where the very dust itself is the colour of bone.
dav
About the author
Toni Mount is a best-selling author of medieval non-fiction books. She is the creator of the Sebastian Foxley series of medieval murder mysteries and her work focuses on the ordinary lives of fascinating characters from history. She has a first class honours degree from the Open University and a Master degree by research from the University of Kent however her first career was as a scientist which brings an added dimension to her writing. Her detailed knowledge of the medieval period helps her create believable characters and realistic settings based on years of detailed study.
For more information visit Toni’s website at www.tonimount.com. The Colour of Bone, along with the previous Seb Foxley novels, are available on Amazon in both Kindle and paperback.
Today I’m delighted to welcome author Virginia Crow, who has joined me on Writing with Labradors to talk about Vercingetorix’s Virgin, her contribution to Alternate Endings, the new anthology from the Historical Writer’s Forum.
Hi, Virginia, welcome to Writing with Labradors. I’m very excited about the release of the latest Historical Writers Forum anthology “Alternate Endings” and it was great to get an early look at your story.
Hello Lynn! Thank you for hosting me and my story on your fabulous blog!
You’re very welcome. Can you start by telling us a bit about what you generally write and how does this story fit into that?
I have to admit, this story broke a number of the constraints I normally wrap around my writings! It doesn’t really match up with any of them – at least not yet – I’ll explain more about that later on.
I absolutely love exploring history and finding the random events which have been tucked into the telling with seemingly little relevance. Only, they must have been significant enough to have been recorded in the first place! These events provide the bones, while the plot wraps around the flesh of the story. Because this is how I write, I don’t have a specific time period I write in, but Vercingetorix’s Virgin is the earliest to date!
Most of my writing has an edge of mythology, be it historical fantasy like my Caledonbooks, or cultural superstitions like in The Year We Lived. I find the extra dimension which this gives to both the plot and the characters absolutely invaluable. The incorporation of Roman religion allowed me to explore this aspect within the story, and the superstitions and beliefs which surrounded the characters is at the core of Vercingetorix’s Virgin.
Ancient Rome is a long way off. What first sparked your interest in that period?
When I was invited to write a What If? story, I spent a long time trying to come up with an idea. I tried to think of figures from history who I had come to know from researching my own books, sparing the life of my historical heroes, or altering the course of battles. But then comes the inevitable realisation that sometimes it is the unjust nature of events surrounding these historical figures which drew me to them in the first place! Did I really want to take that from them?
So I shelved those ideas and talked through a few different ones with my family. My sister suggested: What if the Gunpowder Plot had been successful? and I was leaning towards that. But I have to admit to knowing almost nothing about the Stuart period beyond what I was taught in school, and I just couldn’t motivate myself to actually research it.
Then came an invite from Pen & Sword to review Simon Elliott’s book Alexander the Great versus Julius Caesar. Bingo! This was exactly what I was looking for: something I had a deep interest in, but no real connection to. So, after reading and reviewing the book (which is fantastic, by the way, and I would definitely recommend!), I started to delve into researching that world…
That’s really interesting. I’d like to see your ideas about the Gunpowder Plot if you ever get around to it. To come to your story – it’s a very interesting concept. How did you come up with this particular alternate ending. I mean, when you first heard about the theme of the anthology had you already considered this one for yourself or did the idea come to you once you started thinking about it?
Thank you!
I knew I wanted something which would show a different ending but not alter the entire course of history. Every story I write focusses on little things which make big ripples. To tweak the Conquest of Gaul meant that big ripples were caused, but they were only as transient as those ripples on the water’s surface. Eventually, they would fade away and history would return to its course once more. But, I have to admit, I enjoyed inserting these two heroes of the ancient world. I’ve never really told the story of famous people (well, not exactly – although The Year We Lived might be an exception to that!), but the theme for the anthology meant that a significant event (and therefore significant persons) needed to be modified…
A very real challenge followed – to explore the precise manners and relationships of these two men – but the result hopefully worked!
I think it worked very well. Tell me a bit about the Vestal Virgins. Who were they and what was their importance in Roman society?
Like most people, I suspect, the first time I ever came across Vestal Virgins was in the Procol Harum song A Whiter Shade of Pale. I never really understood the reference, but then I never really understood most of that song anyway!
A few years ago, I visited Rome with two of my sisters. It was such an incredible place – history tucked in everywhere, hiding in plain sight. We behaved like real tourists with our sightseeing and one of the places we came across was the ruins of the Temple of Vesta. There isn’t much left of it now, but what is there shows the wealth and power which was given to this aspect of the Roman beliefs. While we were in Rome, I got one of those books with plasticky pages which you can hold over one another to see what these ruined buildings had looked like in their heyday, and there was a little bit of writing about each place.
This was where my interest in the Vestal Virgins sparked. One of the things it mentioned was the power Vestals had to pardon people who were being led to execution. That was it! A potential ripple on the surface of the water!
I researched more for the rest of the time we were in Rome, and continued after we returned home. I had an idea for a story based on this event, which then went on to follow a number of twists and turns (of course!) before concluding in the horrendous death of essentially being buried alive which awaited any Vestal who broke her vows.
Vestals played an incredible role in Roman society. They were deemed to be the very best of humanity. Their word was trusted intrinsically, they were never questioned, they were allowed to oversee legal affairs, and their touch and gaze carried the power of the goddess herself.
Vestals served a thirty-year tenure in the temple, they wanted for nothing and were given all they required. But thirty years must have seemed a long time, missing out on the prime of their lives. Many did go on to marry after their service was complete – in fact, a former Vestal was thought to be one of the best wives a man could have – but placing those things which had been forbidden into the hands of a person accustomed to never being questioned, did not always make for the most amorous marriage beds!
That’s fascinating, I’d no idea the Vestals were that influential. Or that some of them married afterwards. That really must have been an interesting adjustment. Have you written other short stories or is this your first? How do you find working in this shorter medium as opposed to writing full length novels? Which do you prefer?
Eeek! My writing motto is: Never use one word when ten will suffice. So writing short stories is always a challenge for me! Back in January 2020, before COVID, I set my New Year Resolution to enter a writing competition/journal each week. It was a very ambitious target but, courtesy of my obsessive nature, I managed to see it through. I got one short story shortlisted and a poem published, which might not seem like much for 52 weeks, but I felt quite proud of them both!
But more than that, I learnt how to make this style work. I finally perfected (good enough for me, anyway!) the art of writing in different genres and different lengths. Since then, I’ve had a few more acceptances too, which is fantastic.
After writing Vercingetorix’s Virgin, I’ve dabbled with Alternative History a little bit more. I have an idea to possibly one day publish an anthology along the lines of “What did the Romans ever do for us?”, pointing out how different life would be without their input. It might never come to fruition, but you never know!
I love that idea! I bet it would be popular. And just wow about your Story-a-Week project. I could never manage to stick to that – very impressive.
To move on to your characters, what was it like writing Julius Caesar? He’s such an iconic historical character – what did you want your readers to learn about him from this story?
Firstly, I have to explain that I had preconceived ideas about Julius Caesar. I had come across him in school as the first Roman to conquer Britain. That was my first misconception, but it was not my last. And that quote, Veni, Vidi, Vici (I came, I saw, I conquered) has absolutely nothing to do with Britain!
So I had to undo everything I thought I knew about him.
Thankfully, my dad is something of an Ancient Rome/Ancient Greece enthusiast – my siblings and I always suspected it was because he was there when it was all happening, and we say that only half-jokingly! – so there was plenty of pointers he could give regarding where to look for more information concerning Caesar.
For me, it wasn’t the case that the more I read about him the more I liked him. It was more like: the more I read about him, the more I pitied him. Here was a man who built up an empire but was left with so much that he was entirely alienated. All his work and campaigning ultimately counted for nothing. His successor would go on to murder Caesar’s son, establish himself as an Emperor on the basis of the conquests Caesar had made, and even re-model Caesar’s calendar to deify himself on an equal footing.
Ultimately, what we tend to remember the most about Julius Caesar is his death. How sad is that? His work, his conquests, all forgotten as his own people turned on him.
So, when I came to write him, I wanted him to be connectable. I didn’t want a distant, aloof figure, because I honestly don’t think that was how Caesar wanted to be. Ironically – since he made himself dictator – I think he missed people. So, for the sake of Vercingetorix’s Virgin, he is someone always trying to reach out without being seen as weak; someone seeking to cement his legacy, but who knows it is unobtainable; someone who is looking to put right the relationships he had failed to rectify the first-time around.
In many respects, Vercingetorix was the anti-Caesar. Writing them both – especially as they interacted with their seconds and the Vestals – was a brilliant contrast to explore.
That makes Caesar sound much more human, somehow. And rather vulnerable. It makes me wish that he really could have had an alternate ending.
So now that you’ve tackled Caesar, do you have any other alternate endings that you’d like to write about one day? What are they?
I have written one other alternative history story. It’s called The Triumph of Maxentius, which is based on the question: What if Constantine lost the battle of Milvian Bridge? This would have had major repercussions for the Christian religion and this was the exact topic of that story.
Because of the gap in time but the huge impact they left, I’ve found Roman history is my preferred era for alternate endings!
And one day, I might have a go at the Gunpowder Plot one, too…
Ha! I’m going to keep an eye out for that one. Virginia, this has been great and I hope a lot of people go on to read your amazing story, it’s well worth it. What else are you working on at the moment? Anything recently published or in the pipeline?
My obsessive nature coming into play again, I am a strict NaNoWriMo participant. Having avoided it for years, I signed up in 2019 and now I refuse to be beaten by it! So all this month I’m chipping away at a new – rather different – novel. For the first time, I’m attempting a dual timeline story. Set part in the 3rd Century, and part in the 18th Century, this book draws from the story of the Amcotts Moor Woman. It is steeped in early church history and runaway Jacobites – a sop to my passion for theology and history!
I’m terrible for starting books, though, and never seeing them through. Maybe this one will get finished but I suspect, if it hasn’t been written by the end of November, it will join my increasingly growing pile of “I-will-get-around-to-it-one-day” books. Time will tell!
That sounds like an amazing project. I hope you do manage to get it finished. Either way, I’ll be following your progress through November as I struggle to get started with my own new book.
Virginia, thanks so much for joining me on Writing With Labradors. It’s been lovely to have you and good luck with the publication of the anthology and with NaNoWriMo as well.
About Virginia
Virginia Crow is an award-winning Scottish author, who grew up in Orkney and now lives in Caithness. She comes from a large family of writers and readers, and has been surrounded by books her whole life. Her favourite genres to write are fantasy and historical fiction, sometimes mixing the two together. She enjoys swashbuckling stories, her favourite book being The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas and she is still waiting for a screen adaption that lives up to it!
When not writing, Virginia is usually to be found teaching music. She believes wholeheartedly in the power of music, especially as a tool of inspiration, and music is often playing when she writes. Her life is governed by two spaniels, Orlando and Jess, and she enjoys exploring the Caithness countryside with these canine sidekicks.
As well as books, she loves cheese, music, and films, but hates mushrooms.
Readers can find out more about Virginia on social media here:
The run-up to Halloween 2021 marks a new venture here at Writing with Labradors as for the first time I have published a short story in an anthology.Hauntingsis an anthology of ghost stories, with ten supernatural historical tales which range from Roman and Viking times all the way up to the 1960s. Which brings us to my guest today on Blogging with Labradors, the talented Danielle Apple who writes as D Apple.
Danielle’s contribution to Hauntings is a story called Hotel Vanity which brings a light-hearted tone to the collection. It is set in a decaying hotel, where the owner’s efforts to sell-out are hampered by some mischievous ghosts.
Danielle, welcome to Blogging with Labradors and thanks very much for joining me to tell us a bit more about Hotel Vanity and the story behind it.
To begin with, Hotel Vanity is an unusual ghost story. What was your inspiration for it?
Well, I really wanted to write a gothic mystery, but every time I put pen to paper, some sassy ghost muse would whisper in my ear. Try as I might to shut her up, Nancy became my ghost, and Humphrey, the beleaguered hotel owner, became me. I thought…what if ghosts aren’t really how we typically think of them? What if the things that go bump in the night are really an old ghost dropping books on the floor as he falls asleep reading, or perhaps an ethereal being trying to taste whiskey again for the hundredth time?
I think that’s a fantastic idea and raises all sorts of interesting possibilities for future stories. There’s an interesting mix of humour and drama in your story and in the lives (and deaths) of the characters. Did you plan it that way or did that develop as you wrote?
I was supposed to be writing a story for a Valentine’s Day competition, and while the muse managed to steer me away from Gothic Mystery, I apparently don’t do romance without making it an annoying ghost mystery. This insertion of humor is a write-by-the-seat-of-my-pants experience that happens with nearly every short story, but I had to daydream about the drama for a while before it made sense.
I should think with a character like Nancy yammering in your ear it would be impossible NOT to include humour. I must say that for me, it wasn’t just the humans, alive or dead, who brought the story to life. You give a very good descriptive sense of this decaying old building – it’s almost like one of the characters. Can you tell us a bit more about that? Is there a real building somewhere that inspired it?
At the time I was going through some difficult personal changes, and the building became an embodiment of my comfort zone, limitations, and the things I still valued. The vines are beautiful and once served to avoid soil erosion, but they also choke the life out of a building. Humphrey tries to get a vine by the window to grow a different way by twisting it around itself, but the problem has gotten so massive that this simple act is futile.
Poor Humphrey. You can really sense his struggle. You’re not specific about dates in the story, either for the present day or for the flashbacks to Tom’s younger days. What period did you have in mind and what made you choose it?
While my primary work usually ends up in the early 1800s, for some reason these ghosts decided they were in the 1960s. Tom’s dated letters have seen a lot of wear and tear, and at the time of this story, the characters briefly discuss a United States presidential candidate. They are in their own bubble of sorts, stuck in the past away from the outside world but not totally unaware. It was easier for me to imagine ghosts from a couple of my favorite time periods and place them in a more familiar setting to me. Not to mention the buildings from my favorite times would have been slowly falling apart, but still viable. I think this is why the 1960s felt right.
Yes, that makes perfect sense, given how important the building is to your storyline. I think I can guess the answer to this one, but I have to ask. Who is your favourite character in the story and why?
Gosh, I love all of them for different reasons, but Nancy was the most fun to write. There’s just something about the juxtaposition of her outrageous behavior with her wise advice. In fact, every beta reader who has encountered Nancy wants to know more about her. So…maybe she gets her own story next.
I genuinely hope so. I’d love to know who she was when she lived and how she died. But on to the storyline. The idea of a lost soul trapped in a mirror is very evocative. Can you tell us a bit more about how you came up with the idea and the meaning behind it?
I had a thought to examine the human experience in the realm of society’s expectations. I think there is a soul in many of us that we keep trapped. Do we shove it away, direct what it should do and where it should go, all the while giving us the illusion that it is free to move about? When we look in the mirror at our soul…what do we see exactly? Is it us, a totally different person, or is it a part of ourselves that we ignored for too long? Of course this soul in the mirror can be a representation of many scenarios in peoples’ lives, so it can easily slip into whatever form the reader needs.
It’s very effective in this story. I’m hoping that people are going to read this and want more of your work. What’s your current writing project and how is it going? Any publication dates in the pipeline?
I’m working on a historical mystery saga in Northern Alabama, spanning 1834-1850. The first book is about a boy and his new, standoffish friends who come of age during a decade-long blood feud that leaves him digging graves – perhaps even his own. This is the project I’ve been working on for ages, but each setback has taught me valuable lessons and brought new, amazing people into my life. I’m grateful for the experience! In the next few months it will be ready for final beta readers and cultural accuracy readers, then I revise and it’s off to copy edits. That will probably land the publication date in mid-2022. If anyone is interested in being a beta, accuracy, or arc reader, go ahead and contact me for a more detailed description.
That sounds like a fascinating project, and probably takes an enormous amount of research, but it looks as though the end is in sight.
Danielle, it’s great that you’ve been able to take the time to contribute to Hauntings. I know that all the other authors have thoroughly enjoyed working with you and I personally enjoyed meeting Nancy, Humphrey, and the others. Thanks for joining me on Blogging with Labradors and good luck with your current project.
If you’d like to find out more about Danielle and her work, you’ll find all her social media links and contact details here. Don’t forget that she’s looking for beta readers for her current project, so do make contact if you can help.
More about Danielle Apple…
When she’s not pursuing research bunny trails, Danielle is reading. Her happy place is cozying up on the couch with her dog and a 19th century gothic mystery novel, but you’ll also find her hiking and exploring ghost towns and forgotten graveyards. An avid photographer and language learner, Danielle finds it difficult not to see the story potential in every place or turn of phrase. Sometimes the muses are humorous, and sometimes they are dark, but they always come from an integral place. Her upcoming novel takes place in Northern Alabama, 1834. It’s about a boy and his new, standoffish friends who come of age during a decade long blood feud that leaves him digging graves – perhaps even his own. You can follow the progress here https://linktr.ee/Dapplewrites
Keep an eye out for more blog posts in the Historical Writers Forum Hauntings blog hop as more of our authors get the chance to talk about their ghost stories in the run-up to Halloween.
THE HISTORICAL WRITERS FORUM: who we are
The Historical Writers Forum (HWF), started out as a social media group where writers of historical non-fiction, historical fiction, and historical fantasy could come together to share their knowledge and skills to help improve standards amongst this genre of writers, whether they be new or well-practiced. The aim is to encourage peer support for authors in a field where sometimes writing can be a very lonely business. We currently number over 800 members and are growing. We have recently been busy organising online talks via Zoom and now have our own YouTube channel where you can find our discussions on a variety of topics. Our membership includes several well-known authors who regularly engage to share their experiences and strengths to help other members build their own skillset.
Drawing by Rob Bayliss. This is how Tovi may have looked as an adolescent boy.
We have a guest post today on Writing With Labradors, an interview with Tovi from the Sons of the Wolf Saga, who has travelled all the way from the eleventh century to join us, with the help of author Paula Lofting.
Tovi is one of the younger sons of Wulfhere and his story, along with that of his family is told in Sons of the Wolf, Paula’s series of novels set in the years leading up to the Battle of Hastings. I’ve read and reviewed both books previously, so it’s a great honour to have a chat with Tovi himself…
Good afternoon, Tovi, how are you?
Hello Lynn, thank you for being willing to talk with me.
I know that recently you had an interview with Stephanie, which my readers can find here. I read it and it was really interesting. I’ve got some different questions for you, but because some of my readers won’t know who you are, could you just tell me a little bit about yourself and your family, just to introduce yourself?
An aerial view of Regia Anglorum’s long hall, Wychurst, in Kent, which I have loosely modelled Horstede on.
Of course. So I have just entered into my fourteenth winter and it is 1059. I am the son of Wulfhere who is the thegn of Horstede, a village in the land of the South Saxons. We have a large family – I have three younger sisters and one older. I also have two older brothers – twins – and they are terrible. I also have another half sister. But we don’t talk about her. Not all of my siblings are still alive but I won’t say which, for my scop (author) said I should not give too much of my story away.
No, we must not spoil the story for those who have not read the first books.
My father works for the king but he is also commended to Earl Harold. He spends 2 months at a time at court. And whilst he is away things can go very awry
Yes, I have read about some of the things that have gone wrong. Have you met the King. Can you tell me something about him and his relationship with your family?
Hastings by Matt Bunker
My father never spoke much about King Edward, but I remember when I was very young, that there was a time when my father had to make a choice between supporting Earl Godwin – who was my Lord Harold’s father and lord before Harold in Sussex – and the king. I remember listening when I should have been asleep, to my father and his friends talking about the situation where King Edward and Earl Godwin had fallen out. My father and his friends had ridden to a meeting with the Godwinsons, and the king had demanded that Earl Godwin hand over all of the king’s thegns who had been commended to him, which was the king’s right to do. My Father and his friends did not want to abandon the Earl but in the end, Earl Godwin told them to go, because it was their duty to serve the king before him and my father was quite angry and upset about this, because from what I could make out, the trouble had not been of Godwin’s making.
So I don’t think that Father liked the king very much, but we must keep this quiet, because my father would lose his land and possibly his life if anyone were to find out. My father holds his land from the King and so therefore he is a king’s thegn and owes military service to the king in return.
I have met the Earl Harold who everyone thinks is more important than the King.
I was going to come on to Earl Harold next.
Earl Harold and my father used to be good friends and grew up together. But lately, my father is not happy with him
Tell me more about Earl Harold, then. What is he like and why has your father fallen out with him?
I first met Earl Harold when I was just ten summers old and he came to my father’s homestead with his family and I thought he was magnificent. He looked like a god, tall and handsome. I was in awe. Around this time my eldest sister Freya’s started sneaking off to meet Edgar who was the son of Helghi, my father’s enemy. We children knew that it was forbidden to speak with any of that family, but we did not know why. Freyda didn’t care. She has fallen in love with Edgar and one night the pair of them hid in Helghi’s barn and caused a fire to start that burned almost all of their buildings! There was hell to pay and Lord Harold insisted that the in order for the feud to end between our families, Freyda and Edgar should be allowed to marry. Well Father was forced to agree, but eventually he found another suitor for Freyda and married her elsewhere. The feud had started long ago but until now had been quiet. This just made it begin all over again and Lord Harold was not best pleased and made my father promise to give my other sister in marriage to Helghi’s son when she is old enough. So my father is no longer happy with the Earl.
I can see why.
Aye. My mother was furious
Is it usual for a lord such as Harold to intervene in the marriage plans of his thegns families?
He is the king’s representative as the Earl of Wessex and therefore he has the right. I think it’s common for blood feuds to spill out into the wider communities- you only have to look to the northern provinces of England to see what turmoil they have caused there. So I suppose he wanted to stop that from happening.
Did Harold hope the marriage would end the feud then? I can see why he might have wanted that. Do you have any idea why the feud began?
Yes that’s exactly why, and marriage alliances are a god way of doing this. And no, we children don’t know, but we think it started with my father’s father and Helghi’s father. And there has also been mention of what happened to Edgar’s leg.
What happened to Edgar’s leg? Was this all part of the feud?
Edgar has a limp. I thought he fell out of a tree, but I heard some people talking and they said my father sold Helghi a badly shod horse for Edgar when he was a child and he fell off the horse and my father got the blame. But I know my father would never do that. He is an honest man. Then because my Father refused to pay compensation, Helghi burnt his stables and killed some of his horses! I also think there was a woman involved but I don’t know the full story
That’s how feuds continue, sometimes for generations. Do you think the marriage between your eldest sister and Edgar might have put an end to it? Did they love each other?
I think Edgar did. Freyda obviously didn’t love him enough because although she refused at first, she grew to like Aemund and soon forgot Edgar. I think she just wanted to rebel against our mother and father. Poor Edgar. I really liked him. He was kind to me. He was always at the homestead and would do anything for anyone. I think it was my mother who bullied father into finding a way out of the oath. They hate Helghi because he is a ceorl and therefore of lower status. Mother was furious that father gave in to the Earl. Edgar was heartbroken. He actually set a trap for a Freyda and kidnapped her.
What about the sister who is now supposed to marry into that family, how does she feel about it?
Well I’m not sure because I’m not at home at the moment. I was banished from home by my parents so I’m not sure what’s going on there. But I think that if I know Winflaed she will want to make things all right. So she might just agree to it.
Where are you living at present, Tovi?
I’m in a collegiate in Waltham. It’s where Earl Harold resides with his wife Eadgyth. He started a school to train boys to become priests for his new church. I hate it. It’s quite a long way from home in the lands of the East Saxons
Are you homesick?
Yes I am homesick. I didn’t want to go but they made me. I miss my sister Winflaed. I miss my father even and Father Paul our priest, and Aelfstan the blacksmith and Sigfrith our maid.
Do you miss your brothers, the twins? And what about your mother?
I hate my brothers. And I love my mother but in hate her too. It’s the same with my father too. I will never forgive them for making me go away
Why do they want you to become a priest? What would you rather be, if not a priest?
I always thought I was destined to be a warrior like my father. But my mother- it’s hard to speak of…. She wanted me to go because she was scared I would tell my father something she did and she couldn’t bear to look at me. I tried to tell her I wouldn’t tell, but she made him send me away anyway and Father did not fight for me.
Do you think that might change one day? That your father will want you back?
I hope so.
What are you learning at Waltham? What kind of education are you getting?
Greek, Latin, Frankish. Mathematics, and I am learning to read and write and to recite mass amongst a number of things.
Can all of your family read and write?
My sisters can read but they never learned to write. Father can also read and write. The twins know to read and write also. My youngest sister is simple so she hasn’t learned. Oh and my mother speaks French and she and my oldest sister Freyda can recite poetry
So quite a well educated family then.
Most of our social class can at least read and write
Tovi, I don’t know much about how things work among your people, and probably my readers don’t either. As a younger son, would you have inherited any of your father’s property? Or would you have been expected to go out into service with another lord and make your own way in the world? As a warrior, perhaps?
Yes I can. But it depends on what he puts in his will. It’s always up to one’s father at the end of the day. If he doesn’t like you, he may not leave you anything. And there’s no law of primogeniture here yet. Many young men go into service for a lord or someone if they are landless. In the hope that their lord will be good to them and reward them.
Do you think that’s something you might still be able to do when you are older, if you don’t wish to become a priest?
Oh I’m not going to be a priest.
I had a feeling you might say that…
I’ll kill myself before I do that. I will run away. I’ve done that before when I was younger and they kept bringing me back and beat me till I stopped doing it. But I’m older now. If I have to run away I will make sure they don’t find me again.
How long have you been at Waltham now?
Two and a half years
Have you been home during that time?
No never, but I have a feeling I will soon
Who would you say you are more like, in your family, your mother or your father? And who would you wish to be like? What do you admire about them, and what do you dislike?
Apparently I look more like my mother. But I don’t think I’m like either of them. Father lost his back bone and can’t stand up for himself with her. I think I do stand up for myself. And I’m not like mother, because I don’t think I am selfish like she is. If I had to be like anyone, I’d be like Earl Harold. No matter how hard I try not to show it, I think I have a boy crush on the man
Al Camacho (Len Howell)
That was going to be one of my next questions – who is your hero? But I think you’ve answered that for me. What do you admire about Earl Harold?
I’m not certain but I think there is something that draws people to him. He makes you feel good about yourself. He is very self effacing. He is kind, fair and he takes notice of you. And people love him. Who doesn’t want to be loved? I suppose it’s his confidence I like as well.
If you could make your dreams for the future come true, would they include being in service to Earl Harold?
Absolutely. But we have a saying. “Wyrd bid araed.”
Wyrd bid araed? What does that mean?
It means fate is inexorable…you cannot escape your destiny. You never know what threads the spinners will spin for you. I find it hard now to wish for anything because it is too painful if it doesn’t happen.
You must have dreams though? A hall of your own one day? A wife and children, maybe? Have you met a girl you like yet, Tovi, or have you not had a chance among the priests?
I do have dreams of one day being a great warrior. And as for girls or having a wife and children I’ve not really seen anything that makes me think having all that is a great idea. My mother and father hate each other and they hurt their children. Why would I want to do that myself?
Maybe you’ll do it differently, Tovi. Maybe you’ll learn from your parents’ mistakes and create a happy family. I hope so.
Perhaps I will. There is a girl I like.
Can you tell me about her?
Well you have to promise not to tell anyone.
I won’t mention it to anybody you know…
Because the priests tell me her father would cut my balls off if he found out
Oh my goodness, we can’t have that. Who is she?
Her name is Gytha. She is the Earl’s daughter
Earl Harold’s daughter?
Aye! She has been really kind to me whilst I’ve been here. We sometimes meet secretly, but just to talk. Nothing else, she is only eleven. She reminds me of my sister Winflaed and it feels nice
Being friends is a very good start and it has probably helped with your homesickness
Yes indeed. She was there for me.
Tovi, it’s been really good to talk to you today, and I feel as though I’ve got to know you a lot better. I thoroughly enjoyed the first two books in the series. I have asked your author to send me some information about herself and the books for my readers, but I would also like to ask you – if you were talking to my readers about your books, what would you say to make them want to read them?
Tovi pauses to think very carefully.
Long Hall Feast by Alison Offer of Regia Anglorum
I would say that the era in which I lived is of great importance to our country. What happened in 1066 was a huge turning point for us English. It wasn’t just a case of out with the old and in with the new. Our people suffered greatly by the take over. The flower of our English youth – it has been said – was lost that day in battle. They were fighting for their families, their homes, their lands, their customs and the right to be free. The enemy was fighting to take that away from us. Our nobility was virtually decimated, and thousands of people died through famine and slaughter.
Very often our ancestors, the ordinary people, not the great and powerful are forgotten and what my people lost and how they suffered should be remembered. People I often speak with don’t understand what happened before that day in 1066 and my story – not just mine but that of my family and friends, explains the whys, the wherefores, and the whats. It was no simple case of a crown being promised to a man and then taken by a usurper. It was far more complex than that, and our story reflects that through the eyes of a wide range of classes of English folk.
The story is told in such a way that you will laugh, cry, and fight with us. You will want the good to succeed and the bad to fall foul. You will live among us, eat, feast, and love with us. You will know what it was like to smell the smoky halls and fill your belly with stew from the huge cooking pot as it hangs from the rafters. You’ll hear the wolves howling at night as we listen to tales of times gone by during hearth time, feeling the fire warm you, as you experience all the good and bad life has to give. And when all is said and done, you will know the joy of winning and the horror of losing just as we will.
Sons of the Wolf is an epic tale that will touch you like no other.
Author Biography
Paula Lofting started her writing career much later than she would have liked to. As a little girl, she had dreams of being an author but had to wait until she was in her forties to publish her first book Sons of the Wolf, which she first did in 2012 with Silverwoods books. In 2016 she rereleased it herself with Longship and then shortly after the second book in the series was published, The Wolf Banner.
Book Three in the series, coming soon…
She is now working on the third in the series which is set in the Eleventh Century in the years leading up to the Norman Conquest of England and promises to be an epic saga that will cover the Battle if Hastings and the rebellions after.
You can find out more about Paula and her work here: