Some creatures exist twice: once in the flesh, once in the imagination. Wolves, lions, demons, politicians - take your pick. In the wild hills of Gévaudan between 1764 and 1767, one such double-lived beast stalked the countryside. To the peasants it wasn’t simply a wolf, but la Bête - a monster, a terror, and an … Continue reading The Beast of Gévaudan: Folklore in Fur, Politics in Fangs
Tag: history
King & Conqueror: A Royal Mess of Mud, Murk, and Misfires
History, we’re often told, is written by the victors. But in the BBC’s latest offering, King & Conqueror, history is rewritten by screenwriters who appear to have skimmed a Wikipedia stub, lit a few candles in a cowshed, and declared themselves medievalists. The premise was promising. Harold Godwinson versus William the Bastard - England’s last … Continue reading King & Conqueror: A Royal Mess of Mud, Murk, and Misfires
St. George, the Dragon, and the Colours We Raise
There he stands - or rather, rides - our St. George, spear braced, horse rearing, dragon writhing beneath (featured image below). It’s an image both timeless and terribly timely. Though centuries have passed since this tale was first illuminated in parchment or carved into stone, its symbolic force remains more urgent now than ever. For … Continue reading St. George, the Dragon, and the Colours We Raise
Margorie McCall: Lived Once, Buried Twice
Photo courtesy of Morbidology (2024) There are many epitaphs in the world that make one pause. Keats had his “Here lies one whose name was writ in water,” and Shakespeare, ever the property lawyer, threatened to curse anyone who moved his bones. But Margorie McCall of Lurgan, County Armagh, went one better - or worse, … Continue reading Margorie McCall: Lived Once, Buried Twice
In Which the Revolutionary Forgets His Own House Is a Revolution in Miniature
I must confess, I’ve always found Marx’s personal contradictions far more instructive than the reams of dense German prose in Das Kapital. Anyone can theorise about the inevitable triumph of the proletariat; it takes a truly remarkable mind to call for the abolition of the bourgeois family while quietly impregnating the maid and letting your … Continue reading In Which the Revolutionary Forgets His Own House Is a Revolution in Miniature
Wording 