Historic Fashion Faux Pas

I am reading Catharine Arnold’s wonderful City of Sin: London and it’s Vices. The cover features a plate of William Hogarth’s Rake’s Progress. Bearing in mind that Hogarth was a satirist, one should perhaps take his picture with a pinch of salt but I was transfixed and thoroughly amused by the sheer number of fashionable beauty … Continue reading →

South African Ghost Stories – Cape Town Castle

It has been a sombre week. I killed a dog who ran into the road while I was driving. I wasn’t speeding. She hit my back tyre, so I didn’t have to choose to break or swerve or to keep going to avoid a more serious accident. I stopped on the verge, wrapped her up in my … Continue reading →

Heights of History’s Heroes and Villains

I am reading a book called Mussolini’s Barber by Graeme Donald. In it, he mentions that Joseph Stalin was 5 ft 4 in tall. I don’t know about you, but this was rather a shock to me. When I looked into it, there does seem to be some debate about his actual height. What is certain, however, … Continue reading →

Human Trophies – Khoe Lips for Dutch Colonials

Jan Van Riebeeck landed in South Africa in 1652. He arrived to take over the place on behalf of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Of course, European ships had stopped off at the Cape of Good Hope for many years en route to the Spice Islands in the east but this was the first official … Continue reading →

Victorian Circus: “An evil influence”

I am researching a family tree for a friend of a friend. All of the action takes place near a town close to Belfast called Banbridge. It is on the River Bann on a stretch of river where the trees grow so thickly on the bank that I can’t see a footpath. The river is deep and dark. It … Continue reading →