aBurntShip

                                              Review and Interview with author                                                       One quite striking 17th century related work of fiction  that has appeared this year is a debut novel by Frances Quinn titled 'The Smallest Man'. The lead character 'Nat  Davy '' is partly based on the life of Jeffrey Hudson, a dwarf who was 'given' by the Duke of Buckingham as a present to Queen Henrietta Maria ,wife to Charles I. An affinity developed between Henrietta and 'her' dwarf who became quite a valued companion .  In fact the Restoration historian Jennifer Uglow maintained that Henrietta Maria showed "far more affection"to Jeffrey Hudson than the "children who were later born to her." ( UGLOW ) . And Anthony Van Dyck painted a portrait of them together in 1632.  The great strength of the novel is that  it constructs the events of the time from the point of view of a figure who is both an o

                                                   Britannia Rediviva -A Poem on the Prince                                                        Born 10th June 1688                  Birth of the infant Prince James in 1688, unknown artist, image in public domain courtesy of 'Wikipedia'  The Jacobites have been commemorated in song, ballads, novels. But arguable the  first Jacobite poem -John Dryden's Britannia Rediviva, A Poem on the Prince - has been overlooked.  Charles II died on 6th February 1685. The ongoing struggle  for succession between the Protestant Duke of Monmouth, his illegitimate son, and Charles' brother James Duke of York, a Roman Catholic, was destined to break out again due to the stubborn nature of both men. Neither seemed prepared to abandon their claim to the succession. However,  Monmouth was in exile in the Dutch Republic. The fact that the Duke of York took his throne with so little opposition probably should have been a warning but Monmouth