aBurntShip

    Poetry relating to the Battle of Poltava 1709 C harles XII of Sweden and Ivan Mazepa after The Battle of Poltav- Gustav Cederstrom Courtesy of Wikipedia Commons          This is the first post about poetry connected to the Battle of Poltava 1709, starting with Byron’s 1819 poem ‘Mazeppa’ (sic)  , named after the Ukrainian Cossack leader Ivan Mazepa ( 1639- 1709 ).                “Twas after dread Poltova’s day                 When fortune left the Royal Swede,                 Around a slaughter’d army lay                 No more to combat and to bleed    ...

' M icah Clarke '  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novel  about the  Monmouth Rebellion from 1889. I am very grateful to the 'ECW  & Stuart era Fiction' Facebook group  for directing me to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's novel  'Micah Clarke- His Statement As Made To His Three Grandchildren Joseph, Gervais, and Rueben During The Hard Winter of 1734'. The picture depicts the Duke of Monmouth landing in Lyme Regis in 1685.  From p. 380 of the 1873 book British Battles on Land and Sea , volume 1.by James Grant. In the public domain courtesy of the British Library & Wikipedia UK  ''Micah Clarke' is a fictionalised account of a young veteran of the doomed 1685 West Country rebellion led by the Duke of Monmouth against (Roman Catholic) James II ascending the throne of upon the death of Charles II. Micah Clarke, born in Havant, remains in the district and heads west, which offers more scope for adventure, as he joins the rebellion when it is well und...

Andrew Marvell 'Horation Ode  upon Cromwell's Return from Ireland '                                            Returning to Andrew Marvell ( 31st March 1621- 16th August 1678), thought that would be helpful to look at 'An Horation Ode upon Cromwell's Return from Ireland' , written in 1650, but can find no record of it ever being published until after the poet's death.                                            Picture of Andrew Marvell courtesy Wikipedia                     There are many fascinating aspects to this poem. The use of Rome as a major political and cultural reference point during the Commonwealth for one. Moreover, Cromwell's Irish campaign from 15th August 1649- 26th May 1650 evokes such ...

                                    Richard Lovelace - Kent Cavalier Poet                                         Image courtesy of Noel Craggs, South-East History Boards                             I am always fascinated by the use of poetry on war memorials. Discovered, thanks to a discussion on the South East History Boards that some lines by Richard Lovelace, the Cavalier Poet,  ( 1618-1658 ) from the poem 'Grasshopper', are quoted on a plaque placed on a stone to mark 'The last stand of the Royalist Defenders of Maidstone' , facing  General Fairfax storming of the city on 1st June 1648. This phase of the Second Civil War was a precursor to the Siege of Colchester already covered by this blog..The lines ar...

Happy New Year to all blog readers. Following the interview with Mark Vine, author of the Crabchurch Conspiracy, I will be attending the  Crabchurch Conspiracy Weekend  from March 2nd-4th 2018 over in Weymouth .                                 John Milton ( 1608- 1674)                                       'Lord Fairfax and the Siege of Colchester' sonnet XV                                                                                              Portrait of John Milton, (c.1639) National Portrait Gallery             ...

                            James Duke of Monmouth portrayed in poetry Part I  '                   On the Duke of Monmouth's Expedition Into Scotland In The Summer Solstice 1679' by Edmund Waller '        James Duke of Monmouth in Garter Robes' by Sir Peter Lely, courtesy of pinterest.co.uk                          Edmund Waller was born in 1606, educated at Eton and Kings College Cambridge, and presented at the Court of King James when he was 18.He became an MP by 1624, and leaned more towards the Parliamentarian side during the disputes of Charles I reign. However once war broke out in 1642,  Waller was in favour of a negotiated settlement  between Parliament and  the King. in 1643, he was arrested for his part in a conspiracy to seize London for Charl...