[fol. 192v] Regina Scotie Margareta inter hec et alia sua grauamina, precipue de morte patris et dubio reditu fratris, profunde desolata, una uesperarum apud Chinclevin, aere serenato post cenam sumptam, solacii causa super ripam fluminis de Tay perrexit spaciari, comitantibus se armigeris et ancillis, sed specialiter confessore suo, qui mihi gesta intimauit. ¶ Affuit inter ceteros armiger pomposus cum suo garcione qui, attestantibus superioribus, sibi a fratre fuerat commendatus. Et cum sederent in quodam supercilio litoris, descendit ille ad manus abluendas quas luto infecerat ludendo. Isto sic stante semiinclinato, una ancillarum a regina incitata clam accessit et eum intra \oram/ aluei impulit. Qui alludens facto et gratum habens, ‘Quid’, inquit, ‘curo? Natare scio et si ulterius fuero.’ Spacians sic in alueo et aliis applaudens, ex inopinato sensit sibi uoraginem corpus absorbere, et clamans ac eiulans nullum habuit qui ad eum accideret nisi seruulum suum, qui prope ludens clamore assistentium impetuose cucurrit in profundum, et ambo absorti sunt in momento coram oculis omnium. Sic inimicus Symonis ac Sathane satelles, qui perditionis se dixit fuisse causam strenui militis, coram omnibus periit.

A miracle from the Lanercost chronicle (202)

London, British Library, Cotton MS Claudius D VII, fol. 192v

Amidst her various tribulations Queen Margaret of Scotland was feeling deeply distressed, especially over her father's death and with anxiety about her brother's return. By way of relief one evening after supper she went out from Kinclaven for a stroll on the bank of the river Tay while the weather was fine, accompanied by squires and maids, and in particular by her confessor, who told me what happened. ¶ With the rest of them was a certain boastful squire with his groom; according to his superiors the squire had been recommended to her by her brother. And while they were seated overlooking the water's edge, this squire went down to wash his hands, which he had soiled with mud while playing. While he was standing thus, half bent over, one of the maids, prompted by the queen, crept up and pushed him over the edge into the river. Treating the matter as a joke and taking it kindly, he said, ‘What do I care? Even if I were farther out, I know how to swim.’ Wading about like that in the water and congratulating the others, he was disconcerted to feel his body being swallowed up by a deep hole.

There was no complete translation of the Old Testament into Icelandic before Guðbrandur Þorláksson’s Biblia, which was printed in Hólar and published in 1584. However, a range of Old Testament material was available in the vernacular from the second half of the twelfth century on. The Old Norse- Icelandic homilies frequently cite verses from the Old Testament, especially those based on Gregory the Great’s XL Homilies on the Gospels, which contained nearly 300 quotations from the Old Testament. Although many of the citations found in homilies consist of single verses taken out of context from the Psalms or Prophets, there is also some Old Testament history, including the sacrifice of Isaac and two retellings of chapters 1–2 of Job. Fragments from two allegorical commentaries on the Psalms survive in AM 655 XXIII 4to (c. 1225–49) and AM 696 XXIV 4to (c. 1200–24), covering parts of Psalms 50, 31 and 37. Old Testament exegesis also plays an important part in the lives of biblical saints like the Blessed Virgin Mary and St John the Baptist, in whose lives the ‘types and shadows’ of Old Testament history can be seen to be fulfilled. The later and more scholarly lives, in particular, are rich in biblical quotation: Kirby has counted over 100 biblical quotations or allusions in Pétrs saga I, Jóns saga baptista II and Tveggja postula saga Jóns ok Jakobs, although the majority are from the New Testament. The later lives draw copiously on Comestor’s Historia scholastica and Vincent of Beauvais’s Speculum historiale, grounding the biblical narrative in historiographical detail and paying close attention to chronology as well as to secular history. The Norwegian Konungs skuggsjá (‘The King’s Mirror’) from c. 1240–63 provides a range of entertaining and instructive narratives from Genesis and from the four books of Kings (1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings). Finally, universal histories like Veraldar saga (c. 1155–90) integrate Old Testament history into a wider history of the world from the Creation to the sixth age. In this chapter, my focus is on Old Testament exegesis as it appears in homilies and saints’ lives. I argue that, although we might expect allegorical interpretations to dominate, this is not always the case. Alongside traditional Gregorian exegesis – often executed with great skill and imagination – we also find some short historical narratives that show aspects of ‘saga style’.

It might be thought that some of the pieces in this Part are rather humdrum but in their ordinariness lies their interest. Two items chronicle the formality and protocol of meeting between American and British ships [159, 160]. Their stiffness is relieved by reports of lavish dinners, entertainments and hospitality [159, 160, 162, 165]. Despite obvious nationalistic rivalries, relations between the men were extremely cordial [167, 170]. There were amusing tales of how Prohibition was circumvented [162, 165]. By tacit consent, wrangles over limitation at Geneva and London [1930] did not carry over into meetings between the sailors afloat [162, 163, 165] and there was a notable absence of the suspicion and distrust which is the repeated theme of other Parts.

The British marvelled at American technical expertise and productive capacity, and even more at the largesse apparently available to the US Navy [154, 167, 170, 178, 179]. It was undeniable that the Americans were more advanced in a material sense, their ships equipped with facilities and comforts the cause of admiring remarks by British officers. In part the comparative lack of modern equipment in British ships was the result of financial stringency but it was also a cultural decision – what had been good enough for Nelson appeared to be good enough for a much later Georgian navy. The US Navy, though founded in the time of Nelson, was much more up to date, reflecting the expectations of American society; and, as there were problems at times with recruitment and retention of enlisted men, it was also incumbent on the Navy Department to ensure that the gap between civilian life and that on the ocean waves was closed, not only with home comforts but also with a more relaxed code of discipline [154, 167]. The enlisted men were well educated and their life afloat was relieved not only by comforts but also by laboursaving machinery [154, 167, 170].

Nowhere was the American identification with the leading edge of technology more apparent than in naval aviation. Senior American officers were concerned to retain control of their service's air power and believed it to be superior to the British system, where the RAF managed all aviation under the Trenchard doctrine of the indivisibility of air power.

In explaining to Romeo that names – in their case, Capulet and Montague – are mere signifiers that have no meaning, Shakespeare's Juliet raises a question that had been in constant discussion since Antiquity as part of the philosophical debate on the question of universals – were names mere signifiers, or did they carry some essence of the bearer? The problem of universals was first codified in a set of questions by Plato, found in many of his dialogues including Parmenides, and the medieval debate on universals was essentially a continuation of the ancient discussion. As established in Chapter 1, some thirteenth-century theologians tentatively attempted to divide magic into two camps: one which obtained its powers from demons, and was a forbidden perversion of Christianity; and another which operated via the hidden virtues of nature, and was a branch of natural philosophy. The argument put forward by scholastics such as William of Auvergne and the anonymous author of the Speculum astronomiae was that natural magic was a part of God's creation and therefore permissible.

In order to think about where onomancy might sit in this new way of thinking about magic and divination, we must now take a deeper dive into the main operative elements of onomantic devices – names and numbers. Were numbers the basic unit of nature, as per Platonic realism? Were names more than arbitrary signifiers? However, names and numbers were not the only Platonic associations of onomantic devices in the Middle Ages. Many onomancies were more than simply texts – they had a visual element, most obviously in the case of the ‘Sphere’. The accretive attraction between the often round figures of onomancy and Platonic representations of the round universe that pervaded medieval visual culture, as well as a plethora of other round figures in manuscripts and circular forms in art and architecture, could give onomancy a veneer of acceptability in a multitude of ways but also associate it with demonic magic. The analysis of these philosophical and visual associations of onomancy will demonstrate the way in which this form of divination might occupy a liminal space between the forbidden demonic and the permissible natural in the eyes of those who copied, read and practised it.

[fol. 77v]

¶ Rumpe celos et descende capud Iesu martirum,

Signis sacris et ostende comitis martyrium.

Arma, scutum, comprehende contra uires hostium.

Heu dolorum nos multorum torquet infor[tu]nium.

Simon cesus cadit lesus Anglie presidium,

Comes fidus regni sidus, decus et flos militum.

Est iactura nimis dura regno et ecclesie.

Simon fortis casum mortis causa rei pupplice

Sumit; cadit dum inuadit prelium perfidie.

Iuris sator exstirpator fuit iniusticie,

Effugator et dampnator <fraudis> et iniurie,

Pacis dator et seruator plebis et ecclesie.

Quis anglorum nunc regnorum tuetur prudencia?

Militaris expers paris pre[ter]mitur prestancia.

Plebi cleri forma ueri cedit sapiencia.

Tu qui pro salute mundi crucis pressus pertica

Da post casum putibundi fati sit in gloria.

Simon celi letabundi per eterna secula. Amen.

Rumpe celos (217)

Cambridge, Cambridge University Library, MS Kk.4.20, fol. 77v

¶ Rend the heavens and come down, Jesus chief of martyrs, and show forth the earl's martyrdom with sacred signs. Take up weapons and a shield against hostile forces.

[4] Alas, misfortune torments us with many sufferings. Cut down, Simon falls injured, the protector of England, the faithful earl, the kingdom's guiding light, the glory and flower of knighthood.

[7] The damage to kingdom and church is exceedingly severe. Simon the strong takes on the penalty of death in the cause of the public good; he falls when he attacks the army of faithlessness.

[10] Cultivator of the law, he was an eradicator of injustice, a banisher and condemner of falsity and wrong, a giver of peace and a preserver of the common people and the church.

[13] Who now watches over the good sense of the English realms? Deprived of such a knight, leadership is abandoned. The sound wisdom of the true clergy withdraws from the common people.

[16] O thou, who for the salvation of the world was subdued by the rod of the cross, grant that Simon, after succumbing to a humiliating fate, should be in the glory of a joyful heaven for all eternity. Amen.

[185] Tuesday 20 March 1604

Die Martis, vicesimo videlicet die mensis Martii anno Domini 1603, in domo capitulari infra ecclesiam cathedralem et metropoliticam Eboracensem, inter horas nonam et undecimam ante meridiem eiusdem diei, coram venerabilibus viris Magistro Iohanne Gibson milite, legum doctore, reverendissimi in Christo patris Domini Matthaei, providentia divina Eboracensis archiepiscopi, Angliae primatis et metropolitan^ vicario in spiritualibus generali, Gulielmo Palmer artium magistro, ecclesiae cathedralis et metropoliticae Eboracensis cancellario, et Matthaeo Dodsworth in legibus baccalaureo, in praesentia mei Egidii Fenay notarii publici.

Quibus die, horis et loco, comparuit personaliter Thomas Southworth, apparitor generalis dicti reverendissimi patris, et exhibuit literas commissionales eiusdem reverendissimi patris praefati commissis directis, cum hac clausula ‘coniunctim et divisim’, ad praesidendum in hac convocatione sive synodo provinciali. Et perlecto publice breve excellentissimi in Christo principis domini nostri Iacobi, Dei gratia Angliae, Scotiae, Franciae et Hiberniae regis, fidei defensoris etc., eidem reverendissimo patri pro convocatione praedicta directo, lectisque insuper dictis literis commissionalibus commissarii praedicti, ob honorem et reverentiam committentis, onus executionis literarum dictarum in se susceperunt, ac pro iurisdictione sua, necnon de procedendo in omnibus et per omnia iuxta vim, formam et effectum earundem decreverunt. Et tune, praeconizatis publice omnibus et singulis in huiusmodi convocatione sive synodo provinciali comparere et interesse debentibus, comparuerunt vel non, prout in schedula eorum nomina continenti plenius patet. Et tune dictus venerabilis vir Iohannes Gibson legum doctor, de consensu dictorum collegarum suorum, rite et legitime procedens, omnes et singulos non comparentes contumaces et in poenam contumaciarum suarum huiusmodi decrevit, procedendum fore ad ulteriora in hac convocatione, eorum absentiis non obstantibus, poenamque contumaciarum suarum huiusmodi in diem Martis, videlicet tertium diem Aprilis proximi, istis horis et loco, reservavit, eandemque convocationem usque ad et in eundem diem continuavit et prorogavit, et monuit omnes et singulos nunc comparentes et interessentes ad tune rursus comparendum, ad ulterius faciendum et recipiendum quod natura et qualitas dicti convocationis de se exigit et requirit, prout latius patet ex tenore schedulae inde lectae.

Within a week of arrival at Plymouth, Duckworth was ordered to complete his stores for Channel service [34], but then was detained in Plymouth and Spithead and Portsmouth through the winter of 1793–94, occupied with administration – including the old issue of paint [38, 39] – transferred to Admiral Alan Gardner's command again in January [41], and then to Lord Howe's in March [46]. His documents in that time are again evidence of the many minor administrative and personnel issues he, and every other captain, had to cope with while in harbour – a supply of Bibles [36], paint, pay – a collective plea by the captains [42] – and personnel [35, 40, 43–45].

During his service under Admiral Lord Howe, Duckworth evidently acquired copies of several documents which it is perhaps unlikely a captain would normally obtain – an Admiralty background letter addressed to Admiral Sir Peter Parker [47], and even a copy of the instructions from the Admiralty to Lord Howe [50]. He was employed, along with other captains, in checking on the condition and numbers of the French fleet at Brest [52], and eventually Orion formed a unit of Howe's fleet which intercepted that French fleet and its convoy in the western Atlantic.

It is odd, however, that no written material survives from the six weeks before the battle, when presumably Orion was at sea with the fleet. In later stints of blockading Brest, frequent, even daily, reports were made and demanded; presumably Howe did not require them, or perhaps did not think of asking for them. This alteration is a mark of the change in and systematisation of the blockading system between the start of the war and its later phases.

Duckworth composed a report on his activities during the battle which resulted (‘First of June’ for want of a geographical designation), which appeared several years later in the Naval Chronicle. There are in fact three of these reports. That included here is the most detailed, and clearly was based on the log maintained during the fighting. It may or may not be by Duckworth himself, though one would suppose he had authorised it, and supervised it, at least.

Like its immediate predecessor, this seventh Naval Miscellany clearly reveals how wide ranging and varied were the responsibilities of British seamen in the service of the Crown. The period covered extends from the late thirteenth century, when there was nothing in existence which could truly be called a navy, to the second half of the twentieth century when the Royal Navy faced all manner of new challenges, including the possibility of nuclear war.

Contributions dealing with the earliest periods are concerned only with what are now thought of as home waters [I and II both dealing with campaigns against Scotland]. We move on to voyages to Iceland [III], in the Baltic [IV], and thereafter to the high seas in general. Even more than the ever wider geographical spread of Naval activity, the topics covered show how deeply maritime affairs became woven into British life in time of peace as well as war. The ships of the Cinque Ports and the other harbours along the south and east coasts of England which transported Edward I's armies and their victuals and equipment to Scotland [I] were everyday merchantmen, many no larger than a modern yacht. Without their help the King's ambitious campaigns would have foundered. The documents printed also shed light on the shipping of the period, its design and construction and the number of vessels which could be pressed into royal service. Changes by the sixteenth century are made clear by comparing this contribution with that relating to Lord Lisle's expedition of 1544 [II]. The log of the voyage of the Marigold [III] just over a century later says much about contemporary seamanship and the way in which governments by then saw the fisheries as one of their legitimate concerns.

The voyages of the Raven and the Investigator [VI, VII] not only indicate the professionalism of the surveying and chart-making activities of the Hydrographic Office but also the value of those activities for the economic development of the areas concerned. The difficulties of organising such expeditions in areas little known at the time are vividly portrayed. However, the largest group of contributions is concerned with various aspects of the Royal Navy as a fighting force in the defence of the realm.

[fol. 59r]

Chaunter mestoit / mon cuer le voit / en un dure langage.

Tut enploraunt / fust fet le chaunt / de nostre duz baronage

Qe pur la pees / si loynz apres / se lesserent detrere,

Lur cors trencher / e demenbrer / pur salver Engletere.

Ore est ocys / la flur de pris / qe taunt savoit de guere,

Ly quens Mountfort. / Sa dure mort / molt enplorra la terre.

Sicom je qui / par un mardi / firent la bataile.

Tot a cheval / fust le mal / sauntz nulle pedaile

Tresmalement / y ferirent / de le espie forbie

Qe la part / Sire Edward / conquist la mestrie.

Ore est ocis, etc.

Mes par sa mort / le cuens Mountfort / conquist la victorie.

Come ly martyr / de Caunterbyr / finist sa vie.

Ne voleit pas / li bon Thomas / qe perist seinte eglise.

Ly cuens auxi / se combati / e morust sauntz feyntise.

Ore est ocys, etc.

Sire Hue le fer / ly Despencer, / tresnoble justice,

Ore est atort / lyvre a mort / a trop male guise,

Sire Henri / pur veir le dy, / fitz le cuens de Leycestre,

Autres assez, / come vus orrez, / par le cuens de Gloucestre.

Ore est ocis, etc.

Qe voleint moryr / e mentenir / la pees e la dreyture

Le seint martir / lur fra joyr, / sa conscience pure,

Chaunter mestoit (204)

London, British Library, Harley MS 2253, fols 59r–59v

With harsh words must I sing; my heart is aware of that. All made tearfully was the song about our gentle barons, who let themselves be destroyed for the sake of a peace so far off and allowed their bodies to be slashed and dismembered to protect England.

Now is slain that precious flower, Montfort the earl, who knew so much about war. England will lament his cruel death.

[7] It was on a Tuesday, so I believe, that they fought the battle. The calamity was that they were all on horseback. Without any infantry, they fought there so forlornly with their burnished swords that Sir Edward's side won the day.

Now is slain, etc.

[12] But by his death Montfort the earl won the victory. He ended his life like the martyr of Canterbury.