Best Of

Thoughts and non-ecumenical prayers for a particular community in Glasgow.

BBC Breakfast
@BBCBreakfast
1h
'It's not since 1534 that a British monarch will have prayed next to a Catholic Pope'
Mark Lowen spoke to #BBCBreakfast from Vatican City where King Charles will take part in a service with Pope Leo, the first time this will have happened since the Church of England split from the Catholic Church

https://bbc.co.uk/news/articles/

They keep trotting out the line about it being the first time an English King has prayed with pope since 1534 as if it’s something that used to happen all the time but I can’t find any English ruler who has prayed with a Pope anyway. I think one Scots king did.

Alfred went to Rome didn't he?

Two Kings of Scots - Macbeth and James VIII. Admittedly debated at the time.

Yes, but he wasn't king at the time.

Thanks, long time since I read the relevant Alfred Duggen novel!

Never read that, but Pollard's biography of Alfred has him going there when he's a pretty young boy (I think, it's also been a while).

The Duggan historical novels went out of print and are hard to get nowadays, which is a shame I think. Surprised they haven't been reprinted by people such as OUP and Red Fox, whence I am currently revisiting my childhood reading in the form of Sutcliffe and Treece (and filling in the ones I missed at the time).

Sword at Sunset, by Rosemary Sutcliffe, is an outstanding novel about Arthur.

Good to hear; it's on the recently-bought-and-to-read heap on the shelf above my PC!

In all seriousness, have you thought of joining a library? There's no point in buying books you don't read.

Wash your mouth out with soap!

A pairing : ‘tsundoko’ & ‘antilibrary’.

Tsundoko is Japanese for piling up books ready to read at some later date, it implies that part of the joy is the anticipation, combined with a wistfullness that life is too short.

An antilibrary is Umberto Eco’s notion that one should curate a personal collection of resources around themes you’re curious about; not shelves of read books. He kept 30 000 of them.

Excellent, tsundoko is right up there with döstädning as epitomising life for me.

Having looked up döstädning, there is a certain amount of clash.

There is a legitimate case for giving away books that have been read, and that book shelves should be reserved for unread books. I try to do this, but do make an exception for reference works.

If you have a book that nobody in the house is ever going to read (again), then it doesn't belong in your house.

Books are not ornaments.

What is it you would rather have in the space where bookshelves are? Some “Live, Love, Laugh” signs? A Jack Vetriano Poster? Some tribal African masks?

They are a rare thing that follow both of William Morris’s suggestion to “ Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”

Thoughts and non-ecumenical prayers for a particular community in Glasgow.

BBC Breakfast
@BBCBreakfast
1h
'It's not since 1534 that a British monarch will have prayed next to a Catholic Pope'
Mark Lowen spoke to #BBCBreakfast from Vatican City where King Charles will take part in a service with Pope Leo, the first time this will have happened since the Church of England split from the Catholic Church

https://bbc.co.uk/news/articles/

They keep trotting out the line about it being the first time an English King has prayed with pope since 1534 as if it’s something that used to happen all the time but I can’t find any English ruler who has prayed with a Pope anyway. I think one Scots king did.

Alfred went to Rome didn't he?

Two Kings of Scots - Macbeth and James VIII. Admittedly debated at the time.

Yes, but he wasn't king at the time.

Thanks, long time since I read the relevant Alfred Duggen novel!

Never read that, but Pollard's biography of Alfred has him going there when he's a pretty young boy (I think, it's also been a while).

The Duggan historical novels went out of print and are hard to get nowadays, which is a shame I think. Surprised they haven't been reprinted by people such as OUP and Red Fox, whence I am currently revisiting my childhood reading in the form of Sutcliffe and Treece (and filling in the ones I missed at the time).

Sword at Sunset, by Rosemary Sutcliffe, is an outstanding novel about Arthur.

Good to hear; it's on the recently-bought-and-to-read heap on the shelf above my PC!

In all seriousness, have you thought of joining a library? There's no point in buying books you don't read.

Yes, there is. "Books Do Furnish a Room".

And there is the satisfaction of building up a library for perusal in the years to come - like laying down a wine cellar. (But you can't re-drink a bottle of wine)

There is also the benefit of when you have guests to stay who might pick up one of your books and find something new and interesting that enriches their life and sparks a new interest.

There have been times where I have given books of mine to people after I have read them when the book or subject has come up in conversation and I think they will enjoy or find interesting.

Possibly one of the best gifts you can give someone - a new insight, knowledge, enjoyment. They might also find they understand you better having read something you loved to read and pass it on to them.

Thoughts and non-ecumenical prayers for a particular community in Glasgow.

BBC Breakfast
@BBCBreakfast
1h
'It's not since 1534 that a British monarch will have prayed next to a Catholic Pope'
Mark Lowen spoke to #BBCBreakfast from Vatican City where King Charles will take part in a service with Pope Leo, the first time this will have happened since the Church of England split from the Catholic Church

https://bbc.co.uk/news/articles/

They keep trotting out the line about it being the first time an English King has prayed with pope since 1534 as if it’s something that used to happen all the time but I can’t find any English ruler who has prayed with a Pope anyway. I think one Scots king did.

Alfred went to Rome didn't he?

Two Kings of Scots - Macbeth and James VIII. Admittedly debated at the time.

Yes, but he wasn't king at the time.

Thanks, long time since I read the relevant Alfred Duggen novel!

Never read that, but Pollard's biography of Alfred has him going there when he's a pretty young boy (I think, it's also been a while).

The Duggan historical novels went out of print and are hard to get nowadays, which is a shame I think. Surprised they haven't been reprinted by people such as OUP and Red Fox, whence I am currently revisiting my childhood reading in the form of Sutcliffe and Treece (and filling in the ones I missed at the time).

Sword at Sunset, by Rosemary Sutcliffe, is an outstanding novel about Arthur.

Good to hear; it's on the recently-bought-and-to-read heap on the shelf above my PC!

In all seriousness, have you thought of joining a library? There's no point in buying books you don't read.

Wash your mouth out with soap!

Oliver Cromwell was a disaster for the Republican movement in England. His military dictatorship was so unloved by the end that, after his death, it vanished virtually without a trace and Charles II was restored in a mood of full vengeful royalist reaction. Republicanism was associated with a standing army, high taxes, erosion of civil liberties and attacks on the Church of England. Even a century later "Republican" was still an insult hurled at, and denied by, extreme Whigs.

The section on this period in the R4 version of "This Sceptred Isle" is the only reason I know about any of this. My history classes taught me naff-all about it.

I wish the BBC hadn't deleted it from online access. Really - of all the vandalism they do - deleting radio shows is one of the worst things. It was a fantastic resource - and for the sake of a few quid a year - gone. Probably cost more to make the decision than it would ever save in ongoing costs.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b009t23k/episodes/guide

If anyone wants to depress themselves. Glad I 'pirated it' (as in paid my license fee and downloaded it) now.

Edit: just to say - I used to recommend it to all sorts of people from around the world to learn about British history - mostly foreign students who were curious. So ... that's just made me extra sad.

The department had attempted for more than two years to keep secret the highly critical report, written by the former Home Office special adviser Nick Timothy. It was released only after a legal challenge by The Times.

Home Office ‘detached from reality on immigration’, says report
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/home-office-shabana-mahmood-secret-report-x8qwlw262

Timothy thinks that Civil Servants not wanting to work on Bravermans immigration agenda is being "detached from reality". I dont blame them at all. I wouldn't want to do so either, and would seek work elsewhere. Its Braverman who is detached from reality.

Not as much as Lam is though. Her proposal to deport 3.5 million people with ILR by reason of "cultural cohrrence" is really quite extraordinary. Going onto an income of less than £38 000 for six months is grounds for deportation, including it seems maternity or parenting leave.

https://bsky.app/profile/sundersays.bsky.social/post/3m3qmf2ippk2e

She wants to deport about half my department of 250 people or their immediate families. It is madness.