Found it!

Well great excitement at Troy Towers when the call came this afternoon.

A very nice lady at Oxfordshire museum services found the clasp of Haribok’s bag (you may remember the saga from an earlier post below). It was never ‘lost’ as such – it was taken off display in 1998 and stored in the county vaults. I can see why. It’s very difficult to see the runes especially as the artefact is actually tiny.

Much to my surprise the pictures came out a lot better than I had hoped. But that has only opened a fresh can of worms. This is where it gets a bit tiresome so move on if you must….

The guy leading the excavation reckons on a fourth reading which means Army book purse – a sort of ledger for the armed forces. I’m in no position to argue about the word bok (beech or book?) but this is a bag not a book. Or if it was an earlier subtle meaning of the word then it begs the question whether these 6th Century ‘Anglo-Saxons’ were that organised. And if they were, then would it not lend more weight to the ‘invasion’ theory (which I’ve never favoured and seems to be increasingly dismissed by the scholars)?

And now I look at it, the first rune of the second word looks very clearly the sign for W, though in later runes the same sign meant ‘Th’. So far so good. But Busa or Pusa? Nah. The person who inscribed this clasp did it very deliberately as you can see for yourself. And he/she obviously knew the rune for B becasue it is used in the first word. Why leave it incomplete if that’s what they intended?

Picture full size by clicking here

And one last thing. Both interpretations I’ve seen agree that the roof sign is a K. Well maybe, but I can’t find where that rune exists. The detailed dissertation says the style is a mix of Scandinavian, continental German and Anglo-Saxon (hedging his/her bets there)…which I find equally intriguing. I love a good msytery but this one keeps posing more questions that I would like answered.

Detailed notes on runes by clicking here

And here by going to list item 13

But I’m glad it’s found. Which is more than can be said for my wee notebook which has lots of my research notes in it. It’s a real sickening blow to have lost it …must be at a water stop out there on the trail somewhere. Doh!

Against my better judgement, John’s nippers persuaded me to have a go on their trampoline. I bent my thumb back. Then today I rammed it into a solid object in the garden and put it out. Ask me how much that hurt, go on, ask me.

Hope you are in better fettle than me.

See soon.

+++++Newsflash+++++

Haribok’s bag has been found – official. Going to see it this afternoon. More soon

Silent fields

As you know I’ve turned into a bit of a bookworm during the research for my novel. Roisin kindly gave me a tome which is proving to be fascinating reading.

Called ‘Silent fields’ it catalogues the destruction of our fauna down the centuries in the name of vermin control. Nothing escaped our ancestors – even sparrows and hedgehogs were slaughtered by the million. I had never quite understood the scale of hatred for animals in the countryside until the author revealed that starvation was a very real possibility well into the Victorian era. Anything that could be competition, even for birds’ eggs which were consumed as emergency protein, were seen as a target.

The toll of carnage gets a bit saddening after a while, but there’s some amusing archaic language in there too. This is one way to deal with moles:

“Take a head or two of garlic or onyon or leek and put it in their holes and they will run out as if amazed and so you may with a spear or a dog take them.”

And the same author had a particularly vindictive way of getting rid of mice.

“Put a few mice in a deep earthenware or copper pot on the fire. When it grows hot the mice start to jump about and chirp and all others in the house come about them.”

I wish I could do the same with our local politicians!

So vexed am I that I have started a website aimed at returning democracy and common sense to these parts. I don’t want to compromise your political views but if you could see your way clear to adding a comment and kick-starting the debate I would be most pleased. I’m really grateful for Ian wading straight in – take a look. There’s a moderation control on the system so they won’t appear straight away.

It’s here: Headington Banana Republic

Thanks all.

Calm amid the storm

Enjoyed a fantastic couple of days with John down on the Jurassic coast. That part of the world really has got everything – woods, meadows, beaches, sea cliffs…and fewer people per square foot. Lovely jubbly.

Still trying to teach myself some botanics. It seems to be a vast, confusing subject. Just when you think you’ve identified a flower, it turns out that the leaves are a different shape or it’s growing in the ‘wrong place’, or it’s a cultivar which has escaped from a garden.

However, there’s a huge satisfaction level on a par with learning to recognise birds from their songs. It’s a whole new world and I’m loving it. I’m finally beginning to be able to put pictures to some of the names I’ve heard so often before.

Among the common stuff like mallow, bird’s-foot trefoil, agrimony, kidney vetch and self-heal, we did find a few pyramidal orchids. I’ve posted up a photo so as you know next time you’re on chalk cliffs.

The trip was a pleasant interlude from the war with the council. Our councillor who switched parties without feeling the need to go back to the electorate (unsurprisingly, as her new party came last in the 2004 election) seems to think we shouldn’t have a debate either. She told me, and I quote: “…scores of LibDem and Labour supporters would descend on Quarry and Risinghurst knocking on doors for all they were worth; those 6 weeks in the run up to the election wouldn’t be any fun for the residents.”

I’ve thanked her for saving us all from the misery of democracy.

Now they’ve decided to postpone the parking tax for a year which means it’s unavoidably delayed until next May’s election is safely out of the way. Well fancy that.

Matt’s very sound advice is to seethe and move on. But on this occasion I’ve decided to seethe very loudly in a few faces before shrugging my shoulders and sleeping at night.

Party off

Match abandoned. Too many people away. Sorry.

Party on

Saturday 30 June, about 8pm at Troy Towers. I’ll send out invites but if you can see the blog then you’re welcome to pitch up. This will probably go down like Ronaldo in the box but look, sorry, this is a babysitter job – my house just isn’t geared up for a herd of childs.

Read a really interesting article which savaged Web 2.0. It reserved particular criticism for Wikipedia. I hate it too, not because it isn’t a good idea – it is – but because everyone treats it as a reliable source, and it clearly aint. David Keen makes the point that the internet is producing a consensus of idiots, that the blizzard of banal blogs (like this one), free downloads, rubbish pictures, poetry, music and writing is devaluing expertise. Everyone’s an average amateur who, by swamping the world with mediocrity, is killing off the revenue streams for the professionals. There’s no selection, no filters. He’s got a point – get used to the crap.

So I went in search of quality…And what a day I had. I watched a peregrine put on a magical air display, shooting off from the nest site in swift arrow flight, finding a thermal and climbing for a couple of minutes before stooping at a breathtaking speed. I reckon it covered 200ft in about three seconds.

Then I went for a stroll along the River Lugg at Hampton Bishop where I watched Reed Buntings darting out to drastically curtail the short life of May flies. And I was lucky enough to come across a pair of kingfishers basking on a part-sunken branch. I only had my wee snappy camera with me but I snatched a shot of one of them. I’ll post it up when I get home…not least so you can see the difference between a chance, amateur snap and a quality, professional picture. The good stuff is worth paying for.