By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Queen Elizabeth I’s speech to the troops at Tilbury is among the most famous and iconic speeches in English history. On 9 August 1588, Elizabeth addressed the land forces which had been mobilised at the port of Tilbury in Essex, in preparation for the expected invasion of England by the Spanish Armada.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Here’s a question for you: originally, how many ‘plagues of Egypt’ were there? If you answered ‘ten’, you need to read on. The so-called ‘ten plagues of Egypt’, described in the Book of Exodus, have been the subject of considerable commentary and analysis, but in this post we’re going to try to offer an introduction to, and analysis of, their meaning and significance.
In this week’s Dispatches from The Secret Library, Dr Oliver Tearle reviews James Raven’s erudite and informative history of that ubiquitous invention, the book
In the Exeter Book, one of the jewels in the crown of Anglo-Saxon literature, a riddle appears which begins:
Some enemy deprived me of my life
And took away my worldly strength, then wet me,
Dipped me in water, took me out again,
Set me in sunshine …
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
‘Yankee Doodle’ is a classic American song, a patriotic tune that is also the state anthem of Connecticut. But where did the words to ‘Yankee Doodle’ come from? And what is the history of this popular tune? Before we delve into an analysis of these issues, here’s a reminder of the best-known verse of ‘Yankee Doodle’:
‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ is one of the most famous Christmas songs. It is also, perhaps, the one that has attracted the most theories and origin-stories relating to its meaning and history. What each of the gifts given on the twelve days of Christmas might represent, for instance, has kept people busy for several centuries.