That somewhere in England, now just a crabbed line in some cracked vellum muster roll written over 600 years ago, lived a man with my name and, perhaps, a bit of my face.
Yep, "John Lawes" is my right name. And his. Our birthdays some 540 years apart. Was this a great-great-great-great-etc.-grandfather? I'd sure like to think so.
And I note smugly, as an old soldier who knows that there are old soldiers and bold soldiers but few old, bold soldiers, that the crafty old bastard knew better than to enjoy an all-expense paid trip to France in 1399 to enjoy the 14th Century cooties, trench foot, bad food and irascible natives. I'll bet the shrewd old sod knew exactly where he wanted to be on Crispin Crispian's Day and that wasn't goddam rainy marching on some painful field with a happy fucking few.
Sod that for a game of soldiers.
Fascinating. (h/t to Robert Farley over at LG&M)
9 comments:
FD Chief,
A happy fucking few. Indeed both yourself and Minstral Boy are artisans in employing the F word. You both have my deepest admiration.
Since my name translates out to "little pear"I'm assuming my blood were farmers or gatherers rather than soldiers.Somewhere along the line they became miners. No glam there.
jim
Well, I'll be...and an archer of all things...as you should know chief, those who stayed away from the steel melee that was medieval combat also enjoyed prettier looks, and a head start should things turn sour.
I like to picture you as descended from a lineage of archers, for your aim is true.
...and have a visceral understanding that, while loving is best close and personal, slaying is all about the indirect fire, baby!
I looked up Will's moniker in this database, and there are about 40 of them. I guess he can take his pick of which one he wants to claim a relation to...
You want to feel old? Look who's on the cover of AARP magazine:
http://blog.mdwoptions.com/.a/6a00e55367a35388340115705fd91f970c-800wi
Well, that didn't fit, maybe this will:
http://www.aarpmagazine.org/entertainment/ron_howard.html
Sagittarius, by any chance?
:)
bb
Nice find!
My family name cannot be found in the data base. But then my father's Scottish forebears and my mother's Welsh ancestors were rebelling against "perfidious Albion" about that time so would not be listed. And most of that time they were allied with the French against the various English Lancastrian Henrys including infamous number V who gave the order at Agincourt to kill French POWs. Did Shakespeare mention that I wonder?
But no matter, my Welsh ancestors had their revenge in 1430 when a Welshman Owain ap Meredydd ap Tewdwr, better known as Owen Tudor, impregnated Henry's widow. As paternal grandfather of Henry VII, great grandfather of Henry VII, and great-great grand of Elizabeth I, he is credited as the founding the Tudor dynasty.
The French too had their revenge at the battle of Patay in 1429 which turned out to be Agincourt in reverse. And the English there were defeated by a 17 year old French peasant girl.
My surname I learnt today meant handsome in old Scottish. So I cannot understand why I am so homely??? Must have been some
Anglo-in-the-woodpile blood back several generations ago so that I got stuck with the ugly genes.
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