Since I got my current job at a location very close to the foreshore, I imagined I would be able to lark on the daily. However, since my break is only either 30/40 mins, by the time I get there, usually there is just not enough time. But yesterday, I had the urge to lark so bad, that I just had to make it possible. And I did! However only for 10 minutes.
Mudlarking finds: Possibly Medieval, Tudor and Stuart pottery
None of it is particularly amazing, but I did get one nice piece of Surrey/ Hampshire borderware that I like. I love the yellow glaze with a subtle hint of green.
Mudlarking find: Surrey/Hampshire borderware
Mudlarking find diagram: a rough guide to the circumference of the complete vessel
I think I will use the technique of trying to recreate the vessel shape from now on. Its so interesting to think of the size and shape of the complete items. Sometimes I try to picture how much space all of the finds would take up if they were all whole. I'm pretty sure that they would not all fit inside the flat! Some of the shards are huge!
My guess for this shard is that it would have been a chamber-pot based on the rim shape and circumference. Below is an example of how it may have once looked:
Surrrey Hampshire border ware chamber-pot, 1551-1700- Museum of London
Mudlarking find: clay pipe bowl commemorating the battle of Culloden
I was
thrilled to find this little fellow. It's really exciting finding something that shows a figure. It really makes me wonder about their story, buried in the river for centuries. With this piece,
I have (with the help of a D. Higgins, thank you!) been able to identify the
find, and somewhat unravel its secrets. The figure is William Augustus, Duke of
Cumberland celebrating his victory at the Battle of Culloden.
Here is
D. Higgins description of how the full pipe would have looked:
“The bowl depicts a standing English figure
(Cumberland) with upheld sword and scroll on the left hand side and ‘I.VICTORY.GAIND’
above and a Scotsman in traditional dress with round shield and downturned
sword on the right hand side, with ‘I.BUT.DISTURB’ above. There is a Royal
Standard on the seam facing the smoker and vine scroll type leaves away from
the smoker’.
I feel
very grateful to have been given this information, and can only imagine how
impressive the complete pipe would have once looked.
Left: William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, commander of UK Government army. Right: Charles Edward Stuart, leader of Jacobite army.
The pipe I found was made to mark the
victory at Culloden, which was the final confrontation of the 1745 Jacobite
rising- the last major battle fought on British soil. The battle took place on
16 April 1746, when the Jacobite forces of Charles Edward Stuart fought
loyalist troops known as ‘redcoats’ commanded by William Augustus, Duke of
Cumberland near Inverness. The Jacobites were decisively defeated and Charles
Stuart never again mounted any further attempts to challenge Hanoverian power
in Great Britain.
Charles Stuart’s, (affectionately known as ‘Bonnie Prince
Charlie’s’) Jacobite army mainly consisted of Catholics, whilst the British
Governments Hanoverian loyalist forces were mostly Protestants. The battle was
quick and bloody, finishing in less than one hour. Around 1200-1500 Jacobites
were killed or wounded, compared to only around 300 UK Government soldiers.
Left: Example of UK Government army soldiers uniform. Right: Example of the Highland units Jacobite soldier uniform.
The prince himself had invaded Britain to put his own father back on the
throne of Great Britain and the army had worked their way south to London. However,
by the time they had reached Derby it became very apparent that they
weren’t going to get the support they expected. And so, they began their
march north again, hoping to fight the British governments’ armies back on
their own soil in Scotland. By the time they had arrived back in Culloden in the morning of the 15th April, they stood there waiting for
the opposition to approach Inverness. Unbeknown to the Jacobites, that morning
was the Duke of Cumberland’s 25th birthday, and he had no intention
of fighting a battle. He remained in his camp at Nairn and issued brandy and
cheese to his men to celebrate. So it wasn’t until the morning of the 16th
April after the Jacobites had made an aborted night march against the
government camp that the battle itself began, and Charles's dreams of victory evaporated.
Ignoring the advice of his best commander,Lord
George Murray, Charles chose to fight on flat,
open, marshy ground where his forces would be exposed to superior government
firepower. Charles commanded his army from a position behind his lines, where
he could not see what was happening. Hoping Cumberland's army would attack
first, he had his men stand exposed to Hanoverian artillery. Seeing the error
in this, he quickly ordered an attack, but the messenger was killed before the
order could be delivered. The Jacobite attack, charging into the teeth of
musket fire andgrapeshot fired from the cannons, was uncoordinated and met with
little success.
The
Jacobites broke through the bayonets of the redcoats in one place, but they
were shot down by a second line of soldiers, and the survivors fled. Murray
managed to lead a group of Jacobites to Ruthven, intending to continue the
fight. However Charles, believing himself betrayed, had decided to abandon the
Jacobite cause.
At a time when the etiquette of
warfare was considered very important, Cumberland was able to dispense with it
by labelling the Highlanders inhuman savages. The brutish way in which
Cumberland went about dismantling Highland culture by disarming the clans,
banning the wearing of Highland dress, suppressing certain surnames and the use
of the Gaelic language amounted to an early example of ethnic cleansing. Cumberland
set about destroying the social nexus of the clan that was at the heart of
Highland society. After the battle, as a result of his ruthless treatment of
the rebels William Augustus was known as the ‘Butcher’.
After Culloden, Cumberland
emerged a powerful and opinion dividing character. He was despised by the
Highlanders and remains perhaps the most villainised historical figure of his
age, yet idolised in England and the Lowlands.
Due to his unpopularity in the Highlands, Cumberland was frequently satirized.
As for Charles's, his subsequent
flight has become the stuff of legend and is commemorated in the popular folk
song The Skye Boat Song and also the
old Irish songMo Ghile Mear.
Hiding in the moors of Scotland, he
traveled about, always barely ahead of the government forces. Though many
Highlanders saw Charles, and indeed aided him, none of them betrayed him for
the £30,000 rewardoffered.
Assisted by supporters such as the pilot Donald Macleod of Galtrigill, Captain
Felix O'Neill of theO'Neills of
the Fews dynasty andFlora
MacDonald, who helped him escape pursuers on theIsle of Skyeby taking him in a small boat
disguised as her Irish maid, "Betty Burke,” he evaded capture and left the
country aboard the French frigateL'Heureux,
arriving back in France in September.
Left: Flora Macdonald. Right: Charles Edward Stuart dressed as Betty Burke.
ThePrince's
Cairnmarks the traditional spot
on the shores ofLoch nan UamhinLochaberfrom which he made his final departure
from Scotland. With the Jacobite cause now lost, Stuart would spend the
remainder of his life — with one brief secret visit to London — in exile.
The 'Princes Cairn' today
Images: National portrait gallery, wikipedia, 1745association, clanmacfarlanegeneology.
When I first found this shard, I thought it was part of an old toothpaste lid because of the similar style and appearance, but actually it's from a pot of anchovy paste.
Mudlarking find: Anchovy paste lid shard
Mudlarking find: Shard overlapping the complete lid design
I inserted the picture of the shard onto the complete lid and it fits perfectly. I love the how it says 'so highly approved of for toast sandwiches'.
John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich by Thomas Gainsborough , c1783
The sandwich which has become a British icon and a
lunchtime staple, is considered to be the namesake of John Montagu, 4th
Earl of Sandwich because of the claim that he was the inventor of the food
combination. John Montagu was a keen gambler and the story goes that in 1726
during a 24 hour gambling binge he instructed the cook to prepare his food in
such a way that it would not interfere with his game. The cook presented him
with sliced meat between two pieces of toast- perfect! This meal required no
utensils and could be eaten with one hand, leaving the other free to continue
the game. Others began to order ‘the same as Sandwich’ and thus the ‘Sandwich’
was born.
The Sandwich began its life as a popular food that men
shared whilst gaming and drinking at night, and slowly began filtering into
polite society as a late night meal. The popularity of the sandwich gained
momentum during the 19th century, when the rise of industrial
society and the working classed made fast, portable, and inexpensive meals
essential.
I found a couple of recipes for Anchovy Sandwiches:
[1869:Paris]
"Anchovy canapes.
Cut some slices of crumb of bread, 1/4 inch thick; cut these in pieces 2 1/2
inches long, 1 1/2 inch wide; and fry them in clarified butter, till a nice
golden colour; When cold, spread the pieces with Anchovy Butter; Steep some
anchovies in cold water; drain, open, and trim them; Place 4 fillets of
anchovies, lengthwise, on each piece of bread, leaving three small spaces
between the fillets; fill the first space with chopped hard-boiled white of
egg; fill the middle space with chopped parsley, and the third with chopped hard-boiled
yolk of egg; Dress the canapes in a flat china boat, or small dish, generally
used for all these cold Hors d'oeuvre."
---The Royal Cookery Book, Jules Gouffe, translated and adapted for English use
by Alphonse Gouffe [Sampson Low, Son & Marston:London] 1869 (p. 409)
[1874:London]
"234. --Anchovy toast.
Ingredients: Toast 2 or 3 slices of bread, or, if wanted very savoury, fry them
in clarified butter, and spread on them the paste, No. 233. Made mustard, or a
few grains of cayenne, may be added to the paste before laying on the toast."
---Mrs. Beeton's Cook Book, Isabella Beeton
The first instalment of of Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management was
published in 1861. It sold over 60,000 copies in its first year of publication
and nearly two million by 1868. I actually own a Victorian copy myself.
Call me romantic, but I really love the idea that this lid may have once graced a Victorian picnic.
I would like to wish you a happy new year, and may 2016 be the year we all find gold, (or cool bits of pottery... either works.) I have already managed to sneak in the first lark of the year, and I have to say one item is particularly exciting! Stay tuned for plenty more articles, and snippets of history.
This next find is one which has taken me a really long time to identify. At first I thought it was a bent safety pin, for a while I thought it was a whistling acacia seed from Africa, then I thought it was an animal claw, and finally I saw it had been identified on the London Mudlark facebook page. And I am so happy it was. Because it turns out it's much cooler! It's a Thornback Ray spine.
Mudlarking find: Thornback Ray spine
Thornback Rays are widespread in coastal waters from Iceland to Norway. Its geographic ranges extends into the North Sea, The Meditteranean Sea, the Black Sea, Madeira Island, the Atlantic coasts of Africa, as well as the waters off the coast of South Africa and the South-Western Indian Ocean.
They inhabit a range of sea floor habitats, including mud, sand, gravel, and rocky areas.
Map of Thornback Ray territory
As the name denotes, the upper portion of the body and tail are covered with thorn-like projections. When Thornback Rays reach sexual maturity the bases of the thorns thicken to resemble small button like projections called buckler. The snout and small portions of the body are covered in thorns in sub adults and the underside may be thorny in large females. Adults typically have between 21 and 25 large thorns running from the nape to its first pectoral fin.
Thornback Ray photo with detail of spines similar to my find
The largest specimen ever recorded weighed 18 kg. Females can grow up to 130 cm long and live to 12 years of age.
I found this pretty early on in my mudlarking career and had a mini heart attack as I was digging it up. It was together in the ground, but was fractured in many places. I dug it up the best I could trying not to cause any further damage and put it in my bag. That evening I enjoyed trying to fit the pieces back together, and was delighted to see that I could reassemble all the shards.
Mudlarking Find: Blackware tyg shards
This is the result of my efforts: Some of the glaze was chipped off in places, so this is the best I could do with my amateur gluing skills. I know its not perfect but I still love it. I remember the feeling of trying to lift it carefully out of the mud, rejoicing in the fact the shape of the vessel could somewhat be recognised. This wasnt just a fragment, but a LARGE fragment.
Mudlarking find: Blackware tyg after assemblage
With a bit of digging around, (see what I did there?) I have been able to identify the find as Midlands Blackware which makes me very happy as I am originally a Midlander myself. I like to think that we found each other.
Midlands Blackware developed from the earlier Medieval Cistercian ware, named so due to the pottery first being recorded in runied monastories inhabited by Cistercian monks in the 16th Century. After the dissolution, the ware evolved into Post medieval Blackware. Blackware is lead glazed English earthernware, which has a red body, and a black metallic looking glaze. The pottery forms usually consist of drinking vessels, including tall mugs, trumpet shaped drinking tygs, with two four, and sometimes up to eight handles, and tankards. One of the distinguishing features is the horizontal ribbing, and sometimes the vessels also have white decoration.
It was a finer ware, and would have been owned by wealthier people, such as well-off farmers,
Midlands Blackware tyg, 1500-1600, Fitzwilliam Museum Collection
Midlands Blackware Flagon, 1640-1660, Fitzwilliam Museum Collection
I was excited to show my friend Flora the wonders of the lark life, so I got the train down and we headed off to the foreshore. She was well prepared with old shoes and gloves, and I had an endless supply of carrier bags- basically we were in it for the long haul. Despite our enthusiasm, overall, I was pretty disappointed with my finds. I was looking forward to finding bits and bobs that I thought were guaranteed to be there so I could talk her through explaining what things are, what to look for, but there was scarcely anything to be had.
Added to that, there were a couple of guys there with metal detectors and huge spades, digging in the no dig zone, and not even having the decency to fill in the holes afterwards. I dunno, maybe they just put me in a bad mood. But anyways,
Above: mudlarking haul
Here are the finds. On the bright side, at least my bag wasn't heavy for the journey home. Finds include raked slipware, green and blue transferware, green Tudor glazed shard, Chinese import porcelain, floor tile, stoneware bottle top with cork, broken decorated pipe bowls, a fossil of some type of algae, decorated bellarmine, hand painted delft fragments, and my saving grace- some Tudor dress pins.
I really really really love this find. I'm not sure why, perhaps it was because when I first found it, I knew exactly what it was. It is from a game called snobs, also known as gobs, knucklestones, dibs, dabs, fivestones and others, depending on where you were.
Above: Mudlarking find- gob/snob stone games piece.
Along with the name, the rules also varied from place to place. Here is one version of the rules which I came across on forgottentoyshop.co.uk:
"To start a turn, the player throws five snobs into the air with one hand and tries to catch as many as possible on the back of the same hand. The snobs that were caught are then thrown up again from the back of the hand where they came to rest and as many as possible are caught in the palm of the same hand. If no snobs end up being caught, the player's turn is over.
If, however, at least one snob was caught, the player prepares for the next throw by keeping one of the caught snobs in the same hand and throwing all remaining snobs on the ground. The player then tosses the single snob into the air, attempts to pick up one of the snobs that was missed and then catches the snob that was tossed, all with the same hand. The player repeats this until all the snobs have been picked up.
That done, the player throws down four of the snobs again, throws the single snob in the air, attempts to pick up two snobs with the same hand before catching the tossed snob. This is repeated again and a final toss sees the player picking up the last snob. The process is then repeated for three snobs followed by one snob and finally, all four snobs are picked up before catching the single tossed snob.
For skilful players, the game can continue in an agreed way with further permutations and challenges according to the player's whims. For instance, the other hand could be used to throw, the player may have to clap hands before doing the pick up or perhaps slap both knees."
Above: children playing, forgottentoyshop.co.uk
The game sounds pretty difficult to me! What do you think?
One of my more recent ceramic finds is this lid from a Pan Yan Pickle jar. Although I had never heard of this brand before, after researching it, it seems like it used to be a household favourite.
Mudlarking find: Pan Yan Pickle lid
Pan Yan Pickle was part of an era of food inspired by exotic spices and fruits, which were being shipped through the West India Docks in the East End. Even the name of the pickle was chosen to reflect its oriental tastes. Pan Yan Pickle was registered in 1903 and production continued until 2002.
Here is how the whole jar might have looked:
Complete Pan Yan jar with lid
Pan Yan Pickle has an interesting story, as in 2004 the only known recipe for the pickle was destroyed in a fire. The fire at the factory took over 150 fire fighters over 12 hours to extinguish, and with it, the recipe was lost. Premium Foods launched a public appeal for anyone with a Pan Yan pickle jar to come forward, so the ingredients list could be recovered.
In 2008, after clearing out her late husbands workshop, Sheila Cracknell discovered a Pan Yan jar which he was using to keep nails in- and the label was still intact. The recipe for the pickle is rutabaga, sugar, carrots, vinegar, thickener (modified starch), gherkins, acertic acid, peppers, onions, spices, colour (caramel), flavourings.
So there you go.
Pan Yan Pickle advert, 1915
Pan Yan Pickle advert, 1934
Pan Yan Pickle advert, 1954
If you fancy trying some Pan Yan deliciousness, there is a recipe that you can make yourself here:
You can imagine how my eyes were drawn to these pieces of iridescent
glass on the foreshore. They have a magnetic pull on the eye. However, it
is likely that this glass did not begin life with this wonderful oil slick
effect. Iridescence is caused by interference effects of light reflected from
several layers of weathering products. What you end up with is a rainbow-like
effect that changes according to the angle from which the glass is viewed, or
the angle of incidence of the light source.
Hi everyone, and welcome to my blog. I am a beginner
mudlarker, and through these posts I’d like to share my journey as I learn about
the history of London though my finds. I welcome constructive criticism but be
nice! I hope also that this blog shall also help others with the identification
of common finds on the Thames.
If you’ve never
been mudlarking along the Thames before, you may be surprised about the amount of
bone and animal matter on the foreshore. It has accumulated over many
centuries, and the Thames has acted as a refuge site for rubbish and the detritus
of everyday life- animal waste being one of the by-products of human activity. There
are many large bones around, I have even seen whole jaw bones with teeth
attached. These photos are of horse teeth I have collected, they were very
mysterious when I found them as they seemed so large.
