Quintet

“I have in my collection a very interesting unpublished manuscript of Princess Lieven’s, which informed my writing, but which I’m neither going to quote directly from, nor reproduce in an appendix, bc I will NEVER, ever die and you lot can just ask me at any time.” 🙄

Another day, another side of the lough...

Amused at “Crozier museum now!” reaction in a certain community to the news of sale of what had been the Crozier family home and is now a bunch of offices in Banbridge town centre. 1/10 🧵 armaghi.com/news/banbrid...

“Write what you know” is advice I still think sensible, but how to reconcile it with published works by authors who not only do NOT know but more alarmingly, do not show any inclination to find out?

Looking across the Narrows towards Strangford and the Mournes in the background. Sound up for the bells, birds and wind.

A brilliant thread on how - and more importantly, why - the literary blended with and influenced the historic almost to the point of no return. Really look forward to the article!

Mount Stewart is colouring up nicely (even though that bright yellow was brown in less than two days)...

Read this while on the road, and though there may not be enough 'pure' history for some, it's thoughtful, [darkly] funny and absorbing. It didn't bring peace to my uneasy relationship with museums/heritage sites (nothing could do that), but I enjoyed the book! #HistBookChat

A very happy birthday to Francis Crozier, who still has more of them than the King (thanks to dates varying depending on the source), but today is the real one, according to his father - I wrote about the mystery in www.thethousandthpart.com/notes/the-ma... #NavalHistory #PolarExploration

Very pleased to have spotted Captain Crozier among the famous locals in the Down County Museum, between Francis Hutcheson and Thomas Andrews Jr. (the latter of the Titanic fame).

Timeline cleanse, with lots of foam and none of that North Sea rubbish.

Such a shame the Guardian chose to concentrate on "solved the mystery" and "'incredible' likeness" (firmly in the eye of the beholder tbh) rather than details/process of the search/find, given that this lady comes from a [presumably] unmarked grave in a 'wrong' cemetery. #NavalHistory

Beach ‘forest’ #CoastalPhotography

Quick run (well, a brisk walk) before sunset; pleased to report none of that cloudless summer nonsense remains.

Enjoy reading in September! Here is an updated list of new #nonfiction #books about the #18thcentury scheduled for this month: regency-explorer.net/new-releases/ #Regency #Napoleon #history #JaneAusten #read #18thc

Finally starting to read this in its entirety, having previously enjoyed extracts here and there. Someone really ought to repeat his route next year to mark its 230th anniversary! #HistBookChat #IrishHistory

It bothers me slightly that we still don't know Croker's reaction to having mountains, then not having mountains.

Cupid’s Arrow/Crow Conversation

Yet to read this, but such a great cover, too - enjoyed reading the interview with its designer yalebooks.co.uk/an-interview... #NapoleonicHistory

Foggy river this morning instead of the sea - could it possibly mean the start of the season known elsewhere as "autumn" and practically invisible here?

Picked up "Second Identity" for commute reading; yet to break through its multiple waves of history to the main topic, but enjoying some of Cobb's observations a little too much. I could almost forgive him his dislike of hills and Scotland (not in a million years, Sir😀) #HistoryBookChat

Layers and stairs (another sunny day ignored ☑️)

Learning from @hartleyspecialc.bsky.social that the Duke of Wellington was once sent a dog, ship's biscuit and preserved meat from an Arctic voyage, I suspected John Ross - wrongly, bc it seems the goods came from Parry's 2nd expedition. The sender is Capt. Hill en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hi... 1/3

#C18 #NavalHistory #HistoryBookChat

‪Enjoy reading about the #18thc in August! Here is the updated list of new #nonfiction #books about the 18th century scheduled for this month: regency-explorer.net/new-releases/ #Regency #Napoleon #history #JaneAusten #read #18thc

Spot the odd one out on the horizon! (She is B.A.P. Unión, the Peruvian training ship, fifth from the left - and is, I hope, rightfully scornful of the lowly supply boats around her).

So tempted to follow this advice at work, but the tragedy is that no one would even notice...

Been left with the spare human and am indignant. Send treats pls.

I was both taken aback by, and loved one particular archive’s general permission to share photographs of their material “with one other person.” I think more archives sd do it in just such a fashion, mixing memory and… whatever it is one has with that one person.

Continuing my pictorial protest against bright sun, blue sky and shouty neighbours all at once; I'm sure there's an idea for a project here somewhere.

Was startled by a strange, rasping, cackling noise but it was only my print TBR pile laughing at my e-TBR pile.

If you're a member of the Maritime Museum, please come to my talk tomorrow night, at 6.30pm, on the life of Eleanor Anne Porden! She's done much more than *just* being married to John Franklin - she was an acclaimed poet and fascinating person. Hope to see you there! www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/nat...

A delightfully irregular house in Norwich. If I owned this, it would be called Apertures (don't judge:)).

Whales have gained a somewhat unexpected champion in Princess Lieven. Sir W. Congreve and his rockets, on the other hand…

For anyone who may need to see/hear the sea today (sound up):

The British Newspaper Archive are currently offering 25% off all subs (code at top of their page): www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk

One of the reasons I hate summer on the east coast of Scotland is that scenes like this last for about 5 seconds and the rest of nearly every day is a hell of non-colour, stuffy air and no atmosphere whatsoever.

Enjoy reading in June! Here is a list of new #nonfiction #books about the #18thcentury scheduled for this month: regency-explorer.net/new-releases/ - UPDATED - #Regency #Napoleon #history #JaneAusten #read

On a recent #researchtrip, was tickled by the "I will not supply this copy to more than one other person" line on photography form. Haven't come across this extra special concession before; imagine the potential for a Valentine Day marketing campaign!

Light and shadow early this morning.

If the point of a biography is to make its subject live, this recent one unfortunately leaves Parry as reliably dead as its two rather ‘meh’ predecessors did, with a difference that it reads like a near-endless scroll of badly joined up Wikipedia entries of variable quality. 1/2 #histbookchat

Sadly, they don't write footnotes like this any more. Luckily, they don't practise Mr. Edgeworth's methods of child rearing any more.

Very upset that the Tunnock Prize is a cash prize rather than a massive tea cake…

Really looking forward to doing a tiny bit of this tomorrow; it's not like I don't have enough of my 'own' letters waiting to be transcribed, but still so nosy to see a few examples from other letter writers from the same time and observe similarities/differences...

Is there a collective, suitably dismissive term for “this period of history is far too modern for me,” sort of “this is all ancient history” but in reverse? Asking for a friend who is keen to use it more often.

Having only known Mary Delany from her journals, felt v. lucky to catch some 'paper-mosaicks' at a selection of her works at the MAC Belfast. The detail and colour are stunning; the fact she created nearly a 1,000 in her 70s and early 80s is something else. #c18 www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/bri...

This is on today, in a few hours, in case anyone’s interested:

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all who celebrate - here is a makeshift cross I found by the side of the road especially for the occasion…

A blustery day in Donaghadee, which used to be the main crossing point from Ulster to Scotland for centuries. The locals commenting on the delay in correspondence caused by the packet boat not being able to make it due to “the Scotch winds” weren’t exaggerating…