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Halloween II (1981)
WRITERS: John Carpenter and Debra Hill
DIRECTOR: Rick Rosenthal
STARRING: Donald Pleasence as Sam Loomis
Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode
Charles Cyphers as Leigh Brackett
Lance Guest as Jimmy
Pamela Susan Shoop as Karen
Leo Rossi as Budd
QUICK CUT: Michael Meyers is back, and he seems to have some major injuries after taking six bullets to the chest, because he's heading to Haddonfield's local hospital!
Laurie - Laurie is still just an average high school student, since this takes place literally seconds after the first movie. And if you thought she was shy and quiet before, wait 'til you see her laying in a hospital bed for two thirds of the movie!
Dr. Loomis - The obsessively dedicated doctor is back to try and stop Michael, and he is just as determined, if not more so, now that there is a body count. The man is almost crazed in his doggedness to bring in Michael.
Jimmy - A love interest for Laurie, which is a neat trick since she's passed out for most of the movie. He's an EMT, and seems like a nice enough guy who maybe needs to watch where he walks a little better.
Budd - Jimmy's partner in crime, and in the ambulance. He's a bit of a perv, with that certain sensibility and sense of humour, but he doesn't seem like a *bad* guy, just one with a singular thought on his mind.
Michael Meyers - After he got shot blocked by Loomis at the end of the movie, Mike is still looking for a little Halloween night release. He's just as determined as the good doctor to get what he wants.
THE GUTS: Happy Halloween Triskelions! Or close enough. Yeah, I will not be pulling a tricky treat this year with Halloween II. I pulled that surprise review last year, and I can't do the same trick twice. So October kicks off with the sequel to the grandfather of all slasher films, Halloween II! Also, after that botched movie of classic monsters, I need a REAL classic monster, and Michael Meyers fits that bill perfectly.
But that's not all I have planned for October. This is Trisk's 6th, 6th! 6TH!! anniversary, so I will be doing three reviews in the middle of this month to celebrate, PLUS a review on the 26th that harkens back to the earliest days of Trisk, in a way. That is right, October brings you a bag full of treats with not 3, not 4, but FIVE reviews this month! Wait, what? Am I serious?? Who planned this?!
Well, I best get started, with more of the night Michael Meyers came home...
The movie literally picks up where the last one left off. Even more than that, it picks up several minutes *before* that, and reuses several full minutes of footage from the ending of the first movie. But since it's those last few tense minutes from when Laurie sends the kids outside and the not-dead Michael sits up behind her, right up until he's shot and falls off the balcony, it's a good few minutes to reuse, with good tension, while also setting up what has gone before, and the tone.
After the credits peel through a pumpkin (With some amazing effects work for the insides), we're back inside Michael's head as he escapes, and finds himself at an older couple's home where it doesn't take him long at all to find something he can make stabby with.
With new weapon in hand, he immediately finds a teen to satiate himself, since he got killus interuptused by Loomis.
Ultimately, this death is pretty pointless, has nothing to do with anything, and just serves as a reminder to the audience that yes, this is a horror movie, and there's a guy killing people. I do like my justification that Meyers does it because he was robbed of killing Laurie and just...just needs to *kill* something. Anything.
Meanwhile, Laurie's being taken by a pair o' medics to the hospital, and is in shock. Oh, and the two guys in the ambulance are actually important to the rest of the movie. Keep an eye on them.
Back on the streets, Loomis and the sheriff are still hunting for the missing Meyers. They see a guy in a matching white mask, and chase him into the road, where he gets hit by a car, which runs into a van, and inexplicably explodes because movie cars.
No, no, not really. It eventually gets revealed through dental records that it's obviously not Michael Meyers. But what a coincidence that some other guy had the same mask. If they hadn't established in the first movie that he stole the mask from a store, it would actually seem far fetched. But in the world of the Halloween movies, this was a mask being sold in at least one store, so there must be more than one, right?
The movie continues to actually deal with the plot of the first movie, as someone remembers that there was actually a body count, mentions the victims in that movie, and remembers that the sheriff's daughter was one of them.
Cops seem pretty willing to believe the crispy critter is Meyers and case closed, but Loomis knows better, and needs to be sure. As much for his own obsession as for properly closing the case.
We spend some time with the night shift at the hospital, since they're going to be our canon fodder for the movie, and since they need to be filled in with the plot of the first movie with news reports, it also works to catch up the audience. A clever, simple device that works well, and since it's also background noise, it's not in your face.
Jimmy the EMT gets a little too interested in Laurie, and is a clear romantic entanglement they're trying to shove into the plot. Oh, and he mentions to Laurie that she was being chased by Michael Meyers, and of course she knows the name. But I find it noteworthy that not until 35 minutes into the *second* movie, does she even find out WHO was trying to kill her for an entire film.
Little things are starting to go wrong around the hospital, thanks to the lurking Michael, like the phones suddenly going dead. But hey, it's 1981, in middle America. It happens. Nothing TOO suspicious yet
The security guard on duty checks things out, and after a gratuitous jump scare with a cat in the dumpster, he finds Michael and Mister Stabby.
Loomis actually gets the cops to do the right thing and assume Meyers is still alive, and keep searching, since if they wait for dental records on the well done corpse, that gives him plenty of time to kill more and/or escape.
Meanwhile, word has gotten out that the local kids were butchered by Michael Meyers, so the town has begun gathering outside the old Meyers house to break windows and vandalise the place.
Loomis and the cop he's running around with stand out there and spout some dialogue about Meyers' time in the hospital, and I don't think anyone other than Pleasence could have given the words as much gravitas and weight as he does. His tone, the way he speaks, absolutely sells the terror of this we never actually see in the hospital. Show don't tell is the rule of cinema, but this works, it really does.
Finally, we've stood around enough, and they hear about a break-in at the nearby school, and while they check that out, we head back to the hospital.
Unaware that Meyers is lurking around, Budd and Karen head down to the hydrotherapy room to make use of their hot tub so the movie can get in some nudity and murder. Because this is the 1980s horror movie tropes we live for.
Mike turns up the heat so Bud has to check the temperature, and gets killed in a really nice silent, background murder while Karen dries off, unawares. But her cluelessness doesn't last long as Meyers comes in to finish her off too.
Over at the school, the cops and Loomis are checking out Mike's little side trip to stab a desk and scribble SAMHAIN on the blackboard in blood. Oh, and the woman that was with Loomis when Meyers escaped in the first film shows up, out of her work clothes.
Y'know, if you acknowledge that the characters in your movie don't recognise her, especially the one who spent a long car ride with her, they maybe could've done a bit more work to clue the audience in. But that's a minor quibble.
Anyways, she's there to bring Loomis back to Smith's Grove, and that he's been ordered to stop hunting for Meyers because this is already a PR nightmare for the sanitarium. This is like the Jaws plot, but with more stabbing.
Meanwhile, Laurie's had a bad reaction to her medication, and one of the nurses goes to find the doctor in charge of the night shift. She finds Doctor Killed McOffcamera with a needle jabbed into his eye, and Meyers appears behind her, in a great (And arguably better!) nod to the first film where his stark white mask slowly appeared floating in the darkness behind her, and does the same to the nurse's eyes.
This movie sure is loving stabbing people with needles, both for proper medical reasons, and the less medical ones.
Finally, Michael finds Laurie's room and stabs her good! No wait, somewhere along the way she snuck out and replaced her body with pillows, so all he did was kill a few feathers. Man, that must've been anticlimactic for him. "AT LAAA...aww."
And let's take a moment to think about the heroine of the movie spending the entirety of the first two acts just laying in bed. This seems like an ill conceived idea.
Just as you think she's actually going to do something though, she curls up in another room and sleeps some more.
Meanwhile, one of the surviving nurses has noticed Laurie is missing, tries to get help from the security guard and finds he's gone missing, and in fact, this is starting to seem like a pretty quiet hospital, even for 2 in the morning!
Jimmy's still around though, and the two of them try and put a plan together to find Laurie, unawares that Michael is listening in.
The nurse goes off to try and find some police, since the phones are still dead, and Jimmy finds another nurse who's ended up having all her blood drained out and spilled on the floor. No reason, just I guess Mikey decided to mix things up a little.
Oh, and surprise! The nurse's car won't start, so she's not going to get any help! And double surprise! Her tires are slashed! Mikey isn't just about stabbing PEOPLE, nope. In fact, he stabbed pretty much every tire. Can you imagine if we got to see that? Just ten minutes of Mike exhaustively going to *every* car and stabbing *every* tire? Now there's a deleted scene.
With 20 minutes left, Laurie decides it's finally time to wake back up and join the rest of the movie. That's when the nurse finds her, so at least she accomplished something. At least, in the five seconds before Meyers showed up and stabbed her in the back with a scalpel.
It's also worth noting that Jimmy slipping on the gigantic pool of blood and hitting his head is pretty much his exit from the movie. That's it, he's gone, there's your hero and love interest. Slipped in a pool of blood and went unconscious.
The movie runs almost silently for the next ten minutes or more, focusing on the slow stalking of Laurie by Michael through the halls of the now all but empty hospital. The only thing we have is the haunting, droning heartbeat of a score that kicks in and keeps the tension very high. It's wordless and long, but it's great, entirely driven by that simple music.
It IS a shame that Laurie woke up just in time to just run through the last 20 minutes of the movie. Something went wrong here, I think. We somehow have a strong story that completely misuses the actress and character that should be their star. It's not bad, and there's enough going on that SOMEhow this works, but I have no idea how or why.
The best thing I can say about it is, that it DOES nicely play with your expectations, since of course, you'd think they would do exactly what I suggest, and not sideline the main point of Meyer's quest for most of the movie.
You know, if Meyers actually walked at a normal pace, this movie would've been over by now... But instead, Laurie actually escapes into the parking lot, and hides in a car, hoping Mike just passes by, if he comes out at all.
Look, miss, he took the time to meticulously make sure every tire was good and stabbed, I'm sure he will do every due diligence, when he actually gets out here, to check every single car for you.
Meanwhile, back with Loomis being escorted out of town by Marion and a marshal, gets a big ol' infodump of a sealed file that reveals...LAURIE STRODE IS MICHAEL MEYERS SISTER!!
...Yeah, that just doesn't have the same punch after being out for 30 years, does it? Oh well. Anyways, Loomis uses his gun to 'convince' the marshal to turn the car around and head to the hospital. Because now it's personal! Er, well, it was ALWAYS personal, but now Loomis *knows* it's personal.
Back at the hospital, Jimmy briefly wanders back into the movie to try and drive Laurie out of there, but A) the car won't start and B) he's still got a head injury and passes out. Our hero!
Laurie falls out of the car just in time to see Loomis and friends drive up with a fully functioning car, but is still too damaged, weak, and drugged, to get to the car or cry out. Because reasons.
She finally manages to get back on her feet, just in time for her brother to appear from the darkness to slowly chase her some more. She reaches the door to the hospital and bangs on it to be let in. And again, Michael's inability to do anything other than casually saunter along is his undoing.
Everyone hears her screaming, finally, and let her in the hospital, so clearly they are safe behind the locked, giant glass door, right?
Yeah, that's a big old pile of gigantic nope.
Loomis empties another five or six bullets into Meyers, and he goes down again. This guy currently has more lead in him than entire box of pencils.
The marshal comes over, sure he's dead, and who wouldn't be, right? I mean, a half dozen bullets, you go down and don't get up, right?
Well, the marshal pays for his mistake, and gets his throat slashed by the Not Dead Yet Meyers.
As Marion runs outside to the car to radio for help, Loomis and Laurie hide out in one of the operating rooms of the hospital and wait for death to come on its two long legs.
They don't have to wait long as our star of Fuck Doors bashes through yet another one like it was tissue paper.
Loomis tries to shoot Michael, for all the good that would do, but the gun is empty. At least he was aiming for the head at point blank range. I wonder if he'd get up from THAT?
Meyers just kinda looks at Loomis wondering what the fool thinks he's doing, and stabs the doctor in the gut. And at last Michael comes face to face with his sister.
Laurie uses the marshal's gun that Loomis handed her earlier, and shoots Michael in the face. I'm guessing miraculously through the eyeholes, since there's no other damage to the mask.
That STILL doesn't put this rabid dog down, and he slashes wildly through the air with his scalpel, hoping to carve Laurie like a Halloween pumpkin.
Loomis and Laurie use the opportunity of a blinded Michael to open up all the cylinders of gas laying around the OR, and fill up the room.
The killer heads towards the sound of Loomis's voice, and Laurie runs for the door, leaving the doctor to use Chekov's lighter they briefly set up an hour ago while standing outside the Meyers' house.
So, Loomis flicks his Bic, and the entire room explodes into a giant ball of fire, with Loomis and Michael at the center of it.
Unsurprisingly, Meyers still isn't quite dead, and stumbles out of the inferno, but only for a few more seconds until he falls over and the flames consume him.
And that's pretty much where we end, save for a tally on Michael's massacre, and shipping Laurie off in another ambulance. Unless you watched the tv version of the movie, and Jimmy's in the ambulance too, recovering from his head injury.
Since we're doing a weird month of extra reviews, don't forget to come back on OCTOBER 7TH for the next review!
Video: It definitely looks good, like most things that are popular and have a transfer budget behind them.
Audio: Also solid.
Sound Bite: "I shot him six times! I shot him in the heart! But he's not human!!" Oh, Loomis, you are gonna do so, so much more to him...
Body Count: Oh thank Craven. After The Creeps, Michael Meyers comes along to make up for lost deaths.
1 - Just 11 minutes in, and Michael is already getting to stabby work with a poor random teen.
2 - Random guy with the misfortune to be wearing the same mask as Michael escapes being shot by Loomis, only to be run down, crushed between two vehicles, and burnt to death.
3 - The hospital's security guard gets a hammer to the head when he looks where he shouldn't.
4 - Budd gets stabbed in the background after a nice bath.
5 - And then Meyers comes into the room to kill Karen too.
6 - Dr. Mixter gets found already dead thanks to being stabbed in the eye with a needle.
7 - The nurse who found Mixter shares his fate shortly afterwards.
8 - Another nurse found dead and her blood drained. (Or is that the same one with the needle in the eye?)
9 - Meyers stabs another nurse in the back with a scalpel.
10 - The marshal Loomis brought with him foolishly gets too close to a resting Meyers.
11 - Loomis goes boom, and should be dead, and is dead for the purposes of this movie.
12 - Michael survives a few extra minutes, but collapses after the cleansing ritual of fire.
Best Corpse: It may well be the single most underplayed death in the movie, but Budd's death really sings for me. It's so well shot, in complete silence, behind the actual action in the foreground. And it was a character we spent time with, so cared about.
Blood Type - A-: We got a high body count, with quite a bit of blood splattered here and there, but if you give me a gigantic lake of blood on a hospital room floor, I give major bonus points. And a few more for a really great burn at the end.
Sex Appeal: Karen and Budd provide the titillation when they head to the hydrotherapy room of death.
Drink Up! Every time Michael would've ended the movie sooner if he moved just a little bit faster.
Video Nasties: I've talked a lot about it, so it's no surprise that the scene I go with is the hot tub death machine, with Budd and Karen. There is just the *tiniest* hint of nudity, just so you're warned.
Movie Review: Well, let's get this right out of the way. Carpenter and Hill's involvement is minimal this time out, although they at least wrote the plot, so that's something. But Carpenter's loss is definitely felt. The movie isn't quite as creatively, visually unique. It doesn't have quite that same vibe to it as the first one. They try and ape a few things, but there's a few missed opportunities where they could have really nailed it and missed, but Rosenthal did an admirable job. The story following immediately after the first, expanding things and telling more of the same story, totally works. This is how I like sequels to be done. And to be honest, I almost prefer this movie to the original. I like that it builds the story, it answers some questions, and actually HAS a story that it feels like it is telling. The original was really just a force of nature stomping around and destroying things. Which I still love, and is clearly the better made, more visually stunning film, but the story here worked out better. Although, a stronger focus on actual Laurie would've been preferable. The original Halloween has an almost incomplete feeling, leaving you wanting, which works FOR it, but with Halloween 1 and 2, you really can sit down and have a complete experience, and they're not so jarringly different that you would feel a difference between the two. Four out of five needles to the eye.
Entertainment Value: A lot of that is brought by Pleasence's overacting, which I'm not saying anything bad about, I love it, but he is just so over the top whenever he's stressing out about Michael's rampage. And it's wonderful. He brings so much to these movies, and not having the character, or a different actor, is hard to envision. This is a great little slasher, set in a pretty confined space, and filled with bodies waiting to be killed in some very creative ways. Such a trip. Four out of five dunks in the hot tub.


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subset: commoncrawl


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Usually I'm saying that I wished I would have thought of this. This time I'm saying I did think of this, and now I wish I would have actually done it. The c/dock is a new Kickstarter project for all of you who use your iPhone as an alarm clock. Made from a solid piece of Walnut with either an aluminum face, or a glossy resin face. The c/dock incorporates a usb cable into the mix to keep your iPhone charged up for you.
Honestly I would have like a plain walnut face option, but besides that the execution seems pretty great. If you like it, support it.


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Ever since it was announced that Harry Styles will be appearing in the hotly anticipated 'Dunkirk', we've been on the edge of our seats trying not to fangirl too hard. We failed.
So when we found out that the wait to see the film's trailer is FINALLY over, as you can imagine we were ridiculously happy.
According to reports, the mammoth 7 minute trailer will be shown during select screenings of sci-fi anthology film 'Rogue One' RIGHT NOW.
That's 'Star Wars' AND Harry Styles – what's not to love?
While some people are worried they won't get to see Harry in the trailer, we think it'll be okay.
The whole thing is set to last 7 minutes, so we're pretty sure we'll get our fair share of Harry magic (and if we don't, there will 100% be a Directioner revolt to deal with).
Unsurprisingly, Twitter is THE MOST EXCITED to finally see Harry getting his Oscar on:
Me: *casual* so ready for the Dunkirk trailer
Inner me: pic.twitter.com/a275SJ4F3f
— Harry Styles. (@Ashlee_Styles2) December 6, 2016
Unfortunately, the trailer will only be showing at select IMAX cinemas in the US and Canada for now. That means us Brits will have to wait it out (although we're hoping some new trailer showings will be announced when 'Rogue One' hits UK cinemas on Dec 16).
But if you are in the US, you can try your luck at one of these venues (according to Collider):
IMAX, US Space & Rocket Center
IMAX Dome, McWane Center
AMC Universal CityWalk Stadium 19 & IMAX – Universal City
Esquire IMAX – Sacramento
Hackworth IMAX Dome, The Tech Museum
IMAX Dome, Museum of Science & Industry
Blank IMAX Dome, Science Center Iowa
IMAX, Indiana Stare Museum
IMAX Theatre, Minnesota Zoo
OMNIMAX, St. Louis Science Center
Tuttleman IMAX, The Franklin Institute
Omni Theatre Fort Worth Museum of Science & History
Kramer IMAX, Saskatchewan Science Centre
So, whaddya think? Are you as excited as we are? Will you be battling the crowds to get tickets for Rogue One just to see Harry, or are you sitting pretty and hoping the trailer will be online soon? Let us know by leaving a comment below!
Dunkirk is set for US release on July 21, 2017.


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Welcome to Geelong After Dark - you lover of music and theatre! We have created a journey for you to take across the streets of Geelong on the evening of 6 May, where you'll encounter a wondrous array of eclectic and inspiring performances. Are you ready? 5, 6, 7, 8!
Click on the pictures for more information about each act!
Begin your evening down on the foreshore at Sailor's Rest, with an act to get you in the mood for the rest of the evening. Wendy Grose, the internationally renown Geelong Soprano will be airing her vocal chords just for your ears from 6 - 6:15pm. It will be spine-tingling.
After your ears have been warmed, take a short stroll down to the Geelong Performing Arts Centre foyer, where you will find the amazing act Viva (6-630pm). The women of the vocal group, along with special guests from "Acabellas Fellas" will welcome you with their gorgeous harmonic voices.
Then, head across to the Geelong Library and Heritage Centre at 7pm for the world premiere of On the Air (7pm-7:25pm) - a wacky radio murder mystery complete with 1940s costumes and stylings. Something different for your evening.
Next stop: the steps of City Hall. It's time to pull out those dance moves, because Havana Pavlava (7:15pm - 7:45pm) - the high energy street band will be pumping out everything from Latin to Ska style beats and grooves.
Down on Little Malop St (between Gheringhap and Moorabool Streets), you'll find a performance of Western Edge Youth Arts - Of Longing and Belonging (7:40 - 8pm). This show will weave sharp and surprising comedy with physical theatre, exploring ideas about local and glboal identify from the unique perspective of Geelong's youth.
Stop off at the corner of Moorabool and Malop Streets for Alchemy 7 (8pm - 8:20pm) for a unique music, theatre and installation piece that will weave a woven copper dress, a light and soundscape with operatic arias. Curiouser and curiouser...
Onwards to Little Malop Street Central now, where The Tides of a Welcome Choir meet David Roberston Drummers (8:45 - 9:15pm). An awesome experience where layered African drumming and vocals entwine with raw personality and synergy. A rare act that will transport you to and from the netherworld.
Last, but certainly not least, take a quick step down to the Geelong Performing Arts Centre for the final performance of Stardust: The Col Brain Story (9pm - 9:30). An epic musical and theatrical journey through the belongings found in Geelong music legend Col Brain's wooden dresser. A captivating radio cabaret show from his grandson, broadcaster and musician, Joel Carnegie in collaboration with the Geelong West Brass Band, director Tom Molyneux and ABC RN (Radio National).
Brilliant music will also be booming from the epic Waterfront Kitchen from 6:30pm onwards, with numerous acts taking over the stage including Sarah Carroll & George Wilson (6:30 - 7pm), The Von Robertsons (7:15 - 7:45pm) and Victoriana Gaye (8 - 8:30pm). So pop down at any time to catch your breath!


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Magna Carta researcher – postgrad:
work experience, BBC History Magazine:
Magna Carta researcher – postgrad:
work experience, BBC History Magazine:
In the past few years, a large amount of information relating to legal history has been made available on the internet. This is a brief guide to those resources which I have found useful, and which may be of interest to others working in law, history and legal history.
1. Legislation and records of government activity
Pre-1215 laws are being placed online via Early English Laws project: http://www.earlyenglishlaws.ac.uk/
Statutes of the Realm (to 1713) can be found via Heinonline > English Reports.
The Calendars of Patent Rolls from Henry III to the middle of the reign of Henry VI (1216-1452) have been made available by Prof. G.R. Boynton and the University of Iowa Libraries, with a useful and generally reliable search facility: http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/patentrolls/
British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/Default.aspx has some content available free, (including the Victoria County Histories, Calendar of Papal Registers, parts of Rymer's Foedera and journals of the early modern houses of parliament). Other items, such as the Parliament Rolls of Medieval England and the Calendars of Close Rolls, however, are only available with the 'premium' subscription service.
Calendars of Fine Rolls from the reign of Henry III have been made available free as part of the Fine Rolls Project: http://www.frh3.org.uk/home.html
The National Archives website gives links to freely downloadable images of its class SC8 ('Ancient Petitions') which include many petitions to the king, his council, Parliament and royal officers. These documents are usually in Norman French. The National Archives catalogue is itself a useful resource, with helpful descriptions of documents and classes of documents, and a number of research guides: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/
Eighteenth to twentieth-century parliamentary papers can be found at: http://parlipapers.chadwyck.co.uk/home.do and a variety of 18th Century official publications at: http://www.southampton.ac.uk/library/bopcris/parl18c.html.
The National Archives has many projects making available original records. For example, many Poor Law records have recently been put online (free): http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/workhouse.asp
2. Court cases
A major project led by R.C. Palmer and E.K. Palmer at the University of Houston has made available, free of charge, high-quality images of the rolls of the royal courts of medieval and early modern England (and, to a limited extent, Wales): http://aalt.law.uh.edu/. There are King;'s Bench, Common Pleas, Exchequer, eyre records and other categories. This material is not, however, particularly 'user-friendly', since there is no index or search facility, and in order to understand it, some knowledge of Latin and palaeography is required.
Another American project, led by D.J. Seipp at Boston University, has catalogued and cross-referenced all of the Year Books (lawyers' reports of the pleading in notable cases in the central courts in medieval and early-modern England): http://www.bu.edu/law/seipp/. Links to images of the printed 'black letter' Year Books are included where appropriate. The search facility is particularly good. This resource is mainly in English, though the original records themselves are in 'Law French' – a version of Norman French. A working knowledge of modern French and recourse to J.H. Baker, A Manual of Law French (1979) usually suffices for their translation.
Bracton's Note Book (thirteenth century cases) is available in HeinOnline's Legal Classics Library: http://www.heinonline.org/HOL/Index?collection=beal
The English Reports, the great collection of 'nominate' law reports covering cases from medieval times to the Victorian period, are available via Westlaw and as part of the Library's subscription to HeinOnline: http://heinonline.org/HOL/Index?collection=engrep&set_as_cursor=clear. Note that some of the earlier English Reports are, in fact, in Law French, with occasional formulaic Latin.
An important resource for criminal law is the Old Bailey Project, with many reports of criminal trials from the seventeenth to the early-twentieth century: http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/
Miscellaneous records from a variety of courts (especially London's local courts) are available in British History Online.
Twentieth century cases are found in the normal series of law reports, many of which can be found online.
Records of church court cases are being put up in http://digitalhistory.concordia.ca/consistory/about.php?expand=about (in progress)
3. Treatises
Bracton can be found at http://hlsl5.law.harvard.edu/bracton/ (Harvard University Library).
Many other treatises, including Blackstone's Analysis and Commentaries, and Coke's Institutes are included in HeinOnline's Legal Classics Library: http://www.heinonline.org/HOL/Index?collection=beal. Note that the versions of 'classics' on HeinOnline are not necessarily either the earliest or the latest version, nor, in the case of works originally not in English, are they necessarily the best translation available.
Also extremely useful, with thousands of scans of out-of-copyright books, including treatises and some reports are:
archive.org, http://archive.org/index.php
Early English Books Online http://eebo.chadwyck.com/home
Project Gutenberg http://www.gutenberg.org/
4. Journalism
Newspapers, pamphlets, periodicals can be good sources – lively and opinionated, if not always reliable. These are published online in various 'packages' to which university and some civic libraries will subscribe. I have found the collection 19th Century British Periodicals, to which my library subscribes – particularly helpful for teaching purposes, particularly for pictures and satirical accounts from periodicals like Punch, Funny Folks and Judy, the Conservative Comic.
5. Art
Law and especially crime has inspired many works of art. A collection like ArtStor can be useful to locate relevant material.
6. Biography
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography is available, and fully searchable, online: http://www.oxforddnb.com/. This gives reliable biographies of many law-makers and lawyers as well as some notorious criminals and victims of crime.
7. Bibliography
The BREPOLIS Bbliography of British and Irish History is a good place to start for all British and Irish historical monographs and articles: http://www.brepolis.net/. Also at this address are specialised medieval international bibliographies.
8. Journals
The major legal history journals, Journal of Legal History and Law and History Review are available online.
Relevant articles also appear in 'straight' history journals (many available online), though these are overwhelmingly about the history of criminal law rather than other aspects of legal history.
9. Miscellaneous
The Internet Text Archive is worth a look if you are after older (printed) public records, local records or chronicles: http://www.archive.org/details/texts
Free online transcriptions and documents relating to many areas of history can be found at: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/.
British history primary sources can be found at: http://eudocs.lib.byu.edu/index.php/History_of_the_United_Kingdom:_Primary_Documents.
Here are various light pieces I wrote a year or two ago (under a pseudonym) which may be of some interest:
Jurisprudence of The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings (3 separate pieces)
Jurisprudence of Abba (yes, really):
Judge Dredd and the legal future:
(if you get them all, you get joint honours as a true legal historian and pop nerd)
10. Your [es]cheatin' heart
9. Take a Chance[ry] on me
8. She's a Star {Chamber]
7. [Assump]sittin' on the dock of the Bay
6. Puttin' on the writs
5. Ferry 'cross the Humber
4. Fight the dower
3. [Common] Pleas please me
2. Just like a pill[ory]
1. Hanging [drawing and quartering] on the telephone
Part 3: Nickety Nackety Noo Noo Noo
As we have seen, the folk-song world can be a dangerous and violent one. For all the fiddles and diddles, the body count is fairly high. Women are, more often than not, the victims in murder ballads. At least in those cases, there is usually some degreee of sympathy for them. In the frequent domestic-violence-ditties, they are usually treated as ridiculous, asking-for-it, or of no account.
The familiar and jaunty Scots jig, 'The Wee Cooper o'Fife' has the heroic diminutive maker of barrels, justly exasperated at his wife's snobbish failure to bake, brew, card, spin, wash or wring. He beats her, amusingly putting a sheepskin across her back, then saying he is merely thrashing his own sheep skin' when he beats numerous bells out of her. The song ends by advising anybody who has a similarly 'gentle wife' to send for the wee cooper! Part of the same dysfunctional song-family can be seen in the English folk song world: ' Ruggleton's daughter of Iero' (Sharp no. 70) follows a similar pattern. The husband here is a ploughman, whose wife will not have his dinner ready when he comes in from work, the slattern! She refuses to bake and brew as well. In an entirely reasonable, and frankly damned amusing, response (or so the tone of the song would have us think) the husband declares that she will brew and bake, and takes 'a stick down off the rack; And on [her] back went rickety rack'. This beating causes the woman to agree to bake, brew and cook for her delightful husband. How we laughed!
There is wife- beating, too, in 'The Birmingham Boys' (FBI no. 195). In this number, a husband goes to sea, and while he is away, his wife spends lots of money and carouses with 'the Birmingham boys'. When he gets home, he beats her with a stick. She agrees to behave in future. So all's well that ends well, or something.
In 'Good Ale' (FBI no 273) the male singer vows that; If my wife should me despise, How soon I'd give her two black eyes'. Go on my son, we are supposed to think.
Particularly violent is the beating of the wife in 'The Wearing of the Britches' (FBI no. 215) in which Paddy Keane's wife insists on 'wearing the britches', and they fight often. She, being much shorter comes off worse: 'Her hide with blows I have left black' and ; Her head comes often to the wall', She dies in the end, and he's not bothered. She was, after all, asking for it.
For all those scholars of 'masculinities' out there, there are role-reversal songs too (it's, like, an inversion, innit?). The 'Bald-Headed End of the Broom' (FBI no 193) is a warning to young men against getting married, for they will end up being beaten with the aforementioned bald headed end of the broom. Odd. Why not use the big brushy end? No doubt I am missing something (see, I know Foucault about masculinities).The poor down-trodden husband is once more the theme in 'The Scolding Wife' (FBI no, 214), in which a poor man's life is made a misery by a hard-drinking, tyrannical, cheating wife, who beats him with a poker. Really, when you come to think of it, the wife-bashing husbands were probably just getting their pre-emptive strikes in. Those women, eh? Make a chap's life a misery.
Violence is not the only approach adopted by your lovable folk-song male to the ladies. There is also deception and theft. 'Up to the Rigs' handles as a likeable rogue a man who went to Cheapside in London, spent the night with a girl and then robbed her, leaving her locked up in a room. (FBI no. 192). He recommends others do the same.
The sexual threat of men is seen in the fairly astounding story of 'Blackberry Fold' (FBI no 314). Here, a young squire in Bristol pursues pretty milkmaid Betsy. He threatens to kill her with his sword if she 'denies him' his way with her in the open field. She protests, loving her virtue 'as I love my dear life'. She takes out a secreted dagger and stabs him, to protect the aforementioned virtue. She is then sorry and he gets medical help. He recovers and they are married. The moral is – keep him waiting and you willl be made a lady ten thousand times o'er. Naturally, one forgives a man a little matter like attempted rape and threats of murder. Marriage has to be worked at, you know.
A similar situation ends rather differently in 'Sweet Lovely Joan'. Our Joan seems to be a vulnerable, simple milkmaid. We fear for her when a kinght comes by, checks she is alone, and tries to press her into marrying him, 'whether [she] will or no'. She is determined to marry her own true love, however, and manages to rob the knight of his gold and his horse. In the end she gets away to her love, and he is delighted that they can marry, 'And I will be the knight instead'. Would be nice if she could keep it and buy a tavern or something, but it's a lot better than poor Betsy's ending in Blackberry Fold.
Joan is a rare exception to the generally negative view of women found in folk songs. We know that women can be the ruin of a man (see the highwaymen songs and 'The Black Velvet Band'), that they can be fierce, and that they can nag. In 'Rocking the Cradle' (FBI no, 212), we find that they can make a man's life a misery by their sheer tartiness, and, damn it, the law is on their side. This one tells the tale of an unfortunate man who is left rocking the cradle of a baby who is – shock – not his own, while his wife is out gallivanting at balls and parties, and presumably sleeping around. He notes that 'by the law Harry, if ever you marry, They'll give you a babbie and swear it's your own'. There is a suggestion that all women are equally inconstant and a warning against marrying. It rather ignores the fact that, until the twentieth century, matrimonial law was deeply sexist, enshrining a double standard in which men could divorce for adultery, whereas women had to prove more than that. A chap had needs, after all.
A consideration of folk songs' treatment of women is important, if we wish to have a balanced picture of the mental world of the folk song. Whilst it is easy enough to make excuses for, or even to applaud, the glorification in folk song of poachers and highwaymen – laughing harsh laws to scorn and fighting against an oppressive establishment – we have to remember that exactly the same culture harbours songs which laugh at wife-beating. Only the truly boneheaded sexist could be comfortable with most of the songs mentioned above. Or perhaps that's just political correctness gone fa la la.
Silverman – J. Silverman, Folk Song Encyclopedia, 2 vol.s (New Yok, 1976).
JB – The Joan Baez Songbook NY 1964.
Child – F.J. Child The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (1882-98) 5 vols.
Sharp – C..J. Sharp (ed.) One Hundred English Folksongs (New York 1916)
FBI – P. Kennedy (ed) Folksongs of Britain and Ireland (London, 1975).
Part Two
'They were a'ful cruel at that time. The laws were different'
– folk singer Jimmy McBeath, commenting on 'Van Diemen's Land' (FBI p. 586)
It's not just murder-ballads which show an alternative or anti-establishment morality. There is also plenty of interesting material on less deadly crime.
Folk songs don't have a bad word to say about poachers. They are lovable rogues one and all, no doubt showing a widespread hostility to forest and game laws on the part of the folk-singing classes. One of the most lively folk-tunes is a celebration of the deeds of 'The Lincolnshire Poacher' (Silverman I, 68). He moves county but stays the same otherwise in 'The Northamptonshire Poacher' (FBI no. 258). Our man delights in his favourite pastime, and, as the song is keen to point out, uses only necessary force to escape from the keepers. Meanwhile, we rejoice as Nottinghamshire poachers get away with their deer poaching in 'The Old Fat Buck' (FBI no. 259) because the old woman who is to testify against them is disbelieved by the judge and jury at Nottingham Sessions.
'The Gallant Poacher' (FBI no. 248 makes it clear where our sympathies should lie by its title. One of the six poachers was shot by a keeper. The rest went to gaol. Again in 'Keepers and Poachers', (FBI no. 254) a noble picture is given of the poachers. One, William Taylor, sacrifices himself to save his fellows. Our sympathy is also invited for the poachers in the famous 'Van Diemen's Land' (FBI no 262, the poachers are transported for fourteen years.
The poaching theme continues across the globe, with the celebrated, if ultimately unsuccessful, swagman hero of 'Waltzing Matilda' (Silverman I, 292). He is cornered by the police after bagging a 'jumbuck', and, rather than be taken, jumps into the waterhole (billabong) and is drowned. Approval of his action is granted by letting his ghost roam about singing Waltzing Matilda'.
A poacher in a different league is dealt with in one of the most lovely of English folk songs, 'Geordie' (Child no. 209;Silverman I, 225). The flowing minor mode of the melody carries the tale of a young man who is to be hanged and gibbeted for taking some of the King's deer. He is, however, as a concession to the pleading of his wife or lover, who comes to court to plead for him, to be hanged in golden chains.
Even more desperate characters are treated sympathetically. Highwaymen are a cut above poachers – flashier, more dangerous – and yet often shown as in some ways moral. As with many of the murder-ballads, however, there is something of a lack of explanation of why they turn to highway robbery.
Many of the classic elements of the highwayman song can be seen in 'The Wild Colonial Boy' (Silverman I,56). Here, Jack Doolan, the only son of doting parents in Castlemaine, turned, for no apparent reason, to robbing coaches, including that of a judge. The highwayman was beset by troopers, killed one, but was in his turn shot by Trooper Davis. We are certainly supposed to be on Doolan's side, since the chorus goes 'Come all my hearties, we'll range the mountain side; together we will plunder, together we will ride. We'll scour along the valleys abd gallop o'er the plains, We scorn to live in slavery, bowed down with iron chains.'
Highwaymen are shown as being particularly glamourous. 'Turpin Hero' (FBI no. 336 ) gives one of the imagined exploits of Dick Turpin. He gets talking to a lawyer about Dick Turpin, the lawyer not knowing who he is. Then Turpin robs him.
'Brennan on the Moor' (Silverman I, 61) is a a'brave' Irish highwayman. He was 'wild', and, in a Robin Hood style, it was wealthy noblemen he robbed. He was so impressive that he could only be taken when ''twas said' he was 'betrayed by a false-hearted woman'. The same fate befalls our hero in 'Kilgary Mountain' (Silverman I, 64). He enjoys his crime, noting how 'neat and jolly' the money looked after he had robbed a colonel. His downfall was a woman too, however – unsurprising since 'the Devil's in the women and they always lie so easy'. Molly, the young lady in question, filled his pistols with water, and informed on him to Colonel Pepper, whom he had just robbed. This highwayman is surprisingly concerned with due process. Although he has confessed in the song that he did in fact rob Colonel Pepper, he is affronted that 'They threw me into jail without a judge nor writing'. He escapes, however, by bashing the jailer. He is able to resume a life of pursuing whisky and girls – girls other than Molly, presumably.
'The Robber' (Sharp no, 83) gives as a justification/ motive for the hero's turning to highway robbery, the need to 'maintain' his new wife 'both fine and gay'. He insists he robbed only the rich. Women were not his downfall, however. He was captured by Lord Fielding's men whilst enjlying the play at Cupid's garden. In a mixture of conscience and bravado, he notes the sadness of wife and family, and asks for a 'flashy funeral'.
Most of the thieves celebrated in song are male. The most famous female subject is Maggie May – not the Rod Stewart floozy, but the lively Scouse lass who robs foolish sailors, and ends up being transported to Australia. Our sympathy is supposed to be with the daft sailor, but he is rather less interesting than the clothes-stealing scally who bewitches him.
Another tricksy vixen appears in Belfast ballad 'The Black Velvet Band' (FBI no. 695). She plants a stolen watch on a young man, calls the police, and he is sent to Van Diemen's land.
Part of the reason for the sympathetic treatment in folk songs of these thieves of various sorts is knowledge of the penalties they could face. Prior to the reform movements of the nineteenth century, many such offences were punished by hanging. Folk songs give some evidence of disapproval of this as inappropriately harsh.
Hanging songs include 'Macpherson's Farewell', (Silverman I, 60) in which a 'roving boy' of Scotland was hanged despite the fact that a reprieve was on its way. He went to his end cursing and swearing revenge on the 'treacherous woman' who, actually rather cleverly, caught him for the authorities by throwing a blanket over him. More fortunately, hanging is averted by a bribe in 'The Gallows Pole' (Silverman 1, 201) in which the condemned keeps hoping that members of his family will have brought the requisite cash, only to find that they have just come to watch the execution. Finally, however, the faithful sweetheart arrives with the money and all is well. A very similar tale is 'The Maid Freed from the Gallows' (Silverman I, 219). Another version is 'The Briery Bush' (Sharp no. 17) and 'Derry Gaol' (FBI no 316) too is similar. In this cse, the freed convict is male, and he is freed by the production of the Queen's pardon. 'Jack Hall' (Sharp no. 81; FBI no. 322) takes the whole hanging business rather lightly. It is the 'beyond the grave' account of robbing chimney sweep Jack Hall, who describes in rather dashing terms his career of thieving, and his end via Newgate at Tyburn.
Folk singers, or composers of folk songs, seem, then, to have had something of a soft spot for the thieves and vagabonds of the world. Either that or else highwaymen and thieves of old spent their time between robberies in very efficient PR, composing and spreading their own propaganda. With a fol lol lol diddle diddle dee.
Silverman – J. Silverman, Folk Song Encyclopedia, 2 vol.s (New Yok, 1976).
JB – The Joan Baez Songbook NY 1964.
Child – F.J. Child The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (1882-98) 5 vols.
Sharp – C..J. Sharp (ed.) One Hundred English Folksongs (New York 1916)
FBI – P. Kennedy (ed) Folksongs of Britain and Ireland (London, 1975).
Part One
Gangsta rappers may not like to think that they have much in common with the fiddle – de –dee tradition of predominantly white English-language folk music, but glorifying violence and celebrating lawbreaking are common themes in the folk tradition. There are, perhaps, not so many guns as we would find in contemporary rap, and no drugs (or not until the early twentieth century, when sniffing things starts to sneak into the odd song), but there is just as much bad behaviour. In fact, in some ways, it is even more unpleasant.
Homicidal Mania
Most unpleasant – and actually without obvious parallel even in gangsta rap – is the
frequently amoral murder ballad. Anglo-American tradition has a festering pile of these songs.
A number fall into the 'I've murdered a woman for no apparent reason and, poor me, I'm going to be executed' genre. Examples include Pretty Polly (Silverman I, 74), in which Willie has quite deliberately prepared to kill, bury and conceal the grave of Polly, his betrothed, after seducing her. Worse yet, she was apparently carrying his child. Cruelly, he told her he was going to kill her before he did it, and ignored her pleading for mercy. There is no sign of earthly come-uppance for Willie, though the final verse does say that he will have to pay 'a debt to the Devil'.
Tom Dooley, quite a well known tune, is equally just plain nasty, Tom is condemned for the inexplicable murder of 'his' Laura Foster. After the deed, he concealed her body in a shallow grave. There is no trace of repentance.
There is also Banks of the Ohio (Silverman I, 76) which is a slightly more sophisticated song. Here, we see Polly and Willie again, Polly has, it seems, refused to marry Willie, or her mother has forbidden the match on account of her youth. Willie is not best pleased. First, he gets out a knife to stab her, but she pleads that she is not yet ready for eternity. So he throws her into the great river they are walking beside and she is drowned. At least he is sorry in the end that he has 'murdered the only woman [he] ever loved', though that is not really much consolation to Polly or her mother.
The Folkestone Murder (FBI no. 320) tells of the murder of Maria and 'Sweet Caroline' Beck by 'Switzerland John'. John asks Caroline to walk with him. Her mother warns her against it, unless she takes her sister. Caroline agrees to take Maria, and off they go. John stabs them both, for reasons which are not given. They plead for mercy but he kills them anyway. Their bodies are found, he is caught and put in Maidstone, condemned. He laments that he has to die far from his native home. He hopes (bizarrely) to meet Caroline beyond the grave and asks listeners to remember his tale, but there is no real explanation. In fact, it is clear (FBI p. 727) that the story is based on a real murder, by Tedea or Dedea Redanies, a soldier who was British, though born in Belgrade (Switzerland, Serbia – what's the difference? Must have been Johnny Foreigner, anyway). He murdered the sisters Caroline and Maria Beck, (19 and 16) in August 1856, the motive apparently jealousy, and was hanged at Maidstone in 1857.
The Oxford Girl (FBI no. 327 – versions noted referring to many different locations) tells a most unpleasant tale of the singer falling in love with an Oxford girl, but ending up killing her. The level of delusion or lack of insight is incredible. He went to take her out, and they fixed a wedding day 'And little did I realise I'd show her any spite'. He tries to kiss her, she resists, he hits her with a big stick 'and … gently knocked her down'. She bleeds, he throws her in the river – 'gently', of course. He takes a moment to note that she should have been his bride, then returns home to his uncle's house. His uncle spots blood, but the singer says he has had a nose bleed. The body is discovered, he is convicted and condemned to hang for murder. Nothing moral is said.
Deeply unpleasant is the conduct of False Lamkin (Sharp no. 27) who, while the Lord is away, sneaks into the castle or mansion, and kills the babies and the Lord's wife, and only the eldest daughter survives, because her father returns before Lamkin can go through with his threat to have her hold the basin to catch her blood while he stabs her in the heart (he's a homicidal maniac, but he doesn't mean to make a mess). Interestingly, the lord does not go out for personal revenge, but says he wants to see Lamkin hang.
Perhaps most heart-rending is Sweet Fanny Adams (FBI no 333), a song put into the mouth of a parent of the murdered child, Fanny,'scarcely eight years of age' when she was killed by Frederick Baker. There is an uneasy coupling of the parent's torment – 'Shall I never hear thee more, my dearest Fanny'; 'My poor Fanny', 'I love her the more when I miss her/My sorrow I shall never drive away' and 'Supposing he so cruelly violate her'. and flat conventional words of what is supposed to be felt – 'now from all trouble she is free', 'now she's in Heaven above'. The grisly crime is given in detail. Frederick, a solicitor's clerk, son of well-to do parents from Alton, Hampshire – gave the other two girls, Fanny's sister and a friend, money to buy sweetmeats, and dragged poor crying Fanny to a hollow. There was a search when the children returned without Fanny, the neighbours joining in. Pieces of her dismembered body were found in pieces in the hop ground. Some satisfaction seem s to be derived by the last line that 'now he's lying in the silent grave', though equally, this may not be any comfort, since it means that there can be no answers to the haunting issue at the start of the last verse 'Supposing he so cruelly violate her'. The story is (FBI p. 734) based on a real murder, in Alton, Hants in 1867. The killer was sentenced to be hanged, and the case made a strong enough impression for 'Sweet Fanny Adams' to pass into slang.
Perhaps we may find The Cruel Youth (Silverman II, 332) a refreshing change from all this easy victimisation-as-entertainment. In this one, and its variants, the seaside-dwelling youth has bumped off (for, as usual, no apparent reason) six women. When he tries doing the same with Sally Brown, however, she turns the tables on him, and pushes him into the sea. The last verse notes that only the willow tree mourned the youth. It is a version of the popular English folk song The Outlandish Knight which uses a similar story, but gives greater detail. The knight (in for the youth) entices the maiden away by promises of a fine life abroad, then plans, as before, to throw her into the sea. His fatal complication is that he tells her to take off her clothes – not because he wants to rape her too, but because they are silken and too fine to be rotted away in the sea (he is a homicidal maniac, but not wasteful, and with a fine eye for fabric). She tells him to turn away while she strips, and he is enough of a knight to do so. Then she tells him to cut away the brambles from the edge, so that they won't tangle on her curly locks. As he does so, however, she pushes him over the edge. He hangs on, and pleads with her to pull him up. If she does, he says, he will marry her. She is having none of it, though, and tells him to go and join the six maidens he has already drowned, before the song goes off into an inexplicable few verses about a king and a parrot.
There are other murder-songs which give some explanation of the crime, however feeble it may be. Bruton Town (Sharp no.2) features a girl's brothers murdering her lover, because he is a servant and therefore beneath her. Their father, a farmer, is curiously uninvolved in the action. The young man loved by the daughter is killed while the brothers have lured him out into the woods for a hunt. They threw his body in a brake. The body is discovered by the sister after her true love appears to her, gory, in a dream. She vows not revenge, or reporting of her brothers, but that they shall both be buried together.
Shame is presumably the motive for infanticide in the hideous tale of The Cruel Mother (Sharp no. 13; Silverman I, 182-3). A lady who lived in York fell in love with her father's clerk, took a rather active role in having sex with him, fell pregnant, trussed her twin babies up, stabbed them with 'a wee penknife', buried them and went back to pass herself off as a maid. However, conscience and consciousness of her own damnation struck when she met two small children, or childish ghosts, who confronted her with her crime. Mary Hamilton (Child 173) is another infanticide case, this time, the mother is to be hanged.
A fine example of the 'killing rival in jealous rage' song is Lily of the West, in which the singer, whose mind has been 'sore distressed' by the two-timing 'faithless Flora' stabbed his rival whilst 'mad to desperation'. He is condemned to die, but still, bizarrely, loves Flora. (Silverman I,178). Joan Baez does a virtuoso version of this, but it is certainly best not to listen too closely to the words.
The famous story of Frankie and Johnny (Silverman II, 370-1) has the same sort of thing in gender-reverse. Johnny goes off with Nelly Bly (though here, unlike 'Lily', Johnny is see by Frankie 'loving up' Nelly Bly, who is clearly a good-time, easy rhyme sort of gal). (Flora, on the other hand was merely talking, however suggestively, to the 'man of high degree'). Thus provoked, Frankie shoots Johnny. She then turns herself in at once, confessing her crime. There is sympathy for Frankie, who goes to the scaffold in something of a state of grace, saying 'Nearer my God to thee', and the last verse remarks that 'a man's been the cause of all trouble ever since the world began' [You go, girl!] The repeats of 'He was her man, but he done her wrong' also serve to put us rather firmly on Frankie's side.
Poison in a glass of wine (FBI no. 329) is set in Oxford. Here, A young man loves a fair maid. Another man dances with her at a dance house and the jealous first young man poisons her. He seems to take some too so that they can die in each other's arms.
A man drowns his wife most amusingly in The Old Woman of Blighter Town (FBI no. 208) but she has tried to blind him, and loves another man, so that is OK.
I will confess to some sympathy for the unnamed 'little brown girl' in Lord Thomas and Fair Ellinor. Thomas and Ellinor are in love. Ellinor is blonde, beautiful, but, tragically, not rich in land. The 'little brown girl' is rolling in it, but 'brown' and 'little' and so terminally undesirable. It is, however, the little brown girl that Lord Thomas is 'made' (by his mother – wimp!) to marry. After the wedding, Ellinor taunts Thomas's wife with being 'wonderfully brown', while Thomas tells Ellinor not to worry, because he loves Ellinor's 'little finger [more] than all her whole body'. This not surprisingly annoys the brown girl, who stabs Ellinor in the heart with her penknife. Thomas then beheads her and flings her head against the wall, then falls on his sword. Before expiring, he is able to give directions for his burial: he is to be buried by the side of Ellinor, with the brown girl at his feet. Naturally, a red rose grows from Ellinor's bosom and entwines with Lord Thomas's briar. There is no further mention of the poor brown girl.
It is rarer to find a 'miscarriage of justice' song, but we have one in Poor Ellen Smith (Silverman I, 57). The singer's lover, Ellen, has been shot dead, not, he claims, by him, but he is in jail, about to be tried for murder. and he fears that the jury is eager to convict him – 'The jury will hang me, that is if they can, But God knows I die as an innocent man'. Some sympathy is lost for the man, however, in the previous verse, when he, charmingly, says 'I didn't love little Ellen to make her my wife, but I loved her too dear than to take her sweet life'. A broadly similar theme is found in Long Black Veil, a modern ballad by M. Wilkins and D. Dill (JB 110), in which a man is convicted of murder because he will not confess that he was in fact with his best friend's wife at the relevant time. More fortunate is the hero in Polly Vaughan, (FBI no. 330) young Jimmy, who accidentally shoots his love, Polly Vaughan, mistaking her for a swan, when out hunting. He is to be tried for murder and thinks of running away, but his uncle tells him he will not be hanged for it. True enough, his love appears at the trial (a ghost, one presumes) and explains that she had her apron wrapped around her , explaining why he took her for a swan. Juries will believe anything in folk songs.
Conclusion to Part One
Homicide, then, has been a disturbingly popular subject for folk singers. Its treatment says some very interesting things about 'folk' attitudes (an indistinct and amorphously blobby idea, yet nonetheless one of some worth in balancing 'official' mentalités) to the taking of life, to motives for killing, to good and evil, and to punishment. The idea which seems to me to emerge most strongly from the murder ballads is that we don't need to explain killings too carefully: some people are just inexplicably and unalterably bad – or perhaps there is some idea that we all have it in us.
Homicide is, however, not the only area of legal historical interest seen in Anglo-American folk song, and other aspects will be discussed in future parts of this series.
Silverman – J. Silverman, Folk Song Encyclopedia, 2 vol.s (New York, 1976).
JB – The Joan Baez Songbook NY 1964.
Child – F.J. Child The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (1882-98) 5 vols.
Sharp – C..J. Sharp (ed.) One Hundred English Folksongs (New York 1916)
FBI – P. Kennedy (ed.) Folksongs of Britain and Ireland (London, 1975).
I have just finished a paper on dower and adultery, looking at the way in which lawyers interpreted a 1285 statute disqualifying widows from claiming part of a deceased husband's land if they were found to have left the husband for a lover. The statute section (Westminster II c.34) remained part of the law until 1925, and interpretation of it became harsher over the years, making it more difficult for widows to claim their dower than had been the case in the fourteenth century. It is always interesting to look at issues like this, in which history just can't be seen in terms of progress for women or other disadvantaged groups. In the course of writing two articles on this area, I have looked at thousands of medieval manuscript pages – always a challenge, though also a privilege – and I have also extended myself into more modern documents, going as far as the mid-nineteenth century. Many interesting and some strange stories have come out of these searches, and I have a pile of material which deserves to be written up in separate pieces. I am finding it hard to stop looking for yet more dower/adultery cases, but it is probably time to leave it and do something new.
One new area which I will be getting into this year is humour in the medieval courtroom. There are some excellent examples of this in the Year Books (medieval court reports) which are crying out for some categorisation and consideration. I am particularly interested in gender aspects, but there is also much to say about word play and grim or gallows humour.
Over the next two years, I also plan to write papers or at least notes based on material discovered in archives during my research into women's abduction and imprisonment. One paper will relate to material which I have found on the difficulties experienced by widows of the battle of Bannockburn (1314) in proving that their husbands were in fact dead, so as to allow them to claim dower lands. Another will consider a tale told in a fourteenth-century case, relating to a pilgrimage, a shipwreck and a pair of Cornishmen mistaken for Scots enemies and imprisoned in Cumberland, exploring medieval mobility and conceptions of the 'foreign'. And I have amassed a pile of material on the land dealings of Hugh Despenser Senior and Junior and Eleanor de Clare which may yet come to something.
The next big project, though, will probably be a book on medieval law and women, drawing together some existing work by me and by many others, and trying to get an overview of the law's treatment of women. There is much historical writing on women which assumes that there was a clear contrast between 'law'. a monolithic, unproblematic thing, and 'life' or 'practice'. My research thus far has shown me that 'law' and lawyers had a complicated view of women, and I think that an elaboration of this point is a contribution which a legal historian can make to the gender/women's history debate.
Welcome to Bracton's Sister, my Legal History site. Why Bracton's Sister? Well, it's a nod to Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own with its notion of Shakespeare's sister. As with literature, law was, until the twentieth century, an exclusively male profession, and we might wonder about the thoughts of Judith Bracton on the developing common law of the thirteenth century. Unlike her brother Henry, she did not have the chance of becoming a judge and reputed author/editor of an important legal treatise. One day, her works may be discovered. Until then, there is Bracton's Sister.
What's it for? The idea is that it will:
1. give some details of my current research projects;
2. note interesting new work from others which has impressed me;
3. bring a bit of legal history into more lives than could be reached by seminar and conference presentations and academic journal papers.
Legal historians don't tend to get out much, which is a pity, because our subject is fascinating and packed with human interest, as well as the intricacies of writs and deeds. Sometimes, there's even some humour. So the site will allow me to publicise the interest of the subject (without actually having to go out and talk to real people). Ideal. And Judith Bracton agrees.


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Danish Pastry
Ingredients3 h 8 m servings 226
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- Metric
Directions{{model.addEditText}} Print
- In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and 2/3 cup of flour. Divide into 2 equal parts, and roll each half between 2 pieces of waxed paper into a 6 x12 inch sheet. Refrigerate.
- In a large bowl, mix together the dry yeast and 3 cups of the remaining flour. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the milk, sugar and salt. Heat to 115 degrees F (43 degrees C), or just warm, but not hot to the touch. Mix the warm milk mixture into the flour and yeast along with the eggs, and lemon and almond extracts. Stir for 3 minutes. Knead in the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time until the dough is firm and pliable. Set aside to rest until double in size.
- Cut the dough in half, and roll each half out to a 14 inch square. Place one sheet of the cold butter onto each piece of dough, and fold the dough over it like the cover of a book. Seal edges by pressing with fingers. Roll each piece out to a 20x 12 inch rectangle, then fold into thirds by folding the long sides in over the center. Repeat rolling into a large rectangle, and folding into thirds. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Remove from the refrigerator one at a time, and roll and fold each piece two more times. Return to the refrigerator to chill again before shaping. If the butter gets too warm, the dough will become difficult to manage.
- To make danishes, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. The dough can be cut into squares, with a filling placed in the center. Fold 2 of the corners over the center to form a filled diamond shape. Or, fold the piece in half, cut into 1 inch strips, stretch, twist and roll into a spiral. Place a dollop of preserves or other filling in the center. Place danishes on an ungreased baking sheet, and let rise until doubled. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (220 degrees C). Danishes can be brushed with egg white for a shiny finish.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the bottoms are golden brown.
- Partner Tip
- Reynolds® parchment can be used for easier cleanup/removal from the pan.
Nutrition Facts
Per Serving: 226 calories; 11.2 26.8 4.3 36 142 Full nutrition
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ReviewsRead all reviews 57
74 Ratings
Don't be intimidated by this recipe if you have some experience with baking. It truly makes excellent danish. Here are my modifications: Use your Kitchenaid stand mixer to mix all the ingredi...
This makes a tasty danish, but, in my opinion, is a little too labor intensive to make it worthwhile. It was yummy though!
Don't be intimidated by this recipe if you have some experience with baking. It truly makes excellent danish. Here are my modifications: Use your Kitchenaid stand mixer to mix all the ingredi...
This recipe is somewhat complicated and probably not for the novice baker. But the result is out of this world. The directions are clear, easy to follow, and give a good idea of the amount of ti...
This was one of the best danish pastry recipes I have ever tried!! I cut the recipe in half just in case it didn't turn out (hate to waste good ingredients) and did alter it just a little to be ...
Excellent recipe, though a lot of preparation time is needed. I would suggest doing steps 1-3 the day before you want to make the danishes, then keep refigerated overnight. If you like pec...
I'm a fourteen year old kid and i could fully understand this. They were wonderful. Try using apple butter or strawberry preserves as a filling. It's yummy!!!
This is a good basic recipe. I like the simplification of the puff pastry dough method. To begin, I halved the recipe. For filling, I used one large granny smith apple, peeled and thinly slice...
Thank you, thank you for this wonderful technique!!! I'm one of those people who rarely follow a recipe exactly. In fact, this time, I used my own dough recipe but wanted to leave a GLOWING revi...
I arbitrarily decided yesterday that I wanted to serve pineapple danish for this morning. I had the frozen pineapple to make a filling, just wasn't sure on the pastry. This is definitely a mo...
This makes a tasty danish, but, in my opinion, is a little too labor intensive to make it worthwhile. It was yummy though!


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Judge Dismisses Charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn
(NEW YORK) -- A judge in New York on Tuesday threw out the sexual assault case brought against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former International Monetary Fund chief and French presidential hopeful.
The ruling came shortly after the judge rejected a plea by Strauss-Kahn's accuser, hotel maid Naifissatou Diallo, to have the Manhattan district attorney's office replaced by a special prosecutor.
New York Criminal Court Judge Michael Obus granted a motion from prosecutors to dismiss all charges against the international power broker known simply as DSK, ending a highly publicized prosecution without answering the question of what really happened between Strauss-Kahn and the maid assigned to clean his hotel suite.
"I see no basis to deny that application" to dismiss the charges, Obus said. The judge stayed the order pending any appellate issues.
Defense attorneys said Strauss-Kahn would not return Tuesday to France but to his townhouse in New York.
Following the ruling, Strauss-Kahn walked out of court without answering questions from reporters, but released a statement shortly after saying he was grateful that the "nightmare" was over.
What was once viewed as a "strong" case based on an "unwavering" accuser fell apart amid "substantial" questions about the maid's credibility.
Assistant District Attorneys Joan Illuzzi-Orbon and Artie McConnell said the accuser "provided shifting and inconsistent versions of the events" and therefore they can't be sure "of what actually happened."
"We were no longer able to credit her version beyond a reasonable doubt," Illuzzi-Orbon said in court.
"We respectfully request that the court dismiss the indictment," she said.
During the investigation into the incident, prosecutors say, Diallo presented three different versions of the alleged assault and lied under oath. Her credibility "cannot withstand the most basic evaluation," prosecutors said in the motion.
Strauss-Kahn had long maintained he was innocent of the charges.
Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio


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Probably the easiest banana muffin recipe I've ever made. They're great if you have a sweet tooth, if not, I suggest cutting the sugar in half, and to make a slightly healthier version use spelt flour and oats in place of the white flour.
|vegan banana muffins
Banana muffins are a very easy muffin for vegans to make because the banana can act as a binder and provide moisture instead of eggs. So you don't needs eggs or even egg-replacer! Give this easy-peasy vegan banana nut muffin recipe a whirl and leave a comment to let us know what you think!
- 3 very ripe bananas
- 1/4 cup oil or vegan margarine, softened
- 1 cup sugar (1/2 cup for a slightly less sweet version)
- 2 cups flour (or 1 1/2 cups spelt flour, 1/2 cup oats)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Pre-heat oven to 360 degrees.
In a large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork till soft. Add the oil or vegan margarine and sugar and cream together.
In a separate bowl, combine together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Combine with the banana mixture, stirring gently just to combine.
Grease or line a muffin pan, and fill each muffin about 2/3 full with batter. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
Check out more recipes and reviews on About.com Vegetarian Food


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MAKING OURSELVES is our monthly series focused on finding and creating more time to nurture and prioritize ourselves, our passions, hobbies & health. You can read all the posts HERE.
Be sure to follow along on social media & tag your own pics with #makingourselves!
It's been a while since our last Making Ourselves post and boy have I missed it. A few months ago I suffered from two back injuries and it took me down for a while. I'm just getting back into regular work again and I'm super excited to finally get to write another MO post! I'm so happy that some of you have been using the MO hashtag and writing to ask when the next post is! It makes me so happy!
Several things have happened since our last MO post and I'm happy to say that I've continued to work on myself and my work habits. I definitely noticed that if I hadn't of been doing all the exercise and healthy eating I started in December (I'm down 15lbs now), I wouldn't have recovered as quickly as I did. I surprised myself and my chiropractor with how quickly I was able to bounce back. All the determination to not slide back into old habits and routines was definitely helpful.
It's taken me a while to get back to where I am now (and I'm not 100% yet). I did any physical activity I could throughout my recovery. I just kept moving as much as possible and stuck to my eating plan and it worked. Thankfully even while I was healing, I was able to continue to lose weight. I paced my house, did the stairs etc. I wasn't allowed to sit much and that led to me being able to at least keep as mobile as possible.
Defeating negative thoughts.
I noticed that I felt really defeated and down the first week or two of my injury. All the negative thoughts came rushing in - things like I was going to fail, never get stronger, continue to be unhappy with my body etc., but I quickly realized that this wasn't the right way to handle it. I did my best to turn my negatives into a positive and just put all that negative energy into healing and getting stronger. I became quite proficient knitting standing up...lol. I knit and designed BRADWAY while injured and it definitely lifted my spirits!
After experiencing how powerful an affect that way of thinking had on me I started to find myself drawn to reading and learning more about positive thought. I was still feeling a need to eliminate more stress from day and the struggle to balance work/family. So I started researching on what else I could be doing for my body, my work, my mental health and my kids. That led me to meditation.
My meditation journey.
After dealing with some personal issues I found myself being strongly drawn to meditation. I have always had an interest in it but had never found the time to learn about it or try. I decided it was finally time to give it a go and just jump in. I went online, I read articles, I did research, I downloaded apps, playlists etc. I even have programs for my kids.
What do I think? I love it. It's changed my life, my way of thinking, and slowly but surely, I'm starting to chip away at old issues and bad habits. I try to do a meditation at least 1-2 times a day now. Sometimes I do short ones throughout if it's a particularly bad day. Sometimes I just do 1 really long one. It depends on my thoughts and feelings each day but no matter what, I always feel ten times better and happier when I'm done.
My oldest daughter and I have both been finding it wonderful. She can now go to her quiet place and do her meditation when she "feels" she needs it or we do it together. I've noticed a change in her as well as myself, and she's slowly learning to become more in control of her emotions (which she struggles with) and so have I.
It's given us a whole other way to talk about our feelings and emotions together and allows me to be a better parent and her to communicate more clearly with me when she is dealing with something. Breathing and positive thinking has been helping with mood tantrums, sass talking, sibling arguments and more. Don't get me wrong - there are still these things going on, she is a kid after all, but I'm learning how to teach her to control her anger/frustration and for me to not react so quickly when she does express those emotions.
If you've been curious about meditation for kids I highly recommend looking into it. There is lots of great information online and apps, books as well. I think as the years go by now you will see this become more mainstream and a play a larger role in parenting in the future.
How meditation has helped me.
1/ PERSONAL LIFE. One of the best things I've learned from meditating is to see all sorts of situations differently. I look at them, think about them and handle them in a much different manner now than I have in the past. Don't get me wrong, there's still days where my old habits stick hard, but I am able to see them more clearly now and try to do better the next day. It's even been helping with the anxieties & phobias I have. There are a few things I have stopped doing that I enjoy in life due to my phobias and for the first time in years I'm starting to feel like I can get back out and enjoy them again. This is truly a wonderful and freeing feeling.
I've also been really trying to "live in the moment". To take each experience in as fully as possible. To just be present. I've struggled with this off and on since becoming a mom and working at home. My mind is always on what things I should or need to be doing instead of enjoying the moment I'm in. So I'm getting better at just taking a breath and letting myself let go and have more fun.
2 / WORK LIFE. When it comes to work the meditation has also helped. I always have a mind that's going a mile a minute. I'm always creating and chatting away in my head. It's hard to sleep at night. I find myself more focused on my work now when I am doing it and I'm also much more efficient at bringing new ideas into reality because I'm not distracting myself with the ten other new things I want to get made. This has been particularly hard for me to change and I'm still working on it. I've only just begun on a long journey for this portion but overall it's definitely helped my creativity and to reign it in and be more focused on the things I love to do.
I've learned to try to not sweat the small stuff so much. I've realized that I can't do everything and that I'm only one person. I can't do the job of 5 and be healthy and happy. This realization has helped me to prioritize better. Sometimes things won't get done and I'm learning to be "ok" with that for now. I'm trying to learn to continue to make time for myself to have down time and relax and enjoy life as well as my work.
3 / STRESS. I've also found myself drawn to stress releiving and relaxing activities. Such as adult colouring, sketching, enjoying the quietness, reading, swimming etc. I'm now learning to carve time out in my day to enjoy these things to help keep me calm and focused. I promise to talk more about the adult colouring really soon! I've been LOVING it! I've got lots to say on that subject so stay tuned!
So far it's been a start to a wonderful new journey and one I hope will help me become a better version of "me".
I'd love to hear from you guys. Do you meditate? Do you enjoy it or have always wanted to try it? Do you have any tips/resources you recommend? I'd love to put together a great list for us.
I can't wait to hear from you! Please leave a comment below! xoxo
Have you been joining in on MAKING OURSELVES? I'd love to hear about it! Leave me a comment below so we can chat! Be sure to tag your pics with #makingourselves on social media so I can cheer you on too!
You can always stay up to date on the series by visiting our MAKING OURSELVES home page HERE.


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NSF Certified
The manufacturing process of this product is regularly checked and certified by the National Sanitation Foundation and meets the highest standards for public health protection.
Anti-roll Design
A flat portion of the display prevents the thermometer from rolling and potentially harmful falls.
Safe Extend Probe Holder
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Probe Sheath with Pocket Clip
Keep the thermometer close at hand and protect the probe when not in use with a probe sheath constructed using antimicrobial materials.
Target Cooking Temperatures
The protective sheath features target cooking temperatures for beef, lamb, pork, veal, fish, poultry and ground beef.
Cross-mounted Display
The display face is mounted perpendicular to the probe for better viewing when taking measurements at high angles above the target.


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Blog Archives
Frankly, Sinclair Was Right
Last weekend, we saw a match abandoned with seven minutes remaining due to an injury sustained by the referee. This sparked a debate between the two clubs as to why the game wasn't completed.
In case you're unaware, the match in question was Colwyn Bay v Altrincham in the FA Trophy Third Qualifying Round. With the away side leading 2-0 after 83 minutes, referee Mark Ackerman pulled up with a calf strain and was unable to continue. As there was no fourth official present, the hunt began for a suitable alternative to step in and officiate so the game could be completed.
An announcement was put out over the stadium tannoy appealing for a qualified official to volunteer. A fan did come forward to volunteer. The individual was a Grade 5 referee, meaning he could run the line and the game could be seen to its conclusion. However, Colwyn Bay manager Frank Sinclair was concerned that the fan had consumed alcohol, and so refused the proposal. Altrincham then offered to have their coach, Ian Senior, run the line. Again, this was refused by Colwyn Bay, who said that Senior was not qualified and so could not be trusted to get the decisions right. It has today been announced that the game will now be replayed tomorrow night (Tuesday November 19th), which in my opinion is the correct decision.
Altrincham said the game should have been awarded to them as they were winning, and well on top of the match. However, as competition rules clearly state:
"When a first match has been postponed, or is abandoned before the completion of 90 minutes and neither club being at fault, it shall be played on the same ground on or before the following Thursday.
Matches abandoned through the fault of the clubs shall be dealt with by the National Game Board."
I've highlighted the key phrase. Neither club was at fault for the referee getting injured, therefore the game had to be replayed. End of.
As for the proposed solutions to complete the original game, Sinclair was well within his rights to refuse. He has been accused by representatives from Alty that he was determined that the match would be abandoned because his side were losing. And while I don't deny he used the rules to his advantage, I certainly don't blame him.
Bottom line: if the volunteer who steps forward is suspected of being under the influence of alcohol, then that person cannot officiate in any capacity. Similarly, an unqualified person should not be officiating either, especially when they are employed by one of the clubs taking part.
And consider this: people have cast Frank Sinclair as the bad guy because he pushed for the game his team was losing to be abandoned. But yet nobody seems to have pointed out that Alty were only desperate for the game to be completed because they were winning. If the game had been level, I doubt there would have been any controversy. And if the scoreline was the other way round, I can assure you the roles would have been also!
As stated, the game will now be replayed, and the real losers in this whole mess are the fans, as always. The travelling fans had a 130 mile round trip, and in the end it was a wasted one. For those brave souls who will make the trip again on Tuesday, at least they will only have to pay half price for their admission.
I am just awaiting the fallout should Colwyn Bay win…
Colwyn Bay v Vauxhall Motors: Match Preview
Stephen Prosser previews this New Year's Day encounter at Llanelian Road, as Jon Newby's side look to address a four game losing run. Read the rest of this entry
Richard Offiong alleges Lee McEvilly racially abused him during Blyth Vs Colwyn Bay game
Richard Offiong has made claims on twitter that he was racially abused by Lee McEvilly in the Blyth Spartans Vs Colwyn Bay game.
Offiong alleges that McEvilly said to him "where's your bunch of bananas, show me your passport" and has gone on to claim that team mates of his heard the abuse and that in the past he has reported abuse but nothing has being done about the matter.
My personal view of this is that its sad that in such a multicultural world that racism is something that still goes on and if McEvilly is found guilty of saying these things then he should be banned from the game for life.
Regarding Offiong's claims that he has reported matters in the same vein of this topic in the past and nothing has happened is not only worrying if true but not good enough either as we rely on the FA to make football a fun and safe enviroment where people should be judged on how they play football and not their race.
James Griffiths
FA Trophy Third Qualifying Round
The draw for the Third Qualifying Round of this season's FA Trophy has now been made. This is the round where clubs from the Conference North and South enter proceedings, and I thought I would pick out some highlights.
Firstly, my club, Hampton & Richmond Borough, have been drawn at home against Canvey Island, who currently sit tenth in the Ryman Premier League. It's a good draw for The Beavers, a home tie and a good chance of progressing into the first round proper, where the Conference Premier clubs await.
Elsewhere, and Under The League's James Griffiths still has an interest in the competition. His beloved Matlock Town will have a plum home tie with Hyde, who are flying high in the Conference North. Matlock do, however, have the small matter of a home replay with divisional rivals Hednesford Town to contest first, after the first match ended goalless.
FC United Of Manchester could set up a local derby with Altrincham, if they can overcome Durham in a replay. Redbridge FC will face East Thurrock United in an Essex derby, and there could be another one if AFC Hornchurch can get past Harrow Borough in a replay. The winners will travel to Thurrock FC, who sit bottom of the Conference South table.
Meanwhile, the draw has thrown up a "top v bottom" clash between Conference North leaders Stalybridge Celtic and Blyth Spartans, who sit bottom at the time of the draw. Spartans will be at home for the match though, which could have an impact on the result. Conference South leaders Woking, meanwhile, face a very tricky looking trip to Chelmsford City, who are chasing a playoff place in the same division.
Gosport Borough have been garnering a lot of attention lately, due to the fact that they boast Steve Claridge in their ranks, and they will face a very tough trip to Conference South side Dorchester Town in the next round. They will need every ounce of Claridge's vast experience to get through the tie. FC Halifax Town, who face Charlton Athletic in the FA Cup in their biggest ever game this weekend, have an away day against fellow Conference North side Colwyn Bay in the Trophy.
The games will be played the weekend of November 26th, and the full draw can be found here
BSN Results Roundup – October 29th 2011
With a programme curtailed by the FA Cup, there were just five games played in the Conference North. These games did entertain though, with fourteen goals shared between the clubs, and no goalless draws.
Leaders Stalybridge maintained their three point lead at the top of the division with a 2-0 win over Worcester City at Bower Fold. The visitors themselves are currently chasing a playoff place, but two goals from striker Connor Jennings sealed the points for the home side. The young striker now has thirteen goals in the league this season. Second placed side Hyde also won, with a convincing win at Harrogate Town. The result was made all the more striking as all three goals came from defenders. Andrew Pearson, Danny Hall and Gianluca Havern netted the goals that keep up the pressure on the leaders.
Boston United missed the chance to rise into the playoff places as they could only manage a 2-2 draw with Colwyn Bay. Jason Lee put the hosts in front, but it was the visitors who went in ahead at halftime. Two goals from Lee McEvilly in stoppage time at the end of the first period turned the score on it's head. In fact, it wasn't until the eighth minute of added time at the end of the game before a thunderous thirty yard effort from Ben Milnes meant the spoils were shared.
In the other two games, Histon recorded a much needed win, beating Workington 2-0 thanks to second half goals from Daniel Sparkes and Dan Holman. The result saw Workington drop to second bottom, as Eastwood Town got themselves a fine 2-1 atVauxhall Motors thanks to goals from Jake Sheridan and Jarrod Westcarr. The home side had led through a McGivern penalty, but that lead lasted just two minutes.
There is another game on Halloween night, as Hinckley United host Solihull Moors. Both sides find themselves in a scary position in the league, and will be hoping to find the ghouls, sorry goals, to climb the table.


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Pre-leasing is now underway at 1405 Point, the nearly completed waterfront residential building located at 1405 Point Street in Harbor Point. 1405 Point is scheduled for completion in February 2018, with the first move-in ready units available in January.
The new 17-story building features 289 luxury residences with a mix of studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom floorplans. Prices start at $1,560 for a 368-square foot studio apartment, up to $3,440 for certain three-bedroom, 1,136 square foot models. Each residential unit will include modern cabinetry, quartz countertops and stainless appliances. The floor-to-ceiling windows in each unit offer stunning views of the harbor and private balconies will be available with select floorplans.
Other amenities at 1405 Point include an 11th floor pool deck with sun lounge area and grilling stations, fitness center, plush resident lounge, common-area chef's kitchen, and on-site bike storage. The amenity offerings will be complemented with 24/7 concierge services for residents. The building also has nearly 18,000 square feet of street level retail, with previously announced Vida Taco Bar and Solidcore both set to open in early 2018.
"At 1405 Point, we've strived to create a highly-desirable living space paired with great amenities – however, our real amenity is the neighborhood," said Jonathan Flesher, Vice President of Development at Beatty Development Group. "The public open spaces, along with best-in-class shops and restaurants, coupled with its central location between Harbor East and Fell's Point, is what really makes the Harbor Point neighborhood the ideal place to live."
Pre-leasing is currently taking place at a temporary leasing center on the surface parking lot at 950 S. Caroline Street, from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Saturday and 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Sunday. For more information, visit 1405Point.com or call 410-401-0299.


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Welcome to the online store! I've decided to make it quick and easy to purchase the electronic editions of all of my books straight from the website. All purchases come with the download links for the .mobi and .epub editions. The PDF versions of books are usually the last to be added, so if the PDF isn't available yet for a title, please check back later. Thank you for reading!
The Mages of Bloodmyr Series
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Product description for: The Circle of Sorcerers Kindle edition, 81,000 words.
When Laedron Telpist's sorcery training is interrupted by a knock on the door, what once seemed a proper profession must now be hidden. In a world where priests and mages vie for the limitless power of the elements and a new Grand Vicar has sworn death to all sorcerers, Laedron is tossed into a nightmare which would see his destruction at every turn.
From the home shores in western Sorbia, through the Cael'Brilland heartlands, and even across the seas to the great city of Azura, Laedron finds himself embracing old friends, consorting with unlikely allies, and confronting potent enemies. As he struggles to train himself in spellcraft, Laedron must face that he lives in a time when the utterance of a simple spell could be the signature on his death warrant.
The Consuls of the Vicariate, Book #2 of the Mages of Bloodmyr Series, is now available.The Immortals of Myrdwyer, Book #3 of the Mages of Bloodmyr Series, is now available.
This series is complete.
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Product description for: The Consuls of the Vicariate Kindle edition, 73,000 words.
Having arrived in the Holy Land, Laedron Telpist continues his journey to halt a war provoked by the Heraldan church. He discovers that the war he so desperately wants to stop is merely a prelude to something much older than he could have imagined.With the aid of his allies, Laedron must uncover hidden plots, bring justice to the rampant corruption, and end a conflict before it claims more victims.
Laedron, his friends, and the Shimmering Dawn knights face off against new foes, some willing to trade their loyalty for power and the ancient secrets of spellcraft and others more dangerous than outward appearances would suggest.
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Product description for: The Immortals of Myrdwyer Kindle edition, 75,000 words.
Laedron hasn't been able to sleep for a week, yet he feels fresh and invigorated. He heals at an extraordinary rate, and finds that his hunger is satisfied by only a few morsels of food each day. Enhanced by the use of a soulstone, a vicar's restoration spell has done much more than cure Laedron's wounds, and a book with no name might be the key to discovering why. Unfamiliar with the deep implications of the magic behind his newfound abilities, he feels like his life is spinning out of control, and he must know the truth.
Laedron leads his companions to a land of vast pine forests to learn more of his condition, for the book mentions some of his symptoms and hints at the oldest secrets of mages. When he arrives in Lasoron, a strange old woman points him in the direction of the ancient ruins of Myrdwyer to uncover the answers he so desperately seeks. An old feud, a host of soul-sucking enemies, and a madman bent on revenge stand between him and the answers he hopes to find, but he soon learns that some secrets are better left unknown to mortals.