Tea at Trianon: Ancient Celtic Shield Discovered

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Monday, December 23, 2019

Ancient Celtic Shield Discovered

From Express:

Approximately 20 humans buried inside chariots have been found in the past 100 years or so, mostly in Yorkshire – but without horses. Paula Ware, the director of Map Archaeological Practice, which excavated the grave, said: “The magnitude and preservation of the Pocklington chariot burial has no British parallel, providing a greater insight into the Iron Age epoch.” The archaeologist called the shield an “incomparable” Iron Age find due to its “previously unknown design feature”.

She said the shield’s scalloped border “is not comparable to any other Iron Age finds across Europe, adding to its valuable uniqueness”. Ms Ware added: “The popular belief is that elaborate metal-faced shields were purely ceremonial, reflecting status, but not used in battle.

“Signs of repairs can also be seen, suggesting the shield was not only old but likely to have been well used.”

The Iron Age grave, the inhabitant of which is believed to have died between 320BC and 174BC, was first discovered at a building site in the market town in 2018. (Read more.)