Perhaps I was in a minority, when I didn't know what The Marches meant, or even where they were, but for the ignoramusses who still don't know; the word "March" comes from the Anglo-Saxon word "mearc" meaning boundary. Hence, The Marches is the boundary between England & Wales. So I'm just back from a few days in Ludlow, which is an ancient town in The Marches, in the county of Shropshire, & very pleasant it was too. Shropshire borders Herefordshire, which is apparently unique, in that it has 3 of the 4 pre-Norman Conquest castles in England, as well as being one of the main cider-making counties in Britain. So needless to say, I gathered some jolly nice bottles of cider & perry, to enjoy at my leisure between now & Christmas.
I so love medieval history. A few months ago, I read a book called The Greatest Traitor, which is about the life of Roger de Mortimer. He was the guy who, though married to Joan de Grenville (not to be confused with Joyce Grenfell), took a fancy to Queen Isabella, the French wife of King Edward II (rumoured to be gay). He not only persuaded her to leave him, but colluded with her to have Edward murdered, using a rather unpleasant method involving a poker. Despite this brutality, Roger appears to have been simply a man of his time and, believe it or not, for most of his life, he was far more decent than most of those around him. Read the book!
PS to FF: Referring to a previous comment of yours, regarding gender, you are obviously male, as it would be strange for a female to use that sort of innuendo. I may comment further on your blog.
PPS: Last Tango in Hanworth? I'm going away to think about that one.
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But The Greatest Traitor puts forward the theory that Mortimer didn't have Edward II murdered, but kept alive. Even if Edward really was murdered, the 'red-hot poker' method is extremely unlikely.
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