Richard III & The Greyfriars Project 4: The Burial Site

The Newly Filled Trench 3 

The archaeological activity at Greyfriars in Leicester seems to be winding down now after a final round of public access days.  A few days ago I visited the dig once more to view the actual site where human remains were found.  I also called in to Leicester’s lovely old guildhall nearby, to take another look at the small selection of artefacts recovered from the dig.

Inlaid Floor Tile From Greyfriars Church

Medieval Silver Penny From The Site

Inlaid Tile Fragments From The Site 

Copper Alloy Letters Possibly From Greyfriars Church Tombs 

Leicester Guildhall

The scope of the project was reduced somewhat as Trench 3, where evidence of Robert Herrick’s 17th Century garden were found, had already been filled in.  It was interesting to see how the other two trenches had been excavated further since my first visit, revealing, amongst other features, sections of possible stone benches from the friary chapter house.  The main features of interest had been simply but effectively labelled this time round and, once again, the guides provided clear information about what we were seeing and interesting insights into how the Greyfriars complex might have been used by its occupants.

Trench Two Now Showing Orientation
Of Cloister Passage Clearly

Remains Of Chapter House In Trench 1 

Remains Of Chapter House In Trench 1

Remains Of Probable Chapter House Bench In Trench 1

Various leaflets and information sheets were also available and included some colourful background about the relocation of Richard’s own bed from Nottingham Castle to Leicester’s Blue Boar Inn prior to the Battle of Bosworth.  Reputedly, it remained there afterwards, subsequently revealing a hoard of golden coins secreted in the base.  I wonder if this is an authenticated account or just more picturesque Ricardian folklore? There's also a suggestion the inn was originally known as The Silver Boar, (Richard's Emblem), and hurriedly renamed after his defeat.

The Burial Site

The Burial Site Adjacent To Victorian Foundations

Of course, the main attraction was the actual site where Richard III’s remains, (if it is indeed him), were found.  It’s striking just how near to later brick foundations the skeleton had lain and just how close it must have come to being destroyed or at least disturbed by their construction.  This was something specifically alluded to during my first visit as a reason why Richard’s discovery was unlikely and makes me speculate again if the archaeologists knew what they had even at that stage.  Either way, it seems the location of the corpse, - centrally within a prominent area of the church choir, certainly points to a high status burial, as might have been accorded a fallen monarch.

Silver Boar Badge Found At Bosworth Field

It’s been a local event of some significance and appears to have captured the imagination of Leicester's citizens and the global media alike in recent weeks.  Hopefully, the results of DNA analysis will put the matter beyond doubt conclusively before the year’s out.  I notice that there has already been some discussion in the local press about what should happen to the remains and even a suggestion of redeveloping the old burnt-out Friars Mills factory as a Richard III museum.  It wasn’t specified who would fund that.

Written City 5: Parking Situation

When I got up this morning and took my first glance out of the window I was slightly startled to see this parked outside.

Apologies To Anyone Who Is Easily Offended

Round here we’re more used to town centre workers and Saturday shoppers using the street for convenient free parking so it did at least provide some novelty value.  There’s clearly some type of protest being made here and a touch of cut-price anarchy about that matt black paint job, although it doesn’t quite have the street poetry or philosophical underpinnings of the best Situationist graffiti.  I am rather charmed by the quite careful but slightly wonky lettering though.  Anyway, I guess it’s an alternative example of an urban text and must allow Tim to take it to all the streets.

Contemporary Situationist-Inspired Graffiti, Provenance Unknown

Contemporary Situationist-Inspired Graffiti, Provenance Unknown

Luckily, the Transit  didn't explode and was gone by the time I’d showered so I’ll probably never know what’s written on the other sides.  Mostly, I suppose it’s just one of those slightly incongruous little events that keep the everyday interesting.

Playlist 5

The soundtrack to this month includes several majesties and a milkman...

‘Their Satanic Majesties Request’, The Rolling Stones

Conventional wisdom labels this a failed attempt to compete with The Beatles’ ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’.  It’s certainly not as well resolved a piece, but I actually prefer it.  If ‘Sgt Pepper’ is ultimately about taking drugs, this sounds like it was made on drugs.

In places ‘T.S.M.R.’ may degenerate into the shambolic stoned jamming with bongos style typical of the period but the best parts still sound, as do all good Stones songs, like they evolved from Keith strumming riffs on someone’s battered sofa.  Surprisingly, Bill Wyman’s ‘In Another Land’ provides an arch riposte to ‘Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds’.  Although the band was always rooted in the raw blues tradition, this album is still a fine piece of English Psychedelia.  ‘Citadel’, ‘She’s A Rainbow, and ‘The Lantern’ are memorable.

‘Secondhand Daylight’, Magazine

I rediscovered this after a friend described photographing a recent reincarnation of Magazine.  Howard Devoto shrugged off the Punk straight jacket early to pursue a more sophisticated musical course whilst retaining the sullenness of the times.  Magazine’s sound is often described as a kind of Post Punk Prog. and certainly, they were unafraid to switch either musical style or time signature mid-song.  The album frames Devoto’s alienated lyrics and anxious vocals with edgy guitars, chilling synths and occasional saxophone to create something palpably cold and unsettling.

‘Individuellos’, La Dusseldorf

La Dusseldorf Circa 1981

La Dusseldorf was formed by Klaus Dinger, - previously half of the better-known Kosmische band Neu!  There are definite similarities between the two projects but La Dusseldorf’s material emphasises Dinger’s role as the more abrasive, subversive element of the earlier duo.  What do remain constant are the wonderful steady, ‘motorik’ drum patterns that Dinger originated.  I love how both bands seem to be propelled in endless progress.

‘Individuellos’ was the third La Dusseldorf album, - reportedly made despite a dearth of original material.  As with Neu! 2, this led Dinger to experimentally rework the same themes several times but for me, the individuality of each piece means it’s no problem.  It’s also possible his sense of the absurd was getting a little out of hand at this stage as there are tracks here featuring massed kazoos and clip-clopping horse hooves.  It’s easy to imagine Klaus the prankster smirking along with those endless beats.

‘Mirrorwriting’, Jamie Woon

There seem to be loads of smart young men called James or Jamie designing life-style music these days.  This album won’t change the world and might end up as one of those dinner party background suites but I enjoy its spare arrangements and spotless production.  Woon has a soulful voice and augments his plaintive, emotive songs with enough Burial-type atmospheres and contemporary beat science to hold the attention.

‘I Was Young And I Needed The Money!’, The Clifford Gilberto Rhythm Combination

Clifford Gilberto Gets A Little Camper

Florian Schmitt adopted the groovy CGRC moniker to release this in 1998.  It adheres to the ‘Drill & Bass’ sub-genre aesthetic of madly accelerated jungle beats and blends them with Latin, Jazz and Funk elements to good effect.  Like all the best music of this kind it proceeds in both manic and laid-back timescales simultaneously and proceeds with style and good humour.

‘Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West)’, Benny Hill

Benny Hill peddled his brand of saucy postcard humour to ever diminishing returns throughout my formative years.  To some he’s a cheeky chappie, - to others, an evil misogynist.  Back then it was de rigueur for comedians to release novelty records and, whilst I never need to see his TV show again, this was his finest hour and always makes me chuckle.

‘Glass Swords’, Rustie

The most interesting dance/beats based musicians no longer seem hidebound by fidelity to genre or stylistic authenticity.  For many, the manner of production now seems to involve compiling a grab-bag of sounds from any source or tradition and assembling them into pleasing new forms with a willingness to contemplate limitless combinations.  ‘Glass Swords’, - the first album by Glaswegian Russell Whyte, epitomises this and displays a pleasing disregard for the dictates of ‘taste’ in the process.

Whilst its underlying day-glo aesthetic might derive from Hardcore Rave, flavours of R&B, Trance, Dubstep, Hip Hop, and just about any other style you care to mention, are all thrown into the mix with cheerful abandon.  This sonic feast of synthetic squiggles, percussive fizz-bombs and cartoon exclamations initially sounds like a Game Boy addicted A.D.H.D. sufferer let loose in a Pick n Mix but further listening reveals each track to have a coherent internal logic and seductive fluidity.  It’s also clear that Whyte possesses a surprisingly strong melodic sense.

‘Good Companye, Great Music From A Tudor Court’, The Elizabethan Consort

'Portrait Of Henry VIII As A Young Man',
Artist Unknown, 16th Century

I recently enjoyed Hillary Mantell’s Thomas Cromwell novels, set amidst the decadence of Henry VIII’s court, so this provided some excellent period ambience.  I’m always amazed how a bunch of self-serving gangsters and megalomaniacs were subjected, daily, to music of such beauty.

This includes Henry’s own celebratory composition, ‘Pastyme With Good Companye’, - a song that also turns up on…

‘Gryphon’, Gryphon

Aah, - the Prog. Seventies!  It was a time when extravagantly hirsute music college graduates like Gryphon and Lincoln’s own Amazing Blondel, could don period costume, pick up recorders or crumhorns and make perfectly credible Medieval Folk Rock.  As musicians, Gryphon were the real deal, - even giving album credits to the period instrument builders who facilitated their antique sound.  This was their first album and, along with King Henry’s ditty also includes the lovely ‘The Unquiet Grave’, - a traditional song with a familiar tune that breaks my heart whenever it resurfaces.

‘Magnificat’, Thomas Tallis, (Performed By Chapelle Du Roi).

'Portrait Of Thomas Tallis', Niccolo Haym (After Gerard
Van Der Gucht), Engraving, 16th Century

Here’s something else from the Tudor period.  Thomas Tallis composed sacred music throughout the reigns of most of the dynasty and, despite remaining Catholic himself, managed to negotiate the upheavals in faith that define the period.  I’ve no involvement with religion but cannot escape the profound beauty of this music.  I’ve always loved the vocal intertwining of choral polyphony and find Tallis to be the absolute champion of the form.  What need of God if humans can create such sounds?

Bob Dylan: 'Tempest'

At this late stage in his never-ending career, any new material by Bob Dylan is met with baited breath and crossed fingers by some and, probably, total indifference by the rest.  For those who actually care, the obvious questions this time might include:

• Will this one maintain the supposed run of form he’s been enjoying in his later years?

• Has he got his writing head on or is he satisfied to just rhyme lazy couplets?

• Has he still got that brilliant band behind him?

• Can he still express any recognisable human emotion with his wreck of a voice?

• Given the debate over the suggestive title, is this a conscious swan song or is that all just a marketing ploy?

• Did the intern spend his whole lunch break doing the lazy artwork and can I do the graphics next time?

Bob Wisely Elects to Stand In Front Of The Artwork

My first impression is that, yes, this is at least consistent with the last four, (possibly five), original albums, (I’m overlooking ‘Christmas In The Heart’ here as a charitable novelty release).  One might even regard it, in parts, as a companion piece to ‘Time Out Of Mind’ and it does share some of that album’s dark meditations on the aging process.  15 years ago that felt like Dylan’s first expressed intimation of his own mortality (through old age as opposed to rock & roll gun slinging), and there’s no point pretending it’s not dark now.

‘Tempest’ still draws from an extensive catalogue of musical tradition but this time more as a vehicle to get things off his chest than as part of a heritage industry.  In the wake of his “Theme Time Radio Hour’ satellite broadcasts, recent recordings have sometimes descended into vintage styling for nostalgia’s sake.  The opening two cuts here indicate more of the same but this album soon takes a different turn and when the fiddle blues of ‘Narrow Way’ kicks in, Dylan’s striding purposefully down his personal highway, just like you’d want.

Elderly Man, Fast Car & At Least Six Pretty Good Songs

It seems the real meat of the matter is in the 6 tracks occupying the middle section.  Here, Dylan appears to really have things to say and it’s the sense of genuine conviction that marks the album out from the last few.  Of late, we’ve sensed Bob rocking on his porch and casting his mind back over the years but here the ornery old curmudgeon often seems to be out of his seat and keen to straighten a few folks out.  ‘Pay in Blood’, displays plenty of that harsh, Old Testament justice, in response to human failings or personal slights, which has haunted his lyrics right from the start and violent retribution looms large in many of these lyrics.  ‘Tin Angel’ is a lengthy murder ballad of doomed love, not unlike ‘Rosemary, Lily & The Jack Of Hearts’ from ‘Blood On The Tracks’.  In other places there are hints of the existential melodrama that characterise the best bits of ‘Street Legal’ and a title like ‘Early Roman Kings’ could easily come from that record.  The implied threat of many of these lyrics goes along with a startling misogyny and sexual explicitness that appears sensationalist.  It becomes important to recognise the occasional moments of tenderness that also occur.

Much is being made of the epic title track, recounting the sinking of the Titanic over nearly 14 minutes and 45 short verses, but for me it’s the weakest thing here.  This certainly isn’t ‘Desolation Row’ in its drug-fuelled Beat poetry magnificence, just because that earlier song referenced the doomed ship, and lacks the surreal drama of ‘Black Diamond Bay’ or the satire of ‘Talkin’, Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues’.  The traditional sounding Irish refrain framing this lyric is trite and can’t support the song’s sagging edifice.  Dylan’s only slightly eccentric account of the events lacks the dark drama the subject demands and sounds more like a song about the mainstream film of the disaster.

Leonardo Di Caprio & Kate Winslett, 'Titanic', Dir. James Cameron, 1997

This band, led by David Hildago, is amongst the best Dylan’s had, (some achievement).  They can swing like maniacs and are tight but never clinical.  You could argue they’re wasted on these simplistic, repetitious song structures but that’s always been Dylan’s modus operandi really.  There are some excellent spacious arrangements with great use of accordion, violin, banjo and loads of light-touch snare drumming.  Dylan has plenty of room to stretch out and the clever production pushes his vocals to the forefront.  If that voice is no longer a viable tool live, he generally overcomes its limitations on this recording.  He can still get a little urgency into his gargling and demonstrates he’s not lost his real talent for properly risky phrasing.

Dylan And His Band Emphasise The Importance Of A Good Hat, Yet Again 

Who knows if this will be Dylan’s last original album?  I doubt if Bob does.  He appears to have always acted on instinct rather than by calculated strategy and has the luxury of doing pretty much what he wants while his stamina lasts, I guess.  If this were the last, it wouldn’t be a bad way to go out and it would have been an anti-climax to sign out with a collection of carols and cheesy Christmas songs.  Actually, there’s enough here to leave me wondering what the next one might sound like.

Hilary Mantel: 'Wolf Hall' & 'Bring Up The Bodies'

It intrigues me how often connected themes influences or memories coincide at certain times.  Currently, I seem unable to escape from 15th and 16th Century history for several reasons.  I’ve already referred repeatedly to the Archaeological project currently focussed on Greyfriars Friary and Richard III in Leicester.  By coincidence, that commenced just as I finished reading Hilary Mantel’s entertaining Tudor novels ‘Wolf Hall’ [1.] and ‘Bring Up The Bodies’. [2.]

Both books focus on the figure of Thomas Cromwell and his role in the lurid soap opera of Henry VIII’s first three marriages and, more generally, the establishment of the English Reformation.  Whilst this takes us a few decades on from the events of Bosworth Field and Richard III’s defeat, there’s a clear connection between the questionable claim to power of the victorious Henry Tudor (Henry VII) and his son’s desperate attempts to secure a male heir and thus cement both dynasty and continuing national stability.  The resulting upheavals  laid the foundations for  many of the features of the British state that we still take for granted.

Unknown Artist, 'Portrait Of Anne Boleyn', 16th Century

Hilary & Thomas

When ‘Wolf Hall’ won the Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 2009 it seemed that the historical novel had come of age and finally gained a degree of critical respect.  This, I imagine, is due to the overall quality of Mantel’s writing and the richness of her descriptive detail and depth of characterisation in particular.  Her research appears meticulous and she finds new mileage in a familiar story by viewing it through the eyes of Cromwell the ambitious commoner and Machiavellian fixer.  Mantel's dual achievement  is give a credible, seemingly authentic account of events and socio-political context whilst populating it with psychologically convincing characters.

Hans Holbein The Younger, 'Portrait Of Thomas Cromwell',
Oil On Panel, 1533

This all reminded me of an exhibition of Holbein’s portrait drawings of the Tudor court I saw at the Buckingham Palace Gallery many years ago whilst studying A-Level History.  It was part of a field trip and Holbein’s beautiful, precise drawings provided a terrific window into the lives of the calculating gangsters, religious maniacs and manipulated/manipulating women from our textbooks.  To come full circle, I recall that trip also included a visit to Bosworth Field where we witnessed an eccentric two-man re enactment of the battle by galloping History teachers.

Hans Holbein The Younger, 'Drawing Of Unknown Woman',
 Chalk & Ink, 16th Century

Hans Holbein The Younger, 'Drawing Of Jane
Seymore', Chalk & Ink, 1536/37 

Hans Holbein The Younger, 'Portrait of Sir Thomas
Boleyn', Watercolour & Ink, 16th Century

Hans Holbein The Younger, 'Drawing Of Sir Thomas Wyatt,
Chalk & Ink c1535-37

The next element in this series of connected influences is the radio adaptation of C.J. Sansom’s historical novel ‘Dissolution’ [3.] currently being serialised on BBC Radio 4 Extra.  Sansom’s tale sits within the familiar sub-genre of the historical whodunit and displays superficial similarities to Umberto Eco’s ‘The Name of The Rose’. [4.]  Its context is the Cromwell-directed dissolution of the monasteries and he gives a much darker impression of Henry’s chief minister.  Sansom's Cromwell is directly implicated in brutal methods treated far more ambiguously by Mantel.  In reality, there’s precious little hard information about Thomas Cromwell the man but it’s yet another reminder, were it needed, of just how much the actions, motivations and public image of historical figures are subject to subsequent reinterpretation.  

Of course, the practice and priorities of a novelist are rather different from those of a historian or indeed a mediaeval archaeologist.  I suspect many academics in either field might regard the work of Mantel and/or Sansom as, at best, a superficial entertainment and, at worst, a detrimental obfuscation of evidence-based study.  However, this post is about connections and also how, for a lay person, the two worlds can feed into each other.  I  distinctly remember being given some extra reading by another History teacher prior to studying for O Levels.  One of those books was Josephine Tey’s novel, ‘The Daughter In Time’ [5.], - a fiction in which a contemporary detective attempts to discover whether Richard III really murdered his nephews in the Tower.  He concludes that Richard was framed and has received a bum rap ever since.  It fired both my imagination and a desire to continue studying History.

That brings this post full circle to Richard yet again.  It also demonstrates how historical fiction can be a gateway drug to the harder stuff and how, 36 years later, you can find yourself peering into a trench, wondering if his actual bones are still down there.

[1.]:  Hilary Mantel, 'Wolf Hall', London, Fourth Estate, 2009

[2.]:  Hilary Mantel, 'Bring Up The Bodies', London, Fourth Estate, 2012

[3.]:  C. J. Sansom, 'Dissolution', London, Macmilan, 2003

[4.]:  Umberto Eco, 'The Name Of The Rose', San Diego, Harcourt, 1983

[5.]:  Josephine Tey, 'The Daughter Of Time', London, Peter Davis, 1951

Richard III & The Greyfriars Project 3: Human Remains Exhumed

I’ll admit to being fascinated by all the activity around the search for Richard III and the archaeological project at Greyfriars in Leicester.  My apologies to any regular readers of this blog who aren’t as captivated by the subject as I am.  If it’s occupying a lot of my posts - it’s because it’s occupying much of my headspace just now.  Perhaps it’s because it feels like a significant drama is unfolding in real time in my own back yard.

Anyway, this post is a rapid response, (well, as soon as I got home from work), to the latest breaking news.  As reported on the National media early this morning and in an official press conference at 11.00 am, remains of one male and one female human have been found on the site.  The full details can be gleaned from the Greyfriars Project website news updates but it seems that investigations have begun into an adult male skeleton with possible battlefield injuries and evidence of a spinal deformity.  A prolonged period of DNA tests is required before any conclusions will be reached but this is pretty exciting.

Archaeologist Matthew Morris At The Site Of The Burial With...Er, Security.
The Yellow Dot Marks The Skeleton's Position.  (Photo: Reuters/Darren Staples) 

Site Plan.  The Burial Is Shown In Trench 1 Adjacent To The Walking Place

I notice that the team applied for official permission to exhume human remains on Friday August 3Ist.  According to their updates, that’s only at the point that the Friary architecture was starting to emerge.  Perhaps it was simply a case of being prepared ‘just in case’ but I do wonder if the down-playing by team members of any likelihood of finding Richard at the public open day on Saturday, September 8th might have been a little disingenuous.  They could hardly be blamed for not wanting their project obscured by media frenzy but it does suggest they maybe knew more than they were letting on.  I guess one must also bear in mind the discretion and decorum necessary when any human remains are being exhumed.  Either way, it seems that information about Richard is probably still being as carefully managed as it was five centuries ago.

Today's Press Conference Held At Leicester Guildhall

Gripping stuff!