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Denny Bradbury Books

Denny Bradbury Books

Category Archives: History

A Nugget from Marcus Aurelius

19 Monday Feb 2018

Posted by dennybradburybooks in Denny's Diary, History

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Green earth in balance, Marcus Aurelius Meditations

I have recently discovered the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. In a modern world not everything he says has full resonance but this jumped off the page at me:

From Book 4 –

“So one should pass through this tiny fragment of time in tune with nature, and leave it gladly, as an olive might fall when ripe, blessing the earth which bore it and grateful to the tree which gave it growth.”

Very best wishes for a greener earth – Denny Bradbury 💚

A Sign of those Anglo Saxon times..

11 Sunday Oct 2015

Posted by dennybradburybooks in History

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9th century, anglo saxon, Borvo, Roman, society

Alfred the Great image

With the launch of Denny Bradbury’s highly anticipated second novel, Borvo II, it is worth taking the time to reflect back on what the ninth century was actually like for the people who lived during it.
Society was divided into three classes, with the top being the Thanes, the Anglo Saxon upper class who enjoyed feasting and hunting and was expected to give their followers gifts of weapons. Beneath them were the Churls of whom some were reasonably well-off and in the bottom tier were the Thralls for whom life was very hard. Some Churls were lucky enough to own their own land but many rented land from a thane. By renting it meant that they worked on the thane’s land for a part of the week and by also giving him a portion of their crops.
Unlike today where England is full of cars, houses, and buildings, Anglo Saxon England was covered by forest that was occupied by wolves that were a constant danger to domestic animals. The human population was also very small with roughly a million people in England at that time. Almost all of the population lived in tiny villages, each with less than 100 inhabitants, and was mainly self-sufficient with the villagers needing only a few things from outside like salt and iron as they grew their own food and made their own clothes.
By the 11th century this had begun to change and whilst a vast majority of the population still lived in the countryside, 10% – a significant minority – were living in towns. New towns had been created and trade was flourishing. Unlike the unrest of the 9th century when Britain experienced a great deal of unrest due to the influx of Viking people resulting in the invasion of East Anglia by the Danish army in 865, followed by the city of York and the kingdom of Northumbria and the western part of Mercia, leaving just the kingdom of Wessex to be safeguarded by Alfred the Great who also re-established his Anglo-Saxon rule over the western half of Mercia, in the 11th century England had grown into a civilised, stable state with an efficient system of local government, whilst learning and the arts flourished in the monasteries.
The Anglo Saxons also provided us with most of the English place names we have today, with Saxon place name endings including those such as ham, a village or estate, tun – which was usually changed to ton over time – , a farm or estate, hurst, a wooden hill and bury, derived from the Saxon word burh meaning fortress. The Anglo Saxons also called groups of Roman buildings a caster which in time would evolve into the place name ending in chester, caster or cester.
Family ties were very important in Anglo Saxon society; if you were killed, your relatives would avenge you and vice versa if it was one of your relatives that met a grisly end. However, the law did provide an alternative which meant if you did kill or injure somebody you could pay them or their family compensation a currency called wergild and varied in amount according to the person’s rank ie the wergild for killing a thane was much higher than that for killing a churl. Thralls and slaves had no wergild and if the wergild was not paid then the relatives were entitled to seek revenge.
Whilst at first Anglo Saxon society was relatively free, with the basis of society being the free peasant, over time the Anglo Saxon churls began to lose their freedom and became increasingly dependent on their Lords who wielded the control.
As the old Roman towns fell into decay and the Roman roads became overgrown, travel in Anglo Saxon times was slow and dangerous, with most people travelling only if it was unavoidable. For Borvo, it was just that. After ten years away from home, it was now time to go back and help his family….

My Grandfather, Soldier, WW1

04 Monday Aug 2014

Posted by dennybradburybooks in Denny's Diary, History

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First World War

It is important to remember WW1. To move forward with compassion and understanding we have to remember the past. Let us commemorate the start of this ugly war. I remember my Grandfather who, we understand, drove an ammunition lorry to the Front. He came back physically unscathed but hardened in heart and immune to any entreaty to move on. He did not tell of the horrors he saw so I am unable to share his burden of memory. He is long dead now and I hope resting in peace.

It has to be peace that is our goal. Let us listen to the rational among us and remember the appalling sacrifice of so many on every side, but with the intention of honouring them without glorifying war.

I salute the brave who fight for freedom.
I salute the brave who talk for peace.
I salute the brave who walk alone in a land of warmongers, wherever that may be.

Let us remember for the right reasons.

Very best wishes, Denny Bradbury

Lest We Forget…

11 Sunday Nov 2012

Posted by dennybradburybooks in History, Poetry

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First World War, history, John McCrae, Poetry, Wilfred Owen

Earlier today people up and down the country as well as various locations around the world bowed their heads in respect.  We remember….

The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month: 1918 the Great War was over.  Now the date and time is used to reflect on fallen comrades, those soldiers serving today, and the sacrifice which many have had to make and are still making today.

It is important to remember the past.  Many voices from the Great War still speak to us today through the written word.  Poetry enabled soldiers to express themselves.  People far from the trenches gained a small insight into the lives of service personnel.

The detail, the emotion is at times harrowing.  Poetry, more than any other form of literature, can stir up so many different feelings.

Sometimes poetry can be factual:

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
(Wilfred Owen, Dulce et Decorum est)

Other times it gives us an insight into the mental attitudes of serving soldiers:

This is no case of petty right or wrong
That politicians or philosophers
Can judge.  I hate not Germans, nor grow hot
With love of Englishmen, to please newspapers.
(Edward Thomas, This Is No Case of Petty Right or Wrong)

When reading First World War poetry, you can find a common idea – we do not hate those we fight but we do love our country.  That in itself is the reason we go to war:

But with the best and meanest Englishmen
I am one in crying, God save England, lest
We lose what never slaves and cattle blessed.
The ages made her that made us from dust:
She is all we know and live by, and we trust
She is good and must endure, loving her so:
And as we love ourselves we hate her foe.
(Edward Thomas, This Is No Case of Petty Right or Wrong)

Here dead we lie
Because we did not choose
To live and shame the land
From which we sprung.
(A E Housman, Here Dead We Lie)

And yet others convey the simplicity of reality – we live, we fight, we die, we return back to the earth:

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
(John McCrae, In Flanders Field)

We have not explored the horrors of war or gone into any great detail of the poetry: this is a very personal era of poetry and one which should be left to the individual to explore.

What we should acknowledge is the impact that poetry can have.

Never forget the sacrifices; never forget the individuals; never forget.

The Tales of Storytellers

20 Wednesday Jul 2011

Posted by dennybradburybooks in History

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Borvo, Denny Bradbury, entertainment, glee, King Alfred, saxon, scops, storyteller


We all like a good story.  Collectively we spend billions of pounds on print books, e-books, and audio books.  Hours of our lives are taken up watching TV soaps, dramas and big-budget films.

Theatres are full with standing ovations; families and friends meet up and exchange life stories.

Stories can be factual or fictitious, sometimes a combination of both.  Yet in all accounts they are entertaining.

Our love of stories in the present is no different to the love of stories in historical times.

Denny Bradbury’s latest offering, ‘Borvo’, is set in Anglo-Saxon times during the reign of King Alfred.  One of the characters travels between villages, entertaining the people with his wit and cunning.

These wandering storytellers or ‘scops’ were respected.  It was a true skill to pass on information, make it entertaining, and keep the interest of the audience.

Their tasks were many:

  • Reporters – passing news from town to town
  • Teachers – hiding ‘lessons’ within their stories, rights and wrongs, advice on how to live in a respectful and helpful manner
  • Historians – reciting past events and keeping them fresh in the minds of the people
  • Morale – it was necessary in times of battle and hardship to keep spirits high
  • Loyalty – stories were told in such a way to leave their ‘employer’ in high regard

No royal residence or home of high society was complete without a scop at banquets.  They would entertain the guests with stories, music and riddles.  Some would show off other skills, such as juggling.

Scops often recited stories with a rudimentary harp or a lyre (hence the terms ‘lyrics’).  This allowed for easier understanding of the words.  Rhythm and rhyme enabled the scop to remember the many fables and historical events.

These storytellers tended to write and perform their own work.  Although performances would include items of fantasy and extravagance, they often began life as factual stories but ‘altered’ for entertainment value.

They were usually welcomed wherever they went; people longed to hear of news from other villages.  As such, scops were offered free food and shelter as a thank you for their visit.

Other people in the entertainment business were Gleemen.  Although similar to scops in many ways – storytelling, performing music and other acts – they did not have a ‘base’, a home in which they could return.  Instead, Gleemen relied on their talents to pay for lodgings and feed themselves.

They were not always welcomed where they roamed and were the Saxon equivalent of modern-day buskers.

The art of storytelling has not died over the years, it has merely transformed.

King Alfred championed the use of English in written form as opposed to Latin, making texts more accessible.  He also brought in education for a wider range of society.

Over the years, stories were written rather than spoken and historical events were documented and not just confined to memory.

The need for oral narratives began a decline but the need for stories continue to this day.

Laura Scott

You can buy Denny Bradbury’s books online by clicking on the links below.

Borvo by Denny Bradbury    

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