Getting to Egypt had always been the goal of a pilgrimage for me. This had been the case since my uncle, a very scholarly man, with a wonderful sense of humour and a gift of teaching, first took me to the British museum. I was ten and putting together a school project on 12th century illuminated…
Tag: harvest
John Barleycorn
John Barleycorn is the titular character of a popular English and Scottish folk-song, found in a number of versions going back, at least, to the sixteenth century. John Barleycorn is given as the personification of ‘the nut brown ale’ (or the uisce beatha) and all the process the grain goes through in order to provide the welcome drink. The…
A Pilgrimage to Abydos
Getting to Egypt had always been the goal of a pilgrimage for me. This had been the case since my uncle, a very scholarly man, with a wonderful sense of humour and a gift of teaching, first took me to the British museum. I was ten and putting together a school project on 12th century…
John Barleycorn
In the folklore of the British Isles, John Barleycorn represents the barley crop harvested each autumn. John Barleycorn endures much, corresponding to the cyclic nature of planting, growing, harvesting, and death. Our English (and Scottish) John Barleycorn has become a celebration of the barley crop and its intoxicating products – beer and whisky – but he…