💡👂🎧🌟👑📚💥
We’ve prepared you a ‘right royal knees’ up in volume 5, taking a look at the pearly Kings and Queens of London, the King of Mali who had the most bread and honey in all history, we’re talking a SERIOUS amount of wonga. Musically, it’s all about the Kings of Leon and for art, you won’t Adam and Eve the tomfoolery that makes up the Coronation Regalia, go take a butchers. Time for a Ruby Lee if you ask me, and a biscuit, I’m Hank Marvin.
Have fun this month fifteeners, may the currant bun shine for the THREE bank holidays. 🌞
💡 Words
Cockney
It is said that a true cockney is born within the sound of Bow’s bells. Bow refers to the church St Mary-le-Bow in Cheapside in the City of London and the map below shows the area where the sound could be heard before today’s noise of traffic altered it.
This map was created by the consultancy company 24 Acoustics in 2012
The word cockney also refers to the distinctive accent and dialect spoken by Londoners. Their dialect is a coded language made up of rhyming slang, for example ‘use your loaf’ means ‘use your head’ and comes from the rhyming phrase ‘loaf of bread’. There are over 150 recognisable terms.
This tradition is said to have started in the mid-nineteenth century and was used by criminals to talk in front of police or salesmen in a language they wouldn’t understand.
Let’s take a look at some popular examples
Apples and pears = stairs ‘I’m going up the apples’
Trouble and strife = wife
Dog and bone = phone
Mince pies = eyes
Porky pie = lie
Some of these you may recognise as they have been adopted into the general lexicon of English like
Adam and Eve = believe Would you Adam and Eve it?
Tea leaf = thief You little tea leaf.
Cream crackered = knackered
Brown bread = dead
Whistle and flute = suit
Currant bun = sun
Cockney continues to evolve and today we can find new rhyming slang like the following
Christian Slater = later
Danny Marr = car
Hank Marvin = starving
If you hear someone on the Cheryl Cole it means they are on the dole.
Source: Britannia.com
👂 Poem
London Bells - Anon (early 18th century)
Two sticks and an apple,
Ring the bells of Whitechapel.
Old Father Bald Pate,
Ring the bells Aldgate.
Maids in white aprons,
Ring the bells at St Catherine’s.
Oranges and lemons,
Ring the bells at St Clement’s.
When will you pay me?
Ring the bells at the Old Bailey.
When I am rich,
Ring the bells at Fleetditch.
When will that be?
Ring the bells at Stepney.
When I am old,
Ring the great bell St Paul’s.
Source: Poems on the Underground fifth edition
🎧 Music
Kings of Leon
The Kings of Leon is an American rock band from Nashville Tennessee. The four brothers, Caleb, Nathan and Jared Followill, and their cousin Matthew Followill formed in 1999 and started out by playing a blend of Southern rock and garage rock with blues influences. Over the years, they have evolved and their music is often described as an alternative rock based sound.
It was in the United Kingdom where the Kings of Leon had their initial success with nine of their tracks reaching the Top 40 singles chart. and they won the BRIT Awards twice in 2008. All three of their albums reached the top five in the UK Albums Chart with their third, Because of the Times reaching No. 1.
They then went on to achieve chart success in the United States. Some of their tracks that you may recognise include Sex on Fire, Use Somebody and Notion.
The Kings of Leon have won 4 Grammy Awards including REcord of the Year for Use Somebody in 2010.
🌟 Inspirational people
Pearly Kings and Queens
An orphan by the name of Henry Croft is believed to have been the first Pearly King. He was a street sweeper who also collected money for orphanages and hospitals. To make sure he stood out from the crowd, he covered his suit in mother-of-pearl buttons, creating the first pearly ‘smother’ suit.
Henry may have drawn inspiration from the costermongers who were market and street traders who sold fruit, vegetables, fish and other produce from a cart or stall in the street. It is said that they decorated their clothes with mother-of-pearl buttons. A line down the outside leg of their trousers from knee to ankle as well as on the flaps of their jacket pockets. Each coster community elected a leader or ‘King’ who would stand up for their rights and keep the peace.
Or some say that Henry was inspired by coster-singers singing cockney songs in the music halls. One such singer was Hyram Travers who performed around this time as the ‘Pearly King’ and wore ‘the handsomest and most costly suit of clothes ever seen’ (The Era, 20 Jan 1883).
However, being a ‘pearly’ wasn’t all about the costume. It denotes a person who works tirelessly to raise money for charity.
Pearly titles were traditionally passed down through families and children would be raised in the Pearly traditions and when it was their time, they would be ‘crowned’ with their parents title. By 1911, all 28 London boroughs had a Pearly family.
The biggest Pearly festival is held on the Sunday closest to the Harvest moon which is the full moon closest to the Autumn equinox. It is held in the Guildhall Yard to celebrate the harvest and offer thanks. There are marching bands, donkeys and carts, Morris men and women and maypole dancing that follow the march to St Mary Le Bow church in Cheapside
Source: Museum of London https://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/discover/six-things-you-never-knew-about-pearly-kings-queens
👑The Coronation Regalia
The Coronation Regalia is the name given to the sacred objects used during the coronation ceremony. These unique objects represent the powers and responsibilities of the monarch. They were last used at the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, and include the Sovereign’s Sceptre with Cross, the Sovereign’s Orb, and the Coronation Spoon. They shall be used again on May 6th at Westminster Abbey.
St Edward’s Crown
This crown is the most sacred of all crowns and is only used at the moment of the crowning itself.
Key facts
The frame is made of solid gold and weighs 2.23 kg
It is 30 cm tall
It is decorated with 444 precious and semi-precious stones.
It was made for the coronation of Charles II to replace the crown melted down by parliamentarians in 1649 after the execution of King Charles I.
The crown that was melted down was said to have belonged to the 11th-century royal saint, King Edward the Confessor.
After the coronation, the Coronation Regalia will be returned to the Tower of London where it will be on public display.
The Imperial State Crown, 1937
When King Charles III leaves Westminster Abbey, he will have changed crown and will be wearing the Imperial State Crown. He will also wear it for the annual Opening of Parliament ceremony.
Key facts:
The crown is made of gold and set with 2,868 diamonds, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds, 269 pearls, and 4 rubies.
The crown has some of the most famous jewels in the world - the Black Prince's Ruby, the Stuart Sapphire, and the Cullinan II diamond.
St Edward’s Sapphire, set in the centre of the topmost cross, is said to have been worn in a ring by St Edward the Confessor and discovered in his tomb in 1163.
The Imperial State Crown was made for the Coronation of King George VI in 1937, replacing the crown made for Queen Victoria in 1838.
The Sovereign’s Sceptre with Cross, 1661
The Sovereign’s Sceptre with Cross represents the temporal power of the sovereign head of state and is carried in the right hand during the crowning ceremony. It has been used at every coronation since Charles II’s in 1661.
George V added the diamond called Cullinan I which is the biggest colourless diamond in the world, 530.2 carats in 1910.
Key facts
The sceptre weighs 3 lbs and is covered with some of the most beautiful diamonds and gemstones in the world, including
333 diamonds
31 rubies
15 emeralds
7 sapphires
6 spinels
1 composite amethyst
The scepter’s cross is elaborately besotted with small diamonds.
The Sovereign’s Orb, 1661
The Sovereign’s Orb is a golden globe with a cross on the top. It reminds the monarch that their power is derived from God.
The Coronation Spoon
The Coronation Spoon is the oldest object in the Crown Jewels dating back to the twelfth-century. It is used for the most sacred part of the coronation ceremony, anointing the sovereign with holy oil.
In 1649, Parliament destroyed the Crown jewels and the Coronation Spoon was bought by Clement Kynnersley who had been an official of Charles I royal wardrobe. After the restoration in 1660, Kynnersley returned the Coronation Spoon to Charles II, most likely trying to get back into the new king’s good books
Source: Historic Royal Palaces
📚 Book Talk
Medusa: The Girl Behind the Myth by Jessie Burton ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Monster. Man-hater. Murderess. Forget everything you've been told about Medusa. Internationally bestselling author Jessie Burton flips the script in this astonishing retelling of Greek myth, illuminating the woman behind the legend at last.
The ancient myth of medusa, a story of passion and betrayal is turned on its head as we listen to Medusa’s side of the story in Jessie Burton’s version and it is gripping. Reading the tale, you learn how she came to have a head of snakes in the place of her beautiful hair, why she ended up on a tiny barren island in the middle of nowhere and more importantly, why everyone hates her so much. Be prepared for a surprise.
When good-looking Perseus arrives and they start talking she starts to fall in love and is tempted to show herself to him. She learns about desire but also about betrayal.
A beautifully written story with gorgeous illustrations by Olivia Lomenech Gill
💥 Fun Fact of the Month
Mansa Musa - the wealthiest man in history
Mansa Musa as seen in the Catalan Atlas. Bibliothèque Nationale de France
Some think of Bill Gates as the wealthiest man in history, he’s worth around $100 billion US dollars, which sure is a lot of cash. John D Rockefeller however, was worth $318 billion dollars so he takes the top spot from Bill. However, Mansu Musa, an African king ruler of the Mali Empire in the 14th century, was estimated to have been worth $400 billion US dollars in today’s money. That’s four times as much as Bill!
Apparently he was a very generous man
Find out more about this extraordinary man in the short video below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKQAqRpN8JQ&t=121s
Words 1825
