Marc’s Almanac
By Marc Sidwell
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You can find a playlist of the recommended songs on YouTube at www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxBpfbS-x5t3GLN-TVXMNSSwnAlum0l8Z
Marc’s AlmanacFeb 05, 2021
To The Sea – 4th June, 2021
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by Philip Larkin, To The Sea.
"Everything crowds under the low horizon:
Steep beach, blue water, towels, red bathing caps..."
From the show:
Opening/closing music courtesy of Chillhop: Philanthrope, Leavv - What Was Before https://chll.to/d6b0ec27
On this day: 4th June, 1940, Britain completes the miracle of Dunkirk, rescuing 338,226 stranded troops from France with an improvised flotilla of 800 boats.
On this day: 4th June, 1910, Christopher Cockerell, the inventor of the hovercraft, is born in Cambridge.
Music to wake you up – I Still Believe by Frank Turner
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Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message.
If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me.
Have a lovely day.
Reminder – 28th May, 2021
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by Mark Jarman, Reminder.
"You're here and God's in heaven..."
From the show:
Opening/closing music courtesy of Chillhop: Philanthrope, Leavv - What Was Before https://chll.to/d6b0ec27
On this day: 28th May, 1936, Alan Turing submits his paper On Computable Numbers, setting out the theoretical basis for modern computers
On this day: 28th May, 1908, Ian Lancaster Fleming, the creator of James Bond, is born in London
Music to wake you up – Good Day Sunshine by The Beatles
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Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message.
If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me.
Have a lovely day.
The Hug – 14th May, 2021
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by Thom Gunn, The Hug.
"I dozed, I slept. My sleep broke on a hug..."
From the show:
Opening/closing music courtesy of Chillhop: Philanthrope, Leavv - What Was Before https://chll.to/d6b0ec27
On this day: 14th May, 1796, Edward Jenner inaugurates the science of vaccination by infecting his gardener's son with cowpox, protecting him from smallpox. And while the Covid-19 vaccines have understandably dominated this year's news, the successful trials of the first highly effective malaria vaccine by researchers from the University of Oxford has been another piece of enormously good news. Malaria currently kills 400,000 people every year.
On this day: 14th May, 1771, Robert Owen is born in Newport, an important early voice for workers rights but also the father of English socialism, who refused to accept the failure of his more radical experiments
Music to wake you up – It's All Coming Back To Me Now by Celine Dion
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Have a lovely day.
For The Fallen – 7th May, 2021
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by Laurence Binyon, For The Fallen.
"At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them..."
From the show:
Opening/closing music courtesy of Chillhop: Philanthrope, Leavv - What Was Before https://chll.to/d6b0ec27
On this day: 7th May 1945, General Jodl signs Germany's unconditional surrender, ending the Second World War in Europe
On this day: 7th May 1952, Geoffrey Dummer gives the first public talk laying out the idea of the integrated circuit, better known today as the microchip, and the basis for all modern computers
Music to wake you up – We'll Meet Again by Vera Lynn
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Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message.
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Have a lovely day.
Today – 30th April, 2021
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by Billy Collins, Today.
"If ever there were a spring day so perfect,
so uplifted by a warm intermittent breeze
that it made you want to throw
open all the windows in the house..."
From the show:
Opening/closing music courtesy of Chillhop: Philanthrope, Leavv - What Was Before https://chll.to/d6b0ec27
On this day: 30th April 1506, the signing of the so-called Intercursus Malus, a notoriously uneven trade treaty between England and the Duchy of Burgundy
On this day: 30th April 1602, the English Merlin, William Lilly, is born in Diseworth, Leicestershire
Music to wake you up – Iko Iko by Justin Wellington
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Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message.
If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me.
Have a lovely day.
Brave Horatius – 16th April, 2021
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by Lord Macaulay, an extract from Horatius.
"And how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his fathers,
And the temples of his Gods..."
From the show:
Opening/closing music courtesy of Chillhop: Philanthrope, Leavv - What Was Before https://chll.to/d6b0ec27
On this day: 16th April, 1953, the Queen launches the Royal Yacht, Britannia
On this day: 16th April, 1889, Charles Chaplin is born in Walworth, London
Music to wake you up – No I in Beer by Brad Paisley
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Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message.
If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me.
Have a lovely day.
The Goodly Fere – 2nd April, 2021
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by Ezra Pound, The Ballad of the Goodly Fere.
"No capon priest was the Goodly Fere
But a man o' men was he..."
From the show:
Opening/closing music courtesy of Chillhop: Philanthrope, Leavv - What Was Before https://chll.to/d6b0ec27
On this day: 2nd April, 2020, the world's recorded cases of Covid-19 passed one million. As of yesterday, thanks to an unprecedented effort, more than 31 million people in the UK have received at least one dose of a vaccine.
On this day: 2nd April, 1827, William Holman Hunt was born in Cheapside. A major pre-Raphaelite painter, his religious canvases such as The Scapegoat still resonate today
Music to wake you up – Wade in the Water by Eva Cassidy
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Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message.
If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me.
Have a lovely day.
Loveliest of Trees – 26th March, 2021
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by AE Housman.
"Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough..."
From the show:
Opening/closing music courtesy of Chillhop: Philanthrope, Leavv - What Was Before https://chll.to/d6b0ec27
On this day: 26th March, 1953, Jonas Salk announces he has successfully tested an experimental polio vaccine on himself and his family. In less than a decade, thanks to mass vaccination, polio cases in the US alone fell from more than 57,000 a year to fewer than 200.
Also on this day: 26th March, 1859, AE Housman was born in Bromsgrove. He became a superb classical scholar, but is best-known today for his poetry, especially the volume A Shropshire Lad
Music to wake you up – Rock Island Line by Lonnie Donegan
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Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message.
If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me.
Have a lovely day.
Absent in the Spring – 19th March, 2021
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a sonnet by William Shakespeare.
"From you have I been absent in the spring,
When proud-pied April, dressed in all his trim,
Hath put a spirit of youth in everything..."
From the show:
Opening/closing music courtesy of Chillhop: Philanthrope, Leavv - What Was Before https://chll.to/d6b0ec27
On this day: 19th March, 1982, Argentines, claiming to be scrap metal dealers, land on South Georgia Island, the first manoeuvre in the Falklands War
On this day: 19th March, 1813, David Livingstone is born in Blantyre, South Lanarkshire. After a childhood working 12 hour days in a mill, he became a medic, explorer, missionary and anti-slavery campaigner
Music to wake you up – You're The One That I Want from the musical Grease
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Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message.
If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me.
Have a lovely day.
The Just – 12th March, 2021
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by Jorge Luis Borges, in a translation by Alastair Reid, The Just.
"A man who cultivates his garden, as Voltaire wished.
He who is grateful for the existence of music..."
From the show:
Opening/closing music courtesy of Chillhop: Philanthrope, Leavv - What Was Before https://chll.to/d6b0ec27
On this day: 12th March, 1710, Thomas Augustine Arne is born in Covent Garden. Arne made his name as a theatrical composer, and is chiefly remembered today for Rule, Britannia! and A-Hunting We Will Go.
On this day: 12th March, 1881, Andrew Watson makes his international debut as the captain of Scotland. The first black person to play association football at the international level, Watson led his team to a seismic, 6-1 victory over England.
Music to wake you up – The Best Day by Taylor Swift
Sign up to receive email alerts and show notes with links when a new episode goes live at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message.
If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me.
Have a lovely day.
The Skylark – 5th March, 2021
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by John Clare, The Skylark.
"Up from their hurry, see, the skylark flies,
And o'er her half-formed nest, with happy wings
Winnows the air..."
From the show:
Opening/closing music courtesy of Chillhop: Philanthrope, Leavv - What Was Before https://chll.to/d6b0ec27
On this day: 5th March 1756, Thomas Linley the Younger, the "English Mozart", was born in Abbey Green, Bath. Most of his music is lost, thanks to fires and his early death at 22. But not all: here's his Oh Guardian of that Sacred Land.
On this day: 5th March, 1946, Winston Churchill gives his "Iron Curtain" speech in Missouri, also known as "The Sinews of Peace".
Music to wake you up – You've Got a Friend in Me, performed by Randy Newman
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Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message.
If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me.
Have a lovely day.
The Passionate Shepherd – 26th February, 2021
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by Christopher Marlowe, The Passionate Shepherd to his Love.
"Come live with me and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove..."
From the show:
Opening/closing music courtesy of Chillhop: Philanthrope, Leavv - What Was Before https://chll.to/d6b0ec27
On this day: 26th February 1564, Christopher Marlowe, poet and dramatist, was born in Canterbury
On this day: 26th February, 1797, the Bank of England introduced the first pound notes in lieu of gold sovereigns
Music to wake you up – Jericho Blues by The Hillbilly Thomists
Sign up to receive email alerts and show notes with links when a new episode goes live at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message.
If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me.
Have a lovely day.
The Summer Day – 19th February, 2021
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by Mary Oliver, The Summer Day.
"Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?..."
From the show:
Opening/closing music courtesy of Chillhop: Philanthrope, Leavv - What Was Before https://chll.to/d6b0ec27
On this day: 19th February, 1717, David Garrick is born in Hereford, in the Angel Inn.
On this day: 19th February, 1910, Mary Mallon, known as "Typhoid Mary", is released from her first quarantine
Music to wake you up – Do It by Maggie Rose
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Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message.
If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me.
Have a lovely day.
Now Winter Nights Enlarge – 12th February, 2021
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by Thomas Campion, Now Winter Nights Enlarge.
"Now winter nights enlarge
The number of their hours..."
From the show:
On this day: 12th February, 1554, Lady Jane Grey, the Nine Days Queen, is executed for treason.
On this day: 12th February, 1567, Thomas Campion, poet, physician and composer, is born in London
Music to wake you up – Where Did Our Love Go? by The Supremes
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Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message.
If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me.
Have a lovely day.
5th February, 2021 – Evening
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke, Evening, in a translation by Stephen Mitchell.
"The sky puts on the darkening blue coat
held for it by a row of ancient trees..."
From the show:
Opening music courtesy of Chillhop: Philanthrope, Leavv - What Was Before https://chll.to/d6b0ec27
On this day: 5th February, 1723, the great exponent of common sense John Witherspoon is born in Gifford, Scotland. Emigrating to America, he became President of the nascent Princeton University, and also a founding father of the United States.
On this day: 5th February, 1811, George Prince of Wales becomes regent, due to the mental decline of his father King George III
Music to wake you up – Be Yourself by Morcheeba
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Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message.
If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me.
Have a lovely day.
21st December, 2020 – The Shortest Day
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by Susan Cooper, The Shortest Day.
"And so the Shortest Day came and the year died
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away..."
From the show:
William's Truthful Christmas by Richmal Crompton
On this day: 21st December, 1117, the birth of Thomas Becket, in Cheapside, London
Music to wake you up – This Year by The Mountain Goats
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Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message.
If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me.
Have a lovely day.
14th December, 2020 – The Darkling Thrush
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by Thomas Hardy, The Darkling Thrush.
"I leant upon a coppice gate
When Frost was spectre-grey..."
From the show:
Ice in the Bedroom by PG Wodehouse
On this day: 14th December, 1901, the first major ping pong tournament, for men and women, takes place in London's Royal Aquarium
On this day: 14th December, 1911, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and his team become the first to reach the South Pole, beating the doomed expedition of Captain Scott
Music to wake you up – Santa Baby by Kylie Minogue
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Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message.
If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me.
Have a lovely day.
7th December, 2020 – A Winter Blue Jay
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by Sara Teesdale, A Winter Blue Jay.
"Crisply the bright snow whispered,
Crunching beneath our feet..."
From the show:
On this day: 7th December, 521, St Columba is born in Gartan, Ireland
On this day: 7th December, 1732, the Theatre Royal holds its first performance. Today we know the venue as the Royal Opera House. Get a ticket for its online Christmas concert on 18th December by clicking here.
Music to wake you up – Cuddle Up, Cozy Down Christmas by Dolly Parton
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Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message.
If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me.
Have a lovely day.
30th November, 2020 – Advent Calendar
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by Rowan Williams, Advent Calendar.
"He will come like last leaf’s fall.
One night when the November wind..."
From the show:
Jeeves and the Yuletide Spirit by PG Wodehouse
On this day: 30th November, 1016, Canute the Great claims the English throne
On this day: 30th November, 1667, the great satirist Jonathan Swift is born in Dublin
Music to wake you up – Be A Light by Thomas Rhett
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Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message.
If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me.
Have a lovely day.
23rd November, 2020 – Children of Our Age
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by Wislawa Symborska, Children of Our Age.
"All day long, all through the night,
all affairs – yours, ours, theirs –
are political affairs..."
From the show:
On this day: 23rd November, 1644, Areopagitica, John Milton's great defence of the liberty of the press, is published
On this day: 23rd November, 1963, the first episode of Doctor Who – An Unearthly Child – is broadcast, starring William Hartnell as The Doctor
On this day: 23rd November, 1887, William Henry Pratt is born in Camberwell, better known as the actor Boris Karloff, in his iconic role as Imhotep in The Mummy and as Frankenstein's monster for the English director James Whale
Music to wake you up – Styrofoam by Ashley McBryde
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Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message.
If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me.
Have a lovely day.
16th November, 2020 – Wild Geese
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by Mary Oliver, Wild Geese.
"You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting...."
From the show:
On this day: 16th November, 2002, the first recorded case of SARS, in Guangdong, China.
On this day: 16th November, 1961, Frank "Know what I mean, 'Arry?" Bruno, heavyweight WBC world boxing champion, is born in Wandsworth, London. A professional boxing career with five losses and 40 wins, 38 by knockout from his powerhouse punches
Music to wake you up – Beers and Sunshine by Darius Rucker
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Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message.
If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me.
Have a lovely day.
9th November, 2020 – In Flanders Fields
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by John McCrae, In Flanders Fields.
"In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row..."
Donate to this year’s Poppy Appeal here.
From the show:
On this day: 9th November, 1985, Gary Kasparov becomes world chess champion aged just 22
On this day: 9th November, 1898, Owen Barfield, the philosopher and Inkling, friend and influence to CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien, is born in London
Music to wake you up – Starting Over by Chris Stapleton
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Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message.
If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me.
Have a lovely day.
2nd November, 2020 – The Wild Swans at Coole
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by WB Yeats, The Wild Swans at Coole.
"The trees are in their autumn beauty,
The woodland paths are dry..."
From the show:
On this day: 2nd November, 1996, the blues singer Eva Cassidy dies aged 33
2nd November was established as All Soul's Day a thousand years ago by Odilo of Cluny. A day to remember all those taken from us, and the talent of Nobby Stiles, Bobby Ball and Sir Sean Connery
Music to wake you up – Together We'll be OK by Cannon and Ball
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Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message.
If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me.
Have a lovely day.
26th October, 2020 – Batter My Heart
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by John Donne, one of his Holy Sonnets.
"Batter my heart, three-person'd God, for you
As yet but knock..."
From the show:
The charge of the Light Brigade – here's a rare wax cylinder recording from 1890 of Tennyson reading his poem
On this day: 26th October, 899, King Alfred the Great, educator, reformer and warrior, goes to glory
On this day: 26th October, 1977, wild smallpox infects its final victim in Somalia – a hospital cook, Ali Maow Maalin
Music to wake you up – Gimme Some Lovin' by the Spencer Davis Group
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Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message.
If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me.
Have a lovely day.
19th October, 2020 – The Way Through The Woods
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by Rudyard Kipling, The Way Through The Woods.
"They shut the road through the woods
Seventy years ago..."
From the show:
On this day: 19th October, 1781, Lord Cornwallis surrenders to George Washington at Yorktown, ending the American Revolutionary War
On this day: 19th October, 1889, Arthur Satherley, country music pioneer, was born in Bedminster
Music to wake you up – Living in a Ghost Town by The Rolling Stones
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12th October, 2020 – All My Friends...
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by Christian Wiman, All My Friends Are Finding New Beliefs.
"All my friends are finding new beliefs.
This one converts to Catholicism and this one to trees..."
From the show:
On this day: 12th October, 1492, Christopher Columbus lands in the New World
On this day: 12th October, 1915, the nurse and Anglican martyr Edith Cavell is executed by firing squad
On this day: 12th October, 1845, the "angel of prisons" Elizabeth Fry passes away after a lifetime of philanthropy inspired by her Quaker faith
Music to wake you up – Carry You Home by Ward Thomas
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Have a lovely day.
5th October, 2020 – A Day in Autumn
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by RS Thomas, A Day in Autumn.
"Having looked up
From the day’s chores, pause a minute..."
From the show:
Samuel Pepys sneaks a look backstage at Drury Lane in 1667
On this day: 5th October, 1919, the character actor Donald Pleasence is born in Worksop, the son of a stationmaster
On this day: 5th October, 1930, the airship R101 crashes in France, killing the Air Minister and 47 others, ending the British dream of an airship fleet to connect the British Empire
Music to wake you up – Christmas in Prison by John Prine
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Have a lovely day.
28th September, 2020 – The Ruined Maid
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by Thomas Hardy, The Ruined Maid.
"O 'Melia, my dear, this does everything crown!
Who could have supposed I should meet you in Town?..."
From the show:
Just William's Luck by Richmal Crompton
On this day: 28th September, 1066, the invasion force of William the Conqueror lands at Pevensey Bay
On this day: 28th September, 1836, Thomas Crapper, sanitary engineer and promoter of indoor lavatories, is born in Yorkshire
Music to wake you up – Why Don't We Just Dance? by Josh Turner
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21st September, 2020 – At The Wellhead
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by Seamus Heaney, At The Wellhead.
"Your songs, when you sing them with your two eyes closed
As you always do, are like a local road
We’ve known every turn of in the past..."
From the show:
On this day: 21st September, 1819, John Keats writes a letter from Winchester, mentioning that he has composed a new poem on the beauties of Autumn
On this day: 21st September, 1538, the agents of King Henry VIII smash the shrine of St Swithin in Winchester. It will not be restored until 1962
On this day: 21st September, 1937, The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien is published to immediate acclaim. Its sequel, The Lord of The Rings, would not follow until nearly 20 years later
Music to wake you up – Coming Home, sung by Gwyneth Paltrow in the movie Country Strong
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14th September, 2020 – September
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by Ted Hughes, September.
"We sit late, watching the dark slowly unfold:
No clock counts this..."
From the show:
The Code of the Woosters, by PG Wodehouse – first serialised in Britain in the Daily Mail in 1938, beginning on this day
On this day: 14th September, 1752, Britain adopts the Gregorian calendar, leaping to September 14th from September 2nd. Years later, some were still campaigning for the return of their lost "eleven days".
On this day: 14th September, 1804, the ornithologist John Gould was born in Lyme Regis. He would identify "Darwin's finches" and was also a celebrated illustrator of ornithological books, particularly famous for his work on the birds of Australia.
Music to wake you up – Letter to You by Bruce Springsteen
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Have a lovely day.
7th September, 2020 – Autumn Journal
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by Louis MacNeice, an extract from Autumn Journal.
"September has come, it is hers
Whose vitality leaps in the autumn..."
From the show:
On this day: 7th September, 1895, the first games of what would become rugby league are played across the north of England
On this day: 7th September, 1533, Elizabeth I is born, daughter of Anne Boleyn and King Henry VIII
On this day: 7th September, 1940, the Blitz of London begins. It will continue until 2nd November
Music to wake you up – If Ever I Stray by Frank Turner
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10th August, 2020 – Dane-geld
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in the peace of the English countryside. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by Rudyard Kipling, Dane-geld.
"Though we know we should defeat you,
we have not the time to meet you.
We will therefore pay you cash to go away..."
From the show:
The Gardener's Year, Karel Capek
On this day: 10th August, 991 AD, the Anglo-Saxons failed to turn back a Viking invasion at the Battle of Maldon. The defeat leads King Ethelred to pay the first "Dane-geld" – 3,300kg of silver in this case – in an attempt to buy off the victors
On this day, 10th August, 1856, William Willett was born in Farnham, the builder whose pamphlet proposing Daylight Saving Time would bring the idea to British attention
Music to wake you up – Too Darn Hot, sung by Ella Fitzgerald
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3rd August, 2020 – How At Once
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in the peace of the English countryside. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by Edward Thomas, How At Once.
"How at once should I know,
When stretched in the harvest blue..."
From the show:
The Compleat Angler by Izaak Walton
On this day: 3rd August, 1914, Edward Grey says "the lamps are going out all over Europe"
On this day: 3rd August, 1803, Joseph Paxton, designer of the Crystal Palace is born in Bedfordshire
Music to wake you up – Folsom Prison Blues by Johnny Cash
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Have a lovely day.
27th July, 2020 – The Other
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in the peace of the English countryside. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by RS Thomas, The Other.
"There are nights that are so still
that I can hear the small owl
calling..."
From the show:
On this day: 27th July, 1586, Sir Walter Raleigh introduces tobacco (and potatoes) to the English court
On this day: 27th July, 1857, Sir Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge is born in Bodmin. He would rise from poor beginnings to the heights of the British Museum
Music to wake you up – The Detectorists Theme by Johnny Flynn
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Have a lovely day.
20th July, 2020 – Ancient Maxims
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in the peace of the English countryside. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With an extract from Virgil's Georgics.
"So all things are fated
to slide towards the worst, and revert by slipping back..."
From the show:
A letter from John Keats to his brother Tom, written on a walking tour of Scotland
On this day: 20th July, 1304, Edward I takes Stirling castle
On this day: 20th July, 1804, Richard Owen, who gave dinosaurs their name, is born in Lancaster
Music to wake you up – Biscuits by Kacey Musgraves
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Have a lovely day.
13th July, 2020 – Praise the Mutilated World
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in the peace of the English countryside. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by Adam Zagajewski, Try to Praise the Mutilated World.
"Remember the moments when we were together
in a white room and the curtain fluttered..."
From the show:
The amazing (and perhaps even lucky) hummingbird hawk-moth
The Mating Season by PG Wodehouse
On this day: 13th July, 1568, Alexander Nowell, Dean of St Paul's, accidentally invents bottled beer on a fishing trip
On this day: 13th July, 1793, John Clare, England's greatest nature poet, is born in Peterborough
Music to wake you up – Going Nowhere by Frank Turner
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Have a lovely day.
6th July, 2020 – Ale's The Stuff To Drink
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in the peace of the English countryside. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by AE Housman, an extract from Terence, This Is Stupid Stuff.
"And malt does more than Milton can
To justify God’s ways to man..."
From the show:
The Gardener's Year, by Karel Capek and the Growing Stone of Blaxhall, Suffolk
On this day: 6th July, 1348 – Pope Clement VI issues the first of two papal bulls stating that Jews were falsely accused of spreading the Black Death, then devastating Europe, and that they should be protected, not persecuted
On this day: 6th July, 1934 – Fred Perry won the men's Wimbledon title from Jack Crawford in straight sets. It would be the first of three straight title victories at Wimbledon for Perry
Music to wake you up – No I in Beer by Brad Paisley
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Have a lovely day.
29th June, 2020 – The Vagabond
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in the peace of the English countryside. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson, The Vagabond.
"Wealth I seek not, hope nor love,
Nor a friend to know me;
All I seek, the heaven above
And the road below me..."
From the show:
The Rings of Saturn by WG Sebald
On this day: 29th June, 1613 – The Globe theatre, where some of William Shakespeare's greatest plays were first performed, burns down during a production of Henry VIII, or All is True
On this day: 29th June, 1903 – Alan Blumlein is born in Hampstead, London. A brilliant electrical engineer, he invented stereo sound and pioneered TV and radio
Music to wake you up – I've Got the Sexiest Accent in the World by Dominic Frisby
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Have a lovely day.
22nd June, 2020 – Raptor
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in the peace of the English countryside. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by RS Thomas, Raptor.
"You have made God small,
setting him astride
a pipette or a retort
studying the bubbles..."
From the show:
Sam the Sudden by PG Wodehouse
On this day: 22nd June, 1633 – Galileo Galilei is forced to deny in public that the earth goes around the sun. By tradition, immediately afterwards he stamped his foot on the ground and said "eppur si muove": "nevertheless, it moves".
On this day: 22nd June, 1675 – King Charles II establishes the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, along with the post of Astronomer Royal.
Music to wake you up – Even Though I'm Leaving by Luke Combs
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Have a lovely day.
15th June, 2020 – Waiting for the Barbarians
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in the peace of the English countryside. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by CP Cavafy, Waiting for the Barbarians.
"What are we waiting for, assembled in the forum?
The barbarians are due here today...."
From the show:
On this day: 15th June, 1215, King John sets his seal to Magna Carta, explicitly establishing the rule of law, governing the ruler and the ruled alike
On this day: 15th June, 1911, Wilbert Vere Awdrey was born in Ampfield, Hampshire. An Anglican vicar and railway enthusiast, he would create Thomas the Tank Engine in 1943 to amuse his son Christopher who was ill with the measles.
Music to wake you up – Revolution by The Beatles
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Have a lovely day.
12th June, 2020 – The Guy in the Glass
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in the peace of the English countryside. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by Dale Wimbrow, The Guy in the Glass.
"When you get what you want in your struggle for pelf,
And the world makes you King for a day..."
From the show:
Weekend Wodehouse: Ice in the Bedroom
On this day: 12th June, 1381 – John Ball preaches to a crowd at Blackheath during the Peasants Revolt. He asks, "When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?"
On this day: 12th June, 1802 – Harriet Martineau is born in Norwich. Her Illustrations of Political Economy dramatised the case for a free market in everyday terms
Friday film: Band of Brothers
Music to wake you up – In Heaven There Is No Beer by Flaco Jimenez
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11th June, 2020 – Mowing
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in the peace of the English countryside. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by Robert Frost, Mowing.
"There was never a sound beside the wood but one,
And that was my long scythe whispering to the ground..."
From the show:
On this day: 11th June, celebrating Barnabas the apostle
On this day: 11th June 1578, Sir Humphrey Gilbert receives letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I, giving him authority to colonise north America and begin the British empire
The Love that Lays the Swale in Rows – an essay on technology based on Frost's poem Mowing
Music to wake you up – Kokomo by The Beach Boys
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Have a lovely day.
10th June, 2020 – Bright is the Ring of Words
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in the peace of the English countryside. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson, Bright is the Ring of Words.
"Bright is the ring of words
When the right man rings them..."
From the show:
'William the Reformer' from William – Again, by Richmal Crompton
On this day: 10th June 1540, Thomas Cromwell is arrested and stripped of property and titles at the orders of King Henry VIII
On this day, 10th June 1921, Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh is born in Corfu
Music to wake you up – Sunshine by Bonnie Tyler
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Have a lovely day.
9th June, 2020 – Tarantella
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in the peace of the English countryside. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by Hilaire Belloc, Tarantella.
"Do you remember an inn, Miranda?
Do you remember an inn?..."
From the show:
St Ignatius of Loyola, author of the Spiritual Exercises and the evening Examen ritual
On this day: 9th June, 597 – St Columba dies, warrior saint, Scottish evangelist and founder of the abbey of Iona
On this day: 9th June, 1549 – the Church of England adopts the Book of Common Prayer
Music to wake you up – Homemade by Jake Owen
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8th June, 2020 – The Pylons
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in the peace of the English countryside. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by Stephen Spender, The Pylons.
"The secret of these hills was stone, and cottages
Of that stone made..."
From the show:
On this day: 8th June, 1949 – George Orwell publishes his novel of technological totalitarianism, 1984
On this day: 8th June, 1955 – Sir Tim Berners-Lee OM, inventor of the worldwide web, is born in London
Music to wake you up – Poor Wayfaring Stranger by The Hillbilly Thomists
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Have a lovely day.
5th June, 2020 – It is not growing like a tree...
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in the peace of the English countryside. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by Ben Jonson.
"It is not growing like a tree
In bulk doth make Man better be..."
From the show:
Weekend Wodehouse: Something Fresh, a Blandings novel
On this day: 5th June, 1833 – Ada Lovelace meets Charles Babbage for the first time
On this day: 5th June, 1723 – Adam Smith is baptised in Kirkcaldy, Fife
Friday film: Groundhog Day
Music to wake you up – Walking on Sunshine by Katrina & The Waves
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4th June, 2020 – Ah, for a man...
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in the peace of the English countryside. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, an extract from Maud.
"Ah God, for a man with heart, head, hand,
Like some of the simple great ones gone..."
From the show:
On this day: 4th June, 1927 – play begins in the first Ryder Cup
On this day: 4th June, 1940 – Winston Churchill gives perhaps his famous speech, "We shall fight on the beaches"
Music to wake you up – The Next Storm by Frank Turner
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Have a lovely day.
3rd June, 2020 – An English Light
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in the peace of the English countryside. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by Felix Dennis, An English Light.
"9:45 on a fine June night,
I watch from the window and write and write..."
From the show:
William – The Dictator, by Richmal Crompton
On this day: 3 June, 1989 – the Tiananmen Square massacre begins. It will see up to four thousand pro-democracy activists shot, bayoneted and deliberately crushed to death beneath the treads of tanks
On this day: 3 June, 1162 – Thomas a Becket is consecrated as Archbishop of Canterbury. His murder eight years later, by men who believed they were following the will of the king, would make Thomas a saint whose veneration would last for centuries.
Music to wake you up – Big Rock Candy Mountain, sung by Harry McClintock
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Have a lovely day.
2nd June, 2020 – Drummer Hodge
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in the peace of the English countryside. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by Thomas Hardy, Drummer Hodge.
"They throw in Drummer Hodge, to rest
Uncoffined – just as found..."
From the show:
A Month in the Country by JL Carr
On this day: 2 June, 1953, the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, remarkably similar in its ceremonial to that of King Edgar, which took place on 3 June, 973, almost a thousand years earlier.
On this day: 2 June, 1840, Thomas Hardy, poet and novelist was born in Higher Bockhampton, Dorset
Music to wake you up – Dancing Queen by Abba
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1st June, 2020 – The Lake Isle of Innisfree
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in the peace of the English countryside. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com
With a poem by William Butler Yeats, The Lake Isle of Innisfree.
"I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made..."
From the show:
On this day: 1st June, 1785, King George extends a grudging hand of friendship to John Adams, first US ambassador to the Court of St James.
On this day: 1st June, 61, the defeat of the Boudiccan revolt by Suetonius Paullinus (more on Rendham's head of Claudius)
On this day: 1st June, 1907, Frank Whittle, inventor of the jet engine was born in Earlsdon, Coventry
Music to wake you up – Bring a Little Water, Sylvie by Lonnie Donegan
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Have a lovely day.