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'The history we read though based on facts, is, strictly speaking, not factual at all, but a series of accepted judgements.'
Professor Barraclough quoted by E H Carr in his seminal book What is History?
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Excerpt from Jot & Tittle No. 149
THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY
Portuguese Catherine of Braganza, wife of Charles II, popularised tea. The factory tea break was introduced when owners realised it kept their machine minders more alert and awake longer. Again, tea and coffee improved health as the water had to be boiled. The oldest tea merchant was a certain Richard Twining who set up shop in 1787. His logo (below) is the oldest in continuous use throughout the world. Tea of course powered the British Empire and the Boston Tea Party was an action against the East India Company extending its market. The dreadful act of The Company forcing opium on the Chinese was an attempt to pay for the large amounts of tea being shipped. Once it registered that tea was growing in Assam, payment was no longer a problem........
Excerpt from Jot & Tittle No. 150
THE GREAT ESCAPE
No, not that one; the notorious Civil War Confederate Libby prison in Richmond, Virginia4. Housed inside a converted warehouse, Libby Prison was infamous for its overcrowded quarters, squalid conditions and meagre food rations. Hundreds of men were crammed into the building’s makeshift cells. A complete absence of beds or bedding meant they were forced to sleep on the cold, unforgiving concrete floors in spoon formation, so as to maximise space and body heat. On command, they would turn over in unison to relieve aching bones and muscles. Of course, waking hours offered little succour. Food was scarce and unappetising, while the open nature of the barred windows meant that the prison was freezing in winter and scorching in summer. Prisoners dare not approach them either, for fear of being shot on sight.... Below, battle of Chickamauga.
Excerpt from Jot & Tittle No. 146
THE CELLAR AND THE SHAFT
Now I am sure you knew most of the above but what happened to the rest of the Romanovs? The Grand Duchess Elizabeth (Ella, below1) became an ascetic and Abbess of the Order of Martha and Mary. She was regarded as a saint for looking after the sick. She and her companion Sister Barbara were taken by the Red Guards in the April to the Siberian border and thrown into prison where they were joined by other Romanoffs. They were isolated and treated to the bare minimum of food and comfort. In the July they were taken to Sinjatschicha and were shown the mineshaft which they were to be thrown down - alive. Ella forgave her persecutors and went to her death singing Hail gentle light….
After they had all been despatched down the shaft two hand-grenades were thrown in. Unbeknown to the guards the whole episode had been watched by a devotee of the Grand Duchess, Father Seraphin. When the White Russians arrived shortly afterwards, the priest with the help of the soldiers climbed down the shaft. He was horrified to find that some of the victims including the Grand Duchess had survived the fall and bandaged wounds and fractures with strips of their clothing before expiring. Below: the Holy Royal Martyr photos courtesy of St Elizabeth Convent
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