The Mongols are Coming!
Hi there this is part two of what will probably be a three part tale. If you haven’t checked out The Cult of Hassan-i Sabbah first, click here. To unravel this part of this tale, we needs must flash forward 96 years, then work back a ways. We left off in 1124. Hassan-i Sabbah, had […]
The Cult of Hassan-i Sabbah
This post/podcast episode is part one of a two (edit: probably Three) part Tale. I’ll be dropping part two in a fortnight. There is a shadowy tale from the medieval Near East that persists in the modern imagination. At some time in the 11th Century a heretical cult arose in the mountains of northern Iran […]
Alas, poor Tycho…
Hey all, I had something completely new in the works for both the blog and podcast this week… owing to a few things happening in my day job (a pending corporate acquisition had me messing with my CV the other night. It had been years since I’d last dusted that particular file off)I chose to […]
The Bottle Conjuror
Today’s tale is set on the night of January 16th 1749; the setting, The Haymarket Theatre – on London’s West End. Originally built in 1720, on a site formerly occupied by a pub and a gunsmith’s, there was something of ‘the little theatre who could’ about the place. While the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden and […]
Beyond the Archway…
Content Warning: This episode discusses Pseudocide – the act of faking one’s own death. I also cut and slashed at this script considerably in the podcast editing process. I think some parts which still work here didn’t in that format this week. This week we start with a brief detour to Waitakere, New Zealand – […]
… A Thousand Words?
Hey all, the podcast episode I’m running this week is from the back catalog of blog posts – so I have new, blog only content this week. Today we’re going to look at a couple of famous photos – cartooned of course (cause it’s what I do). If I’ve yet to get back to part […]
Njinga of Ndongo
Today’s tale is set in the African kingdom of Ndongo, modern day Angola – we touched upon this kingdom a few weeks back in the Tale of Henry ‘Box’ Brown. Today we’re taking a closer look at that strand. The year, 1622. Joao de Sousa, the Portuguese governor of Luanda prepares to meet with princess […]
The Phantom Airships
Aurora is a small town in Wise country, in the North of Texas. The county came into being in the 1830s, following an armed standoff between 150 Native Americans and 18 cowboys. The latter, though outnumbered, won and planted a stake in the ground – owing to their superior technology. They brought guns to what […]
Premium Content: Yasuke
The following, like the recent Salmesbury Witches Tale, is a script for a Patreon bonus episode. Both these episodes are free to all – though most Patreon scripts will be subscriber only at a cost of US $10 a year. Patreon followers get both the script and a podcast episode for US $2 a month. […]
Dr Sweet’s Defence
Content Warning: This week’s post briefly discusses a lynching and other horrific things… Our Tale this week opens on an ugly siege. The date September 9th 1925. The location 2905 Garland Street, Detroit, Michigan. The eleven men and women inside the house have provoked the ire of the Waterworks Improvement Association – the offence? daring […]
Update: This week is delayed – new blog/episode tonight?
Hi all just a quick note. As some of you may know I’ve been a work from home person since before the pandemic. You may also know I rent a place where I have a couple of flatmates to help me pay someone else’s mortgage… The flatmates are normally not work from home people, and […]
Premium Content: The Salmesbury Witches
Hey all I’m taking the paywall off the next two Premium Tales. The podcast episode can be found on my Patreon. Normally you can access the bonus scripts here for $1.00 a month, the podcast episodes for $2.00 (USD) Jane Southworth, Jennet Bierley and Ellen Bierley stood in the dock, shackled and bound. The setting, […]
The Pendle Witches (Part Two)
This week, let me begin with a personal digression. For a little over a decade I rented a place my friends and I referred to as the ‘Beach House’. In a few ways it was what one imagines – a ramshackle old house in a neighbourhood with the word ‘Bay’ in the title. Sure enough […]
The Pendle Witches (Part One)
One March day in 1612 Justice Roger Nowell of Pendle Hill, Lancashire was called upon by a complainant with a weird tale to tell. As a justice of the peace – an office created by Simon de Montfort in 1285 – his role was to decide what behaviours constituted illegal, or merely obnoxious behaviour in […]
Back January 19th.
Hi everyone, just a quick update – happy new year to you all! The blog and podcast will be back on January 19th. For the first sprint of the year I’m planning to look at Witch huntsA man besieged by his local ’water improvement association’SamuraiPhantom airships Real airships used in terrible waysAn African warrior queen […]
Update: Premium Blog Content.
Hey all, Happy Holidays. I hope you’re all keeping well. Seeing there was just a flurry of visits to the site from folk I figured I should really drop an update note. I was planning on setting a page up, then making that page private again – but got called away for a minute (am […]
The Miser of Marcham Park
Hi all, welcome to the official 2020 Christmas Tale of History and Imagination. Merry Christmas all, I hope this post finds you all well. Today’s post begins in Canongate churchyard, Edinburgh, Scotland. The date is 1841. A young writer meanders through the graveyard, perusing the tales to be seen on the markers. No doubt he […]
Xenophon in Mesopotamia: Part One
Today’s tale is set in Mesopotamia, modern day Iraq, much of Syria and parts of Turkey. The date? 405 BC. Mesopotamia is an empire which predates the written word – in fact laying claim to the first known work of literature – the Epic of Gilgamesh. An empire credited, among a few others of simultaneously […]
A ’Time Machine’
Hi everyone, apologies for the drop off in new content… I’ve hit the wall, and needed a little time to get my mojo back. It’s all 9 to 5 stuff. My day job continues to keep me gainfully employed regardless of New Zealand’s recent four month lockdown – but the job is one that gets […]
The Campden Wonder – The strange ‘murder’ of William Harrison
Today’s Tale begins on the night of 16th August 1660 in the town of Campden, Gloustershire. William Harrison – the 70 year old steward of Viscountess Campden – has left on a two mile walk to the town of Charringworth, but never returned. Sent to collect the rents for his ladyship, a job Harrison had […]
The Strange Life, and Death of William Desmond Taylor
This third instalment in our pre-code, silent era Hollywood drama begins February 1st 1922. The setting? A posh bungalow at 404 B South Alvarado Street, Los Angeles – now a parking lot for a men’s clothing store, but back then an enclave of Hollywood wealth and privilege. Around 7pm, the occupant – the acclaimed film […]
Update: Sisyphus pushes them rocks…
Hey all just a quick update. Sorry I’ve been a little sketchy on the release dates of late. I think owing to feeling more than a little like Sisyphus pushing that rock up the same hill, day in day out for weeks now – I’ve been feeling more worn out than usual of late. This’ll […]
What goes up…. The Ballad of Franz Reichelt
Warning! This week’s tale deals with death by misadventure, which some readers may find disturbing. Today’s tale is set on a freezing cold morning, 57 metres above the ground, in Paris, France. The date February 4th 1912. Our subject, one unfortunate soul we’ll come to in a few minutes. Before I even begin this tale, […]
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Tales of History and Imagination 