At the Eleventh Hour

 

At the Eleventh Hour

Often this expression is used to indicate action at the last possible moment, usually before disaster strikes. It’s dramatic, perhaps over-used, but what is its origin?

It comes from the parable of the vineyard workers, as related in the gospel of St Matthew (chapter 20, vv1-6)

It was the custom of landowners to hire workers throughout the day to strip the grape vines. Men could be engaged at the beginning of the working day, but their numbers might be supplemented as the day wore on, even at the end, or eleventh hour, of the day. Regardless of how many hours they worked, all the labourers were paid the same amount. This led to some resentment, naturally.

It led me to ponder, not for the first time, why the eleventh hour was chosen to announce the Armistice in the First World War - it was actually signed at 5:45 a.m. in the Forest of Compiègne. Logistically, hours were needed to allow the news to filter through to the commanders and the troops. Indeed, fighting continued until the last moments.

“The fighting continued until the last possible moment. As a result, there were 10,944 casualties, including 2,738 deaths, on the war’s last day. Most occurred within a period of three hours. The last soldier to be killed in World War I was Henry Gunther, an American of German descent, who was killed just sixty seconds before the guns fell silent.”

The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month has a resounding poetic timbre, unforgettable, echoing.

I watched all the hundreds of people marching past the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday - heads up, shoulders back, pride in every step, a diminishing number every year, some of their places taken by younger relatives.

I watched and thought of them as young, strong men and women, 'doing their bit.'

I watched and saw the older, sadder men and women they had become, maybe diminished, disabled, disillusioned, but still with a spark of defiance and grit, a belief in their cause and their country, a fellowship with their comrades across the generations and the nations.

How long will this tribute continue? How many decades, centuries, must pass before the memories are consigned to history? We don’t as a country commemorate Boudicca’s revolt against the Romans in the first century, the Anglo/Saxon invasion of fifth century Britain, the conquest of the English by the Norman-French army at the Battle of Hastings in the eleventh century. Yet these were important and bloody and life-changing for hundreds, thousands.

Of course, we must never forget the horror of wars and the misery they inflict on all affected by them, but when and how do we move on from the last terrible conflict? Is it a natural process?

It seems inconceivable that the awfulness of both World Wars and subsequent skirmishes across the world should not be marked in a meaningful way, like the Remembrance Day ceremonies. It is essential to try and prevent such atrocities occurring again, to stop young lives being ended or scarred irreparably.

History is vital and must be taught meaningfully. We must remember, lest we forget.

October 14th - another important date

 

Another important date – October 14^th  

All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Stained glass window in St Mary's Church, Battle, depicting William the Conqueror and King Harold

On this day in 1066, the Battle of Hastings was fought between the armies of the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson of England and the French Duke William of Normandy. Harold battled in vain to retain his crown but was defeated by William.    

The battle lasted all day and the outcome changed the life of the Anglo-Saxons (English) forever. William, henceforth always referred to as ‘William the Conqueror’, spoke only French and never mastered English. Therefore the Norman invasion ensured that for centuries French was the official language of England. The last French-speaking king was Richard II, who died in 1399.

After his victory William marched to London and was crowned in Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day, 1066.

Four years later, in 1070, Pope Alexander II ordered William to make penance for his invasion of England. William commissioned the building of Battle Abbey on the site of his conquest as a memorial to the dead. The high altar was placed at the exact spot where Harold met his death. 

In 1085 William I ordered a ‘Great Survey’ to be undertaken. He sent his agents to survey every shire in England The purpose was to conduct a census of the lands and people of England and the resources from which they gained their livelihoods and to assess their rateable value. It was completed in 1086, the year before William died. It became known as the ‘Domesday Book’ and was originally kept in the royal treasury in Winchester. Today it is kept at the National Archives in Kew, London.

The story of the Norman Conquest is told in the Bayeux Tapestry, which was made in England soon after the Battle of Hastings. It consists of 58 panels of linen embroidered in wool with scenes from the Conquest. Today it is housed in the Bayeux Tapestry Museum in Bayeux, France. A replica tapestry, created in 1885, hangs in the Bayeux Gallery of Reading Museum.

 

Triskaidekaphobia and Paraskavedekatriaphobia or Friggatriskaidekaphobia

Is fear of the number 13 more troubling than fear of Friday 13^th? After all there is a 13 in every month.

In any year there will be at least one Friday 13^th but never more than three. If the month starts on a Sunday the thirteenth day will be a Friday. This year’s Friday 13ths fall in January, April and July.

However, there is little evidence that Friday 13^th was considered unlucky before the 19^th century. The superstition seems to be a combination of two older ones, namely Friday is an unlucky day and 13 is an unlucky number. Friday was the day for executions in ancient Rome. Christ was crucified on a Friday. In Britain hangings were carried out on Fridays.

On Friday 13^th October, 1066, William of Normandy demanded that King Harold II relinquish his throne.  Harold refused and the Battle of Hastings took place the next day, Harold’s troops falling to William the Conqueror’s army. Life for the Anglo-Saxons was never the same again!

In recent times, stock market crashes have occurred on Fridays, spawning the phrase ‘Black Friday.’

The ancient Egyptians believed that people passed through twelve stages of life on earth and the thirteenth stage was the happy afterlife. When this belief was adopted by other cultures the association with happiness after death was lost and thirteen related simply to bad luck or death.

Witches’ covens are thought to have thirteen members and thirteen guests at a table presages disaster. In an Old Norse myth the god Odin invited eleven of the gods to a banquet. He did not invite the mischievous Loki to the feast but he heard about it and attended anyway. Loki caused an argument which resulted in the death of one of the gods.

Jesus sat down to the Last Supper with his twelve disciples. Judas Iscariot was one of the party of thirteen. He betrayed his master and killed himself.

Some hosts will seat a teddy bear or doll at a table where only thirteen people will gather. Towns often omit thirteen when numbering their streets, as do some hotels and airlines. Many high-rise blocks do not have a thirteenth floor. Italy’s national lottery doesn’t have a number thirteen.

So perhaps Friggatriskaidekaphobia is greater – it seems that the combination of an unlucky day with an unlucky number is just too terrifying to ignore.

   

However, in Spanish-speaking countries and in Greece it is Tuesday 13^th that is considered unlucky.