By Christmas is drawing ever closer and people are decorating their homes, soon, I’m sure, we will start to see sprigs of mistletoe hanging from door frames. We all know that two people under the mistletoe are supposed to kiss. But in the early modern period mistletoe (or misletow, misletoe) was
Gunpowder
It is that time of year when the leaves begin to turn a beautiful mixture of red and golds, and on the air is filled with the smell of bonfires. This year the BBC have preceded the 5th November with the excellent series ‘Gunpowder’ retelling the story of the plot to
Science Mixtape
A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to be the guest on Soho Radio’s Science Mixtape with Matilda Hay. If you would like to listen to the show it is available as a podcast.
Have you got the Pox?
Last summer I spent a few days in the Somerset Heritage Centre, Taunton, reading the casenotes of John Westover, a surgeon – or by the looks of his practice, general practitioner operating in and around Wedmore in the late seventeenth century. Having finished going through the casenotes I took the