30 April 2022

32 Six Boys from Ballaghadereen with the Same Parents … but who was Born the Legitimate Heir?

FIGURE 11: All Saints’ Church, Grangegorman: Charles French and Catherine Maree were married here for a second time in 1854 (photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

In 1869, six Irish brothers arrived as boarders at Downside Abbey, the Benedictine-run Catholic public school in Somerset, near Bath. Charles, John, William, Arthur, Richard and John French were all born almost a year apart: 1851, 1853, 1854, 1855, 1857 and 1858.Their father, Charles French, the third Lord de Freyne, had died the previous year, and in the style of the aristocracy of the day, each boy was enrolled with the honorific prefix of ‘the Honorable’ before his given name.

They must have appeared like peas in a pod. But back at their family home in Frenchpark, outside Ballaghadereen, County Roscommon, it was still not clear which of these six boys was the rightful heir to the family title. Who would be the fourth Lord de Freyne?

Charles French was born on 21 October 1851, the eldest son of Charles French and Catherine Maree; John followed on 13 March 1853, and William John French on 21 April 1854. Surely, as the eldest son, Charles should have been enrolled at Downside as Lord de Freyne, successor to his father’s title and estates? But the lawyers were at work.

It transpired the parents of these six boys had been married not once but twice – to each other. Which was the legitimate marriage and who was born the legitimate heir to the family title?

These questions continued to entertain legal minds into the following decade, and the family title, Baron de Freyne, of Coolavin in County Sligo, remained in a Victorian limbo. The Roll of the House of Lords, which was issued each year, shows blanks against the name of the holder of the de Freyne peerage in 1875 and 1876, indicating the matter was still undecided almost a decade after the boys’ father had died. As the legal wrangles continued, the vast French estates in County Roscommon were administered on behalf of the family by Valentine Blake Dillon, Crown Solicitor for County Sligo.

Dillon’s daughter Nannie later married the third of these boys, John French, and he was a brother of theYoung Ireland politician John Blake Dillon (1814–1866). But he was also familiar with family disputes over heirs and titles: the succession to the Dillon title of Earl of Roscommon had been challenged twice in the 1790s, twice again in the nineteenth century, and once more with the death of the last earl in 1850. The confusions in the French family tree were as complicated and as twisted as those in the Dillon family tree, and both are extremely difficult to disentangle.

The boys’ father, Charles French (1790–1860), 3rd Baron de Freyne of Coolavin, was born into the French family of Frenchpark House, and for many generations, members of the family sat in the Irish House of Commons as MPs for County Roscommon. John French, MP for Roscommon, was about to be given a seat in the Irish House of Lords as Baron Dangar when he died in 1775 before formalities were finalised.

His younger brother, Arthur (1728–1799),also MP for Roscommon, turned down the offer of the same peerage. But eventually a title came into the family when Arthur French (1786–1856), MP for Roscommon (1821–32),was made Baron de Freyne, of Artagh,County Roscommon, in 1839. However, Arthur and his wife Mary McDermott had no children, and when Arthur was widowed, it was obvious the title would die with him. He was given a new but similar title in 1851 as Baron de Freyne, of Coolavin in County Sligo. This time, however, his younger brothers, John, Charles and Fitzstephen French, were named heirs to the title, in the hope that this branch of the French family would always have a titled representative.

When Lord de Freyne died in 1856,the older title, dating from 1839, died out, but the newer title, handed out in 1851, was inherited by his first younger brother, the Rev. John French (1788–1863). He was the Rector of Goresbridge, County Kilkenny, and was more interested in breeding Irish red setters than either his parish or the House of Lords. When he died in 1863, the family title passed to the next surviving brother, Charles French (1790–1868), as the third Lord de Freyne.

Charles was happily married with a large family of seven children, six sons and a daughter. It must have seemed there would be no problem of the family estate and the family title having male heirs.

On 13 February 1851, when he was in his sixties, Charles French married a local, illiterate woman, Catherine Maree from Fairymount. She has been described as a ‘peasant girl’ who was born around 1830 or 1831. He was more than three times her age: she was 20, he was almost 61, and the marriage was performed by a local Catholic priest. Catherine and Charles quickly had three children, one after another: Charles (1851), John (1853) and William John French (1854). By the time William was born on 21 April 1854, it was obvious that Charles and his children were in line to the family title and estates, and the legal validity of the marriage was questioned: Catherine was a Roman Catholic, Charles was a member of the Church of Ireland, and the surviving legacy of the Penal Laws, even in the 1850s, meant a member of the Church of Ireland could only legitimately marry in the Church of Ireland.

Charles and Catherine were quietly married a second time in 1854 in the hope of legitimising their three children and ensuring succession to the title and estates. This second wedding, on 17 May 1854 in All Saints’ Church, Grangegorman, Dublin, was performed by the Rev. William Maturin. Charles gave his address as the Albert Hotel, Dominick Street, Dublin, and Catherine gave hers as Anna Villa, North Circular Road, making them residents of the parish. He was 63 and she was 23; he describes himself as a bachelor, she as a spinster, although their third child had been born four weeks earlier. She was illiterate and signed the register with an X.

Charles and Catherine had four more children: Arthur French (1855–1913), Richard Patrick French (1857–1921), Robert French (1858–1920), and Mary Josephine French (1859–1919), who married Valentine Joseph Blake (1842–1912). Lord de Freyne celebrated his 68th birthday on the day his youngest son was born in 1858. He died on 28 October 1868, and in 1869, all six boys arrived as boarders at Downside to be educated as Catholics, despite the confusion of their parents’ marriages.

But it was still uncertain which son was going to succeed to the family title. Eventually, lawyers decided the 1851 marriage was invalid and any children born in that marriage were illegitimate. The first three sons continued to use the prefix ‘The Hon’, reserved for the legitimate children of a peer. But Arthur French, the first son born after the 1854 marriage, succeeded as 4th Baron de Freyne. His mother, the former Catherine Maree, died on 13 November 1900.

Arthur French was known as a cruel landlord. When his tenants refused to pay their rent, he took leading members of the Irish Party to court in 1902, accusing them of incitement. He had the doubtful pleasure of reading his own obituary in The Times on 11 September 1913. On 23 September 1913, The Times reported: ‘Lord de Freyne, whose death was wrongly announced last Thursday week, died yesterday morning at his residence, Frenchpark, Co Roscommon, in his 59th year’.

Arthur’s older brothers, excluded by law from inheriting the titles and estates, continued to live as though their parents’ first marriage was legitimate: Charles, the eldest son, was MP for County Roscommon (1873–80); John, the second son, was a Resident Magistrate for Kerry, Limerick and Roscommon; all three used the prefix ‘the Hon,’ asserting the legitimacy of their parents’ first marriage. John French died on 23 May 1916, and the family is remembered in a brass plaque in the south porch of the Church of the Holy Name on Beechwood Avenue in Ranelagh, Dublin, where his widow insisted on describing him as the legitimate-born son of a peer, ‘The Honble John French’.

Sources and Further Reading:

Burke’s Peerage, Debrett’s Peerage, various editions, s.v. ‘de Freyne’.
Parish Register, All Saints’ Church, Grangegorman, Dublin.
The Times (London), 11 September 1913, 23 September 1913.

FIGURE 12: Frenchpark, near Ballaghaderreen, Co. Roscommon: the house was demolished in the 1970s and the rubble was used as infill for a new creamery building

‘Six Boys from Ballaghadereen with the Same Parents … but who was Born the Legitimate Heir?’ is Chapter 32 in Salvador Ryan (ed), Birth, Marriage and Death among the Irish, Dublin: Wordwell, 288 pp, ISBN: 978-1-913934-61-3, €25, pp 144-148

Praying with the Psalms in Easter:
30 April 2022 (Psalm 66)

‘Sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise’ or Sing forth the honour of his name, Make his praise glorious’ (Psalm 66: 2) … a stained glass window in Saint Brendan’s Church, Bantry, Co Cork (1917) by James Watson & Co, Youghal (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

During this season of Easter, I am reflecting each morning on the Psalms, and in this Prayer Diary on my blog each morning I am reflecting in these ways:

1, Short reflections on a psalm or psalms;

2, reading the psalm or psalms;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

Psalm 66:

Psalm 66 is a psalm of thanksgiving, probably intended for use at the Passover. In the variation in numbering in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate, this is known as Psalm 65.

Psalm 66 is divided into two parts:

1, verses 1-12: the community praises God and invites the whole world to join in praise;

2, verses 13-20: an individual from the rescued community fulfils a vow to offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving.

This psalm tells us that all the earth, and not just Israel, is invited to praise God, who is ‘awesome in his deeds’ (verse 2) and who is ‘wonderful’ in ‘his dealings’ with humanity. The psalmist recalls the Exodus, and how the people crossed the Red Sea and the River Jordan on foot. God keeps watch over ‘the nations,’ so they should not rebel against him.

God preserves us in life and protects us. In the past, he has tested us and purified as silver is purified. Israel has been subjugated by other people, which may be a reference to exile not only in Egypt but also in Babylon. Yet, after being tested by fire and water, God has brought them to freedom and liberty again.

[Come and see] ‘what God hath wrought’ was the first message sent by telegraph in 1844. The verse was suggested by Annie Ellsworth and inspired by Psalm 66: 5 and Psalm 66: 16.

Standing in the chamber of the US Supreme Court, Samuel B Morse sent a 19-letter message to his assistant Albert Vail in Baltimore, who transmitted the message back. Psalm 66: 5 was sent as ‘what God hath wrought’ (‘Come and see what God has done’), while Psalm 66:16 was the reply: ‘Come and see what God has done for me’ (‘Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for me’).

‘Be joyful in God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name; sing the glory of his praise’ (Psalm 66: 1) … at the mouth of the river in Messonghi, Corfu (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Psalm 66 (NRSVA):

To the leader. A Song. A Psalm.

1 Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth;
2 sing the glory of his name;
give to him glorious praise.
3 Say to God, ‘How awesome are your deeds!
Because of your great power, your enemies cringe before you.
4 All the earth worships you;
they sing praises to you,
sing praises to your name.’
Selah

5 Come and see what God has done:
he is awesome in his deeds among mortals.
6 He turned the sea into dry land;
they passed through the river on foot.
There we rejoiced in him,
7 who rules by his might for ever,
whose eyes keep watch on the nations—
let the rebellious not exalt themselves.
Selah

8 Bless our God, O peoples,
let the sound of his praise be heard,
9 who has kept us among the living,
and has not let our feet slip.
10 For you, O God, have tested us;
you have tried us as silver is tried.
11 You brought us into the net;
you laid burdens on our backs;
12 you let people ride over our heads;
we went through fire and through water;
yet you have brought us out to a spacious place.

13 I will come into your house with burnt-offerings;
I will pay you my vows,
14 those that my lips uttered
and my mouth promised when I was in trouble.
15 I will offer to you burnt-offerings of fatlings,
with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams;
I will make an offering of bulls and goats.
Selah

16 Come and hear, all you who fear God,
and I will tell what he has done for me.
17 I cried aloud to him,
and he was extolled with my tongue.
18 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.
19 But truly God has listened;
he has given heed to the words of my prayer.

20 Blessed be God,
because he has not rejected my prayer
or removed his steadfast love from me.

Today’s Prayer:

The theme in this week’s prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) is ‘Logging in the Solomon Islands,’ and was introduced on Sunday morning by Brother Christopher John SSF, Minister General of the Society of Saint Francis.

The USPG Prayer Diary this morning (30 April 2022) invites us to pray:

We give thanks for the work of the United Nations and pray for more urgent action on climate change and other important issue from the international community.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

29 April 2022

‘Make the bonds of sleep
fall on my eyes, and
slumber on my eyelids’

‘When you are disturbed, do not sin; ponder it on your beds, and be silent’ – words from Psalm 4: 4 used in the traditional Jewish prayers before sleep at night … ‘every night I flood my bed with tears’ (Psalm 6: 6) … a traditional Cretan bedroom near Vryses (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

On this Friday evening, I am reflecting on the traditional Jewish prayers before sleep at night, which begin:

‘Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who makes the bonds of sleep fall on my eyes, and slumber on my eyelids.

‘May it be your will, Lord my God and God of my fathers, that you make me lie down in peace and arise in peace.

‘Let not my imagination, bad dreams or troubling thoughts disturb me.

‘May my bed be flawless before you.

‘Enlighten my eyes lest I sleep the sleep of death, for it is you who illuminate the pupil of the eye.

‘Blessed are you, Lord, who gives light to the whole world in his glory.’

Writing about these traditional prayers before sleep at night, the former Chief Rabbi, the late Lord (Jonathan) Sachs, says: ‘Just as our first words in the morning should be words of prayer, so should our last at night.’

He identifies ten components of these night prayers:

1, a prayer for peaceful sleep and a safe awakening, mentioned in the Talmud (Berachot 60b);

2, the first paragraph of the Shema, ensuring these words are with us ‘when we lie down’;

3, Psalm 91, a prayer for protection from danger;

4, Psalm 3, chosen because of its reference to night: ‘I lie down and sleep; I wake again, for the Lord sustains me’ (Psalm 3: 5);

5, ‘Help us lie down …’ – three paragraphs from the evening service;

6, ‘May the angel who rescued me from all harm …’ – a series of Biblical verses about safety and security;

7, A verse about angels, based on ‘The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them’ (Psalm 34: 7) and ‘He will command his angels about you, to guard you in all your ways’ (Psalm 91: 11);

8, Psalm 128, about work, recalling the phrase from Ecclesiastes 5: 12, ‘Sweet is the sleep of laborers, whether they eat little or much; but the surfeit of the rich will not let them sleep’

9, ‘When you are disturbed, do not sin; ponder it on your beds, and be silent’ – words from Psalm 4: 4, mentioned in the Talmud (Berachot 4b) as an appropriate verse before sleep;

10, The hymn Adon Olam (אֲדוֹן עוֹלָם‎), ‘Eternal Lord’ or ‘Sovereign of the Universe,’ one of the best-known and best-loved Jewish prayers. It has been a regular part of the daily and Shabbat liturgy since the 15th century. It is said here because of its closing lines with their reference to entrusting our souls and bodies to God’s safekeeping at night:

Into his hand I commit my spirit
When I sleep, and I awake

And with my spirit, my body
The Lord is with me, I will not fear.


Shabbat Shalom



Scripture references are to the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

Praying with the Psalms in Easter:
29 April 2022 (Psalm 65)

‘You visit the earth and water it, you greatly enrich it’ (Psalm 65: 9) … the Great Ouse River below the bridge between Stony Stratford and Old Stratford, near Milton Keynes (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Patrick Comerford

During this season of Easter, I am reflecting each morning on the Psalms, and in this Prayer Diary on my blog each morning I am reflecting in these ways:

1, Short reflections on a psalm or psalms;

2, reading the psalm or psalms;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

Psalm 65:

Psalm 65 begins a group of four psalms which are hymns of thanksgiving (Psalms 65-68), in contrast to the preceding psalms, which are laments. The Jerusalem Bible suggests this psalm is set ‘after a good year with plentiful rain.’

In the slightly different numbering in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate, this psalm is counted as Psalm 63.

Psalm 65 begins in the style of a prayer, transitions to a description of God, and concludes with praise to God.

Verse 1 in the New Revised Standard Version is translated: ‘Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion; and to you shall vows be performed’. But some translations introduce the concept of silence in this verse. For example, the New American Standard Bible translates verse 1: ‘There will be silence before You, and praise in Zion, God, and the vow will be fulfilled for you.’

In Jewish tradition, Psalm 65 is recited on Yom Kippur, and in some traditions at Shmini Atzeret in some traditions, directly follows the festival of Sukkot which is celebrated for seven days. Shemini Atzeret is literally the eighth day. This is a separate – yet connected – holy day devoted to the spiritual aspects of the festival of Sukkot. This year it begins at sunset on 16 October and continues until nightfall on 17 October.

Verse 5 is recited by people present at a brit milah (בְּרִית מִילָה), the covenant of circumcision or religious ceremony of male circumcision.

Elijah’s Chair, used at the circumcision of a Jewish boy when he is eight days old … part of Psalm 65 is recited by people present at a brit milah (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Psalm 65 (NRSVA):

To the leader. A Psalm of David. A Song.

1 Praise is due to you,
O God, in Zion;
and to you shall vows be performed,
2 O you who answer prayer!
To you all flesh shall come.
3 When deeds of iniquity overwhelm us,
you forgive our transgressions.
4 Happy are those whom you choose and bring near
to live in your courts.
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,
your holy temple.

5 By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance,
O God of our salvation;
you are the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas.
6 By your strength you established the mountains;
you are girded with might.
7 You silence the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
the tumult of the peoples.
8 Those who live at earth’s farthest bounds are awed by your signs;
you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy.

9 You visit the earth and water it,
you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water;
you provide the people with grain,
for so you have prepared it.
10 You water its furrows abundantly,
settling its ridges,
softening it with showers,
and blessing its growth.
11 You crown the year with your bounty;
your wagon tracks overflow with richness.
12 The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
the hills gird themselves with joy,
13 the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
the valleys deck themselves with grain,
they shout and sing together for joy.

Today’s Prayer:

The theme in this week’s prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) is ‘Logging in the Solomon Islands,’ and was introduced on Sunday morning by Brother Christopher John SSF, Minister General of the Society of Saint Francis.

The USPG Prayer Diary this morning (29 April 2022) invites us to pray:

Let us pray for efforts to prevent gender-based violence in the Solomon Islands.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

28 April 2022

In search of some of
the lost schoolhouses
of Stony Stratford

The former ‘British School’ on the corner of High Street and Wolverton Road (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Patrick Comerford

As I continue to enjoy the architectural heritage of Stony Stratford, I have written in recent weeks about two former schools in this town on the edges of Milton Keynes: Saint Paul’s School, now Saint Paul’s Court, on High Street, and the school on the corner of Wolverton Road and London Road which was once associated with Wolverton Saint Mary’s – it was designed by the local architect Edward Swinfen Harris and now the Old School House public house.

But Stony Stratford has many other former school buildings that are of architectural and historical interest.

The former ‘British School’ on the corner of High Street and Wolverton Road is now a public hall. The school was founded in 1844 for girls and boys who were not allowed to enter Church of England schools.

It is built in yellow brick and has an interesting composition, with its double entrance doors – presumably for boys and girls – with their fanlights in stilted arches, its curved corner and return.

This two-storey, three-bay building has a centre with a pediment on wide piers, a tympanum that is flush with the piers, and a blind circular panel with the legend ‘British School 1844.’

The central window on the ground floor may have been inserted at a later date.

The curved corner once the ticket office for local steam trams.

The school closed in 1907, and this landmark building in the heart of Stony Statford is now a public hall and a dance studio.

The former Dame School House at No 103 High Street (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

At the other end of High Street, the former Dame School House is at No 103. This is now a private, family home. When it was on the market recently, the estate agents described it as ‘a Grade II listed Georgian house,’ although a plaque on the house dates the school to ca 1650.

The house retains many of its original features, including fireplaces and exposed wall and ceiling beams, a steep early tiled roof, and hipped dormers with sash windows. The six-panel front door is set in a Regency doorway with a reeded surround.

The former Rose and Crown on High Street was a grammar school in the early 17th century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

A much earlier school on High Street dated from In 1609, Michael Hipwell, an innkeeper, left a bequest in the income from his properties to ‘keep a Free Grammar School in the back’ of his inn, then the Rose and Crown and now Nos 26 and 28 High Street.

Inside, these houses are said to retain some good late 16th century features, including stone fireplaces, moulded jambs and Tudor mouldings on a doorway. in next room. This building is the reputed site of Edward V’s arrest in 1483.

The former school premises or ‘ladies’ seminaries’ in the Market Square (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Stony Stratford had three schools in the Market Square in the 1830s, including a ‘ladies’ seminary’ in a corner house that has since been demolished, and a second ‘ladies’ seminary’ run by the sisters Miss May Linnel and Miss Helen Linnel.

Later in the mid-19th century Elizabeth Baxter, Mary Linnel and a Miss Chibnall ran schools in the square, and Robert Bell ran a boys’ boarding school – all probably housed at different times in the 19th century in the building now known as Market House.

A ‘ladies’ seminary’ was run by the Banks family at Woollard House on Church Street in the 1860s (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

In the 1860s, another ‘ladies’ seminary’ seems to have been run by a Mrs Banks and her daughter at the home of ‘Mr Woollard the Tanner’ on Church Street.

The former York House School, on the corner of York Street and High Street, now the Conservative Club (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

York House, on the corner of York Street and High Street, was a private school from 1853 or earlier. When the school moved to London Road around 1902, it took its name with it, and was known as York House School.

York House School was run by a Mrs Slade and her two daughters until they retired in 1933.

The former school premises on London Road is now the York House Centre with community facilities, while the former school premises on High Street is now the Conservative Club.

The former York House School, now the York House Centre on London Road (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Praying with the Psalms in Easter:
28 April 2022 (Psalm 64)

‘Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked … who whet their tongues like swords, who aim bitter words like arrows, shooting from ambush at the blameless’ (Psalm 64: 2-4) … a fresco in a church in Georgioupoli in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

During this season of Easter, I am reflecting each morning on the Psalms, and in this Prayer Diary on my blog each morning I am reflecting in these ways:

1, Short reflections on a psalm or psalms;

2, reading the psalm or psalms;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

Psalm 64:

Psalm 64 may be treated as a prayer for deliverance from enemies, or as a thanksgiving, or a testimony to divine judgment. In the slightly different numbering in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate, this psalm is counted as Psalm 63.

Psalm 64 is directed against the ‘wicked’ (רעע‎) and ‘workers of iniquity’ (פֹּעֲלֵי אָֽוֶן‎), whom God shall shoot with an arrow (וַיֹּרֵם אֱלֹהִים חֵץ‎).

The psalm is divided into either 10 or 11 verses, depending on whether the introductory לַמְנַצֵּחַ מִזְמֹור לְדָוִֽד‎ ‘To the leader’ or ‘To the chief Musician (נצח‎), A Psalm of David’ is counted as a separate verse.

In verse 4, the wicked shoot arrows secretly at the righteous.

In verse 7, God shoots an arrow (arrows, plural, in some translations) at the wicked, but for some these will be saving arrows, as in verse 9: all will ‘will tell what God has brought about, and ponder what he has done.’

The arrow of God leads to a turning to God.

Verses 6-7 have been the subject of confusion in early Bible translations. The Authorised or King James Version translates these verses Hebrew as: ‘They search out iniquities; they accomplish a diligent search: both the inward thought of every one of them, and the heart, is deep. But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded.’

But in the Vulgate, Jerome, based on the Septuagint text, rendered this as: Scrutati sunt iniquitates; defecerunt scrutantes scrutinio. Accedet homo ad cor altum, et exaltabitur Deus. Sagittæ parvulorum factæ sunt plagæ eorum. This translates to ‘They have searched after iniquities: they have failed in their search. Man shall accede to a lofty heart: And God shall be exalted. The arrows of children are their wounds.’

The adjective altum in Latin has both the meanings ‘high’ and ‘deep,’ and it is here used to translate the Septuagint Greek work βαθεῖα, ‘deep,’ but it offered itself to an interpretation of an ‘exalted heart.’

The ‘arrows of children’ (Sagittæ parvulum) render the Septuagint Greek words βέλος νηπίων, although these words have no correspondence in the Hebrew text as it has been received.

They ‘whet their tongues like swords’ (Psalm 64: 3) … a ceremonial sword and mace in Kilkenny (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Psalm 64 (NRSVA):

To the leader. A Psalm of David..

1 Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint;
preserve my life from the dread enemy.
2 Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked,
from the scheming of evildoers,
3 who whet their tongues like swords,
who aim bitter words like arrows,
4 shooting from ambush at the blameless;
they shoot suddenly and without fear.
5 They hold fast to their evil purpose;
they talk of laying snares secretly,
thinking, ‘Who can see us?
6 Who can search out our crimes?
We have thought out a cunningly conceived plot.’
For the human heart and mind are deep.

7 But God will shoot his arrow at them;
they will be wounded suddenly.
8 Because of their tongue he will bring them to ruin;
all who see them will shake with horror.
9 Then everyone will fear;
they will tell what God has brought about,
and ponder what he has done.

10 Let the righteous rejoice in the Lord
and take refuge in him.
Let all the upright in heart glory.

Today’s Prayer:

The theme in this week’s prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) is ‘Logging in the Solomon Islands,’ and was introduced on Sunday morning by Brother Christopher John SSF, Minister General of the Society of Saint Francis.

The USPG Prayer Diary this morning (28 April 2022) invites us to pray:

We pray for those working to prevent deforestation in the Solomon Islands.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

27 April 2022

A royal love story is
told on the streets
of Stony Stratford

A gable end mural on the corner of New Street and High Street recalls the story of the Eleanor Cross in Stony Stratford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Patrick Comerford

I have found images of Queen Eleanor in surprising places in Stony Stratford: on gable ends, in hangings in the local medical practice, and on display boards throughout the town telling stories of the history and heritage of Stony Stratford.

Queen Eleanor was once commemorated by the Eleanor Crosses across England, and at least two places have been identified as the site of the Eleanor Cross erected in Stony Stratford after her death in 1290.

The story of the Eleanor Cross in Stony Stratford is explained on the corner of New Street and High Street (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Legend says that as a young princess Eleanor was known as ‘La Infanta de Castilla’ and her enduring popularity led to the myth that the ‘Elephant and Castle’ – a popular heraldic emblem in mediaeval England that gave many inns their names – was derived from an English corruption of the phrase ‘La Infanta de Castilla.’

However, Eleanor of Castile never held this title. She was born in 1241, and she was only 13 when she was married to the future King Edward I, King Henry III’s eldest son, Prince Edward, in October 1254.

She first came to England in 1255, and although the marriage of Eleanor and Edward was politically motivated, it was full of love. During 36 years of marriage, Eleanor gave birth to 16 children, including the future Edward II who was born in 1284.

A plaque on High Street recalls the Eleanor Cross in Stony Stratford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Queen Eleanor first became ill during the winter of 1285 and her health slowly deteriorated over the next five years. Some sources suggest that in the autumn of 1290, Edward was travelling to Scotland and that he and the Queen were separated. It is more likely that they were both at the Palace of Clipone in Sherwood Forest where parliament had been summoned and that they wanted to make a pilgrimage to the tomb of Saint Hugh of Lincoln.

Eleanor had been ill at Clipstone and she did not complete the journey to Lincoln. Attended by Bishop Oliver Sutton of Lincoln, she died a few miles away in the house of Richard de Weston at Harby in Nottinghamshire on 28 November 1290. Edward was at her bedside to hear her final requests.

King Edward was grief stricken. Queen Eleanor’s body was first taken to Lincoln for embalming at Saint Catherine’s Priory. Her viscera was buried in a tomb in Lincoln Cathedral, her heart was buried at Blackfriars Priory in London and her body taken to Westminster Abbey for burial in the Chapel of Saint Edward the Confessor on 17 December 1290.

Did the Eleanor Cross in Stony Stratford stand near Nos 155 and 157 High Street, where the street widens? (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

King Edward had an ‘Eleanor Cross’ erected at each of the 12 places where her body rested on this journey from Lincoln to Westminster.

The crosses were erected to honour her memory and to encourage prayers for her soul from passers-by and pilgrims. It is thought that similar crosses erected between St Denis and Paris after the death of Louis IX, which King Edward saw, may have inspired the Eleanor Crosses.

All 12 Eleanor Crosses had three sections and followed a similar style and structure, but each had its own individuality. The lower section had the coats of arms of Castile, England and Ponthieu, the middle had statues of Queen Eleanor and the top section had decorated pinnacles.

The exact location of the Eleanor Cross in Stony Stratford is not known, although two locations claim this privilege: one is a point at Nos 155 and 157 High Street, where the street widens; the second is a little further north, close to the bridge over the Great Ouse River, linking Stony Stratford and Old Stratford and marking the border between Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire.

Did the Eleanor Cross in Stony Stratford stand near the bridge over the Great Ouse River? (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The Eleanor Cross in Stony Stratford was designed by the master mason John of Battle. It is believed to have had a tall elegant design, triangular in plan, and similar to the cross at Geddington.

Each Eleanor Cross had a flight of steps at the base, and was built in three stages. The top and middle sections of the Stony Stratford cross were destroyed around 1646 by Parliamentarians during the English Civil War. Although the lower section survived for some time, no traces of the Cross remain today.

But Eleanor of Castile and the Eleanor Cross are remembered to this day throughout Stony Stratford, including a gable painting at the corner of High Street and New Street, hangings in the medical centre, and other surprising places throughout the town.

Hangings in the medical centre in Stony Stratford recall the love story of Queen Eleanor and King Edward (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Praying with the Psalms in Easter:
27 April 2022 (Psalm 63)

‘My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me’ (Psalm 63: 8) … Shane Gilmore’s sculpture of human hands at Saint Peter and Saint Paul Cathedral, Ennis, Co Clare (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

During this season of Easter, I have returned to my morning reflections on the Psalms, and in this Prayer Diary on my blog each morning I am reflecting in these ways:

1, Short reflections on a psalm or psalms;

2, reading the psalm or psalms;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

Psalm 63:

Psalm 63 is attributed to King David, set when he was in the wilderness of Judah, and its theme concerns being stranded in the wilderness away from one’s family. In the slightly different numbering in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate, this psalm is counted as Psalm 62.

The phrase is the opening inscription, ‘when he was in the Wilderness of Judah,’ may refer to David’s flight from Absalom (see II Samuel 15 to 16), although it may also refer to the time when Saul was pursuing David (see I Samuel 23: 14, 24: 2).

Psalm 63 can be divided into two parts:

1, verses 1-8: an address to God: opening with the words, ‘O God, you are my God, I seek you’ (verse 1).

This first part evokes desire, praise and then trust in God. The image of the arid earth in verse 1 does not express the absence of God as in other psalms, but rather the aspiration to meet.

Confidence is then expressed by the symbolism of the protective bird. Perhaps also the wings recall the wings of the cherubim on the ark of the covenant, representing the Lord.

2, verses 9-11: the psalmist’s wishes of vengeance are expressed in the third person in the last three verses.

The change of emphasis is evident in verse 10, with disconcerting talk of vengeance towards the enemies of the psalmist: ‘they shall be given over to the power of the sword, they shall be prey for jackals.’

Some translations refer to foxes rather than jackals rather than foxes. But it is the jackals rather than foxes that prey on dead bodies, and assemble like troops on the battlefield to feast on the slain.

A similar cry of vengeance is heard in Jeremiah 11: 20.

Does this psalm end with a question for the king in the last verse, or is this the psalmist himself, extending his prayer to the community.

In the Early Church, Psalm 63, as known as ‘the morning hymn.’ Saint John Chrysostom wrote that ‘it was decreed and ordained by the primitive [church] fathers, that no day should pass without the public singing of this Psalm.’ He also observed that ‘the spirit and soul of the whole Book of Psalms is contracted into this Psalm.’

At the end of the 17th century, Michel-Richard de Lalande wrote a work in Latin according to this psalm (S.20). It is one of the great motets to celebrate the services at the royal chapel in the Château de Versailles for the Sun King, Louis XIV.

The Czech composer Antonín Dvořák set part of Psalm 63, together with part of Psalm 61, as No. 6 of his Biblical Songs (1894).

‘As in a dry and weary land where there is no water’ (Psalm 63: 1) … dry land on the island of Elafonisi off the south-west coast of Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Psalm 63 (NRSVA):

A Psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah.

1 O God, you are my God, I seek you,
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
3 Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
4 So I will bless you as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands and call on your name.

5 My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast,
and my mouth praises you with joyful lips
6 when I think of you on my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
7 for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.
8 My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.

9 But those who seek to destroy my life
shall go down into the depths of the earth;
10 they shall be given over to the power of the sword,
they shall be prey for jackals.
11 But the king shall rejoice in God;
all who swear by him shall exult,
for the mouths of liars will be stopped.

Today’s Prayer:

The theme in this week’s prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) is ‘Logging in the Solomon Islands,’ and was introduced day on Sunday morning by Brother Christopher John SSF, Minister General of the Society of Saint Francis.

The USPG Prayer Diary this morning (27 April 2022) invites us to pray:

Let us give thanks for the Society of Saint Francis, Franciscans International and Dominicans for Justice and Peace.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

26 April 2022

Why academics should resist
these tempting invitations
from predatory journals

Predatory Publishing … an image from the website ‘The Scholarly Kitchen

Patrick Comerford

I was cleaning out my Spam folder in my email account the other day when I came across an interesting invitation. At first I was surprised. Had I simply emptied my Spam folder without going through each message individually, I might have missed an invitation to contribute articles to the International Journal of Philosophy and to join the journal’s editorial board and reviewer team.

The invitation certainly managed to massage my ego … well, at least for a moment or two. I rescued the email from the Spam folder, and started to read it with a little more attention.

The message claimed the International Journal of Philosophy (IJP) ‘is a double-anonymous peer reviewed international scientific journal. Our journal is created with the goal of facilitating academic communications in fields related to philosophy.’

It seems the invitation had come my way because people at the journal had ‘noticed that your published work titled ‘For the Life of the World: Toward a Social Ethos of the Orthodox Church’ has caught great attention.’ They told me they feel honoured ‘if you could contribute articles to our journal and join the Editorial Board/Reviewer Team.’

Was I being asked to join the ‘Editorial Board’ or the ‘Editorial Committee’ of the International Journal of Philosophy? Why did they feel so honoured, after all my paper has been published only recently in the in the current edition of Studies in Christian Ethics.

Studies in Christian Ethics is the leading English-language journal in theological ethics in Europe. It offers first-rate work by British theologians and ethicists, but also showcases the best in North American and Continental scholarship in the field.

However, my paper in this journal makes no reference to my academic qualifications, experience or background, and simply identifies me as of ‘Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick.’ There are no references to my degrees, previous books and papers, to the places where I have worked as an academic, or the reasons why the editors and reviewers of Studies in Christian Ethics thought I was the appropriate person to write this paper.

I read the invitation more carefully.

I was addressed ‘Dear Comerford, P,’ and the author of the letter signed off ‘Assistant, Editorial Office of International Journal of Philosophy’. I had no titles or qualifications, not even a full first name; the writer of the letter had no name at all, and did no reveal his or her qualifications. Yet, I was being told, ‘In light of your academic background and experience, we invite you to contribute other unpublished manuscripts of relevant fields to the journal.’

Indeed, I do not even know where they are based or where they are writing from.

I was also ‘advised to encourage students and colleagues around you to use this journal, help manuscript submissions from potential authors, and cite the published papers in the journal.’

My ego is easily massaged, but was I as honoured as my correspondent was, this anonymous letter writer who assures me, ‘on behalf of the Editorial Board of the journal,’ that ‘it is honored for us to invite you to join our team as one of the editorial board members/reviewers.’

I was told I could ‘refer to this link to know more about us’: http://www.intjphil.org/jyip3/fzqva.

Well, it seems anyone can join their team as a member of their editorial board or committee, and anyone and everyone is invited to submit ‘academic articles,’ share their ‘latest scientific research’.

I was assured they are ‘looking forward to cooperating with me’ and told me I could submit my papers to: http://www.intjphil.org/sfmgx0v/fzqva

The communication was very flattering in tone, but I thought the fact that my specialisms are in theology, liturgy and church history and not in philosophy sent out warning signs, and the spelling mistakes and grammatical in one short email raised a number of red flags.

With a little research over the weekend I soon found the publishers of this ‘journal’ are listed on ‘Beall’s List of potential predatory journals and publishers,’ a list of ‘potential predatory scholarly open access publishers’ created by Jeffrey Beall, a librarian at the University of Colorado until 2017. His list is available HERE.

A lengthy review of the controversy started Beall started appears in The Journal of Academic Librarianship. But leading scholars and publishers from ten countries have also agreed to a definition of predatory publishing that can protect scholarship.

Predatory publishing, also write-only publishing or deceptive publishing, is an exploitative academic publishing business model that involves charging publication fees to authors without checking articles for quality and legitimacy, and without providing editorial and publishing services that legitimate academic journals provide, whether open access or not.

The phenomenon of ‘open access predatory publishers’ was first noticed by Jeffrey Beall, when he described ‘publishers that are ready to publish any article for payment.’

Predatory publishers trick scholars into publishing with them, although some authors may be aware that the journal is poor quality or even fraudulent. New scholars from developing countries are said to be especially at risk of being misled by predatory publishers. According to one study, 60% of articles published in predatory journals receive no citations over the five-year period following publication.

Beall’s List sets out criteria for categorising publications as predatory. Since then, other efforts to identify predatory publishing have emerged, such as the paywalled Cabell’s blacklist, as well as other lists.

Predatory publishers have been described as the ‘black sheep among open access publishers and journals’ and compared to vanity presses. They pretend to provide services such as quality peer review that they do not implement. They have been reported to hold submissions hostage, refusing to allow them to be withdrawn and in this was preventing submission to other, reputable journals.

John Bohannon, a writer for the journal Science, tested the open access system in 2013 by submitting to a number of these journals a deeply flawed paper on the purported effect of a lichen constituent. He published the results in a paper called, ‘Who’s Afraid of Peer Review?’ About 60% of those journals and several universities accepted the faked medical paper.

Four researchers created a fictitious sub-par scientist named Anna O Szust – oszust is Polish for ‘fraudster’ – in 2015 , and applied on her behalf for an editor position to 360 scholarly journals. Her qualifications were dismal for the role of an editor: she had never published a single article and had no editorial experience; the books and book chapters listed on her CV were made-up, as were the publishing houses that published the books.

One-third of the journals ‘Dr Szust’ applied to were sampled from Beall’s list of predatory journals. Forty of these predatory journals accepted Szust as an editor without any background vetting and often within days or even hours.

The number of predatory journals has grown exponentially since 2010. Predatory journals have rapidly increased their publication volumes from 53,000 in 2010 to an estimated 420,000 articles in 2014, published by around 8,000 active journals. Early on, publishers with more than 100 journals dominated the market, but since 2012 publishers in the 10-99 journal size category have captured the largest market share. A report in 2019 found 5% of Italian researchers have published in predatory journals, with a third of those journals engaging in fraudulent editorial practices.

A study in 2020 study found hundreds of scientists say they have reviewed papers for ‘predatory journals.’ Authors pay an average fee of $178 each for papers to be published rapidly without review, typically within two to three months of submission.

Predatory journals are a global threat, and they are driven by self-interest, usually financial, at the expense of scholarship. They accept articles for publication — along with authors’ fees — without performing promised quality checks for issues such as plagiarism or ethical approval. Predatory publishers collect millions of dollars in publication fees, often paid out by funders of the research.

Of course, it can be difficult to distinguish a predatory journal from a journal that is under-resourced. Both can be low quality, but under-resourced journals do not have an intention to deceive.

In the past I have been happy, indeed honoured, to contribute to under-resourced journals and journals that often miss strict academic criteria such as independent peer review, including the journals of local history society and the Church of Ireland journal Search.

But predatory publishing is an ever-multiplying problem. To the researcher eager to make an impact with their work, these ‘journals’ can seem like very tempting offers. But publishing with these publishers often entails signing away copyright that means authors lose the right to publish elsewhere.

The threat posed by predatory publishing is not going to disappear as long as universities use how many publications an academic publishes as criteria for graduation or career advancement.

Academic institutions need to ensure that researchers avoid submitting manuscripts to these journals or listing these publications on their CVs. But the ‘publish-or-perish’ culture in academic life fosters the environment that encourages predatory publications.

An ‘Open Research’ paper at the University of Cambridge on the dangers of predatory publishing suggests the following websites offer help to make an informed decision on where to publish:

Think, Check, Submit

Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)

Open Access Scholarly Publishers’ Association (OASPA)

In the meantime, I am not joining the ‘Editorial Board’ or the ‘Editorial Committee’ of the International Journal of Philosophy.

Praying with the Psalms in Easter:
26 April 2022 (Psalm 62)

‘For God alone … is my rock and my salvation’ (Psalm 62: 1-2) … the rocks and cliffs in Ballybunion, Co Kerry (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

During this season of Easter, I have returned to my morning reflections on the Psalms, and in this Prayer Diary on my blog each morning I am reflecting in these ways:

1, Short reflections on a psalm or psalms;

2, reading the psalm or psalms;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

Psalm 62:

Psalm 62 is known in Latin Nonne Deo subiecta erit anima mea.

In the slightly different numbering system in the Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate this psalm is counted as Psalm 61.

This psalm offers a warning not to let one’s power erode one’s trust in God.

Jeduthun’s name stands at the head of this psalm, as it does in Psalm 39 and Psalm 77. In I Chronicles 16: 41–42, Jeduthun is one of the chief singers, and his sons were gatekeepers at the tent of the Ark of the Covenant. His name is mentioned, perhaps, as a special honour.

In the New Testament, verse 12 is quoted in Matthew 16: 27 and Romans 2: 6.

‘How long will you assail a person, will you batter your victim, all of you, as you would a leaning wall, a tottering fence?’ (Psalm 62: 3) … a tottering fence by the South Strand in Skerries, Co Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Psalm 62 (NRSVA):

To the leader: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.

1 For God alone my soul waits in silence;
from him comes my salvation.
2 He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall never be shaken.

3 How long will you assail a person,
will you batter your victim, all of you,
as you would a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
4 Their only plan is to bring down a person of prominence.
They take pleasure in falsehood;
they bless with their mouths,
but inwardly they curse.
Selah

5 For God alone my soul waits in silence,
for my hope is from him.
6 He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
7 On God rests my deliverance and my honour;
my mighty rock, my refuge is in God.

8 Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us.
Selah

9 Those of low estate are but a breath,
those of high estate are a delusion;
in the balances they go up;
they are together lighter than a breath.
10 Put no confidence in extortion,
and set no vain hopes on robbery;
if riches increase, do not set your heart on them.

11 Once God has spoken;
twice have I heard this:
that power belongs to God,
12 and steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord.
For you repay to all according to their work.

Today’s Prayer:

The theme in this week’s prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) is ‘Logging in the Solomon Islands,’ and was introduced on Sunday morning by Brother Christopher John SSF, Minister General of the Society of Saint Francis.

The USPG Prayer Diary this morning (26 April 2022) invites us to pray:

Let us pray for peace, and for the diplomatic efforts of peacemakers and peacekeepers.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

25 April 2022

The ‘Iron Trunk’ is a feat
of Georgian engineering
high above the Great Ouse

Crossing the ‘Iron Trunk’ Aqueduct above the River Great Ouse, on the edges of Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Patrick Comerford

On a walk in the warm sunshine last week through the countryside on the edges of Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire, two of us crossed the ‘Iron Trunk’ Aqueduct, also known as Cosgrove Aqueduct, between Wolverton and Cosgrove.

This navigable cast iron trough aqueduct outside Milton Keynes is a magnificent piece of Georgian engineering and is the world’s first wide canal cast iron trough aqueduct. It is more than 200 years old and it carries the Grand Union Canal, once an important trading route between London and the Midlands, over the River Great Ouse.

The aqueduct is formed of two cast iron trough spans, with a single central masonry pier. The abutments were also built in masonry but were re-faced in brick in the 20th century. The trough is 4.6 metres wide, 2 metres deep and 31 metres long. The canal surface is some 12 metres above the surface of the river, and the approach earthworks total 800 metres.

To cross the course of the River Great Ouse, the lowest point between the summits at Tring and Braunston, flights of locks were constructed for the Grand Junction Canal, later absorbed by the Grand Union Canal in 1800. Four flights were built at the south-east and five at the north-west, allowing the canal to descend to cross the river on the level.

The company engineer, William Jessop (1745-1814), is also known for his first major work, the Grand Canal of Ireland. Jessop designed a three-arch brick viaduct so that the Grand Union could cross the Great Ouse at a higher level, reducing the water loss and delay in locking down to river level.

Thesurface of the River Great Ouse is 12 metres below the aqueduct (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The structure was opened in 1805, but a section of the canal embankment soon collapsed. After repairs, the aqueduct structure itself collapsed in February 1808, severing the canal.

Jessop is sometimes blamed for the failure of the first structure, but the collapse actually led to a legal dispute with the original contractor. The dispute went to trial, and damages were awarded to the Grand Junction Company for the loss of trade while the canal was out of use, and the cost of replacing the aqueduct.

Another company engineer, Benjamin Bevan, began designing a replacement structure, and the original lock system was quickly reinstated.

By then, Thomas Telford had successfully built cast iron trough aqueducts at Pontcysyllte and at other places. Bevan decided to take forward the technology by designing the world’s first wide canal cast iron trough. The structure was cast at the Ketley foundry at Coalbrookdale which had produced the Longdon-on-Tern aqueduct for Telford.

The components were taken to Cosgrove by the canal itself. They were assembled and erected on the site, and the new structure was completed in January 1811. Bevan designed the floor sections to be arched, providing the additional strength needed to resist the substantial additional loading of a wide canal. The arch ribs are integral to the side plates of the trough and give additional shear strength.

The towpath is cantilevered from one side and are supported by diagonal struts. There is a cattle creep in the embankment on either side of the main structure to provide field-to-field access for cattle.

The aqueduct was refurbished in 2011 to celebrate its bicentenary. Today, the ‘Iron Trunk’ aqueduct and its towpath provide a popular cycling route and this is a breath-taking location to relax and watch the canal boats and to relax in some quiet and calm moments.

After crossing the aqueduct, two of us continued on to Cosgrove, where we had lunch in the April sunshine in the Barley Mow before returning to Stony Stratford.

A Constable-like scene on the canal at Cosgrove, close to the ‘Iron Trunk’ aqueduct (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Praying with the Psalms in Easter:
25 April 2022 (Psalm 61)

‘Lead me to the rock that is higher than I; for you are my refuge’ (Psalm 61: 2-3) … the rocks above the beach at Foinikas on the south coast of Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

During this season of Easter, I have returned to my morning reflections on the Psalms, and in this Prayer Diary on my blog each morning I am reflecting in these ways:

1, Short reflections on a psalm or psalms;

2, reading the psalm or psalms;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary.

Psalm 61:

Psalm 61 is to be played on a neginah or stringed instrument. In the slightly different numbering system in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate this is Psalm 60.

This Psalm is attributed to King David and is called in Latin Exaudi Deus (‘Hear my cry, O God’).

The Jerusalem Bible calls it a ‘prayer of an exile.’ It describes verses 1-5 as the lament of an exiled Levite, and verses 6-7 as a prayer for the king.

The Czech composer Antonín Dvořák set verses 1, 3 and 4 to music, together with part of Psalm 63, in No. 6 of his Biblical Songs (1894).

‘You are my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy’ (Psalm 61: 3) … the Wignacourt Tower in Saint Paul’s Bay, Malta (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Psalm 61 (NRSVA):

To the leader: with stringed instruments. Of David.

1 Hear my cry, O God;
listen to my prayer.
2 From the end of the earth I call to you,
when my heart is faint.

Lead me to the rock
that is higher than I;
3 for you are my refuge,
a strong tower against the enemy.

4 Let me abide in your tent for ever,
find refuge under the shelter of your wings.
Selah
5 For you, O God, have heard my vows;
you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.

6 Prolong the life of the king;
may his years endure to all generations!
7 May he be enthroned for ever before God;
appoint steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him!

8 So I will always sing praises to your name,
as I pay my vows day after day.

Today’s Prayer:

The theme in this week’s prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel) is ‘Logging in the Solomon Islands,’ and was introduced yesterday morning by Brother Christopher John SSF, Minister General of the Society of Saint Francis.

The USPG Prayer Diary this morning (25 April 2022, Saint Mark the Evangelist) invites us to pray:

We give thanks for the life of Saint Mark the Evangelist. May we devote our lives to evangelism and witness..

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

A figure representing Saint Mark at the base of the memorial cross in the churchyard at All Saints’ Church, Calverton … the Church Calendar today commemorates Saint Mark the Evangelist (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

24 April 2022

Easter 1822 and memories of the
Massacre of Chios 200 years ago

‘Scenes from the Massacres at Chios’, Eugène Delacroix (1824), in the Louvre in Paris … the massacre began 200 years ago on Easter Day 1822

Patrick Comerford

I visited the Greek Orthodox Church in Stony Stratford a few times this weekend to see the Orthodox celebrations of Good Friday (22 April 2022), and the celebrations of Easter last night (23 April).

Today is Easter Day in the Greek calendar in the calendar of all Orthodox churches.

But it is difficult today not to be reminded that Easter Day in Greece 200 years ago was marked by the Massacre of Chios in April 1822.

The Massacre of Chios is one of the many horrific events during the Greek War of Independence. The details of this massacre continue to shock and to horrify people as they learn about it.

The island of Chios is an Aegean island that is often counted as one of the Dodecanese islands, and it is just 8 km off the main Anatolian coast of Turkey.

The Chians or Chiots -- the islanders of Chios – never joined in the Greek War of Independence, and enjoyed many privileges under Ottoman rule, including a degree of autonomy, religious freedom, property rights, and exemptions from many taxes on houses, vineyards, orchards and trade.

The islanders had avoided threats of forced conversion to Islam experienced on so many Greek islands, and they were exempt from the devshirme, in which the fittest and strongest boys in families were captured or conscripted and sent to Constantinople, where they were trained as janissaries, an elite and brutal corps.

The island was known for the production of mastic, silk and citrus fruits, and for its sea trade. Many merchant families from Chios dealt in banking, insurance and shipping and founded merchant houses in England, Italy and the Netherlands. Traders from Chios settled in Smyrna, Constantinople, Odessa and other Black Sea ports.

It is easy to understand why the people of Chios rebutted an appeal to support a naval assault on the Ottoman Empire in April 1821. But, a year later, in April 1822, a small number of people from Chios joined a small band from the neighbouring island of Samos who attacked the small Turkish garrison on Chios.

A small number of soldiers were killed. But the response was swift, brutal and merciless.

The bloodbath began on Easter Day 1822 and continued for several months. In a revenge attack in June 1822, Greek insurgents from the neighbouring island of Psara attacked a flagship of the Ottoman navy anchored in the harbour of Chios while its sailors were marking the end of Ramadan. In all, 2,000 men were killed in one assault.

A second wave of savagery was unleashed against the people of Chios.

The original population of the island was 100,000 to 120,000. At least 30,000 were murdered or executed or died by suicide or disease, and another 45,000 people were sold into slavery. Whole villages were wiped out. Of the survivors, about 20,000 people managed to flee to safety on islands under Greek rule.

Richard Calvocoressi, a descendant of one such family from Chios, wrote recently in the New Statesman: ‘For months afterwards the slave markets of the Levant were glutted with Chian boys, girls and young women, for sale at knock-down prices; and for many, slavery meant sexual slavery.’

The massacre inspired Eugène Delacroix’s Scenes from the Massacres at Chios or Scènes des massacres de Scio, completed in 1824. It is an enormous painting in the Louvre seen by millions of visitors each year.

The massacre caused an outcry throughout Europe. Reports of the massacre, Delacroix’s painting and Byron’s writings encouraged Philhellenes to redouble their efforts in support of Greek independence from Ottoman oppression. But Ottoman continued for another 90 years, and Chios did not become part of the modern Greek state until 1912.

Although the composer Mikis Theodorakis (1925-2021) is popularly identified with Crete and was buried there when he died last year, he was born on the island of Chios.

Today, Chios is the fifth largest of the Greek islands, and is one of the Aegean islands that have become a centre for asylum seekers and refugees seeking to arrive in Europe.

Two hundred years after the Massacre of Chios, it is hard not to think of those merchants in Odessa and the brutality in Ukraine today; it is hard not to think of the refugees and slaves created by the massacre and not to think of the refugees and asylum seekers who arrive in Chios and other Greek islands in the hope of finding freedom today.