Burned at the stake

Completed the first draft of the libretto for the new doppelganger piece with Matt. Pleased with the results so far, and emailed it off to the maestro to see what he makes of it. At least the weird chanting I've been doing will finally abate.

Sloped off to the gym listening to more of Stalin ate my homework on the hulk legs machine. Really like Alexei Sayle's uncompromisingly honesty. Knee holding up okay, but called the hospital today to discover I have an appointment with knee doctors in a week or so.

Seem to have shot my bolt this morning and was low on inspiration. As the day wore on I indulged in various displacement activities: went to Sainsburys, unblocked sink, did laundry, watched Frasier and phoned Mum. Betty in Guernsey had sent her a page from Guernsey's glossy GBG magazine that features myself and Riccardo with a poem from each of us.

Then played a computer game while listening to a podcast about Foxe's book of Martyrs first published 1563. This is a book I'd only vaguely heard about. It contains illustrations of Christian martyrs in the act of being executed. My ears pricked up when one of the contributors started talking about Perotine Massey, a Guernsey woman burned, who gave birth during the awful procedure. The baby was tossed back into the flames too.

Lorraine texted me about the moon, and I legged out into the cold to look at it. Beautiful big thing hanging low. Otherwise stayed indoors and blamelessly watched a bit of TV. Including an episode of Coast where they visit Chausey, the tiny French channel Island, more or less half way between Mt St Michel and Jersey. At high tide it is little more than a collection of rocks, with one with a few inhabitants. At low tide, it becomes a much larger sandy island. I'd like to visit it one day.

Below Just found these pictures of Guernsey burnings from the Book of Martyrs. Perotine is the top one. "A lamentable spectacle of three women, with a sely(?) infant brasting out of the Mothers Wombe, being first taken out of the fire, and cast in agayne, and so all burned together in the Isle of Garnesey. 1556 July 18." Something for the Anthology.


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