Etchingham Misericords

When you come across misericords in a parish church it's usually because they've been imported from somewhere else- as often as not from one of the monastic foundations dissolved by Henry VIII- but Etchingham was a collegiate church- with a small community of priests attached to it and their patron thoughtfully provided them with a set of stalls, complete with misericords.

The stalls sit facing one another on either side of the chancel and the misericords on the left are faithful duplicates of those on the right (or vice versa).

Here are some curious fish.



And some ladies in uncomfortable headgear



And here is a fox preaching to geese- a fairly common motif in medieval art. It can be read as a satire on heresy (and that is presumably how the canons of Etchingham took it) but also as a satire on the clergy in general- and- pushing things a little further- as a harbinger of the Protestant revolution that was just around the corner.

John the Baptist Tells It Like It Is

More wood carving. Still in Etchingham church.

I don't normally bother with 19th century work, but this just appealed to me. It has something of the medieval spirit and style. It's the front panel of the pulpit and represents John the Baptist preaching. If the central figure was Jesus it would be simpering but since it's John it's forceful. I think the artist was happy it wasn't Jesus...

And The Next Incumbent Of The Throne Of Swords Is...

Boris Johnson.

20th century Prime ministers have mostly regarded respectability- or the pretence of respectability- as part of the job description. The elevation of Johnson shows that this is no longer the case. I find this refreshing.

The recent PMs he most resembles are LLoyd George, Winston Churchill- and that crafty bugger Harold Wilson. They were all rogues- but they left behind a fairer name than many who weren't.

Johnson's trade- away from politics- is journalism. It's on the record that he got himself sacked from any early job for making things up. Still, I'd much rather be ruled by a journalist than a banker or a lawyer. None of these trades have any necessary connection to morality but at least journalists have wide experience of life and can turn a phrase.

He has written books- and all the signs are that he reads them too. He will be our most literate PM in decades.

I doubt he has any principles but this is not necessarily a bad thing in a politician. Leaders who think of themselves as instruments of God or Destiny are a menace. There are plenty of dodgy things on his CV but nothing as cold-bloodedly inhuman as Theresa May's "culture of hostility" at the Home Office.

I don't hate the man- or even dislike him- because what would be the point? I don't see he's a better or worse choice than any of the other people we might have had- because they're all politicians. The situation he inherits destroyed his predecessor; his party is in melt-down; he might not last long. If he can bring any sort of order out of all this chaos he'll deserve to survive.