Apocalypse Flotsam

A helping hand

No no no no no no. 

Sit down we must have a conversation.

There were 6 Celtic nations.

Éire, Cymru, Alba, Kernow, Breizh, and Ellan Vannin.

Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Cornwall, Brittany, and the Isle of Mann respectively.

They’re all related, but not the same. They all have different languages descended from a similar group, Irish (Gaeilge), Scottish (Gàidhlig), Manx (Gaelg), Welsh (Cymraeg), Cornish (Kernowek), and Breton (Brezhoneg). Some are more widely spoken than others, for example Welsh is still commonly spoken in Wales, whereas hearing Cornish in Cornwall instead of English is rare.  All Celtic nations have varied mythology and culture. Irish Mythology is different from Breton Mythology, and even Welsh and Cornish mythology (arguably the most related Celtic Nations) have subtle differences to each other. I wish I could add more about the cultures at this time but my knowledge of Celtic nations is primarily made up of the history and languages of those regions, particularly Cornwall. 

You might have notice that England and English are missing from this, because the English descended from Anglo-Saxons, who were German invaders that came to the isles right around the Fall of the Roman empire in the 5th Century, erasing the Celtic influence in what is now England. 

>claims to have the secret to immortality

One of my favourite Jacobite stories happened on February 23rd 1716 at the Tower of London.

The Tower of London is one of those places that saw much misery and death for so many, Sir William Wallace and Sir Simon Fraser, both of whom play a part in post I have lined up for tomorrow, were both held here before being Hung drawn and quartered, Earl of Kilmarnock, Lord Balmerino and another Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat were also prisoners in the Tower before being executed for their part in the ‘45, but one of those held after the days of the previous uprising in 1715, managed to escape the fate bestowed upon him by the Government, with the help of his wife.

William Maxwell, 5th Earl of Nithsdale was a nobleman and a supporter of the exiled Stuart king James II. Raised a Catholic, Maxwell became the 5th Earl of Nithsdale in 1696. Shortly after this he met Winifred Herbert, the daughter of a Welsh baron, when both were visiting France; they were married in 1699. When the Jacobites rebelled in 1715 and attempted to restore the Stuarts, Maxwell hummed and hawed before eventually joining the uprising. He was captured by government troops during the Battle of Preston in November 1715, and sentenced to death for treason. Like most aristocrats on ‘death row’, Maxwell was given conformable lodgings in the Tower of London, it wasn’t as barbaric as it once was, and the Tower at one point was actually a palace, although I doubt Sir William Wallace and Sir Simon Fraser,the Patriot, would have been afforded the better accommodation available to later residents.

Prisoners even had servants and of course visitation rights and the Earl of Nithsdale had all these comforts afforded to him.

On February 23rd 1716, the day before Maxwell’s execution, he escaped from the Tower, thanks to a daring plot from his wife. Using items smuggled into the Tower on previous visits, the Countess had her husband disguise himself as a woman – not an easy feat, given that the Earl was said to have had a long dark beard, although the pics I found online don’t support this1