John Welford
Bio
I am a retired librarian, having spent most of my career in academic and industrial libraries.
I write on a number of subjects and also write stories as a member of the "Hinckley Scribblers".
Stories (501/0)
The Magic Flute, by W A Mozart
This was Mozart's final opera, receiving its premiere only three months before his death in December 1791. It is an allegorical fantasy, full of fairy story elements and also references to Freemasonry. Mozart and the librettist, Emanuel Schickaneder, were members of the same Masonic lodge.
By John Welford3 years ago in Beat
Maximinus Thrax, Emperor of Rome
It would be difficult to imagine a greater contrast between successive emperors than when Maximinus Thrax (meaning Thracian) seized the imperial throne from Alexander Severus. The “mummy’s boy”, killed along with his mother on the orders of Maximinus, was succeeded by a former shepherd from Thrace (modern northern Greece and southern Bulgaria) who was a giant of a man reputed to have been eight feet tall and extremely sweaty.
By John Welford3 years ago in FYI
If Your Cat Could Talk
Have you ever wished that you could really tell what your cat or dog was saying to you? You may be an expert at reading their mews, miaows, growls, barks and gestures, but what if they could actually use words? Wouldn’t that be so much better?
By John Welford3 years ago in Fiction
Matthew Webb: the first man to swim from England to France
Swimming the 21 miles of the English Channel is now quite a regular event, with a large number of successful crossings made every year, whether as solo, team or relay attempts. However, this feat was believed by many people to be impossible before Matthew Webb achieved it in 1875.
By John Welford3 years ago in FYI
C S Lewis: an academic best known for his books for children
Clive Staples Lewis was born on 29th November 1898, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. His father was a local solicitor. His mother died when he was nine and he was sent away to school immediately afterwards. After attending several preparatory schools he went to Malvern College where he became interested in Norse and Celtic literature. He also had private tuition that helped him to develop his critical skills to a high degree.
By John Welford3 years ago in Geeks
The Man with the Cart
Walter was a strong hulk of a man who was used to trundling his cart over the drawbridge and through the imposing entrance gate of the Tower of London, with the rotting heads of traitors looking down at him from the stakes on to which they had been thrust.
By John Welford3 years ago in Fiction
The poetry of Andrew Marvell
Andrew Marvell (1621-78) was a fascinating character who does not fit easily in any pigeonhole, whether artistic or political. He lived in very interesting times, namely throughout the period of the English Civil War, Commonwealth and Restoration, when it was dangerous to take sides in case one’s choice should turn out to be the wrong one. What Marvell hated most, in political terms, was tyranny, whether that came from kings or their opponents.
By John Welford3 years ago in Poets
Constantine I, Emperor of Rome
Constantine was one of the most influential of all the emperors of Rome. His reign marked a definite turning point in the history of the empire, which would never be the same again. He must also be counted as the last “great” emperor of Rome. Nobody who followed was of anything like the same quality.
By John Welford3 years ago in FYI
Commodus, Emperor of Rome
The Roman Empire was led by a series of thoroughly worthy emperors after the death of Domitian in 96 AD. According to the 18th century historian Edward Gibbon, there were then “five good emperors”, the last of them being Marcus Aurelius, who died in 180.
By John Welford3 years ago in FYI