A 17th century defence of red hair

While cataloguing some of our early English books, I came across an interesting volume by one Obidiah Walker, Periamma epidemion, or, Vulgar errours in practice censured, published in 1659. The work includes a curious chapter entitled, “A censure of the epidemicall practise of reproaching red-hair’d men.”

“Each man disparageth his fellow-creature,” says Walker, “and gratifies his haughty humour in the derision of his brother. And this is often done upon such trivial grounds, that a due perpension would cause an abashment in the face of the practiser. My present instance shall be in a common yet causeless calumniation: viz. the vilifying of red-hair’d men, the putting of disesteem upon persons, merely because of the native colour of the excrement of the head.”

On reading further, I was intrigued to learn that throughout history redheads have often been singled out for persecution. During the height of the witch trials in Europe, for example, red hair was considered evidence of witchcraft. Judas Iscariot was often depicted with red hair in Renaissance art and the Spanish Inquisition even suspected that redheads had been marked by the fires of Hell itself!

Walker makes it his duty to put an end to these prejudices: “It is then manifest, that they that laugh at red hair are tickled by the Devill: that they commit a greater outrage against the head then the Scythians did, who converted into drinking-cups the skulls of their more irefull enemies.”

He offers a spirited defence of red hair, which, we are assured, is neither a disease of the body nor a sign of the Devil. He lists some famous redheads and points out that red was considered by the Spartans to be the manliest colour, while Roman women enhanced their beauty by dying their hair ginger. Walker’s final thoughts are as apt today as they were in his time: “I could wish that the minds of men were of a more serene and dovelike constitution: that what the ingenious Des Cartes abhors in Philosophy, might not take place in Morality, to wit, that men would not hoodwink themselves with their own prejudice.”

An aristocratic gift

In 1859 John Etherington Welch Rolls gave his son-in-law, John Taylor Harding, a copy of the Book of Common Prayer, published in 1844 by the Chiswick Press.  

John E.W. Rolls became the High Sheriff of Monmouthshire in 1842 and lived at the family home, The Hendre, a fine Victorian Mansion.  His son John Allan Rolls, an MP, became Baron Llangattock of the Hendre in 1892; meanwhile his daughter Patricia (Patty) Rolls married John Harding of Pentwyn on 25th June 1857; he was a vicar of Rockfield (Monmouthshire), and canon of Llandaff. 

Apart from turning The Hendre into “…the grandest and most important Victorian park and garden in Monmouthshire”. [Elisabeth Whittle, Welsh Historic Gardens Trust: Bulletin Autumn 2003], the Rolls family are also known for the exploits of Charles Stewart Rolls (Patty’s nephew) who co-founded Rolls-Royce, was a keen balloonist, and has the unfortunate accolade of being the first person to be killed in an aviation accident (in 1910).

This Chiswick ‘Book of common prayer’ was one of a set of seven editions of different historical versions, ranging from Edward VI, 1549 up to the ‘modern’ Victoria edition of 1844.  It was done for the publisher,William Pickering of London, by Charles Whittingham the younger at the Chiswick Press. It is bound in vellum, with gold tooling and dark morocco labels on the spine.

The inscription to John Taylor Harding from his father-in-law has been done in decorative lettering in red and black ink, to tie in with the design of the text inside.

In addition, inserted into the book is a hand made bookmark; made of pink satin with a cross stitch pattern on a card base (in the shape of Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper), saying “Watch and pray”.  Made by Patty perhaps?

Postgraduate Curators 2012

Postgraduate Curators is a programme that offers curatorial skills training to PhD students, and gives them the opportunity to curate their own exhibitions. This programme is organised by the Graduate College and SCOLAR, and open to PhD students from all disciplines – this year we had attendees from ENCAP, WELSH, JOMEC and SHARE.

The format consists of a half day workshop, with Peter Keelan speaking on project management, Alison Harvey on research and selection, and a senior lecturer from SHARE, Jane Henderson, on conservation issues. At the end of the workshop, we ask the students if any of them would like to volunteer to spend the next week planning a small exhibit on their PhD topic. This year, five of the eight students agreed to take part, and of these five, three had never visited SCOLAR before.

For those who wish to take part, we ask that in the week following the workshop, they use Voyager and our Excel lists to collate a long-list of potential material. We retrieve the items and they visit SCOLAR to examine them and make selections to cut the long-list down to a short-list. We ask them to research and write captions for each item on the short-list, and we ask them to design a poster for the exhibition. Once they have their short-lists, captions and poster, we ask them to all come in on an agreed half-day to set up the exhibits. We then talk through each exhibit to review each other’s work, and generally reflect on the experience.

The students gain time management and project management experience, as well as research and information literacy skills in searching for relevant material. In the case of those who have not visited us before, they may discover untapped resources for their research. They gain employability skills, and two types of work experience which can be very difficult to obtain – specifically in special collections work, but more broadly in the creative and cultural industries. They learn to think visually, and to phrase their research in non-specialist terms.

If the students gain a new perspective on their work – so do we. They extract and draw significance from material in our collections, of which we are often unaware. We have the opportunity to promote our collections to new audiences, and demonstrate our support of postgraduates from a range of disciplines, in a very visible way.

This year, we are featuring the following exhibitions:

Victorian medievalism: the fallen women of Tennyson’s Camelot
Sarah Clausen, Centre for Late Antique Religion and Culture

The Victorian author: artist or businessman
Helen McKenzie, English Literature

Representing the workhouse
Laura Foster, English Literature

From Celtic languages to the Roman alphabet
John Caulfield, Welsh

Welsh architecture from the Salisbury Collection: a selection of original artworks
Mark Baker, Archaeology and Conservation

All the students produced excellent exhibits, but one in particular made a significant discovery. Mark Baker is working on a historical study of Welsh country houses, and found an image in the Salisbury prints collection, which is thought to be the earliest depiction of the Hafod estate, which has since been demolished. In the case of the earlier building to the right, it is the only image in existence. It’s a watercolour, not a print, so it’s entirely unique – it only exists here in Cardiff.

Mark has notified the Hafod Trust, who confirmed his hunch. As well as being a discovery which is very significant for his research, he has succeeded in interesting the local press. Both the Western Mail and the Cambrian News in Aberystwyth will be including a feature on his discovery, and by extension, the postgraduate curators programme. Mark may also be volunteering with us in future to research and prepare a full-scale exhibition on the prints contained in the Salisbury collection.

The exhibitions will be on display in SCOLAR until the end of February. Extracts from the exhibitions can be found on the SCOLAR website.