Once I was a clever boy learning the arts of Oxford... is a quotation from the verses written by Bishop Richard Fleming (c.1385-1431) for his tomb in Lincoln Cathedral. Fleming, the founder of Lincoln College in Oxford, is the subject of my research for a D. Phil., and, like me, a son of the West Riding. I have remarked in the past that I have a deeply meaningful on-going relationship with a dead fifteenth century bishop... it was Fleming who, in effect, enabled me to come to Oxford and to learn its arts, and for that I am immensely grateful.


Saturday, 24 May 2025

An inedible pie for the King


The BBC News website reports on the conscious creation of an inedible lamprey pie for the King as a gift from the City of Gloucester. This is not some backhanded insult but a celebration of a longstanding tradition of an annual gift to monarchs by the City of that medieval delicacy, a lamprey pie. Remember the fate of King Henry I, who died of a surfeit of these curious fish who live in the waters of the Severn. These daysthe pie is proffered to mark coronations and jubilees.

This lamprey pie is definitely not intended to be eaten as it is carved from stone and will be an ornamental feature in the garden of the King’s Gloucestershire home at Highgrove.

The article about the creation of this stone pie, and the tradition behind it can be seen at 
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