Day 9- Quaker Tapestries

We went to the Quaker Tapestries Exhibit. The museum was  modern, in an old building, with a wonderful Quaker gift shop. And, a little Quaker coffee shop outside. The coffee shop offered gluten free options, like icky sticky caramel cake. Barbara and Pam were thrilled to partake in the dessert everyone had raved about the night before. The museum offered audio headphones that told the story of every tapestry. There are seventy tapestries in all, but twenty panels are visiting Ireland. During the famine, women were able to stitch to make a little extra money. 

In the 1980s, Anne Wilson who had written an embroidery thesis on tapestries in France, thought it would be great for Quakers to get together in small groups. She was a member of the Somerset Meeting, where she taught First Day School. She believed the children's room to be "dowdy." She spoke to eleven year old, Jonathan, about doing a frieze of drawings on Quaker history. Jonathan said, "I don't want to do anymore coloring in." "You're an embroiderer why don't you do it?"

This idea started a project that would last fifteen years, spread over  fifteen countries, and four thousand people. Anne Wilson along with other weavers chose the background wool. The wool is not dyed, so you will never get the same color again. Anne designed a pattern, in a way that people of different skills could contribute. 

The tapestries are divided into three sections: the title is at the top, main story in the middle, and the bottom is the children's drawings and stitchings. The pattern was ironed on the back, and the embroidery stitches start from the back. After finishing the first two tapestries, Anne invented a Quaker stitch for lettering.

She realized this project was more than she could do, along with her Meeting. So, she had the idea groups of people would do the research and help. She asked the International Yearly Meeting, where Margaret Simpson said, "I can certainly organize." Groups decided on the stories they wanted to tell. When they couldn't come to agreement on the design, they decided a design group must decide. 

The embroiderers began to practice, and the design group made adjustments. The size was to be as large as one that could fit on a frame that was able to travel, even internationally. When embroidering the animals, Anne said, "imagine stroking the animals,

 in finding the right stitch." They stitched from photographs whenever possible. When, Anne was stitching George Fox from the back, looking at the gathering of people, she used a photograph of the back of her husband. And, spent many hours looking at men's bums to get Fox right. The tapestries were never meant to be academic. It was more of a history of Quaker ideas and experiences. 

Next, we went to the Kendal Meeting House.  One elder, Kendall man, reminded me of Terry (my father-in-law), from Lancashire about the same time. He would've had a similar experience of rationing during the war. He stood up and told a story of only having enough coal to heat the kitchen. The family would gather in the kitchen. Except at night, the father would carry the leftover coal on a shovel from the kitchen to the living room. The coal would smoke all the way through the house. But, then they would spend time gathered in the warmth, listening to the radio. He compared that gathering of warmth to our gatherings in the Meeting. And, to take the warmth and fire with us into other circles and gatherings. Sometimes it's difficult and smokey, but we still go on to more circles. I immediately realized all the time Terry spent in front of our fireplace, keeping the fire going was his way of keeping us warm, sharing the warmth. I was able to look at that experience in a completely different way, for the first time. John March spoke of our pilgrimage taking us out of space and time through our travels and gathering. The Kendall Meeting served the most delicious fruit cake with our tea. 

Next, we rode to the Colthouse Meeting House. At one point, on a very narrow road, our bus had to pass another bus. The bus drivers were incredible. It took about ten minutes with the buses only three inches apart. Upon arriving at the Colthouse Meeting, the door was locked. We were told the Meeting House would be left unlocked. Our clever pilgrims searched until they found an enormous key, and we were able to go inside. I wish I had a photo of the ancient, large, heavy key. This Meeting House was picturesque, surrounded by undisturbed land and many sheep.

I asked Natasha how this experience might be different for someone like herself, growing up in a Meeting. She said, "I don't know." Not knowing how to compare it to someone else's experience. She said, "sitting in Meeting felt like home."

We gathered at the Glenthorne, again over tea. Connie told an amazing story about being in Africa working for Elizabeth Kubler-Ross. It was before Apartheid, people gathered in Africa from all over the world. Some meeting people of other nationalities for the first time. She said the most amazing part was on the last night. They had a type of talent show. And, the South Africans came out doing a Zulu dance. Connie told us upon her return to Olso, Elizabeth Kubler-Ross was going to join her at her cabin.

We gathered for our final thoughts and farewell to our beloved guide, Roy. Tears were shed and many tight hugs. Roy embraced each of us with just the right words. He told me, "Wendy, life will be hard. And, when it is think of your memories here. Carry the light with you."

Dinner

Jambalaya starter

Plaice fish, stuffed with crab meat in a light butter sauce

Squidgy cinnamon meringue 

Approaching the Tapestry Exhibit

Meeting House Cafe

china tea cups at the Kendal Meeting House

Once again a round table in the center, with flowers and a collection of books.

Our guide at the Tapestry Exhibit, explaining the process and stitching from the back.

three inches apart from the other bus

panorama of Colthouse

separate entry door into the courtyard of the Meeting House

view from Colthouse

Colthouse Meeting House

Historic Peace Poster

panels to make separate rooms or open for one larger room

Colthouse Burial Ground

Day 8- Lancaster Castle, Lancaster Meeting, and Swarthmore Hall (LONG)

This morning we had silent worship for fifteen minutes before breakfast. Cesanne spoke beautifully about finding joy, and how it would be hard to keep this joy when we're home. We must slow down and find joy in the small things. I had breakfast with a Bahi family. We spoke about the similarities between Quakers and Bahi, in their focus on peace. We also commented on the strong Bahi community in North and South Carolina.

After breakfast, I had a talk with Pam and Tom about the open-ended truth of Quakers today, and how Fox claimed to be of the Lord and knowing the everlasting truth. I wondered if he was talking about the truth he found in the individual, inward connection with God or more? 

We talked about the focus on community. You can have your moments with God on your own, but the gathering of Meeting is essential. Fox used that word in his speak (not just one speech, but his speak), "he saw a gathering of people." There is a mysticism that happens in the gathering, when all of us are able to focus on one idea.

Our first stop today was Lancaster Castle. Lancaster is owned by the Duke of Lancaster, which happens to be the Queen Mum. People of Lancashire (born and raised) are able to drink a toast to the Queen sitting down. They take great pride in this privilege.

Lancaster Castle was an unreal and grim experience. It seemed to silence most of us, and few photos were taken outside the castle. Our guide told us, "absolutely no photos in the castle, punishable by law." The entry into the castle was from the 13th century, with mirrors on the top and bottom of the entry, so they could see everything going in and out of the prison. There were two separate prisons; one was a debtors prison and the other for harder crimes. The women were kept separate. It is believed that Margaret Fell was imprisoned in the Keep of the castle, which is 850 years old. And, the Quakers were kept separate. They didn't want the Quakers to spread their ideas.

There was a huge building for debtors. We were told to think of it as a hostile, they were able to leave during the day to work, to pay off their debt. The castle was used both to keep people out and to keep people in. The witch trials took place in the court, including the Pendle Hill witches. The idea of witches was a way to keep women's ideas abreast. The court from 1808 is still in use as a civil court. The women's box was separate to remind women of no rights to vote or land. And, the expatriats took what they learned from the court and trial system in Lancaster with them to America.

  Col. Richard Kirby, neighbor of Margaret Fell, whispered to the judge during her trial. Margaret Fell was such a brave and gutsy woman, she said, "if you have anything to say, come down here to me."  Judge Charles Otway was sympathetic to females in his court. He released many of them saying, "the law says man." Otway also sympathized with Quakers, he let them leave to do their farming (during planting/harvest time) and he would intentionally forget to re-arrest them. This court was where George Fox was tried.  I asked why Fox wasn't hung, when there were so many executions at the time. Our guide said, "Fox was considered a nuisance and imprisoned instead. His crimes didn't meet the criteria for hanging. George Fox spoke to a gathering outside the castle, a mob ensued. Fox was thrown down a hill and two flights of stairs to the bottom of the road. John Lawson, a shop owner, rescued Fox. Lawson was the first known convinced Quaker.

The entire back wall of the courtroom  was filled with coat of arms.  We saw a torture room with all kinds of tools. And, a hidden door through the floor that would take the convicted directly to their cells from the courtroom. There was also a wooden brace in the courtroom where criminals were branded if they wouldn't speak or say what the judge requested of them. This brace was to hold the hand during branding. This is where the saying "branded a criminal" originated. Friends were kept separate in the tower so as not to spread their ideas.  Justice Bennet was the first to call us Quakers "because we bid them tremble at the word of the Lord."

We also visited the modern prison. There were no toliets in the modern prisons until the 1990s. Still grim conditions, but with two to a cell as opposed to four. The modern prison was a working prison until two years ago.

We met Jane and Jennie from the Lancaster Meeting. They were our guides to the Meeting House. Jennie gave us a copy of a poem by Mary Southworth, written during her time in prison. Mary was a poet who was arrested for being at a Meeting. Her poems were not published during her lifetime, it was considered vanity. She came from a well to do family, she was very well educated and wrote love letters in Latin. However, because of her poor eye sight she wouldn't have the life she was meant to.

Lancaster Meeting House

A Daffodil Ministry is referred to as flowers always on the center table. Some might say, "Oh, look at the beautiful flowers, look at the work of God." The center table was covered with "Faith and Practice" and different types of Bibles for whomever to use.

We had a few minutes of worship in the Meeting House.We had lunch and tea with the Lancaster Meeting. I love European butter, it is far better than ours. The color is more rich, it is the real deal. However, the English tend to put butter on their sandwiches. I do not like butter on sandwiches.

Jennie told us more about Margaret and George's time in prison. Margaret spent four years in prison because she refused to swear an oath.   "Quakers believe in speaking the truth at all times, and so the act of only swearing to truth in court, rather than in everyday life would imply double standards. As in James 5:12, they tried to "let your yea be yea and your nay be nay". At one point Fox was returned to his cell, from an appeal, for refusing to take off his hat. When Fell refused, the Judge sent her back to her cell, and told her she had an "everlasting tongue." Margaret wrote about the conditions of the prison, to the King and whomever she thought would listen. She also wrote about Fox and eventually he was released while she was still serving her four years.

Next, we took the train to Swarthmore Hall, Margaret Fell's residence where the first Quaker Meetings were held. The train ride was similar to the path the Quakers would have followed, through the marsh land with quicksand. The walk up to Margaret Fell's Swarthmore Hall was so peaceful. I picked blackberries along the way. We walked down to a kissing gate, across a small creek, and up a hill to the Hall. We sat in the front room; at a long rectangular table in the center of the room, where the first Quaker Meetings were held. The wrought iron chandelier above us was original to the time, but probably placed in a different part of the house. I believe sitting in this room was an amazing experience for all of us. And, many of the pilgrims commented on Margaret's home being one of their favorite stops on the trip.

The senior Fell, Judge Fell's father built a grand house next to Swarthmore Hall (that no longer stands). Fell felt he should build a house to show his status. We have no images of this house. When Judge Fell became a successful lawyer, he married Margaret. Their marriage was not a traditional marriage for the time. They had conversations on equal terms. She ran the business of the house, when he was often away. The Fell's had eight children. The Judge's estate and interests continues to build. George Fox came to the Hall because of Fell's reputation with traveling preachers. Margaret and one daughter became convinced. Fox went to St. Augustine's Church with Margaret, and corrected the preacher. She took Fox to her Hall, and others followed, where he spoke. Quakerism spread quickly. Judge Fell never became a Quaker, it would have been politically difficult for him. He did listen to the Meetings from his study.  Margaret wrote letters to everyone- Oliver Cromwell, the Valiant Sixty...  Judge Fell died in 1658. Later, Margaret married George Fox. Margaret took over the interests of the house while continuing to be proactive in society. During the 1660s she was arrested. The Hall continued to be run by seven daughters, especially the youngest daughter Rachel and her husband. Margaret Fell died in 1702. The Hall was bankrupt by 1750, and sold to a slave trader. The house continued to pass through farmers hands for 150 years.

There is a smaller version of the 17th century Hampton Court garden out back. And, folklore has it that there were chickens in the Judge's study when the Quakers arrived. The two carved griffins in the dining room were made by Margaret's daughter, Emma. This was not common at the time.  Quakers took the Hall back in the 1950s and many of the fixtures were found and returned. George Fox and Margaret Fell's chairs were saved. The 17th c. refectory table that we all sat at was smooth on one side for dinner, and rough on the other side for work. The servants sat with the Fell's for dinner. The griddle cake storage cabinet was original, and partially carved by their daughter. The Hall has George Fox's journal, printing from the 1690s. The journal has existed since the 1650s. The vision at the gathering on Pendle Hill was taken out of the 1690s journal. Visions of the 1650s had become old of style and considered excessive by the 1690s. Our guide Jenny referred to it as "mushroomy."

The entry way was changed by daughter Emma Clark Abraham. She was very resourceful. When she noticed the fireplace upstairs needed repair, She took the bedposts of Judge and Margaret to hold up the fireplace. There are Flemish carvings above the bedroom fireplace, except for two pieces carved by Emma. The Flemish carvings reminded me of the Flemish windows used at the Newbold-White house on the coast of NC. I visited this house with my children. http://perquimansrestoration.org

The sleeping style at the time was to have many pillows behind your back, almost sleeping halfway sitting up. The quilt would have been a solid sheet of fabric with embroidery. The posts of Fox's bed were made of the heaviest wood, lignum vitae. This was his traveling bed which didn't make any sense to us. Fox's bed was low to the ground. He was in his fifties at the time, and suffered from arthritis. We saw his travel trunk. And, there was a large tapestry in Fox's bedroom that covered an entire wall. The tapestry was of the story of Solomon.

Cezanne also mentioned a book I should read called, "Tinkers." Tinkers (2009) is the first novel by American author Paul Harding. The novel tells the stories of George Washington Crosby, an elderly clock repairman, and of his father, Howard. On his deathbed, George remembers his father, who was a tinker selling household goods from a donkey-drawn cart and who struggled with epilepsy.

Tinkers won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and other awards and honors.The Pulitzer board called the novel "a powerful celebration of life in which a New England father and son, through suffering and joy, transcend their imprisoning lives and offer new ways of perceiving the world and mortality."

Lancaster Castle, tower where George Fox was imprisoned.

The Keep where Margaret Fell was imprisoned.

A cell in the modern women's prison. This was a working prison until two years ago, an ancient part of the castle modernized. 

Lancaster Meeting House

The round center table in the Meeting House; always with flowers  and a collections of books including Quaker Faith and Practice and New Study Bible.

The Quakers had to travel along the marsh land, including quicksand to Swarthmore Hall.

View from Swarthmore Hall. This is not a lighthouse, but a folly. "In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but either suggesting by its appearance some other purpose." It was erected in honor of someone, but no one knows you, no marking remains.

Gorgeous windows in the dining room, where the Quaker Meeting we held.

Flemish carvings on the griddle cake cabinet.

George Fox's travel bed.

Story of Solomon tapestry 

First printed copy of George Fox's journal, from 1690s-1700s.

Shepard's chair for someone not sitting next to the fire.

"It looks as if there is a lift going up the middle of the stairwell, doesn't it? But, it isn't. Some people look at that and think it is a pulley system for taking dinner upstairs. No such luck! It's called a four post newel- and it's very special- there are only three or four in existence. It's real purpose is to support the roof."

View from train station, on way to Swathmore Hall.

blackberry bushes along the path to Swarthmore Hall

George Fox's chair. There was an identical chair for Margaret on the other side of the fireplace. 

The saying "sleep tight" come from this, the underside of the bed was a series of ropes.

.

costumes appropriate to the time, late 1600s.

A living quilt

I picked up rubbish on the way to the burial ground. We had a few minutes of  silent worship there. After, I looked down at my hand and saw this. I showed it to Mary, next to me. We couldn't stop laughing. Mary continued to show everyone. We all laughed.

 View from Margaret Fell's grave (unmarked in the old Quaker style)

Day 7- Short hike, Tea House, Woodworth's Garden, Sarah Nelson's Gingerbread

The English serve the most delicious prunes with white grapefruit for breakfast. It is truly delicious along side muesli. I also love the toast racks that come to the table with lightly toasted to darker toasted.

In worship, I'm having a hard time quieting my mind. I'm reminded of the Korean meditation I went to with Ava. We were told to think to ourselves the words "Drop off." I will keep trying. 

Today was gorgeous; sunny with the perfect temperature. However, I was only able to take a short hike. My balance has been off. I don't know if it's from the elevation, the barometric pressure, or traveling on my new meds? So, I spent two hours with my notes from yesterday, trying to remember everything. Yesterday was a big Quaker day. As is tomorrow. Roy read to us this morning, a quote from an 80 year old Margaret Fell, about modern dress. She basically said in a very spunky way, God is not in the dress.

 "But contrary to this, we (are told we) must look at no colours, nor make anything that is changeable colours as the hills are, nor sell them, nor wear them; but we must be all in one dress and one colour; this is a silly poor Gospel. It is more fit for us, to be covered with God's Eternal Spirit, and clothed with his Eternal Light, which leads us and guides us into Righteousness." —Margaret Fell

Flowers in bloom: Butterfly bush, Foxgloves, Poppies (yellow and peachy coral), Red Honeysuckle, Buttercups, Montbrecia, Hostas, Hydrangea... I saw red Poppies on the coast in Dymchurch.

I went to a fabulous Tea House, Baldry's. Speaking of spunky, a spunky Scottish man worked there. He was fun to talk to. He corrected my pronunciation of the word "scones." I still can't say it the way he does. He let me use their wifi as long as I wanted. I had my new favorite thing, raspberry and blueberry scones with Kentish cream and tea. I really hope I can copy this or some version of it at home. 

I also went to Wordsworth's Daffodil Garden, next to the church where he and his family are buried. Wordsworth said Grasmere was the most beautiful place on Earth. 

Daffodils

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils. 

William Wordsworth

And, to Sarah Nelson's Gingerbread Shop. This is a tiny shop with a line out the door. The gingerbread is made from a secret recipe that is 150 years old. Oh my, it is delicious. I'm going to bring some home. Going back to Jamie Oliver, he says it is the best.

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/bread-recipes/ultimate-gingerbread

Dinner- Fatoush salad, Barramundi fish, and strawberry creme brûlée. I have consumed way too many calories on this trip. And, not enough hiking. Tomorrow will be a lot of walking, a bit of climbing, and walking up 100 steps to Lancaster Castle.

Tonight at dinner we talked about favorite movies, desert island movies, and scariest movies. John and Margaret March seem to know quite a few movies, including international. I have a few to add to my list, including "Departures." John March is considering a doctorate program with Ben Pink Dandelion at Woodbrooke. I am thrilled for John and hope it happens. I adore Ben, and two of the three times I have felt spiritually held were in his presence. This would be a six month program for John because of his previous education. What a dream.

http://www.woodbrooke.org.uk/pages/links.html

For my girls

Baldry's Tea House

Have I mentioned the English love dogs? Italian Spumoni

This is ridiculous.

tiny bunny in Wordsworth Garden

Wordsworth's Daffodil Garden

local artist- print of modern Grasmere, in Sarah Nelson's Shop

Sarah Nelson's Gingerbread House