HAVE you committed a sin recently? If so, go out and commit six more. Then, find a particular black beetle and crush it. You will be forgiven all seven sins, for you are in medieval England and you have killed the beetle because it deserved to die. You know this because its ancestor is said to have committed contemptuous sacrilege by eating the core of the forbidden apple in the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve had partaken thereof. Hence its destruction makes you a demonstrably upstanding Christian who has achieved absolution—for the time being, at least.
Folklore may have fortified the wicked, but it was tough on this little creature. The Middle Ages reeled back from the chunky black insect an inch or so long, with strong jaws and an abdomen that would curve upwards, scorpion-like, when it was threatened. Although it carried no sting, two glands emitted a foul odour and its reputation was as black as its body parts.
Denne historien er fra April 24, 2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra April 24, 2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Tales as old as time
By appointing writers-in-residence to landscape locations, the National Trust is hoping to spark in us a new engagement with our ancient surroundings, finds Richard Smyth
Do the active farmer test
Farming is a profession, not a lifestyle choice’ and, therefore, the Budget is unfair
Night Thoughts by Howard Hodgkin
Charlotte Mullins comments on Moght Thoughts
SOS: save our wild salmon
Jane Wheatley examines the dire situation facing the king of fish
Into the deep
Beneath the crystal-clear, alien world of water lie the great piscean survivors of the Ice Age. The Lake District is a fish-spotter's paradise, reports John Lewis-Stempel
It's alive!
Living, burping and bubbling fermented masses of flour, yeast and water that spawn countless loaves—Emma Hughes charts the rise and rise) of sourdough starters
There's orange gold in them thar fields
A kitchen staple that is easily taken for granted, the carrot is actually an incredibly tricky customer to cultivate that could reduce a grown man to tears, says Sarah Todd
True blues
I HAVE been planting English bluebells. They grow in their millions in the beechwoods that surround us—but not in our own garden. They are, however, a protected species. The law is clear and uncompromising: ‘It is illegal to dig up bluebells or their bulbs from the wild, or to trade or sell wild bluebell bulbs and seeds.’ I have, therefore, had to buy them from a respectable bulb-merchant.
Oh so hip
Stay the hand that itches to deadhead spent roses and you can enjoy their glittering fruits instead, writes John Hoyland
A best kept secret
Oft-forgotten Rutland, England's smallest county, is a 'Notswold' haven deserving of more attention, finds Nicola Venning
