A royal heritage

 This month saw the 175th anniversary of the wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.  They tied the knot in the Chapel Royal of St James’s Palace in London and went on to have nine children and forty grandchildren, who married into many of the royal families of Europe. Prince Albert introduced German traditions that continue today - what would Christmas be without the tree? – while his legacy includes Kensington's world-famous museums and, of course, the Albert Hall.

The German Tourist Board has marked the anniversary by inviting one of the couple’s descendants, great-great-grandson Prince Hubertus of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, to a reception at the Tower of London. There was a celebratory cake, decorated with real flowers, and a presentation about Germany’s royal heritage and treasures. Royal connections between the two countries began more than 300 years ago, before Victoria's marriage, when George I arrived from Hanover. They'll continue with the Queen's state visit to Berlin from June 24 to 26, 2015.

The board's website includes a British-German royal heritage route, with a map and useful links to attractions. If you need some holiday inspiration, it’s well worth a visit.

http://www.germany.travel/en/ms/royal-heritage/start/royal-heritage.html

Chinese New Year

Thousands of people were in central London today to welcome in the Chinese New Year. The narrow streets of Chinatown, by Leicester Square, were tightly packed as people jostled to get a glimpse of the Lion dancers and drummers parading past. 

In Trafalgar Square, where a huge stage had been erected, there were firecrackers, speeches, music, and spectacular dance and acrobatics.

 A red dragon leapt and twirled in front of the fountains, delighting the crowds.

Daring Flying Lion dancers jumped from column to column.

And then, somehow, they shinned up two poles as helpers tried to keep them steady.

The event is the biggest of its kind in the UK and is organised by London Chinatown Chinese Association.

An amazing start to the Year of the Sheep.

Hodge - a very fine cat indeed

It’s not often you see a statue of a cat, which is what made me pause in Gough Square, just off London’s Fleet St, the other day. On a plinth was a slightly grumpy-looking feline, cast in bronze and sitting on a large book. Beside it were some empty oyster shells.  The cat, of course, is Hodge, the indulged companion of the 18^th c writer Samuel Johnson, whose house (below) on the opposite side of the square is now a museum, and the book is the famous dictionary Johnson compiled.

 Hodge was remembered  by James Boswell in his biography of Johnson: 'I recollect him one day scrambling up Dr Johnson’s breast, apparently with much satisfaction, while my friend smiling and half-whistling, rubbed down his back, and pulled him by the tail; and when I observed he was a fine cat, saying, “Why yes, Sir, but I have had cats whom I liked better than this;” and then perceiving Hodge to be out of countenance, adding, “but he is a very fine cat, a very fine cat indeed.” '

 Although oysters are today an expensive delicacy, in the 18^th c they were cheap and a staple food of the poor.  Boswell recalled that Dr Johnson used to go out and buy oysters for his cat “lest the servants having that trouble should take a dislike to the poor creature.”

It seems Hodge was black. When he  died, his life was celebrated in ‘An Elegy on the Death of Dr Johnson’s Favourite Cat’ by Percival Stockdale, published in 1778, which describes his fur as ‘sable’: "Who, by his master when caressed, warmly his gratitude expressed, and never failed his thanks to purr, whene'er he stroked his sable fur."

The statue is by sculptor Jon Bickley and was installed in 1997. It was modelled on his own cat, Thomas Henry.