Five Historic things you never thought you needed to know. #9

 Five Historic things you never thought you needed to know. #9



  • Have a break, have a Kit Cat… in the 1710s.


The original Kit Cats were mutton pies.  Apparently Christopher Cat, a pastry cook on Shire Lane, Temple Bar, made these pies as a speciality.   Well, that is the story and I can’t confirm it yet.  A Christopher Catt, who certainly existed, was a Norwich Quaker, the son of Christopher Catt, who married Thomasin Willson in 1710.




  • The War of the Oaken Bucket


The War of the Oaken Bucket was fought between Bologna and Modena in 1325.  It is said that dastardly Modenese had stolen a bucket from a Bolognese well but probably actually began when Modenea seized the castle of Montevegilo. It all ended after the Battle of Zappolino when 7000 Modenese beat 32000 Bolognese and, allegedly, nicked the bucket as a trophy.



  • Talke don’t talk.


The village of Talke in Staffordshire was previously known as ‘Talk on the Hill.’   Talk on the Hill is derived from ‘bush on top of the hill.’



  • Legs of Man, Burslem


Between roughly 1780 and 1830 there was a pub in Burslem called the Legs of Man.  The London-Liverpool coach used to arrive and depart from it.  Auctions were held there, the Masons met at the pub and barristers used it to confer over voting lists in 1838.  In 1879 the advertising a new ‘Smoke Room’ and guinea spirit hampers.



  • The Bangorian Controversy


Benjamin Hoadley became Bishop of Bangor in 1716. He gave a Sermon to George I in 1717 on ‘The Nature of the Kingdom of Christ.’ Basically he said there was no Biblical justification for a form of church government, as Jesus hadn’t delegated it to anyone.  This could be seen as weakening the power of the Bishops in the House of Lords.  People got upset. In May 1717, the Convocation of the Church of England appointed a committee to study the sermon. When the report was ready and called for sanctions against Hoadly, the king dismissed the convocation, which did not meet again for over 130 years.












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