Dicks and their Castles Part Three: Castles of Wales

*Otherwise known as shameless posting of vacation photographs.

These castles are in north Wales and were actually built by Edward I (reigned 1272-1307), who conquered Wales. These castles were built to overawe the Welsh and remind them that they were now subject to the rule of the English. But on a more positive note, these castles are some mighty fancy buildings.

Flint Castle – the undoing of Richard II

Flint Castle is close to the border of Wales and Cheshire (England). In August 1399, Richard II was on his way home from Ireland, rushing back to England (from Wales) in an effort to head off Henry Bolingbroke, who was fomenting rebellion and threatening to take Richard’s throne. Richard had a bastion of support in Cheshire and was trying to reach the county and gather troops. Alas, Richard failed to reach Cheshire and was overtaken by Henry at Flint Castle. The king was taken into custody and deposed in September; Henry Bolingbroke succeeded him as Henry IV. Flint Castle was thus the last place Richard II stayed where he was truly king – after that, he was merely along for the ride.

Flint Castle is in a fairly ruinous state today. A lot of the walls and towers have fallen down, but you can still get some sense of what a great place it was. Please note: it was really rainy when I visited, so you might see some raindrops marring the photos. Sadly, this is the price one must pay for visiting Wales.

The area on the top left (surrounded by a railing) was the chapel, where Richard heard mass just before Henry arrived.

Conway Castle – right before the undoing of Richard II

Moving back in time a short bit, to earlier in August 1399, Richard II stayed at Conway Castle. This was before he moved on to Flint and his world came crashing down around him. Interestingly, Richard II was one of only three medieval kings to ever use the royal apartments at Conway. The other two were Edward I and Edward II, Richard’s great-great-grandfather and great-grandfather respectively.

Conway has weathered the ages better than Flint. Many of the towers are still standing and tourists can even climb most of them and take in rather breath-taking views.

Bonus: Caernarfon Castle

I don’t believe Richard II ever stayed here, but Caernarfon is probably the most famous and best-preserved of all the Edward-I-built Welsh castles. The future king Edward II was born here and Prince Charles was invested here with his title Prince of Wales. Technically, Richard II “owned” this castle when he was Prince of Wales (1376-1377); since Richard never had a son of his own, I believe he retained ownership of these castles throughout his reign. Anyway, there’s a tenuous connection between Caernarfon and Richard II, which is good enough for me! 

A Cartoon from The New Yorker

This is one of the finest cartoons ever. It combines so many things that I love (homosexuality, infertile royals, people named Richard) into one neat, hilarious package. If only there were a certain Australian marsupial lurking in the background, it would be perfect.

 I don't know when this was featured. Anyone know?

Richard Engel

Born in New York City in 1973, Richard has a BA from Stanford University. He was hired by NBC in May 2003; before that he lived in Egypt (to learn Arabic) and Israel, doing freelance journalism. Engel has covered the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the Libyan civil war and the revolution in Egypt. Richard has won several awards, including an Edward R. Murrow Award and a Peabody.

Given that Richard is a still-living, foreign-wars news correspondent, there isn’t a ton of info on him circulating around the internet. He’s not quite at Tom Brokaw’s level yet. Speaking of Brokaw, though, I’d be psyched if Engel succeeded Brian Williams as Nightly News anchor – I would love to get my daily news from a Dick. However, I’m thinking Engel is more into foreign affairs.

On a personal note, according to an article about Richard from the Stanford Alumni Magazine, the correspondent’s personal life has suffered because of his devotion to his work. He and his wife, another Stanford alum, divorced in 2005, and he has lost contact with many of his friends. I suppose he can console  himself with his awards and keep a lookout for new ladies, who are attracted to his “baby-faced and clean-shaven” look.*

The "baby face" of news

*http://www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/2008/sepoct/pc/engel.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Engel

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5424809/ns/nbcnightlynews-about_us/t/richard-engel/#.T-0VvPWWhGU 

Richard Henry Lee (1732-1794)

Independence Day (for the USA) is coming, so as a sop to patriotism, I’ve got a 1776-filled post at the ready. This will not relate to Thomas Jefferson because 1) he was not named Richard and 2) I seriously dislike him. Just as I have an irrational love for some historical personages, I have an irrational dislike for others – TJ is in the latter category.

Richard Henry Lee was a representative from Virginia in the Second Continental Congress (also at the first, but we aren’t concerned with that). On 7 June 1776, Richard put forward a resolution calling for independence from Great Britain. The resolution read (in part):

Resolved: That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved. *

·         See Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Henry_Lee

Later in June a committee was created to draft a document explaining why America wanted independence. Finally, on 2 July, Lee’s resolution was voted on, and independence was approved. The Declaration of Independence was approved two days later, on 4 July. Thus America’s Independence Day could easily have been the Second of July (although it doesn’t have the same ring).

Richard Henry Lee is certainly not the most famous of the Founding Fathers. Aside from suggesting independence, he was a senator in the 1790s, even serving as president pro tempore. My guess is that Lee is most famous now for being a character in the musical 1776. In this fine production, Lee sings a song entitled “The Lees of Old Virginia.” Although this song is technically about how Lee will convince the Virginia House of Burgesses to let him suggest independence, it’s memorable for its ridiculous overuse of adverbs. We get it, Richard – your last name is Lee, and you love adverbs because they also end in lee (-ly). The song is both annoying and amusing.   

Finally, Richard Henry is the great-uncle of Robert E. Lee, the famous Confederate general.

Richard Lander

I’m ending this month how it began, with a Dick from a young adult book. Richard Lander is featured in books one and two of Ann Rinaldi’s Quilt Trilogy, a work of historical fiction set in Salem, Massachusetts in the late 1780s and early 1800s. Rinaldi’s work is certainly a step above the Angel by my Side stuff that I mentioned earlier. Rinaldi’s work is well-researched, and her books are a couple hundred pages each. When I was in middle school, I loved her stuff.

A quick note: The Quilt Trilogy is not about quilting, but what one particular quilt represents. Three sisters, who are about to physically separate, partition a quilt. Each sister is supposed to add pieces of fabric from people she trusts (as trust is something sorely lacking in their family). As the sisters separate and age, the quilt serves as a marker of identity for their descendants and as tangible evidence of the different paths their lives took.

Richard Lander is the love interest of Hannah Chelmsford, the protagonist of book one (and the eldest sister of the three quilters). Richard is a few years Hannah’s senior, and he’s about to embark on his first voyage as captain of his own ship. People in town think he’s going to become a slave trader and continually denounce him; Richard refuses to stoop to their level and refrains from comment. In the end, he brings back a shipment of pepper and is well on his way to becoming rich and successful.

Overall, Richard is a stand-up guy who shows Hannah what real love is. Although Hannah comes from a rich family, her father is, for lack of a better term, a major asshole. Her home is filled with suspicion, recriminations, disappointment, and highly-conditional love. Everyone is continually on tip-toes around Hannah’s father because he is a mean, controlling person (for instance, Hannah was once engaged to a man named Louis, but her father prevented her from marrying him because he couldn’t stand the thought of his eldest daughter – who ran his household because her mother was long deceased – leaving). Even though Hannah occasionally insults Richard and, at one point, thinks he might be a slave-trader, he never stops loving her. After Richard helps Hannah through a couple of major family crises, Hannah realizes how much Richard loves her and is finally able to admit to herself that she loves – and trusts - him (it’s worth noting that Richard is much poorer than Hannah, so he can’t marry her until he’s had some shipping success). The two ultimately become engaged, but are still unmarried when the book ends because Richard wanted/needed to return overseas and make more money.

Book Two in The Quilt Trilogy picks up many years later, when Richard and Hannah are in their late thirties/ early forties and still unmarried. Why they never tied the knot is not completely explained, but the two do get married at the end of the book. Richard is actually in a British prison for most of the book (it’s War of 1812 time), but when he returns he is his wise, caring self. He guides Hannah’s niece, encouraging her to “do the right thing,” even though it might jeopardize her standing with her douche-y grandfather (the problem relates to a new relative and the quilt, but I won’t give the rest away). He is not, however, pushy about it, but expresses his faith in the girl, thereby giving her the confidence to take the moral high road. Basically, he’s extremely kind and understanding – and awesome!

Sadly, Richard doesn’t appear in book three because he (and almost all of the characters from book one) are dead by that point. Consequently, I like that book the least and see no reason to discuss it here.

So check these books out! The reviews on Amazon are mixed, but Richard Lander is sheer awesome.

A Stitch in Time – the best one; best on character development

Broken Days – very good, but more plot driven

The Blue Door – much less awesome than the previous two

Richard Shelton

Richard “Dick” Shelton is the hero of Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Black Arrow. The book was published in 1888 and is an adventure-romance – a fun novel, more along the lines of a Treasure Island than a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Anyway, I love this book – I have a hard copy and a copy on my Kindle.

I first remember hearing about this book on Wishbone. It was a later season of the show, when Joe and company were in high school rather than middle school. As soon as I found out the main character was a Richard, I had to read it. If you want a visual representation of the book, I recommend you hunt down the Wishbone episode because the 1948 movie version of the book is terrible. I can’t even begin to describe all its flaws.

But back to the book. Richard Shelton is seventeen and an orphan who has been living with his guardian Sir Daniel Brackley since his father’s death when he was an infant. As was so often the case with medieval wardship, Sir Daniel did not exactly take Richard in out of the kindness of his heart, but in order to turn a profit. Medieval guardians managed their wards’ estates (Richard’s father was a knight, so he had some land) and usually made some extra cash by selling off their marriage rights. This is not to say that some sort of affection couldn’t develop, which it has in this book. Richard begins the book extremely devoted to Sir Daniel and Sir Daniel’s men; it is only as evidence of Sir Daniel’s treachery is brought to light that Richard wavers.

The book is set during the Wars of the Roses, so there’s a lot of fighting and flip-flopping going on. It is as Sir Daniel is preparing for battle that strange black arrows start appearing in the village, variously accusing Sir Daniel and his friends of having murdered Sir Harry Shelton, Richard’s father. Although everyone pleads innocence, the arrows keep coming and a few men hint to Richard that Sir Daniel is not all he seems. When Sir Daniel attempts to murder Richard, the boy escapes to the forest and takes up with a Robin-Hood-esque band of vengeful woodsmen known as “The Black Arrow,” whose leader is the awesomely-named Ellis Duckworth, an old friend of Richard’s father. The Fellowship of the Black Arrow informs Richard of Sir Daniel’s true nature: he is a piece of shit who murdered Richard’s father for money.

Naturally, Richard wants vengeance. But more than that, he wants to save his lady-love Joanna Sedley from the clutches of Sir Daniel. Joanna is introduced in the first section of the book when she is attempting to escape from Sir Daniel, who has kidnapped her. Disguised as a boy, she and Richard have an adventure in the woods but end up back at Sir Daniel’s manor. When Richard learns she is a girl, he decides he loves her, presumably because she is cool enough to pretend to be a boy (and she can swim, which impresses him to no end). Anyway, Joanna was unable to escape when Richard did, so he must work with the outlaws of the Black Arrow to save her and bring down Sir Daniel. As is to be expected, Richard triumphs. I won’t bore you with the details – read the book!

I will, however, note that Richard III, as Duke of Gloucester, makes an appearance in this book. There is a big battle at the end, and Richard Shelton fights under Richard of Gloucester (given the timeline of the book, this is technically impossible as the real Richard III would have been only seven or eight at the time, but whatever). Richard of Gloucester ends up knighting Shelton, who promptly marries Joanna. The two then spend their days back on Richard’s land, lying low and avoiding the conflicts of the Wars of the Roses.

And what about Sir Daniel? Well, Ellis Duckworth takes care of him with a black arrow. Richard and Sir Daniel have a confrontation, but Richard takes the high road and tells Sir D to piss off but lets him live. Ellis, who was creeping in the background, isn’t having that, so he shoots Sir Daniel. Ellis then lays down his bow and proclaims that the black arrow shall fly no more because “the fellowship is broken.” I always think that quote would work well in The Lord of the Rings!

So yeah, read The Black Arrow. You actually get two Dicks (Shelton and R3) for the price of one! Holy Robert Louis Stevenson!