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Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Daily Mail
Tudor England's unluckiest deaths revealed... including priest who 'tumbled off a toilet seat' and the butcher who walked home in slippers
Forget the Tower, the beheadings and Anne Boleyn's doomed romance with Henry VIII. If you really want to understand what it meant to live and die in Tudor England, look not to the royal court but to the nation's cesspits, stiles and ale-soaked backstreets. In their new book, An Accidental History of Tudor England, historians Steven Gunn and Tomasz Gromelski use coroner records to reveal a side of the 16th century rarely seen. It was a world where death didn't always come by sword or pox, but by misstep, misfortune, and even a pair of overly tight trousers. Take the elderly clergyman of Westoning, Bedfordshire, who met his maker not in the pulpit, but on the privy. He 'tumbled backwards off a toilet seat,' according to the inquest report, and was left 'suspended by his hose until he expired'. In an era of long garments and basic sanitation, even answering nature's call could prove perilous. Tudor toilets, it turns out, were not to be trifled with. Outside Trumpington Gate in Cambridge, John Dunkyn, a local baker, fell backwards into his own garden cesspit after a night of drinking. 'Qweasomed' by the stench, the jurors noted, he suffocated in the sewage alone while trapped just yards away from his home. Alcohol, it seems, featured in more than a few of these cautionary tales. Roughly one in every hundred accidental deaths studied by Gunn and Gromelski involved a tipsy victim. Also among them was Thomas Beettes of Brentwood, a butcher who made the wise choice to walk home from the alehouse rather than attempt to ride a horse. The flaw in his plan? He was wearing slippers. He slipped into a roadside ditch and drowned in what was an undignified end brought about by soft shoes and strong beer. James Johnson was another one. In 1565, he got drunk and fell asleep in an alley in Southwark. He woke up 'barely possessed of a healthy and calm mind' and decided to defecate in a ditch. Inevitably though, he was unsteady on his feet. He fell into the water and drowned. An Accidental History of Tudor England is based on records from the period. Tudor law mandated that suspicious or sudden deaths had to be investigated by a coroner. Once they had reached a verdict, coroners' reports were filed away at Westminster. Over the course of the 16th century, nearly 9,000 such records were collected. Even good intentions proved fatal. Nicholas Jenckes was driving a timber cart when he wedged a bottle of ale between his knees for safekeeping. The cart overturned. The bottle shattered. The resulting horrifying injury - crushed genitals - killed him. If that sounds grisly, spare a thought for John Olyer. Crossing a stile in the countryside, he slipped and tore what records politely call his 'codd.' Twelve days later, he died of infection. Not all fashion is fatal, but for Henry Daunce, a dapper draper of Bury St Edmunds, it may well have been. In 1526, while bending over to wash his face in a stream, Daunce's doublet and hose were so tight that he toppled headfirst into the water. With his movement restricted by his stylish ensemble, he couldn't get up again. He drowned; a death by vanity, if ever there was one. Others died through sheer recklessness. On Whit Sunday in 1588, a day meant for piety and rest, Kent local John Cheeseman, who suffered from a hernia, joined younger revellers at an inn for a night of dancing. Cheeseman did not heed warnings to take it easy. 'Caring little for his hernia,' the coroner's roll recorded, he danced wildly and repeatedly collapsed, until eventually 'a great part of his entrails was thrust up out of his belly under his skin.' The official cause of death? His own 'bad conduct'. He quite literally danced himself to death. And then there's poor William Hykeman, a waterman on the Isle of Thanet, whose death came by misjudged flirtation. While fooling around with a reed-cutter named Rose, he threw her to the ground, unaware of the knife at her belt. One unlucky movement later, the blade was in his thigh and he bled out.
Press and Journal
31-07-2025
- Sport
- Press and Journal
Steven Gunn reveals reasons Aberdeen youngster Cammy Wilson has been sold to English Championship club
Aberdeen director of football Steven Gunn says youngster Cammy Wilson was sold to Derby County as the Dons could not 'promise him' a 'pathway to first-team football and the security of a long-term contract'. Winger Wilson, 18 – one of the club's CAS Under-18s Elite league winners two seasons ago – has joined the English Championship outfit having also spent time on trial with Swansea City while on loan at Highland League Keith last term. The Kintore native had been in the Aberdeen youth academy from the age of nine and was contracted to Pittodrie until next summer. But a Dons statement read: 'Despite the club's commitment to nurturing young talent, the decision to allow Cammy to move south was made with the player's long-term career aspirations in mind.' Gunn said: 'Cammy is a committed and talented young player and we understand his desire to have a pathway to first-team football and the security of a long-term contract, something which we weren't able to promise him at this stage. 'We have negotiated an agreement with Derby that provides future protection for the club, and we wish Cammy all the best in his future career.' Aberdeen recently revamped their approach to youth development to coincide with the new SFA CAS leagues at U17 and U19 levels. While they will take part in the U17s league, the Dons have not entered a side in the U19 division, instead prioritising exposure to senior football with loans and in Aberdeen B matches in the likes of the Evolution Trophy (formerly known as the SPFL Trust Trophy) for their young players. They are also putting additional focus on starlets in 16/17-year-old age bracket, while taking more of a 'quality over quantity' approach with older players in the 'transition' phase between youth and first-team football. Meanwhile, Dons youngsters Sam McLean, Tristan Stephen and Oliver Green have all joined Highland League side Lossiemouth on loan until the end of the season.
BBC News
31-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Teenager winger Wilson joins Derby
Winger Cammy Wilson has left Aberdeen to join English Championship side Derby 18, played for the Under-18s for two seasons and spent the second half of last term on loan with Highland League club Keith. "Cammy is a committed and talented young player and we understand his desire to have a pathway to first-team football and the security of a long-term contract, something which we weren't able to promise him at this stage," Dons director of football Steven Gunn said.
BBC News
15-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Aberdeen confirm 'historic' partnership with Elgin
Aberdeen have confirmed a "historic" player development partnership with Scottish League Two side Elgin Pittodrie club say the agreement follows the introduction of a new Scottish FA initiative that has been "created to boost opportunities for young Scottish players".Seventeen-year-olds Dylan Ross, Jamie Mercer and Noah McDonnell will all move on loan to Elgin immediately, but players selected will be able to switch "between the parent and cooperation club throughout the season to increase playing time".Clubs can have multiple agreements across the SPFL pyramid, but only one in each tier. Elgin will be the Dons' League Two director of football Steven Gunn said the fourth-tier side will provide "an excellent platform" for their young added: "We were at Borough Briggs back in January to play a Scottish Cup fixture and not only were we thoroughly impressed by the facilities, but it was clear the team have a solid identity and a talented staff."From our early discussions it was apparent we are aligned in terms of our priorities for the development of our players, and importantly, Elgin demonstrated a sound knowledge of the players and a real desire to support their ongoing development."While we expect it to be a challenge for [the players], the opportunity for competitive first-team football, in the professional league system, is significant for our players. "We have taken a view that this is a better progression for our best young players, training daily at Cormack Park under a dedicated transition manager and being exposed to senior first-team football at the weekend, rather than playing against their peer group in Under-19 football."This agreement with Elgin is just the first, that covers League Two, and we hope to have others announced shortly."
The National
03-07-2025
- Business
- The National
Aberdeen sign wonderkid and announce radical overhaul of youth set-up
The Pittodrie club have, like many Scottish clubs, found it difficult to justify their extensive investment in developing homegrown talent in recent years due to the challenges presented by Brexit as well as an outdated FIFA training compensation matrix. However, the Scottish Cup winners, who plough £2.2m a year into rearing potential stars of tomorrow, are determined to retain their elite status within the Club Academy Scotland (CAS) framework. However, Aberdeen have decided they will not compete in the CAS Under-19 league going forward because they feel 'playing in a season-long, non-competitive youth league' was failing to produce the desired results. Read more: They are set to appoint a specialist transition coach who will work with a group of young players who will train with Jimmy Thelin's squad on a daily basis and gain international experience from a 'bespoke games programme'. Aberdeen director of football Steven Gunn explained: 'Given the challenge that Scottish football has in getting emerging talent into a first team environment, the decision has been taken to adopt a different approach, focusing on quality and not quantity. 'We are quite far down the line in terms of our recruitment of a transition coach and hope to have someone appointed in the coming weeks. This is a critical role, so we need to ensure we get it right. 'The transition coach will work alongside manager Jimmy Thelin and the wider first team coaching staff to help ensure a smooth and effective pathway exists, bridging the gap between the academy and the demands of senior professional football, technically, physically and mentally.' (Image: SNS Group) He continued: 'This group of young players, sitting under the transition coach, will train with first team on a daily basis. We need to have belief they can take that step up because they will get exposed to first team football more quickly. 'However, we also need to trust that we are still going to be competitive because ultimately, we must win games of football. We are committed to keeping the pathway open so that when those opportunities do arise the space is there for our young players. 'We must take a much more aggressive approach to strategic recruitment of younger players, both from Scotland and abroad, to complement the very best players progressing from our own academy. 'This is something Aberdeen has deployed with great success in different periods of our history and has brought forward players like Willie Miller, Alex McLeish, Arthur Graham and current board director Willie Garner. 'The club has committed additional budget both operationally in youth talent identification and in potential transfer and compensation fees to maximise our outcomes in the development of young players.' Read more: Meanwhile, Aberdeen made their fifth signing of the summer last night when they signed Icelandic youth internationalist Kjartan Mar Kjartansson from Stjarnan subject to international clearance and visa formalities. The 18-year-old has signed a four year deal. Thelin said, 'Kjartan is a player who our scouting department have been aware of and tracking for some time. We are pleased to have signed him given the significant interest from some big clubs. For a player still so young, he has played an impressive volume of minutes for the first team and the Icelandic youth international squads. 'He has a very good defensive and positional mind for the game. He has performed well for Stjarnan when winning possession back for his team, makes key interceptions and protects the team in transition – all the qualities we look for at the base of our midfield. It' s impressive when you consider his age. 'He is a very exciting talent, but we also know we need to work with him to develop further, and he will take time to adapt to a new club, a new league and a new country. We must be patient, we must nurture him and at times we must protect him to ensure we are able to realise his significant potential.'
