History shapes us
(Nimue)
All too often ‘history’ seems to mean events that happened somewhere else, to people who were not like us. Historical narratives often reinforce the importance of a small, power-wielding elite while saying nothing about the lives of most people.
Everywhere has a history. Sometimes we can read that easily in the landscape. More often, seeing it does not help us much in terms of understanding what is there. Place names sometimes hold clues to both history and local folklore. Local museums include local history, but the stories they tell often depend on the objects available to them. It’s worth noting that items relating to working class life don’t make it into museums very often as they tend to be used until they are worn out or broken.
Recently, a friend of mine mentioned on Facebook that he’d only just learned that Lady Jane Grey was declared Queen in Gloucester. We were at school together. I don’t remember learning any local history in a classroom. And yet…
Gloucestershire was popular with the Romans. Gloucester was a big port through much of history, and the site of all kinds of events. Tewkesbury saw a significant battle in the Wars of the Roses. The bicycle was invented here, also the lawnmower and the vacuum cleaner. The hill near my home saw a massive Chartist meeting, right next to the long barrow that’s up there. We have a lot of long barrows here, on a nationally important scale.
I’ve learned my local history as an adult, aware that the enormity of what I don’t know massively outstrips the little I’ve picked up. I think history would seem meaningful to a lot more people if some of it was closer to home. The connections between past and present are more obvious with local history. When you can see how the past impacts on you, then the importance of the past is also more visible.
Knowing your own history, your family history, your cultural history and your landscape history is really important for rooting your sense of self. It can also help us avoid damaging fantasies and ideas that lead towards fascism.
For more of this sort of thinking, check out my Druidry and the Ancestors book. https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/moon-books/our-books/Druidry-Ancestors
