I can see you looking at this cross around my neck. ‘Where did it come from?’ you ask and, ‘what is its tale?’
Sit with me, child, and I will tell you the story of Caspian’s cross.
It was a very long time ago and Caspian and Elizabeth were not long wed. He was a sailor and soon off to sea on King Henry’s new ship. It was named after his only sister, Mary Rose, to whom he was very close. There was much pageantry at the launch of the ship, with King Henry and his entourage of courtiers, musicians and players lined up at the dockyard, waiting for the Mary Rose to set sail. How grand they all looked in their bright coloured finery. How great, too, were the celebrations as the King loved so much the pomp of such occasions.
The young wife clung to her husband as they parted. Taking the cross, given to many of the sailors as a good luck talisman, from around his neck, Caspian pressed it into his wife’s hand. ‘Goodbye, my sweet life,’ he said, as he kissed her tear-wet cheeks, ‘I shall return and we will be together again soon.’
A huge fanfare erupted as the Mary Rose set sail, with many people lined up along the harbour, cheering and waving bright ribbons. The King looked on in pride. The jovial air soon turned to gasps of horror and screams of fear as the Mary Rose broke apart. Although it sank quickly, it gave enough time for the screams of the drowning sailors to reach the harbour wall where Elizabeth stood. The many other hundreds of people who had, only moments earlier, been shouting and cheering with excitement at the wonderful sight wailed with grief as the Mary Rose was pulled under the water.
Caspian, along with many hundreds of fine sailors drowned that day.
A few months later, Elizabeth’s grief was softened by the birth of her son. She called him Caspian, which had been his father’s name. Although she wept much for her husband whose eyes the boy had inherited, she warmed to the new life she had given birth to. Upon reaching his adulthood, Caspian’s mother, placed the cross given to her by her husband on the day of his death around her son’s neck and with it she gave her blessing.
Caspian grew from sturdy and adventurous boy into a strong young man and a successful merchant. He travelled through many foreign lands, bringing rare spices and fine cloth back to these shores, blessing his mother with many comforts as she grew older. He fell in love with Marianna, the daughter of an alderman in a Prussian city, and made her his wife. They had four strong and handsome sons and six daughters, all fair of face and beautiful. Their eldest son, to hold with the family tradition, was also called Caspian, like his father and his father’s father, the cross was passed to him upon reaching adulthood.
Following in the way of his father, young Caspian became a wealthy and successful merchant who loved both God and his fellow man.
When he was six and twenty, young Caspian wed Catherine, his childhood sweetheart. They were very happy, made more so by the forthcoming birth of their first child. Maybe she would have been strong enough to safely deliver their daughter but it was a long, hard, labour and shortly after the baby came into the world, bore another child, a son. She had been carrying twins and the loss of blood proved too much for her frail frame. Young Caspian stayed by his wife’s side through the night but, as the spring sun washed away the early mist, Catherine died.
Filled with grief at the loss of his young wife, Caspian gave up his life as a merchant and joined a band of travelling players. His twin children, whom he had named Caspian, to hold with the family tradition, and Gisele, who was as beautiful as the mother she had never known.
The two children lacked not for want of a mother’s love as the players proved to be all the family they could have wished for. They grew strong and full of mischief, learning many foreign tongues as the band of players moved from one country to the next. It was a happy time. Young Caspian became known as Caspian the elder and his son Caspian the twin. Father taught son to make marionettes for the shows they put on and the women taught his daughter to tell the stories that went with them. For many years, the family of players travelled, relaying news of wars, plagues and rumours of unrest at the folly of King Charles I, whose Catholic wife held much sway in the English court.
One very cold night in winter, the travelling players took shelter in a barn belonging to a rich Lord whose patronage was well known. As the blizzard worsened, they dared to light a fire. The wood was dry and the barn very old. Suddenly, the door blew open and a swathe of sparks flew upwards, into the air and caught on the roof, setting it alight. Many of the players perished but Caspian the elder saved the lives of many more, returning again and again to pull women and children from the blaze, including his own. The roof collapsed and Caspian the elder was crushed. His body was pulled from the wrecked building the next morning. The cross that had passed through three generations was given to Caspian the twin.
He and his sister, Gisele, travelled on, mourning the loss of their father and the friends who died in the fire. They took the plays from country to country, as ever, arriving back on these shores in the midst of Civil War, where their news was gratefully and fearfully received in every town they reached.
‘But how came you by Caspian’s cross, mother?’ you ask.
Child, you have not seen six summers yet well you question me. I am Gisele and Caspian was my twin brother, my father, grandfather and great grandfather alike. Fever ravaged our band of players. Caspian fell sick with it and died. I was his only family and his cross came to me. I am all the daughters of my father’s house, and all the brothers, too. When you are grown into a man, the cross will be yours as you also bear the name Caspian, to hold with the family tradition.
Sit with me, child, and I will tell you the story of Caspian’s cross.
It was a very long time ago and Caspian and Elizabeth were not long wed. He was a sailor and soon off to sea on King Henry’s new ship. It was named after his only sister, Mary Rose, to whom he was very close. There was much pageantry at the launch of the ship, with King Henry and his entourage of courtiers, musicians and players lined up at the dockyard, waiting for the Mary Rose to set sail. How grand they all looked in their bright coloured finery. How great, too, were the celebrations as the King loved so much the pomp of such occasions.
The young wife clung to her husband as they parted. Taking the cross, given to many of the sailors as a good luck talisman, from around his neck, Caspian pressed it into his wife’s hand. ‘Goodbye, my sweet life,’ he said, as he kissed her tear-wet cheeks, ‘I shall return and we will be together again soon.’
A huge fanfare erupted as the Mary Rose set sail, with many people lined up along the harbour, cheering and waving bright ribbons. The King looked on in pride. The jovial air soon turned to gasps of horror and screams of fear as the Mary Rose broke apart. Although it sank quickly, it gave enough time for the screams of the drowning sailors to reach the harbour wall where Elizabeth stood. The many other hundreds of people who had, only moments earlier, been shouting and cheering with excitement at the wonderful sight wailed with grief as the Mary Rose was pulled under the water.
Caspian, along with many hundreds of fine sailors drowned that day.
A few months later, Elizabeth’s grief was softened by the birth of her son. She called him Caspian, which had been his father’s name. Although she wept much for her husband whose eyes the boy had inherited, she warmed to the new life she had given birth to. Upon reaching his adulthood, Caspian’s mother, placed the cross given to her by her husband on the day of his death around her son’s neck and with it she gave her blessing.
Caspian grew from sturdy and adventurous boy into a strong young man and a successful merchant. He travelled through many foreign lands, bringing rare spices and fine cloth back to these shores, blessing his mother with many comforts as she grew older. He fell in love with Marianna, the daughter of an alderman in a Prussian city, and made her his wife. They had four strong and handsome sons and six daughters, all fair of face and beautiful. Their eldest son, to hold with the family tradition, was also called Caspian, like his father and his father’s father, the cross was passed to him upon reaching adulthood.
Following in the way of his father, young Caspian became a wealthy and successful merchant who loved both God and his fellow man.
When he was six and twenty, young Caspian wed Catherine, his childhood sweetheart. They were very happy, made more so by the forthcoming birth of their first child. Maybe she would have been strong enough to safely deliver their daughter but it was a long, hard, labour and shortly after the baby came into the world, bore another child, a son. She had been carrying twins and the loss of blood proved too much for her frail frame. Young Caspian stayed by his wife’s side through the night but, as the spring sun washed away the early mist, Catherine died.
Filled with grief at the loss of his young wife, Caspian gave up his life as a merchant and joined a band of travelling players. His twin children, whom he had named Caspian, to hold with the family tradition, and Gisele, who was as beautiful as the mother she had never known.
The two children lacked not for want of a mother’s love as the players proved to be all the family they could have wished for. They grew strong and full of mischief, learning many foreign tongues as the band of players moved from one country to the next. It was a happy time. Young Caspian became known as Caspian the elder and his son Caspian the twin. Father taught son to make marionettes for the shows they put on and the women taught his daughter to tell the stories that went with them. For many years, the family of players travelled, relaying news of wars, plagues and rumours of unrest at the folly of King Charles I, whose Catholic wife held much sway in the English court.
One very cold night in winter, the travelling players took shelter in a barn belonging to a rich Lord whose patronage was well known. As the blizzard worsened, they dared to light a fire. The wood was dry and the barn very old. Suddenly, the door blew open and a swathe of sparks flew upwards, into the air and caught on the roof, setting it alight. Many of the players perished but Caspian the elder saved the lives of many more, returning again and again to pull women and children from the blaze, including his own. The roof collapsed and Caspian the elder was crushed. His body was pulled from the wrecked building the next morning. The cross that had passed through three generations was given to Caspian the twin.
He and his sister, Gisele, travelled on, mourning the loss of their father and the friends who died in the fire. They took the plays from country to country, as ever, arriving back on these shores in the midst of Civil War, where their news was gratefully and fearfully received in every town they reached.
‘But how came you by Caspian’s cross, mother?’ you ask.
Child, you have not seen six summers yet well you question me. I am Gisele and Caspian was my twin brother, my father, grandfather and great grandfather alike. Fever ravaged our band of players. Caspian fell sick with it and died. I was his only family and his cross came to me. I am all the daughters of my father’s house, and all the brothers, too. When you are grown into a man, the cross will be yours as you also bear the name Caspian, to hold with the family tradition.
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