Lord Brooke

In Dam Street at Stowe Pool on the side of Brooke House, a blue plaque marks an historic event. March 2nd 1643, Lord Brooke, a general of the parliamentarian forces was preparing to beseige the close at Lichfield, then garrisoned for King Charles I. On the spot marked by the plaque he was shot through the forehead and was killed. The marksman had positioned himself on the great steeple of the cathedral. That marksman was none other than John Dyott, although more often known as Dumb Dyott, who had been placed there to annoy the opposition for (as evidenced by the soubriquet) he was not considered of much help. It is generally considered to be among the luckiest shots in history.

Hospital of St John, Lichfield

The Hospital of St John the Baptist without the Barrs in St John Street. This hospital or place of hospitality was founded just outside the walls of Lichfield in AD1135 by Austin Canons for the accommodation of pilgrims who had come to reverence the relics of St Chad. It was refounded by Bishop William Smyth in 1495, who provided more permanent accommodation for homeless men and also developed a school, this now King Edward Comprehensive School, and he also built the Masters’ House. Hospitality is still the main occupation of this ancient place. Sixteen men are accommodated permanently and people from miles around make the chapel their spiritual home. In recent years, the trustees have extended the hospital into the close, and seventeen now live there. In 1984 a new east window by John Piper was installed in the chapel by the direction of the trustees. The chapel of Old St John's is open every day. Admission is free and visitors are normally welcomed, clearly the pandemic has changed things. It should be noted though that the almshouses and masters house can only be reviewed by appointment.

Siege of Lichfield

March 2nd to 5th, 1643. Any historian will instantly remember this date in Lichfield’s history, for this is the renowned Siege of Lichfield by Lord Brooke and Sir John Gell.

Lord Brooke had six troops of horse, 300 infantry, and a serious amount of cannon. Parliamentary cavalry force was located to the northwest side of the London Road, this now contiguous with the Birmingham Canal, known as Cromwell’s Meadows. The Royalists were entrenched behind earthworks between the cathedral and the pools. A gun known as Black Bess was located in Dam Street and on St Chad’s Day (relevant as this is to whom the cathedral is dedicated) March 2nd 1643, history records this as a Thursday, Lord Brooke receives a mortal wound in the forehead by a shot from the battlements of the cathedral. This remarkable or lucky shot, depending on which side you are on, was fired by a sniper rather cruelly known as Dumb Dyott.

Chad Place Names Explained

Having blogged samples of my books on English place names and also examined the etymologies of the nations of the world and their respective capitals I thought it time to cast my net a little wider. This time Chad and a look at some of its largest settlements and most interesting names and starting with the capital.

N'Djamena may be the capital and by far the largest city but was only founded on May 29th 1900. Initially known as Fort Lamy, as suggested by the French commander Emile Gentil to honour his colleague Amedee-Francois Lamy who was killed at the Battle of Kousseri just days earlier.In April 1973 President Francois Tombalbaye officially changed the name to N'Djamena, this from the nearby village of Nigamina, an Arabic name meaning 'place of rest'.

Sarh took its name from the Sara people. Native to this southern part of Chad, they get their name from the Arabic Sa-Ra meaning 'sons of Ra', the ancient Egyptian sun god.

Am Timan is named from the Arabic for 'mother of twins', although just why it is known as such is a mystery.

Kanem is a reminder of the Kanem Empire of the Kanembu people, a once nomadic people of northeast Africa who eventually settled in this part of Chad.

Baguirmi is a department of Chad, taking its name from the kingdom of Bagirmi and the Bagirmi people whose name has never been explained.

Dar Tama gets its name from the indigenous Tama people and their Nilo-Saharan language.

Tibetsi is the name given to the mountain range and is the etymological version of the old chicken and egg question for the name means 'the place where the mountain people live'. This is the Toubou, a group who derive their name from Old Tebu for 'the rock people' which further confuses the question as to which came first - unlike the chicken and egg poser, where clearly the egg came first as eggs are also laid by reptiles, amphibians, dinosaurs (the chicken''s ancestor), fish, insects, and marine invertebrates for billions of years before the chicken.

Note the spellings of the places are English as the piece is written in English.