[MR] History Blog: A Posie Ring and the Gunpowder Plot

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

Yesterday' History Blog story concerns a 16th century "posie" ring. "And
what," you ask, "is a posie ring?" In short, it is a ring with an engraved
message usually on the inside surface, often a vow of friendship or
devotion. Posie rings were popular from the late middle ages through the
18th century. The ring in question bears the text "YOVR . FRENDE . IN .
DEED".

This particular gold ring was found in 2022 near the moat at the early 17th
century Brushwood Hall in Lapworth, England. Brushwood Hall was owned by
the Catsby family and was built on the site of an earlier Catsby family
home. That earlier house was where Robert Catsby, leader of the infamous
Gunpowder Plot, was born in 1572.

There is, of course, no proof that the ring was ever on the finger of
anyone involved in the Gunpowder Plot, but it is still fun to speculate.

The ring story is at https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/74756 .

More about posie rings is found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posie_ring
. Note the external links and bibliographical reference if these rings are
something you would like to investigate further.

And of course there is the Gunpowder Plot itself, discussed at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpowder_Plot . The plot happened in 1605,
which is beyond the SCA's official time frame, but still of interest to
many of us.

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆
Continuing a crusade to keep the original Merry Rose relevant and in
business.