Danse Macabre

I enjoy watching University Challenge and am delighted if I can answer one or two questions. In the final, which took place on 23rd April, I was able to answer Danse Macabre to, "What allegorical medieval concept features in a series of woodcuts attributed to Hans Holbein the Younger .... ?" I thought maybe I could craft a blip around this and decided to do some research. On the Wiki page there are lots of images of the danse macabre in European churches. I searched English churches and found out that St Dunstan's in Hunsdon, not far from me, has one. I left a voicemail for the vicar asking if I could access the church to photograph it but did not hear back from him. Last Saturday Lorraine, the waterways chaplain, phoned to ask if I would like to see the church. I decided to go as I thought I could get images at the church for #30DaysWild. 

The engraving is on a wall and it was very difficult to achieve any detail in my image. It's from the fifteenth century and shows James Gray, the park keeper being struck by Death's arrow. Skeletal Death is also holding an arrow that Gray has shot into a buck/stag. There's a speech bubble saying, "Sic pergo" which means, "As you do, so do I." It is presumed that Gray died in the hunt.

I took some pics of images of wildlife in the church then rushed home as our son, who we haven't seen since 2015, phoned to say he planned to come and stay for a couple of days. He has got a job flying the unusual Piaggio Avanti executive aircraft, a plane that he loves. It will take him all over Europe and Asia. I was busy catching up with him so that's why I'm backblipping. I'll catch up with comments in due course.