Early and quiet

A good weather forecast and the fact that it is what we used to call "the weekend" meant that I was a bit reluctant to take my daily walk to Hollingworth Lake, fearing that there might be unacceptable crowds. To avoid the risk, I set off early and was one of only a very small number of people out, enjoying a fine morning.

When I got back, I thought I would listen to a genre of music not so far enjoyed in my daily series of albums I had not previously heard.  I chose "Red" by Black Uhuru, my favourite track from which was Sponji Reggae.

A painting on a dark subject was painted in 1517 by the Swiss artist and mercenary soldier - Niklaus Manuel: The Execution of John the Baptist. The painting shows the executioner offering to place the head of John on a tray held by Salome the daughter of Herodias, wife of King Herod.

The story is that Herodias had previously been married to Herod's brother Philip before deserting him for the King. John had been preaching against vice and corruption and had accused Herod and Herodias of adultery. She wanted to get revenge for this slight but needed her husband's approval. The King did not seem bothered by the accusation.

Herodias therefore told her daughter Salome - Herod's step-daughter - to ask, at a moment when Herod could not refuse her anything, for the head of John the Baptist. It is said in St Mark's Gospel, that Salome "came in and performed a dance that greatly pleased them all" whereupon Herod promised Salome "I will give you whatever you ask, up to half my kingdom." She asked for "the head of John the Baptist, right now, on a tray." An executioner cut off John's head, gave it to the girl, who took it to her mother.

In later years, pilgrims prayed to St John for a cure of all possible ills and in particular for headaches and addiction to dancing. In the early 16th century, the Reformation led to more morally strict behaviour. Having completed the painting in 1517, Manuel became a member of the privy council in Berne, who passed strict laws against, amongst other vices, service in foreign armies, eye-catching dress, adultery and dancing.