Blood spots

Right now, wild carrot flowers are flaunting their lacey umbels among the grass, each one (almost) sporting a tiny central floret coloured from anaemic pink through arterial ruby to venous  black. It's not known what function the single red dot performs although botanical  speculation suggests it attracts pollinating insects.

I'm always fascinated by this mysterious speck and its association with a lace-making queen who pricked her finger and shed a drop of blood upon her needlework. But which queen? Queen Anne  (1574 -1619) royal spouse to James VI of Scotland or  Queen Anne (1665 -1714) who ruled Britain and Ireland for the last 12 years of her life.

Since producing heirs has always been the main function of a queen,  a spot of blood could indicate the arrival of the menarche - or it could signify the loss of a pregnancy. The earlier Queen Anne  produced 8 children only 3 of whom survived. The  latter queen endured 18 pregnancies of which only 5 resulted in live births and of those only one child survived infancy - but died aged 11.

Needle prick or not, one's heart surely bleeds for both these poor women, and the pain, loss and misery they endured in trying to fulfil their procreative obligations.