We went to breakfast a little later than the previous day. Consequently the breakfast room was more crowded due to it being a bank holiday Saturday.

After breakfast we made our way to Barley Hall. I stopped to take some photos along the way and Mr C and my mum carried on ahead. By the time I caught up with them I found that they were chatting with a gentleman. I found out that he was from the Gideon Society and that he had given Mr C a copy of the New Testament and Psalms. This was fortuitous as I had accidently left my copy, which I normally take on holiday, at home.

Barley Hall is a reconstructed Medieval Hall, the remains of which had been hidden under a more modern building. It was only when this modern building was due to be demolished that the medieval structure was discovered. The oldest parts of the Hall date to around 1360 when the Hall was built as the York Townhouse for Nostell Priory. Later the Hall became the home of a leading York citizen, William Snawsell, a Goldsmith, Alderman and Lord Mayor of York. The Hall is currently housing an exhibition called The Power and the Glory; York in the time of Henry VIII. On display in the exhibition are some of the costumes from the BBC’s Wolf Hall dramatization.

After our visit to the hall we browsed around a few shops to keep warm and dry until it was time to queue for lunch in Bettys. We didn’t have to queue for too long and the poached salmon and lemon mayonnaise sandwich was well worth the wait. After our sandwich, we all indulged in a naughty cake. As we arrived the waitress had asked if we were celebrating something so I mentioned that it was my mum’s birthday weekend. We presumably didn’t look like tourists. When we had finished our cake, the waiter brought a small fondant cake with a candle on top and presented it to mum. What a lovely touch. He then brought a small box and bag and packed it up to be consumed later in the day.

Next we visited York Minster, all decked out for Easter with the Easter Garden underneath the Five Sisters Window. This happens to be my favourite glass in York Minster. There is something about the way the light shines through the smaller panels at the top of the window. We also visited the crypt and the undercroft which houses an excellent exhibition covering 2000 years of the history of York and York Minster.

Mum made her way back to the hotel whilst we returned to the Käthe Wohlfahrt Christmas shop that we had browsed around earlier in the day. We bought some (too many) Christmas decorations to replace the ones that got broken when a box slipped out of the loft as we were getting them down last Christmas. The girls in the shop were horrified when we told them this tale.

We enjoyed another delicious evening meal. This time we dined in La Vecchia Scuola. I chose Sea Bass with prawns and clams. The food was delicious, even the clams (which I don’t normally eat). I followed this with a small scoop of salted caramel ice cream. The restaurant had a very lively atmosphere, with live piano music.

The Bible Gateway shares an informative graphic of the Christmas Story timeline. The chart shows the people and events of the Christmas story.

This visualization traces the Christmas story as told in Matthew 1-2 and Luke 1-2, showing you who is with whom throughout the story. Verse references are provided so you can look up each event in the Bible for details.

Each line represents a person, and the narrative unfolds as you follow from left to right. When character lines meet up and run alongside each other, those characters were together during that event. It starts with the angel Gabriel appearing to Zechariah and ends with the return to Nazareth of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

Luke 2:6-21 (KJV)

6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

12 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

18 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

21 And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

John 1:14

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

This rare edition of the Geneva Bible was translated from the Hebrew and Greek by exiles in Geneva. It was imported because, for the first time, the bible had text divided into numbered verses, which was extremely useful for preachers and readers alike.

It was popularly called the Breeches Bible because, wheras the Authorised Version says “sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons”, this edition says “they sewed figge tree leaves together and made themselves breeches” (Genesis, Chapter 3, verse 7).

This copy was presented to Hexham Abbey in 1954 by Col.H. L. Swinburne; it had been in the family’s possession for 150 years.*

*from an information plate next to the Bible

Edited by Helen Moore and Julian Reid

Synopsis:

Manifold Greatness: the Making of the King James Bible tells the story of the commissioning and translation of the King James version of the Bible, first published in 1611. It is richly illustrated with early printed books, manuscripts, artifacts and archival material, such as an annotated Bishops’ Bible of 1602, notes taken at a meeting of one of the translating committees, pages from the Wycliffite and Tyndale translations of the Bible and an edition of the Bishops’ Bible owned by Elizabeth I. Through detailed chapters written by leading scholars in the field, the narrative explores the cultural, religious and material contexts for the translation, its impact in England and the reception of the King James Bible in America. The collection also features a chapter on the King James Bible and other treasures at the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, DC.

Marking the first collaboration of two of the world’s leading libraries, this book brings together key research and documentation to provide a lively and meticulous account of a publishing phenomenon.

Review:

This book was produced to co-incide with an exhibition at the Bodleian and the Folger Shakespearean Libraries. The book charts the genesis and development of the King James Bible into the literary work that it became. The book covers the origins of the project, the translators and the materials and methods used. The book also provides the cultural and political backdrop to the making of the King James Bible.

The book is  informative with lavish illustrations and comes complete with notes and suggested further reading.