This book was unexpectedly fascinating and satisfying so I'm recommending it for all of you who are interested in the history of England, London, the Thames River - or want to learn more about what mudlarking is all about.
Maiklem is a mudlark, a person who is obsessed with finding objects in the river mud as the Thames River's tides change and bits and pieces of history are embedded or washed ashore. Her knowledge must include a study of the river, it's history of changing route as well as what structures and events have occurred through time which influence where to look. There is so much treasure to find, especially as one hones their eye and their knowledge of the very antique, and as a citizen archeologist of sorts, Maiklem does find so much. Pipes, holy objects, hand made buttons, hairpins, and trading beads. Bricks from Tudor buildings, a variety of bottles from wine and ale to witch. Medieval weaponry, rings that can still be worn, and objects that Romans left behind.
And of course, besides the excitement of the find and the expert's declarations, what is most satisfying for Maiklem is that recognition that there is a person and a story attached to every item. Some of these stories she must imagine but others, because of identifying information on the piece, can be attached to documented persons. (Perhaps most touching is her find of shoes that still have the impressions of the person who once wore them - their toes.
Page 81 Excerpt: That week and the following one were busy, so it was some time before I got round to sorting and cleaning what I'd found that day, and it wasn't until I'd taken everything out of my finds bag that I remembered the little black ring, which was caught in a gritty seam at the bottom. I turned it in my fingers and held it up to the light. With my glasses on I could see more clearly and, on the inside, I could make out some letters. The style of the engraving made me think the ring could be quite old after all. I felt a tinge of excitement and grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil. Some letters were completely tarnished over, but I wrote down the ones I could read; "H-PE X I - IV - IN'. It was like solving an anagram, with missing letters, which wasn't easy, but slowly I worked out what was missing and rearranged the words so that they made sense" 'I LIVE IN HOPE X." A posy ring!
A posy ring is a ring inscribed with a short sentimental expression, or 'posy,' from the Middle English word for poetry. They became popular around the fourteenth century and were given by either partner at any stage of the relati0onship and the inscriptions, both French and English, were usually concerning love, friendship, and loyalty: God Made Us Two One', In They Breast My Heart Doth Rest', "Love Never Dies Where Virtue Lies.' ....
