Elizabethan Redhead; Sir Francis Drake

I've recently discovered another red-haired discoverer; the explorer and privateer Sir Francis Drake. In a book titled Sir Francis Drake by George Malcolm Thomson it states that he was;

a sturdy boy, rather under the average height, with bold bright eyes and reddish hair

There are also a few portraits that show him with red hair, most notably this one, that is thought to show Drake in his mid-thirties (with a very ginger complexion indeed).

Interestingly, according to various on-line sources it's said that Drake recorded seeing "red-haired giants" in the Americas that were over nine feet tall.

His nickname was El Draque/Draco - "The Dragon". Another red hair/serpentine link.

Fortean Times and Threes

I noticed a few mentions of red hair in this months Fortean Times (Oct 2015 issue).

As ever these things come in threes.

Firstly on page 11 in their round up of peculiar news stories they have a sideline piece titled "Ginger Nut". I'll quote it in full;

Mark Colborne, 37, felt "belittled" because of his ginger hair and stockpiled the ingredients to make cyanide so that he could spray the deadly poison at non-Aryans to publicise his racist beliefs and put "a major dent in England". He also planned to shoot Prince Charles and William so that red-haired Harry could be king. The fascist agoraphobic, who lived with his mother in Southampton, was shopped by his half-brother. D Telegraph, D.Mail, 13 May; Eve. Standard, 14 May 2015.

I hope we're not seeing gingers being linked with terrorism! If any gingers are reading this violence is not the answer. The key is just to arrogantly assume you're better than everyone else - that's what I do ;)

The second mention of red hair comes on page 52 in an article about cryptozoology. It mentions a campfire story that inspired a book titled Goatman: Flesh or Folklore by J Nathan Couch. It concerns the tale of a recently married couple whose wagon had broken down on a treacherous stretch of road. Whilst the young groom went for help the bride came face to face with a hideous creature;

"a terrible form stood in the moonlight. It was a creature covered in coarse red hair standing on two legs like a man, but with the horned head and long muzzle of a goat."

In terror she hid herself in the wagon and eventually drifted off to sleep. The tale has a gruesome ending however, as the next day the woman wakes to find her beloved killed by the strange beast;

"On the ground she found large cloven-hooved tracks ...[S]he looked up to find the mutilated remains of the man she'd just married dangling from a gnarled limb."

Grisly.

The final mention of red hair is a little inadvertent and comes in a book review. On page 62, whilst reviewing a book titled The Whispering Swarm the writer produces the following line;

..Michael [the book's narrator] is introduced to Captain Turpin, Colonel Cody and Prince Rupert. And he meets the feisty Moll Midnight, with violet eyes and red-gold curls.

 :)

Giordano Bruno - Red-Haired Heretic ??

Another great find from Emanuela today :D

In previous posts we've mentioned how Galileo, Tycho Brahe and possibly Copernicus were all redheads. Now Emanuela has found a page suggesting that the famed philosopher Giordano Bruno may also have been a redhead. It describes him as "short, thin, [with] red hair and combative".

http://www.athame.it/in-memoria-di-giordano-bruno-martire/

Bruno lived from 1548 to 1600 and was burnt at the stake for heresy by the Inquisition (another redhead burnt for heresy :p). Wikipedia says this about him;

He is celebrated for his cosmological theories, which went even further than the then novel Copernican model. He proposed that the stars were just distant suns surrounded by their own exoplanets and raised the possibility that these planets could even foster life of their own (a philosophical position known as cosmic pluralism). He also insisted that the universe is in fact infinite and could have no celestial body at its "center".

Quite timely given that the Internet is currently abuzz with Flat Earth theory - a theory that calls for the end of this now universally accepted world model. I guess these things come in cycles. Yesterday's heresy now today's orthodoxy.

It's said Giordano Bruno also believed in the transmigration of souls - what we would call reincarnation. Maybe in his latest incarnation Bruno is a Flat Earther :)

Whenever the powers that be seek to limit the imagination of man, men like Bruno will stand as a light against the enclosing darkness. In this case maybe bright with red hair.

Some Beautiful Paintings Today :)

The following were all brought to my attention by Emanuela.

The first four are by the American painter and printmaker Mary Cassatt.

(The Family)

(Maternal Kiss)

(Nurse Reading to a Little Girl)

(Young Woman with Auburn Hair in a Pink Blouse)

This next one is by the English artist Luke Fildes. I'm not sure what its title is, but it's very beautiful nonetheless.

And this final, equally beautiful painting, is by the artist William Llewellyn, and is titled Girl with Pigtails.

Could Da Vinci Have Been A Redhead?

It's often mentioned on-line that Leonardo da Vinci had red hair. He would be a great addition to the roll call, however evidence is very difficult to come by, and so far we've only found suggestions that he had hair of a brownish colour at best.

Interestingly though, the following web page suggests otherwise. It states that Leonardo had "long brown hair with a tinge of red". The page is interesting, but quite unorthodox as it suggests that Leonardo appeared in many more paintings than is generally believed.
http://www.kleio.org/en/history/famtree/sforza/323.html#758

The following YouTube video also expounds upon this theme;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpzs7U0e9AY

Whilst watching the video I noticed the following picture of a red-haired Jesus, apparently posed for by Leonardo.

I'm not too sure the image is actually Leonardo, but it's certainly another ginger Jesus to add to the collection. It would be interesting to know who painted it. The seemingly see-through orb reminded me of the famous Salvator Mundi often attributed to the hand of Leonardo da Vinci. Another Christus with vaguely red hair.

Red Hair in the Works of Evelyn De Morgan

This first painting was brought to my attention by Emanuela. It's by the female painter Evelyn De Morgan. She lived from 1855 to 1919 and her works were strongly influenced by the Pre-Raphaelite movement. This painting is called The Love Potion. It depicts a yellow-clad witch complete with black cat familiar at her feet.

Whilst reading up on her I also found another few works by her that feature redheads. This first is called Aurora Triumphans and in it the central figure appears to have bright red hair. Aurora, the naked figure on the right is symbolic of day (or dawn), the dark shrouded figure on the left is symbolic of night.

This final painting is called The Worship of Mammon. It's quite a vivid illustration of the love of money, and shows a red-haired woman in purplish-pink drapery.

The Creation of Eve - Michelangelo

Another great red hair find courtesy of Emanuela today :)

This image is from the Creation of Eve by Michelangelo. It shows Adam with red hair, Eve with hair a little more blond in colour, and God with whitish-blond (possibly strawberry-blond ;p) hair.