Thomas Cranmer's Burning

The left picture is a segment from an print which shows the burning of Thomas Cranmer.

The right picture is a +135° rotated detail from Henry Holiday's illustration to the final chapter of Lewis Carroll' s The Hunting of the Snark,


In "The annotaded ... Snark", Martin Gardner wrote about Henry Holiday's illustration to the last chapter of Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark: "Thousands of readers must have glanced at this drawing without noticing (though they may have shivered with subliminal perception) the huge, almost transparent head of the Baker, abject terror on his features, as a giant beak (or is it a claw?) seizes his wrist."

· · · · 021 · · There was one who was famed for the number of things
· · · · 022 · · · · He forgot when he entered the ship:
· · · · 023 · · His umbrella, his watch, all his jewels and rings,
· · · · 024 · · · · And the clothes he had bought for the trip.

· · · · 025 · · He had forty-two boxes, all carefully packed,
· · · · 026 · · · · With his name painted clearly on each:
· · · · 027 · · But, since he omitted to mention the fact,
· · · · 028 · · · · They were all left behind on the beach.

· · · · 029 · · The loss of his clothes hardly mattered, because
· · · · 030 · · · · He had seven coats on when he came,
· · · · 031 · · With three pairs of boots--but the worst of it was,
· · · · 032 · · · · He had wholly forgotten his name.

· · · · 033 · · He would answer to "Hi!" or to any loud cry,
· · · · 034 · · · · Such as "Fry me!" or "Fritter my wig!"
· · · · 035 · · To "What-you-may-call-um!" or "What-was-his-name!"
· · · · 036 · · · · But especially "Thing-um-a-jig!"

· · · · 037 · · While, for those who preferred a more forcible word,
· · · · 038 · · · · He had different names from these:
· · · · 039 · · His intimate friends called him "Candle-ends,"
· · · · 040 · · · · And his enemies "Toasted-cheese."

· · · · 041 · · "His form is ungainly--his intellect small--"
· · · · 042 · · · · (So the Bellman would often remark)
· · · · 043 · · "But his courage is perfect! And that, after all,
· · · · 044 · · · · Is the thing that one needs with a Snark."

· · · · 045 · · He would joke with hyenas, returning their stare
· · · · 046 · · · · With an impudent wag of the head:
· · · · 047 · · And he once went a walk, paw-in-paw, with a bear,
· · · · 048 · · · · "Just to keep up its spirits," he said.

· · · · 049 · · He came as a Baker: but owned, when too late--
· · · · 050 · · · · And it drove the poor Bellman half-mad--
· · · · 051 · · He could only bake Bridecake--for which, I may state,
· · · · 052 · · · · No materials were to be had.

That is, there were no brides in the crew.