Today is call'd the feast of Crispian

Because no October 25 should pass but that it "be in our flowing cups freshly remember’d":

King Henry V, Act IV, Scene iii:

What's he that wishes so?
My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin:
If we are mark'd to die, we are enow
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires:
But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive.
No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England:
God's peace! I would not lose so great an honour
As one man more, methinks, would share from me
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made
And crowns for convoy put into his purse:
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is called the feast of Crispian:
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian:'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispin's day.'
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day: then shall our names.
Familiar in his mouth as household words
Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

October 25 was also the feast of the translation of St John of Beverley in 1037; and on 17 December 1416, the year following the battle of Agincourt, Henry V decreed that St John's feast days of 7 May and 25 October should be celebrated nationally. (St George's feast day was elevated to national status at the same time.)
See The Life and After-life of St John of Beverley: the evolution of the cult of an Anglo-Saxon saint by Susan E Wilson , pages 123-4.

To Nathaniel Campbell: I think Olivier did it better than Kenneth Branaugh. That's the voice I always hear it in, anyway.

>3 DinadansFriend:, Agreed. I thought Branaugh's delivery too... cheery (maybe not the right word).

I was first exposed to the play in Branagh's version, so it's the one I default to. In addition, I am always stunned nearly to tears by Patrick Doyle's setting of Non nobis, Domine; I love Derek Jacobi's performance of the prologue (as well as the staging), and I think Emma Thompson is brilliant as Princess Katherine.

I also think no one has done the "Upon the King..." speech better than Olivier. But it's a speech that rewards the oratorical style of "stagey" acting. Branagh's version of the play is also pretty good, but the Olivier version has a huge number of extras for the cavalry charge, and great pacing, so I forgive them the scene with the block and tackle mounting. But that's what it is when you deal with "Old Bill"... there's something for every one. I wonder if there is a Patrick Stewart Henry V out there. Surely would sound good.

I was sorry to finish "1415 Henry V's Year of Glory" by Ian Mortimer. It was a very useful book and the organization was a brilliant stroke. By going day by day, one got a real sense of the amount of tedium and repetition H had to go through while deep in fund raising for his up-coming invasion of France..perhaps especially during the fund-raising. Then the three crises: 1) the deflection of the sincere attempts by the French to avoid the fighting. 2)the "Southampton Plot" and the mistaken execution of one of the plotters and, 3) the battle of Agincourt, 'cause a battle can always go wrong, very quickly, and leave effects for years. A very good read, recommended for serious medievalists, and for fans of "Game of Thrones" to ground your fanship in the reality of kingship..