Travelling one thousand and seventy-one years in an afternoon is hard work, so I may have to stop after writing this as I
am a tad thirsty, King Cnut never once offered me a cup of tea, can you believe that?
King Cnut's Danish bottom sat on the throne of England from 1018 until 1035 and is famous for (the king not his bottom) his eccentricity of trying to order the tide around as he sat soaking his feet in the sea! Anyway, while researching England
during his reign I came across another interesting piece of information on this 11th century king in
The Comic History of England.
Rule Britannia) that the King of England was entitled to sit on the sea without getting wet. But finding that they were wrong
he gave up this policy and decided to take his own advice in future - thus originating the memorable proverb,
"Paddle your own Canute" "