Small Copper and Painted Lady at Sizergh Castle Gardens

A Small Copper nectars on Verbena flowers

'Some twenty painted ladies flew off the sea at Arnside,'  he lingers a moment to admire those nectaring on verbena flowers along the terrace at Sizergh Castle.
'I don't come here for the castle, I come for nature and the gardens,' he adds.
I heard once that Sir Thomas Strickland took 25 men to Agincourt, and brought them all safely home. Given marches through France, siege warfare, and outbreaks of dysentery that was quite an achievement.  How did he do it,
and why does the battle of Agincourt feature so prominently in English history? Medieval historian Dr Helen Castor sheds light on the subject.
My day is with the butterflies, in the evening I listen to her lecture. The archers probably determined the win for Henry V and England. English and Welsh longbowmen were the best in the world and Sir Thomas Strickland's longbowmen would have bows made from ancient yew growing about Sizergh. 

Sunny intervals and a moderate breeze, says the forecast.  There's bright cumulous and a lovely cloudscape up on Scout Scar and with a refreshing breeze the walk to Sizergh is delightful.  The castle terrace is a butterfly hotspot with  verbena flowers which attract  painted ladies. The terrace is south-facing and in full sun, no breeze here so it's hot, hot, hot. But I linger for the wealth of bees and butterflies.  
Whites are most abundant, with a number of painted ladies, the  occasional red admiral, peacock, small tortoiseshell and meadow brown. A burst of sunlight brings an immediate flurry of wings amongst bright dahlias and verbena flowers.  Images focus on a chosen subject and still the action. The  immediate experience is different. I'm alert to the least movement, the pulse of life  and intermingling of bees and butterflies.   In the poise and balance of nectaring sunlight and shadow confer colour and withdraw it from butterflies. Wings closed, a butterfly can present  a fine line, a knife edge. 

Hoping to photograph several painted ladies in a single image, I see that one butterfly  is smaller and different. Small copper sets my heart racing and I'm delighted to find it here.  The herbaceous border along the castle terrace attracts so many pollinators I know there will be something I've missed.

In Shakespeare's English history plays it is Henry V who represents all that a king should be. Agincourt, October 1415, St Crispin's Day. To a rousing Te Deum Kenneth Branagh's King Henry carries a fallen youth from the field of battle.  God gave us this victory, Henry believes. Helen Castor endorses Shakespeare's portrait of Henry V as England's greatest king. HIs preparations for campaigns in France were meticulous. He was the consummate strategist. A leader of conviction who could inspire his men. Insuperable hostility between Armagnac and Burgundy left the French with a confused chain of command and little in the way of a plan.  
So, history and natural history.  I've come seeking butterflies but as I wander  up and down the terrace the castle tower is always in view and I reflect upon SIr Thomas Stickland, charged to provide men for King Henry's campaign in France,  ensuring his longbowmen are well prepared, well provisioned.  Destination France.  For them, Azincourt/ Agincourt is a destination  yet unknown.