Talk:Mersea Island

Mersea Island has been proposed [Barton et al.] as the island described in Shakespeare's "The Tempest".That is to say, as an island which the author well knew, and that he incorporated a close description of it in his play in respect of fauna and flora, the springs (St. Peter's artesian well in West Mersea), brine-pits, mussels,crabs, (Act 1, sc.2); ...nettle-seed, or docks, or mallows..., general shape and climate, etc. It is not a Mediterranean island, but a bleak, marshy, and cold place to which Prospero is exiled from Milan. This proposition is held mainly by Oxfordians, since Mersea is the only large island close to Castle Hedingham, where some of the plays are said traditionally to have been written, and would have almost certainly been known to Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford.There are suggestive passages in "The Tempest" which may be Elizabethan puns: Gonzalo [when the ship hits the island]: "Mercy on us!" - "We split, we split!"[Act 1 sc.1]; Stephano: "I'll turn my mercy out of doors, and make a stock-fish of thee" [Act 2 sc.1]; Prospero: "At this hour lie at my mercy all mine enemies" [Act 4 sc.1] Prospero's island is described by Adrian [Act 2 sc.1] as "almost inaccessible", and Prospero refers to "the strong-based promontory"; the only land access to Mersea is a Roman Stroud, or causeway, and this is covered at high tide. Colcestrian (talk) 23:47, 10 July 2009 (UTC)

Baring-Gould

He also composed the hymn "Now the Day is Over", a book on werewolves, and much more. His fiction novel "Mehala" is discussed under "Ray Island", (an uninhabited marsh close to Mersea)for which it is a pseudonym.Colcestrian (talk) 23:59, 10 July 2009 (UTC)

Most Easterly Island?

The article claims that Mersea is the most easterly island in the UK. Surely that honour goes to Great Britain, and even the referenced webpage says 'Allegedly' the furthest east.