Birthdays and deathdays

Today is the 400th anniversary of (Scot) King James I of England and VI of Scotland the picking the Union flag as the flag of his own new united country. However Mat at Not Little England and Helen at EU Referendum seem to think that it needs a bit of updating. Which means that it really does need an update ... or the world is about to end.

It is also the birthday of Lord Mahavir the founder of the Jain Dharma religion, and the death day of Major Weir. The Major was, like King James, a Scot with an interest in the occult. Or at least he claimed that he did after a bout of illness, before which he had been the model of a Puritan leader noted for his pious prayers. He refused to repent preferring to be burned at the stake for his sins and got his wish this day in 1670.