03/09/2026
Apparently there were a few panels which hadn't been seen before when it was unveiled last night in London . Charles probably choked on a vol au vent when he saw them 😁😁😁
The Lost Panels of the Bateaux Tapestry: A Very Inconvenient Hunt
For centuries, scholars believed the famous Bateaux Tapestry told a straightforward story of noblemen, horses, hounds and the heroic pursuit of an unfortunate animal.
They were wrong.
Newly uncovered panels suggest that the tapestry originally contained a much less flattering chapter: the arrival of the Hunt Saboteurs.
In the newly discovered scene, a magnificent pack of hounds charges enthusiastically across the countryside, followed closely by several riders looking extremely pleased with themselves. But just as the chase reaches its dramatic climax, the tapestry reveals an unexpected development.
There, standing in the middle of the lane, are the saboteurs.
One holds a sign reading “HUNT THIS WAY →”, while pointing very confidently in completely the wrong direction.
Another is apparently attempting to persuade the hounds that they have, in fact, been given terrible career advice.
A third sab is depicted sounding a hunting horn backwards.
The hounds, naturally, look delighted.
The hunters do not.
According to the accompanying medieval inscription — “Thou shalt not chase the fox, mate” — the saboteurs were apparently regarded as a serious nuisance by the local hunting fraternity. The tapestry records several ingenious tactics, including confusing the hounds with harmless scents, blocking access routes and, most devastatingly of all, asking awkward questions.
The hunters respond with increasingly elaborate expressions of outrage.
One appears to be shouting.
Another appears to be shouting while pointing.
A third has apparently forgotten what he was shouting about.
Meanwhile, the fox has vanished entirely.
Historians now believe this may be the earliest recorded example of a hunt ending because somebody simply stood there and said:
“No.”
The final panel is perhaps the most revealing. The riders return home, muddy, furious and foxless, while the saboteurs sit beside the road drinking tea.
Above them, embroidered in enormous letters, is the ancient motto:
“You brought 30 horses and 40 hounds to chase one fox.
We brought a flask and five people.
How is this going?”
The discovery has forced scholars to reconsider the entire tapestry.
What was once celebrated as an epic tale of aristocratic hunting prowess may, in fact, have been history’s first cautionary tale about what happens when you give people on horseback too much confidence and a very poor understanding of irony.
The fox, for its part, remains unavailable for comment.
