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Which chemical element can exist in white, red, violet, or black forms? | Allotropes - Chemistry Encyclopedia - structure, reaction, elements, metal, gas, number, name, molecule
Allotropes - Chemistry Encyclopedia
Figure 1. Elements that exist as allotropes.
B
Bi
Po
Allotropes are different forms of the same element. Different bonding arrangements between atoms result in different structures with different chemical and physical properties. Allotropes occur only with certain elements, in Groups 13 through 16 in the Periodic Table. This distribution of allotropic elements is illustrated in Figure 1.
Group 13
Boron (B), the second hardest element, is the only allotropic element in Group 13. It is second only to carbon (C) in its ability to form element bonded networks. Thus, in addition to amorphous boron, several different allotropes of boron are known, of which three are well characterized. These are red crystalline α -rhombohedral boron, black crystalline β -rhombohedral boron (the most thermodynamically stable allotrope), and black crystalline β -tetragonal boron. All are polymeric and are based on various modes of condensation of the B 12 icosahedron (Figure 2).
Group 14
In Group 14, only carbon and tin exist as allotropes under normal conditions. For most of recorded history, the only known allotropes of carbon were diamond and graphite. Both are polymeric solids. Diamond forms hard, clear, colorless crystals, and was the first element to have its structure determined by x-ray diffraction. It has the highest melting point and is the hardest of the naturally occurring solids. Graphite, the most thermodynamically stable form of carbon, is a dark gray, waxy solid, used extensively as a lubricant. It also comprises the "lead" in pencils.
The diamond lattice (Figure 3a) contains tetrahedral carbon atoms in an infinite three-dimensional network. Graphite is also an infinite three-dimensional network, but it is made up of planar offset layers of trigonal carbons forming fused hexagonal rings (Figure 3b). The C-C bonds within
Figure 2. B 12 icosahedron.
Figure 3a. Portion of the structure of diamond. This structure repeats infinitely in all directions.
a layer are shorter than those of diamond, and are much shorter than the separation between the graphite layers. The weak, nonbonding, interaction between the layers, allowing them to easily slide over each other, accounts for the lubricating properties of graphite.
Diamond and graphite are nonmolecular allotropes of carbon. A range of molecular allotropes of carbon (the fullerenes) has been known since the discovery in 1985 of C 60 (Figure 4). The sixty carbon atoms approximate a sphere of condensed five- and six-membered rings. Although initially found in the laboratory, fullerenes have since been shown to occur in nature at low concentrations. C 60 and C 70 are generally the most abundant and readily isolated fullerenes.
In 1991 carbon nanotubes were discovered. They are more flexible and stronger than commercially available carbon fibers, and can be conductors or semiconductors. Although the mechanism of their formation has not been determined, they can be thought of as the result of "rolling up" a section of a graphite sheet and capping the ends with a hemisphere of C 60 , C 70 , or another molecular allotrope fragment. Five- or seven-membered rings can be incorporated among the six-membered rings, leading to an almost infinite range of helical, toroidal, and corkscrew-shaped tubes, all with different mechanical strengths and conductivities.
Figure 3b. Portion of the structure of graphite. This structure repeats infinitely in all directions.
Figure 4. A fullerene allotrope of C 60 .
Tin is a relatively low melting (232°C) material that exists in two allotropic forms at room temperature and pressure, α -Sn (gray tin) and β -Sn (white tin). α -Sn is the stable form below 13°C and has the diamond structure (Figure 3a). White, or β -Sn is metallic and has a distorted close-packed lattice.
Group 15
There are two allotropic elements in Group 15, phosphorus and arsenic . Phosphorus exists in several allotropic forms. The main ones (and those from which the others are derived) are white, red, and black (the thermodynamically stable form at room temperature). Only white and red phosphorus are of industrial importance. Phosphorus was first produced as the common white phosphorus, which is the most volatile , most reactive, and most toxic, but the least thermodynamically stable form of phosphorus, α -P 4 . It coverts to a polymorphic form, β -P 4 , at −76.9°C. White phosphorus is a waxy, nonconductor and reacts with air—the phosphorescent reaction of oxygen with the vapor above the solid producing the yellow-green chemiluminescent light, which gives phosphorus its name (after the Greek god, Eosphoros, the morning star, the bringer of light). The phosphorus in commercial use is amorphous red phosphorus, produced by heating white phosphorus in the absence of air at about 300°C. It melts around 600°C and was long thought to contain polymers formed by breaking a P-P bond of each P 4 tetrahedron of white phosphorus then linking the "opened" tetrahedra (Figures 5a and 5b).
A variety of crystalline modifications (tetragonal red, triclinic red, cubic red), possibly with similar polymeric structures can also be prepared by heating amorphous red phosphorus at over 500°C.
The most thermodynamically stable, and least reactive, form of phosphorus is black phosphorus, which exists as three crystalline (orthorhombic-, rhombohedral- and metallic, or cubic) and one amorphous, allotrope. All are polymeric solids and are practically nonflammable. Both orthorhombic and rhombohedral phosphorus appear black and graphitic, consistent with their layered structures.
Figure 5a. Linkage of P 4 units in red phosphorus.
A violet crystalline allotrope, monoclinic phosphorus, or Hittorf's phosphorus, after its discoverer, can be produced by a complicated thermal and electrolytic procedure. The structure is very complex, consisting of tubes of
Figure 5(b). Linkage of P 4 units in red phosphorus.
pentagonal cross section joined in pairs to form double layers, which are repeated through the crystal. The tubes are formed from cagelike P 8 and P 9 groups, linked by P 2 units.
At least six forms of solid arsenic have been reported, of which three are amorphous. The most stable and most common form of arsenic at room temperature is a brittle, steel-gray solid ( α -As) with a structure analogous to that of rhombohedral black phosphorus. Arsenic vapor contains tetrahedral As 4 molecules, which are thought to be present in the yellow unstable arsenic formed by condensation of the vapor. Arsenic occurs naturally as α -As and also as the mineral arsenolamprite, which may have the same structure as orthorhombic black phosphorus.
Group 16
There are only three allotropic elements in Group 16, oxygen, sulfur, and selenium. Only two oxygen allotropes are known—dinuclear "oxygen" (dioxygen, O 2 ) and trinuclear ozone (O 3 ) (Figure 6). Both are gases at room temperature and pressure. Dioxygen exists as a diradical (contains two unpaired electrons) and is the only allotrope of any element with unpaired electrons. Liquid and solid dioxygen are both pale blue because the absorption of light excites the molecule to a higher energy (and much more reactive) electronic state in which all electrons are paired ("singlet" oxygen). Gaseous dioxygen is probably also blue, but the low concentration of the species in the gas phase makes it difficult to observe.
Ozone is a V-shaped, triatomic dark blue gaseous molecule with a bond order of 1½. It is usually prepared from dioxygen by electric discharge (e.g., lightning) and can be detected by its characteristic "sharp" smell—from which it gets its name (after the Greek ozein : to smell). Ozone is thermodynamically unstable and reverts spontaneously to dioxygen.
The dark blue color of O 3 is important because it arises from the intense absorption of red and ultraviolet (UV) light. This is the mechanism by which ozone in the atmosphere (the ozone layer) protects Earth from the Sun's UV radiation. After F 2 , ozone is the most powerful oxidant of all the elements.
Figure 6. Dioxygen and ozone, the allotropes of oxygen.
Figure 7. Sulfur allotrope, S 8 .
Sulfur (S) is second only to carbon in the number of known allotropes formed. The existence of at least twenty-two sulfur allotropes has been demonstrated. The simplest allotrope of sulfur is the violet disulfur molecule, S 2 , analogous to the dioxygen molecule. Unlike O 2 , however, S 2 does not occur naturally at room temperature and pressure. It is commonly generated in the vapor generated from sulfur at temperatures above 700°C. It has been detected by the Hubble Space Telescope in volcanic eruptions on Jupiter's satellite, Io.
The most thermodynamically stable of all of the sulfur allotropes and the form in which sulfur ordinarily exists is orthorhombic sulfur, α -S 8 , cyclooctasulfur, which contains puckered eight-membered rings, in which each sulfur atom is two-coordinate (Figure 7).
The second allotrope of sulfur to be discovered was cyclohexasulfur (sometimes called rhombohedral sulfur), first reported in 1891. It is the densest of the sulfur allotropes and forms air-sensitive orange-red crystals containing chair-shaped, six-membered rings. Sulfur forms an extensive series of generally yellow crystalline allotropes, S n (where species with n up to 30 have been identified). The color of liquid sulfur changes from pale yellow to orange, then red and finally to black, near the boiling point (445°C). At about 159°C, the viscosity increases as polymeric sulfur is formed. The liquid is thought to contain chains of sulfur atoms, wound into helices.
Selenium (Se) also exists in several allotropic forms—gray (trigonal) selenium (containing Se n helical chain polymers), rhombohedral selenium (containing Se 6 molecules), three deep-red monoclinic forms— α -, β -, and γ -selenium (containing Se 8 molecules), amorphous red selenium, and black vitreous selenium, the form in industrial usage. The most thermodynamically stable and the densest form is gray (trigonal) selenium, which contains infinite helical chains of selenium atoms. All other forms revert to gray selenium on warming. In keeping with its density, gray selenium is regarded as metallic, and it is the only form of selenium that conducts electricity. A slight distortion of the helical structure would produce a cubic metallic lattice.
The trend from nonmetallic to metallic character upon going down the group is exemplified by the conductivities of these elements. Sulfur is an insulator, selenium and tellurium are semiconductors, while the conductivity of polonium is typical of a true metal . In addition, the conductivities of sulfur, selenium, and tellurium increase with increasing temperature, behavior typical of nonmetals, whereas that of polonium increases at lower temperatures, typical of metals.
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Phosphorus
P
↓
2, 8, 5Physical properties Phase solid Density near r.t. white: 1.823 g·cm−3
red: ≈ 2.2–2.34 g·cm−3
violet: 2.36 g·cm−3
black: 2.69 g/cm3 Heat of fusion white: 0.66 kJ/mol Heat of vaporisation white: 51.9 kJ/mol Molar heat capacity white: 23.824 J/(mol·K) vapour pressure (white)
P (Pa)
vapour pressure (red, b.p. 431 °C)
P (Pa)
635
704
Atomic properties Oxidation states 5, 4, 3, 2, [3] 1, [5] −1, −2, −3 (a mildly acidic oxide) Electronegativity Pauling scale: 2.19 Ionisation energies 1st: 1011.8 kJ/mol
2nd: 1907 kJ/mol
3rd: 2914.1 kJ/mol
black: 12.1 W/(m·K) Magnetic ordering white, red, violet, black: diamagnetic [6] Bulk modulus white: 5 GPa
red: 11 GPa CAS Number white: 12185-10-3
31P is stable with 16 neutrons
32P
Q19180675
Q19180675
Phosphorus is a chemical element with symbol P and atomic number 15. As an element, phosphorus exists in two major forms— white phosphorus and red phosphorus —but because it is highly reactive , phosphorus is never found as a free element on Earth. With few exceptions, minerals containing phosphorus are in the maximally oxidised state as inorganic phosphate rocks .
The first form of elemental phosphorus to be produced (white phosphorus, in 1669) emits a faint glow when exposed to oxygen – hence the name, taken from Greek mythology, Φωσφόρος meaning "light-bearer" (Latin Lucifer ), referring to the " Morning Star ", the planet Venus (or Mercury ). The term " phosphorescence ", meaning glow after illumination, originally derives from this property of phosphorus, although this word has since been used for a different physical process that produces a glow. The glow of phosphorus itself originates from oxidation of the white (but not red) phosphorus — a process now termed chemiluminescence . Together with nitrogen, arsenic, and antimony, phosphorus is classified as a pnictogen .
Phosphorus is essential for life. Phosphates (compounds containing the phosphate ion, PO4−3) are a component of DNA , RNA , ATP , and the phospholipids , which form all cell membranes. Demonstrating the link between phosphorus and life, elemental phosphorus was first isolated from human urine , and bone ash was an important early phosphate source. Phosphate minerals are fossils. Low phosphate levels are an important limit to growth in some aquatic systems. The vast majority of phosphorus compounds produced are consumed as fertilisers . Phosphate is needed to replace the phosphorus that plants remove from the soil, and its annual demand is rising nearly twice as fast as the growth of the human population. [8] Other applications include the role of organophosphorus compounds in detergents , pesticides , and nerve agents . At 0.099%, phosphorus is the most abundant pnictogen in the Earth's crust. [9]
Characteristics
Physical
Phosphorus exists as several forms ( allotropes ) that exhibit strikingly different properties. The two most common allotropes are white phosphorus and red phosphorus.
White phosphorus and related molecular forms
From the perspective of applications and chemical literature, the most important form of elemental phosphorus is white phosphorus , often abbreviated as WP. It consists of tetrahedral P
4 molecules, in which each atom is bound to the other three atoms by a single bond. This P
4 tetrahedron is also present in liquid and gaseous phosphorus up to the temperature of 800 °C (1,470 °F) when it starts decomposing to P
2 molecules. [10] Solid white exists in two forms. At low-temperatures, the β form is stable. At high-temperatures the α form is predominant. These forms differ in terms of the relative orientations of the constituent P4 tetrahedra.
White phosphorus is the least stable, the most reactive, the most volatile , the least dense , and the most toxic of the allotropes. White phosphorus gradually changes to red phosphorus. This transformation is accelerated by light and heat, and samples of white phosphorus almost always contain some red phosphorus and accordingly appear yellow. For this reason, white phosphorus that is aged or otherwise impure (e.g. weapons-grade, not lab-grade WP) is also called yellow phosphorus. When exposed to oxygen, white phosphorus glows in the dark with a very faint tinge of green and blue. It is highly flammable and pyrophoric (self-igniting) upon contact with air. Owing to its pyrophoricity, white phosphorus is used as an additive in napalm . The odour of combustion of this form has a characteristic garlic smell, and samples are commonly coated with white " phosphorus pentoxide ", which consists of P
4O
10 tetrahedra with oxygen inserted between the phosphorus atoms and at their vertices. White phosphorus is insoluble in water but soluble in carbon disulfide.
White phosphorus is toxic , causing severe liver damage on ingestion.
Thermolysis (cracking) of P4 at 1100 kelvin gives diphosphorus , P2. This species is not stable as a solid or liquid. The dimeric unit contains a triple bond and is analogous to N2. It can also be generated as a transient intermediate in solution by thermolysis of organophosphorus precursor reagents. [13] At still higher temperatures, P2 dissociates into atomic P.
Although the term phosphorescence is derived from phosphorus, the reaction that gives phosphorus its glow is properly called chemiluminescence (glowing due to a cold chemical reaction), not phosphorescence (re-emitting light that previously fell onto a substance and excited it).
Red phosphorus
Red phosphorus is polymeric in structure. It can be viewed as a derivative of P4 wherein one P-P bond is broken, and one additional bond is formed with the neighbouring tetrahedron resulting in a chain-like structure. Red phosphorus may be formed by heating white phosphorus to 250 °C (482 °F) or by exposing white phosphorus to sunlight. Phosphorus after this treatment is amorphous . Upon further heating, this material crystallises. In this sense, red phosphorus is not an allotrope, but rather an intermediate phase between the white and violet phosphorus, and most of its properties have a range of values. For example, freshly prepared, bright red phosphorus is highly reactive and ignites at about 300 °C (572 °F), [14] though it is more stable than white phosphorus, which ignites at about 30 °C (86 °F). After prolonged heating or storage, the color darkens (see infobox images); the resulting product is more stable and does not spontaneously ignite in air.
Violet phosphorus
Violet phosphorus is a form of phosphorus that can be produced by day-long annealing of red phosphorus above 550 °C. In 1865, Hittorf discovered that when phosphorus was recrystallised from molten lead , a red/purple form is obtained. Therefore, this form is sometimes known as "Hittorf's phosphorus" (or violet or α-metallic phosphorus). [15]
Black phosphorus
Black phosphorus is the least reactive allotrope and the thermodynamically stable form below 550 °C (1,022 °F). It is also known as β-metallic phosphorus and has a structure somewhat resembling that of graphite . [16] [18]
Black phosphorus is obtained by heating white phosphorus under high pressures (about 12,000 standard atmospheres or 1.2 gigapascals). In appearance, properties, and structure, it resembles graphite , being black and flaky, a conductor of electricity, and has puckered sheets of linked atoms.
High pressures are usually required to produce black phosphorus, but it can also be produced at ambient conditions using metal salts as catalysts. [3]
Properties of some allotropes of phosphorus [15]
Form
2.4
Other forms
Another form, scarlet phosphorus, is obtained by allowing a solution of white phosphorus in carbon disulfide to evaporate in sunlight .
Another allotrope is diphosphorus ; it contains a phosphorus dimer as a structural unit and is highly reactive. [15]
Isotopes
Twenty-three isotopes of phosphorus are known, [3] including all possibilities from 24
P up to 46
P. Only 31
P is stable and is therefore present at 100% abundance. The half-integer nuclear spin and high abundance of 31P make phosphorus-31 NMR spectroscopy a very useful analytical tool in studies of phosphorus-containing samples.
Two radioactive isotopes of phosphorus have half lives suitable for biological scientific experiments. These are:
32
P, a beta -emitter (1.71 MeV) with a half-life of 14.3 days, which is used routinely in life-science laboratories, primarily to produce radiolabeled DNA and RNA probes , e.g. for use in Northern blots or Southern blots .
33
P, a beta-emitter (0.25 MeV) with a half-life of 25.4 days. It is used in life-science laboratories in applications in which lower energy beta emissions are advantageous such as DNA sequencing.
The high energy beta particles from 32
P penetrate skin and corneas and any 32
P ingested, inhaled, or absorbed is readily incorporated into bone and nucleic acids . For these reasons, Occupational Safety and Health Administration in the United States, and similar institutions in other developed countries require personnel working with 32
P to wear lab coats, disposable gloves, and safety glasses or goggles to protect the eyes, and avoid working directly over open containers. Monitoring personal, clothing, and surface contamination is also required. Shielding requires special consideration. The high energy of the beta particles gives rise to secondary emission of X-rays via Bremsstrahlung (braking radiation) in dense shielding materials such as lead. Therefore, the radiation must be shielded with low density materials such as acrylic or other plastic, water, or (when transparency is not required), even wood. [3]
Occurrence
Minerals (phosphate rock)
Phosphorus is not found free in nature, but it is widely distributed in many minerals , mainly phosphates. Inorganic phosphate rock , which is partially made of apatite (an impure tri- calcium phosphate mineral), is today the chief commercial source of this element. According to the US Geological Survey (USGS) , about 50 percent of the global phosphorus reserves are in the Arab nations. [23] Large deposits of apatite are located in China , Russia , Morocco , [8] Florida , Idaho , Tennessee , Utah , and elsewhere. [3] Albright and Wilson in the UK and their Niagara Falls plant, for instance, were using phosphate rock in the 1890s and 1900s from Tennessee, Florida, and the Îles du Connétable ( guano island sources of phosphate); by 1950 they were using phosphate rock mainly from Tennessee and North Africa. In the early 1990s Albright and Wilson's purified wet phosphoric acid business was being adversely affected by phosphate rock sales by China and the entry of their long-standing Moroccan phosphate suppliers into the purified wet phosphoric acid business.
In 2012, the USGS estimated 71 billion tons of world reserves, where reserve figures refer to the amount assumed recoverable at current market prices; 0.19 billion tons were mined in 2011. [3] Critical to contemporary agriculture, its annual demand is rising nearly twice as fast as the growth of the human population. [8]
Recent reports suggest that production of phosphorus may have peaked, leading to the possibility of global shortages by 2040. [3] In 2007, at the rate of consumption, the supply of phosphorus was estimated to run out in 345 years. [3] However, some scientists now believe that a " peak phosphorus " will occur in 30 years and that "At current rates, reserves will be depleted in the next 50 to 100 years." [5] Cofounder of Boston -based investment firm and environmental foundation Jeremy Grantham wrote in Nature in November 2012, that consumption of the element "must be drastically reduced in the next 20-40 years or we will begin to starve." [8] [5] According to N.N. Greenwood and A. Earnshaw, authors of the textbook, Chemistry of the Elements, however, phosphorus comprises about 0.1% by mass of the average rock, and consequently the Earth's supply is vast, although dilute.
Urine
Urine contains most (94% according to Wolgast [5] ) of the NPK nutrients excreted by the human body. The more general limitations to using urine as fertiliser depend mainly on the potential for buildup of excess nitrogen (due to the high ratio of that macronutrient), [5] and inorganic salts such as sodium chloride , which are also part of the wastes excreted by the renal system . The degree to which these factors impact the effectiveness depends on the term of use, salinity tolerance of the plant, soil composition, addition of other fertilising compounds, and quantity of rainfall or other irrigation.
Urine typically contributes 70% of the nitrogen and more than half the phosphorus and potassium found in urban waste water flows, while making up less than 1% of the overall volume. Thus far, source separation, or urine diversion and on-site treatment, has been implemented in South Africa , China , and Sweden among other countries, with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation provided some of the funding implementations. [5]
"Urine management" is a relatively new way to view closing the cycle of agricultural nutrient flows and reducing sewage treatment costs and ecological consequences such as eutrophication resulting from the influx of nutrient rich effluent into aquatic or marine ecosystems. [5] Proponents of urine as a natural source of agricultural fertiliser claim the risks to be negligible or acceptable. [5]
Other organic sources
Historically-important but limited commercial sources were organic, such as bone ash and (in the latter 19th century) guano .
Supernovae remnants
In 2013, astronomers detected phosphorus in Cassiopeia A , which confirmed that this element is produced in supernovae through supernova nucleosynthesis . The phosphorus-to- iron ratio in material from the supernova remnant could be up to 100 times higher than in the Milky Way in general. [5]
Production
Most production of phosphorus-bearing material is for agriculture fertilisers. For this purpose, phosphate minerals are converted to phosphoric acid. It follows two distinct chemical routes, the main one being treatment of phosphate minerals with sulfuric acid. The other process utilises white phosphorus, which may be produced by reaction and distillation from very low grade phosphate sources. The white phosphorus is then oxidised to phosphoric acid and subsequently neutralised with base to give phosphate salts. Phosphoric acid produced from white phosphorus is relatively pure and is the main route for the production of phosphates for all purposes, including detergent production.
Elemental phosphorus
Presently, about 1,000,000 short tons (910,000 t ) of elemental phosphorus is produced annually. Calcium phosphate (phosphate rock), mostly mined in Florida and North Africa, can be heated to 1,200–1,500 °C with sand, which is mostly SiO
2, and coke (refined coal) to produce vaporised P
4. The product is subsequently condensed into a white powder under water to prevent oxidation by air. Even under water, white phosphorus is slowly converted to the more stable red phosphorus allotrope . The chemical equation for this process when starting with fluoroapatite, a common phosphate mineral, is:
4 Ca5(PO4)3F + 18 SiO2 + 30 C → 3 P4 + 30 CO + 18 CaSiO3 + 2 CaF2
Side products from this process include ferrophosphorus, a crude form of Fe2P, resulting from iron impurities in the mineral precursors. The silicate slag is a useful construction material. The fluoride is sometimes recovered for use in water fluoridation . More problematic is a "mud" containing significant amounts of white phosphorus. Production of white phosphorus is conducted in large facilities in part because it is energy intensive. The white phosphorus is transported in molten form. Some major accidents have occurred during transportation; train derailments at Brownston, Nebraska and Miamisburg, Ohio led to large fires. The worst incident in recent times was an environmental contamination in 1968 when the sea was polluted from spillage and/or inadequately treated sewage from a white phosphorus plant at Placentia Bay, Newfoundland . [5]
Another process by which elemental phosphorus is extracted includes applying at high temperatures (1500 °C): [5]
2 Ca3(PO4)2 + 6 SiO2 + 10 C → 6 CaSiO3 + 10 CO + P4
Historically, before the development of mineral-based extractions, white phosphorus was isolated on an industrial scale from bone ash. [6] In this process, the tricalcium phosphate in bone ash is converted to monocalcium phosphate with sulfuric acid :
Ca3(PO4)2 + 2 H2SO4 → Ca(H2PO4)2 + 2 CaSO4
Monocalcium phosphate is then dehydrated to the corresponding metaphosphate:
Ca(H2PO4)2 → Ca(PO3)2 + 2 H2O
When ignited to a white heat with charcoal , calcium metaphosphate yields two-thirds of its weight of white phosphorus while one-third of the phosphorus remains in the residue as calcium orthophosphate:
3 Ca(PO3)2 + 10 C → Ca3(PO4)2 + 10 CO + P4
Compounds
Oxoacids of phosphorus
Phosphorous oxoacids are extensive, often commercially important, and sometimes structurally complicated. They all have acidic protons bound to oxygen atoms, some have nonacidic protons that are bonded directly to phosphorus and some contain phosphorus - phosphorus bonds. Although many oxoacids of phosphorus are formed, only nine are important, and three of them, hypophosphorous acid , phosphorous acid , and phosphoric acid, are particularly important.
Oxidation state
Phosphorus(V) compounds
Oxides
The most prevalent compounds of phosphorus are derivatives of phosphate (PO43−), a tetrahedral anion. [6] Phosphate is the conjugate base of phosphoric acid, which is produced on a massive scale for use in fertilisers. Being triprotic, phosphoric acid converts stepwise to three conjugate bases:
H3PO4 + H2O ⇌ H3O+ + H2PO4− Ka1= 7.25×10−3
H2PO4− + H2O ⇌ H3O+ + HPO42− Ka2= 6.31×10−8
HPO42− + H2O ⇌ H3O+ + PO43− Ka3= 3.98×10−13
Phosphate exhibits the tendency to form chains and rings with P-O-P bonds. Many polyphosphates are known, including ATP . Polyphosphates arise by dehydration of hydrogen phosphates such as HPO42− and H2PO4−. For example, the industrially important trisodium triphosphate (also known as sodium tripolyphosphate , STPP) is produced industrially on by the megatonne by this condensation reaction :
2 Na2[(HO)PO3] + Na[(HO)2PO2] → Na5[O3P-O-P(O)2-O-PO3] + 2 H2O
Phosphorus pentoxide (P4O10) is the acid anhydride of phosphoric acid, but several intermediates between the two are known. This waxy white solid reacts vigorously with water.
With metal cations , phosphate forms a variety of salts. These solids are polymeric, featuring P-O-M linkages. When the metal cation has a charge of 2+ or 3+, the salts are generally insoluble, hence they exist as common minerals. Many phosphate salts are derived from hydrogen phosphate (HPO42−).
PCl5 and PF5 are common compounds. PF5 is a colourless gas and the molecules have trigonal bypramidal geometry. PCl5 is a colourless solid which has an ionic formulation of PCl4+ PCl6−, but adopts the trigonal bypramidal geometry when molten or in the vapour phase. PBr5 is an unstable solid formulated as PBr4+Br−and PI5 is not known. The pentachloride and pentafluoride are Lewis acids . With fluoride, PF5 forms PF6−, an anion that is isoelectronic with SF6. The most important oxyhalide is phosphorus oxychloride , (POCl3), which is approximately tetrahedral.
Before extensive computer calculations were feasible, it was thought that bonding in phosphorus(V) compounds involved d orbitals. Computer modeling of molecular orbital theory indicates that this bonding involves only s- and p-orbitals. [6]
Nitrides
The PN molecule is considered unstable, but is a product of crystalline Phosphorus nitride decomposition at 1100 K. Similarly, H2PN is considered unstable, and phosphorus nitride halogens like F2PN, Cl2PN, Br2PN, and I2PN oligomerise into cyclic Polyphosphazenes . For example, compounds of the formula (PNCl2)n exist mainly as rings such as the trimer hexachlorophosphazene . The phosphazenes arise by treatment of phosphorus pentachloride with ammonium chloride:
PCl5 + NH4Cl → 1/n (NPCl2)n + 4 HCl
When the chloride groups are replaced by alkoxide (RO−), a family of polymers is produced with potentially useful properties. [6]
Sulfides
Phosphorus forms a wide range of sulfides, where the phosphorus can be in P(V), P(III) or other oxidation states. The most famous is the three-fold symmetric P4S3 which is used in strike-anywhere matches. P4S10 and P4O10 have analogous structures. [6]
Phosphorus(III) compounds
All four symmetrical trihalides are well known: gaseous PF3 , the yellowish liquids PCl3 and PBr3 , and the solid PI3 . These materials are moisture sensitive, hydrolysing to give phosphorous acid . The trichloride, a common reagent, is produced by chlorination of white phosphorus:
P4 + 6 Cl2 → 4 PCl3
The trifluoride is produced from the trichloride by halide exchange. PF3 is toxic because it binds to haemoglobin .
Phosphorus(III) oxide , P4O6 (also called tetraphosphorus hexoxide) is the anhydride of P(OH)3, the minor tautomer of phosphorous acid. The structure of P4O6 is like that of P4O10 without the terminal oxide groups.
Mixed oxyhalides and oxyhydrides of phosphorus(III) are almost unknown.
Organophosphorus compounds
Compounds with P-C and P-O-C bonds are often classified as organophosphorus compounds. They are widely used commercially. The PCl3 serves as a source of P3+ in routes to organophosphorus(III) compounds. For example, it is the precursor to triphenylphosphine :
PCl3 + 6 Na + 3 C6H5Cl → P(C6H5)3 + 6 NaCl
Treatment of phosphorus trihalides with alcohols and phenols gives phosphites, e.g. triphenylphosphite :
PCl3 + 3 C6H5OH → P(OC6H5)3 + 3 HCl
Similar reactions occur for phosphorus oxychloride , affording triphenylphosphate :
OPCl3 + 3 C6H5OH → OP(OC6H5)3 + 3 HCl
Phosphorus(I) and phosphorus(II) compounds
These compounds generally feature P-P bonds. Examples include catenated derivatives of phosphine and organophosphines. Compounds containing P=P double bonds have also been observed, although they are rare.
Phosphines
Phosphine (PH3) and its organic derivatives (PR3) are structural analogues with ammonia (NH3) but the bond angles at phosphorus are closer to 90° for phosphine and its organic derivatives. It is an ill-smelling, toxic compound. Phosphorus has an oxidation number of -3 in phosphine. Phosphine is produced by hydrolysis of calcium phosphide , Ca3P2. Unlike ammonia, phosphine is oxidised by air. Phosphine is also far less basic than ammonia. Other phophines are known which contain chains of up to nine phosphorus atoms and have the formula PnHn+2. The highly flammable gas diphosphine (P2H4) is an analogue of hydrazine .
Phosphides
Phosphides arise by reaction of metals with red phosphorus. The alkali metals (group 1) and alkaline earth metals can form ionic compounds containing the phosphide ion, P3−. These compounds react with water to form phosphine . Other phosphides, for example Na3P7, are known for these reactive metals. With the transition metals as well as the monophosphides there are metal rich phosphides, which are generally hard refractory compounds with a metallic lustre, and phosphorus rich phosphides which are less stable and include semiconductors. [6] Schreibersite is a naturally occurring metal rich phosphide found in meteorites. The structures of the metal rich and phosphorus rich phosphides can be structurally complex.
Spelling and etymology
The name Phosphorus in Ancient Greece was the name for the planet Venus and is derived from the Greek words (φῶς = light, φέρω = carry), which roughly translates as light-bringer or light carrier. (In Greek mythology and tradition, Augerinus (Αυγερινός = morning star, still in use today), Hesperus or Hesperinus (΄Εσπερος or Εσπερινός or Αποσπερίτης = evening star, still in use today) and Eosphorus (Εωσφόρος = dawnbearer, not in use for the planet after Christianity) are close homologues, and also associated with Phosphorus-the-planet).
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the correct spelling of the element is phosphorus. The word phosphorous is the adjectival form of the P3+ valence: so, just as sulfur forms sulfurous and sulfuric compounds, phosphorus forms phosphorous compounds (e.g., phosphorous acid ) and P5+ valence phosphoric compounds (e.g., phosphoric acids and phosphates ).
History and discovery
Phosphorus was the 13th element to be discovered. For this reason, and also due to its use in explosives, poisons and nerve agents, it is sometimes referred to as "the Devil's element". [6] It was the first element to be discovered that was not known since ancient times. [6] The discovery of phosphorus is credited to the German alchemist Hennig Brand in 1669, although other chemists might have discovered phosphorus around the same time. [46] Brand experimented with urine , which contains considerable quantities of dissolved phosphates from normal metabolism. Working in Hamburg , Brand attempted to create the fabled philosopher's stone through the distillation of some salts by evaporating urine, and in the process produced a white material that glowed in the dark and burned brilliantly. It was named phosphorus mirabilis ("miraculous bearer of light"). [47] His process originally involved letting urine stand for days until it gave off a terrible smell. Then he boiled it down to a paste, heated this paste to a high temperature, and led the vapours through water, where he hoped they would condense to gold. Instead, he obtained a white, waxy substance that glowed in the dark. Brand had discovered phosphorus. We now know that Brand produced ammonium sodium hydrogen phosphate, (NH
4)NaHPO
4. While the quantities were essentially correct (it took about 1,100 litres [290 US gal] of urine to make about 60 g of phosphorus), it was unnecessary to allow the urine to rot. Later scientists discovered that fresh urine yielded the same amount of phosphorus.
Brand at first tried to keep the method secret, [7] but later sold the recipe for 200 thalers to D Krafft from Dresden, who could now make it as well, and toured much of Europe with it, including England, where he met with Robert Boyle . The secret that it was made from urine leaked out and first Johann Kunckel (1630–1703) in Sweden (1678) and later Boyle in London (1680) also managed to make phosphorus, possibly with the aid of his assistant, Ambrose Godfrey-Hanckwitz , who later made a business of the manufacture of phosphorus. Boyle states that Krafft gave him no information as to the preparation of phosphorus other than that it was derived from "somewhat that belonged to the body of man". This gave Boyle a valuable clue, so that he, too, managed to make phosphorus, and published the method of its manufacture. Later he improved Brand's process by using sand in the reaction (still using urine as base material),
4 NaPO
3 + 10 CO + P
4
Robert Boyle was the first to use phosphorus to ignite sulfur-tipped wooden splints, forerunners of our modern matches, in 1680.
In 1769 Johan Gottlieb Gahn and Carl Wilhelm Scheele showed that calcium phosphate (Ca
3(PO
4)
2) is found in bones, and they obtained elemental phosphorus from bone ash. Antoine Lavoisier recognised phosphorus as an element in 1777. [7] Bone ash was the major source of phosphorus until the 1840s. The method started by roasting bones, then employed the use of clay retorts encased in a very hot brick furnace to distill out the highly toxic elemental phosphorus product. [7] Alternately, precipitated phosphates could be made from ground-up bones that had been de-greased and treated with strong acids. White phosphorus could then be made by heating the precipitated phosphates, mixed with ground coal or charcoal in an iron pot, and distilling off phosphorus vapour in a retort . Carbon monoxide and other flammable gases produced during the reduction process were burnt off in a flare stack.
In the 1840s, world phosphate production turned to the mining of tropical island deposits formed from bird and bat guano (see also Guano Islands Act ). These became an important source of phosphates for fertiliser in the latter half of the 19th century.
Phosphate rock , a mineral containing calcium phosphate, was first used in 1850 to make phosphorus, and following the introduction of the electric arc furnace in 1890, elemental phosphorus production switched from the bone-ash heating, to electric arc production from phosphate rock. After the depletion of world guano sources about the same time, mineral phosphates became the major source of phosphate fertiliser production. Phosphate rock production greatly increased after World War II, and remains the primary global source of phosphorus and phosphorus chemicals today. See the article on peak phosphorus for more information on the history and present state of phosphate mining. Phosphate rock remains a feedstock in the fertiliser industry, where it is treated with sulfuric acid to produce various " superphosphate " fertiliser products.
White phosphorus was first made commercially in the 19th century for the match industry. This used bone ash for a phosphate source, as described above. The bone-ash process became obsolete when the submerged-arc furnace for phosphorus production was introduced to reduce phosphate rock. The electric furnace method allowed production to increase to the point where phosphorus could be used in weapons of war. In World War I it was used in incendiaries, smoke screens and tracer bullets. A special incendiary bullet was developed to shoot at hydrogen -filled Zeppelins over Britain (hydrogen being highly flammable ). During World War II , Molotov cocktails made of phosphorus dissolved in petrol were distributed in Britain to specially selected civilians within the British resistance operation, for defence; and phosphorus incendiary bombs were used in war on a large scale. Burning phosphorus is difficult to extinguish and if it splashes onto human skin it has horrific effects.
Early matches used white phosphorus in their composition, which was dangerous due to its toxicity. Murders, suicides and accidental poisonings resulted from its use. (An apocryphal tale tells of a woman attempting to murder her husband with white phosphorus in his food, which was detected by the stew's giving off luminous steam). In addition, exposure to the vapours gave match workers a severe necrosis of the bones of the jaw, the infamous " phossy jaw ". When a safe process for manufacturing red phosphorus was discovered, with its far lower flammability and toxicity, laws were enacted, under the Berne Convention (1906) , requiring its adoption as a safer alternative for match manufacture. [49] The toxicity of white phosphorus led to discontinuation of its use in matches. [7] The Allies used phosphorus incendiary bombs in World War II to destroy Hamburg, the place where the "miraculous bearer of light" was first discovered. [47]
Glow
It was known from early times that the green glow emanating from white phosphorus would persist for a time in a stoppered jar, but then cease. Robert Boyle in the 1680s ascribed it to "debilitation" of the air; in fact, it is oxygen being consumed. By the 18th century, it was known that in pure oxygen, phosphorus does not glow at all; [50] there is only a range of partial pressure at which it does. Heat can be applied to drive the reaction at higher pressures. [51]
In 1974, the glow was explained by R. J. van Zee and A. U. Khan. [52] A reaction with oxygen takes place at the surface of the solid (or liquid) phosphorus, forming the short-lived molecules HPO and P
2O
2 that both emit visible light. The reaction is slow and only very little of the intermediates are required to produce the luminescence, hence the extended time the glow continues in a stoppered jar.
Since that time, phosphors and phosphorescence were used loosely to describe substances that shine in the dark without burning. Although the term phosphorescence was originally coined as a term by analogy with the glow from oxidation of elemental phosphorus, it is now reserved for another fundamentally different process—re-emission of light after illumination.
Applications
Fertiliser
Phosphorus is an essential plant nutrient (often the limiting nutrient), and the bulk of all phosphorus production is in concentrated phosphoric acids for agriculture fertiliser s, containing as much as 70% to 75% P2O5. Global demand for fertilisers led to large increase in phosphate (PO43−) production in the second half of the 20th century. Artificial phosphate fertilisation is necessary because phosphorus is essential to all life organisms, natural phosphorus-bearing compounds are mostly insoluble and inaccessible to plants, and the natural cycle of phosphorus is very slow. Fertiliser is often in the form of superphosphate of lime, a mixture of calcium dihydrogen phosphate (Ca(H2PO4)2), and calcium sulfate dihydrate (CaSO4·2H2O) produced reacting sulfuric acid and water with calcium phosphate.
Processing phosphate minerals with sulfuric acid for obtaining fertiliser is so important to the global economy that this is the primary industrial market for sulfuric acid and the greatest industrial use of elemental sulfur .
Widely used compounds
Detergents
Organophosphorus compounds
White phosphorus is widely used to make organophosphorus compounds through intermediate phosphorus chlorides and two phosphorus sulfides, phosphorus pentasulfide , and phosphorus sesquisulfide . Organophosphorus compounds have many applications, including in plasticisers , flame retardants , pesticides , extraction agents, and water treatment .
Metallurgical aspects
Phosphorus is also an important component in steel production, in the making of phosphor bronze , and in many other related products. Phosphorus is added to metallic copper during its smelting process to react with oxygen present as an impurity in copper and to produce phosphorus-containing copper ( CuOFP ) alloys with a higher hydrogen embrittlement resistance than normal copper.
Matches
The first striking match with a phosphorus head was invented by Charles Sauria in 1830. [19] These matches (and subsequent modifications) were made with heads of white phosphorus, an oxygen-releasing compound ( potassium chlorate , lead dioxide , or sometimes nitrate ), and a binder. They were poisonous to the workers in manufacture, [54] sensitive to storage conditions, toxic if ingested, and hazardous when accidentally ignited on a rough surface. [58] [59] Production in several countries was banned between 1872 and 1925. The international Berne Convention , ratified in 1906, prohibited the use of white phosphorus in matches.
In consequence, the 'strike-anywhere' matches were gradually replaced by 'safety matches', wherein the white phosphorus was replaced by phosphorus sesquisulfide (P4S3), sulfur, or antimony sulfide. Such matches are difficult to ignite on any surface other than a special strip. The strip contains red phosphorus that heats up upon striking, reacts with the oxygen-releasing compound in the head, and ignites the flammable material of the head. [14]
Water softening
Sodium tripolyphosphate made from phosphoric acid is used in laundry detergents in some countries, but banned for this use in others. This compound softens the water to enhance the performance of the detergents and to prevent pipe/boiler tube corrosion .
Niche applications
Tributylphosphate is an organophosphate soluble in kerosene used to extract uranium in the Purex process for reprocessing spent nuclear fuel .
Biological role
Inorganic phosphorus in the form of the phosphate PO3−
4 is required for all known forms of life . [62] Phosphorus plays a major role in the structural framework of DNA and RNA . Living cells use phosphate to transport cellular energy with adenosine triphosphate (ATP), necessary for every cellular process that uses energy. ATP is also important for phosphorylation , a key regulatory event in cells. Phospholipids are the main structural components of all cellular membranes. Calcium phosphate salts assist in stiffening bones .
Every living cell is encased in a membrane that separates it from its surroundings. Cellular membranes are composed of a phospholipid matrix and proteins, typically in the form of a bilayer. Phospholipids are derived from glycerol with two of the glycerol hydroxyl (OH) protons replaced by fatty acids as an ester , and the third hydroxyl proton has been replaced with phosphate bonded to another alcohol.
An average adult human contains about 0.7 kg of phosphorus, about 85–90% in bones and teeth in the form of apatite , and the remainder in soft tissues and extracellular fluids (~1%). The phosphorus content increases from about 0.5 weight% in infancy to 0.65–1.1 weight% in adults. Average phosphorus concentration in the blood is about 0.4 g/L, about 70% of that is organic and 30% inorganic phosphates. [63] A well-fed adult in the industrialised world consumes and excretes about 1–3 grams of phosphorus per day, with consumption in the form of inorganic phosphate and phosphorus-containing biomolecules such as nucleic acids and phospholipids; and excretion almost exclusively in the form of phosphate ions such as H
2PO−
4 and HPO2−
4. Only about 0.1% of body phosphate circulates in the blood, paralleling the amount of phosphate available to soft tissue cells.
Bone and teeth enamel
The main component of bone is hydroxyapatite as well as amorphous forms of calcium phosphate, possibly including carbonate. Hydroxyapatite is the main component of tooth enamel. Water fluoridation enhances the resistance of teeth to decay by the partial conversion of this mineral to the still harder material called fluoroapatite:
Ca
3F + OH−
Phosphorus deficiency
In medicine, phosphate deficiency syndrome may be caused by malnutrition, by failure to absorb phosphate, and by metabolic syndromes that draw phosphate from the blood (such as re-feeding after malnutrition) or pass too much of it into the urine. All are characterised by hypophosphatemia , which is a condition of low levels of soluble phosphate levels in the blood serum and inside the cells. Symptoms of hypophosphatemia include neurological dysfunction and disruption of muscle and blood cells due to lack of ATP. Too much phosphate can lead to diarrhoea and calcification (hardening) of organs and soft tissue, and can interfere with the body's ability to use iron, calcium, magnesium, and zinc. [64]
Phosphorus is an essential macromineral for plants, which is studied extensively in edaphology to understand plant uptake from soil systems. Phosphorus is a limiting factor in many ecosystems ; that is, the scarcity of phosphorus limits the rate of organism growth. An excess of phosphorus can also be problematic, especially in aquatic systems where eutrophication sometimes leads to algal blooms .
Food sources
The main food sources for phosphorus are the same as those containing protein, although proteins do not contain phosphorus. For example, milk, meat, and soya typically also have phosphorus. As a rule, if a diet has sufficient protein and calcium, the amount of phosphorus is probably sufficient. [65]
Precautions
Organic compounds of phosphorus form a wide class of materials; many are required for life, but some are extremely toxic. Fluorophosphate esters are among the most potent neurotoxins known. A wide range of organophosphorus compounds are used for their toxicity as pesticides ( herbicides , insecticides , fungicides , etc.) and weaponised as nerve agents against enemy humans. Most inorganic phosphates are relatively nontoxic and essential nutrients.
The white phosphorus allotrope presents a significant hazard because it ignites in air and produces phosphoric acid residue. Chronic white phosphorus poisoning leads to necrosis of the jaw called " phossy jaw ". Ingestion of white phosphorus may cause the medical condition known as "Smoking Stool Syndrome". [66]
In the past, external exposure to elemental phosphorus was treated by washing the affected area with 2% copper sulfate solution to form harmless compounds that are then washed away. According to the recent US Navy's Treatment of Chemical Agent Casualties and Conventional Military Chemical Injuries: FM8-285: Part 2 Conventional Military Chemical Injuries, "Cupric (copper(II)) sulfate has been used by U.S. personnel in the past and is still being used by some nations. However, copper sulfate is toxic and its use will be discontinued. Copper sulfate may produce kidney and cerebral toxicity as well as intravascular hemolysis." [68]
The manual suggests instead "a bicarbonate solution to neutralise phosphoric acid, which will then allow removal of visible white phosphorus. Particles often can be located by their emission of smoke when air strikes them, or by their phosphorescence in the dark. In dark surroundings, fragments are seen as luminescent spots. Promptly debride the burn if the patient's condition will permit removal of bits of WP (white phosphorus) that might be absorbed later and possibly produce systemic poisoning. DO NOT apply oily-based ointments until it is certain that all WP has been removed. Following complete removal of the particles, treat the lesions as thermal burns." As white phosphorus readily mixes with oils, any oily substances or ointments are not recommended until the area is thoroughly cleaned and all white phosphorus removed.
People can be exposed to phosphorus in the workplace by inhalation, ingestion, skin contact, and eye contact. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set the phosphorus exposure limit ( Permissible exposure limit ) in the workplace at 0.1 mg/m3 over an 8-hour workday. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has set a Recommended exposure limit (REL) of 0.1 mg/m3 over an 8-hour workday. At levels of 5 mg/m3, phosphorus is immediately dangerous to life and health . [69]
US DEA List I status
Phosphorus can reduce elemental iodine to hydroiodic acid , which is a reagent effective for reducing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine to methamphetamine. [9] For this reason, red and white phosphorus were designated by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration as List I precursor chemicals under 21 CFR 1310.02 effective on November 17, 2001. [59] In the United States, handlers of red or white phosphorus are subject to stringent regulatory controls. [59] [3] [73]
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‘What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?’ is the opening line of which poem? | Anthem for Doomed Youth - popular First World War poem
Anthem for Doomed Youth
an often quoted poem of the First World War
(with explanatory notes)
What passing-bells2 for these who die as cattle?
Only the monstrous anger of the guns.
Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle
Can patter out3 their hasty orisons.4
No mockeries5 now for them; no prayers nor bells;
Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs, –
The shrill, demented6 choirs of wailing shells;
And bugles7 calling for them from sad shires.8
What candles9 may be held to speed them all?
Not in the hands of boys but in their eyes
Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes.
The pallor10 of girls' brows shall be their pall;
Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,
And each slow dusk11 a drawing-down of blinds.12
A
September - October, 1917
Notes for students
1 Anthem - perhaps best known in the expression "The National Anthem;" also, an important religious song (often expressing joy); here, perhaps, a solemn song of celebration
2 passing-bells - a bell tolled after someone's death to announce the death to the world
3 patter out - rapidly speak
4 orisons - prayers, here funeral prayers
5 mockeries - ceremonies which are insults. Here Owen seems to be suggesting that the Christian religion, with its loving God, can have nothing to do with the deaths of so many thousands of men
6 demented - raving mad
7 bugles - a bugle is played at military funerals (sounding the last post)
8 shires - English counties and countryside from which so many of the soldiers came
9 candles - church candles, or the candles lit in the room where a body lies in a coffin
10 pallor - paleness
11 dusk has a symbolic significance here
12 drawing-down of blinds - normally a preparation for night, but also, here, the tradition of drawing the blinds in a room where a dead person lies, as a sign to the world and as a mark of respect. The coming of night is like the drawing down of blinds.
Notes from Out in the Dark - Poetry of the First World War in Context edited by David Roberts. Copyright © David Roberts 1998. Free use by individual students for personal use only.
Links
| Anthem for Doomed Youth |
Joan, the Fair Maid of Kent, was the mother of which king of England? | BBC - Poetry Season - Poems - Anthem For Doomed Youth by wilfred Owen
Anthem For Doomed Youth by Wilfred Owen
What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?
Only the monstrous anger of the guns.
Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle
Can patter out their hasty orisons.
No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells,
Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs, -
The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;
And bugles calling for them from sad shires.
What candles may be held to speed them all?
Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes
Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes.
The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall;
Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,
And each slow dusk a drawing down of blinds.
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Which Australian hard-rock band was formed by Angus and Malcolm Young? | AC/DC - Music on Google Play
AC/DC
About the artist
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. A hard rock/blues rock band, they have also been considered a heavy metal band, although they have always dubbed their music simply "rock and roll".
AC/DC underwent several line-up changes before releasing their first album, High Voltage, in 1975; Malcolm and Angus were the only original members left in the band. Membership subsequently stabilised until bassist Mark Evans was replaced by Cliff Williams in 1977 for the album Powerage. Within months of recording the album Highway to Hell, lead singer and co-songwriter Bon Scott died on 19 February 1980 after a night of heavy alcohol consumption. The group considered disbanding, but buoyed by support from Scott's parents, decided to continue and set about finding a new vocalist. Ex-Geordie singer Brian Johnson was auditioned and selected to replace Scott. Later that year, the band released the new album, Back in Black, which was made as a tribute to Bon Scott. The album launched them to new heights of success and became their all-time best-seller.
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| ac dc |
The ‘two-minute hate’ is featured in which novel of the twentieth century? | AC/DC
AC/DC
View all AC/DC pictures
AC/DC are an Australian hard rock band, formed in November 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young, who continued as members until Malcolm's illness and departure in 2014. Commonly referred to as a hard rock or blues rock band, they are also considered pioneers of heavy metal and are sometimes classified as such, though they have always dubbed their music as simply "rock and roll"
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Who was the nemesis of farmers Boggis, Bunce, and Bean? | Boggis, Bunce & Bean | Villains Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia
Boggis, Bunce & Bean
Walt Boggis, Nate Bunce and Frank Bean
Alias
Brute strength, scheming, skilled gunmen, cleverness, intelligence
Hobby
For Boggis, eating chickens, For Bunce, eating donuts with duck liver paste, and for Bean, drinking gallons of strong home-made alcoholic cider
Goals
Kill Mr Fox for stealing their chickens, ducks, turkeys, and cider
Type of Villain
Partners in Crime
“
Boggis, Bunce, and Bean one fat, one short, one lean. Those horrible crooks so different in looks are nonetheless equally mean.
„
~ A popular children's song that reflects their nature
Boggis, Bunce, and Bean are the three main antagonists of the book and film Fantastic Mr. Fox. After Mr. Fox steals from their farms, Bean calls a meeting between the three and plans to obliterate Mr. Fox and his family. Bean is shown to be the meanest and scariest of them.
Contents
Boggis
“
Walt Boggis is a chicken farmer, probably the most successful in the world. He weighs the same as a young rhinoceros. He eats three chickens every day: breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. That's twelve in total per diem.
„
~ Badger about Boggis
Boggis tends to extremely hate Mr. Fox due to his constant theft of his chickens, which the foxes seem to like. In the film version, he is more di it and also realize how far went and the Consequences along with Bunce
Bunce
“
Nate Bunce is a duck and goose farmer. He's about the size of a pot-bellied dwarf, and his chin would be under the shallow end of any swimming pool on the planet. His food is homemade donuts with mashed-up goose livers injected into them.
„
~ Badger about Bunce
His food, possibly because of the goose livers, gives him a horrible temper, meaning he is constantly angry.
Bean
“
Frank Bean is a turkey and apple farmer. He invented his own species of each. He lives on a diet of strong alcoholic cider which he makes from his apples. He's as skinny as a pencil, as smart as a whip, and possibly the scariest man currently living.
„
~ Badger about Bean
He never bathes or washes at all; with the result that he smells and his ears are all clogged up with wax and dirt and such things.
Trivia
Out of the three of them, Bean is considered to be the overall main antagonist of the film, since he's the most scariest.
| Fantastic Mr Fox |
Which is the only minor key signature that has no sharps or flats? | Fantastic furry fun in 'Mr. Fox' - Boulder Weekly
0
Dave Taylor
In a world of children’s films increasingly characterized by technological accomplishment and sophisticated rendering in lieu of good old-fashioned storytelling, it was a breath of fresh air to enjoy the stop-motion Fantastic Mr. Fox.
Tapping the considerable voice talents of George Clooney (Mr. Fox), Meryl Streep (Mrs. Fox), Bill Murray (Badger), Michael Gambon (Franklin Bean), Owen Wilson (Coach Skip), Willem Dafoe (Rat) and Jason Schwartzman (Ash), director Wes Anderson has taken a quirky children’s story written by Roald Dahl and craft an engaging movie that is simultaneously edgy and delightful.
Like Where the Wild Things Are, the story of Fantastic Mr. Fox is deceptively lightweight: Mr. Fox, upon learning his wife is pregnant, swears off mischief and thievery, but in a sort of vulpes version of a mid-life crisis, later can’t resist the urge to pull off one more great caper. His nemesis? The three farmers across the valley, Boggis, Bunce and Bean.
Boggis (voiced by Robin Hurlstone) runs a chicken farm, Bunce (Hug Guinness) has a pig farm and Bean (Gambon) has a turkey farm and apple orchard, the latter of which he uses to produce hundreds of gallons of alcoholic cider. They are perfect targets for the sly and savvy Mr. Fox with his incessant plans. What he doesn’t plan on is their aggressive response to the thefts.
Adding to the mix, Mr. Fox’s brother is suffering from double pneumonia and nephew Kristofferson (Eric Anderson) comes to stay with them, pushing out their son Ash (Schwartzman), who acutely feels his inability to measure up to the talents and mystique of his cousin.
Characteristic of Dahl’s work (he also wrote Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach), there’s a dark shadow that flits throughout the story, offering up surprisingly adult moments, characters that cuss when they get frustrated, a strained relationship between the self-absorbed Mr. Fox and his son Ash, and even foxes killing chickens (just barely off-camera). I enjoyed it, but was surprised more than once at the language and tone, though it might well pass most children without them realizing what had transpired.
One of my favorite characters was Rat (voiced by Willem Dafoe). The Bean cider storeroom guard, his introduction in the story was accompanied by cheesy spaghetti western theme music. It’s very much The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, and Dafoe has just the right edge to his voice here to pull it off, even when he’s snapping his fingers and acting for all purposes like a member of the Jets from West Side Story.
In a dialog that’s oft-repeated, Mr. and Mrs. Fox talk about his urge to pull off a caper as a way to reinvigorate his life, even if it brings great danger to the entire family in the form of retaliation by the mean farmers:
Mrs. Fox: “This story is too predictable.” Mr. Fox: “What happens in the end?” Mrs. Fox: “We all die unless you change your ways.”
Ultimately the film ends with Mr. Fox lifting his glass at a banquet with all of his animal friends: “Let’s drink a toast to … our survival.” And indeed, perhaps that’s all we can ask in the face of a hostile world.
For a children’s film to have this existential subtext is remarkable, and if you’re looking for something with a terrific visual style, witty visuals and dialog, and a story that operates at a number of levels, I’ll recommend you check out Fantastic Mr. Fox. If you’re going to bring children along, an investment in reading the book to them first might greatly help younger ones understand what’s going on too.
Our rating: Four stars (out of four)
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By what name is Delores Haze known in the title of a controversial book of 1955? | Ten Of The Most Controversial Books!
Ten Of The Most Controversial Books
written by admin November 28, 2008
Some books attract a lot of controversy and even calls for banning the book from members of the public or those in religious or political organizations. Some qualities common in the most controversial books include religious degradation or slurs, foul language, violence, racism, extreme political views, and vivid or graphic sexual descriptions.
Here are some of the most controversial books that have fueled the flames of controversy ever since they were published.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain (1884)
A controversial book for years, Twain’s novel shows a contrast between indulgent childhood dreams and blatant cruel realities, bringing out the themes of equality, justice and human rights. In this book, Huck fakes his own death to run away to the river. There he meets an escaped slave named Jim. Together, they seek liberation and their journey tests them at every turn.
While Huck looks forward to returning to a freewheeling life, Jim looks for the personal freedom he has never known. With the entry of Tom Sawyer, Huck faces a dilemma of whether to return home or risk his life to help Jim achieve freedom.
Because the word “nigger” appears more than 200 times in the book and it was perceived as racial, it initially caused a lot of controversy, especially in the 20th century. This book was also criticized for its coarse language. Earnest Hemingway, however, called it “the best book we’ve had.”
Brave New World – Aldous Huxley (1932)
Published in 1932, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World is his most popular novel, although it might not have been his most important. It was frequently challenged with banning attempts, and is still considered controversial. The reader is swept into Huxley’s vision of a future based on science and technology. The novel depicts drugs, sexuality, and suicide and reveals Huxley’s disdain for the culture of the United States. A group of parents attempted to get the book banned because they felt there was an overemphasis on negativity.
Nineteen Eighty-Four – George Orwell (1949)
Written in 1949 by George Orwell while he was dying of tuberculosis, the book brings to light the sad state and future of a society that is robbed of privacy, truth, or free will. This book forces us to re-examine our lives, lifestyles, and how our governments work. It offers a fresh perspective on many topics; totalitarianism, torture, mind control, the United States, the Soviet Union, privacy, technology, power, human emotions, organized religion, censorship, sex, and more.
It was a controversial book right from publication and remains so today. Many people claim that the work is unnatural and intense because it was written by a man choked with a subconscious death-wish. Many American reviewers also assumed that the book represented a repudiation of his democratic socialism.
The Catcher In The Rye – J.D. Salinger (1951)
This novel was topping the New York Times best-seller list almost immediately upon release in 1951. Salinger’s Catcher In The Rye is an account of three days in a 16-year-old boy’s life. It was originally meant for adults but eventually became a part of the curriculum in many high schools and colleges. It was also translated into many languages. There were several controversies for several reasons, such as the portrayal of sexuality and teenage angst, the use of profanity, the anti-white sentiment, and the excessive violence. Holden Caulfield, the protagonist, became an icon for defiance and rebellion. In fact Mark David Chapman, who shot John Lennon in 1980, cited the book as his reason for doing it.
Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov (1955)
Nabokov’s Lolita caused a storm of controversy when it was published in 1955 in France, and those controversies have shadowed the book ever since. This novel explores the mind of a pedophile named Humbert Humbert, who narrates his life and obsession for nymphets like the 12-year-old Dolores Haze. It was banned in France, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, South Africa, and Argentina. But in America, it was a huge success and is said to be the first book since Gone With The Wind to have sold 100,000 copies in the first three weeks.
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings – Maya Angelou (1970)
This is the first of the five autobiographical works by Maya Angelou and was published in 1970. The title of the book was taken from the poem “Sympathy” by Paul Lawrence Dunbar, and it describes perseverance even in the face of oppression. Maya Angelou, through this book, gives an account of her youth filled with trauma, tragedy, frustration, disappointment and eventually independence.
Angelou describes the racism she and her grandmother encountered in the town of Stamps and other places, in spite of her grandmother having more money than the whites. There are passages in the books that describe how she was raped when she was just eight years old by her mother’s boyfriend. Her grandmother’s influence was what helped her overcome the hardships in her life. The graphic nature of the book, depicting details of abuse and rape was considered controversial by many. However, the book was widely hailed and even taught in schools. This book was also nominated for the National Book Award.
The Anarchist Cookbook – William Powell – (1971)
This 1971 cult classic is a guerrilla how-to book that provides strategies useful for activists — including violent activists. It covers several sections that describe organizing demonstrations, sabotage, affinity groups, stenciling, and other topics like supporting survivors of domestic violence and mental health.
This book angered government officials and anarchist groups felt it misrepresented anarchist ideals. Others criticized the book for the bomb-making recipes, which they said were dangerously inaccurate. Later, when Powell was older, he tried to censor his own book and said that this book was “a misguided product of my adolescent anger at the prospect of being drafted and sent to Vietnam to fight in a war that I did not believe in.”
The Satanic Verses – Salman Rushdie (1989)
This book by Salman Rushdie sparked controversies galore because of the controversial topic it touched. The title, The Satanic Verses, refers to an incident that is disputed between fact and fiction. Some called it a blasphemous treatment of the Islamic faith as Rushdie refers to the Prophet Muhammad as Mahound, which is the medieval name for the devil. In Pakistan, there were riots in 1989 over the book where a few people were killed, and many were injured in India.
In spite of Rushdie issuing an apology, the Iranian spiritual leader Ayatollah Khomeini condemned the author publicly, and went to the extent of putting a $1 million bounty for killing the author, increasing that to $3 million if the assassin was Iranian. Even Venezuelan officials threatened 15 months of prison for anyone who owned or even read the book. Japan imposed a fine on anyone selling the English edition and a Japanese translator was said to be stabbed to death for getting involved with the book. Major U.S. booksellers removed this book from the shelves because they received death threats. Rushdie himself lived in hiding for almost a decade. Such was the animosity towards the book, and in a way it makes it all the more appealing.
The Harry Potter Series – J.K. Rowling (2001)
J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series is wildly popular and seen generally as adventurous and harmless tales for children. However, this series has caused controversies over the past few years, from many different groups of people who look at them as stories that inspire children to become involved in witchcraft and the occult.
These novels follow the life of a young wizard, whose parents were killed by the evil Lord Voldermort. The young boy receives an invitation to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft on his eleventh birthday and each book represents a year of his life at the school. These books have their fair share of opponents (not to mention hoards of fans). Some parents and religious groups feel that these books can take children deep into the unwanted land of fantasy.
The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown (2003)
A recent book that surrounded by controversy since its publication is The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. The book gives a fictional account of characters revealing a hidden truth concealed by the Catholic Church for centuries, including the divinity of Christ, his celibacy, and the possibility of a genetic heritage. Most of the complaints against the book are due to the speculation and misrepresentation of the history of Roman Catholic Church and the basic questioning of the tenets of Christianity. The book was also criticized for inaccurate description of history, geography, European art, and architecture.
This is by no means a comprehensive list of all the controversial books as there are many more. But these are certainly some of the books that have been considered some of the most controversial books ever published.
Ten Of The Most Controversial Books was last modified: November 28th, 2008 by admin
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How is Anne Catherick referred to in the title of a book by Wilkie Collins? | Lolita by Nabokov, First Edition - AbeBooks
Lolita by Nabokov, First Edition
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Published by Olympia Press, Paris (1955)
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Item Description: Olympia Press, Paris, 1955. Soft cover. Book Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition. First Edition, First Printing SIGNED by Vladimir Nabokov on a laid in signature. A fabulous copy of this TRUE FRIST EDITION with the 900 Francs price printed on the rear panels of both volumes that was later changed to 1200 francs on later editions. This two volume set is in excellent shape with minor wear to the spine and edges. Both Vol 1 and Vol 2 are complete with clean pages. There is NO writing, marks or bookplates in either book. A wonderful copy SIGNED by the author. Signed by Author(s). Bookseller Inventory # ABE-17472613869
Published by Olympia, Paris (1955)
Used Paperback First Edition
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Item Description: Olympia, Paris, 1955. Paperback. Book Condition: Near fine. First edition. Original wraps; first issue w/ 900 francs on the rear covers. 2 vols. Exceptional copies with minor flaws: vol. one has a small bump at the spine; vol. two with a short tear expertly repaired, otherwise minor rubbing and wear, bright with no foxing and little creasing to the spine. Near fine copies, each book held separately in folding cloth cases; all housed in a deluxe clamshell box with gilt-stamped label. Best copies we have seen in a decade. One of the cornerstone works of the 20th Century, one of the few comparable for notoriety and quality to ULYSSES. Bookseller Inventory # 10368
Published by Olympia Press, Paris (1955)
Used Softcover First Edition
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Item Description: Olympia Press, Paris, 1955. First Edition, First Issue. Excellent set of the True First Edition, First Issue of this twentieth century Highspot & Nabokov masterpiece. 12mo., 188, 223pp. Two Volumes in publisher's "Travelers Companion" series, printed green wrappers with the "Francs: 900" price on the lower back corner of both volumes. Bright sharp & unrestored in essentially near fine / fine condition; Vol.1 slightly darker but near fine or better nevertheless. The contents of both volumes fresh & clean; neat bookseller's label on the title page of Vol.1 [which can be removed] . The 1962 Stanley Kubrick directed film starred James Mason, Shelley Winters, Peter Sellers & Sue Lyon. Nabokov wrote the screenplay. Jeremy Irons starred in the 1997 Adrian Lyne remake. A lovely superior set in a custom matching forest green cloth clamshell box with a gilt lettered label on the spine. A Modern Book Collecting & Literary Cornerstone. Field 0793. Juliar 428. Bookseller Inventory # 27018
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Item Description: Olympia Press, Paris, 1955. Book Condition: Very Good. FIRST EDITION of one of the most important novels of the twentieth century. WITH IMPORTANT PROVENANCE: From the Bureau Littéraire Clairouin, Nabokov's literary agency who was instrumental in its publication. "Vladimir Nabokov is an artist of the first rank, a writer in the great tradition . [and] Lolita is probably the best fiction to come out of this country (so to speak) since Faulkner's burst in the thirties. He may be the most important writer now going in this country. He is already, God help him, a classic" (Critic Conrad Brenner, in 1958). Controversial since its conception, Lolita was rejected by American publishing houses until finally accepted by the avant-garde Olympia Press in Paris and published in a fragile two-volume format. First issue, with 900 Francs on rear wrappers and no evidence of later price sticker. WITH IMPORTANT PROVENANCE: with stamp of the Bureau Littéraire Clairouin, Nabokov's literary agency, on front free endpaper of each volume. Nabokov on the Bureau Littéraire Clairouin and the publication of Lolita: "Lolita was finished at the beginning of 1954, in Ithaca, New York. My first attempts to have it published in the US proved disheartening and irritating. On August 6 of that year, from Taos, New Mexico, I wrote to Madame Ergaz, of the Bureau Littéraire Clairouin, Paris, about my troubles. She had arranged the publication in French of some of my Russian and English books; I now asked her to find somebody in Europe who would publish Lolita in the original English. She replied that she thought she could arrange it. A month later, however, upon my return to Ithaca (where I taught Russian Literature at Cornell) I wrote to her saying I had changed my mind. New hopes had arisen for publication in America. They petered out, and next spring I got in touch with Madame Ergaz again, writing her (Feb. 16) that Sylvia Beach 'might perhaps be interested if she still publishes.' This was not followed up. By April 17 Madame Ergaz had received my transcript. On April 26, 1955, a fatidic date, she said she had found a possible publisher. On May 13 she named that person. It was thus that Maurice Girodias, [founder of The Olympia Press], entered my files?" (Nabokov in Strong Opinions). Paris: Olympia Press, 1955. Octavo, original green paper wrappers; custom box. Two volumes. A little edgewear and a few spots of soiling, usual spine creases. An excellent copy with an important provenance of the rare first issue. Bookseller Inventory # 1738
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Item Description: Paris/London/New York: Olympia Press/Weidenfeld and Nicolson/McGraw-Hill Book Company/Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1955 - 1980, 1955. Hardcover. Book Condition: Wie neu. Dust Jacket Condition: Wie neu. 1. Auflage. 1. Lolita. Paris: The Olympia Press, 1955. Two volumes. First Editions, First Printings. The original price of "Francs : 900" is printed on the lower covers and there are no traces of any later stickers. Fine copies in fine original wrappers: pages exceptionally clean (really white), edges very slightly foxed, wrappers minimally creased and rubbed along the spines, the titles "LOLITA" on the front covers a bit smudged as usual. 2. Pale Fire. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1962. First Edition, First Printing. A near fine copy in a very good dustwrapper. 3. Ada - Or Ardor: A Family Chronicle. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1969. First Edition, Third Printing (1969). A near fine copy in a near fine dustwrapper. 4. Lectures on Literature: Austen - Dickens - Flaubert - Joyce - Kafka - Proust - Stevenson. Edited by Fredson Bowers, Introduction by John Updike. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1980. First Edition, First Printing. A near fine copy in a near fine dustwrapper. Price for the collection: 7'250. Please note that due to size and weight we will have to charge additional postage. Bookseller Inventory # 013041
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Item Description: The Olympia Press, 1955. Original Green Wraps. Book Condition: Near Fine. First Edition/First Issue. First issue with the price 900 Francs on the lower right corner of both volumes. Lolita is a novel by Vladimir Nabokov, written in English and published in 1955 in Paris and 1958 in New York. It was later translated by its Russian-native author into Russian. The novel is notable for its controversial subject: the protagonist and unreliable narrator, middle-aged literature professor Humbert Humbert, is obsessed with the 12-year-old Dolores Haze, with whom he becomes sexually involved after he becomes her stepfather. His private nickname for Dolores is Lolita. The book is also notable for its writing style. The narrative is highly subjective as Humbert draws on his fragmented memories, employing a sophisticated prose style, while attempting to gain the reader's sympathy through his sincerity and melancholy, although near the end of the story Humbert refers to himself as a "maniac" who "deprived" Dolores "of her childhood", and he shortly thereafter states "the most miserable of family lives was better than the parody of incest" in which they were involved. After its publication, Lolita attained a classic status, becoming one of the best-known and most controversial examples of 20th century literature. The name "Lolita" has entered pop culture to describe a sexually precocious girl. The novel was adapted to film by Stanley Kubrick in 1962, and again in 1997 by Adrian Lyne. It has also been adapted several times for stage and has been the subject of two operas, two ballets, and an acclaimed but failed Broadway musical. Lolita is included on Time's list of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005. It is fourth on the Modern Library's 1998 list of the 100 Best Novels of the 20th century. It also made the World Library's list of one of The 100 Best Books of All Time. A clean, strong and beautiful copy. Size: 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall. 2 Volumes. Bookseller Inventory # 884800
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Item Description: Paris: The Olympia Press, 1955, 1955. 2 volumes, octavo. Original green and white wrappers printed in black. Some rubbing to spine ends and edges of wrappers, small chip to fore-corner of vol. II, faint tape remains to free endpapers, otherwise internally fresh. An excellent set. First edition, first printing, second state wrappers, published three years before the American edition and four before the London edition. With the bookseller's hand-correction to the price on the rear covers, this is Juliar's "issue b", though it is in fact a state rather than an issue. Lolita was originally published with a printed price of 900 francs on the rear covers, but a sudden currency fluctuation at the time of publication meant that the books had to be re-priced to 1,200 francs. The publishers prepared gummed stickers with the new price and some bookshops took it upon themselves to re-price the volumes with rubber stamps or by hand, as here (the price correction has been lightly erased from the first volume). Juliar, Vladimir Nabokov: A Descriptive Bibliography, Revised A28.1. Bookseller Inventory # 114994
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Item Description: Olympia Press, 1955. Softcover. Book Condition: Wie neu. Ohne Schutzumschlag. 1. Auflage. Lolita. Paris: The Olympia Press, 1955. Two volumes. First Editions, First Printings. The original price of "Francs : 900" is printed on the lower covers and there are no traces of any later stickers. Fine copies in fine original wrappers: pages exceptionally clean (really white), edges very slightly foxed, wrappers minimally creased and rubbed along the spines, the titles "LOLITA" on the front covers a bit smudged as usual. A milestone of erotic fiction, inventiveness, comedy and life on American roads, and this a truly beautiful set of this rather cheap and fragile production. CHF 5'500. This item is part of our Catalogue 5: 100 Key Books, a copy of which you can order from us at YGRbooks. Bookseller Inventory # 000181
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Item Description: Paris, The Olympia Press, (1955). Bound with the original green wrappers in two elegant, uniform, fully contemporary Danish Half morocco-bindings with gilt author and title to spine (Harry Larsen). Elegant burgundy-red paper over boards. Minor traces of use to extremities. Internally very fine, fresh, and clean. First edition, first issue (with "Francs : 900" to back wrappers) of this main work of 20th century literature, which, with its innovative style and highly controversial subject caused a number of scandals after its appearance. It had been turned down by six publishing houses, anticipating how it would be received by the public, but in 1955 Nabokov finally signed a contract with Olympia Press in Paris. By the Sunday Express editor it was called "the filthiest book I have ever read" and "sheer unrestrained pornography"; the Home Office in Great Britain instructed British Customs to seize all copies entering the country, and in 1956 the book was banned in France. The various translations of the work into other languages caused a number of other scandals, but in spite of American officials being anxious about the appearance of the first American edition, this was issued without problems (in 1958) and became an instant bestseller. In fact, it sold more than 100.000 copies within the first three weeks (as the first book after "Gone With the Wind").Today the book has classic status and is considered one of the finest novels of the 20th century. Bookseller Inventory # 43725
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Item Description: The Olympia Press, 1955. Soft cover. Book Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. First edition, first printing in two volumes. (All points present for both volumes with first issue "900 francs" prices and no traces of stickers.)188 p. (with no pages 11-12 as noted by Juliar); 223 p. Original green wraps. A Very Good+ set overall. Light creasing to both volumes' wrappers, light foxing to edges. Clean text. Volume One about very good with some scattered staining to its wrappers with some toning, worn edges, light dulling to front cover title, creasing and slight lean to the spine, pencil mark through back cover price. Volume Two near fine with clean, bright wrappers and just a bit of wear to its edges. The first appearance of Nabokov's still-controversial novel from Maurice Girodias's pioneering, Paris-based publishers Olympia Press. Bookseller Inventory # 160322002
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Item Description: Jerusalem: The Olympia Press, 1955 [1958], 1958. 2 volumes in one, octavo. Original blue Rexene, titles to spine gilt. With the dust jacket. Bookseller's label to front pastedown, an excellent copy in the very lightly rubbed and slightly tanned dust jacket. First Israeli edition, first printing, offset from the sheets of the second Paris edition. The hardback issue. An uncommon printing of Nabokov's masterpiece and one of the black tulips in Girodias's canon. There were apparently 1000 numbered copies printed (ours bears the number 584 on the rear pastedown) of which about half were issued in wrappers the rest as here in boards. Bookseller Inventory # 34053
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Item Description: Olympia Press, Paris, 1955. First Edition. A very good or better set of the True First Edition, First Issue of this twentieth century Highspot & Nabokov masterpiece. Two Volumes in publisher's printed green wrappers with the "Francs: 900" price on the lower back corner of both volumes neatly blackened out & without the later 1200 Francs label. 12mo., 188, 233pp. A very nice set showing modest use; the spines of both volumes still white in the title area, some rubs to the extremities, content free of blemish, names, etc. Not perfection but a better, cleaner set than usually encountered. The 1962 Stanley Kubrick directed film starred James Mason, Shelley Winters, Peter Sellers & Sue Lyon. Nabokov wrote the screenplay. Jeremy Irons starred in the 1997 Adrian Lyne remake. Custom TBCL matching forest green cloth clamshell box with a gilt lettered label on the spine. A Modern Book Collecting & Literary Cornerstone. Field 0793. Juliar 428. Bookseller Inventory # 31702
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Item Description: Printed in Israel for The Olympia Press by Steimatzky's Agency, (Jerusalem, 1955. Hardcover. First Israeli edition, and the first hardcover edition (there was also a wrappered issue of the Israeli edition). Two volumes in one. Original blue leather-textured papercovered boards in dustwrapper. Offsetting to the front and rear endpapers as usual, small and light stain on rear fly leaf, else near fine in a modestly rubbed, very good dustwrapper with some tanning to the white portion of the spine and a few modest chips. The first hardcover edition; the true first edition was published in Paris in two wrappered volumes. Stamped with the number 1442 on the front flap, Nabokov bibliographer Michael Juliar believes all copies of the Israeli edition were numbered, both hardcover and wrappered. A very uncommon issue of a high spot of modern literature. Nabokov wrote the screenplay for the 1962 Stanley Kubrick film with James Mason, Shelley Winters, Peter Sellers, and Sue Lyon in the title role, the film was remade by Adrian Lyne in 1997 with Jeremy Irons. Bookseller Inventory # 399516
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Item Description: Steimatzky's Agency/Offset Sh. Monson, 1958. Hardcover. Book Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Item 9075 Author: Vladimir Nabokov Title: LOLITA PUblisher: Steimatzky's Agency/Offset Sh. Monson First edition (israel) Jerusalem 1958 Condition: Very good, with green DJ,19.5x12x 2.7 Cms), 223 pages, Weight 380 grams book Description: Jerusalem: The Olympia Press, 1955 [1958], 1958. 2 volumes in one, octavo. Original blue Rexene, titles to spine gilt 223 pp.; Lolita. Jerusalem: Steimatzky's Agency for the Olympia Press, 1955, First Israeli edition, first printing, offset from the sheets of the second Paris edition, first single volume and first hardcover edition of one of the most controversial novels of modern times, dust-jacket slightly torn at corners, spine and back which were somehow repaired The book inner and back cover show some foxing. Otherwise in very good condition This is the hardback issue. An uncommon printing of Nabokov's masterpiece and one of the black tulips in Girodias's canon. There were apparently 1200 numbered copies printed (ours bears the number 1158 on the rear pastedown) of which about half were issued in wrappers the rest as here in boards. Bookseller Inventory N° 9075 Satisfaction guaranteed, Bookseller Inventory N° 9075, free shipping to USA or within Colombia. Our price USD 1,999.88. Bookseller Inventory # 9075
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Item Description: The Olympia Press, 1958. Hardcover. Book Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. First edition, first impression (thus) - the true first hardcover issue and the first issue as a single volume; printed by Steimatzky's Agency of Jerusalem for The Olympia Press (first printed in wrappers, and as two volumes, by Olympia in Paris in 1955). Less than 1500 copies were produced by Steimatzky, split between hardcover and wrappers, with each numbered � this copy is stamped �757� to the foot of the front dustwrapper flap. Near Fine+: tight and square binding in sharp and clean blue Rexene boards; bright gilt lettering; tanned to the edge of the page block; some offsetting to the endpapers; bookseller�s label to the foot of the front pastedown; very bright, crisp and clean pages, free of marks, inscriptions and foxing. The unclipped (and unpriced) dustwrapper is Very Good+: vibrant, green colouring; tanning to the title label to the spine; soft vertical crease adjacent to the front gutter; 1.5cm closed tear to the head of the front spine fold; modest edgewear; presented in a removable, archival-quality Brodart protective cover. A lovely example of a scarce edition. All orders are sent carefully wrapped in bubble wrap and sturdy cardboard. Bookseller Inventory # H999
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Who played consultant surgeon Mr Gordon Thorpe in Only When I Laugh? | Only When I Laugh | TVmaze
Only When I Laugh
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"Only When I Laugh" is a British television sitcom made by Yorkshire Television for ITV. It aired between 29 October 1979 and 16 December 1982 and was set in the ward of an NHS hospital. The title is in response to the question, "Does it hurt?"
It starred James Bolam, Peter Bowles, and Christopher Strauli as patients Roy Figgis, Archie Glover, and Norman Binns. Mr. Gordon Thorpe, their consultant surgeon, was played by Richard Wilson; and Gupte, the staff nurse from Delhi, was played by Derrick Branche.
The show was one of many successes for writer Eric Chappell, and has been repeated onI TV3 since 2007.
Roy, Archie and Norman are long-term patients in a British hospital ward. Though they don't seem terribly ill, neither do they seem to be getting better and going home. So they pass their days side by side in the hospital ward, chatting and occasionally getting on one another's nerves.
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Who played Raquel’s former husband, ex-policeman Roy Slater in Only Fools and Horses? | Only When I Laugh - S01 to S04 - Sitcom - Xvid - Slimoo (download torrent) - TPB
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Only When I Laugh - Sitcom - Xvid - Slimoo ===================== NOTE ===================== . [b] I try to post a torrent "Every" day. I use my upload to post new torrents, I do not re-seed any torrents (Unless I know you via commenting) Once 5 people complete I stop seeding I need to move on to the new torrent . [/b] . . ================================================= Only When I Laugh is a British television sitcom made by Yorkshire Television for ITV between 29 October 1979 and 16 December 1982. It is set in the ward of an NHS hospital. The title is the answer to the question, "Does it hurt?" It stars James Bolam, Peter Bowles, and Christopher Strauli as patients Roy Figgis, Archie Glover, and Norman Binns. Mr. Gordon Thorpe, their consultant surgeon, is played by Richard Wilson; and Gupte, the staff nurse from Delhi, is played by Derrick Branche. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Only_When_I_Laugh_(TV_series) ============= What's In This Torrent ============= [b] Only When I Laugh - Series 01 (7X25 min) Only When I Laugh - Series 02 (7X25 min) Only When I Laugh - Series 03 (8X25 min) Only When I Laugh - Series 04 (7X25 min) [/b] ===================== General ===================== Complete name : Only When I Laugh.avi Format : AVI Format info : Audio Video Interleave File size : 350 MB Duration (ms) : 24mn 59s OverallBitRate_Mode/String : Variable Total bitrate : 1 957 Kbps Encoded application : VirtualDubMod 1.5.4.1 (build 2178/release) Encoded library : VirtualDubMod build 2178/release ===================== Video ===================== Id : 0 Format : MPEG-4 Visual Format profile : Advanced [email protected] Format settings - BVOP : 1 Format settings - QPel : No Format settings - GMC : No warppoints Format settings - Matrix : Custom Codec Id : XVID Codec : XviD Duration (ms) : 24mn 59s Bitrate : 1 846 Kbps Width : 720 pixels Height : 416 pixels Aspect ratio : 1.731 Framerate : 25.000 fps Colorimetry : YUV Colos space : 4:2:0 Bit depth : 8 bits Scan type : Progressive Compression_Mode/String : Lossy Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.246 Stream size : 330 MB (94%) Encoded library : XviD 1.1.2 (UTC 2006-11-01) ===================== Audio ===================== Id : 1 Format : MPEG Audio Format version : Version 1 Format profile : Layer 3 Format settings mode : Joint stereo Format settings mode extens : MS Stereo Codec Id : 55 Codec : MP3 Duration (ms) : 24mn 59s Bitrate mode : Variable Bitrate : 99.0 Kbps BitRate_Nominal/String : 128 Kbps Channel(s) : 2 channels Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz Compression_Mode/String : Lossy Stream size : 17.7 MB (5%) Alignement : Aligned on interleaves Interleave duration : 24 ms (0.60 video frame) Interleave preload : 504 ms Encoded library : LAME3.98r Encoded library settings : -m j -V 4 -q 2 -lowpass 17 --abr 128
| i don't know |
Who played the mad legless Captain Rum in the second series of Blackadder? | "Black-Adder II" Potato (TV Episode 1986) - IMDb
(United Kingdom) – See all my reviews
Potato is another great Series 2 episode - Tom Baker appears in this, and his role as Captain Redbeard Rum is absolutely hilarious. The humour is once again strong, Baldrick is once again on stupid form (he is much funnier this way), and there are more endlessly quotable lines to be found in this. From the start to the end - Potato is an absolutely cracking episode.
Yes, the budget is still remarkably cheap for this episode - there should have at least been some fancy visuals on Blackadder's boat. However, Tom Baker's legs were hidden quite well during this episode (he is meant to be a legless captain, after all) and the effects aren't to be snorted at. Blackadder 1 may have had a higher budget than this, but this is Blackadder at its very best - clever, cheap, and cheerful. Potato is the last 10/10 episode of this series - the others are good, but they just can't recapture its heights.
On the whole, Potato is a great Blackadder episode - not to be skipped! 10/10
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| Tom Baker |
Lieutenant Pinkerton is a character in which opera by Puccini? | "Black-Adder II" Reviews & Ratings - IMDb
from West Virginia
20 April 2004
This has to be the funniest, most scathing comedy series of all times. Rowan Atkinson, whose persona and looks change with each reincarnation, is, in these episodes, a strutting peacock always on the lookout for funds to support his lifestyle and he is, in a word, priceless! The supporting cast is without peer...Baldrick the filthy: Lord Percy Percy, the stupidest git that ever drew breath; Queenie, the psychotic; Nursie with the udder fixation; Lord Melchett, the brown-noser.......all are perfect. And others who pop up in particular episodes are spot on. The famous Blackadder sneer begins in these episodes and the insults fly like fleas from Baldrick's hair. In Blackadder II, "Chains" is the one that will make you choke with laughter. Hugh Laurie, as Prince Ludwig who doesn't want to "inconwenience the quveen" is hilarious and the secret of Lord Melchett's sheep is revealed.....baaaaaa. If you like Blackadder in all it's iterations, buy the book "Blackadder, the Whole Damn Dynasty".....it contains the complete scripts of each episode and you can laugh all over again. This is the best of the best in British humor!
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29 out of 30 people found the following review useful:
Definitive Blackadder
from Hampshire, England
14 December 2000
To many who watched the ongoing saga of the Blackadder family at the time of release, this is the best Blackadder series of them all - and they have a very strong case. Although this is not my own personal favourite (I prefer the original series), this second installment is a superb piece of comedy.
The time-period moves on approximately sixty years to Elizabethan England and follows the story of Edmund Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson) - the great-grandson of the original slimy Blackadder. This time Edmund is not a Prince of the realm but a Lord in the court of Good Queen Bess (the wonderful Miranda Richardson). Tim McInnerny continues in the role as Percy and he threatens to steal the show throughout. Percy's character is built on from the first series, being given a more child-like and innocent personality to go with the lack of brain cells, and this combined with McInnerny's fantastic performance gives the comedy an added dimension and direction. The Baldrick role (Tony Robinson) is also reprised, but instead of the street-wise peasant with the cunning plan of series one, we get the first incarnation of the Baldrick character we are now more familiar with - dirty, smelly and incredibly stupid. In this series it works, because now Blackadder himself is significantly brighter and more refined than his ancestor and this time he's armed with a razor-sharp wit. The characters do complement each other well, but the close-nit group of the first series is now missing with Blackadder resenting and mistreating his sidekicks throughout, but this is used well for comic effect.
The supporting cast is also excellent and the characters they play are brilliantly written. Elizabeth herself is portrayed as a spoilt little school-girl, complete with screams! Richardson plays this role superbly and with hilarious results with the queen being highly unpredictable and volatile. Elizabeth also has a couple of loyal sidekicks, Nursy (Patsy Byrne) the woman who weaned her as a child, and Melchett (Stephen Fry), her advisor. All of these characters add weight to the comedy, and are sufficiently different to each other to provide alternative directions in comedy.
Although Blackadder does have a basic goal in this series - to marry Elizabeth and become her consort - it does not drive the plot as much in this series as it did in the first. The plots for each episode however are still extremely entertaining and contain the basic premise of Blackadder getting into a desperate situation that he must get out of - with the aid (or hindrance) of Percy and Baldrick. The stories are well-thought out and the comedy a good-blend of dry-wit from Blackadder and farcical situations. The stories are well scripted and contain some excellent supporting characters played memorably by the likes of Rik Mayall (of Young Ones and Drop Dead Fred fame), Ronald Lacey (Raiders of the Lost Ark) and ex Dr Who Tom Baker.
This series of Blackadder successfully alters the main character into the intelligent and dry cynic, because it does not do so at the expense of the other characters and the plots. Ben Elton's influence however is evident with the supporting characters being of the less intelligent type, aluding to things to come in the next two series where these characters becoming the main target for the humour. Blackadder II works so well because it is the stories that drive the humour with the dry-wit as an added bonus - things were about to be reversed.
Like the first series this is a classic of comedy and well deserves its standing as, arguably, the most popular Blackadder series. The first and last series of Blackadder could not be further apart in terms of humour and subtlety - this series fuses both styles to create, perhaps the definitive Blackadder.
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19 out of 20 people found the following review useful:
The best, by far!
from Xanadu
28 June 2003
Blackadder II is the finest series of them all. we have the perfect cast and the crispest writing. Everything is spot on here.
Miranda Richardson joins the cast, as a particularly loopy Queen Elizabeth. Stehen Fry joins in as the toadying Lord Melchett and the delightful Patsy Byrne is the daft Nursie. Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, and Tim McInnerny are back as the descendants of their previous characters. Percy is still a cretin, but now so is Baldrick! Luckily, Lord Edmund is a step above his ancestor, even if his station in life has fallen.
The guests this time include Hugh Laurie as mad Prince Ludwig, Rik Mayall in his first turn as the great Lord Flasheart, and Tom Baker as a rather insane sea captain.
If you never get to see any of the other series, watch this one.
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18 out of 19 people found the following review useful:
Excellent and original
from Surrey, England
10 August 2003
Blackadder II is a vast improvement over its less popular predecessor. The second series was almost not made due to the lack of success of the original, and clearly the writers re-considered Blackadder's character. He, rather than the now dull-witted Baldrick, is the more intelligent of the pair and his character is now quick-witted, cunning and offers much in sarcastic humour. This, and possible Blackadder goes Forth, is the best of all the Blackadder series. Blackadder's new character is much funnier and Atkinson plays it masterfully. The series itself takes place some one hundred years after the first, just before the turn of the 17th century. I recommend it to all comedy fans.
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11 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
Blackadder as good as it ever was
from United Kingdom
8 June 2002
Lord Edmund Blackadder is a Lord in the court of Queen Elizabeth I. With his long suffering servant Baldrick and `close-friend' Percy he must wiggle his way through several sticky situations to come through with his political state and his skin intact!
This second of four series of Blackadder ranks as one of the consistently best. It may not be as fresh as the thrid and fourth series mainly because the later series were sharper, crueler and benefited from very familiar (and by then quite famous) characters and actors. The stories were always a little absurd but built around the deadpan, downbeat Blackadder. Plots include the Blackadder falling in love with his female man-servant Bob, beheading a man who was meant to be pardoned or just being kidnapped by a French master of disguise.
They all are filled with sarcasm and wit and make up for the daffy plots. Atkinson is comfortable in his role but is better in series 3. Robinson is funny in a poor role of Baldrick. McInnerny is OK as percy but is not as good an idiot as Laurie's Prince in 3. The royal court is funny with Fry, Richardson and Byrne all good.
Overall this is as good as all the series are. Witty, cruel, sarcastic and with off the wall plots and extreme characters it's typical of how good British comedy can be.
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8 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
The Elisabethan Sitcom
from Ambrosia
22 August 2006
'Blackadder 2' provoked outrage when first broadcast in the U.K. Those who'd liked the first series were extremely unhappy at the show's reformatting; Nina Myskow, television critic of 'The News Of The World' bestowed on Rowan Atkinson her infamous 'wally of the week' title. Its only with the benefit of hindsight can we see now that the changes were absolutely spot-on; Edmund becoming a sarcastic cad, Baldrick turning stupid, and the expensive film sequences dropped in favour of stronger characterisations and tighter plots. Without the likes of Brian Blessed to constantly upstage him, Atkinson was free to dominate the show. Ben Elton replaced Atkinson as Richard Curtis' co-writer - another wise move. As the squeaky-voiced 'Queenie', Miranda Richardson was simply outstanding. Tom Baker played 'Captain 'Redbeard' Rum' in one episode, a tour-de-force of over-the-top acting. The weight of public opinion gradually swung behind 'Blackadder 2' - its now regarded as better than its predecessor.
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8 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
So good it hurts
from United Kingdom
10 March 2006
I adore this. It's about as funny as old-fashioned brutal British sarcasm gets. Not only that, but the characters themselves are fantastic, despite the theory that it is "being a true and japesome historie of Englande" is perhaps a little unlikely. Favourite episode? "Head", has both verbal and physical side-splitting hilarity, and although the lines are occasionally a little predictable, their fantastic delivery makes up for it. In my opinion, this is by far and away the best of all the Blackadder series if only for the Miranda Richardson factor(perhaps I am a little biased....) but I would recommend this to just about anyone in need of a laugh. Unless they had a heart condition.
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10 out of 13 people found the following review useful:
Why can't Atkinson do more characters like this
from England
18 March 2005
Reading through the many comments on Blackadder i agree with the majority that it was an extremely funny and enjoyable show, especially once they had sorted out the main character from being a whiny no hoper with a stupid voice...
time and time again Rowan Atkinson has played characters like this and they are just not funny...someone has even suggested that Mr Bean is Atkinson at his best...
Balderdash...
Blackadder (series 2,3 and four) will remain a testament to great writing and performance...idiot characters should hopefully be forgotten to time.
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7 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
As Good As Comedy Gets
from L.A. CA
29 August 2001
This series is so brilliant, so witty, so laugh out loud funny, I watch them over and over again. I actually did NOT care for the first one (where Rowan was Edmund, the Duke). It seemed to be all over the place, embracing the history more than the comedy. But this one, Blackadder II, is MY favorite, even though Three and Four are also good. Four set during WWI is hit and miss, but some of the episodes are exceptional -especially the very last one. Funny, yet incredibly moving. Everyone's work in this series is fantastic. BELLS and HEAD are my two favorite episodes of this series. Rowan Atkinson was born to say Elton and Curtis' words and Miranda Richardson's performance as Queen Elizabeth, in all it's spoiled rotten pouting, is comic gold. The only American series that even came close to this (And I give them credit for even trying) was the summer series on CBS, THANKS - which was about the first American Pilgrim family at Plymouth, Mass. 1621. It, too, was brilliant satire, but, gee - American audiences preferred watching the premeire of Who Wants To Be A $%#@%%$ Millionaire!!! This Blackadder series IS available on video in America - so seek it out!!!
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5 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Fantastic
from Colchester, England
24 June 2003
Simply fantastic. Whilst this isn't my fav series (I prefer series III) it is still hugely funny. Unfortunately the humour is very British and probably won't work in the USA. Pity. This series is a huge improvement on the first, the increased interplay (piss-taking) between Blackadder and Baldrick is the key (it also helps having a little more stability in the story line. Simply fantastic, can be watched over and over again, although one must avoid quoting it on a daily basis!
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| i don't know |
The Bridal Chorus AKA ‘Here comes the Bride’ appears in which opera by Wagner? | Wagner : Bridal Chorus - Here Comes The Bride - YouTube
Wagner : Bridal Chorus - Here Comes The Bride
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Published on Apr 25, 2012
Richard WAGNER (1813-1883) : Bridal Chorus - Wedding March - Here Comes The Bride - From Lohengrin
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| Lohengrin |
On which of London’s tube lines do trains reach the greatest speeds? | Bridal chorus from Lohengrin - Here comes the bride! for flute duet
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Bridal chorus from Lohengrin - Here comes the bride! for flute duet
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The "Bridal Chorus" from the opera Lohengrin (1848), by German composer Richard Wagner (1813-1883), is the standard march played for the bride’s entrance at most formal weddings in the United States and at many weddings throughout the Western world. In English-speaking countries it is generally known as "Here Comes the Bride" or "Wedding March". Its usual placement at the beginning of a wedding ceremony is not entirely in accordance with its placement in the opera. And good luck at the wedding!
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| i don't know |
Which saint lived on a small platform at the top of a pillar in Aleppo for 37 years? | Ecumenical Buddhism, Daoism, & Confucianism: The Stylites
Ecumenical Buddhism, Daoism, & Confucianism
Buddhism is the successor of the tribal Hindu faith. LaoZi is the greatest prophet of the Dao. Siddhartha Gautama is Saint Ioasaph in the Orthodox & Catholic Christian Churches. Jesus Christ can, in truth, be called a Buddha. He is the Eternal Dao, who is also One with the Father & Holy Spirit in the Holy Trinity. Apostolic Christianity is the successor of not only the tribal Jewish religion but also the 3 in 1 San Jiao He Yi faith of Buddhism, Daoism & Confucianism combined.
22 August 2010
The Stylites
Stylites (from Greek stylos, "pillar") or Pillar-Saints are a type of Christian ascetic who in the early days of the Byzantine Empire stood on pillars preaching, fasting and praying. They believed that the mortification of their bodies would help ensure the salvation of their souls. The first stylite was probably Simeon Stylites the Elder who climbed on a pillar in Syria in 423 and remained there until his death 37 years later.
Palladius of Galatia tells us of a hermit in Palestine who dwelt in a cave on the top of a mountain and who for the space of twenty-five years never turned his face to the west so that the sun never set on his face. St. Gregory of Nazianzus (Patrologia Graeca 37, 1456) speaks of a solitary who stood upright for many years together, absorbed in contemplation, without ever lying down. Theodoret assures us that he had seen a hermit who had passed ten years in a tub suspended in midair from poles (Philotheus, chapter 28).
Palladius of Galatia was bishop of Helenopolis in Bithynia, and a devoted disciple of Saint John Chrysostom. He is best remembered for his work, the Lausiac History; he was also, in all probability, the author of the Dialogue on the Life of Chrysostom.
Palladius was born in Galatia in 363 or 364, and dedicated himself to the monastic life in 386 or a little later. He travelled to Egypt to meet the prototypical Christian monks, the Desert Fathers, for himself. In 388 he arrived in Alexandria and about 390 he passed on to Nitria, and a year later to a district in the desert known as Cellia, from the multitude of its cells, where he spent nine years, first with Macarius of Alexandria and then with Evagrius Ponticus. At the end of the time, his health having broken down, he went to Palestine in search of a cooler climate. In 400 he was ordained bishop of Helenopolis in Bithynia, and soon became involved in the controversies which centred round St. John Chrysostom. The year 405 found him in Rome, whither he had gone to plead the cause of Chrysostom, his fidelity to whom resulted in his exile in the following year to Syene and the Thebaid, where he gained first-hand knowledge of another part of Egypt. In 412–413 he was restored, after a sojourn among the monks of the Mount of Olives. His great work was written in 419–420 and was called the Lausiac History, being composed for Lausus, chamberlain at the court of Theodosius II. He died some time in the decade 420–430.
There seems no reason to doubt that it was the ascetic spirit manifested in such examples as these which spurred men on to devise new and more ingenious forms of self-crucifixion and which in 423 led Simeon Stylites the Elder first of all to take up his abode on the top of a pillar. Critics have recalled a passage in Lucian (De Syria Dea, chapters 28 and 29) which speaks of a high column at Hierapolis Bambyce to the top of which a man ascended twice a year and spent a week in converse with the gods, but the Catholic Encyclopedia argues that it is unlikely that Simeon had derived any suggestion from this pagan custom. In any case Simeon had a continuous series of imitators, particularly in Syria and Palestine. Daniel the Stylite may have been the first of these, for he had been a disciple of Simeon and began his rigorous way of life shortly after his master died.
Saint Simeon Stylites or Symeon the Stylite (Arabic: مار سمعان العمودي mār semʕān l-ʕamūdī; Greek: Ἅγιος Συμεὼν Στυλίτης Hagios Symeon Stylites) (c. 390 – 2 September 459) was a Christian ascetic saint who achieved fame because he lived for 37 years on a small platform on top of a pillar near Aleppo in Syria. Several other stylites later followed his model (the Greek word style means pillar). He is known formally as Saint Simeon Stylites the Elder to distinguish him from Simeon Stylites the Younger and Simeon Stylites III.
Simeon, who was born at Sisan (probably the current Turkish town of Samandağ) in northern Syria, was the son of a shepherd. With the partition of the Roman Empire in 395, Syria was incorporated in what would become the Byzantine Empire and Christianity grew quickly.
Reportedly under the influence of his mother Martha (who is also a saint), he developed a zeal for Christianity at the age of 13, following a lecture of the Beatitudes. He subjected himself to ever-increasing bodily austerities from an early age, especially fasting, and entered a monastery before the age of 16.
On one occasion, moving nearby, he commenced a severe regimen of fasting for Great Lent and was visited by the head of the monastery, who left him some water and loaves. A number of days later, Simeon was discovered unconscious, with the water and loaves untouched. When he was brought back to the monastery, it was discovered that he had bound his waist with a girdle made of palm fronds so tightly that days of soaking were required to remove the fibres from the wound formed. At this, Simeon was requested to leave the monastery.
He then shut himself up for one and a half years in a hut, where he passed the whole of Lent without eating or drinking. When he emerged from the hut, his achievement was hailed as a miracle. He later took to standing continually upright so long as his limbs would sustain him.
After one and a half years in his hut, Simeon sought a rocky eminence on the slopes of what is now the Sheik Barakat Mountain and compelled himself to remain a prisoner within a narrow space, less than 20 meters in diameter. But crowds of pilgrims invaded the area to seek him out, asking his counsel or his prayers, and leaving him insufficient time for his own devotions. This at last led him to adopt a new way of life.
In order to get away from the ever increasing number of people who frequently came to him for prayers and advice, leaving him little if any time for his private austerities, Simeon discovered a pillar which had survived amongst ruins, formed a small platform at the top, and upon this determined to live out his life. It has been stated that, as he seemed to be unable to avoid escaping the world horizontally, he may have thought it an attempt to try to escape it vertically. For sustenance small boys from the village would climb up the pillar and pass him small parcels of flat bread and goats milk.
When the monastic Elders living in the desert heard about Simeon, who had chosen a new and strange form of asceticism, they wanted to test him to determine whether his extreme feats were founded in humility or pride. They decided to tell Simeon under obedience to come down from the pillar. If he disobeyed they would forcibly drag him to the ground, but if he was willing to submit, they were to leave him on his pillar. St Simeon displayed complete obedience and humility, and the monks told him to stay where he was.
This first pillar was little more than four meters high, but his well-wishers subsequently replaced it with others, the last in the series being apparently over 15 meters from the ground. At the top of the pillar was a platform, with a baluster, which is believed to have been about one square metre.
According to his hagiography, Simeon would not allow any woman to come near his pillar, not even his own mother, reportedly telling her, "If we are worthy, we shall see one another in the life to come." Martha submitted to this. Remaining in the area, she also embraced the monastic life of silence and prayer. When she died, Simeon asked that her remains be brought to him. He reverently bade farewell to his dead mother, and, according to the account, a smile appeared on her face.
Edward Gibbon in his History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire describes Simeon's existence as follows:
In this last and lofty station, the Syrian Anachoret resisted the heat of thirty summers, and the cold of as many winters. Habit and exercise instructed him to maintain his dangerous situation without fear or giddiness, and successively to assume the different postures of devotion. He sometimes prayed in an erect attitude, with his outstretched arms in the figure of a cross, but his most familiar practice was that of bending his meagre skeleton from the forehead to the feet; and a curious spectator, after numbering twelve hundred and forty- four repetitions, at length desisted from the endless account. The progress of an ulcer in his thigh might shorten, but it could not disturb, this celestial life; and the patient Hermit expired, without descending from his column.
Even on the highest of his columns, Simeon was not withdrawn from the world. If anything, the new pillar drew even more people, not only the pilgrims who had come earlier but now sightseers as well. Simeon made himself available to these visitors every afternoon. By means of a ladder, visitors were able to ascend, and it is known that he wrote letters, the text of some of which survived to this day, that he instructed disciples, and that he also delivered addresses to those assembled beneath, preaching especially against profanity and usury. In contrast to the extreme austerity that he demanded of himself, his preaching conveyed temperance and compassion, and was marked with common sense and freedom from fanaticism.
Much of Simeon’s public ministry, like that of other Syrian ascetics, can be seen as socially cohensive in the context of the Late Roman East. In the face of the withdrawal of wealthy landowners to the large cities, holy men such as Simeon acted as impartial and necessary patrons and arbiters in disputes between peasant farmers and within the smaller towns.
Simeon's fame spread throughout the Empire. The Emperor Theodosius and his wife Eudocia greatly respected the saint and listened to his counsels, while the Emperor Leo paid respectful attention to a letter he sent in favour of the Council of Chalcedon. Simeon is also said to have corresponded with St Genevieve of Paris.
Simeon became so influential that a church delegation was sent to him to demand that he descend from his pillar as a sign of submission. When, however, he showed himself willing to comply, the request was withdrawn. Once when he was ill, Theodosius sent three bishops to beg him to come down and allow himself to be attended by physicians, but Simeon preferred to leave his cure in the hands of God, and before long he recovered.
After spending 39 years on his pillar, Simeon died on 2 September 459. He inspired many imitators, and, for the next century, ascetics living on pillars, stylites, were a common sight throughout the Byzantine Levant.
He is commemorated as a saint in the Coptic Orthodox Church, where his feast is on 29 Pashons. He is commemorated 1 September by the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic Churches, and 5 January in the Roman Catholic Church.
A contest arose between Antioch and Constantinople for the possession of Simeon's remains. The preference was given to Antioch, and the greater part of his relics were left there as a protection to the unwalled city.
The ruins of the vast edifice erected in his honour and known in Arabic as the Qalaat Semaan ("the Fortress of Simeon") can still be seen. They are located about 30 km northwest of Aleppo (36°20′03″N 36°50′38″ECoordinates: 36°20′03″N 36°50′38″E) and consist of four basilicas built out from an octagonal court towards the four points of the compass to form a large cross. In the centre of the court stands the base of the style or column on which St. Simeon stood.
A statue commemorating St. Simeon's asceticism can be found in Grimsby town centre, UK. The town's thriving Orthodox Syrian Christian community commissioned the statue, which has a jade motif of 39 concentric circles representing each of St. Simeon's years atop the pillar, to be built in 1971.
In The Guinness World Book Of Records 2010 his record for the longest pole sit is also the longest record ever held by anybody.
Saint Daniel the Stylite (c. 409 - 493) is a saint of the Eastern Orthodox, and Roman Catholic and Eastern Catholic Churches. He was born in a village by the name of Maratha in upper Mesopotamia near Samosata, in today what is now a region of Turkey. He entered a monastery at the age of twelve and lived there until he was thirty-eight. During a voyage he made with his abbot to Antioch, he passed by Tellnesin and received the benediction and encouragement of St. Simeon Stylites. Then he visited the holy places, stayed in various convents, and retired in 451 into the ruins of a pagan temple.
He established his pillar four miles north of Constantinople. The owner of the soil where he placed his pillar, who had not been consulted, appealed to the emperor and the patriarch Gennadius of Constantinople. Gennadius proposed to dislodge him, but in some way was deterred. Gennadius ordained him a priest against his will, standing at the foot of his pillar. When the ceremony was over the patriarch administered the Eucharist by means of a ladder, which Daniel had ordered to be brought. Gennadius then received the Eucharist from Daniel. Daniel lived on the pillar for 33 years. By continually standing, his feet were covered with sores and ulcers: the winds of Thrace sometimes stripped him of his scanty clothing.
He was visited by both the Emperor Leo I the Thracian and the Emperor Zeno. As a theologian, he came out against monophysitism.
The following is his prayer before he began his life on the pillar:
"I yield Thee glory, Jesus Christ my God, for all the blessings which Thou hast heaped upon me, and for the grace which Thou hast given me that I should embrace this manner of life. But Thou knowest that in ascending this pillar, I lean on Thee alone, and that to Thee alone I look for the happy issue of mine undertaking. Accept, then, my object: strengthen me that I finish this painful course: give me grace to end it in holiness."
The following is the advice he gave to his disciples just before his death:
"Hold fast humility, practice obedience, exercise hospitality, keep the fasts, observe the vigils, love poverty, and above all maintain charity, which is the first and great commandment; keep closely bound to all that regards piety, avoid the tares of the heretics. Separate never from the Church your Mother; if you do these things your righteousness shall be perfect."
Saint Daniel is commemorated 11 December on the liturgical calendars of the Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Catholic and Roman Catholic Churches.
Saint Simeon Stylites the Younger [also known as 'St. Simeon of the Admirable Mountain'] (Arabic: مار سمعان العمودي الأصغر mār semʕān l-ʕamūdī l-asghar) (521 - May 24, 597) is a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church and Catholic Churches of Eastern and Latin Rites. Born at Antioch, his father was a native of Edessa, his mother, named Martha was afterwards revered as a saint and a life of her, which incorporates a letter to her son written from his pillar to Thomas, the guardian of the true cross at Jerusalem, has been printed.
Like his namesake, the first Stylites, Simeon seems to have been drawn very young to a life of austerity. He attached himself to a community of ascetics living within the mandra or enclosure of another pillar-hermit, named John, who acted as their spiritual director. Simeon while still only a boy had a pillar erected for himself close to that of John. It is Simeon himself who in the above-mentioned letter to Thomas states that he was living upon a pillar when he lost his first teeth. He maintained this kind of life for 68 years. In the course of this period, however, he several times moved to a new pillar, and on the occasion of the first of these exchanges the Patriarch of Antioch and the Bishop of Seleucia ordained him deacon during the short space of time he spent upon the ground. For eight years until John died, Simeon remained near his master's column, so near that they could easily converse. During this period his austerities were kept in some sort of check by the older hermit.
After John's death Simeon gave full rein to his ascetical practices and Evagrius declares that he lived only upon the branches of a shrub that grew near Theopolis. Simeon the younger was ordained priest and was thus able to offer the Holy Sacrifice in memory of his mother. On such occasions his disciples one after another climbed up the ladder to receive Communion at his hands. As in the case of most of the other pillar saints a large number of miracles were believed to have been worked by Simeon the Younger. In several instances the cure was effected by pictures representing him (Holl in "Philotesia", 56). Towards the close of his life the saint occupied a column upon a mountain-side near Antioch called from his miracles the "Hill of Wonders", and it was here that he died. Besides the letter mentioned, several writings are attributed to the younger Simeon. A number of these small spiritual tractates were printed by Cozza-Luzi ("Nova PP. Bib.", VIII, iii, Rome, 1871, pp. 4–156). There is also an "Apocalypse" and letters to the Emperors Justinian and Justin II (see fragments in P.G., LXXXVI, pt. II, 3216-20). More especially Simeon was the reputed author of a certain number of liturgical hymns, "Troparis", etc. (see Pétridès in "Echos d'Orient", 1901 and 1902).
Saint Alypius the Stylite was a seventh century ascetic saint. He is revered as a monastic founder, an intercessor for the infertile, and a protector of children. During his lifetime he was a much sought after starets (guide in the Christian spiritual life).
Alypius was born in the city of Hadrianopolis in Paphlagonia. His mother, who had been widowed early, was very pious. She sent her son to be educated by the bishop Theodore, gave all of her livelihood to the poor, and herself became a deaconess and lived an ascetic life. Alypius built a church in honour of the Great Martyr Saint Euphemia the All-Praised on the site of a dilapidated pagan temple. He erected a pillar beside the church and lived atop it for the majority of his adult life. Two monasteries were built beside his pillar, one for monks and one for nuns, and Saint Alypius served as spiritual director of both. According to his hagiography for the last fourteen years of his life he was unable to stand, and had to lie on his side. He died in 640, at the age of 118. He is recognised as one of the three great stylite ascetics along with Simeon Stylites the Elder and Daniel the Stylite.
Alypius is venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite, as well as the Roman Catholic Church on November 26. For those churches which follow the Julian Calendar November 26 currently falls on December 9 of the modern Gregorian Calendar. After his death his relics were interred in the Church of St. Euphemia which he had built. His head is preserved in the Monastery of Koutloumousiou on the Mount Athos.
Luke Thaumaturgus (Luke the Younger, Luke of Hellas, Luke the Wonder-worker) (d. 946 AD) is venerated as a saint by the Eastern Orthodox, Byzantine Catholic, and Roman Catholic Churches. He lived as a hermit and stylite from the age of 18 until his death on Mount Joannitsa near Corinth. One of the earliest saints to be seen levitating in prayer[1], Luke was the third of the seven children of Stephen and Euphrosyne. His family lived in Aegina and then Thessaly.
St. Luke Thaumaturgus' feast day is celebrated February 7 on Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Catholic and Roman Catholic liturgical calendars.
Alipy of the Caves (? - 1114) - (also known as 'Venerable Alypius') Eastern Orthodox saint, monk and famous painter of icons from the cave monastery of Kiev Pechersk Lavra. Saint Alipy was a disciple of Greek icon painters from Constantinople and considered to be the first iconographer of the Kievan Rus.
According to medieval sources, Alipy created his icons with the help of God and angels. The saint took part in creation of mosaic painting in Dormition Cathedral of the Lavra. Presumably, the artist also participated in the painting of murals in St. Michael's Cathedral in Kiev. One of the icons painted by St Alypius survived and is now preserved in the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. This is the Sven Icon of the Theotokos (feast days: May 3 and August 17).
The saint died on August 17 around the year 1114. When his body was discovered, it was found that the fingers of his right hand were still formed in the Orthodox manner of making the Sign of the Cross.
The feast day of Saint Alipy is celebrated in the Orthodox Church on August 17 (for those churches which follow the Julian Calendar, August 17 currently falls on August 30 of the modern Gregorian Calendar). He is also celebrated, in common with other saints of his monastery on September 28 (October 11), the "Synaxis of the Holy Fathers of Kiev whose relics lie in the Near Caves of Saint Anthony".
His relics are preserved in Kiev Pechersk Lavra.
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| Simeon Stylites |
Officially, what is Canada’s national summer sport? | When Does The 12 Days Of Christmas Officially Begin?
When Does The 12 Days Of Christmas Officially Begin?
By Dave Wheeler December 14, 2015 4:50 PM
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Ian MacNicol/Getty Images
After listening to the classic Christmas song “The 12 Days Of Christmas” it got me thinking: When officially does the 12 days start? We have an answer.
According to WhyChristmas , the 12 days of Christmas start on Christmas Day and last until the evening of the 5th January. Actually, the 12 Days have been celebrated in Europe since before the middle ages and were a time of celebration, and still are.
Each day has a special purpose. Don’t confuse these days with the song:
Day 1 (25th December): Christmas Day – celebrating the Birth of Jesus
Day 2 (26th December also known as Boxing Day): St Stephen’s Day. He was the first Christian martyr (someone who dies for their faith). It’s also the day when the Christmas Carol ‘Good King Wenceslas’ takes place.
Day 3 (27th December): St John the Apostle (One of Jesus’s Disciples and friends)
Day 4 (28th December): The Feast of the Holy Innocents – when people remember the baby boys which King Herod killed when he was trying to find and kill the Baby Jesus.
Day 5 (29th December): St Thomas Becket. He was Archbishop of Canterbury in the 12th century and was murdered on 29th December 1170 for challenging the King’s authority over Church.
Day 6 (30th December): St Egwin of Worcester.
Day 7 (31st December): New Years Eve (known as Hogmanay in Scotland). Pope Sylvester I is traditionally celebrated on this day. He was one of the earliest popes (in the 4th Century). In many central and eastern European countries (including Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland and Slovenia) New Years Eve is still sometimes called ‘Silvester’. In the UK, New Years Eve was a traditional day for ‘games’ and sporting competitions. Archery was a very popular sport and during the middle ages it was the law that it had to be practised by all men between ages 17-60 on Sunday after Church! This was so the King had lots of very good archers ready in case he need to go to war!
Day 8 (1st January): 1st January – Mary, the Mother of Jesus
Day 9 (2nd January): St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzen, two important 4th century Christians.
Day 10 (3rd January): Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus. This remembers when Jesus was officially ‘named’ in the Jewish Temple. It’s celebrated by different churches on a wide number of different dates!
Day 11 (4th January): St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first American saint, who lived in the 18th and 19th centuries. In the past it also celebrated the feast of Saint Simon Stylites (who lives on a small platform on the top of a pillar for 37 years!).
Day 12 (5th January also known as Epiphany Eve): St. John Neumann who was the first Bishop in American. He lived in the 19th century.”
So to answer your heated holiday debate, the 12 days start on Christmas day.
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What is secreted by parotid glands? | Salivary Glands and Saliva
Salivary Glands and Saliva
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Which 1985 treaty led to the abolition of border controls in much of Europe? | Salivary Glands | American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
News media interested in covering the latest from AAO-HNS/F can find information on embargoes, Annual Meeting press registration and more below. Please direct any interview requests or policy questions to our media and public relations staff at [email protected] .
Where Are Your Salivary Glands?
The glands are found in and around your mouth and throat. We call the major salivary glands the parotid, submandibular, and sublingual glands.
They all secrete saliva into your mouth, the parotid through tubes that drain saliva, called salivary ducts, near your upper teeth, submandibular under your tongue, and the sublingual through many ducts in the floor of your mouth.
Besides these glands, there are many tiny glands called minor salivary glands located in your lips, inner cheek area (buccal mucosa), and extensively in other linings of your mouth and throat. Salivary glands produce the saliva used to moisten your mouth, initiate digestion, and help protect your teeth from decay.
As a good health measure, it is important to drink lots of liquids daily. Dehydration is a risk factor for salivary gland disease.
What Causes Salivary Gland Problems?
Salivary gland problems that cause clinical symptoms include:
Obstruction: Obstruction to the flow of saliva most commonly occurs in the parotid and submandibular glands, usually because stones have formed. Symptoms typically occur when eating. Saliva production starts to flow, but cannot exit the ductal system, leading to swelling of the involved gland and significant pain, sometimes with an infection. Unless stones totally obstruct saliva flow, the major glands will swell during eating and then gradually subside after eating, only to enlarge again at the next meal. Infection can develop in the pool of blocked saliva, leading to more severe pain and swelling in the glands. If untreated for a long time, the glands may become abscessed.
It is possible for the duct system of the major salivary glands that connects the glands to the mouth to be abnormal. These ducts can develop small constrictions, which decrease salivary flow, leading to infection and obstructive symptoms.
Infection: The most common salivary gland infection in children is mumps, which involves the parotid glands. While this is most common in children who have not been immunized, it can occur in adults. However, if an adult has swelling in the area of the parotid gland only on one side, it is more likely due to an obstruction or a tumor.
Infections also occur because of ductal obstruction or sluggish flow of saliva because the mouth has abundant bacteria.
You may have a secondary infection of salivary glands from nearby lymph nodes. These lymph nodes are the structures in the upper neck that often become tender during a common sore throat. In fact, many of these lymph nodes are actually located on, within, and deep in the substance of the parotid gland or near the submandibular glands. When these lymph nodes enlarge through infection, you may have a red, painful swelling in the area of the parotid or submandibular glands. Lymph nodes also enlarge due to tumors and inflammation.
Tumors: Primary benign and malignant salivary gland tumors usually show up as painless enlargements of these glands. Tumors rarely involve more than one gland and are detected as a growth in the parotid, submandibular area, on the palate, floor of mouth, cheeks, or lips. An otolaryngologist-head and neck surgeon should check these enlargements.
Malignant tumors of the major salivary glands can grow quickly, may be painful, and can cause loss of movement of part or all of the affected side of the face. These symptoms should be immediately investigated.
Other Disorders: Salivary gland enlargement also occurs in autoimmune diseases such as HIV and Sjögren's syndrome where the body's immune system attacks the salivary glands causing significant inflammation. Dry mouth or dry eyes are common. This may occur with other systemic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. Diabetes may cause enlargement of the salivary glands, especially the parotid glands. Alcoholics may have salivary gland swelling, usually on both sides.
How Does Your Doctor Make the Diagnosis?
Diagnosis of salivary gland disease depends on the careful taking of your history, a physical examination, and laboratory tests.
If your doctor suspects an obstruction of the major salivary glands, it may be necessary to anesthetize the opening of the salivary ducts in the mouth, and probe and dilate the duct to help an obstructive stone pass. Before these procedures, dental x-rays may show where the calcified stones are located.
If a mass is found in the salivary gland, it is helpful to obtain a CT scan or a MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). Sometimes, a fine needle aspiration biopsy in the doctor's office is helpful. Rarely, dye will be injected through the parotid duct before an x-ray of the gland is taken (a sialogram).
A lip biopsy of minor salivary glands may be needed to identify certain autoimmune diseases.
How Is Salivary Gland Disease Treated?
Treatment of salivary diseases falls into two categories: medical and surgical. Selection of treatment depends on the nature of the problem. If it is due to systemic diseases (diseases that involve the whole body, not one isolated area), then the underlying problem must be treated. This may require consulting with other specialists. If the disease process relates to salivary gland obstruction and subsequent infection, your doctor will recommend increased fluid intake and may prescribe antibiotics. Sometimes an instrument will be used to open blocked ducts.
If a mass has developed within the salivary gland, removal of the mass may be recommended. Most masses in the parotid gland area are benign (noncancerous). When surgery is necessary, great care must be taken to avoid damage to the facial nerve within this gland that moves the muscles face including the mouth and eye. When malignant masses are in the parotid gland, it may be possible to surgically remove them and preserve most of the facial nerve. Radiation treatment is often recommended after surgery. This is typically administered four to six weeks after the surgical procedure to allow adequate healing before irradiation.
The same general principles apply to masses in the submandibular area or in the minor salivary glands within the mouth and upper throat. Benign diseases are best treated by conservative measures or surgery, whereas malignant diseases may require surgery and postoperative irradiation. If the lump in the vicinity of a salivary gland is a lymph node that has become enlarged due to cancer from another site, then obviously a different treatment plan will be needed. An otolaryngologist-head and neck surgeon can effectively direct treatment.
Removal of a salivary gland does not produce a dry mouth, called xerostomia. However, radiation therapy to the mouth can cause the unpleasant symptoms associated with reduced salivary flow. Your doctor can prescribe medication or other conservative treatments that may reduce the dryness in these instances.
Salivary gland diseases are due to many different causes. These diseases are treated both medically and surgically. Treatment is readily managed by an otolaryngologist-head and neck surgeon with experience in this area.
Copyright © 2015 American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery. Reproduction or republication strictly prohibited without prior written permission.
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Who played Cilla Black in the 2014 ITV drama series Cilla? | Cilla (TV Mini-Series 2014) - IMDb
(United Kingdom) – See all my reviews
I have left one point off as, being from Liverpool, I can spot a dud Liverpool accent a mile off, and while the lead actors accents were very good, some of the "cough and spit" actors did not get the sixties accent correctly. The accent seems to have become more rough around the edges than in those days when BBC English ruled the airwaves. Other than that the series was a joy. I loved hearing Sheridan Smith's versions of 60s classics. I especially enjoyed the revival of "Love of the Loved" as I liked this song on its first release and thought it should have been a much bigger hit. As an 11 year old I was glued to the TV screen whenever Merseybeat stars appeared. I remember Cilla Black being interviewed and saying that she was more excited about that song getting to number 35 than she did about her next release getting to number 1. Watching this I had to sympathise with Cilla as I enjoyed the scenes of her singing in the Liverpool clubs better than her later more middle of the road studio recording, but that is an ageing Liverpool music fan for you! I also enjoyed seeing the remnants of 60s Liverpool in this show, looking as dingy as I remembered the street back cracks of the time. And my, didn't the place look a treat when it was dressed up as New York using Civic Buildings also still around from that60s era. People I have chatted to have proudly told me that they were served hot-dogs and Coke by Cilla at the Cavern, so it seems to have tapped a wave of warm affection from older inhabitants of Modern Liverpooltowards Cilla. There is surely scope for a series two as there are several big Cilla hits from the late 60s and 70s such as "Surround Yourself With Sorrow" "Conversations" and the recently revived "Something tells me Something's going to Happen Tonight" still to come plus some emotionally charged episodes in the life of Cilla. But as it stands anyone who is still in thrall to the music of this period,with specific reference to lovers of Lennon and McCartney songs should watch this to get another take on the Beatles story as it delivers new information on Brian Epstein's managing abilities. I also loved hearing "Bad To me" by Billy J Kramer(One of the "lost" Beatles compositions like "Love of the Loved"? Well done to all concerned. It really,truly left me wanting more. A feature it shared with its subject, the legendary Cilla Black
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What is the term for any playing card which can assume the value of another? | Cilla, episode 3, review: Does Cilla deserve Sheridan? - Telegraph
By Ben Lawrence
10:30AM BST 30 Sep 2014
After two episodes of Cilla (ITV), it seemed that Jeff Pope’s drama might be mere hagiography, crystallising Cilla Black’s “national treasure status” by showing her as sweet and funny, a bit gauche. Sheridan Smith’s performance, rather like Cilla’s big ballads, yanked at the heartstrings, giving her an unfaltering humanity that seemed a little unreal. Did our Cilla who, let's face it, must be tough as old boots to have survived so long in showbusiness, warrant Smith's ultra-sympathetic performance?
In the final episode we caught a glimpse of the core of steel that surely sustained Cilla’s career over several decades, culminating in her becoming the highest-paid TV personality in Britain. As the twitching strings on You’re My World propelled her to a second number one, so we saw a vaulting ambition. Bobby Willis (Aneurin Barnard) was offered a recording contract as “the blond bombshell from Bootle” but Cilla made him turn it down. He had to play second fiddle.
She scowled at being given a song called Alfie (“It’s what you call a dog”) and grumbled at being low down Brian Epstein’s list of priorities, behind “the Beatles, Gerry and the Pacemakers and Billy bloody J Kramer”. Smith, as you would expect, played the transition well and showed the insecurities that grow in tandem with burgeoning fame. But Barnard’s performance was equally good. He played Bobby as lost puppy, frustrated Romeo, clever working-class lad who never seemed to hose down the fire in his belly.
This final episode also took us into the dark, closeted hell of Epstein, cruising for men in the shadow of polite society. Ed Stoppard, a rather flat presence previously, was good at the contrast between authoritarian music professional and tormented soul, begging Cilla not to end her contract with him like a little boy whose mother was packing him off to boarding school. Epstein committed suicide on 27 August 1967, a little under two months after homosexuality was decriminalised in the UK.
Cilla has been a ratings success for ITV and shows that Smith has considerable pulling power. Yet, the first episode lacked dramatic power, the script often reverted to the clichés of showbusiness (“We want to make you a star”) and I never got the sense of what Cilla Black meant to Sixties audiences. I would like to have seen Cilla’s Eighties transformation; the shoulder pads that pushed through the doors of London Weekend Television and into millions of living rooms every weekend. Cilla was only part of a longer, more interesting story.
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What is the dominant colour of New York’s Staten Island Ferries? | Pleasant Trip Tips
Lost and Found Information
The Staten Island Ferry is one of the last remaining vestiges of an entire ferry system in New York City that transported people between Manhattan and its future boroughs long before any bridges were built. In Staten Island, the northern shores were spiked in piers, competing ferry operators braved the busy waters of New York harbor. Today the Staten Island Ferry provides 22 million people a year (70,000 passengers a day not including weekend days) with ferry service between St. George on Staten Island and Whitehall Street in lower Manhattan. The ferry is the only non-vehicular mode of transportation between Staten Island and Manhattan. NYC DOT operates and maintains the nine vessel fleet as well as the St. George Ferry Terminal on Staten Island, Whitehall Ferry Terminal in Manhattan, the City Island and Hart Island Facilities, The Battery Maritime Building and all floating dock building equipment. The Staten Island Ferry is run by the City of New York for one pragmatic reason: To transport Staten Islanders to and from Manhattan. Yet, the 5 mile, 25 minute ride also provides a majestic view of New York Harbor and a no-hassle, even romantic, boat ride, for free! One guide book calls it "One of the world's greatest (and shortest) water voyages." From the deck of the ferry you will have a perfect view of The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. You'll see the skyscrapers and bridges of Lower Manhattan receding as you pull away and coming into focus again as you return. A typical weekday schedule involves the use of five boats to transport approximately 70,000 passengers daily (109 daily trips). During the day, between rush hours, boats are regularly fueled and maintenance work is performed. Terminals are cleaned around the clock and routine terminal maintenance is performed on the day shift. On weekends, four boats are used (88 trips each Saturday and 82 trips each Sunday). About 37,180 trips are made annually.
History
In The Beginning
In the 18th century, ferry service between Staten Island and the city of New York was conducted by private individuals with "periaugers", shallow-draft, twin-mast sailboats used for local traffic in New York harbor. In the early 19th century, Vice President (and former New York governor) Daniel D. Tompkins secured a charter for the Richmond Turnpike Company, as part of his efforts to develop the village of Tompkinsville. All though this was intended to build a highway across Staten Island, the company also received the right to run a ferry to New York. The Richmond Turnpike Company is the direct ancestor of the current municipal ferry, the Staten Island Ferry. In 1817 the Richmond Turnpike Company began to run the first mechanically powered ferry between New York and Staten Island, the steam-powered Nautilus. It was commanded by Captain John De Forest, the brother-in-law of a young man named Cornelius Vanderbilt. In 1838 Vanderbilt, who had grown wealthy in the steamboat business in New York waters, bought control of the company. Except for a brief period in the 1850s, he would remain the dominant figure in the ferry service until the Civil War, when he sold it to the Staten Island Railway, led by his brother Jacob Vanderbilt. During the 1850s, Staten Island developed rapidly, and the ferry accordingly grew in importance. But the poor condition of the boats became a source of chronic complaint, as did the limited schedule. The opening of the Staten Island Railway in 1860 increased traffic further and newer boats were acquired, named after the towns of Richmond County which covered the whole of Staten Island. One of these ferries, the Westfield, came to grief when its boiler exploded while sitting in its slip at South Ferry (Manhattan)at about 1:30 in the afternoon of July 30, 1871 The New York Times described the disaster. Within days of the disaster, some 85 were identified as dead and hundreds injured, and several more were added to the death toll in the weeks following. Jacob Vanderbilt, president of the Staten Island Railway, was arrested for murder, though he escaped conviction. The engineer of Westfield was a black man, which aroused openly racist commentary in New York's newspapers, though Vanderbilt stoutly defended his employee. Victims were never compensated for damages. The competing ferry services that were all finally controlled by Vanderbilt were sold to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and operated by the Staten Island Rapid Transit Railroad (SIRT, predecessor to Staten Island Railway) in 1884. On June 14, 1901 the SIRT ferry Northfield was leaving the ferry port at Whitehall when it was struck by a Jersey Central Ferry and sank immediately. There were two full deck crews aboard Northfield and their swift actions ensured that out of 995 passengers aboard, only five ended up missing, presumed drowned. This accident, though minor in comparison to the Westfield Disaster, was seized upon by the City of New York as a justification to seize control of the SIRT ferries, Staten Island now being officially part of New York City, as the Borough of Richmond. Ferry service was assumed by the city's Department of Docks and Ferries in 1905. Five new ferries, one named for each of the new boroughs, were commissioned. The First ferry to make the now famous trip across New York harbor as a Staten Island Ferry was named the Manhattan.
Passenger Safety
Interesting Facts
In the 1700s, ferry service was provided by private individuals with small twin mast sailboats called peraugers.
In 1817 the cost to cross the harbor was 25 cents and half price for children. This was the cost to ride the Nautilus, the first steam ferry to make the famous trip. The Nautilus was commanded by Captain John De Forest
Three of the ferries that were built to make the trip across the harbor were bought by the U.S. Navy to fight in the civil war. The Southfield I, Westfield I, and the Clifton I. None of these ferries ever returned to New York.
On July 30, 1871 at about 1:30 pm the ferry boat Westfield II experienced a catastrophic boiler explosion while in the slip at Whitehall. Several days after the disaster it was revealed that atleast 85 people had lost their lives. Several more were added to the death toll weeks later.
The 5 cents fare was established in 1897. On October 10, 1972 the fare was raised to 10 cents. In 1975 the fare was increased to 25 cents. On August 1, 1990 the fare went up to 50 cents. Finally on July 4, 1997 the fare for foot passengers on the ferry was eliminated.
June 14th, 1901 the ferryboat Northfield was leaving Whitehall when it was struck by a Jersey Central Ferry the Mauch Chaunk and sank immediately. Fortunately there were two full deck crews aboard the Northfield and their swift actions saved many. Out of 995 passengers aboard the Northfield only 5 ended up missing. This accident was one of the major reasons that private operations of the ferries were ended and the City of New York took control.
Soon after Staten Island joined New York City in 1898, ferry service between St. George and Whitehall was transferred to the city Department of Docks and Ferries on October 25th 1905 and five new ferries -- one named for each of the five boroughs -- were commissioned.
In 1926 the city's original white color scheme was eliminated in favor of a reddish-maroon. This was changed to municipal orange later so that they could be seen in heavy fog and snow.
On February 8, 1958 The Dongan Hills was hit by the Norwegian tanker Tynefield. 15 passengers were injured.
In 1960, a bomb was set off on the Knickerbocker. There were no injuries.
The Pvt. Joseph Merrill and Cornelius G. Kolff ferries were converted to prison dormitories for Riker's Island.
In 1978, the American Legion crashed into the concrete seawall near the Statue of Liberty ferry port during a dense fog. 173 were injured.
Steam was used on the Staten Island ferries up until the 1980's
On May 16, 1981, the American Legion was rammed in the fog by a Norwegian freighter.
July 7th, 1986 a mentally disturbed person (Juan Gonzalez) with a machete attacked passengers on a ferry. Two people were killed and nine others were wounded.
On April 12th, 1995 The Ferry boat Barberi plowed into 4 slip in St. George due to a mechanical malfunction leaving 4 slip out of service and injuring a handful of passengers. The doors on the saloon deck were crushed by the aprons. The accident would have been much worse if not for the heroic actions of the bridge man who remained on station and lowered the vehicle bridge to the right height to help stop the boat.
September 19th, 1997 a car drove off the Staten Island Ferry and plunged into the water as the boat was approaching the slip. Upon seeing a car drive off the boat the captain of the ferry slammed his controls into reverse to stop the boat. The force of the impact on the car hitting the water blow out the rear windshield of the car. This rush of water also carried the driver of the car out the back windshield. One deck hand was knocked into the water by the scissor gates at the front of the boat as the car pushed them aside. A dock builder who was working in the area jumped in to assist the deck hand and the driver. The driver of the car was an employee of the ferries when the accident happened.
After the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center the Staten Island Ferry transported tens of thousands of people out of lower Manhattan to safety on Staten Island. The captains docked the ferries under zero visibility as the smoke and debris from the collapses filled the sky. The following days passengers were not allowed on the ferries. The fleet was being used to transport emergency personnel and equipment to and from lower Manhattan. In addition to the emergency personnel and equipment the ferries were also being used to transport military personnel and equipment to Governors Island and lower Manhattan. Included in this were U.S. Army tanks. Since that day the Staten Island Ferry no longer carries cars.
October 15, 2003 at about 15:30 the ferry boat Andrew J. Barberi slammed into a maintenance pier at the Staten Island Maintenance Facility on Staten Island. The impact of the crash snapped the pilings at the seaward corner of the pier like toothpicks. After ripping apart the pilings the concrete slab of the pier tore through the main deck Staten Island end Jersey side of the ferry. As the concrete slab raced down the boat it wiped out everything that was in its path. Seats were ripped up and pushed to the back of the boat. The aluminum superstructure was ripped open like a tin can. 10 people died that day and an 11th person died two months later due to injuries from the accident.
Additional Information
Lost & Found
The Ferry's Lost and Found Office is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 am – 4:30 pm. It is located in the St. George Terminal waiting room, next to the NYPD Police Room. For additional information, or Lost and Found assistance, please call 311. Outside of New York City please dial 212-NEW-YORK (212-639-9675). Passenger Service Staff will search for the lost object and call the passenger back directly with the results of the search.
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Which body and its moons were visited and studied by the New Horizons probe in July? | New York Staten Island Ferry | Hacked By ReFLeX
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New York Staten Island Ferry
Staten Island Ferry is one of the ferries that fetch passengers to the Staten Island in New York. The ferry ride is free of charge and available to the public. During the ride, you will be able to enjoy the magnificent scenery of the high rise building in the lower areas in Manhattan. Some of the skyscrapers you will see during the ride include Statute of Liberty and many important offices in New York. The ferry will also passed by Ellis Island.
History
The free ferry ride service began during the eighteen century. During the eighteen century, a sail powered craft is used to fetch the passengers from Manhattan to Staten Island. The steam ferries were not used because they were no yet invented. In 1817, the steam powered ferry is used. In 1901, the state of New York City bought over the ferry service. However, the steam powered ferries were still being used until the 1980s. After the state took over the ferry service, the ferry ride is no longer free. Every passenger was charged $0.05 per ride. The ferry ride far increase to $0.25 in the 1980. Later, it was decided to offer the ferry rides a free service for the public. The fare was not collected from the passengers since 1997.
The Staten Island Ferry is the only non vehicular transportation that travels to and fro from Staten Island to Manhattan. NYC Dot is controls 9 vessel that operates between Staten Island and Manhattan. NYC Dot also controls the St. George Ferry Terminal, Whitehall Ferry Terminal. And etc.
Facts
Staten Island Ferry carries more than 20,000,000 tourists to the Staten Island every year. Every day, more than seventy thousand tourists went on board the ferry.
The ferry service is featured in many famous television programmes including Working Girl, I Love Lucy and The Secret of My Success.
It is estimated that the Staten Island Ferry conduct more than thirty three thousand ferry voyages annually.
In the old days, the ferry is white in color. Later, it was painted in orange color so that people can see it clearly in the rain and mist. The old ferry boats have found new uses. One of the ferry boats is the site of a popular restaurant in New Jersey. The second ferry boat is used to house the prisoners that are living in the Rikers’ Island.
A bomb was detonated at the Knickerbockers in 1960. Fortunately, no one was injured.
The Pvt. Joseph Merrill and Cornelius G. Kolff ferries were transported to Rickers Island. They are being used as prison at the Rickers Island.
In 1978, the American Legion airplane hit the seawall located in a short distance to the Statue of Liberty. During the crash, more than one hundred and seventy three people were injured.
Taking the Staten Island Ferry
The Staten Island Ferry is available at Whitehall Street. It is located nearby to the Battery Park in the lower region of the Manhattan town. The ferry carries the passengers to the St. Georges Ferry Terminal. The journey is approximately 5.2 mile. It takes about 25 minutes to reach the island. Bicycles can be brought to the ferry. However, you are not allowed to drive your car into the ferry. The Staten Island Ferry runs to and fro between the Battery Park and Staten Island for 24 hours every day. It is open during the holiday season. Passengers have to wait for 15 minutes for the next round of ferry ride.
On Staten Island, there are several car parks. You can park your car at the St. Georges Ferry Terminal. The ferry harbor is located nearby to the subway train and bus station.
While on Staten Island
Staten Island is one of the most popular boroughs in New York. It has many museums. The Staten Island Museum s located adjacent to the St. Georges Terminal. The Staten Island Museum was first built in 1881. The museum offers a large collection of Renaissance paintings in the museum. One section in the museum was dedicated to display the art of the Lenape tribe. The Lenape tribe is the native of Staten Island. The museum offers a wide range of exhibitions that provides visitors insight about the timeline of Staten Island. You can explore artifacts such as baseball cards and etc.
The Richmond Town is also a prominent feature of the Staten Island. It is actually a museum built on a 100 acre field. In this museum, you get to explore residential buildings from the 18th and 19th century. The museum also has other artifacts to depict the history of the island. Richmond Town used to be settled by the Dutch people. However, the British people conquered and seized it before the Revolutionary War took place. The Richmond Town is accessible through bus at the ferry terminal. The admission fee to the museum is cheap and affordable. Students and seniors are qualified to get a discount.
Staten Island Ferry is equipped with a car park including St. George Ferry Terminal South, and St. George Ferry Terminal North. St. George Ferry Terminal North is managed and controlled by the Muni Meters. If you want to park your car at the St. George Ferry Terminal, you need to purchase quarterly permit. If you want to purchase quarterly permit, you can call (718) 786-6334 or (718) 786-7042. You can park your car at DOT Municipal Lot on Hyatt Street Staten Island. There are also several private car parks on Staten Island. Most of the private car parks are located nearby to the Ball Park. The parking fee at the private car park is $5. You can purchase the parking cards at the ferry terminals ticket office.
Recently, the American Legion III is added to the DOT fleet. The high speed American Legion III costs $1 million. The fund was donated by NASDAQ Disaster Relief Fund, Inc. The emergency vessel is able to hold up to 12 passengers and the crews. It has a speed of 30 knots.
Staten Island is a must visit place for every visitors that are visiting New York City. From Staten Island, you can view the Statue of Liberty.
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What is the name of the mother craft of Philae, the probe currently sitting on Comet 67P? | Philae comet probe may have bounced after landing - CNN.com
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
Philae is wedged in a dark corner of Rosetta – "We are so happy to have finally imaged Philae, and to see it in such amazing detail," says Cecilia Tubiana of the OSIRIS camera team. She was the first person to see the images when they were downlinked from the Rosetta probe, according to the European Space Agency.
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
Philae found using images from Rosetta – The image is detailed enough that viewers can pick out features of Philae's 3-foot-wide (1 meter) body. Even two of its three legs can be seen.
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
One of the primary objectives of the Rosetta mission was to drop the Philae lander onto the comet. The probe was successfully deployed in November 2014, becoming the first probe to land on a comet. But Philae failed to grab onto the comet and bounced around. It fell silent a few days later. Then on June 13, 2015, Philae came out of hibernation and "spoke" to mission managers at the European Space Agency for 85 seconds. This photo above was taken by the lander's mothership, the Rosetta orbiter, after the lander started its descent to the comet.
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
The Rosetta spacecraft captured this image of a jet of white debris spraying from Comet 67P/Churyumov--Gerasimenko on July 29, 2015. Mission scientists said this was the brightest jet seen to date in the mission. The debris is mostly of ice coated with dark organic material.
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
This image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was taken by Rosetta on July 8, 2015 as the spacecraft and comet headed toward their closest approach to the sun. Rosetta was about 125 miles (201 kilometers) from the comet when it took this image.
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
Philae wakes up! Mission managers posted this cartoon of the lander yawning after it came out of hibernation on June 13, 2015. They also sent a series of tweets between the lander and its mothership, Rosetta.
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is a Jupiter-family comet. Its 6.5 year journey around the Sun takes it from just beyond the orbit of Jupiter at its most distant, to between the orbits of Earth and Mars at its closest. The comet hails from the Kuiper Belt, but gravitational perturbations knocked it towards the Sun where interactions with Jupiter's gravity set it on its present-day orbit.
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
This image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was taken by Rosetta on June 5, 2015, while the spacecraft was about 129 miles (208 kilometers) from the comet's center.
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
Rosetta's navigation camera took this image of the comet on June 1, 2015.
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
The Rosetta Mission is tracking Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on its orbit around the sun. This image was taken on May 3, 2015 at a distance of about 84 miles (135 km) from the comet's center.
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
This image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was taken on April 15, 2015.
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
Rosetta snapped this wide-angle view of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in September 2014. Rosetta was about 107 million miles (172 million kilometers) from Earth and about 92 million miles (148 million kilometers) from the sun when the photo was released.
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
A camera on Rosetta took this picture of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on November 22, 2014, from a distance of about 19 miles (31 kilometers). The nucleus is deliberately overexposed to reveal jets of material spewing from the comet. The 2.5-mile-wide (4-kilometer) comet has shown a big increase in the amount of water its releasing, according to NASA. The space agency says about 40 ounces (1.2 liters) of water was being sprayed into space every second at the end of August 2014.
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
Rosetta took this picture of a section of the comet's two lobes from a distance of about 5 miles (8 kilometers) on October 14, 2014.
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
The Rosetta spacecraft's Philae lander is shown sitting on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko after becoming the first space probe to land on a comet on November 12, 2014. The probe's harpoons failed to fire, and Philae bounced a few times. The lander was able to send back images and data for 57 hours before losing power.
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
Rosetta's lander, Philae, wasn't able to get a good grip on the comet after it touched down. This mosaic shows Philae's movements as it bounced across the comet.
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
Philae snapped these images after landing, and mission scientists used them to create a panoramic view of the landing site. A graphic shows where the probe would be sitting in the photograph.
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
The image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was taken by a camera on the Philae lander during its descent to the comet on November 12, 2014. The lander was about 1.9 miles (3 kilometers) from the surface at the time. Philae touched down on the comet about seven hours later.
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
Rosetta's OSIRIS camera captured this parting shot of the Philae lander after separation.
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
Rosetta's lander Philae took this parting shot of its mother ship shortly after separation on November 12, 2014, as Philae headed for a landing on Comet 67P. While Philae is the first probe to land on a comet , Rosetta is the first to rendezvous with a comet and follow it around the sun.
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
This mosaic is made of four individual images taken about 20 miles (31.8 kilometers ) from the center of the comet on November 4, 2014.
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
Rosetta took this image of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on September 15, 2014. The box on the right shows where the lander was expected to touch down.
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
The spacecraft sent this image as it approached the comet on August 6, 2014. From a distance of nearly 81 miles (130 kilometers), it reveals detail of the smooth region on the comet's "body" section.
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
This image, captured August 7, 2014, shows the diversity of surface structures on the comet's nucleus.
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
The comet's "head" can be seen in the left of the frame as it casts a shadow over the "body" in this image released August 6, 2014.
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
This image of the comet was taken on August 1, 2014, as Rosetta closed in its target.
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
Rosetta's mission started on March 2, 2004, when it was launched on a European Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana.
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
Rosetta is named after the Rosetta Stone, the black basalt that provided the key to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs. Scientists think the mission will give them new clues about the origins of the solar system and life on Earth. The mission is spearheaded by the European Space Agency with key support from NASA.
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
This photo shows Rosetta being tested before it was wrapped in insulating blankets and loaded on a rocket for launch.
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
Rosetta has massive solar wings to power the spacecraft. They were unfurled and checked out at the European Space Agency's test facilities before being packed up for liftoff.
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
After its closest approach to Earth in November 2007, Rosetta captured this image of the planet.
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
Rosetta snapped this image of Earth in November 2009. The spacecraft was 393,328 miles from Earth.
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
Rosetta passed asteroid Steins in September 2008, giving scientists amazing close-ups of the asteroid's huge crater. The asteroid is about 3 miles in diameter.
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
Rosetta took this image of Mars as it looped through the solar system.
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
This image was taken by an instrument on Rosetta's Philae lander just minutes before the spacecraft made its closest approach to Mars. Part of Rosetta and its solar arrays are visible.
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
On July 10, 2010, Rosetta flew about 1,864 miles from asteroid Lutetia, which is 10 times larger than asteroid Steins.
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
Look closely at the top of this picture. See that dot? That's Saturn. Rosetta snapped the picture of asteroid Lutetia and captured Saturn in the background.
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Photos: Rosetta: The comet chaser
After taking pictures of Earth, Mars and asteroids, Rosetta was put into hibernation in May 2011 after it reached the outer part of the solar system. Mission managers woke it January 20, 2014.
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Guaranteeing $50 million, whose basic contract is the most lucrative in Formula 1? | European comet landing: Live Report
European comet landing: Live Report
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A giant screen features Andrea Accomazzo (C), Rosetta flight operations director celebrating with European Space Agency scientists after the first-ever landing on a comet (AFP Photo/Daniel Roland)
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Darmstadt (Germany) (AFP) - 17:56 GMT - AFP IS NOW CLOSING THIS LIVE REPORT after scientists at the European Space Agency made history by landing a probe on a comet hurtling through space.
The probe, named Philae, and the orbiting mothership, Rosetta, are packed with scientific instruments, and are on a mission to explore the origins of the Solar System.
There were wild celebrations at mission control when it was confirmed Philae had landed but concerns grew when problems emerged with its harpoons, designed to anchor the craft to 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
Read on to see how the mission unfolded.
17:37 GMT - Mission problem - The ESA says the comet lander may not be securely anchored
17:28 GMT - Head scratching - News from the official Philae Lander Twitter account:
"I’m on the surface but my harpoons did not fire. My team is hard at work now trying to determine why. "
17:22 GMT - Touchdown - The European Space Agency tweets that the Philae lander had a soft landing.
"It looks like made a fairly gentle touch down on based on amount of landing gear damping "
- Soft landing -
17:14 GMT - Comet sings - The European Space Agency (ESA) says it discovered a mysterious "song" coming from the comet, 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
The song is in the form of oscillations in the magnetic field in the comet's environment, and is being emitted far below the range of human hearing.
The ESA boosted the frequency. To hear the song, click below:
https://soundcloud.com/esaops
17:06 GMT - Life on earth - One thing scientists will be looking for on the comet is organic matter.
There is a theory that the organic building blocks that sparked life on Earth may have arrived on a comet.
17:03 GMT - Tattooed confidence - Rosetta scientist Matt Taylor was so confident the probe would land that he got a new tattoo to celebrate hours earlier, he told the BBC.
The tattoo on his thigh features the Philae lander on the comet.
16:48 GMT - European cooperation - In contrast to Europe's current fractious political landscape, those behind Rosetta have made much of the successful cooperation between 14 European countries and the United States on the project.
About 2,000 people from industry, the ESA and scientific institutions were involved in Rosetta's development.
16:47 GMT - A snag - The Rosetta team tweets that harpoons, which are fired into the ground to hold the Philae lander in place, have not fired, contrary to an earlier statement.
"More analysis of telemetry indicates harpoons did not fire as 1st thought. Lander in gr8 shape. Team looking at refire options"
16:43 GMT - Video explaining the Rosetta mission - The first scientific experiments began after touchdown and will last 64 hours due to the limited lifetime of Philae’s rechargeable solar-powered batteries.
16:43 GMT - Video explaining the Rosetta mission - The first scientific experiments began after touchdown and will last 64 hours due to the limited lifetime of Philae’s rechargeable solar-powered batteries.
- Exploration begins -
16:26 GMT - Smooth operation - Rosetta team tweets operational procedures of the Philae lander. All seems to be going smoothly.
"MT : Harpoons confirmed fired & reeled in. Flywheeel now be switched off. is on the surface of "
16:26 GMT - Smooth operation - Rosetta team tweets operational procedures of the Philae lander. All seems to be going smoothly.
"MT : Harpoons confirmed fired & reeled in. Flywheeel now be switched off. is on the surface of "
16:19 GMT - Some numbers - It will take 28 minutes and 20 seconds for signals from Rosetta to reach Earth.
The project cost 1.3 billion euros ($1.6 billion) and the comet on which the lander Philae is travelling is 510 million kilometres (320 million miles) from Earth.
16:16 GMT - Surface mission begins - Scientists hope the lander, equipped with 10 instruments, will unlock the secrets of comets -- primordial clusters of ice and dust that may have helped sow life on Earth.
The mission is expected to last until December 2015.
16:13 GMT - Historic first - "We are the first to have done that, and that will stay forever," says Jean-Jacques Dordain, the European Space Agency's director general says to huge applause.
16:11 GMT - Big step for mankind - "This is a big step for human civilisation," declares Jean-Jacques Dordain, the European Spance Agency's director general says to big applause.
"This type of success is not coming from the sky, it comes from hard work and expertise."
16:10 GMT - Over the moon - "We are sitting on the surface, Philae is talking to us," says a scientist at mission control, to whoops and cheers.
16:08 GMT - Probe lands - THE PROBE HAS LANDED, TRIGGERING APPLAUSE AND HUGS AT MISSION CONTROL
- Mission accomplished? -
16:04 GMT - Landed? - Scientists pump their fists in the air and cheer on a live feed, but no official announcement yet.
Stay tuned!
16:04 GMT - Landed? - Scientists pump their fists in the air and cheer on a live feed, but no official announcement yet.
Stay tuned!
16:02 GMT - No word - No word yet on the landing, either on the Rosetta mission's Twitter feed, or live video feeds.
The probe's mission should it land successfully is to explore an enigma of the Solar System, a task that is expected to last until December next year.
15:59 GMT - Landing soon - The result of the historic landing attempt is expected to be announced any minute now.
Scientists' nerves are frayed.
15:54 GMT - Egyptian flavour - A 15-year-old Italian girl, Serena Olga Vismara, got to name the 100-kilogram (220-pound) lander Philae by winning a competition.
The name comes from an obelisk found on the island of Philae on the Nile, and which now stands in a garden of a country house in the southern English county of Dorset.
The obelisk has a bilingual inscription bearing the names of Cleopatra and Ptolemy.
15:42 GMT - Mission control applause - Mission control for the European probe is in Darmstadt, Germany, where scientists broke into applause on the successful separation of the lander from the mother ship.
The unit "is now on its way to becoming the first spacecraft to touch down on a comet," the European Space Agency (ESA) said after separation.
15:40 GMT - Mini lab - A mini lab called Philae separated from its mothership Rosetta, on schedule despite a last-minute glitch.
Philae was placed on course for landing on 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, a comet now more than 510 million kilometres (320 million miles) from Earth and racing towards the Sun.
15:32 GMT - WELCOME TO AFP'S LIVE REPORT on the historic attempt to land a probe on a comet for the first time after a trek lasting more than a decade and covering 6.5 billion kilometres(four billion miles).
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Part of the Pope’s regalia, what is the more common name for the Piscatory Ring? | The Pope's ring - Vatican Articles
The Pope's ring
21/05/2013 by Vatican.com
The Pope’s ring
The Pope's ring is also called the Piscatory Ring or Annulus Piscatoris. The ring is part of the Pope's regalia.The Pope’s ring is also commonly referred to as the Ring of the Fisherman. The Pope is the leader of the Catholic Church and the successor of Saint Peter who used to be a fisherman before he became Christ's disciple. The ring used to depict a bas-relief of Peter fishing on a boat It is a special ring that is worn by the pope who is the leader of the Roman Catholic Church. According to the tradition of the Catholic Church, Saint Peter was a fisherman but later became a “fisher of Men” bringing the word of Christ to the people. All the apostles were named “fishers of men"(Mark 1:17).
Originally, the Fisherman’s Ring was a signet which was used to seal official documents signed by the pope. The private correspondences of the pope were sealed by the use of the Fisherman’s Ring while the public documents were sealed by stamping a different papal seal onto the lead that was attached to the respective document. During the 15th century, the use of the Fisherman’s Ring changed and it started to be used for sealing official documents referred to as papal briefs. This practice ended in 1842, when the lead sealing was replaced with wax.
The Pope’s ring is normally given to the newly elected pope during the inauguration mass. It is the Dean of the College of Cardinals who slips the ring on the third finger of the newly elected Pope’s right hand. The newly elected pope chooses which design of the Fisherman's ring to wear. Mostly, the Fisherman’s Ring is made of silver or gold. The ring is worn on the right hand of the pope and it depicts a bearded St. Peter holding a pair of keys. One key is a representation of the power in heaven while the other key shows the spiritual authority of the papacy on earth. The Pope’s ring indicates the role of the pope as a “fisher of men”.
According to the tradition of the Catholic Church, the pope’s ring is supposed to be smashed with a specially designed silver hammer once the pope leaves office. This is because the Vatican states that “Objects strictly tied to the ministry of St. Peter must be destroyed”. However, this is no longer enacted and most of the Pope’s rings are either kept in the Vatican museum for posterity or they are worn by the pope’s successors. The ring was used in the past as a seal for the pope’s private documents, yet currently it remains a symbol of the papal authority and responsibility. Since it is no longer used as a seal there is no longer a need to have it destroyed upon the pope’s resignation or death.
The Pope’s ring symbolizes the pope’s authority over the Catholic Church's community. Also it represents the shepherd’s mission of placing the lost, sick or weak sheep on his shoulder. When a pope is elected, a new ring is cast for him. However, some popes have defied using the new ring designed specifically for them and instead opted to use the ring used by their predecessor.
Through the centuries it has become traditional to kneel in front of the Pope and kiss his ring thus showing respect and acknowledging him as the successor of St. Peter. What do you think about this tradition? Would you like to kiss the Pope's ring?
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Also a band, what is the vanilla-flavoured, chocolate-free equivalent of a brownie? | Why Is The Pope’s Mitre Shaped Like A Fish? : In5D Esoteric, Metaphysical, and Spiritual Database
Why Is The Pope’s Mitre Shaped Like A Fish?
By In5D on August 25, 2016 in Awareness
by Gregg Prescott, M.S.
Did you ever wonder why the Pope’s mitre looks like the head of a fish?
What are the origins of this ceremonial hat and what does it truly represent?
What is the origin of the Pope’s hat?
Dagon, the fish-god of the Philistines and Babylonians, wore a fish hat that is still seen today with Roman Catholic Church’s pope and bishops.
According to Ruben Joseph’s book entitled, Why Are The Young People Leaving The Church
, “The miter is derived directly from the miters of the ancient pagan fish-god dagon and the goddess Cybele. The papal miter represents the head of Dagon with an open mouth, which is the reason for the pointed shape and split top.”
The story the church wants you to believe is provided by a PDF entitled, “The Bishop’s Vestments” while an online version of this explanation can be found here .
The shape of the mitre represents the tongues of fire that rested on the heads of the disciples gathered in the upper room on the Day of Pentecost, when God sent the Holy Spirit to the Church.
What the church’s explanation fails to describe is the actual fish eye on the side of the mitre. Perhaps this is an ember of charcoal from the tongues of fire?
Probably not, it’s a fish eye.
The book Nineveh and Babylon by Austen Henry Layard
stated:
In their veneration and worship of Dagon, the high priest of paganism would actually put on a garment that had been created from a huge fish! The head of the fish formed a mitre above that of the old man, while its scaly, fan-like tail fell as a cloak behind, leaving the human limbs and feet exposed.
The Wine of Babylon
stated:
The most prominent form of worship in Babylon was dedicated to Dagon, later known as Ichthys, or the fish. In Chaldean times, the head of the church was the representative of Dagon, he was considered to be infallible, and was addressed as ‘Your Holiness’. Nations subdued by Babylon had to kiss the ring and slipper of the Babylonian god-king. The same powers and the same titles are claimed to this day by the Dalai Lama of Buddhism, and the Pope. Moreover, the vestments of paganism, the fish mitre and robes of the priests of Dagon are worn by the Catholic bishops, cardinals and popes.
Ea Enki, is a God of Sumerian (Enki) and Babylonian (Ea) mythology. In Babylonian mythology, Ea was a water god who was half man, half fish hybrid. In Greek mythology, Ea was known as Oannes. By any name, this fish-god can be traced back to the genetic manipulation of man by Anunnaki , as evidenced by Zecharia Sitchen’s work . It is believed that, in the daytime, this deity would emerge from the water and was responsible for teaching art, science and writing to the human race.
Berossus, a 3rd century Babylonian priest once wrote,
At first they led a somewhat wretched existence and lived without rule after the manner of beasts. But, in the first year after the flood appeared an animal endowed with human reason, named Oannes, who rose from out of the Erythian Sea, at the point where it borders Babylonia. He had the whole body of a fish, but above his fish’s head he had another head which was that of a man, and human feet emerged from beneath his fish’s tail. He had a human voice, and an image of him is preserved unto this day. He passed the day in the midst of men without taking food; he taught them the use of letters, sciences and arts of all kinds. He taught them to construct cities, to found temples, to compile laws, and explained to them the principles of geometrical knowledge. He made them distinguish the seeds of the earth, and showed them how to collect the fruits; in short he instructed them in everything which could tend to soften human manners and humanize their laws. From that time nothing material has been added by way of improvement to his instructions. And when the sun set, this being Oannes, retired again into the sea, for he was amphibious.
In the book Revelation, H. A. Ironside
stated:
The chief priests wore miters shaped like the head of fish, in honor of Dagon, the fish-god, the lord of life – another form of the Tammuz mystery, as developed among Israel’s old enemies, the Philistines. When the chief priest was established in Rome, he took the title Pontifex Maximus, which was imprinted on his miter. When Julius Caesar (who like all young Roman of good family, was an initiate) had become the head of State, he was elected Pontifex Maximus, and this title was held henceforth by all of the Roman emperors down to Constantine the Great, who was, at one and the same time, head of the church and high priest of the heathen! The title was afterward conferred upon the bishops of Rome and is today borne by the pope, who is thus declared to be, not the successor of the fisherman-apostle Peter, but the direct successor of the high priest of the Babylonian mysteries and the servant of the fish-god Dagon, for whom he wears, like his idolatrous predecessor, the fisherman’s ring.
Did you ever wonder why people kiss the Pope’s ring?
Why do so many people of prominence kiss the Pope’s ring?
The Ring of the Fisherman, also known as the Piscatory Ring, is an official part of the regalia worn by the Pope, who is head of the Catholic Church and successor of Saint Peter, who was a fisherman by trade. It used to feature a bas-relief of Peter fishing from a boat, a symbolism derived from the tradition that the apostles were “fishers of men” (Mark 1:17).
The Fisherman’s Ring is a signet used until 1842 to seal official documents signed by the Pope.
According to wiki , In breaking with this tradition:
“At the official introduction to his office, the classic ring remained in its case. It was passed to Pope Benedict XVI by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Angelo Cardinal Sodano. The ring was designed by jeweller Claudio Franchi, who watched as Benedict placed the ring on himself.” Although Pope Benedict XVI wore his Fisherman’s Ring daily, it is no longer the custom for popes to wear it at all. Generally, a new pope will either inherit the daily-wear ring of his predecessor, keep an old ring of his own preference, or will choose a new daily-wear style.
Why is it no longer custom for the pope to wear this ring? Because in astrotheology, we are existing out of the Age of Pisces (the two fish) and into the Age of Aquarius . The ring no longer symbolizes the Age of Pisces. Instead of seeing the two fish on people’s bumper stickers, we will soon start seeing some sort of sign for the water bearer, Aquarius .
Who is Dagon?
In the bible, Dagon dates back to around the 3rd millennium, B.C., long before the birth of Jesus Christ and was first mentioned in Judges 16:23, where the Philistines offered Dagon a great sacrifice after their idol allegedly delivered Samson to them.
Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.
Judges 16:23
This is just one of the many ritualistic sacrifices that we see in the bible and is no different than any modern day sacrifice, such as 9/11 or any given war.
Many consider the Canaanites to be part of the Philistines who worshiped worshiped Baal, Astarte and Dagon. These were some of the early sun-worshiping cultures that have led to many of the metaphors we see in modern religion, e.g. God’s son/sun.
In Mali, there is a tribe called the Dogons , whose legends from their heritage were used by the Egyptians and subsequent dynasties. The Dogon knew of constellations and alignments that we didn’t ‘discover’ until many years later, such as Sirius B.
According to Dogon legend, the Nommos arrived from the Sirius star system in a vessel along with fire and thunder, or as we would say today, in a UFO . The Nommos were part fish and part man and could live on both land and in the sea. They are also referred to as “Masters of the Water”, “the Monitors”, and “the Teachers”.
Perhaps frogs, dolphins and whales were placed here by the Nommos? Even the mystery of mermaids may originate from this premise.
Throughout mythology, we see fish-like people, mermaids and mermen, such as Poseidon or Neptune. An excerpt from Ancient Pagan and Modern Christian Symbolism
stated:
According to Egyptian mythology, when the judges found Osiris [Nimrod] guilty of corrupting the religion of Adam and cut up his body, they threw the parts into the Nile. It was said that a fish ate one of these chunks and became transformed. Later, Isis [Semiramis] was fishing along the river bank when she fished up a half-man, half-fish. This sea creature was Dagon, the reincarnated Nimrod. And Dagon is the representation of Nimrod (of ancient Babylon) resurrecting out of the ocean depths as a half-man, half-fish.
Why do we eat fish on Friday?
Why do we see fish frys on Friday? Did you ever wonder why practicing Catholics abstain from eating fish on all days except Friday?
It is not because of the phonetics of Fry-Day. The origin of Friday come s from Freya’s Day. Freya (Fria) is the Teutonic goddess of love, beauty, and fecundity (prolific procreation) and is identified with the Norse god, Freya.
The following is provided by the History of Origin of Fish Symbol :
In Greece the Greek word “delphos” meant both fish and womb. The word is derived from the location of the ancient Oracle at Delphi who worshipped the original fish goddess, Themis. The later fish Goddess, Aphrodite Salacia, was worshipped by her followers on her sacred day, Friday. They ate fish and engaged in orgies. From her name comes the English word “salacious” which means lustful or obscene. Also from her name comes the name of our fourth month, April. In later centuries, the Christian church adsorbed this tradition by requiring the faithful to eat fish on Friday – a tradition that was only recently abandoned.
According to The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church
:
As to the ritual of his worship… we only know from ancient writers that, for religious reasons, most of the Syrian peoples abstained from eating fish, a practice that one is naturally inclined to connect with the worship of a fish-god.
More fish food for thought
In the Revelation chapter of the bible it states the beast shall rise out of the sea:
And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
Revelation 13:1
Perhaps this is responsible for the term “Holy See” (Holy Sea)?
It is certainly no coincidence that the entire planet abides by Maritime Admiralty Law , which is the law of the sea (Holy See).
As for the pope’s miter, it’s a fish hat and its origin is tied into mythology, ufology, paganism and sun worshiping.
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About the Author:
Gregg Prescott, M.S. is the founder and editor of In5D and BodyMindSoulSpirit . You can find his In5D Radio shows on the In5D Youtube channel. He is also a transformational speaker and promotes spiritual, metaphysical and esoteric conferences in the United States through In5dEvents . His love and faith for humanity motivates him to work in humanity’s best interests 12-15+ hours a day, 365 days a year. Please like and follow In5D on Facebook as well as BodyMindSoulSpirit on Facebook !
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Which physical quantity is calculated by multiplying a body’s mass by its velocity? | Scalars and Vectors
To better understand the science of propulsion it is necessary to use some mathematical ideas from vector analysis. Most people are introduced to vectors in high school or college, but for the elementary and middle school students, or the mathematically-challenged:
DON'T PANIC!.
There are many complex parts to vector analysis and we aren't going there. We are going to limit ourselves to the very basics. Vectors allow us to look at complex, multi-dimensional problems as a simpler group of one-dimensional problems. We will be concerned mostly with definitions The words are a bit strange, but the ideas are very powerful as you will see. If you want to find out a lot more about vectors you can download this report on vector analysis .
Math and science were invented by humans to describe and understand the world around us. We live in a (at least) four-dimensional world governed by the passing of time and three space dimensions; up and down, left and right, and back and forth. We observe that there are some quantities and processes in our world that depend on the direction in which they occur, and there are some quantities that do not depend on direction. For example, the volume of an object, the three-dimensional space that an object occupies, does not depend on direction. If we have a 5 cubic foot block of iron and we move it up and down and then left and right, we still have a 5 cubic foot block of iron. On the other hand, the location , of an object does depend on direction. If we move the 5 cubic foot block 5 miles to the north, the resulting location is very different than if we moved it 5 miles to the east. Mathematicians and scientists call a quantity which depends on direction a vector quantity. A quantity which does not depend on direction is called a scalar quantity.
Vector quantities have two characteristics, a magnitude and a direction. Scalar quantities have only a magnitude. When comparing two vector quantities of the same type, you have to compare both the magnitude and the direction. For scalars, you only have to compare the magnitude. When doing any mathematical operation on a vector quantity (like adding, subtracting, multiplying ..) you have to consider both the magnitude and the direction. This makes dealing with vector quantities a little more complicated than scalars.
On the slide we list some of the physical quantities discussed in the Beginner's Guide to Aeronautics and group them into either vector or scalar quantities. Of particular interest, the forces which operate on a flying aircraft, the weight , thrust , and aerodynmaic forces , are all vector quantities. The resulting motion of the aircraft in terms of displacement, velocity, and acceleration are also vector quantities. These quantities can be determined by application of Newton's laws for vectors. The scalar quantities include most of the thermodynamic state variables involved with the propulsion system, such as the density , pressure , and temperature of the propellants. The energy , work , and entropy associated with the engines are also scalar quantities.
Vectors have magnitude and direction, scalars only have magnitude. The fact that magnitude occurs for both scalars and vectors can lead to some confusion. There are some quantities, like speed, which have very special definitions for scientists. By definition, speed is the scalar magnitude of a velocity vector. A car going down the road has a speed of 50 mph. Its velocity is 50 mph in the northeast direction. It can get very confusing when the terms are used interchangeably! Another example is mass and weight. Weight is a force which is a vector and has a magnitude and direction. Mass is a scalar. Weight and mass are related to one another, but they are not the same quantity.`
While Newton's laws describe the resulting motion of a solid, there are special equations which describe the motion of fluids, gases and liquids . For any physical system, the mass , momentum , and energy of the system must be conserved. Mass and energy are scalar quantities, while momentum is a vector quantity. This results in a coupled set of equations, called the Navier-Stokes equations , which describe how fluids behave when subjected to external forces. These equations are the fluid equivalent of Newton's laws of motion and are very difficult to solve and understand. A simplified version of the equations called the Euler equations can be solved for some fluids problems.
Activities:
| Momentum |
From which S.E. London open space do participants start the London Marathon? | Physics Equations Page
NWHS Physics
Equations Page
This is a listing of all equations that we are using (updated as we go) from the text and class discussions. Feel free to print out a copy and update as we go in class. It will also help to have if equations are permitted on tests!
Equation
What it is and when to use it...
This is simply how we define a duration of time. The quantities t1 and t2 represent two events (with 1 being first). The difference in the two time measurements represents a duration of time. Typically, this is measured in seconds, but always in units of time.
This is simply how we define a displacement in the x-direction. The quantities x1 and x2 represent two positions (with 1 being the starting location, and 2 being the ending location). The difference in the two position measurements (measured from some common reference point - usually the origin point, or zero) represents a change in position. Typically, this is measured in meters, but always in units of distance. The sign of the value designates a direction (positive or negative x).
This is just a generic version of the above equation, using the variable d to represent some displacement in normal, three-dimensional space. This is also measured in units of distance. The sign of this number simply denotes whether the displacement was away from (positive) or toward (negative) the origin of measurement.
Average velocity, measured in units of distance per unit time (typically, meters per second), is the average distance traveled during some time interval. If the object moves with a constant velocity, it will have the same average velocity during all time durations.
When examining an object's displacement-time graph, the slope of a line is equal to the average velocity of the object. If the object's displacement-time graph is a straight line itself, then the object is traveling with a constant velocity. If the graph is not a straight line (i.e., a curve) then the slope of that curve's tangent line at some specific time is equal to the object's instantaneous velocity.
This is just an equation relating the three main ways average acceleration is expressed in equations. Remember that if the object has a constant acceleration, its average acceleration is the exact same value.
Average acceleration, measured in units of distance per time-squared (typically, meters per second per second), is the average rate at which an object's velocity changes over a given time interval. This tells us how quickly the object speeds up, slows down, or changes direction only. This equation is both the definition of average acceleration and the fact that it is the slope of a velocity-time graph. Like velocity, if the graph is not a straight line then the acceleration is not constant.
This is a simple re-write of the definition of acceleration. It is useful when solving for the final velocity of an object with a known initial velocity and constant acceleration over some time interval.
If an object goes from an initial velocity to a final velocity, undergoing constant acceleration, you can simply "average" the two velocities this way. This is particularly helpful and easy to use if you know that it starts with zero velocity (just divide the final velocity in half).
This is a simple re-write of the old distance-equals-rate-times-time formula with average velocity defined as above.
This is a very important formula for later use. It can be used to calculate an object's displacement using initial velocity, constant acceleration, and time. This is often times used to calculate how far an object moves vertically under the influence of gravity (agravity = g = 9.81 m/s2).
Though a bit more complex looking, this equation is really an excellent way to find final velocity knowing only initial velocity, average acceleration, and displacement. Don't forget to take the square-root to finish solving for vf.
This equation is the definition of a vector (in this case, the vector A) through its vertical and horizontal components. Recall that x is horizontal and y is vertical.
This equation relates the lengths of the vector and its components. It is taken directly from the Pythagorean theorem relating the side lengths of a right triangle.
The length of a vector's horizontal component can be found by knowing the length of the vector and the angle it makes with the positive-x axis (in this case, the Greek letter theta).
The length of a vector's vertical component can be found by knowing the length of the vector and the angle it makes with the positive-x axis (in this case, the Greek letter theta).
Because the components of a vector are perpendicular to each other, and they form a right triangle with the vector as the hypotenuse, the tangent of the vector's angle with the positive-x axis is equal to the ratio of the vertical component length to the horizontal component length. This is useful for calculating the angle that a vector is pointed when only the components are known.
This is Newton's Second Law, written as a definition of the term "force". Simply put, a force is what is required to cause a mass to accelerate. Forces are measured in Newtons (N), which are defined in terms of kilograms (kg) of mass and meters per second-squared (m/s2) of acceleration.
This is simply a reworking of Newton's 2nd Law to state that the "weight" of an object is really the force that gravity (see our old friend g = -9.81 m/s2) pulls it down with. Since 'g' is already a negative value, we don't have to mess around with putting a negative to show direction (down is negative in our x-y reference frame).
Through experimentation, physicists came to learn that the frictional force between two surfaces depends on two things: the type of material that the surfaces are made of; and how strong a force it is acting perpendicularly between them. These two factors are seen here in this equation: the Greek letter 'mu' is the coefficient of friction (always positive); and the normal force (normal literally means perpendicular). Since both are positive, we must include a negative to account for friction's oppositional nature (always goes against motion).
Another way to interpret Newton's 2nd Law is to say that the net (sum total) force on an object is what causes its acceleration. Hence, there may be any number of forces acting on an object, but it is the resultant of all of them that actually causes any acceleration. Remember, however, that these are force vectors, not just numbers. We must add them just as we would add vectors.
A simple if-then statement that holds true due to Newton's 2nd Law. If the mass is not accelerated (meaning: sped up, slowed down, or changed direction), then there must be no net force acting on it. This is not to say that there is no force acting on it, just that the sum total of all the forces acting on it is equal to zero -- all the forces "cancel out".
Since force is a vector, I can simply focus on its components when I wish. So, if I have a series of forces acting on a mass, the sum of their x-components must be equal to the x-component of the net force on the mass. And, by Newton's 2nd Law, this must be equal to the mass times the x-component of the acceleration (since mass has no direction, and acceleration is also a vector).
Similarly as above, if I have a series of forces acting on a mass, the sum of their y-components must be equal to the y-component of the net force on the mass. And, by Newton's 2nd Law, this must be equal to the mass times the y-component of the acceleration (since mass has no direction, and acceleration is also a vector).
If we calculate (or just know) the x- and y-components of the net force acting on an object, it is a snap to find the total net force. As with any vector, it is merely the sum of its components (added together like a right triangle, of course). This equation becomes ridiculously easy to use if either one of the components is zero.
The definition of momentum is simply mass times velocity. Take note that an object can have different velocities measured from different reference frames.
Newton's 2nd Law re-written as an expression of momentum change. This is actually how Newton first thought of his law.
The Impulse-Momentum Theorem is just an algebraic manipulation of Newton's 2nd Law. It allows us to think of momentum change as "impulse" (force over some time), and apply the law in a much simpler fashion.
In a closed, isolated system, the total momentum of all the objects does not change. Since "closed" means nothing coming in or going out, we can imagine all our applications talking about a fixed set of objects. Since "isolated" means no interactions with anything outside the system, we must imagine all our applications involve nothing but those objects and forces that we consider. These are tough prices to pay, but the result is an INCREDIBLY powerful tool -- total momentum before an interaction is equal to total momentum afterward.
In two dimensions, the law still holds -- we just pay attention to the components of the total momentum. Here, a' refers to object a after the collision.
This equation shows the relationship between arclength (s), radius (r), and angle (theta - measured in radians). It is useful for finding the distance around any circular path (or portion thereof) at a given radial distance.
This equation shows the relationship between the period of a pendulum and its length. It was first discovered by Galileo that the arc of a pendulums swing and the mass at the end of a pendulum do not factor noticeably into the amount of time each swing takes. Only the length of the pendulum matters.
The tangential velocity of an object in uniform (unchanging) circular motion is how fast it is moving tangent to the circle. Literally the distance around the circle divided by the period of rotation (time for one full rotation).
The centripetal acceleration of an object in uniform circular motion is how much its velocity (because of direction, not speed) changes toward the center of the circle in order for it to continue moving in a circle.
The force that is required to keep an object moving in a circular path is the centripetal force acting on the object. This force, directed towards the center of the circle, is really just a derivative of Newton's 2nd Law using centripetal acceleration.
The work done on an object is found by multiplying force and distance, but there is a catch. The force and distance must be parallel to each other. Only the component of the force in the same direction as the distance traveled does any work. Hence, if a force applied is perpendicular to the distance traveled, no work is done. The equation becomes force times distance times the cosine of the angle between them. Work is measured in units of newtons times meters, or joules (J).
Power is a physical quantity equal to the rate at which work is done. The more time it takes to do the same work, the smaller the power generated, and vice-versa. Power is measured in units of joules per second, or watts (W).
Kinetic energy is simply the energy of motion - the more something is moving (or the more there is to that something), the more kinetic energy it possesses. Kinetic energy, like all forms of energy, is measured in units of joules (J).
Since work and energy have the same units, it stands to reason that they are related. Well, they are. Energy is really defined as the ability to do mechanical work. Therefore, if positive work is done on an object, that object gains kinetic energy (it gets moved).
This is just a different version of the above equation. It is commonly referred to as the Work-Energy Theorem.
Gravity is a constant force - always there and always the same. Since this is the case, we can say that as an object gains height (near the surface of the Earth), it gains some potential to do work (when it eventually falls). This potential energy is stored energy that can be turned into kinetic later.
The total mechanical (motion-related) energy of an object is found by adding the kinetic plus the potential energies for that object - energy due to how fast it is currently going and due to how fast it could go because of its position.
This is a simplified mathematical re-statement of the law of energy conservation. If we have a closed and isolated system, the total mechanical energy does not change.
Another way of expressing mechanical energy conservation, this formula says that the total before energy (PE + KE) must equal the total after energy (PE + KE).
This is the definition that links the relationship between frequency (measured in Hz -- or cycles per second) and period (measured in units of time -- seconds per cycle). The inverse relationship between the two is important in relating wave speed with wavelength.
The speed of a wave is due to only two features, the frequency of the wave pattern and the wavelength (how far apart the waves are in space). It is important to note that there is no dependence on the amplitude of the wave for calculating the frequency. This equation is derived from the simple, constant speed equation -- distance = rate x time.
The energy carried by a wave is proportional to the square of the amplitude of the wave (and has nothing to do with wave speed). Therefore, if I were to double the amplitude of a wave (like doubling the intensity of a sound) I am actually quadrupling the energy that it carries.
This equation shows the relationship between three variables of a string attached at two ends and the velocity of a transverse wave that would travel between them. The variable F is the tension force in the string; the variable m is the mass of the string; and the variable L is the length of the string. Therefore, in order to make a wave travel faster in a string (like a guitar string), I can do any one of three things while keeping the others constant: increase the tension, decrease the mass of the string, or increase the length of the string. The denominator (m/L) is sometimes written as the Greek letter mu, and referred to as the "linear density" of the string.
Sound waves (or any other form of three dimensional emanation) can be ranked by their intensity -- an objective measure of the amount of energy they carry. At some distance, r, from a point source of sound with power output, P, the intensity can be calculated in Watts per square-meter. This is a much more objective view of "loudness" than is measured by the decibel scale, in which the frequencies of the sound matter due to limitations on the human range of hearing (20 Hz to 20 kHz).
The Doppler Effect can be detected whenever a wave source and observer are in relative motion. If they are moving towards each other, then the frequency is observed to be higher than what is actually emitted, and vice versa. In this equation, the top sign (+ in the numerator, - in the denominator) is used if the source (s) and observer (-) are moving towards each other. Otherwise, the bottom sign is used in either case. The entire factor in parentheses is actually a unit-less quantity that acts as a multiplier for the emitted frequency, f.
For either an open-ended resonator or a sting attached at both ends, this equation allows you to calculate the frequency of a standing wave with the integer, n, number of antinodes (or loops). You must know the length of the tube or string, the number of antinodes, and the velocity of the wave in the tube or along the string. If n = 1, the resulting value will be the 1st resonating frequency (or fundamental harmonic).
Incorporating the simple wave speed equation along with the previous equation, this allows us to calculate the wavelength of any resonating frequency knowing only the number of antinodes (therefore, the harmonic number) and the length of the open tube or string. With it, you could predict the fundamental frequency that would be played by a string of any length (how frets are placed on a guitar).
For either a closed-ended resonator (like blowing across the top of a pop bottle), this equation allows you to calculate the frequency of a standing wave with the integer, n, number of antinodes (or loops). You must know the length of the tube, the number of antinodes, and the velocity of the wave in the tube. If n = 1, the resulting value will be the 1st resonating frequency (or fundamental harmonic). Important to note that closed-resonators are able to achieve the same resonant frequency, but at one-half the length.
Incorporating the simple wave speed equation along with the previous equation, this allows us to calculate the wavelength of any resonating frequency knowing only the number of antinodes (therefore, the harmonic number) and the length of the closed tube. With it, you could predict the fundamental frequency that would be played by a pop bottle with any level of water within it (therefore, of any length).
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Which five word title is engraved on the letter box at 10 Downing Street? | What Is Engraved On The 10 Downing St Door? - LBC
LBC
What Is Engraved On The 10 Downing St Door?
Mystery Hour Question
What is engraved on the letterbox of the door of 10 Downing Street?
Lindy, Letchworth
Name: John, Marylebone
Qualification: Occasional visitor to 10 Downing Street
Answer: The title of the Prime Minister, before he was called Prime Minister, was the First Lord of the Treasury. And that is what is written on the letterbox of 10 Downing Street. Interestingly, they have two doors, which are changed every six months, so that they can be cleaned and re-decorated in private.
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Who led the ill-fated expedition which set sail in 1845 in HMS Erebus and HMS Terror? | History of 10 Downing Street - GOV.UK
GOV.UK
Larry, Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office
Introduction – by Sir Anthony Seldon
10 Downing Street, the locale of British prime ministers since 1735, vies with the White House as being the most important political building anywhere in the world in the modern era. Behind its black door have been taken the most important decisions affecting Britain for the last 275 years.
In the 20th century alone, the First and Second World Wars were directed from within it, as were the key decisions about the end of the empire, the building of the British nuclear bomb, the handling of economic crises from the Great Depression in 1929 to the great recession, and the building up of the welfare state.
Some of the most famous political figures of modern history have lived and worked in Number 10, including Robert Walpole, Pitt the Younger, Benjamin Disraeli, William Gladstone, David Lloyd George, Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher.
Number 10 has 3 overlapping functions. It is the official residence of the British Prime Minister: it is their office, and it is also the place where the Prime Minister entertains guests from Her Majesty The Queen to presidents of the United States and other world leaders. The Prime Minister hosts countless receptions and events for a whole range of British and overseas guests, with charitable receptions high up the list.
The building is much larger than it appears from its frontage. The hall with the chequered floor immediately behind the front door lets on to a warren of rooms and staircases. The house in Downing Street was joined to a more spacious and elegant building behind it in the early 18th century. Number 10 has also spread itself out to the left of the front door, and has taken over much of 12 Downing Street, which is accessed by a corridor that runs through 11 Downing Street – the official residence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Explore 10 Downing Street
Downing Street Approach
Entrance Hall
Many famous feet have trodden across this entrance hall: from world leaders to sporting heroes. But this is also where the PM's staff enter each day to work among the myriad corridors and staircases which snake around the building. 10 Downing Street fulfils many roles – as meeting place, home and office. The Prime Minister does not have keys to Number 10 but there is always someone on duty to let him in.
Grand Staircase
Sir Robert Walpole took up residence as Prime Minister in 1735 and wanted the design of Number 10 to match his status. He employed a famous architect of the day to renovate the crumbling building and many of the features he installed, including the central staircase, still exist. Portraits of every Prime Minister line the walls in chronological order, with the most recent incumbents at the top and group photographs from past Cabinets and Imperial Conferences at the bottom.
White Drawing Room
Until the 1940s Prime Ministers and their wives kept the White Room for their private use. It was here that Edward Heath kept his grand piano. The room contains works by one of the most important English landscape painters of the nineteenth century, J M W Turner. These days it is often used as the backdrop for television interviews and is in regular use as a meeting room for Downing Street staff. The room links through to the Terracotta Room next door.
Cabinet Room
Gordon Brown held Cabinet meetings every Tuesday but they were previously held on Thursday mornings. The only exceptions were during the Second World War and when the house was being renovated.
The room was extended in 1796 by knocking a wall down and inserting columns to carry the extra span. The Cabinet room is separated from the rest of the house by soundproof doors. A terrorist bomb exploded in the garden of Number 10 in 1991, only a few metres from where John Major was chairing a Cabinet meeting.
Terracotta Room
This was used as the dining room when Sir Robert Walpole was PM. The name of this room changes according to the colour it is painted. When Margaret Thatcher came to power it was the Blue Room and she had it re-decorated and re-named the Green Room. It is now painted terracotta. There are many famous works of art in this room, on loan from the Government Art Collection.
Pillared Room
The Pillared Room is the largest of the three rooms and is used when international agreements are being signed or as the main staging area for receptions. This is where the England Rugby Union team was entertained after winning the World Cup in 2003. The inventor John Logie Baird used the room to demonstrate one of his new-fangled television sets to Ramsey MacDonald and his children.
The room contains a striking Persian carpet, copied from a 16th century original which can be found in the Victoria and Albert Museum
Small Dining Room
The Small Dining Room was once known as the breakfast room. Prime Ministers and their families used this room to have their meals until the flat upstairs was renovated. This was a favourite room of Lloyd George and can hold up to 12 people.
Sir John Soane designed it in 1827 following a commission from PM Viscount Goderich. The most unusual feature of this room is the fireplace without a chimney breast. The flues used to get so hot that the substance holding the window together would melt, causing the glass to fall out.
State Dining Room
Double doors lead you from the Small Dining Room to the larger State Dining room, which is built over the original vaulted stone kitchen. As with the small dining room, this room was designed by Sir John Soane in 1827. On the 250th anniversary of Number 10, in 1985, all the surviving Prime Ministers had dinner together here. This room is used to host the PM's press conferences, where he is quizzed by the world's media.
The Study
The study was a regular workplace for Harold Wilson and also Margaret Thatcher (later Lady Thatcher), who worked on important documents held in her “red boxes” and held meetings with her officials, a tradition restored by Gordon Brown. Sir Winston Churchill used the room as sleeping quarters.
The Garden
The Number 10 garden is in constant use. Often used to host events it is kept in pristine condition by a small team of gardeners.
10 Downing Street
Hundreds of people enter 10 Downing Street every week to attend meetings and receptions and to hand petitions over to the Prime Minister’s Office.
Downing Street Approach
Walking up Downing Street from Whitehall you have the imposing Foreign and Commonwealth building to your left and the Prime Minister’s residence on your right.
Explore 10 Downing Street's most famous rooms and significant events in more detail at the Google Cultural Institute .
Origins and early inhabitants
The area around Downing Street was home to ancient Roman, Anglo-Saxon and Norman settlements, and was already a prestigious centre of government 1,000 years ago.
The Romans first came to Britain under the command of Julius Caesar in 55 BC. Making their capital at Londinium downriver, the Romans chose Thorney Island – a marshy piece of land lying between two branches of the river Tyburn that flowed from Hampstead Heath to the Thames – as the site for their early settlement.
These Roman settlements, and those of the Anglo-Saxons and Normans who supplanted them, were not very successful. The area was prone to plague and its inhabitants were very poor. A charter granted by the Mercian King Offa in the year 785 refers to “the terrible place called Thorney Island”. It took royal patronage to give the area prestige. King Canute (reigned 1017 to 1035) built a palace in the area, and Edward the Confessor (reigned 1042 to 1066) and William the Conqueror (reigned 1066 to 1087) maintained a royal presence there. The position of Westminster (as the area became known) as the centre of government and the church was solidified following the construction of the great abbey nearby, on Edward's orders.
Whitehall from St James's Park – Hendrick Danckerts c.1675
The earliest building known to have stood on the site of Downing Street was the Axe brewery owned by the Abbey of Abingdon in the Middle Ages. By the early 1500s, it had fallen into disuse.
Henry VIII (reigned 1509 to 1547) developed Westminster's importance further by building an extravagant royal residence there.
Whitehall Palace was created when Henry VIII confiscated York House from Cardinal Wolsey in 1530 and extended the complex. Today's Downing Street is located on the edge of the Palace site.
The huge residence included tennis courts, a tiltyard for jousting, a bowling green, and a cockpit for bird fights. Stretching from St James's Park to the Thames, it was the official residence of Tudor and Stuart monarchs until it was destroyed by fire in 1698. It made the surrounding real estate some of the most important and valuable in London – and the natural home of power.
The first domestic house known to have been built on the site of Number 10 was a large building leased to Sir Thomas Knyvet in 1581 by Queen Elizabeth I (reigned 1558 to 1603). He was one of the Queen's favourites and was an MP for Thetford as well as a justice of the peace for Westminster. His claim to fame was the arrest of Guy Fawkes for his role in the gunpowder plot of 1605. He was knighted in 1604 by Elizabeth's successor, King James I (reigned 1603 to 1625), and the house was extended.
After the death of Sir Knyvet and his wife, the house passed to their niece, Elizabeth Hampden, who continued to live there for the next 40 years.
The middle of the 17th century was a period of political upheaval and Mrs Hampden's family was right in the middle of it. Her son, John Hampden, was one of the MPs who opposed King Charles I (reigned 1625 to 1649), and Oliver Cromwell, the Lord Protector, was Mrs Hampden's nephew.
Hampden House, as it was then known, gave Mrs Hampden a prime view of the tumultuous events during the Civil War and the Commonwealth and the early years of the Restoration.
The execution of Charles I in 1649 took place on a scaffold in front of Banqueting House in Whitehall, within earshot of the house. Mrs Hampden was still living there when King Charles II (reigned in Scotland from 1649 to 1685) was restored to the English throne in 1660.
The Parliamentary Commissioners, who took over Crown lands during the time of the Commonwealth, described the house in 1650:
“Built part of Bricke and part with Tymber and Flemish qalle and covered with Tyle, consistinge of a Large and spacious hall, wainscoted round, well lighted, and Paved with brick Pavements, two parls wherof one is Wainscoted round from the seelinge to ye floor, one Buttery, one seller, one Large kitchen well paved with stone and well fitted and Joynted and well fitted with dresser boards…
And above stayres in the first story one large and spacious dyneinge Roome, Wainscoted round from the seelinge to the floore, well flored, Lighted and seeled, and fitted with a faire Chimney with a foote pace of paynted Tyle in the same. Also 6 more Roomes and 3 Closetts in the same flore all well lighted and seeled. And in the second story 4 garretts…”
The emergence of Downing Street
George Downing gave his name to the most famous street in the world. It is unfortunate that he was such an unpleasant man. Able as a diplomat and a government administrator, he was miserly and at times brutal.
However, George Downing was responsible for the street, its name and the building we know today. A former diplomat at The Hague serving the Commonwealth, he changed allegiance with finesse. He traded enough secrets to gain a royal pardon in March 1660 and, by the Restoration in May 1660, to be rewarded with a knighthood.
Interested in power and money, he saw an opportunity to make his fortune in property. He had already gained the Crown interest in the land around Hampden House, but could not take possession as it was under lease to Knyvet's descendants. In 1682 he secured the leases to the property and employed Sir Christopher Wren to design the houses.
Between 1682 and 1684, existing properties were pulled down and in their place a cul-de-sac of 15 to 20 terraced houses was built along the north side of the new street, Downing Street. In order to maximise profit, the houses were cheaply built, with poor foundations for the boggy ground. Instead of neat brick façades, they had mortar lines drawn on to give the appearance of evenly spaced bricks. In the 20th Century, Prime Minister Winston Churchill wrote that Number 10 was:
Shaky and lightly built by the profiteering contractor whose name they bear.
A rather important neighbour complained, however. The new houses were built directly behind a large and impressive house overlooking Horse Guards. Its occupier, the Countess of Lichfield, daughter of Charles II, was less than pleased with the emergence of the unwelcome terrace behind. She complained to her father, who wrote back with advice:
I think that it is a very reasonable thing that other houses should not look into your house without your permission, and this note will be sufficient for Mr Surveyor to build up your wall as high as you please.
The original numbering of the Downing Street houses was completely different from what we see today. The sequence of numbers was haphazard, and the houses tended to be known by the name or title of their occupants. The current Number 10 started out life as Number 5, and was not renumbered until 1779.
The Downing Street house had several distinguished residents. The Countess of Yarmouth lived at Number 10 between 1688 and 1689, and was followed by Lord Lansdowne from 1692 to 1696 and the Earl of Grantham from 1699 to 1703. The last private resident of Downing's terrace was one Mr Chicken. Little is known about him except that he moved out in the early 1730s.
King George II presented both the house on Downing Street and the house overlooking Horse Guards to Sir Robert Walpole, who held the title First Lord of the Treasury and effectively served as the first Prime Minister. Walpole refused the property as a personal gift. Instead, he asked the king to make it available as an official residence to him and to future First Lords of the Treasury – starting the tradition that continues today. The brass letterbox on the black front door is still engraved with this title.
Walpole took up residence on 22 September 1735, once the townhouse on Downing Street and the house overlooking Horse Guards had been joined together and completely refurbished. Walpole employed architect William Kent – who had already worked on Walpole's Norfolk home, Houghton Hall – to undertake the work.
Kent carried out extensive work on the 2 houses, connecting them on 2 storeys. The main entrance now faced onto Downing Street rather than towards Horse Guards, and the Downing Street building became a passageway to the main house. At the back of the house, where the Walpoles lived, Kent created grand new rooms suitable for receiving important guests, and built an unusual, 3-sided staircase. It is still one of the most impressive features of the building.
Walpole used the ground floor for business, taking the largest room, on the north-west side of the house, as his study. This is now the Cabinet Room. Upstairs on the first floor, the Walpoles lived in the rooms facing onto Horse Guards Parade. Lady Walpole used today's White Drawing Room as her sitting room, and the present day Terracotta Room served as their dining room. The Walpoles were soon entertaining important guests in their smart house, including George II's wife Queen Caroline, politicians, writers and soldiers. Number 10 became – as it continues to be today – a place for politics and entertainment.
Pelham to Pitt
When Walpole left Downing Street in 1742, it was over 20 years before another First Lord of the Treasury moved in. His successors saw the house as a perk of the job, and Prime Ministers Henry Pelham (1743 to 1754) and the Duke of Newcastle (1757 to 1762) preferred to live in their own residences.
In 1763 George Grenville (1763 to 1765) took up residence but was sacked by King George III in 1765 for imposing stamp duty on the American colonies. The next Prime Minister to move into Downing Street was Lord North (1770 to 1782). He was very fond of the house and often entertained there. Visitors included the writer Samuel Johnson and Thomas Hansard, founder of the parliamentary reporting system that is still in use today. One guest, Clive of India, was so popular that furniture was made for him, which is still present today in the first floor anteroom and Terracotta Room.
During one memorable dinner party held by Lord North on 7 June 1780, civil unrest broke out in the street outside when angry Protestants unhappy with North's policy towards Roman Catholics rioted all over London, in what became known as the Gordon Riots. The Grenadier Guards held off a large mob, a situation that might have ended with bloodshed had North not gone outside to warn the protestors of the dangers of being shot, following which the crowd dispersed. North's dinner guests climbed to the top of the house to view the fires burning all over London.
Major improvements were made to the house during North's time, including the addition of many distinctive features: the black and white chequerboard floor in the entrance hall, the lamp above the front door and the famous lion's head door knocker.
Following the loss of the American colonies, North resigned and was followed by the Duke of Portland, who was Prime Minister for only 9 months in 1782.
Fall and rise of Number 10
At the turn of the 19th century, Downing Street had fallen on hard times. Although Number 10 continued to serve as the Prime Minister's office, it was not favoured as a home. Most prime ministers preferred to live in their own townhouses.
But by the 1820s, Downing Street had emerged as the centre of government. Prime Minister Viscount Goderich employed the brilliant, quirky architect Sir John Soane, designer of the Bank of England , to make the house more suitable for its high-profile role. Soane created the wood-panelled State Dining Room and the Small Dining Room for elegant entertaining.
But this wasn't good enough for his successor, Lord Wellington, who only moved in while his own lavish home, Apsley House , was being refurbished. Later leaders such as Lord Melbourne and Viscount Palmerston used Number 10 only as an office and for Cabinet meetings. In 1828, Number 11 became the Chancellor of the Exchequer's official residence, but the surrounding area was becoming seedier, with brothels and gin parlours multiplying. Things became so bad that by 1839 there were plans to demolish Number 10 and the other buildings on the north side of Downing Street to make way for a remodelled Whitehall.
Security also became an issue. In 1842, Edward Drummond, secretary to Prime Minister Robert Peel (1841-1846), was murdered in Whitehall on his way back to his home in Downing Street by an assassin who mistook him for Peel. The prestige of Downing Street was reduced even further by the building of the magnificent new Foreign Office building at the end of the 1860s. George Gilbert Scott's creation, with a huge open court and elaborate state rooms, dwarfed Number 10 opposite. It even had its own Cabinet Room in which the Cabinet sometimes met, rather than at Number 10.
By the time Benjamin Disraeli became Prime Minister, the house was in poor shape. The living quarters had not been used for 30 years and Disraeli described it as “dingy and decaying”. It was time for modernisation.
The late 19th and early 20th century saw 10 Downing Street transformed from a humble terraced house into a grand residence with modern facilities – a home and office fit for the most powerful politician in the country. Disraeli persuaded the state to pay for renovation to the entrance halls and public rooms, though he paid for the refurbishment of the private rooms himself. His own first floor bedroom and dressing room were improved, and a bath with hot and cold water in the First Lord's Dressing Room was installed for the sum of £150.3s.6d.
When William Gladstone moved into the house for the first time in 1880, he insisted on redecorating, spending £1,555.5s.0d – an enormous sum for the time – on furniture. During his occupancy in 1884, electric lighting was fitted and the first telephones were installed.
The Marquess of Salisbury, who succeeded Gladstone on one occasion, was the last Prime Minister not to live at Number 10. Salisbury never liked the Cabinet Room, describing it as a “cramped close room”. Preferring to work in the larger Cabinet Room in the Foreign Office and live in Arlington Street, he offered Number 10 to his nephew, Arthur Balfour, who would later become Prime Minister himself. Balfour was the first inhabitant of Number 10 to bring a motor car to Downing Street.
Over the years, more and more changes and improvements were made to the house. When Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald first entered the house, he wanted Number 10 to regain some of the grandeur it had during the times of Walpole and Pitt. Missing a proper library (or at least, one containing more than just Hansard reports), MacDonald set about creating one. He started the Prime Minister's Library, originally housed in the Cabinet Room. The custom of the Prime Minister and other ministers donating books to the library continues to this day. Central heating was installed in 1937 and work began to convert the labyrinth of rooms in the attic, which had formerly been used by servants, into a flat for the Prime Minister.
Number 10 at war
World War One
In 1912, Herbert Henry Asquith found himself at odds with Ulster and the Tory opposition following renewed attempts to introduce Irish Home Rule. This unrest and fierce opposition would continue, and civil war in Ireland was only averted with the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914.
The Cabinet Room at Number 10 was the nerve centre of Britain's war effort. Asquith's Cabinet included future Prime Ministers David Lloyd George and Winston Churchill, in their posts as Chancellor and First Lord of the Admiralty respectively. Asquith had been forced to take on the additional role of Secretary of State for War following the resignation of the incumbent in March 1914, but quickly appointed Lord Kitchener following the outbreak of war.
On 15 April 1916, Number 10 was the site of a meeting between General Haig, Commander-in-Chief of British forces in France, and the Cabinet to go over the detail of the planned Somme offensive, later known as the Battle of the Somme.
During a Cabinet split on 25 May 1915 (caused by public outcry at allegations the army had been under-supplied with shells and the failed offensive in the Dardanelles, for which Kitchener and Churchill respectively were blamed), Kitchener was stripped of his control over munitions and strategy, and Churchill lost his post as First Lord of the Admiralty. As a result of the split, Asquith formed a coalition government with the opposition Conservatives, whose leader was future Prime Minister, Andrew Bonar Law.
Asquith remained leader of the coalition until his resignation on 5 December 1916. After Andrew Bonar Law refused to form a government, David Lloyd George became leader of the coalition and Prime Minister on 7 December 1916.
Under Prime Minister Lloyd George the number of staff at Number 10 expanded and offices spilled out into the garden to cope with the demands of the administration of the war.
Lloyd George immediately formed his ‘War Cabinet’, whose members included Lord Curzon, Bonar Law and Arthur Henderson. In the first 235 days of its existence, the War Cabinet met 200 times.
This cabinet took total responsibility for the war, and on 3 occasions it sat as the Imperial War Cabinet when prime ministers from the Dominions attended. It provided a vigour previously lacking from the war effort.
Highly able young men were appointed to collect and collate data and to bypass slow moving government departments. These men were nicknamed the ‘Garden Suburb’ because they lived in huts at the end of gardens near to Downing Street. They were not liked by diehard civil servants, who they continually bypassed. However, the men from the Garden Suburb gave Lloyd George the one thing Asquith seemingly never had – up-to-date, meaningful statistics. Their work was invaluable, providing the War Cabinet with data on merchant ships sunk and UK farm production, issues essential to address if the country was not to be starved into defeat.
When armistice was finally declared on 11 November 1918, crowds thronged Downing Street chanting ‘LG’. Lloyd George made an appearance at one of the first floor windows to acknowledge them.
World War Two – Chamberlain
During the 1930s the world's eyes rested on Europe. With rising tensions between Germany and Czechoslovakia, the prime ministers of France and Britain did what they could in an attempt to avoid another war. On 12 September 1938, thousands gathered at Downing Street to listen to Hitler's speech on the final night of the Nuremberg Rally, convinced Britain stood on the brink of war.
As tension mounted further in Europe, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain made several attempts to appease the situation, and Number 10 became the focus of international attention. On the morning of 29 September 1938, Chamberlain travelled to Germany for the final time as Prime Minister to hold talks with the French Prime Minister Édouard Daladier, Hitler, and Mussolini.
The Munich Agreement was signed and war – for now – had been averted. Before leaving for England, Chamberlain held a private meeting with Hitler where he obtained his signature on the famous “Peace in our Time” document, which declared that any future disputes between Britain and Germany would be settled peacefully.
Upon Chamberlain's return to Heston Airfield, he was mobbed by large crowds and gave the resounding “Peace in Our Time” speech, waving aloft the document signed by Hitler.
When he returned to Downing Street following a meeting with George VI, the Prime Minister found Downing Street and Number 10 itself packed with people. Chamberlain gave the speech a second time, from a first floor window of Number 10:
My good friends, this is the second time there has come back from Germany to Downing Street peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Now I recommend you go home, and sleep quietly in your beds.
But over the following 12 months tension did not lift, and on 3 September 1939, Chamberlain broadcast to the nation from the Cabinet Room at Number 10, announcing that the country was now at war with Germany. Chamberlain resigned as Prime Minister on 10 May 1940 and advised King George VI to ask Winston Churchill to form a government.
When Winston Churchill replaced Chamberlain as Prime Minister, he and his wife moved into Downing Street's second-floor flat, where Churchill did much of his work.
He often dictated speeches, memos and letters to his secretary while lying propped up in bed in the morning or late in the evening, cigar in hand.
By October 1940, the intense bombing period known as the Blitz began. On 14 October, a huge bomb fell on Treasury Green near Downing Street, damaging the Number 10 kitchen and state rooms, and killing three Civil Servants doing Home Guard duty. Churchill was dining in the Garden Rooms when the air raid began. As he recalled in his memoir Their Finest Hour (1949):
We were dining in the garden-room of Number 10 when the usual night raid began. The steel shutters had been closed. Several loud explosions occurred around us at no great distance, and presently a bomb fell, perhaps a hundred yards away, on the Horse Guards Parade, making a great deal of noise.
Suddenly I had a providential impulse. The kitchen in Number 10 Downing Street is lofty and spacious, and looks out through a large plate-glass window about 25 feet high. The butler and parlour maid continued to serve the dinner with complete detachment, but I became acutely aware of this big window. I got up abruptly, went into the kitchen, told the butler to put the dinner on the hot plate in the dining-room, and ordered the cook and the other servants into the shelter, such as it was.
I had been seated again at the table only about 3 minutes when a really loud crash, close at hand, and a violent shock showed that the house had been struck. My detective came into the room and said much damage had been done. The kitchen, the pantry and the offices on the Treasury were shattered.
Keeping Downing Street safe became the priority of the Prime Minister and the War Cabinet. Steel reinforcement was added to the Garden Rooms, and heavy metal shutters were fixed over windows as protection from bombing raids. The Garden Rooms included a small dining room, bedroom and a meeting area which were used by Churchill throughout the war. In reality, though, the steel reinforcement would not have protected him against a direct hit.
In October 1939, the Cabinet had moved out of Number 10 and into secret underground war rooms in the basement of the Office of Works opposite the Foreign Office, today's Churchill War Rooms .
Following near misses by bombs, in 1940, Churchill and his wife moved out of Downing Street and into the Number 10 Annex above the war rooms. Furniture and valuables were removed from Number 10 and only the Garden Rooms, Cabinet Room and Private Secretaries' office remained in use.
Churchill disliked living in the Annex and, despite it being almost empty, he continued to use Number 10 for working and eating.
A reinforced shelter was constructed under the house for up to 6 people, for use by those working in the house. Even George VI sought shelter there when he dined with Churchill in the Garden Rooms. Although bombs caused further damage to Number 10, there were no direct hits to the house, allowing Churchill to continue to work and eat there right up until the end of the war.
As soon as war was over, Churchill and his wife moved back to Number 10, where he made his Victory in Europe (VE) Day broadcast, which was delivered from the Cabinet Room at 3pm on 8 May 1945.
Falklands Conflict – Margaret Thatcher
On 19 March 1982, the Argentinian flag was raised by a group of scrap metal merchants on the island of South Georgia, a British overseas territory and dependant of the Falkland Islands. There had been a lengthy dispute between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the sovereignty of the Islands and this action was seen as a precursor to the Argentinian invasion which would follow.
Argentine General Leopoldo Galtieri ordered the invasion of the Falklands to be brought forward to 2 April 1982, pre-empting any reinforcement of the United Kingdom's military presence in the area. Margaret Thatcher responded by sending a naval task force to recapture the islands, which set sail from Portsmouth on 5 April following a meeting of the Cabinet and the granting of a UN Resolution.
The Prime Minister stayed up all night in the Downing Street flat for the entire Falklands conflict. Margaret Thatcher's personal assistant, Cynthia Crawford, who moved into the flat at Number 10 to keep the Prime Minister company during the all-night vigils, recalls the 74 days of the conflict inside Number 10:
She did not once change into her nightclothes in the flat for the duration of the war. We would sit in the flat listening to the BBC World Service for news of the task force. She couldn’t sleep because she wanted to be ready in case anything happened.
She wanted to be able to go to any briefings with the naval commanders at any time without the fuss and bother of having to get dressed. She also wanted to know everything that was happening, every single detail, so she could keep on top of events. She had to know how the soldiers, sailors and airmen were getting on.
She was so worried about them. It was awful when we heard any reports of our ships being hit. Her determination and powers of endurance were unbelievable. Denis was in the room next door. The 2 of us would sit in armchairs either side of a two-bar electric fire, listening to the radio.
Crawford recalls the Prime Minister leaving Downing Street at 8am each morning to attend military briefings for an update of events during the night and to discuss the next part of the campaign:
I would take advantage of that and jump into bed at the flat so I could get some sleep. I'd tell the Downing Street switchboard to wake me when she was on her way back so I could be ready for work. We don't all have her energy.
The conflict ended with Argentinian surrender on 14 June 1982. Margaret Thatcher looked back on this period:
When I became Prime Minister I never thought that I would have to order British troops into combat and I do not think I have ever lived so tensely or intensely as during the whole of that time.
Margaret Thatcher – The Downing Street Years.
Restoration and modernisation
By the 1950s, the material state of 10 Downing Street had reached crisis point. Bomb damage had worsened existing structural problems: the building was suffering from subsidence, sloping walls, twisting door frames and an enormous annual repair bill.
The Ministry of Works carried out a survey in 1954 into the state of the structure. The report bounced from Winston Churchill (1951 to 1955) to Anthony Eden (1955 to 1957) to Harold Macmillan (1957 to 1963) as one Prime Minister followed the other. Finally, a committee set up by Macmillan concluded that drastic action was required before the building fell or burnt down.
The committee put forward a range of options, including the complete demolition of Number 10, 11 and 12 and their replacement with a new building. That idea was rejected and it was decided that Number 12 should be rebuilt, and Numbers 10 and 11 should be strengthened and their historic features preserved.
The architect Raymond Erith was selected to supervise the work, which was expected to take 2 years and cost £500,000. It ended up taking a year longer than planned and costing double the original estimate. The foundations proved to be so rotten that concrete underpinning was required on a massive scale.
Number 10 was completely gutted. Walls, floors and even the columns in the Cabinet Room and Pillared Room proved to be rotten and had to be replaced. New features were added too, including a room facing onto Downing Street and a veranda at Number 11 for the Chancellor.
It was also discovered that the familiar exterior façade was not black at all, but yellow. The blackened colour was a product of two centuries of severe pollution. To keep the familiar appearance, the newly cleaned yellow bricks were painted black to match their previous colour. Erith's work was completed in 1963, but not long afterwards, dry rot became apparent and further repairs had to be undertaken.
Margaret Thatcher (1979 to 1990) appointed architect Quinlan Terry to refurbish the state drawing rooms at the end of the 1980s. Two of the rooms, the White Drawing Room and Terracotta Room, gained ornate plasterwork ceilings. In the White Drawing Room, this included adding the national emblems of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
All the building work of the past few decades could have been ruined when a terrorist bomb exploded in 1991. An IRA mortar bomb was fired from a white transit van in Whitehall and exploded in the garden of Number 10, only a few metres away from where Prime Minister John Major (1990 to 1997) was chairing a Cabinet meeting to discuss the Gulf War.
Although no one was killed, it left a crater in the Number 10 gardens and blew in the windows of neighbouring houses. John Major and some of his staff moved into Admiralty Arch while damage caused by the bomb was repaired.
By 2006, it was clear that the Downing Street complex was no longer able to support the business of the Prime Minister's Office reliably. Independent surveys established that the building was no longer weather-tight, the heating system was failing, and the information and communications technology (ICT) network was at the limits of its operation. Power outages and water leaks were frequent occurrences and impacted significantly on the day-to-day operation of the Prime Minister's Office.
In addition to deterioration through age, pressures on the buildings had increased dramatically over recent years, through an increase in occupancy (stable at around 50 for many years) to around 170. In 2006, Prime Minister Tony Blair (1997 to 2007) authorised a new programme of improvements, with the building remaining operational throughout. Work was launched to address structural failure, renew the infrastructure, improve access and enhance the building's sustainability.
Structural issues were among the first to be tackled, and a phased exterior repair project was launched to address failing lead guttering, cracking brickwork and other structural issues. The distinctive black colourwash was also renewed, as it had faded away in many areas to reveal the yellow brickwork beneath. During the course of the works it was discovered that the façade of 11 Downing Street was unstable, and had to be secured using 225 stainless steel pins. All work was carried out in consultation with English Heritage .
Other projects have been undertaken to renew the building's ageing infrastructure and to replace many of the building's key services, including heating, fire protection and electrical power distribution. Sustainability is a key feature of the programme and a 10% reduction in carbon emissions was achieved during 2011. Rainwater harvesting was introduced in 2009, providing a sustainable source of water for the garden. Accessibility for disabled visitors has been significantly improved through the introduction of ramps and modernisation of lifts. Many of the public areas of the building have also been restored, including the front entrance hall, the state and small dining rooms and the study.
An ongoing programme is in place to upgrade facilities to modern standards, and to ensure the preservation of this historic building for years to come.
A place of entertainment
Every week, Number 10 is the venue for official functions including meetings, receptions, lunches and dinners.
It is not only heads of state and official dignitaries who visit – functions are held for people from all areas of UK society, including notable achievers, public service employees and charity workers.
Receptions tend to be informal gatherings. Lunches and dinners are more formal events. The Small Dining Room will sit a maximum of 12, and the State Dining Room up to 65 around a large, U-shaped table. The dining table is laid with items from the state silver collection: a range of modern silverware pieces commissioned by the Silver Trust to promote modern British craftsmanship.
Installations at Number 10 timeline
Since 10 Downing Street became the official residence of the premier, the building has performed the dual role of both residence and place of work for Britain's Prime Ministers.
Number 10 has been upgraded – including new technology – throughout its history, to ensure both an acceptable standard of living for its residents and to keep the Prime Minister at the heart of decision making within government. Often, the prompt for new technology or an upgrade was the arrival of a new Prime Minister.
Here are some of the more notable developments across 3 centuries of history, from the arrival of hot running water to the first tweet:
Timeline
1877 – hot and cold running water installed. The living quarters were renovated for Benjamin Disraeli – including a bath.
1894 – installation of electric lighting and first telephones. Following Disraeli's departure William Gladstone redecorated the building and oversaw the installations.
1902 – first motor-car driven onto Downing Street. Arthur Balfour brought the first car and since then, Prime Ministers have looked to select British marques for their official car, with a procession of Wolseleys, Humbers, Rovers, Daimlers and Jaguars sweeping successive Prime Ministers into – and out of – Downing Street.
1937 – first central heating.
1963 – electrical and telephone systems were replaced. 1963 was a major period of renovation for the building.
1982 – the first direct hotline between No10 and Washington was established during Margaret Thatcher's first term of office.
1982 – first ‘micro-computer’ and microfilm reader installed.
1983 – wider roll-out of computers machines for Number 10 staff following a review of the building's needs.
1990s – first video conference. John Major used the technology from his study.
1996 – desktop PCs installed at all workstations.
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Which is the only species of penguin likely to be seen in the wild north of the Equator? | Penguin | Species | WWF
Penguin
Donateh
Overview
Penguins are a family of 17 to 19 species of birds that live primarily in the Southern Hemisphere. They include the tiny blue penguins of Australia and New Zealand, the majestic emperor penguins of Antarctica and king penguins found on many sub- Antarctic islands, the endangered African penguin and the Galápagos penguin—the only penguin to be found north of the equator.
b Scientific Name
15 inches to 3 ½ feet
d Weight
2 pounds to 80 pounds
e Habitats
Oceans, Coasts
Though they are birds, penguins have flippers instead of wings. They cannot fly and on land they waddle walking upright—though when snow conditions are right they will slide on their bellies. In the water they are expert swimmers and divers, and some species can reach speeds of up to 15 miles per hour. The penguin’s distinctive coloring—black body with white belly—helps camouflage the bird in the water as it searches for meals of small shrimp, fish, crabs and squid.
The Antarctic Peninsula, where half of the world’s emperor penguins and 70% of the Adelie penguins can be found, is heating up faster than the global average and melting the sea ice that the penguins depend on for places to breed and access to food.
| Galapagos penguin |
Which religious group calls its places of worship Kingdom Hall? | Photos of Galapagos Islands | Go Andes
Ecuador & Galapagos Holidays & Cruises | Ecuador Holiday Options | About Ecuador | Ecuador & Galapagos Holiday Guide | Hotels | Cruise Ships | Photos
Photos of Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands
The Galapagos Islands are one of our planet's most scenic and naturally beautiful locations. The stunning landscapes of places like Bartolome Island create the perfect backdrop for the vivid and abundant wildlife that adorns these fabulous islands, and whether you are a professional photographer or simply looking to admire the view and take a few holiday snaps during your cruise it is practically impossible to leave the Galapagos Islands without a fabulous photo collection of the great sights you experienced during your travels...
Bartolome Island
This volcanic island in the heart of the Galapagos archipelago is regarded as one of the most scenic and beautiful islands in the region, and the view from Pinnacle Rock Overlook is magical.
Lobos Island
Lobos Island, which translates as "Sea Lion Island" from the native Spanish, is a small islet off the northern coast of the much larger San Cristobal Island. The island is famous in the Galapagos due to the population of lazy sea lions that lounge on the beaches and also makes an excellent snorkelling location. As such Lobos Island is included in many of the Galapagos cruise itineraries.
Blue-Footed Booby
The Blue-footed booby is one of the most recognisable native inhabitants of the Galapagos island group famous for its unique blue coloured feet! Although the population of these birds is relatively small on the islands they are a very common sight on holidays and cruises, and although they can be spotted in various locations throughout the Galapagos two of the more frequent locations are breeding colonies on Espanola and North Seymour Islands.
Galapagos Flamingo
The Galapagos flamingo is actually a species known as the American flamingo, and this majestic bird is an awesome sight to behold, the luscious pink colours contrasting fantastically with the deep turquoise waters of the Galapagos Oceans, and the vivid oranges and yellows of the sandy bays where these birds can usually be found. You are more likely to spot these birds in the central Galapagos islands of Santiago, Santa Cruz and Floreana.
Frigatebird
The Galapagos Islands are blessed with two different species of Frigatebird: the Great frigatebird and the Magnificent frigatebird, and both these beautiful creatures live up to their fine names. Frigatebirds are a common bird on the islands, and they can be regularly spotted on Galapagos cruise holidays throughout the archipelago as far north as Genovesa Island, as far west as Fernandina island, and as far east as San Cristobal Island.
Galapagos Penguins
The Galapagos Penguin is one of the smallest penguin species in the world, is one of the rarest species of penguin (the species is listed as "threatened" with population estimates between 1500 and 5000 individuals), and it is the only penguin to be found (in the wild) north of the equator. Despite the small population numbers it is possible to spot these birds, and they are most prevalent in the western islands of Isabela and Fernandina.
Galapagos Giant Tortoise
These enormous creatures are one of the "must see" animals of the Galapagos Islands. They are the largest living tortoises famous for their size and weight (they frequently exceed 250kg or more) and for their lengthy lifespans (they can live in excess of 100 years). The Galapagos tortoise played a key role in Darwin's work on the theory of evolution when he realised that the tortoises on the islands all varied slightly from one another. Although the tortoise population is recovering and it is possible to see tortoises in the wild in places such as the highlands of Santa Cruz island (often visited on the final day of a Galapagos cruise before transferring to the airport for the return flight to the mainland), you are more likely to get the chance to see these wonderful creatures in one of the breeding centres that play an important role in conservation and protection.
Sally Lightfoot Crab
The Sally Lightfoot crab, often referred to as the Red Rock crab, is one of the more colourful and vivid creatures to be found on the Galapagos Islands making it a popular creature for enthusiastic wildlife photographers. The Sally Lightfoot crab is a common species, and can be spotted on Baltra and San Cristobal Islands among others.
Galapagos Green Turtle
Snorkelling or scuba diving are very popular activities when on a Galapagos cruise, and the Galapagos Green sea turtle is one of the stand-out creatures to look out for, observe and admire during your cruise. Although these animals are migratory they return to the Galapagos Islands each year to nest.
Galapagos Marine Iguana
One of the more iconic sights of any visit to the Galapagos archipelago is seeing these majestic creatures dominate their natural terrain. The Galapagos Marine Iguanas are the result of a fascinating evolutionary journey having first arrived on the islands as terrestrial iguanas before evolving to become marine experts, then dispersing into a range of sub-species throughout the islands. The marine iguanas inhabit all islands in the Galapagos and it is very likely you will see then on a cruise or land-based holiday, in particular during visits to Genovesa, Fernandina, Isabela, Floreana and Española islands.
Galapagos Sea Lions, San Cristobal Island
The Galapagos Sea Lion is a popular, impressive and fun animal to observe due to their large size and their tendency to lounge around on beaches. It is also possible to spot sea lion pups year-round. They can be found throughout the Galapagos Islands and it is very likely you will see them on a Galapagos cruise at various locations around the archipelago. To ensure you spot them the majority of the cruise itineraries will include at least one visit to a specific beach where they are likely to be found.
Isabela Island
Isabela Island is a volcanic island situated in the west of the Galapagos and is, by quite some distance, the largest island in the archipelago. Due to its large size the island is a popular destination on cruises (except those that exclusively visit the eastern islands) and visits to the island are varied and interesting. Stand-out sights to see include the varied geology and volcanic landscapes, lava rock formations, active volcanoes (Sierra Negra being the most impressive), the "Wall of Tears" (a wall built by prisoners held at a former penal colony on the island) and the varied wildlife that is abundant throughout the island such as wild tortoises, penguins, marine and land iguanas, boobies and Darwin's finches. It is also possible to spot for whales off the western coastline.
South Plaza Island
This tiny islet is situated off the eastern coast of the much larger Santa Cruz Island, one of the main islands in the Galapagos. The islet is covered in vivid red shrubbery and a large population of cactus and as such is a popular cruise destination due this beauty but also the wide variety of wildlife that can be spotted here including a number of different bird species and the iconic Galapagos land iguana.
| i don't know |
What is the memorable common name for the flower myosotis? | Forget-me-not (Myosotis scorpioides)
Scientific Name: Myosotis scorpioides
Family: Forget-me-not (Boraginaceae)
Other Common Names: True Forget-me-not, Scorpion Weed, Love-me, Marsh Scorpion Grass, Mouse-Ear Scorpion Grass, Snake Grass
Flower Color: Light blue with yellow center
Habitat: Wet soils, near lakes and rivers and sometimes in shallow water
General Bloom Dates: May - September
General Characteristics:
The Forget-me-not flower has five, bright blue, regular petals that surround a yellow center. The flower is 1/2" wide. The flowers grow near the end of the stem, each having its own short stalk off of the main stem. When the plant first emerges the stem is curled at the end; when the flowers begin to bloom the stem uncurls. The stem grows 6"-12" high. The simple leaves grow in an alternate pattern along the stem. Leaves are lance-shaped and are 1-2" long. Both the leaves and stem are covered in fine hair. Forget-me-nots grow in mats with a widespread root system.
Plant Lore:
There are four species of Forget-me-nots in Minnesota. There are both native and non-native species, but the Myosotis scorpioides is from Europe. It escaped from gardens and found suitable habitat. The plant's scientific name and common name have several interesting theories on their origin. The scientific name, Myosotis, means mouse ear, which describes the size and shape of the petal. Its species name, scorpiodes, and the common name "Scorpion Weed", are from the coiled plant stem that resembles a scorpion tail. This appearance led people to believe this flower was a remedy for scorpion stings; however, this claim has never been validated. The common name may have originated from an unpleasant edible experience that was hard to forget (these plants taste bad), or may have a more heartfelt meaning. It's said that whomever wore this flower wouldn't be forgotten by his or her lover. There are two stories that illustrate the flower's significance among lovers and explain the common name, although both have tragic endings. In the first story, a suitor was picking this flower for his love and saw the perfect specimen. It was close to the cliff's edge but he reached for it anyway. Losing his balance, the man plummeted over the cliff, shouting, "Forget me not!" as he fell. The second story originates in Germany. A knight and his lovely lady were walking along a riverbank. He was picking this flower for her when he tripped and fell into the river. Before he went under he threw the small bouquet to her and shouted "vergiss mein nicht", the German name of the flower.
Modern Uses of this Plant:
The Forget-me-not is used today in gardens and along walkways.
| Forget-me-not |
In triathlon, what is the term for the transfer between disciplines? | Myosotis scorpioides - Plant Finder
Plant Finder
Height: 0.50 to 1.00 feet
Spread: 0.75 to 1.00 feet
Bloom Time: June to August
Bloom Description: Sky blue with yellow center
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Medium to wet
Suggested Use: Water Plant, Naturalize, Rain Garden
Flower: Showy
Garden locations
Culture
Easily grown in organically rich, consistently moist to wet soils in full sun to part shade. Grows in up to 3” of standing water. Use containers for water garden plantings in order to control spread. For streams and ponds, place new plants directly in the soils of muddy banks at the water line. Plants will spread by creeping rhizomes but are not overly aggressive. Pinch young plants to promote bushiness. Plants will self seed. If additional plantings are desired, divide plant rhizomes in early spring. Stem cuttings may be taken in summer.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Myosotis scorpioides, commonly called water forget-me-not or true forget-me-not, is a rhizomatous marginal aquatic perennial that typically grows 6-10” ( less frequently to 18”) tall on decumbent to upright angular stems. Light sky blue 5-lobed flowers (1/4” diameter) with yellow centers bloom in branched scorpioid cymes that uncoil as the flowers open. Long spring through summer bloom period. The cymes, particularly when in bud and early bloom, resemble a coiled scorpion’s tail, hence the specific epithet. Shiny, oblong to lance-shaped, bright green leaves (to 4” long). Synonymous with Myosotis palustrus. Native to moist meadows and stream banks from Europe to Siberia, this wildflower has now escaped cultivation and has naturalized in wet places throughout many parts of North America. The common forget-me-not of borders and woodland gardens is Myosotis sylvatica.
Genus name comes from the classical Greek name myosotis from mus meaning mouse and ous or otos meaning ear applied to plants with short pointed leaves, later transferred to this genus.
Specific epithet means scorpion for the flower cymes, particularly when in bud and early bloom, resemble a coiled scorpion’s tail.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems. Susceptible to mildew and rust.
Garden Uses
Wet areas including stream banks, water gardens, bogs or pond edges. Woodland gardens near water. Will naturalize to form an attractive flowering ground cover.
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In which EU country did havarti cheese originate? | Cream Havarti - Cheese.com
Cream Havarti
Denmark's most famous cheese, Cream Havarti is a deliciously mild, very creamy, natural, semi-soft cheese.
This interior-ripened cheese is aged for around three months. The cheese has tiny holes throughout the paste with cream to yellow in colour. The cheese can be mild to sharp in flavour and buttery depending on its aging.
The Havarti is different from Cream Havarti. Havarti is made from high-pasteurised cow's milk. Cream Havarti, is prepared by the same original recipe but is enriched with extra cream. Cream Havarti usually ripens very little and has a smooth texture.
Cream Havarti is also available with different flavours such as caraway, dill, cranberry, garlic, basil, coconut, red pepper. Havarti and Cream Havarti both are table cheeses which can be sliced or grilled. It can be served with fruit and wine.
Smoked Havarti is another variety of Havarti. The smoked rind adds a new dimension to traditional Havarti.
Made from pasteurized cow 's milk
Country of origin: Denmark
Fat content (in dry matter): 45%
Fat content: 11.0 g/100g
Synonyms: Havarti, Flødeis Havarti, Smoked Havarti
Alternative spellings: Flodeis Havarti
| Denmark |
Echoing its Scottish equivalent, what new name did English Heritage adopt in April 2015? | Havarti con aneto / dill Havarti - briciole
briciole
[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano ]
just sliced
Traveling with the Abbecedario culinario della Comunità Europea (European Community Culinary ABC), we've arrived in Denmark (Danimarca). Finally, we are in a country I have visited, albeit briefly.
It was in Denmark that I first experienced the long days characteristic of summer in northern Europe. One August, years ago, three friends of mine and I drove from Italy to Norway and back, a wonderful trip that brought us to seven countries: Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway.
On our way up, we visited Copenhagen , where I enjoyed our walk inside the Kastellet , "one of the best preserved star fortresses in Northern Europe." We paid a visit to the Little Mermaid (Sirenetta), but didn't see it well, because shortly before we arrived close enough to get a good look at the famous little statue, a busload of tourists descended upon the poor girl, all but blocking her from sight.
We spent the night in Roskilde , famous for its music festival . The window in our room did not have a serranda, the tight-closing shutter common in Italian homes, but not, as I already knew, elsewhere. Looking at the window from my bed I noticed that, even when my watch indicated a late hour, the sky was not completely dark.
In Helsingor , "known internationally for its castle Kronborg, where William Shakespeare's play Hamlet is set," we took the ferry to Helsingborg, in Sweden. I have some photos from that trip but due to some moving of stuff that happened in our house recently, they are in an unidentified box, so I cannot share them here.
a view of the curds
To celebrate our stop, I decided to make a Danish cheese (formaggio danese) that has been on my to-do list for a while: Havarti . Sometimes a cheese with bold flavor is desired, but other times, a mild flavor is called for and then Havarti is a nice option.
I have several recipes for Havarti in my various cheese-making books. I chose to make the version in Mary Karlin's book , "Artisan Cheese Making at Home," because it has an option to eat the cheese fresh (i.e., not aged), which allowed me to make the cheese, taste it, and write about it within the limit of our sojourn in Denmark.
I followed the recipe almost as given in the book. The home cheese makers among my readers may be interest in knowing that for this cheese, I tried something I had read in "The Joy of Cheesemaking" by Jody Farnham and Marc Druart, namely, I used a blend of pasteurized non-fat milk and pasteurized heavy whipping cream (as an approximation of milk that has not been homogenized).
I don't yet have dill from my little herb garden, but got some as part of my spring CSA share. Since the recipe calls for dried dill and I had fresh dill, I dried a few sprigs in the microwave (my first time doing this) following these instructions . Dill being a delicate herb (erba aromatica), you want to be particularly careful in monitoring the process to avoid burning it.
the moment of truth
It is always with a bit of trepidation that I plunge the knife into one of my cheeses. In this case, the result matched expectations: my dill Havarti has a mild, fresh flavor of milk with just a light note of dill. It is a nice cheese to put into a sandwich, or to eat plain with my panini quadrifoglio , or with this flatbread . I also used it successfully in my famous roasted strawberry frittata (instead of French Neufchâtel).
I will make this cheese again and this time I will age it a bit. I don't expect most of you to follow me in the making of this cheese, but if you see in in the case of your cheesemonger, why not give Havarti a try?
My dill Havarti participates to the sixth installment of the Abbecedario culinario della Comunità Europea (European Community Culinary ABC), an event organized by Trattoria MuVarA that will bring us to visit 26 countries of the EU (all except Italy) using the alphabet as guide. F like Frikadeller ( Denmark ) is hosted by Leonilde of Le affinità elettive .
This page contains Frikadeller's recipe and the list of recipe contributed to the event.
Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:
or launch the Havarti con aneto audio file [mp3].
[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]
Havarti con aneto
la prima fetta
L' Abbecedario culinario della Comunità Europea ci porta in Danimarca . Finalmente siamo in un paese che ho visitato, sebbene molto brevemente.
In Danimarca ho fatto la prima esperienza delle giornate lunghe caratteristiche dell'estate nel Nordeuropa. Un Agosto di un po' di anni fa, io e tre amici abbiamo fatto un bel giro in auto dall'Italia alla Norvegia e ritorno, toccando Svizzera, Austria, Liechtenstein, Germania, Danimarca e Svezia.
Nel viaggio di andata abbiamo visitato Copenaghen dove ho gradito una lunga passeggiata all'interno del Kastellet, antica fortificazione militare a forma di stella che oggi è un parco aperto al pubblico. Siamo andati dove si trova la statua della Sirenetta , ma non siamo riusciti a vederla bene a causa dell'arrivo poco prima di noi di un autobus pieno di turisti che hanno invaso lo spazio aereo intorno alla povera ragazza bloccandone la vista.
Abbiamo pernottato a Roskilde , famosa per il suo importante festival della musica . La finestra della stanza dove ho dormito non aveva serranda, solo una tenda di stoffa. Dal letto ho notato che nonostante l'ora tarda segnata dal mio orologio, il cielo non era buio.
Ad Helsingor (Elsinore), che è sede del castello di Kronborg, dove William Shakespeare ha ambientato Amleto, abbiamo preso il traghetto per Helsingborg, in Svezia. Ho delle foto del viaggio ma a causa di un recente trasloco interno sono in una scatola priva di identificazione e quindi non sono in grado di condividerle in questo post.
controllo della cagliata
Per celebrare la nostra visita ho deciso di fare dell'Havarti, un formaggio danese che era sulla mia lista da tempo. Talvolta vogliamo un formaggio dal sapore forte e deciso, ma altre volte preferiamo un sapore delicato e in questi casi Havarti è un'ottima opzione.
Ho diverse ricette per fare l'Havarti nei miei libri di arte casearia. Ho scelto di fare la versione nel libro di Mary Karlin "Artisan Cheese Making at Home" (in inglese), perché offre l'opzione di consumare il formaggio fresco, cioè non stagionato, il che mi ha consentito di fare il formaggio, assaggiarlo e parlarne in un post nei limiti di tempo del nostro soggiorno in Danimarca.
Non avrei problemi a tradurre la ricetta in italiano se fossi sicura che potete trovare gli ingredienti per farla, ma mentre so che è possibile acquistare il caglio in farmacia, a quanto ne so in Italia non si trovano i fermenti per inoculare il latte. Se qualcuno scopre che non è così, vi prego di farmelo sapere. [Alcune ricette per fare il formaggio in casa usano lo yogurt per inoculare il latte, ma per fare l'Havarti ci vogliono batteri diversi da quelli che si trovano nello yogurt (ammesso che lo yogurt che usate abbia fermenti lattici vivi).]
Non ho ancora piantine di aneto nel mio orticello e quindi ho usato un po' di quello che ho trovato nella mia cassettina. Dal momento che la ricetta richiede aneto secco e il mio era fresco, ne ho seccati alcuni rametti nel forno a microonde sequendo queste istruzioni . Dato che l'aneto è un'erba aromatica delicata vi consiglio di monitorare con attenzione il processo di essiccamento per evitare di bruciarla.
il momento della verità
È sempre con un po' di trepidazione che affondo la lama in una delle mie forme di formaggio per tagliare la prima fettina. In questo caso il risultato ha soddisfatto le aspettative: il mio Havarti ha un sapore delicato di latte con giusto una nota di aneto. È un formaggio adatto per fare un panino o da mangiare al naturale, magari con uno dei miei panini quadrifoglio , o con questa schiacciata . L'ho anche usato con successo nella mia famosa frittata con fragole arrosto (invece del French Neufchâtel).
Farò questo formaggio di nuovo e stavolta lo farò stagionare un po'. Spero che il mio post vi faccia venire la curiosità di assaggiare l'Havarti, magari, se lo trovate, quello con l'aneto.
Con il mio Havarti con aneto partecipo alla sesta tappa dell' Abbecedario culinario della Comunità Europea , un evento organizzato dalla Trattoria MuVarA che ci porterà a visitare i 26 paesi della Comunità Europea (eccetto l'Italia) usando le lettere dell'alfabeto come guida. F come Frikadeller ( Danimarca ) è ospitata da Leonilde de Le affinità elettive .
Questa pagina contiene la ricetta per Frikadeller e la lista delle ricette contribuite all'evento.
Se siete interessati a partecipare, questo post contiene la lista completa di paesi, blog ospitanti e scadenze.
| i don't know |
Who voiced Lady Penelope in the original Thunderbirds series? | Thunderbirds are Go! - original Lady Penelope to cameo in David Baddiel-penned episode
Thursday 26 February 2015 at 1:20PM
Sylvia Anderson, otherwise known as the original Lady Penelope, will be heard in ITV's upcoming Thunderbirds reboot.
Anderson, who created the much loved 1960s children's series with her husband Gerry, will voice a new character –the fittingly named Lady Penelope’s Great Aunt Sylvia.
Lady Penelope herself has had a makeover for the new series (although she's retained her iconic FAB1 pink car) and is being voiced by Gone Girl star Rosamund Pike.
She’s still got her trusty driver-cum-bodyguard Parker by her side, who is being voiced by original actor David Graham. Inventor Brains will be voiced by comic actor Kayvan Novak (Fonejacker, Cuban Fury).
Anderson’s cameo will be in an episode entitled Designated Driver, which is being written by comedian David Baddiel.
The new children's series – a collaboration between ITV and CITV – will use a mix of CGI animation and live-action models to bring Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's much-loved 1960s series bang up to date. Now titled Thunderbirds are Go!, the show is due to launch in spring.
| Sylvia Anderson |
With eight active distilleries, which is the Hebrides’ most prolific whisky-producing island? | Sylvia Anderson, voice of Thunderbirds' Lady Penelope, dies - BBC News
BBC News
Sylvia Anderson, voice of Thunderbirds' Lady Penelope, dies
16 March 2016
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Image copyright PA
Image caption The character of Lady Penelope was based on Sylvia Anderson's appearance, and she also provided the voice
Sylvia Anderson, best known as the voice of Lady Penelope in the TV show Thunderbirds, has died after a short illness, her family has confirmed.
Anderson co-created the hit science-fiction puppet series, which ran from 1965, with her late husband Gerry.
In a career spanning five decades, she also worked on shows Joe 90 and Captain Scarlet, and for US TV network HBO.
She died at her Berkshire home, aged 88. Her daughter described her as "a mother and a legend".
"Her intelligence was phenomenal but her creativity and tenacity unchallenged. She was a force in every way," Dee Anderson said.
Her former husband Gerry Anderson died in 2012 after suffering from Alzheimer's.
Nick Williams, Chairman of Fanderson - a fan club dedicated to the work of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson - told BBC Breakfast she was a "huge influence" on the entertainment industry.
"She was one of the first really prominent women in the film and TV industry," he said, adding that Anderson leaves behind "an amazing legacy of fantastic television, really groundbreaking entertainment."
Rae Earl, writer of the My Mad Fat Diary television series, tweeted : "Sylvia Anderson was responsible for some of my favourite TV."
Puppet pioneers
Born in south London to a boxing promoter and a dressmaker, Sylvia Anderson graduated from the London School of Economics with a degree in sociology and political science.
She spent several years in the US and worked as a journalist before returning to the UK and joining a TV production company, where she met her future husband.
Image copyright Getty Images
Image caption The Andersons collaborated on many of his programmes, including Captain Scarlet and Stingray. Some puppets from the latter can be seen in this image.
When he started his own company, AP Films, she joined him, and the couple began making puppet shows.
They developed a production technique using electronic marionette puppets, called Supermarionation, in which the voices were recorded first, and when the puppets were filmed, the electric signal from the taped dialogue was hooked up to sensors in the puppets' heads.
That made the puppets' lips move perfectly in time with the soundtrack.
In 1963, the couple came up with the idea for Thunderbirds, which told the story of the Tracy family who form a secret organisation dedicated to saving human life, set in the future.
Image copyright Getty Images
Image caption Thunderbirds revolved around a futuristic emergency service called International Rescue, manned by the Tracy family
Image copyright Getty Images
Image caption The 1960s series pioneered "supermarionation" - a puppetry technique using thin wires to control marionettes
As well as co-creating and writing the series, Anderson worked on character development and costume design.
The character of Lady Penelope, a glamorous agent, was modelled on Anderson's own appearance, and she also provided her characteristic aristocratic voice.
The success of Thunderbirds led to two feature films and a toy and merchandise empire.
Three new programmes were made last year to mark the 50th anniversary of the series.
Charity work
Other shows which the couple worked on include Stingray, Fireball XL5 and Secret Service.
However, the partnership ended when they divorced in 1981.
Sylvia went on to work as head of programming for HBO in the UK, and write several books.
Her last public interview was on the Graham Norton Show on BBC Radio 2 with actor David Graham, who also provided voices for Thunderbirds, in December.
Media captionKeith Doyle looks back at the life of Sylvia Anderson
Her family said she had many famous friends, "but would always find time to take care of people who were suffering or in need of support", and worked with many charities, including Breast Cancer Care.
She had a daughter, Dee Anderson, a singer and songwriter, and a son, Gerry Anderson Junior, an anaesthetist.
She also leaves four grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.
| i don't know |
What kind of chemical transmits social information among members of the same species? | Pheromones - Crystalinks
Pheromones
A pheromone is any chemical or set of chemicals produced by a living organism that transmits a message to other members of the same species. There are alarm pheromones, food trail pheromones, sex pheromones, and many others that affect behavior or physiology. Their use among insects has been particularly well documented, although many vertebrates and plants also communicate using pheromones.
Insect pheromones of pest species, such as the Japanese beetle and the gypsy moth, can be used to trap them for monitoring purposes or for control by creating confusion, disrupting mating and preventing them from laying eggs. Bombykol is a chemically well-characterized pheromone released by the female silkworm to attract mates.
In mammals and reptiles, pheromones may be detected by the vomeronasal organ, or Jacobson's organ, which lies between the nose and mouth, although some are detected by regular olfactory membranes.
Terence McKenna proposed in his book "Food of the Gods" the controversial idea of exopheromones as chemical signals between members of different species, as opposed to among conspecifics. He suggested that certain chemicals produced in abundance in various hallucinogenic plants and fungi, such as dimethyltriptamine and psilocybin may act as pheromones produced by one species (the vegetal) waiting for absorption by various others (for example, early primates or hominids). In this way a kind of ecological pheromonal system may be at work among species and ecosystems that have coevolved closely for long stretches of time.
The term "pheromone" was introduced by Peter Karlson and Adolf Butenandt in 1959, based on the Greek pherein (to transport) and hormon (to stimulate). They proposed the term to describe chemical signals from conspecifics which elicit innate behaviours soon after Butenandt characterised the first such chemical, bombykol.
Types of Pheromones
Territorial Pheromones
Laid down in the environment, these pheromones mark the boundaries of an organism's territory. In dogs, these hormones are present in the urine, which they deposit on landmarks serving to mark the perimeter of the claimed territory.
Trail Pheromones
These pheromones are common in social insects. For example, ants mark their paths with these pheromones, which are non-volatile hydrocarbons. Certain ants lay down an initial trail of pheromones as they return to the nest with food. This trail attracts other ants and serves as a guide. As long as the food source remains, the pheromone trail will be continually renewed. The pheromone must be continually renewed because it evaporates quickly. When the supply begins to dwindle, the trailmaking ceases. In at least one species of ant, trails that no longer lead to food are also marked with a repellent pheromone.
Alarm Pheromones
Some species release a volatile substance when attacked by a predator that can trigger flight (in aphids) or aggression (in bees) in members of the same species. Pheromones also exist in plants:certain plants emit alarm pheromones when grazed upon, resulting in tannin production in neighboring plants. These tannins make the plants less appetizing for the herbivore.
Sex Pheromones
In animals, sex pheromones indicate the availability of the female for breeding. Many insect species release sex pheromones to attract a mate and many lepidopterans can detect a potential mate from as far away as 10 km. Pheromones can be used in gametes to trail the opposite sex's gametes for fertilization. Pheromones are also used in the detection of estrus in sows. Boar pheromones are sprayed into the sty, and those sows which exhibit sexual arousal are known to be currently available for breeding. Male animals also emit pheromones that convey information about what species they are, and their genotype.
Epideictic Pheromones
Recognized in insects, these pheromones are different than territory pheromones. According to Fabre (translated from French), "Females who lay their eggs in these fruits deposit these mysterious substances in the vicinity of their clutch to signal to other females of the same species so that they will clutch elsewhere."
Aggregation Pheromones
Produced by one or the other sex, these pheromones attract individuals of both sexes.
Other Pheromones - (not yet classified)
This classification, based on the effects on behavior, remains artificial. Pheromones fill many additional functions.
Nasonov pheromones (worker bees)
Calming (appeasement) pheromones (mammals)
Human Pheromones
Some commercially-available substances are advertised using claims that the products contain sexual pheromones and can act as an aphrodisiac. These often lack credence due to an excessive marketing of pheromones by unsolicited e-mail. Moreover, despite claims to the contrary, no defined pheromonal substance has ever been demonstrated to influence human behaviour in a peer reviewed, published study.
Nevertheless, a few well-controlled scientific studies have been published demonstrating the possibility of pheromones in humans. The best-studied case involves the synchronization of menstrual cycles among women based on unconscious odor cues (the so called McClintock effect, named after the primary investigator).
This study states that there are two types of pheromone involved: "One, produced prior to ovulation, shortens the ovarian cycle, and the second, produced just at ovulation, lengthens the cycle". This is analogous to the Whitten effect, a male pheromone mediated modulation of estrus observed in mice.
Other studies have suggested that people might be using odor cues associated with the immune system to select mates who are not closely related to themselves.
Pheromones in humans are postulated to be produced by the apocrine glands. The apocrine glands become functional after reaching puberty which, some believe, could contribute to people developing a sexual attraction for others at that time. Pheromone detection has also been proposed to be the reason why a person can sense "chemistry", or feel an instant attraction or dislike when first meeting someone.
Using a brain imaging technique, Swedish researchers have shown that homosexual and heterosexual men respond differently to two odors that may be involved in sexual arousal, and that the gay men respond in the same way as women. This research suggests a possible role for human pheromones in the biological basis of sexual orientation.
| Pheromone |
Which tube station locates and describes someone “eight stops short of Upminster”? | Animal Communication | Article about Animal Communication by The Free Dictionary
Animal Communication | Article about Animal Communication by The Free Dictionary
http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Animal+Communication
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Animal communication
A discipline within the field of animal behavior that focuses upon the reception and use of signals. Animal communication could well include all of animal behavior, since a liberal definition of the term signal could include all stimuli perceived by an animal. However, most research in animal communication deals only with those cases in which a signal, defined as a structured stimulus generated by one member of a species, is subsequently used by and influences the behavior of another member of the same species in a predictable way (intraspecific communication). In this context, communication occurs in virtually all animal species.
The field of animal communication includes an analysis of the physical characteristics of those signals believed to be responsible in any given case of information transfer. A large part of this interest is due to technological improvements in signal detection, coupled with analysis of the signals obtained with such devices.
Information transmission between two individuals can pass in four channels: acoustic, visual, chemical, and electrical. An individual animal may require information from two or more channels simultaneously before responding appropriately to reception of a signal. Furthermore, a stimulus may evoke a response under one circumstance but be ignored in a different context.
Acoustic signals have characteristics that make them particularly suitable for communication, and virtually all animal groups have some forms which communicate by means of sound. Sound can travel relatively long distances in air or water, and obstacles between the source and the recipient interfere little with an animal's ability to locate the source. Sounds are essentially instantaneous and can be altered in important ways. Both amplitude and frequency modulation can be found in sounds emitted by animals; in some species sound signals have discrete patterns due to frequency and timing of utterances. Since a wide variety of sound signals are possible, each species can have a unique set of signals in its repertoire. See Phonoreception
Sound signals are produced and received primarily during sexual attraction, including mating and competition. They may also be important in adult–young interactions, in the coordination of movements of a group, in alarm and distress calls, and in intraspecific signaling during foraging behavior. See Reproductive behavior
Visual signaling between animals can be an obvious component of communication. Besides the normal range of human vision (visible light), visual signals include additional frequencies in the infrared and ultraviolet ranges. The quality of light that is often considered is color, but other characteristics are important in visual communication. Alterations of brightness, pattern, and timing also provide versatility in signal composition. The visual channel suffers from the important limitation that all visual signals must be line of sight. Information transfer is therefore largely restricted to the daytime (except for animals such as fireflies) and to rather close-range situations.
Intraspecific visual signaling appears to occur primarily during mate attraction. The color dimorphism of birds, the patterns of butterfly wings, the posturing of some fish, and firefly flashing are examples. Some parent--young interactions involve visual signaling. A young bird in the nest may open its mouth when it sees the underside of its parent's beak. Other examples are the synchronized behavior observed in schooling fish and flocking birds.
Chemical signals, like visual and sound signals, can travel long distances, but with an important distinction. Distant transmission of chemical signals requires a movement of air or water. Therefore, an animal cannot perceive an odor from a distance; it can only perceive molecules brought to it by a current of air or water. Animals do not hunt for an odor source by moving other than upwind or upcurrent in water because chemical signals do not travel in still air or water since diffusion is far too slow.
The fact that chemical signals comprise molecules means that, unlike acoustical or visual signals, chemical signals have a time lag. Chemical signals have to be of an appropriate concentration if they are to be effective. A chemical normally considered to be an attractant can serve as a repellent if it is too strong. Chemical signals may persist for a while, and time must pass before the concentration drops below the threshold level for reception by a searching animal. Since molecules of different sizes and shapes have varying degrees of persistence in the environment, the chemical channel is often involved in territorial marking, odor trail formation, and mate attraction. This channel is particularly suitable where acoustical or visual signals might betray the location of a signaler to a potential predator.
The array of molecular structure is essentially limitless, permitting a species-specific nature for chemical signals. Unfortunately, that specificity can make interception and analysis of chemical signals a difficult matter for research.
Pheromones are chemical signals that are produced by an animal and are exuded to influence the behavior of other members of the same species. If pheromones are incorporated into a recipient's body (by ingestion or absorption), they may chemically alter the behavior of such an individual for a considerable period of time. See Chemical ecology , Chemoreception , Pheromone
Some electric fish and electric eels live in murky water and have electric generating organs that are really modified muscle bundles. Communication by electric signaling is rapid; signals can travel throughout the medium (even murky water), and rather complex signals can be generated, permitting species-specific communication during sexual attraction. However, the electrical mode is apparently restricted to those species that have electric generating organs.
Animal communication is one of the most difficult areas of study in science for several reasons. First, experiments must be designed and executed in such a manner that extraneous cues (artifacts) are eliminated as potential causes of the observed results. Second, once supportive evidence has been obtained, each hypothesis must be tested. In animal communication studies, adequate tests often rely upon direct evidence—that is, evidence obtained by artificially generating the signal presumed responsible for a given behavioral act, providing that signal to a receptive animal, and actually evoking a specific behavioral act in a predictable manner. See Ethology , Psycholinguistics
Communication, Animal
communication by means of signals between animals of the same or different species. Animals communicate with specific chemical, mechanical, optical, auditory, and electrical signals, as well as with nonspecific signals that accompany respiration, locomotion, or feeding. The signals are received by means of the organs of sight, hearing, olfaction, taste, and skin sensitivity; lateral-line organs (in fish); thermoreceptors; and electroreceptors.
The generation and reception of signals form communication channels (auditory, chemical) between organisms for the transmission of information of varying physical or chemical nature. Information entering through different channels of communication is processed in different parts of the nervous system and is then integrated in the higher nerve centers, where the response reaction of the organism is formed.
Animal communication facilitates the search for food and favorable living conditions and protects an animal from enemies and other dangers. Without communicatory signals, courtship and mating, care of the young, formation of groups (flocks, herds, hives, colonies), and regulation of relationships between individuals in a group (territoriality, hierarchy) would be impossible.
The role of one or another channel of communication is not identical in all animals and is determined by the ecology and morphophysiology of a species, which were established in the course of evolution. It also depends on changing environmental conditions and biological rhythms. As a rule, animals simultaneously use several communication channels.
The most ancient and widespread channel of communication is chemical. Certain metabolic products discharged by an animal act on the chemical sense organs—of olfaction and taste—and regulate the growth, development, and reproduction of organisms. They also act as signals that produce definite behavioral reactions in other individuals. The pheromones of certain male fishes accelerate female maturation, thus synchronizing reproduction of the population. Odorous substances discharged into the air or water, as well as on the ground or on various objects, mark an animal’s territory, facilitate orientation, and strengthen communications between members of a group. Fish, amphibians, and mammals readily distinguish the odors of individuals of their own and other species, while common group odors enable animals to distinguish “their own” from “strangers.”
Aquatic animals communicate principally by means of lateral-line organs, which receive vibrations in the water. This form of mechanical reception over distances enables an animal to recognize an enemy or prey and maintains order within the group.
Tactile communicatory signals, such as the mutual grooming of plumage or fur, are important in regulating intraspecific relationships in some birds and mammals. Females and subordinate individuals usually groom the dominant individuals (mainly adult males). The electrical fields produced by electric fish, lampreys, and hagfishes serve as territorial markers and aid in short-range orientation and in the search for food. Among nonelectric schooling fish a common electric field is created, which coordinates the behavior of individuals.
Visual animal communication, related to the development of vision and light sensitivity, is associated with the development of special features that serve as signals (coloration, patterns, contours of the body and its parts) and with the origin of ritual movements and facial expressions. The process of ritualization, that is, the formation of discrete signals, each of which is associated with a particular situation and has a conventional meaning (threat, subordination, appeasement), decreases the danger of intraspecific conflict. For example, bees that have discovered nectar-bearing plants inform other bees as to the location and distance of the food by means of a dance. (This subject is dealt with in the works of the German physiologist K. von Frisch.)
For many species, ethograms—complete catalogs of the language of poses, gestures, and facial expressions—have been compiled. Communication often involves disguising or exaggerating one or another feature of coloration or shape. Visual communicatory signals play a particularly important role among animals in open terrain (steppes, deserts, tundras); their significance is substantially less among aquatic animals and inhabitants of thickets.
Auditory communication is most highly developed in arthropods and vertebrates. Its role as an effective means of remote signaling increases in an aquatic medium and in closed terrain (forests and thickets). The development of auditory communication depends on the state of other channels of communication. In birds, for example, high auditory abilities primarily characterize modestly colored species, while species with bright coloration and complex demonstrative behavior have a low level of auditory communication.
The differentiation of complex sound-producing features in many insects, fishes, amphibians, birds, and mammals enables them to produce dozens of varied sounds. Songbirds produce as many as 30 basic signals that are combined in various ways, thus increasing the range of communication. Such a broad range of signals makes it possible for a bird to recognize its mate or a member of its flock. In a number of bird species, auditory contact between parents and offspring is established even before the young are hatched from the egg. A comparison of variations of visual signaling in crabs and ducks with variations of auditory signaling among birds reveals similarities between different types of signaling. Apparently, the capacities of the visual and auditory channels of communication are comparable.
Each animal species has a specific signaling system, made up of a complex of signaling features and specific behavioral reactions. Studies show that fish have from ten to 26 specific signals, birds 14 to 28, and mammals ten to 37. Phenomena similar to ritualization may also develop in the evolution of interspecific communication. As protection against predators that hunt their prey by odor, prey species discharge repellent odors and develop inedible tissues. To escape from predators that hunt by sight, some species exhibit repellent coloration.
REFERENCES
Naumov, N. P. Ekologiia zhivotnykh, 2nd ed. Moscow, 1963.
Naumov, N. P., et al. “Sredstva obshcheniia u zhivotnykh i ikh modelirovanie.” In Voprosy bioniki. Moscow, 1967.
Chauvin, R. Povedenie zhivotnykh. Moscow, 1972. (Translated from French.)
Signals in der Tierwelt. Edited by D. Burkhardt. Munich, 1966.
Marler, P., and W. Hamilton. Mechanisms of Animal Behaviour. New York-London-Sydney, 1968.
Animal Communication. Edited by T. A. Sebeok. Bloomington-London, 1968.
Approaches to Animal Communication. Edited by T. A. Sebeok and A. Ramsay. The Hague-Paris, 1969.
Tembrock, G. Biokommunikation, parts 1–2. Berlin-Oxford-Braunschweig, 1971.
Dingle, H. “Aggressive Behaviour in Stomatopods and Use of Information Theory in the Analysis of Animal Communication.” In Behaviour of Marine Animals, vol. 1. New York, 1972.
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Which number do bingo callers link with “The Brighton Line”? | Bingo Number-calling Nicknames
35.. Jump and jive - Flirty wives
36.. Three dozen - Perfect (as in 36-24-36) - Yardstick... he wishes! (USA)
37.. A flea in heaven - More than eleven
38.. Christmas cake
39.. Those famous steps - All the steps - Jack Benny
40.. Two score - Life begins at - Blind 40 - Naughty 40 - Mary (USA)
41.. Life�s begun - Time for fun
42.. That famous street in Manhattan - Whinny the Poo
43.. Down on your knees
44.. Droopy drawers - All the fours - Open two doors - Magnum (USA)
45.. Halfway house - Halfway there - Cowboy's friend - Colt (USA)
46.. Up to tricks
48.. Four dozen
49.. PC (Police Constable) - Copper - Nick nick - Rise and shine
50.. Bulls eye - Bung hole - Blind 50 - Half a century - Snow White's number (five-oh - five-oh..) - Hawaii five O, Hawaii (USA)
51.. I love my mum - Tweak of the thumb - The Highland Div[ision] - President's salute
52.. Weeks in a year - The Lowland Div[ision] - Danny La Rue - Pack 'o cards - Pickup (USA)
53.. Stuck in the tree - The Welsh Div[ision] - The joker
54.. Clean the floor - House of bamboo (famous song)
55.. Snakes alive - All the fives - Double nickels - Give us fives - Bunch of fives
56.. Was she worth it?
57.. Heinz varieties - All the beans (Heinz 57 varieties of canned beans)
58.. Make them wait - Choo choo Thomas
59.. Brighton line (engine 59 or it took 59 mins to go from London to Brighton)
60.. Three score - Blind 60 - Five dozen
61.. Bakers bun
62.. Tickety boo - Turn on the screw
63.. Tickle me - Home ball (USA)
64.. The Beatles number - Red raw
65.. Old age pension - Stop work (retirement age)
66.. Clickety click - All the sixes - Quack quack (USA)
67.. Made in heaven - Argumentative number
68.. Saving grace - Check your weight
69.. The same both ways - Your place or mine? - Any way up - Either way up - Any way round - Meal for two - The French connection - Yum yum - Happy meal (USA)
70.. Three score and ten - Blind 70 - Big O (USA)
71.. Bang on the drum - Lucky one
72.. A crutch and a duck - Six dozen - Par for the course (golf) - Lucky two
73.. Crutch with a flea - Queen B - Under the tree - Lucky three
74.. Candy store - Grandmamma of Bingo - Lucky four
75.. Strive and strive - Big Daddy - Granddaddy of Bingo - Lucky five
76.. Trombones - Seven 'n' six - was she worth it? - Lucky six
77.. Sunset strip - All the sevens - Two little crutches - The double hockey stick - Lucky seven
78.. Heavens gate - Lucky eight
79.. One more time - Lucky nine
80.. Gandhi's breakfast - Blind 80 - Eight and blank - There you go matey
81.. Fat lady and a little wee - Stop and run - Corner shot
82.. Fat lady with a duck - Straight on through
83.. Fat lady with a flea - Time for tea - Ethel's Ear
84.. Seven dozen
87.. Fat lady with a crutch - Torquay in Devon
88.. Two fat ladies - Wobbly wobbly - All the eights
89.. Nearly there - All but one
90.. Top of the shop - Top of the house - Blind 90 - As far as we go - End of the line
Explanations of some nicknames:
1 Kelly's eye: In reference to the one-eyed Australian bushranger gangster Ned Kelly. (Note: apparently this explanation is incorrect. A viewer from Australia sent this message: "Ned Kelly didn't have one eye! He didn't even lose an eye in the shoot out at Glenrowan. And when he was wearing his helmet, you couldn't even see his eyes through the slot." But another Australian viewer sent this explanation: "The reason for "Kellys eye" may have been referring to Ned Kelly's helmet, which had one large slot for his eyes that looked like one eye.")
2 One little duck: The shape looks a bit like a swan.
3 One little flea: Looks a bit like a flea.
7 One little crutch: Looks like a crutch.
8 One fat lady: Resembles the two halves of a large lady.
9 Doctor's orders: A pill known as Number 9 was a laxative given out by army doctors in Britain. Apparently in the second world war in Britain doctors wrote on sick notes a 9 pm curfew, thus if patients were found out of their homes after that time they were violating their sick note. (Provided by a visitor)
The curfew story's not true. In the Great War, however, there was such a thing as a "number nine" pill, that was freely prescribed for virtually everything. (Provided by another visitor)
10 Downing street: UK Prime Minister's address, 10 Downing Street.
12 Royal salute: As in, a 21-gun salute for a Royal birthday or other celebration.
13 Bakers Dozen: Bakers in olden times used to make one extra piece of bread/cookie etc to the dozen ordered by a customer so they could do a taste test before it was sold to the customer, hence the phrase.
17 Dancing queen: From the Abba song of the same name. Over-ripe: Opposite of tender; 14 and 17 straddle 16 which is sweet!
23 Lord's My Shepherd: From Psalm 23.
26 Bed and breakfast: Traditionally the cost of a nights' lodgings was 2 shillings sixpence, or two and six.
26 Half a crown: Equivalent to 2'6d. Or two and six.
39 The famous steps; all the steps: From the 1935 Hitchcock film
59 The Brighton Line: The London-Brighton service was no. 59.
65 Old age pension: 'Pension' age in the UK is at the age of 65.
76 Seven 'n' six - was she worth it?: The price of the marrige licence, seven shillings and six pence.
A marriage license may have been 7/6 (37.5p in new money) once upon a time, but 7/6 was more recently the cost of a "short time" with a lady of negotiable affection.... (Provided by a visitor)
78 Heavens gate: it rhymes: heaven-seven, gate-eight.
80 Gandhi's breakfast: in reference to Ghandi�s famous peace protest, in which he abstained from food - Imagine him sitting crosslegged with a big empty plate in front of him, looking from above. Another suggested explanation: ate (8) nothing (0).
81 Corner shot: Generally used in Military clubs tambola aka housie in India; origin unknown.
83 Ethel's Ear: Fat lady beside ear-shaped three.
(Above explanations are courtesy of visitors' feedback and bbc.co.uk )
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Which Italian invented the first battery? | About Bingo Numbers And The Names Associated With Them - Guides - Playing Bingo
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About Bingo Numbers And The Names Associated With Them
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Introduction - A Duck And A Crutch - Twenty Seven!
In my past experience, one of the first things most people mention when going to play bingo for the first time is the numbers. They'll say something like 'Ha ha, will it be two fat ladies and all that stuff?'
The answer often disappoints, because most people new to the game don't realise that the modern large club has done away with the funny names for the numbers. Many smaller venues (normally not part of the national chains) or social clubs where bingo is played use the number names still, but the places you'll still hear them these days are becoming less and less.
Them Old Numbers Just Don't Cut It These Days...
There are a couple of rough reasons why the old names were phased out. In my opinion, one of the biggest reasons is commercial: losing the names means the games are called faster which means more games, which in turn means more profits for the clubs.
The second reason is technology. There was initially a time the names were used in the big clubs - which can be traced back to before the advent of the computerised number generating systems. When the games were called using blowers there was enough of a delay to allow the call back of the names.
Having spoken to many regular players who'd played both styles of numbers, a larger proportion seemed happier with the new swifter version. However, they missed the variety of games that they used to play - marking off shapes and corners on tickets etc. In fact in my experience, many of the regulars would shout for you to speed up if the calling speed dropped to a slower level. Whether this bears out around the country is to be discovered.
The Origins Of The Numbers
It appears a lot of the numbers were derived from a number of places - a lot seem to have come from Cockney rhyming slang '33 - dirty knees!' or similar rhyming schemes. Also, famous numbers make a showing so 50 is 'Bullseye' and 65 'Old age pension'. There are also some numbers with origins in the unlikeliest of places - 39 Those famous steps, from the book 'The 39 Steps' and 23 - The Lord is my Shepherd from Psalm 23 in 'The Bible'.
A number have also come from the shapes of the numbers and what they look similar to. As well as that, there are often combinations. So whilst a 2 is a duck and 7 a crutch, then 27 is a duck on a crutch. And just to further confuse matters, there are many regional variations on numbers as well.
Collected in the next section are a selection of them for you. It is, I stress, far from complete and thanks to variations and fashions, not necessarily fully accurate. If you can flesh out the numbers, or have info we can add - don't hesitate to contact us with details.
Bingo Numbers And Their Names - The Modern Calling Style
The modern game has some fairly specific calling patterns, to aid recognition of the numbers and ease of delivery. In the big clubs and the chains, the old names are sadly missing.
The numbers will come at you quickly in a modern club - the patterns are like this. All double digit numbers (bar some exceptions), let's say 45, would be pronounced thus: Four and five, forty five. If it's a single digit number, such as 2, then it's: Two, on its own, number 2.
The exception the double digit pronunciation rule are when is when it's a double digit number with both digits the same. So 88 would be pronounced: All the eights, eighty eight.
Most modern callers pretty much stick to that pattern, but there are variations on it - and occasionally you hear the odd echo of the old names. I've heard some callers do a nine oh, blind ninety, but they are few and far between in my experience.
Bingo Numbers And Their Names - The Old Style
Collected here is a selection of the old names. It is, I stress, far from complete and thanks to variations and fashions, not necessarily fully accurate. If you can flesh out the numbers, or have info we can add - don't hesitate to contact us with details.
1 Kelly's eye
2 One little duck | Me and you
3 You and me
4 Knock at the door
5 Man alive
7 Lucky seven | God's in heaven
8 One Fat Lady
12 One dozen, One and two - a dozen, Monkey's cousin (rhymes with 'a dozen')
13 Unlucky for some, Devil's number, Baker's dozen
14 Valentines day
15 Rugby team, Young and keen
16 Sweet sixteen | Never been kissed
17 Often been kissed | Dancing Queen
18 Key of the door | Coming of age
19 Goodbye teens
20 Getting plenty | Blind 20
21 Key of the door
22 Two little ducks | All the twos
23 Thee and me | The Lord is my Shepherd
24 Two dozen
26 Bed and breakfast | Half a crown | Pick and mix
27 Little duck with a crutch | Gateway to heaven
28 In a state | Overweight
29 You're doing fine
30 Burlington Bertie | Dirty Gertie | Speed limit | Flirty thirty | Blind 30
31 Get up and run
32 Buckle my Shoe
33 Dirty knees | All the threes | All the feathers | Two little fleas | Sherwood Forest
34 Ask for more
49 PC (Police Constable) | Copper | Nick nick
50 Bulls eye | Blind 50 | Half a century
51 Tweak of the thumb
52 Weeks in a year | Danny La Rue
53 Stuck in the tree
54 Clean the floor
55 Snakes alive | All the fives
56 Was she worth it?
57 Heinz varieties
58 Make them wait | Choo choo Thomas
59 Brighton line
60 Three score | Blind 60 | Five dozen
61 Bakers bun
62 Tickety boo | Turn on the screw
63 Tickle me | Des Eerie
64 Red raw | The Beatles number
65 Old age pension
66 Clickety click | All the sixes
67 Made in heaven | Argumentative number
68 Saving grace
69 The same both ways | your place or mine | Either way up | Meal for two
70 Three score and ten | Blind 70
71 Bang on the drum
72 A crutch and a duck | Par for the course
73 Crutch and a flea | Queen B
74 Candy store
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Which UK Prime Minister wrote 19 novels including Coningsby, Sybil and Endymion? | Benjamin Disraeli - eBooks in PDF format from eBooks-Library.com
Born: Dec. 21, 1804 - London, England
Died: Apr. 19, 1881 - London, England
Disraeli was educated at Lincoln's Inn and published his first novel, Vivian Gray, in 1824. In spite of his long and illustrious political career, Disraeli wrote many novels including The Young Duke (1831), Contarini Fleming (1832), Alroy (1833), Ixion in Heaven (1833), The Infernal Marriage (1834), The Rise of Iskander (1834), Henrietta Temple (1837), Coningsby (1844), Sybil (1845), Lothair (1870) and Endymion (1880). He entered Parliament in 1837, was leader of the opposition in 1848, chancellor of the exchequer in 1852, 1858 and again in 1865. He was elected to prime minister in 1868, but resigned later that year when the Liberals won the election. Returned as prime minister in 1874, he served in that post until 1880. Awarded a peerage in 1876, Disraeli took the title of the first earl of Beaconsfield. Disraeli also wrote much non-fiction including biographies and political history.
eBook Code
| Benjamin Disraeli |
What is the specific term for a female ruf? | Lothair: Amazon.co.uk: Benjamin Disraeli: 9781406861426: Books
Benjamin Disraeli
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Publisher: Echo Library (28 Aug. 2007)
Language: English
Product Dimensions: 15.2 x 1.9 x 22.9 cm
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About the Author
Benjamin Disraeli is perhaps the best known and certainly the most colorful of Britain's Prime Ministers during the long reign of Queen Victoria. He was also a prolific writer. His novelistic trilogy: Sybil, Coningsby, and Tancred and later works: Lothair and Endymion would alone earn him a special place in English life and literature, but it is his career as the leading Conservative of the century and writings and speeches on events of the age that earn him a special place in the pantheon of parliamentary politics.
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Which Yorkshire stately home was the main location for Brideshead Revisited? | BBC NEWS | UK | England | North Yorkshire | Stately homes' Brideshead battle
Stately homes' Brideshead battle
Castle Howard has long traded on its Brideshead connection
Castle Howard, the stately home long associated with Brideshead Revisited, looks set to lose out on a lucrative Hollywood version of the hit TV series.
The film company behind the new venture says it is "unlikely" to return to Castle Howard, near Malton, North Yorkshire, for the remake.
Instead, independent film company Ecosse Films seems to favour Chatsworth in Derbyshire for the production.
It told the BBC that it wanted to "distance itself" from the TV version.
Castle Howard has been synonymous with Brideshead Revisited for the many visitors to the stately home since the 11-part TV series starring Anthony Andrews and Jeremy Irons was first shown in the early 1980s.
Castle Howard
House created by Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle
Built in 1699 by Sir John Vanbrugh
Houses paintings by Canaletto, Holbein, Gainsborough and Reynolds
Gardens include world-renowned rhododendron collection
The new version of the Evelyn Waugh novel is being developed by Ecosse Films, the small independent company behind Mrs Brown, which starred Dame Judi Dench as Queen Victoria.
It will concentrate on a different part of the story - the doomed love affair between Charles Ryder and Julia Flyte.
Screenwriter Andrew Davies, who adapted the BBC's version of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice for the small screen, has just completed the script for the film version of Brideshead Revisited.
He said Chatsworth was the front runner for the film's location because of its sheer size compared to Castle Howard.
Chatsworth House
Built in 1560s by Bess of Hardwick, widow of Sir William Cavendish
Rebuilt in Classical style by the first Duke of Devonshire between 1686 and 1707
The park was designed in the 18th Century by Capability Brown
The film's producers have toured Chatsworth twice in recent months but stressed that work on the project was at an early stage and no final decisions had yet been made.
Losing out on the deal would be a blow for the North Yorkshire home, which has long traded on its association with the hugely successful TV series.
The connection is thought to have generated millions of pounds for the home over the past 23 years by transforming it into one of Britain's top tourist attractions.
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Which flesh-and-blood actor played Popeye the Sailor on film? | Movies, films TV locations in the UK Film and TV Set information, - Brideshead Revisited
Brideshead Revisited
Cast: Jeremy Irons , Anthony Andrews, Diana Quick, John Gielgud , Claire Bloom, Mona Washbourne, Laurence Olivier .
Set Locations:
Northern England: Castle Howard in Yorkshire was the home of the Marchmain family and also used was Tatton Park in Cheshire
Adapted from the 1945 novel of the same name by Evelyn Waugh ; Brideshead Revisited tells the story of Charles Ryder, who falls in love with the Brideshead Estate and becomes entwined in a tale of forbidden love and lost innocence.
The 2008 film casts Matthew Goode as Charles, Ben Whishaw and Hayley Atwell as Lord Sebastian Flyte and his sister Julia. The two both seek the love of Charles, all the while under the watchful eye of Sebastian's staunchly catholic mother (played by Emma Thompson). Michael Gambon also stars as Sebastian's father.
Sebastian is shocked and distraught when he sees Charles kissing Julia in Venice and eventually flees to live in near poverty in Morocco. Charles and Julia meet again many years later and realise that the love between them is still strong and agree to leave their partners to be together again. Julia's Catholicism eventually gets the better of her and she is unable to renounce her faith, so the two part ways again. Charles finally returns to Brideshead during World War II, which has now been requisitioned by the army. He learns that Julia (now the owner) is serving in the reserves and that Sebastian is dead. He pays his final respects in the Chapel and then leaves.
The location chosen to represent Brideshead in the film was Castle Howard. Castle Howard is a stately home in North Yorkshire, situated about 15 miles from the historic Roman city of York . It is not actually a castle as such, but is one of the grandest stately homes in the United Kingdom. The residence was built mainly around the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. The magnificent Grade 1 listed building has been associated with Brideshead Revisited for over a quarter of a century now, as it was chosen to be the set of the popular 1981 television serial, which starred Jeremy Irons as Charles Ryder.
The house also features extensive gardens, including a formal and landscaped garden. The landscape also features two prominent out-buildings, The Temple of the Four Winds and the Mausoleum. Several other follies, including a ruined pyramid currently under restoration, and a 127 acre arboretum all add to the reasons to visit Castle Howard. Chatsworth House , near Bakewell in Derbyshire, was also considered by the film makers. This breathtaking country house is the seat of the Dukes of Devonshire, and well worth a visit in its own right.
Places to stay nearby:
Great places to stay nearby in Yorkshire include Burythorpe House Hotel & Restaurant , Manor Farm B&B , an Inn called the Talbot Hotel and in Cheshire, Cottons Hotel & Spa , Mere Court Hotel or Longview Hotel & Restaurant
Recommended Books:
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Which Hampshire stately home is the main location for Downton Abbey? | Highclere Castle
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| Highclere Castle |
Which top flight British football team only adopted team numbers in 1960? | 1000+ images about Downton Abbey Spaces on Pinterest | Downton abbey, Castles and Floor plans
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Who described his troops – the British army - as ‘the scum of the earth’? | Book review: All for the King's Shilling, The British Soldier Under Wellington, 1808-1814 - napoleon.org
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The expression “scum of the earth” uttered by Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, has become etched in history as a great commander's miserable opinion of his men. In a letter to Henry, Third Earl Bathurst, from Huarte Spain, on 2 July, 1813, Wellington wrote, “we have in the service the scum of the Earth as common soldiers.”
His opinion did not change with time. On 4 November, 1813, he declared in a conversation with Philip Henry, Fifth Earl Stanhope, “I don't mean to say that there is no difference in the composition or therefore the feeling of the French army and ours. The French system of conscription brings together a fair sample of all classes; ours is composed of the scum of the Earth—the mere scum of the Earth. It is only wonderful that we should be able to make so much out of them afterward. The English soldiers are fellows who have enlisted for drink—that is the plain fact—they have all enlisted for drink.”
In his new addition to the University of Oklahoma Press' Campaigns and Commanders series, All for the King's Shilling, Edward J. Coss, assistant professor of military history at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, tries to bring to light the soldier's real motives for enlisting in the British army in the 19th century, as well as the real reason that Wellington's “scum of the earth” won so many victories against the Imperial French army. In the process of researching fourteen British line regiments, four cavalry regiments, and the Artillery Corps in the National Archives at Kew (formerly called the Public Record Office) outside London, Coss found that the majority of their personnel were laborers, drafted because they could not find any work in the cities. A great rise in the British population, combined with the increasing use of machines in industrial production left many workers facing prospects of starvation. For many, the only alternative was to enlist in one of the king's regiments. Of those unemployed enlistees, 48 percent were of Irish origin.
The regular army had a bad reputation in Britain at that time and Coss makes clear how bad conditions were for the common soldier. Exhausted from continuous marches, short on food and supplies, with wages always delayed by the government, the British soldier was compelled to survive by plundering the local populations of Portugal and Spain. Although Wellington criticised those who opposed flogging as a method of punishment—in his mind, the only way to keep discipline—he was well aware of why his troops resorted to looting. In a series of letters he demanded a proper supply system for the army and complained that the government seemed to care less about the fate of his soldiers and their families than it did for the families of those serving in the home militia. Wellington himself sometimes permitted his soldiers to loot, as happened in the second siege of Badajoz, rationalizing, “I believed it has always been understood that the defenders of a fortress stormed have no claim to quarter.” During the plundering that followed the fall of Badajoz, Wellington recalled one drunken soldier, “heavily laden with plunder,” telling him, “We poor Fellows, fights hard and gets nothing,” to which the general said nothing in reply.
Coss believes that the common British soldiers, underfed, sometimes barefoot, neglected by their country, could only survive by supporting each other. Sleeping in groups of six to fend off the cold at night developed a tight cohesion among the men. If someone in the group wronged one of his comrades the grave penalty was ostracism. As Coss writes, the British rank and file may have earned their daily shilling from the king, but they fought for each other. In spite of the Royal Navy's great victory of Trafalgar in 1805, it is quite possible that Napoleon would have ultimately victorious had it not been for Wellington's “scum”. Combining a brilliant commander with the comradeship that developed among the redcoats, the British regular army prevailed, one by one, over the best of Napoleon's marshals and finally over the Emperor himself in Waterloo.
All for the King's Shilling restores the reputation of those professional soldiers whose valor helped make 19th century Britain a great power. Coss' book is sure to satisfy all Napoleonic enthusiasts as well as scholars of military history.
| Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington |
Which beautiful youth of Greek myth was killed by a boar while out hunting? | Quotes of the Duke of Wellington
Quotes of the Duke of Wellington
The hardest thing of all for a soldier is to retreat.
Educate people without religion and you make them but clever devils.
The Lord's prayer contains the sum total of religion and morals.
I used to say of him [Napoleon] that his presence on the field made the difference of forty thousand men.
I don't know what effect these men will have upon the enemy, but, by God, they frighten me.
Nothing except a battle lost can be half as melancholy as a battle won.
The whole art of war consists in getting at what is on the other side of the hill.
All the business of war, and indeed all the business of life, is to endeavor to find out what you don't know by what you do; that's what I called 'guessing what was at the other side of the hill.'
It has been a damned serious business - Bl�cher and I have lost 30,000 men. It has been a damned nice thing - the nearest run thing you ever saw in your life...By God! I don't think it would have done if I had not been there.
Yes, and they went down very well too.
- A retort to a comment on how very well French cavalry had come up at Waterloo.
Up, Guards, and at 'em.
It is very true that I have said that I considered Napoleon's presence in the field equal to forty thousand men in the balance. This is a very loose way of talking; but the idea is a very different one from that of his presence at a battle being equal to a reinforcement of forty thousand men.
I never saw so many shocking bad hats in my life.
- Of the British Parliament.
My rule always was to do the business of the day in the day.
The only thing I am afraid of is fear.
People talk of their enlisting from their fine military feeling - all stuff - no such thing. Some of our men enlist from having got bastard children -- some for minor offences -- many more for drink.
Hard pounding, gentlemen. Let's see who pounds the longest.
Wise people learn when they can; fools learn when they must.
We always have been, we are, and I hope that we always shall be detested in France.
As Lord Chesterfield said of the generals of his day, 'I only hope that when the enemy reads the list of their names, he trembles as I do.'"
The battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton.
- attributed to Wellington, but doubtful.
Ours (our army) is composed of the scum of the earth - the mere scum of the earth.
Publish and be damned.
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In the world of computing what is an ISP? | What is Internet Service Provider (ISP)? Webopedia Definition
Virtual IT Service Provider
Short for Internet Service Provider, it refers to a company that provides Internet services, including personal and business access to the Internet . For a monthly fee, the service provider usually provides a software package, username , password and access phone number. Equipped with a modem , you can then log on to the Internet and browse the World Wide Web and USENET , and send and receive e-mail . For broadband access you typically receive the broadband modem hardware or pay a monthly fee for this equipment that is added to your ISP account billing.
In addition to serving individuals, ISPs also serve large companies, providing a direct connection from the company's networks to the Internet. ISPs themselves are connected to one another through Network Access Points (NAPs) . ISPs may also be called IAPs (Internet Access Providers) .
| Internet service provider |
Which wading bird has varieties called ‘whooping’ and ‘demoiselle’? | What is an ISP and what do they do for me?
What is an ISP and What Do They Do For Me?
Many people ask me this question. What does an Internet Service Provider (ISP) do for me?
An ISP provides your computer with a connection to the Internet via their computer. Their computer is a big powerful computer that is connected directly to the Internet all the time. It may be helpful to think of the Internet as a bunch of pipes connecting computers all over the world. The bigger the pipe the more information (articles, E-mail, pictures, music, movies, etc.) can flow through the pipe. Your ISP has a huge pipe connected to their computer.
So, when you connect to the Internet, either by dialing into it via the phone lines, Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL), satellites or cable TV, you are contacting your ISPs "server" computer. The type of connection you have to your ISP (the size of your pipe) determines how fast of a connection you have or how much information you can get in a certain amount of time. A phone line is the slowest connection available (the smallest pipe). DSL and satellite connections are faster (a medium pipe) and cable TV connections are even faster (a big pipe). If the Internet seems slows at times, think of what a flood does to pipes. Too much information flowing through the same pipes causes backups or "floods". To test your Internet connection speed click Speed Test .
Once you connect to your ISP computer it then assigns your computer a number that uniquely identifies your computer for that session on the Internet such as: 216.254.118.156. An analogy would be that this number is similar to my phone number. While I'm paying for it, its mine. If I quit paying for it, the company sells - or rents - it to someone else. Fortunately, most of us don't get a new phone number everyday! Its also fortunate that we don't need a consistent Internet number to identify our computers, just a unique one. While most of us will never need to know our Internet number, more advanced users will need to know.
So there you have it. Your ISP provides you with a unique connection to the Internet. That's what you pay them for, you're renting their huge pipe in order to get a flow of information through your little pipe into your computer.
Most ISPs also rent you an E-mail address and personal web site space.
Have you ever wondered where your ISP's computer is physically located? Click Locate My ISP's Computer to find out.
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Which Turner Prize-winning artist has an alter-ego named Claire? | Turner prize goes to Perry - and Claire | UK news | The Guardian
Turner prize goes to Perry - and Claire
2003 Turner Prize winner Grayson Perry with one of his vases. Photograph: Lindsey Parnaby/PA
Maev Kennedy , arts and heritage correspondent
Monday 8 December 2003 04.57 EST
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Just as predicted, it was sex and death which won the Turner prize last night. What the bookmakers missed, however, was that the medium for the message was not the Chapman Brothers' rotting corpses and mutilated Goyas, but Grayson Perry's troublingly beautiful pots.
The judges' verdict was anything but a foregone conclusion: it took hours longer than usual to reach a decision, and they went out of their way to praise "the outstanding presentations produced by all four artists". But, in the end, Perry's use of the traditions of ceramics and drawing, and his "uncompromising engagement with personal and social concerns" put him out front.
His £20,000 prize, presented by Sir Peter Blake, will have to be shared with Claire, the burliest glamour girl in town, whose ruched satin "coming out dress", exquisitely embroidered with phallic symbols, hangs on one wall of his exhibition gallery.
Claire is the alter ego of Basildon-born Perry - who is 43, six foot tall, and married with a daughter - and makes regular appearances at art scene parties. Her blue and white satin Bo-Peep outfit, complete with ribboned crook, is particularly unforgettable.
Despite his maverick status, he has spoken of the contemporary art scene as a second family: "There aren't many other worlds that would be so accepting of a transvestite potter from Essex."
The Chapman Brothers were favourites from the start to take the £20,000 prize, but in recent weeks Tate staff noticed that while visitors were laughing or gasping at their plastic sex dolls cast in bronze and frozen in desolating oral sex, they were spending hours in the next gallery, poring in silence over Grayson Perry's seductively coloured pots. These are incised with a nightmare world of child abuse and violence, a landscape of tower blocks and burned out cars stalked by murderous moppets in Kate Greenaway frilly dresses. One is called We've Found The Body Of Your Child. Another pot, Boring Cool People, pokes fun at the very arty types now flocking to his shows and paying up to £25,000 for his vases - a price which can now safely be predicted to rise dramatically.
One of his Turner prize pots is topped by a beautifully executed in-joke, a gilt teddy bear impaled on a tiny tree, echoing the corpses hanging from a life-size tree in the Chapmans' gallery next door.
The comments wall for visitors confirmed the trend. By the end of last week far more were voting for Perry - "great, great, great pots" one wrote - than for the Chapmans. Between them the artists left the other contenders, Willie Doherty's angsty video piece of a man running desperately across an endless bridge, and Anya Gallaccio's decaying flowers and seeping apples, trailing far in their wake.
Grayson Perry's unique style was created 25 years ago, when he was living in a squat in Camden, where it was not common practice among the anarchic denizens to attend pottery classes. His first plate was inscribed Kinky Sex, and he has said he partly enjoyed pottery "because it was so easy".
From the age of 13 he knew he was a cross-dresser, he has said, adding that the secret was discovered when his stepsister spied in his diary, and asked their mother what "transvestism" meant.
He has already said that he might spend some of the prize money on his wife and daughter, and some on new dresses for Claire. "Believe me, Claire's a very expensive woman to keep in clothes."
The Stuckists, apostles of painting over conceptual art, and self-appointed scourges of "the Serota tendency" (named after Sir Nicholas, director of the Tate), have picketed the ceremony for several years dressed as clowns. This year they announced with dignity that the clowns were boycotting the ceremony.
Instead they turned up with two inflatable sex dolls, specially bought in a Soho sex shop by Stuckist founder Charles Thomson, who demanded: "Did Turner exhibit sex dolls, joke shop skulls and a flower shop? Should it not be retitled the Emperor's Prize to honour Sir Nicholas's new art which isn't actually there?" Of course in the event Mr Thomson looked really silly: if only he'd worn big hair and a silk frock he'd have been bang on the button.
· The sculptor Anish Kapoor, whose sculpture Marsyas filled the Tate Modern earlier this year, won the Turner prize people's poll, in which the public voted for the best artist of all those shortlisted since 1984. The poll was organised by the Tate in partnership with Channel 4 and the Guardian.
| Grayson Perry |
In which war film did Richard Attenborough play ‘Big X’? | Grayson Perry Collects His CBE From Prince Charles At Buckingham Palace - Artlyst
Grayson Perry Collects His CBE From Prince Charles At Buckingham Palace
25 January 2014
/ Art Categories Art News , News / Art Tags CBE , Grayson Perry , Prince Charles / / / / /
Grayson Perry, the Turner Prize winning artist has collected his CBE from Prince Charles in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace. Dressing as his alter-ego character Claire, Grayson wore a ‘Mother of the Bride’ midnight blue dress and jacket, heels, and an over-the-top Camilla style black hat complete with ostrich feathers. The Queen’s official spokesman commented; ‘His attire was entirely appropriate.’
Speaking after the ceremony he said: “Receiving this was great, it’s not just for me it’s for all the artists – no really it’s just for me, for 30 years of hard graft.” He added: ”When I got the call (about the CBE) my first thought was what am I going to wear, it’s a serious thing I’m not going to compromise my identity as Britain’s pre-eminent transvestite. I googled to see what people wore and went for the sexier end. ”I always do like the older woman who makes an effort.” “I’m grateful I’m not one of these people who has sky-rocketed to fame. “Some people say I’ve become a member of the establishment but I’ve been that for years. I’m an RA (Royal Academician). “The idea that rebellion is at the margins of society – that’s false, it’s far more interesting to be mischievous from the centre.”
Mr Perry, who was awarded the Turner Prize in 2003, is best-known for his ceramics, and tapestries. He is also a notorious cross-dresser whose alter-ego, Claire is a national treasure. In 2013 Perry won a BAFTA award for his documentary ‘All in the Best Possible Taste’, a film about social and cultural taste in Britain. He is the 1st visual artist to deliver the well respected Reith Lectures which have been bestowed on figures from various cultural and political disciplines.
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ArtLyst is the UK’s most popular art information website. Art is at the core of everything we do. We demystify this complex subject to evoke reaction and inspire interaction, while providing up-to-date, multi-media art news, reviews and exhibition listings.
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Which African capital has a name meaning ‘New Flower’? | Interesting Facts about Ethiopia | Abeba Tours Ethiopia
Interesting Facts about Ethiopia
Geography
The area of Ethiopia is 1,104,300 sq. km, which makes it approximately as big as France and Spain combined.
The capital of Ethiopia is Addis Ababa, which means "new flower" in Amharic. The altitude is 2,355m (7,726 ft), making it the 3rd highest capital city in the world. It is also the diplomatic capital of Africa.
More than 70% of Africa's mountains are found in Ethiopia. Probably due to the high altitude in the country, Ethiopians are famous for being great long distance runners.
Lake Tana is the source of the Blue Nile River, which meets the White Nile River in Sudan to form the Great Nile River. Lake Tana supplies 85% of the water to the Great Nile River.
The Danakil Depression is home to one of the lowest points on the African continent - Dallol, at 116m below sea level - and one of the only lava lakes in the world - at Erta Ale volcano.
The Great Rift Valley, the most significant physical detail on the planet that is visible from space, cuts through Ethiopia from the northeast to the south of the country
Culture
There are more than 80 different ethnic groups in Ethiopia with just as many languages and over 200 dialects are spoken throughout the country.
Ethiopia is the only country in Africa with its own unique script.
Ethiopia claims to hold the Ark of the Covenant as well as a piece of the True Cross on which Jesus was crucified.
Ethiopia is known as the Cradle of Mankind, with some of the earliest ancestors found buried in the soil. Lucy (3.5 million years old), the most famous fossils found, were unearthed in Hadar.
Ethiopia remains one of the only nations in Africa never to be colonized. It was occupied briefly by the Italians from 1936 to 1941.
Ethiopia is home to 9 UNESCO World Heritage sites, more than any other country in Africa.
Time
Ethiopia follows the Julian calendar consisting of 12 months of 30 days each and a 13th month of 5 or 6 days. It is roughly 7 and a half years behind the Gregorian calendar.
The Ethiopian fiscal year begins on 8 July and the Ethiopian new year begins on 11 September (12 September in leap years). Ethiopians will ring in the year 2005 on 11 September, 2012.
As with many equatorial countries, the sun dictates time in Ethiopia. The sunrise marks the beginning of the day and the sunset marks the end of the day. What most of the world would call 7:00, Ethiopians would call 1:00. Both noon and midnight are 6:00 in Ethiopia.
Food & Drink
Coffee, one of the world's most popular beverages, was discovered in Ethiopia, in the region of Kaffa.
Ethiopia has the largest per capital density of cattle in Africa and the 10th largest in the world.
Teff, the grain used to make the Ethiopian staple injera, is an ancient grain believed to have originated in Ethiopia between 4000BC and 1000BC. It is the smallest grain in the world and is rich in calcium, phosphorous, iron, copper, aluminum, barium and thiamine and is a good source of protein, amino acids, carbohydrates and fiber. It is a great gluten-free option.
Religion
Ethiopia is the home of the Black Jews, known as the Falashas, or Beta Israel.
Ethiopia adopted Christianity in the 4th century, making it one of the oldest Christian nations in the world.
Islam also appeared early in Ethiopia, during the time of Mohammed, when his followers fled persecution in Arabia and sought refuge in Ethiopia.
Emperor Haile Selassie, the last emperor of Ethiopia, is worshipped by Rastafarians as a devine being. In fact, their name comes from Haile Selassie's birth name, Ras Tafari, which means "Prince Tafari".
Nature
There are 279 species of mammals found in Ethiopia, of which 5 are critically endangered, 8 are endangered, 27 are vulnerable and 12 are near-threatened. There are 31 endemic mammal species found in Ethiopia.
There are 924 species of birds found in Ethiopia, making Ethiopia a bird-watchers paradise. Of these, 23 species are endemic to Ethiopia.
There are 175 species of fish found in Ethiopia, 40 of which are endemic.
The gelada baboon is, in fact, not a baboon, but an old world monkey often classified in its own genus. They are the last surviving species of ancient grazing primates that were once widespread. They have a complex social system where women are dominant. The patch of skin on their chest becomes bright red on females when they are most fertile. Young males form bachelor groups and older males serve as grandfatherly figures, looking after the young. They can be found in large groups, sometimes up to 800 or more, particularly when there is food to be found.
| Addis Ababa |
Which word now used loosely, originally described rum diluted with water? | Interesting Facts about Ethiopia | Abeba Tours Ethiopia
Interesting Facts about Ethiopia
Geography
The area of Ethiopia is 1,104,300 sq. km, which makes it approximately as big as France and Spain combined.
The capital of Ethiopia is Addis Ababa, which means "new flower" in Amharic. The altitude is 2,355m (7,726 ft), making it the 3rd highest capital city in the world. It is also the diplomatic capital of Africa.
More than 70% of Africa's mountains are found in Ethiopia. Probably due to the high altitude in the country, Ethiopians are famous for being great long distance runners.
Lake Tana is the source of the Blue Nile River, which meets the White Nile River in Sudan to form the Great Nile River. Lake Tana supplies 85% of the water to the Great Nile River.
The Danakil Depression is home to one of the lowest points on the African continent - Dallol, at 116m below sea level - and one of the only lava lakes in the world - at Erta Ale volcano.
The Great Rift Valley, the most significant physical detail on the planet that is visible from space, cuts through Ethiopia from the northeast to the south of the country
Culture
There are more than 80 different ethnic groups in Ethiopia with just as many languages and over 200 dialects are spoken throughout the country.
Ethiopia is the only country in Africa with its own unique script.
Ethiopia claims to hold the Ark of the Covenant as well as a piece of the True Cross on which Jesus was crucified.
Ethiopia is known as the Cradle of Mankind, with some of the earliest ancestors found buried in the soil. Lucy (3.5 million years old), the most famous fossils found, were unearthed in Hadar.
Ethiopia remains one of the only nations in Africa never to be colonized. It was occupied briefly by the Italians from 1936 to 1941.
Ethiopia is home to 9 UNESCO World Heritage sites, more than any other country in Africa.
Time
Ethiopia follows the Julian calendar consisting of 12 months of 30 days each and a 13th month of 5 or 6 days. It is roughly 7 and a half years behind the Gregorian calendar.
The Ethiopian fiscal year begins on 8 July and the Ethiopian new year begins on 11 September (12 September in leap years). Ethiopians will ring in the year 2005 on 11 September, 2012.
As with many equatorial countries, the sun dictates time in Ethiopia. The sunrise marks the beginning of the day and the sunset marks the end of the day. What most of the world would call 7:00, Ethiopians would call 1:00. Both noon and midnight are 6:00 in Ethiopia.
Food & Drink
Coffee, one of the world's most popular beverages, was discovered in Ethiopia, in the region of Kaffa.
Ethiopia has the largest per capital density of cattle in Africa and the 10th largest in the world.
Teff, the grain used to make the Ethiopian staple injera, is an ancient grain believed to have originated in Ethiopia between 4000BC and 1000BC. It is the smallest grain in the world and is rich in calcium, phosphorous, iron, copper, aluminum, barium and thiamine and is a good source of protein, amino acids, carbohydrates and fiber. It is a great gluten-free option.
Religion
Ethiopia is the home of the Black Jews, known as the Falashas, or Beta Israel.
Ethiopia adopted Christianity in the 4th century, making it one of the oldest Christian nations in the world.
Islam also appeared early in Ethiopia, during the time of Mohammed, when his followers fled persecution in Arabia and sought refuge in Ethiopia.
Emperor Haile Selassie, the last emperor of Ethiopia, is worshipped by Rastafarians as a devine being. In fact, their name comes from Haile Selassie's birth name, Ras Tafari, which means "Prince Tafari".
Nature
There are 279 species of mammals found in Ethiopia, of which 5 are critically endangered, 8 are endangered, 27 are vulnerable and 12 are near-threatened. There are 31 endemic mammal species found in Ethiopia.
There are 924 species of birds found in Ethiopia, making Ethiopia a bird-watchers paradise. Of these, 23 species are endemic to Ethiopia.
There are 175 species of fish found in Ethiopia, 40 of which are endemic.
The gelada baboon is, in fact, not a baboon, but an old world monkey often classified in its own genus. They are the last surviving species of ancient grazing primates that were once widespread. They have a complex social system where women are dominant. The patch of skin on their chest becomes bright red on females when they are most fertile. Young males form bachelor groups and older males serve as grandfatherly figures, looking after the young. They can be found in large groups, sometimes up to 800 or more, particularly when there is food to be found.
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Which poet’s mother, sister and lover were all called Fanny? | John Keats, Fanny Brawne, and his poem "Bright Star" -- excerpted from Keats by Andrew Motion
Andrew Motion
Keats, Fanny Brawne, and his poem “Bright Star”
keats reached london three weeks after abandoning “The Fall of Hyperion” and only one week after asking [Charles Wentworth] Dilke to find him rooms. The lodgings that his friend arranged for him, in 25 College Street, had a comforting air of continuity. They were near Dilke himself, who lived in Great Smith Street, and their surroundings—overlooked by Westminster Abbey—seemed to recreate the calm of Winchester. He was living alone in London for the first time, but he was sequestered.
He still had to collect his belongings from Wentworth Place. He had not seen Fanny since June, and had been in touch with her only once since 16 August, nearly two months previously. At their last meeting, they had shown each other an equal tenderness, even though Fanny had all the uncertainties of youth, and he had his own doubts about commitment. In the interval, his reservations had grown as his desire increased, resulting first in tormented accusations, and finally in a self protective silence. This had confused and hurt Fanny, and had also made her resolve her own feelings. When she opened the door to Keats on 10 October, two days after he had arrived in town, she was no longer the half-adolescent whose affection might be mistaken for flirting. She was a suddenly mature young woman who had been pained by the threat of losing her love. Uncertainty had persuaded her that she wanted to devote herself to Keats.
Keats fell immediately into a “complete fascination”. He was “dazzled” by Fanny’s beauty and tenderness, and when [his friend Charles] Brown teased him “with a seemingly true story against [him],” he could not help exonerating himself in a way which showed his true feelings. Inevitably, the revelation meant reviving his old worries about independence. As he and Fanny snatched a few moments alone, his reasons for hesitating were dissolved. “When shall we pass a day alone,” he wrote the following morning. “I have had a thousand kisses, for which with my whole soul I thank love—but if you should deny me the thousand and first—‘t would put me to the proof how great a misery I could live through.”
Referring to Fanny’s “threat[s]” in this way, and admitting that he was “at [her] mercy”, meant rekindling the argument of their mid-summer letters. In two poems he wrote around the same time as he first saw Fanny again—poems which inaugurate a short series of lyrics—Keats returned to it more openly. The first, a sonnet beginning “The day is gone …”, dwells on the delicious pleasures of the moment: “Sweet voice, sweet lips, soft hand, and softer breast, / Warm breath, light whisper, tender semi-tone, / Bright eyes, accomplished shape, and languorous waist!” The second poem, “What can I do …”, describes more familiar territory. While he insists that his “liberty” as a poet depends on his remaining “above / The reach of fluttering Love,” he connects his own situation to broader issues of independence. Particularly the independence of his brother and sister-in-law. The highly strung, irregular couplets abruptly became horrified as he contemplates their life in America:
Where shall I learn to get my peace again?
To banish thoughts of that most hateful land,
Dungeoner of my friends, that wicked strand
Where they were wrecked and live a wrecked life;
That monstrous region, whose dull rivers pour,
Ever from their sordid urns into the shore,
Unowned of any weedy-haired gods;
Whose winds, all zephyrless, hold scourging rods,
Iced in great lakes, to afflict mankind;
Whose rank-grown forests, frosted, black, and blind,
Would fright a Dryad; whose harsh-herbaged meads
Make lean and lank the starved ox while he feeds;
There flowers have no scent, birds no sweet song,
And great unerring Nature once seems wrong.
There are moments when “What can I do …” seems more like a private act of self-scourging than a fully achieved work. This central section is exceptional, drawing a picture of Keats’s anxieties which is unrivalled anywhere in his work. It also gives a fascinating glimpse of the “other sensations” he wanted to encompass after giving up “The Fall.” It contains a despairing appeal to the Classical order he had always espoused, but shows his old loyalties had been eroded. “Enough! Enough!” it ends in anguish. “It is enough for me / To dream of thee!”
Keats left Fanny on 10 October knowing that his plans for the future had failed. He spent the next several days trying to revive them. He arranged his rooms in College Street. He tried to persevere with his reading. He made fair copies of his new poems. He possibly went to see Hazlitt in York Street to inquire about writing for liberal magazines. If he did, he would have found the “dark-haired critic” confirming the impression he gained elsewhere. Hazlitt only needed to point to his own predicament to prove that journalism was a thankless task. In recent months he had been “muzzled, libelled, underpaid and unceremoniously dismissed”
When [William] Hazlitt later recorded his impressions of Keats, he said that he lacked “masculine energy” and “hardy spirit.” Given the emphasis that Keats’s other friends place on his pugnacity and resolution, the description seems unjust, unless we suppose that Hazlitt was only remembering how Keats appeared at this particularly agonised time. During his weeks in Winchester, he had made significantly few references to his health. Was he feeling better than he had done all summer, or was he simply hiding the truth? Severn, who also saw him during these College Street days, was struck by his weakness. When they met on 24 October, to discuss the submission of [Joseph] Severn’s painting “The Cave of Despair” for the Royal Academy historical painting competition, Severn said that Keats seemed “in high spirits” but had not been done “much good” by his absence from London. In the coming weeks, Keats continued to avoid mentioning his health. His mood suggests it was deteriorating fast. He was almost continuously depressed and distracted.
The harder Keats tried to concentrate on his work, the more consumed he felt by Fanny. His letters show that she had even begun to dominate his most sacred loyalty: to “the principle of Beauty in all things.” He uses her looks as an absolute (seeking to “assure you by your Beauty”), and he tells her: “The Beauties of Nature have lost their power over me.” The result was not so much a sense of eclipse as of collapse, and his fretting about “liberty” soon turned into complaints about imprisonment—about being the “emprison[er]” of Fanny, and of living in a kind of gaol himself. As his illness grew worse, this conceit grew into a dreadful reality. Fanny became confused in his mind with the reasons for his approaching death.
On 11 October Keats told Fanny that he had arranged for Mrs. Dilke to accompany him on his next visit to Hampstead, so as to lend an air of propriety to their meeting. If he hoped that this would help him to control his feelings, he soon realised he was helpless. “I cannot exist without you,” he told Fanny in his next letter, recalling the words of the poet before Moneta’s shrine in “The Fall”. “I am forgetful of every thing but seeing you again—my Life seems to stop there—I see no further. You have absorb’d me. I have a sensation at the present moment as though I was dissolving.” In their extreme frankness, these phrases come perilously close to sounding histrionic, and as Keats continued writing he obviously feared as much. Briefly restraining himself, he introduced a new element into his letter, one which gives it an apparently more solid framework, but in fact only emphasises Fanny’s dominance. “Do not threat me even in jest,” he told her. “I have been astonished that Men could die Martyrs for religion—I have shudder’d at it—I shudder no more—I could be Martyr’d for my Religion—Love is my religion—I could die for that—I could die for you. My Creed is Love and you are its only tenet.”
The language here echoes the religious references of his two recent poems, which speak of “love’s missal” and of “heresy and schism”. It has led one biographer to speculate that Keats was “contemplating a formal engagement leading to the sacrament of marriage.” This is reasonable, as long as we realise that Keats still did not view marriage as a safe haven. He had regarded it suspiciously for many years—along with the other “pious frauds of religion.” Now there were better reasons than ever for doing so. Given this, the letter seems to say more about the contraction of Keats’s world than it does about the contract of marriage. Not only was Fanny the focus of his faith in Beauty, she was also replacing other systems of order and control. She was becoming his whole universe in miniature.
Two days after writing this letter, on 15 October, Keats returned to Wentworth Place for yet another visit. Rather than helping to clarify his thoughts about the future, it only complicated them. Whether Fanny realised it or not, his recent remarks about the church had awoken deep memories which were connected with his love for her. When Tom had died the previous winter, a few hundred yards away from where they were talking, Keats had angrily refused to “enter into any parsonic comments on death.” And when he had recently thought of George in America, he imagined him without even the consolations of myths or nature. Whirling “in a tremble,” he told himself again and again that Fanny was bound to make him suffer, as well as succouring him. Writing about Moneta, he had confronted the image of his dead mother. Adoring his lover, he could not help envisaging absence and loss.
Several years after his death, Fanny was asked whether “Keats might be judged insane” during the last year or so of his life. She was at pains to say that “he could have never addressed an unkind expression, much less a violent one, to any human being.” But she also admitted that while giving himself to her, he “seemed … to turn on himself.” It is striking that she never seemed to have felt intimidated by this. Perhaps the part of her that enjoyed “trumpery novels” made her feel that any love affair was likely to seem a little unreal—like the plot of a romance come to life. Perhaps the strong current of her own feelings simply swept away the thought that there was anything excessive in Keats’s protestations. In any event, her steady acceptance was remarkable: a proof of her devotion, and also of her mature composure. By remaining in one mind herself, she guided Keats through the contradictions of his own thoughts towards a final decision. Returning to College Street after the “three hours dream” of his visit, he told Mrs. Dilke that he would soon not be needing his lodgings any longer. He was planning to return to live with Brown in Wentworth Place.
the decision did nothing to solve his “mess.” On 19 October, shortly before leaving College Street, Keats ended a letter to Fanny by saying “I cannot tell what I am writing,” then began a sonnet which breathlessly combined an appeal for “mercy” with a demand for complete possession:
O! let me have thee whole,—all, all, be mine!
That shape, that fairness, that sweet minor zest
Of love, your kiss—those hands, those eyes divine,
That warm, white, lucent, million-pleasured breast Yourself
—your soul—in pity give me all,
Withhold no atom’s atom or I die.
The sonnet seems set on extending its catalogue until the final full stop. As the conclusion approaches, Keats recognises that if Fanny does not return his feelings she will make him, like the knight in “La Belle Dame,” her “wretched thrall.” It is a prospect which breaks his rush by turning desire into despair. He realises that he risks being neither a satisfied lover nor a self-fulfilled writer:
Or living on perhaps, your wretched thrall,
Forget, in the mist of idle misery,
Life’s purposes—the palate of my mind
Losing its gust, and my ambition blind!
It is likely that Keats wrote another and much better known poem within a short time of completing this sonnet: “Bright Star.” Precise dating is difficult, but among the various possibilities, at least one fact links it to October 1819. In lines 7/8 the sonnet refers to “the new softfallen mask / Of snow,” and on 22 October an unusually early and heavy snowstorm had swept across London. The other reasons for supposing that Keats wrote it this month are equally persuasive. The poem resonates with phrases and ideas that Keats had used in his recent letters to Fanny:
Bright star! would I were steadfast as thou art—
Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like nature’s patient, sleepless Eremite,
The moving waters at their priestlike task
Of pure ablution round earth’s human shores,
Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors—
No—yet still steadfast, still unchangeable,
Pillowed upon my fair love’s ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft swell and fall,
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever—or else swoon to death.
The poem’s longing for steadfastness develops the appeal of “I cry your mercy ….” Its reference to the waters” “priestlike task” reminds us that Keats had recently called love his “religion.” The “ripening” breast, at once erotic and maternal, recalls the “dazzling breast” in “What can I do …,” and “That warm, white, lucent, million-pleasured breast” in “I cry your mercy ….” For all these similarities, “Bright Star” is crucially distinct from other poems written to Fanny. Instead of panting and gasping, filling its lines with irregular rhythms and snatched glances, it struggles to maintain the discipline of a strict form, a steady antithesis, and an evolving idea. In these respects, it is a poem which at once recognises and masters Fanny’s destabilising power—so long as Keats keeps his attention fixed on the heavens, where “great unerring Nature” is exemplary and conciliatory. In the sestet, though, where Keats switches to Fanny herself, the poem’s control begins to loosen. The “steadfast” and “unchangeable” attributes of the star can only be maintained in “lone splendour.” Once Keats is “pillowed” on his lover, he is condemned to “sweet unrest,” as the nervous and triple repetition of “ever” cannot but emphasise. This raises a troubling question. Do the star’s qualities in fact “matter” to Keats as much as he implies? Or rather, do they matter because they describe a condition he cannot emulate? At the beginning of the poem, they trigger a line of thought which is not completed, and at the end they seem admirable but remote—neither intimately supportive nor integrated. This is why the last phrase of the poem, “or else swoon to death,” seems to carry more weight than all the accumulated reassurances of the preceding lines. Even if “death” punningly connotes sexual satisfaction rather than actual mortality, it still suggests that the “ever” Keats wants is an impossibility.
keats finished “Bright Star” knowing that one kind of steadfastness had gone, and another kind had yet to be confirmed. On 18 October, twelve days before his twenty-fourth birthday, he finally asked Mrs. Dilke to let Fanny know that he was returning to live with Brown. The following day, he told her himself, asking soon afterwards that their “understanding” should now become a formal arrangement, and probably giving her a garnet ring. It was a momentous decision, but they did their best to keep it secret, and agreed that Fanny should not wear the ring in public. They had several reasons. Keats knew that he could not afford to get married in the foreseeable future. He also realised that Mrs. Brawne did not approve. She still liked Keats, but understood that his prospects were dismal, and hoped that the plan would “go off” in due course. Moreover, he distrusted the reaction of his family and friends—rightly, as it turned out. He said nothing to his brother and sister, or to Brown, Taylor, Woodhouse, Severn and Rice. Dilke and Reynolds both soon discovered what had happened. Dilke wrote in private, “God help them. It’s a bad thing for them,” and Reynolds jealously disparaged the “unhappy … connection.”
It was not only the disapproval of others that troubled Keats as he settled back into Wentworth Place. Living under the same roof as Fanny brought obvious “pleasures;” it aggravated his “torments” as well. He had already told Fanny that he “must impose chains” on himself if he was to endure living so close to her, and now he was as good as his word. Following the advice of Burton’s Anatomy, which insisted that meateating increased physical desire, he put himself on a vegetarian diet, telling his sister that he hoped it would mean “my brains may never henceforth be in a greater mist than is theirs by nature.”
Brown was only a little reassured by these signs of self-discipline. Keats seemed more decided than he had done in Winchester, but he was still demoralised and introspective. His plans to live as a journalist had come to nothing, and his poetry was stalled. Brown did all he could to encourage him, seizing eagerly on a report in the Examiner which revealed that Kean had decided to honour his contract with Drury Lane, and would be remaining in London throughout the winter. He urged Keats to make a few small revisions to Otho, and said he would send it to Elliston, the theatre manager. Keats agreed to make the changes, though gloomily refused to give his name as author, fearing that his low reputation would damage the chance of getting a fair reading. He was equally pessimistic about other possibilities. He temporarily set aside the thought of publishing a new volume, discouraged, perhaps, by Taylor’s angry reaction to Woodhouse’s report of his revisions. (“If he will not so far concede to my wishes as to leave the Passage [in “The Eve of St Agnes”] as it originally stood,” Taylor had written, “I must be content to admire his Poems with some other Imprint.”) He got out the manuscript of King Stephen and abandoned it after a few scenes. It is probable that the fragment beginning “This living hand …” was part of his effort, and it gives a bleak glimpse of his mental state. Spoken anonymously, the lines turn their appeal for sympathy into something like blackmail:
This living hand, now warm and capable
Of earnest grasping, would, if it were cold
And in the icy silence of the tomb,
So haunt thy days and chill thy dreaming nights
That thou would wish thine own heart dry of blood
So in my veins red life might stream again,
And thou be conscience-calmed—see here it is—
I hold it towards you.
Nothing that Keats tried, and nothing that Brown suggested, made any difference to his mood. On 10 November he described himself to Severn as being still “lax, unemployed, unmeridian’d, and objectless,” knowing that however he might blame the world at large for his plight, the source of his greatest misery lay very close to home. He was living only a few feet away from Fanny, yet prevented by circumstances from marrying her, and by convention from making love to her. Every day was filled with excited frustration—frustration that Brown, in spite of his kindness, continually made worse. During the summer a new live-in maid had come to work at Wentworth Place: a pretty, fiery, semi-literate young woman named Abigail O’Donaghue, whose family came from Killarney in Ireland. Shortly after returning from Winchester, Brown began sleeping with her, and soon made her pregnant. Normally, with the manners of the age, this would be something that Keats would have no difficulty in accepting. He had, after all, recently joked about Severn “either getting a bastard or being cuckolded into accepting one as his.” Now it only fuelled his rage and disappointment.
Keats’s sexual longing dramatised his other feelings of failure: poetic as well as professional and financial. Shortly after moving back into Wentworth Place he borrowed some more money from Brown. This soon ran out, forcing him to ask for loans from Haslam and other friends. How was he to help his brother, let alone himself? Making a reluctant visit to London, to see Mrs. Wylie, he once again managed to conceal the extent of his difficulties. In a letter to his sister he admitted that “George’s affairs perplex me a great deal,” and accepted that he would soon have to start visiting Abbey again. When the first of these visits took place, it only brought further discouragement. Although Mrs. Midgley Jennings’s appeal to Chancery had recently been dismissed, the value of stocks was very low. Abbey advised him not to sell.
Then at last came better news. Fry, the co-trustee of Tom’s estate who was living in Holland, wrote to Abbey and gave Keats the power of attorney he had recently requested. Although the market was still performing badly, Keats knew where his duties lay. He sold a part of Tom’s inheritance, realising £100 which he sent to America immediately. He closed the deal feeling that he had at last done something valuable—but within a few weeks it became clear that even this success was a kind of failure. The ship on which the money travelled across the Atlantic, the William, was delayed by storms and did not reach its destination until the New Year. By this time George had decided that his brother needed help in sorting out their affairs, and had left for England. The round trip would cost him almost £200; he felt it would be worth it if he could return home with even double that amount.
Keats’s efforts to improve his own situation were not so unlucky. Realising a further £200 of Tom’s money (it was the first instalment that he had collected since his brother’s death), he paid off his debts, sent £100 to his sister, and squared his lodging arrangements with Brown. This gave him a breathing space—for a little while, and in a limited sense. Through no fault of his own, his recent transactions had increased the distance which was opening between himself and his friends. When he next saw Dilke, for instance, at the Naval Pay Office in Somerset House, he impatiently denied that George would have done better to join Birkbeck’s settlement than set up business in Louisville. Dilke, who was doing his best to support Keats by concealing his doubts about Fanny, was put out. “The very kindness of friends was at this time oppressive to [Keats],” he said later. “From this period his weakness & his sufferings, mental & bodily, increased—his whole mind & heart were in a whirl of contending passions—he saw nothing calmly or dispassionately.”
Keats sank further and further into himself, fidgeting with Stephen and adding only a few lines, desperate for news of Otho and hearing nothing. When Hazlitt began a new series of lectures, on Elizabethan drama, at the Surrey Institution in early November, he did not attend. He could not face the seven-mile tramp from Wentworth Place, or the pitying faces he would see when he got there. When Severn invited him to see his painting hung in the Royal Academy, he deflected him awkwardly. When he wrote to George and Georgiana he was unable to give news of his sister (“I have not been to see [her] since my return from Winchester”), and supplied only the sketchiest information about mutual friends. “Our Set,” he said, “still continue [to] separate as we get older, each follows with more precision the bent of his own mind.” Rice was ill, he added, and Reynolds “in Lodgings … and … set in for the Law.” As he went on to mention Dilke and Severn, he could not avoid giving the impression that he, and not they, had become solitary; his “cavalier days” were long gone. It was the kind of confession that he had previously spared his brother, and which soon became explicit. “I have been endeavouring to write lately,” he said pitifully, “but with little success as I require a little encouragement, [and] little better fortun[e] to befall you and happier news from you before I can wr[i]te with an untrammell’d mind. Nothing could have in all its circumstances fallen out worse for me than the last year has done, or could be more damping to my poetical talent.”
Copyright notice: Excerpt from pages 467–479 of Keats by Andrew Motion, published by the University of Chicago Press. ©1997 by Andrew Motion. All rights reserved. This text may be used and shared in accordance with the fair-use provisions of U.S. copyright law, and it may be archived and redistributed in electronic form, provided that this entire notice, including copyright information, is carried and provided that the University of Chicago Press is notified and no fee is charged for access. Archiving, redistribution, or republication of this text on other terms, in any medium, requires the consent of the University of Chicago Press. (Footnotes and other references included in the book may have been removed from this online version of the text.)
Andrew Motion
©1997, 656 pages, 96 halftones
Paper $20.00 ISBN: 9780226542409
For information on purchasing the book—from bookstores or here online—please go to the webpage for Keats .
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| John Keats |
Which fashion house produces the perfume ‘Bamboo’? | John Keats and His Bright Star, Fanny Brawne
John Keats and His Bright Star, Fanny Brawne
Updated on October 23, 2013
It took me about thirty seconds of the trailer to fall in love with the movie Bright Star. In those thirty seconds I saw everything I love in a movie: period costumes, literary characters, classical music, English accents. By the end of the trailer, I was dying to see the movie. Of course, the local movie theater didn’t even show Bright Star. Apparently, everyone would rather see that Michael Jackson movie (slash documentary slash concert) or an animated movie about food falling from the sky (the latter is actually a good movie, by the bye). Everyone, that is, except me, and my mother. So I had to wait until Bright Star arrived on DVD for your home viewing convenience. Yes, I would have paid the $10 to see the movie, but I didn’t have to. I had to wait.
I confess, I’m a sucker for these kinds of movies. Those who really know me would call me a “hopeless romantic". Well, it’s true, I am (even though my head often gets the better of me). Almost any day of the week, I would rather see some sad love story about a dying poet and his true love than watch meatballs falling from the sky (I must repeat, I really enjoyed that movie too).
So I just recently rented the movie (no luck at the red box; had to go to that obsolete institution known as a rental store). Those magical two minutes of the trailer were expanded into two hours of wet-eyed bliss.
I didn’t know much about John Keats (and I know I should) before I watched Bright Star, except that he was depressed and sickly. So the movie pushed me on in my damaging curiosity to discover more about this depressed poet and his love for Fanny Brawne, whom he called his “Bright Star”. But first, a little about the movie as a movie:
Abbie Cornish
Jane Campion
Bright Star (2009) was filmed in the United Kingdom. It stars Ben Wishaw and Abbie Cornish.
Ben Wishaw will be recognized as playing Sebastian in Brideshead Revisited (2008). He is also due to appear in the upcoming film The Tempest (which was filmed in Hawaii, I might add).
Abbie Cornish, an Australian actress, has appeared in the films Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) and A Good Year (2006). Both Wishaw and Cornish were outstanding in Bright Star.
The writer and director of Bright Star is Jane Campion, the woman who directed The Piano and The Portrait of a Lady, both period films as well. Jane Campion is one of the few female directors to get an Academy Award nomination.
Bright Star was nominated for the Golden Palm award at the Cannes Film Festival and also for an Oscar for costume design. It won a British Independent Film Award for cinematography.
The movie covers a short space of time in the lives of John Keats and Fanny Brawne, focusing on their relationship. Their relationship lasted for three years, the last three years of Keats’s life. John is a poet, and Fanny is a fashion designer, but the film centers on the two of them together. It focuses on their love.
Who Was John Keats?
John Keats was born near London, England on the 31st of October in 1795. When John was only eight years old, his father died after a fatal fall from his horse. Six years later, John’s mother died of consumption. John, his sister, and his two surviving brothers (another brother died as an infant) were left to the care of guardians.
Before committing himself completely to literature, John Keats studied medicine. In 1816, at the age of twenty-one, John published his first poem titled “O Solitude.”
Romanticism
John Keats is famous for being one of the leading poets in the Romantic movement. Other poets of the time were William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Blake, Lord Byron, and Percy Bysshe Shelley. These, along with Keats, formed the Big Six of English Romantic literature. Romanticism was a reaction to the hard-fact outlook of the Age of Enlightenment. It emphasized emotion and intuition above rationalism, and was the opposite of Realism. Romanticism reached all areas of the arts.
John’s brother Tom was sick with consumption. John and his brother George took care of him. But when George immigrated to America, John was given sole responsibility for Tom. In 1818, Tom died. Around this time, John met Fanny Brawne.
Who Was Fanny Brawne?
Fanny Brawne was also born near London, in 1800. Her father died when Fanny was a small child. She had a brother, Sam, and a sister, Margaret. The dazzling Miss Brawne was coquettish, witty, and very fashionable. There was an army barracks near where she lived, and Fanny liked to attend the military dances. She is described as a realist, with not much knowledge of poetry.
In 1818, Fanny met John when she lived with her widowed mother close to John’s residence. Their relationship progressed more when Fanny’s family moved next door in the spring of 1819. They fell deeply in love but could not become formally engaged because of John’s lack of income. John struggled to make a living writing poetry, and Fanny was now his inspiration.
The Tragedy
In 1820, it became clear that John was sick with consumption, the same disease his brother died of. After coughing up blood in February, John recognized the fate that was to claim him: “That drop of blood is my death warrant. I must die.” Through his knowledge of medicine and his experience with his brother’s illness, John knew the signs of consumption well.
Fanny was kept at a distance, the doctors advising against emotional strain. One can only imagine that the distance kept between them caused more of an emotional strain than any visits would have.
In the summer of 1820, John, being turned out of his rental, moved a mile away from Fanny. The distance between them proved unbearable. John became increasingly depressed and jealous of Fanny, whom he could not see as often as he would have liked.
Consumption
Consumption is known today as pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). It was called consumption because of the way it consumed its victims. Consumption is a bacterial disease that principally affects the lungs and is contagious. Some of the symptoms of consumption are chest pain, coughing up blood, fever, chills, and fatigue. Consumption can be prevented through vaccination and treated with medication.
John was heartbroken and heartweary. He grew worse, and in an emotional upset walked all the way to Fanny’s house where the family took him in. He spent a month with them, the happiest month of his tragic life.
But his happiness was not to last. His illness was growing worse, and John’s friends urged him to travel to Italy in hopes of recovery in a better climate. Although he did not believe he would recover, although he hated to leave Fanny behind, John left for Italy in September. After months of physical and mental anguish, he died February 23, 1821 and was buried in Rome. He was only twenty-five years old. At John’s request, these words were etched on his lonely tombstone: “Here lies one whose name was writ in water.”
John wrote over three dozen letters to Fanny in his last few years. She kept them away from the public her entire life. Seven years after Fanny’s death, the letters were exposed and Fanny’s identity as John Keats’s love was revealed.
What Became of Fanny?
Fanny was in mourning for several years after John’s death, and never forgot him. In 1833, Fanny married Louis Lindon, who never knew about his wife’s former romance with Keats. Fanny and Louis had three children. Fanny told her children about Keats, but never told her husband. She died in 1865. After the death of her husband 1872, Fanny’s children released the love letters from John Keats (the letters written by Fanny were destroyed).
In Conclusion
John Keats was a poet, a lover, a sufferer. Some of his most beautiful poetry was inspired by Fanny Brawne, the love of his life. The love letters of John Keats are some of the most beautiful ever written. In one of his letters, he told Fanny that “Love is my religion.” John Keats searched all his life for beauty. He saw beauty in nature and he saw beauty in Fanny Brawne. But whether or not John Keats ever found true beauty we cannot know. He died in agony, almost alone, leaving Fanny and his poetry behind him.
Most quotes were taken from:
Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou art...
Letter to Fanny Brawne (July 1819)
I almost wish we were butterflies and liv'd but three summer days - three such days with you I could fill with more delight than fifty common years could ever contain.
Letter to Fanny Brawne (July 25, 1819)
I have two luxuries to brood over in my walks, your loveliness and the hour of my death. O that I could have possession of them both in the same minute.
Letter to Fanny Brawne (October 13, 1819)
My love has made me selfish. I cannot exist without you - I am forgetful of every thing but seeing you again - my Life seems to stop there - I see no further. You have absorb'd me. I have a sensation at the present moment as though I was dissolving - I should be exquisitely miserable without the hope of soon seeing you.
Letter to Fanny Brawne (February 1820)
On the night I was taken ill when so violent a rush of blood came to my Lungs that I felt nearly suffocated - I assure you I felt it possible I might not survive and at that moment though[ t] of nothing but you
Letter to Fanny Brawne (February 1820)
I cannot say forget me - but I would mention that there are impossibilities in the world.
Letter to Fanny Brawne (March 1820)
You fear, sometimes, I do not love you so much as you wish? My dear Girl I love you ever and ever and without reserve. The more I have known you the more have I lov'd. In every way - even my jealousies have been agonies of Love, in the hottest fit I ever had I would have died for you.
Letter to Fanny Brawne (March 1820)
Perhaps on your account I have imagined my illness more serious than it is: how horrid was the chance of slipping into the ground instead of into your arms - the difference is amazing Love - Death must come at last; Man must die, as Shallow says; but before that is my fate I feign would try what more pleasures than you have given so sweet a creature as you can give.
A primrose means "I can't live without you."
Read more hubs by Rose West:
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Who made a cameo appearance in Die Another Day as fencing instructor Verity? | Die Another Day - Mad-Eyes - Madonna movie cameo, James Bond, Lee Tamahori, Pierce Brosnan, Halle Berry, lesbian fence instructor
David Arnold - Going Down Together
Release
Released as: Die Another Day
Released in theatres: Nov. 22th, 2002
Released on DVD: May 5th, 2003 (Europe) / June 3rd, 2003 (US)
Runtime: 132 minutes
MPAA rating: Rated PG-13 for action violence and sexuality.
Box office: $ 156.2 million (US) / £ 34.8 million (UK)
Official site: Die Another Day
Synopsis
One of North Koreans most feared generals is developing a powerful weapon to invade the South. Bond (Pierce Brosnan)'s mission leads him from the North Korean dungeons, over Hong Kong and Cuba, to Iceland. Millionaire Gustav Graves (Toby Stephens) invites him there for a spectacular presentation in the Ice Palace. Surrounded by two beautiful Bond girls (Halle Berry and Rosamund Pike), Bond tries to unravel the mystery and destroy the weapon that threatens South Korea.
Madonna plays the role of Verity, a role often described as a "filthy lesbian dominatrix fencing instructor".
Rating
Though not a particular Bond fan, I liked this movie. Madonna's part is very small, but it makes a good scene. Her acting is natural and the scene flows pretty well. The lesbian aspect is limited to some innuendo words and looks with Miranda Frost (Rosamund Pike), but Madonna makes sure her 5-minute cameo doesn't go unnoticed with some great oneliners! 8/10
Awards
| Madonna |
Which double Oscar winner plays the villain in the latest film Spectre? | Rita Ora wants to be theme singing Bond girl
Rita Ora wants to be theme singing Bond girl
Bang Showbiz•
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Rita Ora wants to be the first woman to play a Bond girl and sing the a 007 theme song.
The 'Body On Me' singer has aspirations to bag two of the top jobs in the prestigious spy franchise and is confident she could pull it off.
Quizzed at the KISS Haunted House Party at the SSE Wembley Arena in London on Thursday (29.10.15) on whether she'd prefer to act or sing for Bond, Rita replied: "I'd rather sing the theme but has anybody done both? Maybe. Maybe I'll do both!"
If she realises her dream, Rita - who appeared in 'Fifty Shades of Grey' and 'Southpaw' this year - would be the first official title singing Bond girl, but she wouldn't be the first title track contributor to appear in a film.
Madonna recorded the theme song for 2002 film 'Die Another Day' and also had a cameo as fencing instructor Verity.
Sam Smith penned 'Writing's On The Wall' for current 007 adventure 'SPECTRE' and the song has become the first Bond theme to reach the number one spot in the UK.
Although Rita is busy with her judging role on 'The X Factor', getting ready to release her second album and dreaming of becoming a Bond babe, the 24-year-old pop beauty still sets new goals for herself and she wants to duet with Celine Dion, Cher, Gwen Stefani and David Bowie.
When asked who she'd love to collaborate with, she said: "Probably like Celine Dion or Cher, or David Bowie or someone like, I don't know, just one of my legends that I've always loved growing up. Maybe Gwen Stefani, she'd be cool.
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‘He’s all England needs – another queen who can’t dress’ by Joan Rivers? | Boy George is all England needs - another queen who can't dress. ... by Joan Rivers
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Don't follow any advice , no matter how good,
until you feel as deeply in your spirit as you think
in your mind that the counsel is wise.
- Joan Rivers
Thank God we're living in a country where the sky's the limit,
the stores are open late and you can shop in bed thanks to television.
- Joan Rivers
The first time I see a jogger smiling,
I'll consider it.
I told my mother-in-law that my house was her house,
and she said, 'Get the hell off my property.'
- Joan Rivers
She doesn't understand the concept of Roman numerals.
She thought we just fought in world war eleven.
- Joan Rivers
You make the beds, you do the dishes and six months
later you have to start all over again.
- Joan Rivers
I succeeded by saying what everyone else is thinking.
- Joan Rivers
A man can sleep around, no questions asked,
but if a woman makes nineteen or twenty mistakes she's a tramp.
- Joan Rivers
It's so long since I've had sex I've forgotten who ties up who.
- Joan Rivers
My best birth control now is just to leave the lights on.
- Joan Rivers
I knew I was an unwanted baby when I saw that my bath
toys were a toaster and a radio.
- Joan Rivers
I have flabby thighs, but fortunately my stomach covers them.
- Joan Rivers
My routines come out of total unhappiness.
My audiences are my group therapy.
- Joan Rivers
I'm Jewish.
I don't work out.
If God had wanted us to bend over, He would have put diamonds on the floor.
- Joan Rivers
I don't excercise.
If God had wanted me to bend over, he would have put diamonds on the floor.
- Joan Rivers
I have no methods; all I do is accept people as they are.
- Joan Rivers
People say that money is not the key to happiness,
but I always figured if you have enough money,
you can have a key made.
- Joan Rivers
There is not one female comic who was beautiful as a little girl.
- Joan Rivers
Before we make love my husband takes a pain killer.
- Joan Rivers
If God wanted us to bend over he'd put diamonds on the floor.
- Joan Rivers
Don't tell your kids you had an easy birth or they won't respect you.
For years I used to wake up my daughter and say,
'Melissa you ripped me to shreds.
Now go back to sleep.'.
- Joan Rivers
Elizabeth Taylor has more chins than the Chinese telephone directory.
- Joan Rivers
I wish I had a twin, so I could know what I'd look
like without plastic surgery.
But it doesn't make you nice.
Hitler read history, too.
Forty for you, sixty for me.
And equal partners we will be.
- Joan Rivers
The ideal beauty is a fugitive which is never found.
- Joan Rivers
I blame my mother for my poor sex life.
All she told me was 'the man goes on top and the woman underneath.'
For three years my husband and I slept in bunk beds.
- Joan Rivers
Never floss with a stranger.
- Joan Rivers
My obstetrician was so dumb that when I gave birth
he forgot to cut the cord.
For a year that kid followed me everywhere.
It was like having a dog on a leash.
- Joan Rivers
It's been so long since I've had sex I've forgotten who ties up whom.
- Joan Rivers
"Why, for any old thing."
- Robert Baden-Powell,
[as quoted in the Boy Scout Handbook]
I am the Wizard. This world is mine.
I speak. It's done. My realm is fine.
My wand, my tongue. My sword, my voice.
It's good. It's bad. I speak my choice.
I say happy, or I say mad.
I say angry, or I say glad.
I name that drawing on the wall.
It's not graffiti after all.
The past has been broken. The prison's not real.
My word holds the magic - the power to heal.
Intent is my weapon - a sword from above.
Cruel hate, fear, and anger transmute into love.
This world's my joy. This mouth's my toy.
Reborn -I'm a brand new girl or boy.
I choose. I speak. My will is done.
Come join. Come play. This can be fun.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
Give a boy address and accomplishments
and you give him the mastery
of palaces and fortunes where he goes.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
The moment a little boy is concerned with which is
a jay and which is a sparrow,
he can no longer see the birds or hear them sing.
- Eric Berne
A fairly bright boy is far more intelligent and far
better company than the average adult.
- John B. S. Haldane
A dog teaches a boy fidelity, perseverance,
and to turn around three times before lying down.
- Robert Benchley
Inside every working anarchy, there's an Old Boy Network.
- Mitchell Kapor
Who's a boy gonna talk to if not his mother?
- Donald E. Westlake
What must it be like for a little boy to read that daddy never loved mummy?
- Princess Diana
When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President;
I'm beginning to believe it.
- Clarence Darrow
To people who remember JFK's assassination,
JFK Jr. will probably always be that boy saluting his father's coffin.
- Michael Beschloss
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
- Proverb
When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant
I could hardly stand to have the old man around.
But when I got to be 21, I was astonished
at how much the old man had learned in seven years.
- Mark Twain
to live happily and without regret,
knowing that you have done your best.
- the Boy Scout Handbook
I was a bad boy as a child.
- Andy Dick
A friend is someone who will bail you out of jail.
A best friend is the one sitting next
to you saying "boy was that fun."
- The Maugles
That's my advice to all homosexuals,
whether they're in the Boy Scouts,
or in the Army or in high school: Shut up,
don't tell anybody what you do, your life will be a lot easier.
- Bill O'Reilly
Michael Coleman, now that was a boy that taught me some stuff too.
- Jimmy Smith
I go gladly to my wife and boy, and I leave this world
at peace with every one in it and at peace with God.
- Alex Campbell
I suppose I was a little bit of what would be called today a nerd.
I didn't have girlfriends, and really I wasn't a very social boy.
- Charles Kuralt
Everybody else's character, they knew where they were
at already as a superhero.
But invisible boy's character, you kind of grow up
with him within the movie.
- Kel Mitchell
The filth and noise of the crowded streets soon destroy
the elasticity of health which belongs to the country boy.
- Rutherford B. Hayes
I also used to work in the Catskill Mountains as a bus boy,
and I performed in talent shows.
- Barry Mann
Everybody thinks I'm, like, a bad boy.
I've had my day, but I just sit at home and play the blues mostly.
- Brad Renfro
Boy, oh, boy, people get jaded fast.
I got nominated for an Emmy.
- Noah Wyle
It's easy for me to say that now, now I'm a father,
I've got a four-and-a-half year old boy,
I'm a different person.
Well, I'm still the same person, but I'm different.
- Alan Vega
I didn't want to be known as Madonna's playboy,
her boy toy.
I keep telling people: Don't make me the poster boy
for AA because I don't know a lot about sobriety,
but I do know a lot about drinking.
- Billy Joel
The first essential in a boy's career is to find out what he's fitted for,
what he's most capable of doing and doing with a relish.
- Charles M. Schwab
When it comes to having a central nervous system,
and the ability to feel pain, hunger,
and thirst, a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy.
- Ingrid Newkirk
A boy's story is the best that is ever told.
- Charles Dickens
A boy is holding a girl so very tight in his arms tonight.
- Edward VIII
In Scouting, a boy is encouraged to educate himself
instead of being instructed.
I began as a boy with artistic talent...
as a visual artist...
I thought that was what I'd become and in my late teens
drifted into reading serious literature.
- Russell Banks
I don't remember having a crush on a boy when I was a girl.
I don't even remember my first kiss.
- Maureen O'Hara
I mean if you put all of your eggs in one basket,
boy, and that thing blows up you've got a real problem.
- Jerry Bruckheimer
But I don't want to lose touch with things like eating in Bob's Big Boy.
- Drew Carey
Thank you for visiting these Boy George is all England needs - another queen who can't dress. ... by Joan Rivers.
Please sign up on the form below to receive
my Free Daily Inspiration - Daily Quotes email.
May the world be kind to you,
and may your own thoughts be gentle upon yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
| Boy George |
Who was the rich king of Lydia renowned for his wealth? | Joan Rivers' Top 10 Musician Insults, Taylor Swift to Michael Jackson | Billboard
Philip Hollis/REX USA
Joan Rivers photographed in 2005.
To say celebrities had love-hate relationships with Joan Rivers would be an understatement, as surely her scathing attention is a symbol of "making it" but also comes with the comedian's wrath. And judging from her stand-up bits, one-line zingers and interviews, it seems Rivers often reciprocated those feelings.
Joan Rivers Dies at Age 81
"You can tune me out, you can click me off, it’s okay," the late Rivers told The Hollywood Reporter last year. "I am not going to bow to political correctness. But you do have to learn, if you want to be a satirist, you can’t be part of the party. Meaning, you can’t go horseback riding with Jackie O in Central Park if you’re going to make a joke about her that night."
It seems Rivers -- who died Thursday (Sept. 4) at age 81 -- seldom minded being outside the party and rarely missed an opportunity to crack a joke at a celebrity's expense. Of course, a number of famous musicians were caught in her crosshairs over the years, sparking sometimes more than a laugh and even ongoing feuds. Here's a list of Rivers' harshest musician one-liners:
10. "I can't wait for [ Britney Spears '] career to be over so she can serve me coffee at a 7-11. She's such white trash."
9. " Marie Osmond is so pure, not even Moses could even part her knees."
8. " Taylor Swift 's knees have been together more than Melissa and I."
7. " Boy George is all England needs -- another queen who can't dress."
6. "If I found Yoko Ono floating in my pool, I'd punish my dog."
5. "I met Adele ! What's her song, 'Rolling in the Deep'? She should add 'fried chicken.'"
4. "I said Justin Bieber looked like a little lesbian -- and I stand by it: He's the daughter Cher wishes she'd had."
3. " Mick Jagger could French-kiss a moose. He has child-bearing lips."
2. " Madonna is so hairy. When she lifted her arm, I thought it was Tina Turner in her armpit."
1. "The whole Michael Jackson thing was my fault. I told him to date only 'twenty-eight-year-olds.' Who knew he would find 20 of them?"
| i don't know |
Who rode from Boston to Lexington to warn US forces of a British Approach? | Revere and Dawes warn of British attack - Apr 18, 1775 - HISTORY.com
Revere and Dawes warn of British attack
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On this day in 1775, British troops march out of Boston on a mission to confiscate the American arsenal at Concord and to capture Patriot leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock, known to be hiding at Lexington. As the British departed, Boston Patriots Paul Revere and William Dawes set out on horseback from the city to warn Adams and Hancock and rouse the Minutemen.
By 1775, tensions between the American colonies and the British government had approached the breaking point, especially in Massachusetts, where Patriot leaders formed a shadow revolutionary government and trained militias to prepare for armed conflict with the British troops occupying Boston. In the spring of 1775, General Thomas Gage, the British governor of Massachusetts, received instructions from Great Britain to seize all stores of weapons and gunpowder accessible to the American insurgents. On April 18, he ordered British troops to march against Concord and Lexington.
The Boston Patriots had been preparing for such a British military action for some time, and, upon learning of the British plan, Revere and Dawes set off across the Massachusetts countryside. They took separate routes in case one of them was captured: Dawes left the city via the Boston Neck peninsula and Revere crossed the Charles River to Charlestown by boat. As the two couriers made their way, Patriots in Charlestown waited for a signal from Boston informing them of the British troop movement. As previously agreed, one lantern would be hung in the steeple of Boston’s Old North Church, the highest point in the city, if the British were marching out of the city by Boston Neck, and two lanterns would be hung if they were crossing the Charles River to Cambridge. Two lanterns were hung, and the armed Patriots set out for Lexington and Concord accordingly. Along the way, Revere and Dawes roused hundreds of Minutemen, who armed themselves and set out to oppose the British.
Revere arrived in Lexington shortly before Dawes, but together they warned Adams and Hancock and then set out for Concord. Along the way, they were joined by Samuel Prescott, a young Patriot who had been riding home after visiting a lady friend. Early on the morning of April 19, a British patrol captured Revere, and Dawes lost his horse, forcing him to walk back to Lexington on foot. However, Prescott escaped and rode on to Concord to warn the Patriots there. After being roughly questioned for an hour or two, Revere was released when the patrol heard Minutemen alarm guns being fired on their approach to Lexington.
About 5 a.m. on April 19, 700 British troops under Major John Pitcairn arrived at the town to find a 77-man-strong colonial militia under Captain John Parker waiting for them on Lexington’s common green. Pitcairn ordered the outnumbered Patriots to disperse, and after a moment’s hesitation, the Americans began to drift off the green. Suddenly, the “shot heard around the world” was fired from an undetermined gun, and a cloud of musket smoke soon covered the green. When the brief Battle of Lexington ended, eight Americans lay dead and 10 others were wounded; only one British soldier was injured. The American Revolution had begun.
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| Paul Revere |
What name is given to the interference caused to wave patterns by an object or gap? | Paul Revere | Assassin's Creed Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia
"Aye. He's readying an assault on Lexington, where Adams and Hancock have taken shelter. After that, he will march on Concord - hoping to destroy our weapons and supplies. You must help us!"
―Paul pleading for help from Connor. [src]
Shortly before the American Revolutionary War , Revere became an associate of the Assassin Connor. On 18 April 1775, he was one of several riders sent by Joseph Warren to warn Lexington and Concord of a coming military raid. Revere was tasked to ride to the Frontier to rally the Patriot troops. His message was to repel the Regular advance for Samuel Adams and John Hancock . However, the rallying of Patriots was not the only cause for the ride, as it enabled Connor to assassinate the British officer John Pitcairn .
Revere and Connor warning Prescott of the Regulars
To ensure that the meassage was delivered, William Dawes also rode for Lexington acroos Boston Neck , while Revere and Connor rowed to the Charlestown peninsula, before mounting a horse. The beginning of the ride went smoothly as Revere and Connor rallied Patriots without any detection from the Regulars. However, at one of the later homes they visited, they were surprised to see the British already waiting for them. Revere and Connor escaped and made their way to the final home, in which they found their contact, Samuel Prescott , and his fiancée.
After warning Prescott, Revere and Connor reached the Hancock-Clarke House in Lexington, where they met with Adams and Hancock and warned them to leave. Once their mission of warning the Patriots was complete, Revere and Dawes continued on to Concord with Prescott, leaving Connor and John Parker to defend the town.
Once they reached Concord, the group was stopped by a British patrol. Prescott managed to escape and warn the militia, and Dawes hid in a barn after losing his horse . Revere was captured, but escaped, as soon as the Battles of Lexington and Concord began. He returned to Lexington, and saw Hancock preparing to lead the militia. Revere convinced Hancock to stay out of combat, and took several Patriot documents to keep them out of British hands.
Later life
Edit
After the conclusion of the American Revolutionary War, Revere opened up his own hardware and home-goods store in Boston. By 1788, Revere had invested the money he had earned through his silver-work into purchasing a large furnace. This attributed to his opening of an iron factory in Boston's North End, which produced utilitarian cast items.
After deciding to expand his business, Revere entered the realm of bell forging, eventually making the bell for King's Chapel . Following his success in bell making, Paul joined up with his sons to create the Paul Revere & Sons Firm.
In 1792, Paul found other uses for his furnace, and moved on to create the Revere Copper & Brass Inc. Revere remained politically active until his death on 10 May 1818, at the age of 83.
Legacy
Edit
Throughout his life, Revere was a silversmith, politician, Patriot, entrepreneur, and also worked in many other trades according to what made the most profit. Although Revere is most notably recognized for his Midnight Ride, he also assisted the Sons of Liberty in many of the Rebel acts that proved to be essential in the quest for freedom.
Revere remains an iconic historical figure in American history for serving a key role in the fight for freedom. Additionally, Revere's home became one of the earliest historic house museums in the United States.
Personality and characteristics
Edit
In general, Revere appeared to be a rather upbeat individual, cheery and optimistic. He also displayed a serious persona when the time needed him to be as such, evident during the Midnight Ride. He occasionally proved to be a talkative individual.
Trivia
Historically, Revere only rode from Cambridge to Boston during the Midnight Ride.
Gallery
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Which is the only stretch of coastline to be designated a British National Park? | Pembrokeshire Coast Path Hiking Trip: Great Britain – Sierra Club
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The Trip
It is in the quieter, remote and wild places peopled largely by birds and visited occasionally by grey seals, that the spell of old Pembrokeshire — the ancient ‘Land of Mystery and Enchantment’ (Gwlad Hud a Lledrith) — remains. — Anonymous
In 2012, National Geographic judged the Pembrokeshire coast to be one of the best coastal destinations in the world. What an accolade. The Pembrokeshire Coast Path, opened in 1970, was the first National Trail in Wales. A total distance of 186 miles, it lies almost entirely within the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park — Britain's only coastal national park designated in 1952. For an island inhabited for millennia, the abundance of wild places is both delightful and encouraging. There is a wealth of bird life — colonies of seabirds nest along the cliffs, and a huge variety of European seabirds are supported by the uninhabited offshore islands, such as Ramsey Island, which act as bird sanctuaries. Seals, porpoises, and dolphins may often be spotted swimming offshore. We will experience and see truly wild countryside adjacent to managed lands and discuss the merits, or otherwise, of both relative to the diversity of plant and animal species.
On this trip, we will hike the wild and remote northern section of the Pembrokeshire coast path, covering a distance of 62 miles. We will lodge in two different locations near to the route — thereby having the opportunity to explore and experience two different Welsh towns. After each stay, our bags will be transferred to our next lodging via our private bus. Each morning, after breakfast, we'll transfer to the trailhead via our private bus — and the same at day's end. We will be joined by an experienced English walker for the full trip, sharing their knowledge about this world-acclaimed coast path and insights into day-to-day life in England.
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The following is the planned daily schedule. Inclement weather or poor trail conditions could require changes to the itinerary at short, or no notice.
Day 1: We will meet in the afternoon at Carmarthen train station. From here we have about a one-hour journey via private bus to our accommodations in Newport, home for the next four nights. After getting settled, we’ll meet to have an orientation about our trip and to answer last-minute questions before adjourning for our welcome dinner, our first meal together.
Day 2: St. Dogmael's to Moylgrove (8 miles, 1,965-foot ascent). We will set off from St. Dogmael’s enjoying fine views of Cardigan Bay. Rounding Cemaes Head, a nature preserve, a wonderful vista opens up toward the South West, with views of Dinas Island and Strumble Head. Our private bus will meet us at Molygrove and transfer us back to Newport for dinner and a well-earned rest.
Day 3: Moylgrove to Newport (9 miles, 2,300-foot ascent). After breakfast, our bus will take us back to Molygrove and drop us off above Ceibwr Bay, the start of today’s hike. This is one of the wildest and most uninhabited sections of the walk. At times the route will be challenging, but it’s an exhilarating journey through stunning cliff scenery and wonderful rock formations and caves. Today’s hike ends at Newport.
Day 4: Newport to Goodwick (13 miles, 2,645-foot ascent). Starting from Newport, the coastline here is softer and less rugged with fields abutting the cliffs, and we will soon reach the idyllic sandy coves of Aberrhigian and Aberfforest. After visiting the famous beauty spot of Cwm-yr-Eglwys (Valley of the Church), a hamlet named after the ruined church of St. Brynach, the trail winds around glorious Dinas Head to Fishguard. At day’s end in Goodwick, we will transfer by bus back to our hotel for dinner and our last night in Newport. Formerly a small fishing village before the arrival of the railway, the place name Goodwick most likely derives from a combination of the Old Norse forms: góðr (good) and vik (bay or cove) giving góðrvik.
Day 5: Goodwick to Pwll Deri (9 miles, 1,995-foot ascent). Along the coast from Goodwick, at Carreg Wastad, we will pass a memorial stone marking the “Last Invasion of Britain,” when in 1797 a ragged French force made an abortive landing and were repelled by local townspeople. Continuing west we reach Strumble Head topped by its lighthouse. This is a glorious, wild stretch of coast, well-loved by twitchers (bird watchers). Following a beautiful stretch of footpath, the day ends at the beauty spot of Pwll Deri (Pool of Oaks). We will transfer onto our next accommodation in the diminutive city of St. Davids. Our small hotel is situated on the outskirts of St. Davids — about a 5- to 8-minute walk from the little city square and the cathedral. After dinner at our hotel, for those with an interest, we’ll take an evening stroll to the cathedral.
Day 6: Pwll Deri to Porthgain (11 miles, 2,300-foot ascent). From Pwll Deri, we will walk past Aber Bach and Aber Mawr, two sandy beaches each with a pebble bank. Aber Mawr beach has the unenviable distinction of being the fastest eroding part of the Pembrokeshire Coast Path. Parts of the beach are moving inland at up to three feet each year. If the tide is out, we might see the perfectly salt-preserved stumps of a forest drowned 8,000 years ago. Past Abercastle is Castell Coch, an Iron Age promontory fort with its impressive outer ditch dug in solid rock. Our bus will meet us at Porthgain for transfer back to St. Davids.
Day 7: Porthgain to St. Davids (12 miles, 2,150-foot ascent). Returning to Porthgain, we will head along the cliff tops, appreciating the terrain as it becomes more rugged and wild. The craggy hill of Carn Llidi, 594 feet, presents an imposing landmark approaching the heather-covered heath of St. Davids Head. We will make time to search for nearby Coetan Arthur dolman — a Neolithic burial chamber dating from around 3,000 BCE. Heading south, Whitesands Bay, one of the best surfing beaches in the country, will come into view. Leaving the coast path for the final time, we will enter the medieval city of St. Davids via its cathedral, a truly stunning end to our coastal adventure. Tonight we will have our farewell dinner celebrating our achievement hiking the wild and remote northern Pembrokeshire coast path.
Day 8: After breakfast, our last meal together, we will transfer back to Carmarthen train station and bid our goodbyes.
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Getting There
Our trip starts and ends at Carmarthen train station. The start date is September 16th when we will meet mid-afternoon at Carmarthen train station and transfer via our private bus, a journey of about one hour, to our first night’s accommodation in Newport. Getting to Carmarthen train station is the responsibility of each participant. One option is to fly into London Heathrow and take the train to Carmarthen via central London, a journey time of about four hours.
The trip ends on September 23rd when we will return to Carmarthen train station, leaving our hotel after breakfast. Full details will be provided to registered participants.
Participants are encouraged to arrive in England a day or two early to recover from the inevitable jet lag.
Accommodations and Food
Our accommodations are small charming inns and hotels, each with its own history. All rooms will have a shower, bathroom, and hair-dryer, and include tea/coffee-making facilities. Same-gender roommates will be assigned to those traveling solo. The trip price includes all breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. Hearty, home-cooked breakfasts using fresh local produce will include choices to satisfy all appetites. Our midday meal will be a sack lunch to eat along the trail. Dinners will be provided at our hotels, serving seasonal locally sourced Welsh produce. Vegetarian food preferences are readily accommodated. Dinner on day one will be our first meal and breakfast on day eight will be our last meal provided on the trip. If you have any questions or concerns about accommodations, please ask the leader before signing up for the trip.
Trip Difficulty
This moderately strenuous day-hiking trip along the Pembrokeshire coast path is designed for sure-footed active hikers who will not be intimidated by sections of the trail passing near cliff edges. Good general physical condition as well as hiking stamina is important. Carrying day packs only, we will hike a total distance of 62 miles, covering 8 to 13 miles per day with a maximum daily ascent of 2,645 feet. On average we will be hiking seven to eight hours each day for six days in a row. There will be plenty of rest stops during our hikes. As we are hiking directly along the coast, there will be no shade. There will occasionally be the opportunity to skip some hiking sections of the trail by either staying at our accommodation or riding in the bus and meeting the group at our next hotel. At this time of year, we can expect daytime temperatures ranging from low 50s to mid 60s, and nighttime temperatures to be in the 40s.
Equipment and Clothing
A pair of broken-in hiking boots is essential for hiking this rugged section of the Pembrokeshire coast path. In addition you will need one or two hiking poles for added stability on uneven and rocky sections of the trail. The leader will provide a detailed gear list to approved trip participants.
References
John, Brian, Pembrokeshire Coast Path. National Trail Guides, 2013.
Davies, John, A History of Wales. Penguin, 1994.
Turvey, Roger, Pembrokeshire: The Concise History. 2006.
Maps:
Ordnance Survey Explorer Map OL 35 – North Pembrokeshire
Conservation
The Sierra Club is an environmentally focused entity. We are concerned about conservation and sustainability of resources, both locally and globally. Our work is accomplished by volunteers and aided by a salaried staff, encouraging grassroots involvement. Our outings seek to empower participants toward environmentally understanding parallel concerns at home and abroad.
The juxtaposition of conservation land management and traditional versus modern farming practices are a common challenge worldwide. More people than ever are living in and visiting Britain’s national parks and many people continue to make a living off the land. However, this landscape is vulnerable and it is careful land management that continues to shape and move landscapes toward a sustainable future. Land and sea-based ecosystems have been degraded over time and climate change will exacerbate existing pressures on wildlife, as well as add new ones. Protecting wildlife sites is of key importance, but restoring habitat connections is also critical. Within the Pembrokeshire National Park the aim is to “promote ecological resilience measures and to reward farmers for catchment-sensitive, carbon-sensitive and connection-sensitive farming. The idea being that such measures would also help to add security to farm incomes, reduce flood risk, reduce food miles, contribute to food and energy security, and reconnect people with land management and the food they eat.”
For many years the main problems facing Pembrokeshire’s coastline have been the two extremes of agricultural intensification on the one hand and neglect on the other. Many habitats require grazing in order to be in good condition for wildlife. But the decline of traditional grazing has led to many habitats becoming overgrown with gorse, bracken, and bramble. On many national park sites, the appropriate animals are not always available to do the job. The Pembrokeshire National Park Authority responded by instigating and coordinating the Pembrokeshire Grazing Network — the aim being to facilitate grazing for nature conservation by setting up a system to match up “at risk” sites with shared stock, equipment, and expertise to the mutual benefit of land owners. Welsh Mountain Ponies are great at coastal grazing. A local farmer and breeder in North Pembrokeshire, Huw Davies, works with the park authority and his ponies may be seen grazing many sites around the National Park.
In today’s modern world many people’s daily activities are detached from nature. The deep desire and need to reconnect with nature, however, is evidenced by the sheer volume of people who visit national parks and other beautiful areas of countryside. Following the words of John Muir, Sierra Club’s founder, providing people with the opportunity to access nature and inspirational landscapes hopefully encourages a sense of shared responsibility and pride and a desire to protect them for future generations. This is the goal with Sierra Club Outings.
| Pembrokeshire Coast National Park |
Which Scottish loch is deepest at the maximum depth? | What is a National Park?: National Parks UK
What is a National Park?
What is a National Park?
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In the UK there are 15 members in the national park family, which are protected areas because of their beautiful countryside, wildlife and cultural heritage. People live and work in the national parks and the farms, villages and towns are protected along with the landscape and wildlife. National parks welcome visitors and provide opportunities for everyone to experience, enjoy and learn about their special qualities.
Here are just a few things that make national parks special places:
Where are the national parks in the UK?
There are 15 members in the UK national park family:
10 in England - The Broads, Dartmoor, Exmoor, the Lake District, the New Forest, Northumberland, the North York Moors, the Peak District, the South Downs and the Yorkshire Dales.
2 in Scotland - Cairngorms and Loch Lomond & the Trossachs.
3 in Wales – the Brecon Beacons, Pembrokeshire Coast, and Snowdonia.
Farmers are an important group of landowners and agriculture is one of the main landuses in National Parks
Who owns the national parks land?
A large amount of land within the national parks is owned by private landowners. Farmers and organisations like the National Trust are some of the landowners, along with the thousands of people who live in the villages and towns. National park authorities sometimes own bits of land, but they work with all landowners in all national parks to protect the landscape.
When were the national parks designated?
1951 - Peak District, Lake District, Snowdonia and Dartmoor
1952 - Pembrokeshire Coast and North York Moors
1954 - Yorkshire Dales and Exmoor
1956 - Northumberland
1989 - The Broads given equivalent status to a National Park
2002 - Loch Lomond & The Trossachs
2003 - Cairngorms
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What is the plural of matrix? | Matrix | Matrix Definition by Merriam-Webster
play \ˈmā-trik-səz\
1 : something within or from which something else originates, develops, or takes form <an atmosphere of understanding and friendliness that is the matrix of peace>
2a : a mold from which a relief (see 1relief 6) surface (as a piece of type) is madeb : die 3a(1)c : an engraved or inscribed die (see 2die 3) or stampd : an electroformed impression of a phonograph record used for mass-producing duplicates of the original
3a : the natural material (as soil or rock) in which something (as a fossil or crystal) is embeddedb : material in which something is enclosed or embedded (as for protection or study)
4a : the extracellular substance in which tissue cells (as of connective tissue ) are embeddedb : the thickened epithelium at the base of a fingernail or toenail from which new nail substance develops
5a : a rectangular array (see 2array 5) of mathematical elements (as the coefficients (see coefficient 1) of simultaneous (see simultaneous 2) linear equations ) that can be combined to form sums and products with similar arrays having an appropriate number of rows and columnsb : something resembling a mathematical matrix especially in rectangular arrangement of elements into rows and columnsc : an array of circuit elements (as diodes and transistors ) for performing a specific function
6 : a main (see 2main 5) clause that contains a subordinate (see 1subordinate ) clause
Examples of matrix in a sentence
the complex social matrix in which people live their lives
The wires all crossed each other and formed a matrix.
a matrix used for making knives
Did You Know?
In ancient Rome, a matrix was a female animal kept for breeding, or a plant (sometimes called a "parent plant" or "mother plant") whose seeds were used for producing other plants. In English the word has taken on many related meanings. Mathematicians use it for a rectangular organization of numbers or symbols that can be used to make various calculations; geologists use it for the soil or rock in which a fossil is discovered, like a baby in the womb. And matrix was a good choice as the name of the reality in which all humans find themselves living in a famous series of science-fiction films.
Origin and Etymology of matrix
Latin, female animal used for breeding, parent plant, from matr-, mater
First Known Use: 1555
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What is an Alaskan Malamute? | Matrix | Define Matrix at Dictionary.com
matrix
[mey-triks, ma-] /ˈmeɪ trɪks, ˈmæ-/
Spell
[mey-tri-seez, ma-] /ˈmeɪ trɪˌsiz, ˈmæ-/ (Show IPA), matrixes.
1.
something that constitutes the place or point from which something else originates, takes form, or develops:
The Greco-Roman world was the matrix for Western civilization.
2.
Anatomy. a formative part, as the corium beneath a nail.
3.
Petrology. the fine-grained portion of a rock in which coarser crystals or rock fragments are embedded.
5.
fine material, as cement, in which lumps of coarser material, as of an aggregate, are embedded.
6.
Metallurgy. a crystalline phase in an alloy in which other phases are embedded.
8.
Printing. a mold for casting typefaces.
9.
master (def 18).
10.
Digital Technology. a grid formed by perpendicular intersections that define potential space that may be filled, as by pixels on a screen, ink in dot-matrix printing, or material in 3D printing.
11.
(in a press or stamping machine) a multiple die or perforated block on which the material to be formed is placed.
12.
Mathematics. a rectangular array of numbers, algebraic symbols, or mathematical functions, especially when such arrays are added and multiplied according to certain rules.
13.
Linguistics. a rectangular display of features characterizing a set of linguistic items, especially phonemes, usually presented as a set of columns of plus or minus signs specifying the presence or absence of each feature for each item.
14.
Also called master . a mold made by electroforming from a disk recording, from which other disks may be pressed.
15.
Latin
1325-1375
1325-75; Middle English matris, matrix < Latin mātrix female animal kept for breeding (Late Latin: register, orig. of such beasts), parent stem (of plants), derivative of māter mother
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Examples from the Web for matrix
Expand
Contemporary Examples
I had The matrix, The Royal Tenenbaums, Arrested Development, and Once.
The Real Clash of Civilizations James Poulos February 28, 2014
Historical Examples
It sometimes exists as the matrix of the sulphuret of lead—more frequently, as one of its accompanying minerals.
Buffon's Natural History, Volume III (of 10) Georges Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon
British Dictionary definitions for matrix
Expand
noun (pl) matrices (ˈmeɪtrɪˌsiːz; ˈmæ-), matrixes
1.
a substance, situation, or environment in which something has its origin, takes form, or is enclosed
2.
(anatomy) the thick tissue at the base of a nail from which a fingernail or toenail develops
3.
the intercellular substance of bone, cartilage, connective tissue, etc
4.
the rock material in which fossils, pebbles, etc, are embedded
the material in which a mineral is embedded; gangue
5.
(printing)
a metal mould for casting type
a papier-mâché or plastic mould impressed from the forme and used for stereotyping Sometimes shortened to mat
6.
(formerly) a mould used in the production of gramophone records. It is obtained by electrodeposition onto the master
7.
a bed of perforated material placed beneath a workpiece in a press or stamping machine against which the punch operates
8.
the shaped cathode used in electroforming
the metal constituting the major part of an alloy
the soft metal in a plain bearing in which the hard particles of surface metal are embedded
9.
the main component of a composite material, such as the plastic in a fibre-reinforced plastic
10.
(maths) a rectangular array of elements set out in rows and columns, used to facilitate the solution of problems, such as the transformation of coordinates. Usually indicated by parentheses: (matrix) Compare determinant (sense 3)
11.
(linguistics) the main clause of a complex sentence
12.
(computing) a rectangular array of circuit elements usually used to generate one set of signals from another
13.
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What is the main ingredient of the Swiss dish Rosti? | Cheese Rosti Recipe - Allrecipes.com
HEIDI TEE
8/16/2002
This dish tastes so good, it's almost illegal! I did the potatoes in the microwave after peeling them -- 3 large at 5 minutes high (I scaled down) and then put them in cold water to cool. I didn...
HaroldsGirl
9/28/2007
Yum! I didn't precook the potatoes at all - just grated them, assembled the whole thing in a pan and browned the bottom, added a little water and put a lid on them until the potatoes steamed an...
Navy_Mommy
5/31/2003
Imagine really cheesy, slightly crispy, and a little lumpy mashed potatoes and you have this recipe. It was so good. I didn't make any adjustments and my husband, daughter and I loved this. I...
LINDA MCLEAN
6/11/2003
Although we all thought this was good, I didn't think it was worth the effort being that you can basically do the same thing with leftover mashed potatoes. I seasoned the dish quite a bit more t...
DANELLE
5/17/2006
I'm an American who has moved to Switzerland to live with my fiancé and I lived here for almost 3 years now so I do know how to make TRUE Swiss Rösti. Although this recipe is close the Swiss us...
LKENNAY
2/14/2005
I see that a lot of others complained about boiling, cooling and shredding potatoes. I used the Simply Shredded hash browns from the frigerator section. Worked perfect!! Before flipping, I cu...
DREGINEK
6/8/2003
Very good but kinda messy to make...esspecially when trying to "crisp" the other side (tried sliding it onto a plate so that I may easier invert it back into the pan but some of it stuck and got...
Always Cooking
9/30/2006
This is great. I used two pounds of the pre shredded potatoes that you can get in the refrigerated section at the grocery store to save some time. I added some diced onion garlic powder, and a...
pa_nunn
6/27/2008
This is very good! I used the HUGE russet potatoes at Costco, so it only takes about 4-5 of those. I also think I may have layered the potatoes too thick. I would say about 1-1 1/2 inch thick wo...
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From what illness did King George VI die? | Top 10 Swiss foods – with recipes | About Switzerland | Expatica Switzerland
Top 10 Swiss foods – with recipes
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Does 'Swiss food' and 'Swiss cuisine' even exist, so to speak? You can decide after trying these top 10 Swiss food recipes of the country's most popular and traditional dishes.
Some argue that Swiss food doesn't exist, in a sense, because what are considered the top Swiss foods typically come from many regional foods and specialities found across Switzerland's 26 cantons. You will find top Swiss foods with heavy French, German and north Italian influences, with bases of Swiss cheeses, potatoes and traditional Swiss ingredients that were readily available to the first Alpine farmers. You certainly won't go hungry in Switzerland. Here are just 10 of the top Swiss foods you should try – or cook at home.
Thinking about a present? What about Jamie Oliver's Christmas Cookbook?
Top Swiss food recipes you have to try
1. Cheese fondue
Cheese fondue is a great meal with friends and perhaps one of the most iconic foods that people relate to Switzerland. It's a dish made of melted cheese (gruyère and emmentaler) and other ingredients, such as garlic, white wine, a little cornflour/corn starch and often kirsch (cherry brandy), served up at the table in a special ceramic pot called a caquelon, with a small burner underneath it to keep the fondue at constant temperature. You spear small cubes of bread onto long-stemmed forks and dip them into the hot cheese (taking care not to lose the bread in the fondue). The term ‘fondue' has come to describe other dishes where food is dipped into a pot of hot liquid, such as fonduebourguignonne (beef cooked in hot oil) and chocolate fondue.
Make your own:
Jamie Oliver has this easy cheese fondue recipe , and this five-star recipe has good reviews.
This recipe uses beer in place of wine.
Sweeten up with a chocolate version .
2. Rösti
Rösti is a potato dish made by frying (or occasionally baking) flat round patties of coarsely grated raw or parboiled (semi-cooked), seasoned potato in oil. They're crisp on the outside and soft and melting inside. Sometimes bacon, onion, cheese – and even apple – are added to the mix. It's eaten as a side dish to accompany fried eggs and spinach or a sausage meat called fleischkäse. It was originally eaten as a breakfast by Bern farmers but these days you'll find it enjoyed all over the world as well as in Switzerland where it's considered a national dish.
Make your own:
A Swiss recipe for a national dish.
This version is baked in the oven.
A delicious English version with cabbage and cheese from Delia.
3. Bircherműesli
You hav probably eaten muesli for breakfast before, but may not have known it was invented in Switzerland around 1900, by Dr Maximilian Bircher-Benner. Believing that a diet of cereals, fruits and vegetables was better for humans than a heavy meat-based diet, he created birchműesli – a mix of rolled oat flakes, fruit, nuts, lemon juice and condensed milk – for patients in his Zurich sanatorium. It's still eaten today, and not only eaten at breakfast but sometimes in the evening, too.
Make your own:
Try this bircherműesli recipe in German.
Yotam Ottolenghi's experimental take on the classic.
4. Raclette
Raclette is the name of a Swiss cheese made from cow's milk (slightly nutty, a little like gruyère) but it's also the name of a very popular meal in Switzerland. In the old days, an entire wheel of cheese was held up in front of a fire and as the cheese melted, it was scraped off onto a plate to be eaten. The name is derived from the French racler, meaning ‘to scrape'. Today, slices of raclette are melted in table-top raclette pans or grills, and can be accompanied by small potatoes cooked in their skins, vegetables, charcuterie, pickled gerkins, onions and bread. With a modern raclette grill, you melt the cheese on one grill layer and can scrape it over grilled vegetables and meats.
Make your own:
Try this traditional Swiss recipe.
This fondue recipe pairs the rich cheese with carrot and celeriac salads.
Here's a Swiss recipe (in German) for raclette with chicken.
5. Bűndnernusstorte
The bűndnernusstorte, sometimes called an engadinernusstorte, is a yummy caramelised nut-filled pastry originating from the canton of Graubűnden. It's made in small independent bakeries all over the canton, each of which have their own variation on the basic recipe of short-crust pastry with a filling of caramelised sugar, cream and chopped nuts, usually walnuts. Enjoy a piece as a dessert (it's very rich), with a cup of coffee or tea.
Make your own:
Follow the photos in this simple step-by-step recipe .
Here's a Swiss recipe, in German.
This recipe has five-star reviews.
6. Saffron risotto
Saffron is grown in the Swiss canton of Valais and is an essential ingredient of this traditional Ticino dish, often served with a luganighe sausage, a raw sausage made with pork, spices and red wine. Ticino is the southern most canton of Switzerland, sharing a border with the Italian regions of Piedmont and Lombardy, and the one canton where Italian is the official language. Saffron risotto is a comforting dish made from risotto rice cooked slowly with onions, stock, saffron threads, wine and cheese, and easy to make at home.
Make your own:
This is a Swiss recipe in German of the same dish above.
This recipe uses charred leeks in the saffron risotto.
7. Zurchergeschnetzeltes
This translates as ‘cut meat Zurich style', but if you see it on a menu in Switzerland the dish will be made using strips of veal (calf meat) and sometimes veal liver. The veal is cooked with mushrooms, onions, wine and cream and usually eaten with rösti (see above), noodles or rice. You can substitute the veal with chicken or pork if you're making it yourself.
Make your own:
Here's another version .
8. Zopf
There are many types of bread in Switzerland but one of the most popular and delicious is a soft white loaf called zopf. You'll be able to recognise it easily because it's a plaited loaf (the word zopf means ‘braid'), with a golden crust, very much like the Jewish bread called challah. Some say it originates from an ancient custom of widows cutting off their braids and burying them with their husbands. The dough is made from white flour, milk, eggs, butter and yeast, plaited into a braid and then brushed with egg yolk before baking. It's traditionally eaten on Sunday mornings.
Make your own:
This recipe has rave reviews.
There are great photos with this recipe, including how to braid the bread (it's easier than it looks).
Here's an authentic Swiss recipe translated into English.
9. Berner platte
If you like meat and are feeling very hungry, then you'll love the Bernese speciality the Berner platte (‘Bernese platter'). It consists of a whole range of meats and sausages, which may include beef, ham, smoked bacon, smoked beef and pork tongue, spare ribs, pork knuckle, pork loin and shoulder, marrow bone – plus there's some juniper-flavoured sauerkraut, potatoes and dried beans in there, too. The dish was created on 5 March 1798 after the Bernese defeated the French army at Neuenegg. To celebrate they held a huge feast, with everyone bringing along whatever they had to hand, hence the variety and predominance of preserved meats and other foods.
Make your own:
Try this authentic recipe recipe in German, or this recipe .
This recipe in English uses a slow cooker.
10. Älplermagronen
Sometimes called herdsman's macaroni, alplermagronen is a traditional all-in-one dish from the German part of Switzerland. It uses all the ingredients that were available to the herdsmen who were looking after their cows on the mountain pastures of the slopes of the Alps: cheese, potatoes, onions, macaroni, milk or cream – and apples. The classic version is made by layering cooked potatoes and macaroni with cream and cheese, baking it in the oven and then serving it with fried onion rings and a stewed apple sauce on top. Sometimes it comes with bacon as well. It's a hearty meal that really warms you up a cold night.
Make your own:
Try this authentic recipe from Switzerland (in English).
This recipe, in German, is easy and delicious.
Here's one expat's take on the dish.
Buy now your Swiss Food Recipe Book
Local Swiss specialities
According to the Swiss tourism board , there are a few dishes and specialities – such as fondue, Älplermagronen and chocolate – that are typical of Switzerland but there is no real 'Swiss cuisine' to speak of. The food in Switzerland is a potpourri of influences from various countries, using the cuisines of its neighbours to create Swiss versions with local ingredients.
Swiss cuisine also exists in its regional dishes, for example, the speciality Bernese Platter and Bernese Rösti, the Vaud dish of sausage and leeks, or food from St Gallen Ribelmais and whitefish from Lake Constance.
The Valais is famous for raclette, Graubünden is renown for its Capuns, Zurich's speciality is its Geschnetzeltes, Lucerne is famous for Chügelipastete and in Ticino you should try Mortadella und Luganighe.
You will also find sausages everywhere – Switzerland is home to almost 350 different regional varieties. In terms of land area, that is probably a world record.
For beverages, although Switzerland is not quite the world leader for wines, there are many rising Swiss wines. Besides the classic wines and grape varieties, Switzerland also provides unique tasting experiences with new types of wine and development of rare, indigenous varieties.
Expatica
Upated 2016.
Photo credit: Encoded 9 (rosti), Amelia Crook (bircherműesli), becre8tive (raclette grill), Claudia Walther-Dornleden (zurchergeschnetzeltes), Pakeha (alplermagronen), Alexander Klink (bűndnernusstorte), Sandstein (Berner Platte).
Comment here on the article, or if you have a suggestion to improve this article, please click here.
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Which condiment is made from reduced trebbiano grape juice? | How to Buy a Good Balsamic Vinegar: 3 Steps (with Pictures)
Community Q&A
Balsamic vinegar is a condiment that has been made in Italy's Modena and Reggio Emilia regions since the Middle Ages. All balsamic vinegars are, however, not created equal. The original balsamic vinegar is in fact a product made from cooking and reducing white Trebbiano grape juice. While the original process of making balsamic vinegar is still in practice, the product that it produces is very expensive. The cost comes from aging the product to reduce and thicken for a period of 12 years or more. As the aging process continues, the product is moved into successively smaller casks, until the desired taste, consistency and acidity have been reached. Some balsamic vinegars are aged for 18 and even 25 years. In its most harsh, un-reduced state, it is great for salad dressings and as an ingredient in marinades. The true aged product, however, is deliciously sweet and thick and is great on top of ice cream or in desserts like panna cotta. Here's how to buy a good balsamic vinegar.
Steps
1
Choose by type.
Balsamic vinegar comes in 3 distinct types. The first is the authentic and traditionally made balsamic vinegar. It is labeled as Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale. No other vinegars are allowed to bear that name. It is the most expensive of the 3, and prices vary by the age of the product. A 12 year aged vinegar could cost as much as $100.00 USD for 3.4 fl. oz. (100 ml), while a 25 year aged product could sell for $400.00 USD for the same tiny amount.
Commercial grade balsamic vinegars are the second, and most common, type of balsamic vinegar. This vinegar is usually a combination of wine vinegar and additives to artificially simulate the taste and texture of the traditional product. Coloring, thickeners and caramel can all be added. There is no aging for this product, and it is very affordable and easy to find in your supermarket.
Condimento grade balsamic vinegar is usually a combination of the traditionally made product and the mass produced vinegar. This product can be made in a variety of ways. It can be made in the traditional way but aged for less than 12 years. Or, it can follow the traditional process but be made outside of Modena or Reggio Emilia, so it cannot be labeled as a more expensive product. More often, however, it is made using a combination of an unaged, but traditionally made product, combined with grape juice to dilute it.
2
Choose by intended use.
There is little point in using the most expensive balsamic vinegar in a salad dressing. Therefore, choosing the appropriate vinegar for your use is important. If you want a good product for salad dressings, then a high-end commercial product with few added ingredients is a good choice.
Gourmets and foodies might find the condimento grade balsamic a good choice. It works splendidly in a dressing, but equally well as an ingredient in other dishes. It can be reduced to a syrupy consistency that can mock the texture, if not taste, of the aged product.
If you are out to impress or you just want the best of the best, then pick up a bottle of the aged vinegar. Use it sparingly. It is a great topping for artisan ice cream, for dipping strawberries, or for a full umami flavor explosion, top slivers of Parmesan Reggiano with a drop of balsamic, then chew slowly.
3
Consider white balsamic vinegar.
While not an authentic balsamic vinegar, white balsamic vinegar has become recently widely available. It is a light colored vinegar that is used in place of regular balsamic when discoloration is undesirable. White balsamic is made from combining white wine vinegar with white grape must, and then cooked slowly. It is not generally aged.
Community Q&A
Where can I buy balsamic vinegar?
wikiHow Contributor
| Balsamic vinegar |
What is the collective term for freemasons? | Food is merely a platform for condiments - Peter Marshall
Must Never Sleeps
Grape “must” makes the best balsamics. Must is made from a reduction of cooked white Trebbiano grape juice, and since the middle ages, is only produced in Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy. Zeno & Burnesto boast a big set of balsamics. If you’d like to see them, visit Must Never Sleeps .
Platforms
Like the sage Peter Marshall says, foods are merely a platform for condiments, and of course, Zeno & Burnesto wholeheartedly agree; food is merely an excuse to use condiments. With that in mind, we thought we’d share some of our favorite platforms with you.
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Dr Tertius Lydgate is always plagued by financial troubles in which classic novel? | Fatal Marriages in George Eliot's "Middlemarch": Analysis of Vocational Marriage of Women
Fatal Marriages in George Eliot's "Middlemarch": Analysis of Vocational Marriage of Women
Ken Thompson, Graduate Student, Austin Peay State University, Memphis, Tennessee
[This essay was originally written for Dr. Calovini's English 552D: Seminar in Victorian Novel, fall 2001, at AP State University. All citations are to David Carroll's edition — see the bibliography.]
I pronounce you man & wife, or wife, you are hired.
any Victorian novels are driven by the prospect of marriage, and George Eliot's masterpiece, Middlemarch, embodies through its various couples a nuptial kaleidoscope not matched since Chaucer's Wife of Bath. Conditions surrounding marriages in Victorian times for women were considerably different from what modern readers would surmise. Partly due to the deprivation of an equal opportunity to education, Victorian women were confronted with limited survival tactics. Richard Altick reminds readers in his Victorian People and Ideas that women could enter the female colleges of Cambridge and Oxford in 1869 and 1879 respectively but could not take degrees until 1920-21 (55). Middlemarch takes place in the years leading up to 1832, the year of the Reform Bill , and this bill was for the benefit of middle class men. Without an education women were subjected to vocations, actually jobs, not callings, that could hardly be called careers. The male defense of this narrowing of options was simply "the female brain was not equal to the demands of commerce or the professions, and women, simply by virtue of their sex, had no business mingling with men in a man's world" (Altick 54). Competing with men and male-indoctrinated commerce without the added benefit of a formal education caused many Victorian women to seek the only alternative available, marriage as a vocation.
In Middlemarch Dorothea Brooke, the community's do-gooder, a virtual St. Theresa, longs to perfect amelioration for the entire town by architecturally improving housing. Her initial chance for this improvement comes in the person of Edward Casaubon though she could have been courted by Royalty in Sir James Chettam. In her attempts to fulfill her marriage career, Dorothea was more captivated by the vast library learning of Casaubon, and she exclaimed "what a lake compared with my little pool" (24). Her sense of fulfillment in this boring but learned man was vested in her hope to become educated, to have her curiosity nurtured, and to be of constant usefulness to a man of sixty who really needed her nineteen year old eyes for reading. It is doubtful that modern readers would consider the above adequate reasons for marriage, but Dorothea "retained very childlike ideas about marriage" (10). Part of Dorothea's naive formula for marriage stems from her bachelor uncle's Protestant upbringing.
Mr. Brooke, Dorothea's uncle, was well connected though not aristocratic and possessed property. He had acted as guardian for Dorothea and her younger sister Celia since the girls lost their parents at age twelve. The girls came to him with an inheritance of "seven hundred a-year each from their parents", but Dorothea's religious notions and her intensity given to causes might keep suitors at bay (9). Whether Uncle Brooke or the girls' parents were responsible for Dorothea's fanatical flares, Eliot did not make clear. The evidence readers do know about is vested in the uncle, a man who reigns in his "Puritan energy" and is somewhat stingy with his wealth and estate: ". . . he would act with benevolent intentions, and that he would spend as little money as possible in carrying them out" (8).
The conservative uncle was criticized by many neighbors of Middlemarch for not introducing a new 'mother' to his nieces that might better prepare them for marriage. In the absence of the female perspective on the topic of marriage, Dorothea and Celia are still orphans to the selection process of good husbands. Whereas Mr. Brooke would consider religion "the dread of a Hereafter", Dorothea was in need of "the bridle" of motherhood, sadly lacking on Mr. Brooke's estate (19). Perhaps "bridle" should be bridal.
Had Dorothea had a mother's advice, she might have made some changes to Mr. Casaubon's Lowick Manor, her future home, to accomplish two things minimally: first, she would have made her feminine mark on her own environment which would have psychologically sent a message to her husband that life is to be shared; and secondly, by altering the drapes, for instance, to allow more light into her world and his, she could have made her world more conducive to her own preferences — those of enlightenment. Instead, Eliot chooses to have Miss Brooke deny even the advice of the narrator.
A woman dictates before marriage in order that she may have an appetite for submission afterwards. [71]
Dorothea's first opportunity on that "grey but dry November morning" even in the company of her uncle and sister to Lowick Manor failed to alter the "small-windowed and melancholy-looking" home she was to share with her dismal husband (71). Eliot forecasts the punishing tuition Dorothea is to experience for her education, for her vocation, and she does it eloquently with setting, mood, and character, but Dorothea, "on the contrary, found the house and grounds all that she could wish" (72). DoDo's obsequiousness remains her helpmate to duty, and she treats her duty like an apotheosis to the exclusion of her own emotional well being.
What newsworthy worldly conditions existed at the time of Eliot's writing Middlemarch? After 1850 wage earners' income improved allowing them to purchase "penny dreadfuls" and "shilling shockers," a sort of dime novel, to tease a reading public (Altick 61). Serialized fiction, such as Middlemarch initially was, became a serious art form (Altick 63). The middle class became a reading class, and the written word was not the only area of change. Railroads connected smaller towns allowing a competitive commerce and more jobs. The support industries of hotels and added health care advanced the population. Charles Darwin 's Origin of Species, which changed the way the medical profession viewed genetics, and upset a many religious beliefs. It was an age of industrial revolution and reform that had a sweeping cadence that caught everyone in its rhythm, trumpeting the offer of new jobs and careers for everyone except women. The effect of political reform and laws favoring women that inevitably follow change would take place early in the next century. For women "marriage is the only conceivable career" (Bennett 165).
As the Victorian world was a complex, multifaceted fast-paced arena, powered by industrial innovations and sweeping reforms that added many threads to the fabric of society, so, too, were novels that attempted to weave the spin-offs from the reforming blanket of Victorian England and cover the feelings and philosophies of that time period. Eliot's concept of marriage in Middlemarch is showcased through many couples. Readers will form their own opinions about what makes a mutually beneficial marriage, but Eliot peels away the layers of trust in Dorothea and Edward as Mr. and Mrs. Casaubon. If trust is the cornerstone of a sound relationship, then its eroding would certainly collapse a marriage. Erosion occurs with the Casaubons. Edward's jealousy and insensitivity, along with his selfish compulsive drive to finish and publish his gargantuan treaty, "Key to All Mythologies," prevents him from loving Dorothea romantically, a need that she has. Her choice in Casaubon is met with askance by modern readers even from the moment of Casaubon's letter of engagement and, consequently, Dorothea's three-time written response. Though Mr. Casaubon writes flatteringly only of Dorothea's cerebral qualities and her "devotedness", the engagement letter reads like an employment contract for a secretary (42). Disappointment and unhappiness surrounds Dorothea's career. And precisely this is what Eliot is indicating when she portrays marriage vocation for girls like Dorothea and Celia. England was full of such girls in Victorian days; their choices already narrowed for living a fulfilled life by virtue of their sex, what were the alternatives? They could serve as maids, work in a textile factory, or teach school provided they had a modest education. Old maids could remain in their father's home but would endure unfavorable treatment by parents or guardians, mocked for being childless, thus, becoming the topic of the town's gossip. Their best choice was to marry well, but there they are at the mercy of the novelist.
Unlike Edward's failure to inform Dorothea of his work, which was his life, the Garths of Middlemarch are touchingly communicative and share everything with each other. When Fred Vincy was on the verge of losing Mary Garth due to his clerical vocation, he proposed to Caleb Garth employment within the Garth business, which Caleb thought was a practical option. Caleb's habit was to "take no important step without consulting Susan," his wife and mother to Mary (554). The Garths communicate everything to each other and enjoy the most blissful marriage in Middlemarch. Susan even knows when to "make herself subordinate" to Caleb, which the narrator declares is only one percent of the time (555). Fred apparently reminds Caleb of himself when he was courting Susan, for Caleb fell short of the matrimonial measure as well, and Mrs. Garth knows her daughter could be engaged to a man "worth twenty Fred Vincys" (555). Caleb affirms his daughter through loving her mother dearly and is rewarded with Susan's reciprocal feelings: “She rose and kissed him, saying, "God bless you, Caleb! Our children have a good father” (556).On another occasion with Fred still the focus of Caleb's heart, Caleb proposed to Mr. Bulstrode, Middlemarch's prosperous banker with a dubious past, that Fred serve as tenant at Bulstrode's Stone Court and to enjoy the option of buying stock when he could afford it. Caleb would still be responsible for its management. As always Caleb let his dear wife in on the plans immediately taking her into his confidence and giving credence to her suggestions. Caleb can wave his hand, and the sign is not misinterpreted by his wife. Susan knows "a sign of his not intending to speak further on the subject" (685). Susan, unlike Dorothea, made wiser choices in her matrimonial career or at least made the necessary changes to become a happy marriage partner. The Garth marriage of communication is enjoyed by readers especially by contrast to others less communicable.
As Mary Garth would never engage herself "to one who has no manly independence," Rosamond Vincy did marry Mr. Lydgate, an innovative surgeon, a man of "good birth", most important to Rosamond, and a man who unfortunately Eliot gives poor political skills and a failing practice at least initially (164). Mr. Lydgate is an outsider to Middlemarch, which causes the town's doctors to distrust his modern notions of medicine. As a newcomer, Mr. Lydgate is building his practice and does not consider marriage from romantic interests but from practical ones; perhaps marrying would increase his clientele, and he shallowly wants a wife for ornamentation. Rosy's motivations for marriage and her future vocation as wife also deserve close scrutiny. Her prescription for marital vocation did not include "the inward life of a hero, or his serious business in the world," but rather she just wanted to climb the social status ladder and find a seat among the aristocracy (164). This element of Victorian snobbery was critical to middle-class women seeking to advance to the next level (Newton 81). Rosamond's first hint of being found attractive by Lydgate causes her to groom herself as an upper-middle-class lady, playing the piano, sketching, considering her wardrobe, reading novels and poetry, and "having an audience in her own consciousness" (165). Despite the fact that she could afford and did attend the best preparatory school for young ladies (Mrs. Lemon's establishment), she would soon waste her education when taking Lydgate as her husband (165) — wasted in the sense that what came after her wedding has little to do with thre skills she learned at Mrs Lemon's. What has Rosy absorbed through her upbringing and education that prepare her for the hardships of marriage distress inevitably to be experienced by all couples at one time or another? And, furthermore, what has Mr. Lydgate developed in his character traits that will spare the storm of threatening divorce? They will both rethink their vocations before Eliot introduces the St. Theresa rescue.
Lydgate felt sure that if ever he married, his wife would have that feminine radiance, that distinctive womanhood which must be classed with flowers and music, that sort of beauty which by its very nature Virtuous, being molded was only for pure and delicate joys. [162]
Eliot's words certainly bear fruit near the conclusion of her novel when Mr. Lydgate and Rosy by proxy suffer social shame, unjustly, but shame nonetheless. Of all the things to befall "poor" Rosamond with her superficial importance on what others believe or perceive about her station in life, financial shame and a husband's darkened reputation certainly depicts poetic justice (Allen 158).
If it were a known fact that daughters advance their lives by the marriage vocation, why did not Mr. and Mrs. Vincy school Rosamond in the art of selecting a suitable husband? Eliot knows the human factor that enters the marriage equation can not be interpreted by anyone other than the bride. Rosy is given to readers with a shallow outlook on life indicative of the importance she places on appearances. Even her premature baby born dead by the tragic disobedient horse ride has unused "embroidered robes and caps" signifying membership and ownership of the Lydgate Crest, something Rosamond esteemed worthy, not her husband (571). Furthermore, it was Rosy who believed the visit by "Captain Lydgate, the baronet's third son," would be pleasantly interpreted by the public with amplified implication as to her station in life (571). In the Dickens novel, Our Mutual Friend , Rosy could have been the daughter of the Veneerings. The marriage of openness and consultation enjoyed by the Garths was a road seldom traveled by Rosamond. Her "aloof and independent" nature that the doctor found attractive from the beginning was now a source of aggravation and sorrow in the Lydgate marriage (576). She was not practical, and he was in debt.
The sacrifice of selling furniture and jewelry to live responsibly was not part of Rosamond's marriage formula. Her first response to the news of living within one's means was to suggest getting the money from "papa" so as to continue to live impractically (585). Her next suggestion centered on their leaving Middlemarch which Rosy calculated would require less money, but more importantly would rid her of imagined gossip and shame, and perhaps she could still live as a queen among the imagined aristocratic Lydgates of London. When her suggestions were negated and trumped by her wiser and more practical husband, "the thought in her mind was that if she had known how Lydgate would behave, she would never have married him" (587). After Rosy leaves her husband's negotiation table without resolution or partnered comfort, readers anticipate a Victorian divorce, perhaps a first in Victorian literature. The real laws did not favor women in divorce court. Fortunately for this pair, Eliot had a more benign treatment in mind. In fact she constantly has a compassionate "feeling expressing itself in knowledge" with all of her couples (Newton 52). Eliot's depth of understanding of human frailty is paramount to her characterization in all of her novels. The fatal marriages that occur in Middlemarch are at times temporary due to one of its members dying. It is not the efficaciousness of the death tactic that demonstrates Eliot's genius but rather her sensitive suffering treatment during the couples' trying times that captures the attention and sympathy of readers. There are many egregious marriages today just as in Victorian times, but the marital fallout during Victorian times left women without any options other than to suffer. Their job was marriage. Consequently, in the absence of divorce "yoked lonliness" ruled their lives for worse, having once enjoyed the better (Pinney 304).
As Eliot used Eppie, the "golden-haired child" that Silas adopted in Eliot's novel, Silas Marner, to win this miser back to society, so did the author use Dorothea to "warm" the cold Middlemarch marriages facing fatalistic demise (Ashton 48). Confessions by Tertius Lydgate to Dorothea that he had no knowledge of Raffles' secrets and that his medical treatment of Raffles was within practical and reasonable limits was communicated to Rosamond by Dorothea. Readers know through the narrator that Bulstrode was responsible for the aborted recovery and consequential death of Raffles, but Dorothea's intimate conversation with Rosamond and the latter's character development are some of literature's most touching moments:
But you will forgive him. It was because he feels so much more about your happiness than anything else — he feels his life bound into one with yours, and it hurts him more than anything, that his misfortunes must hurt you. [781-82]
It is Dorothea through her own pain of unrequited love for Ladislaw, fearing his affection for Rosamond, and Lydgate's confessions that lead her to rectify the damaging misconceptions choking Rosamond's marriage. Dorothea convinces Mr. Brooke, Mr. Farebrother, and Sir James Chettam, the town's strata of nobility and whose opinions Rosy holds dear, of Lydgate's innocence. Had the town's opinion not been reversed, it is doubtful that Rosy would have been obliging to her husband even knowing herself that he was innocent. Yet, she does break down in this scene and confesses to Dorothea that the Ladislaw/Rosamond togetherness the previous day was "not as you thought" (784).
'He was telling me how he loved another woman, that I might know he could never love me,' said Rosamond . . . He has never had any love for me . . He said yesterday that no other woman existed for him beside you. [785]
The soul purging that takes place in this scene not only remedies Middlemarch rumors but also brings to the surface Rosamond's previously latent strength of character, the kind that provides the basis for rebuilding a marriage. Dorothea tells her: "Marriage is so unlike everything else. There is something even awful in the nearness it brings" (784). Dorothea's remarks to Rosamond enable her to repair her marriage and enjoy "solid mutual happiness" (816). Dorothea's truthful benevolence helps Will Ladislaw as well.
The relationship between Dorothea and Will Ladislaw has been regarded by many of Eliot's readers "as one of the artistic weaknesses of Middlemarch" (Newton 134). The grounds for this criticism lie in the beklief that "Ladislaw is too idealized or too lightweight to be worthy of Dorothea" (Newton 134). After all, he is a romantic character despite — or perhaps because of — his dilettante nature. He has been educated at Heidelberg, one of the centers of German Romanticism (Newton 135). Mr. Brooke compares him to Shelley twice, and Mrs. Cadwallader, a wise but town gossiper, described him as "a sort of Byronic hero" in Chapter 38 (375). Eliot uses 'pride', 'defiance', and 'rebellion' to describe Ladislaw — all of which words have a Byronic connotation (Newton 135). Dorothea's prescription for a marriage partner would certainly take these attributes into consideration, especially after she experienced essentially the opposite as Mrs. Casaubon. In addition, Ladislaw is an outsider to Middlemarch though is connected to Mr. Casaubon as his cousin. He is as ardent as Dorothea in his feelings which is significant for her. They feel passionately about life and share the power that 'passionates' emanate. A qualifying question asked by Dorothea to Ladislaw in her quest for vocation and his response indicates the romanticism Eliot develops:
What is your religion? I mean not what you know about religion, but the belief that helps you most? [Dorothea]
To love what is good and beautiful when I see it. But I am a rebel: I don't feel bound, as you do, to submit to what I don't like. [Ladislaw] [387]
Eventually, Dorothea molds this romantic 'Byron' into doing much more good for Middlemarch society than he ever could with his rootless existence. The shaping of men's character by women is a favorite theme in many of Eliot's novels. Silas Marner's love for Eppie and her refusal to live with her biological father, Godfrey, is but one example where feminine love brings about change in the men of Eliot's novels. Silas, like Ladislaw, is brought back to a social nucleus where "an ardent public good" can be harvested (Newton 137). Dorothea's garden for this harvest, like Eppie's actual garden, is her soft criticism of Will which brings forth his change for the better. Only Dorothea knows that Will could be strong by her idealistic conception of him, and he draws strength by measuring up to this concept. Will has a need "to earn her respect," and this need "brings out tendencies in himself that might otherwise have been overwhelmed by his attraction to egotistic Romantic attitudes" (Newton 137). Dorothea is the lamp for most of Middlemarchers, holding up an ideal for others, which is the cornerstone of her womanhood. Being helpful to her friends and loved ones is far more important than her Casaubon inheritance which she ultimately sacrifices in her marriage to Ladislaw. Her vocation of marriage which yielded a son by Ladislaw seems to some readers a mild concession when considering Dorothea's full potential. However, this son does inherit Mr. Brooke's estate upon his death, and Dorothea's second marriage proved infinitely happier than her first. Since Sir James "never ceased to regard Dorothea's second marriage as a mistake," then most Middlemarchers thought the same way (821).
Society's judgment whether a couple's marriage will succeed when their engagement is known sometimes hinges on that couple's collective income. Sometimes it hinges on valid parentage. Other times it might be the age difference that casts dispersion upon the couple's uniting. Dorothea's ability to select a good husband and fulfill her vocation seems suspect when her only income in the absence of Casaubon dollars is derived from her parents, 700 pounds yearly, still a considerable sum but not enough to own a coach and carriage. As an editor of The Pioneer, Ladislaw has no real income. And Will's parentage makes him despised by society. After Rosamond's disclosure to Dorothea that Will loved her and not Rosamond, nothing now prevented honest communication between Will and Dorothea. Eliot's "Sunset and Sunrise" chapter finds Dorothea and Ladislaw alone in the Lowick library illuminated by lightening when Dorothea declares: "I don't mind about poverty — I hate my wealth" (798). Without an estate or family approved bloodline, Dorothea and Will sealed their engagement. She has found a new vocation, one where she will be loved, and Middlemarch opinions can be damned, especially those from nobility like Sir James, her new brother-in-law via Celia.
Certain sacrifices occur when Victorian women choose a husband for their career. Celia reveals Dorothea's sacrifices when she says:
— you never can go and live in that way. And then there are all your plans! You never can have thought of that. James would have taken any trouble for you, and you might have gone on your life doing what you liked. . . . to think of marrying Mr. Ladislaw, who has got no estate or anything. [806]
Celia's concern for her sister stems partly from the fear of never seeing Dorothea if she movesw to London. Dorothea, who does not feel the sting of those sacrifices at first, continues to educate her worried sister about how fond she is of Ladislaw, telling her, "you would have to feel with me, else you would never know" (807). Eliot emphasizes the importance of feelings as a way of knowing. Knowledge comes to Dorothea through her feelings, and she causes all those around her to come to grips with theirs. Eliot concludes that Dorothea's marriage to Ladislaw is not totally triumphant as there was always "something better she might have done" (Pangallo 167). It seems a sacrifice to some readers that Dorothea, a woman of extraordinary breath and character, should "be absorbed" into a man's vocation and "be known in certain circles as a wife and mother" (Pangallo 167). How does one applaud the millions of women who do just that?
What would modern day readers say of Mrs. Bulstrode's loyalty to her husband? Modern critics might note that the advanced age of Mrs. Bulstrode prevented her from a successful second marriage if she chose as the younger Dorothea did. Mr.Bulstode has not passed away like Mr. Casaubon leaving few options for Mrs. Bulstrode. She, unlike her husband, was not "an object of dislike", and the townspeople considered her "a handsome comfortable woman" though some exclaimed "Ah, poor woman" (731). Before she married, Mrs. Bulstrode was Harriet Vincy. Eliot does not consider the courtship of the Bulstrodes, but readers are reminded of duty in marriage, loyalty in marriage, and a woman's heart in Mrs. Bulstrode's commitment to her husband. She does not act upon Mrs. Hackbutt's advice: "she ought to separate from him" (733). As Mr. Bulstrode has replaced Mr. Casaubon late in the novel as an evil character, Mrs. Bulstrode persists in trying to save what she considers a redeemable husband:
But this imperfectly-taught woman, whose phrases and habits were an odd patchwork, had a loyal spirit within her. The man whose prosperity she had shared through nearly half a life, and who had unvaryingly cherished her — now that punishment had befallen him it was not possible to her in any sense to forsake him. (739)
Mr. Bulstrode kept his past hidden from Harriet Vincy twenty years earlier when she was receiving marriage proposals. His robbing his stepchildren's inheritance for his own selfish gain was forgiven by a loyal wife, a wife who thought better of her vocation. Eliot indicates that delayed communication in marriages can be unhealthy. Mrs. Bulstrode balances Mr. Bulstrode and "society's conflicting values regarding religion, medicine, money, status, and marriage" (Doyle 119).
When readers finish Middlemarch and its marriage narratives, they find as Dorothea did that feelings serve as both a blessing and a curse. Through them Dorothea matured and served as a catalyst for many of Middlemarch's couples including her own. Fatalistic threats to happy marriages are common place in all marriages, whether Victorian or otherwise, but the heroines of Eliot's novels prove that women more than men safeguard success in marriages. After all, marriage is a vocation, a precious business to women. Eliot sums up women vocational responsibilities of marriage in the voice of Mary when she says: "husbands are an inferior class of men, who require keeping in order" (814). Perhaps the fact that Mary gives birth to only boy-children is Eliot's irony. Dorothea's child by Ladislaw is likewise a boy. Imaginative readers like to think that these boys will grow up to become gentlemen who will treat their wives with sensitivity, and they will respect the wifely taps of correction as husbands and as employers who stand a chance for improvement.
Works Cited
Allen, Walter. George Eliot. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1964.
Altick, Richard D. Victorian People and Ideas. New York & London: W.W. Norton and Company, 1973.
Ashton, Rosemary. George Eliot. Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press, 1983.
Bennett, Joan. George Eliot Her Mind and Her Art. Cambridge: The University Press, 1954.
Carroll, David (editor). George Eliot Middlemarch. Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.
Doyle, Mary Ellen. The Sympathetic Response: George Eliot's Fictional Rhetoric. London & Toronto: Associated University Presses, 1981.
Newton, K. M. George Eliot: Romantic Humanist. A Study of the Philosophical Structure of Her Novels. Totowa, New Jersey: Barnes & Noble Books, 1981.
Pangallo, Karen L. The Critical Response To George Eliot. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1994.
Pinney, Thomas. Essays of George Eliot. New York: Columbia University Press, 1963.
Additional Works Consulted
Chafetz, Janet Saltzman. Sex and Advantage A Comparative, Macro-Structural Theory of Sex Stratification. Totowa, NJ: Rowman & Allanheld, 1984.
Cooper, Lettice. George Eliot. British Council & National Book League: Longmans, Green & Company, 1960.
Elson, John. "Middlemarch Madness? PBS imports a fine British adaptation of a classic." Time Domestic 11 April 1994 Vol.143 Number 15: n. pag. Online. Internet. 11 April 1994. Available http://www.time.com/time/magazine/archive/1994/940411.television.html.
Martin, Carol A. George Eliot's Serial Fiction. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1994.
| Middlemarch |
In which adventure story does the magistrate Dr Livesey feature? | Edmund Bertram « Mansfield Park
This is seventh in a series of guest posts written by “Sophie” of A Reasonable Quantity of Butter in celebration of Mansfield Park’s bicentennial .
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Squashed into the epilogue of ‘Mansfield Park’ is the marriage of Edmund and Fanny. Although Fanny’s and Edmund’s romance is quite bland in comparison with the excitement in the rest of the novel, I think the couple had an excellent chance of achieving a “happily ever after”. They shared an attitude and philosophy of life as well as interests and pastimes. This, combined with mutual trust, could create a solid base for their life together.
Beyond this, their marriage could strengthen both Edmund and Fanny individually. Because Fanny fully supported Edmund’s career, Edmund could gain confidence in his work. As Fanny was not accustomed to expensive gaieties and luxuries she would not weigh him down with discontent.
For Fanny, marriage to Edmund meant taking on a high position in a new community. As the wife of a clergyman, her duties of hospitality and charity could help her develop confidence and authority, especially practiced among strangers.
I imagine Fanny and Edmund star-gazing, reading, visiting the poor, and raising children together. What reasons do you think would make them a happy couple?
This is fourth in a series of guest posts written by “Sophie” of A Reasonable Quantity of Butter in celebration of Mansfield Park’s bicentennial .
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Did Mary Crawford truly love Edmund Bertram? Put another way, this question could read, “Did Rosamund Vincy truly love Tertius Lydgate?” Or, does a woman truly love a man devoted to his profession, if she despises his profession? According to Tertius, the answer is “no”.
“Do you know, Tertius, I often wish you had not been a medical man.”
“Nay, Rosy, don’t say that,” said Lydgate, drawing her closer to him. “That is like saying you wish you had married another man.”
“Not at all; you are clever enough for anything: you might easily have been something else. . . . I do not think it is a nice profession, dear.” We know that she had much quiet perseverance in her opinion.
“It is the grandest profession in the world, Rosamond,” said Lydgate, gravely. “And to say that you love me without loving the medical man in me, is the same sort of thing as to say that you like eating a peach but don’t like its flavor. Don’t say that again, dear, it pains me.”1
In a strikingly similar conversation, this question first occurs to Edmund and Mary:
“But why are you to be a clergyman? I thought that was always the lot of the youngest, where there were many to chuse before him.”
“Do you think the church itself never chosen, then?”
“Never is a black word. But yes, in the never of conversation, which means not very often, I do think it. For what is to be done in the church? Men love to distinguish themselves, and in either of the other lines distinction may be gained, but not in the church. A clergyman is nothing.”
“The nothing of conversation has its gradations, I hope, as well as the never. A clergyman cannot be high in state or fashion. He must not head mobs, or set the ton in dress. But I cannot call that situation nothing which has the charge of all that is of the first importance to mankind, individually or collectively considered, temporally and eternally, which has the guardianship of religion and morals, and consequently of the manners which result from their influence.” . . .
“I am just as much surprised now as I was at first that you should intend to take orders. You really are fit for something better. Come, do change your mind. It is not too late. Go into the law.”2
Although Mary is more intelligent and kind than Rosamund, the two share values in marriage: money and position. Mary is aware of the discrepancies between Edmund and her ideals, but Rosamund thinks she has found them in Tertius. When she learns that she is mistaken, she attempts to conform Tertius to her ideals, ultimately ruining him and their marriage. Tertius is at first filled with ambition to do good through his work, but Rosamund’s behavior causes him to lose his respect for himself, and with it a greater part of his ability to do good.
Could a similar future have awaited Edmund and Mary? Tertius and Edmund were similar men—both gentle, serious, and dedicated to their vocations. Attraction to Mary had already lead Edmund to act against his conscience during the play, and Fanny fears that Edmund would do more of the same if he married Mary: “God grant that her influence do [sic] not make him cease to be respectable!”3
The nature of true love is not to ruin and destroy. It is to adhere, to respect, to support.
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1Middlemarch, by George Eliot, Book V, ch. XLV
2Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen, ch. IX
3Ibid., ch. XLIV
“You have shewn that you can dance, and you know we are not really so much brother and sister as to make it at all improper.”
“Brother and sister! no, indeed.”
— from Emma, by Jane Austen, Volume III, Chapter II.
When Mrs. Norris comes up with the idea to take her niece, young Fanny Price, in, Sir Thomas debates and hesitates. “He thought of his own four children, of his two sons, of cousins in love, etc.;—but no sooner had he deliberately begun to state his objections, than Mrs. Norris interrupted him with a reply to them all” (Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen, Chapter I).
“You are thinking of your sons—but do not you know that, of all things upon earth, that is the least likely to happen, brought up as they would be, always together like brothers and sisters? It is morally impossible. I never knew an instance of it. It is, in fact, the only sure way of providing against the connexion. Suppose her a pretty girl, and seen by Tom or Edmund for the first time seven years hence, and I dare say there would be mischief. The very idea of her having been suffered to grow up at a distance from us all in poverty and neglect, would be enough to make either of the dear, sweet-tempered boys in love with her. But breed her up with them from this time, and suppose her even to have the beauty of an angel, and she will never be more to either than a sister.” (Ch. I)
Sir Thomas agrees to the plan, stressing, however, that it ought not to be “lightly engaged in”. When Fanny arrives, Mrs. Norris undertakes “to make her remember that she is not a Miss Bertram” and that “they cannot be equals”. So well does she accomplish this, that very few in the family ever forget that Fanny is the poor relation — including Fanny herself. “There was no positive ill-nature in Maria or Julia; and though Fanny was often mortified by their treatment of her, she thought too lowly of her own claims to feel injured by it.” (Ch. II).
She is obviously considered a dependent. Mrs. Norris says of her publicly, “I shall think her a very obstinate, ungrateful girl, if she does not do what her aunt and cousins wish her—very ungrateful, indeed, considering who and what she is.” (Ch. XV). On another occasion, Mrs. Norris tells Fanny, “The nonsense and folly of people’s stepping out of their rank and trying to appear above themselves, makes me think it right to give you a hint, Fanny, now that you are going into company without any of us; and I do beseech and entreat you not to be putting yourself forward, and talking and giving your opinion as if you were one of your cousins—as if you were dear Mrs. Rushworth or Julia. That will never do, believe me. Remember, wherever you are, you must be the lowest and last” (Ch. XXIII). That even strangers see that she is not considered one of the family, is shown by what Mr. Crawford says of her, “Now she is dependent, helpless, friendless, neglected, forgotten.” (Ch. XXX).
As Fanny is not brought up as a sister to her cousins, all of Mrs. Norris’s assurances come to naught. Fanny’s having been suffered to grow up under mistreatment and neglect within his own family, was enough to make at least one of the “dear, sweet-tempered boys” care for her. In the end, Sir Thomas’s son Edmund falls in love with her.
“With such a regard for her, indeed, as his had long been, a regard founded on the most endearing claims of innocence and helplessness, and completed by every recommendation of growing worth, what could be more natural than the change? Loving, guiding, protecting her, as he had been doing ever since her being ten years old, her mind in so great a degree formed by his care, and her comfort depending on his kindness, an object to him of such close and peculiar interest, dearer by all his own importance with her than any one else at Mansfield, what was there now to add, but that he should learn to prefer soft light eyes to sparkling dark ones.” (Ch. XLVIII)
By this time, however, Sir Thomas is “sick of ambitious and mercenary connexions, prizing more and more the sterling good of principle and temper, and chiefly anxious to bind by the strongest securities all that remained to him of domestic felicity” (Ch. XLVIII). He joyfully consents to the marriage of his son and Fanny.
“With so much true merit and true love, and no want of fortune and friends, the happiness of the married cousins must appear as secure as earthly happiness can be. Equally formed for domestic life, and attached to country pleasures, their home was the home of affection and comfort” (Ch. XLVIII).
Feb14
“Miss Crawford was standing at an open window with Edmund and Fanny looking out on a twilight scene …. when, being earnestly invited by the Miss Bertrams to join in a glee, she tripped off to the instrument ….
“Fanny … had the pleasure of seeing [Edmund] continue at the window with her, in spite of the expected glee; and of having his eyes soon turned, like hers, towards the scene without, where all that was solemn, and soothing, and lovely, appeared in the brilliancy of an unclouded night, and the contrast of the deep shade of the woods. Fanny spoke her feelings. ‘Here’s harmony!’ said she; ‘here’s repose! Here’s what may leave all painting and all music behind, and what poetry only can attempt to describe! Here’s what may tranquillise every care, and lift the heart to rapture! When I look out on such a night as this, I feel as if there could be neither wickedness nor sorrow in the world; and there certainly would be less of both if the sublimity of Nature were more attended to, and people were carried more out of themselves by contemplating such a scene.’
“‘I like to hear your enthusiasm, Fanny. It is a lovely night, and they are much to be pitied who have not been taught to feel, in some degree, as you do; who have not, at least, been given a taste for Nature in early life. They lose a great deal.’
“‘You taught me to think and feel on the subject, cousin.’
“‘I had a very apt scholar. There’s Arcturus looking very bright.’
“‘Yes, and the Bear. I wish I could see Cassiopeia.’
“‘We must go out on the lawn for that. Should you be afraid?’
“‘Not in the least. It is a great while since we have had any star-gazing.’
“‘Yes; I do not know how it has happened.’ The glee began. ‘We will stay till this is finished, Fanny,’ said he, turning his back on the window; and as it advanced, she had the mortification of seeing him advance too, moving forward by gentle degrees towards the instrument, and when it ceased, he was close by the singers, among the most urgent in requesting to hear the glee again.
“Fanny sighed alone at the window till scolded away by Mrs. Norris’s threats of catching cold.”
(Mansfield Park by Jane Austen, Chapter XI )
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Painting: ‘Portrait of a Young Girl’ by Sophie Gengembre Anderson.
“[H]e pleased her for the present; she liked to have him near her;
it was enough.” (Mansfield Park, Chapter VII )
It is perhaps little wonder that Mary Crawford fell in love with Edmund Bertram. He was honest, kind, sincere, gentle, considerate, dependable, and firm (at least in his profession, which he never even considered changing because of Mary, though he fell in his principles in the case of acting in the play). He was reliable, a haven in Mary’s more “exciting”, worldly, glamorous world. He was, compared to the rest of her friends and life, restful, secure. He was principled, unlike her uncle, and even her aunt. Someone she knew would not fail her, she could depend on. Like her brother, though she did not know what to call them, his morals were reassuring to her.
Henry Crawford had too much sense not to feel the worth of good principles in a wife, though he was too little accustomed to serious reflection to know them by their proper name; but when he talked of her having such a steadiness and regularity of conduct, such a high notion of honour, and such an observance of decorum as might warrant any man in the fullest dependence on her faith and integrity, he expressed what was inspired by the knowledge of her being well principled and religious. ( Ch. XXX )
The same could be said of Edmund. He had a good, warm heart, a good temper, good taste, and good understanding. For the rest, he was handsome, intelligent, educated, thoughtful, &c. “You have all so much more heart among you than one finds in the world at large,” Mary tells Fanny. “You all give me a feeling of being able to trust and confide in you, which in common intercourse one knows nothing of.” ( Ch. XXXVI ) Edmund’s earnest, moral, kind, upright character drew Mary to him.
[T]o the credit of the lady it may be added that, without his being a man of the world or an elder brother, without any of the arts of flattery or the gaieties of small talk, he began to be agreeable to her. She felt it to be so, though she had not foreseen, and could hardly understand it; for he was not pleasant by any common rule: he talked no nonsense; he paid no compliments; his opinions were unbending, his attentions tranquil and simple. There was a charm, perhaps, in his sincerity, his steadiness, his integrity, which Miss Crawford might be equal to feel, though not equal to discuss with herself. She did not think very much about it, however: he pleased her for the present; she liked to have him near her; it was enough. ( Ch. VII )
Edmund didn’t trifle with people. Though Mary playfully censures her brother Henry’s flirtations, knowing that Edmund was not trifling must have been reassuring to her. She was used to matrimony being a “maneuvering business”, considering that “it is, of all transactions, the one in which people expect most from others, and are least honest themselves.” ( Ch. V ) Edmund was straightforward. As Mary herself says, “I have long thought Mr. [Edmund] Bertram one of the worst subjects to work on, in any little manoeuvre against common sense, that a woman could be plagued with.” ( Ch. XXII )
Mary must have observed a great contrast between Edmund and her uncle, a contrast between him and the husbands of her friends, of her sister’s husband, &c. She had reason to admire Sir Thomas and Edmund—they presented such a different picture of domestic happiness than that which Mary was used to seeing. Edmund’s kindness to, and consideration and respect for, Fanny Price and others must have showed so differently to her uncle’s treatment of her aunt. Mary observed of Fanny, “Her cousin Edmund never forgets her.” ( Ch. XXX ) No doubt Mary didn’t want to be treated the way her uncle treated her aunt. She could depend on Edmund never to take a mistress, or give her other reason “to abhor [his] very name”, as her aunt had abhorred that of her husband ( Ch. XXX ).
Edmund had three blemishes in Mary’s eyes—he was a younger son, he was poor (at least compared to what she had expected be), and he wanted to be a clergyman—but, when he leaves to be ordained, Mary feels his absence to be “every way painful.”
She felt the want of his society every day, almost every hour, and was too much in want of it to derive anything but irritation from considering the object for which he went. He could not have devised anything more likely to raise his consequence than this week’s absence …. she could not help thinking of him continually when absent, dwelling on his merit and affection, and longing again for the almost daily meetings they lately had. ( Ch. XXIX )
When he delays his return, Mary decides that she can “not live any longer in such solitary wretchedness” and makes her way to his home “through difficulties of walking which she had deemed unconquerable a week before” just “for the chance … of at least hearing his name.” ( Ch. XXIX ) “He is a very—a very pleasing young man himself,” she says to Fanny, “and I cannot help being rather concerned at not seeing him again before I go to London, as will now undoubtedly be the case.” ( Ch. XXIX ) Though before she came to Mansfield, Mary would have declared that she would never marry a younger son or a clergyman, after Edmund’s absence she finds that “Sir Thomas Bertram’s son is somebody” ( Ch. XXIX ) and that is almost enough for her now.
When Mary goes to her friends in London, she has more opportunities to compare Edmund with the husbands of her friends. “I do not think [Lord Stornaway] so very ill-looking as I did—at least, one sees many worse. He will not do by the side of your cousin Edmund”, Mary writes to Fanny. “Of the last-mentioned hero … I will say … that we have seen him two or three times, and that my friends here are very much struck with his gentlemanlike appearance. Mrs. Fraser (no bad judge) declares she knows but three men in town who have so good a person, height, and air; and I must confess, when he dined here the other day, there were none to compare with him” ( Ch. XLIII ).
Fanny believes that Mary would try “to be more ambitious than her heart would allow”, but that she “would yet prove herself in the end too much attached to him to give him up” ( Ch. XLIII ) Mary loved Edmund and, “considering the many counteractions of opposing habits, she had certainly been more attached to him than could have been expected, and for his sake been more near doing right.” ( Ch. XLVII ) Though their relationship ends in a permanent rupture, it is long before Mary can forget him.
“Mrs. Grant … had again a home to offer Mary; and Mary had had enough of her own friends, enough of vanity, ambition, love, and disappointment in the course of the last half-year, to be in need of the true kindness of her sister’s heart, and the rational tranquillity of her ways. They lived together; and when Dr. Grant had brought on apoplexy and death, by three great institutionary dinners in one week, they still lived together; for Mary, though perfectly resolved against ever attaching herself to a younger brother again, was long in finding among the dashing representatives, or idle heir-apparents, who were at the command of her beauty, and her £20,000, any one who could satisfy the better taste she had acquired at Mansfield, whose character and manners could authorise a hope of the domestic happiness she had there learned to estimate, or put Edmund Bertram sufficiently out of her head.” ( Ch. XLVIII )
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Notes: The illustrations in this post are screen captures from the 1983 mini-series ‘Mansfield Park’. The picture are of Edmund Bertram (played by Nicholas Farrell) and Mary Crawford (played by Jackie Smith-Wood). All quotes in this post are from the novel Mansfield Park by Jane Austen.
(Mansfield Park, Chapter XXXII )
Why did Fanny Price refuse Mr. Crawford’s proposal of marriage? Was it because she disapproved of him? Or was it because she loved Edmund? I believe that it is a combination of both reasons—“love of another and disesteem of him” ( Ch. XXIV ). The degree to which she was influenced by either consideration must be a matter of speculation.
To begin with, Fanny never gives a reason for her refusal of Mr. Crawford, except a simple dislike of him, and the conviction of their incompatibility. She never says that she is rejecting Henry because of his morals, although that is one of her reasons. Nor does she admit to refusing him because she is in love with somebody else.
“Am I to understand,” said Sir Thomas, after a few moments’ silence, “that you mean to refuse Mr. Crawford?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Refuse Mr. Crawford! Upon what plea? For what reason?”
“I—I cannot like him, sir, well enough to marry him.”
“This is very strange!” said Sir Thomas, in a voice of calm displeasure. “There is something in this which my comprehension does not reach. Here is a young man wishing to pay his addresses to you, with everything to recommend him: not merely situation in life, fortune, and character, but with more than common agreeableness, with address and conversation pleasing to everybody. And he is not an acquaintance of to-day; you have now known him some time. His sister, moreover, is your intimate friend, and he has been doing that for your brother, which I should suppose would have been almost sufficient recommendation to you, had there been no other. It is very uncertain when my interest might have got William on. He has done it already.”
“Yes,” said Fanny, in a faint voice, and looking down with fresh shame; and she did feel almost ashamed of herself, after such a picture as her uncle had drawn, for not liking Mr. Crawford. ( Ch. XXXII )
“We are so totally unlike,” said Fanny, avoiding a direct answer [to a question of Edmund’s], “we are so very, very different in all our inclinations and ways, that I consider it as quite impossible we should ever be tolerably happy together, even if I could like him. There never were two people more dissimilar. We have not one taste in common. We should be miserable.” ( Ch. XXXV )
When explaining to her uncle why she is refusing Mr. Crawford, Fanny must hide her two real reasons: her love for Edmund (“His niece was deep in thought likewise, trying to harden and prepare herself against farther questioning. She would rather die than own the truth; and she hoped, by a little reflection, to fortify herself beyond betraying it.”— Ch. XXXII ), and her reasons for thinking ill of Mr. Crawford’s principles. Sir Thomas asks Fanny, “Have you any reason, child, to think ill of Mr. Crawford’s temper?”
“No, sir.”
She longed to add, “But of his principles I have”; but her heart sunk under the appalling prospect of discussion, explanation, and probably non-conviction. Her ill opinion of him was founded chiefly on observations, which, for her cousins’ sake, she could scarcely dare mention to their father. Maria and Julia, and especially Maria, were so closely implicated in Mr. Crawford’s misconduct, that she could not give his character, such as she believed it, without betraying them. ( Ch. XXXII )
Fanny would not have married Mr. Crawford—even had he been upright, like Edmund—if she had a hope of marrying Edmund, because she loved Edmund. But, had Edmund been out of the picture, she probably would have fallen for Mr. Crawford, even though she knew him to be unprincipled. Whether Mr. Crawford would have wanted to marry her had she not initially resisted him (which she did because of her love for Edmund, as well as her ill opinion of Crawford’s character), is another question. In all likelihood, he would have dumped her like he did Maria and Julia Bertram—and doubtless others. Fanny’s love for Edmund protected her from Crawford.
And without attempting any farther remonstrance [to her brother], she [Miss Crawford] left Fanny to her fate [of Mr. Crawford attempting to make a “small hole” in her heart], a fate which, had not Fanny’s heart been guarded in a way unsuspected by Miss Crawford, might have been a little harder than she deserved; for although there doubtless are such unconquerable young ladies of eighteen (or one should not read about them) as are never to be persuaded into love against their judgment by all that talent, manner, attention, and flattery can do, I have no inclination to believe Fanny one of them, or to think that with so much tenderness of disposition, and so much taste as belonged to her, she could have escaped heart-whole from the courtship (though the courtship only of a fortnight) of such a man as Crawford, in spite of there being some previous ill opinion of him to be overcome, had not her affection been engaged elsewhere. With all the security which love of another and disesteem of him could give to the peace of mind he was attacking, his continued attentions—continued, but not obtrusive, and adapting themselves more and more to the gentleness and delicacy of her character—obliged her very soon to dislike him less than formerly. She had by no means forgotten the past, and she thought as ill of him as ever; but she felt his powers: he was entertaining; and his manners were so improved, so polite, so seriously and blamelessly polite, that it was impossible not to be civil to him in return. ( Ch. XXIV )
Later in the novel, Fanny is shown wavering in her feelings for Mr. Crawford—like the time she fancies, if they were married, how good-naturedly he would likely agree to take in her sister Susan (see the last paragraph of Ch. XLIII ). The author’s conclusion is that Fanny probably would have eventually accepted Mr. Crawford if he had not run off with Mrs. Rushworth—but only after Edmund had married and if Henry had continued on the ‘strait and narrow’.
Henry Crawford, ruined by early independence and bad domestic example, indulged in the freaks of a cold-blooded vanity a little too long. Once it had, by an opening undesigned and unmerited, led him into the way of happiness. Could he have been satisfied with the conquest of one amiable woman’s affections, could he have found sufficient exultation in overcoming the reluctance, in working himself into the esteem and tenderness of Fanny Price, there would have been every probability of success and felicity for him. His affection had already done something. Her influence over him had already given him some influence over her. Would he have deserved more, there can be no doubt that more would have been obtained, especially when that marriage had taken place, which would have given him the assistance of her conscience in subduing her first inclination, and brought them very often together. Would he have persevered, and uprightly, Fanny must have been his reward, and a reward very voluntarily bestowed, within a reasonable period from Edmund’s marrying Mary. ( Ch. XLVIII )
If it were not for her affection for Edmund, Fanny could not have “have escaped heart-whole from the courtship … of such a man as Crawford, in spite of there being some previous ill opinion of him to be overcome”. She is not one of those “unconquerable young ladies of eighteen … as are never to be persuaded into love against their judgment by all that talent, manner, attention, and flattery can do”. However, her refusal of his proposal of marriage has as much to do with her disapproval of his morals as her love for Edmund.
Her love for Edmund keeps Fanny from becoming too attracted to Mr. Crawford, but that does not mean that she thought well, or would have thought well, of him, had Edmund been out of the picture. She might not have escaped heart-whole, but that does not mean that she would have married him (although, I suppose, she might have). Her love for Edmund protects her heart; her firmness in her own principles protects her from accepting Mr. Crawford’s proposal of marriage. It is not until some time after his proposal that Fanny begins to waver in her opinion of Mr. Crawford. It would have taken time for Fanny to be ready to marry him, and he would have had to continue living uprightly. Her wavering comes from the changes he makes in his life—”she was quite persuaded of his being astonishingly more gentle and regardful of others than formerly. And, if in little things, must it not be so in great?” ( Ch. XLII )
In closing, I will recount a short scene from the book. Edmund is talking to Fanny about her refusal of Mr. Crawford, wishing that she could love him, and regretting that Crawford had been so precipitate: “Between us, I think we should have won you. My theoretical and his practical knowledge together could not have failed.” ( Ch. XXXV ). That line always makes me smile. Had Edmund been trying to win Fanny, no Mr. Crawford would have been necessary!
Illustration Credits: All pictures are from the 1983 version of Mansfield Park. In the pictures, Fanny Price is represented by Sylvestra Le Touzel, Henry Crawford by Robert Burbage, Maria Bertram by Samantha Bond, Mary Crawford by Jackie Smith-Wood, and Edmund Bertram by Nicholas Farrell.
Nov14
“In a general light, private theatricals are open to some objections, but as we are circumstanced, I must think it would be highly injudicious”
A large portion of Mansfield Park revolves around the production of a play, Lovers’ Vows, by the young people at Mansfield Park. Eight chapters (XIII-XX) are devoted to this subject, and the repercussions continue to the end of the novel.
The idea is brought to the Bertrams by Mr. Yates, a “particular friend” of Tom Bertram’s, who comes “on the wings of disappointment”, after the theatrical party that he was involved in at Ecclesford was broken up by the death of a near relative of his host.
To be so near happiness, so near fame, so near the long paragraph in praise of the private theatricals at Ecclesford, the seat of the Right Hon. Lord Ravenshaw, in Cornwall, which would of course have immortalised the whole party for at least a twelvemonth! and being so near, to lose it all, was an injury to be keenly felt, and Mr. Yates could talk of nothing else. Ecclesford and its theatre, with its arrangements and dresses, rehearsals and jokes, was his never-failing subject, and to boast of the past his only consolation.
Happily for him, a love of the theatre is so general, an itch for acting so strong among young people, that he could hardly out-talk the interest of his hearers. From the first casting of the parts to the epilogue it was all bewitching, and there were few who did not wish to have been a party concerned, or would have hesitated to try their skill. The play had been Lovers’ Vows …
(Mansfield Park, Chapter XIII )
Tom, his sisters Maria and Julia, and Mr. Crawford, all listen with fascination and a desire to have been there themselves.
Henry Crawford, to whom, in all the riot of his gratifications [acting] was yet an untasted pleasure, was quite alive at the idea. “I really believe,” said he, “I could be fool enough at this moment to undertake any character that ever was written, from Shylock or Richard III down to the singing hero of a farce in his scarlet coat and cocked hat. I feel as if I could be anything or everything; as if I could rant and storm, or sigh or cut capers, in any tragedy or comedy in the English language. Let us be doing something. Be it only half a play, an act, a scene; what should prevent us? Not these countenances, I am sure,” looking towards the Miss Bertrams; “and for a theatre, what signifies a theatre? We shall be only amusing ourselves. Any room in this house might suffice.”
(Mansfield Park, Chapter XIII )
And so it begins. But not all of the family were caught up in the idea. Edmund “began to listen with alarm”. He does his best to dissuade his brother, who, due to their father’s absence in Antigua, is currently master of the house.
“You are not serious, Tom, in meaning to act?” said Edmund, in a low voice, as his brother approached the fire.
“Not serious! never more so, I assure you. What is there to surprise you in it?”
“I think it would be very wrong. In a general light, private theatricals are open to some objections, but as we are circumstanced, I must think it would be highly injudicious, and more than injudicious to attempt anything of the kind. It would shew great want of feeling on my father’s account, absent as he is, and in some degree of constant danger; and it would be imprudent, I think, with regard to Maria, whose situation is a very delicate one, considering everything, extremely delicate.”
“You take up a thing so seriously! as if we were going to act three times a week till my father’s return, and invite all the country. But it is not to be a display of that sort. We mean nothing but a little amusement among ourselves, just to vary the scene, and exercise our powers in something new. We want no audience, no publicity. We may be trusted, I think, in chusing some play most perfectly unexceptionable; and I can conceive no greater harm or danger to any of us in conversing in the elegant written language of some respectable author than in chattering in words of our own. I have no fears and no scruples. …. this I will maintain, that we shall be doing no harm.”
“I cannot agree with you; I am convinced that my father would totally disapprove it.”
“And I am convinced to the contrary. Nobody is fonder of the exercise of talent in young people, or promotes it more, than my father, and for anything of the acting, spouting, reciting kind, I think he has always a decided taste. I am sure he encouraged it in us as boys. How many a time have we mourned over the dead body of Julius Caesar, and to be’d and not to be’d, in this very room, for his amusement? And I am sure, my name was Norval, every evening of my life through one Christmas holidays.”
“It was a very different thing. You must see the difference yourself. My father wished us, as schoolboys, to speak well, but he would never wish his grown-up daughters to be acting plays. His sense of decorum is strict.”
“I know all that,” said Tom, displeased. “I know my father as well as you do; and I’ll take care that his daughters do nothing to distress him. Manage your own concerns, Edmund, and I’ll take care of the rest of the family.”
“If you are resolved on acting,” replied the persevering Edmund, “I must hope it will be in a very small and quiet way; and I think a theatre ought not to be attempted. It would be taking liberties with my father’s house in his absence which could not be justified.”
“For everything of that nature I will be answerable,” said Tom, in a decided tone. “His house shall not be hurt. I have quite as great an interest in being careful of his house as you can have; and as to such alterations as I was suggesting just now, such as moving a bookcase, or unlocking a door, or even as using the billiard-room for the space of a week without playing at billiards in it, you might just as well suppose he would object to our sitting more in this room, and less in the breakfast-room, than we did before he went away, or to my sister’s pianoforte being moved from one side of the room to the other. Absolute nonsense!”
“The innovation, if not wrong as an innovation, will be wrong as an expense.”
“Yes, the expense of such an undertaking would be prodigious! Perhaps it might cost a whole twenty pounds. Something of a theatre we must have undoubtedly, but it will be on the simplest plan: a green curtain and a little carpenter’s work, and that’s all; and as the carpenter’s work may be all done at home by Christopher Jackson himself, it will be too absurd to talk of expense; and as long as Jackson is employed, everything will be right with Sir Thomas. Don’t imagine that nobody in this house can see or judge but yourself. Don’t act yourself, if you do not like it, but don’t expect to govern everybody else.”
(Mansfield Park, Chapter XIII )
Maria’s “situation”, referred to as “extremely delicate”, is the fact that she is engaged to be married to Mr. Rushworth—a marriage that is not to take place until her father’s return from Antigua. Their father, Sir Thomas Bertram, is gone to Antigua to look after his property there because of “some recent losses on his West India estate”, so the expense of any undertaking of theirs was necessary for his children to consider. (The idea of adding “to the great expenses of [Sir Thomas’s] stable, at a time when a large part of his income was unsettled”, even prevents Edmund from purchasing another horse for Fanny when her pony dies, but to instead trade his own road-horse for a mare for her to ride.)
Sir Thomas found it expedient to go to Antigua himself, for the better arrangement of his affairs …. The necessity of the measure in a pecuniary light … reconciled Sir Thomas to the effort of quitting the rest of his family, and of leaving his daughters to the direction of others at their present most interesting time of life. He could not think Lady Bertram quite equal to supply his place with them, or rather, to perform what should have been her own; but, in Mrs. Norris’s watchful attention, and in Edmund’s judgment, he had sufficient confidence to make him go without fears for their conduct.
(Mansfield Park, Chapter III )
Sir Thomas is gone, the only one capable of ruling his family, for Lady Bertram is almost a nonentity and Mrs. Norris has “no judgment”, besides which she has “no influence with either Tom or [Maria and Julia] that could be of any use”. So far from disapproving of the play, Mrs. Norris “started no difficulties that were not talked down in five minutes by her eldest nephew and niece, who were all-powerful with her; and as the whole arrangement was to bring very little expense to anybody, and none at all to herself, as she foresaw in it all the comforts of hurry, bustle, and importance, and derived the immediate advantage of fancying herself obliged to leave her own house, where she had been living a month at her own cost, and take up her abode in theirs, that every hour might be spent in their service, she was, in fact, exceedingly delighted with the project.” And Lady Bertram’s only attempt at dissuading them is her mild, “Do not act anything improper, my dear … Sir Thomas would not like it.—Fanny, ring the bell; I must have my dinner.—” It is left, therefore, to Edmund to try to dissuade his brother and sisters, with, as has been shown, no success. Fanny Price’s judgment is with Edmund’s.
Fanny, who had heard it all [Edmund’s conversation with Tom], and borne Edmund company in every feeling throughout the whole, now ventured to say, in her anxiety to suggest some comfort, “Perhaps they may not be able to find any play to suit them. Your brother’s taste and your sisters’ seem very different.”
(Mansfield Park, Chapter XIII )
Edmund does not only try to persuade his brother not to act. He attempts to persuade his sisters as well.
His sisters, to whom he had an opportunity of speaking the next morning, were quite as impatient of his advice, quite as unyielding to his representation, quite as determined in the cause of pleasure, as Tom. Their mother had no objection to the plan, and they were not in the least afraid of their father’s disapprobation. There could be no harm in what had been done in so many respectable families, and by so many women of the first consideration; and it must be scrupulousness run mad that could see anything to censure in a plan like theirs, comprehending only brothers and sisters and intimate friends, and which would never be heard of beyond themselves. Julia did seem inclined to admit that Maria’s situation might require particular caution and delicacy—but that could not extend to her—she was at liberty; and Maria evidently considered her engagement as only raising her so much more above restraint, and leaving her less occasion than Julia to consult either father or mother.
(Mansfield Park, Chapter XIII )
Tom thinks that they will be doing no harm, Maria and Julia are eager to be acting, and Mr. Crawford is all alive at the idea. Only Sir Thomas (who puts a complete stop to the project when he returns home), Edmund, and Fanny find anything about the plan to censure. Many readers are puzzled to find the reasons against acting that seem so blatant to Edmund and Fanny. It seems like an innocent form of entertainment, and many will agree with Mr. Yates, that Sir Thomas in this case is “unintelligibly moral”. Even Fanny has transient doubts that her refusal to participate in the play can be justified. “Was it not ill-nature, selfishness, and a fear of exposing herself? And would Edmund’s judgment, would his persuasion of Sir Thomas’s disapprobation of the whole, be enough to justify her in a determined denial in spite of all the rest? It would be so horrible to her to act that she was inclined to suspect the truth and purity of her own scruples”.
Jane Austen participated in private theatricals, so she knew what they were like. If she approved of them—or, at least, approved of them under these circumstances—why would she have portrayed them as wrong? To make Edmund look stuffy? If she just wanted Edmund to be stuffy, why did she make him right? After all, in the end the theatricals did harm—even Tom realized that.
What made the play wrong? Edmund does not condemn all theatricals. When he first objects to the play, Julia protests, “Now, Edmund, do not be disagreeable … Nobody loves a play better than you do, or can have gone much farther to see one.” Edmund does not deny it, “True, to see real acting, good hardened real acting; but I would hardly walk from this room to the next to look at the raw efforts of those who have not been bred to the trade: a set of gentlemen and ladies, who have all the disadvantages of education and decorum to struggle through.” Nor does he condemn all private theatricals point blank, though he does point out that, “In a general light, private theatricals are open to some objections”. His objections are personal to his family.
Great Want of Feeling
Edmund points out two objections. First, it would show “great want of feeling” on their father’s account. Sir Thomas was absent, “and in some degree of constant danger”—at sea, where any number of things could happen to prevent his ever returning. That the family were conscious of Sir Thomas’s danger is shown by Fanny and Mrs. Norris. Fanny grieves “because she could not grieve” when he left, even though, as she thinks, he is gone “perhaps never to return”. Mrs. Norris has less tender feelings. She simply depends on being the one to break the news to the family, if “poor Sir Thomas were fated never to return”. Apart from the fears, or expectations, of his family, Sir Thomas’s voyage was, in fact, not without danger, as he tells his family. Mrs. Norris interrupts him during his narration “in the most interesting moment of his passage to England, when the alarm of a French privateer was at the height”.
Sir Thomas’s danger did not only come from his voyage (of which his children might have been ignorant, as he left earlier than he had planned). He was living in the West Indies, which were well-known to be an unhealthy place for Europeans to live. Fanny notices when Sir Thomas returns that “he was grown thinner, and had the burnt, fagged, worn look of fatigue and a hot climate”. In her book Jane Austen: The World of Her Novels, Deirdre Le Faye comments on this.
Sir Thomas seems to have been lucky, in that he returns home no more the worse for wear than being grown thinner and having the burnt, fagged, worn look of fatigue and a hot climate. The West Indies were notoriously unhealthy for Europeans, with yellow fever the greatest risk, the progress of which could be so rapid that it was not unusual for the doctor, the coffin-maker and the undertaker to be sent for at the same time. Other local diseases were the incurable ‘black scurvy’ (either leprosy or syphilis) and some unnamed infection which covered the body with itching boils.1
In fact, Jane Austen’s own sister, Cassandra, lost her fiancé, Reverend Thomas Fowle, when he accompanied his cousin Lord Craven to the West Indies. He died there, in February 1797, of yellow fever.
On top of their father’s danger, there is the conviction that he “would totally disapprove it”—“he would never wish his grown-up daughters to be acting plays. His sense of decorum is strict.” As Edmund tells his mother, “I am convinced … that Sir Thomas would not like it.” Edmund also thinks that “a theatre ought not to be attempted. It would be taking liberties with my father’s house in his absence which could not be justified.”
Even if there was nothing wrong with the scheme, Sir Thomas’s disapprobation would have been enough to make it blameworthy. The house did not belong to them. They had no business rearranging their father’s house or otherwise using it in a manner that they knew would be disagreeable to him. And they did know. Tom, Edmund, Maria, and Julia all knew. Their consternation when he arrives proves it.
How is the consternation of the party to be described? To the greater number it was a moment of absolute horror. Sir Thomas in the house! …. after the first starts and exclamations, not a word was spoken for half a minute: each with an altered countenance was looking at some other, and almost each was feeling it a stroke the most unwelcome, most ill-timed, most appalling! Mr. Yates might consider it only as a vexatious interruption for the evening, and Mr. Rushworth might imagine it a blessing; but every other heart was sinking under some degree of self-condemnation or undefined alarm, every other heart was suggesting, “What will become of us? what is to be done now?” It was a terrible pause; and terrible to every ear were the corroborating sounds of opening doors and passing footsteps.
(Mansfield Park, Chapter XIX )
Julia’s assertion, “I need not be afraid of appearing before him” (a statement she is only able to make because, after not being cast as Agatha, she refused to have anything more to do with the play), shows her consciousness that Sir Thomas will not approve of their activities. The fact that they all view Edmund’s joining the scheme as a moral fall—“a victory over Edmund’s discretion” that was “beyond their hopes, and was most delightful”—reveals their awareness that what they were doing was wrong.
There was no longer anything to disturb them in their darling project, and they congratulated each other in private on the jealous weakness to which they attributed the change, with all the glee of feelings gratified in every way. Edmund might still look grave, and say he did not like the scheme in general, and must disapprove the play in particular; their point was gained: he was to act, and he was driven to it by the force of selfish inclinations only. Edmund had descended from that moral elevation which he had maintained before, and they were both as much the better as the happier for the descent.
(Mansfield Park, Chapter XVII )
Even Mr. and Miss Crawford knew that what they were doing would not be approved of by the master of the house. When Sir Thomas arrives home, the Crawfords and Mr. Yates gave “vent to their feelings of vexation, lamenting over such an unlooked-for premature arrival as a most untoward event, and without mercy wishing poor Sir Thomas had been twice as long on his passage, or were still in Antigua.”
The Crawfords were more warm on the subject than Mr. Yates, from better understanding the family, and judging more clearly of the mischief that must ensue. The ruin of the play was to them a certainty: they felt the total destruction of the scheme to be inevitably at hand; while Mr. Yates considered it only as a temporary interruption, a disaster for the evening, and could even suggest the possibility of the rehearsal being renewed after tea, when the bustle of receiving Sir Thomas were over, and he might be at leisure to be amused by it. The Crawfords laughed at the idea …
(Mansfield Park, Chapter XIX )
And while, as Tom points out, Sir Thomas would probably not have minded slight rearrangements being made in his absence, his children had no business making such serious alterations, or rearranging Sir Thomas’s own room. When Sir Thomas arrives, he is “a good deal surprised to find candles burning in his room; and on casting his eye round it, to see other symptoms of recent habitation and a general air of confusion in the furniture. The removal of the bookcase from before the billiard-room door struck him especially”. Indeed, “it needed all the felicity of being again at home, and all the forbearance it could supply, to save Sir Thomas from anger on finding himself thus bewildered in his own house, making part of a ridiculous exhibition in the midst of theatrical nonsense”. “Tom understood his father’s thoughts, and … began to see, more clearly than he had ever done before, that there might be some ground of offence, that there might be some reason for the glance his father gave towards the ceiling and stucco of the room; and that when he inquired with mild gravity after the fate of the billiard-table, he was not proceeding beyond a very allowable curiosity.”
Despite Tom’s assurances that the theatre “will be on the simplest plan: a green curtain and a little carpenter’s work, and that’s all” and that perhaps it “might cost a whole twenty pounds”, and despite Mrs. Norris’s “superintending their various dresses with economical expedient, for which nobody thanked her, and saving, with delighted integrity, half a crown here and there to the absent Sir Thomas”, the damages must have cost Sir Thomas rather more than Tom had foreseen. Edmund is vexed when “entirely against his judgment, a scene-painter arrived from town, and was at work, much to the increase of the expenses, and, what was worse, of the éclat of their proceedings”. When Sir Thomas dismisses the scene-painter, he leaves “having spoilt only the floor of one room, ruined all the coachman’s sponges, and made five of the under-servants idle and dissatisfied”.
On three points, therefore, did the private theatricals show “great want of feeling” on Sir Thomas’s account. First, they were insensitive when Sir Thomas was “in some degree of constant danger”. Secondly, the Bertrams, and, indeed, the Crawfords, knew that Sir Thomas “would totally disapprove it” because of his strict sense of decorum. Finally, it was taking liberties with his house while he was absent, which, as Edmund pointed out, “could not be justified”, and, in light of Sir Thomas’s financial situation, were “wrong as an expense”.
Imprudent
Edmund’s second objection is that it would be “imprudent … with regard to Maria”. Maria was engaged, but could not marry until her father’s return. The lack of her father, her extended engagement, both are disadvantages to Maria.
Considering her engagement, most plays would have brought Maria into an intimacy that must be inappropriate, however the particular play chosen was very inappropriate, and almost all involved felt it so. Though resistant to the idea of any play being done, both Fanny and Edmund were shocked by the particular play chosen—Lovers’ Vows, by Mrs. Inchbald. And Edmund and Fanny were not the only ones who recognized that the selected play was improper for them to act. Maria blushed when she acknowledged the part she was to play and even Miss Crawford was embarrassed to think of acting her part with a stranger.
Mrs. Norris thinks, with regards to Maria, “As Mr. Rushworth is to act too, there can be no harm.” Maria, however, was still worried about her fiancé’s reaction to what she was doing. She needn’t have worried, however. “Mr. Rushworth liked the idea of his finery very well, though affecting to despise it; and was too much engaged with what his own appearance would be to think of the others, or draw any of those conclusions, or feel any of that displeasure which Maria had been half prepared for.” Mr. Rushworth excitedly tells Edmund, “We have got a play …. It is to be Lovers’ Vows; and I am to be Count Cassel”. “Lovers’ Vows!” cries Edmund, in a tone of the greatest amazement, “and he turned towards his brother and sisters as if hardly doubting a contradiction.” Mr. Yates adds, “We have cast almost every part.”
“But what do you do for women?” said Edmund gravely, and looking at Maria.
Maria blushed in spite of herself as she answered, “I take the part which Lady Ravenshaw was to have done, and” (with a bolder eye) “Miss Crawford is to be Amelia.”
“I should not have thought it the sort of play to be so easily filled up, with us,” replied Edmund, turning away to the fire, where sat his mother, aunt, and Fanny, and seating himself with a look of great vexation.
(Mansfield Park, Chapter XV )
Maria does not even want to admit that she is to play Agatha, instead stating ambiguously that she is to take Lady Ravenshaw’s part. Miss Crawford also feels the impropriety of her part—or, at least, she recognizes it when she finds that she is not to act with Edmund. Once convinced that Edmund will not act, she is eager to have someone that she has at least met. “Mr. Charles Maddox dined at my sister’s one day, did not he, Henry? A quiet-looking young man. I remember him. Let him be applied to, if you please, for it will be less unpleasant to me than to have a perfect stranger.” She tells Fanny, “I am not very sanguine as to our play … and I can tell Mr. Maddox that I shall shorten some of his speeches, and a great many of my own, before we rehearse together. It will be very disagreeable, and by no means what I expected.”
The play they settled on was “almost as bad a play as they could” have chosen. After Fanny finds out that Lovers’ Vows has been chosen,
The first use she made of her solitude was to take up the volume which had been left on the table, and begin to acquaint herself with the play of which she had heard so much. Her curiosity was all awake, and she ran through it with an eagerness which was suspended only by intervals of astonishment, that it could be chosen in the present instance, that it could be proposed and accepted in a private theatre! Agatha and Amelia appeared to her in their different ways so totally improper for home representation—the situation of one, and the language of the other, so unfit to be expressed by any woman of modesty, that she could hardly suppose her cousins could be aware of what they were engaging in; and longed to have them roused as soon as possible by the remonstrance which Edmund would certainly make.
(Mansfield Park, Chapter XIV )
Edmund does remontrate with his sister, “I cannot, before Mr. Yates, speak what I feel as to this play, without reflecting on his friends at Ecclesford; but I must now, my dear Maria, tell you, that I think it exceedingly unfit for private representation, and that I hope you will give it up. I cannot but suppose you will when you have read it carefully over. Read only the first act aloud to either your mother or aunt, and see how you can approve it. It will not be necessary to send you to your father’s judgment, I am convinced.” “Although the play ends with morality restored,” Deirdre Le Faye writes, “some critics of the time considered it still too risqué”—and that when performed by professionals.2 Edmund tell Maria, “You must set the example. If others have blundered, it is your place to put them right, and shew them what true delicacy is. In all points of decorum your conduct must be law to the rest of the party. …. Say that, on examining the part, you feel yourself unequal to it; that you find it requiring more exertion and confidence than you can be supposed to have. Say this with firmness, and it will be quite enough. All who can distinguish will understand your motive. The play will be given up, and your delicacy honoured as it ought.” Maria, however, afraid her sister would take her part if she gave it up, will not yield. “Oh! she might think the difference between us—the difference in our situations—that she need not be so scrupulous as I might feel necessary. I am sure she would argue so. No; you must excuse me; I cannot retract my consent; it is too far settled, everybody would be so disappointed, Tom would be quite angry; and if we are so very nice, we shall never act anything.”
Agatha, the character that Maria accepts, is an unmarried woman with a child. It is this “situation” of Agatha’s that makes Fanny so astonished that this play was chosen. In the play, Agatha admits to her grown son, “His [her seducer’s] flattery made me vain, and his repeated vows—; Don’t look at me, dear Frederick!—; I can say no more. Oh! oh! my son! I was intoxicated by the fervent caresses of a young, inexperienced, capricious man, and did not recover from the delirium till it was too late.”3 In the first scene of the play (the one that Maria and Mr. Crawford rehearse “so needlessly often”), Agatha rises and embraces her son Frederick (played, of course, by Mr. Crawford), he “leans her against his breast”. During her confession, Frederick “takes her hand, and puts it to his heart”, and, at the end of the scene, “embraces her”. When Sir Thomas returns during a rehearsal of the play, “Frederick was listening with looks of devotion to Agatha’s narrative, and pressing her hand to his heart”, an action he continues “in spite of the shock” of the news. In the last scene of the play, Baron Wildenhaim (Mr. Yates) runs and clasps Agatha in his arms and she embraces him. The play ends with this action, “Frederick throws himself on his knees by the other side of his mother—; She clasps him in her arms”, etc.
During the time period of Mansfield Park, it was inappropriate for unmarried men and women to do much touching, such as holding hands, etc. Mrs. Norris insists that “if there is anything a little too warm (and it is so with most of them) it can be easily left out”, but she is too busy “saving … half a crown here and there to the absent Sir Thomas, to have leisure for watching the behaviour, or guarding the happiness of his daughters”. And, though, according to Maria, some omissions were to be made to the play, the fact that when Sir Thomas’s arrival is announced, Henry is pressing Maria’s hand to his heart, shows that, at the least, not all of the touching was edited. Fanny notices that this particular scene is practiced over and over, obviously for the flirting pleasure of Henry and Maria. (And note that, when touching is not generally allowed, small touches take on greater meaning, greater significance, than they would otherwise.)
Despite his initial obliviousness to the position acting would put his fiancée into, Mr. Rushworth does not continue unconscious. After watching Maria rehearse with Mr. Crawford so often, Mr. Rushworth experiences “a return of his former jealousy, which Maria, from increasing hopes of Crawford, was at little pains to remove”. Miss Crawford tries to turn off some of Mr. Rushworth’s jealousy at one point, as she relates to Fanny.
“The theatre is engaged of course by those indefatigable rehearsers, Agatha and Frederick. If they are not perfect, I shall be surprised. By the bye, I looked in upon them five minutes ago, and it happened to be exactly at one of the times when they were trying not to embrace, and Mr. Rushworth was with me. I thought he began to look a little queer, so I turned it off as well as I could, by whispering to him, ‘We shall have an excellent Agatha; there is something so maternal in her manner, so completely maternal in her voice and countenance.’ Was not that well done of me? He brightened up directly.”
(Mansfield Park, Chapter XVIII )
Maria might have “increasing hopes of Mr. Crawford”, but he has no serious intentions towards her. He uses the play as a vehicle for his flirtation with her only. He has no intention of fulfilling the expectations that he is raising, as Maria finds when the play is over. “The hand which had so pressed hers to his heart! the hand and the heart were alike motionless and passive now! Her spirit supported her, but the agony of her mind was severe.”
Amelia, the character which Miss Crawford undertakes, is almost as inappropriate in her way, as Agatha. Fanny is astonished that “any woman of modesty” would speak as forwardly as Amelia does in the play, and even Miss Crawford admits that “really there is a speech or two”. Amelia’s forwardness consists in her forcing her tutor, Mr. Anhalt (played by Edmund), into confessing his love for her (“Why do you force from me, what it is villanous to own?—; I love you more than life—”4) by pressing him with declarations of her love for him, when he is sent to her by her father to find out how she feels about marrying Count Cassel. She pretty much proposes to him and then undertakes, before he even accepts, to talk her father into allowing them to marry. As Mr. Anhalt has been secretly in love with Amelia for some time, and Amelia’s father does consent to their marriage, no harm is done, but the lady’s language makes her part, like the part of Agatha, “totally improper for home representation”—especially when played with someone not of the family.
As for the other characters, Count Cassel (played by Mr. Rushworth) is a man who has shamelessly seduced many young women, and even boasts of his conquests. “My meaning is, that when a man is young and rich, has travelled, and is no personal object of disapprobation, to have made vows but to one woman, is an absolute slight upon the rest of the sex.”5 The “rhyming” Butler (played by Tom) recounts the Count’s exploits in verse:
There lived a lady in this land,
Whose charms the heart made tingle;
At church she had not given her hand,
And therefore still was single.
Count Cassel wooed this maid so rare,
And in her eye found grace;
And if his purpose was not fair
It probably was base.
Then you, who now lead single lives,
From this sad tale beware;
And do not act as you were wives,
Before you really are.6
Mr. Yates plays Baron Wildenhaim, the man who seduced Agatha and left her pregnant, eventually marrying another woman (his wife dies before the action of the play). They are reconciled in the end, Agatha forgives the Baron, and he agrees to marry her. When Anhalt goes to bring Agatha to the Baron, he cries, “Stop! Let me first recover a little. That door she will come from—; That was once the dressing-room of my mother—; From that door I have seen her come many times—; have been delighted with her lovely smiles—; How shall I now behold her altered looks! Frederick must be my mediator.—; Where is he? Where is my son?—; Now I am ready—; my heart is prepared to receive her—; Haste! haste! Bring her in.”7 Frederick’s actions have already been touched on.
The parts were very purposely cast for the convenience of the passions of the young people involved. When Mr. Crawford and Mr. Yates are debating which of them should play the Baron and which should play Frederick, Maria, “feeling all the interest of an Agatha in the question, took on her to decide it, by observing to Mr. Yates that this was a point in which height and figure ought to be considered, and that his being the tallest, seemed to fit him peculiarly for the Baron. She was acknowledged to be quite right, and the two parts being accepted accordingly, she was certain of the proper Frederick.” She, like nearly everyone else involved in the play, wanted to use the part to be able to get around the forms of the time that didn’t allow the degree of intimacy she wanted. Mr. Crawford, in his turn, entreats “Miss Julia Bertram … not to engage in the part of Agatha”. “Pleasantly, courteously, it was spoken; but the manner was lost in the matter to Julia’s feelings. She saw a glance at Maria which confirmed the injury to herself: it was a scheme, a trick; she was slighted, Maria was preferred; the smile of triumph which Maria was trying to suppress shewed how well it was understood”. Julia knew as well as Mr. Crawford and her sister, why the parts were being cast as they were. “Henry Crawford had trifled with her feelings; but she had very long allowed and even sought his attentions, with a jealousy of her sister so reasonable as ought to have been their cure; and now that the conviction of his preference for Maria had been forced on her, she submitted to it without any alarm for Maria’s situation”.
Both Mr. and Miss Crawford knew that the play would be used as a vehicle for Henry’s flirtation with Maria, and Miss Crawford, though so aware of “what it would be to act Amelia with a stranger”, has no objection to acting the part with Edmund. “I should not particularly dislike the part of Amelia if well supported”, she says. She wanted to play the part of Edmund’s love interest, as a vehicle for her flirtation with him.
Edmund, though thoroughly convinced of the imprudence and indelicacy of doing this play (or any play), when he finds that his brother is to ask Charles Maddox to act with Miss Crawford, decides to undertake the part of Anhalt himself. Some delicacy for Miss Crawford he may have had, but I believe that he was also driven by jealousy to act as he did—he recognized the intimacy acting together would give Miss Crawford and Mr. Maddox, and he wanted that for himself, and was jealous of Mr. Maddox having it.
Fanny continues to judge rightly, even after Edmund’s fall. “Her heart and her judgment were equally against Edmund’s decision: she could not acquit his unsteadiness, and his happiness under it made her wretched.” “I am sorry for Miss Crawford;” she tells Edmund, “but I am more sorry to see you drawn in to do what you had resolved against, and what you are known to think will be disagreeable to my uncle.” She knows that “she could never have been easy in joining a scheme which, considering only her uncle, she must condemn altogether.” She never ceases “to think of what was due to” Sir Thomas.
The play was not a family affair. A great and dangerous intimacy comes from acting together, especially as adults. Having people other than the family involved (the Crawfords, in particular) was very wrong. Edmund recognizes the danger of inviting Charles Maddox to act with them. He sees “the more than intimacy—the familiarity”, “the mischief that may, … the unpleasantness that must arise from a young man’s being received in this manner: domesticated among us; authorised to come at all hours, and placed suddenly on a footing which must do away all restraints”. “To think only of the licence which every rehearsal must tend to create. It is all very bad!” However, he doesn’t seem to acknowledge that the same mischief and licence would be created by his acting with Miss Crawford, and that it would be just as wrong for him to undertake the part as it would for Mr. Maddox to do so. The same argument held for the Bertrams acting with the Crawfords and Mr. Yates, as with Mr. Maddox. None of the others recognize this, either. When Edmund join the theatricals, the others “seemed to think it as great an escape to be quit of the intrusion of Charles Maddox, as if they had been forced into admitting him against their inclination. ‘To have it quite in their own family circle was what they had particularly wished. A stranger among them would have been the destruction of all their comfort’”.
Edmund says that “to see real acting, good hardened real acting”, he would go far—“but I would hardly walk from this room to the next to look at the raw efforts of those who have not been bred to the trade: a set of gentlemen and ladies, who have all the disadvantages of education and decorum to struggle through.” When you enter into something as a profession, you bring different feelings, a different perspective to it than when you are just doing something for entertainment. The Bertrams were not professional actors, and their feelings were therefore more susceptible.
The inattention of the two brothers and the aunt to Julia’s discomposure [at being jilted by Mr. Crawford], and their blindness to its true cause, must be imputed to the fullness of their own minds. They were totally preoccupied. Tom was engrossed by the concerns of his theatre, and saw nothing that did not immediately relate to it. Edmund, between his theatrical and his real part, between Miss Crawford’s claims and his own conduct, between love and consistency, was equally unobservant; and Mrs. Norris was too busy in contriving and directing the general little matters of the company, superintending their various dresses with economical expedient, for which nobody thanked her, and saving, with delighted integrity, half a crown here and there to the absent Sir Thomas, to have leisure for watching the behaviour, or guarding the happiness of his daughters.
(Mansfield Park, Chapter XVII )
Acting brought no great happiness to any of those involved—except, perhaps, Mr. Yates—even superficially.
Fanny found, before many days were past, that it was not all uninterrupted enjoyment to the party themselves, and that she had not to witness the continuance of such unanimity and delight as had been … at first. Everybody began to have their vexation. Edmund had many. Entirely against his judgment, a scene-painter arrived from town, and was at work, much to the increase of the expenses, and, what was worse, of the eclat of their proceedings; and his brother, instead of being really guided by him as to the privacy of the representation, was giving an invitation to every family who came in his way. Tom himself began to fret over the scene-painter’s slow progress, and to feel the miseries of waiting. He had learned his part—all his parts, for he took every trifling one that could be united with the Butler, and began to be impatient to be acting; and every day thus unemployed was tending to increase his sense of the insignificance of all his parts together, and make him more ready to regret that some other play had not been chosen.
Fanny, being always a very courteous listener, and often the only listener at hand, came in for the complaints and the distresses of most of them. She knew that Mr. Yates was in general thought to rant dreadfully; that Mr. Yates was disappointed in Henry Crawford; that Tom Bertram spoke so quick he would be unintelligible; that Mrs. Grant spoiled everything by laughing; that Edmund was behindhand with his part, and that it was misery to have anything to do with Mr. Rushworth, who was wanting a prompter through every speech. She knew, also, that poor Mr. Rushworth could seldom get anybody to rehearse with him: his complaint came before her as well as the rest; and so decided to her eye was her cousin Maria’s avoidance of him, and so needlessly often the rehearsal of the first scene between her and Mr. Crawford, that she had soon all the terror of other complaints from him. So far from being all satisfied and all enjoying, she found everybody requiring something they had not, and giving occasion of discontent to the others. Everybody had a part either too long or too short; nobody would attend as they ought; nobody would remember on which side they were to come in; nobody but the complainer would observe any directions.
(Mansfield Park, Chapter XVIII )
Concluding Remarks
When Sir Thomas finds out about the theatre, he returns to the drawing-room “with an increase of gravity which was not lost on all.” “‘I come from your theatre,’ said he composedly, as he sat down; ‘I found myself in it rather unexpectedly. Its vicinity to my own room—but in every respect, indeed, it took me by surprise, as I had not the smallest suspicion of your acting having assumed so serious a character.’” Mr. Yates, without any discernment, keeps Sir Thomas on “the subject of the theatre, would torment him with …. an account of what they had done and were doing: told him of the gradual increase of their views, the happy conclusion of their first difficulties, and present promising state of affairs; relating everything …” Mr. Yates is so blind as to not see “Sir Thomas’s dark brow contract as he looked with inquiring earnestness at his daughters and Edmund, dwelling particularly on the latter, and speaking a language, a remonstrance, a reproof, which he felt at his heart. …. Such a look of reproach at Edmund from his father [Fanny] could never have expected to witness; and to feel that it was in any degree deserved was an aggravation indeed. Sir Thomas’s look implied, ‘On your judgment, Edmund, I depended; what have you been about?’” In Mr. Yates’s relation of his theatre at Ecclesford, Sir Thomas “found much to offend his ideas of decorum”. Sir Thomas tries to turn it all off, and excuse his children as much as he can, “That I should be cautious and quick-sighted, and feel many scruples which my children do not feel, is perfectly natural; and equally so that my value for domestic tranquillity, for a home which shuts out noisy pleasures, should much exceed theirs.”
Edmund’s first object the next morning was to see his father alone, and give him a fair statement of the whole acting scheme, defending his own share in it as far only as he could then, in a soberer moment, feel his motives to deserve, and acknowledging, with perfect ingenuousness, that his concession had been attended with such partial good as to make his judgment in it very doubtful. He was anxious, while vindicating himself, to say nothing unkind of the others: but there was only one amongst them whose conduct he could mention without some necessity of defence or palliation. “We have all been more or less to blame,” said he, “every one of us, excepting Fanny. Fanny is the only one who has judged rightly throughout; who has been consistent. Her feelings have been steadily against it from first to last. She never ceased to think of what was due to you. You will find Fanny everything you could wish.”
Sir Thomas saw all the impropriety of such a scheme among such a party, and at such a time, as strongly as his son had ever supposed he must; he felt it too much, indeed, for many words; and having shaken hands with Edmund, meant to try to lose the disagreeable impression, and forget how much he had been forgotten himself as soon as he could, after the house had been cleared of every object enforcing the remembrance, and restored to its proper state. He did not enter into any remonstrance with his other children: he was more willing to believe they felt their error than to run the risk of investigation. The reproof of an immediate conclusion of everything, the sweep of every preparation, would be sufficient.
There was one person, however, in the house, whom he could not leave to learn his sentiments merely through his conduct. He could not help giving Mrs. Norris a hint of his having hoped that her advice might have been interposed to prevent what her judgment must certainly have disapproved. The young people had been very inconsiderate in forming the plan; they ought to have been capable of a better decision themselves; but they were young; and, excepting Edmund, he believed, of unsteady characters; and with greater surprise, therefore, he must regard her acquiescence in their wrong measures, her countenance of their unsafe amusements, than that such measures and such amusements should have been suggested. Mrs. Norris was a little confounded and as nearly being silenced as ever she had been in her life; for she was ashamed to confess having never seen any of the impropriety which was so glaring to Sir Thomas, and would not have admitted that her influence was insufficient—that she might have talked in vain. Her only resource was to get out of the subject as fast as possible, and turn the current of Sir Thomas’s ideas into a happier channel. …. Sir Thomas gave up the point ….
Sir Thomas was in hopes that another day or two would suffice to wipe away every outward memento of what had been, even to the destruction of every unbound copy of Lovers’ Vows in the house, for he was burning all that met his eye. ….
The evening passed with external smoothness, though almost every mind was ruffled; and the music which Sir Thomas called for from his daughters helped to conceal the want of real harmony.
(Mansfield Park, Chapter XX , underlining mine)
Deirdre Le Faye writes of the Mansfield theatricals:
Some people wonder why, since the young Austens themselves performed plays at home in Steventon, Jane should apparently disapprove of the amateur dramatics at Mansfield Park; but such critics here confuse reality and fiction. The point Jane is making in the novel is not that amateur dramatics are themselves wrong in principle, but that the Bertrams know their father would disapprove and are therefore disobeying him in his absence, as well as choosing a play which, as Fanny realizes, is unsuitable for performance in a domestic circle, and which only exacerbates the jealousies and quarrels already existing among the young people. As Jane intended, the sexual tensions created at this time between Maria and Henry Crawford, and Edmund and Mary Crawford, as they rehearse their parts all too enthusiastically, make the production of Lovers’ Vows the turning point for the eventual collapse of the Bertram family group.8
“We mean nothing but a little amusement among ourselves,” says Tom, “just to vary the scene, and exercise our powers in something new.” “What should prevent us?” is Mr. Crawford’s comment. “I have no fears and no scruples”, Tom tells his brother.
“For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.” (Luke 6:44). The play is proved wrong by its result. A harmless scheme would have caused no harm. Instead, the intimacy it created between Henry and Maria led to her expecting a proposal from him, led to her dissatisfaction with Mr. Rushworth, led to a renewal of their flirtation, and led, finally, to Maria running away with Henry, and her subsequent disgrace, as well as his loss of the woman he truly loved. Maria’s guilt also precipitated Julia’s elopement with Mr. Yates, and caused great suffering to all her family. Tom later suffers “self-reproach arising from the deplorable event in Wimpole Street [that is, Maria’s running away with Mr. Crawford], to which he felt himself accessory by all the dangerous intimacy of his unjustifiable theatre”.
Footnotes:
1 Deirdre Le Faye, Jane Austen: The World of Her Novels (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2002), p. 242.
2 Ibid., p. 241.
3 Mrs. Inchbald, Lovers’ Vows, Act I, Scene I.
4 Ibid., Act III, Scene I.
5 Ibid., Act IV, Scene I.
6 Ibid.
7 Ibid., Act V, Scene II.
8 Le Faye, p. 242.
All images are from the 1983 adaptation of ‘Mansfield Park’ (with Sylvestra Le Touzel as Fanny Price).
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Who is to take over from Stephen Fry in the next series of Q.I.? | Sandi Toksvig will bring 'naughty sense of humour' to QI, says show's creator | Media | The Guardian
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Sandi Toksvig will bring 'naughty sense of humour' to QI, says show's creator
Panel game’s producer reveals that Stephen Fry only took over as its presenter when his original choice, Michael Palin, turned it down
Sandi Toksvig is to take over from Stephen Fry as host of the BBC’s QI. Photograph: BBC
Wednesday 14 October 2015 08.55 EDT
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Stephen Fry was supposed to be a team captain on BBC2 panel game QI when it started in 2003, but reluctantly took over as its presenter when the producer’s original choice, Michael Palin, turned it down.
Taking over on a “temporary basis” and “just for the pilot”, Fry is still in the presenter’s chair 13 series and 180 episodes later. He will step down after the next series, beginning this week, and be succeeded by Sandi Toksvig .
“I begged Stephen to stand in just for the pilot,” recalled John Lloyd, the QI producer who made three of television’s all-time comedy greats – Blackadder, Spitting Image and Not the Nine O’Clock News.
Stephen Fry to step down as presenter of BBC's QI
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“He said ‘I really don’t want to do this, I want to be captain of the clever team’ [opposite Alan Davies’s, er, less clever team]. And when we saw the pilot, we thought it was the job that Stephen was born to do.”
The then BBC2 controller Jane Root agreed, and agreed to commission the first series of the show on the condition that Fry was in the chair. It also explains the slightly lop-sided nature of the show, with Davies the only regular panellist.
“It’s a hell of a job,” said Lloyd. “He has got to be on top, three times a week, of an extraordinary raft of material on everything from raspberries to electrons and stay upbeat and cheerful about it.”
Palin had turned down the role after returning from the Sahara where he was filming his latest BBC1 travelogue.
“I took Mike out for lunch and said I’ve got your third career, comedy, travel and now you are going to do brains. He said ‘I’m not clever enough’; I said, ‘You don’t have to worry about that, we’ll do all the clever stuff for you.’
“I was distraught when he turned it down. I took all the team out to the pub and we all got absolutely slaughtered. I thought the game was up.”
Instead it was just beginning. Thirteen series later, Lloyd will take the opportunity to reinvent the show again with Toksvig in the chair, who he knows well as the originator of Radio 4’s News Quiz which she presented for a decade.
Lloyd said Fry had been talking about going “for two or three years”. “It’s tiring, everyone wants him, he is all over the world doing those extraordinary documentaries and he’s got his own production company to run. We have had a great run, it’s time to move on.”
Lloyd described Toksvig as a “national treasure”. “She is extraordinary,” he said. “Obviously Stephen’s shoes are enormous and Sandi is capable of filling them. She was the best chair the News Quiz ever had, I used to stop the car because I was laughing so much.
“We are blessed because we have got somebody who is so different [to Stephen] and yet will bring to the show the same kind of wonderful thing that Stephen does, the mixture of real brains and a hinterland of knowledge, plus this naughty sense of humour.
“It will also allow us to look at the format again and do things in a slightly different way. We are really gung-ho about it.”
Toksvig is also the first female presenter of a mainstream TV comedy show. On why it has taken so long to break this particular duck, Lloyd said: “The world moves on. The reason there weren’t many comics on panel games 10 years ago is there weren’t many female comics in the country. There was Jo Brand, but you struggled.
“Now you go to the Edinburgh festival and the women are winning all the prizes, there is a raft of brilliant stand-up comics breaking through all over the world. We are spoilt for choice.”
| Sandi Toksvig |
In which French city does the Pont Saint-Benezet only partly span the river Rhone? | QI - Wikiquote
QI
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QI , standing for Quite Interesting, is a comedy panel game shown on BBC Two and BBC Four and was hosted by Stephen Fry , until Series M, now hosted by Sandi Toksvig with permanent panellist Alan Davies .
Contents
Episode A.01 "Adam"[ edit ]
[On the subject of Adam and Eve]
Stephen Fry : But perhaps, you know, we should believe in Adam and Eve. Geneticists have established that every woman in the world shares a single female ancestor who lived a hundred and fifty thousand years ago. Scientists actually call her "Eve", and every man shares a single male ancestor called "Adam". It's also been established, however, that Adam was born eighty thousand years after Eve. So the world before him was one of heavy to industrial-strength lesbianism, one assumes.
[After a question concerning Burmese etiquette]
Stephen Fry: While double-checking this … on the Internet, we came up with the extraordinary information that it's considered polite to express joy by eating snow and to send unwanted guests away by biting their leg, and normal behaviour to wipe your mouth on the sofa. This is actually true, the researchers were writing this down with great excitement about Burma, only to discover in the end that Burma turned out to be the name of a poodle belonging to the author of the website.
Stephen Fry: Now, why... Hugh?
Alan Davies: That’s how you spell it!
Stephen Fry: Oh, no, let Hugh... Poor Hugh.
Hugh Laurie: No really, that’s fine. I was gonna say exactly that. It’s got that many Ds in it, cos that’s his name! If you took the Ds out, it would be a different name.
Alan Davies: Ewar Woowar!
Hugh Laurie: Ewar Woowar.
Stephen Fry: Exactly. It would be Ewar Woowar. It’s a sort of structural device, like a joist, which stops his name collapsing into the sort of spongey mass of Ewar Woowar.
Stephen Fry: What would you do with a pencil and a lesser anteater?
Alan Davies: Oh, hours of fun.
Episode A.02 "Astronomy"[ edit ]
[Alan stops writing and looks up at Stephen.]
Rich Hall: Here we go again.
Alan Davies: Pluto is a planet! It was discovered in the 1930s. It was the most recent planet to be discovered.
Stephen Fry: It was discovered by Clive Tombaugh in 1930 exactly, yes.
Bill Bailey: It’s a collection of gasses, it’s not actually...
Stephen Fry: It’s not a planet. By no criterion by which planets are judged could Pluto be said...
Alan Davies: It’s really, really big and it goes around the sun!
Stephen Fry: Yes, but it’s not really that big at all. It’s tiny.
Alan Davies: Well, that’s why it took so long to find! Don’t be hard on it cos it’s small!
Alan Davies: Pluto and Bangkok don’t exist. I’m scared to go out.
Alan Davies: Is gay whispers like Chinese whispers
Stephen Fry: Much more fun, I assure you, much more fun.
Episode A.03 "Aquatic Animals"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry : Holmes was retired by this point, and was keeping bees on the Sussex Downs.
Alan Davies : Against their will?
Stephen Fry: What begins with A, has six Cs, and no Bs?
Clive Anderson : Is it the Welsh alphabet?
Alan Davies: I’ve got that in my pond, I get rid of it.
Stephen Fry: No. Think about how many people you kill by doing that. You might just as well go around with a pillow and just clamp them to old lady’s faces. You bastard.
Episode A.04 "Atoms"[ edit ]
Rob Brydon : Softly with their songs.
Episode A.06 "Antidotes"[ edit ]
[Danny Baker has related a theory that states if a person can lick their own elbow, then they will be immortal.]
Stephen Fry : But isn't that how socialism was invented, that someone said, "Come, let us lick each other's elbows"?
Danny Baker : The fourth largest navy in the world, if one goes by boats alone? Disney. Disney has the fourth largest flotilla in the world.
Stephen Fry: Good God. They'll be making films next!
Alan Davies : How do you spell ribbit? Oh, like that.
Stephen Fry: That’s apparently how you spell it.
Alan Davies: No, that’s rabbit in New Zealand.
Episode A.07 "Arthropods"[ edit ]
Jackie Clune : I have an Australian girlfriend who has two vaginas. She went to have a smear test and the doctor said, "Well, I've got some good news and some bad news. You've got some precancerous cells, but they're only in one of your vaginas." She says, "Oh, I've been saving the other one for that special man."
Stephen Fry : You could call the American Indians, or Native Americans, you could call them Aboriginals if you wanted.
Alan Davies : You could. But it’s more fun to call them redskins.
Stephen Fry: Yes. I wouldn’t try it though, in America.
Alan Davies: No.
Jimmy Carr : By a woman scorned?
Alan Davies: I know that the stingray sucks food up from the sea bed.
Stephen Fry: Yeah, it’s more of a fish than an insect.
Alan Davies: It can locate and suck up food from a foot below the surface of the sea bed.
Stephen Fry: It’s what we in the gay community call a bottom feeder.
Alan Davies: Can I be in the gay community?
Stephen Fry: Oh, very well.
Alan Davies: Can I be an arthropod and in the gay community?
Stephen Fry: It’s a specialist area, but I’m sure there are many websites devoted to it.
Alan Davies: The gay arthropods.
Stephen Fry: The gay arthropods.
Episode A.08 "Albania"[ edit ]
Sean Lock: Banana plants, whatever they're called, walk.
Stephen Fry: Nurse, nurse, he's out of bed again.
Sean Lock: ...they do, they walk. I travelled to Colombia and went to a banana plantation and I was admiring this banana tree said "hold on a minute, what about this patch next to the tree and the man said "the banana trees they walk".
[After 15 seconds...]
Stephen Fry: The intelligent voices in my head tell me you're absolutely right Sean, they do walk! They walk up to 40 centimetres in a lifetime.
Stephen Fry: You should read the books.
Alan Davies : I don’t have time to read the books. I haven’t read all yours yet.
Stephen Fry: It’s full of interesting stuff. For instance, Bond has these strange ideas, he has this idea that homosexuals can’t whistle, for example.
Alan Davies: Its cos they’ve got cock in their mouth.
[Stephen drops his head to the desk.]
Stephen Fry: I want you to go and stand in the corner.
Stephen Fry: If a lion mates with a tiger, you get a …?
Alan Davies: Scandal.
Episode A.09 "Africa"[ edit ]
Jo Brand : Can I just say something that's very strange? Because there's some German chewing gum called Spunk, and, um, you do have to be careful you don't swallow it—but in fact, I actually talked about that chewing gum on Clive James's show with you [pointing at Stephen] and Princess Diana! Do you remember? Seriously!
Alan Davies : [wearily] That was a dream. You've got to sort these out.
Stephen Fry : Who are the Lords of Shouting?
Jo Brand and Alan Davies: [hitting their buzzers] WE ARE!
Jeremy Hardy : Thatcher's grave is going to be a permanent urinal to all decent people, isn't it?
Stephen Fry: How do hedgehogs make love?
Alan Davies: Carefully!
[Forfeit klaxon goes off - CAREFULLY]
Stephen Fry: What's long and pink and hard in the morning? Answer - The Financial Times crossword.
Alan Davies: An old lady gave me a Kit Kat recently, and it tasted exactly like old lady’s cupboards. And I looked on the sell by date and it was 1998.
Stephen Fry: Oh, bless.
Dave Gorman: Are you using the phrase ‘old lady’s cupboards’ in any kind of euphemistic sense?
Episode A.10 "Aviation"[ edit ]
[Discussing the airport luggage codes that would cause you to have MAD BAD FAT SAD OLD GIT on your suitcase]
Stephen Fry : … which means they would in fact have recently visited Madrid, which is "MAD" … Bossy-er City, Louisiana …
Alan Davies: Do you want some?
Episode A.11 "Arts"[ edit ]
[Discussing the possibility of receiving xenotransplanted organs from pigs]
Linda Smith : Now what are the chances of a reckless young pig, goes out and gets killed in a motorcycle accident? They probably don't even carry donor cards!
Alan Davies : I haven't read it!
Stephen Fry: You should—it's hilarious.
Stephen Fry: What, or which, is the largest living thing on earth?
Alan Davies: It is the blue whale?
[Forfeit klaxon goes off - BLUE WHALE]
Alan Davies: I had an ants nest in my flat once.
Stephen Fry: Did you? What did you do?
Alan Davies: Well, I was fairly stupid about it, because I saw an ant, I thought ‘there’s an ant in the flat’. And the next day I saw an ant and I thought ‘oh, there he is.’
Stephen Fry: It’s the same one?
Alan Davies: And this went on for a couple of weeks, and then one day I moved the telephone table, there’s loads of them there. They went, [gasps]. Hoovered them. Hoovered the lot of them.
Stephen Fry: No.
Episode A.12: "Advent" (Christmas Special)[ edit ]
Stephen Fry : I'll give you an extra two points if you can tell me the longest fence in the world.
Phill Jupitus : The Great Fence of China!
Alan Davies : It's to keep people off the Great Wall.
Stephen Fry: There's a village in Nuremburg whose name means "eavesdropper" in German . Now, what did this village provide the whole world with for almost 100 consecutive Christmases?
Sean Lock : [holding up his fists] They're very stumpy, though.
Alan Davies: She disguised herself as a man to sneak into the king’s chamber.
Stephen Fry: No. She was just very miffed at not being able to marry.
Sean Lock: You sound like you’re in a school play then. “She disguised herself as a man...!” You’re supposed to be an actor!
Stephen Fry: Have you never seen Jonathan Creek?
Episode B.02 "Birds"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry : [about woodpeckers' tongues] How does it fit into its mouth, you may wonder? Well, it has to wrap it round its brain and the back of its eye sockets. Funnily enough, woodpeckers are very popular on creationist websites, because they argue that this is such an extraordinary creature designed so fit for its purpose, and so on, that only a designer could have made it, it couldn't have evolved. Apart from everything else, when it moves, sometimes up to fifteen or sixteen times a second it beats the wood to make a hole, which is incredibly fast and generates immense forces—two hundred and fifty times more forces than an astronaut is subjected to. It's a thousand Gs. And it has these extraordinary kind of little muscles and cartilages around its brain to stop it from shattering. [suddenly laughs] If the pecker's got wood, why go for tongue, you may argue! Um … [giggles as everyone stares at him] … but it is pretty astonishing …
Jo Brand : Could we maybe have an offshoot of this program called Quite Unnecessary? Can I be on that?
Jo Brand: When I was a teenager, someone I knew gave their dog LSD …
Stephen Fry: Oh, my Lord!
Jo Brand: … It went to Glastonbury.
Episode B.03 "Bombs"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry : Phil, one for you, I think. What goes ‘woof, woof, boom’?
Phil Jupitus : Suicidal corgi. The next Norwegian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest? [Singing.] “My heart goes woof, woof, boom.”
Bill Bailey : Do we?
Stephen Fry: … Don't we, Bill?
Bill Bailey: Yes, when we live our lives like 1950s detective films, yes. I often go to my fridge, "Hullo, we're out of milk. I say, mother, where's the milk?"
Stephen Fry: You beast, you beast, you utter, utter, beast.
[Alan holds up his board. It says, ‘sit look rub panda.’]
Stephen Fry: I don’t know, it’s like occupational therapy in an old people’s home. Oh, hello, what have you got here?
Jimmy Carr: [Reading his board.] ‘Put smarties tubes on cats legs make them walk like a robot’.
Stephen Fry: Brilliant. That is absolutely wonderful. He’s used all his letters.
Alan Davies: That is unbe-fucking-lievable. It makes sense. They would walk like a robot. It’s an idea. It’s like giving people an idea.
Bill Bailey: It puts this completely to shame. [He holds his board up. It says, ‘gay elf romp’.]
Alan Davies: I can’t even imagine how you managed to do that!
Stephen Fry: No, I’m sure you can’t, Alan.
Jimmy Carr: It does work, actually. It’s a lovely way to spend an afternoon.
Episode B.06 "Beavers"[ edit ]
Bill Bailey : How many amoebas does it takes to change a lightbulb? One. No, two. No, four. No, eight …
Stephen Fry : They are homophones. They do sound the same … and they hate gay people.
[After Alan incorrectly guesses that Julius Caesar was born by Caesarian section.]
Stephen Fry: We don't know anything particularly extraordinary about his birth, we just wanted, uh, Laughing Boy [gestures to Alan] here to fall into the trap.
Stephen Fry: How many moons does the earth have?
Alan Davies: Two.
Stephen Fry: Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.
Alan Davies: We did this last series!
Stephen Fry: Yes, but Alan, that was last year. There have been three more discovered.
Alan Davies: Oh, shut up!
Episode B.07 "Biscuits"[ edit ]
Arthur Smith: Oh yeah, you do know.
Episode B.08 "Bees"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry : Honeybees have evolved a complex language to tell each other where the best nectar is, using the sun as a reference point. Amazingly, they can also do this on overcast days and at night by calculating the position of the sun on the other side of the world. This means they can actually learn and store information despite the—
Alan Davies : Has it occurred to you that they may not be using the sun? That whoever has worked that out is wrong? He's now said, "Even if you can't see it or it's on the other side of the world, they still use it." And these bees are thinking, "No, we don't! We just remember where we live!" Why is it so remarkable that they know where they live?
Stephen Fry: … Well, because they have only 950,000 neurons, as opposed to our 10,000,000,000 neurons in our brains.
Alan Davies: But they've only got one thing to remember—where they live.
Alan Davies: Why did the mushroom go to the party?
Stephen Fry: Oh, right.
Alan Davies: What's orange and sounds like a parrot?... A carrot.
Stephen Fry: What's red and silly?... A blood clot. [The audience groans, Alan grimaces] Oh, don’t look at me like that, you fucking pig-eyed sack of shit! Don't you do that!
Alan Davies: You've spoiled it. What's red and sits in the corner? A naughty strawberry.
Rich Hall : What's green and sings? Elvis Parsley.
[Discussing the potential benefits of time travel, such as witnessing historic moments or seeing yourself at a younger age]
Rich Hall: I had a rolled-up ball of socks. And a hamper all the way across the room. And I just went like that … [imitates a casual throw] … right? Hits the wall, bounces off the ceiling, off this wall, back across that wall, right into the hamper. From, like, forty feet away. I would go back and watch that again.
Episode B.09 "Bats"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry : If I've got a mothball in this hand and a mothball in that hand, what have I got?
Alan Davies : Two mothballs?
Stephen Fry: No, a rather excited moth.
Stephen Fry: In Britain in 1994, you might be interested to know, there were an astonishing range of accidents reported by the, erm … [deep breath] … Trade and Industries Consumer Safety Units Home Accidents Surveillance History Report. Eight people in the UK in '94 were injured by placemats. Thirteen sustained cruet injuries. Five were wounded by dustpans. Eight suffered as a result of a breadbin accident. Five were hurt by sieves. Fourteen fell foul of a serving trolley. Seventeen were treated for injuries caused by a draught excluder. Four hundred and seventy-six people were injured while on the lavatory … there you are. Underwear hurt eleven people.
Alan Davies: How many of those people were drunk?
Stephen Fry: Well, exactly. Or how many of them were sexually experimental?
[discussing the naked chef who won the only race of the first ancient Olympics]
Stephen Fry: He, of course, won by a short head- no... After his final spurt- NO, shut up!
Episode B.10 "Bills"[ edit ]
[...]
Sean Lock: But I don't think spiders are that into puns.
Stephen Fry: Well, the answer to this question is, it does seem to be classical music. They did an experiment, er, and they found that ...
Mark Gatiss: Who are "they"? Who are "they"?
Stephen Fry: University of Ohio, in this instance, is "they". Or are "they".
Sean Lock: The University of Fuck-All-Else-Better-To-Do.
Linda Smith : Formerly the Polytechnic of Fuck-All-Else-To-Do.
Episode B.12 "Birth" (Christmas Special)[ edit ]
Alan Davies : I'm not as stupid as you think.
Stephen Fry : No, you're not. You couldn't be.
Alan Davies: What would your super power be of choice?
Stephen Fry: Invisibility.
[Talking about Old Testament mythology.]
Alan Davies : Why do people believe all this stuff, Stephen?
Stephen Fry : Well, it’s whether you agree with it or not—
Alan Davies: Never mind televisions ruined Bhutan, this stuff is responsible for some serious aggravation in the world. And people believe it all, for God’s sake! They do believe it all! Bronze age mythology, they believe it all.
Stephen Fry: People believing in manna doesn’t really upset me or anybody sensible as much as, say, than believing—
Alan Davies: I don’t eat meat, right? I don’t eat meat, and someone actually said to me, someone who should remain nameless, really angrily: “Animals were put on earth for us to eat.” What does he mean by that? Put by whom?
Stephen Fry: That’s silly. Off course that’s silly.
Alan Davies: I said: “You can eat one if you want, but don’t shout at me about them being put there like it’s some big toy farmyard.” You are really clever, why do they believe it all? Can’t they just go: “Bwooh, that was mad, I thought that was true for a minute.” Why do people believe it?!
Stephen Fry: Because they are foolish and ignorant and scared.
Alan Davies: They need to believe it? Do they need to believe it?
Stephen Fry: There is a distinction to be drawn between those who claim to have access to revealed truth and therefore claim to know what happens to us after we’re dead on the basis of a text, whether it’s a Quran or a Holy Bible.
Alan Davies: But why do people believe them?
Stephen Fry: Which is nonsensical. And if they want to believe it, they’re fine, but they mustn’t push it down our throats and they mustn’t tell me whom I’m allowed to go to bed with and whom I’m not allowed to go to bed with. It’s not acceptable. Anybody who tells me what happens after I’m dead is either a liar or a fool, because they don’t know.
Alan Davies: That is what I mean! I don’t mind—
Stephen Fry: The myth of the Jewish people having manna dropped on their heads, that doesn’t actually matter. That’s no more different — that’s like Greek myth or any other myth, that’s fine. It’s when it gets to telling people how to behave is where we do draw the line.
Series Three [C][ edit ]
Episode C.01 "Campanology"[ edit ]
Rob Brydon : There a map, which I think MI5 had, that shows not just Hadrian's Wall , but Hadrian's Conservatory and Hadrian's water feature, which is very nice, it sort of cascades down over pebbles.
Stephen Fry: Yes, Carlisle is in a sense Hadrian's sliding patio door, isn't it?
[on the Ordnance Survey map]
Stephen Fry : Well, each town is 30.000 pounds, and...
Rob Brydon : For Talbot ? They're not gonna charge 30.000 pounds for Talbot, Stephen. They're not gonna get that.
Stephen Fry: Talbot, is that on the south Welsh coast, by any chance?
Rob Brydon: Yes. No, you'd be lucky to get 15 quid for that.
Stephen Fry: Well, Port Talbot may be less than 30.000 pounds, but it's like that old joke isn't it? About the atomic bomb going off in Cardiff, and causing seven pounds worth of damage.
Alan Davies : Did you know all the rats in England all face the same direction at any given time?
Stephen Fry: Oh, come on.
Bill Bailey : No, that's right. Because they're magnetic, aren't they, rats?
Alan Davies: They spent so long in lead lined sewage pipes, that they move with the curvature of the earth.
Bill Bailey: Hence the phrase "there's rat, and true rat. And absolute rat."
Rob Brydon: Is this a reference to the joke about "What is a sheep tied to a lamp post in Cardiff "? It's a leisure center.
Rich Hall : For five million pounds, I'd want a map that showed me looking at the map I'd just bought.
Rich Hall : The first time I said the word fuck, my dad heard me. Walked by my bedroom door and I said "Dad shut the door, I'm trying to fuck in here."
[On the Isle of Wight being the last place in Britain to be Christianized]
Stephen Fry: It was in 686 AD, almost a century after the rest of the country. Subjugated by Cædwalla who was king of the West Saxons and who had killed most of the Pagan population to Christianize it. Good ol' Christianity .
Stephen Fry: ...the harder and firmer it becomes. You could slowly [gestures with protruding finger] put your finger through it...
Rich Hall: Oh boy. Here we go.
Stephen Fry: The finger slips in smoothly...
Rich Hall: Wow.
Stephen Fry: It's... No. [embarrassed] Please, help me out here. But if you slap it hard... [realises, double facepalms] Oh, dear.
Alan Davies: Are all the stars round?
Stephen Fry: I can't answer that. Um, I think probably most-
Alan Davies: Yet you know what people thought five hundred years ago?
Stephen Fry: Do I read books? Yes. Have I visited every star in the universe? No. Is this something you find difficult to understand? [A few moments of silence pass.] You've set me off.
Stephen Fry: What is a taffy pull?
Rob Brydon: Is this another dig at my forefathers?
Stephen Fry: You've got four fathers? The Welsh are weird.
Episode C.02 "Cummingtonite"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry : Who, or what, is Cummingtonite?
Alan Davies : [Giggles] I don’t know. The night is young, Stephen.
Arthur Smith : It’s marvellous to be six because you’re not aware of your own mortality. You think you’re the centre of the universe... Days last a hundred years! It’s always summer! You can put your head in some custard and no one cares.
Doon Mackichan : I'd quite like to be, sort of … a minute … old. After the smack and everything's washed off, you're straight on the tit, you've got entertainment, you've got sleep and you can cry all the time without anyone thinking you're weird.
[Guessing the contents of the Queen's handbag]
Doon Mackichan: The Little Book of Calm … and mace spray.
Episode C.03 "Common Knowledge"[ edit ]
Jimmy Carr : I'll tell you what though, the only indigineous mammals in Australasia are marsupials.
Sean Lock : He had eleven knuckles!
Alan Davies : And, in fact, was actually a chicken.
Stephen Fry: [exasperated] So, the most biographed man in the 18th century...
Alan Davies: Something’s 98% water, I know it is.
Jimmy Carr: Is it the sea?
Stephen Fry: Do you remember anything he said?
Sean Lock: No, not a word. He said something about calcium, there’s a tree with a funny name, I don’t know. Koalas invented rice. Um, other stuff. He’s like a robot!
Episode C.04 "Cheating"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry : So tonight we have three astronauts, and one astro-minus-25. Ha, the things I do with words.
[ Jeremy Clarkson holds up a sign saying "I like Stephen".]
Stephen Fry : It's like having your own little performing donkeys.
Stephen Fry: In 1900 there was a sport where Britain won a gold medal, in which the only other country that competed was France. Can you imagine what that might have been?
Alexander Armstrong : It smells of guava.
Episode C.05 "Cat's Eyes"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry : What do you get when you cross a camel with a leopard?
Jo Brand : You get a fireside rug you can have a good hump on.
Sean Lock : You get sacked from the zoo?
[On how the ancient armies caught elephants]
Rich Hall : Well, the truth of the matter is many of these elephants volunteered. They came from small towns, there was no future, no … no circus coming through town …
Episode C.06 "Cockneys"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry : Now, tonight any flamencos you give in Pyong score barney. And I’ll also give you two Sundays...
Alan Davies : What the fuck are you talking about?!
Stephen Fry: So, the question is, how does the U.S. government look after its sequoia groves?
Bill Bailey : Er … lions … and tigers are let loose to roam the surrounding areas …
Alan Davies: Do they try to win the hearts and minds of the sequoia?
Stephen Fry: Why shouldn't I strip Alan naked and cover him in gold paint?
Phill Jupitus : You win your Oscar properly like everyone else!
Episode C.07 "Constellations"[ edit ]
Sean Lock : I got the worst Christmas present ever, ever in my life. My sister gave me a "Grow Your Own Luffa" kit.
[forfeit klaxon goes off - BLACK]
Stephen Fry: Oh bless him, like a little puppy that runs into a wall.
Alan Davies: You can have any colour, so long as it's black.
Stephen Fry: Oh, he said that even. Even that phrase.
[forfeit klaxon goes off - ANY COLOR AS LONG AS IT'S BLACK]
Jeremy Clarkson: Did you know a veal has to have more space to be transported to the abattoir than a human being in the back of an aeroplane.
Sean Lock: ...yeah, but to be fair, we have a holiday, they get killed.
Jeremy Clarkson: I had a puffin last week, that's not delicious, but the point of eating it was because I never had one before...
Sean Lock: ...have you tried one of my turds?
Stephen Fry: Did you just say what I thought you said? Get out. Out now.
Jeremy Clarkson : D'you know what I had for my starter when I had the whale?
Stephen Fry: With grated puffin?
Jeremy Clarkson: I had a seal flipper, and it looked exactly like a marigold glove filled with wallpaper paste. And it sat and you thought, "Ooh …!" And it tasted exactly like licking a hot Turkish urinal.
Sean Lock: I'm very concerned that you used the word "exactly"...
[looking at the aries star sign]
Stephen Fry: Ah, there we are. It's some sort of goat. It's a goat waiting to be fucked from behind.
Sean Lock: It's a provocative goat.
Stephen Fry: Quite clearly a Greek goat.
Alan Davies: If you ask a lady for directions, she’ll ask you a question back. So if you say “do you know where the post office is?”, she’ll say, “do you wanna buy a stamp?”
Stephen Fry: Sweet.
Alan Davies: And you’ll find you’re having a nice chat, and everyone’s friends, but you’ve no idea where the post office is.
Episode C.08 "Corby"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry: Eros was the Greek god of love. This is the Angel of Christian Charity.
Alan Davies: Why is it called Eros, then?
Episode C.09 "Creatures"[ edit ]
Bill Bailey : I saw a goat up a tree in Morocco. They go right up the top! I couldn't believe it, I thought it was somebody in the pub having me on, but no …
Stephen Fry : And you're sure it was a tree, not a goathanger?
Stephen Fry: What does a pair of pygmy chimpanzees do when they see a box?
Helen Atkinson-Wood : Wear children's clothes and have a tea party.
Stephen Fry: An octopus the size of a volleyball can fit into a soft drink can.
Bill Bailey: Er, bluff.
Episode C.10 "Cleve Crudgington"[ edit ]
[after a question barrage from Alan]
Stephen Fry : I'm looking at my information card here because you're really pumping me, Alan. You're pumping me.
[On opening champagne bottles the correct way]
John Sessions : I was always taught to do that. You actually twist it …
Stephen Fry : Yeah, twist, exactly. That's it.
Mark Steel : Where do you get taught these things?
Stephen Fry: Well, where did you go to school, Mark Steel?
Mark Steel: I went to Swanley Comprehensive, and that was every Tuesday morning we did Double Champagne Opening!
Stephen Fry: This was at a party given by their graces the Duke and Duchess of Westminster—
[Whistles go off and the words "Luvvie Alarm" flash on the screen.]
Stephen Fry: Oh, no! Come on! No! No! Fair dos! No!
Clive Anderson : The richest man in the country apart from Roman Abramovich .
Stephen Fry: I never penetrated his intimate circle, but …
Stephen Fry: Anyway, Celtic nations but especially Caledonia are rightly praised for their creativity, so name three Scottish inventions.
Clive Anderson : Oh, and you're gonna say they weren't invented in Scotland, are you?
Stephen Fry: I don't know, depends on what you say.
Clive Anderson : Well, the television is always the one that's sort of claimed...
[forfeit klaxon goes off - TELEVISION]
Stephen Fry: [After revealing that neither Television, Haggis nor Whiskey was invented in Scotland] Scottish inventions and discoveries include: Adhesive stamps, the Australian national anthem, the Bank of England, bicycle pedals, the breach-loading rifle--you'll notice I'm going in alphabetical order--Bovril, the cell nucleus, chloroform, the cloud chamber, cornflower, a cure for malaria, the decimal point, the Encyclopedia Britannica, fountain pens, fingerprinting, hypnosis, hypodermic syringes, insulin, the kaleidoscope, the lawnmower, lime cordial, logarithms, lorries, marmalade, matches, motor insurance, paraffin, piano pedals, the postmark, pneumatic tyres, RADAR, the reflecting telescope, savings banks, the screw propeller, the speedometer, the steam hammer, raincoats, tarmac, teleprinters, tubular steel, typhoid vaccine, ultrasound scanners, the United States Navy, universal standard time, vacuum flasks, wave-powered electricity generations, and wire rope!
Alan Davies: Why is pussy another word for front bottom?
Stephen Fry: I don't know, it's not my area of expertise.
Stephen Fry: Anyway, back to Cleve Crudgington and his corks.
Alan Davies: Did he insert them into his person?
Stephen Fry: You will never know how thin the ice upon which you just skated was, there. We had a little forfeit all ready for you.
[Without the klaxon noise, the forfeit flashes on the screen - RAMS THEM UP HIS ARSE]
Stephen Fry: Oh, there it is. We know that’s what you were thinking.
Stephen Fry: I leave you with this cautionary snippet about paying attention. A radio interviewer from GLR radio carried away with news of a possible discovery of a cross between an elephant and a woolly mammoth, asked a palaeontologist "so it'd be like some sort of hairy gorilla, would it?" To which the palaeontologist replied "Yes, pretty much! Except elephant shaped. And eh, with tusks."
Episode C.11 "Carnival"[ edit ]
[On the novel The DaVinci Code ]
Stephen Fry: ... and I use the word books very loosely, like... The DaVinci Code. (spits) It is complete loose stool water. It is arse-gravy of the worst kind.
Alan Davies: He was a blues singer... "Please welcome Lou Stool Water!"
[Bill Bailey presses his steel guitar buzzer]
Series Four [D][ edit ]
Episode D.01: "Danger"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry : One in thirty million people risk dying by being murdered, the risk of choking to death is one in a hundred and twenty million, the risk of dying by tea cosy is one in twenty billion. There is, however, a one in two hundred and fifty seven thousand chance of you dying today during this programme.
Jimmy Carr : … What have you got planned for Round Two?
Stephen Fry: What is three times more dangerous than war?
[on the Darwin Awards ]
Jimmy Carr: It's the reason they should allow people to walk down the railway tracks if they so wish. If they can't work out a train's coming... [shrugs]
Stephen Fry: Right.
Jimmy Carr: Let's face it, the gene pool needs a little chlorine. [points around audience] You know who you are.
Stephen Fry: Another dangerous sport is russian roulette of course.
Alan Davies: That's dangerous. In the early days, you had a musket. You'd only have the one.
Episode D.02: "Discoveries"[ edit ]
Arthur Smith : D'you know what you should drink with the beating heart of a cobra? This is a dish in China where you get a cobra—and it's brought to the table alive. They then slice it open, rip the heart out, and it's beating on the plate there—you have to chase it round the plate, I s'pose—and then you drink the blood of the snake as the wine.
Clive Anderson : Actually, I ordered the lasagne …
Arthur Smith: I had occasion to hire a theatrical duck, once …
Clive Anderson: A luvvie duck!
Vic Reeves : In my career, I've had occasion to hire many, many an animal, but the most expensive was a pelican.
Stephen Fry : Was it an enormous bill?
Stephen Fry : Name something quite interesting that kangaroos can’t do.
Alan Davies: They can’t drive.
Episode D.03: "Dogs"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry : ....good evening and welcome to QI, for another tentative sniff at the enormous bottom of knowledge.
[on the differences between cats and dogs]
Liza Tarbuck : Cats mating, it can be a quite exclusive little gang, whereas dogs, they can run riots, so you could have a Great Dane with a Chihuahua .
Stephen Fry: It's a nice image.
Alan Davies : It would involve a stepladder. Or a ditch.
Stephen Fry: What's the most interesting thing a dog can smell?
Neil Mullarkey : [presses buzzer] A dog's dinner?
Stephen Fry: Yes. To a dog that is the most interesting thing a dog can smell.
Alan Davies: Other than that, another dog's bottom.
Stephen Fry: Yeah. Oh.
[On the Silbo Gomero whistling language]
Stephen Fry: Do you know how they communicate across valleys?
Alan Davies: Shout.
Neil Mullarkey: Mobile phone.
Stephen Fry: [grinning] No... Not... It's a language they use, but instead of their vocal cords, they...
Alan Davies: Fart?
Jeremy Clarkson: It was my favourite VC winner was a first World War fighter pilot. His name was Ferdinand West, I think. And they were attacked by 7 German planes. In the first, sort of, wave he had his leg shot off - completely off. So he, it was jamming the controls: he took it out and threw it out of the plane, manoeuvred his plane so they could get off some good bursts into the Germans, drove them away, dropped his bombs, landed back at base, apologised for the poor quality of his landing, and then sort medical attention.
Stephen Fry: My great-uncle had his tongue shot off in the war. He never talked about it.
Stephen Fry: You know that joke, don't you? What's the similarity is between the pelican and British Gas ? They can both can stick their bills up their arses.
Episode D.04: "Dictionaries"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry : Name, if you can, the subject of the three volume book whose first volume is entitled "The Long Years of Obscurity."
Phill Jupitus : The career of Phil Collins.
Ronni Ancona : Is this book about the word obscurity before it got famous? How it was beaten by its adjective father. And left on the doorstep abandoned by its mother, and it was the only noun growing up in a house of verbs. And the verbs were always going out doing lovely things, because they were doing words, and poor old obscurity was stuck inside suffering from asthma. And then after school it was surrounded by quotation marks and got beaten up terribly. And then one day entered into reality TV show and it became very famous and it was much in demand and used to describe all the people who leave Big Brother House?
Rory Bremner : They built the station next to the power station you see there, which is the third worst eyesore in the country. It was a Country Life thing—do you know what the first one was?
Phill Jupitus : [in a posh accent] People! Public people! Working classes! Poorly groomed servants! The ill-bred ponies! That Blair fellow!
Stephen Fry : If I find out you've been intercepting my mail …
[Discussing dolphins ]
Ronni Ancona : A lot of people say that they're smarter than people, but if they were, wouldn't they be saying that?
Ronni Ancona: It's so weird that these national heroes are not from the place they are supposed to be. William Wallace was from Kenya. His mother was Masai... Not really!
Stephen Fry : So, Culloden was really more of a local difficulty; it was Highland versus Lowland; it was like Celtic and Rangers. Catholic versus Protestant, essentially. It's that kind of fight. And it goes on to this day. Will we never learn? Who knows? Religion. Shit it.
Episode D.05: "Death" (Hallowe'en Special)[ edit ]
[Speaking of marmots]
Jimmy Carr: Longest wall in the world, not one cashpoint .
[After Stephen has had to have beer goggles explained to him]
Phill Jupitus : Stephen doesn't have beer goggles, he has Madeira pince-nez.
Episode D.07: "Differences"[ edit ]
Jo Brand : In fact, every woman in the world has got bird flu . But we don't give a shit, we just get on with our lives. Now it's only because a few men have caught it lately that people are going mad about it. "Oh, I've got bubonic plague , but I've still got to do the hoovering."
[About alcohol]
Alan Davies: Does it affect memory? Cos I’m fairly sure it does.
Stephen Fry: I did know that.
Alan Davies: Cos on my 30th birthday, I got some photos back after we had this dinner, and there were people with indoor sparklers. And I thought, “when did they have them? I must have gone to the loo or something. I don’t remember that.” And the next one was me with a sparkler. Then it’s me with two sparklers. Me lighting sparklers really intently, handing sparklers out.
[on breaking wind in front of the queen]
Julian Clary : It was just a little smidge as I thought, and I tried to get rid of it by internal squeezing. But it can't be done, and...
Stephen Fry : ...are the muscles a little lax down there?
Stephen Fry: What's the difference between table tennis and ping pong?
Jo Brand: In table tennis you serve the ball with a bat, and in ping pong it's launched from the vagina of a Thai woman.
[Stephen asks for Gandhi's first name, which is not 'Mahatma'.]
Stephen Fry: Do you know what "Mahatma" means?
Alan Davies : It means "Can I have my hat please, Mother?"
Episode D.08: "Descendants" (Children in Need Special)[ edit ]
Jonathan Ross : What's the protocol for when you see a really ugly baby?
Rich Hall : I'll tell you. People show you their babies on their phone now, and it's like a cashew with some hair coming out of it. The thing to say is "Nice phone".
[Discussing what babies have that adults do not]
Stephen Fry : They don't have kneecaps, do they?
Jonathan Ross: Aren't you confusing them with mer-babies?
[A picture of the KKK comes up]
Rich Hall : Oh man, of all the pictures you have to show.
Stephen Fry : I know, it's not good.
Rich Hall: That's my uncle in that.
[After not speaking for ages, Rich hits his buzzer.]
Stephen Fry: Er, Rich?
Rich Hall: Ever since the clangers, I’ve been lost. The last picture I recognised was the KKK and that’s pretty sad.
Episode D.09: "Doves"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry : Thirty-mile-an-hour winds come when a train enters the station, and a lot of hair gets blown down into the tunnels.
Andy Hamilton : That's how I lost mine, actually. Most of it is Tottenham Court Road.
[Talking about how Tube tunnels are cleaned]
Alan Davies : I don't understand why you can't have a—you know, like you used to have a cleaning tape for your cassette deck—you can't have a cleaning Tube? You'd just send a big furry train down …
Episode D.10: "Divination"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry: They've discovered a papyrus which has the whole book of Revelations--it's the oldest papyrus on the book of Revelations--and the number is 616, as was known about--
Graeme Garden: [pressing his buzzer] That's the fax number of the Beast.
Episode D.11: "Deprivation"[ edit ]
Mark Steel : You know what they say is a test of whether you're anal? Whether or not you keep your records in alphabetical order. I would surely think that it depends on how many records you got—I mean, if you've only got two and you keep going back and going "ABBA, ZZ Top, they're still there, that's lovely" but I've got a roomful of bloody records! I keep them in alphabetical order so I can find the one I want! Apparently that means I got a problem with me arse! How is that right?
Stephen Fry : What is meant by the expression "hoover the talking seal"?
Roger McGough : Well, it's either one of those wonderful Oz expressions for throwing up … "Excuse me, I've got to go hoover the talking seal …"
Stephen Fry: Or "My wife came in just as I was hoovering the talking seal …"
Roger McGough: [reciting a poem] A crab, I'm told, will not bite,
Or poison you just for spite;
Won't lie in wait beneath a stone,
Until one morning out alone,
You poke a finger like a fool
Into an innocent-looking pool;
And drag you off across the sand
Down into the bottom of the sea
To eat you dressed for Sunday tea.
The crab, I'm told, is a bundle of fun.
With claws like that? Pull the other one!
Episode D.12: "Domesticity"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry: Jo, what’s a good way to create the impression that you’ve cleaned the house when you haven’t?
Jo Brand: Just lock the door and kill everyone.
[Stephen answering the question on how to create the impression that you've cleaned the house when you haven't.]
Stephen Fry: You spray or apply furniture polish to a radiator, and it fills the room with the smell of furniture polish. These hints are either from a book called Trade Secrets by Katherine Lapworth and Alexandra Fraser, or from Superhints by the Lady...
Jo Brand: I know those two. They're slags, the pair of them.
Stephen Fry: What do you know of the book called Superhints by the Lady Wardington?
Jo Brand: Yeah, I know her.
Stephen Fry: Do you know the Lady Wardington?
Jo Brand: She's a bitch.
Stephen Fry: What is the cheapest way to remove blood stains from clothes? Let’s imagine if you cut yourself shaving and you get a spot there.
Alan Davies: The cheapest way?
Stephen Fry: Yeah.
Alan Davies: What, you have to go down to the river and beat it on a rock?
[Stephen has said that you get a better clean on a knife blade if you have it pointing up in the cutlery rack of a dishwasher.]
Phill Jupitus : I clean my knives in a crossbow. Some people say it's foolish. I put them in the hoover and set it on blow, and then shoot them and trap them around the kitchen, as I sit with a plug, bare-wired, at my feet, peeing on it! Gives it a better clean...
[A picture of a blood-spattered surgeon appears on the screen.]
Jo Brand : Can I just say, I'm so impressed you got a picture of my husband in our fantasy sex kit.
[on having to replace a door]
Alan Davies: The door handle kept turning like that. Turning and turning and turning, and I couldn’t get into the loo. And I really needed to go. So I kicked the door in. And it’s the only time I’ve ever kicked a door in. Brilliant! It was a really cheap, flimsy door, and it smashed, like that, and it exploded, and the door bit fell down, and there was wood everywhere, and I burst in, and [smiling triumphantly] had a crap.
Stephen Fry: Lovely. Very nice.
Episode D.13: "December" (Christmas Special)[ edit ]
Stephen Fry : Mithras was a saviour sent to Earth to live as a mortal, through whom it was possible for sinners to be reborn into immortal life; he died for our sins but came back to life the following Sunday; he was born of a virgin on December 25th in a manger or, perhaps, a cave, attended by shepherds, and became known as The Light of the World; he had twelve disciples with whom he shared a last meal before dying; his devotees symbolically consumed the flesh and blood of him. Because Mithras was a sun god he was worshipped on Sundays...
Alan Davies : Is he a tribute band?
Stephen Fry : There are dozens of religions in world mythology that have visits by wise men, kings who killed children to stop the new king from being born. There's a great deal in Christianity that's traditional. And however wonderful people think the story is, it's frankly not original.
Dara Ó Briain : That is an interesting direction to start a Christmas Special with.
Rich Hall : The nativity story in the bible, probably could find a hotel room because they hadn't booked in advance.
Alan Davies: They should known it will be busy. Because its Christmas.
[Forfeit klaxon goes off - PATRICK]
Alan Davies: Why do I even bother?
Series Five [E][ edit ]
Episode E.01: "Engineering"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry : Where is the best place to be when a nuclear bomb goes off?
Jimmy Carr : I would've gone with downtown Nagasaki. Because what are the chances of that happening again? You've got to play the odds.
Stephen Fry: What could you make with an ultrasound rectal probe, a light-emitting tube, bicycle helmets, protective clothing, a huge tub of Vaseline, and a wheel-barrow?
Jimmy Carr: I could make you the happiest man alive.
Stephen Fry: How does a love bomb work?
Rob Brydon: I turn up and I get on with it. (Applause.) Is a love bomb a bottom noise that can be made whilst you’re making lo...you know, sometimes you’re... and then all of a sudden, you know that noise, it’s really awkward and you pretend you haven’t heard it?
Stephen Fry: Rob? Rob, can I remind you of something? Your father is in the audience.
Rob Brydon: He’s happy to go ‘that’s my boy! You’re putting Wales on the map, Robert!’
[About vampire bats.]
Stephen Fry: How do they ingest their blood? What do they do?
Alan Davies: They bite and sniff it up. Swallow it. Lick it. Slurp it. Hide it. Store it. Decant it.
Stephen Fry: Decant it!?
Stephen Fry: Where is the biggest load of rubbish in the world?
Audience Member: France.
Stephen Fry: How can you tell that God is a civil engineer? Because when he designed the human body, he put the recreational area right next to the sewage outflow.
Episode E.02: "Electricity"[ edit ]
Alan Davies : Electric?
[Forfeit Klaxon goes off - ELECTRIC]
Stephen Fry : Now, question one, I think. I'm naked; it's pouring down with rain. Can you give me a good reason why I should crouch down with my bottom in the air? [Jo immediately rings in; Stephen is already laughing.] Jo.
Jo Brand : Stephen, I wouldn't have thought you'd need a good reason.
[The number of British people killed by lightning each year]
Stephen Fry: It's between three and six, actually, it's not very many.
Alan Davies: Four or five.
Stephen Fry: You’re not doing badly, I must say. A fulsome pair of funbags there.
Jo Brand: You know what? That was almost heterosexual.
Alan Davies: But it wasn’t though, was it?
Episode E.03: "Eating"[ edit ]
["What were cornflakes originally used for?"]
Johnny Vegas : It was for, er, putting in mattresses, for monks, as, er, an anti-masturbation sound trigger device …
[The audience begins to laugh.]
Stephen Fry : Johnny Vegas, take some points!
Johnny Vegas: You're jokin'!
[The whole studio roars with laughter. It's revealed that Will Keith Kellogg was a Seventh Day Adventist , and originally made Corn Flakes in an attempt to inhibit masturbation.]
[After hearing that eating nothing but rabbit will eventually kill you]
Johnny Vegas: My dad killed my pet rabbit and fed it to me.
[The audience is stunned.]
Stephen Fry: Do you remember what year it was?
Alan Davies: 3000 years ago. Tuesday morning.
Episode E.04: "Exploration"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry : I love the way your mind works, Alan Davies … and I use the word "works" quite wrongly.
Stephen Fry : Where do you put your ladder if you want it to go into space?
Rich Hall : On top of a spaceship. With a flag hanging on it, so other spaceships don't follow you too closely.
Bill Bailey : It's a conceptual question. How about this: Up against the wall of silence.
Stephen Fry : You should have railings build around you and people come and worship you as a kind of modern Buddha . You've got the look, I have to say.
Bill Bailey : Oh, thank you very much.
Bill Bailey : Rural Buddha [in a West Country accent] Wisdom...and cheap cider .
[after several hare brained schemes have been proposed by the panellists]
Bill Bailey : How about this: You could just...imagine.
Stephen Fry : Oh Bill, that is so beautiful.
Bill Bailey : 'Tis the wisdom of the rural Buddha.
Jeremy Clarkson : [Whilst audience are laughing] No.
Stephen: [Surprised voice] You find an oyster in the middle of a pearl?!
[on getting his foot stuck in a giant clam]
Jeremy: I was going "I wonder what happens if you put your foot in that?" and [claps hands] BOOM! It's got a sort of velvety, soft, rather comfortable place to get stuck.
Stephen: Doesn't it start ingesting it and squirting enzymes at your foot?
Jeremy: I was more worried by the meter saying how much air I had left in the tanks.
Stephen: Aren't you supposed to have a buddy when you dive?
Jeremy: Oh, I did. That was my wife, she had buggered off.
Episode E.07: "Espionage"[ edit ]
Jo Brand : There's a great story about Conan Doyle , actually. Just for a joke, one day, he wrote a note saying, We are discovered. Flee immediately, and he sent it to five of his friends to see what they would do. And one of them disappeared!
Stephen Fry : There was a time when all the elevator cables were sheared off in the Empire State Building. Do you know about this story?
Clive Anderson : Yeah, there was a giant ape on the side of it.
Episode E.08: "Eyes & Ears"[ edit ]
David Mitchell : Fish don't blink. Which is the main eye defence. If you're ever trying to get the eye out of a fish and it blinks... it may be a lion.
Jimmy Carr : It's just so stupid, isn't it? Beating your wife... I mean, it's your wife- it's like keying your own car!
David Mitchell: Society just got a tiny bit worse...
Jimmy Carr: I like to think I can help.
Stephen Fry : What happens if an ear wig gets into your ear?
David Mitchell: It gets into your brain, and it stays there, and you form a sort of symbiotic relation with it. It happened to me 20 years ago, and we've never been happier!
[forfeit klaxon goes off - IT BORES INTO YOUR BRAIN]
Jimmy Carr: You know if a spider lays its eggs underneath your skin, think about how much worse it'd be if it was a goose.
[on baby cats]
Alan Davies : If you cut their whiskers off, they can get their head stuck in a milk bottle, I know that.
Stephen Fry: ...from experience?
Alan Davies: They will try, if you put something at the bottom like a bit of tuna.
David Mitchell: And if they do actually manage it, you end up with a lovely bottled cat! That you can take to a party. "I couldn't decide red or white, so I brought a cat."
[on the myth about the brace position preserving dental records]
David Mitchell: I've heard that and frankly, I don't know why they don't just tell people! "In the unlikely event of the plane crashing, I think we can all agree, you'd like to be identified. Bite down as hard as you can on your own armrest."
Episode E.09: "Entertainment" ( Children in Need Special)[ edit ]
[Alan makes his entrance wearing an elephant mask.]
Alan Davies : I was the elephant in the room!
Stephen Fry : I know, it was brilliant.
Alan Davies: It was brilliant!
Stephen Fry: Well, bless him, when he arrived—I'm not wishing to sound patronising, but I've just said "bless him," so there's no way out—
Alan Davies: I took my nephews to London Zoo, because a friend of ours is a zoo-keeper there, and she can get you in sort of the back. And we went in to see a lion, and they said, "There's some mesh — there's small mesh and big mesh. You must stay on the side where the big mesh is. Don't go near the small mesh. Stay where the big mesh is. Do you understand?" And the kids went—[nods nervously] And we just went in, and my nephew turned to me and said, "What's mesh?"
Bill Bailey : I was in Brazil, and I went into an enclosure with a Jaguar. And this Brazilian handler said "It's very important: always approach from the front". And I went, right, okay, and I was just getting closer to the front of it. And then he said "Oh no, sorry, never. Sorry! My English..."
Stephen Fry: So that's all from Bill, Jo , Jeremy , Alan and Pudsey and me and I'll leave you with this thought about one form of entertainment we haven't covered tonight, from Noel Coward: "People are wrong when they say that opera is not what it used to be. It is exactly what it used to be, that is what is wrong with it." Good night.
Episode E.10: "England"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry : So that's the Cameroon's Eton tribe. They have other ethnic groups called the Bum, the Bang, the Banana, the Mang, the Fang, the Tang, the Wum, the Wam, the War, and, of course, the Pongo.
Sean Lock : Who discovered this tribe, Benny Hill ?
Alan Davies: We had a Jimmy Glasscock at school.
Stephen Fry: Oh, did you?
Alan Davies: Yeah, you could always see when he was coming.
Episode E.11: "Endings"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry : What is pink, has pendulous breasts, gets sailors all excited and tastes of prime beef? [as Jimmy rings in] Yes?
Jimmy Carr : Was Princess Margaret buried at sea?
Stephen Fry: It was before Haile Selassie , there was an emperor...
Jimmy Carr: Lowly Selassie.
[on getting static shock]
Doon Mackichan : But some people say, it's because of passion, like when you meet the man or woman of your dreams, you have an electric shock.
Jimmy Carr: Sometimes if I meet an attractive woman, I will tazer her.
[Which island did Britain's fourth Antarctic expedition get stranded on in 1916?]
Jimmy Carr: Oh! Is it the Island of Reluctant but Inevitable Homosexuality? [laughter] I think I recognise it from that school trip that went horribly wrong …
Stephen Fry: Lord of the Undone Flies.
Episode E.12: "Empire" (Christmas Special)[ edit ]
[About why Germans like Mr. Bean ]
Bill Bailey : There's a certain efficiency about it. [in German accent] "He does somesing, then he falls over. Is very amusing. Before, he vas valking in a straight line, so he's valking into the door! Is genius!"
Alan Davies : "Zis is vhat happens vhen you break ze rules!"
Bill Bailey: "Sometimes I stay up very late!"
[How to keep your children from peeking at their Christmas presents]
Alan Davies: Blind them.
Episode E.13: "Elephants" (Compilation Episode)[ edit ]
Phill Jupitus : [stuffing his face with spaghetti] Can I just say, this is the best quiz I've ever been on.
Stephen Fry: And how are you eating yours, Alan?
Alan Davies: By hand.
Stephen Fry: Do you know, the thing is, Alan gets 20 points, because that’s how Neopolitans eat spaghetti. They lean back and drop it into their mouths by hand.
Jimmy Carr: That’s not fair! Alan thinks mashed potatoes are finger food!
Stephen Fry : They say of the Acropolis, where the Parthenon is … [Stephen flubs the line, causing the panellists to rib him mercilessly for the next 3-4 minutes as he tries to nail it for the recording - he eventually manages to force out to great applause:] … there are no straight lines!
Episode F.01 "Families" (Children in Need)[ edit ]
Stephen Fry : What's the most famous line from a Tarzan film?
Ronni Ancona : Oh, "Me Tarzan, you Jane."
Stephen Fry: Yes, except of course it never happened.
Ronni Ancona: What?!
David Mitchell : Why do these films always forget to put their most famous lines in?
Stephen Fry: How has the Eurovision Song Contest made Europe a better place?
Terry Wogan : How has it made it a better place? Because it has, as you can see, the dove, it has brought together the nations of Europe-
Stephen Fry: Has it arse, it's divided East from West.
[On Bertrand Russell 's proof that 1 + 1 = 2]
Stephen Fry: In order to prove mathematics from the very beginning, you have to establish the first principle of arithmetic, and that piece of symbolic logic was proving that one plus one equals two.
David Mitchell: It’s a bit late, the 20th century, to prove that, I’d say.
Stephen Fry: A bit late?
David Mitchell: You’ve got quite a lot riding by the 20th century on one plus one being two, you know? There’s quite a lot of engineering happening. Quite a complex international economy. If you find out that it doesn’t equal two, what do we do? Just burn everything! God know anything could fall on our heads. Money, you might as well eat it. Forget civilisation!
Episode F.02 "Fire and Freezing" (Christmas Special)[ edit ]
[on smoke signals]
Rob Brydon : Was that before or after email?
Stephen Fry : [grins] It's... close. They were spamming though, you'd get endless streams! [pretending to fan smoke] "do-you-want-a-big-ger-cock?"
Stephen Fry: What happened to the fireman's pole?
Rob Brydon: He tiled the fireman's bathroom.
Rob Brydon: Is that a question?
Stephen Fry: Yeah. You know how it can be too cold to snow?
Rob Brydon: Yes, because you need some moisture...
[Forfeit klaxon goes off - YES]
Rob Brydon: You really hate me, don’t you?
Episode F.03 "Flotsam and Jetsam"[ edit ]
Alan Davies : Did you really work that out?
Charlie Higson : Some of us paid attention at school, Alan.
Alan Davies: That one again! That seems to be the root of all my problems.
[After hearing about how the East German secret police used to take swabs of dissidents' body odour in order to identify them]
Charlie Higson: It does sound like a new perfume range, though, doesn't it? "Dissidence, from Calvin Klein."
Stephen Fry : Anyway. The Borgia pope celebrated the feast of chestnuts by an evening of prostitute racing in the vatican.
Stephen Fry: [while explaining about the formula used to determine the number of times a paper could be folded] … what you need is length and thickness.
Alan Davies: That will get ripped off and straight onto YouTube. That will also become a ringtone. "What you need is length and thickness." [mimes accepting a call] "Hello?"
Stephen Fry: Damn you all. You want--
Alan Davies: And that'll be for text messages.
Episode F.04 "Fight or Flight"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry: I believe, that you, as it happens, obviously, like Alan, felt some erotic feelings towards your instructor, is that correct?
Pam Ayres: I did. I took a shine to the instructor. I think that’s why I jumped out the aircraft, really. Cos I wanted to impress him.
Johnny Vegas: I often do that. If I like a woman, I jump out of the window.
Stephen Fry : Do you know what the French for "flying fish" is?
[About the Mona Lisa ]
Stephen Fry: The University of Amsterdam used emotion recognition software to analyse the famous enigmatic smile.
Phill Jupitus: Or looked at her. "Emotion recognition software"? I don't know. My money's on "bored." What do you reckon?
Stephen Fry: It showed that it was 83% happy, 9% disgusted, 6% fearful and 2% angry. She was less than 1% neutral and not even a quarter of one percent surprised.
Phill Jupitus: Sounds like a breakdown of the audience.
Episode F.08 "Fashion"[ edit ]
Reginald D. Hunter : I was at a party here, and this guy was telling me about when he wore corduroy, and he says, "You're an American, do you know what corduroy is?" And I said, "No." And he went on to try and explain it, and eventually four or five people were around me, drunk, trying to explain to me what corduroy was. And eventually this girl who we didn't notice left the room, and she went upstairs to her apartment, and she just dashed in the room with a corduroy jacket, "Here! This is what it is! This is what it is!" And you know, I just … I went along with it because there's nothing like the warm look on white people's faces when they feel like they're teaching you something.
Stephen Fry : My grandfather was a Hungarian Jew, he said "A Hungarian is the only man who can follow you into a revolving door and come out first."
[on that London is not the city with the most Michelin stars in the world]
Reginald D. Hunter: I feel that any country that can produce marmite , they started later than everybody else in trying to make food taste good.
Stephen Fry: This from a country that has spray-on cheese ?
Stephen Fry: My name is Stephen "My Bottom Is a Treasure-house" Fry; Thank you and good night.
Episode F.09 "The Future"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry : [to the camera] If you are watching QI now, and you believe in astrology, you are banned from watching in future. You are not allowed; you must turn it over now. Thank you.
Alan Davies : They had vacuum cleaners in America in the 19th century, and they were huge, and they had to go on the back of a car drawn by horses.
Stephen Fry: [pedantic] I remember seeing that on a programme called QI! ...But well remembered!
Stephen Fry: Now. Picture the scene. I'm out windsurfing. The breeze is ruffling my trousers and sun-bleached hair. I look up, and I see on the horizon a ship. How far away is it?
Alan Davies: Twenty-one miles.
Alan Davies: I thought it was always twenty-one miles.
Stephen Fry: No.
Alan Davies: I didn't even get flagged for that.
Stephen Fry: No, no, I didn't know that anybody always thought that it was twenty-one miles.
Episode F.10 "Flora and Fauna"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry : [pointing to the red flower in his buttonhole] What does my buttonhole tell you about me?
Jo Brand : That you're a closet heterosexual?
Stephen Fry: How dare you!
[After discussing how the heroine of La Dame aux Camélias wore a red camellia instead of a white one to indicate when she was on her period]
Stephen Fry: And the film based on La Dame aux Camélias is …?
Jo Brand: Carry On Menstruating.
Stephen Fry: Do you know the difference between a frog and a toad?
Alan Davies : Spelling.
Stephen Fry: What do you call a slug with a shell?
Alan Davies: I’m not falling for that one.
Episode F.11: "Film and Fame"[ edit ]
David Mitchell : There's one of those adverts that sort of says 'There are more germs on your chopping board than on your loo seat.' To which the answer is, 'well clearly that's fine, then.'
Emma Thompson : [pointing at Stephen] I used to do that to him, actually, make sure that he couldn't get out while I was changing.
Emma Thompson: It's you. [Forfeit klaxon goes off - LUVVIE ALERT]
Stephen Fry: What?! No! I can't believe... Did I invent the word?
Emma Thompson: Yeah, it's you sometime in the 1980s.
Stephen Fry: Did I? I'm ashamed.
Episode F.12: "Food"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry : I'm inclined to give the point to Rich, because he's sort of accidentally right, only he's sort of wrong as well.
Rich Hall: As usual.
Stephen Fry : What can you usefully teach an oyster? [David rings in] Yes?
David Mitchell : Is it … you know … not to get its hopes up? To expect … lemon juice and death?
Jimmy Carr: The feeding of the five thousand? Like there's five thousand people and they wanted some bread and fish. I reckon that was just about four and a half thousand people going, "What have we got, bread and fish? I'm all right, thanks. I'll have something when I get home."
David: The other interesting thing about that story is that out of the five thousand people, only two of them had thought to bring any food. And so in a way it's, okay, good miracle, but the other side of it is 4,998 idiots with no sense of foresight at all. And Jesus doesn't make them learn a lesson from that!
Stephen Fry: "This is the sermon on the Mount. This isn't Glastonbury," he could have said, couldn't he?
David Mitchell: But, you know, he should have said "You didn't bring any food! Of course there's not gonna be any food! Think about it!" ... "Plan next time! Judea would be better if people planned!" But no. "Yeah, it always works out fine; Jesus'll magic up some grub!" No! He's gonna get crucified one day, and then what are you gonna eat?
Stephen Fry: Name a poisonous snake.
Alan Davies: No point in just talking to it. Give it honey!
David Mitchell: They're very much a one-recipe species, aren't they?
Dara Ó Briain : I'm intrigued, because I would, um, I generally give it a sole of my shoe. You know, not to be harsh, but…
Alan Davies: [exasperated] You step on a struggling, crawling bee? Trying to get back to the hive?
Dara Ó Briain: What? As opposed to rehabilitate it?
Alan Davies: I like honey! I have it on my porridge! You murderer!
David Mitchell: [after the argument has gone on for a while] But isn't it true, though, that a bee, in its entire lifetime, makes absolutely tiny amount of honey overall? So you don't have to give much rehabilitating honey to this one bee before the nation, the world, is making a net loss! I mean, it's useless. If you only get one teaspoon of honey from a whole bee's lifetime, and every time you have to get it back on its feet it takes a teaspoon and a half, suddenly there's no honey at all! You're insulting it apart from anything else! It's like showing a very tired mason a whole cathedral!
Stephen Fry: What makes Australian spiders so dangerous?
Rob Brydon: It’s their cunning and their organisation, Stephen. And the fact they’re willing to put the man hours in. They will stalk you for weeks, they’ll look for patterns in your behaviour, and they’ll strike when you least expect it.
Episode G.2 "Ganimals"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry : What use is a goose?
Sandi Toksvig : [dead serious] Is it toilet paper? [general laughter] No, seriously. Is it - [more laughter]
Stephen Fry: Sandi, that is bizarre. Why do you say that?
Sandi Toksvig: Well, because I once read this book by Rabelais , I think it was called Gargantua. And he recommended that the best thing for toilet paper was a live goose. And I have yet to check in to a five-star hotel without a sense of disappointment.
Stephen Fry: So that's the uses of gooses or the eese of geese.
Sean Lock : Is the next question on the habits of rabbits?
Stephen Fry : Oh, I wish that it were.
Sean Lock : How far can you shove a dove?
Alan Davies : Hats of cats. That's my offer.
[On giraffes]
Stephen Fry: So there you are. There are these beautiful animals, and they are graceful and sweet and long eyelashes and sexy and rather desirable in many ways…
Sandi Toksvig: Good thing you're tall.
Stephen Fry: What's the commonest cause of death among mountain goats?
Bill Bailey : [hitting his buzzer] BRIAN BLESSED .
[About gerbils]
Bill Bailey : You can freeze them and then, er, hit them over a wall with a cricket bat.
Episode G.3 "Games"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry : Which popular game traditionally ends with all of the participants being thrown into a lake of fiery sulfur?
Sean Lock : I hope it's show jumping. I hate show jumping!
[On Ouija boards]
Stephen Fry: …But the reference in the Bible to the fiery lake or whatever is from Revelations, where it does say that those who practice the magic arts will be cast into burning sulfur.
Alan Davies: Underwater darts. Would that work?
Stephen Fry: Oh, yes, I like the sound of that.
Alan Davies: Or... Darts at swimmers.
Episode G.4 "Geography"[ edit ]
Rob Brydon : Friends of mine, back in Wales, quite a few of them have got Welsh - it's not a famous voice but it's a Welsh SatNav, which basically goes, you know -
Stephen Fry : In Welsh language?
Rob Brydon: No, no, no, just with Welsh attitude. Welsh approach to life. Or death. "Turning coming up now in about forty yards, get ready for it. Getting a bit closer now, get ready, here it comes. [with utter disappointment] Ohh, you plank! You've missed it. [bored, motioning with his finger] Now, do a u-ie, do a u-ie. Do it! No - don't - oh, [cynical] pull over, attach a hose pipe to the exhaust and just end it all."
Stephen Fry: What are large - very large - blue, rare, slow-moving, have calfs...
Jimmy Carr: Ah, look at Alan's face!
Stephen Fry: ...suffer from wet bottoms, and are found all over the world?
Alan Davies : [with a sly grin, pointing his finger at Stephen] Not the blue whale!
Episode G.5 "Groovy" (Christmas Special)[ edit ]
[After David Tennant has answered a historical question correctly]
Alan Davies : It's all the time travel he does ! He knows something about every era.
Alan Davies: "And bezides, I have no choice."
Bill Bailey: "I burned down a Reichstag. Cool!"
David Tennant: I’ll tell you what annoyed me, if it’s 5 items or fewer, then it’s 5 items or fewer! Don’t come in with 6 and stand in front of me.
Stephen Fry: You look in their basket?
David Tennant: You bet I do. Yeah. And then say absolutely nothing.
Episode G.6 "Genius"[ edit ]
[On children]
Alan Davies : I thought you were supposed to play natural sounds because the noises of contemporary life are extremely distractive and create behavioral difficulties. That's why you mustn't have television on 'til they're four, or something like that.
Dara Ó Briain : That's not how parenting works, my friend. You have the television - you train them to like the television as quickly as you possibly can!
Alan Davies: [laughing] Because there was no ADHD until television was invented, they kind of coincide…
Dara Ó Briain: They're happy with HD, my friend.
[On a painting of Leonardo da Vinci's deathbed, Alan has spotted a figure looking very much like Rodney Bewes ]
David Mitchell : What a weird, unsettling thing to discover that would be, in the context of the credit crunch and everything, suddenly to discover that Rodney Bewes was immortal. Just imagine, on the news, them going: "And today it emerged that actor Rodney Bewes has been alive for as long as time."
Graham Norton : Given the things that we're talking about, or pretending to know what we're talking about, I actually really don't know who Rodney Bewes is.
[After Stephen has explained who Rodney Bewes is]
Stephen Fry: I have to say, the whole point about QI, right, is that the rest of the world talks about cultural things, reality TV and pop stars and Rodney Bewes… and we talk about Leonardo. And what you've done [motions towards Graham] by coming on is we started - no, you actually. [turns to point at Alan] We started talking about Leonardo and we've arrived at Rodney Bewes! That's the wrong direction!
Graham Norton: I didn't even know who he was!
Stephen Fry: How old are you?
[Silence, which then turns into laughter]
Graham Norton: [flirtatiously] How old do I look?
Alan Davies: [flirtatiously] How old do I feel?
David Mitchell: Just shows you the effect of this game, though. You ask a question, all four of us think: "That is something I definitely know the answer to, but I've been made so uncertain, and frightened about that, [motions behind himself - referring to the klaxon] that I'm not even willing to give my own age, name, or address".
Dara Ó Briain: How can it be a trap? How can this possibly be a trap? I AM thirty-seven. Look! [hits the buzzer - Dublin, Ó Briain] Thirty-seven! There we go. No points lost...
[Forfeit klaxon goes off - DARA - 37]
Dara Ó Briain: BUT THAT'S NOT WRONG!
David Mitchell: DON'T ACCEPT IT: YOU ARE!
Dara Ó Briain: I actually am!
Graham Norton: We should all do it.
David Mitchell: Yeah, alright. [hits the buzzer - Peterhouse, Mitchell] 34.
Stephen Fry: 34, eh?
Stephen Fry: Yes! That's brilliant!
David Mitchell: [Banging both fists on the table] It's so cruel!
Stephen Fry: He's wise enough to spot a double bluff!
David Mitchell: It's just the technique of the bully! You hit us! And then you go: [with appropriate mimicry] "Oh, you thought I was going to hit you! I wouldn't hit you. I'm not going to hit you. This is my hand to stroke you." And we go: "Aargh, aargh, he's stroking us!"
Episode G.7 "Girls and Boys"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry: But even more extraordinary is the word 'girl'. Right up until mid 15th century...
Alan Davies: Boys were called girls?
Stephen Fry: Yes.
Alan Davies: And she did!
Episode G.8 "Germany"[ edit ]
Rob Brydon: Now, the socks that man in the middle is wearing, very long socks, and just out of interest for you, that’s something that I’ve turned to recently. I now favour the longer sock.
Stephen Fry: Do you? Can you take me through your reasoning?
Rob Brydon: Yes, I can, I’ll show you. [He slowly pulls up his trouser leg.] The gentleman’s sock. Now Jo, you as a lady, you’re gonna think this sock is gonna stop a lot sooner than it does. So watch this. Look at that. Surely you’ve reached the peak. Surely we’ve peaked.
Stephen Fry: Oh, my word! He’s wearing tights!
Rob Brydon: Can I say, not so much for Jo, but Stephen, Alan and Sean, I urge you to give it a go. Because it gives you a feeling of security.
Jo Brand: They do make you look like a nob-head.
[Rob has given an enthusiastic speech about the brilliance of long socks]
Sean Lock : I just wonder what's gonna happen to you when you go, like, skydiving. You go: "Wow! [spreading his hands] That's incredible! Forget the socks! This is amazing!"
Rob Brydon : I have been skydiving.
Sean Lock: Have you tried jelly? That's nice.
Stephen Fry : What happens in Germany at 11:11 on the 11th of November every year?
Alan Davies : [completely deadpan] Everything carries on as normal.
Episode G.9 "Gallimaufrey"[ edit ]
[The panel is playing Call my Bluff with 18th century phrases]
Alan Davies : I can't stand Call my Bluff. Why are we playing Call my Bluff? It's a shit game! We've invented a really good game, why are we playing a shit one?
[On the Queen not being legally required to have a driving licence]
[On dance fly ]
Stephen Fry: It captures an insect, sucks out its innards completely, and then wraps the empty shell in silk. And then gives it to the female, but by the time the female's unwrapped it, and discovered that as it were her box of chocolates is empty, he's already mated her and scarpered.
Clive Anderson : [to the audience] Now, don't try this at home!
Stephen Fry: Now, what would you call someone who never laughs?
Alan Davies: [points towards the audience] That bloke.
Stephen Fry: [laughing] You're right. He hasn't cracked a smile the whole evening.
Alan Davies: He might be dead. Nudge him.
Episode G.12 "Gravity"[ edit ]
[On the " Earth sandwich "]
Stephen Fry :…There was an immediate controversy, 'cos they used baguettes. And so they weren't quite sure whether they were oriented in the same direction. It might have been a cross shape, which would have disqualified it as a sandwich, really, you can't have a sandwich baguettes crossing, can you?
Bill Bailey : How do you get to be involved in these competitions?
[On equipment doctors leave in patients]
Barry Humphries : This is when we need Hugh Laurie on this show, isn't it?
Stephen Fry: He would explain it, exactly. If the script was put in front of him. He's a gibbering idiot without it.
Bill Bailey : I dressed as Hitler once. I did a school play, I played Arturo Ui in The resistible rise of Arturo Ui. And I was Ui. I actually dyed my hair black and cut it in the Hitler style for the authenticity of the role, not cause I'm a Nazi, and my mum said "Oh, now that does look nice.".
Episode G.13 "Gothic"[ edit ]
Alan Davies: Is it - is this where the bells gonna go off…
Sue Perkins: [whispering] Don't do it!
Alan Davies: ...Is it going back to being buried alive?
[The forfeit klaxon goes off - BURIED ALIVE]
Jimmy Carr: How can you get it wrong after he's got it right?
Episode G.14 "Greeks"[ edit ]
[On the legend of Romans vomiting in order to be able to carry on eating]
Alan Davies : People definitely did that in pubs when I was growing up.
Stephen Fry : They threw up in order to drink more?
Alan Davies: Yeah. Go outside, be sick on the pavement, shake their heads, go straight back to the bar.
Phill Jupitus : Oh yeah, the tactical chunder. Totally.
Alan Davies: Yeah. "I feel terrible. I'm gonna have to go and have a tactical chunder." Come back five minutes later: "I'm fine now!"
Stephen Fry: Hmm. Makes sense.
Alan Davies: Makes sense. Four quids worth of bitter in the gutter and carry on.
Stephen Fry: We only call ourselves 'Quite Interesting', we don't call ourselves 'Astonishing'.
[Giving the scores]
Stephen Fry: We should do this the Athenian way. We should offer Alan the chance - because I can say that Alan is coming last…
Alan Davies: It's one of my best features.
Episode G.15 "Green"[ edit ]
Alan Davies : [defiantly] Oh?
Stephen Fry: It's very valuable.
Alan Davies: I was gonna make it go over the desk! [gives in and crawls back to his chair] I can't believe I'm not allowed to play with it.
Stephen Fry: I'm afraid I was given specific 'Alan not to touch' instructions.
Ross Noble : I love the fact that somewhere there's a memo that just says: "Machine gun - for Stephen Fry's use only".
Ross Noble: A circular triangle?
Stephen Fry: Well...
Phil Jupitus: Oh, no, no, no. This is your first time. This sort of thing happens all the time. “It’s a sort of circular triangle.”
Alan Davies: “And it makes a square.”
Ross Noble: It’s not the fact that I’m boggled by that, it’s the fact that I now realise there’s a possibility that you could have a Toblerone-Rolo combo.
[About 7 minutes after the gun conversation.]
Alan Davies: Let me play with the gun! I wanna play with the gun that shoots around corners.
Stephen Fry: No, you can’t play with the gun.
Alan Davies: [Grumpy.] “Special instructions ‘don’t let Alan...’”
Phill Jupitus: “Police were baffled in London tonight by a series of murders committed around corners.”
Episode H.02 "H-Anatomy"[ edit ]
["Where is the best place to have your skull drilled?"]
Alan Davies : [saying nothing, places his fingers on top of his head]
[Forfeit klaxon goes off - JUST HERE]
Alan Davies: Is that the way they can now read my mind, these people?
Stephen Fry: [laughing] It's amazing, isn't it.
Alan Davies: It's the eighth series, I suppose.
Episode H.03 "Hoaxes"[ edit ]
[On whether the moon landings were a hoax]
Alan Davies : I did an advert with Patrick Moore , and I said: "So, Patrick, did they land on the moon?" And he looked so annoyed with me. He actually explained to me how he'd help to map the moon for NASA and how he'd spent years in the project, and the landing site was partly his idea… And if I ever spoke to him again, he was gonna be sick in my eyes.
David Mitchell : We are in trouble as a species if people will refuse to believe in things they couldn't actually do themselves.
Alan Davies: [to cautious David] Embrace the klaxon!
David Mitchell: I'm trying to!
Episode H.04 "Humans"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry : My favourite on the Weakest Link was "What are Chardonnay , Shiraz and Pino Noir ?" And the guy said "Footballer's wives."
Alan Davies : My favourite one was: "Name a dangerous race". And the man said "The Arabs."
[About footprints in Australia proving indigenous Aborigines were capable of running very fast.]
Stephen Fry: You can tell from the strides that they ran really fast.
Jack Dee: What were they running from?
Alan Davies: The white man.
Stephen Fry: I leave you with this thought about being human and being happy. If you really want to be happy all you have to do is say I am beautiful. So I want you all tonight to go and look at the mirror and say “Stephen Fry is beautiful.” Goodnight.
Episode H.05 "H-Animals"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry: There’s a problem.
Ross Noble: I might be an idiot, but I’m an accurate idiot.
[Watching a video of a hagfish releasing slime.]
Ross Noble: I think my baby daughter might be a hagfish. Cos that’s nothing. To be honest with you, I’ve got that on my trousers every morning.
Episode H.06 "Happiness"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry: And someone who doesn’t even know the meaning of the word lugubrious, Alan Davies.
Alan Davies: That’s true.
[On what would make Britain happy]
Alan Davies : Give everyone the mental age of six.
Andy Hamilton : Well, the media are working on that, aren't they?
[Applause sets off the "Pleasure Gauge"]
Rich Hall : It's like a headline I saw in Ireland, said "Cork man drowns".
[Applause pushes the needle of the "Pleasure Gauge" into the red]
Stephen Fry : You guys are really bending the needle.
Rich Hall: His name was Bob. [to the audience] Come on!
[Applause sets off the "Pleasure Gauge" again]
Rich Hall: I think I've won this. I'm not gonna answer another question.
Stephen Fry : But how many friends do you have?
Stephen Fry : Awww...
Sandi Toksvig : No, I'm sorry. So many cats, so few recipes.
Sandi Toksvig : A chicken and an egg are lying in bed enjoying a post-coital cigarette. And the chicken turns to the egg and says, "Well, I think we've just answered that question".
Alan Davies: What an unusual serial killer that was. If only they had CSI Vienna.
Episode H.09 "House and Home"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry : The ecological footprint is a measure of the amount of land needed to regenerate consumed resources and deal with the resultant waste, and current figures calculated by the United Nations are that we are using up 1.4 times more than the planet can restore.
Alan Davies : The thing is… we evolved from this planet, we are of this planet, we live on this planet, so… can't we do what we like?
Stephen Fry: Yep… absolutely.
Alan Davies: I mean we are victims of our own evolution; I just happened to have come in at this point and now I have to turn the lights out and can't see where I'm going when I go to bed.
Stephen Fry : It has never been illegal to own a slave in England until April 2010. [To Alan] I'm saying I could have had you, as a slave, legally.
Alan Davies : You mean, this series, I'm finally free?
Episode H.10 "Health and Safety"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry : [To David Mitchell] Once again, your relentless, urgent, slightly worried logic is making this nonsense.
[On hypochondria]
Stephen Fry: Why might I put my finger up your bottom if you couldn't name of seven bald men apart from Yul Brynner ? [Beat] That is one of the oddest questions I've ever asked anybody.
Episode H.11 "Highs and Lows"[ edit ]
Fred MacAulay : There will be a lot of people watching who will wonder what does a true Scotsman wear under his kilt, and I can tell you true Scotsman will never tell you what he wears under his kilt. He will show you at the drop of a hat.
Stephen Fry : I've seen dandruff on the shoes. That's a giveaway. But the short kilt -
Sandi Toksvig : I don't feel well now.
Alan Davies : [waving arms] I don't feel good with that information. Quick, send something else! Give me another image!
[On field crickets chirping quicker at hotter temperatures]
Rob Brydon : Well, it makes sense now, when you think about when you're being in a hot country, and you're tossing at night and you can't get off, and then you hear the…
Alan Davies: [long look]
Rob Brydon: I'm simply not having it!
Sandi Toksvig: Sounds like it.
Episode H.12 "Horses and Hunting"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry : A million British horses were sent to the First World War front. What happened to the ones that survived?
Alan Davies : They settled in the southern France, opened a caravan park…
Jimmy Carr : Of course they couldn't learn the language, so they ended up moving back.
Dara Ó Briain: No one has ever fallen on a banana peel. No one’s slid on a banana peel... Presumably the only person...
[Alan puts up his hand.]
Dara Ó Briain: You? You’re kidding. The one person in history.
Jimmy Carr: That is a commitment to comedy, Alan. Well done.
Stephen Fry: Was this in comedy school, or once you’d graduated?
Alan Davies: No, it was in Chapel Market in Islington. It’s a fruit and veg market.
Stephen Fry: That’s a likely place to find one.
Alan Davies: I did actually tread on a banana. And you really go. I mean, they are incredible.
Jimmy Carr: There was a little girl in our primary school class, we were like 6 years old, and she was just in floods of tears. Bawling her eyes out. And we kind of went, ‘what’s the matter?’ She went, ‘I just love horses so much!’
Clare Balding: I don’t see why that’s strange.
Episode H.13 "Holidays"[ edit ]
Graham Norton: To whom, surely.
Episode H.15 "Hypnotism, Hallucinations and Hysteria"[ edit ]
[Stephen has hypnotized a lobster]
Ronni Ancona : You truly are a renaissance man!
Stephen Fry : I wear tights, put it that way.
[On the sunset being in effect a mirage, to the general confusion of the panellists]
Stephen Fry : Oh Phill, be interested, please.
Phill Jupitus : The sun...is there! But you're going: [deep voice] No. But it's there. Not there. Miraaage.
[Later, Alan has expounded on sunstrikes [1] in New Zealand]
Phill Jupitus : The drivers in New Zealand, as they see the sun setting, will be reassured to know that it's [deep voice] not there.
Stephen Fry: What shape is this staircase? [Phill hits his buzzer.] Yes, Phill?
Phill Jupitus: It’s not there!
Episode H.16 "History"[ edit ]
[On the I series "Nobody knows" bonus]
Bill Bailey : What are the points that you gain by using it correctly?
Stephen Fry : I think we all agree that nobody in this universe understands QI's scoring system.
Bill Bailey: Right. So, by that logic, were we to raise the subject of the scoring system, and I was to do that, [holds up his "Nobody knows" card] then… [he's cut off by laughter and applause]
Alan Davies : He's made a very good point.
Stephen Fry: I suppose I'm trapped in an infinite loop. Yes, fortunately that isn't one of the questions.
David Mitchell : If it were in a hypothetical round a question - "What is the QI scoring system?" - and then "Nobody knows", [mimics lifting up the card] what would happen to the person who does the QI scoring? Would they not then feel rather sad? They are at least presumably sitting there thinking that they know.
David Mitchell: I think they reserve a lot of their creativity for this show, don’t they?
Alan Davies: I wonder what the score is now.
Stephen Fry: Yes, the score now... [He consults his screen.] Amazingly, Bill has three and everyone else has zero.
David Mitchell: Why three?! I’d have thought one, or ten. But three?! How would you divide your contribution by three?
Bill Bailey: [Pointing at each of the other panellists.] Better than you, better than you, better than you. Three.
Stephen Fry: When was the First World War first named as such?
Bill Bailey: Um, at the outbreak. The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand.
Stephen Fry: You think they called it the first world war straight away?
Bill Bailey: Before it started, yeah.
David Mitchell: It would be an act of a pessimist to call it the first world war that early, surely. It's gonna be some point after 1939, isn't it?
Bill Bailey: A realist, surely.
[Forfeit klaxon goes off - 1939]
David Mitchell: Excuse me! I think I said - I think what I said, people in the box, is after 1939. Which may contain 1939, but does not mean it.
Stephen Fry: No. Well -
[Forfeit klaxon goes off - AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR]
David Mitchell: [waving finger] Okay! No, no, no! "After 1939" and "after the Second World War" are not synonymous. Now, this is just giving you time to type "after 1939".
[Forfeit klaxon goes off - DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR]
David Mitchell: Why don't you just type "MITCHELL IS A COCK"?
Stephen Fry: [warningly] I wouldn't put it past them...
Episode I.03 "Imbroglio"[ edit ]
Sean Lock : Easier?
Stephen Fry: [laughing] If you are as nimble as I am.
Sean Lock: I'd pay good money to see that. I'd like to see you doing that, with a camera, [mimics lifting a camera phone] going: "Tweet this!"
Frank Skinner : I tell you what's always frustrated me, and that is that on a standard typewriter keyboard, when you hit the semicolon, you just have to hit the key. But to get the colon, you have to press that other key. If I was a colon, I'd think: "Surely I take precedence. You are merely a semi version of me! I should be the one that just needs one key!"
Stephen Fry: Does anyone know, in a packet of mixed nuts, why do the Brazils always rise to the top?
Alan: [Laughing disbelievingly.] Surely nobody knows that.
Stephen Fry: You’re right!
Episode I.04 "Indecision"[ edit ]
[On the con game Find The Lady or Three Card Monte ]
Jimmy Carr : I prefer Three Card Monte, because Find the Lady...I had a really bad experience in Thailand once...
Stephen Fry : Did you feel a bit of a dick?
[On answering a question about how you tell whether a chick is male or female]
Stephen Fry : This is something I vaguely knew about growing up in Norfolk, because in Norfolk there is a community of Vietnamese turkey sexers who... (He is cut off by the audience laughing)
Phill Jupitus : I can NEVER watch Platoon again! You've ruined Apocalypse Now for me!
Stephen Fry: I'm sorry about that...
Phill Jupitus: (Putting two fingers to his temple, imitating a gun and speaking in an Asian accent) WHAT SEX IS CHICKEN?!?! YOU TELL ME NOW!!!
Stephen Fry: What big decision did the driver of the number 78 bus have to make in December 1952.
[Jimmy hits his buzzer.]
Jimmy Carr: The coronation is all I know about ‘52. The Queen didn’t get the bus, did she?
Stephen Fry: No, she didn’t.
Episode I.05 "Invertebrates"[ edit ]
Sean Lock: But I ignore them and I just carry on killing.
Episode I.07 "Incomprehensible"[ edit ]
[On meaning in animal noises]
Brian Cox : I can vouch for that. There are people who study this. My director of one of my documentaries, he got a PhD from Oxford studying frog communication.
Stephen Fry : He was a Professor of French.
Stephen Fry : He genuinely believed it was possible that after Christ's ascension into Heaven, the rings of Saturn are where he put his foreskin. Now, you're maybe thinking that I'm trying to mock the church, that this is nonsense. But Christ, of course, was a Jewish boy, and like all Jewish boys, at the eighth day of his birth, he was circumc –
Brian Cox : They're fifty thousand miles across!
Stephen Fry: She also actively sought out degrading experiences. She once drank a cupful of cancerous pus from a woman who'd abused her.
Stephen Fry: This is an optimistic one here. "Welcome to Tower Hamlets - Let's make it..."
Alan Davies: "…out alive."
[After it turned out the actual slogan is: "Welcome to Tower Hamlets - Let's make it happen."]
Ross Noble: There was another slogan, it said: It did happen on Friday the 17th. If you've witnessed it...
[Talking about SatNav]
Stephen Fry: I've just done voice for them, so that if you have TomTom or Garmin…
Ross Noble: No, you drive along, and it goes: "Turn left. Now, the interesting thing about this particular building…" [His voice is drowned under the audience's laughter and applause. Stephen buries his face in his hands.]
Alan Davies: Did you do it as if you were talking to me? That's the worrying thing. "Left, you moron!"
Ross Noble: I have the key to the city of Port Pirie , in Australia.
Stephen Fry: Do you?
Ross Noble: I was doing a gig, and I was talking to a bloke, turned out he was the mayor. So I went, ‘can I have the key to the city?’ and he went, ‘yeah, alright then.’ So I said, ‘alright then,’ I didn’t want him to back out, I said, ‘where’s your office?’ He says, ‘on the High Street.’ ‘I’ll be down there tomorrow.’ So I turned up, he’d got a shed key and a ribbon and went, ‘there you go.’
Ross Noble: I had a sat-nav, after Port Pirie, and the Nullarbor Plain in Australia, big long…
Stephen Fry: Between Adelaide and Perth.
Ross Noble: Yeah. The longest straight road in the world. And I turned it on and it said, “Drive forward for two days.” And the next bit went, “then turn left.” But the thing was… But the stupid thing was, it was such a long road, I missed the left hand turn!
Episode I.08 "Inequality"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry: This is a show in which nothing will be fair, from top to bottom, so let’s get it over with and go straight to the scores. In first place, with minus 54, it’s Sandi Toksvig. In second place, with plus 7, it’s Clive Anderson. In third place with minus sechzig (60) is Henning Wehn. And lastly, obviously, with minus 1 gazillion, is Alan Davies.
[Looking at a painting on the screen]
Alan Davies : That's a really ugly baby.
Clive Anderson : That's not any use! Don't learn that expression. "Really ugly baby." There's never an option to use that in real life.
[Explaining a radio interview of an actress]
Alan Davies: Cut the long story short, they airbrushed her nipples out of the poster. Her nipples were showing through her costume, just the two little… [motions with his hands]
Clive Anderson: But this is radio!
Alan Davies: [laughing] Not just for the radio. And, uh, she had complained about it. "So why have you airbrushed my nipples, that's ridiculous. Why don't you just leave them?" And the presenter said: "Well, perhaps they thought they weren't suitable for children".
[On corporal punishment]
Stephen Fry : Children were always beaten. Really, we are the first generation - Um, I'm not. I was beaten huge about when I was a child in prep school.
Clive Anderson: Really?
Stephen Fry: God, yes. From age seven 'til thirteen, at least twice a week. I was a bad boy, and I was always being thrashed.
Clive Anderson: What for?
Stephen Fry: Oh, stealing, lying, cheating, um, being cheeky, being a nuisance, evading games…
Clive Anderson: Bit of a smartarse, were you?
Stephen Fry: Yeah, being a smartarse...
Clive Anderson: ...being too clever for your own good. That sort of thing. Always telling everyone what was going on.
Stephen Fry: All things that annoyed people about...
Clive Anderson: Well, they certainly beat that out of you, didn't they?
Henning Wehn : If you're in your seventies now, how old were you in the end of World War II? Maybe ten years old? How did you help win the war? When you were just ten years old, you did not help win the war.
Stephen Fry: By not eating bananas.
Henning Wehn: Yeah. You were nothing but a drain on British resources!
Stephen Fry: [to the laughing panelists] You've gotta admire his guts, haven't you?
Henning Wehn: Effectively every 70-year-old Brit, effectively fought on the side of Nazi Germany! And lost the war every little bit as much as we did!
Episode I.09 "Illness"[ edit ]
Ben Goldacre : Female sexual dysfunction, for example, started being pushed at the time that various companies were trying to get licences for things like Viagra for the 50% of the population who are unlucky enough not to have a penis. And...
Stephen Fry: Yes, it's measured in pints. Released in ten to fifteen individual "episodes".
Andy Hamilton : You can get the box set as well.
Alan Davies: Or, you can have a feature-length episode.
Stephen Fry: Why shouldn’t you sleep with a dog?
Andy Hamilton: He won’t respect you in the morning.
Episode I.10 "Inland Revenue"[ edit ]
Sandi Toksvig: I once bought a racehorse by mistake.
Dara Ó Briain: What had you originally gone into the shop for?
[On fire stations]
Stephen Fry : You've gotta have two machines abreast, is usual, isn't it? And then all the living quarters were next door... [interrupted by a chuckle from Alan]
Alan Davies : Sorry, I've just thought of breasts. [hands on his chest] "Two machines"?
Stephen Fry: [laughing] Two machines per breast.
Sandi Toksvig : It was an odd moment, Alan, 'cos I was with you.
[Dara is given back points unfairly deducted from him in an earlier episode]
Sandi Toksvig: Sorry, is he gonna get points for something - and we weren't even there!
Al Murray : I know a loads of stuff I haven't said!
Dara Ó Briain : I'm okay, 'cos I came on series two, and I mentioned the triple point of water being zero. And in series three I came back, and they said: "Oh no, we've had e-mails, that actually the temperature is 0.01." Right, so I was one hundredth of a degree off on this. And he docked me points! The following year! So I'm happy, I'll take them.
Stephen Fry: Yes, exactly. What goes around, comes around. [to the other panelists] Don't feel bad. You may get points, next… two years time.
Dara Ó Briain: Some day when you least expect it, when you're sitting and having coffee, Stephen will appear and go: [bows] "Some points".
Episode I.11 "Infantile"[ edit ]
Alan Davies: Once you’ve got a baby, food on the floor really is fair game. If you didn’t eat food off the floor, you’re wasting about 90 quid a week.
Episode I.12 "Illumination"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry: Why don’t moths come out during the day if they’re so fond of the bloody light?
Chris Addison : You know, Edison electrocuted an elephant. It's my favourite fact of all time.
Stephen Fry : Yes. Do you know why?
Chris Addison: He was carrying out an execution.
Alan Davies : I think you might know this 'cos you saw it on QI.
Stephen Fry: [laughing] Yes.
Chris Addison: Really? [over the audience laughter] The problem of joining you people so late is that you've basically covered all human knowledge!
Stephen Fry: Tell me something quite interesting about the original geishas.
Jack Dee : They were all men.
Stephen Fry: Yes!
Jack Dee: Oh, God.
Stephen Fry: The first person to reason that the tropics were not hotter because they're nearer the sun, but because a smaller area is lit by an equal amount of light compared to other latitudes, was George Best. [to the incredulous amusement of the panelists] It's absolutely true! It was George Best who worked that out.
Chris Addison: Oh, you've lost it now. You've completely lost it. You're gonna have to hand this over to someone else.
[Turns out Stephen was talking about an Elizabethan scientist , not the footballer ]
Stephen Fry: My next question is this; why can’t blindfolded people walk in a straight line?
Alan Davies: Can’t see where they’re going. Next question.
Episode I.13 "Intelligence"[ edit ]
David Mitchell: They do seem like the most evil of birds, don’t they?
Stephen Fry: They’re often considered creatures of ill omen, aren’t they? In Shakespeare they’re often used as a symbol.
Phill Jupitus: Yeah, but that’s because you’re just seeing them with Carmina Burana playing.
David Mitchell: Do you think I should get something else on my iPod?
Phill Jupitus: Tijuana Taxi by Herb Alpert. [Hums the song.] You see, that’s a nice crow. Put a sombrero on it, take the edge off it.
David Mitchell: Yeah, but even if you had Carmina Burana and you were looking at a robin, you wouldn’t think the robin was evil, would you?
Phill Jupitus: I would.
Phill Jupitus: Yeah, dirty bastard robin.
Episode I.14 "Idleness"[ edit ]
Jeremy Clarkson: It is in my house.
Episode I.15 "Ice"[ edit ]
Alan Davies: So what do we have to pronounce?
Stephen Fry: Now, yes that’s what I was... how did you know that I was gonna ask that as a supplementary question?
Alan Davies: I thought you already did.
Stephen Fry: Oh, did I already say it?
Alan Davies: Either that, or I read it off the autocue.
Stephen Fry: You read it off the autocue! You great big cheater!
Stephen Fry: Why did the Spanish Duke of Alba order 7000 pairs of ice skates?
Sean Lock: Cos he was a millipede. Can’t see from that picture. Thousands of legs.
Stephen Fry: Any thoughts as to why he might have ordered 7000 pairs of ice skates?
Sean Lock: He wanted to wipe it out. “I hate ice skating. I’m gonna buy all the boots, and it’ll just die out.”
Stephen Fry: We’re talking the 17th century.
Sean Lock: That’s what I’d do.
Stephen Fry: [Trying to get back on track.] We’re talking the 17th century. The pope...
Sean Lock: I’d do it for showjumping though.
Stephen Fry: Right.
Sean Lock: I’d buy all the horses. And all those funny blocks that look like walls you’ve never seen before. Buy all those. And then showjumping would be finished forever.
Stephen Fry: So you think he was trying to wipe out ice skating as a sport?
Sean Lock: Yes. Yeah. It’d be a good James Bond plot, wouldn’t it? Instead of trying to take over the world, I’m trying to stop showjumping. James Bond’s gotta get me and kill me before...
Ross Noble: The trouble is though, you’ve got all them obstacles. You’ve got all them obstacles in your garden, and you’ve bought the horses. They’re gonna... it’s in their nature. They’re gonna be doing it in the garden. You’ll look out, be entertained...
Sean Lock: Hoisted by my own petard.
Episode I.16 "The Immortal Bard"[ edit ]
[After having quoted Hamlet ]
Sue Perkins : And that will be the only quote, that's it, I've blown all my quotes.
Stephen Fry : After all, as you know, there is a tradition , is there not, the very saying of the word Macbeth in a theatre brings bad luck.
Sue Perkins: You have to sleep with all your co-stars immediately.
Stephen Fry: Is that what you were told?
Sue Perkins and Liza Tarbuck : [unison] Do you?
Alan Davies: Historical death, if in doubt, syphilis.
Episode J.03 "Journeys"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry: Where the hell did I leave my passport?
Alan Davies: I lost mine in a plane once, and it had gone down, under the cushion of my seat. The actual plane seat. And I was on the plane for ages, I refused to get off the plane.
Stephen Fry: You have to get your seat disassembled. I’ve had that.
Alan Davies: And eventually I found it.
[There’s silence as everyone thinks he’s going to say more.]
Alan Davies: That’s the end of the story.
Stephen Fry: That was a beautiful story. That is a lovely, lovely story.
Rob Brydon: Stephen, is that Alan Davies or is that Peter Ustinov ? That was one hell of an anecdote. If that is the level of the bar this evening, I may go home.
[ Stephen has strayed into matters of female intimate anatomy]
Phill Jupitus : It's like you're talking about Narnia or something. Some fantastical land you've only heard about.
Cal Wilson : You make your way through the fur coats and suddenly...
Stephen Fry: Woah. [hides his face in his hand]
Stephen Fry: What did Napoleon say to Josephine on his way back from a journey?
Alan Davies: I sense a trap! The only thing I know about Napoleon and Josephine was he said...
Stephen Fry: Yeah?
Stephen Fry: Can I just say, wtf?
Alan Davies: There was a documentary about it on the bBC where they re-enacted it.
Stephen Fry: Well remembered.
Episode J.06 "Joints"[ edit ]
Cal Wilson: I did have a similar experience to Jimmy’s, in New Zealand. I was going for a lady’s examination, and so lying there with this doctor doing the examination, and she was just tinkering away, and then she goes, “haven’t I seen you on Thank God You’re Here?”, which is a TV show back home, and I went, “Yes, but why are you recognising me now?”
Stephen Fry: Just out of interest, how many popes does the Vatican have per square kilometre?
Cal Wilson: How many popes? Like, buried, or in storage?
Stephen Fry: No, actually live, living popes.
Alan Davies: One.
Stephen Fry: No. It’s actually 2.27 recurring, because the Vatican City’s only 0.44 or a kilometre. So the average would be per square kilometre.
Jimmy Carr: Well, I think we have it, ladies and gentlemen, the most annoying question ever asked!
Episode J.07 "Journalism"[ edit ]
Episode J.08 "Jumble"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry: There’s been a study by the RSPCA at Sydney University, they found that whipping does not have the effect of horsing a speed up... uh, speeding a horse up.
Stephen Fry: We’re using our brains, well, some of us are using our brains.
Alan Davies: What do you mean by that?
Episode J.09 "Jeopardy“[ edit ]
Stephen Fry: Yes!
Alan Davies: What?!
Stephen Fry: Unbelievable! I mean, I’ve got to accept that because the answer is chocolate. That is amazing.
Episode J.11 "Jumpers"[ edit ]
Alan Davies : What about when we went scuba diving and your mask was too tight?
Bill Bailey : Oh. Oh, yeah, I don’t...
Alan Davies: His eyes nearly came out of his head!
[Bill shakes his head.]
Alan Davies: They were inside the mask... these massive eyes! We’re all going, “look at Bill! Check he’s alright. Check he’s alright.” And when we found out he was alright, I laughed, I laughed my head off!
Bill Bailey: No, no, wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Rewind! Rewind. Can we just go back to the it where you said, “when you checked we were alright you laughed your head off.” You were laughing from the minute my face came out of the water. There was blood pouring out of my eyes.
Alan Davies: You had no idea. You had no idea at all.
Bill Bailey: I had no idea. I was going, “what?” and people were going, “oh my god!”
[Alan points and screams.]
Bill Bailey: Oh my god!” And I went, “what? What?” Like Carrie or something, with blood streaming from my eyes.
Alan Davies: It took quite a long time for them to recede as well.
Bill Bailey: Yes, it did. And a lot of laughing was going on.
Alan Davies: I thought you had some sort of magnifying mask on, but when you took the mask off they were still enormous!
Episode J.12 "Justice"[ edit ]
Alan Davies : Dave.
Stephen Fry: One day the answer might be Dave, one day the answer might be blue whale. You know what I’m looking forward to is when we have a blue whale called Dave and you don’t get it.
Stephen Fry: Little girls grow up to be women, and little boys grow up to be big little boys.
Episode J.15 "Jolly"[ edit ]
Tim Vine : I went to a Joke shop and said "What do you actually sell here?" and they said "Nothing, we're not a real shop."
Stephen Fry : What's the best flavour for an exploding sandwich?
Tim Vine: Cheese and Ham-grenade.
Stephen Fry: So, simple question, who’s happy?
[There’s silence. The picture on the screen changes to an older man with a younger woman.]
Alan Davies : He’s happy in the picture.
Julia Zemiro : Yep. Old men with young ladies. Oh, old ladies with young men. Why not? Not me.
Julia Zemiro: What about when you fall asleep and you wake up and you've had half your eyebrow shaved off?
Stephen Fry: Then you have bad friends.
Julia Zemiro: I do have hideous friends. Yeah, because that's the other thing that can happen. It's alright. I'm over it. It's fine.
Stephen Fry: Your eyebrows shaved off?
Julia Zemiro: Yeah, you know. Obviously no-one’s had this happen. Yeah, you fall asleep and someone goes 'ooh, this'll be even funnier.' put your hand in a bowl of thing and then voom, voom, you wake up and you look hideous.
Stephen Fry: That's just vile!
Julia Zemiro: [Shrugs.] I'm Australian.
[The panel has been asked to invent Limericks]
Julia Zemiro:
Stephen Fry: Oh, thank you Alan.
[The klaxon goes off - RED.]]
Stephen Fry: The thing is, they were named before we had a word for Orange. We just used Red for anything that was Orange as well. We had the word orange for a fruit, but didn't use it for the colour until the 16th Century.
Sara Pascoe: We always think it was the colour that named the fruit, but it was the fruit that named the colour.
David Mitchell: In those days, people would say "What's the name of that red fruit? Oh, the orange"
Stephen Fry: Exactly.
David Mitchell: It could have been, not the orange that made it catch on, but the front of a robin. We could all have front-of-a-robin brand mobile phones. Where you go "What colour is it?" "Oh, it's front-of-a-robin".
Stephen Fry: It would be confusing.
David Mitchell: "I'm just eating an orange. It's such a bright shade of front-of-a-robin".
Episode K.02 "Kit and Kaboodle"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry : Now, in case anybody is wondering, because he hasn't done that much television in Britain, we found Colin in Australia. Colin, in 1994, you won the Perrier award , didn't you? For comedy, at the Edinburgh Fringe?
Stephen Fry: ...A fish.
Episode K.03 "K-Folk"[ edit ]
[On the Korean phrase "When will I eat your noodles?" meaning "When are we getting married?"]
Stephen Fry : [To Alan] But you're already married, so I'm not going to eat your noodles. And you didn't invite me to your wedding.
Alan Davies : I did invite you. You didn't come.
Stephen Fry: [facepalms in embarrassment]
Alan Davies: Yeah, you know what you were doing? You were filming an episode of Bones .
Stephen Fry: Yes, I was.
Alan Davies: I’ve never been so insulted in my life.
Stephen Fry: I’m so sorry. How embarrassing. I’m so sorry.
[On the Korean phrase "He worked like he was attending the grave of his wife's uncle" meaning "They didn't put much effort into the job"]
Katherine Ryan : So, like "shagging the dog"?
Stephen Fry: Not really. Not really, Katherine. Is there something you want to share with us? "Like shagging the dog?"
Katherine Ryan: Yeah, if you don't work very hard, you're just shagging the dog.
Stephen Fry: NOT IN THIS COUNTRY, MADAM! IN THIS COUNTRY WHEN WE SHAG A DOG WE KNOW WHAT WE ARE DOING! And it is pretty hard work, let me tell you...
Alan Davies: Not as easy as it looks, let me tell you that.
Stephen Fry: So, in Canada, you have the phrase "shagging the dog"?
Katherine Ryan: Yeah, or "shagging the sheep" if you want.
Stephen Fry: Again, perfectly common practice over here, but not considered a light or unburdensome task.
Katherine Ryan: It just means, like, having an easy day.
Stephen Fry: There's a lot I have to learn about Canada...
[Stephen is about to launch one of his knick-knacks]
Phill Jupitus: There's just too many double entendres. You pumping custard?
Stephen Fry: Stop it. Are you ready for me to pump the custard?
Phill Jupitus: Yes, I'm ready to pump your custard. [puts his head on the desk]
Josh Widdicombe : This is not how I wanted to go.
Alan Davies: [shouting] It's quite warm there actually. I could feel the heat right there. If had been sitting there, I could have been: [normal voice] I could have been ignited.
Stephen Fry: You could have been covered in hot custard.
Phill Jupitus: I told you, before you did this experiment...
Episode K.04 "Knits and Knots"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry : Thorns are modified branches or stems. Prickles are part of the skin, which is what those are, they come out from the skin.
Alan Davies : They’re people.
Episode K.07 "Knowledge"[ edit ]
Alan Davies : What does encyclopaedia mean? Because it sounds like a kiddy fiddler on a bike.
Graham Linehan : If I’ve forgotten someone’s name, I just say, ‘excuse me for a second,’ and then I go home.
Episode K.08 "Keys"[ edit ]
Tim Minchin : [After setting off a klaxon.] I’m Alan Davies!
Episode K.09 "Kinetic"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry : [After Alan gets a question right.] A jolly encouraging and patronising round of applause to you.
Stephen Fry: We know one person who did not escape, don’t we Alan? Who out of his natural curiosity sat down on a chair, tied a pillow to his head with a napkin and watched it, and then suffocated.
Alan Davies: No, it's not, really.
Episode K.11 "Kinky"[ edit ]
Janet Street-Porter : How do pigeons have sex?
Stephen Fry: In the normal way. Is this news to you?
[On the varied contents of the Kama Sutra, one of which is a lemonade recipe.]
Sandi Toksvig : I love the idea of a child setting up a lemonade stand "Courtesy of the Kamasutra "
[On the unusual habits of the American Author of the Kamasutra Book]
Stephen Fry: He also trained himself to insert pencils into his penis. Not only a pencil though: a toothbrush, bristles first!
Audience: NO!
Johnny Vegas: Well, what? Every year, while his wife is going "He's impossible to buy for" and he's going "A TRAVEL POUCH! A PENCILCASE! I'M TIRED OF CARRYING THINGS ROUND IN ME PENIS!" "What about a travel wallet?" "NO!"
Episode K.12 "Knights and Knaves"[ edit ]
Victoria Coren Mitchell : This is something my husband told me...
Stephen Fry : David Mitchell told you something, and you believe it?
Episode K.13 "Kitchen Sink"[ edit ]
Victoria Wood : Have you not got a television?
Stephen Fry : Yes, but I’m always on it.
Episode K.14 "Kris Kringle"[ edit ]
[on discussion on why Santa doesn't have a place on Forbes' fictional rich list]
Stephen Fry: Yes, young Brendan.
Brendan O'Carroll : Is it because [whispers] he may not be real?
Stephen Fry: *gasps*
Johnny Vegas and Aisling Bea: [going "haw haw haw" and high-fiveing each other]
Stephen Fry: You beasts, you beasts, you unutterable beasts.
[On the formation of the Moon.]
Jason Manford : They invented a theory to keep the argument alive?
Stephen Fry: Basically.
Jason Manford: I had an ex-girlfriend like that.
Stephen Fry: If you brought a cat or a dog to feed to the lions. Or the tigers. They had tigers as well. And they had bears.
Aisling Bea: Oh, my.
Episode L.03 "Literature"[ edit ]
Jack Whitehall : Good books, you don't need to bother reading. Like it's controversial to say it, but I don't think Harry Potter is worth reading, because its so expertly narrated on the audio-books [which Stephen Fry narrated]. [Laughter] You know after I listened to the Harry Potter books with you narrating them, everything in my life is narrated by Stephen Fry. All my thoughts, my internal monologue is now Stephen Fry's voice. Even the dirty thoughts. [Laughter] It makes it acceptable. I had a sexual thought the other day, I put my hand in the air, I had a sexual thought about Camilla Parker Bowles . It didn’t seem weird, [points at Stephen] because Stephen was saying it.
Jack Whitehall : [Gets a question right and rips open his shirt in excitement, baring his chest.]
Stephen Fry : You made a happy man feel very old.
Jack Whitehall : [imitating a tannoy] 30-15, Fry.
Episode L.04 "Levity"[ edit ]
Frank Skinner : I was at the airport in Belfast and I bought the journal of the Titanic Society. It's sort of a photocopy but quite a fat thing. And I read it, it's about a hundred pages, lots of stuff about the Captain and how it's put together, not one reference in the entire book to the fact that it sank. I love it when people are positive. With the Titanic Society, their ship is always half empty of water.
Frank Skinner : Was it Bill Tidy who did the most fantastic cartoon of all time? It was a queue of people and it said "Information About Titanic". And people would queue up to find out about survivors, women in shawls, and at the back there's two polar bears standing, calling "Any news about the iceberg?".
Stephen Fry : How did Chicago get completely screwed up?
Alan Davies : It was a curry.
Stephen Fry: What's the most depressing radio program of all time?
Alan Davies: [Immediately] Oh, Simon Bates ! By miles.
Stephen Fry: [Imitating Simon Bates, presenting Our Tune ] But surely. that's the story of people who fell in love. She did die of the cancer, but...
Bill Bailey: She battled through the cancer and here's her song: Too Drunk To Fuck
[On the most depressing radio programme ever.]
Richard Coles : I had several correspondents who would say that Saturday Live is the most depressing radio programme.
Stephen Fry: Really? [points to screen]
[Forfeit klaxon goes off - "SATURDAY LIVE"]
Stephen Fry : What colour are the flags on the moon?
Alan Davies: Well, do they look different? When you're there? Are there no flags? There's no moon... oh god.
[The audience starts laughing as Alan clutches his nose in despair.]
Alan Davies: I could just hear about 100 klaxons sounding.
Episode L.07 "Lethal"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry : They go on a extraordinary shagging spree. I mean its quite ugly, but I give you the details, because they are pretty amazing: It's semelparous, meaning they only do it once, and it is about 12 hours on the job with one female, before it moves on to the next. It doesn't eat or sleep, but keeps going in a testosterone driven frenzy...
Sandi Toksvig : Oh never mind about him, that poor female. Twelve hours. She must be chafed.
Stephen Fry : To get the necessary energy the male's body has stripped its body of all the nutrients and suppressed the immune system, by the end of a fortnight they are physically exhausted, bald, gangrenous, ravaged by stress and infection and keel over and die. Russell Brand , take note.
Stephen Fry : How fast was the fastest mass extinction in history, in years...
Stephen Fry: Or parent. Or parent?! Don’t make me repeat things without thinking.
Episode L.10 "Lying"[ edit ]
[on the colour magenta]
Stephen Fry : So it's a kind of can't-really-exist colour and yet it does. It's what you might call, I suppose, [chuckles] a Pigment of the Imagination.
[On Jack Whitehall 's inability to drive]
Adam Hills : Do you think you're good in bed?
Jack Whitehall : No I haven't passed that test either. I failed on three majors and one minor...
Stephen Fry : Was there an emergency stop? These are the worst...
Jack Whitehall : I kept changing lanes, when I shouldn't...
Adam Hills: I’m not quite au fait with prosthetics, but I’ll give it a crack. [Adam Hills is well known for incorporating his prosthetic foot into his comedy routines.]
Episode L.11 "Lumped Together"[ edit ]
[The panel and Stephen Fry are building Lava lamps from water, oil and Alka-Seltzers]
David Mitchell : This genuinely reminds me so much of school. You said "Don't put all the Alka-Seltzers in", and Alan said "We're putting them all in" and I've gone along with him and now I'm frightened.
[In the ensuing hilarity Stephen knocks over his Lava lamp, spilling the contents]
Alan Davies : Common usage, common usage.
Jimmy Carr: This is so like being back at school, it's unbelievable.
Alan Davies: Apparently you can say Lesser now...
David Mitchell: Apparently you can just say what you like these days! Apparently you're not allowed to scream Idiot! at people. What's the point in getting an education at all? I know how to use the apostrophe. Apparently, now it doesn't matter. [rapturous applause from the audience] I want the time it took me to learn that back.
Jimmy Carr: You need to be less bothered about this. Or fewer bothered. You need to be fewer bothered about this kind of thing. Just let it go: be fewer upset.
Episode L.12 "No-L (Christmas Special)"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry: These are all good answers.
Carrie Fisher: Really?
Matt Lucas: No, it's "To whom?".
Episode M.02 "Military Matters"[ edit ]
Jimmy Carr : Here's the thing about Hitler: History judges him very harshly. But he did kill Hitler.
Sheila Hancock : I know some actors who pretended to be gay to get out of conscription.
Stephen Fry : I've known more actors who pretended to be straight...
Stephen Fry: According to one contemporary report, 171.000 British troops visited the brothels in one street in Le Havre in just one year.
Jimmy Carr: Makes you proud, doesn't it?
Stephen Fry: How do all-female battles differ from all-male battles?
Stephen Fry: In Scouting for Boys ...
Jimmy Carr: Sorry? Your hobby?
Episode M.03 "M-Places"[ edit ]
[In the first question, Sami Shah sets of a klaxon.]
Stephen Fry : You're new to QI and I'd like to be merciful. But I'm not going to be.
Sandi Toksvig : It's like Paul Daniels was in the room.
Alan Davies : He was in the bag.
Sandi Toksvig : I suffer from a fatal condition Aisling , which is: posh voice, no money.
Sandi Toksvig : I don't think it's possible to come on this programme and not discuss the penis.
Stephen Fry : Not while I've got breath in my body, Sandi
Episode M.06 "Marriage and Mating"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry : So it is the species that most has to be utterly motionless during sex that we've discovered.
[On consummation of marriage by proxy ]
Jo Brand : I think they had to check them, medically, beforehand because they didn't want a poxy proxy.
Stephen Fry : Many supposedly monogamous birds have a tit on the side.
Episode M.07 "Middle Muddle"[ edit ]
Alan Davies: I've never had, in 14 years, people eating sweets in the front row.
Stephen Fry: What the hell?
Alan Davies: And now I can't think about anything else!
[Jimmy Carr gets up, takes the bag of sweets from the audience member, hands it to Alan and returns to his seat]
Stephen Fry: You can have them back at the end of the lesson!
Jimmy Carr: I feel really bad for those people. 'Cause, obviously, you're just sat there watching an episode of QI and then, suddenly, the telly gets up and nicks your sweets!
[Discussing Midlife Crises]
Danny Bhoy: I went to my Doctor and I said "I hate The West and want all the infidels dead." He said "Don't worry, you're going through a mid-life ISIS."
Jimmy Carr: The awkward thing about midlife crises is I've had some friends that have gone through them recently. They've left their partners, gone out with much younger women and bought sports cars. And the most difficult thing is pretending to my other half! "Aw, that's terrible! Isn't it sad?"
[After being asked a question, Jimmy tries to answer, but Aisling hits her buzzer at the same time causing him to stop.]
Aisling Bea: No, keep going. Does this buzzer stop Jimmy speaking? Try again?
Jimmy Carr: I was just gonna say to...
[Aisling hits her buzzer again and Jimmy stops abruptly.]
Jimmy Carr: I find the buzzers really disconcerting. It does feel like somebody’s about to get murdered.
Jimmy Carr: [On Stephen's 'posh' accent.] I know you think you’re doing a voice, but that is how you talk.
Stephen Fry: Silver’s not a colour, no.
Jimmy Carr: Oh, I love this show.
Stephen Fry: It’s midsummer in the UK. To the nearest hour, what time does day become night?
Alan Davies: 10?
[The klaxon goes off – ‘10PM’.]
Alan Davies: I was gonna say 1.
[The klaxon goes off – ‘1AM’.]
Jimmy Carr: Is it..? I’m only saying this, I’ve got no rational at all, is it noon? Because it’s always something weird on this show. ‘Oh no, it’s actually night time in the middle of the day. You’re all idiots, you’ve been doing it wrong.’
Stephen Fry: In midsummer, there is no night in Britain.
Alan Davies: There’s no night. There’s no night, Danny. [Runs a hand over his face.]
Stephen Fry: It’s constant twilight.
Alan Davies: Oh, bollocks. It gets dark. [Runs both hands over his face.]
Jimmy Carr: Constant Twilight sounds like a really good indie album.
Stephen Fry: It does, doesn’t it?
Stephen Fry: When is the best time to charge your mobile phone?
Alan Davies: At night!
Stephen Fry: That’s good. Yeah. Might be.
Alan Davies: Oh, really? I thought that would go off. ‘There is no night, you fool!’
Episode M.08 "Merriment"[ edit ]
[Alan is in a horse costume.]
Alan Davies: Can I say, I don’t think we’re getting the best out of my costume.
Stephen Fry: Show the ladies and gentlemen.
Alan Davies: Look, I’ve got a tail. And I’ve got feet and everything. And it’s all out of sight below the desk, Stephen.
Stephen Fry: Now, the queen has a Christmas message, as do we. In fact, as we approach the end of series 13, it’s time for us to reveal every episode of QI, every single one, since the very first, has included a secret message which nobody has spotted. Where is it hidden?
Bill Bailey: Is it on your face? Have you just encrypted some delightful laughter lines into some... perhaps it’s in Klingon. Merry Christmas.
Stephen Fry: It’s not on my face.
[In response to the www.alan0andstephenhero.com hidden in the theme tune, Alan is hiding under his horse mask when a sudden noise happens.]
Bill Bailey: What the hell was that?
Jenny Eclair: It’s a light.
Alan Davies: Was it a lamp?
Johnny Vegas: No, he’s got a bad ankle. I’m just taking him out. I can’t afford to keep him, okay?
Alan Davies: I absolutely shat myself.
Stephen Fry: Absolutely shat yourself, my god.
Stephen Fry: Now, who’s the worst person to sit next to at a silent movie?
[Alan burps.]
Episode M.09 "Messing With Your Mind"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry: How much sleep does a paradoxical insomniac get?
Tommy Tiernan: Paradoxical... lots?
Stephen Fry: Do a raid on the kitchens and steal jelly and things.
Josh Widdicombe: I forgot you grew up in an Enid Blyton novel.
Episode M.10 "Making a Meal of It"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry: There was a story that Alan may remember of Darwin and giant...
Alan Davies: Oh, yeah. Didn’t they all get eaten on the boat?
Stephen Fry: Yeah, they were so delicious, that’s the point.
Phill Jupitus: Wouldn’t it be brilliant if the Origin of Species just halfway through turned into a cookbook. ‘I am basically putting to you all, members of the Royal Society, everything is bloody delicious.’
Stephen Fry: The Purple Emperor Butterfly likes to start its day with rancid pickled mudfish, Thai poi shrimp paste, and big cock shrimp paste. Mmm.
Phill Jupitus: What are you, 12?
Stephen Fry: Come on. When will the phrase ‘big cock shrimp paste’ not be funny?
Episode M.11 "Menagerie"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry: The Maribou Stork is often given the label The Ugliest Bird in the Animal Kingdom.
Sue Perkins: That's not fair.
Stephen Fry: OK, name an uglier one.
Alan Davies: Oh, don't make me say it!
Stephen Fry: [Firmly] No!
Stephen Fry: So we’re criticising Hitler now, are we?
Bill Bailey: The more I hear about him the less I like him.
Stephen Fry: How many legs does a kangaroo have?
Alan Davies: Oh, don’t say any numbers. Just don’t say any numbers.
Episode M.12 "Medieval and Macabre"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry: When do you think, I’ll give you five years either way, was the first airline stewardess?
David Mitchell: I think 200 years before the first aeroplane. I think it was a weird, pointless scheme by a futurologist. Just went up and down a field with a trolley asking the cattle, ‘drink, sir?’
Alan Davies: I think the question is flawed.
Stephen Fry: How so?
Alan Davies: Because if I’d had my dirt-hole burgled without my knowledge, I wouldn’t know about it, would I?
Stephen Fry: Touché. You’re absolutely right.
Alan Davies: So, I don’t know.
Stephen Fry: Is the right answer.
Alan Davies: Possibly.
Episode M.13 "Monster Mash"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry: People think, you know, sailors fall in love with mermaids, and how can they consummate their relationship?
Alan Davies: Fertilise the eggs, Stephen.
Stephen Fry: Exactly, it’s very simple. She lays her eggs on a rock or something, and you go and fertilise them. What’s the problem?
Phill Jupitus: The sailor has to sail back to his waters where he was spawned, and take the mermaid with him. So he has to go back to, I don’t know, Dawking, find a pond, pop his new fish-wife in there.
Josh Widdicombe: Fish-wife!
Phill Jupitus: She lays her eggs, and then he has to be arrested for indecent public exposure at a boating pond.
Stephen Fry: Why do great white sharks bite people?
Sara Pascoe: To keep themselves in the news.
Episode M.14 "Messy"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry: Oh, you were doing so well. Tartan.
Episode M.15 "Mix and Match"[ edit ]
Stephen Fry: When the universe was created...
Alan Davies: 4000 years ago.
Stephen Fry: 4000 years ago as it says in the bible.
Alan Davies: By our lord.
Stephen Fry: Only two elements were created at that time.
Alan Davies: Gold and silver.
Jo Brand: Frankincense and myrrh.
Stephen Fry: They are still the most abundant elements in the universe. 99% of the universe is composed of...
Bill Bailey: Helium and sarcasm.
Stephen Fry: How many human beings would you need to extract gold from before you could make of them a gold coin?
James Acaster: Just Mr T.
Stephen Fry: How many paintings did Vincent van Gogh sell which he was alive.
Jo Brand: [To Alan.] Don’t say none.
Bill Bailey: None. I’m gonna say none.
[The klaxon goes off – ‘none’]
Stephen Fry: Really, I’m afraid...
Bill Bailey: One.
| i don't know |
In New York the Verrazano Narrows Bridge links Staten Island with which other borough? | Staten Island
Encyclopedia > Places > United States, Canada, and Greenland > U.S. Physical Geography
Staten Island
Staten Island (1990 pop. 378,977), 59 sq mi (160 sq km), SE N.Y., in New York Bay, SW of Manhattan, forming Richmond co. of New York state and the borough of Staten Island of New York City. It is separated from New Jersey by Kill Van Kull and Arthur Kill, which are crossed by bridges. Ferries connect the island with Manhattan, and the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge links it with Brooklyn. The hills of NE Staten Island rise to 410 ft (125 m) at Todt Hill, the highest point along the Atlantic coast S of Maine.
The industrial area of Staten Island is located in the north, where docks line the northern and eastern shores. The availability of open space made the island the site of large container-handling facilities, as well as New York City's 3,000-acre (1,215-hectare) Fresh Kills landfill, the largest such facility in the country until it was closed in 2001. Fresh Kills will be redeveloped as park. Centers of trade include St. George (the borough hall) and Port Richmond. Beaches and parks, including part of Gateway National Recreation Area, are found along the southeastern coast.
The island was visited by Henry Hudson in 1609 and was called Staaten Eylandet by the Dutch. The Native population drove off the first white settlers, but by 1661 a permanent settlement had been founded. Though there was considerable industrial activity on Staten Island in the 19th cent., its predominant character was semirural, something which had not changed when it became a borough of New York City in 1898.
The turning point in the island's recent history was the completion of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge (1964). Since then Staten Island has had an influx of new residents and industries. Changes in the 1980s in the structure of New York City's government led many Staten Islanders to believe their voting strength was being diminished. In 1993, Staten Island residents voted to secede from the city, but such a move would require state approval. Low-lying coastal areas of the island suffered serious flooding from Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
Among the extant buildings of the 17th, 18th, and 19th cent. is the Billopp, or Conference, House (built before 1688), in which an unsuccessful Revolutionary War peace conference was held in 1776. The Richmondtown Restoration, an example of 18th- and 19th-century life on the island, includes Voorlezer's House (built c.1695). Other points of interest include several old churches, Sailor's Snug Harbor, the Garibaldi Memorial, Fort Wadsworth, and the Staten Island Zoo. Wagner College, Richmond College of the City Univ. of New York, and a branch of St. John's Univ. are on Staten Island.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
| Brooklyn |
Which bridge was inscribed as a ‘World Heritage Site’ in July this year? | NYC tolls among steepest in the nation | New York Post
NYC tolls among steepest in the nation
Helayne Seidman
The nation’s highest bridge tolls are about to get even higher in New York.
With a $13 round-trip cash toll, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge already costs more than just about any other bridge outside the city. And the MTA plans to hike that fee to $15 in March. The toll is collected in only one direction.
Tolls on the MTA’s other interborough crossings, like the Triborough Bridge and the Midtown Tunnel, are set to rise to $7.50 in each direction, for a $15 round trip.
In all, 13 of the highest tolls in the country are here, including the Port Authority’s bridges and tunnels, which cost $13 round trip (also collected on only one side).
The only other double-digit bridge toll in the nation is the $12 charged to drive Virginia’s 20-mile-long Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel system. And you get to use two bridges, two tunnels, and multiple causeways for your money. If you make a return trip on that system within 24 hours, you pay an additional $5, for a total round-trip of $17 .
“You’re a hostage,” said Eileen Bobe, who lives in the shadow of the Verrazano on Staten Island and works just across the Narrows in Brooklyn. Her family of four spends more than $500 a month on tolls. “We base every day around who’s going over the bridge when.”
Local businesses, which can’t take advantage of resident discount programs, pay even more per trip. “For me, it’s $100,000 or more a year for tolls,” said Steve Margarella, whose Staten Island-based asphalt business does much of its work outside the borough. “If we were located anywhere else in the city we wouldn’t pay anywhere near that.”
Almost all of New York’s toll bridges are pricier than iconic spans like the $6 Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and the $4 Tacoma Narrows Bridge near Seattle. Commuter crossings in Boston and New Orleans cost even less to use, and Washington D.C.’s Woodrow Wilson Bridge, now undergoing a $2.4 billion renovation, is free, thanks to piles of earmarked federal cash.
New York’s tolls aren’t the steepest in the world—engineering marvels like the world’s-longest Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge ($27.25 toll) and the under-the-Alps Mont Blanc Tunnel ($51.50) cost more. But commuter bridges elsewhere charge much less per crossing. The toll on Britain’s Humber Bridge was cut in half this year to just $2.44 and the Bosporus Bridge in Istanbul—which links two continents—costs $2.
“This is definitely not where we want to be the world leader,” said MTA board member Allen Cappelli, who opposed the toll increase. “We’re impoverishing the middle class and poor people, and we’re discouraging business. We shouldn’t be mugging the same people over and over again.”
The MTA uses about 60 percent of its bridge tolls to subsidize mass transit, Cappelli said, a funding scheme that is “both inequitable and inadequate. We are a city of islands and we unfairly charge to go between some islands and not others.”
“To spend this kind of money is insane,” said Bobe. “I wish I had a boat.”
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Who are the Brave Blossoms? | Brave Blossoms - The Japan Times
Brave Blossoms
by Andrew Mckirdy
Japan rugby head coach Jamie Joseph on Thursday urged the Brave Blossoms to forget about their 2015 World Cup heroics and focus on rebuilding for the 2019 tournament on home soil. “What’s important now is that we leave the World Cup behind,” Joseph said ...
Rugby Jan 16, 2017
Brave Blossoms add France test to schedule
The Brave Blossoms will take on France in November, the Japan Rugby Football Union announced Monday. The test, slated for Nov. 25 at a venue yet to be specified, gives Jamie Joseph’s squad yet another challenge in what promises to be an exciting year ...
by Debito Arudou
Welcome back to JBC’s annual countdown of the top issues as they affected Non-Japanese (NJ) residents of Japan. We had some brighter spots this year than in previous years, because Japan’s government has been so embarrassed by hate speech toward Japan’s minorities that they ...
Rugby Dec 15, 2016
Japan to host Australia for first time
Japan will host Australia on Nov. 4, 2017, in a landmark test match, the Japan Rugby Football Union and Australian Rugby Union jointly announced Thursday. The game, at a venue yet to be determined, will mark the first time the Wallabies and Brave Blossoms ...
Rugby Dec 14, 2016
Japan to play test matches against Ireland, Romania in June
The Japan Rugby Football Union confirmed Wednesday the dates for the Brave Blossoms’ tests against Romania and Ireland in June 2017. Romania visits Japan on June 10, with the Irish set for a two-test series on June 17 and 24. The venues for the ...
Rugby Nov 27, 2016
Brave Blossoms end tour on sour note
Japan will finish the year outside the top 10 in rugby’s world rankings after an error-ridden performance saw the Brave Blossoms lose 38-25 against Fiji on Saturday. Despite the Japanese having a one-man advantage for 58 minutes at Stade de la Rabine, after flanker ...
Rugby Nov 24, 2016
Brave Blossoms keep same starting lineup for test against Fiji
Japan will take an unchanged starting XV into the final test of its European tour, head coach Jamie Joseph announced Thursday. The Brave Blossoms take on Fiji at Stade de la Rabine in Vannes, France, on Saturday with the winner set to finish the ...
Rugby Nov 20, 2016
Wales denies battling Japan famous victory
Japan came within 20 seconds Saturday of once again shocking the rugby world. Despite missing a plethora of players through injury and self-imposed exile, the Brave Blossoms pushed Wales all the way before a last-gasp drop goal from Sam Davies saw the hosts win ...
Rugby Nov 17, 2016
Wales, Japan announce lineup changes for weekend test
Sam Warburton resumes the captaincy and Leigh Halfpenny switches to the wing for Wales, which has made 10 changes to its team to play Japan in Cardiff on Saturday. Warburton moves to openside flanker and regains the captain’s armband after Gethin Jenkins led the ...
Rugby Nov 16, 2016
Lemeki withdraws from Brave Blossoms tour
Japan wing Lomano Lava Lemeki has withdrawn from the Brave Blossoms’ tour of Europe due to an injury, the Japan Rugby Football Union announced Wednesday. Lemeki started in Saturday’s 28-22 win over Georgia in Tbilisi, scoring two tries and playing nearly the whole game. ...
Rugby Nov 10, 2016
Brave Blossoms coach Joseph makes six lineup changes for match against Georgia
The Japan side that will take on Georgia on Saturday at Tbilisi’s Mikheil Meskhi Stadium shows six changes from the team that took the field against Argentina in Tokyo on Nov. 5. Four of the changes come in the pack with Shunsuke Nunomaki set ...
Rugby Nov 5, 2016
by Kaz Nagatsuka
Despite a lopsided 54-20 loss to Argentina on Saturday afternoon, Japanese players held their heads up high at Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground because they know that they can only improve by working more together in practices and games moving forward. “We are disappointed ...
| Japan national rugby union team |
Johanna Konta is the new British female No.1 in which sport? | Japan Rugby World Cup 2015 preview: How the Brave Blossoms are catching up with the pack before they play hosts in 2019 | Daily Mail Online
Japan Rugby World Cup 2015 preview: How the Brave Blossoms are catching up with the pack before they play hosts in 2019
Japan's World Cup campaign begins September 19 against South Africa
Coach Eddie Jones has steered a revolution for a Brave Blossoms
Chiefs backrower and captain Michael Leitch is a key figure in the scrum
Japan's been in every World Cup since 1987 but recorded just one victory
comments
When South Africa face Japan in Brighton for their World Cup openers, Heyneke Meyer's men will already know the only Asian side in the tournament won't be the push overs they once may have been.
The 2019 World Cup's hosts were never shrinking violets in terms of passion and intensity, but where size mattered they didn't have it.
It's not just a perception but an obvious challenge Eddie Jones, a consultant to the Springboks in 2007, admitted he had to tackle when he took over Japan's national team in 2012.
Japan's size and scrum has historically been a hindrance but vast improvements have been made recently
JAPAN WORLD CUP FIXTURES
Sept 19: South Africa, Brighton, 4.45pm
Sept 23: Scotland, Kingsholm, 2.30pm
Oct 3: Samoa, Stadiummk, 2.30pm
Oct 11: United States, Kingsholm, 8pm
'Japanese players have got obvious physical disadvantages compared to other countries,' the former Wallabies boss Jones explained in an interview with therugbysite.com this year.
'The biggest challenge was finding a way to play rugby effectively with smaller players.'
This meant using their speed and moving the ball quickly away from opposing big boppers, with scrum-half Fumiaki Tanaka - incidentally the World Cup's smallest player at 5ft 5ins and 11 stone six - at the crux.
Jones even visited Pep Guardiola to see how he drills his Bayern Munich stars in movement off the ball in a bid to find an edge and, as he calls it, 'Maximise our resources.'
Japan scrum-half Fumiaki Tanaka, at 5ft 5ins and 11stone six, is the smallest players in this World Cup
Fixing the scrum was another story. Enter former France hooker Marc Dal Maso, who's worked wonders. A team that in a 31-26 win over Romania gave up all of their lower-ranked opposition's points from scrums, has since overcome Italy for the first time . They did it last year with the pack that couldn't win its own ball two years before holding firm throughout for the win in Tokyo.
In 2014, Japan even leaped ahead of Argentina and into the top 10 in the IRB's rankings - although they've since fallen back to 13th.
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A rich domestic league, attracting talent from around the world, has helped in upping the standard of rugby Japanese players are exposed to, as should their own Super Rugby franchise if it gets off the ground - there are teething problems ahead of their maiden season.
It's also been a means of recruitment, with several New Zealanders who came to play Top League through either family links or the money and never left, switching allegiance to the red and white. Among their number are key forwards Luke Thompson and Michael Broadhurst.
Lock Luke Thompson, 34, didn't get a look in at Canterbury with Brad Thorn and Chris Jack so took a chance and moved to Japan in 2004 where he's played his club rugby since - this will be his third World Cup
Some home grown menaces for opposing defences have also emerged, with No 8 Amanaki Lelei Mafi making himself famous by sending NZ Maori's Elliott Dixon flying in a famed Youtube clip.
He did the same to score Japan's try in their 13-10 win over proud scrummagers Georgia in Gloucester in their last World Cup warm-up.
Of tier two nations, Georgia would have once backed themselves to at least batter Japan in the scrum, but not anymore - Japan's starting pack that day was only 16 pounds lighter than the England one against Ireland. How times have changed.
Jones has set their target at getting out of pool B and reaching the final eight, which although a pipe dream considering wins are unlikely over the Springboks and Scotland gives an idea of their ambition.
Another converted New Zealander, Michael Broadhurst scores a try in Japan's 40-0 demolition of Uruguay
The rest of their pool is wide open, with the Brave Blossoms winning five of their last six games against USA and a 33-14 result over Samoa in their last meeting. They should be among the best games of the group stage with Japan's chances of adding to their solitary win in World Cups - against Zimbabwe in 1991 - despite being in every edition since 1987 never being better.
They'll be keen to show why these days they are known brilliantly as the Brave Blossoms, not so much the Cherry Blossoms, ahead of hosting the tournament in 2009.
THE COACH: Eddie Jones
A former hooker who's recovered from a recent stroke, Jones has made it his personal mission to change the culture of Japanese rugby since he took over the national team in 2012. With a Japanese mother and his coaching career starting there, he said at the team's welcome in Brighton that he's intent on proving Japan is a serious rugby nation - they're losing a gem when he doesn't renew his contract. Then comes his immense experience with Australia, the Brumbies and Reds in Super Rugby and even with Saracens in England's Premiership. Not to forget he was the technical advisor to the 2007 World Cup-winning Springboks following his axing by the ARU.
He is also first to praise Marc Dal Maso's alternative, holistic approach to the set-piece that is no longer an obvious weakness for the side.
Former Wallabies boss Eddie Jones has made it his mission to change the attitude and culture of Japan rugby
THE CAPTAIN: Michael Leitch
Flanker Leitch, born in New Zealand to Fijian parents but brought up in Japan since he was 15, brings a touch of class and strength to the side. And at just 26 is undoubtedly the future of the sport in Japan. His experience with the Waikato Chiefs this year in Super Rugby, being voted rookie of the year by his peers, is invaluable and his contract was renewed for next season.
New Zealand-born and brought up in Japan, captain and flanker Michael Leitch is a vital figure for Japan
JAPAN'S SCHEDULE
When and where do they join the party?
Former England skipper Steve Borthwick, who is Japan's forwards coach, will be welcomed back to the UK at the Brighton Dome at 7.30m on Friday 11 September.
Where are they training?
Founded in the 10th century, Warwick School will host the only Asian side in the tournament. The independent school is the oldest World Cup base and is set in 50 acres of West Midlands countryside. Brighton College will also host the tourists for part of their stay.
Did you know?
The 'Brave Blossoms' have qualified for every World Cup since 1987 but have conceded an average of 48 points per game, with their sole victory coming against Zimbabwe. They are looking to improve their record before the host the 2019 edition.
STAR MAN: Craig Wing
The Brave Blossoms are not a team of stars, although they did have six players in Super Rugby this year. Former Queensland Reds loose forward Hendrik Tui is an important cog, while second-rowers Michael Broadhurst and Luke Thompson are skilled muscle who learned their trade in New Zealand.
Perhaps the one to watch, though, is Craig Wing, Japan's much smaller version of Sam Burgess, the rugby league convert who's quickly made his mark and now playing at his first World Cup. An Australian international and NSW State of Origin star, Wing joined Japanese rugby in 2010 and his skills as a league utility - able to play anywhere skill is required along the back line or hooker, was always going to work it out. At 35 and with big game experience, his cool head may also come in handy.
Japan's own Sam Burgess of sorts, former rugby league star Craig Wing is a very different style of centre
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Parsees are followers of which religion? | The Parsees, Their History and Contribution to the Indian Society
The Parsees, Their History, Religion And Contribution To Indian Society
By Noshir H. Dadrawala
The Parsis are followers of one of the oldest, if not the oldest revealed religion in the world - Zoroastrianism. Globally, as a community, the Parsis number barely a hundred thousand. But it is not by numbers that this community can be judged, for no less a person than Mahatma Gandhi has acknowledged: "I am proud of my country, India, for having produced the splendid Zoroastrian stock, in numbers beneath contempt, but in charity and philanthropy, perhaps unequalled, certainly unsurpassed."
According to the last census for 1991, the Parsis in India number 76,382 of which as many as 53,794 are concentrated in the city of Bombay (Mumbai).
The Parsis came to India sometime around the 10th century A.D. to escape Arab persecution in Persia which began in the 7th century. Their history in Persia goes back to prehistoric times when Peshdadian kings were known as the "original law givers" and worshipped Mazda, the one and only "Lord of Wisdom". After the Peshdadians came the Kayanian dynasty, during which period the blessed prophet Zarathushtra was born.
Confusion still persists amongst scholars about the exact date and place of Zarathushtra's birth. Some scholars relying upon various Greek sources push Zarathushtra's date of birth back to the 7th millennium B.C. Others place it somewhere between 1800 and 1500 B.C. Oral Zoroastrian tradition places his birth sometime around 6000 B.C.
The first recorded history of Iran begins with Cyrus the Great who laid the foundation of the mighty Achaemenian empire. Cyrus (born 599 B.C.) has been referred to by scholars and historians as "the most outstanding person of the ancient world" and architect of the first "world empire".
Despite the vastness of his empire and the strength of his army, Cyrus remained a benevolent and tolerant king. In an age seeped in cruelty, slavery and the law of "might is right", he gave humanity the first bill of "Human Rights", declaring, among others, man's right to freedom of religion, opinion, expression and free movement.
Cyrus ruled his empire wisely and justly. Law and order was so strictly observed that it gave rise to the phrase, "The Laws of the Medes and the Persians"(Daniel VI, 8) or laws that were immutable.
Cyrus liberated the Jews by conquering Babylon and even helped them to rebuild the temple of Solomon with funds from Persian coffers.
After Cyrus, Darius ascended the throne. His empire extended from the river Danube in Europe to the river Indus in India and from central Asia to the north-eastern parts of Africa, comprising 23 great nations of the ancient world.
Ages before Ferdinand de Lesseps thought of the Suez Canal, Darius connected the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea by means of a canal to stimulate trade and commerce. He pioneered the world's first postal service. In fact, Herodotus notes, "Nothing mortal travels so fast as these Persian messengers."
Darius also built Persepolis which was further developed by his son Xerxes, but also destroyed in a drunken fit by Alexander whom the Persians, even today, regard as the accursed. After the fall of the Achaemenian empire, there was chaos for some time and a weak attempt was made by the Parthians to revive the ancient glory of Persia. This, however, was achieved in a large measure by the Sasanian kings, starting with its founder, Ardishir. The Sasanian king, Shapur, also defeated the Great Roman Emperor, Valerian, and the empire of Khusroo Perviz was almost as large as that of Darius the Great of the Achaemenian dynasty.
The mighty Sasanian empire fell in the seventh century A.D. when the last king Yezdagird Shehriar was defeated at the hands of the Arab hordes. The Arab Muslims began to persecute the Zoroastrians and when religious intolerance reached a head, a few pious Zoroastrians left their beloved motherland of Iran and set sail for the hospitable Indian shores to preserve their identity, religion and culture. Ever since the community has contributed to the development and growth of the nation, spreading richness and lustre just the way the leader of the Parsis who came from Iran had promised the local Indian chieftan, Jadi Rana, by dropping a gold ring in a bowl of milk symbolically placed before them.
There is hardly a discipline or human endeavour in which the Parsis have not demonstrated excellence. The armed forces, industry, science, medicine, sports, politics, philanthrophy, you name it, and a Parsi contribution will be conspicuous.
The first elected Indian member of the British Parliament in 1892 was Dr. Dadabhoy Naoroji - a Parsi. Sir Pherozeshah Mehta was elected, on several occasions, President of the Indian National Congress, the Bombay Corporation and Bombay Presidency Association. The revolutionary Madam Bhikhaiji Cama was the first Indian (and Parsi) to unfurl the Indian National flag in Germany (1907).
The Wadias were master-builders, while the Tatas gave India not just its first steel industry, but also hydro-electricity. Most of these families who generated wealth through industrial development put back the wealth in trust for the welfare of the people. The Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, for example, gave India its first Institute of Science in Bangalore, the first cancer hospital in Bombay, the first institute of social sciences, the first institute of fundamental research and a National Centre for the Performing Arts.
The British Government granted Baronetcy and knighthood on three Parsis - Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, Sir Dinshaw M. Petit and Sir Cowasjee Jehangir, an honour which has no parallel in Indian history. Dr. K.N. Bahadurjee was the first Indian to pass the M.D. examination in London and worked tirelessly during the plague in Bombay, laying down his life at the age of 38. Dr. Rustom Jal Vakil has been referred to, in international journals, as "the father of Indian cardiology".
India's first and only Field Marshal has been Sam Maneckshaw. Admiral Jal Cursetji has also been Chief of Naval Staff, while Air-Marshal Minoo Engineer was the most highly decorated air-marshal in Indian air-force history.
India's first Atomic Research Centre is named after Dr. Homi Bhabha - a brilliant Parsi scientist, while Zubin Mehta is a household name all over the world as far as Western classical music is concerned.
The list is almost endless. It may be rightly questioned - what makes the Parsi community tick? The answer is simple - their religious philosophy towards life and ethos for industry and hard work.
A true Zoroastrian does not have to go into seclusion in search of salvation. He does not have to relinquish life and become a wandering monk to subdue his senses and emotion. He does not have to withdraw into isolation, contemplating or meditating upon the knowledge that could gain freedom for his soul. He does not have to fast or perform penance or torture his body in order to conquer illusion and ignorance. On the contrary, he must put into practice, the philosophy of life that his beloved prophet Zarathushtra has taught, i.e., to fight evil, to fashion his character amidst the everyday experiences of joy and sorrow, goodness and evil, to destroy Satan's sway and to establish Ahura Mazda's Kingdom on earth.
A Zoroastrian does not consider life as maya or an illusion. If he considers himself apart from Ahura Mazda, he does not believe this is due to his ignorance or sin. The link that binds him to Ahura Mazda is similar to that which binds a father to his son. The son enjoys the same independent existence that the father enjoys. The ultimate aim of a Zoroastrian is not to seek salvation of his own soul through knowledge, but through the spiritual knowledge bequeathed by his great prophet, he has to strengthen himself for the victory of the spirit and the conquest over evil. He has to live in the world and work for the welfare of humanity. If he were to meditate with folded arms and attain the highest spiritual enlightenment but fail to cultivate the quality of diligence for the welfare of this temporal world, he is not the beloved of Ahura Mazda.
If Christ asked his followers to love their neighbours, Zarathushtra asked his followers to attain happiness by making others happy.
Many religions have looked down upon wealth and believed that "it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven" or that wealth is maya or illusion and creates bondage. Zoroastrianism, on the other hand, considers wealth to be fundamentally positive, provided it is put to judicious use and used for the well-being of others.
In fact, no other quality has brought so much fame to the Parsis as their charities - cosmopolitan as well as communal. Renowned researcher, Dr. E. Kulke, in 'The Parsis in India' (1974) writes, "This charity system was made possible and furthered by the basic attitude of the Parsis motivated by their religion, that wealth is fundamentally positive, that it brings, however, certain social obligations along with it."
Zarathushtra's teachings are mainly enshrined in his divine hymns called the 'Gathas'. These hymns are in a language known as Gathic Avestan or Old Avestan and were orally transmitted, for many centuries, and only at a later date, were they written down.
Asha, which has been variously translated as Truth, Righteousness, Purity, occupies a pivotal position in the 'Gathas' and forms the cornerstone of Zoroastrianism. According to Zoroastrianism, Truth should be affirmed for its own sake. Mankind is taught the lofty precept that righteous acts should be performed only because they are righteous and not out of any ulterior motive of gaining a reward. Virtue is its own reward. The Ashem Vohu prayer, one of the most important prayers of Zoroastrianism, expresses this succinctly: "Righteousness is the best good (and it) is happiness. Happiness (is) to him who (is) righteous for the sake of the best righteousness."
However, Asha also carries a higher spiritual import. It is the Law Immutable, the Law Eternal, the Cosmic Law of Order and Harmony, on which the entire Universe is based. It is through Asha that Ahura Mazda created the Universe and it is through Asha that mankind will attain perfection and be one with Ahura Mazda. The Hoshbam prayer states, "Through the best Asha, through the highest Asha, may we catch sight of Thee (Ahura), may we approach Thee, may we be in perfect union with Thee!"
Asha, in fact, forms the very being of Ahura Mazda and He is also "Asha hazaosh", i.e., "of one will with Asha". In the 'Gathas', Zarathushtra talks of "the righteous paths wherein dwells Mazda Ahura" and in the Havan Geh prayer, it is stated, "We worship the Supreme Lord, Ahura Mazda, who is the Foremost in Righteousness, who hath advanced furthest in Righteousness."
It is only by walking on the path of Asha that man can attain union with his Maker. The Colophon to the Yasna is absolutely explicit on this point. "There is but one Path, that of Asha, all other paths are false paths."
But it is only with the help of Vohu Manah or the Good Mind that man can tread the path of Asha. It is the Good Mind which helps us discern the Truth. It is through the Good Mind that Zarathushtra awakes to the beneficent nature of Ahura Mazda. "Beneficent then did I think Thee, Oh Omniscient Lord! When the Good Divine Intelligence encircled me." (Y 43.9)
In Zoroastriansim, stress is laid on the Good Mind because thought, after all, is the seed of action. The three-fold triad of Humata, Hukhta, Hvarshta or good thoughts, good words, good deeds is an interdependent one for it is the thought which results in the word which, in turn, gives rise to the deed.
Zarathushtra preached that thought is great but action is greater. Zoroastrianism is primarily a religion of action. Action is the key word of the religion and supreme emphasis is placed on it. In this connection, Visperad (Karda 15.1) says: "Hold ready, O Mazdayasnian Zoroastrians, your feet, your hands and your intellect, in order to perform good deeds, according to the Law and at the right time."
Again, a Zoroastrian, while performing the Kushti ritual, ties the two front knots on uttering the word "shyaothananam" which means "working". A Zoroastrian, by this act, is pledging to work for Ahura Mazda, pledging to perform good deeds for the sake of Ahura Mazda. For it is only by performing good actions that the "druj" or Lie can be kept at bay. For it is stated in the texts that whoever causes goodness injures, at the same time, the Evil Spirit.
According to Zoroastrianism, it is the sum total of a man's thoughts, words and deeds which will determine the fate of his soul in the next world - it is these thoughts, words and deeds, good or bad, which will lead his soul either to the gates of Heaven or to the pathway of Hell.
However, it is important to note that in Zoroastrianism, there is no eternal Hell. Hell is only a temporary abode for the wicked soul. At the time of the Final Judgement, all souls will pass through a river of molten metal and become cleansed and purified.
Even a cursory look at Zoroastrian theology would not be complete without a mention of the 7 Amesha Spentas or the Bounteous Immortals. These are the attributes of Ahura Mazda, aspects of His nature. At the physical level, the Amesha Spentas are represented as protectors of God's creations, e.g., the Amesha Spenta Asha Vahishta looks after Fire and the Amesha Spenta Spenta Armaiti looks after the Earth. However, at the abstract or metaphysical level, the Amesha Spentas form the "ethical infrastructure" whereby man can attain immortality.
According to the 'Zadspram', Zarathushtra asked Ahura Mazda several questions, one of them being, "Which thing is good, which better and which is the best of all habits?"
Ahura Mazda replied thus: "The title of the Amesha Spentas is good, the sight of them is better, and carrying out their commands is the best of all habits." ('Zadspram' 21.15-18)
In simple terms, it means that being aware of them and recognising them is good, paying them obeisance is better and actualizing them in our daily lives (by performing as many good deeds as possible and thereby spreading goodness everywhere) is best of all.
For it is only when every individual lives his life consistently according to this ethical Amesha Spenta infrastructure that evil will be vanquished and Frashokereti or the "Making Wonderful" will be ushered in and Time will cease to exist.
Zoroastrians not only respect but revere the four fundamental elements of Nature, viz., Fire, Water, Earth and Air. Polluting any one of them is considered a cardinal sin. Conversely, Ahura Mazda is pleased when a Zoroastrian protects these elements and offers them worship. In fact, scholars have referred to Zoroastrianism as the world's first ecologically conscious religion.
Fire, in particular, is regarded as a symbol of the Best Righteousness (Asha Vahishta) and doctrinally regarded as the "Son of Ahura Mazda", because there is a strong affinity between Truth (represented by Fire) and Wisdom (Mazda). To a Zoroastrian, fire is a visible link with Ahura Mazda Who is not visible to us, ordinary mortals. Besides fire, Zoroastrians also revere the other elements of Nature. There is nothing pagan about it. Rather, it is a spontaneous and natural way of looking up through Nature, to Nature's God. Parsis, as a community, believe that each of the higher religions is a true vision and a right way and all of them alike are indispensable to mankind, because each gives a different glimpse of the same divine truth and each leads by a different route to the same goal of human endeavour. Each, therefore, has a special spiritual value of its own which is not to be found in any of the others. Religion is like food which we consume not merely for its nutritive value, but also for its agreeability.
God in His Wisdom has willed the many religions and beliefs to suit the diverse needs of different souls. It's like the five fingers of our hand - they function best since they are not uniform. Every religion has something of its own to give to its followers, which need not necessarily harmonize with the prescription of other religions and faiths. Take, for example, fasting. For a Hindu, it is a religious act of merit. However, for a Zoroastrian, it is an act of denial and, therefore, a sin. Yet both Hinduism and Zoroastrianism are true and lead their followers in their own way to God.
Says Coomara-Swamy, "There are many paths that lead to the same mountain; their differences will be more apparent the lower down we are, but they vanish at the peak; each will naturally take the one that starts from the point at which he finds himself; he who goes round about looking for another is not climbing. Never let us approach another believer to ask him to become one of us, but approach him with respect as one who is already one of his, who is, and from whose invariable beauty all contingent being depends."
A hundred years ago, Swami Vivekanand said at the Parliament of the World's Religions, "The Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist, nor a Hindu or a Buddhist to become a Christian. But each must assimilate the spirit of the other and yet preserve his individuality and grow according to his own law of growth."
This is exactly what conservative Parsis in India have been propagating and practising, for the past ten centuries in India. The Parsis, by a very large majority in India and to a certain extent, also in the West, are against conversion, for they sincerely believe that Truth is not the monopoly of the Zoroastrian religion only. A change over from one religion to another must mean the other is lacking either in quality or content. As Mahatma Gandhi said, "All religions are branches of the same mighty tree, but one must not change from one branch to another for the sake of expediency. By doing so, one cuts the very branch on which he sits."
Yes, the fundamental principles of the Zoroastrian religion, like any other, are universal in nature and it is open for anyone to walk the path of Asha or imbibe in one's life, the moral and ethical code of truth, justice, charity and love as propounded by Zarathushtra. But one need not necessarily renounce one's own religion in order to incorporate these values in one's daily life.
By the middle of the 6th century B.C., the Empire of Cyrus the Great stretched from the Iranian plateau to Asia Minor and parts of present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan. Yet the Achaemenid dynasty he founded was renowned for its religious tolerance and peace. Cyrus liberated the Jews from their exile in Babylon, giving them the resources to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. In the Old Testament, he is therefore hailed as the Lord's Anointed (Messiah), a unique reference to a foreign king in Jewish literature.
In the 6th century A.C., the Sasanian monarch, Hormazd IV decreed that Christians and other groups should not be persecuted. He is believed to have said, "Even as our royal throne cannot stand upon its two front legs without the back ones, so also our government cannot stand and be secure, if we incense the Christians and the adherents of other religions who are not of our faith." (Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices" by Dr. Mary Boyce, London, 1979)
In conclusion, we can do no better than quote Tryon Edwards: "What we need in religion is not new light, but new sight; not new paths, but new strength to walk in the old ones; not new duties but new strength from on high to fulfill those that are plain before us."
| Zoroastrianism |
The five ‘K’s feature in which religion? | BBC - Religions - Zoroastrian: At a Glance
At a Glance
Last updated 2009-10-02
This page provides an overview of Zoroastrian beliefs, which can be summed up by 'Good thoughts, good words, good deeds'.
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Zoroastrianism at a glance
Zoroastrianism is one of the world's oldest monotheistic religions. It was founded by the Prophet Zoroaster (or Zarathustra) in ancient Iran approximately 3500 years ago.
For 1000 years Zoroastrianism was one of the most powerful religions in the world. It was the official religion of Persia (Iran) from 600 BCE to 650 CE.
It is now one of the world's smallest religions. In 2006 the New York Times reported that there were probably less than 190,000 followers worldwide at that time.
Zoroastrians believe there is one God called Ahura Mazda (Wise Lord) and He created the world.
Zoroastrians are not fire-worshippers, as some Westerners wrongly believe. Zoroastrians believe that the elements are pure and that fire represents God's light or wisdom.
Ahura Mazda revealed the truth through the Prophet, Zoroaster.
Zoroastrians traditionally pray several times a day.
Zoroastrians worship communally in a Fire Temple or Agiary.
The Zoroastrian book of Holy Scriptures is called The Avesta.
The Avesta can be roughly split into two main sections:
The Avesta is the oldest and core part of the scriptures, which contains the Gathas. The Gathas are seventeen hymns thought to be composed by Zoroaster himself.
The Younger Avesta - commentaries to the older Avestan written in later years. It also contains myths, stories and details of ritual observances.
Zoroastrians are roughly split into two groups:
The Iranians
| i don't know |
Where did Tecwen Whittock cough when he shouldn’t have done in 2003? | Why this trial should never have happened | Daily Mail Online
Why this trial should never have happened
Stephen Glover
Last updated at 00:00 08 April 2003
SO MAJOR Charles Ingram, his wife, Diana, and their friend, Tecwen Whittock, did cheat on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? They have been found guilty of trying to win Pounds 1 million by deception from the programme makers, Celador. Mr Whittock, by coughing 19 times and on one occasion apparently stifling the word 'no' with a cough, steered Major Ingram to the correct answers and his Pounds 1 million prize. It was only the third time that the jackpot had been won.
I can't believe that I am alone in being unable to summon much outrage against Mr and Mrs Ingram or Mr Whittock.
What they did was undoubtedly wrong. Major Ingram certainly did not behave like an officer and a gentleman. They were the authors of their own fate, and deserve their suspended sentences and substantial fines.
Their reputations are ruined and their jobs must be on the line. For this they have only themselves to blame.
But I don't feel they have done anything very wicked. I even feel a little sorry for them. By contrast, the behaviour of Celador makes me feel rather angry. As for the police, they were ill-advised to recommend a prosecution, and the Crown Prosecution Service was foolish in bringing one.
What is Celador? It is a company which produces a programme that makes money out of encouraging greed in ordinary people. It offers the prospect of huge riches to those who have no other prospect of obtaining them. That is its main purpose in life. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? plays on the desire that is in nearly all of us to get rich quick without having to work very hard or have genuinely creative ideas.
The reason that Celador can offer such enormous prizes is that tens of thousands of people ring Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? to try to get on the programme, and they pay a premium rate of 60p a minute for the privilege, generating hundreds of thousands of pounds for Celador's coffers.
So far as we know, Major and Mrs Ingram and Mr Whittock were law-abiding citizens who had never committed a crime in their lives. It took Celador, with its alluring offer of easy riches, to tempt the three of them. If Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
did not exist, Major Ingram would be blamelessly fulfilling his duties in the Royal Engineers, Mrs Ingram would be happily carrying out her work as a nurse, and Mr Whittock would be cheerfully lecturing his students as head of business studies at Pontypridd College in South Wales. I hope the real millionaires who are behind Celador will consider this.
When the company suspected the three of them of cheating after the programme was filmed 18 months ago, it quickly called in the police. The proper thing to do in these circumstances would surely have been for Celador to withhold the Pounds 1million which was not rightfully Major Ingram's and invite him to sue for the prize in the civil courts at his own expense if he was so inclined.
This would have spared the police a long and complicated inquiry, and also saved the public purse the half a million pounds which the month-long criminal trial is estimated to have cost.
Why did Celador decide to go down the criminal route? You may say that the company was outraged by the attempts of Mr and Mrs Ingram and Mr Whittock to deceive them, and wanted to do everything in its power to ensure that other contestants did not attempt a similar deception. No doubt there is much truth in this.
However, Celador are bound to benefit from the publicity surrounding the criminal trial.
CELADOR, in conjunction with Granada, has been making a documentary about the trial which will be shown over Easter. It will be fronted by Martin Bashir. Lengthy excerpts of the episode of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? in which the Major cheated - it was not shown at the time - are expected to be broadcast. The criminal trial which Celador made possible is being turned into a commercial circus. What must have been a gruelling experience for the three defendants has become a financial bonus for the makers of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
The police and the Crown Prosecution Service are also not above criticism.
Once the police were called in, they could perhaps have done little other than to recommend a prosecution. But isn't this the kind of case the modern constabulary loves? There are no violent criminals involved and no nasty crimes, only three previously law-abiding, middle- class people who appeared to have got themselves involved in a stupid scam. If the police and the Crown Prosecution Service devoted as much time to tracking down dangerous criminals as they have in the case of these three people, this would be a safer country.
It may not have helped Mr Ingram that he was a major in the Army, and therefore had quite a long way to fall. Mr Whittock, though born in very humble circumstances, may also have seemed to some the sort of person who deserved to be brought down a peg or two.
There are plenty of people around who enjoy the sight of respectable people tumbling from positions of some eminence.
I repeat that I am not seeking to exonerate Charles and Diana Ingram, or the strangely named Tecwen Whittock. Precisely because of their backgrounds, and the relative privileges they enjoy, they should be expected to live by the highest standards.
They seem not to have been desperately short of money, though Mr Whittock, who has emerged almost comically as a serial failure on a succession of quiz programmes, has racked up large debts. But there are no excuses. Such people shouldn't cheat or lie. They haven't, however, robbed a bank, and we should not treat them as though they have.
THIS IS a case that should never have been brought in a criminal court at enormous public expense. Judge Geoffrey Rivlin seemed almost implicitly to accept this when passing sentence. He accused the three defendants of 'a shabby schoolboy trick'. That is exactly right.
What they did was low and sneaky but not of fundamental importance. The sentence was well-judged and not too lenient, as some people are already suggesting. The hefty fines will be painful. More painful still will be the disgrace and the loss of reputation. Nothing but the passing of time can restore that.
Celador will be happy, but maybe their happiness will be short-lived. The company makes money by encouraging ordinary people to be greedy.
Now it will make a little more money out of the disgrace of Major and Mrs Ingram, and of Mr Whittock. It must be thinking that it is scooping the jackpot every which way. But I would like to think that this burst of publicity will not prove to be the extra bonus that Celador is hoping for.
| on who wants to be millionaire |
In military slang what are ‘Ack Emma’ and ‘Pip Emma’? | The Ingrams Millionaire Trial - UKGameshows
The Ingrams Millionaire Trial
7 That coughline in full
Introduction
7 April, 2003: Over the past four weeks, Southwark Court has been the home to one of the most curious trials of past few years. Three people - Charles Ingram, Diana Ingram, and Tecwen Whittock - have been convicted of conspiracy to obtain a valuable security by deception. The "valuable security" in question is a cheque for £1,000,000, signed by Chris Tarrant, and won on the hit ITV show WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE . In this exhaustive review of the trial, we examine the evidence that led to the conviction, and re-create the extraordinary chain of events that culminated in the fake million pound moment.
Acknowledgements
This column draws heavily on Press Association reports, as presented in BBC News, the Daily Record, The Guardian, The Independent, the Welsh Daily Post, and a tip from James Sorrie. All errors of fact and interpretation are those of the author.
Prosecution case
(a) The allegation
Nicholas Hilliard led the prosecution. "Put simply, the allegation is that Mr Ingram cheated his way towards winning £1m on that quiz show, and that also involved in the dishonest scheme were his wife, Diana, and a third defendant, Tecwen Whittock."
"Obviously, one way of increasing your chances of winning would be if you could set up some form of signal from someone else. If they knew the answer and could signal it to you, the contestant, by some means, that would obviously be a great help."
What ingenious scheme did Mr Hilliard suggest had been used? Someone would sound one or more coughs when the contestant is reading out or talking about the correct answer.
And, er, that's it.
To test this theory, the jury was shown the tape of the unaired show, during which a cough can clearly be heard during the correct answer. (A full transcript is elsewhere in this report.)
(b) Previous contact
The prosecution claimed that the Ingrams and Mr Whittock had been in contact by phone on a regular basis for several months before Ingram's winning show, but they ignored each other at the studio on September 10, the second day Ingram was in the chair. Both men denied having met or spoken to each other.
In the prosecution case: "Before September 10, if there had been prior contact between the three of them, then you might expect that there might have been some contact between them when all together at the studio. Ordinarily, you might expect them to have sought each other out. Unless, of course, for some reason, the Ingrams and Mr Whittock did not want to be seen together."
The court saw evidence of telephone contact between Mr Whittock and the Ingrams' home telephone, Diana Ingram's mobile phone and the telephone of Adrian Pollock, her brother.
There had been sketchy plans to use four pagers, set to vibrate mode, secreted about Mr Ingram's body. Messages were sent up to the night before Mr Ingram's first appearance.
Charles and Diana Ingram
Were the Ingrams practising a scheme on September 9 to cheat, even if they discarded it in the event as too risky to use or discarded [it] for some other reason, and then simply used the coughing method on the 10th on the show Mr Whittock was going to be in the studio? There's no evidence that such a scheme was actually used on either occasion when Mr Ingram was in the hot seat."
Mrs Ingram told police when questioned that she used the pagers to contact her brothers, Marcus Powell and Adrian Pollock. But Mr Hilliard pointed out Mr Powell was in the studio on the night of September 9 and would not have needed to be contacted in that way.
Police later determined that pagers would not emit RF interference detected by sound engineers, even when they were receiving a message.
On Sunday September 9, hours after Mr Ingram had finished his first day of questioning, a call was made at 2302 from Diana Ingram's mobile to Mr Whittock's daughter's phone, which Mr Whittock accepted he was using at the time. The Ingrams had heard that Mr Whittock would be a contestant on the next show.
On September 10, at 0925, a call was made from Mr Whittock's daughter's phone to the Ingrams at home, and about three hours later, a call was returned from Mrs Ingram's mobile.
There was no contact after the show.
(c) In the hot seat
Fellow contestant Graham Whitehurst was sitting on the other side of the studio from Mr Whittock, in the last Fastest Finger seat. By the time Chris posed the jackpot question he was sure Mr Whittock and Mr Ingram were colluding.
"So I was leaning forward glaring at Mr Whittock saying 'don't you dare, don't you dare'. I can remember that precise feeling."
"I was listening out for Googol and thinking as soon as the major says Googol what was Mr Whittock going to do. So I was waiting. I was absolutely certain there was going to be a signal by coughing."
"He seemed to dismiss Googol initially and he went all round the houses as he had done through the show, and as soon as he got to Googol Tecwen Whittock went 'cough, cough'."
Nicholas Hilliard: "Are you sure that it was Tecwen Whittock who coughed when Mr Ingram mentioned the option Googol?"
Mr Whitehurst: "I am 100% sure. I was studying him. I was fixed on Tecwen Whittock to see what he would do at that point, as soon as the word Googol was mentioned."
Between Mr Whitehurst and Mr Whittock was host Chris Tarrant. In evidence, he told of his "elation" at the big win. Mr Tarrant left the studio "fairly elated, because it was a very exciting and extraordinary programme." After the officer left the set with the cheque, Tarrant visited him in his dressing room and told him: "Congratulations, fantastic." He returned later, "once recording for the night had been finished", to spend a little more time with Major Ingram and his wife.
Nicholas Hilliard, prosecuting, asked: "So far as the atmosphere then was concerned, did you detect anything untoward?"
"Not from them. No, not at all. They seemed as normal as people who had just won £1m would be in that situation," Tarrant replied.
Mr Tarrant was asked whether he noticed any coughing during the major's appearance.
"Not specifically, because there is just so much going on at the time, loud applause... extraordinary behaviour, exciting behaviour, very hard to follow behaviour. When you get to that sort of money, I am very focused, there was an awful lot going on," he told the prosecutor.
Tarrant went on to explain that while he had a lot of information on a screen in front of him, including the question and the four possible answers, he had no indication which answer was correct.
"Only when we get to the specific moment, 'Final answer', at that point on my screen, a very small signal comes up whether they are right or not, and that is when I am absolutely certain whether that is the right answer."
Tarrant told the court he was "very aware" of the need not to give anything away that might help a contestant.
"I have developed a strange, impassioned face that hopefully does not give them a clue to whether they are right or wrong. I cannot do that. But sometimes, I am saying to myself: 'Please, please give me the right answer'."
"When the money gets up to serious amounts, and certainly when you get up to £64,000 and up to £1m, it is absolutely essential. I am very, very aware exactly what I am thinking."
(d) Tracing the cough
Floor manager Philip Davies said that there's always some coughing during a recording, but it's usually sporadic and irregular, and the cougher attempts to stifle their harrumphs. Uncontrolled coughing is frequent; that during the recording was occasional, and coincident with Mr Ingram reading out answers
Sound supervisor Kevin Duff spoke about the various coughs that had been recorded at the time. He noted 19 coughs made near a live microphone. In his view, they came from one of the "fastest finger" microphones.
"Tests have shown - because various signals have been looked at and they are stronger on one side or the other - that they come from one of the fastest finger contestants who was on the left side... in seats one to five," said Mr Hilliard.
"That narrows the field a bit. Mr Whittock was one of those - he was at seat number three. Mr Whittock admits that he had a cough at the time and a number of people in the audience noticed it. You can make your minds up as... to whether Mr Ingram noticed these particular coughs."
Dr John French, a leading sound analyst, said that the same - male - person was responsible for all the misleading harrumphs. Not all 192 coughs came from the same person, but 36 came from Mr Whittock's side of the studio, including the nineteen most suspicious and leading coughs.
The Ingrams
After the show taped, Mr Ingram was "politely surprised" to hear that the cheque had been stopped. The news, broken by Celador's MD Paul Smith, was put down to "irregularities" into his appearance.
Mr Smith had earlier been called away from a recording of THE WAITING GAME to review the tapes of Mr Ingram's performance with sound supervisor Kevin Duff. The whole Celador team watched the tapes the following afternoon, and contacted the police afterwards.
Celador's supervising executive producer Rob Taylor took the unusual step of searching the Ingrams after the show. He was still concerned to make sure "they were treated nicely and gently." "I arranged to see them later with some champagne in their dressing room," he said, but found the atmosphere unusual.
Researcher Eva Winstanley agreed: "There wasn't any real emotion. They didn't seem happy. Mrs Ingram seemed a little bit agitated. Mr Ingram seemed a little bit tense."
When Ms Winstanley offered the couple a drink, Mr Ingram declined, saying that he was going back to work the next day. The researcher and Mrs Ingram expressed surprise.
"My words were something like, 'work - tomorrow?' I wouldn't expect anyone to go back to work if they had just won £1m. He didn't seem very impressed with our response. He raised his voice, raised his arms up in the air, and said, 'don't start', and 'I've got things to do - you don't understand'. He wasn't looking at Mrs Ingram or myself, he was looking at the wall.
"I mentioned that the PR manager would have to come and have a chat with him about what would happen from there. Mr Ingram said that he didn't want to see anyone, he just wanted to be left alone."
After Ms Winstanley left, the window of their dressing room was slammed shut and she heard "raised voices - but I couldn't hear what was being said."
Lisa Telford was another researcher. She spoke of how the couple's mood swung in the time it took her to get a pint of bitter and a cigar for Mr Ingram and a glass of red wine for his wife. "The atmosphere in the room had changed. Previously when I came it was obvious they were shocked. When I came in a second time they weren't happy and they were dismissive of me."
Speaking in his defence, Mr Ingram denied this row took place, and said the allegations had "ruined his life." Mr Ingram said he had known all but one of the answers, relying on his maths and physics A-levels to take a brave gamble on the Million Pound question.
Mr Ingram said he had drawn from his military training, and the army's lack of resources, to reach the million. "That meant taking calculated risks, weighing up the answers, and taking account of the risks just as I'd have to do in the army. You never have enough resources in the army. You decide to limit the risks to achieve the mission. That is exactly what I did that night."
"I looked at each of the answers, tried as best I could to delete answers that were too ridiculous and weigh up the options on the remaining answers and if I felt 80% confident or more on a particular answer, I would go for it."
The police challenged him about this, saying he had taken a blind guess on question 10, for £32,000. A gasp from the audience led him to the right answer.
In a police interview read to the court, the major told investigating officer Detective Sergeant Ian Williamson: "All I can do is look you in the eye and tell you I did not cheat on that show. If anyone had come to me with a suggestion of cheating on that show, I would have said no.
"I did not use coughing in any shape or form as a method of cheating on that show. I did not, when I was sitting on that show, focus on coughing. I do not recall hearing or taking notice of coughing. I wanted to get to £1m million to the best of my ability."
"What I was trying to do was buy time, think through the answers to whether I could get to a confident level where I could take a risk. If I was just quiet, it would not come across as very good television, which I just wanted it to be," Major Ingram said.
He said he had been "devastated" when he learned, a month after the show, that his wife had regularly been telephoning Mr Whittock.
The court heard he told officers: "I think it is bad news because it looks dreadful. It looks as if I was using coughing during the show and it looks as if there was some sort of link, innuendo, that we knew him. It looks as if we planned something and he deliberately coughed to give us the answers, which did not happen."
On the stand, the prosecution raised the spectre of Mr Ingram's personal debts, standing at about £50,000 when he sat down with Mr Tarrant in September 2001.
Mr Ingram said that he had been on medication, and disclosed that he had been the subject of some personal abuse. His cat has been shot at, people drove past shouting, "cheat," and his car has been vandalised.
Mr Ingram believed that Chris Tarrant had been willing him on to do well, and put down his success to a mixture of alertness and caution. "I made a conscious decision to make sure I understood the question clearly and to look at all four answers to ensure I didn't make a mistake."
Character witnesses appeared for both Ingrams. The major's former commanding officer in Bosnia, Colonel Michael Paul Carter, described the major as a "good friend."
"I consider him to be an officer of the utmost integrity and complete honesty," he said.
A close friend of Mrs Ingram, former schoolmate Sophie Athanasiadis, said she would trust the mother-of-three "with anything, whether it was moral, financial, whatever the situation."
She added that Mrs Ingram was a "completely straightforward person, very, very honest," and "I can say without a shadow of doubt that there is no wiliness, no deceit, in her."
In her own defence, Diana Ingram said that Charles had reached the jackpot by "taking risks." She said that the strategy had been to reach £32,000 - by guesswork if needed.
"When he reached £500,000 I thought 'that is absolutely fine' - even £250,000 [would have been] fine. If I had been sitting there - and then the £1m question came up. I don't think I could have answered it even if they had said: 'What is your name?' It was incredibly nerve-racking, probably worse watching than playing.
"Then he said he was going to play when he saw the answers come up and considered it. I couldn't believe he was going to risk it. I don't know. I think I would have had to have a several-hour discussion about how sure he was about the answer or not. My own feeling is that I would not have played that. But I don't like to take risks like he does."
Mrs Ingram was quizzed about her use of pagers. For the prosecution, Mr Hilliard: "You and your husband were using these pagers ... to practise a fraud in the show." Mrs Ingram said that was not true.
The barrister then suggested the pagers represented the four possible answers contestants could choose from after each question. "No."
"They communicated information either to your husband in the hot seat or somebody in the audience so they could help." "No, that is not true."
"For some reason, I suggest, you abandoned that." "No."
Mr Hilliard then suggested the couple resorted to the coughing ploy after learning Whittock was to be a Fastest Finger First hopeful the same day her husband was to return as a roll-over contestant. "Most definitely not."
She said her husband had not made a single call to any of the pagers, and she had used them after her brothers, Adrian Powell and Marcus Pollock, had to "disappear" during summer 2001, and would not even answer their mobile phones.
"Adrian owed a lot of money to various people as I understand it. I think he had people invest in his company and things had gone wrong and I think there was some problem with the Internet or the bank or something."
"What problem did you understand there was with the Internet and the bank?" "I understood he had somehow procured some money from a bank unlawfully."
"You mean he stole it?" "I assume so."
Mrs Ingram told the jury that although she "didn't know the details," the fact remained her brothers decided to make themselves scarce.
Asked to explain numerous calls to them on the eve of her husband's first appearance on Who Wants To Be a Millionaire, Mrs Ingram said she understood some of the pagers were faulty and this was her way of ensuring they knew she wanted one of them to contact her. Unfortunately, she had never been aware you could send text messages on pagers.
Mr Hilliard then inquired why, at one point during the evening, she had used a variety of telephones: "Your land line at home at 18.03, your mother's mobile at 18.04, the land line again also at 18.04, your mother's mobile at 18.05 and then back to your land line."
Mrs Ingram: "Well, no not really, I just did."
The barrister then suggested that in reality they had the pagers at home and were simply "practising" to find out which message arrived first - one from a landline or one from a mobile.
"No, that is not the case," she insisted.
She also said that Tecwen Whittock had contacted Mr Powell, and discussed their chances of appearing on the show. Mrs Ingram took up the conversation when Mr Powell left the country.
Mrs Ingram said that despite having already written a book about MILLIONAIRE, she did not suspect anything was amiss when programme staff searched her and her husband as they left the set.
"I suggest you were rather rattled, you and your husband, when they searched you," said Nicholas Hilliard, prosecuting. "I think Charles thought it was a bit odd. But I accepted it as normal."
"You thought your husband had made it too obvious."
"There was nothing to make obvious."
The strange case of the brothers
Mrs Ingram's brother Marcus Powell arrived to watch the show on September 10, but asked to be seated in a VIP "spillover" area because he was "camera shy." Mr Powell had been in the audience previously when Mrs Ingram's other brother, Adrian Pollock, appeared on the show.
A producer noticed Mr Powell outside the studio, using a mobile phone, told him this was not allowed and asked him to go back inside. Twice more he was seen to go outside with his mobile phone in his hand.
The floor manager made an announcement asking all phones to be switched off. The sound supervisor could detect phones in the main audience section, even when they were not being used. Those in the overspill area would not be detected by the sound team, and would have to be observed in person.
Mr Norman told how Mr Powell first arrived at 2pm but was turned away. After being told to arrive for 6.30pm, Mr Powell returned to the security gate at 4pm. Mr Norman said: "He said that he had got permission to see the Ingrams and so I telephoned a member of staff.
"She gave me short shrift and said I could not let him in. I told him he could not come in and he was not happy at all. I just said: 'I'm very sorry, you are on the guest list - just return for this evening's show but you are not allowed in at this moment'.
"He was annoyed and tried to find every other way to get somebody else to get him in."
Once Mr Powell got into the studio, Mr Norman said he was asked by a member of staff to keep an eye on him. In particular, they were concerned that Mr Powell might be using a mobile phone. Mr Norman said he saw Mr Powell "look at the screen" of his phone for a few seconds before putting it back into his pocket.
We reported last year that Adrian Pollock had been arrested during the course of this investigation. He has not been charged with anything, and we wish to make it clear that he is completely innocent of any complicity in this case.
Adrian Pollock was the managing director of an internet service provider called Buzzline. Based at a science park in Bridgend, the company offered a year's net access for £40, but failed to connect anyone on launch in May 2000. One of the admin staff of Buzzline signed emails as "Marcus." In May 2001, a number of the company's former subscribers had between £400 and £500 debited from their credit cards by a company based in a neighbouring town. One internet forum found that over £13,500 had been debited from their members alone.
The other player: Tecwen Whittock
Tecwen Whittock
The college lecturer never denied that the coughs came from his throat. When first interviewed, Mr Whittock blamed a dust allergy and coincidence for his coughing fit in the studio.
For the prosecution, Mr Hilliard: "He said he was innocently coughing at times because he had an irritable cough which worsened the longer he sat there. That was due to hayfever and an allergy to dust.
"No doubt, he does have an allergy, but there is no condition causing you to cough after someone has given the right answer to a question."
Asked in his interview why his cough had seemed to suddenly disappear, Whittock replied that he had taken advantage of a 10-minute gap between Ingram's £1 million success and his own appearance in the hot seat to drink several glasses of water.
The prosecution maintained that Mr Ingram was listening for a cough after he had mentioned one of the possible answers, and Mr Whittock knew that the coughs were repeated.
According to the prosecution, Mr Whittock had a five-figure credit card debt, and three children at a private school. "I would not do it. It would be against my morals. I am just a family man. I know that going [on the show] trying to steal £1m would land me in jail."
"It can only be a coincidence that my coughing correlated in any way with any answers given by the major," he told the police. Mr Whittock agreed he had been given a glass of water during Major Ingram's "hot seat" session, but that did not help. Some fresh air and several more glasses of water between winning the fastest finger round and his time in the hot seat did much to calm his throat.
During his police interview, Detective Sergeant Paul Demko asked Mr Whittock if he thought Mr Ingram had cheated his way to the top prize.
"Not as far as I know... I have said to people he is going to be bloody brave if he is going to sit in that chair and is going to distinguish between two to three people coughing, sitting there and knowing he has got the right cough. I sat there, I know I coughed and I think other people coughed and I don't think he did it."
Asked what he thought of Mr Ingram's performance, Mr Whittock said:
"He struck me as being eccentric, talkative, one of those people who was obviously enjoying being in the hot seat, enjoying talking to Chris Tarrant, rather than someone like me who would just answer the question. He seemed to be confident, articulate, but going round the houses as if he was messing around - is it this one or is it that one. We were sort of thinking, 'God, he's going on a bit. Why doesn't he get a move on?'"
The jury was told a prepared statement was found in a police raid on Mr Whittock's home. In it, he said: "I did not help him to answer any questions by using coughing as a signal. I was innocently coughing at times because I had an irritable cough, which worsened the longer I sat there."
A police search of his home turned up a hand-written general knowledge book, containing some information that Mr Whittock claimed he did not know.
While on the stand, Mr Whittock described himself as an "anorak," and recalled a number of TV and radio programmes where his performance had been less than dazzling. Sale of the Century, Brain of Britain, Fifteen-To-One and The People Versus saw him respectively come away with a booby prize, fall in the second round, exit after getting his first two answers wrong and finally lose half his winnings.
His barrister, David Aubrey QC, began with a string of rapid-fire questions.
"Were you in any way involved in a plan to help Mr Ingram cheat his way to £1 million?" "Definitely not."
"Do you accept during the recording of the programme on September 10, 2001 you were coughing and coughing repeatedly?" "Yes."
"Were any of these coughs intended to act as a signal to Major Ingram?" "None at all."
"Were any of them in any way intended to help him or to give him any hint as to the correct answer to any question?" "Not at all. I did not do that, I would not do that ... It would be against my morals, of all that I have gone through. I am just a family person ... I know that going there and trying to steal £1 million - because that is what it is - is going to land me up in jail. I am aware of that and I would just not do it."
His wife Gillian had been badly affected. "She is particularly stressed over it, to such an extent she just can't come to the court, sit in the public gallery and watch the proceedings. She doesn't read newspapers or anything. She just doesn't want to hear anything bad said about me, it just psyches her out. She knows I didn't do it and that is that."
During further questioning, he explained that he had suffered from a persistent cough for many years. At first he thought it was merely a combination of hayfever and rhinitus, or dust allergy. But then, he said, as he pulled a couple of inhalers from a pocket, he learnt he had asthma as well.
He explained that as he sat in one of the fastest finger first seats during the major's performance, it seemed as if there was a "frog in my throat." A drink of water would have been a "simple remedy" but unfortunately he did not get any until the 14th question - for £500,000.
Whittock told the court that after the Army officer had left the set with his jackpot cheque, he succeeded in getting into the hot seat. Before taking up his position in front of the cameras, he took a brief backstage break. He remembered that as the programme resumed, Mr Tarrant told him: "Don't forget to drink your water and use your lifelines."
Mr Aubrey asked Mr Whittock about his interest in the show. The lecturer explained that like a lot of other people he had become smitten by the TV quiz. "Everyone at work was talking about it," he said. After watching the programme regularly for several months he realised one contestant, Adrian Pollock, who turned out to be one of Diana Ingram's brothers, had crowned four appearances with a £32,000 win. "I thought, how can this be, how can this man get on four times," he recalled.
He said he tracked down Mr Pollock to a south Wales village from the electoral roll and turned up at his home unannounced asking him if he "fancied a pint."
Mr Pollock was happy to pass on his tips on getting on to the show via calls to a premium rate phone line. They included such subjects as using a neutral voice to answer qualifying questions, and how to ensure success when it came to the Fastest Finger round.
Mr Aubrey: "The kind of debates that anoraks are involved with?" "Yes," replied the lecturer, who admitted he read the Sun newspaper's Bizarre column as part of his training for the show, before adding: "I have a big anorak."
He went on to tell the jury that after Mr Pollock left the country on business, his mentor put him in touch with Mrs Ingram, another £32,000 winner, for continued coaching. "But what I did with Adrian Pollock and Diana Ingram was perfectly innocent," he insisted.
"The truth is I have only ever spoken to Diana Ingram. I think we exchanged a few telephone calls, but I never met her. I did not even know her husband was a major. Honestly, I have never spoken to the guy. My relationship with Adrian Pollock and Diana Ingram was totally innocent, a shared common interest in that quiz."
Mr Whittock claimed his innocence of the charges, pointing out that criminal behaviour, such as using uncoded coughs, carried a strong probability of getting caught. "It would have been a very silly thing to do."
Under cross-examination, Mr Whittock agreed he had appeared on the show in April 2001, just a few days after Mrs Ingram had won £32,000. He denied he had tried to get on the same show as the co-defendant. He also denied deliberately evading the Ingrams on September 10, saying, "I was not interested in anybody else. I was trying to psych myself up. I was in a state of mind, lost in my own thoughts."
He said the case against him was like someone who would only choose the favourite flavours from a confectionery display but ignore the unwanted "coffee creams." During counsel Nicholas Hilliard's cross-examination of him, he said: "You are picking out what you want. It is like a box of chocolates."
Further words in Mr Whittock's defence came from Alan Morris, a professor in coughing. He said that Mr Whittock's coughs were consistent with "cough variant asthma," which would have been exacerbated by dust and the heat of the television studio. It would be calmed down by intense concentration, such as when one is in the middle of the studio. A juror experiencing a coughing fit briefly interrupted Professor Morris's evidence.
Defence case and summing up
Charles Ingram was described as "honest, decent, and hardworking," and the theories put forward by the prosecution as "tenuous and unsafe." His QC cited Chris Tarrant's evidence that he hadn't heard any coughing.
Diana Ingram's QC countered the prosecution's dismissal of coincidence as an explanation by pointing out that she and Charles had married in the same church as David Williams, the Second Millionaire. She had spoken to Tecwen Whittock, but this is a long way from proving the vast plot.
Tecwen Whittock's lawyer questioned how Mr Ingram would have been able to tell his client's coughs from the others in the studio, and asserted that the videotape shown earlier had isolated microphones and did not accurately reflect what Mr Ingram heard. There was nothing suspicious about the lack of contact between Mr Whittock and Mrs Ingram after the win. "If the Major decided to keep all the money himself, what is Mr Whittock going to do? He is not going to issue a claim through the courts, or go to the police and say this man has not paid me my share of the money I helped him win by cheating."
The Judge's summing up was delayed a night because one juror had a vehement and uncontrollable fit of the coughs. Judge Geoffrey Rivlin said the Crown's stance was that Mr Ingram was a cheat who had used an accomplice's coughs to guide him to the jackpot. "He and his wife and Tecwen Whittock were fraudsters and the evidence placed before you in this case is clear for all to see. They say here was a fraud, a scam if ever there was one."
The three defendants had gone into the witness box to "strenuously deny any kind of dishonesty"; the Ingrams maintained the win was genuine, and the lecturer insisted he had not only suffered a persistent cough for many years, but that it had caused him considerable distress on the night of the show.
The question the jury had to decide was whether the major left the MILLIONAIRE set at Elstree as a "genuine millionaire or a fraudster." "Which was it?" the judge asked.
Millionaire rules
Extracted from the WWTBAM rules:
B2. Persons must not confer with others when answering questions [...] A Show Player must not leave the set unless told by the Company to do so.
B4. The Company may refuse to pay winnings or reclaim all sums paid to Show Players in the event of a reasonable suspicion of his/her fraud, dishonesty, or non-entitlement to participate in the Competition under the Rules.
B10. Notwithstanding a Contestant's participation in the Competition there is no obligation on the part of the Company or ITV to broadcast any Show in which he/she has taken part, or any or all of his contribution as recorded by the Company.
"Payment to Show Players will be sent by cheque within seven days of broadcast of the relevant Show." Would the inclusion of extracts of Mr Ingram's appearance on Celador's documentary void this defence?
"If the operation of the Competition [...] the recording; broadcast of any/all of the Shows [...] is prevented by reason of any actual, anticipated or alleged breach of any law or applicable regulations the Company may cancel all or any part of the Competition and Contestants shall have no claim upon the Company." Even if Mr Ingram had been acquitted, there would still be an alleged breach of law, even though it had not been proven in a court of law.
Would there have been such a long and detailed investigation had Mr Ingram "only" cheated to (say) £64,000?
Does Celador now have any claim on Mrs Ingram's and Mr Whittock's winnings?
What was the original plot?
Clearly, the coughing device was as unsubtle as a sledgehammer, and ultimately an unsuccessful idea. The prosecution case mentioned the acquisition and use of the pagers, but didn't dwell on them for any significant length of time.
It's this column's view that the Ingrams and Mr Whittock came up with three plans, and coughing at appropriate moments would be the last of them.
The following is speculation based on the evidence given in court.
Plan A involved the pagers. In the hot seat, Charles Ingram would hear each question, and either give the answer from his general knowledge, or stall for time.
Out in the spillover area, an accomplice could have sat with a mobile phone left connected to the outside world. The court heard how only security staff in the area could detect phones in this area, and it would not be impossible for someone to accidentally leave a phone powered on when they put it in their pocket, and for that action to cause the phone to dial.
At the other end of the line would be a second accomplice, who would have a few minutes to research the question, using books, their knowledge, and the internet. When they had finalised their answer, this second accomplice would send a message to one of the four pagers secreted around Mr Ingram's body. The pager would vibrate without causing interference to the microphones, and thus indicate the answer.
This is a cunning plan, but relies on technological gadgetry. A dodgy mobile phone battery, someone spotting the live connection, or a bit of trouble with the pagers, and the system fails. There's also the little matter of secreting four pagers about one's body - even with recent advancements in miniature technology, that's still a difficult task.
The prosecution believes that this was discarded before Mr Ingram entered the studio. It's quite possible that he deliberately threw the first two Fastest Finger questions, in order to avoid entering the hot seat much before the end of the show, and hence ensuring he would be a rollover contestant.
Plan B involved getting an accomplice into the studio as one of the contestants, and having that accomplice sit behind Chris Tarrant, and in the contestant's line of sight. It would then be a relatively simple task to work out a code of signals involving the upper body to indicate which was the correct answer. When Mr Whittock was confirmed as a contestant on the second show, there was a 50/50 chance that he would be sat in Mr Ingram's line of sight.
This plan depends on being able to see the members of Contestants' Row.
As it turned out, Mr Whittock was drawn immediately behind Mr Ingram, so Plan C, cough in the appropriate place, was drawn up.
That recording in full
The jury saw the unedited recording from the Sept 9 and 10 sessions. In the style of my UK Millionaire Recaps from 2000, this is what they saw...
FFF: The Agatha Christie novel: "Death", "On", "The", "Nile".
Winner, in 3.97 seconds, Charles Ingram! He's about 40, wearing a rugby shirt. He's a major in the army, and wants to buy a pony for his daughters. His wife Diana, and her brother Adrian Pollock, have both won £32,000 previously, so Charles is playing not only for the million, but also the family honour.
"To be honest, I will be happy to walk away with anything. If I can go away to work and hold my head up high, I will be happy. I will probably crash and burn, so we will see. The only thing I have done is read quite a lot of children's books."
£100: On which of these would you air laundry?
A - Clothes Dog
French, or some vague approximation thereof. Phew, a thousand in the bank.
£2,000: In Coronation Street, who is Audrey's daughter?
A - Janice
C - Linda
D - Sally
Hmm. That's thrown a spoke into Charles' plans. Not so hot on the pop culture, perhaps. When in doubt, ask the audience. ITV question, ITV audience. 89% For Gail. This is your clue.
£4,000: The River Foyle is found in which part of the UK?
A - England
C - Northern Ireland
D - Wales
Again, Charles is humming and hawing. Phone a friend, Sue Denim (the real identity of the friend has not been released,) who is convinced that it's Northern Ireland. Charles plays, and wins £4000.
Time expires!
---September 10 recording, September 18 transmission---
Back comes Charles Ingram, looks like he's in the same shirt as yesterday. Lucky? Smelly? You decide. He's in a more bullish mood tonight. "I have a strategy. I was a bit defensive on the last show and I started to talk myself out of answers that I should know. This time I'm going on a counter-attack. I'm going to be a bit more positive. I'm going to show a bit more self-commitment."
£8,000: Who was the second husband of Jacqueline Kennedy?
A - Adnan Khashoggi
C - Aristotle Onassis
D - Rupert Murdoch
Looks like Charles' bombast will be unseated by the first question. I can't see him detaining us for too long tonight. He's very unsure of himself. Does the floor manager have any cough sweets, someone has a very tickly cough out there.
He's playing, he's playing Onassis...
...and he's right.
£16,000: Emmental is a cheese from which country?
A - France
C - Netherlands
D - Switzerland
No hesitation here, straight in to Switzerland. If you know the answers, they're easy, as someone keeps saying. Chris doesn't know what Charles' strategy - sorry, counter-strategy - is but he's doing well.
£32,000: Who had the hit UK album called Born To Do It, in 2000
A - Coldplay
Pop culture is not Charles' strong point, so let's go 50/50:
C - A1
D - Craig David
A1 is offered as an answer. Audience, quiet as mice with your vocal cords removed, please. No gasping when he gives a dubious answer. Oh, you just did. Er, yeah. That would be a bit of a hint.
Charles is playing D, Craig David...
...and is now guaranteed £32,000. Calls for a stewards' enquiry, perhaps, but if it had been in the least dodgy, this would never have made it to air.
The Free Shot
£64,000: Gentlemen v Players was an annual match between amateurs and professionals in which sport?
A - Lawn Tennis
D - Cricket
Cricket is Charles' first thought, but he's mulling it over a lot.
"I think it is cricket." Two coughs from the audience. "I think I have seen it printed on an old cigarette carton or on my grandfather's study wall. Maybe it was polo... It's less likely to be rugby union. I think I would take cricket."
Sorry, was that an answer? That was an answer, apparently. No one leaves the £64,000 question unanswered. Cricket is the answer. Cricket is the correct answer. Charles jumps up and shouts "yes!" Then "no more risks."
The Diamond Dozen
£125,000: The Ambassadors in the National Gallery is a painting by which artist?
A - Van Eyck
C - Michelangelo
D - Rembrandt
Another long think, various cogitations, and a nasty cough coming from the audience again. This is the sixth time in seven questions that Charles has been in trouble. After much thought, Holbein looks to be the final answer, and it's right.
Looks like Charles is living by the skin of his teeth. He's able to pay off his mortgage now.
The Thirteen Club
£250,000: What type of garment is an Anthony Eden?
A - Overcoat
C - Shoe
D - Tie
I have no idea. Neither does anyone else. Charles said earlier that he would be a little aggressive, and go on the attack, but this is tricky. Charles is leaning towards hat. Is this going to be a gamble too far?
"I think it is a hat."
Cough.
"Again I'm not sure. I think it is..."
Coughing.
"I am sure it is a hat. Am I sure?"
Cough.
"Yes, hat, it's a hat."
Hat is the final answer. Hat is the correct answer. Does anyone have a glass of water for the audience?
Halfway House
£500,000: Baron Haussmann is best known for his planning for which city?
A - Rome
C - Berlin
D - Athens
Charles thinks it's Berlin. Haussmann is a more German name than Italian or Parisian or Greek, according to his reasoning. He's never sure. "If I was at home, I would be saying Berlin."
Another cough, and did that disguise the word "no"?
"I do not think it's Paris." Coughing continues. "I do not think it's Athens, I am sure it is not Rome. I would have thought it's Berlin but there's a chance it is Paris but I am not sure.
"Think, think, think! I know I have read this, I think it is Berlin, it could be Paris.
"I think it's Paris." Another harrumph.
"Yes, I am going to play."
Chris is confused. So is most of the audience. Charles has known exactly one answer off pat since reaching the thousand.
"I think it is Paris." Cough. "I am going to play Paris."
"You were convinced it was Berlin."
"I know. I think it's Paris."
"He thought it was Berlin. Berlin, Berlin. You changed your answer to Paris.
"That brought you £500,000. What a man! What a man. Quite an amazing man."
How is he doing this? For someone who doesn't seem to have settled, someone who hasn't been comfortable since we were playing for (mere) hundreds of pounds, suddenly Charles Ingram is facing:
£1,000,000: A number one followed by one hundred zeros is known by what name?
A - Googol
D - Nanomole
"I'm not sure."
"Charles, you've not been sure since question number two!" Chris' hyperbole is not far off the mark. For the fifth question running, Charles is going to have a nice long think.
Thinking... thinking...
Charles initially thinks it's nanomole, or gigabit. "I don't think I can do this one. I do not think it is a megatron. I do not think I have heard of a googol." Hey, it's the phantom cough cougher.
"Googol, googol, googol. By a process of elimination I have to think it's a googol but I do not know what a googol is. I don't think it's a gigabit, nanomole, and I don't think it's a megatron. I really do think it's a googol."
Chris: "But you think it's a nanomole, you have never heard of a googol."
Charles: "It has to be a googol. It's my only chance for the million."
Chris: "It's also the only chance you will have to lose £468,000. You are going for the one you have never heard of."
Charles: "I don't mind taking the odd risk now and again." 'Scuse me, the *odd* risk? This gentleman has pretty much guessed all the way through the last ten questions.
Charles: "My strategy has been direct so far - take it by the bit and go for it. I've been very positive, I think. I do not think it's a gigabit, I do not think it's a nanomole or megatron. I am sure it's a googol." Cough.
Chris: "You lose £468,000 if you are wrong."
Charles: "No, it's a googol. God, is it a googol? Yes, it's a googol. Yes, yes, it's a googol."
Cough.
Charles: "I am going to play. Googol."
Final answer? Final answer.
We'll take a break.
I suppose this is one way to win the million. Blind guesswork. Charles has guessed on seven questions, and - if he's correct here - at odds of... Let me work this out, six questions at four options, one at two, 2^13... At odds approaching 8,192 to one against, though substantially less if he could eliminate any options by inspection.
From time to time, blind guesswork will work. Is this the time?
Chris summarises the situation: "He initially went for nanomole, he then went through the various options again. He then went for googol because he had never heard of it and he had heard of the other three."
Guess what's coming.
"If you'd said megatron, you would have lost £468,000."
"If you'd said gigabit, you would [pause] have lost £468,000."
The moment of truth.
"If you had said nanomole [pause] you would have [another pause so large you could drive a truck through it] lost.."
"You've just won One Million Pounds!"
Diana comes down from the rafters, and Chris pays fulsome praise. "I have no idea how you got there, you went to hell and back out there. You are an amazing human being."
We hear Diana asking: "How the hell did you do it?"
Now we know.
That coughline in full
Dec 2000: Adrian Pollock wins £32,000 on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? In the audience is brother Marcus Powell.
Apr 2001: Diana Ingram, Adrian's brother, also takes £32,000 from WWTBAM.
Sep 9, 2001: Major Charles Ingram films WWTBAM. He uses two lifelines in reaching £4000 before filming wraps.
Sep 10, 2001: Charles Ingram returns as the rollover contestant. Tecwen Whittock is also a contestant on this show. Helped by the harrumphs, Charles Ingram receives a cheque for £1 million, post-dated to the scheduled transmission date on Tuesday 18 Sept.
Sep 12, 2001: Buried deep on an inside page, the Daily Mail reports that Mr Ingram will win the top prize in an episode to be screened next Tuesday. "Major Ingram, 43 [sic], is said to have floundered on early questions and just managed to reach the £4,000 mark. But from there his answers swiftly clocked up the cash." [Subsequent reports confirm Ingram was 38 at the time of filming.]
Sep 15, 2001: Two-thirds of the way through the episode, host Chris Tarrant announces a "special edition" of WWTBAM. The show runs about 20 minutes longer than originally billed, though the weekend's extended news bulletins and a cancelled film mean the printed schedules bear no resemblance to reality anyway. On announcing the special, Tarrant has changed clothes, there's glitter on the floor, and he makes pointed references to "giving away *another* million pounds." Tecwen Whittock is first into the hot seat, reaches question 8, but leaves with just £1000.
Sep 20, 2001: The Sun splashes with the allegations. Celador Productions, makers of WWTBAM, have called in the police.
Sep 21, 2001: Mr Ingram launches legal proceedings to force payment of £1 million, plus costs and interest. This claim was put on hold while the criminal trial proceeded.
The BBC report of the case includes the following: "College lecturer Tecwen Whittock said he and several other audience members had innocently coughed during the major's £1m round."
Mr Whittock said he had coughed naturally and the noise could not have had anything to do with the alleged controversy surrounding the jackpot win. His cough was brought on by the cold studio and he added a number of audience members had been coughing during filming.
Mr Whittock said none of the contestants waiting in the audience had any interest in helping someone win the big prize.
"Yes, I did cough while the major was in the hot seat - but many other people in the studio did too," said the Pontypridd College lecturer.
"There were 200 people in there and it was quite cold. I heard many people coughing and can't believe the major could have been helped in such a way."
He added: "I certainly wasn't trying to help him. It wasn't in any of the contestants' interests to help him - we wanted him out so we could have our go."
The lecturer said he could not understand the intense speculation over "coughing clues."
"The first I knew something was wrong was when the producers called to say my episode had been brought forward.
"It would have been extremely difficult for him to distinguish his accomplice from all the different people coughing in the audience. But if what is being said is proved he should not be paid the prize because cheating is wrong."
Sep 29, 2001: Robert Brydges becomes the next person to win the jackpot on WWTBAM.
Oct 12, 2001: Host Chris Tarrant has been talking to the police about this case, reports The Sun.
Nov 30, 2001: Publishing date for Diana Ingram and Adrian Pollock's book, "Win A Million," by Blake at £5.99. By March 2003, Blake's website does not admit its existence, and Amazon has the book on 3-5 week delivery.
Nov 23, 2001: Charles and Diana Ingram, and Tecwen Whittock are arrested at their homes, and released on bail.
Apr 27, 2002: Adrian Pollock is arrested, but later eliminated from enquiries.
May 30, 2002: Mr Ingram arrested on charges of fraud, relating to a break in at his home in July 2001.
Jul 31, 2002: Mr Ingram, Mrs Ingram, Mr Whittock formally charged with deception and conspiracy. Prior to the trial, they make court appearances in August, October and January.
Mar 3, 2003: Case opens, and is adjourned for 48 hours.
Mar 7, 2003: After two days of evidence, jury is discharged and the case recommences.
Mar 31, 2003: Jurors are sent home early due to an outbreak of coughing.
Apr 3, 2003: One of the jurors is discharged due to an undisclosed "matter".
Apr 7, 2003: Verdicts returned.
| i don't know |
Where do Catholics believe their souls wait for the atonement of sins before entering heaven? | Many settling for graveside prayers only / Why do we pray for the dead? - The Catholic Free PressThe Catholic Free Press
Many settling for graveside prayers only / Why do we pray for the dead?
October 28, 2013 | 1:59 pm | Featured Article #2
St. John's Cemetery, Worcester Photo by Tanya Connor
By Patricia O’Connell
CFP Correspondent
The number of funeral Masses has fallen in recent years. In 2010, there were 3,167 Catholic burials in the diocese.
Three years later, that number dropped to 2,477.
It’s something that’s concerning, because there are many benefits to have a funeral Mass, both for the living and the deceased, according to Father Richard Reidy, a former pastor who presently serves as vicar general. The trend is so disturbing that Bishop McManus has written a pastoral letter on the issue.
“It appears that in a growing number of cases families may settle for prayers at the funeral home or graveside while omitting a funeral Mass,” Father Reidy said. “That is unfortunate because of the spiritual benefits that come with a funeral Mass.”
“Virtually every death brings a sense of loss, grief and frustration for those who love the person who is no longer physically in their midst,” he stated, noting that viewing death through the lens of faith is what gives people hope for “the prospect of a joyous reunion.”
“That reunion is possible only through Jesus Christ, because of his Passion, death and Resurrection, the spiritual fruits of which are present at Mass,” he added.
Father Reidy said funeral Masses offer great benefits for the souls of the deceased, as the living offer Christ’s sacrifice to the Father, ask God to purify them of their sins and admit them to heaven.
Unfortunately, he noted, it can happen that people who were very faithful to the Mass during their lifetimes don’t have a funeral Mass, if their survivors don’t recognize its importance. “That is particularly sad,” he said.
“People should make clear their wishes in making arrangements with the funeral home and family members,” he advised.
He said this is particularly important to do nowadays, when not all family members may be Catholic or practicing Catholics.
Father Reidy said funeral Masses are available even if the person who died wasn’t practicing their faith. “The baptized are members of the Church and they’re always beloved by the Church,” he stressed. “Absent public scandal, the reasons that kept them from coming to church regularly are not reasons to forgo a funeral Mass.”
“All the more is the need for the Mass for the person and their soul,” he added.
Father Reidy said cost is one factor he’s heard in the decision not to have a Mass. He said the $300 stipend, of which $100 goes to the organist, $100 to the cantor, $65 to the parish and $35 to the priest, could be waived. “The poor are not to be denied fitting funerals,” he noted.
In his time serving as pastor of St. Paul Cathedral, there were funeral Masses where only one or two people, in addition to the undertakers, were present. However, he said these were “some of the most moving funerals.”
“They were poignant reminders (of) how precious every single person is to God. Jesus died for us all but he would have died for any one of us as well,” said Father Reidy. “At times the deceased may have outlived family and friends or been forgotten by everybody else, but they are never forgotten by God. We should not forget his merciful love made manifest through the funeral Mass.”
Father John F. Madden, pastor of St. John Parish in Worcester, said there are “definitely” more services just at the funeral home, where families invite him to say prayers near the casket, but don’t want a church Mass.
This is a trend, he noticed, that’s accelerated in the last few years, if not over the past decade.
He said this is unfortunate, as families who attend a funeral can then look back upon that time as a moment of grace.
“Jesus died for us on the cross and rose for us to live forever and they can continue to go back to that,” he said of the memories of a funeral liturgy.
Msgr. Francis J. Scollen, pastor of St. Peter Parish in Worcester, confirmed that he’s also seeing fewer funerals. “We have less than we did before, but we still have a lot,” he said.
Not too long ago, he explained, his parish had about 100 funeral Masses each year, a number that’s recently dipped to between 70 and 80.
Some families, he said, choose to have prayers only at the funeral home. He noted a sentiment of people not wanting to be buried from a church, or their loved ones opting out of a church funeral, because the deceased didn’t attend Mass.
“I think money is an issue for some people,” he said, adding that, “that’s not an issue here.”
“Most of the churches around here will say, ‘If you don’t have the money, don’t worry about it,’” he added.
Msgr. Scollen said funeral Masses are teachable moments for the people in the pews. He said he tries to make them all feel at home as he talks about the Holy Eucharist.
He has noticed that mourners, even those who don’t practice the faith, still have a sense that their loved one’s soul lives on.
Even when a family opts not to have a funeral Mass, he schedules a memorial Mass for the deceased on a Sunday morning. He invites the family members.
“Sometimes they come and sometimes they don’t,” he said.
A program from the TV Ministry: A Conversation with Bishop McManus : Bishop McManus and Father Richard Reidy speak with Ray Delisle on funeral practices.
Why do we pray for the dead?
By Msgr. Robert K. Johnson
Special to The CFP
Why do we as Catholics pray for the dead?
For as long as humans have walked the earth, one dimension of our experience has remained fairly constant: We experience loss, grief, and a sadness through separation at the death of someone we love.
In the face of death we have developed types of leave-taking, rituals, tangible expressions which put closure on a life that has been marked by relationships with others and that carry meaning through the bonds of love.
For Christians, our rituals, and particularly our prayers, are based upon the center of our faith, namely the Paschal Mystery, which is the life, death, resurrection and glorification of Jesus Christ. It is in and through Christ’s death on the cross and rising from the dead that sin and death have been destroyed as the final end for the person who draws near in faith.
Through the sacrament of baptism, the Christian is incorporated into the Paschal Mystery bearing the sign of the cross and inheriting the hope of a like resurrection.
ATONEMENT FOR THE DEAD
Beginning with our ancestors in faith, the Book of Maccabees taken from the Hebrew Scriptures reminds us that:
“Judas, the ruler of Israel, took up a collection among all his soldiers, amounting to two thousand silver drachmas, which he sent to Jerusalem to provide for an expiatory sacrifice. In doing this he acted in a very excellent and noble way, inasmuch as he had the resurrection of the dead in view; for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have been useless and foolish to pray for them in death. But if he did this with a view to the splendid reward that awaits those who had gone to rest in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought. Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be freed from this sin.” (2 Maccabees 12:43-46)
Thus the promise and fidelity of God even in the face of death was a part of the mind and heart of God’s people as they strove to live out the covenant that had been formed with them.
We are told that Judas “made atonement for the dead that they might be freed from sin.” Looking to our ancestors in faith, they knew of the promises of God and exercised their prayer according to that promise, knowing that their prayer before God in the face of death assisted the person who had died to be freed from sin in order that they might know the fullness of eternal life.
POWER OF PRAYER
In the Order of Christian Funerals the Church reveals that ultimately we pray for the dead because our faith teaches us that “at the death of a Christian, whose life of faith was begun in the waters of baptism and strengthened at the eucharistic table, the Church intercedes on behalf of the deceased because of its confident belief that death is not the end, nor does it break the bonds that we have forged in life.” (OCF #4)
We Catholics have a long tradition which has shown the importance, centrality and power of prayer, particularly for those who have died. The Church explains in the Catechism that “from the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God.” (CCC #1032)
The importance of our praying for the dead is rooted first in our firm and certain belief in the everlasting life promised in Jesus’ teachings, made manifest in his Paschal Mystery, his death and resurrection, and foreshadowed by his disciple’s experience and testimony that God had raised him from the dead.
After death, even though separated from our earthly body, we yet continue a personal existence. It is as living persons that God invites us into a relationship whose life transcends death.
ALL SOULS’ DAY
Our praying for the dead has further origins in our belief in the communion of saints. Members of this community who are living often assist each other in faith by prayers and other forms of spiritual support. Christians who have died continue to be members of the communion of saints. We believe that we can assist them by our prayers, and they can assist us by theirs. But why pray for them? There is no need to pray for those who have died and gone straight to heaven. Those in heaven are counted among the saints and do not need our prayers, we need theirs.
For us Catholics, Nov. 2 is the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed or All Souls’ Day, the special day in the liturgical year set aside by the Church to pray for the dead.
This commemoration helps us remember that most often we don’t live as perfect human beings and most often we do not die as perfect human beings. Some who die are imperfectly purified of their sinfulness, and so the Church reminds us of the reality of purgation.
“All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.” (CCC #1030)
The Church gives the name “purgatory” to this time of purification of the elect. For centuries, Catholics have known that purgatory is the intermediate place of temporary punishment and purification, and that the length of time spent there is based upon the number and seriousness of one’s sins. The Church defined this doctrine at the Second Council of Lyons (1274), the Council of Florence (1439) and the Council of Trent (1545-1563). The Roman Catholic teaching on purgatory reflects its understanding of the communion of saints. We are connected to the saints in heaven, the saints-in-waiting in purgatory and other believers here on earth. Prayers for the deceased are a means of assisting these holy souls on their way to heaven.
It is our firm belief that our prayer for those who have died is immensely efficacious in the journey of the soul and the time of purgation. Consistent with ancient Jewish and Christian tradition, the Catholic Church has taught for centuries that our prayers serve as an aid to those who have died, and the premier prayer to offer for their intention is the Eucharist, the holy sacrifice of the Mass. For the Mass makes the redemptive sacrifice of Christ present again on the altar and, in God’s gracious providence, allows you to ask that this redemptive power be applied to the one for whom you pray.
And so on this All Souls’ Day, or any time throughout the month of November, please consider reserving some time to pray for the dead.
– Msgr. Johnson is director of the diocesan Office for Divine Worship.
PRAYERS
FOR THE DEAD
Almighty God and Father, it is our certain faith that your Son, who dies on the cross, was raised from the dead, the first fruits of all who have
fallen asleep. Grant that through this mystery your servants who have gone to their rest in Christ, may share in the Joy of the resurrection. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord.
And let perpetual light
May they rest in peace.
Amen.
May the souls of all the
faithful departed, through the mercy of God,
rest in peace.
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| Purgatory |
Which huge commercial chain is named after a character in the novel Moby Dick? | Soul Sleep
SOUL SLEEP
There are those who believe when someone dies they enter a sleep stage. As the body is put in the ground, so is the soul. They interpret the word sleep in the Scripture to be a state of silence, inactivity, unconsciousness for the soul. Since the beginning of the Church those who have studied the Bible have never come to these conclusions, all have had the hope of heaven. Has everyone in Church history believed in error and died with a false hope of being united with Jesus after death?
First thing we need to establish is that man has a soul/spirit, and it is distinct from his body. We have a dual nature, physical (the body) and immaterial (spirit/soul).
Job 32:8: �But there is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding.� The breath is not the same as mans spirit but that which teaches him, being the Holy Spirit from God.
Isaiah 26:9 says this: � At night my soul longs for Thee, indeed my spirit within me seeks Thee diligently.�
Zech.12:1: �Thus says the LORD, who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him:� Here we see that the physical man is different than the Spirit in him.
1 Cor. 6:20: �For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.� Paul distinguishes the body from the Spirit, both existing simultaneously, yet both are united to make man.
1 Cor. 2:11: �For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.� Mans spirit is not the same as Gods Spirit. Our spirit has certain capabilities to understand the things of man but fall short in understanding God unless he reveals them to us. The knowledge is not in our flesh but our spirit, certainly this cannot mean our breath for it knows nothing. There is a comparison here between mans spirit knowing the things of man and Gods spirit knowing the things of God.
Job.14:22: �But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.� Job makes the distinction saying the flesh is upon him and the soul is within him.
Now lets address the argument that some claim the soul or spirit is just another word for breath since this is what the Hebrew word Ruach means. That when someone dies their breath leaves them. Lets substitute the word breath where Spirit is and see if it makes any sense scripturally?
Job 34:14-15: �If He should set His heart on it, if He should gather to Himself Spirit (His breath?) and His breath, All flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust.� Here both breath and spirit are distinguished otherwise one would be gathering to himself spirit and his spirit or breath and his breath.
Ps. 19:7: �The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the Breath, the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;� The conversion is to ones soul, their inner being so it can rule over their body.
2 Cor. 7:1: �Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and Breath (spirit),� Does this mean we take breath mints?
Gal 6:8: �For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the breath ( Spirit ) will of the breath (Spirit) reap everlasting life.�
Acts 23:8: �For Sadducees say that there is no resurrection-- and no angel or breath (spirit); but the Pharisees confess both.� Is there no breath or were they speaking about a spirit that is intelligent (a type of angel). What we will see is that Spirits do exist outside the vehicle of the body as does mans. V.9�Then there arose a loud outcry. And the scribes of the Pharisees' party arose and protested, saying, �We find no evil in this man; but if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him, let us not fight against God.� Certainly they are speaking about a corporeal entity that communicates not just breath.
What of Jesus, did he use this definition? Matt. 12:43 �When an unclean Breath, (spirit) �goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.� Certainly he did not mean bad breath. Just as man can have the Holy Spirit live within him alongside his human Spirit so he can have a unclean spirit live in him.
Luke 4:36: �What a word this is! For with authority and power He commands the unclean Breaths, (spirit) and they come out.�
Acts 5:16: �Bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean Breath,� (spirit), and they were all healed.� I guess some peoples souls need breath freshener! Jesus cast out spirit entities not peoples breath, and if he did they would certainly die on the spot.
Luke 12:19: �And I will say to my Breath, � Breath,�(spirit), you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.� Can ones breath eat and drink.
James 5:20 � let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a Breath, (soul) from death and cover a multitude of sins.� Can breath be saved or a person.
2 Pet. 2:8 (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous Breath, (spirit) from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)--
Ezek. 18:4: �Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine; the soul that sinneth, it shall die.� Can breathe die? Obviously this means something than just air in the lungs.
1 Sam 30:6 � because the soul of all the people was grieved.� Num. 21:4 � and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way.� Prov. 21:10 �The soul of the wicked desires evil� Can breath do any of these things, or does it communicate emotion, intelligence and personality? Gen. 34:8 But Hamor spoke with them, saying, �The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife.� Is Shechem's breath desiring a wife?
Pnuema means wind in Greek it also means breath and spirit. Ruach in Hebrew means wind, it too also can mean breath and spirit. Since Hebrew and Greek have only one word for wind breath and spirit one needs to discern what is meant by certain passages, the context defines the meaning. Jesus breathed on his disciples in John 20 saying receive the Spirit, the rushing wind in Acts is certainly to be interpreted as the Spirit. When Jesus breathed on the apostles the Holy Spirit in Jn.20:22 he wasn't giving them Breath for life but the Holy Spirit in some capacity.
If Spirit is breath and God is Spirit is He breath to? We can see how ludicrous this position of interpretation is. Certainly when Jesus spoke to the Father into your hands I commend my Spirit he was not speaking of his breath.
I think the point is clear, Spirit does not mean breath although at times it is used metaphorically.
There is a difference between man's breath and spirit
Isaiah 42:5: �Thus says the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and its offspring, who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk in it.� Two things are given the breath and the spirit if they were one thing it would not be written like this.
1 Cor. 2:11-12: � For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? � Could we ever substitute breath for Spirit? Mans center of knowledge is not in their physical human nature, neither in the brain which is just a vehicle. It is our spirit that has a will and recalls. When one dies it is because the spirit leaves this is why one cannot hear nor see our spiritual nature has left.� Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.� Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.� Could we substitute breath and have the scripture read �No one knows the things of God but the breath of God?� �Now we have received, not the breath of the world, but the breath who is from God! Does God need breath to live? The Bible tells us God is Spirit (breath?) and that he has all knowledge, perfect knowledge of the past present and future.
James. 2:26: �the body without the Spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.� Meaning only the body dies, as James uses the example that faith animates our works so the Spirit animates the body. The relationship between the material and immaterial when broken means we die physically. Our spirit is not dead like the body. The Spirit is just as alive outside the body as it is inside the body. The resurrection only applies to the body. When our spirit returns, our bodies come alive again. The correlation made is that real faith (which is invisible) is displayed to others by having works to show it is alive .
Abraham died and was gathered to his people. Gen.25:8 Jacob said the same thing Gen.49:29 Rachel dying said her soul was departing and she died in Gen.35:18.
The description of what occurs at death is described in both the Old Testament and the New Testament as giving up the ghost, Abraham Gen.25:8. Isaac gave up the ghost Gen.35:29.
Jacob breathed his last Gen.49:33. Even Jesus Lk.23:46, and Sapphira in Acts 5:10. This is a common phrase to signify one is dying not that their soul goes to sleep.
In I Kings 17:20-22: �When the widows son died Elijah cried out three times to the LORD and said, �O LORD my God, I pray, let this child's soul come back to him.� Then the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived.
Notice that it came in him. This is not just breath as one can make air go back into someone who just died and they would not revive, this says the soul of the child, it is something he possessed that had left him.
Luke 8:54-55: �he, however, took her by the hand and called, saying, 'Child arise!' And her spirit returned , and she rose immediately; and He gave orders for something to be given her to eat.� This shows without the spirit to animate the body we are dead. This does not mean the spirit is dead or sleeping. In all these instances we find the spirit entering the body again but never reviving or resurrecting because it already is alive.
It is the body that is asleep and needs animation.
The Bible speaks of two different kinds of death�
1 Tim 5:6: �But she who lives in pleasure is dead while she lives.� This does not mean one is a walking corpse in the physical body but they are dead in their spirit from sin and trespasses. This is remedied by a new birth, Jn.3 being born again by the Spirit.
The term �death� which is �thanatas� in Greek, does not mean to be non-existence or unconscious, it rather means to be separated. Some examples:
Colossians 2:13: �And when you were dead (separated form God--NOT �unconscious�) in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh...�
Ephesians 2:1: �And he made you alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins.� this is addressing the spiritual state of someone who was in sin and then made alive spiritually in Christ. (also Revelation 3:1)The unregenerate are dead but they are not unconscious or non existent.
The prodigal son in Lk.15:24 is said by the Father �This my son was dead and is alive again.� Jesus was not talking about a bodily or soul resurrection but of one who left fellowship with the father.
Jesus in Matt. 26:38 Then He said to them, �My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. He was not saying his soul was going to die and go to sleep.
What of Jesus in Lk.23:46 said to the Father into your hands �I commit my spirit,� isn�t this clear he is having his spirit received into the Fathers hands while his body is to be laid in the tomb. This is the very same thing Stephen states in Acts 7:59 Stephen cried unto the Lord saying �receive my spirit.�
Revelation 6:9-11: �And when He broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, �How long, O Lord, holy and true, wilt Thou refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?� And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, should be completed also.� Notice the timing is at the fifth seal, God gave them white robes and they are told to wait for their brethren who will be killed. This consummates in Rev.7:9-15 where they are gathered before the throne of God serving him day and night in his temple (v.15). This would be hard to do if one is asleep or out of existence.
The Bible teaches death is not a cessation of existence, but a separation of existence. The soul is our intellect, our personality, our identity. The real person will live on.
All the Old Testament passages need to be interpreted through the New Testament revelation. Without the New Testament teaching what was unrevealed in the Old Testament would stay a mystery as Paul states in 1 Cor.15:51: �behold I tell you a mystery, we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.� Speaking of the resurrection of the body. Matthew 13:11, 35; Rom.16:25; I Corinthians 2:7; Ephesians 3:4-5 and 3:9 � these Scriptures give us a definition of a mystery as something that was unrevealed in the Old Testament and now revealed for the first time in the New Testament. Heaven was not explained in the Old Testament , the immortality of man, the resurrection to eternal life, the forgiveness of sins as permanent. There is the New Testament mystery of the revelation of God in Christ, 1 Tim. 3:16 �And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh,� None of these were explained until we had New Testament revelation. Likewise so is the revealing of what actually transpires after death through the teaching of Christ and the apostles.
PROBLEMATIC OLD TESTAMENT PASSAGES
Ps.6:5: �In death there is no remembrance of you.� Ps.146 :4: �the thoughts perish at death, the preceding words put this in context. �His spirit departs he returns to earth in that day his thoughts (plans) perish at death.� Eccl.8:8 �there is no man that has power over the Spirit to retain the spirit; in the day of death.� This describes the spirit departing from the body, that no one can hold it back not man nor the ground.
Ps.115:17: �The dead praise not the Lord neither any that go down into silence.� But it then says �But we will bless the Lord from this time forth and FOR EVERMORE.� Wouldn't this by necessity mean to be alive and conscious.
Eccl.3:19: �For what happens to the sons of men also happen to the animals, one thing befalls them, as one dies so dies the other, surely they all have one breath, man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity.� Solomon is not describing the afterlife but that we all die, man is not eternal in the body. When we stop breathing we die like any other creature.
Eccl.9:5,10: �in Sheol there is no work or device or wisdom.� These passages that seem to imply a dead soul are really describing the normal functions of the body while one lived on earth are not the same afterwards. When one dies these are no longer possible, it ceases. Memory of them is forgotten� is not referring to those who die but those still living will no longer think of them. Ecclesiastes should be kept in its context. Solomon was engulfed in human philosophy and he was backslidden, although there are times rays of truth break through. It was written from a human perspective and the theme of the book is said over and over when a person dies he has no more portion under the sun as in vs. 10 of Eccl.9 (used 29 times). This is an idiom of in this world, where ones functions on earth are no longer possible. These were put in the Bible for an example of how far one can go away from the truth they once knew so well. Just as Satan's lie was recorded to Eve in saying �you will not surely die� so are the words of Solomon in his backslidden state that are not a revelation concerning truth.
Gen.3:19 gives us the report of mans design. �Dust thou art and unto the dust shalt thou return.� It was mans physical nature that was made from the dust not his spiritual nature. God breathed into man the spirit, the spirit was not taken from the ground. It came from God.
Likewise Solomon writes a similar narration. Eccl.12: 6-7 describes in poetry the shattering of life, that the dust returns to earth, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. Yet, earlier, in verse 5, he writes a man goes to his eternal home and mourners go about the streets. So Solomon is speaking about those who turn to God as he started off this chapter, stating remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before difficult days come. And then he speaks about our eternal home. If it is sleep in the grave, as people are claiming, then that means we are going to stay in the grave, the ground, forever, if our soul actually sleeps.
One will never read of a soul being resurrected from a physical death. Rather, bodies are resurrected from physical death (Matthew 27:52).Why? Because a soul does not literally die.
Many of these are languages of appearances related to the body only. (usually from mans view point. Showing the inability to function as we once did with the body.
Soul-sleep' which pertains to the deceased, is defined as silence, inactivity and an entire unconsciousness. That once death occurs it affects the spirit of man just as it does the body. This would mean the spirit is only alive when it has a body. We know this is not true and is contrary to the Bible. In Jesus' story of the rich man and Lazarus he was was not giving disinformation or representing them falsely. The rich man was very much aware of his misfortune as he suffered in Hades he had his thoughts (that temporary abode of the departed spirits of the wicked). While Lazarus enjoyed the blessedness of Paradise (Luke 16:19-31) It is obvious that the rich man is conscious, as Lazarus is conscious, and Abraham is conscious, though they are all dead. All the stories Jesus told always illustrated truth not something false. These two have recently died and one has been long dead. Indeed, their physical bodies are asleep but not their souls. Obviously, the Hadean realm, where all departed spirits remain until the final judgment, is experienced by those dwelling there. (Now excluding Abraham's bosom: Paradise).
In Jn.11:11-14 Jesus says of Lazarus that he sleeps referring to his body. Jesus then says �I will wake him out of his sleep.� He then raised his body from the dead.
In Mt.27:52 the Scripture tells us that at the time of of the resurrection �many bodies of the saints which slept arose.� The specific mention of bodies makes the meaning clear of what actually slept. It was not the saints themselves that slept but their bodies.
The term �sleep� when it is used of death is in reference to the body. Whenever the Bible speaks of death in the sense of sleep it is always used of the physical body and not the soul, because the appearance of a sleeping body and a dead body look very much the same. The term �sleep� is never applied to the soul or the spirit , but only the body. The soul and the spirit continue to exist after death. whenever the Bible uses the term �sleep� in reference to death of the body. It is never used of the unbelievers in the New Testament. It is a term used only of believers which shows God's viewpoint of the death of a believer. From God's perspective the death of a believer is a temporary suspension of physical activity. For example, in physical sleep there is a temporary suspension of physical activity until one wakes up, but there is no suspension of the activity of the mind, the soul or spirit, and the sub-consciousness keeps operating (as in Lk.16:19-36 death is not a cessation of existence for either the rich man or Lazarus.)
Jesus' own word's teach that there is an existence of rest and reward for the faithful and certain types of punishment and torment for those who are evil. In Lk.16 the story of the rich man and Lazarus, which is not a parable. The Lord would begin by saying he spoke to them in a parable, he did not use proper names as he did in this story (There was a certain man named Lazarus). However even if we were to grant this to be a parable, do we find any parable that did not tell the truth about the subject matter using illustrations for a real event? When the rich man died and was buried he spoke of being tormented in flame. It describes some type of heat that did not destroy him but made it extremely uncomfortable as he is existing in some type of form. He had his intelligence emotions and he could see, hear and speak as he asked for his family to be warned. He was still alive as he spoke, thirsted and remembered his family asking Abraham to send Lazarus to warn them so they would not end up in this PLACE of torment. (This word torment is used 5 times in the thirteen versus certainly making the point of how real it is).
So how can a spirit be able to do the same things he does in the body? Angels (both good and bad) are spirits and they certainly can see, hear, speak. The Bible does not give us much information about man after he dies. What we do know is that communication even among those in heaven requires much like we have here on earth, so any argument refusing this capability is going against what Christ said as a reality.
Mt. 10:28: �And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.� (Also Lk.12:4-5) After he has killed the body but not the soul? How is this possible if they are the same? If the soul and the body refer to the same thing then wouldn�t the soul die when the body does? God distinguishes the dual natures in man. Man's body is clearly not the same as his soul. Jesus himself taught in Mt. 10:28 there is a difference between the body of man and his soul by using the word both. When a person dies physically his soul lives. Jesus is distinguishing the material and non material and says although the body can be killed the soul cannot. �But are NOT ABLE to kill the soul.� Neither is the soul the body or the body the soul, they are different components of the same person. So if the body is killed the soul is not dead, it continues in its life. So then what does he mean by �fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body.� The Greek word here is Apollumi it does not mean to bring to utter destruction or ceasing to exist. This same Greek word is used of those living in Mt.10:6 (lost), Mt.15:24 the lost); Lk.19:10 (that which is lost). So this means to be in a lost condition, in context those in Hell that are in a eternally lost state, separated from God for all eternity.
This also refutes any teaching of annihilationism, that we don�t exist after we die. Jesus says we do.
Moses' appearance at the Mount of transfiguration proved one exists after they die. Mt. 17:1-8 and Luke 9:28-36 are just a few of the passages on the transfiguration where we find Moses and Elijah appearing on the Mount with Jesus. Moses who died and was buried has his spirit speaking to Christ along with Elijah who never died. Elijah was taken to heaven alive while Moses died a physical death, yet, Moses is consciously alive just like Elijah. Moses couldn't have been resurrected, because Christ is to be the firstfruits of the resurrection and he had not risen yet. He had to die first. So this proves that Moses' spirit continued to exist after he died.
In response to those that teach the soul sleeping doctrine, the existence of angels shows that spirits can and do live and function apart from bodies. One of the reasons that people come to the conclusion that soul sleep is true is because they believe that disembodied spirits cannot function without a body. The existence of angels shows that spirit beings can and do live and exist apart from physical bodies (Hebrews 1:14). Man is both Body and Spirit.
God is Spirit we are told man was created in his image and likeness. Jesus said we would worship the Father in Spirit and truth. We need a spiritual nature to do this, only man was created like this and has this ability. When Adam was warned of the day he ate of the tree he certainly would die. He didn�t die physically but spiritually. He still existed but it meant a break, a separation in his relationship. If we read such passages as the Ezek. 18:4: �Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine; the soul that sinneth, it shall die (which is to sleep according to those who hold to the soul sleep doctrine). This means that it is spiritual death a separation- not non existence, otherwise they would cease to exist as soon as they sin. There are many scriptures that say the soul is dead even when someone is alive.� Rom. 8:10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.� Are we really dragging a dead body around? Can we actually believe that if someone sinned their soul went to sleep or out of existence when they were alive? Were they walking around with a dead soul and an alive body. How did the soul revive?
The body �sleeps� and goes back to dust. The term "sleeping" is a New Testament term used only of believers, showing a rest, a temporary cessation of physical activity. We see this when Jesus said of the girl who was dead �Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping �
And they were laughing at Him.�
(Matthew 9:24).
The following verses refer to the state of the body in death as sleep:
.� 1 Thessalonians 4:14 God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. V.16 And the dead in Christ will rise first.
Rom. 8:23 It is the body we wait to be resurrected not our spirit or soul. Just as in 1 Cor.15 :3 15-20 speaks of Christ as the first fruits that slept, Referring to his body vs.35-38 speaks of how the dead are raised up. What you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain�but God gives it a body as he pleases and to each seed its own body. Paul goes on to explain in vs.42-54 that the natural will be transformed to a spiritual type of body (for more on this > flesh and blood cannot enter the kingdom of heaven )
A promised was made to the converted dying thief by Jesus when he was on the cross (Lk. 23:42). �Verily I say unto you, today shalt thou be with me in Paradise.� Some claim this is not correct in its punctuation and the comma should be before the today as if Jesus is meant �today I'm saying this to you.� But there are no commas found in the Greek writing to give weight to this. Besides Jesus is answering the thief who was asking to remember him when he comes into his kingdom. This would mean Jesus went into soul sleep as well. Did Jesus lie when he said to the thief today you will be WITH ME in paradise? For if either Jesus or the thief went out of existence then his statement was not true. Then the question is who was resurrected?
Then those who hold to the deity of Christ and soul sleep at the same time have to really stretch the Scriptures. For it was Jesus who said in Jn.2:19 He would raise up his own body, an impossible task to do if you no longer existing after death. For the Scripture states after he died he went and proclaimed his victory to the spirits in prison who were there since the time of the flood (1Pt.3:19-20).
Jesus meant that very day he and the thief would be united together in paradise otherwise there is no significance to the statement if it is left to some unknown future time.
Abraham's bosom (Paradise) is no longer located in the earth as it was in the Old Testament prior to Christs ascension. We find Paul was caught up to paradise (2 Cor.12:4) the third heaven. In Scripture there are three heavens described, as in Gen.1:1 God made the heavens and the Earth. God is called the possessor of the heavens (plural) and the earth. 1) Acts 14:17 �God gave you rain from heaven.� This is our immediate atmosphere surrounding earth (Gen.1:20; Mt.5:20). 2) There is the celestial heaven, the place of the sun the moon and stars (Gen.1:14) and the place where principalities and powers are (Eph.6:12, Eph.2:2 possibly some overlapping in this with the first heaven.) 3) is called the heaven of heavens where Gods throne is and where He dwells (Heb.8:1). Jesus prayed to the Father in heaven (Mt.6:9). This is the place Paul called Paradise and where John was taken to (Rev.4:1). Lk.24:51; Acts 1:9-11, Heb.7:55-60 show us Christ is in heaven, Paradise and the righteous dead are all associated with this place as well. It is the current place where believers go directly into his presence at death (Eph. 4:8-10; 2 Cor. 5:8).
We find in Eph.4 Jesus descended first into �the lower parts of the earth he then ascended on high� bringing a multitude with him (upward to be with him). So since Christ ascended all go upward to be with HIM.
This is the Scripture that is consistently neglected by those who promote soul-sleep. As in Phil.1:23 Paul states to be with Christ is far better and to die is gain. But I live in the flesh� For I am hard pressed between the two having a desire to depart and be with Christ which is far better nevertheless, to be in the flesh is more needful for you.� What does Paul mean by I live in the flesh if he is not referring to the body... To die is gain. This would hardly be so, it would be a loss if one ceases to be alive. How could this be far better, is non existence better than existence? How could this be better if one does not continue to live after. And notice he says he departs to be with Christ. This would be impossible if we go to sleep in the ground with the body, unless Jesus is in the ground too. When a believer dies their spirit goes to be with the Lord in heaven.� In Phil. 1:23-24, Paul states that he desired to depart to be with Christ, which is far better. Christ is in heaven, He's not in the ground, so if this was soul-sleep, he being with Christ, Christ would have to be in the ground.
2 Cor. 5:1-8 V.5 Paul writes
when our earthly house is destroyed (our body) we have another building that is eternal in heaven built of God.V.4 while we are in this tent we groan looking to be further clothed. Examining this carefully we find Paul believed our Spirit /soul existed without the body. The very point he makes about we are in this tent, we groan to be clothed which is in heaven. There is an intermediate state before we have the resurrection where we are united with our former body that is transformed to house us permanently.
He sums it all up in verse 8 saying, �we are always confident knowing that while we are home in the body we are absent from the Lord. and he goes on to say to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.� Obviously something survives that has life after the body dies. What is absent when one dies? The soul. It becomes separated. Where is the Lord? In heaven. And that is exactly where Paul said all who die in Christ are headed. When all our earthly tent is dissolved, we can be assured that we will be in the presence of the One we serve and we love here on earth. We will be further clothed. We are immediately ushered into our new home like moving from one city to the next. in 2 Peter 1:13, Peter talks about putting off his tabernacle, or tent, calling it a temporary dwelling place. The person who is the spirit (soul -personality) leaves the body. The very meaning of death means that the believer enters immediately into the God's presence. That is the clear teaching of Scripture, that upon death, the believer enters where Christ is. So to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, death to the righteous means to be WITH Christ. Unfortunately there are some who are not confident. Christ is in heaven and so all believers go by his grace to be where he is.
Stephen in Acts 7 when he was stoned states he fell asleep. Does this mean his soul became unconscious? The term sleep is used only of believers not unbelievers. As death is a temporary suspending of our physical activity on earth but not of our Spirit. V.59 Stephen looked upward and cried out Lord receive my spirit. How can he receive it if its going to sleep in the ground? The Bible says this he said truthfully, being filled with the Holy Spirit. The Greek is explicit in that there is an urgency as in, receive it right now. There was no temporary stop over for Stephen. Just as Jesus committed his Spirit to the Father, Stephen committed his Spirit to the Son.
Heb.11 has the hall of the faithful who died Heb 12:1 tells us we are surrounded by a great crowd of witnesses. What kind of witnesses are these? Living ones who went before us. V.23 �to the general assembly and Church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect.� (the word for witnesses means those who are able to testify which certainly mean living ones).
Jesus taught that he is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of the living, not of the dead, referring to Moses at the burning bush. The purpose was to prove life exists beyond death, that God is still (not was) the God of the living. That the Saints of old were still alive �for all live unto Him.� This silenced the Sadducee�s who challenged Him on this matter because they did not believe in an afterlife and it should do the same for those Sadducees today who say that a soul cannot live after the body dies.
Acts 23:8: �For Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, no angels or spirit.� In other words not in body or spirit. Jesus refuted their teachings saying he was the God of the living not the dead. Josephus wrote in antiquities b.28:4 �The doctrine held by the Sadducees is this, that the souls die with the bodies.� Exactly what 7th day Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses believe. Jesus refuted them by saying, God is the God of the living not the dead. As Josephus wrote �They take away the belief of the immortal existence of the soul and the punishment and rewards of Hades. (War b. 8:14)
In Jn.11:25-26 Jesus said �I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whoever liveth and Believeth in me shall NEVER die. Here is the blessed assurance that one will live forever, that one possesses a present life that will continue forever, never die.
The early Church upheld the teaching of scripture many of those who were the apologists spoke out on this issue as they did on others.
Justin Martyr 150 AD �We have been taught that only they may aim at immortality who have lived a holy and virtuous life near to God. We believe that they who live wickedly and do not repent will be punished in everlasting fire� (First Apology, 21).
Second Clement 150 AD �If we do the will of Christ, we shall obtain rest; but if not, if we neglect his commandments, nothing will rescue us from eternal punishment� (Second Clement 5:5).
Athenagoras 177 AD �[W]e [Christians] are persuaded that when we are removed from this present life we shall live another life, better than the present one ... Then we shall abide near God and with God, changeless and free from suffering in the soul ... or if we fall with the rest [of mankind], a worse one and in fire; for God has not made us as sheep or beasts of burden, a mere incidental work, that we should perish and be annihilated� (Plea for the Christians 31).
Hippolytus 212 AD �Standing before [Christ's] judgment, all of them, men, angels, and demons, crying out in one voice, shall say: 'Just if your judgment!' And the righteousness of that cry will be apparent in the recompense made to each. To those who have done well, everlasting enjoyment shall be given; while to the lovers of evil shall be given eternal punishment. The unquenchable and unending fire awaits these latter, and a certain fiery worm which does not die and which does not waste the body but continually bursts forth from the body with unceasing pain. No sleep will give them rest; no night will soothe them; no death will deliver them from punishment; no appeal of interceding friends will profit them� (Against the Greeks 3).
To the martyr's that died they had immediate glory in God's presence in heaven. To teach otherwise is to go against the whole body of scripture and almost 1500 years of the Church (until of course the reformation where purgatory was ratified). Did they all die with a false teaching of being in heaven?
In the catacombs of Rome are found inscriptions on tombs such as �In Christ, Alexander is not dead, but lives-his body rests in the tomb.� �Gone to dwell with Christ.� �One who is lives with God.� I cannot find any instance of soul sleep among the writers (both good or bad) in the first three centuries of the Church.)
In agreement Heb. 9:27 states after death, the judgment. In other words the judgment is that one goes either to heaven or to hell, and it is determined at death, not afterwards in a resurrection. So we go to rest and fellowship with the Lord, eventually to receive our rewards or to punishment and eternal separation, not to sleep.
In Mt.27:52 The scripture writes that at the time of the resurrection of Jesus many Bodies of the saints which slept arose. Notice what slept, the bodies. And the bodies arose, not their souls. The spirit that continues to exists is put back in the body animating it to life. As Paul states in his teaching on the resurrection of the body (1 Cor.15:15-20) Christ is the firstfruits of those that slept.
1 Thess. 4:14-18 �For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. Whether one believes this is the 2nd coming or the rapture, the point is made that there are those who come with Jesus to be united with their bodies. Since the dead rise first and those who are alive don�t receive a resurrection but a transformation. Vs.15 �For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.� Where is Jesus coming from? Heaven. If Jesus is bringing some people with him and they don�t have resurrected bodies yet, doesn�t this mean they are immaterial spirits. What dead are rising? Certainly this are not those who are alive and remain. The dead are those who bodies are put to sleep. This is exactly what Paul explains in 1 Cor.15:52-54 �the dead will be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed (those who are still alive) previously Paul explains the body in vs.35-49 vs.42 so is the resurrection of the dead. The BODY is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.� So resurrection refers to the human body not the soul or spirit, it is the body that sleeps and will be resurrected. As we have seen our hope is to be immediately with the Lord, not wait for some undetermined future time.
In conclusion it is the doctrine of soul sleep that needs to be put to death and out of existence.
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Which kind of animals are associated with the word ‘lapine’? | ANIMALS, BIRDS, AND INSECTS AND THEIR MEANINGS
AARDVARK - a tendency to hide from problems
ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN - denotes spiritual truths that are not easily accepted
ALLIGATOR - spiritual aspects that are self-serving, can denotes a person who attacks out of nowhere, people who lie in wait and then attack, a person with vicious speech which is destructive
ANT - denotes cooperation with others
APE - cautions against loss of individuality, pretending to be someone who you are not, aping someone, being a copycat instead of your true self. A symbol of malice and ugliness. The ape was a holy animal in ancient India, the god Hanuman, as in the epic Ramayana. He is a symbol of strength, loyalty, and self-sacrifice. In the Chinese Zodiac, the ape is the ninth sign. The ape is the calendar symbol in ancient Mexican cultures, lending its name (in Aztec Ozomatli, in Mayan Ba'tz) to the the day of the month. The ape was a god of dance, and those born under this sign were expected to become jugglers, pranksters, dancers, or singers. In ancient mexico, the ape represents the wind. In the ancient Mexican myth of periodic "ends of the world", the second era or "sun," the wind-sun, was ended by devastating tornadoes, and the humans of this era were transformed into apes. Apes in chains represent the "devil" vanquished. It is a symbol of insecurity and doubt about one's own role in life as well as immodesty.
BABOON - immaturity or lack of individuality. Thoth, the god of wisdom, though sometimes appearing with the head of an ibis, frequently appears as an old, white caped baboon.
BADGER - denotes a person with a 'nagging' personality, usually one who interferes with another's life. It is a symbol of vice, afraid of the light, and lives in the dark. The badger represents avarice because it lives on it's own body fat.
BAT - denotes the use of spiritual intuition in all aspects of life
BEAGLE - (dog) refers to a sympathy seeking friend
BEAR - an overbearing personality of a friend or situation, someone who can crush another with just a look or a word This negative creature is used in the business world also to denote a negative situation. Fighting and winning a battle with a bear denotes the triumph of Christ over the devil. In China, the bear symbolizes strength, Dreaming of a bear sometimes foretells the birth of a son.
BEAST - denotes crude or unacceptable behavior
BEAVER - denotes the ability to recognize one's spiritual aspects at "home" while balancing and utilizing "life's" opportunities, industrious
BEDBUG - negative aspected related to sleeping arrangements or sleep patterns
BEE - denotes industrious and cooperative teamwork and denotes diligence and a sense of order. A beeswarm suggests an overwhelming situation Being stung by a bee can represent a negative situation. Dreaming of a bee flying away can symbolize death as the bee is the soul, but if the bee flies into the mouth of the dead person, that person will come back to life. In the mediterranean civilizations, the bee was seen to be brave, chaste, industrious, clean and lives harmoniously. The Christians looked upon the bee hive as the church and the bees as the parishioners, who collected only the best from all the flowers. They were symbols of purity and abstinence. In the secular world, the bee was a royal symbol and the queen bee was long regarded as a King. The sweetness symbolised Christ and his mercy. The sting was felt to be the last judgment.
BEETLE - denotes negative interference's in one's life situations
BEHEMOTH - denotes an aspect in one's life that is larger than life, perhaps overwhelming and too big to handle alone
BIGFOOT - denotes aspects of reality that are not accepted
BIRD - denotes personality characteristics, usually high characteristics of beauty, joy and love that transcendent quality that lifts man from his lower self to his higher self, from the material world to the spiritual world - see specific bird type for other connotations A dark, ugly bird can denote a person's state of love in the negative context. To see a bird fly can symbolize the desire to fly free or to reach heaven like the angels.
BIRD OF PARADISE - denotes extravagant and elaborate thoughts. On the positive side, it can symbolize lightness, closeness to God, and removal from worldly concerns as well as the Virgin Mary.
BLACKBIRD - denotes an omen
BLUEBIRD - denotes spiritual joy and contentedness, foretells happy conditions in one's life
BLUEJAY - denotes spiritual joy and contentedness
BOA CONSTRICTOR - a smothering or constricting situation or relationship
BOAR - denotes a haughty personality, or a bore to others, an aggressive animal, It has a reputation as a symbol of unflinching courage and ferocity. In christian iconology, the boar is a symbol of Christ. It is however primarily of diabolical forces as in the case of tyrants. To the celts it symbolised military courage and strength.
BOBCAT - see lion
BOOKWORM - denotes a tendency to accumulate knowledge without applying it
BUFFALO - can denote gullibility, or perseverance
BUG - irritations in daily life.
BULL - may denote a tendency toward narrow-mindedness, in the business world however, denotes a positive situation, a driving force,a rapidly rising market. Seeing a bull with a distorted head means stubbornness and 'bullheadedness'. It generally symbolizes vitality and masculine strength. Bulls were worshipped in many religions especially as symbols of potency and for their horns which resemble the lunar crescent. The bull Taurus is the second sign of the Zodiac. (April 21 to May 21) an earth sign. Those born under the sign are said to be clumsy earthbound, tenacious, and powerful. This sign is ruled by the planet Venus which connects the love goddess to the bull.
BUZZARD - denotes a gloating nature, one who stands in wait to pick up what is left over
BUTTERFLY - denotes renewal and rejuvenation, the ability to bounce back from setbacks or disappointments, a transformation of spirituality. They stand for beauty and metamorphosis. It symbolizes the human soul. In Japan, the butterfly symbolizes young womanhood. Two butterflies dancing about one another symbolize marital happiness. In China, the butterfly symbolizes long life and beauty.
CAMEL - denote stubborn and stupid beast of burden. They have very bad attitudes. Can denote arrogance and haughtiness. They denote negative reactions. It also denotes obedience, tenacity and perseverance on the good side.
CANARY - can denote either a joyful emotion or on the negative side a gossip situation.
CAT - denotes an independent nature, or can denote negative personality or situations. It can mean uncooperativeness and isolation as well. To see a black cat denotes bad luck. To see oneself petting a cat can mean you get pleasure from negative emotions. Concern over the health of a cat can mean concern over a destruction habit. Seeing the death of a cat can mean the death of a negative aspect of oneself which is spiritual progress. Seeing black and white cats denotes seeing the good and bad sides of oneself, both the constructive and destructive side. To have a cat disappear represents shows the power of good intentions to succeed. see type of cat -
CATERPILLAR - denotes stage of life prior to transition into next phase of life and a need to prepare oneself To see a caterpillar eating leaves denotes the destructive activity to destroy one's spiritual life.
CATTLE - denotes a lack of self-confidence or individuality
CENTAUR - A mythical monster, half horse and half man, the male's head attached to the neck of the horse. Denotes discord and internal tension. Symbolizes the animal nature in man, untamed, and subservience to basic drives, their animal side.The Centaur in astrology is the ninth sign of the zodiac, shooting an arrow, a Fire sign. Those born under this sign are said to be resolute, aggressive, spirited, and seekers of light, energy, and power.
CHICKEN - denotes a feeling of fear or reluctance to face situation in life Seeing a chicken with it's head cut off signifies hysterical futility because the person is not using their head. It can be a symbol for timidity or lack of courage.
CHIHUAHUA - (dog) see that you do not underestimate the power or abilities of the other person in a situation
CHIMERA - a monster, part lion, part goat and part serpent, having one head from each of these animals.. A symbol of imaginings or rumour. In mythology, the chimera is said to be the daughter of Echidna, who was part serpent and part woman, and Typhon, a monster from the underworld. In the myth, the Chimera was killed by Bellerophon, riding on a winged horse named Pegasus. The Chimera appears on several coats of arms in cities like Corinth and Cyzicus. The triadic form stands for spring, summer, and winter.
CHIMPANZEE - immaturity or lack of individuality
CICADA - The tree cricket. The sound denotes 'elevated' poetry, immortality or life after death.A stylized cicada form represents "loyalty to one's principles.
COCKERSPANIEL - (dog) denotes companionship, a faithful friend, good associations
COCKROACH - denotes major irritations or disruptions in one's physical, mental, or spiritual life.
COLLIE - (dog) - denotes a faithful friend, to see one blocking ones way, however, means that something is blocking your spiritual path.
COUGAR - denotes quiet strength and wisdom
COW - can denote compassion and expression of that emotion It stands for the maternal nurturing powers of the earth. It is a universally positive force. In India the sacred cow symbolizes fertility and abundance. Slow moving cows denote inner reluctance to do something in daily life
CRAB - denotes a negative personality or situation , if multiple crabs are seen, it might denote a sexual disease. Crabs move backwards so denotes misfortune. In Christian symbology, the crab sheds its shell refers to "casting off the old Adam" and resurrection from the confines of the grave. It can symbolize 'great flooding'. The fourth sign of the Zodiac, (June 23 to July 22) Cancer is a water sign, and 'feminine'. Cancer is the house of the Moon and it's metal is silver. Astrologers associate Cancer with pregnancy, imprisonment, baptism, and rebirth and the awakening of the consciousness.
CRANE - denotes a sense of inquisitiveness. This is a symbol of renewal and of Christ resurrected. In China, it is a symbol of longevity, also for wisdom. A crane soaring toward the sun denotes desire for 'social elevation'. In the legends of India, however, it denotes deceit and knavery. It has also been denoted as a symbol of vigilance. See the other dream symbols to see if this symbol is positive or negative.
CRAYFISH - denotes withdrawal from a responsibility or situation
CROCODILE - denotes underlying negative spiritual aspects or forces, same as alligator. The crocodile also symolizes crocodile tears, those which are false
CROW - denotes clear messages or straight talk
DACHSHUND (dog) denotes caution against the tendency to make physical aspects of oneself too important, a high interest in materialism
DALMATIAN - (dog) denotes a traveling companion, since they are black and white can represent the right and wrong of a situation, the positive and negative sides, the faithful and unfaithful.
DEER - The stag with horns represents rejuvenation, rebirth, and the passage of time. The deer's antlers represent the sun's rays. In China, the deer symbolizes wealth and filial piety. In heraldry, the deer represents gentleness and mildness and long life. In Christianity, the deer striving to reach a spring denotes the desire of purification through baptism. The term 'stag' refers to a gentlemen attending a social party without a female at his side, such as a 'stag party'.
DINOSAUR - denotes an overwhelming situation or a highly demanding, manipulative individual The dinosaur represents one's own primitive state of being. Killing the beast represents overcoming one's own lower nature.
DOBERMAN PINCHER - (dog) denotes a person who represents the law-abiding factor in one's life.
DOE - Despite the gentle appearance of a doe, it has a demonic attribute according to mythological legends.
DOG - The first primary symbol is one of loyalty, vigilance and intelligence. Dogs are said to be able to see 'ghosts' and thus warn us of invisible dangers. A dark dog can denote negative aspects in one's life, a black dog were thought to be companions to witches. Hell-hounds are said to accompany Satan. In the Muslim world, the dog is considered to be unclean, but a watchdog is tolerated. In ancient Mexico, a dog was sacrificed and buried with a dead person to guide it's soul to the afterlife. In China, the dog is the 11th sign of the Chinese Zodiac with both positive and negative symbolisms. A white dog can denote a spiritual aspect and guidance that needs to be followed ; a sleeping dog shows one is unaware of what is going on, a dog pulling a sled is a helpful friend, In a dream, first look at the behavior of the dog to see whether it is positive or negative because a dark colored dog can be a sign of depression or ferocity as well. A snappy little dog can mean a bad temper. Washing a white dog represents a need to cleanse oneself of a bad aspect of oneself. -Also see separate article on wolf/dogs.
DOLPHIN - Dolphins are intelligent and human-friendly. They have been noted to save lives. In Estruscan art, the dolphin carries the souls of the dead to the afterlife.
DONKEY - denotes an independent personality - perhaps stubborn. It represents procreation and fertility. It is also looked upon as a ridiculous character. In Christianity, it symbolizes the Gentiles. It was used in both the 'birth' and 'riding into Jerusalem' scenes of Christ. In the doubting Thomas scene, the donkey represents insufficient faith as donkey's accompanied him.
DOVE - denotes a peaceful nature or condition - may be a religious or spiritual sign from God or a spiritual guide. It represents love and tenderness. It can mean an 'inner' initiation, such as the descent of the Holy Ghost as in Matthew 3::16 when Jesus Christ was baptized In the Bible, the dove was used to symbolize the end of the Flood, and represents the Holy Spirit. It was used at Jesus Baptism, the Annunciation, the Holy Trinity, and divine inspiration. The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are represented by seven doves, wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. Doves also stand for the newly baptized. Doves are also shown flying out of the mouths of dying martyrs. The dove is the symbol for the soul in India. In China, it stands for marital fidelity and longevity. It is also a sign of fertility. The cooing of a dove is preferable to a 'booing'. We should speak with a 'coo' rather than with harshness.
DRAGON - represent the untamed natural world, a violent primeval creature. It represents the bestial element which must be defeated with strength and discipline. The Satanic element. However, in the Occidental world, the dragon is associated with happiness, produces the potion of immortality, and represents the primal essence 'yang'. It stands for procreation, fertility, activity, and wards off evil spirits. It is the 5th sign of the Chinese zodiac a symbol of the East and the rising sun. However, the white dragon represents the West and death. In Japan, it represents the rain-divinity.
DUCK - denotes spiritual vulnerability, inner strength perhaps not quite strong enough to handle situations yet
EAGLE - denotes self-confidence, intellectual freedom, pursuing
unconventional concepts or issues The eagle can symbolize the thymus center of the body which is related to love. In America the eagle stands for freedom with responsibility. It is also the symbol of Mexico. The eagle also represents baptism and high flying is seen as Christ's ascension. It is the symbol of triumph of light over the darker forces.It represents energy, renewal, contemplation, acuity of vision, royal bearing, justice. In Freemasonry, the double headed eagle stands for the 33rd Degree of the Scottish Rite. Until the early 20th Century, it also was used in the symbols of Russia, Servia, Austria, the Roman emporer and Germany. In China, the eagle represents strength and power.
ELEPHANT - denotes great, long lasting memory or memories, can also mean a generous and gregarious nature It has an image of great strength. It denotes intelligence. A white elephant announced the birth of Gautama Buddha. The white elephant brings salvation from worldly entanglements. In Hinduism , Ganesha, God of wiring and wisdom in general, has an elephant's head with with one tusk and rides a mouse. The elephant is the chief of attendants on the God Shiva. It is a symbol of victory of life over death.
FALCON - denotes a spiritual relationship with higher forces A trained bird of prey. The falcon generally has the same symbolism as the Eagle and Hawk. Negatively, it can represent preying on others to benefit oneself. See other details in the dream for analysis
FIREFLY - denotes moments of intense spiritual illumination
FISH - denotes spiritual aspects or people in one's life, and spiritual achievements. It was the early Christian sign or symbol which separated the hostile unbelievers from the believers.It also represented the Age of Pisces which began in the year 7 A.D. Fishing represents the spiritual purposes of life and man's search for the higher consciousness. It also represents fertility and the life giving principles of the maternal. To catch a fish suggests growth of the divine self. To catch an ugly fish my imply spiritual weakness. To have an ugly fish appear denotes seeing spiritual weakness in a situation. To see a frozen fish denotes that one's spiritual life is frozen and not used as it should be. To see beautiful multicolored fish represents the joy and peace in one's spiritual life. The fish represents Christian principles. Showing a fish to someone denotes showing the Christian principles to others. Saving a fishes life represents the need to save those principles in oneself. In China, the fish represents happiness and plenty. It also stands for courage, strength, and endurance. Pisces is the last sign of the Zodiac.
FLEA - denotes irritations in one's life, usually in juvenile relationships
FLY - an irritation in a life situation. To swat the flies denotes needing to kill or stop the negative irritations. If one concentrates too hard on the negative irritations, one misses the important or beautiful aspects of life. Beezelbub is the Lord of the Flies is associated with swarming flies. Invincible swarms of flies were seen as embodiments of demonic powers. Swarms of flies of harbingers of disaster, Isaiah 7:18. Flies are predominantly symbols of satanic beings.
FOX - denotes a cunning, trickery, malice, or shrewd person. It's reddish coat symbolizes Fire and was seen as one of the devil's followers. In ancient times, the fox was seen as very seductive and a symbol of eroticism. A white fox was the was ridden by the rice god Inari.
FROG - denotes an impaired mental or physical condition. In Revelations 16:13, the frog is seen as uncleanliness as the spirits of evil. It could represent unintelligent and ugly speech. However, to a young boy, dreaming of frogs could show an interest in the study of nature to better understand life. Exodus 8:3 shows frogs as a plague upon one's house. On the positive side, the frog represents fertility, genesis, and reproductive life. In the Fairy Tale, the kissed frog turns into a Prince, a great transformation. The frog croaking in the mud for sheer joy is croaking a hymn of praise to God for the simple gift of life and is a lesson for humanity.
GEESE - denotes of a personal desire to escape problems
GERBIL - denotes aspects of life that are small comforts
GERMAN SHEPHERD - (dog) denotes a helpful friend or condition; except if dog is threatening
GIRAFFE - denotes a situation where one is meddling into the affairs of others, can denote a distortion of the image of self, too much distance between heart and head, too much emotion and not enough reason.
GOAT - The male goat represents lust and vitality. It is impure, and stinking creature. He has most of the devils physical traits. It also was ridden by witches through the air. The goat also represents "idol Baphomet" of the heretical Knights Templar. It is the 'scapegoat' driven into the wilderness as the bearer of all the sinful impurity of children of Israel. Greeks associate the goat with Pan. The female goat represents the nurturing nature. It stands alongside the sheep in the nativity depictions. In Medieval bestiaries, the goat climbs tall mountains.
GOLDEN CALF - denotes negative goals and misplaced priorities
GOLDFISH - a spiritually confining situation, or belief
GOOSE - denotes a need for more seriousness in life Usually stands for foolish behavior or being 'silly'. It is a symbol for talkative 'old people'. Gray geese area like devout Christians who keep their distance from the bustle of the world and wear grey sackcloth. White geese resemble town-dwellers giving themselves over to chatter and gossip.
GORILLA - a docile and peaceful nature though low mental state which might bright troublesome activities or conditions. Could stand for emotional dysfunction or gregariousness depending on the surround details of the dream.
HARE - see rabbit - a symbol of longevity, vigilance, easily frightened, cowardice, self-sacrifice, a trickster figure,passionate sexuality and lust, though the 'white' hare seen at the Virgin Mary's feet is a symbol of the triumph over the flesh.
HAWK - denotes acute perceptions, an ability for quick discernment - also see eagle.
HEDGEHOG - shrewd, miserly in ways of seeking wealth, loving of it's young, always has two ways out of situations.
HEN - protective, patience, intellectually impoverished, highly susceptible to outside influences, panic over nothing. Also the hen sitting on eggs symbolizes supernatural forces guarding treasures.
HERON - it's appearance is a good omen. contented, it's high flying serves as a warning of impending bad weather. A symbol for the souls of the world, ash-grey is the color of penitence, white the color of innocence. It is a symbol of Christ on the mount of olives. It is also curious, also discretion.
HIPPOPOTAMUS - the positive symbol isi that of protection in childbirth, in the negative a destroyer of crops, expected to return as a hostile, satanic beast in the last days of the earth.
HOG - denotes a tendency to take more than one needs
HORNET - denotes a situation where one might get 'stung'. Swatting at one can represent can denote trying to stop the negative situation.
HORSE - denotes a 'wild' nature, can be sexual connotations involved In ancient lore horses sometimes see visions, hear voices and speak. The horse is capable of quick starts but panics easily. The horse has tempestuous emotions. Dreams of horses striking out blindly are often interpreted as a longing for integration. In the book of Revelations there are a series of horses in Chapter 6. The white horse can represent qualities necessary to master, balance, and control the sex life. Fear of riding a white horse an ambivalence of feelings. Seeing four white horses represents the purification of the four lower centers. To see seven white horses swimming, means that when the spiritual quest is finished would come power and life. When balanced, this energy brings courage, persistence, drive, energy, and patience. On the negative side, the red horse usually represents dangerous, negative emotions for 'red' usually means "stop". The black horse in the book of Revelations relates to a necessary balance of the male and female qualities of the soul. Riding a black horse represents a need to control the energies of the body, usually sexual. The pale horse represents the thymus gland and represents the affections of love. Being halted by horses denotes a necessity to control and redirect the emotions. Falling off a horse shows rejection of some of the dream warnings. To follow a horses foottracks represents following Christ's footsteps.
HUMMINGBIRD -
Hummingbird: messenger, timelessness
Hummingbird - the tiniest of all birds - brings special messages for us. It is the only creature that can stop dead while traveling at full speed. It can hover, or can go forward, backward, up or down. It lives on nectar and searches for the sweetness of life. Its long tongue lets it bypass the often tough and bitter outer layer to find the hidden treasures underneath. Hummingbird is loved by the flowers and plants, for as it sucks the nectar from the flower, the plant reproduces and more of its kind are created. In many traditions, Hummingbird feathers have been prized for their almost magical qualities. It is said that Hummingbird brings love as no other medicine can, and its presence brings joy to the observer.
If you have Hummingbird medicine, you adapt easily to whatever situation you may find yourself in, and make the most of your new circumstances. You don't waste time looking back and wishing for "what was" for you are concerned with making the most of "what is". Also, you could never become addicted to any artificial stimulants, for you find joy in your own heart. You take great pleasure in spreading joy and love and beauty to all around you, and have the gift of taking that inner joy into new and different surroundings. You have a talent for finding the good in people, and are not put off by a gruff or abrupt exterior, for you know that, if you can only get beyond that tough outside layer, you'll find goodness and beauty inside. You may have a gift for working with flowers, maybe growing them to share with others, or using flower essences for healing. Aroma therapy may be your calling. You have high energy and a spirit that must be free. To restrict that wonderful, free, loving energy is to suffer great depressions and feelings of uselessness. Hummingbird must fly free in search of beauty, spreading joy and love to all it touches.
HYENA - denotes a lack of seriousness or vicious nature, avarice, one who waits for the leftovers instead of being aggressive in a situation. An unclean scavenger. Jeremiah 12:9 say that you should likewise not be like the hyena, loving now the male, now the female nature (a warning against homosexual tendencies). In the olden days, the appearance of the hyena in a dream portended the birth of a sexually malformed child. The head of the hyena is one of the seven headed beast in the Book of Revelations, one of the seven vices.
IBIS - denotes a spiritual esoteric aspect to spirituality. However, for the Jews, it is an unclean animal. Job 38:36 quoting God, "Who hath given the ibis wisdom and the Rooster insight?" The ibis eats dead fish and feeds it to it's young; devouring deadly deeds and even feeding it's children.
IRISH SETTER - (dog) denotes nervousness and lack of focus on a situation
JACKAL - denotes a predatory nature
JACKASS - denotes a personality trait
KANGAROO - denotes overprotectiveness, or jumpiness, can also denote long endurance
KITTEN - denotes an innocence of character, may indicate a feeling of helplessness with others in a situation
LADYBUG - denotes an irritating situation in one's life
LAMB - usually denotes a reference to Jesus Christ or God, sacrificed by the Israelites to escape the tenth plague that God meted out to Egypt for refusing to let Moses and his people go. (Exodus 11-12) Christ, seeks lambs who have gone astray. John 1:29 quotes John the Baptist calling Christ...the lamb of God. Rev: 14:1 refers to the triumphant lamb. The Easter Lamb is the flag of victory over death.
LEECH - denotes a freeloader, one who lacks self-respect and responsibility
LEMMING - denotes a person who always follows and does not follow one's own path, a lack of individuality
LEOPARD - denotes a tendency of resistance to
LICE - denotes lack of cleanliness of the person, or emotional or mental or spiritual negativity
LION - denotes a strength of character, military valor, tremendous energy, effortlessly masterful, and dominion, may indicate the "Lion" of God,. It can represent the victory of human intellect over it's animal nature. It can also be negative and denote a braggart, a roaring lion can denote anger and temper - However, the golden color can represent the good side of the individual. Being eaten by a lion represents being eaten alive by one's own bad temper. see dream situation surrounding the animal. In Astrology..it symbolizes Leo, (July 23 - Aug 23) , the fifth sign of the Zodiac, it's planet is the Sun. People born under Leo are thus solar in nature. People born under Leo are said to be natural leaders, intelligent, magnanimous. A lion can be one extreme or the other, either a symbol of the devil whom Christ overcomes, or a model for a hero.
LIZARD - denotes a lack of scruples. symbolizes death followed by resurrection. It also symbolizes safety and welfare because it can lose it's tail and regenerate it.
LOCUST - seen as a feared plague, the embodiment of divine retribution. The locust is Christ's comrade in the battle against the heathen. It symbolizes Christ resurrected. Swarms of them are taken as an indication that the order of the cosmos had been disturbed.
LOON - denotes mental or emotional confusion
LOUSE - can denote a personality trait, or a negative situation or person
LYNX - acuity of vision, rapid cleverness, mental alertness.
MAGGOT - denotes a self-serving personality who gains from the efforts of others
MAGPIE - denotes talkativeness, 'chatterbox'. In China the magpie is considered 'good luck.' It's cry is believed to announce 'good news'. It is the embodiment of 'yang', the bird of happiness and good fortune, marital bliss.
MALAMUTE - (dog) denotes a friend or person who can ease one's burden or hasten progress along a life path
MOCKINGBIRD - denotes a lack of individualized expression associated with mockery, such a person committing adultery make a mockery of their marriage vows. Seeing a mockingbird may denote a rebuke in the form of this bird.
MOLE - indicates a lack of communication; fearing reality. I lives in the dark and is afraid of light. It represents avarice because it lives on it's own body fat.
MONARCH BUTTERFLY - denotes perseverance, a transformation in spirituality,
MONKEY - immaturity or lack of individuality. Asian sculptures of three monkeys show them with their hands over their mouth, eyes, and ears which is a sign of 'evil'. In Japan, these same three monkeys are denoted by the word "saru", which means both 'monkey' and 'not do' thus symbolizing conscious abstinence from evil.
MOSQUITO - denotes temporary irritations in one's daily life
MOUSE - can denote a negative aspect in one's life. Mice can represent the little irritations in life. Seeing dead mice but not cleaning them up can denote refusal to let negative emotions go. They are said to have demonic and prophetic powers. Their squeaking and footsteps are taken as portents of storms. In dreams a mouse could embody the soul of the dreamer and as such leave the body and then return to it. The worst thing they do is spread pestilence. They are associated symbolically with satanic demons and with all powers hostile to humanity. In dreams, the mouse sometimes represents the female sex organ to young men. In the positive aspect, the mouse is seen as though of as analogous to the soul. See the Mouse story article for a positive aspect of the mouse
MUD TURTLE - denotes a negative personality trait of near-constant confusion and withdrawal from situations
MULE - denotes a stubborn personality, but independent, a reluctance to be persuaded to another's ideas
MUSKRAT - denotes a repulsive attitude, an aversion
NIGHTINGALE - a plaintive mother, symbolizes the human goal of producing truly melodious language. The name of the bird stands for poetry or song. The parents patiently teach their young to sing. It is a good omen. Some, however, interpret it's cry as a cry for help from a 'poor soul in purgatory' or a plaintive warning of an impending death. It also symbolizes acts of charity being rewarded.
OCTOPUS - symbolizes the spirits of the Underworld and mysterious otherworldly forces.
OSTRICH - It's feather symbolizes the Egyptian Goddess Maat. The eggs symbolize the virginity of Mary. It is however, a symbol of religious hypocrisy, who give the appearance of holiness, but do not act holy.
OWL - denotes wisdom, a symbol of knowledge, heightened observational skills, introspective, brooding, can see in the dark, developed awareness, high spiritual enlightenment It can also mean to use more judgment in a life situation. In the negative, it represents nocturnal "furtive' habits, solitude, silent flight, a plaintive 'harbinger of death' cry, and symbolize a turning away from spiritual light. In China the owl is a harbinger of misfortune, but it is the sacred animal of the rain-god it symbolizes a demonic nightcreature and considered an evil omen.
OXEN - denotes overwork, pulling harder than necessary. An image of patient servitude and peaceful strength.
OYSTER - denotes inner fears or anything new, withdrawing from interaction with others
PANTHER - denotes caution is necessary. A savage and cunning animal. has superior fighting courage of the female. In the positive, it has a beautiful voice, it symbolizes Christ. The Panther is said to keep the diabolical dragon away. A black panther is considered especially dangerous.
PARAKEET - a lack of analytical spiritual thinking, denoting the 'love' bird could mean a relationship that is caged in and needs to be freed.
PARROT - denotes the inability to think for oneself, repeats only what others say. It is a symbol of babbling humans.
PEACOCK - denotes arrogance of behavior Stands for self-love. It is a positive symbol of the Sun. In the Mid-east, the Kurds view the bird as a messenger of the God. For Muslims, it symbolizes the cosmos or the sun and the moon. He symbolizes renewal and resurrection. It represents spiritual rebirth. The negative symbols are that is struts about, prides himself on his appearance and gazes haughtily about. See Proverbs 16:18, "Pride goeth before destruction."
PEGASUS - (The flying Horse) symbolically is represents vitality and the strength of the horse, and with weightlessness as it flies like a bird. It symbolizes the indomitable poetic spirit overcoming the impediments of the world.
PELICAN - symbolizes the sacrificial death of Christ, selfless striving for purification. It is associated with the Rosicrucian degree of the Scottish system of Free-masonry.
PHEASANT - denotes a spiritual seeker. On the negative side, it symbolizes flooding, immorality, or seduction, and supernatural calamity.
PHOENIX - denotes the utmost examples of spirituality, a personality who bounces back from adversity, refuses to be defeated In Mythology, the bird had a life of 500 years.Because it is consumed in fire only to rise from the ashes, it represents resurrection and immortality. It can mean the harbinger of spiritual rebirth. In the American Indian tradition, the Phoenix is starting to rise now for the destruction/recreation process of the earth.
PIG - denotes one who takes more than one needs. Primarily a symbol of uncleanliness. But it represents fertility and prosperity in cultures of antiquity. In China, the pig is the 12th and last sign of the Zodiac, symbolizing manly strength. Pigs are considered unclean by the Egyptians, but not as strenuously as the Jews and Muslims. The pig is a symbol of ignorance and voracious appetitite, as well as an emblem used in mockery of Judaism. The pig is usually the 'booby' prize for coming in last in contests. Dreaming of a pig usually denotes good fortune coming one's way.
PORCUPINE - denotes a a tendency to unconsciously defend oneself in obtaining one's personally goals. This person irritates others, instinctively defending against new ideas, relationships, or situations
PORPOISE - denotes spiritual guidance, or humanitarian nature
PRAYING MANTIS - denotes one who is a spiritual hypocrite
PYTHON - denotes a suffocating personality or situation
RABBIT - denotes physical or sexual obsessive preoccupation which leaves no room for spiritual development. A rabbit also denotes quiet endurance of one's pain. A white rabbit can symbolize the awakening of spirit or a symbol for Easter and resurrection. A prolific rabbit can symbolize the power of the sexual feelings. See dream surroundings for analysis
RABBIT EARS - denotes one's personal spiritual antenna
RACCOON - denotes an industrious personality
RACEHORSE - competitiveness, a desire to be better or faster than others, a desire to get ahead of others.
RAM - The male sheep is the first of the 12 signs of the Zodiac and stands for Aries (March 21 - April 20) A Fire sign. Those born under Aries are said to be aggressive, strong oriented toward progress, but to squander love and energy. It is a wild symbol of the creative forces of nature, but more linked with problems of the intellect. In the Bible, the ram was the substitute for 'human' sacrifice.
RAT - a negative personality, or diseased element in one's life Think the word 'dis-ease' when seeing a rat. Feeling fear of rats in a dream can symbolize acknowledging negative aspects of oneself. It frequently represents Satan, the tempter and captor of souls. The rat is the mount of Ganesha, the elephant-headed god of learning. In Japan, the rat is the companion of the god of good fortune. In China, a miser is called a 'money rat'.
RAVEN - denotes watchfulness and recognition of spiritual lies A reminder of God's love and the ability of God to meet all of man's emergencies. See Kings 17:4 where Elijah was fed by the ravens. To an Englishman, the raven can stand for self-survival or the British Empire and the continuity of the United Kingdom. However in Edgar Allen Poe's novel, the raven stood for fatalism and despair. The raven represents those who are so caught up in worldly pleasures that they keep putting off their conversion. It is a harbinger of misfortune, disease, war, and death.
ROBIN - denotes a rebirth of ideas or spirit Denotes the coming of Spring, a new beginning, a new opportunity, or a new birth of self. It also relates to patience such as when he waits for the worm to emerge from the ground for his food.
ROOSTER - denotes an awakening of ideas or spirituality. Negatively, the rooster is cocky and suggests aggressiveness. See other dream details for analysis.
SAINT BERNARD - (dog) a helpful friend and guide
SALAMANDER - the ability to merge or blend the spiritual life with and through daily life, this is a positive symbol
SALMON - denotes one is going against the flow of spiritual life, or a spiritual search that is in error for one's personal path
SCARAB BEETLE - denotes one's soul, the inner self and of renewal and resurrection.
SCORPION - denotes a person who will retaliate if crossed. In a negative situations, one can also sting oneself in the aftermath.In the Bible it denotes demonic powers. In Astrology, the scorpion is the eight sign of the zodiac, (October 23 - November 21). It's sign is governed by the planet Mars. Scorpio is associated with male sexuality, destruction, the occult, the mystical, illumination, healing, and resurrection. It is an ambivalent sign, a source of change, a symbol of the triumph of life over death.
SEA HORSE - denotes a spiritual search or belief that is a fantasy rather than reality
SEAL - denotes the use of spiritual beliefs in one's daily life
SEASHELL - denotes spiritual gifts. To see whole and broken seashells, one is looking at the good and bad situations in one's life.
SEA SLUG - spiritual laziness
SEA SNAIL - slow and methodical spiritual pace
SEA TURTLE - cautious spiritual search or path
SHEEP - denotes lack of individuality. See Ram and Ewe. The ewe is seen as stupid and harmless. The ram is seen as strength, vitality, and unwavering determination. In the lamb, the symbolism is innocence
SHELLFISH - denotes the attempt to learn as many spiritual aspects as possible
SHETLAND PONY - denotes one is concealing personal power
SHRIMP - denotes the learning of refined spiritual aspects
SKUNK - - a person with a strong desiree for justice to prevail
SLOTH - denotes a lazy individual, warns against procrastination
SLUG - a slow moving, perhaps not doing all one can in a situation, lazy
SNAIL - denotes a slow, cautious attitude. It represents the resurrection of Christ and it's harmonically formed spiral shell. They are considered self-sufficient because they carry around their own houses and has all it's own belongings with it every moment.
SNAKE - a non-poisonous snake denotes cleverness, proceeding with discernment, see mythology for further definitions
SNAKE - a poisonous snake can relate to a person who will attack or retaliate with vengeance, can relate to temptation or evil, though as in India, it can also represent wisdom, it can represent sneakiness or treachery such as a 'snake in the grass', being bitten by a snake can represent dangerous emotions or situations where one holds or expresses poisonous thoughts or emotions. The serpent denotes the right or wrong thoughts, the wisdom of knowing the difference.
SNAPPING TURTLE - a person who will retaliate in a negative situation
SPARROW - denotes a gentle nature of an intellectual person
SPIDER - can denote a conniving individual, or a personal protective measure. Can denote weaving a web or trap oneself is falling into. It may relate to a recent indiscretion, a warning against a temptation or habit. See the other aspects of the dream to see the situation one is dealing with. See also mythology for the positive characteristics
SQUIRREL - negative connotation - scurries back and forth telling stories, elusive.
STALLION HORSE - denotes uncontrolled strength, usually sexual excess, a need to contain and direct one's energies
STORK - although an unclean bird, it symbolizes Christ and his disciples who destroyed satanic creatures in the northern latitudes and returned every spring was linked to Easter and the resurrection. It represents fertility and creation. In China it represents longevity. In the Netherlands it brings good fortune. It is a symbol of meditation and contemplation. It's beak represents the phallus.
SWALLOW - denotes punctuality, a harbinger of spring, and resurrection. However, it has the speech of a barbarian. It is the attribute of the love goddess Aphrodite. It also represents the relationship between an older and younger brother.
SWAN - denotes a personal spiritual nature of grace, inherent spiritual essence, purity, and resulting gifts. It supposedly foresees impending death and emits extraordinary cries at it's own death. The death of the swan in the ballet "Swan Lake" symbolizes the loss of the woman's gracious qualities to jealousy. Because it has black flesh it is also a symbol of hypocrisy.
TADPOLE - denotes spiritual immaturity
TIGER - denotes an aggressive nature, emotionally erratic, an overly severe nature. denotes one's own shortcomings and a need to re-evaluate oneself. It is the third sign of the Zodiac in China. It has vitality and energy. In China it is equated with a quarrelsome woman. However, it has great maternal instincts.
TUNA - denotes spiritual generosity
TURKEY - denotes an indication of promise of acquisition of food , clothing, and work
TURTLE - the negative aspect is a fear of facing responsibility or reality. Can represent long life because turtles live a long time. Quiet strength,. In China it carries the world on it's back. It is a symbol of fertility and unwavering vitality, and great patience.
UNICORN - denotes real possibilities, the reaches of reality. healing powers, intellect and sexuality. In China it stands for happiness and blessedness.
VULTURE - denotes greedy and aggressive individuals, usually with overeating. They are considered prophetic because they followed marching armies and appeared always three days before a great battle. It symbolizes the Virgin Mary because it does not sit on it's own eggs.
WALRUS - denotes spiritual righteousness
WASP - indicates stinging events in life
WEASEL - a person who does cowardly act
WEEVIL - denotes negative elements that can destroy a person's natural abilities. These are usually jealousy, egotism, etc.
WHALE - indicates spiritual generosity, a giving, compassionate individual. It is a symbol of the resurrection of the dead.
WOLF - a dark, negative impression denotes a clever and evasive person, infers self-interest. A white wolf indicates a spiritual guide. It is an omen of victory, but represents the forces of Satan. In China it stands for greed and cruelty. It represents the diabolical enemy that threatens the flock of the faithful. It pretends to be lame before it attacks. They pretend to be utterly innocent and harmless but their hearts are full of deceit. A human 'wolf' relentlessly pursues large numbers of women for sexual gratification. It symbolizes cunning, treachery and gratification. In a dream it symbolizes prowling the landscape of the psyche, representing untamed external energies. It can, however, be trained to co-exist with humans. It represents alert caution. See separate article for more details of the wolf's traits.
WORM - denotes an interference forcing one's way into affairs of daily life. To see a worm in some kind of food is a warning against that type of food or the diet in general. Relate it to something you just ate the day before.
ZEBRA - represents the duality of good/evil, right/wrong polarity of life's events
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| Rabbit |
What is the chief ingredient of a ‘dhansak’ curry? | ANIMALS, BIRDS, AND INSECTS AND THEIR MEANINGS
AARDVARK - a tendency to hide from problems
ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN - denotes spiritual truths that are not easily accepted
ALLIGATOR - spiritual aspects that are self-serving, can denotes a person who attacks out of nowhere, people who lie in wait and then attack, a person with vicious speech which is destructive
ANT - denotes cooperation with others
APE - cautions against loss of individuality, pretending to be someone who you are not, aping someone, being a copycat instead of your true self. A symbol of malice and ugliness. The ape was a holy animal in ancient India, the god Hanuman, as in the epic Ramayana. He is a symbol of strength, loyalty, and self-sacrifice. In the Chinese Zodiac, the ape is the ninth sign. The ape is the calendar symbol in ancient Mexican cultures, lending its name (in Aztec Ozomatli, in Mayan Ba'tz) to the the day of the month. The ape was a god of dance, and those born under this sign were expected to become jugglers, pranksters, dancers, or singers. In ancient mexico, the ape represents the wind. In the ancient Mexican myth of periodic "ends of the world", the second era or "sun," the wind-sun, was ended by devastating tornadoes, and the humans of this era were transformed into apes. Apes in chains represent the "devil" vanquished. It is a symbol of insecurity and doubt about one's own role in life as well as immodesty.
BABOON - immaturity or lack of individuality. Thoth, the god of wisdom, though sometimes appearing with the head of an ibis, frequently appears as an old, white caped baboon.
BADGER - denotes a person with a 'nagging' personality, usually one who interferes with another's life. It is a symbol of vice, afraid of the light, and lives in the dark. The badger represents avarice because it lives on it's own body fat.
BAT - denotes the use of spiritual intuition in all aspects of life
BEAGLE - (dog) refers to a sympathy seeking friend
BEAR - an overbearing personality of a friend or situation, someone who can crush another with just a look or a word This negative creature is used in the business world also to denote a negative situation. Fighting and winning a battle with a bear denotes the triumph of Christ over the devil. In China, the bear symbolizes strength, Dreaming of a bear sometimes foretells the birth of a son.
BEAST - denotes crude or unacceptable behavior
BEAVER - denotes the ability to recognize one's spiritual aspects at "home" while balancing and utilizing "life's" opportunities, industrious
BEDBUG - negative aspected related to sleeping arrangements or sleep patterns
BEE - denotes industrious and cooperative teamwork and denotes diligence and a sense of order. A beeswarm suggests an overwhelming situation Being stung by a bee can represent a negative situation. Dreaming of a bee flying away can symbolize death as the bee is the soul, but if the bee flies into the mouth of the dead person, that person will come back to life. In the mediterranean civilizations, the bee was seen to be brave, chaste, industrious, clean and lives harmoniously. The Christians looked upon the bee hive as the church and the bees as the parishioners, who collected only the best from all the flowers. They were symbols of purity and abstinence. In the secular world, the bee was a royal symbol and the queen bee was long regarded as a King. The sweetness symbolised Christ and his mercy. The sting was felt to be the last judgment.
BEETLE - denotes negative interference's in one's life situations
BEHEMOTH - denotes an aspect in one's life that is larger than life, perhaps overwhelming and too big to handle alone
BIGFOOT - denotes aspects of reality that are not accepted
BIRD - denotes personality characteristics, usually high characteristics of beauty, joy and love that transcendent quality that lifts man from his lower self to his higher self, from the material world to the spiritual world - see specific bird type for other connotations A dark, ugly bird can denote a person's state of love in the negative context. To see a bird fly can symbolize the desire to fly free or to reach heaven like the angels.
BIRD OF PARADISE - denotes extravagant and elaborate thoughts. On the positive side, it can symbolize lightness, closeness to God, and removal from worldly concerns as well as the Virgin Mary.
BLACKBIRD - denotes an omen
BLUEBIRD - denotes spiritual joy and contentedness, foretells happy conditions in one's life
BLUEJAY - denotes spiritual joy and contentedness
BOA CONSTRICTOR - a smothering or constricting situation or relationship
BOAR - denotes a haughty personality, or a bore to others, an aggressive animal, It has a reputation as a symbol of unflinching courage and ferocity. In christian iconology, the boar is a symbol of Christ. It is however primarily of diabolical forces as in the case of tyrants. To the celts it symbolised military courage and strength.
BOBCAT - see lion
BOOKWORM - denotes a tendency to accumulate knowledge without applying it
BUFFALO - can denote gullibility, or perseverance
BUG - irritations in daily life.
BULL - may denote a tendency toward narrow-mindedness, in the business world however, denotes a positive situation, a driving force,a rapidly rising market. Seeing a bull with a distorted head means stubbornness and 'bullheadedness'. It generally symbolizes vitality and masculine strength. Bulls were worshipped in many religions especially as symbols of potency and for their horns which resemble the lunar crescent. The bull Taurus is the second sign of the Zodiac. (April 21 to May 21) an earth sign. Those born under the sign are said to be clumsy earthbound, tenacious, and powerful. This sign is ruled by the planet Venus which connects the love goddess to the bull.
BUZZARD - denotes a gloating nature, one who stands in wait to pick up what is left over
BUTTERFLY - denotes renewal and rejuvenation, the ability to bounce back from setbacks or disappointments, a transformation of spirituality. They stand for beauty and metamorphosis. It symbolizes the human soul. In Japan, the butterfly symbolizes young womanhood. Two butterflies dancing about one another symbolize marital happiness. In China, the butterfly symbolizes long life and beauty.
CAMEL - denote stubborn and stupid beast of burden. They have very bad attitudes. Can denote arrogance and haughtiness. They denote negative reactions. It also denotes obedience, tenacity and perseverance on the good side.
CANARY - can denote either a joyful emotion or on the negative side a gossip situation.
CAT - denotes an independent nature, or can denote negative personality or situations. It can mean uncooperativeness and isolation as well. To see a black cat denotes bad luck. To see oneself petting a cat can mean you get pleasure from negative emotions. Concern over the health of a cat can mean concern over a destruction habit. Seeing the death of a cat can mean the death of a negative aspect of oneself which is spiritual progress. Seeing black and white cats denotes seeing the good and bad sides of oneself, both the constructive and destructive side. To have a cat disappear represents shows the power of good intentions to succeed. see type of cat -
CATERPILLAR - denotes stage of life prior to transition into next phase of life and a need to prepare oneself To see a caterpillar eating leaves denotes the destructive activity to destroy one's spiritual life.
CATTLE - denotes a lack of self-confidence or individuality
CENTAUR - A mythical monster, half horse and half man, the male's head attached to the neck of the horse. Denotes discord and internal tension. Symbolizes the animal nature in man, untamed, and subservience to basic drives, their animal side.The Centaur in astrology is the ninth sign of the zodiac, shooting an arrow, a Fire sign. Those born under this sign are said to be resolute, aggressive, spirited, and seekers of light, energy, and power.
CHICKEN - denotes a feeling of fear or reluctance to face situation in life Seeing a chicken with it's head cut off signifies hysterical futility because the person is not using their head. It can be a symbol for timidity or lack of courage.
CHIHUAHUA - (dog) see that you do not underestimate the power or abilities of the other person in a situation
CHIMERA - a monster, part lion, part goat and part serpent, having one head from each of these animals.. A symbol of imaginings or rumour. In mythology, the chimera is said to be the daughter of Echidna, who was part serpent and part woman, and Typhon, a monster from the underworld. In the myth, the Chimera was killed by Bellerophon, riding on a winged horse named Pegasus. The Chimera appears on several coats of arms in cities like Corinth and Cyzicus. The triadic form stands for spring, summer, and winter.
CHIMPANZEE - immaturity or lack of individuality
CICADA - The tree cricket. The sound denotes 'elevated' poetry, immortality or life after death.A stylized cicada form represents "loyalty to one's principles.
COCKERSPANIEL - (dog) denotes companionship, a faithful friend, good associations
COCKROACH - denotes major irritations or disruptions in one's physical, mental, or spiritual life.
COLLIE - (dog) - denotes a faithful friend, to see one blocking ones way, however, means that something is blocking your spiritual path.
COUGAR - denotes quiet strength and wisdom
COW - can denote compassion and expression of that emotion It stands for the maternal nurturing powers of the earth. It is a universally positive force. In India the sacred cow symbolizes fertility and abundance. Slow moving cows denote inner reluctance to do something in daily life
CRAB - denotes a negative personality or situation , if multiple crabs are seen, it might denote a sexual disease. Crabs move backwards so denotes misfortune. In Christian symbology, the crab sheds its shell refers to "casting off the old Adam" and resurrection from the confines of the grave. It can symbolize 'great flooding'. The fourth sign of the Zodiac, (June 23 to July 22) Cancer is a water sign, and 'feminine'. Cancer is the house of the Moon and it's metal is silver. Astrologers associate Cancer with pregnancy, imprisonment, baptism, and rebirth and the awakening of the consciousness.
CRANE - denotes a sense of inquisitiveness. This is a symbol of renewal and of Christ resurrected. In China, it is a symbol of longevity, also for wisdom. A crane soaring toward the sun denotes desire for 'social elevation'. In the legends of India, however, it denotes deceit and knavery. It has also been denoted as a symbol of vigilance. See the other dream symbols to see if this symbol is positive or negative.
CRAYFISH - denotes withdrawal from a responsibility or situation
CROCODILE - denotes underlying negative spiritual aspects or forces, same as alligator. The crocodile also symolizes crocodile tears, those which are false
CROW - denotes clear messages or straight talk
DACHSHUND (dog) denotes caution against the tendency to make physical aspects of oneself too important, a high interest in materialism
DALMATIAN - (dog) denotes a traveling companion, since they are black and white can represent the right and wrong of a situation, the positive and negative sides, the faithful and unfaithful.
DEER - The stag with horns represents rejuvenation, rebirth, and the passage of time. The deer's antlers represent the sun's rays. In China, the deer symbolizes wealth and filial piety. In heraldry, the deer represents gentleness and mildness and long life. In Christianity, the deer striving to reach a spring denotes the desire of purification through baptism. The term 'stag' refers to a gentlemen attending a social party without a female at his side, such as a 'stag party'.
DINOSAUR - denotes an overwhelming situation or a highly demanding, manipulative individual The dinosaur represents one's own primitive state of being. Killing the beast represents overcoming one's own lower nature.
DOBERMAN PINCHER - (dog) denotes a person who represents the law-abiding factor in one's life.
DOE - Despite the gentle appearance of a doe, it has a demonic attribute according to mythological legends.
DOG - The first primary symbol is one of loyalty, vigilance and intelligence. Dogs are said to be able to see 'ghosts' and thus warn us of invisible dangers. A dark dog can denote negative aspects in one's life, a black dog were thought to be companions to witches. Hell-hounds are said to accompany Satan. In the Muslim world, the dog is considered to be unclean, but a watchdog is tolerated. In ancient Mexico, a dog was sacrificed and buried with a dead person to guide it's soul to the afterlife. In China, the dog is the 11th sign of the Chinese Zodiac with both positive and negative symbolisms. A white dog can denote a spiritual aspect and guidance that needs to be followed ; a sleeping dog shows one is unaware of what is going on, a dog pulling a sled is a helpful friend, In a dream, first look at the behavior of the dog to see whether it is positive or negative because a dark colored dog can be a sign of depression or ferocity as well. A snappy little dog can mean a bad temper. Washing a white dog represents a need to cleanse oneself of a bad aspect of oneself. -Also see separate article on wolf/dogs.
DOLPHIN - Dolphins are intelligent and human-friendly. They have been noted to save lives. In Estruscan art, the dolphin carries the souls of the dead to the afterlife.
DONKEY - denotes an independent personality - perhaps stubborn. It represents procreation and fertility. It is also looked upon as a ridiculous character. In Christianity, it symbolizes the Gentiles. It was used in both the 'birth' and 'riding into Jerusalem' scenes of Christ. In the doubting Thomas scene, the donkey represents insufficient faith as donkey's accompanied him.
DOVE - denotes a peaceful nature or condition - may be a religious or spiritual sign from God or a spiritual guide. It represents love and tenderness. It can mean an 'inner' initiation, such as the descent of the Holy Ghost as in Matthew 3::16 when Jesus Christ was baptized In the Bible, the dove was used to symbolize the end of the Flood, and represents the Holy Spirit. It was used at Jesus Baptism, the Annunciation, the Holy Trinity, and divine inspiration. The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are represented by seven doves, wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. Doves also stand for the newly baptized. Doves are also shown flying out of the mouths of dying martyrs. The dove is the symbol for the soul in India. In China, it stands for marital fidelity and longevity. It is also a sign of fertility. The cooing of a dove is preferable to a 'booing'. We should speak with a 'coo' rather than with harshness.
DRAGON - represent the untamed natural world, a violent primeval creature. It represents the bestial element which must be defeated with strength and discipline. The Satanic element. However, in the Occidental world, the dragon is associated with happiness, produces the potion of immortality, and represents the primal essence 'yang'. It stands for procreation, fertility, activity, and wards off evil spirits. It is the 5th sign of the Chinese zodiac a symbol of the East and the rising sun. However, the white dragon represents the West and death. In Japan, it represents the rain-divinity.
DUCK - denotes spiritual vulnerability, inner strength perhaps not quite strong enough to handle situations yet
EAGLE - denotes self-confidence, intellectual freedom, pursuing
unconventional concepts or issues The eagle can symbolize the thymus center of the body which is related to love. In America the eagle stands for freedom with responsibility. It is also the symbol of Mexico. The eagle also represents baptism and high flying is seen as Christ's ascension. It is the symbol of triumph of light over the darker forces.It represents energy, renewal, contemplation, acuity of vision, royal bearing, justice. In Freemasonry, the double headed eagle stands for the 33rd Degree of the Scottish Rite. Until the early 20th Century, it also was used in the symbols of Russia, Servia, Austria, the Roman emporer and Germany. In China, the eagle represents strength and power.
ELEPHANT - denotes great, long lasting memory or memories, can also mean a generous and gregarious nature It has an image of great strength. It denotes intelligence. A white elephant announced the birth of Gautama Buddha. The white elephant brings salvation from worldly entanglements. In Hinduism , Ganesha, God of wiring and wisdom in general, has an elephant's head with with one tusk and rides a mouse. The elephant is the chief of attendants on the God Shiva. It is a symbol of victory of life over death.
FALCON - denotes a spiritual relationship with higher forces A trained bird of prey. The falcon generally has the same symbolism as the Eagle and Hawk. Negatively, it can represent preying on others to benefit oneself. See other details in the dream for analysis
FIREFLY - denotes moments of intense spiritual illumination
FISH - denotes spiritual aspects or people in one's life, and spiritual achievements. It was the early Christian sign or symbol which separated the hostile unbelievers from the believers.It also represented the Age of Pisces which began in the year 7 A.D. Fishing represents the spiritual purposes of life and man's search for the higher consciousness. It also represents fertility and the life giving principles of the maternal. To catch a fish suggests growth of the divine self. To catch an ugly fish my imply spiritual weakness. To have an ugly fish appear denotes seeing spiritual weakness in a situation. To see a frozen fish denotes that one's spiritual life is frozen and not used as it should be. To see beautiful multicolored fish represents the joy and peace in one's spiritual life. The fish represents Christian principles. Showing a fish to someone denotes showing the Christian principles to others. Saving a fishes life represents the need to save those principles in oneself. In China, the fish represents happiness and plenty. It also stands for courage, strength, and endurance. Pisces is the last sign of the Zodiac.
FLEA - denotes irritations in one's life, usually in juvenile relationships
FLY - an irritation in a life situation. To swat the flies denotes needing to kill or stop the negative irritations. If one concentrates too hard on the negative irritations, one misses the important or beautiful aspects of life. Beezelbub is the Lord of the Flies is associated with swarming flies. Invincible swarms of flies were seen as embodiments of demonic powers. Swarms of flies of harbingers of disaster, Isaiah 7:18. Flies are predominantly symbols of satanic beings.
FOX - denotes a cunning, trickery, malice, or shrewd person. It's reddish coat symbolizes Fire and was seen as one of the devil's followers. In ancient times, the fox was seen as very seductive and a symbol of eroticism. A white fox was the was ridden by the rice god Inari.
FROG - denotes an impaired mental or physical condition. In Revelations 16:13, the frog is seen as uncleanliness as the spirits of evil. It could represent unintelligent and ugly speech. However, to a young boy, dreaming of frogs could show an interest in the study of nature to better understand life. Exodus 8:3 shows frogs as a plague upon one's house. On the positive side, the frog represents fertility, genesis, and reproductive life. In the Fairy Tale, the kissed frog turns into a Prince, a great transformation. The frog croaking in the mud for sheer joy is croaking a hymn of praise to God for the simple gift of life and is a lesson for humanity.
GEESE - denotes of a personal desire to escape problems
GERBIL - denotes aspects of life that are small comforts
GERMAN SHEPHERD - (dog) denotes a helpful friend or condition; except if dog is threatening
GIRAFFE - denotes a situation where one is meddling into the affairs of others, can denote a distortion of the image of self, too much distance between heart and head, too much emotion and not enough reason.
GOAT - The male goat represents lust and vitality. It is impure, and stinking creature. He has most of the devils physical traits. It also was ridden by witches through the air. The goat also represents "idol Baphomet" of the heretical Knights Templar. It is the 'scapegoat' driven into the wilderness as the bearer of all the sinful impurity of children of Israel. Greeks associate the goat with Pan. The female goat represents the nurturing nature. It stands alongside the sheep in the nativity depictions. In Medieval bestiaries, the goat climbs tall mountains.
GOLDEN CALF - denotes negative goals and misplaced priorities
GOLDFISH - a spiritually confining situation, or belief
GOOSE - denotes a need for more seriousness in life Usually stands for foolish behavior or being 'silly'. It is a symbol for talkative 'old people'. Gray geese area like devout Christians who keep their distance from the bustle of the world and wear grey sackcloth. White geese resemble town-dwellers giving themselves over to chatter and gossip.
GORILLA - a docile and peaceful nature though low mental state which might bright troublesome activities or conditions. Could stand for emotional dysfunction or gregariousness depending on the surround details of the dream.
HARE - see rabbit - a symbol of longevity, vigilance, easily frightened, cowardice, self-sacrifice, a trickster figure,passionate sexuality and lust, though the 'white' hare seen at the Virgin Mary's feet is a symbol of the triumph over the flesh.
HAWK - denotes acute perceptions, an ability for quick discernment - also see eagle.
HEDGEHOG - shrewd, miserly in ways of seeking wealth, loving of it's young, always has two ways out of situations.
HEN - protective, patience, intellectually impoverished, highly susceptible to outside influences, panic over nothing. Also the hen sitting on eggs symbolizes supernatural forces guarding treasures.
HERON - it's appearance is a good omen. contented, it's high flying serves as a warning of impending bad weather. A symbol for the souls of the world, ash-grey is the color of penitence, white the color of innocence. It is a symbol of Christ on the mount of olives. It is also curious, also discretion.
HIPPOPOTAMUS - the positive symbol isi that of protection in childbirth, in the negative a destroyer of crops, expected to return as a hostile, satanic beast in the last days of the earth.
HOG - denotes a tendency to take more than one needs
HORNET - denotes a situation where one might get 'stung'. Swatting at one can represent can denote trying to stop the negative situation.
HORSE - denotes a 'wild' nature, can be sexual connotations involved In ancient lore horses sometimes see visions, hear voices and speak. The horse is capable of quick starts but panics easily. The horse has tempestuous emotions. Dreams of horses striking out blindly are often interpreted as a longing for integration. In the book of Revelations there are a series of horses in Chapter 6. The white horse can represent qualities necessary to master, balance, and control the sex life. Fear of riding a white horse an ambivalence of feelings. Seeing four white horses represents the purification of the four lower centers. To see seven white horses swimming, means that when the spiritual quest is finished would come power and life. When balanced, this energy brings courage, persistence, drive, energy, and patience. On the negative side, the red horse usually represents dangerous, negative emotions for 'red' usually means "stop". The black horse in the book of Revelations relates to a necessary balance of the male and female qualities of the soul. Riding a black horse represents a need to control the energies of the body, usually sexual. The pale horse represents the thymus gland and represents the affections of love. Being halted by horses denotes a necessity to control and redirect the emotions. Falling off a horse shows rejection of some of the dream warnings. To follow a horses foottracks represents following Christ's footsteps.
HUMMINGBIRD -
Hummingbird: messenger, timelessness
Hummingbird - the tiniest of all birds - brings special messages for us. It is the only creature that can stop dead while traveling at full speed. It can hover, or can go forward, backward, up or down. It lives on nectar and searches for the sweetness of life. Its long tongue lets it bypass the often tough and bitter outer layer to find the hidden treasures underneath. Hummingbird is loved by the flowers and plants, for as it sucks the nectar from the flower, the plant reproduces and more of its kind are created. In many traditions, Hummingbird feathers have been prized for their almost magical qualities. It is said that Hummingbird brings love as no other medicine can, and its presence brings joy to the observer.
If you have Hummingbird medicine, you adapt easily to whatever situation you may find yourself in, and make the most of your new circumstances. You don't waste time looking back and wishing for "what was" for you are concerned with making the most of "what is". Also, you could never become addicted to any artificial stimulants, for you find joy in your own heart. You take great pleasure in spreading joy and love and beauty to all around you, and have the gift of taking that inner joy into new and different surroundings. You have a talent for finding the good in people, and are not put off by a gruff or abrupt exterior, for you know that, if you can only get beyond that tough outside layer, you'll find goodness and beauty inside. You may have a gift for working with flowers, maybe growing them to share with others, or using flower essences for healing. Aroma therapy may be your calling. You have high energy and a spirit that must be free. To restrict that wonderful, free, loving energy is to suffer great depressions and feelings of uselessness. Hummingbird must fly free in search of beauty, spreading joy and love to all it touches.
HYENA - denotes a lack of seriousness or vicious nature, avarice, one who waits for the leftovers instead of being aggressive in a situation. An unclean scavenger. Jeremiah 12:9 say that you should likewise not be like the hyena, loving now the male, now the female nature (a warning against homosexual tendencies). In the olden days, the appearance of the hyena in a dream portended the birth of a sexually malformed child. The head of the hyena is one of the seven headed beast in the Book of Revelations, one of the seven vices.
IBIS - denotes a spiritual esoteric aspect to spirituality. However, for the Jews, it is an unclean animal. Job 38:36 quoting God, "Who hath given the ibis wisdom and the Rooster insight?" The ibis eats dead fish and feeds it to it's young; devouring deadly deeds and even feeding it's children.
IRISH SETTER - (dog) denotes nervousness and lack of focus on a situation
JACKAL - denotes a predatory nature
JACKASS - denotes a personality trait
KANGAROO - denotes overprotectiveness, or jumpiness, can also denote long endurance
KITTEN - denotes an innocence of character, may indicate a feeling of helplessness with others in a situation
LADYBUG - denotes an irritating situation in one's life
LAMB - usually denotes a reference to Jesus Christ or God, sacrificed by the Israelites to escape the tenth plague that God meted out to Egypt for refusing to let Moses and his people go. (Exodus 11-12) Christ, seeks lambs who have gone astray. John 1:29 quotes John the Baptist calling Christ...the lamb of God. Rev: 14:1 refers to the triumphant lamb. The Easter Lamb is the flag of victory over death.
LEECH - denotes a freeloader, one who lacks self-respect and responsibility
LEMMING - denotes a person who always follows and does not follow one's own path, a lack of individuality
LEOPARD - denotes a tendency of resistance to
LICE - denotes lack of cleanliness of the person, or emotional or mental or spiritual negativity
LION - denotes a strength of character, military valor, tremendous energy, effortlessly masterful, and dominion, may indicate the "Lion" of God,. It can represent the victory of human intellect over it's animal nature. It can also be negative and denote a braggart, a roaring lion can denote anger and temper - However, the golden color can represent the good side of the individual. Being eaten by a lion represents being eaten alive by one's own bad temper. see dream situation surrounding the animal. In Astrology..it symbolizes Leo, (July 23 - Aug 23) , the fifth sign of the Zodiac, it's planet is the Sun. People born under Leo are thus solar in nature. People born under Leo are said to be natural leaders, intelligent, magnanimous. A lion can be one extreme or the other, either a symbol of the devil whom Christ overcomes, or a model for a hero.
LIZARD - denotes a lack of scruples. symbolizes death followed by resurrection. It also symbolizes safety and welfare because it can lose it's tail and regenerate it.
LOCUST - seen as a feared plague, the embodiment of divine retribution. The locust is Christ's comrade in the battle against the heathen. It symbolizes Christ resurrected. Swarms of them are taken as an indication that the order of the cosmos had been disturbed.
LOON - denotes mental or emotional confusion
LOUSE - can denote a personality trait, or a negative situation or person
LYNX - acuity of vision, rapid cleverness, mental alertness.
MAGGOT - denotes a self-serving personality who gains from the efforts of others
MAGPIE - denotes talkativeness, 'chatterbox'. In China the magpie is considered 'good luck.' It's cry is believed to announce 'good news'. It is the embodiment of 'yang', the bird of happiness and good fortune, marital bliss.
MALAMUTE - (dog) denotes a friend or person who can ease one's burden or hasten progress along a life path
MOCKINGBIRD - denotes a lack of individualized expression associated with mockery, such a person committing adultery make a mockery of their marriage vows. Seeing a mockingbird may denote a rebuke in the form of this bird.
MOLE - indicates a lack of communication; fearing reality. I lives in the dark and is afraid of light. It represents avarice because it lives on it's own body fat.
MONARCH BUTTERFLY - denotes perseverance, a transformation in spirituality,
MONKEY - immaturity or lack of individuality. Asian sculptures of three monkeys show them with their hands over their mouth, eyes, and ears which is a sign of 'evil'. In Japan, these same three monkeys are denoted by the word "saru", which means both 'monkey' and 'not do' thus symbolizing conscious abstinence from evil.
MOSQUITO - denotes temporary irritations in one's daily life
MOUSE - can denote a negative aspect in one's life. Mice can represent the little irritations in life. Seeing dead mice but not cleaning them up can denote refusal to let negative emotions go. They are said to have demonic and prophetic powers. Their squeaking and footsteps are taken as portents of storms. In dreams a mouse could embody the soul of the dreamer and as such leave the body and then return to it. The worst thing they do is spread pestilence. They are associated symbolically with satanic demons and with all powers hostile to humanity. In dreams, the mouse sometimes represents the female sex organ to young men. In the positive aspect, the mouse is seen as though of as analogous to the soul. See the Mouse story article for a positive aspect of the mouse
MUD TURTLE - denotes a negative personality trait of near-constant confusion and withdrawal from situations
MULE - denotes a stubborn personality, but independent, a reluctance to be persuaded to another's ideas
MUSKRAT - denotes a repulsive attitude, an aversion
NIGHTINGALE - a plaintive mother, symbolizes the human goal of producing truly melodious language. The name of the bird stands for poetry or song. The parents patiently teach their young to sing. It is a good omen. Some, however, interpret it's cry as a cry for help from a 'poor soul in purgatory' or a plaintive warning of an impending death. It also symbolizes acts of charity being rewarded.
OCTOPUS - symbolizes the spirits of the Underworld and mysterious otherworldly forces.
OSTRICH - It's feather symbolizes the Egyptian Goddess Maat. The eggs symbolize the virginity of Mary. It is however, a symbol of religious hypocrisy, who give the appearance of holiness, but do not act holy.
OWL - denotes wisdom, a symbol of knowledge, heightened observational skills, introspective, brooding, can see in the dark, developed awareness, high spiritual enlightenment It can also mean to use more judgment in a life situation. In the negative, it represents nocturnal "furtive' habits, solitude, silent flight, a plaintive 'harbinger of death' cry, and symbolize a turning away from spiritual light. In China the owl is a harbinger of misfortune, but it is the sacred animal of the rain-god it symbolizes a demonic nightcreature and considered an evil omen.
OXEN - denotes overwork, pulling harder than necessary. An image of patient servitude and peaceful strength.
OYSTER - denotes inner fears or anything new, withdrawing from interaction with others
PANTHER - denotes caution is necessary. A savage and cunning animal. has superior fighting courage of the female. In the positive, it has a beautiful voice, it symbolizes Christ. The Panther is said to keep the diabolical dragon away. A black panther is considered especially dangerous.
PARAKEET - a lack of analytical spiritual thinking, denoting the 'love' bird could mean a relationship that is caged in and needs to be freed.
PARROT - denotes the inability to think for oneself, repeats only what others say. It is a symbol of babbling humans.
PEACOCK - denotes arrogance of behavior Stands for self-love. It is a positive symbol of the Sun. In the Mid-east, the Kurds view the bird as a messenger of the God. For Muslims, it symbolizes the cosmos or the sun and the moon. He symbolizes renewal and resurrection. It represents spiritual rebirth. The negative symbols are that is struts about, prides himself on his appearance and gazes haughtily about. See Proverbs 16:18, "Pride goeth before destruction."
PEGASUS - (The flying Horse) symbolically is represents vitality and the strength of the horse, and with weightlessness as it flies like a bird. It symbolizes the indomitable poetic spirit overcoming the impediments of the world.
PELICAN - symbolizes the sacrificial death of Christ, selfless striving for purification. It is associated with the Rosicrucian degree of the Scottish system of Free-masonry.
PHEASANT - denotes a spiritual seeker. On the negative side, it symbolizes flooding, immorality, or seduction, and supernatural calamity.
PHOENIX - denotes the utmost examples of spirituality, a personality who bounces back from adversity, refuses to be defeated In Mythology, the bird had a life of 500 years.Because it is consumed in fire only to rise from the ashes, it represents resurrection and immortality. It can mean the harbinger of spiritual rebirth. In the American Indian tradition, the Phoenix is starting to rise now for the destruction/recreation process of the earth.
PIG - denotes one who takes more than one needs. Primarily a symbol of uncleanliness. But it represents fertility and prosperity in cultures of antiquity. In China, the pig is the 12th and last sign of the Zodiac, symbolizing manly strength. Pigs are considered unclean by the Egyptians, but not as strenuously as the Jews and Muslims. The pig is a symbol of ignorance and voracious appetitite, as well as an emblem used in mockery of Judaism. The pig is usually the 'booby' prize for coming in last in contests. Dreaming of a pig usually denotes good fortune coming one's way.
PORCUPINE - denotes a a tendency to unconsciously defend oneself in obtaining one's personally goals. This person irritates others, instinctively defending against new ideas, relationships, or situations
PORPOISE - denotes spiritual guidance, or humanitarian nature
PRAYING MANTIS - denotes one who is a spiritual hypocrite
PYTHON - denotes a suffocating personality or situation
RABBIT - denotes physical or sexual obsessive preoccupation which leaves no room for spiritual development. A rabbit also denotes quiet endurance of one's pain. A white rabbit can symbolize the awakening of spirit or a symbol for Easter and resurrection. A prolific rabbit can symbolize the power of the sexual feelings. See dream surroundings for analysis
RABBIT EARS - denotes one's personal spiritual antenna
RACCOON - denotes an industrious personality
RACEHORSE - competitiveness, a desire to be better or faster than others, a desire to get ahead of others.
RAM - The male sheep is the first of the 12 signs of the Zodiac and stands for Aries (March 21 - April 20) A Fire sign. Those born under Aries are said to be aggressive, strong oriented toward progress, but to squander love and energy. It is a wild symbol of the creative forces of nature, but more linked with problems of the intellect. In the Bible, the ram was the substitute for 'human' sacrifice.
RAT - a negative personality, or diseased element in one's life Think the word 'dis-ease' when seeing a rat. Feeling fear of rats in a dream can symbolize acknowledging negative aspects of oneself. It frequently represents Satan, the tempter and captor of souls. The rat is the mount of Ganesha, the elephant-headed god of learning. In Japan, the rat is the companion of the god of good fortune. In China, a miser is called a 'money rat'.
RAVEN - denotes watchfulness and recognition of spiritual lies A reminder of God's love and the ability of God to meet all of man's emergencies. See Kings 17:4 where Elijah was fed by the ravens. To an Englishman, the raven can stand for self-survival or the British Empire and the continuity of the United Kingdom. However in Edgar Allen Poe's novel, the raven stood for fatalism and despair. The raven represents those who are so caught up in worldly pleasures that they keep putting off their conversion. It is a harbinger of misfortune, disease, war, and death.
ROBIN - denotes a rebirth of ideas or spirit Denotes the coming of Spring, a new beginning, a new opportunity, or a new birth of self. It also relates to patience such as when he waits for the worm to emerge from the ground for his food.
ROOSTER - denotes an awakening of ideas or spirituality. Negatively, the rooster is cocky and suggests aggressiveness. See other dream details for analysis.
SAINT BERNARD - (dog) a helpful friend and guide
SALAMANDER - the ability to merge or blend the spiritual life with and through daily life, this is a positive symbol
SALMON - denotes one is going against the flow of spiritual life, or a spiritual search that is in error for one's personal path
SCARAB BEETLE - denotes one's soul, the inner self and of renewal and resurrection.
SCORPION - denotes a person who will retaliate if crossed. In a negative situations, one can also sting oneself in the aftermath.In the Bible it denotes demonic powers. In Astrology, the scorpion is the eight sign of the zodiac, (October 23 - November 21). It's sign is governed by the planet Mars. Scorpio is associated with male sexuality, destruction, the occult, the mystical, illumination, healing, and resurrection. It is an ambivalent sign, a source of change, a symbol of the triumph of life over death.
SEA HORSE - denotes a spiritual search or belief that is a fantasy rather than reality
SEAL - denotes the use of spiritual beliefs in one's daily life
SEASHELL - denotes spiritual gifts. To see whole and broken seashells, one is looking at the good and bad situations in one's life.
SEA SLUG - spiritual laziness
SEA SNAIL - slow and methodical spiritual pace
SEA TURTLE - cautious spiritual search or path
SHEEP - denotes lack of individuality. See Ram and Ewe. The ewe is seen as stupid and harmless. The ram is seen as strength, vitality, and unwavering determination. In the lamb, the symbolism is innocence
SHELLFISH - denotes the attempt to learn as many spiritual aspects as possible
SHETLAND PONY - denotes one is concealing personal power
SHRIMP - denotes the learning of refined spiritual aspects
SKUNK - - a person with a strong desiree for justice to prevail
SLOTH - denotes a lazy individual, warns against procrastination
SLUG - a slow moving, perhaps not doing all one can in a situation, lazy
SNAIL - denotes a slow, cautious attitude. It represents the resurrection of Christ and it's harmonically formed spiral shell. They are considered self-sufficient because they carry around their own houses and has all it's own belongings with it every moment.
SNAKE - a non-poisonous snake denotes cleverness, proceeding with discernment, see mythology for further definitions
SNAKE - a poisonous snake can relate to a person who will attack or retaliate with vengeance, can relate to temptation or evil, though as in India, it can also represent wisdom, it can represent sneakiness or treachery such as a 'snake in the grass', being bitten by a snake can represent dangerous emotions or situations where one holds or expresses poisonous thoughts or emotions. The serpent denotes the right or wrong thoughts, the wisdom of knowing the difference.
SNAPPING TURTLE - a person who will retaliate in a negative situation
SPARROW - denotes a gentle nature of an intellectual person
SPIDER - can denote a conniving individual, or a personal protective measure. Can denote weaving a web or trap oneself is falling into. It may relate to a recent indiscretion, a warning against a temptation or habit. See the other aspects of the dream to see the situation one is dealing with. See also mythology for the positive characteristics
SQUIRREL - negative connotation - scurries back and forth telling stories, elusive.
STALLION HORSE - denotes uncontrolled strength, usually sexual excess, a need to contain and direct one's energies
STORK - although an unclean bird, it symbolizes Christ and his disciples who destroyed satanic creatures in the northern latitudes and returned every spring was linked to Easter and the resurrection. It represents fertility and creation. In China it represents longevity. In the Netherlands it brings good fortune. It is a symbol of meditation and contemplation. It's beak represents the phallus.
SWALLOW - denotes punctuality, a harbinger of spring, and resurrection. However, it has the speech of a barbarian. It is the attribute of the love goddess Aphrodite. It also represents the relationship between an older and younger brother.
SWAN - denotes a personal spiritual nature of grace, inherent spiritual essence, purity, and resulting gifts. It supposedly foresees impending death and emits extraordinary cries at it's own death. The death of the swan in the ballet "Swan Lake" symbolizes the loss of the woman's gracious qualities to jealousy. Because it has black flesh it is also a symbol of hypocrisy.
TADPOLE - denotes spiritual immaturity
TIGER - denotes an aggressive nature, emotionally erratic, an overly severe nature. denotes one's own shortcomings and a need to re-evaluate oneself. It is the third sign of the Zodiac in China. It has vitality and energy. In China it is equated with a quarrelsome woman. However, it has great maternal instincts.
TUNA - denotes spiritual generosity
TURKEY - denotes an indication of promise of acquisition of food , clothing, and work
TURTLE - the negative aspect is a fear of facing responsibility or reality. Can represent long life because turtles live a long time. Quiet strength,. In China it carries the world on it's back. It is a symbol of fertility and unwavering vitality, and great patience.
UNICORN - denotes real possibilities, the reaches of reality. healing powers, intellect and sexuality. In China it stands for happiness and blessedness.
VULTURE - denotes greedy and aggressive individuals, usually with overeating. They are considered prophetic because they followed marching armies and appeared always three days before a great battle. It symbolizes the Virgin Mary because it does not sit on it's own eggs.
WALRUS - denotes spiritual righteousness
WASP - indicates stinging events in life
WEASEL - a person who does cowardly act
WEEVIL - denotes negative elements that can destroy a person's natural abilities. These are usually jealousy, egotism, etc.
WHALE - indicates spiritual generosity, a giving, compassionate individual. It is a symbol of the resurrection of the dead.
WOLF - a dark, negative impression denotes a clever and evasive person, infers self-interest. A white wolf indicates a spiritual guide. It is an omen of victory, but represents the forces of Satan. In China it stands for greed and cruelty. It represents the diabolical enemy that threatens the flock of the faithful. It pretends to be lame before it attacks. They pretend to be utterly innocent and harmless but their hearts are full of deceit. A human 'wolf' relentlessly pursues large numbers of women for sexual gratification. It symbolizes cunning, treachery and gratification. In a dream it symbolizes prowling the landscape of the psyche, representing untamed external energies. It can, however, be trained to co-exist with humans. It represents alert caution. See separate article for more details of the wolf's traits.
WORM - denotes an interference forcing one's way into affairs of daily life. To see a worm in some kind of food is a warning against that type of food or the diet in general. Relate it to something you just ate the day before.
ZEBRA - represents the duality of good/evil, right/wrong polarity of life's events
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Until 1968 which official could censor British theatre? | Censorship in the theatre - Telegraph
Theatre Features
Censorship in the theatre
There has been no formal censorship of theatres in Britain since 1968 – but the issue is still alive.
Acting out: the recent Broadway revival of 'Hair'
By John Nathan
12:30PM BST 14 Apr 2010
On September 26 1968, Britain abandoned theatre censorship. After 231 years of making some of the barmiest decisions known to man, the Lord Chamberlain was stripped of his power to censor any play wishing to be licensed for public performance. The next day, the first Broadway production of the musical Hair opened in London. With its rock anthems and nude hippies, no show could have better illustrated that a new theatrical era had arrived.
The Lord Chamberlain’s office had long been a channel for fathoms-deep reserves of reactionary philistinism. No other outlook could have banned the phrase “up periscopes” from being used on stage because, in the view of the Lord Chamberlain’s comptrollers, more impressionable minds than theirs might be incited to “commit buggery”. Among the shows that were stifled at birth were surely some stinkers. Yet the list of banned plays also included works by Ibsen, Arthur Miller, Pirandello and Strindberg, while Beckett had to fight hard for his Godot.
Since then, there has been an inexorable pushing back of the boundaries. In 1998, I followed two New York ladies of a certain age out of the auditorium after a performance of Mark Ravenhill’s breakthrough play Shopping and F---ing. We were all pretty subdued after watching the explicit portrayal of the life of a teenage rent boy. It is a play uncompromisingly explicit in its depiction of anal, oral and violent sex. The censor, who decades earlier had objected to the term “up periscopes”, would have spontaneously combusted. Yet the two New York ladies appeared almost unmoved by the shocking scenes. Eventually, one said to the other: “Well, there wasn’t much shopping.”
This month, Hair returns to London in the form of a new Broadway production. It arrives schlepping a hat full of awards and free of the moralising that stage nudity once provoked. Ben Brantley’s New York Times notice praises Diane Paulus’s production for finding hitherto unfound emotional depths. Nudity is barely mentioned. So, in 2010, does Hair arrive in a Britain where playwrights and directors are free to write and direct what they like? Not quite.
The day before Hair opens at the Gielgud Theatre, a 10-minute walk will take you to another premiere at the Soho Theatre. There, you will find the new play by Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti – Behud (Beyond Belief). And the issue of censorship will be thick in the air.
Behud is Bhatti’s response to her earlier play Behzti (Dishonour), which, in 2004, caused violent protests at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, known as the Rep. One of the offending scenes involved a rape in a Sikh temple. The protests were so violent that Bhatti had to go into hiding in fear of her life and the play was stopped.
“There had been forceful protests for a number of days,” remembers Jonathan Church, who was the Rep’s artistic director at the time. 'Bricks were thrown through the plate windows of our building. The police locked the actors in their dressing room for safety.” According to unconfirmed reports, protesters ran through the building with swords drawn.
Church clearly still finds the decision to stop the play’s run painful to live with. “There was a kind of state decision not to fight for free speech and to allow a degree of mob rule,” he says. “My view is that the police force chose –whether for cost reasons or, as was suggested by one of the police officers I spoke to, because of their relationship with ethnic minorities in the city – not to make any more arrests.”
Most of the pressure to self-censor in modern theatre comes, playwright Richard Bean agrees, from Right-wing religion – although the protests against his own controversial 2009 play, England People Very Nice, were largely secular. Tackling the sensitive subject of East End immigration, Bean had the audacity – some would say the bravery – to partially populate his comedy with racial stereotypes including agricultural Irish, oy vey-ing Hasidic Jews and militant Bangladeshi Muslims.
No cuts were made as a result of the protests, Bean says. But there have been times when he has felt the pressure to change a play. The first was in 2006, during the Muslim protests against the Danish cartoons depicting Mohammed. Bean’s play, Up on Roof, was in rehearsal at the Hull Truck Theatre. Set in a prison where there is a riot, the play – whose characters include Jesus Christ – contained two or three references to Mohammed.
“It wasn’t anything contentious,” he says. “They [the theatre] were just utterly scared s---less. Bradford [with its large Muslim population] is only half an hour away. I love Hull Truck. I didn’t want to upset them. It wasn’t an important part of the play.” And then, with a note of what sounds a little like shame, he adds: “So I changed it.”
Still, it was important enough for him to call a meeting of fellow writers at the Royal Court. “I went all drama queen about it,” jokes Bean, a big, straight-talking Yorkshireman. “I said, they’re telling me to change my script or they won’t put it on, which was true. I was trying to work out if I had the strength to make a fuss. And then [the playwright] Caryl Churchill stood up in the meeting. The only bit I remember is that she said: 'You should be writing about how Muslims are oppressed throughout the world’ and she turned around and walked out. I’ve never spoken to her since, and I won’t ever again. I don’t think it’s right for one writer to tell another what to write about. It was disgraceful.”
The other time Bean was compelled to censor himself concerned an adaptation of Aristophanes’ comedy Lysistrata, in which the women of Greece go on sex strike to stop their men going to war. A play that is constantly updated to various contemporary settings could, said Bean, only be set in one place at the time he was asked to adapt it – Muslim heaven. Here the virgins went on strike to stop suicide bombers. The director who commissioned it thought it was great. But artistic directors became nervous. Bean was told that one artistic director said the adaptation could not be defended politically. “So presumably,” laughs Bean, “they are pro-terrorism.”
In a remarkable echo of the private “theatre clubs” that were used to get around the Lord Chamberlain’s censorship of public plays, one major theatre considered staging Bean’s play in front of an invited-only audience. Then Bean was asked how he’d feel if a member of the box office was stabbed. “I said, how do you think I’d feel?
F---ing awful.” And that, he says, was the end of that.
But shouldn’t an artistic director only be concerned with the quality of the play? “No,” says Nicholas Hytner, the National Theatre’s artistic director and the director of England People Very Nice during its run at the National. “I’d prefer not to have to choose between my responsibility to a good play and my responsibility to the people whose boss I am and over whom I have a duty of care.”
Hytner says that, in such a situation, he would first consult everyone involved in the theatre, from the board to those responsible for security. “But I’ve not had that play yet.” Then he pauses. “Although maybe I have. Maybe England People was that play. Maybe Jerry Springer: The Opera was that play.” (The musical, which opened at the National in 2003, enraged Christians for its “blaspheming” of Jesus.)
Hytner has also been attacked for saying that he would only put on a play that was critical of the Muslim community if it were written by a Muslim – although his rule of thumb may have been vindicated by the controversies over Behzti. It would have been far harder to defend Behzti against Sikh protests if it had not been written by someone from their own community.
“I’d like to expand on that now,” Hytner says. “There is a lot of writing that, for its theatrical impact, depends on authenticity. If a play has pretensions to authenticity it should be authentic. So all I’m saying is, don’t lie.”
In other words, a play that is written as if from within a community, must come from within that community. A lack of authenticity may have been at the heart of the row surrounding Martin McDonagh’s latest offering on Broadway. A Behanding in Spokane is the British/Irish writer’s first foray into Americana. Despite an acclaimed performance by Christopher Walken as an ageing killer, some New York critics were less than convinced by McDonagh’s American motley crew. The New Yorker’s Hilton Als, who is black, even detected a racist stereotype in the play’s black character, Toby, played by Anthony Mackie. If McDonagh was black, American or both, would he have been accused of racism? Or perhaps the real question is, would he have written a play that made such an accusation possible?
It would, of course, be a mistake to conclude that today’s writers and artistic directors are at the mercy of those who wish to curtail freedom of expression. There are bold examples – the Royal Court and the National Theatre among them — of artistic directors programming politically controversial work. But the simmering tensions surrounding issues of faith, identity and who is entitled to speak for whom, all take their toll – and their presence cannot be ignored in the theatrical landscape.
“Behzti hasn’t affected me as an artistic director,” Jonathan Church concludes. “There was a fascinating culture clash when one of the Sikh leaders came to talk to our board. His view was that fiction is essentially a lie and therefore should not exist. It’s a stand-off. I found the consultation process fruitless. And I suppose as an artist who felt personally crippled by the decision to take Behzti off, I feel I would not do the same again.”
A longer version of this article is available in the April issue of 'Prospect’ magazine: prospectmagazine.co.uk
Hair is at the Gielgud Theatre from April 14
| Lord Chamberlain |
On a weather map ‘isohyets’ link places of equal ………what? | Exhibition reveals official fears over gay characters in the theatre
The Golden Generation: British Theatre 1945 to 1968 runs from tomorrow
A new exhibition will be pay tribute to the postwar period of transformation in theatre which saw writers ‘coming to terms with life.’
The Golden Generation will draw on the British Library’s collection of theatrical manuscripts, letters, photographs and unique oral history recordings to explore the vibrancy of British theatre following the end of the Second World War.
Up until 1968 the Lord Chamberlain was responsible for licensing plays.
The exhibition shows that the portrayal of homosexual characters was the subject that most worried the Lord Chamberlain in the post-war years.
Attempts to prohibit representations of homosexuality led some writers to instinctual self-censorship – as can be seen in a handwritten script of gay playwright Terrence Rattigan’s Separate Tables, where Rattigan is forced to change a character accused of importuning other men to a man accused of ‘nudging women in a cinema’.
Under pressure to re-think his policy, the Lord Chamberlain sent a number of letters to ‘wise and responsible men and women’ (including Laurence Olivier) to canvas opinions.
In the letter displayed in the exhibition, the Lord Chamberlain worries that the subject will be ‘very distasteful and embarrassing in mixed company’ and ‘might start an unfortunate train of thought in the previously innocent’.
In 1957, the Lord Chamberlain, the Earl of Scarborough, responded to the Wolfenden Report on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution by issuing a ‘secret memorandum.’
The memorandum, on show in the exhibition, allows ‘serious and sincere’ references to homosexuality in plays, although still banned ‘pro-homosexuality’ or ‘practical demonstrations of love.’
Other highlights include the only surviving scripts of the first two plays of John Osborne, The Devil Inside Him and Personal Enemy, the former written nine years before the 1956 premiere of Look Back in Anger, which made Osborne one of Britain’s most celebrated playwrights.
Jamie Andrews, Curator of the Exhibiton and Head of Modern Literary Manuscripts at the British Library said:
“The exhibition recognises the excitement generated by the premiere of Look Back in Anger in May 1956, but shows that, far from single-handedly kick-starting the new wave, Osborne was one of many visionary new writers, actors, and directors who came to prominence in this exciting period for the theatre.
“The exhibition also demonstrates how evolving social attitudes forced the theatre, as critic Kenneth Tynan put it, ‘to come to terms with life,’ and this included the campaign that led to the abolition of the Royal Household’s powers to censor theatre in 1968.”
The Golden Generation: British Theatre 1945 to 1968 runs from tomorrow until 30 November 2008 at the Folio Society Gallery at the British Library.
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The first major battle of the English Civil War ended in stalemate in 1642 – what was it? | The English Civil War - History Learning Site
Home » Stuart England » The English Civil War
The English Civil War
Citation: C N Trueman "The English Civil War"
historylearningsite.co.uk. The History Learning Site, 17 Mar 2015. 16 Aug 2016.
The English Civil War started in 1642 when Charles I raised his royal standard in Nottingham. The split between Charles and Parliament was such that neither side was willing to back down over the principles that they held and war was inevitable as a way in which all problems could be solved. The country split into those who supported the king and those who supported Parliament – the classic ingredients for a civil war.
As with most wars during the C17th, the English Civil War was not a long continuous war. Armies lacked mobility and the time taken to collect the most basic of equipment meant that there were long periods of time when no fighting was taking place despite England being at war at the time. The weather was also a major determining factor in whether armies could fight or not. Roads were no more than tracks and the winter could cut them up to make them beyond use. Therefore moving any armies around would be very difficult.
There were only three major battles in the English Civil War – Edge Hill (1642) Marston Moor (1644) and Naseby (1645).
While it is difficult to give an exact breakdown of who supported who as there were regional variations, at a general level the nobility, landowners and Anglicans supported Charles I while those in the towns and cities supported Parliament. However, this is a generalisation and there were noblemen who supported Parliament and there were towns such as Newark that supported Charles.
The first major battle of the English Civil War was at Edge Hill. While both sides claimed success, there was no decisive result from this battle. The following year, 1643, saw a series of smaller battles that were equally as indecisive in the sense that neither side dealt a fatal blow to the other. In 1643, Oliver Cromwell came more and more to the fore with his desire for a New Model Army. This new force was to have a decisive impact on the course of the English Civil War.
In 1644, Charles lost control of the north of England as a result of a major defeat at the Battle of Marston Moor. The combined armies of Parliament and the Scots heavily defeated the Royalists.
In June 1645, Cromwell’s New Model Army inflicted a fatal blow to the king’s army at the Battle of Naseby. Charles did not recover from this defeat and his cause was lost.
In 1646, Charles surrendered to the Scots rather than to Parliament. He hoped to take advantage of the fact that the Scottish and Parliamentary alliance was fragile and could collapse at any time. In fact, the Scots took advantage of Charles and sold him to Parliament for £400,000 in January 1647. The problem Parliament now had was what to do with Charles. The king actually helped in his own downfall. In November 1647, he escaped to Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight and in 1648 the short-lived second civil war broke out. The supporters of the king were defeated at Preston. All that Charles had proved to Parliament was that he could not be trusted.
Charles was tried at Westminster Hall in January 1649, and found guilty that he had “traitorously and maliciously levied war against the present Parliament and the people therein represented.”
| Edge Hill |
Which Archbishop of Canterbury was beheaded as an enemy of Parliament in 1645? | The English Civil War - History Learning Site
Home » Stuart England » The English Civil War
The English Civil War
Citation: C N Trueman "The English Civil War"
historylearningsite.co.uk. The History Learning Site, 17 Mar 2015. 16 Aug 2016.
The English Civil War started in 1642 when Charles I raised his royal standard in Nottingham. The split between Charles and Parliament was such that neither side was willing to back down over the principles that they held and war was inevitable as a way in which all problems could be solved. The country split into those who supported the king and those who supported Parliament – the classic ingredients for a civil war.
As with most wars during the C17th, the English Civil War was not a long continuous war. Armies lacked mobility and the time taken to collect the most basic of equipment meant that there were long periods of time when no fighting was taking place despite England being at war at the time. The weather was also a major determining factor in whether armies could fight or not. Roads were no more than tracks and the winter could cut them up to make them beyond use. Therefore moving any armies around would be very difficult.
There were only three major battles in the English Civil War – Edge Hill (1642) Marston Moor (1644) and Naseby (1645).
While it is difficult to give an exact breakdown of who supported who as there were regional variations, at a general level the nobility, landowners and Anglicans supported Charles I while those in the towns and cities supported Parliament. However, this is a generalisation and there were noblemen who supported Parliament and there were towns such as Newark that supported Charles.
The first major battle of the English Civil War was at Edge Hill. While both sides claimed success, there was no decisive result from this battle. The following year, 1643, saw a series of smaller battles that were equally as indecisive in the sense that neither side dealt a fatal blow to the other. In 1643, Oliver Cromwell came more and more to the fore with his desire for a New Model Army. This new force was to have a decisive impact on the course of the English Civil War.
In 1644, Charles lost control of the north of England as a result of a major defeat at the Battle of Marston Moor. The combined armies of Parliament and the Scots heavily defeated the Royalists.
In June 1645, Cromwell’s New Model Army inflicted a fatal blow to the king’s army at the Battle of Naseby. Charles did not recover from this defeat and his cause was lost.
In 1646, Charles surrendered to the Scots rather than to Parliament. He hoped to take advantage of the fact that the Scottish and Parliamentary alliance was fragile and could collapse at any time. In fact, the Scots took advantage of Charles and sold him to Parliament for £400,000 in January 1647. The problem Parliament now had was what to do with Charles. The king actually helped in his own downfall. In November 1647, he escaped to Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight and in 1648 the short-lived second civil war broke out. The supporters of the king were defeated at Preston. All that Charles had proved to Parliament was that he could not be trusted.
Charles was tried at Westminster Hall in January 1649, and found guilty that he had “traitorously and maliciously levied war against the present Parliament and the people therein represented.”
| i don't know |
Which title was bestowed upon Oliver Cromwell in 1653? | Timeline: The Protectorate, 1653-58
Cromwell dissolves the First Protectorate Parliament.
Mar 11
Penruddock's Uprising in the West Country: co-ordinated Royalist insurrections around the country fail to ignite.
Mar 14
Penruddock's rebels defeated by Colonel Croke at South Molton in Devon.
Apr 17
Failure of Penn and Venables' attempt to take Hispaniola from Spain.
May 17
Penn and Venables capture Jamaica .
Jun 7
Resignation of Chief Justice Henry Rolle over concerns regarding the legality of the Instrument of Government .
Jul 9
Henry Cromwell arrives in Dublin to take up his appointment as Major-General of the army in Ireland.
Aug 22
First instructions to the Major-Generals issued.
Sep 6
Charles Fleetwood departs from Ireland. He retains the title of Lord-Deputy until his term of office expires, but the administration of Ireland is left to Henry Cromwell.
Sep 21
One-tenth of all property belonging to former Royalists is confiscated under the Decimation Tax.
Oct 11
Commissions issued to the Major-Generals.
Oct 15
The Council of State declares its support for Cromwell's policy of war with Spain .
Oct 24
Commercial treaty signed between the Protectorate and France.
Oct 31
Rule of the Major-Generals proclaimed in England and Wales. The country is divided into 12 districts under military jurisdiction.
Menassah ben Israel submits a petition for the re-admission of the Jews into England.
Decimation Tax and rule of the Major-Generals abandoned.
Feb 23
The Humble Petition and Advice presented to Parliament despite opposition from the Army. Offer of the Crown to Cromwell.
Mar 13
Signing of the treaty for a military alliance between England and France against Spain; continuation of the Anglo-Spanish war on the continent of Europe.
Apr 20
General-at-Sea Robert Blake destroys the Spanish fleet at Santa Cruz .
Apr/May
Edward Sexby and Captain Titus publish the pamphlet Killing no Murder, which incites Cromwell's assassination.
May 8
Cromwell formally refuses the Crown.
May 25
A revised version of The Humble Petition and Advice, avoiding mention of the royal title, passed by Parliament.
Jun 11
Sir John Reynolds with six English regiments joins Marshall Turenne's army in France.
Jun 26
Cromwell's second installation as Lord Protector under a new constitution in a ceremony reminiscent of a royal coronation.
Aug 7
Second session of the Second Protectorate Parliament begins.
Feb 4
Cromwell dissolves the Second Protectorate Parliament.
Mar 18
Anglo-French alliance renewed.
Jun 4
Battle of the Dunes : the Anglo-French army under Marshal Turenne defeats a Spanish force attempting to raise the siege of Dunkirk.
Jun 14
Dunkirk occupied by French and English troops.
Sep 3
Death of Oliver Cromwell; his son Richard accepted as his successor by the Council of Officers and the Army.
Sep 4
Richard Cromwell proclaimed Oliver's successor in London and throughout England.
Sep 9-10
Richard proclaimed in Edinburgh and Dublin.
Oct 18
Charles Fleetwood appointed lieutenant-general of the Army, but Richard insists upon retaining the position and full power of commander-in-chief.
| Lord Protector |
Which film sees the brothers Marcus Et Spencius slave trading company? | 'The Single Person's Confidants and Dependants'? Oliver Cromwell and His Protectoral Councillors | Peter Gaunt | Academic Room
'The Single Person's Confidants and Dependants'? Oliver Cromwell and His Protectoral Councillors
by Peter Gaunt
'The Single Person's Confidants and Dependants'? Oliver Cromwell and His Protectoral Councillors
Author:
The Historicnl Joilrnal, 32, 3 (19891, pp 537-560 Printed in Great Britain
'THE SINGLE PERSON'S CONFIDANTS
PROTECTORAL COUNCILLORS
PETER GAUNT
It is because they [the Protectoral Councillors] accepted Cromwell so thoroughly for their head, and made themselves so willingly his advisers only and the agents of his will, that History is now apt to forget what important men they were in the eyes of their contemporaries.'
Little has happened in the century since Masson wrote those words fundamentally to alter his assessment and both the operation of Protectoral central government 1653-8 and the role of the Council within it remain sadly under-studied. Although recent historians would doubtless deny that they have simply forgotten the Protectoral Councillors, in practice most surveys either ignore the Council or allude to it in a few passing and usually dismissive sentences. For example, the Councillors are mentioned only once in Kenyon's Stuart England, a reference to their 'clumsy decision' to exclude M.P.s in 1656.~ And the assessment of the Council as a politically powerless vehicle for the Protector's will still generally prevails, albeit expressed in more cautious tones. Thus in his recent study of interregnum Britain, Barnard asserts that 'in practice the Council seldom deflected him [Cromwell] from his chosen courses' and that it is 'likely that the councillors would usually defer to him'.3 Barnard himself laments the dearth of surviving evidence about the Council's
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work, a dearth which has all but stifled serious examination of the operation of Protectoral central government and which may have led contemporaries and later historians alike to under-rate the role of the Council and correspondingly to inflate that of Cromwell. For despite the paucity of evidence, there are clear indications that the Council was not the impotent cypher nor Cromwell the boundless autocrat of so many histories and biographies.
D. Masson, The life gJohn Milton (7 vols., London, 1859-g4), ~v, 545.
J. P. Kenyon, Stuart England (London, 1978), p. 176.
T. C. Barnard, The English republic 16491660 (London, 1982), p. 36 Although sceptical of the Council's political power, Barnard does suggest that it may have had an important administrative role.
538 PETER GAUNT
That so much attention has focused on Cromwell is understandable, for he was by far the most visible element of the Protectoral establishment, almost to the exclusion of his supposed partners in government. From the inauguration ceremony of 16 December 1653 to his state funeral in autumn 1658, the Protector was consistently projected as the conspicuous figurehead of government, ensconced in palaces, surrounded by an increasingly elaborate court, appointing many officials and distributing honours, receiving ambassa- dors 'and dignitaries, opening parliaments and presiding on state occasions. In short, he was invested with most of the pomp and trappings, the public duties and ceremonials, of an early modern monarch. Most of the people for most of the time could see and recognize only one element of the executive -the Lord Protector -and in consequence contemporary commentators frequently assumed that in all important matters Cromwell was the government and that he possessed and exercised unlimited powers. Seventeenth-century accounts of the work of the Protectoral government tend to be sketchy and unbalanced and to most contemporaries Cromwell was simply an 'absolute Lord and Tyrant over three potent nation^'.^ A mixture of ignorance, increasingly repressive censorship and the natural caution which it engendered effectively precluded the publication of detailed analysis during the Protectorate itself. The few accounts which did reach the presses generally comprised wild denunciations of the government, countered by a handful of empty eulogies. After the fall of Richard Cromwell in April 1659, and even more following the restoration of the Stuarts a year later, published attacks upon the Protectorate became far more numerous, but they remained noticeably shallow and ill- informed. Seventeenth-century narratives and biographies are searched in vain for reasoned assessments of the composition and operation of central government 1653-9 or detailed examinations of the powers and limitations of the executive.
Few contemporary authors looked beyond the person of the Protector and to most Cromwell was merely an all-powerful autocrat -'tyrant' and 'oppressor' were the watchwords. The 1682 volume Arbitrary government displayed to the life ...of the tyrant and usurper Oliver Cromwell defined such government as 'the rule of any Person or Persons by their own Will and Authority without being tyed tothe rules, methods anddirections of the Laws of the Land' and went on, after a typically bland account of events 1654-8, predictably to conclude that the Protectorate was a time of 'Tyranny, Oppression and Injustice' perpetrated by Cromwell, who 'ruled by himself with greater power and more absolute Sway than ever any Monarch of England did'.5 Of the attacks which appeared in Cromwell's lifetime, Killing
A declaration of the freeborn people of England ([16 Mar.] 165 j; B[ritish] L[ibrary, London], Thomason 669 f.19 (70)). Arbitrary gouernment displayed to the life... ofthe tyrant and usurper Oliver Cromwell (London, 1682), pp. 3, 89, 142-3.
noe murder and A declaration of the freeborn people amongst others portrayed the regime as government by a boundless tyrant who knew no limits to his powers and could be checked only by deposition or assassination. The English devil, published just after the restoration, claimed that the nation had been enchained and 'compelled to submit to this Tyrant No1 or be cut off by him; nothing but a word and a blow, his Will was his Law; tell him of Magna Carta, he would lay his hand on his sword and cry Magna Farta'.6 But perhaps the most colourful assessment of Cromwell's sweeping powers as Protector survives in manuscript only, a bitter attack attributed to Anthony Ashley Cooper in the third Protectorate parliament: 'If Pope Alex 6, Caesare Borgia and Machiavelli should joyne in a platforme of an absolute Tyranny, they could not go beyond that which is held forth in that thing which is called the Humble Petition and Advice'.'
Ashley Cooper had at least recognized that Cromwell's office and government rested upon a written constitution. Most writers were apparently ignorant of the fact or found it impossible or unnecessary to describe the provisions of that constitution. Those who did at least acknowledge the existence of the Instrument of Government and Humble Petition and Advice rarely progressed beyond a bald summary of the main provisions and fought shy of analysing their practical operation -the constitutions are irrelevant to most accounts of the events and policies of the Protectorate government. Accordingly, the limitations which the constitutions placed on Cromwell were usually ignored entirely or scathingly dismissed as inoperative after the briefest of discussions. Typical was A declaration of the freeborn people, which treated with the utmost scepticism the notion that the terms of the Instrument were observed in practice or placed strict limits on the Protector's powers, and enquired 'if he [Cromwell] pleases to throw away (or burne by the hands of the hangman) his Limits in his paper of Government, who can trouble him?'. Constitution or no, Cromwell is still the unlimited tyrant.
That a mere handful of contemporary commentators went on to look in any detail at the constitutional checks upon the Single Person, and particularly at the role of the Council, is understandable and was probably due to more than censorship or hostility. The concept that parliament should carry some influence with or over the executive, particularly in financial affairs, was not new in the mid-seventeenth century. It was the existence of a permanent and independent executive Council, established under a written constitution and entrusted with extensive powers to control the head of state -powers far wider than those ascribed to the legislature -that was the unknown and untried element. Moreover, the Councillors themselves did nothing to dispel such ignorance, for they met behind closed doors, their deliberations were secret and largely remained so and their dealings with the Protector were hidden from the public gaze. It is clear from the hundreds of petitions addressed to the Council that its existence was fairly well known, very brief reports of conciliar
The English deuil ([27July] 1660; B.L., Thomason El035 (3)),p. 2. ' Bodl[eian] Lib[rary, Oxford], Tanner MS 51,fo. 25.
54" PETER GAUNT
work appeared in some newspapers and the Councillors were often ascribed prominent parts in state ceremonies. But the twin hurdles of novelty and concealment fostered a profound ignorance of the way in which the Council operated, its relationship with Cromwell and its role in central government.
Of the seventeenth-century writers who gave any attention to the Protectoral Council, most portrayed it as a caricature of the king's privy council, a body of acquiescent servants existing to advise and flatter the Single Person and extend and execute his will rather than to curb or control his actions. Writers questioned the independence of the Protectoral Council and asserted that in practice it was either moulded or completely disregarded by Cromwell as he saw fit. The Protector (so called) in part unuailed of October 1655 described the Council as 'like a Nose of Wax, which will winde and turn which way the Single Person pleases' and which left the people 'in bondage and slavery to the will of a man'.8 Even The perfect politician of February 1660, a remarkably balanced and generally favourable account of Cromwell's life, concluded that 'he never relyed so much on their [the Councillors'] counsels, as to have it said, England was governed by a Council and Protector; for he made the world know, it was by Protector and Co~ncil'.~
But by far the fullest contemporary assessment survives in manuscript only, a paper written in late 1656 by John Hobart, a Protectoral politician and M.P. and a distant relative of Cromwell.
It [the Instrument] seemeth all along to trappe and allay and balance the Single Person with this check of a Councill, without whose consent forsooth he is to do nothing of general1 concernment, but when I look upon those that he hath gotten to him for that purpose, it makes me think of the Character given to the Cardinalls who were to be of the Pope's Councill: they sat in Councill to Assentari not Assentiri. Some want heads, as Skippon, Rous, Pickering, the others want hearts, as that condemned coward Fiennes, Whitelock, Glynn, Wolseley, &c, almost all want souls, so that the best quality you shall find in those who usually sitt is that they are the Single Person's confidants and dependants, perfectly awed by him and his 30,000 myrmidon^.'^
Surprisingly few contemporary publications defended Cromwell from accusations of unbounded tyranny or his Council from portrayal as a worthless puppet. Government propaganda invariably avoided detailed discussion of
The Protector (so-calles) in part unuailed ([24 Oct.] 1655; B.L., Thomason E857 (I)), pp. j-6; cf. A looking-glass for, or an awakening word to, the o@cers ([22 Oct.] 1656; B.L., Thomason E8g1 (I)). Theperfectpolitician ([Feb.] 1660; B.L., Thomason E1869 (I)), p. 348.
lo Bodl. Lib., Tanner MS 52, fo. 15gv It is, perhaps, a reflexion of contemporary knowledge of the Council that two of the seven members named by Hobart -Whitelock and Glynn -were never, in fact, Protectoral Councillors.
Other published attacks on the constitution and unofficial and semi-official replies tend to concentrate on Cromwell alone or on parliament and devote little attention to the role of the Councillors or to the relative powers of, and relationship between, Protector and Council. See, for example, The humble petition of several colonels of the army ([18 Oct.] 1654; B.L., Thomason 669 f.19 (21)); Some mementosfor the o@cers and souldiers of the army ([~gOct.] 1654; B.L., Thomason E813 (20)) ; A representation concerning the lateparliament ([g Apr.] 1655; B.L., Thomason E831 (13)) ; and two editions of Nedham's shortlived newspaper The obseruator, 24-31 Oct. and 31 0ct.-7 Nov.
1654.
constitutional matters and focused instead on particular worthy policies or on the peace and stability which the new government had brought, in the hope of fostering a 'business as usual' attitude. Pro-Cromwellian accounts of the constitution rarely extended beyond an examination of the establishment of the Protectorate, stressing the disorder and confusion created by the resignation of the Nominated Assembly, an abdication which left the three nations without any form of government and placed sole and unlimited power in the hands of the Lord General and his army. In accepting the Protectorship and the terms of the Instrument of Government, Cromwell had not only saved the people from a 'torrent of blood and confusion ' but also agreed to 'abridge himself' of his absolute powers and to 'circumscribe himself with such bounds and limits' as the constitution prescribed.'' The commentators are silent on how these provisions worked in practice and do not move on to analyse Cromwell's role in government I 654-8. The most lucid defence of the regime published during the 165os, A true state of the case of the commonwealth, analysed the Instrument in detail, though in attempting to demonstrate that 'the Foundation of this Government [is] laid in the People', the author played up the role of parliament and so gave little attention to that of the Council. Moreover, A true state was published in February 1654, just eight weeks after the inauguration of the regime, and was therefore a record of constitutional theories and ideals yet to be tested, not an account of the practical operation of that constitution.12 Favourable accounts of the Protectorate, particularly those carried in biographies of Cromwell published soon after his death, are very bland and innocuous, concentrating on 'safe' issues such as wars overseas and failed royalist conspiracies at home, on the beneficial results of government policies rather than the mechanisms of policy-making.13 Their coverage of the Protectoral Council ranged from non-existent, through a few shallow and uncritical references, to the mindless and excessive praise of Historie and policie re-viewed:
...never was a more compleat body of Council, or more exquisite composition, of so many excellent Tempers together in the World ...they have by their great piety and prudence, kept this State so well united within the bands of concord, and charity, that it cannot but appear to forreigners themselves, as it were a little Temple of Peace, though in the very heat and hurry of War. ..it seemed his late Highnesse had drawn so many Angels from Heaven, to fix them at the stern of his Estate. ..
and so on.14 Later accounts of the Protectorate have generally followed the well-worn
l1 The quotations are from Killing is murder ([ZI Sep.] 1657; B.L., Thomason Egz5 (IZ)), pp. 7-8, one of several tracts to follow this line.
l2 A true state ofthe case gfthe commonwealth ([8 Feb.] 1654; B.L., Thomason E728 (5)), pp. 21-46.
l3 See, for example, R. Flecknoe, The idea ofhis highness, Oliuer, and S. Carrington, The hictory ofthe life and death ofhis most serene highness Oliver, late Lord Protector, both of which appeared in April 1659, shortly before the collapse of the Protectorate.
l4 Historie and policie re-viewed in the heroick transactions of his most serene highness, Oliuer, late Lord Protector ([Apr.] 1659; B.L., Thomason E17gg (z)), pp. 130-2.
PETER GAUNT
path, concentrating on the Protector to the virtual exclusion of both the Council and serious analysis of the mechanics of government. Cromwell, firmly centre stage and frequently the only character in sight, is still occasionally portrayed as the unbounded tyrant and autocrat. Recent accounts, however, are usually more cautious and acknowledge some restraints upon Cromwell's actions, military, financial, even parliamentary. But the constitutional checks, and particularly the severe restrictions upon the Protector vested in the Council, are rarely examined in any detail. A notable exception are the writings of S. R. Gardiner, who not only analysed the written constitutions, highlighting the restraints on the Single Person vested in the Council, but also proceeded to review the operation of Protectoral central government. Gardiner acknowledged that evidence is generally meagre and sometimes almost non-existent, but concluded that 'we know enough to convince us that the ordinary belief that Oliver was an autocrat and his councillors mere puppets is a very incorrect view of the situation'. Unlike a Tudor or Stuart monarch, the Protector was 'bound to do nothing without the consent' of his Council, and although Cromwell 'no doubt' possessed considerable personal influence over the members, ultimately 'he had to rely on influence, not on authority'; the Council was 'by no means a tool in his hands'. Thus in practice as well as in theory, the Councillors served as 'a real constitutional control' on the Protector, though the secrecy in which they met and acted rendered conciliar constraints almost invisible. Nonetheless
the notion which prevailed at the time, and which has continued to prevail in modern days, that Cromwell was a self-willed autocrat imposing his commands on a body composed of his subservient creatures, is consistent neither with the indications which exist in the correspondence of that day, nor with his own character.15
Few historians have followed Gardiner's lead and the Protectoral Council remains in the shadows.16 The most detailed account is that of E. R. Turner,
l5 S. R. Gardiner, Oliuer Cromwell (London, 18gg), p. 151 ; Crommell's place in history (London, 1897), p. 86; Histoy oJthe Commonwealth and Protectorate (4vols., London, 1893 edn), 11, 333-9.
l6 For example, Harrison noted that 'the Instrument of Government was a constitution of a strictly limited type' under which the Protector was 'bound by the Council', but the author made no attempt to assess the practical effects of these restraints and instead contradicted himself by asserting that, as Protector, Cromwell 'was, and felt himself to be, a dictator, ...a ruler invested with absolute power', F. Harrison, Oliuer Crommell (London, 1929)~ pp. 191-5. Kenyon's The Stuart constitution dismissed the Protectoral Council in a single sentence loaded with questionable innuendo -'the Council of State was designed as a brake on executive authority, but 15 of its members were named in the Instrument, and subsequent vacancies were to be filled by a cumbersome method obviously open to manipulation ' -and ascribed to a 'Council of Officers ' key political decisions, such as the establishment of the major generals and the exclusion of M.P.s in 1656, which were, in fact, clearly taken by the executive Council and the Protector, J. P. Kenyon, The Stuart constitution (Cambridge, 1986 edn), pp. 300-5. Hill saw the Instrument founding a 'veiled dictatorship of the generals ...by nominating to the Council the generals, their friends and relations'; the Humble Petition not only established parliamentary control over the new Council but also 'liberated ' Cromwell from the old military-dominated body 'imposed ' upon him in December 1653, C. Hill, God's Englishman (London, 1970)~ pp. 148, 175, and Oliuer Cromwell, 1658-1958 (London, 1958), pp. 20-1. Coward rightly pointed out that, from the beginning, the membership included civilians and 'aristocrats' as well as generals, but he largely
whose study of the privy council included two chapters on the Protectorate. Turner based his account on the original council order books, so avoiding many of the pitfalls created by the often deficient and misleading printed calendars," but the resulting study is brief and limited and the conclusions correspondingly shallow. Composition, organization, attendances and the like are described and the order books scanned for examples of the types of business handled by the council. But the crucial issue, the role of the council as a check upon the Single Person and its relationship with Cromwell, is all but ignored and the very hesitant conclusion is supported by no argument or cited evidence and was apparently lifted from Gardiner." Some of the more recent accounts of the period have included valuable comments on the Council's role: Roots notes that the Council often met and worked in Cromwell's absence and apparently without his knowledge and he sees certain incidents, particularly the Councillors' refusal to admit the Jews, as illustrating the 'practical restraints' upon Cromwell;lg Woolrych acknowledges that the constitutional restraints upon Cromwell 'would have meant little if the council had been an obedient rubber stamp or a junto of army officers, but it was neither. Its role in decision-making has often been underestimated ...';" and Hirst sees in Cromwell's later comments to parliament strong indications that the Instrument's conciliar restraints had 'proved effective'." Useful as they are, such brief assessments are no compensation for the lamentable absence of a detailed study of the Protectoral Council and its role in government. History is still apt to forget or ignore the Councillors.
So how were the three nations governed during the Protectorate? We are concerned here not with routine administration or the execution of policy at the local level, but with the mechanics and operation of central government, the machinery in Whitehall and Westminster which formulated policy for the
ignored the Council's operation and described it misleadingly as merely 'an advisory body akin to the old privy council', B. Coward, The Stuart age (London, 1980), p. 226.
l7 Cjalendar Of] S[tate] P[apers] D[omestic series], 16491660, ed. M. A. E. Green (12 vols., London, 1875--86). The introduction to each volume carries a table showing the attendance of Councillors at every recorded meeting. Although the dates of meetings and indications of attendance are frequently at fault, these tables do provide accurate lists of the members of Oliver Cromwell's Protectoral Council. The only error concerns Rous, for the editor seemed unclear whether Anthony or Francis sat during the Protectorate. It was, in fact, the aged Francis Rous who served from December 1653 to September 1658; his kinsman, Anthony, was never a member of the Protectoral Council.
l8 E. R. Turner, The Privy Council OfEngland in the seuenteenth and eighteenth centuries, 1603-1784 (2 vols., Baltimore, 1gz7), 1, chapters XII-XIII, particularly p. 325.
l9 I. A. Roots, The great rebellion (London, 1966), pp. 171, 179.
20 A. H. Woolrych, England without a king (London, 1983), p. 31. The comment quoted contrasts with Woolrych's rather dismissive view of the Council's effectiveness -that although 'at first sight' the constitution appeared to give the Council wide powers with and over the Protector, 'appearances were to prove deceptive' -in Commonwealth to Protectorate (Oxford, 1g8z), pp 369-70.
D. Hirst, Authority and conjict. England, 1603-1658 (London, 1986), p. 318.
544 PETER GAUNT
three nations -for Scotland and Ireland as well as for England and Wales. (Although Scotland and Ireland had a form of devolved administration, with a governor and Council sitting in Edinburgh and Dublin, and although in 1655-7 certain policies were implemented throughout England and Wales by influential regional administrations headed by the major generals, policy making and overall control in all vital matters -and apparently in many trivial areas, too -always remained with the Protector, the Whitehall Council and the parliament.) The starting point for such a study must be the written constitutions, for they not only established the new regime but also laid down certain rules governing the roles and relationships of its constituent elements. The Instrument of Government of December 1653 and the Humble and Additional Petitions of May and June 1657 set forth a model system, the theoretical yardstick against which the practical operation of central government -and particularly of Protector and Council -can be assessed.
The Instrument of Government ended a decade or more of rather ad hoc, improvised government, during which a parliament or representative assembly, almost continually in session, had exercised both legislative and executive functions, the latter in part through a series of relatively weak parliamentary councils and committees. The new constitution separated the two arms of government once again, establishing a permanent, well-defined and largely independent executive and an assured, regular succession of parliaments entrusted with wide but far from boundless legislative powers. In an attempt to avoid renewed clashes between the two, the Instrument also laid out a series of checks and balances to encourage co-operation and to stop one arm exercising too much power by itself or attacking the foundations of the other. The two arms of government were drawn together by the Chief Magistrate, the Lord Protector, who worked with and oversaw both. Thus the first article of the Instrument laid down that 'the supreme legislative authority ...shall be and reside in one person, and the people assembled in Parliament' and article ii that 'the exercise of the chief magistracy and the administration of the government ...shall be in the Lord Protector, assisted with a council'. Although the Humble and Additional Petitions later modified certain powers and procedures and generally placed more emphasis on the role of parliament, in these respects the foundations of government remained unaltered until 1659. Protectorate Britain was to be ruled by a separate legislature and executive, working in tandem under a Lord Protector.
Under the written constitutions parliaments were to meet every three years at most, to remain in session for at least a set minimum period, and to exercise apparently supreme and extensive legislative functions. During the session, the Single Person could exercise many of his powers only with parliament's approval and the legislature would have a prominent role in the future selection, approval and dismissal of Councillors. But despite the fine phrases and reassuring tone, even on paper parliament was to be far from omnipotent. The Instrument placed restrictions on electors and elected and gave the executive sweeping powers to exclude M.P.s from the house. Both the Instrument and the Humble Petition implicitly gave the Protector unlimited power to dissolve parliament whenever he chose, once the assured minimum period had expired, and the constitutions went on to make detailed arrangements for executive government during the intervals of parliament, which under the Instrument could amount to 31 in any 36 months. Even the appearance oflegislative omnipotence was illusdry, for not only were Protector and Council given wide powers to legislate during the opening months of the Protectorate, but also parliament itself possessed distinctly limited legislative rights. The Instrument empowered the Protector to veto any bills which in his sole and unquestionable opinion ran counter to the constitution, a potentially massive restriction on parliament's legislative powers. The Humble and Additional Petitions made no mention of the negative voice, presumably leaving Cromwell an unlimited veto. In short, the Protectoral parliaments were to hold only limited legislative powers, were set about by potentially severe restrictions and held a rather weak position within government, markedly inferior to the executive.
The Protectoral executive was headed by a Single Person, the very conspicuous Chief Magistrate of the three nations. Cromwell's deliberately projected image as a powerful and at times dazzling Lord Protector, an image which encouraged accusations of despotism and tyranny, was based on sound foundations. Certainly, parliament could have limited control over an officer appointed for life, removable only by death and possessed of a large standing army and a reasonable annual income, neither of which could be reduced by the legislature. He was largely beyond the reach of a body which he could dissolve at whim after its minimum lifespan had expired, which need be in session for only a few months every three years and whose legislation he had an absolute power to veto. Moreover, Cromwell's position as Lord General of a large standing army gave him a huge power base which, although at times proving something of a mill-stone, could enable him to over-ride constitutional niceties should need arise.
Yet despite the immense military potential of his position, Cromwell's constitutional role was far from unfettered; despite the glitter and appear- ance of unlimited power surrounding the office of Protector, the written constitutions gave Cromwell anything but absolute power. According to the Instrument all documents were to run in the Protector's name and all magistracy and honours were 'derived' from him; he could pardon most crimes and delay or veto parliamentary bills; the final choice of a new Councillor would be his, though from a shortlist of two selected by others;
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existing public lands were 'vested' in him and his successors; a drafting error seems to have given him sole power to 'dispose and order' the regular armed forces in the intervals of parliament; and the power to dissolve parliament was presumably his. The Humble and Additional Petitions modified some of these provisions, though in the end the powers of the Chief Magistrate remained almost as limited as before. Cromwell was to name his successor, nominate and summon the founder-members of the 'other house' and select the first
546 PETER GAUNT
members of the new privy council; the Protector was to summon parliament 'whenever the affairs of the nation shall require', provided one was called every three years at most; the powers to pardon offences, dissolve parliament, veto legislation and command the trained bands were not mentioned but presumably were vested in the Protector. Crucial as some of these powers were, many vital areas of government, particularly control over finance, the armed forces or appointment to senior offices of state, lay almost entirely beyond the reach of the Chief Magistrate alone. The Protector could dominate the legislature, but elsewhere the impressive outward appearance was scarcely matched by constitutional substance. The powers which the constitutions bestowed upon the Lord Protector and which he could exercise alone do not amount to an adequate, workable executive; still less did they anoint Cromwell the unbridled tyrant of tradition.
Just as co-operation between Protector and parliament was essential for the legislature to function effectively, so the constitutions stressed that the Protector would have to work very closely with the Council if there was to be a powerful or adequate executive. The Council, 'the keystone of the newly- flung-up arch of government',22 filled the void left by the weakness of both the legislature and the Single Person, enabling the system not merely to operate but, the drafters hoped, operate safely. Under the Instrument the Council possessed a few important powers of its own -to examine and exclude M.P.s, reduce a shortlist of candidates for Council vacancies and elect a new Protector on the death of the old -which it later lost under the Humble Petition. But the Council's principal role throughout the period was as a check upon the Single Person and its real power lay in its ability to prevent the Protector acting in a whole range of fields unless he first obtained its advice and consent. Some conciliar checks operated at all times, others only during the intervals of parliament.
Like the king's privy councillors .before them, the Protectoral Councillors were to serve as general advisers to the Single Person, offering counsel and assistance in all aspects of government. But they were to be very much more than that, for in many areas of government the Protector could not act unless he first obtained their consent. Some of these were quite minor -the allocation of parliamentary seats in Scotland and Ireland, for example -and others, particularly the 'extraordinary' powers given to the executive during the opening nine months of the regime, were temporary and soon lapsed. The Humble and Additional Petitions laid less stress on the Council's restraining role than the earlier constitution and some of the powers formerly given to Protector and Council jointly, including the declaration of war and peace and control over the local militias during the intervals of parliament, were left to the Protector alone. The precise intentions of several provisions are obscured by vague or contradictory phraseology. Nonetheless, the principal aim of the constitutions is quite clear and remained consistent throughout the period. The Protector alone was to possess limited and narrowly defined powers and in most areas of government, from fairly minor matters to the crucial functions
22 Roots, The great rebellion, p. 17 I.
of controlling finance, the regular forces or the militias and appointing senior officers of state, he could act only with the consent of his Councillors. It was left to Protector and Council to work out detailed procedures and routines and to establish the daily mechanisms by which conciliar advice and consent would be sought, tendered and received.
The Protectoral Council was to be a stable, permanent and very powerful body, almost entirely independent of the legislature and at the height of its powers during the intervals between parliamentary sessions. Thus it was entirely different from the succession of committees and councils of state of the decade up to December 1653, weak and short-lived bodies, dependent for their powers and very existence upon the ever-present legislature. It more closely resembled the royal privy council, the permanent body which advised the monarch in almost every aspect of government and was independent of the parliaments which met from time to time. But there were crucial differences, for where the king was free to ignore his council altogether or to disregard its advice, the Protector was often constitutionally bound to seek and obtain conciliar consent. Moreover, the king could appoint and dismiss privy councillors at will and thereby build up a group of like-minded malleable servants. If the Protector could have done likewise, the whole restrictive, supervisory role of the Council would have been meaningless. In fact, the constitutions went to some lengths to ensure that the Council would be largely independent not only of parliament but also of the Protector's influence. True, Cromwell probably helped select the Councillors named in article xxv of the Instrument and the Humble Petition left him free to choose the founder- members of the new privy council, subject to a predetermined minimum and maximum size. Thereafter, however, the Instrument directed that the Protector fill any vacancies from a shortlist of two drawn up by Council and parliament, the Humble Petition that new appointees be examined, approved or rejected by parliament. Vacancies were in any case likely to be infrequent, for a Councillor held office for life and was removable only by death or conviction for 'corruption or other miscarriage', either proved before a joint board of Councillors and M.P.s on which the Protector had no seat or approved by both houses of parliament. On paper, at least, the constitutions placed Cromwell under the tight supervision of a powerful and independent body of Councillors with wide powers to control and constrain the Single Person.
Unfortunately, the practical implementation of these provisions is partly concealed by a shroud of secrecy and ignorance. 'In spite of all my diligence', complained the Venetian ambassador in autumn 1654, 'it is incredibly difficult to discover the secrets of this g~vernment'.~~ 'Certainly', wrote Sagredo in the following year,
23 Calendar of State Papers and manuscripts relating to English affairs in the archives and collections of Venice and other libraries of north Italy [hereafter C.S.P.Ven.1, xx~x-xxx~,
ed. A. B.Hinds (London,
1929-31), XXIX, 251.
548 PETER GAUNT
no government on earth discloses its own acts less ...than that of England. They meet in a room approached through others, without number, and countless doors are shut. That which favours their interest best is that very few persons, at most sixteen, meet to digest the gravest affairs and come to the most serious decision^.'^
While Cromwell played out his official duties as Protector in the public eye, his actions well-recorded both in his own letters and speeches and in many other contemporary accounts, he and his Councillors, Sagredo's sixteen men sitting behind closed doors, met and conducted business in such secrecy that even experienced diplomats found it all but impossible to discover 'the true substance of their deliberation^'.^^ The secrecy and corresponding dearth of evidence surrounding the Councillors' activities not only create the impression that they were politically insignificant, particularly when compared to the Protector, but also make it difficult to uncover the inner workings of Protectoral government and accurately to assess the role and relationship of Cromwell and his Council.
Unable to penetrate the cloak of secrecy, most contemporary commentators simply ignored the Council's work. Bereft of factual information concerning the inner workings of government, foreign diplomats in London often turned to wild and unsubstantiated rumour, blended with expressions of despair and ignorance, current scandal and frequently unreliable interpretation, if not pure invention. Bordeaux was something of an exception, better informed than most, and his dispatches to Paris, recording only the strongest rumours and occasionally containing accurate accounts of events in Council, may have been based upon inside informati~n.~~ commentators,
English including Ludlow, Whitlock and Clarke's correspondents, were generally as ignorant of conciliar affairs as their foreign counterparts, and they merely noted the Council's public actions, reporting without comment the appearance of a printed ordinance or the reception of an ambassador, and becoming fuller only on the rare occasions when they or their colleagues were called before the Council for congratulation, condemnation or interr~~ation.'~
The London newspapers concentrated on 'safe' issues, mainly foreign and non-political domestic news, and their brief and uncritical accounts of political events in England reveal very little. Council meetings are frequently noted, sometimes with additional information such as the time or duration of the meeting or a bare list of the main decisions reached, but even Severall Proceedings of State Afairs, which contained by far the fullest and most regular reports of the Council, gave few details of its role or functions. The surviving letters and papers of the Councillors themselves are almost as uninformative, for they were all depressingly discreet on paper. Many have apparently left nothing
24 C.S.P. Ven., xxx, 142-3. 25 Ibid. 26 Nineteenth-century transcripts of Bordeaux's letters are at P[ublic] R[ecord] O[ffice, London], P.R.O., 31/3/gz-102.
" Memoirs ofEdmund Ludlow, ed. C. H. Firth (2 vols., Oxford, 1894) ; B. Whitelock, Memorials of the English affairs (London, 1682); the Clarke manuscripts at Worcester College, Oxford, particularly the newsletters in vols. xxv-xxx, available on microfilm (Harvester Press, 1979) ; many are printed in The Clarke papers, ed. C. H. Firth (4 vols., London, 1891-1901).
more than a few papers, now widely scattered, and the collections which have survived -including those of Ashley Cooper, Jones, Lisle, Maijor, Montagu, Sydenham and possibly Strickland -are dominated by family and estate papers and contain very little of a political nature from the Protectorate period. Even Thurloe's massive and wide-ranging collection reveals far less about the Council than its sheer volume might suggest. The Councillors strictly upheld the secrecy which surrounded their office and their correspondence is searched in vain for 'behind the scenes' accounts of the Council at work.
With little information available elsewhere, we are forced to rely heavily upon the official conciliar records. Unfortunately, these provide a partial and distorted picture of the Council's work and its relationship with the Protector. Council meetings were recorded in a series of draft and fair order books, the notes of each session headed by the date, an indication of time and venue if appropriate and the names of those present, followed by a list of decisions reached and orders issued.'' It is, however, quite clear that these books carry an incomplete record of meetings, business and decisions. Suspicions are aroused by references to Council committees whose initial appointment is nowhere recorded and by meetings at which only one or two very minor decisions are noted." A wealth of evidence indicates that the Council was deeply involved in running foreign affairs throughout the Protectorate, in summoning parliament in 1656 and in excluding M.P.s in I 654 and I 656, but such matters are rarely mentioned in the official records. Presumably the Councillors deemed it unwise to commit to paper confidential or politically compromising decisions, particularly to one transcribed and viewed by numerous under-clerks. Many diplomatic and military directives, including a series concerning the western design and fleet movements in 1654-5, were deliberately omitted from the official records and survive only as fair copies on separate sheets of paper.30 Although on one occasion the order books note that 'the orders of this day are all entered into the private book',31 perhaps the 'secret book of Resolutions ...by his Highnesse and the Council' referred to in 16~4,~~
the official records usually give no indication that orders had been suppressed.
The confidential directives also reveal that records of whole meetings were omitted from the order books, for the survival of a secret order of 26 February 1655~~
is the only indication that the Council assembled on that day. The order books may occasionally point to their own deficiencies, noting an order for a further session that afternoon or on the following day but then carrying no record of this second meeting. Councillors occasionally completed and dispatched official letters, and on almost fifty occasions President Lawrence
P.R.O., SPz5/47-60, 73-8.
" For example, the order books claim that Cromwell and ten Councillors met on the afternoon of 12June 1655 merely to warrant the payment ofL~oo to a private individual, P.R.O., SP25/76, fo. 120.
P.R.O., SP18/72/1o, 30; SP18/94/95, 97; SP18/98/18; SP18/1oo/11g; SP18/1o1/5ga.
P.R.O., SP25/76, fo. 54. No such volume is known to survive,
" Bodl. Lib., Rawlinson IMS AI~, fo. 105. 33 P.R.O., SP18/94/97.
55O PETER GAUNT
and six of his colleagues, a Council quorum, assembled to sign money warrants, on days when no meetings are recorded in the order books.34 The newspapers, particularly Severall Proceedings of State Afairs, reported private and informal meetings of Cromwell and his Councillors, sometimes on days when the order books record no meeting, sometimes in addition to the official, recorded session. Although the demise of most newspapers in 1655ends such reports, other sources, including the French and Venetian ambassadors and Clarke's correspondents, suggest that the informal meetings continued, noting that Cromwell and his Councillors met and transacted business at Hampton Court on several weekends during 1655-7; not until the last weeks of Cromwell's life do the order books begin recording official sessions at Hampton Court. Indeed, there were very many occasions -public functions, days of fasting and prayer, and daily life in and around Whitehall Palace entirely unrecorded in the official papers on which Cromwell and his Councillors met and had the opportunity to discuss and transact business.
The order books are just that -records of orders passed at meetings, not minutes of those meetings -and there is no mention of the debates and divisions which preceded decisions or of discussions which failed to produce a specific order of some kind. There survives a single report of a Council meeting, a paper of dubious veracity relating a highly stylized and probably atypical exchange between Cromwell and and we remain in almost total ignorance of the content and manner of Council debates. Much business was transacted in committees which, with one exception,36 have left no formal record of the proceedings. The other official records, including volumes containing warrants, lists of c~mmittees,~~
and notes on petitions,38 and the copies of letters, proclamations and other conciliar documents entered in the fair order books and in separate copybooks,39 throw further uncertain
..
light on the Council's role. Out of these formal records and the mass of rough notes, semi-legible drafts, internal memoranda, scribbled endorsements and the like which passed through the hands of Cromwell and his Councillors and which are preserved in the Public Record Offi~e,~'
it is possible to reconstruct much of their work, procedures and relationships. But it is a daunting task.
34 The money warrants are at P.R.O., SP25/1og-6.
35 The paper is in Montagu's nautical journal at mappert ton, Dorset, vol. I, fos. 55-7, printed with minor errors in The Clarkepapers, 111, 207-8. Although it is in Montagu's hand, he was in fact absent from the meeting of 20 July 1654 which he purports to describe. A second paper, in vol. I, fos. 49-55 of the journal and printed in The Clarke papers, 111, 203-6, is a review of the causes of the western design and is dated 20 Apr. 1654; there is no record in the order books of a meeting on that day and, despite the title added by Firth, the original document nowhere claims to be an account or summary of a Council debate.
36 P.R.O., SP25/ I 24. 37 P.R.O., SP~~/III-2.
P.R.O., SP25/92-3. 39 P.R.O., SPz5/73-8.
40 The miscellaneous papers have been arranged in chronological order and bound in a series of large volumes at P.R.O., SP18/42, 65-77, 94-102, 123-31, 153-57a, 179-82 These papers complement but are completely different in origin or nature from the order books and other official Council records at P.R.O., SP25. The C.S.P.D. not only calendars this material in a partial and sometimes faulty manner but also runs these two essentially different sources together in an often indiscriminate and potentially misleading way
Although the order books tend to portray the Council as an outwardly impressive body which spent its time in rather limited administrative duties, never quite fulfilling the role ascribed to it under the constitutions, other conciliar and non-conciliar records make clear that in reality no aspect of government, trivial or important, was beyond its scope. The Councillors played a large part in every field of Protectoral government and handled an almost overwhelming quantity and variety of business. Certainly, the Councillors oversaw routine administration and the day-to-day governance of the state and throughout the Protectorate they devoted a surprising amount of time to quite minor business, much of it of a private or local nature, supervising the actions of subordinate government departments and officials, receiving complaints and appeals from all quarters, handling difficult cases and dealing with an unending flow of petitions. But the Councillors also handled the very highest affairs of state, including the military and political settlement of Scotland and Ireland, state finance, the establishment or reform of religious and legal procedures, national security, the summoning, purging and management of parliaments and the development of foreign policy. When in March 1654 the Dutch representatives were presented with a paper agreeing to certain terms in the prospective peace treaty, signed by Cromwell alone, they indignantly returned it, 'not considering it valid, and insisting on having it signed in a clearer form by the Council of State'.41 Despite their shortcomings, the surviving sources strongly indicate that all aspects of government, from the highest to the lowest, from national and international affairs to private and local issues, were discussed at the Council table.
From time to time illness or other causes forced Cromwell to miss all or most of the formal, recorded Council sessions for periods of a month or more. Very occasionally important business was deferred until Cromwell's return -the preparation of commissions and instructions for the major generals in August and September I 655, for example. Usually, however, Cromwell's prolonged absences had no perceptible impact on the range or quantity of business coming before the Council. Important Council directives had to gain the Protector's assent and there is no doubt that Cromwell retained ultimate control; decisions taken in his absence were often ineffective until so approved and he would return to find a backlog of orders awaiting approval. But the important point is that the Council nevertheless pressed on, examined an undiminished range of business and took important decisions, apparently unhindered by Cromwell's long absence; such decisions were invariably approved by the Protector on his return, without further delay, renewed discussion or any amendment. Again, the order books suggest that the task of initiating, drafting and amending the ordinances of 1653-4 was undertaken largely by the Council. Although Cromwell could and very occasionally did
552 PETER GAUNT
veto completed legislation or return it for further consideration, in practice he almost always accepted and passed the Council's ordinances without hesitation or alteration. Such conduct seems inconsistent with the representation of Cromwell as a boundless autocrat and his Council as a politically impotent
puppet. In marked contrast to these occasional periods of prolonged absence and indications of limited participation, during most of his 56 months in office Cromwell was clearly working very closely with his Council. He was present at 332 (or around forty per cent) of the 813 official sessions recorded in the order books.42 Although his attendance was surprisingly poor during 1654 and fell away markedly from mid-1657, presumably due to ill health, he attended well over half the meetings recorded in 1655, missing only eight of the 54 sessions held during the last three months of the year, and his attendance fell only slightly during 1656. Most formal sessions, morning or afternoon, lasted three to four hours, but the newspapers and other sources indicate that some went on far longer. For example, the single meeting on I June 1655 apparently lasted most of the day and Protector and Council 'sate late in the afternoon and did not rise to dinner'.43 On 2 August 1655, when Cromwell and his Councillors held two separate meetings, they sat 'all day [with] only a very little time for dinner about 2 a cl~cke'~~
and must have been in session for a total of nine or ten hours. Several afternoon meetings attended by Cromwell went on well into the evening, to g p.m. or even later.45 In addition, contemporaries indicate that Cromwell invariably attended the informal Council meetings at Whitehall and Hampton Court; indeed, one suspects that they were initiated by the Protector for the purpose of being briefed on current business or holding private and unminuted discussions with his Councillors. Evidence of Cromwell's long and frequent consultations with his Councillors does not, of course, prove that he accepted and acted upon their advice, still less that he was seeking conciliar approval or experiencing conciliar restraints. It is, however, a further strong indication that the image of the autocratic potentate ignoring or manipulating a set of pawns is fundamentally wrong.
Some of Cromwell's own comments on his constitutional position and the conciliar restraints have been preserved. Several times he referred to his unease when the departure of established governments in April and December 1653 left almost total and potentially very dangerous and corrupting power in his hands. Initially, at least, he welcomed the adoption of new systems which removed or reduced that power.46 In a long oration to parliament on 12
42 The tables of Council meetings and attendances printed in C.S.P.D. are often at fault; the figures quoted here are drawn from the fair and draft order books.
43 Perfect Proceedings of state affairs, 3I May-7 June I 655. 44 Ibid. 2-9 Aug. 1655.
45 See, for example, the report of the meeting of 4 May 1654 in ibid, 4-1 I May 1654.
46 For Cromwell's unease after the expulsion of the Rump see Memoirs ofEdmund Ludlow, I, 358. The relief with which he handed over power to the Nominated Assembly in July and welcomed the advent of a firm constitutional framework in Dec. 1653come over in his speeches to parliament in Sep. 1654,W. C. Abbott, The writings and speeches of Oliuer Cromwell (4 vols., Cambridge, Mass.,
1937-471, "1, 434-43, 451-63.
September 1654 he reviewed recent history, stressing the tight restrictions placed upon him by the written constitution, which 'limited me and bound my hands to act nothing to the prejudice of the nations without consent of a Council until the parliament'. He was emphatic that these provisions had been strictly observed during the opening months of the Protectorate -'this government hath been exercised by a Council, with a desire to be faithful in all things' -and underlined the crucial role which the Council played, particularly when parliament was not sitting:
the Council are the trustees of the Commonwealth, in all intervals of Parliaments, who have as absolute a negative upon the supreme officer in the said intervals, as the Parliament hath whilst it is sitting; ...there is very little power, none but what is co- ordinate, in the supreme officer; ...he is bound in strictness by the Parliament, out of Parliament by the C~uncil.~~
His speech at the opening of the 1656 parliament was concerned with policies, not the mechanics of government, and contained no explicit assertion of conciliar powers. Cromwell did, however, consistently use the first person plural when reviewing government actions, not in this case the royal 'we', but an almost unconscious recognition of the Councillors' close co-operation. Half- way through the speech, when discussing the imposition of decimation, he suddenly realised that his audience may not have understood the reference: 'We did find out -I mean, myself and the Council -. . .'.48 Seven months later a parliamentary committee was treated to a second history lesson, in the course of which Cromwell commented, 'I was a child in its [the army's? the Instrument's?] swaddling clouts. I cannot transgress. By the government, I can do nothing but in ordination with the Co~ncil'.~~
Such statements could have been hypocrisy and deception, convenient fictions to impress M.P.s and others. Similarly, Cromwell may have portrayed a false image of the power of the Council to cover his own failures to fulfil pledges, to remove obstructions from episcopal clergy in and around London -'having advised with his Council about it.. .they thought it not safe for him to grant liberty of Conscience to those sort of men'50 -and to abolish tithes by September 1654 -'for his part, he could not do it, for he was but one, and his Council alledge it is not fitt to take them away'.51 If so, the duplicity surrounding the Council's role ran very deep and apparently extended to self- deception. Two of the most important conciliar restraints imposed upon the Single Person by the 1657 constitution were not contained within the Humble Petition and Advice of 25 May. Instead they sprang from a 'paper of objections', a list of suggested revisions and additions to the constitution, submitted to parliament, accepted by the house and embodied in the Additional Petition of 26 June. The paper is in Thurloe's hand, but it carries many corrections and additions penned by Cromwell and the document was
47 Abbott, Writings and speeches, 111, 455, 460.
48 Ibid. IV, 269. 49 Ibid. IV, 488.
R. Parr, The [life of the most reuerendfather in God, James Ussher, late Lord archbishop of Armagh (London, 1686), p. 75. The Clarke papers, 11, xxxiv-xxxvii.
554 PETER GAUNT
probably initiated and compiled by the Protector. It was Cromwell, therefore, who suggested that during the intervals of parliament, the Protector should require the Council's consent before making appointments to a number of senior offices of state. Nowhere had the Humble Petition empowered the Council to supervise state finance and the Protector's use of the military budget, and it was Cromwell's paper which first suggested that 'the money directed for supply of the sea and land forces be issued by the aduice of the Council', a provision duly embodied in the Additional Petiti~n.~~
On 2 I April, in a speech to a parliamentary committee outlining his suggested revisions, the Protector had spoken at length about state finance, commenting 'it will be a safety to whomsoever is your supreme Magistrate, as well as security to the public, that the monies might be issued out by the advice of the C~uncil'.~~ Once more, Cromwell appears uneasy, almost fearful, at the prospect of exercising wide and potentially corrupting political power.
Neither of Cromwell's Protectoral parliaments seems to have viewed
conciliar restraints on the Single Person as a worthless sham. The 1654 parliament was mildly purged, but it remained strongly critical of the Instrument and M.P.s devoted much of the session to devising a written constitution of their own. The Government Bill retained the concept of an advisory and restraining Council, though, in line with the general aim of advancing parliamentary controls, Councillors were now to be appointed, reappointed or dismissed by each succeeding parliament. The Council would continue to supervise the Protector and, at all times or during the intervals of parliament, would possess joint control over finance, appointment to senior offices, foreign policy, diplomacy and the conclusion of peace; while Cromwell lived, it also had joint control over the standing forces.54 Clearly, nine months' experience of seeing Cromwell and his Council in action had not shaken the M.P.s' faith in conciliar restraints as an effective, necessary and workable constitutional safeguard. Over two years later an admittedly quite heavily purged house felt much the same, and Cromwell's suggestions embodied in the Additional Petition merely strengthened the already extensive supervisory role ascribed to the Council in the final version of the Humble Petition. The Council's powers had already been strengthened considerably during March in the course of debates on the draft constitution, originally titled the Rem~nstrance.~~
The diaries and other accounts of the two parliaments record no sweeping attacks on the Council, no under-current of hostility or scepticism of its role, no broad condemnation of the conciliar restraints on the Protector as an ineffective and empty f~i~ade.~~
52 Text and notes in Abbott, Writings and speeches, IV, 498-500; certain phrases have been underlined in the original manuscript. 53 Ibid. IV, 492.
54 S. R. Gardiner, Constitutional documents ofthe Puritan reuolution, 1625-1660 (Oxford, 1906 edn), PP 427-47,
55 The original or very early draft of the remonstrance is at Worcester College, Clarke MS XXIX and Bodl. Lib., Clarendon MS 54. The debate and amendments can be followed in C[ommons] J[ournal] (London, n.d.), vll, 496-535.
56 Diary of Thomas Burton, esquire, ed. J. T. Rutt (4 vols., London, 1828) ; ~01s.I and 11 contain Goddard's diary of the 1654 parliament and Burton's of the session of 1656-7.
A clearer, sharper picture of the Council's role and its relations with the Protector can be built up only by a close study of the manner in which specific items of business were handled by the executive. To examine in detail scores if not hundreds of individual cases is clearly impossible here and instead just three items of business will be followed, though three of the most important issues of the whole Protectorate.
Article xxi of the Instrument authorized the Council to examine newly elected M.P.s and exclude from the house those not qualified under the constitution. This was one of very few powers given to the Councillors alone and, in theory at least, the Protector had no say in the matter. The exclusion of elected members was a sensitive business and was largely omitted from the order books, but a comparative abundance of conciliar and other sources indicate that in practice it was the Council which excluded M.P.s and that Cromwell took little or no part in the process. In 1654 the Councillors used their powers very sparingly, excluding less than a dozen clearly unqualified members. Cromwell apparently played no part in the proceedings and, although the results aroused little controversy or comment at the time, he was nonetheless careful to distance himself from the Council's handiwork.57
In September 1656 the terms of the constitution were employed to devastating effect to bar around IOO political opponents and undesirables from the house. Although the order books rarely mention exclusions, they do record a Council order of 15 September to exclude Charles Hussey, M.P. for Lincolnshire, and a request of 28 August that all Councillors in and around London attend Council to dispatch important (but unspecified) business concerning the forthcoming parliament. The frequent and well-attended Council meetings of early to mid September were probably given over to examining the written and oral evidence against M.P.s submitted by the major generals and their agents.5s No-one was better placed than Thurloe to know the truth, and on 16 September he wrote that 'the councell, upon consideration of the elections, have refused to admitt of neare IOO of those, who are chosen'.59 Once the session opened, M.P.s attacked the Council for the exclusions and called on Councillors to explain their actions. In the course of defending exclusions in the house of 22 September, Councillor Fiennes repeatedly stressed that the action had been taken by the Council- the Council was empowered to do this, the Council had examined and excluded M.P.s, the Council had taken care to exclude no-one unfairly -and made no
57 For full details of the 1654 exclusions and the sources upon which these statements are based see my ' Cromwell's purge? Exclusions and the first Protectorate parliament ', Parliamentav Histov, 6, part I (1987), 1-22.
C.S.P.D., x, 16567, go, 109-10; P.R.O., SP25/75, fos. 350-400; A collection ofthe statepapers of John Thurloe, esquire [hereafter T.S.P.], ed. T. Birch (7 vols., London, 1742), V, passim.
'' T.S.P., v, 424. See also an undated note, drawn up by Thurloe, confirming that the Councillors had completed the task and fulfilled their constitutional obligations by examining and excluding M.P.s and that they stood 'ready to give an account of their proceedings thereupon, when they shall be required thereunto by his Highness or the parliament', T.S.P., v, 426.
556 PETER GAUNT
mention of the Protector being involved in any way. Excluded members were subsequently directed to appeal to the Council for admission and in due course the Councillors did review and reverse several exclusion orders6'
In truth, Cromwell seems to have played no part in exclusions and to have been disturbed by their extent. On g September Thurloe directed Henry Cromwell to detain and thus exclude an Irish M.P., calmly adding in passing 'I have not had tyme to acquaint his Highness with it'.61 In his angry outburst to the army officers on 27 February 1657 Cromwell was bitterly scornful of the mass exclusions and stressed that he had had no part in them, though surviving accounts of the speech have him ascribing responsibility to the officers themselves rather than to the Co~ncil.~'Perhaps George Courthope is more accurate when he reports Cromwell's declaration in spring 1657 that exclusion 'was an act of the Council's, and that he did not concern himself in it'.63 Certainly, Cromwell had been absent from most Council sessions during September 1656, including all those held in the week prior to the opening of parliament at which the exclusion orders had probably been issued.64 It is tempting to see Cromwell's poor attendance at Council during September -present at just four of the nineteen meetings, compared with seventeen of the twenty-four held in July and August and fourteen of the seventeen held in October and November -as evidence of his distaste for, as well as non-involvement in, the process of mass exclusions pursued by his Council.
C. H. Firth described the meeting of the 1656 parliament as 'the turning- point in the history of the Pr~tectorate'.~~
It was an 'additional' parliament, summoned under article xxiii of the Instrument by 'the Lord Protector, with the advice of the major part of the Council' in order to meet 'the necessities of the State'. The most pressing necessity in 1656 was money. The halving of monthly assessments between September 1654 and February 1655, the con- tinuing decline in customs and excise returns and the escalating costs of the Spanish war had together turned the precarious inheritance of December 1653 into near bankruptcy by spring 1656. The constitution placed control of the state finances jointly in the hands of Protector and Council and throughout
'O C.J., VII, 424-6. For the speedy reversal of Salisbury's and Lucy's exclusions see Worcester College, Clarke MS XXVIII, fo. 76v.
T.S.P., v, 398 Thurloe later confirmed in the house that the M.P. in question, John Davies, had been excluded and denounced him as unfit: 'I hope I shall never see him sit within these walls', Diary of Thomas Burton, 11, 269.
'' Abbott, Writings and speeches, IV, 417-19. The speech as reported ascribes almost all the important political developments of 1653-7 to the army officers, including many which were undoubtedly discussed and decided by the Protectoral Council. It is not clear whether our reports are at fault or whether Cromwell lost control in what was clearly an angry and impassioned outburst and sought to blame everything on the officers. It was presumably this speech which led Kenyon in The Stuart constitution to ascribe Protectoral policy-making to a 'Council of Officers'. 63 Cromwell directed Courthope to President Lawrence, who gave him a very frosty reception. 'The Memoirs of Sir George Courthop', ed. S. C. Lomas, Camden Miscellany, XI (London, 1go7),
p. 141. 64 P.R.O., SP25/77, fos. 360-400. 65 C. H. Firth, Lastyears ofthe Protectorate (2 vols., London, 1909), I, I.
the Protectorate the Councillors handled all important financial business, working closely with the Protector to solve the regime's apparently unending financial troubles. They managed and ordered every aspect of central income and expenditure, from drafting and issuing the ordinances, proclamations and other directives under which money was collected to supervising the operation of the Treasury, from setting the level of assessments, customs and excise and other exactions to the desperate attempts to trim the military budget during 1655, involving the greater use of local militias, decimation on royalists and the appointment of a dozen major generals as overall regional administrators. But despite the Council's efforts, the regime plunged ever deeper into deficit and by early May I 656 Cromwell and his Councillors were holding a series of crisis meetings to discuss the looming financial disaster.
Cromwell was present at most of the frequent and well attended Council sessions of the first half of May and he and his Councillors also held a number of informal meetings around this time, including a Sunday session, a previously unheard-of occurrence. Despite the order books' silence, other sources reveal that Protector and Council were deeply divided over the various options available, with one group favouring summoning another parliament and laying the problem before the legislature, another, including Cromwell, fiercely opposed to it and advocating purely financial measures, the doubling of assessments, the extension of decimation or the imposition of forced loans. The arguments raged for over a month and although the Venetian ambassador's colourful tales -of Cromwell crying in Council and at one stage decamping to Hampton Court with his allies on the Council in order to get away from other members with whom relations were 'not quite cordial' -may owe much to imagination, it seems that feelings were running high; Thurloe and Fleetwood both speak of long and hot debates preceding the final decision. Cromwell initially favoured increasing assessments but that argument was lost by g May, when direction was given to draft an order continuing assessments at the existing rate. Thereafter Cromwell reportedly supported the extension of decimation and maintained that position for several weeks. Eventually, however, a clear majority on the Council came to support the parliamentary option and on or around 10June Cromwell was persuaded to issue the writs. The major generals were also meeting in London at the time and doubtless their confidence in controlling the elections helped sway the argument, but Thurloe is quite specific that the decision to call a parliament had been taken by 'His Highness and the Counsell' and that the major generals had merely 'assented' to the decision.66
Once again, Cromwell's attendance record at Council may indicate something of his feelings towards the Councillors' decision. His repeated
" C.S.P.D. 1655-6, passim; P.R.O., SPzj1i.j; Worcester College, Clarke MS XXVIII,fos. 29, 32~;The Clarkepapers, 111, 67; Bodl. Lib., Carte MS 73, fo. 20; Bodl. Lib., Clarendon MS 51, fo. 309; T.S.P., IV, 764-5; T.S.P., v, 9, 19, 33, 45, 54, 63, 122,176; C.S.P.Ven., xxx, 221-41; B.L., Lansdowne MS 82 I, fos. 184-5 ;Historical manuscript commission :fifth report appendix (London, I 876), pp. 152, 180; see also Gardiner, History ofthe Commonwealth and Protectorate, IV, 253-5.
558 PETER GAUNT
absences during June, missing seven of the ten meetings -in marked contrast to May, when he attended assiduously -may have been a response to the Council's rejection of his proposals for purely financial expedients and its insistence on a ~arliament.~~That Cromwell had initially opposed a parliament but been rather unwillingly pushed into it by others certainly comes across in later angry outbursts. 'I gave my vote against it' and 'it was against my judgment, but I could have no quietness till [it] was done', he told the officers during his February 1657 tirade, again apparently laying the blame on the officers themselve~.~~
But a year later, on 6 February 1658, he was more accurate in ascribing responsibility: '...as also of his calling this Parliament, whereunto, being advised by his Council, he yielded, though he professed it, in his own judgment, no way seas~nable'.~~
'He was against the calling of the late Parliament. But the Councell urged it soe'.70 Puppet and puppeteer reversed ?
The premature dissolution of the second Protectorate parliament in February 1658 threw the regime into chaos and Cromwell's last months were spent searching for escape from financial disaster and looming constitutional crisis. The government had looked to the second session to cover its spiralling expenses but after barely a fortnight, and before a penny more had been voted, the turbulent session was brought to an ill-tempered close. Over the following weeks ministers reported that the debts were insurmountable and growing, that treasuries and reserves had been searched in vain, that the 'clamours.. .from land and sea' could not be answered and that affairs of state were grinding to a halt for lack of cash. The Secretary of State and several Councillors quickly concluded that the only solution was to summon another parliament; Thurloe hoped that the legislature would also counter threats to the regime at home and abroad. But although the calling of another parliament was under consideration in government circles by late February and although the financial situation continued to deteriorate, the writs were not issued until the end of the year, long after Oliver was dead and buried. A string of distractions -Cromwell's ill-health immediately after the dissolution, another conspiracy and the resulting treason trials, the onset of summer and the approach of the harvest -only partly explains the delay. In practice, the decision did not rest with Cromwell alone and from the outset the whole matter was referred to the Council, where it received long and repeated attention over the spring and summer. It was the failure of the Councillors to reach a clear decision and their bitter divisions on certain matters relating to the proposed parliament which delayed the writs for so long.71
67 P.R.O., SP25/77, fos. 92-212. Although Cromwell attended some of the major generals' meetings from late May onwards, it seems unlikely that this alone can fully explain such a dramatic fall in his attendances at Council.
Abbott, Writings and speeches, IV, 41 7-19. 69 Ibid. IV, 736. Letter quoted in D. Underdown, 'Cromwell and the officers, February 1658', English Historical Review, LXXXIII ( 1968), 107. " T.S.P., VI, 779, 786, 817, 820, 839-40, 871-2; T.S.P., VII, 21-2, 38, 99-100, 144 The whole matter is discussed by Firth, Lastyears, 11, 257-80, and by R. C. H. Catterall, 'The failure of the
Reliable and informed sources reveal the Council's central role in considering the financial problems and possible solutions during 1658. The letters of Thurloe and Fleetwood talk of long and complex debates in Council and of a vocal minority resisting the 'major part' who 'inclyne to a parliament '. Fearing that parliament would revise the constitution once more and suspecting that Cromwell had resolved to accept any renewed offer of the crown, the old opponents of monarchy felt that the only way to prevent its restoration was to avoid summoning another parliament for as long as possible. Where in 1657 the Council had split in half over the issue, by the following year the changes in membership and the altered stance of Fleetwood and possibly of other former opponents tipped the balance. But a strong minority remained bitterly opposed to any move towards kingship and, led by Disbrowe and Sydenham, they conducted an active campaign which delayed the decision for months. Finance and security were discussed time and again in Council and its committees and the minority opinion, that decimation on royalists and other non-parliamentary exactions should be imposed or reimposed, was at last overcome. Even then, a final decision was deferred indefinitely as the Councillors debated 'what to aske that Parliament and what to submitt unto', attempting to agree in advance a united stance and so avoid repetition of the bitter divisions which had racked the Council in 1657. At length Cromwell tried to break the deadlock by referring the question of 'what is fitt to be done in the next Parliament' to an entirely independent committee, but its report of 8 July was anodyne, contradictory and avoided the central issue of kingship. Within a week Cromwell had retired to Hampton Court to nurse his daughter's and then his own ill-health and no decision had been reached by 3 September. For almost six months urgent business of the highest import had been argued in Council, Cromwell remaining undecided, generally inactive and for the most part seemingly outside and irrelevant to the top-level debates. There is the unmistakable impression of the reins of government slipping from his hands as his health deteriorated from early 1658 onwards. Under the Humble Petition, he had not even been obliged to seek the Council's advice or consent on this matter in the first place."
It would, of course, be as foolish to portray Cromwell as a servant of the Council as it would to disregard completely the overwhelming consensus of contemporary opinion. Stripped of embellishment and exaggeration, the seventeenth-century image of a very powerful Chief Magistrate dominating the Council undoubtedly contains a large element of truth. Cromwell clearly towered over the Protectorate and remained firmly in control of government, at least until his health finally broke in spring 1658. With a large standing
Humble Petition and Advice', American Historical Review, IX, (1903-4), 58-65. Catterall argues that by spring 1658 Cromwell had decided to accept any renewed offer of the crown.
'".S.P., VII, 21-2, 38, 56, 84-5, 99-100, "3, 144, 153, 158-9, 176-7, 192-4, 218, 269-70, 282, 294-5, 309,354-6; The Clarkepapers, 111, 145. Cromwell attended just 19 ofthe 72 Council meetings recorded during 16 58.
560 PETER GAUNT
army at his command, he could almost certainly have overridden the constitution and its paper restrictions at will. Even if he did not, in fact, openly resort to the sword to impose his wishes in central government during the Pr~tectorate,'~the knowledge that military force was available doubtless encouraged respect and some deference in parliament and Council alike. But the picture of Cromwell as an all-powerful, unfettered autocrat who knew no constitutional restraints, and of his Council as a politically impotent fa~ade, overawed, manipulated or ignored by a tyrannical Protector, is fundamentally inaccurate. Despite the paucity of surviving evidence, there are clear indications that Cromwell usually observed the terms of the written constitutions, that he worked with his Council and respected conciliar independence, even when he disapproved of its actions, that he advised with his Councillors, sought and obtained their consent where required and was occasionally deflected from his preferred path by their persuasion or prohibition, even in the most important matters of state or those over which he strongly disagreed with the conciliar consensus. Ultimately, Cromwell's references to the Council's vigour and independent resolve seem closer to the truth than Hobart's clever and colourful condemnation.
73 With the possible exception of his use of soldiers briefly to close the house on 12 Sep. 1654.
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Risotto is usually made with which type of rice? | Beyond Arborio: Discovering the " Other" Risotto Rices
Beyond Arborio: Discovering the 'Other' Risotto Rices
Experiment with these varieties to find your favorite
by Jennifer Armentrout
The luxurious, creamy texture of a good risotto depends on using the right kind of rice. Italians have several varieties of risotto rice from which to choose, but in North America our selection tends to be limited. Here, the most familiar and widely available risotto rice is arborio, but other equally good (some say better) varieties, like carnaroli, vialone nano, baldo, and Calriso, are becoming easier to find. If you like to make risotto, you might find a new favorite by experimenting with these other varieties.
All risotto rices have a couple of things in common. They have plump, medium to short grains and, more important, they all have a high proportion of amylopectin, a type of sticky starch that's responsible for the trademark creamy texture of risotto. In contrast, long-grain rices, like basmati or Carolina rice, have a higher proportion of the less-sticky starch called amylose. This starch causes long-grain rices to cook up light and separate, which is why these rices don't work well in risotto.
While similar on the macro level, the five risotto rices mentioned above vary in size and overall starch composition. When cooked, these variations translate into subtle, yet discernible, differences in the finished risotto.
Arborio: The most widely available risotto rice, arborio is typically wider and longer than carnaroli or vialone nano. It's not as starchy and it absorbs liquid a little less well. Available in most supermarkets.
Baldo: A relatively new variety, baldo is most comparable to arborio in shape and starchiness. It's the quickest cooking of the risotto rices. Available in specialty shops and from Kalustyans .
Calriso: A hybrid of Italian and California rice varieties, Calriso is also quite similar to arborio in cooking characteristics, though it expands a bit more. Calriso is a trademarked brand name. Available in specialty shops, and Whole Foods stores.
Carnaroli: Variously hailed as the "king" or the "caviar" of Italian rices, carnaroli is the preferred risotto rice in most regions of Italy except the Veneto. It's said to produce the creamiest risotto, yet it's more resistant to overcooking than arborio. Available in specialty shops, some supermarkets, and from Formaggio Kitchen .
Vialone nano: The preferred rice of the Veneto region, vialone nano can absorb twice its weight in liquid. With a starch content almost as high as carnaroli's, it also produces a very creamy risotto. Available in specialty shops and from www.chefshop.com .
Photo: Scott Phillips
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Which fruit is used in the preparation of Eve’s Pudding? | Risotto Making Basics and Techniques
[Edited by Danette St. Onge on April 30, 2016.]
Making a good risotto is rather like riding a bicycle: It takes a little bit of practice to begin with, and a certain amount of concentration thereafter. Risotti are also very sensitive to timing, and this is why what is served in a restaurant (no matter how good it is) will rarely display that rich texture and just-right doneness that a good homemade risotto will.
When buying rice to make a risotto, choose short-grained round or semi-round rice; among the best rices for making risotti are Arborio , Vialone Nano , and Carnaroli . Other short-grained rices such as Originario will also work. Long-grained rice such as Patna won't do, because the grains will stay separate. Nor should you use minute rice (parboiled/precooked rice) -- it won't absorb the condiments, and again the grains will remain separate.
Almost all risotti are made following the same basic procedure, with minor variations:
Begin by mincing a small volume of onion and whatever other herbs the recipe calls for.
continue reading below our video
How to Make Risotto
Saute the mixture in abundant olive oil or unsalted butter , and when it has browned, remove it with a slotted spoon to a plate, leaving the drippings in the pot.
Stir in the rice and saute it until it becomes translucent (this will take 7-10 minutes), stirring constantly to keep it from sticking.
Return the sautéed seasonings to the pot and stir in 1/3 cup of dry white or red wine that you have previously warmed (if it is cold, you will shock the rice, which will flake on the outside and stay hard at the core).
Once the wine has evaporated completely, add a ladle of simmering broth; stir in the next ladleful before all the liquid is absorbed, because if the grains get too dry, they will flake.
Continue cooking, stirring and adding broth as the rice absorbs it, until the rice barely reaches the al dente stage (if you want your risotto firm, time your additions of broth so that the rice will finish absorbing the broth when it reaches this stage; if you want it softer, time the additions so there will still be some liquid left).
At this point, stir in 1 tablespoon of butter and the grated cheese (if the recipe calls for it), cover the risotto, and turn off the flame. Let it sit, covered, for 2-3 minutes, and serve.
If you want a richer risotto, stir in a scant quarter cup of heavy cream in addition to the butter. Risotto that has had cream stirred into it called mantecato, and is remarkably smooth.
A brief aside:
Since writing the above, I had occasion to talk with Gabriele Ferron, who produces Vialone Nano , one of Italy's finest rices, and is also an excellent chef (he travels the world giving risotto demonstrations in top restaurants).
His risotto technique differs somewhat from the classic technique described above:
He begins by browning the onion (or leek or whatever) in olive oil, never butter, and once it has browned he removes lest it burn and become bitter as he fries the rice, a process that takes about 10 minutes over a moderate flame, while stirring constantly. Then he returns the onion to the rice and adds the wine, which he has previously heated -- "if you add cold wine you shock the rice, which will flake on the outside and stay hard at the core," he says. He then lets the wine evaporate completely before adding the remaining ingredients, and the broth, which he adds all at once, rather than a ladle at a time. He then covers the rice and lets it cook gently for about 15 minutes, stirring in a little more broth at the end that combines with the starch the rice gives off, giving it a creamy texture. Then does whatever last-minute things need doing and serves it.
No butter, and no cream at the end, ever. He is able to cook his risotto this way because he knows his rice -- Vialone Nano absorbs 1.5 (if I recall correctly) times its volume in liquid, so that's what he adds. The bottom line is, you may not be able to adopt his cooking method if you are using a rice you have never tried before, but once you have a feel for the volume of water the rice will absorb to reach the degree of doneness you like, his method will give you consistently good results. And his suggestions regarding wine temperature and removing the onions from the pot after they have browned are valid in any case.
Another aside:
If you are making a risotto with a fairly moist ingredient that won't take well to being fried with the rice, for example squash, fresh mushrooms, or various kinds of meat, use the two-pan technique that's adopted around Ferrara, among other places. Prepare the intingolo, in other words the sauce part with the moist ingredients, in one pot, and once it is cooking start sauteing the onions and rice (remove the onions once they have browned if you want) in a second pot; once the rice is translucent add the warmed wine (return the onions to the pot at this point if you removed them), followed by the first ladle of broth once the wine has evaporated. When the rice is half-cooked add the intingolo, which should be at about the same stage of doneness, and finish cooking the risotto as you would normally.
Last thing:
You may be wondering how rice got to Italy.
It was introduced by the Arabs who dominated Sicily and parts of the southern mainland in the late Middle Ages ( arancini di riso come to mind), but proved best suited to the vast marshy regions of the Po Valley , where it was enthusiastically adopted by the residents of the Veneto, Lombardia and Piemonte regions.
Risotto Recipes:
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In the West Indies which is the largest of the Leeward Islands? | Leeward Islands | islands, West Indies | Britannica.com
Leeward Islands
Alternative Titles: Îles Sous le Vent, Islas de Sotavento
Related Topics
Anguilla
Leeward Islands, French Îles Sous le Vent, Spanish Islas de Sotavento, an arc of West Indian islands that constitute the most westerly and northerly of the Lesser Antilles , at the northeastern end of the Caribbean Sea , between latitudes 16° and 19° N and longitudes 61° and 65° W. The history of British, French, Spanish, and Dutch colonialism in the region has left its stamp on the islands’ language and culture as well as on many of the islands’ economies, which depend on trade and aid from former European administrative powers. The major islands are, from north to south, the United States Virgin Islands and British Virgin Islands (both geologically a part of the Greater Antilles ); Anguilla ; Saint Martin , an island that is partly French and partly Dutch; Saint-Barthélemy ; Saba ; Sint Eustatius ; Saint Kitts and Nevis ; Antigua and Barbuda ; Montserrat ; and Guadeloupe . Just south of this chain is the island country of Dominica , formerly administered by the British government as part of the Leewards but usually designated as part of the Windward Islands .
Gustavia harbour, Saint-Barthélemy, Lesser Antilles.
© Philip Coblentz—Digital Vision/Getty Images
The Virgin Islands are part of a submerged mountain chain, like the other islands of the Greater Antilles. Areas of Antigua, Anguilla, Barbuda, and eastern Guadeloupe consist of formations of coral limestone, whereas the small chain from Saint Kitts to Montserrat forms a volcanic ridge; the volcano Soufrière on Guadeloupe is the highest mountain in the Lesser Antilles (at 4,813 feet [1,467 metres]). The climate of the Leeward Islands is drier than that farther south but does vary from region to region and in different parts of a single island; rainfall increases with elevation and in more southerly latitudes. Trade winds ameliorate the tropical heat. Hurricanes occur occasionally from June to October.
The population of the Leewards is predominantly of African descent. Tourism is a leading source of income and seasonally brings in a large number of visitors, a significant part of whom are from mainland North America and Europe .
Learn More in these related articles:
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Which intra-continental ridge system runs right through Kenya from north to south? | Leeward Islands to debut in Regional Women's Tournament | Cricket | ESPN Cricinfo
West Indies domestic news July 7, 2016
Leeward Islands to debut in Regional Women's Tournament
ESPNcricinfo staff
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Afy Fletcher will captain Windward Islands, who will play as a single unit for the first time © ICC/Getty
All six territorial boards of the West Indies Cricket Board will find representation for the first time in the upcoming Regional Women's Tournament, comprising the limited-overs format, starting Thursday. Leewards Islands will field a team for the first time in the tournament, while Windward Islands will play as a single unit, also for the first time.
Windwards earlier had each of its four nations - Dominica, St Lucia, St Vincent and Grenada - playing as individual teams when the regional tournament was an eight-team competition. That changed in 2015 when Windwards fielded only two outfits - North and South.
"We want to welcome Leewards Women into the fold and are looking forward to them playing a valuable role in the expansion of the women's game in the region," Josina Luke, WICB project officer for women's cricket, said. "We have spent the last year working with the Leewards in the development of this squad, following a decision by our directors to have them involved this year, so this is another step towards strengthening the base of the women's game in the region and expanding our talent pool.
"The banding together of the talents of the Windwards Women helps us to streamline our tournaments and bring greater competitiveness to the overall women's game, as the ultimate aim is to create a stronger West Indies Women's team with a view to winning more global titles."
Leewards will be captained by Shawnisha Hector, the Antiguan pacer, while Afy Fletcher , the West Indies Women's legspinner, will lead Windwards.
The tournament, this year, will comprise the Super50 as well as Twenty20 competitions. "We want to broaden the pool of players for the West Indies Women's team, bearing in mind two important things," Luke said. "First, we are well-placed for automatic qualification for the ICC Women's World Cup next year in England and want to remain on that trajectory with important series in the ICC Women's Championship later this year against England at home and India on the road. Also, we want to fortify our squad in the T20 format, so we can continue to put forward the kind of performances that enhance our position as World champions."
The tournament will begin with the Super50 competition. Barbados, the defending champions, will face Trinidad & Tobago. Leewards will take on five-time champions Jamaica, while hosts Guyana kickstart their campaign against Windwards. Each of the teams will meet the others once in the round-robin stage, which will consist of five matches of 50-overs-a-side. The teams with the maximum points will clash in the final, on July 17.
The T20 tournament will take place four days later with three games on each match day, all of them at the Guyana National Stadium, before a final round of play-off matches to determine positions on July 25.
Squads
Barbados: Shaquana Quintyne (captain), Aaliyah Alleyne, Shamilia Connell, Deandra Dottin, Keila Elliott, Allison Gordon, Reshelle Griffith, Malissa Howard, Kycia Knight, Hayley Matthews, Shakera Selman, Charlene Taitt, , Shanna Thompson, Tiffany Thorpe
Guyana Tremayne Smartt (captain), Shemaine Campbelle, Shabika Gajnabi, Erva Giddings, Melanie Henry, Mandy Mangru, Plaffiana Millington, Subrina Munroe, Kaysia Shultz, Heema Singh, Latoya Smith, Akaze Thompson, Lashuna Toussaint, Kavita Yadram
Jamaica Stafanie Taylor (captain), Alecia Bookal, Shanel Daley, Keneshia Ferron, Chinelle Henry, Corrine, Howell, Natasha McLean, Jodian Morgan, Chedean Nation, Roshana Outar, Tameka Sanford, Jerona Walcott, Vanessa Watts, Rashada Williams
Leeward Islands Shawnisha Hector (captain), Jasmine Clarke, Melicia Clarke, Davanna Claxton, Kimberly Dookhan, Amanda Edwards, Sherma Jackson, Rozel Liburd, Terez Parker, Grace Persaud, Kerisha Powell, Jenisen Richards, Eldora Sylvester, Saneldo Willett
Trinidad & Tobago Merissa Aguilleira (captain), Kirbyina Alexander, Reniece Boyce, Britney Cooper, Rosalie Dolabaille, Stacy Ann King, Lee Ann Kirby, Shenelle Lord, Anisa Mohammed, Selene O'Neil, Kamara Ragoobar, Karishma Ramharack, Amanda Samaroo, Rachael Vincent
Windward Islands Afy Fletcher (captain), Stacy Ann Adams, Holly Charles, Roylyn Cooper, Nerissa Crafton, Krisani Irish, Qiana Joseph, Juliana Nero, Akeira Peters, Rosilia Registe, Yasmine St. Ange, Glendeen Turtin, Rackel Williams, Swayline Williams
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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