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What nationality was the inventor of the Rubik's Cube? | The History of Rubiks Cube - Erno Rubik
Model, Emily Dixon playing wth the classic Rubiks Cube at the Toy Fair 2011 at Olympia Exhibition Centre on January 25, 2011 in London, England. Photo by Tim Whitby/Getty Images
Updated February 03, 2016.
There is only 1 correct answer and 43 quintillion wrong ones for Rubiks Cube. God's algorithm is the answer that solves the puzzle in the least number of moves. One eighth of the world's population has laid hands on 'The Cube', the most popular puzzle in history and the colorful brainchild of Erno Rubik.
Enter Erno Rubik
Erno Rubik was born in Budapest, Hungary during World War II. His mother was a poet, his father an aircraft engineer who started a company to build gliders. Rubik studied sculpture in college, but after graduating, he went back to learn architecture at a small college called the Academy of Applied Arts and Design. He remained there after his studies to teach interior design.
The Cube
Rubik's initial attraction to inventing the Cube was not in producing the best selling toy puzzle in history.
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The structural design problem interested Rubik; he asked, "How could the blocks move independently without falling apart?" In Rubik's Cube, twenty-six individual little cubes or cubies make up the big Cube. Each layer of nine cubies can twist and the layers can overlap. Any three squares in a row, except diagonally, can join a new layer. Rubik's initial attempt to use elastic bands failed, his solution was to have the blocks hold themselves together by their shape. Rubik hand carved and assembled the little cubies together. He marked each side of the big Cube with adhesive paper of a different color, and started twisting.
An Inventor Dreams
"It was wonderful, to see how, after only a few turns, the colors became mixed, apparently in random fashion. It was tremendously satisfying to watch this color parade. Like after a nice walk when you have seen many lovely sights you decide to go home, after a while I decided it was time to go home, let us put the cubes back in order. And it was at that moment that I came face to face with the Big Challenge: What is the way home?" - Erno Rubik
See - More Erno Rubik Quotes
That was how the Cube as a puzzle, was invented in the spring of 1974, when the twenty-nine year old Rubik discovered it was not so easy to realign the colors to match on all six sides. He was not sure he would ever be able to return his invention to its original position. He theorized that by randomly twisting the Cube he would never be able to fix it in a lifetime, which later turns out to be more than correct. He began working out a solution, starting with aligning the eight corner cubies. He discovered certain sequences of moves for rearranging just a few cubies at a time. Within a month, he had the puzzle solved and an amazing journey lay ahead..
First Patent
Rubik applied for his Hungarian patent in January 1975 and left his invention with a small toy making cooperative in Budapest. The patent approval finally came in early 1977 and the first Cubes appeared at the end of 1977. By this time, Erno Rubik was married.
Two other people applied for similar patents at about the same time as Rubik. Terutoshi Ishige applied a year after Rubik, for a Japanese patent on a very similar cube. An American, Larry Nichols, patented a cube before Rubik, held together with magnets. Nichols' toy was rejected by all toy companies, including the Ideal Toy Corporation, which later bought the rights to Rubik's Cube.
| Hungarian |
Which General became the 18th US President after leading the Union Army to victory in the Civil War? | Erno Rubik | Hungarian inventor | Britannica.com
Hungarian inventor
László Bíró
Erno Rubik, (born July 13, 1944, Budapest , Hung.), inventor of Rubik’s Cube , a popular toy of the 1980s. Rubik’s Cube consists of 26 small cubes that rotate on a central axis; nine coloured cube faces, in three rows of three each, form each side of the cube. When the cube is twisted out of its original arrangement, the player must then return it to the original configuration, one among 43 quintillion possible ones.
Erno Rubik displaying the Rubik’s Cube, 1981.
John Glanvill/AP
The son of a poet mother and a glider-manufacturer father, Rubik studied sculpture at the Technical University in Budapest and architecture at the Academy of Applied Arts and Design, also in Budapest. While a professor of design at the academy, he pursued his hobby of building geometric models. One of these was a prototype of his cube, made of 27 wooden blocks; it took Rubik a month to solve the problem of the cube. It proved a useful tool for teaching algebraic group theory, and in late 1977 Konsumex, Hungary’s state trading company, began marketing it. By 1980 Rubik’s Cube was marketed throughout the world, and over 100 million authorized units, with an estimated 50 million unauthorized imitations, were sold, mostly during its subsequent three years of popularity. Approximately 50 books were published describing how to solve the puzzle of Rubik’s Cube. Following his cube’s popularity, Rubik opened a studio to develop designs in 1984; among its products was another popular puzzle toy, Rubik’s Magic.
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The 1927 movie The General starred which actor? | Film History Milestones - 1927
Event and Significance
1927
Fox released They're Coming to Get Me (1927), a five-minute black and white short that was the first 'talkie' using the Movietone system. The first feature film released using the Fox Movietone system was Sunrise (1927) , directed by F. W. Murnau -- the first professionally-produced feature film with an actual soundtrack.
1927
The effective end of the silent era of films came when Warner Brothers produced and debuted The Jazz Singer (1927) , the first widely-screened feature-length talkie or movie with dialogue. The musical, starring popular vaudevillian Al Jolson, had accompanying audio (with a sound-on-disc technology) which consisted of a few songs by Jolson and a few lines of synchronized dialogue. In his nightclub act in the film, Jolson presented the movie's first spoken ad-libbed words: "Wait a minute, wait a minute, you ain't heard nothin' yet." The film had about 350 spontaneously ad-libbed words.
1927
Fox's Movietone newsreel, the first sound news film, was produced. The first recording of a news event was the takeoff of Charles Lindbergh's plane from New York on May 20, 1927 on his historic flight across the Atlantic to Paris, the inspiration to create Movietone News.
1927
At the height of his career during the decade of the 20s, comedian Buster Keaton (known as "The Great Stone Face" who equally rivaled silent comic director/star Charlie Chaplin), made many short films and twelve feature films, including his timeless masterpiece The General (1927) . It is regarded as one of the greatest of all silent comedies (and Keaton's own favorite) - and undoubtedly the best train film ever made. The chase comedy based on a true Civil War incident received both poor reviews by critics (it was considered tedious and disappointing) and weak box-office results (about a half million dollars) when initially released in the late 1920s, and it led to Keaton's loss of independence as a film-maker and a restrictive deal with MGM. It would take many decades for the film to be hailed as one of the best ever made. His distinctive films were noted for their trademark wit, satire, acrobatic agility and stunt-work, and fantasy. Other well-known works at this time included Our Hospitality (1923), The Navigator (1924), Sherlock, Jr. (1924), and Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928) .
1927
Director Abel Gance's celebrated epic silent film Napoleon (1927, Fr.) premiered in Paris, France, over 100 years after the military leader's death in 1821. It experimented with wide-screen and multi-screen effects, used rapid-fire editing (influenced by Eisenstein's Potemkin (1925)), free-wheeling camera movement (influenced by Murnau), and a unique multi-projector system. The final sequence was to be screened via triple projection as a triptych. It was the precursor to the wide-screen Cinerama process that debuted in 1952.
1927
Director Fritz Lang's classic dystopian vision of the future, the expressionistic Metropolis (1927, Germ) set in the year of 2000, exploited massive sets and lavish set design, clever special effects, stylistic shadowing, oblique camera angles and labryinths, and physical effects like realistic miniatures (one of their first uses) and hydraulically-produced flooding. It was considered a costly box-office disaster at the time and its notorious German producer, the UFA (Universumfilm Aktiengesellschaft) had to be bailed out by U.S. interests. Brigitte Helm served as the film's real Maria (an oppressed working girl) and as the evil robotic doppelganger of herself - cinematic history's first android or robot.
1927
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) was founded, with 36 members (composed of actors, directors, writers, technicians, and producers). The organization's first president was Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., and its first awards ceremony was held in 1929, to honor films in 1927 and 1928.
1927
Motion picture film became standardized at 24 fps.
1927
The prison comedy silent film The Second Hundred Years (1927) marked the official debut of "Stan" Laurel and "Ollie" Hardy as a comedy duo, although they had previously worked together for about 10 years. It was the first of Hal Roach's comedy series that paired and featured the two as a formal screen team.
1927
British director Alfred Hitchcock released his third film, the suspense film The Lodger (1927) (aka The Lodger: A Story of The London Fog), a tale about an "Avenger" based upon the Jack the Ripper serial killings. Hitchcock's first credited and completed feature film The Pleasure Garden (1925, UK) was released in the US in 1926, but delayed for release in the UK until 1927 following The Lodger's success. The film was notable as being Hitchcock's first 'true' film (his first suspense film), his earliest film that survived in its entirety, and the first with a trademark cameo appearance .
1927
The Hays Office issued a Production Code memorandum, "Don'ts and Be Carefuls," a code of decency telling the studios eleven taboos or things to avoid in the "Don'ts" section (and twenty-six items in the "Be Carefuls" section), including profanity, 'licentious or suggestive nudity,' illegal traffic in drugs, any inference of sex perversion, white slavery, miscegenation, sex hygiene and venereal diseases, scenes of actual childbirth, children's sex organs, ridicule of the clergy, and willful offense to any nation, race or creed.
1927
Grauman's Chinese Theater opened in Hollywood, California (on Hollywood Boulevard), with the premiere of Cecil B. DeMille's King of Kings (1927). It soon became famed for hand and footprints of various film stars and celebrities. The first stars to leave their imprints in the concrete were: Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. (April 30), Norma Talmadge (May 18), Norma Shearer (August 1), Harold Lloyd (November 21), and William S. Hart (November 28).
1927
MGM's mystery-horror film London After Midnight (1927), a "lost film," was director Tod Browning's first Hollywood vampire film, with star Lon Chaney ("the man of a thousand faces") in the role of Professor Edward C. Burke of Scotland Yard - a sunken and dark-eyed vampirish character. (The film existed until 1967, but then was destroyed in a massive MGM vault fire in 1967.) The silent film was one of the first horror films directed by Tod Browning, four years before his vampire classic Dracula (1931) , starring Bela Lugosi. It was notable for being one of Chaney's last feature films before his death in 1930. Chaney and Browning had collaborated together on ten feature films over a decade. Chaney became the first American horror-film star and Hollywood's first great character actor. London After Midnight made an estimated $721,000 from a production budget of $152,000 - the highest-grossing film from Browning and Chaney. If Chaney had not died early at the age of 47 of throat cancer, he would have been Tod Browning's first choice to play the lead role in his 1931 Dracula film, replacing Bela Lugosi. In the early 2000s, on the 75th anniversary of the film, an attempt at a restoration of the film (created from 200 stills and the film's script), with a duration of 45 minutes, was aired on the Turner Classic Movie channel.
1927
In 1927, the average cost of a movie ticket was 25 cents.
1927
All-American half-back football star Johnny Mack Brown, a future star of B-westerns for over two decades, signed a contract with MGM, thereby becoming the first sports star to sustain a career in motion pictures.
1927
Director Victor Fleming's The Way of All Flesh (1927), a presumed "lost film," starred Best Actor-winning Emil Jannings (a German movie actor) as an early 1900s Milwaukee bank clerk named August Shilling. After the happily-married family man was robbed during a Chicago bank business trip, when he was seduced by a flirtatious blonde (Phyllis Haver) and her hired goon, he was left for dead. The mangled corpse of the crooked saloon owner, her accomplice who was hit by a train, was mis-identified as Schilling, and he was regarded as a dead hero who perished while defending himself. For years, the shamed, memory-suffering Schiller, now a ruined, aging and homeless derelict, was doomed to hide out from his family for 20 years. During the first Academy Awards ceremony, Jannings was awarded the first-ever Best Actor Award, for a film that was the only winning film in Academy history to be missing or lost. Jannings also won Best Actor for a second film: The Last Command (1928). The two films were his first two American film performances. He received his Best Actor award early - due to the fact that he was going home to Europe before the ceremony - making him the first no-show winner. However, it didn't much matter - the category's winners had been announced three months before the ceremony took place anyway.
1927
Paramount's film titled It (1927) opened, with an early appearance by Gary Cooper and 22 year-old starlet Clara Bow as resourceful lingerie department store salesgirl Betty Lou Spence who fell for her boss (Cyrus Waltham Jr.) - she soon became known as the "It Girl." "IT" meant unashamed sex appeal, hedonism and liberation. Bow - a saucy working class girl from Brooklyn, who had struck it big as a silent film actress, had already been dubbed "The Brooklyn Bonfire" and "The Hottest Jazz Baby in Films." One of her most memorable lines in the film was: "So you're one of those Minute Men - the minute you meet a girl you think you can kiss her!" The film was also noted as having the earliest known use of a zoom lens in a US feature film, in its opening shot.
1927
Leo the Lion, the famed African lion mascot of Hollywood's MGM film studio, was flown as a transcontinental publicity stunt non-stop from Southern California (near San Diego) to New York, in a plane similar to Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis which had made its historic flight across the Atlantic a few months earlier. The plane crashed in Arizona near the town of Gisela, in a Tonto National Forest canyon. Six days following the crash, after the pilot went for help, the still-caged Leo was rescued from the plane's wreckage - alive and well, but hungry and thirsty. The mascot was shipped back to Los Angeles by truck.
| Buster Keaton |
Which US General, nicknamed "Stormin'" was commander of the coalition forces in the Gulf War of 1991? | The Films of Buster Keaton Movie Review () | Roger Ebert
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The greatest of the silent clowns is Buster Keaton , not only because of what he did, but because of how he did it. Harold Lloyd made us laugh as much, Charlie Chaplin moved us more deeply, but no one had more courage than Buster. I define courage as Hemingway did: "Grace under pressure." In films that combined comedy with extraordinary physical risks, Buster Keaton played a brave spirit who took the universe on its own terms, and gave no quarter.
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I'm immersed in his career right now, viewing all of the silent features and many of the shorts with students at the University of Chicago. Having already written about Keaton's " The General " (1927) in this series, I thought to choose another title. "The Navigator," perhaps, or "Steamboat Bill, Jr.," or "Our Hospitality." But they are all of a piece; in an extraordinary period from 1920 to 1929, he worked without interruption on a series of films that make him, arguably, the greatest actor-director in the history of the movies.
Most of these movies were long thought to be lost. "The General," with Buster as a train engineer in the Civil War, was always available, hailed as one of the supreme masterpieces of silent filmmaking. But other features and shorts existed in shabby, incomplete prints, if at all, and it was only in the 1960s that film historians began to assemble and restore Keaton's lifework. Now almost everything has been recovered, restored, and is available on DVDs and tapes that range from watchable to sparkling.
It's said that Chaplin wanted you to like him, but Keaton didn't care. I think he cared, but was too proud to ask. His films avoid the pathos and sentiment of the Chaplin pictures, and usually feature a jaunty young man who sees an objective and goes after it in the face of the most daunting obstacles. Buster survives tornadoes, waterfalls, avalanches of boulders and falls from great heights, and never pauses to take a bow: He has his eye on his goal. And his movies, seen as a group, are like a sustained act of optimism in the face of adversity; surprising how, without asking, he earns our admiration and tenderness.
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Because he was funny, because he wore that porkpie hat, Keaton's physical skills are often undervalued. We hear about the stunts of Douglas Fairbanks Sr., but no silent star did more dangerous stunts than Buster Keaton. Instead of using doubles, he himself doubled for some of his actors, doing their stunts as well as his own.
He said he learned to "take a fall" as a child, when he toured in vaudeville with his parents, Joe and Myra. By the time he was 3, he was being thrown around the stage and into the orchestra pit, and his little suits even had a handle concealed at the waist, so Joe could sling him like luggage. Today this would be child abuse; then it was showbiz. "It was the roughest knockabout act that was ever in the history of the theater," Keaton told the historian Kevin Brownlow. He claimed that Harry Houdini dubbed him " Buster " because of those falls; Houdini was a friend, but the nickname came before the Keatons met him.
Buster and Joe discovered that when he was hurled through the bass drum and emerged waving and smiling, the audience didn't see the joke in treating a kid that way. But when Buster emerged with a solemn expression on his face, for some reason the audience loved it. For the rest of his career, Keaton was "the great stone face," with an expression that ranged from the impassive to the slightly quizzical.
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He falls and falls and falls in his movies: From second-story windows, cliffs, trees, trains, motorcycles, balconies. The falls are usually not faked: He lands, gets up, keep going. He was one of the most gifted stuntmen in the movies. Even when there is fakery, the result is daring; in "Go West" he seems to fall from a high suspension bridge, but actually falls only 50 feet or so before landing in a net; there's a cut to another shot showing him falling the last 20 feet. Both halves of this "faked" stunt are dangerous. And in "Our Hospitality," where he was almost killed when a safety wire snapped and he was swept toward a waterfall, he finished the sequence with a fake waterfall--but even it was 25 feet high, and he's swinging above a nasty fall.
Keaton is famous for a shot in "Steamboat Bill, Jr.," where he stands in front of a house during a cyclone, and a wall falls on top of him; he is saved because he happens to be exactly where the window is. There was scant clearance on either side, and you can see his shoulders tighten a little just as the wall lands. He refused to rehearse the stunt because, he explained, he trusted his set-up, so why waste a wall?
In film after film, Keaton does difficult and dangerous things and keeps the poker face. His philosophy is embodied in his body language: The world throws its worst at him, but he is plucky and determined, ingenious and stubborn, and will do his best. Walter Kerr, in his definitive book "The Silent Clowns," writes of Keaton's "stillness of emotion as well as body, a universal stillness that comes of things functioining well, of having achieved harmony." When Harold Lloyd dangled from a clock face far above the street, he intended to terrify his audience. When Keaton sat on the front of a moving locomotive in "The General" and attempted to knock one railroad tie off the tracks with another, he could have been crushed beneath the train, but he presents the action as a strategy, not a stunt.
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Kerr talks of the "Keaton Curve," the way an action ends up where it began. There's a shot in the early short " Neighbors " where Keaton escapes a house via a clothesline, swings safely across to his own house--then finds that the clothesline keeps rotating, depositing him right back in trouble. In "The General," there are innumerable examples of the Curve, for example a scene where the train goes around a bend so that a cannon now points at Buster instead of the enemy. You can also see the Curve in many of those scenes where he invents ingenious "labor-saving" devices--to serve breaskfast, for example. One of his funniest shorts is "The Scarecrow," which includes a house where everything--table, bed, stove--has more than one function, so that a meal consists of a tour through the parabola of the house's gadgets.
Another of Keaton's strategies was to avoid anticipation. Instead of showing you what was about to happen, he showed you what was happening; the surprise and the response are both unexpected, and funnier. He also gets laughs by the application of perfect logic. In "Our Hospitality," he discovers he is in the house of a family sworn to kill him. But Southern Hospitality insists they cannot shoot a visitor in their own house. So Buster invites himself to spend the night.
In the last decade of silent film, Keaton worked as an independent auteur. He usually used the same crew, worked with trusted riggers who understood his thinking, conceived his screenplays mostly by himself. He had backing from the mogol Joe Schenck (they were brothers-in-law, both married to Talmadge girls), but Schenck sometimes missed the point. He was outraged that Buster spent $25,000 to buy the ship used in "The Navigator," but then. without consulting Keaton, spent $25,000 to buy the rights to a third-rate Broadway farce that Buster somehow transformed into "Seven Chances."
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Like Chaplin and Lloyd, he was a perfectionist who would reshoot sequences until the laughs worked, would take as long as necessary on a single shot, would supervise every element of his films. No filmmaker has ever had a better run of genius than Keaton during that decade. But then talkies came in, and he made "the biggest mistake of my life," signing on with MGM for a series of sound comedies that mostly made money, but were not under his personal control. He didn't like them.
By the late 1930s, Buster Keaton (1895-1966) was out of business as a self-starting auteur. He continued to work all his life, doing innumerable TV appearances and turning up in movies like Chaplin's " Limelight ," Wilder's " Sunset Boulevard " and even "Film," an original screenplay by Samuel Beckett. He lived in the San Fernando Valley, raised chickens, and thought his work had been forgotten. Then came a 1962 retrospective at the Cinematheque Francaise in Paris, and a tribute at the 1965 Venice Film Festival. He was relieved to see that his films were not after all lost, but observed, no doubt with a stone face, "The applause is nice, but too late."
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Which British submarine sunk the General Belgrano during the Falklands War in 1982? | BBC ON THIS DAY | 2 | 1982: British sub sinks Argentine cruiser
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1982: British sub sinks Argentine cruiser
Argentina's only cruiser, the General Belgrano, has been sunk by a British nuclear submarine in the South Atlantic.
It is the first serious attack on the Argentine navy by the British since the conflict over the disputed Falkland Islands began last month.
The second largest ship in the Argentine navy was struck by two Tigerfish torpedoes from HMS Conqueror. It is thought there were about 1,000 men on board.
British helicopters also sank a patrol boat and damaged another using Seaskua air-to-surface missiles.
According to sources in Buenos Aires, at least five Argentine warships have been taking part in the search for survivors throughout the day.
I sincerely hope it will not be a long and bloody conflict
John Nott, Defence Secretary
Chances of anyone being found are limited with reports of 30-foot high waves and icy conditions.
The Belgrano, an old World War II ship, was reported to have been severely damaged this morning. News that she had actually sunk came as the Defence Secretary, John Nott, was answering questions from journalists this afternoon.
The Belgrano was outside the 200-mile total exclusion zone at the time of the attack and Mr Nott was asked whether the bombing was therefore justified. He replied: "The General Belgrano was a threat to our men and therefore it is quite correct that she was attacked by our submarines."
Mr Nott said the past week had been a successful one for British armed forces, but that the overriding aim was a peaceful and lasting settlement.
"I sincerely hope it will not be a long and bloody conflict," he added.
Earlier today, the government announced the next stage in the military build-up.
The QE2 has been called into service - she is due back at Southampton at midnight tonight - as well as two ferries and a container ship.
They will be used to carry 3,000 infantrymen.
| HMS Conqueror |
Who was General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union from 1992 to 2003, and the first black leader of a British trade union? | Captain of Falklands’ war cruiser “General Belgrano” dies in Argentina — MercoPress
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”We were in the front and we suffered the consequences”, Captain Bonzo was quoted at the time. (Photo: La Nacion)
The commander of the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano sunk by a British nuclear submarine during the Falkland Islands conflict 1982, Hector Bonzo died this week in Buenos Aires at the age of 76.
The sinking of the former US Navy cruiser USS Phoenix on May 2, 1982 by HMS Conqueror was the major single loss of lives during the 74 day conflict in the South Atlantic: 323 out of a crew of over 1.000.
Captain Bonzo joined the Argentine Navy in 1947 and worked his way up the ranks having travelled 200.000 nautical miles. He was licensed in Naval Systems and taught in several Argentine Navy institutions. He served on board cruisers “La Argentina”, “9 de Julio”, Naval School frigate “Libertad” and the old ice breaker “General San Martín”. He was honoured by the Brazilian Navy with the Tamandaré Medal.
Although the sinking of the cruiser General Belgrano was involved in a controversy as to where it actually was, or heading for, when torpedoed, inside or outside the exclusion zone imposed by the British, Captain Bonzo, in spite of Argentine claims of a deliberate “criminal action” always sustained it was “an act of war”.
He also described the 323 Argentine sailors that went down with the old Second World War II cruiser as “heroes”.
“The sinking of the cruiser was an act of war. It was not a crime. It was a licit most unfortunate and lamentable action. Crime is war. We were in the front and we suffered the consequences”, Captain Bonzo was quoted at the time.
“As of April 30 I was given orders to open fire and if the submarine should have been before me having emerged for repairs, I would have opened fire with the fifteen cannons until it sunk”.
Following the conflict Bonzo was named Chief of naval Superior Personnel and later Naval Deputy Secretary. In 1987 he founded the General Belgrano Cruiser Friends Association and was a member of the board during several periods.
Captain Bonzo edited two books, “1093 Crewmembers” and “323 Heroes of the Belgrano”. The first was written by him and released on the tenth anniversary of the Falklands’ conflict revealing his experiences and paying homage to the crew.
The second was written and edited in 2001 together with a group of General Belgrano survivors.
Captain Bonzo was married and had three daughters.
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The General Synod is the legislative body of the Church of England, instituted in 1970. By what name was this body known prior to 1970? | Map of General Synod of the Church of England - The Full Wiki
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The General Synod is the deliberative and legislative body of the Church of England . The Synod was instituted in 1970, replacing the Church Assembly, and is the culmination of a process of rediscovering self-government for the Church of England that had started in the 1850s.
The Church Assembly: 1919 to 1970
Prior to 1919, any change to the Church's worship or governance had to be by Act of Parliament , which resulted in little being done. In 1919, the Convocations of the Provinces of Canterbury and York proposed that a National Assembly of the Church of England be established and be given power to legislate for the Church.
This proposal was given effect through the Church of England Assembly Act 1919 . The Act gave the assembly power to pass Measures - laws which were to "have the force and effect of an Act of Parliament" on "any matter concerning the Church of England", and included the power to repeal or amend Acts of Parliament concerning the Church.
The Act required that, after being passed by the Assembly, the Measure had to be examined by a joint committee of both Houses of Parliament and then approved by a vote of each House before being submitted to the Queen for Royal Assent . If MP or members of the House of Lords
are not content with a Measure then they can vote to reject it, but cannot amend it. Once a measure has been agreed ("deemed expedient") by both Houses of Parliament, and received Royal Assent, it is printed with the Acts of Parliament for the year in question.
The General Synod: from 1970
Establishment
By the Synodical Government Measure 1969, the Church Assembly renamed and reconstituted itself as the General Synod of the Church of England. It also took over the powers formerly exercised by the Convocations of Canterbury and York.
Membership
The Synod is tricameral , consisting of the House of Bishops , the House of Clergy and the House of Laity . There are currently 467 members in total.
The House of Bishops is made up the 30 diocesan bishops in the Province of Canterbury (plus the Bishop of Dover ), the 14 bishops of the Province of York, seven suffragan bishops (four from Canterbury and three from York) elected by all suffragan bishops, and the Bishop to the Forces .
The House of Clergy comprises clergy elected by the following:
128 elected from the Province of Canterbury,
54 elected from the Province of York,
1 elected by each of the Universities of Oxford
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In Worzel Gummidge, who played the character of Aunty Sally? | Administrative Histories for the Durham Diocesan Records
Clergy Papers (General)
Ordinations
Reference: DDR/EA/CLO Ordination requirements Ordination of priests and deacons usually takes place at ordination ceremonies held at the cathedral or in Auckland Castle, at specific times of the year.
A cleric should normally only be ordained by the bishop of the diocese in which he is due to serve. But he may be ordained by another bishop, if he has “letters dimissory” from his own bishop.
The legal requirements for ordination are as follows:
candidates for ordination must be over 23 years old;
they must have a secure position (called a 'title') within the diocese, to which they can be ordained; and
they must be of sufficient learning, ability and character.
The 'title' to which candidates are ordained is usually a stipendiary curacy (ie, an assistant to the incumbent of a parish church). More recently, candidates may be ordained on the strength of a diocesan office or of employment with a missionary society. Candidates are also sometimes ordained merely on a licence to preach and officiate, without any other formal paid 'title'.
Candidates who are not ordained within their own diocese require also a "letters dimissory" (sometimes abbreviated 'LD' in the lists). The letters dimissory is a formal request from the candidate's own bishop to the bishop of another diocese, asking that the other bishop ordain the candidate on his behalf. It may be replaced by a "letters of request", which request the ordaining bishop to examine (as well as ordain) the candidate.
Relinquishment of orders The 1870 Clerical Disabilities Act allowed a priest or deacon to relinquish all rights, privileges, advantages and exemptions by law belonging to his office. The relinquishment also freed the clerk from all jurisdiction and penalties belonging to his office (excluding any liability for dilapidations or other debts).
A priest or deacon wishing to relinquish holy orders under the Act was required to enrol in the High Court of Chancery (later, in the Central Office of the Supreme Court of Judicature) a deed of relinquishment, after resignation of every or any preferment. An office copy of the deed was also delivered to his diocesan bishop, and notice given to his provincial. After six months, the deed was to be formally recorded in the diocesan registry.
Relinquishment does not deprive a clerk of his orders, and he may resume clerical office (without reordination) following a petition for vacation of the deed of relinquishment to his archbishop. If accepted, the vacation is recorded in the diocesan registry, and the clerk may resume clerical functions. However, he is incapable of holding any benefice or other preferment for two years after the recording of the vacation.
Oaths and Subscriptions
Reference: DDR/EA/CLS Subscriptions are required from clergy about to be ordained, licensed to a curacy or admitted to a benefice. The clerics subscribe to the oaths of allegiance and canonical obedience, and assent to the liturgy and creeds of the Church of England (including the thirty nine articles).
Similar subscriptions were required from schoolmasters, parish clerks or midwives who were about to be licensed.
Miscellaneous General Clergy Papers
Reference: DDR/EA/CLG Most of these items relate to caveats, usually issued by the archbishop of York, but occasionally by the bishop of Durham for circulation to his archdeacons.
The alleged fault of the cleric or person who is the subject of the caveat is usually, but not always, stated in the documents. They frequently refer to people suspected of having fraudulent letters of orders. The later items (20th century) are either files of correspondence on a particular cleric or a caution list from Lambeth Palace.
Warnings against ordaining, licensing or employing particular individuals were occasionally issued by the archbishop of York and circulated amongst the bishops in his diocese. Later 'caution lists' are issued by the archbishop of Canterbury.
Unbeneficed Clergy
Assistant Stipendiary Curates
Reference: DDR/EA/CLC The 1713 Simony Act, 1813 Curates Act, 1838 Plurality Act and subsequent acts all included clauses to regulate the appointment, licensing and stipends of assistant stipendiary curates. In particular, the acts aimed to ensure that non-resident incumbents employed assistant curates, and that the curates were given some security of appointment.
Stipendiary curates were nominated by their incumbents to serve their parishes or chapelries. In addition to presenting their nomination, a letter testimonial was required before they could be licensed by the bishop.
If the bishop was unable to license stipendiary curates personally, he could issue a commission to an archdeacon or other office-holder or incumbent to take the curate's oaths and issue the licence.
Stipendiary curates require a licence from the bishop before they can be admitted to an assistant curacy. Copies of all licences and revocations are recorded in the diocesan registry.
Under the 1838 Plurality Act, a stipendiary curate's licence can be revoked by his bishop at any time, subject to appeal by the curate to his archbishop. The revocation is recorded in the diocesan registry and in the parish chest.
Under the 1838 Plurality Act, an incumbent can, within six months of his admission to a benefice, give six weeks' notice to a stipendiary curate to quit his curacy. This power is subject to the permission of the bishop or (by appeal) of the archbishop.
The 1813 Curates' Act established minimum stipends for curates, and incumbents were required to notify to the bishop what stipend they intended to pay to their curates.
Chaplains
Reference: DDR/EA/CLH Many individuals and organisations employ private chaplains, all of whom require a licence from the bishop. The licence specifies what services and offices the chaplain may perform, and exempts him from the control and interference of the incumbent of the parish or district in which the chapel is situate.
If the bishop was unable to license chaplains personally, he could issue a commission to an archdeacon or other office-holder or incumbent to take the chaplain's oaths and issue the licence.
Lecturers
Reference: DDR/EA/CLL A lecturer is a clerk in holy orders, elected or otherwise appointed to deliver lectures or preach sermons in the church or chapel of a parish. Some of the city parishes, mainly in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Durham, had endowed lectureships attached to them. A lecturer required a licence from the bishop.
If the bishop was unable to license lecturers personally, he could issue a commission to an archdeacon or other office-holder or incumbent to take the lecturer's oaths and issue the licence.
Preachers
Reference: DDR/EA/CLP Unbeneficed clergy can be licensed to preach within the diocese. The licences were for a fixed period and required occasional renewal. See also under the class 'Letters Testimonial for those to be given a licence to officiate'.
If the bishop was unable to license preachers personally, he could issue a commission to an archdeacon or other office-holder or incumbent to take the preacher's oaths and issue the licence.
Miscellaneous Unbeneficed Clergy
Reference: DDR/EA/CLU
Ministers in Charge of Benefices Since the 1960s, many benefices have been in the charge of some form of licensed priest, rather than an incumbent with full possession of the freehold.
The need for pastoral reorganisation schemes, and in particular the sharing of the ministry among many small parishes and congregations, as well as general theological and social trends, has led to the development of new forms of parish ministry within the Church of England since the 1960s.
Many of these new ministries were legally established by the 1968 Pastoral Measure. They usually make use of licensed priests to fill roles that would otherwise be served by beneficed incumbents (eg, vicars or rectors).
Note that, although not usually beneficed in a strict legal sense, the resulting ministers in charge of benefices are still often informally called 'vicar' or 'rector' within their parishes.
Curates-in-Charge of Conventional Districts
Reference: DDR/EA/CLV A Conventional District can be established out of an existing parish or parishes by agreement between the bishop, incumbent(s) and patron(s) of the church(es) involved. A cleric is appointed to the district as a 'curate-in-charge', but acts independently of the incumbent of the benefice from which the district is created, and is often styled 'priest-in-charge'.
The agreement establishing a Conventional District requires renewal with every change of incumbent in the parish(es). Conventional Districts are usually established with a view to the future creation of a new parish for the district.
A Conventional District can have its own churchwardens and parochial church council. Apart from some of the earlier appointments, the curates-in-charge are appointed directly by the bishop, and do not require a formal nomination from the incumbent.
Note that assistant curates who were appointed by an incumbent to look after a particular chapel or church within a parish, or to look after the parish of a non-resident incumbent, were also often styled 'curates in charge', although they had the status of assistant stipendiary curates and their nominations are in the main class of stipendiary curates' nominations and letters testimonial, above.
Priests-in-Charge of Benefices
Reference: DDR/EA/CLB When presentation to a benefice has been suspended by a bishop, a cleric may be licensed to the benefice as a curate-in-charge (normally called a 'priest-in-charge'), allowing her/him to serve the benefice as if an incumbent, but without holding the legal freehold of the vicarage or rectory.
As for other ecclesiastical preferments, those appointed as priest-in-charge of a benefice (during suspension of patronage), must produce Letters Testimonial to their good character.
Team and Group Ministers
Reference: DDR/EA/CLT See under Pastoral Reorganisation for background information on Team and Group Ministries, and the status of the clergy involved.
Beneficed Clergy (Incumbents) An incumbent holds the freehold of a benefice. According to the nature of the benefice, he/she is styled 'rector', 'vicar' or 'perpetual curate'.
Admissions and Inductions of Incumbents
Reference: DDR/EA/CLI Before an incumbent can legally exercise cure of souls within a benefice and enjoy its profits, he/she must be admitted and inducted to the benefice.
Incumbents are admitted to the cure of souls of a benefice (known as the 'spiritualities') in one of three ways. Admission of rectors and vicars is either by presentation and institution, or by collation (where the bishop is patron). Admission of perpetual curates is by licensing.
Whether a benefice is a rectory, vicarage or perpetual curacy, depends on the historical distribution of the tithes of the benefice. Rectors are incumbents who are entitled to all the tithes of a benefice, while vicars are entitled only to the 'small' tithes (of less value): historically, the rectors of vicarages were monastic houses or other foundations (later, laypersons, known as 'impropriators'), who retained the 'great' tithes for themselves and endowed the benefice with the 'small' tithes, to support a vicar to take on the cure of souls within the benefice.
Where the rectory of a parish was held by a religious corporation or individual, but the benefice had not been endowed with a vicarage, the rector was legally bound to nominate a curate to serve the parish and was unable to remove this curate once licensed by the bishop: these curates have a status very similar to that of a vicar and are called 'perpetual curates'. The benefices of most new parishes created in the 19th century were perpetual curacies, but under the 1868 Incumbents Act they were styled 'vicarages', and all perpetual curacies legally became vicarages under the 1968 Pastoral Measure.
Once admitted, an incumbent is granted the profits and emoluments of the benefice (the 'temporalities') by induction.
Unless a parish is in the gift of the bishop or patronage has been suspended (pending a pastoral reorganisation), a patron presents or nominates a candidate to the bishop for a vacant parish in his or her gift. The status of the parish determines the exact form of the deed: vicars and rectors are presented to their parishes, while perpetual curates and ministers of newly-formed ecclesiastical districts are nominated. (Remaining perpetual curacies became vicarages on 1 April 1969 under the 1968 Pastoral Measure.)
Letters Testimonial are required for a variety of appointments, including admissions to benefices. They are declarations of a person's good character over the last three years (or sometimes for a shorter period), and are signed by three beneficed clerics. (If any of the signatories are from another diocese, his signature must also be countersigned by his own bishop.)
If the bishop is unable to institute an incumbent himself, he can issue a commission to his archdeacon or another beneficed cleric to take the oaths of the new incumbent and institute her/him.
Before an incumbent can enter on a parish, he/she must be admitted to the spiritualities of the benefice by the bishop. This is done either by institution after presentation, or by collation, where the bishop is the patron or makes the appointment. Perpetual curates and ministers of newly-formed ecclesiastical districts are formally licensed to their parishes rather than instituted or collated.
Unless a parish is in the gift of the bishop or patronage has been suspended (pending a pastoral reorganisation), a patron presents or nominates a candidate to the bishop for a vacant parish in his or her gift. The status of the parish determines the exact form of the deed: vicars and rectors are presented to their parishes, while perpetual curates and ministers of newly-formed ecclesiastical districts are nominated. (Remaining perpetual curacies became vicarages on 1 April 1969 under the 1968 Pastoral Measure.)
Institution or collation confers the cure of souls of the benefice on the clerk, and renders him bound to discharge his duties as an incumbent. However, he must be inducted before he can have complete possession of the profits and emoluments of the benefice (the temporalities). For perpetual curacies, admission by licence puts the clerk in possession of both the spiritualities and temporalities of the benefice, without institution or induction.
From 1987, formal deeds of presentation and nomination from patrons are no longer used, being replaced by 'forms 38' under the 1986 Benefices Measure. However, this measure does not apply to livings in the gift of the Crown, which continues to use formal presentation deeds.
When an incumbent has been instituted, collated or licensed to a benefice, he/she must be inducted to the temporalities of the parish. This puts the incumbent into complete possession of the church and benefice, with all its profits and emoluments. The ceremony of induction is usually carried out by the archdeacon, on a mandate from the bishop. It takes place within the parish itself.
'Reading In' was carried out by an incumbent shortly after induction, and required the declaration of assent to the thirty nine articles during a public service in the parish church. Certification of having performed the ceremony was not required under the acts, although it was recommended to protect the incumbent. The requirement for 'reading in' was abolished by the 1974 Church of England (Worship and Doctrine) Measure.
Non-Residence and Plurality
Reference: DDR/EA/CLN Non-residence was mainly regulated by the 1838 Plurality Act and successor legislation, notably the 1885 Pluralities Acts Amendment Act. The acts aimed partly to limit non-residence, and partly to ensure that assistant curates were appointed at reasonable stipends to minister to parishes with non-resident incumbents.
The non-residence and plurality acts required incumbents who were not resident on their benefices to apply for licences for non-residence, unless they could claim exemption from residence under the acts. The licences could be granted for up to two years (more strictly, until 31st December in the year following the granting of the licence: many licences were granted during January). They were usually given for medical reasons (either the incumbent's own illness or that of a member of his immediate family), and often on the certificate of a medical practitioner. If the licence was given for a reason not specified in the acts, it had to be countersigned by the archbishop of York.
Certain incumbents could claim exemption from the residence requirements of the non-residence and plurality acts. Exemptions applied to those holding a second benefice or ecclesiastical office (under certain circumstances) and to those with university positions. Those claiming exemption had to submit in duplicate a notification of their non-residence and the reasons for claiming exemption. These notifications were submitted annually, one copy being sent to the bishop (this class) and the other to the registry (next class).
Under the 1838 Plurality Act, an incumbent who lived in his own or another house on his benefice instead of the parsonage house required a licence to recognise that house as his legal house of residence. (Before 1838, he would require a non-residence licence.)
Section 52 of the 1838 Plurality Act required each incumbent to complete a return concerning pastoral arrangements on, and the value of, his benefice and other matters to his diocesan bishop. Section 55 of the 1871 Ecclesiastical Dilapidations Act added questions relating to fire insurance. The incumbents' returns were used by the bishop to compile returns to the Privy Council under section 53, showing which were non-resident with and without a licence, and which employed curates, with other information.
Resignations and Pensions
Reference: DDR/EA/CLR A benefice is avoided by death, resignation, exchange, cession, declaration of avoidance by the bishop and deprivation. The interest of the incumbent in the profits and emoluments and property of the benefice ceases on the day when he vacates it; and his successor, when admitted, becomes entitled to them as from that day, so far as they have not been applied in providing for the service of the cure of souls and for the costs of sequestration during the vacancy.
Resignation of a benefice must be made to the bishop, either in person or by a deed attested by two witnesses. The presence of a notary public at the execution of the deed and his attestation of it are usual but not essential. Except on an exchange, the resignation must be unconditional, but it may be made to take effect at a future fixed date. It may be made at the request of the bishop to avoid scandal or legal proceedings; and the bishop may agree to postpone the declaration of the resignation, and his acceptance of it need not be in any particular form or in writing. It is implied if the resignation was made at his request. The resignation takes effect upon its acceptance by the bishop, and cannot afterwards be revoked.
Under the 1992 Church of England (Miscellaneous Provisions) Measure, formal resignation deeds are no longer required from incumbents resigning their benefices. However, a form of written resignation may be used instead of the resignation deed, and this form is generally required by the diocese.
Commissioners were appointed to establish pensions for retiring clergy under the 1871 Incumbents Resignation Act, the 1887 Incumbents Resignation Act 1871 Amendment Act, and the 1930 Clergy Pensions (Older Incumbents) Measure. After an incumbent's pension had been established by a commission under the 1871 Incumbents Resignation Act and successor legislation, the bishop signed a declaration to the effect that the benefice was vacant, and that its revenues were subject to the payment of the pension to the resigning incumbent.
The 1871 Incumbents Act allowed a pension to be assigned from the revenues of a benefice to an incumbent who was retiring for incapacity and who had been incumbent of the benefice continuously for the last seven years. Subsequent measures, notably the 1926 Clergy Pensions Measure established a comprehensive system of clergy pensions, and these measures were replaced or consolidated by new legislation in 1948, 1961 and 1988.
'Older incumbents' are incumbents or archdeacons born on or before 31 December 1871, who are entitled to pensions under the 1930 Clergy Pensions (Older Incumbents) Measure. This measure establishes pensions to be funded from both the revenues of the benefice and the general fund of the Church Commissioners, following a commission of enquiry appointed by the bishop.
Rural Deans
Reference: DDR/EA/CLD Rural Deans have a few formal powers, mainly relating to inspection and reporting in connection with resignations, disciplinary proceedings and fabric. Their duties mainly concern the support and discipline of the clergy, as well as any other duties that they may be deputed to perform by the bishop or archdeacon.
The office of Rural Dean, although an ancient and formerly important position within the church, fell into disuse before the Reformation, and was only revived in the 19th century.
Rural Deans are appointed by the bishop and archdeacon. The appointment is not permanent, and carries no remuneration.
Archdeaconries and Durham Cathedral Canonries
Reference: DDR/EA/CLA A number of the Durham cathedral canonries are annexed to archdeaconries within the diocese or professorships in the University of Durham.
All the Durham Cathedral canonries are in the gift of the bishop of Durham.
Episcopal Appointments and Commissions
Reference: DDR/EA/CLE A suffragan bishop may be appointed to exercise specific jurisdiction and authority on behalf of the diocesan bishop, according to the latter's commission. A suffragan bishop is appointed by the Crown on the petition of the diocesan bishop, who will name two clerics for the appointment. The Crown then may appoint the suffragan to such see as seems convenient, so long as it is within the same province. A suffragan bishop may take only such profits, jurisdiction and authority as are licensed and limited to him by his diocesan, by commission under his seal.
A diocesan bishop may issue a commission to another bishop to exercise specific episcopal functions within his diocese and/or to serve as his assistant bishop, if he thinks that he will not himself be able to carry out those functions by reason of illness or absence.
Layworkers' Appointments
Reference: DDR/EA/CLY Layworkers are licensed to serve either within the diocese as a whole or within a particular parish. The licences are for a fixed term and may be renewed (or, in the case of licences to particular parishes, extended in scope).
Non-Ecclesiastical Appointments
Schoolmasters
Reference: DDR/EA/NES Schoolmasters required licences from the bishop to teach, although few nominations for such licences survive.
If the bishop was unable to license schoolmasters personally, he could issue a commission to an archdeacon or other office-holder or incumbent to take the master's oaths and issue the licence.
Pocock, J.G.A., “Schools and schoolmasters in some Durham episcopal records”, Durham research review of the institute of education, 3 (1952), 15-23
Parish Clerks
Reference: DDR/EA/NEP Parish clerks were, until 1921, appointed by incumbents and entitled to serve for life. The 1921 Parochial Church Councils Measure gives the appointment jointly to the parochial church council and the incumbent.
Parish clerks were usually licensed by the bishop, although this was not legally required.
Other Non-Ecclesiastical Appointments
Reference: DDR/EA/NEO Midwives and surgeons required licences from the bishop before they could practice.
The appointment of a number of paupers as 'bedesmen' was established at the Reformation in the former monastic cathedrals. They assist in the cleaning and servicing of the cathedral. They are now appointed by the dean and chapter of Durham cathedral. Note that this appointment did not formally involve the bishop, but involved the diocesan registrar, probably in a personal capacity.
Benefices and Parishes
Pastoral Reorganisation
Reference: DDR/EA/BEP The 1838 Plurality Act required those holding benefices in plurality to be licensed by the archbishop of Canterbury. (Exceptions are allowed for certain cathedral preferments and archdeacons.) In order to be licensed, the incumbent had to submit statements of the value of the benefices and other matters to the bishop(s) of the diocese(s) where they were situated. These statements were certified by the bishop(s) and forwarded to the archbishop of Canterbury, and a copy was filed in the registry.
Orders made by the Sovereign in Privy Council, mainly to confirm schemes for the pastoral reorganisation of parishes and benefices. Also other orders for pastoral reorganisations, which do not require confirmation by the Privy Council.
Schemes are drawn up by the Ecclesiastical (later, Church) Commissioners for the following purposes:
alterations to the boundaries of parishes and districts;
the creation, dissolution or union of benefices;
new forms of ministry within a benefice or group of parishes;
alterations in patronage;
sale or disposal of property;
changes to the endowments of a benefice;
closure or disposal of churchyards, or of portions of churchyards;
other pastoral measures.
During the 20th century, various measures have been passed to revise or simplify the procedures for pastoral reorganisations. The 1949 Pastoral Reorganisation Measure created Pastoral Committees in dioceses, and allowed schemes for pluralities to be introduced by bishop's order, without a licence from the archbishop. The 1968 Pastoral Measure (in turn replaced by the 1983 Pastoral Measure) allows a large number of pastoral reorganisations to be effected by bishop's order (after approval by the Church Commissioners), without obtaining an order in Council. (Other reorganisations require a pastoral scheme, to be approved by the Church Commissioners and confirmed by the Privy Council.)
Orders in Council usually come into effect on the date of their publication in the 'London Gazette' (known as their 'gazetting'), unless specified otherwise in the order. Later orders may come into effect on the first day of the month following either their gazetting or the date of the order.
A Conventional District can be established out of an existing parish or parishes by agreement between the bishop, incumbent(s) and patron(s) of the church(es) involved. A curate was appointed to be in charge of the district, often styled a 'priest in charge'. The agreement establishing a Conventional District required renewal with every change of incumbent in the parish(es). Conventional Districts were usually established with a view to the future creation of a new parish for the district.
The 1941 Diocesan Reorganisation Committees Measure established a diocesan reorganisation committee in every diocese. This committee advised incumbents and others on the execution or deferment of repairs to churches and other buildings, and made recommendations to the bishop for rearrangement of pastoral supervision where that course had become necessary through causes attributable to the war.
The 1944 Reorganisation Areas Measure allowed the Church Commissioners to declare certain areas, affected by war damage or the action of planning authorities, ecclesiastical reorganisation areas. This allowed the diocesan reorganisation committee to make recommendations to the bishop regarding the rearrangement of their pastoral supervision (for instance, the formation, alteration or dissolution of benefices and parishes). The bishop could then forward such recommendations to the Church Commissioners, who could prepare a draft scheme, subsequently confirmed by an order under their seal.
Team and group ministries are both set up by pastoral schemes under the 1968 Pastoral Measure. These pastoral schemes are submitted by the Church Commissioners to the Privy Council for approval. Team ministries establish a team rector and vicars for a single benefice (or a group of benefices being held in plurality by a single incumbent), the benefice becoming a rectory if it is not already one. The incumbent of the benefice is called the 'team rector', the office being either freehold or for a specified term of years. The team rector is assisted by one or more ministers who are called 'team vicars', and have the status and security of an incumbent, although they are appointed for a specified term of years. The vicars are chosen by the bishop and rector jointly, and are appointed by licence. The details of appointments and terms are laid out in the pastoral schemes which establish the team ministries. Group ministries cover an area that includes several benefices, in which each of the incumbents has the authority and duty to perform offices and services throughout the group on an equal basis. The benefices retain their own Parochial Church Councils, but a Group Council may be established for the whole area.
The 1943 New Parishes Measure repealed and reenacted almost all the law laid down by the 'New Parishes Acts' of 1843 to 1884. The 1943 measure allowed the Church Commissioners to prepare a scheme establishing a new parish, and to submit the scheme to the Privy Council. When the scheme had been confirmed by an Order in Council, the new area became either a new parish (if it already contained a consecrated church building), or else it would be a separate 'district' for spiritual purposes. This distinction between 'parishes' and 'districts' has been removed by the 1968 Pastoral Measure.
Current arrangements for pastoral reorganisation and closure or disposal of church buildings are included in the Mission and Pastoral Measure 2011, for which the Church Commissioners have published a code of practice. The appendices of the code include a glossary of terms and a summary of previous acts and measures. Note that since 1 June 2005, pastoral schemes are confirmed by the Church Commissioners and do not require subsequent confirmation by Order in Council (Church of England (Miscellaneous Provisions) Measure 2005, s.8 and sch.4).
Benefice Income and Fees
Reference: DDR/EA/BEI Under the 1866 Ecclesiastical Commissioners Act, the Ecclesiastical Commissioners (later the Church Commissioners) were able to award grants of yearly stipends out of their common (later 'general') fund to augment certain benefices.
Fees for services of the church which are provided for its individual members and which are paid to the incumbent or curate of the parish (notably marriages, churchings and burials) are known as 'surplice fees'. Such fees were formerly due according to the custom of a particular parish. Since 1818, various acts and measures have provided methods of fixing these fees. Under the 1843 New Parishes Act, new parishes or districts could, following resolution of a vestry meeting, draw up a list of fees for approval by the Chancellor of the diocese. By the 1938 Ecclesiastical Commissioners (Powers) Measure, the fees of parishes could be fixed by the Ecclesiastical (later Church) Commissioners.
Dilapidations
Reference: DDR/EA/BED An incumbent of a benefice is responsible for any dilapidations (deterioration of or damage to fabric) to his benefice buildings. An incoming incumbent can claim the value of any dilapidations from his predecessor.
The 1871 Ecclesiastical Dilapidations Act established a formal system of surveys (by specially appointed Diocesan Surveyors) during vacancies of benefices, so that the value of dilapidations could be established and reclaimed from previous incumbents accordingly.
The 1923 Ecclesiastical Dilapidations Measure led to the creation in each diocese of a Dilapidations Board to appoint the Diocesan Surveyors and receive their reports. The duties of the Dilapidations Board were transferred to the Diocesan Parsonages Board under the 1972 Repair of Benefice Buildings Measure.
Miscellaneous Benefice Papers
Reference: DDR/EA/BEM The background to the returns in class DDR/EA/BEM/3 is unclear. Although the printed forms suggest that they were in a standard format and not specific to Durham diocese, any legislation requiring the returns has not been identified. However, a letter from SPCK within one of the files of correspondence on the 1912 episcopal visitation (within DDR/EV/VIS/5/1912, but accessioned as AUC/2/2-4), suggests that they were sent out on behalf of SPCK for compilation of the Church of England year book, otherwise the Official year book of the National Assembly of the Church of England (published by the Church Information Office and SPCK, from 1883). They appear to have been sent out at the same time as the visitation returns, and this would explain their previous retention by the Bishop's Office rather than the Diocesan Registry.
The Diocesan Commission on Poverty and Charitable Assistance (DDR/EA/BEM/4) was established by the Bishop of Durham, in order to collect information from the diocese for the use of the Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and Relief of Distress. See parliamentary paper [Cd. 4499].
The incomes of poor benefice could be augmented by any ecclesiastical corporation, under the 1677 and 1831 Augmentation of Benefices Acts. A return of all such augmentations was required by a resolution of the House of Commons dated 21 July 1863.
Patronage
Transfers of Rights of Patronage
Reference: DDR/EA/PAT Transfers of patronage were regulated by the 1898 Benefices Act, the 1923 Benefices Act 1898 (Amendment) Measure, and the 1930 Benefices (Transfers of Rights of Patronage) Measure. The transfers were registered in the diocesan registry.
The 1898 Benefices Act aimed to control the transfer of rights of patronage (known as 'advowsons'), and to prevent the corrupt or simoniacal bargaining of advowsons. Under the 1898 Benefices Act, every transfer of an advowson had to be registered with the diocesan registrar, and rights of patronage could no longer be sold by public auction (except when sold in conjunction with a landed estate). The 1898 act was amended by the 1923 Benefices Act 1898 (Amendment) Measure.
Under the 1898 Benefices Act, transfers of advowsons had to be registered with the diocesan registry. This registration had to be done within one month of the date of the transfer, unless an extension was authorised by the bishop. In addition, a transfer would be invalid if less than one year had elapsed since the last institution or admission to the benefice, and a bishop could refuse to institute a presentee to a benefice if it was vacant within a year of a transfer.
Under the 1923 Benefices Act 1898 (Amendment) Measure, an advowson could not be sold after two vacancies in the benefice subsequent to 14th July 1924 (with certain exceptions). A person entitled to a right of patronage could also declare her/his intention that the advowson be incapable of sale before the two vacancies had occurred; he/she then registered this declaration in the diocesan registry.
The 1930 Benefices (Transfer of Rights of Patronage) Measure requires the bishop to notify the churchwardens and parochial church council of any parish whose patron intends to transfer his advowson, and to invite objections to the proposed transfer.
The 1933 Benefices (Purchase of Rights of Patronage) Measure allows parochial church councils to purchase rights of patronage in certain cases. The purchase is by a resolution of the parochial church council, and by agreement of the patron (or by arbitration, failing agreement). Once a price for the purchase has been agreed (or fixed by arbitration), the patron conveys the patronage to the Diocesan Board of Patronage. The right of patronage cannot be sold if two vacancies of the benefice have occurred since 1924, and the resolution must be passed within three years of the registration of a transfer of right of patronage under the 1923 Benefices Act 1898 (Amendment) Measure.
1931 Benefices (Exercise of Rights of Presentation) Measure
Reference: DDR/EA/PAB The 1931 Benefices (Exercise of Rights of Presentation) Measure gave certain rights to Parochial Church Councils (PCCs) in the choice of incumbents.
Under the measure, any vacancy in a benefice is to be notified to the PCC by the bishop, and the PCC may make representations to the patron regarding their parish. In addition, the PCC may pass a resolution, requiring the patron to obtain consent to his nominee, either from representatives of the parish, or from the bishop. The measure also established a body of advisers, to advise the bishop should his approval for a nominee be sought.
Note that the substantial aspects of this measure only apply if PCCs choose to pass resolutions to put them into effect. Few seem to have done so.
Suspension of Patronage
Reference: DDR/EA/PAS The right of a patron to present to a vacant living is in certain circumstances suspended by the bishop, most often when a reorganisation or union of benefices is contemplated. Suspensions are regulated by the 1953 Benefices (Suspension of Presentation) Measure and the 1968 Pastoral Measure (which is itself consolidated in the 1983 Pastoral Measure).
Patronage (Benefices) Measure 1986
Reference: DDR/EA/PAP The Patronage (Benefices) Measure 1986 concerns the registration of patrons' interests and the rights of parochial church councils in relation to the appointments of incumbents.
The first part of the 1986 Patronage (Benefices) Measure, concerning the registration of patronage, came into operation on 1st October 1987. It was to be completed by 31st December 1988, with the remainder of the measure becoming operative on 1st January 1989.
The 1986 Patronage (Benefices) Measure required patrons to register their interest in any benefice with the diocesan registry by 31 December 1988. The 1986 Patronage (Benefices) Measure requires each diocese to compile and maintain a register of benefices, with details of the patrons for each benefice.
The bulk of the 1986 Patronage (Benefices) Measure came into force on 1st January 1989, and replaced earlier legislation relating to the notification to parochial church councils of vacancies and the exercise of their rights in the appointment of a new incumbent.
The measure requires patrons either to declare that they are members of the Church of England, or to appoint a representative who can make this declaration. A parochial church council is required to prepare a statement describing the conditions, needs and traditions of the parish, and to appoint two lay members to act as its representatives. In addition, the parochial church council, patron or bishop may request a joint meeting to discuss the statement of needs of the parish and the bishop's statement of the wider needs of the diocese and church.
Deeds
Reference: DDR/EA/DDS
Churches and other Licensed Buildings, Parish Rooms, Churchyards, Burial Grounds and Cemeteries Church dedications which are most likely to cause confusion due to previous pastoral reorganisations, church closures and rebuilding programmes, include the following.
Bishop Auckland had two buildings dedicated to St Peter. One is Auckland Castle Chapel and is not a parochial church. Auckland St Peter on Princes Street was consecrated 1875 (DDR/EA/CHC/3/A13) and closed ca.2014.
Darlington has had two different chapels dedicated to St Luke, both within the parish of Darlington St Luke (later the united benefice of Darlington St Matthew and St Luke), both in use at the same time for most of the 20th century, and both now redundant. Darlington St Luke old church was consecrated 1883 (DDR/EA/CHC/3/D25), declared redundant 1976 and demolished ca.1978 (DDR/EA/BEP/4/638, 656): it was in Leadenhall Street, and after 1917 was a chapel of ease within the parish of Darlington St Luke. The new Darlington St Luke parish church was consecrated 1917 (DDR/EA/CHC/3/D41), declared redundant 1979 and sold ca.1980 (DDR/EA/BEP/4/675, 693, 710): this was in Marshall Street/Corporation Road, and is also known as the Railway Pioneers Memorial Church. The church of Darlington St Matthew is now known (? unofficially) as Darlington St Matthew and St Luke.
Escomb had two churches dedicated to St John the Evangelist from 1863 to 1969, viz Escomb St John (Saxon church) and Escomb St John (Victorian church) (consecrated 1863, demolished 1969, see DDR/EA/CHC/3/E9 and DDR/EA/BEP/4/585,587A).
There are two Grindons in County Durham. The older is near Thorpe Thewles in Stockton deanery, and has churches dedicated to St Thomas à Becket (in ruins) and St James, as well as (until 1985) Embleton St Mary. Grindon in Sunderland (Pennywell) has a new church dedicated to St Oswald.
There are two Hamsterleys in County Durham. The larger is in Auckland deanery and its church is Hamsterley St James. The smaller is in Lanchester deanery: its church is now known legally as Hamsterley Colliery Christ Church but is referenced in these lists as Low Westwood Christ Church.
Herrington has had two churches dedicated to St Chad, one effectively replacing the other (but on a different site). Herrington St Chad's Mission was an iron and wood church built 1930 from the former chapel of St Chad's College in Durham, on the corner of St Chad's Crescent and St Chad's Road (www.herrington-heritage.org.uk). The current church of Sunderland St Chad (formerly East Herrington St Chad) on the other side of Durham Road was consecrated in 1961 (DDR/EA/CHC/3/HH67) and formed as a separate parish in 1962 (DDR/EA/BEP/4/552).
Jarrow has had two churches dedicated to St Peter. Jarrow St Peter (Chaytor Street) was consecrated 1881 (DDR/EA/CHC/3/IJ8), closed 1969 and demolished 1971 (DDR/EA/BEP/4/587, 594). Jarrow St Peter (Monkton) was built 1970 (from www.jarrowparish.info).
Ryhope has had two different churches, both dedicated to St Paul and both in use from 1870 to 1970s. Ryhope St Paul (old church) was consecrated 1827 (DDR/EA/CHC/3/R3), became a chapel of ease within the parish of Ryhope St Paul in 1870, declared redundant and appropriated to office use 1977-1978 (DDR/EA/BEP/4/648, 661). Ryhope St Paul (new church) is nearby and was consecrated 1870 (DDR/EA/CHC/3/R13).
Sockburn parish is mostly situated south of the river Tees and included the two Yorkshire villages of Girsby and Over Dinsdale. Its parish church was Sockburn All Saints (within County Durham, within a loop of the Tees) until 1838, when the new church (in Yorkshire, but north east of the old church) was consecrated as Girsby All Saints (DDR/EA/CHC/3/S16). Sockburn All Saints (old church) was not formally declared redundant until 1998 (DDR/EA/BEP/4/853), although already in ruins by that date. The benefice of Dinsdale St John the Baptist (in Low or Nether Dinsdale, County Durham) was united with Sockburn parish in 1928 (DDR/EA/BEP/4/454).
There are two Stanleys in County Durham. The smaller is near Crook and its church is Stanley St Thomas (Crook) (consecrated 1877 as DDR/EA/CHC/3/S63). The larger Stanley has churches dedicated to St Andrew (Beamish St Andrew, consecrated 1876 as DDR/EA/CHC/3/B42) and St Stephen (Stanley St Stephen, dedicated 1954 according to Ruscoe, since 200x apparently a community centre managed by South Stanley Partnership). The church near Crook should not be confused with Craghead St Thomas, which merged with Beamish St Andrew to form the current Stanley parish in 1988 (DDR/EA/BEP/4/774).
Sunderland has had three churches dedicated to St Peter. The oldest is Monkwearmouth St Peter, founded 674 by Benedict Biscop and part of the Wearmouth-Jarrow monastery. Bishopwearmouth St Peter in Green Street was consecrated 1872 (DDR/EA/CHC/3/B37) and closed 1945 (DDR/EA/BEP/4/496A). Sunderland St Peter Thorney Close (in Thorndale Road) was built 1949 (Ruscoe) and closed 2001 (date from note with quinquennial inspection reports). Note that the church of Sunderland St Mary the Virgin Springwell has since the closure of Sunderland St Peter Thorney Close been called Springwell (or Sunderland) St Mary and St Peter.
There are two Thornleys in County Durham, and in each the church is dedicated to St Bartholomew. One is near Wheatley Hill in Easington deanery (normally called Thornley St Bartholomew (Kelloe) within these lists), and the other near Tow Law in Stanhope deanery (normally Thornley St Bartholomew (Wolsingham))
Washington (New Town) has two churches dedicated to the Holy Trinity, both substantially (re-)built 1831-1833. Washington Holy Trinity is in the old village, next to Washington Old Hall. Usworth Holy Trinity is in Peareth Hall Road, Usworth.
The dedication of Whitburn parish church is sometimes recorded as St Andrew (apparently from a dedication on a bell, see Ruscoe p.137), but more normally as St Mary
Gateshead parishes were repeatedly reorganised in the second half of the 20th century.
Gateshead St James was consecrated 1865, declared redundant 1982 and subsequently demolished (DDR/EA/CHC/3/G10 and DDR/EA/BEP/4/721). The original Gateshead Venerable Bede was consecrated 1885 and demolished 1984 (DDR/EA/CHC/3/G17 and DDR/EA/BEP/4/742), but its church hall was then re-purposed as a new church (or 'church centre') and called Gateshead St James and St Bede.
Gateshead St Edmund was a chapel-of-ease in Gateshead St Mary parish, located in Old Durham Road, consecrated 1810 (DDR/EA/CHC/3/G1) and becoming a parochial chapelry in 1865 (DDR/EA/BEP/4/173). It was demolished 1970 and its site disposed of 1972 (DDR/EJ/FAC/3/5163A and DDR/EA/BEP/4/599). The disused medieval chapel of St Edmund's Hospital was re-opened as Gateshead Holy Trinity in 1837, before being enlarged ca.1893 (DDR/EJ/FAC/3/357). This extension was declared redundant in 1972 and became a community centre in 1980 (DDR/EA/BEP/4/602 and 691), while the original medieval chapel (ie the south aisle of the enlarged Gateshead Holy Trinity church) continued in use and became the parish church of Gateshead in 1982 under the name Gateshead St Edmund's Chapel (DDR/EA/BEP/4/721).
Hartlepool has re-used dedications for Holy Trinity and St James' churches:
West Hartlepool St James was in Musgrave Street (www.hhtandn.org), consecrated 1869 (DDR/EA/CHC/3/H34) and demolished ca.1957 (see DDR/EA/BEP/4/530). Hartlepool St James Owton Manor was built 1958 (DDR/DA/DAC/2/Dch293/1), but not apparently consecrated until 1983 (DDR/EA/CHC/3/O1).
Hartlepool Holy Trinity (Vane Street) on the headland was consecrated 1852 (DDR/EA/CHC/3/H14) and demolished 1953 (DDR/EA/BEP/4/519). Its replacement in Davison Drive (West View) was consecreated 1958 (DDR/EA/CHC/3/HH66).
Stockton-on-Tees has re-used dedications for Holy Trinity, St James', St John's and St Paul's churches:
Holy Trinity
Stockton on Tees Holy Trinity Yarm Lane was consecrated 1835, extended 1906 (DDR/EA/CHC/3/S13, S106), declared redundant 1983 (DDR/EA/BEP/4/726) and destroyed by fire in 1991 (the ruins still stand on Trinity Green). A new church in Fairfield was dedicated 1991, became a separate parish in 1995 (DDR/EA/BEP/4/826), consecrated 1997, and is called Stockton on Tees Holy Trinity Greenvale within these lists.
St James
Stockton on Tees St James Portrack was consecrated in 1868 (DDR/EA/CHC/3/S46), and closed ca.1959 (see DDR/EA/BEP/4/540 for united benefice with St Thomas, 1960). Stockton on Tees St James Hardwick was built 1960-1966, dedicated 1966, formed as a new parish 1989 (DDR/EA/BEP/4/785) and closed 2001.
St John
Stockton on Tees St John the Baptist (Alma Street) was consecrated in 1874 (DDR/EA/CHC/3/S61), declared redundant 1979 (DDR/EA/BEP/4/663) and shortly afterwards demolished. Its replacement was Stockton on Tees St John (Durham Road), which formed a new parish and benefice in 1984 (DDR/EA/BEP/4/738)
St Paul
Stockton on Tees St Paul (Wellington Street) was consecrated in 1885 (DDR/EA/CHC/3/S76, location info from heritage.stockton.gov.uk), and closed ca.1925. Its replacement was Stockton on Tees St Paul (Newtown) in Bishopton Road, which was consecrated 1926 (DDR/EA/CHC/3/S123, see also DDR/EA/BEP/4/449). The bricks from the old St Paul's church were recycled to build Blackhall St Andrew in Easington deanery (after being turned 'inside out'), which was consecrated 1930 (DDR/EA/CHC/3/B78).
Note also that a number of church names are used in both Northumberland and County Durham for different places (not all the churches listed here pre-date 1882, when the diocese of Durham was divided).
Birtley St John the Evangelist is in Chester-le-Street deanery (County Durham), Birtley St Giles is in Bellingham deanery (Northumberland)
Bolam St Andrew (County Durham) is in Darlington deanery, Bolam St Andrew (Northumberland) is in Morpeth deanery
Dalton-le-Dale St Andrew is in Easington deanery (County Durham), Dalton Holy Trinity is in Newcastle West deanery (Northumberland)
Denton St Mary is in Darlington deanery (County Durham), Denton Holy Spirit is in Newcastle West deanery (Northumberland)
Embleton St Mary (now ruined) was a chapel of ease in Grindon parish (Stockton deanery, County Durham), Embleton Holy Trinity is in Alnwick deanery (Northumberland)
Hartburn All Saints is in Stockton deanery (County Durham), Hartburn St Andrew is in Morpeth deanery (Northumberland)
Hebburn in Jarrow deanery (County Durham) has 19th century churches dedicated to St Cuthbert, St John and St Oswald. Hebron St Cuthbert in Morpeth deanery (Northumberland) is often spelt Hebburn.
Whorlton St Mary is in Barnard Castle deanery (County Durham), Whorlton St John is in Newcastle West deanery (Northumberland)
Willington St Stephen is in Stanhope (previously Auckland) deanery, County Durham. Willington in Tynemouth deanery (Northumberland) has 19/20th century churches dedicated to St Mary the Virgin, St Paul (Willington Quay/Howdon) and The Good Shepherd (Battle Hill).
M.H. Port, Six hundred new churches (London, 1961)
S. Prins and R. Massingberd-Mundy (eds), The Newcastle diocesan gazetteer: a guide to the Anglican churches in Newcastle upon Tyne and Northumberland (Newcastle, 1982)
G. E. Milburn, Church and chapel in Sunderland 1780-1914 (Sunderland, 1988)
A.W. Dinnick, Some medieval churches of County Durham (Durham, 1991)
A.W. Dinnick, The Norman churches of County Durham (Durham, 1992)
J.E. Ruscoe (ed), The churches of the Diocese of Durham (Durham, 1994)
A.W. Dinnick, The Anglican churches of County Durham from 1901 (Crook, 1994)
P.F. Ryder, Historic churches of County Durham (Durham, 2011)
Spirit in stone: explore more than 120 historic churches in the North East of England (North Shields, 2013), also available online via inspirednortheast.org.uk and www.spiritinstone.co.uk
Consecrations
Reference: DDR/EA/CHC A church or chapel may be licensed for the performance of divine service before it is consecrated. However, it does not legally become a church until it is consecrated. A building must therefore be consecrated before it can become the church of a separate parish. The consecration of a churchyard is not legally necessary, but has become general practice.
The act of consecration separates property for ever from common uses, and the property ceases to be the property of the donor. In strictness, only an Act of Parliament or Measure of the Church Assembly can divest it of its sacred character.
Licensing for the Performance of Divine Services
Reference: DDR/EA/CHD Licences to perform divine service were granted by the bishop to buildings in various circumstances: sometimes to allow a building to be used before it was consecrated, or for school halls and other (temporary) mission rooms, or for buildings used while the main church building was under repair. Licences were also granted to cemetery chapels, to allow them to be used for the performance of burial services.
Licensing for the Publication of Banns and the Solemnisation of Marriages
Reference: DDR/EA/CHM Any church or chapel may be licensed by the bishop for the publication of banns and the solemnisation of marriages, if he thinks it necessary for the convenience of the inhabitants of the district and if the patron and incumbent consent.
The consent of the patron and incumbent of a living must be sought before any chapel within the benefice can be licensed for the publication of banns or the solemnisation of marriages. The consent can be dispensed with after two months' notice in writing has been given to the patron and incumbent by the registrar.
Revocations of Licences
Reference: DDR/EA/CHR The revocation of licences for the publication of banns and solemnisation of marriages requires the consent of the archbishop of York, and must be published in the 'London Gazette'.
The Sharing of Church Buildings and the Designation of Parish Centres of Worship
Reference: DDR/EA/CHS The 1969 Sharing of Church Buildings Act enables two or more churches to make 'sharing agreements' for the sharing of church buildings.
The churches to which the 1969 Sharing of Church Buildings Act applies are the churches of the Baptist and Congregational denominations, congregations of the Churches of Christ in Great Britain, the Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church of England, the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of England and the Church in Wales.
The parties to the sharing agreement must include the Diocesan Board of Finance, the incumbent of the parish and the parochial church council. The agreement also requires the consent of the bishop and the diocesan pastoral committee. It covers financial obligations for the building, as well as arrangements for worship.
The provisions of the 1969 act have been extended by the 1988 Church of England (Ecumenical Relations) Measure.
Parish Centres of Worship
Reference: DDR/EA/CHW Under the 1968 Pastoral Measure (consolidated in the 1983 Pastoral Measure), where a parish has no parish church, the bishop must license one or more buildings or parts of buildings for worship. He may also designate any licensed building in the parish as a parish centre of worship. The building is then deemed for certain purposes to be a parish church, and two churchwardens are to be appointed for it.
Parish Rooms
Parsonage Houses
Loans and Mortgages for Repairs to Parsonage Houses
Reference: DDR/EA/PHL From the last quarter of the 18th century, a series of statutes have been enacted to enable parsonage houses to be built or repaired in all benefices.
The 1776 Clergy Residences Repair Act, together with subsequent amending acts (1780 Clergy Residences Repair Act, 1826 Clergy Residence Act, 1838 Parsonages Act and 1865 Parsonages Act) are usually referred to as the 'Gilbert' Acts, and were consolidated and amended by the 1918 Loans (Incumbents of Benefices) Amendment Act.
The 1871 Ecclesiastical Dilapidations Act (replaced by the 1923 Ecclesiastical Dilapidations Measure, itself amended in 1929 and 1951, and replaced by the 1972 Repair of Benefice Buildings Measure) also includes provisions for loans for parsonage house repairs.
The Gilbert Acts allow an incumbent to borrow money for the repair or rebuilding of his parsonage house from the Governors of Queen Anne's Bounty, by mortgaging the profits of his benefice. The acts establish maximum levels and repayment rules for the mortgages.
The dilapidations acts allow an incumbent to mortgage to the Governors of Queen Anne's Bounty the profits of his benefice in a similar way, to raise money for repairs ordered in a report of the diocesan surveyor.
The functions of the Governors of Queen Anne's Bounty were taken on by the Church Commissioners when that body was formed in 1948. The acts relating to loans and mortgages were repealed and replaced by the 1976 Endowments and Glebe Measure.
Hodgson, C., An account of the augmentation of small livings by the Governors of the Bounty of Queen Anne..., also supplements, 1835 and later (London, 1826)
Savidge, A., The foundation and early years of Queen Anne's Bounty (London, 1955)
Sales and Purchases of Parsonage Houses
Reference: DDR/EA/PHS The 1838 Parsonages Act allowed a parsonage house to be sold, subject to the consent of the archbishop, bishop and patron. The proceeds of the sale were to be held by the Governors of Queen Anne's Bounty in a special account, and to be used only for the purchase and/or building of a replacement parsonage house.
The 1930 Parsonages Measure gave to the Governors of Queen Anne's Bounty a greater involvement in any sale, and abolished the requirement to obtain the consent of the archbishop and patron first.
The 1938 Parsonages Measure enables an incumbent (or, during a vacancy, the bishop) to sell, purchase or build a parsonage house, after giving notice to the patron and parochial church council, and with the consent of the Governors of Queen Anne's Bounty (later, the Church Commissioners), the diocesan dilapidations board and the bishop. The 1960 Church Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Measure extended these powers to allow the exchange of a parsonage house for any other suitable house.
Glebe
Reference: DDR/EA/GLE The glebe of a benefice includes all land and buildings that form the endowment of the benefice, excluding the parsonage house and its grounds.
Canon law requires churchwardens to compile 'terriers' (i.e. surveys of lands) of glebe lands, and to deposit them in the diocesan registry.
The sale or leasing of glebe lands was reformed and extended by a series of acts which are referred to collectively as the 'Ecclesiastical Leasing Acts'. They are the 1842 Ecclesiastical Leases Act (for agricultural leases), the 1842 Ecclesiastical Leasing Act (which allowed leases for building improvements) and the 1858 Ecclesiastical Leasing Act (which allowed leases in general, where it is deemed advantageous to the benefice. The first act requires the consents of the bishop and patron, and the other two of the patron and the Church Commissioners.
The 1815 Glebe Exchange Act 55 George 3 c.147) and the 1842 Tithe Act (5 & 6 Victoria c.54), allowed exchanges of glebe land, with the approval of the Tithe Commissioners.
The 1888 Glebe Lands Act (51 & 52 Victoria c.20), allowed the Land Commissioners (later, Ministry of Agriculture) to approve a sale of glebe land and invest the purchase money for certain specified uses.
The post-1888 terriers were drawn up following resolutions of the Durham Diocesan Conference, 23 February 1888. A printed notice of the resolutions is attached to the list of terriers kept at the start of series DDR/EA/GLE/2.
Barratt, D.M., “Glebe terriers”, in Short guides to records: first series, guides 1-24, ed. by L.M. Munby, reprinted edn ed. by K.M. Thompson (1994), 73-76
Tithe
Reference: DDR/EA/TTH History of tithes and the acts to commute and extinguish them, 1836-1936 Tithes, or one tenth of all produce, were payable by landowners to parochial clergy and to "impropriators" (lay people who gained possession of monasterial tithes at the Dissolution). Typically, the "great" tithes (corn, hay and wood) were held by the record of the parish (whether a clergyman or lay impropriator), and the others ("small" tithes) were held by the vicar. Although originally paid in kind, tithes were usually collected as a money payment, based on the annual produce of the land or increase in farm stock (lambs, calves etc).
From the 18th century, tithes began to be replaced by (or "commuted" to) money payments, particularly when agricultural land was improved or enclosed. Enclosure awards often include details of the annual payments of "corn rents" that were agreed in lieu of tithes: these payments usually varied with the price of corn ("corn" being used in the English sense of "grain" and incorporating wheat, oats and barley). Elsewhere, tithes were occasionally extinguished (i.e. permanently abolished) by a grant of land to the tithe-owner, or a fixed payment of "modus" was agreed instead of the tithes. However, most land continued liable to the payment of tithes up to 1836.
The 1836 Tithe Act (6 & 7 William 4 c.71) largely abolished the old system of tithes, by substituting them with annual monetary payments, called "rent-charges". This substitution ("commutation") was achieved either by voluntary agreement between the landowners and tithe-owners (made at a parochial meeting and subsequently confirmed by the Tithe Commissioners), or, if no agreement was reached, by a compulsory award by the Tithe Commissioners. Valuers were then appointed at parochial meetings, to draw up maps and to apportion the rent-charges between the separate properties or fields. The rent-charges were based on the average value of tithes collected over the previous seven years.
Where the landowner and the tithe-owner were the same person, the tithes could be “merged” within the land (so that the landowner no longer needed to 'pay himself' the tithes due).
The annual payment that was subsequently collected was based on these rent-charges, but adjusted according to the average price of wheat, barley and oats over the previous 7 (later 15) years. For the purposes of collection, the rent-charges in the tithe apportionments were deemed to represent particular quantities of wheat, barley and oats, and the tithe agreements or awards include the current prices for these grains to enable these quantities to be calculated. Annual tables were published to assist with the calculations.
The details of the rent-charges payable for each property or field were written up in the tithe "apportionments", which were drawn up at the time of the tithe commutation agreement or award.
A series of Tithe Acts between 1837 and 1925 extended or amended the provisions of the 1836 act in various ways. Only the most important additions are noted here. The acts themselves are: 7 William 4 & 1 Victoria c.69, 1 & 2 Victoria c.64, 2 & 3 Victoria c.32, 3 & 4 Victoria c.15, 5 & 6 Victoria c.54, 9 & 10 Victoria c.73, 23 & 24 Victoria c.93, 41 & 42 Victoria c.42, 54 & 55 Victoria c.8, 8 & 9 George 5 c.54, 15 & 16 George 5 c.87.
The 1846 Tithe Act (9 & 10 Victoria c.73) introduced provision for the "redemption" of tithe rent-charge. A landowner could extinguish a small rent-charge by a lump-sum payment to the tithe-owner. The redemption money for rent-charge owing to an incumbent was to be paid to the Governors of Queen Anne's Bounty. Subsequent acts extended the redemption provisions.
The 1860 Tithe Act (23 & 24 Victoria c.93) allowed "corn rents" (money payments made in lieu of tithes, agreed before 1836, usually as part of local Enclosure acts or awards) to be converted into tithe rent-charge.
The 1918 Tithe Act (8 & 9 George 5 c.54) allowed redemption money for tithe rent-charges to be payable by annual instalments or "annuities", for a period of 50 (later 60) years maximum. These annual payments came to be known as "corn rent annuities" after 1951 (to distinguish them from redemption annuities payable under the 1936 Tithe Act - see below). The redemption annuities could themselves be redeemed (i.e. paid off with a single lump sum), or might be further apportioned if the land was divided or sold on). Redemption, if requested by the landowner, became compulsory, and could not be refused by the tithe-owner.
The 1925 Tithe Act (15 & 16 George 5 c.87) vested any rent-charge belonging to a benefice in the Governors of Queen Anne's Bounty (later, the Church Commissioners) instead of the incumbent, to be held in trust for the incumbent.
The 1936 Tithe Act (26 George 5 & 1 Edward 8 c.43) finally extinguished rent-charges, and broke the link between the landowner and tithe-owner. The tithe rent-charges were redeemed centrally by the government, and tithe-owners were compensated by the issue of 3% government stock (which was finally redeemed at par by the government in 1988). Landowners paid a "rent-charge redemption annuity" to the Crown instead of a rent-charge. These annuities were payable for a maximum of 60 years, to 1996, but were often redeemed by paying a single lump sum, and were in fact extinguished prematurely by the 1977 Finance Act. The Tithe Redemption Commission could enforce redemption of the rent-charge redemption annuities if they were very small or were due to be excessively sub-divided, and the annuities had to be redeemed by the purchasers if the land was sold after 1962. The functions of the Tithe Redemption Commission were transferred to the Inland Revenue in 1960.
Tithe maps drawn up under the 1836 Tithe Act The tithe maps and apportionments were drawn up at the time of the tithe commutation agreement or award, following the 1836 Tithe Act. They map the properties within each township, and the accompanying schedule or “apportionment” lists the tithe rent-charges for each field or property.
The maps were classed as either “first class” or “second class” by the Tithe Commissioners, according to the provisions of the 1837 Tithe Amendment Act. Only the first class maps were sealed by the Commissioners and accepted legally as accurate. The standard and scale of the bulk of the maps (second class maps) is very variable. County Durham has no first class maps.
The Tithe commutation resulting from the 1836 Tithe Act (see above) resulted in a wide-spread reassessment of tithes and made necessary the production by professional valuers of tithe apportionments for many parishes. Each instrument of apportionment with its plan was sent to the Tithe Commissioners (and has now been transferred to the Public Record Office), while two sealed copies were deposited respectively with the Registrar of the diocese (the diocesan copy) and with the incumbent and churchwardens of the parish concerned (the parish copy).
Following the valuation of land and apportionment of tithe rent-charges under the 1836 Tithe Act, changes in ownership and patterns of land holdings frequently altered. These alterations often necessitated the re-apportionment of the tithe rent-charges, and this process produced a new or "altered" apportionment document for the parcel(s) of land concerned. A map was sometimes also produced to accompany the altered apportionment.
The apportionments deposited by the Diocesan Registry are for the most part the diocesan copies of those for County Durham. Occasionally (e.g. for Heworth) the incumbent neglected to collect his copy and it has remained with the diocesan tithe records.
Tithes generally Wills, Philip, A poisoned chalice? An analysis of the law relating to chancel repair liability (unpublished LLM thesis, Northumbria University, 2010)
: includes summary of the processes by which chancel repair liability could be attached to property (mainly involving glebe or rectorial tithes), reference copy available within Palace Green library
Pamela Horn, “The tithe war: fifty years on”
and Doreen Wallace, “My siege in the tithe war”
, from The Countryman (1984)
The 1836 Tithe Act Shelford, L., The act for the commutation of tithes in England and Wales, 3rd edn (1842)
Whalley, G.H., The tithe act and the tithe amendment act (1838), also later editions
Millard, The law relating to tithe rentcharge, 2nd edn (1926)
Secretary of Society of Archivists, “The records of the Tithe Redemption Commission”, Journal of the Society of Archivists, 1 (1957), 132-139
Tithe records Harley, J.B., Maps for the local historian (1972), p.29
Kain, Roger J.P. and Prince, Hugh C., The tithe surveys of England and Wales (1985)
Kain, Roger J.P., An atlas and index of the tithe files of mid-nineteenth-century England and Wales (1986)
Kain, Roger J.P. and Oliver, Richard R., The tithe maps of England and Wales: a cartographic analysis and county-by-county catalogue (1995)
The National Archives holds the records of the Tithe Commission and Tithe Redemption Commission, including sets of tithe maps and apportionments, and the "tithe files", with correspondence relating to the commutation of tithes under the 1836 Tithe Act. See TNA leaflets relating to Tithe Records for more information.
Parish Registers and Related Records
Reference: DDR/EA/PBT
Research within the Bishops' Transcripts has identified the following mentions of dissenters within the series.
Alwinton and Holystone
1813 (old registers date from 1695)
Horton
1812 (lists of registers)
Original parish registers of baptisms, marriages and burials do not form part of the Durham Diocesan Records (with a few exceptions, as noted within the detailed catalogue). They are either retained by individual parishes, or deposited in the Diocesan Record Office under the terms of the 1929 Parish Registers and Records Measure (replaced by the 1978 Parish Registers and Records Measure, subsequently amended). The Diocesan Record Office for Durham diocese is the County Record Office, at County Hall, Durham.
Transcripts of parish registers were required by orders of 1562 and 1597, although no 16th century transcripts survive for Durham diocese. For most parishes in the diocese of Durham the surviving bishops' transcripts cover the period from approximately 1760 until the mid-nineteenth century. The majority of the earlier transcripts were lost at an unknown date before the transfer of the Diocesan Records to this department. There are usually gaps within the remaining series of transcripts for each place, especially during the earlier part of the period.
Shute Barrington (bishop of Durham, 1791-1826) required parishes to keep more detailed records for baptisms and burials from January 1798 (in many parishes the new format records were made from September-October 1797). A copy of his printed letter to clergy is included within the Muggleswick register of baptisms and burials, 1783-1812 (DDR/EA/PBT/1/1). The additional information required is as follows, and was recorded until the standard (but less detailed) forms introduced by the 1812 Parochial Registers Act.
Baptisms:
date of birth, numerical position of child in family, mother's maiden name, native parish of parents
Burials:
date of death, trade, status and age of deceased, sometimes maiden name of married women
Few bishops' transcripts of marriage entries were made after the introduction of civil registration of births, marriages and deaths in 1837 but transcripts of baptismal and burial entries were still sent in from many parishes for some years after that. As, however, the habit of sending in parish-register transcripts to the diocesan registrar was beginning to die out from the late 1830s onwards none were made for many of the new parishes and chapelries which were formed around that time. Some transcripts of the registers of Society of Friends burial-grounds from the 1860s until the 1890s survive among the Durham Diocesan Records; these were made as a result of the 1864 Registration of Burials Act (27 & 28 Victoria, c.97), one clause of which required that copies of entries in all burial-ground registers should be transmitted to diocesan registrars. A few of these transcripts relate to Society of Friends burial-grounds in the diocese of York (i.e. Ayresome, Cotherstone and Osmotherley).
The 1812 Parochial Registers Act (52 George 3 c.146) included the following provisions:
parishes to keep parish registers in a standard form, and to send in annual transcripts in the same format to the diocesan registry.
Parishes to send a list of their registers to the diocesan registry, before 1 June 1813 (s.19). Not all of the parishes appear to have send in lists of registers, or at least not all such lists survive, and many are dated during 1814.
Diocesan registry to compile lists of parishes which had and had not returned certified transcripts of parish register entries.
Many printed editions of parish registers can be found within the Local collection in Palace Green Library. These are most easily located by carrying out a Subject search for “Church records and registers” within the Library printed catalogue. Others may be found within the Northumberland and Durham Family History Society's research centre in Newcastle.
Nonconformists
Reference: DDR/EA/NCN The 1688 Toleration Act (1 William and Mary, c.18) established the right to religious freedoms for most non-conformist denominations of Christianity (although not fully for Roman Catholics until 1791). Three main conditions had to be satisfied for non-conformists to be allowed to worship without fear of prosecution:
meetings were not allowed with the doors locked, barred or bolted;
preachers and ministers had to sign a declaration of faith and subscribe to an oath (or solemn declaration) of allegiance;
places of meeting were to be certified to the bishop or archdeacon, or to local Justices of the Peace (JPs).
At different dates, different denominations have chosen to register with the JPs rather than the bishop or archdeacon. In particular, certain denominations (such as Quakers) have generally registered only with JPs, not with the bishop, whereas other denominations gradually registered more commonly with the bishop from the 18th century. (This was probably because the bishop's registry was more often open for business than that of the Clerk of the Peace.) In Durham at least, the archdeacon does not seem to have registered meeting places.
The 1688 act was repealed in part by the 1812 Places of Religious Worship Act (52 George 3, c.155), and subsequently by acts of 1852 and 1855 (15 & 16 Victoria c.36 and 18 & 19 Victoria c.81). The latter acts required certification and registration of meeting places to be carried out by the Registrar General, not by the bishop or archdeacon. Thus there are no records of registration after 1852 among the DDR. Registration was optional, but accompanied by various privileges and financial benefits.
Wykes, D.L., “The 1669 return of nonconformist conventicles”, in Short guides to records: second series, guides 25-48, ed. by K.M. Thompson (1997), 50-54
Diocesan Registry Records
Bishop's Council and Standing Committee
Reference: DDR/DA/BIS
Board of Finance
Reference: DDR/DA/FIN The Diocesan Board of Finance is both a company and a charity, owning all the property that belongs to the diocese and employing its non-clerical staff. Boards of Finance were established throughout England by the 1925 Diocesan Boards of Finance Measure, but the Durham Board of Finance dates from 1916. It was preceded by the Durham Diocesan Fund, which operated from at least 1886.
Dilapidations (later Parsonages) Board
Reference: DDR/DA/DIL A Dilapidations Board was established under the Ecclesiastical Dilapidations Measures 1923 to 1951, though in accordance with the 1923 measure the Board of Finance was constituted as the Dilapidations Board for Durham in 1925. From at least 1947 to 1966 it operated as the Committee for Dilapidations. In 1966, a separate Dilapidations Board appears to have been established, being renamed the Parsonages Committee in 1974. From 1978, this again became a sub-committee of the Board of Finance, and in 2001 it was renamed the Houses Committee.
Glebe property is dealt with by the Parsonages Committee meeting as a 'Glebe Committee' from 1978 to 1980, when the Glebe Advisory Committee is formed (as a committee of the Board of Finance). This is renamed the Glebe Committee in 2001.
The Ecclesiastical Dilapidations Measures established quinquennial (5-yearly) inspections from 1924, covering all parsonage houses, glebe buildings and other buildings except for churches and chancels. The quinquennial inspections are made by one or more surveyors as appointed by the Dilapidations Board, which subsequently was to make orders in relation to the carrying out and funding of repairs.
Pastoral (or Reorganisation) Committee(s)
Reference: DDR/DA/PAS Reorganisation Committees were established under the 1941 Diocesan Reorganisation Committees Measure, in connection with damage caused by, or pastoral reorganisations necessitated by, war.
After 1949, new committees were established by the 1949 Pastoral Reorganisation Measure, to recommend schemes for pastoral reorganisation to the bishop (and thence to the Church Commissioners). This Pastoral Committee now operates as the Diocesan Mission and Pastoral Committee.
Board of Education
Reference: DDR/DA/EDU The Durham Board of Education was constituted at a meeting of the Durham Diocesan Conference on 3 February 1886, for “the promotion of the education of children in the principles of the Church of England”. On 29 May 1916, Conference approved the formation of a Durham Diocesan Board for Religious Education, to take over the work of the Board of Education after the close of the current financial year, “to assist in the promotion and maintenance of the work of religious education in secondary and elementary schools, training colleges and Sunday schools” (Conference meeting 3 October 1916). This was in accordance with the “Archbishops' scheme”. It was subsequently regulated by the 1943 Diocesan Education Committees Measure, with duties relating specifically to church schools within the diocese, and to promotion of religious education more generally. It was renamed as (back to) the Board of Education by the last meeting of Diocesan Conference (6 June 1970). It is now regulated by the 1991 Boards of Education Measure. From 2010, the schools service is provided jointly with Newcastle diocese, though the Board of Education continues as a separate body responsible to the Diocesan Synod.
At certain stages in its history the Board delegated some of its routine business to other committees.
Executive Committee (constituted November 1886)
Emergency Committee (constituted March 1914, amalgamated with Grants Committee to form Grants and Emergency Committee in October 1936)
Standing Committee 1 (appointed as a war-time measure, meeting 1939-1942)
Standing Committee 2 (appointed on recommendation of reorganisation committee following 1943 Diocesan Education Measure, to replace Grants and Emergency Committee and Reorganisation Committee, meeting 1943-1950)
Standing Committee 3 (appointed by Bishop in 1959 to advise and supervise the Director and to act on behalf of the full Board)
Buildings and Administration Committee (replacing Standing Committee 3, established 1970-1971, meeting until May 1982)
Finance and General Purposes Committee (from May 1982, replacing previous sub-committees)
Several committees etc to deal with different aspects of the Board's training role were established at various times.
Durham Diocesan Sunday School Association, to act as a quasi-independent institution but with at least 5 members of the Board on its central body (27 Feb 1914)
Durham Diocesan Sunday School Association, Bishop's Committee dealing with Adult Religious Education and Bishop's Youth Council to be recognised as committees of the Board for Religious Education, and Church Schools' Council to be set up (21 Feb 1944 report of Reorganisation Committee)
Durham Diocesan Adult Education Committee
Diocese of Durham's Children's Committee (to Oct 1970)
Teaching Committee 2 (to Sept 1974)
Training Committee (from Feb 1975 to July 1982)
Diocesan Advisory Committee for the Care of Churches
Reference: DDR/DA/DAC Usually known as the Diocesan Advisory Committee or DAC, this committee is thought to have been established in Durham during the 1930s (described as about 50 years old in the 1984 diocesan annual report). Its main statutory purpose is to advise both the Chancellor and applicants in the exercise of faculty jurisdiction, as set out by the 1939 Faculty Jurisdiction Rules (see DDR/EJ/FAC for details of faculty procedures).
Five-yearly (quinquennial) inspections of every church building are required by the1955 Inspection of Churches Measure (as amended by the 1991 Care of Churches and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure), and the scheme for these is overseen by the DAC. The inspections are arranged in the first place by parochial church councils, using one of the designated diocesan architects appointed under the measure (under the latest revision of the scheme in 1993, architects are not formally designated to carry out inspections, but an architect may not be appointed by the parish without the prior approval of the DAC).
Redundant Churches Uses Committee
Reference: DDR/DA/RED Established by the 1968 Pastoral Measure (later, the 1983 Pastoral Measure), this committee is required to seek alternative uses for closed churches. It is now known as the Closed Churches Uses Committee.
Board of Patronage
Reference: DDR/DA/PAT Established under the 1932 Benefices (Diocesan Board of Patronage) Measure. May acquire, hold and transfer rights of patronage, and automatically becomes patron of any parish for which no patron is registered under the 1986 Patronage (Benefices) Measure.
Within Durham diocese, the Board of Patronage operates for only one benefice within Durham diocese (Hart and Elwick Hall), and should not be confused with the 'special' patronage boards established by Pastoral Scheme from time to time for other benefices.
Additional (non-statutory) committees
Reference: DDR/DA/COM A few of the diocesan boards and committees that have functioned separately from the above statutory boards and committees at various stages are as follows. This list is by no means comprehensive (dates in square brackets are generally derived from the dates of surviving minute or account books).
DDR/DA/COM/1 - New church buildings, extensions, repairs
1917-1964
Board for Church Building and Church Extension (preceded by a Church Extension Fund and the Church Building Society)
1964-1970
Council for Mission (takes over BMU and BSR remit)
Other diocesan organisations
Reference: DDR/DA/ORG Brief administrative histories for the diocesan charities and societies for which we hold records are included within the catalogue of records of Diocesan Administration .
Diocesan Publications
Reference: DDR/DA/PUB
Diocesan Office Records
Reference: DDR/DA/OFF The records within series DDR/DA/OFF/5 were originally stored with several other series of semi-current records, within a single series of 'parish boxes' in the Diocesan Office. These boxes (one for each parish, in 'parish number' order, i.e. arranged approximately alphabetically by deanery) were used by several different diocesan officers to store their semi-current paperwork. The boxes were selectively weeded by University Library staff in 2014 to retain only the series mentioned below, prior to the move of the Diocesan Office from Auckland Castle to Stonebridge in late 2014/early 2015.
series
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Who created and wrote the TV series Maid Marian And Her Merry Men? | Maid Marian and Her Merry Men - Show News, Reviews, Recaps and Photos - TV.com
Maid Marian and Her Merry Men
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EDIT
Robin Hood wasn't the heroic, lovable bandit history led us to believe. Instead he was a self-centered, yellow-bellied chicken. The brains and courage actuality came from Maid Marian! Marian was in fact the real leader of the Merry Men, who fought to protect the pennyless people of Worksop against the deceitfully worm-like Sheriff of Nottingham and the big nasty ogre called 'King John.' With a lighthearted song and a twist of zaniness, Maid Marian and her Merry Men (for the most part at least!) saved the day. But unintentionally dropped all the credit into Robin's lap.
Created by 'Black Adders' Tony Robinson and shown on Children's BBC 1.
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| Tony Robinson |
The cartoon series Dogtanian And The Three Muskehounds was based on a book by which author? | Maid Marian And Her Merry Men: Series 1-4 Review | TV Show - Empire
Maid Marian And Her Merry Men: Series 1-4 Review
William Thomas
Last updated: 11 Oct 2015 01:27
Release date
★★★★★
Extras
Tons of fun stuff, including cast commentaries, a Robinson-penned historical quiz, karaoke, featurettes, games and the 1993 Christmas special - a package maid in heaven.
Tony Robinson's history revision
★★★★★
Long before he spent his days in search of ancient relics, one-time Baldrick Tony Robinson created and starred in this kids TV show that gloriously rips the piss out of the Robin Hood myth. Reimagining the robber of the rich as a feckless fashionista and his traditional main squeeze as the real anarchic hero(ine), this joyfully surreal series mixes musical numbers, anachronistic in-jokes and Python-esque silliness to create a show with all-ages appeal that can fairly be described as Blackadder for kids... or ChuckleVision for adults.
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In the TV show The Flumps, how many Flumps where there? | The Flumps (TV Series 1976– ) - IMDb
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4 January 2017 1:18 AM, UTC
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The adventures of a family of cute, furry creatures - The Flumps. Grandpa Flump, Ma and Pa Flump, their eldest son Perkin, daughter Posie and youngest son Pootle. Each episode contains fun songs and a story from the 'Big Book'.
Creator:
74th Golden Globe Awards
Jimmy Fallon may be hosting, but let IMDb be your guide to the 2017 Golden Globes with galleries, videos, lists, and more. Don't miss our live coverage of the Golden Globes beginning at 4 p.m. PST on Jan. 8 in our Golden Globes section.
a list of 238 titles
created 08 Feb 2012
a list of 981 titles
created 24 Sep 2012
a list of 699 titles
created 09 Aug 2014
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created 19 Apr 2015
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created 10 May 2015
Search for " The Flumps " on Amazon.com
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Popular British children's animation series, repeated almost constantly since 1971. Mr Benn is the ordinary, bowler-hatted office worker who lives in the ordinary suburban street of Festive... See full summary »
Stars: Ray Brooks
A melancholic children's animation from the 'Smallfilms' team of Postgate and Firmin. Bagpuss and his friends are toys in a turn of the century shop for 'found things'. When young Emily ... See full summary »
Stars: Oliver Postgate, Sandra Kerr, John Faulkner
Button Moon (TV Series 1980)
Family
Mr Spoon and his family live on Junk Planet. He travels in his baked bean tin spaceship across blanket sky to Button Moon. There he meets many strange characters and watches stories unfold on other planets using his telescope.
Stars: Robin Parkinson
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X
A sequel, of sorts, to Camberwick Green but set in the larger, nearby town of Trumpton. Each episode opens with the town hall clock and ends with the fire brigade band playing. Every show tells the story of one of the townsfolk.
Stars: Brian Cant
Children's animation from the 'Smallfilms' team of Postgate and Firmin. In the 'top, left hand corner of Wales' runs an archaic railway line staffed by such characters as Jones the Steam ... See full summary »
Stars: Olwen Griffiths, Anthony Jackson, Oliver Postgate
When Jamie shines his Magic Torch on the floor of his bedroom a hole appears, leading Jamie and Wordsworth the sheepdog to the psychedelic fantasy world of Cuckooland.
Stars: Brian Trueman, Kate Murray-Henderson
Children's puppet programme featuring music and stories.
Stars: Geoffrey Hayes, Roy Skelton, Stanley Bates
The long running television series of the Grange Hill Comprehensive School, and the children's everyday lives.
Stars: Stuart Organ, Gwyneth Powell, Lee Cornes
Charming finger puppet series with Yoffy (Jones) telling stories featuring Fingermouse, Scampi, Gulliver the Seagull, and other animal characters.
Stars: Rick Jones
The Wombles (TV Series 1973)
Animation | Family
The misadventures of a fantasy folk community dedicated to cleaning up litter and put it to their own use.
Stars: Bernard Cribbins, Dieter Hallervorden
In 17th century France, young Dogtanian travels to Paris to fulfill his ambition to become one of the King's Musketeers. He befriends Athos, Porthos and Aramis and falls in love with Juliette. A doggy version of the tale.
Stars: Eduardo Jover, Gloria Cámara, Manuel Peiró
The adventures of a little boy called Bod, who lives in a town with his friends Aunt Flo, P.C. Copper, Frank the Postman and Farmer Barleymow. Each episode also featured Alberto Frog and his Amazing Animal Band.
Stars: John Le Mesurier, Maggie Henderson
Edit
Storyline
The adventures of a family of cute, furry creatures - The Flumps. Grandpa Flump, Ma and Pa Flump, their eldest son Perkin, daughter Posie and youngest son Pootle. Each episode contains fun songs and a story from the 'Big Book'.
Did You Know?
Trivia
The names of the Flumps are: Grandfather, Father, Mrs Flump and the kids; Perkin, Posie and Pootle (the baby). See more »
Connections
(United Kingdom) – See all my reviews
I doubt many people will vote this comment as useful, but I just loved the Flumps! I was one of millions of wee kiddies that sat cross-legged with grins from ear to ear as Pootle and his pals entertained us. I was Pootle's biggest fan, loved his wiggle dance(!) and my mum even called me Pootle as a nickname!! (Unfortunately she did this till I was about 12!) Flumps rule!! Bring 'em back asap! (Wombles were nothing to the Flumps, nothing!)
Looking at the characters now in all their furry, spherical glory, brings back so much to me and genuinely makes me all warm and childlike again. They are one of the under-celebrated kids' TV programmes ever, and I find that quite sad. I'm sure there are so many grown up kids(!) now that would melt at the sight of the Flumps and utter those clichéd words, 'Oh blimey, I remember them!'. And so they should.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
| 6 |
What sport did Jossie's Giants play? | The Flumps (TV Series 1976– ) - IMDb
IMDb
4 January 2017 1:18 AM, UTC
NEWS
There was an error trying to load your rating for this title.
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The adventures of a family of cute, furry creatures - The Flumps. Grandpa Flump, Ma and Pa Flump, their eldest son Perkin, daughter Posie and youngest son Pootle. Each episode contains fun songs and a story from the 'Big Book'.
Creator:
74th Golden Globe Awards
Jimmy Fallon may be hosting, but let IMDb be your guide to the 2017 Golden Globes with galleries, videos, lists, and more. Don't miss our live coverage of the Golden Globes beginning at 4 p.m. PST on Jan. 8 in our Golden Globes section.
a list of 238 titles
created 08 Feb 2012
a list of 981 titles
created 24 Sep 2012
a list of 699 titles
created 09 Aug 2014
a list of 811 titles
created 19 Apr 2015
a list of 83 titles
created 10 May 2015
Search for " The Flumps " on Amazon.com
Connect with IMDb
Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.
You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin.
Popular British children's animation series, repeated almost constantly since 1971. Mr Benn is the ordinary, bowler-hatted office worker who lives in the ordinary suburban street of Festive... See full summary »
Stars: Ray Brooks
A melancholic children's animation from the 'Smallfilms' team of Postgate and Firmin. Bagpuss and his friends are toys in a turn of the century shop for 'found things'. When young Emily ... See full summary »
Stars: Oliver Postgate, Sandra Kerr, John Faulkner
Button Moon (TV Series 1980)
Family
Mr Spoon and his family live on Junk Planet. He travels in his baked bean tin spaceship across blanket sky to Button Moon. There he meets many strange characters and watches stories unfold on other planets using his telescope.
Stars: Robin Parkinson
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X
A sequel, of sorts, to Camberwick Green but set in the larger, nearby town of Trumpton. Each episode opens with the town hall clock and ends with the fire brigade band playing. Every show tells the story of one of the townsfolk.
Stars: Brian Cant
Children's animation from the 'Smallfilms' team of Postgate and Firmin. In the 'top, left hand corner of Wales' runs an archaic railway line staffed by such characters as Jones the Steam ... See full summary »
Stars: Olwen Griffiths, Anthony Jackson, Oliver Postgate
When Jamie shines his Magic Torch on the floor of his bedroom a hole appears, leading Jamie and Wordsworth the sheepdog to the psychedelic fantasy world of Cuckooland.
Stars: Brian Trueman, Kate Murray-Henderson
Children's puppet programme featuring music and stories.
Stars: Geoffrey Hayes, Roy Skelton, Stanley Bates
The long running television series of the Grange Hill Comprehensive School, and the children's everyday lives.
Stars: Stuart Organ, Gwyneth Powell, Lee Cornes
Charming finger puppet series with Yoffy (Jones) telling stories featuring Fingermouse, Scampi, Gulliver the Seagull, and other animal characters.
Stars: Rick Jones
The Wombles (TV Series 1973)
Animation | Family
The misadventures of a fantasy folk community dedicated to cleaning up litter and put it to their own use.
Stars: Bernard Cribbins, Dieter Hallervorden
In 17th century France, young Dogtanian travels to Paris to fulfill his ambition to become one of the King's Musketeers. He befriends Athos, Porthos and Aramis and falls in love with Juliette. A doggy version of the tale.
Stars: Eduardo Jover, Gloria Cámara, Manuel Peiró
The adventures of a little boy called Bod, who lives in a town with his friends Aunt Flo, P.C. Copper, Frank the Postman and Farmer Barleymow. Each episode also featured Alberto Frog and his Amazing Animal Band.
Stars: John Le Mesurier, Maggie Henderson
Edit
Storyline
The adventures of a family of cute, furry creatures - The Flumps. Grandpa Flump, Ma and Pa Flump, their eldest son Perkin, daughter Posie and youngest son Pootle. Each episode contains fun songs and a story from the 'Big Book'.
Did You Know?
Trivia
The names of the Flumps are: Grandfather, Father, Mrs Flump and the kids; Perkin, Posie and Pootle (the baby). See more »
Connections
(United Kingdom) – See all my reviews
I doubt many people will vote this comment as useful, but I just loved the Flumps! I was one of millions of wee kiddies that sat cross-legged with grins from ear to ear as Pootle and his pals entertained us. I was Pootle's biggest fan, loved his wiggle dance(!) and my mum even called me Pootle as a nickname!! (Unfortunately she did this till I was about 12!) Flumps rule!! Bring 'em back asap! (Wombles were nothing to the Flumps, nothing!)
Looking at the characters now in all their furry, spherical glory, brings back so much to me and genuinely makes me all warm and childlike again. They are one of the under-celebrated kids' TV programmes ever, and I find that quite sad. I'm sure there are so many grown up kids(!) now that would melt at the sight of the Flumps and utter those clichéd words, 'Oh blimey, I remember them!'. And so they should.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
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What is the most popular cheese to be produced and consumed in Greece? | Greek Feta Cheese
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FETA CHEESE
Feta cheese is the most famous of Greek cheeses and the most popular. It has been and still is an important part of the Greek diet.
It is used in all types of meals, used as a stuffing, fried as in Saganaki, as a table cheese - drizzled with olive oil and oregano and served as a meze with drinks.
It is famously known for being crumbled over a Greek salad, and as a filling for cheese pies - Tiropita, and many other pies.
It is used for sweets, sweet pastries, as well as cheesecake. It is the most versatile of all cheeses.
Over the last couple of decades, the rest of the world has fallen under the spell of feta, and understood what a fantastic cheese this really is.
You will now find almost every cafe will be using feta in one of their meals. It is ideal for light, healthy dishes has a good strong taste, and contrasts well with colourful salads and other foods.
Feta is made either completely from sheep's milk or can be mixed with up to 30% of goat's milk. It is a soft white cheese, with a salty, tangy taste and a unique, crumbly texture. It can range from mild to sharp. The milk fat content of feta ranges from 45 to 60 percent.
In Greece, 12kg of feta is consumed per person per year!
You can see the Greeks love their feta cheese!
With much of the Greek landscape being mountainous and hilly, it was not suited for cows.
Sheep and goats fared better in this countryside, were ideal as they could clamber over the mountains, produced milk as well as their meat. Sheep would travel over good distances every day to feed, and on the way would munch on a variety of plants, mountain grasses and herbs. In these regions, harmful substances such as pesticides and fertilisers were very scarce, so the milk these sheep produced was organically superior.
With the sheep always on the move to get their food, they would never get fat and so consequently the milk produced was low in fat. It is these factors which give the feta cheese the characteristically pure, white colour. Feta which is not produced in Greece and in these conditions need to be chemically treated to obtain that sparkling white colour.
Greece has been running a long legal battle in the European Courts to recognise that feta is a Greek cheese. This is due to other countries such as Denmark and France producing white cheeses, mostly from cow's milk and calling it Feta.
In 2005, Greece won the battle and Feta is now a PDO which stands for Protected Designation of Origin. This means that in the European Union, no other country can call their cheese "Feta". It now comes under strict production guidelines, and can only be called feta if it is made exclusively with sheep's milk, with the addition of up to 30% goat's milk from and in Greece using traditional methods.
Other countries within Europe either have to have their own name for this cheese or can call it "Greek Style Cheese". Of course, countries bordering Greece, were probably making this cheese before governments started putting up borders. This will help to maintain the standard and quality of Greek Feta Cheese.
The history of the Greek word "feta" comes from the Italian word "fetta", which means "slice". Although feta has been made since ancient Greece, it may have been the cheese Homer described with the Cycops, it became known as feta in the 17th century, whilst under Venetian influence. The slice refers either to the method of making it when they slice the curd or to the way it is served, in thick slices.
Feta can dry out easily and sour quickly, so always keep in the refrigerator and store it in brine. Put it in a deep container and immerse it in water. Pour a good quantity of salt over the feta and ensure the feta is submerged in the liquid and it will keep for longer. Rinse the brine off the feta before using. If the feta you have bought is too salty, you can soak it in milk to dilute the salt. This will not likely be necessary with imported varieties, however I have had local made feta in Crete which could have done with this, it was so salty I couldn't taste the cheese!
You can freeze feta, although it won't have quite the same taste and texture once defrosted. Wrap in airtight plastic wrapping and freeze. Leave in the fridge, in its wrapping, whilst defrosting. Once defrosted, it is better suited to being crumbled over a salad or used in cooking, rather than eaten as a table food.
Calories in Feta Cheese
1 oz of feta cheese contains
75 calories
6 grams fat (4.2 grams saturated fat)
How to Make Feta Cheese
4kg of milk will make 1kg feta.
Using pasteurised sheep's and goat's milk, the milk is heated and then left to cool.
A culture is added to the milk and left to form curds.
The curd is cut into cubes and left to drain all the liquid whey.
The curd is then transferred to moulds and pressed to drain any excess whey, making it firmer and more concentrated.
The cheese is cut into smaller pieces and is salted by immersing it in a brine.
It is left to mature for at least 2 months.
It is then sent to shops and markets in the brine solution, often in barrels or large tin boxes.
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| Feta |
Which country produces Leerdammer cheese? | TED Case Study
I. Identification
1. The Issue:
Feta cheese is the heart and soul of Greek cuisine. For centuries now Greeks have relied on cheese as their main source of proteins, and since sheep and goats were the main source of milk, feta was the cheese that covered such a need. It should come as no surprise then that Greeks are the number one cheese consumers in the European Union, and that their favorite cheese is feta. Unfortunately market forces have conspired against the cheese by producing bland imitations, this paper will seek to clarify the problem and reestablish the true origin of feta cheese.
2. Description:
Brief History & Process of Cheese:
Man discovered cheese accidentally while transporting milk in canteens made from young calf's or sheep's stomachs. Milk curdling enzymes which are present in the stomachs of an un-weaned animal, acted as the separating enzymes for the milk and created a form of cheese. The accidental discovery of cheese is a landmark in the cheese's history. This paper focuses on
FETA
a purely Greek cheese, so the history of cheese within Greece will be explored.
Aristotles and Dioskouridis, renown philosophers, talked about mixing milk from the leaves of a fig tree with goats milk and obtaining cheese. Others talked about making cheese by mixing fresh milk with lemon or vinegar, cheese is still made this way in the island of Crete. Greece is not the only country with peculiar cheese manufacturing techniques, in Spain and Portugal dried caper leaves were used as rennet in the manufacturing of their high quality cheese.
A simple explanation on how cheese is made would be that the solids are separated from the liquids in milk by the addition of enzymes, which are most commonly known as rennet or rennin. The addition of enzymes produces whey, a thin layered whitish liquid, and curds, solid clumps. The curds are then concentrated and produce the soft white substance which we know as cheese. The texture, aroma and taste of each cheese is unique, varying with each step of the process. Throughout the process of producing cheese the qualities of its main component milk, are conserved. Thus cheese is very rich source of proteins, fats, vitamins A, D, E, and K, as well as aminoacids, all of which are essential for a balanced and nutritional diet.
Cheese & the Greeks:
Greek eating customs could be said that revolve around cheese. This is very different from the rest of Europe. This difference is also present when contrasted to the other south European countries, which share a similar climate and a great variety products with Greece.
For the Greeks, cheese is not a food supplement, it is food. In Europe cheese is generally consumed after the main dish. In France for example cheese is eaten as dessert, one would never see a Frenchman eat his filet mignon with cheese. The French can not imagine eating cheese at any other moment during the day, not even spreading a soft cheese over their world famous croissants. On the other hand in Italy cheese is served as an appetizer, for example mozzarella al pesto or fresh parmesan cheese with rucula and olive oil. Cheese is not part of the Italians main dish, and if one is thinking about pizza, it should be clarified that the original pizzas from Naples and Sicily did not include cheese as an ingredient. Cheese, anchovies, jam, and all the other ingredients that are known to adorn pizza's were not added until much later when the standard of living increased and these ingredients became affordable.
Contrary to its European counterparts of France and Italy, Greeks consume cheese at all times. Cheese can be had for breakfast, lunch, dinner, alone or with other food. Anybody who has lived or been to Greece knows that the one food that can be eaten any time of the day is "tyropita"- cheese pie.
Even though eating habits around the world have changed, especially since the advent of fast food restaurants, Greeks most common and favorite food is cheese. For breakfast Greeks generally prefer hard or semi-hard cheeses accompanied by a fresh loaf of bread. If they are ever hungry during the day, whether they are at the office, in the fields picking olives or at home, they will stop for a "tyropita" or a "culuri" (the Greek bagel) with cheese to quell their hunger. The first food that is brought to the table during lunch is a fresh slice of feta with olive oil and oregano. In the evening fresh fruit and a little bit of cheese is still the number one choice of a light dinner in Greece.
The Greek's fascination with cheese can be explained through its economic history. Greece was never a rich country, currently it has the lowest GNP per capita of the EU, so their every day diet was frugal. Meat was scarce and expensive, this limited the intake of animal protein to weekends and holidays. Greeks had to find a way to substitute those proteins with something nutritious and not as expensive. Cheese was the answer to the problem, partly due to Greece's limited urbanization. The vast majority of Greeks used to be farmers or have small plots of land-"perivoli". The milk that they got from their limited livestock was conserved by producing cheese with it. Cheese was thus always available to the Greeks who never failed to put it on the table when they sat down to eat. This habit has allowed Greeks to become the highest consumers of cheese within the European Union with an average consumption of 23 kg per person per year. The French with an annual per capita cheese consumption of 22 kg's, are just one kilo behind the Greeks. Of all the cheese consumed by the Greeks 60% of it is soft cheese, and 40% of all cheese consumed is feta. That is to say that for every 10 kg's of cheese that are eaten, 4 kg's are feta cheese.
Greece's economic prosperity has not limited its cheese consumption in the least. Today the combined intake of meat and cheese proteins has turned into a hazard for the average Greek. This combined intake of proteins has led to a significant rise in the level of cholesterol and fat within the Greek population, but as the Greeks say "it is easier to loose your sole than your habit".
FETA Cheese & The GREEKS :
Feta cheese is as old as Greece itself. Homer in one of his memorable works, the Odyssey, describes how the giant sheppard Polythimos, made his cheese. The process described by Homer thousands of years ago, closely resembles the process by which feta cheese is still elaborated in Greece. Despite the fact that thousands of years seperate modern Greece from the Ancient Greece in which Homer lived, the process of making feta remains very similar. Up until 1898 feta was produced and consumed locally in Greece. That same year the first commercialization of feta is registered in the island of Syros, Greece. Until then feta could not be traded commercially due to the lack of a preservative. When brime was introduced as a preservative, the Greek flavour of feta cheese was able to propagate across the world.
The history of Greek cheese does not end with feta. Even though Greece has a mountainous landscape that is ideal for sheep and goats to prosper in, cows have also been a part of Greek cheese history. The availability of sheep and goats allowed for the creation of cheeses based on their milk more easily, but it is a renowned fact that Greece has always had cows as well.
Through Greek mythology we learn that cows were used as sacrifice for the Gods, but more specifically we know about cows through myths about Hercules. Hercules was in charge of cleaning the stables of King Angean, who had a herd of 3,000 oxen whose stable had not been cleaned for more than thirty years. In the myth cows were used for their meat and the oxen were used in the fields for ploughing and for carrying heavy loads.
Despite the fact that cows were available for milking in Greece hundreds of years ago, only in the early 20th century did Greece start producing fresh cow's milk. There is one exception though, and that is the islands of the Cyclades. In these islands, cow milk had been used for producing cheese before mainland Greece ever started producing it and using it for the production of cheese.
The puzzling question is how did the cows get there? The Venetian�s and the Italian�s repeatedly conquered the islands of the Cyclades, therefore becoming protectorates and ducats of these European states for hundreds of years. The conquerors generally brought with them Catholic priests and monks in their effort to convert the predominantly Orthodox population. Catholic monks are renowned for their strong working habits. So not only did they bring their customs and their utensils, they also brought with them their animals which included cows. This is how the islands of Tinos, Naxos and Syros were able to produce their renowned cheeses from cow's milk.
FETA CHEESE- The Process:
Feta is a soft white cheese full of uneven small holes, it does not have an outer layer as some cheese's do. Feta in Greek means slice, the name comes from the cutting of the curd into pieces after elaboration. It used to be called 'barrel' cheese or 'tsadila' cheese. The names came to be because 'tsadila' is the cloth that is used in the process of draining the curd, and 'barrel' because it is usually conserved in barrels or tins full of brime. Feta cheese is stored in rectangular pieces of 1 to 2 kilos, preserved in brime in barrels or tins of 25 to 50 kilos. In the super markets it is sold in indivudual prepackaged pieces, or can be bought from the deli directly from the barrel. Tasty mature feta has the following chemical breakdown: humidity 52%, fat 25-26%, proteins 17%, and salt 1.8-2.75%. Feta cheese matures after a period of 2 months in the brime, and should be conserved in the fridge at 2�-5� celsius. Feta cheese is traditionally made from unpasteurized milk, but can also be produced with pasteurized milk. During curdling no heat is used and the temperature must remain between 24�-36� degrees celcius during the process. The milk used has to be natural or processed sheep's milk, and in some cases even sheep yogurt may be used. After the curdling in complete, the whey is removed and the curd is cut into large pieces and placed in molds to drain., once fully drained it is salted and left to repose in low temperatures. It is then placed in barrels or tins which are filled with brime and is left to mature for no less than 60 days. The production of feta is still a traditional a traditional skill as the salt content, temperature at which the enzymes are added, acidity, way of straining are determined by each cheese maker to give a distinct character to his own particular product.
Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) & its Specifications for Cheese:
The European Union (EU) with its open borders and common currency has united 15 very different countries politically and economically. Socially however the EU will never be able to blend its current or eventual members in one big 'melting pot' like the United States is. Each country, in spite of this union, maintains its individuality with its customs, religion, local tradition and products.
Out of all these the one that needed protection from such an all encompassing union were each country's unique products. For this purpose in 1992 the EU past the regulation 1208, which explicitly clarified under which conditions a product may be determined as a PDO for either its name or its geographic origin. This regulation was established in order to defend the position of a product within its particular market.
The importance of having a product labeled as PDO is that it serves as a guarantee of quality and tradition. In the feta case it would guarantee that the consumer is getting feta cheese made from sheep's and goats milk not partially skimmed cow's milk. Currently only 15% of the consumers within the EU know what PDO stands for.(Mamalakis, 35)
The designation of PDO for a product is not limited only to cheese. Sweets, sausages, a kind of meat produced in a certain area, the water from a particular spring, a fruit, olives, olive oil, and many other products may be PDO. Champagne, Cognac, Roquefort are only some examples of products that enjoy a PDO.
The conditions needed for a cheese to become a Protected Designation of Origin are: A) The cheese must be produced and matured in a specific geographical region. The animals that whose milk is used in making the cheese have to adhere to the predetermined species and they must live, graze and be milked in the same area. B) The use of chemical substances for the maturing and coloring of the cheese is prohibited. The milk must not contain any antibiotics. C) It must be produced in the traditional manner.(Mamalakis, 35)
The specifications are quite clear as to what constitutes a cheese under the label of PDO. Greece has submitted several products to be considered as PDO, amongst them feta cheese. Feta cheese due to its popularity and prominence within the cheese category has encountered several barriers which impede its categorization as a PDO. Greece has managed to protect 20 other cheeses, out of a total of 126 cheeses which are protected as PDO by EU regulation.
If a product is classified as PDO it means that no one in the same country but different area, or abroad may produce the product and give it the protected designation of origin name. When a product is labeled as a PDO both the consumer and the producer are protected and the traditional production and taste of the product is promoted.
Judgement of the European Court of Justice (ECJ):
To obtain the necessary data needed for a possible registration of the name "feta" as a protected designation of origin-"PDO"-or its inclusion in the list of generic names, as demanded by a majority of other Member States, the European Commission arranged for a Eurobarometer survey to be carried out, questioning 12,800 nationals of the twelve member States then making up the European Community.
It was concluded from the survey, that the name "feta" had not become the common name of the product, and that it continued to evoke a Greek origin. The name "feta" was thus registered as a PDO to cover Feta produced in Greece. Denmark, Germany and France contested the decision, on the basis that feta cheese has been produced and legally marketed under the name "feta" since 1963 in Denmark, 1981 in the Netherlands and 1985 in Germany, for example. Greece also contests the process, since sheep and/or goats milk should be used, and certain countries use cow's milk in the process.
The ECJ concluded that the Commission had played down the situation existant in the Member States other than the state of origin. The Commission whilst conducting the survey back in 1996 did not take into account all the factors at play. In order to decide whether a name has become generic or not, the situation existing in the Member State in which the name originates and in areas of consumption, together with the relevant national or Community legislation, must all be taken into account. Particularly the Commission should have taken into account the existence of similar products legally on the market. The procedure the Commission followed to determine whether the name "feta" had become generic or not was found void, hence the ECJ anulled the regulation which registered "feta" as a protected designation of origin for "feta" cheese produced in Greece.
The World Trade Organization & The Feta Cheese Legal Struggle :
The World Trade Organization has a similar take on intellectual property as the ECJ with regard to naming a product after its geographic origin. The WTO under the Treaty on Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement states that "the use of a place to describe a product in this way -a "geographical indication"- usually identifies both its geographical origin and its characteristics". It also states that exceptions are allowed if the name is a trademark or if it has become the generic name of the product. The ECJ reversed its decision based on the fact that 'feta' had become the generic name of that particular type of cheese. Both the WTO and the European Union (EU), who abides by the rules and rulings of the ECJ, have the same position on the issue. Greece could in theory pursue this case within the realm of the WTO once its legal possibilities within the EU are exhausted. This would allow for the case to gain more international exposure and both sides would have to resubmit their positions leaving room for an interpretation which would favor Greece once again.
Whether one views this case from the WTO or the EU perspective on intellectual property with regards to geographical origin of products or foodstuffs it makes no major difference. The TRIPS clause defines geographical origin as a good originating in the territory of a member, or a region or lacality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation, or other characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to its geographical origin. This definition is very similar to that put forth by the European Court of Justice.
The WTO's enforcement of intellectual property rights seeks to protect the creator of a particular good by allowing him to be the only one that can produce that particular type of good. In doing so it also protects the consumer by guaranteeing the process and ingredients of the product he/she is buying. The EU with its appointment of products as PDO seeks to achieve the same goal within its economic community. Many products enjoy such protection, and in many cases it serves as an indication of quality. If 'feta' cheese were categorized as a PDO the consumer would also be protected from similar products which offer in certain cases a very different taste to the traditional Greek taste of 'feta'. Such is the case with cheese labeled as 'feta' in the US which is made from cow's milk. This can only resemble the original product and in no way follows the conditions put forth by the Greek government's parameters for the labeling of a cheese as 'feta'.
This allows for a tremendous discrepancy of quality and content of the same product. When one buys 'blue cheese' he expects to get a taste similar to that of 'Roquefort' cheese produced in France, but is aware that he is not getting the true traditional product but rather an imitation. With 'feta' cheese it is the same just that when the consumer buys the product he is not aware that he is purchasing a different version of the traditional 'feta' cheese. The traditional production and taste of the product is not promoted so both the producer and consumer loose, it is a no win situation.
3. Related Cases:
A point should be made with regard to the categorization of this particular case. It could be categorized in the 'water, food and drink' category or in the 'intellectual property' category. Because of its lack of clarity finding related cases was complicated. In total I found four cases which are directly related to mine, these are: basmati, cassis, chocolat, and pisco.
Of these four relevant cases only two are in western Europe, cassis and chocolat, and neither of them are categorized under intellectual property. Three of the cases are categorized under the environmental problem of 'general habitat loss' (chocolat, basmati, and pisco), the remaining case, cassis, is categorized under 'indigenous rights'. The only two cases categorized under 'intellectual property' as the scope are basmati and pisco.
TABLES:
#1)Western Europe cases in the TED Database:
health
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My case qualifies under a legal perspective which is not environmental but rather an 'intellectual property' casewithin the food realm. The fact that it involves a legal battle automatically includes the EU and its relevant institutions, in this case, the European Court of Justice (ECJ). There are two relevant cases in this particular table of the TED database, these are: cassis and chocolat. Both cases involve the ECJ in a legal battle to determine how much chocolate chocolate has to have(chocolat), whilst the other one regards minimum alcohol levels in alcoholic drinks (cassis). Not only is it relevant that these cases involve food products and their components, it is important to notice that the countries involved are the same ones which are battling Greece over the 'FETA' cheese name and components.
In the Cassis case both France and Germany battle over the level of alcohol in the cassis alcoholic drink. The battle is a matter of national minimum standards in Germany and how they clash against French minimum alcohol standards. These two countries are now battling Greece about 'FETA' cheese, which is as Greek as the Acropolis is. The legal framework of the EU allows countries with such discrepancies to sort it out in the ECJ.
This case clearly falls within the context of existing cases because of its legal struggle within the context of the European Union. Two cases are directly relevant, and the others are clear examples of how EU regulations have come to cover every aspect of Europe, whether one agrees with it or not.
#2) Intellectual Property cases in the TED Database:
defor
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This table offers a different perspective to my project. The TED case studies basmati and pisco, are within the context of my project because of the issue at hand. Unlike the other two cases mentioned above, these cases have to do with the name of the product. The previous two cases were relevant because of their context, the European Union and in particular the European Court of Justice, and how countries are able to battle out clashes of internal laws at an international level.
In the basmati case study the United States and India battle over the name of a particular form of rice, while in the pisco case study Chile and Peru battle over the name of an alcoholic beverage. In this case Greece battles Denmark, Germany, adn France over the name of a particular kind of cheese. These cases are directly related to each other even though they range from four distinct and far from each other continents.
Feta is as Greek as pisco liquor is Peruvian and basmati rice is Indian. These three products elaboration dates back thousands of years so they have become national symbols. Just like in Greece, where a meal is not complete until feta cheese is at the table, in Peru a meal is not complete unless there is pisco sour on the table.
Basmati rice is a slender, aromatic long grain rice with a nutty taste delicate texture that grows best in the valleys of Punjab in the Himalayan mountains (Adewumi). Only Peru has the soil, the climate, and the tradition in making pisco that gives [this] drink a special taste, and which allows [it] to be called pisco (Oakes). The above descriptions emphasize the importance of a products geographical origin, Greece is battling to achieve such recognition for its 'feta' cheese.
The name of a product is fundamental to its economic success, if this were not so these cases and several other similar cases would not be occurring. What should be pointed out is that in both the basmati case and the feta case, there is more at stake than just a name. Both India and Greece are economic midgets compared to the countries they are battling. The economy of these two countries will feel the slap if the product can originate from a different source other than the original countries. If this were not true why did France fight till the end to protect the name 'champagne' and 'cognac'? France is a country which its economy does not rely on these exports, India has at stake 10 percent of the total basmati exports. It is also a matter of protecting the products image, no matter how well other countries try to imitate the product, the conditions can never be fully replicated. The issue of these two case studies is identical to mine, which offers the reader a perspective with regards to the many legal battles like these that occur in all corners of the world.
Hyper-links to Related Cases
b. Geographic Site: Western Europe
c. Geographic Impact: Greece; 'Feta' is no longer considered a PDO (Protected Designation of Origin)
10. Sub-National Factors: No
11. Type of Habitat: Temperate
Greece has mild, wet winters and hot dry summers. Its terrain is mostly mountains with ranges extending into sea as peninsulas or chains of islands.
Sheep & Goats-The essence of feta:
When the Greek government set the paramaters which have to be met in order to be able to label a cheese as feta, it clearly stated that it had to be produced from sheep's milk. A combination of sheep and goats milk may also be used in the process as long as the goat's milk does not constitute more than 30% of the milk used. This clear cut specification allows the consumer to destinguish feta from other cheese and get a specialized product, but since feta is not a PDO one can buy feta produced with partially skimmed cow's milk. Using cow's milk may produce something similar to feta cheese but it is clearly not feta cheese and has a different taste altogether. The sheep or goat's milk used in the production of feta must be obtained from animals that live and graze in the following predetermined areas: Macedonia, Thrace, Thessalia, Epiros, Sterea Hellas, Peloponese, and the island of Lesvos. All these areas are in Greece, so any other milk used, even if sheep or goats milk, that does not come from these areas does not qualify under the terms set forth by the Greek government so it can not be called feta. Greece has over 2,500 native plants and shrubs which are consumed by its sheep and goats. The different plants and shrubs consumed by the animals while grazing in the predetermined areas, allows for the milk they produce to acquire a variety of flavour and aromas and are embodied in the Greek feta cheese only.
Sheep & Goat Milk Production
FAO Yearbook Sheep Milk 1996
MT �000 Goat Milk 1996
MT �000 Sheep Milk 1997
MT�000 Goat Milk 1997
MT �000 Greece 667460 650460 France 237430 220430 Germany N/A25 N/A25
Feta in essence is sheep milk cheese. The name comes from the Italian word 'feta' which stands for 'slice'. The cheese was named that way because that was the way it was cut after elaboration and sold in the market. The graph above highlights the fact that Greece is one of the largest producers of sheep�s milk, essential to the elaboration of feta. The United States, Germany and Denmark do not produce sheep�s milk. This technically speaking would not allow them to produce feta cheese, since it is supposed to be made from sheep�s milk. France is the only country that produces sheep�s milk and if compared to the quantity produced in Greece the production levels are quite low.
Greece in 1997 produced 650,000 metric tons of sheep�s milk, while France only produced 220,000 metric tons. Greece even produces more goats� milk than France, a country that is renowned for its goat cheese. In 1997 Greece produced 460,000 metric tons of goats milk, while France produced 430,000. The difference is not large, but it further highlights Greece's competitive advantage in producing feta, which is made from sheep�s or sheep and goat's milk.
Animals and animal production in Greece constitutes about 30 percent of the total value of the country's agricultural output. Sheep and goats are the largest components of Greece�s animal population amounting to an estimated total of about 14 million heads. The meat and milk of sheep and goats provides 6.2 and 6.6 percent, respectively, of the agricultural total. The country�s very limited export of animals� products is limited mainly to cheese, whose export value in 1997 was of US$ 80 million.
IV. Trade Cluster
12. Type of Measure: Intellectual Property Rights
Protected Designation of Origin (PDO): Geographical indication or name of a product either agricultural or foodstuffs which are protected by European Union law #1208.
13. Direct v. Indirect Impacts: Direct
14. Relation of Trade Measure to Environmental Impact
a. Directly Related to Product: Yes, Feta cheese
b. Indirectly Related to Product: No
c. Not Related to Product: No
d. Related to Process: Yes, according to the Greek government 'feta' cheese is a salted white cheese traditionally produced in Greece from sheep's milk or a mixture of sheep and goat's milk.
15. Trade Product Identification: Feta cheese
16. Economic Data:
FAO Yearbook Value US$ 1996
�000 Volume MT 1996
�000 Value US$ 1997
�000 Volume MT 1997
�000 Germany 2315800458261 2110809476361 France 724159151238 633586153718 United States 623772N/A 584210N/A Greece 23134250747 24152568059 Denmark 10243031067 9737533879
This table more than anything else highlights the Greek's people fascination with cheese. Greece is currently the 10th largest importer of cheese in the world, this says allot for a population of only 10 million. As stated earlier the Greek diet revolves around cheese, thus making it the largest consumer of cheese per capita in the European Union with 23 kilos per year. France, with a population of approximately 60 million, is a close second with 22 kilos of cheese per capita a year.
17. Impact of Trade Restriction: High
18. Industry Sector: Food
20. Environmental Problem Type: Culture
21. Name, Type, and Diversity of Species: Goats & Sheep
22. Resource Impact and Effect: High and Regulatory
23. Urgency and Lifetime: Low and Hundreds of Years
24. Substitutes:
The lack of substitutes is the main problem in this case. The Greek government argues that the 'feta' produced outside Greece is an imitation which is produced wrongly. Feta cheese according to the Greek government has to be produced from sheep's or a mixture of sheep and goat's milk, originating from animals that live and graze in predetermined areas, all of which are in Greece. Countries which are currently producing feta are utilizing cow's milk in its production, this creates a cheese similar to feta, but it is definitely not 'feta'. Since the cheese technically does not resemble feta, it should not be labeled as such. Consumers have become accustomed to the name 'feta' so coming up with an alternate name will be a marketing blow for the other countries. If the protected designation of origin rules and regulations are to be applied fairly throughout all products, 'feta' should be one of the products under that category.
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"Caravane" is the brand name of a cheese produced in Mauritania. From which animal is the milk taken? | Caravane cheese | WikiCheese | Fandom powered by Wikia
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Caravane is the brand name of a camel milk cheese produced in Mauritania by Tiviski, a company founded by Nancy Abeiderrhamane in 1987. The milk used to make the cheese is collected from the local animals of a thousand nomadic herdsmen, and is very difficult to produce, but yields a product that is low in lactose. As Mauritanians do not generally eat cheese, and the European Commission has not yet fully implemented policies designed for dromedary milk products, Caravane is difficult to find in Europe. Its availability is largely limited to Nouakchott shops and restaurants, and as an export to neighboring Senegal. It can now be purchased in select stores in New York .
Caravane cheese
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Which writer and comedian had a family name Cheese, but his father changed it in 1915? | 15 Fascinating Facts in the World of Cheese
By: Stephen Roberts - at July 18, 2013
15 Fascinating Facts in the World of Cheese
With so many cheeses available around the world it is not surprising that there is sure to be a type of cheese you will enjoy. There is a huge number of types and flavors that are available. Most cheese lovers have favorites as well as favorite ways to eat them but not many know the history or how many different varieties there really are. The sheer volume of cheese consumed each year is what makes it such a global phenomenon.
Depending on how it's made, cheese can take on a variety of flavors. There are some cheeses that are flavored with dried fruit or even honey. Cheese artisans create different combinations of flavors to tease and titillate the palate. In Wisconsin, they mixed sweet, tart cranberries with smoky chipotle to create a cheese that tastes a little like barbecue sauce. There is even an aged goat cheese rubbed with cocoa powder. For libation lovers, cheese is paired with wine, liquor or even beer. One cheese maker creates a cider soaked cheese with reddish-brown veins.
This hunt for flavor goes back all the way to olden days when cheese was smoked with fruits such as apples to give it some added dimension. Whatever the method, cheese inspired creativity, which led to thousands of distinctions and millions of cheese lovers. Over the course of history, Europeans have refined the art of cheese making and even cheese consumption. Cheese is eaten with most meals if not all meals. It can be the center of a dish, served as dessert when combined with certain fruits, or a quick snack on the go. It really is one of the most versatile foods in the world.
15) Casu Marzu Cheese
When it comes to cheese, most people are aware that it is the fermented form of milk. However, there is one cheese that takes the process one step further to the decomposition stage and that's Casu Marzu cheese. This sheep's milk cheese is considered to be an aphrodisiac and is native to Sardinia, an island off the coast of Italy between Corsica and Sicily.
Casu Marzu is made when pecorino cheese is left out with a piece of the rind missing. This encourages Piophila casei, the cheese fly, to lay its eggs in the cheese. These eggs hatch and the larvae eat their way through the cheese. Their digestive acids break down the fats of the cheese making it soft and spreadable. In Sardinia, it's eaten with a piece of moistened flatbread. The cheese fly lays thousands of eggs so by the time Casu Marzu is ready to be eaten by humans, there are thousands of maggots in the cheese.
By Shardan (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-2.5], via Wikimedia Commons
The funny thing about Casu Marzu is that it is considered safe to eat only when the maggots are alive and active within the cheese. Placing the cheese in the fridge kills the maggots in the cheese and renders Casu Marzu unsafe for consumption. The translucent white larvae are one third of an inch long and can jump up to 6 inches. It's not unusual for them to jump off the bread as its being spread. Those who want to eat the cheese and not the maggots can put the cheese in a sealed bag. The act of depriving the maggots of air agitates them and makes them jump off the cheese into the bag. The process is similar to popping corn so when the popping sound lessens or stops, most if not all of the maggots have jumped out of the cheese.
For many years it was considered illegal in Europe and was only available on the black market, sometimes for double the price of pecorino. It wasn't until the 80's and 90's that it was declared a traditional food and not subject to the regular hygienic standards of other cheeses. Researchers found a safe method to create the maggoty cheese while keeping it traditional and it began selling legally in Europe in 2005.
14) Cheese Has Eyes
Swiss cheese is the generic, commercial name given to cheeses produced around Emmental, Switzerland. The holes in this cheese are called eyes. To make these, cheese makers use three types of bacteria each from the species of Streptococcus, Lactobacillus, and Propionibacterium. The propionic bacteria eat the lactic acid that is produced during the process and it produces carbon dioxide. This forms the eyes of Swiss cheese. Acetate and propionic acid are also produced during this process and they are responsible for Swiss cheese's nutty, sweet flavoring.
When it was first created, the holes were considered imperfections and the cheese makers tried to avoid them. Now the eyes are considered trademarks of Swiss cheese. Swiss that has fermented for a long time has larger eyes. While the flavor is more pronounced it becomes a problem for the industry because large eyes don't slice well. In 2002, USDA regulators limited the size of the eye to a maximum of 11/16 of an inch so that the cheese can be sliced properly. Cheese makers adjusted the temperature and curing time to comply with the new standard.
13) Cheese Making is over 7,000 Years Old
The art of cheese making dates back to as early as 5500 B.C. This is significant because it shows archaeologists that Neolithic farmers were evolving beyond the roles of hunter and hunted as they were becoming less nomadic.
There were a few cattle-herding sites found in the region that is now Poland that indicated that cows were not just slaughtered for meat and milk. Farmers found means to maximize the use of their herds by creating byproducts such as cheese. Because milk was easily corruptible but an important part of the diet, finding ways to preserve it became an important part of Neolithic development. Early humans were lactose-intolerant and naturally made cheese that had less lactose making it easier to digest.
Over time, farmers found a process to turn milk to an easily digestible form using certain tools. Specific kinds of milk residue were found in pottery, such as man-made sieves and strainers indicating that milk was most likely curdled to form cheese. While dairy farming was present in other sites such as Africa and areas near Istanbul between the fifth and seventh millennia BC, those sites showed no evidence of cheese-making.
Cheese making eventually made its way to Ancient Egypt. Murals from 2000 BC demonstrate the making of butter and cheese as well as how they stored milk in skin bags on poles. Through the spread of the Roman Empire came the refined art of cheese making. Some Roman houses even had separate kitchens for making cheese called careale.
Through certain historical writings and references you can trace the art and influence of cheese making throughout Europe and the Mediterranean. During the twelfth century BC the writer Homer wrote about a cheese called Cynthos that was sold by the Greeks to the Romans.
Over a thousand years later during the second century BC, the use of rennet became a common ingredient in making cheese and cheese was becoming a serious source of revenue. By fourth century AD, cheese was regularly exported to the Mediterranean and by the collapse of the Roman Empire, cheese making hit the coasts of the Adriatic and Aegean as well as Southern and Central Europe.
12) Cheese Eaten by the Pounds
A study done in 2003 found that Americans were eating an average of 30 pounds of cheese per person yearly. That equated to nearly nine billion pounds of cheese. With a population of over 300 million and growing, that could easily pass 10 billion in 2013. California alone produces more than 250 types of cheese, but the American palate has become desirous of more sophisticated varieties of cheeses. Not only are they munching on local and farmstead cheeses but they are also into blue cheeses, mozzarella and other aged gourmet varieties.
Thirty pounds per person is a lot of cheese but it's no surprise that France beats the US eating between 20kg and 25kg (45-55 pounds) of cheese, per person, per year, The history of cheese in France goes all the way back to European monks in the Middle ages. France has over 360 types of cheese made and named for different regions and communities in the country. Cheeses in France are made by a single farm, a co-op of farmers, or commercially produced. Almost all cheese is regulated by the Appellation d�Origine Proteg� (AOP), who maintains certain standards of cheeses throughout the country.
The Greeks squeak by the French by eating more than 27 kg (60 pounds) of cheese per year. There are 19 types of Greek cheese that were awarded the protected designation of origin (PDO) by the European Union that protect the quality of certain agricultural products. This was done to protect the origin and representation of a country's national cheeses.
11) Annatto, Natural Cheese Dye
Annatto seed, also known as achiote, comes from a pod that contains multiple seeds. It's a seed that is used in Latin American and Caribbean dishes. It has a sweet, nutty, spicy flavor that imparts a range of color from light yellow to deep orange. Commercially, it's used to color a variety of foods including cheese, butter, margarine, smoked fish and others. Traditionally, it's used in the Spanish dish arroz con pollo to give rice that yellow color.
It was used in Gloucester cheese starting in the seventeenth century. During the summer, the higher carotene levels in the grass would give the milk a pronounced orange hue, which showed up in cheeses. That coloration became a sign on top quality cheese and other cheese makers used annatto to replicate the coloring. The practice spread to cheeses that came from Cheshire, Red Leicester and even Scotland.
Annatto seeds are rich in antioxidants called tocotrienols. This antioxidant is similar to vitamin E and is found in other forms of oil. It's the subject of medical research and trials related to cancer prevention. It's also used as a treatment for common infections and is considered safe for consumption by most people.
10) The Most Expensive Cheese is Not French
In 2004, it was discovered that the most expensive cheese is not made in France or even Italy but in Sweden. In a town called Bjursholm, Christer and Ulla Johannson made cheese from their three moose cows, Gullan, Haelga, and Juna, Between May and September, the cows produce one gallon of milk a day which yields between 650 to 660 pounds of moose cheese per year.
Milking a moose can take up to two hours because when moose are disturbed, the milk dries up. That's why moose need to be milked in complete silence. Milk is curdled just three times a year and with the intensive process of collecting it as well as the limited supply, the price of moose cheese is about $500 per pound or $1,000 per kilo.
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9) Camel Milk Cheese
In general, a camel can yield between five and twenty liters of milk per day even without drinking water for nearly three weeks. The problem is that camel milk doesn't coagulate easily and bovine rennet proved ineffective in the process. Thanks to technological advances, scientists are able to use vegetable rennet and camel rennet to curdle the milk and create camel cheese. Currently, the cheese is only produced and sold in Mauritania. There are restrictions preventing it from being sold in Europe while supply difficulties make it hard to manufacture and sell in the U.S.
8) The Story of Blue Cheese
Blue cheese is a generic term used to describe certain cheeses that have colorful, distinctive veins of blue or green. These cheeses are inoculated with varieties of Penicillium and then aged for at least three to five months. The story behind Blue Cheese involves a young man forgetting his cheese in a cave. Months later he returns to find the cheese veined and that's how blue cheese was discovered. These cheeses have no rind and have a distinctively biting flavor. Roquefort is a type of blue cheese with green veining that was mentioned in writings as early as 79 AD. It is France's second most popular cheese. Gorgonzola is a blue veined Italian cheese that's been produced in Gorgonzola, Milan since the ninth century. Bleu d'Auvergne is a less salty, creamier blue cheese that's used in salad dressings. Stilton is an English blue cheese that is used to flavor soups and is eaten with crackers and pears.
7) Cheese Protects Teeth
Cheese is a great source of calcium but the benefits go far beyond that. Cheese actually protects your teeth from tooth decay also known as caries. Teeth go through a natural cycle where the minerals of the enamel are lost and regained. This demineralization/re-mineralization process replaces lost calcium with the help of the saliva. Cheese stimulates saliva production and also clears food particles from your teeth. After eating most foods, the mouth becomes more acidic. Teeth are vulnerable to acidity because it erodes enamel so the balance needs to be restored. Eating cheese counteracts this acidity and balances the pH of the mouth, preserving your enamel. Phosphorus is the second most abundant mineral in the body, behind calcium. Both work to build strong teeth as well as bones. Cheese contains both calcium and phosphorus which protects the enamel and prevents plaque build-up. Aged Cheddar, Swiss, Gouda, and Blue are some of the cheeses that reduce tooth decay.
6) The Proper Way to Eat and Store Cheese
Many people buy cheese, put it in the fridge, and cut it without much thought. To get the full flavor of cheeses, there are some rules. Slicing cheese is a necessity but when buying unpasteurized cheese, it shouldn't be pre-sliced or it will lose a lot of the flavor and aroma. Semi-hard, semi-soft and hard cheese should be kept between 46-56 degrees and should be taken out anywhere between 30 minutes to two hours before serving so that the flavors develop.
When refrigerating cheese, it shouldn't be wrapped tightly or locked in a freezer bag. Cheese needs to breath. The best way to help this is to wrap loosely in wax paper, not clingy plastic wrap. Place it in a loose fitting bag that will allow humid air to circulate. One of the best places to put cheese is in the crisper so that it doesn't dry out and become hard. The only exception to the tight wrapping rule is moldy cheese. They need to be wrapped completely because their mold spores migrate to anything near it including other food. Cheese needs to be protected from other strong smelling foods because it will take on the aroma and may spoil quicker.
5) There are over 2000 varieties of cheese
While there isn't an exact number, the number of cheeses in the world is in the thousands and can usually be categorized simply.
Fresh cheeses are the simplest forms. They happen when milk is curdled then drained. They don't have any preservatives and will spoil within days if not consumed or properly stored. These include cottage cheese, Mozzarella, and Ricotta.
Semi-soft cheeses, like Havarti, have a lot of moisture but are bland in taste.
Medium-hard cheese is ideal for melting and have sharp flavors. They have eyes and are great for quick snacks. They include Gruy�re, Edam, and Gouda.
Semi-hard cheeses have lower moisture and are aged longer. They do go through some heating and pressing and the flavors of these cheeses are pronounced. Cheddar is one of the most popular semi-hard cheeses.
Milk from goats, sheep and other animals such as water buffalo are commercially available and just as popular. The Greeks make Feta cheese from sheep's milk and Pecorino Romano is made from goats.
Soft-ripened cheeses start off chalky and are exposed to mold, such as Penicillium candida, to create a crust. They are smooth textured with intense flavors such as Brie and Camembert.
Washed-rind cheeses are like soft-ripened cheeses but they are cured in saltwater brine solution, beer, wine, or even brandy. This makes them more susceptible to Brevibacterium linens, a red-orange colored bacteria that gives them that pungent odor and flavor. Limburger cheese is a prime example as it's known for its "stinky" smell and smooth flavor.
Smear-ripened cheeses are smeared with bacteria or fungi uniformly and are aged which gives them very strong flavor and aroma. The rinds range from red to reddish-orange like that of the French cheese, Port Salut.
Brined cheeses are matured in a salt solution and have no rind because the salt inhibits bacterial growth. They are mostly white, salty, acidic, and are produced in the Mediterranean and Middle East where the climate is hot.
Processed chesses are made from natural cheese, preservatives, food coloring and additional milk. It's made for a poor economy and some may be available in cans.
4) Rennet is Essential to Cheese Making
Rennet is a group of enzymes that are added to milk to help it to separate into curds and whey. These are naturally occurring enzymes found in a calf's stomach and are vital to the cheese making process. The traditional method involves having the stomachs of young calves dried, cleaned and then used to create a solution which naturally coagulates milk. The proper concentration of the solution is added to the milk and the process goes on from there.
Photo by: Kiril Kapustin
The more modern approach follows the same idea. Calf stomachs are frozen, milled and then the enzyme is extracted. Acid is added to activate the enzymes and the rennet is filtered and made ready for use. Since stomach acid is unavailable, some cheese makers use citric acid to create the reaction.
Because the original form of rennet is in limited supply, there are alternative forms of rennet made from vegetable and microbial sources. Scientists found a way to make certain fungi, yeasts, and bacteria ferment to produce the enzyme chymosin. The process called fermentation-produced chymosin, (FPC), is used by 80 to 90 percent of manufacturers during the cheese making process. Because the microorganism is killed during and after fermentations, chymosin does not contain any genetically modified substances. The fungus Aspergillus niger and the yeast Kluyveromyces lactis are the most widely used commercial sources of chymosin. FPC has the distinction of being the first artificially produced food substance allowed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Because it is not animal based, FPC is vegetarian appropriate, certified kosher, and yields cheeses that are less bitter with better texture.
3) The Original Cream Cheese is Not from Philadelphia
Many people associate cream cheese with the brand Philadelphia and assume that it is just processed cheese. The truth is cream cheese is derived from Neufch�tel cheese that dates back to the 16th century French region Neufch�tel-en-Bray. It was made like many other cheeses, using rennet for coagulation. It's was then dusted with penicillium candidum, molded, matured, and manually salted. American cream cheese is an attempt to recreate Neufch�tel cheese according to multiple reports. The result was a creamier consistency that was more spreadable and was lower in fat. In the late 19th century, dairyman William Lawrence purchased the Neufch�tel factory in New York and started mass producing the cream cheese. It quickly became very popular and in 1880, the cream cheese company was called Philadelphia.
2) Oldest Edible Cheese
A block of 40 year old cheddar cheese was the oldest edible cheese in the world in 2012. A Wisconsin cheese maker made batches of cheese decades before and stored them in the back of his cooler. He then forget about them until he was in the process of shutting his store. In addition to that block, he found cheese blocks that were also 34 and 28-years-old. The youngest block of cheese was tasted and to the surprise of many, it was still creamy. There were these pink crystals that provided an intense flavor experience when patrons bit into them. The 40-year-old cheese was a bit more intense. So much so that it was decided that in order for it to be palatable, it needed to be eaten in smaller pieces than normal.
People were surprised by the quality of the cheese after so many decades. The cheese maker stated that it was due to the freshness of the ingredients. The cheese was made from the milk on the same day and that was why it was able to hold its flavor after all that time. The lot of cheeses was bought by another local store owner. He decided to sell one ounce of the 40-year-old cheese for between $10 and $12 each. He sold out of it quickly and still had the 34-year-old cheese, which became the oldest edible cheese.
1) The Biggest Cheese Producer
Worldwide the cheese market is over $55 billion dollars strong and the U.S. is the largest cheese producer in the world. Australia and New Zealand used to be strong contenders but are both experiencing tough times due to high feed costs and adverse climates. While the U.S. is the largest cheese producer, China and India cheese consumption is experiencing double digit increase thanks to increasing wealth and urbanization.
But you can't talk about cheese production without mentioning Wisconsin. The Badger State produced 2.8 billion pounds of cheese in 2012. That's a whopping 25.4 percent of the nation's cheese production. California was second at 20.7 percent in 2012.
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Peter was the first Pope but who was the second? | The First 10 Popes of the Catholic Church
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The First 10 Popes of the Catholic Church
Listers, we’ve catalogued the first ten Vicars of Christ for the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. Save the information on our first pope – St. Peter – all the information presented is taken from the Catholic Encyclopedia and links for further reading are provided.
Painting of Saint Peter by Peter Paul Rubens depicting the saint as Pope (1611-1612) – Wikipedia
1. Pope St. Peter (32-67)
St. Peter held a primacy amongst the twelve disciples that earned him the title “Prince of the Apostles.” This primacy of St. Peter was solidified when he was appointed by Jesus to the Office of the Vicar – demonstrated by Christ giving St. Peter the Keys to the Kingdom. To understand St. Peter, one must first understand Christ and the Church Christ came to establish. Jesus is the “Son of David” and his life and ministry fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies of the New Davidic Kingdom and New Jerusalem; hence, we look to the historic kingdom of King David as a guide to the New Davidic Kingdom. King David had a vicar that ruled his kingdom when David was absent and the sign of authority for this vicar was the keys of the kingdom. In the New Davidic Kingdom, Christ the Son of David gave the keys to his Vicar to guide the Kingdom until the return of Christ – we now refer to this vicar as “the pope.” SPL has written extensively on these issue in 10 Biblical Reasons Christ Founded the Papacy and 13 Reasons St. Peter Was the Prince of the Apostles .
2. Pope St. Linus (67-76)
All the ancient records of the Roman bishops which have been handed down to us by St. Irenaeus, Julius Africanus, St. Hippolytus, Eusebius, also the Liberian catalogue of 354, place the name of Linus directly after that of the Prince of the Apostles, St. Peter. These records are traced back to a list of the Roman bishops which existed in the time of Pope Eleutherus (about 174-189), when Irenaeus wrote his book “Adversus haereses”. As opposed to this testimony, we cannot accept as more reliable Tertullian’s assertion, which unquestionably places St. Clement (De praescriptione, xxii) after the Apostle Peter, as was also done later by other Latin scholars (Jerome, Illustrious Men 15). The Roman list in Irenaeus has undoubtedly greater claims to historical authority. This author claims that Pope Linus is the Linus mentioned by St. Paul in his 2 Timothy 4:21. The passage by Irenaeus (Against Heresies III.3.3) reads:
After the Holy Apostles (Peter and Paul) had founded and set the Church in order (in Rome) they gave over the exercise of the episcopal office to Linus. The same Linus is mentioned by St. Paul in his Epistle to Timothy. His successor was Anacletus.
We cannot be positive whether this identification of the pope as being the Linus mentioned in 2 Timothy 4:21 goes back to an ancient and reliable source, or originated later on account of the similarity of the name. [ Read More ]
3. Pope St. Anacletus (Cletus) (76-88)
The second successor of St. Peter. Whether he was the same as Cletus, who is also called Anencletus as well as Anacletus, has been the subject of endless discussion. Irenaeus, Eusebius, Augustine, Optatus, use both names indifferently as of one person. Tertullian omits him altogether. To add to the confusion, the order is different. Thus Irenaeus has Linus, Anacletus, Clement; whereas Augustine and Optatus put Clement before Anacletus. On the other hand, the “Catalogus Liberianus”, the “Carmen contra Marcionem” and the “Liber Pontificalis”, all most respectable for their antiquity, make Cletus and Anacletus distinct from each other; while the “Catalogus Felicianus” even sets the latter down as a Greek, the former as a Roman. [ Read More ]
4. Pope St. Clement I (88-97)
Pope Clement I (called CLEMENS ROMANUS to distinguish him from the Alexandrian), is the first of the successors of St. Peter of whom anything definite is known, and he is the first of the “Apostolic Fathers”. His feast is celebrated 23 November. He has left one genuine writing, a letter to the Church of Corinth, and many others have been attributed to him.
According to Tertullian, writing c. 199, the Roman Church claimed that Clement was ordained by St. Peter (De Praescript., xxxii), and St. Jerome tells us that in his time “most of the Latins” held that Clement was the immediate successor of the Apostle (Illustrious Men 15). St. Jerome himself in several other places follows this opinion, but here he correctly states that Clement was the fourth pope. [ Read More ]
In defense of the historical fact that the “Early Church” was also the Catholic Church, SPL composed a list entitled The Apostles Appointed Bishops: 9 Teachings from St. Clement AD 97 . The list shows a very early snapshot of the Early Church and its Catholicity.
5. Pope St. Evaristus (97-105)
Date of birth unknown; died about 107. In the Liberian Catalogue his name is given as Aristus. In papal catalogues of the second century used by Irenaeus and Hippolytus, he appears as the fourth successor of St. Peter, immediately after St Clement. The same lists allow him eight years of reign, covering the end of the first and the beginning of the second century (from about 98 or 99 to about 106 or 107). The earliest historical sources offer no authentic data about him. In his “Ecclesiastical History” Eusebius says merely that he succeeded Clement in the episcopate of the Roman Church which fact was already known from St. Irenæus. This order of succession is undoubtedly correct. [ Read More ]
6. Pope St. Alexander I (105-115)
St. Irenaeus of Lyons, writing in the latter quarter of the second century, reckons him as the fifth pope in succession from the Apostles, though he says nothing of his martyrdom.
His pontificate is variously dated by critics, e.g. 106-115 (Duchesne) or 109-116 (Lightfoot). In Christian antiquity he was credited with a pontificate of about ten years (Eusebius, Church History IV.1) and there is no reason to doubt that he was on the “catalogue of bishops” drawn up at Rome by Hegesippus (Eusebius, IV, xxii, 3) before the death of Pope Eleutherius (c. 189). According to a tradition extant in the Roman Church at the end of the fifth century, and recorded in the Liber Pontificalis he suffered a martyr’s death by decapitation on the Via Nomentana in Rome, 3 May. [ Read More ]
Detail of Saint Sixtus from Sistine Madonna, painting by Raphael c.1513.
7. Pope St. Sixtus I (115-125)
Pope St. Sixtus I (in the oldest documents, Xystus is the spelling used for the first three popes of that name), succeeded St. Alexander and was followed by St. Telesphorus. According to the “Liberian Catalogue” of popes, he ruled the Church during the reign of Adrian “a conulatu Nigri et Aproniani usque Vero III et Ambibulo”, that is, from 117 to 126. Eusebius, who in his “Chronicon” made use of a catalogue of popes different from the one he used in his “Historia ecclesiastica”, states in his “Chronicon” that Sixtus I was pope from 114 to 124, while in his “History” he makes him rule from 114 to 128. All authorities agree that he reigned about ten years. He was a Roman by birth, and his father’s name was Pastor. [ Read More ]
8. Pope St. Telesphorus (125-136)
St. Telesphorus was the seventh Roman bishop in succession from the Apostles, and, according to the testimony of St. Irenæus (Against Heresies III.3.3), suffered a glorious martyrdom. Eusebius (Church History IV.7, IV.14) places the beginning of his pontificate in the twelfth of Hadrian’s reign (128-129), his death in the first year of the reign of Antoninus Pius (138-139). [ Read More ]
9. Pope St. Hyginus (136-140)
Reigned about 138-142; succeeded Pope Telesphorus, who, according to Eusebius (Church History IV.15), died during the first year of the reign of the Emperor Antonius Pius — in 138 or 139, therefore. But the chronology of these bishops of Rome cannot be determined with any degree of exactitude by the help of the authorities at our disposal today. According to the “Liber Pontificalis”, Hyginus was a Greek by birth. The further statement that he was previously a philosopher is probably founded on the similarity of his name with that of two Latin authors. [ Read More ]
10. Pope St. Pius I (140-155)
Date of birth unknown; pope from about 140 to about 154. According to the earliest list of the popes, given by Irenaeus (Against Heresies II.31; cf. Eusebius, Church History V.6), Pius was the ninth successor of St. Peter. The dates given in the Liberian Catalogue for his pontificate (146-61) rest on a false calculation of earlier chroniclers, and cannot be accepted. The only chronological datum we possess is supplied by the year of St. Polycarp of Smyrna’s death, which may be referred with great certainty to 155-6.
During the pontificate of Pius the Roman Church was visited by various heretics, who sought to propagate their false doctrine among the faithful of the capital. The Gnostic Valentinus, who had made his appearance under Pope Hyginus, continued to sow his heresy, apparently not without success. The Gnostic Cerdon was also active in Rome at this period, during which Marcion arrived in the capital (see MARCIONITES). Excluded from communion by Pius, the latter founded his heretical body (Irenaeus, Against Heresies III.3). But Catholic teachers also visited the Roman Church, the most important being St. Justin, who expounded the Christian teachings during the pontificate of Pius and that of his successor. A great activity thus marks the Christian community in Rome, which stands clearly conspicuous as the centre of the Church. [ Read More ]
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What is Benedict XVI 's real name? | CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Pope St. Linus
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Pope St. Linus
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(Reigned about A.D. 64 or 67 to 76 or 79).
All the ancient records of the Roman bishops which have been handed down to us by St. Irenaeus , Julius Africanus , St. Hippolytus , Eusebius , also the Liberian catalogue of 354, place the name of Linus directly after that of the Prince of the Apostles, St. Peter . These records are traced back to a list of the Roman bishops which existed in the time of Pope Eleutherus (about 174-189), when Irenaeus wrote his book "Adversus haereses". As opposed to this testimony, we cannot accept as more reliable Tertullian's assertion, which unquestionably places St. Clement (De praescriptione, xxii) after the Apostle Peter , as was also done later by other Latin scholars (Jerome, Illustrious Men 15 ). The Roman list in Irenaeus has undoubtedly greater claims to historical authority. This author claims that Pope Linus is the Linus mentioned by St. Paul in his 2 Timothy 4:21 . The passage by Irenaeus ( Against Heresies III.3.3 ) reads:
After the Holy Apostles ( Peter and Paul ) had founded and set the Church in order (in Rome ) they gave over the exercise of the episcopal office to Linus. The same Linus is mentioned by St. Paul in his Epistle to Timothy. His successor was Anacletus.
We cannot be positive whether this identification of the pope as being the Linus mentioned in 2 Timothy 4:21 goes back to an ancient and reliable source, or originated later on account of the similarity of the name.
Linus's term of office, according to the papal lists handed down to us, lasted only twelve years. The Liberian Catalogue shows that it lasted twelve years, four months, and twelve days. The dates given in this catalogue, A.D. 56 until A.D. 67, are incorrect. Perhaps it was on account of these dates that the writers of the fourth century gave their opinion that Linus had held the position of head of the Roman community during the life of the Apostle; e.g., Rufinus in the preface to his translation of the pseudo-Clementine "Recognitiones". But this hypothesis has no historical foundation. It cannot be doubted that according to the accounts of Irenaeus concerning the Roman Church in the second century, Linus was chosen to be head of the community of Christians in Rome , after the death of the Apostle. For this reason his pontificate dates from the year of the death of the Apostles Peter and Paul , which, however, is not known for certain .
The "Liber Pontificalis" asserts that Linus's home was in Tuscany , and that his father's name was Herculanus; but we cannot discover the origin of this assertion. According to the same work on the popes , Linus is supposed to have issued a decree "in conformity with the ordinance of St. Peter", that women should have their heads covered in church. Without doubt this decree is apocryphal , and copied by the author of the "Liber Pontificalis" from the first Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians (11:5) and arbitrarily attributed to the first successor of the Apostle in Rome . The statement made in the same source, that Linus suffered martyrdom , cannot be proved and is improbable. For between Nero and Domitian there is no mention of any persecution of the Roman Church ; and Irenaeus (1. c., III, iv, 3) from among the early Roman bishops designates only Telesphorus as a glorious martyr .
Finally this book asserts that Linus after his death, was buried in the Vatican beside St. Peter . We do not know whether the author had any decisive reason for this assertion. As St. Peter was certainly buried at the foot of the Vatican Hill, it is quite possible that the earliest bishops of the Roman Church also were interred there. There was nothing in the liturgical tradition of the fourth-century Roman Church to prove this, because it was only at the end of the second century that any special feast of martyrs was instituted and consequently Linus does not appear in the fourth-century lists of the feasts of the Roman saints . According to Torrigio ("Le sacre grotte Vaticane", Viterbo , 1618, 53) when the present confession was constructed in St. Peter's (1615), sarcophagi were found, and among them was one which bore the word Linus. The explanation given by Severano of this discovery ("Memorie delle sette chiese di Roma", Rome, 1630, 120) is that probably these sarcophagi contained the remains of the first Roman bishops , and that the one bearing that inscription was Linus's burial place. This assertion was repeated later on by different writers. But from a manuscript of Torrigio's we see that on the sarcophagus in question there were other letters beside the word Linus, so that they rather belonged to some other name (such as Aquilinus, Anullinus). The place of the discovery of the tomb is a proof that it could not be the tomb of Linus ( De Rossi , "Inscriptiones christianae urbis Romae", II, 23-7).
The feast of St. Linus is now celebrated on 23 September. This is also the date given in the "Liber Pontificalis" . An epistle on the martyrdom of the Apostles St. Peter and Paul was at a later period attributed to St. Linus, and supposedly was sent by him to the Eastern Churches . It is apocryphal and of later date than the history of the martyrdom of the two Apostles, by some attributed to Marcellus, which is also apocryphal ("Acta Apostolorum apocrypha", ed. Lipsius and Bonnet, I, ed; Leipzig, 1891, XIV sqq., 1 sqq.).
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In which area of Germany was he born and raised? | 26 signs you were born and raised in Germany
26 signs you were born and raised in Germany
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1. Your mother ironed your bed linen, underwear, and towels.
What would the neighbors think if she allowed you to leave the house with unironed underwear?! There must be order!
2. You’ve never watched The Sound of Music.
The only reason you even know it exists is because your American friends keep referring to it, or even worse, sing the songs to you with the expectation that you’ll join in.
3. Döner kebab is your life-saving 3am hangover-prevention food.
And you are completely convinced that it is a purely German invention. Like heck the integration of immigrants in German culture isn’t working!
4. Efficiency is your middle name.
Working abroad in an international company? Almost certainly you’re the colleague everybody hates. The bloody German, who finishes all of his tasks in no time and leaves his boss desperate to find some new work for him. You’ve seriously tried to work more slowly, to deliver less quality results…but you just can’t help it — German efficiency is in your genes.
5. Elevators are a place of silence.
There is an unwritten rule in Germany: You don’t look at other people in the elevator, and you definitely don’t talk to them. Even if you’re in an elevator with your friends, there’s usually an awkward silence nobody dares break.
6. You never, ever step on lawns.
Even if you’re in one of the few parks where there is no sign prohibiting stepping on the lawn, you still feel like a criminal just for going near the grass.
7. There’s just one kind of proper bread.
Real bread is dark and has a crispy crust and a soft inside, obviously. White bread, whether it’s a baguette or ciabatta, just isn’t the real deal. When you travel the world or move abroad, there is nothing you long for more than the sight of a traditional German bakery.
8. You’re the worst nightmare of every party host.
When you’re invited to a party at 7pm in — let’s say — Spain, like a good German you’ll probably show up at 6.50pm, walk around the block once because you don’t want to be too early, and then ring the bell at 6.55pm. Don’t expect your host to open the door anytime soon — he’s still in the shower and hasn’t even started preparing the house for the party yet.
On the other hand, when you invite people for a party at 7 pm, you expect them to show up at 7pm. Not at 7.30pm, not at 8pm, and god beware if one of them dares to arrive at 8.30pm without having a really good excuse (like saving a kitten out of a burning house).
9. The expression “7-ish” makes you cringe.
There is either 7:00 or 7:05 or 7:10. For you, 7-ish is just an excuse for people who can’t manage their time effectively to be punctual. Mainly, you’re just pissed that you’ll never manage to be somewhere around 7-ish. You’ll always be there at 6:55. Even when you’ve sent a text with your sincere apologies that you’ll probably be late, you’ll still be there at 6:55.
10. You have a very strong opinion about beer.
This opinion strongly varies depending on your birthplace though. It is a little bit like religion. While people from Cologne prefer their Kölsch in tiny 0,2l glasses, and people from Bremen drink their Pils out of 0,33l glasses, Bavarians wouldn’t trade their Helles in 1l beer mugs for anything in the world. This can lead to serious inner German conflicts: When someone from Cologne tries to order a Kölsch in Munich, he’ll probably be kicked out of the bar faster than a Bavarian can say “Lederhosen.”
11. Three beers are an escalope.
Beer in Germany is widely considered as a food and not as an alcoholic beverage. This Bavarian proverb suggests that the nutritional value of 3 beers equates to having a proper lunch — drinking a beer or two during your lunch break and then returning to work is completely natural for you.
12. You constantly complain about the Servicewüste Deutschland.
In fact, you’re convinced that there’s no worse customer service than in Germany. Then you go abroad to Hungary or France, and when you return, you want to kiss every single cashier who slightly smiles at you out of gratitude for their friendliness.
13. Table manners are really important to you(r parents).
“Don’t speak with your mouth full! Sit up straight! Elbows off the table!” Aren’t German parents a pleasure to have around at dinner time?
14. You are a waste separation fanatic.
You have so many trash bins that you almost need an extra room for them: organic waste, paper, plastic, white glass, green glass, brown glass, normal trash…you could go on. And washing your empty yogurt cartons and other packaging before throwing it in the garbage is completely normal to you.
15. You’ve probably never payed to see a doctor before.
The German healthcare system is an amazing one; it covers almost everything except breast implants (and even then, if you can prove that they’re fundamentally important to your mental health, you can get them for free).
16. You’re still pissed that you went to university for the few years when they charged tuition.
Access to university used to be for free in Germany until some federal states decided to introduce a tuition of up to €500 per semester. After several years of public outcry, it was abolished again. Yet those few years managed to cost you one or two thousand euros you’d rather have spent on beer and a flat screen TV.
17. At least one of your friends is still at university aged 33.
No, he isn’t teaching or doing a PhD. It just took him some time to find the right direction in life, and he switched majors from Archaeology to Philosophy to Business Studies to Sinology. Finally he found his purpose with the Art History of Uzbekistan in the 9th Century. Unfortunately, with the introduction of the international bachelor and master degrees in Germany, and stricter study regulations, this Van Wilder lifestyle has become less and less common.
18. You respect the red light.
You would never cross when the sign is red. Like never ever. Not even as a pedestrian in the middle of the night with no car anywhere in sight. The risk of losing your driver’s license if caught, even as a pedestrian, might be why. Unfortunately, when you are in other countries, you expect other people to respect the light as much as you do. That’s how you almost got killed 5 times during your recent Southeast Asia trip.
19. Insurances give you a great feeling of protection.
Life insurance, fire insurance, insurance against natural disasters, own-occupation disability insurance, additional health insurance, liability insurance, contents insurance, accident insurance…admit it, you’ve got at least half of them. You feel so well protected that, to you, it doesn’t even matter that you’ve just spent half of your salary on things that will likely never happen. Better safe than sorry.
20. Polite small talk feels like a waste of time to you.
If you’re German and work with other nationalities, the following work conversation might seem oddly familiar to you:
“Hey, how are you?”
“How was your weekend?”
“What do you want? I don’t have time for this!”
Admittedly, the last part usually takes place just in your head. It’s not that you’re anti-social, you just think your time’s too precious to waste on polite pleasantries. We didn’t achieve our economic miracle with idle chit chat after all.
21. National pride makes you feel uncomfortable.
Yes, Germans are still slightly traumatized by history. No matter what country you’re in, publicly-displayed national flags or open displays of patriotism always seem weird to you. And the only time you won’t get disapproving looks for putting a German flag on your balcony is during the World Cup.
22. Quarry ponds were the summer paradise of your youth.
Basically every German city has at least one. Today, just the smell of sunscreen makes you nostalgic for those heady days of endless ice cream and hanging out by the quarry pond after school.
23. You watch Dinner for One every New Year’s Eve.
This is a British sketch about an old lady celebrating her birthday. Unfortunately, all her friends are already dead. Fortunately the old lady is not the brightest, so she doesn’t realize that her butler slips into the roles of all of her friends and gets completely wasted. What has this got to do with New Year’s Eve? Not the slightest idea. Why do we watch it? Because we are German and we don’t care if our traditions don’t make any sense.
24. You are basically bilingual.
You speak your regional dialect and High German, which, given that there are more than 20 different dialects in Germany, is essential to communicate with your fellow Germans from other federal states. Otherwise a Bavarian could never have a conversation with a Friesian without an interpreter. After all, these dialects actually belong to two different branches of the German language families.
25. You’ve never heard “speed-limit” in the same sentence as “highway.”
Yes, on large parts of our highways there’s no speed limit. Sadly, you hardly ever get to make use of that freedom, because there’s always some idiot blocking the left lane by driving at just 120 km/h.
26. You are well aware that there is no such thing as a typical German.
Different beer, different Christmas traditions, heck, we don’t even have the same language! Only for a couple of weeks every two years does the whole country stand in unity, thanks to the eternal magic of the football championships.
Frapel
Good one!! Not german, but living in GErmany and this is very accurate!
Juiol
“The bloody German, who finishes all of his tasks in no time and leaves his boss desperate to find some new work for him. You’ve seriously tried to work more slowly, to deliver less quality results…”
The part where the fact this was written by a German got obvious. I’ve met many germans that were disliked. None of them was by their “efficiency”.
AntiJuiol
please don’t cry about it!! Jealous about our stereotype??
Juiol
But she isn’t calling it a stereotype, is she? She’s mentioning it as a true fact.
And that I don’t feel jealous about, because I know it’s certainly not true 🙂
Wanna talk about stereotypes? How about the one that says germans have 0 humor, are rude and all basically OCD?
I’ve met plenty who don’t apply to those either. But isn’t that one mentioned.
I know: national jerk off. 🙂
Louis
We actually don’t have any humor, this is correct. Humor is not necessary for our survival and laughing ist just a waste of time. Time, which we can use to make others miserable with peak efficiency. Also please feel free to feel uncomfortable in our presence. It is our national pleasure to be a pain in the ass (along with being badly dressed and right in your face unfriendly). But we are honest and tell people if we find them lazy, crazy or just a waste of biological ressources – which is the case almost 100% of the time.
relax :)
If you are trolling u do it well… if not I hope that you dont feel so alone and miserable. Because only such person would make a comment like that. Open your fucking eyes the world is a wonderful place
Juiol
That comment there may actually be one of the best ever. He’s being sarcastic while he’s agreeing the Germans don’t indeed have humor.
So he’s making a (poor) joke which he means to be funny, ironically supporting the stereotype of the lack of German humor.
It’s brilliant, really.
relax :)
Hahaha if yhats the case its a nice attempt of humor…. keep up the good work there… try to be as more efficient you can…and we will give you more tasks as we progress
Louis
I love you too, but I do feel we need to see other people.
J. C.
Actually, even though I think you say this in jest, you are dead on…
bla
Lol, I do understand Juiol! I’ve worked with many German people in two different countries (none of them was German, I’ve never lived there), and they were far from being very efficient workers! It’s exactly like the stereotype about German punctuality (just two days ago, I’ve actually waited 43 goddamned minutes for a German friend for a dinner, because he thought it was a good idea to sleep half an hour after the working day, and he end up sleeping a lot more than that)!
jan
8 and 9 depend pretty much on where you live in Germany. “If you aren’t comming today just come tomorrow.” is a saying in my home town (Cologne). Also beeing on time for a party is considered to be rather rude.
Cesar
The number 15 is completely false, if you are under 18 years maybe it is possible because your parents pay it. 😉
Well, there are occasional additional payments, of course — but the majority of the cost is generally covered by the insurance. Then again, this article is a bit tongue-in-cheek anyway, so we don’t really have to nitpick on the details. 😉
Alice
… Except that you have to pay for your health insurance monthly. The system is fine, but not for free. 😉
Aaaand we’re back to nitpicking…!? 😉
Jobbára napos idő
Mostly accurate but let’s round it up to an even 30:
27. You are scared to death of draft air. “Zugluft” kills.
28. You hate ice cubes in your soft drinks or cold soft drinks in general because you were told that cold drinks are unhealthy, so you prefer them lukewarm.
29. Credit cards were invented by the devil, you pay cash only.
30. You are paranoid about using social media and the internet in general because then “they” have all your data. Also, let’s put some more tape over that webcam.
Jameson
Fucking morons, I tell you.
Thomas Knip
Draft air is the devil incarnate! If we need fresh air, we march into a foreign country.
Great way to contribute to the discussion…
Deitscherami
Like what you did with your name. 🙂
T Schmidt
Can’t we all just get along?
Tina
=D
Thanks for that. And yes, I really do have taped my webcam. Who doesn’t? 😉
But I disagree on the ice cubes. Yes I hate them but it’s not because I don’t like cool drinks, I just hate it when my drink gets watered down. Half water, half coke? Come on, who likes that??
Juan
Yeah, but then again is it okay to do this to Whiskey???
Tom
Wow, wow, wow – it is NEVER okay to do this to Whisk(e)y! 😉
SpoilerAlert
It’s okay for Whiskey (American Bourbon), but never for Whisky (Scotch). Also, please no tumblers for Scotch, they’re for Bourbon aswell. Bourbon needs to breathe to develop aroma, hence it needs the big open surface a tumbler creates. Scotch degrades when oxidizing, so nosing glasses for that 🙂 (also Bourbon tastes like crap compared to Scotch ;))
boozepro
despite you find some ice as old as your whiskey…
vippy
Dead on!
Saciel
we hate credit cards because most German credit card companies charge the hell out of you if you don’t pay off within a month
Philip
like 14-17%
Vosla
It was mentioned above : we have tons of debit cards in Germany which are cheaper to use and they are accepted almost everywhere here.
Saciel
But debit cards work differently than credit cards. With credit cards you pay with money you don’t really have, debit cards are limited to at least a certain amount you don’t have 😉 and if you enter the disposition credit it’s still expensive to use.
Vosla
So true. Only wanted to stress out that you don’t NEED creditcards in daily life here.
Not spending money that you don’t have might be another typical German trait. 😉
Wolfgang
I think it is.
I am an ethnic German from the USA. Now in the Philippines.
Curious how credit works in Germany? If you do not use a lot of credit cards in America, you can never buy a house. Does it not work that way there?
In the Philippines, a dirty developing nation, I purchased a home through the government. There is no credit scoring here. There is credit. But you essentially show them you have an income. It does not take many years of reporting and usage of credit to build up.
Is credit required to buy a home in the Father Land?
Vosla
There is a rating system in Germany called Schufa. Several key informations from banks and other institutions are gathered for an overall rating. This allows other people to see your payment morale. Having a dent or two in your account is not a problem but also having NO entry in the Schufa system (I have none) is not automatically good as you can’t be rated at all. Buying a home with cash is no problem, convincing a bank to give you money for it could get tricky. I would not get more than 50000 Euros from a bank because I count as ‘working poor’ and the bank knows that I could not afford the interest. And with 50000 Euros… well, a run down old house with lots of problems is affordable. AND I would only get the 50000 because the bank KNOWS my parents have enough money to possibly back me (they won’t, but that’s another story). So unless I get a lot of real cash, there is no buying of houses, big cars, yachts or whatever.
Wolfgang
Ah. It seems to be the same then. Thank you for explaining it.
Too bad we are not we are not Syrian 😀
Wolfgang
And they are owned by Jews…
Jay Camargo
LOL the gym sometimes smells of death and it’s hotter than a sauna, but nobody DARES to open a window… and if I do, someone will immediately come close it while I’m running on the treadmill…
Philip
My gym just installed to windows in the free weight section. The are up by the ceiling and always open… thank goodness.
Jacqueline
28. I hate ice cubes in my drinks because the drinks are already served cold and the cubes take away too much space.
29. I work in a grocery store, and I assure you that most people pay with debit cards or cash. There is just absolutely no use for a credit card anywhere because you can pay using your debit card everywhere. I personally hate having more than 20€ on me.
Most of them aren’t even accurate (obviously they cannot possibly apply to everyone). Maybe I’m more respectful toward red lights than the English (due to different laws), but I certainly do not do so every single time, especially if there is absolutely no car in sight. I’ve grown up in a city, and most people here are like that (even slow elderly people don’t always bother). Apart from that, there are speed limits on most highways (Autobahn) although it does seem like most Germans have an inherent antipathy for the word “speed limit.”
Also, we are not more bilingual than any other country. England and the US have many dialects and accents, let alone Africa (Ghana or South Africa in particular).
And, to conclude my point: privately insured people will see a lot of doctor’s bills. They have to pay the doctor/hospital in advance and get reimbursed by their insurance. That is also why they are preferred by docs. The rest will still see a lot of bills. Sure, usual things are (luckily) covered, but there are certain treatments that do require you to pay fully or partially. My sister had to pay the doctor for giving her shots for her tinitus, for example. You would be surprised to find out what other ordinary treatments are not covered by health insurance companies (and yes, it’s still better than the US).
shaneo
33. The over dignified German will feel compelled to rectify comments they feel inaccurate, even though the entire article is clearly in jest and solely exists for light comic relief.
Ein deutscher
you made my day!!! (I am German)
thgc
hahaha this should be added to the list
Wolfgang
I did not see any comic relief in this article…
Raylay
31. Gym is the only “sport” you’re good at.
32. You’re a better football coach than all of the top coaches in the world combined. You know so much more about football than anyone else on this planet and only your decisions would lead your favourite team to greater success.
33. Everyone who does harder drugs than weed and alkohol is a complete junkie who will be dead or lives on the streets soon.
34. If any other german is not acting according to your local habits, such as saying the proper toast or calling food the same way as you do, you immediatly tell them that what they did is dead wrong. There is no other way of toasting to people than how you learned to do it! And the way that a bun is called in your region is the only way it can be called!
35. You will always try 1000% to pour your wheat beer perfectly. If you fail and have too much or too little foam you will be ashamed for the rest of your life. If someone else fails they immediatly become a subhuman being to you. You also cant pour a wheat beer without telling anyone around of how important it is to do it correctly.
meemee
You seem to have a strange idea of Germans.
danie
No it’s absolutely true.. This refers mainly to the “lower” part of Bavaria though
J. C.
I live in bavaria and that´s all bullshit
Valentin von Schlieffen
I’m from Germany and have lived in the North and South and all of these are completely true
Wolfgang
I am from America and can confirm these are genetic!
I can identify with almost all of these. Apart from there being no place to see a physician here if you are not wealthy…
Guinness
“immediately become a subhuman being to you” – maybe not the best thing to put in an article referring to germany………not really a mindset you want to promote these days. They did that once, it wasn’t great for anyone.
name
its true !
Jake the Dawg
36. Most Germans have a different view of what a typical German is like, because there’s really no such thing. Bavarian’s will always be weird to me. To me there are no special habits to drinking wheat beer, which I don’t do that often anyway. Sometimes I feel more related to foreigners than people from some different part of Germany 😀
And I don’t know what’s all this obsession about soccer in Germany. I’m not a fan of it at all…
Philip
sorry but thats absolutely true 😀 there may be more open-minded Germans but if you think any of this is false you just don’t know enough or the “wrong” people 😛
Sophia
haha the tape over the webcam is so common, do other countries not do that? I just feel kinda watched if it’s not there… plus i’m always worried i’ll have my camera turned on by accident
J. C.
90% of coworkers here in the US have tape over their webcams at work…and I bet they do at home too.
Matt
In America it’s definitely not a thing, at least among my college-age colleagues. I think it’s hilarious how paranoid germans get about their privacy to the point that they ban Google Streetview because “they” could use it. Experience with the Stazi and the Nazis probably have something to do with it.
Sophia
Wait, google streetview really doesn’t exist here? that explains why I never get germany on geoguessr i was starting to get annoyed… yeah, it’s probably all cause of the nazis. everything is.
Nergal Black Sun
streetview is only available in a few areas since it’s up to the towns if and what they want to be seen or not and even than u are able to get ur house blacked out on request… it’s not completely banned. Just go to streeview on and check the big cities- they usualy have at least the public areas viewable.
T Schmidt
Google Street View in the U.S. has faces and license plates blurred out. Isn’t that the same in Germany?
31. if you know how to drive, you know how to drive stick. Some people might drive automatic cars later but you have to make your driver’s license in a “normal” one.
J. C.
Ice cubes? Why water down a perfectly good drink? Steak sauce? Why destroy the perfect good taste of a steak with chemicals and MSG?
Lilli
these are actually not true at all, besides maybe the last one 😉
as well as few others of this article (1., 6., 18.) 😛
Phoebe
Who the fuck wrote this? In english?
Someone who lived in Germany?
Party true.. but other half complete crap. !
name
i just want to explain the icecube thing: when we abroad on holiday for example, we are afraid of germs in the water the icecubes were made of 🙂
Rachel Wickern Packard
Hahaha 30 reminded me so much about my ex go xD
Heidi Kamrath
MILE, I absolutely agree! I would add: they hate peanut butter!
My parents were born in Germany. Neither they nor any relatives or friends visiting (the U.S.) want anything to do with peanut butter.
😉
Emma
I really don’t like ice cubes in my soft drink because in most of the cases the ice cubes lead to less soft drink (and more water) 😮
Aki
I live in Germany, and most definitely number 4. It made me laugh SO HARD. Germans? Efficient? HAHAHAHAHAHA please. They have so many holidays and work like 3 hours a day? I’m sure some fat German is gonna come along and say “oh we don’t need more than that,” right. Laziest, most useless people on the planet. Take me back to Japan, please.
R.J.
You just made this blogs case. 3 hours is all they need to get stuff done, where in other countries it would take a whole day. Efficiency, look it up.
PHok
And we still get our jobs done. What does Japanese take so long? 😉
Sam
have you ever heard of the word” fleißig”???
Hans Dapf
I´m german. Inefficiency and lack of working moral makes me sick.
Btw: I work 10-11 hrs. a day with 30 Min. pause. Guess I just can´t help but this is exhausting and sometimes a borderline work/life balance. Without so much holiday I couldn´t work that much.
But unlike Japanes I would not spend most of my holiday at work. Funny fact: Japanese is the only language with a word for “death at workplace by exhaust”: “karoshi”
Reinhard der Deinhard
Dapf or Dampf….? 😉
Saciel
you mean the glorious country where people literally work themselves to death, or commit workplace-related suicide? Where people want to go home but can’t because the boss is sitting in his office from 7am to 10pm?
Olli
Yep, that’s an old prejudice. German efficiency has been gone for decades.
Also German bureaucracy is THE symbol of ultimate inefficiency. Germans have never been especially efficient but they tried to work properly – whatever that meant in their mind. Working hard but inefficiently – that’s German.
Sebastian
haters gonna hate.
JohnMatthew
So, you never experienced the bureaucracy of a foreighn country, othervise you would be glad living with german bureaucracy ;D
Olli
Nobody is glad living bith German bureaucracy.
Jack
More complicated than efficient. Germans get the two confused.
momo
Just because the Japanese are married with their workplace doesn’t mean everybody else is lazy.
Elena
Haha come to Australia and you’ll learn to appreciate German efficiency!
JoeF
Lots of inaccuracies…
3. Doener is only available in bigger cities. Good luck getting it in small towns.
23. In “Dinner for One”, the old lady pretty well knows that the butler plays the roles. Please watch it again and check the dialogue (I’ve watched it often enough to pretty much know the text by heart…)
24. There is one area in Germany which speaks High German, and doesn’t have a local dialect: Hannover (I know, I grew up there…)
And #7 is completely wrong. The ONE thing I miss from Germany here in the US is Broetchen, basically rolls of white bread. Of course, American white bread is a POS. That goes without saying.
Gwen
Oh dear… the only plays where anyone really speaks High German is on stage. Hannover may have the language that comes closest to it, but if you took just one look at the “Siebs” (das Buch der deutschen Hochlautung) you’d have noticed that you speak let’s say the “verständichste Umgangssprache”, NOT “High German”. I never met with anyone bragging he/she spoke “High German” that didn’t fail to pronounce at least one of the two easy words wrong I test their statement with. Most fail at the first “Honig”. Only one even got to the second, as far as I can remember. So would everyone without actual education PLEASE stop bragging about their “High German”? I’m sick of it! Have some respect for the people who really took the effort of learning it! (Unfortunately out of the 10 pupils I shared my classes with not even half of them mastered it… But it’s not necessary anyway, because when you speak “High German” in public you are being looked at. I prefer “Umgangssprache”, seems more natural and sympathetic 😉 )
Gwen
Ah, I meant to “PLACE” not “plays”, sorry!!!!
Thomas Knip
Though the plays on stage unsually are in High German, so you were right. 😀
MaNuPF25
Honich 😉
AndreasP
Siebs is actually a completely invented pronunciation system to be used for the theatre stage. There is no such thing as one standard “High German”. Honig pronounced as “Honich”, e. g., will never be widely accepted in Southern Germany (like the word “Sonnabend” will never be used there instead of “Samstag”). These are totally acceptable regional variants. The Hanover region, by the way, of course has a distinct Lower German dialect, it’s just that the urban people there don’t speak it anymore.
MaNuPF25
uhm every town I go to has at least one Dönerbude
HK
Not just every small town has a “dönerbude”, eben villages in my area sells döner 😀
Miriam
i live in a smll town nd we have 5 doener stores 😀
Isabelle
Döner is really EVERYWHERE in germany, even in the smallest towns, trust me 😉
ohminus
“3. Doener is only available in bigger cities. Good luck getting it in small towns.”
Sorry, but you’re several decades behind. I currently live in a tiny town of less than 7000 inhabitants, and we not only have one döner joint, but a whole bunch of them.
Vosla
If you catch a Hanoverian offguard, he might use Plattdeutsch (Low German). Same with Hamburg. They speak High German but will very fast change to Platt once they think you can understand it. And sometimes a Platt speaker exaggerates his dialect because it sounds so funny.
hoerndal
#23 dinner for one is a german sketch actually, nota british one. People from great britain don’t even know it exists 😉
Daniel
By the way, Dinner for one was recordet and first brodcasted on NDR, it’s a small tv studio in north germany. Most british people dont’t know the sketch 😉
Jürgen
I’m German and this is stupid clishe bullshit. I think the majority of Germans doesn’t fit into these rules. And I really doubt that this shit was written by someone who has good knowledge of Germans.
Jürgen
I forgot: rule 26 says it all and is probably the only true one. There is no such thing as a typical German who does all the stuff mentioned above. This shit ist racist nonsense.
MaNuPF25
um. german is not a race.
whitecat
Sorry Jürgen, but you definitely have 0 humor 😉 I am German by myself and the complete article is a great joke. I roared with laughter because it’s so funny !! It’s just great. If you take THAT serious you activate the biggest cliche of all. I am almost imbarassed about your comment. And by the way…. This article is written by a German ;-)) Take it easy…
AngieDangie
Wait so you are a German by yourself? So you are denying the fact that there are 80 million other Germans around?
Jacky
Calm down! thats freaky funny! and yeah, i’m german too!!! Ausserdem stimmt das meiste doch davon! Und ja, ich kann das (trotz meiner “Hautfarbe”) bestätigen, da meine Mom pur Deutsch ist 😀
whitecat
Der Artikel ist genial !! Und ich bin auch Deutsche ;-)) Viele Dinge treffen zu – und ich arbeite ständig daran in diesen Hinsichten nur eine 1/2 Deutsche zu sein.
Isabel von Prollius
Haha, this is really good! So true 🙂 And as an efficient German, I have to comment that in number 13, it should be elbows “off’ the table, not ‘of’ 😉
Vanita Ba
5/26, and I WAS born and raised in Germany.
Btw, few people of my generation still speak Kölsch, the dialect of Cologne.
Gustav
Lol lets not forget how they believed in a mass murderer at one point.
Miriam
and which country are you from? I don’t think there is a single country in the world that doesn’t have an extremely dark part in their history. I’m not denying that Germans voted for Hitler nd followed him and his crazed regime, but please just move on. World war 2 ended 70 years ago, and we have paid our price; we still do. Like #21 says, in Germany you’re looked upon very judgingly if you dare to display pride in your country – we are that ashamed of our history, to this dy, even though – let’s face it – most witnesses are long dead by now. So please, leave comments like that to yourself. Every German knows our past, and unless they are mentally sick neo-nazis, we know that it was terrible and shall never happen again.
Isabelle
let’s not forget it was a dictatorship. there was a lot of resistance. google “The White Rose” for a start
Juiol
You, sir, need a history book.
Juiol
You, lady, need an unbiased and less cartoons-filled history book.
This is nor the time or place for this discussion.
Jacqueline
I agree with Miriam. Let’s just look at the US and all these wars they basically started for nothing else but power and profit. Let’s not forget Eastern countries who execute people who oppose the government. Let’s also not forget the colonizers; the British and the Spain have a lot of blood on their hands, either killing natives or selling them off as slaves. No matter where you are from, you have blood from the past on your hands too.
Klabauterhuhn
No jokes about beer. I mean it. Don´t!
Prettyplease
Great article! As a German who’s lived in a few English-speaking countries, I find it quite amusing.
To all those people (mostly Germans, obviously, or blithering idiots) who obviously didn’t get that this text is all good fun (feel free to re-read #26), please, be a good sport and don’t take yourselves all too seriously! And how on earth gets this text anywhere near racism, dear Jürgen?
So, now feel free to stomp all over this comment of mine 😀
whitecat
@ Prettyplease
I am also German and I agree with you to 100 % or better to 1000 % …. because I want to be a good German (perfectionist ;-))
adolf
You never mention losing two world wars
servicewuestedeutschland
being german, i can say: pretty accurate 🙂 especially no. 20! however, i enjoy meeting british people who love to talk endlessly about something as pointless as the weather! :))))
Donar23
I guess this thing isn’t written by a German. Good observations but some points you can only understand if you’re German, so the author didn’t get everything right.
We are well aware that “Döner Kebap” isn’t a purely German invention. It was pretty much invented for the busy Germans but no German was involved in the invention.
About the Bread … If you differentiate only by it’s consistency, than you’re right. We love the crispy crust but we differentiate by taste. There are at least 10 different kinds of bread in a tiny German bakery. In some other countries they seem to know just two or three kinds of bread, which is why we are looking for German bakeries.
I guess comparing beer to religion is pretty fitting. It doesn’t describe me at all but I guess I’m an beer-atheist … and that seems to be a bigger problem than my real atheism to many people.
You exaggerated a bit with the recycle bins. Yes, we have a lot of them but it’s for a noble cause (protection of the environment) and we actually hate it, that not every country is doing this.
Of course we’re pissed to pay for the university. Education should always be free and we gladly pay a ton of taxes for this free education (who am I kidding, we don’t pay the taxes gladly but if we had to cut taxes, the free education would be of the bottom of the list). Because of our complicated school system most Germans don’t go to university though, so we can afford the free university.
I can’t really see that polite small talk feels like a waste of time to Germans. We are just bad at speaking English due to our complicated but obsolete school system, so we rather like to do the small talk in German. Even if it’s simple English, like in the example, we hate to hear ourselves speaking English.
Sadly you’re totally right about the national pride thing.
And last but not least … even I don’t get why we watch dinner for one xD
jojo
Well, a former turkish guy, who had a german passport back then, invented döner kebab in germany. Döner was already invented but döner kebab was new and invented by a german. it doesn’t matter if he was turkish once, as long as he has a german passport he is german, atleast to me..
Donar23
Well, yes, with a German passport he’s German but he still had turkish roots and therfore it’s not a purely German invention.
whitecat
Hey Donar 🙂 Why so serious ?? This article is great fun! And it is written by a German. For example look at 23: He/she is writing about “We Germans…..” I am also German – and I love it 🙂 It’s so ironically AND in some points it is just the truth ! Be honest … 😉
Christina
most of this is complete nonsense. obviously written by someone who doesnt have a enough knowledge about germany. only 10, 21, 22 and 26 are true
whitecat
It is meant ironically my dear. And written by a German. (I am german by myself btw.) And some points are definitly true – even that it is embarrassing somehow to say that.. :-))
Intersol
NEIN! NEIN! NEIN! Donnerwetter und Potzblitz – welch ein hanebüchener Unsinn! Ich will sofort deinen Vorgesetzten sehen, du Früchtchen.
damaG3_iNc
….
Jaegermeister
Bullshit. I could easily change the headline to “some people from any other nation”… Thinking in cliches nowadays seems a bit dumb to me.
theonewhoknows
the description of dinner for one is bullshit… miss sophie is very well aware of her friends being dead!! (hence the “same procedure as every year, james!”
Morwenn
but Döner Kebab WAS inventend in Germany. The idea to sell the Kebab meat in a little bread “pocket” for takeaway originated in Berlin. In Turkey, the meat is just served on a plate.
Seb
As a german, I think many of the points stated are true. But some things need to be corrected:
– #15: Of course you pay the doctor! But not like “hey doc, I have a cough, take my money to give me a recipe”. You pay a monthly fee to a Institution called ‘Krankenkasse’. There are many different ones and who charge you differently, but also pay not all you doctors bills. For example, getting new teeth is something you normally have to pay all yourself AS far as I know. But why do we have this system? Because we do not have to pay high bills by a doctor if you break a bone or get bitten by an animal or hurt in an accident or need an MRT or things like that.
– #16: University is not ‘free’ at all, not like a ‘free drink to your happy meal’ vor something. It still costs money – about 250€ per Semester / 500€ per year. But this is only the fee to be allowed to study there. You still have to pay for your flat/house, car, daily food and stuff.
Nice to know: when you are interested in learning something new (without getting your bachelor), you do not need to pay the university. They do not check whether everyone in the room is a legit, bill paying student. Thats only checked when you take your exams or tests or stuff. You can get the “when is who referring about what” in the Internet and just enter the rooms to listen to their lectures.
– #23: You watch dinner for one, because it is ‘the same procedure as every year’ (thats the running gag about it). There are also german sketches playing every year on TV. The thing is, when you party into the new year with a bunch of friends or family, there is nothing more ‘binding’ than to laugh all together about the same sketches.
– #24: As a german you grow up at least trilingual. At home and on the streets you learn your dialect. At school you learn “high german” and (roughly at the age of 10) english, so that you can comment on stuff like this. :2 years later you get to choose between frensh and latin at most schools.
– #26: It is not the magic of the “football” championship. Although a growing number likes to watch the superbowl, the number-one-sport is called ‘soccer’ outside of our country. But as you play it with our feet we call it football, in german “Fußball”. If we mean the ‘american football’, we just call it “football”.
Juiol
“Although a growing number likes to watch the superbowl, the number-one-sport is called ‘soccer’ outside of our country.”
The other way around. It’s called soccer in the US, and football everywhere else.
marc
#26 outside germany? you mean inside the states. 😉
english people call it football. cause you play it with your feet.
i still dont understand why americans call their “version of rugby” football.
Quams
To your comment on #26 that is only partial true. That depend solely on who taught you English. If you were taught by an US-English speaker it is soccer if you learned it from a person originated in the UK its football.
BTW, in most european languages the 11 vs. 11 with a round ball and to goals sport is called something with “ball” and “foot”.
lacrima
Don’t really have a dialect and never learned “high german”. But I like dialects, though.
Maik
Aren’t 7 beers an escalope?
Jörg Karim Ehret
Baaahahahahahha this is so ture. I’m half German half American I can totally relate.
Dennis
Of course we´re “not paying” (what is not quite correct) for medical care. Where do we live? The middle ages?
katiejo
Not paying?! My state health insurance here runs me about 300 euro a month
Serpent@Eden
Strictly speaking, Bavarian and Frisian dialects are not entirely comparable, as Frisian is pretty much a language of its own (and protected as such), while bavarians just speak… wrong. 😉
Sebastian Rasch
Döner Kebab actually IS a German invention. It was a Turk, sure, but he lived in Berlin and that’s where it was first sold and served.
Juiol
Probably the only context where a Turk living in Berlin would be considered German. To take credit for his work.
Jay Camargo
from what I hear it was invented in germany but made popular by the turkish people… growing up in brazil I always thought it was greek LOL I’m pretty sure we call it greek barbecue there…
sandefjording
About 80 % of this is accurate for the people born and raised in the Czech Republic too. Cheers, German brothers 🙂
Olli
As a German I can’t identify with or validate most of the points.
1. I wore unironed clothes for the most time of my childhood, 3. Döner obviously IS a German invention by a Turkish immigrant. 4 I see inefficiency all around, not matter where I look. 5. Also strangers talk to me on the elevator EVERY TIME I use one, even in public buildings, strange silence that somethimes occurs in elevators has nothing to do with Germany and is present in every country. 7. Dark German bread is the fucking worst and I know nobody at my age who likes it. Although I have to admit that most German bread is still better than bread in other countries, though Italy stays number one for me. 8. Germans under the age of 30 come late all the time – to every occasion. No difference to other countries here, most people don’t even find coming late to be THAT impolite anymore. 10. I don’t care about beer and most of the German women and an increasing amount of men also don’t. 12. Service and politeness ARE better in many other countries, there’s no denying that. 14. Many countries separate their waste nowadays, what’s more specific to Germany is the “Pfand” on beverages. 15. Most Germans had to pay 10 € in advance for years, just to be able to see a doctor. Also they obviously pay for the doctor via their health insurance, as long as they have a sufficient income. 16. That’s true. 18. Respect for the red light is decreasing, especially in big cities 30-50 % of all people run a red light once a week or more. 19. Is that really a German thing? I guess that’s a thing of all wealthy Western countries. 20. Yep, Germans are very impolite, see “Servicewüste”. 23. Again: Is that specifically a German thing? Don’t think so. 24. I speak High German and several other non-German languages, but I don’t understand Bavarian or Friesian. Almost nobody under the age 30 can speak his regional dialect properly anymore. Bavarians are a special exception. 25. More or less always when I speak or hear somebody speak about the Autobahn there topic is speed limits. 😉 26. Right, the times of the “typical German” are over – times of pluralizing and individualizing have come and so every German differs more from the other than ever before. That means: Such a list makes absolutely no sense. 😀
Phodus
German do step on Lawns, plenty of people on the lawns of the English garden in Munich, one even sunbathing topless (20 ish girl actually).
Rui Martins
31. You have the assumption you own the world..
Jacqueline
Sounds more like the US, the German government doesn’t go further than the EU 😛
Chris
No, not that we own the world. We just do things better than everybody else. At least that is what I saw a lot from professional Germans outside Germany, especially working in “Entwicklungszusammenarbeit”. Makes me cringe every time….
whitecat
This article is ironyyyy !! Keep cool and produce your humor ….. if you have 😉 It’s so funny !!
greetings from germany
DallasGreen123 .
Write an article about Germans and watch them come to the comment section and get crazy… Same on YouTube, it’s like they need the opinion of others like air to breathe.
Lola
This is very funny but gosh even more funny are the german ones on here leaving comments on which aspects of the article are wrong …. they just do not get this is kinda fun and fulfill some of those stereotypes especially with the behaviour they’re showing up on here :D. so much fun reading all that 😀 very lovely !
greetings from germany 😀
In fact, “Dinner for one” is a German production, produced by NDR 😉
Sebastian
funny article :-D….yes, I was born and raised in Germany…but its absolutely not me…and also not my famility or friends…maybe the efficiency, doener and highway part, but not the rest. Yes, there is some truth in it that the average old-school german may have character traits in that direction…but in the end everyone is different. Great observation of prejudices though :-))
GermanGuy22
This is ridiculous. You list a bunch of traits that describe a “typical German” then end the list by saying there are no “typical Germans”. Think about your life.
Adrian
Literally only one point applied to me, different generations guys…
1-14 all don’t apply to me and mostly not to my friends
15 yes I never paid to see a doctor but neither did anyone from Canada (this is really american centered btw)
16-26 also no and some of those are really ridicule
Andi Arbeit
Quarry pond is only an option for south germans (these awkward lederhosn pretzel dudes). In the north, we like to surf, kite and swim in the Baltic Sea or North Sea (marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean that separates us from the U.K.).
whitecat
You are quite narrow-minded…. You are living in your small world – only the north of germany is the real part :-)) Right ? Oh oh…. but complaining about cliches…. 😀 😀 Open your mind – it’s good for your health… 😉
Andi Arbeit
We don’t have mountains here that blocks the vision to any horizon 😀
sara
On No. 15: I believe the word is “paid” these days.
NMS
Here in the States people always depict Germans as cold-blooded people, but my experiences in Germany prove the opposite to be true — I’ve encountered great kindness. It’s the Parisians that give much of Europe a reputation for bad service and attitude.
slys
Totally agree with everything BUT 6. I have lived 10 years in Munich and I can’t remember seeing one sign of telling me not to step on a lawn. “Auf der wiese liegen” (chill & drink beer with friends on the lawn in public parks or at rivers) is in fact one most stereotypical thing to do in Munich and as much as I have been in Berlin, it’s the same.
Flex
Nope, srsly what a bullshit…
pls visit germany again, this time longer than some hours
and maybe talk to some germans before writing
nonsense like this.
Olli
I feel sorry for people who really think Germans are like that, half of those signs are not true.
Liz
I just want to say Dinner for One takes place at New Year’s Eve….That’s why it is a tradition to watch it on NYE. Never expect us to do something unlogical ;-D
Heidi Kamrath
Pretty sure it’s on the old lady’s birthday, not NYE.
Peter Higgs
Um, ok these articles must be working for Matador.. 196 countries to go not including the many below.
V-Ry
And where is the bubbly water? If a German asks for a cup of water, they are expecting it to be soda water.
HamburgerJung
THATS AWESOME!!!!!!! i would say there is a lot of truth in it. literally PEED in my pants :):)
greets from the lovely spain. AND: of course we people from hamburg speak the best german :)) (Y) (Y)
whitecat
Finally a guy with humor !! Thank you so much !! There is definitly a lot of truth in it !! And even as a Bavarian 😉 I was roaring with laughter :-))
Wolf
Great list, but “The Sound of Music” is about a family in Salzburg, which is – to my knowledge – in Austria.
Doesn’t change a thing because Austrians also don’t know anything about this movie.
JustSomeRandomGuy
3, 13, 21… about 5 I’m not really sure, have to observe it… What does that make me? Less than 12% accuracy? Oh my God… I knew it… I’m american, or british, born in the wrong country… I always felt, that there’s something wrooong with me, that I’m different… Finally knowing that, is there a way to convert into the nationality, which feels the most like me? Something like plastic surgery?
Jack Wolfskin
Please spell paid correctly, it’s not payed…Is that also a sign of being German?
Hermann
I am German, and I got 5 yes out of 26. I guess, I am not a typical German – see last point 26 😉
Joki
Never ever read so much bullshit and prejustices in such a wall of text. seriously. 2 things were correct but the rest is totally stupid and isn’t true. and sorry if you dont have any table manners and germans take this serious. better than firearms or not? pfff
mbokbok
You just forgot the main point: sparkling water!
mbokbok
Well, and Apfelschorle of course!
anon
It all seems very over exaggerated to me. At least this isn’t an accurate reflection of Berliners.
Fab
The best about Germany is the non-existing speed limit. I feel like a snail when I have to drive in other countries. Inefficient and the purest torture!
Caro
I’m German and I totally agree with most of these. Some of the stereotypes have been diluted a bit due to living in foreign countries for some time, but man did I struggle to get used to “What time are you coming around?” “In the afternoon.”
HOWEVER, the old lady in “Dinner for 1” is not stupid. Of course she knows that all her friends are dead, but her butler needs to take on the role of all of them every year to enjoy the nostalgia of the old days! To say she is too stupid to notice is absolutely absurd!
.
No Bavarian with some common sense would ever have a litre of beer other than at Oktoberfest. The regular size of beer in Bavaria is a “Halbe” (0.5ltr). Like that you always have COLD, fresh beer. But hey, we could offer all the tourists -feeling all lokal- our much hated ice cubes for their steins…
nalrya
1. Your id says so. End of list.
wayforward
Further, German men are the only ones who had mothers which taught them to sit down on a toilet seat. Found that out while living abroad. In Germany it is considered Macho behavior if you do not sit down as a man.
Heidi Kamrath
A friend of the family had a sign in her bathroom (she had two sons and a husband): “Bitte sitzen. NICHT spritzen.” Cute.
Noob
Thanks for writing this, it made me laugh quite a bit. And now back to work!
Lena
well… not really xd maybe 3 or 4 things are true, but the rest is so stereotyped in my opinion.
Juan
13 Table manners.
Yeah, suuuuuuure. And you can blow your nose in front of everybody, without excusing yourself, or turning to the side. Real good manners.
Andreas Bayer
There is so much diversity to Germany. Such an idiotic list can only be written down by someone (from the US?) who lived in one place for a short time (my guess: either Munich or Berlin). Let me show you around and let you understand how Germany really works. I wouldn’t dare to judge US habits after living in Oklahoma for a while. So why such stereotypes? Did you watch Hogan’s Heroes too often?
whitecat
My dear – this is written by a German !! 😉 If somebody would just have lived in germany for a short time he could never define all this tics so clearly. Because some of them are so real. Take it easy – germans are not THAT bad human beeings ;-))
greetings from Bavaria 😀 :-))
SJ
Oh, dear, another article full of stereotypes! It pained me to read this, as at least 20 of 25 points are really boring clichés! Dear author, please visit Germany and don’t just pick up any nonsense that you friends tell you!
whitecat
Please drink a couple of beer to develope some kind of humor…. please 😉 This article is sooo great !!
greetings from germany
Read the author bio. She’s German.
Benjamin Ansin
Hmpf. Some of this is kind of true-ish, most of it isn’t. Just a collection of cliches and nonsense. And if I ever see a fellow German who thinks Döner is a German invention I’ll punch that idiot in the face.
whitecat
Do you have any humor at all ?? 😀 Have you heard about irony ?? This article lives from cliches and nonsense.
And if Döner comes from Germany or some other funny place….. who cares ?? 😉
Greetings from Bavaria 😉
RW
Basically Döner kebab is an Invention from a Turkish guy in Berlin. So yes it is a German invention …flies away…
Friedrich Schnitzel
Dinner for one is not an English sketch, it’s a German sketch. Just saying!
Jake the Dawg
I’m German and most of this doesn’t apply to me. Especially this always-beeing-in-time-thing. I don’t care for “real-bread” or the “red light” either. But maybe I’m just no typical German 😀
There’s some truth to most of these aspects and some of them kind of annoy me. However they rather apply to the square kind of Germans, which I tend to avoid. Most of my friends are rather unpunctual just as I am and 7-ish is something we say when it is important to be kind of in time. When I meet at a friends it’s usually “sometime after 8pm” which can mean 10pm or 12pm or anything other that comes after 8pm 😀
Sparrow
I must be doing something wrong… Also, the old lady from Dinner for One knows full well that all her friends are dead, that’s why she says “Same procedure as every year, James”, every time the butler asks whether he has to keep pretending. And she wants to get him drunk so they can have sex (seriously, it’s in the clip 😉 )
vizo
1 sign that you are american: you make lists of clichees and prejudices to categorise other people without knowing anything of them.
Jennifer
The author is German.
andie
A lot of it so true. As a German living for 20 years abroad, I have come ‘home’ to realise how much cultural differences matter. And how German to pick issues with it rather than see the humour.
My add ons…
1. If your one of your car tail lights isn’t working (which you are well aware of but can’t be bothered to get fixed until you get around to it) be prepared that someone will pop out of their car at a red traffic light, highlighting this fact to you. Be sure to feign ignorance, pretending that it is the first time you hear about it, thinking secretly that you still have a second tail light, so what’s the big deal.
2. Be prepared that a German party is a serious affair. Getting drunk on Schnapps is not acceptable, and you must have an opinion on the latest state of affairs in the Sudan, the Euro crisis and the state of the Catholic church, i.e. on all those topics that would be taboo to talk about at parties in other countries.
3. The speed limit is the speed limit. Driving 10 km over it to go with the flow of traffic will earn you a fine if you are unlucky. The speed cameras for this are getting ever better hidden. Seems crazy when on some motorways you can go hell for leather as if you were on the Nuremburg ring.
4. The amount of red tape and legal language is scary. Basically in all walks of life you may come across the American dollar sign. This is not good. It means there is some law, rule or legislation. Even by seemingly doing nothing wrong you might inadvertently be breaking several laws, like not registering at a new address, re-registering your car, not registering you are working somewhere else…
5. Expect a free-for-all in any situation that would suggest queuing might be a civilised option. Yes, the old lady standing ten places behind you in the Aldi queue will rush past you with surprising speed and agility if a new till opens, beating you off with a stick if necessary. A polite ‘After you..’ is not part of the German mentality. Grin and bear it and exercise your patience. Perhaps there is bigger justice in the end.
I’m sure I can think of more 🙂 I’d like to see and expanding list and let’s not take it all so serious.
Anthony Kaiser
bla
“1. If your one of your car tail lights isn’t working (which you are
well aware of but can’t be bothered to get fixed until you get around to
it) be prepared that someone will pop out of their car at a red traffic
light, highlighting this fact to you. Be sure to feign ignorance,
pretending that it is the first time you hear about it, thinking
secretly that you still have a second tail light, so what’s the big
deal.”
– It’s the same in Portugal and in the UK, which makes up all the countries I’ve ever drove on. Are you sure it’s not the same everywhere else in Europe? I can imagine by the Italian stereotypes, one is led to believe it’s not true there, but I’m not sure if it’s not just another lame stereotype
“2. (…) and you must have an opinion on the latest state of affairs in the
Sudan, the Euro crisis and the state of the Catholic church, i.e. on all
those topics that would be taboo to talk about at parties in other
countries.”
– In which countries would that be a taboo? I’ve attended parties in Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, UK and Ireland, and in none of these countries would such topics be a taboo. On the contrary, I’ve meet everywhere people who would be willing to discuss rather more intellectual stuff (but of course, that depends, in every country, on who you hang out with).
“3. The speed limit is the speed limit. Driving 10 km over it to go with
the flow of traffic will earn you a fine if you are unlucky. The speed
cameras for this are getting ever better hidden.”
– Again, the same in both Portugal and the UK.
andie
6. Oh, and there is such a thing as low blood pressure to worry about. In most countries they think you lucked out. But in Germany it is a bit of a worry…
Julio
Efficiency is your middle name? I see you’re humble
Hiren
Reason 23rd , is there any movie based on this sketch? I would like to watch ,
Add: friday evening is like a new life for Germans 😉 party hard
Lina
That´s the most idiotic, sticmatic and facile “article” I´ve red in the last time! Maybe you would like to be funny!? Come on! Let´s write an article about 26signs about “real Americans”…what should we write down???? Maybe same same shit like that… “all of them are fat because of the bad foodculture?” or “yes we can: pollution, war and guns in childhands?” Do you realize,how stupid that is? YOU CAN´T judge about all people in the same way.
RW
Just another 26 proofs for the German superiority
Susanna
I know all the words to John Denvers “Country Roads”
Fuckthis
Fick Deutschland und seine beschissene Politik.
Fick jedes andere Land und die beschissene Politik von denen.
Fick Nationen und Patriotismus, denn das und der Kapitalismus ist die Wurzel des meisten Übels.
Scheiß auf die WM scheiß auf die Flaggen scheiß aufs deutsche Bier scheiß auf die Pünktlichkeit scheiß auf die im Artikel suggerierten Schubladen und Kategorien. Scheiß auf diesen durch und durch dummen nutzlosen Text von dem ich nicht weiß wie und warum ich ihn gefunden und gelesen habe.
Es wird die Zeit kommen in der die Menschen verstehen, dass Staaten ein Mittel zum Joch der Menschen ist.
Fuck Germany and it´s fucked politics.
Fuck every other nation and their fucked politics.
Fuck nationalitis and patriotism for this and capitalism are the root of most evil.
Fuck the world championship fuck theflags fuck the german beer fuck punctuality fuck the in this article suggested categories. Fuck this dumb and worthless piece of literature which I don´t know how and why I found and read it.
There will be a time when people understand that nations are an instrument to hold the people unfree.
gezeichnet von einem denkenden Menschen
Archway
it is not 3 beers that make a schnitzel but SEVEN!
jeff
I am dissapointed.
PAID vs PAYED:
Paid or payed is the past tense of pay depending on the sense of pay. The first sense is the usual one of giving someone money while the second sense is to seal (the deck or seams of a wooden ship) with pitch or tar to prevent leakage
pmgg68
May I add something to the list? I am from northern Italy and I lived in Berlin for a while. While there, I did not get much of a culture shock, except for this: when I went to hang out with german people, it always surprised me how abruptly they say goodbye and go home when they want to. It’s like… one moment you are laughing and having fun, the next moment you hear “goodnight, I am going home!” and off they go.
Frank
That idiot driving at 120 is probably some foreigner who is scared out of his mind driving at such a fast speed on the highway >.<
vince
I have to comment on 21. We are not traumatized by history. We are just annoyed by the fact that people in other countries call us nazis for showing national pride -.-
Karl
“National pride makes you feel uncomfortable” …and yet this list is filled with back-patting sentiments like our healthcare is amazing, our economy is a miracle, we are extremely efficient, we are much harder working than anyone else, our table service is great, yada yada. Give me a break.
Paul Lenz
No 15 is unfortunately wrong. 20 years ago the health insurance payed glasses, then they payed only the lenses, and meanwhile they pay nothing at all. I have to pay my glasses completely by myself, this really sucks. 🙁
Paul Lenz
No 20 is also wrong. This is correct:
“How are you?”
Spoken: “good”.
Thought: “WTF do you ask? Are you really interested of how I am? I bet you aren’t, you only want to talk. And it is not important for me that you are informed about how I am, so why should I open my mouth and inform you?”
Paul Lenz
No 21 is also wrong. Patriotism means to be proud of things which I haven’t earned by myself. If I am proud to be a German because Germans invented this and discovered that, it means that I adorn myself with borrowed plumes. People who are proud of their country, have obviously no own achievements they could be proud of. Patriotism means that country A has a higher value than country B.
Helena
You much prefer fizzy water over still!! Bluergh not fizzy! 😛
Zaphod
And that are the reasons, why Germany is better than most countries of the world. We work hard, are honest and reliable. Of course we are not “proud” of beeing Germans, but we know, that our life-style enables us to be superior to many other countries!
Ch
Dinner for one is a German Production btw
baki
27. Your selfishness is absolutely emotionless – you are convinced that it is the most ordinary thing for everyone to be an egoist. “Why should I do this – I have no advantages from it….”
yuyuyu
Dinner for one is not British, never was.
Marcus
It’s all true
carlos
So True “Sadly, you hardly ever get to make use of that freedom, because there’s always some idiot blocking the left lane by driving at just 120 km/h.” _because of this, once almost had an accident between Munich and Stuttgart…however this highway have lots of speed limits..
Also very German: the fact that you have more signs than others. (As you can see from the teasers under this article.)
Aljoscha Tillmanns
Was fürn Scheiss. Größtenteils alte 80er/90er Jahre Vorurteil Kram. Da hat jemand schlecht Recherchiert.
Sir Toby
Actually Dinner for one is not a british sketch. It is a german production that looks like a british.
Hiiiii
Absolute bullshit, and mostly stereotypes…. I’m getting sick of people who actual post this online and think they are doing proper work….
sab
I’m so not a German anymore.. 6.55? Haha.. I’m always the late one. I hate insurances! The German health system is contrary to the NHS (British) horrendously expensive, especially if you are not employed by someone else but try to freelance.. even as a student over 26 (I believe that is the cut off when people expect students to be rich) I had to fork out nearly €100 a month! And yes, people do study up to an older age but that is because the school system is shifted forwards and kids don’t go to school until they are 6/7(ish), hence I graduated from high school (Abitur) just before my 20th birthday, when most folks in the UK have their bachelor sorted! I also don’t respect the red light, never have, is that a Berlin trait? And last but not least, I do love recycling but washing yoghurt cups? Come one.. probably that’s why I left! And there is great beer elsewhere too!
sab
Oh, one point they forgot! HAUSSCHUHE! You are not a German if you don’t have your pair of Hausschuhe and some for your guests too! And true, drafts are the devil incarnate!
Guillermo
About number 8: a party in Spain will NEVER take time at 7pm (that’s insanely early for us Spaniards) 😛
otto
3: actually, if the turks wouldn’t have come to germany, döner would have never been invented
5,6,18: utter bullshit
24: france, italy, spain and great britain all have a bigger variety in dialects than germany. and those are just the countries i am sure of.
25: well, enough parts with a speedlimit
26: (personal opinion) the typical german is the one who tries very hard to be as non-german as possible.
Han Solo
31. You are absolutely convinced that the island of Mallorca is part of the Federal Republic of Germany. There’s where you’re going ‘breathless througth the night’ on Ballermann, but you always keep in mind to reserve a deckchair at the hotel pool in time before the British have arrived in the late morning – they’re always late because they nearly drink as much as you but can’t cope with it.
jake
the Lady at “Dinner for one” Is completely aware that her friends are dead. She just doesn’t want to feel alone and celebrate like she did the years before!
Zalmay
If you are German then you must have enough temperament…
Laura
*whispers* Frisian is not a German dialect. Its a language. We just happen to live on German teritory that’s all.
Chris
Cocacola
To nr 3
Döner was created in germany by turkish immigrants. So it’s invented by people from turkey but still made in Germany.
Melanie
I’m german and nobody I know is like this.
Shahzad
Craze of carnival and expecting the same from foreigners, this is important for your integration
Dough
What a huge pile of bullshit…
Erol Bozkurt
Damn! I never thought I was German ;o)
bla
Not sure if that’s the most realistic view of what distinguish a German, rather than being mostly a bunch of common stereotypes.
1 – So did my mother, but I’m Portuguese.
2 – Kind of irrelevant, don’t know anybody who watched it.
3 – There’s a point here. Kebab it’s a universal life-saver for late-night/early-morning hangovers, but only German people care about it’s origin.
4 – From my limited personal experience, I would actually say the opposite!! I’ve worked with a few Germans in Portugal and in France, and I didn’t felt they were efficient at all. At least in comparison with all the other workers. All those I personally met are far far away from this stereotype.
5 – This is kind of universal, even if you are in an elevator with a friend, regardless of where in the world you are.
6 – I would say this would be true in German, and that German people would relax such “rule” when visiting or staying in any other country, If only I didn’t saw so many German people breaking that “rule” in Koln and in Bonn…
7 – Relevant point for those who stay in German. When discovering better bread while staying abroad, I believe no German will ever go back.
8 – I guess this is not a stereotype about the German, but a stereotype about the Spanish, which I don’t know if it corresponds to the truth. In Portugal, as well as in France, people will do the same, except that they won’t ring the bell at 6.55pm, they’ll ring at 7.00pm. Nobody enjoys lack of respect for their time, regardless of your nationality, if you are expected to be somewhere at some time, you want people to respect your time instead of leaving you waiting and wasting your time. The last time I went for a dinner out with a German friend of mine, in France, the guy left me waiting for more than twenty five minutes (add to it the fact that I had arrive seven minutes earlier).
9 – That German friend I’ve just mentioned above, always, always do the 7-ish thing.
10, 11 – Relevant points.
12 – Probably, no idea…
13 – But that’s exactly the same here in Portugal, it was the same in France, in Italy, in the UK…I suspect that again, that’s kind of universal!
14 – It’s exactly the same in Portugal, but in fact I found that’s not the same everywhere else, particularly in France.
15, 16 – That’s great! It’s how it should be everywhere, unfortunately it’s the opposite of Portugal. But that’s not just in Germany.
18 – Most likely, the only European country where that’s not true would be France.
19 – Probably, no idea…
20 – Fortunately, that’s not really true from my experience, because unlike what the point says, it IS being anti-social.
21 – But every single German I met was so proud of her/his origins, culture and country!
…
26 – But the rest of the world does identify the typical German!
Christian F. Siege
23. She DOES realize her friends are dead. She wants the Butler to play their roles. You didn’t get the joke.
Benjamin
Its easy, as an German born in Bavaria: 1.) true, 2.) true, 3.) wrong like hell – 3pm food is called Weizen 4.) true 5.) true 6.) false 7.) false 8.) false/true 9.) true 10.) true true true 11.) false – 5 beer are more like a starter 12.) false – i dont care 13.) true 14.) true but not so dramatic like described 15.) false 16.) false 17.) false 18.) true 19.) true 20.) false 21.) false – proud of bavaria 🙂 22.) false – i hate Quarry ponds 23.) false – we dont watch tv on new years eve 24.) false – i understand everyone, but they have problems with the bavarian dialect 25.) absolutely false – did you ever drive on a Autobahn the last 10 Years? 26.) false. 11 true facts that apply not only to German People – 15 typical „what others think”-facts. Bad Quote.
Cheryll
7) Baguette- kommt das nicht aus Frankreich?
8) Schon was von der Deutschen Bahn gehört- da werden Sie die Pünktlichkeit vergeblich suchen 😉
11) Es gibt Deutsche und es gibt da noch die Bayern 😉
12) Die einfachen Arbeiter und Angestellten haben in Deutschland nunmal nichts mehr zum lachen. Noch vor Monatsende ist selbst beim Vollzeitjob und einfachen Lebensverhältnissen das Portemonnaie leer…
14) Es gibt verschiedene Firmen die damit ihr Geld verdienen. Und wir sammeln es alles brav für die.
15) Womit verglichen? Hier in Deutschland gibt es 2 Gesundheitssysteme einmal das erster Klasse und dann das zweiter Klasse, wo die meisten drin sind….
16) Die Aussage stimmt überhaupt nicht. Niemand kann aus einfachen Verhältnissen die Studien gebühren zahlen. Hier geht es um Gleichbehandlung und Chancen Gleichheit! Da die einfachen Menschen die Studien Gebühren auf Pump bezahlen müssten, werden die sicher stattdessen kein PublicReleations Sprachrohr im Flach- Groß Format kaufen!
18)19) Stimmt nicht
Mark C Baxter
i lived in Germany for 5 years, and the Doner Kebab seems to be just a standard lunchtime snack over there, not the post booze up nosh that it is in the UK
kiranoris
Nr. 15 is not really correct. There have been years, were you had to pay if you want to see a doctor. 10€ every three months and a dentist extra. Additionally dentists work can be very expensive for you and if you have a check up at the gynecolist (I know, I missspelled) and you want to have a ultrasound you need to pay for this…
Daito Endashi
20. I barely ever smalltalk lol. Many of my friends don’t either
21. Probably yes
22. What?? No…
23. We do, always betting on how often the butler trips ^^ Most people at least know that tradition, so I guess it’s quite common…
24. Where I come from we only have a very facile dialect so eveyone can understand us anyway. Bavarians for example are hard to understand for me, don’t know if they could actually talk High German if I asked them. Should’ve tried that out 😀
25. Not sure, probably true
26. Never thought about that before, interesting point. I don’t know if it’s true though…
Dario Cossi
I wish I was German. in Italy, “a beer is a beer”. Whatever
Emma
Some of them don’t quite fit but most of them …well, that is how I am xD but even most of my German friends think I’m weird o.ô
Just because I like following rules and because I don’t like it if others break them (mostly ;)) ;P
| Bavaria |
True or False. Pope Adrian the 2nd was the last married Pope? | The History Place - Rise of Hitler: Adolf Hitler is Born
Adolf Hitler is Born
At 6:30 p.m. on the evening of April 20, 1889, he was born in the small Austrian village of Braunau Am Inn just across the border from German Bavaria.
Adolf Hitler would one day lead a movement that placed supreme importance on a person's family tree even making it a matter of life and death. However, his own family tree was quite mixed up and would be a lifelong source of embarrassment and concern to him.
His father, Alois, was born in 1837. He was the illegitimate son of Maria Anna Schicklgruber and her unknown mate, which may have been someone from the neighborhood or a poor millworker named Johann Georg Hiedler. It is also remotely possible Adolf Hitler's grandfather was Jewish.
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Maria Schicklgruber was said to have been employed as a cook in the household of a wealthy Jewish family named Frankenberger. There is some speculation their 19-year-old son got her pregnant and regularly sent her money after the birth of Alois.
Adolf Hitler would never know for sure just who his grandfather was.
He did know that when his father Alois was about five years old, Maria Schicklgruber married Johann Georg Hiedler. The marriage lasted five years until her death of natural causes, at which time Alois went to live on a small farm with his uncle.
At age thirteen, young Alois had enough of farm life and set out for the city of Vienna to make something of himself. He worked as a shoemaker's apprentice then later enlisted in the Austrian civil service, becoming a junior customs official. He worked hard as a civil servant and eventually became a supervisor. By 1875 he achieved the rank of Senior Assistant Inspector, a big accomplishment for the former poor farm boy with little formal education.
At this time an event occurred that would have big implications for the future.
Alois had always used the last name of his mother, Schicklgruber, and thus was always called Alois Schicklgruber. He made no attempt to hide the fact that he was illegitimate since it was common in rural Austria.
But after his success in the civil service, his proud uncle from the small farm convinced him to change his last name to match his own, Hiedler, and continue the family name. However, when it came time to write the name down in the record book it was spelled as Hitler.
And so in 1876 at age 39, Alois Schicklgruber became Alois Hitler. This is important because it is hard to imagine tens of thousands of Germans shouting "Heil Schicklgruber!" instead of "Heil Hitler!"
In 1885, after numerous affairs and two other marriages ended, the widowed Alois Hitler, 48, married the pregnant Klara Pölzl, 24, the granddaughter of uncle Hiedler. Technically, because of the name change, she was his own niece and so he had to get special permission from the Catholic Church.
The children from his previous marriage, Alois Hitler, Jr., and Angela, attended the wedding and lived with them afterwards. Klara Pölzl eventually gave birth to two boys and a girl, all of whom died. On April 20, 1889, her fourth child, Adolf, was born healthy and was baptized a Roman Catholic. Hitler's father was now 52 years old.
Throughout his early days, young Adolf's mother feared losing him as well and lavished much care and affection on him. His father was busy working most of the time and also spent a lot of time on his main hobby, keeping bees.
Baby Adolf had the nickname, Adi. When he was almost five, in 1893, his mother gave birth to a brother, Edmund. In 1896 came a sister, Paula.
In May of 1895 at age six, young Adolf Hitler entered first grade in the public school in the village of Fischlham near Linz, Austria.
Copyright © 1996 The History Place All Rights Reserved
| i don't know |
When looking at a list of Popes, you will sometimes see the letters O.S.B. following a name. What does this mean? | Pope Francis and the Rose Prophecy
Pope Francis and the Rose Prophecy
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Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum. Habemus Papam!
Qui sibi nomen imposuit: Franciscum, 'Ingis ardens'
Nostradamus, Quatrain 2.97 ~
Romain Pontife garde de t'approcher,
De la cit� que deux fleuves arrouse,
Ton sang viendras aupres de l� cracher,
Toi & les tiens quand fleurira la Rose.
Roman Pontiff beware of approaching,
The city that two rivers arrouse,
Your blood will come from the spitting,
You and yours when the Rose will flourish.
The Third Secret of Fatima (excerpt) ~
And we saw in an immense light ... a Bishop dressed in White. We had the impression that it was the Holy Father. Other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious going up a steep mountain, at the top of which there was a big Cross of rough-hewn trunks as of a cork-tree with the bark; before reaching there the Holy Father passed through a big city half in ruins and half trembling with halting step, afflicted with pain and sorrow, he prayed for the souls of the corpses he met on his way; having reached the top of the mountain, on his knees at the foot of the big Cross he was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him, and in the same way there died one after another the other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious, and various lay people of different ranks and positions.
Updated: June 28, 2016 (5:33 PM EDT).
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: A page of this type can no longer stand alone without creating great confusion. As time has passed it has doubtlessly become more difficult to distinguish the established prophecies concerning the office of the Pope and the future of the Vatican on the one hand, and news events regarding the current Pope and how they may or may not be applied to these established prophecies on the other. Because of this, there have been instances where the same material has had to appear on this page twice.
There should be TWO pages, in other words.
This page should deal with the BACKGROUND of established papal prophecies and the background of the current pope (in this case Pope Francis). This information will never change unless the current pope dies or retires and another pope is elected.
The second page should deal with events like controversial statements made by the Pope or upcoming papal visits wherever they can be applied to prophecy.
We will call this second page Pope Francis and the Rose Prophecy: The Current View .
Henceforth, you will see a link section at this location, with a brief summary of the news to be discussed. You will click on it to get to Pope Francis and the Rose Prophecy: The Current View where the news event(s) will be discussed in greater detail in prophetic analysis. If there is anything in discussion that is not easily understood, refer back to the background information on this page.
Bear with me, some fine tuning will still need to be done.
Nostradamus, Quatrain 2.97: The Prophecy of the City Between Two Rivers and The Rose
Should Pope Francis, or any future pope, choose to venture into the Mesopotamian "land between two rivers," then I must revert to the original premise of this page when it was created in May 1999 to warn the late Pope John Paul II of possible assassination if he visited Iraq. At that time, my website was located at the now long gone web host known as GeoCities.
Over the last few years, militants loyal to their "emir," Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, have been massacring Iraqi and Syrian Christians by the many thousands, subjecting them, along with Zoroastrians and Muslims not willing to follow Sharia law, to beheadings, garrotings, mass shootings, and being burned alive in metal cages; subjecting them to the mass abductions of their wives and fianc�es; subjecting their unmarried women and girls into forced marriages with the jihadists or else being raped and murdered; and subjecting their children to mass beheadings or being dashed to pieces. They are known under the anacronyms of ISIS and ISIL, calling the territories they have raped, pillaged, ruined, and taken control of by force as a caliphate known as the Islamic State (IS).
Over the last two years, their caliph, a once obscure terrorist leader, has become a potential antichrist ... and if not a candidate for the beast of Revelation 13, still quite possibly a fulfillment of one of the other dark figures found in both Biblical and Islamic prophecy who will precede him.
How many Christians will die before Francis will feel OBLIGATED to visit Iraq or Syria and bless the bodies of the slain Christian martyrs is unknown. It may well fall to a successor to carry out such a mission. The prophetic implications of a papal visit to any part of Iraq or Syria are potentially dreadful.
Nostradamus was preoccupied ... obsessed even ... with a land that is famous for its two rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, at least two infamous tyrants that would rule over it, several military campaigns, and one horrific conflict involving Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Iran, and what appears to be the United States. This conflict may well be the ongoing Syrian Civil War which, despite a ceasefire agreement hammered out by Russia and the United States, shows every evidence that it is continuing. In a final battle, an adversary called the bloody Alus is killed or seriously wounded, the country responsible suffers major casualties, and a "black and angry one" ultimately takes control of the region. There is evidence that some factions fighting this war will be allied with a powerful country ruled by a female leader.
Before any of that happens, there is a prophecy relating to a visiting pope: one who travels to a city watered by two rivers. Nostradamus has identified the "land between two rivers" in certain other quatrains as "Mesopotamia" ... thus Iraq or Syria. I cannot shake the belief that Quatrain 2.97 was one of a group of quatrains dealing with near future events in either country.
Nostradamus, Quatrain 2.97 ~
Romain Pontife garde de t'approcher,
De la cit� que deux fleuves arrouse,
Ton sang viendras aupres de l� cracher,
Toi & les tiens quand fleurira la Rose.
Roman Pontiff beware of your approaching,
The city where two rivers arrouse,
Your blood will come from the spitting,
You and yours when the Rose will flourish.
Quatrain 2.97 suggests an anti-Christian leader, who at this time would most likely be Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the proclaimed caliph of the Islamic State (IS), will order the Pope and everyone in his entourage to be gunned down during a visit to a river port city in Iraq or possibly in Syria. According to Nostradamus they will bleed from the mouth due to internal hemorrhaging. The prophecy also states that the deadly visit will be scheduled to take place "when the Rose will flourish." Roses can bloom anytime between mid-May and throughout September, although the big flush for Old European roses, the kind Nostradamus would have been most familiar with, is usually in June. An alternative meaning of "the Rose" will be explored further below.
I tell you, if the mass slaughter and rape of innocents does not end, the Pope will be forced to go to that terrible place. And then the odds increase terribly that he and everyone who accompanies him will fall victim not only to the warning of the bloodshed in Quatrain 2.97, but possibly to the Third Secret of Fatima prophecy concerning a "Bishop dressed in White" who enters a large city half-destroyed, prays over the corpses lying on the city streets, and is assassinated along with his clergy as they seek to ascend a holy mountain with a rugged cross at its summit.
The Third Secret of Fatima Prophecy
It remains clear as ever that the above prophetic verse, Quatrain 2.97, inked by Michel de Notredame in 1554, does have some characteristics that are similar to what was revealed concerning the prophecy revealed in the Third Secret of Fatima as to possibly be another facet of the vision. Then again, there are striking differences.
In any event, there is now no question that the vision contained in the Third Secret of Fatima was not fulfilled with the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II in 1981 as suggested by leading cardinals after the release of the transcript on June 26, 2000.
Complete Translation of Original Text by Lucia dos Santos
VATICAN CITY, JUN 26, 2000 (VIS) - Given below is the complete translation of the original Portuguese text of the third part of the secret of Fatima, revealed to the three shepherd children at Cova da Iria-Fatima on July 13, 1917, and committed to paper by Sr. Lucia on January 3, 1944:
"I write in obedience to you, my God, who command me to do so through his Excellency the Bishop of Leiria and through your Most Holy Mother and mine. "After the two parts which I have already explained, at the left of Our Lady and a little above, we saw an Angel with a flaming sword in his left hand; flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire; but they died out in contact with the splendor that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand: pointing to the earth with his right hand, the Angel cried out in a loud voice: 'Penance, Penance, Penance!'.
And we saw in an immense light that is God: 'something similar to how people appear in a mirror when they pass in front of it' a Bishop dressed in White 'we had the impression that it was the Holy Father'. Other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious going up a steep mountain, at the top of which there was a big Cross of rough-hewn trunks as of a cork-tree with the bark; before reaching there the Holy Father passed through a big city half in ruins and half trembling with halting step, afflicted with pain and sorrow, he prayed for the souls of the corpses he met on his way; having reached the top of the mountain, on his knees at the foot of the big Cross he was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him, and in the same way there died one after another the other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious, and various lay people of different ranks and positions. Beneath the two arms of the Cross there were two Angels each with a crystal aspersorium in his hand, in which they gathered up the blood of the Martyrs and with it sprinkled the souls that were making their way to God."
It has been declared that the May 1981 attack on Pope John Paul II's life in Rome by Turkish assailant Mehmet Ali Agca was the fulfillment of the Third Secret of Fatima.
This plainly cannot be the meaning of the Third Secret.
First of all, according to the translated text of the letter written by Sr. Lucia, "the Bishop dressed in White" is accompanied by a large number of bishops, priests, nuns, and various lay people -- all of whom are killed along with the pope.
Secondly, and this is most important, the Pope visits a large (and probably major) city that is half-destroyed and littered with corpses. It is quite obvious that a major war is going on at the time since so many dead people lay in the streets. If not for all the corpses, the city might otherwise be numerous ancient ruins allowed to still be standing in a part of an otherwise thriving city.
Thirdly, the Pope and his clergy are killed by soldiers (or else people who are similar to soldiers, such as the IS terrorist militants) ... and not by a single deranged man in a crowd.
The mountain with the rugged cross at its top is a mystery if applied to Mesopotamia. I can find no evidence of a holy mountain associated with Christianity existing anywhere in Iraq or Syria! Could the mountain somehow be symbolic, a metaphor for the tribulation of the Holy Church and Christendom? If you know of such a mountain with a cross at its summit near to where the Islamic State is holding territory in Iraq and the adjacent part of Syria ... or anywhere in Iraq ... please do leave a comment on my forum or blog or via email!
The sprinkling of souls with the blood of the martyrs by angels may be the sealing of the 144,000 of the tribes of children of Israel as described in the Book of Revelation.
If not, it is something that will precede that event and involve the blessing upon the faithful.
We are introduced to a new figure -- what may be an angel of the Apocalypse described as "an Angel with a flaming sword." He is actually introduced well before the appearance of the Bishop in White. Mary stays the world-consuming fire from his hand. This suggests that nuclear war has nearly occurred in the recent past but was prevented by Mary's intercession and prayer.
I strongly believe there is linkage between the "Roman Pontiff" and his clergy who are slain in Nostradamus' Quatrain 2.97 and the "Bishop dressed in White" and his clergy and lay people who are gunned down in the Third Secret of Fatima.
Since the vision clearly states that the "Bishop clothed in White" (the Pope) will be slain along with "the other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious" by soldiers firing bullets, I submit to you that this is remarkably similar to Quatrain 2.97 which warns the pontiff that both "you and yours" will come to spit blood in a city watered or arroused by two rivers. Even though, by miracle, Saint John Paul II was spared during the attack on his life by Mehmet Ali Agca thirty-four years ago, this does not explain why he alone was attacked when the Third Secret states that the Bishop in White will crawl over the corpses of his entourage and followers. This is also what Quatrain 2.97 indicates when saying "both you and yours."
Because the pope is described as being "afflicted with pain and sorrow" one might conclude that this is a frail and elderly pontiff. However, we cannot discount the possibility that the "pain and sorrow" is a result of the terrible war and persecution to come.
I have little doubt that events described in Quatrain 2.97 and the Third Secret of Fatima will happen. And if events are as predestined as they appear to be in the Third Secret of Fatima, then all the warnings in the world will not save the then-reigning Pope or those who will be slain with him.
Where is the "big city?" Assuming it is located in Iraq or Syria, it could be Erbil, in northern Iraq, Baghdad in central Iraq, Najaf, in southern Iraq, or possibly Basra. However, I fear it may yet be the capital:
Islamic ahadith: The Sufyani will then send an army to Iraq, killing 100,000 in Az-Zawra (Baghdad).
The IS could have killed as many as 500,000 people in Baghdad if they had blown up the Mosul Dam in 2014! If they had accomplished such an horrific act, would Pope Francis have felt compelled to fly to Baghdad to pray for the souls of those lying dead in its streets?
Almost as a warning to the Pope NOT to travel to Iraq, three members of his family died in a car crash near Cordoba in Argentina: the wife of his nephew and their two sons.
There are cities in Iraq and neighbouring Syria watered by both the Tigris and Euphrates, the city of Basra in particular (not far from the ancient city of Ur). But it matters little. For a pope these days to be in any city in the "land between two rivers" (Iraq) is death! To the Islamic State, formerly ISIS, formerly Al Qaeda in Iraq, responsible for unspeakable acts of blood-letting and carnage, especially against Christians, he is one of several iconic symbols representing what they hate most about the "infidel" Christian West.
Still, one must always be mindful of the possibility that IS and its leader may be destroyed by the United States, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, or Turkey. Then again, ISIS could be destroyed by the Shi'a in Iran and southern Iraq. This could conceivably set up an alternative scenario in Iraq that may be just as dreadful as the one currently emerging. If so, it may yet fall to militant Shi'a leader Muqtada al-Sadr in southern Iraq, who also caused much death in southern Baghdad and places such as Karbala, to dispatch the new "pontiff of Rome."
Unfortunately, Francis or his successor risk possible assassination in any city arroused by two rivers. An act of terrorism against the Pope and his entourage could occur anywhere in the world at the behest of any terrorist leader who may order a pope and everyone in his entourage to be shot by terrorists during a visit to a major port city near a dual river system. According to Nostradamus they will all bleed from the mouth from internal hemorrhaging.
Due to similarities between Quatrain 2.97 and a prominent theme in the text released in 2000 of the Third Secret of Fatima, I also suspect the papal visit will occur during a major war or even a global war. After all, there are already half-destroyed cities in Syria and Iraq ... a result of the campaign of mass death carried out by either Bashar al-Assad or ISIS. Soon there may be half-destroyed cities in Poland, Romania, Ukraine, Moldova, Hungary, and the rest of the Balkans as well.
We cannot apply ourselves to anything specific concerning any trip to Iraq or Syria, until we know exactly where it will be and when.
As Benedict XVI looks on in our background for the time being, we can thankfully say the election of Francis did not take place in the shadow of mourning the death of a pope as was the case in 2005. Pontiff emeritus Benedictus, though advanced in years, remains alive though frail in body on Vatican grounds and may yet enjoy more years of life ahead. Thus the election of his successor was truly a celebration and not the conclusion of a long papal funerary rite as is often the case.
Still, the world is a dark and evil place, much more so at this time than it was during the reigns of Saint John XXII and Saint John Paul II and his successor, Benedict XVI. For prophecy tells us the challenges to come are dreadful ones indeed. And the new pope, Francis, and those who may follow, will be forced to contend with them, perhaps to the very death.
Many have noted with wonder the fact that Pope Francis is the first pontiff to be elected from Latin America ... from the nation of Argentina.
Nostradamus actually predicted that a pope from Latin America would be elected. But the wise sage also made another prediction in the same prophecy, and in so doing, supports my long-held belief that the greatest pope in Vatican history will come from France. This is what he says:
Nostradamus, Quatrain 5.49 ~
Nul de l'Espaigne mais de l'antique France
Ne sera esleu pour le tremblant nacelle,
A l'ennemi sera saicte fiance,
Qui dans son regne sera peste cruelle.
Not from Spain but from ancient France
Will be the one elected for the trembling ship,
To the enemy will be made a trust,
In whose reign will be a cruel plague.
When Nostradamus mentions a "trembling ship" in his quatrains and its pope, he is referring to a time when the Church is in danger of breaking up (schism) or being terribly troubled and its very existence threatened by world events. According to the French prophet, when this state of affairs reaches its most critical point, the Pope from Spain (or Latin America) will no longer be in power and a French pope shall be elected. This time of trouble may be happening quite soon as it seems clear that "the enemy" is either the Islamic State and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi or else ... Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Russia is currently backing Assad against the IS. Thus, it is possible the West may also choose what they consider to be the lesser of two evils. Then again, the enemy to which a promise is made may be Russia and Vladimir Putin, who is much more capable of directly harming Europe and Rome than either al-Baghdadi or al-Assad. Or the enemy may be Iran, the nation now in the process of leading the Shi'a resistance against the Sunni-backed, Sharia-run caliphate known as the Islamic State. The prophet Daniel warns that Persia (Iran) will eventually declare war on Turkey, Greece, and the Balkans. Why remains a mystery at this time. The same prophecy uses the Hebrew word "Yawan" which can also be applied to Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Iran and Saudi Arabia have nearly come to blows twice since Arab Spring regarding the proxy war being fought in Yemen.
As for the cruel plague, it will seep into Europe and America from Africa: possibly the dreaded epidemic known as ebola. It is a horrible disease, one to be feared, and its effects on the body are most cruel indeed.
The implications of the last two lines are that there is little time left to the pope from the Spanish American nation of Argentina.
However, the birth name of the Pope, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, gives additional information. I stated on this page that the next pope after Benedict would most likely be the one Nostradamus called "The Sabine" in the following quatrain (and thus an Italian):
Nostradamus, Quatrain 5.46 ~
Par chapeaux rouges querelles & nouveaux schismes,
Quand on aura esleu le Sabinois:
On produira contre lui grans sophismes,
Et sera Rome lesse par Albanois.
By red hats & quarrels, new schisms
When the Sabine will have been elected:
They will produce great sophism against him,
And Rome will be injured by Alba
(Scotland or Alba near Piedmont in NW Italy).
Although born a native of Argentina, the father of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio was an Italian immigrant. Thus, Bergoglio is an Italian by birth. Also, choosing the name of Francis, shared by one of Italy's greatest patron saints (St. Francis of Assisi) strongly ties the new pope to Italy in a way no preceding Italian pope has ever aspired to do.
St. Francis was also, and perhaps even more powerfully, linked to that province of Rome settled by the ancient Sabines: the province of Sabina and the beautiful Sabine Hills.
Sabina, the region in the Sabine Hills of Latium named for the Sabines, is the ancient territory that today is still identified mainly with the North-Eastern Province of Rome and the Province of Rieti, Lazio.
Via Franchigena
This is the path taken by St. Francis when he walked from Assisi to Rome to petition the Pope. Unlike most of the public footpaths in Italy, it is well-marked and the final section cuts right through the Sabine Hills.
The Franciscan Sanctuaries
St. Francis of Assisi was attracted by the Sabina region above all other parts of Italy.
The Sabine hills saw the first Franciscan preaching and the religious prayer that Francis addressed to God from the wildest and most inaccessible natural surroundings.
Following in the footsteps of St. Francis through the Valle Santa (Sacred Valley), visitors will be amazed by nature and mysticism. The area still preserves four sanctuaries which are a widespread evidence of the presence of the Saint during the early part of his life. Francis, during his long stay in Sabina left important traces which legend has tended to amplify.
By identifying himself with St. Francis of Assisi, the new pope has also linked his identitiy to the Sabine pope of Nostradamus' Quatrain 5.46. He is the Sabine.
When I saw the mild, benevolent expression on the bespectacled face of Francis, I immediately recalled another pope who looked much like him: the ill-fated Pope John Paul I, who died mysteriously 33 days after being installed, officially of natural causes. However, it has been alleged by many that he had actually been murdered by poison. John Paul I was the last pope to inaugurate a name never before used (John Paul); in 2013, Pope Francis followed suit.
Quatrain 5.46 indicates that Pope Francis will be greatly harmed by both false accusations concerning his person and ministry and also due to a Great Schism. It is not certain at this time whether it is he or a succeeding pope who will have to flee from Rome, reigning in exile for 25 months before returning to a Rome and Vatican in ruins from a coming great global war.
Seeing the spectre of Pope John Paul I in the face of Pope Francis is not at all reassuring. Like Francis, John Paul I too presented as a humble shepherd and, as Nostradamus warned, died through "too much goodness."
Why might there be a "schism" in the Vatican and the Catholic Church?
We saw the beginnings of a possible schism immediately prior to, during, and briefly following the election of Pope Francis. To anyone paying attention, the Church at that time was rocked by sex scandals and was not far from plunging into a schism. In connection with the threat of a new schism, one of Nostradamus' use of the word Albanois is Alba, the old name for the country of Scotland, which in February 2013 suddenly became quite relevant.
The headlines said it all: Vatican Rocked by Resignation of Scottish Archbishop; Britain's Top Catholic Cleric Quits Amid Unfolding Sex Scandal!
Cardinal Keith OBrien of Scotland resigns amidst scandal
Allvoices | Edinburgh : United Kingdom | Feb 25, 2013 at 1:17 PM PST
With Pope Benedict XVI ready to step down as the leader of the Catholic Church on Thursday, February 28, the first pope to do so in nearly 600 years, scandal has hit his resignation and the selection of a new pope, as today, Cardinal Keith OBrien, head of the Scottish Catholic Church, announced his own resignation amidst allegations that go back three decades.
Scheduled to make his way to Rome for the papal conclave that would elect the new pope sometime before Easter, Cardinal OBrien had come under fire for allegations of inappropriate behavior towards priests, stemming back to the 1980s, with calls for him not to take part in the vote that would elect the new pope. And with the announcement of the Cardinals resignation, which would take immediate effect, this has come to pass, as he will not take part in the conclave, leaving the Scottish Catholic Church and indeed Britain without representation at the papal vote.
In a statement released by Cardinal OBrien, the Cardinal said that he had already submitted his resignation to the Pope as archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, to come into effect next month, when the Cardinal turns 75; however, the Pope ordered that the Cardinals resignation take immediate effect.
Cardinal OBrien asked forgiveness of those he had offended, saying, "I have valued the opportunity of serving the people of Scotland and overseas in various ways since becoming a priest. Looking back over my years of ministry: For any good I have been able to do, I thank God. For any failures, I apologise to all whom I have offended. I do not wish media attention in Rome to be focused on me - but rather on Pope Benedict XVI and on his successor.
So how badly was the Vatican injured? The keyword is injured. I would say without the inclusion of Britain in the March 2013 enclave to elect the current pope, it was very injurious indeed.
Now, once again, there are signs that the sexual misconduct controversy may be returning to pave the way for a "great Schism."
The other meaning of Albanois is the town of Alba in Piedmont, located in northwestern Italy. It may be from here that an antipope will launch a viscious slander against Pope Francis and begin an actual splitting in the Church.
Concluding Quatrain 5.46, what "great sophistry" might be aimed against the new pope?
We cannot possibly imagine how important the prophecies of Malachy may be to some of those who have elected Pope Francis.
It is clear some faction wished to make it appear that then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger would be associated with Gloria Olivae ... even down to the detail of having him take the name of Benedict (after the Benedictine order). When a dove, the symbol of peace associated with the olive branch, recently perched on a window sill near the former pope and then was attacked in full view of thousands by a seagull, this hit home the failure of Gloria Olivae to bring about world peace or even a regional peace to the Middle East. Indeed, if ever there was a protracted period of time since the Second World War when events could easily fall into place to create a third more terrible global conflict, the time is now.
Someone knew that the year 2013 would be an extremely dangerous one for a pope ... Benedict or any other pope.
Thus, Pope Benedict elected to "die" via rassegnazione, probably with some degree of urging.
Further down on this page I have set forth an exhaustive amount of evidence that there are those in the Vatican who have allowed nine antipopes to long ago be attributed with mottos listed by Malachy intended exclusively for future popes ... and not antipopes. I also discuss how Benedict XVI was actually "Lumen in C�lo" (and provide examples of the natural phenonema that support this claim).
Because Cardinal Bergoglio is of Italian descent and has identified himself with Italy's Patron saint, Francis of Assisi, it is possible there will be those who will say he is Malachy's final pope Petrus Romanus ('Peter of Rome'). I say no. But it is clear some sort of Vatican spin is making it appear that Francis is the last and final pope on Malachy's list.
Pope Francis visits St. Peter's tomb under Vatican
AP/ April 1, 2013, 4:01 PM
VATICAN CITY Pope Francis on Monday took an emotional, close-up look at the tomb of Peter, the church's first pontiff, buried beneath St. Peter's Basilica, the Vatican said.
By doing so, Francis became the first pontiff to visit the necropolis, where pagans and early Christians were buried, since extensive archaeological excavations were conducted at the ancient site decades ago, the Vatican said.
The 45-minute "visit of devotion to the tomb of St. Peter" was private, the Vatican said, but it later released a video of it.
The basilica was built over the location where early Christians would gather in secret, at a time of persecution in ancient Rome, to pray at an unmarked tomb believed to be that of Peter, the apostle Jesus chose to lead his church.
The Vatican first said Francis would pray at Peter's tomb, but later said he prayed instead in the basilica.
The new pope `'paused in silent prayer, in profound and emotional meditation" in the Clementine Chapel in the vast basilica that is `'the closest place (in the basilica) to the tomb of the Prince of the Apostles," it said.
During a tour of the necropolis conducted by its director and an Italian cardinal, the pope "climbed up a bit, got closer to the place where the tomb of St. Peter lies, exactly under the central altar and the dome of the basilica," the Vatican said.
Francis walked down the entire main street of the ancient city of the dead, the statement said.
The streets of the necropolis are similar to those of ancient Rome, only they are flanked by tombs instead of shops and apartments.
The Vatican said Francis walked to the necropolis entrance from the hotel on the Vatican grounds where he lives, took the tour and later after paying homage at the tombs of several popes in another underground level known as the grottoes, including Pius XII, Paul XVI and John Paul I strolled back to his residence.
St. Peter's mission was to continue to preach the message of Jesus and reach more souls.
Francis, as a Jesuit, is steeped in the evangelizing mission of the church, and the necropolis tour brings him back to the origins of the church in its simplest years as a community of Christians professing their faith in defiance of the crackdown by Roman emperors.
Peter himself was among the Christian martyrs during Nero's reign. He is believed to have been crucified, head down, on the Vatican hill.
Constantine, the first Christian emperor, had an early basilica built on the slopes of the Vatican Hill, burying the pagan and Christian cemetery necropolis means `city of the dead' that surrounded Peter's burial site.
The current basilica, named after St. Peter, was constructed over the earlier basilica that was deemed unsafe and demolished in the late 15th century.
The Baroque master architect Bernini designed the bronze canopy over the central altar over the spot of Peter's burial site. The current basilica was planned as an awe-inspiring monument that would project the image of a powerful church.
Under popes of the last century, extensive excavations were carried out of the sprawling necropolis. In 1965, archaeologists said they had found the bones of Peter in an area near an ancient Greek inscription saying `'Peter is here."
Being associated with the Vatican's most apocalyptic papal figure would leave the new pope vulnerable to false accusations and debates from both within and outside the Church. Nothing he does will seem right, especially if a world war breaks out, for it will be falsely believed that he is the Pope who will help usher in the end of the world. For some he will become a source of fear rather than of love and admiration (as he currently is now). He will also become the perfect target of assassination for those in the world today who hold great hatred towards Christendom and have only contempt for The Gospels of Jesus and The Book of Revelation!
Ironically, even as Ignis Ardens, his true Malachy motto (if there are any true Malachy mottos), it will be difficult for him to distance himself from such an association should there be the hellfire of a war that possibly becomes nuclear or a fire from heaven in the form of an asteroid impact accompanied by a hail of meteors. As the shadows of war spread outwards from Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Israel, Eastern and Central Europe, Russia, China, and North Korea, the world is being prepared for a truly horrific global war which could quickly turn nuclear.
As for an asteroid impact: one may occur at any time. On February 15, 2013, five months prior to the 105th anniversary of The Tunguska Event, we witnessed a huge meteorite exploding over Chelyabinsk, Russia (which we may well call 'The Chelyabinsk Event'). Perhaps an even larger asteroid, like the one believed to have impacted Siberia in 1908, is yet to strike the earth, along with many smaller meteorites. This could well become a reality by 2016 when thousands of fragments of a comet may strike the earth.
Also, judging from keywords I have discovered used to search this page, there are those who even believe the next pope will be "the false prophet" from the Book of Revelation. That would be quite a sophistry indeed if taken seriously!
A lot has already happened in the nearly three years and a half years since February 11, 2013, and even more can happen yet.
How long may Pope Francis reign if he is the schismatic pope? No one knows for certain, but if his death is linked with a coming schism in the Church.
Nostradamus continues his prophecy of the Sabine pope:
Nostradamus, Quatrain 8.93 ~
Sept mois sans plus obtiendra prelature,
par son deces grand schisme sera naistre:
Sept mois tiendra un autre la preture,
pres de Venise paix union renaistre.
Seven months without further prelature obtained,
Through his death a great schism will arise:
For seven months another acts as prelate,
Near Venice, peace and union are reborn.
According to Nostradamus, a pope, if not Pope Francis himself, will die during "the mother of all Schisms." As a result, there will either be NO POPE at all or else an antipope will reign for seven months. Why? Because there will be chaos in the Catholic Church!
It may well be there will be a series of unsuccessful attempts at new papal elections, all doomed to failure. However, either at the start of a seven-month schism or else following seven months of schism and discord, it will be decided that one will "act as prelate." What is unclear is whether the schism lasts 7 months with an antipope reigning or else 7 months without a pope and then 7 months more with an antipope (for a total of 14 months).
It may be that Benedict pontiff emeritus will be called out of retirement to act as pope. Again, using the word "act" suggests an antipope or, in the case of Benedict, a former living pope invested with the same authority he enjoyed as supreme pontiff. But if this does occur, he will technically be an antipope. Of course the antipope may well be the one who aimed great sophistry against Francis ... a cardinal from Alba, a town near Piedmont in northwestern Italy.
After the reign of the antipope will come a new election and a new pope.
To this person may be attributed the motto Religio depopulata ("Religion Depopulated" or "Religion Laid Waste") ... indicating either a great loss of human life worldwide from various causes and/or mass execution and sacrificing of Christians.
This may or may not be the Pope who flees the Vatican at the time of the "great star" prophesied by Nostradamus. If not, then that fate will fall to the next pope: Fides intrepida ("Intrepid Faith"). However we cannot rule out the possibility that both Religio depopulata and Fides intrepida will be killed, one assassinated, the other a casualty of war.
Either Religio depopulata or Fides intrepida will flee Rome for Avignon, France, take up residence in the old papal castles of Avignon, France, where popes reigned in exile during the 14th century, and will die during an Islamic invasion of southern France after the fall of Marseilles.
Personally, I think the following quatrain is about this future pope who will witness the great star/two suns phenomenon on the night that he is forced to flee the Vatican:
Nostradamus, Quatrain 2.41 ~
La grande etoile par sept jours bruslera,
Nu�e fera deux soleils apparoir:
Le gros matin toute nuit hurlera,
Quand grand pontife changera de terroir.
The great star will burn for seven days,
The cloud will cause two suns to appear:
The great mastiff will howl all night,
When the great pontiff will change country.
Catholic prophecy abounds with warnings of a "great comet" or "great star." I will not print them all here, for this page addresses specific warnings to the current pope or his immediate sucessor(s), but here are a few notable ones:
Rigord of St. Denis ~
A comet will be seen in heaven -- a star, that is, with a tail or appendage -- and this apparition will signify destructions and tumults and hard strifes, and withholding of rains, and dryness of the earth, and mighty battles, and the flowing of blood upon the earth of the east, and from beyond the River Habor it will reach to the very end of the west. And the just and the truly righteous will be oppressed and will suffer persecutions, and the house of prayer will be destroyed.
Johann Friede ~
Of mankind there will be more dead than there have been casualties in all wars. In the abodes of the children of light, the Book of Revelations will be read, and in the palaces of the Church they will await the arrival of the great comet.
Hildegard of Bingen ~
Before the Comet comes, many nations, the good excepted, will be scoured with want and famine. The great nation in the ocean that is inhabited by people of different tribes and descent by an earthquake, storm and tidal waves will be devastated. It will be divided, and in great part submerged. That nation will also have many misfortunes at sea, and lose its colonies in the east through a Tiger and a Lion. The Comet by its tremendous pressure, will force much out of the ocean and flood many countries, causing much want and many plagues. All sea coast cities will be fearful and many of them will be destroyed by tidal waves, and most living creatures will be killed and even those who escape will die from a horrible disease. For in none of these cities does a person live according to the laws of God.
We will find scarcely any European prophets who do not agree with Nostradamus concerning the flight of a future pope -- those who bother to relate an entire view of the great global war to come anyway. It should be noted that this flight from Rome always occurs during the height of World War III -- just prior to the "three days of darkness" and the great horrors that follow.
Revelation 8:10-11 ~
The third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.
Prophets like Alois Irlmaier and Erna Stieglitz agree that a pope will flee Italy when World War III comes to Europe. There is also an ancient prophecy that describes what may be the slowing of the earth's rotation, something that researchers abscribe to the gravitational force exerted upon the earth by an object like a brown dwarf star, something that "Planet X" is purported to be. Liber Vaticinationem Quodam Instinctumentis describes the sun "halting" in the heavens and terrible hot winds that will blow:
Norma 63:7
For the third (world war), the earth shakes,
The throat of the Gaul (France) is ravaged.
Many die fleeing from the awful winds,
The sun halts in its path in the heavens.
It is then said that the norma will die "when the wolf (Germany) is hacked to bits."
The fiery invasion of southern France is echoed in this ancient document authored by an unknown clergyman in AD 346. It presages three world wars that will directly involve Germany, the first two as an aggressor and the last as a defender of "the Empire" against the invaders from the East.
According to John of Vitiguerro (13th Century) after this exiled pope's death, there will be no pope at all for 25 months, after which a French pope is elected:
The pope will change his residence and the Church will not be defended for twenty-five months or more because, during all that time there will be no Pope in Rome... After many tribulations, a Pope shall be elected out of those who survived the persecutions.
The motto of this "great Pontiff" would be Pastor Angelicus ("Angelic shepherd"). Only then will "peace and union" truly be "reborn."
A SPECIAL SECTION DEDICATED TO THE SAINT JOHN PAUL II IN PROPHECY APPEARS AT
BOTTOM OF PAGE . IT REMAINS UNCHANGED, WITH ITS ERRORS, FROM MAY 15, 2005
A SPECIAL SECTION DEDICATED TO POPE BENEDICT XVI, PONTIFF EMERITUS IN PROPHECY APPEARS
AT BOTTOM OF PAGE . IT REMAINS UNCHANGED, WITH ITS ERRORS, FROM MARCH 1, 2013
The Papal Prophecies of St. Malachy
We are almost certainly obliged to address another prophetic issue I am sure is on the minds of everyone. And, once again, Nostradamus may have clarified some of the muddled controversies presented here.
Well over three years have passed since the white smoke appeared and a new pope was introduced to the world, replacing an uncertain winter season with a season of renewal and hope. That season has since withered away and has been replaced by many seasons and yet another summer of uncertainty and dread.
We must, unfortunately, respect the dark days ahead that may be in store for the entire planet. Pope Benedict XVI's olive branch of peace and reconciliation proved to be ineffective against the dangerous stratagems of evil men, of psychopaths, and of lovers of war, and of a vast subculture dedicated to death rather than life.
Thus a new pope has come, one who needs as much support and aid as possible to achieve his mission. For this is also a man who has been placed in terrible danger by a convergence of prophecies and, perhaps unwittingly, by the very Church he serves.
Unfortunately, four controversies become apparent due to an apparent clash between the prophecies of Malachy and those of the learned scholar, doctor, astronomer, and prophet Michel de Notredame ... Nostradamus.
Controversy 1
The first, perhaps, is no longer much of a controversy at all.
There are too many popes -- at least seven of them -- prophesied for the future by Nostradamus. That is far too many to be fulfilled by Pope Francis, whom we are supposed to conclude is none other than the final pope on Malachy's list known as Petrus Romanus ("Peter the Roman").
However, I have learned it has apparently become the Vatican's official position that there may be an indeterminate time (and presumably a number of popes) between "Glory of the Olive" (if that was indeed Benedict XVI) and "Peter the Roman", whom they agree is the last pope.
Indeed, Nostradamus does not foresee the fall of the last Pope happening until the final Antichrist comes to power in 2242 AD.
This is what he has to say about this final pope ("grand Vicaire de la Cappe"):
Perdu trouv�, cach� de si long siecle,
Sera Pasteur demi Dieu honor�:
Ains que la lune acheve son grand siecle,
Par austres vents sera deshonor�.
The lost thing is discovered, hidden many centuries,
The Pastor will be honoured as a demi-God:
This is when the moon achieves her great cycle,
By other winds (rumours) he shall be dishonoured.
Nostradamus, Epistle to Henry II ~
The third Northern king, hearing the complaint of the people of his principal title, shall raise up so great an army, and defying the tradition of his predecessors, shall restore almost everything back into his estate. The great Vicar of the Cape shall be restored to his original estate, but desolate and then by all abandoned, shall return to find the Holy sanctuary [Rome] destroyed by Paganism, and the Old and New Testament will be thrust out and burnt. After that shall the Antichrist be the infernal prince. Again for the last time all the Kingdoms of Christianity shall tremble, even those of the infidels, for a space of 25 years ...
The Moon completes its current 354-year cycle in 2242 AD under the aegis of the Sun ("cycle of the sun"). In 2243, the Moon begins yet another cycle under the aegis of Saturn. The final Antichrist then is likely the beast of Revelation 13 whose reign culminates with the war of Armageddon and the Second Coming of Christ in either 2245-46 AD (at the conclusion of a 42-month reign), 2249 AD (at the conclusion of a 7-year reign), or else 2267 AD (at the end of a reign and a war together lasting 25 years).
Thus, we can see there is an extremely long period of time spanning the pontificates of Gloria Olivae (if that was indeed Benedict XVI) and Petrus Romanus, some 230 years, if it is true many future popes between the two were not listed as the Vatican claims.
Controversy 2
This controversy should begin with the phrase assuming Benedict XVI was really Gloria Olivae ...
As it turns out, because Benedict did not die but instead retired, it is possible that the prophesied office of Gloria Olivae did not likewise go into retirement, but was passed on along!
If so, Pope Francis would not actually be Petrus Romanus (Peter of Rome) but a continuation of Gloria Olivae ... Gloria Olivae II. This could explain why the Vatican has said that between Gloria Olivae and Petrus Romanus may be an indeterminate number of popes! Francis has likewise indicated that he might consider retiring within the next three years. Retirement could prolong indefinitely a series of popes, some being pulled out of retirement temporarily as needed if another retires due to poor health. In the event of a great schism, there could be enough retired popes to function as an emergency pope and one or more antipopes.
Abbot Joachim Merlin prophesied the coming of three angelic pastors who would succeed a great French pontiff. Two of these three could well be in retirement, functioning as "support pontiffs" or "backup popes" to the one reigning pope.
Thus, the office of pope may now be in the process of undergoing a transformation, transitioning into a completely different kind of office.
Controversy 3
The Hidden Pope
Malachy saw fit to give the final pope on his list, Petrus Romanus, an entire sentence of description rather than only a motto. There is, in fact, a possible hidden pope in this prophecy:
In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church there will reign Peter the Roman, who will feed his flock amid many tribulations, after which the seven-hilled city will be destroyed and the dreadful Judge will judge the people. The End.
It is assumed that the "dreadful Judge" is none other than God. Yet according to many other prophecies, Rome will be destroyed and a pope elected in exile, a French pope, will return to rebuild Rome's papal palaces and residences.
Often called "the great Pontiff" he will assist another French figure known as the "great Monarch" after the end of World War III to restore peace, order, and law.
Nostradamus says of this pope:
The great Celt will enter into Rome
With a great mass of exiles and banished:
The great pastor will put to death every man
Who was united over the Alps against the cock.
So, clearly it can be seen that a "great pastor" will return to Rome in the post-war period and will indeed become a "dreadful judge" ... as he will have the power of life and death over the enemies of Christendom.
Controversy 4
This controversy suggests that there are nine popes predicted by Nostradamus who have yet to reign:
In order for Francis to be the 112th and final pope, Malachy would have had to count all of the antipopes as well. Here are the antipopes the Vatican applied Malachy's legends to:
They are:
Felix V (1440-1449)
That is 9 antipopes.
Three of these reigned at the same time. One of the three, Innocent III (1179-1180), is listed by the Vatican, but no Malachy motto was attached to him. Another, who is called a counter anti-pope, Benedict XIV (1425-1430), is also listed by the Vatican but not given a Malachy description. Thus, 9 out of 11 antipopes were given mottoes as though they were actual popes.
Did Malachy really foresee the future of these antipopes and regard them as legitimate heirs of St Peter and apply mottos to each of them? I doubt it. He was predicting an orderly line of legitimate papal succession. Half of these antipopes actually confused the line of succession and, of course, were not legitimate heirs of the Holy See.
Malachy prophesied 112 POPES to follow Celestine II -- NOT 103 POPES and 9 OUT OF 11 ANTIPOPES!
If we are to take Malachy seriously, therefore, we are currently on pope number 103, not pope 112.
If this is true then Pope Benedict XVI was really Lumen in c�lo ("Light in the Heavens"). Indeed, only 20 months after becoming pope, the brightest comet since Comet Ikeya-Seki in 1965 appeared in the northern and southern hemispheres in January 2007. Comet McNaught was so bright it could even be seen overhead in a clear blue sky during the day. The mysterious and ghostly Comet Holmes followed in October 2007 in the constellation Perseus.
Then, only hours after Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation, lightning struck the top of St. Peters Basilica at the Vatican. Four days later, people were greeted by the blinding flash of a large meteorite exploding over Chelyabinsk, Russia.
Lumen in c�lo is to be followed by the apocalyptic-sounding Ignis ardens ("Burning Fire") ... which can mean anything from a nuclear war to fiery meteors plunging to earth from the skies.
Ignis ardens would then be the true motto for the current pontiff of Rome, Pope Francis. With World War III seemingly only months or a few years away, we may find the motto will be most applicable.
After Ignis ardens, more ominously comes Religio depopulata ("Religion Depopulated" or "Religion Laid Waste") ... indicating either a great loss of human life worldwide from various causes and/or mass execution and sacrificing of Christians, not unlike what occurred during the reign of Nero, the French Revolution, or the Nazi genocide of Jews during the Second World War.
After this would come Fides intrepida (Intrepid Faith) who apparently will also come to an early and dreadful end. After a period of 25 months with no pope at all he is followed by the "great Pontiff" of so many prophecies, Pastor angelicus (Angelic Shepherd), who will reign alongside the future "great Monarch" who will bring an end to World War III:
Ancient Irish (author unknown) ~
The close of the war finds a Celt in the Chair of Peter. He is the most perfect of all the popes; chosen miraculously amidst chaos. An angel in human form, he shall be called "Papa Angelorum." This Celt is not an Irish Celt but one born in Galicia, and the only Celt to occupy Peter's throne. He shall, like Peter of old, take his staff and his scrip, and with a few companions start out to reconcile the nations.
Busto ~
The angelic Pope shall place an imperial crown on his head.
Abbot Joachim Merlin ~
He will be the joy of God's elect. This angelic pope will preach the gospel in every country. Through his zeal and solicitude the Greek Church shall be forever reunited to the Catholic Church ... This holy Pope shall be both pastor and reformer. Through him the East and West shall be in everlasting concord. The city of Babylon shall then be the head and guide of the world. Rome, weakened in temporal power, shall forever preserve her spiritual dominion, and shall enjoy great peace. During these happy days the Angelic Pope shall be able to address to Heaven prayers full of sweetness. The dispersed nation shall also enjoy tranquillity. Six and a half years after this time the Pope will render his soul to God. The end of his days shall arrive in an arid province, situated between a river and a lake near the mountains ...
His three immediate successors shall be men of exemplary holiness. One after the other will be models of virtue, and shall work miracles, confirming the teaching of their predecessors. Under their government the Church shall spread, and these Popes shall be called the Angelic Pastors.
Capuchin Friar (1776)
By the Catholic clergy and people the true and lawful Pope will be elected, who shall be a man of great holiness and goodness of life ... A scion of the Carlovingian race, by all considered extinct, will come to Rome to behold and admire the clemency of this Pontiff, who will crown him, and declare him to be the legitimate Emperor of the Romans, and from the Chair of St. Peter, the Pope will lift up the standard, the crucifix, and will give it to the new emperor. This new emperor, with the robust Italian and French people, and with those of other nations, will form a most Powerful host, called the Church Army, through which he shall destroy the Ottoman Empire, all heresies, and shall also totally defeat the Emperor of the North, who is called Mystic Antichrist. The above mentioned new emperor, with the assistance of God and of the Pope, will cooperate to the reformation of abuses; will assume the management of the temporal government; will assign a decent pension to the Supreme Pontiff, and also the bishops and clergy: and they all, being detached from earthly covetousness, will live in peace, which shall last till the end of time.
The three future "angelic popes" who shall follow Pastor angelicus will be Pastor et Nauta ("Pastor and Mariner"), Flos florum ("Flower of Flowers"), and De medietate Lun� ("of the Half Moon") ... applied erroneously to John XXIII, Paul VI, and John Paul I.
If true, the late pope, Saint John Paul II, was not De labore Solis ("Labour of the Sun") but actually Crux de Cruce ("Cross of Crosses") ... which would make Saint John Paul II the "Pope of Popes" and one of the greatest popes in all of papal history.
Therefore the bizarre legend De balneis hetruriae ("the Bath of Etruria"), mistakenly applied to Pope Gregory XVI, would be applied to Pope John Paul I, whose pontificate lasted only 33 days. So short and unexpected a reign was his that the motto was likely never fulfilled.
Many believe John Paul I was murdered. Long after Malachy listed the legend De medietate Lunae ("of the Half Moon") which was applied by the Vatican to John Paul I, an unknown Vatican scholar updated the description by adding the cryptic line "and future victim." Another example of forcing a prophecy by adding a brief descriptive phrase. Even so, could it be that if he had lived a longer life and reigned a longer reign, that John Paul I (as De balneis hetruriae) would have been murdered in a bath in Tuscany (similar to how Jean-Paul Marat was assassinated by Charlotte Corday)?
In any event, if Benedict XVI was "Light in the Heaven" and Francis is "Burning Fire," that means there are 9 more popes remaining after the reign of Francis.
That is consistent with what I find in Nostradamus' prophecies. I can easily find nine (9) popes who have yet to reign. I have written an article about each of them on Nostradamus NOW Archives 1 .
Now that the potential folly of strictly adhering to Malachy's prophecies has been revealed, we can focus again on Quatrain 2.97 (The Rose Prophecy) and the Third Secret of Fatima.
Similarities, Differences Between Quatrain 2.97 and the Third Secret of Fatima
Obviously, Pope Francis, or any successor, must avoid extensive traveling to cities that match the profile provided by Nostradamus or the Blessed Virgin in the Third Secret of Fatima. Not only will the Pope be assassinated but so too will all clergy people accompanying him ("you and yours").
This shared assassination of the pope and his clergy people ("you and yours") is what Quatrain 2.97 and the Third Secret of Fatima have in common. Another thing they both have in common is that neither prophecy has yet been fulfilled.
However, there are striking differences (or at least striking omissions).
Nostradamus never mentions that the city is half-destroyed. He never says anything about a pope climbing a holy mountain in Quatrain 2.97 ... or in any other quatrain. The Fatima vision, likewise, makes no mention of the city being watered by two rivers nor does it make reference in any fashion to a rose.
Thus, it is entirely possible that Francis could be the pope of Quatrain 2.97 and his successor could be the "Bishop In White" who appears in the Third Secret of Fatima. Either that or else one man, Francis or a successor, may be the pope found in both prophecies.
Because Nostradamus forsees a number of popes to follow Francis, rather than Francis being the final pope named "Peter of Rome" listed by Malachy, it is even possible that Quatrain 2.97 and the Fatima prophecy are about two successors of Francis and that Francis will die a natural death like John Paul II or even retire like Benedict XVI did. Francis has already discussed his possible retirement within the next three years with the news media.
It is impossible to be entirely certain.
What is the meaning of the Rose?
As discussed above, "the Rose" may simply be a seasonal dating clue, indicating late spring or possibly summer (or more specifically late May/early June) as the time the Pope will be in danger of succumbing to the prophecy.
Then again, "the Rose" appears in several other Nostradamus quatrains and is used in a far more mysterious manner, as with Quatrain 5.96: "The rose above the middle of the great world."
Thus, it could signify something of a mystical nature ... or an actual person: the late Princess Diana.
One thing has come to my attention: the Rose may function as a key that helps us connect some very important dots. After we review the possible meanings of the Rose, we shall discuss two other quatrains linked together by the rose symbol ... for one of the three rose prophecies actually appears to tell us WHERE the city "watered by two rivers" may be located.
England's Rose. I have long established a possible connection between the Pope and the late Princess of Wales because of the "rose" clue in the final line of Quatrain 2.97.
There is a seperate prophecy by Nostradamus that tells of a time that will come when an apparition of a beloved and famous woman will be seen by millions of people above her grave and that she will speak to them. Could this woman be the late Princess Diana being witnessed by a multitude at her island grave at Althorp? This may begin a time when what Nostradamus calls "the Temple of Diana" will become a new religion or Diana will be made an Anglican saint. It may well be that when this apparition appears, or the new church or sect begins attracting followers, that will be the time the Pope is assassinated.
Click here for a three-section presentation on the relationship of "the rose" to Princess Diana and Pope Francis; more on the coming apparition; what may be the "new Diana," actress and ambassador Angelina Jolie, and Diana's actual replacement, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, recently-wedded to her eldest and favorite son, Prince William; and what prophecy says about the tragic death of "The Rose" in a Paris tunnel.
In November 1999, a critical dream vision emailed to me by Conor concerning three stages in the relationship between a pope and a young woman who is only a ghostly spirit in the final stage, has suggested what may well be a psychic connection between Diana and John Paul II, Diana and Benedict XVI, and possibly Diana and Francis -- one that I believe may establish Paris or Avignon as the city of this pope's doom rather than a city in Iraq or Syria. To view this vision open a Dream Window .
The Mystical Rose. The lady who is associated with "the Rose" and who appears in Conor's dream may instead be the Virgin Mary. If the day of the Rosa Mystica is taken literally, the Pope or his successor may be assassinated on the specific dates of July 13, 2016 or July 13, 2018. Click here to learn more of the Rosa Mystica and its possible relationship to Quatrain 2.97.
The Rosy Cross. The emblem of the Rosicrucian Order, also known as The Order of the Rose and the Cross. Founded in the 15th Century, its mystical rites influenced the Freemasonic societies. However, it is claimed that its true beginning was in 46 AD as a gnostic Christian sect that also embraced Hermeticism (ancient Egyptian mystery beliefs). Today's Rosicrucian orders, and there are many, are either Christian or they are far afield from Christianity (the Golden Dawn, for example) and exalt the magical arts.
It is strongly believed by many that Nostradamus was secretly a Christian Rosicrucian as a number of letters from him to his clients infer an association by the prophet, not to Catholicism, but to Lutheranism. That, combined with heremetic symbology and rites found in a number of his verses indicates this was likely so.
The French seer was among an obscure group in the 16th Century that preserved the secret wisdom of the ancients as well as the original tenets of Christianity ... which included the concept of reincarnation.
Christian Gnostics believed that if spiritual resurrection was not attained in one lifetime, then the soul would be subjected to as many reincarnations as neccessary until spiritual rebirth is attained. In The Apocalypse of Paul, the apostle Paul describes witnessing the soul of a deceased person in a place called the "the fourth heaven" being reincarnated by angelic beings. The apostle Mark relates accounts of secret rites and indoctrinations into the mysteries of the Kingdom of God by Jesus and of people other than Lazurus who were brought back from the dead. All of these writings were removed from what would be considered for the next 1700 years as The Holy Bible and consigned to Old Testament Apocrypha and New Testament Apocrypha. However, it is alleged that the Church fathers did not destroy these writings but held them in secret or hid them until such time the world would be ready for their release. Some of these writings have yet to be found. Others remain guarded by secret religious orders or even by the Catholic Church itself.
The Gilded Rose (aka The Rose of Rialp). A sign given by God to Fr Josemaria Escriva, founder of Opus Dei, an order operating within today's Catholic Church. The Opus Dei emblem is a cross in the circle of the world above a rose which symbolises Opus Dei women.
Fact and fiction are blurred, but the order founded in 1928 may be a revived secret sect that kept concealed over the centuries the now badly-guarded "secret" that Jesus may have been married to Mary Magdalene and had children and kept hidden the descendants of this Merovingian bloodline.
Controversies about Opus Dei have centered around criticisms of its alleged secretiveness, its recruiting methods, the alleged strict rules governing members, the practice by celibate members of mortification of the flesh, its alleged elitism and misogyny, the alleged right-leaning politics of most of its members, and the alleged participation by some in authoritarian or extreme right-wing governments, especially the Francoist Government of Spain until 1978. Within the Catholic Church, Opus Dei is also criticized for allegedly seeking independence and more influence. (Source: Wikipedia).
Pop icon Madonna is reportedly fascinated by this "church within the Church" and may be seeking membership, even as her Kabbalah organisation falls to legal actions and investigations. Could it mean that Opus Dei will be merged with Kabbalah by Madonna to somehow create a "world religion" around the same time the Pope is assassinated? Or will the Hermetic mysteries, symbolised by the Rose, be made knowledge to the world by today's Rosicrucian orders and Freemason societies?
Where is the city between two rivers located?
Unfortunately, we can only speculate about this city. There are a number of cities "watered by two rivers."
Two nations where two large rivers are an important feature that spring immediately to mind are Iraq and France. There is no question that the clairvoyant saw many important future events taking place in Mesopotamia -- a region he was quite concerned about and predicted would be a major battleground in a future war. Although both Syria and Iraq make up this part of the world, he is more specific when he identifies the Mesopotamian nation as being "a land between two rivers" (obviously the Tigris and Euphrates).
Unfortunately, there is no modern Iraqi city that is watered by two rivers or the Tigris and Euphrates. There is a small town named Qurna where the two rivers meet and form the Shatt al-Arab. According to legend, this is the site of the Garden of Eden. But far from being a city, it is barely more than a village and was partially destroyed during the US invasion of 2003. If it were a city, and not a town, it would probably qualify as the city half-destroyed in the Third Secret of Fatima. Not far away is the city of Basrah, also partially depopulated by war. There is also the site of the ancient city of Babylon, where exiled Jews lamented by the banks of its rivers their loss of Zion. Initial work on Babylon's restoration was begun by the late Saddam Hussein in 1983, but three wars, one with Iran and two with the United States, destroyed some of the progress that was made and stalled further construction. Still, plans are currently underway by the US and the Iraqi government to rebuild Babylon as a tourist attraction and entertainment center ... to bring to fruition the dream pursued by Saddam. Lastly, there is the city of Baghdad, the capital of the "land between two rivers" (Iraq), although only the Tigris River runs through it.
As for France, Paris is watered by the two major rivers Seine and Marne.
Another French city that figures prominently in Nostradamus' quatrains concerning France and the Vatican is Avignon. It lies within the V formed by the rivers Rhone and Durance.
In Greece, the great city of Athens is watered by two rivers, the Kifisos and Ilisos.
In North America, the huge metropolis of Montreal in Quebec, Canada lies on the junction of two rivers: the St Lawrence and the Ottawa.
There are many others to be found throughout the world.
Where is the city where there is a nearby mountain with a cross at its summit?
Again, there are many such cities all over the world.
Is there a city watered by two rivers with a nearby mountain with a cross at its summit?
Returning to the city of Paris, the holy mountain, as suggested by a viewer, may well be the hill of the Sacre Couer Cathedral. Paris also is the city of Diana's death ("the Rose") and now the site of several Diana shrines of great significance.
Also in France, the holy mountain of Avignon, as suggested by another viewer, could well be Le rocher des Doms which looks a lot like the one of prophecy. As for the cross at the top of Le rocher des Doms, it likely belongs to the Cathedrale Notre Dame des Doms.
According to the Third Secret of Fatima, the city in question will be half-destroyed. In the case of Paris, a huge metropolis with a population of 2,249,975, the French prophet warns that a second, dreadful revolution will plague the great city again, which will be surrounded by foreign troops that will allow its own people to burn it to the ground. At Avignon, a city of 92,000, a terrible Muslim invasion will bring military destruction there as well.
Montreal, a huge, sprawling, cosmopolitan city between two rivers, is well-known for its holy mountain. The Mount Royal Cross is a monument on top of Mount Royal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It stands at the northeastern edge of the mountain, overlooking the east end of Montreal. The current cross stands 103 feet tall. It was converted to fibre-optic light in 1992, allowing the cross to be lit in red, blue or purple. The cross is usually illuminated in white; the new computerised system permits it to be changed to any colour, including the purple traditionally used between the death of the Pope and the election of the new Pope.
How frightful, indeed, it would be if the half-destroyed metropolis of prophecy is Montreal ... with a population in 2013 of 1,717,767. This would indeed indicate World War III had begun.
The Second Rose Prophecy Indicates Athens May Be The City
However, if we look at our second "rose" prophecy by Nostradamus, it becomes apparent that the city in question may well be ATHENS ... in the nation of Greece. Pope John Paul II visited this great city in 2001, but Pope Benedict XVI did not and Pope Francis has yet to visit there ... and he might not until the fatal blooming of "the Rose" takes place.
Nostradamus, Quatrain 5.31 ~
Through the land of Attica, leader of wisdom, which at present is the rose of the world: The Pontiff ruined
and his great pre-eminence, to be subjugated and a shipwreck in the waves.
Athens, the capital and largest city in Greece, is located in the southeastern part of the country along the Attic plain. Three of its sides are mountainous, the Parnis, Penteli and Hymettos Mountains, and two rivers, the Kifisos and Ilisos, flow throughout the city. It has a huge population of 3,737,550.
Athens is truly a city watered by two rivers.
That is all that is required for it to be the city described in Quatrain 2.97.
But could it also be the city of the Fatima vision ... a city where a sacred mountain can be accessed?
There is no notable cross at the top of any of the three mountains listed above, although there are several monastaries. The nearest mountain in Greece that does have a cross at its peak is many miles away on the Greek island of Rhodes (which is obviously not on the Attica plain and quite close to Turkey). However, in 1925, high above Mount Hymettus, just outside of Athens, there was a gigantic cross seen for the space of half an hour.
On the night of September 14, 1925, above the top of Mount Hymettus, over 2,000 of the Faithful witnessed a miracle from God: it took the form of a huge, radiant Byzantine cross:
One of the most astounding signs from God took place during the all-night vigil for the feast of the Exaltation of the Precious Cross, in the year 1925. In the little country chapel of St. John the Theologian at the foot of Mt. Hymettus (which was then miles outside of Athens, but which is now deep within the city limits-so much has the city grown. The section is called St. John Holargos) over two thousand people had gathered to celebrate the feast according to the old calendar reckoning. When Archbishop Papadopoulos got wind of it, he sent a message to the Minister of Interior Affairs, who in turn sent the police to disperse the crowd and arrest the priest. When the police arrived and saw the size of the crowd, they decided to wait until the morning to arrest the priest.
At midnight, just when the procession for Litya was taking place, the people who were standing outside in the court of the little chapel suddenly saw a giant cross forming in the heavens directly above their heads. The Cross, which was lying horizontally, stretched from the little chapel to above the peak of Mt. Hymettus, and was in the form of the Byzantine Cross, with three straight cross-bars. When the people saw it-it was most brilliant and radiant in appearance-they all cried out in fear. The procession and the service came to a stop, and the people fell on their knees weeping and chanting Kyrie eleison. The police, also, became so terrified that they literally threw down their weapons and with tears began to pray with the others. For a half-hour the Cross remained thus in the sky and then slowly began to raise itself until it finally stood straight up and down, and then it slowly disappeared.
Could the answer to the riddle of the cross in the Third Secret of Fatima be that the cross itself is a miracle? Imagine Pope Francis or a successor deciding one day to celebrate the 1925 Miracle of the Cross of Mount Hymettus by visiting Athens and then touring the slope and peak of the holy mountain ... a mountain whose slopes are inside Athens itself (just like the mountain in the Third Secret of Fatima, accessible from the "half-destroyed" city). From its top one can see all of Athens, the tops of the other mountains, and even as far southwest as the Peloponnese.
When we read the Third Secret of Fatima, it becomes apparent that the Cross itself transcends reality, being attended by angelic beings associated with Martyrdom and the sealing of souls.
Thus, there need be no cross at all ... the cross the Pope and his entourage may be paying homage to in the Fatima prophecy may be the miraculous one that appeared upon the feast of the Exaltation of the Precious Cross. Or could it be that a great monument will be erected there to commemorate the 1925 miracle ... a giant cross?
A future papal trip to Athens and Mount Hymettus could well mark another occasion of importance: an effort to merge the Greek Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church ... the reuniting of the Eastern and Western Roman Empire. Pope Benedict made great strides at the task John Paul II held dear: the reunification of the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion. Will Francis one day reconcile with the Greek Orthodox Church? This pope seems to be all about unification.
If Athens is the city half-destroyed, then this pope or another will die there "in the land of Attica" at a pivotal moment of future history, for there may be a biblical prophecy that coincides with the murderous attack by soldiers upon him and his entourage.
Daniel 11:2 ~
And now will I show thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia: and the fourth shall be far richer than they all: and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia.
World War III will either begin or be well under way when a declaration of war by Iran (Persia) is made against Greece, Macedonia, Turkey, and the European Union. When Iran invades Macedonia and Greece, Russia will invade Germany and Austria.
The Third Rose Prophecy Indicates a Great Revelation
Nostradamus, Quatrain 5.96 ~
The rose above the middle of the great world, for new deeds blood publicly shed: To speak the truth
they will have closed mouths, then at the time of need the awaited one will come late.
Although one meaning, as we will discover, concerns the murder of Princess Diana ("the Rose") in Paris, another concerns a religious cult, a spectacular suicide, and the release of a great revelation.
It was reported in 2011 by various news sources that a 1970s American mind-control cult similar to Scientology called "The Rose of the World" remains active in other countries, including Russia. An investigation by filmmaker Peter Pomerantsev has concluded without a doubt that Russian supermodel Ruslana Korshunova, who leapt to her death from a building site adjacent to her 9th floor Manhattan apartment on June 28, 2008, belonged to this cult. So too did another prominent model, Anastasia Drozdova, a close friend of Ruslana's, who also leapt to her death in 2009. Both were members of the cult, Rose of the World.
Ruslana allegedly wrote the following on her web page before leaping to her death: "My dream is to fly. Oh, my rainbow it is too high." A search of Anastasia's room yielded the following cryptic message from Rose of the World: "Anastasia, your lullaby is winter's end. You're on your way."
Ruslana's body was found 8.5 metres from the building from which she fell.
Pomerantsev had this to say about Ruslana's alleged suicide "jump":
"8.5 meters? That's not a fall. That's a leap. That's almost flight. She didn't stand on the ledge and take a step off. She took a run and soared."
Manhattan is the financial centre of the world ("middle of the great world"). Ruslana Korshunova's blood was shed publicly, but for what "new deeds" remains a mystery.
Meantime, the return of Jesus Christ was falsely anticipated to occur on May 21, 2011. However, as Nostradamus assures us, He will come much later than anyone dares to imagine.
In some way, this "rose revelation" may be a warning to the current pope that a "two rivers" city or "Holy cross mountain" must be avoided. It could be functioning as a timing clue, just as the time when the roses bloom (May/June) also does.
Unplanned, spontaneous trips could be extemely dangerous. One example of how such a trip could have been disastrous was the former Pope Benedict's June 2011 journey to Croatia and considered visit to nearby Medjugorje.
The timing of this papal visit to Zagreb was potentially dangerous had Pope Benedict decided to take a train or plane afterwards to Medjugorje and then climb Medjugorje Cross Mountain, the highest Golgotha in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Especially in light of the following revelation:
Student arrested ahead of Papal visit to Croatia
Cache of guns found but police have not confirmed if they have halted an assassination attempt on Holy Father
Scottish Catholic Observer
May 31, 2011
A Croatian student has been arrested after posting weird comments about Pope Benedict XVI on Facebook ahead of the Papal visit to the country this weekend. The arrest was made in the southern village of Skabrnja and the 22-year-old, who lives with his father, was found with two guns and 300 rounds of ammunition, according to police reports.
Croatian police have not confirmed whether they believe they halted an assassination attempt on the Holy Father, who is due to arrive in Zagreb on Saturday.
Prior to the incident, Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi said that the Pope feels at home in Croatia, a country with deep Christian and Catholic roots that has preserved with loyalty in difficult times. Today, Croatia faces the challenge of secularisation: the family and youth are crucial challenges it has to deal with, Fr Lombardi said. Thats why the central events of the Popes trip are his participation in the meeting with Croatian Catholic Families, and with young people.
This occurred on the heels of the arrest the previous week of former Bosnian Serb military general Ratko Mladic for genocide. Since the arrest and pending trial in the Netherlands, thousands of Serbs rioted and clashed with police in support of Mladic. The region, once again, threatened to become inflamed with passions ... then came the report of a foiled assassination. A city like Zagreb or Belgrade could have been torn asunder if just the wrong events had taken place.
Although when reading the Third Secret of Fatima one gets the feeling that the "big city" is quite near to the "mountain," this need not be the case. In this age of air travel they could be miles apart yet the trip from one to the other might only be 15 to 20 minutes, more or less. The Croatian city of Zagreb is this close in terms of air travel. It is not watered by two rivers, but it is "big" enough with a population of 785,964.
Yet, hop on a plane, and the Pope could be in the pastoral village of Medjugorje in less than half an hour.
The most famous and holy mountain in the world at this time is Cross Mountain in Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina. It is accessed from Apparition Mountain where a Marian apparition appeared before six children on June 24, 1981. Two of the six children have continued to receive messages from the Virgin Mary every month since that date. Medugorje has become one of the most popular pilgrimage sites for Catholics (and people of other faiths) in the world and has turned into Europe's third most important religious place, where each year more than 1 million people visit. It has been estimated that 30 million pilgrims have come to Medugorje since the reputed apparitions began in 1981. Many have reported visual phenomena including the sun spinning in the sky or changing colors and figures such as hearts and crosses around the sun.
When is either the Nostradamus prophecy or Fatima prophecy supposed to take place?
Unfortunately, Nostradamus does not say. Aside from the possible season of late spring or summer, a year is not given. Nor is there any planetary alignment contained in Quatrains 2.97 or 5.31 as a dating clue. Likewise, the Fatima revelation, as much as we know, reveals only that such an event will occur at a time of major, probably global, war (unless the half-destroyed city is in ruins due to a massive terrorist attack).
Base 7 projection
I believe that history repeats itself (more or less) at intervals of seven years and multiples of seven years. I call this mathematically-based theory "base 7 numerology" although it is not true numerology, but a mathematically-contrived system based on observation of historical patterns ... a way to understand and anticipate the workings of a very real natural phenomenon.
The key to the future, in other words, lies in the past. History truly does repeat itself, yet not always exactly.
I use real historical events, their months and years, as the index or precedent(s) for the projected future event. I also use real prophecy and close observation of current events to calculate in what direction we are heading. I find that to the year I am usually between 71% and 91% successful with my predictions.
So, according to my base 7 system of numerology, when might the current pope be in danger?
Some things are hidden from us, however perfect God's number 7 may be. There are some events we are meant to be confused about, and that we cannot be allowed to tamper with .. for better or for worse. Yet, it is surprising the many things we are allowed to know about in advance ... and to change or at least postpone. Evidence of the number 7, and multiples thereof, working through diverse historical patterns and trends is more plentiful than one man alone can possibly predict. Often I discover, after it is too late, that yet another "base 7" historical repetition has played out.
Still, some things are intended to be hidden. All of these projections of past events repeating again in some fashion in the future and the dating "vectors" for them are merely "windows of opportunity." That is all they are: opportunities for an event to happen again in some way. Yet, by anticipating the future through the study of past events and repetitive trends, these projections can fulfill the same function as prophecy.
There are three established assassination and assassination attempt "windows of opportunity" to be concerned about: September 1978, May 1981, and May 1982.
The first is September 1978. This was a "Triple Pope" year. August, September, and October were marked by the deaths of Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul I, and Pope John Paul II's ascension to the Holy See.
The last repetition of that year was 2013. I believed and predicted that Pope Benedict XVI would die of natural causes like Pope Paul VI. Instead he was the first pope to retire in Vatican history.
It then stood to reason that his successor, who turned out to be Pope Francis, might die after a brief reign like Pope John Paul I who, it is widely believed, was murdered by poison. It would have happened no later than September 2013. Nerves became frayed in June 2013, one month before Francis was to visit Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, when mass protests and terrible riots broke out that lasted for many days and involved millions of people. Parts of the city went up in flames.
I felt it necessary to warn against the planned July 2013 visit. Indeed, the trip was nearly canceled by Vatican officials. Fortunately, the rioting ended a few weeks beforehand and peace prevailed during the papal visit. An opportunity for 2013 to become another Triple Pope year failed.
Had Francis died after a short reign, the next pope might well have been the one Nostradamus called "Paul the celibate." He would have fled Rome during the appearance of an unusually bright comet and later died at Avignon during a military attack on southern France. When that might have happened is unknown since the third pope of 1978, John Paul II, reigned a very long time. Avignon is a city between two rivers.
Of course, Francis did not die and a third pope was not elected.
Still, anxiety was high in 2013 because two major comets were predicted by astronomers to appear. The first, the much anticipated Comet PanSTARRS, turned out to be yet another fizzle. Because of its timing, I never believed it would be a danger anyway, unless it were to portend disaster in Rio. A greater expectation awaited for November 2013 with Comet ISON (yet another major disappointment). That would have been during the time of the third pope had Francis died earlier in the year. If ISON had been an extremely bright comet and a third pope had been elected by August, September, or October, World War III might have begun at that time. Again, fortunately this was not the case.
The year 1978 comes around again in 2020. Will 2020 become the next "Triple Pope" year?
The other two base 7 dates to be concerned about are May 2016, due to the attempted assassination and serious injuring of Pope John Paul II when he was shot by Mehmet Ali Agca in May 1981, and May 2017, due to a second attempt on the Pope's life in May 1982 when he was attacked by a bayonet-wielding priest.
May 2016 has passed, and Pope Francis safely completed a papal visit to Armenia in June. Still, May 1981 will continue to be an influence throughout the remainder of 2016. After that, May 2017 will be the last window of opportunity until September 2020.
Again, May 1982 will wield its influence throughout the year 2017.
We should be very concerned about 2017: the May 1982 attack on John Paul II occurred in F�tima, Portugal. Whether or not John Paul II was wounded by the bayonet was not allowed to be reported. But F�tima is the source of the Third Secret prophecy and it is to F�tima that Francis will travel on either May 13, 2017 ... on the 100th anniversary of the first apparition (the roses will be blooming then too) .... or October 13, 2017 ... on the 100th anniversary of the last apparition!
The decision has not yet been made and it may well be either or both. Or it may yet be another date: July 13, 2017 ... on the 100th anniversary of the revealing of the Third Secret.
I must emphasize that new precedents can always be created and not one of these three years may be the year of impact. In the face of established prophecy, vigilance has to be maintained at all times.
Clues from Nostradamus
Quatrain 2.97, by itself, reads like a papal visit gone horribly wrong. It sings with a sense of peacetime in spring or summer, with roses abloom, perhaps with what may be a beautiful apparition of Diana occurring at the same time in England -- all shattered by the crackling guns of assassins.
However, in sharp contrast to this scenario is the Third Secret of Fatima which says the city will be gloomy and half-destroyed, apparently by war, and that the visiting pope will bless the dead bodies of the inhabitants before he and his entire ENTOURAGE are killed BY SOLDIERS.
The entourage is the detail that may link the two prophecies. Nostradamus says "both you and yours" to the pope who will die, thus indicating others accompanying him will also die.
However, I must stress this as a possibility: Quatrain 2.97 may deal with the first murdered pope (Francis or his successor) and the Third Secret of Fatima prophecy may concern the next murdered pope, "Paul the Celibate" (Pope Paul VII? Pope John Paul III?).
Thus, we may see: 1) a murdered "Rose Pope," 2) a murdered "Paul the Celibate" (Pol Mensolee) during a military attack, 3) followed by the election of a French pope in exile ... not to officially return to take power in Rome and the Vatican for another 25 months.
In a series of frightening quatrains, Nostradamus describes an invasion of southern France via the Pyrenees and from the port at Marseilles. It culminates with nearly a million dead French civilians killed by "fire from the sky" as they flee northwards toward Lyon (which is also captured by the enemy). I believe the cause of the "fire" may be Fuel Air Explosives, sometimes called the poor man's nuclear bomb. The devastation from FAEs is nearly as horrific as that caused by atomic bombs, only without the radiation.
This southern advance I believe will either be led by 1) by a powerful, united Arab leader much to the bewilderment of The West and to other nations like Russia and China; the major nations not having expected this to happen, or 2) by powerful Iranian ("Persian") and "Median" allies of Moscow (Iranians, Kurds, and Muslim groups from the former Soviet Union). In addition, if the second instance prevails, Russian forces will press westward into Austria and Germany from the former Warsaw Pact and north into Scandinavia. Either way, the world will be at war.
"Pol Mensolee"/"Paul the celibate" (Nostradamus)
The next pope, whenever he is elected, will likely be called Paul VII or else John Paul III.
If Francis fails to fulfill the role of Petrus Romanus, but instead proves to be Ignis ardens, upon his death or retirement it will be said of him that he was one of the "indeterminant number of popes" not named by Malachy that would reign between Gloria Olivae and Petrus Romanus. Upon the election of his successor it may be said that he is the Tribulation pope. But this will be wrong, as he shall have a successor who will be French and reign many years.
This next pope was a frontrunner in the election that followed the death of Pope John Paul II and again in the election that followed Pope Benedict's official retirement. The current Archbishop of Milan and former Patriarch of Venice, Cardinal Angelo Scola, retains the right to participate in any future conclaves that begin before his 80th birthday on November 7, 2021.
The reign of "Pol Mensolee" will be short, for war will come to Western Europe and he shall be forced to flee Rome. He will escape to France, only to be killed-in-action in Avignon during a military attack.
Nostradamus, Quatrain 1.37 ~
A short time before the sun sets, conflict is engaged, a great nation in doubt:
Overcome, the marine port will not reply, Pontiff and grave to be both in foreign places.
Nostradamus, Quatrain 8.46 ~
Paul the celibate will die three leagues from the Rhone, the two nearest flee the destructive monster:
When Mars will make a most horrible throne, the cock and the eagle, France, the three brothers.
John of the Cleft Rock (14th Century)
Towards the end of the world, tyrants and hostile mobs will rob the Church and the clergy of all their possessions and will afflict and martyr them. Those who heap the most abuse upon them will be held in high esteem.
At that time, the Pope with his cardinals will have to flee Rome in tragic circumstances to a place where they will be unknown. The Pope will die a cruel death in his exile. The sufferings of the Church will be much greater than at any previous time in her history. But God will raise a holy Pope, and the Angels will rejoice. Enlightened by God, this man will rebuild almost the whole world through his holiness. He will lead everyone to the true Faith.
Pope Pius X (1835 - 1914)
"What I have seen is terrifying! Will I be the one, or will it be a successor? What is certain is that the Pope will leave Rome and, in leaving the Vatican, he will have to pass over the dead bodies of his priests! Do not tell anyone this while I am alive."
"I saw one of my successors taking to flight over the bodies of his brethren. He will take refuge in disguise somewhere and after a short retirement he will die a cruel death. The present wickedness of the world is only the beginning of the sorrows which must take place before the end of the world. Respect for God has disappeared from human hearts. They wish to efface even God's memory. This perversity is nothing less than the beginning of the last days of the world."
Watch Out For Planet Mars
We were able to rule out an August 27, 2003 dating for the above Quatrain 8.46 when global war failed to occur at the time Mars achieved its closest opposition to earth in 60,000 years. Therefore, Nostradamus might only be writing of Mars in its usual role of the God of War.
However, in July 2018, Mars will undergo its second closest opposition to earth in 60,000 years ... with the August 2003 opposition being the only closer one. To the human eye there will be no difference at all:
On July 31, 2018 Mars will only be 35.8 million miles from Earth ... the closest approach since August 27, 2003 when it was only 34.6 million miles and the closest at that time in 60,000 years.
In other words, if not for the August 2003 opposition, the coming July 2018 opposition would be the closest in 60,000 years. Scientists calculate they won't get that close again until August 28, 2287.
Once again, "Mars will make a most horrible throne."
Thus, according to Quatrain 8.46 above, a pope who flees Rome will die nine miles (three leagues) from Tarascon, in Avignon. As mentioned already, Avignon is situated in the V formed by the rivers Rhone and Durance. He will literally be between two rivers.
Diana, the possible "rose" of Quatrain 2.97, died in northern France, in Paris, watered by the rivers Seine and Marne.
So there is an interesting symmetry here: northern France for Diana, southern France for Pol Mensolee (Paul VII or John Paul III).
So Quatrain 2.97 apparently happens during a time of war, just as the Fatima vision suggests.
The fiery invasion of southern France is also echoed in an ancient document authored by an unknown clergyman in AD 346. Entitled the Liber Vaticinationem Quodam Instinctumentis, it presages three world wars that will directly involve Germany, the first two as an aggressor and the last as a defender of "the Empire" against the invaders from the East:
For the third (world war), the earth shakes,
The throat of the Gaul (France) is ravaged.
Many die fleeing from the awful winds,
The sun halts in its path in the heavens.
It is then said that the norma will die "when the wolf (Germany) is hacked to bits."
According to Nostradamus many of the towns and cities in this region, such as Carcassonne, Comminges, Foix, Auch, Mazeres, Nice, Frejus, and Antibes will be attacked by enemies with weapons that bring down "fire from the sky."
During this invasion, the Pope dies approaching Le Rocher des Doms. Nearly a million French will die along with him or be taken captive:
All of the inhabitants of Marseilles are changed,
Fleeing and pursued as far as Lyon,
Narbonne, Toulouse outraged by Bordeaux,
The killed and captive are nearly one million.
Citizens of Marseilles are pursued by Islamic forces as far as the major French city of Lyon 150 miles to the north. The southern cities of Toulouse and Narbonne are sacked, and the total number of French killed or taken prisoner fleeing 'the awful winds' of atomic and FAE (Fuel Air Explosive) attacks are 1,000,000.
In any event, I must lay out this scenario, if not as a warning to Francis (whose name does not really conform to "Paul"), then to the one who follows after him.
"The Pope from Ancient France" aka "The Cardinal of France" (Nostradamus)
I believe the above cardinal of France, Andr� Armand Vingt-Trois, may be the same "cardinal of France" Nostradamus tells us will appear during World War III and that this man will be elected pope to become the "great Pontiff." Many candidates have been placed by interpreters of prophecy; however, I have been consistant about my belief that Vingt-Trois will be the French pontiff since at least 2004. Nostradamus even names him in one quatrain when London is under attack and a highly-placed high priestess, none other than "the whore of Babylon," is killed along with many of her sect.
The Vatican will be in exile at this time. When the war ends, he will return to Rome and will become the greatest pope of our age: "The great Pontiff" who shall rule alongside the "The Great Monarch."
However, according to John of Vitiguerro (13th Century) there may be no pope at all for 25 months, after which the French pope is elected:
The pope will change his residence and the Church will not be defended for twenty-five months or more because, during all that time there will be no Pope in Rome... After many tribulations, a Pope shall be elected out of those who survived the persecutions.
This could delay the "great Pontiff" coming to power until 2020 ... but only if the second closest opposition of Mars in the last 60,000 years in July 2018 is of prophetic significance. After all, the closest opposition of August 2003 came and went without a third world war taking place.
Vingt-Trois will be eligible to participate in any future papal conclaves until he reaches the age of 80, on November 7, 2022.
Here is yet another prophecy concerning a French pontiff:
Abbot "Merlin" Joachim (d. 1202) ~
At the beginning, in order to obtain these happy results, having need of a powerful temporal assistance, this holy Pontiff will ask the cooperation of the generous monarch of France (Great Monarch). At that time a handsome monarch, a scion of King Pepin, will come as a pilgrim to witness the splendor of this glorious pontiff, whose name shall begin with R . . . A temporal throne becoming vacant, the Pope shall place on it this king whose assistance he shall ask.
This certainly appears to be about the pope who, in most prophecies, comes to power near or at the end of World War III along with "the Great Monarch" (whom Nostradamus names "Chiren" in the quatrains).
Then again, perhaps the "great Pontiff" comes to power before the great and terrible war begins and the "Great Monarch" (who is usually French) does not take action and defeat the enemies from "the East" until near the end of the war. Thus, speculation concerning the identity of this monarch will remain a subject of debate until this destined "first king" of Europe drives out the Eastern armies. However, if he is to be a descendent of Pepin the Short, he would have to be of Carolingian blood, long thought to be extinct.
Upon this issue of the "great Pontiff" many prophecies are in contradiction: some say the wartime pope flees Rome and dies in exile, there is no pope or only antipopes for a few years, and then another pope (the "great Pontiff") is elected and installed at the end of the world war; others say the wartime pontiff flees Rome, goes into temporary exile, and is restored to the Vatican when the war ends.
Which shall it be?
Benedict XVI, pontiff emeritus: Future German Antipope?
Benedict XVI may be retired and no longer a pope, but he is very much alive and can still function as an antipope.
There is a lengthy (too lengthy for this page) prophecy by Merlin that would suggest that the now retired Benedict XVI might come to be regarded as a "German Anti-Pope" after which another pope is restored as "true Pope" by the French monarch near the end of the war.
Merlin (6th century) ~
There will come a German Anti-Pope. Italy and Germany will be sorely troubled. A French King will restore the true Pope ...
In the meanwhile a powerful Prince out of the East shall provoke him to battle. Against whom the Lion shall march with all his forces and pitching his camp on this side (west) of the Euphrates, shall await him. If the Prince shall come over the river the Lion shall be overcome; but he (Lion) shall cross the river with his army and give his enemy a bloody defeat and be master of all the East.
Note that Merlin somewhat contradicts Joachim who says the Pope will select the great Monarch and restore him to the long vacant imperial throne of the Charlemagne empire. Here it is the monarch who restores the Pope. Also, in this instance, the pope from Germany is called an "Anti-Pope." Time will tell.
The Pope of the Crooked Cross
Although the following quatrain alone does not identify who "the great Pontiff" may be, it is important in setting the stage for one that does. Note that a time will come when the Pope has his own army. No pope has had a real army of his own since the 16th Century. And since this prophecy was never fulfilled during the 16th Century, during or after the death of Nostradamus, it must be futuristic.
By sea the red one will be captured by pirates,
The peace will be troubled by his policy:
The anger and greed will be revealed by a false act,
For the great Pontiff the army will be doubled.
Apparently the Cardinal Legate will be taken hostage at sea by terrorists ("pirates"), troubling a shaky peace. The Pope's private army will be doubled, indicating he already has had one for some period of time.
Through the party of Mars, the great Pontiff
Will subjugate the confines of the Danube:
The cross pursues with a crooked cross of iron,
Captives, gold, jewels, more than one hundred thousand rubies.
Again we see a new pope with a private army. During the latter stages of World War III, he will order a task force into lower Germany, Austria, and the former Yugoslavia to drive out what foreign forces still remain in these countries. War criminals will be pursued and captured, weapons confiscated, prisoners released from death camps, and valuables restored to the survivors.
Note that in line 3 the Pope is associated with the "crooked cross of iron": Nostradamus' description in other quatrains of the Nazi swastika. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was a member of the Hitler youth and served in the German army for two years before deserting to America. For this reason, I believe this quatrain, at least, and possibly Quatrain 5.44 above, may be about a German antipope, the now-retired Benedict XVI, and events yet to come in the near future.
The Name of the Rose
Nostradamus may be providing the pontiff with a double clue as to the time when he and his entourage may be gunned down by assassins.
"When blooms the rose" not only indicates the season of summer but the July 1 to August 31 period when the memory of Princess Diana, "England's Rose" is honored each year at Althorp, London, and the tunnel in Paris.
The Resurrection of the Rose
Nostradamus, Quatrain 4.24 ~
Heard beneath the holy earth the sacred voice of a woman, divine flame to shine for the human voice: It will cause
the sole ones their land to be stained with blood, and the holy temples of the impure ones destroyed.
Nostradamus seems to have prophesied the death of Princess Diana, her "temple" at Althorp, and her reappearance to the world as a miraculous apparition. Sacred ground, especially from Nostradamus' strict European Christian perspective, is usually burial ground: earth that has been consecrated by the Church or by a Christian ceremony made suitable for burial of the dead. Thus, the woman whose voice is discerned coming from the ground is dead. Therefore, what we are experiencing in this quatrain is a woman of tremendous importance, adored and loved in death as well as in life, returning to communicate a message to her worshippers and to the entire world. This final event has been presaged by a growing number of paranormal apparitions sighted in various parts of the world, including the UK, by large numbers of people and entire communities. Most recently Diana's ghost appeared quite clearly in a church in Scotland and was captured on camera, the video since going viral. This, however, was but a precursor of the event predicted by Nostradamus.
Diana's spirit appearance at Althorp, or before a multitude elsewhere, should occur after the founding of a new, false religion (ISIS?) and just prior to Iraq entering a huge regional conflict in the Middle East (the still ongoing war in Syria and parts of Iraq) just before World War III is triggered:
Nostradamus, Quatrain 9.74 ~
Within the city of Fersod (al-Sadr), homicide, again and again many oxen plow, not to slaughter,
a return again to the honours of Diana, and to Vulcan dead bodies to burn.
So very terrible will this war be that many hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of people will be delivered up as human sacrifices to Vulcan, the God of Fire. They will be soldiers and luckless civilians incinerated by terrible weapons, including nuclear weapons. Also, perhaps, their dead bodies will be collected and mass cremated. In one quatrain, Nostradamus links Babylon (Iraq) to "the infernal gods of Hannibal," and thusly to the worship of Ba'al Hammon who was honoured in Carthage by the taking of criminals, slaves, war prisoners, and other people unlucky to be captives and burning them alive at an altar before a statue shaped like a giant bull or ox. One such bull was made of bronze and hollow on the inside. The human sacrifice was shut up inside its belly and roasted alive, his or her screams sounding like the bellowing of a bull when issuing forth from the statue's metallic nostrils. Later, when the trap door of the bull's stomach was opened, the victims' bones tumbled out, glistening like well-polished jewels.
Fersod (change the "F" to an "L) = el-Sodr. Modernised, "el" becomes "al", thus el-Sodr becomes al-Sodr, which sounds like the actual spelling, al-Sadr. Sadr City is a southern suburban district of the city of Baghdad.
During the reign of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein it was called Saddam City. After the US invasion of Iraq ended in May 2003, the district was renamed Sadr City after the deceased Shi'a leader Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr. Muqtada al-Sadr, an Iraqi Shi'a mullah who leads the Mahdi Army (also spelled as Mehdi Army) in Iraq, is the son of the man the city was named after, and used Sadr City as a base of operations against US occupational forces between 2004 and 2007. If al-Sadr ever becomes leader of Iraq, which is possible, this would make Baghdad his city by namesake.
Muqtada al-Sadr may well be the "king of Babylon" prophesied by both Nostradamus and the Biblical prophet Jeremiah to appear in the latter days. Jeremiah warns that at the conclusion of the great war, Babylon (Iraq) will be utterly destroyed by many nations from beyond the Middle East, likely from Europe, as well as by the former Mede nations such as Georgia, Armenia, and Turkey. Afterwards, it will remain uninhabitable forever. Nostradamus specifically predicts the armies that are arrayed against "the King of Babylon" at the conclusion of World War III will be led by "the King of Europe" allied with those of Russia.
The huge regional conflict to occur in the Middle East will be ignited by a figure named Alus sanguinaire: "The bloody Alus." This is possibly Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (al-Us sad). Then again, it may be connected to the brutal regime and "caliphate" known as ISIS/ISIL or, as they prefer to be known, the Islamic State, and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Once again, I point to the coming visit by Pope Francis to Fatima, Portugal near the 100th anniversary of the Third Secret of Fatima on July 13, 2017 and the July 31, 2018 dating of Mars' second closest opposition in 60,000 years.
Angelina Jolie: The New Diana
This is actually rather shocking. But watching Pope Francis greet UN ambassador and actress Angelina Jolie in January 2015 gave me a sense of de ja vu ... when Pope John Paul II greeted Princess Diana. Note that both women are wearing black.
Could it be that instead of England's Rose we are witnessing the flourishing of the World's Rose in the person of Angelina Jolie?
It seems to me that if there is a danger to anyone other than the Pope in 2017 or 2018, it would have to be someone who comes in close to being another Princess Diana, and possibly one who is an actress. And there is only one person I can think of who fits that description:
Angelina Jolie warns ISIS using rape as weapon of war on unprecedented scale - September 9, 2015.
ISIS, thus far, has said nothing publically about Jolie's remarks or threatened her. But I fear that day may well come.
One can see that although Angelina Jolie is not royalty as was Princess Diana, she is a major global diplomat and humanitarian, something that Princess Diana also was. But while on the subject of royalty:
Angelina Jolie's meeting with Pope Francis came three months after she received an honorary Damehood from Queen Elizabeth II.
The Oscar-winning actress met the Queen in October 2014, and was presented with the Insignia of an Honorary Dame Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George at a reception at Buckingham Palace.
The monarch herself received Angelina, who starred as Lara Croft in Tomb Raider, Mr and Mrs Smith, and Changeling, and who was named by Forbes as Hollywood's highest-paid actress.
Angelina Jolie has been in Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt. Jolie also is to play the role of Cleopatra in an upcoming movie to be filmed in 2016 with a tentative projected release in 2017. Then again, the film may never get made. In any case, she has definite ties to Egypt. Husband Brad Pitt and Angelina have spent much time in that country since June 2012.
Thus, from a prophecy perspective, it is quite possible Angelina Jolie may outdo Princess Diana in stature. Because she has almost all the requirements to become "The Woman Clothed With the Sun": The Woman of Revelation 12:1-6.
And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
There is one problem.
Angelina Jolie had both ovaries and Fallopian tubes removed. For her to become pregnant would require a miracle. Yet, such miracles do happen and make major news when they do. Such a miracle child would without question have the attention of the entire planet.
I believe Revelation 12 is linked to the vision Jeane Dixon had in 1962 concerning the birth of a future messiah.
The wilderness mentioned in Revelation 12 simply means the places where there are desert sands and scant vegetation. Thus, the woman will be hidden in the desert for a period of 1,260 days: 42 months (3 1/2 years). Still, if Dixon's vision is related to Revelation 12, she will be murdered, stabbed in the back by an assailant.
Thus, if Angelina Jolie is the woman of Revelation 12, and the dragon in this case represents an antichrist system, possibly either the Sufyani (ISIS) or the Dajjal of Islamic prophecy, she will be attacked but escape in August/September 2018, only to be captured and killed 42 months later ... in February/March 2022.
Again, this is a big "if" that Angelina Jolie is the woman of Revelation 12. Still it is not something to be entirely dismissed. She is the closest we have come to someone like Princess Diana since the death of Diana. Remarkably so.
Kate Middleton: An English Rose By Any Other Name
On April 24, 2011, the time finally arrived for a substitute "England's Rose" ... a woman who would marry Diana's eldest son and pretender to the throne, Prince William. For that is what people are beginning to call the former Catherine Elizabeth Middleton (Kate Middleton), now Duchess of Cambridge. Like the late Princess Diana did when she was alive, Kate is also setting new fashion trends. She is the most popular female to marry into royalty since Diana ... many are counting on her to take Diana's place in their hearts. Will she be able to do this?
It is still much too early to tell if a link between England's new rose and the Pope has been established. Stay tuned.
Evidence that Nostradamus' Rose is a Person
As much as I dislike having to do this, my assertion that Nostradamus used "the Rose" to represent Princess Diana will hold no water unless I discuss a quatrain that seems to indicate that her death would be linked to a conspiracy. Only after Diana's death did I understand this prediction, because it had been many years since I had heard her called "England's Rose" -- for so very long she had been "Di," "Lady Di," "Princess Di," or simply "Diana" to her adoring fans and admirers.
Quatrain 5.96
Above the middle of the great world, the rose,
For new deeds blood publicly is shed:
To speak the truth they (French investigators) will have closed mouths,
Then, at a time of need, the awaited one will come late.
Diana was the most famous and glamorous woman in "the great world." If the second line does apply to her, she was killed because of "new deeds": possibly her affair with boyfriend Dodi al-Fayed. The French authorities have frustrated the international public which adored Diana by being tight-lipped about the investigation. It is doubtful they will ever "speak the truth," perhaps because French secret police were involved in the murder plot.
The last line remains a mystery, unless it refers to the tardy coronation of an aging Prince Charles. Then again, if the "awaited one" is a spiritual leader, it could refer to Pope Francis. It must be noted that Pope John Paul II's funeral was held exactly 7 years and 7 months after the funeral of Princess Diana. The election of Francis may be coded by "will come late" as the time between funerals.
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Mary and The Rosa Mystica
In a recent letter from a visitor to this web site I was enlightened on yet another connexion to the rose. The Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus, has also been called the Rosa Mystica (Mystical Rose) since her appearances in Montichiari, Italy in 1947 and 1968.
The writer states that she thinks "that the 'blooming of the rose' could very well be the acceptance of her many calls to Prayer, and Penance for the sake of World Peace. The number of Reported apparitions has skyrocketed in the last forty years or so and if a small percentage are real then this will truly be what even secular media have called The Age of Mary."
According to one web site dedicated to providing information on Mary as Rosa Mystica:
"Since antiquity the rose was considered a symbol of mystery. For early Christians the rose is a visual expression for paradise (Catacombs of Callixtus, 3rd century) but also for martyrdom (Cyprian, Ep. 10). The Marian interpretation of this symbol dates to the 5th century (Sedulius Caelius). He is probably the first to call Mary a 'rose among thorns' (Carmen paschale II, 28-31).
Frequent Marian references to rose and rosebush were made in medieval times with special reference to Isaiah 11,1 ('...a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse / and from his roots a bud shall blossom.').
Medieval authors had a second source for their use of mystical rose: the verse from Sir. 24, 14 ('like a palm tree in Engedi, like a rosebush in Jericho') which makes reference to God graced fertility and growth, again a reference to the mysterious generation of Christ from the womb of Mary.
It is based on these two traditions that the expression rosa mystica was coined by the author of the Litanies of Loreto, and subsequently used in hymns ('Es ist ein Ros...') and art (center of the labyrinth of Chartres)."
I have also uncovered something else of interest in my research. Another, more specific meaning may be found regarding the "blooming of the rose." Since Montichiari, some Catholics celebrate July 13 as the Day of Mary.
Therefore, if an actual month or season is being referenced by Nostradamus in association with someone named "the rose," in a strange way it might not matter whether we mean the Virgin Mary or Princess Diana. For Mary, the season is summer, specifically the month of July (and more specifically July 13). For Diana, the season is also summer, and July/August marks the Althorp season when her life is reflected upon -- from her birth on July 1 to her death on August 31.
If Rosa Mystica is the key to Quatrain 2.97, and the Day of Mary is the clue to the "blooming of the Rose," then Pope Benedict XVI or the one who follows him may be assassinated on a specific date: July 13, 2008 or July 13, 2009.
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Pope Benedict XVI in Prophecy
Pope Benedictus XVI Retires from Papacy on 28 February
The First Pope To Resign in Nearly 600 Years
Neither the Rose Prophecy nor the Third Secret of Fatima shall touch this pope.
However, because this may be a Triple Pope year, his successor might
have a very short reign and succumb to the most dire of prophecies.
Pope Benedict to resign at the end of the month, Vatican says
February 11, 2013
Rome (CNN) -- Pope Benedict XVI will resign on February 28, his spokesman Father Federico Lombardi told CNN Monday.
The 85-year-old pope is resigning "because of advanced age," Benedict told the cardinals of the Catholic Church on Monday.
"Strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me," the pope told the cardinals, according to the Vatican.
The last pope to resign was Gregory XII in 1415. He did so to end a civil war within the church in which more than one man claimed to be pope.
'I'm just a pilgrim,' Benedict XVI says in public farewell
March 1, 2013 � Rome (CNN) -- Benedict XVI's time as pope came to a historic end Thursday, as he became the first pontiff in six centuries to resign as leader of the world's Roman Catholics, who now number 1.2 billion. Torchlit crowds stood before the gates of the Castel Gandolfo residence, waiting to see the Swiss Guards, the soldiers who traditionally protect the pope, salute and close the doors on the stroke of 8 p.m.
The guards' departure from the papal summer home brings Benedict's papacy to a formal end. The protection of Benedict there falls now to Vatican police. The process of transition to that new pope now begins. Meanwhile, the Catholic Church is without a leader. Benedict, who will now be known as "pontiff emeritus," will spend the next few weeks at the peaceful, hilltop Castel Gandolfo residence before moving to a small monastery on Vatican grounds.
"I am no longer the pope but I am still in the church. I'm just a pilgrim who is starting the last part of his pilgrimage on this earth. I would still -- with my heart, with my love, with my prayers, with my reflection, and with all my inner strength -- like to work for the common good and the good of the church and of humanity. I feel very supported by your kindness. Let us go forward with the Lord for good of the church and the world. Thank you."
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN (2/13/13), UPDATED (3/1/13): Before continuing, I believe the timing of Benedict's resignation proves I am correct about Malachy's list of mottos of future popes being misinterpreted and misapplied. It is now clear the following nine antipopes should not have been included in the list: Victor IV (1159-1164), Paschal III (1164-1168), Callistus III (1168-1178), Nicholas V (1328-1330), Clement VII (1378-1394), Benedict XIII (1394-1423), Alexander V (1409-1410), John XXIII (1410-1415), and Felix V (1440-1449).
As has been a matter of record for the last eight years on this page, I do not believe Pope Benedict XVI was 'Gloria Olivae' but rather 'Lumen in C�lo' ('Light in the Sky'). Two distinct naked eye comets appeared during his reign: Comet McNaught (2007), a major and historic comet that could even be seen during daytime, and the easy to find Comet Holmes (also in 2007) visible every night, all night, for over a month in the northern hemisphere constellation of Perseus.
In addition, Comet PanSTARRS, now delighting southern hemisphere viewers, shall become even brighter in the evening sky in the northern hemisphere beginning on March 7.
The comet just reached the threshold of naked eye visibility as a morning object on February 11 ... the same day Pope Benedict announced to the world his decision to resign the papacy. PanSTARRS shall be bright throughout the entire month of March, and especially bright March 12 and 13, near to when a conclave will begin the process to elect a new pope by Easter, March 31.
Pope Benedict XVI, Benedictus, pontiff emeritus, 'Lumen in C�lo'
Thus, it appears that a major comet has marked Pope Benedict XVI's resignation announcement, and has brightened considerably in time to attend his actual resignation and the entire month to follow during which there shall be no pope. However, until the next pope is elected, in the meantime the "light in heaven" will grow brighter whilst Benedict XVI remains pontiff emeritus. Truly, if any pope deserved the motto Lumen in C�lo, is it not Benedict XVI?
And, if this is not enough ... as further proof that Pope Benedict XVI is 'Lumen in C�lo', two other notable lights in the heaven were seen while Benedict was still officially pope. One of these also occurred on the day he announced his resignation, the other on 15 February:
VOXXI,
February 15, 2013
Just hours after Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation Feb. 11, lightning struck the top of the St. Peters Basilica at the Vatican.
Is it the end of the world as we know it? It has been a busy weekPope Benedict XVI quit the papacy, the first time it has been done in about 600 years.
Then this morning, the country woke up to news of a bus-sized meteor striking Earth and unleashing as much power as an atomic bomb.
Plus, many have seen that picture of lightning striking St. Peters Basilica taken earlier this week, shortly after the pope made his announcement.
There may be more to Benedict's resignation than his concerns about his age or possible health problems. Lest we forget, exactly one year ago the following warning was released to the public:
We might even regard the arrival of Comet PanSTARRS along with the lightning striking the basilica of St. Peter's dome as Benedict's 'Light in the Sky' and the meteorite exploding over Chelyabinsk, Russia as a sign of the coming 'Burning Fire.' We might say all three of these are portents associated with the transfer of power over the period from Benedict to Francis, demonstrating characteristics of both.
Pope Benedict XVI: "Gloria Olivae" Was Clearly a Forced Malachy Motto
It had long been whispered in the Vatican halls that a Benedictine would lead when all the nations of Christendom would come to be in grave peril from the enemies gathering in the East. The author of this folly was a 12th Century monk named St Malachy who conferred upon the 111th pope on his list the motto of Gloria Olivae, which translated means "the Glory of the Olive."
The order St Benedict founded, the Benedictines, is also known as the "Olivetans." Clearly, someone in the Vatican went to a lot of trouble to force the prophecy of Malachy to come true. Being a Benedictine is one thing, but electing a pope to take on the name of Benedict would make it appear that the prophecy had been sealed.
This, after the shortest election conclave in Vatican history, leaves little room for doubt that this rite of passage was all planned out in advance.
The choice of Benedict almost guaranteed that a world war was looming on the horizon.
Why? The last Benedict, Benedict XV, became pope in 1914 just before World War I broke out. He spent the next four years trying to get the warring nations of Europe to mend their differences and end the most calamitous conflict in world history up to that time.
So, this tells us several things. The Vatican believed at the time of Benedict's election, and still believes, that World War III is right around the corner. They wanted a pope in power who could live up to the name given by Malachy: "Glory of the Olive" -- a name which also signifies the role of the peacemaker (to this day "offering an olive branch" is a gesture of peace). Thus, they hoped Pope Benedict XVI would be instrumental in bringing a quick end to the coming world war, preventing it from happening, or leading all of Christendom in the coming great conflict of good against evil where the West and Christianity will emerge victorious.
And let us not forget that Benedict still lives ... as a retired pope. Should anything happen to Pope Francis, should he be assassinated by warlike forces, Benedict could be pulled out of retirement in an effort to make the peace.
It is even possible that by retiring, rather than dying, Benedict's motto of Gloria Olivae has been passed on to Pope Francis. Think of it as Benedict being Gloria Olivae Part One and Francis as Gloria Olivae Part Two. If this is what has happened, Petrus Romanus may still be in the future: the next pope to be elected.
His Legacy
At first alienating the Islamic world with 14th Century maledictions; afterwards he bowed to Mecca from what was once Constantinople, stood amid the ruins atop Mount Nebo to view the Holy Land where Moses once stood, and appealed for reconciliation between Jews and Muslims from a podium in Amman. He was also the first pope to enter the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem's Old City and the first pope to pray at the Western Wall.
He was the first pope to visit Great Britain in 30 years, and his was the first state visit by a pope since the 16th century when King Henry VIII broke from Rome. To that end, he won the admiration of the Archbishop of Canterbury who joined with him in calls for a marriage between The Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church. Indeed, if any pope ever came close to establishing a unified Christian Church, it may well have been Pope Benedict XVI.
Also, Pope Benedict XVI was the first Pope to have presided over the Beatification of his predecessor in over 1,000 years of Church history and the first retired Pope ever to assist the reigning Pope, Francis, in a ceremony to bestow sainthood on two former popes: Saint John Paul II and Saint John XXIII.
If he is to be called upon to be pope once again should Francis die, then the legacy of Benedict XVI is not yet complete.
Pope John Paul II in Prophecy
The passing of Pope John Paul the Great, the third-longest living pope in all of Vatican history, the period of mourning, the grand public funeral, and the historic election of Pope Benedict XVI, was the only major news story during the month of April 2005.
One can easily recognise the career of John Paul II in the following quatrain:
Because of the passing of the very old Pontiff,
Will be elected to Rome one of good age.
He will be accused of weakening the Holy See,
And long will he hold to it with stinging effort.
Lest we forget, because of the natural death of the elderly Pope Paul VI (and the short one-month reign of Pope John Paul I, not mentioned in this quatrain), a pope of "good age" -- 58-year-old Polish Cardinal Karol Wojtyla -- was elected. The new pope, taking the name John Paul II, was youthful and vigorous when he first came to the sacred office in October 1978, a former sportsman, mountain climber and football player, and an active skier and swimmer.
He was (and is) a very controversial pope whose ideas were and are not always popular in the Vatican. To some he had been seen to have failed in reforming the Catholic Church itself, maintaining extremely controversial policies on contraception and homosexuality until quite recently, whilst failing to arrest a decline in congregations (again, until quite recently). This is likely what Nostradamus means by his being "accused of weakening the Holy See." On the other hand, the Pope has always been consistently and universally praised for attempting to build greater understanding between Judaism, Islam and Christianity, visiting more countries than any previous pope, and promoting non-violent revolution against oppressive regimes, especially communism.
The last line is painfully obvious: John Paul II has held the papacy the third longest of all popes in history, with "stinging effort" indicating the assassination attempt on his life in 1981 by Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca, an attempted stabbing by a bayonet-wielding Spanish priest in 1982, and his continuing endurance whilst suffering from the ravages of arthritis and Parkinson's disease.
This quatrain does not speak of death at all -- but of a long life!
POPE JOHN PAUL II DIES AT AGE 84 --- WORLD MOURNS
It would appear that the following Nostradamus prophecy below also applied to the late Pope John Paul the Great. Even so, there are certain specifics in the quatrain that have yet to play out. So only Time will tell for certain.
The Pope was indeed "dispersed" in the night, just as I maintained he would be:
It will appear towards Ursa Minor,
Not far from Cancer, the bearded star:
Susa [NW Italy], Siena [central Italy], Boetia [SE Greece], Eretria [E. Greece],
The great one of Rome will die, the night dispersed.
Lines 1 and 2 inform us there will be a comet that will begin or end as a circumpolar object when the Pope dies. Such a comet did arrive this year and ended up, at low naked eye visibility, in Ursa Minor. It remains there still; however, it has faded to a binocular, small telescopic object. Comet Machholz first became visible in the southeast in December 2004 and brightened to magnitude 3 when it crossed near Castor and Pollux and the Pleiades in January 2005. For those who enjoy dark skies very far away from city lights (10 to 50 miles away depending on the size of the city), Machholz appeared like smaller version of the greenish-blue comet Hyakutake that appeared spectacular even to city dwellers back in March 1996.
If Machholz is the comet of prophecy, it makes all the more sense that this was the time for the Pope to succumb to catastrophic illness and old age.
What will be happening in Italy and Greece is not altogether clear.
Greece will likely become a part of a major Balkan conflict prophesied by a living Austrian prophet from Kremms, the Seer of Waldviertel, and also prophesied by Nostradamus. This Balkans conflict is to occur during a terrible war in the Middle East. As for Italy, civil war or revolution in that country is also prophesied to begin shortly after.
Then again, the references to Greece and Italy could relate to a rash of deadly earthquakes or escalating acts of terrorism by Al Qaeda and other groups in both countries. Nostradamus specifically predicts unprecedented terrorism for Italy from those who once worshipped the ancient gods of Hannibal (Tunisia and Libya) and from the direction of Babel (Iraq) before the coming of a great and terrible world war.
What else could be meant by "the night dispersed" besides the time of day when the Pope would die? It could mean a dispersal of "night" worldwide by extraordinary means.
Perhaps, unknown to us, "Planet X" is finally closing in on Earth. Earthquake and volcanic activity has been increasingly violent and almost unprecedented. It is now said that the ancient super-volcano Toba will reawaken and erupt in the Pacific, unleashing enough fire to burn away 30% or more of the planet's forests and grasslands in a rain of super-heated plasma and produce enough ash to plunge the world into a "nuclear winter." Ever larger meteor sightings and collisions are also on the increase, suggesting we may be entering a debris field or "tail" belonging to this celestial body. Therefore, the "it" that "appears towards Ursa Minor, the Tropic of Cancer, and the bearded star (Comet Machholz)" may be the brown dwarf star of myth and antiquity, Nibiru, also regarded by many to be the Wormwood of Revelation.
As I have mentioned before elsewhere, if we are to be visited by such a nightmare as ancient Nibiru, the prophet Mother Shipton warns we will be thrashed by the "dragon's tail" twice. The red dragon star's first passage, an inbound one, will be the least destructive of the two according to Mother Shipton. The outbound passage, almost forty years later, will wipe out at least 5/6 of humanity, reducing the global population to "such a tiny band."
Then again "the night dispersed" could be a poetic way of saying that the papal policies of the Pope's long career will be dispersed on the night of his death. This would then suggest that his successor will be a quite different person who will change many of the Vatican's positions on various social and international issues.
Pope John Paul II: "De Labore Solis" or "De Medietate Lunae?"
According to the 12th Century prophet St Malachy there are only two more popes to follow Pope John Paul II: "Glory of the Olive" (supposedly the newly-elected pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI) and lastly, "Peter the Roman." The now-deceased John Paul II was supposed to have the motto: "De Labore Solis" or "Labour of the Sun." Many prophecy commentators thought that meant John Paul would undergo many tribulations during the late 20th Century, also called the Century of the Sun in astrology. Otherwise, the motto was a mystery and Malachy's predictions potentially unreliable.
As if to prove the motto was correct, there was a partial eclipse of the sun in southern Europe during the funeral on Friday, April 8, 2005. And there is more evidence suggesting John Paul the Great was "Labour of the Sun" according to the following article from NewsMax:
Prophecy on Pope Fulfilled by Eclipses?
NewsMax.com
Wednesday, April 6, 2005 3:55 p.m. EDT
A 10th Century Irish bishop - St. Malachy - predicted every pope that would preside over the Catholic Church. Almost ten centuries ago, Malachy predicted this pope would be noted by an eclipse of the sun.
In an eerie coincidence, John Paul II was the only known pope to be born on the day of a solar eclipse.
But the prophetic link doesn't end there. Pope John Paul II will be buried this Friday during another solar eclipse.
Astronomers say that on Friday, the day of the Pope's funeral, a partial solar eclipse will blot out most of the sun and darken a wide area of the world, from the South Pacific to the Western Hemisphere.
Solar eclipses are not unusual. But what makes this coming Friday's eclipse notable is the fact that there was a near total eclipse of the sun seen across Europe on May 18, 1920, the very day that John Paul II was born in Poland.
Adding fuel to the arcane speculation about these events is the prophecy of St. Malachy. Malachy was discovered to have left behind a prophetic list of all future popes beginning with Pope Celestine II, whose papacy began in 1143 A.D., up to and including the 112th. The list includes John Paul and just two more popes who will follow him.
In his list of popes, he uses a single line in Latin identifying a characteristic of each pope.
The description applied to the 110th pope on his list - John Paul II - is "De Labore Solis" (Of the Solar Eclipse), which seems to add great weight to the validity of St. Malachys chilling prophecy: that the next two popes chosen to succeed John Paul II will be the last popes.
After the reign of the last pope, "Peter the Roman," St. Malachy wrote, Rome will be destroyed.
As NewsMax.com reported April 3, Saint's Prophecy: Only Two Popes Remain, the 112th prophecy says, "In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church, there will reign Petrus Romanus (Peter the Roman), who will feed his flock amid many tribulations; after which the seven-hilled city [Rome] will be destroyed and the dreadful Judge will judge the people," an indication that the world will end.
Not mentioned in the above article is the legend of the 111th pope -- "Glory of the Olive."
Still, a few thoughts have occurred to me regarding Malachy. Did he count the antipopes as popes? Probably not (which means Benedict XVI is the 101st pope after Celestine II, not the 111th).
Also, regarding De Medietate Lunae which was supposedly applied to the extremely short-lived Pope John Paul the First. 33 days is an awfully short period of time. Is it possible Malachy overlooked John Paul I but saw only John Paul II? After all, "John Paul" was a most unusual name. If so, then that would make "Of the Half Moon" John Paul II's motto and not "Labour of the Sun."
It would apply very well to Pope John Paul the Great. Here is why: both the half moon and crescent moon are symbols of Islam. John Paul II was the first pope to visit the Muslim and Arab nations and open up friendly relations between them and the Vatican. Of course, the Jubilee Year was the zenith year of this embrace of Islamic nations by John Paul II (who also greeted Iranian President Mohammad Khatami and Iraqi Prime Minister Tariq Aziz at the Vatican and condemned the then-pending US war in Iraq).
The Sun Pope and the Moon Princess
Another matter regarding the moon is a linkage between the late Princess Diana (Diana, Goddess of the Moon) to the Pope.
It is well-known that the Roman goddess, Diana (Artemis in the Greek pantheon), was the goddess of the Moon. Thus, Princess Diana, because of this namesake, is also associated with the moon. Indeed, Nostradamus makes much of this in a few of his prophecies.
Her star and his star rose together, nearly side-by-side. She died in Paris at the zenith of her popularity in August 1997 -- shortly after John Paul visited Paris himself. Not long after her death, John Paul II, almost by default, found his health and his powers moving steadily in decline, then accelerating downhill after 2000.
John Paul II's funeral was held exactly 7 years and 7 months after the funeral of Princess Diana!
Yet another good reason for John Paul II to be given the motto "Of the Half Moon."
So, if this is true, then there are still two popes remaining after the current one, Benedict XVI, who would then be Labour of the Sun and not Glory of the Olives.
Of course, if the 10 antipopes were not counted by Malachy (and I doubt they were), this would have made John Paul II the 100th pope after Celestine II, rather than the 110th. Thus, he would have had whatever motto was applied to Pope Gregory XVI (1831-1846).
Still, Pope John Paul II could yet be associated with the sun metaphorically, as a complement to Diana's moon.
Christianity is often associated through symbolism with the sun. Apollo was the Roman sun god and the son of Jupiter. He overthrew his Jovian father (Paganism) and spawned the modern age of Man (Christendom).
However, the late poet and author Robert Graves argues in his book, The White Goddess, that Apollo is synonymous with the age of science, a sterile god who, by usurping the pantheon of the Gods and their one King, has destroyed man's natural association with the supernatural. Thus "divine" intervention is required (the Muse according to Graves, or from a Christian perspective, an angel, the Virgin Mary, etc).
Pope John Paul II was the first pope to make his working devotion to the "woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet." To some this is Mary; to others it is a woman persecuted by the forces of Satan who is about to give birth to a man-child to reign as the "Son of Man."
This woman could have been Princess Diana; and is likely to be still another woman in the future who will succeed in delivering this long-awaited child.
Thus, the pontificate of John Paul II seems to have been symbolised by both sun and moon.
The Original Mission of This Web Page: How Pope John Paul the Great Narrowly Escaped Being the Slain Pontiff of Quatrain 2.97
On October 16, 1998, it was reported that Pope John Paul II was planning to visit Iraq ("the land between two rivers") in the summer of 1999.
The original version of this web page was created in the early spring of 1999 to warn that such a trip might prove dangerous to the Pope and those close to him. In July 1999 it was revealed that he hoped to make a pilgrimage to the ancient city of Ur, the birthplace of Abraham, and meet with Saddam Hussein in Baghdad. That visit was postponed until December 1999 and then re-scheduled for January 2000.
Thankfully, on December 10, 1999, it was announced that the trip had been canceled.
Again, during the Jubilee Year, the Pope expressed a desire to visit Baghdad and the ancient city of Ur, and again what might have been a May 2001 trip was canceled.
I am convinced that the Pope narrowly escaped what would have been a likely assassination attempt, probably at the behest of Osama bin Laden, had any of the planned trips to Iraq moved forward in 1999, 2000, 2001, or 2003. It is very strange that so many attempted trips to Iraq were cancelled -- in one instance at the request of the United States government.
Were he alive to visit Iraq now, it would be incredibly dangerous -- dangerous beyond belief. Needless to say, Pope Benedict XVI must also refrain from visiting such a perilous place.
A Base 7 Prediction Fulfilled
I believe that history repeats itself (more or less) at intervals of seven years and MULTIPLES of seven years. I call this mathematically-based theory "base 7 numerology" (although it is not true numerology, but a mathematically-contrived system).
The key to the future, in other words, lies in the past. History truly does repeat itself, yet not always exactly.
I use real historical events, their months and years, as the index or precedent(s) for the projected future event. I also use real prophecy and close observation of current events to calculate what direction we are heading. I find that to the year I am usually between 71% and 91% successful with my predictions.
In the appendix of my book, Nostradamus and the Final Age, I indicated that Pope John Paul II might be in danger during the base 7 vector of June/July 1998. On May 4, 1998, three days after I mailed my manuscript out to Llewellyn Worldwide, Alois Estermann, the second-in-command of the Pope's Swiss Guards, was slain by a disgruntled non-commissioned officer. Estermann's wife, Gladys Romero, was also shot to death by Cedrich Tornay who afterwards turned the murder weapon on himself. All three died; blood flowing from their mouths. It was the worst tragedy to befall the Swiss Guards in over five hundred years.
Then on August 29, 1999 -- once again during the season of the rose -- another death plagued the Vatican. The suicide of a worshipper who managed to smuggle a gun into St. Peter's Basilica raised security concerns for the Church and Vatican City four months before the start of the Holy Year. The suicide claimed to be both Christ and Michelangelo.
Benedetto Minnini of the port city of Bari, shot himself in the mouth on the afternoon of August 24 while the basilica was crowded with tourists. A woman videotaping inside happened to catch the suicide on tape, and apparently was the first to alert authorities. Blood flowed from yet another mouth for the second year in a row -- and during a predicted August-October 1999 vector.
One must remember Nostradamus' warning to the Pope: blood will not only flow from his mouth, but from those close to him ("both you and yours"). That is why the main focus of Quatrain 2.97 remains unfulfilled, despite commentators who insist that it is to be applied to Pius VI who died of acute enteritis at Valence in 1799. Pius did not "approach" the city (implying an act of volition), which is indeed watered by two rivers -- he was captured and taken prisoner there. Yes, it was reported that he vomited blood; however, no one in the pope's company died in a similar fashion. Indeed, the pope died alone.
Using my base 7 system yet again, I warned that Pope John Paul might be in danger were he to travel abroad in May 2002, twenty-one (3 x 7) years after the assassination attempt that seriously wounded him.
Here is what happened in May 2002:
Bulgaria on alert for pope's visit -- Security scare as man rushes pope
May 23, 2002 Posted: 2:48 PM EDT (1848 GMT)
SOFIA, Bulgaria (CNN) -- Ailing Pope John Paul II has arrived in Bulgaria for his first papal visit to the country, where all its 27,000 police have been put on duty or standby. It is hoped his four-day visit will heal wounds with the former communist country which was once implicated in the 1981 assassination attempt against the pontiff. The trip is also aimed at bringing a reconciliation of Christianity's eastern and western churches.
The pope praised Christians in largely Orthodox Bulgaria for their resistance to communist-era oppression. The 82-year-old pope, who has looked ever more frail recently, had the strength to make impromptu remarks in Italian after his official speech, thanking Bulgarians for his welcome joking: "The pope is an old man and that's why he is sitting down," while he gestured to Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov, who stood by his side during the arrival ceremony.
He urged Bulgaria to retain Christian values as it undertakes difficult social reforms in the push to convert the still deeply poor ex-communist state to a market economy, Reuters news agency reported. He also remembered the victims of east Europe's authoritarian regimes. "Even during the long winter of the totalitarian system, which brought suffering to your country... numberless children of this people remained heroically faithful to Christ, in not a few cases to the point of sacrificing their lives," the pope said. The hard-line communists who ruled Bulgaria from World War Two to 1989 repressed both majority Orthodox Christians, around 80 percent of the 8 million population, and the 80,000 Roman Catholic minority in the name of atheism.
On arrival in Sofia, the pope was carried down the steps of the plane on a lift and his usual ritual of kissing the tarmac on disembarkation was substituted for his blessing a pot of soil lifted to his lips. He was then ferried to the airport terminal on an electric platform. The tour is likely to be a strain on an ailing pope who has been forced to jettison some of his traditional rituals during the two-country tour of Azerbaijan and Bulgaria.
During the first-stage in Azerbaijan, the pope escaped a security alert when a shouting man on crutches rushed towards the altar where the pope was presiding over mass.
Security officials told journalists the man said he wanted to have his picture taken with the pontiff. The situation resolved itself and the man later received a blessing from the pope. The pope survived an assassination attempt 20 years ago in Rome for which three Bulgarians were tried for suspected complicity in the shooting by a Turk but cleared by the Italian court through lack of evidence.
Pope John Paul has said he has "never ceased" to love the Bulgarian people. Foreign Minister Solomon Pasi is quoted by The Associated Press as calling the visit "a blessing," adding: "This visit will wipe out the undeserved taint Bulgaria has carried for the past 20 years."
Helicopters made low sweeps over the capital and army snipers took up positions around the airport as the pope arrived at about 6 p.m. local time on Thursday.
The pontiff, who first visited an Orthodox country in 1999 when he travelled to Romania, is likely to use his Bulgarian trip to renew his call for a reunification of Christianity's eastern and western Churches, which split in 1054.
He is scheduled to visit an Orthodox monastery near the southern town of Rila and hold an outdoor mass in the southeast in Plovdiv, Bulgaria's second-largest city.
As well as meeting Patriarch Maxim on Friday, the pope will also meet leaders of the one million Bulgarian Muslims and the country's tiny Jewish community, which numbers between 7,000 and 8,000, some of whom worship at the world's largest Sephardic synagogue in Sofia.
He also plans to beatify three Roman Catholic priests who were executed in 1952 after being convicted of spying by the then communist regime.
The pope arrived in Bulgaria from the Azerbaijani capital of Baku after a two-day trip during which he gave mass for all 120 of the country's registered Roman Catholics -- mostly expatriates.
And again, only five days after the end of May:
Pope caught in Vatican bomb scare
June 5, 2002
VATICAN (CNN) -- Pope John Paul II has been caught up in a bomb alert after a man threatened to blow himself up at the Vatican.
The man, who is believed to be mentally unstable, was reported to have phoned a local television station warning that he was about to carry out a bombing at St Peter's Square on Wednesday. The 45-year-old Italian was arrested carrying a hoax bomb -- empty tubes with dangling wires -- after shouting accusations against local politicians, Reuters news agency quoted police as saying.
The pope was holding his weekly general audience at the time, but it is not known how close he was to the incident.
The suspect, who police say has a history of psychological problems, was believed to have been protesting at corruption in his native southern Italy.
He had told the TV station that he was about to blow himself up outside the Vatican post offices in the square, but in fact he made his way to another part where pilgrims were queuing. The man was screaming out that he wanted to meet journalists and magistrates to talk about the alleged corruption.
Police sealed off the area and temporarily stopped the flow of pilgrims into the square before preparations were resumed for the audience.
Back in 2003, I indicated that I believed John Paul II might hold on and finally succumb of natural causes sometime in August-October 2006 -- an important base 7 numerological anniversary (4 x 7) of the deaths of Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul I, and Pope John Paul II's ascension to the Holy See during the same period of 1978.
However, around March 23, 2005, I realised that I had overlooked posting another vector -- one which had disturbing implications -- that indicated the Pope would instead succumb to natural causes around June/July 2005 on the 42nd (6 x 7) anniversary of Pope John XXIII's death on June 30, 1963. This vector was quickly posted to this page on March 24, 2005 and then to the 2005 (Part Two) page on March 31.
This, as it turns out, was the correct vector and only off by two months and twenty-eight days.
Bear in mind that when this June/July 2005 vector was posted on this page on March 24, Vatican officials were playing down concerns about Pope John Paul II's health. The pontiff made a silent and brief appearance from his apartment window overlooking St. Peter's Square that same day, as he had the previous day, silently blessing the faithful gathered below.
So, despite his recent ill health, there was absolutely no reason to suspect with any certainty that the Pope would be dead within the space of nine days due to a sudden onset of sepsis caused by an undiagnosed urinary tract infection.
This is why it was a PREDICTION FULFILLED and without a doubt a base 7 link to 1963 and the death of Pope John XXIII.
The Pope and the President
According to the base 7 system, this year is also the year that President Bush is in greatest danger of falling victim to the Shawnee Curse (also known as the curse of Chief Tecumseh). Therefore 2005 may be very similar to 1963 when Pope John XXIII and President John F Kennedy died four months and twenty-two days apart.
President John F. Kennedy (1961-1963)
Pope John Paul II (1978-2005)
President George W. Bush (2001-2005?)
An interesting link between John Paul II and John XXIII has been discussed on CNN:
It has been reported that John XXIII's body was in excellent condition when it was exhumed from the cramped grotto under the basilica in 2001 -- 38 years after his death -- and moved to the main floor following his beatification. I have seen recent photos of the body, and can confirm that there were absolutely no signs of decay. John XXIII looks today as he did when he died in June 1963.
John Paul II, who expressed a will to be buried underground, was buried in John XXIII's vacant tomb.
In addition, his name was changed to Pope John Paul the Great and it is quite likely that one day, like John XXIII, he too shall be made a saint.
Now that the most popular pope since John XXIII has died, President George W. Bush will be in extremely grave and mortal danger of death in what is also the 42nd anniversary of John F Kennedy's assassination in 1963.
Bush recently crossed the latest dates any president subject to the Tecumseh Curse has survived to: April 12 (FDR) and April 14 (Lincoln) of a year ending in 5.
Having survived this, he may find himself in positive peril of losing his life four months and twenty-two days after the death of Pope John Paul II: around August 24, 2005. Then comes the actual 42nd anniversary of Kennedy's assassination on November 22, 2005. Of course, I would not expect the specific dates to be the ones to worry about, which is why I project by the month or window of months and year and not by the day, month, and year. The base 7 system is rarely exact to the very day.
For more on Bush and the Tecumseh curse, see Signature of Death for US President in 2005 .
MAJOR PAGE REVISION COMPLETED: June 28, 2016 (5:33 PM EDT)
Most Recent Update: June 28, 2016 (5:33 PM EDT)
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Pope Francis and the Rose Prophecy
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Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum. Habemus Papam!
Qui sibi nomen imposuit: Franciscum, 'Ingis ardens'
Nostradamus, Quatrain 2.97 ~
Romain Pontife garde de t'approcher,
De la cit� que deux fleuves arrouse,
Ton sang viendras aupres de l� cracher,
Toi & les tiens quand fleurira la Rose.
Roman Pontiff beware of approaching,
The city that two rivers arrouse,
Your blood will come from the spitting,
You and yours when the Rose will flourish.
The Third Secret of Fatima (excerpt) ~
And we saw in an immense light ... a Bishop dressed in White. We had the impression that it was the Holy Father. Other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious going up a steep mountain, at the top of which there was a big Cross of rough-hewn trunks as of a cork-tree with the bark; before reaching there the Holy Father passed through a big city half in ruins and half trembling with halting step, afflicted with pain and sorrow, he prayed for the souls of the corpses he met on his way; having reached the top of the mountain, on his knees at the foot of the big Cross he was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him, and in the same way there died one after another the other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious, and various lay people of different ranks and positions.
Updated: June 28, 2016 (5:33 PM EDT).
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: A page of this type can no longer stand alone without creating great confusion. As time has passed it has doubtlessly become more difficult to distinguish the established prophecies concerning the office of the Pope and the future of the Vatican on the one hand, and news events regarding the current Pope and how they may or may not be applied to these established prophecies on the other. Because of this, there have been instances where the same material has had to appear on this page twice.
There should be TWO pages, in other words.
This page should deal with the BACKGROUND of established papal prophecies and the background of the current pope (in this case Pope Francis). This information will never change unless the current pope dies or retires and another pope is elected.
The second page should deal with events like controversial statements made by the Pope or upcoming papal visits wherever they can be applied to prophecy.
We will call this second page Pope Francis and the Rose Prophecy: The Current View .
Henceforth, you will see a link section at this location, with a brief summary of the news to be discussed. You will click on it to get to Pope Francis and the Rose Prophecy: The Current View where the news event(s) will be discussed in greater detail in prophetic analysis. If there is anything in discussion that is not easily understood, refer back to the background information on this page.
Bear with me, some fine tuning will still need to be done.
Nostradamus, Quatrain 2.97: The Prophecy of the City Between Two Rivers and The Rose
Should Pope Francis, or any future pope, choose to venture into the Mesopotamian "land between two rivers," then I must revert to the original premise of this page when it was created in May 1999 to warn the late Pope John Paul II of possible assassination if he visited Iraq. At that time, my website was located at the now long gone web host known as GeoCities.
Over the last few years, militants loyal to their "emir," Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, have been massacring Iraqi and Syrian Christians by the many thousands, subjecting them, along with Zoroastrians and Muslims not willing to follow Sharia law, to beheadings, garrotings, mass shootings, and being burned alive in metal cages; subjecting them to the mass abductions of their wives and fianc�es; subjecting their unmarried women and girls into forced marriages with the jihadists or else being raped and murdered; and subjecting their children to mass beheadings or being dashed to pieces. They are known under the anacronyms of ISIS and ISIL, calling the territories they have raped, pillaged, ruined, and taken control of by force as a caliphate known as the Islamic State (IS).
Over the last two years, their caliph, a once obscure terrorist leader, has become a potential antichrist ... and if not a candidate for the beast of Revelation 13, still quite possibly a fulfillment of one of the other dark figures found in both Biblical and Islamic prophecy who will precede him.
How many Christians will die before Francis will feel OBLIGATED to visit Iraq or Syria and bless the bodies of the slain Christian martyrs is unknown. It may well fall to a successor to carry out such a mission. The prophetic implications of a papal visit to any part of Iraq or Syria are potentially dreadful.
Nostradamus was preoccupied ... obsessed even ... with a land that is famous for its two rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, at least two infamous tyrants that would rule over it, several military campaigns, and one horrific conflict involving Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Iran, and what appears to be the United States. This conflict may well be the ongoing Syrian Civil War which, despite a ceasefire agreement hammered out by Russia and the United States, shows every evidence that it is continuing. In a final battle, an adversary called the bloody Alus is killed or seriously wounded, the country responsible suffers major casualties, and a "black and angry one" ultimately takes control of the region. There is evidence that some factions fighting this war will be allied with a powerful country ruled by a female leader.
Before any of that happens, there is a prophecy relating to a visiting pope: one who travels to a city watered by two rivers. Nostradamus has identified the "land between two rivers" in certain other quatrains as "Mesopotamia" ... thus Iraq or Syria. I cannot shake the belief that Quatrain 2.97 was one of a group of quatrains dealing with near future events in either country.
Nostradamus, Quatrain 2.97 ~
Romain Pontife garde de t'approcher,
De la cit� que deux fleuves arrouse,
Ton sang viendras aupres de l� cracher,
Toi & les tiens quand fleurira la Rose.
Roman Pontiff beware of your approaching,
The city where two rivers arrouse,
Your blood will come from the spitting,
You and yours when the Rose will flourish.
Quatrain 2.97 suggests an anti-Christian leader, who at this time would most likely be Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the proclaimed caliph of the Islamic State (IS), will order the Pope and everyone in his entourage to be gunned down during a visit to a river port city in Iraq or possibly in Syria. According to Nostradamus they will bleed from the mouth due to internal hemorrhaging. The prophecy also states that the deadly visit will be scheduled to take place "when the Rose will flourish." Roses can bloom anytime between mid-May and throughout September, although the big flush for Old European roses, the kind Nostradamus would have been most familiar with, is usually in June. An alternative meaning of "the Rose" will be explored further below.
I tell you, if the mass slaughter and rape of innocents does not end, the Pope will be forced to go to that terrible place. And then the odds increase terribly that he and everyone who accompanies him will fall victim not only to the warning of the bloodshed in Quatrain 2.97, but possibly to the Third Secret of Fatima prophecy concerning a "Bishop dressed in White" who enters a large city half-destroyed, prays over the corpses lying on the city streets, and is assassinated along with his clergy as they seek to ascend a holy mountain with a rugged cross at its summit.
The Third Secret of Fatima Prophecy
It remains clear as ever that the above prophetic verse, Quatrain 2.97, inked by Michel de Notredame in 1554, does have some characteristics that are similar to what was revealed concerning the prophecy revealed in the Third Secret of Fatima as to possibly be another facet of the vision. Then again, there are striking differences.
In any event, there is now no question that the vision contained in the Third Secret of Fatima was not fulfilled with the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II in 1981 as suggested by leading cardinals after the release of the transcript on June 26, 2000.
Complete Translation of Original Text by Lucia dos Santos
VATICAN CITY, JUN 26, 2000 (VIS) - Given below is the complete translation of the original Portuguese text of the third part of the secret of Fatima, revealed to the three shepherd children at Cova da Iria-Fatima on July 13, 1917, and committed to paper by Sr. Lucia on January 3, 1944:
"I write in obedience to you, my God, who command me to do so through his Excellency the Bishop of Leiria and through your Most Holy Mother and mine. "After the two parts which I have already explained, at the left of Our Lady and a little above, we saw an Angel with a flaming sword in his left hand; flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire; but they died out in contact with the splendor that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand: pointing to the earth with his right hand, the Angel cried out in a loud voice: 'Penance, Penance, Penance!'.
And we saw in an immense light that is God: 'something similar to how people appear in a mirror when they pass in front of it' a Bishop dressed in White 'we had the impression that it was the Holy Father'. Other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious going up a steep mountain, at the top of which there was a big Cross of rough-hewn trunks as of a cork-tree with the bark; before reaching there the Holy Father passed through a big city half in ruins and half trembling with halting step, afflicted with pain and sorrow, he prayed for the souls of the corpses he met on his way; having reached the top of the mountain, on his knees at the foot of the big Cross he was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him, and in the same way there died one after another the other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious, and various lay people of different ranks and positions. Beneath the two arms of the Cross there were two Angels each with a crystal aspersorium in his hand, in which they gathered up the blood of the Martyrs and with it sprinkled the souls that were making their way to God."
It has been declared that the May 1981 attack on Pope John Paul II's life in Rome by Turkish assailant Mehmet Ali Agca was the fulfillment of the Third Secret of Fatima.
This plainly cannot be the meaning of the Third Secret.
First of all, according to the translated text of the letter written by Sr. Lucia, "the Bishop dressed in White" is accompanied by a large number of bishops, priests, nuns, and various lay people -- all of whom are killed along with the pope.
Secondly, and this is most important, the Pope visits a large (and probably major) city that is half-destroyed and littered with corpses. It is quite obvious that a major war is going on at the time since so many dead people lay in the streets. If not for all the corpses, the city might otherwise be numerous ancient ruins allowed to still be standing in a part of an otherwise thriving city.
Thirdly, the Pope and his clergy are killed by soldiers (or else people who are similar to soldiers, such as the IS terrorist militants) ... and not by a single deranged man in a crowd.
The mountain with the rugged cross at its top is a mystery if applied to Mesopotamia. I can find no evidence of a holy mountain associated with Christianity existing anywhere in Iraq or Syria! Could the mountain somehow be symbolic, a metaphor for the tribulation of the Holy Church and Christendom? If you know of such a mountain with a cross at its summit near to where the Islamic State is holding territory in Iraq and the adjacent part of Syria ... or anywhere in Iraq ... please do leave a comment on my forum or blog or via email!
The sprinkling of souls with the blood of the martyrs by angels may be the sealing of the 144,000 of the tribes of children of Israel as described in the Book of Revelation.
If not, it is something that will precede that event and involve the blessing upon the faithful.
We are introduced to a new figure -- what may be an angel of the Apocalypse described as "an Angel with a flaming sword." He is actually introduced well before the appearance of the Bishop in White. Mary stays the world-consuming fire from his hand. This suggests that nuclear war has nearly occurred in the recent past but was prevented by Mary's intercession and prayer.
I strongly believe there is linkage between the "Roman Pontiff" and his clergy who are slain in Nostradamus' Quatrain 2.97 and the "Bishop dressed in White" and his clergy and lay people who are gunned down in the Third Secret of Fatima.
Since the vision clearly states that the "Bishop clothed in White" (the Pope) will be slain along with "the other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious" by soldiers firing bullets, I submit to you that this is remarkably similar to Quatrain 2.97 which warns the pontiff that both "you and yours" will come to spit blood in a city watered or arroused by two rivers. Even though, by miracle, Saint John Paul II was spared during the attack on his life by Mehmet Ali Agca thirty-four years ago, this does not explain why he alone was attacked when the Third Secret states that the Bishop in White will crawl over the corpses of his entourage and followers. This is also what Quatrain 2.97 indicates when saying "both you and yours."
Because the pope is described as being "afflicted with pain and sorrow" one might conclude that this is a frail and elderly pontiff. However, we cannot discount the possibility that the "pain and sorrow" is a result of the terrible war and persecution to come.
I have little doubt that events described in Quatrain 2.97 and the Third Secret of Fatima will happen. And if events are as predestined as they appear to be in the Third Secret of Fatima, then all the warnings in the world will not save the then-reigning Pope or those who will be slain with him.
Where is the "big city?" Assuming it is located in Iraq or Syria, it could be Erbil, in northern Iraq, Baghdad in central Iraq, Najaf, in southern Iraq, or possibly Basra. However, I fear it may yet be the capital:
Islamic ahadith: The Sufyani will then send an army to Iraq, killing 100,000 in Az-Zawra (Baghdad).
The IS could have killed as many as 500,000 people in Baghdad if they had blown up the Mosul Dam in 2014! If they had accomplished such an horrific act, would Pope Francis have felt compelled to fly to Baghdad to pray for the souls of those lying dead in its streets?
Almost as a warning to the Pope NOT to travel to Iraq, three members of his family died in a car crash near Cordoba in Argentina: the wife of his nephew and their two sons.
There are cities in Iraq and neighbouring Syria watered by both the Tigris and Euphrates, the city of Basra in particular (not far from the ancient city of Ur). But it matters little. For a pope these days to be in any city in the "land between two rivers" (Iraq) is death! To the Islamic State, formerly ISIS, formerly Al Qaeda in Iraq, responsible for unspeakable acts of blood-letting and carnage, especially against Christians, he is one of several iconic symbols representing what they hate most about the "infidel" Christian West.
Still, one must always be mindful of the possibility that IS and its leader may be destroyed by the United States, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, or Turkey. Then again, ISIS could be destroyed by the Shi'a in Iran and southern Iraq. This could conceivably set up an alternative scenario in Iraq that may be just as dreadful as the one currently emerging. If so, it may yet fall to militant Shi'a leader Muqtada al-Sadr in southern Iraq, who also caused much death in southern Baghdad and places such as Karbala, to dispatch the new "pontiff of Rome."
Unfortunately, Francis or his successor risk possible assassination in any city arroused by two rivers. An act of terrorism against the Pope and his entourage could occur anywhere in the world at the behest of any terrorist leader who may order a pope and everyone in his entourage to be shot by terrorists during a visit to a major port city near a dual river system. According to Nostradamus they will all bleed from the mouth from internal hemorrhaging.
Due to similarities between Quatrain 2.97 and a prominent theme in the text released in 2000 of the Third Secret of Fatima, I also suspect the papal visit will occur during a major war or even a global war. After all, there are already half-destroyed cities in Syria and Iraq ... a result of the campaign of mass death carried out by either Bashar al-Assad or ISIS. Soon there may be half-destroyed cities in Poland, Romania, Ukraine, Moldova, Hungary, and the rest of the Balkans as well.
We cannot apply ourselves to anything specific concerning any trip to Iraq or Syria, until we know exactly where it will be and when.
As Benedict XVI looks on in our background for the time being, we can thankfully say the election of Francis did not take place in the shadow of mourning the death of a pope as was the case in 2005. Pontiff emeritus Benedictus, though advanced in years, remains alive though frail in body on Vatican grounds and may yet enjoy more years of life ahead. Thus the election of his successor was truly a celebration and not the conclusion of a long papal funerary rite as is often the case.
Still, the world is a dark and evil place, much more so at this time than it was during the reigns of Saint John XXII and Saint John Paul II and his successor, Benedict XVI. For prophecy tells us the challenges to come are dreadful ones indeed. And the new pope, Francis, and those who may follow, will be forced to contend with them, perhaps to the very death.
Many have noted with wonder the fact that Pope Francis is the first pontiff to be elected from Latin America ... from the nation of Argentina.
Nostradamus actually predicted that a pope from Latin America would be elected. But the wise sage also made another prediction in the same prophecy, and in so doing, supports my long-held belief that the greatest pope in Vatican history will come from France. This is what he says:
Nostradamus, Quatrain 5.49 ~
Nul de l'Espaigne mais de l'antique France
Ne sera esleu pour le tremblant nacelle,
A l'ennemi sera saicte fiance,
Qui dans son regne sera peste cruelle.
Not from Spain but from ancient France
Will be the one elected for the trembling ship,
To the enemy will be made a trust,
In whose reign will be a cruel plague.
When Nostradamus mentions a "trembling ship" in his quatrains and its pope, he is referring to a time when the Church is in danger of breaking up (schism) or being terribly troubled and its very existence threatened by world events. According to the French prophet, when this state of affairs reaches its most critical point, the Pope from Spain (or Latin America) will no longer be in power and a French pope shall be elected. This time of trouble may be happening quite soon as it seems clear that "the enemy" is either the Islamic State and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi or else ... Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Russia is currently backing Assad against the IS. Thus, it is possible the West may also choose what they consider to be the lesser of two evils. Then again, the enemy to which a promise is made may be Russia and Vladimir Putin, who is much more capable of directly harming Europe and Rome than either al-Baghdadi or al-Assad. Or the enemy may be Iran, the nation now in the process of leading the Shi'a resistance against the Sunni-backed, Sharia-run caliphate known as the Islamic State. The prophet Daniel warns that Persia (Iran) will eventually declare war on Turkey, Greece, and the Balkans. Why remains a mystery at this time. The same prophecy uses the Hebrew word "Yawan" which can also be applied to Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Iran and Saudi Arabia have nearly come to blows twice since Arab Spring regarding the proxy war being fought in Yemen.
As for the cruel plague, it will seep into Europe and America from Africa: possibly the dreaded epidemic known as ebola. It is a horrible disease, one to be feared, and its effects on the body are most cruel indeed.
The implications of the last two lines are that there is little time left to the pope from the Spanish American nation of Argentina.
However, the birth name of the Pope, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, gives additional information. I stated on this page that the next pope after Benedict would most likely be the one Nostradamus called "The Sabine" in the following quatrain (and thus an Italian):
Nostradamus, Quatrain 5.46 ~
Par chapeaux rouges querelles & nouveaux schismes,
Quand on aura esleu le Sabinois:
On produira contre lui grans sophismes,
Et sera Rome lesse par Albanois.
By red hats & quarrels, new schisms
When the Sabine will have been elected:
They will produce great sophism against him,
And Rome will be injured by Alba
(Scotland or Alba near Piedmont in NW Italy).
Although born a native of Argentina, the father of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio was an Italian immigrant. Thus, Bergoglio is an Italian by birth. Also, choosing the name of Francis, shared by one of Italy's greatest patron saints (St. Francis of Assisi) strongly ties the new pope to Italy in a way no preceding Italian pope has ever aspired to do.
St. Francis was also, and perhaps even more powerfully, linked to that province of Rome settled by the ancient Sabines: the province of Sabina and the beautiful Sabine Hills.
Sabina, the region in the Sabine Hills of Latium named for the Sabines, is the ancient territory that today is still identified mainly with the North-Eastern Province of Rome and the Province of Rieti, Lazio.
Via Franchigena
This is the path taken by St. Francis when he walked from Assisi to Rome to petition the Pope. Unlike most of the public footpaths in Italy, it is well-marked and the final section cuts right through the Sabine Hills.
The Franciscan Sanctuaries
St. Francis of Assisi was attracted by the Sabina region above all other parts of Italy.
The Sabine hills saw the first Franciscan preaching and the religious prayer that Francis addressed to God from the wildest and most inaccessible natural surroundings.
Following in the footsteps of St. Francis through the Valle Santa (Sacred Valley), visitors will be amazed by nature and mysticism. The area still preserves four sanctuaries which are a widespread evidence of the presence of the Saint during the early part of his life. Francis, during his long stay in Sabina left important traces which legend has tended to amplify.
By identifying himself with St. Francis of Assisi, the new pope has also linked his identitiy to the Sabine pope of Nostradamus' Quatrain 5.46. He is the Sabine.
When I saw the mild, benevolent expression on the bespectacled face of Francis, I immediately recalled another pope who looked much like him: the ill-fated Pope John Paul I, who died mysteriously 33 days after being installed, officially of natural causes. However, it has been alleged by many that he had actually been murdered by poison. John Paul I was the last pope to inaugurate a name never before used (John Paul); in 2013, Pope Francis followed suit.
Quatrain 5.46 indicates that Pope Francis will be greatly harmed by both false accusations concerning his person and ministry and also due to a Great Schism. It is not certain at this time whether it is he or a succeeding pope who will have to flee from Rome, reigning in exile for 25 months before returning to a Rome and Vatican in ruins from a coming great global war.
Seeing the spectre of Pope John Paul I in the face of Pope Francis is not at all reassuring. Like Francis, John Paul I too presented as a humble shepherd and, as Nostradamus warned, died through "too much goodness."
Why might there be a "schism" in the Vatican and the Catholic Church?
We saw the beginnings of a possible schism immediately prior to, during, and briefly following the election of Pope Francis. To anyone paying attention, the Church at that time was rocked by sex scandals and was not far from plunging into a schism. In connection with the threat of a new schism, one of Nostradamus' use of the word Albanois is Alba, the old name for the country of Scotland, which in February 2013 suddenly became quite relevant.
The headlines said it all: Vatican Rocked by Resignation of Scottish Archbishop; Britain's Top Catholic Cleric Quits Amid Unfolding Sex Scandal!
Cardinal Keith OBrien of Scotland resigns amidst scandal
Allvoices | Edinburgh : United Kingdom | Feb 25, 2013 at 1:17 PM PST
With Pope Benedict XVI ready to step down as the leader of the Catholic Church on Thursday, February 28, the first pope to do so in nearly 600 years, scandal has hit his resignation and the selection of a new pope, as today, Cardinal Keith OBrien, head of the Scottish Catholic Church, announced his own resignation amidst allegations that go back three decades.
Scheduled to make his way to Rome for the papal conclave that would elect the new pope sometime before Easter, Cardinal OBrien had come under fire for allegations of inappropriate behavior towards priests, stemming back to the 1980s, with calls for him not to take part in the vote that would elect the new pope. And with the announcement of the Cardinals resignation, which would take immediate effect, this has come to pass, as he will not take part in the conclave, leaving the Scottish Catholic Church and indeed Britain without representation at the papal vote.
In a statement released by Cardinal OBrien, the Cardinal said that he had already submitted his resignation to the Pope as archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, to come into effect next month, when the Cardinal turns 75; however, the Pope ordered that the Cardinals resignation take immediate effect.
Cardinal OBrien asked forgiveness of those he had offended, saying, "I have valued the opportunity of serving the people of Scotland and overseas in various ways since becoming a priest. Looking back over my years of ministry: For any good I have been able to do, I thank God. For any failures, I apologise to all whom I have offended. I do not wish media attention in Rome to be focused on me - but rather on Pope Benedict XVI and on his successor.
So how badly was the Vatican injured? The keyword is injured. I would say without the inclusion of Britain in the March 2013 enclave to elect the current pope, it was very injurious indeed.
Now, once again, there are signs that the sexual misconduct controversy may be returning to pave the way for a "great Schism."
The other meaning of Albanois is the town of Alba in Piedmont, located in northwestern Italy. It may be from here that an antipope will launch a viscious slander against Pope Francis and begin an actual splitting in the Church.
Concluding Quatrain 5.46, what "great sophistry" might be aimed against the new pope?
We cannot possibly imagine how important the prophecies of Malachy may be to some of those who have elected Pope Francis.
It is clear some faction wished to make it appear that then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger would be associated with Gloria Olivae ... even down to the detail of having him take the name of Benedict (after the Benedictine order). When a dove, the symbol of peace associated with the olive branch, recently perched on a window sill near the former pope and then was attacked in full view of thousands by a seagull, this hit home the failure of Gloria Olivae to bring about world peace or even a regional peace to the Middle East. Indeed, if ever there was a protracted period of time since the Second World War when events could easily fall into place to create a third more terrible global conflict, the time is now.
Someone knew that the year 2013 would be an extremely dangerous one for a pope ... Benedict or any other pope.
Thus, Pope Benedict elected to "die" via rassegnazione, probably with some degree of urging.
Further down on this page I have set forth an exhaustive amount of evidence that there are those in the Vatican who have allowed nine antipopes to long ago be attributed with mottos listed by Malachy intended exclusively for future popes ... and not antipopes. I also discuss how Benedict XVI was actually "Lumen in C�lo" (and provide examples of the natural phenonema that support this claim).
Because Cardinal Bergoglio is of Italian descent and has identified himself with Italy's Patron saint, Francis of Assisi, it is possible there will be those who will say he is Malachy's final pope Petrus Romanus ('Peter of Rome'). I say no. But it is clear some sort of Vatican spin is making it appear that Francis is the last and final pope on Malachy's list.
Pope Francis visits St. Peter's tomb under Vatican
AP/ April 1, 2013, 4:01 PM
VATICAN CITY Pope Francis on Monday took an emotional, close-up look at the tomb of Peter, the church's first pontiff, buried beneath St. Peter's Basilica, the Vatican said.
By doing so, Francis became the first pontiff to visit the necropolis, where pagans and early Christians were buried, since extensive archaeological excavations were conducted at the ancient site decades ago, the Vatican said.
The 45-minute "visit of devotion to the tomb of St. Peter" was private, the Vatican said, but it later released a video of it.
The basilica was built over the location where early Christians would gather in secret, at a time of persecution in ancient Rome, to pray at an unmarked tomb believed to be that of Peter, the apostle Jesus chose to lead his church.
The Vatican first said Francis would pray at Peter's tomb, but later said he prayed instead in the basilica.
The new pope `'paused in silent prayer, in profound and emotional meditation" in the Clementine Chapel in the vast basilica that is `'the closest place (in the basilica) to the tomb of the Prince of the Apostles," it said.
During a tour of the necropolis conducted by its director and an Italian cardinal, the pope "climbed up a bit, got closer to the place where the tomb of St. Peter lies, exactly under the central altar and the dome of the basilica," the Vatican said.
Francis walked down the entire main street of the ancient city of the dead, the statement said.
The streets of the necropolis are similar to those of ancient Rome, only they are flanked by tombs instead of shops and apartments.
The Vatican said Francis walked to the necropolis entrance from the hotel on the Vatican grounds where he lives, took the tour and later after paying homage at the tombs of several popes in another underground level known as the grottoes, including Pius XII, Paul XVI and John Paul I strolled back to his residence.
St. Peter's mission was to continue to preach the message of Jesus and reach more souls.
Francis, as a Jesuit, is steeped in the evangelizing mission of the church, and the necropolis tour brings him back to the origins of the church in its simplest years as a community of Christians professing their faith in defiance of the crackdown by Roman emperors.
Peter himself was among the Christian martyrs during Nero's reign. He is believed to have been crucified, head down, on the Vatican hill.
Constantine, the first Christian emperor, had an early basilica built on the slopes of the Vatican Hill, burying the pagan and Christian cemetery necropolis means `city of the dead' that surrounded Peter's burial site.
The current basilica, named after St. Peter, was constructed over the earlier basilica that was deemed unsafe and demolished in the late 15th century.
The Baroque master architect Bernini designed the bronze canopy over the central altar over the spot of Peter's burial site. The current basilica was planned as an awe-inspiring monument that would project the image of a powerful church.
Under popes of the last century, extensive excavations were carried out of the sprawling necropolis. In 1965, archaeologists said they had found the bones of Peter in an area near an ancient Greek inscription saying `'Peter is here."
Being associated with the Vatican's most apocalyptic papal figure would leave the new pope vulnerable to false accusations and debates from both within and outside the Church. Nothing he does will seem right, especially if a world war breaks out, for it will be falsely believed that he is the Pope who will help usher in the end of the world. For some he will become a source of fear rather than of love and admiration (as he currently is now). He will also become the perfect target of assassination for those in the world today who hold great hatred towards Christendom and have only contempt for The Gospels of Jesus and The Book of Revelation!
Ironically, even as Ignis Ardens, his true Malachy motto (if there are any true Malachy mottos), it will be difficult for him to distance himself from such an association should there be the hellfire of a war that possibly becomes nuclear or a fire from heaven in the form of an asteroid impact accompanied by a hail of meteors. As the shadows of war spread outwards from Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Israel, Eastern and Central Europe, Russia, China, and North Korea, the world is being prepared for a truly horrific global war which could quickly turn nuclear.
As for an asteroid impact: one may occur at any time. On February 15, 2013, five months prior to the 105th anniversary of The Tunguska Event, we witnessed a huge meteorite exploding over Chelyabinsk, Russia (which we may well call 'The Chelyabinsk Event'). Perhaps an even larger asteroid, like the one believed to have impacted Siberia in 1908, is yet to strike the earth, along with many smaller meteorites. This could well become a reality by 2016 when thousands of fragments of a comet may strike the earth.
Also, judging from keywords I have discovered used to search this page, there are those who even believe the next pope will be "the false prophet" from the Book of Revelation. That would be quite a sophistry indeed if taken seriously!
A lot has already happened in the nearly three years and a half years since February 11, 2013, and even more can happen yet.
How long may Pope Francis reign if he is the schismatic pope? No one knows for certain, but if his death is linked with a coming schism in the Church.
Nostradamus continues his prophecy of the Sabine pope:
Nostradamus, Quatrain 8.93 ~
Sept mois sans plus obtiendra prelature,
par son deces grand schisme sera naistre:
Sept mois tiendra un autre la preture,
pres de Venise paix union renaistre.
Seven months without further prelature obtained,
Through his death a great schism will arise:
For seven months another acts as prelate,
Near Venice, peace and union are reborn.
According to Nostradamus, a pope, if not Pope Francis himself, will die during "the mother of all Schisms." As a result, there will either be NO POPE at all or else an antipope will reign for seven months. Why? Because there will be chaos in the Catholic Church!
It may well be there will be a series of unsuccessful attempts at new papal elections, all doomed to failure. However, either at the start of a seven-month schism or else following seven months of schism and discord, it will be decided that one will "act as prelate." What is unclear is whether the schism lasts 7 months with an antipope reigning or else 7 months without a pope and then 7 months more with an antipope (for a total of 14 months).
It may be that Benedict pontiff emeritus will be called out of retirement to act as pope. Again, using the word "act" suggests an antipope or, in the case of Benedict, a former living pope invested with the same authority he enjoyed as supreme pontiff. But if this does occur, he will technically be an antipope. Of course the antipope may well be the one who aimed great sophistry against Francis ... a cardinal from Alba, a town near Piedmont in northwestern Italy.
After the reign of the antipope will come a new election and a new pope.
To this person may be attributed the motto Religio depopulata ("Religion Depopulated" or "Religion Laid Waste") ... indicating either a great loss of human life worldwide from various causes and/or mass execution and sacrificing of Christians.
This may or may not be the Pope who flees the Vatican at the time of the "great star" prophesied by Nostradamus. If not, then that fate will fall to the next pope: Fides intrepida ("Intrepid Faith"). However we cannot rule out the possibility that both Religio depopulata and Fides intrepida will be killed, one assassinated, the other a casualty of war.
Either Religio depopulata or Fides intrepida will flee Rome for Avignon, France, take up residence in the old papal castles of Avignon, France, where popes reigned in exile during the 14th century, and will die during an Islamic invasion of southern France after the fall of Marseilles.
Personally, I think the following quatrain is about this future pope who will witness the great star/two suns phenomenon on the night that he is forced to flee the Vatican:
Nostradamus, Quatrain 2.41 ~
La grande etoile par sept jours bruslera,
Nu�e fera deux soleils apparoir:
Le gros matin toute nuit hurlera,
Quand grand pontife changera de terroir.
The great star will burn for seven days,
The cloud will cause two suns to appear:
The great mastiff will howl all night,
When the great pontiff will change country.
Catholic prophecy abounds with warnings of a "great comet" or "great star." I will not print them all here, for this page addresses specific warnings to the current pope or his immediate sucessor(s), but here are a few notable ones:
Rigord of St. Denis ~
A comet will be seen in heaven -- a star, that is, with a tail or appendage -- and this apparition will signify destructions and tumults and hard strifes, and withholding of rains, and dryness of the earth, and mighty battles, and the flowing of blood upon the earth of the east, and from beyond the River Habor it will reach to the very end of the west. And the just and the truly righteous will be oppressed and will suffer persecutions, and the house of prayer will be destroyed.
Johann Friede ~
Of mankind there will be more dead than there have been casualties in all wars. In the abodes of the children of light, the Book of Revelations will be read, and in the palaces of the Church they will await the arrival of the great comet.
Hildegard of Bingen ~
Before the Comet comes, many nations, the good excepted, will be scoured with want and famine. The great nation in the ocean that is inhabited by people of different tribes and descent by an earthquake, storm and tidal waves will be devastated. It will be divided, and in great part submerged. That nation will also have many misfortunes at sea, and lose its colonies in the east through a Tiger and a Lion. The Comet by its tremendous pressure, will force much out of the ocean and flood many countries, causing much want and many plagues. All sea coast cities will be fearful and many of them will be destroyed by tidal waves, and most living creatures will be killed and even those who escape will die from a horrible disease. For in none of these cities does a person live according to the laws of God.
We will find scarcely any European prophets who do not agree with Nostradamus concerning the flight of a future pope -- those who bother to relate an entire view of the great global war to come anyway. It should be noted that this flight from Rome always occurs during the height of World War III -- just prior to the "three days of darkness" and the great horrors that follow.
Revelation 8:10-11 ~
The third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.
Prophets like Alois Irlmaier and Erna Stieglitz agree that a pope will flee Italy when World War III comes to Europe. There is also an ancient prophecy that describes what may be the slowing of the earth's rotation, something that researchers abscribe to the gravitational force exerted upon the earth by an object like a brown dwarf star, something that "Planet X" is purported to be. Liber Vaticinationem Quodam Instinctumentis describes the sun "halting" in the heavens and terrible hot winds that will blow:
Norma 63:7
For the third (world war), the earth shakes,
The throat of the Gaul (France) is ravaged.
Many die fleeing from the awful winds,
The sun halts in its path in the heavens.
It is then said that the norma will die "when the wolf (Germany) is hacked to bits."
The fiery invasion of southern France is echoed in this ancient document authored by an unknown clergyman in AD 346. It presages three world wars that will directly involve Germany, the first two as an aggressor and the last as a defender of "the Empire" against the invaders from the East.
According to John of Vitiguerro (13th Century) after this exiled pope's death, there will be no pope at all for 25 months, after which a French pope is elected:
The pope will change his residence and the Church will not be defended for twenty-five months or more because, during all that time there will be no Pope in Rome... After many tribulations, a Pope shall be elected out of those who survived the persecutions.
The motto of this "great Pontiff" would be Pastor Angelicus ("Angelic shepherd"). Only then will "peace and union" truly be "reborn."
A SPECIAL SECTION DEDICATED TO THE SAINT JOHN PAUL II IN PROPHECY APPEARS AT
BOTTOM OF PAGE . IT REMAINS UNCHANGED, WITH ITS ERRORS, FROM MAY 15, 2005
A SPECIAL SECTION DEDICATED TO POPE BENEDICT XVI, PONTIFF EMERITUS IN PROPHECY APPEARS
AT BOTTOM OF PAGE . IT REMAINS UNCHANGED, WITH ITS ERRORS, FROM MARCH 1, 2013
The Papal Prophecies of St. Malachy
We are almost certainly obliged to address another prophetic issue I am sure is on the minds of everyone. And, once again, Nostradamus may have clarified some of the muddled controversies presented here.
Well over three years have passed since the white smoke appeared and a new pope was introduced to the world, replacing an uncertain winter season with a season of renewal and hope. That season has since withered away and has been replaced by many seasons and yet another summer of uncertainty and dread.
We must, unfortunately, respect the dark days ahead that may be in store for the entire planet. Pope Benedict XVI's olive branch of peace and reconciliation proved to be ineffective against the dangerous stratagems of evil men, of psychopaths, and of lovers of war, and of a vast subculture dedicated to death rather than life.
Thus a new pope has come, one who needs as much support and aid as possible to achieve his mission. For this is also a man who has been placed in terrible danger by a convergence of prophecies and, perhaps unwittingly, by the very Church he serves.
Unfortunately, four controversies become apparent due to an apparent clash between the prophecies of Malachy and those of the learned scholar, doctor, astronomer, and prophet Michel de Notredame ... Nostradamus.
Controversy 1
The first, perhaps, is no longer much of a controversy at all.
There are too many popes -- at least seven of them -- prophesied for the future by Nostradamus. That is far too many to be fulfilled by Pope Francis, whom we are supposed to conclude is none other than the final pope on Malachy's list known as Petrus Romanus ("Peter the Roman").
However, I have learned it has apparently become the Vatican's official position that there may be an indeterminate time (and presumably a number of popes) between "Glory of the Olive" (if that was indeed Benedict XVI) and "Peter the Roman", whom they agree is the last pope.
Indeed, Nostradamus does not foresee the fall of the last Pope happening until the final Antichrist comes to power in 2242 AD.
This is what he has to say about this final pope ("grand Vicaire de la Cappe"):
Perdu trouv�, cach� de si long siecle,
Sera Pasteur demi Dieu honor�:
Ains que la lune acheve son grand siecle,
Par austres vents sera deshonor�.
The lost thing is discovered, hidden many centuries,
The Pastor will be honoured as a demi-God:
This is when the moon achieves her great cycle,
By other winds (rumours) he shall be dishonoured.
Nostradamus, Epistle to Henry II ~
The third Northern king, hearing the complaint of the people of his principal title, shall raise up so great an army, and defying the tradition of his predecessors, shall restore almost everything back into his estate. The great Vicar of the Cape shall be restored to his original estate, but desolate and then by all abandoned, shall return to find the Holy sanctuary [Rome] destroyed by Paganism, and the Old and New Testament will be thrust out and burnt. After that shall the Antichrist be the infernal prince. Again for the last time all the Kingdoms of Christianity shall tremble, even those of the infidels, for a space of 25 years ...
The Moon completes its current 354-year cycle in 2242 AD under the aegis of the Sun ("cycle of the sun"). In 2243, the Moon begins yet another cycle under the aegis of Saturn. The final Antichrist then is likely the beast of Revelation 13 whose reign culminates with the war of Armageddon and the Second Coming of Christ in either 2245-46 AD (at the conclusion of a 42-month reign), 2249 AD (at the conclusion of a 7-year reign), or else 2267 AD (at the end of a reign and a war together lasting 25 years).
Thus, we can see there is an extremely long period of time spanning the pontificates of Gloria Olivae (if that was indeed Benedict XVI) and Petrus Romanus, some 230 years, if it is true many future popes between the two were not listed as the Vatican claims.
Controversy 2
This controversy should begin with the phrase assuming Benedict XVI was really Gloria Olivae ...
As it turns out, because Benedict did not die but instead retired, it is possible that the prophesied office of Gloria Olivae did not likewise go into retirement, but was passed on along!
If so, Pope Francis would not actually be Petrus Romanus (Peter of Rome) but a continuation of Gloria Olivae ... Gloria Olivae II. This could explain why the Vatican has said that between Gloria Olivae and Petrus Romanus may be an indeterminate number of popes! Francis has likewise indicated that he might consider retiring within the next three years. Retirement could prolong indefinitely a series of popes, some being pulled out of retirement temporarily as needed if another retires due to poor health. In the event of a great schism, there could be enough retired popes to function as an emergency pope and one or more antipopes.
Abbot Joachim Merlin prophesied the coming of three angelic pastors who would succeed a great French pontiff. Two of these three could well be in retirement, functioning as "support pontiffs" or "backup popes" to the one reigning pope.
Thus, the office of pope may now be in the process of undergoing a transformation, transitioning into a completely different kind of office.
Controversy 3
The Hidden Pope
Malachy saw fit to give the final pope on his list, Petrus Romanus, an entire sentence of description rather than only a motto. There is, in fact, a possible hidden pope in this prophecy:
In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church there will reign Peter the Roman, who will feed his flock amid many tribulations, after which the seven-hilled city will be destroyed and the dreadful Judge will judge the people. The End.
It is assumed that the "dreadful Judge" is none other than God. Yet according to many other prophecies, Rome will be destroyed and a pope elected in exile, a French pope, will return to rebuild Rome's papal palaces and residences.
Often called "the great Pontiff" he will assist another French figure known as the "great Monarch" after the end of World War III to restore peace, order, and law.
Nostradamus says of this pope:
The great Celt will enter into Rome
With a great mass of exiles and banished:
The great pastor will put to death every man
Who was united over the Alps against the cock.
So, clearly it can be seen that a "great pastor" will return to Rome in the post-war period and will indeed become a "dreadful judge" ... as he will have the power of life and death over the enemies of Christendom.
Controversy 4
This controversy suggests that there are nine popes predicted by Nostradamus who have yet to reign:
In order for Francis to be the 112th and final pope, Malachy would have had to count all of the antipopes as well. Here are the antipopes the Vatican applied Malachy's legends to:
They are:
Felix V (1440-1449)
That is 9 antipopes.
Three of these reigned at the same time. One of the three, Innocent III (1179-1180), is listed by the Vatican, but no Malachy motto was attached to him. Another, who is called a counter anti-pope, Benedict XIV (1425-1430), is also listed by the Vatican but not given a Malachy description. Thus, 9 out of 11 antipopes were given mottoes as though they were actual popes.
Did Malachy really foresee the future of these antipopes and regard them as legitimate heirs of St Peter and apply mottos to each of them? I doubt it. He was predicting an orderly line of legitimate papal succession. Half of these antipopes actually confused the line of succession and, of course, were not legitimate heirs of the Holy See.
Malachy prophesied 112 POPES to follow Celestine II -- NOT 103 POPES and 9 OUT OF 11 ANTIPOPES!
If we are to take Malachy seriously, therefore, we are currently on pope number 103, not pope 112.
If this is true then Pope Benedict XVI was really Lumen in c�lo ("Light in the Heavens"). Indeed, only 20 months after becoming pope, the brightest comet since Comet Ikeya-Seki in 1965 appeared in the northern and southern hemispheres in January 2007. Comet McNaught was so bright it could even be seen overhead in a clear blue sky during the day. The mysterious and ghostly Comet Holmes followed in October 2007 in the constellation Perseus.
Then, only hours after Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation, lightning struck the top of St. Peters Basilica at the Vatican. Four days later, people were greeted by the blinding flash of a large meteorite exploding over Chelyabinsk, Russia.
Lumen in c�lo is to be followed by the apocalyptic-sounding Ignis ardens ("Burning Fire") ... which can mean anything from a nuclear war to fiery meteors plunging to earth from the skies.
Ignis ardens would then be the true motto for the current pontiff of Rome, Pope Francis. With World War III seemingly only months or a few years away, we may find the motto will be most applicable.
After Ignis ardens, more ominously comes Religio depopulata ("Religion Depopulated" or "Religion Laid Waste") ... indicating either a great loss of human life worldwide from various causes and/or mass execution and sacrificing of Christians, not unlike what occurred during the reign of Nero, the French Revolution, or the Nazi genocide of Jews during the Second World War.
After this would come Fides intrepida (Intrepid Faith) who apparently will also come to an early and dreadful end. After a period of 25 months with no pope at all he is followed by the "great Pontiff" of so many prophecies, Pastor angelicus (Angelic Shepherd), who will reign alongside the future "great Monarch" who will bring an end to World War III:
Ancient Irish (author unknown) ~
The close of the war finds a Celt in the Chair of Peter. He is the most perfect of all the popes; chosen miraculously amidst chaos. An angel in human form, he shall be called "Papa Angelorum." This Celt is not an Irish Celt but one born in Galicia, and the only Celt to occupy Peter's throne. He shall, like Peter of old, take his staff and his scrip, and with a few companions start out to reconcile the nations.
Busto ~
The angelic Pope shall place an imperial crown on his head.
Abbot Joachim Merlin ~
He will be the joy of God's elect. This angelic pope will preach the gospel in every country. Through his zeal and solicitude the Greek Church shall be forever reunited to the Catholic Church ... This holy Pope shall be both pastor and reformer. Through him the East and West shall be in everlasting concord. The city of Babylon shall then be the head and guide of the world. Rome, weakened in temporal power, shall forever preserve her spiritual dominion, and shall enjoy great peace. During these happy days the Angelic Pope shall be able to address to Heaven prayers full of sweetness. The dispersed nation shall also enjoy tranquillity. Six and a half years after this time the Pope will render his soul to God. The end of his days shall arrive in an arid province, situated between a river and a lake near the mountains ...
His three immediate successors shall be men of exemplary holiness. One after the other will be models of virtue, and shall work miracles, confirming the teaching of their predecessors. Under their government the Church shall spread, and these Popes shall be called the Angelic Pastors.
Capuchin Friar (1776)
By the Catholic clergy and people the true and lawful Pope will be elected, who shall be a man of great holiness and goodness of life ... A scion of the Carlovingian race, by all considered extinct, will come to Rome to behold and admire the clemency of this Pontiff, who will crown him, and declare him to be the legitimate Emperor of the Romans, and from the Chair of St. Peter, the Pope will lift up the standard, the crucifix, and will give it to the new emperor. This new emperor, with the robust Italian and French people, and with those of other nations, will form a most Powerful host, called the Church Army, through which he shall destroy the Ottoman Empire, all heresies, and shall also totally defeat the Emperor of the North, who is called Mystic Antichrist. The above mentioned new emperor, with the assistance of God and of the Pope, will cooperate to the reformation of abuses; will assume the management of the temporal government; will assign a decent pension to the Supreme Pontiff, and also the bishops and clergy: and they all, being detached from earthly covetousness, will live in peace, which shall last till the end of time.
The three future "angelic popes" who shall follow Pastor angelicus will be Pastor et Nauta ("Pastor and Mariner"), Flos florum ("Flower of Flowers"), and De medietate Lun� ("of the Half Moon") ... applied erroneously to John XXIII, Paul VI, and John Paul I.
If true, the late pope, Saint John Paul II, was not De labore Solis ("Labour of the Sun") but actually Crux de Cruce ("Cross of Crosses") ... which would make Saint John Paul II the "Pope of Popes" and one of the greatest popes in all of papal history.
Therefore the bizarre legend De balneis hetruriae ("the Bath of Etruria"), mistakenly applied to Pope Gregory XVI, would be applied to Pope John Paul I, whose pontificate lasted only 33 days. So short and unexpected a reign was his that the motto was likely never fulfilled.
Many believe John Paul I was murdered. Long after Malachy listed the legend De medietate Lunae ("of the Half Moon") which was applied by the Vatican to John Paul I, an unknown Vatican scholar updated the description by adding the cryptic line "and future victim." Another example of forcing a prophecy by adding a brief descriptive phrase. Even so, could it be that if he had lived a longer life and reigned a longer reign, that John Paul I (as De balneis hetruriae) would have been murdered in a bath in Tuscany (similar to how Jean-Paul Marat was assassinated by Charlotte Corday)?
In any event, if Benedict XVI was "Light in the Heaven" and Francis is "Burning Fire," that means there are 9 more popes remaining after the reign of Francis.
That is consistent with what I find in Nostradamus' prophecies. I can easily find nine (9) popes who have yet to reign. I have written an article about each of them on Nostradamus NOW Archives 1 .
Now that the potential folly of strictly adhering to Malachy's prophecies has been revealed, we can focus again on Quatrain 2.97 (The Rose Prophecy) and the Third Secret of Fatima.
Similarities, Differences Between Quatrain 2.97 and the Third Secret of Fatima
Obviously, Pope Francis, or any successor, must avoid extensive traveling to cities that match the profile provided by Nostradamus or the Blessed Virgin in the Third Secret of Fatima. Not only will the Pope be assassinated but so too will all clergy people accompanying him ("you and yours").
This shared assassination of the pope and his clergy people ("you and yours") is what Quatrain 2.97 and the Third Secret of Fatima have in common. Another thing they both have in common is that neither prophecy has yet been fulfilled.
However, there are striking differences (or at least striking omissions).
Nostradamus never mentions that the city is half-destroyed. He never says anything about a pope climbing a holy mountain in Quatrain 2.97 ... or in any other quatrain. The Fatima vision, likewise, makes no mention of the city being watered by two rivers nor does it make reference in any fashion to a rose.
Thus, it is entirely possible that Francis could be the pope of Quatrain 2.97 and his successor could be the "Bishop In White" who appears in the Third Secret of Fatima. Either that or else one man, Francis or a successor, may be the pope found in both prophecies.
Because Nostradamus forsees a number of popes to follow Francis, rather than Francis being the final pope named "Peter of Rome" listed by Malachy, it is even possible that Quatrain 2.97 and the Fatima prophecy are about two successors of Francis and that Francis will die a natural death like John Paul II or even retire like Benedict XVI did. Francis has already discussed his possible retirement within the next three years with the news media.
It is impossible to be entirely certain.
What is the meaning of the Rose?
As discussed above, "the Rose" may simply be a seasonal dating clue, indicating late spring or possibly summer (or more specifically late May/early June) as the time the Pope will be in danger of succumbing to the prophecy.
Then again, "the Rose" appears in several other Nostradamus quatrains and is used in a far more mysterious manner, as with Quatrain 5.96: "The rose above the middle of the great world."
Thus, it could signify something of a mystical nature ... or an actual person: the late Princess Diana.
One thing has come to my attention: the Rose may function as a key that helps us connect some very important dots. After we review the possible meanings of the Rose, we shall discuss two other quatrains linked together by the rose symbol ... for one of the three rose prophecies actually appears to tell us WHERE the city "watered by two rivers" may be located.
England's Rose. I have long established a possible connection between the Pope and the late Princess of Wales because of the "rose" clue in the final line of Quatrain 2.97.
There is a seperate prophecy by Nostradamus that tells of a time that will come when an apparition of a beloved and famous woman will be seen by millions of people above her grave and that she will speak to them. Could this woman be the late Princess Diana being witnessed by a multitude at her island grave at Althorp? This may begin a time when what Nostradamus calls "the Temple of Diana" will become a new religion or Diana will be made an Anglican saint. It may well be that when this apparition appears, or the new church or sect begins attracting followers, that will be the time the Pope is assassinated.
Click here for a three-section presentation on the relationship of "the rose" to Princess Diana and Pope Francis; more on the coming apparition; what may be the "new Diana," actress and ambassador Angelina Jolie, and Diana's actual replacement, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, recently-wedded to her eldest and favorite son, Prince William; and what prophecy says about the tragic death of "The Rose" in a Paris tunnel.
In November 1999, a critical dream vision emailed to me by Conor concerning three stages in the relationship between a pope and a young woman who is only a ghostly spirit in the final stage, has suggested what may well be a psychic connection between Diana and John Paul II, Diana and Benedict XVI, and possibly Diana and Francis -- one that I believe may establish Paris or Avignon as the city of this pope's doom rather than a city in Iraq or Syria. To view this vision open a Dream Window .
The Mystical Rose. The lady who is associated with "the Rose" and who appears in Conor's dream may instead be the Virgin Mary. If the day of the Rosa Mystica is taken literally, the Pope or his successor may be assassinated on the specific dates of July 13, 2016 or July 13, 2018. Click here to learn more of the Rosa Mystica and its possible relationship to Quatrain 2.97.
The Rosy Cross. The emblem of the Rosicrucian Order, also known as The Order of the Rose and the Cross. Founded in the 15th Century, its mystical rites influenced the Freemasonic societies. However, it is claimed that its true beginning was in 46 AD as a gnostic Christian sect that also embraced Hermeticism (ancient Egyptian mystery beliefs). Today's Rosicrucian orders, and there are many, are either Christian or they are far afield from Christianity (the Golden Dawn, for example) and exalt the magical arts.
It is strongly believed by many that Nostradamus was secretly a Christian Rosicrucian as a number of letters from him to his clients infer an association by the prophet, not to Catholicism, but to Lutheranism. That, combined with heremetic symbology and rites found in a number of his verses indicates this was likely so.
The French seer was among an obscure group in the 16th Century that preserved the secret wisdom of the ancients as well as the original tenets of Christianity ... which included the concept of reincarnation.
Christian Gnostics believed that if spiritual resurrection was not attained in one lifetime, then the soul would be subjected to as many reincarnations as neccessary until spiritual rebirth is attained. In The Apocalypse of Paul, the apostle Paul describes witnessing the soul of a deceased person in a place called the "the fourth heaven" being reincarnated by angelic beings. The apostle Mark relates accounts of secret rites and indoctrinations into the mysteries of the Kingdom of God by Jesus and of people other than Lazurus who were brought back from the dead. All of these writings were removed from what would be considered for the next 1700 years as The Holy Bible and consigned to Old Testament Apocrypha and New Testament Apocrypha. However, it is alleged that the Church fathers did not destroy these writings but held them in secret or hid them until such time the world would be ready for their release. Some of these writings have yet to be found. Others remain guarded by secret religious orders or even by the Catholic Church itself.
The Gilded Rose (aka The Rose of Rialp). A sign given by God to Fr Josemaria Escriva, founder of Opus Dei, an order operating within today's Catholic Church. The Opus Dei emblem is a cross in the circle of the world above a rose which symbolises Opus Dei women.
Fact and fiction are blurred, but the order founded in 1928 may be a revived secret sect that kept concealed over the centuries the now badly-guarded "secret" that Jesus may have been married to Mary Magdalene and had children and kept hidden the descendants of this Merovingian bloodline.
Controversies about Opus Dei have centered around criticisms of its alleged secretiveness, its recruiting methods, the alleged strict rules governing members, the practice by celibate members of mortification of the flesh, its alleged elitism and misogyny, the alleged right-leaning politics of most of its members, and the alleged participation by some in authoritarian or extreme right-wing governments, especially the Francoist Government of Spain until 1978. Within the Catholic Church, Opus Dei is also criticized for allegedly seeking independence and more influence. (Source: Wikipedia).
Pop icon Madonna is reportedly fascinated by this "church within the Church" and may be seeking membership, even as her Kabbalah organisation falls to legal actions and investigations. Could it mean that Opus Dei will be merged with Kabbalah by Madonna to somehow create a "world religion" around the same time the Pope is assassinated? Or will the Hermetic mysteries, symbolised by the Rose, be made knowledge to the world by today's Rosicrucian orders and Freemason societies?
Where is the city between two rivers located?
Unfortunately, we can only speculate about this city. There are a number of cities "watered by two rivers."
Two nations where two large rivers are an important feature that spring immediately to mind are Iraq and France. There is no question that the clairvoyant saw many important future events taking place in Mesopotamia -- a region he was quite concerned about and predicted would be a major battleground in a future war. Although both Syria and Iraq make up this part of the world, he is more specific when he identifies the Mesopotamian nation as being "a land between two rivers" (obviously the Tigris and Euphrates).
Unfortunately, there is no modern Iraqi city that is watered by two rivers or the Tigris and Euphrates. There is a small town named Qurna where the two rivers meet and form the Shatt al-Arab. According to legend, this is the site of the Garden of Eden. But far from being a city, it is barely more than a village and was partially destroyed during the US invasion of 2003. If it were a city, and not a town, it would probably qualify as the city half-destroyed in the Third Secret of Fatima. Not far away is the city of Basrah, also partially depopulated by war. There is also the site of the ancient city of Babylon, where exiled Jews lamented by the banks of its rivers their loss of Zion. Initial work on Babylon's restoration was begun by the late Saddam Hussein in 1983, but three wars, one with Iran and two with the United States, destroyed some of the progress that was made and stalled further construction. Still, plans are currently underway by the US and the Iraqi government to rebuild Babylon as a tourist attraction and entertainment center ... to bring to fruition the dream pursued by Saddam. Lastly, there is the city of Baghdad, the capital of the "land between two rivers" (Iraq), although only the Tigris River runs through it.
As for France, Paris is watered by the two major rivers Seine and Marne.
Another French city that figures prominently in Nostradamus' quatrains concerning France and the Vatican is Avignon. It lies within the V formed by the rivers Rhone and Durance.
In Greece, the great city of Athens is watered by two rivers, the Kifisos and Ilisos.
In North America, the huge metropolis of Montreal in Quebec, Canada lies on the junction of two rivers: the St Lawrence and the Ottawa.
There are many others to be found throughout the world.
Where is the city where there is a nearby mountain with a cross at its summit?
Again, there are many such cities all over the world.
Is there a city watered by two rivers with a nearby mountain with a cross at its summit?
Returning to the city of Paris, the holy mountain, as suggested by a viewer, may well be the hill of the Sacre Couer Cathedral. Paris also is the city of Diana's death ("the Rose") and now the site of several Diana shrines of great significance.
Also in France, the holy mountain of Avignon, as suggested by another viewer, could well be Le rocher des Doms which looks a lot like the one of prophecy. As for the cross at the top of Le rocher des Doms, it likely belongs to the Cathedrale Notre Dame des Doms.
According to the Third Secret of Fatima, the city in question will be half-destroyed. In the case of Paris, a huge metropolis with a population of 2,249,975, the French prophet warns that a second, dreadful revolution will plague the great city again, which will be surrounded by foreign troops that will allow its own people to burn it to the ground. At Avignon, a city of 92,000, a terrible Muslim invasion will bring military destruction there as well.
Montreal, a huge, sprawling, cosmopolitan city between two rivers, is well-known for its holy mountain. The Mount Royal Cross is a monument on top of Mount Royal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It stands at the northeastern edge of the mountain, overlooking the east end of Montreal. The current cross stands 103 feet tall. It was converted to fibre-optic light in 1992, allowing the cross to be lit in red, blue or purple. The cross is usually illuminated in white; the new computerised system permits it to be changed to any colour, including the purple traditionally used between the death of the Pope and the election of the new Pope.
How frightful, indeed, it would be if the half-destroyed metropolis of prophecy is Montreal ... with a population in 2013 of 1,717,767. This would indeed indicate World War III had begun.
The Second Rose Prophecy Indicates Athens May Be The City
However, if we look at our second "rose" prophecy by Nostradamus, it becomes apparent that the city in question may well be ATHENS ... in the nation of Greece. Pope John Paul II visited this great city in 2001, but Pope Benedict XVI did not and Pope Francis has yet to visit there ... and he might not until the fatal blooming of "the Rose" takes place.
Nostradamus, Quatrain 5.31 ~
Through the land of Attica, leader of wisdom, which at present is the rose of the world: The Pontiff ruined
and his great pre-eminence, to be subjugated and a shipwreck in the waves.
Athens, the capital and largest city in Greece, is located in the southeastern part of the country along the Attic plain. Three of its sides are mountainous, the Parnis, Penteli and Hymettos Mountains, and two rivers, the Kifisos and Ilisos, flow throughout the city. It has a huge population of 3,737,550.
Athens is truly a city watered by two rivers.
That is all that is required for it to be the city described in Quatrain 2.97.
But could it also be the city of the Fatima vision ... a city where a sacred mountain can be accessed?
There is no notable cross at the top of any of the three mountains listed above, although there are several monastaries. The nearest mountain in Greece that does have a cross at its peak is many miles away on the Greek island of Rhodes (which is obviously not on the Attica plain and quite close to Turkey). However, in 1925, high above Mount Hymettus, just outside of Athens, there was a gigantic cross seen for the space of half an hour.
On the night of September 14, 1925, above the top of Mount Hymettus, over 2,000 of the Faithful witnessed a miracle from God: it took the form of a huge, radiant Byzantine cross:
One of the most astounding signs from God took place during the all-night vigil for the feast of the Exaltation of the Precious Cross, in the year 1925. In the little country chapel of St. John the Theologian at the foot of Mt. Hymettus (which was then miles outside of Athens, but which is now deep within the city limits-so much has the city grown. The section is called St. John Holargos) over two thousand people had gathered to celebrate the feast according to the old calendar reckoning. When Archbishop Papadopoulos got wind of it, he sent a message to the Minister of Interior Affairs, who in turn sent the police to disperse the crowd and arrest the priest. When the police arrived and saw the size of the crowd, they decided to wait until the morning to arrest the priest.
At midnight, just when the procession for Litya was taking place, the people who were standing outside in the court of the little chapel suddenly saw a giant cross forming in the heavens directly above their heads. The Cross, which was lying horizontally, stretched from the little chapel to above the peak of Mt. Hymettus, and was in the form of the Byzantine Cross, with three straight cross-bars. When the people saw it-it was most brilliant and radiant in appearance-they all cried out in fear. The procession and the service came to a stop, and the people fell on their knees weeping and chanting Kyrie eleison. The police, also, became so terrified that they literally threw down their weapons and with tears began to pray with the others. For a half-hour the Cross remained thus in the sky and then slowly began to raise itself until it finally stood straight up and down, and then it slowly disappeared.
Could the answer to the riddle of the cross in the Third Secret of Fatima be that the cross itself is a miracle? Imagine Pope Francis or a successor deciding one day to celebrate the 1925 Miracle of the Cross of Mount Hymettus by visiting Athens and then touring the slope and peak of the holy mountain ... a mountain whose slopes are inside Athens itself (just like the mountain in the Third Secret of Fatima, accessible from the "half-destroyed" city). From its top one can see all of Athens, the tops of the other mountains, and even as far southwest as the Peloponnese.
When we read the Third Secret of Fatima, it becomes apparent that the Cross itself transcends reality, being attended by angelic beings associated with Martyrdom and the sealing of souls.
Thus, there need be no cross at all ... the cross the Pope and his entourage may be paying homage to in the Fatima prophecy may be the miraculous one that appeared upon the feast of the Exaltation of the Precious Cross. Or could it be that a great monument will be erected there to commemorate the 1925 miracle ... a giant cross?
A future papal trip to Athens and Mount Hymettus could well mark another occasion of importance: an effort to merge the Greek Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church ... the reuniting of the Eastern and Western Roman Empire. Pope Benedict made great strides at the task John Paul II held dear: the reunification of the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion. Will Francis one day reconcile with the Greek Orthodox Church? This pope seems to be all about unification.
If Athens is the city half-destroyed, then this pope or another will die there "in the land of Attica" at a pivotal moment of future history, for there may be a biblical prophecy that coincides with the murderous attack by soldiers upon him and his entourage.
Daniel 11:2 ~
And now will I show thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia: and the fourth shall be far richer than they all: and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia.
World War III will either begin or be well under way when a declaration of war by Iran (Persia) is made against Greece, Macedonia, Turkey, and the European Union. When Iran invades Macedonia and Greece, Russia will invade Germany and Austria.
The Third Rose Prophecy Indicates a Great Revelation
Nostradamus, Quatrain 5.96 ~
The rose above the middle of the great world, for new deeds blood publicly shed: To speak the truth
they will have closed mouths, then at the time of need the awaited one will come late.
Although one meaning, as we will discover, concerns the murder of Princess Diana ("the Rose") in Paris, another concerns a religious cult, a spectacular suicide, and the release of a great revelation.
It was reported in 2011 by various news sources that a 1970s American mind-control cult similar to Scientology called "The Rose of the World" remains active in other countries, including Russia. An investigation by filmmaker Peter Pomerantsev has concluded without a doubt that Russian supermodel Ruslana Korshunova, who leapt to her death from a building site adjacent to her 9th floor Manhattan apartment on June 28, 2008, belonged to this cult. So too did another prominent model, Anastasia Drozdova, a close friend of Ruslana's, who also leapt to her death in 2009. Both were members of the cult, Rose of the World.
Ruslana allegedly wrote the following on her web page before leaping to her death: "My dream is to fly. Oh, my rainbow it is too high." A search of Anastasia's room yielded the following cryptic message from Rose of the World: "Anastasia, your lullaby is winter's end. You're on your way."
Ruslana's body was found 8.5 metres from the building from which she fell.
Pomerantsev had this to say about Ruslana's alleged suicide "jump":
"8.5 meters? That's not a fall. That's a leap. That's almost flight. She didn't stand on the ledge and take a step off. She took a run and soared."
Manhattan is the financial centre of the world ("middle of the great world"). Ruslana Korshunova's blood was shed publicly, but for what "new deeds" remains a mystery.
Meantime, the return of Jesus Christ was falsely anticipated to occur on May 21, 2011. However, as Nostradamus assures us, He will come much later than anyone dares to imagine.
In some way, this "rose revelation" may be a warning to the current pope that a "two rivers" city or "Holy cross mountain" must be avoided. It could be functioning as a timing clue, just as the time when the roses bloom (May/June) also does.
Unplanned, spontaneous trips could be extemely dangerous. One example of how such a trip could have been disastrous was the former Pope Benedict's June 2011 journey to Croatia and considered visit to nearby Medjugorje.
The timing of this papal visit to Zagreb was potentially dangerous had Pope Benedict decided to take a train or plane afterwards to Medjugorje and then climb Medjugorje Cross Mountain, the highest Golgotha in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Especially in light of the following revelation:
Student arrested ahead of Papal visit to Croatia
Cache of guns found but police have not confirmed if they have halted an assassination attempt on Holy Father
Scottish Catholic Observer
May 31, 2011
A Croatian student has been arrested after posting weird comments about Pope Benedict XVI on Facebook ahead of the Papal visit to the country this weekend. The arrest was made in the southern village of Skabrnja and the 22-year-old, who lives with his father, was found with two guns and 300 rounds of ammunition, according to police reports.
Croatian police have not confirmed whether they believe they halted an assassination attempt on the Holy Father, who is due to arrive in Zagreb on Saturday.
Prior to the incident, Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi said that the Pope feels at home in Croatia, a country with deep Christian and Catholic roots that has preserved with loyalty in difficult times. Today, Croatia faces the challenge of secularisation: the family and youth are crucial challenges it has to deal with, Fr Lombardi said. Thats why the central events of the Popes trip are his participation in the meeting with Croatian Catholic Families, and with young people.
This occurred on the heels of the arrest the previous week of former Bosnian Serb military general Ratko Mladic for genocide. Since the arrest and pending trial in the Netherlands, thousands of Serbs rioted and clashed with police in support of Mladic. The region, once again, threatened to become inflamed with passions ... then came the report of a foiled assassination. A city like Zagreb or Belgrade could have been torn asunder if just the wrong events had taken place.
Although when reading the Third Secret of Fatima one gets the feeling that the "big city" is quite near to the "mountain," this need not be the case. In this age of air travel they could be miles apart yet the trip from one to the other might only be 15 to 20 minutes, more or less. The Croatian city of Zagreb is this close in terms of air travel. It is not watered by two rivers, but it is "big" enough with a population of 785,964.
Yet, hop on a plane, and the Pope could be in the pastoral village of Medjugorje in less than half an hour.
The most famous and holy mountain in the world at this time is Cross Mountain in Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina. It is accessed from Apparition Mountain where a Marian apparition appeared before six children on June 24, 1981. Two of the six children have continued to receive messages from the Virgin Mary every month since that date. Medugorje has become one of the most popular pilgrimage sites for Catholics (and people of other faiths) in the world and has turned into Europe's third most important religious place, where each year more than 1 million people visit. It has been estimated that 30 million pilgrims have come to Medugorje since the reputed apparitions began in 1981. Many have reported visual phenomena including the sun spinning in the sky or changing colors and figures such as hearts and crosses around the sun.
When is either the Nostradamus prophecy or Fatima prophecy supposed to take place?
Unfortunately, Nostradamus does not say. Aside from the possible season of late spring or summer, a year is not given. Nor is there any planetary alignment contained in Quatrains 2.97 or 5.31 as a dating clue. Likewise, the Fatima revelation, as much as we know, reveals only that such an event will occur at a time of major, probably global, war (unless the half-destroyed city is in ruins due to a massive terrorist attack).
Base 7 projection
I believe that history repeats itself (more or less) at intervals of seven years and multiples of seven years. I call this mathematically-based theory "base 7 numerology" although it is not true numerology, but a mathematically-contrived system based on observation of historical patterns ... a way to understand and anticipate the workings of a very real natural phenomenon.
The key to the future, in other words, lies in the past. History truly does repeat itself, yet not always exactly.
I use real historical events, their months and years, as the index or precedent(s) for the projected future event. I also use real prophecy and close observation of current events to calculate in what direction we are heading. I find that to the year I am usually between 71% and 91% successful with my predictions.
So, according to my base 7 system of numerology, when might the current pope be in danger?
Some things are hidden from us, however perfect God's number 7 may be. There are some events we are meant to be confused about, and that we cannot be allowed to tamper with .. for better or for worse. Yet, it is surprising the many things we are allowed to know about in advance ... and to change or at least postpone. Evidence of the number 7, and multiples thereof, working through diverse historical patterns and trends is more plentiful than one man alone can possibly predict. Often I discover, after it is too late, that yet another "base 7" historical repetition has played out.
Still, some things are intended to be hidden. All of these projections of past events repeating again in some fashion in the future and the dating "vectors" for them are merely "windows of opportunity." That is all they are: opportunities for an event to happen again in some way. Yet, by anticipating the future through the study of past events and repetitive trends, these projections can fulfill the same function as prophecy.
There are three established assassination and assassination attempt "windows of opportunity" to be concerned about: September 1978, May 1981, and May 1982.
The first is September 1978. This was a "Triple Pope" year. August, September, and October were marked by the deaths of Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul I, and Pope John Paul II's ascension to the Holy See.
The last repetition of that year was 2013. I believed and predicted that Pope Benedict XVI would die of natural causes like Pope Paul VI. Instead he was the first pope to retire in Vatican history.
It then stood to reason that his successor, who turned out to be Pope Francis, might die after a brief reign like Pope John Paul I who, it is widely believed, was murdered by poison. It would have happened no later than September 2013. Nerves became frayed in June 2013, one month before Francis was to visit Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, when mass protests and terrible riots broke out that lasted for many days and involved millions of people. Parts of the city went up in flames.
I felt it necessary to warn against the planned July 2013 visit. Indeed, the trip was nearly canceled by Vatican officials. Fortunately, the rioting ended a few weeks beforehand and peace prevailed during the papal visit. An opportunity for 2013 to become another Triple Pope year failed.
Had Francis died after a short reign, the next pope might well have been the one Nostradamus called "Paul the celibate." He would have fled Rome during the appearance of an unusually bright comet and later died at Avignon during a military attack on southern France. When that might have happened is unknown since the third pope of 1978, John Paul II, reigned a very long time. Avignon is a city between two rivers.
Of course, Francis did not die and a third pope was not elected.
Still, anxiety was high in 2013 because two major comets were predicted by astronomers to appear. The first, the much anticipated Comet PanSTARRS, turned out to be yet another fizzle. Because of its timing, I never believed it would be a danger anyway, unless it were to portend disaster in Rio. A greater expectation awaited for November 2013 with Comet ISON (yet another major disappointment). That would have been during the time of the third pope had Francis died earlier in the year. If ISON had been an extremely bright comet and a third pope had been elected by August, September, or October, World War III might have begun at that time. Again, fortunately this was not the case.
The year 1978 comes around again in 2020. Will 2020 become the next "Triple Pope" year?
The other two base 7 dates to be concerned about are May 2016, due to the attempted assassination and serious injuring of Pope John Paul II when he was shot by Mehmet Ali Agca in May 1981, and May 2017, due to a second attempt on the Pope's life in May 1982 when he was attacked by a bayonet-wielding priest.
May 2016 has passed, and Pope Francis safely completed a papal visit to Armenia in June. Still, May 1981 will continue to be an influence throughout the remainder of 2016. After that, May 2017 will be the last window of opportunity until September 2020.
Again, May 1982 will wield its influence throughout the year 2017.
We should be very concerned about 2017: the May 1982 attack on John Paul II occurred in F�tima, Portugal. Whether or not John Paul II was wounded by the bayonet was not allowed to be reported. But F�tima is the source of the Third Secret prophecy and it is to F�tima that Francis will travel on either May 13, 2017 ... on the 100th anniversary of the first apparition (the roses will be blooming then too) .... or October 13, 2017 ... on the 100th anniversary of the last apparition!
The decision has not yet been made and it may well be either or both. Or it may yet be another date: July 13, 2017 ... on the 100th anniversary of the revealing of the Third Secret.
I must emphasize that new precedents can always be created and not one of these three years may be the year of impact. In the face of established prophecy, vigilance has to be maintained at all times.
Clues from Nostradamus
Quatrain 2.97, by itself, reads like a papal visit gone horribly wrong. It sings with a sense of peacetime in spring or summer, with roses abloom, perhaps with what may be a beautiful apparition of Diana occurring at the same time in England -- all shattered by the crackling guns of assassins.
However, in sharp contrast to this scenario is the Third Secret of Fatima which says the city will be gloomy and half-destroyed, apparently by war, and that the visiting pope will bless the dead bodies of the inhabitants before he and his entire ENTOURAGE are killed BY SOLDIERS.
The entourage is the detail that may link the two prophecies. Nostradamus says "both you and yours" to the pope who will die, thus indicating others accompanying him will also die.
However, I must stress this as a possibility: Quatrain 2.97 may deal with the first murdered pope (Francis or his successor) and the Third Secret of Fatima prophecy may concern the next murdered pope, "Paul the Celibate" (Pope Paul VII? Pope John Paul III?).
Thus, we may see: 1) a murdered "Rose Pope," 2) a murdered "Paul the Celibate" (Pol Mensolee) during a military attack, 3) followed by the election of a French pope in exile ... not to officially return to take power in Rome and the Vatican for another 25 months.
In a series of frightening quatrains, Nostradamus describes an invasion of southern France via the Pyrenees and from the port at Marseilles. It culminates with nearly a million dead French civilians killed by "fire from the sky" as they flee northwards toward Lyon (which is also captured by the enemy). I believe the cause of the "fire" may be Fuel Air Explosives, sometimes called the poor man's nuclear bomb. The devastation from FAEs is nearly as horrific as that caused by atomic bombs, only without the radiation.
This southern advance I believe will either be led by 1) by a powerful, united Arab leader much to the bewilderment of The West and to other nations like Russia and China; the major nations not having expected this to happen, or 2) by powerful Iranian ("Persian") and "Median" allies of Moscow (Iranians, Kurds, and Muslim groups from the former Soviet Union). In addition, if the second instance prevails, Russian forces will press westward into Austria and Germany from the former Warsaw Pact and north into Scandinavia. Either way, the world will be at war.
"Pol Mensolee"/"Paul the celibate" (Nostradamus)
The next pope, whenever he is elected, will likely be called Paul VII or else John Paul III.
If Francis fails to fulfill the role of Petrus Romanus, but instead proves to be Ignis ardens, upon his death or retirement it will be said of him that he was one of the "indeterminant number of popes" not named by Malachy that would reign between Gloria Olivae and Petrus Romanus. Upon the election of his successor it may be said that he is the Tribulation pope. But this will be wrong, as he shall have a successor who will be French and reign many years.
This next pope was a frontrunner in the election that followed the death of Pope John Paul II and again in the election that followed Pope Benedict's official retirement. The current Archbishop of Milan and former Patriarch of Venice, Cardinal Angelo Scola, retains the right to participate in any future conclaves that begin before his 80th birthday on November 7, 2021.
The reign of "Pol Mensolee" will be short, for war will come to Western Europe and he shall be forced to flee Rome. He will escape to France, only to be killed-in-action in Avignon during a military attack.
Nostradamus, Quatrain 1.37 ~
A short time before the sun sets, conflict is engaged, a great nation in doubt:
Overcome, the marine port will not reply, Pontiff and grave to be both in foreign places.
Nostradamus, Quatrain 8.46 ~
Paul the celibate will die three leagues from the Rhone, the two nearest flee the destructive monster:
When Mars will make a most horrible throne, the cock and the eagle, France, the three brothers.
John of the Cleft Rock (14th Century)
Towards the end of the world, tyrants and hostile mobs will rob the Church and the clergy of all their possessions and will afflict and martyr them. Those who heap the most abuse upon them will be held in high esteem.
At that time, the Pope with his cardinals will have to flee Rome in tragic circumstances to a place where they will be unknown. The Pope will die a cruel death in his exile. The sufferings of the Church will be much greater than at any previous time in her history. But God will raise a holy Pope, and the Angels will rejoice. Enlightened by God, this man will rebuild almost the whole world through his holiness. He will lead everyone to the true Faith.
Pope Pius X (1835 - 1914)
"What I have seen is terrifying! Will I be the one, or will it be a successor? What is certain is that the Pope will leave Rome and, in leaving the Vatican, he will have to pass over the dead bodies of his priests! Do not tell anyone this while I am alive."
"I saw one of my successors taking to flight over the bodies of his brethren. He will take refuge in disguise somewhere and after a short retirement he will die a cruel death. The present wickedness of the world is only the beginning of the sorrows which must take place before the end of the world. Respect for God has disappeared from human hearts. They wish to efface even God's memory. This perversity is nothing less than the beginning of the last days of the world."
Watch Out For Planet Mars
We were able to rule out an August 27, 2003 dating for the above Quatrain 8.46 when global war failed to occur at the time Mars achieved its closest opposition to earth in 60,000 years. Therefore, Nostradamus might only be writing of Mars in its usual role of the God of War.
However, in July 2018, Mars will undergo its second closest opposition to earth in 60,000 years ... with the August 2003 opposition being the only closer one. To the human eye there will be no difference at all:
On July 31, 2018 Mars will only be 35.8 million miles from Earth ... the closest approach since August 27, 2003 when it was only 34.6 million miles and the closest at that time in 60,000 years.
In other words, if not for the August 2003 opposition, the coming July 2018 opposition would be the closest in 60,000 years. Scientists calculate they won't get that close again until August 28, 2287.
Once again, "Mars will make a most horrible throne."
Thus, according to Quatrain 8.46 above, a pope who flees Rome will die nine miles (three leagues) from Tarascon, in Avignon. As mentioned already, Avignon is situated in the V formed by the rivers Rhone and Durance. He will literally be between two rivers.
Diana, the possible "rose" of Quatrain 2.97, died in northern France, in Paris, watered by the rivers Seine and Marne.
So there is an interesting symmetry here: northern France for Diana, southern France for Pol Mensolee (Paul VII or John Paul III).
So Quatrain 2.97 apparently happens during a time of war, just as the Fatima vision suggests.
The fiery invasion of southern France is also echoed in an ancient document authored by an unknown clergyman in AD 346. Entitled the Liber Vaticinationem Quodam Instinctumentis, it presages three world wars that will directly involve Germany, the first two as an aggressor and the last as a defender of "the Empire" against the invaders from the East:
For the third (world war), the earth shakes,
The throat of the Gaul (France) is ravaged.
Many die fleeing from the awful winds,
The sun halts in its path in the heavens.
It is then said that the norma will die "when the wolf (Germany) is hacked to bits."
According to Nostradamus many of the towns and cities in this region, such as Carcassonne, Comminges, Foix, Auch, Mazeres, Nice, Frejus, and Antibes will be attacked by enemies with weapons that bring down "fire from the sky."
During this invasion, the Pope dies approaching Le Rocher des Doms. Nearly a million French will die along with him or be taken captive:
All of the inhabitants of Marseilles are changed,
Fleeing and pursued as far as Lyon,
Narbonne, Toulouse outraged by Bordeaux,
The killed and captive are nearly one million.
Citizens of Marseilles are pursued by Islamic forces as far as the major French city of Lyon 150 miles to the north. The southern cities of Toulouse and Narbonne are sacked, and the total number of French killed or taken prisoner fleeing 'the awful winds' of atomic and FAE (Fuel Air Explosive) attacks are 1,000,000.
In any event, I must lay out this scenario, if not as a warning to Francis (whose name does not really conform to "Paul"), then to the one who follows after him.
"The Pope from Ancient France" aka "The Cardinal of France" (Nostradamus)
I believe the above cardinal of France, Andr� Armand Vingt-Trois, may be the same "cardinal of France" Nostradamus tells us will appear during World War III and that this man will be elected pope to become the "great Pontiff." Many candidates have been placed by interpreters of prophecy; however, I have been consistant about my belief that Vingt-Trois will be the French pontiff since at least 2004. Nostradamus even names him in one quatrain when London is under attack and a highly-placed high priestess, none other than "the whore of Babylon," is killed along with many of her sect.
The Vatican will be in exile at this time. When the war ends, he will return to Rome and will become the greatest pope of our age: "The great Pontiff" who shall rule alongside the "The Great Monarch."
However, according to John of Vitiguerro (13th Century) there may be no pope at all for 25 months, after which the French pope is elected:
The pope will change his residence and the Church will not be defended for twenty-five months or more because, during all that time there will be no Pope in Rome... After many tribulations, a Pope shall be elected out of those who survived the persecutions.
This could delay the "great Pontiff" coming to power until 2020 ... but only if the second closest opposition of Mars in the last 60,000 years in July 2018 is of prophetic significance. After all, the closest opposition of August 2003 came and went without a third world war taking place.
Vingt-Trois will be eligible to participate in any future papal conclaves until he reaches the age of 80, on November 7, 2022.
Here is yet another prophecy concerning a French pontiff:
Abbot "Merlin" Joachim (d. 1202) ~
At the beginning, in order to obtain these happy results, having need of a powerful temporal assistance, this holy Pontiff will ask the cooperation of the generous monarch of France (Great Monarch). At that time a handsome monarch, a scion of King Pepin, will come as a pilgrim to witness the splendor of this glorious pontiff, whose name shall begin with R . . . A temporal throne becoming vacant, the Pope shall place on it this king whose assistance he shall ask.
This certainly appears to be about the pope who, in most prophecies, comes to power near or at the end of World War III along with "the Great Monarch" (whom Nostradamus names "Chiren" in the quatrains).
Then again, perhaps the "great Pontiff" comes to power before the great and terrible war begins and the "Great Monarch" (who is usually French) does not take action and defeat the enemies from "the East" until near the end of the war. Thus, speculation concerning the identity of this monarch will remain a subject of debate until this destined "first king" of Europe drives out the Eastern armies. However, if he is to be a descendent of Pepin the Short, he would have to be of Carolingian blood, long thought to be extinct.
Upon this issue of the "great Pontiff" many prophecies are in contradiction: some say the wartime pope flees Rome and dies in exile, there is no pope or only antipopes for a few years, and then another pope (the "great Pontiff") is elected and installed at the end of the world war; others say the wartime pontiff flees Rome, goes into temporary exile, and is restored to the Vatican when the war ends.
Which shall it be?
Benedict XVI, pontiff emeritus: Future German Antipope?
Benedict XVI may be retired and no longer a pope, but he is very much alive and can still function as an antipope.
There is a lengthy (too lengthy for this page) prophecy by Merlin that would suggest that the now retired Benedict XVI might come to be regarded as a "German Anti-Pope" after which another pope is restored as "true Pope" by the French monarch near the end of the war.
Merlin (6th century) ~
There will come a German Anti-Pope. Italy and Germany will be sorely troubled. A French King will restore the true Pope ...
In the meanwhile a powerful Prince out of the East shall provoke him to battle. Against whom the Lion shall march with all his forces and pitching his camp on this side (west) of the Euphrates, shall await him. If the Prince shall come over the river the Lion shall be overcome; but he (Lion) shall cross the river with his army and give his enemy a bloody defeat and be master of all the East.
Note that Merlin somewhat contradicts Joachim who says the Pope will select the great Monarch and restore him to the long vacant imperial throne of the Charlemagne empire. Here it is the monarch who restores the Pope. Also, in this instance, the pope from Germany is called an "Anti-Pope." Time will tell.
The Pope of the Crooked Cross
Although the following quatrain alone does not identify who "the great Pontiff" may be, it is important in setting the stage for one that does. Note that a time will come when the Pope has his own army. No pope has had a real army of his own since the 16th Century. And since this prophecy was never fulfilled during the 16th Century, during or after the death of Nostradamus, it must be futuristic.
By sea the red one will be captured by pirates,
The peace will be troubled by his policy:
The anger and greed will be revealed by a false act,
For the great Pontiff the army will be doubled.
Apparently the Cardinal Legate will be taken hostage at sea by terrorists ("pirates"), troubling a shaky peace. The Pope's private army will be doubled, indicating he already has had one for some period of time.
Through the party of Mars, the great Pontiff
Will subjugate the confines of the Danube:
The cross pursues with a crooked cross of iron,
Captives, gold, jewels, more than one hundred thousand rubies.
Again we see a new pope with a private army. During the latter stages of World War III, he will order a task force into lower Germany, Austria, and the former Yugoslavia to drive out what foreign forces still remain in these countries. War criminals will be pursued and captured, weapons confiscated, prisoners released from death camps, and valuables restored to the survivors.
Note that in line 3 the Pope is associated with the "crooked cross of iron": Nostradamus' description in other quatrains of the Nazi swastika. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was a member of the Hitler youth and served in the German army for two years before deserting to America. For this reason, I believe this quatrain, at least, and possibly Quatrain 5.44 above, may be about a German antipope, the now-retired Benedict XVI, and events yet to come in the near future.
The Name of the Rose
Nostradamus may be providing the pontiff with a double clue as to the time when he and his entourage may be gunned down by assassins.
"When blooms the rose" not only indicates the season of summer but the July 1 to August 31 period when the memory of Princess Diana, "England's Rose" is honored each year at Althorp, London, and the tunnel in Paris.
The Resurrection of the Rose
Nostradamus, Quatrain 4.24 ~
Heard beneath the holy earth the sacred voice of a woman, divine flame to shine for the human voice: It will cause
the sole ones their land to be stained with blood, and the holy temples of the impure ones destroyed.
Nostradamus seems to have prophesied the death of Princess Diana, her "temple" at Althorp, and her reappearance to the world as a miraculous apparition. Sacred ground, especially from Nostradamus' strict European Christian perspective, is usually burial ground: earth that has been consecrated by the Church or by a Christian ceremony made suitable for burial of the dead. Thus, the woman whose voice is discerned coming from the ground is dead. Therefore, what we are experiencing in this quatrain is a woman of tremendous importance, adored and loved in death as well as in life, returning to communicate a message to her worshippers and to the entire world. This final event has been presaged by a growing number of paranormal apparitions sighted in various parts of the world, including the UK, by large numbers of people and entire communities. Most recently Diana's ghost appeared quite clearly in a church in Scotland and was captured on camera, the video since going viral. This, however, was but a precursor of the event predicted by Nostradamus.
Diana's spirit appearance at Althorp, or before a multitude elsewhere, should occur after the founding of a new, false religion (ISIS?) and just prior to Iraq entering a huge regional conflict in the Middle East (the still ongoing war in Syria and parts of Iraq) just before World War III is triggered:
Nostradamus, Quatrain 9.74 ~
Within the city of Fersod (al-Sadr), homicide, again and again many oxen plow, not to slaughter,
a return again to the honours of Diana, and to Vulcan dead bodies to burn.
So very terrible will this war be that many hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of people will be delivered up as human sacrifices to Vulcan, the God of Fire. They will be soldiers and luckless civilians incinerated by terrible weapons, including nuclear weapons. Also, perhaps, their dead bodies will be collected and mass cremated. In one quatrain, Nostradamus links Babylon (Iraq) to "the infernal gods of Hannibal," and thusly to the worship of Ba'al Hammon who was honoured in Carthage by the taking of criminals, slaves, war prisoners, and other people unlucky to be captives and burning them alive at an altar before a statue shaped like a giant bull or ox. One such bull was made of bronze and hollow on the inside. The human sacrifice was shut up inside its belly and roasted alive, his or her screams sounding like the bellowing of a bull when issuing forth from the statue's metallic nostrils. Later, when the trap door of the bull's stomach was opened, the victims' bones tumbled out, glistening like well-polished jewels.
Fersod (change the "F" to an "L) = el-Sodr. Modernised, "el" becomes "al", thus el-Sodr becomes al-Sodr, which sounds like the actual spelling, al-Sadr. Sadr City is a southern suburban district of the city of Baghdad.
During the reign of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein it was called Saddam City. After the US invasion of Iraq ended in May 2003, the district was renamed Sadr City after the deceased Shi'a leader Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr. Muqtada al-Sadr, an Iraqi Shi'a mullah who leads the Mahdi Army (also spelled as Mehdi Army) in Iraq, is the son of the man the city was named after, and used Sadr City as a base of operations against US occupational forces between 2004 and 2007. If al-Sadr ever becomes leader of Iraq, which is possible, this would make Baghdad his city by namesake.
Muqtada al-Sadr may well be the "king of Babylon" prophesied by both Nostradamus and the Biblical prophet Jeremiah to appear in the latter days. Jeremiah warns that at the conclusion of the great war, Babylon (Iraq) will be utterly destroyed by many nations from beyond the Middle East, likely from Europe, as well as by the former Mede nations such as Georgia, Armenia, and Turkey. Afterwards, it will remain uninhabitable forever. Nostradamus specifically predicts the armies that are arrayed against "the King of Babylon" at the conclusion of World War III will be led by "the King of Europe" allied with those of Russia.
The huge regional conflict to occur in the Middle East will be ignited by a figure named Alus sanguinaire: "The bloody Alus." This is possibly Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (al-Us sad). Then again, it may be connected to the brutal regime and "caliphate" known as ISIS/ISIL or, as they prefer to be known, the Islamic State, and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Once again, I point to the coming visit by Pope Francis to Fatima, Portugal near the 100th anniversary of the Third Secret of Fatima on July 13, 2017 and the July 31, 2018 dating of Mars' second closest opposition in 60,000 years.
Angelina Jolie: The New Diana
This is actually rather shocking. But watching Pope Francis greet UN ambassador and actress Angelina Jolie in January 2015 gave me a sense of de ja vu ... when Pope John Paul II greeted Princess Diana. Note that both women are wearing black.
Could it be that instead of England's Rose we are witnessing the flourishing of the World's Rose in the person of Angelina Jolie?
It seems to me that if there is a danger to anyone other than the Pope in 2017 or 2018, it would have to be someone who comes in close to being another Princess Diana, and possibly one who is an actress. And there is only one person I can think of who fits that description:
Angelina Jolie warns ISIS using rape as weapon of war on unprecedented scale - September 9, 2015.
ISIS, thus far, has said nothing publically about Jolie's remarks or threatened her. But I fear that day may well come.
One can see that although Angelina Jolie is not royalty as was Princess Diana, she is a major global diplomat and humanitarian, something that Princess Diana also was. But while on the subject of royalty:
Angelina Jolie's meeting with Pope Francis came three months after she received an honorary Damehood from Queen Elizabeth II.
The Oscar-winning actress met the Queen in October 2014, and was presented with the Insignia of an Honorary Dame Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George at a reception at Buckingham Palace.
The monarch herself received Angelina, who starred as Lara Croft in Tomb Raider, Mr and Mrs Smith, and Changeling, and who was named by Forbes as Hollywood's highest-paid actress.
Angelina Jolie has been in Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt. Jolie also is to play the role of Cleopatra in an upcoming movie to be filmed in 2016 with a tentative projected release in 2017. Then again, the film may never get made. In any case, she has definite ties to Egypt. Husband Brad Pitt and Angelina have spent much time in that country since June 2012.
Thus, from a prophecy perspective, it is quite possible Angelina Jolie may outdo Princess Diana in stature. Because she has almost all the requirements to become "The Woman Clothed With the Sun": The Woman of Revelation 12:1-6.
And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
There is one problem.
Angelina Jolie had both ovaries and Fallopian tubes removed. For her to become pregnant would require a miracle. Yet, such miracles do happen and make major news when they do. Such a miracle child would without question have the attention of the entire planet.
I believe Revelation 12 is linked to the vision Jeane Dixon had in 1962 concerning the birth of a future messiah.
The wilderness mentioned in Revelation 12 simply means the places where there are desert sands and scant vegetation. Thus, the woman will be hidden in the desert for a period of 1,260 days: 42 months (3 1/2 years). Still, if Dixon's vision is related to Revelation 12, she will be murdered, stabbed in the back by an assailant.
Thus, if Angelina Jolie is the woman of Revelation 12, and the dragon in this case represents an antichrist system, possibly either the Sufyani (ISIS) or the Dajjal of Islamic prophecy, she will be attacked but escape in August/September 2018, only to be captured and killed 42 months later ... in February/March 2022.
Again, this is a big "if" that Angelina Jolie is the woman of Revelation 12. Still it is not something to be entirely dismissed. She is the closest we have come to someone like Princess Diana since the death of Diana. Remarkably so.
Kate Middleton: An English Rose By Any Other Name
On April 24, 2011, the time finally arrived for a substitute "England's Rose" ... a woman who would marry Diana's eldest son and pretender to the throne, Prince William. For that is what people are beginning to call the former Catherine Elizabeth Middleton (Kate Middleton), now Duchess of Cambridge. Like the late Princess Diana did when she was alive, Kate is also setting new fashion trends. She is the most popular female to marry into royalty since Diana ... many are counting on her to take Diana's place in their hearts. Will she be able to do this?
It is still much too early to tell if a link between England's new rose and the Pope has been established. Stay tuned.
Evidence that Nostradamus' Rose is a Person
As much as I dislike having to do this, my assertion that Nostradamus used "the Rose" to represent Princess Diana will hold no water unless I discuss a quatrain that seems to indicate that her death would be linked to a conspiracy. Only after Diana's death did I understand this prediction, because it had been many years since I had heard her called "England's Rose" -- for so very long she had been "Di," "Lady Di," "Princess Di," or simply "Diana" to her adoring fans and admirers.
Quatrain 5.96
Above the middle of the great world, the rose,
For new deeds blood publicly is shed:
To speak the truth they (French investigators) will have closed mouths,
Then, at a time of need, the awaited one will come late.
Diana was the most famous and glamorous woman in "the great world." If the second line does apply to her, she was killed because of "new deeds": possibly her affair with boyfriend Dodi al-Fayed. The French authorities have frustrated the international public which adored Diana by being tight-lipped about the investigation. It is doubtful they will ever "speak the truth," perhaps because French secret police were involved in the murder plot.
The last line remains a mystery, unless it refers to the tardy coronation of an aging Prince Charles. Then again, if the "awaited one" is a spiritual leader, it could refer to Pope Francis. It must be noted that Pope John Paul II's funeral was held exactly 7 years and 7 months after the funeral of Princess Diana. The election of Francis may be coded by "will come late" as the time between funerals.
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Mary and The Rosa Mystica
In a recent letter from a visitor to this web site I was enlightened on yet another connexion to the rose. The Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus, has also been called the Rosa Mystica (Mystical Rose) since her appearances in Montichiari, Italy in 1947 and 1968.
The writer states that she thinks "that the 'blooming of the rose' could very well be the acceptance of her many calls to Prayer, and Penance for the sake of World Peace. The number of Reported apparitions has skyrocketed in the last forty years or so and if a small percentage are real then this will truly be what even secular media have called The Age of Mary."
According to one web site dedicated to providing information on Mary as Rosa Mystica:
"Since antiquity the rose was considered a symbol of mystery. For early Christians the rose is a visual expression for paradise (Catacombs of Callixtus, 3rd century) but also for martyrdom (Cyprian, Ep. 10). The Marian interpretation of this symbol dates to the 5th century (Sedulius Caelius). He is probably the first to call Mary a 'rose among thorns' (Carmen paschale II, 28-31).
Frequent Marian references to rose and rosebush were made in medieval times with special reference to Isaiah 11,1 ('...a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse / and from his roots a bud shall blossom.').
Medieval authors had a second source for their use of mystical rose: the verse from Sir. 24, 14 ('like a palm tree in Engedi, like a rosebush in Jericho') which makes reference to God graced fertility and growth, again a reference to the mysterious generation of Christ from the womb of Mary.
It is based on these two traditions that the expression rosa mystica was coined by the author of the Litanies of Loreto, and subsequently used in hymns ('Es ist ein Ros...') and art (center of the labyrinth of Chartres)."
I have also uncovered something else of interest in my research. Another, more specific meaning may be found regarding the "blooming of the rose." Since Montichiari, some Catholics celebrate July 13 as the Day of Mary.
Therefore, if an actual month or season is being referenced by Nostradamus in association with someone named "the rose," in a strange way it might not matter whether we mean the Virgin Mary or Princess Diana. For Mary, the season is summer, specifically the month of July (and more specifically July 13). For Diana, the season is also summer, and July/August marks the Althorp season when her life is reflected upon -- from her birth on July 1 to her death on August 31.
If Rosa Mystica is the key to Quatrain 2.97, and the Day of Mary is the clue to the "blooming of the Rose," then Pope Benedict XVI or the one who follows him may be assassinated on a specific date: July 13, 2008 or July 13, 2009.
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Pope Benedict XVI in Prophecy
Pope Benedictus XVI Retires from Papacy on 28 February
The First Pope To Resign in Nearly 600 Years
Neither the Rose Prophecy nor the Third Secret of Fatima shall touch this pope.
However, because this may be a Triple Pope year, his successor might
have a very short reign and succumb to the most dire of prophecies.
Pope Benedict to resign at the end of the month, Vatican says
February 11, 2013
Rome (CNN) -- Pope Benedict XVI will resign on February 28, his spokesman Father Federico Lombardi told CNN Monday.
The 85-year-old pope is resigning "because of advanced age," Benedict told the cardinals of the Catholic Church on Monday.
"Strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me," the pope told the cardinals, according to the Vatican.
The last pope to resign was Gregory XII in 1415. He did so to end a civil war within the church in which more than one man claimed to be pope.
'I'm just a pilgrim,' Benedict XVI says in public farewell
March 1, 2013 � Rome (CNN) -- Benedict XVI's time as pope came to a historic end Thursday, as he became the first pontiff in six centuries to resign as leader of the world's Roman Catholics, who now number 1.2 billion. Torchlit crowds stood before the gates of the Castel Gandolfo residence, waiting to see the Swiss Guards, the soldiers who traditionally protect the pope, salute and close the doors on the stroke of 8 p.m.
The guards' departure from the papal summer home brings Benedict's papacy to a formal end. The protection of Benedict there falls now to Vatican police. The process of transition to that new pope now begins. Meanwhile, the Catholic Church is without a leader. Benedict, who will now be known as "pontiff emeritus," will spend the next few weeks at the peaceful, hilltop Castel Gandolfo residence before moving to a small monastery on Vatican grounds.
"I am no longer the pope but I am still in the church. I'm just a pilgrim who is starting the last part of his pilgrimage on this earth. I would still -- with my heart, with my love, with my prayers, with my reflection, and with all my inner strength -- like to work for the common good and the good of the church and of humanity. I feel very supported by your kindness. Let us go forward with the Lord for good of the church and the world. Thank you."
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN (2/13/13), UPDATED (3/1/13): Before continuing, I believe the timing of Benedict's resignation proves I am correct about Malachy's list of mottos of future popes being misinterpreted and misapplied. It is now clear the following nine antipopes should not have been included in the list: Victor IV (1159-1164), Paschal III (1164-1168), Callistus III (1168-1178), Nicholas V (1328-1330), Clement VII (1378-1394), Benedict XIII (1394-1423), Alexander V (1409-1410), John XXIII (1410-1415), and Felix V (1440-1449).
As has been a matter of record for the last eight years on this page, I do not believe Pope Benedict XVI was 'Gloria Olivae' but rather 'Lumen in C�lo' ('Light in the Sky'). Two distinct naked eye comets appeared during his reign: Comet McNaught (2007), a major and historic comet that could even be seen during daytime, and the easy to find Comet Holmes (also in 2007) visible every night, all night, for over a month in the northern hemisphere constellation of Perseus.
In addition, Comet PanSTARRS, now delighting southern hemisphere viewers, shall become even brighter in the evening sky in the northern hemisphere beginning on March 7.
The comet just reached the threshold of naked eye visibility as a morning object on February 11 ... the same day Pope Benedict announced to the world his decision to resign the papacy. PanSTARRS shall be bright throughout the entire month of March, and especially bright March 12 and 13, near to when a conclave will begin the process to elect a new pope by Easter, March 31.
Pope Benedict XVI, Benedictus, pontiff emeritus, 'Lumen in C�lo'
Thus, it appears that a major comet has marked Pope Benedict XVI's resignation announcement, and has brightened considerably in time to attend his actual resignation and the entire month to follow during which there shall be no pope. However, until the next pope is elected, in the meantime the "light in heaven" will grow brighter whilst Benedict XVI remains pontiff emeritus. Truly, if any pope deserved the motto Lumen in C�lo, is it not Benedict XVI?
And, if this is not enough ... as further proof that Pope Benedict XVI is 'Lumen in C�lo', two other notable lights in the heaven were seen while Benedict was still officially pope. One of these also occurred on the day he announced his resignation, the other on 15 February:
VOXXI,
February 15, 2013
Just hours after Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation Feb. 11, lightning struck the top of the St. Peters Basilica at the Vatican.
Is it the end of the world as we know it? It has been a busy weekPope Benedict XVI quit the papacy, the first time it has been done in about 600 years.
Then this morning, the country woke up to news of a bus-sized meteor striking Earth and unleashing as much power as an atomic bomb.
Plus, many have seen that picture of lightning striking St. Peters Basilica taken earlier this week, shortly after the pope made his announcement.
There may be more to Benedict's resignation than his concerns about his age or possible health problems. Lest we forget, exactly one year ago the following warning was released to the public:
We might even regard the arrival of Comet PanSTARRS along with the lightning striking the basilica of St. Peter's dome as Benedict's 'Light in the Sky' and the meteorite exploding over Chelyabinsk, Russia as a sign of the coming 'Burning Fire.' We might say all three of these are portents associated with the transfer of power over the period from Benedict to Francis, demonstrating characteristics of both.
Pope Benedict XVI: "Gloria Olivae" Was Clearly a Forced Malachy Motto
It had long been whispered in the Vatican halls that a Benedictine would lead when all the nations of Christendom would come to be in grave peril from the enemies gathering in the East. The author of this folly was a 12th Century monk named St Malachy who conferred upon the 111th pope on his list the motto of Gloria Olivae, which translated means "the Glory of the Olive."
The order St Benedict founded, the Benedictines, is also known as the "Olivetans." Clearly, someone in the Vatican went to a lot of trouble to force the prophecy of Malachy to come true. Being a Benedictine is one thing, but electing a pope to take on the name of Benedict would make it appear that the prophecy had been sealed.
This, after the shortest election conclave in Vatican history, leaves little room for doubt that this rite of passage was all planned out in advance.
The choice of Benedict almost guaranteed that a world war was looming on the horizon.
Why? The last Benedict, Benedict XV, became pope in 1914 just before World War I broke out. He spent the next four years trying to get the warring nations of Europe to mend their differences and end the most calamitous conflict in world history up to that time.
So, this tells us several things. The Vatican believed at the time of Benedict's election, and still believes, that World War III is right around the corner. They wanted a pope in power who could live up to the name given by Malachy: "Glory of the Olive" -- a name which also signifies the role of the peacemaker (to this day "offering an olive branch" is a gesture of peace). Thus, they hoped Pope Benedict XVI would be instrumental in bringing a quick end to the coming world war, preventing it from happening, or leading all of Christendom in the coming great conflict of good against evil where the West and Christianity will emerge victorious.
And let us not forget that Benedict still lives ... as a retired pope. Should anything happen to Pope Francis, should he be assassinated by warlike forces, Benedict could be pulled out of retirement in an effort to make the peace.
It is even possible that by retiring, rather than dying, Benedict's motto of Gloria Olivae has been passed on to Pope Francis. Think of it as Benedict being Gloria Olivae Part One and Francis as Gloria Olivae Part Two. If this is what has happened, Petrus Romanus may still be in the future: the next pope to be elected.
His Legacy
At first alienating the Islamic world with 14th Century maledictions; afterwards he bowed to Mecca from what was once Constantinople, stood amid the ruins atop Mount Nebo to view the Holy Land where Moses once stood, and appealed for reconciliation between Jews and Muslims from a podium in Amman. He was also the first pope to enter the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem's Old City and the first pope to pray at the Western Wall.
He was the first pope to visit Great Britain in 30 years, and his was the first state visit by a pope since the 16th century when King Henry VIII broke from Rome. To that end, he won the admiration of the Archbishop of Canterbury who joined with him in calls for a marriage between The Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church. Indeed, if any pope ever came close to establishing a unified Christian Church, it may well have been Pope Benedict XVI.
Also, Pope Benedict XVI was the first Pope to have presided over the Beatification of his predecessor in over 1,000 years of Church history and the first retired Pope ever to assist the reigning Pope, Francis, in a ceremony to bestow sainthood on two former popes: Saint John Paul II and Saint John XXIII.
If he is to be called upon to be pope once again should Francis die, then the legacy of Benedict XVI is not yet complete.
Pope John Paul II in Prophecy
The passing of Pope John Paul the Great, the third-longest living pope in all of Vatican history, the period of mourning, the grand public funeral, and the historic election of Pope Benedict XVI, was the only major news story during the month of April 2005.
One can easily recognise the career of John Paul II in the following quatrain:
Because of the passing of the very old Pontiff,
Will be elected to Rome one of good age.
He will be accused of weakening the Holy See,
And long will he hold to it with stinging effort.
Lest we forget, because of the natural death of the elderly Pope Paul VI (and the short one-month reign of Pope John Paul I, not mentioned in this quatrain), a pope of "good age" -- 58-year-old Polish Cardinal Karol Wojtyla -- was elected. The new pope, taking the name John Paul II, was youthful and vigorous when he first came to the sacred office in October 1978, a former sportsman, mountain climber and football player, and an active skier and swimmer.
He was (and is) a very controversial pope whose ideas were and are not always popular in the Vatican. To some he had been seen to have failed in reforming the Catholic Church itself, maintaining extremely controversial policies on contraception and homosexuality until quite recently, whilst failing to arrest a decline in congregations (again, until quite recently). This is likely what Nostradamus means by his being "accused of weakening the Holy See." On the other hand, the Pope has always been consistently and universally praised for attempting to build greater understanding between Judaism, Islam and Christianity, visiting more countries than any previous pope, and promoting non-violent revolution against oppressive regimes, especially communism.
The last line is painfully obvious: John Paul II has held the papacy the third longest of all popes in history, with "stinging effort" indicating the assassination attempt on his life in 1981 by Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca, an attempted stabbing by a bayonet-wielding Spanish priest in 1982, and his continuing endurance whilst suffering from the ravages of arthritis and Parkinson's disease.
This quatrain does not speak of death at all -- but of a long life!
POPE JOHN PAUL II DIES AT AGE 84 --- WORLD MOURNS
It would appear that the following Nostradamus prophecy below also applied to the late Pope John Paul the Great. Even so, there are certain specifics in the quatrain that have yet to play out. So only Time will tell for certain.
The Pope was indeed "dispersed" in the night, just as I maintained he would be:
It will appear towards Ursa Minor,
Not far from Cancer, the bearded star:
Susa [NW Italy], Siena [central Italy], Boetia [SE Greece], Eretria [E. Greece],
The great one of Rome will die, the night dispersed.
Lines 1 and 2 inform us there will be a comet that will begin or end as a circumpolar object when the Pope dies. Such a comet did arrive this year and ended up, at low naked eye visibility, in Ursa Minor. It remains there still; however, it has faded to a binocular, small telescopic object. Comet Machholz first became visible in the southeast in December 2004 and brightened to magnitude 3 when it crossed near Castor and Pollux and the Pleiades in January 2005. For those who enjoy dark skies very far away from city lights (10 to 50 miles away depending on the size of the city), Machholz appeared like smaller version of the greenish-blue comet Hyakutake that appeared spectacular even to city dwellers back in March 1996.
If Machholz is the comet of prophecy, it makes all the more sense that this was the time for the Pope to succumb to catastrophic illness and old age.
What will be happening in Italy and Greece is not altogether clear.
Greece will likely become a part of a major Balkan conflict prophesied by a living Austrian prophet from Kremms, the Seer of Waldviertel, and also prophesied by Nostradamus. This Balkans conflict is to occur during a terrible war in the Middle East. As for Italy, civil war or revolution in that country is also prophesied to begin shortly after.
Then again, the references to Greece and Italy could relate to a rash of deadly earthquakes or escalating acts of terrorism by Al Qaeda and other groups in both countries. Nostradamus specifically predicts unprecedented terrorism for Italy from those who once worshipped the ancient gods of Hannibal (Tunisia and Libya) and from the direction of Babel (Iraq) before the coming of a great and terrible world war.
What else could be meant by "the night dispersed" besides the time of day when the Pope would die? It could mean a dispersal of "night" worldwide by extraordinary means.
Perhaps, unknown to us, "Planet X" is finally closing in on Earth. Earthquake and volcanic activity has been increasingly violent and almost unprecedented. It is now said that the ancient super-volcano Toba will reawaken and erupt in the Pacific, unleashing enough fire to burn away 30% or more of the planet's forests and grasslands in a rain of super-heated plasma and produce enough ash to plunge the world into a "nuclear winter." Ever larger meteor sightings and collisions are also on the increase, suggesting we may be entering a debris field or "tail" belonging to this celestial body. Therefore, the "it" that "appears towards Ursa Minor, the Tropic of Cancer, and the bearded star (Comet Machholz)" may be the brown dwarf star of myth and antiquity, Nibiru, also regarded by many to be the Wormwood of Revelation.
As I have mentioned before elsewhere, if we are to be visited by such a nightmare as ancient Nibiru, the prophet Mother Shipton warns we will be thrashed by the "dragon's tail" twice. The red dragon star's first passage, an inbound one, will be the least destructive of the two according to Mother Shipton. The outbound passage, almost forty years later, will wipe out at least 5/6 of humanity, reducing the global population to "such a tiny band."
Then again "the night dispersed" could be a poetic way of saying that the papal policies of the Pope's long career will be dispersed on the night of his death. This would then suggest that his successor will be a quite different person who will change many of the Vatican's positions on various social and international issues.
Pope John Paul II: "De Labore Solis" or "De Medietate Lunae?"
According to the 12th Century prophet St Malachy there are only two more popes to follow Pope John Paul II: "Glory of the Olive" (supposedly the newly-elected pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI) and lastly, "Peter the Roman." The now-deceased John Paul II was supposed to have the motto: "De Labore Solis" or "Labour of the Sun." Many prophecy commentators thought that meant John Paul would undergo many tribulations during the late 20th Century, also called the Century of the Sun in astrology. Otherwise, the motto was a mystery and Malachy's predictions potentially unreliable.
As if to prove the motto was correct, there was a partial eclipse of the sun in southern Europe during the funeral on Friday, April 8, 2005. And there is more evidence suggesting John Paul the Great was "Labour of the Sun" according to the following article from NewsMax:
Prophecy on Pope Fulfilled by Eclipses?
NewsMax.com
Wednesday, April 6, 2005 3:55 p.m. EDT
A 10th Century Irish bishop - St. Malachy - predicted every pope that would preside over the Catholic Church. Almost ten centuries ago, Malachy predicted this pope would be noted by an eclipse of the sun.
In an eerie coincidence, John Paul II was the only known pope to be born on the day of a solar eclipse.
But the prophetic link doesn't end there. Pope John Paul II will be buried this Friday during another solar eclipse.
Astronomers say that on Friday, the day of the Pope's funeral, a partial solar eclipse will blot out most of the sun and darken a wide area of the world, from the South Pacific to the Western Hemisphere.
Solar eclipses are not unusual. But what makes this coming Friday's eclipse notable is the fact that there was a near total eclipse of the sun seen across Europe on May 18, 1920, the very day that John Paul II was born in Poland.
Adding fuel to the arcane speculation about these events is the prophecy of St. Malachy. Malachy was discovered to have left behind a prophetic list of all future popes beginning with Pope Celestine II, whose papacy began in 1143 A.D., up to and including the 112th. The list includes John Paul and just two more popes who will follow him.
In his list of popes, he uses a single line in Latin identifying a characteristic of each pope.
The description applied to the 110th pope on his list - John Paul II - is "De Labore Solis" (Of the Solar Eclipse), which seems to add great weight to the validity of St. Malachys chilling prophecy: that the next two popes chosen to succeed John Paul II will be the last popes.
After the reign of the last pope, "Peter the Roman," St. Malachy wrote, Rome will be destroyed.
As NewsMax.com reported April 3, Saint's Prophecy: Only Two Popes Remain, the 112th prophecy says, "In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church, there will reign Petrus Romanus (Peter the Roman), who will feed his flock amid many tribulations; after which the seven-hilled city [Rome] will be destroyed and the dreadful Judge will judge the people," an indication that the world will end.
Not mentioned in the above article is the legend of the 111th pope -- "Glory of the Olive."
Still, a few thoughts have occurred to me regarding Malachy. Did he count the antipopes as popes? Probably not (which means Benedict XVI is the 101st pope after Celestine II, not the 111th).
Also, regarding De Medietate Lunae which was supposedly applied to the extremely short-lived Pope John Paul the First. 33 days is an awfully short period of time. Is it possible Malachy overlooked John Paul I but saw only John Paul II? After all, "John Paul" was a most unusual name. If so, then that would make "Of the Half Moon" John Paul II's motto and not "Labour of the Sun."
It would apply very well to Pope John Paul the Great. Here is why: both the half moon and crescent moon are symbols of Islam. John Paul II was the first pope to visit the Muslim and Arab nations and open up friendly relations between them and the Vatican. Of course, the Jubilee Year was the zenith year of this embrace of Islamic nations by John Paul II (who also greeted Iranian President Mohammad Khatami and Iraqi Prime Minister Tariq Aziz at the Vatican and condemned the then-pending US war in Iraq).
The Sun Pope and the Moon Princess
Another matter regarding the moon is a linkage between the late Princess Diana (Diana, Goddess of the Moon) to the Pope.
It is well-known that the Roman goddess, Diana (Artemis in the Greek pantheon), was the goddess of the Moon. Thus, Princess Diana, because of this namesake, is also associated with the moon. Indeed, Nostradamus makes much of this in a few of his prophecies.
Her star and his star rose together, nearly side-by-side. She died in Paris at the zenith of her popularity in August 1997 -- shortly after John Paul visited Paris himself. Not long after her death, John Paul II, almost by default, found his health and his powers moving steadily in decline, then accelerating downhill after 2000.
John Paul II's funeral was held exactly 7 years and 7 months after the funeral of Princess Diana!
Yet another good reason for John Paul II to be given the motto "Of the Half Moon."
So, if this is true, then there are still two popes remaining after the current one, Benedict XVI, who would then be Labour of the Sun and not Glory of the Olives.
Of course, if the 10 antipopes were not counted by Malachy (and I doubt they were), this would have made John Paul II the 100th pope after Celestine II, rather than the 110th. Thus, he would have had whatever motto was applied to Pope Gregory XVI (1831-1846).
Still, Pope John Paul II could yet be associated with the sun metaphorically, as a complement to Diana's moon.
Christianity is often associated through symbolism with the sun. Apollo was the Roman sun god and the son of Jupiter. He overthrew his Jovian father (Paganism) and spawned the modern age of Man (Christendom).
However, the late poet and author Robert Graves argues in his book, The White Goddess, that Apollo is synonymous with the age of science, a sterile god who, by usurping the pantheon of the Gods and their one King, has destroyed man's natural association with the supernatural. Thus "divine" intervention is required (the Muse according to Graves, or from a Christian perspective, an angel, the Virgin Mary, etc).
Pope John Paul II was the first pope to make his working devotion to the "woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet." To some this is Mary; to others it is a woman persecuted by the forces of Satan who is about to give birth to a man-child to reign as the "Son of Man."
This woman could have been Princess Diana; and is likely to be still another woman in the future who will succeed in delivering this long-awaited child.
Thus, the pontificate of John Paul II seems to have been symbolised by both sun and moon.
The Original Mission of This Web Page: How Pope John Paul the Great Narrowly Escaped Being the Slain Pontiff of Quatrain 2.97
On October 16, 1998, it was reported that Pope John Paul II was planning to visit Iraq ("the land between two rivers") in the summer of 1999.
The original version of this web page was created in the early spring of 1999 to warn that such a trip might prove dangerous to the Pope and those close to him. In July 1999 it was revealed that he hoped to make a pilgrimage to the ancient city of Ur, the birthplace of Abraham, and meet with Saddam Hussein in Baghdad. That visit was postponed until December 1999 and then re-scheduled for January 2000.
Thankfully, on December 10, 1999, it was announced that the trip had been canceled.
Again, during the Jubilee Year, the Pope expressed a desire to visit Baghdad and the ancient city of Ur, and again what might have been a May 2001 trip was canceled.
I am convinced that the Pope narrowly escaped what would have been a likely assassination attempt, probably at the behest of Osama bin Laden, had any of the planned trips to Iraq moved forward in 1999, 2000, 2001, or 2003. It is very strange that so many attempted trips to Iraq were cancelled -- in one instance at the request of the United States government.
Were he alive to visit Iraq now, it would be incredibly dangerous -- dangerous beyond belief. Needless to say, Pope Benedict XVI must also refrain from visiting such a perilous place.
A Base 7 Prediction Fulfilled
I believe that history repeats itself (more or less) at intervals of seven years and MULTIPLES of seven years. I call this mathematically-based theory "base 7 numerology" (although it is not true numerology, but a mathematically-contrived system).
The key to the future, in other words, lies in the past. History truly does repeat itself, yet not always exactly.
I use real historical events, their months and years, as the index or precedent(s) for the projected future event. I also use real prophecy and close observation of current events to calculate what direction we are heading. I find that to the year I am usually between 71% and 91% successful with my predictions.
In the appendix of my book, Nostradamus and the Final Age, I indicated that Pope John Paul II might be in danger during the base 7 vector of June/July 1998. On May 4, 1998, three days after I mailed my manuscript out to Llewellyn Worldwide, Alois Estermann, the second-in-command of the Pope's Swiss Guards, was slain by a disgruntled non-commissioned officer. Estermann's wife, Gladys Romero, was also shot to death by Cedrich Tornay who afterwards turned the murder weapon on himself. All three died; blood flowing from their mouths. It was the worst tragedy to befall the Swiss Guards in over five hundred years.
Then on August 29, 1999 -- once again during the season of the rose -- another death plagued the Vatican. The suicide of a worshipper who managed to smuggle a gun into St. Peter's Basilica raised security concerns for the Church and Vatican City four months before the start of the Holy Year. The suicide claimed to be both Christ and Michelangelo.
Benedetto Minnini of the port city of Bari, shot himself in the mouth on the afternoon of August 24 while the basilica was crowded with tourists. A woman videotaping inside happened to catch the suicide on tape, and apparently was the first to alert authorities. Blood flowed from yet another mouth for the second year in a row -- and during a predicted August-October 1999 vector.
One must remember Nostradamus' warning to the Pope: blood will not only flow from his mouth, but from those close to him ("both you and yours"). That is why the main focus of Quatrain 2.97 remains unfulfilled, despite commentators who insist that it is to be applied to Pius VI who died of acute enteritis at Valence in 1799. Pius did not "approach" the city (implying an act of volition), which is indeed watered by two rivers -- he was captured and taken prisoner there. Yes, it was reported that he vomited blood; however, no one in the pope's company died in a similar fashion. Indeed, the pope died alone.
Using my base 7 system yet again, I warned that Pope John Paul might be in danger were he to travel abroad in May 2002, twenty-one (3 x 7) years after the assassination attempt that seriously wounded him.
Here is what happened in May 2002:
Bulgaria on alert for pope's visit -- Security scare as man rushes pope
May 23, 2002 Posted: 2:48 PM EDT (1848 GMT)
SOFIA, Bulgaria (CNN) -- Ailing Pope John Paul II has arrived in Bulgaria for his first papal visit to the country, where all its 27,000 police have been put on duty or standby. It is hoped his four-day visit will heal wounds with the former communist country which was once implicated in the 1981 assassination attempt against the pontiff. The trip is also aimed at bringing a reconciliation of Christianity's eastern and western churches.
The pope praised Christians in largely Orthodox Bulgaria for their resistance to communist-era oppression. The 82-year-old pope, who has looked ever more frail recently, had the strength to make impromptu remarks in Italian after his official speech, thanking Bulgarians for his welcome joking: "The pope is an old man and that's why he is sitting down," while he gestured to Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov, who stood by his side during the arrival ceremony.
He urged Bulgaria to retain Christian values as it undertakes difficult social reforms in the push to convert the still deeply poor ex-communist state to a market economy, Reuters news agency reported. He also remembered the victims of east Europe's authoritarian regimes. "Even during the long winter of the totalitarian system, which brought suffering to your country... numberless children of this people remained heroically faithful to Christ, in not a few cases to the point of sacrificing their lives," the pope said. The hard-line communists who ruled Bulgaria from World War Two to 1989 repressed both majority Orthodox Christians, around 80 percent of the 8 million population, and the 80,000 Roman Catholic minority in the name of atheism.
On arrival in Sofia, the pope was carried down the steps of the plane on a lift and his usual ritual of kissing the tarmac on disembarkation was substituted for his blessing a pot of soil lifted to his lips. He was then ferried to the airport terminal on an electric platform. The tour is likely to be a strain on an ailing pope who has been forced to jettison some of his traditional rituals during the two-country tour of Azerbaijan and Bulgaria.
During the first-stage in Azerbaijan, the pope escaped a security alert when a shouting man on crutches rushed towards the altar where the pope was presiding over mass.
Security officials told journalists the man said he wanted to have his picture taken with the pontiff. The situation resolved itself and the man later received a blessing from the pope. The pope survived an assassination attempt 20 years ago in Rome for which three Bulgarians were tried for suspected complicity in the shooting by a Turk but cleared by the Italian court through lack of evidence.
Pope John Paul has said he has "never ceased" to love the Bulgarian people. Foreign Minister Solomon Pasi is quoted by The Associated Press as calling the visit "a blessing," adding: "This visit will wipe out the undeserved taint Bulgaria has carried for the past 20 years."
Helicopters made low sweeps over the capital and army snipers took up positions around the airport as the pope arrived at about 6 p.m. local time on Thursday.
The pontiff, who first visited an Orthodox country in 1999 when he travelled to Romania, is likely to use his Bulgarian trip to renew his call for a reunification of Christianity's eastern and western Churches, which split in 1054.
He is scheduled to visit an Orthodox monastery near the southern town of Rila and hold an outdoor mass in the southeast in Plovdiv, Bulgaria's second-largest city.
As well as meeting Patriarch Maxim on Friday, the pope will also meet leaders of the one million Bulgarian Muslims and the country's tiny Jewish community, which numbers between 7,000 and 8,000, some of whom worship at the world's largest Sephardic synagogue in Sofia.
He also plans to beatify three Roman Catholic priests who were executed in 1952 after being convicted of spying by the then communist regime.
The pope arrived in Bulgaria from the Azerbaijani capital of Baku after a two-day trip during which he gave mass for all 120 of the country's registered Roman Catholics -- mostly expatriates.
And again, only five days after the end of May:
Pope caught in Vatican bomb scare
June 5, 2002
VATICAN (CNN) -- Pope John Paul II has been caught up in a bomb alert after a man threatened to blow himself up at the Vatican.
The man, who is believed to be mentally unstable, was reported to have phoned a local television station warning that he was about to carry out a bombing at St Peter's Square on Wednesday. The 45-year-old Italian was arrested carrying a hoax bomb -- empty tubes with dangling wires -- after shouting accusations against local politicians, Reuters news agency quoted police as saying.
The pope was holding his weekly general audience at the time, but it is not known how close he was to the incident.
The suspect, who police say has a history of psychological problems, was believed to have been protesting at corruption in his native southern Italy.
He had told the TV station that he was about to blow himself up outside the Vatican post offices in the square, but in fact he made his way to another part where pilgrims were queuing. The man was screaming out that he wanted to meet journalists and magistrates to talk about the alleged corruption.
Police sealed off the area and temporarily stopped the flow of pilgrims into the square before preparations were resumed for the audience.
Back in 2003, I indicated that I believed John Paul II might hold on and finally succumb of natural causes sometime in August-October 2006 -- an important base 7 numerological anniversary (4 x 7) of the deaths of Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul I, and Pope John Paul II's ascension to the Holy See during the same period of 1978.
However, around March 23, 2005, I realised that I had overlooked posting another vector -- one which had disturbing implications -- that indicated the Pope would instead succumb to natural causes around June/July 2005 on the 42nd (6 x 7) anniversary of Pope John XXIII's death on June 30, 1963. This vector was quickly posted to this page on March 24, 2005 and then to the 2005 (Part Two) page on March 31.
This, as it turns out, was the correct vector and only off by two months and twenty-eight days.
Bear in mind that when this June/July 2005 vector was posted on this page on March 24, Vatican officials were playing down concerns about Pope John Paul II's health. The pontiff made a silent and brief appearance from his apartment window overlooking St. Peter's Square that same day, as he had the previous day, silently blessing the faithful gathered below.
So, despite his recent ill health, there was absolutely no reason to suspect with any certainty that the Pope would be dead within the space of nine days due to a sudden onset of sepsis caused by an undiagnosed urinary tract infection.
This is why it was a PREDICTION FULFILLED and without a doubt a base 7 link to 1963 and the death of Pope John XXIII.
The Pope and the President
According to the base 7 system, this year is also the year that President Bush is in greatest danger of falling victim to the Shawnee Curse (also known as the curse of Chief Tecumseh). Therefore 2005 may be very similar to 1963 when Pope John XXIII and President John F Kennedy died four months and twenty-two days apart.
President John F. Kennedy (1961-1963)
Pope John Paul II (1978-2005)
President George W. Bush (2001-2005?)
An interesting link between John Paul II and John XXIII has been discussed on CNN:
It has been reported that John XXIII's body was in excellent condition when it was exhumed from the cramped grotto under the basilica in 2001 -- 38 years after his death -- and moved to the main floor following his beatification. I have seen recent photos of the body, and can confirm that there were absolutely no signs of decay. John XXIII looks today as he did when he died in June 1963.
John Paul II, who expressed a will to be buried underground, was buried in John XXIII's vacant tomb.
In addition, his name was changed to Pope John Paul the Great and it is quite likely that one day, like John XXIII, he too shall be made a saint.
Now that the most popular pope since John XXIII has died, President George W. Bush will be in extremely grave and mortal danger of death in what is also the 42nd anniversary of John F Kennedy's assassination in 1963.
Bush recently crossed the latest dates any president subject to the Tecumseh Curse has survived to: April 12 (FDR) and April 14 (Lincoln) of a year ending in 5.
Having survived this, he may find himself in positive peril of losing his life four months and twenty-two days after the death of Pope John Paul II: around August 24, 2005. Then comes the actual 42nd anniversary of Kennedy's assassination on November 22, 2005. Of course, I would not expect the specific dates to be the ones to worry about, which is why I project by the month or window of months and year and not by the day, month, and year. The base 7 system is rarely exact to the very day.
For more on Bush and the Tecumseh curse, see Signature of Death for US President in 2005 .
MAJOR PAGE REVISION COMPLETED: June 28, 2016 (5:33 PM EDT)
Most Recent Update: June 28, 2016 (5:33 PM EDT)
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Which is the busiest London Underground Station? | The Busiest Stations on the London Underground | MapsData
The Busiest Stations on the London Underground
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Project Description
With the Tube’s 150th anniversary celebrated this year it seemed pertinent to see how the oldest metro system in the world was performing. To that end the visualization shows data on the number of people using each London Underground station on a typical day.
The three largest show the great transport hubs of the capital, with trains leading all over the country and on to Europe: Waterloo, Victoria and King’s Cross St. Pancras. The streets of excellent shopping are obvious from the activity at Oxford Circus, and further down the draw of the West End has given a boost to Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus above their immediate neighbors.
Among the surprises is the relative paucity of traffic through Baker Street, a frequent stop for those venturing deeper into the capital thanks to its placement on five separate lines. Despite its history — it is among the train stations passed on that first journey 150 years ago — it is now a junction in the middle of the journey rather than a destination in its own right.
Feel free to interrogate the data above, have a look at your own commute, or if you wish to look in greater detail, click the button to jump straight to the application, or read below for how you might do it yourself.
Try now
Locating the data
Transport for London offers an abundance of data on its performance, including live updates on current transport movements and performance figures for each of its major transport networks. The figures we wanted on the Underground’s total entry and exit figures came from the TFL website’s corporate section .
This gave us the average traffic in and out of the station on a weekday or weekend, allowing us to not only compare the volume of people moving through each station but also how it changes over the week. Visualizing the data, however, requires the precise locations of each station.
The coordinates of latitude and longitude for each station we found on Openstreetmaps , a website dedicated to open source mapping information ideal for our purposes. Now we were ready to structure the data into a readable form so that Mapsdata can visualize it.
Structuring data:
The data then needed to be combined and structured for it to import correctly. Excel’s VLookup function allows you to match each station with the equivalent location quickly, which accounts for most of the work, and beyond that all that is required is insuring clear column titles on a single row, with no extraneous columns. You only need the station name, the coordinates for the location, and the relevant data, with a single row for column titles. For a more complete demonstration of how we did, watch the video at the bottom of the page. The image details how the prepared data should appear, and if you wish to try visualizing for yourself you may download the finished data by clicking the button below.
Download Data
Visualizing data
Now the data is ready to visualize. We loaded the data into the Mapsdata app, and were able to visualize a bubblemap that represented the weekday footfall at each station and switch quickly between the other data sets, comparing weekday traffic to weekend or comparing the annual totals. If you wish to see how we did this in further detail, you can watch our youtube video, or if you want to look further into the data click the button below to try Mapsdata right now,
| Victoria |
Which author gave the copyright of the Peter Pan works to Great Ormond Street Hospital? | Overcrowded and getting busier: why new train lines can't come fast enough for London | UK news | The Guardian
London Underground
Overcrowded and getting busier: why new train lines can't come fast enough for London
Upgrades and Crossrail are designed to ease congestion, but transport chiefs and passenger groups say much more investment is needed
Sunday 21 September 2014 13.53 EDT
First published on Sunday 21 September 2014 13.53 EDT
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This article is 2 years old
As the barriers lock out commuters from Victoria underground station for the third time in a Monday evening rush hour, Robert Wanyama, a customer service assistant, reaches for the microphone in the control room.
He announces to would-be passengers that they are being held to avoid overcrowding and will be allowed through as soon as possible; keeping them informed is the basic principle, he says. He does not though relay that colleagues have spotted a man slumped, smoking crack on the northbound Victoria line train now approaching Green Park station in Mayfair and that staff and transport police are stepping in.
Removing the man could take just a minute or two, but that is enough to dent the rhythm of a line whose signalling allows a train to rumble by seconds after the last has left the platform. For the station controllers, that means anticipating a gap that could in moments result in hundreds of passengers pouring down an escalator onto a platform already full of waiting people.
Vana Zimvu, the tube station supervisor, looks out through the tinted glass at the crowds held at the ticket barriers, whose faces show little impatience or concern. "Regulars, they know the drill," he says. At the weekend, a colleague chips in, it's a different story, when some passengers have a few drinks inside them.
About 90,000 passengers pass through Victoria tube station's gates between 7am and 10am each day, many entering from the mainline rail station, the country's second busiest; others from Victoria coach station – the origin of more foreign trips than many regional airports. The station has undergone more than a decade of work at a cost of £700m – quite an effort to redirect passenger tunnels and enlarge a couple of ticket halls. But the volume of people is what slows down Victoria, one of the busiest yet smallest stations on the tube. "We'll enable people to get through the station less encumbered by their fellow man," says Glenn Keelan, in charge of delivering the upgrade. The layout will save many passengers 11 minutes' walk; with 80 million passing through each year, the cumulative time saving is substantial.
Crowded Victoria Tube station. About 90,000 passengers pass through the station between 7am and 10am each day. Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian
The tube network carries an estimated 1.265 billion customers a year. Without investment at stations such as Victoria or Bank – a notoriously crowded interchange of five tube lines and the Docklands Light Railway – London's transport network faces overcrowding on an overwhelming scale, according to transport chiefs. Sir Peter Hendy, London's transport commissioner, said many people "just won't be able to get into or on to many of our transport networks at peak times" unless new infrastructure projects start immediately. "When Crossrail opens within months it will be full; the population will go on towards 10 million and you'll soon need Crossrail 2. You won't be able to do without it. In central London the overcrowding will grow to be overwhelming," he says.
London First, an advocacy group of business leaders, has said that by 2031, the capacity shortfall at Waterloo station alone is likely to be the equivalent of 20 trainloads an hour of people left stranded. Automatic train operation, of the kind that has helped drive 34 trains an hour on the Victoria line, is likely to be extended to south-west national rail commuter routes.
The potential benefits will be seen in one of the biggest upgrades to commuter rail services this century, the £6.5bn Thameslink programme, from 2018. It has resulted in the rebuilding of Blackfriars and the redevelopment of London Bridge. With extra tracks to unlock the north-south bottleneck and new rolling stock, up to 1,750 passengers will be carried on each train, 24 times an hour in both directions at peak times, transforming the service.
An even more dramatic transformation to the rail network will come from Crossrail, a 73-mile railway line under construction that will provide a new east-west route across Greater London. The new Norman Foster-designed station at Canary Wharf is the most visibly advanced part of the £14.8bn Crossrail project. Its huge dormant platforms give a clear indication what a leap in capacity awaits: trains more than 200 metres long, carrying 1,500 passengers, every two-and-a-half minutes at peak times through the centre.
Passenger groups say that while commuters have come to accept overcrowding as a fact of life, the reliability of the service needs to be ensured. Anthony Smith, chief executive of Passenger Focus, the rail consumer watchdog, says that in terms of customer satisfaction, "the big operators in London and the south-east are near the bottom of the pack".
"What people want is for it not to go badly wrong too often. The only way you achieve that is by slow, steady investment in the track, the signals, the space in the stations, as the system is put under increasing demand," he says.
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Who did Michael Fagan famously wake up in London in July 1982? | A Royal Wake-Up Call
A Royal Wake-Up Call
Queen Elizabeth II meets Michael Fagan for a chat in her bedroom
Location: Buckingham Palace, SW1A 1AA
Description: On July 9th 1982, Queen Elizabeth II was woken through unfamiliar means...on this occasion the Royal carriage clock did not chime...
Rather the Queen was awoken by a dishevelled and inebriated looking Michael Fagan, mumbling to himself and swigging a bottle of wine stolen from the Royal cellars. The unemployed builder just wanted a chat and unfortunately, the Queen was in no position to refuse.
Being a little worse for wear, Michael's request for a smoke to partner his fine bottle of wine was the Royal chance to raise the alarm and summon help.
Michael Fagan was not charged for trespassing in the Queen's bedroom since it was then a civil offence and proceedings would have compromised the Queen's position as head of state and was acquitted of stealing wine from Buckingham Palace in June.
Michael went on to claim that he broke in to test the security system and found it wanting...wanting what, a drink!
| The Queen |
Name the actors who played Batman and Robin in the 60s. | Medicine For The Dead: Queen Elizabeth II Might Possibly Be The Coolest Person Ever
“Attempting to debate with a person who has abandoned reason is like giving medicine to the dead.” ― Thomas Paine
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Queen Elizabeth II Might Possibly Be The Coolest Person Ever
Succeeding her father, King George VI (the subject of the excellent film, The King's Speech ) Her Royal Highness the Princess Elizabeth was proclaimed Queen of England in 1952 . Her coronation took place on 2 June 1953.
The Queen recently celebrated her Diamond Jubilee which commemorated Her Majesty's 60th year on the throne.
Some interesting facts about Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain which shows me she just might be the coolest person of all time:
The Queen's robes were so heavy that at the start of her Coronation she asked the Archbishop of Canterbury to give her a push, saying “ Get me started !”.
The Queen keeps a portable hook with a suction cup in her handbag so she can hang it discreetly under tables.
In July 1982 unemployed father of four Michael Fagan climbed up a drain-pipe and into the Queen’s bedroom at Buckingham Palace. He sat on her bed for about 10 minutes as she engaged him in conversation and calmly called for her footman when he asked for a cigarette. Mr. Fagan tells a slightly different version of the story in a recent interview here . Fagan actually broke into the Palace twice!
She enjoys reading The Racing Post every day.
She takes a keen interest in horses and racing. Her first pony, a Shetland called Peggy, was given to her by her grandfather King George VI when she was 4 years old. Elizabeth continues to ride at Sandringham, Balmoral and Windsor. The Queen also takes interest in horse breeding. Horses bred at the royal studs over the past 200 years have won virtually every major race in Britain. Elizabeth has about 25 horses in training each season.
Famously reserved in public, the queen may be a regular cut-up in private, reportedly doing surprisingly skilled impressions. But exactly whom she mimics is any commoner's guess -- her inner circle isn't telling.
The queen wakes to the sound of her personal bagpiper every morning.
Every morning, she starts the day with a cup of tea. At 7.30am the “morning tray” is brought into her bedroom laden with a silver teapot, a water jug and milk... as well as a plate of biscuits for her dogs.
She speaks fluent French and often uses the language for audiences and state visits. She does not require an interpreter.
In addition to being fluent in French— The Queen also speaks Latin on occasion. During an address in late 1992, she referred to the preceding twelve months as an “annus horribilis,” a horrible year. Two of her children—Andrew and Anne—got divorced; Charles and Diana separated; and Windsor Castle suffered severe fire damage.
The Queen and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh , introduced small, informal luncheon parties at Buckingham Palace to meet distinguished people from all professions, trades and vocations. The first was held on May 11, 1956, and the tradition continues to this day. There are usually six to eight guests and two members of the royal household in attendance.
The Queen is the only person in Britain who can drive without a license or number plate on her state car.
Every year she sends Christmas trees to Westminster Abbey, Wellington Barracks, St. Paul's Cathedral in London, St. Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh, the Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh, Crathie Kirk and local schools and churches in the Sandringham area of England.
Elizabeth learned to drive in 1945, when she joined the women's branch of the British army. Both she and Winston Churchill's daughter were members of the group, which was called the Auxiliary Territorial Service.
She was a Girl Guide (1937), a Scouting movement for girls and a Sea Ranger (1943), a section of the Girl Guides focused on sailing.
She drove a truck during World War II. After months of begging her father to let his heir pitch in, Elizabeth—then an 18-year-old princess—joined the Women’s Auxiliary TerritorialService during World War II. Known as Second Subaltern Elizabeth Windsor, she donned a pair of coveralls and trained in London as a mechanic and military truck driver. The queen remains the only female member of the royal family to have entered the armed forces and is the only living head of state who served in World War II.
The queen knows more about motor vehicles than just how to drive them; she learned how to fix truck engines during World War II as a member of the Auxiliary Territorial Service, the women's branch of the British army.
She sent an email in 1976. On March 26, 1976, Queen Elizabeth sent her first email while taking part in a network technology demonstration at the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment, a research facility in Malvern, England. The message was transmitted over ARPANET , the forerunner of the modern Internet. She is considered the first head of state to have used electronic mail.
She was shot at by a teenager. During her birthday celebration on June 13, 1981, shots rang out as Elizabeth rode her horse in a parade near Buckingham Palace. MarcusSarjeant , a 17-year-old who idolized the assassins of John F. Kennedy and John Lennon, had fired six blank shots in the queen’s direction. Swiftly subdued by police, the teen would spend three years in a psychiatric prison. Elizabeth, meanwhile, merely calmed her startled horse and resumed her procession.
She made her first public address at the age of 14, on The Children’s Hour, a BBC radio broadcast. (The entire speech is in the video below) It was 1940, one of the most devastating years of World War II, and the young princess emphasized the necessity of hope: "We are trying to do all we can to help our gallant sailors, soldiers and airmen, and we are trying, too, to bear our share of the danger and sadness of war. We know, every one of us, that in the end all will be well." she said.
She is a patron of the Royal Pigeon Racing Association and maintains the Royal Lofts at Sandringham .
The Queen put on a mining outfit and went 500ft underground at Rothes Colliery in 1958.
The only year she did not deliver a Christmas message was 1969. She felt the public had seen enough of her in a TV documentary.
An avid reader, she loves crime thrillers by PD James, Agatha Christie and Dick Francis.
She laughed when she shook hands with shot-put champion Geoff Capes at the Braemar Highland Games in 1982 and their hands stuck together because of the resin he used for his grip.
She joined crowds in London to celebrate VE day on May 8, 1945 . In her diary she wrote: “Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly, Pall Mall, walked simply miles. Saw parents on balcony at 12.30am – ate, partied, bed 3am!” - Note she was 19 years old at the time and was Princess Elizabeth
After a Royal Command performance comedian Tommy Cooper asked her: “Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?” “No,” replied the Queen, “but I might not be able to give you a full answer.” “Do you like football?” asked Cooper. “Well, not really,” said the Queen. “In that case,” said Cooper, “do you mind if I have your Cup Final tickets?’” Mr. Cooper actually died on stage during a live performance in 1984.
“She has an air of authority and reflectiveness astonishing in an infant,” remarked Winston Churchill, when Elizabeth was just two.
When her father unexpectedly became King, Princess Margaret, then six, said to her: “Does that mean you’re going to be queen? Poor you.”
Not wanting to be left behind by technology, the British monarchy has a website , Facebook page and Twitter account .
There is said to be a Big Mouth Billy Bass singing fish on top of the grand piano at Balmoral .
Long live the Queen!
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In which TV show would you find a group of freedom fighters in their spaceship called the Liberator? | Blake's 7 series 3 episode 13 - Terminal | Den of Geek
Blake's 7 series 3 episode 13 - Terminal
Darkness descends on our favourite freedom fighters as their original leader hoves back into view...
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THE PLOT
Avon is behaving oddly. Alone on the flight deck, he refuses to let any of the other Liberator crewmembers join him, and is receiving mysterious messages from an unknown source.
Fed up of all the mystery, Tarrant confronts Avon, who tells him that he would like to be alone for a little longer. Angry that Avon has changed course without telling anyone, Tarrant reluctantly leaves the bridge at Avon's 'request'. When Avon eventually does emerge from the bridge, he confesses that he has no idea where they are going.
The others immediately demand Zen to tell them what is going on, but Avon has blocked any forthcoming information. En route to their unknown destination is a cloud of fluid particles. At the moment, there is no way of telling whether the particles are dangerous or not, but a returning Avon demands that they stay on course.
Tarrant demands that Avon tells them what is going on or they will stop him, but Avon threatens to shoot him if he does not get out of his way. A shaken Tarrant takes his place with the others as they hold on during the turbulent ride through the cloud. Emerging from the particles, Zen informs the crew that there is no damage. But little known to the others, the hull of the Liberator has started to slowly rot away with some kind of chemical...
Still unaware of his destination, Avon is told by Vila that there is a nearby planet. The planet is Terminal, which Tarrant explains is an artificial planet, an experiment that was apparently abandoned 400 years ago.
Terminal was used to study accelerated evolution of life on Earth, but the crew are baffled as to why Avon is so keen to teleport down there. Avon prepares to leave and tells the others that he will go down alone and will make regular contact. He adds that if they do not hear from him, then they are to leave without him, much to the others' protests. Adamant that he will carry out his task alone, Avon says that if anyone follows him, he will kill them. Dayna teleports him down to a forbidding, windy, woodland area, where an ominous heartbeat like sound fills the air.
Tarrant and Cally also teleport down, slightly out of Avon's range, to follow him. Avon is monitored by a man and a woman, Toron (Richard Clifford) and Reeval (Heather Wright) as they track his progress. Avon makes his way to a small pyramid that opens to reveal a guide sphere (voiced by David Healy).
The sphere orders that Avon identify himself and when he does, the sphere guides him to a large, futuristic bunker that leads down to an underground set of modern tunnels. Following Toron and Reeval, Cally and Tarrant watch helplessly as they are torn apart by a group of native creatures called Links. Determined to follow Avon, they make their way to the bunker, and warding off more angry Links, they too, descend to the tunnels.
On the Liberator, though, a horrified Vila and Dayna have found that the ship has broken out in large, rapidly spreading patches of mould that seem to be eating away into every part. Zen has been affected by the fluid particles too, and is rapidly losing the ability to communicate or even function. Vila demands that Zen channels all energy into halting regeneration systems and looking in to finding a solution to stop the damage instead.
Avon has made his way to a room full of advanced equipment - and a teleport bracelet. Activating a screen, it shows a familiar face - Blake. On a readout screen, Avon observes that Blake is responding well to some sort of treatment. Blake is alive. Leaving the room, Avon is ambushed by two guards and a woman called Kostos (Gillian McCutcheon).
Avon is taken to a prison cell where he undergoes some sort of brain therapy. Snapping out of it, he escapes from the cell and makes his way to another part of the underground domain. In a room, wired up to various instruments, is Blake himself. Avon enters and a wry Blake tells him that he took his time in finding him. Avon shrugs this off and asks about the great discovery that will apparently make them rich.
Blake says that he will take Avon there, adding that he was close to death, and is being supported by the instruments. When Avon offers to teleport Blake up to the Liberator, Blake says that he wouldn't survive the teleport transfer. Avon says that he will come back for Blake, and leaves. However, he is overpowered by the same guards. After more brain therapy, Avon is taken back to the exact same spot and woken up by Kostos, who has urged that they must keep the continuity right.
Avon is taken to Kostos' boss - Servalan. Servalan is after the Liberator, and tells Avon that she is keeping Blake prisoner. Servalan is looking to do a deal with Avon - in return for the Liberator, Avon gets Servalan's ship, Blake and whatever discovery he has made.
Cally and Tarrant have found the same equipment where Avon discovered the teleport bracelet. The equipment is identified as a voice synthesiser and a projector. They manage to make contact with Vila and Dayna, who tell them that the Liberator has now been so badly damaged that if it was to even move, it would disintegrate. Zen, too, is dying, and apologises to Vila for having failed them.
Avon apparently agrees to Servalan's demands and contacts Vila. However, he tells Vila to get out of the area and abandon him instead. A furious Servalan knocks out Avon, but negotiations can begin again when Kostos ushers in a captured Cally and Tarrant.
Dayna is teleported down, and Servalan tells a devastated Avon that Blake is actually dead and that he encountered no more than a drug-induced mirage - the result of months of planning and equipment. Servalan had been mentally conditioning Avon to the point where he wanted to believe that Blake was still alive. Servalan adds that her ship is also badly damaged, but with some months' repair, may be useable. With Kostos and the two guards, Servalan makes her goodbyes and teleports up to the Liberator. Avon muses that Servalan won and that he lost - Tarrant says that everyone ended up a loser.
Just as Servalan has found. After Vila and Orac have teleported down, Servalan has ordered the damaged ship to move at "Maximum power!!" The Liberator instantly starts to fall apart and disintegrate. During the chaos, Servalan desperately rushes to the teleport area and programmes the controls, which explode. The bridge has totally disintegrated, killing a screaming Kostos and the two guards in the process.
The Liberator crew have mournfully witnessed the death of the Liberator on a screen, and Tarrant decides that they must find a way off this planet. With a lot of work to be done, the crew leave the room one by one, leaving Avon to wryly smile at his own big mistake...
ANALYSIS
End of the line. At the time of transmission, Terminal was touted as the last ever episode of Blake's 7 - well, until the continuity announcer proclaimed that a further season would be ready in 1981 (apparently to the amazement of the cast, who hadn't been notified).
Still, Terminal has all the hallmarks of a final fling. The Liberator is destroyed. Zen 'dies'. Servalan apparently dies, as does Blake. Only two out of these ultimately turn out to be fact, but they all serve their function well in the narrative. There's a feeling of doom hanging over the episode, thanks to Mary Ridge's superb direction. The ominous heartbeat on Terminal, the plaintive location work and the eerie hallucination sequences are expertly handled by Ridge, who contributes much to Terminal's success.
Just as well, since the episode's main premise is a huge macguffin - so huge that it makes the Empire State Building look like a plastic toy. The Liberator's destruction is all a result of Avon and his convenient quest to find Blake. It's surprising that Terry Nation was the author, since, when he's written for Avon in the past, the computer expert has always put himself and the Liberator first.
Even this season, in Dawn Of The Gods, Avon attempted to save himself and abandon the others. In Volcano, Avon put the Liberator first and Dayna and Tarrant last. Now, for some odd reason, he's abandoned his usual rational thinking and flies the Liberator through a cloud of lethal fluid particles that ultimately reduce the ship to a heap of spare parts.
That must have been some conditioning by Servalan, since Avon is also adopting the mannerisms that Blake took in Voice From The Past - mannerisms that Avon vocally spoke out against. All of which does strain the credibility of Terminal's main premise, but if you can get past this, then there's a lot to enjoy.
One aspect of which is Paul Darrow's masterful performance as Avon. Pre-empting the season four persona, this Avon is cold, slightly unhinged and paranoid with a somewhat reckless streak. Avon's resentment of Tarrant reaches boiling point here, as he sticks a gun at Tarrant's chest, coldly muttering to him to stay away from him. Avon also orders the others to stay away from him, or else he will kill them.
This devil-may-care attitude could well be late fallout from Anna's betrayal and death. Avon also appears to be crushed by Blake's apparent death - his disbelieving, dazed expression at this bit of news speaks volumes.
It's great to see Gareth Thomas back, even if it's only for 90 seconds. Now sporting a David Bellamy beard, Blake apparently knows where a discovery of riches is - even though there's a room full of riches on the Liberator. Did Avon and co spend it all?
Of course, it's all a sham - another of Servalan's dastardly schemes to get her grubby hands on the Liberator. Even by Servalan's standards, the scheme is far-fetched. She's even hired a new set of lackeys, including a finger clicking, haughty woman called Kostos, who looks like she should be the head of the strictest boarding school in the galaxy. Jacqueline Pearce gives a great performance though, and intriguingly, seems to be close to tears in her final speech to Avon and the others.
In fact, everyone's on top form in Terminal. It's great to see Vila behave like a rational, intelligent adult rather than a clichéd buffoon. Vila takes control of the disastrous situation on the Liberator, and proves his worth, even when events spiral out of his control. Michael Keating is excellent, and actually makes Zen's death scene quite moving. Mention too, must go to Peter Tuddenham, who's done outstanding work with the Zen voice, and here, he brings much to Zen's final scenes.
Production-wise, the only weak links are - well, the Links. Very obviously men in monkey suits, the Links are a nice idea in principle, but they look way too fake to be a convincing threat. Even when they tear the two bowlcuts limb from limb (well, glove from glove anyway).
Otherwise, the realisation of Terminal is excellent. Jim Clay's expansive sets for the underground rooms are very impressive, compete with high ceilings, and these are also boosted by some subtle lighting contrasts between the tunnels and Servalan's room.
It's a bittersweet ending then, and the final destruction of the Liberator is excellently done, even if the immortal "Maximum power!!" line sets new heights of OTT camp. The disintegrating ship is very well handled by Mary Ridge, and Kostos' death is very memorable too, as she plummets off the raised floor with a set of blood curdling screams. Dudley Simpson's dramatic music puts the perfect finish to the last few sequences.
So where do the Liberator crew go from here? Stuck on a planet with all the warmth of a fridge in an igloo. No way out. Oh, and the prospect of season four to come too, which would probably cause some fans to panic. But that's another tale for another time...
Check out our review of season 3 episode 12 here .
| Blake's 7 |
What was the number given to Patrick McGoohan in the TV series The Prisoner? | Blake's 7 series 3 episode 13 - Terminal | Den of Geek
Blake's 7 series 3 episode 13 - Terminal
Darkness descends on our favourite freedom fighters as their original leader hoves back into view...
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THE PLOT
Avon is behaving oddly. Alone on the flight deck, he refuses to let any of the other Liberator crewmembers join him, and is receiving mysterious messages from an unknown source.
Fed up of all the mystery, Tarrant confronts Avon, who tells him that he would like to be alone for a little longer. Angry that Avon has changed course without telling anyone, Tarrant reluctantly leaves the bridge at Avon's 'request'. When Avon eventually does emerge from the bridge, he confesses that he has no idea where they are going.
The others immediately demand Zen to tell them what is going on, but Avon has blocked any forthcoming information. En route to their unknown destination is a cloud of fluid particles. At the moment, there is no way of telling whether the particles are dangerous or not, but a returning Avon demands that they stay on course.
Tarrant demands that Avon tells them what is going on or they will stop him, but Avon threatens to shoot him if he does not get out of his way. A shaken Tarrant takes his place with the others as they hold on during the turbulent ride through the cloud. Emerging from the particles, Zen informs the crew that there is no damage. But little known to the others, the hull of the Liberator has started to slowly rot away with some kind of chemical...
Still unaware of his destination, Avon is told by Vila that there is a nearby planet. The planet is Terminal, which Tarrant explains is an artificial planet, an experiment that was apparently abandoned 400 years ago.
Terminal was used to study accelerated evolution of life on Earth, but the crew are baffled as to why Avon is so keen to teleport down there. Avon prepares to leave and tells the others that he will go down alone and will make regular contact. He adds that if they do not hear from him, then they are to leave without him, much to the others' protests. Adamant that he will carry out his task alone, Avon says that if anyone follows him, he will kill them. Dayna teleports him down to a forbidding, windy, woodland area, where an ominous heartbeat like sound fills the air.
Tarrant and Cally also teleport down, slightly out of Avon's range, to follow him. Avon is monitored by a man and a woman, Toron (Richard Clifford) and Reeval (Heather Wright) as they track his progress. Avon makes his way to a small pyramid that opens to reveal a guide sphere (voiced by David Healy).
The sphere orders that Avon identify himself and when he does, the sphere guides him to a large, futuristic bunker that leads down to an underground set of modern tunnels. Following Toron and Reeval, Cally and Tarrant watch helplessly as they are torn apart by a group of native creatures called Links. Determined to follow Avon, they make their way to the bunker, and warding off more angry Links, they too, descend to the tunnels.
On the Liberator, though, a horrified Vila and Dayna have found that the ship has broken out in large, rapidly spreading patches of mould that seem to be eating away into every part. Zen has been affected by the fluid particles too, and is rapidly losing the ability to communicate or even function. Vila demands that Zen channels all energy into halting regeneration systems and looking in to finding a solution to stop the damage instead.
Avon has made his way to a room full of advanced equipment - and a teleport bracelet. Activating a screen, it shows a familiar face - Blake. On a readout screen, Avon observes that Blake is responding well to some sort of treatment. Blake is alive. Leaving the room, Avon is ambushed by two guards and a woman called Kostos (Gillian McCutcheon).
Avon is taken to a prison cell where he undergoes some sort of brain therapy. Snapping out of it, he escapes from the cell and makes his way to another part of the underground domain. In a room, wired up to various instruments, is Blake himself. Avon enters and a wry Blake tells him that he took his time in finding him. Avon shrugs this off and asks about the great discovery that will apparently make them rich.
Blake says that he will take Avon there, adding that he was close to death, and is being supported by the instruments. When Avon offers to teleport Blake up to the Liberator, Blake says that he wouldn't survive the teleport transfer. Avon says that he will come back for Blake, and leaves. However, he is overpowered by the same guards. After more brain therapy, Avon is taken back to the exact same spot and woken up by Kostos, who has urged that they must keep the continuity right.
Avon is taken to Kostos' boss - Servalan. Servalan is after the Liberator, and tells Avon that she is keeping Blake prisoner. Servalan is looking to do a deal with Avon - in return for the Liberator, Avon gets Servalan's ship, Blake and whatever discovery he has made.
Cally and Tarrant have found the same equipment where Avon discovered the teleport bracelet. The equipment is identified as a voice synthesiser and a projector. They manage to make contact with Vila and Dayna, who tell them that the Liberator has now been so badly damaged that if it was to even move, it would disintegrate. Zen, too, is dying, and apologises to Vila for having failed them.
Avon apparently agrees to Servalan's demands and contacts Vila. However, he tells Vila to get out of the area and abandon him instead. A furious Servalan knocks out Avon, but negotiations can begin again when Kostos ushers in a captured Cally and Tarrant.
Dayna is teleported down, and Servalan tells a devastated Avon that Blake is actually dead and that he encountered no more than a drug-induced mirage - the result of months of planning and equipment. Servalan had been mentally conditioning Avon to the point where he wanted to believe that Blake was still alive. Servalan adds that her ship is also badly damaged, but with some months' repair, may be useable. With Kostos and the two guards, Servalan makes her goodbyes and teleports up to the Liberator. Avon muses that Servalan won and that he lost - Tarrant says that everyone ended up a loser.
Just as Servalan has found. After Vila and Orac have teleported down, Servalan has ordered the damaged ship to move at "Maximum power!!" The Liberator instantly starts to fall apart and disintegrate. During the chaos, Servalan desperately rushes to the teleport area and programmes the controls, which explode. The bridge has totally disintegrated, killing a screaming Kostos and the two guards in the process.
The Liberator crew have mournfully witnessed the death of the Liberator on a screen, and Tarrant decides that they must find a way off this planet. With a lot of work to be done, the crew leave the room one by one, leaving Avon to wryly smile at his own big mistake...
ANALYSIS
End of the line. At the time of transmission, Terminal was touted as the last ever episode of Blake's 7 - well, until the continuity announcer proclaimed that a further season would be ready in 1981 (apparently to the amazement of the cast, who hadn't been notified).
Still, Terminal has all the hallmarks of a final fling. The Liberator is destroyed. Zen 'dies'. Servalan apparently dies, as does Blake. Only two out of these ultimately turn out to be fact, but they all serve their function well in the narrative. There's a feeling of doom hanging over the episode, thanks to Mary Ridge's superb direction. The ominous heartbeat on Terminal, the plaintive location work and the eerie hallucination sequences are expertly handled by Ridge, who contributes much to Terminal's success.
Just as well, since the episode's main premise is a huge macguffin - so huge that it makes the Empire State Building look like a plastic toy. The Liberator's destruction is all a result of Avon and his convenient quest to find Blake. It's surprising that Terry Nation was the author, since, when he's written for Avon in the past, the computer expert has always put himself and the Liberator first.
Even this season, in Dawn Of The Gods, Avon attempted to save himself and abandon the others. In Volcano, Avon put the Liberator first and Dayna and Tarrant last. Now, for some odd reason, he's abandoned his usual rational thinking and flies the Liberator through a cloud of lethal fluid particles that ultimately reduce the ship to a heap of spare parts.
That must have been some conditioning by Servalan, since Avon is also adopting the mannerisms that Blake took in Voice From The Past - mannerisms that Avon vocally spoke out against. All of which does strain the credibility of Terminal's main premise, but if you can get past this, then there's a lot to enjoy.
One aspect of which is Paul Darrow's masterful performance as Avon. Pre-empting the season four persona, this Avon is cold, slightly unhinged and paranoid with a somewhat reckless streak. Avon's resentment of Tarrant reaches boiling point here, as he sticks a gun at Tarrant's chest, coldly muttering to him to stay away from him. Avon also orders the others to stay away from him, or else he will kill them.
This devil-may-care attitude could well be late fallout from Anna's betrayal and death. Avon also appears to be crushed by Blake's apparent death - his disbelieving, dazed expression at this bit of news speaks volumes.
It's great to see Gareth Thomas back, even if it's only for 90 seconds. Now sporting a David Bellamy beard, Blake apparently knows where a discovery of riches is - even though there's a room full of riches on the Liberator. Did Avon and co spend it all?
Of course, it's all a sham - another of Servalan's dastardly schemes to get her grubby hands on the Liberator. Even by Servalan's standards, the scheme is far-fetched. She's even hired a new set of lackeys, including a finger clicking, haughty woman called Kostos, who looks like she should be the head of the strictest boarding school in the galaxy. Jacqueline Pearce gives a great performance though, and intriguingly, seems to be close to tears in her final speech to Avon and the others.
In fact, everyone's on top form in Terminal. It's great to see Vila behave like a rational, intelligent adult rather than a clichéd buffoon. Vila takes control of the disastrous situation on the Liberator, and proves his worth, even when events spiral out of his control. Michael Keating is excellent, and actually makes Zen's death scene quite moving. Mention too, must go to Peter Tuddenham, who's done outstanding work with the Zen voice, and here, he brings much to Zen's final scenes.
Production-wise, the only weak links are - well, the Links. Very obviously men in monkey suits, the Links are a nice idea in principle, but they look way too fake to be a convincing threat. Even when they tear the two bowlcuts limb from limb (well, glove from glove anyway).
Otherwise, the realisation of Terminal is excellent. Jim Clay's expansive sets for the underground rooms are very impressive, compete with high ceilings, and these are also boosted by some subtle lighting contrasts between the tunnels and Servalan's room.
It's a bittersweet ending then, and the final destruction of the Liberator is excellently done, even if the immortal "Maximum power!!" line sets new heights of OTT camp. The disintegrating ship is very well handled by Mary Ridge, and Kostos' death is very memorable too, as she plummets off the raised floor with a set of blood curdling screams. Dudley Simpson's dramatic music puts the perfect finish to the last few sequences.
So where do the Liberator crew go from here? Stuck on a planet with all the warmth of a fridge in an igloo. No way out. Oh, and the prospect of season four to come too, which would probably cause some fans to panic. But that's another tale for another time...
Check out our review of season 3 episode 12 here .
| i don't know |
In Star Trek, by what nickname is Dr Leonard McCoy better known? | Star Trek McCoy, Leonard H.
STARFLEET HISTORICAL FILE: McCoy, Leonard H.
Mid-level Biography Brief Mode
Full Name: Leonard H. McCoy, M.D.
Year of birth: 2227
Parents: Mr. and Mrs. David McCoy
Education: University of Mississippi, 2245-49; medical school, 2249-53
Marital status: Divorced
Quarters: Original Enterprise : 3F 127
Starfleet Career Summary
2266 – As lieutenant commander, named chief medical officer under Capt. James T. Kirk
2270 – Retires to private medical practice
2271 – Returns to duty under Starfleet reactivation clause, promoted to commander as chief medical officer on refit U.S.S. Enterprise for V'Ger mission
2285 – As Academy medical faculty and training instructor, forced into Genesis mission; detained over leaks regarding secret Genesis Project
2286 – Charged but cleared with shipmates in theft of U.S.S. Enterprise
2287 – Returns to active Enterprise service under Kirk
2293 – Participated in Khitomer peace mission after liberation from Klingon Rura Penthe prison
2364 – As retired admiral, gave inspection tour of Galaxy-class U.S.S. Enterprise upon departure
Nicknamed 'Bones' by his longtime friend and commander, Captain James T. Kirk, McCoy replaced Mark Piper as chief medical officer in 2266 on one of the ship's five-year missions but clearly became the most renowned of its CMOs. By that first year he had already won the commendations of the Legion of Honor, awards of valor, and was decorated by Starfleet Surgeons.
His temperament was sometimes argumentative, a cynic's outer crustiness masking deep caring beneath the surface. His "old South" roots led to the old-time physician manner of doctoring, with a Southern accent that was most apparent when under stress. He distrusts transporter technology and travels by shuttlecraft whenever possible.
McCoy was married once and later divorced, a relationship never discussed except for his one daughter, Joanna, who later graduated from nursing school. In the era before ship's counselors, McCoy played his role as psychologist expertly to the hilt — especially for the ship's two senior officers. As such an emotional watchdog he was not afraid to take on his captain, but it was his running battle of wits with Spock which became legendary. Spock showed his true feelings, though, as when inviting McCoy down to Vulcan for his "wedding" and in storing his katra with him before a known suicidal saving of their ship before the Genesis detonation.
McCoy contracted the always-fatal xenopolycythemia and retired from Starfleet in 2369 to spend his remaining days on the asteroid ship, Yonada , and that world's high priestess, Natira — whom he soon married. By exploring Yonada's computers, Spock found a cure for xenopolycythemia and McCoy left Natira to return to the service. Earlier, McCoy had been infected with the strange 'aging' virus that infected the Gamma Hydra IV landing party.
After the U.S.S. Enterprise's triumphant return from its five-year mission, McCoy retired from Starfleet, grew a beard and went into virtual seclusion with a rural practice, only to be forced back to duty by Kirk and Admiral Nogura when V'Ger threatened Earth in 2271. After that he continued through the years of renewed Enterprise service with Kirk until at least the Khitomer peace talks of 2293, having survived imprisonment with him on trumped-up charges at the Rura Penthe mining prison when he could not revive assassinated Klingon Chancellor Gorkon . Spock's deposit of his katra in 2285 had nearly driven McCoy crazy and landed him in Starfleet detention until the refusion took place, whereupon he delighted in the Vulcan's re-education process.
As a retired admiral he remained active in his later years, serving at the age of 137 and shuttling aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise-D in 2364 in his role of inspecting medical facilities on new starships.
McCoy was an active practitioner well before his Starfleet days, of course. In 2253, some 12 years before he signed aboard with Kirk, he had developed a neural grafting procedure employing the creation of axonal pathways between the graft and a subject basal ganglia that was still the practice over a century later. He had also been stationed on Capella for a few months and knew the intricate customs of the Ten Tribes there.
| Bone |
In Buffy The Vampire Slayer, what is Buffy's surname? | Star Trek: The Original Series - Wikiquote
Star Trek: The Original Series
From Wikiquote
Walter Koenig as Pavel Chekov
Star Trek (1966–1969), called Star Trek: The Original Series to distinguish it from its successors, is a legendary science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that has thus far spawned four live-action spinoff series, one animated series, twelve feature films (six featuring the entire original cast), and numerous written works (both professionally published novels and amateur "fan-fiction"). It features "the voyages of the starship Enterprise " and her crew, with Captain James T. Kirk ( William Shatner ), First Officer Spock ( Leonard Nimoy ), and Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy ( DeForest Kelley ) as the central characters.
The Man Trap [ edit ]
Crater: The heroic captain and the intrepid doctor cross interstellar space to preserve our health! Oh, your sense of duty is overwhelming. Now, will you please go back where you came from and tell whoever issues your orders to leave me and my wife alone?!?
McCoy : The machine is capable of almost anything, but I'll still put my trust in a healthy set of tonsils.
Uhura : Mr. Spock, sometimes I think if I hear that word "frequency" again, I'll cry.
Spock : It is illogical for a communications officer to resent the word "frequency."
Uhura: Then I'm an illogical woman. Why don't you tell me what an attractive lady I am? Or how your planet looks when the moon is full.
Spock: Vulcan has no moon, Miss Uhura.
Uhura: I'm not surprised.
Kirk : You bleed too much, Crater. You're too pure and noble. Are you saving the last of its kind... or has this become Crater's private heaven here? This thing becomes wife, lover, best friend, wise man, fool, idol, slave. It isn't bad to have everyone in the universe at your beck and call. You win all the arguments.
Kirk: We're all aware of the need for salt on a hot and arid planet like this, Professor, but it's a mystery, and I don't like mysteries. They give me a bellyache and I got a beauty right now.
Spock: Your illogical approach to chess does have its advantages on occasion, Captain.
Kirk: I'd prefer to call it inspired.
Spock: As you wish.
Charlie: Do you know about being with somebody? Wanting to be? If I had the whole universe, I'd give it to you, Janice. When I see you, I feel like I'm hungry all over. Do you know how that feels?
Kirk: Go to your quarters or I'll pick you up and carry you there.
Kirk: [to Charlie] You go slow, be gentle. It's no one-way street -- you know how you feel and that's all. It's how the girl feels too. Don't press. If the girl feels anything for you at all, you'll know.
Kirk: Mr. Spock?
Spock: [unemotionally] My legs. They're broken.
Kirk: Let him go too, Charlie.
Charlie Evans: Why?
Kirk: Because I'm telling you to. You need me to run this ship and I need him.
Kirk: Charlie, there are a million things in this universe you can have and there are a million things you can't have. It's no fun facing that, but that's the way things are.
Charlie: What am I going to do?
Kirk: Hang on tight and survive. Everybody does.
Charlie: You don't!
Kirk : Have I ever mentioned you play a very irritating game of chess, Mr. Spock?
Spock : Irritating? [smiling] Ah, yes. One of your Earth emotions.
Kirk: [considers Spock for a moment, then calmly moves one of his own chess pieces. Spock's smile fades and he frowns as he realizes the effect of Kirk's move]
Kirk: Certain you don't know what irritation is?
Spock: The fact one of my ancestors married a human female...
Kirk: Terrible having bad blood like that.
Kelso comes into sickbay and finds Dr. Dehner leaning over LT Mitchell
Kelso: Hey, Mitch! Just checking up on you.
Mitchell: Hey, Lee! Don't let the light in my eyes upset you. It's just for our good-looking lady doctor here.
[Mitch stares at him with an unfocused look]
Mitchell: You'd better check the starboard impulse coupling. Those points have almost decayed to lead.
Kelso: Oh yeah, sure Mitch.
Mitchell: I'm not joking, Lee!! You activate those packs and you'll blow the whole impulse deck.
Kelso: Sure, I'll get right on it. [quickly leaves]
Kirk: What makes you so right and a trained psychiatrist wrong?
Spock: Because she feels. I don't. All I know is logic.
Spock: [about the exponential growth of Mitchell's telekinetic powers] You heard the mathematics of it. In a month, he'll have as much in common with us as we'd have with a shipful of white mice.
Mitchell: Time to pray, Captain. Pray to me.
Kirk: To you? Not to both of you?
Mitchell: Pray that you die easily.
Kirk: There'll only be one of you in the end. One jealous god... if all this makes a god. Or is it making you something else?
Mitchell: Your last chance, Kirk.
Kirk: Do you like what you see? Absolute power corrupting absolutely.
Dehner: Before long we'll be where it would have taken mankind millions of years of learning to reach.
Kirk: And what will Mitchell learn in getting there? Will he know what to do with his power? Will he acquire the wisdom?
Dehner: Please go back while you still can.
Kirk: Did you hear him joke about compassion? Above all else a "god" needs compassion! Mitchell!
Kirk: He didn't ask for what happened to him.
Spock: I felt for him, too.
Kirk: I believe there's some hope for you after all, Mr. Spock.
Spock : Our spectro-readings showed no contamination, no unusual elements present.
Scotty : At least none your tricorders could register.
Spock: Instruments register only those things they're designed to register. Space still contains infinite unknowns.
McCoy : We're doing everything that's possible!
Kirk : Bones I want the impossible checked out too!
Joe Tormolen: We're all a bunch of hypocrites. Sticking our noses into something that we've got no business. What are we doing out here, anyway?
Sulu : Take it easy, Joe.
Joe Tormolen: Bring pain and trouble with us. Leave men and women stuck out on freezing planets until they die. What are we doing out here in space? Good? What good? We're polluting it! We're destroying it! We've got no business being out here! No business!
Sulu : I'll protect you, fair maiden!
Uhura: Sorry, neither.
[Spock has just used the Vulcan nerve pinch on Sulu, who was rampaging about with a fencing sword]
Spock: Take D'Artagnan here to sickbay.
Kirk : Love... you're better off without it, and I'm better off without mine. This vessel...I give... she takes. She won't permit me my life. I've got to live hers.
Uhura: [over the intercom] Entering planet's outer atmosphere, sir.
Scotty : Captain!
Kirk : What is it?
Scotty : He's turned the engines off. They're completely cold. It'll take 30 minutes to regenerate them.
Uhura: [over the intercom] Entering planet's outer atmosphere, sir. Ship's outer skin is beginning to heat, Captain. Orbit plot shows we have about 8 minutes left.
The Enemy Within [ edit ]
Spock : We have here an unusual opportunity to appraise the human mind, or to examine, in Earth terms, the roles of good and evil in a man-- his negative side, which you call hostility, lust, violence, and his positive side, which Earth people express as compassion, love, tenderness.
McCoy : Are you aware it's the captain's guts you're analyzing?
Spock: Yes, and what makes one man an exceptional leader? We see indications that it's his negative side which makes him strong, that his evil side, controlled and disciplined, is vital to his strength. Your negative side removed from you, the power of command begins to elude you.
McCoy: Jim, you can't risk your life on a theory!
Spock: Being split in two halves is no theory with me, Doctor. I have a human half, you see, as well as an alien half, submerged, constantly at war with each other. Personal experience, Doctor. I survive it because my intelligence wins out over both, makes them live together. Your intelligence would enable you to survive as well.
Spock: [to Captain Kirk] You're the captain of this ship. You haven't the right to be vulnerable in the eyes of the crew. You can't afford the luxury of being anything less than perfect. If you do, they lose faith and you lose command.
Kirk : [about Evil Kirk] I have to take him back inside myself. I can't survive without him. I don't want to take him back. He's like an animal. a thoughtless, brutal animal. And yet it's me. Me!
McCoy: We all have our darker side. We need it; it's half of what we are. It's not really ugly, it's human.
Mudd's Women [ edit ]
Kirk : Computer, go to sensor probe. Any unusual readings?
Computer: No decipherable reading on females. However, unusual reading on male board members. Detecting high respiration patterns, perspiration rates up, heartbeat rapid, blood pressure higher than normal.
Kirk: Uh, that's sufficient. Strike that from the record, Mr. Spock.
Harry Mudd: Men will always be men — no matter where they are.
Harry Mudd: You're a hard-nosed one, Captain.
Kirk: And you're a liar. I think we both understand each other.
Kirk: There's only one kind of woman...
Harry Mudd: Or man, for that matter.
Kirk: You either believe in yourself or you don't.
Spock : I'm happy the affair is over. A most annoying emotional episode.
McCoy : Smack right in the old heart. Oh, I'm sorry. [pointing to his side] In your case, it would be about here.
Spock: The fact that my internal arrangement differs from yours, Doctor, pleases me no end.
Harry Mudd: Don't you think you could possibly, by accident, arrange to leave me behind here? On this planet, that would be punishment enough.
Kirk: I can't do that, Harry, but I will appear as a character witness at your trial ... if you think that'll help.
Harry Mudd: They'll throw away the key.
What Are Little Girls Made Of? [ edit ]
Dr. Korby: Can you imagine how life could be improved if we could do away with jealousy, greed, hate? ...
Kirk : It can also be improved by eliminating love, tenderness, sentiment — the other side of the coin, Doctor.
Dr. Korby: Can you understand what I’m offering mankind?
Kirk: Programming. Different word, but the same old promises made by Genghis Khan , Julius Caesar , Hitler , Ferris, Maltuvis.
Dr. Korby: Remarkable, isn't she? Notice the-- the lifelike pigmentation, the variation in skin tones. The flesh-- The flesh has warmth. There's even a pulse, physical sensation.
Nurse Chapel: How convenient.
Dr. Korby: I am not a computer. Test me. Ask me to solve any-- Equate-- Transmit-- Christine, Christine, Iet me prove myself! Does this make such a difference?!?
Kirk: We humans are full of unpredictable emotions that logic cannot solve.
Kirk : No blah, blah, blah!
Children: Boom! Bonk bonk on the head!
Spock : The older the victim, the more rapid the progress of the disease.
Kirk: And you? The disease doesn't seem to be interested.
Spock: I am a carrier. Whatever happens, I can't go back to the ship. And I do want to go back to the ship, Captain.
Kirk: Of course, Mr. Spock.
Kirk: I think children have an instinctive need for adults. They want to be told right and wrong.
Dagger of the Mind [ edit ]
Kirk : One of the advantages of being a captain, Doctor, is being able to ask for advice without necessarily having to take it.
Spock : Interesting. You Earth people glorify organized violence for forty centuries, but you imprison those who employ it privately.
McCoy : And, of course, your people found an answer.
Spock: We disposed of emotion, Doctor. Where there's no emotion, there's no motive for violence.
Kirk: What did you say your name was?
Van Gelder: My name? My name is--aah! Simon... Van Gelder. I was the director of-- director-- at the Tantalus colony. I was a graduate of...of...I was assistant to...Doctor...Doc Aah! [Sobbing] I knew... I knew. But they've erased it.
McCoy: Erased?
Van Gelder: Edited... adjusted... subverted me! But I won't forget! I won't forget!
Dr. Adams: You're madly in love with Helen, Captain. You'd lie, cheat, steal for her, sacrifice your career, your reputation..... And now...she's gone.
Spock : Has it occurred to you that there's a certain... inefficiency in constantly questioning me on things you've already made up your mind about?
Kirk : It gives me emotional security.
McCoy: [calling after Kirk as the latter leaves sick bay] Had to finish the physical on you, didn't I? What am I, a doctor or a moon shuttle conductor? [then, alone in the room] If I jumped every time a light came on around here, I'd end up talkin' to myself.
Lt. Bailey: We have phasers, I vote we blast 'em!
Kirk: Thank you, Mr. Bailey, I'll consider that ... when this becomes a democracy.
Kirk: Captain to crew. Those of you who have served for long on this vessel have encountered alien life-forms. You know the greatest danger facing us is ourselves, an irrational fear of the unknown. But there's no such thing as the unknown-- only things temporarily hidden, temporarily not understood. In most cases we have found that intelligence capable of a civilization is capable of understanding peaceful gestures. Surely a life-form advanced enough for space travel is advanced enough to eventually understand our motives. All decks stand by. Captain out.
Kirk: This is the Captain of the Enterprise. Our respect for other life forms requires that we give you this... warning. There is one critical item of information that has never been incorporated into the memory banks of any Earth ship. Since the early years of space exploration, Earth vessels have had incorporated into them a substance known as... corbomite. It is a material and a device which prevents attack on us. If any destructive energy touches our vessel, a reverse reaction of equal strength is created, destroying --
Balok: You now have two minutes.
Kirk: -- destroying the attacker. It may interest you to know that since the initial use of corbomite more than two of our centuries ago, no attacking vessel has survived the attempt. Death has... little meaning to us. If it has none to you -- then attack us now. We grow annoyed at your foolishness.
Spock: I regret not having learned more about this Balok. He was reminiscent of my father.
Scotty: Then may heaven have helped your mother.
Spock: Quite the contrary. She considered herself a very fortunate Earth woman.
The Menagerie, Parts 1-2 [ edit ]
McCoy : Blast medicine anyway. We've learned to tie into every human organ in the body except one -- the brain. The brain is what life is all about. That man can think any thought that we can, and love, hope, dream as much as we can, but he can't reach out, and no one can reach in.
Pike : What are you putting in there, ice?
Dr. Boyce : Who wants a warm martini?
Pike: What makes you think I need one?
Dr. Boyce: Sometimes a man will tell his bartender things that he'll never tell his doctor.
Dr. Boyce: A man either lives life as it happens to him, meets it head-on and licks it, or he turns his back on it and starts to wither away.
Pike: Now you're beginning to talk like a doctor, bartender.
Dr. Boyce: Take your choice. We both get the same two kinds of customers -- the living... and the dying.
Pike: Now, unless you want my ship to consider capturing me an unfriendly act --
Magistrate: You now see the primitive fear/threat reaction. The specimen is about to boast of his strength, the weaponry of his vessel, and so on. [Pike prepares to throw himself at the glass] Next... frustrated into a need to display physical prowess, the creature will throw himself against the transparency.
Kirk : Mr. Spock, when you're finished, I want to talk to you. This regrettable tendency you've been showing lately towards flagrant emotionalism --
Spock : I see no reason to insult me, sir.
Vina: When dreams become more important than reality, you give up travel, building, creating; you even forget how to repair the machines left behind by your ancestors. You just sit living and reliving other lives left behind in the thought records.
Spock: Captain... Jim, don't stop me! Don't let him stop me! It's your career, and Captain Pike's life! You must see the rest of the transmission!
Kirk: [to a security guard] Lock him up.
Kirk: A Vulcan can no sooner be disloyal than he can exist without breathing.
The Keeper: Captain Kirk. Captain Pike has an illusion, and you have reality. May you find your way as pleasurable.
McCoy : This is the first time in a week I've had time for a drop. Would you care for a drink, Mr. Spock?
Spock : My father's race was spared the dubious benefits of alcohol.
McCoy: Oh. Now I know why they were conquered. What are you worried about? Jim generally knows what he's doing.
Spock: It was illogical for him to bring those players aboard.
McCoy: Illogical? Did you get a look at that Juliet? That's a pretty exciting creature. Of course your, uh, personal chemistry would prevent you from seeing that. Did it ever occur to you that he might like the girl?
Spock: It occurred. I dismissed it.
McCoy: You would.
McCoy : What if you decide he is Kodos? What then? Do you play God, carry his head through the corridors in triumph? That won't bring back the dead, Jim.
Kirk : No. But they may rest easier.
Lenore: There is no mercy in you.
Kirk: If he is Kodos, then I've shown him more mercy than he deserves. And if he isn't... then we'll let you off at Benecia, and no harm done.
Lenore: Captain Kirk. Who are you to say what harm was done?
Kirk: Who do I have to be?
Kodos : I am tired! ... The past ... is a blank.
Kirk: Those beautiful words, well acted, change nothing.
Kirk: Worlds may change, galaxies disintegrate -- but a woman is always a woman.
Romulan Commander: Another war... must it always be so? How many comrades have we lost in this way?... Obedience. Duty. Death, and more death...
Romulan Commander: A message was dispatched. You've broken the Rule of Silence!
Decius: Only in code, Commander. To inform our Praetor of this glorious mission.
Romulan Commander: Your carelessness might have ended this "glorious mission"! You are reduced two steps in rank! Return to post!
Centurion: [after Decius leaves] Take care, Commander. He has friends, and friends of his kind mean power, and power is often dangerous.
Romulan Commander: Danger and I are old companions.
Centurion: We've seen a hundred campaigns together, and still I do not understand you!
Romulan Commander: I think you do. No need to tell you what will happen. The Earthman will follow; he must. And when he attacks we will destroy him. Our gift to the homeland: another war.
Spock : If Romulans are an offshoot of my Vulcan blood, then attack becomes even more imperative.
McCoy : War is never imperative.
Spock: It is for them, Doctor. Vulcan, like Earth, had its aggressive colonizing period, savage even by Earth standards. If Romulans retain this martial philosophy, then weakness is something we dare not show.
McCoy: In this galaxy, there's a mathematical probability of three million earth-type planets...and in all the universe, three million million galaxies like this one. And in all of that, and perhaps more, only one of each of us. Don't destroy the one named Kirk.
Kirk : Captain. Standing by to beam your survivors aboard our ship. Prepare to abandon your vessel.
Romulan Commander: No. No, that is not our way. I regret that we meet in this way. You and I are of a kind. In a different reality, I could have called you friend.
Kirk: What purpose will it serve to die?
Romulan Commander: We are creatures of duty, Captain. I have lived my life by it. Just one more duty to perform.
Shore Leave [ edit ]
Spock : After what this ship has been through in the last three months, there is not a crewman aboard who is not in need of rest. Myself excepted, of course.
Spock: I picked this up from Dr. McCoy's log. We have a crew member on board who is showing signs of stress and fatigue. Reaction time down 9 to 12 percent. Associational reading Norm minus 3.
Kirk : That's much too low a rating.
Spock: He's becoming irritable and quarrelsome, yet he refuses to take rest and rehabilitation. Now he has that right, but...we found -
Kirk: A crewman's rights end where the safety of the ship begins. Now that man will go ashore on my orders. What's his name?
Spock: James Kirk.
[Realizing he's been tricked, Kirk stares somewhat balefully at Spock.]
Spock: [continuing] Enjoy yourself, Captain. It's an interesting planet. I believe you'll find it quite pleasant, very much like your Earth. Scouts have detected no animals, artifacts, or forcefields of any kind. Only peace, sunshine, and good air. You'll have no problems.
Spock: On my planet, to rest is to rest — to cease using energy. To me, it is quite illogical to run up and down on green grass, using energy, instead of saving it.
Kirk: The more complex the mind, the greater the need for the simplicity of play.
Kirk: I do [believe you]! I've met some interesting characters myself!
Spock : The logical thing for you to have done was to have left me behind.
McCoy : Mr. Spock, remind me to tell you that I'm sick and tired of your logic.
Spock: That is a most illogical attitude. It is more rational to sacrifice one life than six.
McCoy: I'm not talking about rationality.
Spock: You might be wise to start.
McCoy: Life and death are seldom logical.
Spock: But attaining a desired goal always is.
McCoy: Respect is a rational process. Didn't it ever occur to you that they might react emotionally...with anger?
Spock: Doctor, I am not responsible for their unpredictability.
McCoy: They were perfectly predictable, to anyone with feeling.
Spock: I realize that command does have its fascination, even under circumstances such as these, but I neither enjoy the idea of command nor am I frightened of it. It simply exists, and I will do whatever logically needs to be done.
Scotty : Mr. Spock, you said a while ago that there were always alternatives.
Spock: Did I? I may have been mistaken.
McCoy: Well, at least I lived long enough to hear that.
Kirk : Uh, Mr. Spock, there's really something I don't understand about all of this. And maybe you can explain it to me. Logically, of course. When you jettisoned the fuel and ignited it, you knew there was virtually no chance of it being seen, yet you did it anyhow. That would seem to be an act of desperation.
Spock: Quite correct.
Kirk: We all know, and I'm sure the doctor agrees, that desperation is a highly emotional state of mind. How does your well-known logic explain that?
Spock: Quite simply, Captain. I examined the problem from all angles, and it was plainly hopeless. Logic informed me that, under the circumstances, the only possible action would have to be one of desperation. Logical decision, logically arrived at.
Kirk: Aha, ha ha. I see. You mean you reasoned that it was time for an emotional outburst.
Spock: Well, I... wouldn't put it in exactly those terms, Captain, but... those are essentially the facts.
Kirk: You're not going to admit that for the first time in your life, you committed a purely human, emotional act?
Spock: No, sir.
Kirk: Mr. Spock, you're a stubborn man.
Spock: Yes, sir.
Trelane: Oh, how absolutely typical of your species! You don't understand something so you become fearful.
McCoy : Does your logic find this fascinating, Mr. Spock?
Spock : No. "Fascinating" is a word I use for the unexpected. In this case, I should think "interesting" would suffice.
Trelane: You do realize that it's in deference to the Captain that I brought you here.
Spock: Affirmative.
Trelane: Well, I don't know if I like your tone. It's most challenging. That's what you're doing, challenging me?
Spock: I object to you. I object to intellect without discipline. I object to power without constructive purpose.
Trelane: Oh, Mr. Spock, you do have one saving grace after all - you're ill mannered. The human half of you, no doubt.
Kirk : Our missions are peaceful — not for conquest. When we do battle, it is only because we have no choice.
Kirk: We're living beings, not playthings for your amusement!
Trelane: Silence! This trial is over! You are guilty. On all counts you are guilty. And according to your own laws, this court has no choice in fixing punishment. You will hang by the neck Captain, until you are dead, dead, dead!
Arena [ edit ]
Metron: We are the Metrons. You are one of two crafts which have come into our space on a mission of violence. This is not permissible. Yet we have analyzed you and have learned that your violent tendencies are inherent. So be it. We will control them.
Metron: Your captain is losing his battle. We would suggest you make whatever memorial arrangements, if any, which are customary in your culture. We believe you have very little time left.
McCoy : We appeal to you in the name of civilization. Put a stop to this!
Metron: Your violent intent and actions demonstrate that you are not civilized.
Kirk : [to the helpless Gorn] No I won't kill you. Maybe you thought you were protecting yourselves when you attacked the outpost. [louder, to the Metrons] No I won't kill him! Do you hear? You'll have to get your entertainment someplace else!
Metron: Sparing your helpless enemy who surely would have destroyed you, you demonstrated the advanced trait of mercy, something we hardly expected. We feel that there may be hope for your kind. Therefore you will not be destroyed. It would not be civilized.
Kirk: We're a most promising species, Mr. Spock, as predators go. Did you know that?
Spock : I frequently have my doubts.
Kirk: I don't, not anymore. And maybe in a thousand years or so we'll be able to prove it. Never mind, Mr. Spock, it doesn't make much sense to me either.
Spock: A thousand years, Captain?
Kirk: Well that gives us a little time.
Kirk : You said you had some additional information, Mr. Spock?
Spock : I made an error in my computations.
McCoy : Oh? This could be a historic occasion.
Kirk: All right, Colonel. The truth is, I'm a little green man from Alpha Centauri, a beautiful place. You ought to see it.
Colonel Fellini: I am going to lock you up for 200 years.
Kirk: That ought to be just about right.
John Christopher: You don't trust me, Spock.
Mr. Spock: In fact, I do. But only to a certain point.
Kirk: [to Spock] Your logic can be most... annoying.
Kirk: [about John Christopher] But in our society, he'd be useless. Archaic.
McCoy: But maybe he could be retrained, reeducated.
Kirk: Now you're sounding like Spock.
McCoy: If you're going to get nasty, I'm going to leave.
Kirk : I hope I'm not crowding you.
Cogley: What's the matter? Don't you like books?
Kirk: Oh, I like them fine, but a computer takes less space.
Cogley: A computer, huh? I got one of these in my office. Contains all the precedents, a synthesis of all the great legal decisions written throughout time. I never use it.
Kirk: Why not?
Cogley: I've got my own system. Books, young man, books. Thousands of them. If time wasn't so important, I'd show you something--my library. Thousands of books.
Kirk: What would be the point?
Cogley: This is where the law is, not in that homogenized, pasteurized, synthesized... do you want to know the law, the ancient concepts in their own language, learn the intent of the men who wrote them, from Moses to the tribunal of Alpha 3? Books.
Kirk: You have to be either an obsessive crackpot who's escaped from his keeper or Samuel T. Cogley, attorney-at-law.
Cogley: Right on both counts.
McCoy : Well, I had to see it to believe it.
Spock : Explain.
McCoy: They're about to lop off the captain's professional head, and you're playing chess with the computer.
Spock: That is true.
McCoy: Mr. Spock, you're the most cold-blooded man I've ever known.
Spock: Why, thank you, Doctor.
Areel: Mr. Cogley is well-known for his theatrics.
Cogley: Is saving an innocent man's career a theatric?
Stone: Counsels will direct their remarks to the bench.
Cogley: I'd be delighted to, sir, now that I've got something human to talk about. Rights, sir, human rights-- the Bible , the Code of Hammurabi and of Justinian, Magna Carta , the Constitution of the United States , Fundamental Declarations of the Martian colonies, the Statutes of Alpha 3--gentlemen, these documents all speak of rights. Rights of the accused to a trial by his peers, to be represented by counsel, the rights of cross-examination, but most importantly, the right to be confronted by the witnesses against him--a right to which my client has been denied.
Cogley: I speak of rights. A machine has none. A man must. My client has the right to face his accuser, and if you do not grant him that right, you have brought us down to the level of the machine. Indeed, you have elevated that machine above us. I ask that my motion be granted, and more than that, gentlemen, in the name of humanity, fading in the shadow of the machine, I demand it. I demand it!
Spock: It is impossible for Captain Kirk to act out of panic or malice. It is not his nature.
The Return of the Archons [ edit ]
Landru Computer: I am Landru. I am he. All that he was I am, his experience, his knowledge.
Kirk : But not his wisdom. He may have programmed you, but he could not have given you a soul. You are a machine.
Landru Computer: Your statement is irrelevant.
Kirk: Without freedom of choice there is no creativity.
Kirk: It's time you learned that freedom is never a gift. It has to be earned.
Spock : How often mankind has wished for a world as peaceful and secure as the one Landru provided.
Kirk: Yes. And we never got it. Just lucky, I guess.
Spock: I prefer the concrete, the graspable, the proveable.
Kirk: You'd make a splendid computer, Mr Spock.
Spock: That is very kind of you, Captain!
Spock: Insufficient facts always invite danger.
Spock: Superior ability breeds superior ambition.
Spock:The mid-1990s was the era of your last so-called World War.
McCoy: (Khan has grabbed McCoy by throat and is holding a knife on him) Well, either choke me or cut my throat. Make up your mind.
Khan: Where am I?
McCoy: You're in bed, holding a knife at your doctor's throat.
Khan: Answer my question!
McCoy: It would be most effective if you would cut the carotid artery, just under the left ear.
Khan: [releasing McCoy] I like a brave man.
McCoy: [taking knife from Khan] I was just trying to prevent an argument.
Spock: [To a guard] Sir, there's a multi-legged creature crawling on your shoulder. [Uses Vulcan nerve pinch on guard]
Scotty: Diplomats! The best diplomat I know is a fully activated phaser bank.
McCoy: Well, Scotty, now you've done it.
Scotty: Aye, the haggis is in the fire, for sure.
Ambassador: What are you doing, Mr. Spock?
Spock: Practicing a peculiar variety of diplomacy, sir. [Fires phaser]
Kirk: Death. Destruction. Disease. Horror. That's what war is all about. That's what makes it a thing to be avoided.
Kirk: Sometimes a feeling is all we humans have to go on.
Kirk: [War] is instinctive. But the instinct can be fought. We're human beings with the blood of a million savage years on our hands! But we can stop it. We can admit that we're killers... but we're not going to kill today. That's all it takes! Knowing that we're not going to kill - today!
Spock: Captain, you almost make me believe in luck.
Kirk: Why, Mr Spock! You almost make me believe in miracles!
This Side of Paradise [ edit ]
Spock: I have never understood the female capacity to avoid a direct answer to any question.
Spock: I've never stopped to look at clouds before. Or rainbows. You know, I can tell you exactly why one appears in the sky, but considering its beauty has always been out of the question.
Spock: I am what I am, Leila, and if there are self-made purgatories, then we all have to live in them.
Kirk: Another dream that failed. There's nothing sadder.
McCoy: That's the second time man's been thrown out of paradise.
Kirk: Oh no, this time he walked out of his own accord. Perhaps man wasn't meant for paradise. Maybe he was meant to claw, to scratch all the way.
McCoy: Wait - maybe you should make me a mechanic, then I can treat little tin gods like you.
Kirk: Either one of us, by himself, is expendable. Both of us are not.
McCoy: I'm a doctor not a bricklayer ! That thing is practically made out of stone!
Kirk: You're a healer. There's a patient. That's an order.
McCoy: By golly, Jim, I'm beginning to think I can cure a rainy day!
Spock: The Horta has a very logical mind and after close association with humans, I find that curiously refreshing.
Spock: [The Horta] found humanoid appearance revolting, but she felt she could get used to it.
McCoy: Oh, she did, did she? Now tell me, did she happen to make any comment about those ears?
Spock: Not specifically, but I did get the distinct impression she found them the most attractive human characteristic of all. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that only I have—
Kirk: She really liked those ears?
Spock: Captain, the Horta is a remarkably intelligent and sensitive creature with impeccable taste.
Kirk: Because she approved of you.
Spock: Really, Captain, my modesty—
Kirk: ...Does not bear close examination, Mr. Spock. I suspect you're becoming more and more human all the time.
Spock: Captain, I see no reason to stand here and be insulted.
Spock: It is curious how often you humans manage to obtain that which you do not want.
Kirk: ...You didn't really think I was going to beat his head in, did you?
Spock: I thought you might.
Kirk: You're right.
Kor: You speak of courage. Obviously you do not know the difference between courage and foolhardiness. Always it is the brave ones who die, the soldiers.
Kirk: I have a tongue.
Kor: You will be taught how to use it.
Kirk: I'm a soldier, not a diplomat. I can only tell you the truth!
Kirk: Another Armenia, Belgium ... the weak innocents...they always seem to be located along the natural invasion routes.
Kirk: Now, Mr. Spock and I are going to go out there... and quite probably die. In an attempt to show you... that there are some things... worth dying for.
Kirk: What would you say the odds are on our getting out of here?
Spock: Difficult to be precise, Captain. I should say approximately seven thousand eight hundred twenty four point seven to one.
Kirk: Difficult to be precise? Seven thousand eight hundred and twenty four to one?
Spock: Seven thousand eight hundred twenty four point seven to one.
Kirk: That's a pretty close approximation.
Spock: I endeavor to be accurate.
Kirk: You do quite well.
Kirk: Well, what are the odds now?
Spock: Less than seven thousand to one, Captain. It's remarkable we've gotten this far.
Kirk: Less than seven thousand to one... Well, getting better, getting better.
Kirk: You should be the first to be on our side! Two hundred Organians killed!
Ayelborne: No one has been killed, Captain.
Claymare: No one has died here in uncounted thousands of years.
The Alternative Factor [ edit ]
Spock: Madness has no purpose. Or reason. But it may have a goal.
Kirk: Like Lazarus. Identical, yet both Lazarus. Except one is matter and the other antimatter. If they meet...
Spock: Annihilation Jim. Total, complete, absolute annihilation.
Lazarus: He'll kill us all if we don't kill him first! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL!
The City on the Edge of Forever [ edit ]
The Guardian of Forever: A Question. Since before your sun burned hot in space, and before your race was born, I have awaited a question.
James T. Kirk : My friend is obviously Chinese. I see you've noticed the ears. They're actually easy to explain.
Spock : Perhaps the unfortunate accident I had as a child.
James T. Kirk: ...The unfortunate accident he had as a child. He caught his head in a mechanical... rice picker.
Edith Keeler: One day soon, man is going to be able to harness incredible energies, maybe even the atom... energies that could ultimately hurl us to other worlds in... in some sort of spaceship. And the men that reach out into space will be able to find ways to feed the hungry millions of the world and to cure their diseases. They will be able to find a way to give each man hope and a common future. And those are the days worth living for.
James T. Kirk: We have a flop.
Spock: We have a what, Captain?
James T. Kirk: A place to sleep.
Spock: One might have said so in the first place.
Edith Keeler: I think that one day they're going to take all the money that they spend now on war and death...
James T. Kirk: And make them spend it on life.
Edith Keeler: You know as well as I do how out of place you two are around here.
Spock: Interesting. Where would you estimate we belong, Miss Keeler?
Edith Keeler: [to Spock] You? At his side. As if you've always been there and always will. [to Kirk] And you... you belong... in another place. I don't know where or how... I'll figure it out eventually.
Spock: I'll finish with the furnace.
Edith Keeler: '..., Captain.' Even when he doesn't say it, he does.
Spock: I am endeavoring, Madam, to construct a mnemonic memory circuit using stone knives and bear skins.
Spock: Pain is a thing of the mind. The mind can be controlled.
Spock: I admire your curiosity Doctor, but I assure you I'm all right.
McCoy: You may be controlling the pain, Mr. Spock... but you're far from all right.
Spock : It is undignified for a woman to play servant to a man who is not hers.
Spock: Ms. Chapel.
Christine Chapel : Yes, Mr. Spock?
Spock: I had a most startling dream. You were trying to tell me something...but I couldn't hear you. [Chapel is crying] It would be illogical for us to protest against our natures, don't you think?
Spock: Would you beam down to the planet's surface and stand with me? There is a brief ceremony.
James T. Kirk : Is it permitted?
Spock: It is my right. By tradition, the male is accompanied by his closest friends.
James T. Kirk: Thank you, Mr. Spock.
Spock: I also request Dr. McCoy accompany me.
Leonard McCoy : I shall be honored, sir.
Spock: Stonn. She is yours. After a time, you may find that having is not so pleasing a thing, after all, as wanting. It is not logical, but it is often true.
T'Pau : Live long and prosper, Spock.
Spock: I shall do neither. I have killed my captain... and my friend.
Spock: [After realizing that Kirk is not, in fact, dead.] Jim! [Catching himself before he displays further emotion] I am...pleased to see you, Captain; you seem... uninjured.
Leonard McCoy: There's just one thing, Mr. Spock. You can't tell me that when you first saw Jim alive that you weren't on the verge of giving us an emotional scene that would have brought the house down.
Spock: Merely my quite logical relief that Starfleet had not lost a highly proficient captain.
James T. Kirk: Yes, Mr. Spock, I understand.
Spock: Thank you, Captain.
Chekov: I'm sorry, Captain. I never met a god before.
Kirk: And you haven't yet.
Apollo: Earth... mother of the most beautiful of women in the universe.
Kirk: Mankind has no need of gods ...we find the one quite adequate.
Scotty : Captain, we've got to do something.
Kirk: We were doing something, until our brave lady stepped in and saved us.
Apollo: Zeus... Hermes... Hera... Aphrodite... You were right! Athena... You were right. The time has passed. There is no room for gods. Forgive me, my old friends. Take me. Take me. Take me. (echos) [fades away]
Kirk: Would it have hurt us, I wonder, just to have gathered a few laurel leaves?
Leonard McCoy : I'm a doctor, not an engineer.
Scotty: Now you're an engineer.
James T. Kirk : Conquest is easy. Control is not.
Mirror Spock: Terror must be maintained or the Empire is doomed. It is the logic of history.
James T. Kirk: How long before the Halkan prediction of Galactic revolt is realized?
Mirror Spock: Approximately 240 years.
James T. Kirk: The inevitable outcome?
Mirror Spock: The Empire shall be overthrown, of course.
James T. Kirk: The illogic of waste, Mr. Spock. The waste of lives, potential, resources, time... I submit to you that your Empire is illogical, because it cannot endure. I submit that you are illogical to being a willing part of it.
Mirror Spock: It is time.
James T. Kirk: In every revolution, there's one man with a vision.
Mirror Spock: Captain Kirk, I shall consider it.
Mirror Spock: One man cannot summon the future.
James T. Kirk: But one man can change the present.
Spock: (Explaining to Kirk how the mirror versions were so quickly spotted) It was far easier for you as civilized men to behave like barbarians than it was for them as barbarians to behave like civilized men.
Kirk: I'm not sure, but I think we've just been insulted.
McCoy: I'm sure.
The Apple [ edit ]
Pavel Chekov : I've been waiting to get you into a place like this for a long time.
James T. Kirk : Mr. Chekov, I know you and Miss Landon find each other fascinating, but we’re not here to conduct a field experiment in human biology.
Spock : Dr. McCoy’s potion is acting like all his potions— turning my stomach.
James T. Kirk : Are you trying to get yourself killed? Do you know how much Starfleet has invested in you?
Spock : One hundred, twenty-two thousand, two hundred—
James T. Kirk : Never mind. But… thanks.
Akuta: Love. Strange words, "children," "love". What is love?
Yeoman Landon: Love is when two people are-
Akuta: Ah, the holding, the touching. Vaal has forbidden this.
Spock : Very bad poetry, Captain.
James T. Kirk: A more useful comment, Mr Spock.
James T. Kirk: If we weren't missing two officers and a third one dead, I'd say someone was playing an elaborate trick or treat on us.
Spock: Trick or treat, Captain?
James T. Kirk: Yes, Mr Spock. You'd be a natural.
James T. Kirk: You can't think a man to death.
Leonard McCoy : You can't evaluate a man by logic alone.
Harry Mudd: Do you know what the penalty for fraud is on Deneb V?
Spock : The guilty party has his choice-- death by electrocution, death by gas, death by phaser, death by hanging...
Harry Mudd: The key word in your entire peroration, Mr. Spock, was... death. Barbarians! Well, of course, I...left.
Kirk : He broke jail.
Harry Mudd: I, er, borrowed transportation -
Kirk : He stole a spaceship.
Harry Mudd: The patrol reacted in a hostile manner -
Kirk : They fired at him.
Harry Mudd: They've got no respect for private property, they damaged the bloody spaceship!
Harry Mudd: Spock, you're going to love it here. They all talk just the way you do.
Spock: [pointing to Alice #27] I love you. [looking to Alice #210] However, I hate you.
Alice #210: But I am identical in every way with Alice 27.
Spock: Yes, of course. That is exactly why I hate you--
Spock: Logic is a little tweeting bird, chirping in a meadow. Logic is a wreath of pretty flowers which smell bad.
Zefram Cochrane : Immortality consists largely of boredom.
James T. Kirk : Not 100 percent efficient, of course, but nothing ever is.
Nancy Hedford: [speaking weakly from her fever] I heard. He (Cochrane) was loved. And he resents it. I've always been good at my job. But I've never been loved. Never. What sort of a life is that? Never being loved. Never... to have shown love. And he runs away from love. [breaks down sobbing]
Leonard McCoy : There's nothing disgusting about it [the Companion]. It's just another life form, that's all. You get used to those things.
James T. Kirk: We're on over a thousand worlds and spreading out. Life is everywhere.
Amanda Grayson : After all these years among humans, you still haven't learned to smile.
Spock : Humans smile with so little provocation.
Amanda Grayson: Vulcans believe that peace should not depend on force.
Spock: There is no logic in Gav's murder.
Shras: Perhaps you should forget logic and devote yourself to motivations of passion or gain; these are reasons for murder.
Spock: It [being a Vulcan] means to adopt a philosophy, a way of life, which is logical and beneficial. We cannot disregard that philosophy merely for personal gain, no matter how important that gain might be.
Sarek : One does not thank logic.
[Sarek and Spock discuss Amanda.]
Spock: Emotional, isn't she?
Sarek: She has always been that way.
Spock: Indeed? Why did you marry her?
Sarek: At the time, it seemed the logical thing to do.
Kras: We Klingons believe as you do. The sick should die. Only the strong should live.
Leonard McCoy : I'm a doctor, not an escalator.
Spock : Virtue is a relative term.
Spock: "Oochy wootchy koochy coo," Captain?
James T. Kirk : An obscure Earth dialect, Mr. Spock. Oochy-woochy-koochy-coo. If you're curious, consult linguistics.
Spock: "The child was named Leonard...James...Akaar?!"
McCoy: "Has a kind of a...ring to it, don't you think, James?"
Kirk: "Yes. I think it's a name...destined to go down in galactic history, Leonard - what do you think, Spock?"
Spock : I think you're both going to be insufferably pleased with yourselves for at least a month. Sir.
Dr. Janet Wallace: No problem is insoluble.
Dr. Janet Wallace: The heart is not a logical organ.
Chekov : 'Give us some more blood, Chekov.' 'The needle won't hurt, Chekov.' 'Take off your shirt, Chekov.' 'Roll over, Chekov.' 'Breathe deeply, Chekov.' 'Blood sample, Chekov.' 'Marrow sample, Chekov.' 'Skin sample, Chekov.' IF...if I live long enough, I'm going to run out of samples!
James T. Kirk: Don't you ever relax?
Montgomery Scott: I am relaxing.
Montgomery Scott:When are y'gonna get off that milk diet, lad?
Pavel Chekov: This is vodka!
Montgomery Scott: Where I come from, that's soda pop. Now, this is a drink for a man.
Pavel Chekov: Scotch?
Montgomery Scott: Aye.
Pavel Chekov: It was invented by a little old lady from Leningrad!
Spock: A most curious creature, Captain. (He puts the tribble to his ear) Its trilling seems to have a tranquilizing effect on the human nervous system. (mild shrug) Fortunately, of course, I am (he starts to sound drowsy)...immune...to its effect...(by this point he's nearly asleep on his feet. He abruptly wakes with a jerk and quickly puts the tribble down)
Spock: Doctor, I am well aware of human characteristics. I am frequently inundated by them, but I've trained myself to put up with practically anything.
Leonard McCoy: Spock, I don’t know too much about these little tribbles yet, but there is one thing that I have discovered.
Spock: What’s that, Doctor?
Leonard McCoy: I like them… better than I like you.
Spock: Doctor, they do indeed have one redeeming characteristic… they do not talk too much.
Leonard McCoy: [about tribbles] Near as I can tell, they're born pregnant... which seems to be quite a time-saver!
James T. Kirk: Too much of anything, Lieutenant, even love, isn't necessarily a good thing.
Kirk: (forcefully) Until that court martial convenes, I'm still a Captain! And as Captain I want two things done! First, find Cyrano Jones, and second...(pained and weary) close that door...!
Leonard McCoy : You mean ... you're gonna leave here without them, and run off on some wild goose chase halfway across the galaxy, just because you found a discrepancy in a hydrogen cloud?
Spock : Doctor, I'm chasing the Captain, Lieutenant Uhura and Ensign Chekov, not some wild aquatic fowl.
Leonard McCoy : Well, Mr. Spock, if you’re going into the lion’s den, you’ll need a medical officer.
Spock : Daniel, as I recall, had only his faith, but I welcome your company, Doctor.
James T. Kirk : My people pride themselves on being the greatest, most successful gamblers in the universe. We compete for everything -- power, fame, women -- everything we desire, and it is our nature ... to win.
James T. Kirk : We have found... that all life-forms in the galaxy are capable of superior development.
James T. Kirk: All your people must learn before you can reach for the stars.
Leonard McCoy : You admit that?
Spock: To deny the facts would be illogical, Doctor.
Spock : [After Kirk tries to drive an automobile] Captain, you are an excellent starship commander. But as a taxi driver, you leave much to be desired.
Kirk : It was that bad?
Kirk : Hold on, Spock. Out of the mouth of babes..
Young street urchin: Who are you callin' a babe?
Kirk: I'm callin' you a babe.
Young street urchin: You callin' me a babe?
Kirk: Yeah, I'm callin'- [Urchin produces a knife and holds it upto Kirk's face] I'm calling you a babe, but it's nothing personal.
Montgomery Scott : You mind your place, mister, or you'll... you'll be wearing concrete galoshes!
Kirk: Well, Bones, in the language of the planet, what's your beef?
Spock: (in a "gangster voice") I would advise yas ta keep dialin', Oxmyx!
Spock : Brace yourself. The area of penetration will no doubt be sensitive.
Spock: Tell Doctor McCoy... he should have wished me luck.
Spock: Do not risk the ship further on my behalf.
McCoy : Shut up, Spock! We're rescuing you!
Spock: Why, thank you, Captain McCoy.
Spock: I've noticed that about your people, Doctor. You find it easier to understand the death of one than the death of a million. You speak about the objective hardness of the Vulcan heart, yet how little room there seems to be in yours.
McCoy: Suffer the death of thy neighbor, eh, Spock? You wouldn't wish that on us, would you?
Spock: It might have rendered your history a bit less bloody.
Captain Kirk: Spock, you're alive!
Spock: Obviously, Captain.
A Private Little War [ edit ]
Nona: There is an old custom among my people. When a woman saves a man's life, he is grateful.
Apella: I thought my people would grow tired of killing, but you were right. They see that it is easier than trading, and it has pleasures. I feel it myself. Like the hunt, but with richer rewards.
James T. Kirk : The only solution is what happened back then. A balance of power.
Leonard McCoy: And if the Klingons give their side even more?
James T. Kirk: Then we arm our side with exactly that much more. A balance of power— the trickiest, most difficult, dirtiest game of them all, but the only one that preserves both sides.
James T. Kirk: War isn't a good life, but it's life.
James T. Kirk: We're very tired, Mr. Spock. Beam us up home.
[Last line]
James T. Kirk : I don't understand.
Sargon: One day our minds became so powerful we dared think of ourselves as gods.
James T. Kirk: They used to say that if Man was meant to fly, he'd have wings. But he did fly. He discovered he had to.
James T. Kirk: Risk... Risk is our business. That's what this starship is all about. That's why we're aboard her.
Henoch: [in Spock's body] This is an excellent body, Doctor. I seem to have received the best of the three-- strength, hearing, eyesight all far above your human norms. I'm surprised the Vulcans never conquered your race.
Leonard McCoy : The Vulcans worship peace above all, Henoch.
Leonard McCoy: I will not peddle flesh. I'm a physician.
Thalassa: A physician?!? In contrast to what we are, you are a prancing, savage medicine man! You dare defy one you should be on your knees worshipping? I could destroy you with a single thought!!
Spock: You should make a very convincing Nazi, Captain.
Eneg: Punishment becomes ineffective after a certain point. Men become... insensitive.
Daras: You mean that the Führer is an alien?
John Gill: Even historians fail to learn from history. They repeat the same mistakes.
James T. Kirk: Very good, Spock. We'll make a human out of you yet.
Spock: I hope not!
Rojan: We do not colonize. We conquer. We rule. There is no other way for us.
Kelinda: This cultural mystique surrounding the biological function.
Kelinda: You realize humans are overly preoccupied with the subject.
James T. Kirk: You have a question?
Kelinda: Yes, I was wondering... would you please apologize to me again? [She wants another kiss from him.]
Montgomery Scott : I found this on Ganyroom...er, Ganymerean...mede.
Tomar: What is it?
Montgomery Scott : Well, it's, er...(he looks for a label - there isn't one. He uncorks and sniffs it, and finally goes with the only thing he knows for sure about it)...it's green!
The Omega Glory [ edit ]
James T. Kirk : A star captain's most solemn oath is that he will give his life, even his entire crew, rather than violate the Prime Directive.
Leonard McCoy : The infection resembles one developed by Earth during their bacteriological warfare experiments in the 1990s. Hard to believe we were once foolish enough to play around with that.
Cloud William: Freedom?
Spock : Yes, I heard, Captain.
Cloud William: It is a worship word, Yang worship. You will not speak it.
James T. Kirk: Well, well, well. It is... our worship word, too.
Sirah: Yes, it is written. Good shall always destroy evil.
Dr. McCoy : Spock, I've found that evil usually triumphs...unless good is very, very careful.
Spock : Computers make excellent and efficient servants, but I have no wish to serve under them. Captain, a starship also runs on loyalty to one man, and nothing can replace it or him.
James T. Kirk: Do you know the one... "All I ask is a tall ship?"
Leonard McCoy: It's a line from a poem, a very old poem, isn't it?
James T. Kirk: Twentieth century Earth. "All I... ask is a tall ship and a star... to steer her by." You... You could feel the wind at your back in those days. The sounds of the sea... beneath you, and even if you take away the wind and the water... it's still the same. The ship is yours. You can feel her. And the stars are still there, Bones.
Richard Daystrom: When a child is taught, it's programmed with simple instructions, and at some point, if its mind develops properly, it exceeds the sum of what it was taught, thinks independently.
James T. Kirk: Genius doesn't work on an assembly line basis. Did Einstein, Kazanga or Sitar of Vulcan produce new and revolutionary theories on a regular schedule? You can't simply say, "Today I will be brilliant."
Leonard McCoy: Compassion: that's the one things no machine ever had. Maybe it's the one thing that keeps men ahead of them.
Commodore Wesley: Our compliments to the M5 unit, and regards to Captain Dunsel; Wesley out.
Kirk leaves bridge in stunned silence as the other command officers stare at each other uncomforably
Leonard McCoy: Dunsel?? Who the blazes is Captain Dunsel? (sees Kirk leave) Spock, what does it mean?
Spock: Dunsel, Doctor, is a word used by cadets at Starfleet Academy. It refers to a part of the ship that serves no useful purpose.
M5 just vaporized one of Scotty's engineering crewmen
James T. Kirk: That wasn't a simulation!! That wasn't a robot ship!! That thing just murdered one of my crew and now you tell me you can't turn it off!!
Richard Daystrom: It wasn't a deliberate act! M-5... needed a new power source. The Ensign -- simply got in the way.
James T. Kirk: And how long before all of us simply get in the way?
Proconsul Claudius Marcus: The games have always strengthened us. Death becomes a familiar pattern. We don't fear it as you do.
McCoy: [to Spock] I'm trying to thank you, you pointy-eared hobgoblin!
Leonard McCoy: Do you know why you're not afraid to die, Spock? You're more afraid of living. Each day you stay alive is just one more day you might slip and let your human half peek out. That's it, isn't it? Insecurity. Why, you wouldn't know what to do with a genuine, warm, decent feeling.
Spock : You humans have that emotional need to express gratitude. "You're welcome," I believe is the correct response.
James T. Kirk : Caesar and Christ... they had them both.
Spock : Without facts, the decision cannot be made logically. You must rely on your human intuition.
Gary Seven : That, Miss Lincoln, is simply my cat.
Spock: Live long and prosper.
The Enterprise Incident [ edit ]
Spock : It would be illogical to assume that all conditions remain stable.
Romulan Commander: Romulan women are not like Vulcan females. We are not dedicated to... pure logic and the sterility of non-emotion.
Spock: I reserve the privilege of speaking when it will not violate my honor as a Vulcan.
Spock: It is not a lie to keep the truth to oneself.
Spock: Military secrets are the most fleeting of all.
McCoy: Sickbay to Bridge.
Kirk: What is it. Bones?
McCoy: Well, if all the shouting's over up there, I'd like for you to report to Sickbay.
Kirk: What for?
McCoy: Well, you're due in surgery. I'm going to bob your ears.
[Kirk reacts to that, not wanting such an unpleasant experience.]
Spock: Captain... please go. Somehow they do not look aesthetically agreeable on humans.
McCoy: Well, are you coming, Jim, or do you want to go though life looking like your first officer?
Kirk: I'm on my way!
Montgomery Scott : Me bairns ... me poor, wee bairns!
Miramanee: The sooner our happiness together begins, the longer it will last.
Salish: You bleed, Kirok! Behold the god who bleeds!
Miramanee: [to Kirk, her husband] Each kiss... is as the first.
[Last words, last line.]
And the Children Shall Lead [ edit ]
Professor Starnes: Alien upon us... the enemy from within...
Spock: Humans do have an amazing capacity for believing what they choose and excluding that which is painful.
Spock : Evil does seek to maintain power by suppressing the truth.
Leonard McCoy : Or by misleading the innocent.
James T. Kirk : Most legends have their basis in fact.
Children's Chant: Hail, hail, fire and snow. Call the angel, we will go. Far away, for to see. Friendly angel, come to me.
Spock: Without followers, evil cannot spread.
Gorgan: Death to you all...
[Gorgan's last words.]
Larry Marvick: Don't love her! She'll kill you if you love her! I love you, Miranda.
[Marvick's last words]
Leonard McCoy : He's dead, Jim.
Dr. Miranda Jones: I suppose it has thorns.
James T. Kirk : I never met a rose that didn't.
Dr. Miranda Jones: The glory of creation is in its infinite diversity.
Spock : And the way our differences combine to create meaning and beauty.
Spock: Live long and prosper.
Spectre of the Gun [ edit ]
Montgomery Scott : Half a gallon of scotch.
Spock : Physical reality is consistent with universal laws. Where the laws do not operate, there is no reality. All of this...is unreal.
James T. Kirk : We fight only when there is no other choice. We prefer the ways of peaceful contact.
Pavel Chekov (After passionately kissing Sylvia and being stopped by the Captain) What can I do Captain? You know we are always supposed to maintain good relations with the natives!
Klingon Officer: Four thousand throats may be cut in one night by a running man.
James T. Kirk : There's another way to survive-- Mutual trust and help.
Spock : No one can guarantee the actions of another.
Spock: Those who hate and fight must stop themselves, Doctor, otherwise it is not stopped.
Kang: Only a fool fights in a burning house.
Kirk: Captain's log: Stardate...Armageddon.
For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky [ edit ]
Old Man : For the world is hollow and I have touched the sky.
Natira: Is not that the nature of men and women? That the pleasure is in the learning of each other?
Natira: Is truth not truth for all?
Pavel Chekov : Has there ever been a mutiny on a starship before?
Spock : Absolutely no record of such an occurrence, Ensign.
Spock: The renowned Tholian punctuality.
Spock: We must accept the fact that Captain Kirk is no longer alive.
Leonard McCoy: There's no hurry, Mr. Spock. The antidote probably doesn't concern you. Vulcans are probably immune. So just take your time.
Captain Kirk : [speaking to Spock and McCoy on a taped message] Bones. Spock. Since you are playing this tape, we will assume that I am dead. And the tactical situation is critical and both of you are locked in mortal combat. It means, Spock, that you have control of the ship and are probably making the most difficult decisions of your career. I can only offer one small piece of advice, for whatever it's worth: use every scrap of logic and knowledge at your disposal to save the ship. But temper your judgement with intuitive insight. These are qualities I believe you possess, but if you can't find them in yourself... seek out McCoy. Ask his advice. And if you find it sound... take it. Bones. You've heard what I've just told Spock. Help him if you can. But remember, he is the Captain. His decisions must be followed, without question. You might find that he is capable of human insight and human error. They are most difficult to defend. But you will find he is deserving of the same loyalty and confidence each of you... have given me, Take care.
Montgomery Scott : What is it [the antidote]?
Leonard McCoy: It's a diluted theragen derivative.
Spock: Theragen-- a nerve gas used by the Klingons.
Montgomery Scott: Aye, and deadly, too. What are you thinking of, Doc? Are you trying to kill us all?
Plato's Stepchildren [ edit ]
Leonard McCoy : The release of emotions, Mr. Spock, is what keeps us healthy-- emotionally healthy, that is.
Spock : That may be, Doctor. However, I have noted that the healthy release of emotion is frequently very unhealthy for those closest to you.
Alexander: Become one of them?
Spock: Take care, young ladies, and value your wine; Be watchful of young men in their velvet prime; Deeply they'll swallow from your finest kegs; Then swiftly be gone; Leaving bitter dregs; Ah, ah, bitter dregs. With smiling words and tender touch; Man offers little and asks for so much; He loves in the breathless excitement of night; Then leaves with your treasure in cold morning light; Ah, ah... in cold morning light.
[Maiden Wine, also known as Bitter Dregs]
Parmen: Uncontrolled, power will turn even saints into savages. And we can all be counted upon to live down to our lowest impulses.
Vian: Their own fears killed them.
Leonard McCoy : I'm a doctor, not a coal miner.
Montgomery Scott : I would say that she [Gem] was a pearl of great price.
Kirk: What, Scott?
Scott: Do you not know the story of the merchant? The merchant, who when he found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
Elaan: Were you responding to my demand for better quarters?
James T. Kirk : There are none better. I suggest you make do with these.
Elaan: You suggest?!
James T. Kirk: There are no more available, but if that's the only way you can get gratification, I'll arrange to have the whole room filled from floor to ceiling with breakable objects. [turns to go]
Elaan: I did not give you permission to leave!
James T. Kirk: [turns back and looks at her] I didn't ask for any.
Ambassador Petri: Captain, when I am near them, I do not want peace, I want to kill them!
James T. Kirk: You're as bad as she is. It's not required that you like each other. Just... do your job.
Elaan: We have granted your crew the permission not to kneel in our presence. What else do you want?
James T. Kirk: The prejudices people feel about each other disappear when they get to know each other.
James T. Kirk: Mr. Spock, the women on your planet are logical. That's the only planet in this galaxy that can make that claim.
James T. Kirk : They were humanitarians and statesmen, and they had a dream-- a dream that became a reality and spread throughout the stars. A dream that made Mr. Spock and I brothers.
Garth of Izar : Mr. Spock, you consider Captain Kirk and yourself brothers?
Spock: Captain Kirk speaks somewhat figuratively and with undue emotion. However, what he says is logical, and I do, in fact, agree with it.
Garth of Izar : Queen to Queen's Level Three, Captain Kirk.
Marta: You mustn't stop me. He's my lover, and I have to kill him.
Spock: What maneuver did we use to defeat the Romulan vessel near Tau Ceti?
Kirk or Garth as Kirk: Very good, Spock. The Cochrane deceleration.
Other Kirk or Garth as Kirk: Spock. The Cochrane deceleration is a classic battle manuever. Every Starship captain knows that.
Spock: Correct, Captain. [to both] Captains.
Kirk: Why was it so impossible to tell us (Garth and Kirk) apart?
Spock: It was not impossible, Captain. Our presence here is proof of that.
Kirk: Yes, and... congratulations. What took you so long?
Spock: The interval of uncertainly was actually fairly brief, Captain. It only seemed long to you. I was waiting for a victor in the hand-to-hand struggle, which I assumed would be Captain Garth. [Hastily explains] Because of your depleted condition. Failing a resolution to the struggle, I was forced to use other means to make my determination.
Kirk: I see. Mr. Spock, letting yourself be hit on the head—and I presume you let yourself be hit on the head—is not exactly a method King Solomon would have approved. [Spock opens his mouth to reply, stops in confusion] Mr. Scott, ready to beam up.
Scotty: Aye, aye, sir.
Spock : Change is the essential process of all existence.
James Kirk : I do not make deals for control of this ship, sir.
James Kirk : The cause you fought about no longer exists... Give up your hate.
Lokai You're an idealisitic dreamer.
Sulu: Their planet is dead. Does it matter now which of them was right?
Spock: Not to Lokai and Bele. All that matters to them... is their hate.
Uhura: Do you suppose that's all they had, sir?
Kirk: No. But it's all they have left.
Spock : We must acknowledge once and for all that the purpose of diplomacy is to prolong a crisis.
Spock: Lieutenant Uhura, has Starfleet honored our request with a reply?
Uhura : There has been no response as yet, sir.
Spock: Did you advise them the Captain's life is at stake?
Uhura: Yes, sir. They insist the matter must be referred to the Federation.
Spock: What department?
Uhura: The Bureau of Planetary Treaties.
Spock: Contact them directly.
Uhura: I did, Mr. Spock. They insist that we must go through Starfleet channels.
Spock: Your Excellency, I am basically a scientist. Clarity of formulation is essential in my profession, also.
Hodin: I am glad to hear it. Perhaps you could then make greater effort to choose your words more precisely.
Odona: There are so many of us. So many. There is no place... no street, no house, no garden, no beach, no mountain that is not filled with people. Each one of us would kill in order to find a place alone to himself. They would willingly die for it... if they could.
Hodin: The people of Gideon have always believed that life is sacred. That the love of life is the greatest gift. That is the one unshakable truth of Gideon. And this overwhelming love of life has developed our regenerative capacity and our longevity.
James T. Kirk : And the great misery which you now face.
Hodin: That is bitterly true, Captain. Nevertheless, we cannot deny the truth which shaped our evolution. We are incapable of destroying or interfering with the creation of that which we love so deeply-- life in every form-- from fetus to developed being.
Spock: [about to take Kirk and Odona away] Your Excellency, please do not interfere. I already have one serious problem to resolve with upper echelons.
That Which Survives [ edit ]
Hikaru Sulu : Once in Siberia, there was a meteor so great that it flattened whole forests and was felt as...
James T. Kirk : Mr. Sulu, If I'd wanted a Russian history lesson, I'd have brought along Mr. Chekov.
[Sulu was referring to the Tunguska event in 1908.]
Hikaru Sulu: What a terrible way to die.
James T. Kirk: There are no good ways.
[Spock has just announced how much time Scott has left before the Enterprise is destroyed.]
Montgomery Scott: [muttering] I know what time it is. I don't need a bloody cuckoo clock.
Spock : Mr. Scott, you have accomplished your task.
Montgomery Scott: You would at least say thank you.
Spock : For what purpose Mr. Scott? What is it in you humans...
Montgomery Scott: Never mind...
Spock : ...which requires an overwhelming display of emotion in situations such as this? Two men pursue the only reasonable course of action indicated, and yet you feel... that something else is necessary.
Losira:
A disease has destroyed us. Beware of it.
After your long journey, I'm sorry to give you
only a recorded welcome, but we who have
guarded the outpost for you will be dead
by the time you take possession of it.
I am the last of our advanced force left alive.
Too late the physicians discovered the cause
of the sickness that kills us.
In creating this planet, we have accidentally
produced a deadly organism.
I have awaited the regular supply ship from
home for medical assistance, but I doubt
now whether it will arrive in time.
I will set the outpost controls on
automatic. The computer will selectively
defend against all lifeforms but our own.
My Fellow Kalandans,
I, Losira ... Wish you well.
Spock : Beauty is transitory, Doctor. However, she was evidently highly intelligent.
James T. Kirk: Kirk to Enterprise. Five to beam up. I don't agree with you, Mr. Spock.
Spock: Indeed, Captain?
James T. Kirk: Beauty... survives.
[Last lines]
Pavel Chekov : I didn't think Mr. Scott would go for the brainy type.
Hikaru Sulu : I don't think he's even noticed she has a brain.
Montgomery Scott : Well, I'm sure that's what the Lieutenant wants. She just didn't understand. [to Lt. Romaine] Did you now, lass?
Christine Chapel : [imitating Scotty's brogue] Well, with a bedside manner like that, Scotty, you're in the wrong business.
James T. Kirk : Scotty, where have you been? Where are you?
Montgomery Scott: In the Sick Bay.
James T. Kirk: Are you sick?
Montgomery Scott: Oh, no. I was just checking on the lass. She's going to be fine and there's nothing wrong with her.
James T. Kirk: Well, I'm relieved to hear your prognosis, Mr. Scott. Is the doctor there with you or will I find him in Engineering?
Montgomery Scott: Mira has tried to tell me all along that she was seeing things in advance.
James T. Kirk: Why didn't you report it?
Montgomery Scott: You don't report space sickness. That's all I thought it was.
Spock : You mean... love as motivation? Hmm. Humans do claim a great deal for that particular emotion.
Requiem for Methuselah [ edit ]
Flint: Death, when unnecessary, is a tragic thing.
Flint: The intellect is not all... but its cultivation must come first, or the individual makes errors... wastes time in unprofitable pursuits.
Kirk : You said something about savagery, Mr. Flint. When was the last time you visited Earth?
Flint: You would tell me that it is no longer cruel. But it is, Captain. Look at your starship. Bristling with weapons. Its mission to colonize, exploit, destroy if necessary to advance Federation causes.
Kirk: Our missions are peaceful, our weapons defensive. If we were barbarians, we would not have asked for rytalin. Indeed, your greeting, not ours, lacked a certain benevolence.
Flint: The result of pressures which are... not... your concern
Kirk: Yes, well, those pressures are everywhere, in everyone, urging him to what you call savagery. The private hells, the inner needs and mysteries, the beast of instinct. As human beings, that is the way it is. To be human is to be complex. You can't avoid a little ugliness from within... and from without.
Spock : The joys of love made her human, and the agonies of love destroyed her.
Kirk: A very old and lonely man. And a young... and lonely man. We put on a pretty poor show, didn't we?
Leonard McCoy : You see, I feel sorrier for you than I do for him. Because you'll never know the things that love can drive a man to. The ecstasies, the miseries. The broken rules. The desperate chances. The glorious failures, and the glorious victories. All of these things you'll never know, simply because the word "love" isn't written into your book.
Spock: Forget.
Pavel Chekov : I believe I know one of them. At least, I think I recognize her voice. Her name is... Irina Galliulin. We were in Starfleet Academy together.
James T. Kirk : One of those... was in the Academy?!
Spock : Many myths are based on truth.
[Spock approaches the group and makes the "One" symbol.]
Spock: One
[The others respond with the same gesture.]
Dr. Sevrin: We are One.
Spock: One is the beginning.
Adam: Are you One, Herbert?
Spock: I am not Herbert.
Adam: He's not Herbert. We reach!
Spock: They regard themselves as aliens in their own world. A condition with which I am somewhat familiar.
James T. Kirk: Spock.... What does "Herbert" mean?
Spock: [uncomfortable] It is, uh... somewhat, uh... uncomplimentary, Captain. Herbert was a minor official... notorious for his rigid and limited patterns of thought.
James T. Kirk: [taking it in] Well, I shall try to be less rigid in my thinking.
Adam: Gonna crack my knuckles and jump for joy, I got a clean bill of health from Dr. McCoy.
Irina: Be incorrect, occasionally.
Chekov: And you be correct.
Irina: [nods, smiles knowingly] Occasionally.
Spock : Extreme feminine beauty... is always... disturbing.
Spock: Violence in reality is quite different from theory.
Vanna: It's hard to believe that something which is neither seen nor felt can do so much harm.
James T. Kirk : That's true. But an idea can't be seen or felt. And that's what's kept the Troglytes in the mines all these centuries-- a mistaken idea.
Colonel Green : History tends to exaggerate.
Colonel Green: No one talks peace unless he's ready to back it up with war.
Surak: He talks peace if it is the only way to live.
Abraham Lincoln: There's no honorable way to kill, no gentle way to destroy. There is nothing good in war except its ending.
Sometimes incorrectly cited as an actual Lincoln Quote.
Yarnek: It would seem that evil retreats when forcibly confronted. However, you have failed to demonstrate to me any of the difference between your philosophies. Your good and your evil use the same methods, achieve the same results.
James T. Kirk : There's still so much of their work (Lincoln's and Surak's) to be done in the galaxy, Spock.
Mr. Atoz: Wait! I haven't prepared you.
Spock: We are in a wilderness of arctic characteristics.
McCoy: He means it's cold!
Hag : Witch! Witch! They'll burn ya!
McCoy: Think, Spock – what's happening on your planet right now?
Spock: My people are barbarians... warlike barbarians.
McCoy: Who nearly killed themselves off with their own passions. Spock – you're reverting back to the ways of your ancestors... five thousand years before you were born!
Spock: There's no further need to observe me, Doctor. As you can see, I've returned to the present in every sense.
McCoy: But it did happen, Spock.
Spock: Yes, it happened. But that was five thousand years ago. And she is dead now. Dead and buried. Long ago.
Turnabout Intruder [ edit ]
Dr. Janice Lester: [in Kirk] Youth doesn't excuse everything.
Dr. Janice Lester: [in Kirk] Love? Him? I love the life he led. The power of a starship commander. It's my life now. [1]
Scotty: I've seen the captain feverish, sick, drunk, delirious, terrified, overjoyed, boiling mad. But up to now, I have never seen him red-faced with hysteria.
Pavel Chekov: Captain Kirk would never order an execution; that cannot be the captain!
James T. Kirk : Her life could've been as rich as any woman's... if only... if only...
[Last line of series.] Hinting that if only the Enterprise could continue its mission more.
The Cage [ edit ]
Dr. Phillip Boyce: Sometimes, a man will tell his bartender things he'll never tell his doctor.
Dr. Phillip Boyce: A man either lives life as it happens to him, meets it head-on and licks it, or he... turns his back on it and starts to wither away.
Christopher Pike : Now you're beginning to talk like a doctor, bartender.
Dr. Phillip Boyce: Take your choice. We both get the same two kinds of customers-- the living and the dying.
Christopher Pike: There's a way out of any cage.
Vina: Well, I have to wear something, don't I?
Vina: When dreams become more important than reality, you give up travel, building, creating. You even forget how to repair the machines left behind by your ancestors. You just sit, living and reliving other lives left behind in the thought records.
Keeper: She has an illusion and you have reality. May you find your way as pleasant.
Vina: Are your mother's recipe for chicken tuna."
Leonard McCoy : I'm a doctor, not a ______________!
[various episodes]
Examples: a moon shuttle conductor / bricklayer / psychiatrist / mechanic / engineer / scientist / physicist / escalator / magician / miracle worker / flesh peddler / veterinarian.
Leonard McCoy: He's dead, Jim! (Var.: "She's..." or "It's...")
[various episodes]
DeForest Kelley first uttered the line "He's dead, Captain" as a military physician in the 1956 film, "The Man in The Grey Flannel Suit".
[This phrase was first uttered in " Amok Time ".]
Spock: Why, thank you, [Doctor / Captain].
[various episodes, usually as a riposte during verbal sparring matches]
Spock: Fascinating.
[various episodes, whenever anything interesting or unusual occurs]
James T. Kirk : Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before.
[introduction to each original-series episode]
Uhura: Hailing frequencies open.
Lex Gigeroff [3]
Well, when I was nine years old, Star Trek came on, I looked at it and I went screaming through the house. 'Come here, mum, everybody, come quick, come quick, there's a black lady on television and she ain't no maid!'
Whoopie Goldberg [4]
A major area of conflict was Bill’s concern that Spock was getting ahead of Kirk in terms of problem solving. Bill was worried that Kirk would seem unintelligent by contrast. And so lines of dialogue that had logically been Spock’s soon became Kirk’s.
Leonard Nimoy [5]
I thought she (Uhura) was a glorified telephone operator in space.
He ( Martin Luther King Jr. ) felt it was important that children of all races see an African American female appearing on television as an equal.
Nichelle Nichols [6]
Star Trek was again a very inconsistent show which at times sparkled with true ingenuity and pure science fiction approaches. At other times it was more carnival-like, and very much more the creature of television than the creature of a legitimate literary form.
William Shatner [8]
Bill [Shatner] was very upset when Leonard came on particularly strong at the beginning [of the series] because he said, 'Am I not the Captain? How come [the writers] don't appreciate that?' It was a very natural reaction. I said to Shatner, 'If we had an Eskimo as a second character, you could be sure the Eskimo would get the most delightful lines because of what he is.' I advised him not to worry about Spock because all that reflected on Shatner. particularly if Shatner continued to treat Spock properly in the show. I suggested they should show each other a lot of friendship in the show and it would eventually right itself. And, indeed, it did eventually right itself.
Gene Roddenberry, Eugene Wesley Roddenberry, from personal conversations with Gene in 1990 at La Costa, CA (as cited by Susan Sackett)
Star Trek offers an almost infinite number of exciting Science Fiction stories, thoroughly practical for television? How? Astronomers put it this way:
Ff^2 (MgE) - C^1R1^1 x M = L/So
Or to put it in simpler terms, by multiplying the 400,000,000,000 galaxies (star clusters) in the heavens by an estimation of average stars per galaxy (7,700,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000), we have the approximate number of stars in the universe, as we understand it now. And so…
…if only one in a billion of these stars isa “sun” with a planet…
…and only one in a billion of these is of earth size and composition…
…there would still be something near 2,800,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 worlds with a potential of oxygen-carbon life…
or… (by the most conservative estimates of chemical and organic probability), something like three million worlds with a chance of intelligent life and social evolution similar to our own.
The time is somewhere in the future. It could be 1995 or maybe 2995.
The parallel worlds concept makes production practical by permitting action-adventure science fiction at a practical budget figure via the use of available "earth" casting, sets, locations, costuming and so on.
The Pet Shop. Exacty duplicating St. Louis, 1916, a city where women are so completely the masters that men have the status of pets. Something of a satire on “people and dogs”, this story shows men treated in that fashion, caged in kennels, others clothed and perfumed and treated as lapdogs, as long as they continue to fawn, appreciate and selflessly love.
Kongo. The “Ole Plantation Days” of the South, with the slight exception of it being white savages who are shipped in and auctioned at the slave mart. Part of our crew is trapped, thought to be runaways, and sold as plantation and household hands.
| i don't know |
What was the name of the Bionic Man? | The Six Million Dollar Man (TV Series 1974–1978) - IMDb
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The Six Million Dollar Man
1h
After a crippled test pilot is rebuilt with nuclear powered limbs and implants, he serves as a unique intelligence agent.
Stars:
With Jaime Sommers critically injured, Steve Austin races to Dr. Franklin's secret hideout to find the kidnapped Oscar Goldman. Austin plans to rescue his friend and boss despite Oscar's own orders ...
8.7
When an object tracks across the sky and lands in a remote area in Wyoming, Oscar and Steve arrive on the scene and find that a Russian space probe built to withstand the extreme Venus environment ...
8.6
With time running out, Steve must do anything he can to disable the Russian space probe in spite of the fact that it is virtually indestructible and has numerous inventive capabilities that it uses ...
8.2
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Title: The Six Million Dollar Man (1974–1978)
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Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 2 nominations. See more awards »
Photos
After fully recovering from her near fatal bout of bionic rejection, Jaime Sommers, the first female cyborg, is assigned to spy missions of her own.
Stars: Lindsay Wagner, Richard Anderson, Martin E. Brooks
After an astronaut/test pilot is catastrophically mutilated in a test plane crash, he is rebuilt and equipped with nuclear powered bionic limbs and implants.
Director: Richard Irving
The adventures of a film stunt performer who moonlights as a bounty hunter when movie work is slow.
Stars: Lee Majors, Douglas Barr, Heather Thomas
The adventures of three sexy female private eyes.
Stars: Kate Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Jaclyn Smith
The adventures of two California Highway Patrol motorcycle officers.
Stars: Erik Estrada, Larry Wilcox, Robert Pine
Two streetwise cops bust criminals in their red-and-white Ford Torino, with the help of police snitch, Huggy Bear.
Stars: David Soul, Paul Michael Glaser, Antonio Fargas
Accounts of visitors to a unique resort island in the Pacific Ocean that can fulfill literally any fantasy requested, but rarely turn out as expected.
Stars: Ricardo Montalban, Hervé Villechaize, Christopher Hewett
The adventures of a Hawaii based private investigator.
Stars: Tom Selleck, John Hillerman, Roger E. Mosley
The adventures of the fast-drivin', rubber-burnin' Duke boys of Hazzard County.
Stars: Tom Wopat, John Schneider, Catherine Bach
The globe-trotting adventures of amateur detectives Jonathan and Jennifer Hart.
Stars: Robert Wagner, Stefanie Powers, Lionel Stander
Two brothers of disparate tastes and manners run a private detective agency.
Stars: Jameson Parker, Gerald McRaney, Mary Carver
A bald, lollipop sucking police detective with a fiery righteous attitude battles crime in his city.
Stars: Telly Savalas, Dan Frazer, Kevin Dobson
Edit
Storyline
When ace test-pilot Steve Austin's ship crashed, he was nearly dead. Deciding that "we have the technology to rebuild this man", the government decides to rebuild Austin, augmenting him with cybernetic parts which gave him superhuman strength and speed. Austin becomes a secret operative, fighting injustice where it is found. Written by Murray Chapman <[email protected]>
18 January 1974 (USA) See more »
Also Known As:
Did You Know?
Trivia
In almost every episode Steve will say either "You bet," or "You got it." See more »
Goofs
Steve Austin's bionic abilities are supposed to be kept secret. Yet, in several episodes he freely reveals it to people by demonstrating it or telling them. See more »
Quotes
[Opening narration, version 1]
Harve Bennett: Steve Austin, astronaut. A man barely alive.
Oscar Goldman : We can rebuild him. We have the technology. We can make him better than he was. Better, stronger, faster.
(Xanadu) – See all my reviews
Before Arnold became a Terminator, Lee Majors was everyone's favorite cyborg. For any sci-fi or adventure show fan, this was THE show of the 70's. The 60's had Kirk, Spock, Tribbles, and Klingons; the 70's had Steve Austin, Oscar Goldman, Jamie Summers, and Bigfoot.
Lee Majors was Steve Austin, astronaut; a man barely alive...... There was nothing Stone Cold about this Steve Austin, except maybe his wardrobe. Lee Majors was quite entertaining as Col. Steve Austin; part James Bond, part Buzz Aldrin/Chuck Yeager, and part Superman. Lee gave Austin a nice mix of serious and fun. Yes, his acting could be as mechanical as his bionics; but, Majors always had a bit of a twinkle in his eye (may have been the lens in the bionic one). He never took himself too seriously in the role, but could convey that emotion when the script called for it.
Richard Anderson was steady as boss and pal Oscar Goldman. Like Majors, he was limited, but well suited to his character. Anderson could be a good supporting actor when he rose to the occasion; and he often did.
I personally preferred Martin E. Brooks to Allan Openheimer, as Dr. Rudy Wells. Brooks came across more as a scientist. The other supporting characters varied in quality from show to show, but Rudy was always an integral part.
The episodes vary in excitement and imagination. The later seasons suffered from repetition, but, the early ones hold up well as good science fiction. Personal favorites include the death probe; the Russian installation with a doomsday device that is accidentally activated; the booby-trapped Liberty Bell; the androids; Steve's return flight in the experimental craft from the pilot movie;the Bionic Woman cross-overs; and, of course, Bigfoot. I preferred the more science fiction oriented stories to the more mundane cops and robbers shows.
The show had quite a mix of guest stars. There were the greats, like William Shatner, Lou Gossett Jr., Guy Doleman (from Thunderball and the Ipcress File), and Ted Cassidy and Andre the Giant as Bigfoot (Andre played him first). There were the so-so, like Farrah Fawcett (Majors), Cathy Rigby, Gary Lockwood, and John Saxon. Then there were the strange, like Sonny Bono and Larry Csonka.
This was the show that caused millions of kids in the 70's to run in slow motion, while making strange noises. It also had the coolest action figure; it came with an engine block that you could cause Steve Austin to lift, by pressing a button on his back. You could also look through the bionic eye, although you had to make your own sound effects. I understand these things go for big bucks on eBay.
Years later, I found a copy of the original novel, Cyborg, by Martin Caidin.
The character was a bit different. He was more of a secret agent than in the series, and the bionics were a bit different. The eye was actually a camera, rather than a telescopic lens. It was explained that Austin's stamina was greater, since his lungs didn't have to provide oxygen to his bionic limbs. He also had special enhancements for the limbs for special missions. In one, he has webbed feet for underwater swimming. The book plays up Austin's intelligence and scientific background more. It was generally well written, and makes a nice contrast to the series.
There have been rumors of an updated movie. At one point, it was pitched as a comedy with Chris Rock. Thankfully, that doesn't seem to be the case right now. It has tremendous potential as and action/sci-fi movie, particularly with advances in special effects. Here's hoping the right script, director, and cast comes along and makes it a reality. Of course, they'll have to adjust it for inflation; 6 million doesn't buy much these days. And defense contractors are notorious for overcharging for substandard work.
While we're waiting, how about a DVD box set?
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| Stone Cold Steve Austin |
In The X-files, what is the name of Mulder and Skully's assistant director? | The Bionic Man (Character) - Comic Vine
The Bionic Man
The The Bionic Man wiki last edited by RazielWraith on 08/11/16 07:45AM View full history
Origin
The aircraft (an M2-F2 "flying wing") malfunctions causing a crash, which severely injures Austin, who loses his right arm, both legs, and his left eye.
Austin's best friend Dr. Rudy Wells is a doctor and scientist who has been experimenting in the science of bionics - the replacement of damaged human body parts with mechanical prosthetics capable of not only replacing the lost function, but enhancing it to superhuman levels.
Meanwhile, the secret US government spy agency the OSI has been looking for a way to reduce agent casualties. After Austin's accident, the OSI recruits Wells into replacing Austin's missing limbs with bionics, in hopes of creating a super-agent who is a cyborg.
Creation
Steve Austin was created by Martin Caidin in his 1972 novel Cyborg, which depicted Austin as a more cold-blooded character than that depicted in the TV version, which debuted as a made-for-TV movie entitled The Six Million Dollar Man in 1973. Lee Majors portrayed Austin in the movie and subsequent TV series. In the novels and weekly TV series, Austin's superior was Oscar Goldman played by Richard Anderson.
In the original TV movie, however, the character was replaced by Oliver Spencer, played by Darren McGavin. The literary relationship between Goldman and Austin was much less friendlier than the TV version's relationship. Rudy Wells remained constant throughout the series, played initially by Martin Balsam in the TV movie, followed by Alan Oppenheimer and finally Martin E. Brooks.
Character Evolution
Numerous changes were made to Austin when translating him from book to TV series. His tendency to kill people was downplayed and ultimately eliminated from the series. His bionics were also depicted differently. In the novels it's Austin's left arm that is bionic and it includes a concealed gun that fires deadly poison darts, and Austin also has numerous other replacements such as a steel skullplate that are not mentioned in the TV series. Austin's eye is given abilities for TV not featured in the books, in which it is little more than a glorified camera.
When Charlton Comics adapted the character for both a regular comic series and a black and white magazine, additional changes were made. Several features introduced in the books but omitted from TV, such as a radio concealed in one of Austin's bionic legs, were reintroduced, and in the first issue of the regular comic, Austin's bionic eye is shown to have the ability to fire a laser. In a later issue Austin's eye is powerful enough that he is shown viewing a man standing on a street corner from dozens of miles away.
The Six Million Dollar Man gave birth to one of the best known television quotes in history " Steve Austin, astronaut. A man barely alive. Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world's first bionic man. Steve Austin will be that man. Better than he was before. Better, stronger, faster " Caidin's series of Cyborg novels ended by the mid-1970s, while the TV series ended in 1978. It began a spinoff, The Bionic Woman , in 1976.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, Lee Majors reprised the role of Steve Austin for a trilogy of TV movies. There have been periodic media reports of a big-screen reimagining of the series being considered. As of 2014, no such production has been made.
One filmmaker who attempted to remake the series was Kevin Smith. His unproduced script was adapted by Dynamite Comics for its The Bionic Man comic book. Many changes were made to the character and his bionics to update for 21st century readers. The comic ran for approximately two years before being replaced by The Six Million Dollar Man Season Six, a more faithful adaptation of the original TV series.
Powers and Abilities
Austin's right arm is replaced by a bionic limb capable of bending steel, throwing an item great distances, and acting as a battering ram. His new legs are capable of propelling him at speeds upwards of 60 mph.
His left eye is equipped with telescopic enhancement, allowing him to see things from miles away; it is also equipped with other functions such as night vision, a camera, and a laser. One of Austin's ribs is also replaced and becomes the antenna for a radio transmitter concealed within a leg.
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In The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy, what was the name of the best drink in existence? | Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster | Hitchhikers | Fandom powered by Wikia
Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster
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The Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster
The best place to get one, if you can afford it.
"After two of those babies, the dullest, most by-the-book Vogon will be up on the bar in stilettos, yodeling mountain shanties and swearing he's the king of the Gray Binding Fiefdoms of Saxaquine"
—On the drink's effects [src]
The Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster is an alcoholic beverage invented by ex-President of the Universe Zaphod Beeblebrox , considered by the Guide to be the "Best Drink in Existence" [1] . Its effects are similar to "having your brains smashed in by a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick".
Beeblebrox advised that you should "never drink more than two Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters unless you are a thirty ton mega elephant with bronchial pneumonia". [1] However, Ford Prefect ignored this advice and consumed three Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters while at Milliways . [2]
Mixing Instructions
| Zaphod Beeblebrox |
"One" is a popular song in which stage musical and movie of the same name. | The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Turns 35: What It Taught Us
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was published Oct. 12, 1979
Douglas Adams' novel was published on Oct. 12, 1979, 35 years ago on Sunday
Are you a hoopy frood who really knows where her towel is? Then you probably already know that Sunday marks 35 years to the day since legendary comedy/sci-fi author Douglas Adams published the novel based on his radio show The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, first in a trilogy of five books. Yeah, a trilogy of five — Adams was a weird dude!
The Hitchhiker’s Guide follows the story of a hapless human called Arthur Dent, who is saved from Earth’s destruction by aliens with just seconds to spare by his good friend Ford Prefect. Prefect, who Dent at first believes to be human, actually turns out to be an alien working for something called the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy — sort of a combination travel guide/Wikipedia for intergalactic travelers roaming about the universe by grabbing rides on passing spacecraft.
Dent and Prefect wind up on a ship stolen by President of the Galaxy Zaphod Beeblebrox. Along with another human runaway and a depressed robot, the crew find themselves in a serious of perilous adventures one after the other and it’s all good fun with a great story that holds up in its own right while also poking a lot of fun at the generally very serious science-fiction genre.
Anyway. In celebration of Hitchhiker’s 35th birthday, here are 35 things you learn from reading the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy “trilogy”:
1. If you’re ever stuck on a question, you know the answer is, of course, just “42.”
2. Forget “Keep Calm and Carry On.” The book teaches this motto: Don’t Panic, written in very friendly letters on the front of the actual Hitchhiker’s Guide.
3. You learn to always know where your towel is, because that thing can save your neck in more ways that you can count.
4. Dolphins are smarter than humans — but they’re still thankful for all that fish.
5. Earth, despite its nuclear weapons, war, bacteria and so on, is really just Mostly Harmless.
6. The secret to understanding all the universe’s languages is putting a tiny creature in your ear called a Babel Fish — and you also know that’s where the online translation service got its name.
7. When you rock out to Radiohead’s Paranoid Android, you know the band was referencing Marvin, the chronically depressed robot with a brain the size of a planet — voiced by Alan Rickman in the 2005 film adaptation.
8. This killer restaurant at the end of the universe.
9. Time is an illusion — and lunchtime doubly so.
10. The universe’s creation made a lot of people very angry and was widely considered a bad move.
11. Anyone who can be elected President shouldn’t be trusted to do the job.
12. If a Vogon ever, ever tries to read poetry to you, you should turn tail and run immediately.
| i don't know |
In the 1986 comedy movie The Three Amigos, who starred alongside Steve Martin and Chevy Chase in the title roles. | ¡Three Amigos! (1986) - IMDb
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Three actors accept an invitation to a Mexican village to perform their onscreen bandit fighter roles, unaware that it is the real thing.
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Two bumbling government employees think they are U.S. spies, only to discover that they are actually decoys for Nuclear War.
Director: John Landis
Based on the play "Cyrano de Bergerac", large nosed C.D. Bales falls for the beautiful Roxanne while she falls for his personality but another man's looks.
Director: Fred Schepisi
Irwin M. "Fletch" Fletcher is a newspaper reporter being offered a large sum to off a cancerous millionaire, but is on the run, risking his job, and finding clues when it's clear the man is healthy.
Director: Michael Ritchie
The Griswold family's cross-country drive to the Walley World theme park proves to be much more arduous than they ever anticipated.
Director: Harold Ramis
An exclusive golf course has to deal with a brash new member and a destructive dancing gopher.
Director: Harold Ramis
A Chicago man's hope for a peaceful family vacation in the woods is shattered when the annoying in-laws drop in.
Director: Howard Deutch
A man must struggle to travel home for Thanksgiving with an obnoxious slob of a shower curtain ring salesman as his only companion.
Director: John Hughes
After receiving an inheritance in Louisiana, LA reporter Irvin Fletcher heads to the Belle Isle plantation where he gets himself into hilarious trouble.
Director: Michael Ritchie
An idiotic man struggles to make it through life on his own in St. Louis.
Director: Carl Reiner
The Griswolds win a vacation tour across Europe where the usual havoc ensues.
Director: Amy Heckerling
Bachelor and all round slob, Buck, babysits his brother's rebellious teenage daughter and her cute younger brother and sister.
Director: John Hughes
Two con men try to settle their rivalry by betting on who can swindle a young American heiress out of $50,000 first.
Director: Frank Oz
Edit
Storyline
Three out of work silent movie actors are accidentally drawn to a Mexican village that is being harassed by a gang of outlaws. The three, 'Ned', 'Lucky Day' and 'Dusty Bottoms' play 'Lone Ranger' types in their movies, but must play their parts for real now. Written by Rob Hartill
They're Down On Their Luck And Up To Their Necks In Senoritas, Margaritas, Banditos And Bullets!
Genres:
12 December 1986 (USA) See more »
Also Known As:
The Three Caballeros See more »
Filming Locations:
Did You Know?
Trivia
The make and model of the World War I era German mail aircraft was a red, black and white Tubman 601 bi-plane. See more »
Goofs
When the Amigo's believe they are performing a show for the towns people, Lucky gets shot in the left arm with a real bullet. You can clearly see blood on his costume, but in all the scenes to follow there is no blood. See more »
Quotes
[in the Saloon where they all thought The Amigos were the tough gunfighters the German guy told them about]
Lucky Day : [singing] Dear Little Buttercup, won't you stay a...
[he points at a scared patron at a table who exclaims]
Patron: While, While!
(Manama, Bahrain) – See all my reviews
5 reasons to love this film: 1. The sight of Ned Nederlander (Martin Short) telling the incomprehensible, self-indulgent story of when he met Dorothy Gish ("you know, Lillian's sister") to a bunch of patient, albeit bored Mexican kids. 2. Lucky Day (Steve Martin) trying to get his buddies' attention as they break into the studio--progressing from an owl's soft "hoo" to a crowing "LOOKUPHERE...LOOKUPHERE" 3. The opening song and Elmer Bernstein's great score (he also scored the classic comedies "Animal House" and "Stripes") 4. The Three Amigos singing "My Little Buttercup" in a Mexican cantina 5. The Amigos fighting back tears as Lucky Day informs his buddies that, in fact, they have been summoned not to perform, but actually to fight the evil El Guapo--Martin Short's tearful line, "Why am I in Mexico?" is hilarious, almost as funny as Steve Martin's follow-up, "I've been shot already!"
This is an intelligent comedy, one that pokes fun not only at the mythology of the Hollywood western, but at Hollywood itself. The three Amigos is a delight to watch, and a great addition to any family's film collection.
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| Martin Short |
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are described in the Book of Revelations as representing Death, War, Famine, and Conquest, but Conquest has been changed in modern times. By what name is it more commonly known? | Steve Martin | Biography, News, Photos and Videos | Contactmusic.com
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Biography
Steve Martin (born 14.8.1945) Steve Martin is an American comic actor, as well as a playwright, screenwriter and musician.
Childhood: Martin was born to Glenn and Mary Lee Martin, in Waco, Texas. He was later raised in California.
His first job was working at Disneyland, selling guidebooks to visitors, during his school breaks. During his time there, he would hang out at Merlin's Magic Shop and learn magic tricks there. In 1960, he was accepted for a job at the store, where he also learned to juggle, make balloon animals, and play the banjo.
Following his high school graduation, Martin took Drama and English classes at Santa Ana Junior College and then studied Philosophy at Long Beach State College. He later transferred to UCLA, where he majored in Theatre. Aged 21, he dropped out of his studies altogether.
Breakthrough into Comedy: In 1967, Martin was dating Nina Goldblatt, a dancer on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. With her assistance, he landed a job as a writer on the show and went on to win an Emmy for his work, in 1969. In addition to this, he also wrote for The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour and The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour.
In the 1970s, Martin began appearing on shows such as The Gong Show, On Location and Saturday Night Live (on which he appeared alongside Dan Aykroyd), as a stand-up comic. At one point, Martin denied that his real name was Steve Martin and claimed it was Gern Blanston, a name that took on a life of its own and was briefly adopted by a rock band.
Martin's debut comedy album, Let's Get Small was a huge success, as was its successor, A Wild And Crazy Guy. Both of the albums won Grammy Awards for Best Comedy Recording.
Film Career: The actor's first film was the seven-minute The Absent-Minded Waiter, released in 1977. The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Short Film, Live Action. He followed this up in 1979 by starring in The Jerk, which became a huge commercial success.
To avoid the dangers of being typecast, Steve Martin was keen to try his hand at a serious film. The result, Pennies From Heaven, was a failure, both critically and financially.
Martin's return to comedy was, thankfully, a success and he had a string of acclaimed performances in films such as Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, The Man With Two Brains and All Of Me. He was reunited with his former Saturday Night Live performers, Chevy Chase and Martin Short in ¡Three Amigos! Continuing his string of lucrative collaborations, he starred alongside John Candy in Planes, Trains and Automobiles and Rick Moranis in Little Shop of Horrors.
In 1987, Martin co-wrote Roxanne, and earned himself an award from the Writers' Guild of America.
In 1989, he teamed up with Moranis again for Parenthood, a Ron Howard film and in 1991 starred in the hit film Father of the Bride.
In 2006, Martin reprised Peter Sellers' role in a remake of The Pink Panther, to a muted response.
Books: Martin has written two short novels, Shopgirl and The Pleasure of My Company. In 2007, he also published an autobiography, Born Standing Up
Personal Life: Martin was married to Victoria Tennant from 1986 to 1994. In 2007, he married Anne Stringfield. The guests, including Tom Hanks, Carl Reiner and Ricky Jay were not told beforehand that the 'party' was, in fact, a wedding.
Biography by Contactmusic.com
| i don't know |
In which year was the Six Day War fought between Israel, Egypt, Syria and Jordan. | Syria
Syria
Others
Syria
Syria, the most stridently hostile towards Israel of the Arab so-called "frontline" states in the years leading up to the 1967 war, was ruled by the Ba'ath party, which derived its ideology and institutions from the model of the European fascist states of the early twentieth century. The Ba'ath party was dominated by members of the Alawite religious minority (12% of the Syrian population) and maintained a shrill anti-Israel stance in large part to divert the discontent of Syria's Sunni majority. The president of Syria at the time was Nur al-Din al-Atasi, but future dictator Hafez Assad also wielded much influence as the defense minister and head of the air force. Syria was closely aligned with the Soviet Union and was a recipient of extensive Soviet aid.
In 1967, Syria had a population of 5.7 million. Its army numbered 100,000, and it possessed 550 tanks and 136 combat airplanes.
Prior to the Six Day War, a low intensity conflict festered between Israel and Syria. In 1964, a Syrian attempt to divert the headwaters of the Jordan River was halted by Israeli aerial bombardment. Syria also shelled Israeli communities from positions in the Golan Heights and allowed its territory to be used as a staging area for incursions into Israel by Palestinian terrorists.
On May 13, 1967, the Soviet Union relayed false information to Syria and Egypt that Israeli forces were massing on Syria's border. This prompted Syria and Egypt to activate their military pact and figured in Nasser's subsequent steps towards war. Syrian planes bombed northern Israel on June 5, the first day of the war. The following day, Syrian forces attacked the Israeli communities of Tel Dan, Kibbutz Shaar Yashuv and Ashmura but were repelled by Israeli forces. The Syrian air force unsuccessfully attempted to bomb oil refineries in Haifa. Israeli forces counter-attacked on July 9 and 10, driving the Syrians from the Golan Heights and bringing the Six Day War to a close. Estimated Syrian losses were 2500 killed, 5000 wounded, and 591 taken prisoner.
Asad, The Sphinx of Damascus, Moshe Maoz, 1988
Modern Syria, Moshe Maoz, 1999
Statistical Abstract / Central Bureau of Statistics, Syrian Arab Republic 1965-1998
| one thousand nine hundred and sixty seven |
In the 1995 movie thriller Seven, who played the serial killer. | Wars Between Israel and Syria: From 1948 to the Present
Wars Between Israel and Syria :
From 1948 to the Present
Israeli Troops Patrol the Golan Heights
Beginning in 2010, tensions between Syria and Israel were again rising, with Israel accusing Syria of transferring powerful Scud missiles to the Hezbollah Islamist militia in Lebanon. The possible ramifications of this development could lead to a new Israel-Syria war. The development of "Arab Spring" protests in Syria into a full-fledged Syrian Civil War also raised tensions between Israel and Syria , especially as combat approached the Israeli-held Golan Heights. As the Syrian Civil War worsened, the number of cross-border attacks and retaliations increased, with significant incidents occurring in 2013 , 2014 , and 2015 .
Below are the wars fought between Israel and Syria from the 1948-1949 Israeli War of Independence to the rising tensions of today.
Israeli War of Independence/ "al-Nakba" (The Disaster) (1948-1949)--Upon independence, Israel was invaded by the armies of six Arab nations: Egypt, Syria, Transjordan (later Jordan), Lebanon, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. In addition, local Arab Palestinian forces also fought the Jewish Israelis. Israel held off the Arab forces and established itself as an independent nation. From the start of this war, Syria and Israel have been engaged in one continuous legal state of war. While technically at war this whole time, in reality, their conflict has been punctuated by several major (though short), wars and numerous cross-border attacks and air battles.
Israeli-Syrian Border and Air Battle (Nov. 13, 1964)—Israel and Syria both claimed sovereignty over several Demilitarized Zones along their border. These Zones were set up as part of the cease-fire ending the First Arab-Israeli War. Israel attempted to farm the land in these Zones, while Syria developed a project to divert water from the Jordan River, which Israel shared with both Syria and Jordan. Syrian forces often fired on Israeli tractors attempting to farm the Zones, while Israel looked for ways to interrupt the Syrian diversion project. On Nov. 13, 1964, Syrian forces stationed on the top of the Golan Heights, a plateau overlooking Israeli territory in the Jordan River valley, fired on Israeli tractors. Israeli forces returned fire. Syrian artillery then targeted Israeli civilian villages. Israel responded with air attacks on Syrian forces. This battle resulted in 4 Israeli dead and 9 wounded. Syrian losses included two tanks and machines involved in the diversion project. One result of this clash was Syria’s accelerated acquisition of more and better Soviet-made fighter planes. (Oren, 2001).
Israeli-Syrian Border Battles (Summer, 1966)—Continued artillery and tank duels along the Golan Heights front led to :
Israeli-Syrian Air Battle (July 7, 1966)—Responding to the continued fighting along the border, Israeli planes attacked Syrian forces, resulting in the loss of one Syrian MiG fighter plane.
Israeli-Syrian Air/Sea Battle (Aug. 15, 1966)—After an Israeli patrol boat ran aground on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee (according to the 1949 cease-fire agreement, Israeli forces were not supposed to approach within 250 meters of the eastern shore, which was a Demilitarized Zone), Syrian planes attacked it. Israel responded, shooting down two MiG planes.
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The Six-Day War (1967)--In a rapid pre-emptive attack, Israel crushed the military forces of Egypt, Jordan and Syria and seized large amounts of land from each. Iraq also participated in the fighting on the Arab side. This war resulted in Israeli occupation of Syria's Golan Heights region, which continues to the present.
The Yom Kippur (Ramadan) War (1973)--In a surprise attack launched on the Jewish Yom Kippur holiday (the dates also fell on the Muslim Ramadan holiday), Egypt and Syria attacked Israel. Despite aid from Iraq, the Arab forces failed to defeat Israel.
The Israeli Invasion of Lebanon (1982-1984)--In response to repeated guerrilla attacks by the PLO, which were launched from South Lebanon, Israel invaded with the intent of destroying Arafat's forces. Syria, which maintained a large army in Lebanon, fought Israel and suffered an embarrassing defeat. See The Israeli-Lebanon Conflict (1978-Present) .
Israeli Air Strike on Syria (October, 2003)-- Israeli warplanes hit the Syrian village of Ain al-Saheb, near Damascus.
Israeli Air Strike on Syria (Sept. 6, 2007)—Israeli warplanes overflew northern Syria, dropping ordnance on a (publicly) unknown target. According to both the New York Times and ABC News, the target was a nuclear facility being built with North Korean aid and assistance. See War and Conflict Journal 's article on this attack.
As of April, 2010, tensions between Syria and Israel were rising, with Israeli sources indicating that Syria was transferring powerful Scud missiles to the Hezbollah Islamist militia in Lebanon. See an interesting article about the possible ramifications of this development toward a possible new Israel-Syria war at Plotting the Next Mideast War
Nakba Day Border Incidents-on May 15 and June 5, 2011, Palestinian demonstrators demostrated on the Syrian-Israeli border, and attempted to cross the border into Israel. Israeli security forces opened fire, killing several of the protestors. Syria claimed up to 23 were killed and hundreds wounded in the June 5 incident. Israel accused Syria of planning and instigating the incident to draw attention away from Syria's own internal uprising .
Golan Heights Tensions (2012)--With the increasing violence of the Syrian Civil War, The appearance on November 3, 2012, of three Syrian tanks in the demilitarized zone near the UNDOF buffer in violation of the cease-fire agreement raised tensions.
Israeli-Syrian Fighting Along Golan Border (2012)
November 11, 2012, in the midst of a battle between Syrian government forces and rebels, the Syrian army fired a mortar shell that landed near an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) outpost at Tel Hazeka in the Golan Heights. The Israeli forces then fired back into Syrian territory. This marks the first time since the conclusion of the 1973 Yom Kippu/Ramadan War that Israel has fire into Syria from their positions in the Golan Heights.
November 12, 2012-- In response to another artillery round from Syria which landed near an Israeli post, Israeli tanks fired back, making a direct hit on the Syrian artillery units that fired into Israeli--held Golan territory.
November 17, 2012--Syrian army fire hit an Israeli patrol near the De-Militarized Zone (DMZ), damaging one jeep. Israeli artillery responded by shelling the army position and the Syrian army thenfired back with mortars.
| i don't know |
In the lyrics of the Twelve Days of Christmas, what are there nine of? | Christmas Carols - The Twelve Days Of Christmas lyrics | LyricsMode.com
The Twelve Days Of Christmas lyrics
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Christmas Carols – The Twelve Days Of Christmas lyrics
On the first day of Christmas
My true love gave to me:
A partridge in a pear tree.
On the second day of Christmas
My true love gave to me:
Two turtle doves and
A partridge in a pear tree.
On the third day of Christmas
My true love gave to me:
Three french hens
A partridge in a pear tree.
On the forth day of Christmas
My true love gave to me:
Four calling birds
A partridge in a pear tree.
On the fifth day of Christmas
My true love gave to me:
Five golden rings
A partridge in a pear tree.
On the sixth day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me:
Six geese a-laying
A partridge in a pear tree.
On the seventh day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me:
Seven swans a-swimming
A partridge in a pear tree.
On the eight day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me:
Eight maids a-milking
A partridge in a pear tree.
On the ninth day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me:
Nine ladies dancing
A partridge in a pear tree.
On the tenth day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me:
Ten lords a-leaping
A partridge in a pear tree.
On the eleventh day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me:
Eleven pipers piping
A partridge in a pear tree.
On the Twelfth day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me:
Twelve drummers drumming
And a partridge in a pear tree.
Lyrics taken from http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/c/christmas_carols/the_twelve_days_of_christmas.html
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| ladies dancing |
The 1956 movie the Ten Commandments starred Charlton Heston as Moses, but which Hollywood star played his adopted brother Rameses II. | Christmas lyrics - full text and melodies
Christmas Lyrics
Christmas lyrics always seem to superimpose amongst us, grownups and kids alike, the sense of joyous adventure brought about by the holiday season. The most popular holiday songs and melodies have Christmas lyrics that touch the hearts and minds of most people, and they all turn into the essence of the Christmas season as a time for love and sharing.
The popular holiday melody entitled Jingle Bells provides the people of the world with Christmas lyrics that are about fun and enjoyment. The Christmas lyrics of this holiday song was penned by a man who had failed to be a politician, a father, a husband, a scientist, a businessman, and even a clergy, but he succeeded in providing the world, especially its children, with a song to remember the Christmas spirit of fun and festivity in the guise of Santa Claus, which can also be referred to as a bringer of hope and blessings. Most of the Christmas lyrics that can be found from the traditional holiday melodies speak about the Nativity and the like, but the words all boil down to one thing – that’s love, which should reign supreme amidst the joyous holiday celebrations of the Christmas season.
The modern renditions of these traditional holiday songs often include upbeat tempos and screechy guitars, but the lyrics of these songs remain intact. The songs from modern artists, on the other hand, speak about the concepts of the new generation when it comes to the Christmas spirit as well as the celebrations and festivities that come with it. An audio CD compilation of both the traditional Christmas songs and modern holiday melodies can prove to be a good gift to hand out your kids and friends during the holiday season.
Christmas lyrics
Text
Select a song title to view the lyrics. If you would like to listen to the MIDI while viewing the lyrics, simply click the musical note next to the title and the music should automatically begin to play. If you do not hear music, visit the Help Page for information on Midis and to download a free Midi Player.
Everybody stops and stares at me
These two teeth are gone as you can see
I don’t know just who to blame for this catastrophe!
But my one wish on Christmas Eve is as plain as it can be!
All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth,
My two front teeth,
See my two front teeth!
Gee, if I could only have my two front teeth,
Then I could wish you “Merry Christmas.”
It seems so long since I could say,
“Sister Susie sitting on a thistle!”
Gosh oh gee, how happy I’d be,
if I could only whistle (thhhh)
All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth,
My two front teeth,
See my two front teeth.
Gee, if I could only have my two front teeth,
Then I could wish you “Merry Christmas!”
Angels we have heard on high,
Singing sweetly through the night,
And the mountains in reply
Echoing their brave delight.
Why these songs of happy cheer?
What great brightness did you see?
What glad tiding did you hear?
Gloria in excelsis Deo.
Come to Bethlehem and see
Him whose birth the angels sing;
Come, adore on bended knee
Christ, the Lord, the new-born King.
Gloria in excelsis Deo.
See him in a manger laid
Whom the angels praise above;
Mary, Joseph, lend your aid,
While we raise our hearts in love.
Gloria in excelsis Deo.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And days of auld lang syne?
Chorus
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld land syne
We’ll tak’ a cup o’ kindness yet
For auld lang syne.
We twa hae run about the braes
And pu’d the gowans fine
But we’ve wander’d mony a weary foot
Sin’ auld lang syne.
We twa hae paidl’t in the burn
Frae morning sun till dine
But seas between us braid hae roar’d
Sin’ auld lang syne.
And surely ye’ll be your pint stoup
And surely I’ll be mine
And we’ll tak’ a cup o’ kindness yet
For auld lang syne.
Lyrics: Anonymous Music by J.R. Murray 1877
Away in a manger, no crib for his bed,
The little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head.
The stars in the bright sky looked down where he lay,
The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.
The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes,
But little Lord Jesus no crying he makes.
I love thee, Lord Jesus! Look down from the sky,
And stay by my side until morning is nigh.
B. Hayes and J. Johnson 1948, christmas lyrics
I’ll have a blue Christmas without you;
I’ll be so blue thinking about you.
Decorations of red
On a green Christmas tree
Won’t mean a thing
If you’re not here with me.
I’ll have a blue Christmas, that’s certain;
And when that blue heartache starts hurting,
You’ll be doing all right
With your Christmas of white,
But I’ll have a blue, blue Christmas.
Lyrics by Mel Torme, christmas lyrics
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire
Jack Frost nipping at your nose
Yuletide carols being sung by a choir
And folks dressed up like Eskimos
Everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe
Help to make the season bright
Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow
Will find it hard to sleep tonight
They know that Santa’s on his way
He’s loaded lots of toys and goodies on his sleigh
And ev’ry mother’s child is gonna spy
To see if reindeer really know how to fly
And so, I’m offering this simple phrase
To kids from one to ninety-two
Altho’ it’s been said many times many ways;
“Merry Christmas to you.”
Deck the halls with boughs of holly,
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Tis the season to be jolly,
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Don we now our gay apparel,
Fa la la, la la la, la la la
Troll the ancient Yuletide carol,
Fa la la la la, la la la la
See the blazing Yule before us,
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Strike the harp and join the chorus,
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Follow me in merry measure,
Fa la la la la, la la la la
While I tell of Yuletide treasure,
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Fast away the old year passes,
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Hail the new, ye lads and lasses,
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Sing we joyous, all together,
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Heedless of the wind and weather,
Fa la la la la, la la la la
Ding Dong! merrily on high
In heav’n the bells are ringing
Ding, dong! verily the sky
Is riv’n with angel singing
Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis
E’en so here below, below
Let steeple bells be swungen
And i-o, i-o, i-o
By priest and people be sungen
Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis
Your matin chime, ye ringers
May ye beautifully rime
Your evetime song, ye singers
Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis
Said the night wind to the little lamb,
“Do you see what I see?
Way up in the sky, little lamb,
Do you see what I see?
A star, a star, dancing in the night
With a tail as big as a kite,
With a tail as big as a kite.”
Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy,
“Do you hear what I hear?
Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy,
Do you hear what I hear?
A song, a song high above the trees
With a voice as big as the the sea,
With a voice as big as the the sea.”
Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king,
“Do you know what I know?
In your palace warm, mighty king,
Do you know what I know?
A Child, a Child shivers in the cold~
Let us bring him silver and gold,
Let us bring him silver and gold.”
Said the king to the people everywhere,
“Listen to what I say!
Pray for peace, people, everywhere,
Listen to what I say!
The Child, the Child sleeping in the night
He will bring us goodness and light,
He will bring us goodness and light.”
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
From the bottom of my heart.
The first Noel, the angel did say,
Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay;
In fields where they lay keeping their sheep,
On a cold winter’s night that was so deep.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel,
Born is the King of Israel.
They looked up and saw a star
Shining in the East, beyond them far;
And to the earth it gave great light,
And so it continued both day and night.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel,
Born is the King of Israel.
And by the light of that same star,
Three wise men came from country far;
To seek for a King was their intent,
And to follow the star wherever it went.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel,
Born is the King of Israel.
This star drew night to the northwest,
O’er Bethlehem it took its rest;
And there it did both stop and stay,
Right over the place where Jesus lay.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel,
Born is the King of Israel.
Then entered in those wise men three,
Fall reverently upon their knee;
And offered there in his presence,
Their gold, and myrrh, and frankincense.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel,
Was a jolly, happy soul
With a corncob pipe and a button nose
And two eyes made out of coal
Frosty the Snowman
Is a fairy tale they say
He was made of snow, but the children know
How he came to life one day
There must have been some magic
In that old silk hat they found
For when they placed it on his head
He began to dance around!
O Frosty the Snowman
Was alive as he could be
And the children say he could laugh and play
Just the same as you and me
Thumpetty thump thump
Over the hills of snow
Frosty the Snowman
Knew the sun was hot that day
So he said “Let’s run and we’ll have some fun now
Before I melt away.”
With a broomstick in his hand
Running here and there all around the square
Saying “Catch me if you can!”
He led them down the streets of town
Right to the traffic cop
And he only paused a moment when
He heard him holler “Stop!”
For Frosty the Snowman
Had to hurry on his way
But he waved goodbye saying “Don’t you cry,
I’ll be back again some day.”
Thumpetty thump thump
Over the hills of snow
Christmas lyrics: We three kings of Orient
God rest you merry, gentlemen,
Let nothing you dismay,
Was born on Christmas Day;
To save us all from Satan’s power
When we were gone astray.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy,
O tidings of comfort and joy!
From God our heavenly Father
A blessed angel came;
Brought tiding of the same;
How that in Bethlehem was born
The Son of God by name.
“Fear not, then,” said the angel,
“Let nothing you affright;
This day is born a Savior
Of a pure virgin bright,
To free all those who trust in him
From Satan’s power and might.”
Now to the Lord sing praises,
All you within this place,
And with true love and brotherhood
Each other now embrace;
This holy tide of Christmas
Doth bring redeeming grace.
J.M. Neale tr., christmas lyrics
Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the feast of Stephen,
When the snow lay round about,
Deep and crisp and even.
Brightly shown the moon that night,
Though the frost was cruel,
When a poor man came in sight,
Gathering winter fuel.
Hither, page, and stand by me.
If thou know it telling:
Yonder peasant, who is he?
Where and what his dwelling?
Sire, he lives a good league hence,
Underneath the mountain,
Right against the forest fence
By Saint Agnes fountain.
Bring me flesh, and bring me wine.
Bring me pine logs hither.
Thou and I will see him dine
When we bear the thither.
Page and monarch, forth they went,
Forth they went together
Through the rude wind’s wild lament
And the bitter weather.
Sire, the night is darker now,
And the wind blows stronger.
Fails my heart, I know not how.
I can go no longer.
Ark my footsteps my good page,
Tread thou in them boldly:
Thou shalt find the winter’s rage
Freeze thy blood less coldly.
In his master’s step he trod,
Where the snow lay dented.
Heat was in the very sod
Which the saint had printed.
Therefore, Christian men, be sure,
Wealth or rank possessing,
Ye who now will bless the poor
Shall yourselves find blessing.
Lyrics: Charles Wesley 1739 Music: Felix Mendelssohn 1840
Hark! the herald angels sing
Glory to the new-born King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!
Joyful, all ye nations, rise,
Join the triumph of the skies;
With the angelic host proclaim
Christ is born in Bethlehem!
Hark! the herald angels sing
Glory to the new-born King!
Christ, by highest heaven adored;
Christ, the everlasting Lord;
Late in time behold him come,
Offspring of the Virgin’s womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
Hail the incarnate Deity,
Pleased as man with man to dwell;
Jesus, our Emmanuel!
Mild he lays his glory by,
Born that man no more may die,
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.
Risen with healing in his wings,
Light and life to all he brings,
Hail, the Sun of Righteousness!
Hail, the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Heaven-born Prince of Peace
Hail the Son of Righteousness
Light and life to all He brings
Risen with healing in His wings
Mild He lay His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Come Desire of Nations come,
Fix in us thy humble home.
Rise, the woman’s conquering Seed,
Bruise in us the serpent’s head.
Adam’s likeness now efface
Stamp thine image in its place
Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane 1943, christmas lyrics
Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Let your heart be light
From now on, our troubles will be out of sight
Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Make the Yule-tide gay,
From now on, our troubles will be miles away.
Here were are as in olden days,
Happy golden days of yore.
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us once more.
Through the years we all will be together
If the Fates allow
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough.
And have yourself a merry little Christmas now.
Gene Autry and Oakley Haldeman 1947, christmas lyrics
Here comes Santa Claus!
Right down Santa Claus Lane!
Vixen and Blitzen and all his reindeer
Are pulling on the reins.
Bells are ringing, children singing;
All is merry and bright.
Hang your stockings and say your prayers,
‘Cause Santa Claus comes tonight.
Here comes Santa Claus!
Right down Santa Claus Lane!
He’s got a bag that is filled with toys
For the boys and girls again.
Hear those sleigh bells jingle jangle,
What a beautiful sight.
Jump in bed, cover up your head,
‘Cause Santa Claus comes tonight.
The holly and the ivy,
When they are both full grown,
Of all the trees that are in the wood,
The holly bears the crown.
Chorus
O the rising of the sun,
And the running of the deer,
The playing of the merry organ,
Sweet singing in the choir.
The holly bears a blossom
As white as lily flower;
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
To be our sweet Savior.
The holly bears a berry
As red as any blood;
Any Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
To do poor sinners good.
The holly bears a prickle
As sharp as any thorn;
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
On Christmas day in the morn.
The holly bears a bark
As bitter as any gall;
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
For to redeem us all.
The holly and the ivy,
When they are both full grown,
Of all the trees that are in the wood,
The holly bears the crown.
Johnny Marks 1962, christmas lyrics
Have a holly, jolly Christmas;
It’s the best time of the year
I don’t know if there’ll be snow,
But have a cup of cheer.
Have a holly, jolly Christmas;
And when you walk down the street
Say Hello to friends you know
And everyone you meet.
Hung where you can see;
Somebody waits for you;
Kiss her once for me.
Have a holly jolly Christmas,
And in case you didn’t hear,
Oh by golly, have a holly,
Jolly Christmas this year.
Al Stillman and Robert Allen
Oh, there’s no place like home for the holidays,
‘Cause no matter how far away you roam
When you pine for the sunshine
Of a friendly face
For the holidays, you can’t beat
Home, sweet home
I met a man who lives in Tennessee
And he was headin’ for Pennsylvania
And some home made pumpkin pie
From Pennsylvania folks a travelin’ down
To Dixie’s sunny shore
From Atlantic to Pacific, gee
The traffic is terrific
Oh there’s no place like home
For the holidays, ’cause no matter
How far away you roam
If you want to be happy in a million ways
For the holidays, you can’t beat
Home, sweet home
Lyrics: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Music: Johnny Marks 1956
I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along th’ unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
And in despair I bowed my head
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.”
Till ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
I saw Mommy tickle Santa Claus
Underneath the mistletoe last night.
She didn’t see me creep
Down the stairs to have a peep;
She thought that I was tucked up in my bedroom fast asleep.
Then, I saw Mommy tickle Santa Claus
Underneath his beard so snowy white;
Oh, what a laugh it would have been
If Daddy had only seen
Mommy kissing Santa Claus last night.
I saw three ships come sailing in
On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day.
I saw three ships come sailing in
On Christmas Day in the morning.
And what was in those ships all three
On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day?
And what was in those ships all three
On Christmas Day in the morning?
The Virgin Mary and Christ were there
On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day.
The virgin Mary and Christ were there
On Christmas Day in the morning.
It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bendingnear the earth
To touch their harps of gold:
“Peace on the earth, good will to men,
From heaven’s all-gracious King.”
To hear the angels sing.
Still through the cloven skies they come
With peaceful wings unfurled,
And still their heavenly music floats
O’er all the weary world;
Above its sad and lowly plains
They bend on hovering wing,
And ever o’er its Babel-sounds
The blessed angels sing.
Yet with the woes of sin and strife
The world has suffered long;
Beneath the heavenly strain have rolled
Two thousand years of wrong;
And man, at war with man, hears not
The tidings which they bring;
O hush the noise, ye men of strife,
And hear the angels sing!
O ye, beneath life’s crushing load,
Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way
With painful steps and slow,
Look now! for glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the wing;
O rest beside the weary road
And hear the angels sing!
For lo! the days are hastening on,
By prophets seen of old,
When with the ever-circling years
Shall come the time foretold,
When peace shall over all the earth
Its ancient splendors fling,
And the whole world give back the song
Which now the angels sing.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Ev’rywhere you go;
Take a look in the five-and-ten, glistening once again
With candy canes and silver lanes aglow.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas,
Toys in ev’ry store,
But the prettiest sight to see is the holly that will be
On your own front door.
A pair of hopalong boots and a pistol that shoots
Is the wish of Barney and Ben;
Dolls that will talk and will go for a walk
Is the hope of Janice and Jen;
And Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Ev’rywhere you go;
There’s a tree in the Grand Hotel, one in the park as well,
The sturdy kind that doesn’t mind the snow.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas;
Soon the bells will start,
And the thing that will make them ring is the carol that you sing
Right within your heart.
Eddie Pola, George Wyle, 1963, christmas lyrics
It’s the most wonderful time of the year.
With the kids jingle belling,
And everyone telling you,
It’s the most wonderful time of the year.
There’ll be parties for hosting,
Marshmallows for toasting
And caroling out in the snow.
There’ll be scary ghost stories
And tales of the glories
Of Christmases long, long ago.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year.
There’ll be much mistletoeing
And hearts will be glowing,
When loved ones are near.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year.
Christmas lyrics
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Jingle bells swing and jingle bells ring
Snowing and blowing up bushels of fun
Now the jingle hop has begun.
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Jingle bells chime in jingle bell time
Dancing and prancing in Jingle Bell Square
In the frosty air.
What a bright time, it’s the right time
To rock the night away
Jingle bell time is a swell time
To go gliding in a one-horse sleigh
Giddy-up jingle horse, pick up your feet
Jingle around the clock
Mix and a-mingle in the jingling feet
That’s the jingle bell,
That’s the jingle bell,
That’s the jingle bell rock.
Dashing through the snow, in a one-horse open sleigh
Over the fields we go, laughing all the way;
Bells on bob-tail ring, making spirits bright
What fun it is to ride and sing a sleighing song tonight
(Chorus)
Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way!
O what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh
Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way!
O what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh
A day or two ago, I thought I’d take a ride
And soon Miss Fanny Bright, was seated by my side;
The horse was lean and lank, misfortune seemed his lot;
He got into a drifted bank and there we got upsot
Chorus
A day or two ago, the story I must tell
I went out on the snow, and on my back I fell;
A gent was riding by, in a one-horse open sleigh
He laughed as there I laid but quickly drove away
Chorus
Now the ground is white, go it while you’re young
Take the girls tonight, and sing this sleighing song;
Just get a bob-tailed bay, two-forty as his speed
Hitch him to an open sleigh and crack! you’ll take the lead
Chorus
Lean your ear this way!
Don’t you tell a single soul
What I’m going to say;
Christmas Eve is coming soon;
Now, you dear old man,
Whisper what you’ll bring to me;
Tell me if you can.
When the clock is striking twelve,
When I’m fast asleep,
Down the chimney broad and black,
With your pack you’ll creep;
All the stockings you will find
Hanging in a row;
Mine will be the shortest one,
You’ll be sure to know.
Johnny wants a pair of skates;
Susy wants a dolly;
Nellie wants a story book;
She thinks dolls are folly;
As for me, my little brain
Isn’t very bright;
Choose for me, old Santa Claus,
What you think is right.
Lyrics: Isaac Watts 1719 Music: George Handel 1742
Joy to the world! the Lord is come;
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven, and heaven and nature sing.
Joy to the earth! the Savior reigns;
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods,
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessing flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as the curse is found.
He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders of His love.
Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne 1945, christmas lyrics
Oh, the weather outside is frightful,
But the fire is so delightful,
And since we’ve no place to go,
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.
It doesn’t show signs of stopping,
And I brought some corn for popping;
The lights are turned way down low,
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.
When we finally say good night,
How I’ll hate going out in the storm;
But if you really hold me tight,
All the way home I’ll be warm.
The fire is slowly dying,
And, my dear, we’re still good-bye-ing,
But as long as you love me so.
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.
Come they told me, pa rum pum pum pum
A new born King to see, pa rum pum pum pum
Our finest gifts we bring, pa rum pum pum pum
To lay before the King, pa rum pum pum pum,
Rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,
So, to honor Him, pa rum pum pum pum,
When we come.
Little Baby, pa rum pum pum pum
I am a poor boy too, pa rum pum pum pum
I have no gift to bring, pa rum pum pum pum
That’s fit to give the King, pa rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,
Shall I play for you, pa rum pum pum pum,
On my drum?
Mary nodded, pa rum pum pum pum,
The ox and lamb kept time, pa rum pum pum pum
I played my drum for Him, pa rum pum pum pum
I play me best for Him, pa rum pum pum pum,
Rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum
Then He smiled at me, pa rum pum pum pum
Me and my drum
You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch
You really are a heel,
You’re as cuddly as a cactus, you’re as charming as an eel, Mr. Grinch,
You’re a bad banana with a greasy black peel!
You’re a monster, Mr. Grinch,
Your heart’s an empty hole,
Your brain is full of spiders, you have garlic in your soul, Mr. Grinch,
I wouldn’t touch you with a thirty-nine-and-a-half foot pole!
You’re a foul one, Mr. Grinch,
You have termites in your smile,
You have all the tender sweetness of a seasick crocodile, Mr. Grinch,
Given a choice between the two of you I’d take the seasick crocodile!
You’re a rotter, Mr. Grinch,
You’re the king of sinful sots,
Your heart’s a dead tomato splotched with moldy purple spots, Mr. Grinch,
You’re a three decker sauerkraut and toadstool sandwich with arsenic sauce!
You nauseate me, Mr. Grinch,
With a nauseous super “naus”!
You’re a crooked dirty jockey and you drive a crooked hoss, Mr. Grinch,
Your soul is an appalling dump heap overflowing with the most disgraceful assortment of rubbish imaginable mangled up in tangled up knots!
You’re a foul one, Mr. Grinch,
You’re a nasty wasty skunk,
Your heart is full of unwashed socks, your soul is full of gunk, Mr. Grinch,
The three words that best describe you are as follows, and I quote,
“Stink, stank, stunk”!
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree!
How are thy leaves so verdant!
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
How are thy leaves so verdant!
Not only in the summertime,
But even in winter is thy prime.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
How are thy leaves so verdant!
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Much pleasure doth thou bring me!
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Much pleasure doth thou bring me!
For every year the Christmas tree,
Brings to us all both joy and glee.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Much pleasure doth thou bring me!
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Thy candles shine out brightly!
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Thy candles shine out brightly!
Each bough doth hold its tiny light,
That makes each toy to sparkle bright.
O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree,
Thy candles shine out brightly!
O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
Come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem.
Come and behold Him, born the King of angels;
Chorus
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.
True God of true God, Light from Light Eternal,
Lo, he shuns not the Virgin’s womb;
Son of the Father, begotten, not created;
Chorus
Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation;
Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above!
Glory to God, all glory in the highest;
Chorus
See how the shepherds, summoned to His cradle,
Leaving their flocks, draw nigh to gaze;
We too will thither bend our joyful footsteps;
Chorus
Child, for us sinners poor and in the manger,
We would embrace Thee, with love and awe;
Who would not love Thee, loving us so dearly?
Chorus
Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning;
Jesus, to Thee be glory given;
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing.
Chorus
O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice, rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, O come, Thou Lord of Might ,
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai’s height,
In ancient times didst give the law,
In cloud, and majesty, and awe.
Chorus
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save
And give them victory o’er the grave.
Chorus
O come, Thou Dayspring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Chorus
O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Chorus
O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
And order all things, far and nigh;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And cause us in her ways to go.
Chorus
O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of peace.
Chorus
O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Saviour’s birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, the night when Christ was born;
O night, O holy night, O night divine!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!
Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
O’er the world a star is sweetly gleaming,
Now come the wisemen from out of the Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friends.
He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.
And in his name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
With all our hearts we praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
O little town of Bethlehem,
How still we see the lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by;
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee to-night.
For Christ is born of Mary,
And gathered all above,
While mortals sleep, the angels keep
Their watch of wondering love.
O morning stars, together
And praises sing to God the King,
And peace to men on earth.
How silently, how silently,
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of his heaven.
No ear may hear his coming,
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him, still
The dear Christ enters in.
Where children pure and happy
Pray to the blessed Child,
Where misery cries out to thee,
Son of the mother mild;
Where charity stands watching
And faith holds wide the door,
The dark night wakes, the glory breaks,
And Christmas comes once more.
O holy Child of Bethlehem!
Descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin and enter in,
Be born in us to-day.
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Emmanuel!
Over the river and through the woods
To Grandmother’s house we go.
The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh
Through white and drifted snow.
Over the river and through the woods,
Oh, how the wind does blow.
It stings the toes and bites the nose
As over the ground we go.
Over the river and through the woods
To have a full day of play.
Oh, hear the bells ringing ting-a-ling-ling,
For it is Christmas Day.
Over the river and through the woods,
Trot fast my dapple gray;
Spring o’er the ground just like a hound,
For this is Christmas Day.
Over the river and through the woods
And straight through the barnyard gate.
It seems that we go so dreadfully slow;
It is so hard to wait.
Over the river and through the woods,
Now Grandma’s cap I spy.
Hurrah for fun; the pudding’s done;
Hurrah for the pumpkin pie.
Johnny Marks 1958, christmas lyrics
Rockin’ around the Christmas tree
At the Christmas party hop
Mistletoe hung where you can see
Every couple tries to stop
Rockin’ around the Christmas tree,
Let the Christmas spirit ring
Later we’ll have some pumpkin pie
And we’ll do some caroling.
You will get a sentimental
Feeling when you hear
Voices singing let’s be jolly,
Deck the halls with boughs of holly
Rockin’ around the Christmas tree,
Have a happy holiday
In the new old-fashioned way.
RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER
You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen,
Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen.
But do you recall
The most famous reindeer of all?
Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer
Had a very shiny nose.
And if you ever saw him,
You would even say it glows.
All of the other reindeer
Used to laugh and call him names.
They never let poor Rudolph
Play in any reindeer games.
Then one foggy Christmas eve
Santa came to say:
“Rudolph with your nose so bright,
Won’t you guide my sleigh tonight?”
Then all the reindeer loved him
As they shouted out with glee:
“Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer,
Coots and Gillespie, christmas lyrics
Oh! You better watch out,
You better not cry,
I’m telling you why:
Santa Claus is coming to town!
He’s making a list,
He’s checking it twice,
Gonna find out who’s naughty or nice.
Santa Claus is coming to town!
He sees you when you’re sleeping,
He knows when you’re awake.
He knows when you’ve been bad or good,
So be good for goodness sake!
So. . . You better watch out,
You better not cry
I’m Telling you why.
Santa Claus is coming to town.
Little tin horns, little toy drums.
Rudy-toot-toot and rummy tum tums.
Santa Claus is coming town
Little toy dolls that cuddle and coo,
Elephants, boats and Kiddie cars too.
Santa Claus is coming to town.
The kids in Girl and Boy Land
Will have a jubilee.
They’re gonna build a toy land town
All around the Christmas tree.
Ohh. . . . You better watch out,
You better not cry.
I’m telling you why.
Santa Claus is coming to town!
Joseph Mohr and Franz Gruber 1818
Silent night, holy night,
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon virgin mother and child.
Holy infant so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace.
Shepherds quake at the sight,
Glories stream from heaven afar,
Heavenly hosts sing alleluia;
Christ the Savior, is born!
Christ the Savior, is born!
Silent night, holy night,
Son of God, love’s pure light
Radiant beams from thy holy face,
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth.
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth.
Jay Livingston and Ray Evans, christmas lyrics
City sidewalks, busy sidewalks, dressed in holiday style
In the air there’s a feeling of Christmas
Children laughing, people passing, meeting smile after smile
And on ev’ry street corner you’ll hear
Silver bells, silver bells
It’s Christmas time in the city
Ring-a-ling, hear themsing
Soon it will be Christmas day
Strings of street lights, even stop lights, blink a bright red and green
As the shoppers rush home with their treasures
Hear the snow crunch, see the kids bunch, this is Santa’s big scene
And above all this bustle you’ll hear
Silver bells, silver bells
It’s Christmas time in the city
Ring-a-ling, hear them sing
Mitchell Parish and Leroy Anderson 1948
Just hear those sleigh bells jingle-ing
Ring ting tingle-ing too
Come on, it’s lovely weather
For a sleigh ride together with you
Outside the snow is falling
And friends are calling “You Hoo”
Come on, it’s lovely weather
For a sleigh ride together with you
Giddy-yap giddy-yap giddy-yap let’s go
Let’s look at the snow
We’re riding in a wonderland of snow
Giddy-yap giddy-yap giddy-yap it’s grand
Just holding your hand
We’re gliding along with the song
Of a wintry fairy land
Our cheeks are nice and rosy
And comfy cozy are we
We’re snuggled up together like two
Birds of a feather would be
Let’s take the road before us
And sing a chorus or two
Come on, it’s lovely weather
For a sleigh ride together with you
There’s a birthday party at the home of Farmer Gray
It’ll be the perfect ending of a perfect day
We’ll be singing the songs we love to sing without a single stop
At the fireplace while we watch the chestnuts pop
Pop! Pop! Pop!
There’s a happy feeling nothing in the world can buy
When they pass around the coffee and the pumpkin pie
It’ll nearly be like a picture print by Currier and Ives
These wonderful things are the things
We remember all through our lives
On the first day of Christmas,
My true love sent to me
A partridge in a pear tree.
On the second day of Christmas,
My true love sent to me
Two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree.
On the third day of Christmas,
My true love sent to me
Three French hens,
And a partridge in a pear tree.
On the fourth day of Christmas,
My true love sent to me
Four calling birds,
Three French hens, two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree.
On the fifth day of Christmas,
My true love sent to me
Five golden rings.
Four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree.
On the sixth day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me
Six geese a-laying,
Four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree.
On the seventh day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me
Seven swans a-swimming,
Four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree.
On the eighth day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me
Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings.
Four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree.
On the ninth day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me
Nine ladies dancing,
Eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings.
Four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree.
On the tenth day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me
Ten lords a-leaping,
Nine ladies dancing, eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings.
Four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree.
On the eleventh day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me
Eleven pipers piping,
Ten lords a-leaping, nine ladies dancing, eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings.
Four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree.
On the twelfth day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me
Twelve drummers drumming,
Among the leaves so green,
Here we come a wand’ring,
So fair to be seen.
(Chorus)
Love and joy come to you,
And to your wassail too,
And God bless you and send you a happy new year,
And God send you a happy new year.
We are not daily beggars
Who beg from door to door,
But we are neighbor’s children
Whom you have seen before.
Chorus
We have a little purse
Made of ratching leather skin;
We want some of your small change
To line it well within.
Chorus
God bless the Master of this house,
Likewise the Mistress too;
And all the little children
That round the table go.
Chorus
John H. Hopkins, Jr. 1857, christmas lyrics
We three kings of Orient are
Bearing gifts we traverse afar.
Field and fountain, moor and mountain,
Following yonder star.
O star of wonder, star of night,
Star with royal beauty bright,
Westward leading, still proceeding,
Guide us to thy perfect Light.
Born a king on Bethlehem’s plain,
Gold I bring to crown Him again,
King forever, ceasing never
Over us all to reign.
Chorus
Frankincense to offer have I.
Incense owns a Deity nigh.
Prayer and praising all men raising,
Worship Him, God on high.
Chorus
Myrrh is mine: Its bitter perfume
Breaths a life of gathering gloom.
Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding dying,
Sealed in the stone-cold tomb. br>
Chorus
Glorious now behold Him arise,
King and God and Sacrifice.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Sounds through the earth and skies.
Chorus
We wish you a Merry Christmas;
We wish you a Merry Christmas;
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Good tidings we bring to you and your kin;
Good tidings for Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Oh, bring us a figgy pudding;
Oh, bring us a figgy pudding;
Oh, bring us a figgy pudding and a cup of good cheer.
Chorus
We won’t go until we get some;
We won’t go until we get some;
We won’t go until we get some, so bring some out here.
Chorus
We wish you a Merry Christmas;
We wish you a Merry Christmas;
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
WE’LL DRESS THE HOUSE
Alfred Burt, Wihla Hutson
We’ll dress the house with holly bright and sprigs of mistletoe
We’ll trim the Christmas tree tonight and set the lights aglow;
We’ll wrap our gifts with ribbons gay and give them out on Christmas day
by everything we do and say; Our gladness we will show.
We’ll dress the table daintily, Our finest treasures use.
That all a-sparkle it may be and bright with lovely hues;
Then for the feasting we’ll prepare a kitchen full of wondrous fare
that each from all the dishes rare; His fav’rite one may choose.
And ye who would the Christ Child greet, your hear also adorn
That it may be a dwelling meet for him who now is born;
Let all unlovely things give place to souls be decked with heav’nly grace
That ye may view his holy face; With joy on Christmas morn.
What child is this, who, laid to rest,
On Mary’s lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet,
While shepherds watch are keeping?
This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing:
Haste, haste to bring him laud,
The babe, the son of Mary.
Why lies he in such mean estate
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christian, fear: for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading.
So bring him incense, gold, and myrrh,
Come, peasant, king, to own him.
The King of kings salvation brings,
Let loving hearts enthrone him.
I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten
To hear sleigh bells in the snow
I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white
I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white
Dick Smith and Felix Bernard 1934, christmas lyrics
Sleigh bells ring, are you listening,
In the lane, snow is glistening
A beautiful sight,
Walking in a winter wonderland.
Gone away is the bluebird,
Here to stay is a new bird,
He sings a love song,
As we go along,
Walking in a winter wonderland.
In the meadow we can build a snowman,
Then pretend that he is Parson Brown
He’ll say: Are you married?
We’ll say: No man,
But you can do the job
When you’re in town.
Later on, we’ll conspire,
As we dream by the fire
To face unafraid,
The plans that we’ve made,
Walking in a winter wonderland.
In the meadow we can build a snowman,
And pretend that he’s a circus clown
We’ll have lots of fun with mister snowman,
Until the other kiddies knock him down.
When it snows, ain’t it thrilling,
Though your nose gets a chilling
We’ll frolic and play, the Eskimo way,
Walking in a winter wonderland.
Walking in a winter wonderland,
Walking in a winter wonderland.
External:
Lyrics are only poems without musical instruments revirberating in time through powered speakers . In the instance playing music isn’t your style, wireless microphones take caroling to a whole other level
Releted:
| i don't know |
Which James Bond film was the first to be given a non PG rating by the British Board of Film Classification? | The X Rated James Bond Scenes | FilmNav
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The X Rated James Bond Scenes
With anticipation now high on the upcoming new James Bond film Skyfall starring Daniel Craig, will the completed film survive without any cuts?
There is a long history with the Bond films and the British Board of Film Classification, and listed below are just some of the scenes that the censors didn’t want you to see.
Producers of the 007 movies had to cut scenes, redub dialogue and rewrite scripts because the British Board of Film Classification objected to some of the spy’s more risque exploits.
Censors insisted on 13 separate cuts from Sean Connery’s 2nd Bond film, 1963’s From Russia With Love, before they would grant it a coveted A rating – allowing children to see the film if accompanied by an adult. Demands included the removal of a nude shot of Russian heroine Tatiana Romanova, played by Italian starlet Daniela Bianchi, walking towards a bed.
Terence Young directs Sean Connery and Daniela Bianchi in the controversial From Russia with Love scene
Seven of the cuts involved what the censors described as ‘double entendre dialogue’. A line where Romanova asks Bond, ‘Was I as exciting as all those Western girls?’ was toned down by replacing the word ‘was’ with ‘am’.
And a shot in a compartment on the Orient Express when Bond lowers a blind and tells Romanova ‘two hours should straighten this out’ was removed altogether.
During the making of Thunderball in 1965, starring Connery, the BBFC wrote to co-producer Harry Saltzman warning that unless changes were made to the script, it could end up with an X certificate.
The letter outlined 32 scenes which could be problematic because of ‘sex and sadism’, including love scenes between Bond and physiotherapist Patricia Fearing, played by British actress Molly Peters.
The BBFC warned that Fearing’s costumes amounted to ‘semi-nudity’ and raised concerns about a scene in which Bond massaged her back with a mink glove. The scene was dropped from the British version.
The censor also said there could be ‘a lot of trouble’ about a ‘gratuitous’ sex scene where Bond makes love to enemy agent Fiona Volpe, played by Luciana Paluzzi, and then tells her he did it for ‘King and country’. The scene appears to have survived, however, after being toned down.
The scene in Thunderball which was originally cut from it’s UK release
In 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, starring George Lazenby, the BBFC objected when a flirtatious dinner-party guest (played by British actress Angela Scoular) wrote her room number on 007′s bare inner thigh under the dinner table. Bond was originally supposed to say ‘I have a slight stiffness’ but the line was redubbed with the extra words ‘in my shoulder’ so that the erotically charged scene could remain. The edit persisted into all home video releases.
Lazenby’s `stiffness coming on’
In 1971, Sean Connery returned in Diamonds Are Forever, following Lazenby bowing out after only outing, and this film would suffer several cuts, including a scene of a man on fire, that was cut back on the grounds that it was too harrowing. Footage of the ablaze Mr Kidd running across the deck screaming and climbing up onto the railing, as he throws himself overboard was removed, leaving just the shot of him hitting the water. When shown on TV, this scene is usually cut similarly.
The cut scene from Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
In 1985′s A View To A Kill, Roger Moore’s last film as Bond suffered the most cuts during his tenure. The BBFC requested that a heavy crotch kick and a double neck chop, both given by Bond, be removed from the film to get a PG rating. These cuts occur during the fight in the hidden room under Zoran’s stable. If you watch the scene closely, or even frame by frame, the scene is somewhat sloppy in a couple of places. When the film was edited, the pre-cut version was submitted for a formal rating.
During this stage of classification, the Board asked for an alteration to the opening titles on a shot of an almost nude woman. Its hard to speculate which woman this refers to, but viewing the titles it seems likely that it could be the woman seen through a scope near the beginning, who becomes defocused and blurry whenever she turns the front of body towards the camera, or the mirrored image of the dancing women at the end as Michael Wilson’s name appears. She too, goes out of focus on a profile shot where her nipples almost become clearly visible.
One unnamed female censor took offence at a scene in 1981’s For Your Eyes Only, when the villain uses a knife to undo a costume worn by French actress Carole Bouquet.
But undoubtedly the film which suffered the most at the hands of the censors was Timothy Dalton’s 2nd outing as Bond in Licence to Kill.
The 23rd of February 1989 saw Licence to Kill come before the BBFC for an advice viewing. The print was a rough cut, with an incomplete sound mix and no credits sequence. The running time was 2 hours, 8 minutes, 42 seconds and 9 frames. The BBFC examiners finished viewing the film, and were split between three options – an uncut 15, a 15 with cuts and, amazingly, an uncut 18. A decision was eventually made between the examiners that an uncut 15 was not possible, and a potential cuts list was drawn up for a cut 15 version.
These initial cuts were small, but also somewhat vague, and were outlined by the BBFC in their original notes:
Reel 1: the whipping of the woman [Lupe]
Reel 2: the man [Felix] lowered into the shark tank
Reel 10: the man [Krest] in the pressure chamber
Reel 11: the man [Dario] crushed in the grinder
Licence to Kill was then re-edited and almost a full month passed before the film was back at Soho Square. During this second screening more cuts were required for a 15 certificate.
Licence to Kill was then submitted for viewing by a new, different team of examiners. After the screening of the film, the BBFC concluded that more cuts were required for a 15 rating, and that extensive cuts for a 12 rating were not a viable option. The 12 rating was not yet available to distributors but was soon going to be introduced later in the same year.
As a result of this second screening, the BBFC stated further cuts still had to be made to pass the film as 15, which included the trimming of Sanchez being set alight by Bond at the end of the film by removing two shots of his body in flames (above).
Staggeringly, it would be nearly two decades before British Bond fans could finally see Licence to Kill uncut. Seventeen years after its heavily edited cinema release in 1989, the Ultimate Edition DVD released in 2006 finally restored all the BBFC- and MPAA edits to the picture.
| Licence to Kill |
Which Actor to play James Bond is the only one mentioned in text by Ian Flemming? | James Bond Censor Cuts: Detailed List of BBFC and MPAA cuts
Detailed List of BBFC and MPAA cuts
Dr. No is a 1962 UK James Bond film by Terence Young.
With Sean Connery, Ursula Andress and Bernard Lee.
BBFC category cuts were required for an 'A' rated cinema release in 1962. These cuts have persisted to all worldwide releases since.
cut
MPAA 105:07s UK: The cut cinema version was passed PG after BBFC cuts for:
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2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon
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2012 MGM R2 DVD at UK Amazon
2012 MGM RB Blu-ray [Bond 50 Collection] at UK Amazon
2012 MGM R2 DVD [22 Film Collection] at UK Amazon
2008 20th Century Fox/MGM R0 Blu-ray
2008 20th Century Fox/MGM R2 DVD
2000 MGM R2 DVD
UK: Passed A after BBFC cuts for:
1962 cinema release
US: MPAA PG rated for:
2012 MGM Bond 50 Collection RA Blu-ray at US Amazon
2007 20th Century Fox R1 DVD at US Amazon
The cuts were presumably to the negative as was often the norm in the 60s, so cuts now persist to all prints worldwide.
Bond's fight with the chauffeur has been trimmed, including the removals of blows to the chauffeur when he is unable to defend himself. A knee kick in this fight was also removed.
The killing of Dent has been trimmed to so Bond only fires one fatal shot. Footage was removed of Bond shooting extra shots into Dent's back as he lies on the floor dying.
Dr. No's line I'm sure she will amuse the guards was considered too sexually suggestive, and has been redubbed instead to The guards will amuse her
Shortly after, Dr. No's henchmen beating up Bond as he is sat at the table has been trimmed, introducing a dissolve to the next scene much earlier to cover the removal of violent footage.
Ian Fleming's From Russia with Love
From Russia with Love is a 1963 UK James Bond film by Terence Young.
With Sean Connery, Robert Shaw and Lotte Lenya.
BBFC category cuts were required for an A rated 1963 cinema release. Most of these cuts persisted to PG rated home video.
cut
best
available
MPAA 110:23s UK: Passed PG with most cuts persisting, but the old cinema cut to Tania walking nude towards the bed has been restored for:
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films Premium Edition RB Blu-ray UK Amazon
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films R2 DVD at UK Amazon
2012 MGM RB Blu-ray [Bond 50 Collection] at UK Amazon
2012 MGM R2 DVD [22 Film Collection] at UK Amazon
2012 20th Century Fox/MGM R2 DVD at UK Amazon
2008 20th Century Fox/MGM R0 Blu-ray
2008 20th Century Fox/MGM R2 DVD
2008 cinema release
US: MPAA PG rated for:
2012 MGM Bond 50 Collection RA Blu-ray at US Amazon
cut
Submitted 122:19s =117:25s UK: Passed A (PG) after BBFC cuts for:
1963 cinema release
The BBFC cuts were:.
Sexual dialogue early in the film about lovers and physical enjoyment have been removed
The gypsy dance has been shortened, removing in particular almost all shots of the dancer wriggling her stomach and bending right over
backwards
The fight that happens soon after between the two women has been heavily cut
Tania walking nude towards the bed was cut for cinema release, but has since been restored for all video releases
The reference to searching Tania has been cut soon after
Bond and Tania's kissing in bed has been trimmed
The footage of Bond and Tania being filmed by Klebb and a man through the two-way mirror has been darkened and shortened through the introduction of an early dissolve
When M and other's listen to the recording of Bond questioning Tania, the line Was I as exciting as all those Western girls? has 'was' changed to 'am', as it was considered less sexually suggestive
On the train, Bond lowering the blind in his cabin and his quip of Two hours should straighten this out has been cut
When Grant reveals the roll of film to Bond, his comment of What a performance has been removed
The famous fight between Grant and Bond has been cut to reduce the length of Grant's death by strangulation. The BBFC initially objected to the length and brutality of the whole sequence, but editor Peter Hunt convinced them to leave it intact, accepting only minor cuts to the final strangulation.
Klebb's death has been shorted, reducing the sight of her protracted suffering, and her death cries have been partially muted on the soundtrack
Bond's remark to Tania of What a performance has been cut at the very end of the film, resulting in a particularly bad jump-cut on the print, which affects the soundtrack particularly badly
Goldfinger is a 1964 UK James Bond film by Guy Hamilton.
With Sean Connery, Gert Fröbe and Honor Blackman.
Cut by the BBFC for a PG rated 1964 cinema release. The cuts have persisted into all worldwide releases since
category
=103:29s UK: Passed PG after BBFC cuts for:
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2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films R2 DVD at UK Amazon
2014 20th Century Fox Steelbook RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon
2012 20th Century Fox R 2 DVD at UK Amazon
2012 MGM RB Blu-ray [Bond 50 Collection] at UK Amazon
2012 MGM R2 DVD [22 Film Collection] at UK Amazon
2008 MGM R2 DVD at UK Amazon
1994 Warner VHS
US: MPAA PG rated for:
2012 MGM Bond 50 Collection RA Blu-ray at US Amazon
Thanks to Gavin Salkeld. The 1964 Cinema cuts, presumably to the negative, as was often the norm in the 60s, persist to all cinema/video/DVD releases worldwide
Bonita getting out of the bath has been removed, so it now happens off-screen
The electrocution in the bath has been shortened
The scene of Bond and Jill Masterson together on the bed has been shortened
Thunderball is a 1965 UK James Bond film by Terence Young.
With Sean Connery, Claudine Auger and Adolfo Celi.
Cut by the BBFC for cinema but uncut on home video
Cutting Edge: Quick Trims
BBFC cuts to the 1965 cinema release.
See video on YouTube
See more from Cutting Edge
uncut
124:56s UK: Passed PG uncut with BBFC cuts waived for:
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films Premium Edition RB Blu-ray UK Amazon
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films R2 DVD at UK Amazon
2012 MGM RB Blu-ray [Bond 50 Collection] at UK Amazon
2012 MGM R2 DVD [22 Film Collection] at UK Amazon
2012 MGM Online
2008 MGM R2 DVD at UK Amazon
2000 MGM R2 DVD
2013 MGM [Thunderball + You Only Live Twice + Diamonds are Forever] RA Blu-ray at US Amazon
2012 MGM Bond 50 Collection RA Blu-ray at US Amazon
Note that The Ultimate Edition release of Thunderball is missing the reddening effect when an incompetent henchman is thrown in as punishment. This is reported to be a processing error rather than an example of censorship.
14s
=124:32s UK: Passed A after BBFC cuts for:
1965 cinema release
The BBFC cuts were:
The first of two short scenes where Bond is seen stroking the naked back of the spa employee with a mink glove was removed. This cut was reinstated for the video release, and has always been present in all home video versions in the UK
See article from bbfc.co.uk :
In April 1965 Eon Productions sent a shooting script of Thunderball to the BBFC for advice on how the finished film might be considered for classification. The letter published here [pdf] details the BBFC's lengthy response to the script. Mindful that an X certificate would not be consistent with the previous three Bond films, the letter specifies over thirty aspects of the script that could be problematic for an A certificate.
John Trevelyan sums up the general concern of the BBFC when he explains:
I get the impression that this screenplay has been deliberately hotted up with a view to its including more sex, sadism and violence than the previous Bond pictures, and� it seems less light-hearted in tone.
In the end only one cut for an A was required � the sight of Bond stroking the back of a partially nude girl with a mink glove.
You Only Live Twice is a 1967 UK James Bond film by Lewis Gilbert.
With Sean Connery, Akiko Wakabayashi and Mie Hama.
All releases in US/UK have been uncut
uncut
PG 111:54s UK: Passed A/PG Uncut for:
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2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films R2 DVD at UK Amazon
2013 20th century Fox RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon
2012 MGM RB Blu-ray [Bond 50 Collection] at UK Amazon
2012 MGM R2 DVD [22 Film Collection] at UK Amazon
2012 MGM Online
2008 MGM 2 Disc Ultimate Edition R2 DVD at UK Amazon
2007 MGM Bond Re-mastered R2 DVD
2006 MGM 2 Disc Ultimate Edition R2 DVD
2001 MGM R2 DVD
This was the first James Bond film to be passed uncut by the BBFC.
US: Uncut and MPAA Unrated for:
2013 MGM [Thunderball + You Only Live Twice + Diamonds are Forever] RA Blu-ray at US Amazon
2012 MGM Bond 50 Collection RA Blu-ray at US Amazon
On Her Majesty's Secret Service is a 1969 UK James Bond film by Peter R Hunt.
With George Lazenby, Diana Rigg and Telly Savalas.
Cut for a suggestive joke for cinema release and the cut has persisted to all version since
cut
135:43s UK: Passed A/PG after BBFC cuts for:
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films Premium Edition RB Blu-ray UK Amazon
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films R2 DVD at UK Amazon
2013 20th Century Fox RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon
2012 MGM RB Blu-ray [Bond 50 Collection] at UK Amazon
2012 MGM R2 DVD [22 Film Collection] at UK Amazon
2012 MGM Online
2006 MGM Ultimate Edition R2 DVD at UK Amazon
2003 MGM R2 DVD
1995 Warner VHS
1969 cinema release
The cinema release was edited by the BBFC to change a single line for theatrical exhibition:
During the dinner-party sequence, Angela Scoular writes her room number on Bond's bare inner thigh. After he says he feels a slight stiffness coming on , the line in the shoulder has been badly added, totally ruining the suggestive joke. The edit persists into all home video releases worldwide.
US:
2012 MGM Bond 50 Collection RA Blu-ray at US Amazon
pre-cut
127:05s UK: A very short unknown version was passed PG without BBFC cuts for:
1987 Warner VHS
Ian Fleming's Diamonds Are Forever
Diamonds Are Forever is a 1971 UK James Bond film by Guy Hamilton.
With Sean Connery, Jill St. John and Charles Gray.
Cut by the BBFC for UK cinema release. Uncut on DVD but recently uprated from PG to 12
MPAA 114:38s UK: Passed 12 uncut for moderate language, violence and threat for:
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2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films R2 DVD at UK Amazon
2013 20th Century Fox RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon
2012 MGM RB Blu-ray [Bond 50 Collection] at UK Amazon
2012 MGM R2 DVD [22 Film Collection] at UK Amazon
The BBFC judged that the following were more appropriately rated 12 rather than the previous PG:
The scene in which Bond tears off a woman's bikini top and throttles her with it.
An aggressive use of the word 'bitch'.
The negative comic stereotyping of homosexual characters.
UK: Passed PG uncut after film cuts were restored for:
2008 MGM R2 DVD at UK Amazon
2007 20th Century Fox R2 DVD
2006 MGM R2 DVD
US: Uncut and MPAA PG Rated for:
2013 MGM [Thunderball + You Only Live Twice + Diamonds are Forever] RA Blu-ray at US Amazon
2012 MGM Bond 50 Collection RA Blu-ray at US Amazon
2007 MGM R1 DVD at US Amazon
cut
119:36s =114:49s UK: Passed A (PG) after BBFC cuts for:
1971 cinema release
BBFC cinema cuts:
The fight in the lift between Peter Franks and Bond was reduced to remove blows and sound effects.
Bond squirting the fire extinguisher into Frank's face was reduced in length.
Bond menacing Mr Kidd with a broken brandy bottle was trimmed. It's so brief in the film, one wonders what was cut, but my guess is that the actual grabbing and breaking of the bottle was cut, leaving just the footage of Bond throwing the liquid onto Kidd's arms. Perhaps what little focus there is on the weapon was deemed a more serious imitability issue back then.
Footage of the ablaze Mr Kidd running across the deck screaming and climbing up onto the railing, as he throws himself overboard was removed, leaving just the shot of him hitting the water. When shown on TV, this scene is usually cut similarly.
Live and Let Die is a 1973 UK action adventure thriller by Guy Hamilton.
Starring Roger Moore, Yaphet Kotto and Jane Seymour.
Always uncut in the US and UK.
Summary Notes
Several British agents have been murdered and James Bond is sent to New Orleans, to investigate these mysterious deaths. Mr. Big comes to his knowledge, who is self-producing heroin. Along his journeys he meets Tee Hee who has a claw for a hand, Baron Samedi the voodoo master and Solitaire and her tarot cards. Bond must travel deep inside New Orleans, through marshy grass and on water as he completes his mission.
uncut
MPAA 116:17s UK: Passed A/PG uncut for:
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films Premium Edition RB Blu-ray UK Amazon
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films R2 DVD at UK Amazon
2012 MGM RB Blu-ray [Bond 50 Collection] at UK Amazon
2012 MGM R2 DVD [22 Film Collection] at UK Amazon
2008 20th Century Fox R2 DVD at UK Amazon
2006 Sony R2 DVD
US: Uncut and MPAA PG rated for:
2012 MGM Bond 50 Collection RA Blu-ray at US Amazon
The Man with the Golden Gun is a 1974 UK action adventure thriller by Guy Hamilton.
Starring Roger Moore, Christopher Lee and Britt Ekland.
Always uncut in the UK and US
Summary Notes
Scaramanga is a hit-man who charges a million dollars per job. He becomes linked to the death of a scientist working on a powerful solar cell, and James Bond is called in to investigate. As he tracks down Scaramanga, he realises that he is highly respected by the killer, but will this prove to be an advantage in the final showdown?
uncut
MPAA 119:27s The Man With the Golden Gun is a 1974 UK James Bond action film by Guy Hamilton.
With Roger Moore, Christopher Lee and Britt Ekland.
UK: Passed PG uncut for:
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films Premium Edition RB Blu-ray UK Amazon
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films R2 DVD at UK Amazon
2012 MGM RB Blu-ray [Bond 50 Collection] at UK Amazon
2012 MGM Online
2008 20th Century Fox R2 DVD at UK Amazon
2007 20th Century Fox R2 DVD
2006 Sony/MGM R2 DVD
UK: Passed A uncut for:
1974 cinema release
The Spy Who Loved Me is a 1977 UK James Bond action film by Lewis Gilbert.
With Roger Moore, Barbara Bach and Curd Jürgens.
Never cut
120:17s UK: Passed A/PG uncut for:
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films Premium Edition RB Blu-ray UK Amazon
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films R2 DVD at UK Amazon
2013 20th Century Fox RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon
2012 MGM RB Blu-ray [Bond 50 Collection] at UK Amazon
2012 MGM R2 DVD [22 Film Collection] at UK Amazon
2012 MGM Online
2007 20th Century Fox R2 DVD at UK Amazon
2006 Sony R2 DVD
Moonraker is a 1979 UK/France Bond film by Lewis Gilbert.
With Roger Moore, Lois Chiles and Michael Lonsdale.
Uncut in the US and UK.
uncut
MPAA 120:58s UK: Passed PG uncut for:
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films Premium Edition RB Blu-ray UK Amazon
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films R2 DVD at UK Amazon
2012 20th Century Fox R2 DVD at UK Amazon
2012 MGM RB Blu-ray [Bond 50 Collection] at UK Amazon
2012 MGM R2 DVD [22 Film Collection] at UK Amazon
2009 20th Century Fox RB Blu-ray
2008 20th Century Fox R2 DVD
2006 Sony R2 DVD
For Your Eyes Only is a 1981 UK Bond film by John Glen.
With Roger Moore, Carole Bouquet and Topol.
Always uncut
122:25s UK: Passed PG uncut for:
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films Premium Edition RB Blu-ray UK Amazon
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films R2 DVD at UK Amazon
2013 MGM RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon
2012 MGM RB Blu-ray [Bond 50 Collection] at UK Amazon
2012 MGM R2 DVD [22 Film Collection] at UK Amazon
2009 20th Century Fox R0 Blu-ray at UK Amazon
2008 20th Century Fox R2 DVD
2007 20th Century Fox R2 DVD
2006 Sony R2 DVD
2007 20th Century Fox R1 DVD at US Amazon
See article from dailymail.co.u : Fuddy Duddy Censor
One unnamed female censor took offence at a scene in 1981's For Your Eyes Only, starring Roger Moore, when the villain uses a knife to undo a costume worn by heroine Melina Havelock, played by French actress Carole Bouquet.
The scene survived because the examiner admitted the Board had passed far worse and realised she was a bit of a fuddy duddy .
Octopussy is a 1983 UK/US James Bond action film by John Glen.
With Roger Moore, Maud Adams and Louis Jourdan.
A nipple slip was cut from the opening credits but otherwise uncut.
cut
125:13s UK: Passed PG after BBFC suggested cuts were implemented for:
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films Premium Edition RB Blu-ray UK Amazon
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films R2 DVD at UK Amazon
2012 20th Century Fox R2 DVD at UK Amazon
2012 MGM RB Blu-ray [Bond 50 Collection] at UK Amazon
2012 MGM R2 DVD [22 Film Collection] at UK Amazon
2008 MGM R2 DVD
2007 20th Century Fox R2 DVD
2006 MGM R2 DVD
1986 Warner VHS
1983 cinema release
The opening credits were edited after an advice screening during post production to darken a single shot of a visible nipple. When formally submitted later, it was passed PG uncut (i.e. no additional edits were made, but it is still pre-cut. This is the worldwide version available everywhere).
US:
A View to a Kill is a 1985 UK/US James Bond action film by John Glen.
With Roger Moore, Christopher Walken and Tanya Roberts.
Cut by the BBFC at the advice screening stage and the cuts have persisted for all releases since
cut
MPAA 125:36s UK: Passed PG after BBFC cuts for:
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films Premium Edition RB Blu-ray UK Amazon
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films R2 DVD at UK Amazon
2012 20th Century Fox R2 DVD at UK Amazon
2012 MGM RB Blu-ray [Bond 50 Collection] at UK Amazon
2012 MGM R2 DVD [22 Film Collection] at UK Amazon
2008 MGM R2 DVD
2007 20th Century Fox R2 DVD
2006 Sony R2 DVD
2012 20th Century Fox RA Blu-ray at US Amazon
2012 MGM Bond 50 Collection RA Blu-ray at US Amazon
2007 20th Century Fox R1 DVD at US Amazon
The BBFC commented:
The film was originally viewed by the BBFC in an incomplete form, with the music score unfinished and the opening and closing credits missing.
During this advice screening, the BBFC requested that a heavy crotch kick and a double neck chop, both given by Bond, be removed from the film to get a PG rating. These cuts occur during the fight in the hidden room under Zoran's stable. If you watch the scene closely, or even frame by frame, the scene is somewhat sloppy in a couple of places. When the film was edited, the pre-cut version was submitted for a formal rating.
During this stage of classification, the Board asked for an alteration to the opening titles on a shot of an almost nude woman. Its hard to speculate which woman this refers to, but viewing the titles it seems likely that it could be the woman seen through a scope near the beginning, who becomes defocused and blurry whenever she turns the front of body towards the camera, or the mirrored image of the dancing women at the end as Michael Wilson's name appears. She too, goes out of focus on a profile shot where her nipples almost become clearly visible.
With this last change made, the PG rating was awarded.
The Living Daylights is a 1987 UK James Bond action film by John Glen.
With Timothy Dalton, Maryam d'Abo and Jeroen Krabbé.
All releases have been uncut
uncut
125:16s UK: Passed PG uncut for:
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films Premium Edition RB Blu-ray UK Amazon
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films R2 DVD at UK Amazon
2012 20th Century Fox R2 DVD at UK Amazon
2012 MGM RB Blu-ray [Bond 50 Collection] at UK Amazon
2012 MGM R2 DVD [22 Film Collection] at UK Amazon
2008 MGM R2 DVD
2007 20th Century Fox R2 DVD
2006 MGM R2 DVD
Licence to Kill is a 1989 UK James Bond film by John Glen .
With Timothy Dalton and Carey Lowell.
Heavily cut by the BBFC for cinema and VHS. The less cut US Theatrical Version released in 2000. Uncut since 2006
See the full story of censor cuts to Licence to Kill in the article Licensed to Censor by Gavin Salkeld
uncut
2015 20th Century Fox RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films Premium Edition RB Blu-ray UK Amazon
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films R2 DVD at UK Amazon
2012 20th Century Fox R2 DVD at UK Amazon
2012 MGM RB Blu-ray [Bond 50 Collection] at UK Amazon
2012 MGM R2 DVD [22 Film Collection] at UK Amazon
2012 MGM Online
2007 MGM Bond Re-mastered R2 DVD
2006 MGM Ultimate Edition R2 DVD
The 2006 Ultimate Edition includes all the previously cut MPAA and BBFC footage, making it the first totally uncut DVD release in the world.
US: Uncut and MPAA PG-13 rated for:
2012 MGM Bond 50 Collection RA Blu-ray at US Amazon
2007 MGM R1 DVD at US Amazon
cut
127:23s UK: The cut US Theatrical Version was passed 15 with previous BBFC cuts waived for:
2000 MGM R2 DVD
The film had problems with the MPAA, who requested edits for PG-13 to:
the shark tank scene,
Dario's death in the rock crusher
Sanchez's burning to death
These cuts were nowhere near as extensive as the BBFCs, however.
cut
126:50s UK: The UK Theatrical Version was passed 15 after BBFC cuts for:
1994 Warner VHS
Reel 1: the whipping of the woman [Lupe]
Reel 2: the man [Felix] lowered into the shark tank
Reel 8: remove sight of impact sounds into woman's heart [when Loti, the HK Narcotics agent, is shot in the breasts]
Reel 10: the man [Krest] whose head explodes in the pressure chamber
Reel 11: the man [Dario] crushed in the grinder
Reel 12: after Bond has set light to Sanchez, remove two shots of his body in flames
The sound must be reduced at the following times:
Reel 1: punch to man's lower body [Lupe's lover in the opening scene]
Reel 2: blow to man's head with rifle butt [Sanchez's van escape];
Reel 2: blow to back of Felix's head during attack in bedroom;
Reel 2: at end of reel, reduce sound of Felix screaming as he is attacked by shark
Reel 3: heavy blow to guard by James Bond in crate of worms
Reel 5: heavy kick to frogman underwater [seen in close-up];
Reel 5: reduce sound of heavy blows and kicks in bar room fight
Reel 8: blow to head with rifle butt [this happens when the ninja overcome Bond]
Reel 11: heavy blows in driving-cab of big truck [given by Bond to the driver]
GoldenEye is a 1995 UK/US James Bond action film by Martin Campbell
With Pierce Brosnan and Sean Bean.
Cut for the International Version and further cut by the BBFC for cinema release, VHS and DVDs until 2003. The BBFC home video cuts have been waived since 2006. The International Version in the best available and is now the current version in the US and UK.
Summary Notes
James Bond teams up with the lone survivor of a destroyed Russian research center to stop the hijacking of a nuclear space weapon by a fellow agent believed to be dead.
International
best
available
124:37s UK: The Ultimate Edition/International Version was passed 15 for strong violence with the previo2001 UK Specific cuts waived for
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films Premium Edition RB Blu-ray UK Amazon
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films R2 DVD at UK Amazon
2013 20th Century Fox RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon
2012 MGM RB Blu-ray [Bond 50 Collection] at UK Amazon
2012 MGM R2 DVD [22 Film Collection] at UK Amazon
2008 MGM R2 DVD at UK Amazon
2007 20th Century Fox R2 DVD
2006 MGM R2 DVD
2013 20th Century Fox RA Blu-ray at US Amazon
2012 MGM [Bond 50 Collection] RA Blu-ray at US Amazon
2007 MGM R1 DVD at US Amazon
See the full story of censor cuts to GoldenEye in the article Rough Treatment by Gavin Salkeld
Note from nuts4R2, April 2014:
My Blu-ray ultimate set still seems to have a severely truncated helicopter fight/death scene.
UK specific cuts
Version
cuts
124:04s UK: The International version without the UK specific cuts was submitted, but the BBFC asked for the UK specific 13s of cuts to be re-applied for:
2003 MGM Special Edition DVD
2001 MGM R2 DVD
The BBFC commented:
Company was asked to make seven compulsory cuts to scenes of violence as per the previously released 1996 12-rated version
The other cuts were applied slightly differently and more noticeably for
A head butt was cut at Xenia's "wait your turn" line to Natalya
Five Alex Trevelyan head butts against Bond were deleted during the antenna room cradle fight. One return headbutt by Bond was also deleted.
Thanks to Joel:
Box set DVD extras include a documentary looking at this history of Bond. When it came to an interview with Famke Janssen about her character Xenia, one of the scenes shown was this exact same scene in it's UNCUT format.
UK specific cuts
Version
cuts
124:04s UK: A Pre-cut version was passed 12 after BBFC and MPAA advised cuts were implemented prior to submission for:
1996 Warner VHS
1995 cinema release
See the full story of censor cuts to GoldenEye in the article Rough Treatment by Gavin Salkeld:
International Version Cuts
The rough cut was shown to the BBFC and MPAA. This resulted in a set of International version cuts that were common to the concerns of both censors. These cuts have become common to all releases of GoldenEye and look unlikely to ever be reversed. The cuts were:
During the pre-credit sequence, when 006 is shot, originally one clearly saw the impact to the head, but this has now been deleted
The sex scene with Xenia making out with the admiral and eventually suffocating him has been much reduced.
Bond's rabbit punch on Xenia during a car ride was moved offscreen
The Severnaya hijack sequence was also cut with numerous shots removed of the workers being gunned down by Xenia.
Furthermore, Xenia's death was also toned down; originally her body was seen writhing against the tree for longer, before her back breaks with a crack and she slumps dead. The slump, sans sound effect, is all that remains.
When Trevelyan turns over after falling from the dish, the shot showing his bloodied face and a trickle of blood running oozing from his mouth was shortened.
UK Specific Cuts
In addition to the International Version cuts, additional cuts were made that were specific to the UK release
Towards the end of the film, as Xenia attempts to crush Bond, her headbutt to Natalya was removed when the latter tried to free Bond. In fact, the entire episode of Natalya swinging a log at Xenia, Xenia grabbing it and telling Natalya to Wait for your turn before headbutting her was removed.
All head butts were removed from the climatic Bond vs Trevelyan fight around the antenna room and cradle. This included attempted head butts that failed to hit their target. In addition, the contact sound effects throughout the fight were toned down.
Tomorrow Never Dies is a 1997 UK/US James Bond action film by Roger Spottiswoode.
With Pierce Brosnan, Jonathan Pryce and Michelle Yeoh.
Some cuts were made by the MPAA for theatrical release. More cut by the BBFC for a 12 rated cinema release. The BBFC made further cuts for 12 rated VHS and 2001. The BBFC cuts were dropped for the 15 rated 2002 DVD but original US cuts still apply. This is the International Version and is the best available. The Inernational Version was rated 12 by the BBFC in 2012.
See the full story of censor cuts to Tomorrow Never Dies in the article Tomorrow Never Dies...It Just Gets a Little Shorter by Gavin Salkeld
cut
best
available
114:18s UK: The International Version was passed 12 without BBFC cuts for frequent moderate action violence:
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films Premium Edition RB Blu-ray UK Amazon
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films R2 DVD at UK Amazon
2002 MGM Special Edition R1 DVD at US Amazon
The International Version includes some cuts made at the rough cut stage to secure an MPAA PG-13 rating. It was substantially less cut than the UK cinema release and has now become the definitive version.
6s
cut
114:02s UK: The International Version was passed 12 after a further 6s of BBFC video cuts
2001 MGM R2 DVD
1998 Warner VHS
The BBFC commented on their video cuts:
Tomorrow Never Dies followed the pattern of the recent Bonds of being slightly too violent for its intended audience. When it opened in the cinema, the Board considered that, on grounds of violence, the film had just scraped through as a 12, yet to our surprise, the British public, for all their reported concern about screen violence, lapped it up, content to treat James Bond as fantasy violence. The producers were alerted to the probability that, if 12 were to remain the target category on video, the film might need further cuts in violence, since the Video Recordings Act laid down the need to assess the likelihood of underage viewing, which in this case was a virtual certainty.
The additional BBFC video cuts were:
Cuts to scene where Michelle Yeoh dispatches one of the bad guys by means of a throwing star.
Removed scene of Michelle Yeoh taking throwing star from a hidden compartment in her shoe
Cuts to scene where Bond stamps on a man's face
cut
119:08s
=114:22s UK: Passed 12 after BBFC suggested cuts at the rough cut stage were implemented for:
1997 cinema release
There have been sound cuts throughout the video.
Reduced impact sounds in fight at Carver's (Jonathon Price's) studio party
Bond gets hit by a baseball bat twice instead of four times
Reduced impact sounds in Chakra torture scene
Reduced impact sounds in fight in bike shop
Reduced impact sounds of Wai Lin's (Michelle Yeoh's) kung-fu kicks
Reduced sound of man being scalded by steam
Reduced sound of Carver being hit by an engine and then his death scream
Reduced impact sounds of Bond's (Pierce Brosnan's) climatic fight scene
Casino Royale is a 2006 US/UK/Czech/Germany/Bahamas spy film by Martin Campbell.
With Daniel Craig, Eva Green and Judi Dench.
Originally cut according to BBFC for a 12 rating. The uncut version was later released on Blu-ray with a 15 rating
Summary Notes
James Bond goes on his first ever mission as a 00. Le Chiffre is a banker to the world's terrorists. He is participating in a poker game at Montenegro, where he must win back his money, in order to stay safe among the terrorist market. The boss of MI6, known simply as M sends Bond, along with Vesper Lynd to attend this game and prevent Le Chiffre from winning. Bond, using help from Felix Leiter, Mathis and having Vesper pose as his wife, enters the most important poker game in his already dangerous career. But if Bond defeats Le Chiffre, will he and Vesper Lynd remain safe?
Cutting Edge
2012 MGM R0 Blu-ray at UK Amazon
The BBFC noted:
Additional material in torture scene
The BBFC later commented that not all the cut material was restored. Some material seen during the rough cut stage did not make the final cut, but the UK 15 rated release is now the same as the uncut version already released is Scandinavia, Netherlands, Japan and Australia.
US: Uncut for VoD streaming at Vudu (thanks to Neil)
advised
138:22s UK: Passed 12A/12 after BBFC advised category cuts were implemented for:
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films R2 DVD at UK Amazon
2013 Sony [Daniel Craig Triple Pack] R2 DVD
2012 MGM [22 Film Collection] R2 DVD
2007 Sony R0 Blu-ray
101:49s UK: Passed 12A/12 after a BBFC suggested cut was implemented for:
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films Premium Edition RB Blu-ray UK Amazon
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films R2 DVD at UK Amazon
2013 Sony [Daniel Craig Triple Pack] RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon
2013 Sony [Daniel Craig Triple Pack] R2 DVD
2012 MGM [Bond 50 Collection] RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon
2012 MGM [22 Film Collection] R2 DVD at UK Amazon
2009 20th Century Fox RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon
2009 20th century Fox R2 DVD
2008 cinema release
The BBFC commented:
The film was originally seen by the BBFC in an unfinished version, for advice as to the film's suitability at '12A'. The BBFC advised the company that the film would most likely receive a '12A' as it was, but that care should be taken when finishing the film not to increase the intensity of certain scenes.
When the completed version of the film was submitted for classification, reductions to one of those scenes had been made and the film was passed '12A' without cuts.
The film including the BBFC cuts became the International Version used for all worldwide releases.
US: The International Version is MPAA PG-13 rated for:
2012 MGM Bond 50 Collection RA Blu-ray at US Amazon
137:13s UK: Passed 12A uncut for moderate action violence and one use of strong language for:
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films Premium Edition RB Blu-ray UK Amazon
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon
2015 20th Century Fox 23 Films R2 DVD at UK Amazon
2013 MGM R2 DVD at UK Amazon
2013 Sony [Daniel Craig Triple Pack] RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon
2013 Sony [Daniel Craig Triple Pack] R2 DVD
2012 cinema release
The BBFC noted in its Annual Report:
For the first time in the history of Bond films, Skyfall contained a single use of strong language. This is softly spoken by the character M, played by Dame Judi Dench. As noted in its 2008 Annual Report, the BBFC can receive complaints when Judi Dench swears in films, but in the case of Skyfall it appears many of the audience were not so concerned.
US: MPAA PG-13 rated for intense violent sequences throughout, some sexuality, language and smoking for:
| i don't know |
Which James Bond Theme was the first to be nominated for an academy award for best original song? | Adele to perform 'Skyfall' theme at Academy Awards - CNN.com
Adele to perform 'Skyfall' theme at Academy Awards
By Anthony Breznican, EW
Updated 9:33 AM ET, Wed January 23, 2013
Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds.
Adele, seen here on the red carpet at last year's Grammy Awards, is set to perform at the Oscars.
Story highlights
Adele's Bond theme appears to be the front runner for an original song Oscar
Producers have confirmed that she will perform
Oscars ceremony will feature a special Bond tribute
It's always a question: Will the Academy Awards telecast feature performances of the Original Song nominees?
Sometimes the answer is no, but this time ... it's looking like a yes.
Producers have indicated the frontrunner in that category, Adele's massively popular theme to the James Bond thriller Skyfall, will be performed live during the Feb. 24 ceremony.
While the other nominees weren't mentioned in the announcement, it's unlikely one nominee will be allowed to perform unless the other contenders are welcome too — especially since one of them is written by Oscar host Seth MacFarlane and another could be performed by Hugh Jackman.
Academy Awards producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron confirmed Adele's participation this morning: "She is currently one of the most successful recording artists in the world, and we believe that her performance of Skyfall will be an exciting Oscar moment for audiences watching at the Dolby Theatre and on television screens around the world."
JUST WATCHED
EW special coverage: Oscars 2013
The song is the first 007 theme to be nominated for an Oscar since 1981′s For Your Eyes Only. Previous Bond movies to have song nominees are 1977′s The Spy Who Loved Me and 1973′s Live and Let Die, although none has ever won.
This ceremony will feature a special tribute to James Bond , as part of the super-spy film series' 50th anniversary, and Skyfall also has four other nominations: cinematography, score, sound editing, and sound mixing.
The Oscars will mark the first time Adele, who co-wrote the Skyfall theme with collaborator Paul Epworth, has ever performed the song live.
"It's an honour to be nominated and terrifyingly wonderful to be singing in front of people who have captured my imagination over and over again," Adele said in a statement. "It's something I've never experienced and probably only ever will once!"
Although MacFarlane is nominated as one of the co-writers of Everybody Needs a Friend from Ted, it was performed by Norah Jones — another potential draw for audiences. And Suddenly, the new song added to the musical Les Miserables, was performed by Jackman, who has a Best Actor nomination for the role, as well as a history of turning up on the Academy Awards stage .
| Live and Let Die |
How many James Bond Themes did Dame Shirley Bassey Perform? | James Bond at the Oscars: The Long, Shared History Behind the Academy's Tribute to 007 | Moviefone
James Bond at the Oscars: The Long, Shared History Behind the Academy's Tribute to 007
by Moviefone Staff
It's not clear yet what form the Oscars ' tribute to the James Bond franchise will take. On Friday, the Academy announced it had booked Shirley Bassey for her first-ever Oscar show appearance, so at the very least, we're likely get to hear her belt out one or more of the three Bond movie theme songs she recorded ("Moonraker," "Diamonds Are Forever" and of course, "Goldfinger"). We also know Adele will be on hand to sing her currently nominated theme to "Skyfall."
Beyond that, Oscar host Seth MacFarlane has made a promo clip where he plays a bartender who makes fun of James Bond (Pierce Brosnan, in an archival clip) for the distinctive way he orders his martini. Otherwise, there are few clues as to what shape the tribute will take, though there is a rumor that all six men who've played 007 -- Daniel Craig, Brosnan, Timothy Dalton, Roger Moore, George Lazenby and the now-reclusive Sean Connery -- will make an appearance.
At any rate, it's a good time for Oscar to pay homage to 007. Not only did 2012 mark the franchise's 50th anniversary, but "Skyfall" is also the most nominated Bond film ever, up for five prizes at the Feb. 24 ceremony. Still, just because Bond went in an artier direction with "Skyfall" (from its Oscar-pedigreed director, "American Beauty" alum Sam Mendes) doesn't mean that the Academy and the 007 movies don't have a long, shared history. In fact, the two dozen Bond films have been nominated for 14 Academy Awards over the past half century and have won twice.
The nominations began to roll in as early as the third Bond film, 1964's "Goldfinger" (the movie that most longtime 007 fans would agree was the first to get the formula just right). That film earned an Oscar for Best Sound Effects for Norman Wanstall, who worked on the first five Bond movies. The following year, "Thunderball," with its flying jet pack and underwater sequences, won an Oscar for Best Special Visual Effects for John Stears.
In 1971, "Diamonds Are Forever" earned an Oscar nomination for Best Sound for the team of Gordon K. McCallum, John W. Mitchell and Al Overton. "Diamonds" lost to the musical "Fiddler on the Roof," but McCallum won anyway, as he had worked on the "Fiddler" sound team as well. Mitchell, who worked on several Bond movies, was nominated again 13 years later for David Lean's "A Passage to India." For Overton, "Diamonds" represented his sole Bond film and his only Oscar nomination.
For 1973's "Live and Let Die," the smash theme song, composed by Paul and Linda McCartney, earned a Best Song nomination, but it lost to Marvin Hamlisch's "The Way We Were." A few years later, the 007 producers were smart enough to hire Hamlisch and Carole Bayer Sager to compose "Nobody Does It Better," the theme from 1977's "The Spy Who Loved Me." They also hired Hamlisch to compose the film's instrumental score. Hamlisch's song and score were both nominated, but they lost to the theme from "You Light Up My Life" and John Williams' epic "Star Wars" score, respectively.
"Spy" earned a third nomination for Art Decoration/Set Decoration, but it also lost that category to "Star Wars." One of the "Spy" nominees was Ken Adam, the influential art director who had been with the Bond franchise from the beginning. He was renowned for having created on a tight budget the elaborate sets like the villain's lair in "Dr. No" (the first 007 movie, from 1962), thus drawing the blueprint for the franchise's look for decades to come.
With its extensive outer-space sequences, 1979's "Moonraker" earned a Best Visual Effects nomination for the team of Derek Meddings, Paul Wilson, and John Evans, all of them veterans of several 007 films. That was a tough year, however, with three other space/sci-fi pics in the category: "The Black Hole," "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," and "Alien," which won the prize.
"For Your Eyes Only," released in 1981, earned a Best Song nomination for composers Bill Conti and Michael Leeson but lost to the theme from "Arthur." Conti, who is best known for composing "Gonna Fly Now" (the nominated theme from "Rocky"), won an Oscar two years later for scoring "The Right Stuff." He also spent several years conducting the pit orchestra at the Academy Awards ceremony, where it was his job to play long-winded speechmakers off the stage.
In the three decades since "For Your Eyes Only," the Bond franchise has suffered an Oscar drought until this year's "Skyfall" windfall. Among the nominees are some Oscar bridesmaids who are long overdue for their first win. "Skyfall" marks the tenth nomination for Best Cinematography for Roger Deakins, who has never won. He's best known for his painterly work on Joel and Ethan Coen's films; five of his Coen brothers projects, from "Fargo" (1996) to "True Grit" (2010) have earned him nominations. "Skyfall" composer Thomas Newman, best known for his "American Beauty" score, is hoping for his first win out of 11 nominations to date. Sound Mixing nominee Greg P. Russell, who shares his "Skyfall" nod with Scott Milian and Stuart Wilson, was 0 for 15 before this year. (Wilson has never won either, but "Skyfall" is only his second nomination. Milian has earned four Oscars; this is his eighth nomination.)
"Skyfall" has a nomination for Best Sound Editing for Per Halberg and Karen M. Baker. Halberg has been nominated four times and has won twice, for "Braveheart" and "The Bourne Ultimatum," an Oscar shared with Baker.
Of course, "Skyfall"'s best shot at an Academy Award is Best Original Song, for the theme composed by Adele and Paul Epworth, both first-time nominees. It's only been a year since Adele walked away from the Grammy stage with an armful of trophies, and she's still soaring on awards momentum from that event, so she's the frontrunner in the category.
Will Adele (or any of her fellow "Skyfall" nominees") become the first 007 Oscar winner in 47 years? Will the six James Bond stars form a kickline? No one knows, but one thing is certain: James Bond knows how to rock a tuxedo, so he'll look right at home on the Oscar stage.
| i don't know |
With the Exception of the reccuring featured cast who has appeared in the most James Bond films? | Shane Rimmer — The Movie Database (TMDb)
Read More
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Shane Rimmer (born 1932) is a Canadian actor and voice actor, probably best known as the voice of Scott Tracy in Thunderbirds.
He has mostly performed in supporting roles, frequently in films and television series filmed in the United Kingdom, having relocated to England in the late 1950s. His appearances include roles in such widely-known films as Dr. Strangelove (1964), Rollerball (1975), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Gandhi (1982), Out of Africa (1985) and Crusoe (1989). More recently he has appeared in Spy Game (2001), and Batman Begins (2005). In the earlier years of his career, there were several uncredited performances, among others for films such as You Only Live Twice (1967), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Star Wars (1977) and Superman II (1980). With the exception of recurring featured cast members he has appeared in more James Bond films than any other actor.
Rimmer has a long association with Gerry Anderson. Thunderbirds fans may recognize him as the voice actor behind the character Scott Tracy. He drafted the plotline for the penultimate episode, "Ricochet", which was later turned into a script by Tony Barwick. He also wrote scripts and provided uncredited voices for Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, Joe 90 and The Secret Service, has made appearances in episodes of Anderson's live-action UFO and The Protectors, has and provided voices for Space: 1999 and has guest-starred in the episode "Space Brain". In later years he starred in the unscreened pilot Space Police (later made into a series with other actors and titled Space Precinct) and provided the voice for Anderson's stop-motion gumshoe Dick Spanner, P.I..
Rimmer and fellow Anderson actor Ed Bishop often joked about how often their professional paths crossed and termed themselves "Rent-a-Yanks". They appeared together as NASA operatives in the opening of You Only Live Twice and as USN sailors in The Bedford Incident as well as touring together in live stage shows, including "Death of a Salesman" in the 1990s. He also appeared in Doctor Who in 1966, and in Coronation Street as two different characters: Joe Donnelli (1968–1970), who held Stan Ogden hostage in No. 5 before committing suicide, and Malcolm Reid (1988), father of Audrey Roberts' son Stephen.
He has made many guest appearances in British television series for ITV, including in Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected, and ITC's The Persuaders!. In 1989 Rimmer was reunited with former Gerry Anderson actors Ed Bishop and Matt Zimmerman in the BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's A Study In Scarlet. Rimmer and Bishop also appeared in the BBC drama-documentary Hiroshima completed not long after Bishop's death in 2005. Note: His official website and travel record on the Immigration & Travel section of Ancestry give his year of birth as 1929.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Shane Rimmer, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
| Shane Rimmer |
How many Bond Films did Joe Don Baker appear in? | Shane Rimmer | Cinegurú
Shane Rimmer
None 0 años
Biografía
Shane Rimmer (born 1932) is a Canadian actor and voice actor, probably best known as the voice of Scott Tracy in Thunderbirds.
He has mostly performed in supporting roles, frequently in films and television series filmed in the United Kingdom, having relocated to England in the late 1950s. His appearances include roles in such widely-known films as Dr. Strangelove (1964), Rollerball (1975), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Gandhi (1982), Out of Africa (1985) and Crusoe (1989). More recently he has appeared in Spy Game (2001), and Batman Begins (2005). In the earlier years of his career, there were several uncredited performances, among others for films such as You Only Live Twice (1967), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Star Wars (1977) and Superman II (1980). With the exception of recurring featured cast members he has appeared in more James Bond films than any other actor.
Rimmer has a long association with Gerry Anderson. Thunderbirds fans may recognize him as the voice actor behind the character Scott Tracy. He drafted the plotline for the penultimate episode, "Ricochet", which was later turned into a script by Tony Barwick. He also wrote scripts and provided uncredited voices for Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, Joe 90 and The Secret Service, has made appearances in episodes of Anderson's live-action UFO and The Protectors, has and provided voices for Space: 1999 and has guest-starred in the episode "Space Brain". In later years he starred in the unscreened pilot Space Police (later made into a series with other actors and titled Space Precinct) and provided the voice for Anderson's stop-motion gumshoe Dick Spanner, P.I..
Rimmer and fellow Anderson actor Ed Bishop often joked about how often their professional paths crossed and termed themselves "Rent-a-Yanks". They appeared together as NASA operatives in the opening of You Only Live Twice and as USN sailors in The Bedford Incident as well as touring together in live stage shows, including "Death of a Salesman" in the 1990s. He also appeared in Doctor Who in 1966, and in Coronation Street as two different characters: Joe Donnelli (1968–1970), who held Stan Ogden hostage in No. 5 before committing suicide, and Malcolm Reid (1988), father of Audrey Roberts' son Stephen.
He has made many guest appearances in British television series for ITV, including in Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected, and ITC's The Persuaders!. In 1989 Rimmer was reunited with former Gerry Anderson actors Ed Bishop and Matt Zimmerman in the BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's A Study In Scarlet. Rimmer and Bishop also appeared in the BBC drama-documentary Hiroshima completed not long after Bishop's death in 2005. Note: His official website and travel record on the Immigration & Travel section of Ancestry give his year of birth as 1929.
Description above from the article Shane Rimmer, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on .
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How many actors in the James Bond Films have played both a good guy and a Bad Guy? | 10 The actors who have played James Bond
10 The actors who have played James Bond
Description
This article is from the James Bond FAQ , by Michael Reed [email protected] with numerous contributions by others.
10 The actors who have played James Bond
A few talented men have gotten to portray James Bond. We start with the EON
five, and then the others as well. Note that Roger Moore is older than Sean
Connery.
A - Sean Connery, born August 25, 1930. Played Bond from 1962-1967, 1971,
1983.
A Scot with minimal credits to his name in 1962, he was handpicked by
Broccoli and Saltzman to star in the first Bond motion picture. There is
less dialogue for Connery than in future turns, and his name was not
marketed particularly heavily in the release of either of the first two
films. But Connery proved to be the perfect person to assimilate Fleming's
cold warrior on screen. He was tough yet suave, strong yet smooth, and able
to appeal to both ticket buying genders.
By the time of his fifth outing, "You Only Live Twice", the marketing
machine said he "IS James Bond". While true in the public's mind, Connery
tired of the constant pressure of the role and the potential to suffocate
any other projects he wanted to be involved in. He left after 1967 and
declined to appear in the sixth release. After a lackluster box office
performance, EON prodded and finally got their star back for the seventh
outing, "Diamonds Are Forever". Then Connery left once more, stating he
would "never again" portray the superspy that he had made a phenomenon. But
he did come back for a reprise, in 1983's "Never Say Never Again". For the
story on that film, see Brief #1, Section #10, E "Thunderball / Never Say
Never Again".
Connery has said in interviews that he is proudest of "From Russia With
Love". However, he made a severe and nasty break from the Broccoli clan and
any thought of him returning to the EON series in any capacity is a pipe
dream. Connery won an Academy Award for his supporting role in 1987's "The
Untouchables". He is still an A-list box office draw to date and is also
staunch in his support of his native Scotland. While he did not look like
Ian Fleming's written character on the surface, he was impressive enough to
earn the ultimate praise. Fleming himself had his character assume some of
Connery's roots in "You Only Live Twice". He told IMBD.com in 2002 that
there is no chance of him returning to EON's series, particularly not as a
villain. "Absolutely no way - I could never be an enemy of James Bond."
B - George Lazenby, born September 5, 1939. Played Bond in 1969.
The only Bond star to make a solitary film appearance, George Lazenby won
the role after a worldwide search. He was actually an Australian wrestler,
car salesman and model who excelled in physical presence and impressed the
producers. But he was not prepared for the glimmer of fame and fortune that
came with the part.
He was cast in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", one of Fleming's most
detailed and harrowing novels. It required more characterization than the
typical Bond fare and Lazenby faced an uphill battle to achieve it. Director
Peter Hunt ignored him at one point, though it was an unwitting mistake.
During filming of some emotional scenes, Hunt wanted his star to relate to
the isolation Bond would be feeling so he left him alone. Lazenby did not
take this as direction or method of acting, but rather a lack of respect by
the director. He complained publicly and friction grew between the men,
which was duly noted by the press.
He also had trouble with female lead Diana Rigg. The most famous example of
tension between them, however, is actually a myth. Before a kissing scene,
Rigg was heard telling Lazenby at lunch that she was having "garlic with
[her] pate." She meant it to be humorous but it was easily taken
out-of-context given Lazenby's tenuous relationship with Hunt and EON. While
in later years he did complain about Rigg's ego, the Bond actor never
validated this story.
What did him in, in the end, was as much box-office failure as his own
immaturity. The fans were being exposed to a new leading actor who had
burned bridges with Broccoli and Saltzman before the film was in release. It
would have been a hard sell following Connery in the best of circumstances.
With EON trying its best to hide his face in the nominal promotion they did
for the film, not to mention the script's deviation from the usual Bond
formula, Lazenby was ill fated. Critics and fans at the time were quick to
place the blame squarely on the actor and EON was quick to publicly agree
with that assessment. They seemed to disregard the film for years afterward.
His own career was spotty at best after his big break. Lazenby appeared in
"The Kentucky Fried Movie" and spoofed the Bond image in, among other
things, the TV movie "Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E. " and the CD-ROM
game, "Spy Hunt". In time, many Bond fans would come to regard "On Her
Majesty's Secret Service" as a high point in the series.
C - Roger Moore, born October 14, 1927. Played Bond from 1973-1985.
Already an established personality via television's "The Saint" and "The
Persuaders", Roger Moore stepped into the role at a time when the series was
facing a crisis. Connery had left for a second time, after a successful
commercial entry. EON knew that they had to avoid the difficult sequence of
events when Lazenby was hired. So for the first time they did not look at
unknown actors and hired Moore, who had been approached for the role earlier
in his career. Evidence suggests that he was an initial consideration for
the first Bond film. It is endlessly speculative to suggest what would have
happened had he landed the role.
Be that as it may, he instead saw Sean Connery become a household figure and
wanted no part of replacing him in 1969. But after 1971 he was willing to
give it a go.
It is odd that so many things in his debut, 1973's "Live And Let Die", stood
in stark contrast to the previous entries in the series. It featured a new
composer for the first time in ten years and the first rock 'n' roll theme
song. Combined with focusing on Moore as an attractive leading man, EON
seemed to market Bond as a youthful icon. While kids from ten years before
had loved Connery, it cannot be said that the films were aimed at that
teenaged audience. Yet it was clear that demographic was of utmost
importance by the 1970's.
Moore came into his own with his third entry, "The Spy Who Loved Me". He
would start squawking about retirement as early as 1979. He meant it firmly
in 1983 but still cam back for a final swan song in 1985. By then no one
could hide from three obvious conclusions. First, that Moore had aged so
much as to be unbelievable in the role. Two, that his lighthearted approach
had made Bond accessible to a large audience but had made him closer to a
comic book hero than a serious role. And three, that despite both of the
previous points, Moore cast a large shadow that EON would have a tough time
trying to fill.
D - Timothy Dalton, born March 21, 1946. Played Bond on screen in
1987-1989, and stayed with the role publicly until 1994.
Timothy Dalton earned the role of Bond only after Pierce Brosnan was
prevented from taking the reins from Moore due to a contract conflict with
the NBC television show "Remington Steele". It was Dalton's second time
approaching the role. He wanted no part of it in 1971, saying in a 1987
interview on "Good Morning America" (and elsewhere) that he turned it down
because he was "too young" for it and because of the imposing legacy of
Connery.
His first outing was "The Living Daylights". The script, originally written
with Moore's character in mind and tweaked slightly for what would have been
Brosnan's approach, was adjusted noticeably for Dalton. The film was a bit
more serious in tone and viewers could not help but compare Dalton's
physicality and attempt to restructure the character in comparison to Moore,
19 years his senior. The next film, "Licence To Kill", was written for
Dalton's strengths as an actor.
He had indeed read the Fleming novels, and wanted to use them as a backdrop
for his interpretation of Bond. The film enjoyed huge popularity across the
world - except in the USA. The MGM/UA advertising campaign, easily the
weakest for a Bond film, was a result of the studio wrestling with huge
legal and financial troubles and helped doom the film in the midst of a very
competitive box office season.
Nonetheless, plans proceeded for Bond 17 with Timothy Dalton still signed on
for that film and at least one more. But a series of events cropped up that
estranged EON from its studio, the most notable being the selling of
television rights of the EON series.
When at last these issues were resolved and work resumed on Bond 17
(eventually known as "GoldenEye"), Dalton surprised many by announcing he
would NOT return as Bond. The public, he said, had associated him with the
role for eight years, and that was long enough for him. He was eager to move
on to new challenges. He left the 007 family in the spring of 1994.
Cubby Broccoli and his daughter Barbara stated many times that they were
disappointed to lose Dalton. The official account endorsed by Dalton, EON,
and MGM/UA, is that Dalton left the series of his own accord. Dalton remains
a friend of the Broccoli family and spoke kindly of Cubby when he died.
There is credible evidence to suggest that by 1994 the powers that be inside
MGM/UA made it clear that they would not support a new Bond film starring
Dalton but as of yet the smoking gun has yet to uncovered for ballistic
testing.
E - Pierce Brosnan, born May 16, 1953. Began in 1995, and is the current
star of the franchise.
In the end, it was a great thing that Pierce Brosnan had to wait to secure
the role of the world's most famous secret agent. By the time he was
introduced, Brosnan looked the part and was truly hungry to succeed. By
replacing Dalton instead of Moore, he was able to avoid either following
Moore's lighthearted lead or be compared in reaction to it.
Dalton pleased hardcore Fleming fans with his darker, more realistic
portrayal of Bond. But the fans of Moore's approach were never as smitten
with him. Brosnan has proven to surprise both camps. He has played Bond
straight but with verve. And Brosnan has that X factor. He has embodied the
same charisma that Connery had once brought into the role. He has made Bond
"cool" to the masses once again. He has been able to handle the publicity
and the expectations with panache. Best of all, he has won over the majority
of critics and fans alike.
Brosnan has indicated he is interested in doing a fifth, and final, turn as
James Bond, following the 2002 release of "Die Another Day". As of now, EON
is NOT SEEKING A NEW BOND. Any speculation at this time is not only
premature, but also wholly false.
F - Barry Nelson, born April 16, 1920. Played Bond in 1954.
American born Nelson was the first actor to portray James Bond. In was not,
however, a theatrical release. Instead in was on episodic television. See
Brief #2, Section #10, A "Casino Royale - the television episode"
G - David Niven, born March 1, 1910. Played Bond in 1967.
A film star from features like "The Guns Of Navarone", "Bonjour Tristesse"
and "The Pink Panther", David Niven was cast in the Bond spoof "Casino
Royale". For details about it, go to Brief #2, Section #10, B "Casino
Royale - the movie". The Scot actor, who usually answered to English when
abroad, died in 1983 of ALS (Lou Gherig's Disease).
| 3 |
Name the BBC sequel to Till Death Us Do Part. | Six James Bond Actors Ranked Best To Worst « 100.3 Jack FM – Dallas, TX
Six James Bond Actors Ranked Best To Worst
August 4, 2012 8:47 PM
Filed Under: 007 , 100.3 FM , 100.3 Jack FM , 100.3 jack fm dallas , 100.3 jackfm , 100.3jackfm , Daniel Craig , Entertainment , Entertainment News , george lazenby , Jack FM , jack fm 100.3 , jack fm dallas tx , JackFM , jackontheweb , James Bond , kjkk 100.3 jack fm dallas tx , kjkk dallas , Movies , News , Pierce Brosnan , roger moore , Sean Connery , skyfall , timothy dalton
Ethan Miller/Getty Images
With the recent release of the new Bond flick, Skyfall, coming to theaters in October, it is only proper to bring out the best debate that there is, none other than to rank the actors who play the legendary 007! Not only will there be the rankings from best to worst, but YOU will be able to bring your opinion to the forefront with our poll to see what our fans think the list should be!
Now begins the ranking from six all the way to number one!
6. George Lazenby
Archive Photos/Getty Images
Now, no offense George, your portrayal of Bond in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service was above average and that movie is one of the best Bond films, but when you have actors like Sean Connery and Roger Moore doing their best Bond acting ways, you kind of get put in the backseat. That movie was brilliant because of the villians and also who can’t forget Diana Rigg playing the Bond girl, or in this case, Bond WOMAN! Sorry George, but you are number six in our list!
5. Pierce Brosnan
Anwar Hussein/Getty Images
Don’t get me wrong, Goldeneye, was the film that put Bond back on the map, but, Brosnan was a little too materialistic for the legendary character. I mean, it was the late 90’s and all movies seemed to have some sort of plots involving cyber-warfare or some kind of problems with the Middle East, and that can get a little boring as well. He just seemed almost too perfect for being Bond, he just looked bored sometimes. I think if he was acting in today’s Bond films, he might be considered a little better but his last two Bond films were just terrible.
4. Roger Moore
Keystone/Getty Images
Roger Moore, the man who replaced Connery. That pretty much killed any shot of being in the top three. Anyone who goes after a legend just seems to get the cold shoulder and that is just not fair. Unfortunately, this ranking does not care about feelings and Moore gets the fourth spot. He transformed Bond into a smoother character, unlike Connery, where he was more in your face and aggressive. I will give Moore the upper hand when it comes to him or Brosnan because he seemed right for the role, unlike Brosnan, seemed just too perfect to be a secret agent.
3. Timothy Dalton
Keith Hamshere/Getty Images
Timothy Dalton, the Daniel Craig before Daniel Craig became Bond. He was what Daniel Craig is now but just portrayed during the 1980’s which some people were not ready for. When compared to Connery, he has no chance. He made the top three because of his similarities to Craig and how he was the first to act that way. The writers of the Bond franchise did not really know what direction to take when he was currently in the role so that definitely hurt him. I bet his persona would have been perfect for Casino Royale or even Quantum of Solace but we will never know and he will stay at number three.
2. Daniel Craig
Greg Williams/Getty Images
This picture just does not do justice for this man being number 2 on this list. Casino Royale was a classic already but Craig made it popular again to be a badass and not care what other people think. He was confident, but not too cocky, but when the time was right, he could sit back and relax and just play a multi-million dollar poker game…no biggie. Some may wonder why Craig is so high up and that is because he showed to the audience how Bond is a human being and can make mistakes sometimes, as many people know when he flipped and crashed that beautiful sports car in Casino Royale. I have high hopes for Craig in the new Bond flick, Skyfall, which will be hitting theaters everywhere in October. After Skyfall, there is one more film left for Craig that is on the books but maybe we can see him in a few more before he leaves us as the number 2 greatest Bond actor.
1. Sean Connery
Popperfoto/Getty Images
The man who we all compare future Bond actors to. This man IS James Bond. Even when he was in the Indiana Jones films, he was still that 007 character we all grew to know and love! No movie quote is better than, “Bond, James Bond.” Connery played the role with nothing but class and that is how Bond is supposed to be played. He was funny, charming, but had a bad side when trouble came to his doorstep. I think Craig can try to surpass Connery as the best Bond of all-time, but it will definitely not be an easy task to accomplish!
Bravo Mr. Connery for being the greatest Bond actor of all-time and thank you for being that type of man all guys around the world want to be like!
Now it is your turn to vote for your favorite James Bond actor! Be sure to comment on Facebook to voice your opinions!
If you have not seen the new Bond trailer, Skyfall, here is your chance to check it out!
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How many episodes of Fawlty Towers were made?. | Fawlty Towers (TV Series 1975–1979) - IMDb
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Hotel owner Basil Fawlty's incompetence, short fuse, and arrogance form a combination that ensures accidents and trouble are never far away.
Stars:
A moose head to be hung, a fire drill to be conducted, and German guests are all a bit much for Basil to handle while Sybil's in hospital.
9.4
When Mrs. Richards, a demanding woman who is hard of hearing, checks into the hotel, Basil, Sybil and Polly find themselves with a very difficult customer. Meanwhile, Basil bets on a horse that is ...
9.3
Basil and the rest of the staff are in deep trouble when the health inspector turns up and delivers an enormous list of problems with the hotel. Things become even worse when Manuel's rat gets loose ...
9.2
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Title: Fawlty Towers (1975–1979)
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5 wins & 2 nominations. See more awards »
Photos
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In the Regency era, Mr E. Blackadder serves as butler to the foppish numskull Prince George amidst the fads and crazes of the time.
Stars: Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Hugh Laurie
Classic comedy following the misadventures of two Wheeler Dealer brothers Del Boy and Rodney Trotter who scrape their living by selling dodgy goods believing that next year they will be millionaires.
Stars: David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Roger Lloyd Pack
The original surreal sketch comedy showcase for the Monty Python troupe.
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Stars: Dermot Morgan, Ardal O'Hanlon, Frank Kelly
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Stars: Rowan Atkinson, Brian Blessed, Elspet Gray
The story of an office that faces closure when the company decides to downsize its branches. A documentary film crew follow staff and the manager Brent as they continue their daily lives.
Stars: Ricky Gervais, Martin Freeman, Mackenzie Crook
Alan Partridge a failed television presenter whose previous exploits had featured in the chat-show parody Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge, and who is now presenting a programed on local radio in Norwich.
Stars: Steve Coogan, Phil Cornwell, Simon Greenall
Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson solve the mysteries of the devil's foot, Silver Blaze, Wisteria Lodge and the Bruce-Partington Plans.
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Red Dwarf (TV Series 1988)
Comedy | Sci-Fi
The adventures of the last human alive and his friends, stranded three million years into deep space on the mining ship Red Dwarf.
Stars: Chris Barrie, Craig Charles, Danny John-Jules
Edit
Storyline
Inept and manic English hotel owner and manager, Basil Fawlty, isn't cut out for his job. He's intolerant, rude and paranoid. All hell frequently breaks loose as Basil tries to run the hotel, constantly under verbal (and sometime physical) attack from his unhelpful wife Sybil, and hindered by the incompetent, but easy target, Manuel; their Spanish waiter. Written by Rob Hartill
19 September 1975 (UK) See more »
Also Known As:
Das verrückte Hotel - Fawlty Towers See more »
Filming Locations:
Did You Know?
Trivia
The building used for the exterior shots, on the grounds of Buckinghamshire's Wooburn Grange Country Club, was severely damaged by a fire in March of 1991. The building was subsequently demolished and 8 homes were later built on the grounds. See more »
Goofs
The layout of the hotel from interior shots would place the windowless kitchen hard against the front left of the building, as seem from the outside (if there were space for it at all). In exterior shots there is a large bow window here. See more »
Quotes
[the phone rings; Basil picks it up]
Basil Fawlty : [to Melbury] One second please.
[to phone]
Basil Fawlty : Hello?... Ah, yes Mr O'Reilly, well it's perfectly simple. When I asked you to build me a wall I was rather hoping that instead of just dumping the bricks in a pile you might have found time to cement them together... you know, one on top of another, in the traditional fashion.
[to Melbury, testily]
Basil Fawlty : Could you fill it in, please?
[to phone]
Basil Fawlty : Oh, splendid! Ah, yes, but *...
[...]
See more »
Crazy Credits
In the titles sequence of each episode, some of the letters on the Fawlty Towers sign are usually mixed up or missing altogether. The signs appear as follows: 1. Fawlty Towers 2. Fawlty Tower 3. Fawty Tower 4. Fawty Toer 5. Warty Towels 6. NO SIGN 7. Fawlty Tower 8. Watery Fowls 9. Flay Otters 10. Fatty Owls 11. Flowery Twats 12. Farty Towels See more »
Connections
| 12 |
Which legndary sports commentator presented ITV's The Big Match?. | BBC - Devon - Features - Sybil back at Fawlty Towers
You are in: Devon > Features > Sybil back at Fawlty Towers
Prunella Scales with a lifesize Basil
Sybil back at Fawlty Towers
Prunella Scales (aka Sybil Fawlty) has officially re-opened the Torquay hotel which inspired the legendary sitcom series, Fawlty Towers. She arrived in a replica of the red Austin 1100 car which was famously thrashed by Basil Fawlty.
A Devon hotel which inspired the legendary TV comedy series Fawlty Towers has been officially re-opened by one of the show's stars.
Actress Prunella Scales played the part of Sybil Fawlty in the 1970s BBC sitcom series.
The world's best known hotel receptionist made a star appearance at the reopening of the Hotel Gleneagles in Torquay following a major refurbishment.
She arrived in a replica of the red Austin 1100 flayed by screen husband Basil in one episode.
Take a look at the photo gallery:
More 'Sybil' photos >
Fawlty Towers was based on the Gleneagles, where John Cleese stayed with other members of the Monty Python team in the early '70s.
Cleese, who of course played Basil Fawlty, based the character on the owner of the hotel, Donald Sinclair, who he described as "the most wonderfully rude man I have ever met."
Prunella signing autographs
Mr Sinclair, who died in 1981, is said to have thrown Eric Idle's suitcase out of the window "in case it contained a bomb" and complained about Terry Gilliam's table manners.
Looking back, the real Sybil, Beatrice Sinclair, agrees her husband was not good with the guests.
"Not really, he was a commander in the Royal Navy and he liked to have the last word. I don't think he ever really enjoyed the hotel life."
The hotel was recently bought by local businessmen Brian Shone and Terry Taylor.
They have spent £1 million on refurbishing the facilities, and Prunella Scales was guest of honour at the official relaunch on 18th September 2006.
From her bark of "Basil!", to her sympathetic phone manner (catchphrase "Oh, I know"), Prunella Scales' portrayal of Sybil was comic genius.
Prunella admits that at the time she had no inkling that the series would become a British comedy masterpiece.
"I don't remember very much from the early days of recording Fawlty Towers. We recorded an episode every week, so it was a question of learning the lines and getting them in the right order.
Prunella behind the reception desk
"It was very very distinguished writing, John and Connie did a wonderful job. It was good writing about men and women, and power and pain - all the important things that get the best laughs.
"There was a great deal of pain in it both physical and mental, I think that's why it has endured.
"The truth is we never filmed down here - we made the whole series in the Thames Valley so I didn't know what to expect or what it would look like.
"I think Sybil might have quite impressed with the hotel as it is now, she wouldn't let on but I think she would have been.
"I hope people will come back and if they have a good time at the Gleneagles, then it will put Torquay back on the map with a vengeance."
The actress remembers her first meeting with John Cleese to work out one of the most iconic screen relationships in British comedy.
"He said have you got any questions and I said, why did they get married in the first place?
"We thought that they fell in love and got married and then he wanted to run this very pretentious hotel and she knew the business and had to put the brakes on him because his ideas were too pretentious."
Mr Shone arranged for the actress to arrive at the Asheldon Road hotel in a red Austin 1100, just like the one owned by Basil Fawlty.
Basil gives his red Austin 1100 a good hiding!
In one of the series' most famous scenes in 1975, Basil gave the car a good hiding with a branch when it conked out and wouldn't restart.
"We wanted to make her arrival as memorable as possible and what better way than to have her arrive in the back of a red Austin 1100," said Mr Shone.
"She's never visited the hotel before so this was her first time here, which is amazing."
The actual hotel seen at the start and end of the sitcom was the Woodburn Grange Country Club in Buckinghamshire, but that burned down in 1991.
Coachloads of tourists turn up to the Hotel Gleneagles in the Wellswood area of Torquay every day - just to take a look at the place which inspired probably the most famous comedy series ever made.
"We get about eight or 10 coaches a day stopping outside," said Mr Shone. "Some people just want to walk about inside.
"It is the spiritual home of Fawlty Towers." However, Mr Shone is emphasising that the hotel relaunch event is invite only, and is not open to the public.
Mr Shone keeps Fawlty Towers memorabilia inside the foyer of the hotel which, with its new boutique hotel look, is otherwise very different from the hotel in the series.
Only 12 episodes were made of Fawlty Towers, and they were first aired on BBC1 more than 30 years ago.
But the legend of Basil and Sybil lives on...
last updated: 18/09/06SEE ALSO
| i don't know |
what was the name of the cow in The Magic Roundabout?. | Toonhound - The Magic Roundabout (1965-1991)
Mr Rusty's Magic Roundabout could be found in the heart of the Magic Garden.
It didn't really do anything magic at all apart from fade in and fade out of view at the
beginning and end of each episode, but what it did have was an associated collection
of magical characters including Dougal the dog, a girl called Florence, a rabbit called
Dylan, Brian the snail, Ermintrude the cow, the red chuffing Train, and a jack-in-a-
box with a moustache called Zebedee who was the self-appointed guardian of the
garden. Add to this some fabulous set design, a memorable theme tune and big
buckets of irony and droll dry humour and you have here one of the biggest
tea-time tv treats of all time. But this magical series very nearly didn't make
it to our screens at all...
"The Magic Roundabout" was created by a Frenchman, Serge Danot, in 1963 and
it was originally called "La Manege Enchante" (The Enchanted Merry-go-round).
Danot was assisted by a friend from England, our very own Ivor Wood in fact,
together with his wife Josiane, and you can clearly see his design sense imbued
in the character and set designs. The show was first broadcast in France in 1964,
and was distinctly Gallic in flavour. Dougal the dog was then called Pollux, whilst
Florence was called Margote and when Dylan was introduced in later colour
episodes, he was presented as a lazy Spaniard called Flappy.
When this hit French series was first offered to the BBC they rejected it as
awkward, and difficult to dub into English. Subsequently, for whatever reason, the
BBC's Head of Children's Programming gave the project a second look. It was
passed on to the then producer of "Playschool2 Joy Whitby, who in turn handed
the series to one of the show's presenter Eric Thompson, to see if he might try
voicing an adaptation.
And that folks, is how magic is created.
Eric Thompson decided to ignore the original scripts altogether. Working with
the volume turned down to avoid distraction, he completely rewrote the French
stories and redefined and renamed the characters, injecting much irony,
wit and melancholy in to the re-edited shows. In Thompson's hands, Pollux
became dry, laconic Dougal, floating around the garden with a Hancock-like turn
of phrase and a put-down for all occasions. He was a star in the making, together
with the newly-hippified Dylan, ever-cheery Brian, enthusiastic flower-chewing
Ermintrude and the entire garden gang. Even the theme song didn't escape
reinvention, with the musical calliope being speeded up for British production.
The "new" series first aired in the UK on 18 October 1965. The rest is history.
After two years atop of the tea-time viewing figures, when the BBC attempted to
move the show from its regular broadcast slot of 5.55pm to one an hour earlier,
the audience responded en-masse and forced them to rescind. And even come
the 1970s, folks had opinions to express about any scheduling changes:
"I should like to know how the BBC thinks I am
going to regain my equilibrium after teaching all day
if there is no Magic Roundabout to come home to?'"
- letter to the Radio Times, March 25th 1971
The show concluded its French broadcast in 1971, but here in the UK the surplus
of episodes allowed it to continue through to 1977. What's more, in 1972 we
were presented with a fabulously eccentric film version. The movie Dougal and
the Blue Cat introduced us to Buxton the would-be usurper of the Magic Garden.
In later years, when reflecting on his efforts reconstructing the series, Eric Thompson
suggested he was most like Brian the snail in spirit, but let's take another look at
Zebedee there (above). Interesting to see how Thompson shared a similar fondness
for facial hair, and how he was a kind of 'guardian' for the show, much like Zebedee
was for the Magic Garden.
What goes around
Great shows never die, of course. They live on in the jolly tea-time memories
of a generation and as luck would have it, "The Magic Roundabout" was given a
chance to stimulate and excite a new generation of viewers, fourteen years after
it disappeared from our screens.
Dougal and co. returned via Channel 4, and their discovery that 39 of the original
episodes had never been broadcast by the BBC before they retired the series.
Sadly, Eric Thompson had died in 1982, so for the new version actor Nigel
Planer was brought in, with his brother Roger producing. The newer series
obviously lacked some of the original's charm, but what the heck, it was still
"The Magic Roundabout" and that was certainly no to be sniffed at.
Shiny new roundabout
In 2005 the cast of the Magic Garden returned in a shiny new CGI
film from Dave Borthwick and his bolexbrothers. This time around a host
of famous names supplied the voices for the characters. And new cast
members were created, including Soldier Sam and a bad relation of
Zebedee, called ZeeBad. Though it was an underperforming feature,
it ushered in an equally shiny new CGI series via Silver Fox Films
which shall receive its own indexing here at Toonhound, in time.
Magic stuff
With its beatnik rabbit, laconic dog, spring-thing, pink cow and talking snail,
folks have happily read all sorts of ludicrous and suspicious undercurrents in to
proceedings. Dylan simply had to have been on drugs; Dougal's craving for
sugarlumps is shorthand for a speed addiction; Many of the characters chew
on flowers all day; The name Dougal was a play on 'De Gaulle' and the garden
itself was colour coordinated in accordance with the French flag, in dominant red,
white, and blue as some kind of subliminal attack on the French...
. Oh, the list is endless. Many will never be proven or disproved, but all are born from
the fact that 'The Magic Roundabout' is a witty and timeless gem of a show.
Ivor Wood
Ivor Wood has of course gone on to to much more animated brilliance, of course.
After 'Roundabout' he returned to London to bring us a wonderful concoction of
characters and series through FilmFair, and then Woodland Animations.
Parsley The Lion was a Michael Bond creation, but he still owes a debt to Dougal,
with his melancholic ways and woes. Indeed, those Herbs in their 'herbidacious' surroundings are surely related to the folks within the Magic Garden?
Jump forward to 1980 and you find Sancho and Carrots strolling around Hatty Town .
Once again, this is an adaptation of stories by Keith Chatfield, but again the
production is tinged with melancholia, and now we have the self-same Magic
Garden design returning with those 2D trees and sprinklings of flowers.
By the way, did you know, there's a real-life Magic Roundabout
Here's a great reference page for researchers. Tim Worthington chronicles
the history of this - erm - "magic" show. No images, just good old-fashioned
well-reaserched info - much more than The Hound has offered you thus far...
A little bit of info here too, with some clips, theme WAV and a selection of
Roundabout puzzle games to play. The image section is impressive, collating
material from across the web, although it would be nice to credit sources.
Worth a look, though, certainly...
A series of sweet scrolling pages featuring plenty of character pics
and games, things to buy, plus a fab page charting the French history
of the show including sleeve pics and lyrics for some of the Gallic
recordings made to promote the series - It could do with an
update now, but it's still a good stopping point...
| Ermintrude |
the Naked Civil Servant starred which character?. | THE MAGIC ROUNDABOUT | A TELEVISION HEAVEN REVIEW
THE MAGIC ROUNDABOUT (1965)
Mr Rusty's Magic Roundabout can be found in the heart of the Magic Garden and it is his barrel-organ which provides the show's theme music as the roundabout magically fades in and out of view at the beginning and end of each episode. But sadly for the whiskery old gent, this is just about where the magic begins and ends as his roundabout is now deserted. Then, one day a parcel arrives and it contains a jack-in-the-box figure called Zebedee who will eventually become the self-appointed guardian of the Magic Garden. It is with Zebedee's arrival that the magic begins.
With a 'boing' Zebedee bounces into the picture accompanied by the mystical sound of harp strings and all manner of lovable and, at times, strange characters appear. These include a young girl called Florence, a rather pompous sleek-haired dog called Dougal, an extremely laid-back beatnik rabbit named Dylan, Ermintrude the cow, Brian the snail, a cyclist called Mr MacHenry, a talking train and some occassional characters such as Florence's friend Paul. Although each episode was only five minutes in length the fact that it was broadcast daily (midweek), following the BBC's afternoon children's programmes and just before the early evening news, guaranteed the programme a viewing figure of over eight million and gave it a true 'cult' status that survives to this very day. However, the British public may never have heard of The Magic Roundabout because the year before they broadcast it the BBC had rejected the series out of hand.
The Magic Roundabout was created in 1963 by Frenchman, Serge Danot, and was originally called Le Manège Enchanté ('The Enchanted Merry-go-round'). Danot devised and wrote the programme before teaming up with Englishman, Ivor Wood, in 1964 in order to complete and produce the original French series. On selling the first 11 episodes to Ortf (Office of Broadcasting French Television), they found that they had a huge hit on their hands and quickly turned their attention to England. But on offering Le Manège Enchanté to the BBC it was rejected as being far too awkward and difficult to dub into English. But in 1965 the Beeb finally agreed to buy the series which was then passed on to Joy Whitby, the producer of 'Playschool', who in turn handed the series over to one of that show's presenters, Eric Thompson (father of actress Emma).
Emma Thompson later recalled; "When the BBC asked him (Eric) to write The Magic Roundabout they lent him a machine with a tiny screen which he used to work with his feet. He watched the pictures without sound and wrote the script with a pencil and pad balanced on his knees. The stories had originally been written in French, but he didn't much like the French, so he changed it all - even the names, like Ermintrude the cow, who was inspired by his wife."
It has been said the adults may have found a lot more to smile about in the series than merely sitting down to watch television with their little ones. The more 'tuned in' viewers may have discovered certain similarities to 1960s drug culture and references to topical issues and personalities of the day. Dougal was most certainly named after French leader Charles De Gaulle and his favourite food was sugar cubes which, it is pointed out, when laced with LSD is a popular way of taking the hallucinatory drug. Dougal and Ermintrude were said to be comments on French-Anglo relations at the time while the cynical dog's character was based on British comedian Tony Hancock, always known for his cynical hangdog expression. Dylan (based on the American folk singer, Bob Dylan) always appeared 'spaced out', and has been accused of growing something considerably stronger than carrots in his vegetable garden, while the Magic Roundabout itself is supposedly an allegory for 'taking a trip.' And then again, perhaps not. After all, this was 1965 and the pre-psychedelic era, and perhaps the series, like Lennon's 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds', just fitted conveniently into the context.
Whatever the truth behind the series The Magic Roundabout stayed on top of the tea-time viewing figures for two years and when the BBC tried to move it from its 5.55pm time-slot to an hour earlier there was a public outcry from its loyal fans and the Corporation had to reconsider. Even as late as the early seventies, the series, now being shown in colour retained its popularity and another attempt to move it from its regular slot resulted in angry letters to the Radio Times such as the one published on 25th March, 1971: "I should like to know how the BBC thinks I am going to regain my equilibrium after teaching all day if there is no Magic Roundabout to come home to?"
That was the year the show concluded its French broadcast but in the UK a surplus of episodes allowed it to continue through to 1977. Then, in 1992, Channel 4 in Britain discovered that 39 of the original episodes had never been broadcast by the BBC. Sadly, Eric Thompson had died in 1982, so for the new version actor Nigel Planer was brought in, with his brother Roger producing.
There have also been two 'Magic Roundabout' feature films. The first, in 1972, distributed by Nat Cohen for Anglo-EMI Film Distributors Ltd and produced by Goodtimes Enterprises run by Sandford Lieberson and David Puttnam and also written by Eric Thompson, featured a new character, Buxton, the Blue Cat, a North Country lad with delusions of grandeur who meets the regulars in the Beautiful Wood where he is given an enthusiastic welcome by everyone -except for Dougal. The story did nothing to dispel the 'drug culture' allusions and if anything was even more outside the edge than the series had been.
Then in 2005 a new version appeared in theatres, this time using state-of-the-art animation techniques in place of the stop-frame animation of the original. As another departure from the original series, there was no narration and each character was given his, her, or it's own voice and featured an all-star cast including Robbie Williams (Dougal), Bill Nighy (Dylan), Joanna Lumley (Ermintrude), Jim Broadbent (Brian), Kylie Minogue (Florence), Lee Evans (The Train), Sir Ian McKellan (Zebedee), and Ray Winstone (Soldier Sam). This was another classic story of good versus evil the malevolence coming from Zebedee's evil twin Zee-Bad, voiced with glorious over-the-topness by Tom Baker.
Serge Danot said of his show: "It comes from a simple history of everyday life, with characters having humour, poetry and an anecdote and aims to be as close to the parents as children, which makes it possible to join together various generations." And it seems there are countless more generations waiting to discover the magic of The Roundabout. "Time for Bed!"
Review: Laurence Marcus. 2005
| i don't know |
Which comedian was born Charles Edward Springall? | Charlie Drake | The Independent
Tuesday 26 December 2006 00:00 BST
Click to follow
The Independent Online
Charles Edward Springall (Charlie Drake), actor and comedian: born London 19 June 1925; twice married (three sons); died Twickenham, Middlesex 23 December 2006.
Charlie Drake's first joke - "A little boy had a tooth out and asked the dentist if he could keep it. Why? I want to take it home, put some sugar on it and watch it ache!"
Actually it wasn't Charlie Drake's joke, it was Max Miller's. He heard it on the wireless. And he wasn't Charlie Drake, anyway. He was Charles Edward Springall, age nine. Drake came much later, borrowed from his mother, the former Violet Drake. Like many comedians, if not all of them, Charlie Drake began with jokes borrowed from others, but once his real career in comedy got under way via television, he became the most original slapstick comedian in the country, easily out- slapping those few who had attempted visual comedy in the silent film era.
Born in Elephant and Castle, London, in 1925, the son of a newspaper seller who took racing bets on the quiet, little Charlie was only eight when he answered an advertisement in the South London Press and was first in the queue to audition for the great top-of-the-bill coster comedian Harry Champion. He sang that master's most popular hit, "Boiled Beef and Carrots", and promptly won a place in the choirboy chorus backing the star in his grand finale, "Any Old Iron" (pronounced "I-hern"). His reward: a six-day booking for half a crown (12 1/2p).
No further bookings ensued, so young Charlie augmented his non-existent pocket money doing a pre-school paper round and a post-school apprenticeship to a cats-meat man (tuppence a stick-ful). His education was at the Victory Place Junior School where the only prize he won was for Scripture: he was able to name Mary's husband. Moving up to Paragon Row Seniors he read the "Just William" books and formed a William-style Secret Society called the Red Hand Gang. Show business struck again when he did a deal with the manager of the Elephant and Castle Picture Palace: in return for winning the ten-shilling (50p) prize at every amateur talent contest, he slipped the manager five bob (25p).
Drake was 14 when he left school, in the summer of 1939; he also left home. He became an electrician's mate, the first of innumerable jobs, all of which would find their way into his television and later film situations. By night he was an Air Raid Precautions messenger boy. He devised his own way to extinguish incendiary bombs: old ladies' knickers stuffed with sand. Then he joined the Naafi as a baker. His fruit cakes were famous until he was sacked for using too many rationed currants.
He tried for proper war service and was instantly rejected by the Navy. He was only 5 feet 1 1/2 inches tall. "I was raised on condensed milk," he explained. He volunteered for the Royal Air Force and was, surprisingly, taken on and trained as a rear gunner. "I was the right size for the little turret." He promptly put in for all the services shows he could - Ralph Reader's "RAF Gang Show," Ensa, "Airmen in Skirts" - and was rejected by them all. But one useful thing happened: while training in Northern Ireland he met an oversize pilot named Jack Edwardes, who would in time become Drake's first partner on television. Drake's main active service was in India, where he caught dysentery and became the only airman who needed to have his shorts shortened.
On demob Drake formed his first double act with a friend called Sidney Cant. They sang "She's Only a Bird in a Gilded Cage" at the King's Arms pub at the Elephant. Unable to afford the tram fare, Drake walked up West every night to watch the big star comedians leaving their stage doors.
After failing his first BBC audition for Workers Playtime - he did his half-hour act in the wrong studio so the producer never saw him - he changed his name to Charlie Smart and won a provincial variety tour opening the show wearing a white trilby and a brown-and-red check suit. His first broadcast came from this, and he sat up all night writing 200 fan letters under 200 assumed names, posting them to Broadcasting House. They all came back to him unopened.
Somebody told him that Charlie Smart was the name of a popular broadcasting organist, so once again he changed his name. This time he came up with a permanent winner, Charlie Drake. Unfortunately it didn't help his career: he failed to pass his first audition at the Windmill Theatre - and failed a further six times. He found steadier work in the summer of 1953 as a Butlin's Redcoat. He taught campers ju-jitsu and boxing, he called bingo, he clowned for the kiddies, and he stole £60 a week from the bingo take. At the end of the season Billy Butlin himself sacked him, and said he knew all along about the thefts, but had kept him on as his one and only ju-jitsu coach.
Deciding to try his luck with an agent, Drake now joined Phyllis Rounce, and at her office re-encountered Jack Edwardes, also looking for comedy work. His 6ft 3in height - 1ft 1 1/2in taller than the diminutive Drake - looked funny before they even started, and Rounce immediately got them a date at the Stage Door Canteen. They did a table tennis act which made the services audience roar. Several guest spots on BBC Children's Television followed; the comic career of Charlie Drake was under way.
Michael Westmore, head of BBC Children's TV, absconded to the newly formed ITV for London, Associated-Rediffusion, and took with him Drake and Edwardes. Drake was to devise and script an afternoon series for the double act. He called their characters "Big Jack and Little Mack", but Westmore renamed them "Mick and Montmorency".
The show was christened Jobstoppers and started on 30 September 1955. Every week the slap-happy pair tried their hands at a different job, and each week the show began with "Hello, my darlin's!" and concluded with the cry of "It's teeee-time!" Within weeks Drake had created two new national catch-phrases, among the young viewers at any rate. And to crown his success, TV Fun, the small screen's answer to Radio Fun, starred them in a full-page strip drawn by the comic's best cartoonist, Reg Parlett.
Ronnie Waldman, formerly the king of radio's "Puzzle Corner", now head of Light Entertainment at BBC Television, sat up and took notice. He offered Drake a one-off try-out in grown-up time and the half-hour Laughter in Store (3 January 1957) was such a slap-bang success that a full-blown series of six started on 6 May. Satisfyingly entitled Drake's Progress (he would later use it as the title of his 1986 autobiography), the show was devised and co-written with him by the very professional George Wadmore, and was given the excellent supporting cast of Irene Handl, Warren Mitchell and the rotund Willoughby Goddard. Sadly the tall stalwart Jack Edwardes was nowhere to be seen. That particular partnership had been suddenly dissolved.
This was the first sign of what most people would call a basic flaw in Drake's character, a supreme ego that put himself first in everything he did. It was once common among the great comedians (Charlie Chaplin, for example) but it takes more than supreme self-confidence to win in this age of television. No sooner had Drake been granted a second series of Progress, and been awarded a fresh team of writers in Sid Green and Dick Hills (who would prove their worth in scripting for Morecambe and Wise), than he demanded a showdown with Ronnie Waldman, the sacking of Green and Hills, and the right to be solo scripter of his own series. Drake won.
Drake's television career now shot ahead in series after series, each show centralising on a classic slapstick sequence which, as was typical of the time, was performed live. For 10 years the title of the show was, simply, Charlie Drake, except for a brief sojourn at ATV in 1963 when it was called The Charlie Drake Show. The formula was always the same, with Drake trying his hand as an overalled workman in a different job each week. The slapstick climax would never be bettered until pre- filming became possible for Michael Crawford's Some Mothers Do Have 'Em, the only series comparable.
The climax to all this slapstickery came in 1961 with "Bingo Madness", an episode which closed with Drake thrown through a bookcase, then out of a window, and crashing through a door. The camera panned down: there was Drake unconscious on the floor. Rushed to hospital, he was in a coma for days. The series was cancelled and Drake missed his first invited appearance at the Royal Variety Show. All would end well; in time he would star in no fewer than nine royal shows. And, when colour television arrived on BBC2 in 1968, his series would win the Golden Rose of Montreux.
Television led to many a stage show and pantomime. His first was as the King of Tyrolia in Sleeping Beauty at the Palladium. Co-stars were Bruce Forsyth and Bernard "I Only Arsked" Bresslaw. In the No 1 dressing room for the first time in his life, Drake complained and demanded that it be redecorated. It was; that was 1958. Much later, in 1974, another panto would be his big downfall. This was Jack and the Beanstalk at the Alhambra, Bradford. Drake wanted a local girl in the cast. The actors' union Equity objected. The management paid her to leave. Equity fined Drake £760. He refused to pay, was suspended, banned from all provincial theatres, and found himself out of work for a year.
Drake was luckier in films. Associated British signed him up for several Technicolor extravaganzas. First came Sands of the Desert (1960) directed by the comedy specialist John Paddy Carstairs. A pretty newcomer, Sarah Branch, co-starred with a bunch of British "foreigners": Peter Arne, Peter Illing, Harold Kasket, Eric Pohlmann, and many more. Drake was the travel agent who thwarted the wicked sheikh and opened a holiday camp in the desert.
Then came Petticoat Pirates (1961) directed by David Macdonald, who once did more serious stuff. Drake, playing under his own name, was a stoker whose ship is taken over by a group of renegade women led by Anne Heywood (ex Violet Pretty). The Cracksman (1963) came next, made in CinemaScope. Peter Graham Scott directed Drake as a jailed locksmith stealing gems from a museum. George Sanders, surprisingly, co-starred, with the TV favourite Nyree Dawn Porter as the girl. Mister Ten Per Cent (1967) was the last Drake feature proper, with Scott directing again and some pretty ladies: Annette Andre, Una Stubbs and Joyce Blair to name a few. Drake played Percy Pointer, a builder who writes a dramatic play that succeeds as a comedy.
His last films were a series for the Children's Film Foundation entitled Professor Popper's Problems (1975), directed by Gerry O'Hara. This set of six shorts was the only time he did not write or co-write the screenplays. The main plot point was that he invented the shrinking pill.
After several very big successes with records, most notably the hilarious "My Boomerang Won't Come Back" (produced by the brilliant George Martin), Drake's best ever television series came in 1978. This was ATV's The Worker with Drake back in his old character of the willing but useless handyman who will try anything and fail at everything. He sang the signature song, which was based on the music-hall queen Lily Morris's long-lost hit "He's Only a Working Man". Lew Schwartz wrote, Alan Tarrant directed, and Henry McGee played the manager of the Labour Exchange, Mr Pugh ("pronounced Poo!"). McGee, a brilliant comic actor, was later acclaimed by Drake as his "closest and dearest friend".
Suddenly Drake turned away from slapstick and comedy. He played Smallweed in the BBC TV serialisation of Charles Dickens's Bleak House (1985). He played Ubu Roi in Spike Milligan's variation of Alfred Jarry's play, directed by Charles Jarowitz. He was in Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment (1988), and in Samuel Beckett's Endgame (1992) he was Nagg. He even won a Drama Award for his role as Davies in Harold Pinter's The Caretaker (1983).
Drake's extraordinary career was recognised rather too early by Eamonn Andrews in This Is Your Life back in 1961. The extremes of his personality are perhaps best shown in two opposing quotes. When he won the Golden Rose of Montreux he said, "I was voted the funniest man in the world." When he appeared as a guest in the panel game Looks Familiar he said, "I am the only person never to recognise Shirley Temple."
Denis Gifford
* Denis Gifford died 20 May 2000
More about:
| Charlie Drake |
In cricket, if you are out without scoring, what is it called? | Charlie Drake | Songs | AllMusic
Charlie Drake
Biography by Craig Harris
Charlie Drake (born Charles Edward Spungall) went from the poverty of London's south East End to becoming one of the United Kingdom's truly loved comedians. The recipient of two Golden Rose of Montreux…
| i don't know |
Who was prime minister of Britain from 1970 to 1974? | History of Harold Wilson - GOV.UK
GOV.UK
Harold Wilson Labour 1974 to 1976, 1964 to 1970
Born
11 March 1916, Huddersfield, Yorkshire
Died
1974 to 1976, 1964 to 1970
Political party
Labour
Major acts
Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965: suspended the death penalty in England, Wales and Scotland.
Sexual Offences Act 1967: decriminalisation of certain homosexual offences.
Interesting facts
In 1969 he was struck in the eye by a stink bomb thrown by a schoolboy. Wilson’s response was "with an arm like that he ought to be in the English cricket XI″
As Prime Minister Harold Wilson enacted social reforms in education, health, housing, gender equality, price controls, pensions, provisions for disabled people and child poverty.
Harold Wilson, the son of a chemist and teacher, was born in Yorkshire during the First World War. In 1924, aged 8, he visited 10 Downing Street, which would eventually become his home.
He studied Modern History for a year before transferring to Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University, graduating with a first class BA.
The Labour politician entered Parliament in 1945 as MP for Ormskirk and later becoming MP for Huyton. In 1947, then Prime Minister Clement Attlee made Wilson President of the Board of Trade. Aged 31, he had become the youngest member of the Cabinet in the 20th century.
Under Hugh Gaitskell’s leadership of the Labour party, Wilson served as Shadow Chancellor from 1955 to 1961, then as Shadow Foreign Secretary from 1961 to 1963. After Gaitskell passed away suddenly, Wilson fought and won a leadership contest against George Brown and James Callaghan. As Labour leader, he won 4 of the 5 General Elections he contested, although this includes a minority government.
His first election victory on 15 October 1964 saw him win with a small majority of 4, which increased significantly to 98 after a second General Election on 31 March 1966. As Prime Minister from 1964 to 1970, his main plan was to modernise. He believed that he would be aided by the “white heat of the technological revolution”. His government supported backbench MPs in liberalising laws on censorship, divorce, abortion, and homosexuality, and he abolished capital punishment. Crucial steps were taken towards stopping discrimination against women and ethnic minorities, and Wilson’s government also created the Open University.
In comparison, his outlook on foreign affairs was less modernising. He wanted to maintain Britain’s world role by keeping the Commonwealth united and nurturing the Anglo-American alliance. For example, his approach to the Vietnam War saw him skilfully balance modernist ambitions with Anglo-American interests when, despite repeated American requests, he kept British troops out while still maintaining good relations. Wilson biographer Philip Ziegler characterises his role as “honest broker”.
However, he had to fundamentally reshape Britain’s world role after inheriting an overstretched military and a £400 million balance of payments deficit, which caused successive sterling crises. To resolve these 2 interlinked problems, Wilson launched a Defence Review (1964 to 1965) and created the Department for Economic Affairs, which sought to implement an ambitious National Plan.
When sterling crises continued, Wilson was forced to devalue the pound in November 1967. Two months later, his government reluctantly announced Britain’s gradual withdrawal from the strategically important East of Suez. Despite his initial hesitation, Wilson recognised the value of membership of the European Economic Community ( EEC ), but his 1967 application was unsuccessful. Believing his popularity had increased, Wilson called a general election on 18 June 1970, but suffered defeat by the Conservative Party under Edward Heath .
Wilson held onto the Labour leadership. The next General Election on 28 February 1974 resulted in a hung parliament, and he formed a minority government. He called another election on 10 October 1974 at which he secured a small majority of 3.
His next 2 years as Prime Minister saw him concentrate heavily on domestic policy, achieving social reforms in education, health, housing, gender equality, price controls, pensions, provisions for disabled people and child poverty. As a result, income tax on top earners increased to 83%. Job creation remained an issue – by 1975, unemployment had reached 1 million.
He limited the damage caused by differing opinions within his party during renegotiation of the terms of Britain’s EEC membership. He also sought to resolve The Troubles between the nationalists and unionists in Northern Ireland but was ultimately unsuccessful.
On 16 March 1976, 5 days after his 60th birthday, he stunned the nation when he announced his intention to resign, a decision that he claimed he had made 2 years previously. James Callaghan , leader of the Labour Party, succeeded him to the role of Prime Minister.
| Edward Heath |
Who became the Chief Executive of the Professional Footballers' Association in 1981, and is reputed to be the highest paid union official in the world? | History of Sir Edward Heath - GOV.UK
GOV.UK
Sir Edward Heath Conservative 1970 to 1974
Born
9 July 1916, Broadstairs, Kent
Died
17 July 2005, Salisbury, Wiltshire
Dates in office
Industrial relations Act 1971 (repealed 1974): controversial legislation to curb union power.
Interesting facts
Arundells, Heath's home in Salisbury is open to the public.
Sir Edward Heath was Prime Minister during a time of industrial upheaval and economic decline during which he led Britain into the European Community.
Edward ‘Ted’ Heath was born in Kent to working class parents, in contrast to many previous Conservative leaders and Prime Ministers. He was grammar school educated before going to Balliol College, Oxford, where he was awarded an organ scholarship in his first term. He received a second class degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and travelled widely in Europe during his holidays, especially in Spain and Germany. It was during these travels that he first witnessed the horrors of fascism and dictatorship that were sweeping across Europe.
Heath served in the Second World War, reaching the rank of Lieutenant Colonel before briefly entering the Civil Service. He was elected to Parliament in 1950 and rose rapidly to become Government Chief Whip to Anthony Eden before backing Harold Macmillan ‘s attempt to lead the UK into the European Community.
He was elected leader of the Conservative Party in 1965, and so began his long-lasting rivalry with Harold Wilson, leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister.
Heath won the 1970 election, and served his only term as Prime Minister during a time of strong industrial change and economic decline. He was elected on a manifesto to turn around the nation’s fortunes and pursued a number of policies that would later become identified with ‘Thatcherism’. Unemployment continued to rise which, combined with the strength of the trade unions, forced a famous U-turn on the government’s economic policy.
It was from this point that the trade unions sensed they could seize the initiative. Heath’s attempts to weaken their power had failed, and when their pay demands were not met, they went out on strike. Particularly crippling were the miners’ strikes of 1972 and 1974, the second of which led to the 3-day week, when electricity was limited to 3 consecutive days’ use.
Heath also worked to create a lasting peace in Northern Ireland.
Heath continued to serve in the House of Commons until 2001, becoming the Father of the House. Along with Harold Macmillan, he was an outspoken critic of Margaret Thatcher . Outside of politics he maintained lifelong passions for conducting and playing music, as well as sailing, notably winning the Admiral’s Cup while Prime Minister.
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Which singer songwriter's new album is called Some Kind Of Trouble'. He made his name with his debut album Back to Bedlam' in 2005? | SOME KIND OF TROUBLE
SOME KIND OF TROUBLE
Posted 06 May 2011 18:19
Supreme Being
By Paul S. Power "Music Reviewer" (Nova Scotia, Canada)
This review is from: Some Kind of Trouble (Audio CD)
The thing that made James Blunt stand out so much when he first stepped into the international spotlight in 2005 was his voice. It was unique. The fact that he is an excellent songwriter also helped, and that his back-story was pretty interesting (British Army service in Kosovo, etc). He has released 3 albums so far and he's had his share of detractors, some making fun of his patented sound. The fact that the guy has sold millions of albums, lives in Ibiza and dates supermodels is a good indication of who has the last laugh on that matter.
His second album, "All The Lost Souls" (2007) was a bit darker and more introspective than his debut album, but contained the fantastic song "1973", which for me stands out so much because when I first saw/heard it I was in my favourite pub in Scotland, watching music videos. That James Blunt moment will always be with me. This album (number 3) comes across as much more cheerful and optimistic than it's predecessor.
The first song released off this CD was "Stay The Night", and even though it came out before last winter it's a 100% pure summer song. Light, enjoyable and catchy. It's impossible to hear the song and not think of a breeze blowing through the car window and long hot nights on the beach. There are some wonderful surprises on this album as well; "Turn Me On" sounds like a cross between Kings of Leon and The White Stripes. "Dangerous" offers a hip 1980's style drum machine and Dire Straits-like guitars. "These Are The Words" is a slick and groovy number with, again, guitar work that pays homage to Dire Straits. These two songs are great. Looking at a few more tracks, "So Far Gone" again travels a similar path to Kings of Leon and "I'll Be Your Man" is a joyous hand-clapping romp that has a folk rock vibe to it.
It would be na�ve to think that a James Blunt album wouldn't have quieter moments on it, he is after all the man who gave the world one of the most popular contemporary songs used at funerals ("Goodbye My Lover"). In that vein, "Best Laid Plans" is a one-sided love song and "No Tears" is very much like a Robbie Williams ballad, of which James said the song is "the summing up of a life", it's a very deep and reflective song. It is also a great track. I personally think this CD is James Blunt's best work so far.
Posted 18 July 2011 03:26
Supreme Being
Last Login: Yesterday @ 23:57
Posts: 5,753, Visits: 7,462
I don't know how I could have missed this video recorded live on Ustream on January 18th 2011 for the release of SKOT in United States. James answers questions from fans and performs his new songs with the band. One of the highlight is when he sings "If Time Is All I Have" sitting on a stool... he wipes two tears at the end. All the emotion he puts in this rendition makes me shiver.
James Blunt Plugs In and Performs Songs off 'Some Kind of Trouble'
By Charley Rogulewski Posted Jan 18th 2011 10:30AM
James Blunt is " f**king happy," and his good mood has rubbed off on his third studio album, 'Some Kind of Trouble,' that hits stores today. After two years of non-stop touring behind 2007's 'All the Lost Souls,' Blunt was burned out and found himself searching for his inner innocence. The songs on 'Some Kind of Trouble' aren't those depressing love-drenched ballads most people associate Blunt with. Instead, the lyrics are about everyday experiences, like hanging out with friends and not wanting the night to end. "That was important to me, just to feel connected to the normal, real world," Blunt told PopEater. Today Blunt joins us to perform the new upbeat tunes off 'Some Kind of Trouble.' He'll also be talking about the year he spent getting into trouble and recording the 13-track offering. Check out the exclusive broadcast below, starting today at 11AM ET.
James Blunt Live at Studio 1290 (New-York)
Lenght: 23min16
Posted 27 September 2011 21:46
Forum Guru
Last Login: 06 March 2012 13:43
Posts: 50, Visits: 144
I place an order for a CD few days ago. I was HARD trying to find CD in music shop, but too many times it was said: "What are you looking for? Who?! James Blunt? Let's see on computer" and there were nothing
One day I was happy that there were one CD in music shop, but shop-assistant couldn't find it and said: "May be somebody steal it?". So... it is TOO hard to find James Blunt CD in Moscow
But I DO hope that my order wouldn't decline and discs come to me soon. I'll never give up
Posted 24 January 2013 01:59
Supreme Being
Last Login: Yesterday @ 23:57
Posts: 5,753, Visits: 7,462
This interview published on a blog had escaped our attention in February 2011. According to the info given in the article, the author Ben Bamsey interviewed James in New York on November 11th 2010. Although the two first paragraphs don't give us any new information, I found interesting to read the author and James' comments after.
James Blunt
Sunday, February 20, 2011
He sang about a girl that made him fucking high in an octave to prove it. But before James Blunt crooned, �You�re Beautiful,� he drove a tank for the British Army, and was the captain who led 30,000 troops into Kosovo. Among his duties in the Balkan Peninsula in 1999 was to seize the Pri�tina Airport. Two hundred Russian troops had arrived there first, however, and the order from NATO commanders was to overpower them. But Blunt and his ground general refused, believing it could start WWIII, and instead found a way to work with the Russians to share the facility. Blunt�s cavalry unit did flex its military might in the region, ultimately driving Milo�ević and the Yugoslav Army out, but James Blunt brought more than just a gun to the Balkans. Strapped to the outside of his tank was a six-string guitar, and through music he wrote about the madness�
Blunt was born into the military on a base where his father served, and his grandfathers before that dating back to the 10th century. The patriarchs preached army, but Mom gave him the gift of music. Beatles, Beach Boys, The Doors, and the great singer/songwriters of the late 1970�s soothed his artistic soul. Blunt learned the piano and violin by age seven. At 14, he was writing songs and playing guitar in a covers band, and later added the organ, marimba and Mellotron to his repertoire. Blunt�s calling was song, but his destiny was service. He earned a pilot�s license at age 16, went to army-sponsored college and quickly earned his stripes in the armed forces. After Kosovo, Blunt stood guard at Buckingham Palace and was on duty during the Queen Mother�s funeral. Then, in 2002, after six years of service to his country, Blunt traded in marching orders for a soft falsetto. With raw talent, a worldly perspective and an abundance of honest songs, Blunt hit the road to share his soul. Fans fell in love with this sensitive balladeer, rocketing him into the stratosphere of the music elite. Mentioned in the same breath as David Gray, Damien Rice and even a young Elton John, Blunt sold a staggering 18 million albums during the 2000�s and earned five Grammy nominations. After two world tours and setting three Guinness World Records along the way, Blunt is now set to release his third studio album, Some Kind of Trouble in January 2011.
Ironically, it was Veteran�s Day when I sat down to talk to James Blunt in New York. With a noisy parade of patriotism passing by, I began by thanking him for his service, and then asking him if he had a lasting image from his days in uniform. He recounted the inhumanity, violence and death he witnessed, along with the courage and compassion of many, but his most vivid reflection came seven years after the war. �I went back to do a documentary on Kosovo, and it is still totally scarred, emotionally and physically,� he said. �Here it is all that time after, and yet the scars of war will last for generations. What it taught me is that violence only creates more violence, and that diplomacy is incredibly important. If we just try and understand other people�s perspectives and try and reach a balance of tolerance � that�s the fastest path towards achieving peace.�
Like his singing, Blunt�s speaking comes straight from the heart. Experience has tested him, yet his ability to process emotion is as relatable as it is deep. �No Bravery� and �Same Mistake� are more than songs; they are therapeutic journal entries about a brutal war witnessed first-hand. When it comes to love, Blunt sits first chair in Cupid�s orchestra � a virtuoso at plucking heartstrings. From the ode to an angel in �High� to the despair of letting her go in �Goodbye My Lover,� Blunt�s jukebox spins all emotions into submission on the dance floor. This graduate of Sociology from the University of Bristol has long been interested in the empirical investigation of the human condition. �Cry� is his dissertation on companionship.
With every word and musical arrangement, Blunt achieves sincerity. It�s a quality that attracts loyal fans and repels people who prefer to live in the clouds. The singer is meticulous in his presentation � a perfectionist who spent more than a year locked in his studio fine-tuning Some Kind of Trouble. It�s an important album for Blunt, who views it as a new chapter in his career. He calls Back to Bedlam and All the Lost Souls bookends � the action of innocence followed by the reaction of losing it. In the snap of a finger James Blunt went from �unrecognizable man on the street� to the singer who knocked an established Coldplay from the top spot on the charts. All of a sudden his every move was dissected, every song critiqued. Fame and expectation slapped him around when it came time to write a follow-up. �All the Lost Souls was recorded with the audience in mind. It was quite introverted, and much darker than the first,� he reflects. Despite debuting at number one in ten countries and selling five million copies, Blunt feels his voice got lost in a big pair of britches, as though making profound statements had somehow become more important than tying his shoes.
Blunt�s junior album reinvents the cherry. Gone are his long locks, and back is his boyish charm. He does not play rock star in this act; instead he�s in the middle of the crowd partying like everyone else. �I�m very settled now. I�ve been hanging out with my friends, living an ordinary life. I�ve had normal experiences. That�s why I feel this third album has new and fresh emotions, topics and lyrics that any human alive and conscious will be able to relate to. My na�ve optimism has returned.� As a result, Some Kind of Trouble is upbeat, leaning towards naughty, yet still grounded in honest prose. The first single, �Stay the Night,� is a sexy, acoustic-driven dance ditty slathered in California love. It�s a simple song about perfect weather, a brilliant sunset and a blossoming romance. �It has this feeling that it was written around a campfire,� Blunt says about the track penned alongside Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic and producer Steve Robson. �I�m hoping Arnold Schwarzenegger is going to call me up and commission me to use it as a holiday commercial.�
The bittersweet �These Are the Words� aches of a ripe vulnerability turned sour, while the trenchant �Superstar� gives Hollywood a golden shower. �He says times like these I don�t want to be a superstar/Cause reality TV killed them all in America/Oh the sun always shines in a magazine/Tonight can we be free to be who we really are? Anchoring this album is the poignant, unsentimental ballad �No Tears� � a song that seems to sum up a life. �I am proud of it melodically and how it�s structured,� Blunt says, �but lyrically I love its sense of understanding and resolution. It recognizes that I have made mistakes, I have regrets, I�m the one that�s made this bed, so I lie in it � and that is me.�
After song 11 on the new album there�s five seconds of dead air. It�s meant for listeners to soak everything in before Blunt hurls sauna steam on them. Track thirteen is titled �Turn Me On,� and on it sultry bass plays hard-to-get with the pulsating percussion. Blunt oozes lyrics like, �Underwater with someone�s daughter/Gonna make you a dirty woman,� while his lead guitar finds satisfaction through an explosive staccato riff. Atlantic did not want this scorcher on the record. The label agreed after Blunt proposed separating the song from the rest. �Kinda� makes it stand out even more,� he smirks.
Blunt enjoyed a similar triumph when Custard Records told him the word �fucking� in �You�re Beautiful� had to go. �I told them, �No way,�� Blunt says. �I�d already written the song. If I changed it, then that would have been a lie. They looked at other versions, �I am especially high,� �I am particularly high,� �I am really, rather high.� But, come on! I mean when you�re high, and you�re really high � what are you? You�re fucking high! I enjoy words, and I use words for a reason, not for an effect. Sometimes a swear word is entirely relevant.� For the radio, Blunt did change the lyrics to �flying high,� because he believes that airplay singles are simply commercials to get listeners to check out the deeper tracks on an album. He�s always wanted his music to speak for itself, and articulating a song�s meaning makes him uncomfortable. �If I would�ve wanted more words, I would have written another verse,� he says.
A military turned music hero, Blunt takes good care of the soil that holds his roots � giving time and money to environmental, humanitarian and veterans� health causes. Now that Blunt has sprung from his creative cave, he can�t wait to share the new material with his fans, kicking off a world tour in early 2011� �I have a great band that helped record this album, and we�re going to have the time of our lives playing these songs for everybody.�
Written by: Ben Bamsey
Posted 24 January 2013 16:12
Supreme Being
Last Login: 27 April 2016 14:02
Posts: 628, Visits: 2,117
I understand, Susan.
I think what you would like to know is what James means by it all. I would like to know that, too, but still don�t want him to say. He should have some secret sacred emotions that he's not sharing the meaning with the world is what i think. His music is so personal, everything else about it should be his treasure.
I am sometimes afraid for him that he gives too much away and will break over it.
Californiagirl, he is so very cute!!!!
Posted 11 October 2016 19:01
Supreme Being
Last Login: Yesterday @ 18:00
Posts: 876, Visits: 584
I don't remember much air play on Canadian radio, but that could just be me being unaware and out of touch with the world. It seems to have been not as well received as the first two albums. Despite that, I think this is a strong album, full of beautifully crafted songs. The style is a bit different, though what I enjoy and admire is James' commitment to honesty and authenticity, and that has been consistent. If I had to rank, this is my 2nd favourite album. I'm a bit sadden that it's not properly catalogued on this site, as I really believe it a fantastic album and something to be proud of.
| James Blunt |
. Bill Waddington played which Coronation Street character? | Some Kind Of Trouble - Walmart.com
Some Kind Of Trouble
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Some Kind Of Trouble
About this item
Important Made in USA Origin Disclaimer: For certain items sold by Walmart on Walmart.com, the displayed country of origin information may not be accurate or consistent with manufacturer information. For updated, accurate country of origin data, it is recommended that you rely on product packaging or manufacturer information.
Some Kind Of Trouble
Custard/Atlantic recording artist James Blunt's hugely anticipated new album "Some Kind Of Trouble" finds Blunt in a delightfully upbeat frame of mind, capturing the five-time Grammy-nominated troubadour's newfound sense of spontaneity and excitement. "Some Kind Of Trouble" marks a new chapter for Blunt, who sees his internationally successful first two albums as a kind of matched pair - action and reaction.
The album - which follows 2007's acclaimed "All The Lost Souls" - will be heralded by the infectious single, "Stay The Night." Other highlights include the bittersweet "These Are The Words," the trenchant, pointed "Superstar" and the powerful, unsentimental ballad, "No Tears," which Blunt views as the album's anchor, describing it as "the summing up of a life," explaining that, "There are certain songs along the way that are milestones, that define a writer to themselves. 'No Tears' is my milestone on this album."
With global album sales now at a staggering 18 million, James Blunt is without question among the most gifted and successful singer/songwriters of his generation. He first captured the world's attention in 2005 with his 2x RIAA platinum-certified debut, "Back To Bedlam", which featured the history-making #1 classic, "You're Beautiful." "All The Lost Souls" followed two years later, debuting atop the album charts in 10 countries and earning unanimous critical acclaim for such hits as "1973" and "Same Mistake."
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Which ex Gaiety Girl was managing director of Aintree from 1958 to 1973? | An Englishmans Favourite Bits of England Vol 4
An Englishmans Favourite Bits of England Vol 4
Index Part 1 of Volume 4
Hauntings of Royal Naval Hospital Haslar, England
Famous Hauntings of England
Mrs Duncan – The Last Witch to be Tried in England
Is This Proof of Reincarnation?
Wymering Manor House – The Most Haunted House in England
Stonehenge and It's Eerie Past
City of Bath, England – History and Ghosts
List of Spooky and Ghostly IOW Hauntings
James Herbert OBE – English Iconic Horror Author
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley– English Iconic Author
Sir Michael Caine - English Iconic Actor
Sir Henry Irving – Iconic English Actor Manager
James Bond 007 – British Icon
Dr. Who - A British TV Icon
Sir Rex Harrison - English Iconic Actor
Sir John Mills - English Iconic Actor
Sir Norman Wisdom – Comic Actor and Singer
7th Century to Swinging Naughties - British Icons
Swinging Sixties – British Fashion Designers
Swinging Sixties ( London ) – British Iconic Music
The New Romantics – 1980's London Music
World's First Football Chant – by Edward Elgar
Village of Wenlock, England – A Modern Olympic Games – 1850
Sir Isaac Newton – Iconic Scientist
Charles Darwin 1809 – 1882
Lady Godiva (1040-1080 AD) – An English Icon
English Spa Towns – Iconic Places
Edward Somerset – English Inventor of The First Steam Engine 1653
The First Steam Locomotive – England 1804
Howard Carter – The Discoverer of Tutankhamen
Sir Henry Wood – The Last Night Of The Proms
Toad In The Hole – English History and Recipe
Bubble and Squeak – English Recipe and History
Index Part 2 of Volume 4
Black Pudding – It's English History and Recipe
British Cheeses – Types and Taste
English Crumpets – History and Recipe
English Custard – History and Recipe
Spotted Dick or Spotty Dog – English Pudding Recipe
The Earliest Sandwich – It's English History
Ye Olde English Marmalade – History and Recipe 1480 AD
English Chelsea Buns – History and Recipe
English Mustard – An English Icon
Lardy Cake – 15th Century History and Recipe
History of Cribbage – An English Iconic Game
History of English Lawn Bowls – Jactus Lapidum
Jigsaw Puzzles – An English Iconic Game
The Valentine Card – An English Icon
Sir Francis Walsingham – Spymaster for Queen Elizabeth 1
MI6 and "C" – First Head of MI6 from 1911
P.M. Mrs Margaret Thatcher – The Iron lady
British Knighthoods – Iconic History
William Shakespeare – British Playwright Icon
The Globe Theatre – London Icon
Portsmouth Football Club ( Pompey ) 1898
Twenty20 Cricket – It's Founder and History
Commonwealth Games – The Friendly Games
Earliest Horse Races – England 12th Century
The Grand National – England 1839
The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race – It's Fun History
British Seaside Piers – History from 1391
Robert Thompson – “The Mouseman” Furniture Maker
Hauntings and History of Royal Naval Hospital Haslar, England
Many years ago I worked at Royal Naval Hospital Haslar, England and as its history is very interesting I thought I would write about it's fun history. The Royal Hospital Haslar began as a Royal Navy hospital in 1753. It has a long and distinguished history in the medical care of service personnel in peacetime and in war. The buildings were designed by Theodore Jacobsen and built from 1746 and completed in 1762. St Luke's Chapel was added in 1762 and later still, a landing stage was added so troops could reach the hospital directly from ships.
Haslar was the biggest hospital and the largest brick building in England when it was built. The hospital included an asylum for sailors with psychiatric disorders and an early superintending psychiatrist was the phrenologist, William Scott, a member of the influential Edinburgh Phrenological Society. James Lind at Haslar Hospital 1758-1774 played a large part in discovering a cure for scurvy, not least through his pioneering use of a double blind trial of vitamin C supplements.
Ghosts of RNH Haslar
A lot of poltergeist activity has been reported in the galley. According to a clairvoyant who worked in the hospital there are three ghosts occupying the kitchen area and many more around the hospital.
1) Michael Connelly, an Irishman who apparently likes the cooking. 'Michael' apparently like to let the galley workers know that they are there. It has been reported that all the files in the office have been tipped on the floor several times by unexplained means, and witnesses have claimed that the taps have turned on by themselves. The radio has apparently turned itself down.
2) An angry man called Derek who appears to have died from stab wounds. 'Derek' and The evening supervisor has reported that cutlery has been thrown around and it has also been claimed by witnesses that the kettle has switched itself on and that doors have opened by themselves
3) A woman called Margaret who haunts the spiral staircase. She is believed to have tripped over something before the stairs were built and died as a result. One of the Wardroom stewards claimed to have met 'Margaret' a few years ago walking up the spiral staircase. She said she met an elderly woman coming down and, thinking she was lost the steward asked her if she needed some help. However, the woman had vanished.
4) There is also a spirit who inhabits the old Senior Rates Mess. Several people have claimed that some parts of the galley are bitterly cold where the rest of it is warm; another favourite trick of all the ghosts is leaving puddles of water on the floor. Many members of the galley staff have claimed to have heard tapping on the window of the chef's office, which has encouraged them to leave for the public restaurant in a hurry.
5) Several members of staff have reported seeing the figure of a man in the corridor outside the galley. One claims to have seen a man look in the door (she went to ask if he was lost but when she got there there was nobody in sight).
6) Another reports having seen the reflection of an older man in the window (he turned around to ask if the man was looking for something, again nobody could be seen). Many people have complained that this corridor gets bitterly cold even when all the windows are shut and the heaters are on.
7) In F Block which used to be the lunatic asylum - the galley, which is opposite, used to be the yard where those in the asylum had their exercise and this area is claimed to be a 'psychic hotspot.
8) Outside the Operating Theatre's Staff have claimed to experience a sensation of being followed and most have reported a feeling of fear while being in this area. Staff members have claimed to hear footsteps as they have walked down the corridor and have admitted that they have quickened their pace while walking alone along it. Most members of the nursing staff choose to take the long route from B block to E block in order to avoid it.
A clairvoyant has claimed that the spirit residing in the corridor died because of a botched operation - an emergency procedure (as he was in immense pain), probably to save him from a blood clot. A hole was drilled in his left temple to relieve the pressure but he died in the corridor. It is claimed that he can only rest once the operation is repeated and the new patient dies. The original spirit is attempting to guide the other man's spirit back to his body. This is supposedly because there was nobody around to help him when he died.
9) In the Children's Ward A member of staff claims to have seen the ghost of a little girl who runs around the top floor of D Block. A large number of children were killed in a fire in this part of the building, but nothing specific is known about this tragedy. The area is now closed as the paediatric department has moved to another hospital.
10) In the Cellar's where I used to use to cut across the hospital (which are now closed), but before that, they were used as a short cut to the X-Ray department. In the days before anaesthetic the cellars accommodated the operating theatres and housed the insane; it has been reported that you can still hear screams and the rattling of chains. During the Second World War the cellars were once again used as operating theatres and as wards during the height of air raids.
11) In the Canada Block the money used to build this accommodation block was raised by the 'Women of Canada' during the Great War. It has been claimed that many spirits supposedly inhabit Canada Block along with unexplained noises and lights turning on and off. The ghost that most have reported seeing is that of a nurse who hanged herself during the First World War. Just to add to this, Canada Block is also built in the site of the original hospital graveyard.
12) Near St. Lukes Church an MoD Police officer described a ghost he'd witnessed while on a night patrol at St. Luke's church at Haslar Hospital. He'd seen an elderly woman walking towards the church, but when he returned less than a minute later, she had disappeared. An hour later, the hospital mortician told him about the body he'd dealt with earlier that day. The description matched that of the woman the police officer had seen.
With its history of pain and distress its not surprising that Haslar is haunted by distressed spirits.
Interesting Facts about RNH Haslar
a) In 1902 the hospital became known as the Royal Naval Hospital Haslar (abbreviated to RNH Haslar).
b) In the 1940s, RNH Haslar set up the country’s first ’blood bank’ to help treat wounded soldiers from the Second World War.
c) In 1966 the remit of the hospital expanded to serve all three services - the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force.
d) In 1996 the hospital again became known as the Royal Hospital Haslar.
e) In 2001 the provision of acute healthcare within Royal Hospital Haslar was transferred from the Defence Secondary Care Agency to the NHS Trust. The Royal Hospital was the last MOD-owned acute hospital in the UK. The change from military control to the NHS, and the complete closure of the hospital have been the subject of considerable local controversy.
f) The last military-run ward was ward E5, a planned orthopaedic surgery ward. The ward encompasses 21 beds in small ’rooms’, and is run by the military staff with some NHS colleagues; the ward manager is a serving military officer. The ward is served by both military and NHS doctors; the ancillary staff are non-military.
g) The ward E5 closed in 2009 along with the rest of the site and military staff will move to new posts within MDHU Portsmouth or other units around the country.
h) To mark the handover of control to the civilian NHS trust, the military medical staff marched out of RH Haslar in 2007, exercising the unit’s rights of the freedom of Gosport.
i) The staff consisted of Royal Air Force, Royal Navy and Army led by a band of the Royal Marines. The Gosport citizens are said to deeply saddened by the closure of Haslar and there are campaigns to keep the hospital open. Gosport politicians cite that that the UK is the only country in the Western world not to have a dedicated Military hospital, run by and for its military staff - who understand the needs and ideology of the service person. At present, most casualties from conflicts return to Selly Oak Hospital, Birmingham.
J) The grounds are said to contain the bodies of at least 20,000 service personnel.
In 2001 Haslar was designated a Grade II listed historic park. Several of the buildings are listed.
Famous Hauntings of England
During my life here in England I have had various supernatural experiences which has led me to list just some of the many famous hauntings which may be of interest to readers.
This is a list of the most famous haunted locations in England, there are likely to be hundreds of thousands more that are only locally known.
Airfields around the country are said to have paranormal activity arising from the spirits of airmen who died in World War II. Airfields include:
the former RAF Bircham Newton in Norfolk.
the former RAF East Kirkby in east Lincolnshire. The control tower is haunted by a 'malign' presence
the former RAF Elsham Wolds, near the A15 just north of Barnetby in North Lincolnshire. The control tower was reportedly haunted by a friendly ghost of an airman, reported in the 1950s. Phantom Lancasters have reportedly been seen taking off at night over the A15.
Arundel Castle in Sussex is often said to be home to just four ghosts but there are more ghostly goings on between its ancient walls than first meets the visitor. The spirit of the first Earl of Arundel, who originally built the castle, is said to still haunt the Castle's Keep. Another spirit is said to be of a young woman who, stricken with grief from a tragic love affair, took her own life by jumping to her death from one of the towers. Seen by some, she is said to still haunt the castle on moonlit nights dressed in white. Another spirit is that of a 'Blue Man' who has been seen within the library since the 1630s and it is thought that he could be a Cavalier due to his time period seeming to be from King Charles I's reign. Another notable 'spirit' is that strangely of a white owl like bird. Legend tells that if the white bird is seen fluttering in one of the windows, it is an imminent warning of a death of a Castle resident or someone closely associated. It's interesting to note here that Dukes used to keep a colony of white American Owls here at the castle before its restoration. There is also mention of a servant lad who once lived at the castle who was treated very badly until beaten to his death. He is said to now haunt the kitchen area and has been seen scrubbing pots and pans. Another strange sighting was more recent in 1958 by a footman. Working late one night on the ground floor the footman was walking near the servant's quarters and saw what he thought to be a man walking in front of him when he thought he had been alone. As he got closer to the apparition the man faded and then was gone.
Bochym Manor is residence to two ghosts, the short pink lady, and an unnamed ghost who stands at one of the bedroom windows.
Belgrave Hall in Leicester, attracted attention in 1999 when a white figure was captured on CCTV. One theory is it is the daughter of a former owner.
50 Berkeley Square is reputed to be the most haunted house in London.
Blue Bell Hill in Kent, specifically the A229. This has been the site of a female phantom hitchhiker. Cars have stopped to pick up a female hitchhiker, only for her to vanish to the drivers' disbelief.
Borley Rectory in the village of Borley, Essex, England. Many sightings have been reported since 1885. The house burned down in 1939, and remains a huge source of controversy.
Brislington, once an attractive Somerset village but now a neighbourhood in Bristol, has many ghosts in pubs and hotels, houses old and new, and public spaces.
Bruce Castle in Tottenham, North London is haunted by the ghost of a woman who allegedly appears every 3 November. The ghost is thought to be Lady Coleraine, who was kept locked in a chamber within the castle by her husband.
Castle Lodge, Ludlow in Ludlow, Shropshire, is believed by many to be haunted by a young girl in Tudor dress. Some say this is Catherine of Aragon, who lived in Castle Lodge during her marriage to Prince Arthur.
Chingle Hall in the village of Goosnargh, near Preston, England. Chingle Hall, previously known as Singleton Hall, was built in 1260 by Sir Adam de Singleton. It is reputably haunted by more than one spirit.
Crowley Hall in the north of England, is supposedly haunted by the spirit of Dr. Bernard Leys. Leys ran the hall for a number of years before dying under mysterious circumstances in 1952. Sightings of ghosts have been reported since the 1970s.
Dartmouth, Devon, ancient maritime town has many modern and traditional ghost stories including (in its hinterland) some recently discovered spirits from the Bronze Age.
In Dorset an axe wielding ghost riding a horse, bareback is described by witnesses as looking like a stone age warrior.
Hampton Court Palace, home of King Henry VIII of England, whose fifth wife, Catherine Howard, is supposed to be heard screaming in the "Haunted Gallery". On December 21, 2003, CCTV footage allegedly showed someone in 16th century clothes and no face closing a fire door that, though locked, was constantly being opened without anyone near it.
Minsden Chapel in Hertfordshire is reported to be haunted by a monk climbing stairs which no longer exist.
The Old Bailey, London's main criminal court. A figure (of unclear sex) supposedly appears in the building during important trials. These appearances have been allegedly witnessed by judges, barristers and policemen.
Pluckley in Kent is listed in the 1998 edition of the Guinness Book of Records as the most haunted village in England. Ghosts include a phantom coach and horses, a colonel and a highwayman.
The Brown Lady of Raynham Hall has been sighted quite a few times over the years. She is so called because of the brown brocade dress she is supposedly seen wearing while wandering the halls and staircase. In 1849 a Major Loftus and a friend named Hawkins claimed to see the ghost one night after retiring to bed, saying they were amazed by the old-fashioned clothing she wore. The next night Loftus claimed to see the figure once again, saying he took note of her empty eye-sockets. The incident resulted in several members of staff resigning and a full investigation of Raynham Hall involving local detectives.
There have been a number of reported sightings at the Royal Albert Hall, including the ghost of Father Willis, walking around inside the organ and two ladies wandering the corridors.
Samlesbury Hall in Preston, Lancashire, is supposedly haunted by Lady Dorothy Southworth, known as the "White Lady". Weeping is often heard, and her ghost has been seen wandering near where her lover was buried.
Temple Newsam is reported to be the most haunted house in Yorkshire, with the most famous ghost being Mary Ingram, commonly known as "the Blue lady", who in her life became deranged after an attack by highwaymen. Ghosts linked with the more famous residents of Temple Newsam include "the White lady": this is said to be the ghost of the "nine days queen", the unfortunate Lady Jane Grey. She was executed by Mary I.
Windsor Castle — home of English and British royalty for 1,000 years. Numerous ghosts are supposed to have been seen, including Queen Elizabeth I. Her mother, Anne Boleyn, is also said to haunt Windsor castle and supposedly runs down a corridor screaming. Among those who claimed to have seen the ghost, who sometimes is said to be carrying her head, are King George VI, William Ewart Gladstone and Andrew, Duke of York.
Muncaster Castle in the Lake District National Park, Ravenglass.
Pendle Hill, near Clitheroe, Lancashire
Pendle Hill is one of the scariest places. Injuries, strange sightings, uncanny feelings of dread, and even ‘possessions', abounded.
Halloween at Pendle Hill – an appropriate time, as this beautiful area experienced English history's most famous witchcraft trials. Ten witches were hanged, accused of putting curses on locals using clay effigies.
Palace Theatre, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex
If you settle down to watch a performance at this grand old theatre, the seat next to you might not be as empty as you think…
Actors have reported weird tobacco smells, and theatre-goers sitting with no one beside them have reported feeling a hand on their shoulder.
The spirit is thought to be that of a theatre manager who hung himself from the fly floor when the theatre got into financial difficulties. Sightings of a ‘distinguished woman in white' and the sound of a piano coming from the deserted pit add to the eerie atmosphere.
1) Macbeth's castle
Glamis Castle, Angus, Scotland
The setting for Shakespeare's Macbeth (a play that's not short on its own ghosts and superstitions), Glamis is regarded by paranormal-investigator types as the most haunted castle in Britain.
Among the many alleged ghostly goings-on over the centuries have been a card game between the Earl and the devil (they are said to still play every Sunday, in a secret room within the crypt walls) and an incident a few years ago, when an Edinburgh lawyer visiting for dinner saw a lady in white float beside his car, all the way to the door. And he hadn't even had an aperitif.
1. Country house haunting
Levens Hall, near Kendal, Lake District, Cumbria
Imposing old country houses were just made to be haunted, and Levens Hall, an Elizabethan manor house with a creepy 12th-century tower, fits the bill nicely.
Once again there's a lady involved, though here it's the Grey Lady, who was, so legend tells, a gypsy who was refused food and shelter during a harsh 17th-century winter. Sometimes a black dog accompanies her, so at least she's not lonely.
There's also a lesser-spotted Pink Lady, and a phantom harpsichord player, though he or she hasn't been heard since the 1950s.
Lord Byron's ruined country pile
Newstead Abbey, Nottinghamshire
As well as yet another White Lady (frankly, White Ladies are ten-a-penny in the world of British hauntings), the ancestral home of Lord Byron (he of "mad, bad and dangerous to know" fame) positively throngs with phantasms.
The Goblin Friar was said to appear to the head of the Byron family before an unhappy event (such as the arrival of the gas bill).
Also, look out for the Black Friar who, in the 1930s, pointed a lost doctor to the bedroom of a lady who was about to give birth. Nice to know that ghosts aren't always moody and unhelpful.
· A visitation in the pews
St Mary's Church, Beaminster, Dorset
In the spring of 1728 a boy from the school within the church, John Daniel, was found dead near his home. As he was known to suffer from fits, he was buried without an inquest.
A few days later, some schoolboys found a coffin in the church, with John Daniel sitting next to it. Presently, the apparition and coffin disappeared.
The magistrate was believed the boys, and had the body exhumed. John Daniel was found to have been strangled. No one was apprehended for the crime.
So it's more of an historical haunting, but would you spend a night in St Mary's?
· Yorkshire's most haunted inn
The Busby Stoop Inn, Thirsk, North Yorkshire
At this windswept Yorkshire pub, you can't move at the bar for parapsychologists, such is the place's renown.
The murderer Thomas Busby's remains were hanged outside the pub after his execution in 1702. He had been the landlord, a boozy thief who killed his father-in-law with a hammer.
Busby cursed the chair he was dragged from by the cops, and anyone who sat in it afterward was said to have died soon afterward. The chair is now in a local museum, but Busby's ghost is still spotted, his head drooping and a rope around his neck.
· Celebrity ghosts: The Tower of London
As it was the location of violent, bloody tortures and executions for hundreds of years, it's little wonder the Tower of London is London's ghost-central.
And because of the erstwhile English penchant for beheadings, it's home to some classic headless spectres, many of them veritable celebrities.
Anne Boleyn is said to walk the corridors in a headless state, and also to promenade on Tower Green with her head intact. Sir Walter Raleigh has been spotted, too.
Dogs, it's said, will not enter the spooky Salt Tower. There are also two anonymous ghosts known, not very originally, as the Grey Lady and the White Lady.
· Pagan burial site
The Ram Inn, Wooton under Edge, Gloucestershire
Lots of inns in the UK claim to be the ‘most haunted', but by general consensus, The 12th-century Ram Inn is the daddy.
It was converted into a private residence in 1968, but that hasn't affected its legendary status in the annals of the paranormal. Child sacrifice and black magic practices are alleged to have taken place here.
The Bishop's Room is the hotspot: visitors have reported apparitions, unexplained noises, ghostly orbs and even a spectral cat. To cap it all, the Ram is supposed to have been built on an old pagan burial site.
True Spooky Stories – Called Fate, Bibles, Witches and Castles
During my lifetime I have had many various supernatural experiences including hearing of stories that brings a chill to the back of the neck. Please don't start reading these stories after dark - you have been warned. The first of four stories concerns Fate.
The sport of Cricket has been played in one form or another for over 1,000 years in England. The game consists of 11 players per side and the object of the game is to bowl out the batsman who is defending a set of wickets.
Fate – Gods Revenge
Many years ago in a Hampshire Village in England there was a Cricket Match being played. Going into bat was Jack Smith aged 28 years of age, who had played for his team for many years. During the course of his innings he hit many runs and reached 55 when the weather changed and started to get grey and overcast.
Just as he was about to make a run, after hitting the ball, Lightening appeared from nowhere and struck him on the foot and knocked him a distance of many metres.
Suffice to say, he was knocked unconscious and taken to hospital where he was treated for slight burns and nerve damage.
Over the next twelve months he recuperated and finally recovered from his shocking experience.
One day he was sitting watching TV when he received a visit from his old cricketing pal, Bill. It transpired that the cricket team were short of players and Jack was asked if he would like to play a match the following Sunday. After much persuasion, he agreed to play for the village team the following Sunday.
The sun was bright and hot that Sunday with lots of spectators watching including his parents. The game progressed with the opposition making 158 runs all out. Then Jacks team went into bat with the hot sun still shining and just before Tea Jacks team were on 76 for 4 wickets when a team mate was bowled. It was Jack's turn to bat, so on he walked to the crease and waited with bated breath for the first ball. All of a sudden the weather changed and it became very dark and cloudy and before he could hit the first ball an almighty bang and lightening strike hit Jack on the head and he was thrown over 100 Metres, dead as a dodo.
I was told this true story by one of the Cricket Players who happened to also be a good friend. In truth, he asked me to play that same match but I was too busy to play (thank god) I believe in fate and God and I believe that when your time is up your time is up.
The Haunted Bible
The second story concerns my life in Gosport when I was 13 years old. One day my step mother and her friend went to a house contents sale where my step mother brought a silver covered bible. About a week later our TV went on the blink and a repairman was called in to sort out the problem.
The doorbell rang and at the door stood the TV repairman. He refused to enter the house because he felt an evil presence and he described and asked if there was a bible with a silver cross on the cover. When he was told that, yes it was a recent acquisition, the repairman told my step mother to burn the bible to cleanse the evil presence. This she did and when the TV repairman returned he told her the evil had gone. Months later she read in the paper that the TV repairman had been sacked for scaring customers with his psychic abilities.
The Hauntings at Arundel Castle
· The third story concerns Arundel Castle in Sussex is often said to be home to just four ghosts but there are more ghostly goings on between its ancient walls than first meets the visitor. The spirit of the first Earl of Arundel, who originally built the castle, is said to still haunt the Castle's Keep. Another spirit is said to be of a young woman who, stricken with grief from a tragic love affair, took her own life by jumping to her death from one of the towers. Seen by some, she is said to still haunt the castle on moonlit nights dressed in white. Another spirit is that of a 'Blue Man' who has been seen within the library since the 1630s and it is thought that he could be a Cavalier due to his time period seeming to be from King Charles I's reign. Another notable 'spirit' is that strangely of a white owl like bird. Legend tells that if the white bird is seen fluttering in one of the windows, it is an imminent warning of a death of a Castle resident or someone closely associated. It's interesting to note here that Dukes used to keep a colony of white American Owls here at the castle before its restoration. There is also mention of a servant lad who once lived at the castle who was treated very badly until beaten to his death. He is said to now haunt the kitchen area and has been seen scrubbing pots and pans. Another strange sighting was more recent in 1958 by a footman. Working late one night on the ground floor the footman was walking near the servant's quarters and saw what he thought to be a man walking in front of him when he thought he had been alone. As he got closer to the apparition the man faded and then was gone.
Stonehenge and It's Eerie Past
One of the most spooky experiences I have ever had was driving past Stonehenge, during a cold misty winter's night, with the light of a full moon reflecting of the stone's. As this is one of the most English iconic sights in the world I thought I would write about it's history. For 5000 years, the structure on Salisbury Plain has continued to baffle and intrigue all those who have considered it and it seems it will continue to do so for many more years to come. Stonehenge is a World heritage site which is older than the Pyramids.
Criss Crossing the English countryside are Leylines which are Psychic lines of force that surround Stonehenge and where the Leylines cross forces of Psychic energy is released. This could explain why the area surrounding Salisbury and Stonehenge is famous for the appearance of a number of “Crop Circles”.
The mystery of the Stone Circles lies more in their ancient majesty than in the enigma of when they were built, or by whom—more in their magic than their history. Of course, interest in the origin of, say, Stonehenge, is as sizeable as the monument itself, and the debate as to how it was built by cavemen — or indeed, a lost civilization of some scientific and cultural achievement — rages on.
But whatever your take, the fact remains that if you’ve ever spent the night at Stonehenge, or any other stone circle for that matter, you will likely have experienced something really quite special—something that embodies in a very real way what could never be experienced simply by crunching the numbers.
Without question something tangible occurs when you enter the inner circle of Stonehenge at midnight. The air stills. The giants come alive. Magic happens.
And it’s that magic more than any facts or figures that informs you of what Stonehenge is all about. If you’ve never done it, I recommend you do. Permission needs to be gained from the relevant authorities and a small fee is required. But it’s worth it.
Stonehenge can be referred to as a monument of the prehistoric times located in Wiltshire (an English country) at around 3.2 kilometers to the west of ‘Amesbury’ and thirteen kilometers to the north of ‘Salisbury’. It is considered to be amongst the most amazing prehistoric sites of the world. A round setting of huge standing stones with earthworks in the centre- comprises the Stonehenge. As per the archaeological survey, the erection of standing stones can be traced back to 2200 BC. The survey also states that the ditch and round earth bank surrounding the monument trace back to 3100 BC.
The Time line in the Building of Stonehenge
1) Pre-Construction
Four huge Mesolithic post holes have been found by certain archaeologists. They trace back to 8000 BC. They are said to lie underneath the modern tourist car park. Neolithic sites such as tombs having long barrows and causewayed enclosure were constructed in the landscape.
2) Stonehenge (3100 BC)
The 1st monument comprised of a round bank and enclosure of ditch made up of Seaford chalk belonging to Santonian Age. It had a diameter of approximately 110 metres. Bones of oxen and deer were placed at the ditch’s bottom.
3) Stonehenge (3000 BC)
The second phase has not left much evidence. From the appearance of some of the postholes, one can have a guess that timber structure had been built after the first phase. ‘Grooved ware’ pottery was the specialty of this phase.
4) Stonehenge (2600 BC)
This phase suggests that timber was replaced by stone. The site’s center had two concentric holes (R and Q holes) dug. Widening of northeastern entrance had taken place.
5) Stonehenge (2450 BC-2100 BC)
This phase marked the buying of thirty ‘Oligocene-Miocene’ sarsen stones from quarry on Malborough Downs.
6) Stonehenge BlueStones
By this time, bronze era had already dawned. Bluestones had been re-erected. This was the first ever event of that time.
7) Stonehenge (2280 BC-1930 BC)
The bluestones were further rearranged by placing them in circle. Altar stone was made to stand vertically. A horseshoe-shaped setting was created thereafter.
8) After the Construction (1600 BC)
During this Iron Age, Vespasian’s Camp, a hill fort was built near Avon.
City of Bath, England – History and Ghosts
Bath is one of my favourite English City's full of history and Ghosts. It is one of the most attractive city's in layout and history and is famous for it's Spa and Baths. The archaeological evidence shows that the site of the Roman Baths main spring was treated as a shrine by the Celts, and dedicated to the goddess Sulis. There is a legend that Bath was founded in 860 BC when Prince Bladud, father of King Lear, caught leprosy. He was banned from the court and was forced to look after pigs. The pigs also had a skin disease but after they wallowed in hot mud they were cured. Prince Bladud followed their example and was also cured. Later he became king and founded the city of Bath.
The Romans probably occupied Bath shortly after the Roman Invasion of Britain in 43AD. They knew it as Aquae Sulis ('the waters of Sul'), identifying the goddess with Minerva.
In Roman times the worship of Sulis Minerva continued and messages to her scratched onto metal have been recovered from the Sacred Spring by archaeologists. These are known as curse tablets. Written in Latin, and usually laid curses on other people, whom they feel had done them wrong. For example, if a citizen had his clothes stolen at the Baths, he would write a curse on a tablet, to be read by the Goddess Sulis Minerva, and also, the "suspected" names would be mentioned. The collection from Bath is the most important found in Britain.
It has been suggested that Bath may have been the site of the Battle of Mons Badonicus (circa 500 AD), where King Arthur is said to have defeated the Saxons, but this is disputed. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle mentions Bath falling to the West Saxons in 577 after the Battle of Deorham.
The Anglo-Saxons called the town Baðum, Baðan or Baðon, meaning "at the baths," and this was the source of the present name. In 675, Osric, King of the Hwicce, set up a monastic house at Bath, probably using the walled area as its precinct. King Offa of Mercia gained control of this monastery in 781 and rebuilt the church, which was dedicated to St. Peter. Bath had become a royal possession. The old Roman street pattern was by now lost, and King Alfred laid out the town afresh, leaving its south-eastern quadrant as the abbey precinct. Edgar of England was crowned king of England in Bath Abbey in 973.
King William Rufus granted the city to a royal physician, John of Tours, who became Bishop of Wells and Abbot of Bath in 1088. It was papal policy for bishops to move to more urban seats, and he translated his own from Wells to Bath. He planned and began a much larger church as his cathedral, to which was attached a priory, with the bishop's palace beside it. New baths were built around the three springs. Later bishops, however, returned the episcopal seat to Wells, while retaining the name of Bath in their title.
By the 15th century, Bath's abbey church was badly dilapidated and in need of repairs. Oliver King, Bishop of Bath and Wells, decided in 1500 to rebuild it on a smaller scale. The new church was completed just a few years before Bath Priory was dissolved in 1539 by Henry VIII. The abbey church was allowed to become derelict before being restored as the city's parish church in the Elizabethan period, when the city revived as a spa. The baths were improved and the city began to attract the aristocracy. Bath was granted city status by Queen Elizabeth 1 and a Royal Charter in 1590. From then on Bath had a mayor and aldermen. There were some improvements in the little town. Bellots almshouses were built in 1609. In 1615 a 'scavenger' was appointed to clean the streets of Bath. In 1633 thatched roofs were banned because of the risk of fire.
However like all towns Bath suffered from outbreaks of the plague. It struck in 1604, 1625, 1636 and 1643.
There had been much rebuilding in the Stuart period, but this was eclipsed by the massive expansion of Bath in Georgian times. The old town within the walls was also largely rebuilt. This was a response to the continuing demand for elegant accommodation for the city's fashionable visitors, for whom Bath had become a pleasure resort as well as a spa. The architects John Wood the elder and his son John Wood the younger laid out the new quarters in streets and squares, the identical facades of which gave an impression of palatial scale and classical decorum. The creamy gold of Bath stone further unified the city, much of it obtained from the limestone Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, which were owned by Ralph Allen (1694–1764). The latter, in order to advertise the quality of his quarried limestone, commissioned the elder John Wood to build him a country house on his Prior Park estate. A shrewd politician, he dominated civic affairs and became mayor several times.
The early 18th century saw Bath acquire its first purpose-built theatre, pump room and Assembly Rooms. Master of Ceremonies Beau Nash, who presided over the city's social life from 1705 until his death in 1761, drew up a code of behaviour for public entertainments.
By the 1801 census the population of Bath had reached 40020 making it amongst the largest cities in Britain.
William Thomas Beckford bought a house in Lansdown Crescent in 1822, eventually buying a further two houses in the Crescent to form his residence. Having acquired all the land between his home and the top of Lansdown Hill, he created a garden over half a mile in length and built Beckford's Tower at the top.
Bath Spa Rail Station was built in 1840 for the Great Western Railway by Brunel and is a grade II listed building.
Between the evening of 25th April and the early morning of 27th April 1942 Bath suffered three air raids in reprisal for RAF raids on the German cities of Lübeck & Rostock. The three raids formed part of the Luftwaffe campaign popularly known as the Baedeker Blitz: they damaged or destroyed more than 19,000 buildings, and killed more than 400 people. Much damage was done to noteworthy buildings. Houses in the Royal Crescent, Circus and Paragon were burnt out along with the Assembly Rooms, while the south side of Queen Square was destroyed. All have since been reconstructed.
Bath is a very haunted city and below is a list of the more famous ghosts:
The man in the black hat
Easily Bath's most famous and most-seen ghost, the man in the black hat is dressed in late 18th-century attire and sometimes wears a billowing black cloak. He's regularly seen around the Assembly Rooms. For the best results, look for him at Saville Row and Bennett Street.
Freezing Hill
Several ghosts have appeared in the vicinity of Freezing Hill, just outside Bath. Most of these phantoms are from the 17th century, when this hill was the site of the bloody Battle of Lansdown.
The best opportunity to see these ghosts is from The Park, a 240 acre estate featuring a Jacobean mansion that is now an hotel. You can also enjoy a fine meal at The Oakwood Restaurant, and play golf at their Crown and Cromwell courses.
The Royal Crescent
It's not a movie that's being filmed at the Royal Crescent when you see an elegant coach drawn by four horses. Instead, you're witnessing a residual haunting, repeating the elopement of Elizabeth Linley of No. 11, with Irish playwright and politician Richard Brinsley Sheridan.
Sheridan was not Miss Linley's only suitor. Captain Thomas Mathews (a married man) and Lord Sheridan fought two duels--with swords--over the lovely Miss Linley.
Sheridan may have won her hand in marriage, but he later proved unfaithful. Elizabeth contracted tuberculosis and died at age 38. A bronze plaque at number 11 Royal Crescent marks the address from which she eloped.
The Theatre Royal the Garrick's Head pub
The Theatre Royal and Garrick's Head are next door to each other. Their ghost stories seem to be interwoven, and the ghosts congenially wander from one building to the other.
At least two ghosts appear in this area. One is an unfaithful wife and the other is her lover, from the 18th century. The lover was killed by the husband, and the wife committed suicide. Look for a woman (some say there are at least two) in a grey dress. The lover is handsome and well-dressed.
A second anomaly is noted at the Theatre Royal: A tortoiseshell butterfly appears there during the pantomime run each year, which is not butterfly season.
Popjoy's Restaurant
Many visit this former home of Richard "Beau" Nash for the fine food. However, the restaurant hosts at least two ghosts, both of them women. One is Juliana Popjoy, the 18th-century mistress of Beau Nash.
The other ghost is Janice (or perhaps Janet). She is more modern, dressed in attire best suited to the 1960's. She dines alone and looks perfectly normal until she vanishes.
The Beehive Public House
'Bunty', a serving girl from the Victorian Era or slightly earlier, appears in the kitchen of The Beehive, a popular Bath public house.
Crystal Palace Tavern
A hooded figure--perhaps a monk--appears at this tavern when he is concerned that the structure may change, such as during repairs or redecorating. He usually appears briefly and is fairly transparent.
Julia, of Queens Square
This jilted bride has been seen strolling around the Square in her white gown.
Today Bath continues to thrive on tourism. Moreover in 2006 a new spa opened in Bath so perhaps the old glory days will return! Today the population of Bath is 85,000.
Famous Hauntings of The Isle Of Wight, England
The Isle of Wight is one of my favourite places to visit and stay. In the late 1970's we had a family holiday on the Isle of Wight and stayed in a Holiday Caravan. The island is famous for its Hauntings of places and houses and I thought it would be interesting to write about these spooky going – ons. The first Ghost Story concerns Dimbola Lodge which was the home of the famous 19th century photographer Julia Margaret Cameron. It is said her ghost haunts the museum and the visitors have reported the smell of photographic chemicals.
This small island is home to hundreds of ghosts and spooky happenings. There are all sorts of Isle of Wight ghosts - from phantom monks, grey ladies and poltergeists - to the shades of smugglers, soldiers, Royalty and Romans. There are ghostly murderers and their victims, ghost-ships out at sea, and even a ghost-train still running on long vanished rails.
With the Island´s rich historical heritage, its violent and colourful past, it´s not surprising that ghostly goings-on and haunting echoes of those turbulent times continue to reverberate through 21st century. Hundreds of unquiet and restless Isle of Wight ghosts have been reported here in Hotels, Hospitals, manor houses, Pubs, Shops and offices, while the spirits of smugglers and shipwrecked seamen walk lonely West Wight beaches.
List of Spooky and Ghostly IOW Hauntings
As a visitor to the IOW I thought I would list some spooky stories.
APPULDURCOMBE HOUSE, Wroxall. This handsome haunted mansion with its 365 windows and 52 rooms is now a shell of its former self. The ghosts however, remain. They include a phantom carriage, brown-clad monks, dark shapes glimpsed flitting through the grounds. A baby´s cry is heard, and unseen hands regularly leaf through pages of the visitors´ book. KNIGHTON GORGES, Newchurch. Known as the Island´s most haunted place, every New Year´s Eve, people gather to wait for the ghostly house to re-appear. A pair of weathered stone gateposts are all that remain of the manor house of Knighton Gorges, yet it lives on, its blood-red history a testament to murder, suicide, insanity, malice, and a gallery of ghosts. A coach and horses, poltergeist lights, phantom revels and tales of stone creatures seen upon the gate pillars are just a few of the spooky happenings in this strange place. A brutal family murder and a young girl pushed from a window to her death are at the heart of the hauntings here. A little child in a blue dress is regularly seen and heard, crying "Mama Mama". Other regular visitors are ghostly monks, whose grave chanting is heard, while the figure of a woman wearing a cherry-red gown has also been seen.
Carisbrook Castle For more than nine centuries it has stood firm against attack, but within its walls, ghosts roam. In the famous well house where donkeys work the wooden tread wheel, the face of a dead girl who drowned in the160ft deep well, has been seen. A mysterious cloaked figure, with four dainty lap dogs, walks the castle grounds. Other phantoms include a Victorian lady in grey and tragic Princess Elizabeth, daughter of King Charles I, who died a prisoner here.
HARE AND HOUNDS
Arreton Murderous woodcutter Micah Morey who killed his young grandson in cold blood in 1737, was tried and hanged, and his corpse left rotting on the gibbet at Gallows Hill, near the Hare and Hounds, until it became ´an offence to eye and nostril´. The gibbet crossbeam, complete with a notch cut in it beside the date of his execution can be seen in the pub. Morey´s restless spirit can also be seen, roaming Gallows Hill, carrying a large axe.
VENTNOR BOTANIC GARDENS
For almost a century, the world-renowned chest hospital Royal National Hospital specialised in treating the killer disease, tuberculosis. When the half-mile long building was demolished in 1969, the site was transformed into gardens. The hospital was haunted long before this, and even today long-dead patients are still seen and heard. Ghostly weeping, groaning, and smells of ether are reported. A sickly, consumptive-looking ghost, and phantom nurses in old-fashioned uniforms walk the gardens.
THE PUB THAT VANISHED
You may never find this one, but have fun trying! One dark November night, two Island men set out from Newtown, on what became the strangest night of their lives. They came upon a pub - the Falcon or the Vulcan - where they shared a drink with some unsociable spirits. The drab bar felt unwelcoming and cold. Hostile eyes turned towards the two strangers and all conversation ceased. They drank up quickly and left. The strange old-fashioned pub, which was along a narrow lane somewhere between Newtown and Calbourne, has never been seen again. Despite repeated attempts, neither the lane nor ghostly pub has ever been found.
Northwood House, Cowes Old Town. Northwood House is a Grade II listed Victorian residence built by the Ward family in 1837. It was donated under Trust to the town in 1929, the grounds becoming Northwood Park. Between 1902 and 1906, it was occupied by French Benedictine nuns, and the ghost of one of these sisters can be seen flitting through the park at night. Old stone tunnels under the park were once used by smugglers and, in cellars under the house, the ghost of a grinning pirate appears. On a still night, the sound of boxes and kegs being moved around in the empty cellars can sometimes be heard!
Ghosts of Godshill Church.The Norman church at Godshill is associated with a legend that is common throughout Britain with slight variations. Tradition tells that the original site of the church was towards the Southwest, but each night the stones of the church were moved by an unknown agency on to the hill where the church now stands. The builders of the church wanted to discover who was moving the stones and posted a watch of two guards during the night. While keeping vigil they were astonished to see the stones move up the hill of their own volition. This was taken to be a sign from God that the church should be built of the hill, and the site was named Godshill afterwards. In other traditions it was actually the fairies who moved the stones. The meaning of this folklore motif is obscure, but it has been suggested that it has its roots in the fact that many churches were built on top of older places of worship.
Haunting of St Catherines Lighthouse in Niton Village. St Catherine's Lighthouse is situated in Niton Undercliffe, 5 miles from Ventnor and was built in 1838 following the loss of the ship called The Clarendon on rocks near to the present location. It's Lighthouse haunted by a dark burley man.
The Ghosts of Osborne House Osborne House is haunted by many Spirits in the rooms and hallways. One of the ghosts is supposed to be that of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, Earl of Clarence and Baron Arklow.
Mrs Duncan – The Last Witch to be Tried in England
The fourth story concerns the last person to be tried as a witch was a Mrs Duncan, a Scotswoman who travelled the country holding seances, was one of Britain's best-known mediums, reputedly numbering Winston Churchill and George VI among her clients, when she was arrested in January 1944 by two naval officers at a seance in Portsmouth. The military authorities, secretly preparing for the D-day landings and then in a heightened state of paranoia, were alarmed by reports that she had disclosed - allegedly via contacts with the spirit world - the sinking of two British battleships long before they became public. The most serious disclosure came when she told the parents of a missing sailor that his ship, HMS Barham, had sunk. It was true, but news of the tragedy had been suppressed to preserve morale.
Desperate to silence the apparent leak of state secrets, the authorities charged Mrs Duncan with conspiracy, fraud, and with witchcraft under an act dating back to 1735 - the first such charge in over a century. At the trial, only the "black magic" allegations stuck, and she was jailed for nine months at Holloway women's prison in north London. Churchill, then prime minister, visited her in prison and denounced her conviction as "tomfoolery". In 1951, he repealed the 200-year-old act, but her conviction stood.
Is This Proof of Reincarnation?
As an Englishman from a country that has many stories of the supernatural I thought I would write about a story that links America with 12th Century York, England.
Many years ago I was reading about this lady american Doctor W. who had spent many years and hypnotised many thousands of volunteer patients, investigating Past Live regression during the 1960's -1970's. Past Life Regression is when a person is hypnotised back before they are born into a past life.
One day she was hypnotising one of her patients who was regressed back to a past life.
The story concerns a period in the 1190's of upheaval in the English City of York during a pogrom against the Jews. This lady believed she was called Susanne de Blouir and she was being chased by a riotus crowd because of her jewness. At the time of her fleeing she had her baby in her arms, which made it difficult to run and escape.
Finally she arrived outside the entrance to York Minster Cathedral and ran through the front doors seeking sanctuary. Finding no one around, she flees to the back of the Cathedral and runs down some steps that led into some rooms. One of the rooms had a door slightly ajar, and she runs through the door and then down some more steps. While running down the steps the woman here's the front doors of the Cathedral open and the noise of the screaming mob come pouring in. Terrified and clutching her baby the woman arrives at a long passage which ends at a door which leads into a Crypt. The woman enters the Crypt and sees various tombs incuding a stone carved black knight lieing on top of a tomb. She puts the baby down and trie's to barr the door with any furniture she could find.
After a period of moments, the door is banged upon and the mob tries to get into the crypt.
Beacuse of the emotion and fear by the woman under hypnosis the doctor decide's to bring the woman out of hypnosis.
Suffice to say, the woman believed her today's lifetime fear of confined spaces could be explained by this past life in 12th century York.
The Doctor decided to investigate this story by contacting the dean at York Minster in England and asking if they had such a thing as a Crypt with a black knight's tomb. After many weeks the dean contacted the doctor and explained York Minster had no record of any Crypt. This seems to confirm the doctors fears that this patient was dreaming and imagining the story. The strange thing was the woman had never travelled outside the state of Kansas, yet she knew so many things about the dress code of York etc. ( Remember this was in the 1960's-1970's before the Internet)
Forward ten years and outside York Minster the road was being dug up by some workman when all of a sudden the road collapses into a dark abyss. The Fire brigade is called and they lowered some fire fighters down into the deep hole. The hole ended in a stone floor after clearing away some of the rubble he realised he was in a Crypt. In a far corner was the skeleton of a trapped and tied up woman and next to her was a baby skeleton.
It seems that the mob had finally got through the door and tied the woman up and then sealed and bricked up the door while she was still alive.
The spooky thing about this story is that Doctor W. 's book was printed ten years before they found the Crypt and skeleton's.
I believe this story proves Reincarnation – what does the reader think?
Please scroll down the page and vote for this story by clicking on the Stars.
Wymering Manor House – The Most Haunted House in England.
As I am from Portsmouth, England I thought it may be of interest to write about the oldest house in Portsmouth dated from 1042 AD which is also the most haunted house in England called Wymering Manor House.
Although most of the current structure dates back to the 16th century, the manor goes back much further. Records show the first owner of Wymering Manor was King Edward the Confessor in 1042 and then after the Battle of Hastings it fell into the hands of King William the Conqueror until 1084. The house has been altered and renovated continually over the centuries, yet remarkably it has retained materials dating back to medieval and even ancient Roman times.
Having changed ownership many times over these hundreds of years, the property was eventually adopted by the Portsmouth City Council, then sold for a short time to a private organization for development into a hotel. When the development fell though, the property reverted to the council, which has again put it up for auction.
Once a country manor, the structure is now surrounded by modern houses. And when it was saved from demolition and used as a youth hostel, many areas of the building were "modernized" and have an unfortunate, institutional feel.
With this rich history it's no surprise perhaps that Wymering Manor should be haunted.
Below are some of the Ghosts that haunt Wymering Manor:
The Lady in the Violet Dress. When Mr. Thomas Parr lived at Wymering Manor, he awoke one night to the sight of an apparition standing at the foot of his bed. It was his cousin, who had died in 1917. Dressed in a full-length violet-coloured dress, the spirit spoke to him in a friendly and matter-of-fact manner, telling him of her recent religious experiences and about other deceased family members. Suddenly the ghost said, "Well, Tommy dear, I must leave you now as we are waiting to receive Aunt Em." In the morning, Parr received a telegram with the news that his Aunt Em had died during the night.
The Blue Room. An elderly relative of Thomas Parr, who was staying in the "Blue Room," was careful always to lock her door at night, as she feared break-ins by burglars. One morning she was surprised to find her door unlocked and open.
The Choir of Nuns. Mr. Leonard Metcalf, an occupant of the house who died in 1958, said he occasionally saw a choir of nuns crossing the manor's hall at midnight. They were chanting, he claimed, to the clear sound of music. His family never believed his story as they didn't know - and neither did Mr. Metcalf - that nuns from the Sisterhood of Saint Mary the Virgin visited the house in the mid-1800s.
The Panelled Room. The so-called "Panelled Room" may be the manor's most dreaded. The Panelled Room served as a bedroom in the manor's south east corner, and as Metcalf was using the washbasin one day, he was startled by the distinct feeling of a hand on his shoulder. He turned quickly to find no one there. Others have felt an oppressive air in this room, instilling a strong feeling to flee. When the building served as the youth hostel, its warden and wife expressed an unexplained fear of the room.
Other Paranormal occurrences reported at the manor include visitors who claim to have heard the whispers of children, spotted strange apparitions and seen items in the manor move of their own accord. Dramatic drops in temperature and accounts of unusual or intimidating 'spirit energies' have also been reported. Film and video footage has captured both orbs and other strange light anomalies.
James Herbert OBE – English Iconic Horror Author
I am a great fan of James Herbert who has written some great pieces of Horror including my favourite – The “Rats” which I brought in 1974. As a teenager every time James Herbert released a new horror book I would be joining the queue at my local W H Smiths. James Herbert was born on the 8th April 1943 and has sold over 40 million books worldwide. All through my life I can remember reading the newest James Herbert book at certain special events of my life. I remember buying “The Fluke” in 1977 when I first started work and reading “The Jonah” when I had just got engaged in 1981.
During my lifetime I have had many Supernatural experiences which I have written about in my many articles which can be found at my website . I recommend to any “Horror Story” fan to go out and buy any of James Herbert's books (They are so much better than Stephen king's) but don't forget to read his books with plenty of lights on and not in a spooky haunted house.
List of James Herbert Books:
2003: Devil In The Dark
2006: The Secret Of Crickley Hall
2010: Ash
James Herbert was awarded the Order Of The British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours list.
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley– English Iconic Author of Frakenstein
Mary Shelley will forever be remembered for her novel “Frankenstein” one of the scariest books you will ever read. Mary was born on the 30th August 1797 in Somers Town, England to well-known parents: author and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft and philosopher William Godwin. Mary was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer and travel writer who was best known for her Gothic Novel Frankenstein and The Modern Prometheus.
She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic Poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley who she had married in 1816 after the death of his wife Harriet.
In 1816, the couple famously spent a summer with Lord Byron, John William Polidori and Claire Clairmont near Geneva, Switzerland, where Mary conceived the idea for her novel Frankenstein. The Shelley's left Britain in 1818 for Italy, where their second and third children died before Mary Shelley gave birth to her last and only surviving child, Percy Florence.
In 1822, her husband drowned when his sailing boat sank during a storm in the Bay of La Spezia. A year later, Mary Shelley returned to England and from then on devoted herself to the upbringing of her son and a career as a professional author.
Until the 1970s, Mary Shelley was known mainly for her efforts to publish Percy Shelley's works and for her novel Frankenstein, which remains widely read and has inspired many theatrical and film adaptations. Recent scholarship has yielded a more comprehensive view of Mary Shelley’s achievements.
Scholars have shown increasing interest in her literary output, particularly in her novels, which include the historical novels “Valperga” (1823) and “Perkin Warbeck” (1830), the apocalyptic novel “The Last Man” (1826), and her final two novels, “Lodore ” (1835) and “Falkner” (1837).
Studies of her lesser-known works such as the travel book “Rambles in Germany and italy” (1844) and the biographical articles for “Dionysius Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopaedia” (1829–46) support the growing view that Mary Shelley remained a political radical throughout her life.
Mary Shelley's works often argue that cooperation and sympathy, particularly as practised by women in the family, were the ways to reform civil society. This view was a direct challenge to the individualistic Romantic ethos promoted by Percy Shelley and the Enlightenment political theories articulated by her father, William Godwin.
In the mid-1840s, Mary Shelley found herself the target of three separate blackmailers. In 1845, an Italian political exile called Gatteschi, whom she had met in Paris, threatened to publish letters she had sent him. A friend of her son's bribed a police chief into seizing Gatteschi's papers, including the letters, which were then destroyed. Shortly afterwards, Mary Shelley bought some letters written by herself and Percy Bysshe Shelley from a man calling himself G. Byron and posing as the illegitimate son of the late Lord Byron . Also in 1845, Percy Bysshe Shelley's cousin Thomas Medwin approached her claiming to have written a damaging biography of Percy Shelley. He said he would suppress it in return for £250, but Mary Shelley refused.
The last decade of her life was dogged by illness, probably caused by the brain tumour that was to kill her at the age of 53 on the 1st February 1851.
Sir Michael Caine - English Iconic Actor
Sir Michael Caine is one of England's greatest iconic actors and is famous for his starring roles from Harry Palmer etc. Michael Caine was born Born Maurice Micklewhite in Rotherhithe, London, on the 14th March 1933. Michael Caine was the son of a fish-market porter and his mother was a cook and housewife. Caine grew up in Camberwell, London, and during the WWII he was evacuated to North Runcton in Norfolk. As a fan, my favourite film would have to be "Zulu" which is shown most christmas's on British TV.
In 1944, he passed his eleven plus exam, winning a scholarship to Hackney Downs Grocers School. After a year there he moved to Wilson's Grammar School in Camberwell (now Wilson's School in Wallington, South London), which he left at sixteen after gaining a School Certificate in six subjects.
He then worked briefly as a filing clerk and messenger for a film company in Victoria Street, London and the film producer Jay Lewis in Wardour Street, London.
In 1952, when he was called up to do his National Service, until 1954, he served in the British Army's Royal Fusiliers, first at the BAOR HQ in Iserlohn, Germany and then on active service during the Korean War. Caine has said he would like to see the return of National Service to help combat youth violence, stating: "I'm just saying, put them in the Army for six months. You're there to learn how to defend your country. You belong to the country. Then when you come out, you have a sense of belonging rather than a sense of violence."
Upon his return to England he gravitated toward the theatre and got a job as an assistant stage manager. He adopted the name of Caine on the advice of his agent, taking it from a marquee that advertised The Caine Mutiny (1954).
In the years that followed he worked in more than 100 television dramas, with repertory companies throughout England and eventually in the stage hit, "The Long and the Short and the Tall." Zulu (1964), the 1964 epic retelling of a historic 19th-century battle in South Africa between British soldiers and Zulu warriors, brought Caine to international attention. Instead of being typecast as a low-ranking Cockney soldier, he played a snobbish, aristocratic officer. Although "Zulu" was a major success, it was the role of Harry Palmer in Ipcress File (1965) and the title role in Alfie (1966) that made Caine a star of the first magnitude.
He epitomized the new breed of actor in mid-'60s England, the working-class bloke with glasses and a down-home accent. However, after initially starring in some excellent films, particularly in the 1960s, including Gambit (1966), Funeral in Berlin (1966), Play Dirty (1969), Battle of Britain (1969), Too late the Hero (1970), The last Valley (1971) and especially Get Carter (1971). He gave a magnificent performance opposite Sean Connery in The Man Who Would Be King (1975) and turned in a solid one as a German colonel in The Eagle has landed (1976). During the 1980's “Educating Rita” (1983) and “Hannah and her Sisters” (1986) (for which he won his first Oscar) were highlights of the 1980s, while more recently Little Voice (1998), The Cider House Rules (1999) (his second Oscar) and Last Orders (2001) have been widely acclaimed.
Playing the part of Harry Brown
Inception (2010)
Playing the part of Miles
Is Anybody There? (2009)
Playing the part of Clarence
Flawless (2008)
Playing the part of Hobbs
The Dark Knight (2008)
Playing the part of Alfred
Sleuth (2007)
Playing the part of Andrew Wyke
Children of Men (2006)
Playing the part of Jasper
The Prestige (2006)
Playing the part of Cutter
Batman Begins (2005)
Playing the part of Alfred
Bewitched (2005)
Playing the part of Nigel Bigelow
The Weather Man (2005)
Playing the part of Robert Spritz
Around the Bend (2004)
Playing the part of Henry Lair
Secondhand Lions (2003)
Playing the part of Garth
The Actors (2003)
Playing the part of Tom O Malley
The Statement (2003)
Playing the part of Pierre Brossard
Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)
Playing the part of Nigel Powers
The Quiet American (2002)
Playing the part of Thomas Fowler
Last Orders (2001)
Playing the part of Jack Dodds
Quicksand (2001)
Playing the part of Jake Mellows
Shadow Run (2001)
Playing the part of Cliff Brumby
Miss Congeniality (2000)
Playing the part of Victor Melling
Quills (2000)
Playing the part of Doctor Royer-Collard
Shiner (2000)
Playing the part of Billy Shiner Simpson
Curtain Call (1999)
Playing the part of Max Gale
The Cider House Rules (1999)
Playing the part of Doctor Wilbur Larch
The Debtors (1999)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1998)
Little Voice (1998)
Playing the part of Ray Say
Blood & Wine (1997)
Playing the part of Victor Spansky
Mandela & de Klerk (1997)
Midnight in St. Petersburg (1995)
On Deadly Ground (1994)
Playing the part of Michael Jennings
World War II - When Lions Roared (1994)
On Deadly Ground (1993)
Playing the part of Harry Anders
Noises Off (1992)
Playing the part of Lloyd Fellowes
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
Playing the part of Scrooge
Bullseye! (1990)
Playing the part of Dr Daniel Hicklar/ Sidney Lipton
Mr. Destiny (1990)
Playing the part of Mike
A Shock to the System (1990)
Playing the part of Graham Marshall
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)
Playing the part of Lawrence Jamieson
John Huston: The Man, The Movies, The Maverick (1988)
Playing the part of Himself
Without A Clue (1988)
Playing the part of Sherlock Holmes
Jaws: The Revenge (1987)
Playing the part of Hoagie
Surrender (1987)
Playing the part of Sean Stein
The Fourth Protocol (1987)
Playing the part of John Preston
The Whistle Blower (1987)
Playing the part of Frank Jones
Half Moon Street (1986)
Playing the part of Lord Sam Bulbeck
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
Playing the part of Elliot
Mona Lisa (1986)
Playing the part of Mortwell
Sweet Liberty (1986)
Playing the part of Elliot James
Water (1986)
Playing the part of Baxter Thwaites
The Black Windmill (1986)
Playing the part of Noel Holcroft
Blame It on Rio (1984)
Playing the part of Matthew Hollis
The Jigsaw Man (1984)
Playing the part of Sir Philip Kimberley/ Sergeo Kuzminsky
Beyond the Limit (1983)
Playing the part of Charley Fortnum
Educating Rita (1983)
Playing the part of Dr Frank Bryant
Deathtrap (1982)
Playing the part of Sidney Bruhl
Victory (1981)
Playing the part of Captain John Colby
The Hand (1981)
Playing the part of Jon Lansdale
Dressed to Kill (1980)
Playing the part of Dr. Robert Elliott
The Island (1980)
Playing the part of Blair Maynard
Ashanti (1979)
Playing the part of Dr David Linderby
Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979)
Playing the part of Mike Turner
California Suite (1978)
Playing the part of Sidney Cochran
Silver Bears (1978)
Playing the part of Doc Fletcher
The Swarm (1978)
Playing the part of Brad Crane
A Bridge Too Far (1977)
Playing the part of Lieutenant Colonel Joe Vandeleur
Harry and Walter Go to New York (1976)
Playing the part of Adam Worth
Peeper (1976)
Playing the part of Leslie Tucker
The Eagle Has Landed (1976)
Playing the part of Lieutenant-Colonel Kurt Steiner
The Man Who Would Be King (1975)
Playing the part of Peachy Carnehan
The Romantic Englishwoman (1975)
Playing the part of Lewis
The Wilby Conspiracy (1975)
Playing the part of Keogh
The Black Windmill (1974)
Playing the part of Major Tarrant
The Destructors (1974)
Playing the part of Deray
Pulp (1972)
Playing the part of Mickey King
Sleuth (1972)
Playing the part of Milo Tindle
X Y & Zee (1972)
Playing the part of Robert
Get Carter (1971)
Playing the part of Jack Carter
Kidnapped (1971)
Playing the part of Alan Breck
The Last Valley (1971)
Playing the part of Captain
Too Late the Hero (1970)
Playing the part of Private Tosh Hearne
Battle of Britain (1969)
Playing the part of Squadron Leader Canfield
The Italian Job (1969)
Playing the part of Charlie Croker
Deadfall (1968)
Playing the part of Henry Clarke
Play Dirty (1968)
Playing the part of Captain Douglas
The Magus (1968)
Playing the part of Nicholas Urfe
Billion Dollar Brain (1967)
Playing the part of Harry Palmer
Gambit (1967)
Playing the part of Harry
Hurry Sundown (1967)
Playing the part of Henry Warren
Tonite Let s All Make Love in London (1967)
Playing the part of Himself
Woman Times Seven (1967)
Playing the part of Handsome Stranger
Funeral in Berlin (1966)
Playing the part of Harry Palmer
Solo For Sparrow (1966)
Playing the part of Mooney
The Wrong Box (1966)
Playing the part of Michael Finsbury
Alfie (1965)
Playing the part of Alfie
The Ipcress File (1965)
Playing the part of Harry Palmer
Zulu (1964)
Playing the part of Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead
The Wrong Arm of the Law (1962)
The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961)
Carve Her Name With Pride (1958)
How to Murder a Rich Uncle (1958)
Playing the part of Gilrony
The Key (1958)
Playing the part of Gestapo Agent
A Hell in Korea (1956)
Playing the part of Private Lockyer
Back to Top
The Fourth Protocol (1987)
Executive Producer
There is, in a filmography of over 80 titles (plus TV work) and his own performances seem from 5 out of 10 up to 10 out of 10. When the material was right, as in The Man Who Would Be King (US, d. John Huston, 1975), few can touch him for conviction and subtlety. In the latter film, his second wife, Shakira Baksh, played her last screen role;
Caine now runs his own production company, M & M Productions, with business partner Martin Bregman. He was made a CBE in 1992, knighted and awarded a BAFTA fellowship in 2000.
Sir Henry Irving – Iconic English Actor Manager
One of the most famous English theatrical Actor Manager's in the Victorian era was Sir Henry Irving who was born John Henry Brodribb on Feb. 6th 1838 in Keinton Mandeville, Somerset, England. Irving is thought to have been the inspiration for the title character in Lyceum manager “Bram Stoker's” 1897 novel “Dracula”.
Bram Stoker left Dublin for London in 1878 to take a position managing the Lyceum Theatre for actor manager Sir Henry Irving. During his long career at the Lyceum he wrote many fantastic stories and novels, cementing his fame with Dracula. Stoker's tale made vampires famous, and his creepy Count Dracula based on Sir Henry Irving became the model for the popular movie “Dracula” of the 20th century
He toured for 10 years with a stock company before making his London debut in 1866. With his success in The Bells (1871), he became a leading actor in H.L. Batman's company (1871 – 77).
As actor-manager of the Lyceum Theatre (from 1878), he made it London's most successful theatre. He formed a celebrated acting partnership with Ellen Terry that lasted until the company dissolved in 1902. They were noted for their Shakespearean roles, and their theatrical qualities complemented each other: he the brooding introvert, she the spontaneous charmer.
He was a champion of the star system and produced artistic spectacles that emphasized scenic detail. As an actor he was most successful in the "realistic" melodramas of his day and in Shakespeare's plays, which he liberally abridged. To him acting was movement and emotion; his realistic approach to creating a character, in which he stressed that the actor should incorporate real feelings into his characterization, led to the noted controversy with his French contemporary, Coquelin, who advocated simulated emotion (or representation) in acting. His company frequently toured the United States where he became quite well known.
Irving was knighted in 1895, the first actor to be so honoured.
His acting divided critics; opinions differed as to the extent to which his mannerisms of voice and deportment interfered with or assisted the expression of his ideas. On October 13th 1905, Henry Irving appeared as “Becket” at the Bradford Theatre, he was seized with a stroke just after uttering Becket's dying words 'Into thy hands, O Lord, into thy hands', and though he lived for an hour or so longer he never spoke again. He was brought to the lobby of the Midland Hotel, where he died. The chair that he was sitting in when he died is now at the Garrick Club. He was buried in Westminster Abbey. There is a fabulous statue of Sir Henry Irving behind “The National Portrait Gallery” in London.
James Bond 007 – British Icon
James Bond is one of the most recognisable Movie Characters in the world and was written by Ian Fleming an English writer who was born in London on may 28th, 1908. As a youngster growing up in Portsmouth, England he was one of my favorite writer's and James Bond one of my favourite characters. I suppose my favorite actor to play James Bond was Roger Moore who I think was the closest to the original character written by Ian Fleming. My favourite baddie has to be Christopher Lee – The man with the Golden Gun. Since the launch of the first film the total box office takings has reached over 8 Billion Pounds.
James Bond 007 is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. The character has also been the longest running and most financially successful English-language film franchise to date, starting in 1962 with Dr. No.
The hero, James Bond, was named after an American Ornithologist who was a Caribbean bird expert and author of the definitive field guide book “Birds of The West Indies”.
Ian Fleming, a keen birdwatcher had a copy of Bond's field guide at Goldeneye.
With reference to the James Bond name, Fleming once said in a Readers Digest interview, "I wanted the simplest, dullest, plainest-sounding name I could find, 'James Bond' was much better than something more interesting, like 'Peregrine Carruthers.' Exotic things would happen to and around him, but he would be a neutral figure — an anonymous, blunt instrument wielded by a government department."
Nevertheless, news sources speculated about real spies or other covert agents after whom James Bond might have been modelled or named, such as Sidney Reilly or William Stephenson who was best-known by his wartime intelligence codename of Intrepid.
Although they were similar to Bond, Fleming confirmed none as the source figure, nor did Ian Fleming Publications nor any of Fleming's biographers, such as John Pearson or Andrew Lycett.
Historian Keith Jeffrey speculates in his authorized history of MI6 that Bond may be modeled on Fleming's close friend, Bill Biffy Dunderdale a MI6 agent whose sophisticated persona and penchant for pretty women and fast cars closely matches that of Bond.
After Fleming's death in 1964, subsequent James Bond novels were written by Kingsley Amis, John Gardner, Raymond Benson and Sebastian Faulks. Moreover, Christopher Wood novelised two screenplays, Charlie Higson wrote a series on a young James Bond while other writers have authored unofficial versions of the character.
There have been 22 films in the EON Productions Series to date, the most recent of which was Quantum of Solace which was released on 31 October 2008 here in the UK.
There has also been an American television adaptation and two independent feature productions. Apart from movies and television, James Bond has also been adapted for many other media, including radio plays, comic strips and video games.
The EON Produced films are generally termed as "official" films originating with the purchase of the James Bond film rights by producer Harry Saltzman in the late 1950s.
James Bond's association with Aston Martin sports cars has helped further boost the brand's already strong image and popularity since Bond (first played by Sean Connery) who first drove an Aston Martin in Goldfinger in 1964. A poll by Lloyds TSB in September 2010 revealed that Aston Martin was the most desired brand of "dream" car in Britain.
List of James Bond films.
Dr. No 1962
From Russia With Love 1963
Goldfinger 1964
You Only Live Twice 1967
On Her Majesty's Secret Service 1969
Diamonds Are For Ever 1971
Live and Let Die 1973
The Man With the Golden Gun 1974
The Spy Who Loved Me 1977
Moonraker 1979
For Your Eyes Only 1981
Octopussy 1983
A View To A Kill 1985
The Living Daylights 1987
Dr. Who - A British TV Icon
Dr. Who is the World's longest running Science Fiction television series and as I am a great fan of this BBC show I thought I would write about It's fun history. The programme depicts the adventures of a mysterious and eccentric humanoid alien known as the Doctor who travels through time and space in his spacecraft, the Tardis (an acronym for “Time And Relative Dimensions In Space”), which normally appears from the exterior to be a blue 1950s British Police Box. With his companions, he explores time and space, faces a variety of foes and saves civilizations, helping others and righting wrongs, as well as improving the way people, aliens and robots choose to live their lives.
Some episodes from the 1960s are missing due to the BBC's 1970s junking policy, and thus their serials are incomplete. In the first two seasons and most of the third, each episode of a serial had an individual title; no serial had an overall on-screen title until The Savages. The serial titles are the most common title for the serials as a whole, used in sources such as the Doctor Who Reference Guide and the BBC's classic episode guide, and are generally those used for commercial release. The practice of individually titled episodes resurfaced with the 2005 revival, when Doctor Who's serial nature was abandoned in favour of an episodic format.
The first incarnation of The Doctor was portrayed by William Hartnell for 29 episodes. During Hartnell's tenure, the Doctor visited a mixture of both stories set in the future and historical events that had no extraterrestrial influence, such as fifteenth century MesoAmerica. In his last story, The Tenth Planet, the Doctor gradually grew weaker to the point of collapsing at the end of the fourth episode, leading to his regeneration.
The Second incarnation of the Doctor was portrayed by Patrick Troughton for 31 episodes and whose serials were more action-oriented. He retained the role until the last episode of The War Games when members of the Doctor's race, the Time Lords, put him on trial for breaking the laws of time.
The Third Incarnation of the Doctor was portrayed by Jon Pertwee for 23 episodes. Sentenced to exile on Earth and forcibly regenerated at the end of The War Games, the Doctor spends his time working for Unit. After The Three Doctors, The Time Lords repeal his exile, however the Doctor still worked closely with UNIT from time to time. The Third Doctor regenerated into his Fourth incarnation, as a result of radiation poisoning, near the end of Planet Of The Spiders.
The Fourth Incarnation of the Doctor was portrayed by Tome Baker for 40 episodes and is to date the longest-serving Doctor, having held the role for seven seasons.
The Fifth Incarnation of the Doctor was portrayed by Peter Davidson for 19 episodes and who was also famous for his role in “All Creatures Great and Small”.
The Sixth Incarnation of the Doctor was portrayed by Colin Baker for 11 episodes.
The Seventh Incarnation of the Doctor was portrayed by Sylvester McCoy for 12 episodes.
The Eighth Incarnation of the Doctor was portrayed by Paul McGann for one Movie.
The Ninth Incarnation of the Doctor was portrayed by Christopher Ecclestone for 10 episodes.
The tenth Incarnation of the Doctor was portrayed by David Tennant for 36 episodes.
The eleventh Incarnation of the Doctor was portrayed by Steven Moffat for 24 episodes up to the end of 2011. Hopefully he will continue as Doctor Who after 2011 even though it is not confirmed. Hopefully he will stay in the role for a good five years.
There have been many Doctor Who radio broadcasts over the years. In addition to a small number of in-house BBC productions, a larger number of radio plays produced by Big Finish began to be broadcast on BBC Radio 7 from 2005, featuring the Eighth Doctor (again played by Paul McGann) with mainstay companions Charley Pollard and later Lucie Miller. All told there were 24 episodes broadcast on BBC radio and later on audio tapes/cd.
Sir Rex Harrison - English Iconic Actor
Sir Rex Harrison was an English Iconic Actor who had a long and distinguished career. One of his most iconic roles was as Dr. Doolittle in the 1960's film when he talked to the animals. He was born Reginald Carey Harrison on March 5th 1908 in Huyton, Lancashire, England. He was a Debonair and distinguished British star of stage and screen for more than 66 years. Sir Rex Harrison is best remembered for playing charming, slyly mischievous characters.
Stagestruck from boyhood, suave British actor Rex Harrison joined the Liverpool Repertory Theatre at the age of 16, beginning a 66-year career that would culminate with his final performance on Broadway, May 11, 1990, three weeks prior to his death.
Best known for his Tony - and Oscar-winning portrayal of Professor Henry Higgins in Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's "My Fair Lady", he made his West End debut in "Getting George Married" (1930) and his Broadway debut in "Sweet Aloes" (1936), but it was a two year run on the London stage in Sir Terrence Rattigan's "French Without Tears" that made him a star. Appearances in other sophisticated comedies, S N Behrman's "No Time for Comedy" and Noel Coward's "Design for Living" (both 1939), established him as what Coward himself called "the best light comedian in the world--after me."
Rex Harrison's feature debut came in "The Great Game" (1930), and starring turns in movies like "Night Train to Munich", (1940) "Major Barbara" (1941) and "Blithe Spirit" (1945) brought him to the attention of Hollywood, leading to a seven-year contract with 20th Century-Fox. He scored a major triumph as the King in "Anna and the King of Siam" (1946) and recorded another success with "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" (1947), but subsequent films performed poorly at the box office, although Preston Sturges' "Unfaithfully Yours" (1948) later acquired a cult status.
Actor and studio parted company by mutual agreement, and Harrison returned to Broadway, earning a Tony for his 1948 performance as King Henry VIII in Maxwell Anderson's "Anne of the Thousand Days". Continued acclaim followed for his work in T S Eliot's "The Cocktail Party" and John van Druten's "Bell, Book and Candle" (both 1950). He directed and starred in "The Love of Four Colonels" (1953) and a revival of "Bell, Book and Candle" (1954) and "Nina" (1955), all for the London stage. He made his Broadway directing debut with "The Bright One" (1958).
Despite having, in his own words, a vocal range of "one-and-a-half notes", Harrison talked his way through the numbers of Lerner and Loewe's "My Fair Lady" (1956), directed for the stage by Moss Hart, and became the darling of the critics, playing the show for two years in New York and another in London. His waspish professor of phonetics was "crisp, lean, complacent and condescending until at last a real flare of human emotions burns the egotism away," wrote Brooks Atkinson in THE NEW YORK TIMES, and the success of "My Fair Lady" once again brought Harrison important film offers.
He earned his first Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Julius Caesar in "Cleopatra" (1963), stealing the picture from his more famous co-stars, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Reprising Higgins for the 1964 film version of "My Fair Lady" opposite Audrey Hepburn brought him a Best Actor Oscar and international fame, and "Dr. Doolittle" (1967) introduced him to a new generation of moviegoers as he shamelessly enjoyed himself playing the fanciful jungle gentleman who conversed with wildlife.
Harrison devoted most of his remaining years to his first love, the stage, taking parts in such diverse plays as Luigi Pirandello's "Henry IV" and Rattigan's "In Praise of Love" (both 1974). He co-starred with Claudette Colbert in a Broadway production of "The Kingfisher" (1978), and, after returning to Broadway in "My Fair Lady" (1981), garnered some of the best reviews of his career for a Broadway revival of "Heartbreak House" (1983), later captured for posterity in a 1985 Showtime cable special.
Harrison portrayed Lord Grenham in London and Broadway productions of "Aren't We All?" (1984-85) and Grand Duke Cyril Romanov in the NBC miniseries, "Anastasia: The Story of Anna" (1986).
He last appeared on the London stage in "The Admirable Crichton" (1988) and bowed out in a Broadway revival of W Somerset Maugham's "The Circle", playing eight times a week just prior to his June 1990 death.
The oft-married man dubbed 'Sexy Rexy' by Walter Winchell never wanted to be anything but an actor and never intended to retire. "He died with his boots on, no doubt about it," said "The Circle" producer Elliot Martin. The actor, who was knighted in July 1989, played a wide variety of roles during his long career in theater and films, but he was best known for his portrayal of the waspish professor of phonetics in the musical based on George Bernard Shaw's play ''Pygmalion'' and “Dr. Doolittle”.
Sir John Mills - English Iconic Actor
Sir john Mills is one of England's greatest acting Icons and is remembered for appearing in more than 100 films in a 70 years plus period. Sir John Mills was born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills on February 22nd 1908, at the Watts Naval Training College in North Elmham, Norfolk, England. The young Mills grew up in Belton, where his father was the headmaster of the village school and in in Felixstowe, Suffolk, where his father was a mathematics teacher and his mother was a theatre box-office manager. As a fan of John Mills my favourite of his films was “Ice Cold in Alex”, “The Colditz Story” and “Great Expectations”.
After training as a dancer, he was first on stage in the chorus of The Five O'Clock Revue (1929) and was regularly on the London stage, in revues, musicals and straight plays, throughout the 30s, as well as making films before war broke out. He is an engaging juvenile lead in such 1930s pieces as The Ghost Camera (1933), the chirpy musical Car of Dreams (1935), the love interest for Nova Pilbeam’s Tudor Rose (1936), and the schoolboy grown into soldier in Goodbye, Mr Chips (1939).
But WW2 changed everything for Mills, as it did for so many connected with British cinema. The roles he played ‘In Which We Serve’ (1942), ‘We Dive at Dawn’ (1943), ‘This Happy Breed’, ‘Waterloo Road’ (1944) and The Way to the Stars (1945) defined a new kind of British film hero. He was the boy next door in his ordinariness. He also established an everyman reliability under stress; showing himself to be decent, brave and loyal.
John Mills was always noted for his sincerity and believability rather than for romantic qualities. He topped the Picturegoer poll in 1947 for his performance as Pip, the personable everyman in 'Great Expectation's (1946), emphatically a figure for a supposedly more egalitarian Britain; the tormented hero, an industrial chemist who fears he may have committed murder, in The October Man (1947).
This ordinary decency was elevated in ‘Scott of the Antarctic’ (1948) to the status of national hero. It is the nobility of sacrifice for others which turns physical suffering and defeat into a spiritual triumph; a victory for the team rather than for charismatic individualism. In place of the debonair gentleman's dash and charm, Mills embodied a boyish enthusiasm which is deepened by testing into a gritty determination to continue whatever the cost.
He was the shabby private detective in ‘The End of the Affair’ (1954). The twitchy, repressed military types in ‘Tunes of Glory’ (1960) and ‘Tiara Tahiti’ (1962) and he is ultimately very moving as the father in ‘The Family Way’ (1966) who may have loved no one as much as his dead mate.
John Mills was also much admired in ‘Morning Departure’ (1950) as a similarly inspirational leader, this time a submarine captain who has to encourage three of his crew, trapped with him in their stricken craft, to face death calmly. Despite his versatility as an actor, Mills continued to achieve his greatest success in similar roles: as Commander Fraser in ‘Above Us the Waves’ (1955), and as Pat Reid, the head of the escape committee, in ‘The Colditz Story’ (1955).
It was however as the captain in 'Ice Cold in Alex' (1958) that pushed by exhaustion into alcoholism, which really brought out the best in Mills. A superb piece of film-making that embodied most of the key characteristics of ‘being British’. There are two lovely scenes, the first being at the sand hill and ensuing tension when Syms and Mills meet at the bottom after the Landover rolls back down. The second I feel is at the bar where Mills drinks the Carlsberg and his character courageously addresses post war attitudes. In return Qualye’s character admits that the British were not what he had supposed them to be. Both of these statements would both have been very conciliatory at the time. Why ‘Ice Cold’ did not win Oscars…
Typically, then he got the Oscar for a grotesque piece of facial and vocal distortion in the inflated Ryan's Daughter (1970) - supporting actor Oscars have always been drawn to this sort of cosmetic display - when one could nominate a dozen far less showy, more worthy contenders among his roles. Even in perfectly ordinary films like The Vicious Circle (1957), one never stops believing in him.
The later decades saw him many in character roles such as Gandhi (1982); Kenneth Branagh then enlisted him for Hamlet (1996) to play the mute role of `Old Norway', for whom Shakespeare had thoughtlessly failed to produce lines. Though partially now deaf and blind, he still evidenced the chipper persona honed below the decks in those films half a century earlier. The achievement is there in the CV and it has been recognised with a CBE (1960), a Knighthood (1976) and the BAFTA Special Tribute Award (1987).
List Of Sir John Mills Films:
1932
Quotes:
I've never considered myself to be working for a living; I've enjoyed myself for a living instead.
Sir John Mills died aged 97 on 23rd April 2005 in The Chilterns, Buckinhamshire following a chest infection. A few months after Sir John's death, his wife Mary Hayley Mills (Lady Mills) died on 1st December 2005. A British film actor par excellence, he was the last of his generation.
Sir Norman Wisdom – Comic Actor and Singer
I have just heard about the death of Sir Norman Wisdom one of the great English Comedians and I thought I would write an Englishman's view of his career. During the 1960's while growing up here in England one of the most popular films we used to watch on a Saturday Morning at the cinema was a Norman Wisdom Comedy. Norman was a great singer and musician apart from also being a Genius Comic Actor. Norman J. Wisdom was born on Feb 04, 1920 in Maryleborne, London, England. If you have never seen his films can I recommend that readers go out and buy one of his very funny films – you won't regret it.
After a difficult and poverty-stricken childhood he joined the 10th Hussars and began to develop his talents as a musician and stage entertainer. Wisdom’s mother left when he was nine, and he and his brother were left in the charge of their father.
Wisdom ran away from home when he was 11, but returned to become an errand boy with a grocery store on leaving school at 13. Later he was a coal-miner, a waiter, a pageboy and a cabin-boy, before joining the army and seeing service in India.
After leaving the army in 1946, he made his debut as an entertainer at the advanced age of 31 - but his rise to the top was phenomenally fast. A West End star within two years, he made his TV debut the same year and was soon commanding enormous audiences. By this time, he had adopted the suit that would remain his trademark - tweed cap askew with peak turned up, too-tight jacket, barely-better trousers, crumpled collar and tie awry. The character known as "the Gump" was to dominate Wisdom's film career during the 1950's and 1960's.
In 1966, Norman went to America to star on Broadway in the James Van Heusen-Sammy Cahn musical comedy Walking Happy. His highly-acclaimed performance was Tony nominated. He also completed his first American film as a vaudeville comic in The Night They Raided Minsky's is a 1968 film that purports to show the story of how striptease was invented at Minskys Burlesque circa 1927. Any opportunities which might have opened up by this Stateside success were cut short when he had to return to London owing to a family crisis.
His subsequent career was largely confined to television and he also toured the world with his successful cabaret act.
He won critical acclaim in 1981 for his dramatic role of a dying cancer patient in the play Going Gently. On 11th February 1987 Norman Wisdom was the subject of Thames television's 'This Is Your Life' for the second time.
He became prominent again in the 1990's when helped by the young comedian Lee Evans, whose act was heavily influenced by Wisdom's work. The highpoint of this new popularity was the knighthood which he received in 1999 from Queen Elizabeth II and after he was knighted, true to his accident-prone persona, he couldn't resist pretending to trip off the platform on his way out.
Also in the 1990s he appeared in the recurring role of Billy Ingleton in the long-running BBC comedy Last Of the Summer Wine. He also appeared in the Detective Series called “The last Detective” which also starred Peter Davidson.
In 2004 he made a cameo appearance in Coronation Street playing fitness fanatic pensioner Ernie Crabbe.
Norman Wisdom is a well-known and loved Film Icon especially in Albania and was the only Western actor whose films were allowed in the country during the Communist Dictatorship of Enver Hoxha. He is known as "Mr. Pitkin" in Albania, after the character he played in his films. The archetypal Wisdom plot where the common working man gets the better of his bosses was considered ideologically sound by Hoxha. In 1995 he visited the post-Stalinist country, where to his surprise he was greeted by many appreciative fans including the then-president of Albania, Sali Berisha. His fondness for Brighton & Hove Albion is renowned in Albania and subsequently there are many 'Seagulls' fans in Albania.
When England played Albania in 2001 during the World Cup qualifying round Norman Wisdom visited the England Team training ground where he was quickly surrounded by film fans including the England team of David Beckham, David James etc.
Norman Wisdom announced his retirement from the entertainment industry on his ninetieth birthday, on the 4th February, 2005. He spent his retirement spending more time with his family, playing golf and driving around the Isle of Man where he now lives (being a neighbour of John Rhys-Davies from Sliders).
In mid-2006 he was admitted to hospital after he suffered an irregular heart rhythm. He was in hospital for a few days after he was fitted with a pacemaker device to steady his heartbeat.
In 2007 he made his return to acting in the independent movie Expresso, premiering at the Cannes Film Festival on the 27th May.
List of Films:
· 1948: A Date with a Dream
· 1948-50: Wit and Wisdom (TV)
· 1953: Trouble in Store
· 1955: As Long as They're Happy
· 1955: Man of the Moment
· 1956: Up in the World
· 1957: Just My Luck
· 1967: Androcles and the Lion (TV)
· 1968: The Night They Raided Minsky's (The Night They Invented Striptease)
· 1969: What's Good for the Goose (Girl Trouble)
· 1970: Norman (TV)
· 1973: Nobody Is Norman Wisdom (TV)
· 1974: A Little Bit of Wisdom (TV)
· 1981: BBC PlayHouse: Going Gently (TV)
· 1983: BBC Bergerac: "Almost Like a Holiday"(TV)
· 1988: The 1950s: Music, Memories & Milestones (TV)
· 1992: Double X: The Name of the Game (Double X, Run Rabbit Run)
· 1995: Last of The Summer Wine (TV): episode "The Man Who Nearly Knew Pavarotti"
· 1996: Last Of The Summer Wine (TV): episode "Extra, Extra!"
· 1998: Where on Earth Is ... Katy Manning (TV)
· 2000: Last of the Summer Wine (TV): episode "The Coming of the Beast"
· 2002: Last of the Summer Wine (TV): episode "A Musical Passing for a Miserable Muscroft"
· 2002 Dalziel and Pascoe (TV): episode "Mens Sana"
· 2003: The Last Detective – episode called “Lofty Brock”
· 2004: Coronation Street (TV)
· 2004: Last of the Summer Wine (TV): episode "Variations on a Theme of the Widow Winstanley".
· 2007: Expresso – Film. Plays himself Sir Norman Wisdom.
· 2008: Evil calls – Film. Plays Winston Llamata.
· 2010: Labrats – Film. Voice over of a mouse called Scaredy. ( Still in Post Production )
➢ I Would Like to Put on Record
➢ Jingle Jangle
➢ The Very Best of Norman Wisdom
➢ Androcles and the Lion
➢ Follow a Star/Give Me a Night in June
➢ Happy Ending/The Wisdom Of A Fool
➢ Big in Albania - One Hit Wonderland
Sir Norman Wisdom, after suffering various strokes in the last 6 months of his life, died at 6-40 pm on Monday 4th October 2010 still living on his favourite Island - the Isle Of Man.
7th Century to Swinging Naughties - British Icons
England and Britain are famous worldwide for its many British Icons from Boudeca, Queen Chief of the Iceni Tribe, Football, Mini Skirt to the Mini Car and I thought I would tell its British history and list some of the most famous Icons from the 7th Century to the present day. British Icon's have dominated the world with British Royalty, British Music, British Fashion, British Movie Stars, British Saints, British Buildings and British Sports.
The UK, Great Britain, Albion, this Sceptred Isle - however you refer to this small island perched up on the north western edge of the European continent, one thing that is undeniable is that nowhere else on Earth, from any country, has there been such a massive global impact.
Whether in the form of symbols of power as with the British Union Flag, in the guise of the person as with W. Churchill or Princess Diana, or in the form of chic design, as with the mini and mini-skirt in the Swinging Sixties, The Beatles, or the simple yet powerful Oasis logo from the Britpop era of the Nineties, British icons have been at both the forefront and in the background of history, decorating the past and how we perceive it.
In taking a closer look at our British Icons and history, hopefully you can gain a better understanding of the United Kingdom, its people, and what makes us tick.
Below is a list of my favourite British Icons:
King Alfred The Great
2) Boudeca, Queen Chief of the Iceni Tribe
3) King Edward the Confessor ( I am Related to )
4) Queen Elizabeth the 1st
5) Queen Victoria
6) Queen Elizabeth the 2nd
7) William Shakespeare
9) Agatha Christie ( Author of Miss Marple and Poiret )
10) J.K Rowling ( Author of the Harry Potter Books )
11) Sir Terry Pratchett ( Author of the Disc World Books )
12) James Herbert ( Horror Story writer of many novels including The Rats )
13) Sir Christopher Wren ( I am related to )
13b) Sir Isambard Kingdom Brunel
13c) James Watt ( Inventor of the Steam Engine )
13d) George Stevenson ( Inventor of the Steam Train )
13e) Sir Isaac Newton
14) Rudyard Kipling ( Author of the Jungle Book )
14b) H.G. Wells ( Author of The Time Traveller )
14c) Arthur Conan Doyle ( Author of Sherlock Holmes )
14d) Bram Stoker ( Author of Count Dracula )
14e) Mary Shelley ( Author of Frakenstein )
14) Sir Walter Raleigh
18) Duke of Wellington
19) Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein
20) Robert Walpole, 1st. Earl of Orford ( Regarded as the first Prime Minister in the modern sense );
21) William The Pit The Younger ( introduced the first Income tax )
22) Charles Grey, The Earl Grey ( restriction of employment of children; reform of the poor Laws, abolition of Slavery )
23) Sir Robert Peel ( Created the first National Police Force )
24) Edward Smith -Stanley, The Earl Derby. ( Father of the Conservative party ).
25) Benjamin Disraeli ( Queen Victoria's favorite Prime Minister )
26) Sir Winston Churchill ( Saviour of the world by defeating Hitler, Mussolini and Japanese Emporer )
27) Lady Margarat Thatcher ( First female prime minister and creator of Privatisation ).
28) The 1966 England World Cup Winning Team
29) The Portsmouth F.Cup Winning Team from 2008
30) Sir Ian Botham
Whitechapel ( aka Where Jack The Ripper Killed. aka Mr Tumblety was the Ripper )
To find out more about these British Icons can I suggest to find out more please enter any of the above Icons into a search engine.
Swinging Sixties – British Fashion Designers
As the swinging sixties is famous worldwide for many things British including Fashion I thought I would tell its history and mention some of the most famous names in British fashion. At the start of the 60's, skirts were knee-length, but steadily became shorter and shorter until the mini-skirt emerged in 1965. By the end of the decade they had shot well above the stocking top, making the transition to tights inevitable.
Many of the radical changes in fashion developed in the streets of London, with such gifted designers as Mary Quant (known for launching the mini skirt) and Barbara Hulanicki (the founder of the legendary boutique Biba). After designer Mary Quant introduced the mini-skirt in 1964, fashions in the 1960s were changed forever. The mini skirt was eventually to be worn by nearly every stylish young female in the western world.
The main outlets for these new young fashion designers were small boutiques, selling outfits that were not exactly 'one-offs', but were made in small quantities in a limited range of sizes and colors. However, not all designers took well to the new style and mood.
The basic shape and style of the time was simple, neat, clean cut, and young. Synthetic fabrics were very widely-used during the Sixties. They took dyes easily and well, giving rise to colors that were both clear and bright, very much mirroring the mood of the period. Hats suffered a great decline and by the end of the decade they were relegated to special occasions only. Lower kitten heels were a pretty substitute to stilettos. Pointed toes gave way to chisel shaped toes in 1961 and to an almond toe in 1963. Flat boots also became popular with very short dresses in 1965 and eventually they rose up the leg and reached the knee.
The principal change in menswear in the '60s was in the weight of the fabric used. The choice of materials and the method of manufacture produced a suit that, because it was lighter in weight, had a totally different look, with a line that was closer to the natural shape of the body, causing men to look at their figures more critically. The spread of jeans served to accelerate a radical change in the male wardrobe. Young men grew their hair down to their collars and added a touch of color, and even floral motifs, to their shirts.
The polo neck never succeeded in replacing the tie, but the adoption of the workman's jacket in rough corduroy. As the suits drifted away from pale, toned shades, menswear was now bright and colourful. It included frills and cravats, wide ties and trouser straps, leather boots and even collarless jackets. Ties were worn even five inches wide, with crazy prints, stripes and patterns. Casual dress consisted of plaid button down shirts with comfortable slacks.
The hippie movement late in the decade also exerted a strong influence on ladies' clothing styles, including bell-bottom jeans, tie-dye and batik fabrics, as well as paisley prints.
In the early to mid-1960s, the London Modernists known as the Mods were shaping and defining popular fashion for young British men while the trends for both sexes changed more frequently than ever before in the history of fashion and would continue to do so throughout the decade. The leaders of 1960s style were the British. The Mods were characterized by their choice of style different from the 1950s and revealed new fads that would be imitated by many young people. As a level of the middle social class known as the Mods, controlled the ins and outs of fashion in London, 1960s fashion set the mode for the rest of the century as it became marketed mainly to youth. Modernists formed their own way of life creating television shows and magazines that focused directly on the lifestyles of Mods.
British rock bands such as The Who, The Small Faces and The Kinks emerged from the Mod subculture. The Mods were known for the Modern Jazz they listened to as they showed their new styles off at local cafes. They worked at the lower end of the work force, usually nine to five jobs leaving time for clothes, music, and clubbing. It was not until 1964 when the Modernists were truly recognized by the public that women really were accepted in the group. Girls had short, clean haircuts and often dressed in similar styles to the male Mods. The Mods' lifestyle and musical tastes were the exact opposite of their rival group known as the.
The rockers liked 1950s rock-and roll, wore black leather jackets, greased, pompadour hairstyles, and rode motorbikes. The look of the Mods was classy; they mimicked the clothing and hairstyles of high fashion designers in France and Italy; opting for tailored suits, which were topped by anoraks that became their trademark. They rode on scooters, usually Vespas or Lambrettas. The Mods dress style was often called the City Gent look. Shirts were slim, with a necessary button down collar accompanied by slim fitted pants. Levi's were the only type of jeans worn by Modernists. Flared trousers and bellbottoms led the way to the hippie stage introduced in the 1960s. Variations of polyester were worn along with acrylics.
Carnaby Street and Chelsea's Kings Road were virtual fashion parades. In 1966, the space age was gradually replaced by the Edwardian, with the men wearing double-breasted suits of crushed velvet or striped patterns, brocade waistcoats, shirts with frilled collars, and their hair worn below the collar bone.
Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones epitomised this "dandified" look. Women were inspired by the top models of the day which included Twiggy, Jean Shrimpton, Colleen Corby, Penelope Tree and Veruschka. Velvet mini dresses with lace-collars and matching cuffs, wide tent dresses and culottes had pushed aside the geometric shift.
False eyelashes were in vogue, as was pale lipstick. Hemlines kept rising, and by 1968 they had reached well above mid-thigh. These were known as "micro-minis". This was when the "angel dress" made its appearance on the fashion scene. A micro-mini dress with a flared skirt and long, wide trumpet sleeves, it was usually worn with patterned tights, and was often made of crocheted lace, velvet, chiffon or sometimes cotton with a psychedelic print.
The cowled-neck "monk dress" was another religion-inspired alternative; the cowl could be pulled up to be worn over the head. For evening wear, skimpy chiffon baby-doll dresses with spaghetti-straps were the mode as well as the "cocktail dress", which was a close-fitting sheath, usually covered in lace with matching long sleeves. Feather boas were occasionally worn.
By 1968, the androgynous hippie look was in style. Both men and women wore frayed bell-bottomed jeans, tie-dyed shirts, workshirts, and headbands. Wearing sandals was also part of the hippie look for both men and women. Women would often go barefoot, and some even went braless.
Fringed buck-skin vests, flowing caftans, Mexican peasant blouses, gypsy-style skirts, scarves, and bangles were also worn by teenage girls and young women. Indian prints, batik and paisley were the fabrics preferred. For more conservative women, there were the "lounging" or "hostess" pyjamas. These consisted of a tunic top over floor-length culottes, and were usually made of polyester or chiffon.
Another popular look for women and girls which lasted well into the early 1970s was the suede mini-skirt worn with a French polo-neck top, square-toed boots and Newsboy Cap or beret. Long maxi coats, often belted and lined in sheepskin, appeared at the close of the decade. Animal Prints were also popular for women in the autumn and winter of 1969. Women's shirts often had transparent sleeves. Psychedelic prints, hemp and the look of "Woodstock" came about in this generation.
The late 1960 produced a style categorized of people whom promoted sexual liberation and favored a type of politics reflecting "peace, love and freedom". Ponchos, mocassins, love beads, peace signs, medallion necklaces, chain belts, polka dot-printed fabrics, and long, puffed "bubble" sleeves were additional trends in the late 1960s.
New materials other than cloth (such as polyester and PVC) started to become more popular as well.
Starting in 1967, the Mod culture began to embrace reggae music and its working class roots. The new urban fashion known as Skinhead was born.
Swinging Sixties ( London ) – British Iconic Music
At the start of the 60's, British Music was just emerging from obscurity with Cliff Richard, Billy Fury, Adam Faith beginning to become known worldwide. By the end of the decade British Music dominated the world with The Beatles, The Who, The Rolling Stones etc. One of the stories told by George Harrison was the story that when the Beatles were first in the USA they visited “Elvis” at his home and which ended with Elvis and the Beatles Jamming together. That must have been one of the coolest musical sessions ever.
As the swinging sixties London is famous worldwide for many things British including Music I thought I would tell its history and list some of the most famous names in British Music.
Swinging London was underway by the mid-1960s, and included music by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Who, The Small Faces and other artists from what was known by America as the “British Invasion” as well as the growing popularity of Psychedelic Rock as Jimi Hendrick being represented as a cultural icon, supported by British bands like Cream and early Pink Floyd. This music was heard in the United Kingdom over pirate radio stations such as Radio Caroline, Wonderful Radio London and Swinging Radio England.
On December 10th , 1963 the Walter Cronkite ran a story about the Beatlemania phenomenon in the United Kingdom. After seeing the report, 15 year old Marsha Albert of Maryland wrote a letter the following day to disc jockey Carroll James at radio station WWDC asking "why can't we have music like that here in America?".
On December 17th James had Albert introduce “I Want to Hold Your Hand" live on the air, the first airing of a Beatles song in the United States. WWDC's phones lit up and Washington, D.C. area record stores were flooded with requests for a record they did not have in stock.
On December 26th Capitol Records released the record three weeks ahead of schedule. The release of the record during a time when teenagers were on vacation helped spread Beatlemania in America.
On January 18th , 1964, “I Want To Hold Your Hand” reached number one on the cash Box chart, the following week it did the same on Billboard.
On February 7th the CBS Evening News ran a story about The Beatles' United States arrival that afternoon in which the correspondent said "The British Invasion this time goes by the code name Beatlemania". Two days later (Sunday, February 9th ) they appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show. Seventy five percent of Americans watching television that night viewed their appearance.
On April 4th the Beatles held the top 5 positions on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, the only time to date that any act has accomplished this. The group's massive chart success continued until they broke up in 1970.
Dusty Springfield, having launched a solo career, became the first non-Beatle act during the invasion to have a major U.S. hit with “I only Want to be With You”. She followed with several other hits and has been described by Allmusic as the finest white soul music singer of her era.
During the next two years, Chad & Jeremy, Peter and Gordon, The Animals, Manfred Mann, Petula Clark, Freddie and The Dreamers, Wayne Fontana and the Mind-benders, Herman's Hermits, The Rolling Stones, The Troggs and Donovan would have one or more number one singles. Other acts that were part of the invasion included The Kinks and The dave Clark Five. British Invasion acts also dominated the music charts at home in the United Kingdom.
The Dave Clark Five was the first British Invasion group to formally tour the United States (in the Spring of 1964). The group was considered the main competitor to The Beatles.
The DC5 made its first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show on March 8, 1964, shortly after The Beatles. The DC5 made more appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show than any other British Invasion band.
British Invasion artists played in styles now categorized either as blues-based rock music or as guitar-driven rock/pop. A second wave of the invasion occurred featuring acts such as The Who and The Zombies which were influenced by the invasion's pop side and American rock music.
The Beatles movie A Hard Day's Night and fashions from Carnaby Street led American media to proclaim England as the center of the music and fashion world.
The emergence of a relatively homogeneous worldwide "rock" music style about 1967 marked the end of the "invasion".
A Second Invasion occurred during the 1980s consisting of acts primarily popularized by the cable music channel MTV which was dominated by British Music video's by Queen, Duran Duran etc. While acts with a wide variety of styles were part of the invasion, New Wave and New Wave-influenced acts predominated.
The New Romantics – 1980's London Music
During the late 1970's Punk Rock became popular and those of us who were fans of Disco ignored punk rock as a passing fad. In the late 1970's and early 1980's as an alternative to Punk a new type of music appeared in London called The New Romantics. They could be identified by their Big hair and make up – both Men and Women. It was often associated with the New Wave music scene that had become popular during that time. It has seen several revivals since then, and continues to influence popular culture.
Developing in London nightclubs such as Billy's and The Blitz, the movement was associated with bands such as Visage, Culture Club, Adam and the Ants, Ultravox, Duran Duran, Japan and Spandau Ballet.
Other artists, such as Brian Eno and Roxy Music had significant influence on the movement. The term New Romantic was coined by Richard James Burgess in an interview with reference to Spandau Ballet.
As a whole, the movement was largely a response to the ethos and style of early punk rock, which had been enjoying widespread popularity around this time. Although punk initially had great appeal as a vehicle of self-expression and entertainment, by the final days of the 1970s, some had felt that it had lost its original excitement and degenerated into an overly political and bland movement instead. The New Romantic image ultimately sought to contrast with the austerity of punk as a whole by celebrating artifice in music and culture as opposed to rejecting it.
New Romantic music is influenced by many genres such as Disco, Rock, R&B and early electronic pop music. Since the New Romantic movement began in and was largely based in nightclubs, a great amount of the music associated with the movement was meant to be suitable for dancing. Glam rock acts of the 1970s such as David Bowie (whose 1980 single “Ashes to Ashes" was influenced by and considered a New Romantic anthem Roxy Music and Brian Eno have been cited as major influences on the music and image the bands. Kraftwork, a German band pioneering electronic music, also heavily impacted many of the artists.
Since each of the bands associated with the movement took a different approach to their music, it is difficult to define what constitutes New Romantic music. Contrasting with the punk rock which was popular at the peak of the movement, New Romantic music tends to be elaborate and highly stylized. The musical structures are usually consistent with those of pop music, as are the lyrics, which are often very emotional, which deal with themes such as love, dancing, history, the future and technology. The lyrics of New Romantic music also tend to be far more apolitical than those of punk rock or other songs written in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Many of the bands featured synthesizers and electronic drums or drum machines in their music, often alongside bass and lead guitar. While some bands such as Ultravox or Duran Duran consciously synthesized rock and electronic elements, others such as Culture Club or Spandau Ballet drew greater influence from R&B and soul music while still employing electronic instrumentation, albeit to a lesser extent.
Some bands, such as Visage, made music that was almost entirely electronic; often many early British electronic bands such as the Human League and Depeche Mode have been connected to the New Romantic movement, although some sources, sometimes including the individual members of such bands, deny the association.
During the last 25 years the New Romantic's music scene has been active and in the charts on a regular basis – Duran Duran is an example as a group who still release new music.
World's First Football Chant – by Edward Elgar
As football is England's favourite sport and is called England's national game I thought I would write about the World's First Football Chant – by Edward Elgar who was born in the small village of Lower Broadheath outside Worcester, England on 2nd June 1857.
It has recently come to light that Elgar wrote music to the world's first football chant for his favourite football team Wolverhampton Wanderers which was called “He Banged The leather for Goal” ( The Leather was shorthand for the Football which was made of leather and if you tried to head it when wet, it nearly took your head off )!! Elgar went to his first football match in February 1898 and became hooked on the atmosphere and the football and became a fan of Wolves for the rest of his life.
Edward Elgar was an English Composer who was famous for his orchestral works including the “Land of Hope and Glory”, “Enigma Variations”, the “Pomp and Circumstance Marches”, “concertos for violin and cello” and two symphonies. He also composed oratorios, including “The Dream of Gerontius”, chamber music and songs. He was appointed Master of the Kings Musick in 1924.
Despite the fluctuating critical assessment of the various works over the years, Elgar's major works taken as a whole have in the twenty-first century recovered strongly from their neglect in the 1950s. The Record Guide in 1955 could list only one currently-available recording of the First Symphony, none of the Second, one of the Violin Concerto, two of the Cello Concerto, two of the Enigma Variations, one of Falstaff, and none of The Dream of Gerontius. Since then there have been multiple recordings of all the major works. More than thirty recordings have been made of the First Symphony since 1955, for example, and more than ten of The Dream of Gerontius. Similarly in the concert hall, Elgar's works, after a period of neglect are once again frequently programmed. The Elgar Society's website, in its diary of forthcoming performances, lists performances of Elgar's works by orchestras, soloists and conductors across Europe, North America and Australia.
Edward Elgar died on the 23rd February 1934.
Elgar's statue at the end of Worcester High Street stands facing the cathedral, only yards from where his father's shop once stood. Another statue of the composer is at the top of Church Street in Malvern, overlooking the town and giving visitors an opportunity to stand next to the composer in the shadow of the Hills that he so often regarded. In September 2005, a third statue sculpted by Jemma Pearson was unveiled near Hereford Cathedral in honour of his many musical and other associations with that city. It features Elgar with his bicycle.
Village of Wenlock, England – A Modern Olympic Games - 1850
Before the Modern Olympics began there was an Olympics in the Village of Wenlock, Shropshire, England which was run by Dr. William Penny Brookes from 1850 and every year therafter. He has been widely recognised as the founding father of the modern Olympic Games, but surprisingly not that many people are aware of him or his remarkable life. We in Britain have given the World over 100 Sports and Games and the Wenlock Olympics are still held every year.
In 1850, the Agricultural Reading Society resolved to establish a class called "The Olympian Class", "for the promotion of the moral, physical and intellectual improvement of the inhabitants of the town and neighbourhood of Wenlock and especially of the working classes, by the encouragement of outdoor recreation, and by the award of prizes annually at public meetings for skill in Athletic exercise and proficiency in Intellectual and industrial attainments".
The first meeting was held in October 1850, and included athletics and country sports such as quoits, football and cricket. The event quickly expanded, and within a few years attracted competitors from as far away as London and Liverpool.
When the first Wenlock Olympian Games were staged in 1859, there was heavy criticism of Brookes' insistence that the Games be open to "every grade of man". It was felt that such an event would cause rioting, lewd behavior, and that men would leave their wives. Brookes tirelessly avoided requests to limit the Games to only the pupils of public schools and the sons of professionals. The Games were a huge success and none of the threatened disturbances occurred.
In 1859, Brookes established contact with the organisers of an Olympic Games revival in Athens sponsored by Evangelis Zappas. In 1860, the Class officially became the Wenlock Olympian Society, adopted some of the athletics events from the Athens games, and added them to their program. The first athlete to be listed on the honor roll of the Society was Petros Velissariou (an ethnic Greek from Smyrna, in the Ottoman Empire who was one of the first international Olympians.
In 1865, Brookes helped establish the National Olympian Association (NOA) based in Liverpool. Their first Olympic Games, a national event, held in 1866 at the Crystal Palace, London, was a success and attracted a crowd of over 10,000 spectators. W.G. Grace, the famous cricketer (before he became famous), competed and came first in the hurdles event. The Amateur Athletic Club, later to become the Amateur Athletics Association was formed as a rival organisation to the NOA.
In 1877, he requested an Olympian prize from Greece in honour of Queen Victoria'sjubilee. In response, King George I of Greece e sent a silver cup which was presented at the National Olympian Games held in Shrewsbury. This brought Brookes into contact with the Greek government, but his attempts to organise an international Olympian Festival in Athens in 1881 failed.
In 1889, he invited Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the organizer of an International Congress on Physical Education, to Much Wenlock. Meetings between William Penny Brookes and Baron Pierre de Coubertain took place at The Raven Hotel (as did the feast which concluded each year’s Olympian Games), and today in The Raven Hotel there are displayed many artefacts from those early years, including original letters from Baron Pierre de Coubertain to William Penny Brookes. A meeting of the Wenlock Olympian Games was held in de Coubertin's honour in 1890, with much pageantry. On his return to France, de Coubertin gave a glowing account of his stay in an article, "Les Jeux Olympiques à Much Wenlock", and referred to his host's efforts to revive the Olympics.
He wrote: "If the Olympic Games that Modern Greece has not yet been able to revive still survives today, it is due, not to a Greek, but to Dr W P Brookes.
Dr. W.P. Brookes died four months before the Athens 1896 Olympic Games, under the auspices of the IOC which was held in Athens in 1896.
The Wenlock Olympian Society maintains his original ideals, and continues to organise annual games. The William Brookes School in Much Wenlock is named after him.
Sir Isaac Newton – Iconic Scientist
One of England's greatest Icons is Sir Isaac Newton the discoverer of the equation of gravity. Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727), mathematician and physicist was one of the foremost scientific intellects of all time. Born at Woolsthorpe, near Grantham in Lincolnshire in 1642, where he attended school. Many years ago at school I was taught the story that Sir Isaac Newton was sitting under an apple tree (Which is still there today) in his garden when he saw a falling apple.
He conceived that the same force governed the motion of the Moon and the apple. He calculated the force needed to hold the Moon in its orbit, as compared with the force pulling an object to the ground. This eventually became the book “Principia”.
He also calculated the centripetal force needed to hold a stone in a sling, and the relation between the length of a pendulum and the time of its swing. These early explorations were not soon exploited by Newton, though he studied astronomy and the problems of planetary motion.
Book I of the Principia states the foundations of the science of mechanics, developing upon them the mathematics of orbital motion round centres of force. Newton identified gravitation as the fundamental force controlling the motions of the celestial bodies. He never found its cause. To contemporaries who found the idea of attractions across empty space unintelligible, he conceded that they might prove to be caused by the impacts of unseen particles.
Book II inaugurates the theory of fluids: Newton solves problems of fluids in movement and of motion through fluids. From the density of air he calculated the speed of sound waves.
Book III shows the law of gravitation at work in the universe: Newton demonstrates it from the revolutions of the six known planets, including the Earth, and their satellites. However, he could never quite perfect the difficult theory of the Moon's motion. Comets were shown to obey the same law; in later editions, Newton added conjectures on the possibility of their return. He calculated the relative masses of heavenly bodies from their gravitational forces, and the oblateness of Earth and Jupiter, already observed. He explained tidal ebb and flow and the precession of the equinoxes from the forces exerted by the Sun and Moon. All this was done by exact computation.
Newton's work in mechanics was accepted at once in Britain, and universally after half a century. Since then it has been ranked among humanity's greatest achievements in abstract thought. It was extended and perfected by others, notably Pierre Simon de Laplace, without changing its basis and it survived into the late 19th century before it began to show signs of failing. See Quantum Theory; Relativity.
Newton has been regarded for almost 300 years as the founding example of modern physical science, his achievements in experimental investigation being as innovative as those in mathematical research. With equal, if not greater, energy and originality he also plunged into chemistry, the early history of Western civilization, and theology; among his special studies was an investigation of the form and dimensions, as described in the Bible, of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem.
Time line of Sir Iasaac Newton
1642 Born at Woolsthorpe, Nr. Grantham, Lincs.
1661 he entered Cambridge University.
1665-1666 was "the prime of my age for invention".
1667 He was elected a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.
1669 became Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University.
Until 1696 he remained at the university, lecturing in most years.
During two to three years of intense mental effort he prepared Philosophiae Naturalis Published in 1687 Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy) commonly known as the Principia.
1696 he moved to London as Warden of the Royal Mint.
1699 he became Master of the Mint an office he retained to his death in 1727.
1671 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London.
1689 and again between 1701-1702 Newton was elected Member of Parliament for the University of Cambridge to the Convention Parliament.
1703 he became President of the Royal Society.
1704 “Opticks” was published.
1705 was knighted in Cambridge.
1710), Newton published an incomplete theory of chemical force.
After Sir Isaac Newton's death in 1727 he had posthumously published his writings which included: The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended (1728), The System of the World (1728), the first draft of Book III of the Principia, and Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of St John (1733).
Charles Darwin 1809 – 1882
I thought it would be of interest to write this article about one of England's greatest scientist - Charles Darwin was an English naturalist who established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestors and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.
Charles Robert Darwin was born in Shrewsbury,Shropshire, England on 12th February 1809 at his family home, the Mount. He was the fifth of six children of wealthy society doctor and financier Robert Darwin and Susannah Darwin (née Wedgwood). He was the grandson of Erasmus Darwin on his father's side, and of Josiah Wedgwood on his mother's side. Both families were largely Unitarian, though the Wedgwood's were adopting Anglicanism.
Robert Darwin, himself quietly a freethinker, had baby Charles baptised in the Anglican Church, but Charles and his siblings attended the Unitarian chapel with their mother. The eight year old Charles already had a taste for natural history and collecting when he joined the day school run by its preacher in 1817. That July, his mother died. From September 1818, he joined his older brother Erasmus attending the nearby Anglican Shrewsbury School as a boarder.
Beginning on the 27th of December, 1831, the voyage lasted almost five years and, as Fitzroy had intended, Darwin spent most of that time on land investigating geology and making natural history collections, while the Beagle surveyed and charted coasts. He kept careful notes of his observations and theoretical speculations, and at intervals during the voyage his specimens were sent to Cambridge together with letters including a copy of his journal for his family. He had some expertise in geology, beetle collecting and dissecting marine invertebrates but in all other areas was a novice and ably collected specimens for expert appraisal. Despite repeatedly suffering badly from seasickness while at sea, most of his zoology notes are about marine invertebrates, starting with plankton collected in a calm spell.
His five year voyage on HMS Beagle established him as an eminent geologist whose observations and theories supported Charles Lyell's uniformitarian ideas and publication of his journal of the voyage made him famous as a popular author.
Puzzled by the geographical distribution of wildlife and fossils he collected on the voyage, Darwin investigated the transmutation of species and conceived his theory of natural selection in 1838. Although he discussed his ideas with several naturalists, he needed time for extensive research and his geological work had priority. He was writing up his theory in 1858 when Alfred Russell Wallace sent him an essay which described the same idea, prompting immediate joint publication of both of their theories.
He published his theory with compelling evidence for evolution in his 1859 book On the Origins of Species. The scientific community and much of the general public came to accept evolution as a fact during his lifetime.
It was not until the emergence of the modern evolutionary synthesis from the 1930s to the 1950s that a broad consensus developed that natural selection was the basic mechanism of evolution. In modified form, Darwin's scientific discovery is the unifying theory of the life sciences which explained the diversity of life.
Darwin's work established evolutionary descent with modification as the dominant scientific explanation of diversification in nature. In 1871, he examined human evolution. His research on plants was published in a series of books, and in his final book, he examined earthworms and their effect on soil.
In recognition of Darwin's pre-eminence as a scientist, he was one of only five 19th-century UK non-royal personages to be honoured by a state funeral and is buried in Westminster Abbey close to John Herschel and Sir Isaac Newton.
Lady Godiva (1040-1080 AD) – An English Icon
One of the most unusual English Iconic stories is the story about Lady Godiva an Anglo-Saxon noblewoman and her travel through Coventry on a horse with no clothes on in the 11th Century. The Countess Godiva, who was a great lover of God's mother, longed to free the town of Coventry from the oppression of a heavy toll.
She often said urgent prayers and besought her husband that, from regard to Jesus Christ and his mother, he would free the town from that service and from all other heavy burdens; and when the Earl sharply rebuked her for foolishly asking what was so much to his damage, and always forbade her evermore to speak to him on the subject; and while she, on the other hand, with a woman's pertinacity, never ceased to exasperate her husband on that matter, he at last made her this answer: "Mount your horse and ride naked, before all the people, through the market of this town from one end to the other, and on your return you shall have your request."
On which Godiva replied, "But will you give me permission if I am willing to do it?"
"I will," said he.
Whereupon the Countess, beloved of God, loosed her hair and let down her tresses, which covered the whole of her body like a veil, and then, mounting her horse and attended by two knights, she rode through the marketplace without being seen, except her fair legs, and having completed the journey, she returned with gladness to her astonished husband and obtained of him what she had asked, for Earl Leofric freed the town of Coventry and its inhabitants from the aforesaid service, and confirmed what he had done by a charter.
The above was sourced from Roger of Wendover (d. 1236), Chronica.
Godiva by Alfred Lord Tennyson
I waited for the train at Coventry;
I hung with grooms and porters on the bridge,
To watch the three tall spires; and there I shaped
The city's ancient legend into this:
Not only we, the latest seed of Time,
New men, that in the flying of a wheel
Cry down the past, not only we, that prate
Of rights and wrongs, have loved the people well,
And loathed to see them overtaxed; but she
Did more, and underwent, and overcame,
The woman of a thousand summers back,
Godiva, wife to that grim Earl, who ruled
In Coventry: for when he laid a tax
Upon his town, and all the mothers brought
Their children, clamoring, "If we pay, we starve!"
She sought her lord, and found him, where he strode
About the hall, among his dogs, alone,
His beard a foot before him and his hair
A yard behind. She told him of their tears,
And prayed him, "If they pay this tax, they starve."
Whereat he stared, replying, half-amazed,
"You would not let your little finger ache
For such as these?" -- "But I would die," said she.
He laughed, and swore by Peter and by Paul;
Then fillip'd at the diamond in her ear;
"Oh ay, ay, ay, you talk!" -- "Alas!" she said,
"But prove me what I would not do."
And from a heart as rough as Esau's hand,
He answered, "Ride you naked thro' the town,
And I repeal it;" and nodding, as in scorn,
He parted, with great strides among his dogs.
So left alone, the passions of her mind,
As winds from all the compass shift and blow,
Made war upon each other for an hour,
Till pity won. She sent a herald forth,
And bade him cry, with sound of trumpet, all
The hard condition; but that she would loose
The people: therefore, as they loved her well,
From then till noon no foot should pace the street,
No eye look down, she passing; but that all
Should keep within, door shut, and window barr'd.
Then fled she to her inmost bower, and there
Unclasp'd the wedded eagles of her belt,
The grim Earl's gift; but ever at a breath
She linger'd, looking like a summer moon
Half-dipt in cloud: anon she shook her head,
And shower'd the rippled ringlets to her knee;
Unclad herself in haste; adown the stair
Stole on; and, like a creeping sunbeam, slid
From pillar unto pillar, until she reach'd
The Gateway, there she found her palfrey trapt
In purple blazon'd with armorial gold.
Then she rode forth, clothed on with chastity:
The deep air listen'd round her as she rode,
And all the low wind hardly breathed for fear.
The little wide-mouth'd heads upon the spout
Had cunning eyes to see: the barking cur
Made her cheek flame; her palfrey's foot-fall shot
Light horrors thro' her pulses; the blind walls
Were full of chinks and holes; and overhead
Fantastic gables, crowding, stared: but she
Not less thro' all bore up, till, last, she saw
The white-flower'd elder-thicket from the field,
Gleam thro' the Gothic archway in the wall.
Then she rode back, clothed on with chastity;
And one low churl, compact of thankless earth,
The fatal byword of all years to come,
Boring a little auger-hole in fear,
Peep'd -- but his eyes, before they had their will,
Were shrivel'd into darkness in his head,
And dropt before him. So the Powers, who wait
On noble deeds, cancell'd a sense misused;
And she, that knew not, pass'd: and all at once,
With twelve great shocks of sound, the shameless noon
Was clash'd and hammer'd from a hundred towers,
One after one: but even then she gain'd
Her bower; whence reissuing, robed and crown'd,
To meet her lord, she took the tax away
And built herself an everlasting name.
This above famous poem was written in 1842 by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892).
English Spa Towns – Iconic Places
I thought as English Spa Towns are famous UK Wide but not World Wide I thought I would explain what a Spa Town is and where in England you can find Spa towns. As a snippet of information the city of "Bath" is a Spa Town (Also a City ) and where the word "Bath" originated.
A spa town (also called a bathing-place or simply a spa) is a town situated around a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons resorted to spas to "take the waters" for their health benefits. The word comes from the Belgian town Spa. In continental Europe a spa was known as a ville d'eau (town of water). The term spa is used for towns or resorts offering hydrotherapy which can include cold water ormineral water treatments and hot thermal baths.
Some but not all British spa towns contain "Spa", "Wells", or "Bath" in their names, e.g.,Matlock Bath. Some towns are designated Spa Heritage Towns. Both English towns granted the title "Royal", Royal Leamington Spa and Royal Tunbridge Wells are spa towns.
A List Of Spa Towns in England
Scarborough also called The Spa, Scarborough
Shearsby
Tenbury Wells
Woodhall Spa
To find out more about English Spa Towns just enter one of the above towns into Google to find out more about the Town of your choice.
Edward Somerset – English Inventor of The First Steam Engine 1653
I though as England has produced so many famous inventors and engineers I thought it may be of interest to write this short article on the world's first Steam Engine.
Edward Somerset (1601 – 1667) was an English nobleman involved in royalist politics; he was also an inventor. In the book he authored in 1655 of over 100 inventions, the power and applications of what would become the steam engine are clearly described.
Edward Somerset was a Cavalier who supported Charles I in Wales and raised a regiment of horse for him. His campaigning in the West of England and in Wales did not go well.
After a month with his force of over 2,000 troops encamped at Higham outside Gloucester in March 1643, Herbert decided to leave them as he travelled to meet the king at Oxford.
In his absence the entire force surrendered without any exchange of fire, earning it the title "The Mushroom Army". He was rewarded in 1644, however, with a peerage, being created Earl of Glamorgan and Baron Beaufort, of Caldecote. However, due to irregularities in the letteers patent these titles were not recognized after the Restoration.
Sent to Ireland, he made a false move in concluding a treaty, in great secrecy, on behalf of Charles that was considered to concede too much to the Catholics there; he himself was a Catholic. In extricating himself from that position, he became a close ally of Giovanni Battista Rinuccini and a potential replacement for James Butler as royalist leader.
His plans to bring Irish troops over to England were overtaken by events, and he left for France with George Leyburn. He succeeded his father as Marquess of Worcester in 1646.
He was formally banished in 1649, but after four years in Paris returned to England in 1653. He was discovered, charged with high treason and sent to the Tower of London he was treated leniently by the Council of State and released on bail in 1654. That year he took up again his interest in engineering and inventions, leasing a house at Vauxhall where his Dutch or German technician Kaspar Kalthoff could work. After this he largely avoided politics, and did not press his claims to the various other titles of nobility.
In 1655 he authored a book which consisted of textual descriptions of 100 separate inventions. It was eventually printed in 1663 and included a device described as his "Water-commanding Engine". Constructed from the barrel of a cannon it was an obvious prototype design for what would later become the steam engine which clearly anticipated the power and applications of that machine.
When Edward died he suggested that a model of his engine should be buried with him. Almost 200 years later in 1861, this prompted Victorian collector Bennet Woodcroft to mount an expedition, on behalf of The Science Museum to the vault of Raglan church, to try and find a model of the invention in Somerset's tomb. Despite opening the coffin lid and searching thoroughly, no model was found. Woodcroft did, however, return with one of Edward's fingers as a memento
The London Science Museum has plans of his "Water-commanding Engine" which shows it was a working steam engine for pumping water.
The First Steam Locomotive – England 1804 and First Steam Engine 1653 - England
As an Englishman born and bred and a fan of history of steam Locomotives I thought it may be of interest to write an article about the history of the earliest steam locomotive. The first full scale working railway steam locomotive was built by Richard Trevithick in the United Kingdom on 21st February 1804 when the world's first railway journey took place as Trevithick's unnamed steam locomotive hauled a train along the tramway of the Penydarren ironworks, near Merthyr Tydfil in south Wales.
This is different from the first Steam Engine which was first invented in 1653 by Edward Somerset (1601 – 1667) was an English nobleman.
On Christmas Eve 1801 in West Cornwall, England an engineer called Richard Trevithick took his new steam car, ( or the "Puffing Devil" as it became known) out for its first test run. After a number of years research, Trevithick had developed a high-pressure engine powered by steam. His vehicle was no more than a boiler on 4-wheels but it took Trevithick and a number of his friends half a mile up a hill. The vehicle's principle feature was a cylindrical horizontal boiler and a single horizontal cylinder let into it. The piston propelled back and forth in the cylinder by pressure from the steam. This was linked by piston rod and connecting rod to a crankshaft bearing a large flywheel.
The vehicle was used for several journeys until it turned over on the unsuitable trails that were used for pack horses in Cornwall at that time. After having been righted, Trevithick and crew drove it back to Camborne and retired to a hostelry.
The water level dropped in the boiler and the fusible plug melted, sending a jet of steam into the furnace where it blew embers all around, setting fire to the surroundings and the wooden parts of the engine.
In 1802 a steam-powered coach designed by British engineer Richard Trevithick journeyed more than 160 km from Cornwall to London.
The "Puffing Dragon" was the world's first passenger car. Despite the disaster of losing his first vehicle, undeterred, Trevithick built a 3-wheeled steam carriage but this time complete with seats and a real carriage like appearance. In 1803, he drove it through London's Oxford Street on demonstration runs and reached speeds of 8-9 mph (13 - 14 km/h). Despite the runs, nobody was interested and so when he ran out of funds, he sold the power unit to a local Miller. Trevithick's vehicle was the first self-propelled carriage in the capital and in essence the first London bus.
Regular intercity bus services by steam-powered buses were also pioneered in England in the 1830s by Walter Hancock and by associates of Sir Goldsworthy Gurney among others, running reliable services over road conditions which were too hazardous for horse-drawn transportation. Steam carriages were much less likely to overturn, did not "run away with" the customer as horses sometimes did. They travelled faster than horse-drawn carriages (24 mph over four miles and an average of 12 mph over longer distances). They could run at a half to a third of the cost of horse-drawn carriages. Their brakes did not lock and drag like horse-drawn transport (a phenomenon that increased damage to roads).
According to engineers, steam carriages caused one-third the damage to the road surface as that caused by the action of horses' feet. Indeed, the wide tires of the steam carriages (designed for better traction) caused virtually no damage to the streets, whereas the narrow wheels of the horse-drawn carriages (designed to reduce the effort required of horses) tended to cause rutting.
However, the heavy road tolls imposed by the Turnpike Acts discouraged steam road vehicles and left the way clear for the horse bus companies, and from 1861 onwards, harsh legislation virtually eliminated mechanically-propelled vehicles altogether from the roads of Great Britain for 30 years, the Locomotive Act of that year imposing restrictive speed limits on "road locomotives" of 5 mph in towns and cities, and 10 mph in the country.
In 1865 the Locomotives Act of that year (the famous Red Flag Act) further reduced the speed limits to 4 mph in the country and just 2 mph in towns and cities, additionally requiring a man bearing a red flag to precede every vehicle. At the same time, the act gave local authorities the power to specify the hours during which any such vehicle might use the roads. The sole exceptions were street trams which from 1879 onwards were authorised under licence from the Board of Trade.
Howard Carter – The Discoverer of Tutankhamen
Howard Carter is famous for his discovery of Tutankhamen and as a great English icon I thought it would be of interest to write his history. Howard Carter was born at 10, Rich Terrace in Kensington, London on May 9th 1874. His father, Samuel John Carter, was an artist who specialized in animal paintings. Howard Carter's youth was spent in Swaffham in Norfolk where he also received a relatively modest private education.
Young Carter's talent for drawing and his interest in Egyptian antiquities took him to Egypt when he was still only seventeen, in the autumn of 1891. Over the years he became convinced that there was at least one undiscovered tomb, that of the almost unknown King Tutankhamen.
He was hired by the Egypt Exploration Fund in London to help P. E. Newberry with the epigraphic recording of tombs at Beni Hasan and El-Bersha, in Middle Egypt. In January 1892, he was also asked to join Flinders Petrie who excavated at El-Amarna, and this gave him invaluable archaeological experience. In 1893 he began on epigraphic recording of the temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahri as a member of an Egypt Exploration Fund expedition directed by Édouard Naville. This task, at which he excelled, occupied him until 1899.
At the beginning of 1900 Howard Carter was appointed Chief Inspector of Antiquities to the Egyptian Government with responsibilities for Upper Egypt. He stayed in this post until late in 1904 when he was moved to the post of Chief Inspector for Lower Egypt. But an unfortunate incident at Saqqara which resulted in a brawl between a party of arrogant Europeans and Egyptian employees of the Antiquities Service brought Carter's meteoric progress to an abrupt stop. Although not personally involved, he sided with his men, was transferred to a less important post in the Delta and eventually resigned from the Antiquities Service the following year. His professional career and his life were in serious crisis.
But a few years later Carter's luck changed.The Earl of Carnarvon, who visited Egypt for health reasons in 1905, became interested in Egyptian antiquities and decided to finance some archaeological work. The Antiquities Service, however, insisted that the work should be in the hands of an experienced archaeologist, and Carter seemed the best person available. The cooperation between an archaeologist and an English aristocrat with a passion for Egyptian archaeology which began in 1909 was, eventually, going to result in the greatest discovery in Egyptian archaeology.
The Carter-Carnarvon work was first centred on Thebes. In 1912 the work moved to the Delta but the results were rather disappointing. In 1914 Lord Carnarvon was able to secure a concession to excavate in the Valley of the Kings. But the outbreak of the First World War meant that any excavation had to be postponed until five short seasons, with little success, between the end of 1917 and March 1922.
The first steps leading into the tomb of Tutankhamen were found on November 4, 1922, only a few days after the beginning of a new season of excavations in the Valley of the Kings. The entrance to the tomb, with intact seals, was uncovered the following day, on November 5. Carter, accompanied by Lord Carnarvon, his daughter Lady Evelyn, Arthur Callender and Egyptian reises (foremen), had their first glimpse of the interior of the tomb on November 26th 1922. A few months after the tomb's opening, tragedy struck. Lord Carnarvon, 57, was taken ill and rushed to Cairo. He died a few days later. The exact cause of death was not known, but it seemed to be from an infection started by an insect bite on his face. Legend has it that when he died there was a short power failure and all the lights throughout Cairo went out. His son reported that back on his estate in England his favourite dog howled and suddenly dropped dead.
Even more strange, when the mummy of Tutankhamen was unwrapped in 1925, it was found to have a wound on the left cheek in the same exact position as the insect bite on Carnarvon that lead to his death.
The work on the clearance and recording of the contents of the tomb continued until the concession ran out in 1929 and during this year eleven people connected with the discovery of the Tomb had died early and of unnatural causes. This included two of Carnarvon's relatives, Carter's personal secretary, Richard Bethell, and Bethell's father, Lord Westbury. Westbury killed himself by jumping from a building. He left a note that read, "I really cannot stand any more horrors and hardly see what good I am going to do here, so I am making my exit “.
According to figures of the 22 people present when the tomb was opened in 1922, 6 had died by 1934 and Of the 22 people present at the opening of the sarcophagus in 1924, 2 died in the following ten years. Also ten people were there when the mummy was unwrapped in 1925 and all survived until at least 1934.
Many years later, Howard Carter, Egyptologist who earned world fame for his discovery and exploration, in association with the fifth Earl of Carnarvon, of the tomb of Tut-ankh-Amen, died in his London home on March 2nd 1939.
Sir Henry Wood – The Last Night Of The Proms
I thought the last night of the proms is such a English Icon I would tell it's history. The Proms, more formally known as The BBC Proms, or The Henry Wood Promenade Concerts presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in London. Founded in 1895, each season currently consists of over 70 concerts in the Albert Hall, a series of chamber concerts at Cadogan Hall l , additional Proms in the Park events across the United Kingdom on the last night of the proms.
Sir Henry Joseph Wood, (3 March 1869 – 19 August 1944) was an English conductor, forever associated with The Proms which he conducted for half a century. Founded in 1895, they became known after his death as the "Henry Wood Promenade Concerts" and are now the "BBC Proms". He had an enormous influence on musical life in Britain: he improved access immensely, and also raised the standard of orchestral playing and nurtured the taste of the public, introducing them to a vast repertoire of music, encouraging especially compositions by British composers. He was knighted in 1911.
The first Proms concert was held on 10th August 1895 in the Queen's Hall in langham Place under the auspices of impresario Robert newman. Newman's idea was to encourage an audience for concert hall music who, though not normally attending classical concerts, would be attracted by the low ticket prices and more informal atmosphere. In addition to promenading, eating, drinking and smoking were all allowed. He stated his goal as follows:
"I am going to run nightly concerts and train the public by easy stages. Popular at first, gradually raising the standard until I have created a public for classical and modern music."
With financial backing from the otolaryngologist Dr George Cathcart, Newman hired Henry Joseph Wood as the conductor for this series of concerts, called "Mr Robert Newman's Promenade Concerts". Wood built the "Queen's Hall Orchestra" as the ensemble devoted to performing the promenade concerts. Although the concerts gained a popular following and reputation, Newman went bankrupt in 1902, and the banker Edgar Speyer took over the expense of funding the concerts. In 1914 anti-german feeling forced Speyer out of his post. After Speyer, music publishers Chappell & Co. took control of the concerts.
Newman continued to work in the artistic planning of these promenade concerts until his sudden death in November 1926. With time, Wood became the name which was most closely associated with the concerts. As conductor from that first concert, Wood was largely responsible for expanding the repertoire heard in later concerts, such that by the 1920s the concerts had grown from being made up of largely more popular, less demanding works, to presenting music by contemporary composers such as Claude Debussy, Richard Strauss Ralph Vaughan Williams. A bronze bust of Wood, belonging to the Royal Academy of Music is placed in front of the Organ for the whole season. While now known as the BBC Proms, the text on the tickets (along with the headline "BBC Proms" next to the BBC logo), still says "BBC Music presents the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts'".
In 1927, the BBC — later based at Broadcasting House next to the hall—took over the running of the concerts. When the BBC Symhony Orchestra (BBC SO) was formed in 1930, it became the main orchestra for the concerts. At this time the season consisted of nights dedicated to particular composers; Mondays were Wagner, Fridays were Beethoven with other major composers being featured on other days. There were no Sunday performances.
With the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the BBC withdrew its support. The Proms continued though, under private sponsorship, until the Queen's Hall was gutted by an air raid in 1941 (its site is now the St George's Hotel and BBC Henry Wood House). The following year, the Proms moved to their current home, the Royal Albert Hall, and the BBC took over once more. In 1944, however, increased danger to the Royal Albert Hall from bombing meant that the Proms moved again, this time to the Bedford Corn Exchange. This venue had been the home of the BBC Symphony Orchestra since 1941 and played host to the Proms until the end of the war. After the war, other orchestras were invited to perform in the Proms, such that the BBC SO was no longer the sole orchestra responsible for all Proms concerts.
Wood continued his work with the Proms until his death in 1944. In the years after the war, Sir Adrian Boult and Basil Cameron look on principal conducting duties for the Proms until the advent of Malcolm Sargent as Proms chief conductor in 1947. Sargent held this post until 1966. He was noted for his immaculate appearance (evening dress carnation) and his witty addresses where he good-naturedly chided the noisy Prommers. Sir Malcolm championed choral music and classical and British composers, especially Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. The charity founded in his name, CLC Sargent continues to hold a special Promenade Concert each year shortly after the main season ends. CLIC Sargent, the Musician's Benevolent Fund and further musical charities (chosen each year) also benefit from thousands of pounds in donations from Prommers after most concerts. When asking for donations, Prommers from the Arena regularly announce to the audience the running donations total at concert intervals through the season, or before the concert when there is no interval.
In 2009 the total number of concerts reached 100 for the first time. In the context of classical music festivals. The Proms has been described as "the world's largest and most democratic musical festival".
Toad In The Hole – English History and Recipe
I thought it would be of interest to write this article about the famous and traditional English recipe with a weird name – “Toad In The Hole”. This is a recipe of Batter and Sausages baked in an oven. The origin of the name "Toad-in-the-Hole" is often disputed. Many suggestions are that the dish's resemblance to a Toad sticking its head out of a hole provide's the dish with its somewhat unusual name.
Nowadays this British dish typically consists of sausage cooked in batter, but in its earliest incarnations in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (when it was usually called toad in a hole) various cuts of meat were used. Mrs. Beeton, for instance, used steak and kidney, and recipes recommending the finest fillet steak are to be found, but often enough toad in the hole was a repository for leftovers. Even today lamb chops are occasionally found lurking in batter, and sausage toad' is the unappetizing colloquialism that distinguishes the orthodox version.
Toad in the hole...provokes historical questions of exceptional interest. What are the origins of the dish and how did it get its name? Enquiries are best commenced from two starting points. The first is that batter puddings (whether baked in the oven by themselves or cooked under the spit or jack in the drippings falling from a joint--in the latter case they could be classed as Yorkshire pudding) only began to be popular in the early part of the 18th century.
Jennifer Stead's essay is the best reference for studying the complex historical questions regarding batter pudding and Yorkshire pudding.
The second is that the earliest recorded reference in print to toad in the hole occurs in a provincial glossary of 1787, quoted by the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) as saying: the dish called toad in a hole meat boiled in a crust.' That gives the name, but the technique is different form that subsequently established...Mrs. Beeton (1861) describes the dish as homely but savoury
A wartime variation on the original uses pieces of Spam in place of sausages.
The recipe itself is rather simple. A pan is placed into the oven and heated for about 15 minutes while the batter is prepared. The sausages and batter are added and cooked for half an hour. With frozen sausages, the meat is placed into the dish while heated. It is normally accompanied by gravy (often onion gravy), vegetables, chips or mashes potato's.
Recipe for Toad – In – The - Hole
Method:
This very objectionable title enables me to usher in to your special notice a dish possessing some claims to consideration, when prepared with care as follows: viz., —cut up about two pounds of tender steak or ox-kidney, or half of each, into rather thick collops about three inches in diameter; season with pepper and salt; fry them over a sharp fire, merely to brown them without their being done through; place the collops in neat order in a buttered pie-dish; detach the brown glaze from the bottom of the pan in which you have fried the beef, with gravy or water, and a little catsup, and pour the residue to the collops in the dish; then add a well-prepared batter for Yorkshire pudding, (see elsewhere on the recipe section -we have included Mrs Beetons recipe on the site instead as its better), gently poured upon the meat, bake for about an hour, and serve while quite hot. This excellent old English dish will occasionally prove a welcome addition to the dinner-table of paterfamilias.
by Charles Elme Francatelli (1805-1876)
Bubble and Squeak – English Recipe and History
I thought it would be of interest to write this article about the famous British recipe – Bubble and Squeak which is a really tasty meal of fried leftovers. There is a fine example of metaphorical ‘Bubble and Squeak’ and eighteenth century wit in an article in The Mid-Wife: or, the old woman’s magazine, by Christopher Smart, 1753 - which is certainly not a cookery magazine. The second quotation cited for the actual dish is in 1772 but there are earlier references to the figurative use of the phrase, so the dish was undoubtedly being made well before this time all over England.
Bubble and squeak is a traditional English dish made with the shallow-fried leftover vegetables from a roast dinner. The chief ingredients are potato and cabbage but carrots, peas, Brussels sprouts and other vegetables can be added. It is traditionally served with cold meat from the Sunday Roast and pickles. Traditionally, the meat was added to the bubble and squeak itself, although nowadays it is more commonly made without meat. The cold chopped vegetables (and cold chopped meat if used) are fried in a pan together with mashed potatoes or crushed roast potatoes until the mixture is well-cooked and brown on the sides.
The name comes from the bubble and squeak sounds made as it cooks. The name bubble and squeak is used throughout the United Kingdom, Australia and other Commonwealth countries. It may also be understood in parts of the United States. In the UK the dish may sometimes be referred to as bubble or bubble and scrape.
Bubble and squeak was a popular dish during World War 11 as it was an easy way of using leftovers during a period when most foods were subject to rationing. In more recent times, pre-prepared frozen and tinned versions have become available.
125g/4oz Cabbage - shredded 125g/4oz Carrots - shredded 125g/4oz Brussels Sprouts – shredded 125g/4oz Peas
3 tbsp water
1 onion, chopped
DIRECTIONS
Cook the potatoes for 25 minutes in a pan of lightly salted boiling water, then drain, peel and dice.
Place them in a bowl with 55g/2oz of the butter and mash until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, place the cabbage, water and remaining butter in a large heavy based saucepan and cover. Cook gently for 10 minutes, or until tender. Mix the Cabbage, Carrots, Brussels Sprouts, Peas and mashed potato together and season with a drop of olive oil and a little salt and pepper.
Heat half the Sunflower oil in a frying pan. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add the potato and cabbage vegetable mixture and press down with the back of a wooden spoon to make a flat, even cake.
Cook over a medium heat for 15 minutes until golden brown on the underside and place on a large plate. Add the remaining oil and cook again on the other side for 10 minutes.
Transfer to a plate, cut into wedges and serve.
Black Pudding – It's English Recipe and History
I thought it would be of interest to write this article about the English recipe and history – Black Pudding which is a sausage of interesting taste and is eaten as a breakfast or snack and can be traced back to the 16th Century..
Black pudding in the United Kingdom is generally made from pork blood and a relatively high proportion of oatmeal. In the past it was occasionally flavoured with pennyroyal. differing from continental European versions in its relatively limited range of ingredients and reliance on oatmeal instead of onions to absorb the blood. It can be eaten uncooked, but is often grilled, fried or boiled in its skin.
In the UK, black pudding is associated with Lancashire and particularly with the town of Bury where it is usually boiled and served with malt vinegar out of paper wrapping. In the remainder of the country, and especially in the south, it is usually served sliced and fried or grilled as part of a traditional full breakfast.
it is also served this way in Ireland, New Zealand and the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador.
The further addition of the similar white pudding is an important feature of the traditional Northumbria, Scottish, Irish and Newfoundland breakfast.
Towns other than Bury noted for their black pudding include Clonakilty, County Cork in Ireland's south west and on Stornaway, Isle of Lewis off the west coast of Scotland.
Black and white pudding, as well as a third variant red pudding is served battered at chip shops in Scotland and England as an alternative to fish and chips.
Pig or Cattle blood is most often used;Sheep and Goat blood are used to a lesser extent.
Typical fillers include Meat, Fat, Suet, Bread, Sweet Potato, Onion, Chestnuts, Barley and Oatmeal.
Ingredients
· Heat the butter in a pan and cook the onions until soft but not browned.
2. Mix the onions with the cubed fat and oatmeal. Mix well and season with salt, pepper and the paprika.
3. Add the blood and mix well with your hands to ensure a sloppy consistency. Leave to cool.
4. Pipe the mixture into the ox casings. At regular intervals tie the bag off to make individual sausage-shaped black puddings. Prick each pudding to ensure it doesn't split whilst being cooked.
5. Heat a large pan of water to 80C and add the black puddings. Cook for about 10 minutes; it is vital that you continually move them around while cooking.
6. Remove from the pan and leave to cool.
I hope you enjoy this tasty bit of England which if you visit England can be found in the chill cabinet and brought from our local supermarkets.
British Cheeses – Types and Taste
Britain is famous for it's many cheeses made over the centuries by many cheese makers. I thought it would be of interest to write this article about the various 700 types of British Cheeses. Cheese is an ancient food whose origins pre-dates recorded history.
The British Cheese Board claims that Britain has approximately 700 distinct local cheeses, France and Italy have perhaps 400 each. Still, the advancement of the cheese art in Europe was slow during the centuries after Rome's fall. Many cheeses today were first recorded in the late Middle Ages or after— cheeses like Cheddar around 1500.
There are many different ways of categorising cheese, but perhaps the easiest way is to break them down according to their texture and the style of manufacture as follows:
Fresh Cheese - Cheese that is almost ready to eat the moment it is made such as Cottage Cheese, Cream Cheese, Fromage Frais, Ricotta, Mozzarella. They have high moisture content and therefore a relatively short shelf life.
Soft Cheese - Cheese with a very soft texture including Brie, Camembert which do require time to reach maturity and full flavour. Again they have relatively high levels of moisture and need to be eaten within a defined period once sold. On white mould cheeses such as Brie and Camembert the young cheese is sprayed with penicillium candidum to help ripen the cheese from the outside in an unripe cheese will have a chalky white strip running through the middle of the cheese.
Semi Hard Cheese - As the name suggests, these cheeses sit between being soft and hard. Often they have a rubbery texture such as Edam and will be sold at a relatively young age of a few months. Other examples would include St. Paulin and Port Salut and certain other cheeses where the rinds will be washed with brine, beer, wine or fruit juices to add character to the cheese during the maturation process.
Hard Cheese - Firm - These are cheeses which have been pressed to remove as much of the whey and moisture from the curds as possible to ensure a long keeping product. Cheeses may be matured from anything between 12 weeks in the case of mild Cheddar, up to 2 years or more in the case of vintage Cheddar, Parmesan or Manchego. Other British examples of firm hard cheese will include Red Leicester, Double Gloucester, Derby, Malvern, Worcester, Hereford. Continental varieties include Emmental and Gouda.
Hard Cheese - Crumbly - A category of cheeses well known in the UK as young variants of Cheshire, Caerphilly, Lancashire and Wensleydale all fall into this group. The cheeses are pressed to remove much of the moisture but because they are sold at a relatively young age - typically between 4 and 8 weeks of age - they retain a crumbly texture and a fresh flavour. Older more mature versions of these cheeses will tend to become firmer and may lose their crumbly texture and hence fall into the firm hard cheese category. They will also have a stronger flavour.
Blue Cheese - There are blue cheese variants of many of the cheese listed above. What puts them into the blue cheese category is that penicillium roqueforti - a blue mould - is added to the cheese at various stages in the making process. Sometimes it is added to the milk at the start of the process in other cases it is sprayed onto the curds before being shaped. Normally the cheese will be pierced with stainless steel needles to allow air into the body of the cheese which then activates the blue mould and starts to break down the protein which in turn creates the blue mould. The process is a way of accelerating the normal development of the cheese and means that quite strong tasting cheese is produced within a few months. Blue Stilton is perhaps the best known blue cheese produced in the UK but there are now more than 70 different blue cheeses being produced within the UK. Other notable British examples are Shropshire Blue, Blue Cheshire, Blue Wensleydale, Dovedale, Buxton Blue, Blacksticks Blue and even Blue Leicester! Imported examples include Roquefort, Gorgonzola, Cambozola and Danish Blue.
Blended Cheese - Also known as fruit cheese, herb cheese, cheese with bits or More Than Just Cheese. Though we think of these as modern cheeses it is well known that the Romans routinely blended their cheese with fruit and herbs. High quality hard cheeses are chopped into small pieces and herbs or fruit added and the whole mixed together before being shaped into cylinders or blocks. Most popular examples in the UK are Wensleydale with Cranberry, White Stilton with Apricots, Cheddar with Caramelised Onion, Double Gloucester with Chives and Onion and Lancashire with Garlic.
These categories can apply to any cheese regardless of the animal from which the milk came.
English Crumpets – History and Recipe
I thought as English Crumpets is an Iconic English Recipe and Snack, which I thought would be interesting to tell on its long history. Crumpets were an Anglo-Saxon invention. In early times, they were hard pancakes cooked on a griddle, rather than the soft and spongy crumpets of the Victorian era which were made with yeast. The crumpet-makers of the Midlands and London developed the characteristic holes, by adding extra baking powder to the yeast dough. The term itself may refer to a crumpled or curled-up cake, or have Celtic origins relating to meaning a "thin, flat cake".
Crumpets are generally circular roughly 7cm in diameter and roughly 2cm thick. Their shape comes from being restrained in the pan/griddle by a shallow ring. They have a characteristic flat top with many small pores and a half-chewy half-spongy texture. They may be cooked until ready to eat warm from the pan, but are frequently left slightly undercooked so that they may be cooled and stored before being eaten freshly-toasted. In Australia and New Zealand, branded square crumpets can be purchased from supermarkets, designed to easily fit in a standard toaster.
Crumpets are generally eaten hot with butter with or without a second (sweet or savoury) topping. Popular second toppings are cheese (melted on top), honey, poached egg, jam, marmite, salt, marmalade, cheese spread, golden syrup, hummus, lemon curd and maple syrup. The butter may be omitted - but a phrase very commonly associated with crumpets is "dripping with butter" (in this context, 'dripping' is - usually - a verb, rather than a reference to animal fat).
Delicious fresh from the pan spread with butter! Why not try with a slice of cheese and gently grill?
Method
Warm the milk and the water together.
Place all of the ingredients into a bowl and beat until smooth (1 to 2 minutes).
Leave until the mixture is frothy and double in size.
Grease and heat a heavy frying pan or griddle and 9 cm (3 in) rings and half fill with the mixture.
Maintaining a moderate heat, cook the crumpets for 5 minutes until the mixture bubbles.
Reduce the heat until the bubbles have burst.
Turn the crumpets over and cook for a further 2 minutes.
Serve hot with butter and jam.
If allowed to cool, toast before serving.
Preparation Time 30 minutes
I hope visitors to article will enjoy the English Crumpets.
English Custard – History and Recipe
I thought as English Custard (which the French do not have a name for) is an Iconic English Recipe and food, I thought my article would be interesting to fans of English Food. Custard was known in English Cuisine at least as early as the fourteenth century. One of the most popular and quintessential English Custard's is "Birds Custard Powder" which I recommend to any cook who wants to make the perfect English custard.
The first reference to custard in England was as almond milk or almond cream In a history of the Abbey of Croyland, England, Laurence Chateres in 1413. It contained almonds, thick milk, water, salt and sugar.
Not all custards are sweet. A quiche is a savoury custard tart. Some kinds of timbale or vegetable loaf are made of a custard base mixed with chopped savoury ingredients. Custard royale is a thick custard cut into decorative shapes and used to garnish soup or broth.
Bird's Custard (a brand name) is the original version of what is known generically as custard powder. It is a cornflour-based powder which thickens to form a custard-like sauce when mixed with milk and heated to a sufficient temperature. Bird's Custard was first formulated and first cooked by Alfred Bird in 1837, because his wife was allergic to eggs the key ingredient used to thicken traditional custard.
In some regions of the United Kingdom the popularity of this type of dessert is such that it is simply known as "custard." In such cases, general usage of the word may be more likely to refer to the "Bird's" custard rather than to the traditional egg-based variety.
In recent years, "instant" versions (containing powdered milk and sugar and requiring only hot water) and ready-made custard in tins and cartons have also become popular.
A food and drink survey carried out in 2000 found 99% of customers recognised the brand which accounts for 45% of the custard consumed in the UK. Bird's Custard is also exported to several countries around the world, including the United States, where it is popular among several ethnic groups. Many ethnic and specialty stores across the United States sell the product. In Canada Bird's Custard can often be found in many popular grocery supermarkets.
In addition to the Bird's brand, generic cornflour-based custards are widely available.
Method
Work up sugar and egg yolks with a wooden spoon until smooth and creamy. Add flour. Scald milk and vanilla bean together and then add egg yolk mixture to it, little by little. Return to saucepan and cook slowly, stirring constantly until it comes to the boiling point. Do not allow to boil. Remove vanilla bean. Cool, stirring vigorously at first and then from time to time to prevent crust from forming on top. Serve cold or a little warm. Other flavoring may be used. For coffee flavor use 1/2top milk and 1/2 strong coffee, for chocolate flavor add grated chocolate to taste to hot milk. Serves to to 3.
Spotted Dick or Spotty Dog – English Pudding Recipe
Many food stuffs are synonymous with iconic English Dishes. We in England may have strange names for our quality food but at least we don't eat Pets like the french who eat Horses, Frogs and Pet Birds. I thought as Spotted Dick is an Iconic English Recipe and pudding I thought I would tell its history.
Spotted Dick is a steamed suet pudding containing dried fruit (usually currents) commonly served with custard. Spotted refers to the dried fruit (which resemble spots) and dick may be a contraction or corruption of the word pudding (from the last syllable) or possibly a corruption of the word dough or dog, as "spotted dog" is another name for the same dish with the use of plums rather than currants. Another explanation offered for the latter half of the name is that it comes from the German word for "thick", in reference to the thickened suet mixture.
Food historians generally agree the first puddings made by ancient cooks produced foods similar to sausages. We English claim pudding as part of their culinary heritage. Medieval puddings black and white were still mostly meat-based. 17th century English puddings were either savory (meat-based) or sweet (flour, nuts & sugar) and were typically boiled in special pudding bags. The “The Pease Porridge " most of us know from the old nursery rhyme was most likely a simple boiled pudding of pease meal. By the latter half 18th century traditional English puddings no longer included meat. 19th century puddings were still boiled but the finished product was more like cake. These puddings are still traditionally served at Christmas time. Plum Pudding (aka Christmas pudding) is a prime example. Modern steamed puddings descend from this tradition.
5 oz (75g) Self raising Flour
5 oz (75g) Chopped Suet
3 oz (50g) Fresh White Breadcrumbs
4 oz (75g) Raisins
3 oz (50g) Brown Sugar
Pinch of Salt
Pkt. Of Birds Custard
Method
Put all the dry ingredients into a bowl and mix them together well. Now add the Milk and mix to a fairly soft dough.
Put the mixture into a greased 2 pint (1.2 litre) pudding basin and cover with kitchen foil, making a pleat across the centre to allow the pudding to rise. Tie the foil firmly in place with string, forming a handle across the top so that you can lift the pudding easily.
Bring a large pan of water to the boil and place an inverted saucer in the bottom. Lower in the pudding basin and let it boil, covered, for 2 hours, filling the pan with more boiling water as the level falls.
Remove from the pan by the string handle, unwrap, turn out on to a heated dish.
Open pkt of Birds Custard and follow instructions on pkt.
Serves 4.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary the earliest documented reference is a recipe for "Plum Bolster or Spotted Dick", in Alexis Soyer's The Modern Housewife, or, Ménagère (1850).
The Earliest Sandwich – It's English History
I thought as The Sandwich was created by The fourth Earl of Sandwich in 1762 and is an Iconic English Snack, I thought it would be interesting to readers and fans of English Food to know It's beginings and history. We in England have sandwiches while having a picnic or as a general snack just like anyone else in the world.
The first mention of the word, "Sandwich" came around 1762 when a reporter wrote in the daily news about John Montague, the fourth Earl of Sandwich (1718-1792). As he sat gambling for long hours, the only sustenance he requested was spirits, water, bread, cheese and meat. As he continued to play with one hand, he sat the meat and cheese between the slices of bread and held them in his non-playing hand. His fellow gamblers, no doubt looking for a lucky charm, began to order "the same as Sandwich!" The original sandwich would have been nothing more than a piece of salt beef between two slices of toasted bread. Whatever the truth of the legend, the name sandwich is inscribed for all time.
John Montagu was First Lord of the Admiralty and patron to Capt. James Cook who explored New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii, and Polynesia. Capt. Cook named the Hawaiian Islands after him, calling them the Sandwich Islands. Legend holds that Montagu was addicted to gambling, so addicted that he gambled for hours at a time at a restaurant, refusing to get up for meals.
A sandwich is a food item, often consisting of two or more slices of bread with one or more fillings between them or one slice of bread with a topping or toppings, commonly called an open sandwich. Sandwiches are a widely popular type of lunch food, typically taken to work or school, or picnics to be eaten as part of a packed lunch. They generally contain a combination of salad vegetables, meat, cheese, and a variety of sauces. The bread can be used as it is, or it can be coated with any condiments to enhance flavor and texture. They are widely sold in restaurants and cafes.
In Spain, where the word sandwich is borrowed from the English language, it refers to a food item made with English sandwich bread.
The verb to sandwich has the meaning to position anything between two other things of a different character, or to place different elements alternately,
Recipes for sandwiches were not immediately forthcoming in cookbooks. In England they were (at first) considered restaurant fare. The primary difference between early English and American sandwiches? In England beef was the meat of choice; in America it was ham. A simple matter of local supply.
Literary references to sandwiches begin to appear in English during the 1760s, but also under the assumption that they are a food consumed primarily by the masculine sex during late night drinking parties. The connotation does not change until the sandwich moves into general society as a supper food for late night balls and similar events toward the end of the eighteenth century.
Charlotte Mason was one of the first English cookbook authors to provide a recipe for sandwiches. During the nineteenth century, as midday dinner moved later and later into the day, the need for hot supper declined, only to be replaced with light dishes made of cold leftovers, ingredients for which the sandwich proved preeminently suitable. Thus the sandwich became a fixture of intimate evening suppers, teas, and picnics, and popular fare for taverns and inns. This latter genre of sandwich has given rise to multitudes of working class creations.
Ye Olde English Marmalade – History and Recipe 1480 AD
I thought as English Marmalade is an Iconic English Recipe and food, I thought it would be interesting to fans of English Food to know It's recipe and history. According to the Oxford English Dictionary "marmalade" appeared in the English language in 1480 AD.
In 1524, Henry VIII received a "box of marmalade" from Mr. Hull of Exeter. As it was in a box, this was likely to have been marmelada, a quince paste from Portugal , still made and sold in southern Europe. Its Portuguese origins from marmalado can be detected in the remarks in letters to Lord Lisle, from William Grett, 12th May 1534, "I have sent to your lordship a box of marmaladoo and another unto my good lady your wife" and from Richard Lee, 14th December 1536, "He most heartily thanketh her Ladyship for her marmalado".
The extension of "marmalade" in the English language refers to citrus fruits which were made in the 17th century, when citrus first began to be plentiful enough in England for the usage to become common.
Various Marmalade's from around the World
Marmalade is a fruit preserve made from the peel of Citrus Fruits, Sugar and Water. The traditional citrus fruit for marmalade production is the "Seville Orange" from Spain, Citrus aurantium var. aurantium, thus called because it was originally only made in Seville in Spain; it is higher in pectin than sweet oranges and therefore gives a good set. The peel has a distinctive bitter taste which it imparts to the marmalade. Marmalade can be made from lemons, limes, grapefruits, sweet oranges or any combination thereof. For example, California-style marmalade is made from the peel of sweet oranges and consequently lacks the bitter taste of Spanish style marmalade.
In languages other than English, marmalade can mean preserves made with fruit other than citrus. For example, in Spanish all preserves are known generically as mermelada (There is no distinction made between jam, jelly, preserves or marmalade).
The recipe for marmalade includes sliced or chopped fruit peel simmered in sugar, fruit juice and water until soft; indeed marmalade is sometimes described as jam with fruit peel (although manufacturers also produce peel-free marmalade). English Marmalade is often eaten on toast for breakfast.
Ingredients:
2 lb (900 g) Seville oranges
½ lb (225 g) lemons
6 pints (3.4 litres) water
1 lb (450 g) sugar per 1 lb (450 g) pulp – of which 1lb should be brown
Method:
Wash and dry the fruit. Cut in half and squeeze out the juice. Remove the pips, inside skin and pith. Tie these in a piece of muslin.
Cut the peel chunkily.
Put the peel in a large bowl with the bag of pips etc and the juice. Add 6 pints (3.4 litres) of water and leave to soak overnight.
Weigh the preserving pan and make a note of it. Put the soaked peel, pith and pips into it with the water and juice.
Bring to the boil and simmer gently until the peel is soft and the contents of the pan have been reduced to half its original bulk. This will take about 1½ hours.
Lift out the bag of pips and pith, squeezing it again the side of the pan with a wooden spoon.
Test for pectin.
Re-weigh the pan and subtract from this weight the original weight of the empty pan to calculate the weight of the remaining pulp.
Add 1 lb (450 g) of warmed sugar to each 1 lb (450 g) of pulp of which 1 lb (450 g) should be brown. Stir until all the sugar has dissolved.
Bring to the boil and boil rapidly until the marmalade sets when tested.
Remove the scum and leave to cool slightly.
Pot and seal whilst still hot.
Makes about 6 lbs (2.7 kg) of marmalade.
English Chelsea Buns – History and Recipe
I thought as Chelsea Buns is an Iconic English Recipe and Snack, which I thought would be interesting to Fans of English Food. Chelsea Buns have been made since at least the start of the 1700s. They were reputedly invented either at the Old Chelsea Bun House, or at the "Real Old Original Chelsea Bun-house" in London, England.
The two were rivals. Both were on Grosvenor Row, both made great buns, and both had a long wooden covered footpath in front of them, that looked something like a verandah except it was a sidewalk, too.
Grosvenor Row (which no longer exists) was the name for what is now approximately the middle section of Pimlico Road, from Passmore Street east a few blocks to Bourne Street. Technically, the area is Pimlico, not Chelsea, but it's probably far too late to suggest the name "Pimlico Buns" to anyone.
The Old Chelsea Bun House was owned by a 'Captain Bun' (sic). Reputedly, in the latter decades of the 1700s, it was frequented by George II, his son George III (the mad King George) and his wife Queen Charlotte. In 1817, it had been in business for four generations of the same family (as per Sir Richard Philips (1767-1840; one of whose pseudonyms was Reverend David Blair.)
On Good Fridays, they sold Hot Cross buns, and were frequently mobbed by huge line-ups. The mob scene had been so great in 1792 that they in fact skipped selling them in 1793. They posted a notice instead on Wednesday, 27 March 27 1793 saying, "Royal Bun House, Chelsea, Good Friday.—No Cross Buns. Mrs. Hand respectfully informs her friends and the public, that in consequence of the great concourse of people which assembled before her house at a very early hour, on the morning of Good Friday last, by which her neighbours (with whom she has always lived in friendship and repute) have been much alarmed and annoyed; it having also been intimated, that to encourage or countenance a tumultuous assembly at this particular period might be attended with consequences more serious than have hitherto been apprehended; desirous, therefore, of testifying her regard and obedience to those laws by which she is happily protected, she is determined, though much to her loss, not to sell Cross Buns on that day to any person whatever, but Chelsea buns as usual."
But the shop appears to have got back into the Hot Cross Bun business. On 18 April 1839,
Good Friday for that year, they sold around 24,000 Hot Cross buns. Nevertheless, the business was sold and demolished later that year."
Mentions of Chelsea Buns in Letters and Publications
A fine day, but begins to grow a little warm; and that makes your little fat Presto sweat in the forehead. Pray, are not the fine buns sold here in our town; was it not Chelsea buns? I bought one to-day in my walk; it cost me a penny; it was stale, and I did not like it." -- Jonathan Swift. Letter no. 22. The Journal to Stella, 28th April 1711.
"I soon turned the corner of a street which took me out of sight of the space on which once stood the gay Ranelagh. … Before me appeared the shop so famed for Chelsea buns, which for above thirty years I have never passed without filling my pockets. In the original of these shops—for even of Chelsea buns there are counterfeits—are preserved mementoes of domestic events in the first half of the past century. The bottle-conjuror is exhibited in a toy of his own age; portraits are also displayed of Duke William and other noted personages; a model of a British soldier, in the stiff costume of the same age; and some grotto-works, serve to indicate the taste of a former owner, and were, perhaps, intended to rival the neighbouring exhibition at Don Saltero's. These buns have afforded a competency, and even wealth, to four generations of the same family; and it is singular that their delicate flavour, lightness, and richness, have never been successfully imitated." -- Sir Richard Phillips (1767-1840). In "Morning's Walk from London to Kew." 1817.
The Royal East London Volunteers made a brilliant sight that day: formed into lines, squares, circles, triangles, and what not, to the beating of drums, and the streaming of flags; and performed a vast number of complex evolutions, in all of which Sergeant Varden bore a conspicuous share. Having displayed their military prowess to the utmost in these warlike shows, they marched in glittering order to the Chelsea Bun House, and regaled in the adjacent taverns until dark." -- Charles Dickens, Barnaby Rudge, Chapter 42.
"I was rather in a hurry," returns Mr. Bucket, "for I was going to visit a aunt of mine that lives at Chelsea -- next door but two to the old original Bun House..." -- Charles Dickens, Bleak House, Chapter 53.
"Give her a Chelsea bun, miss! That’s what most young ladies like best!" The voice was rich and musical, and the speaker dexterously whipped back the snowy cloth that covered his basket, and disclosed a tempting array of the familiar square buns, joined together in rows, richly egged and browned and glistening in the sun." -- Lewis Carroll, A Tangled Tale.
Mrs. Beaton's Recipe for Chelsea Buns
Method
1. Pre heat oven to 200°C
2. Mix the yeast with the warm milk and water and add 1 teaspoon of sugar.
3. Mix the salt into the flour and rub in 2 oz. of the margarine.
4. Add 2 oz. of the castor sugar to the flour and the salt.
5. Whisk the eggs.
6. Mix the eggs and other liquids into the flour and knead it until if forms a smooth dough.
7. Leave the dough to rise in a greased bowl, in a warm spot away from draughts.
8. Cover the bowl ( tea-towel or Cling film ) to keep it warm and free from draughts, and leave it until the dough has almost doubled in size.
9. Spread a little flour on a wooden board. This will prevent the dough from sticking to the board.
10. Roll out the dough into a piece about 20 by 8 inches.
11. Spread the remaining 1 oz. of butter over the surface of the rolled out dough.
12. Sprinkle the remaining sugar and currants evenly over the dough.
13. Roll up from the shortest edge to form a roll about 20 inches long.
14. Cut the roll into 15 / 20 equal slices.
15. Place the slices on a greased tray, leaving spaxce around each so they can expand. Cover with a tea-towel and leave until the buns rise and are puffy.
16. Bake on the top shelf of the oven for about 30 minutes.
NB: It may be necessary to cover the top of the buns with metal foil towards the end of the cooking to prevent them from browning / burning too much.
Either eat them fresh or put them in the freezer. They freeze very well.
GLAZE: Mix 2 tablespoons of boiled milk with a tablespoon of sugar, then brush it over the tops of the buns whilst they are still hot.
English Mustard – An English Icon
I thought as English Mustard is an Iconic English sauce I thought I would tell its history. Oner of the most commonest English meals is Roast Beef, Roast Potato's, Brussel Sprouts, Gravy with English Mustard.
According to an old saying, Durham City, England was famed for seven things - wood, water and pleasant walks, law, gospel, old maids and mustard.
This saying probably originated in the 18th Century when Durham's mustard achieved great fame.
Mustard was introduced into England in the 12th Century and in early times seeds were coarsely ground at the table using a mortar and it was eaten in this rough state.
It had reached the North-East by about 1486 when monks on the Farne Islands (a monastic cell tied to Durham Cathedral) are known to have used quern stones in the grinding of "mwstert".
In those early days, it was used primarily to disguise the flavour of rotten meat and it was not until the late 1600s that it came to be recommended in its own right.
At that time, the town of Tewkesbury was primarily noted for mustard making, but in those days it was a much weaker substance and it was not until 1720 that English-style mustard, resembling what we know today, really came into being.
English mustard was born largely due to the vision and energy of a Durham City woman by the name of Mrs Clements.
Her forename has, despite her remarkable achievements, eluded all historians that have strived to tell her story.
In 1720, she invented a new method of extracting the full flavour from mustard seed. Her methods were secretly guarded but involved grinding the seeds in a mill and passing them through several processes similar to those used in the making of flour from wheat.
This resourceful woman soon recognised the potential of her invention and travelled the country collecting orders.
She regularly visited London where her product tickled the palate of none other than King George I, whose liking for the mustard brought Mrs Clements numerous orders from people who wished to follow royal fashion.
It is said that Mrs Clement's mustard mill was situated at the rear of a property in Saddler Street (now a clothes shop that was once the House of Andrews stationer), but this is not certain.
Mustard seeds were certainly grown on local farms in the early days, including Houghall Farm, near Shincliffe. It must have been a lucrative trade because mustard crops worth up to £100 an acre were occasionally known.
The manufacture also stimulated other industries and it is known that a Gateshead pottery specialised in supplying pots for mustard export.
In the 18th century, the name of Durham came to be synonymous with mustard and, in local slang, Durham people came to be known as knock-kneed Durham men from the alleged grinding of mustard between their knees.
Later in the century, rival mustard firms sprang up around the country, including London where Messrs Keen and Sons manufactured the product from 1742, supplying it to taverns and chophouses.
Though later acquired by Colmans of Norwich (who made mustard from 1814) the London firm is still remembered in the saying "keen as mustard".
By 1810, the London Journal recorded that the once frowned upon condiment of "mustard seed is now used and esteemed by most of the quality and gentry". However, by this time, Durham had lost its mustard monopoly.
Meanwhile, Mrs Clements' daughter, who was heir to the family business, married local man Joseph William Ainsley whose family had been involved in Durham flour-making since 1692.
The Ainsley family became the main name in Durham mustard making and their business was situated in Silver Street - number 22. This location, and not Saddler Street, may have been the original site of Durham's mustard factory.
The Ainsley family history is not totally clear, but at the beginning of the 19th Century the business passed into the hands of a son or grandson, also called Joseph William Ainsley. Another family member, possibly a brother, called John, worked at a flour mill at Crook Hall. This mill seems to have been involved in making mustard for the Silver Street premises.
Following Joseph Ainsley's death in about 1830, his widow, Eleanor, carried on the business but later married John Balmborough who became proprietor in the 1840s or 50s.
At about this time, a new mustard business also opened in the city, this time in Saddler Street and was operated by William Ainsley who was, it is believed, the son of John, from Crook Hall flour mill.
Balmborough was clearly threatened by this rival firm and his advertisements went to great lengths to emphasise that he was the true heir to the Ainsley name.
William Ainsley however was a successful entrepreneur noted for his printing and stationery business at 1 Saddler Street. He moved to larger premises at 74 (later the House of Andrews) after branching out into mustard.
A William Ainsley advertisement of 1865 only lists mustard as a footnote to a number of enterprises that included gunpowder-making, but it must have affected Balmborough's business.
By the early 1870s, Saddler Street was too small for the business and Ainsley moved to Waddington Street in the northern part of the city. In 1874, he died and was succeeded by his sons, William and John Ainsley, trading as William Ainsley and Brother. Balmborough also died during this period and the Silver Street business closed.
A new Durham mustard business was launched in 1888 operated by John Simpson and James Willan, initially in Providence Row and then in Gilesgate's Station Lane, but it barely lasted a decade.
Simpson, who died in 1908, spent his final years as a timekeeper at the city's gas company.
William Ainsley died in 1896 and the Ainsley firm lasted only two or three years into the following century.
Durham's mustard-making trade fell into the hands of Colmans, the Norwich firm most closely associated with English mustard-making today.
Lardy Cake – 15th Century History and Recipe
I thought as English Lardy cake is an Iconic English Spiced bread I thought it would be interesting to fans of English Food to know It's recipe and history. Lardy cake is also called Lardy bread, Lardy Johns, Dough cake and Fourses cake and originates from Wiltshire. In the West Country and dates from the 15th. Century. Today local bakers still make it to their own recipes, cramming in as much lard, sugar and fruit as they or their customers choose.
The lardy cake relates back to the 15th. Century 'Old English Fair' which was an eagerly awaited event by town and countrymen who would get together to sell their wares. Gingerbread and Plum Cake became established products at these fairs, with the Lardy Cake being an adapted version of the later.
The major difference between the two products was that the fat (lard) was layered into the dough similar to Danish Pastry. Today a equal mixture of lard and brown sugar are layered in at approximately 20% of the dough weight. The fermented dough also contains fruit and will also be spiced.
Recipe
20 Gram Yeast fresh (1 3/4 tsp dried + pinch of sugar) (3/4 oz)
450 ml Water, warmed (3/4 pint)
600 Gram Strong white flour (1 1/4 lb)
1 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
100 Gram Lard, diced (4 oz)
100 Gram Butter, diced (4 oz)
240 Gram Mixed sultanas and currants (10 oz)
65 Gram Chopped mixed peel (3 oz)
65 Gram Sugar (3 oz)
Makes 16 slices
Method
Preheat oven to 220 °C / 425 °F / Gas 7. Grease a 20 x 25 cm (8 x 10 inch) roasting tin. Blend the fresh yeast with the warm water. If using dried yeast, sprinkle it into the warm water with the pinch of sugar and leave for 15 minutes until frothy.
Put the flour and salt in a bowl and rub in 100g ( 4 oz) of the lard. Make a well in the centre and pour in the yeast liquid. Beat together to make a dough that leaves the sides of the bowl clean, adding more water if necessary. Turn on to a lightly floured surface and knead well for about 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Place in a clean bowl. Cover with a clean tea-towel and leave in a warm place for about 1 hour, until doubled in size.
Turn the dough on to a floured surface and roll out to a rectangle about 0.5 cm ( 1/4 inch) thick. Dot one-third of the remaining lard and butter over the surface of the dough. Sprinkle over one-third of the fruit, peel and sugar. Fold the dough in three, folding the bottom third up and the top third down. Give a quarter turn, then repeat the process twice more.
Roll the dough out to fit the prepared tin. Put in the tin, cover and leave in a warm place for 30 minutes, until puffy. Score the top with a criss-cross pattern with a knife, then bake for about 30 minutes, or until well risen and golden brown. Turn out and serve immediately or leave to cool on a wire rack. Once cooled this can be stores in a freezer until ready to warm up. It's best served plain or with butter.
Lardy Cake is really scrumptious hot or cold and once cooked can be kept in a freezer until ready to carve up and then warmed up prior to eating.
History of Cribbage – An English Iconic Game
I thought as the Game of Cribbage was invented by us English and is played Worldwide I thought I would tell its history. The most famous cribbage player of all, as described by Charles Dickens in Oliver Twist: "Mr Toby Crackit swept up his winnings [at cribbage] and crammed them into his waist-coat pocket."
According to John Aubrey who was a 17th Century English antiquary and writer, cribbage was created by the English poet Sir John Suckling in the early 17th century, as a derivation of the game “Noddy”. While noddy has disappeared, crib has survived, virtually unchanged, as one of the most popular games in the English Speaking world. The objective of the game is to be the first player to score a target number of points, typically 61 or 121 Points are scored for card combinations that add up to fifteen, and for pairs, triples, quadruples, runs and flushes.
Cribbage, or crib, is a card game traditionally for two players, but commonly played with three, four or more, that involves playing and grouping cards in combinations which gain points. Cribbage has several distinctive features: the cribbage board used for score keeping, the eponymous crib or box (a separate hand counting for the dealer), two distinct scoring stages (the play and the show) and a unique scoring system including points for groups of cards that total fifteen.
Rules
1) The players cut for first deal, and the dealer shuffles and deals five or six cards to each player, depending on the number of players. For two players, each is dealt six cards; for three or four players, each is dealt five cards. In the case of three players, a single card is dealt face down in the centre of the table to start the crib. Once the cards have been dealt, each player chooses four cards to retain, then discards the other one or two face-down to form the "crib" which will be used later by the dealer. At this point, each player's hand and the crib will contain exactly four cards. The player on the dealer's left cuts the deck and the dealer reveals the top card, called the "starter". If this card is a jack the dealer scores two points for "his heels", also known as "his nibs".
2) Starting with the player on the dealer's left, each player lays one card in turn onto a personal discard pile, stating the cumulative value of the cards laid (for example, the first player lays a five and says "five", the next lays a six and says "eleven", and so on), without the total going above 31. Once no more cards can be played, the cumulative position is reset to zero and those players with cards remaining repeat the process until all players' cards have been played. Players score points during this process for making a total of fifteen, for reaching exactly, or as close as possible to a total of thirty-one, for runs and for pairs. Players choose the order in which to lay their cards in order to maximize their score; experienced players refer to this as either good or poor "pegsmanship". If one player reaches the target (usually 61 or 121), the game ends immediately and that player wins.
3) Once the play is complete, each player in turn receives points based on the content of his hand in conjunction with the starter card. Points are scored for combinations of cards totalling fifteen, runs, pairs, flushes and having a Jack of the same suit as the starter card ("one for his nob [or nobs or nibs]"). The dealer scores his hand last and then turns the cards in the crib face up. These cards are then scored by the dealer as an additional hand in conjunction with the starter card. Scores between 0 and 29 are all possible, with the exception of 19, 25, 26 and 27.Players may refer colloquially to a hand scoring zero points as having a score of nineteen.
4) Visually, cribbage is known for its scoring board - a series of holes ("streets") on which the score is tallied with pegs (also known as "spilikins"). Scores can be kept on a piece of paper, but a cribbage board is almost always used, since scoring occurs throughout the game, not just at the conclusion of hands as in most other card games. Points are registered as having been scored by "pegging" along the crib board. Two pegs are used in a leapfrog fashion, so that if a player loses track during the count one peg still marks the previous score. Some boards have a "game counter", with many additional holes for use with a third peg to count the games won by each side.
The most famous cribbage player of all, as described by Charles Dickens in Oliver Twist: "Mr Toby Crackit swept up his winnings [at cribbage] and crammed them into his waist-coat pocket."
History of English Lawn Bowls – Jactus Lapidum
I thought as Green Bowls is popular worldwide and was invented by us English I thought I would tell its history. One of the most famous stories concerning Bowls was On 19th July 1588 Captain Thomas Fleming in the Golden Hinde, glimpsed the Armada through the swirling morning mist off the Lizard and raced for Plymouth, Lord Howard’s home port. Fleming came up the channel into Plymouth with the afternoon tide to find Sir Francis Drake playing bowls with his officers on the Ho, high above the harbour. On hearing of Fleming’s sighting Drake insisted on continuing with the game.
Bowls is a sport in which the objective is to roll slightly asymmetric balls, called bowls, so that they stop close to a smaller—normally white—bowl called the "jack" or "kitty". Bowls, either flat- or crown-green, is usually played outdoors, on grass and synthetic surfaces. Flat-green bowls can also be played indoors on synthetic surfaces. Both variants are collectively known as "lawn bowls".
It is most popular in Australia, New Zealand (where the natural playing surface is cotula), the United Kingdom and in other Commonwealth nations.
It has been traced certainly to the 13th century and conjecturally to the 12th century with William Fitzstephen (d. About 1190 AD). In his biography, Thomas Becket gives a graphic sketch of the London of his day and writing of the summer amusements of the young men, says that on holidays they were "exercised in Leaping, Shooting, Wrestling, Casting of Stones [in jactu lapidum], and Throwing of Javelins fitted with Loops for the Purpose, which they strive to fling before the Mark; they also use Bucklers, like fighting Men."
It is commonly supposed that by jactus lapidum, Fitzstephen meant the game of bowls, but though it is possible that round stones may sometimes have been employed in an early variety of the game - and there is a record of iron bowls being used, though at a much later date, on festive occasions at Nairn, - nevertheless the inference seems unwarranted. The jactus lapidum of which he speaks was probably more akin to the modern "putting the weight," once even called "putting the stone." It is beyond dispute, however, that the game, at any rate in a rudimentary form, was played in the 13th century. A manuscript of that period in the royal library, Windsor (No. 20, E iv.), contains a drawing representing two players aiming at a small cone instead of an earthenware ball or jack. The world's oldest surviving bowling green is the Southampton Old Bowling Green which was first used in 1299 AD.
Another manuscript of the same century has a crude but spirited picture which brings us into close touch with the existing game. Three figures are introduced and a jack. The first player's bowl has come to rest just in front of the jack; the second has delivered his bowl and is following after it with one of those eccentric contortions still not unusual on modern greens, the first player meanwhile making a repressive gesture with his hand, as if to urge the bowl to stop short of his own; the third player is depicted as in the act of delivering his bowl.
As the game grew in popularity, it came under the ban of king and parliament, both fearing it might jeopardise the practice of archery, then so important in battle. Statutes forbidding it and other sports were enacted in the reigns of King Edward III, King Richard II and other monarchs. Even when, on the invention of gunpowder and firearms, the bow had fallen into disuse as a weapon of war, the prohibition was continued. The discredit attaching to bowling alleys, first established in London in 1455, probably encouraged subsequent repressive legislation, for many of the alleys were connected with taverns frequented by the dissolute and gamesters. The word "bowls" occurs for the first time in the statute of 1511 in which Henry VIII confirmed previous enactments against unlawful games. By a further act of 1541 - which was not repealed until 1845 - artificers, labourers, apprentices, servants and the like were forbidden to play bowls at any time except Christmas and then only in their master's house and presence. It was further enjoined that any one playing bowls outside his own garden or orchard was liable to a penalty of 6s. 8d., while those possessed of lands to the yearly value of £100 might obtain licences to play on their own private greens.
Bowls is popular in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, Hong Kong and parts of the United States. It is also gaining momentum in Japan.
Because of its competitiveness, skill and the fact that it is a non-contact sport, the game suits people from teen years through to their nineties. However, there is a considerable professional competition with many younger men and women playing.
Since the 1990's, the sport has developed in Denmark as well. The World Championships are held in the UK annually and the £100,000 competition is watched by 3 million viewers on BBC TV.
Today the sport is played in over 40 countries with more than 50 member national authorities.
Jigsaw Puzzles – An English Iconic Game
I thought as Jigsaw Puzzles was invented by us English I thought I would tell its history. The first jigsaw was made by John Spilsbury (an Englishman) in 1766 who was a renowned mapmaker and engraver from London who mounted a map of England on a thin sheet of mahogany board, used a hand held fretsaw to cut round the county boundaries and sold the boxed pieces for children to assemble. They were known as "Dissected maps". The result was an educational aid, which could be used for teaching Geography to children.
John Spilsbury certainly spotted a great business opportunity. In the space of two years he marketed the eight map subjects most likely to appeal to upper class English parents: The World, the Four Continents then known (Africa, America, Asia and Europe), England and Wales, Ireland and Scotland.
During the next 40 years several other manufacturers (including individuals in Holland) copied John Spilsbury's ideas and introduced historical scenes to compliment his map subjects. In the early part of the century, puzzles were made almost exclusively for wealthy children and almost always with education in mind.
To save on cutting labour the puzzles consisted of only a few large pieces and only the outside interlocked – the rest was cut quickly with straight or wavy lines. The wood used was usually Mahogany or Cedar. The jigsaw named “The Parable of the Sower” on the right was cut by Betts in about 1870 and typifies the style of jigsaws up to that date. Only the outside pieces interlock and the quality of the print is very poor by modern standards.
Towards the end of the century great strides were made in many manufacturing techniques and three of these influenced jigsaws:
Treadle operated jigsaws were invented.
Techniques were developed to produce THIN sheets of wood.
Printing improved in leaps and bounds.
These technological advances enabled jigsaws to be made that were much more intricate, durable and colourful. Adults became interested in doing jigsaws and this spurred the manufacturers to widen the range of subjects available and to make them more difficult to do.
It became evident that colourful, complex jigsaws held a fascination for many people.
In the late 1800’s a German furniture dealer named Raphael Tuck and his two sons developed 4 techniques that set the scene for jigsaw development into the next century:
2) Their subjects included many varied and colourful topics.
3) Cutting was made more intricate and included "Whimsies" – individual pieces cut into recognisable shapes like animals and household goods.
4) Plywood and thick card started to be used instead of expensive hardwood.
5) Attractive boxes (that for the first time included an image of the uncut puzzle) were introduced.
Those with an interest in history might like to know that Raphael Tuck was also instrumental in the development of other industries – he is credited with the first commercial production of Christmas cards and also the first picture postcards. He set up printing establishments in London, Paris and New York and in 1893 he received the Royal Warrant from Queen Victoria for printing the Queen’s letter to the nation on the occasion of the death of the Duke of Clarence.
The Valentine Card – An English Icon
I thought as the Valentines Card was invented in England I would write about It's story. The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written by Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. The greeting, which was written in 1415 AD is part of the manuscript collection of the British Library in London. England.
Valentine greetings have been popular since the Middle Ages, a time when prospective lovers said or sang their romantic verses. Written valentines began to appear after 1400. Paper valentines originated in the 1500s, being exchanged in Europe and being given in place of valentine gifts and oral or musical valentine greetings. They were particularly popular in England.
The first written valentine (formerly known as "poetical or amorous addresses") is traditionally attributed to the imprisoned Charles, Duke of Orleans, in 1415. While confined in the Tower of London after the Battle of Agincourt, the young Duke reportedly passed his time by writing romantic verses for his wife in France. They are credited with being the first modern day valentines.
By the Sixteenth Century, written valentines were commonplace and by the Seventeenth Century, it was a widespread tradition in England for friends and sweethearts to exchange gifts and notes on February 14.
During the early 1700s, Charles II of Sweden brought the Persian poetical art known as the "language of flowers" to Europe and throughout the Eighteenth Century, floral dictionaries were published, permitting the exchange of romantic secrets via a lily or lilac, for example, culminating in entire conversations taking place within a bouquet of flowers.
The more popular the flower, the more traditions and meaning were associated with it. The red rose, for instance, believed to be the favored flower of Venus, Roman Goddess of Love, became universally accepted to represent romantic love. Thus, the custom of giving red roses on Valentine's Day quickly gained popularity.
Some time after 1723, the popularity of valentine cards in America began to grow with the import from England of valentine "writers." A "writer" was a booklet comprised of a vast array of verses and messages which could be copied onto gilt-edged paper or other type of decorative sheet. One popular "writer" contained not only "be my valentine" types of verses for the men to send to their sweethearts, but also acceptances or "answers" which the ladies could then return. Late Eighteenth Century and Early Nineteenth Century valentines were often religious in nature and it is possible that the "Sacred Heart" often depicted on these cards eventually became the "Valentine Heart" with the customarily accompanying Angel eventually becoming "Cupid." It is believed that the earlier versions of these religious valentines may have been made by nuns who would cut-out the paper lace with scissors. It is thought the process probably took many days since the cards had every appearance of being machine-made.
By the early 1800s, valentines began to be assembled in factories. Such early manufactured valentines were rather simplistic, composed of black-and-white pictures painted by the factory workers. Fancy valentines comprised of real lace and ribbons were introduced in the mid-1800s. Paper lace began to be introduced to the cards later in the 1800s, These valentines also contained delicate and artistic messages with pictures of turtledoves, lovers' knots in gold or silver, bows and arrow, Cupids and bleeding hearts.
During the Victorian Era and its printing advances, Valentine cards became even more popular and the modern postal service of the age implmented the "penny post," which made it easier to mail written valentines. (Prior to that time, postage was so expensive that most cards were hand-delivered and usually left on doorsteps.) Known as "penny postcards" (because they were mailed with a one-penny postage stamp), these valentine greetings were very popular from around 1890 to 1917.
During this time, it was also considered "proper" to collect and display collections of postcards and trade cards in the Victorian and Edwardian parlor. Friends and guests would be invited to sit for hours, leafing through albums while they visited. This custom gained so much popularity that photographers, studios, printers and business continually strived for new and exciting subjects to satisfy a public which was anxious for innovative items in order to impress their acquaintances.
To make their cards stand out, people often sought for real photographic postcards. As opposed to mass-produced lithographs, these were actual photographs made with a postcard-printed back. The photography studios frequently employed women to hand-tint and color the black-and-white images. Some of the best of these cards came from Germany...famous for its detailed and colorful lithography. Popular subjects included women, children, flowers and couples, posed and arranged in an effort to portray the idealized virtues of the Era.
Indeed, it was in England that the first commercial-type valentine was produced on embossed paper, later perforated to make a lace-type design. Some of these cards contained tiny mirrors with the message: "Look at my Beloved," while others were called "Cobweb Valentines" because the center could be lifted by a tassel to reveal a cobweb effect of paper and underneath, a picture of a couple or a romantic message.
Although pre-Victorian valentines are virtually unavailable today, but cards have survived over a century due chiefly to the fact that they began to be mass-produced around 1850. However, the majority of early Victorian valentines were customarily made by hand from honeycombed tissue, watercolors, paper puffs, colored inks, embossed paper hearts and exquisite lace. These were truly beautifully-created small works of art, often adorned with silk or satin (in addition) to lace, flowers or feathers and even gold leaf. Such fragile honeycomb designs remained the vogue until around 1909.
Some of the most unusual valentines were fashioned by lonely sailors during this time...unique cards sporting seashells of various sizes employed to create hearts, flowers and other designs, or to cover heart-shaped boxes. Sailors also sent what were known as "Busk Valentines," rounded long sticks fashioned from ivory or wood, somewhat resembling a tongue depressor but approximately five time longer. Upon these sticks, the sailor would carve hearts and other loving designs. The "Busk Valentine" was worn by the sailor's sweetheart inside her corset. It was not unusual for a manufactured valentine of this era to cost as much as a month's earnings, particularly the "proposal valentines" which were very popular and might contain the depiction of a church or a ring. In keeping with Victorian etiquette, it was considered improper for a lady to send a valentine greeting to a man.
Sir Francis Walsingham – Spymaster for Queen Elizabeth 1
Sir Francis Walsingham was one of England's greatest icons and is recognised worldwide as the greatest Spymaster of the 16th Century. I thought it would be interesting to write the story of this famous icon from his birth in 1532.
Francis Walsingham was born at the Walsingham family seat, Scadbury park near Chislehurst, Kent to William Walsingham and Joyce Denny. His father died the following year, and later, his mother married Sir John Carey a relative by marriage of Queen Anne Boleyn.
Walsingham was Principal Secretary to Elizabeth 1st of England from 1573 till 1590, and is popularly remembered as her “Spymaster”. Walsingham is frequently cited as one of the earliest practitioners of modern intelligence methods both for espionage and for domestic security. He oversaw operations which penetrated the heart of Spanish military preparation, gathered intelligence from across Europe, and disrupted a range of plots against the queen, securing the execution of Mary Queen of Scots.
Walsingham studied at Kings College, Cambridge from 1548 with many Protestants but as an undergraduate of high social status he did not sit for a degree. In 1550, he travelled abroad, returning two years later to enroll at Gray's Inn. Upon the death of Edward VI and accession of Catholic Queen Mary, he fled to continue his studies as a law student at the University of Padua. Between April 1556 and November 1558, he visited Switzerland and cultivated contacts among the leading Protestant statesmen on the continent.
When Elizabeth I ascended to the throne in 1558, Walsingham returned to England and, through the support of Sir William Cecil, was elected to the House of Commons for Banbury in 1559 and then Lyme Regis in 1563.
After his return, Walsingham was appointed joint principal secretary ("of state": the phrase was not used at this time in England) with Sir thomas Smith, succeeding Sir William Cecil. Smith retired unexpectedly in 1576, leaving Walsingham in sole charge.
Elizabeth called him her "Moor", perhaps due to his complexion or a preference for sombre clothes. She put up with his blunt, often unwelcome, advice because she valued his competence and industry, his passion for her security, and his grasp of foreign affairs.
On 1 December 1577, Walsingham received a knoghthood. He spent the years between 1574 and 1578 consolidating his control of the routine business of the English state, foreign and domestic. This included the substantial rebuilding of Dover Harbour and the coordination of support for Martin Frobisher's attempts to discover the north west passage and exploit the mineral resources of Labrador. Walsingham was among the foremost promoters of the career of Sir Francis Drake and was a major shareholder in his 1578–1581 circumnavigation of the world. Walsingham's participation in this venture was calculated to promote the Protestant interest by provoking the Spanish and demonstrating the vulnerability of their Pacific possessions.
He was sent on special embassies to the Netherlands in 1578, and again in 1581 to the French Court, suggesting both the Queen's high confidence in his abilities, and also that she knew how to exploit his standing as a committed Protestant statesman to threaten the Catholic powers.
Between 1578 and 1581, Walsingham was at the forefront of debate on the attempt by a group at court to encourage the Queen to marry the Duke of Anjou, heir to the French throne. Walsingham passionately opposed the marriage, perhaps to the point of encouraging public opposition. Walsingham canvassed the variety of consequences of a Catholic French consort of a Queen now past the age of childbearing, and with no clear successor. He believed that it would serve England better to seek a military alliance with France against Spanish interests,and the debates in council raged around the viability of an independent England against the increasing threat posed by Spain, and by the forces of international Catholicism which were undermining the unity of the French state.
Walsingham advocated direct English intervention in the Low Countries, and eventually, after the deaths of both Anjou and William of Orange in 1584, English military intervention was agreed at the Treaty of Nonsuch in 1585.
Espionage
In the realm of counter-espionage, Walsingham was behind the discovery of the Throckmorton and Babington Plots to overthrow Elizabeth I, return England to Catholicism and place Mary, Queen of Scots, on the throne.
In November 1583, after months of surveillance, Walsingham had Throckmorton arrested. He extracted, under torture, Throckmorton's confession — an admission that he had plotted against Elizabeth with the Spanish ambassador, Bernardino de Mendoza and others. The plot, which may not have been known to Mary, called for a two-pronged invasion of England and Scotland along with a domestic uprising. Throckmorton was executed in 1584, and Mendoza was expelled from England.
Although Mary was not prosecuted, Walsingham became so concerned about her influence that he was determined to hold her responsible for any further conspiracies.
Babington's Plot was the result of that determination. Walsingham drew deeply on his spies among the English Catholic community, and abroad, on whose divisions he was adept at playing. The uncovery of the Babington plot, which is unusually well documented, is a compelling piece of counter-espionage, and stretched the policing resources of the Elizabethan state to the limits, with Walsingham's private secretaries carrying out surveillance in person. This led to Mary's execution in 1587, for which Walsingham had worked since before his advent to power. He was an active participant at her trial. He briefly experienced his share of the Queen's displeasure after the execution of Mary, which the queen claimed not to have sanctioned, due to Elizabeth's desire to distance herself from this action.
Prior to the attack of the Spanish Armada, he received a large number of dispatches from his agents from mercantile communities and foreign courts. Walsingham's recruitment of Anthony Standen in particular represented an intelligence triumph, and Standen's dispatches were deeply revealing. However the close security enforced by Philip II meant that Walsingham remained in the dark about the Spanish strategy and the planned destination of the Armada. This, plus his naturally bold spirit, lay behind his encouragement of the more aggressive strategies advocated by Drake in particular. The Cadiz raid in 1587 wrought havoc on Spanish logistics, and Walsingham would have repeated this the following year if more cautious counsels had not prevailed.
In foreign intelligence, the full range of Walsingham's network of "intelligencers" (of news as well as secrets) may never be known, but it was substantial. While foreign intelligence was part of the principal secretary's duties, Walsingham brought to it flair and ambition, and large sums of his own money. He also cast his net more widely than others had done hitherto, exploiting the insight into Spanish policy offered at the Italian courts; cultivating contacts in Constantinople and Aleppo, building complex connections with the Catholic exiles.
Among his minor spies may have been the playwright Christopher Marlowe, who seems to have been one of a stream of false converts whom Walsingham planted in foreign seminaries for gathering intelligence and insinuating counter-intelligence (citation needed). A more central figure was the cryptographer Thomas Phelippes, expert in deciphering letters, creating false handwriting and breaking and repairing seals without detection.
Walsingham was one of the small coterie who directed the Elizabethan state, overseeing foreign, domestic and religious policy. He worked to bring Scotland and England together. Overall, his foreign policy demonstrated a new understanding of the role of England as a maritime and Protestant power in an increasingly global economy. He was an innovator in exploration, colonization and the use of England's potential maritime power. He is also a convincing prototype of the modern bureaucrat.
Francis Walsingham died on 6 April 1590, leaving great debts, in part arising from his having underwritten the debts of his son-in-law and colleague, Sir Phillip Sidney. But the true state of his finances is undocumented and may have been less dismal than regularly alleged, and he pursued the Sidney estate for recompense, and had carried out major land transactions in his later years.
MI6 and "C" – First Head of MI6 from 1911
I have decided to create this article about the first head of MI6 as he's one of the Icons of Britain.
Sir George Mansfield Smith-Cumming (1 April 1859 – 14 June 1923) was the first director of what would become the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), also known as MI6. In this role he was particularly successful in building a post-imperial intelligence service.
Born into a middle-class family, Smith attended the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth and, upon graduation, was commissioned a sub-lieutenant. He was posted to the HMS Bellerophon in 1878 and for the next seven years saw sea duty in the East Indies. However he increasingly suffered from severe seasickness, and in 1885 was placed on the retired list as "unfit for service".
He was recalled to duty into the foreign section of Naval Intelligence in 1898 and undertook many missions. He would travel through eastern Germany and the Balkans pretending to be a German businessman, even though he didn't speak any German. His work was so successful that he was recruited to the Secret Service Bureau as the director of the foreign section. During this period he married the extremely rich May Cumming, and as part of the marriage changed his name to Smith-Cumming.
In 1911 Cumming's became the new head of the Foreign Section, responsible for all operations outside Britain. Over the next few years he became known as 'C', after his habit of initialing papers he had read with a C written in green ink. This habit became a custom for later directors, although the C now stands for "Chief". Ian Fleming took these aspects for his "M", Sir Miles Messervy - using Cumming's other initial for the name and having M always write in green ink.
In 1914, he was involved in a serious road accident in France, in which his son was killed. Legend has it that in order to escape the car wreck he was forced to amputate his leg using a pen knife. Hospital records have shown however that while both his legs were broken, his left foot was only amputated the day after the accident. Later he often told all sorts of fantastic stories as to how he lost his leg, and would shock people by interrupting meetings in his office by suddenly stabbing his artificial leg with a knife, letter opener or fountain pen
Budgets were severely limited prior to World War 1 and Smith-Cumming came to rely heavily on Sidney Reiley (aka the Ace of Spies), a secret agent of dubious veracity based in Saint Petersburg. He described pre-1914 espionage as ‘capital sport', but was given few resources with which to pursue it. His early operations were directed almost entirely against Germany. Between 1909 and 1914 he recruited part-time ‘casual agents' in the shipping and arms business to keep track of naval construction in German shipyards and acquire other technical intelligence. He also had agents collecting German intelligence in Brussels, Rotterdam and St. Petersburg.
At the outbreak of war he was able to work with Vernon Kell and Sir Basil Thomson of the Special Branch to arrest twenty-two German spies in England. Eleven were executed, as was Sir Roger casement found guilty of treason in 1916. During the war, the offices were renamed: the Home Section became MI5 or Security service, while Smith-Cumming's Foreign Section became MI6 or the Secret Intelligence Service. Agents who worked for MI6 during the war included Augustus agar, Paul Dukes, John Buchan, Compton Mackenzie and W. Somerset Maugham. When SSB discovered that Lemon Juice made a good invisible ink his agents adopted the motto "Every man his own stylo".
With the outbreak of the First World War, Cumming's control of strategic intelligence gathering as head of the wartime MI1c was challenged by two rival networks run by general headquarters. Cumming eventually out-performed his rivals. His most important wartime network, 'La Dame Blanche', had by January 1918 over 400 agents reporting on German troop movements from occupied Belgium and northern France. Cumming was less successful in post-revolutionary Russia. Despite a series of colourful exploits, his agents obtained little Russian intelligence of value.
Secret Service budgets were once again severely cut after the end of WWI, and MI6 stations in Madrid, Lisbon, Zurich and Luxembourg were closed. Cumming succeeded, however, in gaining a monopoly of espionage and counter-intelligence outside Britain and the empire. He also established a network of SIS station commanders operating overseas under diplomatic cover.
To the end of his life Cumming retained an infectious, if sometimes eccentric, enthusiasm for the tradecraft and mystification of espionage, experimenting personally with disguises, mechanical gadgets, and secret inks in his own laboratory.
P.M. Mrs Margaret Thatcher – The Iron lady
In the last 100 years there have been two Great British Prime Minister's of the 20th. Century, Churchill is one of them and the other is Mrs. Thatcher. Margaret Hilda Roberts was born October 13, 1925. Home was, Margaret recalled, "practical, serious and intensely religious." During the 1970's the economy of Britain was dominated by the unions and a ridiculous tax rate of 90%.
When Mrs. Thatcher was elected in 1979 she inherited an economy and country which was in hock to the IMF, where inflation was 30%, where there was Power Cuts, Where Strikes had caused overflowing Rubbish Bins and where bodies were piled high and unburied in hospital Morturies.
The similarities to today is stark, where the British economy in 2010 is overdrawn by 155 Billion Pounds caused by Gordon Brown the ex Labour PM changing the Rules on oversight of the Banks from the Bank of England to the Financial Services Authority (FSA) which was so incompetent it missed all the warnings.
What the new government of 1979 had to do was cut back on spending and introduce new laws to curb the unions. One of the best bits of legislation was to outlaw Unions sending striking pickets to other strike actions by other unions and to maximise the number of strikers on a picket line to six. This allowed non strikers to go to work unmolested in law.
Because of the needed cuts the Tory party was quite low in the opinion polls in early 1982 when the dictatorship of Argentina decided to invade the Falkland Islands. This caused the Royal Navy to send a task force to recapture the Falklands and rescue the inhabitants. When the Islands had been retaken it was found that the Argentinians had changed the road signs and traffic flow from the Left to the Right side of the roads. Also, the Argentinians had raided the homes of the local inhabitants and stole goods and food and also killed some 3 Civilian's.
The Falkland Islands are a group of islands 300 miles east of Argentina. The two main islands are East Falkland and West Falkland. There are about 200 smaller islands that together form a total land area of approximately 4,700 square miles. The capital is Port Stanley. The Falkland Islands include the British territories of South Georgia, the South Sandwich Islands and the Shag and Clerke rocks. The population of the islands in 2010 was about 3,000.
On June 20th the British formally declared an end to hostilities and established a Falkland Islands Protection Zone of 150 miles. This undeclared war lasted 72 days and claimed nearly 1000 casualties. The British took about 10,000 Argentine prisoners during the undeclared war while Argentina lost 655 men who were killed while Britain lost 236. Argentina's defeat discredited the military government and led to the return of democracy in Argentina in 1983.
Mrs. Thatcher was elected in 1979, 1983 and 1987 and ushered in a decade of painful reform, privatization, deregulation and tax cutting. At first inflation and unemployment rocketed, some businesses crumbled. But—"the lady's not for turning"—the prime minister brazened it out over three historic terms of office, wrenching the economy back off its knees. At least one widely popular measure was the sale of council houses, allowing by 1982 a half-million people to become homeowners (and possibly Tory voters) for the first time.
Less spectacular but truly far-reaching was Mrs. Thatcher's role in bringing about the end of the Cold War and contributing to the demise of communism in Central and Eastern Europe. As an individualist and free market advocate, she had an innate and frequently voiced distrust of communism. In Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, however, she found a man she "could do business with," and she helped to persuade President Ronald Reagan away from "evil Empire" rhetoric to do the same. The chemistry between Reagan and Thatcher made their alliance a high point of the special relationship between Britain and the United States in the 20th century. "She was warm, feminine, gracious and intelligent and it was evident from our first words that we were soul mates when it came to reducing government and expanding economic freedom," Reagan remarked.
She badly misjudged when she introduced the notorious poll tax despite advice against it; she openly clashed with her chancellor over monetary policy and with her foreign secretary on European policy. Both resigned, precipitating a party leadership battle, which concluded in Thatcher's resignation on November 28, 1990. She was cast back outside. For once the tears were public as she left 10 Downing St.
Elevated to the House of Lords, she styled herself Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven in honor of her roots. She set up the Margaret Thatcher Foundation to continue to promote her ideas and undertook lecture tours; she was particularly gratified by her welcome in the United States, "the seat of radical modern conservative thinking and almost my second home."
Mrs. Thatcher was Prime Minister for 11 years, six months and 24 days (1979-90)
After a series of small strokes, doctors advised her in 2002 against public speaking.
In 2003 Denis, her constant companion, died; they had been married 52 years. More than any political knocks, it was a devastating loss.
In future history books she will be remembered for her invention of Privatization and Thatcherism and also Sticking to her ideals and her down to earth honesty.
British Knighthoods – Iconic History
British Knighthoods are recognised worldwide as one of the most romantic and chivalrous awards. Since the dawn of English History England has had Knights like King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table. The British honour's system is a means of rewarding individuals' personal bravery, achievement, or service to the United Kingdom.
Although the Anglo Saxon Monarchs are known to have rewarded their loyal subjects with rings and other symbols of favour, it was the Norman's who introduced Knighthoods as part of their feudal government. The first English order of chivalry, the Order of The Garter was created in 1348 by King Edward III. Since then the system has evolved to address the changing need to recognise other forms of service to the United Kingdom.
The system consists of three types of award: Honours, Decorations and Medals:
Honours are used to recognise merit in terms of achievement and service.
Decorations tend to be used to recognise specific deeds.
Medals are used to recognise bravery, long and/or valuable service and/or good conduct.
Current orders of Chivalry
The Most Noble Order of The Garter which was Established in 1348 by King Edward III.
The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of The Thistle which was Established in 1687 by King King James II.
The Most Honourable Order of The Bath which was Established in 1725 by King George I.
The Most Distinguished Order Of Saint Michael and Saint George was Established in 1818 by the Prince Regent.
The Distinguished Service Order was Established in 1886 by Queen Victoria.
The Royal Victorian Order was Established in 1896 by Queen Victoria.
The Order of merit was Established in 1902 by the King Edward VII.
The Imperial Service Order was Established in 1902 by King Edward VII.
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire was Established in 1917 by King George V.
The Order of the Companions of Honour was Established in 1886 by the Queen Victoria.
There are five ranks of hereditary peerage's: Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount and Baron. Until the mid 20th century, peerages were usually hereditary (bar legal peerages - see below) and, until the end of the 20th century, English, British and UK peerages (except, until very recent times, those for the time being held by women) carried the right to a seat in the House of Lords.
Hereditary peerages are now normally only given to members of the Royal Family. The most recent was the grant to the Queen's youngest son, the Earl of Wessex, on his marriage in 1999. No hereditary peerages were granted to commoners after the Labour Party came to power in 1964.
Margaret Thatcher tentatively reintroduced them by two grants to men with no sons in 1983, respectively the Speaker of the House of Commons George Thomas and the former Deputy Prime Minister William Whitelaw. Both these titles died with their holders. She followed this with an Earldom in 1984 for the former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan not long before his death, reviving a traditional honour for former Prime Ministers. Macmillan's grandson succeeded him on his death in 1986.
No hereditary peerages have been created since 1986 and Mrs. Thatcher's own title is a life peerage (see further explanation below). The concession of a baronetcy (i.e. hereditary knighthood), was granted to Margaret Thatcher's husband Denis following her resignation
Orders were created for particular reasons at particular times. In some cases these reasons have ceased to have any validity and orders have fallen into abeyance, primarily due to the decline of the British Empire during the twentieth century. Reforms of the system have sometimes made other changes. For example the British Empire Medal ceased to be awarded in the UK in 1993, as was the companion level award of the Imperial Service Order (although its medal is still used).
Women's Auxiliary Air force – History 1939 - 1949
During the war the women of Britain joined many organisations and various armed services, wheras before the war women had not been able to join the sevices. One of the Corps especially created for women was the "Women's Auxilliary Air Force". The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) was formed in June 1939. The main reason for this service was to release men for combat posts.
A Womens Royal Air Force had existed from 1918 to 1920. The WAAF was created on 28th June 1939, absorbing the forty-eight RAF companies of the Auxillary Territorial Service which had been formed since 1938. Conscription of women did not begin until 1941. It only applied to those between 20 and 30 years of age and they had the choice of the auxiliary services or factory work.
Women were accepted between the ages of 17 and 44. By the year 1943 there were 180,000 women in the WAAF. The work done by the WAAF covered virtually every activity carried out by men including Intelligence Operations.
WAAFs did not serve as aircrew. The use of women pilots was limited to the Air Transport Axillary (ATA - which was civilian) which delivered aircraft to the various RAF bases. Neither did they participate in active combat, though they were exposed to the same dangers as any on the "home front" working at military installations.
WAAF's were also active in the following:
Parachute Packing
Manning of The Barrage Balloons
All types of Catering
Communications duties including wireless Telephonic and Telegraphic operations.
Intelligence Operations using Codes and Ciphers
Analysis of reconnaissance photographs Operation Rooms controlling Radar, Aircraft and Plotters.
Nurses belonged to Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service
Medical and Dental officers were commissioned into the Royal Air Force and held RAF ranks.
Alas, WAAFs were paid two-thirds of the pay of male counterparts in RAF ranks.
By the end of World War II, WAAF enrollment had declined and the effect of demobilisation was to take thousands out of the service. The remainder, now only several hundred strong, was renamed the Womens Royal Air Force on 1st February 1949.
Nursing Orderlies of the WAAF flew on RAF transport planes to evacuate the wounded from the Normandy battlefields. They were dubbed Flying Nightingales by the press. The RAF Air Ambulance Unit flew under 46 Group Transport Command from RAF Down Ampney, RAF Broadwell and RAF Blakehill Farm. RAF Dakota aircraft carried military supplies and ammunition so could not display the Red Cross.
Training for air ambulance nursing duties included instruction in the use of oxygen, injections, learning how to deal with certain types of injuries such as broken bones, missing limb cases, head injuries, burns and colostomies; and to learn the effects of air travel and altitude.
In October 2008 the seven nurses still living were presented with lifetime achievement awards by the Duchess of Cornwall.
Women's Land Army – History 1939 – 1950
During the war the women of Britain joined many organisations and the various armed forces, wheras before the war women had not been able to join the sevices. One of the Corps especially created for women was the "Women's Land Army" where 80,000 women were enrolled to work on Farms all over the UK. The "Women's Land Army" (WLA) was a civilian organisation created during the First and Second World Wars to work in agriculture replacing men called up to the military. Women who worked for the WLA were commonly known as "Land Girls".
The Women's Land Army was often referred to as "The Forgotten Army" and was actually originally formed in 1917 by Roland Prothero who was the then Minister for Agriculture.
The Board of Agriculture organised the Land Army during the Great War, starting activities in 1915. Towards the end of 1917 there were over 250,000 - 260,000 women working as farm labourers. 20,000 in the land army itself.
With 6 million men away to fight in the First World War we in Britain were struggling to find enough workforce. The government wanted women to get more involved in the production of food and do their part to support the war effort. This was the beginning of the Women’s Land Army. Many traditional farmers were against this, so the board of trade sent agricultural organisers to speak with farmers to encourage them to accept women’s work on the farms.
The First World War had seen food supplies dwindle and saw the creation of the Women's Land Army (WLA).
The WLA was reformed in June 1939 first asking for volunteers and later by conscription with numbers totalling 80,000 by 1944.
The women were called “Land Girls”, as they were affectionately known, replaced the men who had answered the call to war. They wore the same uniform as the “Women Timber Corps” ( Except with a different badge on their Beret's) and their living conditions were frequently primitive and for girls who had worked in shops, offices, hairdressing salons and restaurants, the work was pretty tiring.
The Women's Land Army was made up of girls from every walk of life. Posters of smiling girls bathing in glorious sunshine and open fields covered the fact that the WLA often presented raw recruits (many from industrial towns) with gruelling hard work and monotony. The majority of the Land Girls already lived in the countryside but more than a third came from London and the industrial cities of the north of England.
Homesickness was common as many of the girls had never been away from their parents for long periods. This was particularly true of girls that stayed in private billets. The girls that stayed in local hostels often told a different story and were more settled as they were grouped together. However despite all this there was a great sense of friendship amongst the girls.
The WLA lasted until its official disbandment on October 21, 1950. Looking back over the last 70 years it is always surprising how many stories there is still to tell concerning the British Struggle during the second world war and how the war affected every day life and person in the country. My generation who were born in the1950's and 1960's owe our parants and grandparants generation for todays freedoms and our grateful thanks.
Women's Timber Corps – 1942 History
During the war many women of Britain joined many organisations and the various armed forces, wheras before the war women had not been able to join the sevices. One of the Corps especially created for women was the "Women's Timber Corps" where 4,900 women were enrolled to felling, snedding, loading, crosscutting, driving tractors, trucks, working with horses, measuring and operating sawmills and manage forests all over the UK.
Originally the Women’s Timber Service had been set up during the first world war, but in April 1942 the Ministry of Supply (Home Grown Timber Department) inaugurated a new venture – the "Women's Timber Corps" (WTC), in England. The Scots quickly followed in May 1942, forming their own Women’s Timber Corps which was a part of the Women’s Land Army of Scotland. This was a new unit with its own identity and uniform.
Today if you talked of the Women's Timber Corps the most likely response is "Never heard of them". Yet their story is fascinating. The Women's Timber Corps replaced men in the forests and helped to produce timber vital to the war effort. These women were called “Lumber Jills” as they were affectionately known, who replaced the men who had answered the call to war. They wore the same uniform as the women Land army ( With a different badge on their Beret's) and their living conditions were frequently primitive and for girls who had worked in shops, offices, hairdressing salons and restaurants, the hardship was daunting.
Worst of all was the extreme physical effort required to lay-in, fell and cross-cut the timber; but the girls of the WTC set to with determination to produce pit-props for the mines, telegraph poles for communications, gun-stocks for the troops and even coffins for the casualties of war. There are tales of the social and practical aspects of living in crowded huts, as well as the more technical details of working with axe and saw. Training centres were set up throughout the UK.
The Women’s Timber Corps was disbanded in August 1946, with each girl handing back her uniform and receiving a letter from Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, who was then the patron of the WTC.
Looking back over the last 70 years it is always surprising how many stories there is still to tell concerning the British Struggle during the second world war and how the war affected every day life and person in the country. My generation who were born in the1950's and 1960's owe our parants and grandparants generation for todays freedom with our grateful thanks.
Stainless Steel – It's English Discovery 1912
I thought as Stainless Steel was discovered here in England, by Harry Brearley, I thought it would be interesting write It's history. Brearley was born in Sheffield, England in 1871. His life had humble beginnings as the son of a steel melter. He left school at the age of twelve to enter his first employment as a labourer in one of the city's steelworks, being transferred soon afterwards to the post of general assistant in the company's chemical laboratory.
For several years, in addition to his laboratory work, he studied at home and later in formal evening classes, to specialize in steel production techniques and associated chemical analysis methods.
By his early thirties, Brearley had earned a reputation as an experienced professional and for being very astute in the resolution of practical, industrial, metallurgical problems. It was in 1908, when two of Sheffield's principal steel making companies innovatively agreed to jointly finance a common research laboratory (Brown Firth Laboratories) that Harry Brearley was asked to lead the project.
In 1912, Harry Brearley of the Brown-Firth research laboratory in Sheffield, England while seeking a corrosion-resistant alloy for gun barrels, discovered and subsequently industrialized a martensitic stainless steel alloy. The metal was later marketed under the "Staybrite" brand by Firth Vickers in England and was used for the new entrance canopy for the Savoy Hotel in London in 1929.
Brearley died in 1948, at Torquay, a coastal resort town in Devon, south west England. He is buried at Sheffield Cathedral.
It was probably Harry Brearley’s upbringing in Sheffield, a city famous for the manufacture of cutler since the 16th century, which led him to appreciate the potential of these new steels for applications not only in high temperature service, as originally envisioned, but also in the mass production of food-related applications such as cutlery, saucepans and processing equipment etc. Up to that time carbon steel knives were prone to unhygienic rusting if they were not frequently polished and only expensive sterling silver or EPNS cutlery was generally available to avoid such problems. With this in mind Brearley extended his examinations to include tests with food acids such as vinegar and lemon juice, with very promising results.
Brearley initially called the new alloy "rustless steel"; the more euphoric "stainless steel" was suggested by Ernest Stuart of R.F. Mosley's, a local cutlery manufacturer, and eventually prevailed. It is reported that the first true stainless steel, a 0.24wt% C, 12.8wt% Cr ferrous alloy, was produced by Brearley in an electric furnace on August 13, 1913.
The well told story is that Brearley noticed in his sample bin one of his pieces which had not shown signs of rusting after being exposed to air and water. This was further examined and analysed, a new steel, which he called "rustless steel", was born, the first commercial cast coming from the furnaces in 1913. Its name was changed to the more euphonic “Stainless Steel” following a suggestion from Ernest Stuart of R.F. Moseley's, a local cutlery maker, and this eventually prevailed.
He was subsequently awarded the iron and steel institutes's Bessemer Gold Medal in 1920.
Virtually all research projects into the further development of stainless steels were interrupted by the 1914-18 War, but efforts were renewed in the 1920s. Harry Brearley had left the Brown Firth Laboratories in 1915, following disagreements regarding patent rights,
The research continued under the direction of his successor, Dr. W.H. Hatfield. It is Hatfield who is credited with the development, in 1924, of a stainless steel which even today is probably the widest-used alloy of this type, the so-called "18/8", which in addition to chromium, includes nickel (Ni) in its composition.
Tower Bridge – London Icon
I have decided to create this article about "Tower Bridge" as it's one of the Icons of London.
In the second half of the 19th century, increased commercial development in the East End of London led to a requirement for a new river crossing downstream of London Bridge. A traditional fixed bridge could not be built because it would cut off access to the port facilities in the Pool of London between London Bridge and the Tower of London.
A Special Bridge or Subway Committee was formed in 1876, chaired by Sir Albert Joseph Altman, to find a solution to the river crossing problem. It opened the design of the crossing to public competition. Over 50 designs were submitted, including one from civil engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette. The evaluation of the designs was surrounded by controversy, and it was not until 1884 that a design submitted by Horace Jones the City Architect (who was also one of the judges), was approved.
Jones' engineer, Sir John Wolfe Barry devised the idea of a bascule bridge with two towers built on piers. The central span was split into two equal bascules or leaves, which could be raised to allow river traffic to pass. The two side-spans were suspension bridges, with the suspension rods anchored both at the abutments and through rods contained within the bridge's upper walkways.
During it's building, two piers were sunk into the river bed to support the weight of the bridge. A massive 11,000 tons of steel used then for the walkways and towers. A layer of Cornish granite and Portland stone were used as a covering, to protect the steelwork and to make it look nicer to the eye.
Still in use today the bridge is still opened for river traffic many times in a week. It is said the bridge carries 1,900 vehicles per hour between 7am and 10am during London rush hour. 140 feet above the Thames you can look down and around the tower and see the original steam engines used to lift the huge bridge until 1976.
Historic Dates worthy of note
· 1910 - the high-level walkways were closed down due to lack of use.
· 1912 - Frank McClean flew between the bascules and the high-level walkways in an emergency. Quite a spectacle for onlookers and the bi-plane pilot.
· 1952 - a London bus leapt between the opening bascules to avoid plunging into the river as the bridge opened with the bus still on it.
· 1977 - for the Queen's Silver Jubilee Tower Bridge was painted red, white and blue.
Tower bridge was completed and opened in the year 1894. It was opened by Edward 7th when he was Prince of Wales. It took 8 years in it's construction, using 5 major contractors and over 400 labourers. When it was completed and as it stands still today, it is one of London's most famous landmarks, its designers, John Wolfe Barry and Sir Horace Jones can be proud of a splendid piece of engineering.
William Shakespeare – British Playright Icon
William Shakespeare is one of Britain's greatest icons and is recognised worldwide. I thought it would be interesting to write the history of this famous icon from his early cloudy beginnings.
William Shakespeare was born to John Shakespeare and mother Mary Arden some time in late April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. There is no record of his birth, but his baptism was recorded by the church, thus his birthday is assumed to be the 23rd of April. His father, John Shakespeare, was a whittawer by profession and held several important town offices. His father was also a prominent and prosperous alderman in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon, and was later granted a coat of arms by the College of Heralds.
His mother, Mary Arden, was from a fairly wealthy family.
In all the Shakespeares had eight children, and William was their first son.
All that is known of Shakespeare's youth is that he presumably attended the Stratford Grammar School, and did not proceed to Oxford or Cambridge.
The next record we have of him is his marriage to Anne Hathaway in 1582. The next year she bore a daughter for him, Susanna, followed by the twins Judith and Hamnet two years later.
Seven years later in 1889 Shakespeare is recognized as an actor, poet and playwright, when a rival playwright, Robert Greene, refers to him as "an upstart crow" in A Groatsworth of Wit.
Between 1590 and 1592 no records of Shakespeare were found, and that period of his life is usually referred to as "The Lost Years". Some have speculated that he either became a school teacher, became a butcher's apprentice, or was running from the law during this time.
The first evidence of Shakespeare after 1592 was in London. Here he had established himself as a playwright and actor and had found a sponsor, Henry Wriothsley. However, Shakespeare's work in the theatres came to a halt in January of 1593 when the theatres closed because of the plague. The company that Shakespeare worked for was called "Lord Chamberlain's Men" and changed their name to "The King's Men" after King James I took over in 1603. Because Shakespeare worked and performed for them, this company became the biggest and most famous acting company. Shakespeare became very wealthy as a director, writer, actor, and stockholder in "The King's Men".
In 1596 Hamnet died at the age of eleven.
When, in 1599, the troupe lost the lease of the theatre where they performed, (appropriately called The Theatre) they were wealthy enough to build their own theatre across the Thames, south of London, which they called "The Globe." The new theatre opened in July of 1599, built from the timbers of The Theatre, with the motto "Totus mundus agit histrionem" (A whole world of players) When James I came to the throne (1603) the troupe was designated by the new king as the King's Men (or King's Company). The Letters Patent of the company specifically charged Shakespeare and eight others "freely to use and exercise the art and faculty of playing Comedies, Tragedies, Histories, Inerludes, Morals, Pastorals, stage plays ... as well for recreation of our loving subjects as for our solace and pleasure."
Shakespeare entertained the king and the people for another ten years until June 19th , 1613, when a canon fired from the roof of the theatre for a gala performance of Henry VIII set fire to the thatch roof and burned the theatre to the ground. The audience ignored the smoke from the roof at first, being to absorbed in the play, until the flames caught the walls and the fabric of the curtains. Amazingly there were no casualties, and the next spring the company had the theatre "new builded in a far fairer manner than before." Although Shakespeare invested in the rebuilding, he retired from the stage to the Great House of New Place in Statford that he had purchased in 1597, and some considerable land holdings where he continued to write until his death in 1616 on the day of his 52nd birthday.
· 1556 - Anne Hathaway is born.
· 1564 - Shakespeare's baptism is recorded in the parish church of Stratford-upon-Avon dated April 26, 1564. The usual delay between birth and baptism was 3-4 days, making the date of birth most likely April 22 or 23. Since Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616, and the engraving on his monument lists him as aged 53, it is assumed he was born on April 23. At least, that is how scholars in the absence of any other information have been willing to leave it. April 23 is also St. George's day, an appropriate day for the birth of the national poet. (94 miles from London.)
· 1582 - Marries Anne Hathaway on November 27. Worcester was 21 miles west of Stratford, and the consistory court there the place where a marriage license, issued to a local parish priest, might be obtained. Whitgift's register for the date November 27nd , 1582 indicates the issuance of a license for marriage between William Shaxpere and Anne Whateley of Temple Grafton. At the time, Shakespeare would have been 18 years old.
· 1583 - Susanna Shakespeare is born.
· 1585 - The twins Judith and Hamnet Shakespeare are born.
· 1592 - After leaving Stratford for London, William was recognized as a successful actor, as well as a leading poet. He was a member of 'The Chamberlain's Men'.
· 1596 - Hamnet dies at the age of eleven. Shakespeare becomes a "gentleman" when the College of Heralds grants his father a coat of arms.
· 1597- He bought a large house called "The Great House of New Place".
· 1599 - The 'Globe Theater' is built from the pieces of 'The Theater' in July.
· 1603 - 'The Lord Chamberlain's Men' became 'The King's Men' on May 19.
· 1613 - The 'Globe Theatre' burns during a performance of Henry VII when a canon fired on the roof sets fire to the straw thatch. The theatre is rebuilt, but Shakespeare retires.
· 1616 - April 23, in Stratford, on his 52nd birthday he died.
In 1611 Shakespeare retired and left London. He made a will on March 25, 1616, and died on April 23, 1616. He was fifty two years old. The cause of Shakespeare's death is not known. Shakespeare also wrote his own epitaph because during his time, when the graveyard was full, people would dig up someone's corpse and burn it so that another could be buried in that person's place. This disgusted Shakespeare, and he didn't want this type of disrespect after his death. His epitaph reads as follows:
"Good Friends, for Jesus' sake forbear,
To dig the bones enclosed here!
Blest be the man that spares these stones,
And curst be he that moves my bones."
To this day no one has disturbed Shakespeare's grave.
The Globe Theatre – London Icon
I have created this article about The Globe Theatre as it's one of the newly re-built Icons of London.
The Globe Theatreis a reconstruction of the open air playhouse originally designed in 1599. The theatre was in London and associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company and the Lord Chamberlain's Men.
The Globe was owned by actors who were also shareholders. Two of the six Globe shareholders, Richard Burbage and his brother Cuthbert Burbage owned double shares of the whole, or 25% each; the other four men, Shakespeare, John Hemmings, Augustine Phillips and Thomas Pope owned a single share, or 12.5%. (Originally William Kempe was intended to be the seventh partner, but he sold out his share to the four minority shareholders leaving them with more than the originally planned 10%). These initial proportions changed over time as new sharers were added. Shakespeare's share diminished from 1/8 to 1/14, or roughly 7%, over the course of his career.
The Globe was built in 1599 using timber from an earlier theatre which had been built by Richard Burbage's father, James Burbage in Shoreditch in 1576. The Burbages originally had a 21-year lease of the site on which The Theatre was built but owned the building outright. However, the landlord, Giles Allen, claimed that the building had become his with the expiry of the lease. On 28 December 1598, while Allen was celebrating Christmas at his country home, carpenter Peter Street, supported by the players and their friends, dismantled The Theatre beam by beam and transported it to Street's waterfront warehouse near Bridewell. With the onset of more favourable weather in the following spring, the material was ferried over the Thames to reconstruct it as The Globe on some marshy gardens to the south of Maiden Lane, Southwark.
On 29 June 1613 the Globe Theatre went up in flames during a performance of Henry The Eighth. A theatrical cannon, set off during the performance, misfired, igniting the wooden beams and thatching. According to one of the few surviving documents of the event, no one was hurt except a man whose burning breeches were put out with a bottle of ale. It was rebuilt in the following year.
Like all the other theatres in London, the Globe was closed down by the Puritans in 1642. It was pulled down in 1644, or slightly later—the commonly cited document dating the act to 15 April 1644 has been identified as a probable forgery—to make room for tenements.
A modern reconstruction of the Globe, named "Shakespeare Globe", opened in 1997 approximately 230 metres (750 ft) from the site of the original theatre. Open-air performances are held May -September. The Globe Exhibition, situated beneath the theater itself, offers a fascinating glimpse of Elizabethan theater and audiences and the design and reconstruction of the new Globe.
The Globe was owned by actors who were also shareholders in Lord Chamberlain's Men.
Two of the six Globe shareholders, Richard Burbage and his brother CuthbertBurbage, owned double shares of the whole, or 25% each; the other four men, Shakespeare, John Heminges, Augustine Phillips, and Thomas Pope, owned a single share, or 12.5%. (Originally William Kempe was intended to be the seventh partner, but he sold out his share to the four minority sharers, leaving them with more than the originally planned 10%). These initial proportions changed over time as new sharers were added. Shakespeare's share diminished from 1/8 to 1/14, or roughly 7%, over the course of his career.
The Globe was built in 1599 using timber from an earlier theatre, The Theatre, which had been built by Richard Burbage's father, James Burbage, in Shoreditch in 1576. The Burbages originally had a 21-year lease of the site on which The Theatre was built but owned the building outright. However, the landlord, Giles Allen, claimed that the building had become his with the expiry of the lease. On 28 December 1598, while Allen was celebrating Christmas at his country home, carpenter Peter Street, supported by the players and their friends, dismantled The Theatre beam by beam and transported it to Street's waterfront warehouse near Bridewell. With the onset of more favourable weather in the following spring, the material was ferried over the Thames to reconstruct it as The Globe on some marshy gardens to the south of Maiden Lane, Southwark.
On 29 June 1613 the Globe Theatre went up in flames during a performance of Henry the Eighth. A theatrical cannon, set off during the performance, misfired, igniting the wooden beams and thatching. According to one of the few surviving documents of the event, no one was hurt except a man whose burning breeches were put out with a bottle of ale.It was rebuilt in the following year.
Like all the other theatres in London, the Globe was closed down by the Puritans in 1642. It was pulled down in 1644 to make room for tenements.
Portsmouth Football Club ( Pompey )
Portsmouth F.C. was founded in the back garden of 12 High Street, Old Portsmouth on 5th April 1898 with John Brickwood, owner of the local Brickwoods Brewery as chairman and Frank Brettell as the club's first manager. Portsmouth F.C. is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The city and hence the club are nicknamed Pompey and sometimes called 'The Blues', with fans known across Europe. Pompey were early participants in the Southern League, One of their first Goalkeepers Pre -1898 was Arthur Conan Doyle the author of Sherlock Holmes.
The club joined the Southern League in 1898 and their first league match was played at Chatham Town on 2nd September 1899 (a 1–0 victory), followed three days later by the first match at Fratton Park, a friendly against local rivals Southampton, which was won 2–0, with goals from Dan Cunliffe (formerly with Liverpool) and Harold Clarke (formerly with Everton.
That first season was hugely successful, with the club winning 20 out of 28 league matches, earning them the runner-up spot in the league. During 1910-11 saw Portsmouth relegated, but with the recruitment of Robert Brown as manager the team were promoted the following season.
The team play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from the Premier League after the 2009/10 season. Until then, Portsmouth had been a member of the Premier League for seven consecutive seasons.
Portsmouth's debut season in the English First Division was during the 1920's that alas, turned out to be a difficult one. However, despite disappointing league form the club fought off stiff competition to reach the FA Cup final closely losing out to Bolton Wanderers.
Having solidified their position in the top flight, the 1938-1939 season saw Portsmouth again reach the FA Cup final. This time Portsmouth were successful beating Wolves in a convincing 4-1 win. The club had secured their first major trophy.
After the end of World War Two league football began again and Portsmouth quickly proved to the footballing masses that they were a team to be reckoned with, lifting the League title in 1949 season. The club then crowned this achievement by retaining the title the following year 1950 and becoming only one of five English teams to have won back to back championships since World War Two.
Portsmouth was the first club to hold a floodlit Football League match when they played Newcastle in 1956.
Finally under the management of Harry Redknapp Portsmouth were promoted into the Premier League and have held a solid place in the top flight since this date despite coming close to relegation a number of times.
Portsmouth went from strength to strength under the careful management of Harry Redknapp and a much-needed injection of cash. In the 2007-2008 season Portsmouth won the English F.A. Cup and qualified for the UEFA Cup qualification. They had proven themselves as a consistent and strong team.
Alas during the 2009-2010 season they had financial difficulties and were at the root of the Premier League because of there financial difficulties they were deducted 9 points due to going into Administration and subsequently relegated into the Championship league Division. They only bright part of the season was when they reached the F.A.Cup final in 2010 and lost to Chelsea.
Twenty20 Cricket – It's Founder and History
As an Englishman from a country that has created 100+ Sports and Games given to the world and a fan of most sports, I thought I would write about the latest sport given to the world which is proving a great success with the world - Twenty20 Cricket and it's history.
Twenty20 is a form of cricket originally introduced in England for professional inter-county competition by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), in 2003. A Twenty20 game involves two teams, each has a single innings, batting for a maximum of 20 overs. Twenty20 cricket is also known as T20 cricket.
A Twenty20 game is completed in about three and half hours, with each innings lasting around 75 minutes, thus bringing the game closer to the timespan of other popular team sports. It was introduced to create a lively form of the game which would be attractive to spectators at the ground and viewers on television and as such it has been very successful. The ECB did not intend that Twenty20 would replace other forms of cricket and these have continued alongside it.
The idea of a shortened format of the game at a professional level was discussed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 1998 and 2001.
When the Benson and Hedges Cup ended in 2002, the ECB needed another one day competition to fill its place. The cricketing authorities were looking to boost the game's popularity with the younger generation in response to dwindling crowds and reduced sponsorship. It was intended to deliver fast paced, exciting cricket accessible to thousands of fans who were put off by the longer versions of the game. Stuart Robertson, the marketing manager of the ECB, proposed a 20 over per innings game to county chairmen in 2001 and they voted 11-7 in favour of adopting the new format. A media group was invited to develop a name for the new game and Twenty20 was the chosen title. Twenty20 cricket is also known as T20 cricket.
Historical Dates of Twenty20
1) Twenty20 Introduced in England for professional inter-county competition by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), in 2003.
2) On 10th January 2005 Australia's first Twenty20 game was played at the WACA between the Western Warriors and the Victorian Bushrangers. It drew a sell out crowd of 20, 700.
3) Starting 11th July 2006 19 West Indies regional teams competed in what was named the Stanford 20/20 tournament. The event has been financially backed by billionaire Allen Stanford who gave at least US$28,000,000 funding money. West Indies legends also backed the programme, and several "looked after" the teams during their stay in and around the purpose built ground in Antigua. It was intended that the tournament would be an annual event. Guyana won the inaugural event, defeating Trinidad and Tobago by 5 wickets. The top prize for the winning team was US$1,000,000, but other prizes were given throughout the tournament, such as play of the match (US$10,000) and man of the match (US$25,000).
4) On 1st November 2008 the Superstars West Indies team (101-0/12.5 overs) beat England (99/all out) by 10 wickets. England slumped to 33-4 and then 65-8 after 15 overs before Samit Patel's 22 took them to 99 in 19.5 overs, still easily their lowest Twenty20 total. Chris Gayle scored an impressive 65 runs not out.
5) On 5th January 2007 Queenslands Bulls played the New South Wales Blues at The Gabba, Brisbane. A crowd of 11,000 was expected based on pre-match ticket sales. However, an unexpected 16,000 turned up on the day to buy tickets, causing disruption and confusion for surprised Gabba staff as they were forced to throw open gates and grant many fans free entry. Attendance reached 27,653.
6) For 1st February 2008's Twenty20 match between Australia and India, 84,041 people attended the match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground involving the Twenty20 World Champions against the ODI World Champions.
7) Twenty20 attracted billions of fans to the game through the Indian Premier League. The first Indian Premier League which was staged in India in 2008 changed the face of the game. The league involved over hundreds of players contracted and over billion dollars investment. It was won by Rajasthan Royals with the Chennai Super Kings finishing as runners-up.
8) The second edition was staged in South Africa which was won by Deccan Charges beating the Royal Challengers in the final.
9) The third edition was played in India despite the many challenges and controversies surrounding the league which was won by the Chennai Super Kings with Mumbai Indians finishing as the runners-up.
10) On 17th February 2005 Australia defeated New Zealand in the first men's full international Twenty20 match, played at Eden Park in Auckland.
11) The first Twenty20 international in England was played between England and Australia at the Rose Bowl in Hampshire on the 13th June 2005, which England won, by a record margin of 100 runs.
12) On 9th January 2006 Australia and South Africa met in the first international Twenty20 game in Australia. In a first, each player's nickname appeared on the back of his uniform, rather than his surname.
Since its inception the game has spread around the cricket world. On most international tours there is at least one Twenty20 match and most Test-playing nations have a domestic cup competition. The inaugural ICC World Twenty20 was played in South Africa in 2007 with India winning by five runs against Pakistan in the final. Pakistan won the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 defeating Sri Lanka by eight wickets. England won the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 defeating Australia in the final by 7 wickets.
In June 2009, speaking at the annual Cowdrey Lecture at Lord's, a former Australian wicket-keeper pushed for Twenty20 to be made an Olympic Sports. "It would," he said, "be difficult to see a better, quicker or cheaper way of spreading the game throughout the world." Earliest Horse Races – England 12th Century
I thought as English Horse Races are famous worldwide I thought my article on the earliest English horse races would be of interest to horse lovers and readers from all over world. The origins of modern racing lies in the 12th century, when English knights returned from the Crusades with swift Arab horses.
Over the next 400 years, an increasing number of Arab stallions were imported and bred to English mares to produce horses that combined speed and endurance. Matching the fastest of these animals in two-horse races for a private wager became a popular diversion of the nobility.
Horse racing began to become a professional sport during the reign (1702-14) of Queen Anne, when match racing gave way to races involving several horses on which the spectators wagered. Racecourses sprang up all over England, offering increasingly large purses to attract the best horses. These purses in turn made breeding and owning horses for racing profitable.
With the rapid expansion of the sport came the need for a central governing authority. In 1750 racing's elite met at Newmarket to form the English Jockey Club, which to this day exercises complete control over English racing.
The English Jockey Club wrote complete rules of racing and sanctioned racecourses to conduct meetings under those rules. Standards defining the quality of races soon led to the designation of certain races as the ultimate tests of excellence. Since 1814, five races for three-year-old horses have been designated as "classics." Three races, open to male horses (colts) and female horses (fillies), make up the English Triple Crown: the 2,000 Guineas, the Epsom Derby (see DERBY, THE), and the St. Leger Stakes. Two races, open to fillies only, are the 1,000 Guineas and the Epsom Oaks.
The Jockey Club also took steps to regulate the breeding of racehorses. James Weatherby, whose family served as accountants to the members of the Jockey Club, was assigned the task of tracing the pedigree, or complete family history, of every horse racing in England. In 1791 the results of his research were published as the Introduction to the General Stud Book. From 1793 to the present, members of the Weatherby family have meticulously recorded the pedigree of every foal born to those racehorses in subsequent volumes of the General Stud Book.
By the early 1800s the only horses that could be called "Thoroughbreds" and allowed to race were those descended from horses listed in the General Stud Book. Thoroughbreds are so inbred that the pedigree of every single animal can be traced back father-to-father to one of three stallions, called the "foundation sires." These stallions were the Byerley Turk, foaled c.1679; the Darley Arabian, foaled c.1700; and the Godolphin Arabian, foaled c.1724.
Overseas Horse Racing
The British settlers brought horses and horse racing with them to the New World, with the first racetrack laid out on Long Island as early as 1665. Although the sport became a popular local pastime, the development of organized racing did not arrive until after the Civil War. (The American Stud Book was begun in 1868.) For the next several decades, with the rapid rise of an industrial economy, gambling on racehorses, and therefore horse racing itself, grew explosively; by 1890, 314 tracks were operating across the country.
In 1894 the America's most prominent track and stable owners met in New York to form an American Jockey Club, modeled on the English Jockey Club, which soon ruled racing with an iron hand.
The Grand National – England 1839
I thought as The Grand National is an Iconic English Horse race, I thought it would be interesting to fans of English Horse racing to know It's history. The origins of the Grand National can be traced back to the first official races at Aintree which were initiated by the owner of Liverpool's Waterloo Hotel, Mr William Lynn. Lynn who leased the land from Lord Sefton, built a course, built a grandstand and staged the first Grand National on Tuesday February 26th 1839 and Lottery became the first winner of The Grand National. In those days the field had to jump a stone wall (now the water jump), cross a stretch of ploughed land and finished over two hurdles.
The Grand National in the days of the Topham family owned substantial tracts of land around Aintree and had been involved with the management of the course since the early years of the Aintree Meeting. In 1949 Lord Sefton sold the course to the Tophams who appointed ex-Gaiety Girl Mirabel Topham to manage it. Mrs Topham built a new track within the established National Racecourse and named it after Lord Mildmay, a fine amateur jockey and lover of the Grand National. The Mildmay course opened in 1953, the same year as the motor circuit which still encircles the track.
The motor circuit was another of Mrs Topham's ideas and it quickly gained a reputation as one the best in the world hosting a European Grand Prix and five British Grand Prix. Stirling Moss won his first Grand Prix on it in 1955 while Jim Clark won the 1962 event.
Aintree Racecourse suffered some lean times in the post-war years and in 1965 it was announced that the course would be sold to a property developer. In 1973 the Tophams finally sold the course to property developer Bill Davies who gave a commitment to keep the race going however he was not a real racing fan. As a result the attendance at the 1975 Liverpool Grand National was the smallest in living memory (Davies had tripled the admission price) and the great race reached its lowest point.
Ladbrokes, the bookmaker made a bold bid in 1975 and signed an agreement with Davies allowing them to manage the Grand National.
Ladbrokes, like all true racing professionals, had a genuine love for the National and were determined to keep it alive. Their task stretched over the next eight years and they set about it admirably but Davies was reluctant to renew their contract. He was determined to sell Aintree.
Racing and the public in general finally realised that after so many years of "crying wolf" the threat was serious and a huge campaign was launched to rescue the race once and for all.
Donations from the public helped the Jockey Club pay Davies' price and in early '83 he finally sold the racecourse. That year the Grand National was sponsored by the Sun newspaper but in '84 Seagram Distillers stepped in to provide the solid foundation on which Aintree's revival has been built.
The last Seagram-sponsored National was in 1991 when the race was won by a horse which chairman Straker twice had the opportunity to buy; the horse's name was Seagram.
The Seagram subsidiary, Martell, took over sponsorship in 1992. Martell backs the whole three-day Grand National meeting. Around 100,000 people will be at Aintree to watch the top horses battle for honours.
By far the most successful and my favourite horse in Grand National history was Red Rum, the only horse to win three times, in 1973, 1974, and in 1977. He also came second in the two intervening years, 1975 and 1976. In 1973, he beat the champion Crisp who had to carry 12 stone, in what is arguably the most memorable Grand National of all time.
Aintree racecourse has overcome all the obstacles and today enjoys its most successful period in modern times. Future plans include a new grandstand, a Heritage Centre and a strong ambition to establish Aintree as an international tourist attraction on non-racedays.
Below is a list of the Past Winners of the Grand National:
The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race – It's Fun History
I thought it would be of interest to write this article about the history of the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race as It's one of the most famous boat races in the world and is one of England's greatest sporting Icon competition's.
The event generally known as "The Boat Race" is a rowing race in England between the Oxford University Boat Club and the Cambridge University Boat Club. The teams comprised of Eight rowers in each team with a cox in the bow who would control the speed of the boat.
The race is between competing eights, each spring on the Thames in London. It takes place generally on the last Saturday of March or the first Saturday of April.
The formal title of the event is the Xchanging Boat Race, and it is also known as the University Boat Race and the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race.
The event is a popular one, not only with the alumni of the universities, but also with rowers in general and the public. An estimated quarter of a million people watch the race live from the banks of the river, around seven to nine million people on TV in the UK, and an overseas audience estimated by the Boat Race Company at around 120 million, which would make this the most viewed single day sporting event in the world. However, other sources estimate that the international audience is below 20 million.
Members of both teams are traditionally known as blues and each boat as a “Blue Boat” with Cambridge in light blue and Oxford dark blue. The first race was in 1829 and it has been held annually since 1856, with the exception of the two world wars. The most recent race was on Saturday, 3 April 2010 at 4.30pm with Cambridge (on the Middlesex Station) winning.
Cambridge
Although the heavyweight men's eights are the main draw, the two universities compete in other rowing boat races. The main boat race is preceded by a race between the two reserve crews (called Isis for Oxford and Goldie for Cambridge).
The women's eights, women's reserve eights, men's lightweight eights and women's lightweight eights race in the Henley Boat races a week before the men's heavyweight races. There is also a 'veterans' boat race, usually held on a weekday before the main Boat Race, on the Thames between Putney and Hammersmith.
Commonwealth Games – The Friendly Games
The Commonwealth games is a sporting event that appears every 4 years and over 70 countries are represented. The Commonwealth Games are called the friendly games and the atmosphere is completely different to the Olympics. The sporting competition brought together the members of the old British Empire was first proposed by the Reverend Astley Cooper in 1891 when he wrote an article in The Times suggesting a "Pan-Britannic-Pan-Anglican Contest and Festival every four years as a means of increasing the goodwill and good understanding of the British Empire"
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In 1911, the Festival of the Empire was held in come London to celebrate the Coronation of King George V. As part of the festival an Inter-Empire Championships was held in which teams from Australia, Canada, South Africa and the United Kingdom competed in events such as boxing, wrestling, swimming and athletics.
In 1928, a key Canadian athlete, Bobby Robinson, was given the task of organizing the first ever Commonwealth Games. These Games were held in 1930, in the city of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada and saw the participation of 400 athletes from eleven countries.
All other nations march in English alphabetical order, except that the first nation marching in the Parade of Athletes is the host nation of the previous games, and the host nation of the current games marches last. In 2006 countries marched in alphabetical order in geographical regions.
Since then, the Commonwealth Games have been held every four years, except for the period during the Second World War. The Games have been known by various names such as the British Empire Games, Friendly Games and British Commonwealth Games. Since 1978, they have been known as the Commonwealth Games. Originally having only single competition sports, the 1998 Commonwealth Games at Kuala Lumpur saw a major change when team sports such as cricket, hockey and netball made their first appearance.
In 2001, the Games Movement adopted the three values of Humanity, Equality and Destiny as the core values of the Commonwealth Games. These values inspire and connect thousands of people and signify the broad mandate for holding the Games within the Commonwealth.
The Games were originally known as the British Empire Games. The first Commonwealth Games were held in 1930 at Hamilton, Canada. The 10th Commonwealth Games were held at Christchurch, New Zealand in 1974, the 11th in Edmonton (Canada) in 1978, the 12th in Brisbane (Australia) in 1982, the 13th in Edinburgh (Scotland) in 1986, the 14th in Auckland (New Zealand) in 1990 and the 15th in Victoria (Canada) in 1994, where about 3,350 athletes from a record 64 nations (including South Africa, which joined the family of Commonwealth athletes after 36 years) participated. Namibia also, which gained its independence in 1990, made its debut while Hong Kong made its final appearance in the Games before being ceded to China in 1997.
Table of Past Commonwealth Games
3 Sydney, Australia 1938 15
4 Auckland, N Z 1950 12
5 Vancouver, Canada 1954 24
6 Cardiff,Wales 1958 35
7 Perth, Australia 1962 35
8 Jamaica, West Indies 1966 34
9 Edinburgh, Scotland 1970 42
10 Christchurch, N Z 1974 38
11 Edmonton, Canada 1978 48
12 Brisbane, Australia 1982 47
13 Edinburgh, Scotland 1986 26
14 Auckland, N Z 1990 55
15 Victoria, Canada 1994 64
6 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1998 70
17 Manchchester, England 2002 72
18 Melbourne, Australia 2006 76
19 New Delhi, India 2010 72
20 Glasgow, Scotland 2014
After Olympics, Commonwealth Games is the second largest sports festival in the world. The Games are held once in four years but only in between the Olympic years.
The three nations to have hosted the games the most number of times are Australia (4), Canada (4), and New Zealand (3). Furthermore, five editions have taken place in the countries within the United Kingdom. Two cities have held the games on multiple occasions: Auckland (1950 and 1990), and Edinburgh (1970 and 1986).
British Seaside Piers – History from 1391
As an Island race and surrounded by water I thought as British Seaside Piers are popular with us Brits I thought I would tell the history of Piers and list all the British Piers. There have been very few piers built since the First World War. However, due to the precarious nature of piers - they are often prey to fires, collisions, and storm damage. Today several piers have been completely changed in the period from the thirties to the present day.
The oldest Pier in England is in Cramer where there has been a pier or jetty in Cromer, Norfolk, England since 1391. Letters granting the right to levy duties for repairs suggest that attempts at maintenance seem to have gone on until 1580. In 1582, Queen Elizabeth I granted the right to the inhabitants of Cromer to export wheat, barley and malt for the maintenance of their town and towards the rebuilding of the pier.
The oldest cast iron pier in the world is Gravesend Town Pier in Kent which opened in 1834. However, it is not recognised by the National Piers Society as being a seaside pier.
There are still a significant number of piers of architectural merit still standing, although some have been lost.
The most well known piers are perhaps the two at Brighton in East Sussex and the three at Blackpool in Lancashire.
Two piers, Brighton's now derelict West Pier and Clevedon Pier were Grade 1 listed: Brighton West lost its status after a series of fires and storms. The Birnbeck Pier in Weston-Super-Mare is the only pier in the world that is linked to an island.
The National Piers Society gives a figure of 55 surviving seaside piers in England and Wales.
England
Isle Of Man
Ramsey Pier
In their heyday, there were many pleasure piers across England. These were found in most fashionable seaside resorts during the Victorian era.
Robert Thompson – “The Mouseman” Furniture Maker
One of the most famous Furniture makers in England in the last 80 years is the Mouseman - Richard Thompson who was born in Kilburn, Yorkshire, England on the 7th May 1876. If you love beautiful, handmade wooden furniture that's also highly collectible, you should investigate Robert Thompson's Mouseman furniture. On any piece of Robert Thompson Furniture was carved a mouse – hence his name “The Mouseman”.
The story began when one day in 1919 an offhand remark about being as poor as a church mouse, lead him to carve a mouse on the finished cornice he was working on. In that moment, a famous trademark was born - even though it wasn't registered until the 1930's.
Even though Robert Thompson adopted the mouse as his trademark, not all the furniture created in the early years had it.
The patina of the furniture, the colour and degree of adzing, the use of a specific tool to shape the timber, also aid in identifying the pieces that weren't marked with the mouse.
His mouse has changed also.
Thomson removed the front legs from the mouse design in 1930 because they tended to break off easily.
The facts the mouse has no front legs but clearly recognisable whiskers are important things to look for when you find a piece identified as Mouseman furniture for unfortunately, there are imposters. (If you're worried about fakes, check out The Vintage Mouseman. where a "Rogue's gallery" of known replicas and fakes is maintained.)
Each piece of Mouseman Furniture is truly unique. It's not made by committee. Each craftsman starts a piece of furniture and remains responsible for it from selecting the wood to carving the signature mouse. In fact, just by looking at the pieces, most avid collectors of Robert Thompson's furniture can tell which craftsman made the piece.
Inspired by the medieval oak furnishings at Ripon and York Cathedrals, Robert Thompson became determined to spend his life bringing back the spirit of craftsmanship in English Oak, and set about teaching himself how to use traditional craft tools. He soon developed a technique of finishing the surfaces of his oak furniture with a pronounced “tooled” effect using an adze, a medieval tool which had been much used in the past for roughing out the broad shapes of ships' timbers, etc, and this still remains a feature of today’s items.
Fr Paul Nevill, a former Headmaster of Ampleforth College asked Thompson to make the Ampleforth Abbey's furniture; they liked it so much that Ampleforth kept asking Thompson for more works, including the library and most of the main building. Fr Gabriel Everitt, current Headmaster, has recently asked the Mouseman company for more work. Most of Ampleforth College houses are decorated with Robert Thompson's furniture.
The “Mouseman” style was based on sound construction and a straightforward fitness for purpose, using the three basic materials of English Oak, real cowhide and wrought iron. During his working life he worked alongside architects such as Sir Giles Scott and J S Syme, who in turn have left their mark on buildings throughout the United Kingdom.
The workshop, which is now being run by his descendants includes a showroom and visitors' centre, and is located beside the Parish Church, which contains "Mouseman" Pews, fittings and other furniture. Please enter into any Search Engine The company which is now known as "Robert Thompson's Craftsmen Ltd - The Mouseman of Kilburn.". The original Robert Thompson – The Mouseman died on December 8th 1955 and is buried in the small church graveyard at Kilburn overlooking his beloved workshop, which was later extended by his two grandsons and is still in production today.
Please visit my Funny Animal Art Prints Collection @ http://www.fabprints.com
My other website is called Directory of British Icons: http://fabprints.webs.com
The Chinese call Britain 'The Island of Hero's' which I think sums up what we British are all about. We British are inquisitive and competitive and are always looking over the horizon to the next adventure and discovery.
| mirabel topham |
Which award-winning English actor has appeared in over 60 films since his debut in 1962. His major roles include butterfly collector Freddie Clegg in The Collector | An Englishmans Favourite Bits of England Vol 4
An Englishmans Favourite Bits of England Vol 4
Index Part 1 of Volume 4
Hauntings of Royal Naval Hospital Haslar, England
Famous Hauntings of England
Mrs Duncan – The Last Witch to be Tried in England
Is This Proof of Reincarnation?
Wymering Manor House – The Most Haunted House in England
Stonehenge and It's Eerie Past
City of Bath, England – History and Ghosts
List of Spooky and Ghostly IOW Hauntings
James Herbert OBE – English Iconic Horror Author
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley– English Iconic Author
Sir Michael Caine - English Iconic Actor
Sir Henry Irving – Iconic English Actor Manager
James Bond 007 – British Icon
Dr. Who - A British TV Icon
Sir Rex Harrison - English Iconic Actor
Sir John Mills - English Iconic Actor
Sir Norman Wisdom – Comic Actor and Singer
7th Century to Swinging Naughties - British Icons
Swinging Sixties – British Fashion Designers
Swinging Sixties ( London ) – British Iconic Music
The New Romantics – 1980's London Music
World's First Football Chant – by Edward Elgar
Village of Wenlock, England – A Modern Olympic Games – 1850
Sir Isaac Newton – Iconic Scientist
Charles Darwin 1809 – 1882
Lady Godiva (1040-1080 AD) – An English Icon
English Spa Towns – Iconic Places
Edward Somerset – English Inventor of The First Steam Engine 1653
The First Steam Locomotive – England 1804
Howard Carter – The Discoverer of Tutankhamen
Sir Henry Wood – The Last Night Of The Proms
Toad In The Hole – English History and Recipe
Bubble and Squeak – English Recipe and History
Index Part 2 of Volume 4
Black Pudding – It's English History and Recipe
British Cheeses – Types and Taste
English Crumpets – History and Recipe
English Custard – History and Recipe
Spotted Dick or Spotty Dog – English Pudding Recipe
The Earliest Sandwich – It's English History
Ye Olde English Marmalade – History and Recipe 1480 AD
English Chelsea Buns – History and Recipe
English Mustard – An English Icon
Lardy Cake – 15th Century History and Recipe
History of Cribbage – An English Iconic Game
History of English Lawn Bowls – Jactus Lapidum
Jigsaw Puzzles – An English Iconic Game
The Valentine Card – An English Icon
Sir Francis Walsingham – Spymaster for Queen Elizabeth 1
MI6 and "C" – First Head of MI6 from 1911
P.M. Mrs Margaret Thatcher – The Iron lady
British Knighthoods – Iconic History
William Shakespeare – British Playwright Icon
The Globe Theatre – London Icon
Portsmouth Football Club ( Pompey ) 1898
Twenty20 Cricket – It's Founder and History
Commonwealth Games – The Friendly Games
Earliest Horse Races – England 12th Century
The Grand National – England 1839
The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race – It's Fun History
British Seaside Piers – History from 1391
Robert Thompson – “The Mouseman” Furniture Maker
Hauntings and History of Royal Naval Hospital Haslar, England
Many years ago I worked at Royal Naval Hospital Haslar, England and as its history is very interesting I thought I would write about it's fun history. The Royal Hospital Haslar began as a Royal Navy hospital in 1753. It has a long and distinguished history in the medical care of service personnel in peacetime and in war. The buildings were designed by Theodore Jacobsen and built from 1746 and completed in 1762. St Luke's Chapel was added in 1762 and later still, a landing stage was added so troops could reach the hospital directly from ships.
Haslar was the biggest hospital and the largest brick building in England when it was built. The hospital included an asylum for sailors with psychiatric disorders and an early superintending psychiatrist was the phrenologist, William Scott, a member of the influential Edinburgh Phrenological Society. James Lind at Haslar Hospital 1758-1774 played a large part in discovering a cure for scurvy, not least through his pioneering use of a double blind trial of vitamin C supplements.
Ghosts of RNH Haslar
A lot of poltergeist activity has been reported in the galley. According to a clairvoyant who worked in the hospital there are three ghosts occupying the kitchen area and many more around the hospital.
1) Michael Connelly, an Irishman who apparently likes the cooking. 'Michael' apparently like to let the galley workers know that they are there. It has been reported that all the files in the office have been tipped on the floor several times by unexplained means, and witnesses have claimed that the taps have turned on by themselves. The radio has apparently turned itself down.
2) An angry man called Derek who appears to have died from stab wounds. 'Derek' and The evening supervisor has reported that cutlery has been thrown around and it has also been claimed by witnesses that the kettle has switched itself on and that doors have opened by themselves
3) A woman called Margaret who haunts the spiral staircase. She is believed to have tripped over something before the stairs were built and died as a result. One of the Wardroom stewards claimed to have met 'Margaret' a few years ago walking up the spiral staircase. She said she met an elderly woman coming down and, thinking she was lost the steward asked her if she needed some help. However, the woman had vanished.
4) There is also a spirit who inhabits the old Senior Rates Mess. Several people have claimed that some parts of the galley are bitterly cold where the rest of it is warm; another favourite trick of all the ghosts is leaving puddles of water on the floor. Many members of the galley staff have claimed to have heard tapping on the window of the chef's office, which has encouraged them to leave for the public restaurant in a hurry.
5) Several members of staff have reported seeing the figure of a man in the corridor outside the galley. One claims to have seen a man look in the door (she went to ask if he was lost but when she got there there was nobody in sight).
6) Another reports having seen the reflection of an older man in the window (he turned around to ask if the man was looking for something, again nobody could be seen). Many people have complained that this corridor gets bitterly cold even when all the windows are shut and the heaters are on.
7) In F Block which used to be the lunatic asylum - the galley, which is opposite, used to be the yard where those in the asylum had their exercise and this area is claimed to be a 'psychic hotspot.
8) Outside the Operating Theatre's Staff have claimed to experience a sensation of being followed and most have reported a feeling of fear while being in this area. Staff members have claimed to hear footsteps as they have walked down the corridor and have admitted that they have quickened their pace while walking alone along it. Most members of the nursing staff choose to take the long route from B block to E block in order to avoid it.
A clairvoyant has claimed that the spirit residing in the corridor died because of a botched operation - an emergency procedure (as he was in immense pain), probably to save him from a blood clot. A hole was drilled in his left temple to relieve the pressure but he died in the corridor. It is claimed that he can only rest once the operation is repeated and the new patient dies. The original spirit is attempting to guide the other man's spirit back to his body. This is supposedly because there was nobody around to help him when he died.
9) In the Children's Ward A member of staff claims to have seen the ghost of a little girl who runs around the top floor of D Block. A large number of children were killed in a fire in this part of the building, but nothing specific is known about this tragedy. The area is now closed as the paediatric department has moved to another hospital.
10) In the Cellar's where I used to use to cut across the hospital (which are now closed), but before that, they were used as a short cut to the X-Ray department. In the days before anaesthetic the cellars accommodated the operating theatres and housed the insane; it has been reported that you can still hear screams and the rattling of chains. During the Second World War the cellars were once again used as operating theatres and as wards during the height of air raids.
11) In the Canada Block the money used to build this accommodation block was raised by the 'Women of Canada' during the Great War. It has been claimed that many spirits supposedly inhabit Canada Block along with unexplained noises and lights turning on and off. The ghost that most have reported seeing is that of a nurse who hanged herself during the First World War. Just to add to this, Canada Block is also built in the site of the original hospital graveyard.
12) Near St. Lukes Church an MoD Police officer described a ghost he'd witnessed while on a night patrol at St. Luke's church at Haslar Hospital. He'd seen an elderly woman walking towards the church, but when he returned less than a minute later, she had disappeared. An hour later, the hospital mortician told him about the body he'd dealt with earlier that day. The description matched that of the woman the police officer had seen.
With its history of pain and distress its not surprising that Haslar is haunted by distressed spirits.
Interesting Facts about RNH Haslar
a) In 1902 the hospital became known as the Royal Naval Hospital Haslar (abbreviated to RNH Haslar).
b) In the 1940s, RNH Haslar set up the country’s first ’blood bank’ to help treat wounded soldiers from the Second World War.
c) In 1966 the remit of the hospital expanded to serve all three services - the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force.
d) In 1996 the hospital again became known as the Royal Hospital Haslar.
e) In 2001 the provision of acute healthcare within Royal Hospital Haslar was transferred from the Defence Secondary Care Agency to the NHS Trust. The Royal Hospital was the last MOD-owned acute hospital in the UK. The change from military control to the NHS, and the complete closure of the hospital have been the subject of considerable local controversy.
f) The last military-run ward was ward E5, a planned orthopaedic surgery ward. The ward encompasses 21 beds in small ’rooms’, and is run by the military staff with some NHS colleagues; the ward manager is a serving military officer. The ward is served by both military and NHS doctors; the ancillary staff are non-military.
g) The ward E5 closed in 2009 along with the rest of the site and military staff will move to new posts within MDHU Portsmouth or other units around the country.
h) To mark the handover of control to the civilian NHS trust, the military medical staff marched out of RH Haslar in 2007, exercising the unit’s rights of the freedom of Gosport.
i) The staff consisted of Royal Air Force, Royal Navy and Army led by a band of the Royal Marines. The Gosport citizens are said to deeply saddened by the closure of Haslar and there are campaigns to keep the hospital open. Gosport politicians cite that that the UK is the only country in the Western world not to have a dedicated Military hospital, run by and for its military staff - who understand the needs and ideology of the service person. At present, most casualties from conflicts return to Selly Oak Hospital, Birmingham.
J) The grounds are said to contain the bodies of at least 20,000 service personnel.
In 2001 Haslar was designated a Grade II listed historic park. Several of the buildings are listed.
Famous Hauntings of England
During my life here in England I have had various supernatural experiences which has led me to list just some of the many famous hauntings which may be of interest to readers.
This is a list of the most famous haunted locations in England, there are likely to be hundreds of thousands more that are only locally known.
Airfields around the country are said to have paranormal activity arising from the spirits of airmen who died in World War II. Airfields include:
the former RAF Bircham Newton in Norfolk.
the former RAF East Kirkby in east Lincolnshire. The control tower is haunted by a 'malign' presence
the former RAF Elsham Wolds, near the A15 just north of Barnetby in North Lincolnshire. The control tower was reportedly haunted by a friendly ghost of an airman, reported in the 1950s. Phantom Lancasters have reportedly been seen taking off at night over the A15.
Arundel Castle in Sussex is often said to be home to just four ghosts but there are more ghostly goings on between its ancient walls than first meets the visitor. The spirit of the first Earl of Arundel, who originally built the castle, is said to still haunt the Castle's Keep. Another spirit is said to be of a young woman who, stricken with grief from a tragic love affair, took her own life by jumping to her death from one of the towers. Seen by some, she is said to still haunt the castle on moonlit nights dressed in white. Another spirit is that of a 'Blue Man' who has been seen within the library since the 1630s and it is thought that he could be a Cavalier due to his time period seeming to be from King Charles I's reign. Another notable 'spirit' is that strangely of a white owl like bird. Legend tells that if the white bird is seen fluttering in one of the windows, it is an imminent warning of a death of a Castle resident or someone closely associated. It's interesting to note here that Dukes used to keep a colony of white American Owls here at the castle before its restoration. There is also mention of a servant lad who once lived at the castle who was treated very badly until beaten to his death. He is said to now haunt the kitchen area and has been seen scrubbing pots and pans. Another strange sighting was more recent in 1958 by a footman. Working late one night on the ground floor the footman was walking near the servant's quarters and saw what he thought to be a man walking in front of him when he thought he had been alone. As he got closer to the apparition the man faded and then was gone.
Bochym Manor is residence to two ghosts, the short pink lady, and an unnamed ghost who stands at one of the bedroom windows.
Belgrave Hall in Leicester, attracted attention in 1999 when a white figure was captured on CCTV. One theory is it is the daughter of a former owner.
50 Berkeley Square is reputed to be the most haunted house in London.
Blue Bell Hill in Kent, specifically the A229. This has been the site of a female phantom hitchhiker. Cars have stopped to pick up a female hitchhiker, only for her to vanish to the drivers' disbelief.
Borley Rectory in the village of Borley, Essex, England. Many sightings have been reported since 1885. The house burned down in 1939, and remains a huge source of controversy.
Brislington, once an attractive Somerset village but now a neighbourhood in Bristol, has many ghosts in pubs and hotels, houses old and new, and public spaces.
Bruce Castle in Tottenham, North London is haunted by the ghost of a woman who allegedly appears every 3 November. The ghost is thought to be Lady Coleraine, who was kept locked in a chamber within the castle by her husband.
Castle Lodge, Ludlow in Ludlow, Shropshire, is believed by many to be haunted by a young girl in Tudor dress. Some say this is Catherine of Aragon, who lived in Castle Lodge during her marriage to Prince Arthur.
Chingle Hall in the village of Goosnargh, near Preston, England. Chingle Hall, previously known as Singleton Hall, was built in 1260 by Sir Adam de Singleton. It is reputably haunted by more than one spirit.
Crowley Hall in the north of England, is supposedly haunted by the spirit of Dr. Bernard Leys. Leys ran the hall for a number of years before dying under mysterious circumstances in 1952. Sightings of ghosts have been reported since the 1970s.
Dartmouth, Devon, ancient maritime town has many modern and traditional ghost stories including (in its hinterland) some recently discovered spirits from the Bronze Age.
In Dorset an axe wielding ghost riding a horse, bareback is described by witnesses as looking like a stone age warrior.
Hampton Court Palace, home of King Henry VIII of England, whose fifth wife, Catherine Howard, is supposed to be heard screaming in the "Haunted Gallery". On December 21, 2003, CCTV footage allegedly showed someone in 16th century clothes and no face closing a fire door that, though locked, was constantly being opened without anyone near it.
Minsden Chapel in Hertfordshire is reported to be haunted by a monk climbing stairs which no longer exist.
The Old Bailey, London's main criminal court. A figure (of unclear sex) supposedly appears in the building during important trials. These appearances have been allegedly witnessed by judges, barristers and policemen.
Pluckley in Kent is listed in the 1998 edition of the Guinness Book of Records as the most haunted village in England. Ghosts include a phantom coach and horses, a colonel and a highwayman.
The Brown Lady of Raynham Hall has been sighted quite a few times over the years. She is so called because of the brown brocade dress she is supposedly seen wearing while wandering the halls and staircase. In 1849 a Major Loftus and a friend named Hawkins claimed to see the ghost one night after retiring to bed, saying they were amazed by the old-fashioned clothing she wore. The next night Loftus claimed to see the figure once again, saying he took note of her empty eye-sockets. The incident resulted in several members of staff resigning and a full investigation of Raynham Hall involving local detectives.
There have been a number of reported sightings at the Royal Albert Hall, including the ghost of Father Willis, walking around inside the organ and two ladies wandering the corridors.
Samlesbury Hall in Preston, Lancashire, is supposedly haunted by Lady Dorothy Southworth, known as the "White Lady". Weeping is often heard, and her ghost has been seen wandering near where her lover was buried.
Temple Newsam is reported to be the most haunted house in Yorkshire, with the most famous ghost being Mary Ingram, commonly known as "the Blue lady", who in her life became deranged after an attack by highwaymen. Ghosts linked with the more famous residents of Temple Newsam include "the White lady": this is said to be the ghost of the "nine days queen", the unfortunate Lady Jane Grey. She was executed by Mary I.
Windsor Castle — home of English and British royalty for 1,000 years. Numerous ghosts are supposed to have been seen, including Queen Elizabeth I. Her mother, Anne Boleyn, is also said to haunt Windsor castle and supposedly runs down a corridor screaming. Among those who claimed to have seen the ghost, who sometimes is said to be carrying her head, are King George VI, William Ewart Gladstone and Andrew, Duke of York.
Muncaster Castle in the Lake District National Park, Ravenglass.
Pendle Hill, near Clitheroe, Lancashire
Pendle Hill is one of the scariest places. Injuries, strange sightings, uncanny feelings of dread, and even ‘possessions', abounded.
Halloween at Pendle Hill – an appropriate time, as this beautiful area experienced English history's most famous witchcraft trials. Ten witches were hanged, accused of putting curses on locals using clay effigies.
Palace Theatre, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex
If you settle down to watch a performance at this grand old theatre, the seat next to you might not be as empty as you think…
Actors have reported weird tobacco smells, and theatre-goers sitting with no one beside them have reported feeling a hand on their shoulder.
The spirit is thought to be that of a theatre manager who hung himself from the fly floor when the theatre got into financial difficulties. Sightings of a ‘distinguished woman in white' and the sound of a piano coming from the deserted pit add to the eerie atmosphere.
1) Macbeth's castle
Glamis Castle, Angus, Scotland
The setting for Shakespeare's Macbeth (a play that's not short on its own ghosts and superstitions), Glamis is regarded by paranormal-investigator types as the most haunted castle in Britain.
Among the many alleged ghostly goings-on over the centuries have been a card game between the Earl and the devil (they are said to still play every Sunday, in a secret room within the crypt walls) and an incident a few years ago, when an Edinburgh lawyer visiting for dinner saw a lady in white float beside his car, all the way to the door. And he hadn't even had an aperitif.
1. Country house haunting
Levens Hall, near Kendal, Lake District, Cumbria
Imposing old country houses were just made to be haunted, and Levens Hall, an Elizabethan manor house with a creepy 12th-century tower, fits the bill nicely.
Once again there's a lady involved, though here it's the Grey Lady, who was, so legend tells, a gypsy who was refused food and shelter during a harsh 17th-century winter. Sometimes a black dog accompanies her, so at least she's not lonely.
There's also a lesser-spotted Pink Lady, and a phantom harpsichord player, though he or she hasn't been heard since the 1950s.
Lord Byron's ruined country pile
Newstead Abbey, Nottinghamshire
As well as yet another White Lady (frankly, White Ladies are ten-a-penny in the world of British hauntings), the ancestral home of Lord Byron (he of "mad, bad and dangerous to know" fame) positively throngs with phantasms.
The Goblin Friar was said to appear to the head of the Byron family before an unhappy event (such as the arrival of the gas bill).
Also, look out for the Black Friar who, in the 1930s, pointed a lost doctor to the bedroom of a lady who was about to give birth. Nice to know that ghosts aren't always moody and unhelpful.
· A visitation in the pews
St Mary's Church, Beaminster, Dorset
In the spring of 1728 a boy from the school within the church, John Daniel, was found dead near his home. As he was known to suffer from fits, he was buried without an inquest.
A few days later, some schoolboys found a coffin in the church, with John Daniel sitting next to it. Presently, the apparition and coffin disappeared.
The magistrate was believed the boys, and had the body exhumed. John Daniel was found to have been strangled. No one was apprehended for the crime.
So it's more of an historical haunting, but would you spend a night in St Mary's?
· Yorkshire's most haunted inn
The Busby Stoop Inn, Thirsk, North Yorkshire
At this windswept Yorkshire pub, you can't move at the bar for parapsychologists, such is the place's renown.
The murderer Thomas Busby's remains were hanged outside the pub after his execution in 1702. He had been the landlord, a boozy thief who killed his father-in-law with a hammer.
Busby cursed the chair he was dragged from by the cops, and anyone who sat in it afterward was said to have died soon afterward. The chair is now in a local museum, but Busby's ghost is still spotted, his head drooping and a rope around his neck.
· Celebrity ghosts: The Tower of London
As it was the location of violent, bloody tortures and executions for hundreds of years, it's little wonder the Tower of London is London's ghost-central.
And because of the erstwhile English penchant for beheadings, it's home to some classic headless spectres, many of them veritable celebrities.
Anne Boleyn is said to walk the corridors in a headless state, and also to promenade on Tower Green with her head intact. Sir Walter Raleigh has been spotted, too.
Dogs, it's said, will not enter the spooky Salt Tower. There are also two anonymous ghosts known, not very originally, as the Grey Lady and the White Lady.
· Pagan burial site
The Ram Inn, Wooton under Edge, Gloucestershire
Lots of inns in the UK claim to be the ‘most haunted', but by general consensus, The 12th-century Ram Inn is the daddy.
It was converted into a private residence in 1968, but that hasn't affected its legendary status in the annals of the paranormal. Child sacrifice and black magic practices are alleged to have taken place here.
The Bishop's Room is the hotspot: visitors have reported apparitions, unexplained noises, ghostly orbs and even a spectral cat. To cap it all, the Ram is supposed to have been built on an old pagan burial site.
True Spooky Stories – Called Fate, Bibles, Witches and Castles
During my lifetime I have had many various supernatural experiences including hearing of stories that brings a chill to the back of the neck. Please don't start reading these stories after dark - you have been warned. The first of four stories concerns Fate.
The sport of Cricket has been played in one form or another for over 1,000 years in England. The game consists of 11 players per side and the object of the game is to bowl out the batsman who is defending a set of wickets.
Fate – Gods Revenge
Many years ago in a Hampshire Village in England there was a Cricket Match being played. Going into bat was Jack Smith aged 28 years of age, who had played for his team for many years. During the course of his innings he hit many runs and reached 55 when the weather changed and started to get grey and overcast.
Just as he was about to make a run, after hitting the ball, Lightening appeared from nowhere and struck him on the foot and knocked him a distance of many metres.
Suffice to say, he was knocked unconscious and taken to hospital where he was treated for slight burns and nerve damage.
Over the next twelve months he recuperated and finally recovered from his shocking experience.
One day he was sitting watching TV when he received a visit from his old cricketing pal, Bill. It transpired that the cricket team were short of players and Jack was asked if he would like to play a match the following Sunday. After much persuasion, he agreed to play for the village team the following Sunday.
The sun was bright and hot that Sunday with lots of spectators watching including his parents. The game progressed with the opposition making 158 runs all out. Then Jacks team went into bat with the hot sun still shining and just before Tea Jacks team were on 76 for 4 wickets when a team mate was bowled. It was Jack's turn to bat, so on he walked to the crease and waited with bated breath for the first ball. All of a sudden the weather changed and it became very dark and cloudy and before he could hit the first ball an almighty bang and lightening strike hit Jack on the head and he was thrown over 100 Metres, dead as a dodo.
I was told this true story by one of the Cricket Players who happened to also be a good friend. In truth, he asked me to play that same match but I was too busy to play (thank god) I believe in fate and God and I believe that when your time is up your time is up.
The Haunted Bible
The second story concerns my life in Gosport when I was 13 years old. One day my step mother and her friend went to a house contents sale where my step mother brought a silver covered bible. About a week later our TV went on the blink and a repairman was called in to sort out the problem.
The doorbell rang and at the door stood the TV repairman. He refused to enter the house because he felt an evil presence and he described and asked if there was a bible with a silver cross on the cover. When he was told that, yes it was a recent acquisition, the repairman told my step mother to burn the bible to cleanse the evil presence. This she did and when the TV repairman returned he told her the evil had gone. Months later she read in the paper that the TV repairman had been sacked for scaring customers with his psychic abilities.
The Hauntings at Arundel Castle
· The third story concerns Arundel Castle in Sussex is often said to be home to just four ghosts but there are more ghostly goings on between its ancient walls than first meets the visitor. The spirit of the first Earl of Arundel, who originally built the castle, is said to still haunt the Castle's Keep. Another spirit is said to be of a young woman who, stricken with grief from a tragic love affair, took her own life by jumping to her death from one of the towers. Seen by some, she is said to still haunt the castle on moonlit nights dressed in white. Another spirit is that of a 'Blue Man' who has been seen within the library since the 1630s and it is thought that he could be a Cavalier due to his time period seeming to be from King Charles I's reign. Another notable 'spirit' is that strangely of a white owl like bird. Legend tells that if the white bird is seen fluttering in one of the windows, it is an imminent warning of a death of a Castle resident or someone closely associated. It's interesting to note here that Dukes used to keep a colony of white American Owls here at the castle before its restoration. There is also mention of a servant lad who once lived at the castle who was treated very badly until beaten to his death. He is said to now haunt the kitchen area and has been seen scrubbing pots and pans. Another strange sighting was more recent in 1958 by a footman. Working late one night on the ground floor the footman was walking near the servant's quarters and saw what he thought to be a man walking in front of him when he thought he had been alone. As he got closer to the apparition the man faded and then was gone.
Stonehenge and It's Eerie Past
One of the most spooky experiences I have ever had was driving past Stonehenge, during a cold misty winter's night, with the light of a full moon reflecting of the stone's. As this is one of the most English iconic sights in the world I thought I would write about it's history. For 5000 years, the structure on Salisbury Plain has continued to baffle and intrigue all those who have considered it and it seems it will continue to do so for many more years to come. Stonehenge is a World heritage site which is older than the Pyramids.
Criss Crossing the English countryside are Leylines which are Psychic lines of force that surround Stonehenge and where the Leylines cross forces of Psychic energy is released. This could explain why the area surrounding Salisbury and Stonehenge is famous for the appearance of a number of “Crop Circles”.
The mystery of the Stone Circles lies more in their ancient majesty than in the enigma of when they were built, or by whom—more in their magic than their history. Of course, interest in the origin of, say, Stonehenge, is as sizeable as the monument itself, and the debate as to how it was built by cavemen — or indeed, a lost civilization of some scientific and cultural achievement — rages on.
But whatever your take, the fact remains that if you’ve ever spent the night at Stonehenge, or any other stone circle for that matter, you will likely have experienced something really quite special—something that embodies in a very real way what could never be experienced simply by crunching the numbers.
Without question something tangible occurs when you enter the inner circle of Stonehenge at midnight. The air stills. The giants come alive. Magic happens.
And it’s that magic more than any facts or figures that informs you of what Stonehenge is all about. If you’ve never done it, I recommend you do. Permission needs to be gained from the relevant authorities and a small fee is required. But it’s worth it.
Stonehenge can be referred to as a monument of the prehistoric times located in Wiltshire (an English country) at around 3.2 kilometers to the west of ‘Amesbury’ and thirteen kilometers to the north of ‘Salisbury’. It is considered to be amongst the most amazing prehistoric sites of the world. A round setting of huge standing stones with earthworks in the centre- comprises the Stonehenge. As per the archaeological survey, the erection of standing stones can be traced back to 2200 BC. The survey also states that the ditch and round earth bank surrounding the monument trace back to 3100 BC.
The Time line in the Building of Stonehenge
1) Pre-Construction
Four huge Mesolithic post holes have been found by certain archaeologists. They trace back to 8000 BC. They are said to lie underneath the modern tourist car park. Neolithic sites such as tombs having long barrows and causewayed enclosure were constructed in the landscape.
2) Stonehenge (3100 BC)
The 1st monument comprised of a round bank and enclosure of ditch made up of Seaford chalk belonging to Santonian Age. It had a diameter of approximately 110 metres. Bones of oxen and deer were placed at the ditch’s bottom.
3) Stonehenge (3000 BC)
The second phase has not left much evidence. From the appearance of some of the postholes, one can have a guess that timber structure had been built after the first phase. ‘Grooved ware’ pottery was the specialty of this phase.
4) Stonehenge (2600 BC)
This phase suggests that timber was replaced by stone. The site’s center had two concentric holes (R and Q holes) dug. Widening of northeastern entrance had taken place.
5) Stonehenge (2450 BC-2100 BC)
This phase marked the buying of thirty ‘Oligocene-Miocene’ sarsen stones from quarry on Malborough Downs.
6) Stonehenge BlueStones
By this time, bronze era had already dawned. Bluestones had been re-erected. This was the first ever event of that time.
7) Stonehenge (2280 BC-1930 BC)
The bluestones were further rearranged by placing them in circle. Altar stone was made to stand vertically. A horseshoe-shaped setting was created thereafter.
8) After the Construction (1600 BC)
During this Iron Age, Vespasian’s Camp, a hill fort was built near Avon.
City of Bath, England – History and Ghosts
Bath is one of my favourite English City's full of history and Ghosts. It is one of the most attractive city's in layout and history and is famous for it's Spa and Baths. The archaeological evidence shows that the site of the Roman Baths main spring was treated as a shrine by the Celts, and dedicated to the goddess Sulis. There is a legend that Bath was founded in 860 BC when Prince Bladud, father of King Lear, caught leprosy. He was banned from the court and was forced to look after pigs. The pigs also had a skin disease but after they wallowed in hot mud they were cured. Prince Bladud followed their example and was also cured. Later he became king and founded the city of Bath.
The Romans probably occupied Bath shortly after the Roman Invasion of Britain in 43AD. They knew it as Aquae Sulis ('the waters of Sul'), identifying the goddess with Minerva.
In Roman times the worship of Sulis Minerva continued and messages to her scratched onto metal have been recovered from the Sacred Spring by archaeologists. These are known as curse tablets. Written in Latin, and usually laid curses on other people, whom they feel had done them wrong. For example, if a citizen had his clothes stolen at the Baths, he would write a curse on a tablet, to be read by the Goddess Sulis Minerva, and also, the "suspected" names would be mentioned. The collection from Bath is the most important found in Britain.
It has been suggested that Bath may have been the site of the Battle of Mons Badonicus (circa 500 AD), where King Arthur is said to have defeated the Saxons, but this is disputed. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle mentions Bath falling to the West Saxons in 577 after the Battle of Deorham.
The Anglo-Saxons called the town Baðum, Baðan or Baðon, meaning "at the baths," and this was the source of the present name. In 675, Osric, King of the Hwicce, set up a monastic house at Bath, probably using the walled area as its precinct. King Offa of Mercia gained control of this monastery in 781 and rebuilt the church, which was dedicated to St. Peter. Bath had become a royal possession. The old Roman street pattern was by now lost, and King Alfred laid out the town afresh, leaving its south-eastern quadrant as the abbey precinct. Edgar of England was crowned king of England in Bath Abbey in 973.
King William Rufus granted the city to a royal physician, John of Tours, who became Bishop of Wells and Abbot of Bath in 1088. It was papal policy for bishops to move to more urban seats, and he translated his own from Wells to Bath. He planned and began a much larger church as his cathedral, to which was attached a priory, with the bishop's palace beside it. New baths were built around the three springs. Later bishops, however, returned the episcopal seat to Wells, while retaining the name of Bath in their title.
By the 15th century, Bath's abbey church was badly dilapidated and in need of repairs. Oliver King, Bishop of Bath and Wells, decided in 1500 to rebuild it on a smaller scale. The new church was completed just a few years before Bath Priory was dissolved in 1539 by Henry VIII. The abbey church was allowed to become derelict before being restored as the city's parish church in the Elizabethan period, when the city revived as a spa. The baths were improved and the city began to attract the aristocracy. Bath was granted city status by Queen Elizabeth 1 and a Royal Charter in 1590. From then on Bath had a mayor and aldermen. There were some improvements in the little town. Bellots almshouses were built in 1609. In 1615 a 'scavenger' was appointed to clean the streets of Bath. In 1633 thatched roofs were banned because of the risk of fire.
However like all towns Bath suffered from outbreaks of the plague. It struck in 1604, 1625, 1636 and 1643.
There had been much rebuilding in the Stuart period, but this was eclipsed by the massive expansion of Bath in Georgian times. The old town within the walls was also largely rebuilt. This was a response to the continuing demand for elegant accommodation for the city's fashionable visitors, for whom Bath had become a pleasure resort as well as a spa. The architects John Wood the elder and his son John Wood the younger laid out the new quarters in streets and squares, the identical facades of which gave an impression of palatial scale and classical decorum. The creamy gold of Bath stone further unified the city, much of it obtained from the limestone Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, which were owned by Ralph Allen (1694–1764). The latter, in order to advertise the quality of his quarried limestone, commissioned the elder John Wood to build him a country house on his Prior Park estate. A shrewd politician, he dominated civic affairs and became mayor several times.
The early 18th century saw Bath acquire its first purpose-built theatre, pump room and Assembly Rooms. Master of Ceremonies Beau Nash, who presided over the city's social life from 1705 until his death in 1761, drew up a code of behaviour for public entertainments.
By the 1801 census the population of Bath had reached 40020 making it amongst the largest cities in Britain.
William Thomas Beckford bought a house in Lansdown Crescent in 1822, eventually buying a further two houses in the Crescent to form his residence. Having acquired all the land between his home and the top of Lansdown Hill, he created a garden over half a mile in length and built Beckford's Tower at the top.
Bath Spa Rail Station was built in 1840 for the Great Western Railway by Brunel and is a grade II listed building.
Between the evening of 25th April and the early morning of 27th April 1942 Bath suffered three air raids in reprisal for RAF raids on the German cities of Lübeck & Rostock. The three raids formed part of the Luftwaffe campaign popularly known as the Baedeker Blitz: they damaged or destroyed more than 19,000 buildings, and killed more than 400 people. Much damage was done to noteworthy buildings. Houses in the Royal Crescent, Circus and Paragon were burnt out along with the Assembly Rooms, while the south side of Queen Square was destroyed. All have since been reconstructed.
Bath is a very haunted city and below is a list of the more famous ghosts:
The man in the black hat
Easily Bath's most famous and most-seen ghost, the man in the black hat is dressed in late 18th-century attire and sometimes wears a billowing black cloak. He's regularly seen around the Assembly Rooms. For the best results, look for him at Saville Row and Bennett Street.
Freezing Hill
Several ghosts have appeared in the vicinity of Freezing Hill, just outside Bath. Most of these phantoms are from the 17th century, when this hill was the site of the bloody Battle of Lansdown.
The best opportunity to see these ghosts is from The Park, a 240 acre estate featuring a Jacobean mansion that is now an hotel. You can also enjoy a fine meal at The Oakwood Restaurant, and play golf at their Crown and Cromwell courses.
The Royal Crescent
It's not a movie that's being filmed at the Royal Crescent when you see an elegant coach drawn by four horses. Instead, you're witnessing a residual haunting, repeating the elopement of Elizabeth Linley of No. 11, with Irish playwright and politician Richard Brinsley Sheridan.
Sheridan was not Miss Linley's only suitor. Captain Thomas Mathews (a married man) and Lord Sheridan fought two duels--with swords--over the lovely Miss Linley.
Sheridan may have won her hand in marriage, but he later proved unfaithful. Elizabeth contracted tuberculosis and died at age 38. A bronze plaque at number 11 Royal Crescent marks the address from which she eloped.
The Theatre Royal the Garrick's Head pub
The Theatre Royal and Garrick's Head are next door to each other. Their ghost stories seem to be interwoven, and the ghosts congenially wander from one building to the other.
At least two ghosts appear in this area. One is an unfaithful wife and the other is her lover, from the 18th century. The lover was killed by the husband, and the wife committed suicide. Look for a woman (some say there are at least two) in a grey dress. The lover is handsome and well-dressed.
A second anomaly is noted at the Theatre Royal: A tortoiseshell butterfly appears there during the pantomime run each year, which is not butterfly season.
Popjoy's Restaurant
Many visit this former home of Richard "Beau" Nash for the fine food. However, the restaurant hosts at least two ghosts, both of them women. One is Juliana Popjoy, the 18th-century mistress of Beau Nash.
The other ghost is Janice (or perhaps Janet). She is more modern, dressed in attire best suited to the 1960's. She dines alone and looks perfectly normal until she vanishes.
The Beehive Public House
'Bunty', a serving girl from the Victorian Era or slightly earlier, appears in the kitchen of The Beehive, a popular Bath public house.
Crystal Palace Tavern
A hooded figure--perhaps a monk--appears at this tavern when he is concerned that the structure may change, such as during repairs or redecorating. He usually appears briefly and is fairly transparent.
Julia, of Queens Square
This jilted bride has been seen strolling around the Square in her white gown.
Today Bath continues to thrive on tourism. Moreover in 2006 a new spa opened in Bath so perhaps the old glory days will return! Today the population of Bath is 85,000.
Famous Hauntings of The Isle Of Wight, England
The Isle of Wight is one of my favourite places to visit and stay. In the late 1970's we had a family holiday on the Isle of Wight and stayed in a Holiday Caravan. The island is famous for its Hauntings of places and houses and I thought it would be interesting to write about these spooky going – ons. The first Ghost Story concerns Dimbola Lodge which was the home of the famous 19th century photographer Julia Margaret Cameron. It is said her ghost haunts the museum and the visitors have reported the smell of photographic chemicals.
This small island is home to hundreds of ghosts and spooky happenings. There are all sorts of Isle of Wight ghosts - from phantom monks, grey ladies and poltergeists - to the shades of smugglers, soldiers, Royalty and Romans. There are ghostly murderers and their victims, ghost-ships out at sea, and even a ghost-train still running on long vanished rails.
With the Island´s rich historical heritage, its violent and colourful past, it´s not surprising that ghostly goings-on and haunting echoes of those turbulent times continue to reverberate through 21st century. Hundreds of unquiet and restless Isle of Wight ghosts have been reported here in Hotels, Hospitals, manor houses, Pubs, Shops and offices, while the spirits of smugglers and shipwrecked seamen walk lonely West Wight beaches.
List of Spooky and Ghostly IOW Hauntings
As a visitor to the IOW I thought I would list some spooky stories.
APPULDURCOMBE HOUSE, Wroxall. This handsome haunted mansion with its 365 windows and 52 rooms is now a shell of its former self. The ghosts however, remain. They include a phantom carriage, brown-clad monks, dark shapes glimpsed flitting through the grounds. A baby´s cry is heard, and unseen hands regularly leaf through pages of the visitors´ book. KNIGHTON GORGES, Newchurch. Known as the Island´s most haunted place, every New Year´s Eve, people gather to wait for the ghostly house to re-appear. A pair of weathered stone gateposts are all that remain of the manor house of Knighton Gorges, yet it lives on, its blood-red history a testament to murder, suicide, insanity, malice, and a gallery of ghosts. A coach and horses, poltergeist lights, phantom revels and tales of stone creatures seen upon the gate pillars are just a few of the spooky happenings in this strange place. A brutal family murder and a young girl pushed from a window to her death are at the heart of the hauntings here. A little child in a blue dress is regularly seen and heard, crying "Mama Mama". Other regular visitors are ghostly monks, whose grave chanting is heard, while the figure of a woman wearing a cherry-red gown has also been seen.
Carisbrook Castle For more than nine centuries it has stood firm against attack, but within its walls, ghosts roam. In the famous well house where donkeys work the wooden tread wheel, the face of a dead girl who drowned in the160ft deep well, has been seen. A mysterious cloaked figure, with four dainty lap dogs, walks the castle grounds. Other phantoms include a Victorian lady in grey and tragic Princess Elizabeth, daughter of King Charles I, who died a prisoner here.
HARE AND HOUNDS
Arreton Murderous woodcutter Micah Morey who killed his young grandson in cold blood in 1737, was tried and hanged, and his corpse left rotting on the gibbet at Gallows Hill, near the Hare and Hounds, until it became ´an offence to eye and nostril´. The gibbet crossbeam, complete with a notch cut in it beside the date of his execution can be seen in the pub. Morey´s restless spirit can also be seen, roaming Gallows Hill, carrying a large axe.
VENTNOR BOTANIC GARDENS
For almost a century, the world-renowned chest hospital Royal National Hospital specialised in treating the killer disease, tuberculosis. When the half-mile long building was demolished in 1969, the site was transformed into gardens. The hospital was haunted long before this, and even today long-dead patients are still seen and heard. Ghostly weeping, groaning, and smells of ether are reported. A sickly, consumptive-looking ghost, and phantom nurses in old-fashioned uniforms walk the gardens.
THE PUB THAT VANISHED
You may never find this one, but have fun trying! One dark November night, two Island men set out from Newtown, on what became the strangest night of their lives. They came upon a pub - the Falcon or the Vulcan - where they shared a drink with some unsociable spirits. The drab bar felt unwelcoming and cold. Hostile eyes turned towards the two strangers and all conversation ceased. They drank up quickly and left. The strange old-fashioned pub, which was along a narrow lane somewhere between Newtown and Calbourne, has never been seen again. Despite repeated attempts, neither the lane nor ghostly pub has ever been found.
Northwood House, Cowes Old Town. Northwood House is a Grade II listed Victorian residence built by the Ward family in 1837. It was donated under Trust to the town in 1929, the grounds becoming Northwood Park. Between 1902 and 1906, it was occupied by French Benedictine nuns, and the ghost of one of these sisters can be seen flitting through the park at night. Old stone tunnels under the park were once used by smugglers and, in cellars under the house, the ghost of a grinning pirate appears. On a still night, the sound of boxes and kegs being moved around in the empty cellars can sometimes be heard!
Ghosts of Godshill Church.The Norman church at Godshill is associated with a legend that is common throughout Britain with slight variations. Tradition tells that the original site of the church was towards the Southwest, but each night the stones of the church were moved by an unknown agency on to the hill where the church now stands. The builders of the church wanted to discover who was moving the stones and posted a watch of two guards during the night. While keeping vigil they were astonished to see the stones move up the hill of their own volition. This was taken to be a sign from God that the church should be built of the hill, and the site was named Godshill afterwards. In other traditions it was actually the fairies who moved the stones. The meaning of this folklore motif is obscure, but it has been suggested that it has its roots in the fact that many churches were built on top of older places of worship.
Haunting of St Catherines Lighthouse in Niton Village. St Catherine's Lighthouse is situated in Niton Undercliffe, 5 miles from Ventnor and was built in 1838 following the loss of the ship called The Clarendon on rocks near to the present location. It's Lighthouse haunted by a dark burley man.
The Ghosts of Osborne House Osborne House is haunted by many Spirits in the rooms and hallways. One of the ghosts is supposed to be that of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, Earl of Clarence and Baron Arklow.
Mrs Duncan – The Last Witch to be Tried in England
The fourth story concerns the last person to be tried as a witch was a Mrs Duncan, a Scotswoman who travelled the country holding seances, was one of Britain's best-known mediums, reputedly numbering Winston Churchill and George VI among her clients, when she was arrested in January 1944 by two naval officers at a seance in Portsmouth. The military authorities, secretly preparing for the D-day landings and then in a heightened state of paranoia, were alarmed by reports that she had disclosed - allegedly via contacts with the spirit world - the sinking of two British battleships long before they became public. The most serious disclosure came when she told the parents of a missing sailor that his ship, HMS Barham, had sunk. It was true, but news of the tragedy had been suppressed to preserve morale.
Desperate to silence the apparent leak of state secrets, the authorities charged Mrs Duncan with conspiracy, fraud, and with witchcraft under an act dating back to 1735 - the first such charge in over a century. At the trial, only the "black magic" allegations stuck, and she was jailed for nine months at Holloway women's prison in north London. Churchill, then prime minister, visited her in prison and denounced her conviction as "tomfoolery". In 1951, he repealed the 200-year-old act, but her conviction stood.
Is This Proof of Reincarnation?
As an Englishman from a country that has many stories of the supernatural I thought I would write about a story that links America with 12th Century York, England.
Many years ago I was reading about this lady american Doctor W. who had spent many years and hypnotised many thousands of volunteer patients, investigating Past Live regression during the 1960's -1970's. Past Life Regression is when a person is hypnotised back before they are born into a past life.
One day she was hypnotising one of her patients who was regressed back to a past life.
The story concerns a period in the 1190's of upheaval in the English City of York during a pogrom against the Jews. This lady believed she was called Susanne de Blouir and she was being chased by a riotus crowd because of her jewness. At the time of her fleeing she had her baby in her arms, which made it difficult to run and escape.
Finally she arrived outside the entrance to York Minster Cathedral and ran through the front doors seeking sanctuary. Finding no one around, she flees to the back of the Cathedral and runs down some steps that led into some rooms. One of the rooms had a door slightly ajar, and she runs through the door and then down some more steps. While running down the steps the woman here's the front doors of the Cathedral open and the noise of the screaming mob come pouring in. Terrified and clutching her baby the woman arrives at a long passage which ends at a door which leads into a Crypt. The woman enters the Crypt and sees various tombs incuding a stone carved black knight lieing on top of a tomb. She puts the baby down and trie's to barr the door with any furniture she could find.
After a period of moments, the door is banged upon and the mob tries to get into the crypt.
Beacuse of the emotion and fear by the woman under hypnosis the doctor decide's to bring the woman out of hypnosis.
Suffice to say, the woman believed her today's lifetime fear of confined spaces could be explained by this past life in 12th century York.
The Doctor decided to investigate this story by contacting the dean at York Minster in England and asking if they had such a thing as a Crypt with a black knight's tomb. After many weeks the dean contacted the doctor and explained York Minster had no record of any Crypt. This seems to confirm the doctors fears that this patient was dreaming and imagining the story. The strange thing was the woman had never travelled outside the state of Kansas, yet she knew so many things about the dress code of York etc. ( Remember this was in the 1960's-1970's before the Internet)
Forward ten years and outside York Minster the road was being dug up by some workman when all of a sudden the road collapses into a dark abyss. The Fire brigade is called and they lowered some fire fighters down into the deep hole. The hole ended in a stone floor after clearing away some of the rubble he realised he was in a Crypt. In a far corner was the skeleton of a trapped and tied up woman and next to her was a baby skeleton.
It seems that the mob had finally got through the door and tied the woman up and then sealed and bricked up the door while she was still alive.
The spooky thing about this story is that Doctor W. 's book was printed ten years before they found the Crypt and skeleton's.
I believe this story proves Reincarnation – what does the reader think?
Please scroll down the page and vote for this story by clicking on the Stars.
Wymering Manor House – The Most Haunted House in England.
As I am from Portsmouth, England I thought it may be of interest to write about the oldest house in Portsmouth dated from 1042 AD which is also the most haunted house in England called Wymering Manor House.
Although most of the current structure dates back to the 16th century, the manor goes back much further. Records show the first owner of Wymering Manor was King Edward the Confessor in 1042 and then after the Battle of Hastings it fell into the hands of King William the Conqueror until 1084. The house has been altered and renovated continually over the centuries, yet remarkably it has retained materials dating back to medieval and even ancient Roman times.
Having changed ownership many times over these hundreds of years, the property was eventually adopted by the Portsmouth City Council, then sold for a short time to a private organization for development into a hotel. When the development fell though, the property reverted to the council, which has again put it up for auction.
Once a country manor, the structure is now surrounded by modern houses. And when it was saved from demolition and used as a youth hostel, many areas of the building were "modernized" and have an unfortunate, institutional feel.
With this rich history it's no surprise perhaps that Wymering Manor should be haunted.
Below are some of the Ghosts that haunt Wymering Manor:
The Lady in the Violet Dress. When Mr. Thomas Parr lived at Wymering Manor, he awoke one night to the sight of an apparition standing at the foot of his bed. It was his cousin, who had died in 1917. Dressed in a full-length violet-coloured dress, the spirit spoke to him in a friendly and matter-of-fact manner, telling him of her recent religious experiences and about other deceased family members. Suddenly the ghost said, "Well, Tommy dear, I must leave you now as we are waiting to receive Aunt Em." In the morning, Parr received a telegram with the news that his Aunt Em had died during the night.
The Blue Room. An elderly relative of Thomas Parr, who was staying in the "Blue Room," was careful always to lock her door at night, as she feared break-ins by burglars. One morning she was surprised to find her door unlocked and open.
The Choir of Nuns. Mr. Leonard Metcalf, an occupant of the house who died in 1958, said he occasionally saw a choir of nuns crossing the manor's hall at midnight. They were chanting, he claimed, to the clear sound of music. His family never believed his story as they didn't know - and neither did Mr. Metcalf - that nuns from the Sisterhood of Saint Mary the Virgin visited the house in the mid-1800s.
The Panelled Room. The so-called "Panelled Room" may be the manor's most dreaded. The Panelled Room served as a bedroom in the manor's south east corner, and as Metcalf was using the washbasin one day, he was startled by the distinct feeling of a hand on his shoulder. He turned quickly to find no one there. Others have felt an oppressive air in this room, instilling a strong feeling to flee. When the building served as the youth hostel, its warden and wife expressed an unexplained fear of the room.
Other Paranormal occurrences reported at the manor include visitors who claim to have heard the whispers of children, spotted strange apparitions and seen items in the manor move of their own accord. Dramatic drops in temperature and accounts of unusual or intimidating 'spirit energies' have also been reported. Film and video footage has captured both orbs and other strange light anomalies.
James Herbert OBE – English Iconic Horror Author
I am a great fan of James Herbert who has written some great pieces of Horror including my favourite – The “Rats” which I brought in 1974. As a teenager every time James Herbert released a new horror book I would be joining the queue at my local W H Smiths. James Herbert was born on the 8th April 1943 and has sold over 40 million books worldwide. All through my life I can remember reading the newest James Herbert book at certain special events of my life. I remember buying “The Fluke” in 1977 when I first started work and reading “The Jonah” when I had just got engaged in 1981.
During my lifetime I have had many Supernatural experiences which I have written about in my many articles which can be found at my website . I recommend to any “Horror Story” fan to go out and buy any of James Herbert's books (They are so much better than Stephen king's) but don't forget to read his books with plenty of lights on and not in a spooky haunted house.
List of James Herbert Books:
2003: Devil In The Dark
2006: The Secret Of Crickley Hall
2010: Ash
James Herbert was awarded the Order Of The British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours list.
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley– English Iconic Author of Frakenstein
Mary Shelley will forever be remembered for her novel “Frankenstein” one of the scariest books you will ever read. Mary was born on the 30th August 1797 in Somers Town, England to well-known parents: author and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft and philosopher William Godwin. Mary was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer and travel writer who was best known for her Gothic Novel Frankenstein and The Modern Prometheus.
She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic Poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley who she had married in 1816 after the death of his wife Harriet.
In 1816, the couple famously spent a summer with Lord Byron, John William Polidori and Claire Clairmont near Geneva, Switzerland, where Mary conceived the idea for her novel Frankenstein. The Shelley's left Britain in 1818 for Italy, where their second and third children died before Mary Shelley gave birth to her last and only surviving child, Percy Florence.
In 1822, her husband drowned when his sailing boat sank during a storm in the Bay of La Spezia. A year later, Mary Shelley returned to England and from then on devoted herself to the upbringing of her son and a career as a professional author.
Until the 1970s, Mary Shelley was known mainly for her efforts to publish Percy Shelley's works and for her novel Frankenstein, which remains widely read and has inspired many theatrical and film adaptations. Recent scholarship has yielded a more comprehensive view of Mary Shelley’s achievements.
Scholars have shown increasing interest in her literary output, particularly in her novels, which include the historical novels “Valperga” (1823) and “Perkin Warbeck” (1830), the apocalyptic novel “The Last Man” (1826), and her final two novels, “Lodore ” (1835) and “Falkner” (1837).
Studies of her lesser-known works such as the travel book “Rambles in Germany and italy” (1844) and the biographical articles for “Dionysius Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopaedia” (1829–46) support the growing view that Mary Shelley remained a political radical throughout her life.
Mary Shelley's works often argue that cooperation and sympathy, particularly as practised by women in the family, were the ways to reform civil society. This view was a direct challenge to the individualistic Romantic ethos promoted by Percy Shelley and the Enlightenment political theories articulated by her father, William Godwin.
In the mid-1840s, Mary Shelley found herself the target of three separate blackmailers. In 1845, an Italian political exile called Gatteschi, whom she had met in Paris, threatened to publish letters she had sent him. A friend of her son's bribed a police chief into seizing Gatteschi's papers, including the letters, which were then destroyed. Shortly afterwards, Mary Shelley bought some letters written by herself and Percy Bysshe Shelley from a man calling himself G. Byron and posing as the illegitimate son of the late Lord Byron . Also in 1845, Percy Bysshe Shelley's cousin Thomas Medwin approached her claiming to have written a damaging biography of Percy Shelley. He said he would suppress it in return for £250, but Mary Shelley refused.
The last decade of her life was dogged by illness, probably caused by the brain tumour that was to kill her at the age of 53 on the 1st February 1851.
Sir Michael Caine - English Iconic Actor
Sir Michael Caine is one of England's greatest iconic actors and is famous for his starring roles from Harry Palmer etc. Michael Caine was born Born Maurice Micklewhite in Rotherhithe, London, on the 14th March 1933. Michael Caine was the son of a fish-market porter and his mother was a cook and housewife. Caine grew up in Camberwell, London, and during the WWII he was evacuated to North Runcton in Norfolk. As a fan, my favourite film would have to be "Zulu" which is shown most christmas's on British TV.
In 1944, he passed his eleven plus exam, winning a scholarship to Hackney Downs Grocers School. After a year there he moved to Wilson's Grammar School in Camberwell (now Wilson's School in Wallington, South London), which he left at sixteen after gaining a School Certificate in six subjects.
He then worked briefly as a filing clerk and messenger for a film company in Victoria Street, London and the film producer Jay Lewis in Wardour Street, London.
In 1952, when he was called up to do his National Service, until 1954, he served in the British Army's Royal Fusiliers, first at the BAOR HQ in Iserlohn, Germany and then on active service during the Korean War. Caine has said he would like to see the return of National Service to help combat youth violence, stating: "I'm just saying, put them in the Army for six months. You're there to learn how to defend your country. You belong to the country. Then when you come out, you have a sense of belonging rather than a sense of violence."
Upon his return to England he gravitated toward the theatre and got a job as an assistant stage manager. He adopted the name of Caine on the advice of his agent, taking it from a marquee that advertised The Caine Mutiny (1954).
In the years that followed he worked in more than 100 television dramas, with repertory companies throughout England and eventually in the stage hit, "The Long and the Short and the Tall." Zulu (1964), the 1964 epic retelling of a historic 19th-century battle in South Africa between British soldiers and Zulu warriors, brought Caine to international attention. Instead of being typecast as a low-ranking Cockney soldier, he played a snobbish, aristocratic officer. Although "Zulu" was a major success, it was the role of Harry Palmer in Ipcress File (1965) and the title role in Alfie (1966) that made Caine a star of the first magnitude.
He epitomized the new breed of actor in mid-'60s England, the working-class bloke with glasses and a down-home accent. However, after initially starring in some excellent films, particularly in the 1960s, including Gambit (1966), Funeral in Berlin (1966), Play Dirty (1969), Battle of Britain (1969), Too late the Hero (1970), The last Valley (1971) and especially Get Carter (1971). He gave a magnificent performance opposite Sean Connery in The Man Who Would Be King (1975) and turned in a solid one as a German colonel in The Eagle has landed (1976). During the 1980's “Educating Rita” (1983) and “Hannah and her Sisters” (1986) (for which he won his first Oscar) were highlights of the 1980s, while more recently Little Voice (1998), The Cider House Rules (1999) (his second Oscar) and Last Orders (2001) have been widely acclaimed.
Playing the part of Harry Brown
Inception (2010)
Playing the part of Miles
Is Anybody There? (2009)
Playing the part of Clarence
Flawless (2008)
Playing the part of Hobbs
The Dark Knight (2008)
Playing the part of Alfred
Sleuth (2007)
Playing the part of Andrew Wyke
Children of Men (2006)
Playing the part of Jasper
The Prestige (2006)
Playing the part of Cutter
Batman Begins (2005)
Playing the part of Alfred
Bewitched (2005)
Playing the part of Nigel Bigelow
The Weather Man (2005)
Playing the part of Robert Spritz
Around the Bend (2004)
Playing the part of Henry Lair
Secondhand Lions (2003)
Playing the part of Garth
The Actors (2003)
Playing the part of Tom O Malley
The Statement (2003)
Playing the part of Pierre Brossard
Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)
Playing the part of Nigel Powers
The Quiet American (2002)
Playing the part of Thomas Fowler
Last Orders (2001)
Playing the part of Jack Dodds
Quicksand (2001)
Playing the part of Jake Mellows
Shadow Run (2001)
Playing the part of Cliff Brumby
Miss Congeniality (2000)
Playing the part of Victor Melling
Quills (2000)
Playing the part of Doctor Royer-Collard
Shiner (2000)
Playing the part of Billy Shiner Simpson
Curtain Call (1999)
Playing the part of Max Gale
The Cider House Rules (1999)
Playing the part of Doctor Wilbur Larch
The Debtors (1999)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1998)
Little Voice (1998)
Playing the part of Ray Say
Blood & Wine (1997)
Playing the part of Victor Spansky
Mandela & de Klerk (1997)
Midnight in St. Petersburg (1995)
On Deadly Ground (1994)
Playing the part of Michael Jennings
World War II - When Lions Roared (1994)
On Deadly Ground (1993)
Playing the part of Harry Anders
Noises Off (1992)
Playing the part of Lloyd Fellowes
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
Playing the part of Scrooge
Bullseye! (1990)
Playing the part of Dr Daniel Hicklar/ Sidney Lipton
Mr. Destiny (1990)
Playing the part of Mike
A Shock to the System (1990)
Playing the part of Graham Marshall
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)
Playing the part of Lawrence Jamieson
John Huston: The Man, The Movies, The Maverick (1988)
Playing the part of Himself
Without A Clue (1988)
Playing the part of Sherlock Holmes
Jaws: The Revenge (1987)
Playing the part of Hoagie
Surrender (1987)
Playing the part of Sean Stein
The Fourth Protocol (1987)
Playing the part of John Preston
The Whistle Blower (1987)
Playing the part of Frank Jones
Half Moon Street (1986)
Playing the part of Lord Sam Bulbeck
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
Playing the part of Elliot
Mona Lisa (1986)
Playing the part of Mortwell
Sweet Liberty (1986)
Playing the part of Elliot James
Water (1986)
Playing the part of Baxter Thwaites
The Black Windmill (1986)
Playing the part of Noel Holcroft
Blame It on Rio (1984)
Playing the part of Matthew Hollis
The Jigsaw Man (1984)
Playing the part of Sir Philip Kimberley/ Sergeo Kuzminsky
Beyond the Limit (1983)
Playing the part of Charley Fortnum
Educating Rita (1983)
Playing the part of Dr Frank Bryant
Deathtrap (1982)
Playing the part of Sidney Bruhl
Victory (1981)
Playing the part of Captain John Colby
The Hand (1981)
Playing the part of Jon Lansdale
Dressed to Kill (1980)
Playing the part of Dr. Robert Elliott
The Island (1980)
Playing the part of Blair Maynard
Ashanti (1979)
Playing the part of Dr David Linderby
Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979)
Playing the part of Mike Turner
California Suite (1978)
Playing the part of Sidney Cochran
Silver Bears (1978)
Playing the part of Doc Fletcher
The Swarm (1978)
Playing the part of Brad Crane
A Bridge Too Far (1977)
Playing the part of Lieutenant Colonel Joe Vandeleur
Harry and Walter Go to New York (1976)
Playing the part of Adam Worth
Peeper (1976)
Playing the part of Leslie Tucker
The Eagle Has Landed (1976)
Playing the part of Lieutenant-Colonel Kurt Steiner
The Man Who Would Be King (1975)
Playing the part of Peachy Carnehan
The Romantic Englishwoman (1975)
Playing the part of Lewis
The Wilby Conspiracy (1975)
Playing the part of Keogh
The Black Windmill (1974)
Playing the part of Major Tarrant
The Destructors (1974)
Playing the part of Deray
Pulp (1972)
Playing the part of Mickey King
Sleuth (1972)
Playing the part of Milo Tindle
X Y & Zee (1972)
Playing the part of Robert
Get Carter (1971)
Playing the part of Jack Carter
Kidnapped (1971)
Playing the part of Alan Breck
The Last Valley (1971)
Playing the part of Captain
Too Late the Hero (1970)
Playing the part of Private Tosh Hearne
Battle of Britain (1969)
Playing the part of Squadron Leader Canfield
The Italian Job (1969)
Playing the part of Charlie Croker
Deadfall (1968)
Playing the part of Henry Clarke
Play Dirty (1968)
Playing the part of Captain Douglas
The Magus (1968)
Playing the part of Nicholas Urfe
Billion Dollar Brain (1967)
Playing the part of Harry Palmer
Gambit (1967)
Playing the part of Harry
Hurry Sundown (1967)
Playing the part of Henry Warren
Tonite Let s All Make Love in London (1967)
Playing the part of Himself
Woman Times Seven (1967)
Playing the part of Handsome Stranger
Funeral in Berlin (1966)
Playing the part of Harry Palmer
Solo For Sparrow (1966)
Playing the part of Mooney
The Wrong Box (1966)
Playing the part of Michael Finsbury
Alfie (1965)
Playing the part of Alfie
The Ipcress File (1965)
Playing the part of Harry Palmer
Zulu (1964)
Playing the part of Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead
The Wrong Arm of the Law (1962)
The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961)
Carve Her Name With Pride (1958)
How to Murder a Rich Uncle (1958)
Playing the part of Gilrony
The Key (1958)
Playing the part of Gestapo Agent
A Hell in Korea (1956)
Playing the part of Private Lockyer
Back to Top
The Fourth Protocol (1987)
Executive Producer
There is, in a filmography of over 80 titles (plus TV work) and his own performances seem from 5 out of 10 up to 10 out of 10. When the material was right, as in The Man Who Would Be King (US, d. John Huston, 1975), few can touch him for conviction and subtlety. In the latter film, his second wife, Shakira Baksh, played her last screen role;
Caine now runs his own production company, M & M Productions, with business partner Martin Bregman. He was made a CBE in 1992, knighted and awarded a BAFTA fellowship in 2000.
Sir Henry Irving – Iconic English Actor Manager
One of the most famous English theatrical Actor Manager's in the Victorian era was Sir Henry Irving who was born John Henry Brodribb on Feb. 6th 1838 in Keinton Mandeville, Somerset, England. Irving is thought to have been the inspiration for the title character in Lyceum manager “Bram Stoker's” 1897 novel “Dracula”.
Bram Stoker left Dublin for London in 1878 to take a position managing the Lyceum Theatre for actor manager Sir Henry Irving. During his long career at the Lyceum he wrote many fantastic stories and novels, cementing his fame with Dracula. Stoker's tale made vampires famous, and his creepy Count Dracula based on Sir Henry Irving became the model for the popular movie “Dracula” of the 20th century
He toured for 10 years with a stock company before making his London debut in 1866. With his success in The Bells (1871), he became a leading actor in H.L. Batman's company (1871 – 77).
As actor-manager of the Lyceum Theatre (from 1878), he made it London's most successful theatre. He formed a celebrated acting partnership with Ellen Terry that lasted until the company dissolved in 1902. They were noted for their Shakespearean roles, and their theatrical qualities complemented each other: he the brooding introvert, she the spontaneous charmer.
He was a champion of the star system and produced artistic spectacles that emphasized scenic detail. As an actor he was most successful in the "realistic" melodramas of his day and in Shakespeare's plays, which he liberally abridged. To him acting was movement and emotion; his realistic approach to creating a character, in which he stressed that the actor should incorporate real feelings into his characterization, led to the noted controversy with his French contemporary, Coquelin, who advocated simulated emotion (or representation) in acting. His company frequently toured the United States where he became quite well known.
Irving was knighted in 1895, the first actor to be so honoured.
His acting divided critics; opinions differed as to the extent to which his mannerisms of voice and deportment interfered with or assisted the expression of his ideas. On October 13th 1905, Henry Irving appeared as “Becket” at the Bradford Theatre, he was seized with a stroke just after uttering Becket's dying words 'Into thy hands, O Lord, into thy hands', and though he lived for an hour or so longer he never spoke again. He was brought to the lobby of the Midland Hotel, where he died. The chair that he was sitting in when he died is now at the Garrick Club. He was buried in Westminster Abbey. There is a fabulous statue of Sir Henry Irving behind “The National Portrait Gallery” in London.
James Bond 007 – British Icon
James Bond is one of the most recognisable Movie Characters in the world and was written by Ian Fleming an English writer who was born in London on may 28th, 1908. As a youngster growing up in Portsmouth, England he was one of my favorite writer's and James Bond one of my favourite characters. I suppose my favorite actor to play James Bond was Roger Moore who I think was the closest to the original character written by Ian Fleming. My favourite baddie has to be Christopher Lee – The man with the Golden Gun. Since the launch of the first film the total box office takings has reached over 8 Billion Pounds.
James Bond 007 is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. The character has also been the longest running and most financially successful English-language film franchise to date, starting in 1962 with Dr. No.
The hero, James Bond, was named after an American Ornithologist who was a Caribbean bird expert and author of the definitive field guide book “Birds of The West Indies”.
Ian Fleming, a keen birdwatcher had a copy of Bond's field guide at Goldeneye.
With reference to the James Bond name, Fleming once said in a Readers Digest interview, "I wanted the simplest, dullest, plainest-sounding name I could find, 'James Bond' was much better than something more interesting, like 'Peregrine Carruthers.' Exotic things would happen to and around him, but he would be a neutral figure — an anonymous, blunt instrument wielded by a government department."
Nevertheless, news sources speculated about real spies or other covert agents after whom James Bond might have been modelled or named, such as Sidney Reilly or William Stephenson who was best-known by his wartime intelligence codename of Intrepid.
Although they were similar to Bond, Fleming confirmed none as the source figure, nor did Ian Fleming Publications nor any of Fleming's biographers, such as John Pearson or Andrew Lycett.
Historian Keith Jeffrey speculates in his authorized history of MI6 that Bond may be modeled on Fleming's close friend, Bill Biffy Dunderdale a MI6 agent whose sophisticated persona and penchant for pretty women and fast cars closely matches that of Bond.
After Fleming's death in 1964, subsequent James Bond novels were written by Kingsley Amis, John Gardner, Raymond Benson and Sebastian Faulks. Moreover, Christopher Wood novelised two screenplays, Charlie Higson wrote a series on a young James Bond while other writers have authored unofficial versions of the character.
There have been 22 films in the EON Productions Series to date, the most recent of which was Quantum of Solace which was released on 31 October 2008 here in the UK.
There has also been an American television adaptation and two independent feature productions. Apart from movies and television, James Bond has also been adapted for many other media, including radio plays, comic strips and video games.
The EON Produced films are generally termed as "official" films originating with the purchase of the James Bond film rights by producer Harry Saltzman in the late 1950s.
James Bond's association with Aston Martin sports cars has helped further boost the brand's already strong image and popularity since Bond (first played by Sean Connery) who first drove an Aston Martin in Goldfinger in 1964. A poll by Lloyds TSB in September 2010 revealed that Aston Martin was the most desired brand of "dream" car in Britain.
List of James Bond films.
Dr. No 1962
From Russia With Love 1963
Goldfinger 1964
You Only Live Twice 1967
On Her Majesty's Secret Service 1969
Diamonds Are For Ever 1971
Live and Let Die 1973
The Man With the Golden Gun 1974
The Spy Who Loved Me 1977
Moonraker 1979
For Your Eyes Only 1981
Octopussy 1983
A View To A Kill 1985
The Living Daylights 1987
Dr. Who - A British TV Icon
Dr. Who is the World's longest running Science Fiction television series and as I am a great fan of this BBC show I thought I would write about It's fun history. The programme depicts the adventures of a mysterious and eccentric humanoid alien known as the Doctor who travels through time and space in his spacecraft, the Tardis (an acronym for “Time And Relative Dimensions In Space”), which normally appears from the exterior to be a blue 1950s British Police Box. With his companions, he explores time and space, faces a variety of foes and saves civilizations, helping others and righting wrongs, as well as improving the way people, aliens and robots choose to live their lives.
Some episodes from the 1960s are missing due to the BBC's 1970s junking policy, and thus their serials are incomplete. In the first two seasons and most of the third, each episode of a serial had an individual title; no serial had an overall on-screen title until The Savages. The serial titles are the most common title for the serials as a whole, used in sources such as the Doctor Who Reference Guide and the BBC's classic episode guide, and are generally those used for commercial release. The practice of individually titled episodes resurfaced with the 2005 revival, when Doctor Who's serial nature was abandoned in favour of an episodic format.
The first incarnation of The Doctor was portrayed by William Hartnell for 29 episodes. During Hartnell's tenure, the Doctor visited a mixture of both stories set in the future and historical events that had no extraterrestrial influence, such as fifteenth century MesoAmerica. In his last story, The Tenth Planet, the Doctor gradually grew weaker to the point of collapsing at the end of the fourth episode, leading to his regeneration.
The Second incarnation of the Doctor was portrayed by Patrick Troughton for 31 episodes and whose serials were more action-oriented. He retained the role until the last episode of The War Games when members of the Doctor's race, the Time Lords, put him on trial for breaking the laws of time.
The Third Incarnation of the Doctor was portrayed by Jon Pertwee for 23 episodes. Sentenced to exile on Earth and forcibly regenerated at the end of The War Games, the Doctor spends his time working for Unit. After The Three Doctors, The Time Lords repeal his exile, however the Doctor still worked closely with UNIT from time to time. The Third Doctor regenerated into his Fourth incarnation, as a result of radiation poisoning, near the end of Planet Of The Spiders.
The Fourth Incarnation of the Doctor was portrayed by Tome Baker for 40 episodes and is to date the longest-serving Doctor, having held the role for seven seasons.
The Fifth Incarnation of the Doctor was portrayed by Peter Davidson for 19 episodes and who was also famous for his role in “All Creatures Great and Small”.
The Sixth Incarnation of the Doctor was portrayed by Colin Baker for 11 episodes.
The Seventh Incarnation of the Doctor was portrayed by Sylvester McCoy for 12 episodes.
The Eighth Incarnation of the Doctor was portrayed by Paul McGann for one Movie.
The Ninth Incarnation of the Doctor was portrayed by Christopher Ecclestone for 10 episodes.
The tenth Incarnation of the Doctor was portrayed by David Tennant for 36 episodes.
The eleventh Incarnation of the Doctor was portrayed by Steven Moffat for 24 episodes up to the end of 2011. Hopefully he will continue as Doctor Who after 2011 even though it is not confirmed. Hopefully he will stay in the role for a good five years.
There have been many Doctor Who radio broadcasts over the years. In addition to a small number of in-house BBC productions, a larger number of radio plays produced by Big Finish began to be broadcast on BBC Radio 7 from 2005, featuring the Eighth Doctor (again played by Paul McGann) with mainstay companions Charley Pollard and later Lucie Miller. All told there were 24 episodes broadcast on BBC radio and later on audio tapes/cd.
Sir Rex Harrison - English Iconic Actor
Sir Rex Harrison was an English Iconic Actor who had a long and distinguished career. One of his most iconic roles was as Dr. Doolittle in the 1960's film when he talked to the animals. He was born Reginald Carey Harrison on March 5th 1908 in Huyton, Lancashire, England. He was a Debonair and distinguished British star of stage and screen for more than 66 years. Sir Rex Harrison is best remembered for playing charming, slyly mischievous characters.
Stagestruck from boyhood, suave British actor Rex Harrison joined the Liverpool Repertory Theatre at the age of 16, beginning a 66-year career that would culminate with his final performance on Broadway, May 11, 1990, three weeks prior to his death.
Best known for his Tony - and Oscar-winning portrayal of Professor Henry Higgins in Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's "My Fair Lady", he made his West End debut in "Getting George Married" (1930) and his Broadway debut in "Sweet Aloes" (1936), but it was a two year run on the London stage in Sir Terrence Rattigan's "French Without Tears" that made him a star. Appearances in other sophisticated comedies, S N Behrman's "No Time for Comedy" and Noel Coward's "Design for Living" (both 1939), established him as what Coward himself called "the best light comedian in the world--after me."
Rex Harrison's feature debut came in "The Great Game" (1930), and starring turns in movies like "Night Train to Munich", (1940) "Major Barbara" (1941) and "Blithe Spirit" (1945) brought him to the attention of Hollywood, leading to a seven-year contract with 20th Century-Fox. He scored a major triumph as the King in "Anna and the King of Siam" (1946) and recorded another success with "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" (1947), but subsequent films performed poorly at the box office, although Preston Sturges' "Unfaithfully Yours" (1948) later acquired a cult status.
Actor and studio parted company by mutual agreement, and Harrison returned to Broadway, earning a Tony for his 1948 performance as King Henry VIII in Maxwell Anderson's "Anne of the Thousand Days". Continued acclaim followed for his work in T S Eliot's "The Cocktail Party" and John van Druten's "Bell, Book and Candle" (both 1950). He directed and starred in "The Love of Four Colonels" (1953) and a revival of "Bell, Book and Candle" (1954) and "Nina" (1955), all for the London stage. He made his Broadway directing debut with "The Bright One" (1958).
Despite having, in his own words, a vocal range of "one-and-a-half notes", Harrison talked his way through the numbers of Lerner and Loewe's "My Fair Lady" (1956), directed for the stage by Moss Hart, and became the darling of the critics, playing the show for two years in New York and another in London. His waspish professor of phonetics was "crisp, lean, complacent and condescending until at last a real flare of human emotions burns the egotism away," wrote Brooks Atkinson in THE NEW YORK TIMES, and the success of "My Fair Lady" once again brought Harrison important film offers.
He earned his first Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Julius Caesar in "Cleopatra" (1963), stealing the picture from his more famous co-stars, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Reprising Higgins for the 1964 film version of "My Fair Lady" opposite Audrey Hepburn brought him a Best Actor Oscar and international fame, and "Dr. Doolittle" (1967) introduced him to a new generation of moviegoers as he shamelessly enjoyed himself playing the fanciful jungle gentleman who conversed with wildlife.
Harrison devoted most of his remaining years to his first love, the stage, taking parts in such diverse plays as Luigi Pirandello's "Henry IV" and Rattigan's "In Praise of Love" (both 1974). He co-starred with Claudette Colbert in a Broadway production of "The Kingfisher" (1978), and, after returning to Broadway in "My Fair Lady" (1981), garnered some of the best reviews of his career for a Broadway revival of "Heartbreak House" (1983), later captured for posterity in a 1985 Showtime cable special.
Harrison portrayed Lord Grenham in London and Broadway productions of "Aren't We All?" (1984-85) and Grand Duke Cyril Romanov in the NBC miniseries, "Anastasia: The Story of Anna" (1986).
He last appeared on the London stage in "The Admirable Crichton" (1988) and bowed out in a Broadway revival of W Somerset Maugham's "The Circle", playing eight times a week just prior to his June 1990 death.
The oft-married man dubbed 'Sexy Rexy' by Walter Winchell never wanted to be anything but an actor and never intended to retire. "He died with his boots on, no doubt about it," said "The Circle" producer Elliot Martin. The actor, who was knighted in July 1989, played a wide variety of roles during his long career in theater and films, but he was best known for his portrayal of the waspish professor of phonetics in the musical based on George Bernard Shaw's play ''Pygmalion'' and “Dr. Doolittle”.
Sir John Mills - English Iconic Actor
Sir john Mills is one of England's greatest acting Icons and is remembered for appearing in more than 100 films in a 70 years plus period. Sir John Mills was born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills on February 22nd 1908, at the Watts Naval Training College in North Elmham, Norfolk, England. The young Mills grew up in Belton, where his father was the headmaster of the village school and in in Felixstowe, Suffolk, where his father was a mathematics teacher and his mother was a theatre box-office manager. As a fan of John Mills my favourite of his films was “Ice Cold in Alex”, “The Colditz Story” and “Great Expectations”.
After training as a dancer, he was first on stage in the chorus of The Five O'Clock Revue (1929) and was regularly on the London stage, in revues, musicals and straight plays, throughout the 30s, as well as making films before war broke out. He is an engaging juvenile lead in such 1930s pieces as The Ghost Camera (1933), the chirpy musical Car of Dreams (1935), the love interest for Nova Pilbeam’s Tudor Rose (1936), and the schoolboy grown into soldier in Goodbye, Mr Chips (1939).
But WW2 changed everything for Mills, as it did for so many connected with British cinema. The roles he played ‘In Which We Serve’ (1942), ‘We Dive at Dawn’ (1943), ‘This Happy Breed’, ‘Waterloo Road’ (1944) and The Way to the Stars (1945) defined a new kind of British film hero. He was the boy next door in his ordinariness. He also established an everyman reliability under stress; showing himself to be decent, brave and loyal.
John Mills was always noted for his sincerity and believability rather than for romantic qualities. He topped the Picturegoer poll in 1947 for his performance as Pip, the personable everyman in 'Great Expectation's (1946), emphatically a figure for a supposedly more egalitarian Britain; the tormented hero, an industrial chemist who fears he may have committed murder, in The October Man (1947).
This ordinary decency was elevated in ‘Scott of the Antarctic’ (1948) to the status of national hero. It is the nobility of sacrifice for others which turns physical suffering and defeat into a spiritual triumph; a victory for the team rather than for charismatic individualism. In place of the debonair gentleman's dash and charm, Mills embodied a boyish enthusiasm which is deepened by testing into a gritty determination to continue whatever the cost.
He was the shabby private detective in ‘The End of the Affair’ (1954). The twitchy, repressed military types in ‘Tunes of Glory’ (1960) and ‘Tiara Tahiti’ (1962) and he is ultimately very moving as the father in ‘The Family Way’ (1966) who may have loved no one as much as his dead mate.
John Mills was also much admired in ‘Morning Departure’ (1950) as a similarly inspirational leader, this time a submarine captain who has to encourage three of his crew, trapped with him in their stricken craft, to face death calmly. Despite his versatility as an actor, Mills continued to achieve his greatest success in similar roles: as Commander Fraser in ‘Above Us the Waves’ (1955), and as Pat Reid, the head of the escape committee, in ‘The Colditz Story’ (1955).
It was however as the captain in 'Ice Cold in Alex' (1958) that pushed by exhaustion into alcoholism, which really brought out the best in Mills. A superb piece of film-making that embodied most of the key characteristics of ‘being British’. There are two lovely scenes, the first being at the sand hill and ensuing tension when Syms and Mills meet at the bottom after the Landover rolls back down. The second I feel is at the bar where Mills drinks the Carlsberg and his character courageously addresses post war attitudes. In return Qualye’s character admits that the British were not what he had supposed them to be. Both of these statements would both have been very conciliatory at the time. Why ‘Ice Cold’ did not win Oscars…
Typically, then he got the Oscar for a grotesque piece of facial and vocal distortion in the inflated Ryan's Daughter (1970) - supporting actor Oscars have always been drawn to this sort of cosmetic display - when one could nominate a dozen far less showy, more worthy contenders among his roles. Even in perfectly ordinary films like The Vicious Circle (1957), one never stops believing in him.
The later decades saw him many in character roles such as Gandhi (1982); Kenneth Branagh then enlisted him for Hamlet (1996) to play the mute role of `Old Norway', for whom Shakespeare had thoughtlessly failed to produce lines. Though partially now deaf and blind, he still evidenced the chipper persona honed below the decks in those films half a century earlier. The achievement is there in the CV and it has been recognised with a CBE (1960), a Knighthood (1976) and the BAFTA Special Tribute Award (1987).
List Of Sir John Mills Films:
1932
Quotes:
I've never considered myself to be working for a living; I've enjoyed myself for a living instead.
Sir John Mills died aged 97 on 23rd April 2005 in The Chilterns, Buckinhamshire following a chest infection. A few months after Sir John's death, his wife Mary Hayley Mills (Lady Mills) died on 1st December 2005. A British film actor par excellence, he was the last of his generation.
Sir Norman Wisdom – Comic Actor and Singer
I have just heard about the death of Sir Norman Wisdom one of the great English Comedians and I thought I would write an Englishman's view of his career. During the 1960's while growing up here in England one of the most popular films we used to watch on a Saturday Morning at the cinema was a Norman Wisdom Comedy. Norman was a great singer and musician apart from also being a Genius Comic Actor. Norman J. Wisdom was born on Feb 04, 1920 in Maryleborne, London, England. If you have never seen his films can I recommend that readers go out and buy one of his very funny films – you won't regret it.
After a difficult and poverty-stricken childhood he joined the 10th Hussars and began to develop his talents as a musician and stage entertainer. Wisdom’s mother left when he was nine, and he and his brother were left in the charge of their father.
Wisdom ran away from home when he was 11, but returned to become an errand boy with a grocery store on leaving school at 13. Later he was a coal-miner, a waiter, a pageboy and a cabin-boy, before joining the army and seeing service in India.
After leaving the army in 1946, he made his debut as an entertainer at the advanced age of 31 - but his rise to the top was phenomenally fast. A West End star within two years, he made his TV debut the same year and was soon commanding enormous audiences. By this time, he had adopted the suit that would remain his trademark - tweed cap askew with peak turned up, too-tight jacket, barely-better trousers, crumpled collar and tie awry. The character known as "the Gump" was to dominate Wisdom's film career during the 1950's and 1960's.
In 1966, Norman went to America to star on Broadway in the James Van Heusen-Sammy Cahn musical comedy Walking Happy. His highly-acclaimed performance was Tony nominated. He also completed his first American film as a vaudeville comic in The Night They Raided Minsky's is a 1968 film that purports to show the story of how striptease was invented at Minskys Burlesque circa 1927. Any opportunities which might have opened up by this Stateside success were cut short when he had to return to London owing to a family crisis.
His subsequent career was largely confined to television and he also toured the world with his successful cabaret act.
He won critical acclaim in 1981 for his dramatic role of a dying cancer patient in the play Going Gently. On 11th February 1987 Norman Wisdom was the subject of Thames television's 'This Is Your Life' for the second time.
He became prominent again in the 1990's when helped by the young comedian Lee Evans, whose act was heavily influenced by Wisdom's work. The highpoint of this new popularity was the knighthood which he received in 1999 from Queen Elizabeth II and after he was knighted, true to his accident-prone persona, he couldn't resist pretending to trip off the platform on his way out.
Also in the 1990s he appeared in the recurring role of Billy Ingleton in the long-running BBC comedy Last Of the Summer Wine. He also appeared in the Detective Series called “The last Detective” which also starred Peter Davidson.
In 2004 he made a cameo appearance in Coronation Street playing fitness fanatic pensioner Ernie Crabbe.
Norman Wisdom is a well-known and loved Film Icon especially in Albania and was the only Western actor whose films were allowed in the country during the Communist Dictatorship of Enver Hoxha. He is known as "Mr. Pitkin" in Albania, after the character he played in his films. The archetypal Wisdom plot where the common working man gets the better of his bosses was considered ideologically sound by Hoxha. In 1995 he visited the post-Stalinist country, where to his surprise he was greeted by many appreciative fans including the then-president of Albania, Sali Berisha. His fondness for Brighton & Hove Albion is renowned in Albania and subsequently there are many 'Seagulls' fans in Albania.
When England played Albania in 2001 during the World Cup qualifying round Norman Wisdom visited the England Team training ground where he was quickly surrounded by film fans including the England team of David Beckham, David James etc.
Norman Wisdom announced his retirement from the entertainment industry on his ninetieth birthday, on the 4th February, 2005. He spent his retirement spending more time with his family, playing golf and driving around the Isle of Man where he now lives (being a neighbour of John Rhys-Davies from Sliders).
In mid-2006 he was admitted to hospital after he suffered an irregular heart rhythm. He was in hospital for a few days after he was fitted with a pacemaker device to steady his heartbeat.
In 2007 he made his return to acting in the independent movie Expresso, premiering at the Cannes Film Festival on the 27th May.
List of Films:
· 1948: A Date with a Dream
· 1948-50: Wit and Wisdom (TV)
· 1953: Trouble in Store
· 1955: As Long as They're Happy
· 1955: Man of the Moment
· 1956: Up in the World
· 1957: Just My Luck
· 1967: Androcles and the Lion (TV)
· 1968: The Night They Raided Minsky's (The Night They Invented Striptease)
· 1969: What's Good for the Goose (Girl Trouble)
· 1970: Norman (TV)
· 1973: Nobody Is Norman Wisdom (TV)
· 1974: A Little Bit of Wisdom (TV)
· 1981: BBC PlayHouse: Going Gently (TV)
· 1983: BBC Bergerac: "Almost Like a Holiday"(TV)
· 1988: The 1950s: Music, Memories & Milestones (TV)
· 1992: Double X: The Name of the Game (Double X, Run Rabbit Run)
· 1995: Last of The Summer Wine (TV): episode "The Man Who Nearly Knew Pavarotti"
· 1996: Last Of The Summer Wine (TV): episode "Extra, Extra!"
· 1998: Where on Earth Is ... Katy Manning (TV)
· 2000: Last of the Summer Wine (TV): episode "The Coming of the Beast"
· 2002: Last of the Summer Wine (TV): episode "A Musical Passing for a Miserable Muscroft"
· 2002 Dalziel and Pascoe (TV): episode "Mens Sana"
· 2003: The Last Detective – episode called “Lofty Brock”
· 2004: Coronation Street (TV)
· 2004: Last of the Summer Wine (TV): episode "Variations on a Theme of the Widow Winstanley".
· 2007: Expresso – Film. Plays himself Sir Norman Wisdom.
· 2008: Evil calls – Film. Plays Winston Llamata.
· 2010: Labrats – Film. Voice over of a mouse called Scaredy. ( Still in Post Production )
➢ I Would Like to Put on Record
➢ Jingle Jangle
➢ The Very Best of Norman Wisdom
➢ Androcles and the Lion
➢ Follow a Star/Give Me a Night in June
➢ Happy Ending/The Wisdom Of A Fool
➢ Big in Albania - One Hit Wonderland
Sir Norman Wisdom, after suffering various strokes in the last 6 months of his life, died at 6-40 pm on Monday 4th October 2010 still living on his favourite Island - the Isle Of Man.
7th Century to Swinging Naughties - British Icons
England and Britain are famous worldwide for its many British Icons from Boudeca, Queen Chief of the Iceni Tribe, Football, Mini Skirt to the Mini Car and I thought I would tell its British history and list some of the most famous Icons from the 7th Century to the present day. British Icon's have dominated the world with British Royalty, British Music, British Fashion, British Movie Stars, British Saints, British Buildings and British Sports.
The UK, Great Britain, Albion, this Sceptred Isle - however you refer to this small island perched up on the north western edge of the European continent, one thing that is undeniable is that nowhere else on Earth, from any country, has there been such a massive global impact.
Whether in the form of symbols of power as with the British Union Flag, in the guise of the person as with W. Churchill or Princess Diana, or in the form of chic design, as with the mini and mini-skirt in the Swinging Sixties, The Beatles, or the simple yet powerful Oasis logo from the Britpop era of the Nineties, British icons have been at both the forefront and in the background of history, decorating the past and how we perceive it.
In taking a closer look at our British Icons and history, hopefully you can gain a better understanding of the United Kingdom, its people, and what makes us tick.
Below is a list of my favourite British Icons:
King Alfred The Great
2) Boudeca, Queen Chief of the Iceni Tribe
3) King Edward the Confessor ( I am Related to )
4) Queen Elizabeth the 1st
5) Queen Victoria
6) Queen Elizabeth the 2nd
7) William Shakespeare
9) Agatha Christie ( Author of Miss Marple and Poiret )
10) J.K Rowling ( Author of the Harry Potter Books )
11) Sir Terry Pratchett ( Author of the Disc World Books )
12) James Herbert ( Horror Story writer of many novels including The Rats )
13) Sir Christopher Wren ( I am related to )
13b) Sir Isambard Kingdom Brunel
13c) James Watt ( Inventor of the Steam Engine )
13d) George Stevenson ( Inventor of the Steam Train )
13e) Sir Isaac Newton
14) Rudyard Kipling ( Author of the Jungle Book )
14b) H.G. Wells ( Author of The Time Traveller )
14c) Arthur Conan Doyle ( Author of Sherlock Holmes )
14d) Bram Stoker ( Author of Count Dracula )
14e) Mary Shelley ( Author of Frakenstein )
14) Sir Walter Raleigh
18) Duke of Wellington
19) Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein
20) Robert Walpole, 1st. Earl of Orford ( Regarded as the first Prime Minister in the modern sense );
21) William The Pit The Younger ( introduced the first Income tax )
22) Charles Grey, The Earl Grey ( restriction of employment of children; reform of the poor Laws, abolition of Slavery )
23) Sir Robert Peel ( Created the first National Police Force )
24) Edward Smith -Stanley, The Earl Derby. ( Father of the Conservative party ).
25) Benjamin Disraeli ( Queen Victoria's favorite Prime Minister )
26) Sir Winston Churchill ( Saviour of the world by defeating Hitler, Mussolini and Japanese Emporer )
27) Lady Margarat Thatcher ( First female prime minister and creator of Privatisation ).
28) The 1966 England World Cup Winning Team
29) The Portsmouth F.Cup Winning Team from 2008
30) Sir Ian Botham
Whitechapel ( aka Where Jack The Ripper Killed. aka Mr Tumblety was the Ripper )
To find out more about these British Icons can I suggest to find out more please enter any of the above Icons into a search engine.
Swinging Sixties – British Fashion Designers
As the swinging sixties is famous worldwide for many things British including Fashion I thought I would tell its history and mention some of the most famous names in British fashion. At the start of the 60's, skirts were knee-length, but steadily became shorter and shorter until the mini-skirt emerged in 1965. By the end of the decade they had shot well above the stocking top, making the transition to tights inevitable.
Many of the radical changes in fashion developed in the streets of London, with such gifted designers as Mary Quant (known for launching the mini skirt) and Barbara Hulanicki (the founder of the legendary boutique Biba). After designer Mary Quant introduced the mini-skirt in 1964, fashions in the 1960s were changed forever. The mini skirt was eventually to be worn by nearly every stylish young female in the western world.
The main outlets for these new young fashion designers were small boutiques, selling outfits that were not exactly 'one-offs', but were made in small quantities in a limited range of sizes and colors. However, not all designers took well to the new style and mood.
The basic shape and style of the time was simple, neat, clean cut, and young. Synthetic fabrics were very widely-used during the Sixties. They took dyes easily and well, giving rise to colors that were both clear and bright, very much mirroring the mood of the period. Hats suffered a great decline and by the end of the decade they were relegated to special occasions only. Lower kitten heels were a pretty substitute to stilettos. Pointed toes gave way to chisel shaped toes in 1961 and to an almond toe in 1963. Flat boots also became popular with very short dresses in 1965 and eventually they rose up the leg and reached the knee.
The principal change in menswear in the '60s was in the weight of the fabric used. The choice of materials and the method of manufacture produced a suit that, because it was lighter in weight, had a totally different look, with a line that was closer to the natural shape of the body, causing men to look at their figures more critically. The spread of jeans served to accelerate a radical change in the male wardrobe. Young men grew their hair down to their collars and added a touch of color, and even floral motifs, to their shirts.
The polo neck never succeeded in replacing the tie, but the adoption of the workman's jacket in rough corduroy. As the suits drifted away from pale, toned shades, menswear was now bright and colourful. It included frills and cravats, wide ties and trouser straps, leather boots and even collarless jackets. Ties were worn even five inches wide, with crazy prints, stripes and patterns. Casual dress consisted of plaid button down shirts with comfortable slacks.
The hippie movement late in the decade also exerted a strong influence on ladies' clothing styles, including bell-bottom jeans, tie-dye and batik fabrics, as well as paisley prints.
In the early to mid-1960s, the London Modernists known as the Mods were shaping and defining popular fashion for young British men while the trends for both sexes changed more frequently than ever before in the history of fashion and would continue to do so throughout the decade. The leaders of 1960s style were the British. The Mods were characterized by their choice of style different from the 1950s and revealed new fads that would be imitated by many young people. As a level of the middle social class known as the Mods, controlled the ins and outs of fashion in London, 1960s fashion set the mode for the rest of the century as it became marketed mainly to youth. Modernists formed their own way of life creating television shows and magazines that focused directly on the lifestyles of Mods.
British rock bands such as The Who, The Small Faces and The Kinks emerged from the Mod subculture. The Mods were known for the Modern Jazz they listened to as they showed their new styles off at local cafes. They worked at the lower end of the work force, usually nine to five jobs leaving time for clothes, music, and clubbing. It was not until 1964 when the Modernists were truly recognized by the public that women really were accepted in the group. Girls had short, clean haircuts and often dressed in similar styles to the male Mods. The Mods' lifestyle and musical tastes were the exact opposite of their rival group known as the.
The rockers liked 1950s rock-and roll, wore black leather jackets, greased, pompadour hairstyles, and rode motorbikes. The look of the Mods was classy; they mimicked the clothing and hairstyles of high fashion designers in France and Italy; opting for tailored suits, which were topped by anoraks that became their trademark. They rode on scooters, usually Vespas or Lambrettas. The Mods dress style was often called the City Gent look. Shirts were slim, with a necessary button down collar accompanied by slim fitted pants. Levi's were the only type of jeans worn by Modernists. Flared trousers and bellbottoms led the way to the hippie stage introduced in the 1960s. Variations of polyester were worn along with acrylics.
Carnaby Street and Chelsea's Kings Road were virtual fashion parades. In 1966, the space age was gradually replaced by the Edwardian, with the men wearing double-breasted suits of crushed velvet or striped patterns, brocade waistcoats, shirts with frilled collars, and their hair worn below the collar bone.
Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones epitomised this "dandified" look. Women were inspired by the top models of the day which included Twiggy, Jean Shrimpton, Colleen Corby, Penelope Tree and Veruschka. Velvet mini dresses with lace-collars and matching cuffs, wide tent dresses and culottes had pushed aside the geometric shift.
False eyelashes were in vogue, as was pale lipstick. Hemlines kept rising, and by 1968 they had reached well above mid-thigh. These were known as "micro-minis". This was when the "angel dress" made its appearance on the fashion scene. A micro-mini dress with a flared skirt and long, wide trumpet sleeves, it was usually worn with patterned tights, and was often made of crocheted lace, velvet, chiffon or sometimes cotton with a psychedelic print.
The cowled-neck "monk dress" was another religion-inspired alternative; the cowl could be pulled up to be worn over the head. For evening wear, skimpy chiffon baby-doll dresses with spaghetti-straps were the mode as well as the "cocktail dress", which was a close-fitting sheath, usually covered in lace with matching long sleeves. Feather boas were occasionally worn.
By 1968, the androgynous hippie look was in style. Both men and women wore frayed bell-bottomed jeans, tie-dyed shirts, workshirts, and headbands. Wearing sandals was also part of the hippie look for both men and women. Women would often go barefoot, and some even went braless.
Fringed buck-skin vests, flowing caftans, Mexican peasant blouses, gypsy-style skirts, scarves, and bangles were also worn by teenage girls and young women. Indian prints, batik and paisley were the fabrics preferred. For more conservative women, there were the "lounging" or "hostess" pyjamas. These consisted of a tunic top over floor-length culottes, and were usually made of polyester or chiffon.
Another popular look for women and girls which lasted well into the early 1970s was the suede mini-skirt worn with a French polo-neck top, square-toed boots and Newsboy Cap or beret. Long maxi coats, often belted and lined in sheepskin, appeared at the close of the decade. Animal Prints were also popular for women in the autumn and winter of 1969. Women's shirts often had transparent sleeves. Psychedelic prints, hemp and the look of "Woodstock" came about in this generation.
The late 1960 produced a style categorized of people whom promoted sexual liberation and favored a type of politics reflecting "peace, love and freedom". Ponchos, mocassins, love beads, peace signs, medallion necklaces, chain belts, polka dot-printed fabrics, and long, puffed "bubble" sleeves were additional trends in the late 1960s.
New materials other than cloth (such as polyester and PVC) started to become more popular as well.
Starting in 1967, the Mod culture began to embrace reggae music and its working class roots. The new urban fashion known as Skinhead was born.
Swinging Sixties ( London ) – British Iconic Music
At the start of the 60's, British Music was just emerging from obscurity with Cliff Richard, Billy Fury, Adam Faith beginning to become known worldwide. By the end of the decade British Music dominated the world with The Beatles, The Who, The Rolling Stones etc. One of the stories told by George Harrison was the story that when the Beatles were first in the USA they visited “Elvis” at his home and which ended with Elvis and the Beatles Jamming together. That must have been one of the coolest musical sessions ever.
As the swinging sixties London is famous worldwide for many things British including Music I thought I would tell its history and list some of the most famous names in British Music.
Swinging London was underway by the mid-1960s, and included music by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Who, The Small Faces and other artists from what was known by America as the “British Invasion” as well as the growing popularity of Psychedelic Rock as Jimi Hendrick being represented as a cultural icon, supported by British bands like Cream and early Pink Floyd. This music was heard in the United Kingdom over pirate radio stations such as Radio Caroline, Wonderful Radio London and Swinging Radio England.
On December 10th , 1963 the Walter Cronkite ran a story about the Beatlemania phenomenon in the United Kingdom. After seeing the report, 15 year old Marsha Albert of Maryland wrote a letter the following day to disc jockey Carroll James at radio station WWDC asking "why can't we have music like that here in America?".
On December 17th James had Albert introduce “I Want to Hold Your Hand" live on the air, the first airing of a Beatles song in the United States. WWDC's phones lit up and Washington, D.C. area record stores were flooded with requests for a record they did not have in stock.
On December 26th Capitol Records released the record three weeks ahead of schedule. The release of the record during a time when teenagers were on vacation helped spread Beatlemania in America.
On January 18th , 1964, “I Want To Hold Your Hand” reached number one on the cash Box chart, the following week it did the same on Billboard.
On February 7th the CBS Evening News ran a story about The Beatles' United States arrival that afternoon in which the correspondent said "The British Invasion this time goes by the code name Beatlemania". Two days later (Sunday, February 9th ) they appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show. Seventy five percent of Americans watching television that night viewed their appearance.
On April 4th the Beatles held the top 5 positions on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, the only time to date that any act has accomplished this. The group's massive chart success continued until they broke up in 1970.
Dusty Springfield, having launched a solo career, became the first non-Beatle act during the invasion to have a major U.S. hit with “I only Want to be With You”. She followed with several other hits and has been described by Allmusic as the finest white soul music singer of her era.
During the next two years, Chad & Jeremy, Peter and Gordon, The Animals, Manfred Mann, Petula Clark, Freddie and The Dreamers, Wayne Fontana and the Mind-benders, Herman's Hermits, The Rolling Stones, The Troggs and Donovan would have one or more number one singles. Other acts that were part of the invasion included The Kinks and The dave Clark Five. British Invasion acts also dominated the music charts at home in the United Kingdom.
The Dave Clark Five was the first British Invasion group to formally tour the United States (in the Spring of 1964). The group was considered the main competitor to The Beatles.
The DC5 made its first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show on March 8, 1964, shortly after The Beatles. The DC5 made more appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show than any other British Invasion band.
British Invasion artists played in styles now categorized either as blues-based rock music or as guitar-driven rock/pop. A second wave of the invasion occurred featuring acts such as The Who and The Zombies which were influenced by the invasion's pop side and American rock music.
The Beatles movie A Hard Day's Night and fashions from Carnaby Street led American media to proclaim England as the center of the music and fashion world.
The emergence of a relatively homogeneous worldwide "rock" music style about 1967 marked the end of the "invasion".
A Second Invasion occurred during the 1980s consisting of acts primarily popularized by the cable music channel MTV which was dominated by British Music video's by Queen, Duran Duran etc. While acts with a wide variety of styles were part of the invasion, New Wave and New Wave-influenced acts predominated.
The New Romantics – 1980's London Music
During the late 1970's Punk Rock became popular and those of us who were fans of Disco ignored punk rock as a passing fad. In the late 1970's and early 1980's as an alternative to Punk a new type of music appeared in London called The New Romantics. They could be identified by their Big hair and make up – both Men and Women. It was often associated with the New Wave music scene that had become popular during that time. It has seen several revivals since then, and continues to influence popular culture.
Developing in London nightclubs such as Billy's and The Blitz, the movement was associated with bands such as Visage, Culture Club, Adam and the Ants, Ultravox, Duran Duran, Japan and Spandau Ballet.
Other artists, such as Brian Eno and Roxy Music had significant influence on the movement. The term New Romantic was coined by Richard James Burgess in an interview with reference to Spandau Ballet.
As a whole, the movement was largely a response to the ethos and style of early punk rock, which had been enjoying widespread popularity around this time. Although punk initially had great appeal as a vehicle of self-expression and entertainment, by the final days of the 1970s, some had felt that it had lost its original excitement and degenerated into an overly political and bland movement instead. The New Romantic image ultimately sought to contrast with the austerity of punk as a whole by celebrating artifice in music and culture as opposed to rejecting it.
New Romantic music is influenced by many genres such as Disco, Rock, R&B and early electronic pop music. Since the New Romantic movement began in and was largely based in nightclubs, a great amount of the music associated with the movement was meant to be suitable for dancing. Glam rock acts of the 1970s such as David Bowie (whose 1980 single “Ashes to Ashes" was influenced by and considered a New Romantic anthem Roxy Music and Brian Eno have been cited as major influences on the music and image the bands. Kraftwork, a German band pioneering electronic music, also heavily impacted many of the artists.
Since each of the bands associated with the movement took a different approach to their music, it is difficult to define what constitutes New Romantic music. Contrasting with the punk rock which was popular at the peak of the movement, New Romantic music tends to be elaborate and highly stylized. The musical structures are usually consistent with those of pop music, as are the lyrics, which are often very emotional, which deal with themes such as love, dancing, history, the future and technology. The lyrics of New Romantic music also tend to be far more apolitical than those of punk rock or other songs written in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Many of the bands featured synthesizers and electronic drums or drum machines in their music, often alongside bass and lead guitar. While some bands such as Ultravox or Duran Duran consciously synthesized rock and electronic elements, others such as Culture Club or Spandau Ballet drew greater influence from R&B and soul music while still employing electronic instrumentation, albeit to a lesser extent.
Some bands, such as Visage, made music that was almost entirely electronic; often many early British electronic bands such as the Human League and Depeche Mode have been connected to the New Romantic movement, although some sources, sometimes including the individual members of such bands, deny the association.
During the last 25 years the New Romantic's music scene has been active and in the charts on a regular basis – Duran Duran is an example as a group who still release new music.
World's First Football Chant – by Edward Elgar
As football is England's favourite sport and is called England's national game I thought I would write about the World's First Football Chant – by Edward Elgar who was born in the small village of Lower Broadheath outside Worcester, England on 2nd June 1857.
It has recently come to light that Elgar wrote music to the world's first football chant for his favourite football team Wolverhampton Wanderers which was called “He Banged The leather for Goal” ( The Leather was shorthand for the Football which was made of leather and if you tried to head it when wet, it nearly took your head off )!! Elgar went to his first football match in February 1898 and became hooked on the atmosphere and the football and became a fan of Wolves for the rest of his life.
Edward Elgar was an English Composer who was famous for his orchestral works including the “Land of Hope and Glory”, “Enigma Variations”, the “Pomp and Circumstance Marches”, “concertos for violin and cello” and two symphonies. He also composed oratorios, including “The Dream of Gerontius”, chamber music and songs. He was appointed Master of the Kings Musick in 1924.
Despite the fluctuating critical assessment of the various works over the years, Elgar's major works taken as a whole have in the twenty-first century recovered strongly from their neglect in the 1950s. The Record Guide in 1955 could list only one currently-available recording of the First Symphony, none of the Second, one of the Violin Concerto, two of the Cello Concerto, two of the Enigma Variations, one of Falstaff, and none of The Dream of Gerontius. Since then there have been multiple recordings of all the major works. More than thirty recordings have been made of the First Symphony since 1955, for example, and more than ten of The Dream of Gerontius. Similarly in the concert hall, Elgar's works, after a period of neglect are once again frequently programmed. The Elgar Society's website, in its diary of forthcoming performances, lists performances of Elgar's works by orchestras, soloists and conductors across Europe, North America and Australia.
Edward Elgar died on the 23rd February 1934.
Elgar's statue at the end of Worcester High Street stands facing the cathedral, only yards from where his father's shop once stood. Another statue of the composer is at the top of Church Street in Malvern, overlooking the town and giving visitors an opportunity to stand next to the composer in the shadow of the Hills that he so often regarded. In September 2005, a third statue sculpted by Jemma Pearson was unveiled near Hereford Cathedral in honour of his many musical and other associations with that city. It features Elgar with his bicycle.
Village of Wenlock, England – A Modern Olympic Games - 1850
Before the Modern Olympics began there was an Olympics in the Village of Wenlock, Shropshire, England which was run by Dr. William Penny Brookes from 1850 and every year therafter. He has been widely recognised as the founding father of the modern Olympic Games, but surprisingly not that many people are aware of him or his remarkable life. We in Britain have given the World over 100 Sports and Games and the Wenlock Olympics are still held every year.
In 1850, the Agricultural Reading Society resolved to establish a class called "The Olympian Class", "for the promotion of the moral, physical and intellectual improvement of the inhabitants of the town and neighbourhood of Wenlock and especially of the working classes, by the encouragement of outdoor recreation, and by the award of prizes annually at public meetings for skill in Athletic exercise and proficiency in Intellectual and industrial attainments".
The first meeting was held in October 1850, and included athletics and country sports such as quoits, football and cricket. The event quickly expanded, and within a few years attracted competitors from as far away as London and Liverpool.
When the first Wenlock Olympian Games were staged in 1859, there was heavy criticism of Brookes' insistence that the Games be open to "every grade of man". It was felt that such an event would cause rioting, lewd behavior, and that men would leave their wives. Brookes tirelessly avoided requests to limit the Games to only the pupils of public schools and the sons of professionals. The Games were a huge success and none of the threatened disturbances occurred.
In 1859, Brookes established contact with the organisers of an Olympic Games revival in Athens sponsored by Evangelis Zappas. In 1860, the Class officially became the Wenlock Olympian Society, adopted some of the athletics events from the Athens games, and added them to their program. The first athlete to be listed on the honor roll of the Society was Petros Velissariou (an ethnic Greek from Smyrna, in the Ottoman Empire who was one of the first international Olympians.
In 1865, Brookes helped establish the National Olympian Association (NOA) based in Liverpool. Their first Olympic Games, a national event, held in 1866 at the Crystal Palace, London, was a success and attracted a crowd of over 10,000 spectators. W.G. Grace, the famous cricketer (before he became famous), competed and came first in the hurdles event. The Amateur Athletic Club, later to become the Amateur Athletics Association was formed as a rival organisation to the NOA.
In 1877, he requested an Olympian prize from Greece in honour of Queen Victoria'sjubilee. In response, King George I of Greece e sent a silver cup which was presented at the National Olympian Games held in Shrewsbury. This brought Brookes into contact with the Greek government, but his attempts to organise an international Olympian Festival in Athens in 1881 failed.
In 1889, he invited Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the organizer of an International Congress on Physical Education, to Much Wenlock. Meetings between William Penny Brookes and Baron Pierre de Coubertain took place at The Raven Hotel (as did the feast which concluded each year’s Olympian Games), and today in The Raven Hotel there are displayed many artefacts from those early years, including original letters from Baron Pierre de Coubertain to William Penny Brookes. A meeting of the Wenlock Olympian Games was held in de Coubertin's honour in 1890, with much pageantry. On his return to France, de Coubertin gave a glowing account of his stay in an article, "Les Jeux Olympiques à Much Wenlock", and referred to his host's efforts to revive the Olympics.
He wrote: "If the Olympic Games that Modern Greece has not yet been able to revive still survives today, it is due, not to a Greek, but to Dr W P Brookes.
Dr. W.P. Brookes died four months before the Athens 1896 Olympic Games, under the auspices of the IOC which was held in Athens in 1896.
The Wenlock Olympian Society maintains his original ideals, and continues to organise annual games. The William Brookes School in Much Wenlock is named after him.
Sir Isaac Newton – Iconic Scientist
One of England's greatest Icons is Sir Isaac Newton the discoverer of the equation of gravity. Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727), mathematician and physicist was one of the foremost scientific intellects of all time. Born at Woolsthorpe, near Grantham in Lincolnshire in 1642, where he attended school. Many years ago at school I was taught the story that Sir Isaac Newton was sitting under an apple tree (Which is still there today) in his garden when he saw a falling apple.
He conceived that the same force governed the motion of the Moon and the apple. He calculated the force needed to hold the Moon in its orbit, as compared with the force pulling an object to the ground. This eventually became the book “Principia”.
He also calculated the centripetal force needed to hold a stone in a sling, and the relation between the length of a pendulum and the time of its swing. These early explorations were not soon exploited by Newton, though he studied astronomy and the problems of planetary motion.
Book I of the Principia states the foundations of the science of mechanics, developing upon them the mathematics of orbital motion round centres of force. Newton identified gravitation as the fundamental force controlling the motions of the celestial bodies. He never found its cause. To contemporaries who found the idea of attractions across empty space unintelligible, he conceded that they might prove to be caused by the impacts of unseen particles.
Book II inaugurates the theory of fluids: Newton solves problems of fluids in movement and of motion through fluids. From the density of air he calculated the speed of sound waves.
Book III shows the law of gravitation at work in the universe: Newton demonstrates it from the revolutions of the six known planets, including the Earth, and their satellites. However, he could never quite perfect the difficult theory of the Moon's motion. Comets were shown to obey the same law; in later editions, Newton added conjectures on the possibility of their return. He calculated the relative masses of heavenly bodies from their gravitational forces, and the oblateness of Earth and Jupiter, already observed. He explained tidal ebb and flow and the precession of the equinoxes from the forces exerted by the Sun and Moon. All this was done by exact computation.
Newton's work in mechanics was accepted at once in Britain, and universally after half a century. Since then it has been ranked among humanity's greatest achievements in abstract thought. It was extended and perfected by others, notably Pierre Simon de Laplace, without changing its basis and it survived into the late 19th century before it began to show signs of failing. See Quantum Theory; Relativity.
Newton has been regarded for almost 300 years as the founding example of modern physical science, his achievements in experimental investigation being as innovative as those in mathematical research. With equal, if not greater, energy and originality he also plunged into chemistry, the early history of Western civilization, and theology; among his special studies was an investigation of the form and dimensions, as described in the Bible, of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem.
Time line of Sir Iasaac Newton
1642 Born at Woolsthorpe, Nr. Grantham, Lincs.
1661 he entered Cambridge University.
1665-1666 was "the prime of my age for invention".
1667 He was elected a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.
1669 became Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University.
Until 1696 he remained at the university, lecturing in most years.
During two to three years of intense mental effort he prepared Philosophiae Naturalis Published in 1687 Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy) commonly known as the Principia.
1696 he moved to London as Warden of the Royal Mint.
1699 he became Master of the Mint an office he retained to his death in 1727.
1671 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London.
1689 and again between 1701-1702 Newton was elected Member of Parliament for the University of Cambridge to the Convention Parliament.
1703 he became President of the Royal Society.
1704 “Opticks” was published.
1705 was knighted in Cambridge.
1710), Newton published an incomplete theory of chemical force.
After Sir Isaac Newton's death in 1727 he had posthumously published his writings which included: The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended (1728), The System of the World (1728), the first draft of Book III of the Principia, and Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of St John (1733).
Charles Darwin 1809 – 1882
I thought it would be of interest to write this article about one of England's greatest scientist - Charles Darwin was an English naturalist who established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestors and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.
Charles Robert Darwin was born in Shrewsbury,Shropshire, England on 12th February 1809 at his family home, the Mount. He was the fifth of six children of wealthy society doctor and financier Robert Darwin and Susannah Darwin (née Wedgwood). He was the grandson of Erasmus Darwin on his father's side, and of Josiah Wedgwood on his mother's side. Both families were largely Unitarian, though the Wedgwood's were adopting Anglicanism.
Robert Darwin, himself quietly a freethinker, had baby Charles baptised in the Anglican Church, but Charles and his siblings attended the Unitarian chapel with their mother. The eight year old Charles already had a taste for natural history and collecting when he joined the day school run by its preacher in 1817. That July, his mother died. From September 1818, he joined his older brother Erasmus attending the nearby Anglican Shrewsbury School as a boarder.
Beginning on the 27th of December, 1831, the voyage lasted almost five years and, as Fitzroy had intended, Darwin spent most of that time on land investigating geology and making natural history collections, while the Beagle surveyed and charted coasts. He kept careful notes of his observations and theoretical speculations, and at intervals during the voyage his specimens were sent to Cambridge together with letters including a copy of his journal for his family. He had some expertise in geology, beetle collecting and dissecting marine invertebrates but in all other areas was a novice and ably collected specimens for expert appraisal. Despite repeatedly suffering badly from seasickness while at sea, most of his zoology notes are about marine invertebrates, starting with plankton collected in a calm spell.
His five year voyage on HMS Beagle established him as an eminent geologist whose observations and theories supported Charles Lyell's uniformitarian ideas and publication of his journal of the voyage made him famous as a popular author.
Puzzled by the geographical distribution of wildlife and fossils he collected on the voyage, Darwin investigated the transmutation of species and conceived his theory of natural selection in 1838. Although he discussed his ideas with several naturalists, he needed time for extensive research and his geological work had priority. He was writing up his theory in 1858 when Alfred Russell Wallace sent him an essay which described the same idea, prompting immediate joint publication of both of their theories.
He published his theory with compelling evidence for evolution in his 1859 book On the Origins of Species. The scientific community and much of the general public came to accept evolution as a fact during his lifetime.
It was not until the emergence of the modern evolutionary synthesis from the 1930s to the 1950s that a broad consensus developed that natural selection was the basic mechanism of evolution. In modified form, Darwin's scientific discovery is the unifying theory of the life sciences which explained the diversity of life.
Darwin's work established evolutionary descent with modification as the dominant scientific explanation of diversification in nature. In 1871, he examined human evolution. His research on plants was published in a series of books, and in his final book, he examined earthworms and their effect on soil.
In recognition of Darwin's pre-eminence as a scientist, he was one of only five 19th-century UK non-royal personages to be honoured by a state funeral and is buried in Westminster Abbey close to John Herschel and Sir Isaac Newton.
Lady Godiva (1040-1080 AD) – An English Icon
One of the most unusual English Iconic stories is the story about Lady Godiva an Anglo-Saxon noblewoman and her travel through Coventry on a horse with no clothes on in the 11th Century. The Countess Godiva, who was a great lover of God's mother, longed to free the town of Coventry from the oppression of a heavy toll.
She often said urgent prayers and besought her husband that, from regard to Jesus Christ and his mother, he would free the town from that service and from all other heavy burdens; and when the Earl sharply rebuked her for foolishly asking what was so much to his damage, and always forbade her evermore to speak to him on the subject; and while she, on the other hand, with a woman's pertinacity, never ceased to exasperate her husband on that matter, he at last made her this answer: "Mount your horse and ride naked, before all the people, through the market of this town from one end to the other, and on your return you shall have your request."
On which Godiva replied, "But will you give me permission if I am willing to do it?"
"I will," said he.
Whereupon the Countess, beloved of God, loosed her hair and let down her tresses, which covered the whole of her body like a veil, and then, mounting her horse and attended by two knights, she rode through the marketplace without being seen, except her fair legs, and having completed the journey, she returned with gladness to her astonished husband and obtained of him what she had asked, for Earl Leofric freed the town of Coventry and its inhabitants from the aforesaid service, and confirmed what he had done by a charter.
The above was sourced from Roger of Wendover (d. 1236), Chronica.
Godiva by Alfred Lord Tennyson
I waited for the train at Coventry;
I hung with grooms and porters on the bridge,
To watch the three tall spires; and there I shaped
The city's ancient legend into this:
Not only we, the latest seed of Time,
New men, that in the flying of a wheel
Cry down the past, not only we, that prate
Of rights and wrongs, have loved the people well,
And loathed to see them overtaxed; but she
Did more, and underwent, and overcame,
The woman of a thousand summers back,
Godiva, wife to that grim Earl, who ruled
In Coventry: for when he laid a tax
Upon his town, and all the mothers brought
Their children, clamoring, "If we pay, we starve!"
She sought her lord, and found him, where he strode
About the hall, among his dogs, alone,
His beard a foot before him and his hair
A yard behind. She told him of their tears,
And prayed him, "If they pay this tax, they starve."
Whereat he stared, replying, half-amazed,
"You would not let your little finger ache
For such as these?" -- "But I would die," said she.
He laughed, and swore by Peter and by Paul;
Then fillip'd at the diamond in her ear;
"Oh ay, ay, ay, you talk!" -- "Alas!" she said,
"But prove me what I would not do."
And from a heart as rough as Esau's hand,
He answered, "Ride you naked thro' the town,
And I repeal it;" and nodding, as in scorn,
He parted, with great strides among his dogs.
So left alone, the passions of her mind,
As winds from all the compass shift and blow,
Made war upon each other for an hour,
Till pity won. She sent a herald forth,
And bade him cry, with sound of trumpet, all
The hard condition; but that she would loose
The people: therefore, as they loved her well,
From then till noon no foot should pace the street,
No eye look down, she passing; but that all
Should keep within, door shut, and window barr'd.
Then fled she to her inmost bower, and there
Unclasp'd the wedded eagles of her belt,
The grim Earl's gift; but ever at a breath
She linger'd, looking like a summer moon
Half-dipt in cloud: anon she shook her head,
And shower'd the rippled ringlets to her knee;
Unclad herself in haste; adown the stair
Stole on; and, like a creeping sunbeam, slid
From pillar unto pillar, until she reach'd
The Gateway, there she found her palfrey trapt
In purple blazon'd with armorial gold.
Then she rode forth, clothed on with chastity:
The deep air listen'd round her as she rode,
And all the low wind hardly breathed for fear.
The little wide-mouth'd heads upon the spout
Had cunning eyes to see: the barking cur
Made her cheek flame; her palfrey's foot-fall shot
Light horrors thro' her pulses; the blind walls
Were full of chinks and holes; and overhead
Fantastic gables, crowding, stared: but she
Not less thro' all bore up, till, last, she saw
The white-flower'd elder-thicket from the field,
Gleam thro' the Gothic archway in the wall.
Then she rode back, clothed on with chastity;
And one low churl, compact of thankless earth,
The fatal byword of all years to come,
Boring a little auger-hole in fear,
Peep'd -- but his eyes, before they had their will,
Were shrivel'd into darkness in his head,
And dropt before him. So the Powers, who wait
On noble deeds, cancell'd a sense misused;
And she, that knew not, pass'd: and all at once,
With twelve great shocks of sound, the shameless noon
Was clash'd and hammer'd from a hundred towers,
One after one: but even then she gain'd
Her bower; whence reissuing, robed and crown'd,
To meet her lord, she took the tax away
And built herself an everlasting name.
This above famous poem was written in 1842 by Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892).
English Spa Towns – Iconic Places
I thought as English Spa Towns are famous UK Wide but not World Wide I thought I would explain what a Spa Town is and where in England you can find Spa towns. As a snippet of information the city of "Bath" is a Spa Town (Also a City ) and where the word "Bath" originated.
A spa town (also called a bathing-place or simply a spa) is a town situated around a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons resorted to spas to "take the waters" for their health benefits. The word comes from the Belgian town Spa. In continental Europe a spa was known as a ville d'eau (town of water). The term spa is used for towns or resorts offering hydrotherapy which can include cold water ormineral water treatments and hot thermal baths.
Some but not all British spa towns contain "Spa", "Wells", or "Bath" in their names, e.g.,Matlock Bath. Some towns are designated Spa Heritage Towns. Both English towns granted the title "Royal", Royal Leamington Spa and Royal Tunbridge Wells are spa towns.
A List Of Spa Towns in England
Scarborough also called The Spa, Scarborough
Shearsby
Tenbury Wells
Woodhall Spa
To find out more about English Spa Towns just enter one of the above towns into Google to find out more about the Town of your choice.
Edward Somerset – English Inventor of The First Steam Engine 1653
I though as England has produced so many famous inventors and engineers I thought it may be of interest to write this short article on the world's first Steam Engine.
Edward Somerset (1601 – 1667) was an English nobleman involved in royalist politics; he was also an inventor. In the book he authored in 1655 of over 100 inventions, the power and applications of what would become the steam engine are clearly described.
Edward Somerset was a Cavalier who supported Charles I in Wales and raised a regiment of horse for him. His campaigning in the West of England and in Wales did not go well.
After a month with his force of over 2,000 troops encamped at Higham outside Gloucester in March 1643, Herbert decided to leave them as he travelled to meet the king at Oxford.
In his absence the entire force surrendered without any exchange of fire, earning it the title "The Mushroom Army". He was rewarded in 1644, however, with a peerage, being created Earl of Glamorgan and Baron Beaufort, of Caldecote. However, due to irregularities in the letteers patent these titles were not recognized after the Restoration.
Sent to Ireland, he made a false move in concluding a treaty, in great secrecy, on behalf of Charles that was considered to concede too much to the Catholics there; he himself was a Catholic. In extricating himself from that position, he became a close ally of Giovanni Battista Rinuccini and a potential replacement for James Butler as royalist leader.
His plans to bring Irish troops over to England were overtaken by events, and he left for France with George Leyburn. He succeeded his father as Marquess of Worcester in 1646.
He was formally banished in 1649, but after four years in Paris returned to England in 1653. He was discovered, charged with high treason and sent to the Tower of London he was treated leniently by the Council of State and released on bail in 1654. That year he took up again his interest in engineering and inventions, leasing a house at Vauxhall where his Dutch or German technician Kaspar Kalthoff could work. After this he largely avoided politics, and did not press his claims to the various other titles of nobility.
In 1655 he authored a book which consisted of textual descriptions of 100 separate inventions. It was eventually printed in 1663 and included a device described as his "Water-commanding Engine". Constructed from the barrel of a cannon it was an obvious prototype design for what would later become the steam engine which clearly anticipated the power and applications of that machine.
When Edward died he suggested that a model of his engine should be buried with him. Almost 200 years later in 1861, this prompted Victorian collector Bennet Woodcroft to mount an expedition, on behalf of The Science Museum to the vault of Raglan church, to try and find a model of the invention in Somerset's tomb. Despite opening the coffin lid and searching thoroughly, no model was found. Woodcroft did, however, return with one of Edward's fingers as a memento
The London Science Museum has plans of his "Water-commanding Engine" which shows it was a working steam engine for pumping water.
The First Steam Locomotive – England 1804 and First Steam Engine 1653 - England
As an Englishman born and bred and a fan of history of steam Locomotives I thought it may be of interest to write an article about the history of the earliest steam locomotive. The first full scale working railway steam locomotive was built by Richard Trevithick in the United Kingdom on 21st February 1804 when the world's first railway journey took place as Trevithick's unnamed steam locomotive hauled a train along the tramway of the Penydarren ironworks, near Merthyr Tydfil in south Wales.
This is different from the first Steam Engine which was first invented in 1653 by Edward Somerset (1601 – 1667) was an English nobleman.
On Christmas Eve 1801 in West Cornwall, England an engineer called Richard Trevithick took his new steam car, ( or the "Puffing Devil" as it became known) out for its first test run. After a number of years research, Trevithick had developed a high-pressure engine powered by steam. His vehicle was no more than a boiler on 4-wheels but it took Trevithick and a number of his friends half a mile up a hill. The vehicle's principle feature was a cylindrical horizontal boiler and a single horizontal cylinder let into it. The piston propelled back and forth in the cylinder by pressure from the steam. This was linked by piston rod and connecting rod to a crankshaft bearing a large flywheel.
The vehicle was used for several journeys until it turned over on the unsuitable trails that were used for pack horses in Cornwall at that time. After having been righted, Trevithick and crew drove it back to Camborne and retired to a hostelry.
The water level dropped in the boiler and the fusible plug melted, sending a jet of steam into the furnace where it blew embers all around, setting fire to the surroundings and the wooden parts of the engine.
In 1802 a steam-powered coach designed by British engineer Richard Trevithick journeyed more than 160 km from Cornwall to London.
The "Puffing Dragon" was the world's first passenger car. Despite the disaster of losing his first vehicle, undeterred, Trevithick built a 3-wheeled steam carriage but this time complete with seats and a real carriage like appearance. In 1803, he drove it through London's Oxford Street on demonstration runs and reached speeds of 8-9 mph (13 - 14 km/h). Despite the runs, nobody was interested and so when he ran out of funds, he sold the power unit to a local Miller. Trevithick's vehicle was the first self-propelled carriage in the capital and in essence the first London bus.
Regular intercity bus services by steam-powered buses were also pioneered in England in the 1830s by Walter Hancock and by associates of Sir Goldsworthy Gurney among others, running reliable services over road conditions which were too hazardous for horse-drawn transportation. Steam carriages were much less likely to overturn, did not "run away with" the customer as horses sometimes did. They travelled faster than horse-drawn carriages (24 mph over four miles and an average of 12 mph over longer distances). They could run at a half to a third of the cost of horse-drawn carriages. Their brakes did not lock and drag like horse-drawn transport (a phenomenon that increased damage to roads).
According to engineers, steam carriages caused one-third the damage to the road surface as that caused by the action of horses' feet. Indeed, the wide tires of the steam carriages (designed for better traction) caused virtually no damage to the streets, whereas the narrow wheels of the horse-drawn carriages (designed to reduce the effort required of horses) tended to cause rutting.
However, the heavy road tolls imposed by the Turnpike Acts discouraged steam road vehicles and left the way clear for the horse bus companies, and from 1861 onwards, harsh legislation virtually eliminated mechanically-propelled vehicles altogether from the roads of Great Britain for 30 years, the Locomotive Act of that year imposing restrictive speed limits on "road locomotives" of 5 mph in towns and cities, and 10 mph in the country.
In 1865 the Locomotives Act of that year (the famous Red Flag Act) further reduced the speed limits to 4 mph in the country and just 2 mph in towns and cities, additionally requiring a man bearing a red flag to precede every vehicle. At the same time, the act gave local authorities the power to specify the hours during which any such vehicle might use the roads. The sole exceptions were street trams which from 1879 onwards were authorised under licence from the Board of Trade.
Howard Carter – The Discoverer of Tutankhamen
Howard Carter is famous for his discovery of Tutankhamen and as a great English icon I thought it would be of interest to write his history. Howard Carter was born at 10, Rich Terrace in Kensington, London on May 9th 1874. His father, Samuel John Carter, was an artist who specialized in animal paintings. Howard Carter's youth was spent in Swaffham in Norfolk where he also received a relatively modest private education.
Young Carter's talent for drawing and his interest in Egyptian antiquities took him to Egypt when he was still only seventeen, in the autumn of 1891. Over the years he became convinced that there was at least one undiscovered tomb, that of the almost unknown King Tutankhamen.
He was hired by the Egypt Exploration Fund in London to help P. E. Newberry with the epigraphic recording of tombs at Beni Hasan and El-Bersha, in Middle Egypt. In January 1892, he was also asked to join Flinders Petrie who excavated at El-Amarna, and this gave him invaluable archaeological experience. In 1893 he began on epigraphic recording of the temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahri as a member of an Egypt Exploration Fund expedition directed by Édouard Naville. This task, at which he excelled, occupied him until 1899.
At the beginning of 1900 Howard Carter was appointed Chief Inspector of Antiquities to the Egyptian Government with responsibilities for Upper Egypt. He stayed in this post until late in 1904 when he was moved to the post of Chief Inspector for Lower Egypt. But an unfortunate incident at Saqqara which resulted in a brawl between a party of arrogant Europeans and Egyptian employees of the Antiquities Service brought Carter's meteoric progress to an abrupt stop. Although not personally involved, he sided with his men, was transferred to a less important post in the Delta and eventually resigned from the Antiquities Service the following year. His professional career and his life were in serious crisis.
But a few years later Carter's luck changed.The Earl of Carnarvon, who visited Egypt for health reasons in 1905, became interested in Egyptian antiquities and decided to finance some archaeological work. The Antiquities Service, however, insisted that the work should be in the hands of an experienced archaeologist, and Carter seemed the best person available. The cooperation between an archaeologist and an English aristocrat with a passion for Egyptian archaeology which began in 1909 was, eventually, going to result in the greatest discovery in Egyptian archaeology.
The Carter-Carnarvon work was first centred on Thebes. In 1912 the work moved to the Delta but the results were rather disappointing. In 1914 Lord Carnarvon was able to secure a concession to excavate in the Valley of the Kings. But the outbreak of the First World War meant that any excavation had to be postponed until five short seasons, with little success, between the end of 1917 and March 1922.
The first steps leading into the tomb of Tutankhamen were found on November 4, 1922, only a few days after the beginning of a new season of excavations in the Valley of the Kings. The entrance to the tomb, with intact seals, was uncovered the following day, on November 5. Carter, accompanied by Lord Carnarvon, his daughter Lady Evelyn, Arthur Callender and Egyptian reises (foremen), had their first glimpse of the interior of the tomb on November 26th 1922. A few months after the tomb's opening, tragedy struck. Lord Carnarvon, 57, was taken ill and rushed to Cairo. He died a few days later. The exact cause of death was not known, but it seemed to be from an infection started by an insect bite on his face. Legend has it that when he died there was a short power failure and all the lights throughout Cairo went out. His son reported that back on his estate in England his favourite dog howled and suddenly dropped dead.
Even more strange, when the mummy of Tutankhamen was unwrapped in 1925, it was found to have a wound on the left cheek in the same exact position as the insect bite on Carnarvon that lead to his death.
The work on the clearance and recording of the contents of the tomb continued until the concession ran out in 1929 and during this year eleven people connected with the discovery of the Tomb had died early and of unnatural causes. This included two of Carnarvon's relatives, Carter's personal secretary, Richard Bethell, and Bethell's father, Lord Westbury. Westbury killed himself by jumping from a building. He left a note that read, "I really cannot stand any more horrors and hardly see what good I am going to do here, so I am making my exit “.
According to figures of the 22 people present when the tomb was opened in 1922, 6 had died by 1934 and Of the 22 people present at the opening of the sarcophagus in 1924, 2 died in the following ten years. Also ten people were there when the mummy was unwrapped in 1925 and all survived until at least 1934.
Many years later, Howard Carter, Egyptologist who earned world fame for his discovery and exploration, in association with the fifth Earl of Carnarvon, of the tomb of Tut-ankh-Amen, died in his London home on March 2nd 1939.
Sir Henry Wood – The Last Night Of The Proms
I thought the last night of the proms is such a English Icon I would tell it's history. The Proms, more formally known as The BBC Proms, or The Henry Wood Promenade Concerts presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in London. Founded in 1895, each season currently consists of over 70 concerts in the Albert Hall, a series of chamber concerts at Cadogan Hall l , additional Proms in the Park events across the United Kingdom on the last night of the proms.
Sir Henry Joseph Wood, (3 March 1869 – 19 August 1944) was an English conductor, forever associated with The Proms which he conducted for half a century. Founded in 1895, they became known after his death as the "Henry Wood Promenade Concerts" and are now the "BBC Proms". He had an enormous influence on musical life in Britain: he improved access immensely, and also raised the standard of orchestral playing and nurtured the taste of the public, introducing them to a vast repertoire of music, encouraging especially compositions by British composers. He was knighted in 1911.
The first Proms concert was held on 10th August 1895 in the Queen's Hall in langham Place under the auspices of impresario Robert newman. Newman's idea was to encourage an audience for concert hall music who, though not normally attending classical concerts, would be attracted by the low ticket prices and more informal atmosphere. In addition to promenading, eating, drinking and smoking were all allowed. He stated his goal as follows:
"I am going to run nightly concerts and train the public by easy stages. Popular at first, gradually raising the standard until I have created a public for classical and modern music."
With financial backing from the otolaryngologist Dr George Cathcart, Newman hired Henry Joseph Wood as the conductor for this series of concerts, called "Mr Robert Newman's Promenade Concerts". Wood built the "Queen's Hall Orchestra" as the ensemble devoted to performing the promenade concerts. Although the concerts gained a popular following and reputation, Newman went bankrupt in 1902, and the banker Edgar Speyer took over the expense of funding the concerts. In 1914 anti-german feeling forced Speyer out of his post. After Speyer, music publishers Chappell & Co. took control of the concerts.
Newman continued to work in the artistic planning of these promenade concerts until his sudden death in November 1926. With time, Wood became the name which was most closely associated with the concerts. As conductor from that first concert, Wood was largely responsible for expanding the repertoire heard in later concerts, such that by the 1920s the concerts had grown from being made up of largely more popular, less demanding works, to presenting music by contemporary composers such as Claude Debussy, Richard Strauss Ralph Vaughan Williams. A bronze bust of Wood, belonging to the Royal Academy of Music is placed in front of the Organ for the whole season. While now known as the BBC Proms, the text on the tickets (along with the headline "BBC Proms" next to the BBC logo), still says "BBC Music presents the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts'".
In 1927, the BBC — later based at Broadcasting House next to the hall—took over the running of the concerts. When the BBC Symhony Orchestra (BBC SO) was formed in 1930, it became the main orchestra for the concerts. At this time the season consisted of nights dedicated to particular composers; Mondays were Wagner, Fridays were Beethoven with other major composers being featured on other days. There were no Sunday performances.
With the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the BBC withdrew its support. The Proms continued though, under private sponsorship, until the Queen's Hall was gutted by an air raid in 1941 (its site is now the St George's Hotel and BBC Henry Wood House). The following year, the Proms moved to their current home, the Royal Albert Hall, and the BBC took over once more. In 1944, however, increased danger to the Royal Albert Hall from bombing meant that the Proms moved again, this time to the Bedford Corn Exchange. This venue had been the home of the BBC Symphony Orchestra since 1941 and played host to the Proms until the end of the war. After the war, other orchestras were invited to perform in the Proms, such that the BBC SO was no longer the sole orchestra responsible for all Proms concerts.
Wood continued his work with the Proms until his death in 1944. In the years after the war, Sir Adrian Boult and Basil Cameron look on principal conducting duties for the Proms until the advent of Malcolm Sargent as Proms chief conductor in 1947. Sargent held this post until 1966. He was noted for his immaculate appearance (evening dress carnation) and his witty addresses where he good-naturedly chided the noisy Prommers. Sir Malcolm championed choral music and classical and British composers, especially Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. The charity founded in his name, CLC Sargent continues to hold a special Promenade Concert each year shortly after the main season ends. CLIC Sargent, the Musician's Benevolent Fund and further musical charities (chosen each year) also benefit from thousands of pounds in donations from Prommers after most concerts. When asking for donations, Prommers from the Arena regularly announce to the audience the running donations total at concert intervals through the season, or before the concert when there is no interval.
In 2009 the total number of concerts reached 100 for the first time. In the context of classical music festivals. The Proms has been described as "the world's largest and most democratic musical festival".
Toad In The Hole – English History and Recipe
I thought it would be of interest to write this article about the famous and traditional English recipe with a weird name – “Toad In The Hole”. This is a recipe of Batter and Sausages baked in an oven. The origin of the name "Toad-in-the-Hole" is often disputed. Many suggestions are that the dish's resemblance to a Toad sticking its head out of a hole provide's the dish with its somewhat unusual name.
Nowadays this British dish typically consists of sausage cooked in batter, but in its earliest incarnations in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (when it was usually called toad in a hole) various cuts of meat were used. Mrs. Beeton, for instance, used steak and kidney, and recipes recommending the finest fillet steak are to be found, but often enough toad in the hole was a repository for leftovers. Even today lamb chops are occasionally found lurking in batter, and sausage toad' is the unappetizing colloquialism that distinguishes the orthodox version.
Toad in the hole...provokes historical questions of exceptional interest. What are the origins of the dish and how did it get its name? Enquiries are best commenced from two starting points. The first is that batter puddings (whether baked in the oven by themselves or cooked under the spit or jack in the drippings falling from a joint--in the latter case they could be classed as Yorkshire pudding) only began to be popular in the early part of the 18th century.
Jennifer Stead's essay is the best reference for studying the complex historical questions regarding batter pudding and Yorkshire pudding.
The second is that the earliest recorded reference in print to toad in the hole occurs in a provincial glossary of 1787, quoted by the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) as saying: the dish called toad in a hole meat boiled in a crust.' That gives the name, but the technique is different form that subsequently established...Mrs. Beeton (1861) describes the dish as homely but savoury
A wartime variation on the original uses pieces of Spam in place of sausages.
The recipe itself is rather simple. A pan is placed into the oven and heated for about 15 minutes while the batter is prepared. The sausages and batter are added and cooked for half an hour. With frozen sausages, the meat is placed into the dish while heated. It is normally accompanied by gravy (often onion gravy), vegetables, chips or mashes potato's.
Recipe for Toad – In – The - Hole
Method:
This very objectionable title enables me to usher in to your special notice a dish possessing some claims to consideration, when prepared with care as follows: viz., —cut up about two pounds of tender steak or ox-kidney, or half of each, into rather thick collops about three inches in diameter; season with pepper and salt; fry them over a sharp fire, merely to brown them without their being done through; place the collops in neat order in a buttered pie-dish; detach the brown glaze from the bottom of the pan in which you have fried the beef, with gravy or water, and a little catsup, and pour the residue to the collops in the dish; then add a well-prepared batter for Yorkshire pudding, (see elsewhere on the recipe section -we have included Mrs Beetons recipe on the site instead as its better), gently poured upon the meat, bake for about an hour, and serve while quite hot. This excellent old English dish will occasionally prove a welcome addition to the dinner-table of paterfamilias.
by Charles Elme Francatelli (1805-1876)
Bubble and Squeak – English Recipe and History
I thought it would be of interest to write this article about the famous British recipe – Bubble and Squeak which is a really tasty meal of fried leftovers. There is a fine example of metaphorical ‘Bubble and Squeak’ and eighteenth century wit in an article in The Mid-Wife: or, the old woman’s magazine, by Christopher Smart, 1753 - which is certainly not a cookery magazine. The second quotation cited for the actual dish is in 1772 but there are earlier references to the figurative use of the phrase, so the dish was undoubtedly being made well before this time all over England.
Bubble and squeak is a traditional English dish made with the shallow-fried leftover vegetables from a roast dinner. The chief ingredients are potato and cabbage but carrots, peas, Brussels sprouts and other vegetables can be added. It is traditionally served with cold meat from the Sunday Roast and pickles. Traditionally, the meat was added to the bubble and squeak itself, although nowadays it is more commonly made without meat. The cold chopped vegetables (and cold chopped meat if used) are fried in a pan together with mashed potatoes or crushed roast potatoes until the mixture is well-cooked and brown on the sides.
The name comes from the bubble and squeak sounds made as it cooks. The name bubble and squeak is used throughout the United Kingdom, Australia and other Commonwealth countries. It may also be understood in parts of the United States. In the UK the dish may sometimes be referred to as bubble or bubble and scrape.
Bubble and squeak was a popular dish during World War 11 as it was an easy way of using leftovers during a period when most foods were subject to rationing. In more recent times, pre-prepared frozen and tinned versions have become available.
125g/4oz Cabbage - shredded 125g/4oz Carrots - shredded 125g/4oz Brussels Sprouts – shredded 125g/4oz Peas
3 tbsp water
1 onion, chopped
DIRECTIONS
Cook the potatoes for 25 minutes in a pan of lightly salted boiling water, then drain, peel and dice.
Place them in a bowl with 55g/2oz of the butter and mash until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, place the cabbage, water and remaining butter in a large heavy based saucepan and cover. Cook gently for 10 minutes, or until tender. Mix the Cabbage, Carrots, Brussels Sprouts, Peas and mashed potato together and season with a drop of olive oil and a little salt and pepper.
Heat half the Sunflower oil in a frying pan. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add the potato and cabbage vegetable mixture and press down with the back of a wooden spoon to make a flat, even cake.
Cook over a medium heat for 15 minutes until golden brown on the underside and place on a large plate. Add the remaining oil and cook again on the other side for 10 minutes.
Transfer to a plate, cut into wedges and serve.
Black Pudding – It's English Recipe and History
I thought it would be of interest to write this article about the English recipe and history – Black Pudding which is a sausage of interesting taste and is eaten as a breakfast or snack and can be traced back to the 16th Century..
Black pudding in the United Kingdom is generally made from pork blood and a relatively high proportion of oatmeal. In the past it was occasionally flavoured with pennyroyal. differing from continental European versions in its relatively limited range of ingredients and reliance on oatmeal instead of onions to absorb the blood. It can be eaten uncooked, but is often grilled, fried or boiled in its skin.
In the UK, black pudding is associated with Lancashire and particularly with the town of Bury where it is usually boiled and served with malt vinegar out of paper wrapping. In the remainder of the country, and especially in the south, it is usually served sliced and fried or grilled as part of a traditional full breakfast.
it is also served this way in Ireland, New Zealand and the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador.
The further addition of the similar white pudding is an important feature of the traditional Northumbria, Scottish, Irish and Newfoundland breakfast.
Towns other than Bury noted for their black pudding include Clonakilty, County Cork in Ireland's south west and on Stornaway, Isle of Lewis off the west coast of Scotland.
Black and white pudding, as well as a third variant red pudding is served battered at chip shops in Scotland and England as an alternative to fish and chips.
Pig or Cattle blood is most often used;Sheep and Goat blood are used to a lesser extent.
Typical fillers include Meat, Fat, Suet, Bread, Sweet Potato, Onion, Chestnuts, Barley and Oatmeal.
Ingredients
· Heat the butter in a pan and cook the onions until soft but not browned.
2. Mix the onions with the cubed fat and oatmeal. Mix well and season with salt, pepper and the paprika.
3. Add the blood and mix well with your hands to ensure a sloppy consistency. Leave to cool.
4. Pipe the mixture into the ox casings. At regular intervals tie the bag off to make individual sausage-shaped black puddings. Prick each pudding to ensure it doesn't split whilst being cooked.
5. Heat a large pan of water to 80C and add the black puddings. Cook for about 10 minutes; it is vital that you continually move them around while cooking.
6. Remove from the pan and leave to cool.
I hope you enjoy this tasty bit of England which if you visit England can be found in the chill cabinet and brought from our local supermarkets.
British Cheeses – Types and Taste
Britain is famous for it's many cheeses made over the centuries by many cheese makers. I thought it would be of interest to write this article about the various 700 types of British Cheeses. Cheese is an ancient food whose origins pre-dates recorded history.
The British Cheese Board claims that Britain has approximately 700 distinct local cheeses, France and Italy have perhaps 400 each. Still, the advancement of the cheese art in Europe was slow during the centuries after Rome's fall. Many cheeses today were first recorded in the late Middle Ages or after— cheeses like Cheddar around 1500.
There are many different ways of categorising cheese, but perhaps the easiest way is to break them down according to their texture and the style of manufacture as follows:
Fresh Cheese - Cheese that is almost ready to eat the moment it is made such as Cottage Cheese, Cream Cheese, Fromage Frais, Ricotta, Mozzarella. They have high moisture content and therefore a relatively short shelf life.
Soft Cheese - Cheese with a very soft texture including Brie, Camembert which do require time to reach maturity and full flavour. Again they have relatively high levels of moisture and need to be eaten within a defined period once sold. On white mould cheeses such as Brie and Camembert the young cheese is sprayed with penicillium candidum to help ripen the cheese from the outside in an unripe cheese will have a chalky white strip running through the middle of the cheese.
Semi Hard Cheese - As the name suggests, these cheeses sit between being soft and hard. Often they have a rubbery texture such as Edam and will be sold at a relatively young age of a few months. Other examples would include St. Paulin and Port Salut and certain other cheeses where the rinds will be washed with brine, beer, wine or fruit juices to add character to the cheese during the maturation process.
Hard Cheese - Firm - These are cheeses which have been pressed to remove as much of the whey and moisture from the curds as possible to ensure a long keeping product. Cheeses may be matured from anything between 12 weeks in the case of mild Cheddar, up to 2 years or more in the case of vintage Cheddar, Parmesan or Manchego. Other British examples of firm hard cheese will include Red Leicester, Double Gloucester, Derby, Malvern, Worcester, Hereford. Continental varieties include Emmental and Gouda.
Hard Cheese - Crumbly - A category of cheeses well known in the UK as young variants of Cheshire, Caerphilly, Lancashire and Wensleydale all fall into this group. The cheeses are pressed to remove much of the moisture but because they are sold at a relatively young age - typically between 4 and 8 weeks of age - they retain a crumbly texture and a fresh flavour. Older more mature versions of these cheeses will tend to become firmer and may lose their crumbly texture and hence fall into the firm hard cheese category. They will also have a stronger flavour.
Blue Cheese - There are blue cheese variants of many of the cheese listed above. What puts them into the blue cheese category is that penicillium roqueforti - a blue mould - is added to the cheese at various stages in the making process. Sometimes it is added to the milk at the start of the process in other cases it is sprayed onto the curds before being shaped. Normally the cheese will be pierced with stainless steel needles to allow air into the body of the cheese which then activates the blue mould and starts to break down the protein which in turn creates the blue mould. The process is a way of accelerating the normal development of the cheese and means that quite strong tasting cheese is produced within a few months. Blue Stilton is perhaps the best known blue cheese produced in the UK but there are now more than 70 different blue cheeses being produced within the UK. Other notable British examples are Shropshire Blue, Blue Cheshire, Blue Wensleydale, Dovedale, Buxton Blue, Blacksticks Blue and even Blue Leicester! Imported examples include Roquefort, Gorgonzola, Cambozola and Danish Blue.
Blended Cheese - Also known as fruit cheese, herb cheese, cheese with bits or More Than Just Cheese. Though we think of these as modern cheeses it is well known that the Romans routinely blended their cheese with fruit and herbs. High quality hard cheeses are chopped into small pieces and herbs or fruit added and the whole mixed together before being shaped into cylinders or blocks. Most popular examples in the UK are Wensleydale with Cranberry, White Stilton with Apricots, Cheddar with Caramelised Onion, Double Gloucester with Chives and Onion and Lancashire with Garlic.
These categories can apply to any cheese regardless of the animal from which the milk came.
English Crumpets – History and Recipe
I thought as English Crumpets is an Iconic English Recipe and Snack, which I thought would be interesting to tell on its long history. Crumpets were an Anglo-Saxon invention. In early times, they were hard pancakes cooked on a griddle, rather than the soft and spongy crumpets of the Victorian era which were made with yeast. The crumpet-makers of the Midlands and London developed the characteristic holes, by adding extra baking powder to the yeast dough. The term itself may refer to a crumpled or curled-up cake, or have Celtic origins relating to meaning a "thin, flat cake".
Crumpets are generally circular roughly 7cm in diameter and roughly 2cm thick. Their shape comes from being restrained in the pan/griddle by a shallow ring. They have a characteristic flat top with many small pores and a half-chewy half-spongy texture. They may be cooked until ready to eat warm from the pan, but are frequently left slightly undercooked so that they may be cooled and stored before being eaten freshly-toasted. In Australia and New Zealand, branded square crumpets can be purchased from supermarkets, designed to easily fit in a standard toaster.
Crumpets are generally eaten hot with butter with or without a second (sweet or savoury) topping. Popular second toppings are cheese (melted on top), honey, poached egg, jam, marmite, salt, marmalade, cheese spread, golden syrup, hummus, lemon curd and maple syrup. The butter may be omitted - but a phrase very commonly associated with crumpets is "dripping with butter" (in this context, 'dripping' is - usually - a verb, rather than a reference to animal fat).
Delicious fresh from the pan spread with butter! Why not try with a slice of cheese and gently grill?
Method
Warm the milk and the water together.
Place all of the ingredients into a bowl and beat until smooth (1 to 2 minutes).
Leave until the mixture is frothy and double in size.
Grease and heat a heavy frying pan or griddle and 9 cm (3 in) rings and half fill with the mixture.
Maintaining a moderate heat, cook the crumpets for 5 minutes until the mixture bubbles.
Reduce the heat until the bubbles have burst.
Turn the crumpets over and cook for a further 2 minutes.
Serve hot with butter and jam.
If allowed to cool, toast before serving.
Preparation Time 30 minutes
I hope visitors to article will enjoy the English Crumpets.
English Custard – History and Recipe
I thought as English Custard (which the French do not have a name for) is an Iconic English Recipe and food, I thought my article would be interesting to fans of English Food. Custard was known in English Cuisine at least as early as the fourteenth century. One of the most popular and quintessential English Custard's is "Birds Custard Powder" which I recommend to any cook who wants to make the perfect English custard.
The first reference to custard in England was as almond milk or almond cream In a history of the Abbey of Croyland, England, Laurence Chateres in 1413. It contained almonds, thick milk, water, salt and sugar.
Not all custards are sweet. A quiche is a savoury custard tart. Some kinds of timbale or vegetable loaf are made of a custard base mixed with chopped savoury ingredients. Custard royale is a thick custard cut into decorative shapes and used to garnish soup or broth.
Bird's Custard (a brand name) is the original version of what is known generically as custard powder. It is a cornflour-based powder which thickens to form a custard-like sauce when mixed with milk and heated to a sufficient temperature. Bird's Custard was first formulated and first cooked by Alfred Bird in 1837, because his wife was allergic to eggs the key ingredient used to thicken traditional custard.
In some regions of the United Kingdom the popularity of this type of dessert is such that it is simply known as "custard." In such cases, general usage of the word may be more likely to refer to the "Bird's" custard rather than to the traditional egg-based variety.
In recent years, "instant" versions (containing powdered milk and sugar and requiring only hot water) and ready-made custard in tins and cartons have also become popular.
A food and drink survey carried out in 2000 found 99% of customers recognised the brand which accounts for 45% of the custard consumed in the UK. Bird's Custard is also exported to several countries around the world, including the United States, where it is popular among several ethnic groups. Many ethnic and specialty stores across the United States sell the product. In Canada Bird's Custard can often be found in many popular grocery supermarkets.
In addition to the Bird's brand, generic cornflour-based custards are widely available.
Method
Work up sugar and egg yolks with a wooden spoon until smooth and creamy. Add flour. Scald milk and vanilla bean together and then add egg yolk mixture to it, little by little. Return to saucepan and cook slowly, stirring constantly until it comes to the boiling point. Do not allow to boil. Remove vanilla bean. Cool, stirring vigorously at first and then from time to time to prevent crust from forming on top. Serve cold or a little warm. Other flavoring may be used. For coffee flavor use 1/2top milk and 1/2 strong coffee, for chocolate flavor add grated chocolate to taste to hot milk. Serves to to 3.
Spotted Dick or Spotty Dog – English Pudding Recipe
Many food stuffs are synonymous with iconic English Dishes. We in England may have strange names for our quality food but at least we don't eat Pets like the french who eat Horses, Frogs and Pet Birds. I thought as Spotted Dick is an Iconic English Recipe and pudding I thought I would tell its history.
Spotted Dick is a steamed suet pudding containing dried fruit (usually currents) commonly served with custard. Spotted refers to the dried fruit (which resemble spots) and dick may be a contraction or corruption of the word pudding (from the last syllable) or possibly a corruption of the word dough or dog, as "spotted dog" is another name for the same dish with the use of plums rather than currants. Another explanation offered for the latter half of the name is that it comes from the German word for "thick", in reference to the thickened suet mixture.
Food historians generally agree the first puddings made by ancient cooks produced foods similar to sausages. We English claim pudding as part of their culinary heritage. Medieval puddings black and white were still mostly meat-based. 17th century English puddings were either savory (meat-based) or sweet (flour, nuts & sugar) and were typically boiled in special pudding bags. The “The Pease Porridge " most of us know from the old nursery rhyme was most likely a simple boiled pudding of pease meal. By the latter half 18th century traditional English puddings no longer included meat. 19th century puddings were still boiled but the finished product was more like cake. These puddings are still traditionally served at Christmas time. Plum Pudding (aka Christmas pudding) is a prime example. Modern steamed puddings descend from this tradition.
5 oz (75g) Self raising Flour
5 oz (75g) Chopped Suet
3 oz (50g) Fresh White Breadcrumbs
4 oz (75g) Raisins
3 oz (50g) Brown Sugar
Pinch of Salt
Pkt. Of Birds Custard
Method
Put all the dry ingredients into a bowl and mix them together well. Now add the Milk and mix to a fairly soft dough.
Put the mixture into a greased 2 pint (1.2 litre) pudding basin and cover with kitchen foil, making a pleat across the centre to allow the pudding to rise. Tie the foil firmly in place with string, forming a handle across the top so that you can lift the pudding easily.
Bring a large pan of water to the boil and place an inverted saucer in the bottom. Lower in the pudding basin and let it boil, covered, for 2 hours, filling the pan with more boiling water as the level falls.
Remove from the pan by the string handle, unwrap, turn out on to a heated dish.
Open pkt of Birds Custard and follow instructions on pkt.
Serves 4.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary the earliest documented reference is a recipe for "Plum Bolster or Spotted Dick", in Alexis Soyer's The Modern Housewife, or, Ménagère (1850).
The Earliest Sandwich – It's English History
I thought as The Sandwich was created by The fourth Earl of Sandwich in 1762 and is an Iconic English Snack, I thought it would be interesting to readers and fans of English Food to know It's beginings and history. We in England have sandwiches while having a picnic or as a general snack just like anyone else in the world.
The first mention of the word, "Sandwich" came around 1762 when a reporter wrote in the daily news about John Montague, the fourth Earl of Sandwich (1718-1792). As he sat gambling for long hours, the only sustenance he requested was spirits, water, bread, cheese and meat. As he continued to play with one hand, he sat the meat and cheese between the slices of bread and held them in his non-playing hand. His fellow gamblers, no doubt looking for a lucky charm, began to order "the same as Sandwich!" The original sandwich would have been nothing more than a piece of salt beef between two slices of toasted bread. Whatever the truth of the legend, the name sandwich is inscribed for all time.
John Montagu was First Lord of the Admiralty and patron to Capt. James Cook who explored New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii, and Polynesia. Capt. Cook named the Hawaiian Islands after him, calling them the Sandwich Islands. Legend holds that Montagu was addicted to gambling, so addicted that he gambled for hours at a time at a restaurant, refusing to get up for meals.
A sandwich is a food item, often consisting of two or more slices of bread with one or more fillings between them or one slice of bread with a topping or toppings, commonly called an open sandwich. Sandwiches are a widely popular type of lunch food, typically taken to work or school, or picnics to be eaten as part of a packed lunch. They generally contain a combination of salad vegetables, meat, cheese, and a variety of sauces. The bread can be used as it is, or it can be coated with any condiments to enhance flavor and texture. They are widely sold in restaurants and cafes.
In Spain, where the word sandwich is borrowed from the English language, it refers to a food item made with English sandwich bread.
The verb to sandwich has the meaning to position anything between two other things of a different character, or to place different elements alternately,
Recipes for sandwiches were not immediately forthcoming in cookbooks. In England they were (at first) considered restaurant fare. The primary difference between early English and American sandwiches? In England beef was the meat of choice; in America it was ham. A simple matter of local supply.
Literary references to sandwiches begin to appear in English during the 1760s, but also under the assumption that they are a food consumed primarily by the masculine sex during late night drinking parties. The connotation does not change until the sandwich moves into general society as a supper food for late night balls and similar events toward the end of the eighteenth century.
Charlotte Mason was one of the first English cookbook authors to provide a recipe for sandwiches. During the nineteenth century, as midday dinner moved later and later into the day, the need for hot supper declined, only to be replaced with light dishes made of cold leftovers, ingredients for which the sandwich proved preeminently suitable. Thus the sandwich became a fixture of intimate evening suppers, teas, and picnics, and popular fare for taverns and inns. This latter genre of sandwich has given rise to multitudes of working class creations.
Ye Olde English Marmalade – History and Recipe 1480 AD
I thought as English Marmalade is an Iconic English Recipe and food, I thought it would be interesting to fans of English Food to know It's recipe and history. According to the Oxford English Dictionary "marmalade" appeared in the English language in 1480 AD.
In 1524, Henry VIII received a "box of marmalade" from Mr. Hull of Exeter. As it was in a box, this was likely to have been marmelada, a quince paste from Portugal , still made and sold in southern Europe. Its Portuguese origins from marmalado can be detected in the remarks in letters to Lord Lisle, from William Grett, 12th May 1534, "I have sent to your lordship a box of marmaladoo and another unto my good lady your wife" and from Richard Lee, 14th December 1536, "He most heartily thanketh her Ladyship for her marmalado".
The extension of "marmalade" in the English language refers to citrus fruits which were made in the 17th century, when citrus first began to be plentiful enough in England for the usage to become common.
Various Marmalade's from around the World
Marmalade is a fruit preserve made from the peel of Citrus Fruits, Sugar and Water. The traditional citrus fruit for marmalade production is the "Seville Orange" from Spain, Citrus aurantium var. aurantium, thus called because it was originally only made in Seville in Spain; it is higher in pectin than sweet oranges and therefore gives a good set. The peel has a distinctive bitter taste which it imparts to the marmalade. Marmalade can be made from lemons, limes, grapefruits, sweet oranges or any combination thereof. For example, California-style marmalade is made from the peel of sweet oranges and consequently lacks the bitter taste of Spanish style marmalade.
In languages other than English, marmalade can mean preserves made with fruit other than citrus. For example, in Spanish all preserves are known generically as mermelada (There is no distinction made between jam, jelly, preserves or marmalade).
The recipe for marmalade includes sliced or chopped fruit peel simmered in sugar, fruit juice and water until soft; indeed marmalade is sometimes described as jam with fruit peel (although manufacturers also produce peel-free marmalade). English Marmalade is often eaten on toast for breakfast.
Ingredients:
2 lb (900 g) Seville oranges
½ lb (225 g) lemons
6 pints (3.4 litres) water
1 lb (450 g) sugar per 1 lb (450 g) pulp – of which 1lb should be brown
Method:
Wash and dry the fruit. Cut in half and squeeze out the juice. Remove the pips, inside skin and pith. Tie these in a piece of muslin.
Cut the peel chunkily.
Put the peel in a large bowl with the bag of pips etc and the juice. Add 6 pints (3.4 litres) of water and leave to soak overnight.
Weigh the preserving pan and make a note of it. Put the soaked peel, pith and pips into it with the water and juice.
Bring to the boil and simmer gently until the peel is soft and the contents of the pan have been reduced to half its original bulk. This will take about 1½ hours.
Lift out the bag of pips and pith, squeezing it again the side of the pan with a wooden spoon.
Test for pectin.
Re-weigh the pan and subtract from this weight the original weight of the empty pan to calculate the weight of the remaining pulp.
Add 1 lb (450 g) of warmed sugar to each 1 lb (450 g) of pulp of which 1 lb (450 g) should be brown. Stir until all the sugar has dissolved.
Bring to the boil and boil rapidly until the marmalade sets when tested.
Remove the scum and leave to cool slightly.
Pot and seal whilst still hot.
Makes about 6 lbs (2.7 kg) of marmalade.
English Chelsea Buns – History and Recipe
I thought as Chelsea Buns is an Iconic English Recipe and Snack, which I thought would be interesting to Fans of English Food. Chelsea Buns have been made since at least the start of the 1700s. They were reputedly invented either at the Old Chelsea Bun House, or at the "Real Old Original Chelsea Bun-house" in London, England.
The two were rivals. Both were on Grosvenor Row, both made great buns, and both had a long wooden covered footpath in front of them, that looked something like a verandah except it was a sidewalk, too.
Grosvenor Row (which no longer exists) was the name for what is now approximately the middle section of Pimlico Road, from Passmore Street east a few blocks to Bourne Street. Technically, the area is Pimlico, not Chelsea, but it's probably far too late to suggest the name "Pimlico Buns" to anyone.
The Old Chelsea Bun House was owned by a 'Captain Bun' (sic). Reputedly, in the latter decades of the 1700s, it was frequented by George II, his son George III (the mad King George) and his wife Queen Charlotte. In 1817, it had been in business for four generations of the same family (as per Sir Richard Philips (1767-1840; one of whose pseudonyms was Reverend David Blair.)
On Good Fridays, they sold Hot Cross buns, and were frequently mobbed by huge line-ups. The mob scene had been so great in 1792 that they in fact skipped selling them in 1793. They posted a notice instead on Wednesday, 27 March 27 1793 saying, "Royal Bun House, Chelsea, Good Friday.—No Cross Buns. Mrs. Hand respectfully informs her friends and the public, that in consequence of the great concourse of people which assembled before her house at a very early hour, on the morning of Good Friday last, by which her neighbours (with whom she has always lived in friendship and repute) have been much alarmed and annoyed; it having also been intimated, that to encourage or countenance a tumultuous assembly at this particular period might be attended with consequences more serious than have hitherto been apprehended; desirous, therefore, of testifying her regard and obedience to those laws by which she is happily protected, she is determined, though much to her loss, not to sell Cross Buns on that day to any person whatever, but Chelsea buns as usual."
But the shop appears to have got back into the Hot Cross Bun business. On 18 April 1839,
Good Friday for that year, they sold around 24,000 Hot Cross buns. Nevertheless, the business was sold and demolished later that year."
Mentions of Chelsea Buns in Letters and Publications
A fine day, but begins to grow a little warm; and that makes your little fat Presto sweat in the forehead. Pray, are not the fine buns sold here in our town; was it not Chelsea buns? I bought one to-day in my walk; it cost me a penny; it was stale, and I did not like it." -- Jonathan Swift. Letter no. 22. The Journal to Stella, 28th April 1711.
"I soon turned the corner of a street which took me out of sight of the space on which once stood the gay Ranelagh. … Before me appeared the shop so famed for Chelsea buns, which for above thirty years I have never passed without filling my pockets. In the original of these shops—for even of Chelsea buns there are counterfeits—are preserved mementoes of domestic events in the first half of the past century. The bottle-conjuror is exhibited in a toy of his own age; portraits are also displayed of Duke William and other noted personages; a model of a British soldier, in the stiff costume of the same age; and some grotto-works, serve to indicate the taste of a former owner, and were, perhaps, intended to rival the neighbouring exhibition at Don Saltero's. These buns have afforded a competency, and even wealth, to four generations of the same family; and it is singular that their delicate flavour, lightness, and richness, have never been successfully imitated." -- Sir Richard Phillips (1767-1840). In "Morning's Walk from London to Kew." 1817.
The Royal East London Volunteers made a brilliant sight that day: formed into lines, squares, circles, triangles, and what not, to the beating of drums, and the streaming of flags; and performed a vast number of complex evolutions, in all of which Sergeant Varden bore a conspicuous share. Having displayed their military prowess to the utmost in these warlike shows, they marched in glittering order to the Chelsea Bun House, and regaled in the adjacent taverns until dark." -- Charles Dickens, Barnaby Rudge, Chapter 42.
"I was rather in a hurry," returns Mr. Bucket, "for I was going to visit a aunt of mine that lives at Chelsea -- next door but two to the old original Bun House..." -- Charles Dickens, Bleak House, Chapter 53.
"Give her a Chelsea bun, miss! That’s what most young ladies like best!" The voice was rich and musical, and the speaker dexterously whipped back the snowy cloth that covered his basket, and disclosed a tempting array of the familiar square buns, joined together in rows, richly egged and browned and glistening in the sun." -- Lewis Carroll, A Tangled Tale.
Mrs. Beaton's Recipe for Chelsea Buns
Method
1. Pre heat oven to 200°C
2. Mix the yeast with the warm milk and water and add 1 teaspoon of sugar.
3. Mix the salt into the flour and rub in 2 oz. of the margarine.
4. Add 2 oz. of the castor sugar to the flour and the salt.
5. Whisk the eggs.
6. Mix the eggs and other liquids into the flour and knead it until if forms a smooth dough.
7. Leave the dough to rise in a greased bowl, in a warm spot away from draughts.
8. Cover the bowl ( tea-towel or Cling film ) to keep it warm and free from draughts, and leave it until the dough has almost doubled in size.
9. Spread a little flour on a wooden board. This will prevent the dough from sticking to the board.
10. Roll out the dough into a piece about 20 by 8 inches.
11. Spread the remaining 1 oz. of butter over the surface of the rolled out dough.
12. Sprinkle the remaining sugar and currants evenly over the dough.
13. Roll up from the shortest edge to form a roll about 20 inches long.
14. Cut the roll into 15 / 20 equal slices.
15. Place the slices on a greased tray, leaving spaxce around each so they can expand. Cover with a tea-towel and leave until the buns rise and are puffy.
16. Bake on the top shelf of the oven for about 30 minutes.
NB: It may be necessary to cover the top of the buns with metal foil towards the end of the cooking to prevent them from browning / burning too much.
Either eat them fresh or put them in the freezer. They freeze very well.
GLAZE: Mix 2 tablespoons of boiled milk with a tablespoon of sugar, then brush it over the tops of the buns whilst they are still hot.
English Mustard – An English Icon
I thought as English Mustard is an Iconic English sauce I thought I would tell its history. Oner of the most commonest English meals is Roast Beef, Roast Potato's, Brussel Sprouts, Gravy with English Mustard.
According to an old saying, Durham City, England was famed for seven things - wood, water and pleasant walks, law, gospel, old maids and mustard.
This saying probably originated in the 18th Century when Durham's mustard achieved great fame.
Mustard was introduced into England in the 12th Century and in early times seeds were coarsely ground at the table using a mortar and it was eaten in this rough state.
It had reached the North-East by about 1486 when monks on the Farne Islands (a monastic cell tied to Durham Cathedral) are known to have used quern stones in the grinding of "mwstert".
In those early days, it was used primarily to disguise the flavour of rotten meat and it was not until the late 1600s that it came to be recommended in its own right.
At that time, the town of Tewkesbury was primarily noted for mustard making, but in those days it was a much weaker substance and it was not until 1720 that English-style mustard, resembling what we know today, really came into being.
English mustard was born largely due to the vision and energy of a Durham City woman by the name of Mrs Clements.
Her forename has, despite her remarkable achievements, eluded all historians that have strived to tell her story.
In 1720, she invented a new method of extracting the full flavour from mustard seed. Her methods were secretly guarded but involved grinding the seeds in a mill and passing them through several processes similar to those used in the making of flour from wheat.
This resourceful woman soon recognised the potential of her invention and travelled the country collecting orders.
She regularly visited London where her product tickled the palate of none other than King George I, whose liking for the mustard brought Mrs Clements numerous orders from people who wished to follow royal fashion.
It is said that Mrs Clement's mustard mill was situated at the rear of a property in Saddler Street (now a clothes shop that was once the House of Andrews stationer), but this is not certain.
Mustard seeds were certainly grown on local farms in the early days, including Houghall Farm, near Shincliffe. It must have been a lucrative trade because mustard crops worth up to £100 an acre were occasionally known.
The manufacture also stimulated other industries and it is known that a Gateshead pottery specialised in supplying pots for mustard export.
In the 18th century, the name of Durham came to be synonymous with mustard and, in local slang, Durham people came to be known as knock-kneed Durham men from the alleged grinding of mustard between their knees.
Later in the century, rival mustard firms sprang up around the country, including London where Messrs Keen and Sons manufactured the product from 1742, supplying it to taverns and chophouses.
Though later acquired by Colmans of Norwich (who made mustard from 1814) the London firm is still remembered in the saying "keen as mustard".
By 1810, the London Journal recorded that the once frowned upon condiment of "mustard seed is now used and esteemed by most of the quality and gentry". However, by this time, Durham had lost its mustard monopoly.
Meanwhile, Mrs Clements' daughter, who was heir to the family business, married local man Joseph William Ainsley whose family had been involved in Durham flour-making since 1692.
The Ainsley family became the main name in Durham mustard making and their business was situated in Silver Street - number 22. This location, and not Saddler Street, may have been the original site of Durham's mustard factory.
The Ainsley family history is not totally clear, but at the beginning of the 19th Century the business passed into the hands of a son or grandson, also called Joseph William Ainsley. Another family member, possibly a brother, called John, worked at a flour mill at Crook Hall. This mill seems to have been involved in making mustard for the Silver Street premises.
Following Joseph Ainsley's death in about 1830, his widow, Eleanor, carried on the business but later married John Balmborough who became proprietor in the 1840s or 50s.
At about this time, a new mustard business also opened in the city, this time in Saddler Street and was operated by William Ainsley who was, it is believed, the son of John, from Crook Hall flour mill.
Balmborough was clearly threatened by this rival firm and his advertisements went to great lengths to emphasise that he was the true heir to the Ainsley name.
William Ainsley however was a successful entrepreneur noted for his printing and stationery business at 1 Saddler Street. He moved to larger premises at 74 (later the House of Andrews) after branching out into mustard.
A William Ainsley advertisement of 1865 only lists mustard as a footnote to a number of enterprises that included gunpowder-making, but it must have affected Balmborough's business.
By the early 1870s, Saddler Street was too small for the business and Ainsley moved to Waddington Street in the northern part of the city. In 1874, he died and was succeeded by his sons, William and John Ainsley, trading as William Ainsley and Brother. Balmborough also died during this period and the Silver Street business closed.
A new Durham mustard business was launched in 1888 operated by John Simpson and James Willan, initially in Providence Row and then in Gilesgate's Station Lane, but it barely lasted a decade.
Simpson, who died in 1908, spent his final years as a timekeeper at the city's gas company.
William Ainsley died in 1896 and the Ainsley firm lasted only two or three years into the following century.
Durham's mustard-making trade fell into the hands of Colmans, the Norwich firm most closely associated with English mustard-making today.
Lardy Cake – 15th Century History and Recipe
I thought as English Lardy cake is an Iconic English Spiced bread I thought it would be interesting to fans of English Food to know It's recipe and history. Lardy cake is also called Lardy bread, Lardy Johns, Dough cake and Fourses cake and originates from Wiltshire. In the West Country and dates from the 15th. Century. Today local bakers still make it to their own recipes, cramming in as much lard, sugar and fruit as they or their customers choose.
The lardy cake relates back to the 15th. Century 'Old English Fair' which was an eagerly awaited event by town and countrymen who would get together to sell their wares. Gingerbread and Plum Cake became established products at these fairs, with the Lardy Cake being an adapted version of the later.
The major difference between the two products was that the fat (lard) was layered into the dough similar to Danish Pastry. Today a equal mixture of lard and brown sugar are layered in at approximately 20% of the dough weight. The fermented dough also contains fruit and will also be spiced.
Recipe
20 Gram Yeast fresh (1 3/4 tsp dried + pinch of sugar) (3/4 oz)
450 ml Water, warmed (3/4 pint)
600 Gram Strong white flour (1 1/4 lb)
1 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
100 Gram Lard, diced (4 oz)
100 Gram Butter, diced (4 oz)
240 Gram Mixed sultanas and currants (10 oz)
65 Gram Chopped mixed peel (3 oz)
65 Gram Sugar (3 oz)
Makes 16 slices
Method
Preheat oven to 220 °C / 425 °F / Gas 7. Grease a 20 x 25 cm (8 x 10 inch) roasting tin. Blend the fresh yeast with the warm water. If using dried yeast, sprinkle it into the warm water with the pinch of sugar and leave for 15 minutes until frothy.
Put the flour and salt in a bowl and rub in 100g ( 4 oz) of the lard. Make a well in the centre and pour in the yeast liquid. Beat together to make a dough that leaves the sides of the bowl clean, adding more water if necessary. Turn on to a lightly floured surface and knead well for about 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Place in a clean bowl. Cover with a clean tea-towel and leave in a warm place for about 1 hour, until doubled in size.
Turn the dough on to a floured surface and roll out to a rectangle about 0.5 cm ( 1/4 inch) thick. Dot one-third of the remaining lard and butter over the surface of the dough. Sprinkle over one-third of the fruit, peel and sugar. Fold the dough in three, folding the bottom third up and the top third down. Give a quarter turn, then repeat the process twice more.
Roll the dough out to fit the prepared tin. Put in the tin, cover and leave in a warm place for 30 minutes, until puffy. Score the top with a criss-cross pattern with a knife, then bake for about 30 minutes, or until well risen and golden brown. Turn out and serve immediately or leave to cool on a wire rack. Once cooled this can be stores in a freezer until ready to warm up. It's best served plain or with butter.
Lardy Cake is really scrumptious hot or cold and once cooked can be kept in a freezer until ready to carve up and then warmed up prior to eating.
History of Cribbage – An English Iconic Game
I thought as the Game of Cribbage was invented by us English and is played Worldwide I thought I would tell its history. The most famous cribbage player of all, as described by Charles Dickens in Oliver Twist: "Mr Toby Crackit swept up his winnings [at cribbage] and crammed them into his waist-coat pocket."
According to John Aubrey who was a 17th Century English antiquary and writer, cribbage was created by the English poet Sir John Suckling in the early 17th century, as a derivation of the game “Noddy”. While noddy has disappeared, crib has survived, virtually unchanged, as one of the most popular games in the English Speaking world. The objective of the game is to be the first player to score a target number of points, typically 61 or 121 Points are scored for card combinations that add up to fifteen, and for pairs, triples, quadruples, runs and flushes.
Cribbage, or crib, is a card game traditionally for two players, but commonly played with three, four or more, that involves playing and grouping cards in combinations which gain points. Cribbage has several distinctive features: the cribbage board used for score keeping, the eponymous crib or box (a separate hand counting for the dealer), two distinct scoring stages (the play and the show) and a unique scoring system including points for groups of cards that total fifteen.
Rules
1) The players cut for first deal, and the dealer shuffles and deals five or six cards to each player, depending on the number of players. For two players, each is dealt six cards; for three or four players, each is dealt five cards. In the case of three players, a single card is dealt face down in the centre of the table to start the crib. Once the cards have been dealt, each player chooses four cards to retain, then discards the other one or two face-down to form the "crib" which will be used later by the dealer. At this point, each player's hand and the crib will contain exactly four cards. The player on the dealer's left cuts the deck and the dealer reveals the top card, called the "starter". If this card is a jack the dealer scores two points for "his heels", also known as "his nibs".
2) Starting with the player on the dealer's left, each player lays one card in turn onto a personal discard pile, stating the cumulative value of the cards laid (for example, the first player lays a five and says "five", the next lays a six and says "eleven", and so on), without the total going above 31. Once no more cards can be played, the cumulative position is reset to zero and those players with cards remaining repeat the process until all players' cards have been played. Players score points during this process for making a total of fifteen, for reaching exactly, or as close as possible to a total of thirty-one, for runs and for pairs. Players choose the order in which to lay their cards in order to maximize their score; experienced players refer to this as either good or poor "pegsmanship". If one player reaches the target (usually 61 or 121), the game ends immediately and that player wins.
3) Once the play is complete, each player in turn receives points based on the content of his hand in conjunction with the starter card. Points are scored for combinations of cards totalling fifteen, runs, pairs, flushes and having a Jack of the same suit as the starter card ("one for his nob [or nobs or nibs]"). The dealer scores his hand last and then turns the cards in the crib face up. These cards are then scored by the dealer as an additional hand in conjunction with the starter card. Scores between 0 and 29 are all possible, with the exception of 19, 25, 26 and 27.Players may refer colloquially to a hand scoring zero points as having a score of nineteen.
4) Visually, cribbage is known for its scoring board - a series of holes ("streets") on which the score is tallied with pegs (also known as "spilikins"). Scores can be kept on a piece of paper, but a cribbage board is almost always used, since scoring occurs throughout the game, not just at the conclusion of hands as in most other card games. Points are registered as having been scored by "pegging" along the crib board. Two pegs are used in a leapfrog fashion, so that if a player loses track during the count one peg still marks the previous score. Some boards have a "game counter", with many additional holes for use with a third peg to count the games won by each side.
The most famous cribbage player of all, as described by Charles Dickens in Oliver Twist: "Mr Toby Crackit swept up his winnings [at cribbage] and crammed them into his waist-coat pocket."
History of English Lawn Bowls – Jactus Lapidum
I thought as Green Bowls is popular worldwide and was invented by us English I thought I would tell its history. One of the most famous stories concerning Bowls was On 19th July 1588 Captain Thomas Fleming in the Golden Hinde, glimpsed the Armada through the swirling morning mist off the Lizard and raced for Plymouth, Lord Howard’s home port. Fleming came up the channel into Plymouth with the afternoon tide to find Sir Francis Drake playing bowls with his officers on the Ho, high above the harbour. On hearing of Fleming’s sighting Drake insisted on continuing with the game.
Bowls is a sport in which the objective is to roll slightly asymmetric balls, called bowls, so that they stop close to a smaller—normally white—bowl called the "jack" or "kitty". Bowls, either flat- or crown-green, is usually played outdoors, on grass and synthetic surfaces. Flat-green bowls can also be played indoors on synthetic surfaces. Both variants are collectively known as "lawn bowls".
It is most popular in Australia, New Zealand (where the natural playing surface is cotula), the United Kingdom and in other Commonwealth nations.
It has been traced certainly to the 13th century and conjecturally to the 12th century with William Fitzstephen (d. About 1190 AD). In his biography, Thomas Becket gives a graphic sketch of the London of his day and writing of the summer amusements of the young men, says that on holidays they were "exercised in Leaping, Shooting, Wrestling, Casting of Stones [in jactu lapidum], and Throwing of Javelins fitted with Loops for the Purpose, which they strive to fling before the Mark; they also use Bucklers, like fighting Men."
It is commonly supposed that by jactus lapidum, Fitzstephen meant the game of bowls, but though it is possible that round stones may sometimes have been employed in an early variety of the game - and there is a record of iron bowls being used, though at a much later date, on festive occasions at Nairn, - nevertheless the inference seems unwarranted. The jactus lapidum of which he speaks was probably more akin to the modern "putting the weight," once even called "putting the stone." It is beyond dispute, however, that the game, at any rate in a rudimentary form, was played in the 13th century. A manuscript of that period in the royal library, Windsor (No. 20, E iv.), contains a drawing representing two players aiming at a small cone instead of an earthenware ball or jack. The world's oldest surviving bowling green is the Southampton Old Bowling Green which was first used in 1299 AD.
Another manuscript of the same century has a crude but spirited picture which brings us into close touch with the existing game. Three figures are introduced and a jack. The first player's bowl has come to rest just in front of the jack; the second has delivered his bowl and is following after it with one of those eccentric contortions still not unusual on modern greens, the first player meanwhile making a repressive gesture with his hand, as if to urge the bowl to stop short of his own; the third player is depicted as in the act of delivering his bowl.
As the game grew in popularity, it came under the ban of king and parliament, both fearing it might jeopardise the practice of archery, then so important in battle. Statutes forbidding it and other sports were enacted in the reigns of King Edward III, King Richard II and other monarchs. Even when, on the invention of gunpowder and firearms, the bow had fallen into disuse as a weapon of war, the prohibition was continued. The discredit attaching to bowling alleys, first established in London in 1455, probably encouraged subsequent repressive legislation, for many of the alleys were connected with taverns frequented by the dissolute and gamesters. The word "bowls" occurs for the first time in the statute of 1511 in which Henry VIII confirmed previous enactments against unlawful games. By a further act of 1541 - which was not repealed until 1845 - artificers, labourers, apprentices, servants and the like were forbidden to play bowls at any time except Christmas and then only in their master's house and presence. It was further enjoined that any one playing bowls outside his own garden or orchard was liable to a penalty of 6s. 8d., while those possessed of lands to the yearly value of £100 might obtain licences to play on their own private greens.
Bowls is popular in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, Hong Kong and parts of the United States. It is also gaining momentum in Japan.
Because of its competitiveness, skill and the fact that it is a non-contact sport, the game suits people from teen years through to their nineties. However, there is a considerable professional competition with many younger men and women playing.
Since the 1990's, the sport has developed in Denmark as well. The World Championships are held in the UK annually and the £100,000 competition is watched by 3 million viewers on BBC TV.
Today the sport is played in over 40 countries with more than 50 member national authorities.
Jigsaw Puzzles – An English Iconic Game
I thought as Jigsaw Puzzles was invented by us English I thought I would tell its history. The first jigsaw was made by John Spilsbury (an Englishman) in 1766 who was a renowned mapmaker and engraver from London who mounted a map of England on a thin sheet of mahogany board, used a hand held fretsaw to cut round the county boundaries and sold the boxed pieces for children to assemble. They were known as "Dissected maps". The result was an educational aid, which could be used for teaching Geography to children.
John Spilsbury certainly spotted a great business opportunity. In the space of two years he marketed the eight map subjects most likely to appeal to upper class English parents: The World, the Four Continents then known (Africa, America, Asia and Europe), England and Wales, Ireland and Scotland.
During the next 40 years several other manufacturers (including individuals in Holland) copied John Spilsbury's ideas and introduced historical scenes to compliment his map subjects. In the early part of the century, puzzles were made almost exclusively for wealthy children and almost always with education in mind.
To save on cutting labour the puzzles consisted of only a few large pieces and only the outside interlocked – the rest was cut quickly with straight or wavy lines. The wood used was usually Mahogany or Cedar. The jigsaw named “The Parable of the Sower” on the right was cut by Betts in about 1870 and typifies the style of jigsaws up to that date. Only the outside pieces interlock and the quality of the print is very poor by modern standards.
Towards the end of the century great strides were made in many manufacturing techniques and three of these influenced jigsaws:
Treadle operated jigsaws were invented.
Techniques were developed to produce THIN sheets of wood.
Printing improved in leaps and bounds.
These technological advances enabled jigsaws to be made that were much more intricate, durable and colourful. Adults became interested in doing jigsaws and this spurred the manufacturers to widen the range of subjects available and to make them more difficult to do.
It became evident that colourful, complex jigsaws held a fascination for many people.
In the late 1800’s a German furniture dealer named Raphael Tuck and his two sons developed 4 techniques that set the scene for jigsaw development into the next century:
2) Their subjects included many varied and colourful topics.
3) Cutting was made more intricate and included "Whimsies" – individual pieces cut into recognisable shapes like animals and household goods.
4) Plywood and thick card started to be used instead of expensive hardwood.
5) Attractive boxes (that for the first time included an image of the uncut puzzle) were introduced.
Those with an interest in history might like to know that Raphael Tuck was also instrumental in the development of other industries – he is credited with the first commercial production of Christmas cards and also the first picture postcards. He set up printing establishments in London, Paris and New York and in 1893 he received the Royal Warrant from Queen Victoria for printing the Queen’s letter to the nation on the occasion of the death of the Duke of Clarence.
The Valentine Card – An English Icon
I thought as the Valentines Card was invented in England I would write about It's story. The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written by Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. The greeting, which was written in 1415 AD is part of the manuscript collection of the British Library in London. England.
Valentine greetings have been popular since the Middle Ages, a time when prospective lovers said or sang their romantic verses. Written valentines began to appear after 1400. Paper valentines originated in the 1500s, being exchanged in Europe and being given in place of valentine gifts and oral or musical valentine greetings. They were particularly popular in England.
The first written valentine (formerly known as "poetical or amorous addresses") is traditionally attributed to the imprisoned Charles, Duke of Orleans, in 1415. While confined in the Tower of London after the Battle of Agincourt, the young Duke reportedly passed his time by writing romantic verses for his wife in France. They are credited with being the first modern day valentines.
By the Sixteenth Century, written valentines were commonplace and by the Seventeenth Century, it was a widespread tradition in England for friends and sweethearts to exchange gifts and notes on February 14.
During the early 1700s, Charles II of Sweden brought the Persian poetical art known as the "language of flowers" to Europe and throughout the Eighteenth Century, floral dictionaries were published, permitting the exchange of romantic secrets via a lily or lilac, for example, culminating in entire conversations taking place within a bouquet of flowers.
The more popular the flower, the more traditions and meaning were associated with it. The red rose, for instance, believed to be the favored flower of Venus, Roman Goddess of Love, became universally accepted to represent romantic love. Thus, the custom of giving red roses on Valentine's Day quickly gained popularity.
Some time after 1723, the popularity of valentine cards in America began to grow with the import from England of valentine "writers." A "writer" was a booklet comprised of a vast array of verses and messages which could be copied onto gilt-edged paper or other type of decorative sheet. One popular "writer" contained not only "be my valentine" types of verses for the men to send to their sweethearts, but also acceptances or "answers" which the ladies could then return. Late Eighteenth Century and Early Nineteenth Century valentines were often religious in nature and it is possible that the "Sacred Heart" often depicted on these cards eventually became the "Valentine Heart" with the customarily accompanying Angel eventually becoming "Cupid." It is believed that the earlier versions of these religious valentines may have been made by nuns who would cut-out the paper lace with scissors. It is thought the process probably took many days since the cards had every appearance of being machine-made.
By the early 1800s, valentines began to be assembled in factories. Such early manufactured valentines were rather simplistic, composed of black-and-white pictures painted by the factory workers. Fancy valentines comprised of real lace and ribbons were introduced in the mid-1800s. Paper lace began to be introduced to the cards later in the 1800s, These valentines also contained delicate and artistic messages with pictures of turtledoves, lovers' knots in gold or silver, bows and arrow, Cupids and bleeding hearts.
During the Victorian Era and its printing advances, Valentine cards became even more popular and the modern postal service of the age implmented the "penny post," which made it easier to mail written valentines. (Prior to that time, postage was so expensive that most cards were hand-delivered and usually left on doorsteps.) Known as "penny postcards" (because they were mailed with a one-penny postage stamp), these valentine greetings were very popular from around 1890 to 1917.
During this time, it was also considered "proper" to collect and display collections of postcards and trade cards in the Victorian and Edwardian parlor. Friends and guests would be invited to sit for hours, leafing through albums while they visited. This custom gained so much popularity that photographers, studios, printers and business continually strived for new and exciting subjects to satisfy a public which was anxious for innovative items in order to impress their acquaintances.
To make their cards stand out, people often sought for real photographic postcards. As opposed to mass-produced lithographs, these were actual photographs made with a postcard-printed back. The photography studios frequently employed women to hand-tint and color the black-and-white images. Some of the best of these cards came from Germany...famous for its detailed and colorful lithography. Popular subjects included women, children, flowers and couples, posed and arranged in an effort to portray the idealized virtues of the Era.
Indeed, it was in England that the first commercial-type valentine was produced on embossed paper, later perforated to make a lace-type design. Some of these cards contained tiny mirrors with the message: "Look at my Beloved," while others were called "Cobweb Valentines" because the center could be lifted by a tassel to reveal a cobweb effect of paper and underneath, a picture of a couple or a romantic message.
Although pre-Victorian valentines are virtually unavailable today, but cards have survived over a century due chiefly to the fact that they began to be mass-produced around 1850. However, the majority of early Victorian valentines were customarily made by hand from honeycombed tissue, watercolors, paper puffs, colored inks, embossed paper hearts and exquisite lace. These were truly beautifully-created small works of art, often adorned with silk or satin (in addition) to lace, flowers or feathers and even gold leaf. Such fragile honeycomb designs remained the vogue until around 1909.
Some of the most unusual valentines were fashioned by lonely sailors during this time...unique cards sporting seashells of various sizes employed to create hearts, flowers and other designs, or to cover heart-shaped boxes. Sailors also sent what were known as "Busk Valentines," rounded long sticks fashioned from ivory or wood, somewhat resembling a tongue depressor but approximately five time longer. Upon these sticks, the sailor would carve hearts and other loving designs. The "Busk Valentine" was worn by the sailor's sweetheart inside her corset. It was not unusual for a manufactured valentine of this era to cost as much as a month's earnings, particularly the "proposal valentines" which were very popular and might contain the depiction of a church or a ring. In keeping with Victorian etiquette, it was considered improper for a lady to send a valentine greeting to a man.
Sir Francis Walsingham – Spymaster for Queen Elizabeth 1
Sir Francis Walsingham was one of England's greatest icons and is recognised worldwide as the greatest Spymaster of the 16th Century. I thought it would be interesting to write the story of this famous icon from his birth in 1532.
Francis Walsingham was born at the Walsingham family seat, Scadbury park near Chislehurst, Kent to William Walsingham and Joyce Denny. His father died the following year, and later, his mother married Sir John Carey a relative by marriage of Queen Anne Boleyn.
Walsingham was Principal Secretary to Elizabeth 1st of England from 1573 till 1590, and is popularly remembered as her “Spymaster”. Walsingham is frequently cited as one of the earliest practitioners of modern intelligence methods both for espionage and for domestic security. He oversaw operations which penetrated the heart of Spanish military preparation, gathered intelligence from across Europe, and disrupted a range of plots against the queen, securing the execution of Mary Queen of Scots.
Walsingham studied at Kings College, Cambridge from 1548 with many Protestants but as an undergraduate of high social status he did not sit for a degree. In 1550, he travelled abroad, returning two years later to enroll at Gray's Inn. Upon the death of Edward VI and accession of Catholic Queen Mary, he fled to continue his studies as a law student at the University of Padua. Between April 1556 and November 1558, he visited Switzerland and cultivated contacts among the leading Protestant statesmen on the continent.
When Elizabeth I ascended to the throne in 1558, Walsingham returned to England and, through the support of Sir William Cecil, was elected to the House of Commons for Banbury in 1559 and then Lyme Regis in 1563.
After his return, Walsingham was appointed joint principal secretary ("of state": the phrase was not used at this time in England) with Sir thomas Smith, succeeding Sir William Cecil. Smith retired unexpectedly in 1576, leaving Walsingham in sole charge.
Elizabeth called him her "Moor", perhaps due to his complexion or a preference for sombre clothes. She put up with his blunt, often unwelcome, advice because she valued his competence and industry, his passion for her security, and his grasp of foreign affairs.
On 1 December 1577, Walsingham received a knoghthood. He spent the years between 1574 and 1578 consolidating his control of the routine business of the English state, foreign and domestic. This included the substantial rebuilding of Dover Harbour and the coordination of support for Martin Frobisher's attempts to discover the north west passage and exploit the mineral resources of Labrador. Walsingham was among the foremost promoters of the career of Sir Francis Drake and was a major shareholder in his 1578–1581 circumnavigation of the world. Walsingham's participation in this venture was calculated to promote the Protestant interest by provoking the Spanish and demonstrating the vulnerability of their Pacific possessions.
He was sent on special embassies to the Netherlands in 1578, and again in 1581 to the French Court, suggesting both the Queen's high confidence in his abilities, and also that she knew how to exploit his standing as a committed Protestant statesman to threaten the Catholic powers.
Between 1578 and 1581, Walsingham was at the forefront of debate on the attempt by a group at court to encourage the Queen to marry the Duke of Anjou, heir to the French throne. Walsingham passionately opposed the marriage, perhaps to the point of encouraging public opposition. Walsingham canvassed the variety of consequences of a Catholic French consort of a Queen now past the age of childbearing, and with no clear successor. He believed that it would serve England better to seek a military alliance with France against Spanish interests,and the debates in council raged around the viability of an independent England against the increasing threat posed by Spain, and by the forces of international Catholicism which were undermining the unity of the French state.
Walsingham advocated direct English intervention in the Low Countries, and eventually, after the deaths of both Anjou and William of Orange in 1584, English military intervention was agreed at the Treaty of Nonsuch in 1585.
Espionage
In the realm of counter-espionage, Walsingham was behind the discovery of the Throckmorton and Babington Plots to overthrow Elizabeth I, return England to Catholicism and place Mary, Queen of Scots, on the throne.
In November 1583, after months of surveillance, Walsingham had Throckmorton arrested. He extracted, under torture, Throckmorton's confession — an admission that he had plotted against Elizabeth with the Spanish ambassador, Bernardino de Mendoza and others. The plot, which may not have been known to Mary, called for a two-pronged invasion of England and Scotland along with a domestic uprising. Throckmorton was executed in 1584, and Mendoza was expelled from England.
Although Mary was not prosecuted, Walsingham became so concerned about her influence that he was determined to hold her responsible for any further conspiracies.
Babington's Plot was the result of that determination. Walsingham drew deeply on his spies among the English Catholic community, and abroad, on whose divisions he was adept at playing. The uncovery of the Babington plot, which is unusually well documented, is a compelling piece of counter-espionage, and stretched the policing resources of the Elizabethan state to the limits, with Walsingham's private secretaries carrying out surveillance in person. This led to Mary's execution in 1587, for which Walsingham had worked since before his advent to power. He was an active participant at her trial. He briefly experienced his share of the Queen's displeasure after the execution of Mary, which the queen claimed not to have sanctioned, due to Elizabeth's desire to distance herself from this action.
Prior to the attack of the Spanish Armada, he received a large number of dispatches from his agents from mercantile communities and foreign courts. Walsingham's recruitment of Anthony Standen in particular represented an intelligence triumph, and Standen's dispatches were deeply revealing. However the close security enforced by Philip II meant that Walsingham remained in the dark about the Spanish strategy and the planned destination of the Armada. This, plus his naturally bold spirit, lay behind his encouragement of the more aggressive strategies advocated by Drake in particular. The Cadiz raid in 1587 wrought havoc on Spanish logistics, and Walsingham would have repeated this the following year if more cautious counsels had not prevailed.
In foreign intelligence, the full range of Walsingham's network of "intelligencers" (of news as well as secrets) may never be known, but it was substantial. While foreign intelligence was part of the principal secretary's duties, Walsingham brought to it flair and ambition, and large sums of his own money. He also cast his net more widely than others had done hitherto, exploiting the insight into Spanish policy offered at the Italian courts; cultivating contacts in Constantinople and Aleppo, building complex connections with the Catholic exiles.
Among his minor spies may have been the playwright Christopher Marlowe, who seems to have been one of a stream of false converts whom Walsingham planted in foreign seminaries for gathering intelligence and insinuating counter-intelligence (citation needed). A more central figure was the cryptographer Thomas Phelippes, expert in deciphering letters, creating false handwriting and breaking and repairing seals without detection.
Walsingham was one of the small coterie who directed the Elizabethan state, overseeing foreign, domestic and religious policy. He worked to bring Scotland and England together. Overall, his foreign policy demonstrated a new understanding of the role of England as a maritime and Protestant power in an increasingly global economy. He was an innovator in exploration, colonization and the use of England's potential maritime power. He is also a convincing prototype of the modern bureaucrat.
Francis Walsingham died on 6 April 1590, leaving great debts, in part arising from his having underwritten the debts of his son-in-law and colleague, Sir Phillip Sidney. But the true state of his finances is undocumented and may have been less dismal than regularly alleged, and he pursued the Sidney estate for recompense, and had carried out major land transactions in his later years.
MI6 and "C" – First Head of MI6 from 1911
I have decided to create this article about the first head of MI6 as he's one of the Icons of Britain.
Sir George Mansfield Smith-Cumming (1 April 1859 – 14 June 1923) was the first director of what would become the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), also known as MI6. In this role he was particularly successful in building a post-imperial intelligence service.
Born into a middle-class family, Smith attended the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth and, upon graduation, was commissioned a sub-lieutenant. He was posted to the HMS Bellerophon in 1878 and for the next seven years saw sea duty in the East Indies. However he increasingly suffered from severe seasickness, and in 1885 was placed on the retired list as "unfit for service".
He was recalled to duty into the foreign section of Naval Intelligence in 1898 and undertook many missions. He would travel through eastern Germany and the Balkans pretending to be a German businessman, even though he didn't speak any German. His work was so successful that he was recruited to the Secret Service Bureau as the director of the foreign section. During this period he married the extremely rich May Cumming, and as part of the marriage changed his name to Smith-Cumming.
In 1911 Cumming's became the new head of the Foreign Section, responsible for all operations outside Britain. Over the next few years he became known as 'C', after his habit of initialing papers he had read with a C written in green ink. This habit became a custom for later directors, although the C now stands for "Chief". Ian Fleming took these aspects for his "M", Sir Miles Messervy - using Cumming's other initial for the name and having M always write in green ink.
In 1914, he was involved in a serious road accident in France, in which his son was killed. Legend has it that in order to escape the car wreck he was forced to amputate his leg using a pen knife. Hospital records have shown however that while both his legs were broken, his left foot was only amputated the day after the accident. Later he often told all sorts of fantastic stories as to how he lost his leg, and would shock people by interrupting meetings in his office by suddenly stabbing his artificial leg with a knife, letter opener or fountain pen
Budgets were severely limited prior to World War 1 and Smith-Cumming came to rely heavily on Sidney Reiley (aka the Ace of Spies), a secret agent of dubious veracity based in Saint Petersburg. He described pre-1914 espionage as ‘capital sport', but was given few resources with which to pursue it. His early operations were directed almost entirely against Germany. Between 1909 and 1914 he recruited part-time ‘casual agents' in the shipping and arms business to keep track of naval construction in German shipyards and acquire other technical intelligence. He also had agents collecting German intelligence in Brussels, Rotterdam and St. Petersburg.
At the outbreak of war he was able to work with Vernon Kell and Sir Basil Thomson of the Special Branch to arrest twenty-two German spies in England. Eleven were executed, as was Sir Roger casement found guilty of treason in 1916. During the war, the offices were renamed: the Home Section became MI5 or Security service, while Smith-Cumming's Foreign Section became MI6 or the Secret Intelligence Service. Agents who worked for MI6 during the war included Augustus agar, Paul Dukes, John Buchan, Compton Mackenzie and W. Somerset Maugham. When SSB discovered that Lemon Juice made a good invisible ink his agents adopted the motto "Every man his own stylo".
With the outbreak of the First World War, Cumming's control of strategic intelligence gathering as head of the wartime MI1c was challenged by two rival networks run by general headquarters. Cumming eventually out-performed his rivals. His most important wartime network, 'La Dame Blanche', had by January 1918 over 400 agents reporting on German troop movements from occupied Belgium and northern France. Cumming was less successful in post-revolutionary Russia. Despite a series of colourful exploits, his agents obtained little Russian intelligence of value.
Secret Service budgets were once again severely cut after the end of WWI, and MI6 stations in Madrid, Lisbon, Zurich and Luxembourg were closed. Cumming succeeded, however, in gaining a monopoly of espionage and counter-intelligence outside Britain and the empire. He also established a network of SIS station commanders operating overseas under diplomatic cover.
To the end of his life Cumming retained an infectious, if sometimes eccentric, enthusiasm for the tradecraft and mystification of espionage, experimenting personally with disguises, mechanical gadgets, and secret inks in his own laboratory.
P.M. Mrs Margaret Thatcher – The Iron lady
In the last 100 years there have been two Great British Prime Minister's of the 20th. Century, Churchill is one of them and the other is Mrs. Thatcher. Margaret Hilda Roberts was born October 13, 1925. Home was, Margaret recalled, "practical, serious and intensely religious." During the 1970's the economy of Britain was dominated by the unions and a ridiculous tax rate of 90%.
When Mrs. Thatcher was elected in 1979 she inherited an economy and country which was in hock to the IMF, where inflation was 30%, where there was Power Cuts, Where Strikes had caused overflowing Rubbish Bins and where bodies were piled high and unburied in hospital Morturies.
The similarities to today is stark, where the British economy in 2010 is overdrawn by 155 Billion Pounds caused by Gordon Brown the ex Labour PM changing the Rules on oversight of the Banks from the Bank of England to the Financial Services Authority (FSA) which was so incompetent it missed all the warnings.
What the new government of 1979 had to do was cut back on spending and introduce new laws to curb the unions. One of the best bits of legislation was to outlaw Unions sending striking pickets to other strike actions by other unions and to maximise the number of strikers on a picket line to six. This allowed non strikers to go to work unmolested in law.
Because of the needed cuts the Tory party was quite low in the opinion polls in early 1982 when the dictatorship of Argentina decided to invade the Falkland Islands. This caused the Royal Navy to send a task force to recapture the Falklands and rescue the inhabitants. When the Islands had been retaken it was found that the Argentinians had changed the road signs and traffic flow from the Left to the Right side of the roads. Also, the Argentinians had raided the homes of the local inhabitants and stole goods and food and also killed some 3 Civilian's.
The Falkland Islands are a group of islands 300 miles east of Argentina. The two main islands are East Falkland and West Falkland. There are about 200 smaller islands that together form a total land area of approximately 4,700 square miles. The capital is Port Stanley. The Falkland Islands include the British territories of South Georgia, the South Sandwich Islands and the Shag and Clerke rocks. The population of the islands in 2010 was about 3,000.
On June 20th the British formally declared an end to hostilities and established a Falkland Islands Protection Zone of 150 miles. This undeclared war lasted 72 days and claimed nearly 1000 casualties. The British took about 10,000 Argentine prisoners during the undeclared war while Argentina lost 655 men who were killed while Britain lost 236. Argentina's defeat discredited the military government and led to the return of democracy in Argentina in 1983.
Mrs. Thatcher was elected in 1979, 1983 and 1987 and ushered in a decade of painful reform, privatization, deregulation and tax cutting. At first inflation and unemployment rocketed, some businesses crumbled. But—"the lady's not for turning"—the prime minister brazened it out over three historic terms of office, wrenching the economy back off its knees. At least one widely popular measure was the sale of council houses, allowing by 1982 a half-million people to become homeowners (and possibly Tory voters) for the first time.
Less spectacular but truly far-reaching was Mrs. Thatcher's role in bringing about the end of the Cold War and contributing to the demise of communism in Central and Eastern Europe. As an individualist and free market advocate, she had an innate and frequently voiced distrust of communism. In Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, however, she found a man she "could do business with," and she helped to persuade President Ronald Reagan away from "evil Empire" rhetoric to do the same. The chemistry between Reagan and Thatcher made their alliance a high point of the special relationship between Britain and the United States in the 20th century. "She was warm, feminine, gracious and intelligent and it was evident from our first words that we were soul mates when it came to reducing government and expanding economic freedom," Reagan remarked.
She badly misjudged when she introduced the notorious poll tax despite advice against it; she openly clashed with her chancellor over monetary policy and with her foreign secretary on European policy. Both resigned, precipitating a party leadership battle, which concluded in Thatcher's resignation on November 28, 1990. She was cast back outside. For once the tears were public as she left 10 Downing St.
Elevated to the House of Lords, she styled herself Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven in honor of her roots. She set up the Margaret Thatcher Foundation to continue to promote her ideas and undertook lecture tours; she was particularly gratified by her welcome in the United States, "the seat of radical modern conservative thinking and almost my second home."
Mrs. Thatcher was Prime Minister for 11 years, six months and 24 days (1979-90)
After a series of small strokes, doctors advised her in 2002 against public speaking.
In 2003 Denis, her constant companion, died; they had been married 52 years. More than any political knocks, it was a devastating loss.
In future history books she will be remembered for her invention of Privatization and Thatcherism and also Sticking to her ideals and her down to earth honesty.
British Knighthoods – Iconic History
British Knighthoods are recognised worldwide as one of the most romantic and chivalrous awards. Since the dawn of English History England has had Knights like King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table. The British honour's system is a means of rewarding individuals' personal bravery, achievement, or service to the United Kingdom.
Although the Anglo Saxon Monarchs are known to have rewarded their loyal subjects with rings and other symbols of favour, it was the Norman's who introduced Knighthoods as part of their feudal government. The first English order of chivalry, the Order of The Garter was created in 1348 by King Edward III. Since then the system has evolved to address the changing need to recognise other forms of service to the United Kingdom.
The system consists of three types of award: Honours, Decorations and Medals:
Honours are used to recognise merit in terms of achievement and service.
Decorations tend to be used to recognise specific deeds.
Medals are used to recognise bravery, long and/or valuable service and/or good conduct.
Current orders of Chivalry
The Most Noble Order of The Garter which was Established in 1348 by King Edward III.
The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of The Thistle which was Established in 1687 by King King James II.
The Most Honourable Order of The Bath which was Established in 1725 by King George I.
The Most Distinguished Order Of Saint Michael and Saint George was Established in 1818 by the Prince Regent.
The Distinguished Service Order was Established in 1886 by Queen Victoria.
The Royal Victorian Order was Established in 1896 by Queen Victoria.
The Order of merit was Established in 1902 by the King Edward VII.
The Imperial Service Order was Established in 1902 by King Edward VII.
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire was Established in 1917 by King George V.
The Order of the Companions of Honour was Established in 1886 by the Queen Victoria.
There are five ranks of hereditary peerage's: Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount and Baron. Until the mid 20th century, peerages were usually hereditary (bar legal peerages - see below) and, until the end of the 20th century, English, British and UK peerages (except, until very recent times, those for the time being held by women) carried the right to a seat in the House of Lords.
Hereditary peerages are now normally only given to members of the Royal Family. The most recent was the grant to the Queen's youngest son, the Earl of Wessex, on his marriage in 1999. No hereditary peerages were granted to commoners after the Labour Party came to power in 1964.
Margaret Thatcher tentatively reintroduced them by two grants to men with no sons in 1983, respectively the Speaker of the House of Commons George Thomas and the former Deputy Prime Minister William Whitelaw. Both these titles died with their holders. She followed this with an Earldom in 1984 for the former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan not long before his death, reviving a traditional honour for former Prime Ministers. Macmillan's grandson succeeded him on his death in 1986.
No hereditary peerages have been created since 1986 and Mrs. Thatcher's own title is a life peerage (see further explanation below). The concession of a baronetcy (i.e. hereditary knighthood), was granted to Margaret Thatcher's husband Denis following her resignation
Orders were created for particular reasons at particular times. In some cases these reasons have ceased to have any validity and orders have fallen into abeyance, primarily due to the decline of the British Empire during the twentieth century. Reforms of the system have sometimes made other changes. For example the British Empire Medal ceased to be awarded in the UK in 1993, as was the companion level award of the Imperial Service Order (although its medal is still used).
Women's Auxiliary Air force – History 1939 - 1949
During the war the women of Britain joined many organisations and various armed services, wheras before the war women had not been able to join the sevices. One of the Corps especially created for women was the "Women's Auxilliary Air Force". The Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) was formed in June 1939. The main reason for this service was to release men for combat posts.
A Womens Royal Air Force had existed from 1918 to 1920. The WAAF was created on 28th June 1939, absorbing the forty-eight RAF companies of the Auxillary Territorial Service which had been formed since 1938. Conscription of women did not begin until 1941. It only applied to those between 20 and 30 years of age and they had the choice of the auxiliary services or factory work.
Women were accepted between the ages of 17 and 44. By the year 1943 there were 180,000 women in the WAAF. The work done by the WAAF covered virtually every activity carried out by men including Intelligence Operations.
WAAFs did not serve as aircrew. The use of women pilots was limited to the Air Transport Axillary (ATA - which was civilian) which delivered aircraft to the various RAF bases. Neither did they participate in active combat, though they were exposed to the same dangers as any on the "home front" working at military installations.
WAAF's were also active in the following:
Parachute Packing
Manning of The Barrage Balloons
All types of Catering
Communications duties including wireless Telephonic and Telegraphic operations.
Intelligence Operations using Codes and Ciphers
Analysis of reconnaissance photographs Operation Rooms controlling Radar, Aircraft and Plotters.
Nurses belonged to Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service
Medical and Dental officers were commissioned into the Royal Air Force and held RAF ranks.
Alas, WAAFs were paid two-thirds of the pay of male counterparts in RAF ranks.
By the end of World War II, WAAF enrollment had declined and the effect of demobilisation was to take thousands out of the service. The remainder, now only several hundred strong, was renamed the Womens Royal Air Force on 1st February 1949.
Nursing Orderlies of the WAAF flew on RAF transport planes to evacuate the wounded from the Normandy battlefields. They were dubbed Flying Nightingales by the press. The RAF Air Ambulance Unit flew under 46 Group Transport Command from RAF Down Ampney, RAF Broadwell and RAF Blakehill Farm. RAF Dakota aircraft carried military supplies and ammunition so could not display the Red Cross.
Training for air ambulance nursing duties included instruction in the use of oxygen, injections, learning how to deal with certain types of injuries such as broken bones, missing limb cases, head injuries, burns and colostomies; and to learn the effects of air travel and altitude.
In October 2008 the seven nurses still living were presented with lifetime achievement awards by the Duchess of Cornwall.
Women's Land Army – History 1939 – 1950
During the war the women of Britain joined many organisations and the various armed forces, wheras before the war women had not been able to join the sevices. One of the Corps especially created for women was the "Women's Land Army" where 80,000 women were enrolled to work on Farms all over the UK. The "Women's Land Army" (WLA) was a civilian organisation created during the First and Second World Wars to work in agriculture replacing men called up to the military. Women who worked for the WLA were commonly known as "Land Girls".
The Women's Land Army was often referred to as "The Forgotten Army" and was actually originally formed in 1917 by Roland Prothero who was the then Minister for Agriculture.
The Board of Agriculture organised the Land Army during the Great War, starting activities in 1915. Towards the end of 1917 there were over 250,000 - 260,000 women working as farm labourers. 20,000 in the land army itself.
With 6 million men away to fight in the First World War we in Britain were struggling to find enough workforce. The government wanted women to get more involved in the production of food and do their part to support the war effort. This was the beginning of the Women’s Land Army. Many traditional farmers were against this, so the board of trade sent agricultural organisers to speak with farmers to encourage them to accept women’s work on the farms.
The First World War had seen food supplies dwindle and saw the creation of the Women's Land Army (WLA).
The WLA was reformed in June 1939 first asking for volunteers and later by conscription with numbers totalling 80,000 by 1944.
The women were called “Land Girls”, as they were affectionately known, replaced the men who had answered the call to war. They wore the same uniform as the “Women Timber Corps” ( Except with a different badge on their Beret's) and their living conditions were frequently primitive and for girls who had worked in shops, offices, hairdressing salons and restaurants, the work was pretty tiring.
The Women's Land Army was made up of girls from every walk of life. Posters of smiling girls bathing in glorious sunshine and open fields covered the fact that the WLA often presented raw recruits (many from industrial towns) with gruelling hard work and monotony. The majority of the Land Girls already lived in the countryside but more than a third came from London and the industrial cities of the north of England.
Homesickness was common as many of the girls had never been away from their parents for long periods. This was particularly true of girls that stayed in private billets. The girls that stayed in local hostels often told a different story and were more settled as they were grouped together. However despite all this there was a great sense of friendship amongst the girls.
The WLA lasted until its official disbandment on October 21, 1950. Looking back over the last 70 years it is always surprising how many stories there is still to tell concerning the British Struggle during the second world war and how the war affected every day life and person in the country. My generation who were born in the1950's and 1960's owe our parants and grandparants generation for todays freedoms and our grateful thanks.
Women's Timber Corps – 1942 History
During the war many women of Britain joined many organisations and the various armed forces, wheras before the war women had not been able to join the sevices. One of the Corps especially created for women was the "Women's Timber Corps" where 4,900 women were enrolled to felling, snedding, loading, crosscutting, driving tractors, trucks, working with horses, measuring and operating sawmills and manage forests all over the UK.
Originally the Women’s Timber Service had been set up during the first world war, but in April 1942 the Ministry of Supply (Home Grown Timber Department) inaugurated a new venture – the "Women's Timber Corps" (WTC), in England. The Scots quickly followed in May 1942, forming their own Women’s Timber Corps which was a part of the Women’s Land Army of Scotland. This was a new unit with its own identity and uniform.
Today if you talked of the Women's Timber Corps the most likely response is "Never heard of them". Yet their story is fascinating. The Women's Timber Corps replaced men in the forests and helped to produce timber vital to the war effort. These women were called “Lumber Jills” as they were affectionately known, who replaced the men who had answered the call to war. They wore the same uniform as the women Land army ( With a different badge on their Beret's) and their living conditions were frequently primitive and for girls who had worked in shops, offices, hairdressing salons and restaurants, the hardship was daunting.
Worst of all was the extreme physical effort required to lay-in, fell and cross-cut the timber; but the girls of the WTC set to with determination to produce pit-props for the mines, telegraph poles for communications, gun-stocks for the troops and even coffins for the casualties of war. There are tales of the social and practical aspects of living in crowded huts, as well as the more technical details of working with axe and saw. Training centres were set up throughout the UK.
The Women’s Timber Corps was disbanded in August 1946, with each girl handing back her uniform and receiving a letter from Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, who was then the patron of the WTC.
Looking back over the last 70 years it is always surprising how many stories there is still to tell concerning the British Struggle during the second world war and how the war affected every day life and person in the country. My generation who were born in the1950's and 1960's owe our parants and grandparants generation for todays freedom with our grateful thanks.
Stainless Steel – It's English Discovery 1912
I thought as Stainless Steel was discovered here in England, by Harry Brearley, I thought it would be interesting write It's history. Brearley was born in Sheffield, England in 1871. His life had humble beginnings as the son of a steel melter. He left school at the age of twelve to enter his first employment as a labourer in one of the city's steelworks, being transferred soon afterwards to the post of general assistant in the company's chemical laboratory.
For several years, in addition to his laboratory work, he studied at home and later in formal evening classes, to specialize in steel production techniques and associated chemical analysis methods.
By his early thirties, Brearley had earned a reputation as an experienced professional and for being very astute in the resolution of practical, industrial, metallurgical problems. It was in 1908, when two of Sheffield's principal steel making companies innovatively agreed to jointly finance a common research laboratory (Brown Firth Laboratories) that Harry Brearley was asked to lead the project.
In 1912, Harry Brearley of the Brown-Firth research laboratory in Sheffield, England while seeking a corrosion-resistant alloy for gun barrels, discovered and subsequently industrialized a martensitic stainless steel alloy. The metal was later marketed under the "Staybrite" brand by Firth Vickers in England and was used for the new entrance canopy for the Savoy Hotel in London in 1929.
Brearley died in 1948, at Torquay, a coastal resort town in Devon, south west England. He is buried at Sheffield Cathedral.
It was probably Harry Brearley’s upbringing in Sheffield, a city famous for the manufacture of cutler since the 16th century, which led him to appreciate the potential of these new steels for applications not only in high temperature service, as originally envisioned, but also in the mass production of food-related applications such as cutlery, saucepans and processing equipment etc. Up to that time carbon steel knives were prone to unhygienic rusting if they were not frequently polished and only expensive sterling silver or EPNS cutlery was generally available to avoid such problems. With this in mind Brearley extended his examinations to include tests with food acids such as vinegar and lemon juice, with very promising results.
Brearley initially called the new alloy "rustless steel"; the more euphoric "stainless steel" was suggested by Ernest Stuart of R.F. Mosley's, a local cutlery manufacturer, and eventually prevailed. It is reported that the first true stainless steel, a 0.24wt% C, 12.8wt% Cr ferrous alloy, was produced by Brearley in an electric furnace on August 13, 1913.
The well told story is that Brearley noticed in his sample bin one of his pieces which had not shown signs of rusting after being exposed to air and water. This was further examined and analysed, a new steel, which he called "rustless steel", was born, the first commercial cast coming from the furnaces in 1913. Its name was changed to the more euphonic “Stainless Steel” following a suggestion from Ernest Stuart of R.F. Moseley's, a local cutlery maker, and this eventually prevailed.
He was subsequently awarded the iron and steel institutes's Bessemer Gold Medal in 1920.
Virtually all research projects into the further development of stainless steels were interrupted by the 1914-18 War, but efforts were renewed in the 1920s. Harry Brearley had left the Brown Firth Laboratories in 1915, following disagreements regarding patent rights,
The research continued under the direction of his successor, Dr. W.H. Hatfield. It is Hatfield who is credited with the development, in 1924, of a stainless steel which even today is probably the widest-used alloy of this type, the so-called "18/8", which in addition to chromium, includes nickel (Ni) in its composition.
Tower Bridge – London Icon
I have decided to create this article about "Tower Bridge" as it's one of the Icons of London.
In the second half of the 19th century, increased commercial development in the East End of London led to a requirement for a new river crossing downstream of London Bridge. A traditional fixed bridge could not be built because it would cut off access to the port facilities in the Pool of London between London Bridge and the Tower of London.
A Special Bridge or Subway Committee was formed in 1876, chaired by Sir Albert Joseph Altman, to find a solution to the river crossing problem. It opened the design of the crossing to public competition. Over 50 designs were submitted, including one from civil engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette. The evaluation of the designs was surrounded by controversy, and it was not until 1884 that a design submitted by Horace Jones the City Architect (who was also one of the judges), was approved.
Jones' engineer, Sir John Wolfe Barry devised the idea of a bascule bridge with two towers built on piers. The central span was split into two equal bascules or leaves, which could be raised to allow river traffic to pass. The two side-spans were suspension bridges, with the suspension rods anchored both at the abutments and through rods contained within the bridge's upper walkways.
During it's building, two piers were sunk into the river bed to support the weight of the bridge. A massive 11,000 tons of steel used then for the walkways and towers. A layer of Cornish granite and Portland stone were used as a covering, to protect the steelwork and to make it look nicer to the eye.
Still in use today the bridge is still opened for river traffic many times in a week. It is said the bridge carries 1,900 vehicles per hour between 7am and 10am during London rush hour. 140 feet above the Thames you can look down and around the tower and see the original steam engines used to lift the huge bridge until 1976.
Historic Dates worthy of note
· 1910 - the high-level walkways were closed down due to lack of use.
· 1912 - Frank McClean flew between the bascules and the high-level walkways in an emergency. Quite a spectacle for onlookers and the bi-plane pilot.
· 1952 - a London bus leapt between the opening bascules to avoid plunging into the river as the bridge opened with the bus still on it.
· 1977 - for the Queen's Silver Jubilee Tower Bridge was painted red, white and blue.
Tower bridge was completed and opened in the year 1894. It was opened by Edward 7th when he was Prince of Wales. It took 8 years in it's construction, using 5 major contractors and over 400 labourers. When it was completed and as it stands still today, it is one of London's most famous landmarks, its designers, John Wolfe Barry and Sir Horace Jones can be proud of a splendid piece of engineering.
William Shakespeare – British Playright Icon
William Shakespeare is one of Britain's greatest icons and is recognised worldwide. I thought it would be interesting to write the history of this famous icon from his early cloudy beginnings.
William Shakespeare was born to John Shakespeare and mother Mary Arden some time in late April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. There is no record of his birth, but his baptism was recorded by the church, thus his birthday is assumed to be the 23rd of April. His father, John Shakespeare, was a whittawer by profession and held several important town offices. His father was also a prominent and prosperous alderman in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon, and was later granted a coat of arms by the College of Heralds.
His mother, Mary Arden, was from a fairly wealthy family.
In all the Shakespeares had eight children, and William was their first son.
All that is known of Shakespeare's youth is that he presumably attended the Stratford Grammar School, and did not proceed to Oxford or Cambridge.
The next record we have of him is his marriage to Anne Hathaway in 1582. The next year she bore a daughter for him, Susanna, followed by the twins Judith and Hamnet two years later.
Seven years later in 1889 Shakespeare is recognized as an actor, poet and playwright, when a rival playwright, Robert Greene, refers to him as "an upstart crow" in A Groatsworth of Wit.
Between 1590 and 1592 no records of Shakespeare were found, and that period of his life is usually referred to as "The Lost Years". Some have speculated that he either became a school teacher, became a butcher's apprentice, or was running from the law during this time.
The first evidence of Shakespeare after 1592 was in London. Here he had established himself as a playwright and actor and had found a sponsor, Henry Wriothsley. However, Shakespeare's work in the theatres came to a halt in January of 1593 when the theatres closed because of the plague. The company that Shakespeare worked for was called "Lord Chamberlain's Men" and changed their name to "The King's Men" after King James I took over in 1603. Because Shakespeare worked and performed for them, this company became the biggest and most famous acting company. Shakespeare became very wealthy as a director, writer, actor, and stockholder in "The King's Men".
In 1596 Hamnet died at the age of eleven.
When, in 1599, the troupe lost the lease of the theatre where they performed, (appropriately called The Theatre) they were wealthy enough to build their own theatre across the Thames, south of London, which they called "The Globe." The new theatre opened in July of 1599, built from the timbers of The Theatre, with the motto "Totus mundus agit histrionem" (A whole world of players) When James I came to the throne (1603) the troupe was designated by the new king as the King's Men (or King's Company). The Letters Patent of the company specifically charged Shakespeare and eight others "freely to use and exercise the art and faculty of playing Comedies, Tragedies, Histories, Inerludes, Morals, Pastorals, stage plays ... as well for recreation of our loving subjects as for our solace and pleasure."
Shakespeare entertained the king and the people for another ten years until June 19th , 1613, when a canon fired from the roof of the theatre for a gala performance of Henry VIII set fire to the thatch roof and burned the theatre to the ground. The audience ignored the smoke from the roof at first, being to absorbed in the play, until the flames caught the walls and the fabric of the curtains. Amazingly there were no casualties, and the next spring the company had the theatre "new builded in a far fairer manner than before." Although Shakespeare invested in the rebuilding, he retired from the stage to the Great House of New Place in Statford that he had purchased in 1597, and some considerable land holdings where he continued to write until his death in 1616 on the day of his 52nd birthday.
· 1556 - Anne Hathaway is born.
· 1564 - Shakespeare's baptism is recorded in the parish church of Stratford-upon-Avon dated April 26, 1564. The usual delay between birth and baptism was 3-4 days, making the date of birth most likely April 22 or 23. Since Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616, and the engraving on his monument lists him as aged 53, it is assumed he was born on April 23. At least, that is how scholars in the absence of any other information have been willing to leave it. April 23 is also St. George's day, an appropriate day for the birth of the national poet. (94 miles from London.)
· 1582 - Marries Anne Hathaway on November 27. Worcester was 21 miles west of Stratford, and the consistory court there the place where a marriage license, issued to a local parish priest, might be obtained. Whitgift's register for the date November 27nd , 1582 indicates the issuance of a license for marriage between William Shaxpere and Anne Whateley of Temple Grafton. At the time, Shakespeare would have been 18 years old.
· 1583 - Susanna Shakespeare is born.
· 1585 - The twins Judith and Hamnet Shakespeare are born.
· 1592 - After leaving Stratford for London, William was recognized as a successful actor, as well as a leading poet. He was a member of 'The Chamberlain's Men'.
· 1596 - Hamnet dies at the age of eleven. Shakespeare becomes a "gentleman" when the College of Heralds grants his father a coat of arms.
· 1597- He bought a large house called "The Great House of New Place".
· 1599 - The 'Globe Theater' is built from the pieces of 'The Theater' in July.
· 1603 - 'The Lord Chamberlain's Men' became 'The King's Men' on May 19.
· 1613 - The 'Globe Theatre' burns during a performance of Henry VII when a canon fired on the roof sets fire to the straw thatch. The theatre is rebuilt, but Shakespeare retires.
· 1616 - April 23, in Stratford, on his 52nd birthday he died.
In 1611 Shakespeare retired and left London. He made a will on March 25, 1616, and died on April 23, 1616. He was fifty two years old. The cause of Shakespeare's death is not known. Shakespeare also wrote his own epitaph because during his time, when the graveyard was full, people would dig up someone's corpse and burn it so that another could be buried in that person's place. This disgusted Shakespeare, and he didn't want this type of disrespect after his death. His epitaph reads as follows:
"Good Friends, for Jesus' sake forbear,
To dig the bones enclosed here!
Blest be the man that spares these stones,
And curst be he that moves my bones."
To this day no one has disturbed Shakespeare's grave.
The Globe Theatre – London Icon
I have created this article about The Globe Theatre as it's one of the newly re-built Icons of London.
The Globe Theatreis a reconstruction of the open air playhouse originally designed in 1599. The theatre was in London and associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company and the Lord Chamberlain's Men.
The Globe was owned by actors who were also shareholders. Two of the six Globe shareholders, Richard Burbage and his brother Cuthbert Burbage owned double shares of the whole, or 25% each; the other four men, Shakespeare, John Hemmings, Augustine Phillips and Thomas Pope owned a single share, or 12.5%. (Originally William Kempe was intended to be the seventh partner, but he sold out his share to the four minority shareholders leaving them with more than the originally planned 10%). These initial proportions changed over time as new sharers were added. Shakespeare's share diminished from 1/8 to 1/14, or roughly 7%, over the course of his career.
The Globe was built in 1599 using timber from an earlier theatre which had been built by Richard Burbage's father, James Burbage in Shoreditch in 1576. The Burbages originally had a 21-year lease of the site on which The Theatre was built but owned the building outright. However, the landlord, Giles Allen, claimed that the building had become his with the expiry of the lease. On 28 December 1598, while Allen was celebrating Christmas at his country home, carpenter Peter Street, supported by the players and their friends, dismantled The Theatre beam by beam and transported it to Street's waterfront warehouse near Bridewell. With the onset of more favourable weather in the following spring, the material was ferried over the Thames to reconstruct it as The Globe on some marshy gardens to the south of Maiden Lane, Southwark.
On 29 June 1613 the Globe Theatre went up in flames during a performance of Henry The Eighth. A theatrical cannon, set off during the performance, misfired, igniting the wooden beams and thatching. According to one of the few surviving documents of the event, no one was hurt except a man whose burning breeches were put out with a bottle of ale. It was rebuilt in the following year.
Like all the other theatres in London, the Globe was closed down by the Puritans in 1642. It was pulled down in 1644, or slightly later—the commonly cited document dating the act to 15 April 1644 has been identified as a probable forgery—to make room for tenements.
A modern reconstruction of the Globe, named "Shakespeare Globe", opened in 1997 approximately 230 metres (750 ft) from the site of the original theatre. Open-air performances are held May -September. The Globe Exhibition, situated beneath the theater itself, offers a fascinating glimpse of Elizabethan theater and audiences and the design and reconstruction of the new Globe.
The Globe was owned by actors who were also shareholders in Lord Chamberlain's Men.
Two of the six Globe shareholders, Richard Burbage and his brother CuthbertBurbage, owned double shares of the whole, or 25% each; the other four men, Shakespeare, John Heminges, Augustine Phillips, and Thomas Pope, owned a single share, or 12.5%. (Originally William Kempe was intended to be the seventh partner, but he sold out his share to the four minority sharers, leaving them with more than the originally planned 10%). These initial proportions changed over time as new sharers were added. Shakespeare's share diminished from 1/8 to 1/14, or roughly 7%, over the course of his career.
The Globe was built in 1599 using timber from an earlier theatre, The Theatre, which had been built by Richard Burbage's father, James Burbage, in Shoreditch in 1576. The Burbages originally had a 21-year lease of the site on which The Theatre was built but owned the building outright. However, the landlord, Giles Allen, claimed that the building had become his with the expiry of the lease. On 28 December 1598, while Allen was celebrating Christmas at his country home, carpenter Peter Street, supported by the players and their friends, dismantled The Theatre beam by beam and transported it to Street's waterfront warehouse near Bridewell. With the onset of more favourable weather in the following spring, the material was ferried over the Thames to reconstruct it as The Globe on some marshy gardens to the south of Maiden Lane, Southwark.
On 29 June 1613 the Globe Theatre went up in flames during a performance of Henry the Eighth. A theatrical cannon, set off during the performance, misfired, igniting the wooden beams and thatching. According to one of the few surviving documents of the event, no one was hurt except a man whose burning breeches were put out with a bottle of ale.It was rebuilt in the following year.
Like all the other theatres in London, the Globe was closed down by the Puritans in 1642. It was pulled down in 1644 to make room for tenements.
Portsmouth Football Club ( Pompey )
Portsmouth F.C. was founded in the back garden of 12 High Street, Old Portsmouth on 5th April 1898 with John Brickwood, owner of the local Brickwoods Brewery as chairman and Frank Brettell as the club's first manager. Portsmouth F.C. is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The city and hence the club are nicknamed Pompey and sometimes called 'The Blues', with fans known across Europe. Pompey were early participants in the Southern League, One of their first Goalkeepers Pre -1898 was Arthur Conan Doyle the author of Sherlock Holmes.
The club joined the Southern League in 1898 and their first league match was played at Chatham Town on 2nd September 1899 (a 1–0 victory), followed three days later by the first match at Fratton Park, a friendly against local rivals Southampton, which was won 2–0, with goals from Dan Cunliffe (formerly with Liverpool) and Harold Clarke (formerly with Everton.
That first season was hugely successful, with the club winning 20 out of 28 league matches, earning them the runner-up spot in the league. During 1910-11 saw Portsmouth relegated, but with the recruitment of Robert Brown as manager the team were promoted the following season.
The team play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from the Premier League after the 2009/10 season. Until then, Portsmouth had been a member of the Premier League for seven consecutive seasons.
Portsmouth's debut season in the English First Division was during the 1920's that alas, turned out to be a difficult one. However, despite disappointing league form the club fought off stiff competition to reach the FA Cup final closely losing out to Bolton Wanderers.
Having solidified their position in the top flight, the 1938-1939 season saw Portsmouth again reach the FA Cup final. This time Portsmouth were successful beating Wolves in a convincing 4-1 win. The club had secured their first major trophy.
After the end of World War Two league football began again and Portsmouth quickly proved to the footballing masses that they were a team to be reckoned with, lifting the League title in 1949 season. The club then crowned this achievement by retaining the title the following year 1950 and becoming only one of five English teams to have won back to back championships since World War Two.
Portsmouth was the first club to hold a floodlit Football League match when they played Newcastle in 1956.
Finally under the management of Harry Redknapp Portsmouth were promoted into the Premier League and have held a solid place in the top flight since this date despite coming close to relegation a number of times.
Portsmouth went from strength to strength under the careful management of Harry Redknapp and a much-needed injection of cash. In the 2007-2008 season Portsmouth won the English F.A. Cup and qualified for the UEFA Cup qualification. They had proven themselves as a consistent and strong team.
Alas during the 2009-2010 season they had financial difficulties and were at the root of the Premier League because of there financial difficulties they were deducted 9 points due to going into Administration and subsequently relegated into the Championship league Division. They only bright part of the season was when they reached the F.A.Cup final in 2010 and lost to Chelsea.
Twenty20 Cricket – It's Founder and History
As an Englishman from a country that has created 100+ Sports and Games given to the world and a fan of most sports, I thought I would write about the latest sport given to the world which is proving a great success with the world - Twenty20 Cricket and it's history.
Twenty20 is a form of cricket originally introduced in England for professional inter-county competition by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), in 2003. A Twenty20 game involves two teams, each has a single innings, batting for a maximum of 20 overs. Twenty20 cricket is also known as T20 cricket.
A Twenty20 game is completed in about three and half hours, with each innings lasting around 75 minutes, thus bringing the game closer to the timespan of other popular team sports. It was introduced to create a lively form of the game which would be attractive to spectators at the ground and viewers on television and as such it has been very successful. The ECB did not intend that Twenty20 would replace other forms of cricket and these have continued alongside it.
The idea of a shortened format of the game at a professional level was discussed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 1998 and 2001.
When the Benson and Hedges Cup ended in 2002, the ECB needed another one day competition to fill its place. The cricketing authorities were looking to boost the game's popularity with the younger generation in response to dwindling crowds and reduced sponsorship. It was intended to deliver fast paced, exciting cricket accessible to thousands of fans who were put off by the longer versions of the game. Stuart Robertson, the marketing manager of the ECB, proposed a 20 over per innings game to county chairmen in 2001 and they voted 11-7 in favour of adopting the new format. A media group was invited to develop a name for the new game and Twenty20 was the chosen title. Twenty20 cricket is also known as T20 cricket.
Historical Dates of Twenty20
1) Twenty20 Introduced in England for professional inter-county competition by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), in 2003.
2) On 10th January 2005 Australia's first Twenty20 game was played at the WACA between the Western Warriors and the Victorian Bushrangers. It drew a sell out crowd of 20, 700.
3) Starting 11th July 2006 19 West Indies regional teams competed in what was named the Stanford 20/20 tournament. The event has been financially backed by billionaire Allen Stanford who gave at least US$28,000,000 funding money. West Indies legends also backed the programme, and several "looked after" the teams during their stay in and around the purpose built ground in Antigua. It was intended that the tournament would be an annual event. Guyana won the inaugural event, defeating Trinidad and Tobago by 5 wickets. The top prize for the winning team was US$1,000,000, but other prizes were given throughout the tournament, such as play of the match (US$10,000) and man of the match (US$25,000).
4) On 1st November 2008 the Superstars West Indies team (101-0/12.5 overs) beat England (99/all out) by 10 wickets. England slumped to 33-4 and then 65-8 after 15 overs before Samit Patel's 22 took them to 99 in 19.5 overs, still easily their lowest Twenty20 total. Chris Gayle scored an impressive 65 runs not out.
5) On 5th January 2007 Queenslands Bulls played the New South Wales Blues at The Gabba, Brisbane. A crowd of 11,000 was expected based on pre-match ticket sales. However, an unexpected 16,000 turned up on the day to buy tickets, causing disruption and confusion for surprised Gabba staff as they were forced to throw open gates and grant many fans free entry. Attendance reached 27,653.
6) For 1st February 2008's Twenty20 match between Australia and India, 84,041 people attended the match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground involving the Twenty20 World Champions against the ODI World Champions.
7) Twenty20 attracted billions of fans to the game through the Indian Premier League. The first Indian Premier League which was staged in India in 2008 changed the face of the game. The league involved over hundreds of players contracted and over billion dollars investment. It was won by Rajasthan Royals with the Chennai Super Kings finishing as runners-up.
8) The second edition was staged in South Africa which was won by Deccan Charges beating the Royal Challengers in the final.
9) The third edition was played in India despite the many challenges and controversies surrounding the league which was won by the Chennai Super Kings with Mumbai Indians finishing as the runners-up.
10) On 17th February 2005 Australia defeated New Zealand in the first men's full international Twenty20 match, played at Eden Park in Auckland.
11) The first Twenty20 international in England was played between England and Australia at the Rose Bowl in Hampshire on the 13th June 2005, which England won, by a record margin of 100 runs.
12) On 9th January 2006 Australia and South Africa met in the first international Twenty20 game in Australia. In a first, each player's nickname appeared on the back of his uniform, rather than his surname.
Since its inception the game has spread around the cricket world. On most international tours there is at least one Twenty20 match and most Test-playing nations have a domestic cup competition. The inaugural ICC World Twenty20 was played in South Africa in 2007 with India winning by five runs against Pakistan in the final. Pakistan won the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 defeating Sri Lanka by eight wickets. England won the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 defeating Australia in the final by 7 wickets.
In June 2009, speaking at the annual Cowdrey Lecture at Lord's, a former Australian wicket-keeper pushed for Twenty20 to be made an Olympic Sports. "It would," he said, "be difficult to see a better, quicker or cheaper way of spreading the game throughout the world." Earliest Horse Races – England 12th Century
I thought as English Horse Races are famous worldwide I thought my article on the earliest English horse races would be of interest to horse lovers and readers from all over world. The origins of modern racing lies in the 12th century, when English knights returned from the Crusades with swift Arab horses.
Over the next 400 years, an increasing number of Arab stallions were imported and bred to English mares to produce horses that combined speed and endurance. Matching the fastest of these animals in two-horse races for a private wager became a popular diversion of the nobility.
Horse racing began to become a professional sport during the reign (1702-14) of Queen Anne, when match racing gave way to races involving several horses on which the spectators wagered. Racecourses sprang up all over England, offering increasingly large purses to attract the best horses. These purses in turn made breeding and owning horses for racing profitable.
With the rapid expansion of the sport came the need for a central governing authority. In 1750 racing's elite met at Newmarket to form the English Jockey Club, which to this day exercises complete control over English racing.
The English Jockey Club wrote complete rules of racing and sanctioned racecourses to conduct meetings under those rules. Standards defining the quality of races soon led to the designation of certain races as the ultimate tests of excellence. Since 1814, five races for three-year-old horses have been designated as "classics." Three races, open to male horses (colts) and female horses (fillies), make up the English Triple Crown: the 2,000 Guineas, the Epsom Derby (see DERBY, THE), and the St. Leger Stakes. Two races, open to fillies only, are the 1,000 Guineas and the Epsom Oaks.
The Jockey Club also took steps to regulate the breeding of racehorses. James Weatherby, whose family served as accountants to the members of the Jockey Club, was assigned the task of tracing the pedigree, or complete family history, of every horse racing in England. In 1791 the results of his research were published as the Introduction to the General Stud Book. From 1793 to the present, members of the Weatherby family have meticulously recorded the pedigree of every foal born to those racehorses in subsequent volumes of the General Stud Book.
By the early 1800s the only horses that could be called "Thoroughbreds" and allowed to race were those descended from horses listed in the General Stud Book. Thoroughbreds are so inbred that the pedigree of every single animal can be traced back father-to-father to one of three stallions, called the "foundation sires." These stallions were the Byerley Turk, foaled c.1679; the Darley Arabian, foaled c.1700; and the Godolphin Arabian, foaled c.1724.
Overseas Horse Racing
The British settlers brought horses and horse racing with them to the New World, with the first racetrack laid out on Long Island as early as 1665. Although the sport became a popular local pastime, the development of organized racing did not arrive until after the Civil War. (The American Stud Book was begun in 1868.) For the next several decades, with the rapid rise of an industrial economy, gambling on racehorses, and therefore horse racing itself, grew explosively; by 1890, 314 tracks were operating across the country.
In 1894 the America's most prominent track and stable owners met in New York to form an American Jockey Club, modeled on the English Jockey Club, which soon ruled racing with an iron hand.
The Grand National – England 1839
I thought as The Grand National is an Iconic English Horse race, I thought it would be interesting to fans of English Horse racing to know It's history. The origins of the Grand National can be traced back to the first official races at Aintree which were initiated by the owner of Liverpool's Waterloo Hotel, Mr William Lynn. Lynn who leased the land from Lord Sefton, built a course, built a grandstand and staged the first Grand National on Tuesday February 26th 1839 and Lottery became the first winner of The Grand National. In those days the field had to jump a stone wall (now the water jump), cross a stretch of ploughed land and finished over two hurdles.
The Grand National in the days of the Topham family owned substantial tracts of land around Aintree and had been involved with the management of the course since the early years of the Aintree Meeting. In 1949 Lord Sefton sold the course to the Tophams who appointed ex-Gaiety Girl Mirabel Topham to manage it. Mrs Topham built a new track within the established National Racecourse and named it after Lord Mildmay, a fine amateur jockey and lover of the Grand National. The Mildmay course opened in 1953, the same year as the motor circuit which still encircles the track.
The motor circuit was another of Mrs Topham's ideas and it quickly gained a reputation as one the best in the world hosting a European Grand Prix and five British Grand Prix. Stirling Moss won his first Grand Prix on it in 1955 while Jim Clark won the 1962 event.
Aintree Racecourse suffered some lean times in the post-war years and in 1965 it was announced that the course would be sold to a property developer. In 1973 the Tophams finally sold the course to property developer Bill Davies who gave a commitment to keep the race going however he was not a real racing fan. As a result the attendance at the 1975 Liverpool Grand National was the smallest in living memory (Davies had tripled the admission price) and the great race reached its lowest point.
Ladbrokes, the bookmaker made a bold bid in 1975 and signed an agreement with Davies allowing them to manage the Grand National.
Ladbrokes, like all true racing professionals, had a genuine love for the National and were determined to keep it alive. Their task stretched over the next eight years and they set about it admirably but Davies was reluctant to renew their contract. He was determined to sell Aintree.
Racing and the public in general finally realised that after so many years of "crying wolf" the threat was serious and a huge campaign was launched to rescue the race once and for all.
Donations from the public helped the Jockey Club pay Davies' price and in early '83 he finally sold the racecourse. That year the Grand National was sponsored by the Sun newspaper but in '84 Seagram Distillers stepped in to provide the solid foundation on which Aintree's revival has been built.
The last Seagram-sponsored National was in 1991 when the race was won by a horse which chairman Straker twice had the opportunity to buy; the horse's name was Seagram.
The Seagram subsidiary, Martell, took over sponsorship in 1992. Martell backs the whole three-day Grand National meeting. Around 100,000 people will be at Aintree to watch the top horses battle for honours.
By far the most successful and my favourite horse in Grand National history was Red Rum, the only horse to win three times, in 1973, 1974, and in 1977. He also came second in the two intervening years, 1975 and 1976. In 1973, he beat the champion Crisp who had to carry 12 stone, in what is arguably the most memorable Grand National of all time.
Aintree racecourse has overcome all the obstacles and today enjoys its most successful period in modern times. Future plans include a new grandstand, a Heritage Centre and a strong ambition to establish Aintree as an international tourist attraction on non-racedays.
Below is a list of the Past Winners of the Grand National:
The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race – It's Fun History
I thought it would be of interest to write this article about the history of the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race as It's one of the most famous boat races in the world and is one of England's greatest sporting Icon competition's.
The event generally known as "The Boat Race" is a rowing race in England between the Oxford University Boat Club and the Cambridge University Boat Club. The teams comprised of Eight rowers in each team with a cox in the bow who would control the speed of the boat.
The race is between competing eights, each spring on the Thames in London. It takes place generally on the last Saturday of March or the first Saturday of April.
The formal title of the event is the Xchanging Boat Race, and it is also known as the University Boat Race and the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race.
The event is a popular one, not only with the alumni of the universities, but also with rowers in general and the public. An estimated quarter of a million people watch the race live from the banks of the river, around seven to nine million people on TV in the UK, and an overseas audience estimated by the Boat Race Company at around 120 million, which would make this the most viewed single day sporting event in the world. However, other sources estimate that the international audience is below 20 million.
Members of both teams are traditionally known as blues and each boat as a “Blue Boat” with Cambridge in light blue and Oxford dark blue. The first race was in 1829 and it has been held annually since 1856, with the exception of the two world wars. The most recent race was on Saturday, 3 April 2010 at 4.30pm with Cambridge (on the Middlesex Station) winning.
Cambridge
Although the heavyweight men's eights are the main draw, the two universities compete in other rowing boat races. The main boat race is preceded by a race between the two reserve crews (called Isis for Oxford and Goldie for Cambridge).
The women's eights, women's reserve eights, men's lightweight eights and women's lightweight eights race in the Henley Boat races a week before the men's heavyweight races. There is also a 'veterans' boat race, usually held on a weekday before the main Boat Race, on the Thames between Putney and Hammersmith.
Commonwealth Games – The Friendly Games
The Commonwealth games is a sporting event that appears every 4 years and over 70 countries are represented. The Commonwealth Games are called the friendly games and the atmosphere is completely different to the Olympics. The sporting competition brought together the members of the old British Empire was first proposed by the Reverend Astley Cooper in 1891 when he wrote an article in The Times suggesting a "Pan-Britannic-Pan-Anglican Contest and Festival every four years as a means of increasing the goodwill and good understanding of the British Empire"
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In 1911, the Festival of the Empire was held in come London to celebrate the Coronation of King George V. As part of the festival an Inter-Empire Championships was held in which teams from Australia, Canada, South Africa and the United Kingdom competed in events such as boxing, wrestling, swimming and athletics.
In 1928, a key Canadian athlete, Bobby Robinson, was given the task of organizing the first ever Commonwealth Games. These Games were held in 1930, in the city of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada and saw the participation of 400 athletes from eleven countries.
All other nations march in English alphabetical order, except that the first nation marching in the Parade of Athletes is the host nation of the previous games, and the host nation of the current games marches last. In 2006 countries marched in alphabetical order in geographical regions.
Since then, the Commonwealth Games have been held every four years, except for the period during the Second World War. The Games have been known by various names such as the British Empire Games, Friendly Games and British Commonwealth Games. Since 1978, they have been known as the Commonwealth Games. Originally having only single competition sports, the 1998 Commonwealth Games at Kuala Lumpur saw a major change when team sports such as cricket, hockey and netball made their first appearance.
In 2001, the Games Movement adopted the three values of Humanity, Equality and Destiny as the core values of the Commonwealth Games. These values inspire and connect thousands of people and signify the broad mandate for holding the Games within the Commonwealth.
The Games were originally known as the British Empire Games. The first Commonwealth Games were held in 1930 at Hamilton, Canada. The 10th Commonwealth Games were held at Christchurch, New Zealand in 1974, the 11th in Edmonton (Canada) in 1978, the 12th in Brisbane (Australia) in 1982, the 13th in Edinburgh (Scotland) in 1986, the 14th in Auckland (New Zealand) in 1990 and the 15th in Victoria (Canada) in 1994, where about 3,350 athletes from a record 64 nations (including South Africa, which joined the family of Commonwealth athletes after 36 years) participated. Namibia also, which gained its independence in 1990, made its debut while Hong Kong made its final appearance in the Games before being ceded to China in 1997.
Table of Past Commonwealth Games
3 Sydney, Australia 1938 15
4 Auckland, N Z 1950 12
5 Vancouver, Canada 1954 24
6 Cardiff,Wales 1958 35
7 Perth, Australia 1962 35
8 Jamaica, West Indies 1966 34
9 Edinburgh, Scotland 1970 42
10 Christchurch, N Z 1974 38
11 Edmonton, Canada 1978 48
12 Brisbane, Australia 1982 47
13 Edinburgh, Scotland 1986 26
14 Auckland, N Z 1990 55
15 Victoria, Canada 1994 64
6 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1998 70
17 Manchchester, England 2002 72
18 Melbourne, Australia 2006 76
19 New Delhi, India 2010 72
20 Glasgow, Scotland 2014
After Olympics, Commonwealth Games is the second largest sports festival in the world. The Games are held once in four years but only in between the Olympic years.
The three nations to have hosted the games the most number of times are Australia (4), Canada (4), and New Zealand (3). Furthermore, five editions have taken place in the countries within the United Kingdom. Two cities have held the games on multiple occasions: Auckland (1950 and 1990), and Edinburgh (1970 and 1986).
British Seaside Piers – History from 1391
As an Island race and surrounded by water I thought as British Seaside Piers are popular with us Brits I thought I would tell the history of Piers and list all the British Piers. There have been very few piers built since the First World War. However, due to the precarious nature of piers - they are often prey to fires, collisions, and storm damage. Today several piers have been completely changed in the period from the thirties to the present day.
The oldest Pier in England is in Cramer where there has been a pier or jetty in Cromer, Norfolk, England since 1391. Letters granting the right to levy duties for repairs suggest that attempts at maintenance seem to have gone on until 1580. In 1582, Queen Elizabeth I granted the right to the inhabitants of Cromer to export wheat, barley and malt for the maintenance of their town and towards the rebuilding of the pier.
The oldest cast iron pier in the world is Gravesend Town Pier in Kent which opened in 1834. However, it is not recognised by the National Piers Society as being a seaside pier.
There are still a significant number of piers of architectural merit still standing, although some have been lost.
The most well known piers are perhaps the two at Brighton in East Sussex and the three at Blackpool in Lancashire.
Two piers, Brighton's now derelict West Pier and Clevedon Pier were Grade 1 listed: Brighton West lost its status after a series of fires and storms. The Birnbeck Pier in Weston-Super-Mare is the only pier in the world that is linked to an island.
The National Piers Society gives a figure of 55 surviving seaside piers in England and Wales.
England
Isle Of Man
Ramsey Pier
In their heyday, there were many pleasure piers across England. These were found in most fashionable seaside resorts during the Victorian era.
Robert Thompson – “The Mouseman” Furniture Maker
One of the most famous Furniture makers in England in the last 80 years is the Mouseman - Richard Thompson who was born in Kilburn, Yorkshire, England on the 7th May 1876. If you love beautiful, handmade wooden furniture that's also highly collectible, you should investigate Robert Thompson's Mouseman furniture. On any piece of Robert Thompson Furniture was carved a mouse – hence his name “The Mouseman”.
The story began when one day in 1919 an offhand remark about being as poor as a church mouse, lead him to carve a mouse on the finished cornice he was working on. In that moment, a famous trademark was born - even though it wasn't registered until the 1930's.
Even though Robert Thompson adopted the mouse as his trademark, not all the furniture created in the early years had it.
The patina of the furniture, the colour and degree of adzing, the use of a specific tool to shape the timber, also aid in identifying the pieces that weren't marked with the mouse.
His mouse has changed also.
Thomson removed the front legs from the mouse design in 1930 because they tended to break off easily.
The facts the mouse has no front legs but clearly recognisable whiskers are important things to look for when you find a piece identified as Mouseman furniture for unfortunately, there are imposters. (If you're worried about fakes, check out The Vintage Mouseman. where a "Rogue's gallery" of known replicas and fakes is maintained.)
Each piece of Mouseman Furniture is truly unique. It's not made by committee. Each craftsman starts a piece of furniture and remains responsible for it from selecting the wood to carving the signature mouse. In fact, just by looking at the pieces, most avid collectors of Robert Thompson's furniture can tell which craftsman made the piece.
Inspired by the medieval oak furnishings at Ripon and York Cathedrals, Robert Thompson became determined to spend his life bringing back the spirit of craftsmanship in English Oak, and set about teaching himself how to use traditional craft tools. He soon developed a technique of finishing the surfaces of his oak furniture with a pronounced “tooled” effect using an adze, a medieval tool which had been much used in the past for roughing out the broad shapes of ships' timbers, etc, and this still remains a feature of today’s items.
Fr Paul Nevill, a former Headmaster of Ampleforth College asked Thompson to make the Ampleforth Abbey's furniture; they liked it so much that Ampleforth kept asking Thompson for more works, including the library and most of the main building. Fr Gabriel Everitt, current Headmaster, has recently asked the Mouseman company for more work. Most of Ampleforth College houses are decorated with Robert Thompson's furniture.
The “Mouseman” style was based on sound construction and a straightforward fitness for purpose, using the three basic materials of English Oak, real cowhide and wrought iron. During his working life he worked alongside architects such as Sir Giles Scott and J S Syme, who in turn have left their mark on buildings throughout the United Kingdom.
The workshop, which is now being run by his descendants includes a showroom and visitors' centre, and is located beside the Parish Church, which contains "Mouseman" Pews, fittings and other furniture. Please enter into any Search Engine The company which is now known as "Robert Thompson's Craftsmen Ltd - The Mouseman of Kilburn.". The original Robert Thompson – The Mouseman died on December 8th 1955 and is buried in the small church graveyard at Kilburn overlooking his beloved workshop, which was later extended by his two grandsons and is still in production today.
Please visit my Funny Animal Art Prints Collection @ http://www.fabprints.com
My other website is called Directory of British Icons: http://fabprints.webs.com
The Chinese call Britain 'The Island of Hero's' which I think sums up what we British are all about. We British are inquisitive and competitive and are always looking over the horizon to the next adventure and discovery.
| i don't know |
What is another name for a Scottish church? | THE CORRECT MEANING OF "CHURCH" AND "ECCLESIA"
THE CORRECT MEANING OF
"CHURCH" AND "ECCLESIA"
Let us make it clear from the very beginning that the established religious system, which manifests itself in the abomination called "church", is NOT of God. We intend to make it very clear, by studying the Greek words found in the New Testament, that the pattern which God intends His people to follow and live by is the ECCLESIA system, and is RADICALLY different than that which calls itself "church" in our day. As you read this short study the truth will dawn on you that Christians today have been fed a LIE, and that they have been enslaved by the religious systems of men. If you truly love Jesus and desire to follow Him in total obedience then you must seriously consider the facts that follow. We encourage each and every person who names the name of Christ to PRAY, FAST AND SEEK GOD concerning the important differences between how the first Christians lived and how Christians live today.
THE CORRECT MEANING OF "CHURCH"
(The following information is from ACMTC Library and BenWilliamsLibrary.com)
Let's start by defining the word. "Church" comes from the Old English and German word pronounced "kirche." In Scotland, it was "kirk."
The following entries are from the Oxford Universal English Dictionary:
Church [Old English cirice, circe; Middle English chereche, chiriche, chirche; whence churche, cherche, etc.: -Greek Kuriakon...]
Kirk The Northern English and Scottish form of CHURCH, in all its senses.
In the earlier Greek It was pronounced "ku-ri-a-kos" or "ku-ri-a-kon." As you can see, this word doesn't even resemble the Greek word "ecclesia" whose place it has usurped. The meaning of "Ku-ri-a-kos" is understood by its root: "Ku- ri-os," which means "lord." Thus, "kuriakos" (i.e., "church") means "pertaining to the lord." It refers to something that pertains to, or belongs to, a lord. The Greek "kuriakos" eventually came to be used in Old English form as "cirice" (Kee-ree-ke), then "churche" (kerke), and eventually "church" in its traditional pronunciation. A church, then, is correctly something that "pertains to, or belongs to, a lord."
Now, as you can see, there is a major problem here. The translators broke the rules in a big way. When they inserted the word "church" in the English versions, they were not translating the Greek word "kuriakos", as one might expect. Rather, they were substituting an entirely different Greek word. This was not honest! The word "church" would have been an acceptable translation for the Greek word "kuriakos." However, not by the wildest imagination of the most liberal translator can it ever be an acceptable translation for the Greek word "ecclesia." Are you following this? Consider it carefully. This truth will answer many questions you've had about churches, and the kingdom.
"Ecclesia" is an entirely different word with an entirely different meaning than "kuriakos." In fact, the Greek word "kuriakos" appears in the New Testament only twice. It is found once in I Corinthians 11:20 where it refers to "the Lord's supper," and once again in Revelation 1:10 where it refers to "the Lord's day." In both of those cases, it is translated "the Lord's..." - not "church." This word does not appear again in the New Testament. Nonetheless, this is the unlikely and strange history of the word "church" as it came to the English language. Eventually, through the manipulation of organized religion "church" came to replace "ecclesia" by popular acceptance. Again, we must emphasize the importance of knowing word meanings in order to know the intent of those who wrote the Scriptures.
THE CORRECT MEANING OF "ECCLESIA"
Now, let's look at the word, "ecclesia". This Greek word appears in the New Testament approximately 115 times. That's just in this one grammatical form. It appears also in other forms. And in every instance, except three, it is wrongly translated as "church" in the King James Version. Those three exceptions are found in Acts 19:32, 39, 41. In these instances the translators rendered it "assembly" instead of "church." But, the Greek word is exactly the same as the other 112 entries where it was changed to "church" wrongly.
In Acts 19, "ecclesia" is a town council: a civil body in Ephesus. Thus, the translators were forced to abandon their fake translation in these three instances. Nonetheless, 112 times they changed it to "church." This fact has been covered-up under centuries of misuse and ignorance. The Greek word "ecclesia" is correctly defined as: "The called-out (ones)" [ECC = out; KALEO = call]. Thus, you can see how this word was used to indicate a civil body of select (called, elected) people.
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica:
In the New Testament, "ecclesia" (signifying convocation) is the only single word used for church. It (ecclesia) was the name given to the governmental assembly of the city of Athens, duly convoked (called out) by proper officers and possessing all political power including even juridical functions.
Obviously, in Greece an ecclesia had no resemblance to a church. An "ecclesia" was a civil assembly in Athens even before the writing of the New Testament. In the Oxford Universal English Dictionary (considered the standard for the English language) the word "ecclesia" is listed in its English form as used by our English forefathers. (Nowadays, only forms of the word appear - like, "ecclesiastical").
Quoting from the Oxford Universal English Dictionary on the word "ecclesia":
Ecclesia [mediaeval Latin, and Greek - from : SUMMONED] -A regularly convoked assembly, especially the general assembly of Athenians. Later, the regular word for church.
Thus, two of the most prestigious word resources in the English language confirm the fact that an "ecclesia" was originally a select civil body, summoned or convoked for a particular purpose. What, then, did the writers of the New Testament mean when they used the word "ecclesia" to describe a Christian body of people? We can assume that they intended to convey the original Greek meaning of the word: a body of Christians called out of the Roman and Judean system to come together into a separate civil community. It meant a politically autonomous body of Christians under no king but Jesus; under no other jurisdiction but that of Jesus. No man ruled them! Only Christ. And that was the reason these same Christians ran into trouble with kings and rulers; were arrested, crucified and martyred. They dropped Caesar as their King and took up Christ.
In Acts 17, verses 1-6 we see that Paul and Silas had a reputation that preceded them. They were "turning the world (system) upside down." What was their inflaming message? Were they telling the people to find a minister and support him; go to church every weekend; be nice to their neighbors? Could this have been the message that set the city fathers against them? Or maybe they were asking people to send their tithes to them so they could build a nice church or develop a Christian recreation center? No? What then? What were these guys doing that was "turning the world system upside down"? The answer is found in verse 7:
"Whom Jason hath received (into his house): and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus."
Now is that clear? Do you see what they were doing? They were announcing ANOTHER KING! Not Caesar! This was a king who was bigger than Caesar. They were forming civil bodies that no longer looked to Caesar as their king. They were forming civil outposts for Christ's conquering army! They were at war!
Paul and Silas weren't "church builders" like preachers today claim. They weren't proselytizing people from one church or synagogue to another. They were kingdom builders! They were dethroning rulers in the minds of the people and alienating them from the mental hold Caesar had upon them through heathenistic (central) government. They were teaching the principles of Christian government. They were putting forth the call of God to whomever would hear and obey, and those whose hearts responded to the call became citizens of Christ's kingdom and joined themselves to the ecclesia, or community of believers.
CHURCH AND STATE DESTROY LIBERTY
The Oxford Dictionary also has an interesting entry under "congregation":
...used by Tyndale* as a translation of 'ecclesia' in the New Testament, and by the sixteenth century reformers instead of "church." (*William Tyndale was the fifteenth century reformer and Bible translator murdered by the church)
Tyndale was willing to die for God's word and truth. He didn't like the word "church." Instead, he used the word "congregation." Now that tells us something! Godly Tyndale, and other sixteenth-century reformers who were more reputable, did not like the word "church." They used other words like "congregation," "governmental assembly," etc.
When you consider the fact that an "ecclesia" was "a civil body politic", this is strong proof that the Christian ecclesias we read about in the New Testament were independent civil bodies of Christians -independent from worldly kings and governors, ruled by the Theocratic government of God's Spirit. They wanted freedom to serve King Jesus. They weren't building and attending churches! Please understand! The pattern laid down in the New Testament bears no resemblence to what we know today as "church". God's people are meant to live by the ecclesia pattern -together in communities, holding all things common, under the government of God through His anointed leaders. Quit saying "church" when it is supposed to be "ecclesia"! It's an important step in retrieving your brain from the trap of religious confusion.
CHRISTIAN CIVIL BODY
Independent self-government under Christ! That is what the ecclesia represents - not a religious organization for meeting on weekends. The Bible does not indicate that churches would eventually take the place of ecclesias. The change of words was not sanctioned by Scripture. There is NO Scriptural authority for Christians to build churches, attend churches, or support churches! Churches are ungodly organizations designed for and by the heathen.
We should be forming and defending ecclesias instead of the disgusting churches with their con games, entertainment, cultic mystery, childishness, and heathenistic worldly nonsense. We once used the word "church" to describe ourselves, but no more thank God. We're doing our best to break that image. It's a slow process, but we're putting the old church ways behind us.
THE IDOLATRY MUST STOP
If you profess to follow Christ, then it's time you quit voluntarily feeding the anti-Christ beast. Men who want to sincerely follow Christ must wean themselves from worldly governments and churches. It is the height of absurdity for a Christian to attend and support the very institutions which are destroying his relationship with God. Those who voluntarily support man-made religious church systems, by believing and teaching that they are good in any way, or that they help us, or that we need them, are still living in a dream world of deception. The ecclesia system, with it's Theocratic government and individual responsibility, is capable of freeing us from the bodage of religion. True peace and liberty cannot be found outside of Christ. Christ's system is the ecclesia system. Freedom awaits all those who will break away from the religious slavery of church and become a humble bondslave of Jesus Christ. We must stop idolizing men in their religious hypocrisy and let Christ once and for all be our King!
So, there is really no other choice for those who would truly follow the pattern laid down for us in God's Word. We must do the same thing the apostles did. We must form ourselves into actual communities under the guidance of God's anointed and appointed leaders, called out and separated from the world, with none other than Jesus Christ as our ruler and King. In other words, ECCLESIAS!
As a whole, Christians have departed from the pattern laid down in the book of Acts and have built, according to their own wisdom, an artificial, phony, putrifying religious mess called "church". It's time to REVOLT against the wisdom of our religious flesh and get back to the wisdom of God. It's time to re-evaluate and re-examine everything about how you think the true followers of Jesus should live. It's time for REVOLUTION against DEAD RELIGION! We are determined to change the way the world thinks about how true followers of Jesus should live. We have been following the ecclesia pattern for over 10 years and have seen the blessings and power of God every step of the way. God does miracles for those who are willing to sacrifce ALL. Write for more information about how you can join us in the struggle to bring back the truth of the ecclesia.
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What 2002 novel by Alice Sebold, is the story of a teenage girl who, after being murdered, watches from heaven as her family and friends struggle to move on with their lives while she comes to terms with her own death. | Vestments Glossary
Alb
An alb, called a sticharion in Orthodox churches, is a plain, lightweight, ankle-length tunic with long sleeves. It is generally worn with a rope cincture around the waist. The word alb is short for the Latin phrase tunica alba, which means white tunic; accordingly, albs are usually made of white or undyed fabric.
In the first century, the tunic was the first article of clothing that you put on in the morning. Working-class people wore knee-length tunics, while older people and people with less active occupations wore ankle-length tunics. It was possible to wear more than one tunic at a time for warmth, but it was considered gauche to wear a tunic without a cincture.
The tunic was originally sleeveless. Greeks and Romans thought sleeves were barbaric because barbarians wore them. (The barbarians lived in colder climates.) Tunics did not acquire sleeves until the third century, when a Roman Emperor came back from a military campaign wearing a tunic with sleeves—much to the horror of the fashion mavens of the day. A modern alb has sleeves because we need to cover street clothing that has sleeves.
In the first century, most people wore a himation over their tunics. The himation was a rectangular garment that was wrapped around the upper body. The designs on the himation, as well as its color and quality, varied depending on the wearer’s sex, occupation, and social status. Because of the relatively precarious way it was worn and the way it hindered movement, people had to remove it when they were engaged in certain physical activities. For example, when blind Bartimaeus ran to Jesus in Mark 10:46-52, he threw off his himation. Matthew 9:20-22 tells about a woman who was healed when she touched the hem of Jesus’ himation. In Revelation 3:5, 3:18, and 4:4 people are given white himatia. Perhaps the writer of Revelation wanted us to think of people who had received a white tunic at their baptism now receiving an elegant and triumphant white himation to wear over it. The himation never became a church vestment, probably because as servants, the clergy would have to remove it anyway.
Scripture tells us that Jesus wore a himation over a tunic (‘tunic’ is χιτων in Greek) to the crucifixion. The soldiers tore the himation in four pieces, but because the tunic was woven in one piece, they cast lots for it. Jesus’ tunic would have been sleeveless and ankle-length—it was the same kind of tunic that the high priest wore when he entered into the Holy of Holies to atone for the sins of the people. Ancient writings from that period refer to seamless tunics, but the technology for weaving them that way was lost in the fall of the Roman Empire.
In the first four centuries of the Church, people were baptized in the nude. For propriety, they were baptized in three groups: men, women, and children; and female deacons baptized the women. When they emerged from the water, they were immediately clothed in a white tunic (a tunica alba, or alb ). For this reason, the alb is a reminder of baptism and a symbol of the resurrection on the Last Day.
Anyone who has a leadership role in worship can wear an alb and cincture, whether they are clergy or lay people. Only clergy wear a stole over the alb. Albs are increasing in popularity not only because they are ecumenical, but also because congregations are increasingly eager to conform to the practices of the ancient Church. In addition, a person wearing an alb is dressed like Jesus.
You can see a larger picture of an alb .
Amice
An amice is a rectangular piece of cloth with religious symbols and two cords, one affixed to each front corner. It originated as a neck scarf, which was still its form and function in the first century. People sometimes also pulled it up to use it as a head covering. It became a vestment in the eighth century. Today, it is mainly in use in the Roman Catholic Church.
When the priest is vesting (that is, putting on vestments), the amice goes on first. He puts the amice on his head, like a bonnet, then his alb . He pulls the cords around his torso, so they cross in the back, and ties them in the front. After he puts his chasuble on, he pulls the amice down around his neck so that it looks like a collar or a muffler.
Like all vestments, the amice has symbolic meaning as well as practical value. While it is temporarily on the priest's head, it symbolizes the helmut of salvation (Ephesians 6:17), and after it is pulled down, it symbolizes the burden he bears. Before Dr. John Breck invented Ph-balanced shampoo in the 1930s, people didn’t wash their hair very often, because washing your hair with soap doesn't produce happy results. As late as the 1950s, there were hair tonics and hair creams that made hair look fashionably greasy. Since the amice covers the priest’s hair while he is putting on his chasuble, it protects the chasuble from grease and hair-care products. After he pulls it down onto his shoulders, it serves as a neck scarf to protect his throat from the cold.
An amice is also known as a superhumeral, meaning “over the shoulders.”
Anglican Collar
Cassock
A cassock is a plain, lightweight, ankle-length garment with long sleeves, but no hood. The cassock is a clerical, not a vestment. It serves as an undergarment for vestments, namely the surplice (a type of alb ) and the stole .
If the cassock has buttons down the center of the front, from the neck to the ankles, it is called a Roman cassock. If it is double-breasted, it is called an Anglican cassock.
Cassocks are worn by both clergy and lay worship leaders, with or without a surplice. Only ordained clergy wear a stole over the surplice.
Cassocks are most common in Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox churches. The cassock-and-surplice combination is very common in Anglican churches. Some choirs wear cassocks with surplices instead of robes.
Chasuble
A chasuble, called a phelonion in Orthodox churches today, and a φελονης in 2 Timothy 4:13, is an ornate circular garment with a hole in the center for the wearer’s head. When worn, it reaches to the wearer’s wrists, so that if the wearer holds both arms straight out, the chasuble forms a semi-circle when viewed from the front or the back. The chasuble is the descendant of a first-century paenula that was worn as a coat by both sexes. Today it connotes solemnity and formality. The chasuble can be worn by the celebrant during a Eucharistic service. Sometimes the celebrant puts the chasuble on over other vestments as part of the Eucharistic ceremony. Chasubles are used in Lutheran churches, particularly outside the United States, as well as in Anglican and Roman Catholic churches. From the customs of the day, we can infer that Jesus most likely wore a chasuble at the Last Supper.
The chasuble is always worn with a stole . Generally, the stole is under the chasuble. For us, the stole and chasuble combination is the equivalent of wearing a necktie and jacket. It is not appropriate to wear a chasuble in a service that does not include Communion (except for Good Friday and Holy Saturday services).
The Roman Empire had two modes of execution: non-citizens were thrown to wild animals, but citizens were beheaded with the sword. Therefore when Paul says that he escaped the lion’s mouth in 2 Timothy 4:17, he means he had successfully proved his Roman citizenship. In 2 Timothy 4:13, most translations vaguely refer to a garment or a cloak, but in the Greek, Paul asks Timothy to bring him the chasuble he had left behind in Troas. The design of Paul’s chasuble would have made his status as a Roman citizen obvious to any witnesses to his execution.
Therefore, when the celebrant is dressed in a chasuble, he is dressed like a Christian martyr who is ready to have his head chopped off for Christ, or like Jesus presiding over the Last Supper.
Christus victor
Christus victor is Latin for Christ the Winner. It is similar to a crucifix , in that it consists of a figurine of Jesus imposed upon a cross, except that the figure of Jesus is fully clothed, usually wearing a red chasuble over a white tunic (that is, an alb ), with uplifted and outstretched arms and a triumphant facial expression. It depicts the triumph of the Ascension over the suffering of the Crucifixion.
Cincture
A cincture, called a poias in Orthodox churches, is anything worn around the waist to gather or hold up clothing. Vestments often include cinctures made of cloth or rope. When a cincture is made of leather or plastic, or if it is used with street clothing, it is called a belt.
Here’s a tip: If you have a small paunch, and you put the cincture around your waist, it will make you look like you have an enormous beer belly. If you put it at the level of your navel, it will look much better.
You can see a picture of a cincture on an alb .
Clergy Shirt
A clergy shirt is a clerical, not a vestment. There are two types: neckband shirts and tab-collar shirts . Though many people associate clergy shirts with the Roman Catholic Church, that is only because the their sheer size makes their clergy conspicuous. Clergy shirts (black shirts with white tabs or collars) are actually of Protestant origin. The Rev. Dr. Donald McLeod of the Church of Scotland (Presbyterian) invented the neck-band shirt style. Protestant clergy had been wearing white preaching bands for quite some time; McLeod combined them with the detachable collar that was in use at the time. The Roman Catholic Church did not adopt them as streetwear for clergy until later. They modified Rev. McLeod’s design into the tab-collar style.
Clerical
The term ‘clericals’ refers to the clothing and accessories that clergy wear as street clothes, such as a tab-collar shirt , which make it evident that they are clergy. The difference between clericals and vestments is that clericals are street clothes, while vestments are only worn during worship.
Colors
You can read information about the colors that are used in worship.
Cope
A cope is an ornate cape-like garment worn by a bishop. In the ancient Church, bishops were generally elderly men who needed a cope to keep warm. The bishop removes the cope and puts on a chasuble to celebrate the Eucharist.
Cotta
A cotta is a type of surplice . In general, it is better to forego the cotta and just wear the surplice.
Cross (pectoral cross)
Many people wear crosses around their necks as jewelry. If the cross is large enough to be seen from a distance and the chain is long enough to position the cross over the center of the chest, it is called a pectoral cross. Pectoral crosses are quite often worn over albs or cassocks, but seldom if ever over robes. While they look quite nice with vestments, they are too dramatic for street clothes. If you want to wear a cross with street clothes, use a small cross on a neck chain. Christians did not wear crosses or hang them on their walls until after crucifixion was no longer the standard method of capital punishment. Instead, the earliest Christians used the gesture of the sign of the cross .
You can see a pectoral cross over an alb or over a cassock and surplice .
Cross (sign of the cross)
The sign of the cross is a pious gesture that must have originated in the first century, because it was a widespread practice in the second century. It is not a late innovation of the Roman Catholic Church, as many people imagine. It may be that early bishops applied chrism (anointing oil) by tracing a cross on the person’s forehead, and the gesture originated when people wanted to reaffirm their anointing afterwards by using their right thumb to trace the sign of the cross on their forehead. The gesture quickly developed into its modern form, where the right hand moves from the forehead to the chest, then from shoulder to shoulder. Eastern Christians cross themselves right to left, and Western Christians cross themselves left to right. It is customary to cross oneself at the beginning and ending of prayer (at the words “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” ), before receiving Communion, and at certain points in the liturgy. It is common for the clergy to make the sign of the cross over the elements of the Eucharist as they are being consecrated, and over people and objects as they are being blessed. I always make the sign of the cross over the congregation when I bless them in the benediction at the end of the service. The sign of the cross is also helpful at times when you are moved to pray but at a loss for words. You can find out how to cross yourself .
Crucifix
A crucifix is a cross with a superimposed figurine. Crucifixes originated before the sixth century, at which time the figurine depicted Jesus symbolically as a lamb. As Christian art gradually began to depict Jesus as a human being rather than as a lamb, the figurine changed from a lamb to a fully dressed triumphant Jesus. The crucifix with a suffering Jesus became very popular in the west during a time when so many people were dying of the plague that disposing of corpses was the most pressing issue for local authorities. In those days of unrelenting grief, suffering, and sorrow, pastors spent most of their time conducting funerals. (Reread the lyrics of the hymn, Now Thank We All Our God, and ponder the fact that it was written by a pastor who buried dozens of plague victims each day.) Many of the more gruesome crucifixes from that era show Jesus dying from the grotesque final symptoms of the bubonic plague, including the contorted, purple face. Today, in our more comfortable times, such crucifixes strike us as grotesque or horrible, which was of course the point. Crucifixes made sense of all that suffering and dying. They were an important expression of faith that Jesus does not ask us to do anything He is not willing to do, and that He can overcome even the most horrible death. Because the plagues were largely in the west, crucifixes are not as common in Orthodox churches, and because the plagues were largely over by the time of the Protestant Reformation, many Protestants associated them with Roman Catholicism and did not use them; however, they are still common among Anglicans and Lutherans.
Dalmatic
In the first century, a dalmatic was an garment that the upper classes wore over their tunics. It is very much like a surplice in shape, except that it is plain and not necessarily white. In the church, it is a garment sometimes worn by deacons . If the deacon is wearing a dalmatic, it can go either over or under the stole , but I think in most cases, it would look better with the stole on top.
Dog Collar
An Anglican nickname for the collar that accompanies a neckband shirt —it actually does look something like a flea collar, when you think about it!
Epitrachilion
See thurible .
Mitre
A mitre is a distinctive hat worn by a bishop. The word mitre comes from the Greek word mitra (μιτρα), which means headband. In the ancient Church, bishops were generally elderly men who needed a hat to keep their heads warm. Today the mitre is symbolic of the bishop’s office and it generally matches the bishop’s cope.
Neckband Shirt
A neckband shirt is a clerical, not a vestment. It is a type of shirt (or blouse, for female clergy) that has no collar, just has a thin band of cloth around the neck; hence the name. The shirt has a fly front; that is, a flap of cloth that covers the buttons that go down the front. Where you would expect to find a top button—the one you’d fasten before putting on a necktie—the neckband has two buttonholes that line up. There is also another button hole in the neckband in the center of the back.
The wearer puts on the shirt, then sticks a collar stud through the button hole in the back of the neckband, then another collar stud through the buttonholes in the front to fasten the two ends of the neckband together under the throat. The white plastic collar has three small holes in it; one in the middle and one at each end. The wearer slips the center of the collar over the collar stud in the front, then wraps the two ends around the back and slips them over the collar stud in the back. The end effect is a circular collar that goes completely around the neck.
Clergy shirts are Protestant in origin. The Rev. Dr. Donald McLeod of the Church of Scotland invented the neck-band style. (The Church of Scotland is Presbyterian.) Protestant clergy had been wearing white preaching bands for quite some time; McLeod combined them with the detachable collar that was in use at the time. The Roman Catholic Church did not adopt them as streetwear for clergy until later. They modified Rev. McLeod’s design into the tab-collar style.
Neckband shirts come in all colors and fabrics, but the general public often does not immediately perceive them as clergy shirts if they are not black.
Phelonion
See cincture .
Robe
Many people use the term robe as a synonym for vestment, but in actual fact, a robe is not a vestment at all. It is a ankle-length gown with long sleeves, designed to be worn without a cincture . There are four types of robes, all of which are modern forms of the academic robes that professors used to wear while on the job in medieval universities. The four types are choir robes, clergy robes, academic gowns, and judicial robes. Only the first three types are worn in church. All types of robes are designed to be worn over street clothing. The only vestment that can be worn over a robe is a stole .
Choir robes come in a large variety of styles and colors. They give the choir a unified appearance. (However, choirs can wear cassocks and surplices instead of robes.)
Academic gowns come in three forms corresponding to bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees. The doctoral robe sometimes appears in church. It has puffy sleeves with three stripes on the forearm, indicating that the wearer possesses a doctoral degree. When they are used in church, academic gowns are most often worn without the square cap or the long, decorative hood down the back that normally complete the outfit. If there is a hood, the colors indicate the wearer’s field of study and alma mater. (You can find out the color code for the fields of study in the United States.)
Clergy robes mark clergy who do not have a doctorate degree or who do not choose to wear their doctoral robes. Even though most clergy have a masters degree, clergy robes are a modified form of the baccalaureate robe, probably because contemporary masters robes have an odd appearance. Clergy robes are nearly identical to judicial robes, except that clergy robes often have a sort of built-in stole; a wide stripe running down both sides of the zipper in the front, often with decorated with Christian symbols.
Unlike vestments, robes are not worn by lay leaders. The original purpose of the robe was to indicate that the wearer had the authority of academic credentials. John Calvin started the tradition of wearing academic robes in church. He was not able to wear vestments because he was not ordained clergy, but he did have an academic law degree. For that reason, clergy robes are most common in churches that are in the Reformed tradition, such as Presbyterian churches, and in other groups with Calvinist roots, such as Baptists. Choir robes are nearly universal.
People in robes are dressed like Calvin. People in albs are dressed like Jesus.
Roman Collar
A tab-collar shirt with a narrow, square tab.
Soutane
See cassock .
Skull Cap
Occasionally you will see high-ranking Catholic clergy wearing a simple skull cap that looks like a beanie. For instance, the pope wears a white one while cardinals wear red ones.
Historically, men who were about to be ordained or received in monastic orders were required to have part of their head shaved. The process was called a tonsure. The purpose of the tonsure was to comply with 1 Corinthians 11:12-16, because during most of history, it was fashionable for men to have long hair. There are several different types of tonsures, most often it involved shaving the crown of the head. This requirement no longer exists in the Catholic Church, but it still does in Orthodox churches, though in some places the tonsure is minimal.
The tonsure caused a problem for higher-ranking clergy, who tend to be elderly, because it exposed their heads to the cold—those old medieval cathedrals were drafty, had no heat, and most often the doors stood open. However, the same passage from Paul implies that men shouldn’t wear head coverings in church. In the middle ages, headgear could be so complex that it was impractical for men to doff their hats, so they shoved them back to show respect.
The skull cap solves the impasse. It keeps the head warm without being large enough to cover the whole head.
Sticharion
Stole
A stole, called a epitrachilion in Orthodox churches, is a long, narrow rectangular garment that is worn around the neck so that it hangs down in front of the wearer’s legs, ending below the knees. The stole merges the functions of two different things. First, ancient government officials wore a stole, just as today a policeman wears a badge. Second, slaves used used to wear work cloth around their necks, for polishing things, and for wiping sweat from their faces. In the church, the stole functions as a badge of office to mark the wearer as ordained clergy. It can also function as a cloth that the celebrant uses to clean the Communionware as part of the service. For those reasons, the stole became a Eucharistic garment.
Modern stoles are usually the appropriate color for the season. Only ordained clergy wear a stole. A deacon can also wear a stole, but it is customary for a deacon to wear it over the left shoulder, tied at the waist on the right side, so that the stole hangs diagonally across the chest. A stole can be worn over a robe , an alb , or a cassock .
If an ordained minister combines a cassock, surplice , and stole, the cassock goes on first, then the surplice, then the stole on top.
If an ordained minister combines an alb, stole, and chasuble , the alb goes on first, then the stole, then the chasuble on top. (There are stoles that are designed to be worn over chasubles, but that is not common.)
If a deacon combines an alb, dalmatic , and stole, the alb goes on first, then the dalmatic, then the stole on top.
Surplice
A surplice is a very lightweight blouse-like garment with sleeves. It is almost invariably white and it often has lace trim. A surplice is only worn over a cassock , never by itself, and never over an alb or an academic gown . The surplice is actually a type of alb that is designed to be worn over a cassock. The cassock and surplice combination is very common in Anglican churches, where it is worn by both clergy and lay worship leaders.
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The Aberdeen Terrier is better known as what type of dog? | Scottish Terrier
Dog Breeds
"My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am."
Unknown Author
Scottish Terrier
The Scottish Terrier (also known as the Aberdeen Terrier), popularly called the Scottie, is a breed of dog best known for its distinctive profile, black color, and typical terrier personality.
The Scottish Terrier is one of five breeds of terrier that originated in Scotland. The other four are Skye, Cairn, Dandie Dinmont, and West Highland White Terriers. Its nickname is "little diehard", given to it in the 19th century by George, the fourth Earl of Dumbarton. The Earl had a famous pack of Scottish Terriers, so brave that they were named “Diehards”. They were supposed to have inspired the name of his Regiment, The Royal Scots, "Dumbarton’s Diehards".
Appearance
A Scottish Terrier is a small but resilient terrier. Scotties are fast and have a muscular body and neck (a typical neck circumference is 14 inches), often appearing to be barrel chested. They are short-legged, cobby and sturdily built, with a long head in proportion to their size.
The Scottie should have large paws adapted for digging. Erect ears and tail are salient features of the breed. Their eyes are small, bright and almond-shaped and dark brown or nearly black in colour.
Size
Height at withers for both sexes should be roughly 25cm (10 in), and the length of back from withers to tail is roughly 28 cm (11 in). Generally a well-balanced Scottie dog should weigh from 8.5-10 kg (19-22 pounds) and a female from 8-9.9 kg (18-21 pounds). It is about 11-15 inches (28-38cm) in height.
Coat
The Scottie typically has a hard, wiry, long, weather-resistant outer coat and a soft dense under coat. The coat is typically trimmed and blended, with a longer coat on the beard, eyebrows, legs and lower body — traditionally shaggy-to-the-ground. The head, ears, tail and back are traditionally trimmed short.
The usual coat color ranges from dark gray to jet black. Scotties with 'Wheaten' (straw to nearly white) or 'Brindle' (mix of black and brown) coats sometimes occur, but should not be confused with the Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier or West Highland White Terrier.
Temperament
Scotties, like most terriers, are alert, quick and feisty — perhaps even more so than other terrier breeds. The breed is known to be independent and self-assured, playful, intelligent and has been nicknamed the 'Diehard' because of its rugged nature and endless determination.
Scotties, while being very loving, can also be particularly stubborn. Because the breed is inclined to be stubborn, it needs firm, gentle handling from an early age or it will dominate the household. They are sometimes seen as an aloof breed, although it is actually very loyal to its family and they are known to attach themselves to one or two people in their pack. The breed has been described as tempestuous, but also quite sensitive.
The Scottish Terrier makes a good watchdog due to its tendency to bark only when necessary and because it is typically reserved with strangers — although this is not always the case and it is important to remember that all dogs differ. It is a fearless breed that may be aggressive around other dogs unless introduced at an early age.
Scottish Terriers were originally bred to hunt and fight badgers. Therefore, the Scottie is prone to dig as well as chase small vermin, such as Squirrels, rats, mice and foxes. For this reason it is recommended that they are walked on a leash.
Health
Scottish Terriers have a greater chance of developing some cancers than other purebreds. According to research by the Veterinary Medical Data Program (1986), six cancers that Scotties appeared to be more at risk for (when compared to other breeds) are: (in descending order) bladder cancer and other transitional cell carcinomas of the lower urinary tract; malignant melanoma; gastric carcinoma; squamous cell carcinoma of the skin; lymphosarcoma and nasal carcinoma. Other cancers that are known to commonly affect Scotties include mast cell sarcoma and hemangiosarcoma.
Research has suggested that Scottish Terriers are 20 times more likely to get bladder cancer than other breeds and the most common kind of bladder cancer is transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder (TCC). Dr. Deborah Knapp of Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine has commented "TCC usually occurs in older dogs (average age 11 years) and is more common in females (2:1 ratio of females to males)." Symptoms of TCC are blood in the urine, straining to urinate, and frequent urination — although owners noticing any of these symptoms should also be aware that the same symptoms may also be indicative of a urinary tract infection. Veterinary assistance should be sought, and an ultrasound should be requested to confirm.
The most common and effective form of treatment for TCC is Piroxicam, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug that "allows the cancer cells to kill themselves." In order to help prevent cancer in a dog, an owner should ensure that their dog has minimal exposure to herbicides, pesticides, solvents and cigarette smoke; use caution when treating dogs with some flea medications; provide a healthy, vitamin-rich diet (low in carbohydrates, high in vegetables) and plenty of exercise.
Two other genetic health concerns in the breed are von Willebrand disease (vWD) and craniomandibular osteopathy (CMO); Scottie cramp, patellar luxation and cerebellar abiotrophy are also sometimes seen in this breed. Scottish Terrier owners are advised to have DNA tests performed to screen for von Willebrand's disease. Scotties typically live between 11 and 13 years.
History
The Scottie is often thought to be the oldest of the Highland terriers, although this contention has not been proved. Initial grouping of several of the highland terriers (including the Scottie) under the generic name Skye terriers caused some confusion in the breed’s lineage. There is much disagreement over whether the Skye terriers mentioned in early 16th century records actually descended from forerunners of the Scottie or vice versa. It is certain, however, that Scotties and West Highland White Terriers are closely related — both their forefathers originating from the Blackmount region of Perthshire and the Moor of Rannoch. Scotties were originally bred to hunt and kill vermin on farms and to hunt badgers and foxes in the Highlands of Scotland. Scotties are natural "diggers," like other terriers, whose name derives from the same root as "terre," French for "earth." They were bred with strong tails so that their owners could pull them out of holes when they would dig after vermin and voles.
Nicknames: Scottie
Country of origin: Scotland
The actual origin of a breed as old as the Scottish Terrier is somewhat obscure and undocumented. The first written records about a dog of similar description to the Scottish Terrier dates from 1436, when Don Leslie described them in his book "The History of Scotland 1436-1561". Two hundred years later, Sir Joshua Reynolds painted a portrait of a young girl caressing a dog remarkably similar to a Scottie. King James VI of Scotland was an important historical figure featuring in the Scottish Terrier's history. In the 17th century, when King James VI became James I of England, he sent six terriers — thought to be forerunners of the Scottish terrier — to a French monarch as a gift. His love and adoration for the breed increased their popularity throughout the world.
Many dog writers from the early 1800s on seem to agree that there were two varieties of terrier existing in Britain at the time — a rough haired Scotch Terrier and a smooth haired English Terrier. Thomas Brown, in his Biological Sketches and Authentic Anecdotes of Dogs (1829), states that "the Scotch terrier is certainly the purest in point of breed and the (smooth) English seems to have been produced by a cross from him". Brown went on to describe the Scotch Terrier as "low in stature, with a strong muscular body, short stout legs, a head large in proportion to the body" and was "generally of a sandy colour or black" with a "long, matted and hard" coat. Although the Scotch Terrier described here is more generic than specific to a breed, it asserts the existence of a small, hard, rough-coated terrier developed for hunting small game in the Scottish Highlands in the early 1800s; a description that shares essential characteristics with what was once known as the Aberdeen Terrier and is today known as the Scottish Terrier. In addition the paintings of Sir Edwin Landseer and an 1835 lithograph, entitled "Scottish Terriers at Work on a Cairn in the West Highlands", both depict Scottie type terriers very similar to those described in the first Scottish Terrier Standard.
In the 1800s, the Highlands of Scotland, including the Isle of Skye, were abundant with terriers originally known by the generic term "short-haired" or "little Skye terriers." Towards the end of the 19th century, it was decided to separate these Scottish terriers and develop pure bloodlines and specific breeds. Originally, the breeds were separated into two categories – Dandie Dinmont terriers and Skye terriers (not the Skye terrier known today, but a generic name for a large group of terriers with differing traits all said to originate from the Isle of Skye). The Birmingham England dog show of 1860 was the first to offer classes for these groups of terriers. They continued to be exhibited in generic groups for several years and these groups included the ancestors of today's Scottish Terrier. Recorded history, and the initial development of the breed started in the late 1870’s with the growth of dog shows. The exhibiting of dogs required that they be compared to a standard for the breed and the appearance and temperament of the Scottie was written down for the first time. Eventually, the Skye terriers were further divided into what are known today as the Scottish terrier, Skye Terrier, West Highland white terrier and Cairn terrier.
While identification of the breed was being sought through the late 1800s, the Scottish terrier was known by many different names: the Highland, the Cairn, Diehard, and most often, the Aberdeen Terrier — named because of the dogs abundancy in the area and because a J.A. Adamson of Aberdeen had a lot of success exhibiting his dogs during the 1870s. Roger Rough, owned by Adamson, Tartan, owned by Mr Paynton Piggott, Bon Accord, owned by Messrs Ludlow and Bromfield and Splinter II, owned by Mr Ludlow, were early winners and are the four dogs from which all Scottish Terrier pedigrees ultimately began. It is often said that all present day Scotties stem from a single dame, Splinter II, and two sires. In her heavily researched book, The New Scottish Terrier, Cindy Cooke refers to Splinter II as the "foundation matron of the modern Scottish Terrier." Cooke goes on to say "For whatever reason, early breeders linebred on this bitch to the virtual exclusion of all others. Mated to Tartan, she produced Worry, the dam of four champions. Rambler, her son by Bonaccord, sired the two founding sires of the breed, Ch. Dundee (out of Worry) and Ch. Alistair (out of a Dundee daughter)" (The New Scottish Terrier, 1996). From Splinter and her sires are descended all the show champions on both sides of the Atlantic.
Captain Gordon Murray and S.E. Shirley were responsible for setting the type in 1879. Shortly afterwards, in 1879, Scotties were for the first time exhibited at Alexander Palace in England, while the following year they began to be classified in much the same way as is done today. The first written standard of the breed was drafted by J.B. Morrison and D.J. Thomson Gray and appeared in Vero Shaw's Illustrated Book of The Dog, published in 1880, and ultimately was extremely influential in setting both breed type and the Scottish terrier name. The standard gave the dog colouring as "Grey, Grizzle or Brindle", as the typically Black colouring of Scotties was not fashionable or favoured until the 1900s.
In 1881 the "Scottish Terrier Club of England" was founded, being the first club dedicated to the breed. The club secretary, H.J. Ludlow, is responsible for greatly popularising the breed in the southern parts of Great Britain. The "Scottish Terrier Club of Scotland" wasn't founded until 1888, seven years after the English club. Following the formation of the English and Scottish clubs there followed several years of differences and arguments with regards to what should be deemed as the correct and official standard of the breed. Things were finally settled by a revised standard in 1930, which was based on four prepotent dogs. The dogs were Robert and James Chapman's Heather Necessity, Albourne Barty, bred by AG Cowley, Albourne Annie Laurie, bred by Miss Wijk and Miss Wijk's Marksman of Docken (the litter brother of Annie Laurie). These four dogs and their offspring modified the look of the Scottie, particularly the length of the head, closeness to the ground and the squareness of body. Their subsequent success in the show ring led to them becoming highly sought after by the British public and breeders. As such, the modified standard completely revolutionized the breed. This new standard was subsequently recognised by the Kennel Club UK circa 1930.
Scotties were introduced to America in the early 1890's but it was not until the years between World War I and World War II that the breed became popular. A club was formed in 1900 and a standard written in 1925. The Scottish Terrier was recognized by the United Kennel Club in 1934. By 1936, Scotties were the third most popular breed in the United States. Although they did not permanently stay in fashion, they continue to enjoy a steady popularity with a large segment of the dog-owning public across the world.
| Scottish Terrier |
What was the name of the Russian short-story writer, playwright and physician, considered to be one of the greatest short-story writers in the history of world literature? | Scottish Terrier, Scottish Terriers, Breed
Breeder Listings
Scottish Terrier Profile
Known as the "Scottie", the Scottish Terrier has a compact, strong body; short legs, pricked ears and naturally erect tail. Their face should wear a keen, sharp and active expression. President Roosevelt had a Scottie named Fala in the White House. They tend to be a one or two person dog and do their best as pampered pets. While a little stubborn, they still make loyal pets if given the chance to survey the scene before committing themselves. Scottish Terriers are very good watchdogs, but need to be kept secured as they have a tendency to wander. They can be snappy and bossy if left untrained, but will be a loyal and faithful pet if trained well. Scotties can be brave and confident, but are often independent. They can also be quick tempered, and do better with older children. They must be properly introduced if they are to be around any other pets. Scottie Dogs closely resemble West Highland White Terriers, Skye Terriers and Dandie Dinmont Terriers, all of whom are cousins. They come in colors of black, wheaten or brindle, but most people remember them as black due to commercial Scotties and the Scottie owned by President Roosevelt. They have prick ears that are set high, very sturdy bodies, and long faces. The Scottish Terrier is a hardy, energetic breed.
Other Names: Aberdeen Terrier, Scottie (Dog)
Type: Terrier
Colors: Black, wheaten, brindle of any shade, grays or grizzled.
Coat: Sharp, dense and wiry with a short, dense, soft undercoat.
Temperament: Scottish Terriers are active and assertive. They are rather confident and independent, but can be loyal and faithful if trained properly. They love to play ball and to chase things, and will hunt down small animals or cats if given the chance. They are very terrier-like in nature, and love to dig and love to hunt vermin. Scottish Terriers can be sensitive as well. They have a high tolerance for pain, and can be aggressive with other dogs and hot tempered.
With Children: Yes, good with school aged children. Not good with younger children.
With Pets: Yes, but needs early socialization. If not socialized or trained, they will attack other animals.
Special Skills: Hunting dog for small prey and family pet.
Watch-dog: Very High. Scotties are very alert and aware of everything going on.
Guard-dog: Low.
Scottish Terrier Care and Exercise: Regular brushing, extra care during molting. Bathe or dry shampoo as necessary. Professionally trim the Scottish Terriers coat twice a year. They can obtain their exercise from a reasonably sized fenced-in yard. They should be exercised regularly, however, because they can become overweight if this is not done. Regular walks are good for this breed, and they thoroughly enjoy it as well.
Training: Firm handling at a young age is needed for Scotties as they will try to dominate the household. Training needs to be founded on mutual respect. They are somewhat sensitive, and should have firm but positive training.
Learning Rate: High. Obedience - Low. Problem Solving - Medium.
Activity: Very High. These dogs are very energetic, especially outside.
Special Needs: Grooming, socialization, training, and supervision with small children.
Living Environment: An apartment is adequate for Scotties if sufficient exercise is given. The owner of a Scottish Terrier should desire a breed who is particular about the company they keep. The best owner for this breed would be a firm, dominant, confident owner living in either the city, suburbs or country. This breed is very adaptable to most environments.
Scottish Terrier Health Issues: Sensitive to fleas, skin problems, craniomandibular osteopathy, elbow dysplasia, intervertebral disc protrusion, Scottie cramp, and von Willebrand's disease.
Life Span: 12 - 14 years.
Litter Size: 3 - 5 puppies.
Country of Origin: Scotland
Scottish Terrier History: Originally known as the Aberdeen Terrier after the Scottish city, they were originally bred with the purpose of dispelling vermin. The Scottish Terrier is the best known and possibly oldest of the Highland terriers. They are closely related to the Skye, Dandie Dinmont, and West Highland White Terriers. Some people think Westies are one in the same breed as the Scotties. Originally in the 1800s, all of those terriers were shown and classified under "Scotch Terriers". The breed was brought to America in the late 1800s and first shown at dog shows in the early 19th century. All of these were interbred until around 1800, when the Scottie was set apart from the rest and bred on its own. The first Scottish Terrier Club was formed in Scotland in 1892. Strangely, until 1859 there was no mention of the breed ever, and within that same year the Scottish Terrier was exhibited as a pure breed. The breed seems to have appeared out of thin air, but it is known that they came from the Blackmount region of Perthshire and the Moor of Rannoch. Once the breed was brought over to the American continent, it spread to Canada and became hugely popular there. In fact, the first Scottie brought to the U.S. was Canadian bred. Today the breed is fairly popular in the U.S. and the U.K. The Scottie's feisty temperament has been passed down in the generations as well, and has become a commonly-known trait in the breed.
First Registered by the AKC: 1885
AKC Group: Terrier Group
Registries: AKC, ANKC, CKC, FCI (Group 3), KC (GB), UKC
Scottish Terriers
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What was the name of the American pediatrician whose book Baby and Child Care, was published in 1946? | Baby and Child Care: Benjamin Spock Interview - YouTube
Baby and Child Care: Benjamin Spock Interview
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Published on Jun 30, 2012
Benjamin McLane Spock (May 2, 1903 -- March 15, 1998) was an American pediatrician whose book Baby and Child Care, published in 1946, is one of the biggest best-sellers of all time. About the book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/143...
Throughout its first 52-years, Baby and Child Care was the second-best-selling book, next to the Bible. Its message to mothers is that "you know more than you think you do."
Spock was the first pediatrician to study psychoanalysis to try to understand children's needs and family dynamics. His ideas about childcare influenced several generations of parents to be more flexible and affectionate with their children, and to treat them as individuals. In addition to his pediatric work, Spock was an activist in the New Left and anti Vietnam War movements during the 1960s and early 1970s. At the time his books were criticized by Vietnam War supporters for allegedly propagating permissiveness and an expectation of instant gratifications that led young people to join these movements, a charge Spock denied. Spock also won an Olympic gold medal in rowing in 1924 while attending Yale University.
In 1962, Spock joined The Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy, otherwise known as SANE. Spock was politically outspoken and active in the movement to end the Vietnam War. In 1968, he and four others (including William Sloane Coffin, Marcus Raskin, Mitchell Goodman, and Michael Ferber) were singled out for prosecution by then Attorney General Ramsey Clark on charges of conspiracy to counsel, aid, and abet resistance to the draft. Spock and three of his alleged co-conspirators were convicted, although the five had never been in the same room together. His two-year prison sentence was never served; the case was appealed and in 1969 a federal court set aside his conviction.
In 1967, Spock was to be nominated as Martin Luther King, Jr.'s vice-presidential running mate at the National Conference for New Politics over Labor Day weekend in Chicago. According to William F. Pepper's Orders to Kill, however, the conference was broken up by agents provocateurs working for the government.
In 1968, Spock signed the "Writers and Editors War Tax Protest" pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War.
Spock was the People's Party candidate in the 1972 United States presidential election with a platform that called for free medical care, the repeal of "victimless crime" laws, including the legalization of abortion, homosexuality, and marijuana, a guaranteed minimum income for families and the immediate withdrawal of all American troops from foreign countries. In the 1970s and 1980s, Spock demonstrated and gave lectures against nuclear weapons and cuts in social welfare programs.
In 1972, Spock, Julius Hobson (his Vice Presidential candidate), Linda Jenness (Socialist Workers Party Presidential candidate), and Socialist Workers Party Vice Presidential candidate Andrew Pulley wrote to Major General Bert A. David, commanding officer of Fort Dix, asking for permission to distribute campaign literature and to hold an election-related campaign meeting. On the basis of Fort Dix regulations 210-26 and 210-27, General David refused the request. Spock, Hobson, Jenness, Pulley, and others then filed a case that ultimately made its way to the United States Supreme Court (424 U.S. 828—Greer, Commander, Fort Dix Military Reservation, et al., v. Spock et al.), which ruled against the plaintiffs.
| Benjamin Spock |
Which village in Essex which sits on the River Colne, is famous for its Victorian viaduct that crosses the Colne valley | Baby and Child Care: Benjamin Spock Interview — BIQLE Видео
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Дата публикации: 4 июл 2015 в 13:32
Baby and Child Care: Benjamin Spock Interview Benjamin McLane Spock (May 2, 1903 -- March 15, 1998) was an American pediatrician whose book Baby and Child Care, published in 1946, is one of the .
The common book of baby and child care was published by Dr.Benjamin Spock on July 14th, 1946. Was one of the best-selling non-fiction books of all time.
Baby and Child Care: Benjamin Spock Interview Benjamin McLane Spock (May 2, 1903 -- March 15, 1998) was an American pediatrician whose book Baby and .
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Who was the Roman god of fire? | HEPHAESTUS (Hephaistos) - Greek God of Smiths & Metalworking (Roman Vulcan)
Hephaestus riding donkey, Athenian red-figure skyphos C5th B.C., Toledo Museum of Art
HEPHAISTOS (Hephaestus) was the Olympian god of fire, smiths, craftsmen, metalworking, stonemasonry and sculpture. He was depicted as a bearded man holding a hammer and tongs--the tools of a smith--and sometimes riding a donkey.
MYTHS
Some of the more famous myths featuring the god include:--
His fall from Olympos in which he was cast away by Hera at birth. << More >>
The capture of Hera in a cursed throne and his return to Olympos. << More >>
The adultery of his wife Aphrodite who was trapped with Ares in a golden net. << More >>
The crafting of Pandora, the first woman, at the command of Zeus. << More >>
The attempted violation of Athena which resulted in the impregnation of Earth and the birth of Erikhthonios (Erichthonius). << More >>
The crafting of the cursed necklace of Harmonia which doomed her descendants to a cycle of tragedy. << More >>
The Trojan War in which he fought the river-god Skamandros (Scamander) with fire. << More >>
The crafting of the armour of Akhilleus (Achilles) at the request of the hero's mother Thetis. << More >>
Many other myths are detailed over the following pages.
HEPHAESTUS PAGES ON THEOI.COM
This site contains a total of 12 pages describing the god Hephaistos, including general descriptions, mythology, and cult. The content is outlined in the Index of Hephaestus Pages (left column or below).
FAMILY OF HEPHAESTUS
PARENTS
[1] HERA (no father) (Hesiod Theogony 927, Homeric Hymn 3.310, Apollodorus 1.19, Pausanias 1.20.3, Hyginus Pref)
[2] ZEUS & HERA (Apollodorus 1.19, Cicero De Natura Deorum 3.22)
[3] TALOS (Pausanias 8.53.5)
I) THE HOMERIC HYMNS
Homeric Hymn 20 to Hephaestus (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C7th to 4th B.C.) :
"Sing, clear-voiced Mousa (Muse), of Hephaistos (Hephaestus) famed for inventions (klytometis). With bright-eyed Athene he taught men glorious crafts throughout the world,--men who before used to dwell caves in the mountains like wild beasts. But now that they have learned crafts through Hephaistos the famed worker (klytotekhnes), easily they live a peaceful life in their own houses the whole year round. Be gracious, Hephaistos, and grant me success and prosperity!"
II) THE ORPHIC HYMNS
Orphic Hymn 66 to Hephaestus (trans. Taylor) (Greek hymns C3rd B.C. to 2nd A.D.) :
"To Hephaistos (Hephaestus), Fumigation from Frankincense and Manna. Strong, mighty Hephaistos, bearing splendid light, unwearied fire, with flaming torrents bright: strong-handed, deathless, and of art divine, pure element, a portion of the world is thine: all-taming artist, all-diffusive power, 'tis thine, supreme, all substance to devour: aither, sun, moon, and stars, light pure and clear, for these thy lucid parts [of fire] to men appear. To thee all dwellings, cities, tribes belong, diffused through mortal bodies, rich and strong. Hear, blessed power, to holy rites incline, and all propitious on the incense shine: suppress the rage of fire's unwearied frame, and still preserve our nature's vital flame."
Dionysus and Hephaestus riding donkey, Caeretan black-figure hydria C6th B.C., Kunsthistorisches Museum
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS OF HEPHAESTUS
Classical literature offers only a few, brief descriptions of the physical characteristics of the gods.
Homer, Iliad 20. 37 ff (trans. Lattimore) (Greek epic C8th B.C.) :
"Hephaistos (Hephaestus) went the way of these in the pride of his great strength limping, and yet his shrunken legs moved lightly beneath him."
Homer, Iliad 18. 136 ff :
"She found him [Hephaistos] sweating as he turned here and there to his bellows busily, since he was working on twenty tripods . . . Hephaistos took the huge blower off from the block of the anvil limping; and yet his shrunken legs moved lightly beneath him. He set the bellows away from the fire, and gathered and put away all the tools with which he worked in a silver strongbox. Then with a sponge he wiped clean his forehead, and both hands, and his massive neck and hairy chest, and put on a tunic, and took up a heavy stick in his hand, and went to the doorway limping. And in support of their master moved his attendants. These are golden, and in appearance like living young women. There is intelligence in their hearts, and there is speech in them and strength, and from the immortal gods they have learned how to do things. These stirred nimbly in support of their master."
Homer, Odyssey 8. 267 ff (trans. Shewring) (Greek epic C8th B.C.) :
"[Hephaistos speaks :] ‘I am a cripple from my birth.’"
Cicero, De Natura Deorum 1. 24 (trans. Rackham) (Roman rhetorician C1st B.C.) :
"At Athens there is a much-praised statue of Volcanus (Vulcan) [Hephaistos] by Alcamenes, a standing figure, draped, which displays a slight lameness, though not enough to be unsightly. We shall therefore deem god to be lame, since tradition represents Volcanus so."
Nonnus, Dionysiaca 5. 88 ff (trans. Rouse) (Greek epic C5th A.D.) :
"The heavyknee bridegroom [Hephaistos] always expected that Kythereia (Cytherea) [Aphrodite] would bear him a hobbling son, having the image of his father in his feet."
ANCIENT GREEK & ROMAN ART
Greco-Roman Marble Statue
ENCYCLOPEDIA
Hephaestus, Thetis and the armour of Achilles, Athenian red-figure nolan amphora C5th B.C., Museum of Fine Arts Boston
HEPHAESTUS (Hêphaistos), the god of fire, was, according to the Homeric account, the son of Zeus and Hera. (Il. i. 578, xiv. 338, xviii. 396, xxi. 332, Od. viii. 312.) Later traditions state that he had no father, and that Hera gave birth to him independent of Zeus, as she was jealous of Zeus having given birth to Athena independent of her. (Apollod. i. 3. § 5; Hygin. Fab. Praef.) This, however, is opposed to the common story, that Hephaestus split the head of Zeus, and thus assisted him in giving birth to Athena, for Hephaestus is there represented as older than Athena. A further development of the later tradition is, that Hephaestus sprang from the thigh of Hera, and, being for a long time kept in ignorance of his parentage, he at length had recourse to a stratagem, for the purpose of finding it out. He constructed a chair, to which those who sat upon it were fastened, and having thus entrapped Hera, he refused allowing her to rise until she had told him who his parents were. (Serv. ad Aen. viii. 454, Eclog. iv. 62.) For other accounts respecting his origin, see Cicero (de Nat. Deor. iii. 22), Pausanias (viii. 53. § 2). and Eustathius (ad Hom. p. 987).
Hephaestus is the god of fire, especially in so far as it manifests itself as a power of physical nature in volcanic districts, and in so far as it is the indispensable means in arts and manufactures, whence fire is called the breath of Hephaestus, and the name of the god is used both by Greek and Roman poets as synonymous with fire. As a flame arises out of a little spark, so the god of fire was delicate and weakly from his birth, for which reason he was so much disliked by his mother, that she wished to get rid of him, and dropped him from Olympus. But the marine divinities, Thetis and Eurynome, received him, and he dwelt with them for nine years in a grotto, surrounded by Oceanus, making for them a variety of ornaments. (Hom. Il. xviii. 394, &c.) It was, according to some accounts, during this period that he made the golden chair by which he punished his mother for her want of affection, and from which he would not release her, till he was prevailed upon by Dionysus. (Paus. i. 20. § 2; Hygin. Fab. 166.)
Although Hephaestus afterwards remembered the cruelty of his mother, yet he was always kind and obedient towards her, nay once, while she was quarrelling with Zeus, he took her part, and thereby offended his father so much, that he seized him by the leg, and hulled him down from Olympus. Hephaestus was a whole day falling, but in the evening he came down in the island of Lemnos, where he was kindly received by the Sintians. (Hom. Il. i. 590, &c. Val. Flacc. ii. 8.5; Apollod. i. 3. § 5, who, however, confounds the two occasions on which Hephaestus was thrown from Olympus.) Later writers describe his lameness as the consequence of his second fall, while Homer makes him lame and weak from his birth.
After his second fall he returned to Olympus, and subsequently acted the part of mediator between his parents. (Il i. 585.) On that occasion he offered a cup of nectar to his mother and the other gods, who burst out into immoderate laughter on seeing him busily hobbling through Olympus from one god to another, for he was ugly and slow, and, owing to the weakness of his legs, he was held up, when he walked, by artificial supports, skilfully made of gold. (Il. xviii. 410, &c., Od. viii. 311, 330.) His neck and chest, however, were strong and muscular. (Il. xviii. 415, xx. 36.)
In Olympus, Hephaestus had his own palace, imperishable and shining like stars: it contained his workshop, with the anvil, and twenty bellows, which worked spontaneously at his bidding. (Il. xviii. 370, &c.) It was there that he made all his beautiful and marvellous works, utensils, and arms, both for gods and men. The ancient poets and mythographers abound in passages describing works of exquisite workmanship which had been manufactured by Hephaestus. In later accounts, the Cyclopes, Brontes, Steropes, Pyracmon, and others, are his workmen and servants, and his workshop is no longer represented as in Olympus, but in the interior of some volcanic isle. (Virg. Aen. viii. 416, &c.)
The wife of Hephaestus also lived in his palace: in the Iliad she is called a Charis, in the Odyssey Aphrodite (Il. xviii. 382, Od. viii. 270), and in Hesiod's Theogony (945) she is named Aglaia. the youngest of the Charites. The story of Aphrodite's faithlessness to her husband, and of the manner in which he surprised her, is exquisitely described in Od. viii. 266-358. The Homeric poems do not mention any descendants of Hephaestus, but in later writers the number of his children is considerable. In the Trojan war he was on the side of the Greeks, but he was also worshipped by the Trojans, and on one occasion he saved a Trojan from being killed by Diomedes. (Il. v. 9, &c.)
His favourite place on earth was the island of Lemnos, where he liked to dwell among the Sintians (Od. viii. 283, &c., Il. i. 593; Ov Fast. viii. 82); but other volcanic islands also, such as Lipara, Hiera, Imbros. and Sicily, are called his abodes or workshops. (Apollon. Rhod iii. 41; Callim. Hymn. in Dian. 47; Serv. ad Aen. viii. 416; Strab. p. 275; Plin. H. N. iii. 9; Val. Flacc. ii. 96.)
Hephaestus is among the male what Athena is among the female deities, for, like her, he give skill to mortal artists, and, conjointly with her, he was believed to have taught men the arts which embellish and adorn life. (Od. vi. 233, xxiii. 160. Hymn. in Vaulc. 2. &c.) But he was. nevertheless, conceived as far inferior to the sublime character of Athena. At Athens they had temples and festivals in common. (See Dict of Ant. s. v. Hêphaisteia, Chalkeia.) Both also were believed to have great healing powers, and Lemnian earth (terra Lemnia) from the spot on which Hephaestus had fallen was believed to cure madness, the bites of snakes, and haemorrhage, and the priests of the god knew how to cure wounds inflicted by snakes. (Philostr. Heroic. v. 2; Eustath. ad Hom. p. 330; Dict. Cret. ii. 14.)
The epithets and surnames by which Hephaestus is designated by the poets generally allude to his skill in the plastic arts or to his figure and his lameness.
He was represented in the temple of Athena Chalcioecus at Sparta, in the act of delivering his mother (Paus. iii. 17. § 3); on the chest of Cypselus, giving to Thetis the armour for Achilles (v. 19. § 2); and at Athens there was the famous statue of Hephaestus by Alcamenes, in which his lameness was slightly indicated. (Cic. de Nat. Deor. i. 30; Val. Max. viii. 11. § 3.) The Greeks frequently placed small dwarf-like statues of the god near the hearth, and these dwarfish figures seem to have been the most ancient. (Herod. iii. 37; Aristoph. Av. 436; Callim. Hymnn. in Dian. 60.) During the best period of Grecian art, he was represented as a vigorous man with a beard, and is characterised by his hammer or some other instrument, his oval cap, and the chiton, which leaves the right shoulder and arm uncovered.
The Romans, when speaking of the Greek Hephaestus, call him Vulcanus, although Vulcanus was an original Italian divinity.
Source: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
SOURCES (ALL HEPHAESTUS PAGES)
Statius, Thebaid - Latin Epic C1st A.D.
Statius, Silvae - Latin Poetry C1st A.D.
Apuleius, The Golden Ass - Latin Novel C2nd A.D.
BYZANTINE
Photius, Myriobiblon - Byzantine Greek Scholar C9th A.D.
Suidas, The Suda - Byzantine Greek Lexicon C10th A.D.
OTHER SOURCES
Source status of Hephaistos pages:-
1. Fully quoted: Homer (Iliad & Odyssey), Hesiod, Homeric Hymns, Epic Cycle & Homerica, Aesop, Apollodorus, Pausanias, Strabo, Herodotus, Orphic Hymns, Quintus Smyrnaeus, Callimachus, Antoninus Liberalis, Aelian, Hyginus (Fabulae & Astronomica);, Ovid (Metamorphoses & Fasti), Cicero, Apuleius, Apollonius of Tyana;
2. Partially or not quoted (Greek): Pindar, Greek Lyric (Fragments), Greek Elegaic (Fragments), Euripides, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Aristophanes, Plato, Apollonius Rhodius, Diodorus Siculus, Theocritus, Lycophron, Plutarch, Philostratus & Callistratus, Nonnus, Oppian, Colluthus, Tryphiodorus, et. al.;
3. Partially or not quoted (Latin): Statius, Propertius, Valerius Flaccus, et. al.
| Vulcan |
What was the nickname of the H4 Hercules flying boat, that never went into production after it's maiden flight due to post war cutbacks in 1947. | Vulcan - God of Smithing - Crystalinks
Vulcan
The Forge of Vulcan by Diego Velezquez, (1630).
In ancient Roman religion and myth, Vulcan (Latin: Vulcanus) is the god of both beneficial and hindering fire, including the fire of volcanoes, and the manufacturer of art, arms, iron, and armor for gods and heroes. His forge was believed to be situated underneath Mount Aetna in Sicily. Vulcan is often depicted with a blacksmith's hammer.
The Romans identified Vulcan with the Greek smith-god Hephaestus, and he became associated like his Greek counterpart with the constructive use of fire in metalworking. A fragment of a Greek pot showing Hephaestus found at the Volcanal has been dated to the 6th century BC, suggesting that the two gods were already associated at this date. However, Vulcan had a stronger association than Hephaestus with fire's destructive capacity, and a major concern of his worshippers was to encourage the god to avert harmful fires. His festival, the Vulcanalia, was celebrated on August 23 each year, when the summer heat placed crops and granaries most at risk of burning.
During the festival bonfires were created in honor of the god, into which live fish or small animals were thrown as a sacrifice, to be consumed in the place of humans. Vulcan was among the gods placated after the Great Fire of Rome in AD 64. In response to the same fire, Domitian (emperor 81-96) established a new altar to Vulcan on the Quirinal Hill. At the same time a red bull-calf and red boar were added to the sacrifices made on the Vulcanalia, at least in that region of the city.
In addition to the Volcanalia on August 23, the date May 23, which was the second of the two annual Tubilustria or ceremonies for the purification of trumpets, was sacred to Vulcan.
He is also called Mulciber ("softener") in Roman mythology and Sethlans in Etruscan mythology.
Vulcan belonged to the most ancient platform of Roman religion.
The word volcano is derived from the name of Vulcano, a volcanic island in the Aeolian Islands of Italy whose name in turn originates from Vulcan.
A statue of Vulcan located in Birmingham, Alabama is the largest cast iron statue in the world. Also, several small cults worship Vulcan on the 23 of each month.
Mythology
Vulcan was the son of Jupiter and Juno, and husband of Maia and Venus. Vulcan made the thrones for the other gods on Mt. Olympus.
Through his identification with the Hephaestus of Greek mythology, he came to be considered as the manufacturer of art, arms, iron, jewelery and armor for various gods and heroes, including the thunderbolts of Jupiter. He was the son of Jupiter and Juno, and husband of Maia and Venus. His smithy was believed to be situated underneath Mount Etna in Sicily. As the son of Jupiter, the king of the gods, and Juno, the queen of the gods, Vulcan should have been quite handsome, but, baby Vulcan was small and ugly with a red, bawling face. Juno was so horrified that she hurled the tiny baby off the top of Mount Olympus.
Vulcan fell down for a day and a night, landing in the sea. Unfortunately, one of his legs broke as he hit the water, and never developed properly. From the surface, Vulcan sunk like a pebble to the cool blue depths where the sea-nymph, Thetis, found him and took him to her underwater grotto, and raised him as her own son.
Vulcan had a happy childhood with dolphins as his playmates and pearls as his toys. Late in his childhood, he found the remains of a fisherman's fire on the beach and became fascinated with an unextinguished coal, still red-hot and glowing.
Vulcan carefully shut this precious coal in a clamshell and took it back to his underwater grotto and made a fire with it. On the first day after, Vulcan stared at this fire for hours on end.
On the second day, he discovered that when he made the fire hotter with bellows, certain stones sweated iron, silver or gold.
On the third day he beat the cooled metal into shapes: bracelets, chains, swords and shields. Vulcan made pearl-handled knives and spoons for his foster mother, he made a silver chariot for himself, and bridles so that seahorses could transport him quickly. He even made slave-girls of gold to wait on him and do his bidding.
Later, Thetis left her underwater grotto to attend a dinner party on Mount Olympus wearing a beautiful necklace of silver and sapphires, which Vulcan had made for her. Juno admired the necklace and asked as to where she could get one. Thetis became flustered causing Juno to become suspicious and, at last, the queen god discovered the truth: the baby she had once rejected had grown into a talented blacksmith.
Juno was furious and demanded that Vulcan return home, a demand that he refused. However he did send Juno a beautifully constructed chair made of silver and gold, inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Juno was delighted with this gift but, as soon as she sat in it her weight triggered hidden springs and metal bands sprung forth to hold her fast. The more she shrieked and struggled the more firmly the mechanical throne gripped her; the chair was a cleverly designed trap.
For three days Juno sat fuming, still trapped in Vulcan's chair, she couldn't sleep, she couldn't stretch, she couldn't eat. It was Jupiter who finally saved the day, he promised that if Vulcan released Juno he would give him a wife, Venus the goddess of love and beauty. Vulcan agreed and married Venus. He later built a smithy under Mount Etna on the island of Sicily. It was said that whenever Venus is unfaithful, Vulcan grows angry and beats the red-hot metal with such a force that sparks and smoke rise up from the top of the mountain, to create a volcanic eruption. According to Virgil, Vulcan was the father of Caeculus.
To punish mankind for stealing the secrets of fire, Jupiter ordered the other gods to make a poisoned gift for man. Vulcan's contribution to the beautiful and foolish Pandora was to mould her from clay and to give her form. He also made the thrones for the other gods on Mount Olympus.
The Volcanal
Map (1926) of the western end of the Roman Forum: The Volcanal is indicated between the Arch of Severus and the stairs of the Temple of Concord, just northwest of the Umbilicus and Rostra. It appears to have played an important role in the civic rituals of the archaic Roman Kingdom. Dedicated to Vulcan, it was traditionally considered to commemorate the spot where the legendary figures Romulus and Tatius concluded the peace treaty between the tribes known as the Latins - on the Palatine Hill - and the Sabines - on the Quirinal and Esquiline. This famous merger of the hill-villages was said to be the foundation of the Roman state.
Vulcan also had a temple on the Campus Martius, which was in existence by 214 BC. The Romans identified Vulcan with the Greek smith-god Hephaestus, and he became associated like his Greek counterpart with the constructive use of fire in metalworking. A fragment of a Greek pot showing Hephaestus found at the Volcanal has been dated to the 6th century BC, suggesting that the two gods were already associated at this date. However, Vulcan had a stronger association than Hephaestus with fire's destructive capacity, and a major concern of his worshippers was to encourage the god to avert harmful fires.
The main and most ancient sanctuary of Vulcan in Rome was the Volcanal, located in the area Volcani, an open air space at the foot of Capitol Hill, in the northwestern corner of the Roman Forum, with an ara dedicated to the god and a perennial fire. It was one of the most ancient Roman shrines. According to Roman tradititon the sanctuary had been dedicated by Romulus. He had placed on the site a bronze quadriga dedicated to the god, a war pray of the Fidenates.
According to Plutarch though the war in question was that against Cameria, that occurred sixteen years after the foundation of Rome. There Romulus would have also dedicated to Vulcan a statue of himself and an inscription in Greek listing his successes. Plutarch states that Romulus was represented crowned by Victory. Moreover he would have planted a sacred lotus tree in the sanctuary that was still living at the time of Pliny the Elder and was said to be as old as the city.
The Volcanal was perhaps used as a cremation site as suggested by the early use of the Forum as a burial site.
According to Samuel Ball Platner in the course of time the Volcanal should have been more and more encroached upon by the surrounding buildings until it was totally covered over. Nonetheless cult was still alive in the first half of the imperial era, as is testified by the finding of a dedica of Augustus's dating from 9 BC.
At the beginning of 20th century behind the Arch of Septimius Severus were found some ancient tufaceous foundations that probably belonged to the Volcanal and traces of a rocky platform, 3.95 meters long and 2.80 meters wide, that had been covered with concrete and painted in red. Its upper surface is dug by several narrow channels and in front of there are the remains of a draining channel made of tufaceous slabs. The hypothesis was made that this was Vulcan's ara itself. The rock shows signs of damages and repairs. On the surface there are some hollows, either round or square, that bear resemblance to graves and were interpreted as such in the past, particularly by Von Duhn. After the discovery of cremation tombs in the Forum the last scholar maintained that the Volcanal was originally the site were corpses were cremated.
Vulcanalia
The festival of Vulcan, the Vulcanalia, was celebrated on August 23 each year, when the summer heat placed crops and granaries most at risk of burning. During the festival bonfires were created in honor of the god, into which live fish or small animals were thrown as a sacrifice, to be consumed in the place of humans.
It is recorded that during the Vulcanalia people used to hang their cloths and fabrics under the sun. This habit might reflect a theologic connection between Vulcan and the divinized sun.
Another custom observed in this day required that one should start working at the light of a candle, probably to propitiate a beneficial use of fire by the god.
In addition to the Volcanalia on August 23, the date May 23, which was the second of the two annual Tubilustria or ceremonies for the purification of trumpets, was sacred to Vulcan.
A flamen, one of the flamines minores, named flamen Volcanalis was preposed to the cult of the god. The flamen Volcanalis officed a sacrifice to goddess Maia, held every year at the Kalendae of May.
The Ludi Volcanalici, held just once on August 23, 20 BC, within the temple precinct of Vulcan, were used by Augustus to mark the treaty with Parthia and the return of the legionary standards that had been lost at the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BC.
Vulcan was among the gods placated after the Great Fire of Rome in AD 64. In response to the same fire, Domitian (emperor 81-96) established a new altar to Vulcan on the Quirinal Hill. At the same time a red bull-calf and red boar were added to the sacrifices made on the Vulcanalia, at least in that region of the city.
Theology
The nature of the god is connected to religious ideas concerning fire.
The Roman concept of the god seems to be connected both to the destructive and fertilizing powers of fire.
In the first aspect he is worshipped to avert its potential danger to harvested wheat in the Volcanalia and his cult is located outside the boundaries of the original city to avoid its causing fires in the city itself.
This power is however considered useful if directed against enemies and such a choice for the location of the god's cult could be interpreted in this way too. The same idea underlies the dedication of the arms of the defeated enemies, as well as those of the survived general in a devotion ritual to the god.
Through comparative interpretation this aspect has been connected to the third (or defensive) fire in the Vedic theory of the three sacrificial fires.
Another meaning of Vulcan is related to male fertilizing power. In various Latin and Roman legends he is the father of famous characters, such as the founder of Praeneste Caeculus, Cacus, a primordial monstrous being that inhabited the site of the Aventine in Rome and Roman king Servius Tullius. In a variant of the story of the birth of Romulus the details are identical even though Vulcan is not explicitly mentioned.
Some scholars think that he might be the unknown god who impregnated goddesses Fortuna Primigenia at Praeneste and Feronia at Anxur. In this case he would be the father of Jupiter. However this view is in conflict with that which links the goddess to Jupiter, as his daughter (puer Jovis) and his mother too, as primigenia, meaning "primordial".
In all of the above mentioned stories the god's fertilizing power is related to that of the fire of the house hearth.
In the case of Caeculus, his mother was impregnated by a spark that dropped on her womb from the hearth while she was sitting nearby. Servius Tullius's mother Ocresia was impregnated by a male sex organ that miraculously appeared in the ashes of the sacrificial ara, at the order of Tanaquil, Tarquinius Priscus's wife.[29] Pliny the Elder tells the same story, but states that the father was the Lar familiaris. The divinity of the child was recognized when his head was surrounded by flames and he remained unharmed.
Through the comparative analysis of these myths archaeologist Andrea Carandini opines that Cacus and Caca were the sons of Vulcan and of a local divine being or a virgin as in the case of Caeculus. Cacus and Caca would represent the metallurgic and the domestic fire, projections of Vulcan and of Vesta.
These legends date back to the time of preurban Latium. Their meaning is quite clear: at the divine level Vulcan impregnates a virgin goddess and generates Jupiter, the king of the gods; at the human level he impregnates a local virgin (perhaps of royal descent) and generates a king.
The first mention of a ritual connection between Vulcan and Vesta is the lectisternium of 217 BC. Other facts hinting to this connection seem to be the relative proximity of the two sanctuaries and Dionysius of Halicarnassus's testimony that both cults had been introduced to Rome by Titus Tatius to comply with a vow he had made in battle. Varro confirms the fact.
Vulcan is related to two equally ancient female goddesses Stata Mater, perhaps the goddess who stops fires and Maia.
Herbert Jennings Rose interprets Maia as a goddess related to growth by connecting her name with IE root *MAG. Macrobius relates Cincius's opinion that Vulcan's female companion is Maia. Cincius justifies his view on the grounds that the flamen Volcanalis sacrificed to her at the Kalendae of May. In Piso's view the companion of the god is Maiestas.
According to Gellius too Maia was associated to Vulcan and he backs his view by quoting the Roman priests's ritual prayers in use.
Moreover Maiestas and Maia are possibly the same divine person: compare Ovid's explanations of the meaning of the name month May.
The god is the patron of trades related to ovens (cooks, bakers, confectioners) as it is attested in the works of Plautus, Apuleius (the god is the cook at the wedding of Amor and Psyche) and in Vespa's short poem in the Anthologia Latina about the litigation between a cook and a baker.
Vulcan and Alchemy
Vulcan of the alchemists was the patron deity of alchemy. It was also known to be a symbol of the hermetic art. Despite being important in Egyptian and Greek religion, it was the Renaissance physician/alchemist Paracelsus who first introduced the mythological figure of Vulcan. To Paracelsus, Vulcan was synonymous with both the alchemist/physician's manipulation of fire, heating and distilling of nature's properties for medicine, and the transforming power and creative potential locked within Man, the greater invisible Man or anthropos, slumbering within.
The alchemists' adoption of the mythic figure of Vulcan may be interpreted on several levels. At the lowest scale of interpretation, Vulcan represents the cunning amoral demiurge who blindly gains power over Nature without integrity; this mundane level anticipates the nascent Industrial Revolution of the 18th century.
The activities of the extraction of coal from mines to fuel colossal Furnaces to manufacture Steel and Iron on a gigantic scale and the development of the railroad and steam-train throughout Europe and North America are both decidedly Vulcan-like activities and in many ways, the general "business" of the Protestant work ethic and industrialized Western society, is strongly reflected in this archetypal figure. At a higher level of interpretation Vulcan is transformed to become an inspired apostle, the visionary capable of releasing Mankind from the bonds of unknowingness and darkness.
The transforming power of Vulcan the "higher man" and anthropos figure of the alchemists has today devolved into the negative aspects of a demi-urge figure; none other than the modern technological man, who, divorced from God, forges his own destiny independent of Religion, Divine Love or theological considerations towards a brave new world or utopia.
Fire and alchemy are not only for the transmutation gold - but more importantly - the alchemy of consciousness in time. Fire is also associated with the Phoenix .
| i don't know |
Flying Down to Rio is a 1933 movie that saw the first screen pairing of which partnership. | View All Photos (4)
Movie Info
The top-billed stars in the extravagant RKO musical Flying Down to Rio are Dolores Del Rio and Gene Raymond. Forget all that: this is the movie that first teamed Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. We're supposed to care about the romantic triangle between aviator/bandleader Raymond, Brazilian heiress Del Rio and her wealthy fiance Raul Roulien, but the moment Fred and Ginger dance to a minute's worth of "The Carioca", the film is theirs forever. Other musical highlights include Rogers' opening piece "Music Makes Me" and tenor Roulien's lush rendition of "Orchids in the Moonlight". Then there's the title number. The plot has it that Del Rio' uncle has been prohibited from having a floor show at his lavish hotel because of a Rio city ordinance. Astaire and Raymond save the day by staging the climactic "Flying Down to Rio" number thousands of feet in the air, with hundreds of chorus girls shimmying and swaying while strapped to the wings of a fleet of airplanes. It is one of the most outrageously brilliant numbers in movie musical history, and one that never fails to incite a big round of applause from the audience--even audiences of the 1990s. Together with King Kong, Flying Down to Rio saved the fledgling RKO Radio studios from bankruptcy in 1933. The film was a smash everywhere it played, encouraging the studio to concoct future teamings of those two stalwart supporting players Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
Rating:
| Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers |
Which group had a hit with Flying Without Wings in 1999 | Flying Down to Rio (1933) Review, with Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire – Pre-Code.Com
Proof That It’s Pre-Code
This thing has more bare legs than a Rockettes review.
The film opens with a manager inspecting all of the hotel’s maids, front and backside. He seems less interested in girls than the girls seem interested in him.
“He could name his own figure.” “He can name mine any time!”
Straight faced, to the camera by an American woman clueless to Del Rio’s sex appeal: “What do these South Americans got below the equator that we don’t?”
There’s this strange moment where you think Raul Roulien is checking out (and possibly horrified by) Gene Raymond’s penis:
A group of South Americans dance “The Carioca” which is apparently so sexy that inspires everyone to have dirty thoughts. Rogers notes, “Is my mind red!”
Ginger Rogers, ever dismissive, casually punches a girl in the face who questions her.
The final dance sequence features a brief scene where a line of dancers suffer from a parachute malfunction. Luckily, it’s not that they don’t open, just that the parachutes rip off their clothes.
And this is just all the stuff I caught…
Flying Down to Rio: Rio by the Sea-O
“Music makes you do things you never should do…”
One of the fun things about looking at early sound movies is that you pretty much see the entire template of musicals for decades after defined in a few short years. From 1927 to 1930, you had the classic revue style talking hold, often stagy and filled with songs sung directly to the audience. Next you had the Busby Berkeley visual extravaganzas that took hold at Warner Brothers in ’32, using dream logic and special effects while slinging saucy innuendos by the fistful.
Flying Down to Rio is built to cash in on the Berkeley film’s successes, filled with elaborate routines and a fantastical atmosphere, but the movie features one unusually potent ingredient that would come to dominate musicals for decades after: the dancing.
That’s because this is the first feature pairing Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, two of the brightest stars of late-30s films. Together here, fourth and fifth billed, they practically waltz off with the movie from its stars, taking a number called “The Carioca” and turning it into a sensation.
Footloose and fancy free.
But let’s remove Flying Down to Rio from its place as a stepping stone to cinematic history and take a closer look. The film’s plot itself is creakier than most of the preceding thirty years of cinema: a band leader with a roving eye sets his sights on a fiery Brazilian girl. Unfortunately, she’s already engaged to his best friend. Who will the girl go with– our handsome white rogue or the steady but concerned foreigner?
It’s almost ridiculous how uninvolving the main plot is. Front man Gene Raymond, while certainly muscular and good natured, is stuck being a Lothario and not much else. Dolores Del Rio, the beautiful actress, is beautiful with a smile that could kill, but is pretty much just jostled by machinations. Raul Roulien’s character is at the crap end of the triangle and probably the most sympathetic of the three, though he too is trapped in a movie that thinks less of the guy who does the noble thing and more of the guy who gets the girl by virtue of simply wanting her more.
And that plot is probably why Flying Down to Rio is rarely regarded highly in the Astaire and Rogers canon, as the film lurches to a stop when the romantic teeth gnashing begins. There’s no tension and Del Rio and Raymond lack the chemistry to overcome it.
Those are interesting overalls, Dolores.
That being said, for a 90 minute movie, that plot barely clogs up a third of it. Most of the time is occupied with elaborate musical set pieces, with the finale, a spectacular over-the-top aerial ballet with chorus girls arranged on airplanes and boogieing to the titular musical number, being especially grandiose. Ludicrous, yes, but deliriously enjoyable.
The only other number to match it is the aforementioned “Carioca”, which showcases a lengthy dance number that involves touching foreheads and thoughts that will apparently make you blush. Rogers and Astaire get their only chance to tear up the carpet here, and the beautiful effortlessness behind their brief shining moment is tantalizing to say the least.
The film’s pre-Code content is easily comparable to some of the dirtiest pictures of the day, as women and men both undress with relish. The musical numbers, too, are dotted with innuendos, from Ginger Roger’s opening piece (performed in a virtually see-through dress) to the wild gyrations that take place on the top of the aircraft. There’s even a lengthy scene on a tropical island where Belinha and Roger have out of body experiences that encourage themselves to wildly copulate.
“Sexy sexy sex sex, Dolores. Remember that!”
And that’s kind of the fun of Flying Down to Rio, which, save for its moments of dancing greatness, is a fairly worthy imitator of the Busby Berkeley mold. It may be less about the Depression than what Berkeley normally dealt with and more about the lure of flying and the lush exoticism of South America, but it’s a naughty jaunt that ends on a fairly literal high note.
Trivia & Links
The first of nine film pairings of between Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Their next is The Gay Divorcee (1934) which isn’t technically a pre-Code, but, hell, I’m covering it anyway. You can’t stop me!
This movie is credited for saving RKO Studios from bankruptcy, with the rest of the Astaire and Rogers series keeping them in the black for the rest of the decade.
Clarence Muse has a pretty funny cameo as a golfer. Who, uh, doesn’t wear a shirt for some reason.
In original prints, the rather unspectacular “Orchids in the Moonlight” number was color tinted.
Movie Diva has a ton of great info both about how Astaire and Rogers worked together– they dated briefly in New York before they separately went to Hollywood and spent the rest of their career being consummate professionals to one another. There’s also a lot of info on Astaire’s background, and his collaborator Hermes Pan. She uses her best tidbit for the end:
And, for those of you who may have dreamed of dancing with Fred Astaire, he disdained social dancing, and could rarely be persuaded to do so. Dancing was work, after all.
Greenbriar Picture Show , besides relating a charming story about an exhibitor making his way across the country selling the movie, also talks about how the movie was crafted as another attempt to romanticize and normalize air travel since the film’s producer, Merian C. Cooper, also sat on the board of Pan-Am.
“Uh, by a waterfall with you?”
Dr. Macro has a ton of posters for this one.
Musicals 101 dedicates an entire page to the team and their importance to film dancing. They’re also pretty down on Ginger, but I suppose that’s not surprising since Ginger seemed rather down on musicals.
A Noodle in A Haystack has some great stills.
Del Rio is showcasing a two piece bathing suit, which is almost scandalous if you hadn’t seen her in what little she wore in Bird of Paradise.
TCMDb reveals the secrets of the film’s special effects:
In spite of the fact that RKO was in financial trouble, it spared no expense on Flying Down to Rio: music by Vincent Youmans (his final score before retiring due to health problems); dozens of dancers; second-unit photography in Brazil, which provided authentic backgrounds; enormous, dazzlingly white Art Deco sets representing hotels, ballrooms and nightclubs in Miami and Rio de Janeiro; and — as promised — the title number, with chorus girls dancing precariously on the wings of airplanes. The number was actually a combination of wide shots done in Malibu, and process shots in a hangar, with the planes suspended by wires only a few feet off the ground.
Many of the sources note that the following Astaire/Rogers vehicles follow a certain romantic pattern, with one other peculiarity: Fred always gets a solo dance number, Ginger always gets a solo song. Alex Udvary notes this, and also makes mention of the subtext to Ginger’s number:
And finally, pay attention to Ginger Rogers’ song, “Music Makes Me” (Ginger had it in her contract that she would get to sing one solo song in every movie. She was afraid the studio was going to pay more attention to Fred). Lyrics include “my self control was something to brag about/now its the gag about town”. What do you think she’s referring to when she says “music makes me”?
The beginning of a beautiful on-screen partnership.
Mordaunt Hall for the New York Times enjoyed it, saying of Astaire and Rogers:
An impressive series of scenes are devoted to a dance known as the Carioca. During this interlude that nimble-toed Fred Astaire and the charming Ginger Rogers give a performance of this Carioca. The music is delightful, and besides Mr. Astaire and Miss Rogers many other persons dance the extraordinarily rhythmic Carioca, one feature of which happens to be that of the couples pressing their foreheads together as they glide around the floor.
Gallery
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In which town was the Flying Scotsman locomotove manufactured in 1956. | Flying Scotsman on London King's Cross to York run - BBC News
BBC News
Flying Scotsman on London King's Cross to York run
25 February 2016
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Media captionAerial footage shows the locomotive racing north on its way to York, where crowds greeted the train
One of the world's most famous locomotives has completed its inaugural run after a decade-long, £4.2m refit.
The Flying Scotsman made the journey from London King's Cross to York, where it will go on display at the National Railway Museum (NRM).
It arrived in York about 13.20 GMT, almost an hour later than expected, after it was twice held up by reports of trespassers.
The engine, which retired from service in 1963, has been restored for the NRM.
Former MP turned TV presenter Michael Portillo said: "This is certainly the most famous journey and most famous locomotive in Britain."
Media captionVideo courtesy of Ryan Allen
Image copyright PA
Image caption The Flying Scotsman passed over the Digswell Viaduct near Welwyn Garden City on its inaugural run from London to York
Image copyright PA
Image copyright PA
Image caption Flying Scotsman passing through Potters Bar
The first disruption happened at about 09:00 near St Neots when the train was brought to a standstill while British Transport Police cleared the lines after reports of around 60 people on the track. No arrests were made.
Network Rail said the number of people on the trackside had caused "safety concerns" and resulted in a number of services, including Flying Scotsman, having to slow down."
The train was halted a second time north of Doncaster following reports of trespassers on the track which were later found to be false.
Media captionFlying Scotsman: Guard shouts at trespassers as train halted near St Neots
Image caption The locomotive's journey was halted for about five minutes by people trying to see the Flying Scotsman
Image copyright Graham Eva
Crowds gathered at King's Cross for its scheduled departure at 07:40 and thousands lined the route, while some of the 297 passengers paid up to £450 for a ticket to travel on the train.
Among the passengers was 83-year-old Ron Kennedy, from Leigh-on-Sea, in Essex, who drove Flying Scotsman from 1956 until it was retired in 1963.
He said "It's unbelievable. I never dreamt about being on it again. To be out with it is just fantastic."
Image copyright National Railway Museum
Image caption Huge crowds gathered at York station to see the locomotive arrive
Image copyright PA
Image caption The Flying Scotsman left King's Cross at 07:40 GMT to begin its journey to York
NRM director, Paul Kirkman, said the restoration project was a "long old journey" but added that it was "incredibly satisfying" to see the locomotive returned to service.
The locomotive undertook a series of test runs through Cumbria and Lancashire earlier this year.
Flying Scotsman
Designed by Sir Nigel Gresley, Flying Scotsman emerged from Doncaster Works on 24 February 1923
The British Empire Exhibition in 1924 made Flying Scotsman famous
In 1934, Scotsman was clocked at 100mph - officially the first locomotive to have reached that speed. But some claim City of Truro was the first steam engine to break the 100mph record, in 1904, when it apparently reached a speed of 102mph running down a slope
It is 70ft (21m) long, weighs about 96 tonnes and had a top speed of 100mph
It has travelled approximately 2,500,000 miles
During World War Two it was repainted wartime black
By 1995 it was part-owned by record producer Pete Waterman
The engine was bought for the nation in 2004 by the National Railway Museum (NRM) in York using £415,000 in public donations, a £365,000 gift from Sir Richard Branson and a £1.8m grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund
Image copyright PA
Image caption The famous locomotive was painted in its traditional green livery last week, marking the end of a decade-long restoration project
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Which member of Monty Python's Flying Circus was largely responsible for the animation, including the giant foot in the show's opening sequence. | Flying Scotsman Returns: London to York - BBC News
BBC News
25 Feb 201625 Feb 2016
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Train leaves King's Cross station on time as crowds pack the platforms
Flying Scotsman arrives in York at 13:20 - 54 minutes later than scheduled
Service forced to temporary 'abrupt halt' as onlookers come close to tracks
Safety warning issued as thousands line sections of route
Flying Scotsman passes through Doncaster where it was built in 1923
Famous locomotive returning to York's National Railway Museum after refit
Live coverage of the Flying Scotsman's return to the East Coast Mainline on 25 February 2016
Live Reporting
All times stated are UK
Get involved
Send an email to [email protected]
Our live coverage pulls into the engine shed
Tom Airey
Reporter, BBC News Online
Posted at 15:00 25 Feb
That ends our live coverage of the famous locomotive's return to the East Coast Main Line, thanks for joining me.
Over the past eight hours we've had steam, whistles, memories, trespassers and a moving finale at York station.
We leave you with an image from today which has a timeless quality to it - much like the engine itself.
PA
Your emails: 'Enthralled by the power'
Posted at 14:52 25 Feb
Thanks for sending me your emails and photos today.
Dr Ian Pickering has got in touch from New Brighton, Wirral, to say he saw Flying Scotsman as a young child in Wigan during the locomotive's farewell tour.
He said: "She blasted through at incredible speed and I was enthralled by the power. It is a moment I have never forgotten. It is so wonderful to see her back in service, restored and cared for."
National Railway Museum
When you wait patiently to see Flying Scotsman...
Posted at 14:37 25 Feb
...and then this happens.
Flying Scotsman a 'world icon', National Railway Museum curator says
Posted at 14:33 25 Feb
Bob Gwynne, a curator at the National Railway Museum, said it was great to see the “world icon” back in York.
He told BBC Radio York : "It's not just enthusiasts, all the world and his wife are here.
"It's really become the symbol of the steam age and it has been away for 10 years, so it's not really surprising people have gone 'wow, let's go and see it'".
AFP/Getty
Flying Scotsman crew take well-earned rest after London to York run
Posted at 14:25 25 Feb
Soot-blackened faces look out from the Flying Scotsman's cab on its arrival in York after an eventful journey which took more than five and a half hours.
PA
Flying Scotsman to head to nearby National Railway Museum
Posted at 14:12 25 Feb
After about 3,000 people welcomed Flying Scotsman back into Platform 9 at York station, it will now head to the nearby National Railway Museum.
View more on twitter
It will be in steam in the North Yard area of the museum, with the site staying open to the public until 10pm tonight.
It's due to stay at the museum until 6 March, when it starts a tour around the country.
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Long wait over as crowds capture historic moment at York station
Posted at 13:50 25 Feb
Hundreds of people crowded the platforms at York station to capture the moment Flying Scotsman completed its inaugural East Coast Main Line run since completing it refit.
PA
Former owner says today's journey 'absolutely wonderful'
Posted at 13:44 25 Feb
Sir William McAlpine, a former owner of Flying Scotsman, told BBC Radio York what it was like travelling on today's service from London.
"I think it's wonderful, absolutely wonderful. It's a great pleasure. I don't own her any longer and so I don't have to worry about her! I can just thoroughly enjoy myself."
BBC
Crowds cheer Flying Scotsman into York
Posted at 13:35 25 Feb
Here's Flying Scotsman pulling in at York station a few minutes ago.
It's time for the 300 passengers to depart, with the celebrations moving to the nearby National Railway Museum later this afternoon.
BreakingFlying Scotsman completes inaugural East Coast Main Line run
Posted at 13:23 25 Feb
Breaking
After a £4.2m refurbishment, Flying Scotsman has pulled into York station after a lengthy absence.
What a moment for those lucky enough to be on board or on the platform.
It's 54 minutes late, but I don't think anyone minds too much.
BBC
Hundreds gather to greet Flying Scotsman south of York
Posted at 13:18 25 Feb
Hundreds of people have been spotted on a vantage point at Colton Junction near York.
Our reporters on board say they have seen scenes like this almost all the way along the route.
BBC Rewind: History of Flying Scotsman
Posted at 13:16 25 Feb
With the journey to York nearing its end, BBC Rewind
have put together a video documenting a brief history of Flying Scotsman.
It's definitely worth a minute of your time...
BBC Rewind looks at the history of the Flying Scotsman.
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Flying Scotsman arrival in York imminent
Posted at 13:13 25 Feb
The service is about to reach it's destination any minute now!
Predictably, there are huge crowds at York station.
Alan Pegler: The man who saved Flying Scotsman
Posted at 13:10 25 Feb
Flying Scotsman was saved from the breakers' yard by a millionaire steam enthusiast, Alan Pegler.
, taking it round the country - and often driving it himself.
In 1969, he even took the historic engine to the United States.
Alan died aged 91 in 2012.
National Railway Museum
Watch: Flying Scotsman as it passes through Doncaster station
Posted at 13:02 25 Feb
Here's some brilliant footage of Flying Scotsman steaming through Doncaster station about half an hour ago.
Service on the move again near Selby
Posted at 12:57 25 Feb
British Transport Police has told our reporter Tom Ingall the reports of trespass were false.
We're on the move again and expected in York in less than 20 minutes.
PA
Flying Scotsman in popular culture
Posted at 12:53 25 Feb
While we're waiting for the train to get moving again, here's some Flying Scotsman-related trivia for you:
It featured in the The Flying Scotsman, a 1929 film which symbolised a benchmark in British filmmaking
The locomotive has a place in The Railway Series of children's books by Reverend Wilbert Vere Awdry
It appeared in the 102 Dalmatians film, pulling the Orient Express out of London
One of the specially-produced £5 coins for the 2012 Summer Olympics featured an engraving of Flying Scotsman on the back
BBC
Flying Scotsman appeared on Blue Peter in the 1960s
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BreakingFlying Scotsman held up again near Doncaster
Posted at 12:45 25 Feb
Breaking
We have had another trespass incident causing the service to be halted again north of Doncaster.
Some police officers boarded the train at Retford in Nottinghamshire in the event this happened.
It was expected to arrive at York at 12:26, but it's likely to be past 13:00 now.
BBC
Onlookers improvise for a vantage point
Posted at 12:34 25 Feb
One of our reporters on board captured a group who used a forklift truck to gain a vantage point over a hedge to see Flying Scotsman.
The locomotive isn't something you see on every tea break!
BBC
Watch: Flying Scotsman whistles for Donny crowds
Posted at 12:26 25 Feb
Here's the moment they were waiting for at Doncaster station (from both the platform and on board).
Flying Scotsman passes through 'birthplace'
Posted at 12:20 25 Feb
Flying Scotsman has just passed through Doncaster, which has a special connection with the locomotive.
Designed by Sir Nigel Gresley, it was built here and emerged from Doncaster Works on 24 February 1923.
A legend was born, as they say.
National Railway Museum
It is pictured here sheeted down at Doncaster Works on 1 March 1924 ready for transport to the Empire Exhibition at Wembley.
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Expectant crowds pack the platforms at Doncaster station
Look at the scenes at Doncaster as crowds wait for Flying Scotsman to arrive.
Portillo praise for Flying Scotsman designer Sir Nigel Gresley
Posted at 12:07 25 Feb
As Flying Scotsman approaches Doncaster, the town where it was built, Michael Portillo described it as "an engineering triumph".
He praised its designer Sir Nigel Gresley for having "an eye for engineering, for design, for style and for marketing".
BBC
Mr Portillo said he was "very excited" to be travelling on the train as part of filming for BBC documentary series Great British Railway Journeys.
"This is certainly the most famous journey and most famous locomotive in Britain," he said.
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View from Flying Scotsman's cab
Posted at 12:03 25 Feb
Our reporter Tom Ingall has managed to wangle his way inside the cab of Flying Scotsman.
I think it's fair to say he's currently like a child in a sweetshop.
The service is currently approaching Doncaster, so it's about 20 minutes behind schedule.
BBC
Flying Scotsman Returns: Your emails
Posted at 11:58 25 Feb
Thanks for getting in touch with us about Flying Scotsman's inaugural journey up the East Coast Main Line today.
Chris Mott, emailing from Baku in Azerbaijan, said: "A shame that the scheduled Flying Scotsman was able to overtake the historic one, however it demonstrates the superiority of current technology.
"I remember burning my finger on the nameplate of the engine as it stood on the main northbound platform at York during its service days."
Paul said: "Flying Scotsman on show today, Aston Martin on show yesterday - so very proud of British engineering".
You can contact us with your photos and stories here .
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Network Rail warning after 'trespass' incident
Posted at 10:56 25 Feb
We've had a statement from Network Rail on the incident which earlier stopped the service for about 15 minutes.
A spokesman said: "Reports of people trespassing on the lineside meant that services near St Neots were slowed down between 9:00-9:15.
"The Flying Scotsman was brought to a stop at this time while British Transport Police made sure that everyone was safe.
"We are all excited to see The Flying Scotsman return to our rails and we know that many people have waited years for this. Please stay safe and keep away from the trackside."
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What is the correct name for the "Flying Lady" ornament on a Rolls Royce radiator. | Rolls Royce "flying Lady" Hood Ornament - Northstar Gallery
1933 Rolls Royce "Flying Lady"
SPIRIT OF ECSTASY
"The Flying Lady"
The Spirit of Ecstasy is one of the most well known motor car mascot in the world. Designed by Charles Robinson Sykes, The Spirit of Ecstasy has adorned the radiators of Rolls-Royce motor cars since 1911. This wonderful mascot was modeled after a young woman who had bewitching beauty, intellect and esprit - but not the social status which might have permitted her to marry the man with whom she had fallen in love.
The model was Eleanor Velasco Thornton, whose relationship with John Walter Edward-Scott-Montagu remained a secret for over a decade, principally because both lovers acted with the utmost discretion. John Scott, heir to his father's title, was a pioneer of the automobile in England. From 1902 he was editor of the "The Car". Eleanor Thornton served as his secretary. Friends of the pair knew of their close relationship but they were sufficiently understanding as to overlook it.
A member of this circle of friends was the sculptor Charles S Sykes. Lord Montagu ordered t he creation of a special mascot for his Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost. The small statue depicted a young woman in fluttering robes having placed one forefinger to her lips. The sculptor had chosen Eleanor Thornton as model for this figurine, which was christened "The Whisper".
Lord Montagu had made the decision to put a mascot on top of the radiator, and it had become a fashion. Rolls-Royce had noted other owners of their cars following the new vogue, but doing so with questionable style by choosing mundane or even risqu� and vulgar subjects.
Following Lord Montagu's commission, Charles Sykes was asked to create a mascot which in future would adorn every Rolls-Royce. In February 1911 he presented the "Spirit of Ecstasy", which was easily recognizable as being a variation on the theme of "The Whisper". The similarity was hardly coincidental because the model for both had been Miss Thornton.
The Spirit of Ecstasy was delivered by the Company with every Rolls-Royce. Each was done using the technique which was thousands of years old and known as the lost-wax method. This practice results in the mould's being destroyed to reveal the casting, which explains why no two figures are exactly alike. Sykes, assisted by his daughter Jo, remained responsible for manufacturing the Spirit of Ecstasy for many years. Likewise, each of the unique creations bore his signature on the plinth. The sculptures are either signed "Charles Sykes, February 1911" or sometimes "Feb 6, 1911" or "6.2.11". Even after Rolls-Royce took over the casting of the figures in 1948 each Spirit of Ecstasy continued to receive this inscription until 1951.
From 1911 to 1914 the Spirit of Ecstasy was silver-plated and thus many thought it a massive piece of precious metal - one reason for the frequent thefts. In smaller versions, and now made from highly polished nickel alloy, the radiator decoration has stood its ground on every Rolls-Royce, including those in the present range.
Over the years various alterations have been made. Those mascots for Rolls-Royce motor cars at the Springfield plant in the USA were modified. Bowing a little more forward no longer were they a danger to the bonnet. The original version had touched the bonnet sides when these were opened without the precaution having been taken of turning the figure sideways.
Royce did not like the Spirit of Ecstasy, which he judged her to be just a fashionable bauble and complained that she spoiled the clear line of the car's bow. The order to create the sculpture was given during the chief engineer's illness and had been absent. Thus it became a habit that Rolls-Royce cars used by Royce were rarely driven with a mascot in place.
Towards the end of the twenties the new body line of Sports Saloons had reduced the height of the coachwork. Royce was prompted to think about a lower variation of the Spirit of Ecstasy, by which alteration a driver might benefit from clear vision even with the windscreen lower and his seating position reduced in turn. Sykes created a kneeling version of the mascot, which fulfilled this requirement.
The kneeling version remained after the Second World War for the new Silver Wraith and Silver Dawn. All following models, however, sported a standing mascot, although this has now been reduced in size considerably compared to the old one.
Rarely, however, is the correct term "Spirit of Ecstasy" used - detractors remark this was only done at the factory in Crewe. The nickname "Emily" is widespread and Americans speak of the "Silver Lady" or the "Flying Lady".
In 1920 Rolls-Royce had taken part in a competition in Paris for the most apposite mascot in the world. This they did with a gold-plated Spirit of Ecstasy, which secured Rolls-Royce first place. From then on gold-plated versions of the Spirit of Ecstasy were available from the company - at an extra charge.
Safety regulations in some countries turned out to be a stumbling block to the fitting of the Spirit of Ecstasy. She qualified as a sharp-edged piece of metal jutting from the coachwork, which might injure a victim in an accident. because of this, in Switzerland during the second half of the seventies, the installation of mascots on Rolls-Royces was forbidden and purchasers of a new Rolls-Royce delivered to that country found their mascot in the glove compartment. The problem was solved with the Silver Spirit and Silver Spur; at the merest knock the Spirit of Ecstasy sank into the radiator surround and vanished out of harms way. Thus were the safety regulations satisfied.
The woman who had been the model for the radiator decoration, was not to appreciate its success. Eleanor Thornton lost her life when, on 30 December 1915, on the SS Persia, while on passage to India, was torpedoed off Crete by a German submarine. She had been accompanying Lord Montagu who had been directed to take over a command in India. He was thought to have been killed, too, but survived and was rescued a few days later by another ship. On his return to England he read the obituary articles in the newspapers about his own demise.
adapted in part from: http://www.darkforce.com/royce/ecstacy.htm
| Spirit of Ecstasy |
The Flying Wallendas were a circus act and daredevil stunt performers with Barnum & Bailey for 40 years, and Karl Wallenda was known for high wire performances. From which country did they originate. | Vintage Hood Ornaments and Car Mascots - Collector Information | Collectors Weekly
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From their plain beginnings as manufacturer’s badges installed on car radiators, hood ornaments evolved into an art form all their own. Early automobile badges were often made from enameled metal decorated with a company's name and logo, like the intricate butterfly symbol that branded Invicta automobiles in the 1920s ands '30s. Three-dimensional hood ornaments, or mascots as they are also called, were created as a combination of these official insignia and the home-made talismans car owners frequently attached to their radiators. A mixture of brand identifier and good-luck charm, hood ornaments quickly became standard decoration on automobiles during much of the 20th century.
A few early hood-ornament designs had functional properties, like the popular Calometer temperature gauge from the 1920s, which featured a glass-enclosed radiator thermometer mounted between a pair of outstretched wings. However, as car designs matured, most radiator mascots were created simply as emblems of speed and power, like the sleek jet-plane symbol used on Ford cars in the 1950s and '60s. Others explicitly integrated the manufacturer’s logo or brand, like the Austin of England ornaments from the 1940s , whose windswept lines formed the letters “A” and “E.”
Countless statuettes were modeled after animals, like the Packard swan, the Mac Truck bulldog, the Dodge ram’s head, or the Ford greyhound. Many other hood ornaments were created to represent ancient civilizations or mythological characters, like Armstrong Siddeley’s sphinx, Pontiac’s Native American bust, and Cadillac’s winged goddess.
While there have been many variations of the flying woman mascot, Rolls Royce’s “Spirit of Ecstasy,” is perhaps the most celebrated. Also nicknamed “Nelly in her Nighty,” the Rolls Royce ornament was designed from an original radiator cap statuette sculpted for Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, modeled after his mistress Eleanor Velasco Thornton. Rolls Royce’s hood ornaments were actually silver plated through 1914, but their frequent theft caused the company to switch to stainless steel.
During the 1920s, the illustrious glass studio Lalique introduced a series of beautifully sculptured radiator covers featuring classical deities and animal figures. These ornaments, which could be used to customize any standard car, ranged from “The Archer,” a flat disc engraved with a nude Grecian bow-hunter, to a stylized row of leaping glass horses. One of Lalique’s most popular designs, “The Dragonfly,” included a lighted, multicolored mechanism beneath its base, which revolved as the car moved to cast various shades of light up through the clear glass statue. By 1932, Lalique was offering 46 different radiator cap designs in its annual catalog, and the company’s eagle emblem had been adopted for use on cars belonging to Adolph Hitler’s Third Reich political party.
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What is the name of the victim in 'Cluedo'? | Clue (board game) | Clue Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia
Genre
Murder-Mystery
Clue (Cluedo outside the U.S.) is a popular murder-mystery board game. It was originally published in Leeds, England in 1949. It was devised by Anthony E. Pratt, a so
ly move around the game board (a mansion), as of one of the game's six suspects (or, collecting clues from which to deduce which suspect murdered the game's perpetual victim: Mr. Boddy ( Dr. Black , outside of U.S.), and with which weapon and in what room.
Several games, books, and a film have been released as part of the Cluedo franchise. The board game forms a chronology. Overall, several spinoffs have been released, some featuring extra characters, and for some, different game play. More recent editions have restored the name Boddy Mansion to the mansion, and say the mansion is located in Boston, Massachusetts in the year 1954 (located in Hampshire, England outside of the U.S.).
Contents
Edit
In 1944, Anthony E. Pratt, an English solicitor's clerk, filed for a patent of his invention of a murder/mystery-themed game, originally named "Murder!" The game was originally invented as a new game to play during sometimes lengthy air raid drills in underground bunkers. Shortly thereafter, Pratt and his wife presented the game to Waddingtons' executive, Norman Watson, who immediately purchased the game and provided its trademark name of "Cluedo" (a play on "clue" and "Ludo", which is Latin for "I play"). Though the patent was granted in 1947, due to post-war shortages, the game was not officially launched until 1949, at which time the game was simultaneously licensed to Parker Brothers in the United States for publication, where it was re-named "Clue" along with other minor changes.
However, there were several differences between the original game concept and that initially published in 1949, In particular, Pratt's original design calls for ten characters, one of whom was to be designated the victim by random drawing prior to the start of the game. These ten included the eliminated Mr. Brown, Mr. Gold, Miss Grey, and Mrs. Silver, with Nurse White, and Colonel Yellow. The game allowed for play of up to eight remaining characters, providing for nine suspects in total. Originally there were eleven rooms, including the eliminated "gun room" and cellar. In addition there were nine weapons including the unused axe, bomb, syringe, poison, shillelagh (walking stick/cudgel), and fireplace poker. Some of these unused weapons and characters would appear in later spinoff versions of the game.
Some gameplay aspects were different as well. Notably, the remaining playing cards were distributed into the rooms to be retrieved, rather than dealt directly to the players. Players also had to land on another player in order to make suggestions about that player's character through the use of special counter-tokens, and once exhausted, a player could no longer make suggestions. There were other minor differences, all of which would be updated by the game's initial release and remain essentially unchanged in the standard classic editions of the game.
Equipment
Edit
The game's current equipment consists of a board which shows the rooms, corridors and secret passages of an English country house called Boddy Mansion, although previously named variously as Tudor Close or Tudor Hall, and in some editions Tudor Manor or Tudor Mansion). The game box also includes several colored playing pieces to represent characters, miniature murder weapon props, one or two six-sided dice, three sets of cards, each set describing the aforementioned rooms, characters and weapons, Solution Cards envelope to contain one card from each set of cards, and a Detective's Notes pad on which are printed lists of rooms, weapons and characters, so players can keep detailed notes during the game.
Suspects
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Depending on edition, the playing pieces are typically made of colored plastic, shaped like chess pawns, or character figurines. Occasionally they are made from wood or pewter. The standard edition of Cluedo comes with six basic tokens representing the following original characters:
Ms. Vivienne Scarlet , the sultry and beautiful actress of the game.
Col. Michael Mustard , the militant and athletic colonel of the game.
Mrs. Blanche White , the intrusive and kindly maid of the game.
Rev. Jonathan Green , the conniving and religious priest(mobster) of the game.
Mrs. Elizabeth Peacock , the sinister and political senator of the game.
Prof. Peter Plum , the uptight and intelligent professor of the game.
The new suspects are:
Edit
There are nine rooms in the mansion where the murder can take place, laid out in a circular fashion on the game board, separated by pathways overlaid by playing spaces. Each of the four corner rooms contains a secret passage that leads to the room on the opposite diagonal corner of the map. The center room (often referred to as the Cellar, or Stairs) is inaccessible to the players, but contains the solution envelope, and is not otherwise used during game play. Colored "start" spaces encircle the outer perimeter which correspond to each player's suspect token. Miss Scarlet starts at the red space, Colonel Mustard starts at the yellow space, Mrs. White starts at the white space, Mr. Green starts at the green space, Mrs. Peacock starts at the blue space, and Professor Plum starts at the purple space.
Here are the original rooms of Boddy Estate:
Kitchen
† ‡ denotes secret passages to opposite corner
Rules
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At the beginning of play, three cards — one suspect, one weapon, and one room card — are chosen at random and put into a special envelope, so that no one can see them. These cards represent the facts of the case. The remainder of the cards are distributed among the players.
Players are instructed to go and get the token/suspect nearest them. Play begins with Ms. Scarlet and proceeds clockwise. Players roll the dice and move along the board spaces accordingly, and entering rooms in order to make suggestions from that room.
The player's suggestion only gets disproved once. So, though several players may hold cards disproving the suggestion, only the first one will show the suggesting player his or her card. A player may only make a suggestion when his or her piece is in a room and the suggestion can only be for that room.
Once a player has sufficiently narrowed the solution, that player can make an accusation. According to the rules, "When you think you have worked out which three cards are in the envelope, you may, on your turn, make an Accusation and name any three elements you want." Players may name any room (unlike a Suggestion, where a player's character pawn must be in the room the player suggests). The accusing player checks the validity of the accusation by checking the cards, keeping them concealed from other players. If he has made an incorrect accusation, he plays no further part in the game except to reveal cards secretly to one of the remaining players when required to do so in order to disprove suggestions. Also, according to the rules, "If, after making a false Accusation, your character pawn is blocking a door, [you must] move it into that room so that other players may enter." Since a character pawn can only block a door by being outside of a room, this clearly demonstrates that the character pawn need not be in any room to make an Accusation. If the player made a correct accusation, the solution cards are shown to the other players and the game ends.
It is possible for a player to be using the piece representing the murderer. This does not affect the game play; the object of the game is still to be the first to make the correct accusation. If the game is played with two people, the process of elimination diffuses the same information to both players. Such a game tends to pass quickly. All editions of the current version of the game are advertised as a three-six player game only. Traditionally, the UK version was advertised for two-six players.
Strategy
Edit
Though gameplay is relatively straightforward as described above, various strategies allow players to maximize their opportunities to make suggestions and therefore gain the advantage of accumulating information faster. As alluded to above, blocking the entrance to a room is one way to prevent an opponent from entering a desired room and making a suggestion.
Choice of Suspect
Edit
The first opportunity is in choosing the initial playing piece. Mrs. Peacock has an immediate advantage of being one space closer to the first room than any of the other players. However, Ms. Scarlet traditionally moves first. Prof. Plum also has an advantage of moving to the Study, then through the secret passage to the Kitchen, the hardest room to get to.
Navigating the Board
| Black (surname) |
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Cluedo ( Template:Pron-en ; Clue in North America ) is a deduction board game originally published by Waddingtons in Leeds , United Kingdom in 1949. [1] It was devised by Anthony E. Pratt, a solicitor's clerk and part-time clown from Birmingham , England . It is now published by the United States game and toy company Hasbro , which acquired its U.S. publisher Parker Brothers as well as Waddingtons .
The object of the basic game is for players to strategically move around the game board, in the guise of one of the game's characters, collecting clues from which to deduce which suspect murdered the game's perpetual victim: Dr. Black (Mr. Boddy in North American versions), and with which weapon and in what room.
More games, books, and a film have been released as part of the Cluedo franchise. The board games form an overall story whose complete chronology can be found at Cluedo chronology .
In 2008, Cluedo Reinvention was created (with changes to board, gameplay and characters) as a modern spin-off.
Contents
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In 1944 Anthony E. Pratt filed for a patent of his invention of a murder/mystery-themed game, originally named "Murder!" Shortly thereafter, Pratt and his wife presented the game to Waddington's executive Norman Watson, who immediately purchased the game and provided its trademark name of "Cluedo." Though the patent was granted in 1947, due to war shortages the game was not officially launched until 1949, at which time the game was simultaneously licensed to Parker Bros. in the United States for publication, where it was re-named "Clue." However, there were several differences from the original game concept and that initially published in 1949 (which also remains the most enduring version of the game). In particular, Pratt's original design calls for ten characters , one of whom was to be designated the victim by random drawing prior to the start of the game. The game allowed for play of up to eight remaining characters, providing for nine suspects in total. Originally there were eleven rooms, including the eliminated " gun room " and cellar. In addition there were nine weapons including the unused axe , bomb , syringe , poison , shillelagh (walking stick/ cudgel ), and fireplace poker . Some of these unused weapons and characters would appear in later spinoff versions of the game. Some aspects of the gameplay were also different. Notably, the remaining playing cards were distributed into the rooms to be retrieved, rather than dealt directly to the players. Players also had to land on another player in order to make suggestions about that player's character through the use of special counter-tokens, and once exhausted, a player could no longer make suggestions. There were other minor differences, all of which would be updated by the game's initial release and remain essentially unchanged in the standard classic editions of the game. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
Equipment
Edit
The game's current equipment consists of a board which shows the rooms of an English country house called Tudor Mansion (previously Tudor Close and Tudor Hall), and the corridors and passages linking them, several coloured playing pieces (character pawns), some props representing murder weapons (dagger, rope, etc), one or two six-sided dice/die, three sets of cards describing the 9 rooms (scene of crime), the 6 suspects and 6 weapons (corresponding to the playing pieces), along with a Solution Cards envelope to contain one card of each, and a Detective's Notes pad (often with 6 pencils) for keeping detailed notes during the game.
Suspects
Main article: Cluedo characters
Depending on edition, the playing pieces are typically made of coloured plastic, shaped like chess pawns , or character figurines . Occasionally they are made from wood or pewter .
Miss Scarlett (spelled Miss Scarlet in North American versions – a red piece)
Rope
Lead Pipe (called Lead Piping in earlier UK editions, the early tokens were made out of actual lead )
Spanner (called Wrench in North American editions, and depicted as a Monkey wrench , it may also be shown as an Open-end wrench in some traditional UK versions)
Rooms
Edit
There are nine rooms in the mansion where the murder can take place, laid out in a circular fashion on the game board, separated by pathways overlaid by playing spaces. Each of the four corner rooms contains a secret passage that leads to the room on the opposite diagonal corner of the map. The center room (typically called the Cellar, or Stairs) is inaccessible to the players, but contains the solution envelope.
†
† ‡ denotes secret passages to opposite corner
Rules
Edit
At the beginning of play, three cards — one suspect, one weapon, and one room card — are chosen at random and put into a special envelope, so that no one can see them. These cards represent the facts of the case. The remainder of the cards are distributed among the players.
The aim is to deduce the details of the murder; that is, the cards in the envelope. There are six different characters , six possible murder weapons and nine different rooms, leaving the players with 324 distinct possibilities. In the course of determining the details of the murder, players announce suggestions to the other players, for example, "I suggest it was Mrs. White, in the Library, with the rope." All elements contained in the suggestion are moved into the room in the suggestion.
The other players must then disprove the suggestion, if they can. This is done in clockwise order around the board. A suggestion is disproved by showing a card containing one of the suggestion components (for example, the rope) to the player making the suggestion, as this proves that the card cannot be in the envelope. Showing the card to the suggesting player is done in secret so the other players may not see which card is being used to disprove the suggestion. Once a suggestion has been disproved, the player's turn ends and moves on to the next player.
The player's suggestion only gets disproved once. So, though several players may hold cards disproving the suggestion, only the first one will show the suggesting player his or her card. A player may only make a suggestion when his or her piece is in a room and the suggestion can only be for that room.
Once a player has sufficiently narrowed the solution, that player can make an accusation. According to the rules, "When you think you have worked out which three cards are in the envelope, you may, on your turn, make an Accusation and name any three elements you want." You may name any room (unlike a Suggestion, where your character pawn must be in the room you suggest). [7]
The accusing player checks the validity of the accusation by checking the cards, keeping them concealed from other players. If he has made an incorrect accusation, he plays no further part in the game except to reveal cards secretly to one of the remaining players when required to do so in order to disprove suggestions. Also, according to the rules, "If, after making a false Accusation, your character pawn is blocking a door, [you must] move it into that room so that other players may enter." Since a character pawn can only block a door by being outside of a room, this clearly demonstrates that the character pawn need not be in any room to make an Accusation. If the player made a correct accusation, the solution cards are shown to the other players and the game ends.
It is possible for a player to be using the piece representing the murderer. This doesn't affect the game play; the object of the game is still to be the first to make the correct accusation. If the game is played with two people, the process of elimination diffuses the same information to both players. Such a game tends to pass quickly. The Hasbro version of the game is not advertised as a two-player game.
Spinoffs
Edit
Waddingtons, Parker Brothers and Hasbro have created many spin-off versions of the game. Spin-off games consist of alternative rule variations of the original game, which are not to be confused with themed "variants" which otherwise utilize the same rules and game configuration. In addition, commencing in 1985, the brand expanded to include feature films, television series, a musical, as well as numerous books.
Other games
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In addition to revising the rules of gameplay, many of the games also introduced new characters, rooms and locations, weapons and/or alternative objectives.
Clue VCR Mystery Game (1985) [8] released as Cluedo: The Great Video Detective Game in the UK. It uses an hour-long VHS tape containing humorous scenes of the suspects interacting at Boddy Mansion shortly after Mr. Boddy's death instead of a board. Players uncover details of several murders per game by matching clues given on cards to the action on the video. Only five weapons (candlestick, knife, revolver, rope, and poison) and five rooms (Dining Room, Kitchen, Hall, Conservatory, and Library) are featured but there are a total of ten suspects (the original six plus M. Brunette, Madam Rose, Sgt. Gray, and Miss Peach).
Super Cluedo Challenge (1986) [9] is an advanced version of the Cluedo rules, introducing three new characters (Captain Brown, Miss Peach and Mr. Slate-Grey) and three more weapons (the blunderbuss , poison and axe). The rules are greatly expanded, with each card having coloured and numbered squares in each corner, which are uncovered by special card holders. These allowed 'clues' to be given by uncovering a small segment of the card, showing only a colour/number. Rather than the remaining cards being dealt out at the start of the game, they had to be 'discovered' by reaching one of the many blue counters scattered on the board.
Clue VCR II: Murder in Disguise (1987) [10] Sequel to Clue VCR Mystery Game; more scenarios with the same 10 characters from the first VCR game. This rooms this time around are the Dining Room, Lounge, Hall, Billiard Room, and Hotel Room.
Cluedo Master Detective (1988, [11] released as Super Cluedo in France , Germany and UK ) is an expanded version of the original game. In addition to the original characters, weapons and rooms, the game adds four characters (Madam Rose, Sgt. Grey, M. Brunette and Miss Peach—the same four new characters from the VCR games), two weapons (poison and horseshoe), and seven rooms (courtyard, gazebo, drawing room, carriage house, trophy room, studio and fountain) to the mansion. This version was also made into a computer game .
Clue Jr.: Case of the Missing Pet (1989) [12] This game was a clue variant aimed for kids. The player played as one of the old six suspects, who are kids, and try to find out who took the missing pet and where they hid it.
Clue: The Great Museum Caper (1991) [13] is rather different from the original. One player is a thief moving in a museum stealing paintings, while the other players cooperate to catch the thief. The thief keeps track of his position secretly on paper and is thus not seen by the detectives, until the thief is spotted by a detective or the museum's security system. Ideally, multiple rounds are played, with each player getting to be the thief once. The winner of the match is then the thief who stole the most paintings without getting caught.
Cluedo Card Game (1992) [14] is a shedding-type card game , where players attempt to match cards featuring the locations, weapons, and characters from the original game with a central pile of cards.
Clue Little Detective (1992) [15]
Junior Cluedo (1993) [16] [17] is the first Junior game for Cluedo. Instead of finding the murder, the players need to find the ghost of their ancestors and remember where they are.
Cluedo Super Sleuth (1995) [18] is another advanced version of the Cluedo rules, though in a different manner. There is no set board to this game, instead the board is made up of twelve tiles which are laid out randomly as players enter new rooms, to create a 4x3 grid. The murder cards remain unchanged to the basic edition, but are not dealt to each player, instead there are 'clue' squares on the board marked by small plastic magnifying glasses, which players collect to get clues. In addition to the "clue" counters there are also item counters, which allow the player to pick a card from an item deck. These item cards allow such things as making more than one suggestion per turn, or moving an incidental character. There are three incidental characters in the game (Inspector Grey, Hogarth the Butler, and the Black Dog) who can serve as help or hindrance, and are controlled through the item and event cards. Event cards are drawn from a deck upon a certain roll of the die and can have varying impact on a game.
Clue: Limited Gift Edition (1997) [19] , this edition came in a deluxe format with the option to play with an extra murder weapon, a Poison Chalice .
Clue Jr.: The Case of the Hidden Toys (1998) [20] is themed for children. Instead of solving a murder, the children search for clues for the whereabouts of some lost toys. The rules are significantly different from those for the regular board game. The characters, which look like the original game's suspects as children, are named Mortimer Mustard, Georgie Green, Peter Plum, Wendy White, Polly Peacock and Samantha Scarlet.
Cluedo: 50th Anniversary (1999) [21] , also released as Clue: 50th Anniversary this edition came in a deluxe format with an extra murder weapon, a bottle of poison.
Cluedo: Passport to Murder (2000) [22] was an update of Super Cluedo Challenge with the setting changed to an Orient Express style train in Istanbul station. There is very little change to the mechanics of the game (except you can only play the six original characters), with mainly cosmetic changes and updates to the characters.
Cluedo Card Game (2002) [23] is a different card game from the previous game, this time the user has to deduct the Dr. Black's killer, their escape vehicle and their destination.
Cluedo SFX (2003) [24] released as Clue FX in the US, (2004), and Super Cluedo Interactif in France, (2004) is another departure from the original rules. You play as one of four new characters (Lord Grey, Lady Lavender, Miss Peach and Prince Azure, adding a non-Caucasian character since the early Asian Miss Scarlet, none of whom are suspected in the crime. The murder is not of Dr. Black (Mr. Boddy) but of his attorney Miles Meadow-Brook. The usual suspects are in place, this time bolstered by two new people Mrs. Meadow-Brook and Rusty the Gardener. The game play is completely different though, with the introduction of the electronic section announcing moves and clues and no die rolling. Instead players move from location to location to track down each of the suspects to gain their clues, before finding Inspector Brown to make an accusation.
Cluedo Junior: The Case of the Missing Cake (2003) [25] is another children's variation where the players have to find out who ate a cake.
Cluedo Mysteries (2005) [26] , released in the US as Clue Mysteries (2006) This is another change of rules, and this time the game play is based heavily on another board game called "Mysteries of Old Peking".
Cluedo DVD Game (2005) [27] This edition of the game has different rules based around DVD interaction. Instead of a murder, Dr. Black has had an item stolen and, in addition to guessing the criminal, location (room) and stolen object, the time of day when the crime took place also has to be discovered. In each turn players guess three of these four unknowns; and from time to time Inspector Brown and the butler, Ashe, show up via the DVD with helpful information.
Clue Suspects (2007) A single-player logic puzzle version of the game. Players are given a set of clues and must deduce the location of the murder and the murderer.
Cluedo: Discover the Secrets (2008) This is the most recent edition of the game, and has been created to replace standard Cluedo. The game features new, up-to-date weapons, rooms, and suspects as well as changes to the rules of gameplay (see below).
Video games
Various versions of the game were developed for Commodore 64 , PC , Game Boy Advance , Nintendo DS , Super Nintendo Entertainment System , CD-i , Sega Genesis , PC , Mac , and Apple iPhone / iPod Touch . Clue: Murder at Boddy Mansion , was released in 1998 for Microsoft Windows . In 1999 Cluedo/Clue Chronicles: Fatal Illusion was released, which was not based directly upon the board game, but instead uses the familiar characters in a new mystery.
An arcade version of the game was released on an itbox terminal which involves answering questions with a chance to win money. It is available in many pubs throughout the UK .
In 1994–1996, there were 6 mysteries: "The Hooded Madonna," "Happy Ever After", "Deadly Patent", "Blackmail", "The Road to Damascus", and "Not in my Backyard", with actors.
A Cluedo mini-game was recently added to the online MMORPG AdventureQuest Worlds . The setting takes place in a hotel and the crime is someone animating the furniture in the hotel.
In May 2009 Electronic Arts released a version of Clue for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch on the Apple iTunes Music Store.
Film
Main article: Clue (film)
A comedic film Clue , based on the American version of the game, was released in 1985. In this version, the person murdered was Mr. Boddy. The film, which featured different endings released to different theatres, failed at the box office, but has subsequently attracted a cult following . All three endings released to theatres are available on the VHS and DVD versions of the film, to watch one after the other (VHS), or to select playing one or all three endings (DVD).
In 2008, Universal Pictures reported that Hasbro, the makers of Cluedo, had licensed several of its board games to the film company for feature film adaptations; among these was Clue. [28] Gore Verbinski was announced as director.
Television
Main article: Cluedo (Australian game show)
There have been several television game shows based upon this game. There have been, to date, four seasons of the British version of Cluedo (and a Christmas version that in fact shows some similarity to the North American movie), and there have been other versions in Germany , France , Australia , Portugal and Scandinavia . The format for each puts two teams (each usually containing one celebrity and one person with law enforcement/research experience) against six in-character actors as the famed colour-coded suspects. There is a new murder victim every episode, who usually has it coming to them for one reason or another.
On American television, the Clue title and theme were used in the 1986 documentary Clue: Movies, Murders and Mystery, which took a look at mystery-related pieces of media, including Murder on the Orient Express , Murder, She Wrote , Sherlock Holmes and other television series and movies, as well as a look at the board game itself, among other things. The one-hour special was hosted by Martin Mull , who had starred in the feature film adaptation the previous year; clips from the movie are seen intertwined with the footage.
Musical
Main article: Clue (musical)
A comedic musical of Clue , based on the American version of the game, ran Off Broadway in 1997, closing in 1999. At the start of each performance, three audience members each select one card from over-sized versions of the traditional game decks and place them in an envelope. The chosen cards determine the ending of the show, with 216 possible conclusions.
Play
Edit
Penned by Robert Duncan with the cooperation of Waddingtons, the first official theatrical adaptation of Cluedo was presented by the amateur theatre group: The Thame Players in Oxfordshire in July of 1985. The play was subsequently picked up by Hiss & Boo productions and began a successful tour of the UK. A second tour was undertaken in 1990. Like the musical, the play involved the audience's random selection of three solution cards which were revealed towards the end of the play, whereupon the actors would then conclude the play by performing one of the 216 endings possible. Presently the play is not available for performance due to a restriction by Hasbro. [29]
Books
Main article: Clue (book series)
A series of 18 humorous children's books were published in the United States by Scholastic Press between 1992 and 1997 based on the Clue concept and created by A.E. Parker (possibly of Parker Brothers ). The books featured the US Clue characters in short, comedic vignettes and asked the reader to follow along and solve a crime at the end of each. The crime would usually be the murder of another guest besides Mr. Boddy, a robbery of some sort, or a simple contest, in which case they must figure out who won. The tenth and final vignette would always be the murder of Mr. Boddy. Somehow, Mr. Boddy would always manage to cheat death, such as fainting before the shot was fired or being shot with trick bullets. However, at the end of the 18th book, Mrs. Peacock kills Mr. Boddy out of starvation and Mr. Boddy stays dead. A similar series of books featuring the Clue Jr. characters was also published. The first book, unlike the others, features thirteen mysteries, not ten, and is titled simply enough Who Killed Mr Boddy?. The name of the book is usually the name of the tenth mystery in which Boddy is killed.
The books notably depart from the film. Mr Boddy is a trillionaire, and the guests are his friends. But since Boddy has his will made out to his friends, they each try to kill him at one point with the intent on cashing in on his will. The guests are all given some sort of defining characteristic for comic effect, as well as to help the reader discern the culprit. Colonel Mustard constantly challenges other guests to duels, Professor Plum often forgets things, even what he is doing or his own name, and Mr. Green is notoriously greedy. Mrs. Peacock is highly proper and will not stand for lack of manners, the maid Mrs. White hates her employer and all the guests, and Miss Scarlet is beautiful and seductive. The traits all help the reader identify the guests. For example, if a mystery thief suddenly forgets what he is doing, and another guest scolds him for his bad manners, the reader can safely assume the two guests are Plum and Peacock. Mr. Boddy himself is ludicrously naive, to the point where he accepts any attempt to kill him as an accident or a misunderstanding (such as a dropped wrench flying all the way across the Mansion and hitting him in the head), and invites the guests back to the mansion. This explains why he never seeks any legal action against his "friends," and invited them back despite repeated attempts to kill him. However, after a few books, he wises up enough to be suspicious of them, but continues to invite them over against better judgment.
The Clue Jr. series originally had all six characters, but suddenly, some of the characters were taken out, leaving only four. The mysteries usually only included cases similar to the theft of a toy, but sometimes the cases were more serious. They are usually solved when the culprit traps himself in his own lies.
Variants
Edit
The following games are licensed thematic variations of the original Cluedo game, which follow the basic rules and configuration of the original edition.
Alfred Hitchcock Edition Clue [30] (1999) is set on the sound stage where a number of Hitchcock ’s films are being shot, otherwise plays like regular Clue.
The Simpsons Clue [31] (2000) is themed after the TV series , The Simpsons , with the players trying to find out who killed Mr. Burns . It features Homer as Prof. Plum, Bart as Col. Mustard, Fat Tony as Mr. Green, Lisa as Mrs. Peacock, Edna Krabappel as Miss Scarlet, and Marge as Mrs. White. The weapons are a plutonium rod, necklace, saxophone, poisoned doughnut, slingshot and the extend-o-glove. In the United States and Canada, the game had Homer as Mr. Green, Bart as Prof. Plum, Lisa as Miss Scarlet, Marge as Mrs. Peacock, Krusty as Col. Mustard, and Mr. Smithers as Mrs. White. Early promotional material had Maggie as Mrs. White.
Clue Dungeons & Dragons [32] (2001) was produced by Hasbro shortly after their purchase of Wizards of the Coast , owners of the Dungeons & Dragons license. The characters are D&D character types (such as Monk, Rogue, Wizard, etc.). The rooms depicted on the board are fantasy-themed (Dungeon, Dragon's Lair, Lost Crypt, etc.), and the weapons also draw inspiration from the popular role-playing game (Mace of Disruption, Flaming Axe, etc.). Game play is identical to standard Clue unless you use the optional Wandering Monsters deck. Using this deck, players must battle monsters when landing on special spaces on the board. The players must battle monsters via dice rolls and are rewarded with magic items that confer special powers.
Clue - The Haunted Mansion [33] (2002) The Disney Theme Park Edition features the Haunted Mansion attraction from the Disney theme parks as the board game, relying heavily on the Walt Disney World version of the attraction as far as design. One of the six guests in the house (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, and Pluto) was scared by one of the six ghosts (The Traveller, The Skeleton, The Prisoner, Emily the Bleeding Bride, The Opera Singer, and the Mariner ) in one of the nine rooms (Foyer, Portrait Gallery, Library, Conservatory, Seance Room, Ballroom, Attic, Graveyard, and Crypt.) The detail on the board draws from the scenes depicted in the Haunted Mansion attraction and contains Hidden Mickeys .
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! Clue [34] (2002) is themed after the TV series , Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! . Like the episodes, the gang has to figure out whodunit. It features Fred as Mr. Green, Shaggy as Prof. Plum, Scooby as Col. Mustard, Velma as Mrs. Peacock, Daphne as Miss Scarlet, and Mrs. White as their host. This edition takes place in a run-down version of the mansion where the Study is replaced with the Lounge, the Lounge has been replaced by the Kitchen and the original Kitchen has been turned into a cemetery after its walls started crumbling.
Clue - The Twilight Zone: Tower of Terror [35] (2007) The Disney Theme Park Edition features The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror attraction from the Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park as the board game. Rather than a murder, the players are trying to discover who disappeared, where, and with which prop. The details, of the characters, props, and rooms draw from the scenes depicted in the Tower of Terror attraction. This version also contains Hidden Mickeys much like the Haunted Mansion version.
Clue - Harry Potter [36] (2008) is themed after the Harry Potter series. When a student disappears from the school, players use the characters Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna or Neville to find how, when and what spell was used to attack the student.
Clue - 24 [37] [38] (2009) is themed after the TV series, 24 . The game itself features Audrey Raines, Bill Buchanan, Chloe O'Brian, Mike Doyle, Nadia Yassir, and Tony Almeida. Players must find out which of the six characters is about to launch one of nine attacks (weapons) from within one of the rooms inside CTU.
Unlicensed variants
Edit
Kill Doctor Lucky (1996). [39] An inversion and perhaps a parody of the series written by James Ernest for Cheapass Games . Whereas Cluedo begins after the murder has been committed and players compete to solve it, Kill Doctor Lucky ends when the murder is committed, and players compete to commit it.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: Mystery at Hogwarts Game.(2000) [40] This variant of Cluedo has the players trying to find out which student cast which forbidden spell in which room in Hogwarts School. One of the small rules changes is that players must go to an extra room to make their final accusations. The suspects are Harry Potter , Ron Weasley , Hermione Granger , Draco Malfoy , Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle .
Mystery Museum: The Biblical Artifacts Detective Game (2000). [41] A version of Cluedo but with Evangelical Christian elements to it. In the game, six people of different professions visit a Bible-history museum and steal one of the artifacts. It must be determined who is the thief, which artifact they stole, and where they hid it. Throughout the game, players learn about the Bible.
Clue of Cthulhu. (2000) A version of Cluedo using elements from the Cthulhu Mythos . This variant was offered at Gen Con 2000 . Template:Fact
PikaClue . (2001) A version of Cluedo using elements from the Pokémon universe. Rooms are replaced with towns and cities, weapons are replaced with forms of energy and suspects are replaced with Pokémon creatures. This variant was offered at Gen Con 2001 and was inspired by the Clue of Cthulhu variant. Template:Fact
Cluedo: Discover the Secrets
Main article: Cluedo: Discover the Secrets
On August 8, 2008, Hasbro redesigned and updated the board, characters, weapons, and rooms. Changes to the rules of game play were made, some to accommodate the new features.
The suspects have new given names and backgrounds, as well as differing abilities that may be used during the game. The revolver is now a pistol, the lead pipe has been removed, and a bat, axe, and trophy have been added. The nine rooms have changed to (in clockwise order): Hall, Guest House, Dining Room, Kitchen, Patio, Spa, Theater, Living Room, and Observatory. [42]
There is also a second deck of cards—the Intrigue cards. In this deck, there are two types of cards, Keepers and Clocks. Keepers are special abilities; for example, "You can see the card". There are eight clocks—the first seven drawn do nothing—whoever draws the eighth is killed by the murderer and out of the game. [43]
The player must move to the indoor swimming pool in the center of the board to make an accusation. This adds some challenge versus the ability to make accusations from anywhere in the original game.
The most significant change to game play is that once the suspect cards have been taken, the remaining cards are dealt so that all players have an even number of cards (rather than dealt out so that "one player may have a slight advantage"). This means that depending on the number of players a number of cards are left over. These cards are placed face down in the middle and are not seen unless a player takes a turn in the pool room to look at them.
The changes to the game have been criticized in the media for unnecessarily altering classic cultural icons. [44] [45] [46]
Alternate rules
Edit
A variant of the game involves removing the dice rolling in the game. Instead each player has nine "moves" to use on a turn with each move onto another space counting as one move, and an accusation, use of a secret passage, or guess, costing three moves, adding more strategy to the game. This variant is offered in the 1998 version of the Clue computer game .
Worldwide differences
Edit
Besides some rule differences listed above, some versions contain different names, both of characters and of the actual game.
In Canada and the U.S., the game is known as Clue. It was retitled because the traditional British board game Ludo , on which the name is based, was less well known there than its American variant Parcheesi . [47] There are also localised versions for Japan and China .
The North American versions of Clue replace the character "Reverend Green" from the original Cluedo with "Mr. Green." This is the only region to continue to make such a change. However, modern editions of the games now call him Reverend Green.
Minor changes include "Miss Scarlett" with her name being spelt with one 't', and the spanner being called a wrench.
In some international versions of the game (mostly the Spanish-language ones) the colours of some pieces are different, so as to correspond with the changes to each suspect's name. [48] [49]
See also
| i don't know |
Which game, introduced in the 1980's and still available today involved guiding a metal ball around an obstacle course? | Puzzles - Board Games
1. Name the three red properties on a standard UK Monopoly board?
2. What is the name of the victim in 'Cluedo'?
3. In Risk, what colour is Europe?
4. What is the only UK monopoly property which contains all of the letters in the word 'monopoly' in its name?
5. In Scrabble, which two letters are worth 8 points?
6. In UK Monopoly, how much money does each player have at the start of the game?
7. How many white squares are there on a chess board?
8. Which game, introduced in the 1980’s and still available today involved guiding a metal ball around an obstacle course?
9. How many rooms are there in 'Cluedo'?
10. 16. With which board game would you associate Bernard, Eric, Frans, Maria and Anita?
1. Name the three red properties on a standard UK Monopoly board? Trafalgar Square, Strand, Fleet Street
2. What is the name of the victim in 'Cluedo'? Doctor Black
3. In Risk, what colour is Europe? Blue
4. What is the only UK monopoly property which contains all of the letters in the word 'monopoly' in its name? Electric Company
6. In UK Monopoly, how much money does each player have at the start of the game? �1,500
7. How many white squares are there on a chess board? 32
5. In Scrabble, which two letters are worth 8 points?
Are they X and J??????
8. Which game, introduced in the 1980�s and still available today involved guiding a metal ball around an obstacle course?
don't know the name, but is it that sort of tilt-'n-turn maze? If so, I think we've got one somewhere ...
9. How many rooms are there in 'Cluedo'?
9???????????
well done Helio and the Chaircat
Has anyone ever played Risk? would you recommend it? actually, will start a new topic on the subject
8. Which game, introduced in the 1980’s and still available today involved guiding a metal ball around an obstacle course?
Screwball Scramble
never heard of it! i was thinking of Mousetrap! which my cousin had and I never did
10. 16. With which board game would you associate Bernard, Eric, Frans, Maria and Anita?
Guess Who!
STPD's favourite game for a while.
I'm not sure about Risk. It can lead to brother (and sister) raising hand against brother - there's only so many times you can forgive backstabbing and betrayal!
Oh heck we can do that here without the help of any old board game - just 'who left the trail of crumbs up the stairs' 'not me, it must have been my sister' does the trick.
| Screwball Scramble |
How many rooms are there in 'Cluedo'? | Puzzles - Board Games
1. Name the three red properties on a standard UK Monopoly board?
2. What is the name of the victim in 'Cluedo'?
3. In Risk, what colour is Europe?
4. What is the only UK monopoly property which contains all of the letters in the word 'monopoly' in its name?
5. In Scrabble, which two letters are worth 8 points?
6. In UK Monopoly, how much money does each player have at the start of the game?
7. How many white squares are there on a chess board?
8. Which game, introduced in the 1980’s and still available today involved guiding a metal ball around an obstacle course?
9. How many rooms are there in 'Cluedo'?
10. 16. With which board game would you associate Bernard, Eric, Frans, Maria and Anita?
1. Name the three red properties on a standard UK Monopoly board? Trafalgar Square, Strand, Fleet Street
2. What is the name of the victim in 'Cluedo'? Doctor Black
3. In Risk, what colour is Europe? Blue
4. What is the only UK monopoly property which contains all of the letters in the word 'monopoly' in its name? Electric Company
6. In UK Monopoly, how much money does each player have at the start of the game? �1,500
7. How many white squares are there on a chess board? 32
5. In Scrabble, which two letters are worth 8 points?
Are they X and J??????
8. Which game, introduced in the 1980�s and still available today involved guiding a metal ball around an obstacle course?
don't know the name, but is it that sort of tilt-'n-turn maze? If so, I think we've got one somewhere ...
9. How many rooms are there in 'Cluedo'?
9???????????
well done Helio and the Chaircat
Has anyone ever played Risk? would you recommend it? actually, will start a new topic on the subject
8. Which game, introduced in the 1980’s and still available today involved guiding a metal ball around an obstacle course?
Screwball Scramble
never heard of it! i was thinking of Mousetrap! which my cousin had and I never did
10. 16. With which board game would you associate Bernard, Eric, Frans, Maria and Anita?
Guess Who!
STPD's favourite game for a while.
I'm not sure about Risk. It can lead to brother (and sister) raising hand against brother - there's only so many times you can forgive backstabbing and betrayal!
Oh heck we can do that here without the help of any old board game - just 'who left the trail of crumbs up the stairs' 'not me, it must have been my sister' does the trick.
| i don't know |
Who were the last act to win the Eurovision Song Contest for the UK? | Eurovision 2015 Final - nul points for you if you read any other live blog - Telegraph
Eurovision
Eurovision 2015 Final - nul points for you if you read any other live blog
As it happened: with Sweden crowned winners, relive every glitter cannon, key change and flag wave of the Eurovision Song Contest 2015
Charlotte Runcie and Siobhan Palmer
1:35AM BST 24 May 2015
• Awkward: Australia gives UK nul points
01:35 Thank you and goodnight!
I'm going to wrap up this liveblog now, but what an evening we've all had. Thank you for being with us every step of the way with your jokes, snacks and offers of gin. It's been a blast and Siobhan and I couldn't have done it without you. Douze points to us all. The creepiness of Armenia will stay with us for a long time, I fear.
Goodnight Europe, and see you next year in Sweden!
01:01 Sweden speaks
Måns Zelmerlöw has been giving a post-final press conference in Vienna. Here's what he had to say about the win:
"It was absolutely amazing. I didn't hear it when they first said it - Christer Björkman told me a few second later. I thought Russia or Italy would win it. But then I did it, and I was so happy. My feelings are now all over the place. I am so proud, so excited, so full of joy."
Awww. Some Swedes have been celebrating in understated national style on social media too:
Good result innit. #Eurorvision2015
— Emma Lofgren (@ekjlofgren) May 23, 2015
Sweden has now mathematically won Eurovision already. Yay us!
— Endigo - NEW MV OUT! (@EndigoDarkBad) May 23, 2015
What a night. Well done, Sweden. You were magnificent.
00:27 Poor Austria
OK so the UK didn't do particularly well - we came 24th, with a total of only five points - but Austria were the hosts, and they came away with nul points. Their song was boring, sure, but that's got to hurt.
00:18 Did Sweden deserve to win? Did the UK deserve to do so badly?
So, what do you think? Did Sweden deserve it? Were Australia robbed? Should Russia have taken the prize? Vote in our poll and let us know what you think .
Twitter reaction to Electro Velvet's failure has ranged from sympathetic to optimistic, via furious.
I am pretty sad for @ElectroVelvet and @BojanaStamenov , though. Both acts were outstanding: my favorites. #Eurovision
— Megan Engelhardt (@MadMerryMeg) May 23, 2015
Australia bears the Union Jack, so technically UK's in the top 10... congrats, @ElectroVelvet #Eurovision
— Eray Kurtoglu (@ErayTheDoughnut) May 23, 2015
@ElectroVelvet I'm still in love with you
— Mr L (@LMac1970) May 23, 2015
Maybe Nigella should perform our song next year.
00:04 Revelations time
As the clock ticks over into tomorrow, breaking news about our winner. He has said some slightly unsavoury things about gay rights in the past, but apologised in... startling fashion.
@underwood_jack he apologised for it I think. And then did this at a gay gala pic.twitter.com/CHyMaoeNFs
— Katherine Lovage (@KatherinePurr) May 23, 2015
23:58 The trophy is handed over
23:55 Sweden celebrate winning!
And a hug between Måns Zelmerlöw and Conchita before Måns makes a touching statement about everyone being heroes, no matter who we are or who we love. I think he's going to perform again, which is a bit awkward because I promised the Telegraph news desk this was all going to be over ages ago.
Måns could be forgiven for anything though.
(Italy have ensured that I still get my winnings-funded holiday, too, so I'm thrilled all round.)
23:48 The votes continue
Even though we know that Sweden have won, there are still more votes to come in. This is exhausting. Thankfully, strangers on Twitter have started offering me gin.
This isnt how I thought Eurovision would end, but I'm glad we're all here together. Building bridges.
23:44 Sweden win!
Sweden have won! A victory for gay rights and leather trousers, all over the world!
Here he is again, in all his beautiful glory. One of the tightest Eurovisions in living memory, but still not as tight as those glorious trousers.
23:40 News from Australia
Flynn Murphy has checked in with another report from his suburban Australian house party:
"With Australia and Belgium continually pipping each other in the race to the top five, the crowd's ironic detachment has given way to full-throated cheering interspersed with a nascent kind of anti-Belgian nationalism. Sledges like "What even is Belgium?" when they're up, and "Belgium are just crying into their bloody waffles now" when they're down. Many here will now see a top five spot as a win."
23:37 Australia holding strong
Here's Australia's Guy Sebastian waiting for the results to roll in. Probably not going to win, but have they done enough to be allowed to compete again?
23:33 NIGELLA ALERT
There's Nigella, in a gorgeous spiky brooch, speaking German like the absolute goddess she is. We give 8 points to Italy, 10 to Australia, and 12 to Sweden, pushing them into the lead.
Oh well, it was fun while I thought I was winning.
23:25 Polina is crying
It looks as if Polina may have won this for Russia, and I'm off to sunny Mexico with my winnings after all.
Here's a teary Polina. This obviously means a huge amount to her.
23:21 No
Oh, dear sweet Caroline. No, darling. No.
Can the UK still win? #Eurovision2015
— Caroline Frost (@Frostalicus) May 23, 2015
And here come the votes from Australia, for the first (and possibly last) time ever! Twelve points for Sweden from them, lengthening Sweden's lead over them. Poor Austria, the hosts, have nul points so far, which is a bit of a shame, but even a burning piano couldn't save the dirge they entered.
23:18 Ireland give the UK 1 point
Oh come on Ireland, we were worth more than that. We're still beating Germany though. Where is your "football" now, Germany?
23:14 Russia taking the lead
Now may be the time to confess that I put my bets on a few days ago. Let's just say if Russia win and Italy come in the top four, I'm going on holiday.
Australia are doing all right but it doesn't look as if they're going to get the big prize.
A word from my former colleague Ed Cumming, now, once of this parish:
Enjoying the ICBM trajectory Eurovision graphic. Very Never Say Never Again pic.twitter.com/MjXbxEJgeX
— Ed Cumming (@edcumming) May 23, 2015
23:06 Still only one point for the United Kingdom
I've got to be honest, it's not looking wonderful for us so far, but thanks to Malta at least we're not stuck on nul points. It's extremely tight at the top of the scoreboard - a straight fight between Russia, Italy and Sweden so far.
Plenty of the people giving the scores look a bit like they haven't slept in weeks. Have they been kept in some kind of Eurovision dungeon?
23:04 The scoreboard so far
Here's a shot of the scoreboard, for those of you watching without a live TV stream (I know there are some of you in the comments - in some ways, I envy you).
23:01 An early lead for the favourites
Italy, Russia and Sweden take their positions at the top of the leaderboard early on. Suzy from Portugal has a bit of a 'mare with their connection, and Belarus's envoy is the guy who sang their awful Eurovision song about cheesecake last year! I haven't forgotten, Belarus. I will never forget your terrible cheesecake song.
22:56 Let's have the votes!
Right, the votes are coming in, starting with Montenegro, in a frankly eye-opening black and flesh-toned sparkly outfit. Favourites Sweden get 5, while Russia get 7 and Italy get 6. But the twelve points go to Serbia, a late favourite.
I won't be going through every country's votes in forensic detail, by the way, because I don't want my fingers to become bloodied stumps. Let's keep it light.
22:50 Some more Twitter reaction
We're doing Eurovision ....!! Half baked love Bake Off team x pic.twitter.com/IDafVjOnLM
— Paul Hollywood (@PaulHollywood) May 23, 2015
The song says peace, but the eyes say: "Putin is holding my family hostage unless I sing!" #Eurovision2015 pic.twitter.com/hHF3xOUDhn
Conchita is performing her new song now, with a rather natty cropped hairdo, and I am extremely jealous of her figure. Worth having a beard for, if that's the trade she made with the devil.
22:38 Nigella Awesome
Friends, I have such a treat for you. The person delivering the UK's votes for us this year is none other than Nigella Lawson.
The reason? Because it's Eurovision. Nothing makes sense here. Embrace it, love it, leave your family behind.
22:35 What is happening part 2
Austria are just showing off their new musical genre they've invented: Drum 'n' Brass.
Wait can these percussion guys win #Eurovision2015 . I vote for them.
— Hayes Brown (@HayesBrown) May 23, 2015
22:30 What is happening
This interval act is condensing everything amazing about Austria into one giant arena. There are horns, grannies, people making heart shapes with their arms, choirs, extensive percussion, and what looks like the entire population of Europe waving flags, singing and looking serious. My invite obviously got lost in the post.
22:27 Who's going to win?
While the interval act gets going and rapidly becomes the most alpine thing anyone has ever seen, we asked on Twitter whether any of you fabulous Eurovision folk thought Russia could win. Here are some of your thoughts...
@Telegraph_TV @Telegraph @charlotteruncie very beautiful voice, song, performance, but no...
— Laman Hashimli (@LamanHashimli) May 23, 2015
@Telegraph_TV @Telegraph @charlotteruncie well, she hasn't got a beard, so it's a plus.
BBC Springwatch has plenty to say about the acts, especially Georgia:
That's the worst raven impression we've ever seen. @bbceurovision
— BBC Springwatch (@BBCSpringwatch) May 23, 2015
And Tessa Jowell is capitalising on the occasion:
Voting for #Eurovision2015 is great. Voting for Labour's next Mayoral candidate is AMAZING! Sign up: http://t.co/ukEfDlWYmZ
— Tessa Jowell (@TessaJowell) May 23, 2015
22:12 Italy
And for the finale, it’s Italy! Il Volo is an easy-on-the-eyes all-male pop opera trio very much in the style of Il Divo, with a dollop of cheeky swagger borrowed from the likes of One Direction. They’re singing Grande Amore, a belting operatic number entirely in Italian, in front of a backdrop of enormous, moodily lit classical statues.
This might be the most Italian thing that has ever happened. This performance is the logical conclusion of the Renaissance. If Leonardo Da Vinci’s time machine had worked and he was able to travel to 2015 and watch this performance, he would be deeply moved.
Poor old Italy - Grande Amore is a belter of a song but it’s crippled by being placed last in the running order. Nobody is still watching at this point apart from you and me, dear reader, and I lost my mind long ago.
Fun fact about Italy: they didn’t compete in Eurovision at all between 1998 and 2010, for no official reason other than that they didn’t particularly fancy it.
I love Italy. I love that they sing in Italian and are almost too fabulous for Eurovision. God speed, Italy. DODICI PUNTI.
22:07 Albania
We’re almost there, folks. Here’s Albania, singing a song called “I’m Alive”, which isn’t particularly appropriate to how I feel right now.
Elhaida Dani struggled in the semis, somehow managing to sing every note in existence at once and also none of them, but she makes a good fist of this. You have to pity her coming straight after the roof-raising Russia. She doesn't even have a glowing dress.
22:04 Russia
Russia’s song is an example of an entry that didn’t really stand out before the live performances began, but as soon as their singer, the drop-dead gorgeous Polina Gagarina, took to the stage in her huge light-up white dress and absolutely nailed the high notes in her soaring ballad A Million Voices in the first semi-final, bookies reported a surge of bets that she’d win the whole thing outright.
People may not be too fond of Russia's human rights record, but this is a song about peace, so good on them I suppose.
Harry reports from the arena that nobody is booing this time and the crowd seem to genuinely love Polina.
Good grief. Are we heading to Sochi next year?
22:00 Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan has been sliding up the betting since the semis and they could in theory stand a chance here - they throw everything at Eurovision and this is catchy enough, despite the slighty strange primeval crawling from the backing dancers, under a blood red moon. Are we finally seeing the true results of the curse cast by Armenia, all those songs ago?
These human-spider dancers are going to prey on me in my sleep for years to come. Please do not vote for them.
21:55 Georgia
Georgia is here to terrify you into staying awake until the bitter end. She looks as if she's escaped from the Night's Watch in Game of Thrones. I'm too scared to be mean about her so all I'll say is that she looks like I wished I looked back when I was an emo teenager. Black feather shoulder-piece, thigh-high leather boots, fearsome eyeliner, and a gloriously angry face. She is the queen of teen goths across Europe, so let's hope she can count on their votes.
Everyone should dress like this.
21:51 Hungary
As we’re coming to the end of the night, it’s time to be brutal. This is all very nice but I was surprised it even qualified. It goes absolutely nowhere. I want my Spanish Eighties disco back.
Though maybe I should retract that, as I've just had a text from my mum, who says she loves them. She says they remind her of the folk scene in the Sixties, and she was there for that the first time around. But is my mum, erstwhile Sixties flower child, an accurate Eurovision barometer?
21:47 Spain
Edurne for Spain now. The quality acts are stacking up and Armenia just seems like a distant, terrible memory. I have a real soft spot for Spain's song - it feels very “classic” Eurovision. As if we could, at any moment, be transported to an Eighties disco.
Harry Wallop reports from the arena:
"Massive contingent of Spaniards in the crowd. Almost outnumbering the Aussies. They are waiting to be blown away by their wind machine-powered anthem."
21:43 Romania
Ah now Romanian is a beautiful language and it’s nice to hear Voltaj going for it here. I mean, it’s not going to win (one of them would need to be in a white dress, at the very least, for that to happen) but this is all very dreamy and relaxing. Oh and it’s all about children. This is beautiful!
Why do so many Eurovision songs call for white pianos? Maybe white pianos are just really fashionable these days. I don't pretend to keep up with the whims and fancies of modern piano trends.
Here's the Eurovision final 2015 in pictures , so far, if you're already keen to relive the spectacle. Some crackers in there.
21:40 Latvia
Now this is good fun. Edgy, folky… it's just a shame that it's called Love Injected. Maybe Electro Velvet's lyricist wasn't that bad after all.
I can sort of imagine this being sung by Katy Perry, but less well. Or sung better by FKA Twigs. But the fact that we're even comparing her to contemporary musicians is a pretty good sign, surely.
21:34 Poland
Last year Poland’s entry was a bunch of sexy, butter-churning milkmaids, which is a difficult act to follow, frankly. This year it’s all a bit more demure and serious and sad, and rather beautiful. Billowing pink silk. A piano. Figures in white. How long has this been going on? Are we in Eurovision heaven?
21:31 Germany
High drama behind this German entry. Like any sensible country (i.e. not the UK), Germany picks its Eurovision entry using an X-Factor-style televised competition, and this year the winner was a chap named Andreas Kümmert. But he suddenly backed out, live on stage, just after he was named the champion. So the runner up was sent instead.
And here she is: Ann Sophie, singing Black Smoke. It’s nice and non-cheesy, but it’s been a bit overshadowed by all the controversy. I actually really like it, in a Girls Aloud circa 2009 sort of way. But it’s a bit sub-Norway. Remember Norway? Happier times.
21:28 More art!
Here's some more lovely instant Eurovision art, to keep us going.
My main impression of Sweden #Eurorvision2015 pic.twitter.com/8notgPab0F
— SydneyPadua (@sydneypadua) May 23, 2015
21:26 Montenegro
We’re getting right into the thick of the competition now. Dig deep, everyone, and feel the burn.
Montenegro now. Montenegro only has a population of 620,000, which probably explains why one of the backing dancers in this performance is the daughter of the lead singer, whose name is Knez. Knez is a huge musical star... in Montenegro. He looks like an Eastenders gangster and he appears to be walking on water with this staging. He is, to all intents and purposes, Montenegro’s Jesus.
21:24 Greece
Another nice ballad by a lovely girl in a good dress. And lots of sparkle, as is tradition. But this is all a bit anaemic really.
21:21 Another quick break
Quick, run and get a drink while you can. I can't. I've melted into my chair.
A word now from Flynn Murphy, who is at a Eurovision party in Australia and reporting for us:
"Much of Australia is still asleep as groups Eurovision tragics sit bleary-eyed before screens watching a song contest 10,000 miles away.
The Telegraph is sitting in one Eurovision broadcast party taking place in suburban Sydney. After initially asking themselves why on earth anyone would get up this early on a Sunday, the mixed-age group of ten - friends and family - has now settled in with coffee and blankets to laugh together and provide enthusiastic armchair commentary on each country's performance.
Many Australians say they watch the contest ironically, and are genuinely puzzled by their country's inclusion in the event."
21:17 Austria
They’re the hosts so we have to be nice about them, but this song is pretty forgettable. Even the piano got so bored that it set fire to itself. And that didn't liven things up.
21:13 Belgium
Belgium this year is one of my favourites. It's quite unusual, dark and edgy for a Eurovision song, but danceable nonetheless. The beginning is a bit reminiscent of Lorde's Royals.
21:11 Australian reception
Everyone is loving Australia. Harry has texted me from inside the arena:
"Inflatable kangaroos, a sea of yellow hats - it feels as if half the audience is Aussie."
21:09 Australia
Yes, Australia. They’re in Europe now. And the headline act no less. Pretty much everyone wants them to win, because Neighbours is a net contribution to humanity, plus barbecues and Kylie Minogue.
Australia are the cool kids who nobody can quite believe even want to come to our party, and they’ve made an effort and everything. It’s strictly a one-year-only invitation, but if Australia actually win, they might perform next year too (and maybe even every year). Because the stakes are so high on an Australia win, they’ve been favourites to take home the prize ever since it was announced they’d be taking part.
Add to that the fact that they’re sending this polished, funky, well-crafted pop song performed by multi-platinum Australian chart singer Guy Sebastian, and they have a fighting chance. And look, isn’t he just having a wonderful time? MELBOURNE 2016! (Or whichever European city gets roped into hosting it instead.)
Take a moment to remember that it’s the middle of the night in Australia. Eurovision is like a fever dream at the best of times but spare a thought for any insomniac/drunk Aussies tuning in there right now, half-asleep and semi-hallucinating, no idea what the kangaroo is going on.
21:07 An artist's impression
— Dan Berry (@thingsbydan) May 23, 2015
21:05 Cyprus
John Karayiannis now for Cyprus. A little bit like some karaoke by a forgotten cousin towards the end of a wedding reception, but inoffensive. NEXT.
21:01 Sweden
And on we go! Unfortunately for Norway they’re followed by Sweden, Eurovision superstars and runaway favourites. So here we go with Sweden’s high-budget, high-stakes, world-beating anthemic dance pop mega-hit, heavily inspired by electro country DJ superstars and fellow Swedes Avicii, and sung by Måns Zelmerlöw.
Måns is wearing tight leather trousers and fist-bumping with his complicated on-stage visuals while singing. He’s a very attractive man and, being Swedish, he’s probably into all sorts of progressive paternity leave legislation, so he'll be a resounding success with all the red-blooded Euro-ladies in the house (me). This is looking a lot like a winner. DOUZE POINTS. Stockholm 2016! What’s twelve points in Swedish?
I just looked it up. It’s "tolv poäng”. TOLV POANG, Måns!
20:59 A brief rest
Phew, the songs were coming thick and fast and now finally we get a break. Siobhan has pointed out that there are a lot of potential Disney princesses in this competition. Conchita as Pocahontas, Merida from Brave was singing for Norway, and Bojana should be in her own kickass princess film.
20:55 Norway
A confession: I still listen to last year’s entry from Norway, Silent Storm by Carl Espen, and it’s on my current Spotify playlist. I don’t know what it is about Norwegian pop, but whatever it is, I want more.
This is a murder ballad duet with plenty of ominous drama, just in case we still thought the Scandinavians didn’t understand noir. I unashamedly love this. Hello next year’s Spotify playlist. Can you get Norwegian radio in Britain?
20:51 Serbia
Now THAT is a Eurovision outfit. Well done Bojana Stamenov. Somewhere there is a Christmas tree missing its decorative angel topper. Excellent outfits all round, actually, with a quick-change homage to Bucks Fizz, too!
I am hugely enjoying this song all about embracing difference and being yourself and all that lovely fuzzy right-on Eurovision stuff. This is turning into an apocalyptic body positivity rave. Or is Armenia's magical curse just coming into effect? Either way, the whole competition just kicked up a notch.
Harry is reporting huge cheers for Serbia from inside the arena.
Serbia could take this if the Slavic block vote is used tactically. #Eurovision2015
— [Restricted] Animal (@politic_animal) May 23, 2015
20:47 Lithuania
Crikey. Did Armenia just perform some kind of curse on all of us? That was surreal to say the least.
Now. This is a very sweet little duet but I’m massively distracted by how much it looks like Monika's body is covered in scales in that dress.
Oh they’ve kissed. That’s nice. Definitely doesn’t look strained or awkward, as if they hate the sight of each other after smashing their lips together millions of times during weeks of rehearsals. Hope Monika’s got some lip balm stashed away somewhere in that scale-dress.
20:44 Armenia
Well, that was the UK's chance. And now we move swiftly on to Armenia. This song could have been a real contender, but they’ve struggled to nail the vocals live in the rehearsals and the semis.
Interesting staging here: a cross between a Kate Bush tribute act and a medieval druid solstice freak-out. And yes there are six of them on that stage. Apparently they roped in every druid in Armenia who could sing.
Or is this, in fact, the Council of Elron?
20:41 United Kingdom in "not embarrassing" shocker
Bless Electro Velvet, this is actually pretty good. The strings and neon combo definitely make it stand out, and we've got a few fireworks in there too. Not bad. I feel guilty for not being more optimistic about our chances now.
The main problem is I just can’t believe the lyrics that the UK are singing here. “Sneezes and diseases”? “Don’t get wet, I’ll be upset”? Milton, thou shouldst be living at this hour! The UK hath need of thee!
20:37 UNITED KINGDOM ALERT
Here they are already! Alex and Bianca from Electro Velvet for the United Kingdom. Come on guys, do us proud!
20:35 Estonia
Is this one of the few Eurovision songs which, if you heard it on the radio, could pass for simply one of the latest popular songs on the hit parade, or whatever young people are calling it these days?
Actually I have no idea. I’m 25, and Radio 1 has nothing for me any more. I just listen to Eurovision entries now. Anyway it’s a good song with some dramatic doorway-based staging that looks as if it belongs in a student production of Pinter. Which is a good thing, I think.
20:32 Israel
This song is called Golden Boy, and it's Israel via Bollywood, and also something of a tourism ad for Tel Aviv. Good fun though.
20:29 France
Apologies if you’re a France fan, but France have absolutely no chance of winning this thing. Not only is their song little more than a passably pleasant ballad-like dirge, they’re also performing second - traditionally known as the “death slot”, because no act has ever won from this position.
"Essentially this is a hymn to town planning", says Harry from the arena.
20:24 Slovenia opens the show
And we're off! This is Maraaya, opening the show with Slovenia’s entry. It’s a fun song but what is going on with those headphones? Maybe they're meant to be a distraction from the unnerving contemporary dancer in the background dressed all in black, like a malevolent shadow.
20:22 A Eurovision of building bridges and being green
Apparently this is a "green" Eurovision. It's also being shown live in China for the first time. Good heavens, are China going to be the special guests next year?
Meanwhile, a poetic take on the contest from Ron Paste.
I like to think TS Eliot would have loved Eurovision
— Nul Paste (@ronpaste) May 23, 2015
20:11 Come on, Electro Velvet!
Here's Electro Velvet arriving! Fingers crossed for them - their song divides opinion, to say the least, but they are doing their best. And Bianca from the band has a rather fetching neon outfit for the performance, too.
20:07 All hail Conchita Wurst
And there she is, Conchita, our Eurovision queen. Wearing a rather fetching glittery purple dress and, of course, accessorised with her trademark beard. Can she just win again, please?
Word from Harry:
"The atmosphere inside the Vienna Stadhalle reminds me of raves of the mid-1990s. We're only two minutes in but I can feel my vertebrae vibrating from the thumping feet... beyond bonkers."
20:04 Going swimmingly
Vienna is reminding us of its proud synchronised swimming heritage, there.
20:00 IT'S EUROVISION TIME
OK let's go. Nice bit of orchestral music from the Viennese Philharmonic there, very tasteful. And here's Conchita! Apparently she's going to fly in a minute...
— The Grump Crusader (@grumpcrusader) May 23, 2015
19:55 I've won the lottery!
I haven't really. But if I had, I would spend my winnings on a mindblowing Eurovision entry for the UK next year. OK, the lottery can be over now. Is it Eurovision time yet?
19:52 Conchita is watching us
Who is watching the #Eurovision grand final live from #AUT tonight?? #theunstoppables pic.twitter.com/62lEUJNhnC
— Conchita Wurst (@ConchitaWurst) May 23, 2015
19:48 Snacks!
I'm watching the Eurovision-themed National Lottery: Who Dares Wins on BBC One before Eurovision starts. Frankly I can't believe the BBC aren't showing a full-on intensive Eurovision build-up show. Graham Norton can't come soon enough.
Meanwhile, some more snack updates from Twitter:
Cheesy cheese ... cheesy biscuits ... cheesy snacks ... cheesy songs! Bring it on!!! #Eurovision #EurovisionParty pic.twitter.com/kcHaxsNARS
— Barry O'Donovan (@Bazzaroo) May 23, 2015
As is traditional, @LizRoberts1976 has rustled up some fabulous #Eurovision cupcakes.. 12 points for the snacks! pic.twitter.com/my4pyaDYo4
— Barry Roberts (@silentbazz) May 23, 2015
19:39 Harry has entered the building
Another update from Harry Wallop in Vienna:
"Half an hour to go and the atmosphere is mental inside the Wiener Stadthalle. The mosh pit is completely heaving. Our pre-show host has, interestingly, appealed for us to be "fair" and for "no boos". Vienna is very keen to avoid the jeering that greeted Russia last year."
Ah, that's what those anti-booing measures are. A polite appeal to decency. Nothing more, nothing less.
19.33 No booing in the arena
Here's what the Eurovision arena looks like in Austria right now. That's a lot of people!
The crowd are getting ready for the show here! Such a wonderful atmosphere in here!! 30 MINUTES TO GO! #Eurovision pic.twitter.com/yVbHFvTvxe
— Eurovision (@Eurovision) May 23, 2015
Intriguingly, after last year’s entry for Russia was booed by the live audience following Russia’s activities in Crimea, Eurovision have assured us that this year they have put “anti-booing measures in place”. I’m interested in what this means. Suspect it’s Vladimir Putin in the crowd with a water pistol.
19:27 A quizzical warm up
How much do you really know about Eurovision? This Eurovision quiz is quite good fun - see if you can guess (or remember) what happens next in these classic Eurovision scenarios.
19:14 The countdown begins!
Less than an hour to go! The hype on Twitter is reaching epic heights. If you have Eurovision snacks, I recommend you get started on them now.
One hour! *aggressively throws glitter* #Eurovision2015
Mark Gatiss is having a party.
Going the full on '70s for tonight's party! #Eurovision2015 pic.twitter.com/dxsXv9qO1r
— Mark Gatiss (@Markgatiss) May 23, 2015
Guy Sebastian of Australia and Electro Velvet of the UK are getting excited.
Been great getting to know Alex & Bianca and watching their awesome performances. Good luck UK! https://t.co/PeA6LwSX0w
— Guy Sebastian (@GuySebastian) May 23, 2015
18:40 Feeling the hype
If you are an eager beaver and simply cannot wait for the excitement of the grand final at 8pm, one way to scratch that Eurovision itch is to listen to Radio 2 Eurovision, a pop-up digital radio station focused on everything to do with the competition. It's definitely ones for the super-fans. Right now they're playing Conchita Wurst's new single, You Are Unstoppable.
18:24 Favourites: Sweden
We're less than two hours away from kick-off now, so let's take a look at one of the favourites. Beloved of the bookies (and my Lithuanian deli owner) is Swedish entry Måns Zelmerlöw, singing Heroes.
Before the semi-finals began, Sweden was a clear favourite. It is the country of Abba, after all, and accordingly the place where Eurovision is more important than life or death. Sweden takes this seriously and they really, really want to win. Måns wears tight leather trousers and interacts with his complicated on-stage visuals while singing, so providing there are no malfunctions with his wardrobe or otherwise, this could well be a stand-out performance of the night. It also sounds quite a lot like David Guetta's song Lovers on the Run, released last year.
Here's some more information about Sweden's entry if you're thinking of supporting him tonight.
PICTURE: Per Kristiansen
18:02 Harry's Big Night Out
Uh-oh. Harry's got a ticket to the after-party in Vienna as well as the final itself. That'll be him doing the Viennese Waltz until dawn with Conchita, then. I've put the Telegraph's search teams on standby.
Ready for #Eurovision . Not just a ticket, but entry to the after-show party. Oh yes. pic.twitter.com/CFIc6TvVrB
— Harry Wallop (@hwallop) May 23, 2015
17.48 The Lithuanian view
I tried to get an indication of where the votes might fall tonight when I popped round to the Lithuanian deli around the corner earlier to buy some Eurovision-themed snacks. Everyone there was extremely excited about Eurovision. The Lithuanian owner - a Eurovision devotee - told me he'd put £100 on Sweden winning, and he thought that Russia, Australia and Italy had no chance. So there you go, an early endorsement for Sweden from the local Lithuanians. I asked him what he thought of the UK's hopes, and his stony expression told me all I needed to know.
Here's a video featuring some more expert opinions on who might win:
16.49 Australia: not too bad after all?
We were being mean about Australia earlier, because it's not in Europe. But, after seeing this picture of Australian fans gearing up ahead of Eurovision, we've decided we quite like Australia after all. Just look at these guys are definitely Eurovision-worthy.
(Picture: AP/Kerstin Joensson)
16.30 Super-exciting update from Vienna
We're all a bit jealous: not only is Harry actually in Vienna, but he's staying in the same hotel as Germany's entrant Ann Sophie - and yesterday, he managed to secure a selfie with the amazing Conchita herself:
"I am staying in the same hotel as Ann Sophie from Germany, who I can confirm is a) beautiful b) not 'resting' for the final as she claimed during Thursday's semi final. She was spotted clubbing at 1am. And look who popped in for breakfast yesterday..."
16.20 Update from Vienna
Here's another update from Harry Wallop, who is covering the event from inside the Wiener Stadthalle. He attended last night's Jury Final, where 50 per cent of the votes are decided. (It acts as a public dress rehearsal too, with tickets going for nearly as much as the Grand Final itself.)
"I watched the show last night from inside the cavernous press room (there are 1,700 accredited press here) and it was interesting to see how all the different acts went down. Yes, Italy and Sweden are the favourites. But the biggest cheers of the night were for Serbia's well-upholstered Bojana Stamenov, Russia and Australia -- Guy Sebastian looked very slick. Possibly the biggest roar of the night was for Belgium and its jerky number Rhythm Inside." Loic Nottet from Belgium is one to watch."
15.56 Could Electro Velvet be in with a chance?
Let's lie back and think of England. Well, Britain. Specifically, let's lie back and think about our 2015 Eurovision entry.
Traditionally, we've never really done that well at Eurovision (with notable exceptions being Sandie Shaw, Lulu, Bucks Fizz, Katrina and the Waves, and the other winning group whose name we can't remember/be bothered googling right now). Could jaunty duo Electro Velvet be the answer to our woes? Probably not ... but you can find out more about them in this piece anyway: Who are Electro Velvet and do they stand a chance ?
(Picture: BBC 2015)
15.25 Why has Australia been allowed to join?
While you're waiting for Eurovision to begin, you can always kill some time by moaning about why Australia has been allowed to join the competiton this year. Or moaning about Australia in general, if that's your thing.
So, why are the Australians involved this year? The general consensus seems to be "because they really really wanted to be", but this piece - Why is Australia in the Eurovision final tonight when it's 9,443 miles away? - has a little more information. Here's a picture of Australia's entry, by the way. He's called Guy Sebastian, was born in Malaysia, and was the first-ever winner of Australian Idol, back in 2003. He's basically their Will Young.
(Picture: Rex)
15.05 It's raining in Vienna
Our first on-the-scenes update is here, courtesy of Harry Wallop in Vienna (where the weather is clearly not getting into the Eurovision spirit):
"The weather is dire -- after gentle rain this morning, it has been tipping it down since lunch. The Eurovision costume of choice for most fans arriving at the Wiener Stadthalle is one of those plastic ponchos. Not very stylish."
15:00 Wilkommen to the Eurovision
Guten Tag! Wilkommen to the Eurovision 2015 live blog! Stay right here for all the latest news and craziness from Vienna this afternoon and throughout this evening as the glitteriest and most outrageous night of the European musical year reaches its climax. Who will triumph? Will it be Sweden, the Eurovision pros who are sending a man wearing extremely tight leather trousers? Or Australia, which is taking part for some reason this year? Or a complete wildcard, like the United Kingdom?
The show starts tonight on BBC One at 8pm. Here's all the information you need on the qualifiers and how to watch . We'll document every ridiculous, wonderful step of the way.
We also have updates from Harry Wallop on the ground in Vienna, where apparently it's absolutely pouring with rain. But we won't let that dampen our Eurovision spirits! If you're hosting an opulent themed Eurovision party tonight, or just enjoying the show on your own in sober reflection as befits the solemnity of the occasion, let us know your thoughts, jokes, photos and tips as the night goes on, and we'll all make it through this together. Leave a comment below, or tweet us @Telegraph_TV.
Here are the qualifiers and the running order for tonight:
1. Slovenia
| Katrina and the Waves |
What is the musical term for one or more vocalists performing without an accompaniment? | Past Eurovision Song Contest winners from the UK - ITV News
9 May 2014 at 10:51am
Past Eurovision Song Contest winners from the UK
Lulu won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1967.
Photo: Youtube
Despite the recent run of disappointments, the UK is still considered to be one of the most successful countries to compete in the Eurovison Song Contest, and many of our biggest stars have sang in the competition.
The UK first participated in the competition in 1957 and has gone on to claim first place five times.
Hoping to join the UK's hall of Eurovision fame this year is Molly Smitten-Downes, who will perform her self-written song Children of the Universe.
Ahead of tomorrow's competition, we take a look back through the history of United Kingdom's best moments.
1967: Sandie Shaw became the first winner from the UK with her hit Puppet On A String.
1969: Lulu joined Spain, Netherlands and France in first place with her hit Boom Bang A Bang.
1976: Brotherhood of man were the first band from the United Kingdom to win with their single Save Your Kisses For Me.
1981: The band Bucks Fizz, who formed specifically for Eurovision, sang their way to first place with their hit Making Your Mind Up.
1997: Katrina & The Waves were the first UK winning Eurovision entry for 16 years singing Love Shine a Light.
| i don't know |
What is the smallest woodwind instrument in an orchestra? | Instrument Lab | ArtsAlive.ca Music
Percussions
The Woodwind Section
Woodwinds are basically tubes pierced with holes. They produce sound through the vibration of the air column inside the tube. Different notes are produced by blowing in the tube while covering some of the holes. The longer the column of air that is set in vibration, the lower the pitch of the note. Some woodwinds have reeds. A reed is a thin piece of cane that vibrates when blown across.
Piccolo
A tiny flute that plays an octave (eight notes) higher than a full-sized flute
Made of wood, silver or plastic
Played out to the side, not down like a recorder
Has the highest range in the woodwind family
Is the smallest member of the woodwind family
Flute
A cylindrical tube closed at one end
One end has a side hole which the player blows across, making the column of air inside vibrate
Holes along the instrument are closed by fingers on keys to produce the tone
Has a range from middle B or C upward for three octaves
Generally made of silver, occasionally gold, platinum or wood is used
Older flutes were generally made of wood
Does not have a reed
A cylindrical tube closed by a single reed at one end
A single reed woodwind
Most often made of African hard wood
One of the most versatile of all orchestra instruments
Has a very expressive tone
Has the largest range of all the woodwinds
Made of grenadilla or rosewood
Consists of a conical pipe, narrower at the top than at the bottom
Has three sections: top joint, lower joint, and bell
Has a double reed which is placed in the top end of the instrument
Has nearly a three octave range
Produces a high, penetrating, melancholy tone
Evolved out of the shawm and other ancient middle-eastern instruments
Gives the tuning "A" at the beginning of the concert
Bassoon
A conical bore double reed instrument, open at both ends
The natural bass of the woodwind family - yet has three distinct tone characteristics in the low, tenor and high registers
Has two side by side tubes with a "U" tube at the bottom (which takes the lowest notes of the bassoon to the "top" of the instrument)
Made of Yugoslavian maple wood
Its lowest tones provide a solid base for orchestra harmony
| Piccolo |
Which phrase links the title of an Oasis album and a British coin? | Woodwind instrument Facts for Kids | KidzSearch.com
Jump to: navigation , search
A woodwind instrument is an instrument belonging to the woodwind family. Traditionally they were always made of wood , although some of them are now made of metal or plastic .
In an orchestra there are four main types of woodwind instrument. Each of these also has related instruments of different sizes:
The piccolo is the highest of the four main instruments. The lowest note is Middle C and it has a range of 3 octaves . The piccolo is the smallest and highest instrument in the orchestra. It plays one octave higher than the flute. There is also an alto flute which sounds a fifth lower than the ordinary flute. Flutes are still sometimes made of wood, but mostly they are metal.
The oboe can play slightly lower than the flute. There is a larger version called the cor anglais (which means: “English horn”). This is a double reeded instrument. The clarinet plays nearly an octave lower than the flute. The bass clarinet plays an octave lower than the clarinet. The bassoon is the lowest of the four gvottom B flat of the piano .
The recorder is one of the oldest and most popular woodwinds and has been used to great effect by greats, such as Bach , Telemann and Vivaldi . The general public is normally only familiar with the plastic, child's version of the recorder, but professional and high-quality recorders are still made of wood.
The saxophone may look like a brass instrument , but it is played like a clarinet and therefore it is a woodwind instrument. It is usually played in bands and jazz groups.
Woodwind instruments are played in a variety of ways. The flute is played by blowing across the top of the mouthpiece. It is like blowing across the top of an empty bottle. The oboe and bassoon both have a double reed . It is like blowing through a drinking straw. Bagpipes have double reeds which are inside the mouthpiece (“enclosed reeds”). The clarinet and saxophone have single reeds which are clamped against the opening of the mouthpiece.
In comparison, brass instruments are all blown in the same way: by blowing against a cup-shaped mouthpiece. This is why the saxophone cannot be called a brass instrument, although it is made of brass.
The way that a player shapes his mouth to blow an instrument is called the “embouchure”. Woodwind instruments have several different embouchures.
In an orchestra there may be two each of flutes, oboes, clarinets and bassoons. In larger orchestras, particularly from the Romantic period onwards, there may be three or four. Sometimes the extra instruments such as the piccolo are used. If, for example, in an orchestral piece the third flute is marked “ doubling piccolo”, it means that the person playing flute 3 will also play the piccolo. However, if the piccolo plays at the same time as flute 3 they will obviously need an extra player for the piccolo part.
Woodwind instruments in an orchestra often have short solos. These will be played by the first player (the “section principal”).
| i don't know |
In which year did The Beatles officially split? | How Paul McCartney Finally Ended the Beatles For Good
How Paul McCartney Finally Ended the Beatles For Good
By Dave Swanson April 10, 2015 7:00 AM
REDDIT
Larry Ellis, Getty Images
All good things must come to an end, and this was never more true in the world of rock and roll than it was on April 10, 1970, when it was announced that the Beatles were no more.
The tale of the breakup of the Beatles is a long and, well, winding road. They had been imploding for a while. When manager Brian Epstein passed away in 1967, the first cracks were showing. By the time of the recording of the 1968 double-record set The Beatles (aka “The White Album”) things had gotten worse. The Beatles were working less and less like a band, with each member focusing on their own compositions in the studio and treating the others like sidemen.
Flash forward to early-1969 and recording sessions for what would eventually become the Let It Be album. Captured forever thanks to a documentary crew, the film Let It Be, released a month after their breakup, shows tensions running high and resentment building. Even though they would somehow carry on and record the much more harmonious Abbey Road, the end was in sight.
After repeated clashes with new business manager Allen Klein, Paul McCartney , was looking for it to end, perhaps sooner than the others. In late-1969, unbeknownst to all but a few close associates, he began work on a solo album in his home studio. A week before the album’s April 17, 1970 release, the promotional material for the album contained a Q&A sheet that, in essence, said that he was leaving the group .
Q: “Is this album a rest away from the Beatles or the start of a solo career?”
A: “Time will tell. Being a solo album means it’s ‘the start of a solo career…and not being done with the Beatles means it’s just a rest. So it’s both.”
Q: “Is your break with the Beatles temporary or permanent, due to personal differences or musical ones?”
A: “Personal differences, business differences, musical differences, but most of all because I have a better time with my family. Temporary or permanent? I don’t really know.”
Q: “Do you foresee a time when Lennon-McCartney becomes an active songwriting partnership again?”
A: “No.”
And, with that, it was over. We can only be glad the Beatles were here as long as they were.
The Top 100 Rock Albums of the ’60s
Image of
| 1970 |
Who was the biggest-selling female solo artist of the 1990's in the USA? | The Straight Dope: Why did the Beatles break up?
A Staff Report from the Straight Dope Science Advisory Board
Why did the Beatles break up?
October 29, 2002
Why did the Beatles break up?
— Kevin
Brace yourselves, friends--this may well be the first discussion of the Beatles' break-up that doesn't include a cheap Yoko Ono joke.
Really, the answer is simple. They broke up for the same reason they were successful--they were all extremely talented musicians interested in trying new things. We can argue about whether that describes Ringo or not, but I think in general it's true.
The breakup really began in 1967 with the death of Brian Epstein, who had managed the group since late 1961. Epstein was the one who kept the Beatles working together, resolving disputes between members, soothing bruised egos, and most importantly, handling the money.
After Epstein's death, Paul McCartney tried to step into that role and act as group leader. Unfortunately, Paul's first decision was to involve the group in the film Magical Mystery Tour. While the associated album did well, the film was a disaster financially and artistically. John mocked Paul for the failure, and while Paul still ostensibly led the group, none of the others paid much attention to him.
Meanwhile, the members of the group began moving in different directions. John Lennon became more interested in the avant-garde art scene. At an exhibit in London, he met artist Yoko Ono. They fell in love and planned art projects together. In the beginning, John tried to get the other Beatles to join in, but they had little enthusiasm for these projects, and eventually John worked with Yoko on their artwork without them.
At the same time, George Harrison was chafing at his role within the group. He felt that he was as competent a song writer as either John or Paul, but the fact that he was only allowed two songs per record--and no tracks on any of the singles--relegated him to a supporting role. In retaliation, George began working on solo projects--including the album Wonderwall, released in 1968 and arguably the first solo record of any Beatle--and playing guitar with other recording artists such as Jackie Lomax and Jack Bruce.
Things really began to go downhill after the formation of Apple Corps. Apple was, in essence, a tax dodge--if the Beatles didn't spend a large portion of their income on "significant ventures," the government would hit them up for more taxes. It acted as a kind of hippie venture capitalist group, offering money to poets and songwriters and fashion designers. Unfortunately, poets, songwriters and fashion designers don't often give as good a return on investment as, say, General Electric. While Apple Corps managed to discover some new talent such as James Taylor and Badfinger, it bled money.
Running Apple Corps was a nightmare--none of the Beatles were businessmen, and they preferred to use Apple Corps to further their own goals, whether it was John sending acorns to be planted as "peace trees," George sending some Hell's Angels over to sort out the mess in Czechoslovakia, Paul hiring brass bands, etc. Word got out that nearly anyone could show up and, with a plausible enough story, get handed a check; without a plausible story, you could just pick something up and walk away. The Apple Boutique lost 50 pounds a week in petty theft. Items stolen from Apple Headquarters, according to Andrew Male, included "four television sets plus numerous record players, electric typewriters, adding machines, cases of wine, wage packets, movie cameras, speakers and fan heaters plus an electric skillet from the kitchen and all the lead off the roof." Accusations of wasted money and incompetence were rife. John and George nearly got into a fistfight after John publicly stated that the company would be broke in six months.
With disaster looming, the Beatles agreed that they needed to hire a real manager. Unfortunately, they didn't agree on who that manager should be. John, George, and Ringo wanted Allan Klein. Paul didn't trust Klein and wanted to hire his father-in-law Lee Eastman. Paul was outvoted, and Klein was set to two Herculean tasks: fixing Apple Corps and turning the Beatles' latest recording project--several tapes of them belittling each other--into a record. The recording sessions for what would become Let It Be had been a disaster--nearly every member of the group fought with every other member over which songs to include, how to arrange the songs, etc. When John brought Yoko in to work on songs and insisted that she be treated as an equal, the others resisted the idea, and John and Yoko got the cold shoulder for the rest of the sessions.
As time went on, it became obvious that even new manager Klein couldn't stop the fighting. Paul was incensed that Klein had hired Phil Spector to work on the tapes and accused Spector of ruining his songs. John was furious that his song "Cold Turkey" had been dropped from the Abbey Road album, and recorded it on his own as a protest, crediting the writing to "Lennon," and not "Lennon/McCartney," the first such song in thirteen years. John's insistence on working with Yoko--and the rest of the band's insistence on not working with her at all--drove a wedge between John and the others. George was furious that Apple Corps was falling apart, and that he still wasn't going to be allowed more than two songs per album. John, Paul, George, and Ringo all spent time in 1969 and 1970 recording their own solo albums while Abbey Road hit the charts and Spector continued trying to shape Let It Be into an album.
On April 7th, 1970, Paul McCartney released his album McCartney despite Klein's demands that it wait until Let It Be was out. Three days later, Paul released a self-interview in which he stated that he never wanted to work with the other Beatles again. The other three claimed there was no real split and that the Beatles would soon be recording together again. (John went back and forth on the issue: in public interviews at the time, he claimed that he was still a Beatle despite having recorded four solo albums, and that everything would be fine; later, he claimed that he had actually been the first to quit the group back in 1969.)
On December 31st, 1970, Paul McCartney sued the other three Beatles for a dissolution of the partnership, and talk of another Beatles album ended--except, of course, among the group's fans, who hoped for years for a reunion that never came.
— John Corrado
Staff Reports are written by the Straight Dope Science Advisory Board, Cecil's online auxiliary. Though the SDSAB does its best, these columns are edited by Ed Zotti, not Cecil, so accuracywise you'd better keep your fingers crossed.
| i don't know |
In 1976, which song was knocked off the number one spot by another song, the title of which is mentioned in its own lyrics? | Record-Breakers and Trivia - everyHit.com
>>> But what's the longest word in a lyric?
Word featuring in most titles
The word "The" features in more hit titles than any other word (2506). Runner-up, a long way behind is "You" (1489) (as of w/e 11th Oct 2003)
Word starting most titles
The word "I" starts more hit titles than any other word (644). Then it's "Love" (234), "Don't" (219) and "You" (214) (as of w/e 11th Oct 2003)
Least Different Letters Making Up An Artist - Title Combination
U2 - "One" (5 characters). This uses a number so it could be argued that the real record-holders are ABC - "SOS" and Moby - "Go" (both 6 letters). However, "Doop" by Doop has just 3 different letters! Least different letters for a non eponymous single is 4 for Abba - "SOS."
Palindromic Title by a Palindromic Artist
"SOS" by Abba is the only palindromic hit song by a palindromic artist.
The Vowel-Free Titles: The following are the only titles of four letters or more to be vowel free (excluding numeric titles like "1999"):
Crash Test Dummies - "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm"
Julian Cope - "Try Try Try"
Blackout - "Mr DJ"
Pop Will Eat Itself - "RSVP"
Fall Out Boy - "Thnks Fr Th Mmrs"
Alphabetically First and Last Words In Titles
Alphabetically, the first word to appear in any song title is, somewhat obviously, "A"; it has appeared in several hundred titles. More obscure though, alphabetically speaking, the last word to appear in any title is "Zululand" (in King Kurt's 1983 hit, "Destination Zululand").
Least Different Words Used For Multi-Worded Titles:
Excluding single-worded titles, Destiny's Child are the only act to have three Top 40 hits and use no more than three different words in them; "No No No" (no. 5, 1998), "Bills, Bills, Bills" (no. 6, 1999), and "Jumpin' Jumpin'" (no. 5, 2000)
Biggest Name-Droppers:
Two groups have managed to take six girls' names into the Top 40:
The Everly Brothers: "Wake Up Little Susie" (1957), "Claudette" (1958), "Take A Message To Mary" (1959), "Poor Jenny" (1959), "Cathy's Clown" (1960), and "Lucille" (1960).
The Bachelors: ""Charmaine" (1963), "Diane" (1964), "Ramona" (1964), "Marie" (1965), "Hello Dolly" (1966) and "Marta" (1967). Thanks to chart guru Jon Kutner who points out that the Bachelors have a seventh if we include "Walk With Faith In Your Heart"!
Lyrical Connections Between Successive Number 1s
A favourite question in pop quizzes goes something like this:
"Which is the only record to have been knocked off the no.1 spot by a record whose title can be found in the lyric of the first song?"
The 'classic' answer is "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen. It contains the famous "mamma mia, mamma mia, mamma mia let me go" line. In January 1976, it was replaced at the top of the chart by none other than Abba's "Mamma Mia".
But a more striking (and more bizarre) answer arises from 1959 when Emile Ford & The Checkmates' "What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For" unseated Adam Faith's "What Do You Want" from number one. It's particularly odd as, during the transition, the tracks tied for the top spot and shared the position for one week!
But there are other examples, albeit less dramatic (ie. one-word titles), of this phenomenon:
In 1958, The Kalin Twins made no. 1 with "When". It replaced The Everly Brothers at the top; both tracks on their double A-Side "All I Have To Do Is Dream" and "Claudette" contained the word "When."
Two years later Anthony Newley made no. 1 with "Why". It replaced Michael Holliday's "Starry Eyed" at no. 1; the opening line of that song is "Why am I so starry eyed?"
In 1988, The Pet Shop Boys made no. 1 with "Heart". It replaced Aswad's "Don't Turn Around" at no. 1 (which contains the lines "Don't worry about this heart of mine" and "Coz you're gonna see my heart breaking").
The most recent example was seen in 2000. Madonna made no. 1 with "Music". It replaced Spiller's "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" at no. 1 (which contains the line "While we are moving, the music is soothing").
There are two instances of the reverse of this phenomenon - a track being toppled from no.1 by another which contains its full title in the lyric:
In 1960, Anthony Newley's "Why" was topped from no.1 by Adam Faith's "Poor Me" which contained "Why oh why do voices say to me, sit and cry, that this was meant to be."
In 1975, Telly Savalas "If" was topped from no.1 by The Bay City Rollers "Bye Bye Baby" which opened with the line "If you hate me after what I say."
Here's a interesting sub-category; Lyrical Prophecy Of Topping The Chart
On 15th Nov 1980, Blondie's "The Tide Is High" reached number 1. It included the line, "I'm gonna be your number one." It was knocked off the top spot on 29th Nov by Abba's "Super Trouper" which includes the line "feeling like a number one."
Most Popular Title For A Top 40 Single
Songs entitled "Angel" and "Crazy" have each made the Top 40 in 12 completely different tracks (ie. different tune / lyrics; not different versions of the same song).
Runners-up are: "I Believe" (10) and "Stay" (9).
The full list is here .
First Self-Penned Number 1
Mantovani's "Cara Mia" (July 1954; the 20th no. 1); it was composed by Mantovani and Bunny Lewis (under pen names Tulio Trapani and Lee Lange respectively).
Not until the 43rd Number 1 was an act entirely responsible for writing its own chart-topper; The Dreamweavers' "It's Almost Tomorrow" (March 1956).
Over twenty-eight years later Steveie Wonder became the first artist ever to write, produce and entirely perform a Number 1 ("I Just Called To Say I Love You", Sep 1984).
Eponymous Number Ones
When Mr. Blobby went to number one with "Mr Blobby" in 1993 it was the first time in 41 years of chart history that an eponymously title song achieved this feat. However, less than four months "Doop" hit number one by a band called Doop!
Hits In Most Languages
German pop/dance trio Sash! are the only act to have hits in four different languages. In 1997/8 they made the Top 40 with "Encore Une Fois" (in French), "Ecuador" (in Spanish), "Stay" and others (in English) and "La Primavera" (in Italian). Furthermore, though Sash's 1999 hit "Colour The World" was ostensively sung in English, it contained African lyrics by Nigerian vocalist Dr Alban and Finish singer Inka!
Petula Clark is the only British act to have hits in three languages; "Casanova" in German, "Ya Ya Twist" and "Chariot" in French and a host of others in English.
One group has graced the charts with hits in three languages. Kraftwerk had success with "Autobahn" (in their native German), "Tour De France" (French), five other Top 40 titles in English and one bilingual ("Expo 2000" mixed German and English).
Most Expletives
The Super Furry Animals 1996 hit "The Man Don't Give A..." contained 49 expletives; a record for a Top 40 single. The most for a solo hit is 33 in Eamon's 2004 track "F**k It (I Don't Want You Back)." This single also holds the record for most expletives in a chart-topper. The 'award' for most profanities in a hit by a female artist goes to Frankee whose 2004 number 1 "F.U.R.B. (F U Right Back)" (an answer song to Eamon's) contained 22 swear words.
Biggest Hit By A Non-Human Artist
In terms of chart success, this coverted title goes to The Archies for "Sugar Sugar" which spent 8 weeks at number 1 in 1969 (and stayed in the Top 40 for 22 weeks).
Created for mass consumption by bubblegum-pop genius Don Kirshner (the man who gave us the Monkees), the Archies existed on television as an animated series based on the comic book characters of the same name. The voices behind the singing cartoon characters were vocalists Ron Dante, Toni Wine and Andy Kim.
The biggest-selling single by a non-human group is "Teletubbies Say Eh-Oh" by The Teletubbies (1997, 1.1 million copies).
The biggest-selling single by a non-human soloist(!) is "Can We Fix It?" by Bob The Builder (year 2000, 1.0 million).
The Weirdness Of Blur's "Song 2"
The track "Song 2" was track 2 on the album "Blur". It was single 2 to be released from the album. It reached number 2 in the chart - and was just 2 minutes long!
Position-dodging
The Eurythmics have had 9 top ten hits. No two songs have peaked at the same position. The only position they have failed to achieve is No. 7 (they also have one number 11 hit and one number 12 hit, too!)
Most Graceful Retreat From Number 1
In chart history, four singles haven fallen from the Number 1 spot by one position for four consecutive weeks (ie. No. 1 to No. 2 to 3, 4, 5). They are:
Dickie Valentine - "Finger Of Suspicion" (1954) [1-2-3-4-5-5-4-9-17]
Tommy Edwards - "It's All In The Game" (1958) [1-2-3-4-5-4-8-11-15-27]
Michael Jackson - "You Are Not Alone" (1995) [1-2-3-4-5-7-9-13-25-30-31]
Eminem - "The Real Slim Shady" (2000) [1-2-3-4-5-7-8-10-11-15-23-33-38]
The following singles managed to 'double' their fall from the top for four consecutive weeks:
Chicago - "If You Leave Me Now" (1976) [1-2-4-8-16-16-28-30-39]
Ian & The Blockheads - "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick" (1978) [1-2-4-8-16-21]
Abba - "The Winner Takes It All" (1980) [1-2-4-8-16-30]
Wet Wet Wet - "Love Is All Around" (1994) [1-2-4-8-16-21-35- 39]
The record for languishing at No. 2 on the way out (for 8 weeks!) goes to:
Johnnie Ray - "Such A Night" (1954) [1-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-3-7-7-9-10-12]
Most 'Impressive' Symmetrical Chart Careers For A Title
Ten records in history have experienced symmetrical chart careers of four weeks (none has a longer symmetrical career). Of these, only four climbed as far as the top 30. They are:
Gloria Estefan - "Get On Your Feet" (1989) [34-23-23-34]
The Beloved - "The Sun Rising" (1989) [37-26-26-37]
Re-Flex - "The Politics Of Dancing" (1984) [34-28-28-34]
Eric Clapton - "Wonderful Tonight (live)" (1991) [35-30-30-35]
Artist 'Lapping' Himself
During the time Bryan Adams hit "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" was at number one, his follow up single, "Can't Stop This Thing We Started", not only entered the chart, but climbed to number 12, fell down the chart and disappeared from the chart altogether.
First Chart Has-Been
Jane Wyman was the first chart act to completely disappear from the chart, never to return. 12th Dec 1952 was her second and final week on the chart singing 'Zing A Little Zong' with Bing Crosby.
When Was The Last Time...?
... there were no entries in the Top 10:
In March 2006, a new chart rule enabled download sales to count towards a single's chart position the week prior to the title being available in a 'hard' form (eg. CD). As download sales represented a relatively low proportion of overall sales at the time, this led to the return of a phenomenon which had been in decline for many years; titles entering the charts below their peak position and climbing! In w/e 29th April 2006 there were no new entries inside the Top 10, the first time that this had happened for more than four years. This looks set to become a more regular occurrence as it was repeated on the weeks ending 13th May, 8th July, 19th Aug, 2nd Sep, 30th Sep, 2nd Dec 2006 as well as 27th Jan, 10th Feb, 24th Feb, 3rd Mar, 17th Mar, 7th Apr, 5th May, 2nd June, 30th June, 28th July, 22nd Sep, 13 Oct, 17 Nov, 8th Dec 2007, 12th Jan, 2nd Feb, 1st Mar, 8th Mar, 15th, 29th Mar, 26th April, 10th May, 1st Jun, 29 Nov 2008, 31st Jan, 28th Mar, 11th Apr, 16th May 2009. We're going to discontinue this listing soon if this trend continues as it's getting out of hand!
More impressively, on week ending 29th Nov, the highest new entry was at no. 29 (Christian Falk featuring Robyn - "Dream On", though Snow Patrol's "Run" re-entered one place higher). It is rare for the entire upper half of the Top 40 to be devoid of new entries. The previous instances were 26th Apr 2008 when the highest new entry was at no. 25 (Goldfrapp, "Happiness") and 10th Feb 2007, when Kasabian entered at no. 22 with "Me Plus One". Before that, we have to go back to 1994 to find a Top 20 free of debuting singles (outside of the Festive period of course).
The 19th Aug 2006 chart not only featured no new entries into the Top 10, but also no "download-to-physical" climbers, making it doubly unusual.
Moreover, on the week ending 21st Apr 2007, the entire top 10 was a rearrangement of the previous week's top 10 (i.e. no songs climbing into, entering, or falling out of the top 10). This also happened on w/e 16th May 2009.
Throughout the 80s and 90s the number of "high new entries" grew rapidly as record companies became more focussed in targeting chart sales periods for dramatic debut positions. It was then rare (away from Christmas / New Year) to find a Top 10 with no new entries.
The last occurrence of this prior to the aforementioned download rule was w/e 9th Feb 2002 (highest new entry that week; "Dance For Me" by Mary J Blige at number 13).
More than seven years before that, in June 1994, there was a very rare new-entry-free Top 20, "Move Your Body" by Anticapella being the highest debutant at number 21. (NB: this excludes charts inside the festive season when it is usual for the chart to be somewhat stagnant.)
... a single climbed back up to number one:
Occasionally tracks drop from the number one spot and then do a 'U'- turn. Latest to do this was Shakira featuring Wyclef Jean with "Hips Don't Lie." It had topped the chart for w/e 8th July 2006, then being displaced for a total of three weeks by Lily Allen's "Smile" (2 weeks) and McFly's "Don't Stop Me Now / Please Please" (1 week). On w/e 5th Aug 2006 Shakira and Wyclef Jean reclaimed the no. 1 position. Prior to this, Eric Prydz had returned to the top with "Call On Me" in Oct 2004.
... a single spent more than X weeks at number one::
The last single to spend 5 or more weeks at number one was: Duffy - "Mercy" (Feb - Mar 2008) [5 weeks at no. 1] The last single to spend 6 or more weeks at number one was: Leona Lewis - "Bleeding Love" (Nov - Dec 2007) [7 weeks at no. 1]
The last single to spend 8 or more weeks at number one was: Rihanna featuring Jay-Z - "Umbrella" (May - July 2007) [10 weeks at no. 1]
The last single to spend 11 or more weeks at number one was: Wet Wet Wet - "Love Is All Around" (June-Sep 1994) [15 weeks at no. 1]
The last single to spend 16 or more weeks at number one was: Bryan Adams - "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" (July-Nov 1991) [16 weeks at no. 1 - most ever consecutively.]
The last single to spend 17 or more weeks at number one was: Frankie Laine - "I Believe" (Apr-Sep 1953) [18 weeks at no. 1 - though in three separate spells at the top.]
More information .
... the Top 5 were all New Entries:
The most recent occurrence of the entire top 5 consisting of New Entries was w/e 29th Jan 2005. The previous occasion was w/e 13th Nov 2004; the fact attracted considerable attention as all five of the incumbents were American artists (in descending order: Eminem, Destiny's Child, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera featuring Missy Elliott, Usher) - a first. The first instance of all Top 5 singles being New Entries was w/e 31st Oct 1998 (Cher, George Michael, U2, Culture Club, Alanis Morissette).
On just two occasions (w/e 15th Apr 2000 and w/e 29th Jan 2005) the entire top 6 were debutantes.
... the Top 5 were all non-movers:
The week with most successive non-movers (excluding Christmas weeks) was in July 1955 when the whole Top 7 remained unchanged. Since then, only the whole of the Top 6 has ever remained static - on four occasions (9th July 1955, 8th April 1961, 30th May 1981 and 8th March 2008).
Top 7 : 9th July 1955
Top 6 : 8th March 2008
1
H Two O featuring Platnum
What's It Gonna Be
Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White
4
Basshunter ft DJ Mental Theo
Now You're Gone
Where Will The Baby's Dimple Be?
Most New Entries In The Top 40
On w/e 17th May 1997, the Top 40 chart contained a record-breaking twenty new entries (of which only one was a climber from further down the chart). The week ending 5th March 2005 also introduced us to nineteen 'pure' new entries, this time with no climbers.
Most New Entries In The Top 10
There have been seventeen occasions in chart history when seven titles of the Top 10 have been New Entries to the Top 40. The first such occurrence was w/e 19th April 1997. The top 10 looked like this:
Top 10 : 19th April 1997
1
| Bohemian Rhapsody |
A 'smack' is the collective noun for a group of which marine creatures? | QUEEN BIOGRAPHY
Queen Biography
Last updated: 12/27/2012 05:10:10 PM
FORMED: 1971, London, England
DISBANDED: 1995
1968: Smile
In 1968, Brian May and Tim Staffell, both students at Imperial College, decided they wanted to form a group. Brian placed an advertisement on the college notice board for a "Ginger Baker type" drummer, and a young medical student called Roger Taylor auditioned and got the job. They called the group Smile. Smile were signed to Mercury Records in 1969, and had their first experience of a recording studio in Trident Studios that year. Tim Staffell was at Ealing College of Art with Freddie Bulsara, and introduced him to the band. Freddie soon became a keen fan. Sadly, in 1970 Smile decided to call it a day, as nothing seemed to be happening for them. Tim went off and joined a band called Humpy Bong, and Freddie left his band Wreckage and joined up with Brian and Roger - it had all begun.
1970: Queen's birth
Freddie changed his name by deed poll to Mercury, changed the band's name to Queen, and John Deacon was asked to audition as their bass player (they had had three temporary ones so far in their short history). In February 1971, John Deacon was taken on as the fourth member of Queen. The band rehearsed tirelessly and played several small gigs at Imperial College, where they rehearsed for close friends. Then they were offered the chance to test a new recording studio called De Lane Lea. In return for trying out the new equipment, they could also make free demo tapes. They did. No one was interested! They had signed a recording contract and publishing and management agreements with Trident in 1972, and during that year were paid just ?0 per week. Queen were given the 'down time' - or out of hours studio time - at Trident Studios, where they began work on their first album.
1973: a recording deal
In 1973, Trident and EMI signed a contract for a recording deal for Queen, and July of that year saw the release of Queen, their first album. The band were offered a big break - their first major tour as support band to Mott The Hoople. It began in Leeds in November 1973, and it was said by many people during that tour that 'Queen were more than a support act ....' Queen II was finally released in March 1974 - it should have been earlier, but there was a minor printing error on the sleeve that Queen insisted on having corrected! The band embarked on their first headlining tour of Britain, starting in Blackpool in March 1974. In April 1974, the band embarked on their first-ever USA tour as guests to Mott The Hoople. But in May of that year, whilst on tour, Brian collapsed with hepatitis, and the band had to cancel the rest of their dates.
1974: Sheer Heart Attack!
Work on their third album began without Brian and with a lot of help from Roy Thomas Baker. Brian finally felt well enough to go into the studios to record his guitar parts, although he was still ill and spend much time between takes in the studio bathroom being very sick! But eventually, the album was finished, and Sheer Heart Attack was released in November 1974. It was a huge hit both sides of the Atlantic as the world came to realise that Queen were certainly a force to be reckoned with!
1975: the big tour
In January 1975, Queen left for the USA on their very first headlining tour. Ticket sales were phenomenal, and demand was so high that they had to add more shows, doing two shows in one day at some venues, both shows being sold out. Quite a few shows on that tour had to be cancelled, as Freddie had developed a severe throat problem, but he soldiered on and performed as many as possible, although doctors had advised him against it. Also in January 1975, Queen engaged the services of a Music Business lawyer, Jim Beach, to negotiate them out of their Trident agreements, as Trident were no longer being as supportive as they should have been, and the band were unhappy with the situation. Their first Canadian gig was in Edmonton on April 2nd, where they were joined on stage by support act Kansas. April of 1975 saw Queen set to pay their first-ever visit to Japan.
1975: Japan mania
When they arrived at the airport, there were over three thousand fans there to greet them, as Sheer Heart Attack was Number One in Japan at the time. It was a scene reminiscent of Beatlemania in the Sixties, and the band were quite surprised at their 'pop star' welcome! In May 1975, Freddie was presented with an Ivor Novello Award by the Songwriters Guild for Killer Queen.
1975: Bohemian Rhapsody
Queen began work on their new album in June. Links with Trident were finally severed - to the band's great relief - in August, and by September Queen had signed with new management: enter John Reid. When the band decided to release Bohemian Rhapsody in 1975, everyone told them it was far too long and just would not be a hit at 5 minutes and 55 seconds. But Freddie gave a copy of the single to friend and London DJ Kenny Everett, informing him that it was for him personally, and that he must not play it on air. But of course he did - fourteen times in two days!! From then on, every major radio station played the song in full, and not edited versions as was first thought. It was a colossal hit, and really established Queen as th?band of the era. The video for the single, directed by Bruce Gowers using ideas from the band themselves, was considered to be the one that began the whole video craze - they just didn't know what they were starting! The single stayed at Number One for an amazing nine weeks!
1975: A Night At The Opera
The album was, at the time, one of the most expensive ever recorded, but when A Night At The Opera was released in November 1975, it was a massive hit, and gave them their first platinum album. Freddie had designed a Queen logo for the Queen I album, which was re-worked and used as the cover for A Night At The Opera. The now-famous 'crest' features the band's star signs - two fairies for Virgo, a crab for Cancer and two lions for the two Leos. The launch party for the album was held in the exclusive Opera Bar at the London Coliseum Theatre.
1976: touring
In January 1976, Freddie was presented with another Ivor Novello Award, for Bohemian Rhapsody. Also in January, the band set off on their third American tour, which took them all over America and continued until the end of March. They then flew direct to Japan, arriving yet again to a riotous reception. By this time, all four Queen albums were in the UK Top Twenty, which was an unheard-of feat. They undertook an extensive tour of Japan, and then flew on to Austria. Their tour 'Down Under' began at the Perth Entertainment Centre.
1976: another new album
They flew back to the UK to begin work on their next album, A Day At The Races, but recording was halted while the band took off on a short UK tour. On September 18th, 1976, Queen decided they wanted to say thanks to their dedicated fans, and so - in true extravagant style - they staged a huge free concert in London's Hyde Park. The crowds were estimated at between 150 and 200 thousand people - the largest audience Queen had played to up to that time, and to date still the highest-ever attendance record for a concert in Hyde Park.
1976: A Day At The Races
It was September, and the band were hard at work on their new album. A Day At The Races was released in December 1976. The band all attended a special horse race at Kempton Park to promote the album, and in 'A Day At The Races Stakes', a special race sponsored by EMI, they all backed the same horse without telling each other - and it won! Five days before its release, the advance orders for A Day At The Races were in excess of half a million - the highest orders EMI had ever received for any album.
1977: Roger's solo single
1977 had only been around for four days before Queen jetted off to America to rehearse for their forthcoming tour. They were on the road constantly through January, February and most of March in the USA and Canada. Roger decided, at the end of all that, to record a solo single, which he paid for out of his own pocket. I Wanna Testify was released in August. In May of 1977, Queen flew out of Stockholm to begin an extensive European tour. Their concert at Earls Court in London featured the famous 'Crown' lighting rig. It was 54 feet wide, 26 feet tall and weighed in at 5,000 pounds. It cost the band ?0,000.
1977: We Are The Champions, the video
In October 1977, the fan club members were asked for the first time to take part in one of the band's videos. We Are The Champions was filmed at the New London Theatre. After initial filming was finished, the band remained on stage and played an impromptu gig to say thanks to the fans who had turned up and worked so hard. October '77 also saw the band presented with a Britannia Award for the Top British Single: Bohemian Rhapsody, of course!
1977: News Of The World
Queen released News Of The World on October 28th, 1977. The cover was a drawing that Roger had discovered, by Science Fiction artist Kelly Freas. Roger asked him if he would mind adapting his illustration for the album cover, and Freas readily agreed.
1977: another tour
In November they were off to the USA again for rehearsals for the forthcoming tour. For the first time, their finances enabled them to charter a private plane for the tour - it made life on the road that much more comfortable. The tour began on 11th November - their second USA tour that year. They all arrived back in the UK just in time to spend Christmas with their families. That Christmas, We Will Rock You was knocked off the French Number One slot after 12 weeks ...... by We Are The Champions!
1978: a new management
In February 1978, Queen decided they should set up their own management structure. They parted company with John Reid more amicably than their split with Trident - this severance agreement was actually signed in the back of Freddie's Rolls Royce during a break in filming We Will Rock You in the back garden of Roger's house in Surrey! A short (by Queen standards!) tour of Europe began in April 1978 - again in Stockholm. In July, the band started work on their new album. They recorded it in Montreux and France - the first time they had ever recorded outside Great Britain.
1978: Bicycle Race
As publicity for the forthcoming single Bicycle Race, the band hired Wimbledon Stadium, and fifty naked girls had their own bicycle race. The original cover of the single featured the rear view of one of those naked girls, but due to public outcry in some countries, panties had to be drawn on! More touring in the USA and Canada began in October. November 10th saw the release of Jazz, the band's seventh album. The sleeve was packed to contain a fold-out poster of the naked bicycle race. The Americans banned it from the actual album sleeve, and inserted an application form instead so that fans could send away for their poster. The launch party for Jazz was held in New Orleans, and has since gone down in history!
1978: the party
The band hosted the party themselves in order to invite both EMI, their American record company, and Elektra, their USA representatives. It was the first time that both companies' executives had met, and they both ensured that ALL of their directors attended, each to try to outnumber the other! The party was a completely over-the-top affair, featuring mud wrestlers, midgets, topless waitresses, and a host of other weird and wonderful characters.
1979: buying a studio
The North American tour finished in late December, and the band flew back to the UK for Christmas, but they didn't get too much time to rest, as by January 1979 they were off to Europe yet again. The tour kicked off in Hamburg, and by March were ensconced in Mountain Studios in Montreux, working on their 'live' album. The band enjoyed the peace of Montreux and liked the studio there, so they decided to buy it (the studio, not the town!) When Freddie was asked by resident engineer David Richards why they had bought it and what they intended to do with it, Freddie quipped '...dump it in the lake, dear'!!
1979: Live Killers
The band flew out to Japan for yet more touring in April 1979. In June, they approached the All England Lawn Tennis Club and asked if they could use the Centre Court at Wimbledon (after the tournament, of course!) for a concert. Permission was refused. The band's first live album (and their only double album to date), Live Killers, was released in June 1979. It was an album released by very popular demand. Queen were approached to write the musical score for the science fiction film Flash Gordon. When the idea was first discussed with producer Dino de Laurentis, he simply asked '...but who are the queens?'!! The band agreed to work on the score, and started work during June in Munich.
1979: Crazy Tour
The end of 1979 found Queen embarking on 'The Crazy Tour'. It included such illustrious venues as Tiffany's in Purley, the Lewisham Odeon, Alexandra Palace, and finally, the Hammersmith Odeon. They were one of many bands who performed at the venue to raise money for the starving people of Kampuchea. During that Crazy Tour, the bands' tour manager, Gerry Stickells, collapsed backstage and had to be rushed to hospital. Gerry had been with Queen on every tour since 1976 (and has done very one since!)
1980: synths
At the start of 1980, the band were working hard on their new album, The Game - it was the first album to use the electronic wizardry of synthesisers. In June they were off to tour North America - again! Roger also started work on his first solo album in 1980. The Game was released in June of that year, and it went five times platinum in Canada alone! Another One Bites The Dust became the band's biggest-ever, worldwide-selling single to date. It became a huge 'crossover' hit in the USA, topping the charts in Rock, Soul and Disco. The band received a 'Dick Clarke' award as best band; a top Billboard award for 'Top Crossover Single'; and was nominated for various other awards including Grammys and Canadian 'Juno' awards.
1981: touring
On December 8th 1980, the soundtrack album for Flash Gordon was released. At the end of 1980, Queen had sold over 45,000,000 albums worldwide. In February 1981, after another Far East tour, the band flew to Rio de Janeiro for the start of their first tour of South America. Queen were the first rock band to undertake a stadium tour of South America, paving the way for many more bands to follow. The band's equipment had to be flown in a privately hired 'Flying Tiger' 747 cargo plane from Tokyo - the flight between Tokyo and Buenos Aires is the longest air route between capital cities in the world.
1981: more touring
Their first South American gig was Buenos Aires, on February 28th 1981. They then filled three more Argentinean World Cup soccer stadiums, playing five sold-out stadium gigs in just eight days. They then played two nights at the massive Morumbi Stadium in Sao Paolo. On the first night, 131,000 people attended, and Queen created rock & roll history as it was the largest paying audience for a single band anywhere in the world. During those two nights at the Morumbi Stadium, 251,000 people saw the Queen spectacle - that's a larger audience than most bands can expect in their whole career! Every single one of Queen's albums was in the Top Ten in Argentina during their tour - a first for any band.
1981: Roger's solo album
Whilst they were in Sao Paulo, the band celebrated the fact that the single, Love Of My Life, had been in the Sao Paulo singles chart for over 12 consecutive months. In April 1981, Roger released his first solo album, titled Fun In Space. Queen were back in South America - it was a return trip, being hailed as 'The Gluttons For Punishment Tour'! Unfortunately, their last two Venezuelan gigs in Caracas had to be cancelled, as the ex-President of the country had died. So the band moved on to play in Mexico, in Monterrey and Puebla - just outside Mexico City. Whilst there, the band's promoter, Jose Rota, was arrested and jailed. Jim Beach had to pay over $25,000 bail money to release him so the tour could continue!
1981: Hits, Flix and Pix
Greatest Hits, Greatest Flix and Greatest Pix were released simultaneously in October 1981. Greatest Hits - the album - entered the charts as soon as it was released, and has rarely been out of the British charts since! Greatest Flix - the video - was the first real collection of promo videos released commercially by any band. Greatest Pix - the book - was compiled by Jacques Lowe, who was President Kennedy's personal biographer during his term of office. It was Jacques' personal selection of the greatest Queen pictures of the previous decade.
1982: Hot Space
The band's twelfth album, Hot Space, was released on May 21st, 1982 whilst the band was in the middle of an extensive European tour. On June 5th that year, they played the huge open-air Milton Keynes Bowl. The whole show was filmed by Tyne Tees Television, under the direction of Gavin Taylor, to be shown on Channel Four's The Tube programme at a later date. In September 1982, the Japanese company, Mercury Records (nothing to do with Freddie!) released an album called Gettin' Smile. It was at first thought to be a bootleg, but after listening to the album, Roger and Brian declared it to be the REAL Smile, although neither of them recalled having recorded so much with that band! In December 1982, Queen made it into the Guinness Book of Records as Britain's highest-paid executives.
1983: solo recordings
In January 1983, Freddie began work on a solo album, and Roger began work on his second solo album. During the early part of the year, Brian had flown out to Los Angeles and gathered together a few close friends in the Record Plant studios there. Brian had some basic ideas to work on, but it was generally a lengthy jam session. However, Brian had no intention of wasting the talents of Edward Van Halen, Alan Gratzer, Phil Chen and Fred Mandel - and so kept the tapes rolling throughout the whole session. The result was the mini album Star Fleet Project, which was released in October 1983.
1983: USA recordings
The band went back into the studios in August 1983 to start work on their next album. Work commenced at the Record Plant in LA - the first time the band had recorded in America. After a number of months, recording switched from LA to Munich - a city that the band spent so much time in during that recording session that they almost thought of it as home!
1984: The Works
In February 1984, the band released their thirteenth album - The Works. Radio Ga Ga, taken from that album, became a worldwide hit, reaching Number One in nineteen different countries. The video for the single, directed by David Mallett, featured fan club members again. The handclapping chorus became a favourite with live audiences all over the world. Another single from The Works was I Want To Break Free, and that had an even more outrageous video also featuring members of the fan club. It featured the band dressed as the characters of a popular British television soap opera - Coronation Street. When asked why, Roger said he had become bored with serious epic videos, and thought it was about time they had some fun and proved they could still laugh at themselves. MTV in America refused to show the video.
1984: Strange Frontier
In June 1984, Roger released his second solo album, Strange Frontier. Also in June, a company called Guild Guitars launched a special copy of Brian's home-made Red Special guitar. It was called the BHM1, and Brian had been closely involved in all the aspects of its production. Sadly, about a year later, Brian and Guild had some discussions about the design of the instrument which resulted in Guild ceasing production.
1984: tour problems
In August, Queen flew out to Belgium to start The Works tour in that country. October saw them in Bophuthatswana, South Africa, and a series of gigs at the famous Sun City Superbowl. The gigs themselves were fraught with problems, as Freddie had serious voice complications resulting in cancellations. But the problems were mild compared to what the band returned to. Their visit caused much public outcry, although the band defended their actions, saying they were a non-political band and that they had gone out to play music for the people, and for no other reason.
1984: first full-length video
Queen's first-ever full-length video was released in September 1984. We Will Rock You was filmed during the band's 1981 Montreal concerts. During September, Queen had no fewer than nine albums in the UK Top 200.
1985: Rock In Rio
1985 was the year of 'Rock In Rio'. It was billed as the biggest rock festival to be held anywhere in the world, and Queen were headlining the event. (Remember that bit about 'not being a support act for long...'?) The whole festival was recorded for broadcast throughout South America, but Queen were the only band able to obtain the rights to release their performance on video. Live in Rio was released in May 1985.
1985: Spandau Ballet?
The band performed their first-ever concert in New Zealand on April 13th, 1985 in Auckland. The band were met outside their hotel on arrival by a group of chanting anti-apartheid demonstrators. Tony Hadley, singer with British band Spandau Ballet, flew over from Australia where his band was on tour to see the Queen show, and was honoured to be asked to join Queen on stage for their encore.
1985: Mr. Bad Guy
Freddie's first solo album, Mr. Bad Guy, was released on April 19th whilst the band was on tour in Australia. The gig in Melbourne had to be played with no lighting rig at all, as the whole computer system that controlled the lights had broken down. After an Australian tour peppered with problems - not least being the incessant rain - the band flew across to Japan. Their concert at the Tokyo Olympic swimming pool was filmed by NHK to be shown on network Japanese television.
1985: Live Aid
July 13th 1985, was a day that went down in history as the Live Aid Global Jukebox took the world by storm from London's vast Wembley Stadium and from Philadelphia in the USA. Queen were just one of a multitude of top bands who all performed a short, 20-minute set. The world was watching, and Queen were unanimously voted - by press and public alike - as the band that stole the show. That event was a turning point for Queen.
1985: One Vision
They had decided some time previously to take a break from each other, but that day brought them together with renewed vigour and enthusiasm. One Vision was the first release to come from that new inspiration.
1986: Highlander
Queen were approached by Russell Mulcahy to record the soundtrack to his first feature film - a fantasy tale about an immortal Scotsman - called Highlander. In an interview, Mulcahy stated that Queen had been the first band he had thought of for the score.
1986: A Kind Of Magic
In March 1986, John formed a new band, called The Immortals, to write and record some of the music for a forthcoming film called Biggles. They recorded just one track - No Turning Back - and the band folded. On June 2nd, Queen released their fourteenth album, the soundtrack to Highlander, entitled A Kind Of Magic. The album entered the UK chart at Number One and remained in the top five for thirteen consecutive weeks.
1986: Magic Tour
On June 7th, the Queen machine was in action again as the band embarked on their 'Magic Tour of Europe'. The first UK gig was Newcastle's St James Park football stadium. The band, and promoter Harvey Goldsmith, donated all the proceeds from that concert to the International Save The Children Fund. On July 11th, the 'Queen Tornado' - as Freddie had dubbed it - hit London and two sold-out shows at the vast Wembley Stadium. During the set, four enormous inflatables, modelled on the characters from the Kind of Magic album, were released from amongst the audience into the night. The following night's show was filmed by Tyne Tees Television, again directed by Gavin Taylor, to be shown on TV at a later date.
1986: Queen on the tele
When that concert was finally shown on television, it became the first-ever simulcast between Channel Four and the Independent Radio network in Britain. This feat has never since been repeated - possibly because, in order to achieve this, a satellite dish had to be delivered to every single independent radio station in the UK so that they could receive the sound by satellite whilst receiving the pictures by the normal land lines.
1986: the Budapest performance
On 27th July, Queen made history again (something of a habit with this band!) when they played the beautiful Nepstadion in Budapest, Hungary. It was the first time a major rock band had played a stadium date in the Eastern Bloc, and it was completely sold out well in advance. The concert was filmed by the Hungarian State Film Agency, MAFILM, in connection with Queen Films - they had to commandeer every 35mm camera in Hungary to film it!
1986: Knebworth
On August 9th, the band flew into Knebworth Park, Hertfordshire, in a specially repainted helicopter featuring the characters from the Kind of Magic album cover. It was the final date on the Magic Tour, and the biggest audience so far - estimated at well over 120,000 people. It caused one of the biggest traffic jams in history as everyone tried to arrive in plenty of time! Over one million people saw Queen on that European Magic Tour - in excess of 400,000 in the UK alone.
1986: CD releases
In November 1986, EMI Records released the entire Queen catalogue of albums on the Compact Disc format - the first time any band's complete collection had been made available simultaneously. In December, Queen's fifteenth album - and their second live album - was released. Entitled Live Magic, it entered the British chart at Number Three. On 13th December, the band's film Live In Budapest opened in Budapest at 9 a.m., and proceeded to play to nine sold-out houses in that one day. Seven completely full screenings were shown each day for a week.
1987: The Great Pretender
During 1986, in the UK alone, Queen sold a staggering 1,774,991 albums. On February 3rd, Freddie released a cover version of the great old Platters song, The Great Pretender. In the video to accompany the song, Freddie recreated many scenes from his own and Queen videos, and actor Peter Starker, Roger Taylor and Freddie all donned wigs, made up their faces, and became the female backing singers! It was an expensive video!
1987: the meeting
One of Freddie's all-time heroines was opera diva Montserrat Caballe, and in March 1987, he met with her in her home city of Barcelona. An astonishing partnership was forged with Montserrat agreed to record an album with Freddie. He penned a song about Barcelona for her, and the two began to write and record that album. Freddie and Montserrat appeared on stage together for the first time in May 1987 at the Ibiza '92 festival, held at the famous Ku Club on the holiday island. They performed Barcelona.
1987: the forming of The Cross
In August 1987, Roger advertised for, auditioned and chose musicians to form a new band, The Cross. He wanted a band he could write with and, more importantly, tour with during Queen's increasingly lengthy 'quiet' periods.
1987: Barcelona, the single
The single Barcelona was released in Spain in September 1987, and 10,000 copies were sold in just three hours. The Spanish Olympic Committee adopted the song as the theme for the Olympic Games being held in the city in 1992 - then decided against it, which caused much anger amongst the fans.
1987: The Magic Years
Rudi Dolezal and Hannes Rossacher are an Austrian director/producer team who followed Queen all over Europe during the Magic Tour, filming them on stage, back stage, resting, playing and generally 'touring'. They then searched the archives for footage of live shows, interviews or out-takes from videos. After that, they interviewed the band, their friends, their fans and other 'stars'. Finally, in November 1987, a trilogy of documentary-style videos was released, called The Magic Years. The trilogy received numerous awards, including the famous Silver Screen award in the USA (the biggest film and TV festival in the world) and the IMMC award at the Montreux Golden Rose TV festival. Also during 1987, Queen were presented with the prestigious Ivor Novello award for their 'Outstanding Contribution to British Music'.
1988: Shove It!
In January 1988, Queen went into the studios to start work on their next album. On January 25th, The Cross released their debut album called Shove It. The Cross also embarked on their first European tour, playing club and university dates throughout the UK, then clubs in Germany.
1988: solo releases
Freddie and Montserrat appeared together again on October 8th at the huge La Nit event staged in Barcelona, which was held to celebrate the arrival of the Olympic Flag from Seoul. Freddie and Montserrat closed the event, held in the presence of the King and Queen of Spain, with Barcelona, The Golden Boy and How Can I Go On - tracks taken from their forthcoming album.
1988: Barcelona, the album
Barcelona, the duet album from Freddie and Montserrat, was released on October 10th, 1988. The launch party was a typically extravagant affair held in the Crush Bar of the beautiful Covent Garden Opera House - a fitting venue!
1988: The Cross - live
On December 4th, The Cross played a one-off gig at London's Hammersmith Palais, at a party held exclusively for fan club members. Special guests on stage were Brian and John.
1989: The Miracle
Queen released their sixteenth album on May 22nd 1989, entitled The Miracle. It entered the UK chart at Number One and went on to become a massive worldwide success, reaching Number One in most European countries. To promote the release, the four members of the band gathered in a Radio One studio and allowed themselves to be interviewed by DJ Mike Reid - a scoop for him, as the band had not given a joint interview in many years.
1989: best of the 80's
As it was the end of a decade, there were numerous 'Best of the Eighties' style programmes on television, especially in the UK, and Queen were voted the 'Best Band of the Eighties' by the viewers of Independent Television and readers of its magazine TV Times. It was an accolade they were immensely pleased with, and they all appeared together on the show to collect it.
1989: Queen in the studios
In late November 1989, Queen were already back in studios working on the next album - they had felt so inspired by the huge success of The Miracle.
1990: awards
On February 18th, 1990, Queen were honoured yet again when they were recognised by the British Phonographic Industry (at last!), and presented with an award for their 'Outstanding Contribution to British Music'. They all collected the award, and went on to host a huge star-studded party at London's Groucho Club.
1990: The Cross' second album
The Cross released their second album on March 26th, called Mad: Bad: And Dangerous To Know, a title taken from a quote used to describe the eccentric Lord Byron! The Cross also undertook a short German tour.
1990: Macbeth
Brian, meanwhile, wrote and produced the haunting music for a version of Shakespeare's Macbeth, performed at London's Riverside Theatre.
1990: Hollywood Records
In November 1990, Queen signed a major new recording deal in North America with the Disney-financed Hollywood Records. Hollywood immediately began the task of pushing Queen back up the popularity ladder, and plans were laid to re-master and re-release the entire back catalogue on CD - up till then, the collection had not been available on CD in North America.
1990: live performances
On December 7th, The Cross played their only UK date for some time at London's Astoria Theatre, at yet another Queen fan club party. Brian joined them on stage for the encore.
1991: Innuendo as a single
On January 14th 1991, the band released the six-and-a-half-minute long epic Innuendo as a single. It was a massive success, giving the band their third UK Number One single and ensuring them the Number One slot throughout Europe. The album of the same name was released on February 4th, and crashed straight into the UK chart at Number One, hitting the high spot again throughout Europe - and it even charted top thirty in America.
1991: Blue Rock
In March 1991, The Cross went into studios to start work on their third album, and Brian flew out to Montreux in July to continue work on his long-awaited solo album. The Cross album was completed in July, and release was schedule for early September for a great third album, entitled Blue Rock. The album was only ever released in Germany, on Electrola records. Queen went into the studios in London to begin work on their next album in late April.
1991: the final video
On May 30th, 1991, Freddie filmed what was to become his final video for Queen - the haunting Days of Our Lives. A version featuring Disney animation was made for the USA.
1991: Seville Guitar Legends
Brian organised the Rock section of the Seville Guitar Legends festival, and amongst those chosen by Brian to perform their music were Nuno Bettencourt, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani and Joe Walsh - to name but a few. The concerts were performed live in October on the site of the Seville Expo '92 exhibition.
1991: the second Hits album
Greatest Hits Two was released in October 1991, a double album featuring 17 tracks. They also repeated their earlier success by releasing Greatest Flix II and Greatest Pix II - this time compiled by Richard Gray. A special box was also released called Box of Flix, featuring Flix One and Two plus four bonus tracks. Needless to say, both Hits II and Flix II were Number One!
1991: Freddie's farewell
On November 23rd, Freddie announced to the world that he had AIDS. Just the next day, his fight was over, and he died peacefully at his home surrounded by friends and family. The world was in shock. Freddie had kept his illness very private, and only those closest to him had been aware of just how close to the end he really was. Fans from all over the world sent flowers and cards, and many even travelled to London to be at Freddie's house. A quiet family cremation service was held three days after his death, conducted in the Zoroastrian faith that Freddie's parents followed so strictly.
1991: Driven By You
In April, Brian had been commissioned by a London advertising agency to write a piece of music for an advertising campaign for Ford cars. The resulting track, Driven by You, was so good (and proved so popular) that Brian released it as his first solo single on November 25th. It made the top ten in the UK charts.
1991: BoRhap, the sequel
As a tribute to Freddie, and to raise funds for the Terence Higgins Trust to continue the fight against AIDS - as Freddie's last wishes requested - Bohemian Rhapsody/These Are The Days of Our Lives was released as a double A-sided single. It entered the UK chart at Number One, where it remained for five weeks, raising over one million pounds for the AIDS charity.
1991: popular than ever
In December 1991, Queen had no fewer than 10 albums in the UK top 100.
1992: award for Freddie
In February 1992, the annual BritAwards recognised Freddie with a special posthumous award for 'Outstanding Contribution to British Music', and - out of three Queen nominations - Days Of Our Lives won the Best Single of 1991 award. At that awards ceremony, Roger and Brian announced plans for a massive open-air concert at London's Wembley Stadium to celebrate Freddie's life and give him a send-off to remember.
1992: ticket sales
The tickets went on sale the next day, with no announcement of who was going to play apart from Brian, Roger and John, and all 72,000 tickets sold out in just six hours.
1992: Tribute Concert
On Easter Monday, April 20th 1992, many of the world's top stars joined Roger, John and Brian on stage at Wembley Stadium to pay an emotional tribute to Freddie. The stadium was packed to capacity, and it was televised live to over one billion people.
1992: more awards
In April 1992, Queen were awarded an Ivor Novello award for Best Single with 'Days Of Our Lives', and Brian also won an award for Driven By You for Best TV Commercial Music.
1992: Back To The Light
September 1992 saw the release of the long-awaited Brian May solo album, called Back To The Light. The album went into the UK charts at number 6 and achieved double gold status.
1992: Brian's tour
The Brian May Band was then formed. Having warmed up in Chile, Argentina and Brazil in November 1992. The Brian May Band embarked upon a World Tour, beginning in the USA and Europe as special guests to Guns N'Roses. They then went on to headline their own sell-out tour of North America, Japan and Europe, finishing in Portugal in December 1993.
1992: Mercury Phoenix Trust
In the summer of 1992 The Mercury Phoenix Trust was founded to distribute the money raised by the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS awareness. It is a registered charity.
1992: the results
Funds generated in the U.S.A. through Fox Television's prime time broadcast of the concert and the re-release of Bohemian Rhapsody as a single (a sum in excess of $1 million) were distributed to AIDS charities all over the United States. In the UK over ? million was donated to The Terence Higgins Trust from the re-release of Bohemian Rhapsody. In addition another ?.2 million has been distributed to date to over 100 different established charities and body Positive self-help groups in the UK, the rest of Europe and Africa.
1992: a Tribute on video
Prior to Christmas 1992, a double video of the Freddie Tribute Concert was released, with all proceeds being donated to the Mercury Phoenix Trust.
1992: The Great Pretender
The Freddie Mercury Album was released in November 1992 with the first single In My Defence on 30 November 1992. This single was followed by 'The Great Pretender' in January 1993 and Living On My Own in Spring 1993. This latter single won a posthumous Ivor Novello Award as the 1993 International Hit of the Year.
1993: Five Live
1993 saw the release of the George Michael / Lisa Stansfield / Queen mini album Five Alive. This mini album and the single Somebody To Love were released worldwide in aid of the Trust. They reached the top ten in 31 countries worldwide and the single reached number one in the UK on 22nd April.
1993: Live At The Brixton Academy
In February 1994 EMI released 'The Brian May Band Live At Brixton Academy' on album and video, the first live recordings of the band.
1994: Happiness?
In September 1994, Roger Taylor released his solo album Happiness?. This was preceded by the May 3rd release of a single, Nazis 1994, which addresses the issue of Europe's increasing rise of Neo-Nazism. The second single Foreign Sands was released throughout Europe at the end of September 1994. Roger Taylor's band toured the UK and Italy in November 1994 - January 1995.
1995: Made In Heaven!
After four years in the making, November 6, 1995 saw the worldwide release of Made In Heaven, Queen's twentieth and final album. Begun in April 1991, the album was the last work to be recorded by the band with Freddie Mercury, recording continuing through to the last months of Freddie's life.
1995: the dedication
The album, much of the finishing work undertaken by John, Brian and Roger after Freddie's death, carries a dedication to the 'immortal spirit of Freddie Mercury', in recognition of his request that the material be completed and be heard by the public.
1995: the songs
The finality of the album is underlined in two particular tracks, A Winter's Tale, the last song written by Freddie, and Mother Love a Brian and Freddie song which features the last vocal track Freddie laid down.
1995: Montreux
Much of the recording on Made In Heaven was carried out at Queen's studio in Montreux, Switzerland, the town where Freddie was also living at the time. This landmark point in the history of Queen is immortalised in the album sleeve - a landscape view across the lake which Freddie's home overlooked.
1995: personal album
To many, Made In Heaven represents not only Queen's most personal album, but also the band's finest.
1995: BFI project
Always recognised for their innovative music videos, Queen wanted to look at an entirely new way of presenting the tracks of the album in a visual form. This was achieved by joining forces with the British Film Institute in a unique venture to produce a series of short films based around each of the album tracks using the talent of new young directors working with the BFI. The first of these was Evolution, a film made by director Simon Pummell inspired by Heaven For Everyone. As well as being seen on television, the film is expected to be seen also on cinema screens. Under the BFI project, a further six-eight films are anticipated to be made.
1995: 20CD set
The release of the album also provided a fitting occasion to reflect on the highlights and achievements of Queen's 25 years. A week after its release, November 13, comes the release of Ultimate Queen, a deluxe box set of 20 Queen albums presented in a wall mounted presentation case. Available as a limited edition, Ultimate Queen contains the complete studio work of the group with the classic live albums Live Killers, Live Magic and Live At Wembley. Individually numbered, each case presents the album collection on high quality litho printed picture CDs accompanied by an embossed 12-page colour booklet.
1995: Champions Of The World
As a companion to the box set, Queen also released the definitive video documentary, Champions of the World. In two hours of film and music, the video contains a wealth of material not previously available. More than simply re-telling the band's history, Champions of the World also provides a rare insight into the lives of John, Brian, Freddie and Roger.
1995: Queen Phenomenon
The release of the album is also celebrated on television with two Channel 4 specials on Queen: a new one-hour documentary, The Queen Phenomenon, to air on December 4 at 10pm, and Queen At Wembley, a live recording of one of the highlights of the group's 1986 Magic Tour, to be screened on December 6 at 11:00pm.
1995: the website
On November 6 Queen fans worldwide were able for the first time to communicate with each other and connect with the band with the launch of the Queen web site on the internet. Considered one of the most advanced sites available, it incorporates seven locations offering audio samples, video clips, stills artwork, communication and information centres, as well as a shopping mall. The site address is: http://www.queenonline.com/
1995: the statue
On November 8 sculptor Irena Sedlecka commenced work on the full size version of the statue of Freddie Mercury to be unveiled in 1996.
1995: more broadcastings
December will see Queen back on the airwaves in a major way with a two hour documentary radio series being produced by Unique Broadcasting for broadcast on Radio One FM during the month.
1996: radio series
This will be followed in January by an even more extensive radio series of five hours to be broadcast across the Independent Radio Network.
1996: Freddie in a museum
November will also see Freddie's image on display at the Museum of the Moving Image on London's Southbank with the installation of a holographic movie created from his likeness; in essence, a 3-D image on film.
1997: Queen Rocks
1997 saw the release of Queen's third compilation album Queen Rocks. It became a big succes in many countries and featured a new song written by Brian and recorded by Roger, Brian and John.
1998: Another World
Another World saw the release in 1998. Brian's long awaited solo album. This became the last album with Cozy Powell; he died after a car accident just after the recordings had been completed. While On My Way Up got released in Europe, the UK had Business as a single. Business featured a special Cozy mix and a small message by Brian for Cozy. In August Why Don't We Try Again got released as a single in the UK, Holland released Another World as a single in September.
1998: Electric Fire
Right after this release Roger released his forth solo album Electric Fire. Two singles were taken from the album: Pressure On and Surrender. The latter got released in 1999 and featured a special Radio Mix. A short UK tour followed after this release.
1999: Hits three
The end of 1999 saw the release of Greatest Hits III and Greatest Flix III of Queen. A new mix was included on the compilation: Under Pressure, the Rah Mix and a unique live performance with Elton John and the three remaining Queen members.
2000: Furia
Brian released his own soundtrack album in August 2000 for the French movie Furia. It got later released in the UK, Japan and all over Europe.
2000: th?box set
The Solo Collection, a 10 CD and 2 DVD box set got released in October 2000 of Freddie. The box featured the three solo albums, two discs with single tracks, three CD's with rarities such as demos, unreleased takes and instrumental tracks. An interview and instrumental CD was also included plus 2 DVD's featuring all of Freddie's video clips plus a new documentary. A single was released in Holland and Italy to promote the box set.
2001: .....
2001 will hopefully see the first Queen rarities box set and perhaps some other surprising things, such as a live performance of Brian and Roger (and maybe even John) somewhere on the globe...
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Which organ of the human body is affected by Hepatitis? | How does hepatitis affect the body? - Hepatitis - Sharecare
How does hepatitis affect the body?
Topics | Infectious Disease | Hepatitis | How does hepatitis affect the body?
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A Honor Society of Nursing (STTI) answered
Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver. An inflamed liver can affect people in different ways, causing a loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting and fatigue. Hepatitis A rarely has long-term effects on the body. People with hepatitis A, B, or C may not have early symptoms. However, chronic hepatitis C is the more severe of the hepatitis viruses and a leading cause of liver cancer. Hepatitis can affect the liver's bile production, causing a buildup of yellow-green pigment in the bloodstream, which causes a yellowing of the skin and/or eyes.
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This content reflects information from various individuals and organizations and may offer alternative or opposing points of view. It should not be used for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. As always, you should consult with your healthcare provider about your specific health needs.
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What is the third largest planet in the Solar System? | Hepatitis C FAQs for the Public | Division of Viral Hepatitis | CDC
Hepatitis C FAQs for the Public
Overview
What is hepatitis?
“Hepatitis” means inflammation of the liver. Toxins, certain drugs, some diseases, heavy alcohol use, and bacterial and viral infections can all cause hepatitis. Hepatitis is also the name of a family of viral infections that affect the liver ; the most common types are Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C.
What is the difference between Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C?
Hepatitis A , Hepatitis B , and Hepatitis C are diseases caused by three different viruses. Although each can cause similar symptoms, they have different modes of transmission and can affect the liver differently. Hepatitis A appears only as an acute or newly occurring infection and does not become chronic. People with Hepatitis A usually improve without treatment. Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C can also begin as acute infections, but in some people, the virus remains in the body, resulting in chronic disease and long-term liver problems. There are vaccines to prevent Hepatitis A and B; however, there is not one for Hepatitis C. If a person has had one type of viral hepatitis in the past, it is still possible to get the other types.
What is Hepatitis C?
Hepatitis C is a contagious liver disease that ranges in severity from a mild illness lasting a few weeks to a serious, lifelong illness that attacks the liver. It results from infection with the Hepatitis C virus (HCV), which is spread primarily through contact with the blood of an infected person. Hepatitis C can be either “acute” or “chronic.”
Acute Hepatitis C virus infection is a short-term illness that occurs within the first 6 months after someone is exposed to the Hepatitis C virus. For most people, acute infection leads to chronic infection.
Chronic Hepatitis C virus infection is a long-term illness that occurs when the Hepatitis C virus remains in a person’s body. Hepatitis C virus infection can last a lifetime and lead to serious liver problems, including cirrhosis (scarring of the liver) or liver cancer.
Statistics
How common is acute Hepatitis C in the United States?
In 2014, there were an estimated 30,500 cases of acute hepatitis C virus infections reported in the United States.
How common is chronic Hepatitis C in the United States?
An estimated 2.7-3.9 million people in the United States have chronic hepatitis C.
How likely is it that acute Hepatitis C will become chronic?
Approximately 75%–85% of people who become infected with Hepatitis C virus develop chronic infection.
Transmission / Exposure
How is Hepatitis C spread?
Hepatitis C is usually spread when blood from a person infected with the Hepatitis C virus enters the body of someone who is not infected. Today, most people become infected with the Hepatitis C virus by sharing needles or other equipment to inject drugs. Before 1992, when widespread screening of the blood supply began in the United States, Hepatitis C was also commonly spread through blood transfusions and organ transplants.
People can become infected with the Hepatitis C virus during such activities as
Sharing needles, syringes, or other equipment to inject drugs
Needlestick injuries in health care settings
Being born to a mother who has Hepatitis C
Less commonly, a person can also get Hepatitis C virus infection through
Sharing personal care items that may have come in contact with another person’s blood, such as razors or toothbrushes
Having sexual contact with a person infected with the Hepatitis C virus
Can Hepatitis C be spread through sexual contact?
Yes, but the risk of transmission from sexual contact is believed to be low. The risk increases for those who have multiple sex partners, have a sexually transmitted disease, engage in rough sex, or are infected with HIV. More research is needed to better understand how and when Hepatitis C can be spread through sexual contact.
Can you get Hepatitis C by getting a tattoo or piercing?
A few major research studies have not shown Hepatitis C to be spread through licensed, commercial tattooing facilities. However, transmission of Hepatitis C (and other infectious diseases) is possible when poor infection-control practices are used during tattooing or piercing. Body art is becoming increasingly popular in the United States, and unregulated tattooing and piercing are known to occur in prisons and other informal or unregulated settings. Further research is needed to determine if these types of settings and exposures are responsible for Hepatitis C virus transmission.
Can Hepatitis C be spread within a household?
Yes, but this does not occur very often. If Hepatitis C virus is spread within a household, it is most likely a result of direct, through-the-skin exposure to the blood of an infected household member.
How should blood spills be cleaned from surfaces to make sure that Hepatitis C virus is gone?
Any blood spills — including dried blood, which can still be infectious — should be cleaned using a dilution of one part household bleach to 10 parts water. Gloves should be worn when cleaning up blood spills.
How long does the Hepatitis C virus survive outside the body?
The Hepatitis C virus can survive outside the body at room temperature, on environmental surfaces, for up to 3 weeks.
What are ways Hepatitis C is not spread?
Hepatitis C virus is not spread by sharing eating utensils, breastfeeding, hugging, kissing, holding hands, coughing, or sneezing. It is also not spread through food or water.
Who is at risk for Hepatitis C?
Some people are at increased risk for Hepatitis C, including:
Current injection drug users (currently the most common way Hepatitis C virus is spread in the United States)
Past injection drug users, including those who injected only one time or many years ago
Recipients of donated blood, blood products, and organs (once a common means of transmission but now rare in the United States since blood screening became available in 1992)
People who received a blood product for clotting problems made before 1987
Hemodialysis patients or persons who spent many years on dialysis for kidney failure
People who received body piercing or tattoos done with non-sterile instruments
People with known exposures to the Hepatitis C virus, such as
Health care workers injured by needlesticks
Recipients of blood or organs from a donor who tested positive for the Hepatitis C virus
HIV-infected persons
Children born to mothers infected with the Hepatitis C virus
Less common risks include:
Having sexual contact with a person who is infected with the Hepatitis C virus
Sharing personal care items, such as razors or toothbrushes, that may have come in contact with the blood of an infected person
What is the risk of a pregnant woman passing Hepatitis C to her baby?
Hepatitis C is rarely passed from a pregnant woman to her baby. About 6 of every 100 infants born to mothers with Hepatitis C become infected with the virus. However, the risk becomes greater if the mother has both HIV infection and Hepatitis C.
Can a person get Hepatitis C from a mosquito or other insect bite?
Hepatitis C virus has not been shown to be transmitted by mosquitoes or other insects.
Can I donate blood, organs, or semen if I have Hepatitis C?
No, if you ever tested positive for the Hepatitis C virus (or Hepatitis B virus), experts recommend never donating blood, organs, or semen because this can spread the infection to the recipient.
Symptoms
What are the symptoms of acute Hepatitis C?
Approximately 70%–80% of people with acute Hepatitis C do not have any symptoms. Some people, however, can have mild to severe symptoms soon after being infected, including:
Fever
Jaundice (yellow color in the skin or eyes)
How soon after exposure to Hepatitis C do symptoms appear?
If symptoms occur, the average time is 6–7 weeks after exposure, but this can range from 2 weeks to 6 months. However, many people infected with the Hepatitis C virus do not develop symptoms.
Can a person spread Hepatitis C without having symptoms?
Yes, even if a person with Hepatitis C has no symptoms, he or she can still spread the virus to others.
Is it possible to have Hepatitis C and not know it?
Yes, many people who are infected with the Hepatitis C virus do not know they are infected because they do not look or feel sick.
What are the symptoms of chronic Hepatitis C?
Most people with chronic Hepatitis C do not have any symptoms. However, if a person has been infected for many years, his or her liver may be damaged. In many cases, there are no symptoms of the disease until liver problems have developed. In persons without symptoms, Hepatitis C is often detected during routine blood tests to measure liver function and liver enzyme (protein produced by the liver) level.
How serious is chronic Hepatitis C?
Chronic Hepatitis C is a serious disease that can result in long-term health problems, including liver damage, liver failure, liver cancer, or even death. It is the leading cause of cirrhosis and liver cancer and the most common reason for liver transplantation in the United States. Approximately 19,000 people die every year from Hepatitis C related liver disease.
What are the long-term effects of Hepatitis C?
Of every 100 people infected with the Hepatitis C virus, about
75–85 people will develop chronic Hepatitis C virus infection; of those,
60–70 people will go on to develop chronic liver disease
5–20 people will go on to develop cirrhosis over a period of 20–30 years
1–5 people will die from cirrhosis or liver cancer
Tests
Can a person have normal liver enzyme (e.g., ALT) results and still have Hepatitis C?
Yes. It is common for persons with chronic Hepatitis C to have a liver enzyme level that goes up and down, with periodic returns to normal or near normal. Some infected persons have liver enzyme levels that are normal for over a year even though they have chronic liver disease. If the liver enzyme level is normal, persons should have their enzyme level re-checked several times over a 6–12 month period. If the liver enzyme level remains normal, the doctor may check it less frequently, such as once a year.
Who should get tested for Hepatitis C?
Talk to your doctor about being tested for Hepatitis C if any of the following are true:
You were born from 1945 through 1965
You are a current or former injection drug user, even if you injected only one time or many years ago.
You were treated for a blood clotting problem before 1987.
You received a blood transfusion or organ transplant before July 1992.
You are on long-term hemodialysis treatment.
You have abnormal liver tests or liver disease.
You work in health care or public safety and were exposed to blood through a needlestick or other sharp object injury.
You are infected with HIV.
If you are pregnant, should you be tested for Hepatitis C?
No, getting tested for Hepatitis C is not part of routine prenatal care. However, if a pregnant woman has risk factors for Hepatitis C virus infection, she should speak with her doctor about getting tested.
What blood tests are used to test for Hepatitis C?
Several different blood tests are used to test for Hepatitis C. A doctor may order just one or a combination of these tests. Typically, a person will first get a screening test that will show whether he or she has developed antibodies to the Hepatitis C virus. (An antibody is a substance found in the blood that the body produces in response to a virus.) Having a positive antibody test means that a person was exposed to the virus at some time in his or her life. If the antibody test is positive, a doctor will most likely order a second test to confirm whether the virus is still present in the person's bloodstream.
Treatment
Can acute Hepatitis C be treated?
Yes, acute hepatitis C can be treated. Acute infection can clear on its own without treatment in about 25% of people. If acute hepatitis C is diagnosed, treatment does reduce the risk that acute hepatitis C will become a chronic infection. Acute hepatitis C is treated with the same medications used to treat chronic Hepatitis C. However, the optimal treatment and when it should be started remains uncertain.
Can chronic Hepatitis C be treated?
Yes. There are several medications available to treat chronic Hepatitis C, including new treatments that appear to be more effective and have fewer side effects than previous options. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) maintains a complete list of approved treatments for Hepatitis C .
Is it possible to get over Hepatitis C?
Yes, approximately 15%–25% of people who get Hepatitis C will clear the virus from their bodies without treatment and will not develop chronic infection. Experts do not fully understand why this happens for some people.
What can a person with chronic Hepatitis C do to take care of his or her liver?
People with chronic Hepatitis C should be monitored regularly by an experienced doctor. They should avoid alcohol because it can cause additional liver damage. They also should check with a health professional before taking any prescription pills, supplements, or over-the-counter medications, as these can potentially damage the liver. If liver damage is present, a person should check with his or her doctor about getting vaccinated against Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B.
Vaccination
Is there a vaccine that can prevent Hepatitis C?
Not yet. Vaccines are available only for Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B. Research into the development of a vaccine is under way.
Hepatitis C and Employment
Should a person infected with the Hepatitis C virus be restricted from working in certain jobs or settings?
CDC's recommendations for prevention and control of the Hepatitis C virus infection state that people should not be excluded from work, school, play, child care, or other settings because they have Hepatitis C. There is no evidence that people can get Hepatitis C from food handlers, teachers, or other service providers without blood-to-blood contact.
Hepatitis C and Co-infection with HIV
What is HIV and Hepatitis C virus coinfection?
HIV and Hepatitis C virus coinfection refers to being infected with both HIV and the Hepatitis C virus. Coinfection is more common in persons who inject drugs. In fact, 50%–90% of HIV-infected persons who use injection drugs are also infected with the Hepatitis C virus. To learn more about coinfection, read HIV and Viral Hepatitis [PDF - 2 pages] .
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Where in the human body would you find the thinnest skin? | human skin | anatomy | Britannica.com
Human skin
freckle
Human skin, in human anatomy, the covering, or integument , of the body’s surface that both provides protection and receives sensory stimuli from the external environment . The skin consists of three layers of tissue: the epidermis , an outermost layer that contains the primary protective structure, the stratum corneum; the dermis , a fibrous layer that supports and strengthens the epidermis; and the subcutis, a subcutaneous layer of fat beneath the dermis that supplies nutrients to the other two layers and that cushions and insulates the body.
Animation and microphotography showing the skin’s three layers: the epidermis, dermis, and subcutis.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Distinctive features
The apparent lack of body hair immediately distinguishes human beings from all other large land mammals. Regardless of individual or racial differences, the human body seems to be more or less hairless, in the sense that the hair is so vestigial as to seem absent; yet in certain areas hair grows profusely. These relatively hairy places may be referred to as epigamic areas, and they are concerned with social and sexual communication, either visually or by scent from glands associated with the hair follicles.
Human skin, whose cells are generated continuously by the body, serves as a protective barrier …
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The characteristic features of skin change from the time of birth to old age. In infants and children it is velvety, dry, soft, and largely free of wrinkles and blemishes. Children younger than two years sweat poorly and irregularly; their sebaceous glands function minimally. At adolescence hair becomes longer, thicker, and more pigmented, particularly in the scalp, axillae, pubic eminence, and the male face. General skin pigmentation increases, localized pigmented foci appear mysteriously, and acne lesions often develop. Hair growth, sweating, and sebaceous secretion begin to blossom. As a person ages , anatomical and physiological alterations, as well as exposure to sunlight and wind, leave skin, particularly that not protected by clothing, dry, wrinkled, and flaccid.
Overview of why skin ages.
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Human skin, more than that of any other mammal , exhibits striking topographic differences. An example is the dissimilarity between the palms and the backs of the hands and fingers. The skin of the eyebrows is thick, coarse, and hairy; that on the eyelids is thin, smooth, and covered with almost invisible hairs. The face is seldom visibly haired on the forehead and cheekbones. It is completely hairless in the vermilion border of the lips, yet coarsely hairy over the chin and jaws of males. The surfaces of the forehead, cheeks, and nose are normally oily, in contrast with the relatively greaseless lower surface of the chin and jaws. The skin of the chest, pubic region, scalp, axillae, abdomen, soles of the feet, and ends of the fingers varies as much structurally and functionally as it would if the skin in these different areas belonged to different animals.
Section through human skin and underlying structures.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
The skin achieves strength and pliability by being composed of numbers of layers oriented so that each complements the others structurally and functionally. To allow communication with the environment, countless nerves—some modified as specialized receptor end organs and others more or less structureless—come as close as possible to the surface layer, and nearly every skin organ is enwrapped by skeins of fine sensory nerves.
The dermis
The dermis makes up the bulk of the skin and provides physical protection. It is composed of an association of fibres, mainly collagen , with materials known as glycosaminoglycans , which are capable of holding a large amount of water, thus maintaining the turgidity of the skin. A network of extendable elastic fibres keeps the skin taut and restores it after it has been stretched.
Human Skin: Fact or Fiction?
The hair follicles and skin glands are derived from the epidermis but are deeply embedded in the dermis. The dermis is richly supplied with blood vessels, although none penetrates the living epidermis. The epidermis receives materials only by diffusion from below. The dermis also contains nerves and sense organs at various levels.
Blood and lymph vessels
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Human skin is enormously well supplied with blood vessels ; it is pervaded with a tangled, though apparently orderly, mass of arteries, veins, and capillaries. Such a supply of blood, far in excess of the maximum biologic needs of the skin itself, is evidence that the skin is at the service of the blood vascular system, functioning as a cooling device. To aid in this function, sweat glands pour water upon its surface, the evaporation of which absorbs heat from the skin. If the environment is cold and body heat must be conserved, cutaneous blood vessels contract in quick, successive rhythms, allowing only a small amount of blood to flow through them. When the environment is warm, they contract at long intervals, providing a free flow of blood. During muscular exertion, when great quantities of generated heat must be dissipated, blood flow through the skin is maximal.
In addition to its control of body temperature , skin also plays a role in the regulation of blood pressure . Much of the flow of blood can be controlled by the opening and closing of certain sphincterlike vessels in the skin. These vessels allow the blood to circulate through the peripheral capillary beds or to bypass them by being shunted directly from small arteries to veins.
Human skin is permeated with an intricate mesh of lymph vessels . In the more superficial parts of the dermis, minute lymph vessels that appear to terminate in blind sacs function as affluents of a superficial lymphatic net that in turn opens into vessels that become progressively larger in the deeper portions of the dermis. The deeper, larger vessels are embedded in the loose connective tissue that surrounds the veins. The walls of lymph vessels are so flabby and collapsed that they often escape notice in specimens prepared for microscopic studies. Their abundance, however, has been demonstrated by injecting vital dyes inside the dermis and observing the clearance of the dye.
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Because lymph vessels have minimal or no musculature in their walls, the circulation of lymph is sluggish and largely controlled by such extrinsic forces as pressure, skeletal muscle action, massaging, and heat. Any external pressure exerted, even from a fixed dressing, for example, interferes with its flow. Since skin plays a major role in immunologic responses of the body, its lymphatic drainage is as significant as its blood vascular system.
The skin surface
The intact surface of the skin is pitted by the orifices of sweat glands and hair follicles—the so-called pores—and is furrowed by intersecting lines that delineate characteristic patterns. All individuals have roughly similar markings on any one part of the body, but the details are unique. The lines are oriented in the general direction of elastic tension. Countless numbers of them, deep and shallow, together with the pores, give every region of the body a characteristic topography . Like the deeper furrows and ridges on the palms and soles, the skin lines are mostly established before birth. The fine details of each area of body surface are peculiar to each individual. Fingerprints are used as a means of personal identification because they have a high relief, more evident patternings, and can be easily obtained.
Some of the lines on the surface of the skin are acquired after birth as a result of use or damage. For example, furrows on the forehead are an accentuation of preexisting congenital lines that become strongly emphasized in old age. As the skin becomes less firm with aging, it also forms wrinkles. Certain occupations leave skin marks that, depending upon duration and severity, may be transient or permanent.
The palms of the hands and the soles of the feet are etched by distinct alternating ridges and grooves that together constitute dermatoglyphics . The ridges follow variable courses, but their arrangement in specific areas has a consistent structural plan. Though apparently continuous, the ridges have many interruptions and irregularities, branching and varying in length. Every small area of surface has ridge details not matched anywhere in the same individual or in any other individual, even in an identical twin. This infallible signature makes dermatoglyphics the best-known physical characteristic for personal identification.
The epidermis
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The epidermis is thicker on the palms and soles than it is anywhere else and is usually thicker on dorsal than on ventral surfaces. Omitting the fine details, it is divisible everywhere into a lower layer of living cells and a superficial layer of compact dead cells.
General structure
All the cells, living or dead, are attached to one another by a series of specialized surfaces called attachment plaques, or desmosomes. Thus, instead of being completely fused, the membranes of adjacent cells make a zipperlike contact, with fluid-filled spaces between the contact areas. This structural pattern ensures a concatenation of cells to one another so that they cannot be sloughed off easily; at the same time, it allows nutrient fluids to seep in from the vessels in the dermis. Epidermal cells, which multiply chiefly at the base in contact with the dermis, gradually ascend to the surface, manufacturing keratin as they go. They finally die in the upper part, forming a horny layer.
The epidermis is thickest on friction surfaces and thinnest over the eyelids, on the lower parts of the abdomen, and around the external genitalia. Unlike that of most other mammals, it has an intricately sculptured underside and does not lie flat upon the dermis. Seen from beneath, there are straight and branching ridges and valleys, columns and pits, all finely punctuated.
Because of this unevenness, it is almost impossible to state the exact thickness of epidermal tissue. Furthermore, individual differences, sex, and age have an enormous influence on the structure of the underside. Such labyrinthine patterns give human epidermis two unique advantages: it attains a more intimate connection with the subjacent dermis than if the surface were flat, and its source of dividing cells, the building blocks of the horny layer, is greatly increased.
Major layers
The clear stratification of the epidermis is the result of well-defined changes in its major constituent cells—the keratinocytes, or corneocytes—as they move peripherally from the basal layer, where they are continuously formed by mitosis , to the skin surface, where they are lost. In essence, the epidermis consists of a living malpighian layer, in contact with the basement membrane (which is attached to the dermis), and a superficial cornified (horny) layer of dead cells. The malpighian layer consists of both the stratum basale and the stratum spinosum of the epidermis.
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The innermost cells of the malpighian layer, next to the basement membrane, make up the basal layer, or stratum basale. Immediately peripheral to the basal layer is the spinous, or prickle-cell, layer—the stratum spinosum. Its cells have a spiny appearance due to the numerous desmosomes on their surface. Studies with the electron microscope have revealed that desmosomes are symmetrical, laminated structures in which some layers are contributed by the plasma membranes of adjoining cells and some form an intercellular component.
The spinous layer is succeeded by the granular layer, or stratum granulosum, with granules of keratohyalin contained in the cells. These small particles are of irregular shape and occur in random rows or lattices. The cells of the outer spinous and granular layers also contain much larger, lamellated bodies—the membrane-coating granules. They are most numerous within the cells of the spinous layer. In the granular layer they appear to migrate toward the periphery of each cell and to pass into the intercellular spaces, where they discharge their waxy lipid components.
Peripheral to the granular layer is the stratum corneum, or horny layer, in which the keratinocytes have lost their nuclei and most of their organelles and contents, including the keratohyalin granules. They become progressively flattened and filled with keratin and are ultimately desquamated. Between the granular layer and stratum corneum, an unstainable stratum lucidum, or hyaline layer , can be recognized in palmar and plantar epidermis and some other regions (palmar and plantar refer to the palm surface of the hand and the bottom surface of the foot, respectively).
Dynamics and organization
Horizontal stratification is the most obvious histological feature of the epidermis. There is also, however, distinct evidence of vertical organization. In thin epidermis, though not in thick plantar skin, the cornified cells can be shown to be arranged in regular stacks, which must reflect the underlying dynamic mechanisms. It appears that several living spinous cells are precisely and symmetrically stacked beneath each cornified column and that these are related to their own basal cells; cells do not pass from one stock to another.
All keratinocytes are formed by mitosis (cell division) in the lower region of the malpighian layer. Most of the dividing cells are found in the basal layer, although it is likely that about one-third of the divisions occur above this level. Proliferating cells undergo a cycle: mitosis is followed by an interphase, this in turn is followed by a phase of DNA synthesis, and then another short resting phase occurs before mitosis begins again. The complete mitotic cycle takes about 12 to 19 days. The time for the passage of cells through the epidermis, from formation to desquamation, has been variously estimated at one to three months.
In normal skin the production and loss of cells must be finely balanced; otherwise the thickness of the epidermis would fluctuate. When the epidermis becomes abnormally thick, as in the plaques of psoriasis, this balance is altered. Either the production of cells in the malpighian layer must be abnormally high or their time of passage must be decreased. It is now generally agreed that such conditions result from a greatly increased production of cells; in fact, the cells move more, not less, rapidly through the epidermis.
There is, however, a further controversial problem. If all the basal cells were continuously cycling, greater production could be achieved only by a substantial reduction in the duration of the cell cycle. An alternative hypothesis is that not all the cells are undergoing cycles at any one time, so that greater cell production can be achieved by recruiting resting cells into activity. It seems likely that the epidermis does indeed contain noncycling cells, which can become activated, and that the cell cycle in psoriatic epidermis is speeded up only about twofold, not twelvefold, as once proposed.
When skin is wounded, there is a burst of epidermal mitotic activity about 40 hours later. It is evident, therefore, that local mechanisms of control must come into play; either inhibitors are dispersed by wounding, or stimulating hormones are released, or both. There is, on the one hand, some evidence of the existence of inhibitors, or chalones, but they have not been characterized. On the other hand, an epidermal growth factor (EGF) has been isolated from the salivary glands of mice and its chemical structure determined (a single-chain, folded polypeptide with 53 amino acid residues and three intramolecular disulfide bonds). It is not, however, extractable from skin, though the receptor protein to which it attaches in order to perform its action is present in many skin cells, and a closely similar molecule has been isolated from human urine .
The keratin layer
The final product of the epidermis is the keratin that packs the cornified cells. The term keratin is applied generally to the hard keratins of hair, horn, and nails, and to the soft keratin of the epidermis. They are all insoluble filamentous proteins, composed of polypeptide chains that are stabilized by links using two atoms of sulfur. The source of the keratin of the stratum corneum has been a subject of controversy; but it is now generally accepted that about a third of its total mass is made up of proteins synthesized in the granular layer and the remainder from so-called intermediate filaments, which are present in keratinocytes from the basal layer outward.
The barrier that prevents water loss from the body is situated in the lower part of the horny layer. In this region the spaces between the compacted layers of keratin-filled cells contain lamellae of lipid (wax) that has been formed within the membrane-coating granules of the live epidermal cells below.
Pigmentation
The human skin is variously coloured and shows remarkable individual variations even within racial groups. The appearance of the skin is partly due to the reddish pigment in the blood of the superficial vessels. In the main, however, it is determined by melanin , a pigment manufactured by dendritic cells called melanocytes , found among the basal cells of the epidermis. Their numbers in any one region of the body, which range from about 1,000 to more than 2,000 per square millimetre, are roughly the same within and between races. Colour differences are due solely to the amount of melanin produced and the nature of the pigment granules. When the skin becomes tanned on exposure to sunlight, the melanocytes do not increase in number, only in activity.
All melanocytes, whether resident in the basal epidermis or in the matrix of the hair, have migrated there during embryonic life from a region known as the neural crest. Each epidermal melanocyte is associated with a group of neighbouring keratinocytes into which it transfers granules of pigment by way of long, branching dendrites. The whole has been termed an epidermal melanocyte unit. Once inside the epidermal cells, the melanin granules tend to move above the nucleus, forming a shroud over it. Such an orientation of melanin suggests that it is there to protect the cells from damaging ultraviolet rays, and experiments with tissue cultures support this view.
Melanin is of two kinds: dark brown eumelanin and pale red or yellowish phaeomelanin. Both are formed within the melanocytes by the initial oxidation of the amino acid tyrosine with the aid of the enzyme tyrosinase; subsequently their synthetic pathways diverge. In addition to protecting the skin from ultraviolet radiation , epidermal pigmentation forms epigamic markings. The heavy pigmentation of the nipples and areolae of breasts, as well as that in the labia minora, penis, and scrotum, is related to sexual communication.
Immunoregulation and Langerhans cells
Although synthesis of protective keratin is clearly a major function of the epidermis, the discovery of an immunoregulatory role for the epidermis has revolutionized concepts of its importance in the immune defense systems of the host. In addition to melanocytes, human epidermis contains another system of dendritic cells , which do not manufacture pigment. Their distribution extends farther toward the skin surface than that of the pigment cells. After their discovery by the German physician Paul Langerhans in 1868, their function remained obscure until it was realized that they are a vital part of the immunologic mechanism.
Electron microscopic examination has revealed that the morphological hallmark of the Langerhans cell is a unique tennis-racket-shaped organelle, the Birbeck granule. Langerhans cells can be looked upon as “sentinel” cells of the immune system. By virtue of their situation, they are among the first cells to come into contact with foreign particulate substances encountering the skin. Their function is aided by the large surface area created by the dendritic processes of the cell. By means of specialized receptors on the cell membrane, the Langerhans cell recognizes invading as opposed to host molecules. By conveying this information to the lymphoid system, the body is able to mount a defensive immunologic response to the foreign material.
The concept that the role of keratinocytes themselves is confined to the synthesis of a horny protective outer covering for the skin has also become outmoded. Keratinocytes secrete a number of immunostimulatory high-molecular-weight peptides, collectively termed epidermal cytokines. One of these, the epidermal-cell-derived thymocyte-activating factor (ETAF), is also secreted by epidermal Langerhans cells. It has the function of enhancing the immune responsiveness of the lymphoid system as well as apparently being involved in the body’s systemic reaction to infection and injury. Because the whole blood volume circulates through the skin every few minutes, immunoregulatory substances released by the cells of the epidermis may have a profound influence on the body’s capacity to mount immune responses to viral or bacterial infections or to cancerous growths.
Hair
Human hair has little protective value, even in hirsute (excessively hairy) persons. Eyelashes, eyebrows, and the hairs inside the external ears and nostrils have obviously useful functions, and scalp hair may be thick enough to provide some protection from the midday Sun. The beard and mustache, though, are embellishments, which establish maleness and are likely to be concerned with sexual or social communication; and axillary and pubic hair probably form part of scent-disseminating mechanisms.
Learn how human hair grows.
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An important role for hair, however, is its participation in the body’s sensory apparatus. All hair follicles are surrounded by sensory nerves, and pressure on the hair shaft is transmitted to these nerves. Other mammals, including subhuman primates, have highly specialized sensitive hair follicles around the eyes, lips, and muzzle. These produce “tactile” hairs, known as vibrissae or whiskers, which are particularly large in nocturnal mammals. The follicles from which these hairs emerge are rich in nerves and are surrounded by a sinus filled with blood. Humans are the only animals with no sinus hair follicles; but human hair follicles, particularly those of the face, are well supplied with nerves, and human skin is probably more sensitive than that of any other mammal.
Hairs are manufactured by follicles. Essentially, these are tubelike pockets of the epidermis that extend through most or all of the depth of the skin and enclose a small papilla of dermis in their base. They lie at an angle to the skin surface. Two-thirds of the way up is a bulge, and attached to it are wisps of smooth muscle fibre that, on contracting, pull the follicle to a more or less perpendicular position. This action also puckers the skin into a mound on the surface—a so-called goose pimple.
Exactly as in other mammals, the human hair is formed by division of cells in the region known as the bulb, at the base of the follicle. Pigment is incorporated from melanocytes in this region. Human hair follicles also go through cycles of activity. After a period of growth, the hair becomes clubbed, rather than cylindrical, in shape. Fibrous rootlets anchor the club to the surrounding follicular tissue. While forming the club, the follicle shrivels up, the lower part becoming largely dissipated. A resting follicle can be recognized at once by the clubbed hair and by the follicle’s short size and unique structure. Follicles remain dormant for variable periods of time. When they become active again, they reconstruct a bulb that manufactures a new hair. As the new hair works its way to the surface, the club hair is loosened from its moorings and shed.
The activity of the hair follicles in the scalp is not synchronized, so that there is a small but steady molt of about 50 to 100 hairs a day from a total of around 150,000 follicles. There is, nevertheless, evidence of seasonal fluctuation, with the greatest hair loss in late summer and fall. A follicle may continue its activity for a long time, and hairs sometimes grow for several years and attain considerable lengths. Even in the human scalp—where the hair follicles are dense and vigorously productive—baldness occurs in a large number of individuals. Baldness is not a disease but is a systematic involution of hair follicles, culminating in organs similar to the primitive embryonic follicles; the numbers of follicles do not necessarily diminish.
Until late in fetal life there is no line of demarcation between the forehead and scalp. After the fifth month of gestation the follicles in the rest of the scalp grow larger, but those of the forehead do not. After birth the hairs on the forehead become even smaller and nearly invisible. The hairline of newborn infants is usually indistinct; the familial hairline pattern is defined late in childhood through a process that is identical with that of baldness. When male-pattern baldness sets in, in the late 20s or earlier, the follicles affected undergo exactly the same changes as do those that establish the hairline.
Male-pattern baldness and its female equivalent, which is usually more diffuse, are hereditary conditions. In males this type of baldness is believed to arise from defects in the hair stem cells, which are located in the hair bulb and eventually mature into progenitor hair cells that then develop into mature hairs. Paradoxically, since male hormones ( androgens ) stimulate the growth of most other hair, this type of baldness occurs only if androgens are present.
Hairs vary in colour, diameter, and contour . The different colours result from variations in the amount, distribution, and type of melanin pigment in them, as well as from variations in surface structure that cause light to be reflected in different ways. Hairs may be coarse or so thin and colourless as to be nearly invisible. Straight hairs are round, while wavy hairs are alternately oval and round; very curly and kinky hairs are shaped like twisted ribbons.
Human hair grows at the rate of about one-third of a millimetre a day, and once keratinized it is inert. If the colour or shape of a hair is altered as it is formed, several days must elapse before the effect becomes visible. Hairs become white with aging because of the failure of the melanocytes to inject pigment into the cells as they are formed. Tales of hair becoming white overnight may perhaps arise from cases of rapid differential shedding of pigmented hairs from a mixed population of white and dark ones, but the suggestion that individual dark hairs can somehow rapidly turn white is not true.
The beard and mustache are the most obvious examples of hair that requires male sex hormones, or androgens, for its growth. Facial hairs begin to develop at puberty , about two years after the start of pubic hair growth. The rate of growth of the beard initially increases with age but levels out after 35. Hair on the chest—a traditional sign of masculinity—and that on the limbs are also androgen-dependent. Androgens cause longer hairs to be formed, partly by making them grow faster, but mainly by increasing the length of anagen, the growing phase. Fully formed hairs on the thigh are over three times longer in young men than in women; and the duration of anagen is around 54 days in males, compared with 22 days in females.
Pubic and axillary hair are also dependent on androgens, but they differ from other body hair in that they are luxuriant in females as well as in males. Their growth requires lower levels of hormone. The lower triangle of pubic hair is present in persons with a rare disease known as male pseudohermaphroditism. These individuals are genetic males who remain female in form until puberty because they lack an enzyme necessary to bind two atoms of hydrogen to the male hormone testosterone, which is responsible for male sex characteristics. Since persons with male pseudohermaphroditism lack facial hair, even when adults, it seems that beard growth requires the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone but that pubic hair growth does not.
Sebaceous glands
The sebaceous glands are usually attached to hair follicles and pour their secretion, sebum , into the follicular canal. In a few areas of the body, disproportionately large sebaceous glands are associated with very small hair follicles; in other areas there are glands that are altogether free of follicles.
The outstanding feature of sebaceous glands is their holocrine mode of secretion, involving complete disintegration of the sebaceous cells. The glands consist of a series of lobes, or acini, each with a duct running toward the main sebaceous duct. The cells are generated by cell division around the periphery of each lobe. As they move toward the centre of the lobe and toward the duct, they synthesize and accumulate fat globules and become progressively larger and distorted. Ultimately they disintegrate to form the secretion.
Human sebum is a complex mixture of lipids—triglyceride fats (57.5 percent), wax esters (26 percent), squalene (12 percent), cholesterol esters (3 percent), and cholesterol (1.5 percent). The triglycerides are largely hydrolyzed by bacteria by the time the sebum reaches the skin surface, so that about a third of the surface fat consists of free fatty acids.
The activity of the sebaceous glands is mainly controlled by androgens. The glands are quite large at birth because of the influence of maternal hormones during development, but they regress soon afterward. They become active again at, or somewhat in advance of, the first signs of puberty. Their rate of secretion is a little higher in adult men than in women, and it falls off gradually with age in both sexes. It is very low in eunuchs (castrated males) but has been shown to increase when they are treated with androgens. That other factors—for example, pituitary hormones—may also influence secretion is suggested by the observation that sebum production is abnormally high in acromegaly, a disorder resulting from excessive secretion of growth hormone.
The function of sebum has been greatly debated. Some scientists have theorized that it is important as an emollient to prevent too rapid loss of water from the superficial layers of the stratum corneum; others have held that it is a functionless product of now useless, or vestigial, organs. Yet humans have more and larger glands than most mammals, and there is a specific plan in their distribution: they are largest and most numerous on the face and around the anogenital surfaces.
The skin around the nose, mouth, and forehead and over the cheekbones has beds of gigantic glands, the secretion of which keeps these surfaces constantly oily. The sebaceous glands evenly spaced in rows at the border of the eyelids—the meibomian glands —are so large that they are easily seen with the naked eye when the eyelids are everted. The glands on the genitalia produce copious amounts of sebaceous matter called smegma. Only humans have rich populations of sebaceous glands on the hairless surfaces of the lips; these glands increase in number and size as persons mature. The inside of the cheeks also has many large sebaceous glands, and occasionally there are glands even on the gums and tongue.
It seems highly unlikely, then, that sebum is functionless. While its significance is certainly not established, it is possible that it is concerned with subtle chemical communication by smell or taste. Such a function would bring human beings into line with other mammals.
Sweat glands
Sweat glands are coiled tubes of epidermal origin, though they lie in the dermis. Their secretory cells surround a central space, or lumen, into which the secretion is extruded. There are two distinct types: eccrine glands open by a duct directly onto the skin surface; apocrine glands usually develop in association with hair follicles and open into them.
Most other mammals have numerous apocrine glands in the hairy skin; eccrine glands are usually absent from the hairy skin and limited to friction surfaces. In nonhuman primates there is a tendency for the number of eccrine sweat glands over the body to increase in progressively advanced animals at the same time that the number of apocrine glands becomes reduced. Prosimians (primitive primates, such as lemurs, lorises, and tarsiers) have only apocrine glands in the hairy skin; eccrine glands begin to appear in some of the higher forms. The great apes either have equal numbers or have more eccrine than apocrine glands. Humans have the most eccrine glands, with apocrine glands restricted to specific areas.
Strictly speaking, apocrine glands have nothing to do with sweating. They appear late in fetal development (5 to 51/2 months) nearly everywhere on the body. Most of these rudiments disappear within a few weeks except in the external ear canals, in the axillae, on the nipples of the breasts, around the navel, and on the anogenital surfaces; single glands may be found anywhere. From this, one might speculate that the ancestors of humans had apocrine glands widely distributed over the body, and the embryonic rudiments may be reminders of the history of a once widespread organ system.
Where they appear, the apocrine glands are large and numerous. In the axilla they are so large that the coils press upon each other, forming adhesions and cross-shunts of such complexity that the glands are more spongy than tubular. The complex of these large apocrine glands commingled with an equal number of eccrine sweat glands in the axilla composes what is known as the axillary organ, one of the most characteristic features of human skin. Other than humans, only chimpanzees and gorillas have axillary organs. In spite of their large size, apocrine glands secrete only small amounts of a milky, viscid fluid—pale gray, whitish, yellow, or reddish—which contributes very little to axillary sweat. If eccrine glands were not there, the axillae would be relatively dry.
The odour of axillary secretion becomes more intense as it is decomposed by bacteria. Although axillary odours frequently seem unpleasant, they are not invariably so. The odour of individual human beings comes mostly from apocrine secretion, with some contribution from sebum. Since the body odours of all other animals have a social or sexual significance, it can be assumed that this is the archetypal purpose of apocrine secretion, even in humans. The view that the axillary organs are scent glands is supported by the finding that androsterones—the compounds that are responsible for the odour of the boar to which the sow responds—also occur in human axillary secretions.
Humans have 2,000,000 to 5,000,000 eccrine sweat glands, with an average distribution of 150 to 340 per square centimetre. They are most numerous on the palms and soles and then, in decreasing order, on the head, trunk, and extremities. Some individuals have more glands than others, but there is no difference in number between men and women.
The specific function of sweat glands is to secrete water upon the surface so that it can cool the skin when it evaporates. The purpose of the glands on the palms and soles, however, is to keep these surfaces damp, to prevent flaking or hardening of the horny layer, and thus to maintain tactile sensibility. A dry hand does not grip well and is minimally sensitive.
The eccrine glands, then, can be divided into those that respond to thermal stimulation, the function of which is thermoregulation, and those that respond to psychological stimuli and keep friction surfaces moist. This makes a clear-cut distinction between the glands on the hairy surfaces and those on the palms and soles. In addition to thermal and psychological sweating, some individuals sweat on the face and forehead in response to certain chemical substances.
The glands on the palms and soles develop at about 3 1/2 months of gestation, whereas those in the hairy skin are the last skin organs to take shape, appearing at five to 5 1/2 months, when all the other structures are already formed. This separation of events over time may represent a fundamental difference in the evolutionary history of the two types of glands. Those on palms and soles, which appear first and are present in all but the hooved mammals, may be more ancient; those in the hairy skin, which respond to thermal stimuli, may be more recent organs.
The sweat glands in the hairy skin of subhuman primates possibly function subliminally, although they are structurally similar to those of humans. The skin of monkeys and apes remains dry even in a hot environment. Profuse thermal sweating in humans, then, seems to be a new function. Eccrine sweat glands respond to a variety of drugs with different properties. They often respond differently in different individuals under nearly identical conditions and sometimes even respond inconsistently in the same individual. Notwithstanding these apparent vagaries, the eccrine glands function continuously, although their secretion may be imperceptible. Sweating is essential for keeping the human body from becoming overheated.
Nails
A major characteristic of primates is that their fingers and toes terminate in nails rather than in claws. One can speculate that the development of nails into flattened plates reflects the discontinuation of their use for digging or for defending and attacking. In a broad sense, nails are analogous to hair, having similar composition (keratin) and some common structural features. Even their genesis and mode of growth are comparable, but not identical, to those of hair.
Although apparently simple structures, nails are formed by complex and still poorly understood structural entities referred to as nail organs. Unlike hair, nails grow continuously, with no normal periods of rest; if their free edges were protected from wear, they would extend to prodigious lengths, growing in a twisted fashion like a ram’s horns. Nails grow about 0.1 millimetre per day, or roughly one-third as rapidly as hair. Growth is somewhat slower in winter than in summer and slower in infants and old people than in vigorous young adults. It requires about three months for a whole nail to replace itself.
A number of factors can alter normal nail growth, among them age, trauma, poisons, and organic disorders. Habitual nail biting speeds up growth, and certain occupational practices can cause an increase in thickness. The nail-forming organ is particularly sensitive to physiological changes. During stressful periods or prolonged fever, or in response to noxious drugs, nails may become cracked, thinner, thicker, furrowed, or otherwise deformed, or they may be shed. Such sensitivity of response should make nails relatively good indexes of the health of individuals. But because of their ready response to so many internal and external factors, and because changes in them often occur without a known reason, signs of abnormality can be misleading or difficult to interpret. Like hair, the visible part of the nail plate is a dead structure. Defects inflicted upon it by mechanical means that do not disturb the underlying living tissue are eventually cast off at the free border.
Nails have a root, buried beneath the skin; a plate that is firmly attached to a nail bed underneath; and a free edge. Depending upon its thickness and the quality of its surface, the nail plate may be pink or whitish; the nail itself is translucent and colourless, allowing the colour of the blood in the superficial capillaries of the nail bed to show through. At its base the nail plate may have a whitish, arched marking called a lunule. Always present on thumbnails, lunules may be present or absent on the other fingers and are nearly always absent on the little finger. There are variations in different individuals and even between the two hands of the same person; such variations are probably controlled by genetic factors.
The nail itself consists of firmly cemented keratinized cells, flattened horizontally to the surface. Whereas the surface of nail plates may appear to be smooth, it is lined by parallel, longitudinal furrows, more strongly etched in some persons than in others and typically more prominent in the aged. These markings have some correspondence to the more pronounced grooves and ridges on the undersurface of the plate.
Nails grow from a matrix at the base of the nail root. During the early part of their journey, matrix cells multiply and move forward, synthesizing keratin, underneath the fold of skin (eponychium) at the base of the nail. Once exposed to the surface, the nail is fully formed. The nail plate seems to glide over the nail bed, but it is firmly attached to it; the entire tissue, nail bed and plate, most likely moves forward as a unit. The nail bed has often been called sterile matrix, since it adds little or nothing to the nail plate. Yet under certain pathologic conditions, it assumes keratinizing activities that result in a variably thickened or deformed nail plate.
Although less effective than claws for digging or gouging, the flattened nail is still an excellent adaptation that has added much to the development of manipulative skills. Nails not only protect the tips of fingers but also give them firmness and the ability to pick up or make contact with minute objects. Claws would be useless for such functions.
Cutaneous sense organs
The skin has both free nerve endings and so-called corpuscular endings, which include nonnervous elements. The corpuscular endings are further differentiated as encapsulated or nonencapsulated receptors.
Free nerve endings occur in the epidermis, in the superficial dermis, where they are arranged in tufts, and in hair follicles. Merkel cells, which are found in the basal layer of the epidermis, are an example of nonencapsulated corpuscular receptors. The most striking example of an encapsulated receptor is the Pacinian corpuscle, an ovoid structure that is about one millimetre in length and lamellated in section, like an onion; these receptors can be found deep in the dermis. Various other dermal sense organs—for example, Golgi-Mazzoni corpuscles, Krause end bulbs, Meissner corpuscles, and Ruffini endings—have also been described.
It can easily be demonstrated that touch, cold, warmth, and pain are each perceived in separate points on the skin surface. The various end organs were at one time, therefore, somewhat arbitrarily assigned as monitors of one or another of these qualities. A difficulty was that many of the receptors are present only in glabrous skin, even though hairy skin in similarly perceptive. These earlier ideas were undoubtedly too simple, but electrophysiologists have confirmed the view that the various end organs respond to specific stimuli. The functional existence of mechanoreceptors, thermoreceptors, and pain receptors has been established, though only some of these can be identified with classical end organs. The Merkel cells and Ruffini endings, for example, are “slowly adapting” mechanoreceptors; while the Meissner, Pacinian, and Golgi-Mazzoni corpuscles and the hair follicle receptors are “rapidly adapting” mechanoreceptors.
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A 'troubling' is the collective noun for a group of which household pets? | What is The Difference Between the Skin On Your Face and Your Body? | HowStuffWorks
What is The Difference Between the Skin On Your Face and Your Body?
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Veer.com
Your skin may cover your entire body, but its thickness varies, padding parts of your body more prone to wear and tear with thick skin and placing thinner skin on the parts of your body that take less of a beating. The skin on your face is thinner than the skin on your body, with the exception of the chest, and deserves a bit more TLC, according to Valerie Goldburt, MD, PhD, and dermatologist at Advanced Dermatology and the Center for Laser and Cosmetic Surgery . Here's how to care for skin on different areas of the body:
Cleansing
Zinc: Should it be in your face cream?
Just as skin thickness varies, the number and size of hair follicles on the body differs, as do the number and size of sweat and oil glands. Hair follicles, sweat glands, and oil glands are called the skin appendages and are reservoirs of skin cells and oil that are important in protecting and healing your skin, says Deirdre Hooper, MD, dermatologist at Audubon Dermatology in New Orleans.
Areas with more appendage concentration (like the face) heal more quickly and are more tolerant of injury than sites with fewer appendages, like the neck and chest. When you treat the skin with potentially irritating products like retinoids and hydroxy acids, you may need a lower concentration on the body than you do on the face, she says. [source: Dr. Hooper] A standard gentle cleanser will keep skin on the body in good shape, whereas you may want more power with the more visible skin on your face.
After moistening your face with lukewarm water, work your cleanser all over your face using your fingers. A washcloth is likely to be lurking with bacteria after a few uses so rubbing that germy cloth all over your face to cleanse it won't be doing your skin any favors. [source: YouBeauty.com ]
Make sure your face-cleansing routine takes about a minute to ensure you did it thoroughly, then pat skin dry gently with a clean towel, advises Dr. Wechsler. Limit cleansing to once a day, before you're going to bed. Over-cleansing on your face and your body can dry out your skin and cause it to produce more oil to compensate, says Dr. Wechsler. [source: YouBeauty.com ]
Moisturizing
The trick is finding a moisturizer that works for the skin type on your face, says Dr. Goldburt. You can use that lotion for the rest of your body if you'd like, because the skin on your face is typically the most sensitive. She says that often there isn't much, if any, difference between face moisturizers and body moisturizers from a company. "Most of it is just marketing," she says.
There are heavier types of moisturizers that are hard to work into the face that are used for people with very dry skin. Usually pasty, thick and harder to work into your skin, these white creams are best used for skin surfaces that are particularly dry, like elbows, knees, and hands. It's unlikely you're going to want to use those thick white creams on your face, she says. [source: Dr. Goldburt]
Dr. Goldburt says she uses Vaseline, Aquaphor or extra virgin olive oil on her face, but she also suggests pricier argan oil. As for moisturizing the skin on your body, it depends on how dry your skin is. "I like to use Eucerin Anti-Itch Cream on my body. But, ultimately, it doesn't matter too much if you're using your face lotion on your body," she says.
"You can put fragrance lotion on the body, but I wouldn't recommend putting it on your face, especially the eyelids, as they are very sensitive," Dr. Goldburt says. Using fragrance lotion on the face might cause you to break out even if it didn't cause that reaction elsewhere on the body. [source: Dr. Goldburt]
Treating Acne
Body breakouts may be more challenging to treat than acne on the face, especially if it occurs in hard-to-reach areas like the back, also known as "bacne." Some causes could be hanging out in sweaty clothes for too long after a workout, not wearing clothes made of breathable fabrics, or having a bag rubbing up against your shoulders or back. These habits can result in bacteria clogging hair follicles, leading to breakouts. [source: MensFitness.com and AcneSkinGuide.com ]
If your back acne or body acne only occurs occasionally, your best solutions might be an over-the-counter body wash that contains benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid. Use it daily and cleanse gently, as aggressive scrubbing may worsen acne. If your body breakouts don't clear up after a few weeks, see your dermatologist. They might prescribe stronger washes or topical treatments. [source: About.com ]
It's also important to use a daily moisturizer and sun protection year-round for any exposed areas to keep skin healthy, glowing and limit sun damage.. Adequate hydration and use of a broad-spectrum sunscreen will help the skin protect itself from free radicals and harmful ultraviolet radiation that cause skin damage, discoloration, premature wrinkles and even skin cancer." [source: American Academy of Dermatology ]
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Which part of the male does a female mantis usually bite off during mating? | Female Praying Mantis Bites Off Male's Head? : snopes.com
Claim: Female praying mantises always eat the heads of their mates.
FALSE
Example: [Newsday, 1993]
The praying mantis, with its forelegs folded as if in prayer, may look pious, but its mating ritual is truly a macabre affair: Once the smaller male is attached to the female's body, she decapitates him, but he continues the act of conjugation for several more days before he dies and is eaten by his voracious mate.
Origins: For a long time it was believed that not only did the female praying mantis consume the head (and sometimes the rest) of her mate during copulation, but that this grisly act was a necessary part of the reproductive process. (The reasons given for this act of decapitation included its being a signal to the male to release his sperm, its providing the female with protein required for her to produce more eggs, and its being a way of keeping the male from leaving
prematurely.) Even though the notion that the female always eats her mate has long since been disproved, the legend of the always-deadly female persists.
In a research project whose results were published in the journal Animal Behaviour in 1984, entomologists Eckehard Liske and
W. Jackson
Davis made videotapes of the sex lives of thirty pairs of praying mantises. They discovered that mantises engage in elaborate posturing rituals before mating, but not one of the thirty males had his head eaten during the mating process. They also noted that other scientists had observed the same thing: Although female mantises sometimes ate their mates, the deadly act by no means occurred in every case. The behavior appeared to be influenced by captivity: Female mantises were either jarred into unusually aggressive behavior by the unusual laboratory conditions, or they were simply not fed enough by their keepers.
Yes, the female praying mantis does sometimes eat her mate. In fact, male mantises will often offer themselves up as food to the female during the mating process, and from a biological standpoint this action makes sense: There's no point to mating with a female who might die from a lack of food before she can lay her eggs and pass the father's genes onto the next generation. This doesn't happen all the time, however, and its frequency of occurrence and the reasons for it are still a subject a debate within the entomological world.
Last updated: 15 May 2015
Sources:
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What is the more common name of the medical condition 'Diplopia'? | Praying Mantis Facts – Interesting Facts
in Nature Facts by Interesting Facts
Praying Mantis a master of disguise is carnivorous insect with a very colorful appetite. They can turn their triangular heads up to 180 degrees in search for an insect. An interesting praying mantis fact is that, while they are mating, the female praying mantis eats the males head. No one knows for sure why, but it could be that protein from male body helps the eggs develop. When little mantis hatch they look like their parents tiny replicas. rnrnPraying mantis have excellent eye sight and they can see up to 18 meters (60 feet) away. They are not dangerous creatures (well at least not to the humans) and their average lifespan is around 12 months. They look like they are praying because they are resting their spiky forelegs. Who wants to be a mantis?
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Who was the first P.M? | BBC - History - British History in depth: Prime Ministers and Politics Timeline
On This Day
Prime Ministers and Politics Timeline
Do you know which prime minister brought 'fallen women' to 10 Downing Street? Or which one fought a duel? Or who was known as 'the Goat'?
Take a political journey through nearly 300 years of high ideals and low cunning, from Gordon Brown to the first man to hold prime ministerial powers, Robert Walpole.
Margaret Thatcher
Conservative, 1979 - 1990
Britain's first female prime minister came to power with the country descending into industrial and economic chaos. A relatively inexperienced politician, she nonetheless adopted a personal style of indomitable self-confidence and brooked no weakness in herself or her colleagues. Derisively dubbed the 'Iron Lady' by the Soviet press, she wore the moniker with pride. Her government's free-market policies included trade liberalisation, deregulation, sweeping privatisation, breaking the power of the unions, focus on the individual and the creation of an 'enterprise culture'. 'Thatcherism' has had a profound and lasting economic and social impact on Britain, and still sharply divides opinion to this day. The first PM to serve three consecutive terms (including two 'landslide' victories) she was eventually toppled by her own party following the disastrous imposition of a 'poll tax'. Nonetheless, she is generally considered to be one of the best peace time prime ministers of the 20th Century.
James Callaghan
Labour, 1976 - 1979
Callaghan inherited the office of prime minister following the surprise resignation of Harold Wilson. With only a tiny parliamentary majority to support him, he faced an increasingly one-sided confrontation with organised labour in the form of rampant strike action. Things came to a head in the so-called 'Winter of Discontent', a phrase from Shakespeare borrowed by Callaghan himself to describe the events leading up to February 1979. Britain was 'strikebound', with public servants staging mass walk outs, leaving food and fuel supplies undelivered, rubbish uncollected and - most notoriously - bodies unburied. Things became so bad in Hull it was dubbed 'the second Stalingrad'. The tabloid press has since been accused of overstating the severity of the situation (and wrongly quoting him as saying 'Crisis? What Crisis?') but it was enough at the time to sound the death knell for Callaghan's government later in the same year.
Harold Wilson
Labour, 1974 - 1976
In March 1974, Wilson became prime minister for the third time at the head of a minority government, following the first hung parliament (one where no party holds a majority) for 45 years. Often described as a wily fixer and negotiator, it took all of his skills to hold on to power in the face of economic and industrial turmoil. His party was also sharply divided, with many Labour members of parliament (MPs) bitter about Wilson's manoeuvring against his colleagues. He called another general election in October 1974, thereby ending the shortest parliament since 1681, and was returned to office with a majority of just three seats. He presided over a referendum on Britain's membership of the European Economic Community (EEC), and a collapse in the value of the pound which prompted a humiliating 'rescue operation' by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Exhausted, Wilson resigned saying 'politicians should not go on and on'.
Edward Heath
Conservative, 1970 - 1974
Heath succeeded in taking Britain into the European Economic Community (EEC), the precursor to the European Union, despite two previous failed attempts by Britain to gain entry, in 1961 and 1967. But his government was dogged by torrid industrial relations and recurrent economic crises. Things came to a head in January 1974, when industry was put on a 'three-day week' to conserve fuel. Fuel was in dangerously short supply following a combination of domestic industrial action (coal miners on 'work-to-rule') and a quadrupling of prices by Middle Eastern oil exporting nations in the wake of Israel's victory in the Yom Kippur War. In March 1974, Heath called a general election on the question of 'who governs Britain?' - the unions, or the elected representatives of the people. To his surprise the result was a hung parliament (one where no party holds a majority) and he was ousted.
Harold Wilson
Labour, 1964 - 1970
In 1964, 'Good old Mr Wilson' - an avuncular, pipe-smoking figure - came to power amid much excitement and optimism. He had promised a 'new Britain' forged in 'the white heat of a second industrial revolution'. In reality, his administration never escaped from a cycle of economic crises, vainly battling against further devaluations of the pound. Wilson won a second general election in 1966 (the year England lifted the football World Cup) making him the first Labour PM to serve consecutive terms. In 1967, the government failed in its application for membership of the European Economic Community (EEC) and was also finally forced to devalue sterling. The electorate became disillusioned with Wilson, who lost narrowly to the Conservatives in the 1970 election.
Sir Alec Douglas-Home, Conservative, 1963 - 1964
In 1963, a change in the law allowed hereditary peers to disclaim (or 'drop') their titles, which in turn meant they were able to become members of parliament (MPs). The only peer ever to do so and become prime minister was Douglas-Home, formerly the 14th Earl of Home, who assumed the office when Harold Macmillan retired due to ill health. He was the first prime minister in the post-war period not to win his own mandate (be elected or re-elected by popular vote).
Harold Macmillan, Conservative, 1957 - 1963
Macmillan came to power at a time when Britain was confronting its loss of world-power status and facing mounting economic troubles. Nonetheless, he successfully associated the Conservatives with a new age of affluence and the burgeoning consumer revolution. But his oft-quoted assurance 'You've never had it so good' actually finishes 'What is beginning to worry some of us is, is it too good to be true?'. His government is principally remembered for the so-called 'Profumo Affair', a sex scandal that erupted in 1963 and contributed to the Conservatives' defeat at the general election the following year. Secretary of State for War John Profumo had been having an affair with a showgirl who was also seeing the Soviet naval attaché to London - a serious transgression at the height of the Cold War. After lying to the House of Commons, Profumo admitted the truth in June 1963 and resigned in disgrace. Macmillan resigned due to ill health in October the same year.
Sir Anthony Eden, Conservative, 1955 - 1957
When Sir Winston Churchill retired due to ill health, Eden took over as prime minister. Many years before, Churchill had anointed Eden as his successor, but later acknowledged he had made 'a great mistake'. His opinion was born out as the new PM blundered into the Suez Crisis. Following Egypt's decision to nationalise the Suez canal, Britain (the principal shareholder), France and Israel invaded in October 1956 to near-universal condemnation and the threat of nuclear strikes by the Soviet Union. Within a week, Britain was forced into an embarrassing climb-down. Humiliated and in ill-health, Eden left the country for a holiday at the Jamaican home of James Bond author, Ian Fleming. He returned in mid-December to the sarcastic newspaper headline: 'Prime Minister Visits Britain'. He resigned on 9 January 1957.
Sir Winston Churchill, Conservative, 1951 - 1955
Churchill's desire to return to power, despite his assured place in history, had much to do with his belligerent refusal to accept that the British public had rejected him in 1945. Now the electorate was seeking to put behind it the hardships and privations of the post-war years under Clement Atlee and return to a more traditional idea of society - so-called 'housing and red meat' issues. Churchill tried - and failed - to recreate the dynamism of his wartime administration, and he struggled to adjust to the political realities of the Cold War, preferring direct action and personal diplomacy to proxy wars and cabinet consensus. His refusal to retire, despite suffering a stroke, caused mounting frustrations among his colleagues. At the age of 80, he finally conceded to his failing health and stepped down, although he continued to serve as an MP.
Clement Attlee, Labour, 1945 - 1951
World War Two had sharply exposed the imbalances in Britain's social, economic and political structures. For a population that had sacrificed so much, a return to the pre-war status quo was simply not an option. In 1942, a report by Sir William Beveridge, chairman of a Ministry of Health committee, had advocated a system of national insurance, comprehensive welfare for all and strategies to maintain full employment. The 'Beveridge Report' formed the basis of Labour pledges in the 1945 election and resulted in a landslide victory. Attlee's government successfully harnessed the wartime sense of unity to create the National Health Service, a national insurance scheme, a huge programme of nationalisation (including the Bank of England and most heavy industries) and a massive building programme. He also made Britain a nuclear-armed power. These sweeping reforms resulted in a parliamentary consensus on key social and economic policies that would last until 1979. But by 1951, a row over plans to charge for spectacles and false teeth had split the cabinet. Party disunity and a struggling economy contributed to Attlee - cruelly dubbed by Churchill 'a modest man with much to be modest about' - losing the next election.
Winston Churchill, Conservative, 1940 - 1945
By the time Churchill was asked to lead the coalition government in 1940, he had already enjoyed colourful and controversial careers as a journalist, soldier and politician. He had twice 'crossed the floor' of the House of Commons, the first time defecting from Conservative to Liberal and serving as First Lord of the Admiralty during the early years of World War One. Demoted in the wake of the slaughter at Gallipoli, he preferred to resign and take up a commission fighting on the Western Front. Despite standing against the Conservatives in a 1924 by-election, Churchill was welcomed back into the party that same year and served as Chancellor of the Exchequer for five years under Stanley Baldwin. But personal disagreements and his vehement anti-Fascism would lead to nearly a decade in the political wilderness. Following Neville Chamberlain's resignation in 1940, Churchill finally realised his 'destiny' and accepted the office of prime minister. Promising nothing more than 'blood, toil, tears and sweat', he almost single-handedly restored Britain's desire to fight on in adversity. Despite Churchill's enormous personal popularity, by 1945 the electorate no longer wanted a war leader and the Conservatives lost by a landslide.
Neville Chamberlain, Conservative, 1937 - 1940
Rarely has the hyperbole of politicians been as resoundingly exposed as when Neville Chamberlain returned from his 1938 negotiations with Adolf Hitler, brandishing his famous 'piece of paper' and declaring the agreement it represented to be 'peace for our time'. Within a year, Germany had invaded Poland and Britain was plunged into World War Two. With his policy of 'appeasement' towards Hitler utterly bankrupted, Chamberlain resigned in 1940. He was replaced by Winston Churchill. When the issue of honours was discussed, he stated that he wanted to die 'plain Mr Chamberlain, like my father'. His father, Joseph Chamberlain, was the politician who split the Conservatives in 1903 by pushing for tariffs on imported goods. It was this very issue that convinced Churchill to defect to the Liberals, with whom he first achieved high office. Chamberlain died six months after resigning.
Stanley Baldwin, Conservative, 1935 - 1937
When Baldwin returned to power in 1935, the financial crisis sparked by the Wall Street Crash six years before appeared to be over. It was to be swiftly replaced by a constitutional crisis brought about by Edward VIII's desire to marry a twice-divorced American, Wallis Simpson. Baldwin advised Edward that Mrs Simpson would not be accepted as Queen by the public, and that the king could not condone divorce as head of the Church of England. The king proposed a 'morganatic' marriage, whereby Mrs Simpson would become his consort, but not Queen. The government rejected the idea and threatened to resign if the king forced the issue. The story then broke in the press, to general disapproval by the public. Rather than break the engagement, Edward abdicated on 11 December 1936. Credited with saving the monarchy, Baldwin is also condemned for failing to begin re-arming when it became clear that Nazi Germany was building up its armed forces.
Ramsay MacDonald, Labour, 1929 - 1935
MacDonald began his second term at the head of a minority government (one that does not have an outright majority) and with the economy in deep crisis. Britain was still in the grip of the Great Depression and unemployment soon soared to two million. With fewer people able to pay tax, revenues had fallen as demand for unemployment benefits had soared. Unable to meet the deficit, by 1931 it was being proposed that benefits and salaries should be cut. Labour ministers rejected the plan as running counter to their core beliefs. MacDonald went to the king, George V, to proffer his resignation. George suggested MacDonald to try and form a 'national government' or coalition of all the parties. (This is the last recorded direct political intervention by a British monarch.) The National Government was formed, with MacDonald as prime minister, but Stanley Baldwin, leader of the Conservative Party, the de facto 'power behind the throne'. MacDonald is still considered by many in the Labour Party as their worst political traitor.
Stanley Baldwin, Conservative, 1924 - 1929
In May 1926, the Trades Union Congress called for a general walkout in support of a coal miners' protest against threatened wage cuts. It was the first and, to date, only general strike in British history. The strike affected key industries, such as gas, electricity and the railways, but ended after just nine days due to lack of public backing and well-organised emergency measures by Baldwin's government. Far from succeeding in its aims, the General Strike actually led to a decline in trade union membership and the miners ended up accepting longer hours and less pay. It also gave impetus to the 1927 Trade Disputes Act, which curtailed workers' ability to take industrial action. Baldwin's government also extended the vote to women over 21 and passed the Pensions Act, but eventually fell as a result of the Wall Street Crash of 1929, and the Depression that followed.
Ramsay MacDonald, Labour, 1924
In 1924, MacDonald briefly became the first Labour prime minister, ending two centuries of Conservative - Liberal domination of British politics. It was the first party to gain power with the express purpose of representing the voice of the 'working class'. An MP since 1906, MacDonald was respected as a thinker, but criticised by many within his own party as insufficiently radical (despite appointing the first female cabinet minister, Margaret Bondfield, in 1929). His opposition to World War One had made him deeply unpopular and he continually suffered a torrid time at the hands of the press. The publication by two newspapers of the 'Zinoviev letter' did much to damage his chances in the run up to the 1924 election. The letter (which he had seen but decided to keep secret) purported to be from Soviet intelligence and urged British communists to commit acts of sedition. He lost by a wide margin. The letter is now widely accepted to be a fraud.
Stanley Baldwin, Conservative, 1923
During his very brief first term as prime minister, Stanley Baldwin bumped into an old school friend on a train. Asked what he was doing these days, Baldwin replied: 'I am the prime minister.' Having come to power following Andrew Bonar Law's resignation, he called an election in the hope of gaining his own mandate (election by popular vote), but lost.
Andrew Bonar Law, Conservative, 1922 - 1923
Branded the 'unknown prime minister' by his bitter political rival HH Asquith, Canadian-born Bonar Law is principally remembered for a single speech he made in 1922. The Conservatives had been part of a coalition under the Liberal prime minister, David Lloyd George, since 1916. Many were considering joining Lloyd George permanently, but Bonar Law's speech changed their minds. Instead, the Conservatives withdrew from the coalition and Lloyd George was forced to resign. The king, George V, asked Bonar Law to form a new government. Reluctantly he accepted, despite still grieving two sons killed in World War One and - as it turned out - dying of throat cancer. He held office for 209 days before resigning due to ill health. He died six months later and was buried at Westminster Abbey, upon which Asquith commented: 'It is fitting that we should have buried the Unknown Prime Minister by the side of the Unknown Warrior.'
David Lloyd George, Liberal, 1916 - 1922
Lloyd George guided Britain to victory in World War One and presided over the legislation that gave women the vote in 1918, but he is remembered as much for his private life as his public achievements. Nicknamed the 'Welsh Wizard', he was also less kindly known as 'The Goat' - a reference to his countless affairs. (Scandalously, he lived with his mistress and illegitimate daughter in London while his wife and other children lived in Wales.) The first 'working class' prime minister, Lloyd George had risen to prominence by solving the shortage of munitions on the Western Front. It was his desire to get to grips with the requirements of 'total war' that led to his split with then Liberal Prime Minister HH Asquith. It also brought him closer to the Conservatives, with whom he formed a new coalition government when Asquith resigned. That coalition would disintegrate six years later in the midst of a scandal. Serious allegations were made that peerages had been sold for as much as £40,000. (One list even included John Drughorn, who had been convicted for trading with the enemy in 1915.) Lloyd George resigned in October 1922.
HH Asquith, Liberal, 1908 - 1916
Asquith's government had shown great longevity, but disintegrated in the face of the unequalled disasters of the Somme and Gallipoli. With World War One going badly, fellow Liberal David Lloyd George had seized his chance and ousted Asquith. But in the preceding eight years, the two politicians had together overseen one of the greatest constitutional upheavals of the 20th Century and ushered in some of the predecessors of the Welfare State. Old Age Pensions were introduced and Unemployment Exchanges (job centres) were set up by then Liberal minister Winston Churchill. But when Lloyd George attempted to introduce a budget with land and income taxes disadvantageous to the 'propertied' classes, it was thrown out by the House of Lords. Lloyd George branded the Lords 'Mr Balfour's poodle' (a reference to Conservative leader AJ Balfour's supposed control over the peers). The stand-off resulted in two general elections during 1910, the second of which the Liberals won with a 'peers against the people' campaign slogan. The budget was passed and, in 1911, the Parliament Act became law. The Act stated that the Lords could only veto a Commons bill twice, and instituted five-yearly general elections.
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Liberal, 1905 - 1908
Arthur James Balfour, Conservative, 1902 - 1905
The nephew of the Marquess of Salisbury, Balfour had none of his uncle's political skills despite a long period of mentoring. He was instead something of a philosopher, publishing several weighty books, including 'A Defence of Philosophic Doubt', 'The Foundations of Belief', and 'Theism and Humanism'. Following a cabinet split Balfour resigned, gambling that the Liberals would be unable to form a government and that he would be returned to power. He was wrong.
Marquess of Salisbury, 1895 - 1902, Conservative
Salisbury came to power for the third and final time when the weak Liberal government of the Earl of Rosebery fell. The political climate was one of rising resentment among the lower and middle classes, who demanded better conditions, social reforms and proper political representation. Bitterly divided, the Liberals would nonetheless experience a revival as they sought reforms of the squalid, disease-ridden British 'concentration camps' used in the Boer War. But it was the founding of the Labour Representation Committee (LRC) on 27 February 1900 that signalled a quiet, yet highly significant sea-change in British politics. This coalition of socialist groups would win two seats in the 1900 general election and 29 seats in 1906. Later that same year, the LRC changed its name to the Labour Party. Despite failing health, Salisbury agreed to stay on to help Edward VII manage the transition following the death of his mother, Queen Victoria. He resigned in favour of his nephew, AJ Balfour, in the first months of the new King's reign. (Notably, he was the last serving prime minister to sit in the Lords.)
Earl of Rosebery, Liberal, 1894 - 1895
Rosebury reluctantly became prime minister on the insistence of Queen Victoria, despite still mourning the loss of his wife. Desperate to have a minister she actually liked, Victoria had taken the unusual step of not consulting the outgoing PM, William Gladstone, about his successor. Rosebery, who always loved horseracing more than the 'evil smelling bog' of politics, was gratefully allowed to resign a year later. Notably, he is the only prime minister to have produced not one, but three Derby winners, in 1894, 1895 and 1905. (Despite his aversion to politics, Rosebery was no stranger to scandal. The Prince of Wales had reputedly once intervened to prevent him from being horsewhipped by the Marquess of Queensbury, with whose son Rosebery was believed to be having an affair. Queensbury's other son was Lord Alfred Douglas, Oscar Wilde's lover.)
William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal, 1892 - 1894
Gladstone's fourth term as prime minister was completely overshadowed by his insistence on introducing a third bill on the subject of 'Home Rule' for Ireland. The Conservative-dominated House of Lords threw the bill out and generally obstructed Liberal attempts to pass legislation. With his cabinet split and his health failing, the 'Grand Old Man' stepped down for the last time. The public was, in any case, exhausted with Home Rule and instead wanted reforms to working conditions and electoral practices. (Meanwhile, out on the political fringe, the Independent Labour Party had been set up under Keir Hardie to represent the working class and 'secure the collective ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange'. Leading figures in the party included George Bernard Shaw and Ramsay MacDonald.)
Marquess of Salisbury, Conservative, 1886 - 1892
William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal, 1886
Gladstone came to power for the third time with 'Home Rule' (devolution) for Ireland still the dominant issue. A bitter election battle had seen the Conservative government fall after Irish Nationalist members of parliament sided with the Liberals to defeat them. Instead, the Liberals formed a government in coalition with the Irish Nationalists and Gladstone tried to push through his second attempt at a Home Rule bill. The bill split the Liberals and Gladstone resigned. He lost the general election when the 'Liberal Unionists' - those who wanted Ireland to be ruled from Westminster - broke away from Gladstone's Liberals to fight the next election as a separate party. Most Liberal Unionists were of the 'Whig' or propertied faction of the party, which meant that when they went, they took most of the money with them.
Marquess of Salisbury, Conservative, 1885 - 1886
William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal, 1880 - 1885
Having failed to force Gladstone to serve under Lord Hartington, Queen Victoria reluctantly accepted 'that half-mad firebrand' as prime minister for the second time. He had only lately returned to politics from retirement after his so-called 'Midlothian Campaign', in which he spoke to large crowds - a practice considered by polite Victorian society to be 'undignified'. His campaign did much to discredit Disraeli's government and had clearly struck a chord with a public eager for social and electoral reform. The Ballot Act in 1872 had instituted secret ballots for local and general elections. Now came the Corrupt Practices Act, which set maximum election expenses, and the Reform and Redistribution Act, which effectively extended voting qualifications to another six million men. There were other burning issues. The United States had just overtaken Britain as the world's largest industrialised economy, and 'Home Rule' (devolution) for Ireland continued to dominate. In seeking support for Home Rule, James Parnell's Irish Nationalists sided with the Conservatives to defeat a Liberal budget measure. Gladstone resigned and was replaced by the 'caretaker government' of the Marquess of Salisbury.
Benjamin Disraeli, Conservative, 1874 - 1880
After a brief taste of power in 1868, it had taken Disraeli six years to become prime minister again. He wasted no time in bringing about the social reforms he had envisaged in the 1840s as a member of the radical Young England group. His Acts included measures to provide suitable housing and sewerage, to protect the quality of food, to improve workers rights (including the Climbing Boys Act which banned the use of juveniles as chimney sweeps) and to implement basic standards of education. In 1876, Disraeli was made the Earl of Beaconsfield, but continued to run the government from the Lords. He persuaded Queen Victoria to take the title 'Empress of India' in 1877 and scored a diplomatic success in limiting Russian influence in the Balkans at the Congress of Berlin in 1878. He retired in 1880, hoping to spend his remaining years adding more novels to his already impressive bibliography, but died just one year later.
William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal, 1868 - 1874
Upon taking office for the first time Gladstone declared it his 'mission' to 'pacify Ireland' - a prize that was always to elude him. Nonetheless, Gladstone was to become the dominant Liberal politician of the late 19th Century, serving as prime minister four times despite earning Queen Victoria's antipathy early in his career. (She famously complained that 'he always addresses me as if I were a public meeting'.) He had started his career as an ultra-conservative Tory, but would end it as a dedicated political reformer who did much to establish the Liberal Party's association with issues of freedom and justice. But Gladstone also had his idiosyncrasies. He made a regular habit of going to brothels and often brought prostitutes back to 10 Downing Street. In an era when politicians' private lives were very private, his embarrassed colleagues nonetheless felt it necessary to explain his behaviour as 'rescue work' to save 'fallen women'.
Benjamin Disraeli, Conservative, 1868
On being asked to become prime minister following the resignation of the Earl of Derby, Disraeli announced: 'I have reached the top of the greasy pole'. He immediately struck up an excellent rapport with Queen Victoria, who approved of his imperialist ambitions and his belief that Britain should be the most powerful nation in the world. Unhappily for the Queen, Disraeli's first term ended almost immediately with an election victory for the Liberals. Despite serving as an MP since 1837 and twice being Chancellor of the Exchequer, Disraeli's journey to the top was not without scandal. In 1835, he was forced to apologise in court after being accused of bribing voters in Maidstone. He also accrued enormous debts in his twenties through speculation on the stock exchange. Disraeli suffered a nervous breakdown as a result, but eventually paid off his creditors by marrying a rich widow, Mary Anne Wyndam Lewis, in 1839.
Earl of Derby, Conservative, 1866 - 1868
The introduction of the 1867 Reform Act made Derby's third term as prime minister a major step in the true democratisation of Britain. The Act extended the vote to all adult male householders (and lodgers paying £10 rental or more, resident for a year or more) living in a borough constituency. Simply put, it created more than 1.5 million new voters. Versions of the Reform Act had been under serious discussion since 1860, but had always foundered on Conservative fears. Many considered it a 'revolutionary' move that would create a majority of 'working class' voters for the first time. In proposing the Reform Act, Benjamin Disraeli, Conservative Leader of the House of Commons, had warned his colleagues that they would be labelled the 'anti-reform' party if they continued to resist. The legislation was passed, and also received the backing of the Liberals under their new leader, William Gladstone.
Earl Russell, Whig, 1865 - 1866
Viscount Palmerston, Liberal, 1859 - 1865
Earl of Derby, Conservative, 1858 - 1859
The property qualification - the requirement that a man must own property in order to stand as a member of parliament - was finally abolished during Derby's second term as prime minister. It meant that members of parliament (MPs) were no longer drawn exclusively from the 'propertied' classes and could realistically be 'working class'. This fulfilled one of the six conditions set out by the Chartists - supporters of the Third Chartist Petition, written in 1838. It demanded universal male suffrage (votes for all adult men), secret ballots (rather than traditional open ballots), annual parliamentary elections, equal electoral districts (some had less than 500 voters, while others had many thousands), the abolition of a property qualification for MPs, and payment for MPs (which would allow non-independently wealthy men to sit in parliament).
Viscount Palmerston, Liberal , 1855 - 1858
Earl of Aberdeen, Tory, 1852 - 1855
It was something of a cruel irony that Aberdeen came to be blamed for blundering into the dreadful Crimean War. As plain George Hamilton Gordon he had made a successful career as a diplomat and had done much to normalise Britain's relationships with its powerful neighbours. Vivid reports from the front by WH Russel of the Times have since led to the Crimean being styled the first 'media war'. His reports publicised the squalor and disease that were claiming more soldiers' lives than the fighting, and inspired Florence Nightingale to volunteer and take the first 38 nurses out to treat the wounded. In 1855, Aberdeen conceded to his critics and resigned.
Earl of Derby, Conservative, 1852
Earl Russell, Whig, 1846 - 1851
Confronted by the Irish Potato Famine, declining trade and rising unemployment, Russell still managed to push through trade liberalisation measures and limits on women's working hours. A dedicated reformer, he nonetheless presided over the rejection of the Third Chartist Petition. Set out 1838, it demanded universal male suffrage (votes for all adult men), secret ballots (rather than traditional open ballots), annual parliamentary elections, equal electoral districts (some had less than 500 voters, while others had many thousands), the abolition of a property qualification for members of parliament (MPs), and payment for MPs (which would allow non-independently wealthy men to sit in parliament). Already rejected once by parliament in 1839, the petition had gathered 5 million signatures by 1848. Presented to parliament a second time, it was again rejected. The Chartist movement slowly petered out, even as revolutions blazed across Europe, but many of its aims were eventually realised.
Sir Robert Peel, Tory, 1841 - 1846
Peel's second term as prime minister was nothing short of tumultuous. Economic depression, rising deficits, Chartist agitation, famine in Ireland and Anti-Corn League protests crowded in. A raft of legislation was created to stabilise the economy and improve working conditions. The Factory Act regulated work hours (and banned children under eight from the workplace), the Railway Act provided for cheap, regular train services, the Bank Charter Act capped the number of notes the Bank of England could issue and the Mines Act prevented women and children from working underground. But a failed harvest in 1845 provided Peel with his greatest challenge. There was an increasing clamour for repeal of the Corn Laws, which forbade the import of cheap grain from overseas. Powerful vested interests in the Tory Party opposed such a move, but in the end Peel confronted them and called for repeal. After nearly six months of debate, and with the Tories split in two, the Corn Laws were finally repealed. Defeated on a separate issue, Peel resigned the same day, but was cheered by crowds as he left the Commons. (The 'Peelite' faction of the Tories is widely recognised as the foundation of the modern Conservative.)
Viscount Melbourne, Whig, 1835 - 1841
Sir Robert Peel, Tory, 1834 - 1835
Invited by William IV to form a new government, Peel immediately called a general election to strengthen his party. Campaigning on his so-called 'Tamworth Manifesto', Peel promised a respectful approach to traditional politics, combined with measured, controlled reform. He thereby signalled a significant shift from staunch, reactionary 'Tory' to progressive 'Conservative' politics. Crucially, he pledged to accept the 1832 Reform Act, which had recently increased the number of people eligible to vote. Peel won the election, but only narrowly. He resigned the following year after several parliamentary defeats. (Peel is probably best remembered for creating the Metropolitan Police in 1829 while Home Secretary in the Duke of Wellington's first government. The nickname 'bobbies' for policemen is derived from his first name.)
Duke of Wellington, Tory, 1834
Viscount Melbourne, Whig, 1834
In a bid to repress trade unions, Melbourne's government introduced legislation against 'illegal oaths'. As a result, the Grand National Consolidated Trades' Union failed. In March of the same year, six labourers were transported to Australia for seven years for attempting to provide a fund for workers in need. They became known as the 'Tolpuddle Martyrs'. Melbourne himself was notoriously laid back. When first asked to become prime minister he declared it 'a damned bore'. Having accepted, he would often refuse to allow his cabinet colleagues to leave the room, insisting 'I'm damned if I know what we agreed on. We must all say the same thing.'
Earl Grey, Whig, 1830 - 1834
In June 1832, the Reform Act finally passed into law after 15 torrid months of debate. It extended the vote to just 7% of the adult male population, based on a series of lowered property qualifications. Introduced in March 1831, the bill scraped through the Commons by a single vote, but was thrown out at the committee stage (when the bill is debated in detail - sometimes called the 'second reading'). Parliament was dissolved and the general election was fought on the single issue of the Reform Act - an unprecedented event in British political history. The Whigs won the election and passed the bill, but the House of Lords (with a majority of Tories) threw it out, sparking riots and civil disobedience across the country. With the spectre of France's bloody revolution clearly in mind, William IV eventually agreed to create 50 Whig peers to redress the balance in the Lords if the bill was rejected again. The Lords conceded and the Act was finally passed into law. After all his efforts, Earl Grey is principally remembered for giving his name to a fragrant blend of tea.
Duke of Wellington, Tory, 1828 - 1830
Wellington's first term in office was dominated by the thorny subject of Catholic emancipation. Catholics were permitted to vote, but were not allowed to sit as members of parliament (MPs) and had restrictions on the property they could own. Initially, the 'Iron Duke' was staunchly in favour of the status quo, but soon came to realise that emancipation might be the only way to end conflict arising from the Act of Union between Britain and Ireland in 1801. He became such an advocate that he even fought a duel with the 10th Earl of Winchilsea over the issue. The Earl had accused him of plotting the downfall of the 'Protestant constitution', but then backed down and apologised. They still had to go through the ritual of the duel at Battersea Fields, with both men deliberately firing high and wide. Wellington eventually drove the legislation through, opening the way for Catholic MPs.
Viscount Goderich, Tory, 1827 - 1828
George Canning, Tory, 1827
Canning finally became prime minister after a long career in politics, only to die of pneumonia 119 days later. He had famously fought a duel in 1809 with his bitterest political rival, Lord Castlereagh, and was shot in the thigh. Castlereagh committed suicide with a penknife in 1822, after becoming depressed about his falling popularity.
Earl of Liverpool, Tory, 1812 - 1827
Liverpool is the second longest serving prime minister in British history (after Robert Walpole), winning four general elections and clinging on to power despite a massive stroke that incapacitated him for his last two years in office. Liverpool became PM at a time when Britain was emerging from the Napoleonic Wars and the first rumblings of 'working class' unrest were just beginning to be felt. Staunchly undemocratic in his outlook, Liverpool suppressed efforts to give the wider populace a voice. He was unrepentant when, in 1819, troops fired on a pro-reform mass meeting at St Peter's Fields in Manchester, killing eleven - the so-called 'Peterloo Massacre'. Trade unions were legalised by the 1825 Combination Act, but were so narrowly defined that members were forced to bargain over wages and conditions amid a minefield of heavy penalties for transgressions. (Liverpool's one concession to popular sentiment was in the trial of Queen Caroline on trumped up adultery charges. The legal victimisation of George IV's estranged wife, who was tried in parliament in 1820, brought her mass sympathy. Mindful not to provoke the mob in the wake of Peterloo, the charges were eventually dropped.)
Spencer Perceval, Tory, 1809 - 1812
Perceval bears a dubious distinction as the only British prime minister to be assassinated. As chancellor of the exchequer he moved in to 10 Downing Street in 1807, before rising to the office of prime minister two years later. His 12 young children - some born while he was in office - also lived in the PM's crowded residence. Against expectations, he had skilfully kept his government afloat for three years despite a severe economic downturn and continuing war with Napoleon. He was shot dead in the lobby of the House of Commons on 11 May 1812 by a merchant called John Bellingham who was seeking government compensation for his business debts. Perceval's body lay in 10 Downing Street for five days before burial. Bellingham gave himself up immediately. Tried for murder, he was found guilty and hanged a week later.
Duke of Portland, Tory, 1807 - 1809
Lord Grenville, Whig, 1806 - 1807
William Pitt 'the Younger', Tory, 1804 - 1806
Faced by a fresh invasion threat from Napoleon, George III once again turned to Pitt. A shadow of his former self due to failing health and suspected alcoholism, Pitt nonetheless accepted. He made alliances with Napoleon's continental rivals - Russia, Austria and Sweden - then, in 1805, Admiral Lord Nelson shattered French invasion hopes at the Battle of Trafalgar. Pitt did not have long to savour victory before Napoleon defeated both Russia and Austria to stand astride the whole of Europe. Heartsick, utterly exhausted, penniless and unmarried, Pitt died on 23 January 1806 at the age of 46.
Henry Addington, Tory, 1801 - 1804
Addington secured the Peace of Amiens with France in 1802, but would see Britain plunge into war with Napoleon again just two years later. He also passed the first Factory Act into law. The Act was the earliest attempt to reform working conditions in factories. It set a maximum 12 hour working day for children and addressed issues like proper ventilation, basic education and sleeping conditions. (Notably, his government also awarded Edward Jenner £10,000 to continue his pioneering work on a vaccine for smallpox.) But he was generally poorly regarded, prompting the satirical rhyme 'Pitt is to Addington, as London is to Paddington' - a reference to his distinguished predecessor as prime minister, William Pitt.
William Pitt 'the Younger', Tory, 1783-1801
Pitt 'the Younger' was the youngest prime minister in British history, taking office at the tender age of just 24. But his youth did not seem to disadvantage him as he threw himself into the manifold problems of government, holding on to the top office for 17 years - fifteen years longer than his father, Pitt 'the Elder'. His first priority was to reduce the National Debt, which had doubled with the loss of the American colonies in 1783. George III's mental illness then threw up the spectre of a constitutional crisis, with the transfer of sovereignty to the erratic Prince of Wales only narrowly averted by the king's recovery. Further threats to the monarchy emanated from across the Channel, with the bloody French Revolution of 1789 and subsequent war with France in 1793. War increased taxes and caused food shortages, damaging Pitt's popularity to the extent that he employed bodyguards out of fear for his safety. In a bid to resolve at least one intractable conflict, he pushed through the Act of Union with Ireland in 1800, but the related Emancipation of Catholics Bill was rejected by the king a year later. Having lost George III's confidence, Pitt was left with no option but to resign.
Duke of Portland, Tory, 1783
Earl Shelburne, Whig, 1782 - 1783
Marquess of Rockingham, Whig, 1782
Lord North, Tory, 1770 - 1782
North is chiefly somewhat unfairly remembered as the prime minister who lost the American colonies. Groomed by George III to lead his parliamentary supporters, North was fiercely loyal to his king, whose policy it had been to 'punish' the American colonials. The American War of Independence, reluctantly entered into by both sides, had been prosecuted at the king's behest in retaliation for their refusal to pay more towards their own defence. As hostilities progressed, North's blundering and indecision worsened an already difficult situation, and by 1782 it was clear that the outcome was likely to be a disaster. He begged George III to be allowed to resign, but the king refused to release him until the war was over. North has since become the yardstick for prime ministerial mediocrity, with later PMs being criticised as 'the worst since Lord North'.
Duke of Grafton, Whig, 1768 - 1770
An unremarkable prime minister, Grafton had a quite remarkable appetite for extra-marital affairs and openly kept several mistresses. He scandalised polite society in 1764 by leaving his wife and going to live with his mistress, Anne Parsons, also known as 'Mrs Houghton'. (Horace Walpole referred to her derisively as 'everybody's Mrs Houghton'.) Popular opinion had disapproved of Grafton's behaviour, until his wife did something even more shocking. She eloped with the Earl of Upper Ossory and had a child by him. Grafton divorced her in 1769, then abandoned Mrs Houghton and married Elizabeth Wrottesley, with whom he had 13 children. The Mrs Houghton ended up marrying the king's brother. This unsuitable union gave impetus to the Royal Marriages Act of 1772, which decreed that the monarch had to give permission for all royal weddings.
Earl of Chatham, Pitt 'The Elder', Whig, 1766 - 1768
Pitt 'the Elder' is widely credited as the man who built the British Empire, although much of this was done in the role of secretary of state under the governments of the Duke of Newcastle. He chose his fights carefully, conducting military campaigns where conditions were best suited to British merchants. Pitt added India, West Africa, the West Indies and the American colonies to Britain's overseas possessions, and was persistently belligerent towards colonial rivals like France and Spain. His relentless imperialism kept the merchants happy but infuriated men like Newcastle who counted the financial cost of his wars. Pitt was a superb public speaker and a master of the devastating put-down, but his career was dogged with recurrent mental illness and gout. Ironically, it was during his term as prime minister that he was at his least effective, often struggling to build support. He collapsed in the House of Lords in October 1768 and died four days later. (Pitt was the MP for a 'burgage borough' - an empty piece of land with no-one living on it. His constituency, Old Sarum, was a mound in Wiltshire. On polling day, seven voters met in a tent to cast their votes.)
Marquess of Rockingham, Whig, 1765 - 1766
George Grenville, Whig, 1763 - 1765
Grenville is one of the few prime ministers to have been sacked by the monarch. He was fired after a row with George III over who should rule in his place if his mental health continued to deteriorate.
Earl of Bute, Tory, 1762 - 1763
Bute was one of Britain's more unpopular prime ministers. Things came to a head when he failed to lower the taxes he had raised to fight France in the American colonies. Rioting erupted, his effigies were burnt and the windows in his house were smashed. Bute was generally disliked by colleagues and public, and was lampooned for his 'fine pair of legs', of which he was reputed to be extremely proud. His close relationship with the Prince of Wales's widow, the Dowager Princess Augusta, was also the subject of much scurrilous gossip. The nickname 'Sir Pertinax MacSycophant' was a contemptuous reference to the Roman Emperor Publius Helvius Pertinax, who was murdered three months after his meteoric assent by his own bodyguard. Unable to muster support in parliament, Bute resigned in 1763.
Duke of Newcastle, Whig, 1757 - 1762
Newcastle healed his rift with Pitt 'the Elder' by inviting him to serve in his government as secretary of state. Effectively a power-sharing coalition of two powerful men, the relationship gave birth to the British Empire. Their government eventually fell as a result of the new king, George III's hostility to Pitt, who had sought to restrict the influence of the monarch in political matters.
Duke of Devonshire, Whig, 1756-1757
Duke of Newcastle, Whig, 1754 - 1756
Newcastle became PM after his brother, Henry Pelham, died in office. It is the only instance of two brothers serving as prime minister. Newcastle enraged Pitt 'the Elder' by refusing to promote him in the new government, then compounded the insult by sacking him.
Henry Pelham, Whig, 1743 - 1754
Earl of Wilmington, Whig, 1742 - 1743
Sir Robert Walpole, Whig, 1721 - 1742
Walpole is widely acknowledged as the first prime minister, although he never actually held the title. He was also the longest serving, lasting 21 years. But Walpole's first stint in government, as secretary of war, had ended inauspiciously with a six month spell in the Tower of London for receiving an illegal payment. Undeterred, he rose to power again on the back of a collapsed financial scheme in which many prominent individuals had invested. Walpole had the foresight (or luck) to get out early, and as a result was credited with great financial acumen. George I invited him to become chancellor and gave him the powers that came to be associated with the office of prime minister. His owed his longevity in office (and the incredible wealth he accumulated) to a combination of great personal charm, enduring popularity, sharp practice and startling sycophancy. The accession of George II saw him temporarily eclipsed, but he worked hard to win over the new monarch. He was rewarded with both the new King's trust and 10 Downing Street, which remains the official residence of the prime minister to this day. Walpole was eventually brought down by an election loss at Chippenham and died just three years later.
| Robert Walpole |
Who was P.M at the time of the profumo affair? | BBC - History - British History in depth: Prime Ministers and Politics Timeline
On This Day
Prime Ministers and Politics Timeline
Do you know which prime minister brought 'fallen women' to 10 Downing Street? Or which one fought a duel? Or who was known as 'the Goat'?
Take a political journey through nearly 300 years of high ideals and low cunning, from Gordon Brown to the first man to hold prime ministerial powers, Robert Walpole.
Margaret Thatcher
Conservative, 1979 - 1990
Britain's first female prime minister came to power with the country descending into industrial and economic chaos. A relatively inexperienced politician, she nonetheless adopted a personal style of indomitable self-confidence and brooked no weakness in herself or her colleagues. Derisively dubbed the 'Iron Lady' by the Soviet press, she wore the moniker with pride. Her government's free-market policies included trade liberalisation, deregulation, sweeping privatisation, breaking the power of the unions, focus on the individual and the creation of an 'enterprise culture'. 'Thatcherism' has had a profound and lasting economic and social impact on Britain, and still sharply divides opinion to this day. The first PM to serve three consecutive terms (including two 'landslide' victories) she was eventually toppled by her own party following the disastrous imposition of a 'poll tax'. Nonetheless, she is generally considered to be one of the best peace time prime ministers of the 20th Century.
James Callaghan
Labour, 1976 - 1979
Callaghan inherited the office of prime minister following the surprise resignation of Harold Wilson. With only a tiny parliamentary majority to support him, he faced an increasingly one-sided confrontation with organised labour in the form of rampant strike action. Things came to a head in the so-called 'Winter of Discontent', a phrase from Shakespeare borrowed by Callaghan himself to describe the events leading up to February 1979. Britain was 'strikebound', with public servants staging mass walk outs, leaving food and fuel supplies undelivered, rubbish uncollected and - most notoriously - bodies unburied. Things became so bad in Hull it was dubbed 'the second Stalingrad'. The tabloid press has since been accused of overstating the severity of the situation (and wrongly quoting him as saying 'Crisis? What Crisis?') but it was enough at the time to sound the death knell for Callaghan's government later in the same year.
Harold Wilson
Labour, 1974 - 1976
In March 1974, Wilson became prime minister for the third time at the head of a minority government, following the first hung parliament (one where no party holds a majority) for 45 years. Often described as a wily fixer and negotiator, it took all of his skills to hold on to power in the face of economic and industrial turmoil. His party was also sharply divided, with many Labour members of parliament (MPs) bitter about Wilson's manoeuvring against his colleagues. He called another general election in October 1974, thereby ending the shortest parliament since 1681, and was returned to office with a majority of just three seats. He presided over a referendum on Britain's membership of the European Economic Community (EEC), and a collapse in the value of the pound which prompted a humiliating 'rescue operation' by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Exhausted, Wilson resigned saying 'politicians should not go on and on'.
Edward Heath
Conservative, 1970 - 1974
Heath succeeded in taking Britain into the European Economic Community (EEC), the precursor to the European Union, despite two previous failed attempts by Britain to gain entry, in 1961 and 1967. But his government was dogged by torrid industrial relations and recurrent economic crises. Things came to a head in January 1974, when industry was put on a 'three-day week' to conserve fuel. Fuel was in dangerously short supply following a combination of domestic industrial action (coal miners on 'work-to-rule') and a quadrupling of prices by Middle Eastern oil exporting nations in the wake of Israel's victory in the Yom Kippur War. In March 1974, Heath called a general election on the question of 'who governs Britain?' - the unions, or the elected representatives of the people. To his surprise the result was a hung parliament (one where no party holds a majority) and he was ousted.
Harold Wilson
Labour, 1964 - 1970
In 1964, 'Good old Mr Wilson' - an avuncular, pipe-smoking figure - came to power amid much excitement and optimism. He had promised a 'new Britain' forged in 'the white heat of a second industrial revolution'. In reality, his administration never escaped from a cycle of economic crises, vainly battling against further devaluations of the pound. Wilson won a second general election in 1966 (the year England lifted the football World Cup) making him the first Labour PM to serve consecutive terms. In 1967, the government failed in its application for membership of the European Economic Community (EEC) and was also finally forced to devalue sterling. The electorate became disillusioned with Wilson, who lost narrowly to the Conservatives in the 1970 election.
Sir Alec Douglas-Home, Conservative, 1963 - 1964
In 1963, a change in the law allowed hereditary peers to disclaim (or 'drop') their titles, which in turn meant they were able to become members of parliament (MPs). The only peer ever to do so and become prime minister was Douglas-Home, formerly the 14th Earl of Home, who assumed the office when Harold Macmillan retired due to ill health. He was the first prime minister in the post-war period not to win his own mandate (be elected or re-elected by popular vote).
Harold Macmillan, Conservative, 1957 - 1963
Macmillan came to power at a time when Britain was confronting its loss of world-power status and facing mounting economic troubles. Nonetheless, he successfully associated the Conservatives with a new age of affluence and the burgeoning consumer revolution. But his oft-quoted assurance 'You've never had it so good' actually finishes 'What is beginning to worry some of us is, is it too good to be true?'. His government is principally remembered for the so-called 'Profumo Affair', a sex scandal that erupted in 1963 and contributed to the Conservatives' defeat at the general election the following year. Secretary of State for War John Profumo had been having an affair with a showgirl who was also seeing the Soviet naval attaché to London - a serious transgression at the height of the Cold War. After lying to the House of Commons, Profumo admitted the truth in June 1963 and resigned in disgrace. Macmillan resigned due to ill health in October the same year.
Sir Anthony Eden, Conservative, 1955 - 1957
When Sir Winston Churchill retired due to ill health, Eden took over as prime minister. Many years before, Churchill had anointed Eden as his successor, but later acknowledged he had made 'a great mistake'. His opinion was born out as the new PM blundered into the Suez Crisis. Following Egypt's decision to nationalise the Suez canal, Britain (the principal shareholder), France and Israel invaded in October 1956 to near-universal condemnation and the threat of nuclear strikes by the Soviet Union. Within a week, Britain was forced into an embarrassing climb-down. Humiliated and in ill-health, Eden left the country for a holiday at the Jamaican home of James Bond author, Ian Fleming. He returned in mid-December to the sarcastic newspaper headline: 'Prime Minister Visits Britain'. He resigned on 9 January 1957.
Sir Winston Churchill, Conservative, 1951 - 1955
Churchill's desire to return to power, despite his assured place in history, had much to do with his belligerent refusal to accept that the British public had rejected him in 1945. Now the electorate was seeking to put behind it the hardships and privations of the post-war years under Clement Atlee and return to a more traditional idea of society - so-called 'housing and red meat' issues. Churchill tried - and failed - to recreate the dynamism of his wartime administration, and he struggled to adjust to the political realities of the Cold War, preferring direct action and personal diplomacy to proxy wars and cabinet consensus. His refusal to retire, despite suffering a stroke, caused mounting frustrations among his colleagues. At the age of 80, he finally conceded to his failing health and stepped down, although he continued to serve as an MP.
Clement Attlee, Labour, 1945 - 1951
World War Two had sharply exposed the imbalances in Britain's social, economic and political structures. For a population that had sacrificed so much, a return to the pre-war status quo was simply not an option. In 1942, a report by Sir William Beveridge, chairman of a Ministry of Health committee, had advocated a system of national insurance, comprehensive welfare for all and strategies to maintain full employment. The 'Beveridge Report' formed the basis of Labour pledges in the 1945 election and resulted in a landslide victory. Attlee's government successfully harnessed the wartime sense of unity to create the National Health Service, a national insurance scheme, a huge programme of nationalisation (including the Bank of England and most heavy industries) and a massive building programme. He also made Britain a nuclear-armed power. These sweeping reforms resulted in a parliamentary consensus on key social and economic policies that would last until 1979. But by 1951, a row over plans to charge for spectacles and false teeth had split the cabinet. Party disunity and a struggling economy contributed to Attlee - cruelly dubbed by Churchill 'a modest man with much to be modest about' - losing the next election.
Winston Churchill, Conservative, 1940 - 1945
By the time Churchill was asked to lead the coalition government in 1940, he had already enjoyed colourful and controversial careers as a journalist, soldier and politician. He had twice 'crossed the floor' of the House of Commons, the first time defecting from Conservative to Liberal and serving as First Lord of the Admiralty during the early years of World War One. Demoted in the wake of the slaughter at Gallipoli, he preferred to resign and take up a commission fighting on the Western Front. Despite standing against the Conservatives in a 1924 by-election, Churchill was welcomed back into the party that same year and served as Chancellor of the Exchequer for five years under Stanley Baldwin. But personal disagreements and his vehement anti-Fascism would lead to nearly a decade in the political wilderness. Following Neville Chamberlain's resignation in 1940, Churchill finally realised his 'destiny' and accepted the office of prime minister. Promising nothing more than 'blood, toil, tears and sweat', he almost single-handedly restored Britain's desire to fight on in adversity. Despite Churchill's enormous personal popularity, by 1945 the electorate no longer wanted a war leader and the Conservatives lost by a landslide.
Neville Chamberlain, Conservative, 1937 - 1940
Rarely has the hyperbole of politicians been as resoundingly exposed as when Neville Chamberlain returned from his 1938 negotiations with Adolf Hitler, brandishing his famous 'piece of paper' and declaring the agreement it represented to be 'peace for our time'. Within a year, Germany had invaded Poland and Britain was plunged into World War Two. With his policy of 'appeasement' towards Hitler utterly bankrupted, Chamberlain resigned in 1940. He was replaced by Winston Churchill. When the issue of honours was discussed, he stated that he wanted to die 'plain Mr Chamberlain, like my father'. His father, Joseph Chamberlain, was the politician who split the Conservatives in 1903 by pushing for tariffs on imported goods. It was this very issue that convinced Churchill to defect to the Liberals, with whom he first achieved high office. Chamberlain died six months after resigning.
Stanley Baldwin, Conservative, 1935 - 1937
When Baldwin returned to power in 1935, the financial crisis sparked by the Wall Street Crash six years before appeared to be over. It was to be swiftly replaced by a constitutional crisis brought about by Edward VIII's desire to marry a twice-divorced American, Wallis Simpson. Baldwin advised Edward that Mrs Simpson would not be accepted as Queen by the public, and that the king could not condone divorce as head of the Church of England. The king proposed a 'morganatic' marriage, whereby Mrs Simpson would become his consort, but not Queen. The government rejected the idea and threatened to resign if the king forced the issue. The story then broke in the press, to general disapproval by the public. Rather than break the engagement, Edward abdicated on 11 December 1936. Credited with saving the monarchy, Baldwin is also condemned for failing to begin re-arming when it became clear that Nazi Germany was building up its armed forces.
Ramsay MacDonald, Labour, 1929 - 1935
MacDonald began his second term at the head of a minority government (one that does not have an outright majority) and with the economy in deep crisis. Britain was still in the grip of the Great Depression and unemployment soon soared to two million. With fewer people able to pay tax, revenues had fallen as demand for unemployment benefits had soared. Unable to meet the deficit, by 1931 it was being proposed that benefits and salaries should be cut. Labour ministers rejected the plan as running counter to their core beliefs. MacDonald went to the king, George V, to proffer his resignation. George suggested MacDonald to try and form a 'national government' or coalition of all the parties. (This is the last recorded direct political intervention by a British monarch.) The National Government was formed, with MacDonald as prime minister, but Stanley Baldwin, leader of the Conservative Party, the de facto 'power behind the throne'. MacDonald is still considered by many in the Labour Party as their worst political traitor.
Stanley Baldwin, Conservative, 1924 - 1929
In May 1926, the Trades Union Congress called for a general walkout in support of a coal miners' protest against threatened wage cuts. It was the first and, to date, only general strike in British history. The strike affected key industries, such as gas, electricity and the railways, but ended after just nine days due to lack of public backing and well-organised emergency measures by Baldwin's government. Far from succeeding in its aims, the General Strike actually led to a decline in trade union membership and the miners ended up accepting longer hours and less pay. It also gave impetus to the 1927 Trade Disputes Act, which curtailed workers' ability to take industrial action. Baldwin's government also extended the vote to women over 21 and passed the Pensions Act, but eventually fell as a result of the Wall Street Crash of 1929, and the Depression that followed.
Ramsay MacDonald, Labour, 1924
In 1924, MacDonald briefly became the first Labour prime minister, ending two centuries of Conservative - Liberal domination of British politics. It was the first party to gain power with the express purpose of representing the voice of the 'working class'. An MP since 1906, MacDonald was respected as a thinker, but criticised by many within his own party as insufficiently radical (despite appointing the first female cabinet minister, Margaret Bondfield, in 1929). His opposition to World War One had made him deeply unpopular and he continually suffered a torrid time at the hands of the press. The publication by two newspapers of the 'Zinoviev letter' did much to damage his chances in the run up to the 1924 election. The letter (which he had seen but decided to keep secret) purported to be from Soviet intelligence and urged British communists to commit acts of sedition. He lost by a wide margin. The letter is now widely accepted to be a fraud.
Stanley Baldwin, Conservative, 1923
During his very brief first term as prime minister, Stanley Baldwin bumped into an old school friend on a train. Asked what he was doing these days, Baldwin replied: 'I am the prime minister.' Having come to power following Andrew Bonar Law's resignation, he called an election in the hope of gaining his own mandate (election by popular vote), but lost.
Andrew Bonar Law, Conservative, 1922 - 1923
Branded the 'unknown prime minister' by his bitter political rival HH Asquith, Canadian-born Bonar Law is principally remembered for a single speech he made in 1922. The Conservatives had been part of a coalition under the Liberal prime minister, David Lloyd George, since 1916. Many were considering joining Lloyd George permanently, but Bonar Law's speech changed their minds. Instead, the Conservatives withdrew from the coalition and Lloyd George was forced to resign. The king, George V, asked Bonar Law to form a new government. Reluctantly he accepted, despite still grieving two sons killed in World War One and - as it turned out - dying of throat cancer. He held office for 209 days before resigning due to ill health. He died six months later and was buried at Westminster Abbey, upon which Asquith commented: 'It is fitting that we should have buried the Unknown Prime Minister by the side of the Unknown Warrior.'
David Lloyd George, Liberal, 1916 - 1922
Lloyd George guided Britain to victory in World War One and presided over the legislation that gave women the vote in 1918, but he is remembered as much for his private life as his public achievements. Nicknamed the 'Welsh Wizard', he was also less kindly known as 'The Goat' - a reference to his countless affairs. (Scandalously, he lived with his mistress and illegitimate daughter in London while his wife and other children lived in Wales.) The first 'working class' prime minister, Lloyd George had risen to prominence by solving the shortage of munitions on the Western Front. It was his desire to get to grips with the requirements of 'total war' that led to his split with then Liberal Prime Minister HH Asquith. It also brought him closer to the Conservatives, with whom he formed a new coalition government when Asquith resigned. That coalition would disintegrate six years later in the midst of a scandal. Serious allegations were made that peerages had been sold for as much as £40,000. (One list even included John Drughorn, who had been convicted for trading with the enemy in 1915.) Lloyd George resigned in October 1922.
HH Asquith, Liberal, 1908 - 1916
Asquith's government had shown great longevity, but disintegrated in the face of the unequalled disasters of the Somme and Gallipoli. With World War One going badly, fellow Liberal David Lloyd George had seized his chance and ousted Asquith. But in the preceding eight years, the two politicians had together overseen one of the greatest constitutional upheavals of the 20th Century and ushered in some of the predecessors of the Welfare State. Old Age Pensions were introduced and Unemployment Exchanges (job centres) were set up by then Liberal minister Winston Churchill. But when Lloyd George attempted to introduce a budget with land and income taxes disadvantageous to the 'propertied' classes, it was thrown out by the House of Lords. Lloyd George branded the Lords 'Mr Balfour's poodle' (a reference to Conservative leader AJ Balfour's supposed control over the peers). The stand-off resulted in two general elections during 1910, the second of which the Liberals won with a 'peers against the people' campaign slogan. The budget was passed and, in 1911, the Parliament Act became law. The Act stated that the Lords could only veto a Commons bill twice, and instituted five-yearly general elections.
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Liberal, 1905 - 1908
Arthur James Balfour, Conservative, 1902 - 1905
The nephew of the Marquess of Salisbury, Balfour had none of his uncle's political skills despite a long period of mentoring. He was instead something of a philosopher, publishing several weighty books, including 'A Defence of Philosophic Doubt', 'The Foundations of Belief', and 'Theism and Humanism'. Following a cabinet split Balfour resigned, gambling that the Liberals would be unable to form a government and that he would be returned to power. He was wrong.
Marquess of Salisbury, 1895 - 1902, Conservative
Salisbury came to power for the third and final time when the weak Liberal government of the Earl of Rosebery fell. The political climate was one of rising resentment among the lower and middle classes, who demanded better conditions, social reforms and proper political representation. Bitterly divided, the Liberals would nonetheless experience a revival as they sought reforms of the squalid, disease-ridden British 'concentration camps' used in the Boer War. But it was the founding of the Labour Representation Committee (LRC) on 27 February 1900 that signalled a quiet, yet highly significant sea-change in British politics. This coalition of socialist groups would win two seats in the 1900 general election and 29 seats in 1906. Later that same year, the LRC changed its name to the Labour Party. Despite failing health, Salisbury agreed to stay on to help Edward VII manage the transition following the death of his mother, Queen Victoria. He resigned in favour of his nephew, AJ Balfour, in the first months of the new King's reign. (Notably, he was the last serving prime minister to sit in the Lords.)
Earl of Rosebery, Liberal, 1894 - 1895
Rosebury reluctantly became prime minister on the insistence of Queen Victoria, despite still mourning the loss of his wife. Desperate to have a minister she actually liked, Victoria had taken the unusual step of not consulting the outgoing PM, William Gladstone, about his successor. Rosebery, who always loved horseracing more than the 'evil smelling bog' of politics, was gratefully allowed to resign a year later. Notably, he is the only prime minister to have produced not one, but three Derby winners, in 1894, 1895 and 1905. (Despite his aversion to politics, Rosebery was no stranger to scandal. The Prince of Wales had reputedly once intervened to prevent him from being horsewhipped by the Marquess of Queensbury, with whose son Rosebery was believed to be having an affair. Queensbury's other son was Lord Alfred Douglas, Oscar Wilde's lover.)
William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal, 1892 - 1894
Gladstone's fourth term as prime minister was completely overshadowed by his insistence on introducing a third bill on the subject of 'Home Rule' for Ireland. The Conservative-dominated House of Lords threw the bill out and generally obstructed Liberal attempts to pass legislation. With his cabinet split and his health failing, the 'Grand Old Man' stepped down for the last time. The public was, in any case, exhausted with Home Rule and instead wanted reforms to working conditions and electoral practices. (Meanwhile, out on the political fringe, the Independent Labour Party had been set up under Keir Hardie to represent the working class and 'secure the collective ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange'. Leading figures in the party included George Bernard Shaw and Ramsay MacDonald.)
Marquess of Salisbury, Conservative, 1886 - 1892
William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal, 1886
Gladstone came to power for the third time with 'Home Rule' (devolution) for Ireland still the dominant issue. A bitter election battle had seen the Conservative government fall after Irish Nationalist members of parliament sided with the Liberals to defeat them. Instead, the Liberals formed a government in coalition with the Irish Nationalists and Gladstone tried to push through his second attempt at a Home Rule bill. The bill split the Liberals and Gladstone resigned. He lost the general election when the 'Liberal Unionists' - those who wanted Ireland to be ruled from Westminster - broke away from Gladstone's Liberals to fight the next election as a separate party. Most Liberal Unionists were of the 'Whig' or propertied faction of the party, which meant that when they went, they took most of the money with them.
Marquess of Salisbury, Conservative, 1885 - 1886
William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal, 1880 - 1885
Having failed to force Gladstone to serve under Lord Hartington, Queen Victoria reluctantly accepted 'that half-mad firebrand' as prime minister for the second time. He had only lately returned to politics from retirement after his so-called 'Midlothian Campaign', in which he spoke to large crowds - a practice considered by polite Victorian society to be 'undignified'. His campaign did much to discredit Disraeli's government and had clearly struck a chord with a public eager for social and electoral reform. The Ballot Act in 1872 had instituted secret ballots for local and general elections. Now came the Corrupt Practices Act, which set maximum election expenses, and the Reform and Redistribution Act, which effectively extended voting qualifications to another six million men. There were other burning issues. The United States had just overtaken Britain as the world's largest industrialised economy, and 'Home Rule' (devolution) for Ireland continued to dominate. In seeking support for Home Rule, James Parnell's Irish Nationalists sided with the Conservatives to defeat a Liberal budget measure. Gladstone resigned and was replaced by the 'caretaker government' of the Marquess of Salisbury.
Benjamin Disraeli, Conservative, 1874 - 1880
After a brief taste of power in 1868, it had taken Disraeli six years to become prime minister again. He wasted no time in bringing about the social reforms he had envisaged in the 1840s as a member of the radical Young England group. His Acts included measures to provide suitable housing and sewerage, to protect the quality of food, to improve workers rights (including the Climbing Boys Act which banned the use of juveniles as chimney sweeps) and to implement basic standards of education. In 1876, Disraeli was made the Earl of Beaconsfield, but continued to run the government from the Lords. He persuaded Queen Victoria to take the title 'Empress of India' in 1877 and scored a diplomatic success in limiting Russian influence in the Balkans at the Congress of Berlin in 1878. He retired in 1880, hoping to spend his remaining years adding more novels to his already impressive bibliography, but died just one year later.
William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal, 1868 - 1874
Upon taking office for the first time Gladstone declared it his 'mission' to 'pacify Ireland' - a prize that was always to elude him. Nonetheless, Gladstone was to become the dominant Liberal politician of the late 19th Century, serving as prime minister four times despite earning Queen Victoria's antipathy early in his career. (She famously complained that 'he always addresses me as if I were a public meeting'.) He had started his career as an ultra-conservative Tory, but would end it as a dedicated political reformer who did much to establish the Liberal Party's association with issues of freedom and justice. But Gladstone also had his idiosyncrasies. He made a regular habit of going to brothels and often brought prostitutes back to 10 Downing Street. In an era when politicians' private lives were very private, his embarrassed colleagues nonetheless felt it necessary to explain his behaviour as 'rescue work' to save 'fallen women'.
Benjamin Disraeli, Conservative, 1868
On being asked to become prime minister following the resignation of the Earl of Derby, Disraeli announced: 'I have reached the top of the greasy pole'. He immediately struck up an excellent rapport with Queen Victoria, who approved of his imperialist ambitions and his belief that Britain should be the most powerful nation in the world. Unhappily for the Queen, Disraeli's first term ended almost immediately with an election victory for the Liberals. Despite serving as an MP since 1837 and twice being Chancellor of the Exchequer, Disraeli's journey to the top was not without scandal. In 1835, he was forced to apologise in court after being accused of bribing voters in Maidstone. He also accrued enormous debts in his twenties through speculation on the stock exchange. Disraeli suffered a nervous breakdown as a result, but eventually paid off his creditors by marrying a rich widow, Mary Anne Wyndam Lewis, in 1839.
Earl of Derby, Conservative, 1866 - 1868
The introduction of the 1867 Reform Act made Derby's third term as prime minister a major step in the true democratisation of Britain. The Act extended the vote to all adult male householders (and lodgers paying £10 rental or more, resident for a year or more) living in a borough constituency. Simply put, it created more than 1.5 million new voters. Versions of the Reform Act had been under serious discussion since 1860, but had always foundered on Conservative fears. Many considered it a 'revolutionary' move that would create a majority of 'working class' voters for the first time. In proposing the Reform Act, Benjamin Disraeli, Conservative Leader of the House of Commons, had warned his colleagues that they would be labelled the 'anti-reform' party if they continued to resist. The legislation was passed, and also received the backing of the Liberals under their new leader, William Gladstone.
Earl Russell, Whig, 1865 - 1866
Viscount Palmerston, Liberal, 1859 - 1865
Earl of Derby, Conservative, 1858 - 1859
The property qualification - the requirement that a man must own property in order to stand as a member of parliament - was finally abolished during Derby's second term as prime minister. It meant that members of parliament (MPs) were no longer drawn exclusively from the 'propertied' classes and could realistically be 'working class'. This fulfilled one of the six conditions set out by the Chartists - supporters of the Third Chartist Petition, written in 1838. It demanded universal male suffrage (votes for all adult men), secret ballots (rather than traditional open ballots), annual parliamentary elections, equal electoral districts (some had less than 500 voters, while others had many thousands), the abolition of a property qualification for MPs, and payment for MPs (which would allow non-independently wealthy men to sit in parliament).
Viscount Palmerston, Liberal , 1855 - 1858
Earl of Aberdeen, Tory, 1852 - 1855
It was something of a cruel irony that Aberdeen came to be blamed for blundering into the dreadful Crimean War. As plain George Hamilton Gordon he had made a successful career as a diplomat and had done much to normalise Britain's relationships with its powerful neighbours. Vivid reports from the front by WH Russel of the Times have since led to the Crimean being styled the first 'media war'. His reports publicised the squalor and disease that were claiming more soldiers' lives than the fighting, and inspired Florence Nightingale to volunteer and take the first 38 nurses out to treat the wounded. In 1855, Aberdeen conceded to his critics and resigned.
Earl of Derby, Conservative, 1852
Earl Russell, Whig, 1846 - 1851
Confronted by the Irish Potato Famine, declining trade and rising unemployment, Russell still managed to push through trade liberalisation measures and limits on women's working hours. A dedicated reformer, he nonetheless presided over the rejection of the Third Chartist Petition. Set out 1838, it demanded universal male suffrage (votes for all adult men), secret ballots (rather than traditional open ballots), annual parliamentary elections, equal electoral districts (some had less than 500 voters, while others had many thousands), the abolition of a property qualification for members of parliament (MPs), and payment for MPs (which would allow non-independently wealthy men to sit in parliament). Already rejected once by parliament in 1839, the petition had gathered 5 million signatures by 1848. Presented to parliament a second time, it was again rejected. The Chartist movement slowly petered out, even as revolutions blazed across Europe, but many of its aims were eventually realised.
Sir Robert Peel, Tory, 1841 - 1846
Peel's second term as prime minister was nothing short of tumultuous. Economic depression, rising deficits, Chartist agitation, famine in Ireland and Anti-Corn League protests crowded in. A raft of legislation was created to stabilise the economy and improve working conditions. The Factory Act regulated work hours (and banned children under eight from the workplace), the Railway Act provided for cheap, regular train services, the Bank Charter Act capped the number of notes the Bank of England could issue and the Mines Act prevented women and children from working underground. But a failed harvest in 1845 provided Peel with his greatest challenge. There was an increasing clamour for repeal of the Corn Laws, which forbade the import of cheap grain from overseas. Powerful vested interests in the Tory Party opposed such a move, but in the end Peel confronted them and called for repeal. After nearly six months of debate, and with the Tories split in two, the Corn Laws were finally repealed. Defeated on a separate issue, Peel resigned the same day, but was cheered by crowds as he left the Commons. (The 'Peelite' faction of the Tories is widely recognised as the foundation of the modern Conservative.)
Viscount Melbourne, Whig, 1835 - 1841
Sir Robert Peel, Tory, 1834 - 1835
Invited by William IV to form a new government, Peel immediately called a general election to strengthen his party. Campaigning on his so-called 'Tamworth Manifesto', Peel promised a respectful approach to traditional politics, combined with measured, controlled reform. He thereby signalled a significant shift from staunch, reactionary 'Tory' to progressive 'Conservative' politics. Crucially, he pledged to accept the 1832 Reform Act, which had recently increased the number of people eligible to vote. Peel won the election, but only narrowly. He resigned the following year after several parliamentary defeats. (Peel is probably best remembered for creating the Metropolitan Police in 1829 while Home Secretary in the Duke of Wellington's first government. The nickname 'bobbies' for policemen is derived from his first name.)
Duke of Wellington, Tory, 1834
Viscount Melbourne, Whig, 1834
In a bid to repress trade unions, Melbourne's government introduced legislation against 'illegal oaths'. As a result, the Grand National Consolidated Trades' Union failed. In March of the same year, six labourers were transported to Australia for seven years for attempting to provide a fund for workers in need. They became known as the 'Tolpuddle Martyrs'. Melbourne himself was notoriously laid back. When first asked to become prime minister he declared it 'a damned bore'. Having accepted, he would often refuse to allow his cabinet colleagues to leave the room, insisting 'I'm damned if I know what we agreed on. We must all say the same thing.'
Earl Grey, Whig, 1830 - 1834
In June 1832, the Reform Act finally passed into law after 15 torrid months of debate. It extended the vote to just 7% of the adult male population, based on a series of lowered property qualifications. Introduced in March 1831, the bill scraped through the Commons by a single vote, but was thrown out at the committee stage (when the bill is debated in detail - sometimes called the 'second reading'). Parliament was dissolved and the general election was fought on the single issue of the Reform Act - an unprecedented event in British political history. The Whigs won the election and passed the bill, but the House of Lords (with a majority of Tories) threw it out, sparking riots and civil disobedience across the country. With the spectre of France's bloody revolution clearly in mind, William IV eventually agreed to create 50 Whig peers to redress the balance in the Lords if the bill was rejected again. The Lords conceded and the Act was finally passed into law. After all his efforts, Earl Grey is principally remembered for giving his name to a fragrant blend of tea.
Duke of Wellington, Tory, 1828 - 1830
Wellington's first term in office was dominated by the thorny subject of Catholic emancipation. Catholics were permitted to vote, but were not allowed to sit as members of parliament (MPs) and had restrictions on the property they could own. Initially, the 'Iron Duke' was staunchly in favour of the status quo, but soon came to realise that emancipation might be the only way to end conflict arising from the Act of Union between Britain and Ireland in 1801. He became such an advocate that he even fought a duel with the 10th Earl of Winchilsea over the issue. The Earl had accused him of plotting the downfall of the 'Protestant constitution', but then backed down and apologised. They still had to go through the ritual of the duel at Battersea Fields, with both men deliberately firing high and wide. Wellington eventually drove the legislation through, opening the way for Catholic MPs.
Viscount Goderich, Tory, 1827 - 1828
George Canning, Tory, 1827
Canning finally became prime minister after a long career in politics, only to die of pneumonia 119 days later. He had famously fought a duel in 1809 with his bitterest political rival, Lord Castlereagh, and was shot in the thigh. Castlereagh committed suicide with a penknife in 1822, after becoming depressed about his falling popularity.
Earl of Liverpool, Tory, 1812 - 1827
Liverpool is the second longest serving prime minister in British history (after Robert Walpole), winning four general elections and clinging on to power despite a massive stroke that incapacitated him for his last two years in office. Liverpool became PM at a time when Britain was emerging from the Napoleonic Wars and the first rumblings of 'working class' unrest were just beginning to be felt. Staunchly undemocratic in his outlook, Liverpool suppressed efforts to give the wider populace a voice. He was unrepentant when, in 1819, troops fired on a pro-reform mass meeting at St Peter's Fields in Manchester, killing eleven - the so-called 'Peterloo Massacre'. Trade unions were legalised by the 1825 Combination Act, but were so narrowly defined that members were forced to bargain over wages and conditions amid a minefield of heavy penalties for transgressions. (Liverpool's one concession to popular sentiment was in the trial of Queen Caroline on trumped up adultery charges. The legal victimisation of George IV's estranged wife, who was tried in parliament in 1820, brought her mass sympathy. Mindful not to provoke the mob in the wake of Peterloo, the charges were eventually dropped.)
Spencer Perceval, Tory, 1809 - 1812
Perceval bears a dubious distinction as the only British prime minister to be assassinated. As chancellor of the exchequer he moved in to 10 Downing Street in 1807, before rising to the office of prime minister two years later. His 12 young children - some born while he was in office - also lived in the PM's crowded residence. Against expectations, he had skilfully kept his government afloat for three years despite a severe economic downturn and continuing war with Napoleon. He was shot dead in the lobby of the House of Commons on 11 May 1812 by a merchant called John Bellingham who was seeking government compensation for his business debts. Perceval's body lay in 10 Downing Street for five days before burial. Bellingham gave himself up immediately. Tried for murder, he was found guilty and hanged a week later.
Duke of Portland, Tory, 1807 - 1809
Lord Grenville, Whig, 1806 - 1807
William Pitt 'the Younger', Tory, 1804 - 1806
Faced by a fresh invasion threat from Napoleon, George III once again turned to Pitt. A shadow of his former self due to failing health and suspected alcoholism, Pitt nonetheless accepted. He made alliances with Napoleon's continental rivals - Russia, Austria and Sweden - then, in 1805, Admiral Lord Nelson shattered French invasion hopes at the Battle of Trafalgar. Pitt did not have long to savour victory before Napoleon defeated both Russia and Austria to stand astride the whole of Europe. Heartsick, utterly exhausted, penniless and unmarried, Pitt died on 23 January 1806 at the age of 46.
Henry Addington, Tory, 1801 - 1804
Addington secured the Peace of Amiens with France in 1802, but would see Britain plunge into war with Napoleon again just two years later. He also passed the first Factory Act into law. The Act was the earliest attempt to reform working conditions in factories. It set a maximum 12 hour working day for children and addressed issues like proper ventilation, basic education and sleeping conditions. (Notably, his government also awarded Edward Jenner £10,000 to continue his pioneering work on a vaccine for smallpox.) But he was generally poorly regarded, prompting the satirical rhyme 'Pitt is to Addington, as London is to Paddington' - a reference to his distinguished predecessor as prime minister, William Pitt.
William Pitt 'the Younger', Tory, 1783-1801
Pitt 'the Younger' was the youngest prime minister in British history, taking office at the tender age of just 24. But his youth did not seem to disadvantage him as he threw himself into the manifold problems of government, holding on to the top office for 17 years - fifteen years longer than his father, Pitt 'the Elder'. His first priority was to reduce the National Debt, which had doubled with the loss of the American colonies in 1783. George III's mental illness then threw up the spectre of a constitutional crisis, with the transfer of sovereignty to the erratic Prince of Wales only narrowly averted by the king's recovery. Further threats to the monarchy emanated from across the Channel, with the bloody French Revolution of 1789 and subsequent war with France in 1793. War increased taxes and caused food shortages, damaging Pitt's popularity to the extent that he employed bodyguards out of fear for his safety. In a bid to resolve at least one intractable conflict, he pushed through the Act of Union with Ireland in 1800, but the related Emancipation of Catholics Bill was rejected by the king a year later. Having lost George III's confidence, Pitt was left with no option but to resign.
Duke of Portland, Tory, 1783
Earl Shelburne, Whig, 1782 - 1783
Marquess of Rockingham, Whig, 1782
Lord North, Tory, 1770 - 1782
North is chiefly somewhat unfairly remembered as the prime minister who lost the American colonies. Groomed by George III to lead his parliamentary supporters, North was fiercely loyal to his king, whose policy it had been to 'punish' the American colonials. The American War of Independence, reluctantly entered into by both sides, had been prosecuted at the king's behest in retaliation for their refusal to pay more towards their own defence. As hostilities progressed, North's blundering and indecision worsened an already difficult situation, and by 1782 it was clear that the outcome was likely to be a disaster. He begged George III to be allowed to resign, but the king refused to release him until the war was over. North has since become the yardstick for prime ministerial mediocrity, with later PMs being criticised as 'the worst since Lord North'.
Duke of Grafton, Whig, 1768 - 1770
An unremarkable prime minister, Grafton had a quite remarkable appetite for extra-marital affairs and openly kept several mistresses. He scandalised polite society in 1764 by leaving his wife and going to live with his mistress, Anne Parsons, also known as 'Mrs Houghton'. (Horace Walpole referred to her derisively as 'everybody's Mrs Houghton'.) Popular opinion had disapproved of Grafton's behaviour, until his wife did something even more shocking. She eloped with the Earl of Upper Ossory and had a child by him. Grafton divorced her in 1769, then abandoned Mrs Houghton and married Elizabeth Wrottesley, with whom he had 13 children. The Mrs Houghton ended up marrying the king's brother. This unsuitable union gave impetus to the Royal Marriages Act of 1772, which decreed that the monarch had to give permission for all royal weddings.
Earl of Chatham, Pitt 'The Elder', Whig, 1766 - 1768
Pitt 'the Elder' is widely credited as the man who built the British Empire, although much of this was done in the role of secretary of state under the governments of the Duke of Newcastle. He chose his fights carefully, conducting military campaigns where conditions were best suited to British merchants. Pitt added India, West Africa, the West Indies and the American colonies to Britain's overseas possessions, and was persistently belligerent towards colonial rivals like France and Spain. His relentless imperialism kept the merchants happy but infuriated men like Newcastle who counted the financial cost of his wars. Pitt was a superb public speaker and a master of the devastating put-down, but his career was dogged with recurrent mental illness and gout. Ironically, it was during his term as prime minister that he was at his least effective, often struggling to build support. He collapsed in the House of Lords in October 1768 and died four days later. (Pitt was the MP for a 'burgage borough' - an empty piece of land with no-one living on it. His constituency, Old Sarum, was a mound in Wiltshire. On polling day, seven voters met in a tent to cast their votes.)
Marquess of Rockingham, Whig, 1765 - 1766
George Grenville, Whig, 1763 - 1765
Grenville is one of the few prime ministers to have been sacked by the monarch. He was fired after a row with George III over who should rule in his place if his mental health continued to deteriorate.
Earl of Bute, Tory, 1762 - 1763
Bute was one of Britain's more unpopular prime ministers. Things came to a head when he failed to lower the taxes he had raised to fight France in the American colonies. Rioting erupted, his effigies were burnt and the windows in his house were smashed. Bute was generally disliked by colleagues and public, and was lampooned for his 'fine pair of legs', of which he was reputed to be extremely proud. His close relationship with the Prince of Wales's widow, the Dowager Princess Augusta, was also the subject of much scurrilous gossip. The nickname 'Sir Pertinax MacSycophant' was a contemptuous reference to the Roman Emperor Publius Helvius Pertinax, who was murdered three months after his meteoric assent by his own bodyguard. Unable to muster support in parliament, Bute resigned in 1763.
Duke of Newcastle, Whig, 1757 - 1762
Newcastle healed his rift with Pitt 'the Elder' by inviting him to serve in his government as secretary of state. Effectively a power-sharing coalition of two powerful men, the relationship gave birth to the British Empire. Their government eventually fell as a result of the new king, George III's hostility to Pitt, who had sought to restrict the influence of the monarch in political matters.
Duke of Devonshire, Whig, 1756-1757
Duke of Newcastle, Whig, 1754 - 1756
Newcastle became PM after his brother, Henry Pelham, died in office. It is the only instance of two brothers serving as prime minister. Newcastle enraged Pitt 'the Elder' by refusing to promote him in the new government, then compounded the insult by sacking him.
Henry Pelham, Whig, 1743 - 1754
Earl of Wilmington, Whig, 1742 - 1743
Sir Robert Walpole, Whig, 1721 - 1742
Walpole is widely acknowledged as the first prime minister, although he never actually held the title. He was also the longest serving, lasting 21 years. But Walpole's first stint in government, as secretary of war, had ended inauspiciously with a six month spell in the Tower of London for receiving an illegal payment. Undeterred, he rose to power again on the back of a collapsed financial scheme in which many prominent individuals had invested. Walpole had the foresight (or luck) to get out early, and as a result was credited with great financial acumen. George I invited him to become chancellor and gave him the powers that came to be associated with the office of prime minister. His owed his longevity in office (and the incredible wealth he accumulated) to a combination of great personal charm, enduring popularity, sharp practice and startling sycophancy. The accession of George II saw him temporarily eclipsed, but he worked hard to win over the new monarch. He was rewarded with both the new King's trust and 10 Downing Street, which remains the official residence of the prime minister to this day. Walpole was eventually brought down by an election loss at Chippenham and died just three years later.
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Who is the only P.M to have been assassinated? | Spencer Perceval assassinated | History Today
Spencer Perceval assassinated
The only British Prime Minister to be assassinated whilst in office was murdered on May 11th, 1812.
Portrait of Spencer Perceval in 1816 by George Francis Joseph
All that is generally remembered about Spencer Perceval is that he was the only British prime minister ever to be assassinated. By all accounts he was a thoroughly decent, honourable and competent man, but he was cut off in his prime and failed to make any lasting mark. A lawyer, born in London, the younger son of an aristocratic family and educated at Harrow and Cambridge, he became an MP in his thirties in 1796. He was a Tory and a strong supporter of Pitt the Younger and the war against Napoleon. After being solicitor general and attorney general he was appointed chancellor of the exchequer under the Duke of Portland in 1807 following Pitt’s death and became premier himself in 1809.
In his book The Assassination of the Prime Minister David Hanrahan gives a vividly detailed account of that sunny Monday afternoon in May when at about a quarter past five the 49-year-old Spencer Perceval entered the lobby of the House of Commons on his way into the chamber. A man who had been sitting quietly by the fireplace stood up, walked towards the prime minister, took a pistol out of his overcoat and fired it at Perceval, hitting him in the chest. The prime minister staggered and fell, crying out ‘I am murdered!’
There were naturally moments of complete astonishment as the man who had fired the shot walked back to the fireplace and sat down again. He made no attempt to get away as an MP called William Smith (future grandfather of Florence Nightingale) and several others carried the stricken Perceval to the Speaker’s apartments, where they sat him on a table, holding him up. He said nothing more and uttered only a few sounds that Smith described as ‘convulsive sobs’. By the time a doctor arrived Perceval was dead. The pistol ball had struck him in the ribs.
In the lobby meanwhile the murderer was seized and his pistol was taken from him. It turned out that it had been hidden in a specially made pocket in his overcoat. He seemed to be having difficulty breathing and sweat was pouring down his face. A journalist on the scene now remembered seeing him frequently in the visitors’ gallery of the House of Commons asking the identities of members who were speaking, including Cabinet ministers. The man said his name was John Bellingham and he was discovered to have another pistol on him, which was primed and loaded.
After some anxiety about whether Bellingham had accomplices with him who might try to rescue him, on the directions of the Speaker he was taken to the Serjeant at Arms’ quarters to be questioned. He remained surprisingly cool and collected and admitted the killing, but said: ‘I have been denied the redress of my grievances by government; I have been ill-treated. They all know who I am and what I am … I am a most unfortunate man and feel here … sufficient justification for what I have done.’
News of what had happened spread swiftly beyond the Palace of Westminster and there were fears that the murder might set off outbreaks of violence among the lower orders, many of whom were angry about the serious condition of the economy and the war with France. By about eight o’clock, when a coach arrived to take Bellingham to Newgate Prison, a mob had gathered outside and some of them tried to rescue him and had to be forced back by Life Guards. It was not until about midnight that a coach escorted by troops took him to Newgate, where he was put in irons and shut in a cell which was guarded all night. He soon nodded off and spent the rest of the night peacefully asleep.
Perceval left a devoted wife and 12 children. Though he was not remotely the equal of Pitt, one of his political opponents said of him: ‘He is not a ship of the line, but he carries many guns, is tight-built, and is out in all weathers.’ He was buried on May 16th and the Commons voted him a monument in Westminster Abbey and a substantial grant to his wife and family.
John Bellingham was a businessman in his forties, who in 1804 had been falsely imprisoned for debt in Russia. The British embassy would not help him and when he was released in 1809 he returned to England seeking compensation from the British government, which kept turning him down. His sense of grievance mounted to the point where he decided to kill the prime minister. He was tried at the Old Bailey, his lawyer’s plea of insanity was not accepted and he was found guilty. He was hanged at Newgate on May 18th, two days after his victim’s funeral.
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Which British actor starred in the 1975 movie Paper Tiger | The Assassination of the Prime Minister, Spencer Perceval | The Public Domain Review
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The Assassination of the Prime Minister, Spencer Perceval
Only once has a British Prime Minister been assassinated. Two hundred years ago, on the 11th May 1812, John Bellingham shot dead the Rt. Hon. Spencer Perceval as he entered the House of Commons. David C. Hanrahan tells the story.
Illustration of the shooting, artist unknown. (Source: Norris Museum)
On Monday 11 May, 1812, an unremarkable, anonymous man, just over forty years of age, made his way to the Houses of Parliament. The man had become a frequent visitor there over the previous few weeks, sitting in the gallery of the House of Commons and carefully examining the various members of the government through his opera glasses. At 5.00 p.m. on this particular day he walked into the lobby that led to the House of Commons and sat near the fireplace. No-one could have known that he was carrying, concealed on his person, two loaded pistols.
As it was a fine evening Mr. Spencer Perceval, the Tory First Lord of the Treasury, or Prime Minister, had decided to dispense with his carriage and walk from No. 10, Downing Street, to the Houses of Parliament. He arrived there around 5.15pm, entered the building and walked down the corridor towards the lobby entrance to the House of Commons. He handed his coat to the officer positioned outside the doors to the lobby.
As Mr. Perceval entered the lobby a number of people were gathered around in conversation as was the usual practice. Most turned to look at him as he came through the doorway. No-one noticed as the quiet man stood up from beside the fire place, removing a pistol from his inner pocket as he did so. Neither did anyone notice as the man walked calmly towards the Prime Minister. When he was close enough, without saying a word, the man fired his pistol directly at Mr. Perceval’s chest. The Prime Minister staggered forward before falling to the ground, calling out as he did so words that witnesses later recalled in different ways as: “I am murdered!” or ‘Murder, Murder’ or ‘Oh God!’ or ‘Oh my God!’
Amid the confusion, a number of people raised Mr. Perceval from the ground and carried him into the nearby Speaker’s apartments. They placed him in a sitting position on a table, supporting him on either side. Most ominously, the Prime Minister had not uttered a single word since falling on the floor of the lobby, and the only noises to have emanated from him since had been a few pathetic sobs. After a short time Mr. Smith MP, on failing to find any perceptible sign of a pulse, announced his terrible conclusion to the group of stunned onlookers that the Prime Minister was dead.
The Assassination of Spencer Perceval, illustration by Walter Stanley Paget (1861-1908) from Cassell's Illustrated History of England. Vol.5 (1909)
Before long Mr. William Lynn, a surgeon situated at No. 15 Great George Street, arrived on the scene and confirmed that Mr. Smith was indeed correct. The surgeon noted the blood all over the deceased Prime Minister’s coat and white waistcoat. His examination of the body revealed a wound on the left side of the chest over the fourth rib. It was obvious that a rather large pistol ball had entered there. Mr. Lynn probed an instrument into the wound and found that it went downwards and inwards towards the heart. The wound was more than three inches deep. The Prime Minister, who was not yet fifty years of age, left behind a widow, Jane, and twelve children.
In the shock of what had happened, the assassin was almost forgotten. The man had not attempted to escape as he might well have done amid the confusion. Instead, he had returned quietly to his seat beside the fireplace. The identity of the man was revealed as John Bellingham, not a violent radical but a businessman from Liverpool. The details of his story soon began to emerge. As a result of a dispute with some Russian Businessmen, Bellingham had been imprisoned in Russia in 1804 accused of owing a debt. He had been held in various prisons there for the next 5 years. Throughout all of this time he had pleaded with the British authorities for assistance in fighting his cause for justice. He believed that they had not given his case sufficient attention.
Bellingham was finally released from gaol and returned to England in 1809 a very bitter man. He felt deep resentment against the British authorities and immediately set about seeking financial compensation from them for his suffering and loss of business. Once again, however, Bellingham felt that he was being ignored. He petitioned the Foreign Secretary, the Treasury, the Privy Council, the Prime Minister, even the Prince Regent, but all to no avail. No one was willing to hear his case for compensation. Finally, he came to the insane decision that the only way for him to get a hearing in court was to shoot the Prime Minister.
Detail from a painting of The Prime Minister, Spencer Perceval, in the year of his death, 1812, by George Francis Joseph. (Source: National Portrait Gallery)
On the Friday following the assassination of the Prime Minister, John Bellingham did indeed get his day in court, but only to answer a charge of murder. His trial took place in a packed court room at the Old Bailey, presided over by Sir James Mansfield, the Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. The tall, thin Bellingham came before the court wearing dark nankeen trousers, a yellow waistcoat with black stripes and a brown greatcoat. The members of his defence team first attempted to get the trial postponed on the grounds that they had not been given sufficient time to prepare for the case. Mr. Peter Alley, Bellingham’s chief counsel, told the court that he had only been given the case the day before and that he had never even met Mr. Bellingham until that very day. He asserted that given adequate time, in particular to find medical experts and witnesses in Liverpool who knew Mr. Bellingham personally, he was confident he could prove his client to be insane. The Attorney General, Sir Vicary Gibbs, on behalf of the prosecution, argued vehemently against any such postponement. Ultimately Mr. Allen’s request was unsuccessful and the trial proceeded.
The Attorney General set about dismantling the reason Bellingham had given as justification for his heinous act by arguing that the Government had been aware of what had happened to him in Russia, had examined his claims and had rejected them. He also rejected any notion that Bellingham was insane. He said that Bellingham had been well able to conduct his business and had been trusted by other to conduct theirs without any hint of insanity on his behalf.
Titlepage from the pamphlet 'The Trial of John Bellingham for the Wilful murder of the Right Hon. Spencer Perceval, in the lobby of the House of Commons' (Source: National Library of Medicine)
When his time came to speak, Bellingham continued to base his defence upon what had happened to him in Russia: his unjust arrest for a debt he did not owe and the failure of the British Government to assist at that time and since. Before outlining the details of his experience in Russia, he stated that he was pleased the judge had not accepted his counsel’s arguments alleging his insanity. He made it clear that although he believed what he had done to be necessary and justified, he bore Mr. Perceval or his family no personal malice:
Gentlemen, as to the lamentable catastrophe for which I am now on my trial before this court, if I am the man that I am supposed to be, to go and deliberately shoot Mr. Perceval without malice, I should consider myself a monster, and not fit to live in this world or the next. The learned Attorney General has candidly stated to you, that till this fatal time of this catastrophe, which I heartily regret, no man more so, not even one of the family of Mr. Perceval, I had no personal or premeditated malice towards that gentleman; the unfortunate lot had fallen upon him as the leading member of that administration which had repeatedly refused me any reparation for the unparalleled injuries I had sustained in Russia for eight years with the cognizance and sanction of the minister of the country at the court of St. Petersburg.
Bellingham was clear about where he felt the blame lay for Spencer Perceval’s death:
A refusal of justice was the sole cause of this fatal catastrophe; his Majesty’s ministers have now to reflect upon their conduct for what has happened. . . . Mr. Perceval has unfortunately fallen the victim of my desperate resolution. No man, I am sure, laments the calamitous event more than I do.
In the end, of course, his arguments for justification had no influence upon a judge and jury shocked by his horrific murder of the Prime Minister. The Lord Chief Justice even became openly emotional and began to cry at one point during his statement to the jury:
Gentlemen of the jury, you are now to try an indictment which charges the prisoner at the bar with the wilful murder . . . of Mr. Spencer Perceval, . . . who was murdered with a pistol loaded with a bullet; . . . a man so dear, and so revered as that of Mr. Spencer Perceval, I find it difficult to suppress my feelings.
He dismissed any idea that Bellingham might have been insane at the time of committing the crime:
. . . there was no proof adduced to show that his understanding was so deranged, as not to enable him to know that murder was a crime. On the contrary, the testimony adduced in his defence, has most distinctly proved, from a description of his general demeanour, that he was in every respect a full and competent judge of all his actions.
In such circumstances it is no surprise that John Bellingham was found guilty of Spencer Perceval’s murder by a jury that took only fourteen minutes to reach a verdict. On the following Monday he was executed and his body sent for dissection to St. Bartholomew’s hospital. He is remembered in history as the only assassin ever of a British Prime Minister.
Following his execution John Bellingham's skull became the subject of research for phrenologists, representing the head of a destructive personality. Shown here is a comparison of Bellingham's skull with that of a 'Hindoo', from A System of Phrenology (1834) by George Combe
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How many Quires make up a Ream | Ream | Define Ream at Dictionary.com
C19: perhaps from C14 remen to open up, from Old English rӯman to widen
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for ream
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n.
measure of paper, mid-14c., from Old French reyme, from Spanish resma, from Arabic rizmah "bundle" (of paper), from rasama "collect into a bundle." The Moors brought manufacture of cotton paper to Spain.
Early variant rym (late 15c.) suggests a Dutch influence (cf. Dutch riem), probably borrowed from Spanish during the time of Hapsburg control of Holland. For ordinary writing paper, 20 quires of 24 sheets each, or 480 sheets; often 500 or more to allow for waste; slightly different numbers for drawing or printing paper.
"cream" (obsolete), Old English ream, from Proto-Germanic *raumoz (cf. Middle Dutch and Dutch room, German Rahm), of uncertain origin.
v.
"to enlarge a hole," 1815, probably a southwest England dialectal survival from Middle English reme "to make room, open up," from Old English ryman "widen, extend, enlarge," from Proto-Germanic *rumijanan (cf. Old Saxon rumian, Old Norse ryma, Old Frisian rema, Old High German rumen "to make room, widen"), from *rumaz "spacious" (see room (n.)). Slang meaning "to cheat, swindle" first recorded 1914; anal sex sense is from 1942. To ream (someone) out "scold, reprimand" is recorded from 1950.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Slang definitions & phrases for ream
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ream
verb
(also rim) To cheat; swindle, esp by unfair business practice; screw : A new technique for reaming the customers (1914+)
(also ream out) To rebuke harshly; bawl someone out , chew someone out : I've seen him just ream guys out for not getting the job done (WWII armed forces)
(also rim) To stimulate the anus, either orally or with the penis (1942+ Homosexuals)
The Dictionary of American Slang, Fourth Edition by Barbara Ann Kipfer, PhD. and Robert L. Chapman, Ph.D.
Copyright (C) 2007 by HarperCollins Publishers.
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On which horse did Tony McCoy win the 2010 Grand National on his 15th attempt? | How many sheets of paper can be produced from a single tree? | HowStuffWorks
How many sheets of paper can be produced from a single tree?
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It is probably hard to get an exact number, but here is how I would start answer to this question: First, we have to define what a "tree" is. Is it a giant redwood tree or a little weeping willow? Most paper is made from pine trees, so I went out in the woods and looked at some pines.
Most are about 1 foot in diameter and 60 feet tall. Ignoring taper, that's about 81,430 cubic inches of wood:
Learn More
3.14 * 62 * (60 * 12) = 81,430
3.14 * 62 * (60 * 12) = 81,430
I have a 2x4-foot piece of lumber in the backyard. It weighs about 10 pounds and contains 504 cubic inches of wood. That means a pine tree weighs roughly 1,610 pounds (81430/504 * 10).
I know that in manufacturing paper, the wood is turned into pulp. The yield is about 50 percent -- about half of the tree is knots, lignin and other stuff that is no good for paper. So that means a pine tree yields about 805 pounds of paper. I have a ream of paper for a photocopier here and it weighs about 5 pounds and contains 500 sheets (you often see paper described as "20-pound stock" or "24-pound stock" -- that is the weight of 500 sheets of 17" x 22" paper). So, using these measurements, a tree would produce (805/5 * 500) 80,500 sheets of paper.
These are all fairly rough estimations, and I weighed things on a bathroom scale , but you get the general idea. See the next page for learn more.
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Which team won the Aviva Premiership (rugby union) in 2009/10? | Aviva Premiership | LineoutCoach.com
Aviva Premiership
Aviva Premiership – English rugby at its best!
Aviva Premiership: English Premiership
The top 12 professional rugby teams in English Rugby Union compete in the English Premiership, or the Aviva Premiership as it is currently known.The teams play each other twice, home and away, whilst also competing in the European Club competitions.
Aviva Premiership: Sponsors
The league has had a number of sponsors over the years – Courage League 87/88, 96/97, Allied Dunbar Premiership 97/98, 99/00, Zurich Premiership 00/01, 04/05, Guiness Premiership 05/06, 09/10. The current sponsors are Aviva.
Aviva Premiership: Scoring
The points system keeps the tension building with the final places often not being determined until the final day. Teams get 4 points for a win and 2 for a draw. However a team that scores 4 or more tries gets a bonus point and a team that loses by only one score i.e. 7 points also gets a point so good performances get teams their reward.
Aviva Premiership: Season
The Aviva Premiership season starts in September and when each team has completed their 22 matches, the four top teams in the league compete in a play-off for the title to see who is crowned champions at Twickenham Stadium in May.
Aviva Premiership: Relegation
At the end of the season, the lowest place team drops down to the RFU Championship previously know as the National Division One and the winner of the lower tier league play-off is promoted into their place.
Aviva Premiership: Play-off
Top of table until 2000 was enough to gain you the title. The play-offs were introduced in the 2000-2001 season and the Leicester Tigers, who had won the previous years title, picked up where they left off with a win.
Aviva Premiership: Attendance figures
The sport is growing in popularity with attendance figures showing a steep increase in recent years. The last four finalshave been watched by crowds of more than 80,000. The 2011 final between Saracens and Leicester Tigers drew over 80,000 to Twickenham to see the St Albans side win their first title.
The Saracens again proved a big draw when they played Harlequins in the 2011/12 Aviva Premiership . This top of the table clash was watched by over 83,000 fans – a new record for Premiership rugby games .
Aviva Premiership Winners
Leicester Tigers are the most successful rugby team in Premiership history with nine titles. They have dominated the league winning both pre and post play-off titles and continue to deliver for their loyal Welford Road fans.
Season
| Leicester Tigers |
Who won the 2010 French Open Women's Singles final in June? | Aviva Premiership | LineoutCoach.com
Aviva Premiership
Aviva Premiership – English rugby at its best!
Aviva Premiership: English Premiership
The top 12 professional rugby teams in English Rugby Union compete in the English Premiership, or the Aviva Premiership as it is currently known.The teams play each other twice, home and away, whilst also competing in the European Club competitions.
Aviva Premiership: Sponsors
The league has had a number of sponsors over the years – Courage League 87/88, 96/97, Allied Dunbar Premiership 97/98, 99/00, Zurich Premiership 00/01, 04/05, Guiness Premiership 05/06, 09/10. The current sponsors are Aviva.
Aviva Premiership: Scoring
The points system keeps the tension building with the final places often not being determined until the final day. Teams get 4 points for a win and 2 for a draw. However a team that scores 4 or more tries gets a bonus point and a team that loses by only one score i.e. 7 points also gets a point so good performances get teams their reward.
Aviva Premiership: Season
The Aviva Premiership season starts in September and when each team has completed their 22 matches, the four top teams in the league compete in a play-off for the title to see who is crowned champions at Twickenham Stadium in May.
Aviva Premiership: Relegation
At the end of the season, the lowest place team drops down to the RFU Championship previously know as the National Division One and the winner of the lower tier league play-off is promoted into their place.
Aviva Premiership: Play-off
Top of table until 2000 was enough to gain you the title. The play-offs were introduced in the 2000-2001 season and the Leicester Tigers, who had won the previous years title, picked up where they left off with a win.
Aviva Premiership: Attendance figures
The sport is growing in popularity with attendance figures showing a steep increase in recent years. The last four finalshave been watched by crowds of more than 80,000. The 2011 final between Saracens and Leicester Tigers drew over 80,000 to Twickenham to see the St Albans side win their first title.
The Saracens again proved a big draw when they played Harlequins in the 2011/12 Aviva Premiership . This top of the table clash was watched by over 83,000 fans – a new record for Premiership rugby games .
Aviva Premiership Winners
Leicester Tigers are the most successful rugby team in Premiership history with nine titles. They have dominated the league winning both pre and post play-off titles and continue to deliver for their loyal Welford Road fans.
Season
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