Laven'gro - Ireland

As a young man with time on his hands George Borrow went for wanders through the bogs round Templemore, Tipperary.  His father is stationed at the Barracks. 

Once called Richmond Barracks, it is now McCan Barracks, named after Piece McCan, an Irish freedom fighter who died on hunger strike in 1919.  During the first world war the barracks was used to house Prussian guardsmen prisoners.

George visited his brother and met Jerry Grant, a notorious outlaw on the way.  He notice that Jerry have a gash on his face, and learnt that his brothers friend Bagg had inflicted it trying to apprehend him earlier that day (as he had a £100 price on his head).  He failed and all put this down to Jerry being 'a fairy man'.. 

He was given a cob and with it visited Devil's Bit, a local hill (with a giant bite taken out of it).  Also Cully or Ryan Castle, where he met a old woman living in the ruins. He reports being able to see Crag of Cashel from his window.

Ryan Castle

Crag of Cashel

Selinon - Celariac

Celeriac- related to Celery and Celery leaves (similar to parsley).

Celeriac

Celery

Celery Leaves

As mentioned in BBC gardeners question time (28.02.20) as a good exotic vegetable to put into the 'Other Vegetable' category at Worplesden Village show.

Referred to in Homer's Odyssey as Selinon (though 'referred to', is all I can get from numerous sources.)

Celeriac- apparently an important ingredient in Puerto Rican Cooking. 

Parsley, carrot, parsnip, celeriac, anise, fennel, licorice, are all happy together. 

Fine pictures with
 thanks to Wikipedia

Greek Coins from 500-400 BC with images of Celery

Laven'gro

Which means 'wordsmith'- in Romani Gypsy, as defined by George Henry Borrow (1803-1881) in his book by that name.  And it is his gypsy name, given to him in Norwich by Jasper, his friend.  Before this he was given the name Sap-engro, or snake handler.

As a young child Borrows visits the Ossuary in the crypt of St Leonard's church Hythe.  This Crypt is unique in England as it contains over 1500 bodies in the form of bones.  At Barrow's time it was thought that the bones were from viking raiders, washed up on the beaches.  Recent analysis points to some being roman.

As a child, with a military father, Borrow also lived near and describes  Norman Cross, a Napoleonic Prison near to Peterborough, where some 6000 prisoners were kept in terrible conditions, fed rotting meat, and eventually released in 1814, after Napoleon was finally brought low.  There is a memorial post and the wardens house left to see today.  The camp towers and huts were apparently sold for firewood.  Also the imprint of the camp as seen from the air.

Imprint of the camp next to A1 (M)

Two miles from Norman Cross was Whittlesea Mere, a large 6 mile x 4 mile lake.  Borrow talks about meeting gypsies by the lake as a small child.  In 1846 the lake was drained using steam pumps and long ditches to the sea.  In the lake was found treasure (probably)from Ramsey Abbey, and some stone work that may have been lost overboard on a barge crossing the mere.  The treasures may have been deliberately through into the sea to save it from apostate oblivion.

Ramsey Abbey Gate House (NT)

Censor

Boat

17th Century Map with Whittlesea Mere drawn

Problematic dearest Mr Boffin

Apparently in its day, Dickens' final complete story, 'Our Mutual Friend' was criticised by his public.

Positives and Negatives


Mr Twemlow takes some pills for indigestion.  Did he take the famous pill that was to be found in every Victorian handbag produced by the company of Richard Holloway, and lead to him acquiring such a fortune that he set up the young ladies college called Royal Hollway College London?

Contemporary readers were doubtful that Mr and Mrs Boffin could pull off such a confidence trick, by pretending that Mr Boffin had become 'spoilt' by money and become a miser.  Me too.  John was clearly a skilled actor, but not the Boffins.

The story is typical of Dickens.  The female characters are well described but all pure and blameless innocents.  There is a terrible infantilisation in their relationships with men, in both directions.  It's pretty sickening.

The great use of the wonderful word 'Mendicent'.  Mrs Wilfer attaches this word to  John Rokespeare.  I enjoyed its presence in the story.

How on earth can John Harman get married on a false name and that not be a criminal offence?  There is some indication that the deceptions is paid off with a large some of money, so the story indeed presents a very confusing message.  Money is both bad, and corrosive, and also wonderful, deceitful and gets you what you want.  Ultimately required for a happy ending.

As already commented, I have enjoyed getting to know a fellow dustman.

Apparently it is thought that Mr Ria is presented as a saintly Jew, in reaction to the criticism Dickens received with regards to Fagin in Oliver Twist.  This story is stuffed full of stereotypes, that might be typical of it's day.  Jenny Wren is never going to get far as a disabled woman, but her character is strong.

Adam Sedgewick- You have done a great thing

Skeleton made of of half a male and
half a female pelvic bone

A Hippo that once wallowed in the river Cam.

Aurochs,  a now extinct cow- neighbour to the hippo.

Cambridge resident of old

Arctic dwarf birch - Betula nana extant
From the basin bogs on the Roches Moutonnes
Arviksand, Arnoy, Norway.

Faringdon always features in geological museums

Fossilised wasps nests?- Volcanic ash?  It's an extinct order of sea plant
 I read, and I liked the name.

To Craig with Joanna and Margaret

High along a coastal path we came,

Views stretched out across the bay.

A shining grey sky melding with the restless sea.

I take a mental picture of a rock, a sculpture,

Set before us as if precisely placed.  

I see it falling, thousands of years ago,

Through ice, now set in a perfect pool of light.

To Craig, the candle-lit bothy, domain of the midge.

Our Dutch hosteler took us down to the bay,

Where since the dawn of time,
From boats, overboard were thrown sacks of coal,

Onto the beach at high tide.

Together we reclaim them from the sea,

Gleefully dragging them up the bank,

To warm the mildest summer evening. 

In Lower Diabaig were heard Gallic spoken. 

View of Skye- with Joanna Beckitt (nee Burnet-Stuart) and Margaret

Essay on Socialism

Thoughts inspired by listening to "In Our Time - George Sand"

The natural default for our society is a return to the Attenborough documentary on the life of chimpanzees in Senegal.  The dominant male holds power over his troupe.  The reward is glorious, while it lasts.  From time to time this leads to war.  When the boss is deposed he is discarded, a damaged and expended force, and he knows it.

Human's have flirted with different systems over the millennia, but the dominant system around the world appears to continue to be provided by the Chimps.

Three new factors present themselves offering support for change:-
1) The impact of climate change on the poor (at the point when it starts to affect the rich).
2) World population growth.
3) The futility of war. (see Harari 2018- '21 lessons for the 21st Century')

Are we prepared to stand by and watch the poor suffer and die in large numbers?
World systems have created a process of appeasement whereby the poor are kept (just) alive in camps.  This follows the tradition of the workhouse, transportation and the gulag.  Can the rich West inoculate itself to contain the slow whelps of death?  What if the poor were given power?  Would they reek revenge?

World population growth has resulted in the estimate that only 6% of animals now on earth being defined as 'wild'.  All others are either human, or domesticated.  Like the book 'Cutting down the last tree on Christmas Island by Weiss (2013)' we are confronted with the knowledge that our resources are reacting a limit.  'Slash and Burn' is at an end (of trees).

The forces that perpetuate this decent to oblivion are:-
1) Poverty and desperation for survival.  "Why think of tomorrow when today is at an end."
2) Greed.  Capitalism says 'if I don't do it, someone else will, (and I can do it more compassionately way, so let me do it.)"
3) Habit.  It is very difficult to change thoughts and behaviours that are collective.

Systems that work are:-
1) International.  The whole system is interlinked.  For me to be rich, by definition I need the poor.  If I do not acknowledge this paradox I am lost. "No one earned a Million dollars legally" said William Jennings Bryan.
2) Cooperative.  This is mutually reinforcing back scratching.  If it works for me, I ensure that it works for you.  We retain a eye on the shared goal.  'Cooperative' is also suspicious.  It's like the fact that we spend more money spying on our friends than our enemies.
3) Self correcting.  "Movements become Monuments."  We need a system that moderates the power that flows through the system.

An Example
The famous 1995 Ayres and Seigalman car bargaining experiment illustrated institutional racism and sexism in America.  They showed that a number of factor, the main one being 'risk economics', resulted in black men paying 100's of dollars more for cars than white men.  The question that I was left with was ' Of all the participants in this experiment, who might be most motivated to change the system?  The answer is the black men.  When the weakest components of the system are given some balancing powers, the system is likely to correct.  This is the principle see when Afghani women police officers are issued with guns, or in the book 'The Power'.

It can be argued that the status of women has change globally just as most industrial and agricultural processes have become mechanised, and war is conducted with technology, rather than brute force.


The principles of change remain

• Liberte Egalite Fraternite
• Moderation of Power-  Where there is power, it is accompanied by the abuse of power.
• The elimination of the necessity of 'charity' (and interestingly 'Social Work'). 

Charity is a curious concept.  A bit like the word 'Anger', which is neutral, but generally  perceived as bad, Charity is generally perceived as 'good'.

"We will always have the poor."

The burglar returns food stolen from the larder and is cheered by the masses.

A position of 'Charity' is a powerful position, one which is self-righteously re-enforced- it feels good.

In the West we send our children to school and grumble that we receive begging letters asking for money to pay for the books.  In some African countries children write letters to their generous 'patrons' to tell then what good deeds they are doing.  What if we in the West had to pressurise our children to write to wealthy Chinese or Arab sponsors to tell them how grateful they are for their lessons and their school uniforms?

Frantz Fanon, in his book The Psychology of Oppression, describes the three tools of colonial oppression as Factors, Gunpowder and Alcohol.
Factors are the 'inbetween people' who moderate colonial power and blur it's boundaries.
Gunpowder is the ultimate willingness to use lethal force
Alcohol is used to 'blunt the edge of the knife' to make it largely ineffective. (It is 'the opium of the people, and Marx put it of a different force for appeasement.)

What do we do?

1) SureStart- A universal service that sees the first few years of a child's life as essential to their happiness and wellbeing.
2) Every school' a school I would be willing for my child to go to'.
3) Minimise the power and influence of the private sector.  The private sector divides society and creates difference.
4) Minimise the power of multinationals to hold political power over government.
5) Create consensus such as the 'City of Sanctuary' model.  Here common sense and decency prevails.  No one can disagree, though privately curse through gritted teeth.  Do we really want to offer humanity to asylum seekers?  They might come to us in numbers, and then what would we do?
6) Committees of common sense.  In Leicester the buses compete with each other, running the same routes to out do the others.  Our committee will organise transport to be convenient for the people, and ensure that our seas are not polluted, because it is cheaper to pay the fines than fix the problem.

Hardwick Hall

The fine entrance- closed at 7:30 this morning.

View over the wall

ES - From the side

A haystack?

Lady Ann's picture of the Old Hall - better than mine

Later in Sheffield

In the Botanical Gardens after church

Alligator

 'Hush! here's Wegg!' said Venus. 'Get behind the young alligator in the corner, Mr Boffin, and judge him for yourself. I won't light a candle till he's gone; there'll only be the glow of the fire; Wegg's well acquainted with the alligator, and he won't take particular notice of him. Draw your legs in, Mr Boffin, at present I see a pair of shoes at the end of his tail. Get your head well behind his smile, Mr Boffin, and you'll lie comfortable there; you'll find plenty of room behind his smile. He's a little dusty, but he's very like you in tone. Are you right, sir?' Mr Boffin had but whispered an affirmative response, when Wegg came stumping in. 'Partner,' said that gentleman in a sprightly manner, 'how's yourself?' 'Tolerable,' returned Mr Venus. 'Not much to boast of.'

It reminded me of Brno Town Hall

The Dragon, hanging from the Ceiling.

Follow up the river

In those pleasant little towns on Thames, you may hear the fall of the water over the weirs, or even, in still weather, the rustle of the rushes; and from the bridge you may see the young river, dimpled like a young child, playfully gliding away among the trees, unpolluted by the defilements that lie in wait for it on its course, and as yet out of hearing of the deep summons of the sea. 

Life as a river - Betty Higdon walks from London to Staines along the River Thames.

Sirens

Inverted, suspended, in a sack of warm pee,
Blissfully unaware of what's happening to me.
Tightening shackles through the muffled gloom,
Dimly spied futures from the fog of the womb.

Drawn into focus then just overshot, 
Close to perfection then uncomfortably hot.
Time unrelenting, water flows to sea, 
Done can't be undone with Pandora's key.

Perfect hope launched from day number one, 
Descends rapidly as down a ski run.
Constraining influences draw focus away, 
Golden horizons to feet made of clay.

In Eden I met a naked watch maker, 
Then waves of contractions prove a breaker. 
My intention that we should never be parted,
But turning away, we're now broken hearted. 






  

My Great-Grandfather's a Dustman...

The Golden Dustman, Nicodemus Boffin, in Our Mutual Friend reminds me that my grandmother's father had a Thames barge, and took rubbish from the Thames area round the Isle of Grain, into the Medway, to be dumped on the fields of Kent.

A Thames barge moored on the Medway in Rochester

A Barge in full sail.

Temple House, a 13th Century Knights Templer hostel
that in late Victorian times was used as accommodation for
Captains of Thames barges, including my grandmothers family.

But Victorian rubbish was something else.  Initially people were paid to remove rubbish.  Then it was realised that 'where there's muck...' and companies bought contracts to collect from London Boroughs.  The dust was the coal ash swept from 1000's of grates.  The sand left from burnt coal was used to make bricks.  In Leicester a whole estate was made from this sand.  The houses were called the Boot houses, after Henry Boot, the builder.  After fifty years all the bricks spontaneously decomposed at the same time and a whole estate had to be rebuilt.

Victorian rubbish contained no plastics.  Ashes, organic matter (including bones) and rags where the treasure.  (The dustman competed with the 'Rag and Bone' man.)  Anything burnable would have be put on the fire, so no paper or wood would be collected.  Because it's such an effort to remove rubbish, the dust piles featured in 'Our Mutual Friend' would have been a common sight.  As were dung heaps.

The Smog

It was a foggy day in London, and the fog was heavy and dark. Animate London, with smarting eyes and irritated lungs, was blinking, wheezing, and choking; inanimate London was a sooty spectre, divided in purpose between being visible and invisible, and so being wholly neither. Gaslights flared in the shops with a haggard and unblest air, as knowing themselves to be night-creatures that had no business abroad under the sun; while the sun itself when it was for a few moments dimly indicated through circling eddies of fog, showed as if it had gone out and were collapsing flat and cold. Even in the surrounding country it was a foggy day, but there the fog was grey, whereas in London it was, at about the boundary line, dark yellow, and a little within it brown, and then browner, and then browner, until at the heart of the City—which call Saint Mary Axe—it was rusty-black. From any point of the high ridge of land northward, it might have been discerned that the loftiest buildings made an occasional struggle to get their heads above the foggy sea, and especially that the great dome of Saint Paul's seemed to die hard; but this was not perceivable in the streets at their feet, where the whole metropolis was a heap of vapour charged with muffled sound of wheels, and enfolding a gigantic catarrh.

The Denial

'Eugene,' resumed Mortimer, disregarding the light interruption, and laying a hand upon Eugene's shoulder, as he, Mortimer, stood before him seated on his bed, 'you are withholding something from me.' Eugene looked at him, but said nothing. 'All this past summer, you have been withholding something from me. Before we entered on our boating vacation, you were as bent upon it as I have seen you upon anything since we first rowed together. But you cared very little for it when it came, often found it a tie and a drag upon you, and were constantly away. Now it was well enough half-a-dozen times, a dozen times, twenty times, to say to me in your own odd manner, which I know so well and like so much, that your disappearances were precautions against our boring one another; but of course after a short while I began to know that they covered something. I don't ask what it is, as you have not told me; but the fact is so. Say, is it not?'

 'I give you my word of honour, Mortimer,' returned Eugene, after a serious pause of a few moments, 'that I don't know.' 'Don't know, Eugene?' 'Upon my soul, don't know. I know less about myself than about most people in the world, and I don't know.' 'You have some design in your mind?' 'Have I? I don't think I have.' 'At any rate, you have some subject of interest there which used not to be there?' 'I really can't say,' replied Eugene, shaking his head blankly, after pausing again to reconsider. 'At times I have thought yes; at other times I have thought no. Now, I have been inclined to pursue such a subject; now I have felt that it was absurd, and that it tired and embarrassed me. Absolutely, I can't say. Frankly and faithfully, I would if I could.' So replying, he clapped a hand, in his turn, on his friend's shoulder, as he rose from his seat upon the bed, 

Mortimer notices something is up with his flatmate and Friend Eugene, who declines to tell him that he has dubious designs on the fair innocent Lizzie.  - Our Mutual Friend- C Dickens.

Armenian: Եռագոյն (Yeřagoyn)

• Armenian territory was divided between the Iranian and Byzantine Empires in AD387. (cf Poland in 1939)
• Armenia once bordered Caucasian Albania- Confusing- No known link with Adriatic Albania.
•  The Armenian architect Trdat help with the repair of the dome of Hagia Sophia in AD989, following a devastating earthquake.
• Levon V, the last king of Cilician Armenia was exiled to France and when he died in 1393, was buried in the Cathedral of St Denis, Paris.
• Was Armenia saved by it's language and script, much like Czechia?Attributed to St Mesrop Mashtotz in the early 5th C.

Armenian Cathedral of St John the Baptist,
Rue Jean-Goujon, Paris.

The Armenian flag made a subtle change after independence from the USSR.  The bottom strip became orange (again- this flag flew for three years from 1818 during the first republic).

Flag from 1952 to 1990

Flag adopted 24 August 1990