Month: December 2022

English language

Harold Pinter

Londoner Harold Pinter (1930-2008), writer for stage, screen and print, actor and director, was awarded the 2005 Nobel Prize in Literature. This […]

Londoner Harold Pinter (1930-2008), writer for stage, screen and print, actor and director, was awarded the 2005 Nobel Prize in Literature. This was one of many accolades, including the Hermann Kesten Medallion “for outstanding commitment on behalf of persecuted and imprisoned writers” in 2001, highlighting his political activism. Indeed, his Nobel acceptance speech was devoted to a sharp criticism of the USA’s foreign incursions post-WW2.

After the briefest of training, Pinter set out as a repertory actor touring the British Isles in 1948-59 but by 1956 he had started writing his own plays. His first full-length play, ‘The Birthday Party’ (1957), was too avant-garde for theatre-goers at the time and it closed after one week. However, its elements of unnerving mood, enigmatic symbolism and speech-silence patterns created a kind of poetic ‘performance art’ which was characteristic of Pinter’s future work and gave rise to the adjective ‘Pinteresque’.

Pinter wrote 29 plays, had 17 screenplays filmed, including ‘The French Lieutenant’s Woman’ (1980) and directed 27 productions. Pinter’s revolutionary style left the audience hanging on every word in an intriguing, haunting, open-ended fragment instead of a complete story with unnaturally eloquent, explanatory dialogue. He is thereby regarded as having pioneered the ‘modern drama’ genre, to which ‘thought-provoking’ is a commonly applied description.

(Top images LtoR:- portrait by Justin Mortimer: El Bingle at Flickr.com / CC BY-NC 2.0 & London’s Harold Pinter Theatre: Tony Hisgett at Flickr.com / CC BY 2.0)

29/12/2022
3 min
2 years
233 words

Discoveries

Neutrons

Mathematician and physicist Sir James Chadwick (1891-1974) from Cheshire discovered the third type of sub-atomic particle, namely neutrons, for which he received […]

Mathematician and physicist Sir James Chadwick (1891-1974) from Cheshire discovered the third type of sub-atomic particle, namely neutrons, for which he received the 1935 Nobel Prize in Physics. Negatively charged electrons had been found in 1897 by Sir J.J. Thomson (1856-1940) and positively charged protons in 1919 by Lord Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937). Chadwick was both a student and, subsequently, research associate of Rutherford and, for over a decade, resolutely explored Rutherford’s suggestion that there must be a neutral, uncharged particle as well, to make up the known atomic number and weight.

The technology was not sufficiently advanced to prove this until 1932, by which time cloud chambers and particle accelerators had been developed at the University of Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory ~ home at one time or another to all three of Thomson, Rutherford and Chadwick.

Chadwick was able to set up an experiment to bombard the element beryllium with alpha particles and break it apart to observe the scattered protons’ velocity. He calculated the properties of neutral rays sailing on regardless through various types of barrier and concluded that they were the neutrons, with atomic mass almost identical to that of protons. This was a key moment in the new field of nuclear science, for good and bad.

(Images: photos Public Domain & Rutherford-Bohr atomic model: nshepheard at Flickr.com / CC BY-SA 2.0)

27/12/2022
3 min
2 years
219 words

Culture

Gretna Green

“We two matched for mating Came, handclasped, at last, Where the blacksmith was waiting To fetter us fast . . .” (Edith […]

“We two matched for mating
Came, handclasped, at last,
Where the blacksmith was waiting
To fetter us fast . . .” (Edith Nesbit (1858-1924))

From the poem ‘Gretna Green‘, these lines depict a love-struck couple who impetuously rush to Gretna Green’s famous blacksmith’s shop to be married. In fact, many thousands of ‘anvil’ weddings took place, so called because in old Scottish law neither a clergyman nor parental consent were required ~ just two people to witness the lovers’ declarations ~ and the blacksmith would simply strike his anvil and announce the deed done. Though rare, girls as young as 12 and boys of 14 could marry in Scotland until 1929.

By 1753 the problem of bigamy (divorce being very difficult to obtain) and reckless wedlock by teenagers, was such that an Act for the Better Prevention of Clandestine Marriages was passed in England. This stipulated that weddings could only take place on Church of England premises with the Banns read out three Sundays beforehand. If the betrothed were aged under 21, parents could refuse permission.

So it was that impassioned couples hit on the idea of eloping north to Scotland, by stagecoach or train, often hotly pursued by infuriated relatives. Today, Gretna Green remains a romantic location for many weddings.

*Map showing (lower left) proximity (10 miles) of Scottish Gretna to English Carlisle: Paul wts.wikivoyage at Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 1.0*

(Top image: Milivojevic at pixnio.com)

18/12/2022
3 min
2 years
229 words

Celebrations & Holidays

Fêtes, fairs and fayres

Medieval fairs were travelling or occasional marketplaces for traders, with a few refreshment stalls on the periphery. In the 18th and 19th […]

Medieval fairs were travelling or occasional marketplaces for traders, with a few refreshment stalls on the periphery. In the 18th and 19th centuries, markets became more permanently housed and fairs gradually evolved into events where a variety of games, entertainments and trinkets could be had for the amusement of the working man and woman in their few hours of leisure time.

Fairs have since developed in two ways ~ one commercial, with mechanised rides (funfairs), the other amateur, raising money for good causes and charities. A fair of this kind may also be called by the French word fête (with the anglicised pronunciation, ‘fate’) or spelled ‘fayre‘ if a traditional feel is sought. Schools, churches, community centres, Guides, Scouts or any type of voluntary organisation or group that needs to raise extra funds will generally have a fête/fair/fayre at the top of their ideas list, with summer and Christmas being the favourite times of the year in which to hold them.

The cake stall is always the first to sell out! The tombola and the Lucky Dip both guarantee a prize, by ticket or blind grab respectively. Then there’s the face painting, crafts, guess-the-number-of-sweets-in-the-jar, raffle, dance displays, bouncy castle, welly wanging……

(Image of church summer fète: Ron Adams at Flickr.com / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

16/12/2022
3 min
2 years
218 words

Basic principles / Law

The right of peaceful assembly

Large crowds are desirable for a ticketed or invitation event or meeting, but the right of peaceful assembly, as enshrined in British […]

Large crowds are desirable for a ticketed or invitation event or meeting, but the right of peaceful assembly, as enshrined in British and international law, is really aimed at safeguarding and controlling outdoor protests and marches. Crowd size is only ever an estimate and there is always a discrepancy between reports by organisers (high numbers) and police (lower numbers), but perhaps the biggest protest, or peaceful assembly, of this century so far was against the war in Iraq in 2003 with 750,000-1,200,000 participants.

All of the big protests take place in London. Trafalgar Square and Parliament Square Gardens are the top venues and consequently have additional rules. In general, the Public Order Act of 1986 stipulates that six days’ written notice must be given by organisers to police, who can impose conditions for the sake of others’ safety. This Act came about after the miners’ strike of 1984-5 when police were attacked on the picket line, and it prohibits rioting, affray and violent disorder.

The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act of 2022 affirms police powers such as ordering the reduction of noise levels and halting or restricting demonstrations that are disproportionately disruptive to the public, e.g. blocking a busy road for hours on end.

(Image of another anti-war protest in London in 2007: David Martyn Hunt at Flickr.com / CC BY 2.0)

11/12/2022
3 min
2 years
219 words

Sport

English billiards

Cleopatra: “Let it alone. Let’s to billiards. Come, Charmian.” ~ from Shakespeare’s ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ (1606) This shows not only that the […]

Cleopatra: “Let it alone. Let’s to billiards. Come, Charmian.” ~ from Shakespeare’s ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ (1606)

This shows not only that the French game of billiards was known in Britain (London, anyway) at least 400 years ago, but also that it was played by both genders as a genteel pastime. It began as an indoor table-top version of croquet (hence the green cloth) and, as the game became popular in upper-class circles, it presented another outlet in which furniture-makers could show their creativity in table design.

English billiards, the forerunner to snooker and played on the same size table, came about in the 18th century alongside the evolution of the game’s accessories ~ cues replaced maces, the hoops disappeared and there were two cue balls and one red object ball ~ and amendments to the rules ~ points could be scored by hitting the opponent’s cue ball and the object ball in the same shot (called a ‘cannon’) as well as by pocketing a ball. The French continued with pocketless tables while the English preferred to keep all options.

Cabinetmakers Gillow & Co. were the first British company to make a table for English billiards, in 1770. Other renowned British manufacturers were Thurston & Co. and Burroughes & Watts Ltd..

(Image [partly coloured]: Dawn Hudson at publicdomainpictures.net / CC0)

08/12/2022
3 min
2 years
213 words

Religion

Hymns

Most people know the joy of communal singing and a church, with its acoustic qualities, provides an ideal setting. Like a classic […]

Most people know the joy of communal singing and a church, with its acoustic qualities, provides an ideal setting. Like a classic pop song a good hymn has a strong melody and rousing lyrics, with enough repetition for it to be memorable and easy to learn. The Church of England was quite late in embracing hymnody (the singing of hymns), with their first hymnal (book of hymns) only being approved and published in 1820. Choir and organ eventually replaced the minstrel band of old and led the congregation’s efforts.

Anglican hymnody became so widespread that every school assembly, public meeting, military ceremony and family gathering reverberated to the sound of (mostly) tuneful voices. The solemn hymn ‘Abide With Me’ (1847 lyrics: Lyte, 1861 tune: Monk) is even sung with gusto at major football and rugby matches.

Isaac Watts (1674-1748) from Hampshire began the 200-year golden age of hymn-writing in English and Charles Wesley (1707-88) from Lincolnshire (brother of Methodist founder, John) made a vast contribution too, with around 6,500 poems. Some lyricists wrote their own music but many hymns are set to folk melodies or later compositions, e.g. ‘To Be A Pilgrim’ (1684 lyrics: Bunyan, 1906 tune: Vaughan Williams). Here it is sung by folk artiste Maddy Prior:-

(Image: Peter Burka at Flickr.com / CC BY-SA 2.0)

06/12/2022
3 min
2 years
213 words

Politics

The Civil Service

Members of Parliament can be regarded as the front-end, public-facing partners of His/Her Majesty’s Home Civil Service (HCS), an organisation which is tasked […]

Members of Parliament can be regarded as the front-end, public-facing partners of His/Her Majesty’s Home Civil Service (HCS), an organisation which is tasked with the nuts-and-bolts administration of the country. HCS employees are called civil servants but they are actually Crown servants and they populate dozens of departments and specialist agencies covering numerous aspects of government control.

The total number of civil servants, which has been over a million and is currently (2022) around half that, varies according to prevailing political factors, such as:-

wars/conflicts
nationalisation/privatisation of major industries
report recommendations on recruitment/redundancy
Parliament’s desire to follow new, untried, far-reaching policies

The origins of the HCS lie in the small teams of clerks who assisted court appointees. These teams, or secretariats, blossomed with the advent of the Industrial Revolution and the British Empire, but by the mid-1800s it was recognised that the whole body needed overhauling and regulation, with entrance examinations and promotion given on merit. Indeed the size and efficiency of the HCS has been a regular topic for parliamentary consideration. HCS careers can be tailored to one department or many and range from leadership and responsibility for policy formation and implementation, to administrative office work and boots-on-the-ground tasks.

(Image of civil servants in training: UK CivilService at Flickr.com / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

02/12/2022
3 min
2 years
220 words

Quoting Neil Oliver...

I love Britain more than anywhere else in the world. With all my heart I declare that those of us born here, or who have made a home here by choice, are the luckiest, most blessed of all people. I am British. I will always be British.