Friday, End of Week Rummage.

Another week of joy and happiness is over. The early weeding this week, the Tesco and Sainsbury shopping all wore me out, not helped by having to hoover, change bed, laundry, and cook also all week.  Al these girl jobs and only I to do them.  It is so wearing...

So I spent time looking through old, very old, pictures you may have seen before.  Some were taken on the old Minolta B.D. that's Before Digital.  Playing around with them can be beneficial to them, but not always.  This one of St Giles Kirk must have been taken from Calton Hill, two or three others were, and I actually like it.  Calton Hill has been a playground for Edinburgh folk for many a day, and today it continues the dubious honour of having many a strange occurrence occur there.  This did not happen on the day I ventured up the hill, too cold that day.  Kings of old allowed sport, archery and such like, the people preferred open-air theatre and debauchery.  The imitation Parthenon still stands, well around ten pillars at least.  This is the 'National Monument' designed to commemorate the Scottish servicemen who died during the Napoleonic Wars.  It ran out of money in 1829 and work has as yet not restarted.     

Advocates Close in the high Street is a favourite place to picture.  Work has meant such a pic may no longer be possible, however, this is one of a great many closes that go from the 'Royal Mile' down the High Street to Holyrood.  Old Edinburgh being built on a thin stretch of land the buildings tended to rise up higher and higher, ten stories not being unusual.  We can see the slope away to the north from this angle.  The memorial to Sir Walter Scott stands in the distance.  Scott invented the modern 'traditional Scot.'  Tartan and romantic Highlanders and all the half truths and lies that accompany his determined effort to make Scotland well known, but part of Greater England!  He sold us out and still did not make enough money from his books to pay his debts.  Advocates Close was named for the Lord Advocate, James Stewart, a fine residence in his day, later a slum and now renovated, and expensive I bet.

  
Abraham Lincoln stands atop this memorial to the Scottish American Soldiers who fought in the US Civil War.  Erected in 1893 with several of these men buried underneath or nearby, it shows Lincoln at the top, a freed Black slave with a book, revealing he is now educated at the base.  It is the only such memorial outside of the US. 

 
How did I climb hills?  This was taken ten years ago when my mother died.  One day my brother drove us around to get a feel for the place as it had become.  We stopped here, Salisbury Crags to the right, castle and all in front.  A popular view for those with expensive cameras!

Edinburgh Zoo is famous for the Penguin enclosure.  I took this 'Rockhopper Penguin' pic at the time they were renovating the place.  I can assure you penguins smell a great deal when up close.  One of my nieces did a year at the zoo when 16, this included 6 weeks with penguins.  As she got on the bus going home the drivers would say "You, upstairs!"  No-one sat near her.

James and a Mouse...

There is one clear error on the front of this book.  The xenophobic English refer to 'James I' even though the author himself states clearly he is called 'James the VI & Ist.'  This is the type of English contempt that James himself suffered from the English parliamentarians and their nobles.  

That said the author does a reasonable job with this book.

While stating he never liked Jams he looked into him and found much to admire, and there certainly is much.  James remains a mixed up character.  His upbringing was cruel though he became well red, speaking Latin, French and much else by the time he was 5 or 6.  Too many beatings from a tutor who constantly criticised his mother, Mary,Queen of Scots, had run away not long after he was born in Edinburgh Castle.  This meant he was pronounced King before he was weaned.  The nobles took care of him, mostly however those that did tended to die, either in war or mysteriously.  Being Regal was a dangerous occupation in the 1500's.

Being a short book we hurry through his squabbles with the Scots Kirk, his tendency towards Bishops never went down well, his move to London where he was welcomed and greeted by all.  His early success in ending war with Spain and in Ireland although he did tend to find it easy to spend money he did not possess.

His marriage to Ann of Denmark was not a great one, seven children arrived somehow yet most died before they were two. years of age.  Henry, who was destined to be King died aged 18, Elizabeth and Charles survived though Charles did lose his head of course.  While James could negotiate and be patient Charles could not.  James wrote many academic works including justifications for the 'Divine Right of Kings.'  How much he believed in in practice is debatable but certainly Charles fell for it and it cost him.

James wrote much in the way of theological works yet managed to spend his days hunting, sharing the coarsest of jokes and drinking far too much for a 'man of the cloth.'  Indeed most of his life was spent hunting, alongside a few chosen friends, mostly male and their behaviour was far from pure.  His youth may have been responsible but his bible reading, good though this was, failed him here.

This continued throughout his life.

His hunting may have been to keep him away from his ministers, however the work followed him wherever he was hunting and his duty was observed.  Possibly the peace of the country was preferable to the business of London, certainly less people to bother him and Parliament was a trial to him, as indeed it is to anyone who wishes to rule by themselves.

While welcomed at first James soon fund much resentment from Englishmen that Scots, 'foreigners,' were running their Parliament.  Such xenophobic emotions have never left the 'English' Palace of Westminster.  Proof, as if it were required, that Scotland must be independent from this grasping southern kingdom.

This is an ideal book to get a grasp of King James VI & I.  Other books will be of more depth and a differing impression possibly received but this is a good starting point.  

Whether he died grasping his last boyfriend is however is debatable...

  

Running behind time today as a visitor arrived before I was half awake, it was just after nine after all.

Then I had the household stuff to do while also discovering where the mouse had come from last night.  The brute had found a weak point and pushed his way through the wire.   I wonder if he has been reading about 'Colditz?'  Anyway, another bag of wire has gone in, more spaces blocked up and nothing edible will be left out tonight.

It would certainly be better if I had a cat.  However such a place as this, plus a main road outside my door, does not make that a sensible idea.  No nearby cats to borrow either.  I wonder if 'catnip' would put him off?  Either way I noticed small square chunks of poison in the shop and may well be baiting him with those  soon!

Maudlin Monday

Once again we note that that nice US president has been watching 'Fox News' again.  We can tell be cause he has discovered that Iran is a problem and he must declare war on that ancient land.  The war he is now working on, between MacDonald's and Coke, is one that continues the Syrian war the Saudi's and that nice Israeli president started and failed with.  They had intended to curtail Iran by attacking the proxy Syria but having failed, thanks to Russia's intervention, another nice man the Mr Putin, the Middle East rulers now wish a direct US attack on Persia.
The Persians will tell you they go back to Cyrus the Great which means they have been around since he died, at war, in 530 BC.  As such they consider all nations around bar China and India and newcomers and the variety of Arab states they treat with undisguised contempt.  This is not helped when Iran takes the Shia Muslim line and the majority of the rest take the Sunni line, something ignored when Britain and France and the rest divided up the middle east after the Great War.
Today the west's interference has removed almost all Christians from the area, most Jews and all those of lesser faiths either diminish or suffer according to passing fashion.  Such interference continues, with Trump following whatever he is told, a 'hawk' or two in the White House demanding action similar to that dealt to Iraq and again uncaring re the millions who will suffer and die, including their own men of course, they have never been considered by leading politicians.
World War 3 will begin on Twitter...

Getting away from that I have put aside all my other reading and become captive to this small book.  This is one of several found in Waterstones, the 'Penguin Monarchs' series, and so far I have rushed through this easy to read history of William the Conqueror.  Ideal for train journeys, flights, sitting in the loo, the short easy chapters inform, educate and bring to life well known monarchs, all from the past obviously, and appear worth the £4:99.
I have got one or two others to read also and I think this is a good way to get to know the past.  One thing I wonder concerns the rumours of how he married his wife Matilda.  Nothing is said re him pulling her off a horse or battering her or raping her to ensure a marriage.  Maybe these rumours were out of place or too much of a rumour to put into a short book?  Being short it cannot cover all ground right enough.
Enough good information is given however to review the character of the man.  Usually we hear a little half hearted basic information concerning some great man and once we investigate for ourselves we quickly discover things are not quite as we have been told.  William was indeed a religious man, not just for show either.  He placed reforming Archbishops into Canterbury and Rouen  and listened to their spiritual counsel.  This enabled him to rule humanely and judge justly.  We forget or know little about what went before but William improved life for many, even when treating this who opposed him severely.  One aspect unknown to me was the vast degree of slavery in England and Wales at the time, this William outlawed!  Once again a foreigner came to England and freed the English from themselves!  His piety was real but his wrath no less real, opponents felt this but I suspect the reason many disliked him in England was the tax he raised, mostly from those who had the money to spare.
I have finished this book, unputdownable and quickly read. 
I like this one.

Guardian

It is most unfortunate that the Electoral Commission, a somewhat tardy organisation today, has been forced by one time Prime Minister Gordon Brown to step in and investigate the flow of money onto the Brexit Party coffers.  It appears money is coming from outside the UK via PayPal which converts the cash into £s from whatever source and in Brexit eyes does no wrong.  Foreign cash as you know is not acceptable in funding political parties at an election.  It could be our man might be forced out, tsk the 'establishment' again!

Soldiers Mascots

ITV

The Edinburgh Festival, and the accompanying 'Fringe,' bring many illustrious individuals into a city which can boast a great many already.  One major event at this time is the Edinburgh Military Tattoo in which bands and others from all over the world participate to rapturous applause, often in the rain!  This year once again one of Scotland's favourite nations, one in which ties were made stronger during the second world war, had soldiers representing their country at the tattoo.

Edinburgh Zoo is one of the most famous in the world, or at least in Edinburgh.  There are a host of animals confined here, some along with controversy it must be said, and there are also a host of Penguins, some of the zoo's favourite characters.  Each day since the early 50's a gate is opened and the Penguins, if they feel so inclined, wander out along a chosen path before being returned to their pen.  usually this occurs without incident and the Penguins feel happy enough it appears with the adventure.

One Penguin however has been Knighted!

Sir Nils Olav, a King Penguin, became the mascot and Colonel in Chief of the Norwegian Kings Guard in 1972 when the King's Guard were attending the Tattoo.  Originally given the rank of 'Lance Corporal' (Visekorporal) the Penguin was promoted each time the Guard attended the Tattoo.  Sir Nils passed away in 1987 and his successor , Nils Olav II, inherited his rank.  Sadly he too passed away in 2008 but Olav III also accepted with no hesitation the rank and position awarded his predecessors.  During the visit in 2008 Nils was awarded a Knighthood the honour approved by King Harald V.   On the 22nd of this month some 50 members of the King's Guard attended the Zoo and a crowd gathered to watch Sir Nils receive his next promotion this one making him a Brigadier!     

Such activities are not unknown, regiments often have goats or dogs as mascots, the Polish Division during the second world war inherited a brown bear cub called 'Wojtek' which not only continued with them through the was in Italy and France but was seen carrying ammunition during the Battle of Monte Cassino!  So helpful was he to morale and in carrying ammunition that he was enlisted as a soldier, reaching the rank of Corporal and having his own paybook.  With many Poles settling in Scotland after the war Wojtek entered Edinburgh Zoo where he happily ate cigarettes thrown to him by ex-Soldiers.  He ate them as there was no-one to light them for him!  He died in 1963 and I can remember seeing a Brown Bear in the zoo but I was not told this story.  A statue of bear and soldier  keeper now stands in Princess Street Gardens.
The UK, where important things happen!

.

Wednesday Wittering

I spent most of this morning with my head under the sink giving the bathroom its annual clean so to improve my view of the world I present an old picture of an Edinburgh penguin!  Cleaning I can inform those eager to know is not much fun.  Apart from inhaling the aroma of cleaning chemicals the dust, now ingrained, decided my nose was the place to be.  After an unseemly long time there was a vain attempt to continue the clean up elsewhere but for reasons as yet unexplained I gave up instead, it's only muck anyway, it will still be there next week.  I also considered doing the windows and their grime but decided to leave them until after the weekends rain has passed by, that will do the job for me.  No need to be too enthusiastic about such things.

Sadly this detracted from chasing dead soldiers although I did get some work done on one or two other items including the county habit of religious dissent. Since the early attempts to translate the bible into the native tongue caused the then authorities much distress and led to their desperate need to suppress such nasty goings on the locals have always done their best to disobey.  Bible reading in the vernacular became quite popular in the 1500's.   What surprised me however was the use of burning at the stake to remove such felons.  I never quite understood the reasons for that.  Hanging is quicker, as is a sword, yet this was the chosen means of execution throughout Europe, very strange. Several hundred years went by with dissent continuing until religious freedom appeared in the late 17th century with the 'indulgence act.'  Such freedom is being restricted once again however in the UK.

I made little attempt to get involved in the news today but found myself gripped when I came across the ferry in South Korea that capsized.  I think it was the thought that wee girls and boys were trapped inside that moved me.  It appears they were mostly adolescents and hundreds are trapped inside the upturned hull even now, probably past it by now.  How sad.

.

Penguins

Dead Penguins - I never knew this!

Did you ever wonder why there are no dead penguins on the ice in Antarctica ?

Where do they go?

Wonder no more ! ! !

It is a known fact that the penguin is a very ritualistic bird which lives an extremely ordered and complex life. The penguin is very committed to its family and will mate for life, as well as maintain a form of compassionate contact with its offspring throughout its life.

If a penguin is found dead on the ice surface, other members of the family and social circle have been known to dig holes in the ice, using their vestigial wings and beaks, until the hole is deep enough for the dead bird to be rolled into, and buried.

The male penguins then gather in a circle around the fresh grave and sing: 

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

"Freeze a jolly good fellow."
"Freeze a jolly good fellow."

Penguins

Rained all day, life was boring, so here are some penguins.....

.

A poor attempt to capture the stained glass window. Without a telescopic lens it is a bit of a failure.  

In real life the window is well worth a look.

***

Did you ever wonder why there are no dead penguins
on the ice in Antarctica – where do they go?


Wonder no more ! ! !


It is a known fact that the penguin is a very ritualistic
bird which lives an extremely ordered and complex life.


The penguin is very committed to its family and will
mate for life, as well as maintaining a form of
compassionate contact with its offspring throughout its life.


If a penguin is found dead on the ice surface, other members
of the family and social circle have been known to dig holes
in the ice, using their vestigial wings and beaks, until the hole is
deep enough for the dead bird to be rolled into and buried.
The male penguins then gather in a circle
around the fresh grave
and
sing:


“Freeze a jolly good fellow”


“Freeze a jolly good fellow.”


“Then they kick him in the ice hole.”

(In spite of what some may say there is no truth in the rumour that this was stolen from 'Kenfitlike.')






.

Penguins

              

.