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Showing posts from 2009

Master Crook's crime academy

Master Crook's crime academy, by the creator of Horrible Histories, Terry Deary. This is a story happened in 1837, that was the year the old queen came to the throne. Here is how the narrator described the old queen: It was quite a large throne because she had a large bottom, of course. In fact she was a short but wide young lady at the time. She grew wider as years passed. Several people tried to shoot her, as you know. They all missed. How they missed such a w-i-d-e target I'll never know. This book is quite funny, just as one of the reviewer said: a book this funny should be against the law!

The Blenheim campagn and the Duke of Marlborough

The Blenheim campaign was one of greatest feats of arms in British military history. Acting entirely on his own initiative, Marlborough marched his entire army 250 miles, down from Flanders and into Bavaria. It was an astonishing tour de force and a masterpiece of logistical planning, particularly given the international nature of his force. Of sixty-five battalions of infantry and one hundred and sixty squadrons of cavalry, only fourteen and nineteen, respectively were British. Marlborough today tends to be overshadowed by Wellington, but properly considered his true importance becomes clear.  Marlborough's victory at Blenheim delivered a body blow to Louis XIV whose army had reigned effectively unbeaten in any major battle for fifty years. At a single stoke Marlborough save the Austrian Empire and drove the French onto the defensive. In real terms the allies killed or captured 40,000 French and Bavarian troops along with 1,150 officers, 50 cannon and 128 infantry colours. The all

Amos is so dehydrated that he cannot even produce tears

"Amos had been ill for a week and his grandmother didn't know what was wrong or how to treat him. By the time they arrived, Amos's condition had deteriorated to the point where he was very weak and lifeless. His body was so dehydrated he couldn't even cry. Catherine decided to walk to Mkomaindo with Amos, a long hot journey of more than nine miles. Amos's symptoms alerted doctors to the fact that he was suffering acute dehydration. At the time Catherine was distraught, obviously concerned that her grandson might die. But Amos was prescribed Oral Rehydration Therapy. He spent two days taking Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS), a mixture of sugar, salt and water - administered every two hours which enabled his body to absorb water. Thanks to Oral Rehydration Therapy, Amos improved dramatically and was on the road to making a full recovery." This is UNICEF story .  Amos is dehydrated from diarrhoea.  According the data from World Health Report 2005,  dehydrati

Green shoots of recovery

There has been plenty of negative press over the past year, particularly aimed at the housing market. However, though we hesitate to use the phrase "green shoots of recovery", homebuyers are definitely sensing a rejuvenation of the market and prices are inching up, suggesting now is a good time to buy before the recovery really gathers pace. So the futures looking bright for home buyers, maybe it is the right time to buy.

How to reduce your chance of becoming a victim of crime?

How to reduce your chance of becoming a victim or a repeat victim of crime? There is a Chinese saying, 'not afraid of ten thousand, but only afraid of that one in ten thousand', which means if there is a 1 in 10,000 chance that something will happen, it's not the 9999 that one need fear, but that single 1 that one should fear, because that single one could cause great damage to you. To close and lock doors and windows looks so unnecessary that you are just going out for a very short time. But what would you do if that 1 (in 10,000 chance) actually happens? So please always ensure: When you are in that you shut and lock your doors Close and lock all windows in unoccupied rooms When going out always lock the door and close the windows - even if your are just going out for a short time. Window locks will help stop people getting in ( a burglar is less likely to break in if they have to smash a window) Use timers for lights and radios if you are going to be out for th

Grenadiers

From the 1670s, Grenadiers were the elite troops of the British army. The term "grenadier" is derived from the fact that these troops originally hurled iron or porcelain grenades into enemy positions.They were instantly recognizable by their headgear: a tall, mitre cap, like a bishop's headdress, designed to allow them to hurl the small grenades they carried in their packs. Such a hat was more suited to crowd-pleasing on the parade ground of Whitehall than the chaos and filth of a battlefield but the men wore it with pride. http://www.militaryheritage.com/40thregt.htm

Shyness is a kind of protective mechanism

Your child's shyness might let you down when you try to show off. But in many situations and at certain ages such shyness can be a protective mechanism, when she faces strangers. Some children will try to stay close to their mum or even hide behind her. This is a perfectly healthy and natural protective behaviour.

Chewing tobacco

I read this line from a novel: "He reached into his pocket for a wad of tobacco and placing it in his mouth began to chew." "Steel spat a mouthful of the acrid tobacco juice on to the ground." I've never actually seen chewing tobacco, but tried cigarettes, cigar, and rolling tobaccos. Chewing tobacco is called smokeless tobacco. Is it same thing as the one in a cigarettes, cigar or sold in a pouch for rolling? Does chewing tobacco really do such harm to human mouth? Lots of scary pictures on the internet.

Punishment in the British army in 18 Century

Reading the book "Man of Honour -- Jack Steel: for queen and Country" by Iain Gale. This is a story of lieutenant Jack Steel , a gentleman, a soldier, and a hero. The battle happened in Upper Bavaria, 1704. The enemy was Louis XIV of France, a megalomaniac intent on possessing all Europe. Lieutenant Jack Steel leads his men, the finest infantry in Queen Anne's army, through the battle of Blenheim, risking death and destruction in the fight against the tyrant. In chapter three, the author wrote about the rules and punishment in the British army in 18 century. Through lieutenant Jack Steel's observation and feeling, the author presented for us a horrible scene of brutality and barbarian. In the army, every major or captain has the responsibility of telling every man in his company that if one of them steals so much as an egg they will be either hanged or flogged without mercy. All men found gathering peas or beans or under pretence of rooting to be hanged as marauders

Use Future Markets of the Nonstorable Commodity

IT resources are generally not storable, in the sense that capacity not used today cannot be put aside for future use. Since the resources cannot be stored, there need be no link between the price for a resource now and the price that the resource (if available) will fetch at any future time (even in 1 second!). Given that it is impossible to build up inventories to smooth out the differences between supply and demand, prices can be arbitrarily volatile (this has been observed in practice for other nonstorable commodities. To avoid this price volatility and o enable planning and risk management, conventional nonstorable commodities have developed futures markets, that is, markets for reservations. The most significant non-IT commodity that is also nonstorable is electrical power (with the notable exceptions of hydroelectric and pumped storage). In electricity markets, as in several others for nonstorables (e.g., live cattle, interest rates), contracts for future delivery (forward or f

What is “phishing”?

Phishing is the practice of masquerading as a legitimate organization, such as an Internet service provider (ISP), bank, or online auction site, in order to acquire sensitive information including user names, passwords, and credit card numbers. Typically, phishing is carried out by an email or instant message directing you to enter your sensitive information at a fake website that appears nearly identical to a legitimate one.

Time Shifting of off-the-air television program

Time-shifting is recording a program the consumer cannot view as it is being televised and then watching it once at a later time. The Court held that so-called time shifting of off-the-air television program constituted fair use, given its noncommercial nature and the absence of any proven harm to the market for the copyrighted shows.

Safest, cheapest method to treat head lice

Head lice, are parasitic insects that feed on human blod and cause severe itching of the head. Pediculosis is the general term used for infestation of the body or hair with adult lice, lavae and nits (eggs). Head lice are relatively common and are not a major health hazard. Many chemical treatments are available however, the safest, cheapest and currently the most popular method of treatment is by Mechanical Removal. Mechanically removing lice and nits by combing is the most effective method of removing the adult louse, thereby breaking the cycle. Using a nit comb through hair which has had conditioner applied will help lubricate the hair to ease combing. Clean the comb frequently to remove any caught Lice or eggs by dipping in a bowl of warm water containing a small amount of baby oil. There are several new lotions on the market which have proved to be effective. Please ask you local Pharmacy for advice. These can be quite expensive, some GP's will write prescriptions for he

Juno

Juno, Roman mythology's Queen of the Goddesses, traditionally depicted as a woman of majestic size and beauty. Juno gave us the word "Junoesque," which is used to describe women of influence and femininity. She is a daughter of Saturn and sister (but also the wife) of the chief god Jupiter. Juno is the patroness of marriage, and many people believe that the most favorable time to marry is June, the month named after the goddess.

Failstop faults and Byzantine faults in a Fault-tolerant system

Within the discipline of computer science and electronic engineering, a great deal of thought has gone into this area in order to meet the requirements of fault-tolerant systems. Within falt-tolerant systems, there are two different types of faults that are of most interest to us: failstop faults and Byzantine faults. In many ways there two faults represent extremes of a spectrum: a failstop fault occurs when a faulty process ceases operation and other processes are notified of the fault - a kind of failure rare in real-world systems, where processes tend to fail and other processes are left to pick up the pieces as best they can. At the other end of the scale is a Byzantine fault, where a fault process may continue to operate but can send arbitrary messages. Byzantine refers to the Byzantine Generals' Problem, an agreement problem in which generals of the Byzantine Empire's army must decide unanimously whether to attack some enemy army. The problem is complicated by the

Denial-of-Service Attacks

One of the popular methods of denial-of-service (DoS) attacks on a database server in a peer-to-pper network is by creating a 'UDP packet storm' on the server. The effect is an attack on one host causes that host to perform poorly. (When it comes to moving all that information across the Internet there is not only one choice when it comes to transport protocols. There are two. Namely, TCP and UDP. In this article we will look at the User Datagram Protocol, aka UDP.  Don Parker ) An attack between two hosts can cause extreme network congestion in addition to adversely affecting host performance. When a connection is established between two UDP service, each of which produces a very high number of packets. This causes packet flooding leading to a denial of service on the machines where the services are offered. Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack is another form of threat to database security in a peer-to-peer network. These attacks involve breaking into thousands o

Newsgroups in Bulletin Board News Systems

Bulletin Board Systems (BBSs) are worldwide distributed discussion systems. A BBS consists of a set of newsgroups. News groups are typically classified hierarchically by subject and contain collections of messages with a common theme. Users can discover and connect to newsgroups (for example, interest groups), and subscribe to and publish messages on the newsgroups. Usenet is one of the earliest BBSs. Recently, the number of BBSs has grown and they have become a popular means of communication.

Chinglish

Portmanteau word is used broadly to mean a blend of two (or more) words. for example, ‘Slithy’ means ‘lithe and slimy’, ‘Mimsy’ is ‘flimsy and miserable’. 'Chinglish' is another portmanteau word, means 'Chinese English', and refers to spoken or written English which is influenced by Chinese. The terms "Chinese English" and "China English" are also used. Sometimes, Chinglish is also written as 'Chineglish'. Chinglish is a big problem on public signs in China. A sign reading "safety export" means "exit", an elevator designed for handicapped is a 'disabled elevator', a warning to be careful not to slip' could be 'slip carefully', cash recycling system is an 'ATM' Machine.

a funny dialogue ( Chinenglish)

waitress:Hello. a american:Hi. waitress:You have what thing? a american:Can you speak english? waitress:If I not speak english, I am speaking what? a american:Can anybody else speak english? waitress:You yourself look. All people are playing, no people have time, you can wait, you wait, you not wait, you go. a american:Good heavens. Anybody here can speak English? waitress:Shout what shout, quiet a little, you on earth have what thing? a american:I want to speak to your head. waitress:Shit,you speak to my mouth not my head! another one: a Chinese child are 10 yesrs old, he have learnt English for one month. one day, he are running on the way home, and he hit an american. the Chinese Child: I am sorry! the American: I am sorry too!( the Chinese Child thinks "too" is "two" , his teacher told him to be polite to foreigners ) the Chinese Child: I am sorry three! the American: What are you sorry for?( the Chinese Child thinks "for" is "fou

SETI@home

SETI stands for Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. SETI@home is a scientific initiative launched by the University of California, Berkeley, with the goal of discovering radio signals from extraterrestrial intelligence. For this purpose, a radio telescope in Puerto Rico records a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum from outer space. This data is sent to the central SETI@home server in California. There, they take advantage of the fact that the greater part of processor cycles on private and business computers remains idle. Rather than analyzing the data in a costly supercomputer, the SETI server divides the data into smaller units and sends these units to the several million computers made available by the volunteers who have registered to participate in this project. The SETI client carries out the calculations during the idle processor cycles of the participants' computers and then sends back the results.

Peer to Peer computing

Peer to Peer computing: The Evolution of a Disruptive Technology, by Ramesh Subramanian & Brian D. Goodman Hype Cycles Disruptive techonologies are at the heart of change in research and industry. The obvious challenge is to distinguish the hype from reality. Gartner Research's "Hype Cycles" work charts technologies along a life-cycle path, identifying when the technology is just a buzzword through to its late maturation or productivity. Technology trigger Positive Hype Peak of inflated expectations (Don't join in just because it's 'in') Negative Hype Trough of disillusionment (Don't miss out just because it's 'out') Slope of enlightenment Plateau of productivity

Descendants of the Dragon

A totem is any supposed entity that watches over or assists a group of people, such as a family, clan, or tribe. Many Chinese people often use the term "Descendants of the Dragon" as a sign of ethnic identity, or totem. But this has not always been the case. The Yellow River is called "the cradle of Chinese civilization", as its basin is the birthplace of the northern Chinese civilizations, Chinese history begins with the Three August Ones (San Huang, or sometimes called three Sovereigns), followed by the Five Emperors (Wu Di). The three August Ones were said to be god-kings or demigods. Shennong the 'Blazing Sovereign' reigned 120 years, his tribe used dragon or ox as totems. His mother was influenced by a sacred dragon, she brought forth the blazing god with a man's body and an ox's head. This was Shennong, he has an ox body, but his mother was infuenced by a dragon, which might be another tribe's totem used by the tribe of Shennong's fathe

Try something completely different

Lost your va va voom? Has your get up and go, got up and gone? Bring some life back into your life by trying something a little bit different this week, this month or this year. It's never too late to let yourself go. Learn to samba, brush up your wine tasting or get splattered at paintball. There's something for everyone. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="430" caption="Va va voom"] [/caption]

How to treat head lice

Detection combing - how to do it You need: plastic detection comb (from the chemist) good lighting ordinary comb Wash the hair well then dry it with a towel. The hair should be damp, not dripping. Make sure there is good light. Daylight is best. Comb the hair with an ordinary comb. Start with the teeth of the detection comb touching the skin of the scalp at the top of the head. Draw the comb carefully towards the edge of the hair. Look carefully at the teeth of the comb in good light. Do this over and over again from the top of the head to the edge of the hair in all directions, working round the head. Do this for several minutes. It takes 10 to 15 minutes to do it properly for each head. if there are head lice, you will find one or more lice on the teeth of the comb. Head lice are little insects with moving legs. They are often not much bigger than a pinhead, but may be as big as a sesame seed (the seeds on burger buns). Clean the comb under the tap. A nailbrush helps to do this. If y

head lice: The truth and the Myths

The lice Head lice are small insects with six legs, They are often said to be "as large as a match head". In fact, they are often not much bigger than a pinhead and rarely bigger than a sesame seed (the seeds on burger buns). They live on, or very close to the scalp and don't wander far down the hair shafts for very long. The louse's mouth is like a very small needle. It sticks this into the scalp and drinks the blood. They can only live on human beings. You can't catch them from animals. Nits are not the same thing as lice. Lice are the insects that move around the head. Nits are egg cases laid by lice, stuck on to hair shafts. They are smaller than a pinhead and are pearly white. if you have nits it doesn't always mean that you have head lice. When you have got rid of all the lice, the nits will stay stuck to the hair until it grows out. You only have head lice if you can find a living, moving louse (not a nit) on the scalp. Who and where?

Information system and managerial behavior

Managers are a key device for implementing organizational policy. Because they frequently use information system in their normal activities as a source of information about decision making and as a means of implementing policies they made, it is crucial for information management system designers to understand how managers work. Failure to take account of managerial behavior can result in a technically sound, but rarely used, system because it does not fit the social system. Studies over several decades reveal a very consistent pattern: managerial work is very fragmented. Managers spend and average of 10 minutes on any task, and their work unrelentingly and are frequently interrupted by unexpected disturbances. Managers are action oriented and rely on intuition and judgment far more than contemplative analysis of information. Managers rarely use formal reporting systems. They do not spend their time analyzing computer reports or querying database but resort to formal reports to confirm

Baby ABC

A is for antioxidants - Antioxidants are substances that are thought to combat free radicals - damaging molecules created in the body.  The damage done by free radicals may be to blame for a variety of conditions, such as cancer and heart disease. So, eating plenty of fruit and veg, as well as nuts, which are high in antioxidants, may help protect children and adults. C is for colic - Around 1 in 5 young babies develop colic, characterised by uncontrollable crying for several hours at a time. Although the exact cause is unknown, many experts believe it is due to digestive difficulties making them uncomfortable. If you're breastfeeding, certain foods in your diet may be to blame. Cow's milk and dairy products are thought to be common triggers, along with spicy foods, certan vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage), wheat-based foods and caffeine. Cutting them out may help. You can then reintroduce them one by one to pinpoint any culprits. The good news is that most cases o

Title Deeds

Today when  you purchase a house, the legal documentation affecting the purchase will he added to the existing title deeds for the property, and a solicitor will  assist with the formal registration of the transaction with the Land Registry - a process which  done online these days. To finance the purchase, most people apply for a mortgage, and the title deeds for the property are then deposited with the mortgage provider or solicitor acting on their behalf as security against the loan until the mortgage is paid off, or the property is sold on. However, there was no systematic registration of land or property transfers until the formation of  Land Registry in 1862; and even then, registrion remained a voluntary process for most area outside inner London until late into the twentieth century.  Defined in its strictest term, a  "deed" is a legal document. Title deeds also known as muniments of title,  are therefore the collected legal documentation for past transfers of a parti

About Shaman

A Shaman can make his spirit jump into another body, into a bear or a wild boar, or a hawk, etc. He can share the creature'd power. Sometimes a family has a shaman for a son or daughter. That brings trouble for them. The shaman moves among us in times of trouble. He journeys with his power creature and brings back life for everyone. Whe he dies, he leaves his voice in the mountains to guide the next shaman. --Caroline Pitcher: the Shaman Boy, p. 225-226 Shamans are not alway good.  As with shaman cloak.  Some cloaks full of powers of malevolence, old magic, superstition, ill-will, hurt and harm. Whoever wears the cloak will shift his spirit, through the air, water and fire, over the earth and under it too. He will bring fear to his people. He will hold live coals in his hands, suck souls out of ears, spit palgue, cough gold and banish those we do not want. -- Same as before, p.339 But Luka said, The cloak itself isn't wicked. It's just what people believe it can do. They ma

Muesli

It's actually quite tricky to make eating fibre more tasty and fun, rather than brown and boring, and hard to create just the right balance of flavours and textures, too. We may select high fibre fruits, like juicy apples and apricots and blend them with light and crispy toasted cereals including rye. By redeveloping and improving the recipe, we have got the right tasty and fun muesli everyone like for their breakfast.

Parlour boarder

Parlour boarder - a pupil who 'lived in' almost as a member of his tutor's family. Washed out - pupils in a boarding school sent their clothes out of the school to be washed by a laundry or washerwoman. Aff. or affte. - affectionate. Going down - going home at the end of term. Going up - going to boarding school. Calisthenics - "keep fit" exercises suitable for ladies. Hoops - a hoop was a large ring of wood or metal. A boy would roll it beside him as he ran along. Dunned - hounded by a debt collector. Fag - a young boy who has to obey the orders of a senior; to fag someone - to treat as a fag. Morris-tube - a narrow metal tube fitted into the barrel of a gun to make it possible to use small bullets for target practice. Pelisse - a long cloak. Epaulets - decorative frills worn on the shoulders of a coat. Beaver hat - hat made of beaver fur. Gruel - watery soup. Bread & scrape - a slice of bread very thinly buttered. Gudgeon - a sm

Roles in a Boarding School

In the 18th century the question might not be "which school?", but "school or private tutor?". Rich people sent their boys to a Public School,  or Boarding School, under the cares of different personals of a Boarding school, which include: Headmaster would be hightly recommended particularly for the art of whipping little boys, parents in 19th century thought, in terms of education, there was nothing to be done without corporal punishment. Sometimes, mothers felt such a wrench to send their children away, so towards the end of the 19th century the position of Matron in boarding schools had become established, and mothers could feel that there was, in effect, a mother substitute to look after their children. House Masters ,  scholars lived in different boarding house, and every house has its master and assistant house master. Some pupils might live in almost as a member of his tutor's family, those were called parlour boarder, so their tutor were also t

How to describe a photograph

The photograph was of excellent quality having good definition and clarity for an image dating back to the late 19th Century. Seated was a girl of about 22. If not beautiful, certainly very attractive wearing a dress decorated with a good calibre embroidered lace. A small book lay lightly in her hands, but she was looking directly at the camera. An ornate cross, appended to a chain hung round her neck, and hinted at religious devotion. This was not a vain girl.  She had a short simple hair style, parted on the left. Her teeth were slightly prominent. something familiar about the way she held herself - inclined a touch to the right and head tilted slightly to the left. This compelling maiden drew me to study those agreeable pleasant round eyes. It was with wonderment and amazement, that it began to dawn on me why this particular contenance should be familiar.   [caption id="attachment_315" align="alignnone" width="204" caption="Miss Florence Calder&quo

Florence Nightingale

Florence Nightingale is famous for being the 'Lady with the Lamp' who nursed soldiers during the Crimean War (1853 - 56). After the Crimean War she demanded a Royal Commission into the Military Hospitals and the health of the Army, she began investigating the health and sanitation in the British Army in India, and the local population. She established the first organised, training school for nurses, the Nightingale Training School at St Thomas’ Hospital. Her greatest achievement was to make nursing a respectable profession for women. Florence's writings on hospital planning and organization had a profound effect in England and across the world, publishing over 200 books, reports and pamphlets. At the time and after, 'Florence' became a popular choice of name for a girl. Miss Nightingale was born in Florence Italy, 1820, hence her Christian name, which before her adulation, was never a name for a girl.

Progressive Teaching

The term "Progressive Teaching" was used chiefly by and about the reformers associated with Jane Addams, John Dewey, and other such people, who worked before and after 1900. It advocated a student-centered courses and pedagogies and about democratic efforts of many kinds in schools and universities. In a progressive school, you may find the following things: Classroom layout suitable for Group works: In a traditional class room, all pupils seated in rows, facing their teacher at the front and the teacher could see all of pupils' faces. This might produce a quiet class conducive to concentration and hard work. Pupils were only allowed to sit with friends just so long as they were co-operative and muted conversation was relevant to the work they were doing. But in a modern classroom, children are seated in a little groups facing each other. Such an arrangement may encourage idle chatter and constant distraction. This desks arrangement also requires a teacher to

Money

£ - pound; gold coin, also called sovereign. (The capital L or £ came from the Latin word 'libra' meaning a pound weight.) A pound was worth 20 shillings or 240 pence. S - shilling; silver coin worth 12 pence. d - penny; copper coin. (The d was the initial letter of 'denarius', a small coin in Roman times). _ - Halfpenny; small copper coin. _ - farthing; very small, worth a quarter of penny. Gn - guinea; gold coin worth 21 shillings.

A Bag fox

Seals - decorative metal trinkets hung on a gentleman's watch-chain; could be used to imprint the wax when sealing letters. Bond - legal document guaranteeing a payment Overseers of the Poor - Parish officials who gave money from the rates to people who could not support themselves Quadrille - square dance for four couples Chaine des Dames - movement of a quadrille Catechism - a set of questions and answers used in teaching the beliefs of the Church of England A bag of - a fox taken to the meet in a bag and then released, to guarantee a hunt Lotto - a game of numbers, rather like Bingo Commerce - card game with a 'pool' of money to be won Paste the newspapers - cut out interesting news items and stick them in a scrapbook Charade - the 'actors' choose a word of two or three syllables, e.g. 'understand'. They do a mime to suggest 'under' and another to give a clue to 'stand'. They then act a piece which hints at the whole word. The 'audienc

Scary warnings in Children's Stories

Very few suitably interesting books were available for children in the early 19th century. Ballantyne's  Coral Island and Thomas Hughes' Tom Brown's Schooldays both came out in 1857. Treasure Island was not published until 1883. Some of the children's stories, in verse, were not perhaps as funny as the reader might hope, and could have been terrifying to some young readers. Cruel Frederick In this story, Cruel Federick "killed the birds and broke the chairs, and threw the kitten down the stairs", but he ended up ill in bed, because a dog bite him. [http://everything2.com/title/The%2520Story%2520of%2520Cruel%2520Frederick] This Frederick! this Frederick! A naughty, wicked boy was he; He caught the flies, poor little things, And then tore off their tiny wings; He killed the birds, and broke the chairs, And threw the kitten down the stairs; And oh! far worse and worse, He whipped his good and gentle nurse! The trough was full, and faithful Tray

Games, Hobbies,and Holidays

Walks The simplest (and usually the most boring) pastime for children was walking. Gardens Most children, where circumstances allowed, were given their own patch of garden to look after. This could be very satisfying, but only in the growing season. Pets The conventional pets are cats, dogs, puppies, hens, chickens, birds, more unusual pets are dormouse, peacocks, parrots, ferrets. Rural trio of hunting, shooting and fishing Shooting was not as popular in the early 19th century as it became later, when loading and firing sporting guns became simpler and quicker. Fishing was a more usual and safer sport for children. Hunting was an extension of riding, which was an accomplishment rather than a pastime in itself. Like 20th century children learning to ride a bicycle, children in the 18th and 19th centuries, if they could, learned to ride a donkey or a pony (owned, hired or borrowed) and later graduated to a horse. Criket and other outdoor pastimes Cricket was well establi

Petticoats, breeches and Pinafore

One of the milestones that a little boy passed at the age of four or five was the transition from baby clothes or petticoats to trouser or breeches. He would still wear a pinafore to protect his clothes, but he was expected to be able to dress himself and tie the strings of his pinafore in a bow, at the back.

Nanny and Governess

As children grew beyond the toddler stage most well-to-do families found a governess to begin their education. The roles of governess and nanny overlapped. In theory the nanny was responsible for the younger children's welfare and bodily needs, while the governess dealt with the education and social training of the older children. Nannies were usually more permanent, serving two or more generations. Governess tended to move from one family to another after a few years and were usually of a higher social class than nannies. In the early 19th century neither had any qualifications: relatives, friends and acquaintances took the place of advertising or agencies.

Born out of wedlock

Babies born to unmarried women faced great hazards in 19th Century. This was especially so if the father 'disappeared' or refused to acknowledge the child as his. If this happened the baby might simply be abandoned by its mother, hopefully to be found by someone before it died. It could then be looked after by the Parish authorities, or it might be cared for by grandparents or other relatives, or (more commonly in works of fiction) by some wealthy philanthropist. In extreme cases a desperate mother might try to solve her problem by killing the baby. Most mothers, of course, wanted to keep their babies, and if the father was willing to pay for its keep, it was fairly lucky. A Bastardy Bond was the usual method by which the Parish Overseers ensured that illegitimate children did not have to be provided for out of the Parish Rates. The natural father might sealed a Bond for a certain sums of money to be paid to the Churchwardens and Overseers of the Poor of the Parish, if he fai

Food shortage during Second World War

Food rationing was introduced on 8 January 1940 and ration books soon became the norm. Everyone had to register themselves at a local butchery, bakery and grocery store and soon there were along queues outside the Co-op. Personal allowances per week were 4 oz. bacon, 4 oz. butter and 12 oz. sugar. Each person was allowed 16 points per month, later increased to 20, to buy foods such as biscuits, breakfast cereals, dried fruit and tinned fruit, though these were not always available. Fresh Allotments were brought into full use, encouraged by the 'Dig for Victory' campaign. There was also an element of illegal 'black market' trading. Some shops would sell 'under the counter' goods without asking for coupons, but you needed to know the code words if you wanted something of that nature. There was also an informally organised and not altogether legal 'Pig Club'. Certain families kept a pig bin in which food scraps were placed. On 1 June 1941, Clothing Coupons

Lappety Lappety Leaso: Children's fun game

The streets and its dark entries were favourite playgrounds and as there were few motor cars, children could play with far more safety than today. One of the exciting game played in the side streets was Lappety Lappety Leaso: This was a two team game. One team made along bridge of backs, with their heads tucked in down to their knees. The other team all endeavoured to get a place on the backs by jumping from the rear of the bridge. The first few children to try had to be good jumpers.

Notes

The houses attracted migrants who were coming to Derby in large numbers in search of industrial employment. The main places of employment for the 'labouring classes' in Derby as silk and cotton mills, net-laceworks, china works, foundries and lead and paper mills together with stockingers The street was given its name from a stamp on a sherd of Roman mortarium which had been dug up on Old Chester Road in 1875. Here, mortarium is a Roman grinding bowl, or mortar; a culinary pottery form. Examples are often stamped with maker's name, and some sophisticated versions have been found. The house was lit by gaslight, had open fires and a kitchen range. Outside, rabbits were kept in the cow shed and some remnants of its days as a farm survived: a dovecot, pig sties, a pigeon trap, horse power gear, a grindstone and frame and a liquid manure pump. His death left a void which would have been hard to fill had the parish not been inundated, not with floods but with the people who were

Converting wood into pulp for paper-making

Wood is made up of two basic substances: cellulose (fibres) and lignin (which is essentially the glue that holds the fibres together). When the fibres are separated, the result is wood pulp. The process of converting wood into pulp for paper-making is remarkably simple, there are two common processes for separating the fibres: mechanical pulping and chemical pulping. Mechanical pulping grinds the wood into individual fibres, while chemical pulping dissolves the lignin. The most common chemical pulp is kraft pulp, made through an alkaline cooking process that breaks the lignin down with the help of sodium sulphate. Bleached kraft pulp is known for its strength, absorbency and brightness. The lopings, logs, or slabs, up to 11 inches square, are put into a hopper or feeder and guided under the cutter; this consists of a discplate, which, revolving at great speed, disintegrates the laminations of the wood. The wood falling on horizontal rollers. By packing in this manner, 60 cwt. of wood c

A Parsonage House

A description of the vicarage on Old Chester Road from a church terrier of 1908: The Parsonage House, comprising 16 rooms & 3 cellars Hall, Study, Drawing, Ding, Breakfast rooms, with Kitchen and Scullery on the Ground floor; five bedrooms and bathroom on second floor; two attics on third; with three commodious cellars; all built of brick with stone facings and in good substantial condition. The fittings of the Bath Room and Hot Water Apparatus are the private property of the recent vicar who placed them there at his own expense. The Outbuildings thereto, comprising Stables for two horses: Coach house: Cow bier (or loose box), fowl house with Hayloft: Washhouse & yard: with large Kitchen Garden on the North East, and lawn on the south west. [A City Within a City, Little Chester Derby, AD80 - AD2000, by Joan D'Arcy, P.36]

Something you may be not familiar with

A toll road (or tollway, turnpike, pike, or toll highway) is a road for which a driver pays a toll (a fee) for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds. The building or facility in which a toll is collected may be called a toll booth, toll plaza, toll station, or toll gate. This building is usually found on either side of a bridge and at exits. A whitesmith is a person who works with "white" or light-colored metals such as tin and pewter. While blacksmiths work mostly with hot metal, whitesmiths do the majority of their work on cold metal (although they might use a forge to shape their raw materials). The term is also applied to metalworkers who do only finishing work - such as filing or polishing - on iron and other "black" metals. Ironworker manufactured both for industry and the home, advertising furnaces, bleaching

Hearth tax

Charles II (1660 - 1685) looked for ways of raising money to pay off his war debts. He began with a request for 'gifts' and in July 1661 Parliament gave its consent to 'The Free and Voluntary Present'. In every county receivers were appointed and names of 'donors' were recorded. Later on 19 May 1662, a new form of taxation was introduced, a tax on hearths . House holds were assessed according to the number of fireplaces, and required to pay a charge of two shillings per annum for each hearth, Exemptions to the tax were granted to the poor.

Hypocaust, Viaduct, and Roman Road

A hypocaust (Latin hypocaustum) is an ancient Roman system of central heating. The word literally means "heat from below", from the Greek hypo meaning below or underneath, and kaiein, to burn or light a fire. A viaduct is a bridge composed of several small spans. The term viaduct is derived from the Latin via for road and ducere to lead something. However, the Ancient Romans did not use that term per se; it is a modern derivation from an analogy with aqueduct. Like the Roman aqueducts, many early viaducts comprised a series of arches of roughly equal length. Viaducts may span land or water or both. The Roman roads were essential for the growth of the Roman Empire, by enabling the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate news. At its peak, the Roman road system spanned 53,819 miles (85,004 km) and contained about 372 links. The Romans became adept at constructing roads, which they called viae. They were always intended primarily as carriage roads, the mean

Burial fashion of Rome

This is the description of a burial fashion of Rome according to a finding in an archeological excavation in Derby, we can see that Romans believe human soul goes to the next world after death, and they burried the dead with lamps, bowls and offterings to guide and sustain the soul on its journey to that world. And we can also see that they has two different kinds of  burial fashion according to the social status of the dead, the high status and norman people. "During an archeological excavation in 1978 in Little Chester, Derby, a burial site was found. The bases of five early second century mausolea, or tombs, were first unearthed. These had stood in a line by the side of the road, after the manner of high status burials at Pompeii and Rome. two of the mausolea had solid stone foundations and may have been memorials but in the other three there were pits containing human cremations and pig bones. these were perhaps soldier graves, buried after the fashion of Rome, with lamps,

A City Within a City, Little Chester, Derby

This is a great book to know Derby local history, by Joan D'Arcy. Little Chester is now a part of the City of Derby by the River Derwent. It is a Conservation Area and a buffer zone of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site. It has Roman beginnings, a Saxon cemetery, a Domesday entry, a manor and prebendal estate. It grew, through railway and other industrial development, into a Victorian community with church, chapel, school and rows of terraced houses set around a Green or Recreation Ground. About Roman Beginnings: It was in the year AD 43 that Roman Emperor Claudius launched the invasion of the British Isles. Three legions crossed the Channel and landed on the south coast. They were soon advancing north in a march of conquest and occupation. As they advanced, they fortified strategic and defensive sites. The Ninth Legion (Hispana) was given the task of subduing the Midlands and its people, a tribal group called Corieltauvi (otherwise C oritani ) . About AD 50

Overweight British Kings and Queens

King Henry VIII hate greens, seemed never to eat vegetables and fruits. He was tall and  handsomen with a bright red-gold cap of hair and beard in his youth,  and he was very athletic, he loved hunting and party.  But he became grossly overweight and ill in his later years,  The fat, balding and unhealthy man has been often remembered. William the Bastard, the Duke of Normandy, known as William the Conqueror was crowned on Christmas Day 1066 as the King of England.  He had become very overweight in his later life and when they tried to get his body into  his stone tomb at Caen, it burst. A foul stench leaked out into the church and into the nostrils of those who had come to pay their respects. George the Fourth  was infamous for being overweight, overdressed, and oversexed and one of the most controversial an outrageous monarchs in British.  He wore horrible greasy make-up on his face and was so fat it was said that his stomach hung down to his knees.  He stay in bed all day where

Domesday Book

When I read Derbyshire Villages , I noticed that in many chapters the author mentioned a book Domesday Book , sounds like "doomsday book". I just wondered what the book looks like, was that a book which recorded church building (domes of churches) by Christian monks? Of course not, the Domesday Book is a great land survey from 1086, commissioned by William the Conqueror to assess the extent of the land and resources being owned in England at the time. Well, I was not totally wrong about the book name. An observer of the survey wrote,  "there was no single hide nor a yard of land, nor indeed one ox nor one cow nor one pig which was left out", the grand and comprehensive scale of the survey and the irriversible nature of the information collected led people to compare it to the Last Judgement, or 'Doomsday', described in the Bible. This book also showed the dvastation caused by the war led by William the Conqueror as village after village appears with t

Three bad omens for three greatest warriors

After the English King Edward the confessor died, Harold was crowned king. No sooner did Harold fought Harald Hardrada in Stamford Bridge and killed the Viking leader, he rushed to the south to the battle in Hastings with William the Duke of Normandy. There were three bad omens for these three great warriors. Their attitude toward the bad omen is quite interesting, we can see how a man can change a disadvantage to advantage, and nuisance to encouragement. At the end of April, a couple of nights after Easter, there was a terrifying sign that disaster might be about to strike die English. A weird "long-haired star" appeared in the night sky; a star that seemed to have a tail of glowing white fire. We know it now as Halley's Cormet and it was making its usual 76-year appearance, but to the superstitious people of 1066 it was a supernatural omen; its fiery "tail was a warning of the actual fires that would follow below it, in its wake. Harold stood with members of the wi

The fyrd had begun under Alfred the Great

The fyrd had begun under Alfred the Great as a way of trying to deal with the invading Danish army. It was a kind of millitia requiring landowners to provide armed men for military service in defence of the realm; a kind of conscription of all able-bodied men between the age of 15 and 54. This was a sophisticated call-up system for the army, where the raising of men was based on how much land was held and worked because of the rule of loyalty and duty, which ran all the way from the lowest peasant to the king - and back again. Ceorls (churls) were free peasants who worked the land. A ceorl did not own much land, and the land he held, he had been granted by a thegn (thane). A thegn would hold much more land than a ceorl and with this extra wealth came extra responsibility. It was a minimum requirement of a thegn that he provide one armed man and the money to keep him for two months. The more land he owned, the more men he would have to supply, and the men of the wealthy thegn would

Easter feast in 1066

Easter was one of the biggest feast days of the year, coming after the fast of Lent. Meat would have been roasting on spits over glowing fires. There would have been no roast popatoes with all this meat, though; they would not be brought back to England for hundreds of years. The same goes for tomatoes, chocolate, tea, coffee and sugar. Honey was the only sweetener in 1066. There would have been bread - but unleavened; more like Indian nan bread or Greek pitta. This is quite interesting, just think about it, how could they live without potatoes, tomatoes, chocolate, tea, and coffee and sugar?

William Bastard, the Duke of Normandy

Normandy had been created in 911 when French King - Charlse the Simple - had given lands to a Viking called Rollo, or rolf, in the hope that he would act as a guard dog against other Viking raiders. In 1027 or 1028, William was born, the illegitimate son of the ill-tempered Robert I, Duke of Normandy who was called the Robert the Devil, and Herleve, the daughter of a tanner, so this William was called William the Bastard. There is a very famous English surname Bastard, that was exactly originated from this 11th century Viking-French descendant, William the Conqueror, the former Duke of Normandy.  William was very brave and also very cruel. During a siege of the town of Alencon, the inhabitants made the mistake of banging on sheets of leather and shouting, "Hides! Hides for the tanner!" in a goading reference to William's mother who was a tanner's daughter. Whether William was sensitive about his illegitimacy or his mother's low birth, the Alencons certainly lived

The Witanagemot

The word 'Witangemot' is an old anglo-saxon word, meaning "the meeting of wise men" ,  which was a kind of committee made up of the most important people in the country. It is also spelled as " Wit an age mot" in this website , sounds like "wit and age mot", "mot" means meet, that's exactly the meaning of "A meeting of  wise and old men". When there was witanagemot, England was a long way from having an elected government as we have today, but the witangemot was more than most countries had at this time. Each village in England had a village meeting or "moot" to discuss village matters and anything they could not deal with could be taken up through other, higher-level, meetings until it might just end up being discussed by the witangemot, which then advised the king.