Where Was I when?

Big Rab has tagged me to answer these questions, partly because I'm one of the few people he knows old enough to answer them all!

Princess Diana’s death - 31 August 1997

I was living in Arundel in West Sussex at the time. Mrs. H. and I were walking down the high street on our way to take the dogs for a walk along the banks of the River Arun. We bumped into someone we knew who told us. Like everyone else I suspect our reaction was a mix of disbelief and sadness.

Margaret Thatcher’s resignation 22 November 1990

I've not the slightest idea. All I remember is thinking it was time. Too long in power can sometimes become more of a hindrance than a help.

Attack on the twin towers - 11 September 2001

Mrs H. had picked me up from Edinburgh airport early in the morning as I had just flown home from Toronto. We were heading up to Loch Hourn to Skiary, one of our favourite places in the world. We drove there and arrived about 4 p.m. having listened to music on the CD player and chatted about my two-week trip around the USA and Canada. When we got there our friends were there to meet us with their boat; you have to take a boat to Skiary as the road stops about a mile or so away. "Have you heard the news?" We hadn't and they briefly explained what they had heard on the radio. We of course were stunned, both from what had happened and from not knowing anything about it. We spent the next week at Skiary and heard snatches of things on the radio but saw nothing as they had no electricity and no television. I have to say we were glad to be spared the images and the news media. Three days before I’d been in New York at the studios of NPR which are right next to the Twin Towers.

England’s World Cup Semi Final v (West) Germany - 4 July 1990

All I can remember thinking was here we go again....more disappointment. No idea where I was

President Kennedy’s Assassination - 22 November 1963

I was at Scouts in Carshalton in Surrey. We'd just assembled when someone arrived with the news. There was a kind of collective understanding that this was awful, but at twelve I just remember thinking. Was it the Russians? I'd only just got over being scared that the Cuban Missile Crisis would mean war and nuclear bombs.

Flodden, Fungi and Food in the Lammermuir Hills

Yesterday I decided to spend a little time walking over the hills looking for the site of a long gone group of houses called Ellemside. I've got an 18th Century map which shows it, but it's not up to the standards of the Ordnance Survey and so its precise position is up for debate. I thought the farmer had harvested his barley, but he'd only done half of the field and so my searching was somewhat abortive. I'm interested because a few days before the battle of Flodden in 1513, on this weekend 495 years ago, the Scots army mustered at Ellem and King James IV, "stayed in a house at Ellem" - it could perhaps be one of the houses at what was called Ellemside. So there I was metal detector in one hand, my spade in the other heading off down the hill toward the river valley; apart from finding a Victorian brass dog whistle it was all fairly fruitless. As I got closer to the valley I saw that the barley field ended and there was a field of grass; closer still I spotted what looked like mushrooms, on closer inspection I decided they were. Now, having once been on a fungi foray with a mycologist my fears of picking mushrooms to eat have been heightened rather than reduced.

There was nothing else for it - Dave was the answer. I knew he was working on a piece of wood sculpture in his studio at the old sawmill so I headed off to him to get him to come with me for some formal identification. I admit I did this with some trepidation as Dave, on at least once occasion, has had his lips turn blue from eating dodgy mushrooms. "They're definitely field mushrooms,” announced Dave as he sliced one off its base and took a bite. I watched for his lips to turn blue - fortunately they didn't. The two off us set about picking two large shop scale weighing pans of the beautiful mushrooms. Dave explained that it was important to cut them from their bases to leave the spores in the ground so that more would come. There was even a 'fairy ring' of little brown mushrooms; Dave cut a couple to check in his mushroom book as to their edibility.

With my 5 lbs of mushrooms I headed home, dropped Dave off to continue his sculpture, and thought about what to do. His idea was mushroom soup; I've never made it but after checking two or three cookery books I found several recipes. I decided to combine the best bits from several and ended up with ten or so servings of delicious mushroom and pancetta soup - it's in the freezer. There's enough mushrooms left for us to have risotto tonight. It will be a meal fit for a Scot’s King.

Supper in a Castle

photo by Lisa Jarvis

Yesterday was a dreadful day; it rained for most of the day, often quite hard, and by the evening the burn in the field was in spate. There was water laying on the fields and driving was tricky with sections of road covered in water. We'd left home around 7 p.m. to head the four miles up the valley to Cranshaws Castle; the rain had turned to sleet. We were on our way for supper with friends and were the first to arrive. On a sleety night the temperature barely above freezing makes a whisky taste wonderful, even better for being drunk while standing in front of a huge roaring fire in the second floor hall of this 15th century castle.

It's called a castle but technically it is a fortified tower house, they're called a peel tower in the north of England. It may well have been built by Sir John Swinton, the Earl of Swinton who was a forebear of Tilda Swinton the actress. The tower is unusual in that it has curved corners and although it looks very large from the outside once inside it's much smaller because the walls are five feet thick.

Cranshaws, which is derived from the word Crane, for the bird, interestingly we saw one this morning rise up from the burn when we were walking the dogs, was the site of one of the largest reiving raids in Border history. Over a thousand head of cattle were taken by force. A couple of years ago I found a musket ball when out metal detecting in a field to the south of the castle. It had hit something and I like to think it was fired during this raid.

How Little Politics Change

There's a fascinating article in yesterday's Guardian by Mather d'Ancona entitled 'Rallying Opinion Online'. It's subtitled, 'Bloggers are transforming the way opposition politics works - soon the web may create and put forward its own election candidates.' A friend emailed me to ask, "Does anyone else see parallels between the rise and rise of the blog and the widespread distribution of the political pamphlet, which seventeenth century governments tried impotently to control?"

Of course the short answer is yes, but it got me searching through my library to read whatever I could about political pamphlets and to see what other parallels could be drawn. I soon came across something Mr Johnson said back in 1760 or so. "Most schemes of political improvement are very laughable things." Some things it seems never change. Elsewhere I found some interesting comments about how people in the 1760s 'knew the ruling society was inevitably corrupt in some of its dealings." In particular 'the buying and selling of votes and seats was commonly practiced.'

In 1763 John Wilkes wrote in his North Briton newspaper that ministers were 'the tools of despotism and corruption.' Six years later Wilkes won election against a government opponent at a by-election. The government declared the it null and void after bonfires were set light in London in celebration; Wilkes was arrested. While he was in prison his losing opponent was declared the winner. Of course this is where the comparisons end as something like that would never happen. Would it?

A Day to Remember

Today, 17 September is St. Lambert's Day. He was the bishop of Maastricht in Holland and lived from 635 until 705. He died a violent death probably as the result of a blood feud and was thereafter venerated as a martyr. He's referred to in Shakespeare's Richard II. "Be ready, as your lives shall answer it, At Coventry, upon St Lambert's day."

It's amazing that a man could have been remembered nearly 900 years after his death, which is a testament to the organization of the old church. Who from today will be remembered in 2900? Which celebrity will manage to create enough interest to have men and women pass down their names through generation after generation?

The source of this information? Brewers Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, one of the most interesting books in the English language.

Be There or Be Square

Forty years ago (It seems like yesterday - Ed) with the Summer of Love in full swing everyone was totally fascinated by flower power. Disc and Music Echo carried an ad inviting the public to a debate (admission 2/-) entitled ‘Will Flower Power Work’ (in what terms they were unspecific). The Young Communist League, who organised the event, had thoughtfully booked the Conway Hall in Red Lion Square (near Holborn Tube) and cunningly called it not just a debate, but also a ‘Speak-In’. It ran just beneath a story about Paul McCartney’s brother being asked to compere the International Love-In Festival at Alexandra Palace where 5,000 carnations would decorate the scene and Johnny Weider of Eric Burdon’s Animals would play his electric violin for the first time in Britain.

Oh, happy days....

Whaddya Mean You've Never Heard of Russ Columbo?

Ruggiero Eugenio di Rudolpho Colombo was born on January 14, 1908 in Camden New Jersey, just over the river from Philadelphia. He was like Frank Sinatra the son of Italian immigrants, possibly from Naples. His is a story of what might have been. Columbo at 6 feet with deep brown eyes, black hair and weighing 170 lbs was the epitome of the tall, dark and handsome Italian. Although it's reported that he had some surgery on his chin and nose to improve his chances at movie stardom. It's also probable that he wore a hairpiece to augment his receding hairline.

His family moved to Los Angeles in 1924. Russ learned to play the violin and performed with several bands including Professor Moore's Orchestra at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and Slim Martin's Orchestra at the Pantages Theater in downtown Los Angeles. As a violinist he joined Gus Amheim's band in 1927 and later Bing Crosby became the band’s singer and it was he that encouraged Columbo to sing. Russ took over Bing’s singing spot when he left. Columbo went to New York in 1931 with his own band and landed a recording contract with RCA and spots on the radio with NBC, from there it was a short step to stardom.

He became known as "The Romeo of Song," "The Singing Valentino," and "Radio's Revelation." And from 1931 until 1934 he rivalled Bing Crosby, and Rudy Vallee as the most popular crooner, reputedly earning $500,000 per year (over $20 million today). He recorded as a violinist and a vocalist and was branching out successfully into films at the time of his tragic death.

His best known recordings are ‘You Call It Madness, But I Call It Love’ (Columbo’s theme song) 1931, ‘Goodnight Sweatheart’ 1931 and ‘As you Desire’ 1932. His biggest films are ‘Broadway Through a Keyhole’ 1933, ‘Moulin Rouge’ 1934 and 'Wake Up And Dream.’ 1934

Columbo’s death has been the subject of much speculation. Was it suicide, murder, or tragic accident? The official verdict was tragic accident. Columbo’s friend Lansing Brown, a leading Hollywood photographer, was striking a match on an antique pistol that he believed to be unloaded. The gun went off and the bullet ricocheted off a desk and struck Columbo in the head. He was twenty six and for his funeral thousands turned up at the church where Bing Crosby was a pallbearer.

Romantically linked to the actress Carole Lombard with whom he had been to the premiere of his first starring film, ‘Wake Up and Dream’ on Friday August 31 1934, two days before his death. The conjecture concerns the singer’s sexuality. The Hollywood rumour machine decreed that Brown and Columbo were lovers and Columbo may have caused an irreparable breach when he announced that he and Lombard were to marry. The truth will never be known as all three took their story to their grave.

Untold Valor - The Blog

My friend, and regular contributor to this blog, has started his own over at Untold Valor - The Blog . Rob introduces his new blog by saying it is to "celebrate and honor the airmen of World War Two, regardless of their country of origin. This is a subject of great importance to me, as an aviation writer and historian. I hope to share some interesting stories about WWII airmen, and also to serve as a place where interested parties can find out more about these great men." If you're interested in the subject check t out, and even if you're not take a look anyway, you might become interested.

Devolution in Action

Westminster MPs are putting pressure on The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh to return one of the Shetland Islands' greatest treasures to the newly opened museum in Lerwick. Alistair Carmichael, the MP for Orkney and Shetland, is leading the fight to have the Saint Ninian's Isle treasure returned and has already he has won cross-party support from Angus Robertson, the SNP's Westminster leader. However, the National Museums of Scotland is accountable to the Scottish Executive.

The pictish silver objects dating from the 7th and 8th C were found in a larch wood box under a slab, beneath the Chancel of the Church that had been in use during the Iron Age. They were found by a schoolboy who joined an archaeological dig and included items magnificently decorated with animals and other designs. There was a silver hanging bowl, 7 other silver bowls, 2 sword chapes, 3 pepper pot shapes, a sword pommel, a spoon, a silver pronged Instrument, and 12 silver brooches.

It's an interesting situation. Will more people see the treasure if it remains in Edinburgh? - yes. Will it attract more visitors to the museum in Lerwick? - probably not. Especially as replicas of the treasure are already in the museum; can anyone tell the difference? But what's more to the point why is it not being discussed at Holyrood? This is a small but perfect example of the nonsense of two sets of representatives.

Picture in the Sunday Times

I've just had my first picture printed in a newspaper, it was a full page and the Sunday Times at that! It was used to illustrate an article about Bill Wyman's love of metal detecting in the area around his house in Suffolk. You can read it HERE

I've just noticed that they've cleverly placed a shadow on the left hand bottom half of the photo to accentuate both the house and Bill. The one on the right is my original, when you click on the link above it will show you their 'doctored' photo. Damn clever people in the papers. Makes you wonder what we can believe in photographs.