A cabriolet (cab) was a vehicle similar to a hackney-carriage with two or four wheels, originally drawn by a single horse but later by a motor. The original cabriolets were for a single passenger beside the driver and were a kind of hooded chaise. In the beginning of the 19th century an effort was made to introduce cabriolets into Britain, to supersede hackney carriages. It was not until 1823, however, that licences were obtained for cabriolets. At first their number was limited to twelve. These were of an improved pattern, with a folding hood, and seated two passengers, the driver being separated from them by a partition. In 1832 all restrictions were removed, and cabriolets came into popular favour. In 1836 a cabriolet on four wheels, the precursor of the brougham, was introduced, and from this the clarence evolved. In 1834 a patent was taken out for an improved, two-wheeled safety cab by Hansom, the architect of Birmingham town hall. The safety consisted in an arrangement of the framework which prevented the cab tilting backwards
or forwards in case of accident. These cabriolets had a small body, hung between wheels of over seven feet diameter. Two years later a fresh patent was obtained for an improved Hansom. Motor cabs were first introduced in 1897, but failed to pay and were phased out, only to start to reappear in London around 1905. Research Cabriolet
In logic, a category, or predicament, is an assemblage of all the beings contained under any genus or kind ranged in order. The ancients, following Aristotle, held that all beings or objects of thought may be referred to ten categories: quantity, quality, relation, action, passion, time, place, situation, and habit. Plato admits only five: substance, identity, diversity, motion, and rest; the Stoics four: subjects, qualities, independent circumstances, relative circumstances. Descartes suggested seven divisions: spirit, matter, quantity, substance, figure, motion, and rest. Others make but two categories, substance and attribute, or subject and accident; or three, accident being divided into the inherent and circumstantial.
In the philosophy of Kant the term categories is applied to the primitive conceptions originating in the understanding independently of all experience (hence called pure conceptions), though incapable of being realized in thought except in their application to experience. These he divides into four classes, quantity, quality, relation, and modality, placing under the first class the conceptions of unity, plurality, and totality; under the second, reality, negation, and limitation; under the third, inherence and subsistence, causality and dependence, and community (mutual action); and under the fourth, possibility and impossibility, existence and non-existence, necessity and contingency. J S Mill applies the term categories to the most general heads under which everything that may be asserted of any subject may be arranged. Of these he makes five, existence, co-existence, sequence, causation, and resemblance, or, considering causation as a peculiar case of sequence, four. Research Category
A ghost word is a word which is taken to be a word, but is not. Ghost words typically occur due to printing or typesetting errors, a classic example being the 'word' 'Dord' which appeared by accident in the 1934 Webster's Second International Dictionary as a synonym of density. In fact, the inclusion of 'Dord' was an error caused by misinterpreting the phrase 'D or d' which are abbreviations for density. Research Ghost Word
Homicide is the legal term for the killing of one human being by another. Homicide may be justifiable, excusable or felonous (illegal). Justifiable homocide includes instances such as where the proper officer inflicts capital punishment, where an officer of justice kills an offender who assaults or resists him and who cannot otherwise be captured, or where persons are killed in the dispersion of rebellious or riotous assemblies. Excusable homicide is generally when it happens from misadventure, as where a person in doing a lawful act by accident kills another, or in self-defence, as where a person kills another in defence of the life of himself, his wife, children, parent, or others. Felonous homicide includes both murder and manslaughter, Research Homicide
Sunbeam were a British manufacturer of bicycles and later motor cycles, founded by John Masrston in Wolverhampton around 1871, experiments into motor cycles beginning in about 1903 and then being halted following a fatal accident in 1904 until in 1911 an engineer was brought in and production of the Sunbeam motor cycle range began in 1912 and ceased in the late 1930's with the demise of the Sunbeam company. Research Sunbeam
A tournament was originally an exhibition of combat between mounted men. Named from the tournament, or quick turning of the horses, it appeared in Europe in the 11th century, and quickly grew in popularity, both in France and England, where, in the reign of Henry II, it became necessary to prohibit tournaments owing to extravagant indulgence in them by the younger nobility. Later, tournaments were allowed to be held under royal licence, und a classic account of one in the time of Richard I is given in the book Ivanhoe, in which the customs and rules of such assemblies are graphically indicated. Froissart is also a mine of information regarding tournaments.
The essential feature of a tournament was the single combat of knight with knight, each striving to unhorse or incapacitate his opponent, the usual weapon being the lance. Sometimes, however, one body of knights fought against another body. They took place on most occasions of rejoicing.
Participation in tournaments was usually reserved for those of noble birth, and about the end of the 13th century a new set of rules was embodied in a statute of arms for tournaments, which laid down, among other provisions, that disputes arising out of a tournament were to be settled by a court of honour composed of princes and earls. By the 16th century the tournament had degenerated until it was merely a form of pageant. The term is now applied to many kinds of athletic contests.
In the 18th century novel Ivanhoe, the author, Walter Scott describes the arena and audience of a fictional 12th century tournament as follows:
On the verge of a wood, which approached to within a mile of the town of Ashby, was an extensive meadow, of the finest and most beautiful green turf, surrounded on one side by the forest, and fringed on the other by straggling oak-trees, some of which had grown to an immense size. The ground, as if fashioned on purpose for the martial display which was intended, sloped gradually down on all sides to a level bottom, which was enclosed for the lists with strong palisades, forming a space of a quarter of a mile in length, and about half as broad. The form of the enclosure was an oblong square, save that the corners were considerably rounded off, in order to afford more convenience for the spectators. The openings for the entry of the combatants were at the northern and southern extremities of the lists, accessible by strong wooden gates, each wide enough to admit two horsemen riding abreast. At each of these portals were stationed two heralds, attended by six trumpets, as many pursuivants, and a strong body of men-at-arms for maintaining order, and ascertaining the quality of the knights who proposed to engage in this martial game.
On a platform beyond the southern entrance, formed by a natural elevation of the ground, were pitched five magnificent pavilions, adorned with pennons of russet and black, the chosen colours of the five knights challengers. The cords of the tents were of the same colour. Before each pavilion was suspended the shield of the knight by whom it was occupied, and beside it stood his squire, quaintly disguised as a salvage or silvan man, or in some other fantastic dress, according to the taste of his master, and the character he was pleased to assume during the game. The central pavilion, as the place of honour, had been assigned to Brian be Bois-Guilbert, whose renown in all games of chivalry, no less than his connexions with the knights who had undertaken this Passage of Arms, had occasioned him to be eagerly received into the company of the challengers, and even adopted as their chief and leader, though he had so recently joined them. On one side of his tent were pitched those of Reginald Front-de-Boeuf and Richard de Malvoisin, and on the other was the pavilion of Hugh de Grantmesnil, a noble baron in the vicinity, whose ancestor had been Lord High Steward of England in the time of the Conqueror, and his son WilliamRufus. Ralph de Vipont, a knight of St John of Jerusalem, who had some ancient possessions at a place called Heather, near Ashby-de-la-Zouche, occupied the fifth pavilion. From the entrance into the lists, a gently sloping passage, ten yards in breadth, led up to the platform on which the tents were pitched. It was strongly secured by a palisade on each side, as was the esplanade in front of the pavilions, and the whole was guarded by men-at-arms. The northern access to the lists terminated in a similar entrance of thirty feet in breadth, at the extremity of which was a large enclosed space for such knights as might be disposed to enter the lists with the challengers, behind which were placed tents containing refreshments of every kind for their
tion, with armourers, tarriers, and other attendants, in readiness to give their services wherever they might be necessary.
The exterior of the lists was in part occupied by temporary galleries, spread with tapestry and carpets, and accommodated with cushions for the convenience of those ladies and nobles who were expected to attend the tournament. A narrow space, betwixt these galleries and the lists, gave accommodation for yeomanry and spectators of a better degree than the mere vulgar, and might be compared to the pit of a theatre. The promiscuous multitude arranged themselves upon large banks of turf prepared for the purpose, which, aided by the natural elevation of the ground, enabled them to overlook the galleries, and obtain a fair view into the lists. Besides the accommodation which these stations afforded, many hundreds had perched themselves on the branches of the trees which surrounded the meadow; and even the steeple of a country church, at some distance, was crowded with spectators.
It only remains to notice respecting the general arrangement, that one gallery in the very centre of the eastern side of the lists, and consequently exactly opposite to the spot where the shock of the combat was to take place, was raised higher than the others, more richly decorated, and graced by a sort of throne and canopy, on which the royal arms were emblazoned. Squires, pages, and yeomen in rich liveries, waited around this place of honour, which was designed for Prince John and his attendants. Opposite to this royal gallery was another, elevated to the same height, on the western side of the lists; and more gaily, if less sumptuously decorated, than that destined for the Prince himself. A train of pages and of young maidens, the most beautiful who could be selected, gaily dressed in fancy habits of green and pink, surrounded a throne decorated in the same colours. Among pennons and flags bearing wounded hearts, burning hearts, bleeding hearts, bows and quivers, and all the commonplace emblems of the triumphs of Cupid, a blazoned inscription informed the spectators, that this seat of honour was designed for 'La Royne de las Beaulte et des Amours'. But who was to represent the Queen of Beauty and of Love on the present occasion no one was prepared to guess.
Meanwhile, spectators of every description thronged forward to occupy their respective stations, and not without many quarrels concerning those which they were entitled to hold. Some of these were settled by the men-at-arms with brief ceremony; the shafts of their battle-axes, and pummels of their swords, being readily employed as arguments to convince the more refractory. Others, which involved the rival claims of more elevated persons, were determined by the heralds, or by the two marshals of the field, William de Wyvil, and Stephen de Martival, who, armed at all points, rode up and down the lists to enforce and preserve good order among the spectators.
Gradually the galleries became filled with knights and nobles, in their robes of peace, whose long and rich-tinted mantles were contrasted with the gayer and more splendid habits of the ladies, who, in a greater proportion than even the men themselves, thronged to witness a sport, which one would have thought too bloody and dangerous to afford their sex much pleasure. The lower and interior space was soon filled by substantial yeomen and burghers, and such of the lesser gentry, as, from modesty, poverty, or dubious title, durst not assume any higher place. It was of course amongst these that the most frequent disputes for precedence occurred.
Walter Scott goes on to describe the rules of the tournament, which he says were imparted to the audience by the monarch:
First, the five challengers were to undertake all comers.
Secondly, any knight proposing to combat, might, if he pleased, select a special antagonist from among the challengers, by touching his shield. If he did so with the reverse of his lance, the trial of skill was made with what were called the arms of courtesy, that is, with lances at whose extremity a piece of round flat board was fixed, so that no danger was encountered, save from the shock of the horses and riders. But if the shield was touched with the sharp end of the lance, the combat was understood to be at 'outrance', that is, the knights were to fight with sharp weapons, as in actual battle.
Thirdly, when the knights present had accomplished their vow, by each of them breaking five lances, the Prince was to declare the victor in the first day's tourney, who should receive as prize a warhorse of exquisite beauty and matchless strength; and in addition to this reward of valour, it was now declared, he should have the peculiar honour of naming the Queen of Love and Beauty, by whom the prize should be given on the ensuing day.
Fourthly, it was announced, that, on the second day, there should be a general tournament, in which all the knights present, who were desirous to win praise, might take part; and being divided into two bands of equal numbers, might fight it out manfully, until the signal was given by Prince John to cease the combat. The elected Queen of Love and Beauty was then to crown the knight whom the Prince should adjudge to have borne himself best in this second day, with a coronet composed of thin gold plate, cut into the shape of a laurel crown. On this second day the knightly games ceased. But on that which was to follow, feats of archery, of bull-baiting, and other popular amusements, were to be practised, for the more immediate amusement of the populace.
At the flourish of clarions and trumpets, they started out against each other at full gallop; and such was the superior dexterity or good fortune of the challengers, that those opposed to Bois-Guilbert, Malvoisin, and Front-de-Boeuf, rolled on the ground. The antagonist of Grantmesnil, instead of bearing his lance-point fair against the crest or the shield of his enemy, swerved so much from the direct line as to break the weapon athwart the person of his opponent - a circumstance which was accounted more disgraceful than that of being actually unhorsed; because the latter might happen from accident, whereas the former evinced awkwardness and want of management of the weapon and of the horse. The fifth knight alone maintained the honour of his party, and parted fairly with the Knight of St John, both splintering their lances without advantage on either side.
The shouts of the multitude, together with the acclamations of the heralds, and the clangour of the trumpets, announced the triumph of the victors and the defeat of the vanquished. The former retreated to their pavilions, and the latter, gathering themselves up as they could, withdrew from the lists in disgrace and dejection, to agree with their victors concerning the redemption of their arms and their horses, which, according to the laws of the tournament, they had forfeited. The fifth of their number alone tarried in the lists long enough to be greeted by the applauses of the spectators, amongst whom he retreated, to the aggravation, doubtless, of his companions' mortification.
During intervals of the tournament it appears that heralds inspired the contestants and audience by announcements and chants inspiring chivalry and bravery such as:
'Love of ladies, splintering of lances! stand forth gallant knights, fair eyes look upon your deeds!' Research Tournament
The Cymric or Longhaired Manx or Manx Longhair is a breed of domestic cat originated in Canada during the 1960s by accident from pure Manx parents. The Cymric is a rounded body cat, without a tail, and variously coloured. Unlike the true Manx, the Cymric has a long coat. The breed is officially recognised in North America, but not in Britain or Europe. Research Cymric
Elodea (Canadian Pond Weed) is a plant which grows submerged in water, usually floating a little below the surface. It has long green stems and small pointed leaves. It was introduced to Britain by accident from Canada. Research Elodea
The snail is an air breathing gastropod mollusc with an external shell. Snails are of world-wide distribution, found everywhere except the polar regions. There are many thousands of species, with more than 120 British species, some terrestrial and some aquatic living in fresh water. There are also marine snails, of which the Periwinkle is a familiar specimen. Snails vary in size from tiny, smaller than the head of a pin, to tropical species with shells more than twenty centimetres long. Snails love damp spots and are most active after rain. In continued dry weather they retire underground or to sheltered spots, close the orifice of the shell with a film or epiphragm of dried mucus, and aestivate (remain dormant) until the damp weather returns. During the winter most snails hibernate.
The great majority of snails are vegetarian, though several British species are more or less carnivorous. Some snails possess a remarkable homing instinct, the common snail (Helix aspersa) returning to the same spot to sleep for the entire course of its life unless displaced by an accident.
Almost all snails are nocturnal, only roaming during daylight in the rain. Snails travel slowly, by way of wave-like ripples in their muscular foot. The lifespan of snails varies greatly with species, most British species living between two and five years. Snails are mostly hermaphrodites, and lay eggs. The edible snail lays eggs about the size of a pea with a white chalky shell. Some large species lay eggs as large as a bird's egg.
All terrestrial snails are edible, and were widely eaten in Britain before the Industrial revolution. Research Snail
The West Highland White Terrier or Poltalloch Terrier originating from Argyllshire, Scotland. The breed came about by chance after a dark-coloured terrier was accidentally shot and killed by its master, Colonel Nalcolm in 1860. He subsequently decided to breed white coloured terriers to avoid a reoccurrence of the accident. The breed was used for hunting vermin and is today an alert, lively, independent guard dog type of dog. Research West Highland White Terrier
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Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Cabriolet
