Bower-bird is a name given to certain Australian birds of the starling family from a remarkable habit they have of building bowers to serve as places of resort. The bowers are constructed on the ground, and usually under overhanging branches in the most retired
parts of the forest. They are decorated with variegated feathers, shells, small pebbles, bones, etc. At each end there is an entrance left open. These bowers do not serve as nests at all, but seem to be places of amusement and resort, especially during the breeding season. The Satin Bower-bird (Ptilonorhynchus holoaericeus), is so called from its beautiful glossy plumage, which is of a black colour. Another common species is the Spotted Bower-bird (Chlamydera maculata}, which is about 28 cm long, or rather smaller than the first-mentioned, and less striking in colour, but is the most lavish of all in decorating its bowers. Research Bower-Bird
Clematis is a genus of woody climbing plants of the order Banunculaceae. The most common species, Clematis Vitalba, virgin's bower or traveller's joy, is conspicuous in the hedges both of England and the south of Scotland, first by its copious clusters of white blossoms, and afterwards by its feather-tailed silky tufts attached to the fruits. Among the exotic species in greatest favour with horticulturists are Clematis flammula, which produces abundant panicles of small white flowers, and has a fine perfume; Clematis cirrhosa, remarkable for its large greenish-white flowers; and Clematis viticella, with its festooning branches adorned with pink or purple bells. Research Clematis
Erect clematis (Clematis recta) or upright virgin's bower is a highly poisonous perennialherb of the family Ranunculaceae with a hollow, erect (not climbing or twining) stem, hairy in the upper part. The basal leaves are entire; the stem leaves are opposite and pinnate. The numerous fragrant, white flowers with conspicuous yellow anthers are arranged in dichasiums which grow from the leaf axils. The fruit is an achene with a persistent, long, feathery style. Erect clematis grows in woodland margins, thickets, hedgerows and dry bushy slopes chiefly in the warmer regions of southern, eastern and central Europe. Research Erect Clematis
Traveller's Joy (Clematis vitalba) also known as Virgin's Bower, Old Man's Beard and White Vine, is a climbing shrub of the natural order Ranunculaceae native to Europe, western Asia and north Africa. As a rule it scrambles over hedges and thickets, but often when it reaches up into a tree its rope-like stems are of great length. The opposite leaves are divided into three or five long heart-shaped leaflets, and the leaf-stalk is the climbing instrument, taking a turn round twigs and hardening. The flowers are slightly odorous, and consist of four greenish-white sepals downy on the under surface. The numerous styles develop long white feathery tails, which in autumn become the old man's beard. Research Traveller's Joy
Archibald Bower was a Scottish writer. He was born in 1686 and died in 1766. Born a Catholic, he wrote 'A History of The Popes' which was remarkable for its zeal against the Popery. He was employed by the booksellers in conducting the Historia Literaria, a monthly review of books, and in writing a part of the Universal History, in sixty volumes. Research Archibald Bower
John Fordun was a Scottish hisorian (known as the father of Scottish history). He was born soon after 1300 probably at Fordoun, Kincardineshire and died about 1386. He wrote the first five books of his history known as the Scotichronicon (in Latin), bringing it down to 1153, and part of the sixth, and left materials for its continuation down to his own period. It was resumed about 1441 by Walter Bower, abbot of the monastery of Inchcolm, by whom the five books of Fordun were enlarged, and eleven new ones added, bringing the history down to 1437. It exists in numerous manuscript copies, and several printed editions have been published, the best of which is that of W. F. Skene, Edinburgh, 1871-72, with translation. Research John Fordun
In English mythology, Acrasia was an enchantress who lived in the Bower of Bliss on the Wandering Island. She transformed her lovers into monstrous shapes and kept them captive. Sir Guyon having crept up on her, threw a net over her and bounder her in chains of adamant; then broke down her bower and burnt it to ashes. Research Acrasia
High Crimes is a courtroom thriller starring Ashley Judd, Morgan Freeman, Jim Caviezel, Amanda Peet, Tom Bower and Adam Scott in a story about a lawyer whose life is altered when her husband is accused of committing a military crime in El Salvador and she investigates with a view to proving his innocence. High Crimes was directed by Carl Frankin in 2002. Research High Crimes
Abbreviations
Research Bower-Bird
