Vega is the second brightest star of the northern hemisphere. It is the first star, Alpha Lyrae, in the constellation of the Lyre. A very white star, with hydrogen dominant in it, its parallax is 0.082 seconds, and it has a brilliancy equal to that of 100 suns. It will be the Pole Star between AD 15,000 and 16,000. Research Vega
The grouse is a fowl like bird common in North America and north Europe of the family Tetraonidae whose distinguishing mark is a naked band, often of a red colour, in place of an eyebrow. They are wild, shy and almost untameable living in families in forests and barren regions and feeding on berries, buds and leaves. They are polygamous, the male abandoning the female, and leaving to her the whole care of the progeny. The eggs number eight to fourteen. The largest species is the capercailzie or wood grouse. Other British species are the black grouse, the red grouse, commonly called simply the grouse, and the white grouse or ptarmigan.
The black grouse (Tetrao tetrix) is about the size of a common fowl. The male has the outer feathers of the tail curved outwards, so that the tail is lyre-shaped. It chiefly lives in high and wooded situations, feeding on various kinds of berries. The female is commonly called gray hen. To this genus belong several species peculiar to North America, the most remarkable of which is the pinnated grouse or prairie hen (Tetrao cupido), which inhabits open desert plains in particular districts of the Union. The male is furnished with wing-like appendages to his neck, covering two loose, orangesacs, capable of being inflated. Another species is the cock of the plains.
The grouse with hairy feet and which undergo seasonal change of plumage form the genus Lagopus. Of these the red grouse (Lagopus scoticus) is the most important. This bird, also called the moor fowl, is found in the Highlands of Scotland, also in Wales, the north of England, Ireland, and the Scottish islands. It pairs in the spring; the female lays eight or ten eggs. As soon as the young have attained their full size they unite in flocks of forty or fifty, and are extremely shy and wild. This bird attracts large numbers of sportsmen every August to the Scottish moors to take part in the grand sporting campaign which follows 'the twelfth.' The ptarmigan or white grouse (Lagopus mutus or vulgaris) is. ash-coloured in summer but its hue changes to a pure white in winter. It is found in Scotland and in the most northern regions, imhabiting the tops of mountains. Research Grouse
The Guinean N'Dama (also known as the Fouta Djallon, Fouta Jallon, Fouta Malinke, Fouta Longhorn, Futa and Malinke) is a dwarf to miniature breed of dairy and beef cattle spread over most of Guinea, over south- western Mali, Kedougou and south SenegalOriental, Senegal. It is also found in SierraLeone - representing the only indigenous breed, across northern Liberia, and in the north-west corner of Ivory Coast.
N'Dama cows weigh about 250 kg and bulls about 300 kg. The head is rather short and heavy but much finer in the cows. The body is deep and cylindrical and the legs are short and fine, with strong hooves. They stand about one metre in height and have crescent-shaped horns in the bulls and lyre-shaped horns in the cows, of varied length, although there are also a few polled individuals. N'Dama are two-thirds fawn to brown in colour; the rest vary from black to white or are pied. In High Guinea the size increases and the brown colour darkens, although one in ten of forest N'Dama are pied. Research N'Dama
The Saiga (Saiga tartarica) is a clumsy antelope, about the size of a sheep, found on the steppes of Europe and Asia. It has a large inflated nose and yellow, lyre shaped horns. The Saiga was in prehistoric times native to Britain. Research Saiga
The springbok (Gazella euchore) is a species of gazelle found in South Africa. The springbok stands about 75 cm high, and has cinnamon-yellow coloured hair with white under parts and a line of white hair along its back. The horns are lyre-shaped and about 35 cm long. The springbok is noted for its high bounds when running. Research Springbok
Arion was an ancient Greek poet and musician. He was born at Methymna, in Lesbos, and lived about 625 BC. He lived at the court of Periander of Corinth, and afterwards visited Sicily and Italy. Returning from Tarentum to Corinth with rich treasures, the avaricious sailors resolved to murder him. Apollo, however, having informed him in a dream of the impending danger, Arion in vain endeavoured to soften the hearts of the crew by the power of his music. He then threw himself into the sea, when one of a shoal of dolphins, which had been attracted by his music, received him on his back and bore him to land. The sailors, having returned to Corinth, were confronted by Arion, and convicted of their crime. The lyre of Arion, and the dolphin which rescued him, became constellations in the heavens. A fragment of a hymn to Poseidon, ascribed to Arion, is extant. Research Arion
Francis Danby was an English painter. He was born in 1793 near Wexford and died in 1861. He established his reputation in 1823 by his Sunset at Sea after a Storm; and in 1825, by his Delivery of Israel out of Egypt, obtained the honour of being admitted as an associate of the Academy. Among his subsequent pictures the most celebrated are the Opening of the Sixth Seal, exhibited in 1828; the Age of Gold, in 1831; The Enchanted Island Sunset, in 1841; The Contest of the Lyre and Pipe in the Vale of Tempe, in 1842; and the Painter's Holiday, in 1844. Danby's excellence lay in his delineations of scenery, and the poetic halo with which he contrived to invest them. Research Francis Danby
Henry Austin Dobson was an English poet. He was born in 1840 at Plymouth in 1840 and died in 1921. He was educated at Beaumaris, Coventry, and Strasburg, and in 1856 obtained a clerkship under the Board of Trade, where he rose to be one of the officials known as principals. His earliest verses first appeared in book form under the title Vignettes in Rhyme and Vers de Sociote published in 1873. His other volumes of verse include Proverbs in Porcelain (1877), Old World Idylls (1883), and At the Sign of the Lyre (1885), which the Athenaeum pronounced to be 'of its kind as nearly as possible perfect', Among his prose works may be mentioned his Lives of Hogarth, Fielding, Stede, Goldsmith, Horace Walpole, and Richardson; Thomas Bewick and his Pupils; Four Frenchwomen, a study on Charlotte Corday, the Princesse de Lamballe, and Mesdames Roland and de Genlis; three series of Eighteenth Century Vignettes; A Paladin of Philanthropy, and several editions of standard works. His collected poema were published in one volume in 1897. Many of Henry Dobson's poems are written in various French forms, such as the rondeau and ballade, and all are marked by gracefulness, ease, and careful finish. Research Henry Dobson
Terpander was an ancient Greek poet. He founded Greek music, evolved the lyre to seven-strings and set poetry to music. He lived around 700 BC in Lesbos, and left a school of followers in Sparta and Lesbos. Research Terpander
In Greek mythology, Amphion was a son of Zeus and Antiope. He was the husband of Niobe. Amphion had great skill in music which he was taught by Hermes. He helped build the walls of Thebes, the stones moving themselves into position at the sound of his lyre. Research Amphion
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Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Vega
