Tally-ho! Is the old Norman huntingcry meaning 'to the coppice!', and was used when a stag was spotted running for the cover of the trees. Research Tally-Ho
Paavo Johannes Nurmi was a Finnish long distance runner. He was born in 1897 and died in 1993. He was known as the 'Flying Finn', and won nine Olympic gold medals, including five at the 1924 Games. He broke 20 world records in 16 separate events ranging from the 1,500 metres to the 20,000 metres. Through his achievements and his scientific approach to training and racing he transformed competitive running in the 1920s. He set his first world record 1921 in the 10,000 metres, and his last in 1931 when he became the first man to beat nine minutes in the two miles. At the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp he won the 10,000 metres and individual and team cross country titles, but could only finish second in the 5,000 metres; a defeat which prompted him thereafter to run with a stop watch so that he could pace himself better. Whatever the benefits of this innovation, four years later at the Paris Olympics he was unbeatable, winning gold medals in the 1,500 metres, 5,000 metres, individual and team cross country, and the 3,000
metres team event; his victories in the first two races coming within an hour of each other. In 1925, on a celebrated tour of the USA, he won 53 of 55 indoor races. At the 1928 Olympics he won the 10,000 metres and won silver medals in the 5,000 metres and 3,000 metres steeplechase to bring his tally of medals to 12, including 9 golds. In 1932 he was controversially disqualified from competing in the Los Angeles Olympics for an alleged breach of the amateur code. Research Paavo Nurmi
Originally, a tally was a piece of wood scored across with notches representing an amount of debt or payment. The wood was then split in half lengthways and each party kept half. An early document records the manner of using a tally thus: 'Let a hazel stick have cut transversely into it as many notches as there are figures to be recorded. To distinguish 1d, 1s, 1 pound, or any multiple thereof, the notches are cut of different breadths. Let the stick then split down the middle through all the notches. One half of the stick is then held by one party to the transaction, the corresponding half by the other.' Tallies were used by the British Exchequer until 1826. Research Tally
The tally system was a forerunner of hire-purchase and modern credit agreements. It was a mode of dealing practised in London around 1900 by which customers were supplied with articles, mostly drapery, furniture or hardware, on credit under agreement to pay the stipulated price by fixed instalments weekly or monthly. The tally system evolved into the easy hire system, which in turn became hire-purchase. Research Tally System