according to the ninth

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19162968695115580402011-12-04T18:09:35.296Zaccording to the ninthThe world as seen through the clarifying lens of the 9th Edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica (1875-1889).John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.comBlogger761100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-43905114676298652962010-04-11T22:29:00.008+01:002010-04-13T00:44:34.473+01:00Built by draughtsmen and boilermakers

In the opening passages of his essay SHIPBUILDING, Sir Nathaniel Barnaby, K.C.B (late Director of Naval Construction, Whitehall), paints a picture of a lost time of still earlier naval majesty, a picture imbued with those same glorious and sombre, sun-set colours that Turner used to depict "The Fighting Temeraire" being towed away to the breaker's yard. It is a long, elegiac preamble, such as has

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-72367709210043867372010-01-26T23:49:00.003Z2010-01-27T00:07:06.224ZTill the burden of existence has become universally unbearable

"PESSIMISM is a word of very modern coinage, employed to denote a mode of looking at and estimating the world, and especially human life, which is antithetical to the estimate designated by the term (a much older one) "Optimism." Both terms have a general as well as a special application. In their non-technical usage they denote a composite and ill-defined attitude of mind which gives

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-68882022754139669462009-11-29T15:00:00.000Z2009-11-29T15:13:09.853Z52. Strange contentment under his misfortunes

Saturday evening in the gloomily elegant dining room of Penrith's venerable George Hotel. As a coal fire, which may have been real or else a clever gas-fuelled contrivance, blazed, an elderly Scots widow maintained her dignity in the face of the insufficiently hushed over-familiarity of a retired carpet showroom manager from the Wirral ; glasses of chilled white wine chinked perfunctorily

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-63588529672476299472009-10-20T12:30:00.005+01:002009-10-20T21:18:38.718+01:0051. Wild Adventure

There follows an article which has survived in a butchered form throughout various editions of Britannica. I feel that the original article really deserves to be read in full, and also perhaps that it may be beneficial in understanding the complex and bloody issue of Serbian nationalism. May I also point out that the Wikipedia article on Karageorge is very weak water in comparison. It does carry

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-38793181289953046412009-10-17T13:15:00.001+01:002009-10-20T21:36:45.676+01:00Have you been paying attention? Part two

Part two of the According to the Ninth beginning of term quiz. Please remember to check your answers yourself by referring to the posting numerically corresponding to the question answered. Diplomas will be awarded at the end of examinations. Q 11.) What meaningless incantation was once believed to be effective against agues and fevers?a) Ague be gone!b) Abracadabra!c) By the Hoary

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-24207431376323844302009-10-15T12:30:00.006+01:002009-10-15T13:27:48.352+01:0050. The triumph of sanctity, and the terrible engine of her power

Part two of the According to the Ninth beginning of term exam will be posted shortly. To help clarify and focus your ganglionic organ, here are some considered thoughts and observations on the subject of CELIBACY."CELIBACY is the condition of those who are living a single life. The word is derived from caelebs, which means, not necessarily, as is very commonly supposed, a bachelor, but one who

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-9159528402873080582009-10-13T21:05:00.004+01:002009-10-13T22:46:01.451+01:00Have you been paying attention? Part One.

It is difficult to get myself back in the habit of writing again after this long break. I cannot complain, however, of any dearth of material. In only perusing the C volumes of The Ninth, I have learned this week about the threefold significance of the Celtic stream of legend, of a royal scandal terminating in death by mortification, a female academic who overcame her natural ineptitude for

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-41709707990609281012009-05-10T15:51:00.002+01:002009-05-10T15:56:41.679+01:00Please move along quietly, there is nothing to see here

In response to precisely no queries at all, I feel it is my duty to explain (make excuses) to loyal Accordingianists the long and unaccustomed silence that has befallen this august corner of Interwebshire.Sadly, owing to circumstances entirely beyond the bounds of what may be considered fair or just, your humble correspondent has, during this difficult epoch that history will surely remember as

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-56877701923322922842009-03-05T15:42:00.005Z2009-03-05T16:13:43.346Z49. When did you last paint your father?

Gripping news on page 3 of yesterday’s Guardian , finally ending years of fevered speculation, with “Constable’s parents finally identified.” Reading the article, one learns that the curators of an exhibition of Constable’s portraits at the National Gallery believe that two early paintings previously thought to be of other subjects might, following what was know doubt a very considered and

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-45842353509450427832009-02-02T10:07:00.004Z2009-02-02T12:20:21.102Z48. ii) Progressing to cosmopolitanism

Who could have predicted that, less than a year after boldly promising "British jobs for British people," Mr Brown would have his words come back to bite him in his prudently ample arse? That such an innocuous phrase might be interpreted by some as "Read my lips : no new jobs for Johnny Foreigner"? Listening to various government bods arguing the semantics of the Caledonian Charmer's rhetoric on

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-78025078304999928992009-01-28T11:30:00.004Z2009-01-28T12:10:53.172Z48. Inconspicuous, unostentatious, but hardly insignificant

"Insects do not play so conspicuous and ostentatious a part in Europe as in some of the warmer regions of the globe ; it is only in special localities or exceptional seasons that their destructive or irritating influence becomes formidable to man. There are not many towns like Fasano, where the inhabitants have in summer to leave their usual residences to the occupancy of flies ; and if the

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-39332115947268729282009-01-06T10:48:00.003Z2009-01-06T11:25:36.547Z47. A sufficient residuum of sea-serpents

Readers contemplating a sea voyage may be reassured by the accompanying figures from the article SEA-SERPENT by W. E. Holmes, M.A., of the "Challenger" Expedition Office. Figure 2 is (Admiral?) Bing's drawing of the sea-serpent reported by the "well-known missionary to Greenland" Hans Egede ; figure 3 shows how a squid rearing out of the water and spouting a jet of water could easiy be mistaken

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-81540071104774808822009-01-01T00:01:00.004Z2009-01-06T11:25:12.221Z46. The octave of Christmas Day

"NEW YEAR'S DAY. The first day (calends) of January, as marking the beginning of the year, was observed as a public holiday in Rome from at least the time of the Julian reformation of the calendar. Ovid (Fas., i. 63 sq.) alludes to the abstinence from litigation and strife, the smoking altars, the white-robed processions to the Capitol ; and later writers describe the exchanges of visits, the

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-47696732450625972272008-12-24T00:01:00.000Z2008-12-24T00:01:00.253Z45. Where the "old honour" has not altogether fled

"CHRISTMAS DAY (French, Noel from Dies natalis ; German Weihnachtsfest ; Old Eng. and Scand. Yule ; Ang.-Sax., Geol), a festival of the Christian church, observed on the 25th of December, in memory of the birth of Jesus Christ. There is, however, a difficulty in accepting this as the date of the Nativity, December being the height of the rainy season in Judea, when neither flocks nor shepherds

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-37816385666522631562008-12-16T20:26:00.007Z2008-12-23T12:24:53.389Z44. Pianowire, steam-engines and explosives.

In an age of technological marvels, how best to arm his navy was a question which was readily answered for the gentlemen of 1886. With its engine powered by compressed air achieving an impressive 24 knots over 600 yards, and delivering a payload charge of up to 100lb of gun-cotton, the Whitehead torpedo was clearly the weapon of choice. The Whitehead's accuracy and unwavering course were thanks

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-22616430242200240532008-12-07T20:45:00.004Z2008-12-08T11:40:33.135Z43. Great scousers in history (part 1)

Here's an inspiring, brief biography of an inspiring, brief life. All the story of science that followed, from falling apples to men on the moon, is reflected at the moment an excited young clergyman rushes from his church, grasping a pocketbook of laboriously scribbled notes, toward a quiet spot where the dying light of the winter sun burns along the length of a brass telescope, standing

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-17165341409994054272008-12-06T13:41:00.004Z2008-12-17T12:53:06.476Z42. Three methods for growing cucumbers

From HORTICULTURE by Mr T. Moore, late of the Botanic Garden, Chelsea.

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-48386849902997259302008-11-26T10:31:00.006Z2008-11-26T23:30:46.746Z41. Dr. Dudley A. Sargent of Harvard University was a plagiarist

Wherever possible, it is the object of this blog to afford its readers a fuller understanding of the great issues of our times, through resort to the learned and precise sages employed by the offices of Adam and Charles Black. "DANCE. The term dancing in its widest sense includes three things :-(1) the spontaneous activity of the muscles under the influence of some strong emotion, such as social

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-80581067549539415482008-11-09T15:39:00.003Z2008-11-09T23:06:04.068Z40. Sometimes a morbid kindness

Like many overgrown boys, I thrill to the sensational exploits of television survival artiste Bear Grylls. He may not have the nut-gathering, bucolic charm and authenticity of Ray Mears, but he has a far more rugged name. A recent programme did display a somewhat Morissette-ish tendency in his language, by his declaring how 'ironic' it would be if, after all the lions, tigers and bears he has

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-18674349447845950542008-11-06T20:04:00.001Z2008-11-07T22:35:20.870Z39. Mental perturbations and the emergencies of intellectual combat

I am indebted to the kind and indiscriminate praise of Chessbumbus for reminding me of the ninth edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica's very fine article on the subject of the game of kings. W. Norwood Porter's introduction is a masterly opening, and be you not stricken by obstinacy, indolence, or self-esteem, you should find it instructive, and a balm to the troubles of your cerebral organ.CHESS,

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-72508720125311101262008-11-04T06:56:00.000Z2008-11-04T06:56:00.880Z38. ii) Let us have faith that right makes might

John G. Nicolay provides a comprehensive biography of the celebrated Illinois lawyer, rail-splitter, and chicken-fight judge, which can only be done full justice by being read in full. I would then direct the curious to peruse your local library for a copy of Gore Vidal's Lincoln (presumably to be shortly reprinted if Mr Spielberg gets round to directing Liam Neeson in a cinematic adaptation),

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-79471059590986727642008-11-03T11:16:00.004Z2008-11-03T14:47:37.568Z38. i) The largest hands ever seen on a man

The heart of Barleycorn Towers is set to glow with the unearthly radiance of the cathode-ray tube throughout Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, as the presidential contest in our former colonies is followed through all the baroque twists and turns of its final, decisive (barring lawyerly appeals to the Supreme Court) hours. What better way to join the frenzy of excitement than by taking a look

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-7102070879833690662008-11-02T17:53:00.004Z2008-12-17T12:53:06.480Z37. The age of blocking : when any neat-handed man could print for himself

"In Europe, as late as the second half of the14th century, every book (including school and prayer books), and every public and private document, proclamation, bull, letter, &c., was written by hand ; all figures and pictures, even playing-cards and images of saints, were drawn with the pen or painted with a brush."J. H. Hessels, M. A. writes these words in his history of TYPOGRAPHY, as an

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-33480669046371016452008-10-27T16:50:00.000Z2008-10-27T16:50:00.423Z36. Wayward tendencies

Another instructive and colourful biography of a notable personage from the pages of the ninth edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica. If today's theatre or the screen can offer a personality to compare I would be surprised. As the article in its original form does not appear to be found elsewhere in Interwebshire, and as it contains the phrase "a thrilling sweetness like the witchery of the

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-436715872352674012008-10-25T19:14:00.002+01:002008-10-25T22:08:42.685+01:0035. ii) Sympathy with books and reading

Tedder and Thomas continue their article with nothing less than an overview of practically every library on the planet. Twenty-one pages of text are accompanied by ten pages of tables, and the mind, as the cliché goes, boggles. This article is pervaded by a proud sense of the dynamic modern phenomena of free access to knowledge and the wisdom of the ages. It is not difficult to see the parallels

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-77005194316712621172008-10-17T13:33:00.007+01:002008-10-17T22:58:24.256+01:0035. i) Dusty books and silence

Last week, here at the European Capital of Culture 2008, we were blessed by no less august a figure than Andy Burnham, the government’s Culture Secretary, outlining the glorious future for Britain’s libraries in the 21st century, “far removed from the stereotype of dusty books and silence.” Libraries, we are thrilled to hear, will be put at the very heart of communities, and all kinds of

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-58116471130789529582008-10-14T15:32:00.008+01:002008-11-03T14:48:13.409Z34. Thoroughly organized, drilled, and equipped for service.

The author of the article quoted in the previous three postings is one Professor McKendrick. Britannica prints his name as M’Kendrick in each instance. I am assuming that this is following either some printing convention or personal preference, for elsewhere in Britannica Scots names are printed with the full Mc or Mac, or are likewise apostrophized. Checking the list of contributors in the Index

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-64969760189309458472008-10-10T12:15:00.006+01:002008-10-14T16:24:52.803+01:0033. iii) This intricate ganglionic mechanism

"No one now doubts that consciousness has an anatomical substratum, but the great problem of the relation between the two is as far from solution as in the days when little or nothing was known of the physiology of the nervous system. Consciousness has been driven step by step upwards until now it takes refuge in a few thousand nerve-cells in a portion of the grey matter of the brain. The

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-62484852746282534112008-10-08T11:54:00.003+01:002008-10-14T16:24:52.805+01:0033. ii) More fun with pigeons

"Flourens and the older observers were aware of the fact that as successive slices of grey matter are removed from the cerebrum an animal becomes more dull and stupid, until at last all indications of perception and volition disappear. A pigeon in this condition (see fig. 29), if carefully fed, may live for many months ; to quote from Dalton - "The effect of this mutilation is simply to plunge

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-2324987932539346722008-10-06T11:08:00.002+01:002008-10-14T16:31:15.941+01:0033. i) Fun with pigeons

"If the cerebellum be removed gradually by successive slices - an operation easily done in a pigeon - there is a progressive effect on locomotive actions. On taking away only the upper layer there is some weakness and a hesitation in gait. When the sections have reached the middle of the organ the animal staggers much, and assists itself by its wings in walking. The sections being continued

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-15786752177304982352008-09-29T21:18:00.004+01:002008-10-14T17:17:04.044+01:0032. Gorgeousness in matter and meanness in manner

The Barleycorn family have been making use of their National Trust membership and taking advantage of the weekend's 2p per litre dip in the price of petrol, visiting two of the nation's cherished tourism honeypots : Stonehenge and Windsor Castle. Barleycorn Sr is disgruntled to note that Places of Interest seem to have universally dispensed with wordy plaques and notice boards and are now all

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-45212204789500746622008-09-21T18:53:00.011+01:002008-09-22T10:13:55.699+01:0031. We are all to blame

In these dark days of credit crunches and global financial meltdown, you may well have considered the price of eggs in your local supermarket and thought to yourself, Why, it seems that only a year ago this product was considerably cheaper. You may have found yourself wistfully recalling the turn of the century abandon with which you once consumed omelettes. Occasionally the accounts one reads

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-19187644609238927832008-09-17T11:33:00.003+01:002008-10-14T16:23:58.171+01:0030. Relevancy update

What with the manner in which news and events have a habit of occurring somewhat continuously, I am occasionally confounded by an absence of serendipity, which would otherwise lend me an authoritative air of prescience and relevancy.Days after posting about Britain's 19th century dominance of the opium trade, the newspapers were full of reports about Helmand province's soaring levels of

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-21792872980680034482008-09-15T09:10:00.008+01:002008-12-17T12:53:06.483Z29. The Royal Mint and Mr Darlington's rock drill

Today I find myself wondering : Did the proximity of the articles MINING and MINT, in the 16th volume of the ninth edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica, ever inspire in some hubristic, would-be Moriarty, dreams of what would surely be remembered as the most audacious criminal enterprise in history?

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-71828130544661992982008-09-06T19:28:00.005+01:002008-12-17T12:53:06.486Z28. (ii)Ingenious mechanical contrivances

La Machine's spider was by no means a disappointment, but neither was it an AUTOMATON "a self moving machine, or one in which the principle of motion is contained within the mechanism itself. According to this description, clocks, watches, and all machines of a similar kind, are automata, but the word is generally applied to contrivances which simulate for a time the motions of animal life. [...

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-40891449848760609512008-09-05T09:34:00.007+01:002008-09-17T12:22:44.732+01:0028. (i)The merry conceits of Squire Punch

The city of Liverpool, over this grey and rainy September weekend, will experience one of the highlights of its year as European Capital of Culture, in a spectacular performance by the French puppeteers La Machine. The Barleycorn family will be off in an hour to witness the awakening of a giant spider from the depths of space, which promises to spend the next three days marching around the city

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-60540371506436778422008-08-24T13:01:00.004+01:002008-08-24T14:23:26.030+01:0027. Quick-sighted, sagacious, and bold

Alfred Newton, F.R.S., Professor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy, University of Cambridge, had a fascination for ravens, sorry, the Raven. The introduction to his article in volume 20 of the ninth edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica is a splendid flight of impassioned prose:RAVEN (Anglo-Saxon Hraefn, Icelandic Hrafn, Danish Ravn, Dutch Raaf, German Rabe), the largest of the Birds of the Order

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-53809798319065257822008-08-20T12:11:00.003+01:002008-10-14T16:24:52.812+01:00Opposed by all thinking Chinese

Britain's relations with China in the 19th century were based on rather morally dubious circumstances. The basic facts are laid out reasonably succinctly in the OPIUM article by E. M. Holmes. Opium first came to China from Asia Minor in the 13th century, presumably under the growth of trans-continental trade fostered by the Mongols. Until the middle of the 18th century it was, however imported in

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-57755403679350232772008-08-15T12:46:00.004+01:002008-10-14T16:27:15.560+01:0026. (ii)(b) Vir gravis et corpulentis

I hope that readers can forgive the discursive wandering from the subject that encyclopedia-browsing inevitably leads to. In writing about the Beijing Olympics I seem to have lost myself on the ever-appealing subject of the conquering Mongols, which I hope may in part be excused by the fact that that city first became capital of all China under the rule of Genghis' grandson Khubilai, he of

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-12817692402853624102008-08-10T17:41:00.004+01:002008-10-14T16:27:15.562+01:0026. (ii)The accidents of war, commerce and opportunity

Professor R. K. Douglas' comprehensive study CHINA is prefaced by an account of how China became known to the Western world, written by Colonel Sir Henry Yule, R.E., K.C.S.I., C.B. It is an interesting opening, not least because, contrary to prejudices one might have expected in a 19th century writer, the emphasis is not upon Marco Polo or other 'discoverers' of the East, but on Genghis and sons,

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-84653068594953056422008-08-08T15:44:00.007+01:002008-08-09T09:00:25.523+01:0026. i) Where the roses have no fragrance, and the women no petticoats

Admirable efforts to strand for bland even-handedness in the BBC's relentless coverage of Beijing's International Sporting Jamboree."Is there an atmosphere of genuine celebration, or is it more forced?" the host of Radio 4's Today programme asked a roving sports correspondent. I can't recall the wording of the response to the question, but non-committal would cover it. Would the forecast rain

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-54352610899017136192008-08-02T15:57:00.005+01:002008-10-26T16:59:48.383Z25. Famed, honoured, and ultimately devoured

It is that magical time again, when around the globe the human race are united by staring at television sets for hours on end, as burly young men and women clad in lycra hop from foot to foot and compete earnestly in obscure athletic challenges, hoping to win the praise and adulation of their countrymen, before suffering their scowls and approbation once they fail a test for performance-enhancing

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-68569327704406868022008-07-21T11:19:00.009+01:002008-07-22T22:58:16.913+01:0024. Mysterizingness in the Limbo of Effete Heresies

"PHRENOLOGY. The name was given by Forster in 1815 to the empirical system of psychology formulated by Gall and developed by his followers, especially by Spurzheim and Combe. At first it was named "cranioscopy," "craniology," "physiognomy," or "zoonomy," but Forster's name was early adopted by Spurtzheim, and became that whereby the system is now known. The principles upon which it is based are

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-13686553813318601522008-07-20T12:31:00.009+01:002008-12-17T12:53:06.490Z23 (iii) Modesty, thy name is Professor J. B. Pettigrew

"To Professor J. Bell Pettigrew is due the merit of having first satisfactorily analysed [wing] movements, and of having reproduced them by the aid of artificial wings. This physiologist in 1867 showed that all natural wings, whether of the insect, bat, or bird, are screws structurally, and that they act as screws when they are made to vibrate, from the fact that they twist in opposite directions

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-30078865391346668452008-07-17T12:14:00.008+01:002008-12-17T12:53:06.507Z23 (ii) A physical problem to be solved by mechanical skill and ingenuity

"FLIGHT, FLYING MACHINES. Of the many scientific problems of modern times, there are few possessing a wider or more enduring interest than that of aerial navigation. To fly has always been an object of ambition with man ; nor will this occasion surprise when we remember the marvellous freedom enjoyed by volant as compared with non-volant animals. The traditions of Daedalus and Icarus illustrate

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-38680666618354969032008-07-16T22:32:00.006+01:002008-07-22T11:02:56.671+01:0023. (i) The Chillingham Bull, the Turtle and the Bat

According to the Ninth is a realm where nothing is fixed, so I hope that readers will bear with me through this current stage of outlandish experimentation. You may notice that the charmingly quaint Morris-like background template (known to Blogger as Scribe) has been dropped in favour of one starker and simpler. The reasons behind this change are1. I couldn't help but notice that every blog of

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-47135682353148727872008-07-14T11:20:00.007+01:002008-10-14T16:27:15.565+01:0022 (iii) Obscure histories and noble successes

I have tried without success to get hold of a copy of Braveheart this past week, with the object of drawing precise comparisons between the movie's depiction of events and the historical record. Instead I must rely on my imperfect memory. I seem to recall King Patrick the McGoohan cursing and fretting that the maverick Sgt Gibson and his crazy schemes are about to lay waste to Olde London Town,

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-43070352292915722102008-07-09T17:07:00.006+01:002008-10-14T16:27:15.566+01:0022 (ii) Happy Treaty of Irvine Day

WALLACE, SIR WILLIAM, the most popular national hero of Scotland, is believed to have been the second son of Sir Malcolm Wallace of Elderslie and Auchinbothie, in Renfrewshire. The date of his birth is not certainly ascertained, but is usually given as 1270. "Not certainly ascertained" is uncharacteristically clumsy for the Ninth edition (why not simply "uncertain"?), and a poor start for author

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-88083721732294936292008-07-07T19:44:00.010+01:002008-10-26T16:59:48.385Z22. (i) Freedom!

Having recently considered the depiction of the great conqueror Chinggis Khan in Mongol, I am led to ponder another cinematic portrayal of a martial hero, namely Mr Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson's iconic performance as the inspired guerrilla, William Wallace, in Braveheart.Whilst not without its critics, Braveheart did (in addition to worldwide acclaim) prove popular with many Scots, in particular

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-12091814651037084742008-07-02T11:22:00.006+01:002008-07-22T11:02:10.163+01:0021. Tumultuous and riotous assemblies

The Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar is currently under a State of Emergency, as a result of disturbances following widespread dissatisfaction with the conduct and outcome of the country's recent parliamentary elections. Protesting crowds in the capital's central Sukhbaatar Square have led to riots which have resulted in five deaths, the destruction of the ruling Mongolian People's Revolutionary

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-50340044169907355842008-06-25T20:16:00.009+01:002008-10-26T16:59:48.388Z20. Lines and phrases of marvellous felicity

Two curious Welsh brothers for today : because they don't make 'em like they did in the 17th century.VAUGHAN, HENRY (1621-1693), called "the Silurist," poet and mystic, was born into an ancient Welsh family settled at Skethiog-on-Usk, in the parish of Llansaintfraed, Brecknockshire, in 1621. From 1632 to 1638 he and his twin brother Thomas were privately educated by the rector of Llangattock, and

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-3218366247599741382008-06-13T11:31:00.009+01:002008-10-26T16:59:48.390Z19. One of the greatest conquerors the world has ever seen

Managed to catch Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan before it closed at our local arts cinema last night. I enjoyed the film, although Mongolian members of the Barleycorn family were less impressed. As the title suggests, the film depicts the early life of the great conqueror, for which the source material is the Mongolian Secret History, a carefully guarded historical tradition, which may well be

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-76506583374148259102008-06-04T22:45:00.004+01:002008-07-22T11:11:53.270+01:0018. (ii) The ideas involved with the word race

The opening remarks of Professor Keane's article leave little room for doubt concerning the tone we can expect to follow.NEGRO (Spanish and Italian Negro, from Latin Niger, black) in anthropology designates the distinctly dark as opposed to the fair, yellow, and brown varieties of mankind.There follow several paragraphs going into particular detail to define in exactly which part of Africa the '

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-37443031535672996052008-05-28T00:00:00.001+01:002008-07-22T11:18:31.224+01:0018. (i) Skirting controversy

The author of the article INDIA, a high-ranking public servant of Empire, who joyfully assayed the quality and value of its coronal gem, nonetheless lamented, as we have seen, the erosion of a culture rich in its own arts and crafts, acknowledging that it had preceded and been emulated by Britain in developing the textiles trade; so fore-shadowing some of the motivating sentiments that later

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-79437096804646308532008-05-19T12:33:00.005+01:002008-10-14T16:23:58.176+01:0017. What I have learned this weekend

The Clavicle, or Collar Bone, is an elongated bone which extends from the upper end of the sternum horizontally outwards, to articulate with the acromion process of the scapula. It presents a strong sigmoidal curve, which is associated with the transverse and horizontal direction of the axis of the human shoulder. It is slender in the female, but powerful in muscular males [...]. The clavicle is

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-88635379585815786762008-05-15T12:00:00.001+01:002008-10-14T16:27:15.571+01:0016. Admirable diversions

Do you know the difference between your minstrels and your bards, your bufos and your troubadours, your gleemen and your joglars? There are a number of articles in EB9 which might educate you to better classify your itinerant musicians. One of the more concise is MINSTREL, by William Minto, M.A., Professor of English Language at the University of Aberdeen.The "minstrels," according to Bishop

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-55178733059626145792008-05-12T09:00:00.004+01:002008-07-22T11:02:10.168+01:0015. What is their value as pulp?

Recently dug up this question from Yahoo! Answers: Eddie: I have a full set of 1884 Encyclopedia Britannica, does anyone know the value of them?Best Answer:Dave: I would say that considering the advent of the Internet since 1984 and the fact that much of the information is outdated or incomplete, they would be difficult to give away. Not trying to be mean, just rational.Eddie: Yes i think your

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-8309295447537404092008-05-09T09:00:00.001+01:002008-07-22T11:02:10.168+01:0014. The invasion of purity

SEDUCTIONThe action for seduction of an unmarried woman in England stands in a somewhat anomalous position. The theory of English law is that the woman herself has suffered no wrong ; the wrong has been suffered by the parent or the person in loco parentis, who must sue for the damage arising for the loss of service caused by the seduction of the woman. Some evidence of service must be given, but

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-83607842734150756462008-05-05T19:02:00.005+01:002008-10-26T16:59:48.391Z13. Prostrated in mind, body, by sunstroke, and in the dust

Communications from the 9th Edition of Encyclopedia Britannica community of enthusiasts have enlightened me to usage of the extremely convenient EB9 abbreviation in reference to the object of our fascination, and I will henceforth endeavour to bandy the term liberally throughout these postings. The author of the lyrics of the rousingly patriotic Rule Britannia, was the Scotsman James Thomson (

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-11612162426205388652008-04-18T16:35:00.008+01:002008-07-22T11:02:10.169+01:0012. (ii) Strenuous and spasmodic efforts after originality

Professor John Nichol has more good things to say on the subject of AMERICAN LITERATURE, and this still in the introduction to his essay.Many of the artistic as well as the social peculiarities of the United States may doubtless be traced to their form of government. [...] When the hereditary privileges of rank have ceased to be recognised, the utility, if not the beauty, of knowledge becomes

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-2742488543269329112008-04-14T19:12:00.007+01:002008-07-22T11:02:10.170+01:0012. (i) Rushing into empty spaces

What is the problem with AMERICAN LITERATURE? This is a question which once troubled the finest minds in England, and which John Nichol, LL. D., F.R.S. (who ABBREVIATION informs us was a Doctor of Law and Fellow of the Royal Society), Professor of English Language at Glasgow University, has addressed with considerable vigour in Volume I of the 9th Edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica.Incidentally,

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-64941483324017148742008-04-07T16:45:00.005+01:002008-07-22T22:59:11.746+01:0011. Abracadabra

ABRACADABRA, a meaningless word once supposed to have a magical efficacy as an antidote against agues and other fevers. Ridiculously minute directions for the proper use of the charm are given in the Praecepta de Medicina of Serenus Sammonicus. The paper on which the word was written had to be folded in the form of a cross, suspended from the neck by a strip of linen so as to rest on the pit of

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-25690214363546290522008-04-01T14:30:00.002+01:002008-04-01T14:33:48.410+01:00Normal Service Will Be Resumed Shortly

My sincerest apologies for the long silence on matters Britannican. The recent arrival of a son, Thomas, has caused a degree of distraction from posting duties, which I will remedy as soon as humanly possible.

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-89580513570314939872008-03-23T12:11:00.003Z2008-07-22T11:02:10.171+01:0010. (ii) The tide of circumstances

Though India may be truly described as an agricultural and not a manufacturing country, yet it would be erroneous to infer that it is destitute of the arts of civilized life. It has no swarming hives of industry to compare with the factory centres of Lancashire, nor a large mining population, living under the soil rather than on it. [...] But in all manufactures requiring manual dexterity and

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-35140111193243961172008-03-21T11:07:00.004Z2008-07-22T11:02:10.171+01:0010. (i) Empire: India, tigers, cotton and opium

In last week's investigation into what clarity the ninth edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica can give to the perhaps surprisingly vague concept of Britishness, we noted in passing that there is no entry in the Index reading EMPIRE, British, the. Is there an underlying significance to this omission? Does it perhaps indicate a characteristic reluctance to brag on such a theme? Seeking answers to

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-1618958346505568972008-03-16T11:06:00.001Z2008-11-09T23:11:30.314Z9. A transcendent boon

Lord Goldsmith has sustained much mockery in the past week for his mealy-mouthed proposals to reinvigorate our glorious nation's disaffected youth with a sense of national pride, by means of an oath of allegiance to Her Majesty the Queen, or not the Queen if that would be contentious, but, er, something else. Of course, Lord G is only working on the theme announced by Mr Brown, promising "British

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-20676417733798938782008-03-15T19:35:00.002Z2008-10-26T16:59:48.393Z8. (iii) An exquisite tessellation

In 1772 Edward Gibbon finally began writing the work conceived in October 1764 in the ruins of the forum. The death of his father had left him with the "leisure and opportunity" to begin his great work. He "long brooded over the chaos of materials he had amassed", but by February 1776 the first volume was published. The final volume saw press shortly before its author's 51st birthday, in 1788.

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-51946101319314497002008-03-13T11:18:00.001Z2008-10-26T16:59:48.396Z8. (ii) Musing amidst the ruins

Let us return, then, with Mr Rogers and Reverend Black to 18th century England, to find the young Edward Gibbon, himself freshly returned to these shores and living on an allowance in his father's home, beginning a "work of accumulation" building up his father's library."I am not conscious," says he, "of having ever bought a book from a motive of ostentation ; every volume , before it was

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-87005785221316855592008-03-12T18:37:00.001Z2008-10-26T16:59:48.398Z8. (i) Unprovided with original learning, unformed in the habits of thinking, unskilled in the arts of composition

I believe that it is safe to assume that the vast majority of readers of the 9th edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica had experienced the blessings of a classical education, and however much their Latin might have been learned by rote and from the vulgus books and cribs of Tom Brown's School Days, that this widespread and at its least passing familiarity with the thoughts, words and actions of

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-13848123965863058952008-03-06T17:52:00.001Z2008-07-22T11:11:53.271+01:007. The quaint and crafty sayings of manifest idiots

Today we hear from the Joint Committee on Human Rights that people with learning disabilities often face abuse and neglect from the very people who are paid to provide them with care and assistance, owing to a culture based on outdated negative stereotypes. Part of this culture is deeply embedded in language in everyday use. I remember the particular thrill of learning a new pejorative as a child

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-8125297076919938162008-02-26T17:31:00.001Z2008-07-22T11:02:10.175+01:006. The careful suppression of individual liberty

This week Radio 4 has been broadcasting a series of programs by John Simpson about China in the run up to this year's Olympic Games. The Liberator of Kabul, who was last reporting from Beijing in 1989 during the massacre at Tiananmen Square, is astounded by the changes in the country, by the phenomena that is China's almost total rejection of Communism in favour of capitalism. In today's program

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-2567527877715805422008-02-25T15:26:00.001Z2008-07-22T11:08:18.953+01:005. Infants, Lunatics and Married Women

From Vol. 6 of the 9th Edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica (1877):"CONTRACT is a bargain or agreement enforceable by law. The law of contract occupies so large a space in all civilized systems of law, that only a few of its more leading principles can be stated here. There is a general harmony in the jurisprudence of modern nations on this subject which is not to be found in other departments

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-73041824709405497592008-02-22T11:41:00.002Z2008-07-22T11:02:10.176+01:004. Pregnancy: Medical Jurisprudence, Infanticide and Monsterism

My wife is currently 36 weeks pregnant and we are sharing the joy of impending parenthood. From friends, relatives, medical staff, magazines, the internet and so on and so forth we can in no way be said to be suffering from a deficiency of advice or information on the subject, but instinct and a sense of duty to this blog leads me to turn to Pregnancy in the Ninth Edition of the Encyclopaedia

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-65733500723356888072008-02-17T14:10:00.001Z2008-10-14T17:14:57.659+01:003. A realm where nothing is fixed

Two weeks ago, after watching the finale of HBO's Rome, I lifted down the Index and the couple of volumes it directed me to in order to try and educate the impressions I had received from the very enjoyable TV series. I was much taken with what the Britannica's authors had to say regarding the personalities in that soap opera. Today I pulled down Volume II (Ana.-Ath.) looking to re-read the

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-49967273530041544142008-02-13T21:54:00.001Z2008-10-14T17:15:06.161+01:002. The perverted ingenuity of man

A grimly sincere sounding American chap on the Today program the other morning was making a very forceful argument in support of the American legal system legislating for the use of torture. What if a terrorist in your custody has the information to prevent an imminent and devastating attack on the White House, the gravelly-voiced gentleman posited, should security forces not have the right to

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1916296869511558040.post-80368966290601300272008-02-13T20:11:00.002Z2008-07-22T11:18:31.224+01:001. Preface

The 24 volumes and index of the 9th Edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica were published between 1875 and 1889. It has become known as the 'Scholar's Edition' owing to the highbrow quality of the submitted articles. It was the last British edition before the enterprise passed to American publishers. The 9th edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica is the print apotheosis of the Victorian world

John Barleycornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16477950212613140744noreply@blogger.com0