HMS George - A Sad End; A Lasting Tribute

Yesterday I read an article about recently found treasure recovered from a sunken ships. As many as we find, especially with today's technologies, there are still more out there. Planes, too, from the different war conflicts as well as passenger carriers. It's sad. As a matter of fact, yesterday, April 15, once more marked the sinking of the Titanic. I saw the exhibit about fifteen years ago, with all the artifacts that were recovered at that time. Personal effects, like a wallet, or pair of glasses, are the most poignant to me.

Looking into 18th Century maritime disasters, I found one of the worst for Great Britain and the Royal Navy, dated August 28, 1782. HMS Royal George, a 100 gun ship of the line, met with disaster upon its return from North America. It was due to accompany famed HMS Victory  (Lord Horatio Nelson's ship at Battle of Trafalgar) to Gibraltar when it capsized of Portsmouth Harbor. It sank while undergoing routine maintenance, with the loss of over 900 souls, among them 360 women and children who had boarded to visit with friends and family. It turned on its side and the sea quickly ran in through open gun ports.

Built in Woolwich Dockyard, it was launched in February 1756, the largest warship in the world at the time. It saw service during the Seven Years War, taking part in the Battle of Quiberon Bay and the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, two major confrontations. It lay in these dock waters for 50 years, until two divers, from 1834 to 1836 devised a plan to remove it so it was out of the way of the entrance to the harbor. Though they failed to salvage the ship, they discovered the Mary Rose, King Henry VIII's lost ship.

From 1839-44, Royal Engineers savaged many of the bronze cannons from The George which were later used to craft part of the Nelson Column in Trafalgar Square in London, a tribute to Lord Nelson! To rid the harbor of the obstruction, the engineers planted an explosive in the ship's remains, and Boom! It was gone! The explosion actually shattered windows ashore as far as three miles away.

 

A Glorious Work of Musical Art!

With Orthodox Easter (or Pascha, as it is better known) on its way, I like to listen to some religious music as I drive along.

I do have some Byzantine chant discs to play, but I am hearing these lovely and moving hymns in church each evening. So, by day, I turn to the glorious liturgical works of Wolfgang Mozart! Today I have his Great Mass in C minor in the car, and it is so beautiful! Cataloged as K427/417a, it was composed in Vienna in 1782-83, when he was no longer the church musician of the Salzburg Cathedral. The work, formally called a missa solemnis (solemn mass) that is sung in Latin, for two sopranos, a tenor and a bass, double chorus and a large orchestra.

 

In a letter to Leopold, his father, Wolfgang wrote that he vowed to write a mass when he brought his wife Constanze to Salzburg. She sang the "Et incarnates est" (He was made flesh) at the premier.The first performance took place on October 26,1783, which included the Kyrie, Gloria and Sanctus portions.

Give it a listen, and I think you will agree that you are transported!

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Elementary, my dear Glover!

Here's an interesting bit concerning The Battle of Waterloo:

Recently, archeologists have identified the skeletal remains of a man who died at the Battle of Waterloo. If scientists are correct, these remains are those of an unknown soldier who died near the Lion's Mound in 1815. Historian Gareth Glover is credited with cracking the case using artifacts buried around the body, and the remains of a soldier from 200 years ago. The remains supposedly belong to Friedrich Brandt, a 23 year old soldier who served with the Kind's German Legion of George III at the time of his death.

The remains were found in 2012, and there was also found a ball from a musket at rest in the area of the ribcage! Unlike the recent discovery and formal burial of Richard III, Brandt did not have any living blood relatives to call on for DNA comparison.

 

Glover dug deep, as it were. He was able to track troop formations that fought on the fateful day, and determines that the soldier was Hanoverian trained and likely fought with the British to liberate portions of the homeland that had come into Napoleon's control. There were only two soldiers who had "CB' as initials in their name, and the remains in particular had an "F' that was faded with time. Glover also used payroll records and coins found near the remains to determine that the money was likely one week's pay. That's very Sherlock Holmes of him, don't you

think!?

An Easter Tradition

With Easter just upon us, I looked into 18th Century traditions, and found the following:

The "Easter Bunny", or Osterhase, is a product of 18th Century Germany, one of the ages greatest pleasures for the children. Children would decorate brightly colored nests in quiet areas of the house. The Oster Hase would lay eggs in it for them, if they were good! Eventually the nest became a basket, and has been used ever since, not really for eggs, but for candy and small Spring-themed gifts.

My favorite tradition is the baking of the Hot Cross Buns. Since medieval times, marking bread with a cross was a common thing to do, warding off evil spirits that could affect the bread, making it not rise, or go moldy. A round bun was formed, and the cross divided it into 4 lunar quarters. These were known as Good Friday or Cross buns, but the first written reference to "Hot Cross Buns" came in 1733.  

These buns are sweet and spiced, and include currants or raisins, and traditionally eaten in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, the Caribbean, South Africa, India and Canada. The sun never sets on the Hot Cross Bun!

A Room with a View

I work in the real estate development world, and assist getting projects on, in our case, multifamily or apartment living, from the drawing board to the groundbreaking shovel entering the vacant land. It's fun, especially when I am working with the architect, reviewing plans, making suggestions.

Recently, I noticed an article about 18th Century housing, which included a drawing of a cottage and a first floor plan. It was interesting, mentioning rooms such as lobby (entry), drawing room (den), parlor (living room), book room (library) and music room. There is a huge kitchen and a larder (pantry). There is no drawing of the upstairs included which contained the bedrooms, I'm sure. By the way, the "drawing room" was originally called the "withdrawing" room, a space in which one could retreat. In these times, the owner of the house, his wife, or a distinguished guest who was occupying one of the main apartments in the house could "withdraw" for more privacy. Today we have our den, or "bonus" room, or study where we can watch tv, surf the net, listen to endless downloads of iTunes, or read.

 

A great deal of description is given to the room colors, which is still important by today's standards.

I looked into the concept of the bath, and find that there was a clear distinction between bathing for health and relaxation, and washing for reasons of cleanliness. Generally, washing meant the cleaning of face and hands, presenting a neat exterior appearance. No wonder there was such an emphasis on perfume! haha! So, there might be a wash basin and pitcher in the bedroom for that purpose. A bath where the body was submerged in water was mostly for preventative health maintenance. Many books refer to going to Bath, in England, for "the waters". Bath was a resort destination, kind of a spa, by today's standards.  

There are two predominant styles of house from the period. The first is Georgian, named for the English kings of the era, and adopted by the American colonists. They had a long axis running parallel to the street with symmetrical fronts, a middle entry with 2 side windows on each side.

The other style is Federal, named for two Scottish brothers who where architects and interior designers. It has a finer style with more detail, and Palladian influence. Including ornate moldings, sidelights, semicircular windows above doors, decorative classical columns. Red brick is employed a great deal.

But, the cottage I noticed is just that, a cottage. A room with a view, perhaps, but a small place to call home.

A Delightful Afternoon

I had the opportunity last weekend to go to the opera with friends. We saw The Marriage of Figaro, which is a delight! It was a university performance in a small, intimate theatre setting, which in a way, made it all the more enjoyable. We sat close enough to see the actors' expressions. They were having a ball! AND, so were we and the audience. It was a joyful afternoon.

There is something about Mozart's operas....the music, of course, is beautiful. No one can argue about that. But, there is something more. He chose stories about people; the human condition, with all its flaws, its emotions, the daily ritual of living. And, there is no pretense. The story of Figaro could be set in any time frame, and it has been performed as such. Love, jealousy, insecurity, despair, flirtation, passion, forgiveness...timeless themes.

The production is an opera buffa, or comic opera, conceived from a play by Pierre Beaumarchais, written in 1784. Mozart brought Figaro to the stage in 1786, without the real blessing of the Holy Roman Emperor/German King Joseph II. The play was banned in Vienna, because of its licentiousness, but Mozart's librettist managed to get an official approval for an operatic version, and it was a great success.

There is an exchange in in Amadeus that really hits the nail on the head. Up until now, operas were concerned with lofty themes, gods and legends in otherworldly settings. In trying to persuade the Emperor to let him go ahead with Figaro, Mozart exclaims, "Which one of you would rather listen to your hairdresser than Hercules, or Horatius or Orpheus. People so lofty, they sound as if they shit marble."

The point? The point is that we really want to see real life performed, and we in turn can choose the character we relate to.And that is the bottom line of Figaro! We see ourselves, we see our struggles, our joys, our passions, all played out before us.

One of our troupe of opera-goers yesterday, had never been to the opera. When we left, she remarked that she had a wonderful time! What better opera to start with than Figaro! It is funny, witty; there are scenes of deep emotion; there is a happy ending!

Yay!!!

The Toby Jug

When regular tv programming has little to offer, I have started to turn to the H&I network, Heroes and Icons, to see some of the shows that were popular in the 1960's. And frankly, they are good STORIES. They may not feature all the special effects of tv nowadays, but the plots are character driven, and they are kind of addicting. My particular favorites are Combat! which ran from 1962-67, and Twelve O'Clock High (64-67). Combat is in black and white, a WWII drama of those army men who survived D-Day, and are infiltrating into France to eliminate the Nazi threat. Twelve O'Clock features the WWII U.S. army air corps stationed in England, making bombing raids over the channel to France and Germany.

In Twelve O'clock, every so often you see a scene within the officer's club where the men go to relax, have a drink, sing a song. (They are not watching tv, or playing video games! haha). On a mantle above a large fireplace, there is a large ceramic mug that has a face on it. An officer will come in, walk over to the mantle, and turn the mug either face in or out. I was intrigued. I was talking with my brother who is a military buff, and has seen every movie of this kind. He explained to me about the mug, and I looked it up! Ahh! there is a connection with the 18th Century.

The mug is called a "Toby Jug" and refers to a ceramic pitcher, formed in the shape of a person. The name "Toby" is illusive, but these pitchers became a popular art form in England in the 18th Century. They were usually used in pubs as a water pitcher.

The Staffordshire potters of the 1760's are credited with their development. The Toby Jug is sometimes called a Fillpot or Philpot. Sometimes the person it depicts is seated in typical 18th Century attire, with tricorne hat, pipe in hand, etc, but  often it is just the head, and some part of the hat, for example, forms the handle.

Some folks say the name Toby came from the character in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, Sir Toby Belch, an intoxicated and jovial man.

In the film Twelve O'clock High, the Toby is one depicting Robin Hood, and plays a pivotal role as it was a way to alert the crews of an upcoming mission, without outsiders knowing what was about to take place. The Toby in the film was made by Royal Doulton, circa 1947. Based in fact, RAF flyers from WWI used to "turn the Toby", a mission code, which was later adopted by the flyers in WWII.  

I am a military buff too, and now I want one of those jugs. I have been looking on line but there are none to be had, even a replica. I found one at auction, but it was way too expensive, and the auction was closed anyway. Well, it's something to keep in mind when antique hunting. meanwhile, if you want to see one, rent the movie! It's really good!