Luck o' the Irish!

 There's a dear little plant that grows in our isle

"Twas St. Patrick himself sure that set it

And the sun on his labor with pleasure did smile

And a tear from his eyes oft-times wet it

It grows through the bog, through the brake, through the mireland

And they call it the dear little Shamrock of Ireland

                         -Traditional Irish Folk Song 

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! This is dedicated to my grandma from whom I owe the most for my Irish descent. Today I am reminded once again how lucky I am to come from Irish heritage. I know I will someday visit the beautiful country and hope that someday will be soon! It is one of the three countries I long to travel to most. But today, we celebrate and pay homage to Saint Patrick. So...just who was Saint Patrick you ask? A lot of people don't actually know really who he was or what he did. Just that he is associated with Ireland, the color green, and was a saint.

    Well first off, there's one thing that may surprise you. He wasn't actually Irish! That's right. In fact, he was English. He was born in Britain in the 5th century. Another thing to remember is that he wasn't the first to bring Christianity to Ireland. In 431, Pope Celestine sent the deacon, Palladius to the Irish, and while he and possibly other clerics did work among the people, it was Patrick who had the long term effect and stuck in the Irish minds as the central player of bringing Christianity to the island.

   But before we get there, when Patrick was 16, he was captured by Irish raiders and brought to Ireland to be enslaved and put to work as a shepherd. Patrick found religious solace where he could pray in the lonely hours of tending sheep in the woods and mountains. Then, after 6 years, he heard a voice from God say that he would return home. And so he fled from his master and journeyed to a port where he would be taken back to Britain. He didn't stay long however. Now in his early twenties, he had another vision. These are Patrick's words:

  

"And there I saw in the night the vision of a man whose name was Victoricus, coming as it were from Ireland, with countless letters. And he gave me one of them and I read the opening words of the letter, which were 'The Voice of the Irish' and as I read the beginning of the letter I thought that at the same moment I heard their voice...and thus did they cry out as with one mouth: 'We ask thee, boy, come and walk among us once more'" 

    It was the last thing he wanted to do, to go back to the place that held him captive for six years. But he had a calling. God wanted him to go back and help the lost pagans. He among everyone else was chosen to do this. And so, he ended up converting mass amounts of pagans for 40 years to Christianity, not through changing customs, but beliefs. He sought to convert by persuasion, rather than confrontation, and brought Christianity to Ireland peacefully.

       

                        *the shamrock 

    The shamrock may sometimes be confused with a four-leaf clover. The four-leaf clover is a symbol of good luck. The shamrock may have been used by St. Patrick to explain the Holy Trinity, for it has three leaves. There has been reason to question the authenticity of this story, but I like to believe it's true. The shamrock is now the symbol of Ireland. The name shamrock is derived from the Irish word seamróg, a version of the Irish word, seamair for clover.

Best recent movie...

So I haven't been super impressed lately with the recent movies out, until...I saw "The King's Speech".
    Wow what a movie! It's historical, a period piece, incredible actors, beautiful cinematography, witty, wonderful score, takes place in England...it's perfect! Definitely the best most recent movie I've seen lately. For those who have seen it, didn't you just feel for him? It was torture having to endure his pain with him as he couldn't even get past the first word in the opening. But that just goes to show you how believable Colin Firth was as George. *Applause for his Oscar win* and Helena Bonham Carter was magnificent and I must say I loved her costumes! (So English and 40's. Her hat, furs-lined coat, and pearls stick out most in my mind when I think of her outfits. Speaking of which, I go on this amazing site I discovered a few months ago that has almost every costume used in period piece movies! I'll refer to it later.)

    But I have this book I got called The Encyclopedia of Britain actually has the story and biography of George VI and his family with black and white photographs taken of them. It was so neat to be able to see the real family and compare the actual events that took place.

History Insight:

      George VI was born in 1895 in York Cottage, Sandrigham, England and had a brother named Edward VIII, both born to George, the Duke of York and Mary, who became Queen Mary. Henry VI came from the House of Windsor which was founded by his grandfather, Edward VII who, as some may know, as the ruler during the time of the Edwardian era (1901-1910) hence the Edwardian. 

       George VI took the crown after his brother who gave up the British throne in 1931 for a woman from Pennsylvania named Wallis Warfield. She had been divorced twice which the Church of England forbid. So if Edward married her, he would be going against the Church. After a few possible solutions, he ended up being abdicated and handed the crown over to his brother, George VI, who never expected or wished to be king especially because of his stammer which greatly hindered him from being able to speak to the public.

     George did, however, have a lovely family and his great friend and speech therapist, Lionel Logue to help him through his reign. He was happily married to Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon who had two daughters: Margaret Rose and Elizabeth (the future Elizabeth II, our present queen). He and his family played a significant role in the Second World War. They visited bombed-out areas of the East End of London, Bristol, and other places in England. In 1940, the Buckingham Palace was actually hit by two bombs. The Queen in response declared, "I'm glad we have been bombed. We can now look the East End in the face."The family continued to share in the hardships of the British people lending their support and supplies where needed. 

      After the war, in the autumn of 1951, George developed lung cancer and had his right lung removed. He died in 1952, however, from a heart attack and was buried in St. George's Chapel. 

      His memory was honored, for he was the man who had certainly not expected, nor wanted to become king, but rose to the daunting challenge and ended up re-establishing the public's view of the monarchy, leading the country with dignity through World War II, and fathered an heir of his own to take up the challenge of preserving the monarchy as he did.

     

"Hoist the Colours!"

 As you will see, I have a love of reading the old, timeless classics of literature ranging from
Shakespeare to Jane Austen. For now, I'll tell about the last one I most recently read for the first time. Since I saw the 1990 version of Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island", I've been captivated and taken by the whole thing and immediately went out to Barnes & Noble to buy a copy.

     By the way, I highly recommend watching the 1990 version with Christian Bale and Charlton Heston for the best and most accurate movie adaptation. I could only find it on ebay since it's quite rare and not well known (though it should be) but it was well worth it and is one of my favorites.

      But moving on, I must say for anyone who hasn't read it, and is a Pirates of the Caribbean, 18th century Georgian era, maritime, pirates, or any fan of the sort as I am, this is a must read!

illustration by N.C. Wyeth

     Now I'm actually working on a replica of Flint's map of Treasure Island done in pen and ink on parchment paper that I will post as soon as I'm finished. Here is a source I used as reference if you don't know what it looks like.
     Fun fact: there are many many comparisons I noticed between the book and Pirates of the Caribbean. To name one, watch the first part of The Dead Man's Chest where Joshamee Gibbs sings a little tune aboard the Black Pearl. These are the lyrics taken from "Treasure Island":

                "Fifteen men on the dead man's chest-

                       Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!

                Drink and the devil had done for the rest-

                      Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!"

Recognize it? Well that's just one little comparison found just on the first page of the book. The terms "black spot" and "pieces of eight" have a significant role as well.

    Throughout, I also had to constantly look up nautical terms I'd never heard of. I am also trying to culminate a vocabulary and knowledge of sea faring terms and parts of a ship. I might post from time to time a new word I learned or insight on a particular vessel or event in maritime history for anyone interested to learn about such things. Did you know a jolly-boat, gig, long boat, coracle, skiff, and dinghy are relatively the same thing! They're all basically a boat kept on a ship used for shore landing parties, rescue missions, escapes from mutineers, patrols, and towing.

   My personal favorite character and our brave hero of the story is one such Jim Hawkins, who starts out living peacefully in Georgian England with his parents in keeping the old Admiral Benbow Inn, but is soon taken along on the voyage to Treasure Island. He at first, ironically, is appointed as a mere cabin boy to the Hispanola to sail to Treasure Island, but ends up playing the most significant role and most crucial to the party's rescue from the island. While possessing a heart of true morality and honesty, Jim's bravery and especially loyalty are a thing for the others to live up to.