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xoxoxoBruce Friday Jun 20 01:34 AM |
June 20, 2008: Balaclava From Old Picture of the Day blog. Undertoad Friday Jun 20 08:18 AM I love that Greek pastry too, filo dough and honey, de-lish! spudcon Friday Jun 20 08:58 AM I'd like to eat the horse too. TheMercenary Friday Jun 20 09:03 AM Cool pic. I love those old historical photographs. el fantastico Friday Jun 20 09:05 AM and here i was expecting to see one of these: dar512 Friday Jun 20 09:54 AM I was confusing my foreign words when I read the title for this thread. I was expecting something like this from "Back in the USSR". Cloud Friday Jun 20 10:02 AM It's good to remember the Crimean War. It was a nasty war, and we got a lot of good culture from it. Diaphone Jim Friday Jun 20 11:42 AM I hope everyone remembers that the Charge was actually led by Sir Harry Flashman. glatt Friday Jun 20 11:46 AM I don't mean to dash your hopes, but I didn't remember that. "Remember" is probably the wrong word, because I don't think I ever knew that in the first place. In fact, I never studied the Crimean war, and I was a history minor in college. The only thing I know about it is the name, that poem, and what I read on Wikipedia today. xoxoxoBruce Friday Jun 20 11:56 AM Exactly. The Crimean war is just some vague ancient history, like the War of the Roses, or the Crusades, unless you're a history buff. Tennyson's poem is probably the only connection most people have to that war, and quite possibly, most people don't even make that connection. That's why I was surprised a photograph actually exists of it. footfootfoot Friday Jun 20 01:27 PM Kipling wrote a post script to the charge condemning Britain's treatment of its Crimean war veterans. Cloud Friday Jun 20 01:42 PM hah! good for you; I thought there was an association with Kipling, but couldn't find it Imigo Jones Friday Jun 20 05:08 PM Quote:
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Or, Bruce, unless your house had a deck of the Authors card game. It's like Fish, but you are trying to collect all four literary works of a given author, instead of all four suits of a given number or face card. Tennyson was one of the 13 authors. Here one of his cards is seen: I didn't realize he was from Idaho! Tennyson's four works are Crossing the Bar Idylls of the King Charge of the Light Brigade The Brook So, because of the kids' game, you'd notice whenever the historical Charge of the Light Brigade was mentioned, wherever that might be, and take an extra interest in this Crimean War, providing some context for the Charge. Okay: that is, if "you're a history buff." spudcon Saturday Jun 21 12:30 AM That's where I knew about Tennyson from also, Imigo. I also recently discovered he wrote "The Lady Of Shalot." A very strange poem. Cloud Saturday Jun 21 02:04 AM strange? no stranger than other Victorian poetry, shirley. regular.joe Saturday Jun 21 03:06 AM Wow, what a coincidence. I had in my hand not three hours ago the movie "Airplane". The don't call me Shirley edition. xoxoxoBruce Saturday Jun 21 04:07 AM Yes, she is. Cloud Saturday Jun 21 08:03 AM (cackles wildly) tombstone Saturday Jun 21 11:51 AM Sspeaking of Tennyson's "The Brook", did you know you can sing it to the tune of "Yankee Doodle"? Seriously, I am delighted to see Kipling's response to that idiot charge, 40 years after the fact. My father introduced me to Tennyson's poem some 50 or more years ago, remarking how incredibly stupid that charge was. I am trying to find out if any of the original 600 survived. xoxoxoBruce Saturday Jun 21 12:23 PM Wiki says, "The British suffered a total of 360 casualties". Imigo Jones Monday Jun 23 03:16 PM "Survivor: Balaclava" Quote:
"Officers and men of the 13th Light Dragoons, survivors of the Charge of the Light Brigade, a few months after the battle." Lieutenant General the Earl of Lucan "instructed Cardigan to lead 673 (some sources state 661) cavalry men straight into the valley between the Fedyukhin Heights and the Causeway Heights, famously dubbed the 'Valley of Death' by the poet Tennyson. The opposing Russian forces were commanded by Pavel Liprandi and included approximately 20 battalions of infantry supported by over 50 artillery pieces. These forces were deployed on both sides and at the opposite end of the valley. . . . "The brigade was not completely destroyed, but did suffer terribly, with 118 men killed, 127 wounded. After regrouping, only 195 men were still with horses." From our friends at Wikipedia. Going with the upper figure of 673 charging, the death rate was 17.5%. Wounded 19.0%. Total casualties 245 = 36.5%. With this map it is easy to see how: "Charge timeline" Imigo Jones Monday Jun 23 04:01 PM Tennyson's "The Brook" tombstone, I have looked up "The Brook" and sung it to "Yankee Doodle"! It does work, especially if you don't try to jam a verse of the poem to the song's chorus. I mean you have to cram syllables together. The syllables all fit almost perfectly to the melody and rhythm of the song's basic verse, not so perfectly to the chorus--although it's doable.
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