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  • The legend of Three Blind Mice

    The popular children’s rhyme was first published in 1609, long after Queen Mary I (Bloody Mary) died in 1558. However, rumours say that the rhyme has a hidden bloody event behind the words…

    Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley and Thomas Cranmer are referred to as the Oxford Martyrs, three Protestant bishops who were victims of religious persecution. Legends said that they had been blinded and the rhyme Three Blind Mice refers to them. The truth is that the bishops were burnt at the stake.

    The rhyme was published in Deuteromelia or The Seconde part of Musicks melodie by Thomas Ravencroft, a musican who had collected numerous folk songs in his various collections.

    Long before it became a children’s rhyme, Three Blind Mice went on like this:

    Three Blinde Mice,
    Three Blinde Mice,
    Dame Iulian,
    Dame Iulian,
    the Miller and his merry olde Wife, she scrapte her tripe licke thou the knife.

    Although no bloody event can be proved in the original version, the current one is bloody enough indeed:

  • World Conker Championships

    In 2019 the event is due on 13 October.

    In Southwick near Peterborough in Northamptonshire chestnuts play important role in the World Conker Championships. Competitors take a horse chestnut, make a hole in it and tie it to a lace. This creation is called a conker. Then competitors are ordered to stand in pairs and the aim of their “matches” is to smash the opponent’s chestnut. Besides it is great fun, the event plays an important role for charity. The hosts spend the entry fees and other donations on training guide dogs or providing special equipment to those who are visually impaired.

    The event was first held in 1848, quite far from its contemporary site. The first ever Conker Worlds was in the Isle of Wight. This unique sporting event has been relocated several times, and it has been held in Southwick since 2013.
    Being organized for locals at the village of Ashton in the 1960s, the Northamptonshire Conker Championship has been attracting conker fans from all over the world.

    Conker Worlds in 2018

    Conker World Championships archive by ITV

  • Welsh Rarebit

    Foundue for “Continental Europeans” is Rarebit for Britions. The former made with Swiss cheese, the latter with cheddar (mostly mild).

    The origins of the food’s name is uncertain, but it is a popular version for the etimology that poor Welsh peasants could not afford meat (rabbit) so they had cheese on their bread.

    Welsh rarebit (called Caws Pobi in Welsh) is available at many pubs, not only because beer is used in the making. To have the best tasting cheese sauce you’ll need Cheddar or Cheshire, quality ale (or even stout like Guinness for a stronger taste), Worchester sauce and mustard.

    Welshholidaycottages.com offers the following recipe:

    • 8oz (= 235gr, nearly 2 cups) grated, strong cheese such as Cheddar or Cheshire
    • 1 tablespoon (Welsh) butter
    • 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
    • 1 level teaspoon dry mustard
    • 2 teaspoons flour
    • 4 tablespoons (Welsh) ale (/ stout; milk is an other option)
    • shake of pepper
    • 4 slices bread toasted on 1 side only

    1 Put the cheese, butter, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, flour and pepper into a saucepan.
    2 Mix well and then add the beer, Guiness or milk to moisten. Do not make it too wet!
    3 Stir over a gentle heat until all is melted, and when it is a thickish paste, stop stirring, and swivel it around the saucepan, which it will do quite easily.
    4 Leave to cool a little, and meanwhile toast the bread on one side only.
    5 Spread the rarebit over the untoasted side and brown under a hot grill.

    This mixture can be made and kept in the refrigerator for several days if required. Sweet white wine can be used instead of beer and gives a good flavour.


    Another version:

  • Fun fair, Hull Fair

    In 2019 it is due from 5 to 15 October.

    One of the largest and oldest tavelling fairs in the U.K., the one in Kingston-uon-Hull inEast Yorkshire attracts nearly a million visitors each year.

    Hull Fair dates back to the 13th century and it celebrated its 725th anniversary in 2018.

    Hull Fair gives visitors thrilling rides on roller coasters and merry-go-rounds. Traditional and street food specialities are orred from hamburgers, fish ‘n chips, toffee apples, pomengranates to hog roast (= pig roast).

  • Brig O’Doon and Tam o’Shanter’s story

    Close to monument and Memorial Gardens to Rubert Burns in Alloway stands this mighty medieval stone bridge over the river Doon. It was built in the 14th century and what we see today are the remains of that first bridge and the renovated one from the 18th century.


    The bridge plays an important role in the poem Tam o’Shanter by Robert Burns. Tam, the hero of the poem meets and is captured by a group of witches on his way home drunk from the local inn. The only way for him to escape is to ride away on horseback over the bridge. He manages to escape, however, his horse loses her tail.

  • Nessie: shall we forget the mystery of Loch Ness?

    The latest DNA research by scientists of Otago University, New Zealand have revealed that popular Nessie must have been an eel, however, a giant one. No more monsters at Loch Ness?

    The team of Scientist captured more than 250 DNA samples from the lake, even its deepest parts. According to geneticist professor Dr Neil Gemmell of Otago University, there is no evidence of any reptiles in the samples. However, one fifth of the DNA samples is still unencoded – Nessie fans can still hope for finding a giant dinosaur-like monster in Loch Ness.

    A gallery of Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle

    “So there’s no shark DNA in Loch Ness based on our sampling. There is also no catfish DNA in Loch Ness based on our sampling. We can’t find any evidence of sturgeon either,” – Professor Gemmell said on the day the results of the research were revealed, when hundreds of journalists appeared at Loch Ness Centre in Drumnadrochihe, Scotland.

    The legend of Nessie, the monster of Loch Ness dates back to the 6th century when St. Columba, a pilgrim from Ireland first saw it at the River Ness. Numerous stories tell how they met but none of them could be proved. According to one of the stories, St. Columba meets some men burying their friend on the bank of the river. They tell him that their friend was bitten to death by a horse-like monster. Columba later meets the monster that wants to attack another villager but Columba draws a cross with his hand in the air and the monster disappears. Another story tells that St. Columba sends the monster to dig the bottom of the lake and it has been digging it ever since. Several sightings of the monster occurred in the 1930s, and also in this century, a famous photograph and a black and white film was taken of the “something” in the lake. Expeditions and deep-water scanning have also been sent to study Loch Ness but none of these were successful. However, Nessie is a celebrity of Scotland and a must-take souvenir in any format. It also has its own “museum” (The Loch Ness Centre in Drumnadrochihe) and “country” (Nessieland) near Urquhart Castle, a popular landmark by the lake.

  • The Great Fire of London

    The city of old London had narrow, crooked streets and wooden houses. It was a dirty city, too. In 1665 seventy-five thousand Londoners died from the plague.

    On 2 September 1666, a bakery in Pudding Lane near London Bridge caught fire. It was Thomas Farriner’s* shop; he was the baker for King Charles II and baked bread for the Royal Navy. The fire started because either the baker or one of his servants forgot to douse the fire in the oven. (* also spelt Farynor)

     

    A man named Samuel Pepys lived on the other side of the River Thames and he saw the Londoners escape. He was a story writer and he wrote a diary about the fire. He was also afraid of the fire, so he buried some quality cheese and wine in his garden.

    great-fire-of-london-2

    The wind coming from the river blew the flames from house to house. The fire spread very quickly. People tried to put out the fire with buckets of water from the hand pumps. The river was too far so it was very difficult to stop the quickly spreading fire. It burnt for four days and destroyed 80% of the city.

    greatfireoflondon-3

    On the fourth day the wind stopped. The Duke of York, the king’s son ordered his men to destruct some houses which also helped to stop the fire.

    On the fourth day the wind stopped. The Duke of York, the king’s son ordered his men to destruct some houses which also helped to stop the fire.

    Only six people died in the fire, but it damaged lots of London’s houses and buildings – 13,200 houses and 87 churches. Citizens of London later rebuilt them, they used brick and stone. The new streets were straight and wide. Architect Christopher Wren rebuilt 49 churches including St Paul’s Cathedral. He also built The Monument: a 202-feet-high memorial to the Great Fire of London. The Monument is as tall as the distance between its base and the site of the baker’s shop where the fire began.

    fire-of-london-facts

    These bricks on the left can be seen in the Museum of London, which tells the story of the Great Fire in an interactive way. The bricks were found in a shop in Pudding Lane, not far from the former bakery. On the surface of the bricks pitch was found, which is like tar, a very flammable material. Those barrels of pitch which were kept in thge cellars of shops in Pudding Lane, quickly spread the fire to the warehouses along the River Thames. All the warehouses were filled with flammable materials like hemp, coal, timber, wine and oil. The fire was uncontrollable from then on and the high winds carried the flames into the City of London.

    Try this game – stop the fire yourself.

    Here are the irregular verbs from the story. Look at the past forms.

    PRESENT FORM

    		 PAST FORM

    are

    were

    begin

    began

    blow

    blew

    build

    built

    burn

    burnt

    catch

    caught

    forget

    forgot

    have

    had

    is

    was

    rebuild

    rebuilt

    see

    saw

    spread

    spread

    write

    wrote

  • Yorkshire pudding – the original?

    How it began? Well, according to urban legend, women in the north of England realised there is a way to use the fat dripping from the roasted meat: to bake a batter-pudding.
    The first “official” recipe for this dish (called “dripping pudding”) was published in “The Whole Duty of a Woman”, a book for wives to del with cooking, household chores, religion and even nadling their husbands coming home drunk.
    This original recipe included fat. Despite the fact that oil is preferably used nowadays, duck or goose fat gives Yorkshire pudding the original taste and crispyness.

    It was never proved why the name changed from “dripping” to “Yorkshire”, but it is a logical explanation that the food was mostly eaten by Yorkshire miners.

    Several “best Yorkshire pudding” recipes have occurred but each contain the following ingredients for the batter: eggs, milk and flour. It is often advised to have the same volume of ingredients – as shown in the video below:

  • Highland Games

    Loch Lomond Highland Games are a traditional Scottish Highland Games situated in the village of Balloch at the southern end of Loch Lomond.
    The games were started in 1967 and the games are now one of the top three Highland Games in Scotland hosting the Scottish Highland Games Association World Heavyweight Championship and the 80 metre Scottish Sprint Championship.

    Other events are:

    • piping,
    • tug-o-war;
    • athletics,
    • wrestling,
    • cycling,
    • triathlon (swimming, cycling, running),
    • Highland dancing
    • and all the usual heavyweight events. There are eight different disciplines in this event: throwing the 16 and 22 pound stones for distance; the 16 and 22 pound Scotch Hammer for distance; the 28 pound ball and chain for distance; the 56 pound weight for distance; the 56 pound weight is tossed over the bar; and tossing the Caber.

    The heavyweight events:

    HIGHLAND GAMES quiz #1



  • Sport in the U.K.

    Watch the video and say what sports did you see?

    Did you see…

    football?   basketball?   netball?   handball?   angling (=fishing)?   tennis?   canoeing?   gymnastics?   karate?   walking?   cycling?   cricket?   bowls?   darts?   swimming?   field hockey?

    FAMOUS SPORTING VENUES

    Match.

    Wembley is famous for…
    St Andrew’s is famous for…
    Henley is famous for…
    Wimbledon is famous for…
    Lord’s is famous for…

    cricket, football, golf, rowing, tennis