Neddy's Palaver

Jesus was a physician or doctor and referred to Himself as such. He set a powerful example for all Christians to follow. See Mark 2:17 and Luke 4:23.

Medical doctors whose faith teaches them to cure people and then kill them, such as the seven physicians of Britain’s National Health Service (NHS, July 2007), should read the teachings of Jesus who said “Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.” Those who follow in the footsteps of the Master Healer will lead happier lives on earth, and blessed rewards in Heaven — minus the 72 virgins.

The Healings of Jesus

Christmas In The Trenches” by John McDermott

Letter from the Western Front, December 25, 1914

“This will be the most memorable Christmas I’ve ever spent or likely to spend: since about tea time yesterday I don’t think there’s been a shot fired on either side up to now.”

“Some of our chaps went over to their lines. I think they’ve all come back bar one from ‘E’ Co. They no doubt kept him as a souvenir.”

“We can hardly believe that we’ve been firing at them for the last week or two - it all seems so strange.”

In his account of one of World War I’s most surreal moments, the British soldier described in his pencil written letter how German troops placed lights along their trenches before approaching the British lines to deliver Christmas greetings. He described the lull in fighting as soldiers played football, helped each other bury the dead, shared traditional Christmas foods, chatted and smoked peaceably together.

Irish singer Chris de Burgh recently purchased the newly discovered manuscript at auction, paying 14,400 pounds ($27,000) for it, according to Yahoo News.

Christian soldiers stopped killing each other along the Western Front on Christmas Eve of 1914. John McCutcheon wrote a poignant song voiced by one Francis Taliaferro about the Christmas Truce. The songwriter claims that it is based upon the true story of Scotsman Ian Calhoun, who was the commanding officer of the British forces involved. Calhoun was subsequently court-martialed for ‘consorting with the enemy’ and sentenced to death. King George V spared his life, praise be to God.

For more information and the words to the song see “Christmas In The Trenches”.

History News Network:

“They also gave us a few songs so we had quite a social party…

“After breakfast we had a game of football at the back of our trenches! We’ve had a few Germans over to see us this morning. They also sent a party over to bury a sniper we shot in the week. He was about 100 yds from our trench. A few of our fellows went out and helped to bury him.

“About 10.30 we had a short church parade, held in the trench. How we did sing. O come all ye faithful. … fried bacon and dip-bread followed by hot Xmas pudding, then muscatels and almonds, oranges, bananas, chocolate, cocoa and smokes”.

“You can guess we thought of the dinners at home. Just before dinner I had the pleasure of shaking hands with several Germans: a party of them came halfway over to us. So several of us went out to them. O exchanged one of my balaclavas for a hat. I’ve also got a button off one of their tunics. We also exchanged smokes etc and had a decent chat. They say they won’t fire tomorrow if we don’t, so I suppose we shall get a bit of a holiday - perhaps.”

“After exchanging autographs and them wishing us a Happy New Year we departed and came back and had our dinner. We can hardly believe we’ve been firing at them for the last week or two - it all seems so strange. At present it is freezing hard and everything is covered in ice…

“There must be something in the spirit of Christmas as today we are all on top of our trenches running about. Whereas other days we have to keep out heads well down…I had a parcel from B G’s Lace Dept containing a sweater, smokes, under clothes etc. We also had a card from the Queen, which I am sending back to you to look after please.”

“As I can’t explain to everyone how I spent my 25th, you might hand this round please…I never expected to shake hands with Germans between the firing lines on Christmas Day and I don’t suppose you thought of us doing so”.

“So after a fashion we’ve enjoyed our Christmas. Hoping you spend a happy time with George Boy as well. How we thought of England during the day. Kind regards to all the neighbours. With much love from Boy.”

The rest of my 350 photos from my quest for the tulips of Holland are at My Flickr.

April 19th is Primrose Day.

My father was born on Primrose Day, April 19th, 1901, at Forest Hill, London, England. For more about Primrose Day see my explanation at Neddy’s Nook on the Net.

Upon the death of the beloved British Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli (Lord Beaconsfield), on April nineteenth, 1881, Primrose Day was instituted in his honor, as the English primrose was his favorite flower. Queen Victoria sent bouquets of primroses to his funeral according to a contempory account; The coffin lies on its bier in an alcove leading out of the modest hall of Hughenden Manor. But of its material, one might almost say of its dimensions, nothing can be seen. It is literally one mass of floral beauty. Here are wreaths from every member of the Royal Family in England bouquets of primroses sent by the Queen, with an inscription attached to them, saying that they came from Osborne Hill, and that they are of the sort which Lord Beaconsfield loved. Two years later, a bronze statue of Lord Beaconsfield was erected at Parliament Square, and it became customary to decorate it with primroses every year on the anniversary of his death. Ofttimes at Easter the woodlands of England are seen carpeted with wild primroses.
~ Primrose Day — April 19th

Oh, to be in England
Now that April’s there,
And whoever wakes in England
Sees, some morning, unaware,
That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf
Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf,
While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough
In England–now!

~~Robert Browning

Christianity first arrived at Ireland’s shores in 431, when Palladius was sent by the Pope as the first bishop of Ireland. Saint Patrick, probably the most celebrated and famous figure in Ireland’s history, was not himself Irish. He was born in northern Britain to a wealthy Roman official. At the age of sixteen he was captured by Irish pirates and sold into slavery. After escaping from Ireland, he went to France, became a bishop and then made his life’s work the conversion to Christianity of the homeland of his slave-masters. His great success was aided by many other Irish saints including Saints Enda of Arranmore (died 530), Edna (died 516), Finnian (circa 470–550), Columba of Iona (7 December 521–9 June 597), Brendan the Voyager (circa 484–578), Brigid (453–1 February 523), Comgall (circa 515-600), Finbarr (circa 550-623), and Ciaran (circa 515-556). Together they melded the Christian religion with the pagan religion in Ireland and built the monasteries that preserved Christianity and its culture during Europe’s Dark Ages.

Saint Edana of West Ireland, 516 AD

“There’ll Always Be An England” is a freedom song from long ago, written by Ross Parker and Hugh Charles, that was once beloved by the British people. Today finds the tome very much despised by the British left. The wartime rendition here of “Always Be An England” is by Vera Lynn.

There’ll always be an England
And England shall be free
If England means as much to you
As England means to me.

History’s greatest composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, was born in Austria 250 years ago today. How amazing that a man who lived only 35 years would have left such an eternal legacy to his nation and the world. His entire native land of Austria has gone Mozart mad, and it is not a bad thing. Even is celebrating!

The BBC is offering a web page to listen to excerpts of Mozart’s six most celebrated pieces and to choose your own personal favorite. I chose Mozart’s lovely –>>“Piano Concerto No. 21″. The sheet music of the 2nd Movement from “Elvira Madigan” is here in PDF. Images of sheet music in Mozart’s own handwriting are HERE and HERE and more at Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Referenced at ‘Carnival of the Trackbacks XLVIII‘ from Wizbang.

Germany’s Hyphen War Reaches European court

From The Independent Online:

Although you can hyphenate your name after marriage, you cannot pass it on to your children. “It makes things too complicated,” said Karin Eichhoff-Cyrus, director of Germany’s language and name enforcers, … . German bureaucrats fear a hyphen pandemic. A child with a double-barrelled name, they point out, could go on to marry someone with a double-barrelled name. Their children would have four linked-up surnames, and the next generation might have eight.

Oh me, oh my - is this just another example of the “It’s All About Me” generation members who have never given the slightest thoughts to their own descendants - the next generations? Why not just drop the hyphens altogether? Germany’s language enforcer would be Frau Eichhoff Cyrus. Her son could be Herr Eichoff Cyrus Schmidt Schmidt. What’s so confusing about that? Or, is it possible that Gemans could take a lesson in naming patterns from the Spanish - Iberian Naming Customs as explained by Wikipedia:

In most Spanish, Portuguese, and Catalan speaking regions of the world, people have at least two surnames. One is inherited from the father, the other from the mother. Parents pass on to their children the name they inherited from their father.

In most Spanish speaking countries, the father’s surname is written before the mother’s surname, although there are occasional exceptions to this rule. Thus, for instance, Vicente Fox Quesada is Señor Fox (Mr. Fox in English), not Señor Quesada, and “Fox” is not his middle name.

In Portuguese speaking countries, the father’s surname is in most cases after the mother’s surname. In these countries, it is very frequent that children get two surnames from each of their parents, thus having usually the last surname of each of their grandparents.

The traditional naming conventions are now changing as attitudes toward gender equality evolve. In Portugal, since 1977, the child’s last name can come either from the father or from the mother, but the latter is still very uncommon.

Cross posted at Blogsome Genealogy.

October 18th - The World Turned Upside Down

What a glorious day it was for General Washington and his men when the world’s mightiest army surrendered to them. What a blow for the British to lose their most valuable colony. Lord Charles Cornwallis attempted to evacuate his army from Yorktown, but it was not possible as the French and American guns bombarded their position in the early morning of October 17th. After the American victory and the British surrender at Yorktown, Virginia, the defeated Redcoats departed to the strains of “The World Turned Upside Down“, a tune expressive of the sentiments of the day:

“If ponies rode men and grass ate cows,
And cats were chased into holes by the mouse . . .
If summer were spring and the other way round,
Then all the world would be upside down.”

Surrender at Yorktown: Washington refused to make the same mistake that had been made four years earlier by Horatio Gates in the surrender at Saratoga, where the defeated soldiers were allowed to return to their homes in exchange for a promise not to reenter the war in North America at a later point. The obvious problem with such leniency was that those soldiers could be assigned to another theater, thus replacing soldiers in that location who could then be sent to America.

Terms were negotiated on October 18th and included the following provisions:

* surrendering soldiers were to march out of their fortification with colors folded, surrender their arms at a predetermined location, then depart to detention

* British officers were allowed to keep their side arms and to depart to Britain, or to a British-occupied American port

* officers and soldiers were allowed to retain personal possessions

In a breech of military etiquette, Cornwallis declined to attend the surrender ceremony, claiming illness. The second in command, Brigadier General Charles O’Hara, filled that role. To avoid the humiliation of turning over Cornwallis’ sword to Washington — known contemptuously to many British as “General Buckskin” — O’Hara attempted to present the token to General Rochambeau. The French commander refused to accept the sword and pointed to Washington. When O’Hara turned to make the presentation, Washington called on his second-in-command, General Benjamin Lincoln, to accept. Thus, General Buckskin won some satisfaction in the wake of his humiliation at the surrender of Charleston.

My grandfather’s great, great grandfather, the young Virginia soldier William Via, was there at the momentous day of the victory at Yorktown.