All Articles
Guernsey Folk Remedies & Superstitions
Guernsey folklore used to possess a rich set of ancient cures and remedies for various ailments intermingled with many superstitious tales. In this article we look at a few.
They have a word for that in Greek / Russian / Italien … (things you can’t say in English)
If you look at the statistics around the English language you’d think that we already have more than enough words in this ‘language of the World’. However as much as we like to think of English as the biggest and best of all the World languages, it turns out there’s just some things you can’t express in one word … but you can in other languages. Duende (Spanish); Hygge (Danish); Komorehi (Japanese); Fartlek (Swedish)
Origins of Some English Eponyms : Farenheit, Colossal, Macabre, Dolby
Eponyms are one of the most fascinating examples of how the English language gains new words. In this article we take a colourful look at the phenomenon that is the eponym gathering together the stories of the people behind the words that have passed into our everyday vocabulary : Farenheit, Colossal, Macabre, Dolby
How is it that a Yacht Can Travel Faster than the Wind ?
There is something undeniably odd about a yacht doing 25 knots while sailing into a 15 knot wind. So, how is it that a yacht can travel faster than the wind ?
Is There Any Truth in the Old Weather saying of “Red Sky at Night Shepherds Delight” ?
Red Sky at Night – Shepherd’s delight. Red Sky in the morning – Sailor’s Warning” – This is one of those venerable bits of meteorological lore and weather experts confirms it to be around 70% reliable. But Why ?
What is the Evidence Supporting Claims of Spontaneous Human Combustion?
In the 150 years since Dickens described the horrific death of Krook the rag-dealer in Bleak House, several hundred cases of apparent spontaneous human combustion in humans have been recorded. They typically involve the rapid yet complete incineration of the person, often with no obvious nearby source of heat. But what of any scientific analysis ?
The End of World War One : The 11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month
1918 – At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month an armistice, signed 6 hours before in French marshal Ferdinand Foch’s railway carriage at Compiegne, France, took effect between the Allies and the Central Powers, bringing the First World War to a close after 4 years, 3 months and 9 days of fighting.
Guernsey’s WWI Military & Convalescence Hospitals
Whilst the RGLI can be considered Guernsey’s ‘official’ response to the war it wasn’t the islands only one. One such contribution was the creation of a number of hospital facilities right here on the island for soldiers who were returning sick or wounded from the trenches.
Who was Guy Fawkes?
Every year in Britain on November 5th, thousands of us make life-size effigies of pne of the most infamous men in British History – Guy Fawkes. We then proceed to set him on fire and then let off lots of fireworks. But who was Guy Fawkes and what do we know about him ? In this article we explore the life of the conspirator most closely associated with the foiled plot.
Mysteries of History : Atlantis
HISTORY RECORDS ACTUAL EVENTS whereas myths spin tales that help explain a culture’s worldview. It’s where history and myth intersect that we find some of the most enduring legends. In this particular article we look at Atlantis.
How Far Back in Time Could an English Speaker Go and Still Understand the Language ?
“How Far Back in Time Could an English Speaker Go and Still Understand the Language ?” In a Nutshell : it would be somewhere between 400 to 500 yrs ago. In order to justify this let’s compare how the speech of ‘English’ speakers sounded in Chaucer’s time, the late 14th Century, with that in the late 16th Century – at the time of Shakespeare.
From Robot to Airy-Fairy to Cyberspace – 10 Beautiful Words Coined by Famous Writers
If you look at the number of words in the English language you’ll find that estimates vary between 500,000 and just over 2 million, depending on how you count them. You will find that some of these words were simply “made up” by various authors at one time or another but they’ve proved so popular that they’ve entered our everyday lexicon like Robot, Airy-Fairy, Banana Republic, Cyberspace, Co-ed and many more.
The Guernseymen at Trafalgar
Tucked away in the corner of Guernsey’s Priaulx Library is a framed plaque, written in ornate gothic script that lists the names of 29 Guernseymen. Not just any Guernseymen but men who were there at the possibly most famous naval engagement in history. It’s a list to make you stop and wonder what deeds these men performed that day, what horrors and what acts of courage they witnessed. We may never know for sure but in this article we dig into some of the details of these men that we do know. Men who, that day of days, served their beloved Admiral Nelson and the hungry guns.
How to Win a World War – Buy all the Tea in the World!
So, you’re country is engaged in a World War, its stands alone against a ruthless enemy and is fighting for its very existence. What should you do to ensure victory? How can you stiffen the nation’s resolve to fight and never surrender? This dilemma was faced by the British in 1942 during World War II and with typical British aplomb the solution they chose was … to buy all the tea in the World! A Desperate Situation...
Why Were Some Dinosaurs so Large ?
From the fossil evidence, it’s clear that, species by species, individual by individual, dinosaurs were more massive than any other group of animals that has ever lived on land. It’s as if today’s laws of physics didn’t apply back then allowing them to grow to such a gigantic size. So what could possibly explain this ?
