#12-Animal?Vegetable?Mineral? - Raglan river-mouth

I found this peculiar object at the river-mouth in Raglan, when I went south to Kiritehere to look for shell fossils.
Like other towns and cities in New Zealand Raglan is named after an English military commander - Field Marshal FitzRoy James Henry Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan, GCB, PC (30 September 1788 – 28 June 1855). Lord Raglan had a long military career and lost his right arm at the Battle of Waterloo (1815).

Lord Raglan became commander of the British troops sent to the Crimea in 1854: his primary objective was to defend Constantinople, and he was also ordered to besiege the Russian Port of Sevastopol. After an early success at the Battle of Alma, a failure to deliver orders with sufficient clarity caused the fateful Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava. Despite further success at the Battle of Inkerman, a poorly coordinated allied assault on Sevastopol in June 1855 was a complete failure. Raglan died later that month, after having dysentery and depression.

 See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FitzRoy_Somerset,_1st_Baron_Raglan 

Below: The Charge of the Light Brigade:

 
Raglan’s name was applied to the "raglan sleeve", which came into use in about 1855. After the loss of his arm in the Battle of Waterloo (1815) Lord Raglan commissioned a new coat design with fuller sleeves to accommodate his missing limb.

A raglan sleeve is a sleeve that extends in one piece fully to the collar, leaving a diagonal seam from underarm to collarbone, this style is popular today with sports teams - because it is wider and allows more freedom of movement.

An ambiguous order by Raglan in the Battle of Balaklava (October 25, 1854) led to the disastrous charge of the Light Cavalry Brigade under the 7th earl of Cardigan.

 On campaign  the Lord Cardigan wore a knitted waistcoat which came to be known as the "cardigan", this style became extremely fashionable and cardigans are still worn today.

Cardigans are open fronted and have buttons, whereas "pullovers" are closed at the front, and pulled over the head.


 

The Charge of the Light Brigade

 
I
Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
   Rode the six hundred.
“Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns!” he said.
Into the valley of Death
   Rode the six hundred.

II
“Forward, the Light Brigade!”
Was there a man dismayed?
Not though the soldier knew
   Someone had blundered.
   Theirs not to make reply,
   Theirs not to reason why,
   Theirs but to do and die.
   Into the valley of Death
   Rode the six hundred.

III
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
   Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of hell
   Rode the six hundred.
IV
Flashed all their sabres bare,
Flashed as they turned in air
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army, while
   All the world wondered.
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right through the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reeled from the sabre stroke
   Shattered and sundered.
Then they rode back, but not
   Not the six hundred.

V
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
   Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell.
They that had fought so well
Came through the jaws of Death,
Back from the mouth of hell,
All that was left of them,
   Left of six hundred.

VI
When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
   All the world wondered.
Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
   Noble six hundred! 

 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Welcome!

Image
Welcome from the Professor of Garbology! This is my blog associated with the Browns Bay Library's "Unbelieveable" theme for the October school holidays. Below are some of the weird and wonderful objects from my collection of items found on beaches, in the trash and at junk stores, as well as on my youthful travels around the globe. On display in this picture are some Moa "relics" - two large bones and an enormous egg.
Read more

#29-Crown Jewels Book - Hospice Shop

Image
Featuring excellent photographs and descriptions of the Crown Jewels. Crown Jewels Stolen! Colonel Thomas Blood, a known conspirator, made an infamous but unsuccessful attempt to steal the British Crown Jewels from the Tower of London in 1671. Disguised as a clergyman, Blood and his gang swiped the royal regalia from under the nose of their keeper, but they were captured as they made their escape through the capital. Blood was mysteriously pardoned by the king, and the regalia, although a little bashed, was given a much more secure home. Read more: https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1953/colonel-blood--the-theft-of-the-crown-jewels/  More on the jewels in the Tower of London: https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/history-and-stories/the-crown-jewels/#gs.dkd9ao More on the Tower of London, including The Bloody Tower: https://www.planetware.com/london/tower-of-london-eng-l-tl.htm   
Read more

#27-Teeth - Plaster Cast

Image
Dentists make plaster casts like this when they make false teeth. Read on some history of false teeth: https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-33085031   Below: wooden false teeth!: Below: a vintage advertisement: A Joke: A little old couple walked slowly into McDonalds, the man placed his order and then paid for their meal. The couple took a table near the back wall and started taking food off of the tray. There was one hamburger, one order of french fries and one drink. The little old man unwrapped the plain hamburger and carefully cut it in half. He placed one half in front of his wife. Then he carefully counted out the french fries, divided them in two piles and neatly placed one pile in front of his wife. Other customers were thinking: "That poor old couple. All they can afford is one meal for the two of them."   As the man began to eat his french fries a young man came over to the old couple's table. He politely offered to buy another meal for the old couple to eat. T...
Read more