The first known use of the word “hobbit” predates Tolkien by more than a century. If you were in Wales trying to buy grain in the early 1800s, odds are you were dealing with hobbits. They were a British, particularly Welsh, unit of measure.
Specifically, the hobbit is a derivative of the Winchester measure of units enacted by Henry VII in the late 15th century. The term had various spellings, including hobbit, hobbet, hobbett and hobed. It was conceived as a unit of volume equal to 40 gallons. Unfortunately, much like the spelling, the definition of a hobbit varied from region to region, not least because grain-sellers began using the hobbit interchangeably as a unit of volume and weight.
A gallon of water and a gallon of grain don’t weigh remotely the same, and the confusion (or willful misunderstanding of math) led to a series of lawsuits in late 1800s over the breach of contract when a buyer’s definition of a hobbit and a seller’s did not match. As such, the hobbit fell out of general use by Tolkien’s day, though whether it became so obscure as to ensure he’d never heard the term before conjuring up one Bilbo Baggins, one cannot say.
Welsh rabbit is not make from rabbit – it’s melted cheese on toast. The name is a joke, implying the Welsh couldn’t get rabbit, so made do with cheese. Some humor impaired people insisted that it can’t call it “rabbit” because there’s no rabbit in it, and changed the “rabbit” to “rarebit.”
Hey, you ever tried to milk a beaver?!? The claws that catch, the teeth that snatch! Not this little black duck.
Back on game: former Ontario Premier E.C. Drury wrote a book “All for the Sake of a Beaver Hat,” with the thesis that Simcoe County, and by extension, Ontario, only existed because of the European fashion for felt hats made from beaver hats.
Larger than France and Spain combined.
Almost 1/3 the size of India.
More than 3 times the size of Germany.
More than 3.5 times the size of Italy.
More than 1/10th the size of Canada.
More than 4 times the size of Britain.
More than 8.25 times the size of England.
More than 15 times the size of Ireland.
About the same size of Texas AND Montana combined.
“A Place to Stand, a Place to Grow (Ontari-ari-ari-o!)” was an unofficial anthem of Ontario. The song was written as the signature tune for a movie of the same name that was featured at the Ontario pavilion at Expo 67 in Montreal. It was written by Dolores Claman, who also wrote the “The Hockey Theme”, with lyrics by Richard Morris and orchestrations by Jerry Toth. Lyrics for a French version were written by Larry Trudel
Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle composed “La Marseillaise” after a dinner in Strasbourg on April 25, 1792 as a patriotic “Marching Song of the Rhine Army”. It was adopted as France’s National Anthem in 1795.
Poet Alfred Noyes is best known for his narrative poem, “The Highwayman,” first published in 1906, which tells the tale of a woman in love with an outlaw and how she saves him from the forces of the law.
Folksinger/protester Phil Ochs set “The Highwayman” to music (quite beautifully, too) on his second LP, “I Ain’t Marching Anymore”, titled after what would be his best-known song. The album also included the hilarious “Draft Dodger Rag”.
In 2005, scientists created an android with a head resembling Philip K. Dick that was programmed to respond to queries with responses appropriate to the author. The android also could “recognize” friends and family. When “introduced” to Dick’s daughter Isolde “Isa” Dick Hackett, the android launched into a tirade denouncing her mother, Nancy Hackett. Isa found the experience to be unpleasant. The head of the android eventually was lost during a trip on an airliner. The android was flying to Santa Ana, California, where Dick died in 1982, which Isa found to be a fitting end for her tormentor.
When Richard, Duke of York, failed in his attempt to overthrow King Henry VI and seize the throne, his head was cut off and impaled on a spike on the walls of the city of York, topped with a paper crown.
Richard Chamberlain shares two roles with Gerard Depardieu: Edmond Dantes from The Count of Monte Cristo; and Cyrano de Bergerac. He preceded Depardieu in both roles but played them both in English. Depardieu played both roles in their original French.
Gerard Depardieu has gotten some press attention recently for his attempts to remove himself from what he regards as oppressive French taxation. He was granted a Russian passport earlier this year.
The Butler family rose steadily in Ireland over the centuries, eventually become Dukes of Ormond. When a Duke died his body was laid out in state on a marble table at the entrance to their castle in Kilkenny.