RANDOM NOTES

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 282, 25 August 1934, Page 6

RANDOM NOTES

Sidelights on Current Events

(By

Kickshaws.)

Weather forecasters, it seems, have difficulty in describing the weather. The general public has no difficulty at all. • • * It is all very well for Stedman te beat a Hare, as reported recently, but it would have been much more understandable if Lovelock had done so. * ♦ ♦ The latest device is stated to be an invention to prevent a fire. In this damp weather, a device to make a fire start would be far more to the point in most homes. * • • Will readers kindly note that when they write to “Kickshaws” he must ask them, as a sign of good faith, to send their najne and address as well as any nom-de-plume under which they wish their letter to appear in print. • • • “Recently I was given the use of an American dictionary (1928), edited by H. J. Peis, A.M. (Harv.), based upon the foundation laid by Noah Webster," says “R.A.” "Browsing through it I came upon this curious item: ‘Thylacine (thil-a-sin) the zebra wolf of Nev Zealand’ and thought you might be interested to hear of this addition to our native fauna!’ ’’ One day, perhaps, someone will give “R.A.” the latest Encyclopaedia Britannica (published in the U.S.A.), and he will be able to discover further startling American ideas about New Zealand. • * • Although the origin of the “Ashes’* has been given on more than one occasion in this column, inquiries still pour in concerning the matter. Now that the Ashes have been decently- laid, to rest, it is probable that this will be the last time that the facts about their origins will be given until the next Test matches. It is, perhaps, as well to say, that the Ashes are entirely non-existent. There are no' Ashes, and never have been. The term originated after the match at the Oval in 1882, when Australia defeated England by seven runs. After that event the “Sporting Times” published an “in memoriam” notice that read as follows: “In Affectionate Remembrance of English Cricket, which Died at the Oval on 29th August, 1882. Deeply lamented by a large circle of Sorrowing Friends and Acquaintances. R.I.P. — N. 8.: The body will be cremated, and the ashes taken to Australia.” Ivo Bligh’s team subsequently recovered the Ashes for England. In recognition. of this feat, some Victorian ladies presented Bllgh with an urn in which to keep the Ashes. This urn is now a prized possession of the Marylebone Cricket Club. *' • * The discovery that Bowes should ba made pronounced to rhyme with cows has come too late. Test cricket is over, and it is unlikely that we shall hear the name of Bowes until the cows come home again. Nevertheless, it is understandable that we have all been pronouncing Bowes to rhyme with “goes,” because there is neither rhyme nor reason in the pronunciation of English names, either of individuals or places More often than not no clue is given in the name itself, which one would imagine is purposely spelt to make it more difficult, like Belvoir or Cholmondeley. As regards place names, take the problem of getting to a little old world place called Enderby, not so very far from the birth-place of Tennyson. If one knows how to get to Enderby, all is well. If one stops to ask the way of a local inhabitant, more likely than not, he will say “Mavuzwooderbagzur.” In despair, one is forced to go ahead, hoping for the best But it would be unfair to blame the local inhabitant. He was doing his best to be helpful. You see, there are three Enderbys— Mavis Enderby, Wood Enderby, and Bag Enderby. “Mavis, Wood or Bag. sir,” was all the local inhabitant was asking, in order to be able to direct accordingly. ♦ ♦ • Somebody ought to compile a pronouncing dictionary of English place names, especially for the benefit of hikers and motorists. Local inhabitants feel so much more brotherly If one pronounces their home town correctly the very first time. For example, it marks one as a foreigner in that locality if one asks the way to Uiverstone. On the other hand the face of the local rustic lights up with brotherly love if one asks the way to Oost’n. It is the same with Little Urswick. Poor Little Urswick, it likes to be called Liiosick in Little Urswick. If you happen to pass into Suffolk, beware of Waldringfield. Not that there is anything sinister about this little place. It is near Ipswich, and that is guarantee enough. But Waldringfield is a place where a “foreigner” is written all over newcomers, especially if he pronounces Waldringfield as it is written. Call it Wunnerf’l and the local inhabitants will agree with you entirely. Worse still, have a care with Aspatria. It is a village, not a woman. It is in Cumberland, but how could one be expected to know that it is pronounced Spethry. Usually visitors to New Zealand from the British Isles are amused at the mouthful in some of our own place names. Yet when one starts to make comparisons they are not nearly so amusing as many names of places in England. We bare our “pi-cocks” and our "Wackas” but. we have no Wallops. not even an Under Wallop. England cannot boast, an Under Wallop, but there is a Nether Wallop, which is as painful almost as an Over-Wallop. Moreover, we have no Beer in New Zealand, but go to England and you can live surrounded by Beer all the time. What do you say to places like Blubberhouse, .Sewers End and Nately Scures, not to mention Bugsworth? New Zealanders in England might well contemplate Yelling. It is the quietest spot on earth. Inside the church they will find the tablet of’the war memorial. “Sacred to the Memory of Twelve Yelling Men-Wbo-Died that Peace might Come.” * * . “L” writes:—“Perhaps you can enlighten me as to what seems a curious occurrence. One day I discovered a chrysalis hanging on the mantelpiece. The day before I brought in branches of plum blossbm, and placed them in a tall vase at one end. The chrysalis was hanging towards the other end. Can they move? I was away for two days, and on returning found the creature lying on the hearth, quite a foot along from where it was hanging. I don’t know now if it is alive or dead.”, So far as is known, a chrysalis is only capable of wagging its