Late lunch at Penn Station then some yard
work and a bit more when the battery recharges for the blower. Carol has been
washing/drying putting away clothes all morning. One last batch is in the
dryer. Arthritis lingered throughout the morning; eventually a hot bath helped
some. You never have had all your toes hurt so much from their arthritic condition
but you were too stubborn to take a pill at breakfast to ease the problem.
Carol wants dessert (Graeter's) a bit later this afternoon. You are staying at
Kim and Paul's until Wednesday and probably coming home after breakfast. Carol
does not want to come home to a house that needs to be cleaned which reminds
you that you said you would do the kitchen and bathroom floors before you go.
1534
hours. She is still in the kitchen. I could go do the bathrooms now but I just
sat down; oh well, better get to it.
2113
hours. Papa John's pizza for supper; then we watched the last
"Elementary" for the season. Sherlock won! Excellent characters,
excellent plot development! Carol didn't finish her sweeping and I have the
kitchen to do. We don't leave until about 1300 tomorrow so it will be fine. It
is exciting to be going to Cleveland without an emergency need at hand. We are
so looking forward to it.
You are still recovering from the two-hour
conclusion to "Elementary". - Amorella
I think I
am a bit envious of how the show was put together. You have to observe, listen,
deduce and predict as the plot works its way. We are entertained because the
show has the blood fully flowing in the brain during its hour. I am envious and
I am thankful there are those in the business who will cater to those who have
a bit of the detective spirit in them. Who played Moriarty? [Natalie Dormer].
Jonny Lee Miller is Sherlock and Lucy Liu is Dr. Watson. I am glad to see it is
renewed for a second full season.
2218
hours. I have been looking into the history of 7th century Scotland in
Wikipedia:
** **
Dál Riata
From Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia
People, land and sea
The modern human
landscape of Dál Riata differs a great deal from that of the first millennium.
Most people today live in settlements far larger than anything known in early
times, while some areas, such as Kilmartin and many of the islands, such as
Islay and Tiree may well have had as many inhabitants as they do today. Many of
the small settlements have now disappeared, so that the countryside is far
emptier than was formerly the case, and many areas which were formerly farmed
are now abandoned. Even the physical landscape is not entirely as it was:
sea-levels have changed, and the combination of erosion and silting will have
considerably altered the shape of the coast in some places, while the natural
accumulation of peat and man-made changes from peat-cutting has altered inland
landscapes.
As was normal at the time,
subsistence farming was the occupation of most people. Oats and barley were the
main cereal crops. Pastoralism was especially important, and transhumance (the
seasonal movement of people with their livestock between fixed summer and
winter pastures) was the practice in many places. Some areas, most notably Islay,
were especially fertile, and good grazing would have been available all year
round, just as it was in Ireland. Tiree was famed in later times for its oats
and barley, while smaller, uninhabited islands were used to keep sheep. The
area, until lately, was notable for its inshore fisheries, and for plentiful
shellfish, therefore seafood is likely to have been an important part of the
diet.
Religion and art
There are no written
accounts of pre-Christian Dál Riata, the earliest records coming from the chroniclers
of Iona and Irish monasteries. Adomnan's Life of St Columba implies a
Christian Dál Riata. Whether this is true cannot be known. The figure of
Columba looms large in any history of Christianity in Dál Riata. Adomnán's Life,
however useful as a record, was
not intended to serve as history, but as hagiography. We are fortunate that the
writing of saints' lives in Adomnán's day had not reached the stylised formulas
of the High Middle Ages, so that the Life contains a great deal of
historically valuable information. It is also a vital linguistic source
indicating the distribution of Gaelic and P-Celtic placenames in northern
Scotland by the end of the 7th century. It famously notes Columba's need for a
translator when conversing with an individual on Skye. This evidence of a
non-Gaelic language is supported by a sprinkling of P-Celtic place names on the
remote mainland opposite the island.
Columba's founding
Iona within the bounds of Dál Riata ensured that the kingdom would be of great
importance in the spread of Christianity in northern Britain, not only to
Pictland, but also to Northumbria, via Lindisfarne, to Mercia, and beyond.
Although the monastery of Iona belonged to the Cenel Conaill of the Northern Uí
Néill, and not to Dál Riata, it had close ties to the Cenél nGabráin, ties
which may make the annals less than entirely impartial.
If Iona was the greatest
religious centre in Dál Riata, it was far from unique. Lismore, in the
territory of the Cenél Loairn, was sufficiently important for the death of its
abbots to be recorded with some frequency. Applecross, probably in Pictish
territory for most of the period, and Kingarth on Bute are also known to have
been monastic sites, and many smaller sites, such as on Eigg and Tiree, are
known from the annals. In Ireland, Armoy was the main ecclesiastical centre in
early times, associated with Saint Patrick and with Saint Olcan, said to have
been first bishop at Armoy. An important early centre, Armoy later declined,
overshadowed by the monasteries at Movilla and Bangor.
As well as their primary
spiritual importance, the political significance of religious centres cannot be
dismissed. The prestige of being associated with the saintly founder was of no
small importance. Monasteries represented a source of wealth as well as
prestige. Additionally, the learning and literacy found in monasteries served
as useful tools for ambitious kings.
Druim Cett to Mag Rath
The history of Dál
Riata, while unknown before the middle of the 6th century, and very unclear
after the middle of the 8th century, is relatively well recorded in the
intervening two centuries, although many questions remain unanswered. As has
been said, the origins of the link between Dál Riata in Scotland and Ireland
are obscure. What is not in doubt is that Irish Dál Riata was a lesser kingdom
of Ulaid. The Kingship of Ulster was dominated by the Dal Fiatach and contested
by the Cruithne kings of the Dal
nAraidi.
In 575, Columba
fostered an agreement between Áedán mac Gabráin and Aed mac Ainmuirech of the
Cenel Conaill at Druim Cett. This alliance was likely precipitated by the
conquests of the Dál Fiatach king Baetan mac Cairill, one of the very few High
Kings of Ireland not of the Connachta or the Uí Néill, who had sought to
subjugate all of Dál Riata, and the Isle of Man as well. Báetán died in 581,
but the Ulaid kings did not abandon their attempts to control Dál Riata.
The kingdom of Dál
Riata reached its greatest extent in the reign of Áedán mac Gabráin. It is said
that Áedán was consecrated as king by Columba. If true, this was one of the
first such consecrations known. As noted, Columba brokered the alliance between
Dál Riata and the Northern Uí Néill. This pact was successful, first in
defeating Báetan mac Cairill, then in allowing Áedán to campaign widely against
his neighbours, as far afield as Orkney and lands of the Maeatae, on the River
Forth. Áedán appears to have been very successful in extending his power, until
he faced the Bernician king Æthelfrith at Degsastan c. 603. Æthelfrith's
brother was among the dead, but Áedán was defeated, and the Bernician kings
continued their advances in southern Scotland. Áedán died c. 608 aged about 70.
Dál Riata did expand to include Skye, possibly conquered by Áedán's son
Gartnait.
It appears, although
the original tales are lost, that Fiachnae mac Baetain (d. 626), Dál nAraidi
King of Ulster, was overlord of both parts of Dál Riata. Fiachnae campaigned
against the Northumbrians, and besieged Bamburgh, and the Dál Riatans will have
fought in this campaign.
Dál Riata remained
allied with the Northern Uí Néill until the reign of Domnall Brecc, who
reversed this policy and allied with Congal Caech (also known as Congal Cláen)
of the Dál nAraidi. Domnall joined Congal in a campaign against Domnall mac
Aedo of the Cenél Conaill, the son of Áed mac Ainmuirech. The outcome of this
change of allies was defeats for Domnall Brecc and his allies on land at Mag
Rath (Moira, County Down) and at sea at Sailtír, off Kintyre, in 637. This, it
was said, was divine retribution for Domnall Brecc turning his back on the
alliance with the kinsmen of Columba. Domnall Brecc's policy appears to have
died with him in 642, at his final, and fatal, defeat by Eugein map Beli of Alt
Clut at Strathcarron, for as late as the 730s, armies and fleets from Dál Riata
fought alongside the Uí Néill.
Selected and edited
from Wikipedia - Dal Riata
** **
The above source will need to be worked into
the note format and although it is much more background than needed for Dead 18
selections may come into play later, mostly in a line of dialogue from Merlyn's
memory. It is important to you because in order to be in the scene you have to
feel the times -- it is more to establish personal authenticity than anything
else. This is just as you did for your many, many British literature classes;
you 'felt, lived in the times as the writers studied for understanding their
environment and their word choices. This was for you first, your students
second. This is the authenticity that is important to me that you are now still
as you were in the classroom for thirty-seven years. I will help edit the
above, then time for bed. Post when completed. - Amorella
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