Feed: Wonderment - AggScore: 45.2

Back in Action

Hola...

I am back to work on a new project after a stint on the AT and Olympic National Park - what fun...

I have decided to concentrate on Children's books and have been commissioned by an author to publish a series of 15 books over 3 volumes - you can see her work at http://facebook.com/GemstoneElves

Please visit her site and let me know your feelings on the viability of her project - thank you... w

The Value of Some Time Off…

I have been overloaded since last Fall and finally hit a wall - there just wasn't any energy left for working 12 hour days... Even though I must admit that it has been an awesome 6 month run... And they all eventually come to an end... And the "Bigger they are, the harder they Fall" is dead on.

Maybe it was that I have been watching Mad Men and got a look at myself right inside My mind - scary how We acted back then with the smoking, drinking, and Womanizing.  We have come a long way and I am NOT proud about being one of Them - it is important for all Boomers to understand that "Stop Signs don't get put up until their is an accident"... This period of my life was just plain over the Top!

So I ran into this Wall and just had to Stop - just too much on my plate and my greed was getting the best of me.  Time to let go of the BIG Plan and concentrate on only the best parts - prime stuff rather than the Whole PIE...

Been doing neat shit as the weather here in the Appalachians for a Wisconsin Farm Boy is like May... Went down to Lover's Leap on the AT... It will be a while until my mind clears...

I am considering going out to New Mexico next Summer and renting out my place in downtown Marshall. NC - started thinking about logistics and it looks workable without Me having to do laborious stuff... Me thinks so far?

Somewhere between Las Cruces and Silver City over to Truth - there is a Ranger Station on 61 that serves the backwoods of the Cibola National Forest that I want to volunteer for the Summer season.  I need to bond with that area before I die and I can run this business from anywhere.  I have decided to farm out all but 3 projects that I need to concentrate on rather than being spread so thin.

If anyone has an opinion where to light, please comment?

If anyone is interested, I have some great ideas for projects and will be happy to share or Partner - whatever works... w

Mad Men

When I first went to Manhattan for AT&T in the late 60's, they were in a battle with IBM for control of the image as the leader in the future of electronics - we did not use outside firms so We were called Internal Mad Men...

I am working on a story about some real Mad Men - anyone wishing to collaborate, please leave a comment. 

Happy writing... w

Beef

Beef
 

Meaning: Other than fatty tissue on a Human, a term to signify a Man’s strength, brawn
 

Origin: Cow comes from Middle English - peasants ate buef (French)
 

Colonial Relationship: Settlers ate little beef on the Frontier as it was too valuable a commodity to barter for something else needed by the Family. Most meat was from hunting wild game which was plentiful in 1800.
 

Note: At Christmas, roasted beef was considered a delicacy in most Frontier Families

Beef-brained/headed = dotish (foolish), stupid and thick-headed
 

To “Cry Beef” = alarm
 

To “Be in a Man’s Beef’ = wound with a sword
 

To “Be in a Woman’s Beef” = to have carnal knowledge with Her

You can order an advance copy of our new book covering American Colonial Frontier Language and Terms c.1800 at our WebSite.
 

Getting a Critique of an Abstract

In our Workshop on writing Historical Fiction, we stress that before One undertakes a major project they create a 3 to 6 page Abstract about the Plot, Setting, and Characters - it's like you are writing a review of the completed work...

You MUST give it to 2 or 3 of your closet critics and ask them to reply to 3 questions without getting hung up on grammar, etc.

1. Is it clear that the Tale is about XXX who lived during a wild and exciting time?

2. Can you visualize the secondary Characters or is there some confusion?

3. Do you think I should spend the energy to write this Novel?

Your comments are most appreciated...

Note:  If you are Human, like the rest of us, there will be a twinge in your gut waiting for their input - I regularly invite my 2 diverse opinions over for dinner and make them read it while we are having cocktails... If they take it home with them to dig deeper - ok?

Even if They don't like it or have comments that dis-encourage any action doesn't mean that You should permanently shelve the project - work on something else for a while and digest the input.  Get in a hurry and You are guaranteed to waste valuable time and energy... Happy writing... w

Helot

One of a class of serfs among the ancient. Spartans who were owned by the state, were bound to the soil under allotment to landholders, and fulfilled all servile functions. The Helots paid their masters a fixed proportion of the products of the ground cultivated by them. They served as light-armed troops in war, and in great emergencies bodies of them were organized as regular or heavy-armed troops, in which case they might be manumitted as a reward for bravery. They were descendants of captives of war, most of them probably of the conquered Achean aborigines of Laconia; and they were very cruelly treated, and often systematically massacred, to keep down their numbers and prevent them from organized revolt.

Hence: A serf or slave, in general; a servile person; one subject, to the orders and caprices of another.

To my knowledge, the word Helot was obsolete in general language by 1800 - there are numerous Regional terms for Slaves or Natives/Black Peoples in general...  Farmers in the Frontier had no desire to be Serfs - that is one of the reasons why they left in the first place and a whole new set of lingo evolved naturally as Peoples assimilated...

This is not a word One should use when writing Historical Fiction - You can order an advance copy of our new book covering American Colonial Frontier Language and Terms c.1800 at our WebSite.

Spanish in Florida

I am looking for someone who is interested in collaborating on a Historical Fiction Novel about the smugglers who hung out on Key West - comments appreciated... w

Listed are some relevant Milestones:

In 1513, the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León, who explored the Southern Florida - He returned in 1521 to start a Colony but was driven off by the Natives...

By the mid-1500s, the Spanish, in particular, were winning the race of conquest. Early Spanish explorers included Luis Vasquez de Allyan, who sailed the Cape Fear River in 1526; Hernando de Soto, who in 1540 traversed through the southern Appalachian mountains; and Juan Pardo, who led two expeditions from Santa Elena (Tybee Island, Georgia) into the Catawba Valley and then into the mountains of western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee. During his first expedition, Pardo established good relationships with Indian tribes and searched primarily for food for the Santa Elena settlement. The second expedition’s mission was mainly to find a road to Zacatecas, Mexico (location of Spanish silver mines) and to claim land for Spain.

In 1564, French settlers establish Fort Caroline at the mouth of the St. Johns River, near present-day Jacksonville

In 1565, Spain established the first permanent European settlement in the New World at St. Augustine. They mercilessly drove out the French killing all who would not professed belief in the Roman Catholic faith.

Pardo and 125 men traveled northward from Santa Elena to find Indian towns with food between December 1, 1566 to March 7, 1567. After traveling through the swampland of northeastern South Carolina, Pardo stopped at Yssa (near present-day Linville, North Carolina) and then later at Jaora, an Indian town near modern-day Morganton. There, the Spanish explorer and his men constructed Fort San Juan.

To 1700 The Spanish colonize much of Florida. They continue constructing forts and Roman Catholic missions. Spanish missions established among native people soon extend across north Florida and as far north as the area that we now call South Carolina. On Key West, they find a huge bone yard where the deceased bodies were taken from warring

In 1702, the English colonists in the Carolina Colonies become particularly hostile toward Spain. Led by Colonel James Moore, the Carolinians and their Creek Indian allies attack Spanish Florida and destroyed the town of St. Augustine - so began the “Golden Age of Smuggling” using Key West as a base

In 1704, Carolina English colonists destroy the Spanish missions between Tallahassee and St. Augustine, killing many native people and enslaving many others.

By 1740, Spain’s adversaries moved even closer when Georgia, England's southernmost continental colony, attacks Florida, assaulting St. Augustine for almost a month

In 1763, when Great Britain took control of Florida, the community of Spaniards and Native Americans were moved to Havana. Florida returned to Spanish control 20 years later, but there was no official resettlement of Key West
 

Apple

Apple
 

Meaning: The Apple tree appeared on Earth about the time of Humans and certainly provided those fortunate to find some and gain a more healthy diet than others not so fortunate. The Myths about Apples are numerous and its use in medicine was widespread - “An Apple a day...”
 

Origin: Ancient Greece (Pliny) to Middle English
 

Colonial Relationship: The Apple is one of the most viable food sources Humans were gifted with - they are easy to cultivate, forgiving from lack of attention, and a pleasant, nutritional food. The hooch made from the Fall harvest gave all celebrants a buzz of joy...
 

Note: The Apple had many sexual connotations: In rural England, Blossoming Youth danced around the trees in Spring in hopes for a prolific year and one of the reasons for marriage in May or June - also, there were many Regional traditions about flipping an Apple piece for good luck and tossing a peel to see if it breaks (a sigh of celibacy). No farm in Appalachia was without Apple, Pear, and Cherry Trees and there were many a Johnny Appleseed grafters who worked each season perfecting the quality and quantity of the harvest.

Apples/Apple Dumplins = a Woman’s bosom or nipples (paps)
 

To “Upset the Apple Cart” = disrupted planning of a scheme

You can order an advance copy of our new book covering American Colonial Frontier Language and Terms c.1800 at our WebSite
 

The History of Money in the Colonial Appilachian Frontier

This is the first of a series about how American Colonial Settlers handled the purchase, sale, and barter of things in the Colonial American Appalachian Frontier in Western North Carolina - We begin with the evolution of monetary exchange from the beginning (Native American Potlatch) through 1763 then onto the Civil War.

This work is based on the following excellent references for anyone who wishes to understand this subject further:

• Davies, Glyn. A history of money from ancient times to the present day, 3rd ed. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2002. 720 pages. Paperback: ISBN 0 7083 1717 0.

This is an draft list of mainly English oriented term for money - any additions or corrections should be commented on by those interested...

Money = Argent, Aste, Bite, Crap/Dirt (negative sense), Dust, Fat, Gelt, Nonsense, Rhino, Ribbin, Spanker (gold or silver), Stiver, Wedge

• Alderman = half-Crown
• Bawbee = a half-penny
• Bean = a Guinea (Sovereign - 20s) - half Bean = half Guinea
• Bender - Sixpence
• Bob = a Shilling
• Borde = a Shilling - half Borde = a Six-pence
• Bull = 5 Shillings, a Crown - half Bull = half a Crown
• Button = Shilling
• Cent (1793) - first American penny
• Chip = Sovereign
• Croker = fourpence
• Crook = Sixpence
• Dace = Twopence
• Deaner = Shilling
• Deuce = two Pounds
• Dews/Deux/Duce Wins = Twopence
• Downer = Sixpence
• Farthing (Fadge/Grig) = One-fourth of a penny
• Fiddler’s Fare = sixpence (the amount usually paid to attend a concert)
• Fin = five Pounds
• Fore Coach Wheel = a half Crown - Hind Coach Wheel = a Crown
• George = half Crown
• Hog = Shilling - Half a Hog = Sixpence
• Horse = five Pound note
• Jack = Farthing
• Job = Guinea - half a Job = half a Guinea
• Kick = Sixpence
• Mag/Magg/Make = Halfpenny
• Meg = Guinea
• Oner = Shilling
• Pig = Sixpence
• Quarter = five Shillings
• Quid = Guinea - half a Quid = half a Guinea
• Rag = Farthing
• Ridge = Guinea
• Scrope = Farthing
• She Lion = Schilling
• Sice = Sixpence
• Simon = Sixpence
• Slat/Slot = Half a Crown
• Smelt = Half Guineas
• Sow’s-baby = Sixpence
• Sovereign/Strike = 20 Shillings
• Spangle = a seven-Shilling coin
• A Stranger = Guinea
• Syebuck = Sixpence
• Tanner = Sixpence
• Thrup = Three Pennies
• Thrums = Threepence
• Tizzy = Sixpence
• Token = Farthing
• Treswin = Threepence
• Twelver = Shilling
• Twoer = Florin
• Wheel = Five Shilling coin
• Win = Penny
• Yellow Boy = Guinea
 

Matches

Matches

Meaning: Sticks that were impregnated with a sulphurous compound that ignited when stuck against something with friction or a chemically treated surface
 

Origin: From Cord, Cambric, macche from Middle English evolving from vulgar Latin Micca and Myxa (lamp wick) and Greek Muxa
 

Colonial Relationship: Matches were invented by the Chinese in the 6th Century ce and evolved and by 950 lamps and matched to light them were common amongst the Upper Class - matches did not make it to Europe until the mid-16th Century. In 1669 in Hamburg, one Hennig Brandt discovered Phosphorus by evaporating Urine trying to turn base metals to gold and it was perfected by Johann Kunckle in 1678. Early work had been done by Robert Boyle and his assistant, Godfrey Haukweicz[5] in the 1680s with phosphorus and sulfur, but their efforts did not produced useful results.

The first "friction match" was invented by English chemists John Walker in 1826.[4] Walker produced his "sulphuretted peroxide strikables," gigantic, yard-long sticks that can be considered the real precursor of today’s match - Walker called the matches Congreves, but the process was patented by Samuel Jones and the matches were sold as lucifer matches. In 1830, Charles Sauria reformatted the Match using white phosphorus. The new matches had no odor but they made people sick because white phosphorous is poisonous.

Small phosphorus matches were first marketed in Germany in 1832, but they were extremely hazardous. In 1836 in the United States, Alonzo D. Phillips of Springfield, Massachusetts, obtained a patent for "manufacturing of friction matches" and called them Locofocos. The danger problem was not resolved until the invention of amorphous (red) phosphorus in 1845. Carl Lundstrom of Sweden introduced the first red phosphorus "safety" matches in 1855. In 1892 Joshua Pusey invented the matchbook, however, he placed the striking surface on the inside of the book so that all 50 matches would ignite at once. The Diamond Match Company later purchased Pusey's patent and moved the striking surface to the exterior of the packaging.

The early matches had a number of problems - the flame was unsteady and the initial reaction was disconcertingly violent; additionally, the odor produced by the burning match was unpleasant. It is described as a firework odor. Lucifers reportedly could ignite explosively, sometimes throwing sparks at a considerable distance.

Caution: Make sure you are careful when writing Historical Fiction you realize that the early Colonists had no matches. They tried to keep a fire going at all times--no matter what the season. Starting a new fire involved sending someone to a neighbor for some hot coals. When no neighbor was nearby, a fire had to be started by striking sparks from a piece of flint and steel and igniting some splinters of dry firewood. Settlers used pine torches as a popular form of lighting. It was arranged so that most of the smoke went up the chimney. Other light was made by burning fat or wax in some way.

Note: I was raised in the 1940’s by a Farm Family in Western Wisconsin those ancestors came to America in 1730 - I have never heard of the term Lucifer as a reference to a match?

You can order an advance copy of our new book covering American Colonial Frontier Language and Terms c.1800 at our WebSite