Questions and Answers, 0-30

Vsevolod I Grand Prince of Kiev was the grandfather of Yuri Dolgoruky who founded Moscow. But although his myth is certainly known to Google, it wasn't to me.

I suspect the better-known grandfather was Yuri's mother Gythe's father, Harold II of England, who got one in the eye at Hastings.

>My myth is more localized.  After leaving
> the place of my birth, I travelled  for many years until I came
> to a hill by a river.  The hill boasted a forest  of magnificent pine
> trees.  I settled there and founded a city.  Settlers came
> and used these pine trees to build walls and a fortress within
> these walls.  The  fortress was given a name which some believe
> comes from a word meaning "hard",  but others believe its name
> comes from words meaning "pine forest".  All agree  that the name
> given to the oldest tower of this fortress (frequently photographed
> by tourists) comes from a ancient word meaning "known only to the
> initiated".   The wooden walls stood for several centuries and were
> replaced with white stone,  and finally brick.

Definitely the Kremlin. 'Kreml' meaning 'hard', it was originally built of wood, then white stone, finally red brick. (Some white stone buildings and foundations remain.)

> I gave my name to this city.  It has produced composers,
> artists, and novelists.   One citizen of legend even travelled
> to the fabled Camelot to joust with the  Arthurian knights.
> Sadly however, his name was mistranslated to a colour,
> rather than the correct meaning of "beautiful".

From which comes 'Red Square', derived from the Russian word 'krasnyj' which means 'beautiful', but sounds like the word for 'red'.

> In time, I married a local woman who bore a son and daughter.
> Their names  were combined and given as an eponym to a river
> in this region.
>
> Today, the city I founded is a vibrant metropolis with an airport
> and tube system,  and my citizens are fiercely proud of the heritage
>  I bestowed upon them.  Please  provide [1] the name of my
> grandfather; and [2] the name of the fortress.  Please include
> a rationale for your answer.

[1] Harold II of England
[2] Kremlin

Rationale: See above.

Demurrer posted: Sadly, per the cited fragment above, we cannot provide a full "Thank You" because we're unable to locate a city named "Yuri" that has a Kremlin in it, so it couldn't be his grandfather whose name we're seeking.

Whereupon Mike Connaly posted at 10 Aug 2002 21:27:03 +0100

OK, Googling gives this:

Moscow's origins have long been shrouded in the mystery of time, but there are many stories linked with it. One legend has it that Moscow was founded by Noah's grandson, Tsar Mosokh. On the site of a little hill, which is now known as Shvivaya Gorka, he founded 'Gradets Maly', [little town] and settled down there. Mosokh's wife was called Kva, and they had a son and daughter called Ya and Vuza. These names were combined into the words Moskva and Yauza, the latter being the name of Moscow's second largest river.

Ref: http://www.rcscmalta.org/newsletter/feb2002.html

Interesting that Moscow had TWO founders with famous grandfathers.

Officially? November 19, 1951. But it was apparently used as early as 1930. Where? Temple University.

Support?

http://www.camelotintl.com/365_days/november.html
http://academic.uofs.edu/department/spcoll/football.html

The easy guess would be bungee jumping, but MW only says "origin unknown".

Sweet Fanny Adams?

You are Nancy Drew.

I think the novel is one of Dickens', but I can't identify the magistrate.

Gwen Lenker posted at 10 Aug 2002 21:15:19 GMT

I believe the novel is Oliver Twist, and the fictional magistrate is Mr. Fang. His real-life counterpart was one Mr. Liang, whose given name I've yet been unable to determine.

Gwen Lenker followed this up at 10 Aug 2002 21:33:38 GMT

Whoops! Typo! It's Laing. Here's an update:

"Mr. Fang: Mr. Fang was modeled on the Hatton Garden magistrate, Allan Stewart Laing, who was attacked by others than Dickens for his severity. He was dismissed from the bench in January 1838, but I have not found, in reports of his conduct on the bench in 1836, at any rate, much foundation for charges about the 'ferocities of Laing'. " http://austinhs.elpaso.k12.tx.us/users/jbaggett/olivertwist/installment5.html

This isn't the Hartlepool monkey that was hanged after being mistaken for a French spy, is it?

I was drinking a Stella Artois with my friends when a person came over and wet the end of my cigarette. He was amazed when my friend became enraged and started to hit him in the teeth, but before he lost his temper, we told him he was the butt of a joke. As humour, it was the very best.

The finger of Tsar Nicholas I, as legends have it, got in the way as he ruled a line from St. Petersburg to Moscow, introducing a bump, which was duly incorporated into the rail-way. Known as the Tsar's Finger, this curve in the line was straightened recently, occassioning the cessation of train movement for 24 hours.

Montgomery, founded by Roger Montgomery (de Montgoméry), Earl of Shrewsbury.

A perl script?

then Gwen Lenker posted at 12 Aug 2002 03:52:50 GMT

Someone once explained to me the significance of PERL scalars, but I lost track of the discussion once he used a buzzword. In fact, I nearly died...

The villa seems to be at Hurstpierpoint, near Hassocks, with an associated tile-kiln (at least according to http://www.roman-britain.org/places/hassocks.htm So tiles seem to be the most likely answer to the second part.

Three times.

Thrice toss these oaken ashes in the air.
Thrice sit thou mute in this inchanted chayre .
--Thomas Campion

http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/oakenash.htm

Members of UK House of Commons with said first names.

I count 11 Tonys (Baldry, Banks, Blair, Clarke, Colman, Cunningham, Lloyd, McNulty, McWalter, Worthington and Wright), plus 2 Anthonys (and no Antonys).

See http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/alms.htm

The four names given (other than Tony) are the first names of the 4 Sinn Fein MPs, who don't take their seats.

The Daily Mirror.

Just in case the Panel was expecting the next two in the sequence:

alether (7), veraho (8)...

Dragaera

http://www.speakeasy.org/~mamandel/Cracks-and-Shards/seventeen.html#n17_in_D

Freddie & Flossie

After some demurral he followed up with:

Hmm. I did some research. I guess I will have to change my bid. I quote from CHAPTER I THE BOBBSEY TWINS AT HOME

"Nan was a tall and slender girl, with a dark face and red cheeks. Her eyes were a deep brown and so were the curls that clustered around her head.

Bert was indeed a twin, not only because he was the same age as Nan, but because he looked so very much like her. To be sure, he looked like a boy, while she looked like a girl, but he had the same dark complexion, the same brown eyes and hair, and his voice was very much the same, only stronger

Freddie and Flossie were just the opposite of their larger brother and sister. Each was short and stout, with a fair, round face, light-blue eyes and fluffy golden hair. Sometimes Papa Bobbsey called Flossie his little Fat Fairy, which always made her laugh. But Freddie didn't want to be called a fairy, so his papa called him the Fat Fireman, which pleased him very much, and made him rush around the house shouting: "Fire! fire! Clear the track for Number Two! Play away, boys, play away!" in a manner that seemed very lifelike."

I can only conclude that Nan and Bert were a better match in appearance as it was specifically pointed out. Freddie & Flossie were twins but not quite so well matched.

(My original post was based on a review that stated Freddie & Flossie were twins, while Nan & bert were older siblings. It seems a poor choice of source on my behalf)

Jewels and binoculars.
Because Dylan Said so, and Dylan rules. See http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/visions.html

Could it be from "Afton Water"? Thou stock-dove, whose echo resounds thro' the glen,
Ye wild whistling blackbirds in yon thorny den,
Thou green-crested lapwing, thy screaming forbear,
I charge you disturb not my slumbering fair.
Kibitz comes from "kiebitz" which means lapwing or peewit, according to NSOED, and since the lapwing is asked to forbear from screaming, and kibitzers are expected to keep quiet, it seems appropriate.

Luding.

The connection is "Truly"
1. Chandler's Daughter by Truly Donovan
2. Southern USA pest extermination magnate Truly Nolan
3. Astronaut Robert Truly

Just in case accuracy counts -- Truly *Nolen* is the exterminator outfit,
and Richard Truly is the astronaut.

Venus, Vanadis, and Oshun are analogous to the goddess Aphrodite. Cantharides is a supposed aphrodisiac. It looks like the evidence is stacking up for Aphrodite.

Aptonym.

and followed it up in a second post with

Justification: The word is in common use.
see:

http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/fugitives/mrmsapt.htm
http://educ.ahsl.arizona.edu/mla/doctor.htm
http://www.accesscable.net/~chapmand/aptonyms/
http://www.yakima-herald.com/cgi-bin/liveique.acgi$rec=12446?home
http://www.jellyroll.com/03/taj.html
It's even known in Italy.
http://www.alcatraz.it/redazione/news/show_news_p.php3?NewsID=1412
And there are plenty more where those came from.

You are in Newfoundland
Turrs - apparently also known as "murres" - they look like guillemots or
razorbills (types of auk)
http://www.cws-scf.ec.gc.ca/hww-fap/hww-fap.cfm?ID_species=29⟨=e
Brewis - hard bread
http://www.wordplay.com/cuisine/archive.html
Partridge - the birds I know as grouse and ptarmigan(different from the
partridge in Britain)
http://www.heritage.nf.ca/facts4.html
Bait - fresh caplin or herring

Hilda Doolittle (a.k.a. H. D. Imagiste), in her poem Oread: Whirl up, sea
whirl your pointed pines,
splash your great pines
on our rocks,
hurl your green over us,
cover us with your pools of fir.

Performative.

If this is to do with "northern harrier" being an alternative name for "hen
harrier", then we should be looking for a species with two names, one of
which contains "boreal".
Now, the post by "toonice111" refers to the Boreal Owl.  Looking at the link
http://www.state.ak.us/local/akpages/FISH.GAME/notebook/bird/borealow.htm
this is Aegolius funereus.  In my bird-book, this is given as "Tengmalm's
Owl".
So I'll guess "Tengmalm's".