A GUARDIAN, ECONOMIST AND PROSPECT BOOK OF THE YEAR'A superb book' Simon Sebag Montefiore'An empowering story of human ingenuity' Economist'Full of curious facts' The TimesCauses of death have changed irrevocably across time. In the course of a few centuries we have gone from a world where disease or violence were likely to strike anyone at any age, and where famine could be just one bad harvest away, to one where in many countries excess food is more of a problem than a lack of it. Why have the reasons we die changed so much? How is it that a century ago people died mainly from infectious disease, while today the leading causes of death in industrialised nations are heart disease and stroke? And what do changing causes of death reveal about how previous generations have lived? University of Manchester Professor Andrew Doig provides an eye-opening portrait of death throughout history, looking at particular causes - from infectious disease to genetic disease, violence to diet - who they affected, and the people who made it possible to overcome them. Along the way we hear about the long and torturous story of the discovery of vitamin C and its role in preventing scurvy; the Irish immigrant who opened the first washhouse for the poor of Liverpool, and in so doing educated the public on the importance of cleanliness in combating disease; and the Church of England curate who, finding his new church equipped with a telephone, started the Samaritans to assist those in emotional distress. This Mortal Coil is a thrilling story of growing medical knowledge and social organisation, of achievement and, looking to the future, of promise.
The late Andrew C. Ross was a Scottish missionary in Malawi between 1958 and 1965 and one of the founding members of the Malawi Congress Party. Like many other Scottish missionaries of the period, he deeply opposed the Central African Federation, and was a strong supporter of the emerging Malawian nationalist movement. When, following the declaration of a State of Emergency in March 1959, many of the political leaders of the Nyasaland African Congress were detained, Andrew regularly visited those held at Kanjedza near Limbe - visits which helped to deepen both his friendship with them, and his commitment to their cause. Thus, when Orton Chirwa was released from detention later in 1959, and persuaded to become the temporary leader of the newly formed Malawi Congress Party, Andrew Ross was one of the first to join, becoming the proud holder of MCP card number six. This book covers the period 1875-1965 and includes a Foreword by Professor George Shepperson.
How British naval power in the Indian Ocean played a critical early role in WWII: “Commands the reader's attention. . . . a history game-changer.” —Warship, Naval Books of the Year This new work tells the compelling story of how the Royal Navy secured the strategic space from Egypt in the west to Australasia in the East through the first half of the Second World War—and explains why this contribution, made while Russia’s fate remained in the balance and before American economic power took effect, was so critical. Without it, the war would certainly have lasted longer and decisive victory might have proved impossible. After the protection of the Atlantic lifeline, this was surely the Royal Navy’s finest achievement, the linchpin of victory. The book moves authoritatively between grand strategy, intelligence, accounts of specific operations, and technical assessment of ships and weapons. It challenges established perceptions of Royal Navy capability and will change the way we think about Britain’s role and contribution in the first half of the war. The Navy of 1939 was stronger than usually suggested and British intelligence did not fail against Japan. Nor was the Royal Navy outmatched by Japan, coming very close to a British Midway off Ceylon in 1942. And it was the Admiralty, demonstrating a reckless disregard for risks, that caused the loss of Force Z in 1941. The book also lays stress on the key part played by the American relationship in Britain’s Eastern naval strategy. Superbly researched and elegantly written, it adds a hugely important dimension to our understanding of the war in the East.
Winner, 2019 National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum Western Heritage Award for the Best Nonfiction Book Winner, 2019 Colorado Book Awards History Category, sponsored by Colorado Center for the Book In The Woolly West, historian Andrew Gulliford describes the sheep industry’s place in the history of Colorado and the American West. Tales of cowboys and cattlemen dominate western history—and even more so in popular culture. But in the competition for grazing lands, the sheep industry was as integral to the history of the American West as any trail drive. With vivid, elegant, and reflective prose, Gulliford explores the origins of sheep grazing in the region, the often-violent conflicts between the sheep and cattle industries, the creation of national forests, and ultimately the segmenting of grazing allotments with the passage of the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934. Deeper into the twentieth century, Gulliford grapples with the challenges of ecological change and the politics of immigrant labor. And in the present day, as the public lands of the West are increasingly used for recreation, conflicts between hikers and dogs guarding flocks are again putting the sheep industry on the defensive. Between each chapter, Gulliford weaves an account of his personal interaction with what he calls the “sheepscape”—that is, the sheepherders’ landscape itself. Here he visits with Peruvian immigrant herders and Mormon families who have grazed sheep for generations, explores delicately balanced stone cairns assembled by shepherds now long gone, and ponders the meaning of arborglyphs carved into unending aspen forests. The Woolly West is the first book in decades devoted to the sheep industry and breaks new ground in the history of the Colorado Basque, Greek, and Hispano shepherding families whose ranching legacies continue to the present day.
A parliamentary scandal that dominates the headlines. The resignation of major party figures. Commentators and citizens wondering if the British government—and the people’s faith in it—will survive. Before Brexit, another major crisis rocked the foundation of government in the country: the expenses scandal of 2009. Featuring interviews with the members of parliament, journalists, and officials close to the center of the turmoil, An Extraordinary Scandal tells the story of what really happened. Andrew Walker, the tax expert who oversaw the parliamentary expenses system, and Emma Crewe, a social scientist specializing in the institutions of parliament, bring fascinating perspectives—from both inside and outside parliament—to this account. Far from attempting provide a defense of any the parties involved, An Extraordinary Scandal explains how the parliament fell out of step with the electorate and became a victim of its own remote institutional logic, growing to become at odds with an increasingly open, meritocratic society. Charting the crisis from its 1990s origins—when Westminster began, too slowly, to respond to wider societal changes—to its aftermath in 2010, the authors examine how the scandal aggravated the developing crisis of trust between the British electorate and Westminster politicians that continues to this day. Their in-depth research reveals new insight into how the expenses scandal acted as a glimpse of what was to come, and they reveal where the scandal’s legacy can be traced in the new age of mistrust and outrage, in which politicians are often unfairly vulnerable to being charged in the court of public opinion by those they represent.
Unter dem Siegel der Nekropole 5 Andrew Chugg The Lost Tombs of the Last Pharaohs. The purpose of this fresh article is to present new evidence that connects the sarcophagus of the last 30th Dynasty pharaoh, Nectanebo II, currently displayed in the British Museum, with a fragment of Macedonian funerary sculpture from the middle of the Ptolemaic period, which is now in Venice. The context of this connection is the search for the missing tombs (there were at least three in Egypt) of Alexander the Great. Michael E. Habicht Meta-database of cranial measurements from Ancient Egypt and Nubia. The study presents a complex and extended database of the morphology of skulls and (partly) also for the body proportion in Ancient Egypt through all periods. The database covers the Predynastic time to the Roman period, males and females. In addition, available data on the Royal families are added. Unter dem Siegel der Nekropole 6 Cicero Moraes, Michael Habicht, Francesco M. Galassi, Elena Varotto & F. Donald Pate Facial reconstruction of the mummy Cairo CG 61076 from the Royal Mummies Cachette DB 320. A princess from the late 18th Dynasty? In this paper we investigate the anthropological aspects of the ancient Egyptian mummy Cairo CG 61076 found in the royal cachette of Deir el-Bahari (DB 320) and labelled as Baqt by reassessing the published literature and photographs and producing a facial reconstruction for the first time. South American mummies: an Overview. This preliminary overview of scientific studies on mummies in South America collects all information available in Europe on the topic. The core of the study is the geographical overview of mummies in different countries and various cultures (from pre-Columbian to Modern Age mummies). Updated edition
The Arakmbut are an indigenous people who live in the Madre de Dios region of thesoutheastern Peruvian rain forest. Since their first encounters with missionaries in the 1950s, they have shown resilience and a determination to affirm their identity in the face of many difficulties. During the last fifteen years, Arakmbut survival has been under threat from a goldrush that has attracted hundreds of colonists onto their territories. This trilogy of books traces the ways in which the Arakmbut overcome the dangers that surround them: their mythology and cultural strength; their social flexibility; and their capacity to incorporate non-indigenous concepts and activities into their defence strategies. Each area is punctuated by the constant presence of the invisible spirit, which provides a seamless theme connecting the books to each other. Following the Arakmbuts' recommendation, the author uses their three greatest myths to introduce social, cultural and historical aspects of their lives. He ends with a discussion of the relationship between myth and history showing how the Arakmbut recreate their myths at the dramatic moments of their history. Buy all three volumes for 20% discount
A history of larger-than-life characters and the demise of the tiny Himalayan kingdom nestled between India and China. This is the true story of Sikkim, a tiny Buddhist kingdom in the Himalayas that survived the end of the British Empire only to be annexed by India in 1975.It tells the remarkable tale of Thondup Namgyal, the last King of Sikkim, and his American wife, Hope Cooke, thrust unwittingly into the spotlight as they sought support for Sikkim’s independence after their “fairytale” wedding in 1963. As tensions between India and China spilled over into war in the Himalayas, Sikkim became a pawn in the Cold War in Asia during the 1960s and 1970s. Rumors circulated that Hope was a CIA spy. Meanwhile, a shadowy Scottish adventuress, the Kazini of Chakung, married to Sikkim’s leading political figure, coordinated opposition to the Palace. As the world’s major powers jostled for regional supremacy during the early 1970s, Sikkim and its ruling family never stood a chance. On the eve of declaring an emergency across India, Indira Gandhi outwitted everyone to bring down the curtain on the 300-year-old Namgyal dynasty. Based on interviews and archive research, as well as a retracing of a journey the author's grandfather made in 1922, this is a thrilling, romantic, and informative glimpse of a real-life Shangri-La. Praise for Sikkim “A remarkable piece of detective work…. Fascinating human stories…a very valuable addition to how the Cold War played out in South Asia, and to the history of the foreign policies of China, India, and the U.S.” —Michael Burleigh, author of The Best of Times, the Worst of Times
Like the flute melody from Hinterland Who's Who, the 1970s haunt Canadian cultural memory. Though the decade often feels lost to history, Hinterland Remixed focuses on boldly innovative works as well as popular film, television, and music to show that Canada never fully left the 1970s behind. Andrew Burke reveals how contemporary artists and filmmakers have revisited the era's cinematic and televisual residues to uncover what has been lost over the years. Investigating how the traces of an analogue past circulate in a digital age, Burke digs through the remnants of 1970s Canadiana and examines key audiovisual works from this overlooked decade, uncovering the period's aspirations, desires, fears, and anxieties. He then looks to contemporary projects that remix, remediate, and reanimate the period. Exploring an idiosyncratic selection of works – from Michael Snow's experimental landscape film La Région Centrale, to SCTV's satirical skewering of network television, to L'Atelier national du Manitoba's video lament for the Winnipeg Jets – this book asks key questions about nation, nostalgia, media, and memory. A timely intervention, Hinterland Remixed demands we recognize the ways in which the unrealized cultural ambitions and unresolved anxieties of a previous decade continue to resonate in our current lives.
This is the first comprehensive account of how intelligence influenced and sustained British naval power from the mid nineteenth century, when the Admiralty first created a dedicated intelligence department, through to the end of the Cold War. It brings a critical new dimension to our understanding of British naval history in this period while setting naval intelligence in a wider context and emphasising the many parts of the British state that contributed to naval requirements. It is also a fascinating study of how naval needs and personalities shaped the British intelligence community that exists today and the concepts and values that underpin it. The author explains why and how intelligence was collected and assesses its real impact on policy and operations. It confirms that naval intelligence was critical to Britain’s survival and ultimate victory in the two World Wars but significantly reappraises its role, highlighting the importance of communications intelligence to an effective blockade in the First, and according Ultra less dominance compared to other sources in the Second. It reveals that coverage of Germany before 1914 and of the three Axis powers in the interwar period was more comprehensive and effective than previously suggested; and while British power declined rapidly after 1945, the book shows how intelligence helped the Royal Navy to remain a significant global force for the rest of the twentieth century, and in submarine warfare, especially in the second half of the Cold War, to achieve influence and impact for Britain far exceeding resources expended. This compelling new history will have wide appeal to all readers interested in intelligence and its crucial impact on naval policy and operations.
Staying Well After Psychosis Staying Well After Psychosis is extremely readable, based on solid research evidence and packed full of clinical insights and strategies that will satisfy any clinician seeking innovative approaches to the promotion of recovery from psychosis. Anthony P. Morrison, Professor of Clinical Psychology, University of Manchester, UK Over the past decade our understanding of the experience of psychosis has changed dramatically. As part of this change, a range of psychological models of psychosis and associated interventions have developed. Staying Well After Psychosis presents an individually based psychological intervention targeting emotional recovery and relapse prevention. This approach considers the cognitive, interpersonal and developmental aspects involved in recovery and vulnerability to the recurrence of psychosis. Andrew Gumley and Matthias Schwannauer provide a framework for recovery and staying well that focuses on emotional and interpersonal adaptation to psychosis. This practical manual covers, in detail, all aspects of the therapeutic process of Cognitive Interpersonal Therapy, including: Taking a developmental perspective on help seeking and affect regulation. Supporting self-reorganisation and adaptation after acute psychosis. Understanding and treating traumatic reactions to psychosis. Working with feelings of humiliation, entrapment, loss and fear of recurrence. Working with cognitive interpersonal schemata. Developing coping in an interpersonal context. Clinical psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health professionals will find this innovative treatment manual to be a valuable resource in their work with adults and adolescents. This book will also be of interest to lecturers and students of clinical psychology and mental health.
Reprint of the original, first published in 1875. The publishing house Anatiposi publishes historical books as reprints. Due to their age, these books may have missing pages or inferior quality. Our aim is to preserve these books and make them available to the public so that they do not get lost.
EMPIRE, STATE, AND SOCIETY “This book captures the broad-sweep of modern British history. Bronstein and Harris’s narrative is distinguished by its comprehensive coverage, readability, and sure judgment. It is an excellent book.” James Epstein, Vanderbilt University “This is a well-structured and gracefully written textbook that undergraduates at American universities and colleges should find highly accessible. It integrates recent scholarly trends into a compelling narrative that brings together metropolitan and imperial themes. These themes are illuminated by well-chosen anecdotes that make them come alive. Bronstein and Harris have provided an excellent introduction to modern Britain and its Empire, and one that deserves a wide readership.” Phil Harling, University of Kentucky In the nineteenth century, Great Britain was a world-recognized superpower. Tremendous economic growth fostered a daunting formal empire, global networks of trade and investment, and a formidable military. By the late twentieth century this position of dominance had eroded significantly under the stress of two world wars, rising nationalist movements, shifting geopolitics, and the transformation to a post-industrial economy. As Britain adjusts to her new place in the post-colonial world, Empire, State, and Society assesses the external and internal forces behind these transformations. The authors draw on the most recent scholarship to give due importance to social, economic, and cultural changes as well as politics and international diplomacy. Divided into chapters both chronologically and thematically, Empire, State, and Society enables detailed exploration of issues such as race, gender, religion, and the environment. In doing so, the book provides an accessible, comprehensive, and balanced introduction to British history.
The Mekong River has undergone vast infrastructural changes in recent years, including the construction of dams across its main stream. These projects, along with the introduction of new fish species, changing political fortunes, and international migrant labor, have all made a profound impact upon the lives of those residing on the great river. It also impacts how they dream. In Mekong Dreaming, Andrew Alan Johnson explores the changing relationship between the river and the residents of Ban Beuk, a village on the Thailand-Laos border, by focusing on the effect that construction has had on human and inhuman elements of the villagers' world. Johnson shows how inhabitants come to terms with the profound impact that remote, intangible, and yet powerful forces—from global markets and remote bureaucrats to ghosts, spirits, and gods—have on their livelihoods. Through dreams, migration, new religious practices, and new ways of dwelling on a changed river, inhabitants struggle to understand and affect the distant, the inassimilable, and the occult, which offer both sources of power and potential disaster.
On 30th May 1984 Joe Fagan made football history – he became the first English manager to win the Treble. After just one season as coach he had led Liverpool to victory in the League Cup, the League Championship and finally the European Cup, beating AS Roma on home soil after a gripping penalty shootout. It was an unprecedented triumph, the culmination of a twenty-five year career at the very heart of the Liverpool machine, and the end of a golden age. Unassuming, down-to-earth, and never one to court publicity, little is known about Joe Fagan – a man who played a pivotal part in Liverpool’s domination of the game in the Sixties, Seventies and Eighties, but whose achievements were later obscured by disaster. A Scouser born and bred, he joined the Anfield coaching staff in 1958, after a playing career at Manchester City and years learning his craft in the lower leagues. At the time Liverpool were in the stranglehold of Second Division mediocrity – but then, a year later, Bill Shankly arrived, and everything changed. With a knack for nurturing the talents of precocious youngsters, Fagan quickly became part of Shankly’s trusted inner circle. Indeed, not only was Fagan one of the original members of the fabled Boot Room, he is widely credited with its creation. Under Bob Paisley Fagan was appointed second-in-command. So when Paisley stepped down, the reluctant Fagan was the obvious and only choice to succeed him – and what followed surpassed the dreams of even the most success-spoilt Kopites. However, just one year after Liverpool’s European triumph in Rome, the death of 39 fans at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels saw the club’s glittering record tarnished by tragedy, and English football exiled from Europe. Fagan announced his retirement just hours later – and stepped back into the anonymity he craved. Now, drawing for the first time on Joe Fagan’s own diaries, as well as a raft of new interviews with players, colleagues and contemporaries, this biography celebrates the record of one of football’s least celebrated greats, and reveals the inner workings of Liverpool’s golden age.
Arthur Lyon Bowley, the founding father of modern statistics, was an important and colorful figure and a leader in cementing the foundations of statistical methodology, including survey methodology, and of the applications of statistics to economical and social issues during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In many respects, he was ahead of his time. The giants in this field around that time were largely concentrated in the British Isles and Scandinavian countries; among these contributors, Arthur Bowley was one of the most active in revolutionizing statistical methodology and its economic applications. However, Bowley has been vastly undervalued by subsequent commentators ? while hundreds of articles and books have been written on Karl Pearson, those on Arthur Bowley amount to a dozen or less. This book seeks to remedy this and fill in an important omission in the monographical literature on the history of statistics. In particular, the recent resurgence of interest in poverty research has led to a renewed interest in Bowley's legacy.
Whether you’re a newcomer to the ICU or a seasoned practitioner, Oh's Intensive Care Manual delivers the practical, expert answers you need to manage the conditions you see every day in the intensive care unit. This highly esteemed, bestselling medical reference book presents comprehensive detail on each topic, while maintaining a succinct, accessible style so this information can be seamlessly incorporated into your daily practice. Consult this title on your favorite e-reader, conduct rapid searches, and adjust font sizes for optimal readability. Access everything you need to know about disease processes and their management during the course of ICU rotations. Gain valuable insight into the consensus of practice and standard of ICU care as followed in the UK, Europe, India, and Australia. Take advantage of expert advice on practical issues that will be encountered on a day-to-day basis in the ICU, as well as common pitfalls in treatment and management emphasized in each chapter. Overcome the latest challenges in intensive care medicine. Ten brand-new chapters in this edition include: Palliative Care; ICU and the Elderly; Health Care Team in Intensive Care Medicine; Preparing for Examinations in Intensive Care Medicine; Ultrasound in the ICU; ECMO for Respiratory Failure; ECMO for Cardiac Failure; Cirrhosis and Acute-on-Chronic Liver Disease; Solid Tumours and their Implications in the ICU; and Delirium. Optimize patient outcomes through an even greater focus on clinical management strategies. Quickly locate essential information with an increased number of summary boxes, tables, and charts, and a new chapter organization that expedites reference.
The contemporary Church of England is wrestling with issues around the relationship between its worship and mission and relating both to wider society. Much of this hinges on an understanding of the nature of the Church. Gabriel Hebert's seminal book Liturgy and Society (1935) took as its subtitle, "The Function of the Church in the Modern World". For many this book inspired engagement with Eucharistic worship, with new patterns emerging, paving the way for further liturgical reform in the second half of the twentieth century. Eucharist Shaping and Hebert's Liturgy and Society re-examines Hebert's work, doing so uniquely in the light of the current dialogue about Church, liturgy and mission. Andrew Bishop argues that Hebert's contribution has been overlooked latterly and that a re-appreciation opens up fruitful ways of thinking and acting, making this book a distinctive contribution to a lively debate. If the options are reaction or novelty, Eucharist Shaping and Hebert's Liturgy and Society shows how Hebert's thinking subtly undermines both.
After 13 years in power, Labour suddenly returned to being the party of opposition in 2010. This new edition of A History of the British Labour Party brings us up-to-date, examining Gordon Brown's period in office and the Labour Party under the leadership of Ed Miliband. Andrew Thorpe's study has been the leading single-volume text on the Labour Party since its first edition in 1997 and has now been thoroughly revised throughout to include new approaches. This new edition: - Covers the entirety of the party's history, from 1900 to 2014. - Examines the reasons for the party's formation, and its aims. - Analyses the party's successes and failures, including its rise to second party status and remarkable recovery from its problems in the 1980s. - Discusses the main events and personalities of the Labour Party, such as MacDonald, Attlee, Wilson, Blair and Brown. With his approachable style and authoritative manner, Thorpe has created essential reading for students of political history, and anyone wishing to familiarise themselves with the history and development of one of Britain's major political parties.
A – “history” – of – Canadian hockey -- in the – “original” – information format – of – the newspaper game summary! Hockey “game summaries” have been a feature of North American newspaper sports pages almost since the beginning of organized hockey – and the basic newspaper format is still the format used most often by statisticians and historians of the game and by online media today This is a collection of historically significant Canadian hockey “game summaries” At the reader's fingertips – faster than the Internet – and -- perhaps not available on the Internet – the Canadian Hockey Games in which Canada or a team based in Canada – won it all! – including: Stanley Cups / Olympic Gold / World Championships / International Tournaments! The first – and – only – collection of Canadian hockey game summaries – ever published! Not available on the Internet – some of this information has recently been posted online – but most of this data is either not available or very difficult to find The data has been vetted to perfection – this is the authoritative statement! High information content – for the hockey fan – with limited text SUMMARELIQUARY PORTMANTEAU: SUMMARY An Abridgement Of A Topic And/Or An Event + RELIQUARY A Container For – Relics RELICS An Object Of Significance From The Past NEOLOGISM: A Collection Of – Significant -- Summaries
Key Modern Architects provides an accessible and thought-provoking introduction to the work of the most significant architects of the modern era. Fifty short chapters introduce fifty key architects, from Le Corbusier to Aldo Van Eyck to Zaha Hadid, exploring their most influential buildings and developing a critique of each architect's work within a broader cultural and historical context. The selection represents the most influential architects working from 1890 to the present, those most likely to be taught on survey courses in modern architectural history, along with some lesser-known names with an equal claim to influence. Emphasis is placed on a critical and interpretative approach, allowing the student to position each architect in a cultural and intellectual context quickly and easily. Artistic, technical, social, and intellectual developments are brought to the fore – built and unbuilt projects, writings and influences. This approach brings to light the ideology behind architectural work, offering insights into each architect's working practice. - Helps students to develop a critical approach to understanding modern architectural history. - One chapter per architect – meaning chapters may be read individually as a concise resource for the study of an architect, or together as a coherent book-length history of the whole period of modern architecture. - Chapters are supported by boxed lists of each architect's most significant projects, along with suggestions for further reading as a springboard to further study and research. Combining the clarity and accessibility of a textbook with in-depth reading and a critical approach, Key Modern Architects provides an invaluable resource for both the classroom and for independent study in architectural and art history.
This book considers the causes of high-level state corruption as well as the political constraints of countering corruption in Africa. It examines elite corruption in government as well as in the political and military spheres of state activity, and focuses on illegal behaviour on the part of state and non-state actors in decision-making. Situating corruption and anti-corruption within a political framework, this book analyses the motivations, opportunities and relative autonomy of state elites to manipulate state decision-making for personal and political ends. Based on detailed case studies in Uganda, the authors focus on corruption in the privatization process, military procurement, foreign business bribery, illegal political funding, and electoral malpractice. The book examines why anti-corruption institutions and international donors have been constrained in confronting this executive abuse of power, and discusses the wider relevance of Uganda’s experience for understanding elite corruption and anti-corruption efforts in other African countries. The Politics of Elite Corruption in Africa will be of interest to students and scholars of African politics, African political economy, development studies, corruption and government.
When the learned first gave serious attention to popular ballads, from the time of Percy to that of Scott, they laboured under certain disabilities. The Comparative Method was scarcely understood, and was little practised. Editors were content to study the ballads of their own countryside, or, at most, of Great Britain. Teutonic and Northern parallels to our ballads were then adduced, as by Scott and Jamieson. It was later that the ballads of Europe, from the Faroes to Modern Greece, were compared with our own, with EuropeanMärchen, or children’s tales, and with the popular songs, dances, and traditions of classical and savage peoples. The results of this more recent comparison may be briefly stated. Poetry begins, as Aristotle says, in improvisation. Every man is his own poet, and, in moments of stronge motion, expresses himself in song. A typical example is the Song of Lamech in Genesis—“I have slain a man to my wounding, And a young man to my hurt.” Instances perpetually occur in the Sagas: Grettir, Egil, Skarphedin, are always singing. In Kidnapped, Mr. Stevenson introduces “The Song of the Sword of Alan,” a fine example of Celtic practice: words and air are beaten out together, in the heat of victory. In the same way, the women sang improvised dirges, like Helen; lullabies, like the lullaby of Danae in Simonides, and flower songs, as in modern Italy. Every function of life, war, agriculture, the chase, had its appropriate magical and mimetic dance and song, as in Finland, among Red Indians, and among Australian blacks. “The deeds of men” were chanted by heroes, as by Achilles; stories were told in alternate verse and prose; girls, like Homer’s Nausicaa, accompanied dance and ball play, priests and medicine-men accompanied rites and magical ceremonies by songs. These practices are world-wide, and world-old. The thoroughly popular songs, thus evolved, became the rude material of a professional class of minstrels, when these arose, as in the heroic age of Greece. A minstrel might be attached to a Court, or a noble; or he might go wandering with song and harp among the people. In either case, this class of men developed more regular and ample measures. They evolved the hexameter; the laisse of the Chansons de Geste; the strange technicalities of Scandinavian poetry; the metres of Vedic hymns; the choral odes of Greece. The narrative popular chant became in their hands the Epic, or the mediaeval rhymed romance. The metre of improvised verse changed into the artistic lyric. These lyric forms were fixed, in many cases, by the art of writing. But poetry did not remain solely in professional and literary hands. The mediaeval minstrels and jongleurs (who may best be studied in Léon Gautier’s Introduction to his Epopées Françaises) sang in Court and Camp. The poorer, less regular brethren of the art, harped and played conjuring tricks, in farm and grange, or at street corners. The foreign newer metres took the place of the old alliterative English verse. But unprofessional men and women did not cease to make and sing.
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