The New National Party (NNP) was a South African political party formed in 1997 as the successor to the National Party, which ruled the country from 1948 to 1994. The name change was an attempt to distance itself from its apartheid past, and reinvent itself as a moderate, mainstream conservative and non-racist federal party. The attempt was largely unsuccessful, and in 2005 the New National Party voted to disband itself.

Foundation and political platform
The NP entered the democratic era led by former president of South Africa F. W. de Klerk, the winner with Nelson Mandela of the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in dismantling apartheid. He was succeeded by Marthinus van Schalkwyk until the eventual disbanding and merger of the party with the African National Congress (ANC). Van Schalkwyk renamed the party towards the end of 1997. In February 1996, the party had announced that it would become a nonracial, Christian-Democratic political organization, and Van Schalkwyk sought to build on this in his efforts to rebrand the NNP as a nonracial, value driven party.

But the New National Party had some difficulty carving out a political base in post-apartheid South Africa. On the one hand, it still had the legacy of its role under apartheid. On the other hand, it seemed uncertain about its relationship with the government led by the ANC and seemed unable to decide whether it was in a political alliance with the ANC or in opposition. These two issues led to defections to the Democratic Party (DP), which had a historical legacy of being anti-apartheid and was clearly an opposition party to the ANC. It also lost support to other parties.

Election results and alliances
The NNP fared poorly in the general election of 1999. With 6.87% of the vote, the party lost votes both to the DP and ANC as well as its status as the official opposition nationally and in most provinces. But it remained influential in the Western Cape province, where it was the party of government, despite being pushed into second place there by the ANC. The party faced comparatively smaller losses in the province in large part due to the retention of most of its coloured support, but it also fared better with white voters than in most other provinces. 50% of its voter base now came from this one province, and despite retaining representation in all nine provincial legislatures, it was seemingly becoming a regional political force.

The party remained in power in the Western Cape through a coalition with the Democratic Party. The two then began to plan a merger in 2000, under the name Democratic Alliance (DA). By 2001 the party had broken away from the DA before the merger could be completed, and instead entered close co-operation with the ANC. In December 2001, the NNP formed a new provincial coalition with the ANC in the Western Cape, and members of the NNP were appointed to the national cabinet.

During the general election of 2004, the NNP was almost eliminated from parliament. Much of its support deserted the party, due to unhappiness with its alliance with the ANC, and its share of the national vote dropped from 6.87% in 1999 to 1.65%, having been 20.4% under the National Party name in 1994. The party was all but wiped out in most provinces and retained only limited pockets of large support in the Western Cape, where it was pushed into a distant third place behind the DA in its former stronghold.

Dissolution and merger with the ANC
With the former governing party now only the sixth-largest in the country, questions were asked about its long-term future, and the leadership of Van Schalkwyk. Despite his party's poor performance in the polls, Van Schalkwyk was given the cabinet post of Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, seen as a reward for aligning the NNP with the ANC.

At its assembly on 9 April 2005, the NNP's Federal Council voted by 88 to 2 to disband. It also settled its outstanding debt of R5.2 million to the Absa Group Limited, in preparation for dissolution.

With effect 5 August 2005, all NNP members of parliament became members of the ANC, in accordance with the system of crossing the floor in South Africa, which allowed politicians, elected on one party ticket, to defect to other parties or becoming independents. This system was repealed in 2009.

Electoral history

National Assembly elections

References

External links
 News reports of disbanding: Independent Online, BBC News

History of the African National Congress
National Party (South Africa)
Political parties established in 1997
Political parties disestablished in 2005
Defunct political parties in South Africa
Conservative parties in South Africa

New National Party (South Africa)


The Engine House No. 11 is a fire station located at 2737 Gratiot Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. It is the oldest remaining firehouse in the city of Detroit; it was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1975 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

History
According to the September 9, 1883, edition of the Detroit Free Press, William Scott & Company was the architect of the building. Detroit's Engine Company No. 11 was organized as the "Steam Fire Engine Company #11" on January 1, 1884. The original equipment included a horse-drawn Silsby Steam engine and hose reel cart. The company converted to motorized operation in 1916, obtaining a Seagrave gasoline propelled pumping engine.

The firehouse tower on the southeast side of the building was shortened during World War II so an air raid siren could be installed. In 1972, Engine Company No. 11 moved to new quarters. The building was used by the Emergency Medical Unit until 1976, and then as a Detroit Fire Department museum, containing several pieces of historic fire fighting equipment.

Description
Engine House No. 11 is a -story brick building with a hipped roof. The front facade contains a wide center section flanked by two small bays. The first story of the center section contains four wide doors, the second story has two large windows. A dormer atop the center section contains the attic story. A hose-drying tower is centered on the east side of the building. This tower had an air raid siren installed during World War II, which reduced its height somewhat.

On the interior, the first floor contains the apparatus room, kitchen, dining area and a lounge. The walls are wainscoted, and the ceiling is plastered. The second floor contains a dormitory style sleeping quarters, showers, locker room, and two private sleeping rooms for the Captain and Lieutenant. At the rear of the dormitory, but on a slightly lower level, is a room that was originally the hay loft, but has been turned into a recreation room.

References

Defunct fire stations in Michigan
Buildings and structures in Detroit
Fire stations completed in 1883
Fire stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan
Michigan State Historic Sites in Wayne County, Michigan
National Register of Historic Places in Detroit
1883 establishments in Michigan
Detroit Fire Department

Engine House No. 11 (Detroit)


Victoria "Vicki" Barr (born 14 April 1982 in Gateshead) is a track and field athlete who competes in the 400 metres sprint. Her personal best for the event is 52.40 seconds. She is a frequent member of the British 4×400 m relay team and won a bronze medal at the European Athletics Championships in 2010. She was a silver medallist in the relay for England at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

She was selected to represent Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the 4×400m women's relay At the 2009 European Athletics Indoor Championships she won a relay silver medal in a team with Donna Fraser, Kim Wall and Marilyn Okoro, finishing as runners-up behind Russia. Going into the outdoor season, she was chosen for the relay at the 2009 European Team Championships and helped Great Britain to the bronze medal. She once again represented Great Britain at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in the relay. A team of Lee McConnell, Christine Ohuruogu, Barr and Nicola Sanders came fourth in the final.

The following indoor season, Barr ran in the relay at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships and Britain again finished fourth, just beaten to the bronze by the Czech Republic. She won a bronze medal representing Great Britain at the 2010 European Championships in the 4×400m relay. The team completed the final in a time of 3:24.32 minutes. That year she received her first call as an individual athlete, representing England at the Commonwealth Games in the 400 m. She reached the semi-finals of the 400 m then went on to win a silver medal with the English women's relay team. Despite this, Barr lost her UK Athletics Podium Scheme funding that year. However, in August 2011 she agreed a sponsorship deal with Worldpay. During the 2011 season she suffered a rib injury which caused difficulties with breathing, and as a result she did not finish the 400m at the UK trials in 2011, having to abandon the race with 100m to go. Barr was subsequently not selected for the British squad for the 2011 World Championships in Athletics in Daegu.

References

External links

1982 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Gateshead
British female sprinters
English female sprinters
Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games
World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain
Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England
Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games

Vicki Barr (athlete)


Yakzan Hugo Valdez (Hugo Salvador Valdez, Oct 20, 1937 - May 24, 1993) was a Sheikh of the Sufi Order International initiated by Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan and of the Mevlevi Order initiated by Suleyman Hayati Dede, Sheikh of Konya. Yakzan was additionally a celebrated master of the Dances of Universal Peace as originated by Samuel L. Lewis and an acknowledged peer of the Sheikhs of the Sufi Islamia Ruhaniat Society.  Yakzan was a long-term resident of Honolulu, Hawaii.  He established Sufi communities in Hawaii, Chile, and Spain.

Yakzan was born in Jujuy, Argentina, and was tutored as a child under the educational curriculum of Rudolf Steiner.  He moved to New York City as a young man where he studied design and Ikebana.  Enamored with the teachings of Pir-O-Murshid Inayat Khan as taught by his son, Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan, Yakzan received multiple initiations culminating in initiation as Sheikh of the Sufi Order.  Yakzan created a series of trainings or "intensives" that distilled the teachings of Oscar Ichazo of the Arica School and the principles of Gurdjieff's Fourth Way in combination with the tenets of Sufism as derived from the work of Ibn 'Arabi, Pir-O-Murshid Inayat Khan, Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan, and Murshid Samuel L. Lewis.

Yakzan was a charismatic teacher of Sufism, the Path of Love.  A number of renowned teachers and spiritual masters visited and taught in Hawaii as guests of Yakzan and the Sufi Order of Honolulu.  Among their number were Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan, Reshad Feild, Pierre Elliot of Gurdjieff's Fourth Way and his son Hugh Elliot, Suleyman Hayati Dede, Sheikh of Konya and his son Jelaluddin Loras, Sheikh Vasheest Davenport, Shaykha Tasnim Hermila Fernandez, and Zuleikha.

References

Sources / External links
 The Sufi Remembrance Project
 Interview With Yakzan 1991

Argentine Muslims
Argentine Sufis
Spiritual teachers
1937 births
1993 deaths

Yakzan Hugo Valdez


Soldier of Fortune () is a 1976 Italian comedy film directed by Pasquale Festa Campanile. The film tells of the challenge of Barletta in a comic and grotesque style.

Plot summary
In 1503, while wandering southern Italy in search for employment, soldier of fortune Ettore Fieramosca and his troupe – Bracalone (the group's chronicler), Graiano, Romanello und Fanfulla – run into a siege of the city of Barletta and its Spanish garrison by the French army. Despite his moral code of aiding the underdog, his starving men persuade him to seek their fortune with the French; but when the French commanders, Charles La Motte and the Duke of Namur, contemptuously dismiss them, Ettore sides with the beleaguered Spanish. By single-handedly routing a French assault on the city walls, they win the trust of the Spanish captain, Gonzalo Pedro de Guadarrama. However, with Barletta's provisions nearly depleted and Spanish reinforcements still underway, the situation is bleak for the city's inhabitants.

When Ettore aggressively responds to a provocation by the French feasting in full view of the starving population, the French retaliate with a tower-mounted cannon. While trying to find a way to disable the weapon, Ettore and his men encounter the wandering actor troupe of Capoccio, whose female star Leonora develops a crush on Ettore. With the actors' help, Ettore destroys the gun, but in the meantime Graiano defects and attempts to warn the French about the sneak attack. When the French's hesitation in believing his story results in the cannon's destruction, they lay the blame on Graiano and execute him.

The French subsequently capture Capoccio's troupe, but while looking for Graiano, Ettore comes upon them, frees the captives and kidnaps La Motte and two of his knights. Indignant at having been captured through trickery, La Motte refuses to acknowledge defeat and begins insulting Ettore and Gaiano's memory, whereupon Ettore challenges him to a fight. Since, however, according to the rules of chivalry only a knight may lawfully duel a knight, Ettore is granted three days to assemble a band of thirteen Italian volunteers to be knighted and fight thirteen French knights on equal terms. In actuality, De Guadarrama wishes to use the armistice to let his reinforcements from Spain arrive in time.

Ettore loses no time recruiting; some of his chosen countrymen – among them a number of old acquaintances – join voluntarily, some need persuasion through subterfuge or Ettore's fists. At the day of the duel, DE Guadarrama declares that his reinforcements have arrived and that Ettore and his band are no longer needed. Ettore, however, tells DE Guadarrama that they are now fighting for their honor instead of money, and DE Guadarrama grants his blessing. Ettore and La Motte's groups fight on the nearby beach and whittle each other down until Ettore and La Motte, the only ones left, meet in close combat. Ettore subdues La Motte, winning the duel and lifting the siege. Afterwards, Ettore gifts his chronicles to De Guadarrama, only to find out belatedly that Bracalone cannot write, thus having filled the book with meaningless scrawlings.

Cast
 Bud Spencer: Ettore Fieramosca
 Andréa Ferréol: Leonora
 Philippe Leroy: Charles La Motte
 Marc Porel: Duke of Namur
 Mario Scaccia: Gonzalo Pedro de Guadarrama
 Mariano Rigillo: Albimonte da Peretola
 Angelo Infanti: Graiano d'Asti
 Enzo Cannavale: Bracalone da Napoli
 Oreste Lionello: Giovenale da Vetralla
 Franco Agostini: Romanello da Forlì
 Gino Pernice: Fanfulla da Lodi
 Eros Pagni: Capoccio da Roma
 Renzo Palmer: Fra Ludovico da Rieti
 Jacques Herlin: Paredes
 Jacques Dufilho: Mariano da Trani
 Monica Strebel

Soundtrack
As with several other films starring Bud Spencer (on his own or with his partner Terence Hill), the film's soundtrack and its theme song "Oh! Ettore", both composed and performed by Guido & Maurizio De Angelis (who provided the film with an unusually monothematic score) and featuring vocalist Osvaldo Resti mimicking Spencer's on-screen persona as the lead singer in the song, became very popular in Italy at the time of the film's release, and are still popular among the comedy duo's international fan base. The soundtrack album, originally released by soundtrack-specialist company CAM, went rapidly out of print and was re-released on CD for the first time in 2009 (as a strictly limited edition) by Abruzzo-based company Digitmovies Alternative Entertainment.

See also
 Ettore Fieramosca (1938)
 List of Italian films of 1976

References

External links

1976 films
1970s adventure comedy films
Italian adventure comedy films
Films directed by Pasquale Festa Campanile
Films scored by Guido & Maurizio De Angelis
Films set in the 1500s
1976 comedy films
Italian historical comedy films
1970s Italian-language films
1970s Italian films

Soldier of Fortune (1976 film)


Kate Lindsey (born 1980) is a mezzo-soprano opera singer from the United States.  She is married to the documentary filmmaker Olly Lambert.

Lindsey was born in Richmond, Virginia, and holds a Bachelor of Music Degree with Distinction from Indiana University. Her many awards include the 2007 Richard F. Gold Career Grant, the  2007 George London Award in memory of Lloyd Rigler, the 2007 Lincoln Center Martin E. Segal Award, and a 2006 Sullivan Foundation Grant.  She was named  Seattle Opera's Artist of the Year in 2010. She is a graduate of the Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.

In 2015, Lindsey made her recording debut on Deutsche Grammophon with a performance of Mohammed Fairouz's 2012 cycle, Audenesque (in memory of W. B. Yeats), with the LPR Ensemble conducted by Evan Rogister (catalog no. B0022417).

Roles
As a Gerdine Young Artist at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, she performed as Stéphano in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Rosina in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and Mercédès in Bizet's Carmen.

As part of the Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann program, she made her debut as Javotte in Massenet's Manon, and also played Tebaldo in Verdi's Don Carlos and Siebel in Gounod's Faust. As a company member, starting in 2007, she has played Cherubino in Mozart's Nozze di Figaro, Stéphano in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, the Madrigal Singer in Puccini's Manon Lescaut, Second Lady in Mozart's The Magic Flute (English version), Kitchen Boy in Dvořák's Rusalka, Wellgunde in Wagner's Das Rheingold and Götterdämmerung, Annio in Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito, and Muse/Nicklausse in Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann.

In 2008, she also sang the role of Cherubino in Mozart's Nozze di Figaro at the Opéra de Lille, conducted by Emmanuelle Haïm, and Ascanius in Berlioz's Les Troyens with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and at the Tanglewood Music Festival, both conducted by James Levine.

In 2009, she sang the role of Zerlina in Mozart's Don Giovanni with the Santa Fe Opera. In 2010, she made her Seattle Opera debut creating the title role in Amelia by Daron Hagen, and also sang Nicklausse and the role of Nancy in Albert Herring at the Santa Fe Opera. She has also performed at the Boston Lyric Opera and the Wolf Trap Opera.

She has also made numerous concert performances. She performed the roles of the Female Cat and the Squirrel in Ravel's L'Enfant et les sortileges at Carnegie Hall with the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Lorin Maazel, and sang the Elliott Carter song cycle In the Distances of Sleep at Tanglewood with James Levine.

In 2011, she premiered Jeder Mensch, a song cycle written for her by Mohammed Fairouz and sang Idamante in Mozart's Idomeneo, re di Creta.

In 2019, she made her Proms debut at the Royal Albert Hall with the John Wilson Orchestra, as soloist in "Tomorrow When You Are Gone" by Erich Korngold. Lindsey portrayed and sang the role of Nerone in Handel's Agrippina at the Metropolitan Opera New York in 2020 (Premiere: February 6).

On May 22, 2021, Lindsey again sang the role of Nerone, this time in the premiere of the Vienna State Opera production of Claudio Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea.

References

External links
Official website
Biography at Seattle Opera
Metropolitan Opera Lindsey, Kate (Mezzo Soprano), performance record on the MetOpera Database

American operatic mezzo-sopranos
Living people
Musicians from Richmond, Virginia
Singers from Virginia
Indiana University alumni
21st-century American women opera singers
1981 births
Classical musicians from Virginia

Kate Lindsey


Winklepickers or winkle pickers are a style of shoe or boot worn from the 1950s onward, especially popular with British rock and roll fans such as teddy boys. The feature that gives both the boot and shoe their name is the very sharp and long pointed toe, reminiscent of medieval footwear and approximately the same as the long pointed toes on some women's high-fashion shoes and boots in the 2000s. They are still popular in the goth, raggare and rockabilly subcultures.

Names
The extremely pointed toe was called a winkle picker because, in England, periwinkle snails ("winkles") are a popular seaside snack which is eaten using a pin or other thin pointed object to carefully extract the soft parts out of the coiled shell. The same practice led to the figurative phrase "to winkle something out". Other countries used other names for the same style, usually similarly humorous. In some parts of the United States, they are called "roach stompers". In Norway and Sweden, they were called "mosquito chasers" (; ).

History

Origins
Winklepickers, inspired by the "Polish" poulaines worn by the medieval French nobility, were a conspicuous contrast to the brothel creepers worn by Teddy Boys. The male shoes were lace-up Oxford style with a low heel and an exaggerated pointed toe. A Chelsea boot style (elastic-sided with a two-inch, and later as much as two-and-one-half-inch, Cuban heel) was notably worn by the Beatles but although it had a pointed toe, was not considered to be a winklepicker. Winklepicker shoes from Stan's of Battersea were also worn by Teddy Girls as well as being a fleeting fashion for young women generally.

1960s
In the early 1960s, the winklepicker toe was popular with modernists, teddy boys and rockers. In the early 1960s, the point was effectively chopped off (they hung on for longer than that in the UK) and gave rise to the "chisel toe" on the footwear of all genders. However, winklepickers with traditional sharp-point styles made a comeback of sorts in the late 1970s and early 1980s (either as previously unworn old-stock, second-hand originals, or contemporary-production attempted copies) and worn by several subculture groups including mods, rockers, teddy boys, rockabillies, punks, rock'n'roll revivalists, and in the goth scene, where they are known as "pikes".

Winklepickers with stiletto heels for women swept the UK in the late 1950s, and at one stage, the High Street versions were commonly worn by a large part of the adult female populace of the UK. They were often manufactured in Italy, but the handmade versions, notably those from Stan's Shoes of Battersea, were the most extreme, if somewhat bulky-looking at the toe compared with the Italian styles.

The original 1960s winklepicker stilettos were similar to the long, pointed toe that has been fashionable on women's shoes and boots in Europe of late. The long, sharp toe was always teamed with a stiletto heel (or spike heel), which, as today, could be as low as one-and-a-half inches or as high as five inches, though most were in the three- to four-inch range. The stiletto heels on the original 1960s styles were, however, much more curved in at the rear (also sometimes sharply waisted and slightly flared out at the top piece) than most of the recent pointy-toed fashion shoes, which often have straighter, thicker, more set-back heels, rather at odds with the look of the pointed toe. In most cases, too, the modern shoe toes lack the length of the true 1960s winklepicker and bear more resemblance to the less pointed mass-produced versions of the era.

They attained some notoriety, when they first appeared, as a result of being worn in gang fights (sometimes by both sexes), although there is some question as to the accuracy of contemporary newspaper accounts.  In fact, although the winklepicker looks lethal, it would be far more likely for damage to be caused to the delicately pointed shoe than to the opponent in any serious kicking incident.

Modern day
By the middle of the first decade of the 21st century, winklepickers were worn with 1960s mod blazers, Western shirts, vintage T shirts, and skinny jeans by many indie pop bands and musicians, such as of Kings of Leon, Kaiser Chiefs, The Kills, The Horrors, Jack White, Mod Fun, Neils Children, Blanaid Montague, Klaxons, and Daniel Johns. The shoes are closely related to British Garage Rock band The Horrors, who even went as far as to have a winklepicker boot with three buckles on their official merchandise t-shirt along with the words "I am a horror." Faris Badwan has personally endorsed Paolo Vandini Veers. They are also worn by English comedians Russell Brand and Noel Fielding and English DJ and TV presenter Alex Zane.

Winklepicker boots are very popular in Germany among the modern Vogue Goth and Punk subcultures, who refer to the boots as "Pikes" or "Pickers".

Although slightly pointed toes are often a feature of women's fashion shoes, they are usually nowadays "tamed down" or shortened (often sacrificing comfortable toe space) for mass market appeal.

See also
 Pointed shoes
 1945–1960 in fashion
 Chelsea boot & Beatle boot
 Western wear

References

External links
Video: Behind The Seams – Mexican Pointy Boots, VBS.tv, 1 April 2011

British clothing
San Luis Potosí
Boots
Shoes
2010s fashion
2000s fashion
1960s fashion
1950s fashion

Winklepicker


Lightweight expanded clay aggregate (LECA) or expanded clay (exclay) is a lightweight aggregate made by heating clay to around   in a rotary kiln. The yielding gases expand the clay by thousands of small bubbles forming during heating producing a honeycomb structure. LECA has an approximately round or potato shape due to circular movement in the kiln and is available in different sizes and densities. LECA is used to make lightweight concrete products and other uses.

History
LECA was developed about 1917 in Kansas City, Missouri, to the production in a rotary kiln of a patented expanded aggregate known as Haydite which was used in the construction of SS Selma, an ocean-going ship launched in 1919. Following in the USA was the development of a series of aggregates known as Gravelite, Perlite, Rocklite, etc. In Europe, LECA commenced in Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, and UK.

Characteristics

LECA is usually produced in different sizes and densities from  up to , commonly 0–4 mm, 4–10 mm, 10–25 mm and densities of 250, 280, 330, and 510 kg/m3. LECA boulder is the biggest size of LECA with 100–500 mm size and 500 kg/m3 density.

Some characteristics of LECA are lightness, thermal insulation by low thermal conductivity coefficient (as low as 0.097 W/mK), soundproofing by high acoustic insulation, moisture impermeability, being incompressible under permanent pressure and gravity loads, not decomposing in severe conditions, fire resistance, a pH of nearly 7, freezing and melting resistance, easy movement and transportation, lightweight backfill and finishing, reduction of construction dead load and earthquake lateral load, being perfect sweet soil for plants, and as a material for drainage and filtration.

Uses
Common uses are in concrete blocks, concrete slabs, geotechnical fillings, lightweight concrete, water treatment, hydroponics, aquaponics and hydroculture.

LECA is a versatile material and is utilized in an increasing number of applications. In the construction industry, it is used extensively in the production of lightweight concrete, blocks and precast or incast structural elements (panels, partitions, bricks and light tiles). LECA used in structural backfill against foundations, retaining walls, bridge abutments etc., in addition, it can reduce earth pressure by 75% compared with conventional materials, and also increases ground stability while reducing settlement and land deformation. LECA can drain the surface water and groundwater to control groundwater pressure. LECA grout can be used for flooring (finishing) and roofing with thermal and sound insulation.

LECA is also used in water treatment facilities for the filtration and purification of municipal wastewater and drinking water as well as in other filtering processes, including those for dealing with industrial wastewater and fish farms.

LECA has many uses in horticulture, agriculture, and landscapes. Using LECA helps to alter soil mechanics. Using LECA provides many benefits across horticulture. It's commonly used as a growing medium in hydroponics systems since blended with other growing mediums such as soil and peat, it can improve compaction resistance, and drainage, retain water during periods of drought, insulate roots during frost, and provide roots with increased oxygen levels promoting very vigorous growth. LECA can be mixed with heavy soil to improve its aeration and drainage.

In the horticultural practice of hydroponics, LECA is a favored medium for growing plants within; the round shape  provides excellent aeration at the root level, while the LECA clay pieces themselves become saturated with water and plant food, thus giving the roots a consistent supply of both. So-called semi-hydroponics or passive hydroponics (also called "semi-hydro") is a popular, simplified method of hydroponics, most commonly utilized for houseplants and tropical species. A plant is potted in solely LECA (preferably in a container with multiple air holes on the sides and bottom, like an orchid pot) and placed into a second, sealed container, in which a "nutrient reservoir" of water and plant food is maintained. Only the very bottom of the pot needs to touch this reservoir; the LECA, being porous by nature, gradually wicks moisture and nutrients up and becomes saturated, allowing the plant to feed and drink at a consistent rate.

One of the main differences between semi-hydroponics and more advanced hydroponics is the nutrients and water--whether they are consistently being delivered or whether they are sitting beneath each plant, gradually needing to be replaced before evaporating or becoming stagnant. Other differences are elements such as the facilities, the equipment, the types of plants being grown and why, and the consistency of water and nutrient delivery. Hydroponics is often favored by farmers and growers of edible crops on a larger scale. LECA can be used successfully in these settings. Semi-hydroponics is much more popular with individual plant collectors, bearing in mind the need to flush out and replenish the plants' nutrient reservoirs periodically (approx. every 7-10 days); more advanced systems provide constantly flowing, filtered, nutrient-enhanced water over the plants' roots, which typically drains into another reservoir for recycling and reusing.

See also
 Perlite
 Aggregate (composite)
 Vermiculite

References

Ceramic materials
Soil-based building materials
Natural materials
Sediments
Phyllosilicates
Earthworks (engineering)

Expanded clay aggregate


His Mystery Girl is a 1923 American silent comedy film directed by Robert F. Hill and starring Herbert Rawlinson, Ruth Dwyer, and Margaret Campbell.

Plot
As described in a film magazine, the friends of Kerry Reynolds (Rawlinson) think he should be a more human young man and scare him into going to his doctor. The doctor, who is in on the joke, tells him that he is a very sick man. Leaving the doctor's office he sees a beautiful young woman apparently in distress and she wins his heart. Seeing her again at a hotel lobby, he notes that she drops a beaded handbag and takes it home. Seeing her advertisement about her handbag, he meets her and finds that the handbag contains valuable diamonds. Rushing to his apartment to check the bag's contents, he finds that it is gone. Then the woman appears at his door and demands the bag, and she is followed by a man claiming to be her husband. Kerry gets a message that she is a prisoner in a deserted house, and after some adventures he arrives to save her, and gets into a tremendous fight with a band of men who might be her kidnappers. He escapes with her and is chased by policemen on motorcycles. Finally, when he takes her from her home to the Justice of Police where he hopes to marry her, his friends tumble out and tell him that it has been a great practical joke on their part, and that the young woman is a student from a drama they hired to lead him into some adventures, and that the main villain is her brother. At the end there is a reconciliation and Kerry finding love.

Cast
 Herbert Rawlinson as Kerry Reynolds
 Ruth Dwyer as Gloria Bliss
 Margaret Campbell as Laurette Sligsby
 Jere Austin as Benn Bliss
 Ralph McCullough as Dick Reynolds
 William Quinn as The Valet
 Kasha Haroldi (uncredited)

Preservation
A copy of His Mystery Girl is held in the George Eastman House Motion Picture Collection.

References

Bibliography
 Munden, Kenneth White. The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States, Part 1. University of California Press, 1997.

External links

1923 films
1923 comedy films
Silent American comedy films
Films directed by Robert F. Hill
American silent feature films
1920s English-language films
Universal Pictures films
1920s American films

His Mystery Girl


Bastian Pagez was a French servant and musician at the court of Mary, Queen of Scots. He devised part of the entertainment at the baptism of Prince James at Stirling Castle in 1566. When Mary was exiled in England, Bastian and his family continued in her service. The 19th-century historians Agnes Strickland and William Barclay Turnbull considered his court role as equivalent to the English Master of the Revels; in England he was Mary's chamber valet and designed her embroidery patterns.

Christening at Stirling
Bastian is first recorded at the Scottish court in 1565 when Mary and Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley bought him an elaborate and expensive suit of clothes costing over £100 Scots as a mark of their favour. James Melville of Halhill wrote in his Memoirs that Bastian was responsible for an entertainment in the Great Hall of Stirling Castle which offended the English guests at the baptism of the future James VI.

Mary and thirty guests sat at a round table like King Arthur's at the head of the hall. The courses of the dinner were brought up the hall on a moving table, with twelve men dressed as satyrs, with long tails, carrying lighted torches. In their other hand the satyrs carried whips to clear the way in front. When the table reached the stage, the satyrs passed their torches to bystanders. Then six servers dressed as nymphs who had been seated on the moving table, passed the food to the satyrs, who brought the dishes up to the round table on the stage. Meanwhile, the nymphs and satyrs sang Latin verses specially written by George Buchanan in honour of the food and hosts as the Rustic gods bringing gifts to James and his mother. Parts of the song were given to the satyrs, nereids, fauns, and naiads who alternately addressed the Queen and Prince, and it was concluded by characters representing the Orkney Islands.

Although the choreography was perfect, when the satyrs first wagged their tails, the Englishmen took it as reference to an old saying that Englishmen had tails. This story of English tails was first set down in the Middle Ages by the chronicle writers William of Malmesbury, Wace, and Layamon in his Brut. The origin was a legend that Saint Austin cursed the Kentish men of Rochester to have rayfish tails, and afterwards they were called muggles. Polydore Vergil had published a more current version of the ancient legend, writing that the curse applied to the descendants of people from Strood who had cut off the tail of Thomas Becket's horse. From this ancient story it had become proverbial in Europe that all Englishmen had secret tails. A few years later, George Buchanan mentioned the legend of the Kentish men in a friendly letter to Thomas Randolph.

James Melville criticised the diplomacy of the English guests for taking offence, saying they should have pretended not to see the joke. Some of the English guests, including Christopher Hatton, sat down behind the high table to face away from the spectacle, and the Queen and the English ambassador, the Earl of Bedford had to smooth things over. Melville said that Hatton told him he would have stabbed Bastian for the offence, done because Mary, for once, showed more favour to Englishmen rather than the French.

The supper with courses served by satyrs was on the 19 December 1566, two days after the baptism of the Prince, according to an English journal of the event. The moving table or stage was drawn up the hall four times for four courses, led by the satyrs. Each time its decorative theme was renewed. It broke during the fifth course. Amongst other payments, the royal accounts record that Bastian was given 40 ells of "taffeteis of cord" in three colours for seven (or some) "preparatives" for the baptism. "Preparatives" here may mean "harbingers," the role of the satyrs at the feast, but may just mean the preparations in general. The decoration of the Great Hall was in part the responsibility of Mary's wardrobe servant Servais de Condé.

The detail of the other formal banquet on the day of baptism was described in the chronicle called the Diurnal of Occurrents. On the day of the banquet with satyrs, there had been fireworks directed by John Chisholm and the gunners Charles Bordeaux and James Hector with a pageant consisting of an assault on a mock castle by wildmen. The 28 wildmen dressed in goats-skin were fought by fifteen soldiers dressed as landsknechts, moors, and devils, armed with two cannons. James's father, Lord Darnley, was estranged from the Queen. He stayed privately in the castle, and the French ambassador Monsieur du Croc was instructed not to speak to him by Charles IX. On the day of the baptism du Croc sent a message to Darnley that if he came to his room, he would exit by the other door.

On the night of the murder of Lord Darnley, it was recorded that Mary left his bedside early to attend a dance for Bastian's marriage. While some contemporary polemicists and previous writers had considered it surprising that she left the Kirk o'Field lodging to attend a servant's wedding, the historian Michael Lynch noted that she left to attend celebrations that were, "not those of an obscure servant but of the architect of the Stirling triumph." As the biographer Antonia Fraser put it, his masque was of special importance to Mary, "in view of the fact that he had designed one for her only six weeks previously."

Bastian's wedding masque

Mary, Queen of Scots attended Bastian's wedding dance on 9 February 1567, a "banquet and masque",the night before the murder of Darnley at the Kirk o'Field lodging.  On the 8 February she gave him black satin cloth for his wife's marriage gown. George Buchanan, who calls him Sebastian, one of the queen's musicians or singers, says that Mary left the wedding to meet Darnley but returned to Holyroodhouse to join the dance and follow the custom of putting the bride to bed. It was said she wore male costume for the wedding masque, "which apparel she loved often times to be in, in dancings secretly with the King her husband, and going in masks by night through the streets". The confessions of accomplices to the King's murder mention the torchlit procession of the Queen's retinue passing back down Blackfriar's Wynd to the wedding, which has become part of the enduring imagery of the night.

After the Earl of Bothwell was accused of Darnley's murder, on 19 February 1567 a number of the queen's French servants crossed the border to Berwick upon Tweed in England. Only "Sebastian" was named by the Governor of Berwick, William Drury, who noted they were all, except their single Scottish escort, wearing "Ilande wede." An anonymous written accusation of Bothwell fixed on the door of Edinburgh's Tolbooth on the same day demanded the arrest of Bastian and Joseph Rizzio, the brother of David Rizzio. At the trial of Bothwell on 12 April 1567, a letter from Darnley's father, the Earl of Lennox, was submitted, which named Bastian, Joseph, and Charles Bordeaux, the French gunner who directed the fireworks at the baptism, as suspects who should be arrested. Bothwell was acquitted, and nothing was done with Lennox's list.

Some older authors assumed that Bastian married one of the Queen's ladies, Margaret Carwood. Bastian married Christily or Christine Hogg, and her name was recorded in the parish register of Holyroodhouse and Canongate and only a few years later in England. The parish register entry, which is dated later in the year, records the marriage was celebrated in the Queen's House.

Margaret Carwood, one of the queen's ladies in waiting, was married the day after Darnley's murder. It has been said that Margaret Carwood and Bastian accompanied the Queen when she rode to Dunbar Castle on 12 March 1566 after the murder of David Rizzio. A 17th-century account of the Queen's escape from Holyroodhouse after that murder says that Arthur Erskine of Blackgrange and Anthony Standen had the Queen and Lord Darnley as pillion riders as they rode to Seton Palace. The Captain of the Queen's guard, John Stewart of Traquair had one of the Queen's ladies behind him, and Sebastian Broune rode alone. From this later story it uncertain if Bastian or another man called "Sebastian" was the lone rider.

Messenger to London and Paris
On 26 February 1567, Bastian arrived in London with Mary's French financial comptroller, Monsieur Dolu, and went to the Scottish ambassador, Robert Melville of Murdocairney. Bastian carried a letter from Mary to Queen Elizabeth which he gave to Lord Burghley in person. The Spanish ambassador in London identified Bastian as the "groom who married the night following the death of King" and reported that this letter consisted of Mary's lamentations for troubles and her wish not to calumniated in England by rumours of her involvement in the murder. Bastian then went with Dolu to Dieppe in March 1567.

The "young French varlet of the Scots queen" arrived in Paris on 4 March, identified by the historian John Hungerford Pollen as Bastian. He brought a letter from Mary written in Scots for Vincenzo Laureo, Bishop of Mondovì and nuncio for Scotland. The bishop found only one new detail in the letter, that one of Darnley's ribs was found to be broken. (The significance to Mary was the controversy over the cause of his death.) Neither of these letters carried by Dolu or Bastian survive, but they probably carried the letter written by Mary at Seton Palace on 18 February to the Archbishop of Glasgow in Paris.  Bastian returned to Scotland and was later arrested by the King's party the day after the Battle of Carberry Hill on 16 June 1567.

Bastian and his family in England

Bastian and his family followed Mary into exile in England after her defeat at the Battle of Langside. Before he left Scotland, the new ruler, the Regent Moray, paid "Sebastian Padges Frenchman" £40 Scots. Mary had requested that Bastian join her at Lochleven Castle in July 1567, the English ambassador Nicholas Throckmorton noted that she had asked the Lords for, "an imbroiderer to draw forth suche work as she would be occupied about."

Bastian and Christine Hogg were listed in Mary's household at Tutbury Castle in October 1569 and at Sheffield on 3 May 1571.

Mary wrote to John Lesley, Bishop of Ross, from Sheffield Castle in September saying she had to give up some servants, but Bastian was deemed necessary. Bastian's inventions for her needlework were her first solace after her books, and she had requested that he and his wife join her from Scotland. They served her well and faithfully, but had children and no support, and his friends offered him advancement in France. She hoped the bishop could get him some French appointment to give him the financial security to stay with her. Mary wrote a similar letter on 12 August 1585 on behalf of another embroiderer, Pierre Oudry.

Although Mary's needlework may seem a hobby, the historian Michael Bath notes one of her needlework emblems on a pillow was cited in the trial of the Duke of Norfolk in 1571 after the Ridolfi plot that would have set Mary on the English throne as the culmination of the Northern Rebellion. Bastian was later alleged to have been involved in the plot to free Mary.

Secret and coded letters

In November 1571, the Earl of Shrewsbury discovered that Bastian had tried to send letters in cipher from Mary to the French ambassador. Bastian had been picking up the ambassador's letters from Nicolas, an Englishman employed as an interpreter, in St Paul's Church in Sheffield. Shrewsbury asked Lord Burghley if he should take any action regarding Bastian. Regent Morton discovered in 1574 that Christine Hogg's mother in Edinburgh was involved in Mary's secret correspondence via the Earl of Shrewsbury's Scottish schoolmaster, Alexander Hamilton.

Bastian's involvement in Mary's secret correspondence was noted again in 1575, and in 1580 he sent a cipher key to one of his relations. Mary asked for horses in December 1581 for four unarmed riders, including Bastian, to accompany her excursions by coach. The other suggested riders, the secretaries Claude Nau and Gilbert Curll, and her master of household Andrew Melville had also been mentioned with Bastian in connection with secret letters. In November 1584, Bastian travelled as far as Nottingham, accompanying Claude Nau, who was going to London to meet with Elizabeth and with the Scottish ambassador, the Master of Gray. On the way, they visited the annual horse-fair at Lenton, where their apparent liberty raised eyebrows.

Children of the captivity

For a time in 1578, Christine Hogg and her eldest daughter left Mary's household, and Walsingham prevented her return. By August 1587, Bastian and Christine had two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, sons David and Jacques, and five younger children whose names were not recorded. David, the eldest son, left the Queen's household, which was called her family, in May 1571. One child was born at Wingfield Manor in November 1569 at the time of the Northern rebellion. Later, the Earl of Shrewsbury wrote that Mary Queen of Scots had planned to escape after the birth, dressed as Christine's midwife. The midwife's part would have been played by Anne Somerset, Countess of Northumberland because they were "something like in personage". The Northumberlands were staying at nearby Wentworth House. The Countess of Northumberland rode north to join the rebellion. On 17 November 1569 she was at Brockenborough near Boroughbridge. The Elizabethan writer William Camden attributed an escape plan from Wingfield at this time to Leonard Dacre. Other, simpler, escape plans involved Mary exiting from a window with a couple of servants.

When Mary Queen of Scots was to be moved to Tutbury Castle in November 1584, it was suggested the children in the household should be sent away. Ralph Sadler wrote to Francis Walsingham, asking that the families should not be split up, as Christily was a necessary person who the captive Queen could not spare. Bastian was lodged in a free-standing building with Pierre Oudry, another embroiderer and Marmaduke Dorrel, an English officer of household, within the castle courtyard, separate from Mary's lodging. Mary thought her embroiderer's family were to leave in September 1585. It was planned that Christine and her daughters Mary and Elizabeth, would be removed from the household in January 1586, and Bastian was likely to be removed because, although he was thought useful to the Queen, he would not stay without his family. However, Bastian and his family remained with Mary at Chartley, probably because Christine was pregnant, and she had her child at Eastertime. The Queen's jailor, Amias Paulet, wrote to Francis Walsingham about the caution he would use employing midwives.

Mary wrote on 12 August 1585 to the French ambassador in London, Michel de Castelnau. She asked him for a passport for her "brodeur" and his family who were happy enough to return to France where they would be better off than with her. Two less well qualified "garçon" embroiderers could serve her well enough. This letter referred to her other embroiderer called "Audrey," Pierre Oudrie, who had a wife and five children. Mary's jailer Amias Paulet was worried that Audrey's wife was a "women of judgement and understanding" who might become a "dangerous messenger" for Mary. Six months later she became troubled by mental illness and had to be restrained. Pierre Oudrie had been an embroiderer for the queen in Scotland since 1562. Another embroiderer, Charles Pluvart, and Bastian and his family would remain with the Scottish queen to the end.

On 20 March 1586, at Chartley, Bastian Pagez and another groom of the chamber, Jérôme Pasquier, witnessed a document in which Jacques Gervais, Mary's surgeon, placed his affairs in the hands of Jean de Champhuon, sieur du Ruisseau, a brother-in-law of Mary's French secretary Claude Nau. Ruisseau was an administrator of Mary, Queen of Scots' French estates.

Bastian and the Babington plot

A letter of the conspirator Charles Paget, who was part of the Babington Plot to free (or incriminate) Mary, gives an insight to Bastian's status, showing he was an intimate of the Queen, but not an essential member of her secretariat. Paget wrote to Mary on 4 January 1586 that he would try to introduce a Catholic priest into the house under the name of Master Alisson. Alisson's innocent letter of introduction would be brought to Bastian or Christine, because if there was a problem the secretaries would not be compromised. Paget's letter was intercepted, deciphered, copied, and signed on the back by Burghley, Hundsdon, Cobham, Shrewsbury and Walsingham.
When the English authorities decided to act on the plot on 11 August 1586, Mary was out riding with Bastian, her doctor Dominique Bourgoing and others, and they were surprised by armed soldiers who took them to nearby Tixall. When Mary was returned to Chartley two weeks later, Bastian was offered the keys to Mary's room, but the Queen told him not to accept and had an English officer open her things. She found her papers had been taken away whereupon she said two things could not be taken from her, her English blood and her Catholic religion. Paulet drew up a new list of her servants, and wrote;If Bastian's wyfe be discharged yt is like that Bastian will desire to go with his wyfe, wherein there were no greate losse because he is cunning in hys kynde, and full of sleightes to corrupt yonge men.

Fotheringhay and France
The Queen was moved to Fotheringay Castle, Bastian's daughter, Mary Pagez appears in the list of Mary's servants at Fotheringhay after the Queen's execution in 1587, her parents having been left behind. Paulet thought the dismissed servants left at Chartley were "silly and simple souls" with the exception of Bastian. In a list made of the Queen's possessions and bequests in the keeping of her servants, Mary Pagez's father has in money 300 French crowns, and a "suit of savage attire", which seems to relate to his masque productions or the "ilande wede" Drury saw him wearing at Berwick. Mary Pagez had a jewel with a sapphire from the Queen for her father and another with a green enamelled bird, Christine was given a pair of bracelets and a ring.

After the funeral of Mary Queen of Scots at Peterborough Cathedral, the re-united Pagez family were given passports to travel to France. In her will of 7 February 1587, Queen Mary recommended that Mary Pagez should become a servant of the Duchess of Guise.

In 1601, an inventory of the contents of Hardwick Hall included, in the wardrobe, "a picture of Bastean", which may have been a portrait of Bastian Pagez.

References

Further reading
 Bath, Michael, 'Anglici caudati: courtly celebration and national insult in the Stirling 1566 royal baptism,' in Alison Adams and Philip Ford, ed., Le livre demeure: Studies in Book History in Honour of Alison Saunders, Librairie Droz, Geneva (2011), pp. 183–94.
 Carpenter, Sarah, 'Performing Diplomacies: the 1560s Court Entertainments of Mary Queen of Scots,' in Scottish Historical Review, vol.82, 2, no.214 (October 2003), pp.194-225
 Lang, Andrew, 'The Household of Mary Queen of Scots in 1573', in Scottish Historical Review, vol.2 no.8 (July 1905), pp. 345–355
 Lynch, Michael, 'Queen Mary's Triumph: the Baptismal Celebrations at Stirling in 1566,' in Scottish Historical Review, vol.69, 1, no.187 (April 1990), pp. 1–21.

External links
 National Archives of Scotland, E23/3/18, precept for taffeta for the baptism of James VI, signed by Mary and Bastian. SCRAN, ID: 000-000-547-975-C, (login required)
 Buchanan, George, Detectio Mariae, (1571), on-line bilingual version by Dana F. Sutton
 Buchanan, George, Rerum Scotarum Historia, (1582), on-line bilingual edition by Dana F. Sutton
 Summary of a lecture, The Genial Bastian Pagez, given to the Marie Stuart Society by Graeme Cruickshank, October 2002
 Wingfield Manor, English Heritage (limited opening times)

Court of Mary, Queen of Scots
16th-century French people
Scottish royal favourites
French musicians
Embroidery designers
Servants
French expatriates in Scotland
French expatriates in England
European court festivities
English folklore
Kent folklore
French domestic workers
People of Stirling Castle
Drama at the Scottish royal court

Bastian Pagez


Philip Foley (12 May 1648 – December 1716) was the youngest of the three surviving sons of the British ironmaster Thomas Foley.  His father transferred all his ironworks in the Midlands to him in 1668 and 1669 for £60,000.  He also settled an estate at Prestwood near Stourbridge on him on his marriage, to which Philip added the manor of Kinver.

Ironworks
Philip ran the ironworks but found that they were not as profitable as they had been, and began from 1674 to sell them off.  One group was bought by Sir Clement Clerke.  He disposed of the last of them to two of his managers John Wheeler and Richard Avenant, and they also took over what had been Sir Clement Clerke's ironworks when some of those reverted to Philip Foley.

Wheeler and Avenant were more successful in running a rather reduced business and leased blast furnaces in the Forest of Dean from Philip's brother Paul.  In 1692, the two joined the managers in the business.  Philip remained a partner for the rest of his life, but his family sold out of it shortly after his death.  This business produced high quality pig iron which was sent up the River Severn for sale through a warehouse at Bewdley, as well as supplying the firm's own forges such as Wilden Forge on the River Stour.  In 1705, John Wheeler retired from managing the business in favour of William Rea, and the firm gave up its remaining ironworks in the Stour valley.

Another iron making business became available with the death of Philip's uncle Henry Glover in 1689.  This was handed over to John Wheeler, but in 1695, he and Philip decided that Philip had actually been a partner in it since 1689.  This probably could not be openly declared earlier as Philip was one of Glover's executors.  This had iron works consisting of Mearheath Furnace (a little distance from the present Meir Heath), and Consall and Oakamoor Forges.  Further works were added, including a group in the east Midlands consisting of Staveley Furnace and Forge and Carburton Forge, though that group were only used from 1695 to 1698 when they were handed over to Yorkshire ironmasters.  They also made a trade investment in ironworks in Cheshire, in connection with securing a supply of pig iron from there.  The Staffordshire and Cheshire businesses were amalgamated in 1708, but Philip probably sold out shortly after 1710.

Politics
Philip was also involved in politics as a Member of Parliament and was first elected for Bewdley in 1679. He was subsequently elected for Stafford in 1689 and 1695 and Droitwich in 1690 and 1701.

There was a time when five of the family were in the House of Commons together, the others being his brothers Thomas and Paul Foley, and his nephews (their sons) both called Thomas, one of whom later became Lord Foley.  They belonged to the Country Whigs, like their brother in law Robert Harley.

Religion
Like most of his family, he was a Presbyterian, though evidently conforming to the Church of England at least occasionally.  He employed a series of domestic chaplains, who established Presbyterian congregations in several nearby towns.

Family
Philip married Penelope, daughter of William Paget, 5th Baron Paget. Their eldest son was Paul Foley of Prestwood (died 27 November 1739).  He married Elizabeth Turton, and died leaving two sons (William, born 17 May 1710, and Philip, born 4 June 1711) and three older daughters, including Elizabeth (born 3 November 1707) who married John Hodgetts of Shut End in Kingswinford.  Their only child Eliza Maria Foley Hodgetts married her distant cousin Hon Edward Foley.  The Prestwood estate followed this descent, being settled on her marriage to descend to her second son John Hodgetts Hodgetts-Foley. Paul's daughter, Penelope, married Charles Howard, and through their daughter Mary Howard, who married Dr Erasmus Darwin, they were the paternal great grandparents of Charles Darwin.

References

Business people from Worcester, England
English ironmasters
Politicians from Worcester, England
English Presbyterians
1648 births
1716 deaths
Philip
English MPs 1679
English MPs 1680–1681
English MPs 1681
English MPs 1689–1690
English MPs 1690–1695
English MPs 1695–1698
English MPs 1698–1700
English MPs 1701
Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Stafford

Philip Foley


Angus Dunnington (born 9 August 1967) is an English poker and online gambling specialist and former professional chess player with the title of International Master (IM).  Dunnington is most known for his extensive work in chess opening theory, as well as the psychological aspects of both chess and poker. He stopped playing competitive chess in 2003 in order to spend more time writing, has been a recipient of a Chess Journalists of America award, penned over 1,000 articles and is the author of over 20 books, subjects including chess psychology, unorthodox chess openings and online gambling.

Notable games

This game was played in Scarborough, England in 1999 between Charles Storey and Angus Dunnington.  Dunnington played Black in a Caro-Kann Defense, Advance Variation:

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Be3 Bf5 6.Nf3 Qb6 7.Qd2 e6 8.dxc5 Bxc5 9.Bxc5 Qxc5 10.b4 Qb6 11.Na3 Nge7 12.Nb5 0-0 13.Nbd4 Be4 14.b5 Nxd4 15.Nxd4 f6 16.exf6 Rxf6 17.f3 Bg6 18.a4 e5 19.a5 Qd6 20.Nb3 e4 21.Be2 exf3 22.Bxf3 Qe5+ 23.Kf2 Be4 24.Qd4 Qf4 25.Ra4 Qh4+ 26.Ke2 Rf4 27.Kd2 Nf5 28.Qg1 Qh6 29.Ke1 Bxf3 30.Rxf4 Re8+ 31.Kf2 Qxf4 32.gxf3 Qh4+ 0–1

This game, between Nielsen J Fischer and Angus Dunnington, was played at the 1990 Groningen Open. Dunnington played Black in a rarely seen Rat Defense, English Rat:

1.d4 d6 2.c4 e5 3.Nf3 e4 4.Nfd2 f5 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.e3 c6 7.d5 c5 8.b3 g6 9.Bb2 Bg7 10.Ne2 0-0 11.h4 Nxd5 12.Bxg7 Nb4 13.Nf4 Kxg7 14.Qc1 Qf6 15.a3 Nc2+ 16.Qxc2 Qxa1+ 17.Nb1 Nc6 18.Be2 Qe5 19.Nc3 Be6 20.0-0 Bf7 21.Rd1 Nd4 22.exd4 cxd4 23.Ncd5 Bxd5 24.Nxd5 d3 25.Bxd3 exd3 26.Qxd3 Rae8 27.f4 Qe2 28.Qc3+ Kh6 29.Rf1 Re4 30.Qb4 Rf7 31.Qxd6 Rd4 32.Qd8 Rd1 33.Rxd1 Qxd1+ 34.Kh2 Qxb3 35.h5 Qxa3 36.hxg6 hxg6 37.Qh8+ Rh7 38.Qe5 Qc5 39.Qc3 Qd6 40.g3 Rf7 41.Qh8+ Rh7 42.Qc3 b5 43.Nf6 Rf7 44.Nd5 bxc4 45.Qxc4 Rh7 46.Kg2 Rd7 47.Ne3 Qd2+ 48.Kf3 Rd3 49.Qc5 Qd1+ 0–1

Publications
Dunnington is most recognized for his many publications on chess opening theory.
Winning Unorthodox Openings, Everyman Chess, 2000,
Chess Psychology, Everyman Chess, 2003,
Blunders and how to avoid them, Everyman Chess, 2004,

References

External links

Angus Dunnington at 365Chess.com

1967 births
Living people
English chess players
Scottish chess players
English sportswriters
British chess writers
Chess International Masters

Angus Dunnington


Prince Serge Wolkonsky (also referred to as Sergei Mikhailovitch Volkonsky; ) (4 May 1860 – 25 October 1937) was an influential Russian theatrical worker, one of the first Russian proponents of eurhythmics, pupil and friend of Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, and creator of an original system of actor's training that included both expressive gesture and expressive speech.

Biography
Wolkonsky was born on the Fall estate near Revel in Imperial Russia (now Tallinn, Estonia). His mother was Princess Elizaveta Grigorievna Volkonskaya, daughter of Grigory Petrovich Volkonsky (son of Sophia, a sister of Decembrist Sergei Volkonsky) and Mary (née Countess Benckendorff, daughter of Count Alexander Benckendorff). Princess Volkonskaya profoundly influenced her son Serge, defining many of his interests, including his Orthodox religious views; among her friends was the well-known Russian philosopher, theologian and poet Vladimir Solovyov. Wolkonsky's father, Mikhail Sergeevich, was a son of Decembrist Sergei Volkonsky and Mary, née Raevskaya; his godfather was Pushkin's friend Ivan Pushchin, another Decembrist. From his birth, Michael was registered as a serf, and as the son of a deportee wasn't allowed to enter the University,  but in 1855, just after the death of Emperor Nicholas I, he reached Russia from Siberia, and by the 1870s had become a member of the State Council.

Wolkonsky graduated from the philological faculty of St. Petersburg University in 1884. In the spring of 1893, he attended the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago as an official representative of the Department of Public Instruction, and an article by him about it was published later on in Vestnik Evropy ("The European Bulletin"). Later that year he went on a world cruise before returning to Petersburg via Constantinople. In the mid-1890s, he delivered lectures on Russia at Cornell and Harvard.

During the reign of Tsar Alexander III Serge Volkonsky converted to Russian Greek Catholic Church from Russian Orthodoxy.

In 1899 Wolkonsky became Director of the Imperial Theaters, the post for which he is most remembered. Although he held the position only until 1902, he achieved a great deal; Serge Diaghilev was his immediate assistant, and Wolkonsky entrusted him with the publication of the Annual of the Imperial Theaters in 1900. New names appeared in the theaters, such as painters Alexandre Benois, Konstantin Somov, and Léon Bakst. Wolkonsky was forced to send in his resignation after the conflict with Mathilde Kschessinskaya.

In 1910 he trained in and taught eurhythmics with Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, influencing Stanislavski's work on "tempo-rhythm", as well as the Delsarte method of gestures and movements, and he began to publish articles publicizing them in Russia. These works aroused the interest of Constantin Stanislavski, with whom he briefly collaborated. He set up a school and journal to propagate his ideas, but the advent of World War I in 1914 put an end to them, and he retired to his estate in Tambov province until 1918. After the October Revolution he taught acting technique in Moscow for a time, but in the spring of 1919 he contracted typhus (as a result of which a premature obituary was published), and in August he was arrested by the Cheka. He was released and continued teaching and giving lectures, working for a time with Proletkult and Proletcult Theatre, but eventually he emigrated.

From February 1926 he lived in Paris, where he became a leading theatrical critic; he also continued teaching and giving lectures. "During this period of his life in Paris Wolkonsky became one of the most brilliant members of the Russian Emigration". He became the first director of established in 1931 Conservatoire Rachmaninoff in Paris. During this time he became "a close friend and associate of the poet Marina Tsvetaeva (who dedicated to him her cycle of poems 'The Disciple' and wrote an essay about his memoirs)." In 1936 he was invited by the Kurt Jooss ballet school in London, after which he taught in the ballet company of Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin. In this city Wolkonsky met the woman he married (the 8th of July), Mary Walker Fearn, daughter of United States diplomat J. Walker Fearn and (by her first marriage) a sister-in-law of the former Mrs. Elsie French Vanderbilt. After the marriage Prince and Princess Wolkonsky went to the United States, and there in the town of Hot Springs, Virginia he died after a brief illness. "His health had been undermined by four years of teaching in Bolshevik schools." On 31 October, a requiem was held in a Russian Catholic church, and "besides relatives there was all Russian Paris." He was buried in Richmond, Virginia.

Works
 Pictures of Russian History and Russian Literature. Boston, NY, London; Lamson, Wolffe & Co. 1st ed. 1897; Pictures…, (Lowell lectures), 1898
 Impressions: sketches of American life as observed by a Russian. Chicago, 1893
 My reminiscences (translated by A.E. Chamot). London: Hutchinson & Co, 2 vols, 1924
 "The Decembrists. The first Russian revolutionists," Thought, v.3, 1928

(For a full list please see Russian article.)

See also
 Vera Griner

Bibliography
 R.C.Beachem, "Appia, Jaques-Dalcroze and Hellerau," NTQ, v.1, N 2-3, 1985
 C.Bommeli, "Vera Griner," Le Rythme, Geneve, bull. 8-9, 1990—1991, p. 24-25
 Arnold L. Haskell. Diaghileff. His artistic and private life. — NY, 1935
 Matilda Kshessinskaya. Dancing in Petersburg — London, 1960, 1973; Souvenirs de la Kshessinskaya. — Paris, 1960.
 Mary Trofimov, "The Last Days of Prince Serge Wolkonsky)," Theatrical Life, Moscow, N 20, 1991, p. 31 (in Russian)

(For a full list please see Russian article.)

References

External links
 http://krotov.info/history/19/1890_10_2/1860_volkonsky.htm

1860 births
1937 deaths
People from Lääne-Harju Parish
People from the Governorate of Estonia
Volkonsky family
Dalcroze Eurhythmics
Acting theorists
Converts to Eastern Catholicism from Eastern Orthodoxy
Former Russian Orthodox Christians
Russian drama teachers
Russian Eastern Catholics
Russian  theatre directors
Russian literary critics
White Russian emigrants to France
White Russian emigrants to the United States
Emigrants from the Russian Empire to France

Serge Wolkonsky


Knokke-Heist (; ) is a municipality in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Heist-aan-Zee, Knokke, Duinbergen, Ramskapelle and Westkapelle. On January 1, 2006, Knokke-Heist had a total population of 34,063. The total area is 56.44 km2 which gives a population density of 603 inhabitants per km2.  Knokke-Heist is located along the North Sea in a polder area on the Belgian border with the Netherlands.  It is Belgium's best-known and most affluent seaside resort.

History

Middle Ages

Originally, the marshy Zwin area was mostly settled by shepherds and fishermen.  With the encouragement of the Counts of Flanders, several dikes were built between the 11th and the 13th century and the land successfully dewatered, giving rise to agriculture and further sheep breeding.  New parishes were founded and the early settlement of Sint-Anna-ter-Muiden, later made part of Westkapelle, obtained city rights in 1242.

The strategic importance of the Zwin harbour was recognized in 1301, during the war between Count Guy of Dampierre and the French King Philip the Fair.  During the Hundred Years' War that followed shortly after, several battles were fought between France and England for supremacy of the area including the Battle of Sluys in June 1340.  The local population tried to remain neutral as it was politically tied to Flanders, then allied to France, but economically dependent on wool from England.  Under Philip the Bold's leadership, it took advantage of the relative peace of the end of the century to fortify the canal linking the Zwin to the port of Bruges.

15th to 17th century
The beginning of the 15th century witnessed several renewed English attacks on neighboring Sluis, with devastating effects on the local economy, until a lasting peace was signed in 1439.  The end of the century was marked by internal rebellions against Maximilian of Austria and strategic flooding of the polders.  The reign of Charles V in the following century saw peace coming back to the region.  This was also the time when the Zwin started silting and when apple orchards were planted to supplement the local economy.

The Wars of Religion of the late 16th century brought renewed floods and devastation, but the economy managed to come back to life after the Peace of Westphalia with the cultivation of rapeseed and potatoes.  The strength of this agricultural rebirth and of the cattle trade allowed the local farmers to weather future economic crises relatively well.

18th century until today
Following the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, the territory of Knokke was annexed to the Netherlands, but the old border was reestablished at the Zwin a few years later.  After the Battle of Fleurus (1794), Bruges, Knokke and the neighboring municipalities were included in the department of the Lys.  The construction of the Leopold Canal in 1857 made the closing of the Zwin and its transformation in a natural reservation possible.  The development of Knokke and Heist as tourist destinations followed soon after.  The population of Knokke doubled between 1873 and 1914 to 3,326 inhabitants, then again from 1914 to 1930 and again to reach more than 14,000 in 1965 despite the heavy setbacks brought by World War II.

Notable sights

The area known as Het Zoute (Le Zoute in French) includes the exclusive Royal Zoute Golf Club, located in the dunes.
The Zwin, a 158 ha coastal nature reserve.  This large salt-water marsh area is also a protected bird sanctuary.
The Sincfala museum, located in Heist, documents the regional history and way of life.
A butterfly garden (Vlindertuin) was established near Moeder Siska, the coffeehouse that makes clover-shaped waffles which dates from 1892. Both closed in 2010.
Scharpoord, a concert hall
"De groetende mannen", translated to "the men greeting (each other)", a sculpture by Joep van Lieshout of two large orange men shaking hands
The sculpture of Alfred Verwee located in front of the town hall
The sculpture located on the beach of Knokke-Heist. There are many sculptures in Knokke-Heist located on the beach and on the wave breakers.
The pink fountain located at the tourism center.
The sculpture of a blue floating water faucet built by the municipal water company.
The sculpture of a rabbit located at the end of the boardwalk.

Events, sports and culture
Knokke-Heist is home to more than 40 art galleries.
The Kneistival, a free and week-long music festival, has taken place every July since 1986.
Festival international du cinéma expérimental de Knokke-le-Zoute (Experimental Film festival)
Knokke-Heist is home to the Cartoon Festival of Knokke-Heist, which is an art gallery open in the summer located on the beach in front of the casino in which cartoons for adults and children are presented.
Knokke-Heist host a carnaval every year at the end of February.
The Belgian Basketball Supercup is held in Knokke-Heist.
The Belgian Volleyball Supercup is also held in Knokke-Heist.
Miss Belgian beauty is Belgian beauty pageant held in Knokke-Heist.
The Zwin Triathlon at the end of September.

Inhabitants
Günther Vanaudenaerde, defense football player (1984-)
David Van Ooteghem, radio presenter (1975-)

Gallery

See also
Belgian Coast Tram
Knokke railway station

Notes

External links

Official website - Information available in Dutch, French, English and German
Sincfala museum - Information on local history and on the Zwin area, available in Dutch only
KH Magazine - Official website of the community magazine KH, including a complete activity calendar Dutch, French

Municipalities of West Flanders
Port cities and towns of the North Sea
Seaside resorts in Belgium

Knokke-Heist


"Chantez, Chantez" is a popular song written by Irving Fields (music) and Albert Gamse (lyrics), which in 1957 was a Top 30 hit single for Dinah Shore.

Background and chart performance
Disappointed with her recent chartings, Shore had held "open houses" for composers at her residence to find strong material for her next single and through this process discovered "Chantez, Chantez" and also the song which served as its B-side: the Red Skipwine composition "Honky Tonk Heart". Shore premiered "Chantez, Chantez" on the 11 January 1957 broadcast of the Dinah Shore Chevy Show. Despite heavy promotion by Shore, "Chantez, Chantez" only just made the Top 30 of the Billboard Hot 100 at #27.

Cover versions
Alma Cogan and Marion Ryan both covered "Chantez, Chantez" for the UK market with neither version charting.

Popular culture
In the 1963 film Take Her, She's Mine, Sandra Dee sings "Chantez, Chantez" in character as an American exchange student in Paris.

References

Songs with music by Irving Fields
Songs with lyrics by Albert Gamse
Dinah Shore songs
1957 songs

Chantez, Chantez