Posts filed under ‘.transportation’
Night Mail
by W.H Auden
(more…)This is the night mail crossing the Border,
Bringing the cheque and the postal order,Letters for the rich, letters for the poor,
The shop at the corner, the girl next door.Pulling up Beattock, a steady climb:
The gradient’s against her, but she’s on time.Past cotton-grass and moorland boulder
Shovelling white steam over her shoulder,Snorting noisily as she passes
Silent miles of wind-bent grasses.Birds turn their heads as she approaches,
Stare from bushes at her blank-faced coaches.Sheep-dogs cannot turn her course;
They slumber on with paws across.In the farm she passes no one wakes,
But a jug in a bedroom gently shakes.Dawn freshens, Her climb is done.
Down towards Glasgow she descends,
Towards the steam tugs yelping down a glade of cranes
Towards the fields of apparatus, the furnaces
Set on the dark plain like gigantic chessmen.
All Scotland waits for her:
In dark glens, beside pale-green lochs
Men long for news.Letters of thanks, letters from banks,
Letters of joy from girl and boy,
Receipted bills and invitations
To inspect new stock or to visit relations,
And applications for situations,
And timid lovers’ declarations,
And gossip, gossip from all the nations,
News circumstantial, news financial,
Letters with holiday snaps to enlarge in,
Letters with faces scrawled on the margin,
Letters from uncles, cousins, and aunts,
Letters to Scotland from the South of France,
Letters of condolence to Highlands and Lowlands
Written on paper of every hue,
The pink, the violet, the white and the blue,
The chatty, the catty, the boring, the adoring,
The cold and official and the heart’s outpouring,
Clever, stupid, short and long,
The typed and the printed and the spelt all wrong.Thousands are still asleep,
Dreaming of terrifying monsters
Or of friendly tea beside the band in Cranston’s or Crawford’s:Asleep in working Glasgow, asleep in well-set Edinburgh,
(To be read out loud)
Asleep in granite Aberdeen,
They continue their dreams,
But shall wake soon and hope for letters,
And none will hear the postman’s knock
Without a quickening of the heart,
For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?
Irish Names
Excerpt from the ‘All in a Name‘ exhibition at Dublin airport:
Irish surnames are one of the most intriguing parts of the Irish culture. Ireland was one of the earliest countries to adopt a system of hereditary surnames, which came into being in the 11th century. Traditionally, Irish family names are taken from the first chief of the tribe, who was usually an illustrious warrior.
It was common practise to drop the O / Mac in Irish names, to better assimilate into English civilisation. Many families dropped the use in the 1500s and 1600s. However, in the mid 1800s many families resumed the use of O / Mac. These included wealthy families in Ireland under the influence of cultural nationalism, and immigrant families in North America who felt free of English rule.
O’Donnell, Donegal
The O’Donnells ruled Donegal from the 1200s to the early 1600s.
They also extended their rule to several surrounding counties and were bitter and long-standing enemies of their distant cousins, the O’Neills.
Famous chief, Manus the Magnificent, was a warlord who liked to crush the skulls of his enemies once he decapitated them.
Manus’ grandson Red Hugh O’Donnell married the daughter of Hugh O’Neill and cemented an alliance between the two families.
Together, they almost drove the English out of Ireland, until they were defeated in the Battle of Kinsale.
Byrne, Dublin
The O’Byrnes were the leading clan of the Wicklow mountains.
They mounted raids against the Anglo-Normans in the lowlands of South Dublin.
Between 1300 and 1500, the O’Byrnes were such a thorn in the side of the Dublin government that the city paid them ‘black rent’ or protection money.
In the 1550s, Feagh MacHugh O’Byrne of Glenmalure in South Wicklow rebelled against the Dublin government.
He was later beheaded and his head was placed on a spike over the gate of Dublin Castle for several months before being presented to Queen Elizabeth 1.
O’Carroll, Tipperary
The O’Carrolls descend from north-eastern Tipperary and southern Offaly.
The Norman conquest pushed them to the further north, but in 1325 the O’Carrolls struck back in raids.
They eventually defeated their rivals after two decades of warfare.
The O’Carrolls built castles at Leap, Birr, Clonlisk and overruled the Normans at Roscrea.
One of the most famous O’Carrolls is Margaret O’Carroll. In 1443 she held two great feasts for over 2,700 guests.
Under the 1620 Plantation of Offaly, most of the O’Carrolls lost their lands.
Kelly, Galway
While there are several O’Kelly clans in Ireland, the most important were the O’Kellys in east Galway and south Roscommon.
The first to use the surname O’Kelly was Murrough, grandson of the original Cellach, in 952.
Murrough O’Kelly led his men across the Shannon in Offaly to a major military victory against their neighbours in 1014.
His son Tadg O’Kelly, was slain at the battle of Clontarf supporting the high-king, Brian Boru, in his victory against the Vikings.
In the 13th century the arrival of the Normans into Connacht saw the O’Kellys lose a lot of territory, but this was only for a brief period.
In 1307, the O’Kellys captured the Norman town of Roscommon and slaughtered its inhabitants.
McCarthy, Kerry
Mac Carthys are the descendents of the ancient Eoghanacht, kings of Munster, who ruled the province until they were sidelined by the O’Briens.
In the fifth century the clan took the name MacCarthy from king Cartach of Cashel.
In 1045, the O’Briens surrounded his house and burned him alive.
The MacCarthy’s were driven out of southern Tipperary into Cork, where they faced new opposition from the Anglo-Norman invaders.
The MacCarthy kings of Desmond retained much of their original territory in West Cork and South Kerry.
Murphys in Wexford
There were clans of Murphys spread throughout ancient Ireland, but Co Wexford was home to more Murphys than any other part of Ireland.
It is estimated that over 50,000 people in Ireland are of the Murphy name.
But this Irish name is so popular that it can now be found all over the US, Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand.
The Murphy name itself, which means ‘sea warrior’, takes its form from two very different ancient Gaelic clans – the O’Murchadha and the MacMurchadha.
However, it is now reasonably uncommon to come across usage of the family names O’Murphy and MacMurphy.
Miss Todd
by Kristina Yee, 13’01 United Kingdom
BAICFF 2015 * Student Academy Award Winner
It’s 1909, and the whole world is waking to the possibilities of flight. Miss Todd dreams of flying, but she’s got more than gravity holding her down. This is the story of her determination, her perseverance, and her passion – inspired by E. Lilian Todd – the first woman in the world to build and design an airplane.
Made at the National Film and Television School, UK.
J’ai pris l’avion
J’ai pris l’avion /
Pour m’envoler /
J’ai pris l’avion /
Pour faire un bond / (bis)
Mais mon avion
C’est un poltron
Il a tellement peur
Qu’il reste en bas
Et chaque fois
Il coupe son moteur
J’ai pris le train /
Pour m’en aller /
J’ai pris le train /
Pour aller loin / (bis)
Mais mon p’tit train
C’est un vieux train
Qui ne va pas très vite
A toutes les gares
Sans crier gare
Il fait une visite
J’ai pris l’auto /
Pour voyager /
J’ai pris l’auto /
Pour Mexico / (bis)
Mais mon auto
A un défaut
Elle n’a plus d’essence
Sur le pavé
Faut la pousser
Beaucoup pour qu’elle avance
J’ai pris mes pieds /
Mes petits pieds /
J’ai pris mes pieds /
Pour avancer / (bis)
Oui mais mes pieds
N’ont pas d’souliers
Et c’est ça qui m’enrage
Car sans chaussures
C’est vraiment dur
De partir en voyage
J’suis resté là /
Comme un benet /
J’suis resté là /
Derrière chez moi / (bis)
A regarder
Très étonné
Passer les hirondelles
Et j’me suis dit
Qu’avant midi
J’irai m’ach’ter des ailes
A regarder
Très étonné
Passer les hirondelles
Et j’me suis dit
Qu’avant midi
J’irai m’ach’ter des ailes
TheKittyCats 