Footnotes to a Conversation, April 29, 2024
“I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.” – Louisa May Alcott
Poisonous Books
Sometimes a book’s contents are poisonous. At other times, it’s the cover. In the Victorian era, publishers used pigments laced with arsenic to create bright green covers. The French national library has removed 4 books from its stacks for further analysis as the bindings could present a health risk to librarians, booksellers, collectors, and researchers. [The Guardian]
A Tale of a Tail
It was common knowledge in the 14th century that English men and women had tails. “The Scottish boasted before a skirmish in 1332 that they would ‘make ropes of the tails of the English to tie them with.’ An Italian book of the fourteenth century also described England as an island whose inhabitants were born with short tails, like deer.” That the English had tails was common knowledge for over 400 years, and it hasn’t faded entirely. “In 2020, a Reddit user recalled, “My Irish grandmother always claimed that Englishmen had tails. She was quite insistent about it.”
I’ve checked in the mirror and I don’t have a tail, despite my English origins. However, I am fairly sedentary and in that case it’s possible I’ve managed to rub it off. [JSTOR Daily]
Golden Chain Tree
The laburnum is flowering in Victoria at present. It reminds me of wisteria, but it’s a different tree altogether. It’s also known as golden chain or golden rain. The large black seeds are legumes and are somewhat poisonous to humans, goats, and horses – especially when not ripe. But some animals, such as hares and deer, can eat them with no problem. Because of this, laburnum is believed to have magical properties in some regions. [Wikipedia]
Wine Tourism
When I was in Spain a number of years ago, I was given a personal tour of a number of wineries around Alicante by a young woman who had just opened her own tour company, Mandarinablue Tours. Mireia Aldeguer is now completing a university course and would like as many people as possible to complete her survey about wine tourism. I thoroughly enjoyed Mireia and my tour. If you’re ever in Alicante, do look her up and take a tour if it’s available. In the meantime, please complete the survey.
Footnotes to a Conversation is a weekly Monday feature covering an assortment of topics that I’ve come across in the preceding week – books, art, travel, food, and whatever else strikes my fancy. I also post occasional articles on other dates, including frequent book reviews and travel tales.
If you share my love of nature, check out EcoFriendly West, an online publication encouraging environmental initiatives in Western Canada, and Nature Companion, a free nature app for Canada’s four western provinces.