Because it is the 200th birthday of Frederic Chopin, a free album of his music is available for download from Amazon.
Free - I like the sound of that. And isn't that cast of Chopin's hand really creepy? But not near as creepy as what happened to Chopin's heart. Click on his name to find out what it was.
Don't forget that today begins Extreme Shakespeare.
I also wanted to mention this post regarding Vincent van Gogh and his love of the Bard. Thanks to the internet we can read Van Gogh's letters and we find that he was very pleased to own his own book of Shakespeare and reread it often.
Not too long before his death, Van Gogh writes that he read this passage from Henry VIII (Act III, scene ii):
'And when I am forgotten, as I shall be,
And sleep in dull cold marble, where no mention
Of me more must be heard of, say I taught thee;
Appropriate for Shakespeare...and Van Gogh, don't you think?
Today is not Presidents Day (or, Presidents' Day). We are actually celebrating Washington's Birthday. Sorry, Abe, no Federal holiday for you.
But Washington's Birthday isn't celebrated on George Washington's actual birthday. We celebrate it every third Monday in February to give many Americans a three-day weekend. Washington was really born on February 22, 1732 - according to the Gregorian calendar. We use the Gregorian calendar now, but when the stork brought baby George to Augustine and Mary Washington the world was using the Julian calendar. Thus, George was really, truly born on February 11, 1731. Confused? I think I am. This Slate article attempts to clear up things.
Poor George! His birthday keeps moving around the calendar and he has to share his special day with a gaggle of other guys - most of whom he never knew and probably wouldn't like.
Speaking of George Washington, we had so much fun visiting his house, Mount Vernon, during our DC vacation last spring. I think it is one of the best homeschool field trips we've taken. Few things compare to touching a tree planted by George Washington.
Since today is the 170th anniversary of Queen Victoria's marriage to Prince Albert, I thought I would mention that The Young Victoria is a great movie and up for three Oscars this year. Although not completely accurate, the movie does show the turmoil Victoria lived under right before and right after becoming queen. It also shows how much Victoria and Albert loved each other, despite their's really being a political match. Last Sunday, my local PBS aired a one-hour documentary on Queen Victoria's early life. I wish I could link to it; it was very helpful in understanding the movie. If you can't view the documentary, then I recommend you read up on Victoria's childhood and early marriage. Knowing some background information will make watching The Young Victoria even more enjoyable.
For a well-done review of the movie, check out Laura's Miscellaneous Musings.
By the way, you can currently view an exhibition at Buckingham Palace related to Victoria and Albert's love of art. Some of the items are shown online, including Victoria's wedding brooch and the portrait she gave her new groom.
As we study the Medieval Age this term, D is reading and discussing with me Thomas Cahill's "How the Irish Saved Civilization". Yesterday, she came upon a very interesting quotation from mystery and fantasy author and Christian apologist G. K. Chesterton:
For the great Gaels of Ireland
Are the men that God made mad,
For all their wars are merry,
And all their songs are sad.
Isn't that so accurate? I have yet to meet an Irishman who didn't love a good fight, a melancholy song,..and a strong drink. I think many would agree with Chesterton.
The quotation comes from Chesterton's "The Ballad of the White Horse," a narrative poem published in 1911 about King Alfred the Great's defeat of the Danes in England.
Chesterton explains the ballad in his Prefatory Note:
This ballad needs no historical notes, for the simple reason that it does not profess to be historical. All of it that is not frankly fictitious, as in any prose romance about the past, is meant to emphasize tradition rather than history. King Alfred is not a legend in the sense that King Arthur may be a legend; that is, in the sense that he may possibly be a lie. But King Alfred is a legend in this broader and more human sense, that the legends are the most important things about him.
The cult of Alfred was a popular cult, from the darkness of the ninth century to the deepening twilight of the twentieth. It is wholly as a popular legend that I deal with him here. I write as one ignorant of everything, except that I have found the legend of a King of Wessex still alive in the land. I will give three curt cases of what I mean. A tradition connects the ultimate victory of Alfred with the valley in Berkshire called the Vale of the White Horse. I have seen doubts of the tradition, which may be valid doubts. I do not know when or where the story started; it is enough that it started somewhere and ended with me; for I only seek to write upon a hearsay, as the old balladists did. For the second case, there is a popular tale that Alfred played the harp and sang in the Danish camp; I select it because it is a popular tale, at whatever time it arose. For the third case, there is a popular tale that Alfred came in contact with a woman and cakes; I select it because it is a popular tale, because it is a vulgar one. It has been disputed by grave historians, who were, I think, a little too grave to be good judges of it. The two chief charges against the story are that it was first recorded long after Alfred¹s death, and that (as Mr. Oman urges) Alfred never really wandered all alone without any thanes or soldiers. Both these objections might possibly be met. It has taken us nearly as long to learn the whole truth about Byron, and perhaps longer to learn the whole truth about Pepys, than elapsed between Alfred and the first writing of such tales. And as for the other objection, do the historians really think that Alfred after Wilton, or Napoleon after Leipsic, never walked about in a wood by himself for the matter of an hour or two? Ten minutes might be made sufficient for the essence of the story. But I am not concerned to prove the truth of these popular traditions. It is enough for me to maintain two things: that they are popular traditions; and that without these popular traditions we should have bothered about Alfred about as much as we bother about Eadwig.
One other consideration needs a note. Alfred has come down to us in the best way (that is, by national legends) solely for the same reason as Arthur and Roland and the other giants of that darkness, because he fought for the Christian civilization against the heathen nihilism. But since this work was really done by generation after generation, by the Romans before they withdrew, and by the Britons while they remained, I have summarised this first crusade in a triple symbol, and given to a fictitious Roman, Celt, and Saxon, a part in the glory of Ethandune. I fancy that in fact Alfred¹s Wessex was of very mixed bloods; but in any case, it is the chief value of legend to mix up the centuries while preserving the sentiment; to see all ages in a sort of splendid foreshortening. That is the use of tradition: it telescopes history.
G.K.C.
You can read the entire ballad online. You can view the actual White Horse in Uffington, England.
An aerial view of the 374 foot White Horse.
It is an amazing Bronze Age landmark that was, sadly, unbeknownst to me.
Just another discovery made on a homeschooling rabbit trail.
Monday, February 1 - Brigid of Kildare (patron saint of Ireland)
Tuesday, February 2 - Groundhog Day (American folk holiday) & Candlemas (Feast of the Presentation of the Lord)
Wednesday, February 3 - St. Blaise (Armenian bishop & martyr)
Friday, Frebruary 5 - Agatha of Sicily (3rd Century martyr)
Saturday, February 6 - Nagasaki Martyrs (Japanese martyrs)
Monday, February 8 - Josephine Bakhita (African nun)
Wednesday, February 10 - St. Scholastica (twin sister of St. Benedict)
Sunday, February 14 - Valentine's Day
Monday, February 15 - Presidents Day (US holiday for Lincoln & Washington)
Tuesday, February 16 - Fat Tuesday (day before Ash Wednesday)
Wednesday, February 17 - Ash Wednesday (first day of Lent)
Sunday, February 21 - First Sunday of Lent
Tuesday, February 23 - Polycarp of Smyrna (disciple of John the Evangelist)
Sunday, February 28 - Second Sunday of Lent
I only started learning about the lives of the Saints a few years ago. Many Protestants (and Christians, in general) know too little of the history of our faith and reading about the Saints has taught me a lot. I have many favorites, but here are a few I've learned from:
Patrick - Kidnapped and sold as a slave, this Romano-Britain escaped to freedom and became a priest. Returning to the land of his enslavement, he faced danger at every turn in his quest to bring Christianity to Ireland - and act which would later allow for the preservation of learning in the Irish monasteries during the destructive Dark Ages.
Returning evil with good and suffering with mercy is never easy but can lead to amazing events we can never anticipate or imagine.
Columba - This hot-tempered prince and priest of Ireland started a dispute over possession of a book and caused the deaths of many men. His punishment was exile and Columba chose to go to Scotland. There he brought Christianity to the Picts and transformed pagan Scotland forever.
Our darkest transgressions sometimes lead to our greatest works and even an angry sinner can become the "Dove of Christ".
Margaret of Scotland - This Anglo-Saxon princess loved and married the king of Scotland and devotedly raised eight children. She trained her children to follow Christ and encouraged learning and Christanity in Scotland. Her dedication to the poor made her beloved by the Scots. Many of her children and descendents were also Saints.
A caring, teaching mother is a missionary whose dedication is rewarded, generation upon generation.
In our desire to serve God, I think we all can learn much from those who have gone before us.
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