#UK Trivia for $100
11 messages in this thread
Martin:
Came across this quote last night:
Good ale, the true and proper drink of Englishmen. He is not deserving of the
name of Englishman who speaketh against ale, that is good ale. -George Borrow,
Lavengro, ch.48
~~~~~~~~ (from the same tome that brought us "…every dog has
his day…")
Makes this anglophile wish he was over his cold so that he could crack open one
of those Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome Ales in the fridge — not quite the same
as quaffing a room-temp bitter at the Friend-at-Arms or Red Lion, but….
Anyway, my question is: What is (was) the value of a crown? What about the
soverign? (The coin, not the monarch!)
Tomorrow's question: "Just what _are_ O-levels, anyway?" and "Isn't Jeremy
Brett the _best_ Sherlock Holmes ever?"
Dave
David,
>> Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome Ales in the fridge — not quite the same as
quaffing a room-temp bitter at the Friend-at-Arms or Red Lion, but….
From the fridge! Sacrilege! Actually I like Samuel Smith's and one of my
favourites is Newcastle Brown Ale, yummee – good selection of English beer's at
my local Trader Joe's (SoCal supplier of exotic domestic/foreign libations and
victuals). Plus I have a good English pub within 3 miles of my house which has
draught Strongbow cider (fermented 6% alcohol brew, not to be mistaken with the
wimpy American cider <g>).
>> Anyway, my question is: What is (was) the value of a crown? What about the
soverign? (The coin, not the monarch!)
Five shillings to a crown, don't know about the soverign – except it's gold.
>> Tomorrow's question: "Just what _are_ O-levels, anyway?" and
If I answer tomorrow's question today I should be ahead, right?
O(rdinary)levels were exams taken at the age of 16 for bright kids like me.
Less bright 16 year olds took CSE's. You can then leave school or go on and do
A(dvanced) level exams at age 18 in order to gain entry to Universities,
Polytechnics, etc. Clear? Maybe we can discuss cricket tomorrow instead, eh?
<g>
>> "Isn't Jeremy Brett the _best_ Sherlock Holmes ever?"
Yes, of course. (Who is Jeremy Brett?). I liked Basil Rathbone and Michael
Caine, actually.
Martin
Newcastle Brown ! you've been away too long and your memory is playing nasty
tricks on you. (by the by you may be interested that our latest job is for the
Merseyside Development Corporation if we do NTSC transfers I'll make sure you
get a copy, a little view of [what was once] home)
David
The sovereign _is_ a gold coin with a face value of One pound and one shilling
(6p.) but like the gold Krugerrand the value of the gold means that the face
value is irrelevant. They are still minted from time to time for special
occasions and as far as I know are legal tender but for the above reason would
not be used as such.
Sherlock was always too cold a fish for me, how about a best Dr. Watson… or
even better a prize for any Mrs. Hudson at all!
Grahame
Grahame:
Aha! Well, one hears about sovereigns and half-sovereigns in Holmes, etc, but
with so many odd (er, I mean, eccentric) names for the pound, one never knows
_how_ much something is.
Ah, well, Holmes is rather aloof, but the books do portray a great energy and
heart stonily controlled and seldom released. That's one thing I like about
Brett's portrayal is that you see these great explosions from time to time.
Thanks for the info.
Dave
Thanks Grahame,
nice to hear your busy. I was born in Liverpool. Nasty business about the
schoolkids murdering the child, what? Newcastle Brown is still one of my
favourites, just like the old days <g>.
Martin
Newcastle Brown ! you've been away too long and your memory is playing nasty
tricks on you. (by the by you may be interested that our latest job is for the
Merseyside Development Corporation if we do NTSC transfers I'll make sure you
get a copy, a little view of [what was once] home)
David
The sovereign _is_ a gold coin with a face value of One pound and one shilling
(6p.) but like the gold Krugerrand the value of the gold means that the face
value is irrelevant. They are still minted from time to time for special
occasions and as far as I know are legal tender but for the above reason would
not be used as such.
Sherlock was always too cold a fish for me, how about a best Dr. Watson… or
even better a prize for any Mrs. Hudson at all!
Grahame
Martin:
Ah, well. The shoppe from which I purchase the S.Smith's always _has_ it
refridgerated, so I assumed it was brewed to be. Not so?
One of my college drinking buddies and I went to London in Jan '90 hoping to
visit many a pub — unfortunately, I got a head cold the day before, and by the
time we landed at Heathrow, my left eardrum was so distended that it could be
used as a coathook (think Ren & Stimpy). I didn't go to many pubs in the
evenings — the Brits smoke like chimneys — not good for sinusitus.
Last August, we drove out to Colorado and did a weeks worth of Brew-pub/
micro-brewery hopping. One little spot in Ft. Collins (The Mountain Tap
TAvern) owned by the publisher of the Rocky Mt Brew newsletter had just about
everything. They were just installing a genuine cider tap that day.
Ahh. Cricket. Yes, now about those Googlies….
Dave
OH! Almost forgot:
Jeremy Brett is an actor who has been portraying S.H. for the past 5 (?) years
in BBC productions, shown stateside on PBS's MYSTERY! (and are being run in
syndication on A&E Mondays at 7:00pm CST). In fact, the local PBS station is
re-running a couple tonight.
Dave
David,
ahah! I don't have TV anymore since the last round of domestic cutbacks at our
manor. I've just got the vcr hooked to the TV but no cable or aerial (antenna
in American lingo) and I rent videos occasionally. Sounds like you should mosey
on over to the British forum for some discussion of pub crawls and pub grub
(pork pies, pork scratchings, salt and vinegar crisps etc.). I'd like to go
back to England again this year as the exchange rate is fab for US to UK
visitors and Virgin does pretty cheap fares.
I think you may be able to find the J. Brett Holmes stuff at Blockbuster, etc.
Yeah, I mean to try the Brit forums one of these days — just so little time.
A group of us had thought about going back this year, but we've put it off till
next. (Maybe the IRA'll cool off a little more, too.) I had heard Virgin's got
some pretty decent deals, and we had found a little place called the Ruskin on
Montague (sp?) in Bloomsbury (right next to the British Museum) that was
reasonable (and there's a mid-eastern run grocery a few blocks away with good
meat-pies, bread and humus).
Dave
David,
I'm fortunate in that when I go back to UK I have relatives all over the
country to stay with, so I rarely need to sample the expensive hotels. I've
stayed more nights in youth hostels than hotels in "big smoke" (London)
actually.