h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

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whatever did you say, ~jwf~?

jwf, the trumpet signal "Taps" is a lot older than that. The words sung to it by Americans or by anyone else...why don´t politicians listen?

In Germany the signal "Taps" is "Letzer Zapfenstreich", given over a soldier´s grave before the rifle salute.

I don't know what ~jwf~ said about 'Taps', but: http://www.tapsbugler.com/24NotesExcerpt/Page1.html

No ing idea why jwf´s post got yikesed. It was very civil and correct.

Well. That's odd.

Had the same problem two days ago. Hootoo is getting renovating work behind the scenes and the yikesbot may be a bit ...yes. Got a nice email from one of the ruperts.

Hi folks, no probs, I just got the email notice.
I will not contest the decision.

They are worried about copyright because it was as I noted
a copy and paste from a maudlin 'support the troops' email
that was making the rounds on Nov 11. Author and source
unknown but with a load of 'pass it on, dont break the chain'
crap - which I did not include, focusing only on the story.

It claimed to be the original story of the funeral dirge 'Taps',
a tune of few notes scribbled by a dying Confederate soldier on
an American Civil War battlefield who was found by his father, a
Captain in the Union army who did not know that his son had joined
the southern army; he thought the kid was at some music school.
Anyway, he got a lone bugler to play the tune at the burial and the
rest is history, or rather, myth.

I had said it is very unlikely to be a true account. I'm more inclined to
believe Pit's version of the original source of the music. But anhaga's
link does state the same date and battlefield (Virginia, July 1862) with
different names and circumstances much less melodramatic.

It's a very comprehensive link that explores many unresolved conflicts of
the story and does suggest the tune was probably 'borrowed' from some
earlier source without actually naming Pit's specific suggestion or any other.

On page 4 of 4 at anhaga's link it does in fact refer to the exact same story
I pasted, declaring it to be completely false. I'll quote from that in the next post
lest it too meet with issues from the moderators.

peace
~jwf~

The version of the story I posted as cited at the link provided by anahaga above:

http://www.tapsbugler.com/24NotesExcerpt/Page1.htmlerm

"Other stories of the origin of Taps exist. A popular, yet false,
one is that of a Northern boy who was killed fighting for the south.
His father, Robert Ellicombe, a Captain in the Union Army, came
upon his son's body on the battlefield and found the notes to Taps
in a pocket of the dead boy's Confederate uniform. He had the notes
sounded at the boy's funeral. There is no evidence to back up the story
or the existence of a Captain Ellicombe."

Sorry for all the bother. Thanks for your interest.
And a special thanks to all for not jumping to the
conclusion that I had been moderated for unkind,
profane or libelous remarks. It was only a potential
copyright issue and hardly worth defending since as
we all can now see it was all a load of...


~jwf~

Thanks, ~jwf~. I just couldn't imagine that you had been rude.

Let´s consider that yikesing as a good omen - the moderation team is quite active at the moment and they can even take the time to explain why they scrapped a post. Looks to me like our fears of HooToo getting closed down were unfounded, Auntie Beeb even seems to have granted our "home" more staff.

As to "Taps" again - the American Army goes back to times when no other means of PA were available and immigrants fought immigrants. Many soldiers were old hands from Germany and would react to the signs they knew, so no need to invent new ones.

That old end-of-the-day signal for "fires out, lights out, silence in camp" still being used for military funerals on both sides of the ocean is quite something, I´d say. Hands across the ocean, friends.

<>

Yes, I did wear one. There are several reasons.
It doesn't seem like much to do to show some appreciation of those who have given their lives or been wounded in war for our sake.
It helps raise money for a good cause, to care for those who have had their lives devastated by war.

Plus, it serves as a reminder of the cost of war.

Also, it is now part of our heritage in the UK (and other countries), although the history of its use shows that it was a Canadian who wrote a poem that inspired an American women to make silk poppies, which inspired a Frenchwoman to introduce the practice to the British in 1921:



"The poppy's significance to Remembrance Day is a result of Canadian military physician John McCrae's poem In Flanders Fields. The poppy emblem was chosen because of the poppies that bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I, their red colour an appropriate symbol for the bloodshed of trench warfare. An American YMCA Overseas War Secretaries employee, Moina Michael, was inspired to make 25 silk poppies based on McCrae's poem, which she distributed to attendees of the YMCA Overseas War Secretaries' Conference.[29] She then made an effort to have the poppy adopted as a national symbol of remembrance, and succeeded in having the National American Legion Conference adopt it two years later. At this conference, a Frenchwoman, Anna E. Guérin, was inspired to introduce the widely used artificial poppies given out today. In 1921 she sent her poppy sellers to London, England, where they were adopted by Field Marshall Douglas Haig, a founder of the Royal British Legion, as well as by veterans' groups in Canada, Australia and New Zealand."


As for the likes of Jon Snow who won't wear them as a protest against so-called poppy fascism, it seems like an attention seeking measure to me. There seem to be so many good reasons to wear one (lest we forget, to help those wounded in war, to show respect), and only daft ones (laziness, ignorance, not caring, lame protest against poppy fascism) not to.

Just another little personal note about the poppy and me:

as a youngster I spent two years at John McCrae Elementary school in Windsor, Ontario. Lieutenant Colonel McCrae's poem is something very deeply implanted in me. Sadly, the school is gone now, a victim of shrinking enrollment I presume, and has been replaced with houses.

After John McCrae school, I went to Edith Cavell Juniour High for a year. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Cavell That one has been converted into condominiums.


but I remember.

"On January 28, 1918, while still commanding No 3 Canadian General Hospital (McGill) at Boulogne, McCrae died of pneumonia. He was buried with full honours [6] in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission section of Wimereux Cemetery, just a couple of kilometres up the coast from Boulogne. McCrae's horse, "Bonfire", led the procession, his master's riding boots reversed in the stirrups. McCrae's gravestone is placed flat, as are all the others, because of the sandy soil."



In Flanders fields, the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below...
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields...
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands, we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields...

If you can find it, listen to The Dubliners singing Green Fields of France. And salute the youngsters from all WWI nations who donate their school holidays and come there to tend the cemetaries.

>> After John McCrae school, I went to Edith Cavell Juniour High...<<


Incredible.
Hard to believe you aren't Prime Minister or Governor General by now.
Or at least Deputy Minister of Truth, Love and Peace.



~jwf~

'Or at least Deputy Minister of Truth, Love and Peace.'



I thought I was.

Ah Geez, now I'm all too.
Easy up on those smileys, boyo!


~jwf~

did I go and forget my and then go out for a few hours?