Y stands for ?

Ya Boo !

 Can You believe it ? I've wracked my brain and thought and thought, then Yawned and Yawned, Yet, I still can't think of a suitable subject starting with the letter Y ..... I thought of the lovely poem, 

 Lochinvar by Sir Walter Scott which I learned to recite, when I was quite Young.....Having checked, it seems that ballad is eight verses long, on reflection I really can't believe that I actually learned and recited all eight verses.

Lochinvar.

 Lo! Young Lochinvar is come out of the West.

 Through all the wide border his steed was the best.

 And save his good broadsword he weapons had none.

He rode all unarmed and he rode alone.

 So faithful in love and so dauntless in war.

 There never was a knight like Young Lochinvar.

As the poem is rather long I shall give you a short synopsis of this delightful prose.

Lochinvar was a gallant young knight who had asked for the hand in marriage of the Fair Ellen. Her father, however, disapproved of Young Lochinvar and refused. In the meantime Ellen was betrothed to another, when Young Lochinvar heard of this, he left the field of battle to save his beloved Ellen. 

Sadly, when he arrived at her home she was already married . Being a noble Knight he asked her to dance with him, then, when the opportunity arose,  he took her up into his arms, swept her up onto his trusty steed and rode off into the night. 

         

Should you wish to read all of  this delightful prose by  Sir Walter Scott. (and I hope you do) please just google it. It is fiction but loosely based on fact during the time of a famous battle in Scotland.

Thanks to our ever Youthful Denise for devising ABCW and Roger the XYZ guy who puts so much into the running of this Yum Yum meme.... I love it .

Best wishes to all  our ABCW  friends,
 new and present..
Di xx

 

X for XERXES.

Xerxes was a 5th Century king of Persia the son of Darius the Great. His attempt to conquer Greece ended unsuccessfully at the battle of Salamis.

This was a decisive victory for the Greeks. In his attempt to conquer Greece and the rest of Europe he built a canal across the isthmus where Mount Athos covered the land all  the way down to the sea.

 The canal was critical to Xerxes plan in an attempt to conquer Greece and the rest of Europe. Xerxes commissioned his General Mardonius to build a bridge across the Hellespont to assist the effort in conquering Europe.

 To the dismay of  Xerxes a fierce storm erupted and totally wrecked the bridge thus thwarting his plans. He was furious and ordered that all those that built the bridge be decapitated. Furthermore he ordered that the Hellespont should receive 300 lashes!

 Xerxes truly believed that flogging the Hellespont would be an indication of his wrath. he believed that the water intended to wrong him by destroying his bridges.

Xerxes and his men flogging the Hellespont .

Xerxes may have been an emergent Pantheist believing that God and nature are one and the same. Either way Xerxes  not only gave the Hellespont a good dose of it's own medicine but also, undoubtedly felt better after this exercise.

X stands for an  EXTRA Piece... a little 

 fun from Mr Edward Lear... one of my favourite writers.

 Without EXCEPTION I'm about to  EXIT this EXCRUCIATINGLY difficult letter to find a subject worthy enough to write about on this wonderful and EXTRAORDINARY  Meme created  by the EXCEPTIONALLY talented Denise who devised ABCW and our EXPERT administrator Roger for all he does and not forgetting the team of helpers who assist with the visiting of each participant.

Best wishes,

Di. ABCW team.

  

W stands for Witches..

My family like to tease me at times, as I apparently have an uncanny knack of foretelling the future. Often, when our three girls were younger I would foresee what they were 'up to' when they were doing things they shouldn't. Therefore, for this reason I was labelled a Witch.... A White witch that is, not an evil Black Witch. I don't regard this as 'Witchery' but a mother's intuition!

White Witches are good and often mistaken for being Earth Angels. Although there is a crucial difference between them, White Witches have a deep connection to nature and Earth angels are beings of air. Whilst Angels are mediators between heaven and earth, White Witches are beings of earth and are mediators between humans and elements. However both serve the greater good.

Mrs White Witch spying on youngest daughter drinking cider in woods with other friends when they should have been at a Girl Guides meeting !

  You should have seen the look of horror on their faces when I appeared from behind a tree !

She still doesn't know to this day how I knew she was there, easy really.....The Guide leader telephoned me as she 'smelt a rat', the four compatriots were noticeably missing for two weeks on the run... Oh boy! Were they in deep trouble.....I pushed the four of them into my car... after pouring the cider away. Youngest daughter was fuming with me..."how did you know where we  were"?  she sniffed, "Put it down to Mother's intuition" I replied, desperately trying not to laugh. "You're a Witch" she sniffed again.

 "Ah yes! but a White Witch"I retorted"( where lies another tale to tell).

I drove them all home in sullen silence to 'face the music', whilst the White Witch was stirring her cauldron to compose a suitable spell, to teach Astrid and her friends how to learn the error of their ways.......

 Needless to say, Girl Guides meetings were not missed again ! 

My sincere thanks to the Wise and Warm-hearted Denise for devising Abcw all those years ago.

It is Wonderful how it has achieved a World-wide status.

 Also, we must Whole- heartedly thank the ever Watchful Roger our administrator with his wealth of knowledge, doing what 

he does, so well.

 Finally our thanks must go out to the band of willing helpers, working  hard together, visiting  other sites and particularly, to WELCOME new contributors.

Best wishes  to all,

Di.

ABCW team.

ABC Wednesday: V stands for Venerable.

ABC Wednesday: V stands for Venerable.: The Venerable Bede The Venerable Bede is widely known as the greatest of all Anglo Saxon scholars, born in 673AD  He was a monk and was...