"J. Teske" wrote-
"Reg Edwards" wrote -


Ah for the days when Britannia Ruled the Waves.

To wit: The words of W.S. Gilbert on this subject.

THE HOUSE OF PEERS

When Britain really ruled the waves--
(In good Queen Bess's time)
The House of Peers made no pretence
To intellectual eminence,
Or scholarship sublime;
Yet Britain won her proudest bays
In good Queen Bess's glorious days!

When Wellington thrashed Bonaparte,
As every child can tell,
The House of Peers, throughout the war,
Did nothing in particular,
And did it very well;
Yet Britain set the world ablaze
In good King George's glorious days!


And while the House of Peers withholds
Its legislative hand,
And noble statesmen do not itch
To interfere with matters which
They do not understand,
As bright will shine Great Britain's rays,
As in King George's glorious days!

From "Iolanthe"

For an opposing view on the beauty of "George" see the writings of
George Bernard Shaw on the subject. He hated his given name,
wrote it down phonetically [jorj] and thought that was most ugly.
I suspect he didn't use it in Morse very much. Shaw also
came up with "ghoti" for "fish"

The "gh" from "rough"
the "o" from "women"
the "ti" from any "-tion" suffix.

I suppose no one called him "Bernie."


Jon, W3JT (who literally fiddles through Sullivan's contributions to
this work)

================================================

Long live "Iolanthe" and all the many other often underated G & S operas.

I'm pleased to make a brief acquaintance with a fiddler familiar with the
works of Gilbert & Sullivan, which pair contributed in the long term far
more to the world of song and music than the Beatles. Incidentally, I
didn't fully appreciate the Beatles until after they had split up. No
doubt, some of their works, although relatively brief, will eventually be
placed alongside the works of Beethoven.

George Bernard Shaw wrote about the world in a far more serious manner than
the humorous, entertaining Gilbert. There's much to be leaned from both.
But GBS was a serious teacher in addition to being a playwrite. More
serious even than Shakespeare who was a sort of early Socialist.

Incidentally, it was Henry the Eighth's (six wives) Dissolution of the
Monastries which paid for the fleet of pirate ships available to Queen
Elizabeth 1st's navy. So began the British Empire on which the sun never
set.

And what sort of mess, based on piracy, have us English left behind in our
wake.?

Well, there's always the City of London and Wall Sreet.

But unfortunately similarly based.
----
Reg.