Random Ramblings

Random Ramblings: Personal observations on a wide variety of subjects. Photographs of creatures and things that are taken on seeing the unusual as well as everyday things.

Solitary snowdrop

There are now all sorts of shoots and sprouts pushing their way through the soil to greet the air. Along with the old perennial faithful’s, I now hopefully have one or two new offerings that were planted in the late Autumn and hopefully will flower this year. I also do have a mystery. In one of my flower tubs there has suddenly appeared a solitary single snowdrop. It has never been planted and I am left wondering where it could have come from.

Single solitary snowdrop 23.02

Snowdrop 23.02

Snowdrop - Galanthus nivalis

The Washing Song

 

As I was going to the fair,
I met a maid with golden hair.
The sweetest smile on rosebud lips;
The bluest eyes to sail the ships.
Where did she come from?
Where did she go?
I’ve often wondered ..
But I’ll never know.
With a heigh-nonny-nonny-nonny-nonny-nonny-no
With a heigh-nonny-nonny-nonny-no!

Shorter nights

It is wonderful to think that the nights are now getting shorter and the evenings lighter. The birds though are still flying right up until the very last snip of light is present in the sky. The other day it was so near dark that a late flying blackbird almost got mistaken for a very large bat, fortunately he tut-tut-tutted his single note warning call to tell the world that he was indeed a blackbird.

Blackbird

Jobs, job titles, occupations

I accidentally came across a site which listed the titles of jobs and what they were over the ages and found myself intrigued. It must have taken an unearthly amount of time and dedication to have found so many varieties of jobs and patiently list them all alphabetically. I felt that it is something that shouldn’t remain hidden and so I would like to share it with you. Please dive in, visit the site and be lost in this time machine of life a long time ago:

Here is a very tiny sample of this very special site – thank you to the person who put the whole list together – I hope all of you visit it and treasure it and enjoy it as much as I have .. The site is called http://www.worldthroughthelens.com enjoy!

ACATER: supplied food provisions, e.g. a ships chandler
ACCIPITRARY: falconer
ACCOMPTANT: accountant
ACCOUCHEUR or ACCOUCHEUS: assisted women in childbirth. A physician skilled in the art and science of managing pregnancy, labour and the puerperium (the time after delivery).
ACCOUTREMENT MAKER or ACCOUTRE: supplied military accessories.
ACKERMAN or ACREMAN: A man who ploughed or cultivated the land. An ox-herder or ploughman
ACTOR: A theatrical performer. Performed on stage to audiences. (In the past, only men could become actors. In the ancient and medieval world, it was considered disgraceful for a woman to go on the stage, and this belief continued right up until the 17th century.)
ACTUARY: kept public accounts of business
ADMINISTRATOR: directed the affairs of another
ADVERTISEMENT CONVEYANCER: sandwich board man
ADVOCATE DEPUTE: Scottish law officer who could act a public prosecutor
ADVOWEE: normally a nobleman, who had the right to present a clergyman to a benefice
AERONAUT: balloonist or a trapeze artist in the circus or music halls
AFFEEROR: Assessor official in the manorial courts who assessed the monetary penalty, collected taxes and dues
AGISTER: The official of the Royal Forests or in the New Forest it is the title for the one in charge of the ponies
ALABASTERER: worked with alabaster
ALBLASTERE: crossbow man
ALCHEMIST: medieval chemist who claimed to be able to turn base metals into gold