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Bawbee
A bawbee was a Scotland, Scottish sixpence. The word means a debased copper coin, valued at six pence Scots (equal at the time to an English half-penny), issued from the reign of James V of Scotland to the reign of William III of England, William II of Scotland. They were hammered until 1677, when they were produced upon screw presses. Issues The bawbee was introduced by James V of Scotland, James V in 1538, valued at sixpence. These carry his 'I5' monogram flanking a crowned thistle, and a large saltire on the reverse with a central crown. There were also a smaller half bawbee and a quarter bawbee. Around the year 1544 James V's widow Mary of Guise minted bawbees at Stirling Castle, with an 'MR' cipher on the obverse and the Jerusalem cross, cross potent with crosslets of Lorraine (duchy), Lorraine on the reverse. The first bawbees of Mary, Queen of Scots, issued by the mint at Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh carried the cinquefoil emblems of the James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran, Reg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thistle
Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterised by leaves with sharp prickles on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae. Prickles can also occur all over the planton the stem and on the flat parts of the leaves. These prickles are an adaptation that protects the plant from being eaten by herbivores. Typically, an involucre with a clasping shape similar to a cup or urn subtends each of a thistle's flower heads. The comparative amount of spininess varies dramatically by species. For example, ''Cirsium heterophyllum'' has minimal spininess while ''Cirsium spinosissimum'' is the opposite. Typically, species adapted to dry environments have greater spininess. The term thistle is sometimes taken to mean precisely those plants in the tribe Cardueae (synonym: Cynareae), especially the genera '' Carduus'', ''Cirsium'', and ''Onopordum''. However, plants outside this tribe are sometimes called thistles. Biennial thistles are particularly noteworthy for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plack (coin)
A plack ( gd, plang) was an ancient Scottish coin of the value of four Scots pence or, by 1707, one-third of an English penny. Issues and nomenclature James III of Scotland started minting placks and two pence half-placks in Edinburgh before 1473. They were made of " billon", an alloy with a low silver content. The name of the coin comes from a Flemish word for a metal disc. James IV of Scotland, who reigned from 1488 to 1513, issued two kinds of four pence placks, both minted in billon. The first issue has "Lombardic" mediaeval-style lettering, and the second issue used Roman capitals. There were also half-placks, valued at two pence. The half-placks are now comparatively rare. Placks issued during the minority years of James V are slightly different in design from those of his father, and are sometimes called "Queen's Placks", referring to his mother Margaret Tudor. No half-placks were minted under James V. On 3 March 1574 Regent Morton issued a proclamation to "cry down" or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Devil
A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of the devil can be summed up as 1) a principle of evil independent from God, 2) an aspect of God, 3) a created being turning evil (a ''fallen angel''), and 4) a symbol of human evil. Each tradition, culture, and religion with a devil in its mythos offers a different lens on manifestations of evil.Jeffrey Burton Russell, ''The Devil: Perceptions of Evil from Antiquity to Primitive Christianity'', Cornell University Press 1987 , pp. 41–75 The history of these perspectives intertwines with theology, mythology, psychiatry, art, and literature developing independently within each of the traditions. It occurs historically in many contexts and cultures, and is given many different names— Satan, Lucifer, Beelzebub, Mephistopheles, Iblis—and at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Human Eye
The human eye is a sensory organ, part of the sensory nervous system, that reacts to visible light and allows humans to use visual information for various purposes including seeing things, keeping balance, and maintaining circadian rhythm. The eye can be considered as a living optical device. It is approximately spherical in shape, with its outer layers, such as the outermost, white part of the eye (the sclera) and one of its inner layers (the pigmented choroid) keeping the eye essentially light tight except on the eye's optic axis. In order, along the optic axis, the optical components consist of a first lens (the cornea—the clear part of the eye) that accomplishes most of the focussing of light from the outside world; then an aperture (the pupil) in a diaphragm (the iris—the coloured part of the eye) that controls the amount of light entering the interior of the eye; then another lens (the crystalline lens) that accomplishes the remaining focussing of light into ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Queen Regnant
A queen regnant (plural: queens regnant) is a female monarch, equivalent in rank and title to a king, who reigns ''suo jure'' (in her own right) over a realm known as a "kingdom"; as opposed to a queen consort, who is the wife of a reigning king; or a queen regent, who is the guardian of a child monarch and rules '' pro tempore'' in the child's stead, be it in sharing power or in ruling alone. She is sometimes called a woman king. A princess regnant is a female monarch who reigns ''suo jure'' over a " principality"; an empress regnant is a female monarch who reigns ''suo jure'' over an "empire". A queen regnant possesses and exercises sovereign powers, whereas a queen consort or queen regent shares her spouse's and/or child's rank and titles but does not share the sovereignty of her spouse or child. The husband of a queen regnant traditionally does not share the queen regnant's rank, title, or sovereignty. However, the concept of a king consort or prince consort is not ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nymph
A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label=Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are typically tied to a specific place or landform, and are usually depicted as maidens. They were not necessarily immortal, but lived much longer than human beings. They are often divided into various broad subgroups, such as the Meliae (ash tree nymphs), the Dryads (oak tree nymphs), the Naiads (freshwater nymphs), the Nereids (sea nymphs), and the Oreads (mountain nymphs). Nymphs are often featured in classic works of art, literature, mythology, and fiction. Since the Middle Ages, nymphs have been sometimes popularly associated or even confused with fairies. Etymology The Greek word has the primary meaning of "young woman; bride, young wife" but is not usually associated with deities in particular. Yet the etymology of the noun remains ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Goddess
A goddess is a female deity. In many known cultures, goddesses are often linked with literal or metaphorical pregnancy or imagined feminine roles associated with how women and girls are perceived or expected to behave. This includes themes of spinning (textiles), spinning, weaving, beauty, love, sexuality, motherhood, domesticity, creativity, and List of fertility deities, fertility (exemplified by the ancient mother goddess cult). Many major goddesses are also associated with magic (supernatural), magic, war, strategy, hunting, farming, wisdom, fate, earth, sky, power (social and political), power, laws, justice, and more. Some themes, such as Discordianism, discord or disease, which are considered negative within their cultural contexts also are found associated with some goddesses. There are as many differently described and understood goddesses as there are male, shapeshifting, or neuter gods. In some faiths, a sacred female figure holds a central place in religious prayer a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' calls him "arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history". Born in Lichfield, Staffordshire, he attended Pembroke College, Oxford until lack of funds forced him to leave. After working as a teacher, he moved to London and began writing for ''The Gentleman's Magazine''. Early works include ''Life of Mr Richard Savage'', the poems ''London'' and ''The Vanity of Human Wishes'' and the play ''Irene''. After nine years' effort, Johnson's '' A Dictionary of the English Language'' appeared in 1755, and was acclaimed as "one of the greatest single achievements of scholarship". Later work included essays, an annotated ''The Plays of William Shakespeare'', and the apologue ''The History of R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Boswell
James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (; 29 October 1740 (New Style, N.S.) – 19 May 1795), was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of his friend and older contemporary the English writer Samuel Johnson, which is commonly said to be the greatest biography written in the English language. A great mass of Boswell's diaries, letters and private papers were recovered from the 1920s to the 1950s, and their ongoing publication by Yale University has transformed his reputation. Early life Boswell was born in Blair's Land on the east side of Parliament Close behind St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh on 29 October 1740 (New Style, N.S.). He was the eldest son of a judge, Alexander Boswell, Lord Auchinleck, and his wife Euphemia Erskine. As the eldest son, he was heir to his family's estate of Auchinleck in Ayrshire. Boswell's mother was a strict Calvinist, and he felt that his father was cold to him. As a child, he was delica ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexander Boswell (songwriter)
Sir Alexander Boswell, 1st Baronet, (9 October 1775 – 27 March 1822) was a Scottish poet, antiquary, and songwriter. The son of Samuel Johnson's friend and biographer James Boswell of Auchinleck, he used the funds from his inheritance to pay for a seat in Parliament and then successfully sought a baronetcy for his political support of the government. However, his finances subsequently collapsed and after being revealed as the author of violent attacks on a rival, he died as a result of wounds received in a duel. Early life Boswell was the eldest son of James Boswell of Auchinleck and Margaret Montgomerie of Lainshaw, and grandson of Alexander Boswell, Lord Auchinleck. He was born in Auchinleck House. He attended Soho Academy in London in 1786 and Eton College from 1789 to 1792. Following his father's intention that he follow a legal career, he went to the University of Edinburgh in 1793. Shortly after his father's death he went to the University of Leipzig to study law, bu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
French Language
French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues d'oïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French ( Francien) largely supplanted. French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the ( Germanic) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to France's past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, most notably Haitian Creole. A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is an official language in 29 countries across multiple continents, most of which are members of the ''Organisation internationale de la Francophonie'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fife
Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i.e. the historic counties of Perthshire and Kinross-shire) and Clackmannanshire. By custom it is widely held to have been one of the major Pictish kingdoms, known as ''Fib'', and is still commonly known as the Kingdom of Fife within Scotland. A person from Fife is known as a ''Fifer''. In older documents the county was very occasionally known by the anglicisation Fifeshire. Fife is Scotland's third largest local authority area by population. It has a resident population of just under 367,000, over a third of whom live in the three principal towns, Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy and Glenrothes. The historic town of St Andrews is located on the northeast coast of Fife. It is well known for the University of St Andrews, the most ancient univers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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