Pandora

The Whimsical Wordsmith

"What Pandora did not know was that, when she shut the lid of the jar so hastily, she for ever imprisoned inside one last daughter of Nyx. One last little creature was left behind to beat its wings hopelessly in the jar for ever. Its name was ELPIS, Hope."

Stephen Fry, The Greek Myths Retold

Listen to the legend here:

https://youtu.be/WgiX5Las3KE

Books

The Whimsical Wordsmith

"You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown ups, then you write it for children."

Madeleine L'Engle

Artwork: Child Reading, Jessie Willcox Smith

Myth-busting Monday: “Dogs descended from wolves”.

Schooling 4 Dogs

Myth-busting Monday: “Dogs descended from wolves”.

This is a misstatement. Dogs and wolves share a common ancestor, just like we share a common ancestor with chimps. That doesn’t mean we descended from modern day chimps, just like it doesn’t mean that dogs descended from modern day wolves. Clearly, we cannot use chimp behaviour as a means to understand human behaviour. So why would we use wolf behaviour as a means to study dog behaviour?

Wolves and domestic dogs do have very similar DNA to the extent that they can breed and produce viable offspring. However, dogs can also breed with coyotes, jackals and dingos. That doesn’t mean that their behaviour is the same, nor does it mean that our canine companions are ‘tame wolves’.

Domestic dogs did not evolve because humans reared primitive wolf cubs and selected for tamer and tamer wolves, this is a romanticised idea. Dogs very likely domesticated themselves. Wolves as we know them did not exist yet by the time that early domestic dogs began to appear. Primitive dogs had already split from the primitive wolflike ancestor and dogs and wolves were evolving on different paths. Primitive dogs became progressively more tame by associating more closely with human settlements, with the more bold and least aggressive dogs more able to gain access to human resources. The grey wolf we know today is just as modern as our domestic dogs, and they have both diverged from their common, primitive ancestor.

Modern wolves have become specialised cooperative predators and live very different lives to modern dogs, who evolved to become generalised scavengers and to display all the physiological features of domestication syndrome. There are huge differences between dogs and wolves beyond just genetics. Even wolf cubs that have been hand-reared by humans are dramatically different to domestic dogs of the same age.

Wolves are much more adept at problem-solving than domestic dogs and tend to be persistent in their tasks, whereas dogs are more likely to give up and defer to humans for help. Even hand-reared wolves will not look at humans for help. Domestic dogs are also better at following human gestures and attention cues than hand-reared wolves. Wolves also have a much shorter critical period for socialisation than dogs do and are not capable of forming strong attachments with humans or other species such as cats, like dogs can. Even at a few weeks old, hand-reared and extensively-socialised wolf cubs will show aggression and fear to humans, unlike dog puppies with the same rearing environment. Furthermore, even hand-reared wolf cubs will not engage in eye contact with humans, something that domestic dogs offer naturally.

The study on captive wolves that provoked the ‘dominance myth’ and still haunts dog behaviour to this day was never designed to be a way of interpreting natural wolf behaviour, never mind domestic dog behaviour. The wolves studied were in a highly stressful captive environment with no freedom to disperse, causing huge social conflict. The behaviour observed in the study does not even replicate wild wolf behaviour, never mind that of our domestic dogs. David Mech, the scientist behind this study, has talked openly about how wrongly his studies have been interpreted: https://youtu.be/tNtFgdwTsbU

More reading:
'Integrating social ecology in explanations of wolf–dog behavioral differences' – Marshall-Pescini et al

'A Simple Reason for a Big Difference: Wolves Do Not Look Back at Humans, but Dogs Do' – Mikloski et al

'Species-Specific Differences and Similarities in the Behavior of Hand-Raised Dog and Wolf Pups in Social Situations with Humans' – Gacsi et al.

A short history of the potato

The History of Wales

A short history of the potato, including its introduction to Wales;

The potato is now regarded as an essential component of the diet, providing starch, vitamin C, potassium as well as being an excellent source of fibre. But that has not always been the case; at first, they were treated with suspicion and considered to be of little nutritional value.

The potato is thought to have been first cultivated in the area between the south of Peru and the northeast of Bolivia over three thousand years ago, though scientists believe they may have grown wild in the region as long as 13,000 years ago.

1532 - The Spanish conquistadors first encountered the potato when they noted that the Incas had learned to preserve the potato for storage by dehydrating and mashing potatoes into a substance called chuñu which could be stored for up to 10 years. As well as using the potato for food, the Incas also thought that they made childbirth easier and also used it to treat injuries.

1570 - The potato arrived in Spain, although they were regarded with suspicion, unfit for human consumption and used only as animal fodder.

1589 (28th July) - Sir Walter Raleigh is reputed to have been the first to bring the potato to Ireland and planted them at his Irish estate at Youghal, near Cork. However in Ireland and the UK many Protestants would not plant potatoes, as they had no mention in the Bible and Catholics would only grow them if their seed potatoes were sprinkled with holy water and planted on a GoodFriday.

1776 - It was reported that potato cultivation was widespread at Milford Haven. Up until this date, the British diet had consisted primarily of dairy produce, bread and meat. Vegetables were seldom consumed, being regarded as worthless and even harmful.

1801 – 1851 - England and Wales experienced an unprecedented population explosion, due to the Industrial Revolution, their combined population doubling to almost 18 million. High yielding, easily prepared potato crops were the obvious solution to resulting increase in demand for food, which also helped mitigate the effects of such diseases as measles, dysentery, scurvy and tuberculosis. The higher birth rates and lower mortality rates that potatoes encouraged led to a tremendous population increase.

1801- 1809 - In the USA, potatoes did not become widely accepted until they received an aristocratic seal of approval from Thomas Jefferson, the Welsh speaking President, who served them to guests at the White House.

1845 - The Irish Potato Famine. The most dramatic example of the potato's potential to alter population patterns occurred in Ireland. By 1800, potatoes were the staple crop, and the population doubled by 1841. There was no introduction of industry or change in farming methods, simply the cultivation of the high-yielding potato. By the early 1840s, nearly half of the Irish population had become dependent on the potato. When the crop was blighted, many thousands starved.

1922 - The growing of Pembrokeshire Earlies on a field scale began.

1945 - After the Second World War, consequential market and political pressures resulted in an increase in the acreage of potatoes being grown in Pembrokeshire, the majority being sold to markets in the large population centres of South Wales and the Midlands.

1950's - 1970's – There was an increase in the growing of the early potato sector, with Pembrokeshire farmers selling the majority of early potatoes to markets in the Midlands and North of England to meet growing consumer demand.

1980's - Thirty Pembrokeshire growers came together to form a Potato Marketing Group which ensured that only potatoes of sufficient quality were supplied to the market.

1995 - A potato processing plant was built in Pembrokeshire to grade and prepare potatoes for the mass market.

The Pembrokeshire potato is a brand that is in strong demand; it is regarded as a quality product with a distinctive taste that is used by many top chefs and appears as a named ingredient on their menus.

Pembrokeshire Earlies is the name given to immature potatoes of the solanum tuberosum species of the Solanaceae family. They are small in size because the potatoes are young when harvested. The potato is round or oval in shape with a soft skin and distinctive strong nutty flavour. It has a creamy texture and is a bright white colour. The first crop in May is sold with the soil still on in order to protect the soft skin of the potatoes. As the season progresses the skin hardens sufficiently to allow washing. Pembrokeshire Earlies are harvested from the beginning of May until the end of July, after which they are called main crop potatoes. There are particular skills associated with growing Pembrokeshire Earlies, with stones being left in the soil to aid warming. Hand picking is necessary to minimise damage during the first two weeks of the harvest when the potatoes are very soft. As the season progresses, the potatoes harden sufficiently to allow careful machine harvesting.

It is the short growing time and the mild climate of Pembrokeshire generated by the North Atlantic Drift of The Gulf Stream, which helps keep the western coast of Great Britain a couple of degrees warmer than the eastern side. This minimises the risk of frosts damaging the emerged crop, enabling Pembrokeshire Earlies to be grown and harvested earlier than in most areas in the UK.

The History of Wales

The Window tax was abolished in England and Wales on 24th July 1851.

'Daylight robbery'

The Window Tax was first introduced in 1696, during the reign of William III, when Britain was burdened with expenses from The Glorious Revolution of 1688 and the costs of re-coinage necessitated by the miserable 'state' of existing coins, which had been reduced by clipping small portions of the high-grade silver coins. It was levied at two shilling on properties with up to ten windows, rising to four shillings for houses with between ten and twenty windows. It was extremely unpopular and to avoid paying the tax some houses from the period can be seen to have windows bricked-up.

The term 'daylight robbery' is thought to have originated from the window tax as it was described by some as a 'tax on light'.

Nature

Flint Castle

The History of Wales

Construction of Flint Castle was started on July 25th 1277

1277 - Edward I of England began an invasion of Gwynedd by marching his forces up the Welsh side of the Dee estuary and establishing a base at Flint. As part of the resulting Treaty of Aberconwy, Perfeddwlad came under English control and Edward began the construction of Flint Castle. Edward chose to build a castle at Flint because it was strategically positioned on the Dee estuary for easy access by sea, it was only a day’s march from Chester and to defend a low tide crossing point of the Dee to the Wirral.

1282 - Llywelyn ap Gruffudd's brother, Dafydd, attacked the castles of Hawarden, Flint and Rhuddlan. As a consequence of his actions, Edward I of England invaded Gwynedd which resulted in the subjugation of Wales.

1284 - At the Statute of Rhuddlan, Tegeingl became the lordship of Englefield and Flint Castle became one of Edward's 'Iron Ring' of fortresses defending his hold over North Wales. The county of Flintshire was created with Flint as the county town. Edward I granted Flint its first town charter (the first in Wales) and created it a Free Borough with the Constable of the Castle, Reginald de Grey made first Mayor of the new Borough.

1294 - Flint Castle and town were attacked and burned during the revolt of Madog ap Llywelyn against the rule of Edward I.

1399 - King Richard II surrendered at Flint Castle before his subsequent deposition and death.

1400 - After being proclaimed as Prince of Wales, Owain Glyndwr and his followers proceeded to sack the English controlled towns of Denbigh, Rhuddlan, Flint, Hawarden, Holt, Oswestry and Welshpool.

1647 - During the English Civil War, Flint Castle was captured by the Parliamentarians after a three-month siege. The castle was then slighted to prevent its reuse in the conflict.