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Posted by Miriam on 2007-09-17 10:59:04 +0000

Very quaint! So Jane Austin.

Posted by tgl on 2007-09-17 15:42:50 +0000

Not to mention, Jane Austen.

Posted by pchippy on 2007-09-17 23:02:49 +0000

In my first visit to Winchester Cathedral I trod right over her (as many visitors do) without even noticing: On my second visit, I found the memorial. Not easy to do, unless you have a guide--the cathedral is the longest in England, and its aisles are full of stones commemorating doctors, lawyers, military heroes, etc. They also have the remains of many of the Anglo-Saxon kings of England, and the shrine of St. Swithun, and the bones of King Canute and his wife Emma. Canute (or Knut) was the Danish king who ruled England and is famous for having failed to turn back the tide--literally. His courtiers and sycophants were flattering him by suggesting that he was divine, so he had his chair carried down to the ocean at low tide, and he sat there and commanded the tide not to come in, just to prove a point. As for the spelling of Austen's last name--it's OK, Miriam. She herself went through her entire life spelling "friend" "freind."

Posted by tgl on 2007-09-18 01:37:42 +0000

pchippy, my fiend.

Posted by Miriam on 2007-09-18 04:03:26 +0000

Thank you. I could make the argument that I was trying for the American vs. English spelling.