Looking at it again, you are correct, they were! Didn't notice the detail, just saw the key!
Yep, that's it. :) I used to love the ribbon of metal they produced, it was deadly sharp but it reminded me of the spring of a watch.
You still get them on corned beef tins and canned ham. I occasionally have a notion for corned beef hash, comfort food!
Anyway back to the teasels - they used be used for fulling (combing) woolen cloth to bring up the nap, they are also known as Fullers Teasel and are still used for this purpose to a very limited extent in special circumstances - high quality billiard table baize for example.
Once woollen cloth has been woven it needs to be processed further. Langland wrote circa 1370-90:
…Is not comely to wear,
Till it be fulled under fote, or in fulling stocks;
Washen well with water, and with teasels scratched,
https://www.exploringbuildinghistory.co.uk/the-teasel-in-the-english-woollen-cloth-industry/
I will have a think about another question.
Are we allowed to google the answer to the question?
That's a good question. We kinda leave it to individuals, some of us prefer not to (so some of us rarely answer anything 😀) but if you want to that's ok too.
At the moment in the interests of getting people involved in the forum I would say, yes, look it up if you wish, a bit of high speed lots of questions and answers would be fun.
And I owe a question.
There is a tree in Ireland that stands taller than Dublin's Liberty Hall and Niagara Falls. Which county and what kind?
Is it the giant redwood in Plassey, Limerick?
No, not according to my information 🙂
I thought it might be the cedar in Mount Usher (great place to visit!) but I checked but I ain't even close.
SPOILER>>>List of trees. https://www.monumentaltrees.com/en/heightrecords/irl/
Ok, this has to be an easy one? Doesn't it?
A prancing horse, seen on the side of a fighter plane, was subsequently colour changed to black out of respect for the pilot who was killed in action, and placed on a bright coloured background to become the symbol for what famous product?
Ah. Ferrari.
Yay, good one, yes that's correct. Your go!
What was the name of the above mentioned pilot?
Christmas Quiz Question.
What's a wassail and why would one go a wassailing?
It's a type of Christmas carolling/singing/drinking where people go door-to-door, bringing blessings for the new year to those they visit (or something to that effect). Isn't it?
By the way, the chap in question was Francesco Baracca, pictured here beside his plane, where the horse clearly features.
Yep but it's a bit more specific that just general Christmas carolling.
Wasn't there something called a Wassail Cup? I think spiced ale? So presumably the carollers got rewarded with drink? (Very loose interpretation 😀)
Ah, just looked it up, I'm heading in the right direction but not quite there so the question is still good!
Edit: 2 hours later and I am still warbling dirging 'Here we go a-wassailing come a'caroling...'. And I only know the first line (correction, the first two words of the first line) and the chorus so its getting a bit tedious 😀
It was a toast to someone's health, to wish them prosperity and so on, wasn't it? I know there's a version of the Gloucester Wassail that's sung by Loreena McKennitt and to me that's what they're doing.
Then again, there may be other traditions.
Sorry for being absent for a while. A wassel is a mulled cider cup and a wasseling an end of year calibration to the orchards where the wasselers would sing dance, drink cider and pour libations over the roots of the apple trees to encourage a good harvest the following year.
As someone who has been tipsy on cider on a few occasions and who has sung songs to the trees on more than one occasion (don't ask), I am enamored of this very civilized tradition.
As the numbers of answers/questions has dwindled of late could we revisit the criteria for the thread again? Lets drop the "Answer the question then ask one" and just let the questions run free. If you have an interesting question just ask it and if no answer if forthcoming with a correct answer then just explain the answer for all. Hopefuly this will generate more questions and bring others back to this long lived thread.
Would pouring libations of cider on the roots of apple trees not be a bit...unkind?
Only if you were not already in your cups. :)
I meant unkind to the trees' feelings! 😀
"Here's the fermented blood of your offsprins - happy new year!"
Just a silly question to bump this thread again - what's the difference between the Union Jack and the Union Flag?
The jack is a ship's flag and the other one is the usual flag not on a ship.
Thinks! Too late! Now I have to think of a question. Hmph.
But fair play for reviving the quiz!
