Popular Science Monthly/Volume 39/June 1891/Survivals from Marriage by Capture
< Popular Science Monthly | Volume 39 | June 1891
The Natchez Indians
Popular Science Monthly Volume 39 June 1891 (1891)
Survivals from Marriage by Capture by Alfred Burdon Ellis
The Characteristics of Insects
related portals: Marriage.
889118Popular Science Monthly Volume 39 June 1891 — Survivals from Marriage by Capture1891Alfred Burdon Ellis
SURVIVALS FROM MARRIAGE BY CAPTURE.
By Lieutenant-Colonel A. B. ELLIS.
AMONG those races of man which have made the least progress in civilization we find that the men of a group or community are in the habit of procuring wives by seizing and carrying off the women of other groups or communities. It is the practice, for instance, among the Fuegians, the Australians, the tribes of the Amazon, some of the aborigines of the Deccan, several of the Malay peoples of the Indian Archipelago, many African tribes, and other peoples too numerous to be here given in detail. Shortly summarized, it may be said that the practice is caused by the scarcity of women, which results from female infanticide, which in its turn is due to the struggle for existence, necessarily hard among savage races who trust wholly to the chase and the spontaneous fruits of the earth for their supply of food. Wherever man lives under such precarious conditions each extra mouth to fill becomes a matter for serious consideration, and as male infants, future hunters and braves, are of more value to the group than female, the latter are slain in a larger proportion. As man emerges from these conditions and cultivates the soil or domesticates animals, the struggle for existence becomes less hard, infanticide diminishes, and the sexes become more equally balanced. But the former condition lasts long. It is probably within the mark to say that several centuries passed away before man commenced to till the soil, and many more before he began to domesticate animals; and during the whole of this time, to judge the past by the present, he probably obtained wives by capture from his neighbors.
Now, after man had for a great number of generations been in the habit of associating marriage with a violent abduction of women, he would inevitably come to regard the two as necessary complements of each other. Man is a creature of habit, and continually perseveres in old customs when their necessity has long passed away, and when even their meaning and intention have been forgotten. Hence, as he has been in the habit of seizing women for wives, he would, even when the necessity for violence no longer existed, still continue to preserve at least the form of it; regarding the acquisition of a wife without some semblance of force as improper, because unusual, and at variance with old custom. As time passed on, this form, or rite, of capture would necessarily become disintegrated, passing from an actual capture to a symbolic capture, and finally dwindling away into a variety of minor ceremonies. These, which we may call forms of survival from marriage by capture, it is the purpose of this paper to classify. They are numerous, examples being forthcoming from every part of the world, and from peoples in every phase of civilization. This, however, is as might be expected, for it is certain that almost every race of man must have passed through the initial stages which gave rise to the practice. The marriage by capture de facto, it must be observed, is a violent abduction, regarded as an act of hostility. With this class it is not proposed to deal. The hostile abduction is the actuality; and what we are now about to inquire into are the ceremonial abductions, and practices derived therefrom, the symbols of the former reality.
The different forms of survival so blend one into another, and two are so frequently found combined together, that it is impossible to make a classification that will meet every case; but what it is here proposed to do is to group the forms under general heads, from which the more disintegrated varieties may be traced. For this purpose it will be convenient to divide them into two groups, viz.: (1) Forms which precede the consummation of the marriage; (2) forms which follow it. These two groups may again be divided, the first into (a) forms symbolizing a conflict between opposing parties or clans; (b) forms symbolizing a capture of a woman, either by a party or by an individual; and (c) bride-racing; and the second into (d) forms symbolizing an escape or attempt to escape from the husband; and (e) forms limiting social intercourse between the young couple and their relatives by marriage.
The form which approaches nearest to the reality, and which is therefore probably the most archaic, is that in which the bridegroom, assisted by his friends, attempts to seize and carry off the bride, the seizure being resisted by her friends. There is a good deal of violence, and the bridegroom is not always successful. We find a good example of this form in Captain Johnstone's Maoria.[1] Among the New Zealanders an indispensable preliminary to every description of tawa, or expeditio—whether a tawa muru, a tawa to confiscate, a tawa tango, a tawa for carrying off a woman, or a tawa toto, a tawa to kill or destroy—was to send and give notice, otherwise it would have been stigmatized as a koharu, a murder, or act of treachery. The notice once given, the march of the raiding party might follow immediately, or be delayed for an indefinite time, which was sometimes done with the view of throwing the enemy off his guard. In the tawa tango described by Captain Johnstone, a young man of the Ngatiroa tribe had fallen in love with a girl of the Mania tribe, and, as there was no reason to hope that a demand for the hand of the lady would prove successful, the chief of the Ngatiroa was induced, through the influence of a new wife, the sister of the suitor, to proclaim a tawa tango. An ambassadress was sent to give notice to the Mania tribe, and two large canoes full of men accompanied her. The ambassadress saw the tawa received at a friendly village, where it was arranged it should remain for a day or two, and then went on to the settlement of the Mania. There she was received with great respect and distinction, nor was there the slightest change made in the manner of her hosts when she announced that a tawa would arrive the next day or the day after to carry off a certain maiden. "Of whom did the tawa consist?" she was asked; and when the Mania learned that it was only composed of about one hundred and sixty men in two canoes, they felt rather offended at so small a tawa coming to attempt the abduction of one of their maidens. However, in the mean time, and without the knowledge of the ambassadress, who would have been obliged by custom to declare the true strength of the party, the tawa had been reenforced by seven more canoes full of men, which had started a few hours after the first two. The warriors in these canoes reached the Mania settlement and hid in a gully close below the pa, or stockaded fort, leaving the two original canoes to approach alone. When the Mania saw only these two canoes, they opened the gates of their pa, and the chiefs, having marshaled their men, performed the customary dance of welcome. The Ngatiroa who had landed below the pa, formed in a long, oblong phalanx, the rear of which rested upon the gully in which their friends lay concealed, and, upon the conclusion of the dance of the Mania, commenced their share in the performance. The oblong wedge, the Maori order of battle, advanced singing in a low tone, and gesticulating in what they would have called a mild manner. On they advanced, the movement raising no suspicion in the breasts of their adversaries, it being part of the customary ritual of the war dance, until the thin end of the phalanx overlapped the Mania, and stood between them and the gates of the pa. Suddenly a change was visible in the antics of the Ngatiroa; their gesticulations became violent, their eyes protruded, their heads were thrown back, and their throats uttered a mighty shout. As the cry passed their lips, a stream of warriors rushed up the banks of the gully and joined the cluster of their comrades, now swollen to a compact mass of six hundred men. When the Mania realized the ruse practiced upon them, they never for a moment thought of giving up the fair cause of the incursion without a struggle. Into the pa poured both parties—the Mania to rally round the girl; the Ngatiroa, except the small party expressly told off to carry away the lady, seeking every man an opponent to wrestle with. Each party was anxious to avoid bloodshed, both being "Tribes of the River." The uproar was therefore greater than had they been engaged in actual warfare, it being more difficult to master a man by strength of muscle than to knock a hole through him. At length superior numbers prevailed. Those who fought around the lady were dragged away; she was roughly seized, and such a tugging and hauling ensued that, had she not been to the manner born, she must have been rent in pieces. At last but one young man, a secret admirer of the lady, retained his hold. An active young fellow, he had so twisted his hands and arms into the girl's hair, and fought so vigorously with his legs, that he could not be removed until he was knocked down senseless. The contest ended, and the bride being borne in triumph to the canoes, both parties proceeded to pick up their weapons and smooth their feathers. Everything had been conducted in the most honorable and satisfactory manner. The Ngatiroa had duly declared their intention, and, if they had surprised the Mania, the latter had learned a lesson, and had only succumbed to superior numbers. No lives had been lost; only a few bones broken, which would soon mend, and it would be their turn next time. In the mean time their own characters required them to fulfill the duties of hospitality, and the tawa was requested to remain until food was cooked and placed before it,
The Wa Kamba (Africa) observe a form of capture very similar to the foregoing. Among them the bridegroom is required to carry off his bride by force after the preliminaries are completed. This is attempted by the help of all the friends and relatives that the man can muster, and resisted by the friends and relatives of the woman, and the conflict now and then terminates in the discomfiture of the unlucky husband, who is reduced to the necessity of waylaying his wife when she may be alone in the fields or fetching water from the well.
In these examples resistance is offered by both the men and women of the bride's party, even to the extent of causing a failure of the marriage, at all events for a time. The first disintegration, therefore, appears to be when such resistance is still offered, but where, if it be successful, the bride is finally produced and given up to the party of the bridegroom.
This form is observed by the Kookies of the northeastern frontier of India, of whom Colonel McCulloch says: "When they go to bring away the bride, after having paid for her, they usually receive more kicks than halfpence from the village—that is, they usually get well beaten. But, after the fight is over, the woman is quietly brought from her home and given to the party that came for her, outside the village gate." The custom of the Karens (Burmah), mentioned by Sir John Bowring, is a survival, in a disintegrated condition, of this or of the foregoing form. He says, "A candidate for the hand of a virgin must escalade her cabin, and is expected to overthrow a strong man placed in her defense."[2] A still more disintegrated form is found in Turkey, where the bridegroom is chased by the guests, who slap him on the back and pelt him with their slippers. A curious variation of this ceremony survives among the Arab tribes of Upper Egypt, where, at the marriage feast, "the unfortunate bridegroom undergoes the ordeal of whipping by the relations of his bride." Sometimes the punishment is exceedingly severe, it being administered with a whip of hippopotamus-hide; but, if the bridegroom wishes to be considered a man of gallantry, he must receive the chastisement with an expression of enjoyment. After the flogging, the bride is led to the bridegroom's residence.[3]
The next disintegration appears in those cases in which resistance is offered only by the women of the bride's party, the men remaining passive. This form prevails among the Khonds in the hill tracts of Orissa (India). The bridegroom, assisted by a party of twenty or thirty young men, carries off the bride, in spite of the desperate attacks of her female friends, who hurl stones and bamboos at the head of the devoted bridegroom, until he reaches the confines of his own village. The same form is observed by the Kolams of the Pindi Hills (India), by the Mosquito Indians (Central America), and by the Eskimos of Cape York. A variation is found in the kingdom of Futa, Senegal, West Africa, where the bridegroom and party come to the house of the bride by night and endeavor to carry her off. In this they are resisted by all the girls of the village. A very disintegrated form of this variety seems to have been in vogue at royal marriages in Ceylon. Dr. Davy tells us that the king and queen threw perfumed balls and squirted scented water at each other. In this the wives of the chiefs took part, and were at liberty to pelt and bespatter even royalty itself as much as they pleased.[4]
We pass now from cases in which actual violence is offered to those in which violence is merely simulated. The first of these is that in which there is a sham fight between the opposing parties. This form is very widely distributed. Colonel Dalton mentions that, among the Kols of central India, when the price of a girl has been arranged, the bridegroom and a large party of his friends of both sexes enter with much singing and dancing and sham fighting into the village of the bride, where they meet the bride's party, and are hospitably entertained.[5] The Malays of the Strait of Macassar have first a sham, fight outside the town, then a feigned resistance at the gates, and afterward, from point to point, a show of disputing the advance of the bridegroom and his party, until they have made their way to the bride's house.[6] In Abyssinia, the party of the bridegroom go through a sham fight outside the bride's house, then enter it, and the bridegroom, taking the bride, hurries her out and hands her over to some of his friends. Returning to the house again, he then takes part in the deball, or war-dance, which is a simulated combat with guns, spears, and swords, and in which the parties of the bridegroom and bride are ranged on opposite sides.[7] "In New Zealand," says the Rev. R. Taylor,[8] "even in the case when all were agreeable, it was still customary for the bridegroom to go with a party, and appear to take her away by force, her friends yielding her up after a feigned struggle." In Berry, France, the house of the bride is barricaded, and a sham assault of it takes place. After some parley the bridegroom's party is admitted, and a struggle for the possession of the hearth is then simulated. In Little Russia, in peasant weddings, when the bride's tresses have been unplaited and the cap is being put on her head, she is bound to resist with all her might, and even to fling her cap angrily on the ground. Then the groomsmen, at the cry of "Boyars to your swords!" pretend to seize their knives and make a dash at the bride, who is thereupon surrounded by her friends, who come rushing as if to her rescue.[9]
It is interesting to note that this form survived among the Celtic inhabitants of the British Isles until very recent times. Lord Karnes describes it as it existed in his day among the Welsh, as follows: "On the morning of the wedding-day the bridegroom, accompanied by his friends on horseback, demands the bride. Her friends, who are likewise on horseback, give a positive refusal, on which a mock scuffle ensues. The bride, mounted behind her nearest kinsman, is carried off, and is pursued by the bridegroom and his friends with loud shouts. It is not uncommon on such an occasion to see two or three hundred sturdy Cambro-Britons riding at full speed, crossing and jostling, to the no small amusement of the spectators. When they have fatigued themselves and their horses, the bridegroom is suffered to overtake the bride. He leads her away in triumph, and the scene is concluded with feasting and festivity."[10] Sir Henry Piers's description of it, as observed by the Irish, is: "On the day of bringing home, the bridegroom and his friends ride out and meet the bride and her friends at the place of meeting. Being come near each other, the custom was of old to cast short darts at the company that attended the bride, but at such a distance that seldom any hurt ensued. Yet it is not out of the memory of man that the Lord of Hoath on such an occasion lost an eye. The custom of casting darts is now obsolete."[11] Among the Highlanders of Scotland it was the custom for the parties of the bride and bridegroom to go in procession to a point of meeting midway between their dwellings, and, when they came near each other, to fire volleys at one another from pistols and muskets.
The next disintegration seems to be found in those cases in which all show of resistance to the party of the bridegroom is limited to closing the house against it. Several varieties of this form occur among the southern Slavs. In Croatia, the bride and her friends being assembled, all the doors of the house are closed to prevent a surprise by the bridegroom's party. The assembled guests are on the alert, and, as soon as they hear the party approaching, all the lights are put out and all keep silence. The visitors knock repeatedly without getting any answer, but at length they advance various pretexts to get admission, and at last, after a long parley, are admitted. In Dalmatia and Bulgaria the door is similarly closed against the bridegroom's party, and admission only obtained on payment. In Transylvania the doors are closed, and the bridegroom must, as best he can, climb over into the court, open the door from within, and admit his companions.
We now come to those forms in which no resistance, either real or feigned, is offered by the party of the bride, who merely simulate grief or terror, and it is the party of the bridegroom alone which makes a show of violence. This was the form observed by the Romans in plebeian marriages, and a full description of it is given in the Golden Ass of Apuleius, in the story of the Captive Damsel, where the bride, describing how she was carried off, says that a band of men, armed with swords, rushed in, and, without meeting with any resistance from the inmates, tore her from her mother. The Circassians have the same ceremony, it being the custom to give a feast, in the midst of which the bridegroom rushes in and, with the help of some companions, carries off the bride by force. This form, in a very disintegrated condition, is found in the isle of Skye and the west Highlands of Scotland, in the ceremony known as "stealing the bride." It occurs in the middle of a reel. The groomsman and bridesmaid slip into the place in the dance of the bridegroom and bride, while the bridegroom suddenly jerks the bride out of the room.
The foregoing are the general types of the forms of survival in which the party of the bride is represented. We have traced the various stages of disintegration from actual resistance offered by both the men and women of the bride's party, to the offering of such resistance terminated by a surrender of the bride, and then to resistance being offered by the women only. Thence, from feigned resistance evinced by a sham fight, it passed to the mere closing of the house, and finally to the form in which no resistance is simulated. The semblance of hostility to the party of the bride gradually dwindles away till it is reduced to merely tapping the father and mother of the bride on the shoulder with a small stick, as is done by the Samoyeds, or to the pretense of tearing the bride from the arms of her mother, as is the custom in Sardinia. To come down to ourselves, it is very probable that the practice of throwing an old shoe after the departing bride and bridegroom is a last surviving relic of the form of a struggle between opposing parties.
It is difficult to say to what class such ceremonies as that observed by the Mundaris of Bengal, where an arrow is fired through the loophole formed by the arm of the bride as she holds a pitcher of water on her head, and by the Romans, where the bride's hair was parted with a spear, belong; but the use of weapons seems to justify us in regarding them as very disintegrated survivals of our subhead (a). Perhaps the custom observed in Anglo-Saxon marriages, where the father delivered the bride's shoe to the bridegroom, and the latter tapped her on the head with it, is also one.
We come now to our subhead (b). The forms of capture of this class seem to be symbolic of a capture of a woman by surprise or stratagem. In these, though the bride is carried off with real or pretended violence, her friends offer no opposition and feign no grief. It is no longer a struggle between clans, and there is no longer a party supporting the bride.
First of this class is that form in which the girl is carried off nolens volens. The consent of the parents to the marriage has been obtained, and all the preliminaries settled, but in most cases the girl has received no warning of what is about to take place. Sometimes, of course, she may have received a hint, but in this form she is not necessarily a consenting party, and her resistance is violent. Among some peoples it is usual for the bridegroom to be assisted by one or two friends; among others he carries out the abduction alone. The first represents capture by a war party, the second by an individual, but the latter form is comparatively rare.
Of cases in which the bridegroom is assisted by his companions we find examples—1. Among the Mandingo tribes settled along the banks of the river Gambia, in West Africa, where, after the "head" or purchase money has been paid to the parents, the bridegroom, aided by two or three friends, seizes the girl while she is engaged in her ordinary domestic vocations, and, in spite of her frantic struggles, carries her off. 2. Among the Bedouin Arabs of the Sinai Peninsula, where, after all the arrangements have been made with the parents, the bridegroom, assisted by two friends, seizes and carries off the bride. "If she entertains any suspicion of their designs," says Burckhardt, "she defends herself with stones, and often inflicts wounds on the young men, even though she does not dislike the lover; for, according to custom, the more she struggles, bites, kicks, cries, and strikes, the more she is applauded ever after by her own companions."[12] 3. Among the Indians of the Amazon Valley, of whom Wallace says: "When a young man wishes to have the daughter of another Indian, his father sends a message to say he will come, with his son and relations, to visit him. The girl's father guesses what it is for, and, if he is agreeable, makes preparations for a grand festival. This lasts, perhaps, two or three days, when the bridegroom's party suddenly seize the bride and hurry her off to their canoes. No attempt is made to prevent them, and she is then considered as married."[13] Of cases in which the bridegroom is unaided we have an example among the Fijians, with whom it is clear that the consent of the girl is not first obtained, for, says Mr. Williams, "on reaching the home of her abductor, should she not approve of the match, she runs to some one who can protect her; if, however, she is satisfied, the matter is settled forthwith."[14]
The first disintegration of this form is seemingly when the bride is a consenting party, knows well enough what is about to take place, and merely offers a feigned resistance. This appears to be the form observed by the southern tribes of Tierra del Fuego, where, according to Captain Fitzroy,[15] the youth, having obtained the consent of the girl's relations, and having provided himself with a canoe, watches an opportunity and carries off the bride. If she is unwilling, she hides herself in the woods until her admirer is heartily tired of looking for her and gives up the pursuit. The Spartans also observed this form. In most cases the bride is carried to the house of the bridegroom, but among the Indians in the neighborhood of Concepcion, the bridegroom carries off the bride to the woods, the happy pair returning home after a day or two. Among the Tangutans (Mongolia) wives may be abducted. Lieutenant-Colonel Prejevalsky says: "They have a curious custom of stealing their neighbors' wives, of course not without their secret assent. In such cases the stolen wife belongs to her ravisher, who pays the husband a good sum as compensation."[16]
The next disintegration is, perhaps, to be found in those cases in which the women seize the bride and drag her to her suitor's house. This form occurs among the Greenlanders.
The next is where the violence, or feigned violence, takes the form of tearing the bride's clothes. This form is found among the Tunguses and Kamchadales, of whom Ernan says a matrimonial engagement is not considered as definitely concluded till the lover has got the better of his bride "and has torn her clothes."[17] A variety of this form is found in Circassia, where an important part of the marriage ceremony consists in the bridegroom drawing his dagger and cutting open the bride's corset.
The next is where the appearance of violence is still further eliminated, and custom only requires the bridegroom to carry his bride to his house. This form is observed by the Indians of Canada, where the bridegroom takes his wife on his back, and, amid the plaudits of the spectators, carries her to his tent.[18] The Western tribes of North America "regard it as an important part of the marriage ceremony that the bride should be carried to her husband's dwelling. In Mexico, also, the husband took the bride on his back and carried her a short distance. Bruce, in Abyssinia, observed an identical custom."[19] Speke witnessed a similar ceremony at Karague, East Africa, and this form is also observed by the Susus, West Africa, with whom, however, the bride is sometimes carried on the back of a woman.
From carrying the bride on the back, to simply lifting or forcing her over the threshold of the bridegroom's house, the transition is easy. In the patrician marriages of the Romans the bridegroom had to carry the bride over the threshold of the house, and among the Bedouin Arabs it is necessary for the bridegroom to force the bride to enter his tent. A similar custom existed among the French, at least in some provinces, in the seventeenth century. At Sparta, after the actual carrying off of the bride had fallen into desuetude, the bridegroom had to take up the bride and carry her from one room to another. In China, before the bridal procession starts, the young sisters and female friends of the bride come and weep with her till it is time to leave the house of her parents; and when the procession reaches the bridegroom's house the bride is carried into the house by a matron, and lifted over a pan of charcoal at the door. A variation of this form is found in North Friesland, where a young man, called the bride-lifter, lifts the bride upon the wagon in which the married couple are to travel to their house. The last stage is reached in the form seen by Denham at Sockna, North Africa. The bride is taken on a camel to the bridegroom's house, and, upon arriving there, "it is necessary for her to appear greatly surprised, and refuse to dismount; the women scream, the men shout, and she is at length persuaded to enter."[20]
Finally, an affectation of grief on the part of the bride is the sole demonstration of a feigned compulsion. Such a case was witnessed by Mrs. Atkinson, in Siberia,[21] It is there the custom for the bride to be taken to the bath on the eve of her wedding-day by her young companions, and in this case the road to the bath led past the house where Mrs. Atkinson was stopping. Startled by most heart-rending sobs, that lady hastened to the gate and found a bride being supported by her young friends to the bath. She thought it was a case in which a girl had been forced to accept an unwelcome suitor, and was filled with compassion. When the girl returned from the bath she was still sobbing and quite bowed down with grief. An hour or two later, Mrs. Atkinson went to the bride's cottage and found the damsel eating supper, her face radiant with joy. She asked if she had done it well, and Mrs. Atkinson then learned, to her great surprise, that the weeping was part of the ceremony.
We now come to that form of survival which has been termed "bride-racing," and which we have placed under subhead (c). The least disintegrated variety of this form of capture is that in which there is a bona fide chase, out of doors, and which does not always end in favor of the lover.
We find this form among the Calmucks, with whom, says Dr. Clarke, the ceremony of marriage is performed on horseback. "A girl is first mounted, who rides off in full speed. Her lover pursues; if he overtakes her she becomes his wife, and the marriage is consummated on the spot; after this she returns with him to his tent. But it sometimes happens that the woman does not wish to marry the person by whom she is pursued; in this case she will not suffer him to overtake her. We were assured that no instance occurs of a Calmuck girl being thus caught, unless she have a partiality to the pursuer."[22] This is slightly varied among the Kirghiz, the young woman, who is pursued by all her suitors, being armed with a formidable whip, which she does not hesitate to use if overtaken by a lover who is disagreeable to her. Among the Turkomans the bride carries in her lap the carcass of a sheep or goat, which the pursuer has to snatch from her. The Malays, who are eminently an aquatic people, carry out this ceremony on the water. The bride is given a canoe and a double-bladed paddle, and allowed a start of some distance; the suitor, similarly equipped, then follows in chase. If he succeeds in overtaking her, she becomes his wife; if not, the match is broken off.[23] Among the wild tribes of the Malay Peninsula the chase takes place in the forest, on foot.
The first modification of this form is when the chase takes place in a set race-course, instead of in the open country. This is done by the Malays when there is no stream suitable for the boat-chase near at hand. A circle of a certain size is formed, the damsel, stripped of all but a waistband, is given a start of half the circle, and, if she succeeds in running three times round before her suitor catches her, the marriage is off. Among the Koriaks (northeastern Asia) the race takes place in a large tent, containing numerous separate compartments, called pologs, arranged in a continuous circle around its inner circumference; and the girl is clear of the marriage if she can run through the series of pologs without being caught. In this case the women of the encampment throw every obstacle in the way of the bridegroom—try to trip him up, and strike him with switches; so that here we have a combination of bride-racing with that form of capture in which resistance is offered by the women of the bride's party. A man has scarcely any chance of succeeding unless the woman wishes it. In a chase witnessed by Mr. Kennan[24] the bride distanced the lover, but waited for him in the last polog.
From this variety the form passes through various stages of disintegration. Among the Aenezes (Arabs) the girl runs from the tent of one friend to another. Here, however, she is caught by the women, and conducted to the tent of the bridegroom, who stands at the entrance and forces her in. Among the Oleepa Indians of California the girl runs away and hides herself. "The lover searches for her, and, should he succeed in finding her twice out of three times, she belongs to him. Should he be unsuccessful, he waits a few weeks and then repeats the performance. If she again elude his search, the matter is decided against him."[25] Among the Ahitas, or Aetas, the Negrito race of the Philippine Islands, the girl is sent away into the forest, by her parents, before sunrise. She has an hour's start, after which the lover goes in search of her. If he finds her before sunset, the marriage is acknowledged; if not, the affair is at an end. Among the Wateita (eastern Africa) the bride hides with distant relatives. Finally, the form becomes merely an elopement of the happy pair, as among the Soligas (India), where the girl and her lover run away to some neighboring village.
The survivals which follow are in such a disintegrated condition that it is impossible to decide to which class they may properly be referred. It will have been observed that, in all the ceremonies that have been described, the bridegroom is pretended to be regarded as an enemy, a person to be avoided. Hence we can understand the Abyssinian custom described by Mr. Mansfield Parkyns,[26] who says that, as soon as a young man has become betrothed to a girl, he may not see her face. If he should chance to see her by stealth, she covers her face, screams, runs away, and hides; and this though the greatest intimacy may have prevailed between them before the betrothal. A modification of this custom is found in Ceylon, where, if a young man wishes to see the bride whom his father has selected for him, he must go clandestinely. If he enters the house it must be under a feigned name, and if he sees his intended he must not address her.[27]
If the bridegroom is to be regarded as hostile to the bride, he must, by a similar fiction, be regarded as hostile to her family also; and hence the many cases in which proposals for marriage must be made through the intervention of third parties, a custom which has neither utility nor convenience to recommend it. Among the Turkomans "the young man does not dare to breathe his wishes to the parents of his beloved, for such is not etiquette, and would be resented as an insult."[28] In Siam marriages are the subject of much negotiation, undertaken not directly by the parents, but by "go-betweens," nominated by those of the proposed bridegroom, who make proposals to the parents of the intended bride.[29] Davis says the same of the Chinese,Chinese, vol. i, p. 266. and that the two persons principally interested never see each other. In Dahomey it is the custom for a suitor to dispatch two emissaries, a man and a woman, to open negotiations with the family of the girl he wishes to marry. In Samoa, Mr. Pritchard says,[30] a man never personally woos his lady-love, and, in the case of a chief, it is the privilege of his attendants to do the courting for him.
These customs are evidently disintegrations of that observed by Caillié in the western Soudan. There, as soon as the suitor has declared himself, he is not allowed to see the father and mother of his future bride. He takes the greatest care to avoid them, and if by chance they perceive him they cover their faces, as if all ties of friendship were broken. The custom extends beyond the relations; for, if the lover is of a different camp, he avoids all the inhabitants of the lady's camp, except a few intimate friends, whom he is permitted to visit. A little tent is generally set up for him, under which he remains all day, and if he is obliged to come out, or to cross the camp, he covers his face.[31]
We now pass to the second group of survivals, namely, those which follow the consummation of the marriage. Our first sub-head of this group symbolizes an escape, or attempted escape, from the husband.
The least disintegrated example appears to be that which occurs in Zululand, where custom requires that the bride should make three attempts to run back to her old home, but the last attempt, made on the second day, and after she has been installed in her position as wife, is the only serious one. Should she succeed in escaping, the whole marriage ceremony has to be gone through again.[32]
The first modification of this is when the bride simply returns to her parents' house for a certain time. There is no appearance of flight, but there is a complete rupture of cohabitation. This custom is found among the Ewe-speaking tribes of the Slave Coast (West Africa), the wife, after a week's cohabitation with her husband, returning to her old home for a week. In Chittagong, husband and wife are on no account permitted to sleep together until seven days after marriage.
The next modification is where the bride returns to her former home, but sees her husband by stealth. This form is observed by some of the Turkoman tribes, the bride returning to her father's house, "where, strange to say, she is retained for six months or a year, and sometimes two years, according, as it appears, to her caprice or the parents' will, having no communication with her husband, unless by stealth."[33]
According to Plutarch, the Spartans had the same custom, and some husbands even had children by their wives before they could see them otherwise than clandestinely.[34] Among the Fijians husband and wife do not usually pass the night together, except as it were by stealth; and Lafitau says the same of some of the North American Indians. In Crete it was the custom for married people to see each other clandestinely for some time after the wedding, and a similar custom is said to have existed among the Lycians.
A variation of these forms exists among the Arabs of the Mezeyne tribe (Sinai Peninsula), where the bride runs away to the mountains every evening, being followed by her husband, and returns to her mother's tent every morning. This is done for several days, after which she returns to her mother, and she does not go to live with her husband till she is far advanced in pregnancy. If she does not become pregnant, she may not live in her husband's tent till a full year from the wedding-day.[35]
Our second subhead of this group comprises those forms in which social intercourse between the husband and the tribe, relations, or parents of the wife is forbidden. He is pretended to be regarded as an enemy who has robbed them of one of their number.
An example of the most complete form of this custom, occurring before marriage, has already been quoted from Caillie[36], and, apparently, the restrictions remain in force after marriage, at all events for a time. In most cases, however, the restriction is limited to the relations of the bride. This, according to Rochefort,[37] was the case with the Caribs. He says: "All the women talk with whom they will, but the husband dares not converse with his wife's relatives, except on extraordinary occasions." Baegert describes a similar custom among the Indians of California, with whom the son-in-law was not allowed to look in the face of his mother-in-law, or his wife's nearest relations, but had to step on one side, or to hide himself when they were present.[38] In Florida, the parents-in-law did not enter the son-in-law's house, nor he theirs, nor his brothers-in-law, and, if they met by chance, they went a bow-shot out of their way, with their heads down and eyes fixed on the ground, for they held it a bad thing to see or speak to one another.[39]
Among other peoples the restriction is limited to the mother-in-law, and this form is very wide-spread. It is, or was, observed by the Indians of North America generally, and by many tribes in South America. In Africa the custom is found among the tribes of the Gold Coast, the Mpongwe of the Gaboon, and the Bushmen. The Zulu and his mother-in-law may not mention one another's names, nor look in one another's faces. If they chance to meet they pretend not to see each other, the man hiding his face with his shield. "In Australia" it is compulsory on the mothers-in-law to avoid the sight of their sons-in-law, by making the mothers-in-law take a very circuitous route on all occasions to avoid being seen, and they hide the face and figure with the rug which the female carries with her." The custom which, among the Banyai of South Africa, compels a man to sit with his knees bent in presence of his mother-in-law, and forbids him to put out his feet toward her, has perhaps something to do with this form, as, no doubt, has also the proverbial hostility between men and their mothers-in-law of which modern humorists make so much.
That a similar series of prohibitions should exist, limiting the social relations of the wife with the family of her husband, is what we might expect to find; the husband's relatives being of the party of the feigned abductor, and so enemies. Among the Calmucks the daughter-in-law must not speak to her father-in-law, nor sit in his presence. In China, the father-in-law, after the wedding-day, never sees the face of his daughter-in-law again; he never visits her, and, if they chance to meet, he hides himself. With the Ostiaks of Siberia and the Basutos of South Africa the young wife must not look in the face of her father-in-law, and must avoid him as much as possible, till she has borne a child. The Armenian wife must conceal her face from her husband's father and mother. A more archaic form of these varieties is found among the Kaffirs of South Africa, with whom a married woman is cut off from all intercourse, not only with her father-in-law, but with all her husband's male relations in the ascending line. "She is not allowed to pronounce their names, even mentally; and whenever the emphatic syllable of either of their names occurs in any other word, she must avoid it, by either substituting an entirely new word, or at least another syllable in its place."[40]
This terminates our collection of examples, though we might probably add to those which follow the consummation of the marriage the widely distributed custom which forbids husband and wife to eat together. The numerous cases we have given show how very universal marriage by capture de facto must have been, and also, since it has left such enduring traces, for what a long period of time it must have been practiced. Among ourselves it influenced public opinion until comparatively recent times, for it was not until the reign of Henry VII that the violent seizure of a woman was made a criminal offense, and even then the operation of the statute was limited to the abduction of women possessed of lands and goods. A man might still carry off a girl, provided she was not an heiress; but in spite of the law and its severe penalties, the abduction of heiresses continued to be a common occurrence, especially in Ireland, down to the close of the last century, and to be regarded by the general public as but a venial offense at most.
↑ Pp. 126 et seq.
↑ Kingdom and People of Siam, vol. ii, p. 45.
↑ Sir S. Baker, Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia, p. 125.
↑ Account of Ceylon, p. 166.
↑ Ethnology of Bengal.
↑ Moore's Marriage Customs, p. 196.
↑ Life in Abyssinia, p. 51.
↑ Te Ska Amani, p. 163.
↑ Ralston's Songs of the Russian People, pp. 284, 285.
↑ History of Man, p. 449.
↑ Description of Westmeath.
↑ Notes, vol. i, p. 263.
↑ Travels on the Amazon, p. 497.
↑ Fiji and the Fijians, p. 174.
↑ Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle, vol. ii, p. 182.
↑ Mongolia, vol. ii, p. 121.
↑ Siberia, vol. ii, p. 442.
↑ Carver's Travels, p. 274.
↑ Origin of Civilization, p. 88.
↑ Travels in Africa, vol. i, p. 39.
↑ Tartar Steppes, pp. 218, 219.
↑ Vol. i, p. 433.
↑ Cameron's Malayan India, p. 116.
↑ Tent Life in Siberia.
↑ Bancroft's Native Races of the Pacific States, p. 389.
↑ Life in Abyssinia, vol. ii, p. 41.
↑ Fraser's Journey, vol. ii, p. 372.
↑ Bowring, vol. i, p. 118.
↑ Polynesian Reminiscences, p. 134.
↑ Travels to Timbuctoo, vol. i, p. 94.
↑ Eraser's Journey, loc. cit.
↑ Leslie's Among the Zulus, pp. 116-118.
↑ Lycurgus, c. 15.
↑ Burckhardt, vol. i, p. 269.
↑ Tylor, Early History of Mankind, p. 289.
↑ Hist. Nat. des ties Antilles, p. 545.
↑ Lubbock, p. 14.
↑ Smithsonian Reports, 1863-'64, p. 368.
↑ Maclean, Compendium of Kaffir Laws and Customs.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=Popular_Science_Monthly/Volume_39/June_1891/Survivals_from_Marriage_by_Capture&oldid=8847507"


Democracy Home AGM Student Senate
Scrutiny Referenda policy
Elections Home Nominate Get Informed vote
Campaign Officers Associations Campaigns
This February, LGBTQ+ History month will be so important to not only celebrate how far we have come as a society, but to also acknowledge the struggle and sacrifices of those who helped the community get where we are now. There is still a huge war ahead of us, but it is important to celebrate our community and all the progress that we have made. We hope we are able to spread more awareness about LGBTQ+ history month through all these events
PrEPare Outreach stall - CSL
3rd February 10am - 1pm
The outreach stall aims at promoting PrEP (a pill that prevents the contraction of HIV) amongst students while handing out free condoms, lubricants and information.
PRIDE: Film Screening
7th February 5:30pm - 9pm
Room 3F, Cardiff SU
We will be showing the BAFTA winning film PRIDE which is a retelling of inspiring true events during the 1984 miners’ strike, telling the story of a group of London gay and lesbian activists who banded together to support the miners.
PrEPare Outreach stall - Heath Park Campus
9th February 10am - 1pm
Pride Showcase
13th February 6pm - 9:30pm
Y Plas
The Pride showcase is a celebration of talent in support of LGBTQ+ History Month!
Book Club: Infamous
17th February 4pm - 6pm
Room 3G, Cardiff SU
Join us to discuss the historical, queer romcom Infamous by Lex Croucher, a non-binary, bisexual author. You will receive a free copy of the book with your very own Cardiff SU LGBTQ+ Bookmark!
Taf Karaoke: LGBTQ+ History Month
21st February 7pm - 11pm
That's right... The Taf Karaoke is back. Warm those vocal chords up, let your hair down and let loose! Get ready for a night of singing your favourites!
Kinky Boots: Film Screening
28th February 5:30pm - 9pm
Before Stonewall (1984) dir. Greta Schiller & Robert Rosenburg
Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt (1989) dir. Rob Epstein & Jeffrey Friedman
Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen (2020) dir. Sam Feder
How to Survive a Plague (2012) dir. David France
Paris Is Burning (1990) dir. Jenny Livingston
The Celluloid Closet (1995) dir. Rob Epstein & Jeffrey Friedman
The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson (2017) dir. David France
The Times of Harvey Milk (1984) dir. Rob Epstein
It’s a Sin (2021-present) created by Russell T. Davies
Pose (2018-present) created by Ryan Murphy
Queer as Folk (1999-2000) created by Russell T. Davies
Queers (2017) created by Mark Gatiss
When We Rise (2017) created by Dustin Lance Black
Milk (2008) dir. Gus Van Sant
Pride (2014) dir. Matthew Warchus
Summerland (2020) dir. Jessica Swale
The Imitation Game (2014) dir. Morten Tyldum
Bad Gays (2019-present) hosted by Huw Lemmey and Ben Miller
Making Gay History (2016-present) hosted by Eric Marcus
Before Wilde: Sex between Men in Britain's Age of Reform by Charles Upchurch (2009)
Chasing a Ghost by D. A. Ravenscroft (2019)
Chasing a Legacy by D. A. Ravenscroft (2020)
Coming Out: The Emergence of LGBT Identities in Britain from the 19th Century to the Present by Jeffrey Weeks (2016)
Disturbing Practices: History, Sexuality and Women's Experience of Modern War by Laura Doan (2013)
Drag Queens at the 801 Cabaret by Leila J. Rupp and Verta Taylor (2003)
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
Forbidden Lives: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Stories from Wales by Norena Shopland (2017)
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel (2006)
Making Gay History: The Half-Century Fight for Lesbian & Gay Equal Rights by Eric Marcus (2002)
Maurice by E.M. Forster
Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America by Lillian Faderman (1991)
Oranges are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson (1985)
Pride: The Unlikely Story of the True Heroes of the Miner’s Strike ed. by Tim Tate (2017)
Queer City: Gay London From the Romans to Present Day by Peter Ackroyd (2017)
Queer Wales: The History, Culture and Politics of Queer Life in Wales ed. by Huw Osborne (2016)
Reports from the Holocaust: the Making of an AIDS Activist by Larry Kramer (1989)
Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg (1993)
Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution by David Carter (2010)
Strangers: Homosexual Love in the Nineteenth Century by Graham Robb (2005)
The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies by Vito Russo (1987)
The Night Watch by Sarah Waters
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (2012)
The Stonewall Reader ed. by Jason Baumann (2019)
Troublemaker for Justice: The Story of Bayard Rustin, the Man Behind the March on Washington by Walter Naegle (2019)
When We Rise: My Life in the Movement by Cleve Jones (2016)
The House of Swann: Where Slaves Became Queens by Channing Joseph (2021) (2016)
A timeline of LGBTQ+ History
1909:The transgender writer Irene Clyde publishes Beatrice the Sixteenth, a science fiction utopian novel set in an egalitarian post gender society.
1912:London's first gay pub Madame Strindgberg's The Cave of the Golden Calf opens in Heddon Street, off Regent Street.
1945: Sir Harold Gillies and his colleague Ralph Millard carried out female-to-male confirmation surgery on Michael Dillon. Initially developed as reconstructive surgery, phalloplasty is now offered as a genital surgery option for trans men. Dillon underwent at least 13 surgeries between 1946 and 1949 and was elected for surgery on the pretext of treating a malformation of the Urethra (hypospadias), in order to conceal the exact nature of the surgery.
1951:Roberta Cowell becomes the first British person to undergo male-to-female confirmation surgery on 16 May.
1956:The Sexual Offences Act recognises the crime of sexual assault between women.
1959:Alan Horsfall, Labour councillor for Nelson, Lancashire, tables a motion to his local Labour party to back the decriminalisation of homosexuality. The motion is rejected, but Horsfall and fellow activist Antony Grey later form the North West Homosexual Law Reform Committee.
1959:ITV, at the time the UK's only national commercial broadcaster, broadcasts the UK's first gay TV drama; South, starring Peter Wyngarde.
1965:In the House of Lords, Lord Arran proposed the decriminalisation of male homosexual acts (lesbian acts had never been illegal).
1969: Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE) formed as the first British Gay Activist Group. In Scotland, Gay Rights Organisation the Scottish Minorities Group is founded.
1972: The First British Gay Pride Rally was held in London with 1000 people marching from Trafalgar Square to Hyde Park.
1972:Gay News, Britain's first gay newspaper was founded.
1974: Maureen Colquhoun comes out as the first Lesbian MP for the Labour Party.
1977: The first gay lesbian Trades Union Congress (TUC) conference took place to discuss workplace rights for Gays and Lesbians.
1980:The Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980 decriminalised homosexual acts between two men over 21 years of age "in private" in Scotland. British documentary A Change of Sex aired on BBC2, enabling viewers to follow the social and medical transition of Julia Grant. This programme also provided a snapshot of the Gender Identity Clinic at Charing Cross Hospital in London.
1982:Terry Higgins dies of AIDS in St Thomas' Hospital London, his friends and partner Martyn Butler set up the Terry Higgins Trust (which became the Terrence Higgins Trust), the first UK AIDS charity.
1988: Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 is enacted as an amendment to the United Kingdom's Local Government Act 1986, on 24 May 1988 stated that a local authority "shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality" or "promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship". The Act was introduced by Margaret Thatcher
1989: The campaign group Stonewall UK is set up to oppose Section 28 and other barriers to equality.
1991: Gay Activist, Derek Jarman makes the Christopher Marlowe play Edward II from the early 1590s into a film which used modern costumes and made overt reference to the gay rights movement and the Stonewall riots. Queen singer Freddie Mercury announced that he had AIDS; he dies the following day.
1996:A breakthrough is made in the area of AIDS treatment; Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) is found to significantly delay the onset of AIDS in people living with HIV. The NHS makes the treatment available in the UK. HAART has a dramatic effect and many bed ridden AIDS patients return to work.
1997:Angela Eagle, Labour MP for Wallasey, becomes the first MP to come out voluntarily as a lesbian. Gay partners were given equal immigration rights. Equality Network established in Scotland.
2001:The last two pieces of unequal law regarding gay male sex are changed.
2002:Same-sex couples are granted equal rights to adopt. Alan Duncan becomes the first Conservative MP to admit being gay without being pushed. Brian Dowling becomes the first openly gay children's television presenter in the UK on SMTV Live.
2003:Section 28, which banned councils and schools from intentionally promoting homosexuality, is repealed in England and Wales and Northern Ireland.
2004:The Civil Partnership Act 2004 is passed by the Labour Government, giving same-sex couples the same rights and responsibilities as married heterosexual couples in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. The Gender Recognition Act 2004 is passed by the Labour Government. The Act gives binary trans people legal recognition as members of the sex appropriate to their gender allowing them to acquire a new birth certificate, affording them full recognition of their acquired sex in law for all purposes, including marriage.
2007:The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations becomes law on 30 April making discrimination against lesbians and gay men in the provision of goods and services illegal.
2008:Treatment of lesbian parents and their children is equalised in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008. The legislation allows for lesbians and their partners equal access to legal presumptions of parentage from the moment the child is born.
2009:The Labour Government Prime Minister Gordon Brown makes an official public apology on behalf of the British Government for the way in which Alan Turing was chemically castrated for being gay, after the Second World War. Opposition leader David Cameron apologises on behalf of the Conservative Party, for introducing Section 28 during Margaret Thatcher's third government
2011:England, Wales and Scotland allow gay and bi men to donate blood after a 1-year deferral period.
2014:Same-sex marriage becomes legal in England and Wales on 29 March under the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013. Legislation to allow same-sex marriage in Scotland was passed by the Scottish Parliament in February 2014, received Royal Assent on 12 March 2014 and took effect on 16 December 2014. Queen Elizabeth II praises the London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard for their 40-year history, the first time the Crown has ever publicly supported the LGBT community. The Switchboard receives a comment from the Queen saying: "Best wishes and congratulations to all concerned on this most special anniversary."
2016:There are 40 LGBT MPs in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which in 2016 is the most in any parliament around the world.
2018:Lord Ivar Mountbatten married his same-sex partner, James Coyle, on 22 September 2018, becoming the first member of the British Monarch's extended family to have a same-sex wedding.
2019:Laverne Cox was one of fifteen women chosen by guest editor Meghan, Duchess of Sussex to appear on the cover of the September 2019 issue of British Vogue; this made Cox the first openly transgender woman to appear on the cover of British Vogue
2020: On 2 January 2020, UK MP Layla Moran revealed in an interview with PinkNews that she is pansexual; she is believed to be the first UK parliamentarian to come out as pansexual.
2020: On 13 January same-sex marriage becomes legal in Northern Ireland. In February, the first same-sex marriage takes place in Northern Ireland.


Northern Heights – Walk 3
Archway to High Barnet (8.3 miles total)
This walk is the longest of the five. It visits the stations that became the only successful part of the Northern Heights plan. It starts with a trek on the surface over the present-day Northern Line between Archway and East Finchley and ends with a picturesque stroll along the Dollis Valley Greenwalk to High Barnet.
© OpenStreetMap contributors / (adapted)
Note – On the map, the route is marked in green.
To start, get an Oyster / Travel Card that includes at least Zones 3-5 and get yourself to Archway.
Archway (1907) was the starting point for the first phase of the Northern Heights plan. The project called for the extension of the line from the terminus here through tube tunnels to a new deep level station under the LNER Highgate station and then onwards through more tunnels to reach the surface just before the LNER station at East Finchley.
The station had been opened in 1907 as the second northern terminus (Golders Green was the first) of the Charing Cross, Euston & Hampstead Railway (CCE&HR), commonly known as the “Hampstead Tube”.
Advertisment 1907 / Unknown / Public Domain
Archway was originally named Highgate when it opened. As we have already seen, the 1867 GNR (later LNER) station further north was also known as Highgate and the village of Highgate itself lay between the two. In the 1930s the station became Archway (Highgate) and then simply “Archway”. The name derives from the Archway Tavern which still stands just outside the station.
The extension work was begun in 1936 and completed as planned; the new line was opened to East Finchley in July 1939; services to High Barnet commenced in 1940, and to Mill Hill East in 1941. Although the station never gained the planned direct services to Edgware and Bushey Heath , the project transformed its connectivity dramatically.
The station was originally only provided with an elevator and stairs, escalators were added later along with other exits. The surface buildings have been modified several times over the years and nothing original survives.
From Archway the Northern Line makes its way to Highgate under Archway Road (A1) but the following route makes a more pleasant (although very hilly!) workaround.
Head up Highgate Hill for about a half a mile until you see Waterlow Park on the left. It is quite a stiff climb; an early version of San Francisco’s famous cable cars used to run along this stretch.
The park is worth a wander around if you have time.
Turn right into Cholmeley Park. You cannot easily miss the turning as there is a large pink “Highgate Heritage” sign that commemorates Barbara Castle, the Labour politician, who once lived in the building behind.
Walk (downhill) along Cholmeley Park until reaching a roundabout. Turn left here into Cholmeley Crescent and almost immediately head right along a footpath (Peacock Walk). At the end of the footpath bear right into Highgate Avenue and follow It until it meets Archway Road. Highgate Station is just opposite here (1.0 mile).
Highgate (Deep Level 1941) would have enjoyed a service of 21 trains an hour via Archway in the initial timetable for the full Northern Heights plan. A third of these would have terminated at Finchley Central, another third would have gone to High Barnet and the remainder to Bushey Heath via Edgware. Passengers would also have been able to change to the 14 trains an hour between Moorgate and Alexandra Palace / Finchley running from the surface platforms above.
Highgate was opened in January 1941 almost 18 months after the new tube lines that ran through it from Archway to East Finchley had been completed. The two platforms here were the only new tube platforms planned for the whole Northern Heights project.
Room to spare
They are still decorated in the original (and very pleasing) tiling scheme which includes the usual excellent signage from the 1930s London Transport era. They are also longer than any other tube platform on the network as they were built as part of an experiment to accommodate longer 9-car trains. The idea was never pursued and so today trains look a bit short as they stop in the middle of the platforms.
Highgate was also used from 1941 until the end of the war as an air raid shelter. Apparently, Jerry Springer, the US TV personality was born in the station whilst his mother was sheltering there in 1944.
The new tube platforms were linked to the new concourse that had been built underneath the LNER platforms. The station functioned briefly as an interchange whilst the LNER continued to offer its steam service between Alexandra Place and Finsbury Park until 1954.
Archway Road entrance
Designed by Charles Holden, London Transport’s most-favoured architect, the pre-war plans for the whole station included a large Art Deco entrance building at the top of the hill on Archway Road next to The Woodman public house. It would have been topped by a statue of Dick Whittington and his cat.
Priory Gardens entrance
Sadly, there is no entrance there today. Instead, the prospective passenger needs to head further east along Archway Road and descend steps to the station car park. From a corner of the car park there is a single depressing entrance with steps leading down to the concourse under the old LNER station.
The only other entrance is from Priory Gardens on the north side. This side is level with the concourse, but it looks almost as depressing as the Archway Road entrance.
Bizarrely though, whilst there are only two entrances, there are three exits!
From the concourse a single long escalator leads up to a lonely lobby….
The way out is then signposted through what first appear to be emergency exit doors….
When you get closer you can see that the doors are marked with a series of paper notices that instruct the user only to exit via the single door on the right. The signage here is totally amateurish and is in total contrast with that found on the platforms below.
Open the door and prepare yourself for a surprise….
You are now at the exact spot next to the Woodman public house on Archway Road where the grand Art Deco entrance hall with the statue of Dick Whittington on the top was planned to have been.
It seems that by the time the station was being completed in 1957 (after the old surface platforms had closed) the money had run out and a one-way escalator was all they could afford.
As it is “exit only”, the building is totally anonymous, but just in case there is any doubt, they have put up a little sign on the outside that says, “this is not the correct entrance to Highgate station”.
They can say that again!
Continue to follow Archway Road ( following the same route as in Walk 2 but this time not turning into Highgate wood) and when the main road heads left, bear right, and continue along Great North Road.
We are now following two routes between Highgate and East Finchley. Underneath us is the 1939 tube route, whilst just next to us on the surface is the old LNER line.
Take a brief detour into Woodside Road and peer over the railway bridge. Looking towards Highgate, the old LNER line (now part of Highgate Depot) can be seen reaching as far as the western tunnel portals. Looking in the other direction, the line reaches towards East Finchley Station.
Looking back towards Highgate
Continue along Great North Road passing the Old White Lion pub on the left before reaching East Finchley Station (2.1 miles).
East Finchley (1867) was completely rebuilt for the Northern Heights plan; It is the most significant surface building to have resulted from the entire project and is perhaps the last example of Charles Holden’s reworking of London Transport stations in the 1930s.
The original station had first opened at the same time as the rest of the GNR line in 1867 but it had just two platforms. Under the Northern Heights plan East Finchley had to be reconfigured with four. The extra tracks were needed because the new 1939 tube lines from Archway came to the surface just before the station and met the old LNER tracks from Highgate and Finsbury Park.
The inner pair of tracks were intended to serve the surface route from Moorgate via Finsbury Park, whilst the outer pair would serve the new tunnel from Archway. Passengers would have enjoyed cross-platform interchange between the two routes in each direction. The initial timetable suggested that 7 trains an hour would have arrived from Highgate on the surface line and 21 via the new tube. All 28 would have gone forward towards Finchley Central.
Underground trains first reached East Finchley in July 1939 and were extended to High Barnet in April 1940 and to Mill Hill East in May 1941. Although it was certainly not the plan at the time, this completed the shape of today’s Northern line.
LNER only operated trains from the new station for 2 years, but the oval shape where their logo was once displayed remains above the Underground roundel.
The LNER steam trains continued to operate a shuttle to Highgate until 1941 but the post-war cancellation of the electrification of the surface line from Finsbury Park meant that the inner platforms were only ever used for depot movements.
Although it never reached its full potential as an interchange, the station is a classic Art Deco/Streamline Moderne design by Charles Holden and is a Grade II listed building. It is dominated by a 10-foot statue of an archer (Eric Aumonier). It is perhaps not the best Holden station, but it is still worth a wander around.
Continue along High Road, passing the Phoenix Cinema (previously the Rex and the Coliseum) on the right. With its prominent neon sign, it is another Art Deco classic. It is Grade II listed and its interior has appeared in many period films including most recently, “Films Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool”.
At the next crossroads make a left turn into East End Road followed by a right turn into Market Place. There used to be a pig market in the area at one time, but now the street is residential. There is an interesting Royal Mail sorting office (1901) about halfway along,
Follow Market Place until it widens and splits into two, take the left fork and then continue onto the footpath at the end. Continue along the footpath (which becomes “the Walks”) as it crosses several streets: Oakridge Drive, Park Gate, Leslie Road and Leopold Road before passing the Windsor Castle public house on the left.
Turn left at the crossroads after the pub into Church Lane and then right into Long Lane. Follow Long Lane until it passes under the North Circular Road. Note the fire station on the right as you emerge from under from the bridge, it was completed in 1936 in modernist style.
Immediately after the North Circular Road take the footpath to the left and cross over the Northern Line. During the early planning for the Northern Heights, consideration was given to having a tube train depot here as well as an extra station that would have been known as Finchley Manor. The plan was dropped due to lack of space.
After crossing the line make a right turn into Rosemary Avenue. Follow Rosemary Avenue as it eventually becomes Station Road until the junction at the end with Regents Park Road.
Ignore the south entrance of the station and turn right onto Regents Park Road and cross the railway again. Chaville Way with the main entrance to Finchley Central is on the right. (4.1 miles)
Finchley Central (1867) was first linked to the Northern Line in April 1940 and if the full Northern Heights plan had been implemented it would have had up to 28 trains an hour arriving according to the initial proposed timetable.
Up to 21 trains would have travelled here using the new tube route via Archway. 7 of these would have terminated here, whilst the remaining 14 would have been split equally between the High Barnet branch and the line to Bushey Heath via Edgware. An additional 7 trains would have arrived from Moorgate via Finsbury Park. These would have been extended to High Barnet at peak periods.
The station retains much of its original Victorian character. There were plans for Charles Holden to reconfigure the station with buildings either side of the road bridge, but they fell through.
The station has three platforms. The shuttle service to Mill Hill East normally departs from platform 1, with the trains to and from High Barnet use the other two.
Just after the station the tracks to High Barnet branch off quite sharply to the right; the line to Mill Hill East goes straight on. Yet if you look at the diagrammatical map of the Underground, you could assume that it is Mill Hill East that is on a branch.
Given this “illusion”, it is quite appropriate perhaps that Harry Beck, the designer of the diagrammatical tube map (who lived nearby), is commemorated by a display on platform 3. Ironically, Finchley Central was not yet a tube station when he designed the first map.
Continue east along Ballards Lane past Falkland Avenue and then turn left onto a footpath (it is called Lover’s Walk but signposted as “Footpath to Nether Street”) ) and follow it over the railway. At the end of the footpath turn right into Nether Street and continue walking. West Finchley is on the righthand side. (4.9 miles)
West Finchley (1933), like the other stations on the High Barnet branch, was first linked to the Northern Line in April 1940.
The station was a late addition to the High Barnet line; it was opened by the LNER to serve new housing developments.
It was made from used parts that the LNER brought in from Yorkshire and it looks more like a station from a quiet country branch line. It is incredible to think that at the same time as the LNER were putting this together, just a few miles away Charles Holden was creating modernist masterpieces like Arnos Grove on the Piccadilly line.
Much as I am a fan of Holden’s stations, I think West Finchley is quite charming.
Continue along Nether Street (now on the other side of the tracks) and then turn left into Argyle Road. Just before the railway bridge there is a footpath on the right. Walk down this footpath, with the railway on the left side (crossing Holden Road about halfway down), until you reach Woodside Park (5.6 miles).
Woodside Park (1872) was never rebuilt, and it still retains much of its original Victorian architectural character today, even the little signal box on the down platform remains in situ.
Cross the tracks via the station footbridge (there is no need to enter the station to do this) and emerge into Station Approach, turn right into Holden Road and then soon after turn left into Tillingham Way. Cross the river and then turn right onto the Dollis Valley Greenwalk path.
Follow this path alongside the river. At first it is gravel but after Laurel View it becomes a paved track. It ends at Totteridge Lane. Turn right onto Totteridge Lane and Totteridge & Whetstone station is in front of you. (6.7 miles)
Totteridge & Whetstone (1872) was never modernised and, although the exterior seems a little worse for wear, it also retains much of its original Victorian character today.
Retrace your steps slightly and turn right back onto the Dollis Valley Greenwalk. Now the paved path splits into two and threads through a wide-open space. In theory one path is for walking and one for cycling, but in practice the distinction does not seem to be observed much.
When the path eventually emerges at Barnet Playing Fields, take the footpath on the right hand side of the field, keep walking north (with the fenced-off school field on the left) until exiting into Priory Grove. Walk up Priory Grove with the school (Ark Pioneer Academy) on the left.
Turn left into Westcombe Drive and soon after right onto a path which leads to Underhill. Cross Barnet Hill Common and High Barnet is visible in front of you on the right. (8.5 miles).
High Barnet (1872) became a terminus for the Northern Line on April 14th, 1940 when the new electric service from East Finchley was inaugurated.
On the same day, British troops first landed in Norway at the start of what would become a disastrous campaign.
Despite the worsening war situation, London Transport created a poster to advertise the new electric trains. Perhaps in honour of the new statue at East Finchley, it used an archery theme and talked optimistically about the benefits of the new line for “sightseeing” in London!
If the war had not intervened, High Barnet would have had up to 14 trains an hour terminating in the initial full Northern Heights plan. These would have included 7 electric trains direct from Moorgate via Finsbury Park which would have been extended here at peak periods.
It is hard to argue that any of the four stations on the High Barnet branch lost too much from the abandonment of the full plan. Users of the line today enjoy very frequent services via both the Charing Cross and Bank branches of the Northern line; one would assume that the lack of a direct service to Finsbury Park, or a one change connection to Edgware, is not too much of an inconvenience to most of them.
The station was never modernised in the 1930s, and like the previous two it still retains much of its original Victorian character today. When you approach it from the long sloping narrow pedestrian lane that leads down from Barnet town centre, it looks quite enchanting; more like a halt in a quiet village than a terminus in a busy metropolis.
In 1872, much to the chagrin of the locals, the line stopped short of the main centre, but it is certainly worth the effort to make the final short climb up to the centre for a look around.
From High Barnet it is obviously easy to return to Archway using the Northern line.
More information on the Northern Heights
Walk 1 – Moorgate to Finsbury Park (3.6 miles)
Walk 2 – Finsbury Park to Alexandra Palace (4.4 miles)
Walk 4 – Finchley Central to Edgware (4.5 miles)
Walk 5 – Edgware to Elstree & Borehamwood (6.6 miles)


Imagini ale paginilor
Hearings, Reports and Prints of the Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare
De United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Labor and Public Welfare
that he felt that any injection of funds into our educational system for oceanography, regardless of what level they go in on, I do not think it can help but assist the whole program. In other words, It would have its effect whether the bill says so or not on the entire education.
Senator Pell. Beyond the fact that this bill will obviously not be administered by the Navy, do you have any thoughts as to where it might best be administered in the Federal Government?
Admiral WATERS. No, sir.
Senator PELL. Any of the ideas that have been advanced, though, the Office of Education, the National Science Foundation, Smithsonian Institution, they would be in our view of equal merit.
Admiral' WATERS. Yes, sir. My reply to that I think would have to be confined to the fact that it does not seem to be within the Navy's purview.
Senator PELL. Right. I thank you. It is always particularly nice as a Senator from Rhode Island to welcome a representative of the Navy because the Navy and Rhode Island are pretty well intertwined and even our coats of arms are the same. We have an anchor and so do you, but the difference is ours is un fouled and the Navy anchor is fouled. (Laughter.]
We are delighted you were here, and the session will now recess until tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock. We are going to wind up tomorrow at noon, so we seek the 10-minute rule, if any
of tomorrow's witnesses are here. My colleague and the senior member of this committee, Senator McNamara's funeral service is at 12 tomorrow and we will not be in session during his funeral service.
(Whereupon, at 11:55 a.m., the committee recessed to reconvene at 10 a.m., on Wednesday, May 4, 1966.)
SEA GRANT COLLEGES
U.S. SENATE,
SPECIAL SUBCOMMITTEE ON SEA GRANT COLLEGES
OF THE COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND PUBLIC WELFARE,
Washington, D.C. The special subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, in room 4232, New Senate Office Building, at 10 a.m., Senator Claiborne Pell (chairman) presiding.
Present: Senator Pell (presiding).
Committee staff present: Fitzhugh Green, special assistant to Senator Pell; Stewart E. McClure, chief clerk; Roy H. Millenson, minority clerk.
Senator PELL. The third session of the Special Subcommittee on Sea Grant Colleges will resume its hearing today. We will be terminating at 12 in deference to the funeral of Senator McNamara. So I trust we can get through the scheduled witnesses this morning.
Are either Representative Clausen or Representative Keith here?
Pending their arrival, we will go on with the executive branch and private witnesses.
The first witness this morning, then, will be Captain Snyder of the Interagency Committee on Oceanography, who is appearing in behalf of Mr. Morse, and Mr. Abel is with him, a fact of which I am glad.
Captain Snyder, will you proceed ?
Captain SNYDER. Good morning. Dr. Morse is still on the sick list. He sincerely regrets his inability to appear this morning.
He did write this statement and, with your permission, I will read it as if he were here.
Senator PELL. All right.
STATEMENT OF HON. ROBERT W. MORSE, ASSISTANT SECRETARY
OF THE NAVY (RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT), AND CHAIRMAN
OF THE INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE ON OCEANOGRAPHY, AS
PRESENTED BY CAPT. J. EDWARD SNYDER, JR., U.S. NAVY, AC-
COMPANIED BY ROBERT B. ABEL
Captain SNYDER. Mr. Chairman, members of the subcommittee
Senator PELL. Excuse me. If anybody in the back of the room can't hear, raise your hand.
Will you talk more into the microphone, Captain, and raise your voice, and if you can't hear me, let me know, too.
Captain SNYDER. It gives me great pleasure to appear on behalf of the Interagency Committee on Oceanography (ICO) to discuss the ICO's view of the sea grant college concept, as put forward in Senator Pell's bill, S. 2439.
Since the essential components of this legislation are presented in a very straightforward manner, and because they represent not an entirely new concept in terms of applied research, education, and training—but rather an ingenious twist on an educational approach which has already established itself as a success—I feel that I can be equally direct and precise in expressing those views which are the reason for my being here today.
There is no doubt of the general need for the continuance of Federal assistance in developing and maintaining centers of oceanographic excellence in our universities. The establishment of such centers of excellence necessarily includes the support of means whereby a broad range of skilled manpower can be developed to handle theoretical and practical problems soon to be encountered by the research scientist, the development engineer, and the technician who supports the ocean operators. All of this contemplates progress in instrumentation, resource development, intelligently integrated academic curricula, purposefully defined research goals, improvement in operational techniques, and last but not least--dissemination of the knowledge acquired to those people who daily work will eventually exploit the ocean to the fullest.
I can say without reservation that the Interagency Committee on Oceanography supports the concept of sea grant colleges as outlined in S. 2439. If I might also depart from cusiom, I might add i hat my personal views are identical to that of the ICO.
I would like us to look at a problem of administration—and from your vantage point, gentlemen, one of legislation-which I think we will all agree is most difficult—the question of implementation. Or said in other terms: "What is the best way to go about getting this done?" S. 2439 calls for the deposit, in a special account in the I'reasury, of 10 percent of all bonuses, rentals, and royalties paid to the Federal Government after June 30, 1965, in accordance with the provisions of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.
The conclusion that the ICO has reached is that no program of this nature should look to funds earmarked from another source for its subsistence. If the principle is worthwhile, which this one is, it should stand on its own merit. Thus the ICO feels that needs and the means to meet them should be analyzed and then funds to support them can and should be provided through the normal budget and appropriation processes. This would insure that funding is planned in reÎation to the required program and that funding is adequate to meet the challenging opportunities.
I feel certain that State enthusiasm for this program can best be effected by a stipulation in this bill that Federal moneys allocated for the development of these "centers of excellence" be paralleled by funds from individual State legislatures, according to an apportioned formula.
Another aspect of “State participation," which the ICO feels is deserving of careful attention, is the question of which States should receive the benefits of such a bill were it to become law. I do believe that some means should be devised whereby all of the 50 States, regardless of their location in proximity to the oceans or the Great Lakes, could qualify. Surely the call to the sea has not in the past been confined to residents of coastal areas nor is that likely to be the case in the future.
But of even more substance are the declarations of purpose in S. 2439 calling for the use of marine resources to provide greater economic opportunities, expanded employment and trade, new sources of food, and new means for the utilization of fresh and salt water. These, we believe, are the most obvious opportunities for true State participation, particularly in the case of our landlocked States. Therefore, we urge that due consideration be given to recovery, conservation, processing and marketing techniques, and to the "home economics of marine products." These subjects should be well within the meaning of "*** education, training, and research in the marine sciences and a program of advisory services * * *."
Concerning the point of an executive agency to administer the use of allocated sea grant funds, the Interagency Committee on Oceanography concurs with Senator Pell's designation of the National Science Foundation. The ICO feels that the considerable experience of the Foundation in the interaction of the academic community and the Federal Government makes the NSF the best agency to administer the bill. We do feel strongly that members of the ico-particularly Navy, Commerce, and Interior-have essential roles to play and also should provide advisory services to the Science Foundation in view of the complex ends to be served by S. 2139. The ICO stands ready to assist the Science Foundation in the performance of its administrative duties under the act, thus recognizing these essential roles and insuring direct participation by other agencies in the sea grant college structure.
In closing, the ICO is in full agreement with the three basic premises of S. 2439—first, that the time is ripe for an aggressive move toward fuller exploitation of the resources of the seas; second, that our universities and colleges must pay a key role in this movement; and third, that while ocean science itself is in good shape, the exploitation of ocean resources requires a forward thrust.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I will be happy to try to attempt to answer any questions.
Senator PELL. Thank you very much, indeed. Returning to the three points you mentioned, first, the relationship of the amount of money that would be authorized through the revenues from the rents and royalties, the reason for that is to show that this would be a self-generating measure.
I realize that there are executive branch reasons why they don't like to create separate trust funds and I am conscious of this fact.
In this connection, have you been in touch with the Bureau of the Budget? Have you any idea what their general viewpoint is in this bill?
Captain SNYDER. Yes, sir. Dr. Morse had this statement which he wrote taken to the staff of the Bureau of the Budget and to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and this particular statement represents the official position of the Department of Defense, his own personal viewpoint, the position of the Department of the Navy, the concensus of the Interagency Committee on Oceanography, and the Bureau of the Budget had no objection.
Senator PELL. Do you think a letter could be forthcoming from the Bureau of the Budget that if these measures, the suggestions, were
« ÎnapoiContinuă »


Hanjin chief defends merger amid criticism
Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Won-tae said on Nov. 18 that the merger of the nation’s two largest carriers, Korean Air and Asiana Airlines, will not lead to a price hike or workforce restructuring.
After attending the Korea-US Business Meeting at the Federation of Korean Industries in Seoul, Cho told reporters, “There may be concerns about such a (monopoly),” but “there will be no (lower) customer convenience or price hikes.”
(Korean Air)
Regarding the restructuring of workforce after the merger, he said, “We have no plans to restructure our workforce,” adding, “We will create an opportunity to embrace all employees and welcome them as a family.”
“I will do my best to ensure that no one is left behind. I will meet (the unions of both companies) as soon as possible and find a way to coexist.”
When pointing out that it is not realistic to overcome the COVID-19 crisis without restructuring, he said, “It is true that there are many overlapping routes and personnel when considering the size of the two companies.”
But he added the firm can fully utilize the overlapping personnel if it considers expansion of routes and business.
Currently, Korean Air and Asiana Airlines have about 18,000 and 9,000 employees, respectively. Korea Development Bank Vice President Choi Dae-hyun estimated at a press briefing Monday there would be 800 to 1,000 overlapping employees once they are merged.
Regarding the plan to respond to a three-way alliance opposing the takeover of Asiana Airlines, he said he had no plans. The three-way alliance, consisting of activist investor KCGI, Bando Engineering & Construction and former Korean Air Vice President Cho Hyun-ah, is at odds with Cho Won-tae over control of Hanjin Group.
To the criticism that the support of KDB is a special favor, he said, “I don’t think so,” adding, “When KDB asked about my intention first, I said I could do it, and it proceeded after meeting several times and talking for a long time.”
Despite Cho and KDB’s strong willingness for the companies to merge, the process does not appear to be on course for smooth sailing.
The interests of the two firms’ labor unions are currently sharply divided, with Korean Air workers supporting the merger and the Asiana Airlines union opposing it.
On Tuesday, the Korean Air union issued a statement that it respected the decision to take over Asiana.
“We agree that the decision was made to enhance the competitiveness of the air transport industry, which is a national key industry, and to solidify the value of existence,” the Korean Air union said. “The acquisition is the best choice for maintaining employment of aviation workers.”
“The government and the management of both companies should make clear their commitment to job security for workers who are anxious about employment.”
The next day, the Asiana Airlines union called for an immediate withdrawal, labeling the merger plan as “secret collusion.”
The Asiana Airlines union issued a statement Wednesday, saying, “Because the merger of the two national airlines is a monopoly in the market and the public will bear the cost, it is prohibited by the law. But, (KDB and the management) are trying to justify (the merger) by decrying Asiana as an unrecoverable company.”
“We cannot help but suspect that another conspiracy and interests are involved in collusion for KDB -- just because it has a little more shares -- to push the merger, which the survival of many workers depends on.
“As KDB announced, Asiana Airlines is already a bankrupt company. But its stock price soared for several days before the announcement of the merger,” it added.
The Asiana Airlines union called for the withdrawal of the merger plan, warning workers will fight it to the end.
Later in the day, private equity fund KCGI, a shareholder of Hanjin Kal, released a statement opposing the merger plan following several similar statements over the past days.
This time, it argued that the investment agreement signed between KDB and Cho Won-tae is not effective because the stakes Cho provided as collateral to KDB is very small.
KCGI said, “Of Cho’s 3.85 million shares, 3.26 million shares (84.32 percent) are already provided as collateral to other financial institutions and the National Tax Service, which means nothing as collateral.”
On Monday, KDB said it would inject 800 billion won ($723 million) into Hanjin KAL, a major stakeholder of Korean Air Lines, by buying 10.6 percent of newly issued common shares as well as exchangeable bonds in a capital increase in December.
(shinjh@heraldcorp.com)
Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Won-tae answers reporters’ questions after attending the 32nd Korea-US Business Meeting at the Federation of Korean Industries in Seoul on Wednesday. (Yonhap)


Outdoor Books
One Day as a Tiger: Alex MacIntyre and the Birth of Light and Fast Alpinism
Vertebrate Publishing One Day as a Tiger: Alex MacIntyre and the Birth of Light and Fast Alpinism
Author: John Porter
Format: Paperback (flapped
Publication date: May, 2015
Publisher: Vertebrate Publishing
Nr pages: 256
Page size: 156 x 234 mm
"The wall was the ambition, the style became the obsession."
In the autumn of 1982, a single stone fell from high on the south face of Annapurna and struck Alex MacIntyre on the head, killing him instantly and robbing the climbing world of one of its greatest talents. Although only twenty-eight years old, Alex was already one of the leading figures of British mountaineering's most successful era. His ascents included hard new routes on Himalayan giants like Dhaulagiri and Changabang and a glittering record of firsts in the Alps and Andes. Yet how Alex climbed was as important as what he climbed. He was a mountaineering prophet, sharing with a handful of contemporaries – including his climbing partner Voytek Kurtyka – the vision of a purer form of alpinism on the world's highest peaks. One Day As A Tiger, John Porter's revelatory and poignant memoir of his friend Alex MacIntyre, shows mountaineering at its extraordinary best and tragic worst – and draws an unforgettable picture of a dazzling, argumentative and exuberant legend.
John Porter was born in Massachusetts and he started climbing at the age of twelve, serving his apprenticeship in the White Mountains, Rockies, Cascades and Yosemite. He moved to the UK in the early 1970s to do postgraduate work at Leeds University where he joined a team of climbers dedicated to clean ethics, alpine-style and the fostering of international partnerships. Ascents of the North Face of Koh-i-Bandaka (1977) and the south face of Changabang (1978) with Alex MacIntyre and Polish friends were achieved in the middle of the cold war. Other climbs include lightweight attempts of the west ridge of Everest in winter, the north-west ridge of K2, the east face of Sepu Kangri, first ascents of Chong Kundam I and V in the Eastern Karakoram, and many other notable climbs around the world over a period of fifty-five years. In 1980 he founded the Kendal Mountain Festival with Brian Hall and Jim Curran, a


Reflections on Erie’s Waters is a collaborative project between the Erie Canal Museum and the Canal Society of New York State that explores from multiple perspectives the physical and social landscape created by the Erie Canal and how that legacy is still alive today.
This digital exhibit will focus on the people who have made an impact on and been impacted by the Erie Canal. As we compile even more stories, this exhibit will continue to expand over time. For that, we need your help! Please share your stories in our Reflections Collector.
← Introduction
Canallers
Townspeople & City Dwellers
Laborers & NYS Employees
Haudenosaunee
Reflections Map
This exhibit was made possible with funding from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
© 2023 Reflections On Erie's Waters. Website by The Lab Creative


Jan 4, 2018 in Member Spotlights, News by DIACC
Spotlight on Plurilock
1. What is the mission and vision of Plurilock?
Plurilock’s mission is to provide the most reliable, continuous proof-of-presence and identity assurance cybersecurity solution to protect government agencies and corporations from insider threats. Using behavioral analysis, machine learning and a frictionless user experience, Plurilock’s system detects and stops suspicious behavior in real time to secure the organization and solve compliance challenges without interfering with user productivity.
Nearly every day it seems, we hear news of yet another high-profile data breach involving insider threats, and statistics show that some 2,500 such incidents occur in businesses every day. While most of these are the result of accidental or careless user activities, we can’t ignore the fact that malicious cyberattacks are also on the rise, making insider threats a major national security risk for government agencies, not to mention a threat to the financial and IP security for businesses and our overall economy. Companies are spending more on cybersecurity than ever, yet still not getting the robust security and peace of mind they need.
As the threat landscape heats up, businesses and governments need solutions that can stay ahead of the attackers, and the ability to provide continuous, trustworthy identity assurance is critical in doing so. Other solutions, like two-factor authentication, CAC and even biometric authentication, provide only a single point in time user validation at log-in, but do nothing to continuously validate that the current user is the authorized user—if an employee gets up and walks away from a workstation or loses a laptop with credentials saved, this creates an opportunity for a breach. Not to mention, most other systems do not protect against lost, stolen or counterfeit credentials, and because these events can go unnoticed or unreported, it takes an average of 200 days to even detect an insider breach. By that time, significant—if not devastating—damage can be done.
Continuous, real-time proof of presence technology overcomes those hurdles, detecting and stopping even unknown threats before they can inflict damage. This allows businesses and agencies to operate confidently, with peace of mind, and focus on achieving key business objectives rather than constantly looking over their shoulders or remediating threats.
3. How will digital identity transform the Canadian and global economy? How does Plurilock address challenges associated with this transformation?
The trend toward digitizing products and services depends on a solid foundation of core applications: secure payments, secure connectivity and assured identity. Reliable solutions in these three areas are in extremely high demand on a global scale and across every market sector. By taking a leadership role in digital identity, Canada can enable the next generation of innovation (be they blockchain, quantum, or otherwise), both domestically and around the world by safeguarding the networks and IP of both businesses and government organizations.
Plurilock provides one of the most reliable and robust solutions for enabling this transition to digital identity. By leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies, our solution provides a frictionless service that just works, without interfering with user efficiency and productivity. Not only does it detect and stop an intrusion in under 5 seconds, allowing organizations to move quickly to protect themselves, but it also saves a tremendous amount of time and money typically invested in identifying and remediating threats and breaches—resources that companies can instead invest in business-driven initiatives.
4. Why did Plurilock join the DIACC?
We believe that a strong economy depends on safety and security, and that’s doubly so in cybersecurity. We support DIACC’s mission in this regard, and look forward to collaborating with the organization and its members to develop secure, scalable digital identification and authentication solutions that enable economic growth.
5. What else should we know about Plurilock?
Plurilock is the only behavior-based, real-time authentication system on the market that works by identifying authorized users by their behavior patterns—how they use their mouse, keystroke speed, and other unique attributes. After just a few minutes of learning, the software builds a behavioral profile of each user and then continuously verifies every 3-5 seconds that the current user is the authorized user. When suspicious behavior is detected, the software challenges the user to re-authenticate, quarantines the threat and/or alerts management and security teams in real-time.
Our solution is built upon 30,000 hours of research and has been awarded 3 U.S. patents. We are honored to have among our team of advisors some of the western hemisphere’s leading cybersecurity visionaries, including former director of the U.S. National Security Agency, Vice Admiral Mike McConnell, and several retired and current NSA and Department of Homeland Security executives.
Jan 24, 2023 in Member Spotlights by DIACC
1. What is the mission and vision of the ADI Association? The mission of the ADI Association is to create a global digital identity framework for creating, managing, and using digital identity as well as...
Jul 26, 2022 in Member Spotlights by DIACC
Spotlight on PXL Vision
1. What is the mission and vision of PXL Vision? PXL Vision has one vision - A world full of trust built on verifiable digital identities to make secure, frictionless and reliable identity verification available...
Spotlight on the University of Sherbrooke
1. What is the mission and vision of the University of Sherbrooke? As a leading research university recognized for the originality of its programs, the University of Sherbrooke is committed to working with its communities...
Jun 10, 2022 in Member Spotlights by DIACC
Spotlight on PlainID
1. What is the mission and vision of PlainID? Our mission: PlainID’s mission is to provide frictionless user experiences while maintaining security and the highest levels of data privacy and compliance. PlainID helps businesses advance...
Mar 11, 2022 in Member Spotlights by DIACC
Spotlight on CIRA
1. What is the mission and vision of CIRA? As a nonprofit organization, CIRA’s mission is to build a trusted internet for all Canadians. Leveraging more than 30 years of experience managing .CA domains, CIRA...