Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Traditional

Specialty Definition: Contradance

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

A New England contradance (or contredanse) is an American traditional dance evolved from British and European folk dances, such as English Country Dance.

Most contradances consist of a sequence of about six to twelve individual figures. These figures are recited by a caller in time to the music as the figures are danced. Contradances often are arranged in long lines of facing or opposing partners; hence the contra of contradance. Three major arrangements or formations are proper, improper, and Beckett.

Proper:

F1 F2 F1 F2 F1 F2 F1 F2...
M1 M2 M1 M2 M1 M2 M1 M2...

Improper:

M1 F2 M1 F2 M1 F2 M1 F2...
F1 M2 F1 M2 F1 M2 F1 M2...

Beckett:

F1 M1 F1 M1 F1 M1 F1 M1...
M2 F2 M2 F2 M2 F2 M2 F2...

(key: band is to the left, F=female, M=Male, 1=1st couple, 2=2nd couple)

A figure is a short dance "step" or "move", sort of a choreographic building block. Most figures take eight counts of music, although figures with four or sixteen counts are also common.

Basic figures:

Balance

Swing Your Partner

Allemande

Star

Do-si-do

Ladies Chain

Long Lines Forward & Back

Right & Left Through

Hey For Four

Figure of Eight

Promenade

Hands Four

Petronella Turn

Courtesy Turn

Circle of Four

Turn as a Couple

Turn Alone

California Twirl

Down the Hall Four In Line

Box the Gnat

Roll Away with a Half Sashay

Turn Contra-Corners

As a dance progresses, so do the dancers: the arrangement of the figures causes each couple to move together toward or away from the band. When a couple reaches the end of the line, they simply turn around and join back in, going in the other direction.

Contradances are held all across the United States. See affiliated groups at [Country Dance and Song Society] and [Contra Links].

[Contra Links] is now [Contra Links]

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Contradance."

Top     

Founding of Rome

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

The founding of Rome is reported by many legends, which in recent times are beginning to be supplemented by more scientific reconstructions.

Vergil's Aeneid, while not definitive, is an important source for information about those early times or, at least, the then-official versions of many historical events.

Latium and central Italy

It is supposed (with a certain probability) that in the age between the 10th and 8th centuries BC, central Italy was populated by the two main groups into which the Italics had divided: Osco-Umbri and Latins. Latium Vetus (the ancient territory of Latium) was populated by Etruscanss, Volsci, Sabins, Equi, Rutuli, and Ausonians. They came from different areas of central Italy, including current Tuscany, Marches, and groups came from Liguria.

Among them, the Latins developed an organised society, which was the main source of the people who settled Rome. The Latins originally stayed in Colli Albani (the Alban hills, modern Castelli - 20 to 50 miles southeast of the Capitoline hill); later, they moved down towards the valleys, which provided better land for animal breeding and agriculture.

The area around the Tiber river was particularly advantageous and also offered notable strategical resources, as the river was a natural border on one side, while the hills could provide a safe defensive position on the other side. This position would also have enabled the Latins to control the river (and eventual commercial or military traffic on it), from the natural observation point at Isola Tiberina (the island in front of modern Trastevere). Moreover, road traffic could be controlled, since Rome was at the intersection of the principal roads to the sea coming from Sabine (in the northeast) and Etruria (to the northwest).

The development of the town is presumed to have started from the development of separate small villages (borgate), located on top of hills, which joined together to form Rome.

Although recent studies suggest that the Quirinal hill was very important in ancient times, the first hill to be inhabited seems to have been the Palatine (therefore confirming the legend), which is also at the center of ancient Rome. Its 3 peaks, minor hills (Palatium, Cermalus or Germalus, and Velia) united with the 3 peaks of Esquiline (Oppius, Cispius andFagutal), and then villages on the Caelian hill and Suburra (between current Rione Monti and Oppius hill) joined them.

These hills had expressive names: Caelian was called Querquetulanus, because of oaks (quercus), while Fagutal revealed its beech-woods. Recent discoveries reveal that Germalus, on the northern part of Palatinum, was the site of a village (dated to the 9th century BC) with circular or elliptic dwellings. It was protected by a clay wall (perhaps reinforced with wood), and it is likely that this is where Rome was really founded.

The territory of this federation was surrounded by a sacred border called Pomerium, which enclosed the so-called Roma Quadrata (Square Rome). This would have been extended with the inclusion of the Capitoline hill and Isola Tiberina at the time that Rome became an oppidum, a fortified town. Esquiline still was a satellite village that would be included at the time of the Servian expansions of Rome.

Celebrations for Septimontium (literally "of the seven hills"), on December 11, were in the past considered related to the foundation. However, as April the 21st is the only datum for foundation upon which all the legends agree, it has been recently argued that Septimontium was likely to have actually celebrated the first federations among Roman hills: a similar federation was, in fact, celebrated by Latins at Cave (a village southeast of Rome) or at Monte Cavo (in Castelli).

The Legend

The legend about the foundation of Rome obviously tends to relate the town to some of the most eminent entities of its age, in order to "demonstrate" that the great success of the town depends also on this special origin, or simply to complete a successful reputation with first-class references. It is, however, a complete story, and the entire Roman tradition is based on it. There are several versions of this legend; the version below is commonly considered the main one.

Aeneas and Julus

The defeated army of Troy crossed the Mediterranean sea on the orders of prince Aeneas, to reach Latium's coasts. Here they landed in an area that is likely between current Anzio and Fiumicino, southwest of Rome. Most commonly it is supposed they landed at Laurentum (or Larentum); other versions say that they landed at Lavinium, a place called by the name of Latinus' daughter.

Latinus, the wise king of the Latins, hosted them and let them reorganise their life in Latium. His daughter Lavinia had been promised to Turnus, king of the Rutuli, but Latinus preferred to offer her to Aeneas; Turnus consequently declared war on Aeneas. The outcome was that Turnus was killed and his people captured. Ascanius, the son of Aeneas, also known as Iulus, founded Albalonga and was the first in a long series of kings.

King Proca was the father of Numitor and Amulius. At Proca's death, Numitor became king of Albalonga, but Amulius captured him and sent him to prison; he also forced Rea Silvia (Numitor's daughter) to become a priestess of the Vestan cult. For many years Amulius was then the king.

Gods and priestesses

The legend of Rome's origin would have been poorer if the gods had had no role in it. Mars (who will always be the most important god for Romans) had two sons with Rea Silvia, a priestess devoted to the sacred cult of Vesta. (The name Rea Silvia (often written Rhea Silvia) suggests a minor deity, a demi-goddess of forests. Silva means woods or forest, and rea may be related to res and regnum.)

Romulus and Remus

By this birth Rea Silvia had, as a priestess, severely offended both Vesta and the common customs of the time. Therefore Amulius ordered a servant to kill the newborn twins. The servant, lacking the stomach for the deed, put them in a bag that he left in the Tiber, to be carried away and drowned. The twin brothers were transported by the river and washed up on the shore in a place that, curiously, the legends don't specify. Here they were saved by a female wolf who nursed them (this wolf, Lupa, is still now one of main symbols of Rome.)

the female wolf, with the twins

Nearby, in a poor dwelling, lived an old shepherd Faustulus and his wife Larentia. The shepherd found the babies, brought them home, and adopted them. When they had grown to adulthood, the brothers were informed of their history, so they went back to Albalonga, killed Amulius, and freed their grandfather Numitor.

Romulus and Remus started planning a new town in the same place in which they had been found by Lupa. They decided that one of them would build a town and the other would help. So they went questioning the gods, asking for signs (presumably from the flight patterns of birds) that would tell them who should lead. Another version of the tale says that they had a competition to be won by the brother who saw more birds (or more birds of some species).

Romulus went to the top of Palatine hill, Remus to the top of Aventine. Romulus became convinced that he had been selected by the gods, or that he had seen more birds, so he casually threw his lance on the hill to find the place; when in the ground, the lance (which was wooden) immediately became the corniolus, a sacred tree in Rome.

With the help of a white cow and a white bull, he then used his plough to trace the square borders of his town, following the traditional Etruscan ceremony. Remus outrageously crossed this line, invading Romulus's area and happily saying "Can you see how easy it is?" Romulus killed him with one blow of his sword, declaring that everyone who dared to offend Rome would pay with his life.

Romulus was the first ruler of Rome, and reigned until he disappeared during a storm, carried off by his father Mars.

Evolution of the legend

While the main body of the legend had remained more or less the same since its creation, some details were changed, mainly in order to put together the (slightly) different versions and correcting several points in terms of time and geography. The local ancient legends, too, were little by little brought into harmony with main story. The effect of these interventions on the legend is quite evident.

One of the earliest versions (5th century BC) is by the Mitilene Greek Ellanicus, and is usually reported together with the version by Damastes from Sigeo. In this version the founder of the village was Aeneas (in a minor version Ascanius (Iulus)). These versions survived until 509 BC (the year in which it is presumed the Roman republic started), when it was realised that, since there had been seven Roman kings and Romulus was the first of them, there was a gap between the 8th century of the first kings and the 12th century BC (the supposed date of the destruction of Troy). So as Romulus could not be the son of Iulus, he became only a distant descendant. The time between Iulus and Romulus was "filled" with the series of Albalonga's kings. Aeneas would have landed on Latium's coast during the reign of Latinus (king of the Latins), in order to find a compromise with local legends. Mars then had to be added in order to honour him, so Romulus became a descendant of Mars on his father's side, while mother Rea Silvia was connected with Aeneas via the Albalonga dynasty. The condemnation of Rea Silvia's sons is only one among the many recollections of the divine laws, of the religion that so deeply entered Roman life.

Every group of people living in the area had its own similar legends:

• The Italics: among the Italics, like the tale in Hesiod's Theogony, the two brothers Agrius and Latin were the sons of Telegono, who was the son of Ulysses and Circe the witch (to whom is dedicated a mountain, Mount Circeo, in southern Latium where her cavern was supposed to be and where a cult was celebrated in her honour).
• The Latins: Saturn had been replaced by his son Jove, so he came down to the Earth and mixed with the Latins. After a while (maybe centuries), Evandrus came to Latium via Arcadia, and then Hercules came to free these lands from the menace of the giant Cacus. Finally Aeneas arrived from Troy, after tremendous risky adventures, and founded Rome. Notably in this version the Latins were not created or otherwise specially assisted by the gods, only the town was founded by Aeneas in the presence of these "authorities".

The date of the founding of Rome

During the Roman republic, several dates were given for the founding of the city, all in the interval between 758 BC and 728 BC. Finally, under the Roman empire the date suggested by Atticus and Varro, (753 BC) was agreed upon, but in Fasti Capitolini the year given was 752. Curiously, while the years varied, all versions agreed that the city was founded on April 21, a holiday dedicated to the sacred cult of Pales, goddess of shepherds; in her honour, Rome celebrated the Parritta (or Palilia). (It is to be noted, however, that the Roman Ab Urbe Condita (or a.u.c.) calendar begins with Varro's dating of 753 BC.)

The name of Rome

The name of the town is generally considered to refer to Romulus, but there are other hypotheses. One of them refers it to Roma, who should have been the daughter of Aeneas or Evandrus. Current studies seem to prefer a provenance from an Indo-European root meaning "river"; Rome would then mean "the town on the river".

Rome is also the Urbs, and this name (that in later Latin generically meant any town) comes from urvus, the furrow cut by a plough- here, by that of Romulus.

On the Capitoline hill, at noon on April, the 21st of every year, a special bell called Patarina rings from the Campidoglio to commemorate the founding of Rome. On that occasion, the famous cannon of Gianicolo remains silent, the only day in the year on which it does not sound.

See also Troy

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Founding of Rome."

Top     

Siamese cat

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

The siamese cat is one of the first distinct recognised cat breeds of Oriental cat. The exact origins of the breed are unknown, but it is believed to be south east Asia, possibly as the sacred temple cats of Siam (hence their name). The breed was first seen outside their Asian home in 1884, when the British Counsul-General in Bangkok, Mr Owen Gould, brought a pair of the cats back to Britain for his sister, Mrs Veley (who went on to be co-founder of the Siamese Cat Club in 1901). The cats were shown at the Crystal Palace in 1885, and the following year another pair (with kittens) were imported by a Mrs. Vyvyan and her sister. A small number of cats were brought in in following years, and together these formed the base breeding pool for entire breed in Britain.

Two young Siamese cats, and an American longhair

As a result of thousands of generations of selective breeding and the pressures of competition there are now actually two subbreeds of Siamese - the modern show Siamese, and the traditional or 'appleheaded' Siamese. Modern show Siamese have been bred to be extremely elongated, with bodies slender to the point of emaciation, and a Y-shaped head with an extremely long muzzle and extra-large 'batwing' ears. The traditional Siamese are much sturdier, with a round head and ears more in proportion to their size. Siamese cats often have a kink in their tails, because the original breeders saw that as a unique feature of the breed. In recent years the kinked tail has become a "flaw" and breeders have largely eradicated it from the Show Siamese. Both breeds of Siamese have almond-shaped eyes and like all Oriental cats they are extremely talkative and demanding of attention. They often will engage themselves in crazy antics to get the attention of their people, and often attach themselves to one human in a household. As they are wired for sound, they can meow loud enough to compete with fire and rescue equipment.

A chocolate-tabby-pointed Balinese(note the boning on the tail)

All Siamese have a creamy base coat with coloured "points" on their muzzles, ears, paws and lower legs, and tails. The darker Siamese have a darkening of their back and hindquarters as well. Originally Siamese were all chocolate pointed, but now they have been bred in all of the standard cat colours including red, lilac, blue, chocolate, tabby and torty or tortoise-shell. These coloured Siamese are generally known as colourpoints but in all other respects they are the same as the traditional brown, chocolate or black Siamese cats.

The gene that is responsible for the pigmentation is heat-sensitive so all Siamese kittens, although pure cream or white at birth, develop visible points in the first few months of life. By the time the kitten is four weeks old the points should be clearly distinguisable enough to recognise which colour they will be.

Many Siamese are cross-eyed to compensate for the abnormal uncrossed wiring of the optic chiasm, which is produced by the same albino allele that produces coloured points.

External links

• Siamese Cat History - http://www.meezer.com/siamhist.html

  Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Siamese cat."

Top     

Tradition

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

The word tradition can refer to:

1. The art of memorizing and preserving a story from generation to generation without the need for a writing system. Tools to aid this process include rhyme and alliteration. The stories thus preserved are also referred to as tradition, or as part of an oral tradition

2. Procedures that are repeated in the same way, generation after generation, year after year. For example, it is now a tradition to have a Christmas tree to celebrate Christmas.

Traditionalism is at its best a desire to protect useful and hard-won traditions, and at worst a form of chauvinism for the past based on nostalgia.

Mention traditionalism in Roman Catholic church here.

See also:

• Conservatism
• Time immemorial
• Traditional Chinese character

  Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Tradition."

Top     

Traditional Chinese character

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Traditional Chinese characters (正體字) are one of two standard character sets of printed contemporary Chinese written language. The other form is Simplified Chinese. This form of writing is most popular in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and overseas Chinese communities.

Among Chinese people, Traditional Chinese characters are also called Complicated Chinese characters (繁體字) or orally Old characters (老字).

When printing text, people in Mainland China and Singapore use mainly the simplified system, which was developed by the People's Republic of China government in the 1950s. However, the PRC also prints material intended to be read outside of Mainland China using traditional characters. When handwriting text, most Chinese will use informal individual simplifications, and there are some characters in which an informal simplified form is more common even in traditional Chinese text.

In computer text applications, Traditional Chinese is most often rendered using the Big5 character encoding scheme.

See also: Chinese character

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Traditional Chinese character."

Top     

Traditional counties of England

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

The traditional Counties (or historic Counties) of England are historical and geographical subdivisions.

Traditional counties

• Bedfordshire
• Berkshire
• Buckinghamshire
• Cambridgeshire
• Cheshire
• Cornwall
• Cumberland
• Derbyshire
• Devon
• Dorset
• Durham
• Essex
• Gloucestershire (traditional)
• Hampshire
• Herefordshire
• Hertfordshire
• Huntingdonshire
• Kent
• Lancashire
• Lincolnshire
• Leicestershire
• Middlesex
• Norfolk
• Northamptonshire
• Northumberland
• Nottinghamshire
• Oxfordshire
• Rutland
• Shropshire
• Somerset
• Staffordshire
• Suffolk
• Surrey
• Sussex
• Warwickshire
• Westmorland
• Wiltshire
• Worcestershire
• Yorkshire

Map of the traditional counties, courtesy of the Association of British Counties

Subdivisions

Some of the traditional counties have subdivisions:

• Cambrigeshire
  • Cambridge
  • Isle of Ely
• Hampshire
  • Hampshire
  • Isle of Wight
• Lincolnshire
  • Parts of Holland
  • Parts of Kesteven
  • Parts of Lindsey
• Northamptonshire
  • Northampton
  • Soke of Peterborough
• Suffolk
  • East Suffolk
  • West Suffolk
• Sussex
  • East Sussex
  • West Sussex
• Yorkshire
  • East Riding of Yorkshire
  • North Riding of Yorkshire
  • West Riding of Yorkshire

Supporters

Supporters of the historic Counties maintain that the counties are entities too important for laws simply to redefine. The existance of the historic Counties after 1974 is confimed by an official government statement at the time, in which the government specifically stated that the traditional counties are not abolished:

"The new county boundaries are administrative areas, and will not alter the traditional boundaries of counties, nor is it intended that the loyalties of people living in them will change, despite the different names adopted by the new administrative counties".

Supporters of historic counties point out that there are many examples of towns and villages which have stated unequivocably their presence in their historic County.

Given frequent confusion regarding the status of historic counties, many societies and lobby groups have been formed in their defence. These include Yorkshire's White Rose Society, the Campaign for real Warwickshire, and the Huntingdonshire Society. The campaigns for Rutland, Peterborough and Herefordshire to be made once more administrative counties did succeed and these areas were made independent of Leicestershire, Cambridgeshire and Hereford and Worcester.

See also: Administrative counties of England, Ceremonial counties of England, Subdivisions of England, Traditional counties of Wales, Traditional counties of Scotland.

Critics

Some critics have claimed that no such disclaimer was included in previous reorganisations, and so if historic counties are a real existing entity, the administrative counties of London, and East and West Sussex should be included in this definition. Further, they claim that this (and subsequent assurances) was merely a government statement, and thus had no legal effect.

The 1974 legislation doesn't use the term 'administrative counties', and just repealed and amended 'counties', although the original defining laws of 1888 do indeed differentiate between the adminitrative and historic entities.

Some critics have also suggested that a person's loyalty to his or her historic County might not be apparent in all cases - pointing especially to the metropolitan counties such as West Midlands and Greater Manchester - people within the urban area could be imagined to have much more in common with each other than they do with those in the rump county. Certainly the majority of councils in such conurbations quote their address as being in the adminstrative area.

External link

• Association of British Counties - A lobby group for the promotion of the historic counties

  Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Traditional counties of England."

Top     

Traditional counties of England, Scotland and Wales

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Great Britain is divided into the following traditional counties.

• England - Traditional counties of England
• Scotland - Traditional counties of Scotland
• Wales - Traditional counties of Wales

  Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Traditional counties of England, Scotland and Wales."

Top     

Traditional music

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

The phrase traditional music can be used in different, sometimes conflicting ways, but probably the most common meaning is the ethnic music of a place, played in a social context, and passed on by ear. The term is sometimes, but not always, used interchangeably with folk music, although the latter phrase is sometimes restricted to a kind of modern performance music more closely related to the style and ethos of rock and roll than traditional music. An example is Irish traditional music.

See also:

• Mbira dzavadzimu

  Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Traditional music."

Top     

Top     

Synonyms within Context: Traditional

Top     

Top     

Modern Usage: Traditional

Top     

Commercial Usage: Traditional

Top     

Image Slideshow: Traditional

Photos: Traditional More pictures...

Illustrations: Traditional More pictures...

Computer Images: Traditional More pictures...

Top     

Photo Album: Traditional

Thumbnail	Description & Credit	Thumbnail	Description & Credit
	(1) color slide shows a single vanilla ice cream sandwich (very traditional looking). Credit: Renee Comet (photographer).		A computer generated image displays focused, positively charged atomic particles. Proton beam therapy uses protons to destroy cancer cells, rather than electrons which are used in traditional radiation therapy. See artwork: GA-17 Horizons of Cancer Research. Credit: Unknown photographer/artist.
	Akpatok Island lies in Ungava Bay in northern Quebec, Canada. Accessible only by air, Akpatok Island rises out of the water as sheer cliffs that soar 500 to 800 feet (150 to 243km) above the sea surface. The island is an important sanctuary for cliff-nesting seabirds. Numerous ice floes around the island attract walrus and whales, making Akpatok a traditional hunting ground for native Inuit people. Credit: NASA.		Scientists tagging bluefin tuna in the Bay of Biscay with traditional tagging method. Credit: Fisheries.
	The result of changes of water temperature on fisheries is significant. As water temperatures rise and nutrient levels decline, shoals of cold-water-loving small pelagics scatter and descend to depths of 150 to 200 meters, where they are not accessible to traditional surface purse seiners, or they migrate south. Credit: Fisheries.		Art Ganz of RI DEM "tongs" for quahogs during the process of locating appropriate donor sites for the quahog spawner sanctuaries. "Tonging" was the traditional method for harvesting quahogs from RI Bay waters. The newer generations of shellfishermen use "bullrakes". Credit: NOAA Restoration Center.
	Art Ganz, RI DEM, picks quahogs from a traditional "tong" to test for contaminants. Credit: NOAA Restoration Center.		ACE Basin National Estuarine Research Reserve. Traditional use of estuary areas includes crabbing. Credit: National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERR).
	North Inlet - Winyah Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. A very dark color variation of the southern flounder, Paralicthys legostigma. Both sides of this fish are darkly pigmented. Only the head on the ventral side shows the traditional light color. Credit: National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERR).		Traditional stick dance. Credit: Small World.
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Top     

Digital Photo Gallery: Traditional
 

"Cuban Rum Shop" by Mark DeFaria Commentary: "A traditional rum and tobacco shop in Veradero, Cuba."	"Swiss national holiday" by Denis Nordmann Commentary: "1st of august 2003: traditional Swiss national holiday at the Rütli (historical site) - contact me for more pictures and infos."
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers.

Top     

Sounds Captioned with "Traditional".

Play	Caption
	Apache man singing traditional song with a drum accompaniment.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top     

Familiar Quotations: Traditional

Top     

Historic Usage: Traditional

Top     

Use in Literature: Traditional

Top     

Non-Fiction Usage: Traditional

Top     

Spoken Usage: Traditional

Top     

Speeches: Traditional

Top     

Usage Frequency: Traditional

Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

Top     

Expressions: Traditional

Top     

Frequency of Internet Keywords: Traditional

Top     

Modern Translation: Traditional

Top     

Ancestral Language Translations: Traditional

Top     

Derivations & Misspellings: Traditional

Top     

Rhyming with "Traditional"

Top     

Anagrams: Traditional

Top