A long-awaited party
Sep. 30th, 2013 11:48 amToday is the two hundredth anniversary of John Rae, the arctic explorer. I've written before about Rae, and how we ran into some early celebrations in Stromness. A new statue has been unveiled at the pierhead - though as far as I can judge from photographs I prefer both his memorial in St Magnus Cathedral and this wonderful structure:
From the photostream of Orquil on Flickr, who has posted a whole series of great pictures on the subject.
From the photostream of Orquil on Flickr, who has posted a whole series of great pictures on the subject.

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Date: 2013-09-30 10:56 am (UTC)I've words to say to Lady Franklin should we ever meet on the ethereal plain not to mention Charles Dickens whom I admire in many ways but whose surprisingly nasty burst of racism on the topic shocked me when I discovered it.
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Date: 2013-09-30 12:01 pm (UTC)Dickens, on the other hand, should have known better: oddly, it's not his racism I find unforgiveable, since it's so much what I expect of the period, but his patronising tone...
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Date: 2013-09-30 12:16 pm (UTC)Especially as he came from similar, humble roots- he's a home town boy for me (I'm from Rochester) and I expected better.
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Date: 2013-09-30 05:08 pm (UTC)I like that a lot.
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Date: 2013-10-01 08:13 am (UTC)