In some English-speaking countries in the Northern Hemisphere, August 1 is Lammas Day (Anglo-Saxon hlaf-mass, "loaf-mas"), the festival of the wheat harvest, and is the first harvest festival of the year. On this day it was customary to bring to church a loaf made from the new crop, which began to be harvested at Lammastide. The loaf was blessed, and in Anglo-Saxon England it might be employed afterwards to work magic:^[1] A book of Anglo-Saxon charms directed that the lammas bread be broken into four bits, which were to be placed at the four corners of the barn, to protect the garnered grain. In many parts of England, tenants were bound to present freshly harvested wheat to their landlords on or before the first day of August. In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, where it is referred to regularly, it is called "the feast of first fruits". The blessing of first fruits was performed annually in both the Eastern and Western Churches on the first or the sixth of August (the latter being the feast of the Transfiguration of Christ).

Lammas coincides with the feast of St. Peter in Chains, commemorating St. Peter's miraculous deliverance from prison.

History[link]

In mediæval times the feast was sometimes known in England and Scotland as the "Gule of August",^[2] but the meaning of "gule" is unclear. Ronald Hutton suggests^[3] following the 18th-century Welsh clergyman antiquary John Pettingall^[4] that it is merely an Anglicisation of Gŵyl Awst, the Welsh name of the "feast of August". OED and most etymological dictionaries give it a more circuitous origin similar to gullet; from O.Fr. goulet, dim. of goule, "throat, neck," from L. gula "throat,". A Welsh derivation would point to a pre-Christian origin for Lammas and a link to the Gaelic festival of Lughnasadh.

Several antiquaries beginning with John Brady^[5] offered a back-construction to its being originally known as Lamb-mass, under the undocumented supposition that tenants of the Cathedral of York, dedicated to St. Peter ad Vincula, of which this is the feast, would have been required to bring a live lamb to the church,^[6] or, with John Skinner, "because Lambs then grew out of season." This is a folk etymology, of which OED notes that it was "subsequently felt as if from LAMB + MASS".

For many villeins, the wheat must have run low in the days before Lammas, and the new harvest began a season of plenty, of hard work and company in the fields, reaping in teams.^[7] Thus there was a spirit of celebratory play.

In the medieval agricultural year, Lammas also marked the end of the hay harvest that had begun after Midsummer. At the end of hay-making a sheep would be loosed in the meadow among the mowers, for him to keep who could catch it.^[8]

In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (1.3.19) it is observed of Juliet, "Come Lammas Eve at night shall she [Juliet] be fourteen." Since Juliet was born Lammas eve, she came before the harvest festival, which is significant since her life ended before she could reap what she had sown and enjoy the bounty of the harvest, in this case full consummation and enjoyment of her love with Romeo.

William Hone speaks in The Every-Day Book (1838) of a later festive Lammas day sport common among Scottish farmers near Edinburgh. He says that they "build towers...leaving a hole for a flag-pole in the center so that they may raise their colors." When the flags over the many peat-constructed towers were raised, farmers would go to others' towers and attempt to "level them to the ground." A successful attempt would bring great praise. However, people were allowed to defend their towers, and so everyone was provided with a "tooting-horn" to alert nearby country folk of the impending attack and the battle would turn into a "brawl." According to Hone, more than four people had died at this festival and many more were injured. At the day's end, races were held, with prizes given to the townspeople.

Neo-Paganism[link]

Lammas is a Neo-Pagan holiday, often called Lughnasadh, celebrating the first harvest and the reaping of grain. It is a cross-quarter holiday halfway between the Summer Solstice (Litha) and the Autumnal Equinox (Mabon). In the northern hemisphere, Lammas takes place around August 1 with the Sun near the midpoint of Leo in the tropical zodiac, while in the southern hemisphere Lammas is celebrated around February 1 with the Sun near the midpoint of Aquarius. On the Wheel of the Year, it is opposite Imbolc, which is celebrated on February 2 in the northern hemisphere, and late July / early August in the southern hemisphere.

Other uses[link]

Lammas is one of the Scottish quarter days.

Lammas leaves or Lammas growth refers to a second crop of leaves produced in high summer by some species of trees in temperate countries to replace those lost to insect damage. They often differ slightly in shape, texture and/or hairiness from the earlier leaves.

See also[link]

• Harvest festival
• Harvest Home
• Ould Lammas Fair
• Leyton Marshes

References[link]

External links[link]

• Pretanic World Pre-Christian Holidays & Pre-Christian Traditions of Christian Holidays from Britain and Ireland
• Observations on Popular Antiquities

Ruby Murray (29 March 1935 – 17 December 1996)^[1] was one of the most popular singers in the United Kingdom and Ireland in the 1950s.^[2] In 1955 alone, she secured seven Top 10 UK hit singles.^[3]

Child star[link]

Ruby Florence Murray was born on the Donegall Road in south Belfast, Northern Ireland.^[4] Her voice's unique sound was partly the result of an operation on her throat in early childhood.^[5] She toured as a child singer and first appeared on television at the age of 12, having been spotted by producer Richard Afton.^[1] Owing to laws governing children performing, Murray had to delay her start in the entertainment industry.^[1] She returned to Belfast and full-time education until she was 14.

Chart success[link]

Again spotted by Afton, she was signed to Columbia and her first single, "Heartbeat", reached number 3 in the UK Singles Chart in December 1954.^[3] Afton had offered her the position of resident singer on the BBC's Quite Contrary television show, to replace Joan Regan.^[6] "Softly, Softly", her second single, reached number one in early 1955.^[3] That same year Murray set a pop-chart record by having five hits in the Top Twenty in one week, a feat unmatched for many years.^[1][2]

The 1950s was a busy period for Murray, during which she had her own television show, starred at the London Palladium with Norman Wisdom, appeared in a Royal Command Performance (1955),^[7] and toured the world.^[1] In a period of 52 weeks, starting in 1955, Murray constantly had at least one single in the UK charts - this at a time when only a Top 20 was listed.

She starred with Frankie Howerd and Dennis Price in her only film role as Ruby, in the 1956 farce, A Touch of the Sun.^[1] A couple of hits followed later in the decade; "Goodbye Jimmy, Goodbye", a #10 hit in 1959, was her final appearance in the charts.^[1] EMI put together a compilation album of her hits on CD in 1989, including songs that regularly featured in her act; "Mr. Wonderful", "Scarlet Ribbons" and "It's the Irish in Me".^[1] They updated this with the release of EMI Presents The Magic Of Ruby Murray in 1997, and a triple album, Anthology - The Golden Anniversary Collection in 2005, the 50th anniversary of her peak successes on the charts.^[1]

Ruby Murray's name lives on in rhyming slang as the rhyme for curry, usually with the usage 'ruby' rather than the name in full.^[8]

A play about Murray's life, Ruby, written by the Belfast playwright, Marie Jones, opened at the Group Theatre in Belfast in April 2000.^[1]

Personal life[link]

During the summer of 1957, while working in Blackpool, Murray met Bernie Burgess, a member of a family song-and-dance troupe. Shortly afterwards she left Northern Ireland to marry him and live with him in England.^[1] Burgess became her manager and the couple became a double act during the 1960s. After her first marriage failed in 1974, she was granted a divorce in 1976. She married an old friend, Ray Lamar, in 1993, and lived in Torquay, Devon. She had two children from her marriage to Burgess.^[1]

Although her days as a major star ended in the 1960s, Murray continued performing until close to the end of her life. She died of liver cancer, aged 61, in December 1996 in Torquay, after a long struggle with alcoholism.^[1]

Singles discography[link]

• "Heartbeat" (1954) - UK number 3
• "Softly, Softly" (1955) - UK number 1
• "Happy Days and Lonely Nights" (1955) - UK number 6
• "Let Me Go Lover" (1955) - UK number 5
• "If Anyone Finds This, I Love You" (1955) - UK number 4 †
• "Evermore" (1955) - UK number 3
• "I'll Come When You Call" (1955) - UK number 6
• "The Very First Christmas Of All (1955) - UK number 9 (Record Mirror)
• "You are My First Love" (1956) - UK number 16
• "Real Love" (1958) - UK number 18
• "Goodbye Jimmy, Goodbye" (1959) - UK number 10

† Ruby Murray with Anne Warren^[3]

See also[link]

• List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart
• List of Irish people
• Culture of Northern Ireland
• List of Belfast people

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Short biography
• BBC recording of interview in 1956

Casey Ryback is a fictional character and action hero from the Under Siege films of the 1990s. Played by Hollywood action star Steven Seagal,^[1] Ryback is a Chief Petty Officer and former Navy SEAL operator turned chef^[2] with top training in martial arts, explosives, special-weapons and tactics. He is a master of unarmed combat, highly skilled with firearms, knives and other forms of combat which enables him to defeat mercenaries/terrorists with ease. He appears in the 1992 film Under Siege and its sequel, Under Siege 2: Dark Territory, in 1995.^[3]

Biography[link]

Casey Ryback was born in the backwoods of Kejimkujik National Park in Nova Scotia in 1945. Contrary to popular belief,^{[clarification needed]} Casey is not half Cherokee Indian but actually one quarter Mi'kmaq, one quarter Metis and half Cape Bretoner. He was born to parents Peter Rogers and "Little Bear" Ryback. When Casey was 8 years old, he trained a wild buffalo living in the Kejimkujik area and rode it from that day forward. The buffalo was named "Mersey" for the river on which Casey wrangled the wild beast. Casey left Nova Scotia for the Navy in 1970 after graduating the NSCC Culinary arts/Martial arts joint masters program. He was a former operator with SEAL Team Four before he was demoted to his posting as a chef (in U.S. Navy terms, Ryback was a Chief Mess Management Specialist, or MSC for short) aboard the USS Missouri for striking his CO (Commanding Officer) when most of his SEAL team was killed during the invasion of Panama in Operation Nifty Package to disable General Manuel Noriega's private jet at Punta Paitilla Airport due to poor intelligence. He had lost his security clearance and was said to only be able to serve as an administrative yeoman or a cook. Due to the SEAL incident, he is seen as an outcast in front of the higher-ranking officers. At the end of the first film his former position was given back to him in a ceremony following his bravery, but at the beginning of the sequel it appears that he had retired from the Navy as a Chief Petty Officer, as shown by the salute and verbal greeting from his driver in the beginning of the film, and was working as a chef at the Mile High Cafe in Denver, Colorado. However, at the end of the second film when Ryback visits his brother's grave, we see Ryback is wearing his Navy Dress Whites with the shoulder boards of a Navy Lieutenant (O-3), which means he was awarded a direct commission after the events of the first film. In the original poster art of the first film, he is wearing the shoulder boards of a flag officer, but not enough is shown to see if he is a one-star, two-star, etc. admiral, however in the first film he has the role of Chief.

As a SEAL, Ryback was the recipient of the some of the U.S. military's highest honors, including the Navy Cross, Silver Star and Purple Heart with clusters.

USS Missouri (BB-63)

In the first film it is unknown to the mercenaries on the USS Missouri who Ryback is, believing he was just a mere cook which added an element of surprise to the onslaught which followed. However in the sequel, Under Siege 2, where Ryback boards a train with his niece Sarah (Katherine Heigl)to visit a recently deceased brother James (Sarah's father) in Los Angeles from Denver the mercenaries that hijack the train have full knowledge of the man they are dealing with once they hear his name. He is considered to be the most skilled counter-terrorist in the world and even the fearless mercenary leader Marcus Penn (Everett McGill) claims that Ryback is the only man he has ever been afraid of. One reason for this could be that the events of the first film made Ryback an international hero. In the second film, one of the chefs at the restaurant claims that people come to hear Ryback's stories.

Influence and reception[link]

Casey Ryback became one of well known names of action heroes in the action film genre in the 1990s compared to the likes of John McClane from the Die Hard films. As David West writes, Under Siege is "cut from the same cloth as the 'Die Hard' series and stars Seagal as Casey Ryback..."^[4] Often the character of Ryback has been criticised in the media due the fact that he is invincible and would defeat his opponents rather too easily, removing the element of surprise in his personal combat. As Eric Lichtenfeld writes, "Ryback...is the ultimate warrior. As the action genre tends toward hyperbole, Ryback is an amalgam of everything that signifies Ultimate Warrior status, even more than Riggs had been in Lethal Weapon. It is fitting then, that...Ryback's costuming progresses from a white cook's uniform...to an olive tank top, to the all-black garb that merges Ryback with the ship, and with which Seagal came to be identified.^[5]

References[link]

1. ^ Tami D. Cowden, Caro LaFever, and Sue Viders, The Complete Writer's Guide to Heroes & Heroines: Sixteen Master Archetypes (Lone Eage Pub., 2000), 45.
2. ^ M. Ray Lott, The American Martial Arts Film (McFarland, 2004), 98.
3. ^ Sylvia P. Flanagan, "Movies to See: Under Siege 2: Dark Territory," Jet (Jul 31, 1995): 56.
4. ^ David West, Chasing Dragons: An Introduction to the Martial Arts Film (I.B.Tauris, 2006), 223.
5. ^ Eric Lichtenfeld, Action Speaks Louder: Violence, Spectacle, and the American Action Movie (Wesleyan University Press, 2007), 169.

External links[link]

• "Casey Ryback (Character) from Under Siege (1992)," The Internet Movie Database.