Saturday 23 June 2018

Civil / Uncivil war and civilians


Have I shown you this picture before?  You need to embiggen it.

There is a stark plateau near Bromham in Wiltshire where a famous battle was fought during the English Civil War. My shape-shifting sculpture supplier's depot sits beneath it, almost in its shadow.

I love this topography. Wiltshire has quite a few hills like this which just rise out of the landscape and can be seen for miles. Some of them have white horses scoured into them.

Life was so much more civilised in 17th century Britain. Armies would trudge up steep escarpments like this one and have their battles in the wide open, well away from civilians.

These days, battles are fought in towns and cities, using the residents as very ineffectual human shields.
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18 comments:

  1. Cro Magnon23 June 2018 at 06:38

    Earlier battles were not only quite small affairs, they were often over by lunchtime.

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  2. Joanne Noragon23 June 2018 at 07:42

    The American Revolution was fought over diverse miles of terrain. The Civil War was fought over the sort of topography of Wiltshire. Perhaps a little more mountainous. The Indian wars were fought on large plains. So what if the battlefield is condensed. The object is unchanged because the cause is not addressed.

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    Replies
    1. Tom Stephenson23 June 2018 at 12:29

      Well they managed to get slavery abolished, which is one small victory.

      Delete
  3. Rachel Phillips23 June 2018 at 08:08

    All you needed was a bow and arrow.

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    Replies
    1. Tom Stephenson23 June 2018 at 12:30

      We had very accurate flintlock guns then. Trouble was that many ancient manuscripts were torn up for wadding, hence the shortage of ancient manuscripts today.

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    2. Tom Stephenson23 June 2018 at 12:32

      Oh, all right. Scarcity was the word I didn't find in time.

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    3. Rachel Phillips23 June 2018 at 14:57

      I was about 200 years out I suppose.

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    4. Tom Stephenson23 June 2018 at 17:16

      The first word for a gun was medieval German - Hacken. Groucho Marx's Hackenbusch was a real name meaning 'gunsmith'.

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    5. Tom Stephenson23 June 2018 at 17:17

      Well, gun-beater I suppose.

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    6. Bea24 June 2018 at 19:08

      Interesting. 'Hacken' now means much what it does in English, to hack.

      Delete
    7. Tom Stephenson25 June 2018 at 00:44

      Also interesting.

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  4. The Weaver of Grass23 June 2018 at 12:06

    Love that word embiggen!

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    Replies
    1. Tom Stephenson23 June 2018 at 12:31

      Me too Weave. I pinched it from another (American) blogger. Maybe Donna?

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    2. Joanne Noragon23 June 2018 at 15:09

      I think Elephant's Child. I think I'll go ask her and report back.

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    3. Judith23 June 2018 at 15:54

      Embiggen is a Homer Simpson original! I love it, a very useful word.

      Delete
    4. Judith23 June 2018 at 16:00

      Because I am a word nerd I found this for your enjoyment:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTzGnRQ9cfA

      Delete
    5. Tom Stephenson23 June 2018 at 17:12

      Ah, thank you Judith. Even the Simpsons didn't invent it then.

      Delete

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