Canny lass

OR Take cover behind me. You will be safe there and i will protect you.

Yes, I miss it too.

She'll also get an earfull from her mother, doing that on a White sofa with her shoes on!!

What can I say! I bow to your superior intellect Keith.

If only I could Eggy! These things are totally beyond my Control.

Louped it is! Even this is a left-over from the Vikings, hlaupa. Still in use in Iceland.

That must be the Bedlington Station Spelling is it Keith? I Always spell it as lowped.

Well lucky you! I Think I was over 20 Before I got to the Town Moor. I never experienced it as a Child. By then I just called it the Town moor.

Did ye not call them 'the hoppins' like we did in Netherton? I once won a goldfish at the hoppins. My mother wasn't at all happy about having to buy a goldfish bowl and thought my father was an idiot for letting me choose a goldfish. My father thought it was OK, a jam jar would do as the fish would be dead in a couple of weeks, he said. She had to give in after a month or so and it lived to the ripe old age of 14 years. sorry about the underlining. I have lost all Control over bold face, italics, underlining and crossing out. Capital letters seem to have developed a mind of their own as well!

And so it is Malcolm. It can be made with fruit.

Thanks Malcolm & Maggie. Is the Northumbrian tartan black & White or is it just the photo?

I never knew that Northumberland had a flag! Any Pictures?

John Darling was in my class at Westridge. Fantastic voice! He was in the Choir at St. Cuthberts Church. I don't know if he was related to Audrey.

I go with scone mixture, Malcolm. However if you consult the Wiki- Oracle, and more important - if you Believe the Wiki-oracle - you'll find it can be made with dumplings as well. It's actually got quite an interesting history our cobbler. Did you know that there are several variations on the recipe in the USA, where it originated among the British colonials? They have some wonderful names like slump, grump, dump, buckle and sonker (the cobblers, not the Colonials). Can I expect to find cobblers on the menu in France?

Now there's a thing Maggie! They talk about ivy as though it is a tree here as well. "of all the trees that are in the Woods, the Holly bears the Crown".

What a shame!

Still having trouble with the font I see!

I've Always sung that as 'The oak and the ash and the Bonny ivy' (Pronounced i-ivy, to keep the rhythm right).: Never Heard the Rowan mentioned Before or any ivy tree. As you say, it's not a tree.

Perhaps it'll become known as 'Bedrock'.

Fantastic Maggie! How old is the book? Can't be too old I would imagine as the recipe contains ketchup.

Anybody ever Heard the word 'collops'? There's a very popular, every-day dish here called 'kalops'. It's a kind of beef stew flavoured with Alspice (whole peppercorns only) and Bay-leaves. It usually contains carrots and leeks but these can be omitted. I learned a few Days ago that the Word kalops originates from the English Word collops. When I started researching it I found that the Word collops may originate from the french 'escalope' meaning slice of meat. I also learned that the Word collops was in common use up until the mid 16th Century when it was the generally accepted name for bacon and eggs! However, Another source gives the origin as Scandinavian. In that case it's gone full circle. I personally have never Heard the Word collops in England, though I've eaten my fair share of stews and bacon & egg. Has anybody Heard of collops, and if so what was it?

Not so difficult Maggie. Try Ancestry.co.uk. You can get quite a lot of info without paying a penny.

Sorry, should have said that their marriage was registered in the first quarter of 1859 - not 1959.

Here's what I've been able to find out about the Croudace family mentioned here. Dorothy Croudace, maiden name Swann, appears to have been born in 1840 while her husband, Thomas, a couple of years older was born in 1838. Their marriage was registered in Newcastle in the first quarter of 1959. Their son, Robert Swann, was born some months later around July/August 1859. There's no explanation as to why he was given his mother's surname. The name Robert, however, may have been given in memory of his maternal grandfather who died the same year. Just when this happened, I haven't been able to find out. At the time of their marriage Thomas was 'of age', having had his 21st birthday. He did not therefore require his parent's permission to marry. Dorothy, on the other hand was only 19 years old. This may have meant that Dorothy required parental consent to marry. I can't really make any sense of the information about the legal age for marriage at the time as the information available is often contradictory. From what I understand though, it was usual at that time for parents to act as witnesses and sign the marriage register. In the case of Dorothy and Thomas, however, the parent's names do not appear. The witnesses were James Nellis and Elenor Brooks. It may well have been that Dorothy's parents were against the marriage or that they had already passed away. Dorothy's lot was not an easy one but she clearly loved her family.

Djingis Khan?