HISTORICAL SPARK

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I am writing to compliment you on the recent contents of BRITISH HERITAGE. I am delighted with the return of more historical and informational substance. I have been a subscriber since 1983 and had recently contemplated discontinuing my subscription because of the ‘travel brochure’ style articles that have prevailed in recent years. I think it is a move in the right direction to return to such items as ‘History in Focus’. While a travel style is somewhat enjoyable, it pales when nothing else about England seems to be included. History and information about English culture and historical figures is sure to spark as much interest in travelling as descriptions of places.

I am especially enjoying the March issue on Arthur. I hope you continue this trend and focus on other special interests of British heritage and culture.

Gwen Podeschi,
Taylorville, Illinois

Editor’s note: We are constantly striving to achieve the ideal balance between history and travel, and are gratified to hear that our recent efforts have been received favourably by at least one reader. In addition to the ‘History in Focus’ department mentioned above, we have recently launched a second regular department with a strong historical flavour. ‘Notable Britons’ examines the lives of interesting but lesser-known personalities from throughout British history .

We’d love to know what other readers think about our coverage of British history. Obviously, interests and tastes vary among our large following of loyal readers, and we can’t please everyone with every issue, but we’ll do our best to respond to likes and dislikes in general.

The feedback we received in regard to the ‘Age of Arthur’ issue (March) was overwhelmingly positive, and we plan to continue these special annual ‘Britain’s Historic Landscape’ issues in years to come. Future themes will include Britain during the Second World War, Roman Britain, and Tudor England.

HOW MANY YEARS IN A MILLENNIUM?

Thank you for the April/May number of BRITISH HERITAGE, which I began to read yesterday evening. A statement in the article on the Greenwich Observatory (page 23) disturbs me: ‘When the clock strikes midnight on 31st December, 1999, the Millennium will be ushered in . . . .’

Aren’t you jumping the gun? A millennium is a period of a thousand years. The year AD 1 was the first year of the first millennium. The year 1001 was the first year of the second millennium. The year 2000 will be the last year of the second millennium, not the first year of the third millennium. (’Elementary, my dear Watson, elementary.’)

Edmund K. Trent,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Editor’s note: Mr. Trent is entirely correct. The ‘article’ he refers to was in fact a paid advertisement, and therefore the editors did not feel at liberty to alter the date. In practice, however, it would have been an exercise in futility. The misunderstanding over the timing of the millennium’s end is so widespread that those relatively few folks who at first tried to remain faithful to their calendars have been swept under by the popular tide and will, in most cases, be celebrating along with everyone else on New Year’s Eve, 1999. We too, have bowed to peer pressure. Our special millennium coverage will be published in–you guessed it–1999.

SAVOURY SEMANTICS

Elizabeth Riely’s piece about savouries (April/May, page 59) is excellent. I’m pleased that she described one particular savoury as ‘Welsh rabbit’ and not ‘Welsh rarebit’. When she mentions the many stories about the name ‘Welsh rabbit’, I assume she means about the origins of this phrase. If I once knew any such stories, I’ve forgotten them. As a Ph.D. in English and a student of English philology, I have, however, an explanation for its origin.

‘Welsh rarebit’ is a classic example of a folk or popular (actually false) etymology. These are corruptions of original forms or spellings of words or phrases by people who don’t know the reason for the original, and therefore change it to make it seem more logical. The Oxford English Dictionary gives 1725 as the first printed occurrence of ‘Welsh rabbit’, yet in 60 years, ‘Welsh rarebit’ had appeared, for Gross’ Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1785) defines ‘Welsh rabbit’ as ‘melted cheese on toast, i.e. a Welch rare bit’ (a dig at the Welsh).

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