Piggott and his gift horse
QUESTION Why did Lester Piggott, and not Walter Swinburn, ride Shergar in the 1981 Irish Derby?
WALTER Swinburn was a very talented 19-year-old jockey who had been due to ride Shergar in the 1981 Irish Derby, but he couldn’t because he was disqualified at the time for an infringement at Royal Ascot. Lester Piggott took over from him in the Irish race, even though he was 46 at the time.
Swinburn was considered one of the best jockeys of his generation after he had won his first race, at Kempton Park in 1978. He was soon clocking up victory after victory, and in the Epsom Derby in 1981, he rode Shergar to a tenlength victory. He had been due to ride Shergar in the Irish Derby that same year, but at the time, he was suspended from racing because of his infringement of the rules at Royal Ascot.
So instead of the talented young jockey riding Shergar in the Irish Derby in 1981, Lester Piggott took over from him in the saddle and had an impressive win. Piggott had an amazing career as a jockey, winning 5,000 races over 48 years, including the Epsom Derby on nine occasions.
He gave up riding in 1985 to become a trainer, but that new career soon came to an abrupt end when he was found guilty of tax fraud and spent a year and a day in jail. He also lost his OBE. However, in 1990, he resumed his former career and returned to horse riding.
One of his two daughters, Tracy, is a long-time commentator on horse racing for RTÉ television.
As for Walter Swinburn, he rode Shergar on that horse’s last race. After he was beaten in the 1981 St Leger, Shergar was retired to stud, then in February 1983 he was kidnapped from the Ballymany stud in Co. Kildare.
His body has never been found and the reasons for his abduction, and the identities of those involved, have never been fully determined. Swinburn retired from racing in 2000 because of weight issues and became a trainer. He also became a horseracing commentator for Channel 4 and a newspaper pundit. He died in 2016, aged just 56.
Lester Piggott is still alive, aged 82, although he has long since given up his active roles in horse racing. Five years ago, he left his wife Susan, to whom he had been married for 52 years, for Lady Barbara FitzGerald, who is 22 years his junior.
Her estranged husband, Lord John, is heir presumptive to his brother, the Duke of Leinster, Ireland’s leading aristocratic title. Susan Maher, Co. Meath.
QUESTION What would an ordinary peasant have experienced when going to church services in medieval times?
MOST of Europe in medieval times was subject to the Church of Rome, which aimed to create the maximum visual impact on parishioners.
Even the smallest parish church would have a large number of vividly coloured painted scenes. Around the walls would be episodes from the Bible, the lives of saints, and allegorical battles of good against evil, while the ceiling was painted to represent heaven.
There were also statues of the Virgin and Child and saints, gilded vessels, a thurible for incense, liturgical books and vestments for the priest.
The only seating was for the priest. Alexander Neckham, writing in the late 12th century, lists among the typical contents of a church a stool, a chair and an elevated seat. The floor would be covered with rushes and people stood, kneeled, or lay on the floor.
Those at the back of the church might amuse themselves with board games, such as Nine Men’s Morris. A number of improvised gaming boards have survived.
Everyone was expected to attend Mass on Sundays, the important days in the Church calendar, and the feast days of saints.
Since the majority of the population received little or no education and could not understand Latin, they were present to witness the service, rather than to take part. David Rayner, Canterbury,
Kent.
QUESTION Why do we wake up with a sudden jolt during nightmares?
HYPNIC jerks, or sleep starts, are muscle jerks involving the legs, arms, or whole body that occur at the onset of sleep.
They are associated with brief, vivid and forceful dreams. The most common is the feeling of suddenly falling, which causes a vigorous, startling jerk. Such jolts may be triggered by stress, fatigue, sleep deprivation or caffeine.
Hypnic jerks are generally harmless and are not an indication of an underlying disease or condition. They differ from nightmares, which are vividly realistic, disturbing dreams that rattle you awake from a deep sleep.
They tend to occur most often during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Because REM periods become progressively longer as the night progresses, nightmares are often experienced in the early morning hours. Dr Ian Smith, Cambridge.
QUESTION How did top-tier Argentinian soccer team Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield get their name? Is it related to Patrick Sarsfield, the Siege of Limerick hero?
FURTHER to the previous answer, the main part of the Irish emigra- tion to Argentina came between 1830 and 1930, but up to 1920, Irish people living in Argentina were regarded as British, as up until the partition of Ireland, the whole island of Ireland had been part of the UK.
An added complication is that family record-keeping in Argentina was often sketchy, so much so that today, it’s impossible to say exactly how many people of Irish descent live in the country.
However, it is believed at least 500,000 Argentinians are of Irish descent, and that the number could be as many as one million. Ian Baggott, Co. Wexford.
QUESTION What is the oldest identifiable breed of dog?
FURTHER to earlier answers, the Sloughi is another ancient hound. It originated in Morocco as a desert hound.
Carvings of these dogs have been found on rocks from the Neolithic period, 8,000 years ago.
Nicknamed the Arabian greyhound, their hunting capabilities are similar to Salukis, but they tend to be rather aloof. Mark Burgess, Ninfield, E Sussex.