The Saturday briefing
Is there anything you’re yearning to know? Send your questions, on any subject, to the contacts given below, and we will do our best to answer them...
Q Why the “butter” in butterflies? It is lovely to see more on my morning dog walks.
Joan Hall, Solihill,West Mids
A There are a couple of theories, as the word has been around for so long.TheAngloSaxons called them “butterfloege”, after the brimstone species, with buttery coloured, leaf-like wings.
Certain cultures also believed witches would turn into butterflies to steal butter and milk at night.
They were called “psyche” by the ancient Greeks, who believed souls went to heaven as butterflies.
The UK has 59 species of butterflies – 57 resident and two regular migrants: the painted lady and the clouded yellow. But 80 per cent of species in the UK have declined since the 1970s.
Last year, the gatekeeper was the most spotted butterfly during the Big Butterfly Count. Large whites, small whites, meadow browns and red admirals made up the rest of the top five.
Q How were Winchester and Wilton both capitals of Wessex? Jacqueline Plested, Gosport, Hants A Wessex, also known as the Kingdom of the West Saxons, was a powerful Anglo-Saxon kingdom from 519 to 927AD, covering the modern counties of Wiltshire, Hampshire, Somerset and Dorset.
By the 9th century, the royal seat of Wessex was in Wilton in Wiltshire, three miles from Salisbury – now a small town with a population of 5,000. At that time,Wessex was the only AngloSaxon kingdom that had not fallen into
Viking hands. King Alfred fought, and lost, his first battle against the Danes here in 871, but went on to victory, arranging a peace treaty that shaped Britain.
Alfred, the only English king to be known as “the Great”, moved the seat permanently to Winchester, drawn to its strong defences and position on trade routes.
Wilton was kept as the administrative centre until the 11th century.
After the Battle of Hastings in 1066, King Harold’s widow, surrendered Winchester to the Normans, and the following year Winchester Caste was built.
It was the seat of government for a century, until power shifted back
to London.
Q When did the word “thou” become “you”? Jim Lowe, Penrhyn Bay, Llandudno
A “You” has an interesting back story – and reflects the power of the pronoun. “Ye” was the plural of “thou” and you can still see it in this sense in biblical texts. But from the 1300s, “ye” and “you” became markers of status, used to address your superiors – think of it a bit like the royal “we”. “Thou” and “thee” were reserved for your equals or lower classes.
When social classes became more fluid, around the 17th century, thou fell out out of fashion, so “ye” and “you” became universal.
However, the Quakers clung on to “thou” for another couple of centuries, favouring plain language, staying humble, believing “you” was born of the sin of pride. Much like they refused to use “your ladyship” or “your honour”.
The Quakers’ founder, George Fox, said when God sent him forth, He “forbade me to put off my hat to any, high or low; and I was required to thee and thou all men and women, without any respect to rich or poor, great or small.”
Q Why are we only tickly in certain places, and we don’t laugh when we tickle ourselves? R Mason, Roundhay, Leeds
A The leading theory is that being ticklish evolved as a defence mechanism, to protect areas of our body that are vulnerable to attack, and to show submission.
Experiments have shown our feet are the most ticklish, followed by our armpits, neck and chin, which also have high concentrations of nerve endings, so are more sensitive.
Laughter doesn’t start in babies until they are around four months old, and they won’t respond to a tickle for another couple of months and it’s also a form of social bonding.
Being tickled stimulates your hypothalamus, the part of your brain in charge of your emotions and fight or flight responses – how we squirm when we’re being tickled can mimic how we feel when we’re in pain.
Tickling was even used as a form of torture in Medieval France, with the prisoner’s feet dunked in salt water and goats brought in to lick their soles.
Our inability to self-tickle is something that even troubled Aristotle. But it’s down to anticipation, when you do it yourself, that fight or flight isn’t engaged, as you know you are not a threat.
Research has also shown that people laugh just as much when they are tickled by a machine.