Revolution built of hay
QUESTION When the Bolshevik party was banned in early 1917, Lenin hid in a peasant’s hut. Does it still exist?
THE hut, near the village of Razliv north of St Petersburg, was made of hay and branches, so fell apart decades ago. However, to mark the spot a granite version was built at the site in 1928 and later a hay replica of the peasant’s hut was made. A museum was also opened nearby.
Vladimir Lenin and his fellow Bolshevik, Grigory Zinoviev, had hidden in the hut in July 1917 after a Bolshevik-led uprising of workers and soldiers in St Petersburg against the Russian Provisional Government turned violent. The Provisional Government issued an order for the arrest of the Bolshevik leaders.
On July 9, Lenin and Zinoviev were spirited out of the city. To disguise himself, Lenin shaved off his moustache and beard. The pair took refuge in the hayloft of a barn in Razliv. It belonged to a comrade, Nikolai Yemelyanov, who worked at the nearby Sestroretsk arms factory.
They spent a few days there before rumours reached the authorities that Lenin was working as a fitter at the arms factory. Yemelyanov moved Lenin and Zinoviev, disguised as Finnish farmworkers, to the deserted shore of Lake Razliv.
There, the three men built a small shelter from branches covered with hay, where for some weeks Lenin worked on his political ideas, which became the book The State And Revolution.
With the onset of autumn, the cold, mosquitoes and the threat of police dogs tracking them down, the pair decided to flee to Finland. Lenin later returned to Russia to lead the October Revolution.
After Lenin’s death, Yemelyanov’s barn was declared a historic monument and a museum was opened in 1925. In 1970, to mark the centenary of Lenin’s birth, the barn was encased in glass. Stewart May, Bath, Somerset.
QUESTION Author Nancy Mitford caused a stir with her list of ‘U’ and ‘non-U’ words, the use of which she claimed separated the upper class (U) from the rest of the population (non-U). What were the words?
THE idea of U and non-U words was coined in 1954 when the article Linguistic Class Indicators In Present-day English, by Alan Ross, professor of linguistics at Birmingham University, appeared in an obscure Finnish academic journal.
His thesis was that members of the upper class had only language to distinguish them from the common man: ‘ Today, the English class system is essentially tripartite — there exists an upper, a middle and a lower class. It is solely by its language that the upper class is marked off from the others.’
Ross included in his article a list of word/phrase pairs, such as writing paper (U) and notepaper (non-U); (school) master, mistress (U) and teacher (nonU); wireless (U) and radio (non-U); what? (U) and pardon (non-U); sick (U) and ill (non-U); and how do you do? (U) and pleased to meet you (non-U).
While toilet (a famous example) was not listed in its own right, toilet paper was listed as non-U compared with lavatory paper (U).
Ross illustrated the point using Nancy Mitford’s semi-autobiographical novel, The Pursuit Of Love.
Mitford, renowned for her sharp and often provocative wit, went on to popularise Ross’s thesis in her 1955 article The English Aristocracy in the literary Encounter magazine.
She began: ‘The English aristocracy may seem to be on the verge of decadence, but it is the only real aristocracy left in the world today. It has real political power through the House of Lords and a real social position through the Queen.’
Her argument was that the more elegant euphemism for any word was the non-upper class thing to say. In 1956, a short book, edited by Mitford, called Noblesse Oblige: An Enquiry Into The Identifiable Characteristics Of The English Aristocracy, was published.
Noblesse oblige is a French phrase meaning ‘ nobility obliges’ — that with privilege comes responsibility.
It included a re-print of Mitford’s and Ross’s articles. The illustrations were by caricaturist Osbert Lancaster and a highlight was a satirical poem on the subject by John Betjeman called How To Get On In Society. One verse is: Are the requisites all in the toilet? The frills round the cutlets can wait Till the girl has replenished the cruets And switched on the logs in the grate. Erica Dewar, Montrose, Angus. THE idea of U and non-U words has not gone away. On Radio 4’s U And Non-U: Does Anyone Still Care?, etiquette expert and author William Hanson updated the guidelines to create a new list that combines words from the original guide with updated language from today.
Some of the additions were alcohol (U) and booze (non-U); champagne (U) and fizz (non-U); coffee (U) and latte/flat white/macchiato/cappuccino (non-U); university (U) and uni (non-U); repartee (U) and banter or bants (non-U); telephone (U) and iPhone (non-U); and hello (U) and hey (non-U). D. L. Roberts, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs.
QUESTION Is there any evidence that the KFC recipe was appropriated from Louisiana slaves?
AS THE previous answer outlined, there is no evidence that ‘Colonel’ Harland David Sanders was a racist or a thief.
In fact, he was just happy to sell his brand of fried chicken, of which he was deeply proud.
Greg Dewey, drummer of psychedelic rock band Country Joe And The Fish, tells how he once found himself sitting next to the Colonel on a flight.
He asked Sanders: ‘Hey man, what do you think of hippies?’
The Colonel reflected for a moment and replied: ‘They eat fried chicken, don’t they?’ Jim Elliot, York.