CLOUT OF AFRICA!
QUESTION Are there any castles in Africa?
There are a good number of castles in Africa. A classic example is the Citadel of Qaitbay, a striking fortress in Alexandria, egypt, that dates back to the reign of the Mamluk Sultan Qaitbay, 1468 to 1496.
It was built as part of the city’s defences on the site of the ruined Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The citadel continued to be used as a defensive fortress until the late 19th century. In the Fifties, it became a Maritime Museum.
The Fasil Ghebbi Castle in ethiopia is a stunning blend of several architectural styles including Arab, Nubian and Gothic. Its construction started during the rule of ethiopian emperor Fasilides or Fasil, 1632 to 1667, who had chosen Fasil Ghebbi as his capital.
The castle was used by Fasilides’ successors as their residence and seat of government until the 1860s. In 1979, it was recognised as a Unesco World heritage Site.
elmina Castle, also called Feitoria da Mina, is one of the many forts, fortresses and castles built in Africa by the Portuguese. It was erected in 1482 in the coastal town of elmina, Ghana, and became one of the first european structures south of the Sahara. established as a trade settlement, it became a depot for the Atlantic slave trade.
Tim Fleming, Grays, Essex. VISITorS to Cape Town in South Africa will be aware of the imposing Castle of Good hope (Kasteel de Goede hoop). It is the oldest colonial building in South Africa, a Dutch-built fortress from the 17th century. The castle is central to the history of the city, having served as the seat of government and military operations for two centuries.
It was built by the Dutch east India Company between 1666 and 1679 and replaced the wooden fort built in 1652 by Jan van riebeeck, who commanded the expedition that founded Cape Town.
The Dutch had sought to establish a permanent settlement near the Cape of Good hope, placed strategically along the route to the Spice islands, so they could supply ships along the crossing that led from europe and defend that point against the english. The castle is a five-pointed star, with moat and bastions at each corner. Mark Richards, Royal Leamington Spa, Warks.
QUESTION Were some members of the Royal Family demoted when George V abolished their German titles in 1917?
UNTIL 1917, a peer could only be deprived of his peerage by a Bill of Attainder (an act of a legislature declaring a person guilty of a crime, often without a trial) for treason alone.
During World War I, there was doubt as to whether the holder of a British peerage who was also the ruler of a German state or a German or Austrian subject could be considered guilty of treason against the Crown by serving in the German or Austrian armed forces. Further, the procedure for Bills of Attainder required a trial before the house of Lords, which would have proven impossible.
To circumvent the problem, the Titles Deprivation Act 1917 enabled peers who ‘adhered to the enemy’ during the war to be deprived of their peerages and/or royal titles. It was used for three of George V’s German relations and one non-royal peer whose family had been in Austrian service since the 18th century.
Those peerages remain ‘in suspension’. The four men were:
his royal highness Charles edward, Duke of Albany, earl of Clarence and Baron Arklow (1884-1954), the son of Prince Leopold, Victoria’s youngest son and the King’s cousin;
his royal highness ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale, earl of Armagh (1845-1923), who was not only a descendant of George III, but also the King’s uncle by marriage — he was married to a sister of Queen Alexandra;
his royal highness ernest Augustus (Duke of Brunswick), Prince of Great Britain and Ireland (1887-1953);
And henry, Viscount Taaffe of Corren and Baron of Ballymote (1872-1928).
Lynda Yeats, Chester, Cheshire.
QUESTION Why is the points scoring system used in club golf competitions called a Stableford?
A GoLF handicap is the measure of an amateur player’s ability to play golf. It’s the average number of strokes above par a player is likely to score for any given round, thus allowing players of different proficiency to play against each other on somewhat equal terms.
Dr Frank Barney Gordon Stableford was a golfer and physician who served with distinction and decoration in the royal Army Medical Corps during the Somali uprising, the Boer War and World War I. he devised an alternative scoring system born ‘out of frustration of being unable to reach some of the long par fours in regulation figures when harsh westerly winds made a nonsense of the traditional bogey [par] system of scoring’.
The objective of Stableford is to accumulate the most points over 18 holes of golf. Good scores on individual holes are rewarded with points that reflect the difference between the net score of the golfer against par: one point for bogey, two for par, three for a birdie and so on.
even though the golf handicap system generally works well, some golfers find medal rounds, where every stroke has to be accounted for, stressful. Before Stableford, a bad hole could wreck an entire round. Under Stableford, even if you have one or two poor holes, you can still be on for a good score overall if the others had been negotiated well.
Eric Gallier, Osgodby, N. Yorks.
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