Put on your thinking cap
QUESTION
What is the origin of the teacher’s mortarboard?
The mortarboard is a round cap surmounted by a square board to which a tassel is attached. Its name stems from its resemblance to a mason’s square board for carrying mortar.
While the term is known only from the 19th century, it has its origins in Medieval academic and ecclesiastic headpieces used to display the wearer’s eminence.
Academic headgear comes from the zucchetto worn throughout europe from the 11th century by Church dignitaries.
Zucchetto means small gourd because the cap, assembled from four triangles of cloth, resembles half of a pumpkin. The loop of silk cord jutting from the central tip is called the stirpes.
The zucchetto descended from the pileus or cap of liberty worn by Ancient Roman freed slaves to cover their newly shaved heads. The headpiece and name passed into the conventions of dress that developed in the first universities: Bologna, founded in 1088; Paris in 1150; Oxford in 1167; and Modena in 1175.
In the Renaissance, the cap increased in size, covered more of the head and became known as the pileus rotundus. It continued to be worn by clerics and was also favoured by doctors, masters, bachelors and officers of universities.
By the middle of the 16th century, men of consequence wore the four-cornered cap or pileus quadratus. These were made by sewing four pieces of cloth together to form horns. Often the cap covered the ears.
For the highest dignitaries, soft, expensive cloth, such as velvet, was used. holbein captured this in his portrait of Sir Thomas More. The style is still worn by doctors of divinity.
The two styles of pileus became symbols of varying prestige. At Oxford University in the 17th century, undergraduates wore rounded caps while those with higher degrees were allowed to wear the pileus quadratus.
Aristocratic undergraduates, jealous of the superior cap, lobbied to be permitted to wear it. In 1675, the vice- chancellor permitted gentlemen commoners to wear it, usually with a gold lining and pompom or knob to indicate aristocracy.
In the 18th century, cloth-covered wood or cardboard reinforced the square top. The size of the cap began to recede up the head, stopping just above the ears.
The colour of the long tassel hung over the side of the board is significant in that it indicated rank: gold or silver for chancellors and vice- chancellors, and black for everyone else.
Louise Westwood, Birmingham.
QUESTION
When were beacons lit on the Brecon Beacons?
Legend has it that the Brecon Beacons got their name from the lighting of fires on its mountain tops to warn of attacks by english invaders — but there is little evidence for this.
Beacons were lit from the 19th century to celebrate royal anniversaries and military victories, but this was after the name Beacons had been adopted.
Bannau Brycheiniog, the historical Welsh name for the park, comes from the plural of ban, meaning peak; Brycheiniog referred to King Brychan, who ruled the area in the 5th century.
The first person to refer in writing to Bannau Brycheiniog was the 16thcentury poet John Leland. he toured the Welsh mountains and wrote there were many ‘diverse hilles’ and together they were called ‘Banne Brekeniauc’.
The name Brecknock Beacons is found in the 18th century: Brecknock is an anglicised form of Brycheiniog; and beacon simply meaning peak. In 1877, for Queen Victoria’s 50th anniversary, ‘huge bonfires kindled on the hills of the county, notably on the summit of the Brecknock Beacons’.
Beacons were lit on the mountain tops to celebrate the Millennium and the Queen’s diamond Jubilee.
When Brecon Beacons national Park was established in 1957, a lit beacon was adopted as its symbol.
The name was changed recently to the Welsh Bannau Brycheiniog and a new logo was introduced depicting a stylised king’s crown, starry skies, hills and watercourses.
Mrs May Johnstone, Hay-on-Wye, Powys.
QUESTION
What are the most important animals for human survival?
The earth, its ecosystems and creatures are inextricably connected. Intrinsic to our survival are pollinators such as bees and birds; the toilers of the soil, ants and earthworms; and pest-control specialists such as bats.
Bees evolved 100 million years ago and are vitally important to the life cycles of many plants. Butterflies, moths and other insects pollinate, but honey bees, wild bees, solitary and bumblebees are the most valuable pollinators.
It would cost British farmers £1.8 billion a year to pollinate their crops manually if wild bees disappeared.
The use of pesticides and intensive farming have seen a sharp decline in bee populations. Britain has recently lost 13 species and another 35 are at risk.
More than 12,000 species of ants have been identified. Ants are ecologically crucial in maintaining healthy soil for plant growth.
They help in decomposition, aerate the soil and recycle nutrients. Ants also transport seeds to their nutrient-rich nests, where plants can grow safely away from grazing herbivores.
Earthworms and termites carry out similar functions to ants.
Bats consume millions of pest insects each year. Other services include guano (excrement that can used as fertiliser), seed distribution and pollination.
Birds perform a wide variety of ecological roles, including insect control, forest decomposition, nutrient recycling, pollination and seed distribution.
A. E. Ryman, Wem, Shropshire.
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