Daffy about double ducks
QUESTION What species of duck are Donald and Daffy Duck?
DONALD and Daffy are from different breeds of duck.
Donald Fauntleroy Duck, to give him his full name, first appeared in the Disney cartoon film The little Wise Hen in 1934 with Clarence nash giving him his instantly recognisable voice. His second outing, in The orphan’s Benefit, playing opposite Mickey Mouse, propelled him to fame, and he went on to appear in 130 films over the next two decades.
Since then, Donald has also featured in books and several TV series, with h his nephews Huey, Dewey and louis having aving spin- off careers. He has a f emale male counterpart, the sweet-natured Daisy, isy, as well a miserly uncle, Scrooge MacDuck.
one of Donald’s many personality traits is the enjoyment he gets from tormenting enting others, but he quickly loses his temper mper when the tables are turned on him.
Donald’s white plumage and yellow w bill suggest he’s of domesticated farming rming stock. His l ong neck suggests s t he aylesbury Duck, but his upright posture ture is more in keeping with an Indian Runner unner Duck or an american Pekin Duck.
The american Pekin Duck was originally ginally bred in China from the Mallard. In 1873, 25 of them were exported to the U.S., .S., of which only a handful survived the journey urney to long Island, new York, as a significant number were eaten during the trip.
For this reason, they were also known as long Island ducklings. From t hi s poor start, t he breed progressed to the stage where they now produce 95 per cent of all duck meat eaten in the U.S.
The equally irascible Daffy Duck appeared four years after Donald, featuring in the Warner Brothers cartoon Porky’s Duck Hunt in 1937, in a minor role opposite Porky Pig. He’s the third most featured Warner character with 133 outings, against Bugs Bunny’s 166 and Porky Pig’s 159.
Until 1989 he was voiced by t he ubiquitous Mel Blanc, a world record for a single character voice performance, then f ollowing Blanc’s death by f i ve others. like Donald, Daffy went on to feature in films of his own and also in TV series.
Daffy’s origins as a wild duck are harder to identify: his most likely breed is the american Black Duck. The male does have a thin white collar, like Daffy, but the rest of its plumage isn’t black, as Daffy’s is. It’s more of a mottled brown. It breeds in the Great lakes area, as well as i n the adirondacks in new York State.
The discrepancy in colour might be due to the fact that duck hunters usually see the ducks in the dim early morning light or in silhouette as they fly overhead, both of which will make them appear black, rather than brown.
The alternative is that they are Coygana Ducks which breed in the Finger lakes area of new York State. These ducks are black, but don’t have Daffy’s distinctive white collar.
Bob Cubitt, Northampton.
QUESTION Why is Switzerland’s car-sticker abbreviation ‘CH’?
THE precursor of modern Switzerland was a protective alliance formed at the end of t he 13th century, a l oose confederation of alpine states which persisted for centuries.
The official date of birth of the old Swiss Confederation is august 1, 1291, based on a federal charter of 1291 agreed between the communes of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden. Schwyz, a canton in central Switzerland between the alps in the south, lake lucerne to the west and lake Zurich in the north, is the origin of the name Switzerland.
Modern Switzerland came into being in 1848. The original Confederation was a loose alliance of autonomous cantons whose degree of co-operation with each other varied from one period to another.
Before 1848, the cantons were free to secede from the confederation if they wished. But a series of wars and revolutions across europe convinced the confederation to create a federal state, giving it a central authority that balanced and limited the power of the individual cantons.
Because three main languages were spoken in Switzerland; German, French and Italian, and it had four national languages, including Romansh, its official name was chosen in a neutral language — lati latin — using an old Roman name for the peo people. The confederation of t he Helv Helvetians is thus known as Confoederatio Helv Helvetica, t hus t he I nternational orga organisation for Standardisation (ISO) is CH. The word Helvetica refers to the Helv Helvetians, one of the many Celtic tribes livin living in the area in Roman times.
Co Confoederatio Helvetica is, in fact, a misn misnomer: a confederation is an alliance of a autonomous entities. Switzerland is tech technically a federation: a grouping of ent entities with a central authority.
Mrs D. Eggers, St Albans, Herts.
QUESTION A climbing hut in the Lake District is called the George Starkey Hut. Who was wa he?
THE George Starkey Hut Hut, owned by the asso association of British Mem Members of The Swiss alp alpine Club, is in Pat Patterdale, near Ullswater, at the heart of the eastern Fells. It’s ideally placed for the High Street range to the east, while from the front there’s a splendid view of Helvellyn and its neighbouring fells.
There’s excellent rock climbing at Castle Rock and Raven Crag in Thirlmere, Dove Crag in Dovedale, Scrubby Crag in Deepdale and Gowbarrow by Ullswater. The hut is named after the late George Starkey, a former Honorary Secretary and President of the association, who died in 1975, the same year that the hut was opened.
Starkey (pictured) and his wife, Mary, were expert climbers, and many of their climbs across europe are recorded in the annals of the ABMSAC. He ran rockclimbing courses and co-founded the Cooperative Holidays association (CHA) in 1929. He became the anchor for the ABMSAC in the difficult post-war years, leading climbs to austria at an affordable price for the impecunious British climbers.
The formal opening of the Hut took place i n october 1975 with the Bishop of leicester officiating.
Paul Grace, York.