Why the elite loved lapdogs
QUESTION Did the notorious Helena Bligh in early 1800s Naples foreshadow the fashionable woman’s habit of carrying a little dog around?
Helena (nee Paterson) Bligh (1794-1869) was an aristocratic lady who married a Captain Thomas Bligh of the Coldstream Guards before becoming the wife and Countess of the earl of Mornington.
She achieved notoriety among her contemporaries by eloping with William Pole-Tylney-long-Wellesley, the fourth earl, before marrying him in 1828.
She caused as much disapprobation as did admiral lord nelson’s mistress lady emma Hamilton, whose marital wanderings upset some sanctimonious female snobs, resulting in unkind words muttered behind fans at dinner parties.
But Helena couldn’t have begun the fad of owning small dogs and carrying them around in naples as she wasn’t even born when my lovely-looking great-great-greatgrandmother elizabeth Bligh, wife of Viceadmiral William Bligh Rn, was portrayed holding a lap dog in her arms, in a painting by John Russell.
even before this time, well-to-do ladies were seen with small dogs, which elizabeth used to breed as a hobby and distribute as pets for the benefit of lonely old ladies.
Pug dogs, and the like, were also an indication among the elite that their female owners had husbands who were Freemasons.
admiral Bligh was one, along with friends and associates lord nelson, Sir Joseph Banks, a host of eminent scientists and even ‘Sailor Billy’ — the Prince Regent, who became King William IV.
Maurice Bligh, Sittingbourne, Kent.
QUESTION Why is perfume called cologne?
eau de Cologne (known in Germany as Kölnisch Wasser) is a refreshing toilet water (weaker than perfume) made from alcohol and aromatic oils.
Its invention is accredited to Giovanni Maria Farina (1685-1766) from Italy who moved to Cologne and began making it in his adopted country.
Being the very first perfume of its kind on the market, the word Cologne became a household name. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the French language was spoken in european high society and also used by tradesmen, which explains Farina’s use of the French prefix.
Terry Mullin, Barnsley.
QUESTION Which U.S. President has used his veto to override congress the most times?
THE veto power is established by the u.S. Constitution: ‘every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the President of the united States; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it.
‘If after such Reconsideration two-thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that House, it shall become a law.’
There is also something known as a ‘pocket veto’ when Congress adjourns during a ten-day period. This means the president cannot return the Bill to Congress, so it doesn’t have the opportunity to override the President’s decision.
Modern presidents have exercised caution in using the veto. Barack Obama and George W. Bush used it 12 times each, Bill Clinton 26 times but some former presidents have used it with impunity.
The 32nd president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1933–45) broke records. The only president elected four times to the office, he exerted his executive power to the limit, issuing 635 vetoes: 372 regular and 263 pocket vetoes. Of these, just one was overridden.
In 1944, he rebelled against the unwritten tradition of never vetoing a revenue measure when he turned down a tax Bill. He expressed his views on an array of issues including homing pigeons, deportations, national defence, parking meters and credits for beer wholesalers.
The other great vetoer was Grover Cleveland, the only man to have served two discontinuous terms (1885-89 and 1893-97) as 22nd and 24th President.
He used his veto 584 times — 346 regular and 238 pocket instances — and saw seven of his vetoes overturned by Congress.
Third most active on the veto front was Harry S. Truman (1945–53) with a total of 250 vetoes (180 regular, 70 pocket), 12 of which were overridden.
It’s interesting to note that all three were Democrats. Alan Buckley, Sheffield.
QUESTION Did Britain ever produce a car that was a marketing disaster, comparable to American Ford’s short-lived Edsel (1958-60), with its distinctive vertical grille?
FURTHER to earlier answers, to most people’s way of thinking, a motoring marketing disaster would be a car with a short production run due to poor sales. The american Ford edsel (19571960) sold 108,532 cars and the english Ford Classic (1961-1963) sold 111,225 cars so somebody must have liked them.
My vote for a British marketing disaster is the austin 3-litre (1967-1971), a direct replacement for the famous austin a110 Westminster.
To cut costs, the British Motor Corporation used the central section or body-tub of the austin/Morris 1800/2200, a range of front-wheel-drive cars dubbed ‘landcrabs’. But the austin 3-litre was to be a rear-wheel-drive car and this necessitated extending the front end of the body to accommodate the lengthy seven-bearing six cylinder engine.
The boot was also lengthened, giving the car a thoroughly ungainly appearance.
On its launch in October 1967, the austin 3-litre was received with howls of derision, regarded as simply a longer version of the 1800/2200 instead of a car in its own right.
To make matters worse, in 1968 BMC (plus Daimler/Jaguar) merged with the leyland Group to form British leyland, putting the austin 3-litre in direct competition with luxury and performance Jaguar, Triumph and Rover cars being made by the same group.
With an appalling image, sparse interior and poor performance, fewer than 10,000 austin 3-litre cars were sold.
John Neumuller, ruislip, Middx.
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