Andrew
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generalising.bsky.social
Andrew
@generalising.bsky.social
210 followers 72 following 650 posts
Not another one to try and remember. We'll see.

Librarian. Scholarly communications, historic MPs, Wikipedia, inter alia other things. Misplaced Scot.
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generalising.bsky.social
Taxpayer disputes, Coventry, 1837
Joseph Heck, was summoned for 11s. 3d. for the same Rate. When asked why had not paid, said because it is a most hobnoxious tax. But finding the liability to pay a tax did not depend on its being palateable to the party, he then took an objection on account of excessive rating ; in fact, he said, was rated higher than any one in Coventry. On reference to the rate-book, it did not appear so to the Bench, and he was ordered to pay the amount, which he tendered ; but on being asked for 2s., the expence of the summons, it appeared more hobnoxious than the tax, and would not pay it on any account. After a little advice from one of the Magistrates, he very reluctantly paid the whole, but said would have a receipt for this hobnoxious matter; did not want Parson or Clerk to pray for him, and it was very hard to pay for it. Mr. Allan Sprigg objected to pay 35., assessed on premises occupied by him at Harnall, on the ground that Harnall a separate village, and not liable to the Vicar’s Rate for the City of Coventry. Mr. Twist produced an Act, giving power to assess all premises of the value of 20s. per annum, in the City and suburbs. Mr. Gregory, the collector, produced the rate made the 3d of April last, in which Mr. Sprigg is assessed at .£l2, for a House in Harnall Place, back of Gosford-street ; had demanded the rate and was refused payment. He said Harnall Place was in the suburbs. This Mr. Sprigg not only denied, but said Mr. Gregory did not know what suburbs were—he did not even know the meaning of the word.
January 29, 2026 at 10:23 PM
generalising.bsky.social
So here's a first stab at comparing all three (list is not comprehensive). I think the big standout is the SDP but there have also been quite a few SDPs. UUP also has quite a wide colour range.

The big parties mostly are pretty similar among all three sources
January 27, 2026 at 9:44 PM
generalising.bsky.social
Jahangir on the rakhi (he liked the idea)
has gone to the abode of the dead. In the time of my revered father the Hindu Amirs and others in imitation of them performed the ceremony of rakhi in adorning him, making strings of rubies and royal pearls and flowers jewelled with gems of great value and binding them on his auspicious arms. This custom was carried on for some years. As they carried this extravagance to excess, and he disliked it, he forbade it. The brahmans by way of auguries used to tie these strings and (pieces of) silk according to their custom. I also in this year carried out this laudable religious practice, and ordered that the Hindu Amirs and the heads of the caste 1 should fasten rakhis on my arms. On the day of the rakhi, which was the 9th Amurdad, they performed the same rites, and other castes by way of imitation did not give up this bigotry ; this year I agreed to it, and ordered that the brahmans should bind strings (of cotton) and silk after the ancient manner. On this day by chance fell the anniversary of the death of the late king.2 The
January 17, 2026 at 2:17 PM
generalising.bsky.social
For some reason I am reading the memoirs of the Emperor Jahangir. Conquest, rebellion, execution , endless gifts to retainers, and then a page of just thinking about fruit.
As I had experienced the excellencies of Kabul, and had eaten most of its fruits, in consequence of important considerations and the distance from the capital, on Sunday, the 4th Jumada-1-awwal, I gave an order that they should send out the advance camp in the direction of Hindustan. After some days I left the city, and the royal standards proceeded to the meadow of Safld-sang. Although the grapes were not yet fully ripe, I had often before this eaten Kabul grapes. There are many good sorts of grapes, especially the Sahibi and Kishmishl. The cherry also is a fruit of pleasant flavour, and one can eat more of it than of other fruits ; I have in a day eaten up to 150 of them. The term shah-alu means gilds1 (cherry), which are obtainable in most places of the country, but since gilds is like gilds, which is one of the names of the chalpdsa (lizard), my revered father called it shah-alu. The zard-alu paywandi 2 is good, and is abundant. There is especially a tree in the Shahr-ara garden, that Mirza Muhammad Hakim, my uncle, planted, and is known as the Mlrza'l. The apricots of this tree are quite unlike the apricots of other trees. The peaches also are very delicious and plentiful. They had brought some peaches from Istalif. I had them weighed in my presence, and they came exactly in weight to 25 rupees, which is 68 current misqdl. Notwithstanding the sweetness of the Kabul fruits, not one of them has, to my taste, the flavour of the mango. The parganah of Mahaban was given as jagir to Mahabat Khan. 'Abdu-r-Rahim, paymaster of the Ahadis, was promoted to the rank of 700 personal
January 17, 2026 at 11:13 AM
generalising.bsky.social
I still stand out like a sore thumb in our Delhi suburb, but it's nice to feel like I have a reason to be there and to amble around without having to be A Tourist. I went and just sat in the mandir gardens on my own one evening and it was such a quiet pleasure.
A crossroads in an Indian suburb at night, with a couple of small stalls
January 10, 2026 at 6:27 PM
generalising.bsky.social
Indian whisky is suddenly very good (and relatedly, I am absolutely delighted to discover that "look like Japanese whisky" is a legit marketing technique to use now)
A bottle of Indri malt whisky, with a stylised black and red logo reminiscent of Japanese writing
January 10, 2026 at 6:27 PM
generalising.bsky.social
Back from Delhi. This was I think my seventh trip there since 2011. Interesting to think about how it's changed.
A floodlit ruined stone arch
January 10, 2026 at 6:27 PM
generalising.bsky.social
In 1823 the American ambassador played George Canning at a dinner party; Canning narrowly won, getting "the wand of the Lord High-Steward" on his twentieth go.

His predecessor, Lord North, failed to get "the earthen lamp of Epictetus" when playing Harriet More in 1786.
December 27, 2025 at 3:55 PM
generalising.bsky.social
December 1825: the Liverpool Mercury wants you to know about the exciting new Christmas parlour game
CHRISTMAS AMUtSMENTS. TUE GAME 0F TWENTY'. This game may be familiar to sosiie of our readers, asa it has giveprise to a great variety of recreations fuended on the same principle. ne of these, called II Commrst c Caissez vats" is, we believe, a very great favourite. The q game oftwenty is. however, greatly 'supeHor, from the o so~pe it gives tpr the display of the acquirements of the I sarty engaged in science, natural history, biography, &c. The prmniple of the gamne is, that a person having a thought of something unmer one of the three heads, ani- rnal. vegetable,-or museral is questioned by another with a the view of discovering his thought; but as he is only I allowed t'aenty questions, UpOn pain of forfeit, lie isI eobliged to husband them well, and to take care that no r superfluous or unnetearary ones ace asked: this, with the a acroupanying example, will render the game intelligible. I Q. 1st-To wbich of the tbreeltind'oms of nature does your thought belong-tfhe animal, thevegetable, or the mineral ? _hA-Tbe animal. Q. 2d-The rational or irrational ? A.-The rational.
December 27, 2025 at 3:13 PM
generalising.bsky.social
Morrisons, one hour after closing on Christmas Eve.
A line of supermarket checkouts with rubbish scattered on the floor and trollies shoved up into a corner
December 25, 2025 at 12:18 AM
generalising.bsky.social
Very much the other end of the social scale, but this reminded me of LF Salzman's discovery of the toys given to Edward I's children a century earlier.

(I forgot to take a copy of the second page - if memory serves, the accounts also recorded paying someone twopence to fix the toys...)
This Alphonso, son of Edward I, was for me, as I suppose for most people, nothing but a name, until I chanced to come upon a record of his being given a present of a little gaily painted cross-bow. Somehow this little incident makes the boy much more real to the imagination than, say, the pious moralisings of Archbishop Peckham in his letter of condolence to the King on the occasion of the death of this "hope of the nation." Alphonso's elder brother Henry was given a little cart, costing sevenpence, to play with, and also a model of a plough, which cost fourpence. Even allowing for the difference in the value and purchasing power of money at that time, the fourpence being equiva- lent to something like five shillings, the expense of the toys used in the royal nursery compares favourably with the cost of those expected by the ordinary modern child, as any Christmas-ridden father or conscientious uncle will admit. That the toys were strongly made we may well assume, but it is clear that they met with much the same
December 23, 2025 at 2:25 PM
generalising.bsky.social
Been a year or two since I last tried it so did a dry run of the Christmas glazed ham today.

(Maple sugar and mustard glaze rubbed into the fat, with cloves.)
December 21, 2025 at 7:18 PM
generalising.bsky.social
Although they may have taken a roundabout route. Here the Kirriemuir Advertiser, 1919, mentions the name change - but this is the first mention in the papers I can find. They seem to have spent the war as "Belgian biscuits"; see this very recognisable November 1914 recipe in the Stirling Observer
So, touring Europe in search of "sate," we return to Glasgow—end very aloe, too I rakes are for the moment la the ascendant; we never knew before bow good they were. shill the demand far the supply in the ease of tarts and fruit oaks., =maroons, pastry, " Empire" biscuit. (which have, like other naturalised British subplots, changed their names), and an overgrowing variety. The lean days are Over, and though at the same time we may develop dyspepsia, we are certainly going to have cakes.. Belgian Biscuits. —Half-pound flour, one tea-spoonful rice flour, one egg, 4oz. butter margarine, 4oz. castor sugar, pinch salt, half-teaspoonful ginger, half - teaspoonful cinnamon, few drops lemon essence, halfteaspoonful baking powder, sweet milk or water if necessary. Put the butter and sugar into bowl. Use a wooden spoon and press together first, then beat until quite soft and creamy-looking. Sift the flour, rice flour, baking powder, salt, ginger, and spice together, beat the egg till creamy, add the flour to the creamed butter and sugar, a tablespoonful at a time. Do not add egg unless the mixture is likely to become dry. Keep smooth, firm mixture all the time. the egg is not sufficient to keep firm, use a little milk or water. Turn on a floured board. Do not use too much flour, only just enough to prevent the paste sticking to the board. Work lightly till smooth, and roll out }in. thick, and keep moving the paste backwards and forwards to prevent it sticking. Cut into rounds with cutter tumbler to make an equal number of biscuits. Lay on a floured tin, and bake in moderate oven until pale shade of brown. Lay a sieve to cool. When cold, put two together with a little spoonful of raspberry jam. Dost the tip with icing sugar. These biscuits will keep for a fortnight quite nicely if kept in an air-tight tin.
December 20, 2025 at 9:31 PM
generalising.bsky.social
Had an Empire biscuit today (for the first time in twenty years, they're still great). Got curious why they were called that ... turns out it is the "freedom fries" of 1914.
History The Empire biscuit was originally known as the "Linzer biscuit", and later as the "Deutsch biscuit". With the outbreak of the First World War it was renamed the Empire biscuit.[1]
December 20, 2025 at 9:10 PM
generalising.bsky.social
Realised I never posted my photos from a trip up to Ely last month. Amazing views from the tower ... at least from the inside. Bit murky out.
A brightly coloured child's table and chair in the foreground of a large gothic cathedral, with stained glass, arches, and flags hung from the ceiling A stained-glass window in a Gothic arch seen from above, and some small chairs visible far below under another arch The main aisle of a cathedral seen from far above through a pointed arch, with a small group of people standing among the chairs A decorative roof endpiece with some houses behind it, and then a lot of layers of disappointing grey fog
December 16, 2025 at 11:33 PM
generalising.bsky.social
Festive Bentham!

I had a look in the papers and discovered this gem from his tutor at Oxford in 1760, allowing that yes, young Jeremy would get to go home for the Christmas holidays. transcribe-bentham.ucl.ac.uk/td/JB/537/05...
Your Desire to have him spend his Christmas Holy-days with You in Town, will be very readily complied with: And the kind Invitation You give me to the same place, is extremely obliging; but I am afraid it will hardly be in my Power to accept of it at this time. I am, Sir, Y.r most obed.t hble Serv.t J. Jefferson
December 16, 2025 at 11:27 AM
generalising.bsky.social
Discovered the existence today of a university ranking system that factors in "Wikipedia page views of alumni". I guess at least it's more robust than the reputation surveys.
December 10, 2025 at 7:21 PM
generalising.bsky.social
Some v interesting stuff in this paper on where Grokipedia draws its information from, but this bit from the introduction has really caught my eye - the cite is to Gettier on justified true belief. A lot to think about there!
Classical epistemology assumes identifiable knowers who assert propositions and justify them through reasons or evidence [14]. At the core of Wikipedia’s distributed nature is a testimonial responsibility of a human speaker, transparently made public in the revision history tab, that represents a traceable act with a clear line of responsibility. LLM-based systems, by contrast, generate synthetic testimony, producing claims without a determinate speaker. Here, claims are not derived through intentional assertion, but through probabilistic pattern extraction over vast corpora, shifting epistemic authority from human deliberation to computational inference. In other words, the transition to LLM-based encyclopedias represents a shift to "algorithmic authority" [15].
December 5, 2025 at 11:39 PM
generalising.bsky.social
For a Friday afternoon. (Robert Garioch, October 1961)
Owre Weill I'm early up, this Friday morn, and feelin maist byordnar gay; ma heid's as caller as a herrin, I'm faur owre weill to wark the day. Something's gane wrang: my heid's no sair. I'll see the doctor, and he'll say, He's no been taen this wey afore; the man's owre weill to wark the day. Sen Monday, I've duin fowre days hard; I shuid be donnert, but I'm nae. I tell masel, Be on your guaird, ye're faur owre weill to wark the day.
November 28, 2025 at 3:56 PM
generalising.bsky.social
"St Benedict repairs a Broken Colander through Prayer", fresco, 1502, by Giovanni 'Il Sodoma' Bazzi.

Yes, that's the subject.

Yes, that's his name.

Yes, the central figure with a sword, expensive robes, and badgers on a leash is a self portrait.
Renaissance fresco showing (left) a woman weeping over a broken tray, the colander, and a man praying over a repaired one; on the right, a richly dressed handsome young man with pet badgers (the artist) and a crowd admiring the miracle or, more likely, him
November 23, 2025 at 10:21 AM
generalising.bsky.social
Here you go - Owen Garriot with a well-groomed 1973-style moustache on the ground (left) and a ... less so ... one on orbit (right)
Three astronauts, two clean shaven and one almost so, in very 1970s mustard-brown coveralls Astronaut eating breakfast, with the moustache starting to make an attempt at being muttonchops
November 22, 2025 at 11:59 PM
generalising.bsky.social
The future, invariably stupider than we could ever predict
Move over fillers - here's why people are having facial injections made from fish sperm Health 12h How can you tell if your new favourite artist is a real person? Culture 11h
November 22, 2025 at 12:22 PM
generalising.bsky.social
Oh, *now* they admit it
Google boss says trillion-dollar AI investment boom has 'elements of irrationality' Don't blindly trust what AI tells you, says Google's Sundar Pichai
November 18, 2025 at 1:32 PM
generalising.bsky.social
Interesting numbers here on the profit of a Twitter account scam: 130 accounts hacked, gaining around $110k. One in ~800k people who saw it fell for it and paid up, averaging $260 each www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Once inside the Twitter accounts of famous individuals, they pretended to be the celebrities and tweeted asking followers to send Bitcoin to various digital wallets promising to double their money. As a result of the fraud, an estimated 350 million Twitter users viewed suspicious tweets from official accounts of some of the platform's biggest users, including Apple, Uber, Kanye West and Bill Gates. Thousands were duped into believing that a crypto giveaway was real. Between 15 and 16 July 2020, 426 transfers were made to the scammers of various amounts from people hoping to double their money. A total of over 12.86 BTC was stolen which at the time was worth around $110,000 (£83,500). It is now worth $1.2m.
November 17, 2025 at 8:03 PM
generalising.bsky.social
Minor delays due to trespassers on the line
Fox on a railway line, train hesitating in the distance Fox on a railway line
November 16, 2025 at 1:02 PM