Andrew
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generalising.bsky.social
Andrew
@generalising.bsky.social
210 followers 72 following 630 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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Reposted by Andrew
alopex-ii.bsky.social
Tumulus builder: The grand burial of our chieftain will grant him immortality. Our way of life shall reign eternal

Artisan pressing coarse fibers into clay, unknowingly damning 1000 years of his descendants to be known the Coarse Fiber Ware Culture: oh for sure
January 17, 2026 at 3:20 PM
Reposted by Andrew
asls.org.uk
Compton Mackenzie served with British Intelligence during WW1. Banned under the Official Secrets Act in 1932, the original version of his war memoir wasn’t published until 2011 – & was still not officially declassified in 2017…

Mark David Kaufman on “Spyography”
2/4
scalar.usc.edu/works/the-sp...
The Space Between: Literature and Culture 1914-1945: Spyography: Compton Mackenzie, Modernism, and the Intelligence Memoir
Mark David KaufmanAlvernia UniversityAbstractThis article traces the interwar emergence of the spyography, a mode of life-writing that shares much in common with literary modernism, including a fraugh...
scalar.usc.edu
January 17, 2026 at 3:04 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
Reposted by Andrew
asls.org.uk
Dear Ann, wherever you are
Since you lately learnt to die,
You are this unsetting star
That shines unchanged in my eye…

Born in Kirkwall, Ann Scott-Moncrieff was a friend of the Orkney poet & translator Edwin Muir, who wrote this poem for her when she died.
#womenwriters #C20th
7/7
Edwin Muir FOR ANN SCOTT-MONCRIEFF (1914–1943) Dear Ann, wherever you are Since you lately learnt to die, You are this unsetting star That shines unchanged in my eye; So near, inaccessible, Absent and present so much Since out of the world you fell, Fell from hearing and touch— So near. But your mortal tongue Used for immortal use, The grace of a woman young, The air of an early muse, The wealth of the chambered brow And soaring flight of your eyes: These are no longer now. Death has a princely prize. You who were Ann much more Than others are that or this, Extravagant over the score To be what only is, Would you not still say now What you once used to say Of the great Why and How, On that or the other day? For though of your heritage The minority here began, Now you have come of age And are entirely Ann. Under the years’ assaults, In the storm of good and bad, You too had the faults That Emily Brontë had, Ills of body and soul, Of sinner and saint and all Who strive to make themselves whole, Smashed to bits by the Fall. Yet ‘the world is a pleasant place’ I can hear your voice repeat, While the sun shone in your face Last summer in Princes Street.
January 11, 2026 at 4:39 PM
generalising.bsky.social
There seem to be more coins around? I don't think I ever encountered anything above Rs 2 on previous trips. Having Rs 10/20 coins now rather than incredibly worn notes was useful.

(And card payments stride ever onwards: used a lot less cash in general this time)
January 10, 2026 at 9:32 PM
generalising.bsky.social
Iona's entire family are baffled I like methi but generously cook with it for me anyway.

(Food wise, this trip's discovery was nan katai, which is a perfect shortbread)
January 10, 2026 at 6:27 PM
generalising.bsky.social
On which note, Indian MasterChef is great fun even if entirely in a language I do not, technically, speak. We watched it every evening and I have stronger opinions on who should win than I have ever had for a TV show
January 10, 2026 at 6:27 PM
generalising.bsky.social
My Hindi is still abysmal (lots of disconnected nouns & no grammar) but somehow I was nonetheless able to distinguish accents when watching TV.
January 10, 2026 at 6:27 PM
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