Tall Ships

It was thrilling to watch Bluenose II and Hermione enter Lunenburg Harbour this morning, accompanied by a Canadian warship and Canadian Coast Guard cutter. This evening we walked along the waterfront and observed the majesty of both ships. Bluenose II is the reconstructed fishing schooner that tomorrow begins taking passengers for cruises; an image of the original Bluenose graces every Canadian dime. Hermione is a beautiful frigate; tied up outside the Fisheries Museum she dominated the waterfront this evening. Such a thrill to think that Lafayette returned to the American colonies in the original in 1780.

Shipshape

A few ship names have floated by my inquiring mind on vacation here in the Maritimes. I learned from a model-ship builder of Dutch descent about a trio of British ships in the early nineteenth century that carried classical names (the Irene, the Hero, and Egeria) and were involved in action that resulted in either destruction near Holland or capture by the Dutch. On Saturday 11 July 2015 I viewed a model, the result of over four thousand hours of work, of Irene, at a display of model ships in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia. Irene is the Greek word for "peace." Hero was the mythological lover of Leander; Leander swam the Hellespont to visit Hero, but drowned one night. In grief Hero also drowned herself. Egeria was the name of the wife of the second king of Rome, Romulus' successor, Numa Pompilius. She eventually became a fountain/spring and is sometimes considered a Roman equivalent of a Greek Muse.

On 18-19 July 2015 not a model but a full-scale reproduction of the tall ship Hermione, a French ship that brought the Marquis de Lafayette to America in 1780, is scheduled to tie up in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. Hermione has already visited a few ports in North America, having set sail from France on 18 April 2015. Hermione in Greek mythology was the daughter of the beautiful Helen of Troy and her husband, Menelaus of Sparta. This name appears to be a feminine form of Hermes, the messenger god.

A quick search around the internet turns up all kinds of mythological ship names. One wonders who chose the names and why they did. Even without knowing the answers, how delightful to keep ancient names afloat through the centuries!

P.S. The Marquis de Lafayette's motto was the Latin Cur non? (Why not?)

Riches of Pluto

Pluto is back in the news! NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has flown by the tiny planet and sent back photos, including one showing a heart-like design. I was sad when Pluto was demoted to a dwarf planet back in 2006; it is thrilling to see photos from so far away and learn more about little Pluto. Here is a little background information about finding Pluto in the early twentieth century, including an explanation of its name. Because Pluto is named for the Roman god of the underworld, Pluto's moons are also related to mythology. Styx is the river in the underworld by which the gods swore oaths; Nix is the Latin word for snow, but it is also an altered spelling of the Greek (nyx) meaning "night" and when capitalized Nyx, the goddess of night; Hydra is a many-headed water monster who could be found in the underworld; Kerberos is the transliterated Greek spelling of Cerberus, the three-headed dog that guarded the entrance to the underworld; and the largest moon is called Charon, the ferryman who carried shades, and sometimes heroes like Aeneas, across the river Styx.

In Greek ploutos means "wealth," and the name Pluto means the "wealthy" one. So the god of the underworld rules over the shades of the dead, but he also is lord of all that is found in the earth. English has the words plutocrat "one with power from wealth" and plutocracy "power of the wealthy."

Today Pluto is making us rich in astronomical knowledge.

Safety First

photo by Michele Stevens

On a house and garden tour (that also included two boats) to benefit the Mahone Bay Museum in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, I spied the Latin motto for the Canadian Coast Guard (SALUTI PRIMUM AUXILIO SEMPER meaning "for safety first for help always") displayed on a sign at the Mahone Bay wharf.  The a-b-a-b or interlocked word order (noun in dative, adverb, noun in dative, adverb) gives a nice balance to the Latin and also emphasizes the first and last words that begin with the letter s: (saluti "for safety"...  semper "always." The Canadian Coast Guard observed the 50th anniversary of its existence under that name in 2012; here is an excellent history and description of the service, including an explanation of the CCG badge and its symbols.

I was happy to see a Latin motto for the Canadian Coast Guard, as the United States Coast Guard has one of my favorite mottoes: SEMPER PARATUS meaning "always prepared." Around the sea coast, and Canada has the longest coastline of any country, one must always be prepared, because the sea demands respect.

Cutting Edge

Flipping through the weekly advertising circulars, I noticed a product with an unfamiliar name, Proraso, but I knew what it was: shaving cream. The Latin preposition pro (+ ablative) means "for, on behalf of," and the Latin verb rado, radere, rasi, rasum means "I scrape, scratch, shave." Proraso is an Italian company; the name seems to be an Italian phrase meaning "for shaving." American shaving creams also have interesting names, two of which are Barbasol (from the Latin barba, -ae f. beard + (probably) -sol, from the verb solvo, solvere, solvi, solutum meaning "I loosen, cast off" and Edge, referring to the sharp edge of a razor, but playing also on the expression cutting edge, literally the sharp edge of a razor, but also the figurative on the cutting edge, meaning "up to date, especially at the frontline of innovation." So often that frontline is rooted in the ancient world.

One other shaving product is Burma-Shave, made by an American company that became famous for its advertising. The company began as Burma-Vita (vita, -ae f. is a Latin noun meaning "life"), founded by the father of Clinton Odell of Minnesota;  Odell changed the name to Burma-Shave when he created brushless shaving cream. Documented in The Verse By the Side of the Road by Frank Rowsome, Jr., advertising jingles (short rhyming poems) containing puns were painted on a series of six signs posted along roadsides; my favorite: Past/ Schoolhouses/ Take it slow/ Let the little/ Shavers grow/ Burma-Shave.

A Thorny Problem

(Robbie's Photo Art)

Nova Scotia has some wildlife that we do not see in New York. Before breakfast our German shepherd, Buddy, had a brief encounter with a porcupine (erethizon dorsatum, meaning "irritating back") under the forsythia bush opposite the front door. He ended up with small quills in his mouth and front paws, so he spent the forepart of the day at the veterinary office in Lunenburg, where, under anaesthesia, the doctor and assistant removed most of the quills. Some very tiny quills may still work themselves out over time. Porcupine derives from the Latin words porcus, -i m. pig and spina, -ae f. thorn, spine. A porcupine is a slow-moving rodent covered in sharp quills. We knew a porcupine was about, but we had seen it up in the pine tree or wandering off the property. Now we know to stay vigilant; as we say in Latin: Experientia docet. (Experience teaches.) In case you, too, have porcupines around, find out what porcupines like to eat.

From porcus we also get the English words pork and porcine, and from spina we also have the words spine and a musical instrument from France called the epinette des Vosges, a relative of the mountain dulcimer.

Deep Water

Following the summer music festivals in Canada, I observed the name of a band called AquaAlta, scheduled to appear at the Evolve Festival in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. The Latin phrase aqua alta can mean either "deep water" or "high water," as the adjective altus, a, um can indicate vertical direction either "high (upwards)" or "deep (downwards)." Here in the Maritimes the tides are amazing; we can be high and dry or in deep water every twelve hours.