Trebuchets

What links all the images in this post?Carousels (known also as Merry-Go-Rounds) in Britain rotate in a clockwise direction. This may have originated to allow ladies to sit side-saddle and still face outwards. Carousels in France (and following French influence, also in the United States) rotate in a counter clockwise direction. This facilitated the once popular children’s game of ‘catching the brass ring’. Once all the rings were taken, gathered on a small baton, the carousel was stopped and the child with the most rings declared the winner.The word ‘Carousel’ derives from Spanish and Italian words – Carosella /Garrosella – meaning little battle and was formerly used to describe a display of skill-at-arms exercises with lances, swords and javelins. A display that featured tilting at the ring as a primary skill.Although reputedly a fine horsewoman, adept at tilting at the ring, Marie Antoinette also had a mechanical carousel, featuring a rotating wooden horse, built at Versailles to practice the art. There is an account from 18th-century Germany, in which Karl von Leonhard recalls the amusement parks of his youth and seeing people “ring jousting and dart throwing, slashing Turks' heads as they drove or rode past, and hurling balls into a Moor’s wide-open mouth” In the late 19th century Frederick Savage, from Kings Lynn (UK), invented the type of galloping horses that went up and down on a pole whilst they went round.Today carousels are more often to be found on streaming channels, presenting you with suggested options for your viewing. The History Hit (www.historyhit,com) carousels are well curated with many categories. My two films about dogs (Dogs of the Tudors and Dogs in the Age of Revolutions) have, this weekend, completed their revolutions on History Hit's ‘New Releases’ carousel. However they are still to be found heading the ‘In Case You Missed It’ carousel which sits immediately below ‘New Releases’. Scrolling down you can also find them along with my other films for this excellent channel, under the ‘History with Mike Loades’ carousel.So if you are not picking up rings at the Easter Fair this weekend, why not spin the carousel on History Hit and see what takes your fancy. FREE TRIAL subscriptions are available. ... See MoreSee Less

Trebuchets

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