Monday, November 29, 2021

W. T. Hamilton & C.M. Russell

 Salvete Omnes,

from wiki commons


as always you can count on the world library - archive.org. So a quick entry of book that can be found (several scans of the same volume) at the site.
The book - My Sixty years on the plains, trapping, trading, and Indian fighting - was written by William Thomas Hamilton.

In the old days  this esteemed Western historian George Bird Grinnell wrote a little biographical information in the entry to his book - Beyond the Old Frontier - published in 1913.





The 1905 book by Hamilton was published with a number of excellent illustrations painted by one of the most popular artist of the Old American West - Charles Marion Russell.

I 'corralled' them for you all :











we may return to this book in the future...

Valete

Saturday, November 27, 2021

Noli equi dentes inspicere donati

Salvete Omnes,



just a short entry - from the late ancient Rome comes this very old proverb - Noli equi dentes inspicere donati -  written down by Saint Jerome in his commentaries on St. Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians.



 The Polish version goes as follows -  Darowanemu koniowi nie zagląda się w zęby - and all European languages have this saying (including the Turkish language).




The English - don't look a gift horse in the mouth



The Spanish - a caballo regalado, no le mires el diente



etc

enjoy... 

Valete

Friday, November 26, 2021

Radoslaw Sikora YT channel

 Salvete Omnes,

my friend Radoslaw Sikora has started his own YouTube channel - here
where hopefully in time the author will share with his audience the vast knowledge about husaria, XVi-XVII century warfare in our part of Eurasia, and introduce concepts, ideas and imagery from the primary sources, reenactment festivals and tournaments, and many other interesting or fascinating 'stuff' about our winged hussars, their enemies and allies.

Already there are some interesting short videos on the channel eg:
Husaria and pancerni reenactors during the 2018 August 15, parade in Warsaw, Poland.
 or this one, where well known horseman, horsebreeder and reenactor Alex Jarmula is  interpreting a part of the epic poem by a XIX century poet Wincenty Pol, titled 'Pachole Hetmanskie.' (Hetman's little squire).


on the cover of Radek's collection of primary sources on or about winged hussars, there is a Polish veteran of the Afghan war, PT Soyers, reenacting a winged hussar - there is a short video about this soldier.



and this video, from 2018, when the Polska Liga Husarska (Polish Winged Hussars League) was about to begin, and in this tournament that took place in the famous Golub-Dobrzyn castle, on the castle's grounds many winged hussar reenactors presented themselves and their horse, and during the difficult tournament  gave their best to show their skills with the lance, sword astride their trained horses etc.

and more 

Valete

Thursday, November 25, 2021

Hungarian Hussars from Esztergom

 Salvete Omnes,

there is a group on Facebook titled 'Szlafrokow Romowy' (for reenactors , historians, and aficionados interested in the Old Poland and her neighbours costumes and attires) and Tomasz Rejf, one of the members of the group and an avid XVII century reenactor and researcher, has provided this link to the British Museum scan of a drawing (pen and ink, and watercolor) by Jacob Hoefnagel, Flemish artist, showing the vista of the Hungarian city of Esztergom circa 1595AD.

In that picture, in the right hand corner there are three hussars or lancers astride fine prancing horses and with all that finery that made Hungarian and Polish winged  hussars so picturesque, each with a different hussar lance. 




Wiki Commons has a scan of a print that was based, mast likely, on the Hoefnagel's drawing.


enjoy studying the images 

Valete

Ps

Happy Thanksgiving - :) 

Tuesday, November 23, 2021

Paul Brill and his horses

 Salvete Omnes,



Will or Willem van Nieulandt was supposed to be a disciple of master Paul Brill (1554-1626 AD) a Flemish maestro of brush,  and graver and burin, working mostly from Rome, then the Papal states in the Italian Peninsula.  
But his horses and horse-related activities are of interest to me - 
firstly, perhaps his landscape of a town of Bracciano - and this detailed portrayal of a 6-horse team and carriage with travelling wealthy(assumption) passengers with a heavily armed escort. Horses are driven from the saddle 







more carriages -

first painting contains renderings of rather simpler carriages and wagons, and some fine horsemen, with a wind mill on the hillock 

this painting has another more sumptuous carriage pulled by a pair of piebald horses,  driven from the carriage with a long whip etc.


hunting 





and some working as ridding hacks, draft and pack horses, like this detail showing not only horses carrying sacks of flour but also a water mill and some other details, like the hens and rooster etc.










and donkeys .. in Forum Romanum, Rome.


and some lowly herders - sheep and goats from his brushes


swine herder 





Valete

Willem van Nieulandt some details

 Salvete Omnes,

while perusing the wiki commons I come across this Baroque  Netherlandish painter Willem van Nieulandt from Antwerp.

 



Christmas is but a mere 30 odd days away, so first his painting showing Adoration of Magi - 




then a biblical theme - Jacob Returning to Caanan - and the detail from this work showing quite contemporary to the artist horse, its saddle and tack, a very lare curb-bit.





A Landscape with amorous shepherds - lots of cows, and a peasant cart in the background (too bad no higher resolution availble)



And a solitary horse from the painting showing ancient Rome, with the temple of Vesta and tomb of Porsenna



Master van Nieulandt was a prolific draughtsman and engraver (and a poet-writer), non-horse but a very amazing engraving


Valete

Tuesday, November 16, 2021

Tocharians - shenanigans with the genetic studies?

 Salvate Omnes,

regarding the linguistic group known  as the Tocharians, the easternmost branch of the Indoeuropean language family? after 1700BC (we are the People of the Horse), and before the Ancient North Eurasians(ANE) :




I read this article with disbelief -  

and then I found this article in contra  to the 'science ' presented -

and then this article about the shenanigans allegedly  perpetrated in this estimable institution? 

 

uff, there is science and there is politics(in my other career I have seen FBI labs engaged in some 'strang'e behavior regarding DNA & contaminated evidence in criminal proceedings), there is law and there is political trial (like in the Soviet or Communist China cases) , American case in point may be the Kyle Rittenhouse' trail in Kenosha, Wisconsin (currently, i.e., since this morning  the jury deliberation have been taking place).

anyway, back to the story - this researcher has the following article - Don't believe everything you read in peer reviewed papers.
and per my fellow Poles and our ancestry - a little in size but large in content article with a very vigorous discussion under the article. And the larger site - Khazaria - where Polish DNA ancestry is discussed -



and some images from the famous Kizil Caves
These Tarim basin caves, in the Chinese  Xinjiang autonomous region, are  the UNESCO site these days.







 


and some Gok Turks


Valete