Legends & History
Eilean Tioram Castle Pronounced “Chee-rum” sits on a tidal island and is one of a chain of great castles built down the west coast of Scotland.
The name means Dry Island Castle and the Island is tidal. At low tide you can cross a causeway for close up views of the outside from all sides.
This castle was built in the 14th century by Clan MacRuari but there may have been an earlier fortification here. The land soon passed to the Clan Donald and was in their possession for about 400 years.
By 1692 the castle was garrisoned by Government troops and soon fell into disrepair.
Tioram Castle comes with a legend of a very unusual haunting, it is claimed that a giant demonic frog haunts the ruin.
The giant demonic frog first appeared in the 12th century when it began to follow John, a chieftain of Clanranald. Everywhere he went it followed, it could pass through locked doors and even follow John if he tried to escape it by ship. And to that point:
On one occasion, during a stormy voyage the Demonic Frog demanded to come aboard the barque, Johns Burlinn, but it was refused access. The frog then made the weather so bad they thought they would sink, the frog was begrudgingly allowed on board the ship. Details are scant, the fog of time obscures much. There were no cell phone cameras and YouTube back then. You take legends as you find them.
The Bright Angel Trail Bridge at Grand Canyon
In 1922 the old bridge (top photo) was destroyed by wind. Six years later, in 1928, the present bridge was constructed and remains.
Context and Precedence: In 1893, Dan Hogan registered the “Orphan Lode” or “Orphan Mine,” located 1,000 feet below Maricopa Point and on 20.64 acres of scenic property less than two miles west of today’s village on the South Rim. Four acres abutted the canyon edge while the remainder plummeted to the copper mine’s shaft in the cliff face below.
Hogan constructed two trails to his claim. The Battleship Trail followed the upper 1.4 miles of the Bright Angel Trail before traversing below Maricopa Point another 3.5 miles to the mine site. Another trail consisted of ropes, ladders, and toe holds chiseled into the side of the cliff from the rim directly above the mine site. Few other than Hogan used what he called “The Slide” and others called the Hummingbird Trail. You had to be a hummingbird to hang on.
Resistance
Simone Segouin, mostly known by her codename, Nicole Minet, was only 18 when the Germans invaded. Her first act of rebellion was to steal a bicycle from a German military administration, slicing the tires of all of the other bikes and motorcycles so they couldn’t pursue her. She found a pocket of the Resistance and joined the fight, using the stolen bike to deliver messages between Resistance groups.
She was an extremely fast learner and quickly became an expert at tactics and explosives. She led teams of Resistance fighters to capture German troops, set traps, and sabotage German equipment.
As the war dragged on, her deeds escalated to derailing German trains, blocking roads, and blowing up bridges, helping to create a German-free path to help the Allied forces retake France from the inside. She was never caught.
Segouin was present at the liberation of Chartres on August 23, 1944, and then the liberation of Paris two days later. She was promoted to lieutenant and awarded several medals, including the Croix de Guerre.
After the war, she studied medicine and became a pediatric nurse. She is still going strong, and this October (2021) if the plague doesn’t take her, will turn 96.
On a scale of 1 to 10, that one there, the fashionably dressed young lass with the sub-gun, is a 12 & 5/8ths, maybe 12 & 3/4 but no better. Maybe let’s just round that off to 15 to be fair and call it good, shall we?
I’ve seen that picture before, but without context; thank you for the story.
She took very little chit, sent a lot of Nazis on, and went on to flourish in the peace. Truly a French National treasure.
Tough lady. She survived the Germans when many in the resistance didn’t. She’s a treasure.
Survival – with honor.
You hear jokes about French surrender monkeys, overwhelm the Germans by surrendering in mass. This fine lady does give lie to that tail.
Whenever someone starts in on the French, I say one word. Verdun.
Yes indeed. Or, to drive up the word count, Dien Bien Phu. a.k.a. Din-Din-Poo, as that rat-bastid LBJ used to pronounce it.
World War One broke the back of the French. And it’s understandable.
I’ve worked with their military and they’re very good.
In that circumstance, I say “Lafayette and Rochambeau”, and remind them of our eternal debt.
-Kle.
Regarding the Demonic Frog…
Never ever ever let evil into your life. Never listen to it, never trust it, never believe it’s lies.
Because once evil gets a grip, it is very hard to get rid of it.
There’s a reason that a lot of otherworldly creatures need to be invited in. Don’t invite them.
This goes for Leftists, Socialists, Communists, Democrats, Libertarians (new school, not the old school ones) and other flakes. Now it includes most Republican politicians.
Don’t invite them in. Use Holy Water, or a strong acid, to cast them out.
I think that the Republicans are just another branch of the power elite. They are complicit with everything that the Democrats do with makes them Democrat Lite.
The illusion of a two party system is now broken. We have a one party system and the elites are not going to countenance a second party. Any voting has a pre-determined outcome no many how many votes are cast.
The RINOs are content to be the loyal opposition if the pay is adequate.
The Republicans just want to keep their License to Steal and be invited to the good parties.
All we’ve been able to do in most elections, most of my life, is pick between people who hate America and people who only care about advancing themselves by any means.
Is it any wonder the bad guys won, when there weren’t really any good guys?
-Kle.
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