I just had to edit a post from a few days ago. I’d written 2012 instead of 2021. I know I leave typos in, but I now wonder if I’ve put some wrong dates in. If I have, nobody has mentioned it.
A couple of months ago, I had a move round in the dining room. In looking for some things I disturbed a neat pile of boxes on my table (and a few others that were carefully stacked next to my typing table. They were tidy, I promise you. I churned things round, as I was in a hurry, and made a promise to myself I would tidy it next day. I didn’t get round to it. But I have noticed that the mess has grown and spread. It now looks like a subterranean volcano of rammle has built up under the house before venting itself in my dining room. It’s like Narnia in reverse.
I had to look rammle up. I use it in speech but you rarely see it in writing as it’s a dialect word and not much used by the university educated prats who write most of our news. Look up rammel and you get a German page followed by a British politician, then Erwin Rommel. Look up rammle and it asks you if you meant ramble. I didn’t.
Working on the knife sharpening theory I am now going to work on the rubbish pile and sort it out over the rest of the week (interspersing it with my similarly paced writing of my presentation for next Monday).
Service records show that the recipient of these medals (known as a 1914-15 trio and Italian Bronze Medal of Military Valour didn’t go to Italy during the war, just France. This wasn’t uncommon, as the alllies used to send batches of medals to each other for award to troops, almost as a superior sort of souvenir. I’m not sure what he did to merit a medal, but his records also show that he was admitted to hospital with VD just days after reaching France. I suspect his embarkation leave had been spent in the traditional way and had come home to roost.
The medals in the header photo belonged to Superintendent Tacey of the City of Nottingham police. His service records indicate rapid promotion and a mention in despatches for his hard work during the war. He did go to Italy for a while. They will both be featured in my presentation on Monday. Not long now . . .
The stories behind some of these medals are interesting if not enlightening. 🙂
I have never come across “rammle”, but there are many things I have never heard of I learn here. 🙂
It’s very instructive researching people from London in the First World War – the electoral registers are all online, but there are no women in them until 1919.
You have defeated me there. I couldn’t find a definition of rammie. I thought of a rammy, which is a fight or disturbance, but that doesn’t seem to be what you mean.
https://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/rammle
Never heard of the word “rammle.” Those medals really help tell the story of the individuals who received them.
As a friend of mine once said – talking about Victorian medals – those were probably the only things they left behind – they had no books or valuable possessions or grand houses to pass on. The sadness is that even the medals don’t really pass on a rounded picture of the person, but we do the best we can.
You do a great job.
I try my best. I just had an email from an auctioneer – they family of a recipient trying to buy his medals back. I assume one branch of the family sold without checking with the others. Annoying after I’ve done hours of research on it, but they should go back to teh family.
My goodness! Now that’s a story.
I have to watch myself when starting a year date with 19. My sister hosts a rammle as things tha might come in useful sometime
Yes, I noted that “might come in useful sometime” entered some of the definitions of rammle.