What is the scarlet pimpernel?
By Chelsie Vandaveer
August 13, 2001
killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
Suggested Reading—>Click here.
Killer Picks: Dr. Guillotine and His Execution Machine, & The Scarlet Pimpernel—>Click here.
Emmuska Orczy was a baroness by birth and a mystery novelist by choice. She wrote a tale of the horrors perpetrated by Committee of Public Safety during the French Revolution--the mock trials and beheading (Madame la Guillotine) of hundreds of French aristocrats, even babies and children. But, in Baroness Orczy's tale, someone was smuggling aristocrats out of France. As an insult to the Committee, a note was sent bragging of each rescue from the Committee's "cleansing" efforts. The note was always signed by a small red drawing of a five-petaled flower.
The scarlet pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis) [a nag' a lis ar ven' sis] is a lowly weed of fields and waysides. It was once believed that the red flowered variety was a male plant and the blue flowered variety was a female. As a roadside weed, little attention was paid to the plant.
So it was in the story of the Scarlet Pimpernel. Sir Percy Blakeney disguised himself as what people expected to see and was paid little attention. Sometimes he was a poor and loathsome beggar; other times, he was just another soldier on the streets of Paris.
Lee Dittmann has posted photographs of the Scarlet Pimpernel; Poor Man's Weatherglass (Anagallis arvensis) taken at the Henry W. Coe State Park in California. To view the photographs, click on the link:
http://www.coestatepark.com/anagallis_arvensis.htm
killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
Suggested Reading:
What was the great Potato War? What's in a Name? - October 12, 2001
Who was Bougainville? What's in a Name? - October 10, 2003
What common weed is called a poorman's weatherglass? What's in a Name? - October 26, 2001
What is a pissenlit? What's in a Name? - February 1, 2002
Ornamental Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas) Plant of the Week - August 23, 2004
What lawn weed was once a tonic? Herbal Folklore - January 28, 2002
History's Mysteries: Dr. Guillotine and His Execution Machine
The History Channel®
He thought it would be swift, painless and humanitarian. Instead, it became a symbol of horror and cruelty, a specter of death that authored one of the cruelest chapters in history.The leaders of the French Revolution needed a way to kill people quickly to keep up with the brutal pace of executions their regime called for. Ironically, it was a doctor who invented the device that met their requirements.
DR. GUILLOTIN AND HIS EXECUTION MACHINE tells the whole story of the deadly invention that claimed the lives of King Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette and thousands of other aristocrats, as well as influential revolutionary leaders like Robespierre who fell out of favor. Discover how some were convinced that the severed heads of its victims remained alive after the blade fell, and learn the truth about other guillotine misconceptions that have survived to this day. Hear from scholars and experts who try to explain the significance and legacy of the guillotine, and learn the surprising truth about when it was finally retired.
Like no other program ever made, DR. GUILLOTIN AND HIS EXECUTION MACHINE slices fact from fiction in this compelling look at one of the most notorious inventions of all time.
History's Mysteries: Dr. Guillotine and His Execution Machine DVD, Click here.
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