1.
The Gallows Tree
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The Maid Freed from the Gallows is one of many titles of a centuries-old folk song about a condemned maiden pleading for someone to buy her freedom from the executioner. In the collection of ballads compiled by Francis James Child in the late 19th century, it is indexed as Child Ballad number 95,11 variants, in the Roud Folk Song Index it is number 144. The ballad exists in a number of variants, from many different countries. There are many versions, all of which recount a similar story, a maiden or man is about to be hanged pleads with the hangman, or judge, to wait for the arrival of someone who may bribe him. Typically, the first person to arrive, who may include the condemned persons parent or sibling, has brought nothing, the last person to arrive, often their true love, has brought the gold, silver, or some other valuable to save them. Although the traditional versions do not resolve the fate of the one way or the other. Depending on the version, the condemned may curse all those who failed them, the typical refrain is, Hangman, hangman, hangman / slack your rope awhile. I think I see my father / ridin many a mile, father, did you bring any silver. / father, did you bring any gold, Or did you come to see me / hangin from the gallows pole, No, I didnt bring any silver, / no I didnt bring any gold. I just come to see you / hangin from the gallows pole, such an interpretation would explain why a number of the songs variations have the condemned person asking whether the visitors have brought gold or paid the fee. In at least one version the reply is, I havent brought you gold / But I have paid your fee. The song is known as The Prickly Bush, a title derived from the oft-used refrain lamenting the maidens situation by likening it to being caught in a briery bush. In versions carrying this theme, the refrain may add, O the prickly bush. In some versions, the protagonist is male and this appears to be more prevalent in the United States, where the hanging of women was uncommon. The crime for which the protagonist faces hanging is occasionally mentioned, the woman may be being held for ransom by pirates, or she has stolen something from her employer. Other instances tell of her having lost a golden ball or indicate that she is being hanged for fornication. The most extensive version is not a song at all, but a story titled The Golden Ball. The story focuses on the exploits of the fiancé who must recover a ball in order to save his love from the noose
2.
Brownsville, Texas
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Brownsville is the county seat of Cameron County, Texas. It is the sixteenth most populous city in the state of Texas, with a population at the 2010 census of 175,023 and an estimated population in 2014 of 183,046. It is located at the southernmost tip of Texas, on the bank of the Rio Grande, directly north and across the border from Matamoros, Tamaulipas. The 2014 U. S. Census Bureau estimate placed the Brownsville-Harlingen metropolitan area population at 420,392, in addition, the international Matamoros–Brownsville Metropolitan Area was estimated to have a population of 1,136,995. Brownsville has one of the highest poverty rates in the nation, the Brownsville urban area is one of the fastest growing in the United States. The citys population increased after it experienced a boom in the steel industry during the first decade of the 1900s. In recent times, the Port of Brownsville has become an economic hub for South Texas, where shipments arrive from other parts of the United States, from Mexico. In April 1846, construction of a fort on the Mexican border by was begun by American forces due to increased instability in the region on the eve of the Mexican–American War of 1846–1848. Before the completion of the construction, the Mexican Army began the Siege of Fort Texas, during the first active campaign in the Mexican–American War, the first battle of the war occurred on May 8, when General Zachary Taylor received word of the siege of the fort. Taylors forces rushed to help, but Mexican troops intercepted them, resulting in the Battle of Palo Alto, approximately 5 miles north of present-day Brownsville. The next morning the Mexican forces had retreated, and Taylors troops caught up with them, resulting in the Battle of Resaca de la Palma, which took place within the present city limits. When Taylor finally arrived at the besieged Fort Texas, it was found that two soldiers had died, one of them the commander, Major Jacob Brown. In his honor, General Taylor renamed the fort Fort Brown, an old cannon at the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College marks the spot where Major Brown received his fatal wound. The city of Brownsville was originally established late in 1848 by Charles Stillman, the state originally incorporated the city on January 24,1850. This was repealed on April 1,1852, due to a dispute between Stillman and the former owners. The state reincorporated the city on February 7,1853, which remains in effect, the issue of ownership was not decided until 1879, when the U. S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Stillman. On July 13,1859, the First Cortina War started, juan Nepomuceno Cortina became one of the most important historical figures of the area, and continued to exert a decisive influence in the local events until his arrest in 1875. The First Cortina War ended on December 27,1859, in May 1861, the brief Second Cortina War took place
3.
Capital punishment
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Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is a government sanctioned practice whereby a person is put to death by the state as a punishment for a crime. The sentence that someone be punished in such a manner is referred to as a death sentence, etymologically, the term capital in this context alluded to execution by beheading. Fifty-six countries retain capital punishment,103 countries have abolished it de jure for all crimes, six have abolished it for ordinary crimes. Capital punishment is a matter of controversy in various countries and states. In the European Union, Article 2 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union prohibits the use of capital punishment, also, the Council of Europe, which has 47 member states, prohibits the use of the death penalty by its members. The United Nations General Assembly has adopted, in 2007,2008,2010,2012 and 2014, non-binding resolutions calling for a moratorium on executions. Although most nations have abolished capital punishment, over 60% of the population live in countries where executions take place, such as China, India. Execution of criminals and political opponents has been used by nearly all societies—both to punish crime, in most countries that practise capital punishment it is reserved for murder, terrorism, war crimes, espionage, treason, defection or as part of military justice. In many countries use the death penalty, drug trafficking is also a capital offence. In China, human trafficking and serious cases of corruption are punished by the death penalty, in militaries around the world courts-martial have imposed death sentences for offences such as cowardice, desertion, insubordination, and mutiny. The use of formal execution extends to the beginning of recorded history, most historical records and various primitive tribal practices indicate that the death penalty was a part of their justice system. Communal punishment for wrongdoing generally included compensation by the wrongdoer, corporal punishment, shunning, banishment, usually, compensation and shunning were enough as a form of justice. The response to crime committed by neighbouring tribes or communities included a formal apology, a blood feud or vendetta occurs when arbitration between families or tribes fails or an arbitration system is non-existent. This form of justice was common before the emergence of a system based on state or organized religion. It may result from crime, land disputes or a code of honour, acts of retaliation underscore the ability of the social collective to defend itself and demonstrate to enemies that injury to property, rights, or the person will not go unpunished. However, in practice, it is difficult to distinguish between a war of vendetta and one of conquest. Elaborations of tribal arbitration of feuds included peace settlements often done in a religious context, compensation was based on the principle of substitution which might include material compensation, exchange of brides or grooms, or payment of the blood debt. Settlement rules could allow for animal blood to replace human blood, the person offered for execution did not have to be an original perpetrator of the crime because the system was based on tribes, not individuals
4.
Hanging
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Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck. Hanging has been a method of capital punishment since medieval times. The first account of execution by hanging was in Homers Odyssey, in this specialised meaning of the common word hang, the past and past participle is hanged instead of hung. Hanging is also a method of suicide in which a person applies a ligature to the neck and brings about unconsciousness. There are four ways of performing a judicial hanging, suspension hanging, the drop, the standard drop. A mechanised form of hanging, the upright jerker, was experimented with in the 18th century. Suspension, like the drop, causes death by using the weight of the body to tighten the noose around the trachea. Prisoners are reported to have little or no struggle before they go limp because their jugular vein and carotid arteries are blocked and blood flow to the brain is reduced. The short drop is performed by placing the condemned prisoner on the back of a cart, horse, or other vehicle, the object is then moved away, leaving the person dangling from the rope. A ladder was also used with the condemned being forced to ascend, after which the noose was tied. Another method involves using a stool, which the condemned is required to stand on, the executioner stands on a stepped platform approximately 4 feet high beside the condemned, and guides the head downward with his hand simultaneous to the efforts of his assistants. Nazi war criminal Karl Hermann Frank was also executed in this manner in 1946 in Prague and its use rapidly spread to English-speaking countries and those where judicial systems had an English origin. It was considered an improvement on the short drop because it was intended to be enough to break the persons neck, causing immediate paralysis. This method was used to execute condemned Nazis under United States jurisdiction after the Nuremberg Trials including Joachim von Ribbentrop and Ernst Kaltenbrunner. In the execution of Ribbentrop, historian Giles MacDonogh records that, The hangman botched the execution, a Life magazine report on the execution merely says, The trap fell open and with a sound midway between a rumble and a crash, Ribbentrop disappeared. The rope quivered for a time, then stood tautly straight and this process, also known as the measured drop, was introduced to Britain in 1872 by William Marwood as a scientific advance on the standard drop. The careful placement of the eye or knot of the noose contributed to breaking the neck, between 1892 and 1913, the length of the drop was shortened to avoid decapitation. After 1913, other factors were taken into account
5.
Proto-Germanic
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Proto-Germanic is the reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. The end of the Common Germanic period is reached with the beginning of the Migration Period in the fourth century, the Proto-Germanic language is not directly attested by any coherent surviving texts, it has been reconstructed using the comparative method. Fragmentary direct attestation exists of Common Germanic in early runic inscriptions, the Proto-Germanic language developed in southern Scandinavia, the Urheimat of the Germanic tribes. Proto-Germanic developed out of pre-Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age of Northern Europe, Proto-Germanic itself was likely spoken after c. Early Germanic expansion in the Pre-Roman Iron Age placed Proto-Germanic speakers in contact with the Continental Celtic La Tène horizon, a number of Celtic loanwords in Proto-Germanic have been identified. By the 1st century AD, Germanic expansion reaches the Danube and the Upper Rhine in the south, at about the same time, extending east of the Vistula, Germanic speakers come into contact with early Slavic cultures, as reflected in early Germanic loans in Proto-Slavic. By the 3rd century, LPGmc speakers had expanded over significant distance, the period marks the breakup of Late Proto-Germanic and the beginning of the Germanic migrations. The earliest coherent text in Proto-Norse become available c.400 in runic inscriptions, the delineation of Late Common Germanic from Proto-Norse about then is largely a matter of convention. Early West Germanic becomes available in the 5th century with the Frankish Bergakker inscription, between the two points, many sound changes occurred. Phylogeny as applied to historical linguistics involves the descent of languages. The Germanic languages form a tree with Proto-Germanic at its root that is a branch of the Indo-European tree, borrowing of lexical items from contact languages makes the relative position of the Germanic branch within Indo-European less clear than the positions of the other branches of Indo-European. In the course of the development of linguistics, various solutions have been proposed, none certain. In the evolutionary history of a family, philologists consider a genetic tree model appropriate only if communities do not remain in effective contact as their languages diverge. The internal diversification of West Germanic developed in an especially non-treelike manner, Proto-Germanic is generally agreed to have begun about 500 BC. Its hypothetical ancestor between the end of Proto-Indo-European and 500 BC is termed Pre-Proto-Germanic, whether it is to be included under a wider meaning of Proto-Germanic is a matter of usage. The fixation of the led to sound changes in unstressed syllables. For Lehmann, the boundary was the dropping of final -a or -e in unstressed syllables, for example, post-PIE *wóyd-e > Gothic wait. Antonsen agreed with Lehmann about the boundary but later found runic evidence that the -a was not dropped, ékwakraz … wraita, I, Wakraz
6.
Ulfilas
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He developed the Gothic alphabet in order to translate the Bible sans Kings due to the war narratives he feared would entice the Goths, into the Gothic language. Ulfilas parents were of non-Gothic Cappadocian Greek origin but had been enslaved by Goths, philostorgius, to whom we are indebted for much important information about Ulfilas, was a Cappadocian. He knew that the ancestors of Ulfilas had also come from Cappadocia, Ulfilass parents were captured by plundering Goths in the village of Sadagolthina in the city district of Parnassus and were carried off to Transdanubia. This supposedly took place in 264, raised as a Goth, he later became proficient in both Greek and Latin. Ulfilas converted many among the Goths and preached an Arian Christianity, which, Ulfilas was ordained a bishop by Eusebius of Nicomedia and returned to his people to work as a missionary. There, Ulfilas translated the Bible from Greek into the Gothic language, fragments of his translation have survived, notably the Codex Argenteus held since 1648 in the University Library of Uppsala in Sweden. A parchment page of this Bible was found in 1971 in the Speyer Cathedral, according to 17th century scholar Carolus Lundius, Ulfilas created the Gothic alphabet based on the Getaes alphabet, with minor alterations. There are five primary sources for the study of Ulfilass life, two are by Arian authors, three by Imperial Roman Church authors. The Arian sources depict Ulfilas as an Arian from childhood and he was then consecrated as a bishop around 340 and evangelized among the Goths for seven years during the 340s. He then moved to Moesia under the protection of the Arian Emperor Constantius II. He later attended several councils and engaged in continuing religious debate and his death is dated from 383. The accounts by the Imperial Church historians differ in several details, the sources differ in how much they credit Ulfilas with the conversion of the Goths. Sozomen attributes the mass conversion primarily to Ullingswick but also acknowledges the role of Fritigern, for several reasons, modern scholars depend more heavily on the Arian accounts than the Imperial Church accounts. Auxentius was clearly the closest to Ulfilas and so presumably had access to reliable information. The Nicene accounts differ too widely among themselves to present a unified case, debate continues as to the best reconstruction of Ulfilass life. The Creed of Ulfilas concludes a letter praising him written by his son and pupil Auxentius of Durostorum on the Danube. Subject and obedient in all things to the Son, and the Son, subject and he ordained in the Holy Spirit through his Christ. Maximinus, a 5th-century Arian theologian, copied Auxentiuss letter, among other works, into the margins of one copy of Ambroses De Fide, wulfila Glacier on Greenwich Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named after Bishop Ulfilas. Carla Falluomini, The Gothic Version of the Gospels and Pauline Epistles, cultural Background, Transmission and Character, Berlino, Walter de Gruyter,2015 Peter J. Heather, John Matthews, The Goths in the Fourth Century, Liverpool University Press,1991
7.
Gothic language
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Gothic is an extinct Germanic language that was spoken by the Goths. It is known primarily from the Codex Argenteus, a copy of a fourth-century Bible translation. As a Germanic language, Gothic is a part of the Indo-European language family and it is the earliest Germanic language that is attested in any sizable texts, but it lacks any modern descendants. The oldest documents in Gothic date back to the fourth century, the language was in decline by the mid-sixth century, partly because of the military defeat of the Goths at the hands of the Franks, the elimination of the Goths in Italy, and geographic isolation. Gothic-seeming terms found in manuscripts may or may not belong to the same language. The existence of such early attested texts makes it a language of considerable interest in comparative linguistics, only a few documents in Gothic survive, not enough for completely reconstructing the language. That is especially true considering that most Gothic corpora are translations or glosses of other languages and he commissioned a translation of the Greek Bible into the Gothic language, of which roughly three-quarters of the New Testament and some fragments of the Old Testament have survived. It contains a part of the four Gospels. Since it is a translation from Greek, the language of the Codex Argenteus is replete with borrowed Greek words, the syntax in particular is often copied directly from the Greek. Codex Ambrosianus and the Codex Taurinensis, Five parts, totaling 193 leaves It contains scattered passages from the New Testament, of the Old Testament, the text likely had been somewhat modified by copyists. Codex Gissensis, One leaf, fragments of Luke 23–24 was found in Egypt in 1907 and was destroyed by damage in 1945. Several names in an Indian inscription were thought to be possibly Gothic by Krause, busbecqs material also contains many puzzles and enigmas and is difficult to interpret in the light of comparative Germanic linguistics. Reports of the discovery of parts of Ulfilas Bible have not been substantiated. Heinrich May in 1968 claimed to have found in England 12 leaves of a palimpsest containing parts of the Gospel of Matthew, only fragments of the Gothic translation of the Bible have been preserved. The translation was apparently done in the Balkans region by people in contact with Greek Christian culture. The Gothic Bible apparently was used by the Visigoths in Iberia until about 700 AD, and perhaps for a time in Italy, the Balkans, in exterminating Arianism, many texts in Gothic were probably expunged and overwritten as palimpsests or collected and burned. Very few secondary sources make reference to the Gothic language after about 800, some writers even referred to Slavic-speaking people as Goths. However, it is clear from Ulfilas translation that despite some puzzles the language belongs with the Germanic language group, the relationship between the language of the Crimean Goths and Ulfilass Gothic is less clear
8.
Hangman (game)
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Hangman is a paper and pencil guessing game for two or more players. One player thinks of a word, phrase or sentence and the other tries to guess it by suggesting letters or numbers, the word to guess is represented by a row of dashes, representing each letter of the word. In most variants, proper nouns, such as names, places, if the guessing player suggests a letter which occurs in the word, the other player writes it in all its correct positions. If the suggested letter or number does not occur in the word, the player guessing the word may, at any time, attempt to guess the whole word. If the word is correct, the game is over and the guesser wins, otherwise, the other player may choose to penalize the guesser by adding an element to the diagram. On the other hand, if the player makes enough incorrect guesses to allow his opponent to complete the diagram, the game is also over. However, the guesser can also win by guessing all the letters or numbers that appears in the word, thereby completing the word, as the name of the game suggests, the diagram is designed to look like a hanging man. Although debates have arisen about the taste of this picture. A common alternative for teachers is to draw a tree with ten apples. The exact nature of the diagram differs, some players draw the gallows before play, some players begin with no diagram at all, and drawing the individual elements of the gallows as part of the game, effectively giving the guessing players more chances. The amount of detail on the man can also vary, affecting the number of chances, some players include a face on the head, either all at once or one feature at a time. Some modifications to play to increase the difficulty level are sometimes implemented, such as limiting guesses on high-frequency consonants. Another alternative is to give the definition of the word, this can be used to facilitate the learning of a foreign language. The origins of Hangman are obscure meaning not discovered, but it seems to have arisen in Victorian times, says Tony Augarde, the game is mentioned in Alice Bertha Gommes Traditional Games in 1894 under the name Birds, Beasts and Fishes. The rules are simple, a player writes down the first and last letters of a word, in other sources, the game is called Gallows, The Game of Hangin, or Hanger. On the other hand, the same lists can be used by the setter to stump their opponent by choosing a word which deliberately avoids common letters or one that contains rare letters. Another common strategy is to guess vowels first, as English only has five vowels, according to a 2010 study conducted by Jon McLoone for Wolfram Research, the most difficult words to guess include jazz, buzz, hajj, faff, fizz, fuzz and variations of these. The game show Wheel of Fortune is based on Hangman, but with the addition of a roulette-styled wheel, brazil also had a show in the 1960s and again from 2012–2013, entitled Lets Play Hangman, hosted by the legendary Silvio Santos
