December 1954 School Magazine

Brisbane Girls' Grammar School Magazine

December. 1954

December. 1954

Brisbane Girls' Grammar School Magazine

met the Queen of the Fairies who said to him , "I 'II tell you what it is, don ' t vex yourself any more . Go home to your bed, and lie down and sleep, and in the morning, at dawn , get up and go out, and right before you, facing you , you'll see a stone that has been brought from the banks of the Lee . Kiss it, kiss it, and you'll never want for words." Cormac d id as he was told, and when he went before the judge, words poured forth without the slightest effort on h!s part. He carried the stone up to the top of the castle to prevent others from reaching it and there it is to this day . These are many other legends concerning it . One ancient belief is that it was "Jacob's Pillow, " and was brought back to Ireland dur- ing one of the Crusades . One part of the stone is said to have gone to England and to have been used as the Coronation Stone, and the part in Ireland became the "Lia Fail ," or the stone of Tara upon which the Kings of Ireland were crowned. The stone is .approximately four feet long , one foot wide and nine inches deep and is set in the wall about two fe2t below the parapet . To kiss it , it is necessary for the person t o lie on his back, after first emptying his pockets of any valuables , grasp two iron bars, have his ankles held by a man , and gradually lower himself through the opening above which rests the stone. This is a much safer way than the old one which entailed lowering oneself down the outside of the castle, having one 's feet held by two men, and kissing the stone while hanging upside down . The edge of the stone has been smoothed away by the many thousands who kiss it every year , and from the time of Queen Elizabeth I the word Blar- ney has come to mean "fair words in soft speech ." M. A Hamon, Ill B.

TELEVISION Contrary to what some people think, television does not take the place of a wireless and in Engl~nd the progr?.mm7s do not go on all day . A small paper s1milar. to the: Rad1o Times " is published as a helpful guide to 1ts v~ned P.ro- grammes. In the morning for -an hour there IS a . film advertising television showing something of the techn1que , and in the afternoon there is an interesting women ' s session with cookery and other useful items. At night , the pro- gramme starts at half past eight and there are plays and C?n- certs that many people would never be able to see ~therw1se. For special occas ions television is greatly apprec1ated and many ·sporting events and occasions such as the Coronat1on are shown. Films can be shown .as well, and often an event is televised while it is actually happening and then a film of it is shown at night for the benefit of working peol?le . There is a children's session on Sunday afternoons, featunng among other things, the famous Muffin the Mule, who visite? Aus- tralia not long ago, and at Christmas time there are enJoyable programmes fo r both children and adults. . . Alexander Palace situated in North London IS the mam station for television ~nd one wing is entirely devoted to it . The tall aerial can be seen for miles and the television range extends for about one hundred miles. Within the last few years , however, booster stations have been. built in the Mid- lands and in Glasgow, so that now pract1call y all of Great Britain can have television. It can be easily installed within a few hours and both the vision and the sound are very clear , so clear that even the rustling of a dress could be heard . There are three knobs on a set, one to switch it on, one to regulate the sound , and o~e ,:or the visior:' ·. T~e ordin~ry aerial is in the shape of an H and as televiSIOn IS becommg increasingly popular , more and more aerials are going up all over the country. Television is now spreading fast , and soon perhaps, we shall see these aerials here in Australia. K. O'Connell, Ill B. THE BLARNEY STONE Most cities of the world depend on piles of stones, scat- tered or in order, for their fame , but in the case of the little village of Blarney in the south of Ireland its fame rests upon a single stone. The stone lies in the para pet of Blarney Castle one of the oldest castles in Ireland . famous as the stronghold of the Kings of Munster. It was built by Cormas McCarthy, and legend tells how, once when he was wa~der­ ing in the woods pondering over a troublesome law su1t , he 36

WENDY BARRY, IliA.

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