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Nereis

Nereis is a genus of polychaete worms in the family Nereididae. It comprises many species, most of which are marine. Nereis possess setae and parapodia for locomotion and gas exchange. They may have two types of setae, which are found on the parapodia. Acicular setae provide support. Locomotor setae are for crawling, and are the bristles that are visible on the exterior of the Polychaeta. They are cylindrical in shape, found not only in sandy areas, and they are adapted to burrow. They often cling to seagrass (posidonia) or other grass on rocks and sometimes gather in large groups.

Nereis worms are commonly known as rag worms or clam worms. The body is long, slender, and dorso-ventrally flattened, reaching a length of 5-30 cm. The head consists of two parts: a roughly triangular anterior lobe—the prostomium—and a posterior ring-like portion—the peristomium. The latter bears four pairs of tentacular cirri, dorsally two pairs of eyes, and ventrally a pair of short two-jointed palps.

Etymology
The scientific Latin genus name Nereis derives from the Ancient Greek Νηρηΐς : Nērēís (stem Νηρηΐδ- : Nērēid), a sea nymph.

Ecology
Nereis are osmoconformers. They are dioecious (individuals are male or female) and they release their haploid gametes into the water, a process called spawning. Moreover, upon fertilization and mitotic divisions of the zygote, Nereids form a larval stage which is similar to that of molluscs – i.e. a trochophore larva.

Species
The genus Nereis contains the following species:

 * Nereis abbreviata Holly, 1935
 * Nereis abyssa Imajima, 2009
 * Nereis abyssicola (Horst, 1924)
 * Nereis acustris Linnaeus, 1767
 * Nereis aegyptia (Savigny in Lamarck, 1818)
 * Nereis aestuarensis Knox, 1951
 * Nereis aibuhitensis (Grube, 1878)
 * Nereis albipes Grube, 1873
 * Nereis allenae Pettibone, 1956
 * Nereis amoyensis (Treadwell, 1936)
 * Nereis angelensis Fauchald, 1972
 * Nereis angusta (Kinberg, 1866)
 * Nereis angusticollis Augener, 1913
 * Nereis angusticollis Kinberg, 1866
 * Nereis annularis Blainville, 1818
 * Nereis anoculis Hartman, 1960
 * Nereis anoculopsis Fauchald, 1972
 * Nereis anodonta Schmarda, 1861
 * Nereis antipoda Knox, 1960
 * Nereis apaliae Wilson, 1985
 * Nereis arenaceodonta
 * Nereis arroyensis Treadwell, 1901
 * Nereis atlantica McIntosh, 1885
 * Nereis augeneri Gravier & Dantan, 1934
 * Nereis badiotorquata (Grube, 1878)
 * Nereis baliensis (Horst, 1924)
 * Nereis baolingi Leon-Gonzalez & Solis-Weiss, 2000
 * Nereis batjanensis (Horst, 1924)
 * Nereis bifida Hutchings & Turvey, 1982
 * Nereis bipartita (Bobretzky, 1868)
 * Nereis blainvillei delle Chiaje, 1828
 * Nereis broa Lana & Sovierzovsky, 1987
 * Nereis buitendijki (Horst, 1924)
 * Nereis caecoides Hartman, 1965
 * Nereis caerulea Linnaeus, 1758
 * Nereis cagliari Kinberg, 1866
 * Nereis calamus Renier, 1804
 * Nereis callaona (Grube, 1857)
 * Nereis caparti Fauvel, 1953
 * Nereis casoae Leon-Gonzalez & Solis-Weiss, 2001
 * Nereis castelnaui Quatrefages, 1866
 * Nereis caudata
 * Nereis caudipunctata (Grube, 1857)
 * Nereis caymanensis Fauchald, 1977
 * Nereis chlorodes Blanchard in Gay, 1849
 * Nereis chrysocephala Pallas, 1788
 * Nereis cirrhigera Viviani, 1805
 * Nereis cirriseta Hutchings & Turvey, 1982
 * Nereis cockburnenesis Augener, 1913
 * Nereis contorta Dalyell, 1853
 * Nereis corallina Kinberg, 1866
 * Nereis cornuta Quatrefages, 1866
 * Nereis costaricaensis Dean, 2001
 * Nereis coutieri Gravier, 1900
 * Nereis coutieri Gravier, 1899
 * Nereis crassa Gmelin in Linnaeus, 1788
 * Nereis crocea Renier, 1804
 * Nereis cuprea delle Chiaje, 1822
 * Nereis cuprea (Schmarda, 1861)
 * Nereis cylindraria
 * Nereis dakarensis Fauvel, 1951
 * Nereis dayana Sun & Shen in Sun, Wu & Shen, 1978
 * Nereis delagica Gmelin in Linnaeus, 1788
 * Nereis delicatula Blanchard in Gay, 1849
 * Nereis delli Knox, 1960
 * Nereis denhamensis Augener, 1913
 * Nereis donghaiensis He & Wu, 1988
 * Nereis dorsolobata Hartmann-Schröder, 1965
 * Nereis edwardsii delle Chiaje, 1828
 * Nereis ehlersiana (Grube, 1878)
 * Nereis ehrenbergi Grube, 1868
 * Nereis erythraeensis
 * Nereis falcaria (Willey, 1905)
 * Nereis falsa Quatrefages, 1866
 * Nereis fauchaldi Leon-Gonzalez & Diaz-Castaneda, 1998
 * Nereis fauveli Gravier & Dantan, 1934
 * Nereis filicaudata Fauvel, 1951
 * Nereis foliosa Schmarda, 1861
 * Nereis fossae Fauchald, 1972
 * Nereis frontalis Bosc, 1802
 * Nereis funchalensis (Langerhans, 1880)
 * Nereis fusifera Quatrefages, 1866
 * Nereis garwoodi Gonzalez-Escalante & Salazar-Vallejo, 2003
 * Nereis gayi Blanchard in Gay, 1849
 * Nereis ghardaqae Hartmann-Schröder, 1960
 * Nereis gigantea Linnaeus, 1767
 * Nereis gisserana (Horst, 1924)
 * Nereis goajirana Augener, 1933
 * Nereis gracilis (Hansen, 1878)
 * Nereis granulata Day, 1957
 * Nereis gravieri Fauvel, 1900
 * Nereis gravieri Fauvel, 1902
 * Nereis grayi Pettibone, 1956
 * Nereis grubei (Kinberg, 1866)
 * Nereis guangdongensis Wu, Sun & Yang, 1981
 * Nereis heterocirrata Treadwell, 1931
 * Nereis heteromorpha (Horst, 1924)
 * Nereis heterophylla Chamisso & Eysenhardt, 1821
 * Nereis heteropoda Chamisso & Eysenhardt, 1821
 * Nereis holochaeta Intes & Le Loeuff, 1975
 * Nereis homogompha Rullier, 1972
 * Nereis huanghaiensis Wu, Sun & Yang, 1981
 * Nereis icosiensis Gravier & Dantan, 1928
 * Nereis ignota Quatrefages, 1866
 * Nereis imajimai Leon-Gonzalez & Diaz-Castaneda, 1998
 * Nereis imbecillis Grube, 1840
 * Nereis imperfecta Gravier & Dantan, 1936
 * Nereis inflata Leon-Gonzalez & Solis-Weiss, 2001
 * Nereis iris Stimpson, 1854
 * Nereis irrorata
 * Nereis izukai Okuda, 1939
 * Nereis jacksoni Kinberg, 1866
 * Nereis krebsii Grube, 1857
 * Nereis lamellosa Ehlers, 1864
 * Nereis languida Kinberg, 1866
 * Nereis latescens Chamberlin, 1919
 * Nereis leuca Chamberlin, 1919
 * Nereis ligulata Hilbig, 1992
 * Nereis lineata delle Chiaje, 1827
 * Nereis lingulata Hilbig, 1992
 * Nereis lithothamnica Annenkova, 1938
 * Nereis litoralis Leach in Johnston, 1865
 * Nereis longilingulis Monro, 1937
 * Nereis longior Chlebovitsch & Wu, 1962
 * Nereis longisetis McIntosh, 1885
 * Nereis macropis Ehlers, 1920
 * Nereis maculosa Renier, 1804
 * Nereis madreporae
 * Nereis margarita Montagu, 1804
 * Nereis marginata Grube, 1857
 * Nereis mariae Holly, 1935
 * Nereis marioni Audouin & Milne-Edwards, 1833
 * Nereis maroccensis Amoureux, 1976
 * Nereis maxillodentata Hutchings & Turvey, 1982
 * Nereis mediator Chamberlin, 1918
 * Nereis mendocinana Chamberlin, 1919
 * Nereis microcera Quatrefages, 1866
 * Nereis minima Lamarck, 1801
 * Nereis mirabilis Kinberg, 1866
 * Nereis mollis Linnaeus, 1761
 * Nereis monoceros Dalyell, 1853
 * Nereis monroi Reish, 1953
 * Nereis moroccensis Amoureux, 1976
 * Nereis mortenseni Augener, 1923
 * Nereis multignatha Imajima & Hartman, 1964
 * Nereis myersi Holly, 1935
 * Nereis nancaurica Ehlers, 1904
 * Nereis nanciae Day, 1949
 * Nereis natans Hartman, 1936
 * Nereis neoneanthes Hartman, 1948
 * Nereis neozealanica Knox, 1951
 * Nereis nichollsi Kott, 1951
 * Nereis nigripes Ehlers, 1868
 * Nereis noctiluca Linnaeus, 1761
 * Nereis nouhuysi Horst, 1918
 * Nereis obscura Gravier & Dantan, 1934
 * Nereis ochotica Grube, 1850
 * Nereis ockenii delle Chiaje, 1828
 * Nereis octentaculata Montagu, 1804
 * Nereis oligohalina (Rioja, 1946)
 * Nereis onychophora Horst, 1918
 * Nereis otto delle Chiaje, 1828
 * Nereis ovarius Read, 1980
 * Nereis pachychaeta Fauvel, 1919
 * Nereis panamensis Fauchald, 1977
 * Nereis pannosa (Grube, 1857)
 * Nereis parabifida Hutchings & Turvey, 1982
 * Nereis paucignatha Hartman, 1940
 * Nereis paulina Grube, 1868
 * Nereis pectinata Dalyell, 1853
 * Nereis pelagica Linnaeus, 1758
 * Nereis perivisceralis Claparède, 1868
 * Nereis peroniensis Kott, 1951
 * Nereis persica Fauvel, 1911
 * Nereis peruviana Ehlers, 1868
 * Nereis phosphorescens Quatrefages, 1866
 * Nereis phyllophorus Ross, 1819
 * Nereis pinnata Müller, 1776
 * Nereis piscesae Blake & Hillbig, 1990
 * Nereis posidoniae Hutchings & Rainer, 1979
 * Nereis procera Ehlers, 1868
 * Nereis profundi Kirkegaard, 1956
 * Nereis pseudomoniliformis Santos & Lana, 2003
 * Nereis pulsatoria (Savigny, 1822)
 * Nereis punctata Dalyell, 1853
 * Nereis puncturata Grube, 1857
 * Nereis quadricorna delle Chiaje, 1841
 * Nereis quoyii Quatrefages, 1866
 * Nereis radiata Viviani in Grube, 1850
 * Nereis ranzani delle Chiaje, 1828
 * Nereis rava Ehlers, 1864
 * Nereis regia Quatrefages, 1866
 * Nereis rigida Grube, 1857
 * Nereis riisei Grube, 1857
 * Nereis robusta Quatrefages, 1866
 * Nereis rufa Pennant, 1812
 * Nereis rupta Quatrefages, 1866
 * Nereis sandersi Blake, 1985
 * Nereis sarsoensis Hartmann-Schröder, 1960
 * Nereis schmardae Hartmann-Schröder, 1962
 * Nereis scolopendrina Blainville, 1825
 * Nereis scolopendroides Hansen, 1882
 * Nereis segrex Chamberlin, 1919
 * Nereis semperiana (Grube, 1878)
 * Nereis serrata Santos & Lana, 2003
 * Nereis sertularias
 * Nereis sieboldii Grube, 1873
 * Nereis sinensis Wu, Sun & Yang, 1981
 * Nereis singularis Wesenberg-Lund, 1949
 * Nereis spinigera Hutchings & Turvey, 1982
 * Nereis splendida Blainville, 1825
 * Nereis splendida Grube, 1840
 * Nereis sumbawaensis (Horst, 1924)
 * Nereis surugaense Imajima, 1972
 * Nereis talehsapensis Fauvel, 1932
 * Nereis tenuipalpa Pflugfelder, 1933
 * Nereis tenuis Webster & Benedict, 1884
 * Nereis tethycola delle Chiaje, 1831
 * Nereis thompsoni (Kott, 1951)
 * Nereis thysanota Ehlers, 1920
 * Nereis tiedmanni delle Chiaje, 1841
 * Nereis tigrina Zachs, 1933
 * Nereis toporoki Khlebovich, 1996
 * Nereis torta Fauvel, 1934
 * Nereis translucens Quatrefages, 1866
 * Nereis triangularis Hutchings & Turvey, 1982
 * Nereis tydemani (Horst, 1924)
 * Nereis uncia Holly, 1935
 * Nereis usticensis Cantone, Catalono & Badalamenti, 2003
 * Nereis variegata Renier, 1804
 * Nereis veleronis Hartman, 1940
 * Nereis ventilabrum Quatrefages, 1866
 * Nereis vexillosa Grube, 1851
 * Nereis victoriana Augener, 1918
 * Nereis villosa Dalyell, 1853
 * Nereis vitiensis Grube, 1870
 * Nereis willey Day, 1934
 * Nereis zhongshaensis Shen & Sun in Sun, Wu & Shen, 1978
 * Nereis zonata Malmgren, 1867

title: Nereis


text:
Battle of Maychew

The Battle of Maychew (Mai Ceu) was the last major battle fought on the northern front during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. The battle consisted of a failed counterattack by the Ethiopian forces under Emperor Haile Selassie making frontal assaults against prepared Italian defensive positions under the command of Marshal Pietro Badoglio. The battle was fought near Maychew (Mai Ceu), Ethiopia, in the modern region of Tigray.

Background
On 3 October 1935, General Emilio De Bono advanced into Ethiopia from Eritrea without a declaration of war, leading a force of approximately 100,000 Italian and 25,000 Eritrean soldiers towards the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. In December, after a brief period of inactivity and minor setbacks for the Italians, De Bono was replaced by Badoglio.

Under Badoglio, the advance on Addis Ababa was renewed. Badoglio overwhelmed the armies of ill-armed and uncoordinated Ethiopian warriors with mustard gas, tanks, and heavy artillery. He defeated the Ethiopian armies at the Battle of Amba Aradam, the Second Battle of Tembien, and the Battle of Shire.

Korem and Maychew
On 1 March 1936, Emperor Haile Selassie arrived by foot at his new headquarters in Korem. He arrived forty years to the day from the decisive Ethiopian victory at Adwa during the First Italo-Ethiopian War. On 19 March, both Ras Kassa Haile Darge and Ras Seyum Mangasha made their way to Korem to join the Emperor. In addition, Ras Getachew Abate arrived with a fresh army from Kaffa Province. The Emperor divided his army into four groups. He arranged that one group would be commanded directly by himself and that the other three groups would be commanded by Ras Kassa, Ras Seyum, and Ras Getachew.

Compared to other Ethiopian forces, Haile Selasie's army was extremely well armed. He had an artillery regiment of twenty 75mm field guns, some Oerlikon 37mm guns, and even a few 81mm Brandt mortars. However, compared to the resources available to Badoglio, Haile Selasie's army was hopelessly outmatched. To even things up, the Emperor handed out between ten and fifteen dollars and distributed other gifts to the Oromo people of Raya Azebo (Italian: Azebu Galla). In exchange, they swore their allegiance to him and agreed to attack the Italian flanks.

Badoglio had the four divisions of the Italian I Army Corps and the three divisions of the Eritrean Corps at Maychew. Before the battle, the Marshal explained: "The Emperor has three choices. To attack, and be defeated; to wait for our attack, and we will win anyway; or to retreat, which is disastrous for an army that lacks means of transport and proper organisation for food and munitions." Badoglio also enjoyed the intelligence edge of being able to intercept most of the Ethiopian radio communications.

On 21 March, Haile Selassie sent a radio message to his wife, Empress Menen Asfaw:
 * "Since our trust in our Creator and in the hope of His help and as we have decided to advance and enter the fortifications and since God is our only help, confide this decision in secret to the Abuna, to the ministers and to the dignitaries and offer unto God our fervent prayers."

As soon as Badoglio intercepted this message indicating that Haile Selassie had decided to advance, he cancelled orders for his own proposed offensive. Instead, Badoglio would prepare defensive positions for an Ethiopian attack.

On 23 March, looking across a lush green valley towards the Italian positions at Maychew, the Emperor contemplated his decision to strike first. His army was the last intact Ethiopian army between Badoglio and Addis Ababa. He decided he would direct the attack personally in accordance with tradition and the expectation of his followers. Six battalions of the Imperial Guard (Kebur Zabangna) would be part of his force of approximately 31,000 fighters. Haile Selassie chose to attack against the advice of his foreign experts and against his own better judgement.

Had Haile Selassie attacked on 24 March as he originally planned, things may have gone differently; many of the Italians had only recently arrived at Maychew after the fall of Amba Aradam. But, during a week frittered away by the Ethiopians in war councils, banquets, and prayers, the Italians had time to strengthen their defenses and time to bring up reserves.

Battle
At dawn on 31 March 1936, the attack was launched. It was St. George's Day. The attack began at 0545 hours and continued for thirteen hours with little or no let up.

The Italians had been "standing to" in the front line positions all night, alerted to the attack by an Ethiopian deserter. The mountain troops (Alpini) of the 5th Alpine Division "Pusteria" were dug in on the slopes of Amba Bokora for the Italian I Corps. The rest of the I Corps was in reserve, the 26th Infantry Division "Assietta", the 30th Infantry Division "Sabauda", and the 4th CC.NN. Division "3 Gennaio". The two Eritrean divisions of the Eritrean Corps held Mekan Pass, the 1st Eritrean Division and the 2nd Eritrean Division. The 1st CC.NN. Division "23 Marzo" was in reserve for the Eritrean Corps.

The Ethiopians advanced in three columns of 3,000 men each. In the first attacks, the Ethiopians hurled themselves at the Italian positions in waves. The fury of the attack and surprisingly accurate mortar fire carried the Ethiopians well into the defensive lines of the "Pusteria" Division. But the mountain troops struck back and soon the front lines were stabilized.

Switch to the left flank
The Ethiopians switched the focus of their attack and fifteen thousand men under Ras Kassa advanced against the Eritreans holding Mekan Pass on the Italian left flank. Haile Selassie hoped to face less resistance from the Eritreans. From 0700 to 0800 hours, the Ethiopians kept up a steady onslaught and, despite taking heavy casualties, were beginning to make gains. But at 0800 Badoglio unleashed the bombers of the Italian Royal Air Force (Regia Aeronautica) and the Ethiopians could hear the ominous engine roar as they closed in with poison gas.

Imperial Guard sent in
Haile Selassie now played his trump card. The Imperial Guard, under the command of Ras Getachew Abate, was sent in against the Eritreans. The training and discipline of this elite force was apparent in the methodical mode of their advance over the open ground. For three hours they struggled to roll up the Italian flank. The X Battalion of the 2nd Eritrean Division was virtually annihilated. In the end, the Italian commander of the unit called down concentrated artillery fire onto his own overrun positions and saved the day.

Last attack
By 1600 hours, it was apparent that the Imperial Guard was not going to be able to capture their objectives and Haile Selassie played his last card. He ordered an attack along the entire front. This last desperate action was again made by three columns, it was made under a heavily overcast sky, and it was made with little chance of success. The Ethiopians attacked everywhere and were driven back. It was at this point that the Azebu Galla, who had been on the sidelines, made their allegiance clear and attacked the withdrawing Ethiopians.

Haile Selassie's order to retreat was to be late in coming. He placed Ras Getachew Abate as Asmach. But the Ethiopians had lost many front line commanders, the soldiers had not eaten since before dawn, and discipline had understandably broken down. To make matters even worse, as the Ethiopians fled from the battlefield, they were mercilessly bombed from above by the Italian Royal Air Force and harassed on the ground by the Azebu Galla.

After the battle
On the evening of 31 March, Haile Selassie sent another message to his wife:
 * "From five in the morning until seven in the evening our troops attacked the enemy's strong positions, fighting without pause. We also took part in the action and by the grace of God remain unharmed. Our chief and trusted soldiers are dead or wounded. Although our losses are heavy, the enemy too has been injured. The Guard fought magnificently and deserve every praise. The Amhara troops also did their best. Our troops, even though they are not adapted for fighting of the European type, were able to bear comparison throughout the day with the Italian troops."

Many of the Ethiopian commanders now prepared to make for their own lands. Dejazmach Wondosson Kassa, one of Ras Kassa's sons, was to go to Lasta south of Wag, his grandfather's country. In Lasta the inhabitants were both warlike and loyal to the "Shoan Emperor," Haile Selassie. Dejazmach Aberra Kassa, one of Ras Kassa's other sons was to go to the Kassa fief of Salale in northern Shoa. Ras Seyum was ordered to return to Tigray and wage guerrilla war. Ras Kassa and Asmach Getachew, with the remnants of their own forces and with the remnants of the Guard, accompanied Haile Selassie as he made his way into the friendly highlands of Wag and Lasta and away from the snarling Oromos of Raya Azebo.

Retreat
On the night of 2 April, the Emperor finally ordered a retreat. The retreating columns set off before dawn the next day towards Lake Hashenge and the highlands of Korem. Haile Selassie, wearing a pith helmet, rode a white horse and the retreat was initially not chaotic. In the early morning, circumstances changed as two latent threats materialized. The Azebo Oromos started attacking the flanks and Italian aircraft arrived. The Imperial Guard, as part of the rear guard commanded by Asmach Getachew, lost more men over the next two days than were lost during the battle.

Late on 3 April, the Ethiopian columns reached Korem and the relative safety of the highlands. It was now decided that the columns would be dispersed. As a result, all semblance of order and organization were lost. In the early morning of 4 April, the battle weary and thirsty survivors of the Emperor's army struggled towards Lake Ashangi. Roughly 20,000 Ethiopians crossed the open plain towards Lake Ashangi and, due to brutal attacks from the Azebo Oromos and due to near continuous attacks from the air, thousands would be lost before they got close to the lake's shore. Worse, the water of Lake Ashangi had been sprayed with deadly chemicals by the Italian Royal Air Force and was poisoned by the time the Emperor's army arrived. Late on 4 April, Haile Selassie looked with despair upon the horrific sight of the dead bodies of much of his army ringing the poisoned lake.

Pilgrimage to Lalibella and plan to stand at Dessie
It was believed among the Ethiopians that it might be possible to make a stand at Dessie. The Crown Prince Asfa Wossen had been sent there to raise a new army. With the Crown Prince in Dessie were Shum Wadajo Ali and Fitawrari Fikremariam. Wadajo Ali was the "real" Governor of Wollo and Fikremariam commanded the Guard and the Shewan garrison at Dessie. Ammunition and supplies were accumulated in anticipation of protracted operations in the north.

Before getting to Dessie, the Emperor decided to make a pilgrimage to the holy city of Lalibella. Included in the Emperor's retinue was Coptic Abuna Petros, Etchage Gabre Giyorgis, Ras Kassa, Dejazmach Adafersaw Yenadu, Dejazmach Wondosson Kassa, and Dejazmach Aberra Kassa. From 12 April the Emperor spent three days there in prayer. On 15 April, Haile Selassie left Lalibella and rejoined his army as it continued its plodding march towards Dessie. At Magdala, the Emperor was to learn that the Crown Prince had abandoned Dessie on 14 April without firing a shot. He also learned that the city was already occupied by the Eritreans. The Emperor's column turned towards Worra Ilu, but runners then brought the news that Worra Ilu had fallen too. By forced march, the Emperor and his party made their way to Fikke in Salale.

On 20 April, Marshal Badoglio flew to Dessie. He noted great strips of cloth stretched across the decorated streets. On the cloth, the local population had written: "The Hawk has flown."

On 26 April, when Badoglio launched his "March of the Iron Will" towards Addis Ababa, he faced no meaningful Ethiopian resistance.

Addis Ababa
From Fikke, Haile Selassie made his way towards Addis Ababa. By 1 May, he had arrived in the capital. This was one month after the Battle of Maychew. With him were Ras Kassa and Asmach Getachew. When the Emperor arrived, he found a city in a state of near panic.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Battle of Maychew


text:
Harar

Harar (Harari: ሀረር; Adare Biyyo; Herer; هرر), known historically by the indigenous as Harar-Gey or simply Gey (Harari: ጌይ Gēy, lit. 'the city'), is a walled city in eastern Ethiopia. It is also known in Arabic as the City of Saints (مدينة الأولياء).

Harar is the capital city of the Harari Region. The ancient city is located on a hilltop in the eastern part of the country and is about 500 km from the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa at an elevation of 1885 m.

For centuries, Harar has been a major commercial center, linked by the trade routes with the rest of Ethiopia, the entire Horn of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, Asia, and through its ports, the outside world. Harar Jugol, the old walled city, was listed as a World Heritage Site in 2006 by UNESCO in recognition of its cultural heritage. Because of Harar's long history of involvement during times of trade in the Arabian Peninsula, the Government of Ethiopia has made it a criminal offence to demolish or interfere with any historical sites or fixtures in the city. These include stone homes, museums and items discarded from war. According to UNESCO, it is "considered 'the fourth holiest city' of Islam" with 82 mosques, three of which date from the 10th century, and 102 shrines.

Yahyá Naṣrallāh's Fatḥ Madīnat Harar, an unpublished history of the city in the 13th century, records that the legendary saint Abadir Umar ar-Rida and several other religious leaders settled in the Harar plateau c. 1216 (612 AH). Harar was later made the new capital of the Adal Sultanate in 1520 by the Sultan Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad. The city saw a political decline during the ensuing Emirate of Harar, only regaining some significance in the Khedivate of Egypt period. During the Ethiopian Empire, the city decayed while maintaining a certain cultural prestige.

History
When Harar was founded is unclear and various dates have been suggested, some state the early Semitic settlers of the region were believed to be of Hadhrami stock. In any case, the modern city of Harar mostly dates back to the 1700s at the earliest, but the site itself has been the site of a city for much longer.

It is likely the original inhabitants of the region were the Harla people. Harar was part of the Harla Kingdom's domain in the sixth century. In the Islamic period, the city was under an alliance called the confederated states of Zeila. According to the 12th-century Jewish traveler Benjamin of Tudela, the Zeila was the land of the Havilah, confined by al-Habash in the west.

In the ninth century, Harar was under the Maḥzūmī dynasty's Sultanate of Shewa.

Islam had gained a foothold on the Harar plateau by the 10th–11th centuries CE via trade with Zeila. By the 13th century, Islam had become the predominant religion in the region.

The rise of Muslim states
Harar emerged as the center of Islamic culture and religion in the Horn of Africa during end of the Middle Ages.

According to the Fatḥ Madīnat Harar, the legendary saint Abadir Umar ar-Rida, along with several other religious leaders, came from the Arabian Peninsula to settle in the Harar plateau circa 612H (1216 CE), where Abadir was supposedly met by the Harla, Gaturi and Argobba people. According to tradition, Abadir's brother Fakr ad-Din founded the Sultanate of Mogadishu, while one of his descendants founded the Hadiya Sultanate.

According to the 14th-century chronicles of Amda Seyon I, Gēt (Gēy) was a colony in the Harla country. During the Middle Ages, Harar was part of the Adal Sultanate, becoming its capital in 1520 under Sultan Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad. The sixteenth century was the city's Golden Age. The local culture flourished, and many poets lived and wrote there. It also became known for coffee, weaving, basketry and bookbinding.

From Harar, Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi, also known as "Gurey" and "Grañ", both meaning "the Left-handed", launched a war of conquest in the 16th century that extended the polity's territory and threatened the existence of the neighboring Oriental Orthodox Christian Ethiopian Empire. His successor, Emir Nur ibn Mujahid, built a protective wall around the city to defend its population from the Oromo invasion. Four meters in height with five gates, this structure, called the Jugol, is still intact and is a symbol of the town to the inhabitants Harari people. Siltʼe, Wolane, Halaba and Harari people lived in Harar, while the former three moved to the Gurage region.

Immediately after Ahmad's wars, Harar experienced a severe famine. The prices of food and livestock rose significantly: one sa'a (a unit equal to four handfuls) of sorghum cost 12 ashrafis, and an equal amount of salt cost 15. A cow cost over 300 ashrafis. As the economy recovered from the famine, the price of a sa'a of sorghum fell to 4–5 mahallaks (a sub-denomination of the ashrafi). Another famine during the reign of Nur ibn Mujahid raised the cost of a sa'a of sorghum to 2 ashrafis. This is the first mention of the ashrafi and mahallak as denominations of money in Harar.

The Emirate of Harar also struck its own currency, the earliest possible issues bearing a date that may be read as 615 AH (1218/19 CE); but the first coins were definitely issued by 1789 CE, and more were issued into the 19th century.

Elisée Reclus (1886) describes the two main ancient routes leading from Harar to Zeila, one route passing through the country of the Gadabuursi and one route passing through Issa territory, both subclans of the Dir clan family:

"'Two routes, often blocked by the inroads of plundering hordes, lead from Harrar to Zeila. One crosses a ridge to the north of the town, thence redescending into the basin of the Awash by the Galdessa Pass and valley, and from this point running towards the sea through Issa territory, which is crossed by a chain of trachytic rocks trending southwards. The other and more direct but more rugged route ascends north-eastwards towards the Darmi Pass, crossing the country of the Gadibursis or Gudabursis. The town of Zeila lies south of a small archipelago of islets and reefs on a point of the coast where it is hemmed in by the Gadibursi tribe. It has two ports, one frequented by boats but impracticable for ships, whilst the other, not far south of the town, although very narrow, is from 26 to 33 feet deep, and affords safe shelter to large craft.'"

Decline
Following the death of Emir Nur, the Harari state began a steady decline in wealth and power. A later ruler, Imam Muhammed Jasa, a kinsman of Ahmad Gragn, known as, Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al Ghazi yielded to the pressures of increasing Oromo raids and in 1577 abandoned the city, relocating to Aussa and making his brother ruler of Harar. The new base not only failed to provide more security from the Oromo invasion, it was coupled by Somali incursions and would eventually be invaded by the neighboring Afar people. The Imamate of Aussa declined over the next century while Harar regained its independence under `Ali ibn Da`ud, the founder of a dynasty that ruled the city from 1647 until 1875, when it was conquered by Egypt.

Richard Francis Burton describes Harar during his visit in 1855:

""The ancient metropolis of a once mighty race, the only permanent settlement in Eastern Africa, the reported seat of Moslem learning, a walled city of stone houses, possessing its independent chief, its peculiar population, its unknown language, and its own coinage, the emporium of the coffee trade, the head-quarters of slavery, the birth-place of the Chat plant""

In the 1800s, Emir Ahmad III ibn Abu Bakr halted all imports and exports from the port of Zeila opting for Berbera instead due to a dispute with his mother, the sister of the chief Somali Giri clan controlling the route to Zeila. According to Richard Francis Burton, who visited both Berbera and Harar during his travels, he repeated a famous Harari saying he heard in 1854: "He who commands at Berbera, holds the beard of Harar in his hands." In this period slaves of Sidama and Gurage stock were important commodities exported to the coast. A significant portion of the trade between the two historic towns Harar-Berbera was controlled by merchants belonging to the Habr Awal, Isaaq clan, who also partook in the trade of the renowned Harari coffee bean, which were named Berbera Coffee in the international market. Harar was also the home of numerous Somali scholars who came to the city to study the most notable being Sheikh Madar founder of Hargeisa.

Harar appears to have begun minting coins more-or-less continuously during the reign of the emir Abd al-Shakur ibn Yusuf. Surviving coins from his reign are of high quality, with a high silver content and clear inscriptions reflecting the use of good dies. The currency was heavily debased under Muhammad ibn Ali, who introduced a new type of coin, heavily alloyed with tin, in order to meet his obligations to his Gosa brothers. He decreed that anyone with the old currency had to exchange it for the new kind. Muhammad Mukhtar, an officer in the Egyptian army, wrote in 1876 condemning this as a massive fraud. In 1883, a German traveller wrote that the currency was not worth even one-tenth of its nominal value.

19th century
In 1875 Muhammad Rauf Pasha led an Egyptian force from Zeila into the interior of southeast Ethiopia, pretending to be a scientific expedition. He occupied Harar on 11 October 1875.

Rauf Pasha initially suspended Harari coins from circulation and sent some samples to Cairo for analysis, hoping to replace them with Egyptian currency. However, the Egyptian government was unable to provide enough money to do this and advised him to keep Harari currency in use. However, the value of the Harari mahallak was reassessed from 33 to the Maria Theresa thaler before to 300 to the dollar after. Once the analysis of the coins' silver content was completed, this was further changed to 311 to the thaler.

During the period of Egyptian rule (1875–1884), Arthur Rimbaud lived in the city as the local functionary of several different commercial companies based in Aden; he returned in 1888 to resume trading in coffee, musk, and skins until a fatal disease forced him to return to France. A house said to have been his residence is now a museum.

In 1885, Harar regained its independence under Amir Abdullahi, but this lasted only two years. Abyssinian forces of Shewa would invade the Emirate of Harar in 1886 but suffer a defeat at the hands of the emir's troops during the Battle of Hirna. A few months later on 9 January 1887 during Battle of Chelenqo, the Shewan king Menelik II would lead the conquest of Harar.

Harar was the place where the modern Ethiopian state minted its first coins under Menelik II, bearing the date of 1885 E.C. (1892 CE).

Harar lost some of its commercial importance with the creation of the French-built Addis Ababa–Djibouti Railway, initially intended to run via the city but diverted north of the mountains between Harar and the Awash River to save money. As a result of this, Dire Dawa was founded in 1902 as New Harar. The British planned to revitalise the historic Harar-Berbera trade route by connecting the two cities via rail as a means to bolster trade. However, the initiative was vetoed by parliament on the grounds that it would harm the Entente Cordiale between France and Britain.

All the trade routes linking Harar to the Somali coast passed through the Somali and Oromo territories where the Gadabuursi and Issa subclans of the Dir clan family held the monopoly of trade as is mentioned in the History of Harar and the Hararis:

"'In the 19th century the jurisdiction of the Amirs was limited to Harar and its close environs, while the whole trade routes to the coast passed through Oromo and the Somali territories. There were only two practicable routes: one was the Jaldeissa, through Somali Issa and Nole Oromo territories, the other of Darmy through the Gadaboursi. The Somali, who held a monopoly as transporters, took full advantage of the prevailing conditions and the merchants were the victim of all forms of abuse and extortion... Under the supervision of these agents the caravan would be entrusted to abbans (caravan protector), who usually belonged to the Issa or Gadaboursi when destined to the coast and to Jarso when destined for the interior.'"

20th century until present
Harar was captured by Italian troops under Marshall Rodolfo Graziani during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War on 8 May 1936. The 1st battalion of the Nigeria Regiment, advancing from Jijiga by way of the Marda Pass, captured the city for the allies 29 March 1941. Following the conclusion of the Anglo-Ethiopian Agreement in 1944, the government of the United Kingdom were granted permission to establish a consulate in Harar, although the British refused to reciprocate by allowing an Ethiopian one at Hargeisa. After numerous reports of British activities in the Haud that violated the London Agreement of 1954, the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs ordered the consulate closed March 1960.

"A railway from Berbera to Harrar in Abyssinia was suggested as a means of bringing the interior of the protectorate within easy access, and at the same time of catering for the trade of Abyssinia; but it was vetoed on the ground that to compete with the French railway from Jibouti to Addis Ababa would be poor policy at a time when the entente cordiale had just been firmly cemented."

In 1995, the city and its environs became an Ethiopian region (or kilil) in its own right. A pipeline to carry water to the city from Dire Dawa is currently under construction.

Culture
According to Sir Richard Burton Harar is the birthplace of the khat plant. The original domesticated coffee plant is also said to have been from Harar.

Climate
The climate of Harar is classified as subtropical highland climate (Cwb) in Köppen-Geiger climate classification system.

Throughout the year, afternoon temperatures are warm to very warm, whilst mornings are cool to mild. Rain falls between March and October with a peak in August, whilst November to February is usually dry.

Demographics
Based on the 2007 national census conducted by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), Harar city had a total urban population of 99,368, of whom 49,727 were men and 49,641 women. The six largest ethnic groups reported in Harar were the Amhara (40.55%), the Oromo (28.14%), the Harari (11.83%), the Gurage (7.94%), the Somali (6.82%), and the Tigrayans (2.76%); all other ethnic groups together comprised less than 2% of the population. Amharic was spoken as a first language by 49.2% of city inhabitants, Oromo by 23.7%, Harari by 12.2%, and Somali by 6.6%. The plurality of urban inhabitants professed Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, with 48.54% of the population having reported they practiced that belief, while 44.56% of the population said they were Muslim, and 6.14% were Protestant.

Ethnicity
Barker Haines reported in 1840 that the majority of the population of Harar were Hararis however a few Oromo, Afar, Somali Issa and Arabian traders of Yemen were also present. In 1855 Richard Francis Burton described Harar as having an approximately 8,000 inhabitants; 3,000 Bedouins (referring to seasonal nomads who "come and go", 2,500 Hararis, and 2,500 Somalis. Burton further reported a large Oromo presence leading to the town. During his visit in the Khedivate of Egypt occupation of the Emirate of Harar, researcher Paultischke describes Harar as having roughly 40,000 inhabitants with 25,000 of these being Hararis, 6,000 Oromo, 5,000 Somalis, 3,000 Abyssinians as well as a minority of Europeans and Asians.

After the conquest of the Emirate of Harar by Ethiopian Empire, an influx of Amhara settled in Harar and its surroundings. The Somali population of the town was decimated following the overthrow of Lij Iyasu by Abyssinian militias. The indigenous Harari natives who once were majority within the walled city are under 15%, due to ethnic cleansing by the Haile Selassie regime. As a result of the repression by the Ethiopian regime, in the late 1970s Hararis residing in Addis Ababa outnumbered those in Harar. According to Feener, the Harari have not recovered from the 1948 state-led crackdown on their population.

The Somali tribes surrounding Harar are mainly from the Gadabuursi and Issa subclans of the Dir and the Karanle subclan of the Hawiye. They represent the most native Somali clans in the region. The Darod clans of the Geri and Jidwaaq also inhabit areas near Harar. The Gadabuursi and Geri Somali strike immediately north and north eastwards of the town. Richard Francis Burton (1856) describes the Gadabuursi and Geri Somali clans as extending to within sight of Harar. The Issa and Karanle Hawiye strike north and north westwards whilst the Jidwaaq strike eastwards.

I.M. Lewis (1998) states: "'Including the land round Harar and Dire Dawa inhabited by the Somalis of the 'Iise and Gadabuursi clans.'"

City layout
The old walled city of Harar is divided into 5 quarters: Assum Bari, Argobba Bari, Suqutat Bari, Badro Bari, and Asmadin Bari. These quarters are then further divided into neighborhoods called toya, which are often named after a Muslim shrine or a prominent tree serving as a local landmark. According to S.R. Waldron, there were 59 such neighborhoods around 1975.

In the late 1960s, it was still possible to walk around the outside of the city walls on foot; doing so took about an hour. By the early 1980s, though, this was no longer possible because the city had begun to expand out from the walled city, with some buildings being built directly attached to the outside of the wall.

Walls and gates of Harar
The Old City of Harar with an approximate area of 60 ha is surrounded by ramparts on the northern and eastern sides and part of the southern side. There are five ancient city gates, These are, clockwise from the north of the citadel:

 * Assum Bari (located in the north)
 * Argobba Bari (located in the east)
 * Suqutat Bari (located in the south east)
 * Badro Bari (located in the south)
 * Asmadin Bari (located in the west)

Other gates such as the unofficial modern sixth "Harar gate" was built after the Abyssinian invasion in the 19th century.

Houses
Known as gey gar ("city house", plural: gey garach), Harari houses form a distinct archetype that differs from other Muslim regions and from other parts of Ethiopia. The traditional Harari house design is still widely in use today, with only minor changes, and Hararis who have moved to other cities try to adhere to a similar style. Hararis take great pride in their houses, and they form an important part of Harari culture.

A walled compound (abāt) consists of several residences, which share the same walls but are not interconnected. They are arranged around a courtyard, with most of the windows facing the courtyard instead of the street. Doors to individual residences almost always point east or west; north- or south-facing doors are rare. According to Kabir Abdulmuheimen Abdulnassir, farmers and merchants often have east-facing doors so that they can rise early for work. The several families who live in the same compound share one or two kitchens, which are disconnected from the residences. The walls that surround the compounds are joined so that they are basically continuous. The outer gate facing the street is usually wooden but sometimes iron, and they are either painted or whitewashed. The walls form an architrave around them.

Sometimes several compounds are joined into a "block" of compounds, all surrounded by the same wall and then having their own walls around them. These "blocks" are set up so that a visitor passes the first compound before reaching the second, etc.

Building materials are local stone, while a mixture of pounded stones and clay are used as both mortar and plaster to cover the walls before they are whitewashed. This is the case in newer houses as well as older ones.

The floor plan of a typical Harari house is rectangular. The main room is the large living room called the gidīr gār or the gār ēqäd. The gidīr gār has several raised platforms, called nädäbas, which function as seats or beds. A typical house will have five nädäbas. At the back of the gidir gar, across from the front door, are two nädäbas: the "small" one, or tīt nädäba, and then behind it the "big" one, or gidīr nädäba, which is somewhat higher up. These are the two largest nädäbas. Shoes may be worn as far as the tīt nädäba, but then they must be removed. The tīt nädäba is where younger people or people with less seniority sit. Children also sleep on this nädäba. Historically, at the emir's court, it served as the seat for plaintiffs or defendants. The gidīr nädäba seats elders and people who are considered more senior. Historically, at the emir's court, dignitaries were seated here. When a person dies, their body is kept on the gidīr nädäba before being buried as a sign of respect. A basin is dug in the gidīr nädäba and filled with water and used to wash the body, and then the basin is filled in again.

The amīr nädäba, or nädäba of honor, is reserved for the master of the house and for honored guests; it can be on either the left or the right depending on the house. It is positioned so that the head of the family can see whoever enters the home and act accordingly. The "hidden" nädäba, or the sutri nädäba, can also be on either side but is always behind a protruding pillar or maxazu. Historically, this is known as the "malassay nädäba" because the guards of the emir would sit here during meetings or court cases. The sutri nädäba is used for sleeping. It is also used as a seat where the husband rests when he comes home. Finally, there is the gäbti äḥer näbäda, or the one behind the entrance door. Like the amīr and sutri nädäbas, this one can be on either the left or the right. At the back corners there are sometimes built-in cupboards or wardrobes called näbäda dēras. Cash and important documents are kept in a chest in the näbäda dēra. The upper part of the näbäda dēra is used to store clothes belonging to the master of the house.

The gidīr gār has built-in niches called ṭāqēts which are used to store and display personal possessions. They are fairly high up and there are typically 11 of them: five on the main wall opposite the door, and the rest on the other walls. The two rectangular niches in the middle of the main wall (called ēqäd ṭāqēt) are typically used to store books, especially the Qur'an. Their rectangular shape is supposed to be evocative of death and the grave. In addition to the 11 main niches, there are sometimes also niches in the nädäbas, which are used to hold shoes or an incense burner.

On either side of the entrance there is an open doorway leading to the kirtät, which is a side room with a low ceiling and its own nädäba. The wall between the kirtät and the gidīr gār sometimes has a window screen with decorative woodcarving. Women usually stay in the kirtät when men have a bärça (a meeting to chew khat and meditate). In the past, the kirtät was also where a young bride would live in seclusion for 8 months after her wedding. In that case the entryway to the kirtät, which does not otherwise have a door, would be covered with a bamboo screen and a curtain.

A second side room with a low ceiling, the dēra, is connected to the kirtät by a small door. It is used to store items which are not susceptible to attack by rats. Next to the door, the wall of the dēra has a special niche where the aflālas are kept. These are black pottery containers with long necks and covered by elongated basketry lids called aflāla uffas. They are used to store the family's jewelry and other valuables, as well as the umbilical cords of the family's children. According to Fethia Ahmed, curator of the Harari cultural museum, the lids being turned upside down indicates that the husband has died and that there is a widow living in the house.

The dēra is a private space, where a husband and wife may speak without their children listening. It is also used by children between the ages of 3 and 7 to eat during Ramadan out of public view, before they begin to fast all day long at age 7. The dēra is built with porous stone without cement to allow for better ventilation.

The ceiling above the gidīr gār rises to the full height of the house. Above the side rooms, though, there is an upper level called the qala. Originally, the qala was used mainly for storage and sometimes as a sleeping area, and it was not separated from the gidīr gār in any way. Since the late 19th century, though, there is usually a wooden screen separating the two, and the qala has basically become a distinct second floor, often with several rooms, although without nädäbas or other installations. The staircase to the qala usually consists of six to nine steps. In newer houses it has a carved wood banister but in older houses it did not.

House ceilings are traditionally made of thin tree trunks which have had their bark stripped off. Today the ceiling is whitewashed along with the rest of the house. One beam, located above the edge of the tīt nädäba, is called the ḥāmil; today it is used to hang a neon lamp from, but in the past people would hang an ostrich egg from it because it was believed that doing so would protect the house from lightning. Nowadays, the ceilings are made of varnished wooden planks, with the ḥāmil distinguished by its larger size and distinct shape.

Floors are traditionally made of red earth (called qēḥ afär), and the parts of nädäbas that aren't covered by rugs or mats are also painted red. Today they are often tiled, usually with at least some red present. The red is supposed to be reminiscent of the blood shed at the Battle of Chelenqo.

Some houses will have an adjoining tīt gār or "small house", which has a separate entrance and a nädäba of its own. The tīt gār is often unconnected to the main house. It is used by younger family members, or sometimes rented to tenants. Since the 20th century, some houses add another level above the tīt gār and connect it to the qala as well as giving it a separate entrance via a staircase on the outside of the house.

Each compound typically contained a separate room for a farmhand or servant, without nädäbas or side rooms. There would also be stables for cows and donkeys. There are also typically one or two "kitchen houses", unconnected to the houses, typically located on either sides of the courtyard. These kitchens have no windows, with smoke escaping through the door, so eventually the walls end up covered in soot. Shelves made from tree trunks are used to store kitchen utensils.

In the past, Harari houses would have little to no furniture. Since the 20th century, simple Western-style wooden chairs have proliferated, as well as metal bedsteads with kapok mattresses which are set up on the sutri nädäba.

Richard Francis Burton described the emir's home as the only building whose exterior was whitewashed, implying that most buildings were undecorated at the time of his visit in the 1800s. Most houses were similarly described as neither painted nor whitewashed as late as 1935. Today, though, Hararis typically whitewash their houses with a limestone mixture (called näçih afär) at least once and ideally twice a year, once before Ramadan and once again before the Aräfa festival. Household items and baskets are thoroughly cleaned at the same time. Today, instead of whitewashing, walls are sometimes painted using oil paints. This can be any color, although green is the most popular.

Interior decorating of homes is typically done by women. They cover the nädäbas with rugs, mats, and pillows, and decorate the walls with Harari basketry (which is also typically made by women). Enamel plates and bowls are also hung on the walls today. Decorative baskets are generally hung up symmetrically and in pairs. Each household has its own style of decoration, and women guests often comment on how they like how the host's house is decorated. There is a stereotype that younger women are more fastidious at decorating their homes than older women, and that younger couples reapply the red earth to the floors once a week while older ones only do it a few times a year.

The largest type of decorative baskets are the kind that are used to serve bread and sweets at women's gatherings. These have tall conical lids that are hung above and overlapping them. They are hung in one or two rows on the wall behind the gidīr nädäba and below the niches, and they are typically in alternating pairs. Between the ēqäd ṭāqēts, the two rectangular niches in the center used for storing books, there is a vertical line of small basketry plates called sāgāris along with their lids. These are used to serve coffee beans at wedding or funeral feasts. They are typically in a group of 3, with 2 of them sharing a pattern and design. Next to the amīr nädäba and the dēra, the wall is decorated with other basketry plates in pairs. These are about the size of a breakfast plate and traditionally are used to serve bread. Two of them are called "the baskets for the mother-in-law", or the ḥamāt mot, and these are presented by the family of a bride to the in-laws at a wedding.

Emigrants from Harar often try to stick to the traditional Harari home layout when possible, even in buildings with different architectural styles. There will be some sort of gidīr gār indicated, with rugs and pillows forming an informal nädäba, and the walls will be decorated with traditional Harari basketry.

Attractions
Besides the stone wall surrounding the city, the old town is home to 110 mosques and many more shrines, centered on Feres Magala square. Notable buildings include Medhane Alem Cathedral, the house of Arthur Rimbaud, the 16th-century Jami Mosque and historic Great Five Gates of Harar. Harrar Bira Stadium is the home stadium for the Harrar Beer Bottling FC. One can also visit the market.

A long-standing tradition of feeding meat to spotted hyenas also evolved during the 1960s into an impressive night show for tourists. (See spotted hyenas in Harar.)

Other places of interest include the highest amba overlooking the city, the Kondudo or "W" mountain, which hosts an ancient population of feral horses. A 2008 scientific mission has unleashed efforts for their conservation, as the animals are greatly endangered.

The Harar Brewery was established in 1984. Its beers can be sampled at the brewery social club adjacent to the brewery in Harar.

Intercity bus service is provided by the Selam Bus Line Share Company.

Authenticity
Harar Jugol is a rare example of a relatively well preserved historic town that has retained its traditions, urban fabric, and rich Harari Muslim cultural heritage to the present time. It is one of the holy towns of Islam in Africa, and the capital of a minority region within Christian Ethiopia. The historic city is physically limited and well defined by its 16th-century surrounding wall and the setting has been retained along the eastern and south-eastern sides of the property. However, inappropriate interventions, such as plastering the houses, changing doors from wood to metal, the introduction of non-traditional materials and visual impacts such as TV antennas have been gradually affecting the authenticity of the historic fabric.

Notable residents

 * 'Abd Allah II ibn 'Ali 'Abd ash-Shakur, last emir of Harar
 * Abadir Umar ar-Rida, legendary Muslim saint and founder of Harar
 * Mahfuz, Imam and General of the Adal Sultanate
 * Bati del Wambara, wife of Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi
 * Nur ibn Mujahid, Emir of Harar
 * Abdullah al-Harari, leader of al-Ahbash
 * Malik Ambar, Leader of Ahmadnagar Sultanate
 * `Ali ibn Da`ud, Founder of Emirate of Harar
 * Ambassador Mohammed Abdurahman, First Harari Lawyer, Grandson of Hajji Abdullahi Sadiq
 * Hajji Abdullahi Ali Sadiq, businessman and Governor of Ogaden 1889–1914
 * Arthur Rimbaud, the French poet, settled as a merchant in Harar between 1880 and 1891
 * Abdullah Tahir, governor of Jigjiga
 * Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia
 * Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi, Leader of Adal Sultanate
 * Sheikh Madar Shirwa, Somali Sheikh who founded Hargeisa
 * Amha Selassie, Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire (Designate)
 * Mohammed Hassen, Oromo historian
 * Mohammed Ahmed, former CEO of Ethiopian Airlines

title: Harar


text:
Kawanishi H8K

The Kawanishi H8K is a flying boat used by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service during World War II for maritime patrol duties. The Allied reporting name for the type was "Emily".

The Kawanishi H8K was a large, four-engine aircraft designed for long range and extended endurance on patrols or bombing missions typically flown alone over the ocean. The prototype first flew in January 1941, and H8K1s made their first combat sortie in March 1942. The robust H8K2 "Emily" flying boat was also fitted with powerful defensive armament, for which Allied pilots had substantial respect wherever this aircraft was encountered in the Pacific theater. Aircraft historian René Francillon called the H8K "the most outstanding water-based combat aircraft of the Second World War."

Design and development

At the same time the type's predecessor, the Kawanishi H6K, was entering service in 1938 the Navy ordered the development of a larger, longer-ranged patrol aircraft under the designation Navy Experimental 13-Shi Large-size Flying Boat. The result was a large, shoulder-winged design that is widely regarded as the best flying boat of the war. Despite this, initial development was troublesome, with the prototype displaying terrible handling on the water. Deepening of the hull, redesigning of the planing bottom and the addition of spray strips under the nose rectified the water handling problems. Two further prototypes — actually pre-production aircraft — joined the development program in December 1941.

The IJNAS accepted the first production version as the H8K1, Navy Type 2 Flying Boat, Model 11, of which 14 would be built.

The improved H8K2 variant soon appeared, and its extremely heavy defensive armament earned it deep respect among Allied aircrews. The H8K2 was an upgrade over the H8K1 with more powerful engines, slightly revised armament, and an increase in fuel capacity. This was to be the definitive variant, with 112 produced.

36 examples of a dedicated transport version, the H8K2-L, were also built, capable of carrying 62 troops. This aircraft was also known as Seikū (晴空, "Clear Sky"). The side defensive blisters, ventral defensive hatch, and dorsal turret were discarded. To increase the available space within the aircraft its hull tanks were removed, thus reducing its range.

Operational history
The H8K entered production in 1941 and first saw operational use on the night of 4 March 1942 in a second raid on Pearl Harbor. Since the target lay out of range for the flying boats, this audacious plan involved a refuelling by submarine at French Frigate Shoals, some 900 km north-west of Hawaii, en route. Two planes from the Yokohama Kōkūtai (Naval Air Corps) attempted to bomb Pearl Harbor but, due to poor visibility, did not accomplish any significant damage. Six days after the second Pearl Harbor raid, one of the Emilys was sent on a daylight photo-reconnaissance mission of Midway Atoll. It was intercepted by radar-directed Brewster F2A Buffalo fighters of Marine Fighting Squadron 221 (VMF-221) and shot down. All aboard were killed, including Lt. Hashizume Hisao, the lead pilot of the second Pearl Harbor raid.

H8K2s were used on a wide range of patrol, reconnaissance, bombing, and transport missions throughout the Pacific War. The H8K2 was given the Allied code name "Emily".

Variants

 * H8K1 Experimental Type 13 Large-sized Flying boat (13試大型飛行艇 13-Shi Ōgata Hikōtei)
 * One prototype and four supplementary prototypes. Prototype was mounted Mitsubishi Mk4A Kasei 11 engines, supplementary prototype was mounted Mitsubishi MK4B Kasei 12 engines. Supplementary prototypes were renamed Type 2 Flying Boat Model 11 on 5 February 1942. Prototype was rebuilt to H8K1-L in November 1943.

 * H8K1 Type 2 Flying boat, Model 11 (二式飛行艇11型 Nishiki Hikōtei 11-gata)
 * Developed on 5 February 1942. First operative model of series, 12 produced. Mounted Mitsubishi MK4B Kasei 12 engines.

 * H8K1-L Type 2 Transport Flying Boat (二式輸送艇 Nishiki Yusōtei)
 * Rebuilt from H8K1 prototype. Fitted augment exhausts. Up to 41 passengers.

 * H8K2 Type 2 Flying boat, Model 12 (二式飛行艇12型 Nishiki Hikōtei 12-gata)
 * Developed on 26 June 1943. Mounted Mitsubishi MK4Q Kasei 22 engines and improved tail gun turret. Latter batch was equipped with Air-Surface Vessel (ASV) search radar, and removed side gun blisters. 112 produced.

 * H8K2-L Seikū ("Clear Sky"), Model 32 (晴空32型 Seikū 32-gata)
 * Transport version of H8K2. Initial named Type 2 Transport Flying Boat, Model 32. Armaments were 1 × forward-firing 20 mm cannon and 1 × rearward-firing 13 mm machine gun. Up to 64 passengers.

 * H8K3 Provisional name Type 2 Flying Boat, Model 22 (仮称二式飛行艇22型 Kashō Nishiki Hikōtei 22-gata)
 * Experimental version, H8K2 modified. Equipped with retractable floats in wingtips, Fowler flaps, sliding hatch side gun locations in place of the blisters and a retractable dorsal turret, all in an effort to increase speed; two prototypes only (work number 596 and 597).

 * H8K4 Provisional name Type 2 Flying Boat, Model 23 (仮称二式飛行艇23型 Kashō Nishiki Hikōtei 23-gata)
 * H8K3 re-engined with 1,825 hp MK4T Mitsubishi Kasei 25b engines, two converted from H8K3.

 * H8K4-L Provisional name Seikū, Model 33 (仮称晴空33型 Kashō Seikū 33-gata)
 * Transport version of H8K4. Only a project, because all H8K4s were lost in March 1945.

 * G9K
 * Proposed land-based attack bomber variant, only a project.

Operators

 * Japan
 * Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service
 * Saeki Kōkutai
 * Sasebo Kōkutai
 * Takuma Kōkutai
 * Yokohama Kōkutai
 * Yokosuka Kōkutai
 * 14th Kōkutai
 * 801st Kōkutai
 * 802nd Kōkutai
 * 851st Kōkutai
 * 901st Kōkutai
 * 902nd Kōkutai
 * 951st Kōkutai
 * 1001st Kōkutai
 * 1021st Kōkutai
 * 1081st Kōkutai
 * Miscellaneous
 * Yokosuka Naval District
 * 11th Naval Air Arsenal
 * 11th Air Fleet
 * Kamikaze
 * Azusa group (picked from 801st Kōkutai, guidance only)

Surviving aircraft
Four aircraft survived until the end of the war. One of these, an H8K2 (work number 426), was captured by U.S. forces at the end of the war and was evaluated before being eventually returned to Japan in 1979. It was on display at Tokyo's Museum of Maritime Science until 2004, when it was moved to Kanoya Air Base Museum at Kanoya Air Field in Kagoshima.

The submerged remains of an H8K can be found off the west coast of Saipan, where it is a popular scuba diving attraction known erroneously as the "B-29", or the "Emily". Another wrecked H8K lies in Chuuk Lagoon, Chuuk, in Micronesia. This aircraft is located off the south-western end of Dublon Island.

title: Kawanishi H8K


text: User talk:138.77.2.130

title: User talk:138.77.2.130


text:
Talk:Charles Carroll (barrister)

This article was briefly moved to Charles Carroll (barrister) using the title as a usul Wikipedia disabiguation. However, he used the full name in this form himself, during his lifetime. The Carroll family had maany members actice in Maryland's business and political activities. He used the 'Barrister' to distinguish himself from Charles Carroll of Carroltown. The Wiki version page will remain as a redirect. Lou I 14:25, 12 Mar 2004 (UTC)

title: Talk:Charles Carroll (barrister)


text:
Highlands and Islands Alliance

The Highlands and Islands Alliance or Càirdeas was a minor Scottish electoral alliance that was active in the late 1990s. Founded in the autumn of 1998 by non-partisan politicians local to the Highlands and Islands, it only contested the inaugural Scottish Parliament election of 1999, where it collected a negligible 1.3% of the regional vote and despite a reasonably publicised campaign, failed to elect any of its candidates. Led by anti-nuclear activist Lorraine Mann, the Alliance was established to better represent marginalised communities in rural Scotland, who they felt had been ignored by government in favour of those in the more densely populated Central Belt. Its policies were near exclusively centred on localism and rural issues, only contesting Scotland's regional additional member system so that electors could vote on nationwide matters through their constituency ballot. After the election, the group remained politically inactive until it was quietly disestablished in August 2004.

Although electorally unimportant, the Alliance's legal campaign to allow political job sharing in the Scottish Parliament attracted considerable media and academic coverage. The dispute has since become the subject of legislative research by both the Northern Ireland Assembly and the British House of Commons, where it informed debate surrounding the Sex Discrimination (Election Candidates) Act 2002.

Formation and development
Overseen by then-Prime Minister Tony Blair's administration, a Scottish Parliament was to be established in accordance with the 1997 Scottish devolution referendum result. In response, the Highlands and Islands Alliance was founded in the autumn of 1998 by local activists who sought to "create a strong, independent voice for the Highlands and Islands" in preparation for the following year's inaugural election. They believed that the Central Belt in the Scottish Lowlands, the most densely populated area in the country, had received a disproportionate amount of attention from the British Government in Westminster and that rural communities were being neglected as a consequence. The group also wanted to redress the fact, that in their opinion, residents in the Highlands and Islands experienced "the lowest incomes and highest taxes in the UK". Alliance members believed that the establishment of a devolved parliament at Holyrood was an opportunity to enhance their region's representation, commenting "[we] have great hopes that Holyrood will not emerge Russian-doll like from Westminster".

Members instrumental in the Alliance's development included playwright Edwin 'Eddie' Stiven, Black Isle Councillor Bryan Beattie and the group's sole leader, anti-nuclear activist Lorraine Mann. Prior to leading the party, Mann campaigned successfully and single-handedly against nuclear reprocessing at the Dounreay Nuclear Power Development Establishment in Caithness, further serving as Convenor of Scotland Against Nuclear Dumping. The Alliance was formerly registered with the Electoral Commission on 25 February 1999, with Beattie acting as nominating officer, as well as treasurer, and Mann as leader. Consisting of about 280 members, the group were headquartered at Midoxgate House, a converted pigsty in the small hamlet of Fearn. Before its official registration, the party steadily built up a respectable profile; this included interviews with The Guardian on 22 and 26 January, in which they declared their intention to stand in the Scottish Parliament election, as well as criticised the disconnection between Highland parliamentarians and the constituencies they represented.

Parliamentary campaign
The Alliance ran an active parliamentary campaign, sometimes labelling themselves as Càirdeas, a Scottish Gaelic word that "has a meaning incorporating friendship, fellowship, relationship, goodwill and alliance." Their efforts were an object of media attention, becoming the subject of several articles by BBC News, The Economist, The Glasgow Herald, The Guardian, The Independent and other publications. Leader Lorraine Mann also attended a land reform debate at Aberdeen University on 16 April, where she was joined by Iain Haughie of the Scottish Conservatives, Dot Jessiman of the Scottish National Party (SNP), Charles Kennedy of the Scottish Liberal Democrats and Lord Sewel of the Scottish Labour Party. Despite reasonable coverage in public life, the party produced a "disappointing" result at the election, held on 6 May 1999. They captured 2,607 votes, 1.3% of those cast in the Parliament's additional member Highlands and Islands electoral region; the group did not contest the region's individual first-past-the-post constituencies, leaving potential supporters to vote on nationwide issues as they saw fit.

At one time, commentators observed that the Alliance was "on the verge of taking one seat", with the "outside chance of winning one or two seats", though all of the group's candidates were ultimately defeated. Among them was Arthur Cormack, an Alliance candidate otherwise known as a traditional Scottish singer. Following the election, the group remained electorally inactive until it was, without statement, voluntarily deregistered from the Electoral Commission on 24 August 2004.

Ideology and policies
Ideologically, journalist James Cusick of The Independent observed that the Alliance had a "radical edge that harks back to the Highland Land League of a century ago." Although technically non-partisan, it received the formal endorsement of post-communist group Democratic Left Scotland, which "was committed to ... renew radical socialist politics" through the fledgling Scottish Parliament's proportional representation (PR) electoral system.

Policy outline
Mann suggested that the group were promoting "positions rather than policies", with representatives not bound to act on legislation according to party instruction. They instead proposed that any Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) elected from the Alliance would consult their electorate on how to vote through the internet, namely via E-Mail, in what they hailed as a new form of "community democracy". Described by political scientists David Butler and Martin Westlake as "localised", the Alliance nonetheless developed a detailed regional policy platform "on the basis that the distinctive voice of [the Highlands and Islands] should be heard". This included the release of a publication, The Problems, in Fishing, Aquaculture, and the Marine Environment, authored by Edwin Stiven and printed in Glenelg. In it, Stiven recommends that fisheries in the west of Scotland should be free of all European Union (EU) influence and legal restrictions, advocating their complete return to community ownership; he further suggests management by sea trusts, similar to those established for crofts. Otherwise regarding the EU, the Alliance called for more funding to be directed towards "communities which have found themselves on the periphery of investment."

Domestically, the group pushed for the diversification of funding from central government to promote sustainable jobs, including the establishment of a separate, Scottish agricultural policy that prioritised land reform and redistribution initiatives. It further believed that attempted funding strategies in the Highlands and Islands were largely unworkable due to the lack of big business and investment, instead suggesting the formation of a regional Highland bank. Social policy proposals were similarly community-focused, and included support for affordable basic services and the upkeep of rural schools, namely preschools. Connected to this was the Alliance's proposal for a non-legislative assembly in which all of the region's parliamentarians (MPs, MEPs and MSPs) would convene and discuss policy development with their local constituents. The group also endorsed the founding of a watchdog to monitor the Highlands and Islands' quangos and public services.

Suggestions in transport included ending toll collections on the Skye Road Bridge, improving the region's ferry network, slashing fares for local public transport and establishing a community-owned airline; these measures were to be encompassed into the Alliance's "Right to Move" scheme. Nationally, the Alliance supported both the reduction of student tuition fees and the maintenance of British student grants. Regarding the continuation of the United Kingdom, it took a neutral stance, simply stating "a Scotland which is treated fairly is more likely to want to stay within the union." The Alliance are recorded as supporters of the Scottish Gaelic language.

Job-sharing platform
The Alliance are perhaps best known for their controversial job-share candidacies. Such a proposal was suggested so that if the group were successful in obtaining a seat, the time a Holyrood representative would spend away from their rural constituents would not exceed a week, as they could interchange with their job-sharing partner. Fielding 20 candidates, the Alliance was the first British political party ever to achieve an absolute gender balance through its election nominations. Although each Alliance seat would be represented by two MSPs, the group insisted that they would share a single salary and expenses record.

Job-share proposals were eventually accepted by the Highland Council's Returning Officer, Arthur McCourt, in April 1999. This followed a four-month dispute between the Alliance and the Highland Council, under the authority of the Scottish Office, over the arrangement. However, it was revealed that McCourt was unaware of the job-share element, and subsequently deemed the nominations invalid. Lorraine Mann successfully took the case to an employment tribunal and the group fought the election on a job-sharing platform; that said, political scientist David Boothroyd speculates that the previously illegal status of their innovation lost them popularity. Legal support for job-sharing candidates was reversed at the Employment Appeal Tribunal in December 2000 as it was ruled the tribunal system had no jurisdiction over electoral law.

Under the advice of pressure group New Ways To Work, Mann then took the disagreement to another tribunal as a sex-discrimination suit under the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 in November 2001, where the council's decision was nonetheless upheld. The case has since been referenced by the parliamentary research papers of both the Northern Ireland Assembly and the British House of Commons, where it informed debate surrounding the Sex Discrimination (Election Candidates) Act 2002.

title: Highlands and Islands Alliance


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Talk:Thimble

During the First World War thimbles were sometimes used for currency. Where? When? How long? Why? Malbi 14:34, 12 Mar 2004 (UTC)

I have reread and corrected myself! Sorry, I shouldn't have let it slip in. JubeJube 14:04, 13 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Easy mistake to make, LOL - And what's with the "Women of the Night" prissiness in the intro?! Garrick92 15:41, 31 August 2006 (UTC)

Moths?
Can someone substantiate the sandalwood thimble keeps moths away bit? Sounds like a legend. While I don't doubt that sandalwood would keep moths away, the amount of wood in a thimble would make about one good shaving is all, hardly enough to protect a fabric store. --Fenevad 01:10, 28 January 2007 (UTC)

Origin
It says the thimble was invented in modern times, yet in a recent documentary, "The Town That Time Forgot," one of the Roman artifacts uncovered was a thimble. (Anonymous comment, 8 July 2007 71.99.1.176)

 * Indeed, and not only that, but the article itself currently talks about ancient Roman Thimbles.

 * So, the comment "Originally created by European inventor Thomas Wicks" is incoherent, in (1) contradicting the rest of the page, and (2) being unsupported by googling on related terms.

 * Therefore I am deleting it (changing the wording to simply "Originally"), as apparent Original Research, forbidden by wikipedia convention, and worse, because there is no way of reconciling it with the rest of the page.

 * If anyone comes along with an opinion about this "Thomas Wicks", please enlighten us as to exactly what his historical role was, and how that meshes with the rest of this article. Thanks. (P.S. I see this is 1 April UTC, so for the record, I am not making an April Fools joke...if I were, well, the above seems very unfunny...rather boring, in fact.) Dougmerritt (talk) 03:58, 1 April 2008 (UTC)

 * Please read e "A Complete Dictionary of Dry Goods" book, by George S. Cole. It claims thimbles are found earlier - with anchient egyptian mummies. Please verify and update if you agree as I want to know who really did invent this. -Chris 144.131.85.30 (talk) 10:02, 22 April 2010 (UTC)

In a beautiful article on thimbles by William Isbister I read: "Oddly enough, neither the Romans nor the Greeks before them appear to have used metal thimbles. It may be that leather or cloth finger guards proved sufficiently robust for their purposes. There are so-called Roman thimbles in museum collections, but the provenance of those metal thimbles is in fact not certain, and many have been removed from display. No well-documented archeological data link metal thimbles to any Roman site." Isbister states: "The earliest known thimbl — in the form of a simple ring—dates back to China’s Han Dynasty (206 bce-202 ce)." The German Wikipedia dates thimbles back to the Neolithic Age: "Erstmals sind Fingerhüte – aus Knochen oder Elfenbein – in der Jungsteinzeit in der Nähe von Moskau belegt. Auch bei den Etruskern war der Fingerhut bereits um 500 v. Chr. gebräuchlich." (First thimbles made from bone or ivory appear in the Neolithicum near Moscow. Etruscans used thimbles around 500 bc) — Fritz Jörn (talk) 05:32, 3 October 2012 (UTC)

Etymology
The origin of the word "thimble" presented in this article may be spurious. According to at least one source (the English-Latin dictionary Promptorium Parvulorum) the spelling thymbyl was current in 1440, thus significantly predating Lofting. Kaldari (talk) 23:36, 14 November 2008 (UTC)

 * According to OED, "thimble" is derived from "thumb" + the suffix "le", used for the names of instruments - cf. "handle".FrogC (talk) 14:06, 8 July 2009 (UTC)

First thimbles in England
The third paragraph of this article may be wrong as brass thimbles apparently existed in London as early as 1500. Kaldari (talk) 00:10, 15 November 2008 (UTC)

 * If a Roman thimble was found at St Albans, then the first thimble ever seen in England was NOT made in 1695, but was a Roman thimble dating from before approx. 410.

 * Why is there no mention in this article of different styles of thimbles? For example, a tailors thimble has no end but is more akin to a metal ring. 87.114.16.126 (talk) 05:02, 7 May 2009 (UTC)

 * OED entry for thimble reveals that they existed in England in the Middle Ages. The Parliamentary Army in the Civil War was nicknamed the Thimble and Bodkin Army. The source of the incorrect assertion that thimbles were introduced into England by Lofting is a book called Home and School Sewing by Frances Patton .FrogC (talk) 11:42, 8 July 2009 (UTC)

Things to Be Added to This Page
(1) I see no mention of Peter Pan, even though the thimble represented a kiss in Peter Pan. Something this culturally-important ought to be mentioned in this article.

(2) I see no mention of engagement gifts, even though the thimble used to be an engagement gift prior to the rise of the engagement ring in the beginning of the twentieth century. Again, something this historically-important ought to be mentioned in this article.

The fact that both of these have something to do with love or intimacy, I am inclined to say that the thimble is a rather interesting symbol. Unfortunately, this side of the thimble is underrepresented in this article. I hope someone will add the information.

173.64.90.41 (talk) 01:52, 25 January 2011 (UTC)

 * The story that the Pilgrims and Puritans gave thimbles instead of engagement rings, and that the women cut the bottoms off to make them into wedding rings is an urban legend. To see this legend in its various incarnations, just do a web search on the terms: wedding thimble puritans. To see this story debunked, see this website: wedding thimble debunked I've been working on the Engagement ring article and have spent the last three weeks researching betrothal and wedding customs in the Plymouth Colony and Massachusetts Bay Colony. Haven't added much to article yet, as I'm still doing research and gathering my notes. Engagement rings became popular in the mid-19th century, not the 20th, but only because that's when engagements replaced betrothals. Before that they had betrothal rings going back to the days of the Roman Republic, all through the Middle Ages, and everywhere in Colonial America except Plymouth and Massachusetts (e.g., Maryland Catholics, Virginia Anglicans, Dutch Reformed in New Netherland). Meanwhile, it looks as if someone has worked the Peter-Pan thimble into the section Cultural references, which looks good. Zyxwv99 (talk) 15:20, 16 December 2013 (UTC)

Nautical "sewing palm"
I was curious if this should be incorporated or perhaps made into it's own article. Thimbles of course are made to push the needle through heavy cloth. Among sailors and sailmakers they have a variation called a sewing palm, seaming palm, sailmaker's palm, or roping palm (these terms sometimes are interchangeable but some sources say they are slightly different). It's a flat thimble-like shield set into a leather band wrapped around the hand, with the shield resting against the base of the thumb. This allows the user to push a needle through several layers of tough waxed canvas, because they can apply more force to the needle than just a finger could provide. Palms are used in making sails by hand as well as repairing them. Here's a video showing the usage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzKhbhdEfC8. So, think it's worth a mention? They are mentioned in many sources on traditional rigging and knot-tying, such as the Ashley Book of Knots.Legitimus (talk) 16:44, 9 September 2015 (UTC)

Hardware item called a thimble
Today I was looking for the item that one uses in the loop of a cable-end when one is going to thread something through the cable end to pull it taught. The box in the hardware store with a selection of sizes labeled them thimbles. https://www.homedepot.com/s/thimble?NCNI-5  When I have gained some understanding that 1. this is the common term for it and 2. it has a reasonabe origin  I will add a paragraph in the main article. Conscientia (talk) 21:34, 1 September 2021 (UTC)

title: Talk:Thimble


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Highland Land League

The first Highland Land League (Dionnasg an Fhearainn) emerged as a distinct political force in Scotland during the 1880s, with its power base in the country's Highlands and Islands. It was known also as the Highland Land Law Reform Association and the Crofters' Party. It was consciously modelled on the Irish Land League.

The Highland Land League was successful in getting Members of Parliament (MPs) elected in 1885 (in the 1885 general election). As a parliamentary force, it was dissipated by the Crofters' Act of 1886 and by the way the Liberal Party was seen to adopt Land League objectives. Similarly to its Irish predecessor, the Land League also used direct action tactics to resist both rackrenting and mass evictions by the Anglo-Scottish landlords of the Highlands and the use of the same tactics was to continue into 20th century. The Land League's tactics included rent strikes, boycotting, and land occupations by crofters, cottars and squatters. Perhaps the Land League's best known Gaelic slogan was "Is treasa tuath na tighearna", (lit. "The people are mightier than a lord." fig. "The whole Clan is mightier than the Chief.")

Background
By the 1880s the common people or peasantry of the Highlands and Islands had been cleared from large areas of their ancestral lands, the clearances (known as the Highland Clearances) having occurred during the decades following the Battle of Culloden in 1746. Some emigrated at that time, but most were forced, to Canada, the US, as well as Australia and other British colonies. Many who did not leave were crammed into crofting (pieces of land surrounded by legislation) townships on very small areas of land where they were openly abused and exploited by their landlords. Many lacked even crofts of their own and became cottars and squatters on the crofts of other people. Landlords turned most of the land over to use as sheep farms and hunting parks called deer forests. In addition, in the 1880s, the Highlands and Islands were recently ravaged by the potato famine of the mid 19th century. The 1880s were also a time, however, of growing democracy and of government which was increasingly responsive to public opinion, particularly after the electoral reform Act of 1884. As many crofters in the Scottish Highlands newly qualified as £10 occupiers, the Act empowered Scottish Gaels to form the Crofters' Party and Highland Land League.

In the early 1880s, in terms of gaining sympathetic public opinion, crofters were protesting very effectively, with rent strikes and land raids, about their lack of secure tenure of land and their severely reduced access to land. The government responded in 1883 with a commission of enquiry headed by Francis Napier, and the Napier Commission published recommendations in 1884. Napier's report fell a long way short of addressing crofters' demands and it stimulated a new wave of protests.

The Crofters' Party
The earlier protests had been largely confined to Skye. In 1884 protest action was much more widespread, many thousands of crofters became members of the Highland Land League and among the list of MPs elected in the 1885 United Kingdom general election there were Crofters' Party MPs elected by the constituencies of Argyllshire (Donald Horne Macfarlane), Inverness-shire (Charles Fraser-Mackintosh), Ross and Cromarty (Roderick Macdonald) and Caithness (Gavin Brown Clark). At Wick Burghs John Macdonald Cameron was also allied with the Crofters Party. A year later Parliament created the Crofters Act.

The Crofters' Holdings (Scotland) Act 1886
The Crofters' Holdings (Scotland) Act 1886 (49 & 50 Vict. c. 29) applied to croft tenure in an area which is now recognisable as a definition of the Highlands and Islands: that of the ancient counties of Argyll, Inverness-shire, Ross and Cromarty, Sutherland, Caithness, Orkney and Shetland. (The name is used now as a name for an electoral area of the Scottish Parliament: please see Highlands and Islands). The Act granted security of tenure of existing crofts and established the first Crofters Commission (The same name was given to a different body in 1955). The Crofters Commission had rent-fixing powers. Rents were generally reduced and 50% or more of outstanding arrears were cancelled. The Act failed however to address the issue of severely limited access to land, and crofters renewed their protest actions. At the same time there was a shift in the political climate: William Gladstone's Liberal government fell from power; the new Conservative government was much less sympathetic to the plight of crofters and much more willing to use troops to quell protests. The Liberal Party appeared to adopt and champion Land League objectives and, as a distinct parliamentary force, the Land League fragmented during the 1890s. On the issue of access to land, therefore, little real progress was to be made until after the First World War.

Some resources were put into development of the communications infrastructure of the Highlands and Islands (roads, railways, and harbours) and, in the early years of the 20th century the Congested Districts Board was able to push through the establishment of new crofting townships on Skye and in the Strathnaver area of Sutherland. The Congested Districts Board was created in 1897 and can be seen as a precursor to the Highlands and Islands Development Board, which is known now as Highland and Islands Enterprise (HIE).

A new Liberal government, elected in 1906 (in the 1906 general election), abolished the Congested Districts Board and created the Board of Agriculture for Scotland. The new board's principal task was supposed to be that of pressing forward with land reform in the Highlands and Islands. It was largely ineffective. By 1913 crofters were again staging land raids.

Second League in 1909
Meanwhile, in Glasgow, in 1909, a second Highland Land League was formed as a political party. This organisation was a broadly left-wing group that sought the restoration of deer forests to public ownership, abolition of plural farms and the nationalisation of the land. Also they resolved to resolutely defend crofters facing eviction by their landlords and they supported home rule for Scotland.

During the First World War (1914 to 1918) politicians made lavish promises about reform which would follow the war, and of course many crofters died in the war itself. After the war the words of politicians did not translate into immediate action, but crofters returning from the war were in no mood to accept government inaction. Land raids began again. To set this Scottish Highland political radicalism in context, the 1916 Easter Rising was recent history in Ireland, as were the Liberal February Revolution and the Communist October Revolution in Russia, not to mention the socialist Kiel mutiny, which helped end the First World War and bring about the German Revolution. With these other events in mind, the Highland Land League, although radical, were positively gentle in their politics compared to radicals in other countries around the same time.

In August 1918 the new Land League had affiliated with the Labour Party, with four candidates for the 1918 general election being joint League-Labour. By the 1920s they had fully merged with Labour, under the promise of autonomy for Scotland were Labour to gain power in the forthcoming years, which however remained unfulfilled, presumably at least partly because although Labour succeeded in forming a government, they failed to gain a majority in the House of Commons.

Subsequent history
Land League members were then key to the formation of the Scottish National Party in 1934. When faced with new land raids the government responded by giving the Board of Agriculture the money and powers to do something like what had been promised. The Board's work was assisted by a downturn in the profitability of sheep farming and, by the late 1920s, perhaps 50,000 acre of arable land and 750,000 acre of hill pasture had been given over to establishing new crofts. Most of the new crofts were in the Hebrides, the area where Gaelic best survives into the present day. Crofters benefited also in parts of Caithness, Sutherland, Shetland, and various other localities.

Crofting is still a distinct lifestyle today, and the Scottish Crofting Federation continues to represent crofters.

title: Highland Land League


text:
User talk:Orangecream

Hello and welcome back to Wikipedia! How are you? Xoder 14:38, Mar 12, 2004 (UTC)

title: User talk:Orangecream


text:
Malham Beck

Malham Beck is a stream some 2 km long, running southwards through the valley beneath Malham Cove in the Yorkshire Dales, England. It originates in a cave beneath Malham Cove, and flows through Malham before joining Gordale Beck to become the River Aire just south of the village.

title: Malham Beck


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B channel

B channel (bearer) is a telecommunications term which refers to the ISDN channel in which the primary data or voice communication is carried. It has a bit rate of 64 kbit/s in full duplex.

The term is applied primarily in relation to the ISDN access interfaces (PRA or PRI and BRA or BRI), since deeper in the PSTN network an ISDN bearer channel is essentially indistinguishable from any other bearer channel.

Apart from any transmission errors, the purpose of the network is to carry the contents of the B channel transparently between the endpoints of the call. Exceptions to this general principle include:

 * If one or more trunks on the route between the endpoints employs Robbed Bit Signalling, this will result in frequent bit errors in the least-significant bit of bytes transported by the channel, effectively limiting the channel to 56 kbit/s.
 * If the call has been established as a long-distance voice call, then echo cancellers may be being employed. While these improve the quality of the channel when it is used for voice communications, they render the channel essentially useless for data communications purposes (whether modulated or not).
 * International voice calls may include A-law to μ-law conversion, which also impairs the channel when used for data communications purposes.
 * Long-distance voice calls may also employ some form of voice compression, typically provided by equipment such as DCME.

In order to assure the usability of the channel for data communications, the following measures are at the disposal of users:
 * ISDN terminal equipment can specify the required Bearer Capability when establishing the call.
 * If the call is being set up as a voice call between modems, then a 2100 Hz answer tone sent in the backward direction during the initial seconds of the conversation phase of the call will result in any echo cancellers or echo suppressors being disabled for the remainder of the call.

title: B channel


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Flashover

A flashover is the near-simultaneous ignition of most of the directly exposed combustible material in an enclosed area. When certain organic materials are heated, they undergo thermal decomposition and release flammable gases. Flashover occurs when the majority of the exposed surfaces in a space are heated to their autoignition temperature and emit flammable gases (see also flash point). Flashover normally occurs at 500 C or 1100 F for ordinary combustibles and an incident heat flux at floor level of 20 kW/m2.

An example of flashover is the ignition of a piece of furniture in a domestic room. The fire involving the initial piece of furniture can produce a layer of hot smoke, which spreads across the ceiling in the room. The hot buoyant smoke layer grows in depth, as it is bounded by the walls of the room. The radiated heat from this layer heats the surfaces of the directly exposed combustible materials in the room, causing them to give off flammable gases, via pyrolysis. When the temperatures of the evolved gases become high enough, these gases will ignite throughout their extent.

Types

 * A lean flashover (sometimes called rollover) is the ignition of the gas layer under the ceiling, leading to total involvement of the compartment. The air–fuel ratio is at the bottom region of the flammability range (i.e. lean).
 * A rich flashover occurs when the flammable gases are ignited while at the upper region of the flammability range (i.e. rich). This can happen in rooms where the fire subsided because of lack of oxygen. The ignition source can be a smouldering object, or the stirring up of embers by the air track. Such an event is known as backdraft.
 * A delayed flashover occurs when the colder gray smoke cloud ignites after congregating outside of its room of origin. This results in a volatile situation, and if the ignition occurs at the ideal mixture, the result can be a violent smoke gas explosion. This is referred to as smoke explosion or fire gas ignition depending on the severity of the combustion process.
 * A hot rich flashover occurs when the hot smoke with flammable gas ratio above the upper limit of flammability range and temperature higher than the ignition temperature leaves the compartment. Upon dilution with air it can spontaneously ignite, and the resultant flame can propagate back into the compartment, resulting in an event similar to a rich flashover. The common definition of this process is known as auto-ignition, which is another form of fire gas ignition.

Dangers
Flashover is one of the most feared phenomena among firefighters. Firefighters are taught to recognize the signs of imminent rollovers and flashovers and to avoid backdrafts. For example, there are certain routines for opening closed doors to buildings and compartments on fire, known as door entry procedures, ensuring fire crew safety where possible.

Indicators
The following are some of the signs that firefighters are looking for when they attempt to determine whether a flashover is likely to occur.

 * Fast dark smoke.
 * The neutral plane is moving down towards the floor. In this situation, a flashover is plausible.
 * All directly exposed combustible materials are showing signs of pyrolysis.
 * "Rollover" or tongues of fire appear (known as "angel fingers" to firefighters) as gases reach their auto-ignition temperatures.
 * There is a rapid build-up (or "spike") in temperature due to the compound effect of rapidly burning (i.e., deflagrating) gases and the thermal cycle they produce. This is generally the best indication of a flashover.
 * The fire is in a ventilated compartment, so there is no shortage of oxygen in the room.

Firefighters memorize a chant to help remember these during training: "Thick dark smoke, high heat, rollover, free burning."

The colour of the smoke is often considered as well, but there is no connection between the colour of the smoke and the risk of flashovers. Traditionally, black, dense smoke was considered particularly dangerous, but history shows this to be an unreliable indicator. For example, there was a fire in a rubber mattress factory in London in 1975 which produced white smoke. The white smoke was not considered dangerous, so firefighters decided to ventilate, which caused a smoke explosion and killed two firefighters. The white smoke from the pyrolysis of the rubber turned out to be extremely flammable.

title: Flashover


text:
Bearer service

In telecommunications, Bearer Service or data service is a service that allows transmission of information signals between network interfaces. These services give the subscriber the capacity required to transmit appropriate signals between certain access points, i.e. user network interfaces.

Bearer Services are categorized by three classes of attributes: dominant, secondary, and qualifying. These classes are categorized by accessing services, interworking requirements, and other general characteristics.

The bearer services contain the following:
 * 1) Rate adapted sub-rate information like circuit switched asynchronous and synchronous duplex data, 300–9600 bits.
 * 2) Speech and data swapping during a call, i.e. alternate speech and data.
 * 3) Modem selection, i.e. selection of 3.1 kHz audio service when inter-working with ISDN.

title: Bearer service