St George And The Dragon

Last Thursday, 23 April, was St George's day, but as it is customary these days to celebrate at a weekend many people around England will be marking the event today. George himself was a Roman soldier, like his father before him, and came from a christian background. In legend St George became famous for slaying a dragon, but how many people know the story behind the legend. There is little doubt that Saint George existed but little faith can be placed in some of the fanciful stories about him. The 'George and the Dragon' myth was brought to England by returning crusaders. This is how the story was retold.

Towards the end of the third century, a dragon makes its nest at the spring that provides water for the city of Silene in Libya, or the city of Lydda, depending on the source. Consequently the citizens have to dislodge the dragon from its nest for a time, in order to collect water. Each day they would offer the dragon a sheep. If no sheep could be found then a maiden would be offered instead. The victim was chosen by drawing lots. One day, this happens to be the princess. Despite the monarch begging for her life to be spared, she is offered to the dragon. At this moment, our knight in shining armour appears, St George who happens to be on his travels, arrives on the scene. He faces the dragon, protects himself with the sign of the cross, slays it and rescues the princess. (Loud cheers from the crowd). The grateful citizens abandon their ancestral paganism and convert to Christianity. So, there we have it, a Roman soldier carrying out heroics in the Middle East, not much to do with England has it? Never mind, it makes an interesting tale. I hope there are not too many old dragons celebrating around the country tonight.

To watch a trailer of the 2004 film 'George and the Dragon' click on the following link:
http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2477326617/

Horseracing

We have a strongly fancied horse running today and we are going to make it a 'best bet' selection. It runs in the Bet365.com Hurdle, a Listed race run over 2m. at Sandown (1.35). The horse in question is American Triology, trained by Paul Nicholls and ridden by Ruby Walsh. Winner of the County Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival before going to Aintree where he was second to El Dancer, beaten a neck, giving away 8lb. Looks too good for today's rivals.

Saturday 25 April 2009

Sandown 1.35

American Triology

The best of luck with this selection!

Long In The Tooth - Wise In The Head

(Click image to enlarge)

Today's Smile

T

Looking Back - Hitler Diaries Published

On this day in 1983 the German magazine, Stern, published the first instalment of the controversial 'Hitler Diaries' - an account of World War II allegedly written by the fuhrer himself. From the outset there had been considerable doubt about the authenticity of the material. A news conference held by the magazine in Hamburg erupted in extraordinary scenes as Lord Dacre, the eminent British historian who authenticated the diaries a few days before, announced he was having second thoughts. At the news conference a Stern journalist Gerd Heidemann, told the story of his scoop. He maintained he had traced the diaries to a hayloft in East Germany. He explained that an East German general had rescued them from a crashed plane in 1945 and they had lain in the hayloft since that time. The diaries were produced by Stern at the news conference - the first time they had been seen by members of the general public. The magazine was said to have paid $5m for the diaries. In turn the Sunday Times had paid $400,000 for the English serialisation rights. Lord Dacre, a world class expert on Hitler was the only historian to have closely examined the diaries. Having claimed a few days earlier the diaries were genuine, he announced, in front of horrified Stern executives, that he now had doubts due to not being able to establish a link between the crashed plane and the diaries. The alleged diaries covered the period from 1932 to 1945. A spokesman for the Times newspaper group said further investigations would be carried out to establish the validity of the diaries. Shortly afterwards Dr Julius Grant, a chemicals expert, proved that the paper in the diaries was not in use until after World War II and that the glue and ink were modern. Later, Gerd Heidemann admitted he had obtained them from a dealer in Stuttgart. Both men were found guilty of fraud and forgery in 1985 and sentenced to four and a half years in jail. Lord Dacre died in 2003, his reputation badly tarnished and inextricably linked to the forged Hitler Diaries.