View allAll Photos Tagged Repel
THK wrecked it from about 1991 to 1993 until they became engrossed in the rave scene (and everything that goes with it), which kind of ended their run.
THK was JIGELO, TOO-WELL / 2WEL, WISH, REPEL, WAKE, ARTS, RASKEL, BASS and others I forget now (some of those tags being aliases). TOOWEL / 2WEL destroyed it, as did JIGELO.
THK stood for Trip Happy Kids, Take Happy Kapsules, The Heroin Kids and some other stuff I can't remember now.
I think HOLD-UP was one of their main members with a new tag for THK (not sure which one), but I might be mistaken?
They didn't rock many pieces but made up for it in damage. For a while there you couldn't go anywhere in inner Sydney without seeing their stuff.
Any more information (no names) or corrections would be welcomed.
CORAL SEA (Sept. 9, 2017) - A Marine assigned to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) repels from an MV-22B Osprey onto the starboard aircraft elevator of the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) during a static rope exercise. Bonhomme Richard, flagship of the Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG), is operating in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region to enhance partnerships and be a ready-response force for any type of contingency. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jeanette Mullinax/Released) 170909-N-TH560-026
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A Marine from the Landing Force participating in the Korean Incremental Training Program 2010 Series Four, repels face first down a 50-foot repel tower while participating in the Republic of Korea Marine Corps Basic Rangers Course July 6. More than 50 U.S. Marines participated in the course with ROK Marines from the 31st Airborne Battalion as part of KITP 10-4 July 5-9. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Colby W. Brown)
Cadets learn from Air Assault School instructors in how to repel from a repelling tower as they are critiqued at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on June 6, 2018. In order to get their Air Assault badge, every summer Cadets go through Air Assault School learning first to repel from a high tower then from a helicopter. (U.S. Army photo by Bryan Ilyankoff)
Boys on the beach in Deal, Kent built an embankment which they defended against other boys. It struck me as an allegory for our times.
1. repel, 2. D, 3. Untitled, 4. mélodie d'amour, 5. in one morning of rain, 6. _ reflection _, 7. infinite rivers that take us to the Blue Lagoon, 8. delightful table top, 9. The blue dive, 10. Untitled, 11. Untitled, 12. i love wisconsin!!!!, 13. ., 14. Petites lagunes, 15. cold, 16. 2 :: 365
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Índios Ashaninka
Os Ashaninka têm uma longa história de luta, repelindo os invasores desde a época do Império Incaico até a economia extrativista da borracha do século XIX e, particularmente entre os habitantes do lado brasileiro da fronteira, combatendo a exploração madeireira desde 1980 até hoje. Povo orgulhoso de sua cultura, movido por um sentimento agudo de liberdade, prontos a morrer para defender seu território, os Ashaninka não são simples objetos da história ocidental. É admirável sua capacidade de conciliar costumes e valores tradicionais com idéias e práticas do mundo dos brancos, tais como aquelas ligadas à sustentabilidade socioambiental.
Fonte: Enciclopédia dos Povos Indígenas
Índio é leal
Os ashaninkas se encontra na Amazônia legal, na divisa do Brasil com o Peru. Nesta região no lado brasileiro e peruano, tem aproximadamente 600 Ashaninka. Todas as amaéricas eram dos índios, com a vinda do branco que começaram a fazerem divisões, antes era a terra de ninguém todos eram proprietários de tudo. Só no Brasil há mais de 180 dialetos.
Core Ashaninka, tem aproximadamente 35 anos, índios Ashaninkas não idade cronológica, somente idade visual, porque todos os dias quando levantamos, somos uma criança, com toda energia revigorada, ao meio dia somos adultos virtuosos e pensadores e a noite somos velhos cansados só esperando um leito para renascer novamente em outro dia, e começar a repetir o mesmo ciclo. Índio não se perde nos detalhes do tempo; "frio, chuva e sol, se somos a própria natureza, ela que nos rege, não temos nenhum poder sobre a natureza, apenas temos que contemplar esta maravilha que nos fez" diz Core.
Tem seis irmão, três mulheres e três homens, há cinco anos saiu da tribo, não tem dia do nascimento, índio vive a essência da natureza, é o povo mais livre que tem. Somente quando um índio sai da tribo e vem para a cidade, tem que fazer CPF, identidade, para vivermos dentro da regras dos brancos, comer, vestir, andar e também viver como os brancos, mas dentro da conciência do índio.
Core é músico, o pai também é músico e a mãe cantora, é filho primogénito,o seu nome Core (significa músico, cantor), colocaram este nome, porque segundo as tradiçoes indígenas, o filho herda as características do pai. Por isso que é músico, toca todos os instrumentos indíginas e dos brancos, prendeu com os missionários que foram evangelizar os índios.
O índio é um povo poleteista, adora muitos deuses, (Lua, Sol, estrelas, Montanhas, Vales, Rios, florestas, água) um dos deuses principal do índio é o Grande Espírito, chamado em outras tribus chamam de Tupã.
Para o índio, este Grande Espírito é que fez tudo que há neste mundo, até nós mesmos.
As 14 anos, quando os missionários brancos chegaram para doutrinar e civilizar, ai que viu que tinha brancos bons, até o momento para Core Ashcaninka os brancos só queriam roubar,matar e distruir. E é por isso que hoje estou aqui, por isso tenho um ditado "a morte dos índios chegou com os brancos, mas também a vida também chegou com os brancos'', me adotaram, me ensinaram a ler e a escrever, mas há duas correntes de evangelização, primeira corrente, os índio seguem com seus costumes e rituais e outra que muda por completo tudo, e sou desta corrente, foi minha escolha. Porque a palavra de Deus diz assim; se alguém está em Deus nova criatura é, as coisas velhas passaram e agora todas as coisas são novas, porque o passado já foi e o futuro é incerto, temos que viver o agora com gratidão.
Para o índio, civilização é amar o próximo. A palavra amor não existe entre relacionamento de índio,entre homem e mulher, existe a palavra LEALDADE.
A palavra Eu Te Amo, não existe em tribos indígenas, dizem "eu te respeito e sou leal a você", completa dizendo que " somente Deus para nós amar, nós humanos não temos capacidade de amar ninguém, quem ama dá a vida para o outro, como Deus nos deu a vida e dá a vida por nós". Como pode dizer o branco que ama uma pessoas e se matam quando um larga o outro, tudo em nome do amor, a palavra amor para os humanos está deturpada, o ser humano não sabe da onde veio e nem pra onde vai é uma fera bravia sem destino.
A preocupação da mulher é cozinhar bem, cuidar dos filhos, o casamento entre indios não esta centralizado na beleza física, e sim na habilidade de servir bem, porque a índia não é sensual. Diz que a mulher não cobra nada do homem nem o homem da mulher indígina, porque cada um é único, e cada um tem sua função dentro do lar e da tribo, primeiro o indio é amigo da índia, e vice e versa, e o verdadeiro amigo confia no amigo de verdade, porque não envolve poder, bens ou dinheiro. O relacionamento na cidade não há amizade, há sim interesses; só envolve, dinheiro, beleza, poder, influências. Na cidade há dois poderes, o homem com o dinheiro e suas variáveis e a mulher com sua beleza e sensualidade. O homem sem dinheiro é triste e a mulher da cidade sem beleza também é triste.
A índia e o índio, são felizes porque não estão ligados a nenhum conceito da cidade, são todos iguais, não tem pobre ou rico, não tem feia e não tem bonita. Na tribo não se escolhe um ao outro, como na cidade, parecendo gados mais belos em leilões. O branco perdeu sua história e tradição através dos séculos, se misturaram demais e só vivem no consumismo. Nossa tribo continua na mesma tradição, porque lá não existe dinheiro e nem poder, todos são iguais. Aonde há dinheiro, há problema o ser humano se corrompe em todas as esferas, nos três EFES (F) fama, fêmea e fortuna" religioso, político e econômico".
A felicidade está nas coisas simples da vida, dar a índia uma bela flor do campo, caçar e pescar para a subsistência, nas colheiras todos vão cantando fruto que é o mantenedor da vida, andar com os pés no solo, no geral o que trás a felicidade para o índio é a comida. Não estão ligados a nada que é externo, ligado em desejos de ter mais que os outros, não está ligado ao consumismo, a vida está acima da matéria.
Temos que contemplar as coisas mais simples da vida. A felicidade é um estado de espírito, não está em nada que é externo, a felicidade e que está dentro de nós.
O índios estão ligados, em bruxarias, crenças, rituais, e dentro deste conceito eles acreditam em diferentes deuses, por serem poleteistas (crença em vários deuses). Quando morre um índio, os amigos e familiares, ficam dois dias com o corpo, bebendo, conversando e fazemdo rituais. Depois deste tempo, o corpo é levado em uma mata virgem, aonde nenhum ser humano passou por lá, para que neste local, seja devolvido a natureza o corpo que o Grande Espírito perfmitiu a manisfestação neste mundo. Que os elementos químicos do corpo, voltem no lugar de origem, a natureza, (todos elementos da tabela periódica). E o espírito do índio, irá para um mundo no século XV (quinze), antes da invasão dos brancos, aonde viverão em harmonia e paz com a natureza que os criou.
Cada tribo tem sua própria crenças, seus costumes e tradições. Dentro destas variáveis, é que nos acreditamos que voltaremos para o século XV, todos os índios vivendo em harmonia com a natureza e sem influência do homem branco. A distruição da natureza tem por finalidade a ganância. Tenho certeza que chegará o dia em que muitos terão fortunas em gavetas e não terão um quilo de alimento para comprar. O ser humanos está enxergando milhares de quilômetros a frentes, mas não vê um milímetro de sua alma. Diz Core.
NOS VIEMOS DA NATUREZA, A NATUREZA NÃO VEM DE NOS, se fizermos danos a natureza, estamos fazendo danos a nós mesmos, e como uma roleta russa, dando um tiro na própria cabeça. A natureza não precisa de ser humano e ser humano precisa da natureza. As estrelas, a lua, o sol, a terra, a aguá, os animais e vegetação, vivem sem o ser humano, e os seres humanos não vivem sem esses elementos.
Core bate em um teclado muito forte, disse o há poucos índios, e se pergunta, PRA QUE TANTA TERRA PARA O ÍNDIO? O índio não faz nada com estas terras, somente quer deixa a natureza viver a sua própria natureza, se os índios pararem de protestar por seus direitos sobre as terras, não haveria mais matas neste planeta, consequentemente não haveria mais vida, estas florestas são o pulmão do mundo, que limpa o ar e suas impureza. Nas florestas tem animais, insetos e milhares de formas de vida em evolução que precisam da natureza para eternizarem seus ciclos, o ecositema tem que existir, se não vai ser desimada a vida de todos neste mundo.
Na concepção dos índios Ashaninkas, o Grande Espírito é o criador supremo. Criou tudo que está nesta terra, também o homem é fruto desta natureza, não foi o homem que criou a natureza e sim a natureza fez o homem, por isso ninguém tem o direito de explorá-las economicamente e escravizar muitos para poder financeiro de poucos.
Nos temos deveres, ninguém ganha mais que ninguém, todos plantam juntos e colhem juntos, pescam e comem juntos. Cada um tem um dom, um faz cocais, palitos, música, plantar, colher, todos tem talentos naturais, porque não tem dinheiro. Não existe ninguém com poder sobre o outro, porque somos todos iguais perante o Grande Espírito.
Precisamos só o báxico para viver. O tempo de todos neste mundo é muito curto. Lá no mato tem tartarugas que vivem mais de duzentos anos, o ser humano vive tão pouco, não podemos ser ruins, temos que praticar o bem o tempo todo, porque só assim vale a vida.
texto; Sérgio Sanderson
Índio Core é missionário, cantor e pregador. Dá palestras nas escolas, faculdades e igrejas. Fone de contato 45 8411 9748
Honolulu Fire Department ~ Fire Rescue Air 1
N52000 "AIR 1" over Portlock Point. "AIR 2" is on the tailfin, but the callsign is "AIR 1". The original "AIR-1" (an MD500D) crashed during a rescue mission killing 1 HFD and 2 HPD personnel several years ago.
NTSB Identification: LAX95GA264
HISTORY OF FLIGHT
On July 21, 1995, about 1227 hours Hawaiian standard time, a McDonnell Douglas 369D, N1090S, operating under call sign Air 1 by the Honolulu Fire Department (HFD) as a public use aircraft, was destroyed while maneuvering near Hauula, on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. Changing meteorological conditions existed during this time. The pilot and two passengers, who were suspended beneath the helicopter in a rescue net, received fatal injuries. The flight originated on the day of the accident as an on-going search for a lost hiker in the Koolau Mountains near Sacred Falls.
The pilot had made two prior insertions of search and rescue (SAR) personnel into the general area of the search. They repelled out of the helicopter to the ground. On each of the two insertions an observer was onboard to retrieve the rope.
The first two inserted SAR personnel were subsequently relocated separately by the pilot with an observer onboard to a campsite with the use of a Billy Pugh helicopter rescue net. According to an HFD report to the Safety Board, after returning to the staging area, a decision was made to insert two Honolulu Police Department (HPD) officers into the search area at one time using the Billy Pugh net. The report stated that the decision was made by the pilot to fly without an observer.
According to an HFD pilot, when operating without an observer the pilot must lean outside of the helicopter to maintain visual contact with the net.
According to resident search personnel, changing trade winds and cloud cover are a common phenomena in the area and had been affecting the search for 5 days. After the pilot departed the staging area with the two HPD searchers in the net, a previously placed searcher radioed the pilot of Air 1 three times. He advised the pilot, "Pete, it's just too soupy up here, your gonna have to take em back down. I cant even see the other side of the river." A review of the recorded voice communications revealed that there was no verbal acknowledgment from the pilot. Shortly thereafter, a searcher heard a crash or impact sound followed briefly by a sound of the helicopter engine noise spooling up then down and then silence.
Two people were hiking together in the Sacred Falls area at the time of the accident. They were both interviewed by telephone. Both hikers observed the helicopter in-flight with the net attached; however, they could not positively identify what was in the net. The time frame of between 1225 and 1230 was established by their need to start hiking back out of the canyon by a certain time.
The first hiker to be interviewed stated that she observed the helicopter turning slowly and descending with the net swinging back and forth like a pendulum. She estimated the amount of swing to be about 20 to 30 degrees. She also noted that the helicopter was close to the mountainous terrain and the weather was cloudy with intermittent light rain.
The second hiker also observed the helicopter turning slowly, but noted that the helicopter was partially in the clouds which were boiling around the helicopter. He stated that the net was in the clear, but swinging back and forth an estimated 45 to 50 degrees like a pendulum. He also noted that the helicopter appeared to be close to the mountainous terrain.
PILOT INFORMATION
The pilot was employed by the HFD on March 1, 1991, as a fire fighter. On October 13, 1994, the pilot met all the qualifications for flying as a relief pilot. The pilot was selected for relief pilot training on January 13, 1994. The HFD does not have a relief pilot position. Once the firefighter is qualified to be a relief pilot, he continues in his regular position as a firefighter and is temporarily assigned to a pilot's position in the event of an absence of the regular pilot.
At the time of the request, he reported a total of 1,990 fixed wing hours and 321 helicopter hours, for a combined total flight time of 2,311 hours. Examination of all available records disclosed differences in the pilot's flight experience as entered in the various documents.
The pilot reported a total flight time of 3,400 hours with 200 in the last 6 months on his last class two flight physical, dated June 8, 1995.
According to helicopter flight school records, the pilot started helicopter flight training on September 11, 1992, at Burbank, California. The operator provided a Bell 47-D1, with a flight instructor.
According to the operator and flight instructor records, the pilot flew from September 11, 1992, through October 9, 1992, during which time he received his private, commercial, and CFI add-on ratings. The instructor stated that he flew 34.8 hours of dual flight instruction with the pilot. The instructor also stated that the pilot flew an additional 17 hours of solo while preparing for his add-on ratings. The pilot's last add-on rating was for flight instructor rotorcraft helicopter on October 9, 1992. At that time, he reported 57 total helicopter flight hours, with 22 hours of dual instruction and 38 hours of solo flight. The pilot's log book documents 22.8 hours of dual and 39.4 hours of solo flight in the Bell 47-D1 helicopter.
According to the pilot's log book, on February 13, 1993, the pilot took his first dual flight instruction in an HFD helicopter. According to HFD records, at the time of the accident the pilot had accumulated a total of 222.2 hours in the HFD helicopter; 50.3 of these hours were dual instruction. The last documented dual instruction was October 13, 1994, and consisted of his relief pilot checkout flight and a biennial flight review.
According to a pilot history form provided by the pilot to HFD, as of June 20, 1995, the pilot reported 3,011 total flight hours. Of that, 511 hours were helicopter flight hours with about 200 hours in a MD369D. In the last 90 days he listed 3 hours of MD369D helicopter flight time. A review of the pilot's actual flight logs revealed that they were sporadically dated with incomplete entries and no page totals.
An interview was conducted with the HFD chief pilot. The chief pilot stated that their were no written training records, written examinations, or dual flight instruction formats given the accident pilot.
An examination of the mission log book revealed that the accident pilot responded to about 33 alarms as a solo pilot. During the 33 alarms, the pilot performed about 10 rescues, with about nine water or net operations, and three repellings.
The chief pilot was asked if their was any evidence of an emergency briefing of the HPD net passengers prior to the last flight. He stated that there was no briefing. He was then asked if there would have routinely been a briefing of passengers prior to flight. He stated no because they routinely work with their own personnel who are trained by the HFD.
HELICOPTER INFORMATION
The accident helicopter was operating as Air 1. To differentiate between the two helicopters on the ground for maintenance purposes or general reference, the accident helicopter was actually known as Air 2. Whichever helicopter was airborne, for communication purposes, the helicopter was called Air 1. If the second helicopter was called out at the same time, it was called Air 2.
The McDonnell Douglas 369D helicopter was manufactured as a 1980 model. According to the maintenance records, at the time of the accident the helicopter had accumulated 6,592.6 hours of operation. The helicopter was maintained under a maintenance program provided by the manufacturer, McDonnell Douglas, as a 100, 200, and 300-hour inspection program. A review of the records revealed no outstanding maintenance items.
During conversations with the accident pilot's wife, she stated that her husband had told her that both helicopters had vibrations. She stated that Air 2 had an overtemp problem some time around July 1, 1995. She stated that her husband said several attempts were made to fix the problem, but he finally fixed it himself.
A review of the discrepancy sheet revealed that on July 13,1995, the engine was reported to be running hot. The engine was subsequently replaced along with a turbine outlet temperature gauge, and a gasket was installed to seal up the heater plate in the scavenge air system.
The HFD personnel were questioned regarding high or over temperature problems relating to the accident pilot. They reported that the pilot had overtemped (operational exceedence) both helicopters. On February 26, 1995, the pilot had a start temperature exceedence (hot start) in helicopter N58388. On March 9, 1995, the pilot experienced an operational temperature exceedence in the accident helicopter. The engines were inspected in accordance with the Allison 250-C20 series operations and maintenance manual table III-8, special inspections.
The helicopter rescue net is manufactured under an FAA supplemental type certificate (STC) and is designed for two 180-pound persons. There are no operating limitations provided with the STC. According to the manufacturer, the net was designed for rescue recovery; however, it can also be used for personnel transfer. The net is carried by one 9/16-inch by 50-foot 8-strand plimoor Columbian rope. The maximum yield strength is 9,000 pounds. The rope hooks to the helicopter from the center of the belly by two solenoid operated hooks/latches. The single rope is hooked to each hook by a separate Carabineer. Except for a water bucket operation, power to the hooks is disconnected by pulling the circuit breakers and disarming the switch to prevent inadvertent release of the load.
WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION
The accident site was located in the Koolau mountain range at an elevation of about 2,000 feet msl. The terrain slope was estimated to be about 60 to 70 degrees. The wreckage was co-mingled with a dense foliage growth averaging about 6 feet deep.
Postaccident examination of the wreckage started during the helicopter sling load retrieval process. The left skid was inadvertently dropped into a canyon during the sling load operation and not recovered.
The Billy Pugh helicopter rescue net that had been occupied by the two HPD officers was found about 150 feet upslope from the main wreckage. The lift rope attach points for the net were missing. The rectangular tube frame was bent down in the front about 9 inches. The lead weight drogue chute ring was found bent over 180 degrees and still attached to the rescue net by it's rope.
The net rope was found wrapped around the rotor mast at the rubber boot. Examination of the rope revealed paint transfers of different colors similar to the coded pitch change and rotor blade component colors. The rope was removed and measured. The recovered rope was measured to be 44-feet 8-inches in length. According to an HFD pilot, the rope being used was 50 feet in length.
The red coded main rotor blade separated from the main rotor system and had approximately a 140-degree downward bend, about 28 inches outboard of the blade root end. The abrasion strip evidenced a material transfer of fiberglass from an unknown source. The upper and lower trailing edges of the blade were spread open from the blade tip inboard approximately 89 inches, and had rope marks on the blade bottom and inside of the upper trailing edge. The blade had negligible leading edge damage and the tip weight was intact.
The green coded main rotor blade separated from the main rotor system and had approximately a 30-degree bend rearward at midspan with no leading edge damage. The pitch case remained attached to the blade and had a fracture of the top side. The forward leading edge lead/lag pin was found missing. Impact damage was found near the pins normal position. The blade exhibited substantial damage, but was intact for the full length. The blade tip weight was intact.
The yellow main rotor blade separated from the main rotor hub assembly. The outboard 54 inches had an overload fracture and separation in the form of downward bending. There was no leading edge damage on the outboard 54-inch section of the blade. The blade tip weight was intact.
The blue coded main rotor blade separated from the main rotor system and had approximately a 4-foot inboard-to-outboard tear in the top side blade skin, with corresponding airframe yellow paint transfer for the entire length of the tear. The blue blade also had an approximate 64-degree downward bend of the outboard 2 feet. The blade had leading edge indentations on the outboard 3 feet of the blade. The pitch case and blade root were separated from the blade and not recovered.
The white coded main rotor blade pitch case and approximately 1 foot of the blade root end remained attached to the main rotor hub. An approximate 50-inch section of the inboard white main rotor blade leading edge spar was wrapped around the main rotor mast. The main rotor strap assembly had buckling and stretching, but no complete fracture of the laminates. The blade exhibited leading edge damage on the outboard section of the blade, as well as black paint transfer on the top side of the leading edge abrasion strip. Orange color material similar to the net nylon rope support structure was present in the leading edge indentations.
From the main wreckage northward about 250 feet and separated by a ravine, the majority of the tail boom assembly was found with all components still attached. The tail rotor blades were damaged.
Examination of the longitudinal and the lateral trim actuators revealed that both had been destroyed by impact forces. The trim switch was destroyed by the postcrash fire damage.
Examination of the engine revealed: severe foreign object damage (fod) of the first stage blades and inlet guide vanes; minor fod was found on stage two and three blades; metal particles were found in the combustion area; aluminum deposits were present on the nozzle shield of the first stage; the No. 1 and No. 2 shafts were found intact; the combustion liner was intact; moderate carboning of the fuel nozzles were noted; and there was no distress noted in the gears and the bearings of the gear box.
METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION
The closest official weather reporting facility is located about 20 miles away.
A HPD helicopter pilot arrived in the area about 45 minutes after the accident. He reported: the ceiling was 3,500-foot overcast; visibility into the valley above 2,000 feet msl was less than 2/5 of a mile in instrument meteorological conditions; winds at 1,840 feet msl were 20 to 25 knots over an arc of 030 to 060 degrees; and the clouds were drifting in and out of the valley with approximately 10 to 15 minute intervals. While flying over the crash site searching for survivors, he experienced swirling winds in and above a waterfall, with up and down drafts coming over the ridges and fingers of the immediate area. The witness pilot reported that while trying to hover over the crash site, he had experienced conditions conducive to settling with power on several occasions.
There was an advisory to airmen (airmet) in effect for moderate turbulence below 6,000 feet msl.
MEDICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL INFORMATION
On July 23, 1995, the Honolulu County Medical Examiner performed an autopsy on the pilot. The cause of death was attributed to multiple blunt force trauma. During the course of the autopsy, no preexisting medical conditions were noted that would have affected the pilot's ability to pilot an aircraft.
During the autopsy, samples were obtained for toxicological analysis by the FAA Civil Aeromedical Institute in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The results of the analysis was negative for drugs and ethanol.
TESTING AND RESEARCH INFORMATION
On July 23, 1995, a postaccident examination of the recovered helicopter structure, systems, components, and engine was started. The total control continuity was not established due to the fire damage.
The green coded main rotor blade attaching pin was not recovered. A service difficulty (SDR) report search was conducted. There were seven SDR reports of attaching pin bushing, cracking, or safety latch problems, but there were no reported pin losses during flight operation. According to McDonnell Douglas, based on the rotor rpm and the resulting centrifugal loading, the pin should remain in position even without the safety latch. There was impact damage noted in the area of the pin's location.
A section of the red coded main rotor blade was removed for lab analysis by the HPD crime lab to identify a paint-type of material transfer. The material was identified as a fiberglass type of material from an unknown source.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The HFD operates as a public use operator as defined in public law PL 103-411.
According to the HFD senior pilot, the HFD flight department/aircraft station has a limited written standard operation procedures (SOP) manual which is included within the fire departments manual, but no other procedural guidelines specific to the operation of the helicopters. The HFD flight department has no formal flight training/recurrency manual. They reported that: "Recurrence training conducted by the senior pilot is based upon the provisions of FAR/AIM 94".
The HFD does have a general fire department SOP manual which addresses helicopter operations in limited detail. The following are excerpts from the manual:
Par. 251.01 Specifies a 56-hour workweek for the pilots who stay at an HFD facility during that time.
Par. 251.02 Minimum crew for the helicopter shall be one certified HFD pilot. If possible, a Fire Fighter 2 (rescue) of permanent rank shall serve as a crew member.
Par. 251.03 The helicopter pilot is in command of the aircraft and is responsible for providing safe and competent services. He shall determine whether the operation desired is safe. With his concurrence, chief officers on duty shall be authorized to deviate from normal procedures when deemed necessary.
Par. 253.01 Relief pilot proficiency training. To maintain proficiency in flying skills, all relief pilots shall participate in helicopter proficiency training once every three-shift cycles. Relief pilots may forego training if some flying takes place during the period due to temporary assignment or reallocation. Regular helicopter pilots shall coordinate training dates and times with relief pilots company commanders.
The chief pilot stated that he had attempted to make some changes to the HFD department manual regarding helicopter operations. He said the proposed changes were apparently put aside, with no acknowledgment or disposition for over a year. He did provide a copy of his proposed changes.
An interview was conducted of former and present pilots of the HFD regarding procedures, leadership, and morale in general. The interviews were consistent among them with regard to upper management's directives or expectations of the helicopter pilots.
Although Par. 251.03 provides that the pilot is in command of the aircraft and is responsible for providing safe and competent services, the interviews revealed that criticism from upper management (chief officer) was common for noncompletion of an mission due to a pilot decision. This then required the pilot to complete a written report to the fire chief, as well as the chief fire officer involved.
These pilots also stated that management did not understand the limitations of the helicopter and of the pilots with regard to adverse weather conditions, night operations, and the pilot's experience level.
According to the HFD management, the matter of noncompletetion of a mission due to a pilot's decision regarding safety and the lack of understanding by chief officers involved regarding the reasoning behind it, had been discussed in an HFD staff meeting on May 17, 1995.
Just prior to the accident, the fire chief made the decision to recall the badges and insignia's of the helicopter pilots citing lack of experience to qualify them as a fire captain. At that time, there was no mention of a replacement badge or shield, though the senior pilot had been requested to come up with an alternate badge or insignia appropriate for the pilots to wear. The senior pilot did not respond or inform the pilots of the department's intention for 3 weeks. New badges were ordered by the department in the meantime.
A recent department-wide pay increase, excluding the helicopter pilots, was also noted as a morale problem. The department wide pay increase was a state/city repricing action of firefighting classes which took place on July 1, 1993, and excluded certain fireboat and aviation positions.
The accident pilot was an FAA licensed airframe and powerplant technician with inspection authorization. According to HFD personnel, he was not authorized to work on the HFD helicopters.
Industry trade manuals/books were reviewed with regard to this type of helicopter operation. They cite the pilot's proficiency, experience, and caution as a key factor in a safe operation. They also report that in the case of external loads, it is possible to experience oscillating loads, causing the pilot to run out of control travel.
According to 14 CFR part 27.1523 of the Federal Air Regulations, the minimum flight crew must be established so that it is sufficient for safe operation, considering: (a) The workload on individual crewmembers; (b) The accessibility and ease of operation of necessary controls by the appropriate crewmember; and (c) The kinds of operation authorized under 27.1525.
On August 2, 1995, the wreckage was released to the insurance company representative.
The following additional parties to the investigation were not listed on page 5:
Anthony J. Lopez, Jr. Honolulu Fire Department Honolulu, HI 96814
Robert D. Aton Honolulu Police Department Honolulu, Hi 96814
Cadets repel from the blackhawk helicopter 14 June 2018 by the Hudson River at the United States Military Academy West Point.
U.S. Army photo by Michael Lopez
Cadets learn from Air Assault School instructors in how to repel from a repelling tower as they are critiqued at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on June 6, 2018. In order to get their Air Assault badge, every summer Cadets go through Air Assault School learning first to repel from a high tower then from a helicopter. (U.S. Army photo by Bryan Ilyankoff)
I suppose I have been driving up and down the A143 for the last 33 years, and I have noticed the sign to Mendham the very first time I drove down there, as Mendham was also the surname of one of the Norwich City players at this time.
But it wasn't until a friend posted a shot of the church from the air, that the thought of visiting it entered my little head. (www.flickr.com/photos/john_fielding/)
Anyway, I turned off the main road into the lane that leads to Mendham, the lane shrinking to a width of just wider than the car, before it plunged down a valley side to the now dry water meadows before a bridge took me over the river and from Norfolk into Suffolk.
The church was at the entrance to the village, guarded by a pillbox, looking over the lane now, but 75 years ago would have covered fire on the lane and bridge that spans the mighty river Waveney, which must be some ten feet side at this point.
The church was open, and despite the gloomy day, I could see lots of interest, including a blocked squint, but not too sure about that east window, but then I'm no expert.
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(Introduction: In 2007, I started revisiting the churches of Suffolk. It was interesting to look back at what I'd written when I'd first come this way. Back then, by the time I got to Mendham in 2002, the journey was almost complete. Here, and on the entry for neighbouring Weybread, there is a demob-happy irreverence which suggests I was happy for the journey to be coming to an end. In truth, I think I was exhausted, and it would actually be another year before I started on Norfolk. But that was in the future. I came to Mendham in the days before I owned a digital camera, which was the main reason for going back. Apart from replacing the old photographs and adding lots of new ones, I have left the account pretty much as I wrote it in 2002. This entry seems to have an uncharacteristic number of side-swipes at other villages, and the Countryside Alliance, who were at that time making themselves rather unpleasant. Perhaps they have been proved right, who can say? Anyway, this is what I wrote.)
2002: Mendham, for me, is synonymous with civilisation. I had come here from Bungay, one of my favourite East Anglian towns, and I had made the choice there to travel onwards on the Suffolk side of the Waveney, even though the more direct trip on the Norfolk side would take me through Earsham and Redenhall. This was because I wanted to visit Flixton, where the 19th century church of St Mary is a direct copy by Salvin of the Saxon church at Sompting in Sussex. Out of Flixton, I could stay on the main road, or try and take a short cut through the Saints.
Now, anyone who knows Suffolk will tell you that no one takes a short cut through the Saints. This elaborate maze of twelve villages is connected by threadlike roads without name, direction or purpose, that lead you into farmyards and then peter out, or double back on themselves, so you see yourself across the fields trying to get to somewhere other than the place where you are. The Saints were created by a Zen Buddhist God to demonstrate the futility of life.
But I ambled on, aiming for the easily recognisable tower of the church of St George, South Elmham St Cross, which would lead me to my intended destination. The road lurched and dipped, straining to throw me off down some unmarked byway, but I held to my course. I had a map, a sense of direction, and would not be diverted from reaching St George. And then I got there, and it turned out to be South Elmham St Peter.
I stopped for a moment, exasperated. Looking at the map, it was easy to see where I had gone wrong (they do this to you, the Saints, they point out your inadequacies) but I was now 4 miles further east than I should have been. I found a lane that led me down into South Elmham St Margaret, and resisted the temptation to head off of this road, which was the correct one.
Okay, then I didn't. I was going to stick to it, but a sudden lane pointed to St Cross. So I took it. Instantly, it narrowed, dipped, and sent me hurtling into a tunnel overgrown with hawthorn. The road surface disappeared under a sea of mud, obviously left over from the winter ploughing. My bike cheerfully sprayed the slurry all up the front of me. Now, I'm a reasonable man - well, mostly. But I have no time for the Countryside Alliance mob, and howled in execration, something along the lines of "----ing farmers, why can't they keep their mud on their ----ing fields where it belongs", which caused mild consternation to the donkey skulking under a tree at the bottom of the dip.
I climbed up the other side of the valley - and at the top of the rise there was a proper road, and a sign saying Mendham 2 and I knew I was free. With a cry of "YES!" I headed on into Mendham, a large and civilised place, which was birthplace and home to the artist Sir Alfred Munnings. Right beside the Waveney sits the pretty church of All Saints in a delightful graveyard.
The first impression is a neat, substantial building, and indeed this is a major 19th century restoration that was done well. The 14th tower is slightly older than the body of the church it stands against, but the chancel is late 19th century. The going over the rest of the church received 20 years earlier was at the hands of our old friend Richard Phipson, and the headstops on the porch will instantly remind us of his contemporary work at St Mary le Tower, Ipswich.
It is a big church, and the inside is pretty much all the work of Phipson in his 'see, I can be surprisingly creative when I try' period. So it is very Victorian, although I thought the roof angels were superb despite this. They bear shields with a complete set of Passion symbols. The chancel arch is very striking, being wooden, and based on a pair of arch braces. There is a fine memorial to William Godbold, as well as a number of lovely brasses to the Freston family, which don't seem to get mentioned in books on the subject. Best of all, I think, is the 1880s east window by Ward and Hughes depicting the Ascension.
Mortlock thought the painting of the Presentation in the Temple was probably Venetian, dating from the early 17th century. In general, this is a crisp, spare, simple interior, a cool place to pause in the middle of a busy journey.
Back outside again, the graveyard has something that no other graveyard in Suffolk has. The western edge drops straight into the Waveney, and against this edge is a pill box, a machine gun emplacement from the Second World War (or, at least, I'm guessing it was built to repel Nazi invaders, rather than anything that might come across from the Norfolk side).
My next port of call was Weybread, just three miles away - but five if I stayed in the narrow winding lanes on the Suffolk bank, so I took a deep breath, screwed up my courage, and crossed the river into Norfolk.
All Saints, Mendham, is situated between Bungay and Harleston, Norfolk, just south of the border. I found it open.
Simon Knott 2002 (revised and updated 2007)
www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/mendham.htm
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edham, adjoins east to Brockdish, on the great road; and is originally a hamlet and chapelry to Mendham, which is a very extensive place; the parish church stands just over the river, and so is in Suffolk; but this hamlet and the adjacent part between it and the parish church, on the Norfolk side, were no less than two miles and five furlongs long, and seven furlongs broad, at the Conqueror's survey, and paid 7d. to the geld or tax; and the part on the Norfolk side (exclusive of the bounds of this ancient hamlet) was called Scotford, or the part at the ford, (over which there is a good brick bridge built, called Shotford bridge at this day,) and for many ages had a rector presented to it, who served in the church of Mendham, by the name of the rector of Shotford portion in Mendham.
Part of Herolveston or Harleston then belonged to Mendham also; and now, that part of the town opposite to the south side of the chapel, on which the publick-house called the Pye stands, is in Mendham.
Mendham parish church is dedicated to All the Saints, and was originally a rectory, one turn of which, was in Sir William de Huntingfield, founder of the priory here, to which he gave it, and the other in Sir Thomas de Nedham, who gave it to William Prior of the Holy Trinity at Ipswich, and the convent there, to which it was appropriated by Thomas de Blundeville Bishop of Norwich, in 1227, when the vicarage was settled to consist of a messuage and 24 acres of land, 6 acres of meadow and marsh, with all the alterage belonging to the church, and the tithes of the mills, hay, turf, and fish, and all sorts of pulse, and 10s. per annum rent; viz. from the Lady Eve de Arches half a mark, &c. (fn. 1) and the said Prior was to pay all dues to the bishop and archdeacon, except synodals; (fn. 2) and Henry de Diss, chaplain, the first vicar here, was presented by the Prior of Ipswich. The account of this church in Norwich Domesday is thus; the Prior of the Holy Trinity of Ipswich hath the moiety of the church of Mendham, appropriated to his convent, and hath a house and two carucates of land, and receives the tithes of the demeans of Sir Thomas de Nedham; this was valued formerly at 15 marks. The Prior of Mendham hath the other moiety, and receives the tithes of Sir William de Hunting field, and his moiety is valued at ten marks. Sir Thomas de Clare is patron of the third part, which the vicar holds of the fee of Cockfield, and is valued at tive marks.
The chapel of St. Peter at Nedham was in all probability founded by the Nedham family, and most likely, by Sir Thomas de Nedham himself, for his own tenants; and being so far from the mother-church of Mendham, was made parochial, and hath separate bounds, officers, administration of sacraments, and burial; it is under the episcopal, but exempt from the archidiaconal jurisdiction; for it pays neither synodals, procurations, nor Peter-pence: and in 1329, a perpetual composition and agreement was made between the parishioners of the mother-church of Mendham, and those of the chapel of Nedham; by which, in lieu of all reparations and dues to the parish of Mendham, they agreed to pay 18d. every Easter-day, towards the repairs of Mendham church, as an acknowledgment that they were members of it. In 1411, the parishioners of Nedham, complained to Pope John XXIII. that their chapel was not well served, though the Prior of Mendham was well paid his tithes; upon which, a bull directed to Alexander de Totington Bishop of Norwich, issued; (fn. 3) commanding him to oblige the Prior of Mendham to find, and give security to him, that that convent would always find a parochial chaplain resident in Nedham, well and duly to serve the chapel there: and ever since, the impropriator of Mendham nominates the parish chaplain. In 1603, it was returned that
Mr. Andrew Wily, clerk, was curate, that there were 220 communicants, and that it was an impropriation; the herbages being reserved for the maintenance of the minister, who hath now the vicarial tithes, amounting to about 14l. per annum, for which it is served once every fortnight;
The Rev. Mr. John Tracey being the present curate.
The steeple is round at bottom and octangular at top, and hath four bells in it; the south porch and nave are tiled; there are several stones, but none with inscriptions on them, all their brasses being reaved: the chancel was wholly rebuilt in 1735, of brick, and tiled (though less than the old one was) by William Freston, Esq. who is interred in it; for whom there is a mural monument on the south side, with the
Crest of Freston, viz. a demi-greyhound arg. collared sab. and his arms,
Az. on a fess or, three leopards heads gul. which were first granted to the Frestons of Yorkshire, (fn. 4) impaling
Kedington, and this inscription,
Memoriæ sacrum, Gulielmi Freston de Mendham in Agro Norfolciensi, Armigeri, qui ex hac Vitâ demigravit 26° Die Oct. A. D. MDCCXXXIXo. Ætatis LVo. Et Margarettæ Uxoris Charissimæ, Filiæ et Herædis Henrici Kedington, Armigeri, quæ nimio ob Mariti obitum indulgens Dolori, Die 2do. Julij animam efflavit Anno Dni. DCCXLIo. Ætatis LIo. Vincula Amoris inter eos arctissima ut ad Amorem mutuum nihil posset accedere. Ex his nati sunt octo Liberi, Quorum sex jam Superstites; Maria Filia natû maxima, 20° Die Mensis Junij mortem obijt A. D. MDCCXL. Æt. XVII. Et in hoc Adesto (cum Johanne Fratre Infantulo) humata jacet. Hoc Monumentum Pietatis Ergo Coke Freston Filius natû maximus posuit.
Anno Domini MDCCXLVI.
This chapelry hath a lete held in it by the Duke of Norfolk's steward, it being in his Grace's liberty, who is lord paramount in right of his hundred of Earsham, over all the Norfolk part of Mendham; and in 1285, Roger Bigot, then lord of the hundred, had free-warren allowed him here.
The abbot and convent of Sibton in Suffolk had a fishery, and water-mill called Fryer's Mill, in this place; (fn. 5) which was let with their grange and manor of Weybrede in Suffolk; which in 1611, belonged to George Hering of Norwich.
This hamlet originally belonged to the Abbot of Bury, (fn. 6) and was infeoffed by one Frodo at the Conquest, whose descendants took the sirname of Nedham, and contrary to the common rule, gave their name to this place; it should seem that the family extinguished in several heiresses, by the many parts or manors it was divided into; and now there are four manors still subsisting here.
The first is a very small one, called Sileham Comitis, ex Parte Norfolk; and was originally part of the Earl's manor of Sileham, from which it was separated, and now belongs to Mr. James Bransby of Shotesham.
The second is called Denison's, or Denston's manor: this was given to the priory of Mendham, to which it belonged till its Dissolution.
This monastery was founded in King Stephen's time, by Will. son of Rog. de Hunting field, with the approbation of Roger his son and heir, who gave the whole isle of Mendham, called Medenham, or the village of meadows, to the monks of Castleacre, on condition they should erect a church of stone, and build a convent by it, and place at least eight of their monks there: in the place called Hurst, or Bruningsherst, being then a woody isle on the Suffolk side of the river; accordingly, monks being placed there, the founder ordered that they should be subject to Castleacre monks, as a cell to that house, in the same manner as Castleacre itself was, to the monastery of St. Pancras at Lewes in Suffolk; and that to the church of Cluni or Clugny in France: but after the death of the founder, the Prior of Castleacre covenanted with Roger de Hunting field his son, (who was also a great benefactor,) to maintain at least eight monks at Mendham, and not to depose the Prior there, unless for disobedience, incontinence, or dilapidations of the house.
Their founder gave the whole island of St. Mary of Mendham, with Ulveshage and the Granges there; and many other lands, rents, and homages; and all his lands in Crochestune, and his homagers there, which were all to be employed by the Prior, to the maintenance of Mendham monks, except half a mark of silver to be paid yearly to the priory of Castleacre, as an acknowledgment of their depending as a cell to that monastery; (fn. 7) he gave them also, St. Margaret's church at Linstede, and St. Peter's there; the moiety of the church of Trideling; an aldercarr and 11 acres by the mill, of Thomas de Mendham; and the third part of the tithes of his demeans in Suttorp; and 5s. rent in Bradenham; together with all his right in the church of Mendham: to all which, William the Dean of Redenhall, and others, were witnesses. And Stephen de Saukeville released all his right in Hurst. In 1239, Richard son of Benedict, after his decease, settled a messuage and 60 acres of land on this priory. In 1386, Sir Robert de Swillington, Knt. Sir Roger Bois, Knt. John Pyeshale, clerk, and Robert de Ashfield, settled the patronage of this monastery, on Isabel Countess of Suffolk. This house and all its revenues, were given by King Henry VIII. together with the lands of the dissolved priories of Ankerwick in Lincolnshire, and Little Marlow in Buckinghamshire, to the then newly restored monastery at Bisham or Butlesham in Berkshire, in 1537, (fn. 8) by way of augmentation to the value of 661l. 14s. 9d. per annum for the maintenance of an abbot and 13 monks of the Benedictine order. But that monastery was short-lived and soon fell; and this house, &c. in 1539, was granted to Charles Duke of Suffolk, and with it, this manor of Denston's, which, 2d 3d Philip and Mary, was conveyed to Richard Freston Esq. and Anne his wife, and he was lord of it in 1567; and it continued in his family some time: it now belongs to Mrs. Frances Bacon of Earlham, widow.
The prior was taxed for all his temporals in Mendham on the Norfolk side, at 4l. 12s. 11d.
From the rolls of this manor, I find the following Priors of Mendham, to have kept courts here.
1239, John. 1250, Simon. 1336. Nic. Cressi; he died this year, and Sir Rog. de Hunting field, patron of the priory, kept a court during the vacancy.
1340, John de Waltun; succeeded in 1342, by Henry de Berlegh. 1353, William. 1382, John de Tomston. 1400, Robert. 1420, John Betelee succeeded. 1449, Sir Tho. Rede. 1487, Sir Tho Pytte. 1501, Sir Tho. Bullock. 1523, Simon. Robert Howton, sub-prior, and Sir Ric. Pain, monk.
The third manor is called Bourt's and was owned by Daniel Bourt in 1345, and after by John le Straunge and Thomas de Hales, who held it at half a fee of the heirs of Roger de Hunting field; it after belonged to the Grices of Brockdish, for which family I refer you thither. In 1600, Thomas Pawlet, Esq. conveyed it to Thomas Leigh and John Godfrey; and it now belongs to Sir Edmund Bacon of Gillingham, Bart.
The fourth manor is called Gunshaw's, which see at p. 348.
To this hamlet, joins the aforesaid portion of Mendham, called
Shotford in Mendham,
Which contains two manors, called Whitendons, or the Whitehills, and Seameares, each of which originally presented alternately to the portion of Shotford in Mendham church.
Rectors of Shotford portion.
1317, Ralf son of Sir William de Ingham, accolite. Lady Maroya, relict of Sir John de Ingham, Knt. for this turn
1318, Walter of Ipswich, priest.
1328, Jeffry de Swanton.
1332, Roger Nicole, priest. John son of Robert de Ingham, attorney to Sir Oliver Ingham, Knt.
1339, Roger de Hempstede.
1347, Robert at Wode. Lady Isabel Queen of England.
1349, Giles Arches of Mendham, to the rectory of the third part of the church of Mendham, called Shotford portion in Norfolk. Sir Roger Lord Strange of Knokyn, Knt. He resigned in 1350, and the Lady Joan le Strange gave it to
Robert de Harwoode; afterwards the noble Sir Miles Stapleton, Knt. having the whole advowson, gave it to Mendham priory; and on the 3d of July, 1385, it was appropriated to the monastery of the blessed Virgin Mary at Mendham, and no vicarage ordained, so that the Prior received all tithes whatever of the whole portion, paying a pension of 6s. 8d. yearly to the Bishop, and finding a chaplain to perform a third part of the service in Mendham church: which service was after turned into that of a chantry priest, who was to officiate in St. Mary's chapel on the east side of Mendham churchyard; and that service ceased in Edward the Sixth's time, and the chapel was granted by the Crown into lay hands, and is now used as a malt-house.
The manor of Semere's
At the Conqueror's survey, belonged to Roger of Poictou, third son of Roger de Montgomery Earl of Arundel, and was held in the Confessor's time by a freeman named Ulfriz: (fn. 9) it was then valued at 10s. and after at 20. It divided into two parts, one belonged in 1311, to Alice and Edmund de Sancto Mauro or Seymor, Knt. and Joan his wife, from which family it took its name: this Sir Edmund, in 1335, infeoffed it with the manors of Sileham and Esham, and their advowsons, in Sir John Wing field, Knt. as trustee; and Laurence Seymour, parson of the united churches of Sileham and Esham, and Ralf his brother, released all their right; and the next year, Sir John released them to John son and heir of Sir Edward Seymour, Knt. It appears, that in 1291, John de Brampton held the other part of Elizabeth de Ingham at half a fee, and that it then divided, the one half continuing in the Inghams, of which Sir John Ingham, Knt. was lord, and Maroya or Mariona, his widow, in 1217. In 1331, Sir Oliver Ingham, Knt. and it passed with that family, till Sir Miles Stapleton gave it to Mendham priory, when it became joined to Denston's in Nedham. The other part, now Semere's manor, was sold to Sir John Wingfield by Laurence de Seymor; and in 1349, John Garlek and Sara his wife conveyed their third parts of Sileham, Esham, and this manor, and their advowson, to him. In 1401, Edw. Hales was lord; in 1551, it was sold to Henry Floteman, and it is now owned by John Kerrich of Bury M. D.
Whitendons, or Wichendons manor,
Belonged to Humfry, a freeman of Edric's in the Confessor's time; and to Robert Malet, lord of the honour of Eye, in the Conqueror's; (fn. 10) it after belonged to a family sirnamed De Arcubus; and in 1226, William de Arches and Eve his wife gave it to the Priory of the Holy Trinity at Ipswich; in which house it continued till its dissolution, when it came to the Crown, and the first year of Edward VI. 1546, he granted the advowson of Sileham and its appurtenances, this manor of Wichendon, and all the tithes and glebes, in Mendham, Nedham, and Metfield, late in the tenure of Richard Freston, Esq. to the said Richard and his heirs; (fn. 11) who upon this grant, came and settled in the manor-house here; and his descendants have continued in it to this time.
This Richard, in 1534, (fn. 12) appears to be treasurer, and a great favourite of Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk; and an intimate acquaintance of Sir Rob. Budde, who was master of Wingfield college, and chaplain to his grace; and by his interest it was, that he obtained several great grants from the Crown; (fn. 13) among which, he had Denston's manor in Nedham, and many lands belonging to Mendham priory: he was afterwards knighted, and lies buried with Dame Anne Coke his wife, in Mendham chancel, for whom there is a monument against the east part of the north wall, with the arms of Freston impaling Coke, which shows that he outlived his wife, and died in 1557; and was succeeded by
Richard, his son and heir, who married Cecily, daughter of Thomas Felton, Esq.; (fn. 14) she lies buried in the chancel, under a stone, on which is her effigies, and the following inscriptions in Roman capitals on brass plates:
Cecilia Freston, (fn. 15) Filia Thomæ Felton Arm. Uxor dicti Ricardi, viro Amore Charissima, habuerunt sex Filios et 2 Filias et obdormivit in Domino 6 Sep. 1615. Christus mihi Vita.
An adjoining stone hath the arms of Freston with a mullet, impaling Felton, and his image in brass, and this,
Ricardus Freestone Armiger, (fn. 16) vir singulari Pietate, Eraditione, et Integritate, qui obdormivit in Domino 27 Nov. 1616. mors mihi lucrum.
William Freston, Esq. their eldest son, inherited; and in 1620, settled the manor on Alban Pigot, Esq. with the patronage of Nedham chapel; and the same year, Sir Robert Heath, Knt. recovered it against Pigot, and conveyed it to Freston again; he died soon after, and
Richard his brother inherited, and died seized of this and Denston's manor in 1634; (fn. 17) he is buried under a stone in the chancel, with his crest and arms, impaling in fess, an inescutcheon, on which a plain cross between three crosslets formy fitché, the sharpened parts pointing towards the inescutcheon; and on a brass plate this,
Animam Creatori, Marmoreo presenti Monumento, Ricardus Freston (dum vixit, in Agro Norfolciensi Armiger) Corporis Reliquias, amicis omnibus sui desiderium, 20 Dec. A. D. 1634, reliquit, non procul a cujus dextrâ, Pater Materque ejus requiescunt. Vitam vixit summâ cum Pietate, tum morum probitate, laudabilem Amicitiam magnâ cum Sinceritate coluit.
By this lies a stone with Freston's arms single.
Hic jacet Corpus Richardi Freston Armigeri, Filij Richardi Freeston de Mendham in Agro Norfolciensi Armigeri, qui hinc translatus est ad supera, Flore Juventutis suæ, vir summis dotibus Animi et Corporis, recumbens in Christi merita, obijt 14 Augusti 1648.
Anthony Freston, brother of the said Richard, (fn. 18) was buried Oct. 13, 1655; Lydia his wife lies buried in the chancel under a stone, with the arms of Freston impaling on a chief indented, two hands cooped at the wrist.
Ledia Wife of Anthony Freston, younger son of Richard Freston Esq; ob. 22 Mar. 1651.
Anthony, son of the said Anthony, married Bridget, (fn. 19) daughter of Henry Coke, Esq. of Thorington in Suffolk, and Margaret Lovelace his wife; which Henry was son to Sir Edward Coke and Dame Bridget Paston his wife, and had a daughter,
Penelope, late wife of John Smith of Cratfield in Suffolk, buried here in 1681, æt. 51, whose marble lies in the altar rails, and hath
Smith's crest, viz. an arm cooped at the shoulder, holding a chaplet; the arms are, Barry of six arg. and sab. in chief three barnacles of the 2d, (which coat was granted to the Smiths of Lincolnshire,) quartering a chevron ingrailed between three garbs, and a lion rampant impaling Freston.
Eliz. Daughter of Anthony Freston Esq; and Bridget his Wife, was buried May 4, 1716, æt. 62.
Theophila their youngest daughter, married James Rant, Esq. and is buried here with this,
Hic jacet Sepulta Theophila Uxor Jacobi Rant Armigeri, Filii natû quarti, Gvlielmi Rant de Yelverton in Com. Norf. Armigeri, et Elizæ. Uxoris secundæ: Theophila prædicta, minima natû Filia fuit, Antonij Freston de Mendham in Com. Norf. Armigeri, et Brigidæ Uxoris ejus, E Vitâ excessit 12° Die Aprilis A.D. 1721, Ao Æt. 55. Duos Filios superstites reliquit, viz. Frestonum et Gulielmum.
Si quæris, Lector, qualis sub marmore dormit Fœmina! Scito brevi, casta, benigna, pia.
Rant's arms as in vol. i. p. 204, impaling Freston.
Over the south chancel door is a mural monument thus inscribed,
Beneath this Monument lyeth interred the Body of Edward Freston, Gent. youngest Son of Anthony Freston of Mendham in the County of Norfolk, Esq; and Bridget his Wife, Daughter of Henry Coke of Thorington in the County of Suffolk, Esq; he died 28 Day of Dec. 1708, Ao, Æt. 43. As also the Body of Elizabeth the Wife of Edward Freston, and Daughter of John Sayer of Pulham St. Mary the Virgin, in the County of Norfolk, Gent. she died the 25 Day of Sept. 1727, Ao Æt. 55.
Freston's crest and arms, impaling Sayer, as at p. 31, vol. iv. and crest on a cap of maintenance, a dragon's head erased vert.
Another monument more west, against the south wall, hath the arms of Freston impaling,
Cooke, or, a chevron ingrailed between three cinquefoils az. on a chief of the 2d, a lion passant guardant az.
M. S. Sub hoc marmore conditæ sunt reliquiæ Richardi Freston, Arm. hominis adprimè pij; mariti Uxoris amantissimi, Parentis, propitij, et clementis Domini: Vis plura Lector? Scies, hoc Monumentum a Maria Uxore ejus, Filia viri colendissimi, Domini Gulielmi Cooke, in Agro Norfolciensi, quondam Baronetti; Amoris et Pietatis Ergo extructum, ut omnes qui huc venient et intuentur, tam clari exempli memores sint et æmuli, et Vitâ cum eo fruantur æternâ, obijt 22 Junij 1721, æt. 68.
William Freston and Margaret Kedington his wife, who are buried in Nedham chapel as before, left this manor, impropriation, and a good estate, to
Coke Freston, Esq. their eldest son, who now owns them, and dwells in the site of the manor, called Wichingdon-hall.
In the Suffolk part of Mendham, there are four manors; the first is called
Mendham's-Hall, or Mendham-Hall,
From the ancient lords of it, who took their sirname from the town: it originally belonged to the Abbot of Bury, and was infeoffed by Baldwin Abbot there, in Hugh de Vere, of whom Nicholas de Menham had it; in 1205, William de Mendham, and in 1239, Benedict son of Serlo de Mendham conveyed a messuage and 10 acres to the prior of Ipswich, who had obtained in 1230 a release from Robert Byhurt, of all his right in Mendham advowson. In 1285 Thomas de Mendham, who was lord also in 1306; in 1312, John de Mendham had it; in 1318, John son of John de Mendham, and Christian his wife, sold it to the lord of
Kingshall in Mendham, (fn. 20)
To which it hath been joined ever since. This manor belonged to the King, according as its name intimates, and was settled by Edw. I. on Queen Eleanor his first wife, after whose death it came to the Veres Earls of Oxford; and Sir Robert Vere, in 1314, sold it to Sir John de Fresingfield, Knt. son of Seman de Fresingfield; at which time, Robert son of John de Mendham, released to him all right in Mendham's-Hall manor; and in 1317, Sir John sold them to Sir Walter de Norwich, Knt. and his heirs, the Earl of Oxford releasing all right; Sir John de Insula, or L'isle, Sir John de Foxele, and Sir John Abel, Knts. Barons of the King's Exchequer, Sir John Muteford, justice of the King's Bench, and others, being witnesses. In 1353, Sir John de Huntingfield held those manors late of Thomas Earl of Oxford, at half a fee. In 1363, it was presented that William de Huntingfield held the river Waghene as a separate fishing, from Mendham bridge to King's-hall mill, and that he had the fishery there, as belonging to his manor of King's-hall. In 1369, Will. de Huntingfield held it for life; and in 1370, John Deyns, rector of Toft in Lincolnshire, and Richard Wright of Holbech, chaplain, his trustees, released to Roger de Huntingfield, who, with his trustees, John de Seckford, parson of Somercotes, John de Linstede, parson of Cawston, Tho. Horne, rector of Huntingfield, and others, soon after, settled them on Mendham priory: in which they continued to its dissolution, and then were granted to Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk, and his heirs, by King Henry VIII. in 1540, along with the lete of Metfield, and
The manor of Mendham Priory,
Which was given to it by its founder. They after belonged to the Frestons, and in 1551, Richard Freston was lord; in 1619, Sir Thomas Holland of Quidenham, Knt. sold to Edw. Ward of Mendham in Suffolk, Esq. the site of Mendham priory manor, now called Mendham'shall, &c. Kings-hall meadow, &c. the park, the manor of Mendhamhall, &c. with the letes thereto belonging, situate in Mendham, Withersdale, and Waybrede; all which, he purchased of Anthony Gosnold of Clopton, Esq. Anthony Gosnold of Swillington, Gent. Robert Gosnold of Ottley in Suffolk, Esq. Thomas Laurence of St. James's in S. Elmham, Gent. Michael Wentworth of Rogersthorpe in Yorkshire, Esq. Thomas Wales of Thorp in Norfolk, yeoman, and Loye Browne of Norwich: and the said Thomas, and Dame Mary his wife, sued a fine, and passed a recovery to the use of the said Edward Ward the elder, and his heirs; together with the fishery in the river Wayveneth. It came afterwards to the Baxters, and thence to the Gardiners of Norwich; and was sold by Richard Berney, Esq. recorder of Norwich, executor to Stephen Gardiner, Esq. late recorder there, to the Rev. Mr. Thomas Whitaker, late rector of Fresingfield, whose widow now owns them. They have a lete here, and another in Metfield, belonging to them; they give dower, and the eldest son is heir.
I find the following memorials relating to the Baxters in this church:
Depositum Stephani Baxter Generosi, qui decessit 12 Die Sept. 1696, æt. 79,
On a neat mural monument are the arms of
Godbold, az. two long bows in saltier or. Crest, an arm cooped at the shoulder az.
M.S. V. C.mi. D. Gulielmi Godbold Militis, ex illustri et perantiquâ Prosapiâ oriundi, qui post septennem peregrinationem, animi excolendi Gratiâ, per Italiam, Greciam, Palœstinam, &c. in solo natali in bonarum Literarum Studijs consenescens, morte repentinâ obijt Londini, Mense Aprilis Ao MDCXIIIC. Ætatis LXIXo. Hoc Monumentum designavit vir integerrimus, et sinceræ Probitatis Exemplar, Thomas Baxter Generosus, quem Testamenti sui Curatorem instituit; ipso autem Thomâ, morte subitaneâ perempto, collapso super eum Equo, nocte intempestivâ et tenebrosâ. IIII Calendas Septemb. MDCXC. Franciscus Gardiner de Civitate Norwicensi Armiger, ejusdem Thomœ Baxter sororis maritus, et Testamenti Curator, posuit. Baxter with a label of three, (see p. 212,) impaling D'eye, as in vol. ii. p. 345.
Hic reposita, beatam præstolatur Resurrectionem Fæmina, Pietate et Virtute insignis, Elizabetha Filia Thomœ Dey, de Insula, sive Eay in Agro Suffolciensi Armigeri, Uxor Thomæ Baxter de Mendham in eodem Agro Generosi, cui prolem edidit Masculam unam, alteramque fœminam, Quarum utramque ipso die lustrico et renata simul et denata est, annos nata triginta sex, nupta plus minus septendecem; obijt 27 Dec. 1681.
The next manor here, is called
Walsham-Hall,
From Gilbert de Walsham, who held it of the Abbot of Bury in the time of King Ric. I. at one fee; and lately it belonged to the Hobarts, who lived in the site of it, till Anthony Hobart, Gent. sold it to Mr. Robert Bransby, senior, of Shotesham, who sold it to Mrs. Sarah Woogan, wife of the Rev. Mr. Holmes, rector of Fresingfield, who now owns it.
I find the following account of the Hobarts buried here:
In the chancel on brass plates, Hobart's arms with a label of three.
William Son of James Hobart of Mendham Esq; died 9 March 1641. aged 3 Months.
Hobart with a crescent, on a stone at the east end of the nave, part of which is covered by a seat.
Hic expectant Christi adventum relliquiæ Jacobi Hobart Arm. (Filij unici Edwardi Hobart, dum vixit de Langley in Agro Norfolciensi Armigeri) qui Vitâ per 57 annos, piè justè, et sobriè peractâ, Patriam repetijt 20 Aug. Ao 1669: Cujus fœlici memoriæ, castissima illius Uxor, Brigetta (Gulielmi Spring, nuper de Pakenham Suffolciâ Militis Filia,) hoc &c.
An adjoining stone hath the arms of Hobart impaling Spring, as at vol. ii. p. 485.
Resurrectionem in Christo hic expectat Brigetta, Jacobi Hobart Arm. Relicta, Filiaque Gulielmi Spring nuper de Pakenham in Agro Suffolciensi Militis, quæ dum vixit Pietatem coluit et 26° Die Jan. placidè in Domino obdormivit A0 Sal. 1671.
Vivit post Funera Virtus.
On a black marble in the south isle,
Hic jacet Jacobus Filius et Hæres, Jacobi Hobart nuper de Mendham, Armigeri, ultimo Die Martij ad Cœlestem Patriam emigravit Ao Xti. 1673, æt. 23.
Animam Cœlo, Corpus humo reddidit.
Miles another Son, buried Jun. 8, 1686.
Edward Hobart, Esq; Son of James Hobart of Mendham, Esq; did 4 Nov. 1711, æt. 60. James his eldest son died 7 Aug. 1676, æt. 1 Mens. Sarah a Daughter 1689. Thomas a Son 1698, æt. 1 An. And John, Anthony, and Elizabeth, other Children buried here, and Lydia a Daughter in 1691.
Lydia Daughter of Edward Hobart Esq; and Penelope his Wife, died 31 Oct. 1680, æt. 1 An. 7 Mens.
Her Time was short, the longer is her Rest, God calls them soonest, whom he loves best.
There is an under manor or free-tenement, called Midletonhall, in this town, which belongs to Mrs. Whitaker, and is a good old seat; here Richard de Midleton lived in 1373, and William his son in 1390, who was succeeded by William his son; on whose marriage in 1392, it was settled on Margaret his wife, with estates in South-Elmham and Redenhale: this family always sealed with a fess erm. between three croslets; and it continued in it a long time. In 1457, William Midleton owned it, and Robert Midleton in 1467, who lived here in 1491. In 1558, Henry Reppes of Mendham died seized of it, and of Thorney manor in Stow in Suffolk, and gave them to Anne Wodehouse, alias Reppes, for life, with remainder to John Reppes, son of his brother Francis, remainder to John Reppes his brother, &c. In 1562, Ric. Whetley, rector of Homersfield, leased his rectory to Bassingbourn Gawdy of Midleton-hall in Mendham, Esq. by whom it was sold, and so became joined to the other manors.
There is an ancient seat here called Oaken-hill, (but no manor,) in which the family of the Batemans have resided ever since the time of William Bateman Bishop of Norwich; and William Bateman, only son of William Bateman, Gent. of Mendham, lately deceased, now dwells there: (see vol. iii. p. 506;) most of this family have had the christian name of William, ever since the Bishop's time.
Mendham church is a good building, with a square tower and five bells; having its nave, two isles, and south porch leaded, and chancel tiled, in which are the following memorials, besides those already taken notice of:
In the north isle window, France and England in a bordure gul. impaling or, an eagle displayed sab. quartering Morley.
And this on a stone,
M. S. Aliciæ Filiæ Henrici Borret de Stradbrook in Agro Suffolciensi Generosi, ob. 4 Oct. 1690, æt. 49.
Expectans ultimum Sonum Tubæ.
On a mural monument against the north chancel wall,
In medio hujus-ce Templi Tramite, juxta Cineres matris suæ Pientissimæ, Theop. Rant, suos etiam voluit deponi Frestonus Rant Armiger, cum quo unà sepeliuntur Urbanitas, et suavissima Facetiarum copia, cum quo unà abripiuntur ditissima placendi vena, animusque arctioris Amicitiæ necessitudini accomodalus, Hoc Juvene adempto, vix alterum reperies, aut literarum Scientiâ præcellentiorem aut humanitate Parem, cum difficilem Legis Angliœ Doctrinam, universum ferè Quinquennium apud Hospitium Grayense Studio sanè Laudabili prosecutus est, acerba suis, luctuosa sodalibus, gravis omnibus, labori vitæque mors Finem imposuit 23° Sept. Ao 1728, æt. suæ 27°. Et Luctûs et Pietatis Monumentum, Pater suus amantissimus, Jacobus Rant Armiger, hoc marmor posuit.
James Rant, Esq. his father, is since dead, and buried by him, and Will. Rant, Esq. his only surviving son, now lives in MendhamPriory, which is situated just by the river Waveney, about five furlongs south-west of the church, where there is a good old chapel still left, which is kept clean and neat; but there is no manor remaining with the site.
In the chancel,
Tirrel impales a chevron between three stags passant. James Tirrel Esq; May 22, 1656, 48. and left behind him his dear Consort his 2d Wife, and two Daughters by her, Eliz. and Jane. Eliz. his Widow died 1697. James his Son 1640.
In the churchyard are memorials for William Bateman, Gent. Jan. 9, 1659, æt. 70.
Hic spe plenâ resurgendi, situm est depositum mortale Johannis Kerrich Clerici Rectoris de Sternefield in Comitatû Suffolciæ, Qui, dum vixit, Dei Gloriam et animarum Salutem sedulò Studuit ob. 14 Maij. A. D. 1691, æt. 28°. Hic juxta jacet etiam Henricus Kerrich Frater supradicti Johannis qui obijt Apr. 17°, A.D. 1687, æt. 18. John Kerrich ob. June 24 1704, æt. 72. Mary his Wife, ob. 18 March 1708, æt. 76. James their Son 29 Apr. 1715, æt. 44.
In 1469, Walter Nyche or Neech of Mendham, was buried in AllSaints church there, before St. Nicholas's altar, and gave 12d. to every monk of Mendham, and five marks for a new tabernacle at St. Nicholas's altar; he owned an estate here, which had continued many generations in his family. In 1610, 21 Jan. Anne Neech married to William Bateman, Gent. to whose family the estate now belongs. He left Katerine his wife, Alice and Margaret, his daughters; and three sons, Robert, John le Senior, priest, and John le Junior; from whom descended the Rev. Mr. Anthony Neech, late rector of Snitterton, of whom in vol. i. p. 110, 421.
The vicarage stands in the King's Books at 5l. 5s. 2d. ob. and being sworn of the clear yearly value of 23l. 4s. 7d. is capable of augmentation, and was augmented accordingly by the Rev. Mr. Whitaker, late rector of Fresingfield, the patron, who presented his nephew, the Rev. Mr. Thomas Whitaker, the present vicar.
Vicars here.
1228, Henry de Diss, the first vicar, presented by the Prior of Ipswich, as were all the succeeding vicars to the Dissolution.
1305, Walter le Shepherd.
1318, Benedict.
1320, Hervy del Welle of Mendham.
1329, William son of John Gibbs of Kenford, who resigned in
1347, to John de Reppes, priest, in exchange for Shelton mediety.
1364, Edward de Flete.
1394, John de Hunstanton.
1505, Sir Jeffery Lowen.
1534, Will. Grave.
1631, Thomas Trendle, buried here 18 June the same year.
1632, George Fen.
1653, Mr. John Harward, minister.
1671, John Mayhew, sequestrator.
1677, Mr. Ric. Jennings, sequestrator, succeeded by Mr. Child, sequestrator; who was succeeded by the present vicar's predecessor,
Mr. Seth Turner, who was presented by Mr. Stephen Baxter,-and was vicar above 50 years; he is buried here.
Medefield, or Metfield, (fn. 21)
Is also another hamlet and parochial chapel of Mendham, the great tithes of which, belong to the impropriator there, who nominates and pays the stipendiary chaplain. The Rev. Mr. John Mendham, vicar of Weybrede, hath it now; and I am informed, there is a good house and glebe given to the serving minister since the Reformation.
The chapel is dedicated to St. John the Baptist, and hath a square tower, clock, and three bells; on the biggest is this,
Munere Baptiste, Benedictus sit chorus iste.
The south porch, nave, and chancel, are leaded. There are stones for John Norton 1609. Anne wife of John Francklin, Gent. daughter of William and Elizabeth Blobold, Gent. 1636, and left John, William, Elizabeth, and Anne. Will. Browne 1660, 70.
Francis Smallpeece Esq; Son and Heir of Tho. Smallpeece Esq; and Anne his Wife. 1652.
Smallpeece, S. a chevron ingrailed between three cinquefoils ar. Crest, a bird rising.
But this hamlet is of chief remark, as being the ancient seat of the Jermys.
It seems this manor, called
Metefield In Mendham,
Was anciently of the fee of the abbot of Holm, of whom it was held in the time of Richard I. at half a fee, by Hugh Burd; after which, it was escheated to the Crown, and was granted to Thomas de Brotherton, son to King Edward I. who married Alice, daughter of Sir Roger Hales of Harwich, Knt. whose sister Joan, (fn. 22) married to Sir John Germyn or Jermy, Knt.; and in 1325, the said Thomas conveyed to his brother-in-law, Sir John Jermy, Knt. two parts of this manor, and the third part to his wife, for the assignment of her dower. In 1353, Sir John Germy, Knt. held it at a quarter of a fee of the manor of King's-hall in Mendham. In 1385, Sir Will. Jermy, Knt. was buried here; Elizabeth his wife survived him. In 1428, Sir John Jermy, Knt. and Margaret Mounteney his wife, owned this and Withersdale manors; and he it was, that rebuilt this church and manor-house, where he placed the matches of his family in the windows; and his own arms are carved several times on the timber of the roof, and are still in several windows, and in stone on the font; he died in 1487, and was buried at the north-east corner of the chancel; his inscription was cut in old text letters on his stone, but it is so worn and broken, that this only remains,
Johannes Jermy Miles quondam Dominus et qui obiit
By his will in Register Aleyn, fo. 330, which is dated at BukenhamFerry, Oct. 24, 1487, he appointed to be buried here, and gave a legacy to this church, and those of Bukenham-Ferry and Hasingham, of which he was patron; he ordered 100 marks to be distributed to the poor on his burial day, and gave the manor and advowsons of Bukenham and Hasingham, to be sold, after his wife Margaret's death: he gave 200 marks to the Abbot of St. Bennet at the Holm in Ludham, to found a chantry priest to sing mass daily there, for him and his family for ever; he is called Sir John Jermy, senior, Knt.
Sir John Jermy, junior, Knt. his son and heir, married Elizabeth, daughter of Will. Wroth of Enfield, Esq. and had two sons; from Thomas, the younger son, descended the Jermys of Bayfield in Norfolk, under which place I design an ample account of the family. And
John Jermy, Esq. the eldest son, continued the family at Metfield; he married Isabel, daughter of John Hopton, Esq. and lies buried in the chancel by his grandfather, with this on a brass plate on his stone;
Orate pro animabus Johannis Jermy et Jsabelle Uroris sue, unius Filiarum Johannis Nopton Armigeri, qui quidem Johannis obiit riiio Die Januarii Anno Domini Mo vc iiii. Quorum anima- bus propicietur Deus Amen. (fn. 23)
Jermy, arg. a lion rampant guardant gul. impaling Hopton, as at vol. iii. p. 553.
Edmund Jermy, Esq. his son and heir, married a daughter of William Booth, Esq. and left Sir John Jermy of Metfield and Brightwell, Knight of the Bath; (fn. 24) who by Margaret, daughter and heir of Sir Thomas Teye, Knt. had Francis Jermy of Brightwell, Esq. who by Eliz. daughter and coheir of Sir William Fitz-Williams of Ireland, Knt. had Sir Thomas Jermy, Knight of the Bath; who by Jane, daughter and heiress of Edward Stuart or Styward, of Teversham in Cambridgeshire, had four sons, Thomas, Edmund, John, and William, of which,
Thomas, his eldest son, settled here, for whom there is an altar tomb at the north-east corner of this chancel, with the arms of Jermy, and a griffin proper for the crest, and this,
Thomas Jarmy Esq; Sonne and Heire of Sir Thomas Jarmy Knight of the noble Order of the Bath. 21 Dec. 1652.
Since which time, the manor hath been sold from the family, and now belongs to Walter Plommer, Esq.
¶I have an account, which says, that more gentlemen kept coaches in Mendham, than in any place in Suffolk, and that in 1642, many cavileers in these parts, raised a sum for the King; among which in this town, Richard Baxter, Gent. lord, 30l. Rob. Harper 30l. William Bateman, senior, 10l. James Terrold. Gent. 10l. William Jacob 20l. Will. Herring 3l. &c. Thomas Jermy, Esq. 20l. Anthony Freston, Gent. 5l.
In Charles the Second's time, Sir William Godbould lived here, and Colonel John Hobard; and Edward Ward, Esq. justice of the peace, in K. James the Second's time.
www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-hist-norfolk/vol5...
ROBINSON, Sir JOHN BEVERLEY, lawyer, politician, and judge; b. 26 July 1791 at Berthier, Lower Canada, second son of Christopher Robinson* and Esther Sayre; d. 31 Jan. 1863 in Toronto, Canada West.
John Beverley Robinson’s father, a Virginia born loyalist, had served in the Queen’s Rangers in the closing stages of the Revolutionary War. The regiment was evacuated to New Brunswick and then disbanded in 1783. Christopher Robinson the following year married Esther Sayre, the daughter of a well-known loyalist clergyman, and in 1788 the family moved to Quebec, where John Beverley was born three years later. In 1792 they went to Kingston, Upper Canada, where Christopher was appointed surveyor general of the woods and reserves of Upper Canada; in 1794 he was called to the bar. Then, suddenly, on 2 Nov. 1798 he died. The Robinsons and their children, the eldest of whom was Peter*, age 13, had moved from Kingston to York (Toronto) only a short time before.
The seven-year-old John Beverley was sent to Kingston to live with and be educated by his father’s friend, the Reverend John Stuart*, with whom he remained for four years. In 1799 the boy was enrolled in the school opened by the recently arrived John Strachan. Four years later Strachan was ordained a priest of the Church of England and given the charge at Cornwall, where he also re-established his school. Until 1807 Robinson lived in the Strachan household at Cornwall, his fees paid by Stuart and the executor of his father’s estate, although Strachan had offered to take him free of charge. In the relationship of pupil and teacher was formed Robinson’s life-long admiration for and friendship with Strachan.
At age 16 he left Strachan’s tutelage to article in law with D’Arcy Boulton* Sr, the solicitor general of Upper Canada. He mixed easily with the young people of York’s society, worked hard, read avidly, and when the assembly was in session, watched many of its debates. As a former pupil of Strachan and a bright, personable young man, he was drawn into Chief Justice William Dummer Powell*’s circle, a connection which helped him in his early career. In 1811, after Boulton had been captured by a French privateer on his way to England, Robinson had to move into the office of John Macdonell*, the newly appointed attorney general, to finish the last year of his articling.
During the spring of 1812, as war clouds blew north from the United States, Robinson volunteered to serve in one of the flank companies – special militia companies designed for regular service. When war was formally declared on 18 June 1812, these companies were called to train for active service. As one of those best qualified by education and family, Robinson was given an officer’s commission. His role in the fighting was brief and glorious. He went with Isaac Brock* to the southwestern area of the province in August to repel General William Hull’s invasion, and commanded the volunteers who accompanied the regulars to take formal possession of Detroit. The volunteers then took parties of prisoners back to York. In September the York flank companies were sent to reinforce the Niagara frontier. Robinson was temporarily in command of one of these companies when the invaders crossed at Queenston. Arriving there just moments after Brock’s death, Robinson’s company was ordered on another charge like that in which Brock had been killed. John Macdonell, commanding the militia flank companies, was mortally wounded, and the companies fell back. They were then sent on the long flanking march which led to victory in late afternoon.
When he returned to York with prisoners, Robinson was congratulated on his new appointment. Only after asking was he told that he had been made acting attorney general of the province. Powell’s recommendation had secured him the post, although he was just 21 years old and not yet even a member of the bar. It was subsequently rumoured that Robinson’s friendship with Powell’s daughter, Anne, had won him the appointment, but in his later life, when he was displaced from power, Powell would still insist that Robinson had been chosen for his abilities. From 1812 to 1814 the young Robinson performed the functions of attorney general, giving legal opinions to the provincial government and handling crown prosecutions of criminals.
His most serious problem in the context of the war was the potential disloyalty of many recent immigrants to the province; most of these were Americans who, in moving westward to obtain land, had crossed into Upper Canada, and their loyalty, whether to the United States or to Upper Canada, was not strong. In retrospect, it is clear that relatively few settlers actually deserted to the Americans during the war, but there was evidently sufficient disaffected talk to upset the government and its leaders. The American invasion intensified the disaffection, and some prominent critics of the government prior to the war, such as Joseph Willcocks*, did desert. When a party of settlers from Norfolk County obtained arms from the Americans and returned to that area to terrorize their neighbours, a group of militia officers and volunteers acted to stop them and 18 of the renegades were taken in arms. The arrests gave government authorities the chance to make a deterrent example; the 18 were charged with treason and Robinson was made responsible for their prosecution. General Francis Rottenburg*, the provincial administrator, urged haste in holding the trial, suggesting that some of the accused, as militiamen, might be court-martialed. Robinson resisted Rottenburg’s pressure and proceeded methodically to assemble evidence to hold civil trials for treason. Three of the 18 prisoners from Norfolk agreed to turn crown’s evidence. Nineteen persons were finally tried: 15 from Norfolk, two indicted at York, and two who had surrendered voluntarily. The grand jury also indicted another 50 persons who had fled to the United States. The trials began at Ancaster on 7 June 1813 and lasted two weeks. Fourteen were found guilty, one pleaded guilty, and four were acquitted. Robinson subsequently recommended to Sir Gordon Drummond*, commander of the forces, that seven of the convicted should be executed, but Chief Justice Thomas Scott* added another, and on 20 July eight men were hanged. It is doubtful whether the name “Bloody Assize,” used subsequently to describe the trials, was really deserved. Those executed had committed treason in wartime.
Robinson had also to prosecute normal criminal offences and to appear at the assizes in each district of the province. He was expected to provide names of people suitable to act as justices of the peace, and many administrative procedures required the attorney general to act on behalf of the governor. In addition, he had his own private practice. When D’Arcy Boulton returned to Canada in the autumn of 1814 he was appointed attorney general because of his seniority in years of service. Robinson was given the post of solicitor general on 13 Feb. 1815.
The war’s end and relief from its responsibilities gave Robinson, encouraged by Strachan, the opportunity to go to England for further legal studies and be called to the bar there. With Powell’s aid, he was granted a leave of absence by the new provincial administrator, Sir George Murray*, and on 1 Sept. 1815 left York. By late October he was settled in London, where he was received graciously by Lord Bathurst, the secretary of state for war and the colonies. Among his sponsors at Lincoln’s Inn was the solicitor general of the United Kingdom. Between terms of study he travelled to the Continent and to Scotland and northern England. His leave of absence was twice extended at full pay and a third time on half salary.
One of Robinson’s letters of introduction had been to William Merry, the under-secretary for war. On his first call at the Merrys he met “an exceedingly fine, pretty little girl – a Miss Walker – there; very pleasant and engaging in her manner and appearance.” On 5 June 1817 he and Emma Walker were married, and in early July they left England for Upper Canada. Robinson continued as solicitor general for a few months, but the promotion of Boulton to the bench led to his appointment as attorney general on 11 Feb. 1818.
As attorney general, Robinson received a salary which seems to have been regarded as a retainer, as well as fees for his work for the crown. He still pursued his private practice, and on his return from England in 1817 he had been retained by the North West Company to represent them in litigation against Lord Selkirk [Douglas*], an affair which would give him much notoriety. Following the destruction of his colony on the Red River by the Nor’Westers, Selkirk had hired a band of Swiss mercenaries, come to Canada, armed himself with a magistracy from Lower Canada, and headed west. He had seized Fort William (Thunder Bay) and its contents, expelling the NWC’s people. The company, which had first contemplated civil action for damages, decided to press criminal charges of theft and assault against Selkirk in the Western District of Upper Canada. Robinson as attorney general was expected to prosecute. He returned his retainer to the company, but naturally was open to suspicion of a conflict of interest. His attempt to have an indictment preferred against Selkirk at Sandwich (Windsor) in September 1818 failed, as did a second bill, for conspiracy, which went to a jury. Shortly after, Robinson brought charges against the Nor-Westers for felonies against Selkirk and his people, but all the accused were acquitted.
The bitterness evident in the Selkirk affair was symptomatic of Upper Canada following the war. The collapse of the NWC’s business in the American west simply exacerbated the already difficult economic situation in Upper Canada. The end of the war had brought a drop in farm prices. The war had also ended immigration from the United States so that land development had slowed and land prices had fallen. Damage to property, particularly in the Niagara peninsula, had been extensive and compensation was not yet being paid. The discontented soon found spokesmen.
Shortly after Robinson’s return to Upper Canada in 1818, a Scot named Robert Gourlay had appeared to scout a piece of land his wife owned in the western part of the province. Unduly influenced by his wife’s relatives, Thomas Clark* and William Dickson*, who were large-scale land developers and speculators in the Niagara area, Gourlay blamed the government for its restrictive development policies and its discouragement of immigration by Americans. In order to get information for a proposed book Gourlay composed a questionnaire, to be printed in the Upper Canada Gazette, which invited information, complaints, and suggestions for improvements from landowners. Both Powell and Samuel Smith*, who was administering the government, approved the questionnaire and its intent, but Strachan, more suspicious, saw that it provided a vehicle for many Upper Canadians to express grievances.
Robinson, deeply involved in the Selkirk litigation, seems to have paid little attention to Gourlay until Smith, who had become alarmed by the spring of 1818, ordered him “to watch the progress of” Gourlay for an “occasion to check [him] by a criminal prosecution.” In June Robinson rendered an opinion that Gourlay’s third printed address was “grossly libellous” and “entirely subversive,” but told Smith that prosecution should be considered carefully before any court action which might give importance to what would otherwise be an insignificant affair. Gourlay’s meetings across the province Robinson considered “dangerous,” however, because they pointed out “the mode by which popular movements on pretences less specious than the present can be effected.”
Smith decided to act, giving the prosecution to Henry John Boulton, the solicitor general. Gourlay was acquitted of a charge of seditious libel. However, the new lieutenant governor, Sir Peregrine Maitland*, at Strachan’s urging, decided to silence the agitation, and the assembly, so recently critical of government, passed with only one dissenter an act “to prohibit certain meetings within this province.” Under a statute of 1804 Gourlay was ordered to leave the province. He did not, and was arrested and jailed in mid January 1819. Robinson represented the crown at Gourlay’s trial in Niagara the following August. Convicted of ignoring the order to leave the province, Gourlay was banished from Upper Canada.
The government, alarmed by the discontent voiced by Gourlay, decided that a spokesman was needed in the assembly for the lieutenant governor and his advisers in the Executive and Legislative councils. At the general election held in midsummer 1820 Robinson was returned for the town of York, and the labour of preparing, presenting, and defending government measures in the assembly thereafter fell mostly on his shoulders. Although he told his friend John Macaulay* that he was not fond of politics, Robinson continued in his leading role until 1828. The goals which Maitland and his chief advisers, Robinson and Strachan, set out to achieve in the 1820s were to promote economic development through the encouragement especially of British immigration and the construction of public works; the creation of a centrally controlled banking system like that advocated earlier by Hamiltonian federalists in the United States; the maintenance of the constitutional connection with Britain and of British political institutions; support for the Church of England, tolerance of some religious sects, and friendliness to Presbyterians and conservative Methodists; public support for elementary education; and avoidance of some aspects of the American experience, such as a wide electoral franchise and the separation of church and state.
When the assembly met in November 1821, Barnabas Bidwell*, the member for Lennox and Addington, took his seat. Bidwell, a former member of the United States Congress and state official in Massachusetts, had come to Canada in 1810 fleeing a charge of malversation of government funds in that state. Robinson thought him a “rascal” and was only too happy to promote any measure to get him out of the assembly. Like many other Upper Canadian Tories, Robinson saw Bidwell as the product of an American political system which, based on republicanism and reform, encouraged corruption and disloyalty in its adherents. The attorney general presented a petition to the house from some electors in Lennox and Addington who wanted Bidwell’s election declared “null and void,” thereby preserving the “pure and unsullied . . . dignity” of the assembly. After long debate in which Robinson played a prominent role, and a close decision, Bidwell was expelled and a bill was passed barring persons who had held office in the United States from standing for election. Yet Marshall Spring Bidwell*, after two disputed by-elections, was returned in his father’s place in the general election of 1824. The episode was the beginning of the alien question which was to divide the province after 1824.
Robinson was also personally concerned with the government’s desperate need for revenue. The legislatures of Upper and Lower Canada had failed to agree since 1819 on the division of customs duties between them. Both houses of the Upper Canadian legislature decided that the attorney general should go to England to persuade the imperial government to intervene in the deadlock. Robinson, his wife, and brother Peter, set off for London via New York in February 1822. Two days after their departure Anne Powell followed, against her family’s wishes. She joined the Robinsons at Albany, but Robinson refused to allow her to sail from New York with them. She crossed in another packet which broke up in heavy weather on the rocky coast of southern Ireland. Anne’s body was cast ashore. Her father, whose influence had waned with the coming of Maitland and who was in England seeking preferment, was crushed. Much against his wishes his daughter had pressed her attentions on Robinson for five years; the infatuation had now ended in tragedy.
Robinson’s principal task in England was persuading the imperial government to enable Upper Canada to obtain some of the arrears in customs revenue due since 1819 and guarantee the province a share of future revenue. When he arrived he found, however, that the Colonial Office was considering a political union of the Canadas. A group of officials from Lower Canada, including Solicitor General Charles Marshall and Receiver General John Caldwell*, were pressing for such a union to create a predominantly Anglophone province whose legislature would be dominated by English speaking members. The colonial secretary and his senior officials, anxious to solve the political impasse in Lower Canada, seemed receptive to the plan. Robinson joined in the talks, but soon realized the discussions were unlikely to assist Upper Canada and pressed to have provision dealing with the financial problem inserted in the union bill. He won his point, but when the bill was introduced in the British parliament, it met unexpected opposition. The government withdrew it and Robinson was asked to redraft the financial and trade provisions into a new bill, which became law as the Canada Trade Act in August 1822. The act established a comprehensive scale of import duties on goods from the United States entering Upper Canadian ports of entry on the Great Lakes. Shipping tolls on the St Lawrence were eliminated, and Upper Canada was paid one-fifth of the duties collected from 1 Jan. 1819 to 1 July 1824, with its share to be revised every three years thereafter.
Robinson was now ready to return home, but Lord Bathurst held him back as an adviser. Meanwhile he was completing his terms at Lincoln’s Inn. He also began negotiations with the under-secretary for the colonies, Robert Wilmot-Horton, with whom he had dealt on the proposed union and trade bills, for a proper post office in York. He pressed Wilmot-Horton and the crown law officers for an opinion on whether persons who had been resident in Upper Canada for seven years but had not taken the oath of allegiance and become naturalized British subjects were legally able to hold land. Both Robinson and Maitland felt that immigrants should be legally secure in their lands but they were also fearful of the potential disloyalty of unnaturalized Americans and sought legislation to exclude aliens from the assembly. The imperial government was not, however, ready to make a hard ruling at this time.
Robinson also raised the question of war damages. Two boards of inquiry had assessed the value of the damages at £230,000 and £182,130 respectively, but no money had been paid. An unofficial committee in England, consisting of Edward Ellice, Alexander Gillespie, and John Galt*, had been pressing for payment to some Canadian claimants since the summer of 1821. In the fall of 1823 the British government authorized Maitland to make an initial payment from imperial funds of one quarter of the second award, if the provincial government would pay another quarter. The rest of the claim was also to be shared equally. The result was disappointing to Robinson because the province was already in severe financial difficulties. Galt recommended that payment of the imperial funds should be handled through Gillespie’s company, a Montreal and London mercantile and forwarding house; the money would thus be channelled through a company which was a creditor of many Upper Canadian businessmen. Henceforth Robinson had little use for Galt.
During the summer and autumn of 1822, Robinson and Wilmot-Horton saw each other constantly, becoming close friends. In discussing colonial policy they developed a project to encourage British immigration to Upper Canada, believing it to be the way to offset the influence of predominantly American immigration, increase the Anglophone population in Canada, and maintain the British connection with the colonies. To Wilmot-Horton the plan, which received government approval in January 1823, would make “the redundant labour and the curse of the mother country, the active labour and blessing of the colonies.” As they considered potential immigrants, their attention turned to Ireland as a source and they received encouragement and help from the Irish administration. Robinson’s brother, Peter, was asked by the colonial secretary to supervise the migration to Upper Canada.
Discussion of the union of the two provinces had continued through the summer and into the autumn. Although he personally disliked the idea, Robinson had not spoken against it until signs of adverse public opinion in the Canadas began to arrive. He disliked the enlarged and strengthened elective assembly, and felt that English speaking Montreal merchants were merely trying to drag in Upper Canada to help with their own political and economic problems. When a new union bill was introduced to the British house early in 1823, it died in the face of vigorous opposition by the reformers who pointed out that French Canadians rejected the measure. Robinson in the meantime had been thinking of an alternative. His pamphlet on the plan, published in London in 1824, contained two papers by himself, one by Strachan, and one by James Stuart* of Quebec. Robinson proposed a union of all the British provinces in North America as a more effective deterrent to United States encroachment, and he argued that government officials would be more secure, for a civil salary list would be easier to pass in a single legislature. The union would be federal in nature with provincial governments, constituted as they now were, looking after local matters. The union parliament would consist of an upper house with members summoned from the provincial legislative councils by the governor general, and a lower house elected by the provincial assemblies or by electors meeting a fairly high property-requirement franchise. This parliament would “enact laws for the general welfare and good government of the United British Provinces.” It could deal with religious matters, subject to the restrictions in the Canada Act of 1791, with commerce, and with defence. It could levy tariffs, whereas the provincial governments would depend on excise and land taxes. Such a proposal would strengthen the British hold in North America, for the Anglophone majority it would establish in the united legislature would be able to prevail over the French Canadians, whom Robinson considered conservative, agrarian, and opposed to commercial development. This concept of union, though rejected by the imperial government at the time, remained in Robinson’s mind throughout his life.
In February 1823 he completed his terms at Lincoln’s Inn and was called to the English bar. Strachan had urged him to attempt public life in England and was willing to provide a forgiveable loan of £1,500 for the purpose. More tempting was Lord Bathurst’s offer of the chief justiceship of Mauritius at £3,500 per year, a salary greater than Robinson would ever earn on the bench, plus a housing allowance. But he preferred to stay in Canada: “One day or other we shall become a great people – that’s certain – our boys may live to see it,” he wrote Macaulay. He returned to York in early July 1823.
Robinson came back to York as one of the two most influential men in the province. The friendship which he and Strachan shared with Lieutenant Governor Maitland and the supporters they had in the Legislative Council and House of Assembly gave them much influence. As chief officer of the government during the 1820s Robinson was not the leader of a cohesive political party based on a constituency of support for policies across the province, but he was at the centre of a group of administrative officers and government supporters in the legislature who were bound together by friendships and common interests. This group, called the Family Compact by its Reform opponents, had fought together in the War of 1812 and was distinguished by support of the British connection, opposition to the United States, a desire to assimilate French Canadians into a “British” culture, and support of commercial development and the construction of public works. Strachan was the Compact spokesman on religious and educational matters, while Robinson led the group in the assembly. The Reformers nevertheless attributed more unity of purpose to the Compact than in fact existed; on banking, land, education, and religious policy the group was not always in agreement.
Robinson was once more returned for York in the 1824 elections, after a bitter campaign. William Lyon Mackenzie, in the newly founded Colonial Advocate, remarked: “His abilities are greatly overrated; his flippancy has been mistaken by some for wit; but not by us. . . . We account him to be a vain, ignorant man.” Robinson commented to the governor’s secretary: “Another reptile of the Gourlay species has sprung up in a Mr. Mackenzie. . . . What vermin!” The narrowness of Robinson’s victory signalled a change in the political temper of the assembly: in the coming sessions the house would be evenly divided between government supporters and opponents. The opposition was even more diffuse in character than the Compact group. Opposition members coalesced around a series of issues, primarily the alien question, but they were as often motivated by personal axes as by high ideals and ideology. There was a coterie of friends and supporters centred around Marshall Spring Bidwell, a few radicals influenced by the British Reform movement, a group who opposed the Church of England and its claims to church establishment, individuals some of whom disliked the government’s land and development policies, or, like Robert Randall*, had personal grievances against the government.
The first session of the 9th parliament opened in January 1825 with much talk and little legislation. But behind the scenes the great issue of the 1820s was developing. The British courts had ruled that persons who had remained in the United States after 1783 and their descendants could not continue to be considered British subjects. Lord Bathurst in passing on the decision to Maitland late in 1824 advised him that neither Bidwell could sit in the assembly. But because so many people in Upper Canada would be adversely affected, in both their right to hold land and their civil rights, the dispatch was not acted on. Instead, Robinson and the colonial secretary discussed the matter when the former went to England in the summer of 1825. Since the imperial parliament would not act at that time, it was agreed that a bill of limited scope should be passed by the Upper Canadian legislature to confer the civil rights and privileges of British subjects upon those who had resided in Upper Canada for seven years and who would renounce their American citizenship.
There had been spirited public discussion of the issue for months prior to the meeting of the assembly in November 1825. Robinson’s draft bills passed through the council but when he presented them to the house, explaining how the legislation would solve the problem, a storm of protest erupted. Robinson felt that the opposition deliberately misrepresented the government’s position in arguing that the bills were a gratuitous insult to people born or long resident in Upper Canada. The opposition also questioned the right of a colonial government to act in this matter and the house passed an address asking the imperial parliament to intervene.
This parliament then gave the Upper Canadian legislature the power to naturalize persons resident in Upper Canada who met the qualifications of British naturalization laws, but instructions for modified legislation had not been received when the Upper Canadian legislature reconvened in December 1826. Robinson, knowing what the instructions from England would be, found himself fighting a politically popular bill introduced by John Rolph, which provided that all resident settlers were to become British subjects unless they registered their dissent. When the imperial government’s instructions finally arrived, Rolph’s bill was amended by the attorney general to conform with them. Once more the opposition took exception to the Colonial Office’s requirement that persons register their naturalization and again take an oath of allegiance. Robinson felt that they were arguing against the judgement of the courts and against a measure which would relieve people of disabilities arising from that judgement. After angry debate and the defection of members from the opposition, the amended bill was passed.
The enraged opposition sent Robert Randall to England to protest. Randall consulted both the colonial secretary and the radical parliamentary opposition; fear of raising the issue in parliament forced the new colonial secretary, Lord Goderich, to agree to instructions for a new bill which passed the Upper Canadian legislature in May 1827. All who had received land grants, held office, taken the oath of allegiance, or been resident in the province before 1820 were to be admitted to the rights of British subjects. No provision for renunciation of allegiance to foreign countries was made. This new bill was acutely embarrassing to Robinson and the government party in Upper Canada. After they had patiently accepted Colonial Office dictation and defended the unpopular decisions made, a new colonial secretary had bowed to pressure by the Upper Canadian opposition and undermined the colonial administration.
While the alien question was still at full heat in 1827, D’Arcy Boulton’s replacement on the bench arrived in York. He was John Walpole Willis*, an equity lawyer, who was expected to serve only briefly on the Court of King’s Bench until the provincial legislature created a court of equity in Upper Canada. He developed a dislike of Robinson, perhaps because by now so many in the province deferred to his legal abilities. The conflict came into the open when Willis presided over the trial of Francis Collins*, the fiery newspaper editor, whom Robinson was prosecuting on three charges of libel. Previously, and in the course of his trial, Collins charged that Robinson had been remiss in not laying criminal charges against some of those involved in the Samuel Peters Jarvis*–John Ridout duel ten years before, and in not prosecuting those who had destroyed William Lyon Mackenzie’s press in 1826. From the bench, Willis agreed with Collins. Over Robinson’s objections Willis ordered prosecution in both cases. The seconds in the duel, Solicitor General H. J. Boulton and James Edward Small, were acquitted of murder charges, and Mackenzie’s tormenters were fined five shillings. Although Robinson deeply resented the criticisms of him implicit in these prosecutions, he then agreed at Willis’ urging to drop the libel charges against Collins, who had precipitated the furor. Shortly after, Willis argued that the Court of King’s Bench could not act without all its three members present, as it had done in the past. He withdrew from the bench, and thereby not only stopped the functioning of the provincial courts but brought into question the validity of all the court’s previous decisions. Maitland, after seeking the advice of Robinson and Boulton, removed Willis from the bench.
The alien question, Willis’ removal, and criticism of the clergy reserves were province-wide issues in the election of 1828. Robinson again won his seat narrowly, but his work was made more difficult by the fact that the new house was overwhelmingly anti-government and anti-Anglican. When Chief Justice William Campbell* retired in the spring of 1829, Robinson was appointed to replace him and resigned his seat in the assembly. He had refused the appointment in 1824 because he could not afford to give up his law practice for the salary of the chief justice. Robinson’s elevation to the bench removed him in large part from political struggles, although his appointment carried with it the speakership of the Legislative Council and the presidency of the Executive Council.
As government leader in the assembly throughout the 1820s Robinson had demonstrated a legalistic and constitutional approach to the solution of problems which the opposition had handled in a more openly “political” fashion. He had shown a consistent concern for sponsoring a controlled, commercially based development of the province through the encouragement of immigration, the construction of public works, and the discouragement of land speculation. Although much interested in the welfare of the Church of England, he at times disagreed with John Strachan’s passionate advocacy of its rights. Robinson seemed to have taken for granted the Anglican dominance of education and had been instrumental in preventing the sale of the clergy reserves to the Canada Company in 1826. Nevertheless, his critics in the assembly saw him grow in tact and caution, and he had been successful in pushing much basic housekeeping legislation through a sharply divided assembly.
Robinson lost his real influence with the appointment of the new governor, Sir John Colborne, in August 1828. Colborne did not lean on the advice of a few Compact councillors as had his predecessor. He was a conservative, but many of the leading men in the Compact party distrusted him. However, when the Reform-dominated assembly demanded that Robinson be removed from his political posts in the councils in accordance with the 1828 Canada Committee report which had recommended political independence for the judiciary, Colborne was quick to defend Robinson’s worth. Although Robinson might not have objected to losing the posts “to save him from the drudgery of colonial politics,” Colborne felt that he should continue at least in the speakership because his legal experience would be helpful in drafting legislation. The colonial secretary accepted the substance of the assembly’s demand and ruled that no judges were to serve in the executive or legislative councils in future. Robinson remained a legislative councillor but was advised to confine his contributions to giving legal advice. He and Colborne became friends and Colborne consulted him on occasion over provincial affairs. Robinson remained the senior Tory in the province, a kind of figurehead. No one emerged in the assembly with his knowledge or effectiveness in debate. Only once, in 1832, did he break his cautious abstention from politics: to pen the reply of the Legislative Council to a dispatch from Lord Goderich which seemed to pay too much attention to Mackenzie and his grievances.
Robinson’s relations with Colborne’s successor, Sir Francis Bond Head*, were closer, and more cordial, though in personality they differed. Certainly many radicals saw them as working too closely together. Both agreed that an outward show of calm was necessary as rumours of rebellion began circulating in Toronto in the summer and fall of 1837. The chief justice willingly stood in the ranks of militia called out to resist Mackenzie. On 7 December, when the militia marched north to Montgomery’s Tavern to defeat the rebels, Robinson sat in his study writing a history of the rebellion. Because of his advice and support during the crisis, Head recommended that Robinson be knighted, but Robinson declined the honour.
As chief justice, Robinson presided over the trials of those charged with insurrection or treason in connection with the rebellion and the Patriot invasions from the United States in 1838. Over 900 had been arrested, but most were released without trial and bound to keep the peace. Robinson presided daily over the actual hearings and passed sentence on those convicted. Thirty-seven men were sentenced to transportation or had death penalties commuted to that punishment, but on Robinson’s recommendation only 25 were actually transported. Others were given prison sentences of a few years. However, it was Robinson’s view that “some examples should be made in the way of capital punishment,” and Samuel Lount* and Peter Matthews*, both leaders in the rebel movement who had pleaded guilty to high treason, were hanged.
Through discussions of the treatment of insurgents, Robinson came into contact with Sir George Arthur*, who had relieved Head in early 1838. Although the two were carefully formal to begin with, Arthur too succumbed to the knowledge and experience of his chief justice and relied upon his “friendly advice.” When Governor General Lord Durham [Lambton*] visited Upper Canada for a few days in July 1838 he too took the opportunity to seek Robinson’s views on a proposal to federate the British North American provinces in an elaborate political system of local and general governments with ill-defined areas of jurisdictional competence. Robinson made a number of comments on the scheme, objecting most strongly to suggestions that the legislative councils be abolished and that the elected assemblies control the entire provincial revenues. He had few illusions that his discreet advice would be heeded because “nothing but a notorious, factious opposition to government in the adviser is acknowledged as giving any value to Colonial opinions.”
Ill health forced Robinson to ask for a leave of absence in the summer of 1838 so that he could seek medical advice in England. He and his family stayed with his wife’s friends at Cheltenham. In December Colonial Secretary Lord Glenelg asked him to come to London to discuss Canadian affairs. It was the first of many interviews with influential British politicians, including Sir Robert Peel, the Conservative leader, who, in a period of unstable Whig governments, were reluctant to move decisively in formulating Canadian policy. At this time Robinson visited Durham, and found him still undecided about what to recommend in his report, trying to please both “the ballot and short parliament people” (radicals in England) and the British in the Canadas.
Durham’s report was tabled in the House of Commons in February 1839. To his wife Robinson described it as “horrid,” and he saw the sections on Upper Canada, which criticized the Family Compact, as “disgraceful and mischievous.” He gave his opinion to Peel and the Duke of Wellington without delay. Once more, as in 1823, Robinson pointed out to colonial office officials that the union of the Canadas Durham recommended would only drag Upper Canada into the difficulties in Lower Canada. He foresaw that the assembly proposed would be closely divided between French and English and would give “no assurance of anything but bitter and hateful conflict.” To attempt to submerge the French Canadians in the legislature would be to force them into a “close phalanx against the British portion of the Legislature,” without any guarantee that the Anglophones would remain “faithful to British supremacy.” To give the governor power temporarily to suspend elections was unfair to all the colonies. Reinvestment of control of colonial lands in the British government to encourage immigration was unwise since the colonial governments would be unwilling to give it up. The abolition of the clergy reserves he rejected, for the Protestants of the province would be left “destitute of any public provision to support the public worship of God, and to ensure the maintenance of religious instruction.” The proposal that the governor carry out his responsibilities through heads of departments in whom the legislature placed its confidence was absurd. “The Assemblies of the Provinces . . . displayed a degree of selfishness (if not corruption), a prodigality, a negligence, a recklessness beyond what one can think credible . . . it is happy indeed that they have not had higher and greater interests at their mercy.” Such a form of government would lead to “a servile and corrupting dependence upon Party”; it would be without parallel in the British empire and “in comparison with it the Republican Government of the United States would be strongly conservative.”
In the following weeks Robinson made a number of his own confidential recommendations to deal with Canada’s problems. What was needed were guarantees against American aggression, the restoration of order so that investment might once more flow into the Canadas, governmental forms to prevent the recurrence of disturbances, and financial assistance to Upper Canada to offset the effects of suspended immigration and a decline in commerce and revenue. Robinson’s alternatives to Durham’s plans for union included the annexation of Montreal to Upper Canada and the maintenance of separate provincial governments, with Lower Canada to be governed for up to 15 years by an appointed executive and a partly elected, partly appointed legislative council. To better control the rebellious Lower Canadian population he suggested various measures to assimilate French Canadians into the English language culture, including the use of English in government and the courts and the substitution of English for French civil law in Lower Canada.
In April Robinson came up to London. He saw Peel regularly and conferred with many leading Whigs and Tories in an effort to discredit Durham’s report. The weakness of Lord Melbourne’s ministry gave him some hope and the abandonment of a union bill offered in parliament in June 1839 seemed to augur well. Throughout the summer while he consulted physicians and tried to rest Robinson continued writing to Tory leaders and to supporters of the Anglican establishment and the clergy reserves.
During the summer the government placed the Canadian issue at the top of its list of priorities: Lord John Russell was appointed colonial secretary in August and shortly afterwards Charles Poulett Thomson* was appointed governor general of British North America. Robinson, who had had his leave extended to 1 March 1840, now anticipated for himself even more effort to fight the union. In the autumn of 1839 he began a short book criticizing the proposal. After a long introductory chapter on the geography and economy of the British North American provinces, it gave a detailed argument against the union bill as presented in June 1839. With the publication of Canada, and the Canada Bill in February 1840, Robinson had shot his bolt against the union project.
His efforts in the winter and spring of 1840 were turned to the clergy reserves. He met with leaders of the high church party in parliament such as Sir Robert Inglis and Henry Phillpotts, bishop of Exeter, to present his views. Early in 1839 the Tory majority in the Upper Canadian legislature had passed a bill providing that the income from the clergy reserves be applied to “religious purposes” in a manner to be determined by the British parliament, rather than by the Upper Canadian legislature. This reinvestment of the reserves in the crown was rejected by the British government on the grounds that the drafting of the bill had constitutional defects. Robinson was not unhappy at the rejection because he felt that this reinvestment merely opened use of the reserves’ income to future political pressures. An act passed in August 1840 by the imperial parliament was something of an improvement, built on the principle of dividing the reserves among denominations, but giving a bigger share to the Church of England. Robinson’s cultivation of pro-Anglican British politicians had proved effective. Most Anglicans in Upper Canada were aware that the imperial act was better than they could have obtained in Upper Canada, though few in 1840 could have been happy that this legislation provided support for other denominations as well.
The winds of change over the winter of 1839–40 were blowing hard. The Upper Canadian assembly voted to support the proposed union, and, in consequence, the English Tories, who had been neutral although sympathetic to Robinson and his arguments, decided to support the union measure. But Robinson’s consorting with the Tories in England and his absence from the bench began to excite comment. In mid March Russell told Robinson that his presence in England was no longer required or welcome. After a few weeks of visiting and farewells, the Robinsons embarked from London.
The new union bill was introduced in the spring of 1840 just as they left. The Canadas were to be reunited for legislative and executive purposes. Equal representation in the assembly was accorded to each of the former provinces in order to ensure Anglophone domination. Other recommendations made by Durham were ignored or dealt with in different ways. The new governor general of the Canadas engineered an Upper Canadian solution to the clergy reserves by which one-half of the revenues were to be divided between the Anglicans and the Presbyterians, the other half, when funds permitted, among all denominations. He also introduced many of the administrative reforms advocated by Durham. But many of the points Robinson had argued had been accepted and incorporated in the bill. Legislative councillors were to hold office for life, executive responsibility to the legislature was not specified, and the courts were clearly established; indeed, his only objection would probably have been to the union itself and the basis of representation with its potential for political deadlock between French and English.
When Robinson and his family returned to Toronto the political climate of Upper Canada had completely changed. As a judge, he was effectively divorced from political life, and as an old Compact Tory he was excluded from political power. He made some effort to maintain the unity of the high Tories in Upper Canada, but their exclusion from office made this a difficult task. He no longer had personal contact with the governors, although Sir Charles Metcalfe*, after reading Canada, and the Canada Bill, corresponded with him.
Much of his time outside his legal duties in the next 20 years was devoted to the Church of England. He served on the executive of the Church Society, the body charged with managing the temporal affairs of the Toronto diocese as well as carrying out good works. He became a vice-president of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel and was active in the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. He believed firmly in the union of church and state and the need for an established church because he felt the only secure basis for civil authority was religion. Hence he defended the clergy reserves, although his views about how to do so were more liberal than Strachan’s. He was friendly with the leaders of the high church party in England and associated with them in Canada, but was never attracted by the Oxford Movement or the Tractarians or their followers in Canada. Whether or not he ever accepted a separation of church and state as did Strachan is uncertain. He was always hesitant to make religion a subject of political contention.
Robinson was not narrow in his religious views. He gave land and support to the Methodists because he felt their preachers had brought the Christian message to the frontier when no one else had. He appeared publicly several times in the 1840s and 1850s at meetings of the British and Foreign Bible Society, an organization to which normally only evangelical Anglicans belonged. He had played an active role in establishing King’s College, an Anglican university in Toronto, and strongly defended its denominational character. “A college or university which professes to take the range of the sciences – and to send forth a youth in the world qualified to act his part in it – and yet carefully abstains from including any religious doctrine must be an abortion,” he told Strachan in 1844. Following Robert Baldwin*’s act to secularize King’s College in 1849, he advised Strachan that he should not be satisfied with merely a theological seminary, but that the Anglicans, like the other major denominations, should have their own college. Strachan and his supporters obtained a charter for the University of Trinity College in 1852; Robinson became its first chancellor, serving until his death.
In 1849 Governor General Lord Elgin [Bruce] recommended Robinson for a knighthood as one means of placating the ultra Tories. Robinson told Elgin’s secretary rather cynically that he would accept but that he hoped responsible government would not lead to a too generous creation of knighthoods. He was made instead a Companion of the Bath in 1850, but in 1854 was created a baronet of the United Kingdom.
His work as chief justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench naturally occupied most of his time. He worked hard; there was seldom an arrears of business in the court. In fact, Robinson had specifically asked for legislation to allow the court to convene and render judgements after the regular terms as a means of speeding up procedure. The Upper Canada Law Journal noted in its obituary: “Few opinions will ever command more respect or carry more weight than those delivered by Sir John Robinson. They are remarkable for their lucid argument, deep learning, strict impartiality and pure justice.” D. B. Read* observes that he tended towards severity in criminal matters. As a judge he was courteous and careful, if anything rather conservative. No man has served longer as chief justice than did Robinson, and his judgements are among those which merit a full examination by a legal historian of Canada.
His judgements seldom excited controversy. Two did, however: one in 1859 in which he gave a light sentence to an Orangeman charged with attempted murder following a public brawl, and the John Anderson extradition case which aroused intense public interest in both Canada and Britain. Anderson, a slave from Missouri, had, it was alleged, murdered a man in making good his escape to Canada. In 1860 the Court of Queen’s Bench presided over by Robinson granted Anderson’s extradition to the United States, but the Court of Common Pleas overturned the ruling on a technicality.
Robinson’s years on the bench were financially comfortable, but his income was less than it might have been if he had remained at the bar. Indeed, with the help of his prosperous private practice in the 1820s he had built one of Toronto’s best homes in Beverley House. He also accumulated a good deal of land, some of which he inherited from his brother Peter in 1838. In 1852 he owned 300 acres in Simcoe County, over 1,000 acres in York, some land in Ontario and Peel counties, and some 29 parcels elsewhere. Nevertheless he was by no means wealthy. He and his wife had four sons and three daughters. Three sons became lawyers; the youngest entered the British army and attained the rank of major-general. His second son, John Beverley*, entered politics, serving briefly in the cabinet before confederation and as lieutenant governor of Ontario in the 1880s.
Robinson had never really liked the notoriety of political life; his career on the bench was probably most satisfying because it removed him from politics. He never seems to have thought of power as such; rather he accepted responsibility to govern and to be a public servant. He saw himself as part of the governing class, the “regularly bred,” who must take up his duty. He thought that he acted in a liberal or benevolent way on principles which would preserve and strengthen an essentially good Upper Canadian society. His loyalist background, his education by Strachan, and his experience during the War of 1812 shaped his attitudes fundamentally. Looking back from the 1840s, he argued that the war had given Upper Canadians a sense of identity, a sense of anti-Americanism and of pro-British sentiment. He would long remember that many Upper Canadians had been lukewarm in defence against the United States, and remained suspicious of American-born settlers and those whose politics were “republican.” Indeed, maintenance of the British connection was his major goal, a goal which could be attained only by encouraging immigration from Britain and by establishing British political institutions in Canada. That British political institutions changed during his lifetime made it difficult for him to adjust his thinking.
He saw what he described as “ancient and venerable institutions,” “respect for rank and family,” “the power of wealth,” and “the control of numerous landlords over a grateful tenantry” as part of the essential fabric of a stable society. That these did not exist in Canada meant that government depended on “the presumed good sense, and good feeling of an uneducated multitude” which periodically could be led astray. Even late in life, when he had begun to feel that he had often been mistaken in his understanding of public wants, he still distrusted democracy. He believed always in a balanced constitution – an elected assembly, an independent upper house to act as a check on the assembly, and an independent executive which could be checked by both houses of the legislature and check them in turn. A society governed in this way could prosper through the work of its people.
Robinson was always a supporter of British immigration and of development. He subscribed to the stock of the Welland Canal Company and the Desjardins Canal Company because of the assistance they would give to the Upper Canadian economy. Nevertheless, as his comments on the United States in the 1830s indicate, he did not favour extravagant development and widespread credit to encourage it.
He was also an early advocate of British North American union. From 1823 onwards he saw such a union as preferable to the union of the two Canadas. The control of Canada by its Anglophone majority could only be ensured by bringing the Atlantic provinces into the union. By the 1840s many Upper Canadian Tories shared his views. His loyalism, his Anglicanism, and his distrust of democracy did not make him into a colonial, however. He would visit England often, be friendly with that country’s leading men, and be offered attractive opportunities outside Canada, either in England or in other colonies, but his sense of duty and his love of Upper Canada kept him a Canadian. Indeed, in the last years of his life, he reconciled himself to the concept of responsible government as he saw it working and realized that it was the means by which the British connection could be maintained.
In the spring of 1861 Robinson suffered such a severe attack of gout that his work on the bench had to be curtailed. He was able to resign from the Queen’s Bench on 15 March 1862, at which time he was appointed presiding judge of the Court of Error and Appeal. That fall he was again seized cruelly by gout but continued to serve until pain forced him to retire to his home in January 1863. On 28 January the aged Bishop Strachan gave him communion, and three days later he died.
Incense is aromatic biotic material which releases fragrant smoke when burned. The term refers to the material itself, rather than to the aroma that it produces. Incense is used for a variety of purposes, including the ceremonies of religion, to overcome bad smells, repel insects, spirituality, aromatherapy, meditation, and for simple pleasure.
Incense is composed of aromatic plant materials, often combined with essential oils. The forms taken by incense differ with the underlying culture, and have changed with advances in technology and increasing diversity in the reasons for burning it. Incense can generally be separated into two main types: "indirect-burning" and "direct-burning". Indirect-burning incense (or "non-combustible incense") is not capable of burning on its own, and requires a separate heat source. Direct-burning incense (or "combustible incense") is lit directly by a flame and then fanned or blown out, leaving a glowing ember that smoulders and releases fragrance. Direct-burning incense is either a paste formed around a bamboo stick, or a paste that is extruded into a stick or cone shape.
HISTORY
The word incense comes from Latin for incendere meaning "to burn".
Combustible bouquets were used by the ancient Egyptians, who employed incense within both pragmatic and mystical capacities. Incense was burnt to counteract or obscure malodorous products of human habitation, but was widely perceived to also deter malevolent demons and appease the gods with its pleasant aroma. Resin balls were found in many prehistoric Egyptian tombs in El Mahasna, furnishing tangible archaeological substantiation to the prominence of incense and related compounds within Egyptian antiquity. One of the oldest extant incense burners originates from the 5th dynasty. The Temple of Deir-el-Bahari in Egypt contains a series of carvings that depict an expedition for incense.
The Babylonians used incense while offering prayers to divining oracles. Incense spread from there to Greece and Rome.
Incense burners have been found in the Indus Civilization (3300 BCE- 1300 BCE). Evidence suggests oils were used mainly for their aroma. India also adopted techniques from East Asia, adapting the inherited formulation to encompass aromatic roots and other indigenous flora. This comprised the initial usage of subterranean plant parts within the fabrication of incense. New herbs like Sarsaparilla seeds, frankincense, and cypress were used by Indians for incense.
At around 2000 BCE, Ancient China began the use of incense in the religious sense, namely for worship. Incense was used by Chinese cultures from Neolithic times and became more widespread in the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties. The earliest documented instance of incense utilization comes from the ancient Chinese, who employed incense composed of herbs and plant products (such as cassia, cinnamon, styrax, sandalwood, amongst others) as a component of numerous formalized ceremonial rites. Incense usage reached its peak during the Song Dynasty with numerous buildings erected specifically for incense ceremonies.
Brought to Japan in the 6th century by Korean Buddhist monks, who used the mystical aromas in their purification rites, the delicate scents of Koh (high-quality Japanese incense) became a source of amusement and entertainment with nobles in the Imperial Court during the Heian Era 200 years later. During the 14th century Shogunate, a samurai warrior might perfume his helmet and armor with incense to achieve an aura of invincibility (as well as to make a noble gesture to whomever might take his head in battle). It wasn't until the Muromachi Era during the 15th and 16th century that incense appreciation (Kōdō) spread to the upper and middle classes of Japanese society.
COMPOSITION
A variety of materials have been used in making incense. Historically there has been a preference for using locally available ingredients. For example, sage and cedar were used by the indigenous peoples of North America. Trading in incense materials comprised a major part of commerce along the Silk Road and other trade routes, one notably called the Incense Route.
The same could be said for the techniques used to make incense. Local knowledge and tools were extremely influential on the style, but methods were also influenced by migrations of foreigners, among them clergy and physicians who were both familiar with incense arts.
COMBUSTIBLE BASE
The combustible base of a direct burning incense mixture not only binds the fragrant material together but also allows the produced incense to burn with a self-sustained ember, which propagates slowly and evenly through an entire piece of incense with such regularity that it can be used to mark time. The base is chosen such that it does not produce a perceptible smell. Commercially, two types of incense base predominate:
- Fuel and oxidizer mixtures: Charcoal or wood powder forms the fuel for the combustion. Gums such as Gum Arabic or Gum Tragacanth are used to bind the mixture together while an oxidizer such as sodium nitrate or potassium nitrate sustains the burning of the incense. Fragrant materials are combined into the base prior to formation as in the case of powdered incense materials or after formation as in the case of essential oils. The formula for the charcoal-based incense is superficially similar to black powder, though it lacks the sulfur.
- Natural plant-based binders: Mucilaginous material, which can be derived from many botanical sources, is mixed with fragrant materials and water. The mucilage from the wet binding powder holds the fragrant material together while the cellulose in the powder combusts to form a stable ember when lit. The dry binding powder usually comprises about 10% of the dry weight in the finished incense. This includes:
- Makko (incense powder): made from the bark of various trees from the Persea such as Persea thunbergii)
- Xiangnan pi (made from the bark of Phoebe genus trees such as Phoebe nanmu, Persea zuihoensis.
- Jigit: a resin based binder used in India
- Laha or Dar: bark based powders used in Nepal, Tibet, and other East Asian countries.
TYPES
Incense materials are available in various forms and degrees of processing. They can generally be separated into "direct-burning" and "indirect-burning" types depending on use. Preference for one form or another varies with culture, tradition, and personal taste. Although the production of direct- and indirect-burning incense are both blended to produce a pleasant smell when burned, the two differ in their composition due to the former's requirement for even, stale, and sustained burning.
INDIRECT BURNING
Indirect-burning incense, also called "non-combustible incense", is a combination of aromatic ingredients that are not prepared in any particular way or encouraged into any particular form, leaving it mostly unsuitable for direct combustion. The use of this class of incense requires a separate heat source since it does not generally kindle a fire capable of burning itself and may not ignite at all under normal conditions. This incense can vary in the duration of its burning with the texture of the material. Finer ingredients tend to burn more rapidly, while coarsely ground or whole chunks may be consumed very gradually as they have less total surface area. The heat is traditionally provided by charcoal or glowing embers.
In the West, the best known incense materials of this type are frankincense and myrrh, likely due to their numerous mentions in the Christian Bible. In fact, the word for "frankincense" in many European languages also alludes to any form of incense.
- Whole: The incense material is burned directly in its raw unprocessed form on top of coal embers.
- Powdered or granulated: The incense material is broken down into finer bits. This incense burns quickly and provides a short period of intense smells.
- Paste: The powdered or granulated incense material is mixed with a sticky and incombustible binder, such as dried fruit, honey, or a soft resin and then formed to balls or small pastilles. These may then be allowed to mature in a controlled environment where the fragrances can commingle and unite. Much Arabian incense, also called "Bukhoor" or "Bakhoor", is of this type (Bakhoor actually refers to frankincense in Arabic) and Japan has a history of kneaded incense, called nerikō or awasekō, using this method.[17] Within the Eastern Orthodox Christian tradition, raw frankincense is ground into a fine powder and then mixed with various sweet-smelling essential oils.
DIRECT BURNING
Direct-burning incense also called "combustible incense", is lit directly by a flame. The glowing ember on the incense will continue to smoulder and burn away the rest of the incense without continued application of heat or flame from an outside source. Direct-burning incense is either extruded, pressed into forms, or coated onto a supporting material. This class of incense is made from a moldable substrate of fragrant finely ground (or liquid) incense materials and odourless binder. The composition must be adjusted to provide fragrance in the proper concentration and to ensure even burning. The following types of direct-burning incense are commonly encountered, though the material itself can take virtually any form, according to expediency or whimsy:
- Coil: Extruded and shaped into a coil without a core. This type of incense is able to burn for an extended period, from hours to days, and is commonly produced and used by Chinese culture
- Cone: Incense in this form burns relatively fast. Incense cones were invented in Japan in the 1800s.
- Cored stick: This form of stick incense has a supporting core of bamboo. Higher quality varieties of this form have fragrant sandalwood cores. The core is coated by a thick layer of incense material that burns away with the core. This type of incense is commonly produced in India and China. When used for worship in Chinese folk religion, cored incensed sticks are sometimes known as "joss sticks".
- Solid stick: This stick incense has no supporting core and is completely made of incense material. Easily broken into pieces, it allows one to determine the specific amount of incense they wish to burn. This is the most commonly produced form of incense in Japan and Tibet.
- Powder: The loose incense powder used for making indirect burning incense is sometimes burned without further processing. They are typically packed into long trails on top of wood ash using a stencil and burned in special censers or incense clocks.
- Paper: Paper infused with incense, folded accordion style, lit and blown out. Examples are Carta d'Armenia and Papier d'Arménie.
- Rope: The incense powder is rolled into paper sheets, which are then rolled into ropes, twisted tightly, then doubled over and twisted again, yielding a two-strand rope. The larger end is the bight, and may be stood vertically, in a shallow dish of sand or pebbles. The smaller (pointed) end is lit. This type of incense is highly transportable and stays fresh for extremely long periods. It has been used for centuries in Tibet and Nepal.
The disks of powdered mugwort called 'moxa' sold in Chinese shops and herbalists are used in Traditional Chinese medicine for moxibustion treatment. Moxa tablets are not incenses; the treatment relies on heat rather than fragrance.
REED DIFFUSING
A reed diffuser is a form of incense that uses no heat. It comes in three parts: a bottle/container, scented essential incense oil, and bamboo reeds. The incense oil is placed into the container and bamboo reeds are then put into the same container. This is done to absorb some of the incense oil, as well as to help carry its scent and essence out of the container and into the surrounding air. Reeds typically have tiny tube openings that run the entire length of the stick. Oil is absorbed by the reed sticks and carried along the entire reed. These are do-it-yourself incense sticks that do not burn and look almost identical to typical incense sticks
PRODUCTION
INDIRECT BURNING
The raw materials are powdered and then mixed together with a binder to form a paste, which, for direct burning incense, are then cut and dried into pellets. Incense of the Athonite Orthodox Christian tradition are made by powdering frankincense or fir resin, mixing it with essential oils. Floral fragrances are the most common, but citrus such as lemon is not uncommon. The incense mixture is then rolled out into a slab approximately 1 cm thick and left until the slab has firmed. It is then cut into small cubes, coated with clay powder to prevent adhesion, and allowed to fully harden and dry. In Greece this rolled incense resin is called 'Moskolibano', and generally comes in either a pink or green colour denoting the fragrance, with pink being rose and green being jasmine.
DIRECT BURNING
In order to obtain desired combustion qualities, attention has to be paid to certain proportions in direct burning incense mixtures:
- Oil content: Resinous materials such as myrrh and frankincense must not exceed the amount of dry materials in the mixture to such a degree that the incense will not smolder and burn.[citation needed] The higher the oil content relative to the dry mass, the less likely the mixture is to burn effectively.[citation needed] Typically the resinous or oily substances are balanced with "dry" materials such as wood, bark and leaf powders.
- Oxidizer quantity: The amount of chemical oxidizer in gum-bound incense must be carefully proportioned. If too little, the incense will not ignite, and if too much, the incense will burn too quickly and not produce fragrant smoke.
- Mixture density: Incense mixtures made with natural binders must not be combined with too much water in mixing, or over-compressed while being formed, which would result in either uneven air distribution or undesirable density in the mixture, causing the incense to burn unevenly, too slowly, or too quickly.
- Particulate size: The incense mixture has to be well pulverized with similarly sized particulates. Uneven and large particulates result in uneven burning and inconsistent aroma production when burned.
- Binder: Water-soluble binders such as "makko" have to be used in the right proportion to ensure that the incense mixture does not crumble when dry but also that the binder does not take up too much of the mixture.
Some kinds of direct-burning incense are created from "incense blanks" made of unscented combustible dust immersed into any suitable kind of essential or fragrance oil. These are often sold in America by flea-market and sidewalk vendors who have developed their own styles. Such items are often known as "dipped" or "hand-dipped" incense. This form of incense requires the least skill and equipment to manufacture, since the blanks are pre-formed in China or South East Asia, then simply scented with essential oils.
Incense mixtures can be extruded or pressed into shapes. Small quantities of water are combined with the fragrance and incense base mixture and kneaded into a hard dough. The incense dough is then pressed into shaped forms to create cone and smaller coiled incense, or forced through a hydraulic press for solid stick incense. The formed incense is then trimmed and slowly dried. Incense produced in this fashion has a tendency to warp or become misshapen when improperly dried, and as such must be placed in climate-controlled rooms and rotated several times through the drying process.
Traditionally, the bamboo cores of cored stick incense is prepared by hand from Phyllostachys heterocycla cv. pubescens since this species produces thick wood and easily burns to ashes in the incense stick. Through this process, known as "splitting the foot of the incense stick", the bamboo is trimmed to length, soaked, peeled, and then continuously split in halves until thin sticks of bamboo with square cross sections of less than 3mm This process has been largely been replaced by machines in modern incense production.
In the case of cored incensed sticks, several methods are employed to coat the sticks cores with incense mixture:
- Paste rolling: A wet, malleable paste of incense mixture is first rolled into a long, thin coil, using a paddle. Then, a thin stick is put next to the coil and the stick and paste are rolled together until the stick is centered in the mixture and the desired thickness is achieved. The stick is then cut to the desired length and dried.
- Powder-coating: Powder-coating is used mainly to produce cored incense of either larger coil (up to 1 meter in diameter) or cored stick forms. A bundle of the supporting material (typically thin bamboo or sandalwood slivers) is soaked in water or a thin water/glue mixture for a short time. The thin sticks are then evenly separated, then dipped into a tray of incense powder, consisting of fragrance materials and occasionally a plant-based binder. The dry incense powder is then tossed and piled over the stick while they are spread apart. The sticks are then gently rolled and packed to maintain roundness while more incense powder is repeatedly tossed onto the sticks. Three to four layers of powder are coated onto the sticks, forming a 2 mm thick layer of incense material on the stick. The coated incense is then allowed to dry in open air. Additional coatings of incense mixture can be applied after each period of successive drying. Incense sticks that are burned in temples of Chinese folk religion produced in this fashion can have a thickness between 2 and 4 millimeters.
- Compression: A damp powder is mechanically formed around a cored stick by compression, similar to the way uncored sticks are formed. This form is becoming more commonly found due to the higher labor cost of producing powder-coated or paste-rolled sticks.
JOSS STICKS
Joss sticks are the name given to incense sticks used for a variety of purposes associated with ritual and religious devotion in China and India. They are used in Chinese influenced East Asian and Southeast Asian countries, traditionally burned before the threshold of a home or business, before an image of a Chinese popular religion divinity or spirit of place, or in small and humble or large and elaborate shrine found at the main entrance to each and every village. Here the earth god is propitiated in the hope of bringing wealth and health to the village. They can also be burned in front of a door, or open window as an offering to heaven, or devas. The word "joss" is derived from the Latin deus (god) via the Portuguese deos through the Javanese dejos, through Chinese pidgin English.
Joss-stick burning is an everyday practice in traditional Chinese religion. There are many different types of joss sticks used for different purposes or on different festive days. Many of them are long and thin and are mostly colored yellow, red, and more rarely, black. Thick joss sticks are used for special ceremonies, such as funerals. Spiral joss sticks are also used on a regular basis, which are found hanging above temple ceilings, with burn times that are exceedingly long. In some states, such as Taiwan, Singapore, or Malaysia, where they celebrate the Ghost Festival, large, pillar-like dragon joss sticks are sometimes used. These generate such a massive amount of smoke and heat that they are only ever burned outside.
Chinese incense sticks for use in popular religion are generally without aroma or only the slightest trace of jasmine or rose, since it is the smoke, not the scent, which is important in conveying the prayers of the faithful to heaven. They are composed of the dried powdered bark of a non-scented species of cinnamon native to Cambodia, Cinnamomum cambodianum.[citation needed] Inexpensive packs of 300 are often found for sale in Chinese supermarkets. Despite the fact that they contain no sandalwood at all, they often include the Chinese character for sandalwood on the label, as a generic term for incense.
Highly scented Chinese incense sticks are only used by some Buddhists. These are often quite expensive due to the use of large amounts of sandalwood, aloeswood, or floral scents used. The Sandalwood used in Chinese incenses does not come from India, its native home, but rather from groves planted within Chinese territory. Sites belonging to Tzu Chi, Chung Tai Shan, Dharma Drum Mountain, Xingtian Temple, Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Buddhism in Burma and Korean Buddhism do not use incense.
BURNING INCENSE
For indirect-burning incense, pieces of the incense are burned by placing them directly on top of a heat source or on a hot metal plate in a censer or thurible.
In Japan a similar censer called a egōro (柄香炉?) is used by several Buddhist sects. The egōro is usually made of brass with a long handle and no chain. Instead of charcoal, makkō powder is poured into a depression made in a bed of ash. The makkō is lit and the incense mixture is burned on top. This method is known as Sonae-kō (Religious Burning).
For direct-burning incense, the tip or end of the incense is ignited with a flame or other heat source until the incense begins to turn into ash at the burning end. Flames on the incense are then fanned or blown out, with the incense continuing to burn without a flame on its own.
CULTURAL VARIATIONS
CHINESE INCENSE
For over two thousand years, the Chinese have used incense in religious ceremonies, ancestor veneration, Traditional Chinese medicine, and daily life.
Agarwood (chénxiāng) and sandalwood (tánxiāng) are the two most important ingredients in Chinese incense.
Along with the introduction of Buddhism in China came calibrated incense sticks and incense clocks. The poet Yu Jianwu (487-551) first recorded them: "By burning incense we know the o'clock of the night, With graduated candles we confirm the tally of the watches." The use of these incense timekeeping devices spread from Buddhist monasteries into Chinese secular society.
It is incorrect to assume that the Chinese only burn incense in the home before the family shrine. In Taoist traditions, incense is inextricably associated with the 'yin' energies of the dead, temples, shrines, and ghosts. Therefore, Taoist Chinese believe burning undedicated incense in the home attracts the dreaded hungry ghosts, who consume the smoke and ruin the fortunes of the family.
However, since Neolithic times, the Chinese have evolved using incense not only for religious ceremonies, but also for personal and environmental aromatherapy.
INDIAN INCENSE
Incense stick, also known as agarbathi (or agarbatti) and joss sticks, in which an incense paste is rolled or moulded around a bamboo stick, is one of the main forms of incense in India. The bamboo method originated in India, and is distinct from the Nepal/Tibet and Japanese methods of stick making which don't use a bamboo core. Though the method is also used in the west, particularly in America, it is strongly associated with India.
The basic ingredients are the bamboo stick, the paste (generally made of charcoal dust and joss/jiggit/gum/tabu powder - an adhesive made from the bark of litsea glutinosa and other trees), and the perfume ingredients - which would be a masala (spice mix) powder of ground ingredients into which the stick would be rolled, or a perfume liquid sometimes consisting of synthetic ingredients into which the stick would be dipped. Perfume is sometimes sprayed on the coated sticks. Stick machines are sometimes used, which coat the stick with paste and perfume, though the bulk of production is done by hand rolling at home. There are about 5,000 incense companies in India which take raw unperfumed sticks hand-rolled by approx 200,000 women working part-time at home, and then apply their own brand of perfume, and package the sticks for sale.[38] An experienced home-worker can produce 4,000 raw sticks a day. There are about 50 main companies who together account for up to 30% of the market, and around 500 of the companies, including a significant number of the main ones, including Moksh Agarbatti and Cycle Pure, are based in Bangalore.
In the Middle East, incense burning has been along tradition. The word bukhur means incense in Arabic. The well known choice for incense is the famous agarwood which is very popular in Africa, the Gulf and amongst some south Asians, but there are many many more choices. Incense come in a variety of forms such as blocks, pieces, pellets, granules or powdered, which is placed in the oil burner called mabkharah for several minutes to heat either with coal in the traditional way or via power in the modern way, allowing it to release its rich smell. However this takes awhile and the quick alternative is to use incense sticks called Oud in Middle East and Africa, and agarbatti in south Asia - again referring to the agar wood + batti meaning some sort of agar-stick. Occasionally some get confused between bukhur and oud, bukhur is the insence ie agarwood, sandlewood etc and oud being the incense sticks (and not the otherway round sometimes wires get twisted)
JERUSALEM TEMPLE INCENSE
Ketoret was the incense offered in the Temple in Jerusalem and is stated in the Book of Exodus as a mixture of stacte, onycha, galbanum and frankincense.
TIBETAN INCENSE
Tibetan incense refers to a common style of incense found in Tibet, Nepal, and Bhutan. These incenses have a characteristic "earthy" scent to them. Ingredients vary from cinnamon, clove, and juniper, to kusum flower, ashvagandha, or sahi jeera.
Many Tibetan incenses are thought to have medicinal properties. Their recipes come from ancient Vedic texts that are based on even older Ayurvedic medical texts. The recipes have remained unchanged for centuries.
JAPANESE INCENSE
In Japan incense appreciation folklore includes art, culture, history, and ceremony. It can be compared to and has some of the same qualities as music, art, or literature. Incense burning may occasionally take place within the tea ceremony, just like Calligraphy, Ikebana, and Scroll Arrangement. However the art of incense appreciation or Koh-do, is generally practiced as a separate art form from the tea ceremony, however usually practiced within a tea room of traditional Zen design.
Agarwood (沈香 Jinkō) and sandalwood (白檀 Byakudan) are the two most important ingredients in Japanese incense. Agarwood is known as "Jinkō" in Japan, which translates as "incense that sinks in water", due to the weight of the resin in the wood. Sandalwood is one of the most calming incense ingredients and lends itself well to meditation.[citation needed] It is also used in the Japanese tea ceremony. The most valued Sandalwood comes from Mysore in the state of Karnataka in India.
Another important ingredient in Japanese incense is kyara (伽羅). Kyara is one kind of agarwood (Japanese incense companies divide agarwood into 6 categories depending on the region obtained and properties of the agarwood). Kyara is currently worth more than its weight in gold.
Some terms used in Japanese incense culture include:
- Incense Arts: [香道, Kodo]
- Agarwood: [ 沈香 ] – from heartwood from Aquilaria trees, unique, the incense wood most used in incense ceremony, other names are: lignum aloes or aloeswood, gaharu, jinko, or oud.
- Censer/Incense burner: [香爐] – usually small and used for heating incense not burning, or larger and used for burning
- Charcoal: [木炭] – only the odorless kind is used.
- Incense woods: [ 香木 ] – a naturally fragrant resinous wood.
USAGE
Incense is used for a variety of purposes, including the ceremonies of all the main religions, to overcome bad smells, repel insects, purify or improve the atmosphere, aromatherapy, meditation, and for simple pleasure.
PRACTICAL
Incense fragrances can be of such great strength that they obscure other, less desirable odours. This utility led to the use of incense in funerary ceremonies because the incense could smother the scent of decay. Another example of this use, as well as of religious use, is the giant Botafumeiro thurible which swings from the ceiling of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. It is used in part to mask the scent of the many tired, unwashed pilgrims huddled together in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.
A similar utilitarian use of incense can be found in the post-Reformation Church of England. Although the ceremonial use of incense was abandoned until the Oxford Movement, it was common to have incense (typically frankincense) burned before grand occasions, when the church would be crowded. The frankincense was carried about by a member of the vestry before the service in a vessel called a 'perfuming pan'. In iconography of the day, this vessel is shown to be elongated and flat, with a single, long handle on one side. It is important to note that the perfuming pan was used instead of the thurible, as the latter would have likely offended the Protestant sensibilities of the 17th and 18th centuries.
The regular burning of direct combustion incense has been used for chronological measurement in incense clocks. These devices can range from a simple trail of incense material calibrated to burn in a specific time period, to elaborate and ornate instruments with bells or gongs, designed to involve and captivate several of the senses.
Incense made from materials such as citronella can repel mosquitoes and other aggravating, distracting or pestilential insects. This use has been deployed in concert with religious uses by Zen Buddhists who claim that the incense that is part of their meditative practice is designed to keep bothersome insects from distracting the practitioner. Currently, more effective pyrethroid-based mosquito repellent incense is widely available in Asia.
Papier d'Arménie was originally sold as a disinfectant as well as for the fragrance.
Incense is also used often by people who smoke indoors, and do not want the scent to linger.
AestheticMany people burn incense to appreciate its smell, without assigning any other specific significance to it, in the same way that the foregoing items can be produced or consumed solely for the contemplation or enjoyment of the refined sensory experience. This use is perhaps best exemplified in the kōdō (香道?), where (frequently costly) raw incense materials such as agarwood are appreciated in a formal setting.ReligiousUse of incense in religion is prevalent in many cultures and may have their roots in the practical and aesthetic uses considering that many religions with not much else in common all use incense. One common motif is incense as a form of sacrificial offering to a deity. Such use was common in Judaic worship and remains in use for example in the Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican churches, Taoist and Buddhist Chinese jingxiang (敬香 "offer incense [to ancestors/gods]), etc.
HEALTH
Incense smoke contains various contaminants including gaseous pollutants, such as carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and absorbed toxic pollutants (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and toxic metals). The solid particles range between ~10 and 500 nm. The emission rate decreases in the row Indian sandalwood > Japanese aloeswood > Taiwanese aloeswood > smokeless sandalwood.
Research carried out in Taiwan in 2001 linked the burning of incense sticks to the slow accumulation of potential carcinogens in a poorly ventilated environment by measuring the levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (including benzopyrene) within Buddhist temples. The study found gaseous aliphatic aldehydes, which are carcinogenic and mutagenic, in incense smoke.
A survey of risk factors for lung cancer, also conducted in Taiwan, noted an inverse association between incense burning and adenocarcinoma of the lung, though the finding was not deemed significant.
In contrast, a study by several Asian Cancer Research Centers showed: "No association was found between exposure to incense burning and respiratory symptoms like chronic cough, chronic sputum, chronic bronchitis, runny nose, wheezing, asthma, allergic rhinitis, or pneumonia among the three populations studied: i.e. primary school children, their non-smoking mothers, or a group of older non-smoking female controls. Incense burning did not affect lung cancer risk among non-smokers, but it significantly reduced risk among smokers, even after adjusting for lifetime smoking amount." However, the researchers qualified the findings by noting that incense burning in the studied population was associated with certain low-cancer-risk dietary habits, and concluded that "diet can be a significant confounder of epidemiological studies on air pollution and respiratory health."
Although several studies have not shown a link between incense and cancer of the lung, many other types of cancer have been directly linked to burning incense. A study published in 2008 in the medical journal Cancer found that incense use is associated with a statistically significant higher risk of cancers of the upper respiratory tract, with the exception of nasopharyngeal cancer. Those who used incense heavily also had higher rates of a type of cancer called squamous-cell carcinoma, which refers to tumors that arise in the cells lining the internal and external surfaces of the body. The link between incense use and increased cancer risk held when the researchers weighed other factors, including cigarette smoking, diet and drinking habits. The research team noted that "This association is consistent with a large number of studies identifying carcinogens in incense smoke, and given the widespread and sometimes involuntary exposure to smoke from burning incense, these findings carry significant public health implications."
In 2015, the South China University of Technology found toxicity of incense to Chinese hamsters ovary cells to be even higher than cigarettes.
Frankincense has been shown to cause antidepressive behavior in mice. It activated the poorly understood ion channels in the brain to alleviate anxiety and depression.
WIKIPEDIA
Incense is aromatic biotic material which releases fragrant smoke when burned. The term refers to the material itself, rather than to the aroma that it produces. Incense is used for a variety of purposes, including the ceremonies of religion, to overcome bad smells, repel insects, spirituality, aromatherapy, meditation, and for simple pleasure.
Incense is composed of aromatic plant materials, often combined with essential oils. The forms taken by incense differ with the underlying culture, and have changed with advances in technology and increasing diversity in the reasons for burning it. Incense can generally be separated into two main types: "indirect-burning" and "direct-burning". Indirect-burning incense (or "non-combustible incense") is not capable of burning on its own, and requires a separate heat source. Direct-burning incense (or "combustible incense") is lit directly by a flame and then fanned or blown out, leaving a glowing ember that smoulders and releases fragrance. Direct-burning incense is either a paste formed around a bamboo stick, or a paste that is extruded into a stick or cone shape.
HISTORY
The word incense comes from Latin for incendere meaning "to burn".
Combustible bouquets were used by the ancient Egyptians, who employed incense within both pragmatic and mystical capacities. Incense was burnt to counteract or obscure malodorous products of human habitation, but was widely perceived to also deter malevolent demons and appease the gods with its pleasant aroma. Resin balls were found in many prehistoric Egyptian tombs in El Mahasna, furnishing tangible archaeological substantiation to the prominence of incense and related compounds within Egyptian antiquity. One of the oldest extant incense burners originates from the 5th dynasty. The Temple of Deir-el-Bahari in Egypt contains a series of carvings that depict an expedition for incense.
The Babylonians used incense while offering prayers to divining oracles. Incense spread from there to Greece and Rome.
Incense burners have been found in the Indus Civilization (3300 BCE- 1300 BCE). Evidence suggests oils were used mainly for their aroma. India also adopted techniques from East Asia, adapting the inherited formulation to encompass aromatic roots and other indigenous flora. This comprised the initial usage of subterranean plant parts within the fabrication of incense. New herbs like Sarsaparilla seeds, frankincense, and cypress were used by Indians for incense.
At around 2000 BCE, Ancient China began the use of incense in the religious sense, namely for worship. Incense was used by Chinese cultures from Neolithic times and became more widespread in the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties. The earliest documented instance of incense utilization comes from the ancient Chinese, who employed incense composed of herbs and plant products (such as cassia, cinnamon, styrax, sandalwood, amongst others) as a component of numerous formalized ceremonial rites. Incense usage reached its peak during the Song Dynasty with numerous buildings erected specifically for incense ceremonies.
Brought to Japan in the 6th century by Korean Buddhist monks, who used the mystical aromas in their purification rites, the delicate scents of Koh (high-quality Japanese incense) became a source of amusement and entertainment with nobles in the Imperial Court during the Heian Era 200 years later. During the 14th century Shogunate, a samurai warrior might perfume his helmet and armor with incense to achieve an aura of invincibility (as well as to make a noble gesture to whomever might take his head in battle). It wasn't until the Muromachi Era during the 15th and 16th century that incense appreciation (Kōdō) spread to the upper and middle classes of Japanese society.
COMPOSITION
A variety of materials have been used in making incense. Historically there has been a preference for using locally available ingredients. For example, sage and cedar were used by the indigenous peoples of North America. Trading in incense materials comprised a major part of commerce along the Silk Road and other trade routes, one notably called the Incense Route.
The same could be said for the techniques used to make incense. Local knowledge and tools were extremely influential on the style, but methods were also influenced by migrations of foreigners, among them clergy and physicians who were both familiar with incense arts.
COMBUSTIBLE BASE
The combustible base of a direct burning incense mixture not only binds the fragrant material together but also allows the produced incense to burn with a self-sustained ember, which propagates slowly and evenly through an entire piece of incense with such regularity that it can be used to mark time. The base is chosen such that it does not produce a perceptible smell. Commercially, two types of incense base predominate:
- Fuel and oxidizer mixtures: Charcoal or wood powder forms the fuel for the combustion. Gums such as Gum Arabic or Gum Tragacanth are used to bind the mixture together while an oxidizer such as sodium nitrate or potassium nitrate sustains the burning of the incense. Fragrant materials are combined into the base prior to formation as in the case of powdered incense materials or after formation as in the case of essential oils. The formula for the charcoal-based incense is superficially similar to black powder, though it lacks the sulfur.
- Natural plant-based binders: Mucilaginous material, which can be derived from many botanical sources, is mixed with fragrant materials and water. The mucilage from the wet binding powder holds the fragrant material together while the cellulose in the powder combusts to form a stable ember when lit. The dry binding powder usually comprises about 10% of the dry weight in the finished incense. This includes:
- Makko (incense powder): made from the bark of various trees from the Persea such as Persea thunbergii)
- Xiangnan pi (made from the bark of Phoebe genus trees such as Phoebe nanmu, Persea zuihoensis.
- Jigit: a resin based binder used in India
- Laha or Dar: bark based powders used in Nepal, Tibet, and other East Asian countries.
TYPES
Incense materials are available in various forms and degrees of processing. They can generally be separated into "direct-burning" and "indirect-burning" types depending on use. Preference for one form or another varies with culture, tradition, and personal taste. Although the production of direct- and indirect-burning incense are both blended to produce a pleasant smell when burned, the two differ in their composition due to the former's requirement for even, stale, and sustained burning.
INDIRECT BURNING
Indirect-burning incense, also called "non-combustible incense", is a combination of aromatic ingredients that are not prepared in any particular way or encouraged into any particular form, leaving it mostly unsuitable for direct combustion. The use of this class of incense requires a separate heat source since it does not generally kindle a fire capable of burning itself and may not ignite at all under normal conditions. This incense can vary in the duration of its burning with the texture of the material. Finer ingredients tend to burn more rapidly, while coarsely ground or whole chunks may be consumed very gradually as they have less total surface area. The heat is traditionally provided by charcoal or glowing embers.
In the West, the best known incense materials of this type are frankincense and myrrh, likely due to their numerous mentions in the Christian Bible. In fact, the word for "frankincense" in many European languages also alludes to any form of incense.
- Whole: The incense material is burned directly in its raw unprocessed form on top of coal embers.
- Powdered or granulated: The incense material is broken down into finer bits. This incense burns quickly and provides a short period of intense smells.
- Paste: The powdered or granulated incense material is mixed with a sticky and incombustible binder, such as dried fruit, honey, or a soft resin and then formed to balls or small pastilles. These may then be allowed to mature in a controlled environment where the fragrances can commingle and unite. Much Arabian incense, also called "Bukhoor" or "Bakhoor", is of this type (Bakhoor actually refers to frankincense in Arabic) and Japan has a history of kneaded incense, called nerikō or awasekō, using this method.[17] Within the Eastern Orthodox Christian tradition, raw frankincense is ground into a fine powder and then mixed with various sweet-smelling essential oils.
DIRECT BURNING
Direct-burning incense also called "combustible incense", is lit directly by a flame. The glowing ember on the incense will continue to smoulder and burn away the rest of the incense without continued application of heat or flame from an outside source. Direct-burning incense is either extruded, pressed into forms, or coated onto a supporting material. This class of incense is made from a moldable substrate of fragrant finely ground (or liquid) incense materials and odourless binder. The composition must be adjusted to provide fragrance in the proper concentration and to ensure even burning. The following types of direct-burning incense are commonly encountered, though the material itself can take virtually any form, according to expediency or whimsy:
- Coil: Extruded and shaped into a coil without a core. This type of incense is able to burn for an extended period, from hours to days, and is commonly produced and used by Chinese culture
- Cone: Incense in this form burns relatively fast. Incense cones were invented in Japan in the 1800s.
- Cored stick: This form of stick incense has a supporting core of bamboo. Higher quality varieties of this form have fragrant sandalwood cores. The core is coated by a thick layer of incense material that burns away with the core. This type of incense is commonly produced in India and China. When used for worship in Chinese folk religion, cored incensed sticks are sometimes known as "joss sticks".
- Solid stick: This stick incense has no supporting core and is completely made of incense material. Easily broken into pieces, it allows one to determine the specific amount of incense they wish to burn. This is the most commonly produced form of incense in Japan and Tibet.
- Powder: The loose incense powder used for making indirect burning incense is sometimes burned without further processing. They are typically packed into long trails on top of wood ash using a stencil and burned in special censers or incense clocks.
- Paper: Paper infused with incense, folded accordion style, lit and blown out. Examples are Carta d'Armenia and Papier d'Arménie.
- Rope: The incense powder is rolled into paper sheets, which are then rolled into ropes, twisted tightly, then doubled over and twisted again, yielding a two-strand rope. The larger end is the bight, and may be stood vertically, in a shallow dish of sand or pebbles. The smaller (pointed) end is lit. This type of incense is highly transportable and stays fresh for extremely long periods. It has been used for centuries in Tibet and Nepal.
The disks of powdered mugwort called 'moxa' sold in Chinese shops and herbalists are used in Traditional Chinese medicine for moxibustion treatment. Moxa tablets are not incenses; the treatment relies on heat rather than fragrance.
REED DIFFUSING
A reed diffuser is a form of incense that uses no heat. It comes in three parts: a bottle/container, scented essential incense oil, and bamboo reeds. The incense oil is placed into the container and bamboo reeds are then put into the same container. This is done to absorb some of the incense oil, as well as to help carry its scent and essence out of the container and into the surrounding air. Reeds typically have tiny tube openings that run the entire length of the stick. Oil is absorbed by the reed sticks and carried along the entire reed. These are do-it-yourself incense sticks that do not burn and look almost identical to typical incense sticks
PRODUCTION
INDIRECT BURNING
The raw materials are powdered and then mixed together with a binder to form a paste, which, for direct burning incense, are then cut and dried into pellets. Incense of the Athonite Orthodox Christian tradition are made by powdering frankincense or fir resin, mixing it with essential oils. Floral fragrances are the most common, but citrus such as lemon is not uncommon. The incense mixture is then rolled out into a slab approximately 1 cm thick and left until the slab has firmed. It is then cut into small cubes, coated with clay powder to prevent adhesion, and allowed to fully harden and dry. In Greece this rolled incense resin is called 'Moskolibano', and generally comes in either a pink or green colour denoting the fragrance, with pink being rose and green being jasmine.
DIRECT BURNING
In order to obtain desired combustion qualities, attention has to be paid to certain proportions in direct burning incense mixtures:
- Oil content: Resinous materials such as myrrh and frankincense must not exceed the amount of dry materials in the mixture to such a degree that the incense will not smolder and burn.[citation needed] The higher the oil content relative to the dry mass, the less likely the mixture is to burn effectively.[citation needed] Typically the resinous or oily substances are balanced with "dry" materials such as wood, bark and leaf powders.
- Oxidizer quantity: The amount of chemical oxidizer in gum-bound incense must be carefully proportioned. If too little, the incense will not ignite, and if too much, the incense will burn too quickly and not produce fragrant smoke.
- Mixture density: Incense mixtures made with natural binders must not be combined with too much water in mixing, or over-compressed while being formed, which would result in either uneven air distribution or undesirable density in the mixture, causing the incense to burn unevenly, too slowly, or too quickly.
- Particulate size: The incense mixture has to be well pulverized with similarly sized particulates. Uneven and large particulates result in uneven burning and inconsistent aroma production when burned.
- Binder: Water-soluble binders such as "makko" have to be used in the right proportion to ensure that the incense mixture does not crumble when dry but also that the binder does not take up too much of the mixture.
Some kinds of direct-burning incense are created from "incense blanks" made of unscented combustible dust immersed into any suitable kind of essential or fragrance oil. These are often sold in America by flea-market and sidewalk vendors who have developed their own styles. Such items are often known as "dipped" or "hand-dipped" incense. This form of incense requires the least skill and equipment to manufacture, since the blanks are pre-formed in China or South East Asia, then simply scented with essential oils.
Incense mixtures can be extruded or pressed into shapes. Small quantities of water are combined with the fragrance and incense base mixture and kneaded into a hard dough. The incense dough is then pressed into shaped forms to create cone and smaller coiled incense, or forced through a hydraulic press for solid stick incense. The formed incense is then trimmed and slowly dried. Incense produced in this fashion has a tendency to warp or become misshapen when improperly dried, and as such must be placed in climate-controlled rooms and rotated several times through the drying process.
Traditionally, the bamboo cores of cored stick incense is prepared by hand from Phyllostachys heterocycla cv. pubescens since this species produces thick wood and easily burns to ashes in the incense stick. Through this process, known as "splitting the foot of the incense stick", the bamboo is trimmed to length, soaked, peeled, and then continuously split in halves until thin sticks of bamboo with square cross sections of less than 3mm This process has been largely been replaced by machines in modern incense production.
In the case of cored incensed sticks, several methods are employed to coat the sticks cores with incense mixture:
- Paste rolling: A wet, malleable paste of incense mixture is first rolled into a long, thin coil, using a paddle. Then, a thin stick is put next to the coil and the stick and paste are rolled together until the stick is centered in the mixture and the desired thickness is achieved. The stick is then cut to the desired length and dried.
- Powder-coating: Powder-coating is used mainly to produce cored incense of either larger coil (up to 1 meter in diameter) or cored stick forms. A bundle of the supporting material (typically thin bamboo or sandalwood slivers) is soaked in water or a thin water/glue mixture for a short time. The thin sticks are then evenly separated, then dipped into a tray of incense powder, consisting of fragrance materials and occasionally a plant-based binder. The dry incense powder is then tossed and piled over the stick while they are spread apart. The sticks are then gently rolled and packed to maintain roundness while more incense powder is repeatedly tossed onto the sticks. Three to four layers of powder are coated onto the sticks, forming a 2 mm thick layer of incense material on the stick. The coated incense is then allowed to dry in open air. Additional coatings of incense mixture can be applied after each period of successive drying. Incense sticks that are burned in temples of Chinese folk religion produced in this fashion can have a thickness between 2 and 4 millimeters.
- Compression: A damp powder is mechanically formed around a cored stick by compression, similar to the way uncored sticks are formed. This form is becoming more commonly found due to the higher labor cost of producing powder-coated or paste-rolled sticks.
JOSS STICKS
Joss sticks are the name given to incense sticks used for a variety of purposes associated with ritual and religious devotion in China and India. They are used in Chinese influenced East Asian and Southeast Asian countries, traditionally burned before the threshold of a home or business, before an image of a Chinese popular religion divinity or spirit of place, or in small and humble or large and elaborate shrine found at the main entrance to each and every village. Here the earth god is propitiated in the hope of bringing wealth and health to the village. They can also be burned in front of a door, or open window as an offering to heaven, or devas. The word "joss" is derived from the Latin deus (god) via the Portuguese deos through the Javanese dejos, through Chinese pidgin English.
Joss-stick burning is an everyday practice in traditional Chinese religion. There are many different types of joss sticks used for different purposes or on different festive days. Many of them are long and thin and are mostly colored yellow, red, and more rarely, black. Thick joss sticks are used for special ceremonies, such as funerals. Spiral joss sticks are also used on a regular basis, which are found hanging above temple ceilings, with burn times that are exceedingly long. In some states, such as Taiwan, Singapore, or Malaysia, where they celebrate the Ghost Festival, large, pillar-like dragon joss sticks are sometimes used. These generate such a massive amount of smoke and heat that they are only ever burned outside.
Chinese incense sticks for use in popular religion are generally without aroma or only the slightest trace of jasmine or rose, since it is the smoke, not the scent, which is important in conveying the prayers of the faithful to heaven. They are composed of the dried powdered bark of a non-scented species of cinnamon native to Cambodia, Cinnamomum cambodianum.[citation needed] Inexpensive packs of 300 are often found for sale in Chinese supermarkets. Despite the fact that they contain no sandalwood at all, they often include the Chinese character for sandalwood on the label, as a generic term for incense.
Highly scented Chinese incense sticks are only used by some Buddhists. These are often quite expensive due to the use of large amounts of sandalwood, aloeswood, or floral scents used. The Sandalwood used in Chinese incenses does not come from India, its native home, but rather from groves planted within Chinese territory. Sites belonging to Tzu Chi, Chung Tai Shan, Dharma Drum Mountain, Xingtian Temple, Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Buddhism in Burma and Korean Buddhism do not use incense.
BURNING INCENSE
For indirect-burning incense, pieces of the incense are burned by placing them directly on top of a heat source or on a hot metal plate in a censer or thurible.
In Japan a similar censer called a egōro (柄香炉?) is used by several Buddhist sects. The egōro is usually made of brass with a long handle and no chain. Instead of charcoal, makkō powder is poured into a depression made in a bed of ash. The makkō is lit and the incense mixture is burned on top. This method is known as Sonae-kō (Religious Burning).
For direct-burning incense, the tip or end of the incense is ignited with a flame or other heat source until the incense begins to turn into ash at the burning end. Flames on the incense are then fanned or blown out, with the incense continuing to burn without a flame on its own.
CULTURAL VARIATIONS
CHINESE INCENSE
For over two thousand years, the Chinese have used incense in religious ceremonies, ancestor veneration, Traditional Chinese medicine, and daily life.
Agarwood (chénxiāng) and sandalwood (tánxiāng) are the two most important ingredients in Chinese incense.
Along with the introduction of Buddhism in China came calibrated incense sticks and incense clocks. The poet Yu Jianwu (487-551) first recorded them: "By burning incense we know the o'clock of the night, With graduated candles we confirm the tally of the watches." The use of these incense timekeeping devices spread from Buddhist monasteries into Chinese secular society.
It is incorrect to assume that the Chinese only burn incense in the home before the family shrine. In Taoist traditions, incense is inextricably associated with the 'yin' energies of the dead, temples, shrines, and ghosts. Therefore, Taoist Chinese believe burning undedicated incense in the home attracts the dreaded hungry ghosts, who consume the smoke and ruin the fortunes of the family.
However, since Neolithic times, the Chinese have evolved using incense not only for religious ceremonies, but also for personal and environmental aromatherapy.
INDIAN INCENSE
Incense stick, also known as agarbathi (or agarbatti) and joss sticks, in which an incense paste is rolled or moulded around a bamboo stick, is one of the main forms of incense in India. The bamboo method originated in India, and is distinct from the Nepal/Tibet and Japanese methods of stick making which don't use a bamboo core. Though the method is also used in the west, particularly in America, it is strongly associated with India.
The basic ingredients are the bamboo stick, the paste (generally made of charcoal dust and joss/jiggit/gum/tabu powder - an adhesive made from the bark of litsea glutinosa and other trees), and the perfume ingredients - which would be a masala (spice mix) powder of ground ingredients into which the stick would be rolled, or a perfume liquid sometimes consisting of synthetic ingredients into which the stick would be dipped. Perfume is sometimes sprayed on the coated sticks. Stick machines are sometimes used, which coat the stick with paste and perfume, though the bulk of production is done by hand rolling at home. There are about 5,000 incense companies in India which take raw unperfumed sticks hand-rolled by approx 200,000 women working part-time at home, and then apply their own brand of perfume, and package the sticks for sale.[38] An experienced home-worker can produce 4,000 raw sticks a day. There are about 50 main companies who together account for up to 30% of the market, and around 500 of the companies, including a significant number of the main ones, including Moksh Agarbatti and Cycle Pure, are based in Bangalore.
In the Middle East, incense burning has been along tradition. The word bukhur means incense in Arabic. The well known choice for incense is the famous agarwood which is very popular in Africa, the Gulf and amongst some south Asians, but there are many many more choices. Incense come in a variety of forms such as blocks, pieces, pellets, granules or powdered, which is placed in the oil burner called mabkharah for several minutes to heat either with coal in the traditional way or via power in the modern way, allowing it to release its rich smell. However this takes awhile and the quick alternative is to use incense sticks called Oud in Middle East and Africa, and agarbatti in south Asia - again referring to the agar wood + batti meaning some sort of agar-stick. Occasionally some get confused between bukhur and oud, bukhur is the insence ie agarwood, sandlewood etc and oud being the incense sticks (and not the otherway round sometimes wires get twisted)
JERUSALEM TEMPLE INCENSE
Ketoret was the incense offered in the Temple in Jerusalem and is stated in the Book of Exodus as a mixture of stacte, onycha, galbanum and frankincense.
TIBETAN INCENSE
Tibetan incense refers to a common style of incense found in Tibet, Nepal, and Bhutan. These incenses have a characteristic "earthy" scent to them. Ingredients vary from cinnamon, clove, and juniper, to kusum flower, ashvagandha, or sahi jeera.
Many Tibetan incenses are thought to have medicinal properties. Their recipes come from ancient Vedic texts that are based on even older Ayurvedic medical texts. The recipes have remained unchanged for centuries.
JAPANESE INCENSE
In Japan incense appreciation folklore includes art, culture, history, and ceremony. It can be compared to and has some of the same qualities as music, art, or literature. Incense burning may occasionally take place within the tea ceremony, just like Calligraphy, Ikebana, and Scroll Arrangement. However the art of incense appreciation or Koh-do, is generally practiced as a separate art form from the tea ceremony, however usually practiced within a tea room of traditional Zen design.
Agarwood (沈香 Jinkō) and sandalwood (白檀 Byakudan) are the two most important ingredients in Japanese incense. Agarwood is known as "Jinkō" in Japan, which translates as "incense that sinks in water", due to the weight of the resin in the wood. Sandalwood is one of the most calming incense ingredients and lends itself well to meditation.[citation needed] It is also used in the Japanese tea ceremony. The most valued Sandalwood comes from Mysore in the state of Karnataka in India.
Another important ingredient in Japanese incense is kyara (伽羅). Kyara is one kind of agarwood (Japanese incense companies divide agarwood into 6 categories depending on the region obtained and properties of the agarwood). Kyara is currently worth more than its weight in gold.
Some terms used in Japanese incense culture include:
- Incense Arts: [香道, Kodo]
- Agarwood: [ 沈香 ] – from heartwood from Aquilaria trees, unique, the incense wood most used in incense ceremony, other names are: lignum aloes or aloeswood, gaharu, jinko, or oud.
- Censer/Incense burner: [香爐] – usually small and used for heating incense not burning, or larger and used for burning
- Charcoal: [木炭] – only the odorless kind is used.
- Incense woods: [ 香木 ] – a naturally fragrant resinous wood.
USAGE
Incense is used for a variety of purposes, including the ceremonies of all the main religions, to overcome bad smells, repel insects, purify or improve the atmosphere, aromatherapy, meditation, and for simple pleasure.
PRACTICAL
Incense fragrances can be of such great strength that they obscure other, less desirable odours. This utility led to the use of incense in funerary ceremonies because the incense could smother the scent of decay. Another example of this use, as well as of religious use, is the giant Botafumeiro thurible which swings from the ceiling of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. It is used in part to mask the scent of the many tired, unwashed pilgrims huddled together in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.
A similar utilitarian use of incense can be found in the post-Reformation Church of England. Although the ceremonial use of incense was abandoned until the Oxford Movement, it was common to have incense (typically frankincense) burned before grand occasions, when the church would be crowded. The frankincense was carried about by a member of the vestry before the service in a vessel called a 'perfuming pan'. In iconography of the day, this vessel is shown to be elongated and flat, with a single, long handle on one side. It is important to note that the perfuming pan was used instead of the thurible, as the latter would have likely offended the Protestant sensibilities of the 17th and 18th centuries.
The regular burning of direct combustion incense has been used for chronological measurement in incense clocks. These devices can range from a simple trail of incense material calibrated to burn in a specific time period, to elaborate and ornate instruments with bells or gongs, designed to involve and captivate several of the senses.
Incense made from materials such as citronella can repel mosquitoes and other aggravating, distracting or pestilential insects. This use has been deployed in concert with religious uses by Zen Buddhists who claim that the incense that is part of their meditative practice is designed to keep bothersome insects from distracting the practitioner. Currently, more effective pyrethroid-based mosquito repellent incense is widely available in Asia.
Papier d'Arménie was originally sold as a disinfectant as well as for the fragrance.
Incense is also used often by people who smoke indoors, and do not want the scent to linger.
AestheticMany people burn incense to appreciate its smell, without assigning any other specific significance to it, in the same way that the foregoing items can be produced or consumed solely for the contemplation or enjoyment of the refined sensory experience. This use is perhaps best exemplified in the kōdō (香道?), where (frequently costly) raw incense materials such as agarwood are appreciated in a formal setting.ReligiousUse of incense in religion is prevalent in many cultures and may have their roots in the practical and aesthetic uses considering that many religions with not much else in common all use incense. One common motif is incense as a form of sacrificial offering to a deity. Such use was common in Judaic worship and remains in use for example in the Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican churches, Taoist and Buddhist Chinese jingxiang (敬香 "offer incense [to ancestors/gods]), etc.
HEALTH
Incense smoke contains various contaminants including gaseous pollutants, such as carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and absorbed toxic pollutants (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and toxic metals). The solid particles range between ~10 and 500 nm. The emission rate decreases in the row Indian sandalwood > Japanese aloeswood > Taiwanese aloeswood > smokeless sandalwood.
Research carried out in Taiwan in 2001 linked the burning of incense sticks to the slow accumulation of potential carcinogens in a poorly ventilated environment by measuring the levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (including benzopyrene) within Buddhist temples. The study found gaseous aliphatic aldehydes, which are carcinogenic and mutagenic, in incense smoke.
A survey of risk factors for lung cancer, also conducted in Taiwan, noted an inverse association between incense burning and adenocarcinoma of the lung, though the finding was not deemed significant.
In contrast, a study by several Asian Cancer Research Centers showed: "No association was found between exposure to incense burning and respiratory symptoms like chronic cough, chronic sputum, chronic bronchitis, runny nose, wheezing, asthma, allergic rhinitis, or pneumonia among the three populations studied: i.e. primary school children, their non-smoking mothers, or a group of older non-smoking female controls. Incense burning did not affect lung cancer risk among non-smokers, but it significantly reduced risk among smokers, even after adjusting for lifetime smoking amount." However, the researchers qualified the findings by noting that incense burning in the studied population was associated with certain low-cancer-risk dietary habits, and concluded that "diet can be a significant confounder of epidemiological studies on air pollution and respiratory health."
Although several studies have not shown a link between incense and cancer of the lung, many other types of cancer have been directly linked to burning incense. A study published in 2008 in the medical journal Cancer found that incense use is associated with a statistically significant higher risk of cancers of the upper respiratory tract, with the exception of nasopharyngeal cancer. Those who used incense heavily also had higher rates of a type of cancer called squamous-cell carcinoma, which refers to tumors that arise in the cells lining the internal and external surfaces of the body. The link between incense use and increased cancer risk held when the researchers weighed other factors, including cigarette smoking, diet and drinking habits. The research team noted that "This association is consistent with a large number of studies identifying carcinogens in incense smoke, and given the widespread and sometimes involuntary exposure to smoke from burning incense, these findings carry significant public health implications."
In 2015, the South China University of Technology found toxicity of incense to Chinese hamsters ovary cells to be even higher than cigarettes.
Frankincense has been shown to cause antidepressive behavior in mice. It activated the poorly understood ion channels in the brain to alleviate anxiety and depression.
WIKIPEDIA
Incense is aromatic biotic material which releases fragrant smoke when burned. The term refers to the material itself, rather than to the aroma that it produces. Incense is used for a variety of purposes, including the ceremonies of religion, to overcome bad smells, repel insects, spirituality, aromatherapy, meditation, and for simple pleasure.
Incense is composed of aromatic plant materials, often combined with essential oils. The forms taken by incense differ with the underlying culture, and have changed with advances in technology and increasing diversity in the reasons for burning it. Incense can generally be separated into two main types: "indirect-burning" and "direct-burning". Indirect-burning incense (or "non-combustible incense") is not capable of burning on its own, and requires a separate heat source. Direct-burning incense (or "combustible incense") is lit directly by a flame and then fanned or blown out, leaving a glowing ember that smoulders and releases fragrance. Direct-burning incense is either a paste formed around a bamboo stick, or a paste that is extruded into a stick or cone shape.
HISTORY
The word incense comes from Latin for incendere meaning "to burn".
Combustible bouquets were used by the ancient Egyptians, who employed incense within both pragmatic and mystical capacities. Incense was burnt to counteract or obscure malodorous products of human habitation, but was widely perceived to also deter malevolent demons and appease the gods with its pleasant aroma. Resin balls were found in many prehistoric Egyptian tombs in El Mahasna, furnishing tangible archaeological substantiation to the prominence of incense and related compounds within Egyptian antiquity. One of the oldest extant incense burners originates from the 5th dynasty. The Temple of Deir-el-Bahari in Egypt contains a series of carvings that depict an expedition for incense.
The Babylonians used incense while offering prayers to divining oracles. Incense spread from there to Greece and Rome.
Incense burners have been found in the Indus Civilization (3300 BCE- 1300 BCE). Evidence suggests oils were used mainly for their aroma. India also adopted techniques from East Asia, adapting the inherited formulation to encompass aromatic roots and other indigenous flora. This comprised the initial usage of subterranean plant parts within the fabrication of incense. New herbs like Sarsaparilla seeds, frankincense, and cypress were used by Indians for incense.
At around 2000 BCE, Ancient China began the use of incense in the religious sense, namely for worship. Incense was used by Chinese cultures from Neolithic times and became more widespread in the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties. The earliest documented instance of incense utilization comes from the ancient Chinese, who employed incense composed of herbs and plant products (such as cassia, cinnamon, styrax, sandalwood, amongst others) as a component of numerous formalized ceremonial rites. Incense usage reached its peak during the Song Dynasty with numerous buildings erected specifically for incense ceremonies.
Brought to Japan in the 6th century by Korean Buddhist monks, who used the mystical aromas in their purification rites, the delicate scents of Koh (high-quality Japanese incense) became a source of amusement and entertainment with nobles in the Imperial Court during the Heian Era 200 years later. During the 14th century Shogunate, a samurai warrior might perfume his helmet and armor with incense to achieve an aura of invincibility (as well as to make a noble gesture to whomever might take his head in battle). It wasn't until the Muromachi Era during the 15th and 16th century that incense appreciation (Kōdō) spread to the upper and middle classes of Japanese society.
COMPOSITION
A variety of materials have been used in making incense. Historically there has been a preference for using locally available ingredients. For example, sage and cedar were used by the indigenous peoples of North America. Trading in incense materials comprised a major part of commerce along the Silk Road and other trade routes, one notably called the Incense Route.
The same could be said for the techniques used to make incense. Local knowledge and tools were extremely influential on the style, but methods were also influenced by migrations of foreigners, among them clergy and physicians who were both familiar with incense arts.
COMBUSTIBLE BASE
The combustible base of a direct burning incense mixture not only binds the fragrant material together but also allows the produced incense to burn with a self-sustained ember, which propagates slowly and evenly through an entire piece of incense with such regularity that it can be used to mark time. The base is chosen such that it does not produce a perceptible smell. Commercially, two types of incense base predominate:
- Fuel and oxidizer mixtures: Charcoal or wood powder forms the fuel for the combustion. Gums such as Gum Arabic or Gum Tragacanth are used to bind the mixture together while an oxidizer such as sodium nitrate or potassium nitrate sustains the burning of the incense. Fragrant materials are combined into the base prior to formation as in the case of powdered incense materials or after formation as in the case of essential oils. The formula for the charcoal-based incense is superficially similar to black powder, though it lacks the sulfur.
- Natural plant-based binders: Mucilaginous material, which can be derived from many botanical sources, is mixed with fragrant materials and water. The mucilage from the wet binding powder holds the fragrant material together while the cellulose in the powder combusts to form a stable ember when lit. The dry binding powder usually comprises about 10% of the dry weight in the finished incense. This includes:
- Makko (incense powder): made from the bark of various trees from the Persea such as Persea thunbergii)
- Xiangnan pi (made from the bark of Phoebe genus trees such as Phoebe nanmu, Persea zuihoensis.
- Jigit: a resin based binder used in India
- Laha or Dar: bark based powders used in Nepal, Tibet, and other East Asian countries.
TYPES
Incense materials are available in various forms and degrees of processing. They can generally be separated into "direct-burning" and "indirect-burning" types depending on use. Preference for one form or another varies with culture, tradition, and personal taste. Although the production of direct- and indirect-burning incense are both blended to produce a pleasant smell when burned, the two differ in their composition due to the former's requirement for even, stale, and sustained burning.
INDIRECT BURNING
Indirect-burning incense, also called "non-combustible incense", is a combination of aromatic ingredients that are not prepared in any particular way or encouraged into any particular form, leaving it mostly unsuitable for direct combustion. The use of this class of incense requires a separate heat source since it does not generally kindle a fire capable of burning itself and may not ignite at all under normal conditions. This incense can vary in the duration of its burning with the texture of the material. Finer ingredients tend to burn more rapidly, while coarsely ground or whole chunks may be consumed very gradually as they have less total surface area. The heat is traditionally provided by charcoal or glowing embers.
In the West, the best known incense materials of this type are frankincense and myrrh, likely due to their numerous mentions in the Christian Bible. In fact, the word for "frankincense" in many European languages also alludes to any form of incense.
- Whole: The incense material is burned directly in its raw unprocessed form on top of coal embers.
- Powdered or granulated: The incense material is broken down into finer bits. This incense burns quickly and provides a short period of intense smells.
- Paste: The powdered or granulated incense material is mixed with a sticky and incombustible binder, such as dried fruit, honey, or a soft resin and then formed to balls or small pastilles. These may then be allowed to mature in a controlled environment where the fragrances can commingle and unite. Much Arabian incense, also called "Bukhoor" or "Bakhoor", is of this type (Bakhoor actually refers to frankincense in Arabic) and Japan has a history of kneaded incense, called nerikō or awasekō, using this method.[17] Within the Eastern Orthodox Christian tradition, raw frankincense is ground into a fine powder and then mixed with various sweet-smelling essential oils.
DIRECT BURNING
Direct-burning incense also called "combustible incense", is lit directly by a flame. The glowing ember on the incense will continue to smoulder and burn away the rest of the incense without continued application of heat or flame from an outside source. Direct-burning incense is either extruded, pressed into forms, or coated onto a supporting material. This class of incense is made from a moldable substrate of fragrant finely ground (or liquid) incense materials and odourless binder. The composition must be adjusted to provide fragrance in the proper concentration and to ensure even burning. The following types of direct-burning incense are commonly encountered, though the material itself can take virtually any form, according to expediency or whimsy:
- Coil: Extruded and shaped into a coil without a core. This type of incense is able to burn for an extended period, from hours to days, and is commonly produced and used by Chinese culture
- Cone: Incense in this form burns relatively fast. Incense cones were invented in Japan in the 1800s.
- Cored stick: This form of stick incense has a supporting core of bamboo. Higher quality varieties of this form have fragrant sandalwood cores. The core is coated by a thick layer of incense material that burns away with the core. This type of incense is commonly produced in India and China. When used for worship in Chinese folk religion, cored incensed sticks are sometimes known as "joss sticks".
- Solid stick: This stick incense has no supporting core and is completely made of incense material. Easily broken into pieces, it allows one to determine the specific amount of incense they wish to burn. This is the most commonly produced form of incense in Japan and Tibet.
- Powder: The loose incense powder used for making indirect burning incense is sometimes burned without further processing. They are typically packed into long trails on top of wood ash using a stencil and burned in special censers or incense clocks.
- Paper: Paper infused with incense, folded accordion style, lit and blown out. Examples are Carta d'Armenia and Papier d'Arménie.
- Rope: The incense powder is rolled into paper sheets, which are then rolled into ropes, twisted tightly, then doubled over and twisted again, yielding a two-strand rope. The larger end is the bight, and may be stood vertically, in a shallow dish of sand or pebbles. The smaller (pointed) end is lit. This type of incense is highly transportable and stays fresh for extremely long periods. It has been used for centuries in Tibet and Nepal.
The disks of powdered mugwort called 'moxa' sold in Chinese shops and herbalists are used in Traditional Chinese medicine for moxibustion treatment. Moxa tablets are not incenses; the treatment relies on heat rather than fragrance.
REED DIFFUSING
A reed diffuser is a form of incense that uses no heat. It comes in three parts: a bottle/container, scented essential incense oil, and bamboo reeds. The incense oil is placed into the container and bamboo reeds are then put into the same container. This is done to absorb some of the incense oil, as well as to help carry its scent and essence out of the container and into the surrounding air. Reeds typically have tiny tube openings that run the entire length of the stick. Oil is absorbed by the reed sticks and carried along the entire reed. These are do-it-yourself incense sticks that do not burn and look almost identical to typical incense sticks
PRODUCTION
INDIRECT BURNING
The raw materials are powdered and then mixed together with a binder to form a paste, which, for direct burning incense, are then cut and dried into pellets. Incense of the Athonite Orthodox Christian tradition are made by powdering frankincense or fir resin, mixing it with essential oils. Floral fragrances are the most common, but citrus such as lemon is not uncommon. The incense mixture is then rolled out into a slab approximately 1 cm thick and left until the slab has firmed. It is then cut into small cubes, coated with clay powder to prevent adhesion, and allowed to fully harden and dry. In Greece this rolled incense resin is called 'Moskolibano', and generally comes in either a pink or green colour denoting the fragrance, with pink being rose and green being jasmine.
DIRECT BURNING
In order to obtain desired combustion qualities, attention has to be paid to certain proportions in direct burning incense mixtures:
- Oil content: Resinous materials such as myrrh and frankincense must not exceed the amount of dry materials in the mixture to such a degree that the incense will not smolder and burn.[citation needed] The higher the oil content relative to the dry mass, the less likely the mixture is to burn effectively.[citation needed] Typically the resinous or oily substances are balanced with "dry" materials such as wood, bark and leaf powders.
- Oxidizer quantity: The amount of chemical oxidizer in gum-bound incense must be carefully proportioned. If too little, the incense will not ignite, and if too much, the incense will burn too quickly and not produce fragrant smoke.
- Mixture density: Incense mixtures made with natural binders must not be combined with too much water in mixing, or over-compressed while being formed, which would result in either uneven air distribution or undesirable density in the mixture, causing the incense to burn unevenly, too slowly, or too quickly.
- Particulate size: The incense mixture has to be well pulverized with similarly sized particulates. Uneven and large particulates result in uneven burning and inconsistent aroma production when burned.
- Binder: Water-soluble binders such as "makko" have to be used in the right proportion to ensure that the incense mixture does not crumble when dry but also that the binder does not take up too much of the mixture.
Some kinds of direct-burning incense are created from "incense blanks" made of unscented combustible dust immersed into any suitable kind of essential or fragrance oil. These are often sold in America by flea-market and sidewalk vendors who have developed their own styles. Such items are often known as "dipped" or "hand-dipped" incense. This form of incense requires the least skill and equipment to manufacture, since the blanks are pre-formed in China or South East Asia, then simply scented with essential oils.
Incense mixtures can be extruded or pressed into shapes. Small quantities of water are combined with the fragrance and incense base mixture and kneaded into a hard dough. The incense dough is then pressed into shaped forms to create cone and smaller coiled incense, or forced through a hydraulic press for solid stick incense. The formed incense is then trimmed and slowly dried. Incense produced in this fashion has a tendency to warp or become misshapen when improperly dried, and as such must be placed in climate-controlled rooms and rotated several times through the drying process.
Traditionally, the bamboo cores of cored stick incense is prepared by hand from Phyllostachys heterocycla cv. pubescens since this species produces thick wood and easily burns to ashes in the incense stick. Through this process, known as "splitting the foot of the incense stick", the bamboo is trimmed to length, soaked, peeled, and then continuously split in halves until thin sticks of bamboo with square cross sections of less than 3mm This process has been largely been replaced by machines in modern incense production.
In the case of cored incensed sticks, several methods are employed to coat the sticks cores with incense mixture:
- Paste rolling: A wet, malleable paste of incense mixture is first rolled into a long, thin coil, using a paddle. Then, a thin stick is put next to the coil and the stick and paste are rolled together until the stick is centered in the mixture and the desired thickness is achieved. The stick is then cut to the desired length and dried.
- Powder-coating: Powder-coating is used mainly to produce cored incense of either larger coil (up to 1 meter in diameter) or cored stick forms. A bundle of the supporting material (typically thin bamboo or sandalwood slivers) is soaked in water or a thin water/glue mixture for a short time. The thin sticks are then evenly separated, then dipped into a tray of incense powder, consisting of fragrance materials and occasionally a plant-based binder. The dry incense powder is then tossed and piled over the stick while they are spread apart. The sticks are then gently rolled and packed to maintain roundness while more incense powder is repeatedly tossed onto the sticks. Three to four layers of powder are coated onto the sticks, forming a 2 mm thick layer of incense material on the stick. The coated incense is then allowed to dry in open air. Additional coatings of incense mixture can be applied after each period of successive drying. Incense sticks that are burned in temples of Chinese folk religion produced in this fashion can have a thickness between 2 and 4 millimeters.
- Compression: A damp powder is mechanically formed around a cored stick by compression, similar to the way uncored sticks are formed. This form is becoming more commonly found due to the higher labor cost of producing powder-coated or paste-rolled sticks.
JOSS STICKS
Joss sticks are the name given to incense sticks used for a variety of purposes associated with ritual and religious devotion in China and India. They are used in Chinese influenced East Asian and Southeast Asian countries, traditionally burned before the threshold of a home or business, before an image of a Chinese popular religion divinity or spirit of place, or in small and humble or large and elaborate shrine found at the main entrance to each and every village. Here the earth god is propitiated in the hope of bringing wealth and health to the village. They can also be burned in front of a door, or open window as an offering to heaven, or devas. The word "joss" is derived from the Latin deus (god) via the Portuguese deos through the Javanese dejos, through Chinese pidgin English.
Joss-stick burning is an everyday practice in traditional Chinese religion. There are many different types of joss sticks used for different purposes or on different festive days. Many of them are long and thin and are mostly colored yellow, red, and more rarely, black. Thick joss sticks are used for special ceremonies, such as funerals. Spiral joss sticks are also used on a regular basis, which are found hanging above temple ceilings, with burn times that are exceedingly long. In some states, such as Taiwan, Singapore, or Malaysia, where they celebrate the Ghost Festival, large, pillar-like dragon joss sticks are sometimes used. These generate such a massive amount of smoke and heat that they are only ever burned outside.
Chinese incense sticks for use in popular religion are generally without aroma or only the slightest trace of jasmine or rose, since it is the smoke, not the scent, which is important in conveying the prayers of the faithful to heaven. They are composed of the dried powdered bark of a non-scented species of cinnamon native to Cambodia, Cinnamomum cambodianum.[citation needed] Inexpensive packs of 300 are often found for sale in Chinese supermarkets. Despite the fact that they contain no sandalwood at all, they often include the Chinese character for sandalwood on the label, as a generic term for incense.
Highly scented Chinese incense sticks are only used by some Buddhists. These are often quite expensive due to the use of large amounts of sandalwood, aloeswood, or floral scents used. The Sandalwood used in Chinese incenses does not come from India, its native home, but rather from groves planted within Chinese territory. Sites belonging to Tzu Chi, Chung Tai Shan, Dharma Drum Mountain, Xingtian Temple, Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Buddhism in Burma and Korean Buddhism do not use incense.
BURNING INCENSE
For indirect-burning incense, pieces of the incense are burned by placing them directly on top of a heat source or on a hot metal plate in a censer or thurible.
In Japan a similar censer called a egōro (柄香炉?) is used by several Buddhist sects. The egōro is usually made of brass with a long handle and no chain. Instead of charcoal, makkō powder is poured into a depression made in a bed of ash. The makkō is lit and the incense mixture is burned on top. This method is known as Sonae-kō (Religious Burning).
For direct-burning incense, the tip or end of the incense is ignited with a flame or other heat source until the incense begins to turn into ash at the burning end. Flames on the incense are then fanned or blown out, with the incense continuing to burn without a flame on its own.
CULTURAL VARIATIONS
CHINESE INCENSE
For over two thousand years, the Chinese have used incense in religious ceremonies, ancestor veneration, Traditional Chinese medicine, and daily life.
Agarwood (chénxiāng) and sandalwood (tánxiāng) are the two most important ingredients in Chinese incense.
Along with the introduction of Buddhism in China came calibrated incense sticks and incense clocks. The poet Yu Jianwu (487-551) first recorded them: "By burning incense we know the o'clock of the night, With graduated candles we confirm the tally of the watches." The use of these incense timekeeping devices spread from Buddhist monasteries into Chinese secular society.
It is incorrect to assume that the Chinese only burn incense in the home before the family shrine. In Taoist traditions, incense is inextricably associated with the 'yin' energies of the dead, temples, shrines, and ghosts. Therefore, Taoist Chinese believe burning undedicated incense in the home attracts the dreaded hungry ghosts, who consume the smoke and ruin the fortunes of the family.
However, since Neolithic times, the Chinese have evolved using incense not only for religious ceremonies, but also for personal and environmental aromatherapy.
INDIAN INCENSE
Incense stick, also known as agarbathi (or agarbatti) and joss sticks, in which an incense paste is rolled or moulded around a bamboo stick, is one of the main forms of incense in India. The bamboo method originated in India, and is distinct from the Nepal/Tibet and Japanese methods of stick making which don't use a bamboo core. Though the method is also used in the west, particularly in America, it is strongly associated with India.
The basic ingredients are the bamboo stick, the paste (generally made of charcoal dust and joss/jiggit/gum/tabu powder - an adhesive made from the bark of litsea glutinosa and other trees), and the perfume ingredients - which would be a masala (spice mix) powder of ground ingredients into which the stick would be rolled, or a perfume liquid sometimes consisting of synthetic ingredients into which the stick would be dipped. Perfume is sometimes sprayed on the coated sticks. Stick machines are sometimes used, which coat the stick with paste and perfume, though the bulk of production is done by hand rolling at home. There are about 5,000 incense companies in India which take raw unperfumed sticks hand-rolled by approx 200,000 women working part-time at home, and then apply their own brand of perfume, and package the sticks for sale.[38] An experienced home-worker can produce 4,000 raw sticks a day. There are about 50 main companies who together account for up to 30% of the market, and around 500 of the companies, including a significant number of the main ones, including Moksh Agarbatti and Cycle Pure, are based in Bangalore.
In the Middle East, incense burning has been along tradition. The word bukhur means incense in Arabic. The well known choice for incense is the famous agarwood which is very popular in Africa, the Gulf and amongst some south Asians, but there are many many more choices. Incense come in a variety of forms such as blocks, pieces, pellets, granules or powdered, which is placed in the oil burner called mabkharah for several minutes to heat either with coal in the traditional way or via power in the modern way, allowing it to release its rich smell. However this takes awhile and the quick alternative is to use incense sticks called Oud in Middle East and Africa, and agarbatti in south Asia - again referring to the agar wood + batti meaning some sort of agar-stick. Occasionally some get confused between bukhur and oud, bukhur is the insence ie agarwood, sandlewood etc and oud being the incense sticks (and not the otherway round sometimes wires get twisted)
JERUSALEM TEMPLE INCENSE
Ketoret was the incense offered in the Temple in Jerusalem and is stated in the Book of Exodus as a mixture of stacte, onycha, galbanum and frankincense.
TIBETAN INCENSE
Tibetan incense refers to a common style of incense found in Tibet, Nepal, and Bhutan. These incenses have a characteristic "earthy" scent to them. Ingredients vary from cinnamon, clove, and juniper, to kusum flower, ashvagandha, or sahi jeera.
Many Tibetan incenses are thought to have medicinal properties. Their recipes come from ancient Vedic texts that are based on even older Ayurvedic medical texts. The recipes have remained unchanged for centuries.
JAPANESE INCENSE
In Japan incense appreciation folklore includes art, culture, history, and ceremony. It can be compared to and has some of the same qualities as music, art, or literature. Incense burning may occasionally take place within the tea ceremony, just like Calligraphy, Ikebana, and Scroll Arrangement. However the art of incense appreciation or Koh-do, is generally practiced as a separate art form from the tea ceremony, however usually practiced within a tea room of traditional Zen design.
Agarwood (沈香 Jinkō) and sandalwood (白檀 Byakudan) are the two most important ingredients in Japanese incense. Agarwood is known as "Jinkō" in Japan, which translates as "incense that sinks in water", due to the weight of the resin in the wood. Sandalwood is one of the most calming incense ingredients and lends itself well to meditation.[citation needed] It is also used in the Japanese tea ceremony. The most valued Sandalwood comes from Mysore in the state of Karnataka in India.
Another important ingredient in Japanese incense is kyara (伽羅). Kyara is one kind of agarwood (Japanese incense companies divide agarwood into 6 categories depending on the region obtained and properties of the agarwood). Kyara is currently worth more than its weight in gold.
Some terms used in Japanese incense culture include:
- Incense Arts: [香道, Kodo]
- Agarwood: [ 沈香 ] – from heartwood from Aquilaria trees, unique, the incense wood most used in incense ceremony, other names are: lignum aloes or aloeswood, gaharu, jinko, or oud.
- Censer/Incense burner: [香爐] – usually small and used for heating incense not burning, or larger and used for burning
- Charcoal: [木炭] – only the odorless kind is used.
- Incense woods: [ 香木 ] – a naturally fragrant resinous wood.
USAGE
Incense is used for a variety of purposes, including the ceremonies of all the main religions, to overcome bad smells, repel insects, purify or improve the atmosphere, aromatherapy, meditation, and for simple pleasure.
PRACTICAL
Incense fragrances can be of such great strength that they obscure other, less desirable odours. This utility led to the use of incense in funerary ceremonies because the incense could smother the scent of decay. Another example of this use, as well as of religious use, is the giant Botafumeiro thurible which swings from the ceiling of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. It is used in part to mask the scent of the many tired, unwashed pilgrims huddled together in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.
A similar utilitarian use of incense can be found in the post-Reformation Church of England. Although the ceremonial use of incense was abandoned until the Oxford Movement, it was common to have incense (typically frankincense) burned before grand occasions, when the church would be crowded. The frankincense was carried about by a member of the vestry before the service in a vessel called a 'perfuming pan'. In iconography of the day, this vessel is shown to be elongated and flat, with a single, long handle on one side. It is important to note that the perfuming pan was used instead of the thurible, as the latter would have likely offended the Protestant sensibilities of the 17th and 18th centuries.
The regular burning of direct combustion incense has been used for chronological measurement in incense clocks. These devices can range from a simple trail of incense material calibrated to burn in a specific time period, to elaborate and ornate instruments with bells or gongs, designed to involve and captivate several of the senses.
Incense made from materials such as citronella can repel mosquitoes and other aggravating, distracting or pestilential insects. This use has been deployed in concert with religious uses by Zen Buddhists who claim that the incense that is part of their meditative practice is designed to keep bothersome insects from distracting the practitioner. Currently, more effective pyrethroid-based mosquito repellent incense is widely available in Asia.
Papier d'Arménie was originally sold as a disinfectant as well as for the fragrance.
Incense is also used often by people who smoke indoors, and do not want the scent to linger.
AestheticMany people burn incense to appreciate its smell, without assigning any other specific significance to it, in the same way that the foregoing items can be produced or consumed solely for the contemplation or enjoyment of the refined sensory experience. This use is perhaps best exemplified in the kōdō (香道?), where (frequently costly) raw incense materials such as agarwood are appreciated in a formal setting.ReligiousUse of incense in religion is prevalent in many cultures and may have their roots in the practical and aesthetic uses considering that many religions with not much else in common all use incense. One common motif is incense as a form of sacrificial offering to a deity. Such use was common in Judaic worship and remains in use for example in the Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican churches, Taoist and Buddhist Chinese jingxiang (敬香 "offer incense [to ancestors/gods]), etc.
HEALTH
Incense smoke contains various contaminants including gaseous pollutants, such as carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and absorbed toxic pollutants (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and toxic metals). The solid particles range between ~10 and 500 nm. The emission rate decreases in the row Indian sandalwood > Japanese aloeswood > Taiwanese aloeswood > smokeless sandalwood.
Research carried out in Taiwan in 2001 linked the burning of incense sticks to the slow accumulation of potential carcinogens in a poorly ventilated environment by measuring the levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (including benzopyrene) within Buddhist temples. The study found gaseous aliphatic aldehydes, which are carcinogenic and mutagenic, in incense smoke.
A survey of risk factors for lung cancer, also conducted in Taiwan, noted an inverse association between incense burning and adenocarcinoma of the lung, though the finding was not deemed significant.
In contrast, a study by several Asian Cancer Research Centers showed: "No association was found between exposure to incense burning and respiratory symptoms like chronic cough, chronic sputum, chronic bronchitis, runny nose, wheezing, asthma, allergic rhinitis, or pneumonia among the three populations studied: i.e. primary school children, their non-smoking mothers, or a group of older non-smoking female controls. Incense burning did not affect lung cancer risk among non-smokers, but it significantly reduced risk among smokers, even after adjusting for lifetime smoking amount." However, the researchers qualified the findings by noting that incense burning in the studied population was associated with certain low-cancer-risk dietary habits, and concluded that "diet can be a significant confounder of epidemiological studies on air pollution and respiratory health."
Although several studies have not shown a link between incense and cancer of the lung, many other types of cancer have been directly linked to burning incense. A study published in 2008 in the medical journal Cancer found that incense use is associated with a statistically significant higher risk of cancers of the upper respiratory tract, with the exception of nasopharyngeal cancer. Those who used incense heavily also had higher rates of a type of cancer called squamous-cell carcinoma, which refers to tumors that arise in the cells lining the internal and external surfaces of the body. The link between incense use and increased cancer risk held when the researchers weighed other factors, including cigarette smoking, diet and drinking habits. The research team noted that "This association is consistent with a large number of studies identifying carcinogens in incense smoke, and given the widespread and sometimes involuntary exposure to smoke from burning incense, these findings carry significant public health implications."
In 2015, the South China University of Technology found toxicity of incense to Chinese hamsters ovary cells to be even higher than cigarettes.
Frankincense has been shown to cause antidepressive behavior in mice. It activated the poorly understood ion channels in the brain to alleviate anxiety and depression.
WIKIPEDIA
Incense is aromatic biotic material which releases fragrant smoke when burned. The term refers to the material itself, rather than to the aroma that it produces. Incense is used for a variety of purposes, including the ceremonies of religion, to overcome bad smells, repel insects, spirituality, aromatherapy, meditation, and for simple pleasure.
Incense is composed of aromatic plant materials, often combined with essential oils. The forms taken by incense differ with the underlying culture, and have changed with advances in technology and increasing diversity in the reasons for burning it. Incense can generally be separated into two main types: "indirect-burning" and "direct-burning". Indirect-burning incense (or "non-combustible incense") is not capable of burning on its own, and requires a separate heat source. Direct-burning incense (or "combustible incense") is lit directly by a flame and then fanned or blown out, leaving a glowing ember that smoulders and releases fragrance. Direct-burning incense is either a paste formed around a bamboo stick, or a paste that is extruded into a stick or cone shape.
HISTORY
The word incense comes from Latin for incendere meaning "to burn".
Combustible bouquets were used by the ancient Egyptians, who employed incense within both pragmatic and mystical capacities. Incense was burnt to counteract or obscure malodorous products of human habitation, but was widely perceived to also deter malevolent demons and appease the gods with its pleasant aroma. Resin balls were found in many prehistoric Egyptian tombs in El Mahasna, furnishing tangible archaeological substantiation to the prominence of incense and related compounds within Egyptian antiquity. One of the oldest extant incense burners originates from the 5th dynasty. The Temple of Deir-el-Bahari in Egypt contains a series of carvings that depict an expedition for incense.
The Babylonians used incense while offering prayers to divining oracles. Incense spread from there to Greece and Rome.
Incense burners have been found in the Indus Civilization (3300 BCE- 1300 BCE). Evidence suggests oils were used mainly for their aroma. India also adopted techniques from East Asia, adapting the inherited formulation to encompass aromatic roots and other indigenous flora. This comprised the initial usage of subterranean plant parts within the fabrication of incense. New herbs like Sarsaparilla seeds, frankincense, and cypress were used by Indians for incense.
At around 2000 BCE, Ancient China began the use of incense in the religious sense, namely for worship. Incense was used by Chinese cultures from Neolithic times and became more widespread in the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties. The earliest documented instance of incense utilization comes from the ancient Chinese, who employed incense composed of herbs and plant products (such as cassia, cinnamon, styrax, sandalwood, amongst others) as a component of numerous formalized ceremonial rites. Incense usage reached its peak during the Song Dynasty with numerous buildings erected specifically for incense ceremonies.
Brought to Japan in the 6th century by Korean Buddhist monks, who used the mystical aromas in their purification rites, the delicate scents of Koh (high-quality Japanese incense) became a source of amusement and entertainment with nobles in the Imperial Court during the Heian Era 200 years later. During the 14th century Shogunate, a samurai warrior might perfume his helmet and armor with incense to achieve an aura of invincibility (as well as to make a noble gesture to whomever might take his head in battle). It wasn't until the Muromachi Era during the 15th and 16th century that incense appreciation (Kōdō) spread to the upper and middle classes of Japanese society.
COMPOSITION
A variety of materials have been used in making incense. Historically there has been a preference for using locally available ingredients. For example, sage and cedar were used by the indigenous peoples of North America. Trading in incense materials comprised a major part of commerce along the Silk Road and other trade routes, one notably called the Incense Route.
The same could be said for the techniques used to make incense. Local knowledge and tools were extremely influential on the style, but methods were also influenced by migrations of foreigners, among them clergy and physicians who were both familiar with incense arts.
COMBUSTIBLE BASE
The combustible base of a direct burning incense mixture not only binds the fragrant material together but also allows the produced incense to burn with a self-sustained ember, which propagates slowly and evenly through an entire piece of incense with such regularity that it can be used to mark time. The base is chosen such that it does not produce a perceptible smell. Commercially, two types of incense base predominate:
- Fuel and oxidizer mixtures: Charcoal or wood powder forms the fuel for the combustion. Gums such as Gum Arabic or Gum Tragacanth are used to bind the mixture together while an oxidizer such as sodium nitrate or potassium nitrate sustains the burning of the incense. Fragrant materials are combined into the base prior to formation as in the case of powdered incense materials or after formation as in the case of essential oils. The formula for the charcoal-based incense is superficially similar to black powder, though it lacks the sulfur.
- Natural plant-based binders: Mucilaginous material, which can be derived from many botanical sources, is mixed with fragrant materials and water. The mucilage from the wet binding powder holds the fragrant material together while the cellulose in the powder combusts to form a stable ember when lit. The dry binding powder usually comprises about 10% of the dry weight in the finished incense. This includes:
- Makko (incense powder): made from the bark of various trees from the Persea such as Persea thunbergii)
- Xiangnan pi (made from the bark of Phoebe genus trees such as Phoebe nanmu, Persea zuihoensis.
- Jigit: a resin based binder used in India
- Laha or Dar: bark based powders used in Nepal, Tibet, and other East Asian countries.
TYPES
Incense materials are available in various forms and degrees of processing. They can generally be separated into "direct-burning" and "indirect-burning" types depending on use. Preference for one form or another varies with culture, tradition, and personal taste. Although the production of direct- and indirect-burning incense are both blended to produce a pleasant smell when burned, the two differ in their composition due to the former's requirement for even, stale, and sustained burning.
INDIRECT BURNING
Indirect-burning incense, also called "non-combustible incense", is a combination of aromatic ingredients that are not prepared in any particular way or encouraged into any particular form, leaving it mostly unsuitable for direct combustion. The use of this class of incense requires a separate heat source since it does not generally kindle a fire capable of burning itself and may not ignite at all under normal conditions. This incense can vary in the duration of its burning with the texture of the material. Finer ingredients tend to burn more rapidly, while coarsely ground or whole chunks may be consumed very gradually as they have less total surface area. The heat is traditionally provided by charcoal or glowing embers.
In the West, the best known incense materials of this type are frankincense and myrrh, likely due to their numerous mentions in the Christian Bible. In fact, the word for "frankincense" in many European languages also alludes to any form of incense.
- Whole: The incense material is burned directly in its raw unprocessed form on top of coal embers.
- Powdered or granulated: The incense material is broken down into finer bits. This incense burns quickly and provides a short period of intense smells.
- Paste: The powdered or granulated incense material is mixed with a sticky and incombustible binder, such as dried fruit, honey, or a soft resin and then formed to balls or small pastilles. These may then be allowed to mature in a controlled environment where the fragrances can commingle and unite. Much Arabian incense, also called "Bukhoor" or "Bakhoor", is of this type (Bakhoor actually refers to frankincense in Arabic) and Japan has a history of kneaded incense, called nerikō or awasekō, using this method.[17] Within the Eastern Orthodox Christian tradition, raw frankincense is ground into a fine powder and then mixed with various sweet-smelling essential oils.
DIRECT BURNING
Direct-burning incense also called "combustible incense", is lit directly by a flame. The glowing ember on the incense will continue to smoulder and burn away the rest of the incense without continued application of heat or flame from an outside source. Direct-burning incense is either extruded, pressed into forms, or coated onto a supporting material. This class of incense is made from a moldable substrate of fragrant finely ground (or liquid) incense materials and odourless binder. The composition must be adjusted to provide fragrance in the proper concentration and to ensure even burning. The following types of direct-burning incense are commonly encountered, though the material itself can take virtually any form, according to expediency or whimsy:
- Coil: Extruded and shaped into a coil without a core. This type of incense is able to burn for an extended period, from hours to days, and is commonly produced and used by Chinese culture
- Cone: Incense in this form burns relatively fast. Incense cones were invented in Japan in the 1800s.
- Cored stick: This form of stick incense has a supporting core of bamboo. Higher quality varieties of this form have fragrant sandalwood cores. The core is coated by a thick layer of incense material that burns away with the core. This type of incense is commonly produced in India and China. When used for worship in Chinese folk religion, cored incensed sticks are sometimes known as "joss sticks".
- Solid stick: This stick incense has no supporting core and is completely made of incense material. Easily broken into pieces, it allows one to determine the specific amount of incense they wish to burn. This is the most commonly produced form of incense in Japan and Tibet.
- Powder: The loose incense powder used for making indirect burning incense is sometimes burned without further processing. They are typically packed into long trails on top of wood ash using a stencil and burned in special censers or incense clocks.
- Paper: Paper infused with incense, folded accordion style, lit and blown out. Examples are Carta d'Armenia and Papier d'Arménie.
- Rope: The incense powder is rolled into paper sheets, which are then rolled into ropes, twisted tightly, then doubled over and twisted again, yielding a two-strand rope. The larger end is the bight, and may be stood vertically, in a shallow dish of sand or pebbles. The smaller (pointed) end is lit. This type of incense is highly transportable and stays fresh for extremely long periods. It has been used for centuries in Tibet and Nepal.
The disks of powdered mugwort called 'moxa' sold in Chinese shops and herbalists are used in Traditional Chinese medicine for moxibustion treatment. Moxa tablets are not incenses; the treatment relies on heat rather than fragrance.
REED DIFFUSING
A reed diffuser is a form of incense that uses no heat. It comes in three parts: a bottle/container, scented essential incense oil, and bamboo reeds. The incense oil is placed into the container and bamboo reeds are then put into the same container. This is done to absorb some of the incense oil, as well as to help carry its scent and essence out of the container and into the surrounding air. Reeds typically have tiny tube openings that run the entire length of the stick. Oil is absorbed by the reed sticks and carried along the entire reed. These are do-it-yourself incense sticks that do not burn and look almost identical to typical incense sticks
PRODUCTION
INDIRECT BURNING
The raw materials are powdered and then mixed together with a binder to form a paste, which, for direct burning incense, are then cut and dried into pellets. Incense of the Athonite Orthodox Christian tradition are made by powdering frankincense or fir resin, mixing it with essential oils. Floral fragrances are the most common, but citrus such as lemon is not uncommon. The incense mixture is then rolled out into a slab approximately 1 cm thick and left until the slab has firmed. It is then cut into small cubes, coated with clay powder to prevent adhesion, and allowed to fully harden and dry. In Greece this rolled incense resin is called 'Moskolibano', and generally comes in either a pink or green colour denoting the fragrance, with pink being rose and green being jasmine.
DIRECT BURNING
In order to obtain desired combustion qualities, attention has to be paid to certain proportions in direct burning incense mixtures:
- Oil content: Resinous materials such as myrrh and frankincense must not exceed the amount of dry materials in the mixture to such a degree that the incense will not smolder and burn.[citation needed] The higher the oil content relative to the dry mass, the less likely the mixture is to burn effectively.[citation needed] Typically the resinous or oily substances are balanced with "dry" materials such as wood, bark and leaf powders.
- Oxidizer quantity: The amount of chemical oxidizer in gum-bound incense must be carefully proportioned. If too little, the incense will not ignite, and if too much, the incense will burn too quickly and not produce fragrant smoke.
- Mixture density: Incense mixtures made with natural binders must not be combined with too much water in mixing, or over-compressed while being formed, which would result in either uneven air distribution or undesirable density in the mixture, causing the incense to burn unevenly, too slowly, or too quickly.
- Particulate size: The incense mixture has to be well pulverized with similarly sized particulates. Uneven and large particulates result in uneven burning and inconsistent aroma production when burned.
- Binder: Water-soluble binders such as "makko" have to be used in the right proportion to ensure that the incense mixture does not crumble when dry but also that the binder does not take up too much of the mixture.
Some kinds of direct-burning incense are created from "incense blanks" made of unscented combustible dust immersed into any suitable kind of essential or fragrance oil. These are often sold in America by flea-market and sidewalk vendors who have developed their own styles. Such items are often known as "dipped" or "hand-dipped" incense. This form of incense requires the least skill and equipment to manufacture, since the blanks are pre-formed in China or South East Asia, then simply scented with essential oils.
Incense mixtures can be extruded or pressed into shapes. Small quantities of water are combined with the fragrance and incense base mixture and kneaded into a hard dough. The incense dough is then pressed into shaped forms to create cone and smaller coiled incense, or forced through a hydraulic press for solid stick incense. The formed incense is then trimmed and slowly dried. Incense produced in this fashion has a tendency to warp or become misshapen when improperly dried, and as such must be placed in climate-controlled rooms and rotated several times through the drying process.
Traditionally, the bamboo cores of cored stick incense is prepared by hand from Phyllostachys heterocycla cv. pubescens since this species produces thick wood and easily burns to ashes in the incense stick. Through this process, known as "splitting the foot of the incense stick", the bamboo is trimmed to length, soaked, peeled, and then continuously split in halves until thin sticks of bamboo with square cross sections of less than 3mm This process has been largely been replaced by machines in modern incense production.
In the case of cored incensed sticks, several methods are employed to coat the sticks cores with incense mixture:
- Paste rolling: A wet, malleable paste of incense mixture is first rolled into a long, thin coil, using a paddle. Then, a thin stick is put next to the coil and the stick and paste are rolled together until the stick is centered in the mixture and the desired thickness is achieved. The stick is then cut to the desired length and dried.
- Powder-coating: Powder-coating is used mainly to produce cored incense of either larger coil (up to 1 meter in diameter) or cored stick forms. A bundle of the supporting material (typically thin bamboo or sandalwood slivers) is soaked in water or a thin water/glue mixture for a short time. The thin sticks are then evenly separated, then dipped into a tray of incense powder, consisting of fragrance materials and occasionally a plant-based binder. The dry incense powder is then tossed and piled over the stick while they are spread apart. The sticks are then gently rolled and packed to maintain roundness while more incense powder is repeatedly tossed onto the sticks. Three to four layers of powder are coated onto the sticks, forming a 2 mm thick layer of incense material on the stick. The coated incense is then allowed to dry in open air. Additional coatings of incense mixture can be applied after each period of successive drying. Incense sticks that are burned in temples of Chinese folk religion produced in this fashion can have a thickness between 2 and 4 millimeters.
- Compression: A damp powder is mechanically formed around a cored stick by compression, similar to the way uncored sticks are formed. This form is becoming more commonly found due to the higher labor cost of producing powder-coated or paste-rolled sticks.
JOSS STICKS
Joss sticks are the name given to incense sticks used for a variety of purposes associated with ritual and religious devotion in China and India. They are used in Chinese influenced East Asian and Southeast Asian countries, traditionally burned before the threshold of a home or business, before an image of a Chinese popular religion divinity or spirit of place, or in small and humble or large and elaborate shrine found at the main entrance to each and every village. Here the earth god is propitiated in the hope of bringing wealth and health to the village. They can also be burned in front of a door, or open window as an offering to heaven, or devas. The word "joss" is derived from the Latin deus (god) via the Portuguese deos through the Javanese dejos, through Chinese pidgin English.
Joss-stick burning is an everyday practice in traditional Chinese religion. There are many different types of joss sticks used for different purposes or on different festive days. Many of them are long and thin and are mostly colored yellow, red, and more rarely, black. Thick joss sticks are used for special ceremonies, such as funerals. Spiral joss sticks are also used on a regular basis, which are found hanging above temple ceilings, with burn times that are exceedingly long. In some states, such as Taiwan, Singapore, or Malaysia, where they celebrate the Ghost Festival, large, pillar-like dragon joss sticks are sometimes used. These generate such a massive amount of smoke and heat that they are only ever burned outside.
Chinese incense sticks for use in popular religion are generally without aroma or only the slightest trace of jasmine or rose, since it is the smoke, not the scent, which is important in conveying the prayers of the faithful to heaven. They are composed of the dried powdered bark of a non-scented species of cinnamon native to Cambodia, Cinnamomum cambodianum.[citation needed] Inexpensive packs of 300 are often found for sale in Chinese supermarkets. Despite the fact that they contain no sandalwood at all, they often include the Chinese character for sandalwood on the label, as a generic term for incense.
Highly scented Chinese incense sticks are only used by some Buddhists. These are often quite expensive due to the use of large amounts of sandalwood, aloeswood, or floral scents used. The Sandalwood used in Chinese incenses does not come from India, its native home, but rather from groves planted within Chinese territory. Sites belonging to Tzu Chi, Chung Tai Shan, Dharma Drum Mountain, Xingtian Temple, Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Buddhism in Burma and Korean Buddhism do not use incense.
BURNING INCENSE
For indirect-burning incense, pieces of the incense are burned by placing them directly on top of a heat source or on a hot metal plate in a censer or thurible.
In Japan a similar censer called a egōro (柄香炉?) is used by several Buddhist sects. The egōro is usually made of brass with a long handle and no chain. Instead of charcoal, makkō powder is poured into a depression made in a bed of ash. The makkō is lit and the incense mixture is burned on top. This method is known as Sonae-kō (Religious Burning).
For direct-burning incense, the tip or end of the incense is ignited with a flame or other heat source until the incense begins to turn into ash at the burning end. Flames on the incense are then fanned or blown out, with the incense continuing to burn without a flame on its own.
CULTURAL VARIATIONS
CHINESE INCENSE
For over two thousand years, the Chinese have used incense in religious ceremonies, ancestor veneration, Traditional Chinese medicine, and daily life.
Agarwood (chénxiāng) and sandalwood (tánxiāng) are the two most important ingredients in Chinese incense.
Along with the introduction of Buddhism in China came calibrated incense sticks and incense clocks. The poet Yu Jianwu (487-551) first recorded them: "By burning incense we know the o'clock of the night, With graduated candles we confirm the tally of the watches." The use of these incense timekeeping devices spread from Buddhist monasteries into Chinese secular society.
It is incorrect to assume that the Chinese only burn incense in the home before the family shrine. In Taoist traditions, incense is inextricably associated with the 'yin' energies of the dead, temples, shrines, and ghosts. Therefore, Taoist Chinese believe burning undedicated incense in the home attracts the dreaded hungry ghosts, who consume the smoke and ruin the fortunes of the family.
However, since Neolithic times, the Chinese have evolved using incense not only for religious ceremonies, but also for personal and environmental aromatherapy.
INDIAN INCENSE
Incense stick, also known as agarbathi (or agarbatti) and joss sticks, in which an incense paste is rolled or moulded around a bamboo stick, is one of the main forms of incense in India. The bamboo method originated in India, and is distinct from the Nepal/Tibet and Japanese methods of stick making which don't use a bamboo core. Though the method is also used in the west, particularly in America, it is strongly associated with India.
The basic ingredients are the bamboo stick, the paste (generally made of charcoal dust and joss/jiggit/gum/tabu powder - an adhesive made from the bark of litsea glutinosa and other trees), and the perfume ingredients - which would be a masala (spice mix) powder of ground ingredients into which the stick would be rolled, or a perfume liquid sometimes consisting of synthetic ingredients into which the stick would be dipped. Perfume is sometimes sprayed on the coated sticks. Stick machines are sometimes used, which coat the stick with paste and perfume, though the bulk of production is done by hand rolling at home. There are about 5,000 incense companies in India which take raw unperfumed sticks hand-rolled by approx 200,000 women working part-time at home, and then apply their own brand of perfume, and package the sticks for sale.[38] An experienced home-worker can produce 4,000 raw sticks a day. There are about 50 main companies who together account for up to 30% of the market, and around 500 of the companies, including a significant number of the main ones, including Moksh Agarbatti and Cycle Pure, are based in Bangalore.
In the Middle East, incense burning has been along tradition. The word bukhur means incense in Arabic. The well known choice for incense is the famous agarwood which is very popular in Africa, the Gulf and amongst some south Asians, but there are many many more choices. Incense come in a variety of forms such as blocks, pieces, pellets, granules or powdered, which is placed in the oil burner called mabkharah for several minutes to heat either with coal in the traditional way or via power in the modern way, allowing it to release its rich smell. However this takes awhile and the quick alternative is to use incense sticks called Oud in Middle East and Africa, and agarbatti in south Asia - again referring to the agar wood + batti meaning some sort of agar-stick. Occasionally some get confused between bukhur and oud, bukhur is the insence ie agarwood, sandlewood etc and oud being the incense sticks (and not the otherway round sometimes wires get twisted)
JERUSALEM TEMPLE INCENSE
Ketoret was the incense offered in the Temple in Jerusalem and is stated in the Book of Exodus as a mixture of stacte, onycha, galbanum and frankincense.
TIBETAN INCENSE
Tibetan incense refers to a common style of incense found in Tibet, Nepal, and Bhutan. These incenses have a characteristic "earthy" scent to them. Ingredients vary from cinnamon, clove, and juniper, to kusum flower, ashvagandha, or sahi jeera.
Many Tibetan incenses are thought to have medicinal properties. Their recipes come from ancient Vedic texts that are based on even older Ayurvedic medical texts. The recipes have remained unchanged for centuries.
JAPANESE INCENSE
In Japan incense appreciation folklore includes art, culture, history, and ceremony. It can be compared to and has some of the same qualities as music, art, or literature. Incense burning may occasionally take place within the tea ceremony, just like Calligraphy, Ikebana, and Scroll Arrangement. However the art of incense appreciation or Koh-do, is generally practiced as a separate art form from the tea ceremony, however usually practiced within a tea room of traditional Zen design.
Agarwood (沈香 Jinkō) and sandalwood (白檀 Byakudan) are the two most important ingredients in Japanese incense. Agarwood is known as "Jinkō" in Japan, which translates as "incense that sinks in water", due to the weight of the resin in the wood. Sandalwood is one of the most calming incense ingredients and lends itself well to meditation.[citation needed] It is also used in the Japanese tea ceremony. The most valued Sandalwood comes from Mysore in the state of Karnataka in India.
Another important ingredient in Japanese incense is kyara (伽羅). Kyara is one kind of agarwood (Japanese incense companies divide agarwood into 6 categories depending on the region obtained and properties of the agarwood). Kyara is currently worth more than its weight in gold.
Some terms used in Japanese incense culture include:
- Incense Arts: [香道, Kodo]
- Agarwood: [ 沈香 ] – from heartwood from Aquilaria trees, unique, the incense wood most used in incense ceremony, other names are: lignum aloes or aloeswood, gaharu, jinko, or oud.
- Censer/Incense burner: [香爐] – usually small and used for heating incense not burning, or larger and used for burning
- Charcoal: [木炭] – only the odorless kind is used.
- Incense woods: [ 香木 ] – a naturally fragrant resinous wood.
USAGE
Incense is used for a variety of purposes, including the ceremonies of all the main religions, to overcome bad smells, repel insects, purify or improve the atmosphere, aromatherapy, meditation, and for simple pleasure.
PRACTICAL
Incense fragrances can be of such great strength that they obscure other, less desirable odours. This utility led to the use of incense in funerary ceremonies because the incense could smother the scent of decay. Another example of this use, as well as of religious use, is the giant Botafumeiro thurible which swings from the ceiling of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. It is used in part to mask the scent of the many tired, unwashed pilgrims huddled together in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.
A similar utilitarian use of incense can be found in the post-Reformation Church of England. Although the ceremonial use of incense was abandoned until the Oxford Movement, it was common to have incense (typically frankincense) burned before grand occasions, when the church would be crowded. The frankincense was carried about by a member of the vestry before the service in a vessel called a 'perfuming pan'. In iconography of the day, this vessel is shown to be elongated and flat, with a single, long handle on one side. It is important to note that the perfuming pan was used instead of the thurible, as the latter would have likely offended the Protestant sensibilities of the 17th and 18th centuries.
The regular burning of direct combustion incense has been used for chronological measurement in incense clocks. These devices can range from a simple trail of incense material calibrated to burn in a specific time period, to elaborate and ornate instruments with bells or gongs, designed to involve and captivate several of the senses.
Incense made from materials such as citronella can repel mosquitoes and other aggravating, distracting or pestilential insects. This use has been deployed in concert with religious uses by Zen Buddhists who claim that the incense that is part of their meditative practice is designed to keep bothersome insects from distracting the practitioner. Currently, more effective pyrethroid-based mosquito repellent incense is widely available in Asia.
Papier d'Arménie was originally sold as a disinfectant as well as for the fragrance.
Incense is also used often by people who smoke indoors, and do not want the scent to linger.
AestheticMany people burn incense to appreciate its smell, without assigning any other specific significance to it, in the same way that the foregoing items can be produced or consumed solely for the contemplation or enjoyment of the refined sensory experience. This use is perhaps best exemplified in the kōdō (香道?), where (frequently costly) raw incense materials such as agarwood are appreciated in a formal setting.ReligiousUse of incense in religion is prevalent in many cultures and may have their roots in the practical and aesthetic uses considering that many religions with not much else in common all use incense. One common motif is incense as a form of sacrificial offering to a deity. Such use was common in Judaic worship and remains in use for example in the Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican churches, Taoist and Buddhist Chinese jingxiang (敬香 "offer incense [to ancestors/gods]), etc.
HEALTH
Incense smoke contains various contaminants including gaseous pollutants, such as carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and absorbed toxic pollutants (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and toxic metals). The solid particles range between ~10 and 500 nm. The emission rate decreases in the row Indian sandalwood > Japanese aloeswood > Taiwanese aloeswood > smokeless sandalwood.
Research carried out in Taiwan in 2001 linked the burning of incense sticks to the slow accumulation of potential carcinogens in a poorly ventilated environment by measuring the levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (including benzopyrene) within Buddhist temples. The study found gaseous aliphatic aldehydes, which are carcinogenic and mutagenic, in incense smoke.
A survey of risk factors for lung cancer, also conducted in Taiwan, noted an inverse association between incense burning and adenocarcinoma of the lung, though the finding was not deemed significant.
In contrast, a study by several Asian Cancer Research Centers showed: "No association was found between exposure to incense burning and respiratory symptoms like chronic cough, chronic sputum, chronic bronchitis, runny nose, wheezing, asthma, allergic rhinitis, or pneumonia among the three populations studied: i.e. primary school children, their non-smoking mothers, or a group of older non-smoking female controls. Incense burning did not affect lung cancer risk among non-smokers, but it significantly reduced risk among smokers, even after adjusting for lifetime smoking amount." However, the researchers qualified the findings by noting that incense burning in the studied population was associated with certain low-cancer-risk dietary habits, and concluded that "diet can be a significant confounder of epidemiological studies on air pollution and respiratory health."
Although several studies have not shown a link between incense and cancer of the lung, many other types of cancer have been directly linked to burning incense. A study published in 2008 in the medical journal Cancer found that incense use is associated with a statistically significant higher risk of cancers of the upper respiratory tract, with the exception of nasopharyngeal cancer. Those who used incense heavily also had higher rates of a type of cancer called squamous-cell carcinoma, which refers to tumors that arise in the cells lining the internal and external surfaces of the body. The link between incense use and increased cancer risk held when the researchers weighed other factors, including cigarette smoking, diet and drinking habits. The research team noted that "This association is consistent with a large number of studies identifying carcinogens in incense smoke, and given the widespread and sometimes involuntary exposure to smoke from burning incense, these findings carry significant public health implications."
In 2015, the South China University of Technology found toxicity of incense to Chinese hamsters ovary cells to be even higher than cigarettes.
Frankincense has been shown to cause antidepressive behavior in mice. It activated the poorly understood ion channels in the brain to alleviate anxiety and depression.
WIKIPEDIA
Cadets repel from the blackhawk helicopter 14 June 2018 by the Hudson River at the United States Military Academy West Point.
U.S. Army photo by Michael Lopez
Os Ashaninka têm uma longa história de luta, repelindo os invasores desde a época do Império Incaico até a economia extrativista da borracha do século XIX e, particularmente entre os habitantes do lado brasileiro da fronteira, combatendo a exploração madeireira desde 1980 até hoje. Povo orgulhoso de sua cultura, movido por um sentimento agudo de liberdade, prontos a morrer para defender seu território, os Ashaninka não são simples objetos da história ocidental. É admirável sua capacidade de conciliar costumes e valores tradicionais com idéias e práticas do mundo dos brancos, tais como aquelas ligadas à sustentabilidade socioambiental.
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
In October 1951, a heavy tank project was underway to mount an oscillating turret with an automatically loading 120mm Gun on the hull of the 120mm Gun Tank T43. (The T43 would later be serialized as the 120mm Gun Tank M103, America’s last heavy tank.). This was the T57, and the Rheem Manufacturing Company were granted a contract to design and build two pilot turrets and autoloading systems.
During the T57’s development, it became clear that it was feasible to mount a lighter armored version of the T57 turret on the hull of the 90mm Gun Tank T48 (The T48 later became the 90mm Gun Tank M48 Patton). This combination granted the possibility of creating a ‘heavy gun tank’ that was considerably lighter (and therefore more agile and tactically flexible) than any previously designed.
In May 1953, a development project was started to create such a tank. It would be designated the 120mm Gun Tank T77, and another contract was signed with Rheem to create two pilot tanks. The T77 weighed about 50 tons, with armor of the hull being up to 110mm thick. It was originally powered by a 650 hp Continental AVSI-1790-6 V12, air-cooled twin-turbo gasoline engine. This would propel the tank to a speed of 30 mph (48 km/h). The tank was supported on a torsion bar suspension, attached to six road wheels. The drive sprocket was at the rear, while the idler was at the front. The idler wheel was of the compensating type, meaning it was attached to the closest roadwheel by an actuating arm. When the roadwheel reacted to terrain, the idler was pushed out or pulled in, keeping constant track tension. The return of the track was supported by five rollers.
The T77 had a crew of four: The driver’s position was standard for M48 hulls, located centrally in the bow at the front of the hull. Arrangements inside the turret were standard, too: The loader was positioned to the left of the gun, the gunner was on the right with the commander behind him.
The T77’s oscillating turret could be easily mounted to the unmodified 2.1 m (85 inch) turret ring of the M48 hull, and on other tanks, too. It consisted of two actuating parts: a collar that was attached to the turret ring, allowing 360° horizontal traverse, and a pivoting upper part with a long cylindrical ‘nose’ and a low profile flat bustle that held the gun, which could elevate to a maximum of 15 degrees, and depress 8 degrees. It also held the complex loading mechanism and the turret crew.
Both turret halves utilized cast homogeneous steel armor. The sides of the collar were made to be round and bulbous in shape to protect the trunnions that the upper half pivoted on. Armor around the face was 127mm (5 inches) thick, angled at 60 degrees, what meant an effective 10 in (254 mm) equivalent of RHA at the turret front. Maximum armor strength was 137mm (5.3 inches) on the convex sides of the turret, and this dropped to 51 mm (2 inches) on the bustle.
Though it looked like two, there were actually three hatches in the turret’s roof: There was a small hatch on the left for the loader, and the slightly raised cupola for the commander on the right, which featured six periscopes. These two standard hatches were part of a third large, powered hatch, which took up most of the middle of the roof, granting a larger escape route for the crew but also allowed internal turret equipment to be removed easily. It was also a convenient way to replenish the ammunition storage, even though a use under battle conditions was prohibitive. In front of the loader’s hatch was a periscope, housings for a stereoscopic rangefinder were mounted on the sides of the swiveling turret part, and there was another periscope above the gunner’s position, too. Behind the large hatch was the ejection port for spent cartridges, to its right was the armored housing for the ventilator.
The initial Rheem Company turret concept had the gun rigidly mounted to the turret without a recoil system, and the long gun barrel protruded from a narrow nose. The gun featured a quick change barrel but was otherwise basically identical to the 120mm Gun T123E1, the gun being trialed on the T43/M103. However, for the T57/77 turret and the autoloader, it was modified to accept single piece ammunition, unlike the T43/M103, which used separately loading ammo due to the round’s high weight. This new gun was attached to the turret via a conical adapter that surrounded the breech end of the gun. One end screwed directly into the breech, while the front half extended through the ‘nose’ and was secured in place by a large nut. The force created by the firing of the gun and the projectile traveling down the rifled barrel was resisted by rooting the adapter both the breech block and turret ring. As there was no inertia from recoil to automatically open the horizontally sliding breech block, a hydraulic cylinder was introduced. Upon firing the main gun, this hydraulic cylinder was triggered via an electric switch. This new variant of the T123 cannon was designated the 120mm Gun T179. It was fitted with a bore evacuator (fume extractor) and a simple, T-shaped muzzle brake.
A single .30 Caliber (7.62mm) machine gun was mounted coaxially, and another such weapon or a medium 0.5” machine gun could be attached to a mount on the commander’s cupola.
Using standard Armor-Piercing Ballistic Cap Tracer Rounds, the T179 was capable of penetrating 221-millimetre (8.7 in) of 30-degree sloped rolled-homogenous armor at 1,000 yards and 196-millimetre (7.7 in) at 2,000 yards. It could also penetrate 124-millimetre (4.9 in) 60-degree sloped rolled-homogenous armor at 1,000 yards and 114-millimetre (4.5 in) at 2,000 yards.
The T179’s automatic loader was located below the gun and it gave the weapon a projected rate of fire of 30 rounds per minute, even though this was only of theoretical nature because its cylinder magazine only held 8 rounds. After these had been expended, it had to be manually re-loaded by the crew from the inside, and the cannon could not be operated at that time. Ammunition types such as High-Explosive (HE), High-Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT), Armor Piercing (AP), or Armor-Piercing Ballistic-Capped (APBC) could be fired and be selected from the magazine via a control panel by either the gunner or the tank commander, so that it was possible to quickly adapt to a changing tactical situation – as long as the right rounds had been loaded into the magazine beforehand.
The cannon itself was fed by a ramming arm that actuated between positions relative to the breech and magazine, operating in five major steps:
1) The hydraulically operated ramming arm withdrew a round and aligned it with the breach.
2) The rammer then pushed the round into the breach, triggering it to close.
3) Gun was fired.
4) Effect of gun firing trips the electric switch that opens the breech.
5) Rammer picks up a fresh round, at the same time ejecting the spent cartridge through a trap door in the roof of the turret bustle.
Beyond the 8 rounds ready-for fire in the magazine, the main gun had only a very limited ammunition supply due to the large size of the 1-piece rounds: only 21 more 120 mm rounds could be stored in the hull and at the base of the turret.
After thorough trials, the T77 was, powered by a more fuel-efficient Continental AVDS-1790-2 V12, air-cooled twin-turbo diesel engine with 750 bhp (560 kW), accepted as a replacement for the U.S. Army‘s unloved heavy M103 and introduced as the M77. The first M77s were assembled at the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant in March 1964. However, the M77 was primarily a support vehicle for standard tank units and reserved for special operations. Therefore, the type’s production numbers remained low: only 173 tanks were eventually built until 1968 and exclusively allocated to U.S. Army units in Western Germany, with a focus on West Berlin and Southern Germany (e.g. in the Fulda Gap), where they were to repel assaults from Eastern Germany and defend vital installations or critical bottlenecks.
Due to its high rate of fire and long range, the M77 was ideally suited for defensive tasks and hit-and-run tactics. But this was, unfortunately, the type’s only selling point: The oscillating turret turned out to be complex, concerning both handling as well as maintenance, and in practice it did not offer the same weapon stability as the M48’s or the later M60’s conventional design, especially when firing during movement. The cramped interior and the many mechanical parts of the bulky autoloader inside of the turret did not make the tank popular among its crews, either. Several accidents occurred during manoeuvers while the loader tried to refill the magazine under combat pressure. A further weakness was the type’s low ammunition stock and the fact that, despite the autoloader, there was still a loader necessary to feed the magazine. The low ammunition stock also heavily limited the tactical value of the tank: typically, the M77 had to leave its position after expending all of its ammunition and move to a second line position, where the huge one-piece rounds could be replenished under safer conditions. But this bound other resources, e. g. support vehicles, and typically the former position had to be given up or supplanted by another vehicle. Operating the M77 effectively turned out to be a logistic nightmare.
During its career, the M77 saw only one major upgrade in the mid-Seventies: The M77A1 was outfitted with a new multi-chamber muzzle brake, muzzle reference and crosswind sensors (the latter was mounted in a small mast on the rear of the turret) and an improved turret stabilization system along with an upgraded turret electrical system. All of these measures were intended to improve the tank’s 1st shot kill probability, esp. at long range. A large AN/VSS-1(V)1 white/IR searchlight was added above the gun barrel, too. All tanks in service were upgraded in this fashion, no new tanks were built. Unlike the M48, neither the M77 nor the Rheem turret or its autoloader system were cleared for export, even though Israel showed interest.
In the early Eighties, there were further plans for another upgrade of the M77 fleet to a potential A2 status. This would have introduced a laser rangefinder (instead of the purely optical device) and a solid state M21 ballistic computer with a digital databus. The M21 would have allowed a pre-programmed selection and fire sequence of different ammunition types from the magazine’s chambers, plus better range and super-elevation correction. However, this did not happen because the M77 had become obsolete through the simple depletion of its exotic 120 mm ammunition from the army’s stocks. Therefore, another plan examined the possibilities of replacing the T179 gun with the 105 mm M68 rifled anti-tank gun, a license-built version of the British L7 gun, which had, despite the smaller caliber, a performance comparable to the bigger 120 mm T179. But since the M48 chassis and its armor concept had become outdated by the time, too, the M77A1 fleet was by 1986 fully replaced by the M60A3, the US Army’s new standard MBT.
Specifications:
Crew: 4 (commander, driver, loader, gunner)
Weight: 51 tons
Length: 6.946 m (22 ft 9.5 in) hull only, 10,66 m (34 ft 11 in) overall w. gun forward
Width: 3.63 m (11 ft 11 in)
Height: 3.08 m (10 ft 1 in)
Suspension: Torsion-bar
Ground clearance: 1 ft 6.2 in (0.46 m)
Fuel capacity: 385 US gal (1,457 l)
Armor:
0.5 – 5.3 in (13 – 137 mm)
Performance:
Speed:
- Maximum, road: 30 mph (48 km/h)
- Sustained, road: 25 mph (40 km/h)
- Cross country: 9.3 to 15.5 mph (15 to 25 km/h)
Climbing capability:
- 40% side slope and 60% max grade
- Vertical obstacle of 36 inches (91 cm)
- 102 inches (2.59 m) trench crossing
Fording depth: Unprepared: 4 ft (1.219 m), prepared: 8 ft (2.438 m)
Operational range: 287 ml (463 km) on road
Power/weight: 16.6 hp (12.4 kW)/tonne
Engine:
1× Continental AVDS-1790-2 V12, air-cooled twin-turbo diesel engine, 750 bhp (560 kW)
Transmission:
General Motors CD-850-3, 2-Fw/1-Rv speed GB
Armament:
1× 120 mm T179 L/60 rifled anti-tank gun with an autoloader and a total of 29 rounds
1× co-axial 7.62 mm M240C machine gun with 3.000 rounds
1× .50 cal (12.7 mm) M2 Browning (600 rounds) or .30 cal (7.62 mm) M73 machine
anti-aircraft machine gun (1.000 rounds) on the commander’s cupola with 600 rounds
The kit and its assembly:
This is another fictional creation, but, like many of my whif builds, it is rooted in reality and an extrapolation of what could have been. The oscillating tower with the M103’s 120 mm cannon and an autoloader was actually developed, and there were several tank projects that made use of it. The T77 was the final proposal, but, like the T57 on the M103 basis and other designs from the Rheem Company, the T77’s development was arduously slow, so that the project was finally canceled in 1957 by the US Ordnance Department. Two turrets were actually built, though, but they were scrapped in February 1958, and the T77 only existed on paper or in model form.
The impulse for this build actually came from a 1:72 resin turret for the T57 project from ModelTrans/Silesian Models. I found the concept cool and the turret had a very futuristic look, so that I bought a set with the vague intention to use it for a mecha conversion someday. Then it gathered dust in the stash, until I recently stumbled upon the 1:72 M103 kit from Dragon and considered a T57 build. But this kit is very rare and expensive, at least here in Germany, so I shelved this plan again. However, I started to play with the idea of a U.S. Army vehicle with a Rheem Company turret. Then I found a Revell M60 kit in the stash and considered it for a whiffy build, but eventually rejected the idea because a turret concept from the late Fifties would hardly make its way onto a tank from the late Seventies or later. When I did further research concerning the Rheem turret, I came across the real T77 project on the basis of the M48, and dug out an ESCI M48A5 from the pile (realizing that I had already hoarded three of them…!), so the M77 project was finally born.
Otherwise, the build was a straightforward affair. The T57 turret is a massive resin piece with a separate barrel and very fine surface details. Some of them, delicate lugs, were unfortunately broken off, already OOB but also by me while handling the pieces. They could be easily replaced with brass wire, though, which was also used to add small rails to the collar. The very long and thin barrel was replaced with a white metal aftermarket piece. It’s actually a barrel for a Soviet T-10 with a complex muzzle brake (made from brass), but the size was just fine and looks very good on this fictional tank.
Some details were added to the turret or transplanted from the M48 kit, e. g. the prominent IR searchlight or the machine gun on the commander cupola. Furthermore, I added a textile seal to the gap between the turret sections and to the barrel’s root, made from paper tissue drenched in thinned white glue. The same method was used to create the searchlight cover, too.
Since the turret base had a smaller diameter than the M48’s attachment opening, I had to improvise a suitable adapter with styrene strips. The M48A5 hull itself was taken OOB.
Painting and markings:
I was happy that I could place this model into a later time frame, so that the U.S. Army’s uniform Olive Drab times were already over. In the 1970s, the US Mobility Equipment Research & Design Command (MERDC) developed a system of camouflage patterns for US Army vehicles. These consisted of a set of standardized patterns for each vehicle, to be used with a set of twelve colours. The local terrain conditions and colours decided which of the paints were to be used, and on which parts of a vehicle. Then, if conditions altered, for example by a change in the weather, or by the unit moving into a new area of operations, the scheme could be quickly adjusted to suit them by replacing only one or two colours by different ones.
For example, if a vehicle was painted in the US & European winter scheme, which had a dark green and a medium brown as its predominant colours, and it started to snow, by overpainting either the green or the brown with white, one of the two snow schemes could be created. This gave a high degree of flexibility, though in practice it was hardly ever actually made use of—most vehicles were painted in one scheme and kept that.
I gave the M77 the “Winter Verdant” MERDC scheme, which was frequently used in Germany. It consists of Forest Green (FS 34079), Earth Red (FS 30117), Sand (FS 30277) and Black (FS 37038). The pattern itself was adapted from the standardized M60 MERDC scheme. Colors used were ModelMaster 1701 and 1710, plus Humbrol 238 and Revell 06. The seals on the turret and the searchlight cover were painted in a faded olive drab, the track segments with a mix of iron, dark grey and red brown.
After basic painting with brushes, the kit received a washing with thinned black and red brown acrylic paint. Decals (taken from the ESCI kit) came next, then the model received an overall dry brushing treatment with Humbrol 72 (Khaki Drill) and 168 (Hemp). Finally, everything was sealed with matt acrylic varnish from the rattle can and the lower hull areas were dusted with mineral pigments, simulating dust and mud.
Another relatively simple conversion, since only the (oscillating) turret was swapped. However, I was skeptical at first because the turret was originally intended for an M103 hull - but mounting it on a smaller M48 chassis worked well, just like in real life!
Incense is aromatic biotic material which releases fragrant smoke when burned. The term refers to the material itself, rather than to the aroma that it produces. Incense is used for a variety of purposes, including the ceremonies of religion, to overcome bad smells, repel insects, spirituality, aromatherapy, meditation, and for simple pleasure.
Incense is composed of aromatic plant materials, often combined with essential oils. The forms taken by incense differ with the underlying culture, and have changed with advances in technology and increasing diversity in the reasons for burning it. Incense can generally be separated into two main types: "indirect-burning" and "direct-burning". Indirect-burning incense (or "non-combustible incense") is not capable of burning on its own, and requires a separate heat source. Direct-burning incense (or "combustible incense") is lit directly by a flame and then fanned or blown out, leaving a glowing ember that smoulders and releases fragrance. Direct-burning incense is either a paste formed around a bamboo stick, or a paste that is extruded into a stick or cone shape.
HISTORY
The word incense comes from Latin for incendere meaning "to burn".
Combustible bouquets were used by the ancient Egyptians, who employed incense within both pragmatic and mystical capacities. Incense was burnt to counteract or obscure malodorous products of human habitation, but was widely perceived to also deter malevolent demons and appease the gods with its pleasant aroma. Resin balls were found in many prehistoric Egyptian tombs in El Mahasna, furnishing tangible archaeological substantiation to the prominence of incense and related compounds within Egyptian antiquity. One of the oldest extant incense burners originates from the 5th dynasty. The Temple of Deir-el-Bahari in Egypt contains a series of carvings that depict an expedition for incense.
The Babylonians used incense while offering prayers to divining oracles. Incense spread from there to Greece and Rome.
Incense burners have been found in the Indus Civilization (3300 BCE- 1300 BCE). Evidence suggests oils were used mainly for their aroma. India also adopted techniques from East Asia, adapting the inherited formulation to encompass aromatic roots and other indigenous flora. This comprised the initial usage of subterranean plant parts within the fabrication of incense. New herbs like Sarsaparilla seeds, frankincense, and cypress were used by Indians for incense.
At around 2000 BCE, Ancient China began the use of incense in the religious sense, namely for worship. Incense was used by Chinese cultures from Neolithic times and became more widespread in the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties. The earliest documented instance of incense utilization comes from the ancient Chinese, who employed incense composed of herbs and plant products (such as cassia, cinnamon, styrax, sandalwood, amongst others) as a component of numerous formalized ceremonial rites. Incense usage reached its peak during the Song Dynasty with numerous buildings erected specifically for incense ceremonies.
Brought to Japan in the 6th century by Korean Buddhist monks, who used the mystical aromas in their purification rites, the delicate scents of Koh (high-quality Japanese incense) became a source of amusement and entertainment with nobles in the Imperial Court during the Heian Era 200 years later. During the 14th century Shogunate, a samurai warrior might perfume his helmet and armor with incense to achieve an aura of invincibility (as well as to make a noble gesture to whomever might take his head in battle). It wasn't until the Muromachi Era during the 15th and 16th century that incense appreciation (Kōdō) spread to the upper and middle classes of Japanese society.
COMPOSITION
A variety of materials have been used in making incense. Historically there has been a preference for using locally available ingredients. For example, sage and cedar were used by the indigenous peoples of North America. Trading in incense materials comprised a major part of commerce along the Silk Road and other trade routes, one notably called the Incense Route.
The same could be said for the techniques used to make incense. Local knowledge and tools were extremely influential on the style, but methods were also influenced by migrations of foreigners, among them clergy and physicians who were both familiar with incense arts.
COMBUSTIBLE BASE
The combustible base of a direct burning incense mixture not only binds the fragrant material together but also allows the produced incense to burn with a self-sustained ember, which propagates slowly and evenly through an entire piece of incense with such regularity that it can be used to mark time. The base is chosen such that it does not produce a perceptible smell. Commercially, two types of incense base predominate:
- Fuel and oxidizer mixtures: Charcoal or wood powder forms the fuel for the combustion. Gums such as Gum Arabic or Gum Tragacanth are used to bind the mixture together while an oxidizer such as sodium nitrate or potassium nitrate sustains the burning of the incense. Fragrant materials are combined into the base prior to formation as in the case of powdered incense materials or after formation as in the case of essential oils. The formula for the charcoal-based incense is superficially similar to black powder, though it lacks the sulfur.
- Natural plant-based binders: Mucilaginous material, which can be derived from many botanical sources, is mixed with fragrant materials and water. The mucilage from the wet binding powder holds the fragrant material together while the cellulose in the powder combusts to form a stable ember when lit. The dry binding powder usually comprises about 10% of the dry weight in the finished incense. This includes:
- Makko (incense powder): made from the bark of various trees from the Persea such as Persea thunbergii)
- Xiangnan pi (made from the bark of Phoebe genus trees such as Phoebe nanmu, Persea zuihoensis.
- Jigit: a resin based binder used in India
- Laha or Dar: bark based powders used in Nepal, Tibet, and other East Asian countries.
TYPES
Incense materials are available in various forms and degrees of processing. They can generally be separated into "direct-burning" and "indirect-burning" types depending on use. Preference for one form or another varies with culture, tradition, and personal taste. Although the production of direct- and indirect-burning incense are both blended to produce a pleasant smell when burned, the two differ in their composition due to the former's requirement for even, stale, and sustained burning.
INDIRECT BURNING
Indirect-burning incense, also called "non-combustible incense", is a combination of aromatic ingredients that are not prepared in any particular way or encouraged into any particular form, leaving it mostly unsuitable for direct combustion. The use of this class of incense requires a separate heat source since it does not generally kindle a fire capable of burning itself and may not ignite at all under normal conditions. This incense can vary in the duration of its burning with the texture of the material. Finer ingredients tend to burn more rapidly, while coarsely ground or whole chunks may be consumed very gradually as they have less total surface area. The heat is traditionally provided by charcoal or glowing embers.
In the West, the best known incense materials of this type are frankincense and myrrh, likely due to their numerous mentions in the Christian Bible. In fact, the word for "frankincense" in many European languages also alludes to any form of incense.
- Whole: The incense material is burned directly in its raw unprocessed form on top of coal embers.
- Powdered or granulated: The incense material is broken down into finer bits. This incense burns quickly and provides a short period of intense smells.
- Paste: The powdered or granulated incense material is mixed with a sticky and incombustible binder, such as dried fruit, honey, or a soft resin and then formed to balls or small pastilles. These may then be allowed to mature in a controlled environment where the fragrances can commingle and unite. Much Arabian incense, also called "Bukhoor" or "Bakhoor", is of this type (Bakhoor actually refers to frankincense in Arabic) and Japan has a history of kneaded incense, called nerikō or awasekō, using this method.[17] Within the Eastern Orthodox Christian tradition, raw frankincense is ground into a fine powder and then mixed with various sweet-smelling essential oils.
DIRECT BURNING
Direct-burning incense also called "combustible incense", is lit directly by a flame. The glowing ember on the incense will continue to smoulder and burn away the rest of the incense without continued application of heat or flame from an outside source. Direct-burning incense is either extruded, pressed into forms, or coated onto a supporting material. This class of incense is made from a moldable substrate of fragrant finely ground (or liquid) incense materials and odourless binder. The composition must be adjusted to provide fragrance in the proper concentration and to ensure even burning. The following types of direct-burning incense are commonly encountered, though the material itself can take virtually any form, according to expediency or whimsy:
- Coil: Extruded and shaped into a coil without a core. This type of incense is able to burn for an extended period, from hours to days, and is commonly produced and used by Chinese culture
- Cone: Incense in this form burns relatively fast. Incense cones were invented in Japan in the 1800s.
- Cored stick: This form of stick incense has a supporting core of bamboo. Higher quality varieties of this form have fragrant sandalwood cores. The core is coated by a thick layer of incense material that burns away with the core. This type of incense is commonly produced in India and China. When used for worship in Chinese folk religion, cored incensed sticks are sometimes known as "joss sticks".
- Solid stick: This stick incense has no supporting core and is completely made of incense material. Easily broken into pieces, it allows one to determine the specific amount of incense they wish to burn. This is the most commonly produced form of incense in Japan and Tibet.
- Powder: The loose incense powder used for making indirect burning incense is sometimes burned without further processing. They are typically packed into long trails on top of wood ash using a stencil and burned in special censers or incense clocks.
- Paper: Paper infused with incense, folded accordion style, lit and blown out. Examples are Carta d'Armenia and Papier d'Arménie.
- Rope: The incense powder is rolled into paper sheets, which are then rolled into ropes, twisted tightly, then doubled over and twisted again, yielding a two-strand rope. The larger end is the bight, and may be stood vertically, in a shallow dish of sand or pebbles. The smaller (pointed) end is lit. This type of incense is highly transportable and stays fresh for extremely long periods. It has been used for centuries in Tibet and Nepal.
The disks of powdered mugwort called 'moxa' sold in Chinese shops and herbalists are used in Traditional Chinese medicine for moxibustion treatment. Moxa tablets are not incenses; the treatment relies on heat rather than fragrance.
REED DIFFUSING
A reed diffuser is a form of incense that uses no heat. It comes in three parts: a bottle/container, scented essential incense oil, and bamboo reeds. The incense oil is placed into the container and bamboo reeds are then put into the same container. This is done to absorb some of the incense oil, as well as to help carry its scent and essence out of the container and into the surrounding air. Reeds typically have tiny tube openings that run the entire length of the stick. Oil is absorbed by the reed sticks and carried along the entire reed. These are do-it-yourself incense sticks that do not burn and look almost identical to typical incense sticks
PRODUCTION
INDIRECT BURNING
The raw materials are powdered and then mixed together with a binder to form a paste, which, for direct burning incense, are then cut and dried into pellets. Incense of the Athonite Orthodox Christian tradition are made by powdering frankincense or fir resin, mixing it with essential oils. Floral fragrances are the most common, but citrus such as lemon is not uncommon. The incense mixture is then rolled out into a slab approximately 1 cm thick and left until the slab has firmed. It is then cut into small cubes, coated with clay powder to prevent adhesion, and allowed to fully harden and dry. In Greece this rolled incense resin is called 'Moskolibano', and generally comes in either a pink or green colour denoting the fragrance, with pink being rose and green being jasmine.
DIRECT BURNING
In order to obtain desired combustion qualities, attention has to be paid to certain proportions in direct burning incense mixtures:
- Oil content: Resinous materials such as myrrh and frankincense must not exceed the amount of dry materials in the mixture to such a degree that the incense will not smolder and burn.[citation needed] The higher the oil content relative to the dry mass, the less likely the mixture is to burn effectively.[citation needed] Typically the resinous or oily substances are balanced with "dry" materials such as wood, bark and leaf powders.
- Oxidizer quantity: The amount of chemical oxidizer in gum-bound incense must be carefully proportioned. If too little, the incense will not ignite, and if too much, the incense will burn too quickly and not produce fragrant smoke.
- Mixture density: Incense mixtures made with natural binders must not be combined with too much water in mixing, or over-compressed while being formed, which would result in either uneven air distribution or undesirable density in the mixture, causing the incense to burn unevenly, too slowly, or too quickly.
- Particulate size: The incense mixture has to be well pulverized with similarly sized particulates. Uneven and large particulates result in uneven burning and inconsistent aroma production when burned.
- Binder: Water-soluble binders such as "makko" have to be used in the right proportion to ensure that the incense mixture does not crumble when dry but also that the binder does not take up too much of the mixture.
Some kinds of direct-burning incense are created from "incense blanks" made of unscented combustible dust immersed into any suitable kind of essential or fragrance oil. These are often sold in America by flea-market and sidewalk vendors who have developed their own styles. Such items are often known as "dipped" or "hand-dipped" incense. This form of incense requires the least skill and equipment to manufacture, since the blanks are pre-formed in China or South East Asia, then simply scented with essential oils.
Incense mixtures can be extruded or pressed into shapes. Small quantities of water are combined with the fragrance and incense base mixture and kneaded into a hard dough. The incense dough is then pressed into shaped forms to create cone and smaller coiled incense, or forced through a hydraulic press for solid stick incense. The formed incense is then trimmed and slowly dried. Incense produced in this fashion has a tendency to warp or become misshapen when improperly dried, and as such must be placed in climate-controlled rooms and rotated several times through the drying process.
Traditionally, the bamboo cores of cored stick incense is prepared by hand from Phyllostachys heterocycla cv. pubescens since this species produces thick wood and easily burns to ashes in the incense stick. Through this process, known as "splitting the foot of the incense stick", the bamboo is trimmed to length, soaked, peeled, and then continuously split in halves until thin sticks of bamboo with square cross sections of less than 3mm This process has been largely been replaced by machines in modern incense production.
In the case of cored incensed sticks, several methods are employed to coat the sticks cores with incense mixture:
- Paste rolling: A wet, malleable paste of incense mixture is first rolled into a long, thin coil, using a paddle. Then, a thin stick is put next to the coil and the stick and paste are rolled together until the stick is centered in the mixture and the desired thickness is achieved. The stick is then cut to the desired length and dried.
- Powder-coating: Powder-coating is used mainly to produce cored incense of either larger coil (up to 1 meter in diameter) or cored stick forms. A bundle of the supporting material (typically thin bamboo or sandalwood slivers) is soaked in water or a thin water/glue mixture for a short time. The thin sticks are then evenly separated, then dipped into a tray of incense powder, consisting of fragrance materials and occasionally a plant-based binder. The dry incense powder is then tossed and piled over the stick while they are spread apart. The sticks are then gently rolled and packed to maintain roundness while more incense powder is repeatedly tossed onto the sticks. Three to four layers of powder are coated onto the sticks, forming a 2 mm thick layer of incense material on the stick. The coated incense is then allowed to dry in open air. Additional coatings of incense mixture can be applied after each period of successive drying. Incense sticks that are burned in temples of Chinese folk religion produced in this fashion can have a thickness between 2 and 4 millimeters.
- Compression: A damp powder is mechanically formed around a cored stick by compression, similar to the way uncored sticks are formed. This form is becoming more commonly found due to the higher labor cost of producing powder-coated or paste-rolled sticks.
JOSS STICKS
Joss sticks are the name given to incense sticks used for a variety of purposes associated with ritual and religious devotion in China and India. They are used in Chinese influenced East Asian and Southeast Asian countries, traditionally burned before the threshold of a home or business, before an image of a Chinese popular religion divinity or spirit of place, or in small and humble or large and elaborate shrine found at the main entrance to each and every village. Here the earth god is propitiated in the hope of bringing wealth and health to the village. They can also be burned in front of a door, or open window as an offering to heaven, or devas. The word "joss" is derived from the Latin deus (god) via the Portuguese deos through the Javanese dejos, through Chinese pidgin English.
Joss-stick burning is an everyday practice in traditional Chinese religion. There are many different types of joss sticks used for different purposes or on different festive days. Many of them are long and thin and are mostly colored yellow, red, and more rarely, black. Thick joss sticks are used for special ceremonies, such as funerals. Spiral joss sticks are also used on a regular basis, which are found hanging above temple ceilings, with burn times that are exceedingly long. In some states, such as Taiwan, Singapore, or Malaysia, where they celebrate the Ghost Festival, large, pillar-like dragon joss sticks are sometimes used. These generate such a massive amount of smoke and heat that they are only ever burned outside.
Chinese incense sticks for use in popular religion are generally without aroma or only the slightest trace of jasmine or rose, since it is the smoke, not the scent, which is important in conveying the prayers of the faithful to heaven. They are composed of the dried powdered bark of a non-scented species of cinnamon native to Cambodia, Cinnamomum cambodianum.[citation needed] Inexpensive packs of 300 are often found for sale in Chinese supermarkets. Despite the fact that they contain no sandalwood at all, they often include the Chinese character for sandalwood on the label, as a generic term for incense.
Highly scented Chinese incense sticks are only used by some Buddhists. These are often quite expensive due to the use of large amounts of sandalwood, aloeswood, or floral scents used. The Sandalwood used in Chinese incenses does not come from India, its native home, but rather from groves planted within Chinese territory. Sites belonging to Tzu Chi, Chung Tai Shan, Dharma Drum Mountain, Xingtian Temple, Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Buddhism in Burma and Korean Buddhism do not use incense.
BURNING INCENSE
For indirect-burning incense, pieces of the incense are burned by placing them directly on top of a heat source or on a hot metal plate in a censer or thurible.
In Japan a similar censer called a egōro (柄香炉?) is used by several Buddhist sects. The egōro is usually made of brass with a long handle and no chain. Instead of charcoal, makkō powder is poured into a depression made in a bed of ash. The makkō is lit and the incense mixture is burned on top. This method is known as Sonae-kō (Religious Burning).
For direct-burning incense, the tip or end of the incense is ignited with a flame or other heat source until the incense begins to turn into ash at the burning end. Flames on the incense are then fanned or blown out, with the incense continuing to burn without a flame on its own.
CULTURAL VARIATIONS
CHINESE INCENSE
For over two thousand years, the Chinese have used incense in religious ceremonies, ancestor veneration, Traditional Chinese medicine, and daily life.
Agarwood (chénxiāng) and sandalwood (tánxiāng) are the two most important ingredients in Chinese incense.
Along with the introduction of Buddhism in China came calibrated incense sticks and incense clocks. The poet Yu Jianwu (487-551) first recorded them: "By burning incense we know the o'clock of the night, With graduated candles we confirm the tally of the watches." The use of these incense timekeeping devices spread from Buddhist monasteries into Chinese secular society.
It is incorrect to assume that the Chinese only burn incense in the home before the family shrine. In Taoist traditions, incense is inextricably associated with the 'yin' energies of the dead, temples, shrines, and ghosts. Therefore, Taoist Chinese believe burning undedicated incense in the home attracts the dreaded hungry ghosts, who consume the smoke and ruin the fortunes of the family.
However, since Neolithic times, the Chinese have evolved using incense not only for religious ceremonies, but also for personal and environmental aromatherapy.
INDIAN INCENSE
Incense stick, also known as agarbathi (or agarbatti) and joss sticks, in which an incense paste is rolled or moulded around a bamboo stick, is one of the main forms of incense in India. The bamboo method originated in India, and is distinct from the Nepal/Tibet and Japanese methods of stick making which don't use a bamboo core. Though the method is also used in the west, particularly in America, it is strongly associated with India.
The basic ingredients are the bamboo stick, the paste (generally made of charcoal dust and joss/jiggit/gum/tabu powder - an adhesive made from the bark of litsea glutinosa and other trees), and the perfume ingredients - which would be a masala (spice mix) powder of ground ingredients into which the stick would be rolled, or a perfume liquid sometimes consisting of synthetic ingredients into which the stick would be dipped. Perfume is sometimes sprayed on the coated sticks. Stick machines are sometimes used, which coat the stick with paste and perfume, though the bulk of production is done by hand rolling at home. There are about 5,000 incense companies in India which take raw unperfumed sticks hand-rolled by approx 200,000 women working part-time at home, and then apply their own brand of perfume, and package the sticks for sale.[38] An experienced home-worker can produce 4,000 raw sticks a day. There are about 50 main companies who together account for up to 30% of the market, and around 500 of the companies, including a significant number of the main ones, including Moksh Agarbatti and Cycle Pure, are based in Bangalore.
In the Middle East, incense burning has been along tradition. The word bukhur means incense in Arabic. The well known choice for incense is the famous agarwood which is very popular in Africa, the Gulf and amongst some south Asians, but there are many many more choices. Incense come in a variety of forms such as blocks, pieces, pellets, granules or powdered, which is placed in the oil burner called mabkharah for several minutes to heat either with coal in the traditional way or via power in the modern way, allowing it to release its rich smell. However this takes awhile and the quick alternative is to use incense sticks called Oud in Middle East and Africa, and agarbatti in south Asia - again referring to the agar wood + batti meaning some sort of agar-stick. Occasionally some get confused between bukhur and oud, bukhur is the insence ie agarwood, sandlewood etc and oud being the incense sticks (and not the otherway round sometimes wires get twisted)
JERUSALEM TEMPLE INCENSE
Ketoret was the incense offered in the Temple in Jerusalem and is stated in the Book of Exodus as a mixture of stacte, onycha, galbanum and frankincense.
TIBETAN INCENSE
Tibetan incense refers to a common style of incense found in Tibet, Nepal, and Bhutan. These incenses have a characteristic "earthy" scent to them. Ingredients vary from cinnamon, clove, and juniper, to kusum flower, ashvagandha, or sahi jeera.
Many Tibetan incenses are thought to have medicinal properties. Their recipes come from ancient Vedic texts that are based on even older Ayurvedic medical texts. The recipes have remained unchanged for centuries.
JAPANESE INCENSE
In Japan incense appreciation folklore includes art, culture, history, and ceremony. It can be compared to and has some of the same qualities as music, art, or literature. Incense burning may occasionally take place within the tea ceremony, just like Calligraphy, Ikebana, and Scroll Arrangement. However the art of incense appreciation or Koh-do, is generally practiced as a separate art form from the tea ceremony, however usually practiced within a tea room of traditional Zen design.
Agarwood (沈香 Jinkō) and sandalwood (白檀 Byakudan) are the two most important ingredients in Japanese incense. Agarwood is known as "Jinkō" in Japan, which translates as "incense that sinks in water", due to the weight of the resin in the wood. Sandalwood is one of the most calming incense ingredients and lends itself well to meditation.[citation needed] It is also used in the Japanese tea ceremony. The most valued Sandalwood comes from Mysore in the state of Karnataka in India.
Another important ingredient in Japanese incense is kyara (伽羅). Kyara is one kind of agarwood (Japanese incense companies divide agarwood into 6 categories depending on the region obtained and properties of the agarwood). Kyara is currently worth more than its weight in gold.
Some terms used in Japanese incense culture include:
- Incense Arts: [香道, Kodo]
- Agarwood: [ 沈香 ] – from heartwood from Aquilaria trees, unique, the incense wood most used in incense ceremony, other names are: lignum aloes or aloeswood, gaharu, jinko, or oud.
- Censer/Incense burner: [香爐] – usually small and used for heating incense not burning, or larger and used for burning
- Charcoal: [木炭] – only the odorless kind is used.
- Incense woods: [ 香木 ] – a naturally fragrant resinous wood.
USAGE
Incense is used for a variety of purposes, including the ceremonies of all the main religions, to overcome bad smells, repel insects, purify or improve the atmosphere, aromatherapy, meditation, and for simple pleasure.
PRACTICAL
Incense fragrances can be of such great strength that they obscure other, less desirable odours. This utility led to the use of incense in funerary ceremonies because the incense could smother the scent of decay. Another example of this use, as well as of religious use, is the giant Botafumeiro thurible which swings from the ceiling of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. It is used in part to mask the scent of the many tired, unwashed pilgrims huddled together in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.
A similar utilitarian use of incense can be found in the post-Reformation Church of England. Although the ceremonial use of incense was abandoned until the Oxford Movement, it was common to have incense (typically frankincense) burned before grand occasions, when the church would be crowded. The frankincense was carried about by a member of the vestry before the service in a vessel called a 'perfuming pan'. In iconography of the day, this vessel is shown to be elongated and flat, with a single, long handle on one side. It is important to note that the perfuming pan was used instead of the thurible, as the latter would have likely offended the Protestant sensibilities of the 17th and 18th centuries.
The regular burning of direct combustion incense has been used for chronological measurement in incense clocks. These devices can range from a simple trail of incense material calibrated to burn in a specific time period, to elaborate and ornate instruments with bells or gongs, designed to involve and captivate several of the senses.
Incense made from materials such as citronella can repel mosquitoes and other aggravating, distracting or pestilential insects. This use has been deployed in concert with religious uses by Zen Buddhists who claim that the incense that is part of their meditative practice is designed to keep bothersome insects from distracting the practitioner. Currently, more effective pyrethroid-based mosquito repellent incense is widely available in Asia.
Papier d'Arménie was originally sold as a disinfectant as well as for the fragrance.
Incense is also used often by people who smoke indoors, and do not want the scent to linger.
AestheticMany people burn incense to appreciate its smell, without assigning any other specific significance to it, in the same way that the foregoing items can be produced or consumed solely for the contemplation or enjoyment of the refined sensory experience. This use is perhaps best exemplified in the kōdō (香道?), where (frequently costly) raw incense materials such as agarwood are appreciated in a formal setting.ReligiousUse of incense in religion is prevalent in many cultures and may have their roots in the practical and aesthetic uses considering that many religions with not much else in common all use incense. One common motif is incense as a form of sacrificial offering to a deity. Such use was common in Judaic worship and remains in use for example in the Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican churches, Taoist and Buddhist Chinese jingxiang (敬香 "offer incense [to ancestors/gods]), etc.
HEALTH
Incense smoke contains various contaminants including gaseous pollutants, such as carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and absorbed toxic pollutants (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and toxic metals). The solid particles range between ~10 and 500 nm. The emission rate decreases in the row Indian sandalwood > Japanese aloeswood > Taiwanese aloeswood > smokeless sandalwood.
Research carried out in Taiwan in 2001 linked the burning of incense sticks to the slow accumulation of potential carcinogens in a poorly ventilated environment by measuring the levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (including benzopyrene) within Buddhist temples. The study found gaseous aliphatic aldehydes, which are carcinogenic and mutagenic, in incense smoke.
A survey of risk factors for lung cancer, also conducted in Taiwan, noted an inverse association between incense burning and adenocarcinoma of the lung, though the finding was not deemed significant.
In contrast, a study by several Asian Cancer Research Centers showed: "No association was found between exposure to incense burning and respiratory symptoms like chronic cough, chronic sputum, chronic bronchitis, runny nose, wheezing, asthma, allergic rhinitis, or pneumonia among the three populations studied: i.e. primary school children, their non-smoking mothers, or a group of older non-smoking female controls. Incense burning did not affect lung cancer risk among non-smokers, but it significantly reduced risk among smokers, even after adjusting for lifetime smoking amount." However, the researchers qualified the findings by noting that incense burning in the studied population was associated with certain low-cancer-risk dietary habits, and concluded that "diet can be a significant confounder of epidemiological studies on air pollution and respiratory health."
Although several studies have not shown a link between incense and cancer of the lung, many other types of cancer have been directly linked to burning incense. A study published in 2008 in the medical journal Cancer found that incense use is associated with a statistically significant higher risk of cancers of the upper respiratory tract, with the exception of nasopharyngeal cancer. Those who used incense heavily also had higher rates of a type of cancer called squamous-cell carcinoma, which refers to tumors that arise in the cells lining the internal and external surfaces of the body. The link between incense use and increased cancer risk held when the researchers weighed other factors, including cigarette smoking, diet and drinking habits. The research team noted that "This association is consistent with a large number of studies identifying carcinogens in incense smoke, and given the widespread and sometimes involuntary exposure to smoke from burning incense, these findings carry significant public health implications."
In 2015, the South China University of Technology found toxicity of incense to Chinese hamsters ovary cells to be even higher than cigarettes.
Frankincense has been shown to cause antidepressive behavior in mice. It activated the poorly understood ion channels in the brain to alleviate anxiety and depression.
WIKIPEDIA
Two like-charged balloons hang from a common point from the ceiling. The repulsion effects cause them to hang at an angle from their usual vertical alignment. A plastic tube is charged by rubbing with synthetic fur. The plastic tube is inserted into the space between the balloons, causing even further repulsion.
To learn more about charge interactions, visit The Physics Classroom Tutorial.
A Confederate skirmish line trying to repel the Union Advance during the Battle of Resaca.
Georgia is commemorating the 150 year anniversary of the Civil War in Georgia . They will be reenacting some of the battles and will have other activities to commemorate others. Obviously they can't reenact the Battle of Atlanta. This is a reenactment of the battle of Resaca in North Georgia just below the Tennessee line which took place in mid May, 1864. The reenactment takes place on the same ground as the original battle.
Following his withdrawal from Rocky Face Ridge, Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston established a strong defensive position protecting the Western & Atlantic Railroad at Resaca, where the railroad crossed the Oostanaula River. On the 13th, Sherman's men tested the Rebel lines to pinpoint their whereabouts. Over the next two days, Sherman launched a series of attacks against Johnston's earthworks, which were largely repulsed. Confederate counterattacks by Hood's corps failed to dislodge the Yankees, who were in full force in front of the Rebel lines. On the 15th, however, a small Federal force crossed the river at Lay’s Ferry, effectively flanking Johnston out of his entrenchments and forcing the Confederates to withdraw
This was a small impediment for Sherman's troops who were on their way to the Battle of Atlanta and then their infamous march to the sea which crippled the South and was instrumental in the war's end.
By this time in the war, 1864, the Confederate Army was already a rag tag bunch with no semblance of real uniforms.
It seems there are always nooks and corners of the county in which to find churches.
Sheldwch is part of a benefice with Leaveland and Badlesmere, but before last weekend I had only visited the latter, having missed the former when planning a tour last year.
It is a fine and grand building, beside the main road. And has good parking, which is nice.
But I found it locked. Coming out of the porch I got talking to a lady about the church, and she advised me to go to see the retired priest who lived the other side of the village.
So I did.
He did better than letting me have the church key, he came to open it for me.
I talked to the lady for about half an hour, about churches and orchids, and to the priest for another 15 minutes. So in all, this visit took nearly two hours.
A very pleasant way to spend a morning though.
The priest showed me the two fabulous brasses, hidden away under some old carpet and a collection of hand sweepers. Well worth the effort of seing them.
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Sheldwich is a village and civil parish in the Swale District of Kent, see Sheldwich Wikipedia
Sheldwich St James is an Ancient Parish in the Diocese of Canterbury and includes the settlements of North Street, Sheldwich Lees and the hamlet of Gosmere. The parish is part of the Selling with Throwley Sheldwich with Badlesmere group of churches.
The church dates from the 12th century and was extended in the 14th century with the tower added in the 15th century. It was restored in 1888 and a porch added in 1899.
The church of St James Sheldwich has been designated a grade II* listed building by English Heritage, British listed building.
www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Sheldwich,_Kent_Genealogy
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SHELDWICH
THE next parish northward from Badlesmere is Sheldwich, which is written in antient charters, Schyldwic.
The high road from Faversham to Ashford leads through this parish, from the former of which it is distant between five and six miles, it lies mostly on high and even ground, to which the land rises from the London road, in rather a pleasant and healthy country, the greatest part of it on a chalky soil, having much poor land in it, and that covered with slints, though in the northern part of it, where the chalk prevails less, there is some tolerable fertile land; in the eastern part, where the hill rises, there is much rough ground, and adjoining woodland. The church stands close to the Ashford road, along which the houses are dispersed, as they are in that leading to Sheldwich lees, and round it mostly neat chearful dwellings. The Lees, which is about a quarter of a mile distance on the left side of the Ashford road, has a pleasant look from the trees planted on it, leading to Leescourt, at the further part of it, not unpleasantly situated, for though the fine front of it faces the east, with no great prospect, except towards a rough and barren hill, which rises at no great distance, yet towards the north and north-east it has a beautiful view over its own planted grounds, towards a wide extent of fertile country, and the channel beyond it. At the boundary of the parish, next to Badlesmere, on the Ashford road, is the manor house of Lords, which has been modernized and made a neat genteel residence by the present possessor of it.
There is yearly a running match on Sheldwich lees, which first took its rise from the will of Sir Dudley Diggs, in 1638, who left by it twenty pounds, to be paid yearly out of the rent of Selgrave manor, to two young men and two maids, who on May 19, should run a tye at Old Wives lees, in Chilham, and prevail. In pursuance of which the two young men and maids run at Old Wives lees yearly, on the Ist of May, and the same number at Sheldwich lees on the Monday following each by way of trial, and the two of each sex which prevail at each of those places, run for the ten pounds at Old Wives lees as above-mentioned, on the 19th of May. (fn. 1)
MR. JACOB, in his Plantæ Faver Shamienses, notices several scarce plants in this parish, to which the reader is referred.
THIS PLACE was given by the name of Schyldwic, in 784 by Alcmund, king of Kent, to Wetrede, abbot, and the convent of Raculf Cestre, or Reculver, as twelve plough-lands, with all its appurtenances, free from all secular service and all regal tribute, excepting the repelling of invasions, and the repairing of bridges and castles.
This monastery seems in 949 to have been annexed to Christ-church, in Canterbury, by king Edred; but this estate of Sheldwich does not appear ever to have come into the possession of the latter, no notice being taken of it in any of the charters or records relating to it, nor have I seen how it passed afterwards, till the time of its becoming the property of the family of Atte-Lese, in the reign of Edward I. when this estate, which seems to have comprehended the manor of Sheldwich, became the property of that family which, from their residence at the Lees here, had assumed the name of At-Lese, their mansion here being called Lees-court, a name which this manor itself soon afterwards adopted, being called THE MANOR OF LEESCOURT, alias SHELDWICH. Sampson Ate-Lese was possessed of it in the 27th year of the above reign, and bore for his arms, Gules, a cross-croslet, ermine. His son, of the same name, left several children and Lora his wife surviving, who afterwards married Reginald de Dike, who in her right resided at Lees-court, where he kept his shrievalty in the 29th year of king Edward III.'s reign.
Sir Richard At-Lese, the eldest son, at length succeeded to this manor, and resided at Lees-court. He served in parliament for this county in the 40th year of that reign, and the next year was sheriff of it. He died in 1394, anno 18 Richard II. and was buried, with Dionisia his wife, in the north chancel of Sheldwich church, where their essigies and inscription in brass still remain. He died s. p. and by his will gave his manor of Lese, among others, to John, son of Richard Dane, and his heirs male, remainder to the heirs male of Lucy his niece, one of the daughters and coheirs of his brother Marcellus At-Lese, then the wife of John Norton, esq. the other daughter Cecilia married Valentine Barrett.
By the above will, this manor at length came into the possession of their son William Norton, esq. who resided both at Lees-court and at Faversham, where he died in the 9th year of king Edward IV. and was buried in the church of Faversham, leaving two sons, Reginald, who by his will became his heir to this manor, and Richard, who was likewise of Sheldwich, and dying anno 1500, was buried in Faversham church. (fn. 2) Reginald, the eldest son, of Lees-court, left two sons, John, who succeeded him in this manor, and William, who was of Faversham, and ancestor to the Nortons, of Fordwich. Sir John Norton, the eldest son, lived in the reign of Henry VIII. and resided at first at Lees-court, but marrying Joane, one of the daughters and coheirs of John Northwood, esq. of Northwood, in Milton, he removed thither, whose grandson Sir Thomas Norton, of Northwood, about the reign of king James I. alienated this manor to Sir Richard Sondes, of Throwley, whose son Sir George Sondes, K. B. succeeding him in it, pulled down great part of the old mansion of Lees-court, soon after the death of king Charles I. and completed the present mansion of Lees-court, the front of which is built after a design of Inigo Jones, to which he afterwards removed from the antient mansion of his family at Throwley.
He was a man of great power and estate in this county, being a deputy-lieutenant, and sheriff in the 13th year of Charles I. in which year the difficult business of ship-money was agitated, in the levying of which he conducted himself with such justice and moderation, as gained him much reputation and esteem of the gentry. (fn. 3) Being a man strictly loyal in his principles, he underwent during the unsurpation much persecutation, as well in regard to his person as estates, all which may be learned from the Narrative which he printed in 1655, on the death of his two sons, which is rather an apology for his own conduct on some accusations of immorality, brought against him by the fanatic ministers of those times in it, says, he had three fair houses in his own hands, all well furnished, and at least 2000l. per annum about them, his lands all well stocked; that he had at least one hundred head of great cattle, half an hundred horses, some of them worth 40 or 50l. a piece, besides five hundred sheep and other stock, about 1000 quarters of wheat and malt in his garners, and ten barnes, none of the least, all full of good corn, and great quantities of flax and hops; that as to his housekeeping, his house was open at all times to rich and poor, twenty poor people at least were relieved in it weekly, the lowest proportion in his house, whether he was there or not, was every week a bullock of about fifty stone, a quarter of wheat, and a quarter of malt for drink, which made about a barrel a day for his household; that he had employed for near thirty years labourers and workmen continually, to the amount of at least 1000l. a year.
He says, that in the time of the troubles he had been injured in his goods and estates near 40,000l. in value, all that he had as above-described having been seized and taken at one time, together with his plate and jewels, and the rents and profits of his estates for seven years together, during the two first years of which neither himself nor his children had any thing out of them, and at last to prevent his estates being sold he was forced to compound for them, by paying the sum of 3500l. for his delinquency; besides which, he sussered much in his person, being imprisoned for several years, at first on shipboard, and afterwards, with many other royalists, in Uppor castle, near Rochester.
After the restortation, he was, in recompence of his former sufferings for the royal cause, created by king Charles II. in his 28th year, anno 1676, earl of Faversham, viscount Sondes, of Lees-court, and baron of Throwley, for his life, with remainder to his sonin-law Lewis, lord Duras, and his heirs male, the year after which he died at Lees-court, and was buried in the family vault in the south chancel of Throwley church. Sir George Sondes had been twice married; first to Jane, daughter and heir of Sir. Ralph Freeman, of Aspeden, in Hertfordshire, lord mayor of London anno 9 king Charles I. by whom he had two sons, George and Freeman, who were both in 1655, whilst youths, cut off by untimely deaths, the youngest murdering the eldest whilst asleep in his bed in this house, for which horrid deed he was tried at the assizes then holding at Maidstone, and being convicted, was executed for the crime at Pennendenheath on the day fortnight afterwards, and interred in the neighbouring church of Bersted. (fn. 4)
Sir George Sondes married secondly Mary, daughter of Sir William Villars, bart. of Brokesby, by whom he had two daughters, who became his coheirs, of whom Mary, the eldest, married Lewis de Duras, marquis of Blanquefort, in France, and baron of Holdenby, in this kingdom, and Catherine, the youngest, married the hon. Lewis Watson, afterwards on his father's death, lord, and then earl of Rockingham.
On Sir George Sondes's death, this manor, with the rest of his estates in this county, descended to Lewis, lord Duras, in right of his wife Mary. He had been naturalized by parliament in 1664, and created in 1672 baron Duras, of Holdenby, in Northamptonshire. He bore for his arms, quarterly, first and fourth, Argent, a lion rampant, gules; second and third, Argent, a bend, azure. On the death of his father-in-law without male issue, he succeeded, by limitation of the patent, to the title of earl of Faversham. In the 1st year of James II. he was elected a knight of the garter, and in 1688 made general of the king's forces, in which post he continued at the revolution. He survived his wife some years, and died in 1709, s. p. and possessed of this manor, for on his wife the countes's death who died in 1687, the house of lords had adjudged the estates of the Sondes's to her surviving husband, the earl of Faversham, though she had never been with child. The late Daniel, earl of Winchelsea, a man as wife and experienced as most of his time, used to affirm, that there were but two instances on the journals of that house, which could cast the least imputation on the honor of it, and that this was one of them. Upon which this manor, with Lees-court, and the rest of the estates in this county, late belonging to Sir George Sondes, became the property of Lewis, lord Rockingham, by virtue of the limitation made of them on his second daughter Catherine, on failure of issue by his first daughter Mary, which Catherine was afterwards married to lord Rockingham, but had deceased in 1695 as above-mentioned. The family of Watson was originally of Cambridgeshire, a branch of which settled at the latter end of king Henry the VIIIth's reign, at Rockinghamcastle, in Northamptonshire. Sir Lewis Watson, of Rockingham-castle, was created a baronet anno 19 James I. and afterwards, for his loyalty and services to the king in his troubles, was created lord Rockingham, anno 20 Charles I. By his second wife Eleanor, sister of George, earl of Rutland, he left one son Edward, and six daughters; which Edward, lord Rockingham, married Anne, eldest daughter of Thomas Wentworth, earl of Stafford, and died in 1691. By her he had four sons and four daughters; of the former, Lewis was created earl of Rockingham, and married Catherine, youngest daughter of Sir George Sondes, as above-mentioned; Thomas was heir to his uncle William, earl of Strafford, by his will, in pursuance of which he assumed the name and arms of Wentworth, whose son was created earl of Malton, and afterwards marquis of Rockingham, the two other sons died young.
Lewis, lord Rockingham, resided afterwards at Lees-court, in 1705 he was made lord-lieutenant and custos rotulorum of this county; and on king George's accession he was in 1714, created earl of Rockingham, viscount Sondes, of Lees-court, and baron of Throwley. He died in 1724, and was buried at Rockingham, having had two sons, Edward and George, the latter of whom died s. p. and four daughters; of the latter, Mary married Wrey Sanderson, of Lincolnshire, grandson and heir apparent of viscount Castleton; Anne died young; Arabella married Sir Robert Furnese, bart. and Margaret in 1725 John, lord Monson, ancestor of the present Lewis-Thomas, lord Sondes, as will be further mentioned hereafter.
Of the sons, Edward, viscount Sondes, the eldest, died in 1721, in his father's life-time, and was buried in Throwley church, having married in 1708 Catherine, the eldest of the five daughters and coheirs of Thomas Tuston, earl of Thanet, by whom he left three sons, and a daughter Catherine, married in 1729 to Edward Southwell, esq. of Kings Weston, in Gloucestershire.
Lewis, the eldest son, succeeded his grandfather in the possession of his estates and as second earl of Rockingham, and in 1737 was made lord-lieutenant and custos rotulorum of this county. He died in December, 1745, having married in 1736 Catherine, daughter of Sir Robert Furnese, bart. of Waldershare, afterwards remarried in 1751 to Francis, earl of Guildford, by whom he had no issue, upon which this manor, among the rest of his intailed estates, descended to his next and only surviving brother Thomas, (Edward the youngest having died before unmarried) who became the third earl of Rockingham, and succeeded his brother likewise as lord-lieutenant and custos rotulorum of this county. He enjoyed his honors but a short time, for he died in the February following, 1746, unmarried, upon which the title of earl, &c. became extinct, and the barony of Rockingham descended to his kinsman Thomas Watson Wentworth, earl of Malton, afterwards created Marquis of Rockingham.
But this manor, with the seat of Lees-court, and the rest of his estates in this county and elsewhere, were devised by him to his first cousin Lewis Monson, second son of John, lord Monson, by Margaret his wife, youngest daughter of Lewis, first earl of Rockingham, and aunt to earl Thomas above-mentioned, whom he enjoined to take on him the surname, and use the arms of Watson.
The family of Monson, or Munson, as they were antiently written, were seated in the county of Lincoln as early as the reign of king Edward III. when they were denominated of East Reson, in that county, soon after which they were seated at South Carlton, near Lincoln, in which church there are several memorials of them. A younger son of this family was Sir William Monson, an admiral of the English navy in the reigns of queen Elizabeth and king James I. a man of untainted reputation for conduct and bravery, who lived till the year 1642, but his issue is extinct in the male line. He compiled large Tracts on Naval Affairs, in six books, which are published in a collection of voyages, printed in 1703 and 1745.
At length the principal line of this family, of whom several had been from time to time knighted, and had served in different parliaments, descended down to Sir Thomas, eldest surviving son and heir to Sir John Monson, and brother of the admiral above-mentioned, who was created a baronet in 1611, and had the character of a person of fine breeding and a most accomplished gentleman. He died in 1641, and was buried with his ancestors at South Carlton, having married Margaret, daughter of Sir Edmund Anderson, chief justice of the common pleas, by whom he had issue four sons and three daughters; of the former, Sir John Monson, bart. the eldest son, became in 1645 possessed of Burton, in Lincolnshire, which became the family residence of his descendants; one of whom, Sir John Monson, K. B. was in 1728, anno 1 George II. created lord Monson, and afterwards made a privy counsellor. He died in 1748, having married the lady Margaret Watson, youngest daughter of Lewis, first earl of Rockingham, who survived him, and dying in 1752, was buried beside her husband, at South Carlton, in Lincolnshire. They left three sons, John, who succeeded him as lord Monson; Lewis, possessor of Lees manor and court, created lord Sondes, as before-mentioned; and George, who was a general in the army, and died some years since in the East-Indies. (fn. 5)
Lewis Monson Watson, before-mentioned, thus becoming possessed of this manor and seat, was in 1754 chosen to represent this county in parliament, in which year he was appointed one of the auditors of the imprest, and by letters patent, bearing date May 20, 1760, anno 33 George II. was created Lord Sondes, baron of Lees-court, to him and his heirs male. In 1752 he married Grace, second surviving daughter of the hon. Henry Pelham, who died in 1777, by whom he had four sons, Lewis-Thomas, born in 1754; Henry now in the army; Charles, who died young; and George, in holy orders. Lord Sondes died in 1795, having before his death settled this manor and seat on his eldest son the hon. Lewis-Thomas Watson, who afterwards resided here, and in 1785 married Mary, only daughter and heir of Richard Milles, esq. of Nackington, by whom he has several children. On his father's death he succeeded to the title of lord Sondes, being the present possessor of this manor and seat, at which he resides. He bears for his arms, quarterly, first and fourth, Watson, argent, on a chevron engrailed, azure, between three martlets, sable, as many crescents, or; second and third, Monson, or, two chevrons, gules.
For his supporters, on the dexter side, a griffin, argent, gorged with a ducal coronet, or; on the smister, a bear, proper, gorged with a belt, buckled, with strap pendent, argent, charged with two crescents, or. For his crest, A griffin's head erased, argent, gorged as the dexter supporter above-mentioned.
COPESHAM SOLE, alias COPSHOLE FARM, is an estate in this parish, which remained for several centuries in the possession of the family of Belk, written originally Bielke, and descended out of Sweden, who bore for their arms, Gules, a chevron between three leopards faces, argent. Stephen de Belk is mentioned in the Testa de Nevil, as having paid respective aid for land in this part of Kent at the marriage of Isabel, sister to king Henry III. in the 20th year of that reign. Valentine and John Belk were of Sheldwich in the reign of queen Elizabeth, in the 9th year of which they purchased of Edward Livesey several parcels of land in this parish and Selling.
John, the eldest son of Valentine Belk, gent. resided at Sheldwich, and died possessed of this estate in 1633, and was buried in the great chancel of this church. His son William Belk, D. D. was prebendary of Canterbury, and dying in 1676, was buried in that cathedral, leaving by Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Sir Thomas Hardres, a son Thomas Belk, D. D. who succeeded his father in that dignity, and married in 1677 Anne, daughter of Sir Henry Oxenden. He died in 1712, and was buried near his father, having by his will devised this estate to his neice May, daughter of his brother Mr. Anthony Belk, auditor to the chapter of that church. She in 1713 married Mr. Bryan Bentham, gent. of Chatham, whose sons Edward and Bryan afterwards became possessed of it under their mother's marriage settlement; Edward in 1752 conveyed his moiety to his brother Bryan, and he by his will in 1767 devised the whole of it to his brother Edward for life, remainder to his nephew, son of Edward-William Bentham, who alienated it, with Southouse lands in this parish likewise, in 1775, to Lewis, lord Sondes, whose son the right hon. Lewis-Thomas is the present possessor of it.
LORDS is a manor situated about a mile southward of Sheldwich church, on the Ashford high road, which had formerly owners of that name, in which it continued till Richard II. when it was come into the possession of Giles, a family who bore for their arms, Per pale, azure and gules, a griffin passant, or; one of whom, in the preceding reign, had been steward to the abbot of Lesnes, in which name this manor continued till the year 1678, when Christian Giles, marrying Mr. Thomas Hilton, gent. of Sheldwich, entitled him to it. He was the son of Mr. Thomas Hilton, gent. of Faversham, at which place his ancestors had been for some generations, as appears by the parish register, before which they resided at Throwley, in the register of which they are likewise mentioned, almost at the beginning of it in 1558, being the last year of queen Mary's reign. He afterwards resided here, and was succeeded in it by his son Mr. Giles Hilton, gent. who in 1702 married Elizabeth, daughter of Mr. John Law, by whom he had three sons and three daughters; of the former, John succeeded him in this manor; William was of Faversham, and married Mary Oldfield, by whom he had no issue; and Robert was of Selling, and left by his wife Elizabeth Chambers, of the same place, two sons, Thomas Gibbs Hilton, of Selling, who married Anne, daughter of Mr. Stephen Jones, of Faversham, by whom he has seven sons, and John, who married Eleanor, daughter of Mr. John Cobb, of Sheldwich, and two daughters, Elizabeth-Farewell and Christian. Mr. John Hilton, the eldest son, resided at Lords, where he died unmarried in 1780, being much noted for his generous housekeeping and old English hospitality. By his will he gave this manor to his brother Mr. Robert Hilton, for life, remainder in tail to his nephew Mr. John Hilton, second son of his brother above-mentioned, which Mr. John Hilton, since his father's death in 1782, is become the possessor of it, and now resides in it.
SELGRAVE, now usually called Selgrove, is a manor situated both in this parish and in that of Preston, but it has of long time been separated into moieties, and has become two distinct manors, of which that lying within this parish, at the north-east boundary of it, was formerly the property of the family of St. Nicholas, one of whom, Laurence St. Nicholas, paid aid for it in the 20th year of Edward III. being then held of the honor of Gloucester. After which it seems to have come into the possession of Roger Norwood, of Northwood, in Milton, in whose descendants it remained for several generations, and till it came at length by one of the two sisters and coheirs of John Northwood, in marriage to John Barley, esq. of Hertfordshire, from one of which name it was alienated to Clive, of Copton, in the adjoining parish of Preston. Soon after which, this manor seems to have come into the hands of the crown, and king Charles I. in his 7th year, granted it to Sir Edward Hales, knight and baronet, of Tunstall, in fee, who soon afterwards conveyed it to Sir Dudley Diggs, of Chilham-castle, who died possessed of it in 1638, and by a codicil to his will devised the sum of twenty pounds yearly for a running match at Old Wives lees, in Chilham, to be paid out of the profits of the lands of that part of this manor, which had escheated to him after the death of lady Clive, and by purchase from Sir Christopher Clive, these lands being in three pieces, lay in the parishes of Preston and Faversham, and contain about forty acres, and are commonly called the running lands. After Sir Dudley Diggs's death the manor of Selgrave descended to his two sons, Thomas and John Diggs, esqrs. who about 1641 alienated it to Sir George Sondes, K. B. since which it has descended, in like manner as Lees-court, in this parish, described before, to the right hon. Lewis Thomas, lord Sondes, the present owner of it.
A borsholder is chosen yearly for this part of the manor of Selgrave, by the name of the borsholder of the borough of Selgrave, at the court leet holden for the hundred and manor of Faversham.
The sheerway, called Portway, alias Porters, alias Selgrave-lane, leading from Copton to Whitehill, in Ospringe, seems to separate this moiety of the manor from the other.
HUNTINGFIELD is a small court held in this parish, which seems to be an appendage to the manor of that name in Easling, and to have continued with it part of the possessions of the free chapel or college of St. Stephen, in Westminster, till its dissolution in the 1st year of Edward VI. since which it has continued in the like chain of ownership as that in Easling, to the family of Grove, of Tunstall, in which it continued down to Richard Grove, esq. of London, who at his death in 1792 s. p. devised it by his will to William Jemmet, gent. of Ashford, and William Marshall, of London, who are the present possessors of it.
THE MANOR OF LITTLES, antiently called Lydles, which is situated in the north-west part of this parish, and in those of Throwley and Preston adjoining, was formerly owned by the family of At-Lese, one of whom, Richard At-Lese, possessed it, as appears by the chartulary of Knolton manor in the 49th year of king Edward III. How long it continued in his descendants I have not found, but in much later times it came into the possession of the Chapmans, of Molash, from which it was alienated, with other estates in this neighbourhood, by Edward, Thomas, and James Chapman, to Christopher Vane, lord Barnard, who died in 1723, leaving two sons, Gilbert, who succeeded him in title and in his estates in the North of England, and William, who possessed his father's seat of Fairlawn, and the rest of his estates in this county, having been in his father's life-time created viscount Vane, of the kingdom of Ireland. He left an only son William, viscount Vane, who dying in 1789 s. p. gave it by his will to David Papillion, esq. of Acrise, who is the present owner of it. (fn. 6)
SHEPHERDS FORSTAL is an estate in the north-east part of this parish, which takes its name from the green or fostal of that name near which it is situated, and was for many descents in the possession of the family of Ruck, one of whom lies buried at Rye, and was a person of some note in the reign of Henry VIII. being bow-bearer to that prince, and bore for his coat armour, as appears by his grave-stone, Sable, a plain cross, argent, between four fleurs de lis, or. The last of this name, who possessed this estate, was Nicholas Ruck, who about the latter end of queen Elizabeth's reign dying s. p. gave it to his nephew Mr. Nicholas Oliver, who soon after the death of Charles I. passed it away, with other estates in the adjoining parishes of Selling, to the president and fellows of Corpus Christi college, in Oxford, in whom it still continues vested.
A BRANCH of the FAMILY OF SOUTHOUSE, of Selling, resided for some generations in this parish. Robert, son of Henry Southouse, of Selling, by his will in 1475, anno 16 Edward IV. devised it to John his son his tenement in Sheldwich, remainder to his son Robert; in after times, Henry, son of Henry Southouse, of this parish, died in 1705, and was succeeded in his estates here by his eldest son Henry, who died in 1720, leaving one son and four daughters; several of this name, descendants of this branch of the family, yet remain in these parts. Part of their lands called Southouse, came afterwards into the possession of Mr. John Hilton, of Lords, who sold them to Lewis, lord Sondes, whose son the right hon. Lewis-Thomas, lord Sondes, is the present possessor of them. Another parcel of them, called Southouse-lands, came into the hands of the owners of Copersole farm, in this parish, and were owned with it by Mr. Brian Bentham, whose grandson Edward William Bentham, in 1775, passed them away to Lewis, lord Sondes, whose son the right hon. LewisThomas, lord Sondes, is the present possessor of them.
Charities.
THERE is the sum of 40s. a year, payable on St. Barnabas's day, out of a farm called Bellhorn, in Throwley, towards the relief of the poor of this parish, the donor of which is unknown.
SHELDWICH is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Ospringe.
The church, which is dedicated to St. James, is a handsome building, consisting of one isle and one chancel, with a chapel in the middle of the south side of the isle, and a small chapel on the north side of the chancel. The steeple, which is a tower, stands at the west end, having a beacon-tower on the top, on which is a small leaden spire and vane. There are four bells in it. In the south chancel are two arches in the south wall, which seem to have been for tombs. On the pavament is a brass plate, with the figures, for John Cely and Isabel his wife; he died in 1429; there is only one part of a coat of arms left, being a coat full of eyes, impaling a coat gone. In the isle are memorials for Southouse, and in the great chancel for Belk, and one with a brass plate, having the figure in brass for Joane, once wife of William Marrys, obt. 1431, under her a coat nebulee, and at one corner a coat per pale, and fess, indented. In the north-east chancel, a stone with the figures in brass, with a lion under his feet, for Sir Richard Atte-Lese, and Dionisia his wife; he died in 1394. Near it is a large stone, with very old French capitals round the edge of it, but mostly obliterated. The coat of arms of Atte-Lees is in several places of the north windows of the isle, and there were formerly in the windows of this church several other shields of arms, all which have been defaced.
The church of Sheldwich, or Cheldwich, as it was antiently written, was once accounted only as a chapel to the church of Faversham, as an appendage to which it was given, with it, by William the Conqueror in his 5th year, to the abbey of St. Augustine, and was included in the several confirmations made afterwards of that church to the abbey. When this chapel became an independent church, I have not seen, but it was certainly before the 8th year of Richard II. when it was rated as a distinct vicarage, to the tenth and the parsonage of it, was become appropriated to the abovementioned abbey, to which the patronage of the vicarage likewise belonged. In which state this church continued till the general suppression of religious houses, when it came with the rest of the possessions of the abbey, anno 30 king Henry VIII. into the hands of the crown; after which, the king, by his dotation charter, in his 33d year, settled both the church appropriate of Sheldwich, and the advowson of the vicarage, among other premises, on his new-founded dean and chapter of Canterbury, with whom the inheritance of the parsonage remains, the present lessee being the right hon. lord Sondes; but the advowson of the vicarage the dean and chapter retain in their own hands, and are the present patrons of it.
It appears by the endowment of the vicarage of Faversham, in 1305, that the vicar of that parish was entitled to all manner of oblations to be made by the thirteen inhabitants of certain tenements in the hamlet of Schelwych, in the chapel of that hamlet annexed to the above-mentioned church, and to be made within the tithing of Schelwych parish, the names of which tenements have been already specifically named before, under the description of the church of Faversham, to which the reader is referred.
¶It is a vicarage of the clear yearly certified value of forty pounds, the yearly tenths of which are 13s. 8d. In 1587 the communicants here were 120; in 1640 it was valued at forty pounds, communicants 160. The vicar receives an annual payment of five pounds, from the dean and chapter of Canterbury, in augmentation of his vicarage. It is exempt from the payment of procurations to the archdeacon.
Cadets repel from the blackhawk helicopter 14 June 2018 by the Hudson River at the United States Military Academy West Point.
U.S. Army photo by Michael Lopez
Cadets learn from Air Assault School instructors in how to repel from a repelling tower as they are critiqued at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on June 6, 2018. In order to get their Air Assault badge, every summer Cadets go through Air Assault School learning first to repel from a high tower then from a helicopter. (U.S. Army photo by Bryan Ilyankoff)
Naval Air Station Fallon traces its origins to 1942, when the Civil Aviation Administration and the Army Air Corps began construction of four airfields in the Nevada desert. As part of the Western Defense Program, initiated to repel an expected Japanese attack on the west coast, runways and lighting systems were built in Winnemucca, Minden, Lovelock and Fallon.
As the war in the Pacific developed, the Navy recognized a need to train its pilots in a realistic environment using all the tactics and weapons currently being developed. Fallon was the Navy's choice. In 1943, the Navy assumed control of the two 5,200 foot runways. Construction soon began on barracks, hangars, air traffic control facilities and target ranges. On June 10, 1944, Naval Auxiliary Air Station Fallon was commissioned. Training operations reached a peak in the summer of 1945 when an average of 21,000 take-offs and landings were recorded and more than 12,000 flight hours logged at the station. Ironically, just as construction of the initial airfield project was completed and the training program was going full gear, the Japanese surrendered and brought an untimely end to N.A.A.S. Fallon. Eight months after the completion of a new 24-unit housing project, five months after a new gym was built and only three months following the opening of a new Commissary, N.A.A.S. Fallon was placed in a "reduced operation status." One month later, on Feb. 1, 1946, the facility was further reduced to a "maintenance status." On June 1, 1946 it was in a "caretaker status" and the official designation of Naval Auxiliary Air Station removed.
For the next five years, the Bureau of Indian Services used the facility. Buildings once used by pilots to prepare to meet the challenge from the deck of a pitching aircraft carrier disappeared. The swimming pool, once the scene of Sailors attempting to escape the Nevada summer heat, became a home for pigs.
The Korean conflict brought new life to the small desert installation. Once again, the Navy found reason to train pilots in the new sophisticated jet aircraft. In 1951, Fallon became an Auxiliary Landing Field for N.A.S. Alameda Calif. On Oct. 1, 1953, N.A.A.S. Fallon was reestablished by order of the Secretary of the Navy. The present day bombing ranges, Bravo 16, 17 and 19, were also created that year.
Over the next 30 years the Fallon air station grew to become one of the premier training sites for Navy and Marine Corps pilots and ground crews. New hangars, ramps, housing and other facilities sprang up to give the installation new and greater capabilities.
The airfield became known as Van Voorhis Field in 1958, named after Lt. Commander Bruce A. Van Voorhis, a Fallon native who received the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously for service in the South Pacific during World War II.
The airfield's most sophisticated range, the electronic warfare range, was established in 1967.
On Jan. 1, 1972, the Navy recognized Fallon's importance to naval aviation by upgrading the base to a major aviation command, and thus, Naval Air Station Fallon was commissioned.
During the 1980s the air station experienced dramatic growth, as a state-of-the-art air traffic control facility and new hangars were constructed. In response to challenges faced by deployed air wings in conducting contingency strike operations from aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean Sea into Lebanon, the Navy constructed a new training center. In 1984, the Naval Strike Warfare Center was established to be the primary authority for integrated strike warfare tactical development and training. It quickly became the "graduate level" training evolution that air wings go through during their inter-deployment training cycle: after completing the four week training course in Fallon, an air wing was ready for combat anywhere in the world.
In 1985, Fallon received a new tool to aid in its aircrews training: the Tactical Aircrew Combat Training System or TACTS. This system provides squadrons, carrier air wings and students from the Naval Strike Warfare Center with visual, graphic displays of their missions eliminating guess work. Strike Fighter Squadron 127, the "Desert Bogeys" aggressors moved to N.A.S. Fallon in 1987, becoming the air station's only permanently based squadron.
During the 1990s the base continued to expand its role as the pinnacle of Naval Aviation tactical training. A new hangar, ramp and academic building were built in 1995 to accommodate the arrival of Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN) and Carrier Airborne Early Warning Weapons School (Top Dome) from San Diego to Fallon in early 1996.
In July 1996, The Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center (NSAWC) was commissioned, combining the functions of TOPGUN, the Carrier Airborne Early Warning Weapons School and the Naval Strike Warfare Center into one command under a two-star admiral. The training center has continued to instruct all aspects of tactical integrated air warfare, including air wing training detachments, TOPGUN classes, E-2 Hawkeye mission commander courses, as well as developing advancements in tactics and procedures.
CBMU 303, a Seabee construction maintenance unit, also relocated to Fallon in 1996. Known as the "Fighting Saints," Fighter Composite Squadron Thirteen (VFC-13), replaced VFA-127 as the adversary squadron at Fallon, taking over the duties of the disestablishing Desert Bogeys in flying F-5 Tiger IIs that same year.
NAS Fallon moved into the twenty first century with a continued commitment to Naval Aviation. From the formulation of the Navy's first "Encroachment Action Plan" to the holding of the first Operational Assurance Forum, NAS Fallon has been in the forefront of preserving the existing training areas while planning to meet future requirements. These long range visions together with the current combination of the base's facilities, the air space available for training over Northern Nevada and the unsurpassed air-to-ground and electronic warfare ranges make NAS Fallon integral to keeping America's Naval Forces trained and ready now and into the future.
VAN VOORHIS FIELD
A Legacy of Honor
Naval Air Station Fallon is known among the locals simply as 'the base,' and few are familiar with the airfield's real name or the man for whom the field is named. In fact, the airfield represents a memorial to a WWII naval aviation hero and recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor. Lieutenant Commander Bruce Avery Van Voorhis, the airfield's namesake, was born in Aberdeen, Wash., on Jan. 29, 1908. Shortly thereafter he moved with his family to Fallon, Nev., where he spent his childhood. His father served as the Indian Service Representative at Stillwater. Van Voorhis attended school at the Oats Park Grade School and later graduated from Churchill County High School in 1924 where his classmates also knew him as "Clint."
He was a 1929 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis and earned his pilot wings in 1931. Van Voorhis served with numerous aviation units stateside and overseas. He reported for duty to Bombing Squadron 102 as Plane Commander of a PB4Y-1 at the height of conflict in the Pacific during WWII.
Van Voorhis died on July 6, 1943, near Hare Island of the Kapingamarangi Atoll in the southernmost area of the Eastern Carolina Islands in the Western Pacific. After a 700-mile flight alone, he launched successive bombing and strafing attacks on Japanese ground installations, destroying a radio station, anti-aircraft emplacement and at least four enemy aircraft in the air and on the water in six successive ground level attacks. He was caught in his own bomb blast and crashed into a lagoon, ending his heroic, single-handed strike.
The Air Station was dedicated in his name on Nov. 1, 1959. At that time the 14,000-foot runway was one of the longest in the world and remains the longest in the Navy. In 1956, 13 years after Van Voorhis' death, a destroyer escort was launched bearing his name (DD-1028) from the shipyard in Camden, N.J. The ship was in service throughout the world for 17 years, including participation in the naval blockade of Cuba in 1962, before being decommissioned in 1972. In 1982, then Governor of Nevada, Robert List, issued a proclamation designating May 31 as LCDR Bruce Avery Van Voorhis Day in the state of Nevada.
As the names of a new generation of heroes is written in the history books, Americans can look back gratefully at the heritage left by those who came before and know that this country is no stranger to the cost of freedom. The list of those willing to fight, and die, to pay that price is long and continues through every chapter of America's history. Among that list of names is Nevada's own LCDR Bruce Avery Van Voorhis.
"GO NAVY"
Inflate two balloons and hang them from a common point on the ceiling by string. Rub both balloons against your head hair to charge them in like manner. The balloons are charged with like charge as one another. Move away from the balloons and observe the noticeably large repulsions between the two like-charged balloons. This demonstrates the repulsions of two like-charged objects.
To learn more about charge interactions, visit The Physics Classroom Tutorial.
"PermaNet is a long-lasting, insecticide-treated mosquito net commonly used in Africa by people who live among malarial mosquitoes. The net kills or repels mosquitoes for up to four years—up to five times longer than other normal treated nets—without losing effectiveness, even after twenty washes. Low re-treatment rates represent the biggest challenge in the fight against malaria, the infectious disease that kills more children than any other illness in Africa. Malaria’s kills millions each year, helping to make economic growth in countries with high malaria transmission historically lower than in countries without malaria."
other90.cooperhewitt.org/Design/permanet
"Design for the Other 90%
February 17 – May 29, 2009
Of the world’s 6.5 billion people, 90 percent have little or no access to most of the products and services many of us take for granted. In fact, nearly half do not have reliable access to food, clean water, healthcare, education, affordable transportation, or shelter. The exhibition Design for the Other 90% features more than 30 projects that reflect a growing movement among designers, engineers, and social entrepreneurs to create low-cost solutions for everyday problems. Through local and global partnerships, individuals and organizations are finding unique ways to address the basic challenges of survival and progress faced by the world’s poor.
Design for the Other 90% showcases designs that incorporate new and traditional materials, and abandoned and emerging technologies to solve myriad problems—from cleaner-burning sugarcane charcoal to a solar-rechargeable battery for a hearing aid, from a portable water-purification straw to a low-cost laptop. By understanding the available resources and tools as well as the lives and needs of their potential users, these designers create simple, pragmatic objects and ingenious, adaptive systems that can help transform lives and communities.
FIND OUT MORE
Watch a video blog.cooperhewitt.org/2007/05/14/in-their-own-words about the exhibition and discuss the designs in the exhibition.
Visit the exhibition web site other90.cooperhewitt.org/ to learn more about the designs on view."
Cadets learn from Air Assault School instructors in how to repel from a repelling tower as they are critiqued at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on June 6, 2018. In order to get their Air Assault badge, every summer Cadets go through Air Assault School learning first to repel from a high tower then from a helicopter. (U.S. Army photo by Bryan Ilyankoff)
Title: Repelling Pickett's charge on right of Bloody Angle.
Creator: Phillipoteaux, Paul Dominique, 1846-1923 (artist)
Date: ca. 1883
Part Of: Collection of Civil War era stereographs
Physical Description: 1 photographic print on stereo card: stereograph, albumen; 11 x 18 cm.
File: ag1982_0145_026_r_opt.jpg
Rights: Please cite DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University when using this file. A high-resolution version of this file may be obtained for a fee. For details see the sites.smu.edu/cul/degolyer/research/permissions/ web page. For other information, contact degolyer@smu.edu.
For more information and to view the image in high resolution, see: digitalcollections.smu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/civ/id/384/
View the Civil War: Photographs, Manuscripts, and Imprints Collection
Cadets repel from the blackhawk helicopter 14 June 2018 by the Hudson River at the United States Military Academy West Point.
U.S. Army photo by Michael Lopez
Cadets, Staff, and Soldiers conducted aircraft repelling operations utilizing two UH-60 Blackhawks in support of the Air Assault training, July 1, 2023, at West Point, N.Y. Canidates are trained in Air Assault operations, sling-load operations, and rappelling. Upon graduation of the course each Soldier will be able to perform skills required to make maximum use of helicopter assets in training and in combat to support their unit operations. Air Assault School is one of the most physically challenging 10 days in the Army. (U.S. Army Photos by SFC Luisito Brooks)