Did you know that an elver was a young eel? Of course you did. Did you know that a leptocephalus is also an eel? No? Well I have had this fact tucked away in the back of my mind since I was about 11 years old when we had a biology lessons on eels. Not the most riveting subject in the world but somehow that word leptocepahus stuck in my mind and has been there ever since. I thought this knowledge would never be used, but then one wonderful evening when the children were younger and we were watching University Challenge, a question came up about eels. I leapt to my feed screaming LEPTOCEPHALUS at the screen and jumping up and down like a madwoman while my family looked at me as if I had lost my senses, but did any of those dozy students know? They did not (as most of them were reading history or Middle English or Elvish or something it was hardly surrising) and when Paxman gave the answer with his usual sneer on his face and it was indeed, leptocephalus, well, my cup runneth over....
Why do useless bits of information stick in one's mind? I was pondering on this the other night as I laid in bed waiting for sleep to come and my mind was drifting in that lethargic stage before finally nodding off.
I know the identity of every murderer in every Agatha Christie story. Now this has not helped me one little bit in my journey through life, but this information has stuck with me through thick and thin which makes re-reading Dame Agatha a bit of a waste of time, though sometimes it is good to know the murderer and see the clues she has put in front of the reader and which I missed the first time round (sometimes miss the second as well).
I know all the names of Queen Victoria's children, again not something to drop into pre-dinner chat, but it did stand me in good stead once. I was visiting Osborne House on the Isle of Wight which I had wanted to do for ages as Queen Victoria is one of my favourite historical figures, when I spotted a pretty hideous cabinet in one of the rooms which had miniatures of all her offspring on the front. I decided to show off to my sister who was with me and went through naming the lot. Though I did not know it one of the volunteer guides was listening and was most impressed by this and came over to talk to us. I remember she was called Ruth and she was a huge Queen Vic fan and said that most tourists who visited the house were only interested in getting through as quickly as possible and then going to the gift shop. Once we got talking and she realised I was a real enthusiast she took us both on a private tour and let us stay behind after the official closing time. I was taken into the study where Victoria and Albert sat and worked at their respective desks, and she lifted the red rope and let me sit at the desk of Her Maj and use her pen and write a note, and took us into cupboards and drawers and bathrooms etc which the public did not usually see. It was terrific and when we went to visit the Swiss Cottage about a mile away in the grounds, which was where the children used to play, she phoned ahead and said we were to have VIP treatment, so we did. This was one occasion when my useless information stood us in good stead.
Here are a few more snippets of trivia for you:
In one of the bathrooms we visited behind closed doors there was a huge nude on the wall just above the bath.
Albert invented a long stick with a claw on the end which could turn the handle on the door and lock it. This was used when he and Vicky were in bed and having fun and he did not want anyone to come in. It was just long enough to reach from the bed to the door. So perhaps Prince Albert was not as pious as he looked.
Well, as I said there were nine children...
And in case you really, really want to know they were Edward, Victoria, Alfred, Arthur, Leopold, Louise, Alice, Helena and Beatrice. There, now you can go to bed happy. Beats counting sheep.
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