Mexican horchata is the agua fresca that dreams are made of.  While sweet and slightly creamy, it usually isn’t dairy-derived.  Instead, it’s made by soaking white rice in water and cinnamon for several hours, straining, and adding sugar.  Vaguely reminiscent of a delicate rice pudding, there’s nothing more refreshing than a cold cup of horchata on a hot summer day.  But long ago, horchata was more than just a refreshment.  While the Mexican version of the drink first appeared in the 16th century, its roots date back to an ancient Roman medical elixir made from barley.  In fact, the word horchata comes from the Latin hordeum (barley) and hordeata (drink made with barley).  From its role as medicine in antiquity, the beverage took a circuitous route across Europe and across the Atlantic to Latin America.  Along the way, horchata became a whole family of drinks made from various grains, nuts, and seeds.  Ancient doctors thought that barley, the oldest cultivated cereal in the Near East and Europe, possessed cooling properties.  Hippocrates, the ancient Greek physician who famously said, “let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food,” recommended barley water for the healthy and sick alike.  But while it was hydrating and nutrient-rich, the ancient drink was fairly tasteless.  Prepared by boiling barley in water, it had to be flavored with honey and fresh herbs.  Maite Gomez-Rejon  https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/history-of-horchata 

“Theirs not to reason why”  The Charge of the Light Brigade by ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON  https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45319/the-charge-of-the-light-brigade 

The Charge of the Light Brigade was a failed military action involving the British light cavalry led by Lord Cardigan against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854 in the Crimean War.  Lord Raglan had intended to send the Light Brigade to prevent the Russians from removing captured guns from overrun Turkish positions, a task for which the light cavalry were well-suited.  However, there was miscommunication in the chain of command and the Light Brigade was instead sent on a frontal assault against a different artillery battery, one well-prepared with excellent fields of defensive fire.  The Light Brigade reached the battery under withering direct fire and scattered some of the gunners, but they were forced to retreat immediately, and the assault ended with very high British casualties and no decisive gains.  The events were the subject of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's narrative poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade" (1854), published just six weeks after the event.  Its lines emphasise the valour of the cavalry in bravely carrying out their orders, regardless of the nearly inevitable outcome.  Responsibility for the miscommunication has remained controversial, as the order was vague and Louis Edward Nolan delivered the written orders with some verbal interpretation, then died in the first minute of the assault.  The Light Brigade were the British light cavalry force.  It mounted light, fast horses which were unarmoured.  The men were armed with lances and sabres.  Optimized for maximum mobility and speed, they were intended for reconnaissance and skirmishing.  They were also ideal for cutting down infantry and artillery units as they attempted to retreat.  The Heavy Brigade under James Scarlett was the British heavy cavalry force.  It mounted large, heavy chargers.  The men were equipped with metal helmets and armed with cavalry swords for close combat.  They were intended as the primary British shock force, leading frontal charges in order to break enemy lines.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charge_of_the_Light_Brigade 

London-based writer Kassia St. Clair delivers a mix of science, humor, and art history in The Secret Lives of Colors, a collection of bite-size essays on the cultural and social lore of colors based on her column in British Elle Decoration.  The author arranges her color commentary in blocks:  color entries start with white and end with black; in between, St. Clair tells the stories of colors unglamorous (umber) and obscure (gamboge) with those that kill (orpiment pigment is around 60% arsenic) or change (verdigris is the green patina that results when copper is exposed to air).  She explores etymologies (buff from buffalo) and sprinkles wit (taupe, French for mole, is “browner than a mole had a right to be”) throughout the collection.  https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-14-313114-4  Thank you, Muse reader! 

The Blue Boy (c. 1770) is a full-length portrait in oil by Thomas Gainsborough, now at the Huntington Library, San Marino, California.  Perhaps Gainsborough's most famous work, The Blue Boy is thought to be a portrait of Jonathan Buttle (1752–1805), the son of a wealthy hardware merchant, although this has never been proven.  It is a historical costume study as well as a portrait; the painting of the youth in his seventeenth-century apparel is regarded as Gainsborough's homage to Anthony van Dyck and is very similar to Van Dyck's portraits of Charles II as a boy.  Gainsborough had already drawn something on the canvas before beginning The Blue Boy, which he painted over.  The painting is about life-size, measuring 48 inches (1,200 mm) wide by 70 inches (1,800 mm) tall.  The painting was in Buttle's possession until he filed for bankruptcy in 1796.  It was first bought by the politician John Nesbitt and then, in 1802, by the portrait painter John Hoppner.  In about 1809, The Blue Boy entered the collection of the Earl Grosvenor and remained with his descendants until its sale by the second Duke of Westminster to the dealer Joseph Duveen in 1921.  By then, it had become a great popular favourite in print reproductions after having been exhibited to the public in various exhibitions at the British Institution, Royal Academy and elsewhere.  In 1919, the painting inspired German film producer Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau to create his debut film Knabe in Blau (The Boy in Blue).  In a move that caused a public outcry in Britain, it was then sold to the American railway pioneer Henry Edwards Huntington for $728,800 (£182,200), according to Duveen's bill, a then-record price for any painting.  According to a mention in The New York Times dated 11 November 1921, the purchase price was $640,000, which would be $9.17 million in 2019.  The Blue Boy inspired pop artist Robert Rauschenberg to pursue a painting career.  It is often paired with a painting by Thomas Lawrence called Pinkie that sits opposite to it at the Huntington Library.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blue_Boy 

In the Middle Ages a chandler was the person who made wax and candles, which of course was an important occupation before the invention of the electric light.  Since sailing ships needed a lot of candles, the profession was an important one in the seafaring world.  Every port had a chandlery, which was a shop that provided ships with wax and candles (and also soap, which is a byproduct of candle-making, although it’s not known how popular this was with the average seaman).  Gradually these stores expanded to include all sorts of other useful items for ships, including rope, paint, oil, turpentine, tar, varnish, and tools such as axes, hammers, nails, caulking irons, brooms, and many other nautical items that were needed on board ships.  Sailors would buy these products on credit and the ship owner would settle up with the chandlery at a later date.  https://schoonerchandlery.com/so-just-what-is-a-chandlery/ 

Oh, the Places You'll Go! is a book written and illustrated by children's author Dr. Seuss.  It was first published by Random House on January 22, 1990.  It was his last book to be published during his lifetime.  The book concerns the journey of life and its challenges.  Following its original release in 1990, Oh, the Places You'll Go! reached number one on The New York Times Best-Selling Fiction Hardcover list.  This made Dr. Seuss one of the handful of authors to have number one Hardcover Fiction and Nonfiction books on the list; among them are John Steinbeck, Jimmy Buffett and Mitch Albom; his You're Only Old Once! hit number one on the Nonfiction list in 1986.  In the United States and Canada, Oh, the Places You'll Go! is a popular gift for students graduating from kindergarten through college, spiking in sales in the April-June period.  It reached number one on USA Today's Best Selling Book list in 1997, and reached #2 in 2015 and 2017.  Based on a 2007 online poll, the National Education Association listed the book as one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children."  In 2016, Star Trek writer David Gerrold partnered with artist Ty Templeton and comic label ComicMix to start a Kickstarter project for a Star Trek-based parody of Oh, the Places You'll Go! called Oh, the Places You'll Boldly Go!  Dr. Seuss Enterprises, which manages the assets of Dr. Seuss's estate, sued to stop the Kickstarter, asserting the project violated the copyright of Oh the Places You'll Go!  While the case was found in favor of the fair use defense given by the Kickstarter project at the District Court for the Southern District of California in 2019, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that decision in December 2020, finding that the Star Trek-based book was not parody as it copied too much of the book's original style and composition, only juxtaposing Star Trek characters in place of Seuss' original ones.  Further, the Ninth Circuit argued that the timing of release could also impact the commercial value of Seuss' book, since the latter is typically given out as gifts for graduates.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oh,_the_Places_You%27ll_Go! 

WORD FOR MARCH 17  smithereens  noun  originally Ireland, informal)  Fragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items.  https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/smithereens#English

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2339  March 17, 2021