Odd factoids

[Drago]

Toilets on a military ship are referred to as heads. This is an historic term, dating back to the time where ships did not have toilets and sailors used to do their business on the head of the youngest seaman.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

Young seamen were so- called because old seamen used to (actually I might give this one a miss...)

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Seaman Staines started at the bottom and worked his way up to become full head seaman.

 

[raleighnut]

Seaman Staines started at the bottom and worked his way up to become full head seaman.

Did anyone ever tell him that 'Roger The Cabin Boy' was a name and not an instruction.

 

[bruce1530]

The Liver "Birds" were in fact men. Nerys' real name is Norman.

This is a common misconception. Nerys Hughes is not a man. However, she only got the job in the Liver Birds because the man who was originally lined up for the role, Rodney Bewes, had a similar sounding surname. As a result of this mistake, Hughes was the first woman to appear on the BBC.

 

[classic33]

The folklore of the holly is not solely connected with Yuletide festivities. Like several other native trees, it was felt to have protective properties, and there were taboos against cutting down a whole tree.

Hollies were frequently left uncut in hedges when these were trimmed. A more arcane reason for this was to obstruct witches who were known to run along the tops of hedgerows, though more practically farmers used their distinctive evergreen shapes to establish lines of sight during winter ploughing.

It is said that the Duke of Argyll even had a prospective road rerouted to avoid cutting down a distinctive old holly in 1861.

 

[Drago]

Holly was discovered in Antarctica in 1974 by the great explorer, Reg Varney. He was a huge fan of the Hollies and thus named his discovery in honour of the band.

 

[bruce1530]

The name Holly came to prominence due to the character Holly Golightly in Quentin Tarantino’s “Breakfast at Tiffanys”.

Tarantino’s classic version of the movie was loosely based on the earlier British film “Breakfast at Watford Gap Services”, where Holly Golightly was played by Nerys Hughes and the George Peppard role was taken by Rodney Bewes.

 

[Drago]

George Peppard's son, George Peppard II, was sadly born deformed. He appeared on Rainbow playing himself, alongside a talking digestive biscuit named Zippy.

 

[Seevio]

In Australia, 'I know what you did last summer' is a christmas film.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Holly was discovered in Antarctica in 1974 by the great explorer, Reg Varney. He was a huge fan of the Hollies and thus named his discovery in honour of the band.

Reg was in fact driving the Clapham Omnibus at the time. He’d taken a wrong turning in Trafalgar Square, entered a tunnel, and emerged in Antarctica.

 

[Bonefish Blues]

Billy Smarts Circus was so named because of the legendary size of Billy's arse grapes.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Did anyone ever tell him that 'Roger The Cabin Boy' was a name and not an instruction.

The shout, “it’s time for the Jolly Roger”, from the crows nest, put fear into the Cabin Boy.

 

[Drago]

Until recently, cabin boys were used as a form of currency with which to pay more senior saliors.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

"Hello Sailor" was a song in the hit parade sung by - well was it Rod or Elton? Must've been Elton as Rod sang "I am Sailor(ing)". Or was that Elton? Sheeeeez - someone put me out of my misery.