Famous Rune Singers of Finland

Before the advent of the written word, storytellers had to use creative methods to ensure that their stories were not forgotten. That is why they introduced alliteration, rhythm, hymns and repetitions. The verses would be sang or repeated in the kind of droning voices that monks use to remember long texts. This is how the Edda, the Iliad, Beowulf and Ramayana survived until the stories could be written down. This is also the story of Finland's national epic, the Kalevala. All over Finland "rune songs" with different stories were sung from 1000 B.C until the 1500's when the Lutheran Church following the Reformation, banned them as being pagan. Although the tradition soon disappeared from the western parts of Finland, there was a foothold of the songs and singers in Karelia and in Archangel's Karelia on the Russian side. A few of these songs were recorded in the 1600's, but it is thanks to Elias Lönnrot and his eleven trips to the region that we have the Kalevala with the rune songs from the last generation of singers. A Finnish family may not be intimately familiar with the Kalevala but it is constantly reminded of it through hundreds of names, - even a harvester and an icebreaker, all bearing names relating to Kalevala. The maxi cards displayed commemorate two of the greatest rune singers of Finland.

Pedri Semeikka (1821 or 1825 – 1915) was a famous rune singer in the border regions of Karelia. Besides his poems, he was famous for his impressive incantations.

Larin Paraske (December 27, 1833 – January 3, 1904) was an Izhorian oral poet. She was the foremost rune singer and legend teller of Finland. She is considered a key figure in Finnish folk poetry and has been called the "Finnish Mnemosyne”. Paraske is also one of the people on stamps of Finland.

These stamps on the maximum cards were issued on the occasion of The 150th Anniversary of the Kalevala. These important maxi cards in Finnish culture were given to me by my dear friend Merja.

The Pancyprian Gymnasium

The Pancyprian Gymnasium was founded in 1812 by Archbishop Kyprianos at a time when Cyprus was still under Ottoman occupation. It was originally called the Hellenic School (Ελληνική Σχολή) and is the oldest high school still in operation on the island. The school was expanded in 1893 to incorporate a lyceum when Cyprus was under British occupation and changed its name to its current one in 1896. In tribute to the school's contribution to education the Cyprus Post office issued a commemorative stamp in 1993.

It is located opposite the archbishopric within the walls of the old city of Nicosia. The original building was destroyed in a fire in 1920 and parts of the school were completely rebuilt in neoclassical style. Of particular historical interest is the crypt of the school located beneath the main entrance. This is where Archbishop Kyprianos was said to have held secret meetings with representatives of the Philiki Etairia in the early 19th century. The school also incorporates a substantial collection of artifacts, art and books. The Severios Library which opened in 1949 holds over 60,000 manuscripts.

The stamp depicts the portal to the institute. The owl on the postmark signifies perfection in learning. It also brings back nostalgic memomories of my days at the Defence Services Staff College at Wellington, which also had an owl as its logo. Thank you dear Merja for this nice maximum card.

Through benevolent donations the school has become very wealthy. On an educational level it is highly regarded and considered a model school. Many influential figures have studied and taught here.

1929 Packard 626 - "speedster roadster"

This long wheelbase 1929 Packard wears a coach-built phaeton body. Wealthy customers often bought bare chassis from luxury car makers and had custom bodies installed by companies like Brunn and Dietrich. This vehicle features a separate cowl and windshield designed to protect rear seat passengers from wind and debris during spirited driving. The straight eight cylinder power plant replaced the V-12 in 1923 and would power Packard cars until the 1930s. The Packard family coat of arms appeared on the radiator emblem for the first time in 1929. On enquiry from friends in the States I was given to understand that this car would be worth about $65000, if at all it was available for sale.

The stamps Carrick affixed to the card are very pretty too. They are part of the 2011 “Forever” series of non-denominated postage issued by the United States. I will talk a little more about these non-denominated postage stamps a little later in my blog “letstalkstamps”.

Dover Castle - The Key to England

Dover Castle is a medieval castle in the town of the same name in the English county of Kent. It was founded in the 12th century and has been described as the "Key to England" due to its defensive significance throughout history. It is the largest castle in England.

Dover Castle is a Scheduled Monument, which means it is a "nationally important" historic building and archaeological site that has been given protection against unauthorised change. It is also a Grade I listed building, and recognised as an internationally important structure. The castle, secret tunnels, and surrounding land are now owned by English Heritage and the site is a major tourist attraction. The Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports is officially head of the castle, in his conjoint position of Constable of Dover Castle, and the Deputy Constable has his residence in Constable's Gate. The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment Museum is located in the castle.

Between 2007 and 2009, English Heritage spent £2.45 million on recreating the castle's interior. According to figures released by the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions, nearly 350,000 people visited Dover Castle in 2010. Margaret sent this Nice picture card of the historically important Dover Castle to me. And Don't forget the really pretty stamp affixed to the card. This stamp is one of a wonderful set of stamps of characters in the TV Serial “Thomas the Tank Engine”. Daisy is a diesel railcar who came to work on the branch line when Thomas needed repairs. The Fat Controller decided to keep Daisy when she proved she could be useful. Her face is decorated in make-up, including eyelashes, red lipstick, and purple eye-shadow. To tell you a little secret – I loved this TV serial and was sad when The Cartoon Network Channel took it off the air in India.

Horse-drawn single-track lines - 1890–1900

Today, Helsinki is the only city in Finland to still have tram traffic. Two other Finnish cities—Turku and Vyborg (now part of Russia) — have had tram systems. Vyborg abandoned its trams in 1957, after the city had been ceded to the Soviet Union following the result of World War II. Turku withdrew its trams in 1972.

The first proposals for the construction of a tram system into Helsinki were made in 1870s, but they were at the time unsuccessful. Public transport in Helsinki was initiated in 1888 by using horse-drawn omnibuses. In 1889 Helsingin Omnibussiosakeyhtiö acquired the right to construct tram lines in Helsinki. The following year the company changed its name in Helsingin raitiotie- ja omnibussiosakeyhtiö (abbreviated HRO). Electric traction was considered as a power source for the new system, but due to lack of funds and the city council's negative attitude towards electric trams, the decision was made to use horse-drawn trams instead. The new system was built to a rail gauge of one metre. Test traffic started in December 1890, but the network wasn't officially opened for traffic until June 1891. The capacity of the horse tram system soon proved insufficient, but the changeover into electrified trams was postproned while waiting for the price of electrification of the network to drop.

This lovely stamp was issued on May 23, 1988. My dear friend Merja sent me this pretty maxicard.

Nature conservation - birds of prey

These three maxicards and stamps issued on 15.10.2003 by the Czech Republic, were given to me by Maria and depict three types of birds of Prey which face extinction if proper care is not taken NOW.. Starting from left to right are; Milvus milvus or The Red Kite (below left) is a medium-large bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as eagles, buzzards, and harriers. The species is currently endemic to the Western Palearctic region in Europe and northwest Africa, though formerly also occurred just outside in northern Iran. It is a rare species which is resident in the milder parts of its range in western Europe and northwest Africa, but birds from northeastern and central Europe winter further south and west, reaching south to Turkey. Vagrants have reached north to Finland and south to Israel and Libya. They belong to the critically endangered species, which means that there is an immediate threat of their complete extinction in. In order to prevent the extinction of these beautiful birds, it is important to apply effective protection.

Falco peregrinus or The Peregrine Falcon (above), also known as the Peregrine, and historically as the Duck Hawk in North America, is a widespread bird of prey in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-gray back, barred white underparts, and a black head and "moustache". Typical of bird-eating raptors, Peregrine Falcons are sexually dimorphic, with females being considerably larger than males. The Peregrine is renowned for its speed, reaching over 325 km/h (202 mph) during its characteristic hunting stoop, making it the fastest member of the animal kingdom. . They also belong to the critically endangered species, which means that there is an immediate threat of their complete extinction in. In order to prevent the extinction of these beautiful birds in, it is important to apply effective protection.

Hieraaetus pennatus or The Booted Eagle (below right) is a medium-sized bird of prey. It is about 47 centimetres (19 in) in length and has a wingspan of 120 centimetres (47 in). Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. It is rare. In order to prevent the extinction of these beautiful birds, it is important to apply effective protection. It breeds in southern Europe, North Africa and across Asia. It is migratory, wintering in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. This eagle lays 1-2 eggs in a tree or crag nest. This is a species of wooded, often hilly countryside with some open areas. It hunts small mammals, reptiles and birds.

Juha Kankkunen – Rally World Champion

Juha Matti Pellervo Kankkunen is a Finnish former rally driver. His factory team career in the World Rally Championship lasted from 1983 to 2002. He won 23 world rallies and four drivers' world championship titles, which were both once records in the series. Sébastien Loeb has since collected more world titles, but no driver has so far been able to repeat Kankkunen's feat of becoming a world champion with three different manufacturers. Kankkunen's achievements outside the WRC include winning the Dakar Rally in 1988 and the Race of Champions in 1988 and 1991. Following his retirement from active rallying, he has worked in the fields of business and politics. From 2007 to 2011, Kankkunen held the world speed record on ice in a Bentley Continental GT.

On 15 February 2011, Juha Kankkunen drove his 6.0 litre all-wheel drive Bentley Continental car on the frozen Baltic Sea off the coast of Finland. He achieved a speed of 205.48 miles per hour and created a new world record. A 16.5 km long track with about 70 cm thick sea ice was prepared for this purpose. The officials of Finland traffic police were present to measure the speeds. A representative of The Guinness Book of World Records ratified the same. The Champion had to overcome the low temperatures of minus 30, apart from sudden snow blizzards and severe crosswinds, but braved it to all to achieve the marvellous success. Bentley’s new chairman paid the tribute to Juha and chief executive Wolfgang when he said that the new record made by him under such extreme conditions is in fact an amazing achievement and speaks of the skill and courage of Juha, who can be rightly called as a modern-day ‘Bentley Boy’. He wowed to celebrate this historic event by building another state-of-the-art Bentley model very soon, which will be the most powerful model. My dear friend Merja gave me this nice maxi card.