User talk:Mervyn

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Hey there! Welcome to Wikipedia! I hope you like this place--I sure do--and want to stay. If you need help on how to title new articles check out Wikipedia:Naming conventions, and for help on formatting the pages visit the manual of style. If you need help look at Wikipedia:Help and The FAQ , plus if you can't find your answer there, check The Village pump or The Reference Desk! Happy wiki-ing!

Good job on John Lewis Partnership! Alexandros

Hi Mervyn. Welcome to Wikipedia. Thanks for Charles Ingram. I re-arranged things a bit to fit the layout conventions that have evolved around here. Hope you don't mind too much - you did all the content which is the main thing. Give me a shout on my talk page if you have any queries. Pete/Pcb21 (talk) 13:47, 3 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Just because it reads like an ad now. Can you add info on the dispute, etc. Then I'm sure it will not be deleted. Bmills 12:04, 4 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Nice start to the Constance Georgine, Countess Markiewicz article. Bmills 09:52, 9 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Adopts League of Gentlemen-esque poise... "Are you local?" Just noticed the addition of Great Missenden to those you have created. I'm working my way through Buckinghamshire, slowly creating pages for all the places thus listed and saw with wonderful surprise said Gt. Missenden article. Are you local to the area? I get that impression from the articles you have created... Francs2000 15:20, 9 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Yes formerly, now Oxon. Am now debating whether to take on challenge of the Rothschild article !!! . mervyn 16:48, 9 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Well when you do there's one that I created then never completed called Rothschild properties in Buckinghamshire that might help you along the way... Francs2000 09:22, 10 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Great Article on the Italian admiral. I liked it.WHEELER 16:41, 23 Jun 2004 (UTC) re: Junio Valerio Borghese

Re Palladius and other Romans: at list of ancient Romans I added all the names I found in OCD; so when a new article is not linked from there, it's a "red" (so to speak :-) ) flag... In the Palladius case, it was interesting to see how many websites were confused... Stan 14:34, 30 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Hi!. Can you tell me what sort of thing's wrong with the Ovaltineys entry, and I can then have a go at improving it? Thanks. WikiUser 19:23, 14 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Hi, re Ovaltineys, there is not too much wrong with it but it doesn't accord with wiki style, so I flagged it before I could come back to it. As with all wiki articles, the subject should be clearly stated in the first para, but currently this starts with comments about Ovaltine. I would start with a clear opening statement and brief intro of Ovaltineys, then a background para about origins from Ovaltine, then follow with further Ovaltineys detail.
eg. Ovaltineys or League of Ovaltineys was a children's club developed in the 1930s to promote the sale of Ovaltine brand drink...
Some things eg Twinings need wikilinks.
I also felt there was some vagueness, requiring added detail eg. that it was in 1975 when O brought back the "We are the Ovaltineys" song in a tv advert.
Hope this helps! Let me know if I can help more. --mervyn 12:28, 15 Jan 2005 (UTC)
PS Perhaps someone can add Ovaltine Egg Farm info to the O page!

Contents

[edit] LIDO

Thanks for the LIDO information. I used to work there and didn't know about it! But then, it was completely dismantled long before I started there :) Dan100 19:12, Jan 19, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] 1953 floods

Hi Mervyn, thanks for the tip-off about the '53 floods. You probably went through the same process I did around Xmas - remembered about the floods, went to look them up on Wikipedia, and couldn't find anything. I was going to write an article but haven't done much editing here since the Wikislowness set in. So it's great that you've written a new article about it.

However what I did find back at Xmas was a little stub with a poor title (which made it hard to find by searching) - Flood Disaster 1953. That was the article I was thinking of when I put "1953 floods, if I can remember the title!" on my to-do list! You might want to have a look at it and merge anything useful, then just turn it into a re-direct to your page. BTW this is the reference I was going to use to expand the article. Might be of use to you? Dan100 18:25, Jan 20, 2005 (UTC)

Thanks, I will merge the old stub. --mervyn 09:31, 22 Jan 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Need comment

I have been added huge content onto Classical definition of republic and I would like your criticism and/or suggestions. I don't know, without some oversight, what looks good or not, and I would enjoy some constructive criticism, suggestions, ideas. I am still working on it and I need some feedback. Strange, that nobody has gone in and changed anything. Can I get some help please.WHEELER 15:19, 24 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Re Classical definition of republic I don't see any problem with it -- on the contrary, it is an exhaustive and comprehensive "encyclopedic" article. Mabye it does need a more simplified intro para, before it dives into etymology, saying absolute basics and why it has its separate article from "Republic". It has plenty of links into it, so traffic should come. I have found it often takes time before others join in a page. (I have been toiling on List of United Kingdom disasters by death toll for some time with little input !). Best wishes, --mervyn 11:40, 29 Jan 2005 (UTC)
Thanks. I appreciate it.WHEELER 14:23, 29 Jan 2005 (UTC)

[edit] DYK

Did you know has been updated
and a fact from the article Nica de Koenigswarter, which you recently created, has been featured in that section on the Main Page. If you have another interesting fact to submit, then please suggest it at the section's talk page.

Sounds like she had fun. Well done. 68.81.231.127 10:34, 31 Jan 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Movable type

Hi, I saw you removed the remark on movable type from the Phaistos Disk article, but I can't say I agree. First of all, engraved punches are simply a kind of movable type, so your characterization doesn't conflict with mine. Secondly, it has been called 'made with movable type', and 'printed' so many times in the past already, why change now? This also happens in the Wikipedia article 'printing press', so will you be changing that one as well? Anyway, I welcome a mention of the engraved punches somewhere in the P.D. article. It is a better term than the 'pre-formed hieroglyphic "seals"' it speaks of now. Thx Prater 18:06, 10 Feb 2005 (UTC)

I definitely intend to change the Printing press page. This ref to movable type seems seems like a perpetuated error. It is faulty, completely a-historical. Movable type is cast in quantity from matrices, which in turn are made from engraved punches. AFAIK there is no evidence for movable type before the 1400s. I suspect it originated as a misconception from engraved letter/ideogram punches - of which, indeed, the Phaistos disk is an early example. Unless you can advise me better, I think wikipedia should not connect the Phaistos disk with "movable type". --mervyn 22:27, 10 Feb 2005 (UTC)

The famous John Chadwick has even called it a TYPEWRITTEN document, which I guess would be even more 'a-historical'. You're on your own with this I think. Prater 13:14, 11 Feb 2005 (UTC)

I have moved this continuing discussion to Phaistos Disc talk page. --mervyn 06:28, 12 Feb 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Problem

Last year, I was told by several people, "That we already ran off one anti-semite, we have the power to run people off this website".

Now, an administrator left a threatening message on my talk page:

Look at the message that AndyL wrote me:

There is no such hint. Creating another article under a different name for deleted material would be an attempt to cirumvent the VfD and would result in the new article being deleted and possibly in you being banned. Also, I'm certain that editors would start examining your other articles and start putting them up for deletion. AndyL 15:38, 23 Feb 2005 (UTC)

See, here is your cabal. They are going to gang up on me and start deleting my articles. Do you see these threats from editors. What Have I done to deserve this?

They have ganged up and deleted my article called [Classical definition of republic]. I moved it to Wikinfo and now they won't let me put an external link at Republic or any other site requiring the definition of a "Classical Republic". Wikinfo:Classical definition of republic

They are now threatening me by going around and deleting my other articles on this site. I don't see any rules in Wikipedia about who can submit articles. Homosexuals have a free rein in Wikipedia but anybody they percieve that is anti-democracy or anti semetic, which I am not, they are going to "run me out of town". There is a dispute at Talk:Republic. I have all sorts of information but there is censorship going on at Wikipedia.WHEELER 15:59, 23 Feb 2005 (UTC)


[edit] Vestiges

Hello, I noticed you at one point listed working on an entry for Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation on your personal to-do list. Well, some anonymous user created a tiny little sub-stub so I filled it out with the barebones details, but if you wanted to take a look at it and add anything else that came to mind, I would be much appreciative. Thanks! --Fastfission 05:56, 10 May 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Sue you sir

Not a peep. Either it was a lie, or he's sent his letter to somebody who's now wondering why he's getting legal threats from some mad Italian. --Mel Etitis (Μελ Ετητης) 16:58, 20 July 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Arnold - Culture and Anarchy

Dear Mervyn,

you are incorrect in altering the Matthew Arnold page to a misquotation. Indeed, both the phrases that you cite appear in Culture and Anarchy - 'the best which has been thought and said' appears on page vi of the preface to Culture and Anarchy, the first edition. You can check this in the free copy of the original text that appears on Project Gutenberg. It is misleading to say that this is a misquotation.

Best,

Anna

You are right - thanks for alerting me. I will correct the article mervyn 16:11, 28 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Re. disasters

Hi Mervyn. Thanks for the message on my talk page. To be honest, I just did a quick web check, nothing more, because I had never heard of this incident and the figure seemed so high as to be incredible. Anyway, the text of a charter relating to fire safety is on line and this does refer to the bridge being 'destroyed' in 1212 - see http://www.trytel.com/~tristan/towns/florilegium/community/cmfabr08.html. On the other hand, The Old London Bridge site says - and I think this must be correct - that the bridge was completed in 1209 and 'lasted 600 years'. See http://www.oldlondonbridge.com/earlymediaeval.shtml. I imagine these accounts can be reconciled by assuming that the buildings on the bridge were mostly or completely destroyed in 1212, but that the new stone structure itself survived. The same site, at www.oldlondonbridge.com/chronology.shtml, mentions that the fire started in Southwark.

I appreciate that in an ideal world a better printed reference dealing with the 1212 fire should be supplied - unfortunately I don't have one to hand. But even though the Wikipedia entry on London Bridge says that fires broke out at both ends in 1212, the notion that 3,000 people could have been killed on the bridge alone seems pretty far fetched. Various figures, all estimates, for the population of London at this date are cited in different sources, but the consensus seems to be that the total population of the city was no more than 30-60,000 in the early thirteenth century. I can't see 5-10% of them getting trapped on the bridge, somehow. Mikedash 17:11, 12 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Early fires of London

Hi Mervyn. I had a couple of hours to kill in London yesterday afternoon and took the chance to try to properly research something on the London Bridge fire of 1212. I spent some time going through the collection on London history and topography held at the London Library, which as you can imagine is pretty extensive, and the results can now be seen at a new page I have contributed on early fires of London. As I suspected, the estimate of 3,000 casualties suffered on London Bridge in 1212 turns out to be a later exaggeration, and no accurate figure can be given. However, it is probably no more inflated than some of the other figures found on the list of disasters, so I leave it up to you whether to to amend or remove the reference. Hope you like the now-properly-referenced piece, anyway. Mikedash 11:17, 14 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Stephen Hough

Hi. Sorry, can't help you. I first heard this bit of info from Geoffrey Tozer, whom I know slightly, over 18 months ago. I checked on the web, but there was nothing about it there. Haven't checked recently though. Hough's Aussie citizenship was mentioned again just last week, on ABC Classic FM, so I thought the time had now come to insert it into his article. His website says nothing about living here or any serious connection to Australia. Maybe it's a relationship thing, who knows?. Cheers JackofOz 11:37, 18 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] The star Sirius

MMcAnnis,YumaAZ; I was just curious why an Ancient Egypt star, Sirius, the star Sopdet is listed under ships?....MMcAnnisMmcannis 13:43, 1 January 2006 (UTC)

Sirius was one of the first steamships to cross the atlantic, so link should be SS Sirius. It's just a temp storage page - lots to do!. mervyn 14:58, 1 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Ship name: Kronprinz Wilhelm

Hiya, I like your list of ships.  :) I ran across it while I was untangling a naming mess with the ship(s) Kronprinz Wilhelm. I've made a new page to cover the WWI auxiliary cruiser (because my great-uncle was one of the officers aboard and wrote a book about her). But while making it I ran across a whole mess of other ships with similar names so I've been running around Wikipedia trying to disambiguate the links. I'm not sure which of the ships your own list referred to, so I just wanted to let you know about the new page, FYI! Elonka 09:26, 2 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Banana edits

Hi Mervyn - please be careful when replacing single quotes with double quotes; single quotes are the correct format for cultivar names (as in the banana cultivars 'Cavendish' and 'Gros Michel'), and should not be changed to double quotes - thanks, MPF 20:50, 5 February 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the note, mervyn 21:50, 5 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] You're a smart guy maybe you know.

In 1992, during a visit to New Orleans, I took a river tour. I noticed, on the opposite bank a mile or so upriver from the city, a WWII Escort "Jeep" Carrier . The tour guide said that it was in the process of being turned into a memorial/museum.

I saw some photographs of New Orleans- post Katrina. I didn't see the ship. Whatever happened to it?Hokeman 18:17, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

replied on your talk page -mervyn 12:05, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

I replied back to you on my talk page. I'm still learning -couldn't figure out how to transport it to your page. Thanks. Hokeman 19:43, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

The third paragraph of that article you supplied me was exactly the information I was looking for. Mervyn, You are the man!!!! Thanks so much for your help. Turned out it was a CVL - light carrier- not a CVE-Escort carrier. That's undoubtedly why I couldn't find it. Memories fade after 14 year, plus it looked so small compared to the carriers of the modern Navy. Hokeman 18:06, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] David and Lucile Packard Foundation

Thank you for your insanely quick editing to David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Your edits were done at an incredible 20 minutes after the article's creation. LOL! Image:Monkeyman.pngMonkeyman(talk) 03:43, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Rolex Awards

Thanks for the edits! Waitak 11:35, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Awards

The Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar
For the answers you give to me in the discussion page in Roald Dahl, you deserve this barnstar. Mikelau97 08:58, 23 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Henry Segrave/Segrave Trophy

Thank you for all your contributions to the Segrave Trophy and Henry Segrave articles. I'm pleased with how well this collaboration worked! The article that I wrote was okay, but your contributions help make it worthly of DYK consideration, so I nominated it. It is currently on the main page! HIGH FIVE! Royalbroil 18:28, 19 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Segrave Trophy

I question the accuracy of your change in the article from 'British citizen' to 'British subject'. Since 1981, there have been practically no British subjects in the whole world (the status of those very few being a relic of legislative incompetence). I don't pretend to be interested in the Trophy itself, so I do not know the exact requirements of the recipient, but I am certain that the award cannot be restricted to subjects. See that article's talk page for my explanation. Bastin8 02:01, 27 March 2006 (UTC)

replied at Talk:Segrave_Trophy --mervyn 09:35, 27 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] I'd like to work on these 7 ships, do you want them on your list?

These were important to the Cajuns. I'm a little interested in them all, very interested in Amistad/Amitie, which does not seem to be the famous ship Amistad (ship) in the slave rebellion.

  • Le Bon Papa
  • La Bergere
  • Le Beaumont
  • St. Remi
  • L'Amitie
  • La Ville d'Arcangel
  • La Caroline

The list comes from: [1]

RPellessier | Talk 04:09, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

Thanks, I'll add them in --mervyn 09:12, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Dictionary of National Biography

I'm a bit surprised to see your comments about the ODNB being 'short' on sportspeople, and am not certain whether this can be considered an objective statement in the context of the article. However, it's probably right to say that ODNB never sought to include every member of parliament; holding elective (or other) office alone has never been sufficient grounds for selection in the dictionary. --Matthew Kilburn 21:13, 8 April 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for your comments -- easier if I move discussion to Talk:Dictionary of National Biography --mervyn 14:28, 9 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Ships names

Did not realise it was necessary to italicise ships names (e.g. HMS Rye). I will make sure I confirm to that style in articles. Thanks for the heads-up. Davidbober 14:18, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Leigh Richmond Roose

Thank you for taking the trouble to nominate my entry on Roose for "Good Article" status. I.m very flattered. If you're interested in that period of football history, you might also enjoy my articles on G.O. Smith and Cuthbert Ottaway, though sadly there's less information easily available on them than there is on Roose. Anyway, I appreciate the vote of support. Mikedash 17:30, 17 May 2006 (UTC). Yes, the one who wrote Early fires of London. Thanks, replied at User talk:Mikedash --mervyn 18:52, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] dimensions

Hi: If you really think that metric measurements on Victorian ships need to be inserted then you are entitled to your opinion; I have the figures but chose not to put them in, as they were never measured in metric, and translation serves no purpose. The size of the White Ensign was intentional.--Anthony.bradbury 19:15, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

Sorry - my apologies for my error.--Anthony.bradbury 22:01, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Antikythera wreck

Recently created this page & saw it was on your list of ships too. Thought you might be interested.... Spawn Man 07:07, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

Great, thanks I'll take a look --mervyn 21:17, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The "Nymph"

Thanks for tidying up my article on the HMS Nymph. It is a bit of a work in progress - I am hoping to get the Bristol Uni team to let me use some of their photos to illustrate the article.

One question though; you changed the gender of of the ship from female to neuter in the article. I'm a bit of a traditionalist and prefer using the female gender when referring to ships - is there a Wiki protocol on this? I'm not too excited either way; I just want to be consistent in the future (not that I write about many ships). Legis 07:35, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the article. I think you will find that I changed it _into_ female. Like you, I prefer ships to be "she". A whole set of wikipedia conventions have grown up re ships, and RN ships in particular, and you can find some of these at Wikipedia:WikiProject Ships. Hope this helps. --mervyn 07:53, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Maltby, South Yorkshire

Mervyn,

What happened to the information on the maltfriscans at the Maltby page? [ by 205.191.171.10 ]

removed as part of a cleanup of the page. If it is encyclopedic quality information you are welcome to reinstate it. --mervyn 14:54, 12 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] RMS Atlantic

Hi Mervyn, Thanks for the copy edits on the Oceanic and Atlantic entries. One question, though. I see you put back the paragraph that talked about the Atlantic being the first White Star ship to be lost. I had deleted that phrase and moved the bit about it being their second ship up to the top because although the Atlantic was the first ship lost for this corporate owner of White Star, the RMS Tayleur was actually the first White Star ship lost, in 1854. Even though that was a leased ship, and the corporate ownership changed afterwards, the notoriety of that loss continued to haunt White Star, and the press at the time even compared the two incidents, which did in fact have some similarities, including the loss of most of the women. For what it's worth, it's my goal to generate articles for each of the White Star liners, and if you're interested, I'd really appreciate your copyediting eye (even though you spell the British way!) afterwards. It's my goal to do one ship a day, but that may vary a bit. Thanks! Akradecki 17:43, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for note, reply at talk:Akradecki‎ --mervyn 10:51, 23 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] SS Republic move?

Hi Mervyn, I am considering moving SS Republic, which I see you've edited, to SS Republic (1853) in preparation for an article on the White Star's SS Republic (1872), and then make SS Republic a disambig page...but I wanted to make sure I wasn't stepping on your toes with that. Akradecki 00:09, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

Oh, and if there are no objections, I'll also be moving RMS Republic to SS Republic (1903), for consistency's sake. Akradecki 00:14, 25 July 2006 (UTC)
Thanks for the input. After seeing the other comments on the project page, I'll be going with your suggestion of RMS Republic (1903) Thanks again! Akradecki 20:15, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] SS Tropic (1871)

Not much to copyedit on this new page, but I also can't find much info. Doesn't fit the pattern of White Star ships (see my note on the article's talk page). Any help would be most appreciated! Akradecki 00:40, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

Mervyn, you can add the SS Naronic to the list needing copyedit. I added some history material to that one. Akradecki 06:54, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] RMS vs SS

To try to get a consensus of usage, I've posted a question regarding the usage of SS versus RMS on the page Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Ships that I wanted to make you aware of. I understand you're not currently editing British ships, but given your expertise, I thought you might want to weigh in on this one. Thanks! Akradecki 04:26, 26 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] City of Dublin Steam Packet Company

I just created a page for this, after working on the RMS Tayleur, and then checked "What Links Here" and found that this was on your To Do list. Hope you don't mind that I beat you to it.... Akradecki 06:00, 30 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] RAF Barnham

Just checking Mervyn - I drove past red road signs for RAF Barnham yesterday that pointed into a facility with a RAF Honington station crest (though not Honington). I added it on the strength of that but understand your logic for it being ex. in the sense that if it is just used as housing for Honington then it is no different to say the RAF Coltishall housing at RAF Horsham St. Faith (now Norwich Airport). Interested in your thoughts and cheers for probably putting me right! Rob 12:55, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Lechlade

Hi - I've just left a message at Lechlade's discussion page. Cheers - Ballista 05:20, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Dymchurch page

Hi, thanks for tidying the Dymchurch page up a bit. It was my first effort on Wikipedia.

[edit] Atalanta vs Atlanta

Hi Mervyn, Just wanted to double check with you, as you changed the spelling back. My source, a book from 1912, spells it as Atlanta. Akradecki 16:20, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for checking ... It is definitely Atalanta, see pic of Memorial: [2]. The Logan Marshall book Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters (1912) is a useful source from the time but not always that accurate, so needs careful verifying
I see on the web (University of Virginia Library etext ref c.25.) that it reads: "1880, Jan. 31. -- British trading ship Atlanta left Bermuda with 290 men and was never heard from." and there is a mistake or typo where trading should be "training", plus he says 290 cf accurate losses were 281. --mervyn 10:01, 5 September 2006 (UTC)
Thanks much for helping clarify this! Akradecki 15:02, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Nica de Koenigswarter caption

Thanks for your help with this. How did you put the caption in, so that I'll know how for next time? Dogru144 00:18, 19 September 2006 (UTC)

replied at: User_talk:Dogru144#Image_caption --mervyn 09:56, 19 September 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the additional feedback. You recommended square brackets before and after caption notes for photos. By square brackets do you mean: [ ]  ? Dogru144 14:16, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

That's right. The full Wiki image info help page is at Wikipedia:Extended image syntax --mervyn 14:33, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] DYK

Updated DYK query On 3 October 2006, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Sevso Treasure, which you created. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the "Did you know?" talk page.

[edit] DYK

Updated DYK query On October 18, 2006, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Jules Porgès, which you created. If you know of another interesting fact from a recently created article, then please suggest it on the "Did you know?" talk page.

Blnguyen | BLabberiNg 01:42, 19 October 2006 (UTC)

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