Migrations and other movements

Reading about the troubles in Syria, I was struck by the way that things come around again. So the Hungarians and other peoples in southeastern Europe were fighting for centuries to stem the Turkish tide, say around the time that we here in England were busily inventing constitutional monarchy. The Turkish tide no doubt included many foot soldiers from what is now Syria. Syrians who are once again, knocking at the door, albeit in rather different clothes: this time they don't want to bring their stuff to Europe, they want a share of good European stuff instead - or at least one hopes that that is what they want. Rather a lot of them to be checking them all with care.

From where I jump to the Indian subcontinent where we spent some centuries taking our stuff to them. And now we have far more people from the subcontinent living here in the UK than we ever sent there.

From there to the Isle of Wight where we were once shown around the home which had, until recently, been the property of a family which boasted an unbroken male line back to the companions of the conqueror, with one of those males inscribed on the roll of honour of same, along with our own Count Eustace, illustrated. I should add, in fairness, that while our chap was higher up on the roll, our line was also a bit thinner, open to dispute even.

The house is now the property of an illustrious Anglo-Irish military family, another relic of a complicated past. Irish Guards and all.

From there to the beaches of Morocco, in reaching which the Arab tide from the Hejaz must have been getting a bit thin too. But that does not stop, I understand, posh families there boasting unbroken male lines back to the companions of their conqueror.

A tide which was finally brought to bay just north of the Pyrenees by a combined Franco-Spanish army at the first battle of Poitiers. In time for descendants of our conqueror to whack the French at the second battle of that name.

PS: google suggests that travelling from the Hejaz to Morocco now, as opposed to then, is best done via southern Europe. A distance of some 7,620 kilometres. Google also offers a natty map complete with directions, for example, to bear left at Montpellier.