Dear Taco,
Thanks for the Wikipedia link, which confirms what I wrote in my last
e-mail. I had been told about the military meaning of Forlorn Hope about 30
years ago, possibly from a member of the Sealed Knot, and I checked the
etymology of the phrase in Chambers Dictionary before writing to the Lute
Net, to make sure I got the spelling of the Dutch words correct. I found it
fascinating to read in the Wikipedia article, that some soldiers were keen
to volunteer for what was virtually a suicide mission, their aim to show
bravery, and thus gain promotion.
Best wishes,
Stewart.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Taco Walstra" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Stewart McCoy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "lutelist, "
<[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, January 25, 2008 1:56 PM
Subject: Re: [LUTE] Karamazov
On Friday 25 January 2008 14:47, Stewart McCoy rattled on the keyboard:
Dear All,
I have been told, I hope reliably, that, if, at the time of Dowland, you
wanted to attack an army of soldiers armed with muskets, you would first
send a small group of soldiers ahead to draw their fire. Before the enemy
could reload, the rest of your army attacked them. Needless to say, the
men
in that small group stood little chance of surviving. They were known as
the Forlorn Hope. It comes from the Dutch "verloren hoop", meaning "lost
troop", but translates conveniently into English, because those soldiers
had a forlorn hope of surviving.
This is from wikipedia and I'm not sure if it's correct. The dutch word
'hoop'
means 'hope' but can also mean a pile of something. So it's a double
meaning.
taco
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