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Changed line(s) 23 (click to see context) from:
** Hysterosalpingogram most likely, they had that back then albeit crude. Basically she had one or both fallopian tubes blocked. They would have inserted contrast into her uterine cavity via the vagina (why she wouldn't want to giver her husband any details). They would take an x-ray that showed the blockage. Then there were various different ways of fixing it. Because she didn't need a large operation presumably they managed to fix it by pumping in [=CO2=] or something.
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** Hysterosalpingogram most likely, they had that back then albeit crude. Basically Basically, she had one or both fallopian tubes blocked. They would have inserted contrast into her uterine cavity via the vagina (why she wouldn't want to giver give her husband any details). They would take an x-ray that showed the blockage. Then there were various different ways of fixing it. Because she didn't need a large operation presumably they managed to fix it by pumping in [=CO2=] or something.
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* After Sybil died, Mary and Matthew had ''absolutely no emotional hangups'' about trying to conceive. You'd think one of them would have had at least some nervousness about it. In fact the writers could have driven the whole second half of the season around this--imagine their marriage breaking down and the SuccessionCrisis rearing its head, because one of them is too frightened to have a child. Nope! They both go right into fertility treatments and the season ends with them going, "Let's make babies!" The best we get is Carson looking a bit worried while Mary is in the hospital during the Special.
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* After Sybil died, Mary and Matthew had ''absolutely no emotional hangups'' about trying to conceive. You'd think one of them would have had at least some nervousness about it. In fact fact, the writers could have driven the whole second half of the season around this--imagine their marriage breaking down and the SuccessionCrisis rearing its head, because one of them is too frightened to have a child. Nope! They both go right into fertility treatments and the season ends with them going, "Let's make babies!" The best we get is Carson looking a bit worried while Mary is in the hospital during the Special.
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*** In fact, a tendency towards eclampsia *does* run in families, with women who have had a mother or sister with the condition being at higher risk themselves. In Mary's favor is that eclampsia is more common in younger women; against her, it's more common in first pregnancies. And I agree, it would have been nice to see at least *some* acknowledgement that Mary was afraid the same might happen to her.
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*** In fact, a tendency towards eclampsia *does* run in families, with women who have had a mother or sister with the condition being at higher risk themselves. In Mary's favor is that eclampsia is more common in younger women; against her, it's more common in first pregnancies. And I agree, it would have been nice to see at least *some* acknowledgement acknowledgment that Mary was afraid the same might happen to her.
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** To add, Carlisle's motivation for most of his behaviour/threats was desperately trying to keep Mary one way or another - he admits that he did really love her and want her to be happy. Once he knew she was gone, it almost seemed to be a weight off his shoulders.
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** To add, Carlisle's motivation for most of his behaviour/threats was desperately trying to keep Mary one way or another - he admits that he did really love her and want wants her to be happy. Once he knew she was gone, it almost seemed to be a weight off his shoulders.
Changed line(s) 42 (click to see context) from:
* Why was there any doubt whether Mary and George would inherit Matthew's share of the estate etc? She was his legal wife and he was his legal, recognised heir, even if Matthew hadn't made a will, they'd still be first in line to receive any inheritance. No, Mary doesn't inherit Downton Abbey itself, the money tied up with the estate from Cora's wealth or get the title, but all his personal wealth and worldly goods (eg, if he still owned any property back in Manchester, or had any stakes in a solicitors business from his working days, as well as his clothes, books, etc) should go straight to her as next of kin - and George should get the estate and the associated bits (the title, the money, etc) as the now next heir of Downton.
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* Why was there any doubt whether Mary and George would inherit Matthew's share of the estate etc? She was his legal wife and he was his legal, recognised recognized heir, even if Matthew hadn't made a will, they'd still be first in line to receive any inheritance. No, Mary doesn't inherit Downton Abbey itself, the money tied up with the estate from Cora's wealth or get the title, but all his personal wealth and worldly goods (eg, if he still owned any property back in Manchester, or had any stakes in a solicitors business from his working days, as well as his clothes, books, etc) should go straight to her as next of kin - and George should get the estate and the associated bits (the title, the money, etc) as the now next heir of Downton.
Changed line(s) 47 (click to see context) from:
** Not quite the whole story. Lady Rosamund is a Lady in her own right, as the daughter of an Earl. Even if Mr Painswick had had a title, if it was lower in rank than hers it would still be insulting her to call her Lady Painswick and not Lady Rosamund. Hence Lady Edith would have been Lady Edith Strallan, not Lady Strallan, had she married Sir Anthony - his title is less important than hers and does not override it.
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** Not quite the whole story. Lady Rosamund is a Lady in her own right, as the daughter of an Earl. Even if Mr Mr. Painswick had had a title, if it was lower in rank than hers it would still be insulting her to call her Lady Painswick and not Lady Rosamund. Hence Lady Edith would have been Lady Edith Strallan, not Lady Strallan, had she married Sir Anthony - his title is less important than hers and does not override it.
Changed line(s) 49,50 (click to see context) from:
** No, she would be Marchioness Hexham because a Marquess, whom she is marrying, outranks an Earl, who she is the daughter of. The higher ranked title takes precedence. However, she would be addressed as Lady Hexham in conversation. Because British titles are weird and like to call everyone Lord/Lady in many circumstances, whatever their actual rank.
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** No, she would be Marchioness Hexham because a Marquess, whom she is marrying, outranks an Earl, who she is the daughter of. The higher ranked higher-ranked title takes precedence. However, she would be addressed as Lady Hexham in conversation. Because British titles are weird and like to call everyone Lord/Lady in many circumstances, whatever their actual rank.
Changed line(s) 55 (click to see context) from:
** Carson doesn't like Thomas very much (or at all), and has wanted to fire him several times, but has ultimately been unable to. So it's easy to imagine it's just Carson being derogatory about an employee he doesn't like and barely tolerates. Also it's never made entirely clear what separates an underbutler from a footman, or the butler himself (this trooper had always assumed it was a footman who was being trained as a butler for when the existing one left, and took on certain duties that a normal footman didn't).
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** Carson doesn't like Thomas very much (or at all), and has wanted to fire him several times, but has ultimately been unable to. So it's easy to imagine it's just Carson being derogatory about an employee he doesn't like and barely tolerates. Also Also, it's never made entirely clear what separates an underbutler from a footman, or the butler himself (this trooper had always assumed it was a footman who was being trained as a butler for when the existing one left, and took on certain duties that a normal footman didn't).
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** Tea with milk is kosher as kosher is about separating meat and dairy. It's also very likely that Lord Sinderby isn't very strict as Jews who are strict about keeping kosher generally don't accept the hospitality of non-Jews. This is due to the unavoidable contamination of dairy and meat in not just food preparation but with the china, silverware etc.
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** Tea with milk is kosher as kosher is about separating meat and dairy. It's also very likely that Lord Sinderby isn't very strict as Jews who are strict about keeping kosher generally don't accept the hospitality of non-Jews. This is due to the unavoidable contamination of dairy and meat in not just food preparation but with the china, silverware silverware, etc.
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* It strikes me as odd and pretty historically inaccurate that Mary would have no less than four suitors (Evelyn Napier, Charles Black, Tony Gillingham, and Henry Talbot) pursue her at different points over the last three seasons of the show. Given that the high death toll caused by World War I, the general dearth of eligible men roughly the same age as Mary and Edith should have drastically lowered this number. Though she did come into a lot of money after Matthew's death, it seems wholly unreasonable that a widowed woman with a young son (regardless of her connections to the British aristocracy) would wind up with multiple men vying for her hand. Did Mary get so lucky because she happened to have a lot of money, a decent amount of charm and beauty, and her father's name to draw people in? Or did she wind up with that many because she was Fellowes' favorite and Creator's Pet? Further, doesn't it seem wholly insincere to the Matthew/Mary relationship, carefully established over the first three season, that Mary started fending off suitors partway through Season 4, less than a year after the death of a husband she claims to have loved so deeply?
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* It strikes me as odd and pretty historically inaccurate that Mary would have no less than four suitors (Evelyn Napier, Charles Black, Tony Gillingham, and Henry Talbot) pursue her at different points over the last three seasons of the show. Given that the high death toll caused by World War I, the general dearth of eligible men roughly the same age as Mary and Edith should have drastically lowered this number. Though she did come into a lot of money after Matthew's death, it seems wholly unreasonable that a widowed woman with a young son (regardless of her connections to the British aristocracy) would wind up with multiple men vying for her hand. Did Mary get so lucky because she happened to have a lot of money, a decent amount of charm and beauty, and her father's name to draw people in? Or did she wind up with that many because she was Fellowes' favorite and Creator's Pet? Further, doesn't it seem wholly insincere to the Matthew/Mary relationship, carefully established over the first three season, seasons, that Mary started fending off suitors partway through Season 4, less than a year after the death of a husband she claims to have loved so deeply?
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* Referring to the quote on the main page ("we all have different parts,etc."): What a load of crock. If you don't have a need for someone, stop paying them and fire them. But later, when the Crawley family goes through yet more financial difficulty, it becomes clear that this "everyone is entitled to a job" mentality may have been causing this unstoppable decline.
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* Referring to the quote on the main page ("we all have different parts,etc.parts, etc."): What a load of crock. If you don't have a need for someone, stop paying them and fire them. But later, when the Crawley family goes through yet more financial difficulty, it becomes clear that this "everyone is entitled to a job" mentality may have been causing this unstoppable decline.
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*** Robert ‘’did’’ bring in a housekeeper and gardener for Matthew’s household. We didn’t see the gardener because he wasn’t plot relevant, but Mrs. Bird was both cook and housekeeper for Matthew’s household just like Molesley was pulling double-duty as butler & valet. The maid that came in from the village, who was also briefly mentioned, was likely asked to serve as a ladies’ maid to Isobel when she needed to dress for formal occasions, just like Anna did for the Crawley daughters in the first few series.
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*** Robert ‘’did’’ bring in a housekeeper and gardener for Matthew’s household. We didn’t see the gardener because he wasn’t plot relevant, plot-relevant, but Mrs. Bird was both cook and housekeeper for Matthew’s household just like Molesley was pulling double-duty as butler & valet. The maid that came in from the village, who was also briefly mentioned, was likely asked to serve as a ladies’ maid to Isobel when she needed to dress for formal occasions, just like Anna did for the Crawley daughters in the first few series.
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** The fortune was entailed - they don't give a full explanation of this on the show, they expect you to be able to figure it out from context, but basically that means all holdings associated with the current holder of the title are passed down to the heir to the title. Women, in 1912, couldn't inherit titles. So, because of the entail, Mary could not inherit the house. Mary, Edith and Sybil are NOT titled until they marry, this is why they're called "Lady Mary" or "Lady Edith", as a courtesy address instead of being "Lady Crawley". The only Ladies Crawley are their mother and grandmother, who both are conferred the title by marriage. It's only AFTER marrying Matthew that Mary is allowed to use her husband's title. The rules of English nobility were bonkers, that's the point of the show.
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** The fortune was entailed - they don't give a full explanation of this on the show, they expect you to be able to figure it out from context, but basically that means all holdings associated with the current holder of the title are passed down to the heir to the title. Women, in 1912, couldn't inherit titles. So, because of the entail, Mary could not inherit the house. Mary, Edith Edith, and Sybil are NOT titled until they marry, this is why they're called "Lady Mary" or "Lady Edith", as a courtesy address instead of being "Lady Crawley". The only Ladies Crawley are their mother and grandmother, who both are conferred the title by marriage. It's only AFTER marrying Matthew that Mary is allowed to use her husband's title. The rules of English nobility were bonkers, that's the point of the show.
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** The idea of “don’t keep a servant around if you don’t need them” is addressed in a later episode by Violet. She states in that it is the responsibility of the nobility to provide employment for the people around them, and if they didn’t, they were “as useless as a glass hammer.” Basically it didn’t matter how independent you felt like being or whether you thought you really needed a valet. You were expected to have one for their sake more than yours. Long story short: the nobility are what would later be termed “job creators” and they took that responsibility seriously.
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** The idea of “don’t keep a servant around if you don’t need them” is addressed in a later episode by Violet. She states in that it is the responsibility of the nobility to provide employment for the people around them, and if they didn’t, they were “as useless as a glass hammer.” Basically Basically, it didn’t matter how independent you felt like being or whether you thought you really needed a valet. You were expected to have one for their sake more than yours. Long story short: the nobility are what would later be termed “job creators” and they took that responsibility seriously.
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* Is the number of servants at Downton appropriate? I can’t decide if they have too many or too few. Sometimes it seems like they have more than they need and other times they seem very short handed. But somehow they never seem to have just the right amount. How big a staff would a noble family of this size in a house that big have had in this time period?
* Other than the RuleOfDrama, why did Michael Gregson go to ''Germany'' of all countries to effect his plan to divorce his wife? Of the three countries (Germany, Greece, Portugal) he mentioned to Edith as allowing divorce by reason of the other spouse's mental incapacity, Germany has by far the worst climate. If you're emigrating for a few years, why not make it somewhere nice? Plus while at that time Greece really only had weather to recommend itself over Germany (both countries required seven years for naturalisation, and Greece was at war with Turkey at the time), Portugal offered a quicker path to naturalisation (only three years!) and was at worst only slightly more unstable than Germany--a fact for which the quicker naturalisation would compensate.[[note]]Reading "unstable" as "annual percentage risk of coup/other government change that would put your life in danger", the expected value of going to Portugal for 3 years in 1923 could not be that much worse than going to Germany for 7 that same year. (As things happened, Portugal had its coup in 1926, while Germany would hold out until 1933, but (1) it could have turned out either way from the standpoint of 1923 and (2) things got seriously nastier in Germany well before the coup.[[/note]] Plus, while the Germans were of course "the most hated race in Europe" at that time, Portugal had been one of the Allies and [[BindingAncientTreaty had been on good terms with Britain since the 14th century]]. Portugal was thus host to a reasonably large community of British expats (mostly involved in the wine trade) and there were therefore fairly frequent ships to England from Lisbon and Porto. About the only advantage Germany would have over Portugal is that Portugal was a bit of a backwater technologically--but not that much of one. (One supposes that Gregson might have found the prospect of learning German less daunting than learning Portuguese, but if he did he'd be a very odd bird indeed--most experts rate Portuguese as easier to learn for English-speakers than German.[[note]]The Germans agree--as they say, ''[[UsefulNotes/GermanLanguage Deutsche Sprache, schwere Sprache]]!'' ("German language, tough language!" This is largely because, although English is in fact a Germanic language, (1) English absorbed a lot of Romance vocabulary, so while it probably shares less of its vocabulary with Portuguese than with German, it's still quite a chunk, and (2) English grammar, while wildly different from both Portuguese and German, is (more or less by accident) less dissimilar from Portuguese than it is from German. (How English got that way is...[[UsefulNotes/HistoryOfEnglish complicated]], and no, the reason isn't just contact with Norman Old French, Old Norse is ''at least'' as responsible...)[[/note]])\\
* Other than the RuleOfDrama, why did Michael Gregson go to ''Germany'' of all countries to effect his plan to divorce his wife? Of the three countries (Germany, Greece, Portugal) he mentioned to Edith as allowing divorce by reason of the other spouse's mental incapacity, Germany has by far the worst climate. If you're emigrating for a few years, why not make it somewhere nice? Plus while at that time Greece really only had weather to recommend itself over Germany (both countries required seven years for naturalisation, and Greece was at war with Turkey at the time), Portugal offered a quicker path to naturalisation (only three years!) and was at worst only slightly more unstable than Germany--a fact for which the quicker naturalisation would compensate.[[note]]Reading "unstable" as "annual percentage risk of coup/other government change that would put your life in danger", the expected value of going to Portugal for 3 years in 1923 could not be that much worse than going to Germany for 7 that same year. (As things happened, Portugal had its coup in 1926, while Germany would hold out until 1933, but (1) it could have turned out either way from the standpoint of 1923 and (2) things got seriously nastier in Germany well before the coup.[[/note]] Plus, while the Germans were of course "the most hated race in Europe" at that time, Portugal had been one of the Allies and [[BindingAncientTreaty had been on good terms with Britain since the 14th century]]. Portugal was thus host to a reasonably large community of British expats (mostly involved in the wine trade) and there were therefore fairly frequent ships to England from Lisbon and Porto. About the only advantage Germany would have over Portugal is that Portugal was a bit of a backwater technologically--but not that much of one. (One supposes that Gregson might have found the prospect of learning German less daunting than learning Portuguese, but if he did he'd be a very odd bird indeed--most experts rate Portuguese as easier to learn for English-speakers than German.[[note]]The Germans agree--as they say, ''[[UsefulNotes/GermanLanguage Deutsche Sprache, schwere Sprache]]!'' ("German language, tough language!" This is largely because, although English is in fact a Germanic language, (1) English absorbed a lot of Romance vocabulary, so while it probably shares less of its vocabulary with Portuguese than with German, it's still quite a chunk, and (2) English grammar, while wildly different from both Portuguese and German, is (more or less by accident) less dissimilar from Portuguese than it is from German. (How English got that way is...[[UsefulNotes/HistoryOfEnglish complicated]], and no, the reason isn't just contact with Norman Old French, Old Norse is ''at least'' as responsible...)[[/note]])\\
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* Is the number of servants at Downton appropriate? I can’t decide if they have too many or too few. Sometimes it seems like they have more than they need and other times they seem very short handed.short-handed. But somehow they never seem to have just the right amount. How big a staff would a noble family of this size in a house that big have had in this time period?
* Other than the RuleOfDrama, why did Michael Gregson go to ''Germany'' of all countries to effect his plan to divorce his wife? Of the three countries (Germany, Greece, Portugal) he mentioned to Edith as allowing divorce by reason of the other spouse's mental incapacity, Germany has by far the worst climate. If you're emigrating for a few years, why not make it somewhere nice? Plus while at that time Greece really only had weather to recommend itself over Germany (both countries required seven years fornaturalisation, naturalization, and Greece was at war with Turkey at the time), Portugal offered a quicker path to naturalisation naturalization (only three years!) and was at worst only slightly more unstable than Germany--a fact for which the quicker naturalisation naturalization would compensate.[[note]]Reading "unstable" as "annual percentage risk of coup/other government change that would put your life in danger", the expected value of going to Portugal for 3 years in 1923 could not be that much worse than going to Germany for 7 that same year. (As things happened, Portugal had its coup in 1926, while Germany would hold out until 1933, but (1) it could have turned out either way from the standpoint of 1923 1923, and (2) things got seriously nastier in Germany well before the coup.[[/note]] Plus, while the Germans were of course "the most hated race in Europe" at that time, Portugal had been one of the Allies Allies, and [[BindingAncientTreaty had been on good terms with Britain since the 14th century]]. Portugal was thus host to a reasonably large community of British expats ex-pats (mostly involved in the wine trade) and there were therefore fairly frequent ships to England from Lisbon and Porto. About the only advantage Germany would have over Portugal is that Portugal was a bit of a backwater technologically--but not that much of one. (One supposes that Gregson might have found the prospect of learning German less daunting than learning Portuguese, but if he did he'd be a very odd bird indeed--most experts rate Portuguese as easier to learn for English-speakers English speakers than German.[[note]]The Germans agree--as they say, ''[[UsefulNotes/GermanLanguage Deutsche Sprache, schwere Sprache]]!'' ("German language, tough language!" This is largely because, although English is in fact a Germanic language, (1) English absorbed a lot of Romance vocabulary, so while it probably shares less of its vocabulary with Portuguese than with German, it's still quite a chunk, and (2) English grammar, while wildly different from both Portuguese and German, is (more or less by accident) less dissimilar from Portuguese than it is from German. (How English got that way is...[[UsefulNotes/HistoryOfEnglish complicated]], and no, the reason isn't just contact with Norman Old French, Old Norse is ''at least'' as responsible...)[[/note]])\\
* Other than the RuleOfDrama, why did Michael Gregson go to ''Germany'' of all countries to effect his plan to divorce his wife? Of the three countries (Germany, Greece, Portugal) he mentioned to Edith as allowing divorce by reason of the other spouse's mental incapacity, Germany has by far the worst climate. If you're emigrating for a few years, why not make it somewhere nice? Plus while at that time Greece really only had weather to recommend itself over Germany (both countries required seven years for
Changed line(s) 106 (click to see context) from:
On top of that, there's the never-mentioned option (one that involves no language lessons) of going to the United States for long enough to get American citizenship (five years back then, there being no visa requirements at the time) and getting a DivorceInReno. Gregson wouldn't have had to spend the whole time in Nevada, either; he could spend most of his time in New York (or wherever else he found interesting, but probably New York) and only go to Nevada for the last six months of his naturalisation period to establish himself as a Nevada resident once he got citizenship. (As a side benefit, the federal district court in Nevada would hardly have had a crowded docket in the 1920s and would've been happy to set aside a day to have an Englishman take the oath of citizenship, so he wouldn't have to wait for his court date as he might have done somewhere more populous.) The Nevada courts would almost certainly have granted him the divorce (they could probably have been persuaded to accept the lunacy as a form of abandonment, seeing as his case was sympathetic and, for the most part, the courts really didn't care what your story was so long as you'd spent six months pumping money into the local economy). So why ''Germany'' out of this smorgasbord of options?
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On top of that, there's the never-mentioned option (one that involves no language lessons) of going to the United States for long enough to get American citizenship (five years back then, there being no visa requirements at the time) and getting a DivorceInReno. Gregson wouldn't have had to spend the whole time in Nevada, either; he could spend most of his time in New York (or wherever else he found interesting, but probably New York) and only go to Nevada for the last six months of his naturalisation naturalization period to establish himself as a Nevada resident once he got citizenship. (As a side benefit, the federal district court in Nevada would hardly have had a crowded docket in the 1920s and would've been happy to set aside a day to have an Englishman take the oath of citizenship, so he wouldn't have to wait for his court date as he might have done somewhere more populous.) The Nevada courts would almost certainly have granted him the divorce (they could probably have been persuaded to accept the lunacy as a form of abandonment, seeing as his case was sympathetic and, for the most part, the courts really didn't care what your story was so long as you'd spent six months pumping money into the local economy). So why ''Germany'' out of this smorgasbord of options?
Changed line(s) 110 (click to see context) from:
* One of the entires under Heartwarming for the movie explains that Lucy and Tom would become nobility and on equal footing with Mary when Lucy inherits from Maud and if Tom marries her. How is this possible if Lucy is illegitimate and can't inherit a title and Tom is a commoner who also can't inherit one unless he's knighted?
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* One of the entires entries under Heartwarming for the movie explains that Lucy and Tom would become nobility and on equal footing with Mary when Lucy inherits from Maud and if Tom marries her. How is this possible if Lucy is illegitimate and can't inherit a title and Tom is a commoner who also can't inherit one unless he's knighted?
Changed line(s) 118 (click to see context) from:
* Are we sure that Marigold's surname is Gregson and not Crawley since she is illegitimate? Wouldn't Marigold be a Crawley as and not be called "Miss" because she's illegitimate?
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* Are we sure that Marigold's surname is Gregson and not Crawley since she is illegitimate? Wouldn't Marigold be a Crawley as and not be called "Miss" because she's illegitimate?
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* During the extra long episode "Yhe London Season" both the upstairs and downstairs characters complain that the London House is too small for thr number of people staying so why aren't some family members such as The Dowager and Isobel staying with Lady Rosamund whose house in Belgravia is close by and looks about the same size as Grantham Hiuse in St James's
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* During the extra long episode "Yhe "The London Season" both the upstairs and downstairs characters complain that the London House is too small for thr the number of people staying so why aren't some family members such as The Dowager and Isobel staying with Lady Rosamund whose house in Belgravia is close by and looks about the same size as Grantham Hiuse House in St James's
James's.
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Changed line(s) 49,50 (click to see context) from:
** No, she would be Marchioness Hexham because a Marquess, who she is marrying, outranks an Earl, who she is the daughter of. The higher ranked title takes precedence. However, she would be addressed as Lady Hexham in conversation. Because British titles are weird and like to call everyone Lord/Lady in many circumstances, whatever their actual rank.
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** No, she would be Marchioness Hexham because a Marquess, who whom she is marrying, outranks an Earl, who she is the daughter of. The higher ranked title takes precedence. However, she would be addressed as Lady Hexham in conversation. Because British titles are weird and like to call everyone Lord/Lady in many circumstances, whatever their actual rank.
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Changed line(s) 38 (click to see context) from:
** However, in the season 2 Christmas special, Carlisle does say to Mary that even though he's not mad at her anymore, he still plans to publish the story, as he's a businessman and the scandal will sell the papers. So if he later on changes his mind, it's never explained why, as he doesn't appear again after seasons 2.
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** However, in the season 2 Christmas special, Carlisle does say to Mary that even though he's not mad at her anymore, he still plans to publish the story, as he's a businessman and the scandal will sell the papers. So if he later on changes his mind, it's never explained why, as he doesn't appear again after seasons season 2.
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** The scene you're talking about did ''not'' mean Thomas didn't know about O'Brien's responsibility for the miscarriage. He was questioning that being a good reason for her to be nice to Cora.
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Changed line(s) 23 (click to see context) from:
** Hysterosalpingogram most likely, they had that back then albeit crude. Basically she had one or both fallopian tubes blocked. They would have inserted contrast into her uterine cavity via the vagina (why she wouldn't want to giver her husband any details). They would take an x-ray that showed the blockage. Then there was various different ways of fixing it. Because she didn't need a large operation presumably they managed to fix it by pumping in [=CO2=] or something.
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** Hysterosalpingogram most likely, they had that back then albeit crude. Basically she had one or both fallopian tubes blocked. They would have inserted contrast into her uterine cavity via the vagina (why she wouldn't want to giver her husband any details). They would take an x-ray that showed the blockage. Then there was were various different ways of fixing it. Because she didn't need a large operation presumably they managed to fix it by pumping in [=CO2=] or something.
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Changed line(s) 118 (click to see context) from:
** If Edith was able to use Marigold's birth certificate to prove maternity, then, yes, Marigold's surname would have had to be Crawley. However, Edith may have given her to the Drewes with the name Gregson to honor Marigold's father and reinforce the illusion that she was a friend's daughter. Then again, it's entirely possible that she would have been referred to as Drewe, or any other surname the Drewes cared to give her. After Edith "adopts" Marigold, her surname would most definitely have been Crawley, to reinforce ''that'' illusion. After Edith's marriage to Bertie Pelham, she would have been Miss Marigold Pelham. And yes, there is no doubt about the "Miss". Since none of Marigold's potential fathers were titled and only "heirs of the body" (i.e. biological descendants of the titleholder) warrant courtesy titles, Marigold would have been stuck as plain "Miss" while her younger half-siblings would have been "Lord/Lady Firstname Pelham". I believe this wiki refers to her as "Gregson" simply because it's easier to keep track of who she is that way, rather than adding another name to the endless list of Crawleys.
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** If Edith was able to use Marigold's birth certificate to prove maternity, then, yes, Marigold's surname would have had to be Crawley. However, Edith may have given her to the Drewes with the name Gregson to honor Marigold's father and reinforce the illusion that she was a friend's daughter. Then again, it's entirely possible that she would have been referred to as Drewe, or any other surname the Drewes cared to give her. After Edith "adopts" Marigold, her surname would most definitely have been Crawley, to reinforce ''that'' illusion. After Edith's marriage to Bertie Pelham, she would have been Miss Marigold Pelham. And yes, there is no doubt about the "Miss". Since none of Marigold's potential fathers were titled and only "heirs of the body" (i.e. biological male-line descendants of the titleholder) a titleholder warrant courtesy titles, Marigold would have been stuck as plain "Miss" while her younger half-siblings would have been "Lord/Lady Firstname Pelham". I believe this wiki refers to her as "Gregson" simply because it's easier to keep track of who she is that way, rather than adding another name to the endless list of Crawleys.
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*** That's not touching on the act that there was absolutely no reason for him to go anywhere. He was having an affair with Edith, and infidelity was most certainly grounds for divorce. Granted, he may not have wanted to be the guilty party and make Edith "the other woman", but it would have been an option.
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** The title, yes. The estate... not necessarily. Unless there is an entail (and there is nothing to suggest that the Merton estate is entailed) the estate can be treated like any other piece of property. If Lord Merton is allowed unlimited access to other people, there's no telling what they might convince him to do... like will his fortune to the RSPCA or marry a doctor's widow or God knows what else. It's much safer for Larry in particular to keep him isolated and away from other people until he dies. Also, in case someone forgot, Larry Grey is an entitled asshole with no redeeming qualities whatsoever, who wouldn't balk at keeping his father isolated in his last days of life.
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** It is never mentioned, but the smart money is, in my opinion, on before. Mid-twenties is not too young to start out as a junior footman, and many music-hall performers started out very young. Buster Keaton is an extreme example, but he started performing at age ''three''.
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** It is never mentioned, but the smart money is, in my opinion, on before. Mid-twenties is not too young old to start out as a junior footman, and many music-hall performers started out very young. Buster Keaton is an extreme example, but he started performing at age ''three''.
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** It's not at all odd that a young widow (who, as such, would be allowed to marry without having to get permission from a male relative), who is also in possession of significant amounts of money and an excellent pedigree would attract male attention, son or no son (after all, the tyke can be pawned off to a nanny and then shipped off to Eton). I agree that the timeframe is too short; Mary should have been in formal mourning for a minimum of two years after Matthew's death, and for anyone to initiate any form of romantic entanglements with her during that period would have been unbelievably crass and sufficient cause to ostracise both parties, but can easily be chalked up to rule of drama.
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** It is never mentioned, but the smart money is, in my opinion, on before. Mid-twenties is not too young to start out as a junior footman, and many music-hall performers started out very young. Buster Keaton is an extreme example, but he started performing at age ''three''.
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** If Edith was able to use Marigold's birth certificate to prove maternity, then, yes, Marigold's surname would have had to be Crawley. However, Edith may have given her to the Drewes with the name Gregson to honor Marigold's father and reinforce the illusion that she was a friend's daughter. Then again, it's entirely possible that she would have been referred to as Drewe, or any other surname the Drewes cared to give her. After Edith "adopts" Marigold, her surname would most definitely have been Crawley, to reinforce ''that'' illusion. After Edith's marriage to Bertie Pelham, she would have been Miss Marigold Pelham. And yes, there is no doubt about the "Miss". Since none of Marigold's potential fathers were titled and only "heirs of the body" (i.e. biological children of the titleholder) warrant courtesy titles, Marigold would have been stuck as plain "Miss" while her younger half-siblings would have been "Lord/Lady Firstname Pelham". I believe this wiki refers to her as "Gregson" simply because it's easier to keep track of who she is that way, rather than adding another name to the endless list of Crawleys.
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** If Edith was able to use Marigold's birth certificate to prove maternity, then, yes, Marigold's surname would have had to be Crawley. However, Edith may have given her to the Drewes with the name Gregson to honor Marigold's father and reinforce the illusion that she was a friend's daughter. Then again, it's entirely possible that she would have been referred to as Drewe, or any other surname the Drewes cared to give her. After Edith "adopts" Marigold, her surname would most definitely have been Crawley, to reinforce ''that'' illusion. After Edith's marriage to Bertie Pelham, she would have been Miss Marigold Pelham. And yes, there is no doubt about the "Miss". Since none of Marigold's potential fathers were titled and only "heirs of the body" (i.e. biological children descendants of the titleholder) warrant courtesy titles, Marigold would have been stuck as plain "Miss" while her younger half-siblings would have been "Lord/Lady Firstname Pelham". I believe this wiki refers to her as "Gregson" simply because it's easier to keep track of who she is that way, rather than adding another name to the endless list of Crawleys.
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*** Veneration of Mary is quite common among conservative, high-church members of the Church of England, which fits both the characterization of Lord Grantham and the local vicar.
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** If Edith was able to use Marigold's birth certificate to prove maternity, then, yes, Marigold's surname would have had to be Crawley. However, Edith may have given her to the Drewes with the name Gregson to honor Marigold's father and reinforce the illusion that she was a friend's daughter. Then again, it's entirely possible that she would have been referred to as Drewe, or any other surname the Drewes cared to give her. After Edith "adopts" Marigold, her surname would most definitely have been Crawley, to reinforce ''that'' illusion. After Edith's marriage to Bertie Pelham, she would have been Miss Marigold Pelham. And yes, there is no doubt about the "Miss". Since none of Marigold's potential fathers were titled and only "heirs of the body" warrant courtesy titles, Marigold would have been stuck as plain "Miss" while her younger half-siblings would have been "Lord/Lady Firstname Pelham". I believe this wiki refers to her as "Gregson" simply because it's easier to keep track of who she is that way, rather than adding another name to the endless list of Crawleys.
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** If Edith was able to use Marigold's birth certificate to prove maternity, then, yes, Marigold's surname would have had to be Crawley. However, Edith may have given her to the Drewes with the name Gregson to honor Marigold's father and reinforce the illusion that she was a friend's daughter. Then again, it's entirely possible that she would have been referred to as Drewe, or any other surname the Drewes cared to give her. After Edith "adopts" Marigold, her surname would most definitely have been Crawley, to reinforce ''that'' illusion. After Edith's marriage to Bertie Pelham, she would have been Miss Marigold Pelham. And yes, there is no doubt about the "Miss". Since none of Marigold's potential fathers were titled and only "heirs of the body" (i.e. biological children of the titleholder) warrant courtesy titles, Marigold would have been stuck as plain "Miss" while her younger half-siblings would have been "Lord/Lady Firstname Pelham". I believe this wiki refers to her as "Gregson" simply because it's easier to keep track of who she is that way, rather than adding another name to the endless list of Crawleys.
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** Photography doesn't necessarily need a flash if the lighting conditions are good enough. While you might want one for studio or portrait photography, you definitely don't need one for taking pictures through a window for blackmail material. There would be some clicking from the shutter, sure, but nothing you would notice through a wall.
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** If Edith was able to use Marigold's birth certificate to prove maternity, then, yes, Marigold's surname would have had to be Crawley. However, Edith may have given her to the Drewes with the name Gregson to honor Marigold's father and reinforce the illusion that she was a friend's daughter. Then again, it's entirely possible that she would have been referred to as Drewe, or any other surname the Drewes cared to give her. After Edith "adopts" Marigold, her surname would most definitely have been Crawley, to reinforce ''that'' illusion. After Edith's marriage to Bertie Pelham, she would have been Miss Marigold Pelham. And yes, there is no doubt about the "Miss". Since none of Marigold's potential fathers were titled and only "heirs of the body" warrant courtesy titles, Marigold would have been stuck as plain "Miss" while her younger siblings would have been "Lord/Lady Firstname Pelham". I believe this wiki refers to her as "Gregson" simply because it's easier to keep track of who she is that way, rather than adding another name to the endless list of Crawleys.
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** If Edith was able to use Marigold's birth certificate to prove maternity, then, yes, Marigold's surname would have had to be Crawley. However, Edith may have given her to the Drewes with the name Gregson to honor Marigold's father and reinforce the illusion that she was a friend's daughter. Then again, it's entirely possible that she would have been referred to as Drewe, or any other surname the Drewes cared to give her. After Edith "adopts" Marigold, her surname would most definitely have been Crawley, to reinforce ''that'' illusion. After Edith's marriage to Bertie Pelham, she would have been Miss Marigold Pelham. And yes, there is no doubt about the "Miss". Since none of Marigold's potential fathers were titled and only "heirs of the body" warrant courtesy titles, Marigold would have been stuck as plain "Miss" while her younger siblings half-siblings would have been "Lord/Lady Firstname Pelham". I believe this wiki refers to her as "Gregson" simply because it's easier to keep track of who she is that way, rather than adding another name to the endless list of Crawleys.
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* Wouldn't Marigold be a Crawley as and not be called "Miss" because she's illegitimate?
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* Are we sure that Marigold's surname is Gregson and not Crawley since she is illegitimate?
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* Are we sure that Marigold's surname is Gregson and not Crawley since she is illegitimate? Wouldn't Marigold be a Crawley as and not be called "Miss" because she's illegitimate?
** If Edith was able to use Marigold's birth certificate to prove maternity, then, yes, Marigold's surname would have had to be Crawley. However, Edith may have given her to the Drewes with the name Gregson to honor Marigold's father and reinforce the illusion that she was a friend's daughter. Then again, it's entirely possible that she would have been referred to as Drewe, or any other surname the Drewes cared to give her. After Edith "adopts" Marigold, her surname would most definitely have been Crawley, to reinforce ''that'' illusion. After Edith's marriage to Bertie Pelham, she would have been Miss Marigold Pelham. And yes, there is no doubt about the "Miss". Since none of Marigold's potential fathers were titled and only "heirs of the body" warrant courtesy titles, Marigold would have been stuck as plain "Miss" while her younger siblings would have been "Lord/Lady Firstname Pelham". I believe this wiki refers to her as "Gregson" simply because it's easier to keep track of who she is that way, rather than adding another name to the endless list of Crawleys.
** If Edith was able to use Marigold's birth certificate to prove maternity, then, yes, Marigold's surname would have had to be Crawley. However, Edith may have given her to the Drewes with the name Gregson to honor Marigold's father and reinforce the illusion that she was a friend's daughter. Then again, it's entirely possible that she would have been referred to as Drewe, or any other surname the Drewes cared to give her. After Edith "adopts" Marigold, her surname would most definitely have been Crawley, to reinforce ''that'' illusion. After Edith's marriage to Bertie Pelham, she would have been Miss Marigold Pelham. And yes, there is no doubt about the "Miss". Since none of Marigold's potential fathers were titled and only "heirs of the body" warrant courtesy titles, Marigold would have been stuck as plain "Miss" while her younger siblings would have been "Lord/Lady Firstname Pelham". I believe this wiki refers to her as "Gregson" simply because it's easier to keep track of who she is that way, rather than adding another name to the endless list of Crawleys.
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* During the extra long episode "Yhe London Season" both the upstairs and downstairs characters complain that the London House is too small for thr number of people staying so why aren't some family members such as The Dowager and Isobel staying with Lady Rosamund whose house in Belgravia is close by and looks about the same size as Grantham Hiuse in St James's
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* Are we sure that Marigold's surname is Gregson and not Crawley since she is illegitimate?
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* Wikipedia says Carson joined the Downton household as a junior footman when he was a young man. But the show also says he spent some indeterminate amount of time as part of a stage act with Mr Grigg. How does the timeline work here? When was Carson part of a stage act? Was it before coming to Downton? Did he take a break for a few years and come back?
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** Why Germany and why Munich are quite easy to answer: Because it gives the show an excuse to name-drop Adolf Hitler.
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* Why was Lord Merton’s family trying to keep him imprisoned in the house during the last episode? Whether he dies in his own bed or someone else’s, his eldest son inherits the estate and the title either way, doesn’t he?
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* So in the…I forget what series and episode but the one where someone tries to derail Rose’s wedding by sending her some apparently compromising photos of him with a strange woman, how did they get those shots in the first place without Atticus noticing? Didn’t cameras in those days make a big *FOOF* noise from the flash bulb? Surely Atticus would have both heard the noise and seen the flash of light and realized he’d just been photographed.
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* So in the…I forget what series and episode but the one where someone tries to derail Rose’s wedding by sending her some apparently compromising photos of him Atticus with a strange woman, how did they get those shots in the first place without Atticus noticing? Didn’t cameras in those days make a big *FOOF* noise from the flash bulb? Surely Atticus would have both heard the noise and seen the flash of light and realized he’d just been photographed.
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* So in the…I forget what series and episode but the one where someone tries to derail Rose’s wedding by sending her some apparently compromising photos of him with a strange woman, how did they get those shots in the first place without Atticus noticing? Didn’t cameras in those days make a big *FOOF* noise from the flash powder? Surely Atticus would have both heard the noise and seen the flash of light and realized he’d just been photographed.
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* So in the…I forget what series and episode but the one where someone tries to derail Rose’s wedding by sending her some apparently compromising photos of him with a strange woman, how did they get those shots in the first place without Atticus noticing? Didn’t cameras in those days make a big *FOOF* noise from the flash powder? bulb? Surely Atticus would have both heard the noise and seen the flash of light and realized he’d just been photographed.
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* So in the…I forget what series and episode but the one where someone tries to derail Rose’s wedding by sending her some apparently compromising photos of him with a strange woman, how did they get those shots in the first place without Atticus noticing? Didn’t cameras in those days make a big *FOOF* noise from the flash powder? Surely Atticus would have both heard the noise and seen the flash of light and realized he’d just been photographed.
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* From the[[Film/DowntonAbbeyANewEra second movie]]: Was that vase a prop? Was it shown anytime in the series prior to its stellar appearance in the film?
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* From the[[Film/DowntonAbbeyANewEra the [[Film/DowntonAbbeyANewEra second movie]]: Was that vase a prop? Was it shown anytime in the series prior to its stellar appearance in the film?
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* From the[[Film/DowntonAbbeyANewEra second movie]]: Was that vase a prop? Was it shown anytime in the series prior to its stellar appearance in the film?
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* Wouldn't Marigold be a Crawley as and not be called "Miss" because she's illegitimate?
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** Also, even given Germany, why ''Munich''? Why not Berlin, with its lively literary scene and nightlife that would so suit a charming, witty magazine editor? Why not Hamburg with its large community of British expats, Anglophile culture,[[note]]The joke in Germany is "''Wenn es in London anfängt zu regnen, spannen die Hamburger den Schirm auf''" ("When it rains in London, the people in Hamburg open their umbrellas.")[[/note]] and frequent ships to England?[[note]]Even if he was extra-cautious about maintaining his German residency and never went to England himself for the whole period, Hamburg would be the easiest part of Germany for Edith to visit for this very reason.[[/note]] Did he really just ''have'' to live in sight of the mountains? (Yes, yes, Edith later says he wanted to see the castles of King Ludwig, but earlier conversations--ones with Gregson still in England--suggest Munich was at least a possible long-term residence, not just the first stop on his tourist itinerary.)
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** Also, even given Germany, why ''Munich''? Why not Berlin, with its lively literary scene and nightlife that would so suit a charming, witty magazine editor? editor and aspiring novelist? Why not Hamburg with its large community of British expats, Anglophile culture,[[note]]The joke in Germany is "''Wenn es in London anfängt zu regnen, spannen die Hamburger den Schirm auf''" ("When it rains in London, the people in Hamburg open their umbrellas.")[[/note]] and frequent ships to England?[[note]]Even if he was extra-cautious about maintaining his German residency and never went to England himself for the whole period, Hamburg would be the easiest part of Germany for Edith to visit for this very reason.[[/note]] Did he really just ''have'' to live in sight of the mountains? (Yes, yes, Edith later says he wanted to see the castles of King Ludwig, but earlier conversations--ones with Gregson still in England--suggest Munich was at least a possible long-term residence, not just the first stop on his tourist itinerary.)
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* Other than the RuleOfDrama, why did Michael Gregson go to ''Germany'' of all countries to effect his plan to divorce his wife? Of the three countries (Germany, Greece, Portugal) he mentioned to Edith as allowing divorce by reason of the other spouse's mental incapacity, Germany has by far the worst climate. If you're emigrating for a few years, why not make it somewhere nice? Plus while at that time Greece really only had weather to recommend itself over Germany (both countries required seven years for naturalisation, and Greece was at war with Turkey at the time), Portugal offered a quicker path to naturalisation (only three years!) and was at worst only slightly more unstable than Germany--a fact for which the quicker naturalisation would compensate.[[note]]Reading "unstable" as "annual percentage risk of coup/other government change that would put your life in danger", the expected value of going to Portugal for 3 years in 1923 would not be that much worse than going to Germany for 7 that same year. (As things happened, Portugal had its coup in 1926, while Germany would hold out until 1933, but (1) it could have turned out either way from the standpoint of 1923 and (2) things got seriously nastier in Germany well before the coup.[[/note]] Plus, while the Germans were of course "the most hated race in Europe" at that time, Portugal had been one of the Allies and [[BindingAncientTreaty had been on good terms with Britain since the 14th century]]. Portugal was thus host to a reasonably large community of British expats (mostly involved in the wine trade) and there were therefore fairly frequent ships to England from Lisbon and Porto. About the only advantage Germany would have over Portugal is that Portugal was a bit of a backwater technologically--but not that much of one. (One supposes that Gregson might have found the prospect of learning German less daunting than learning Portuguese, but if he did he'd be a very odd bird indeed--most experts rate Portuguese as easier to learn for English-speakers than German.[[note]]The Germans agree--as they say, ''[[UsefulNotes/GermanLanguage Deutsche Sprache, schwere Sprache]]!'' ("German language, tough language!" This is largely because, although English is in fact a Germanic language, (1) English absorbed a lot of Romance vocabulary, so while it probably shares less of its vocabulary with Portuguese than with German, it's still quite a chunk, and (2) English grammar, while wildly different from both Portuguese and German, is (more or less by accident) less dissimilar from Portuguese than it is from German. (How English got that way is...[[UsefulNotes/HistoryOfEnglish complicated]], and no, the reason isn't just contact with Norman Old French, Old Norse is ''at least'' as responsible...)[[/note]])\\
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* Other than the RuleOfDrama, why did Michael Gregson go to ''Germany'' of all countries to effect his plan to divorce his wife? Of the three countries (Germany, Greece, Portugal) he mentioned to Edith as allowing divorce by reason of the other spouse's mental incapacity, Germany has by far the worst climate. If you're emigrating for a few years, why not make it somewhere nice? Plus while at that time Greece really only had weather to recommend itself over Germany (both countries required seven years for naturalisation, and Greece was at war with Turkey at the time), Portugal offered a quicker path to naturalisation (only three years!) and was at worst only slightly more unstable than Germany--a fact for which the quicker naturalisation would compensate.[[note]]Reading "unstable" as "annual percentage risk of coup/other government change that would put your life in danger", the expected value of going to Portugal for 3 years in 1923 would could not be that much worse than going to Germany for 7 that same year. (As things happened, Portugal had its coup in 1926, while Germany would hold out until 1933, but (1) it could have turned out either way from the standpoint of 1923 and (2) things got seriously nastier in Germany well before the coup.[[/note]] Plus, while the Germans were of course "the most hated race in Europe" at that time, Portugal had been one of the Allies and [[BindingAncientTreaty had been on good terms with Britain since the 14th century]]. Portugal was thus host to a reasonably large community of British expats (mostly involved in the wine trade) and there were therefore fairly frequent ships to England from Lisbon and Porto. About the only advantage Germany would have over Portugal is that Portugal was a bit of a backwater technologically--but not that much of one. (One supposes that Gregson might have found the prospect of learning German less daunting than learning Portuguese, but if he did he'd be a very odd bird indeed--most experts rate Portuguese as easier to learn for English-speakers than German.[[note]]The Germans agree--as they say, ''[[UsefulNotes/GermanLanguage Deutsche Sprache, schwere Sprache]]!'' ("German language, tough language!" This is largely because, although English is in fact a Germanic language, (1) English absorbed a lot of Romance vocabulary, so while it probably shares less of its vocabulary with Portuguese than with German, it's still quite a chunk, and (2) English grammar, while wildly different from both Portuguese and German, is (more or less by accident) less dissimilar from Portuguese than it is from German. (How English got that way is...[[UsefulNotes/HistoryOfEnglish complicated]], and no, the reason isn't just contact with Norman Old French, Old Norse is ''at least'' as responsible...)[[/note]])\\
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Changed line(s) 101 (click to see context) from:
* Other than the RuleOfDrama, why did Michael Gregson go to ''Germany'' of all countries to effect his plan to divorce his wife? Of the three countries (Germany, Greece, Portugal) he mentioned to Edith as allowing divorce by reason of the other spouse's mental incapacity, Germany has by far the worst climate. If you're emigrating for a few years, why not make it somewhere nice? Plus while at that time Greece really only had weather to recommend itself over Germany (both countries required seven years for naturalisation, and Greece was at war with Turkey at the time), Portugal offered a quicker path to naturalisation (only three years!) and was only about as unstable as Germany. Plus, while the Germans were of course "the most hated race in Europe" at that time, Portugal had been one of the Allies and [[BindingAncientTreaty had been on good terms with Britain since the 14th century]]. Portugal was thus host to a reasonably large community of British expats (mostly involved in the wine trade) and there were therefore fairly frequent ships to England from Lisbon and Porto. About the only advantage Germany would have over Portugal is that Portugal was a bit of a backwater technologically--but not that much of one. (One supposes that Gregson might have found the prospect of learning German less daunting than learning Portuguese, but if he did he'd be a very odd bird indeed--most experts rate Portuguese as easier to learn for English-speakers than German.[[note]]The Germans agree--as they say, ''[[UsefulNotes/GermanLanguage Deutsche Sprache, schwere Sprache]]!'' ("German language, tough language!" This is largely because, although English is in fact a Germanic language, (1) English absorbed a lot of Romance vocabulary, so while it probably shares less of its vocabulary with Portuguese than with German, it's still quite a chunk, and (2) English grammar, while wildly different from both Portuguese and German, is (more or less by accident) less dissimilar from Portuguese than it is from German. (How English got that way is...[[UsefulNotes/HistoryOfEnglish complicated]], and no, the reason isn't just contact with Norman Old French, Old Norse is ''at least'' as responsible...)[[/note]])\\
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* Other than the RuleOfDrama, why did Michael Gregson go to ''Germany'' of all countries to effect his plan to divorce his wife? Of the three countries (Germany, Greece, Portugal) he mentioned to Edith as allowing divorce by reason of the other spouse's mental incapacity, Germany has by far the worst climate. If you're emigrating for a few years, why not make it somewhere nice? Plus while at that time Greece really only had weather to recommend itself over Germany (both countries required seven years for naturalisation, and Greece was at war with Turkey at the time), Portugal offered a quicker path to naturalisation (only three years!) and was at worst only about as slightly more unstable than Germany--a fact for which the quicker naturalisation would compensate.[[note]]Reading "unstable" as Germany. "annual percentage risk of coup/other government change that would put your life in danger", the expected value of going to Portugal for 3 years in 1923 would not be that much worse than going to Germany for 7 that same year. (As things happened, Portugal had its coup in 1926, while Germany would hold out until 1933, but (1) it could have turned out either way from the standpoint of 1923 and (2) things got seriously nastier in Germany well before the coup.[[/note]] Plus, while the Germans were of course "the most hated race in Europe" at that time, Portugal had been one of the Allies and [[BindingAncientTreaty had been on good terms with Britain since the 14th century]]. Portugal was thus host to a reasonably large community of British expats (mostly involved in the wine trade) and there were therefore fairly frequent ships to England from Lisbon and Porto. About the only advantage Germany would have over Portugal is that Portugal was a bit of a backwater technologically--but not that much of one. (One supposes that Gregson might have found the prospect of learning German less daunting than learning Portuguese, but if he did he'd be a very odd bird indeed--most experts rate Portuguese as easier to learn for English-speakers than German.[[note]]The Germans agree--as they say, ''[[UsefulNotes/GermanLanguage Deutsche Sprache, schwere Sprache]]!'' ("German language, tough language!" This is largely because, although English is in fact a Germanic language, (1) English absorbed a lot of Romance vocabulary, so while it probably shares less of its vocabulary with Portuguese than with German, it's still quite a chunk, and (2) English grammar, while wildly different from both Portuguese and German, is (more or less by accident) less dissimilar from Portuguese than it is from German. (How English got that way is...[[UsefulNotes/HistoryOfEnglish complicated]], and no, the reason isn't just contact with Norman Old French, Old Norse is ''at least'' as responsible...)[[/note]])\\
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Changed line(s) 101 (click to see context) from:
* Other than the RuleOfDrama, why did Michael Gregson go to ''Germany'' of all countries to effect his plan to divorce his wife? Of the three countries (Germany, Greece, Portugal) he mentioned to Edith as allowing divorce by reason of the other spouse's mental incapacity, Germany has by far the worst climate. If you're emigrating for a few years, why not make it somewhere nice? Plus while at that time Greece really only had weather to recommend itself over Germany (both countries required seven years for naturalisation, and Greece was at war with Turkey at the time), Portugal offered a quicker path to naturalisation (only three years!) and was only about as unstable as Germany. Plus, while the Germans were of course "the most hated race in Europe" at that time, Portugal had been one of the Allies and [[BindingAncientTreaty had been on good terms with Britain since the 14th century]]. Portugal was thus host to a reasonably large community of British expats (mostly involved in the wine trade) and there were therefore fairly frequent ships to England from Lisbon and Porto. About the only advantage Germany would have over Portugal is that Portugal was a bit of a backwater technologically--but not that much of one. (One supposes that Gregson might have found the prospect of learning German less daunting than learning Portuguese, but if he did he'd be a very odd bird indeed--most experts rate Portuguese as easier to learn for English-speakers than German.[[note]]The Germans agree--as they say, ''[[UsefulNotes/GermanLanguage Deutsche Sprache, schwere Sprache]]!'' ("German language, tough language!" This is largely because, although English is in fact a Germanic language, (1) English absorbed a lot of Romance vocabulary, so has about as many shared words with Portuguese as it does with German, and (2) English grammar, while wildly different from both Portuguese and German, is (more or less by accident) less dissimilar from Portuguese than it is from German. (How English got that way is...[[UsefulNotes/HistoryOfEnglish complicated]], and no, the reason isn't just contact with Norman Old French, Old Norse is ''at least'' as responsible...)[[/note]])\\
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* Other than the RuleOfDrama, why did Michael Gregson go to ''Germany'' of all countries to effect his plan to divorce his wife? Of the three countries (Germany, Greece, Portugal) he mentioned to Edith as allowing divorce by reason of the other spouse's mental incapacity, Germany has by far the worst climate. If you're emigrating for a few years, why not make it somewhere nice? Plus while at that time Greece really only had weather to recommend itself over Germany (both countries required seven years for naturalisation, and Greece was at war with Turkey at the time), Portugal offered a quicker path to naturalisation (only three years!) and was only about as unstable as Germany. Plus, while the Germans were of course "the most hated race in Europe" at that time, Portugal had been one of the Allies and [[BindingAncientTreaty had been on good terms with Britain since the 14th century]]. Portugal was thus host to a reasonably large community of British expats (mostly involved in the wine trade) and there were therefore fairly frequent ships to England from Lisbon and Porto. About the only advantage Germany would have over Portugal is that Portugal was a bit of a backwater technologically--but not that much of one. (One supposes that Gregson might have found the prospect of learning German less daunting than learning Portuguese, but if he did he'd be a very odd bird indeed--most experts rate Portuguese as easier to learn for English-speakers than German.[[note]]The Germans agree--as they say, ''[[UsefulNotes/GermanLanguage Deutsche Sprache, schwere Sprache]]!'' ("German language, tough language!" This is largely because, although English is in fact a Germanic language, (1) English absorbed a lot of Romance vocabulary, so has about as many shared words while it probably shares less of its vocabulary with Portuguese as it does than with German, it's still quite a chunk, and (2) English grammar, while wildly different from both Portuguese and German, is (more or less by accident) less dissimilar from Portuguese than it is from German. (How English got that way is...[[UsefulNotes/HistoryOfEnglish complicated]], and no, the reason isn't just contact with Norman Old French, Old Norse is ''at least'' as responsible...)[[/note]])\\
