The Monks

The Monks, referred to by the name monks on record sleeves, were an American rock band formed in Gelnhausen, West Germany in 1964. Assembled by five American GIs stationed in the country, the group grew tired of the traditional format of rock, which motivated them to forge a highly experimental style characterized by an emphasis on hypnotic rhythms that minimized the role of melody, augmented by the use of sound manipulation techniques. The band's unconventional blend of shrill vocals, confrontational lyrics, feedback, and guitarist David Day's six-string banjo baffled audiences, but music historians have since identified the Monks as a pioneering force in avant-garde music. The band's lyrics often voiced objection to the Vietnam War and the dehumanized state of society, while prefiguring the harsh and blunt commentary of the punk rock movement of the 1970s and 1980s. The band's appearance was considered as shocking as its music, as they attempted to mimic the look of Catholic monks by wearing black habits with cinctures symbolically tied around their necks, and hair worn in partially shaved tonsures.

In late 1964, while known as the Torquays, the band issued the self-financed single "There She Walks"; however, the release barely hinted at the music the group would record the following year. With the help of a German management team, they decided to change their name to the Monks and released the "Complication" single to coincide with the distribution of their one and only studio album, Black Monk Time on Polydor Records, in May 1966. Though the album and additional singles issued throughout 1966 and 1967 achieved limited success at the time, they have become highly regarded amongst music enthusiasts and commentators.

A few days after the release of Five Upstart Americans in 1999, all five of the original band members held a reunion concert followed by other series of sporadic tours in the 2000s. The band has acquired a cult following as a result of the newfound interest in Black Monk Time, and appearances on several compilation albums, most notably the expanded version of Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968. Punk bands and acts of other genres from the 1980s and 1990s, such as the Dead Kennedys and the Beastie Boys, have credited the Monks as an influence on their own musical styles.

## History

### Beginnings (1963–1964)

The nucleus of the Monks formed in late 1963, when American G.I.s Gary Burger (lead guitar, lead vocalist), Larry Clark (keyboards), Eddie Shaw (bass guitar), and Dave Day (rhythm guitar), along with a West German civilian identified simply as Hans (drums) came together as a quintet known as the Torquays, a name inspired by Burger's admiration for the Fireballs' hit instrumental piece "Torquay". Burger and Day had previously spent time together informally performing as an on-duty musical duo called the Rhythm Rockers, which soon recruited Clark and Hans to bolster their sound. Soon after, Shaw auditioned for the band and was reluctantly accepted by Burger. Shaw, a jazz musician by trade, was recruited largely due to the band's urgent need for a bass guitarist, rather than for his experience with the instrument, which was limited to some private practices prior to meeting with the Torquays. The band first began performing at military hangouts near their outpost in Gelhausen, playing a combination of American rock and roll standards from the 1950s, and some original songs penned by Burger and Day to rowdy crowds and servicemen.

Spotting the band at the Maxim Club, talent manager Hans Reich convinced the Torquays to stay in Germany when their military careers came to a close with the promise of work. For a brief period, the band included vocalist Zack Zachariah and drummer Bob Rose; however, the two were forced to excuse themselves from the Torquays because their discharges were long after the other band members'. Burger solved the issue relatively quickly by introducing the band to drummer Roger Johnston, and, henceforth, solidifying the line-up which would exist for the duration of the group's recording career. As the Torquays began to rehearse, Burger arranged a one-off single deal for the group at an independent studio in Heidelberg. The single, which coupled the band originals "There She Walks" and "Boys Are Boys", had 500 copies produced in late 1964, which were sold by Clark at live performances. Recordings from the single were later collected on the compilation album Five Upstart Americans.

In early 1965, the Torquays began a residency at the Rio Bar in Stuttgart, where they utilized the space to experiment with electronics and sound manipulation, while also expanding their repertoire. It was during the rehearsals at the Rio Bar that the group's avant-garde style—a combination of abrasive waves of feedback and high-volume distortion—began to emerge in its primitive form. Sensing a potential to expand upon their sound, a German management team, composed of Carl Remy, Walter Niemann, Gunther and Kiki Neumann, signed the Torquays to promote an entirely new image and hone their ensemble playing. During one of the first sessions with the team, the band decided to rename themselves the Monks, a moniker that was initially met with some misgivings by Clark whose father was a priest.

### Experimentation and album (1965–1966)

Under the supervision of the management team, the Monks conducted extensive rehearsals with a focus on gritty, rhythmically oriented music. The band equipped themselves with new instruments and hardware to achieve that goal: a Maestro fuzz box (and eventually a wah-wah pedal) for Burger, a floor tom for Johnston, and a six-string banjo for Day, the latter of which offered a disorienting counter-rhythm to the bass section. Shaw explained that the group's motivation was to possess "high rhythm and high energy". He elaborated further, saying "The idea of it was to get as much 'beat' out of it as we could. As much 'bam-bam-bam-bam' on the beat or whatever. The only time cymbals would be used would be for accent. If anyone wasn't contributing towards rhythm, then it wasn't part of the Monks sound". However, the band's transformation into the Monks was painstakingly slow, taking the group nearly a year of trial-and-error before they were confident enough to return to the studio.

In September 1965, the Monks recorded new, self-penned compositions to present to Polydor Records. However, Polydor was reluctant to sign the band to a recording contract until they performed at the Top Ten Club in Hamburg, where the Beatles garnered attention three years earlier. Much was made at the time of the Monks' unconventional attire, with their tailored-made black robes strikingly at odds with the prevailing trend for uniformity among contemporary beat groups. With all five members abandoning their Beatlesque hairdos for tonsures and plain rope serving as ties, the band exuded a mysterious aura, while also looking menacingly non-conformist. The Monks' image was met with mixed attitudes from their audiences. Younger fans were playfully curious about the band's eccentric appearance, but conservative patrons were shocked and, at times, furious at what they considered blasphemy on part of the group. Another aspect of the band was their relative detachment from the crowd, compounded by a loud and dissonant "steamroller of sound" that was intended to challenge but not necessarily please audiences.

Polydor Records was willing to gamble on the Monks' radical approach, and the band entered a studio in Cologne in November 1965. The recording sessions for the album, titled Black Monk Time brought the band to the edge of exhaustion, as they had to juggle nightly performances alongside Bill Haley and His Comets with early morning work in the studio. Another challenge was record producer Jimmy Bowien's limited resources to properly record the Monks' loud acoustics on a crude four-track tape. To avoid jumbling the instrumentals, the band members had to play behind sound walls in separate corners of the studio room.

In May 1966, Polydor Records released Black Monk Time and the "Complication" single. The striking approach that the Monks had taken on rock music was a precursor of punk rock. Burger's bursts of disorienting feedback was played through a heavily modified Vox Super Beatle amplifier. The songs strayed far from the typical verse-chorus-bridge, but their emphasis on rhythm was nonetheless reminiscent of R&B music acts of the 1950s. Lyrically, Black Monk Time showcased hard-edge and paranoiac political commentary about the Vietnam War, love-hate relationships, and demonized society for its imperfections. Polydor did not release the album in the United States considering it "too radical and non-commercial" it was circulated on tape in the 1980s and had developed a cult following by the early 1990s. The band itself re-released the album (first time in the US) in 1994.

### Changing musical direction (1966–1967)

The release of Black Monk Time was followed by press events, photo shoots with Charles Paul Wilp, and a six-month tour of one-nighters in music halls and bar taverns across West Germany, orchestrated by the newest member of their promotional team, Wolfgang Gluszczewski. Unfortunately, the tour was debilitating for the Monks, and their music often alienated new audiences attempting to catch on with the latest Monk craze. With the album underachieving in sales, Bowien urged the group to capitalize on the popularity of "soft wave" music, particularly the Beatles' song "Yellow Submarine". Although the majority of the band resisted the idea in favor of protecting their image, Day utilized the opportunity to introduce his love song, "Cuckoo", to the rest of the Monks. When the band returned to Hamburg for their second residency at the Top Ten Club, they recorded "Cuckoo" along with "I Can't Get Over You".

Soon after the release of "Cuckoo", the band promoted the single on the television program Beat-Club, and several radio stations, resulting in the record charting in some German markets. In particular, the Monks' music was appreciated by citizens in East Germany that heard the group on Radio Luxembourg, evident by the flow of fan mail arriving over the Iron Curtain. Shaw speculated the band's themes and idea of individualism were more accessible to Eastern Germans who were unable to express the same kind of individuality. Writer Mike Stax has noted that after the initial burst of publicity for "Cuckoo" subsided, the group had exhausted all outlets on the German music market, and by late 1966 the Monks were looking to expand to other countries. The band took their act on a two-week tour to Sweden, receiving positive reviews, which concluded with an appearance on Swedish National Television.

Upon their return to Germany in February 1967, the Monks learned the news that Polydor Records refused to distribute Black Monk Time in the United States because of the cynical nature of the tracks referring to the Vietnam War. At Carl Remy's recommendation, the Monks were scheduled to tour in Vietnam, and persuaded to incorporate subtle psychedelic rock influences into their third single, under the expectation that it could theoretically expand the Monks' dwindling audience. Additionally, the management team reiterated its ultimate goal of releasing two more albums called Silver Monk Time and Gold Monk Time to boost the group's deflated egos.

Following Remy's request, the band made tentative moves to change their sound on the single "Love Can Tame the Wild" backed by "He Went Down to the Sea". Gone was Day's signature electric banjo, Burger's frantic vocals, and Spangler's keyboards, replaced by a rhythm guitar, subdued singing, and calculated orchestration which featured Clark on piano and Shaw on trumpet. Monk historian Will Bedard described the single "as uninspired as the LP was revolutionary". While performing with the Jimi Hendrix Experience in May 1967, there was increasing tension among the members of the group. Day became increasingly irritated by the added covers to the band's live set, and Burger and Johnston abandoned the Monk image in favor of colorful clothing, to the annoyance of their bandmates. Despite the Monks' inner turmoil, the band was still arranged to depart for Vietnam from Frankfurt airport; however, just a day before the flight, Burger informed the band Clark had returned to his hometown in Texas. Johnston, who had read about Buddhist monks that immolated themselves by fire, irrationally believed the Monks would meet a similar fate at the hands of the Viet Cong. Without a suitable replacement drummer, the group disbanded in September 1967.

### Reunions

In November 1999, to coincide with the release of Five Upstart Americans, the Monks, along with vocalist Mike Fornatale, reformed to headline Cavestomp in New York City, an annual event that resurrected garage bands of the 1960s. The three-day function also featured the Chocolate Watchband and the Standells, and marked the Monks' first performance in the United States—32 years after the group disbanded. Critic Jon Pareles of the New York Times wrote Burger could no longer reach the high-falsetto parts, but "otherwise they were untouched by time or fashion". On October 31, 2000, tapes of the concert were released on the live album Let's Start a Beat – Live from Cavestomp.

The original Monks line-up performed together for the last time at the Rockaround event in Las Vegas, in 2004. Later in the year, Johnston died in November after a lengthy battle with lung cancer. A further set of reunions took place in England and Germany in 2006 and 2007 before the Monks officially disbanded. On January 10, 2008, Day died from a massive heart attack at the age of 66. Burger began a solo career thereafter, performing mostly with the Monks' repertoire until 2009. In 2014, Burger, who had been mayor of the tiny town of Turtle River, Minnesota since 2007, died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 71.

#### 2009 release of "Pretty Suzanne"

"Pretty Suzanne" was released as a single over 40 years after it was recorded. The B-side was "Monk Time". The song originated as a "time consumer" instrumental called "Paradox" composed by Eddie Shaw and Dave Day. The Monks' managers took notice and pushed them to take to a harder direction. "Pretty Suzanne" was first recorded in 1965 as a demo. This early 1967 recording was recorded at Tonstudio Pfanz near Hamburg. Martin Christoph of Red Lounge Records discovered a single sided acetate of the 1967 recording in 2007, and it later was released as a bonus track on the 2009 Light in the Attic reissue of Black Monk Time and as a single released by Red Lounge Records.

### Legacy

Since the band's 1960s heyday, the influence of the Monks has grown steadily, beginning with krautrock then followed by successive generations of musicians in disparate genres such as punk rock, experimental, alternative and hip-hop, with acts such as the Dead Kennedys, the Beastie Boys, the White Stripes, the Fall and The Early Years exhibiting signs of their influence. Music historian Kelley Stoltz described the Monks in 1996 as a group that "overwhelms the listener with a sound they termed 'over-beat' - at their worst it is totally oddball freakrock that sounds like a pleasurable argument". Stoltz concluded the band was an innovative musical act which "outsexed the [Sex] Pistols" ten years before any other punk band emerged. In his book, The Rough Guide to Rock, writer Peter Buckley had said Black Monk Time has not "aged one iota. If anything, it has gotten stranger".

In 1994, Eddie Shaw published the autobiography Black Monk Time with help from his ex-wife Anita Klemke. Black Monk Time has been reissued on CD since the 1990s, and bonus tracks were included on the Light in the Attic Records release in 2009. Lenny Kaye featured "Complication" on the expanded reissue of the compilation album Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968 in 1998. A tribute album, titled Silver Monk Time, containing tracks by numerous avant-garde bands, was released in October 2006 as the soundtrack to the award-winning documentary Monks: The Transatlantic Feedback.

## Members

- Gary Burger - lead guitar, lead vocalist, tambourine (Died: 2014)
- Larry Clark (born Lawrence Spangler) - organ, backing vocals, piano, tambourine
- Eddie Shaw (born Thomas Edward Shaw) - bass guitar, backing vocals, trumpet, brass instruments
- Dave Day (born David Havlicek) - banjo, rhythm guitar, banjo guitar, tambourine, backing vocals (Died: 2008)
- Roger Johnston - drums, backing vocals (Died: 2004)

## Discography

### Studio album

### EP

### Singles

### Compilation albums

### Live album

### Tributes

- The Fall covered "I Hate You" (re-titled "Black Monk Theme Part I" and "Oh, How To Do Now" (re-titled "Black Monk Theme Part II" on their 1990 album Extricate and "Shut Up" on their 1994 album Middle Class Revolt
- Silver Monk Time - A Tribute To The Monks (2006, Play Loud! Productions)
  - "Monk Time" b/w "Higgle-dy Piggle-dy" (2006, Play Loud! Productions) - a single from the above album
  - "Drunken Maria" b/w "Monk Chant" (2009, Play Loud! Productions) - a single from the above album
- IDLES song and video "IDLES Chant" from their Meat EP (2015) - a tribute to "Monk Chant"

American rock band


Jon Hol

Jon Gundersen Hol (1 September 1851 – 1941) was a Norwegian engineer and activist. He is known for his pamphlet Rifleringen, published in February 1884, that resulted in his arrest for lèse majesté. In the pamphlet, he called for soldiers and civilians to arm themselves and encircle the Parliament of Norway Building, creating a "Ring of Rifles", should the need arise. The political situation in Norway at the time was unstable, with an ongoing impeachment case against the conservative government started by political liberals. King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway supported the conservative politicians, and Hol believed that a political and military counter-offensive was planned, hence the need for guarding the Parliament. The tensions between liberals and conservatives drew Hol into politics in the first place in 1880. Before this, he was an engineer by occupation and a writer, albeit apolitical. He increased his writing after 1880, and also involved himself in non-socialist trade unions, including the unsuccessful attempt of establishing a national trade union center in Kristiania.

When the conservatives lost the Impeachment case, there was a change of government and the charges against Hol were dropped. Two years later, he received an economic compensation from the Parliament. After some quiet years in which he concentrated on engineering work, Hol returned to politics as a member of the city council of Skien, representing the local temperance movement. He stood for parliamentary election twice, without success.

## Early life

Hol was born at the farm Ekornhol in Nord-Odal, the son of Gunder Johnsen and Rønnaug Haakonsdatter. He began a military education in 1869, and later conducted self-studies as well as attending various schools, including the Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry. In 1876, he married Karen Pedersdatter, a farmers' daughter from Sør-Odal and in 1878, he was hired by the city engineering corps of Kristiania.

## Political activism

### Background

While studying, Hol became interested in journalism. He began writing for the apolitical magazine Norsk Nationaltidende in 1877, but found his interest in politics growing as he observed the mounting political turmoil at the time. Liberal politicians in the Norwegian Parliament struggled to introduce the practice of calling government ministers in for questioning. Initially, this was not meant to function as a lever against individual ministers, but rather to increase debate on important issues. The executive branch of government was not elected, and the intention was to enhance a co-governing with the democratically elected legislature. Also, ministers were already criticized in parliamentary debates; if they were questioned in person they would have the chance to defend themselves. This required altering the Constitution, a move which the executive branch, led by King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway, continuously vetoed. The conservatives in Parliament also opposed this, fearing that the increasingly liberal-dominated parliament would use constitutional change to check the executive branch, and thereby infringe upon the separation of powers. The first royal veto came in 1872, after which the proposition was slightly altered, but it was vetoed again in 1874. Two identical propositions followed, and were defeated, in 1877 and 1880. After 1880, the question about ministers faded into the background; instead the disagreement centered around the King's right to a veto in constitutional cases. According to the Constitution, the King had the right to postpone a non-constitutional act three times. On the other hand, the Constitution did not mention any veto in constitutional cases. Three views became distinct: some argued that the King had no veto at all, the middle ground was held by people who would allow a postponing veto, while the government and the King claimed an absolute veto. Allegedly, an absolute veto was in the "spirit" of 1814 and the separation of powers principle. Those who held the first view cited the principle of popular sovereignty.

Although the veto question became central, the ministers were not out of the spotlight. Since the ministers were inferior to the King within the executive branch, the King was responsible for all actions conducted by this branch; however, the ministers were responsible for the advice given to the King when they were assembled in the Council of State. If any ministers were to dissent, according to the Constitution, they had to state this explicitly in the meeting protocol, lest they be considered in agreement and thus co-responsible. The King was above the law, but the Prime Minister and his cabinet could be tried for Impeachment for advising the King to act out an unconstitutional veto. The Impeachment Court consisted of Supreme Court Justices and elected politicians from the Lagting, and as the latter group held a two-thirds majority, an Impeachment trial with a fairly certain outcome could start as soon as the liberals won control over the Lagting seats through general elections.

### Arenas for activism

Jon Hol sided with Johan Sverdrup, a liberal jurist who had become the spearhead of parliamentary opposition to the King. Hol also became involved in the workers' society Kristiania Arbeidersamfund, which was dominated by political liberals (not socialists) at that time, as a member of the board. From 1881, he worked on their publication Samfundet. This periodical eventually ceased publication, but was succeeded by Nordmanden in 1883, which Hol co-owned. Hol used Samfundet and Nordmanden as the main public arenas for his activism. He was also behind the rifle associations' member magazine Norsk Skyttertidende, which had been started in 1882 and edited by David Dietrichson for a short while before Hol took over.

### Rifle associations and the military

Hol eventually came to believe that King Oscar II and his supporters, if opposed by the Norwegian Parliament, would usurp political power with the help of the Norwegian Army. Hol based this view on two speeches given by Oscar in 1882, one of them at the closing of the parliamentary session that year and hence before the 1882 general election. Harald Nicolai Storm Wergeland, the Commander at Akershus Fortress, located nearby the Norwegian Parliament, was known as a staunch conservative. In 1880, he had called for Parliament to increase the military contingent in the city. The Chief of Police supported this request; in a letter to the Ministry of Justice and the Police he stated that there was a need for preparedness regarding the political situation, as a possible pretext for "disturbances and demonstrations". Otto Nyquist, a personal friend of the King, was instated in 1882 as commander of the battalion stationed in Kristiania. In late 1883, Oscar suggested that the storage of bolts of rifles in depots around the country be disconnected, to prevent a situation in which uprising peasantry turned the Army's own weapons against them. Secret talks on a coup d'état supported by the military were held between Oscar and Christian Selmer at the Scanian castle Sofiero in 1883, and the newspaper Morgenbladet publicly supported such a solution.

One of the means to counter this development, was the formation of semi-military forces. All over the country, local rifle associations had sprung up. The first rifle association—Centralforeningen for Udbredelse af Legemsøvelser og Vaabenbrug of 1861—was politically conservative, but a great number of the newer associations, especially in rural districts, supported the political liberals and radicals. They exercised as regular troops, but did not commit acts of political violence. Rather, a latent purpose was to deter a possible conflict. If conservative Commanders of the Army were to use force to subdue the parliamentary process, it was clear that rifle associations, too, could march upon Kristiania, possibly aided by "rogue" commanders such as Albert Jacobsen. Hol supported the liberal rifle associations, and helped found Kristiania Folkevæbningssamlag in his city. He also chaired Nordre Skytterlag, a local rifle association based in Nordre Aker. Apart from organizational work, he wrote several articles on the issue. In Samfundet he wrote that a "coup d'etat or attempt thereof" would lead to a popular uprising, where "real Norwegians", "soldier or non-soldier" alike would encircle the Parliament Building with "thousands of bayonets" to "await" and the political processes and guard the Constitution.

This activism was not compatible with his professional career, as he was a municipal employee. In this situation, Hol chose to formally leave the radical organizations, resigning as a member of the board of Kristiania Arbeidersamfund and Kristiania Folkevæbningssamlag. He thereby retained his job. However, in early 1884 he was fired by the municipality.

#### Rifleringen

In February 1884, the Impeachment trial of Prime Minister Christian Selmer and his entire cabinet was nearing its end. One of the last actions of Selmer's cabinet was to refuse to sanction a parliamentary money grant to the rifle association—the liberals had won the 1882 parliamentary election in a landslide victory—further polarizing the situation. Rumours flew that personnel of the Norwegian Army were preparing for action at Kongsvinger Fortress, some miles northeast of Kristiania.

On 6 February 1884, Hol released a pamphlet which has come to be known as Rifleringen (The Rifle Ring), with the subtitle Giv Akt (At attention). Like previous writings, it called upon semi-military personnel and other weapon-able citizens to arm themselves and encircle the Parliament Building. This time, he did not call for the citizens to "await" the situation, but instead to "fire! at the traitors of the Fatherland".

The pamphlet was confiscated by the police on 8 February. The person who printed the pamphlet, Nikolai Olsen, was arrested on the same day, and the apprehension of Jon Hol followed on 10 February. He remained in custody until 26 February, and was indicted on 11 March, for lèse majesté. Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson and Lars Holst were indicted on the same charge. Upon the arrests, the newspaper Verdens Gang noted that no conservative writers had been sanctioned, despite openly calling for a coup d'état.

In the meantime, Christian Selmer was impeached on 27 February; his cabinet members followed one by one, the last being impeached on 1 April. On 11 March, Selmer resigned. Two acting Prime Ministers were drawn from his cabinet; Ole Bachke from 11 to 29 March and Niels Mathias Rye from 29 March to 3 April. Then, a new cabinet led by Selmer's former Minister of Finance Christian Homann Schweigaard was formed, but in reality it stood no chance of surviving as it faced the Liberal-dominated Parliament, whose means of pressuring the executive branch had been strengthened following the Impeachment trial. In June, as Schweigaard entered his last month as Prime Minister, the King summoned mathematics professor Ole Jacob Broch to form a compromise cabinet, but this failed owing to Conservative opposition, spearheaded by up-and-coming politician Emil Stang. Broch gave up on 22 June, and Johan Sverdrup became Prime Minister on 26 June. In light of this change in circumstances, the case against Hol had been annulled by Royal Resolution— earlier on 6 June.

### Det norske Arbeiderforbund

The Conservative politicians and the King had accepted the parliamentary process without any military conflict. However, conflicts as such still existed. The country's establishment had been shocked by a number of labor conflicts, with a street battle at Kampen in 1878 and the storming of an employer's home at Etterstad in May 1880, as examples of the more volatile events. In August 1884, workers at Akers Mekaniske Verksted faced a 10% pay cut. A debate had been held in Kristiania Arbeidersamfund on 30 July, and the meeting decided to call a strike effective as of 1 August. In addition, Jon Hol took the initiative to found a national trade union center, Det norske Arbeiderforbund. Representatives from seventeen factories elected Hol as the secretary of Det norske Arbeiderforbund. The printer Nikolai Olsen became treasurer. Among the union's demands were normal working hours for laborers and universal suffrage. It staunchly opposed socialist ideas, especially through the union newspaper Arbeideren. On 7 October, a new board was elected, and the first point of their manifesto was "Law-abidingness — moral conduct — sobriety".

Det norske Arbeiderforbund was supported by people from individual factories, but the mainly philanthropic activists were associated with the Liberal Party. However, the strike at Akers Mekaniske had been a failure, as the laborers had returned to work by on 26 August—with a 10% pay cut. It soon faced competition from more worker-dominated trade unions, coordinated through the Fagforeningenes Centralkomite. On the political side, a Labour Party was formed in 1887, and from it the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions followed in 1899. The historical role of Det norske Arbeiderforbund, as it turned out, was to mark the transition between two kinds of trade unionism; the one dominated by the bourgeois Liberal Party and the one dominated by the socialist Labour Party. The organization became defunct around 1890. The publication Arbeideren was continued, and beginning in 1906, Arbeideren was the party organ of the newly founded Labour Democrats, a non-socialist labour and social reform party associated with the Liberal Party.

## Later life

Hol had been fired from his municipal job on 13 February 1884. After 1884, he laid low for a few years, but on 26 May 1886 he was given by the Liberal-dominated Parliament as compensation for lost income. In 1887 he was again publicly employed, assisting in the construction of the Bandak-Nordsjø Canal. He was hired as the city engineer of Skien in 1891, holding this position for almost twenty-five years, and later worked in Notodden, Kongsberg and Risør. From time to time he wrote technical articles on water pipes, among other subjects, in the magazine Teknisk Ukeblad.

He became active again in politics and the public sphere. He wrote for the liberal newspaper Dagbladet and the temperance magazine Folket, as well as for the local press. He also represented the temperance movement in the city council of Skien for twenty years. In 1906 he ran in the parliamentary elections in the constituency Skien, but was not elected. He has been called an independent candidate. At the time, however, he was denoted by Statistics Norway as loosely adhering to the Coalition Party with a leaning towards the Liberals. In the first round of voting, Hol was a "running mate" (deputy candidate) of former parliamentarian and government minister Hans Nilsen Hauge, who adhered to the Coalition Party with a conservative leaning. They faced Carl Stousland who represented the Liberal Party and P. R. Saltvik of the Labour Party. Stousland received 732 votes, Hauge 460 votes and Saltvik 231 votes. As a "running mate", Hol received 511 votes. He also got 8 votes as a primary candidate. In the second round of voting, the Coalition Party dropped Hauge and propped up Hol, who now had J. A. Larsen as his running mate. Also, the Labour Party pulled out. Hol received 595 votes, but succumbed to Stousland who got 855 votes. Hauge got 2 votes, and Hol got 23 "running mate" votes.

Hol stood for election again in the 1924 parliamentary election, when the voting system had changed completely. The constituency was now Market towns of Telemark and Aust-Agder counties, and it was a plural-member constituency where representatives were selected from the party lists with the most votes. Hol was fielded as the second candidate on the ballot of the Radical People's Party (Labour Democrats), the new name of the Labour Democrats. The first candidate was A. Jørgensen, police chief of Kragerø. The Radical People's Party fared well in Skien and Kragerø. With 1,050 votes in Kragerø the party prevailed over the Social Democrats and Communists. With 2,075 votes in Skien the party prevailed over Labour. However, it fared much worse in the other six cities, carried 4,571 votes in total and lost the election in the Market towns of Telemark and Aust-Agder counties.

Hol died in 1941, and was buried on 16 May 1941 at Vestre gravlund.

Norwegian engineer and activist

Radical People's Party (Norway) politicians


Kuch Kuch Hota Hai

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai () also known as KKHH or K2H2, is a 1998 Indian Hindi-language musical romance film written and directed by Karan Johar and produced under Dharma Productions. It stars the popular on-screen pair of Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Rani Mukerjee in lead roles, along with Salman Khan in a special appearance. It also features Sana Saeed in a supporting role. The plot combines two love triangles set years apart. The first half covers friends on a college campus, while the second tells the story of a widower's young daughter who tries to reunite her dad with his old best friend.

Filmed in India, Mauritius and Scotland, this was Johar's directorial debut. One of his goals for the film was to set a new level for style in Hindi cinema. The music was composed by Jatin–Lalit, which was the biggest seller of the year. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai was released on 16 October 1998, worldwide and received positive reviews from critics who praised the setting, music, direction, cinematography, screenplay, performances and overall presentation. The film was successful in India and abroad, becoming the highest-grossing Indian film of the year and the third highest-grossing Indian film at that time. Outside India, the film was the highest-grossing Hindi film ever until its record was broken by Karan Johar's next directorial, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001).

The film received various accolades, including the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment and Best Film at the Filmfare Awards, Screen Awards, Zee Cine Awards and Bollywood Movie Awards. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai won 8 Filmfare Awards and was the only film to win all four acting awards (Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress) until Gully Boy (2019).

## Plot

The film tells the story of Rahul Khanna and the two girls in his life. The first one is Anjali Sharma, his best friend from college. Rahul and Anjali spend most of their time together, until the arrival of Tina. Tina is the pretty daughter of the principal, and Rahul is immediately smitten. Soon, the two start going out. Anjali, secretly in love with Rahul, is devastated at this turn of events. She decides to leave college, and though she and Rahul bid farewell to each other, they fail to keep in touch in the following years.

Tina feels guilty at having come in the way of Anjali's love for Rahul. Nevertheless, she and Rahul get married, and are about to become parents as Tina is pregnant. Complications arise in her pregnancy and she starts bleeding internally. Left with little time to live, Tina writes eight letters to her newborn daughter, asking that each be given to her on her birthday, so that she might know the story of her mother. Tina dies and Rahul names their daughter Anjali, after Tina's last wish.

Over the next eight years, Anjali Khanna grows up under the care of Rahul, who never re-marries. On her birthday, she reads her mother's final letter to her, which details the story of Rahul's friendship with the other Anjali (Sharma). In the letter, Tina asks her daughter to reunite Rahul with Anjali Sharma, believing that the two were always meant to be together. Anjali Khanna traces the older Anjali to a summer camp in Shimla, where she is the music and dance instructor. She immediately enrols and leaves for the camp, against the wishes of her father who is unaware of the letter and of Anjali's new mission.

At the camp, the two Anjalis meet and bond with each other. Rahul is a protective father and shows up at the camp in Shimla, only to be shocked at seeing Anjali Sharma there, after nearly a decade. The two are initially awkward around each other, but soon, end up resuming their old ways and friendship. Rahul starts to realize he feels more than platonic love for Anjali. Before he can do anything, though, Anjali's fiance, Aman, shows up at the camp. Anjali, who cannot decide between Rahul and Aman, decides to return home mid-way through the camp. She also asks for the wedding to be moved ahead from its original date.

Rahul realizes that he is about to lose Anjali again and is heartbroken. He and his daughter visit Anjali's residence on the eve of the wedding. Finding Anjali alone in an upstairs room, Rahul professes his love for her, even though she is about to be married. Anjali, who had never forgotten her crush on Rahul, falters at the wedding altar. Aman knows that Rahul was Anjali's first love, and that she still feels strongly for him. He decides to step down as the groom, allowing Rahul and Anjali to get married in the same ceremony. As the festivities take place, Anjali Khanna feels content at having fulfilled her mother's last wish from her letter.

## Cast

- Shah Rukh Khan as Rahul Khanna
- Kajol as Anjali Sharma Khanna (Rahul's second wife and Anjali Khanna's stepmother)
- Rani Mukerji as Tina Malhotra Khanna
- Sana Saeed as Anjali Khanna
- Farida Jalal as Mrs. Khanna
- Anupam Kher as Mr. Malhotra
- Reema Lagoo as Mrs. Sharma
- Archana Puran Singh as Ms. Braganza
- Himani Shivpuri as Rifat Bi
- Johnny Lever as Colonel Almeida
- Parzan Dastur as Jasdeep Singh
- Salman Khan as Aman Mehra (special appearance)
- Neelam Kothari as Neelam (special appearance)
- Nikkhil Advani in Neelam's talk show segment (special appearance)
- Manish Malhotra as a college student sitting on the steps of college when Anjali Sharma wears feminine clothing (special appearance)
- Farah Khan in Neelam's talk show and sitting on the steps of college when Anjali wears feminine clothing (special appearance)
- Geeta Kapoor in the song "Tujhe Yaad Na Meri Aayee" (special appearance)
- Hiroo Johar as Professor walking down the steps of college when Anjali wears feminine clothing (special appearance)

## Production

### Story

After the experience of assisting and acting in Aditya Chopra's directorial debut, the romantic drama Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), Karan Johar was encouraged to try his own hand at directing. With Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, he chose to pair up the same lead actors, Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, for his own romance film. During the filming of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Khan had also encouraged Johar to make his own film, and said that he would be willing to star in it. They were signed by producer and his father Yash Johar in early 1997. Yash Johar officially announced the film in October 1997 at Mehboob Studios in Bandra.

Johar first wrote a story, which was a love triangle between a tomboy, a very pretty girl, and a slightly insensitive boy, but he shelved the idea because he was not very satisfied with it. Then he wrote another plot about a widower and his child, which he shelved as well. Eventually, he decided to merge the two stories into one. He explained in an interview with Rediff.com: "It was about the trauma of a widower and his little child. How the child really wants a mother and how she brings her mother into her father's life. Then I thought: Why not bring a youth aspect to the story? Why not a flashback? That's how the story got made." The story also includes a "personal desires vs. parental loyalties" theme and has some "East meets West" themes, but instead of the characters going abroad, it creates a virtual West inside India.

### Development

Karan Johar was certain from the beginning that he wanted to cast Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol in the lead roles, having observed them during the making of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. It took longer to fill the role of Tina. The role was written with Twinkle Khanna in mind, but she turned it down. Other actresses such as Urmila Matondkar, Tabu, Shilpa Shetty, Aishwarya Rai, Raveena Tandon and Karisma Kapoor were offered the role but also turned it down. Aditya Chopra and Shah Rukh Khan noticed Rani Mukerji's acting in Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat (1996), and suggested her to Karan Johar. He thus signed her, giving a boost to her career. Saif Ali Khan and Chandrachur Singh were initially offered the role of Aman, but they both turned it down, thus prompting Johar to rope in Salman Khan.

Johar, who is also a costume designer, wanted to set a new level for style in Hindi cinema with this film. He and his friend Manish Malhotra, the film's costume designer, made trips to London for costumes, much to the chagrin of his father and producer Yash Johar, who was concerned about the budget. Many of the costumes in the film prominently displayed logos from designers such as DKNY and Polo. In addition to the designer fashions, Johar also created a somewhat fantastical world where the students speak Hinglish and enjoy a pristine college campus, where there is no crime or hate, and traditional Hindu values are pervasive. Johar admitted that the look and feel of the college scenes in the film were patterned after Beverly Hills 90210, saying, "The art, the costumes, tilt toward the West, but the soul of the film is Indian." He hired Sharmishta Roy as art director, and told her to produce something similar to Riverdale High School of the Archie Comics, with some 90210 influence as well. Johar said of the outcome, "If you see KKHH, Shahrukh plays Archie, Rani Mukherji plays Veronica, and Kajol played Betty. It was exactly that. And the principal looked like Weatherbee, and Ms. Grundy was Archana Puran Singh." Johar also hired Farah Khan to do the choreography, Jatin–Lalit to provide the music, Santosh Thundiyil as cinematographer, and Nikhil Advani as his associate director. Shabina Khan assisted Manish Malhotra with costume design.

### Filming

Filming began on 21 August 1997. The crew was young and inexperienced to the point where Shah Rukh Khan had to explain basic technicalities of filming. Khan later said, "Karan makes no bones of the fact that his technical knowledge of filmmaking was not at its peak when he made the biggest hit of the decade." The entire film was shot in nine and half months with a substantial part of it shot in Mauritius. The title song was filmed over a ten-day period. in several picturesque locations in Scotland, including Eilean Donan, Glen Coe, Loch Lomond and Tantallon Castle with the nearby Bass Rock as a backdrop in one scene. The scenes from the summer camp in Shimla were filmed at Wenlock Downs in Ooty, Tamil Nadu.

During the bicycle sequence in the song "Yeh Ladka Hai Deewana", Kajol lost control of her bike, fell flat on her face, and was knocked unconscious while also injuring her knee. During the promotional Making of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai TV special, Kajol stated that the accident was her most memorable part of shooting the film because she doesn't remember it. During preparation for the reunion scene where the two leads met after more than 8 years apart, the director told them to improvise and rehearse the reactions that they might use, but he secretly taped them and was so happy with the result that it was put into the film.

## Soundtrack

The soundtrack for Kuch Kuch Hota Hai was composed by Jatin–Lalit and the lyrics were penned by Sameer. This is the first collaboration of the duo with Karan Johar. It was released by the Sony Music label on 12 August 1998. While the film was still untitled, Javed Akhtar was signed to write the lyrics, and even wrote and recorded one song (Koi Mil Gaya). However, when the movie was titled Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, he found the title mediocre, obscene, and vulgar and decided to quit the project. Akhtar later regretted leaving the film, as he found it decent and could see that the title has become quite a buzzword, realizing that he was the only one who disliked the title.

The album became the best-selling Bollywood soundtrack of the year, with 8 million units sold in India. The title song remained on the Indian music charts for over a year, and the album peaked at number \#2 on the Malaysian albums chart (RIM) in 1999. Sony Music Indonesia also sold 300,000 copies in Indonesia, for a combined 8.3 million copies sold in India and Indonesia.

Mukul Deshpande of Planet Bollywood rated the soundtrack 8.5 out of 10 stars, although he did not like all of the songs. In 2012, it was voted as the most popular film song of the previous decade by NDTV. The full soundtrack came in second place in a similar poll conducted by the BBC, the first place being taken by Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, an album which was also composed by Jatin–Lalit.

On 2002, Sony Music India also released Kuch Kuch Hota Hai in Telugu version.

## Reception

### Critical reception

While comparing the film to Dil To Pagal Hai (1997), Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India gave Kuch Kuch Hota Hai 3.5 out of 5 stars. She especially liked the performance of Kajol, and thought that the film would appeal to young and romantic viewers primarily for its "MTV ambience" and "Valentine's Day flavours". On the negative side, she said "The second half, however, gets drowned in a sea of emotions. Too many people begin to cry a bit too much." Anish Khanna of Planet Bollywood rated the film 9.5 out of 10 stars, calling it "pure escapist cinema at its best." He praised the cinematography, choreography, set decoration, and also raved over Kajol's performance, along with her onscreen chemistry with Shah Rukh Khan. Overall, he said, "Karan Johar makes an impressive directorial debut, has a good script sense, and knows how to make a film with S-T-Y-L-E." In contrast to these views, the reaction of Sujata C J, writing for Rediff.com, was that the film was very disappointing, with many cliches and a bad storyline, though Santosh Thundiyil and Sharmishta Roy were praised for their camerawork and art direction, respectively. Nandita Chowdhury in a review for India Today, said that Karan Johar was almost able to rekindle the Khan-Kajol magic of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, and that overall the film was "a good distraction".

In January 2023, IndieWire ranked Kuch Kuch Hota Hai as the world's best romantic comedy (rom-com) on Netflix, above Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) at number two and Notting Hill (1999) at number three. IndieWire writers Kate Erbland and Alison Foreman called Kuch Kuch Hota Hai "a love triangle for the ages" and said it is "a bittersweet and bubbly story of young love, missed opportunity, and female friendship" with "what’s quite possibly the most romantic gazebo scene of all time."

### Box office

There were great expectations for Kuch Kuch Hota Hai leading up to its premiere, because it re-united the Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge team of Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, and specifically concerning the debut of Karan Johar, whether he would be in the same league as Aditya Chopra as a first-time writer/director.

According to Box Office India, the film grossed ₹80.12 crore (US\$19.41 million) in India and \$6.3 million (₹26.61 crore) in other countries, for a worldwide total of ₹1.06 billion (US\$25.69 million), against its ₹10 crore (US\$2.42 million) budget. It became the third film to gross over ₹1 billion (US\$24.23 million) worldwide in the 1990s, after Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (1994) and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. It had a worldwide opening weekend of ₹8.06 crore (US\$1.95 million), and grossed ₹15.13 crore (US\$3.67 million) in its first week. It is the highest-grossing Bollywood film of 1998 worldwide. It also became the third highest-grossing Indian film then, behind Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge.

#### India

It opened on Friday, 16 October 1998, across 240 screens, along with Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, and earned ₹87 lakh (US\$210,818.63) nett on its opening day. It grossed ₹2.74 crore (US\$663,957.53) nett in its opening weekend, and went on to record the second-highest first week of the year with collections around ₹5.64 crore (US\$1.37 million) nett, after Bade Miyan Chote Miyan which grossed ₹6.33 crore (US\$1.53 million) nett. The film earned a total of ₹46.86 crore (US\$11.36 million) nett, plus a distributor share of ₹29.88 crore (US\$7.24 million), and was declared an "All-Time Blockbuster" by Box Office India. It is the highest-grossing film of 1998 in India.

#### Overseas

It had an opening weekend of \$800,000 (₹3.38 crore) and went on to gross \$1.3 million (₹5.49 crore) in its first week. It became the first film to cross \$5 million mark outside India, and became the highest grosser at that time. According to Box Office India, the film earned a total of \$6.3 million (₹26.61 crore) overseas. According to the book Global Bollywood, the film grossed \$8 million in overseas markets outside India. It became the second Bollywood film to break into the UK cinema top 10 after Dil Se.. which released the same year. It was a bigger box office success than Titanic when it was screened in Indonesia. Overseas, It is the highest-grossing Bollywood film of 1998.

## Accolades

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai received a leading 18 nominations at the 44th Filmfare Awards and won a leading 8 awards, including a sweep in all the major categories. It was the third film to win the four major awards (Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress) at Filmfare. Others include Guide (1965), Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) (also starring Shah Rukh Khan & Kajol), Devdas (2002), Black (2005) and Gully Boy (2019).

## Home media

A few years after its release, Sony purchased satellite rights for the film for ₹4 crore. The film was also released on VHS, DVD, and eventually Blu-ray. Now Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, along with Johar's second film Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001), often play on television to consistently high ratings. Johar said, "It's gratifying to know that they've aged well and passed the test of time."

## Legacy

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai was the subject of reviews and critical analysis following its initial release. Subhash K Jha called the film "a simple stylish, sensuous and ambrosial love story," further adding that the chemistry between the lead pair was unbeatable. A reviewer for Timeout Film Guide, while commenting that the second love triangle went on too long, liked most of the film, saying that "its performances, camerawork, storytelling and extensive musical numbers [are] all energetically colourful." In 2004, Meor Shariman of The Malay Mail called the film a "must-watch" for Bollywood fans, and also for those seeking an introduction to Bollywood. The film has also been criticized for creating unreal worlds and characters, to which Johar has said that this was part of his vision of escapism.

One of the best examples of the iconic status of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai was the 2012 film Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi. Farah Khan and Boman Irani re-created scenes and characters from KKHH for posters to promote their film, and also paid homage in one of the songs, "Ramba Mein Samba". In 2010, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai was selected by Time as one of their "Five Essential Bollywood movies to Netflix". It was also mentioned in critic and author Shubhra Gupta's book, 50 Films That Changed Bollywood, 1995–2015. In 2018, Johar celebrated the 20-year anniversary of the film by hosting an event with the lead cast.

Koochie Koochie Hota Hai is an animated remake of the original, directed by Tarun Mansukhani. Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Rani Mukerji, Anupam Kher are reprising their roles as Rahul a.k.a. Rocky, Anjali a.k.a. Angie, Tina, and the Principal. New cast members include Uday Chopra, Riteish Deshmukh, Sanjay Dutt and Simi Garewal. The story will have an anthropomorphic animal cast. As of October 2012, Karan Johar has placed the project on permanent hold. He said, "Animation films are not working nowadays, so as of now I have kept it on stand-by."

## See also

- List of highest-grossing Indian films in overseas markets

1998 film by Karan Johar

Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment National Film Award winners


Nettlecombe Court

Nettlecombe Court and park is an old estate on the northern fringes of the Brendon Hills, within the Exmoor National Park. They are within the civil parish of Nettlecombe, named after the house, and are approximately 3.6 miles (5.8 km) from the village of Williton, in the English county of Somerset. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building.

The 16th-century Elizabethan, Tudor and Medieval architecture with Georgian refinements includes a mansion, Medieval hall, church, monumental oak grove, and a farm. It is surrounded by 60 hectares (150 acres) of estate parkland situated within the Exmoor National Park, once a part of the estate. It lays sheltered at the northeast incline of the Brendon Hills. The park surrounding the house is Grade II listed on the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

Nettlecombe Park blends into woodlands, with the house serving as the Leonard Wills Field Centre run by Field Studies Council and offering residential and non-residential fieldwork for schools, colleges and universities, holiday accommodation and professional and leisure courses in natural history and arts. Today, nearby hills and woodlands, including Exmoor National Park, have provided opportunities for general scientific introductory field courses on environmental themes and botany. Habitats include marine, freshwater and heather moorland and the surrounding settlements range from hamlets to villages to the country town of Taunton. An archaeological excavation on the edge of the property, near the sea coast, has revealed the remains of Danish Vikings who were defeated there circa 900.

## History

Nettlecombe was originally spelled Netelcumbe and by 1245 Nettelcumbe meaning the place or valley where the nettles grow.

Nettlecombe has never been bought or sold. It was held before the Norman Conquest by Prince Godwine, son of King Harold. William the Conqueror assumed possession of Nettlecombe after defeating King Harold at the Battle of Hastings. In 1160, Henry II granted it to Hugh de Raleigh, and to his heirs in perpetuity. It passed to Warine de Raleigh, and on through direct blood heirs until the 19th century, a claim strengthened by marriages between deep ancestral cousins. The estate became a seat of the Trevelyan baronets (previously spelled as Trevilian), who also held another manor at Basil, by the marriage of Sir John Trevilian in 1481 to Lady Whalesborough, heiress of Nettlecombe via her Raleigh maternal line. Nettlecombe was held in continuity by Trevilian successors until the 20th century following the death of Joan Trevelyan and her husband Garnet Ruskin Wolseley.

It became a boarding school for girls (St. Audries Junior School) in the late 1950s. Since 1967 it has been the home of the Leonard Wills Field Centre run by the Field Studies Council an educational charity. The house is surrounded by Nettlecombe Park, a 90.4 hectares (223 acres) Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

## House

Nettlecombe Court is an Elizabethan country mansion, in addition to earlier-built structures including a late Medieval hall, entrance front, porch, a great hall, and church. A Tudor parlour was added in 1599. In the 1640s there were further additions to the rear of the great hall following a fire started by roundheads opposed to George Trevelyns support of the monarchy during the English Civil War.

During the reign of George I, between 1703 and 1707, the South West front was extended. The south west wing was decorated in the 1780s and the north east service range was added in the early 19th century. The house contains plaster work from each of these eras.

In the 17th century, an organ built by John Loosemore was installed, at a cost of £100. This was converted from a single-manual to two-manual operation in the 1830s. In the 1980s, this was partly dismantled and the original parts removed to the John Loosemore Centre in Buckfastleigh, where they are still located, awaiting restoration.

## Family

As stated in Nettlecombe Court, compiled by R. J. E. Bush, "Nettlecombe is first mentioned in the Domesday book of 1086, when it was stated to be held by William the Conqueror, and in the charge of his Sheriff for Somerset, William de Mohun."

Ralegh-Raleigh: In the mid-12th century John, son of William the Marshall, gifted the manor of Nettlecombe to Hugh de Ralegh, a Norman knight; and the gift was confirmed by a charter of Henry II in 1156. Later in the 12th century Warrin de Ralegh, Hugh's nephew, built a manor house on the site now occupied by Nettlecombe Court. The Court's kitchen may have formed the original 12th-century Great Hall. Ralegh also built a small church beside the manor house. Generations of the Ralegh family are commemorated inside the church. The earliest memorial is an effigy of Sir Simon de Ralegh, labelled 1260. There is no written record found at Nettlecombe for Sir Simon de Ralegh in the family history. Sir Simon's effigy is dated 1260, which predates the first recorded rector of Nettlecombe by 37 years, owing to the gap in recording the earliest Ralegh names at the church of Nettlecombe Court. That rector was Will de Locombe (presumably a native of Luccombe, on the edge of Exmoor). A later generation of Raleghs are commemorated by the effigies of Sir John de Ralegh and his first wife, Maud, dated to 1360.

The last Ralegh owner of Nettlecombe Court was another Sir Simon, who died in 1440 and left the estate to his nephew Thomas Whalesborough. Sir Simon left money in his will to build a chantry chapel in St Mary's Church, including a perpetual fund for a priest to pray for the souls of the Ralegh family past and present. Work began on the chantry chapel in 1443. (The chantry chapel is now the south aisle.) The first priest was appointed a decade later in 1453. The job description for the priest retained to pray for the souls of the Raleigh family required the following moral virtues; "with owt the company of women and suspect persons' and that he not be 'lecherous or perjured, a theaff, a murderer or with any other vices corrupt." Sir Walter Raleigh, who descends from the Ralegh men of Nettlecombe, wrote of visiting Nettlecombe Court to visit his cousins and pay respect to his Ralegh ancestors in Nettlecomb's church.

Trevillian-Trevelyan: A family lineage published in Nettlecombe Court shows that the estate passed into the Trevillian family in 1452, when the heiress of the estate, Elizabeth Whalesburgh, upon her marriage, gave Nettlecombe Court as a wedding present to her bridegroom, a knight companion of the king: Sir John Trevilian, Esquire of the Kynge's Body to Henry VI, Gentleman Usher of the King's Chamber. He also served as a Member of Parliament representing Somerset and as High Sheriff of Cornwall. In the 17th century, the spelling of Trevilian became variably spelt as Trevelyan.

Oldest British hallmarked church plate: Sir John Trevillian was active in the Tudor courts of King Henry VI and Henry VII and had to be pardoned four times by the two different monarchs. In gratitude for the first three of these royal pardons, Trevillian gave a chalice and patten to Nettlecombe's St Mary's Church. These gifts are the oldest examples of British hallmarked church plate in the United Kingdom, and today are preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

During Trevillian's lifetime, probably in 1458, the octagonal Tudor font was beautifully carved for the church at Nettlecombe. Around 1500, a later John Trevillian built the west bell tower. At the west end of the nave is a carved wooden screen bearing his arms and the arms of the family of his wife Jane.

In 1530 Trevillian renovated and built the present Nettlecombe Court, as it generally appears now, incorporating favorite parts of the earlier medieval manor house. Around the same time, the church porch and north aisle were built, followed by the Trevillian Chapel; with the font carvings plastered around 1548.

Nettlecombe set on fire: Nettlecombe Court endured turbulent times during the Reformation and English Civil War. The Trevillian family remained Catholic and loyal to King Charles I, even after the king was beheaded. The family's Royalist stance led to Nettlecombe Court being set on fire in 1645 by the rector of Nettlecombe Court's St Mary's Church. Nettlecombe's rector and parishioners objected to Trevillian's refusal to convert to the Church of England. The rector was joined by his parishioners in setting Nettlecombe ablaze whereby the fire severely damaged the Great Hall of Nettlecombe Court. Nonetheless, Trevillian remained a loyalist, and instead of converting he built a private chapel at Nettlecombe Court with a secret priest's hiding place to provide sanctuary for visiting Catholic priests.

Nettlecombe Court's hidden treasure during the English Civil War: Colonel George Trevelyan then took up arms and fought for the Royalist cause in defense of the king, but eventually was captured and imprisoned by Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell's roundheads came to Nettlecombe to seize whatever property they could: crops, horses, farm animals, wagons, tools, weapons, house goods, etc. In an attempt to protect the family fortune; George's wife, Margaret, hid the family silver and other valuables under floorboards at Nettlecombe, but she died before she could reveal the fortune's whereabouts to her husband. The hidden treasure was not rediscovered until the 1790s. When Cromwell's Parliament demanded excessive war reparations of royalist Catholics, Lady Margaret Trevillian (née Strode) bravely journeyed to London. Lady Trevillian petitioned Parliament, asking them to reduce the too-great burden of war reparations Parliament had assessed upon Nettlecombe Court due to the royalist loyalties of the Tevillian family. Parliament refused Lady Trevillian's request. On her journey home, Lady Trevillian died en route, after catching smallpox whilst in London, leaving her 9 children motherless. Thus the whereabouts of the family jewels and silver lay hidden for more than a century under floorboards at Nettlecombe until by serendipity a maidservant dropped a half-gold needle through a loose floor plank which had to be pulled up to retrieve it, revealing the long hidden valuables.

Baronet: The surviving Trevillian family remained royalists at Nettlecombe; and upon the Restoration of the monarchy under Charles II, George Trevillian was awarded a second baronet by the king for his loyalty with the spelling of the family name changed to Trevelyan to distinguish from their earlier ancestral baronet name of Trevillian. However, the Church of England later became the fixed faith of the land and Catholicism banned. A later generation of Trevillian-Trevelyans headed off further turmoil at Nettlecombe Court by converting to the Church of England in 1787.

Nettlecombe's St Mary's Church: The story of the Court and its church and families, continued to go hand in hand. The church was restored from 1858 when a clerestory was inserted. In 1935 the 13th-century marble altar stone was discovered buried in the churchyard. It was returned to its place inside the church. Other historical highlights of Nettlecombe include an ancient medieval parish chest and several heraldic medieval tiles. There is a marble wall tablet to one Lady Trevillan, who died in 1697, and a tomb slab in the south aisle to a Sir John Trevelyan (d. 1623). Under the west tower is a grave slab to Richard Musgrave (d 1686). The rood screen dates to the late 15th century, with Victorian restoration, and there are several 16th-century carved bench ends. The beautifully carved pulpit dates to the late 17th century, and there is some very good 17th-century glass including several heraldic panels.

## Intellectual salon

In the 19th century, Lady Trevelyan made use of the family estates Wallington and Nettlecombe with its great house and 20,000 acres of land, to host a sophisticated intellectual and artistic salon of the day, renowned for the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. The sister of Lord Thomas Macaulay, eminent British historian as author of the History of England, Hannah Macaulay, married into the Trevelyan family resulting in another eminent historian George Macaulay Trevelyan, whose ancestors lived at Nettlecombe.

## Arms and legend

Nettlecombe Court has several emblems and carvings bearing the image of a horse rising from the sea, which are the Trevilian family arms, found throughout the house. The source story of the arms is the Lyonesse legend of Trevilian, as follows: Lyonesse were the lands, now submerged, on the west coast that was said to be the lands of Camelot of King Arthur and the site of the final mortal battle between King Arthur and Mordred. Tennyson's Idylls of the King claims Lyonesse as the final resting place of King Arthur himself. Perhaps this is why the grave of the king cannot be found, as it lies beneath the sea. Roman writings also speak of a Leonis, now submerged off the coast. Lyonesse was also the home of Tristan and Isolde. Legend relates that when Lyonesse suddenly sank, it was inundated as sea levels rushed in. The sole surviving knight of King Arthur's Lyonesse was said to be only one knight, Trevilian, who escaped by riding his white horse through the rising waters to higher ground before Lyonesse was submerged. Trevilian urged the other knights to join him in his attempt to escape, who counter-urged Trevilian to stay put and wait for the floodwaters to pass. The sedentary knights jovially bet wagers amongst themselves around the supper table, as to whether or not Trevilian and his white horse could survive swimming through the incoming flooding and make it to higher ground. None of the other Arthurian knights of Lyonesse, except Trevilian, was said to have survived the great sinking and inundation of Lyonesse. Submerged Medieval church bells of the lost land of Lyonesse were later said to be heard ringing, muffled under the water, when turbulent storms created rough seas. The surviving Trevilian became the founder of the current British Trevilian-Trevelyan family, whose coat of arms still bears a white horse issuing forth from the sea. In some cases the Trevilian white horse arms may be seen combined at Nettlecombe with other related family arms, indicating marriages to Raleigh, Luttrell, Wyndham, Chichester and Strode.

## Park

Nettlecombe Park is important for its lichen flora. Records suggest this site has been wood pasture or parkland for at least 400 years. There are some very old oak pollards which may be of this age or older. The oldest standard trees are over 200 years of age. The continuity of open woodland and parkland, with large mature and over-mature timber, has enabled characteristic species of epiphytic lichens and beetles to become established and persist. Many of the species in the park are now nationally scarce because this type of habitat has been eliminated over large areas of Great Britain. The park was notified as an SSSI in 1990.

Nettlecombe is known to have had a deer park by 1532. In 1556 it covered 80 acres (32 ha) and in 1619 70 acres (28 ha). In the 1690s large areas of parkland were enclosed and four new gardens created, including a water garden, which has now disappeared but is remembered in the name 'Canal Field'. The park was extended in the 18th century which included the removal of the houses that made up the village. In 1792 Thomas Veitch laid out the landscape in the style of Capability Brown including the construction of a Ha-ha between the deer park and the meadows. This included the removal of cottages and relocation of the residents. The parkland is now listed, Grade II, on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England.

Within the grounds is the Church of St Mary the Virgin which is also a Grade I listed building.

### Oak trees

Nettlecombe Park is 223 acres (90 ha) of undulating parkland boasting monumental solitary trees and treegroups. It was probably once an oak forest in the main. Today, among these, oaks and sweet chestnuts are still the most common. Several sessile oaks are outstandingly large and were famous from ancient accounts for their great size. Nettlecombe oaks once provided tall strong trees for shipbuilding. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, timber hewn from the oaks of Nettlecombe were hand-selected to help build the ships of the English fleet commanded by Sir Walter Raleigh that defeated the Spanish Armada. A number of other English ships that sailed the world to establish British colonies, its navy, and trading empire were built making use of prime Nettlecombe oaks. In the 19th century very good prices were offered to the Trevelyan baronet to cut down and sell the great oaks, but the owner left them standing and the trees have been protected ever since. Some have now grown to a girth of 23 feet (7.0 m). Today, Nettlecombe acorns are sold to nurseries to begin new sapling oak trees.

## See also

- List of Grade I listed buildings in West Somerset

Grade I listed building in Somerset, UK

Field studies centres in the United Kingdom

Grade II listed parks and gardens in Somerset

Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Somerset

Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1990