General "Sir Tam" Dalyell of the Binns

[My Good Babushka]

General "Sir Tam" Dalyell of the Binns was a 17th century military commander. He fought for the tsar in Russia and served Charles I and II. He is said to have played cards with the devil. Though the devil usually won, one night Tam won. In a fury, the devil threw a marble table at him. It missed and landed in a pond. A marble table was indeed found in the pond when it dried up 200 years later. The cards, goblet and spoon used at the game are preserved in his house, The Binns, Scotland. When the devil threatened to blow down Tam's house. Tam replied "I will build me a turret at every corner to pin down my walls." The house is turreted at every corner.

[panader0]

1. Strange that a Scotsman would fight for the Tsar.

I love your stories and legends and myths.

[pinboy3niner]

2. Apparently Sir Tam had Turret's Syndrome

[geardaddy]

5. ...

[panader0]

3. One of his decendents, another Tam Dalyell (born 1932)was a member of the British Labour Party.

From wiki--"Dalyell is vocal in his disapproval of imperialism. Beginning with his opposition to action in Borneo in 1965, he has contested almost every British action – arguing against action in Aden, the depopulation of Diego Garcia, the Falklands War (especially the sinking of the General Belgrano), the Gulf War, and action in Kosovo and Iraq, saying, "I will resist a war with every sinew in my body". When invited by a television journalist to rank Tony Blair among the eight prime ministers he had observed as a parliamentarian, he cited policy over Kosovo and Iraq as reasons for placing his party leader at the bottom of the list. He was also a strong presence in Parliament concerning Libya and led no fewer than 17 adjournment debates on the Lockerbie bombing,[4] in which he repeatedly demanded answers by the government to the reports of Hans Köchler, United Nations observer at the Lockerbie trial.[5]

Following his outspoken opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq and criticism of the government, Downing Street suggested that he might face withdrawal of the Labour whip. Dalyell stated in an interview with the American magazine Vanity Fair that Prime Minister Tony Blair was unduly influenced by a "cabal of Jewish advisers." He specifically named Lord Levy who was Blair's official representative in the Middle East and Labour politicians Peter Mandelson (whose father was Jewish) and Jack Straw (whose great-grandfather was Jewish). Mandelson said that "apart from the fact that I am not actually Jewish, I wear my father's parentage with pride."[6] Dalyell denied accusations that the remarks were anti-Semitic.[7][8][9] In March 2003, regarding the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Dalyell accused the then Prime Minister Tony Blair of being a war criminal. Stating, "since Mr Blair is going ahead with his support for a US attack without unambiguous UN authorisation, he should be branded as a war criminal and sent to The Hague."[10]

[Tuesday Afternoon]

4. The Binns, Scotland

The House of the Binns is an historic house near Linlithgow in Scotland, and seat of the Dalyell family. It dates from the early 17th Century, and is currently in the care of the National Trust for Scotland.