Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Benin was the birthplace of Voodoo that we all know loads about having watched Live and Let Die, and was transplanted to the Caribbean and Florida, amazingly enough, by the slave trade.

Also 51 languages are spoken there.

And someone can buy a helluva lot of yams with ?1900 of my cash there!!!!

The country Benin was named after the famous British explorer, Brigadier Benjamin Conrad Finsbury, a close friend of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The local name was originally Dahomey.


Finsbury took photographs on his travels and would send them by courier to the Prince who was also one of his benefactors. Prince Albert would often show these pictures sent back from darkest Africa to the Queen. When he showed her a picture of the bepithhelmeted Finsbury posing with topless local women in Dahomey he explained, ?This is Ben in Dahomey.?


Victoria?s Victorian sensibilities were shocked by the brazenness of the women in the picture and she only heard, ?This is Ben in?? before fainting dead away.


Apparently she treasured the picture for the rest of her life and would pass it around at tea parties explaining to her guests, ?This is Benin.?

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Latest Discussions

    • I can't, but I'm sure ChatGPT could, if you ask it! With Windows 11, you can share documents, eg with work colleagues, via a setting. Probably it's the same with iPads etc and the solicitor has accidentally or deliberately shared it with your friend? I'm sure the solicitor can explain it if asked. Hopefully it wasn't an accident!
    • Yes of course a lot of it is total bollocks. And of course the House of Lords is ridiculous. But the class system etc isn't because we have a "royal family", is it?
    • Can't remember where I got them, online somewhere recommended by my daughter, but they are cloth and brightly coloured and fit quite tightly around my nose and mouth. I've still got a stock of them. Tissues inside might help a bit,  but if you have a very runny nose you basically need to keep removing the mask to blow it. Luckily I have only had to go out once when I've had  a bad cold. Sorry, probably too much information.
Home
Events
Sign In

Sign In



Or sign in with one of these services

Search
×
    Search In
×
×
  • Create New...