Nautical

Nautical (pronounced naw-ti-kuhl)

(1) Of or relating to ships, navigation, sailors & other admiralty matters.

(2) As nautical mile, a measure of distance.

1545-1555: From the Middle French nautique (pertaining to ships, sailors, or navigation) from the Latin nautic(us) (of or relating to ships or sailors), from the Ancient Greek ναυτικός (nautikós) (seafaring, naval), from nautes (sailor), from naus (ship), from the primitive Indo-European nau (boat).  Nautical is the adjective, nauticality the noun and nautically the adverb; associated words include navigational, seafaring, maritime, marine, aquatic, naval, oceanic, pelagic, salty, ship, abyssal, thalassic, boating, deep-sea, navigating, oceangoing, oceanographic, rowing, sailing & seagoing.

The nautical mile

A unit of distance measurement used in maritime, air and space navigation, one nautical mile was defined originally as one minute (one sixtieth of a degree) of latitude along any line of longitude.  It’s since been re-defined several times and although the international nautical mile is set at 1852 metres (about 1.15 miles), other definitions co-exist: a US Navy nautical mile being 1853.2480 metres (6080.2 feet) whereas UK Admiralty charts use an even 6080 feet.  No standardized nautical mile symbol has ever been agreed with M, NM, nmi and nm variously used.

The derived unit of speed is the knot, a vessel at one knot along a meridian travels approximately one minute of geographic latitude in one hour.  The word knot was originally an admiralty term to measure speed, derived from counting the number of knots unspooled from a real of rope in a certain time.  Curiously, although kn is the ISO standard symbol for the knot, kt is also widely used, particularly in civil aviation.

The reason the generally accepted definition of national territorial waters was set at three nautical miles (5.6 km) was wholly military; it was maximum range of the big ordnance of the age, the cannon-ball.  Developments in ballistics and politics soon rendered the three mile limit irrelevant and states began to claim larger areas but, although the League of Nations Codification Conference began discussions in 1930, nothing was resolved either then or at the subsequent United Nations Conferences on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS I 1956-1958 & UNCLOS II 1960).  It took a ten-year process (UNCLOS 1973-1982) to secure international agreement that the national territorial limit was set at twelve nautical miles, the provision coming into force in 1994.

Lindsay Lohan's nautically themed Vanity Fair photo shoot, Marina del Rey, California, October 2010.  The location was the Sovereign, a motor yacht built in 1961 for the film star Judy Garland (1922-1969).

Rook

Rook (pronounced rook)

(1) A large Eurasian passerine bird, Corvus frugilegus, with a black plumage and a whitish base to its bill from the family Corvidae (crows) and noted for its gregarious habits.

(2) Slang term for a swindler at cards or dice

(3) To cheat, fleece or swindle.

(4) A bad deal; rip off.

(5) In chess, one of two pieces of the same color that may be moved any number of unobstructed squares horizontally or vertically; also called castle.  Rooks start the game on the four corners of the board.

(6) In Canadian heraldry (as chess rook), the cadency mark of a fifth daughter.

(7) A type of firecracker used by farmers to scare birds of the same name (UK).

Pre 900: From the Middle English rok & roke, from the Old English hrōc, from Proto-West Germanic hrōk, from the Proto-Germanic hrōkaz.  In other languages there was the Old Norse hrókr, the Saterland Frisian Rouk, the Middle Swedish roka, the Old High German hruoh (crow), the Middle Dutch roec and Dutch roek (and the obsolete German Ruch, from the primitive Indo-European kerk- (crow, raven).  Related avian forms were the Old Irish cerc (hen), the Old Prussian kerko (loon, diver), the dialectal Bulgarian кро́кон (krókon) (raven), the Ancient Greek κόραξ (kórax) (crow), the Old Armenian ագռաւ (agṙaw), the Avestan kahrkatat (rooster), the Sanskrit कृकर (kṛkara) and the Ukrainian крук (kruk) (raven). The Old French was roc, from the Spanish rocho & ruc, from the Arabic رُخّ‎ (ruḵḵ), from the Persian رخ‎ (rox).  Use as the bird’s name was possibly imitative of its raucous voice, an etymology hinted at by other languages (the Gaelic roc (as in "croak") and the Sanskrit kruc (as in "to cry out")).

In chess

Rook was applied as a disparaging term for persons since at least circa 1500, and extended by 1570s to mean a cheat, especially at cards or dice, this probably associated with the thieving habits of the rook, a habit it shares with other corvine birds like the crow and magpie.  Rook as the chess piece dates from circa 1300, from Old French roc (derived from Arabic rukhkh and Persian rukh) of unknown origin though perhaps related to the Indian name for the piece, rut, from Hindi rath (chariot); the word was, in Middle English, sometimes confused with roc (the enormous mythical bird in Eastern legend.

In chess, as well as castle, the rook has been called the tower, marquess, rector, and comes.  The term castle is, depending on one’s view, informal, incorrect, or old-fashioned and has been cited as a class-identifier.  Rooks can be said vaguely to resemble castles though the connection is unattested.  Curiously, even among those who insist the piece a rook, use persists in the move “castling” in which the rook and king can switch positions along the base-line.  Chess purists insist this is the only permissible use of castle.

Hustings

Hustings (pronounced huhs-tingz)

(1) The temporary platform on which candidates seeking election to the UK House of Commons stood and from which they addressed the electors.

(2) Any place from which political campaign speeches are made.

(3) By extension, the campaign trail in election campaigns; the proceedings at a parliamentary election; of political campaigning in general.

(4) In certain jurisdictions, as Hustings Court, a court of law (obsolete).

Pre 1050: From the Middle English & Old English husting (meeting, council, tribunal), from the Old Danish hūs- (a house), from the eleventh century Old Norse husðing (hūsthing), the construct being hūs- + ðing (thing) (assembly; meeting), so called because it described a meeting of the men who formed the "household" of a nobleman or king (the native Anglo-Saxon for which was folc-gemot).  Husting is a noun, functioning as both singular & plural, the verb use inherently plural; the formation was originally the plural of husting (and established as the usual form by circa 1500), later construed as a singular but the spelling hustings.

On the hustings

The sense of "a temporary platform for political speeches" developed by the 1720s, apparently a reference to London's Court of Hustings, presided over by the Lord Mayor and conducted on a platform in the Guildhall.  The sense widened first to other platforms on which candidates spoke and, by the mid nineteenth century, to electoral campaigning generally, a use which appears first to have been documented in 1872 but is thought already to have been in use for some time

David Lloyd George (1863–1945; UK prime-minister 1916-1922) on the hustings, Criccieth, north Wales, 1914.

In England, the hustings evolved as physical platforms on which candidates spoke to seek the support of electors, a show of hands the usual expression of approval.  It was an informal process in the sense no records were kept of the “votes” but on the basis of the expression of support, a candidate might decide to proceed to the actual poll or decline to contest the seat and reports at the time confirm hustings were often noisy and occasionally violent affairs with more than a whiff of corruption.  The mechanism of the hustings evolved into the more structured pre-selection processes such as primaries and caucuses, the latter the closest (and now the most controversial) in form to the original.

When voting was restricted to a small fraction of the male population, there was sometimes only a single hustings in a parliamentary constituency (especially the geographically small such as the university seats) but were usually more numerous.  The arrangements were formalized by the Reform Act (1832) which somewhat extended the franchise, specifying a separate hustings for every 600 electors, the number reflecting the practical maximum capacity for buildings such as the municipal halls often used for the purpose.  An interesting aspect of the development of democracy in England is that even though voting at the hustings was limited to certain men (the rules varied but involved age, property, income or educational tests and even after the first reform act those eligible were fewer than 10% of the population), it was permitted for others (including women) to attend and view the proceedings, something like the “observer status” at the United Nations (UN), granted to various entities and even at times the odd sovereign state.  The hustings were abolished by the Ballot Act (1872) which made the secret ballot the universal mechanism of election.  The idea of public nomination by acclamation was replaced by the now familiar filing of duly executed and witnessed papers and it was at this point the stranglehold of the parties on the democratic process was effectively institutionalized, their structures evolving as much around the candidate selection process as the actual election.

In 2015, Lindsay Lohan posted on Instagram the suggestion she might be taking to the hustings, running for president in 2020.  History might have been different had Lindsay Lohan been given the launch codes for nuclear weapons.

A candidate’s performance of the platform at public meetings had long been an important part of the electoral process but the advent of photography and later, movies, added new layers, politicians increasingly borrowing the techniques used in dramatic production on stage and screen.  Politicians and their handlers quickly realized the potency of manufactured images and few were as assiduous in their creation as Adolf Hitler (1889-1945; head of state (1934-1945) and government (1933-1945) in Nazi Germany) for whom the realization of a talent for rabble-rousing public speaking came while working as a nationalistic agitator in the chaotic aftermath of the First World War.  After his release in 1925 from the far from unpleasant nine month stint in Landsberg during which he (by dictating to some with better grammar and spelling) wrote his autobiography, Hitler’s political career became more focused, in terms of both the structure and organization of the Nazi Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP, the National Socialist German Workers' Party) and his own public image, one footnote to the process his publisher’s decision to shorten the name of Hitler’s book from Viereinhalb Jahre (des Kampfes) gegen Lüge, Dummheit und Feigheit (Four and a Half Years (of Struggle) Against Lies, Stupidity and Cowardice) to the punchier Mein Kampf (My Struggle).  It is a dreary and repetitive work.

More significantly, he worked at honing his techniques of presentation on the hustings, aware of the effects of lighting and camera angle, deliberately he rehearsed movements and gestures to find those most appropriate to use before a live audience, developing an understanding that what was suitable before small, intimate gatherings would lose effectiveness at mass meetings.  He was interested too in the movements and stances which would translate especially well on film, contemporary notes indicating some analysis of the relationship between camera angle and effect.  Hitler’s method of rehearsal was that used by many actors: he performed in front of a mirror, trying to gauge the effectiveness of each pose.  Late in 1925, he had the photographer Heinrich Hoffmann (1885–1957) create images from a variety of angles, better to understand what would best work to appeal to those in an audience which in some cases might be seated in a surrounding circle.  Hitler studied the photographs with great interest and conscious of public perception, ordered the negatives destroyed.

Hoffman however retained the negatives, along with a number of others the Führer had indicated should shredded and published them in his memoir Hitler was my friend, a title which was probably close to the truth, the photographer part Hitler’s inner circle and the one who introduced him to the woman who would for a few, final hours be his wife, Eva Hitler (née Braun, 1912–1945).  Most of Hoffmann’s image archive was seized by the US-American military government during the Allied occupation of Germany as spoils of war and is today held mostly by the US National Archives and Records Administration.  What remained in Germany was assembled as a collection now housed in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (Bavarian State Library) in Munich.

The technique remains the same.  Crooked Hillary Clinton on the hustings.

Shunamitism

Shunamitism (pronounced shunn-ah-might-izm)

The ancient practice of an old man sleeping with, but not necessarily having sex with, a young virgin, either to preserve youth or restore health.

Biblical (1 Kings 1-4): From Shunamite +‎ -ism, after Abishag (אבישג‎ (Avishag) in the Hebrew), a Shunamite woman who served this purpose for King David.  A Shunamite was an inhabitant of the Biblical village of Shunem.  The –ism suffix is ultimately either from the Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós), a suffix that forms abstract nouns of action, state, condition, doctrine; from stem of verbs in -ίζειν (-ízein) (whence the English -ize), or from the related suffix Ancient Greek -ισμα (-isma), which more specifically expressed a finished act or thing done.

Still recommended

Shunamitism is the practice of an old man sleeping with, but not necessarily having sex with, a young virgin to preserve his youth.  A legitimate medical theory of the time, the rationale was heat and vitality of the young maiden would revitalize the old man.

The term is based on the Biblical story of King David (1 Kings 1-4) and Abishag, a young woman from Shunem.  The King was very old and could not stay warm so his servants procured the young Abishag to sleep with him; they did not enjoy intimacy but Abishag also provided another footnote in royal history.  After a power-struggle with his brother Adonijah, Solomon was crowned king and when Adonijah asked for Abishag in marriage, Solomon, fearing another attempt to usurp the throne, had him put to death.

As late as the eighteenth century, physicians were still prescribing shunamitism and, in emergency medicine, it remains a recommended method to treat hypothermia when no medical facilities are available, though without mention of the necessity to secure a young virgin.

A work in progress: Rupert Murdoch (b 1931) with wife Jerry Hall (b 1956), Barbados, 2019.

Reports in June 2022 were circulating that Mr & Mrs Murdoch had separated and, after six year of marriage, were to divorce.  A usually reliable source for the details of such matters, the Murdoch tabloids, were as silent as they'd been when last Mr Murdoch sundered a marriage but no denial was issued, this taken as a confirmation by those who read between the lines.  Anything involving Mr Murdoch is an event of note, not least because he probably ranks with Billy Hughes (1862-1952), MacFarlane Burnett (1899-1985) and Germaine Greer (b 1939) as the most influential Australians of the last hundred-odd years.

Mandamus

Mandamus (pronounced man-dey-muhs)

At common law, an order of a superior court or officer commanding (an inferior tribunal, public official, or organ of the state) a specific thing be done.  Formerly a writ, now issued as an order.

1530-1535:  From Middle English, a borrowing from the late fourteenth century Anglo-French, from the Latin mandāmus (we order (which were printed as the opening words of a writ of mandamus), first person plural present indicative of mandāre (to order).

Some writs

A mandamus was a writ compelling a court or government official correctly to perform that which the law required; for technical reasons it’s now issued as an order rather than a writ.  It’s one of a number of procedures called the prerogative writs, an evolutionary fork of the common law which ensured courts could compel governments to adhere to the law.  These devices constitute the means by which the rule of law is maintained and, because of the intent, a mandamus must follow black-letter law.  If a law says a minister must review something, the court can force only the review and cannot instruct what the finding should be.  The use is now generally limited to cases of complaint someone having an interest in the performance of a public duty, when effectual relief against its neglect cannot be had in the course of an ordinary action.

There are other mechanisms in this class.  The subpoena duces tecum (order for production of evidence) is a summons ordering the recipient to appear before the court and produce documents or other tangible evidence for use at a hearing or trial.  It’s similar to the subpoena ad testificandum (summoning a witness orally to testify) but differs in that it requires the production of physical evidence.  The literal translation was "under threat of punishment, you will bring it with you", the construct being sub (under) + poena (penalty) + duces (you will bring) + te (you) + cum (with).  Habeas corpus in the Medieval Latin meant literally "that you have the body".  It provides recourse in law by which a person can report an unlawful detention to a court and request the court order those holding the person to bring the prisoner before a court so it might decide whether the imprisonment is lawful; it is best understood in modern use as "bring us the body".  The quo warranto, which in Medieval Latin was literally "by what warrant?" required a person to show the court by what authority they have for exercising some right, power, or franchise they claim to hold.  A prohibito (literally "prohibited") directed the stopping of something the law prohibits.  A procedendo, from Medieval Latin in the sense of the meanings “proceed; prosecute”, was a writ sending a case from an appellate court to a lower court with an order to proceed to judgment and was also the writ by which the suspended commission of a justice of the peace was revived.  A writ of certiorari was a request for judicial review of the findings or conduct of an inferior court, tribunal, or other public authority ands in its pure form it existed by right, not by leave of the court.  The Medieval Latin was certiorārī (volumus), a literal “we wish to be informed".  Certiorari is the present passive infinitive of the Latin verbs certioro, certiorare (to inform, apprise, show).

William Marbury (left) & James Madison (right).  Marbury's former house in Georgetown, Washington DC is now the Ukrainian Embassy to the United States.

Marbury v Madison (5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137 (1803)) was the US Supreme Court case which established the principle of judicial review in the United States, the consequence being US courts have the power to strike down laws they find to violate the US Constitution; it’s thus regarded as the single most important decision in US constitutional law, establishing that the constitution, although a foundation political document, is also actual law and thus the country’s basic law.  It was this decision which made possible the enforcement of the separation of powers between the federal government’s executive and judicial branches.

The case had an unlikely origin in a political squabble which sounds remarkably modern.  John Adams (1735–1826; US president 1797-1801) had lost the election of 1800 to Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826; US president 1801-1809) and in March 1801, two days before his term ended, Adams appointed several dozen Federalist Party supporters to judicial offices, intending to sabotage the Democratic-Republican Party’s incoming administration.  A compliant Senate confirmed the appointments with a haste which would seem now extraordinary but the outgoing Secretary of State John Marshall (1755–1835; US secretary of state 1800-1801 & chief justice 1801-1835) did not deliver all of the papers of commission before Jefferson's inauguration, thus encouraging the new president to declare them void.  One undelivered commission was that of William Marbury (1762–1835) and in late 1801, after Madison had more than once declined to deliver his commission, Marbury filed suit in the Supreme Court requesting the issue of a writ of mandamus, requiring Madison to deliver the papers.

The court’s judgement was handed down by John Marshall, now the chief justice.  The court held that (1) the president’s refusal to deliver the commission was illegal and (2) in those circumstances a competent court would order the official in question to deliver the commission.  However, despite the facts of Marbury v Madison, no writ of mandamus was issue, the rationale being that upon examining the law with which Congress had granted the Supreme Court jurisdiction in such matters, the legislature had expanded the definition of its jurisdiction beyond that which was specified in the constitution.  The Court then struck down that section of the law, announcing that American courts have the power to invalidate laws they find violate the Constitution.  The finding in Marbury v Madison was the origin of judicial review in the US.

Forrest-Marbury House, 3350 M Street NW, Georgetown, Washington DC, once the home of William Marbury.  It was in this house on 29 March 1791 that George Washington (1732–1799; president of the US 1789-1797) negotiated the real-estate deal for the land that would become Washington DC.  Since 1992, it has been the chancery of the Embassy of Ukraine.

Concebollista & Sincebollista

Concebollista (pronounced kon-sur-ber-ghist-ah)

One who asserts onion is an essential ingredient in Spanish omelettes.

A Spanish form, the construct being con (with) +‎ cebolla (onion) +‎ -ista.  Con is from the Latin cum (with), from the Proto-Italic kom, from the primitive Indo-European ḱóm (next to, at, with, along).  Cebolla is from the Old Spanish cebolla, from the Late Latin cēpulla, diminutive of the Latin cēpa from whence English gained chive.  The –ista suffix is from the Latin -ista, from the Ancient Greek -ιστής (-istḗs) and is used to form nouns indicating “one who follows a principle”, “one belonging to that school of thought”, “one who holds certain values” etc.  The noun plural is concebollistas.

Sincebollista (pronounced sin-suh-ber-ghist-ah)

One who asserts onion must not be an ingredient in Spanish omelettes.

A Spanish form, the construct being sin (without) +‎ cebolla (onion) +‎ -ista.  Sin is from the Old Spanish sin, from the Latin sine.  It was cognate with the English sans, the French sans, the Italian senza and the Portuguese sem.  Cebolla is from the Old Spanish cebolla, from the Late Latin cēpulla, diminutive of the Latin cēpa from whence English gained chive.  The –ista suffix is from the Latin -ista, from the Ancient Greek -ιστής (-istḗs) and is used to form nouns indicating “one who follows a principle”, “one belonging to that school of thought”, “one who holds certain values” etc.  The noun plural is sincebollistas.

On the allium addition

Eagerly awaited results of a survey by the newspaper El Mundo were released in July 2021.  The numbers seem unequivocally to prove Spain’s pro-onion faction has triumphed in the great omelette dispute which centres on whether onions should be included in the nation's signature tortilla de patatas (omelette).  It was no narrow margin: 72.7% of those surveyed were concebollistas (onion lovers) and 25.3% sincebollistas (onion haters) while only 1.9% were indifferent or declined to offer an opinion.

Interestingly for a country in which politics have for decades been polarized, the issue didn’t split opinion across party lines, pro-onion majorities in parties of left and right varying by only a few percentage points:

Socialist Workers’ Party (left): 73.2%

People's Party (right): 72.1%

Vox Party (far-right): 69.4%

Unidas Podemos Party (far-left) 65%

Citizens Party (centre-right): 74.1%

With and without; omelettes for concebollistas & sincebollistas.

Women favored onions (73.3%) slightly more than men (72.2%), while age proved more predictive, onions popularity reaching 65.8% among those aged 18-26, peaking at an even 75% for those between 45-64.  There was a geographical spike among those who disapprove.  In the Basque country, never much in agreement with anything out of Madrid, the view remained it’s only barbarians who add onion to the mix.  Although no evidence was offered, there seemed  a consensus Franco (Generalissimo Francisco Franco (1892-1975), Caudillo of Spain 1939-1975) was an onion man, the Caudillo thus a concebollista.

Libre

Libre (pronounced lib-rah (U) or lee-bra (non-U))

(1) Of or relating to free will; independent & unconstrained (now rare).

(2) Of software with few limitations on distribution and including access source code with a right granted to modify and distribute changed versions, usually with the limitation that this must be on a free-of-charge basis.

(3) As Formula Libre (historically Formule Libre), a category of motorsport which imposes only minimal safety rules and is otherwise unregulated.

(4) In historic use, a free (ie not enslaved) black person living in a territory under the administration of the French or Spanish-colonial empires, the use most institutionalized in New Orleans.

1700s: From the French or Spanish libre (at liberty, free; clear, free, vacant; free, without obligation), from the Latin līber (free; unrestricted (and related to librum (book)), from the Old Latin loeber, from the Proto-Italic louðeros, from the primitive Indo-European hlewderos, from hlewd- (people).  Etymologists speculate the currency the word attained in the English-speaking world was initially due more to influence from Spanish than French, the word in more common use in the former.  The specific (though sometimes misleading) sense in software dates from the late twentieth century, more precise terms such as “open source”, “freeware”, “crippleware” & “freemium” actually more helpful.  Libre is a noun, verb and adjective.  Variations appear in many European languages (apart from those which directly borrowed libre) including the Alemannic German liiber, the Romanian liber and the thirteenth century Old Galician and Old Portuguese livre (in which libre co-existed).  Because of the influence of Spanish colonialism, libre appears often in Filipino dialectical use where it has tended to replace the older gratis (free).

Libre was a popular element in many in French formations encapsulating concepts, some of which were adopted in English although that tendency has now faded.  The phrases include un homme libre (literally “a free man” but used idiomatically in the sense of “an unmarried man”), la voie est libre (the way is clear), temps libre (free time), libre arbiter (free will), amour libre (free love (in the sense of the eradication of restrictive sexual mores) libre-échange (free trade), association libre (free association), à l'air libre (uncovered; in the open air (a pre-modern medical dogma which advocated not bandaging wounds), libre comme l'air (free as the air, synonymous with “free as a bird”)), nage libre (the freestyle stroke is swimming) & papier libre (a masculine noun for a piece of stationery not stamped or franked (ie without letterhead); it’s unrelated to newspapers etc distributed for free or without censorship).  There were also constructions of Spanish origin including aire libre (the outdoors, fresh air), barra libre (open bar (ie no limit), comercio libre (free trade). libre de culpa (off the hook, ie blameless”), libremente (to do something in an unrestrained manner), radical libre (free radical in the technical sense from chemistry), saque libre (the free kick in football), tiempo libre (free time), libérrimo (most free, the superlative degree of libre) & libertad (a degree of freedom; latitude, leeway).

Lindsay Lohan: making alliterative headlines in many languages.

Two constructs were adopted in English and added to the technical jargon of English.  The morphème libre in grammar indicates that which may be unattached from another morpheme (the smallest meaningful element in a text string).  Vers libre (free verse, ie in poetry, lines of varying lengths) was borrowed by English circa 1870.  Originally, the adoption reflected the technical meaning which was referenced against the French alexandrin (alexandrine), a syllabic poetic meter of twelve syllables (there were occasional deviations) with a medial caesura dividing the line into two hemistichs (half-lines), each of six syllables.  The structure, the origins of which can be traced to the twelfth century, was dominant in French poetry from the seventeen to the nineteenth centuries, encouraging a host of imitators around the continent and in the English-speaking world.  However, what were claimed to be the implications of free verse attracted the modernists who produced work which was derided by many critics (professional and otherwise) as “no verse” and thus, whatever the discernible structure, not exactly poetry and certainly not vers libre.  Free verse works which however, which tended either to ignore or parody the tradition of rhyme, did become a genre which endures to this day and among literary theorists, there’s long been the argument that in not relying on formalism (the technical constraint of rhyme) works needed to be more adventurous and imaginative, the focus on meaning rather than structure.  Divisions between the schools of poetry, although barely noticed by most of the population, continue to this day.

Formula Libre

Formula libre is the informal description of a motorsport category which, in its pure form, imposes no regulations other safety standards and to permit competition between vehicles which can be configured to widely different specifications, events are often conducted on some sort of handicap basis.  The philosophy of formula libre is the antithesis of that of motorsport’s governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA, the International Automobile Federation) which began in the early twentieth century with the admirable aim of encouraging competition in the quest for speed but, beginning in the 1960s, began to develop an obsession with slowing things down.  The reasons for this have been debated and, whether related or not to the change in emphasis, the FIA in recent decades has morphed into a vast bureaucracy dedicated to (1) imposing category rules which make cars as uninteresting as possible, (2) imposing conditions which require event organizers to pay for increasing numbers of FIA staff to do things at the events and (3) find reasons why fees have to be paid to the FIA.  There may be some competition but the FIA are now probably world sport's dopiest regulatory body.

Motor racing in a recognizable form began in France in the 1880s, soon evolving from races between villages into formally organized events and by early the next century, was established as a popular spectator event, run sometimes on public roads (usually but not always closed to other traffic!) and increasingly, on circuits built expressly for the purpose, these have the advantage of being fenced, thus permitting an entry fee to be charged for those wishing to watch.  The first race to be called a Grand Prix was held in France in 1906, conducted over two days on a road course in Le Mans, 65 miles (105 km) in length and the interest generated encouraged others; by the 1920s, Grand Prix were held in many countries although there was no linking championship, the rules varying from place to place, tweaked often to ensure the machines produced by local manufacturers might enjoy some advantage, a practice which long endured.

1929 Mercedes-Benz SSKL.

The FIA’s predessor, the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus (AIACR, the International Association of Recognized Automobile Clubs) began creating rules governing the categories in motorsport just before the outbreak of hostilities in 1914, specifying minimum & maximum weights, engine displacement and defining body types but it was in the inter-war years that the first attempts were made to impose universal rules.  The rules were created but many race organizers, seeking wider entry lists and more spectacular racing, often declined to adopt them, instead preferring the less restrictive “sports car” definition which attracted more manufacturers, including those not in a position to produce pure racing cars which conformed with the AIACR’s regulations.  Eventually, such was the resistance, the rules for Grand Prix racing were in 1928 abandoned and the era known as Formule Libre began, exemplified by the big Mercedes-Benz SSKL, the last of the road-cars used to win Grand Prix races but one which illustrated the limitations of the approach; the next generation would have to be pure race cars, a change which ushered in the age of regulation which lasts to this day.

1936 Auto-Union Type-C.  Not used on the circuits, the twin-rear tyres were fitted for hill climbs in a partially successful attempt to tame the handling quirks induced by mounting the 6.0 litre (366 cubic inch) V16 behind the driver.  Although a preview of the form open-wheel racing cars would begin to adopt in the late 1950s, the less adventurous Mercedes-Benz W125 with a front-mounted, 5.7 litre (346 cubic inch) straight-eight proved both more effective and easier to handle.

The structures of competition also become formalized.  The number of Grand Prix had risen from five in 1927 to eighteen by 1934 and a manufacturers’ world championship had actually been awarded in 1925 although it consisted only of the Indianapolis 500, the Grand Prix of Europe, France & Italy.  Interestingly, there was no drivers’ title and in Formula One, the FIA would not award the Constructors' Championship (initially the International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers) until 1958 although there had be an award for drivers since 1950, an evolution of the 1935-1939 European Drivers’ Championship, created with the agreement of the national federations.  The memorable racing of the era was governed by rules and even then, the AIACR reacted against the increasing speeds which had been thought not possible under the 750 KG (1653 lb) maximum weight rule, creating in 1938 two classes (1) 4.5 litre (275 cubic inch) displacement un-supercharged & 3.0 litre (183 cubic inch) supercharged and (2) a 1.5 litre (92 cubic inch) supercharged voiturette class (informally known as formula two (Formula 1, 2, 3 etc would not be codified until the post-war years, the first Formula One race held in Italy in 1946).

Juan Manuel Fangio (1911-1995), BRM V16, in Formule Libre events in England, 1953, Silverstone (left) & Goodwood (right).

Development of the big aero-engines used in World War II meant there had been enormous advances in forced induction and it was clear a 4.5 litre, naturally aspirated engine would be uncompetitive against a 3.0 litre supercharged unit so the FIA (the AIACR had in 1947 been reorganized and renamed) in 1949 announced the seven round Grand Prix World Championship for Formula One drivers would in 1950 be held for 1.5 litre supercharged and 4.5 litre un-supercharged cars.  However, a decline in the number of entries meant the championship was in 1952-1953 contested by Formula 2 cars which existed in greater numbers and this resurrected interest in Formule Libre; because dramatic machinery like the 4.5 litre Ferraris and the BRM V16 no longer had a championship to contest, they were instead entered in the handful of non-championship F1 races on offer and the more numerous Formule Libre events.  During the 1950s, the Formule Libre race, often the last of the weekend, was regarded by many spectators as the highlight, the machinery almost always the fastest at the event.

Allcomers, New Zealand, circa 1963, the Morrari leading a Chevrolet Corvette-powered Ford Zephyr Mk II.  Note the open-stack exhausts protruding from the Zephyr’s bonnet (hood), an efficient and weight-saving solution, especially useful when space is limited and one the FIA banned in Formula One.  Whenever the FIA killjoys see something innovative, their instinct is it should be banned.

In the decades since, Formule Libre (now usually spelled formula libre) has never really gone away, (despite the best efforts of the humorless clerks at the FIA), its spirit exemplified by the rule book for the Unlimited Division at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb: (1) Must meet all safety specifications & (2) No other restrictions; pure formula libre therefore and there have been competitions which went close such as the Canadian-American Challenge Cup (the Can-Am) for sports cars which specified only (1) Must meet all safety specifications, (2) enclosed wheels & (3) two seats (the last clause interpreted rather generously).  Notable also was the “Allcomer” category adopted for New Zealand’s saloon car championship in the 1960s which was for unlimited displacement touring cars and accommodated machinery as diverse as a 1956 Ford Customline powered by a Galaxie 427 cubic inch (7.0 litre) V8 (thus dubbed the Custaxie) and, more improbably still, the Morarri, a hybrid made by placing a Morris Minor body atop a Ferrari 555 Super Squalo F1 chassis (#555/1), the ensemble powered by a 327 cubic inch (5.3 litre) Chevrolet V8.  Many other bastard offspring were barely less extreme.  After 1967, the Allcomer Saloons were banned and the championship was run under the FIA’s Group 5 regulations and the category was well-supported but lacked some of the appeal of their wild predecessors so, in 1973, a locally concocted Schedule E was written which enabled the construction of things with something of the earlier flavor, proving things often go better without the FIA.

The formula libra concept has clearly attracted the interest of the Fédération internationale de notation (Fina, the International Swimming Federation) which recently announced a ban on the participation of transgender women from elite female competition if they have experienced “…any part of male puberty beyond Tanner Stage 2 or before age twelve, whichever is later."  Given the controversy, the announcement was not wholly unexpected and, although it sets Fina apart from federations affiliated with the IOC (International Olympic Committee), it won't be the only body to issue the sanction and already the International Rugby League (IRL) has imposed a similar ban.  As something of a workaround designed somehow to combine inclusion and exclusion in the one policy, Fina undertook to create a working group to design an “open” category for trans women in “some events” as part of its new policy.  Formula libra for women’s swimming therefore, a category in which women, trans- or cis-gender, could compete.  Fina’s president, Dr Husain al-Musallam (b 1960) insisted “Fina will always welcome every athlete (and) the creation of an open category will mean that everybody has the opportunity to compete at an elite level. This has not been done before, so Fina will need to lead the way.”  Whether a concept used for machines will be thought appropriate to apply to people remains to be seen.

The competing arguments (fairness in competition vs DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion)) can’t easily be resolved and the use of the formula libre concept hasn’t been well received by many, some trans activists suggesting it would be labelled a “freak show”.  The idea has before been floated, some genuinely interested in the maximum performance possible by the human body suggesting it might be interesting if a competition was established for athletes using performance-enhancing drugs.  Unsurprisingly, that went nowhere but nor is the “open class” idea new, the origin of competitive athletics in the modern age actually organized as a formula libre style, open class, some track events once scheduled on the basis of distance and anyone, male or female, was able to enter.  It was later that the women’s category was created as “protected class” so they might enjoy fair competition, something Fina claim is the basis of their exclusionary rule.

Both sides are now assembling, selectively perhaps, the scientific research which supports their respective positions and perhaps the most significant announcement was from the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (Fifa, the International Federation of Association Football) which confirmed it was reviewing its gender eligibility regulations.  Fifa issued a statement indicating they were consulting with “…many stakeholders… (and) should Fifa be asked to verify the eligibility of a player before the new regulations will be in place, any such case will be dealt with on a case‑by-case basis, taking into account Fifa’s clear commitment to respect for human rights.”  Such is the international influence of Fifa that it’s likely their position may become the default template for federations everywhere not anxious to make targets of themselves.