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There was once a gold and ruby Salamander ...
The myths of lizards abound ... but by way of introduction to the gold and ruby salamander ... I will start with but one. Whether it is a myth or whether it is factual is for you to decide. Of all the diets that prevail -- Atkins, South Beach, Weight Watchers -- there is but one that has merit. It is the Lizard diet. As Languedoc tradition would have it ... if a lizard bites a woman's breast, she will soon lose weight. Nothing is said of the subsequent effect upon the woman if a man were to perform the same service ... a fact that I find rather short-sighted on the part of the Languedocians. Never-the-less ... if you want to lose weight ....
And so ... there once was a treasure found in a sunken ship in the middle of the deep blue sea in the form of a gold and ruby salamander ....
The ship was called The Girona and it was part of a Spanish Armada dating back to the late 1500's which had taken on extra passengers and baggage from a ship that had run aground in Ireland. The Girona was headed toward neutral territory in Scotland with its complement of grandees and excess baggage and weaponry.
Alas ... the weather was bad ... and the rudder came adrift ... and the ship struck rocks and sank. Of its complement of 1300 people ... only five survived ... ultimately intermarrying with the local populace which inhabited the northern coast line of Lacada Point which was where the ship met its ill-fated end.
With the sinking of the ship came the sinking of its treasures which belonged to the elite passengers of the ship and which remained hidden in the briny depths until 1967 when an enterprising lad by the name of Robert Stenuit began diving for treasures. He dove for two years and was rewarded for his efforts by finding many valuables ... among them a ruby inlaid golden salamander pendant.
The pendant contains three rubies ... six are missing. I was tempted to restore the pin in Photoshop but decided to retain the piece in its original -- post ship-sinking -- scruffy state.
Did you know that lizards can restore sight to the blind. Yes yes. It's all quite true, you know. Does anyone out there remember when chicken-little went about screeching "The sky is falling; The sky is falling." It would appear that chicken-little might have been right ... for it is a well known fact among the educated that the sky will fall if a lizard has been killed. Perhaps chicken-little had had the misfortune to come across a dastardly murderous lizard-killer. There are stranger things dear friends ... between heaven and hell ....
And so ... as I end this refrain ....
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And there ya have it. That's it for this week folks. Catch you all next week. Benjamin Mark
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