HW: everything there is to know

[Paul Mather]

On Sun, 31 Mar 1996, Carl E. Anderson wrote:

>         No, it's _definately_ "white feather".  During WWI in Britain,
> young ladies in Blighty used to give white feathers to young men seen
> not in uniform.  The idea was to indicate that they were 'chicken' and would
> have to join up if they were to impress the ladies.
>         Calvert's "give me white feather" line is intended to portray the
> thoughts of a soldier who would far rather be branded a coward than go back
> "over the top".

Just to add to this, the white feather "cowardice" icon is a major plot
element of the classic film "The Four Feathers" (can't remember who wrote
the book).  The story has been filmed several times.

Cheers,

Paul.

e-mail: paul at csgrad.cs.vt.edu                    A stranger in a strange land.