title: Felix Dzerzhinsky

text: Dzerzhinsky became a Bolshevik as late as 1917. Therefore, it was wrong to assert (as official Soviet historians did subsequently) that Dzerzhinsky had been one of Lenin's oldest and most reliable comrades, or that Lenin had exercised some sort of spellbinding influence on Dzerzhinsky and the SDKPiL. Lenin and Dzerzhinsky frequently had opposing opinions about many important ideological and political issues of the pre-revolutionary period, and also after the October Revolution. After 1917, Dzerzhinsky would oppose Lenin on such crucial issues as the Brest-Litovsk peace, the trade unions, and Soviet nationality policy. During the April 1917 Party Conference when Lenin accused Dzerzhinsky of Great-Russian chauvinism he replied: "I can reproach him (Lenin) with standing at the point of view of the Polish, Ukrainian and other chauvinists."


title: Felix Dzerzhinsky

text: From 1917 to his death in 1926, Dzerzhinsky was first and foremost a Russian Communist, and Dzerzhinsky's involvement in the affairs of the Polish Communist Party (which was founded in 1918) was minimal. The energy and dedication that had previously been responsible for the building of the SDKPiL would henceforth be devoted to the priorities of the struggle for Bolshevik power in Russia, to the defense of the revolution during the civil war, and eventually, to the tasks of socialist construction.


title: Felix Dzerzhinsky

text: Dzerzhinsky died of a heart attack on 20 July 1926 in Moscow, immediately after a two-hour speech to the Bolshevik Central Committee during which, visibly quite ill, he violently denounced the United Opposition directed by Leon Trotsky, Grigory Zinoviev and Lev Kamenev. Upon hearing of his death, Joseph Stalin eulogized Dzerzhinsky as "a devout knight of the proletariat". Dzerzhinsky was buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis. Today his grave is one of the twelve individual tombs located between the Lenin Mausoleum and the Kremlin wall.


title: Felix Dzerzhinsky

text: Dzierżyńszczyzna, one of the two Polish Autonomous Districts in the Soviet Union, was named to commemorate Dzerzhinsky. Located in Belarus, near Minsk and close to the Soviet-Polish border of the time, it was created on 15 March 1932, with the capital at Dzyarzhynsk (In Russian Dzerzhynsk, formerly known as Kojdanów), not far from the family estate. (The Dzerzhinsky estate itself remained inside Poland from 1921 to 1939.) The district was disbanded in 1935 at the onset of the Great Purge, and most of its administration was executed.


title: Felix Dzerzhinsky

text: Dzyarzhynskaya Hara (the highest point in Belarus), located near Dzyarzhynsk was named after Dzerzhinsky in 1958.


title: Felix Dzerzhinsky

text: His name and image were used widely throughout the KGB and the Soviet Union and other socialist countries; there were several places named after him. In Russia, there is the city of Dzerzhinsk, a village of Dzerzhinsk, and three other cities called Dzerzhinskiy; in other former Soviet republics, there was a city named for him in Armenia and the aforementioned Dzyarzhynsk in Belarus. To comply with decommunization laws the Ukrainian cities Dzerzhynsk and Dniprodzerzhynsk were renamed Toretsk and Kamianske in February and May 2016. A Ukrainian village in the Zhytomyr Oblast was also named Dzerzhinsk until 2005, when it was renamed to Romaniv. The Dzerzhinskiy Tractor Works in Stalingrad were named in his honor and became a scene of bitter fighting during the Second World War. The FED camera, produced from 1934 to around 1996, is named for him, as was the FD class steam locomotive.


title: Felix Dzerzhinsky

text: A 15-ton iron monument of Dzerzhinsky, which once dominated the Lubyanka Square in Moscow, near the KGB headquarters, also became known as "Iron Felix" ( - "Zheleznyj Feliks"). Sculpted in 1958 by Yevgeny Vuchetich, it served as a Moscow landmark during late Soviet times. Symbolically, the Memorial society erected the Solovetsky Stone, a memorial to the victims of the Gulag (using a simple stone from Solovki in the White Sea) beside the Iron Felix statue on 30 October 1990. The Moscow Soviet (Mossovet) had the Dzerzhinsky statue removed to the Fallen Monument Park and laid on its side in August 1991, after the failed coup d'état attempt by hard-line Communist members of the government. A mock-up of the removal of Dzerzhinsky's statue can be found in the entrance hall of the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C.


title: Felix Dzerzhinsky

text: The figure of Dzerzhinsky remains controversial in Russian society. Between 1999 and 2013, six proposals called for the return of the statue to its plinth. The Monument Art Commission of the Moscow City Duma rejected the proposals due to concerns that the proposed return would cause "unnecessary tension" in society. According to a December 2013 VTsIOM poll, 46% of Russians favor the restoration of the statue to the Lubyanka Square, with 17% opposing it. The statue remained in a yard for old Soviet memorials at the Central House of Artists.


title: Felix Dzerzhinsky

text: In April 2012, the Moscow authorities stated that they would renovate the "Iron Felix" monument in full and put the statue on a list of monuments to be renovated, as well as officially designating it an object of cultural heritage.


title: Felix Dzerzhinsky

text: On April 26, 2021, it was announced by the prosecutor office of Moscow that the removal of the statue had no legal basis and was therefore illegal.


title: Felix Dzerzhinsky

text: A smaller bust of Dzerzhinsky in the courtyard of the Moscow police headquarters at Petrovka 38 was restored in November 2005 (police officers had removed this bust on 22 August 1991).


title: Felix Dzerzhinsky

text: As it symbolised the Soviet Union and the Soviet influence over Poland, Dzerzhinsky's monument in Dzerzhinsky Square () in the center of Warsaw was toppled in 1989 as the Polish United Workers' Party lost power in the course of the revolutions of 1989. The name of the square soon changed to its pre–Second World War name "Bank Square" ().


title: Felix Dzerzhinsky

text: A 10-foot bronze replica of the original Iron Felix statue was placed on the grounds of the military academy in Minsk, Belarus, in May 2006.


title: Felix Dzerzhinsky

text: In 2017 on the 140th anniversary of Dzerzhinsky's birth, a monument to Dzerzhinsky was erected in the city of Ryazan, Russia.


title: Felix Dzerzhinsky

text: On January 20, 2017, the People's Public Security Academy in Hanoi, Vietnam inaugurated a Dzerzhinsky statue.


title: Felix Dzerzhinsky

text: In 1943, the manor house of Dzerzhinovo, where Dzerzhinsky was born, was destroyed and family members (including Dzerzhinsky's brother Kazimierz) were killed by the Germans, because of their support for the Polish Home Army. In 2005, the Government of Belarus rebuilt the house and established a museum. The graduating class of the KGB academy holds its annual swearing-in at the manor.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: The Outer Hebrides () or Western Isles ( or ; ), sometimes known as ("islands of the strangers") or the Long Isle/Long Island (), is an island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland. The islands are geographically coextensive with , one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. They form part of the archipelago of the Hebrides, separated from the Scottish mainland and from the Inner Hebrides by the waters of the Minch, the Little Minch, and the Sea of the Hebrides. Scottish Gaelic is the predominant spoken language, although in a few areas English speakers form a majority.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: Most of the islands have a bedrock formed from ancient metamorphic rocks, and the climate is mild and oceanic. The 15 inhabited islands have a total population of and there are more than 50 substantial uninhabited islands. The distance from Barra Head to the Butt of Lewis is roughly .


title: Outer Hebrides

text: There are various important prehistoric structures, many of which pre-date the first written references to the islands by Roman and Greek authors. The Western Isles became part of the Norse kingdom of the "", which lasted for over 400 years, until sovereignty over the Outer Hebrides was transferred to Scotland by the Treaty of Perth in 1266. Control of the islands was then held by clan chiefs, principal amongst whom were the MacLeods, MacDonalds, Mackenzies and MacNeils. The Highland Clearances of the 19th century had a devastating effect on many communities, and it is only in recent years that population levels have ceased to decline. Much of the land is now under local control, and commercial activity is based on tourism, crofting, fishing, and weaving.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: Sea transport is crucial, and a variety of ferry services operate between the islands and to mainland Scotland. Modern navigation systems now minimise the dangers, but in the past the stormy seas have claimed many ships. Religion, music and sport are important aspects of local culture, and there are numerous designated conservation areas to protect the natural environment.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: The islands form an archipelago whose major islands are Lewis and Harris, North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist, and Barra. Lewis and Harris has an area of and is the largest island in Scotland and the third-largest in the British Isles, after Great Britain and Ireland. It incorporates Lewis in the north and Harris in the south, both of which are frequently referred to as individual islands, although they are connected by land. The island does not have a single name in either English or Gaelic, and is referred to as "Lewis and Harris", "Lewis with Harris", "Harris with Lewis" etc.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: The largest islands are deeply indented by arms of the sea such as Loch Ròg, Loch Seaforth and Loch nam Madadh. There are also more than 7,500 freshwater lochs in the Outer Hebrides, about 24% of the total for the whole of Scotland. North and South Uist and Lewis, in particular, have landscapes with a high percentage of fresh water and a maze and complexity of loch shapes. Harris has fewer large bodies of water but has innumerable small lochans. Loch Langavat on Lewis is long, and has several large islands in its midst, including Eilean Mòr. Although Loch Suaineabhal has only 25% of Loch Langavat's surface area, it has a mean depth of and is the most voluminous on the island. Of Loch Sgadabhagh on North Uist it has been said that "there is probably no other loch in Britain which approaches Loch Scadavay in irregularity and complexity of outline." Loch Bì is South Uist's largest loch and at long it all but cuts the island in two.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: Much of the western coastline of the islands is machair, a fertile low-lying dune pastureland. Lewis is comparatively flat, and largely consists of treeless moors of blanket peat. The highest eminence is Mealisval at in the south west. Most of Harris is mountainous, with large areas of exposed rock and Clisham, the archipelago's only Corbett, reaches in height. North and South Uist and Benbecula (sometimes collectively referred to as The Uists) have sandy beaches and wide cultivated areas of machair to the west and virtually uninhabited mountainous areas to the east. The highest peak here is Beinn Mhòr at . The Uists and their immediate outliers have a combined area of . This includes the Uists themselves and the islands linked to them by causeways and bridges. Barra is in extent and has a rugged interior, surrounded by machair and extensive beaches.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: The scenic qualities of the islands are reflected in the fact that three of Scotland's forty national scenic areas (NSAs) are located here. The national scenic areas are defined so as to identify areas of exceptional scenery and to ensure its protection from inappropriate development, and are considered to represent the type of scenic beauty "popularly associated with Scotland and for which it is renowned". The three NSA within the Outer Hebrides are:


title: Outer Hebrides

text: Much of the archipelago is a protected habitat, including both the islands and the surrounding waters. There are 53 Sites of Special Scientific Interest of which the largest are Loch an Duin, North Uist () and North Harris (). South Uist is considered the best place in the UK for the aquatic plant Slender Naiad, which is a European Protected Species.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: There has been considerable controversy over hedgehogs on the Uists. Hedgehogs are not native to the islands but were introduced in the 1970s to reduce garden pests. Their spread posed a threat to the eggs of ground-nesting wading birds. In 2003 Scottish Natural Heritage undertook culls of hedgehogs in the area, but these were halted in 2007; trapped animals are now relocated to the mainland.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: Nationally important populations of breeding waders are present in the Outer Hebrides, including common redshank, dunlin, lapwing and ringed plover. The islands also provide a habitat for other important species such as corncrake, hen harrier, golden eagle and otter. Offshore, basking shark and various species of whale and dolphin can often be seen, and the remoter islands' seabird populations are of international significance. St Kilda has 60,000 northern gannets, amounting to 24% of the world population; 49,000 breeding pairs of Leach's petrel, up to 90% of the European population; and 136,000 pairs of puffin and 67,000 northern fulmar pairs, about 30% and 13% of the respective UK totals. Mingulay is an important breeding ground for razorbills, with 9,514 pairs, 6.3% of the European population.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: The bumblebee "Bombus jonellus" var. "hebridensis" is endemic to the Hebrides and there are local variants of the dark green fritillary and green-veined white butterflies. The St Kilda wren is a subspecies of wren whose range is confined to the islands whose name it bears.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: The islands' total population was 26,502 at the 2001 census, and the 2011 figure was 27,684. During the same period Scottish island populations as a whole grew by 4% to 103,702. The largest settlement in the Outer Hebrides is Stornoway on Lewis, which has a population of about 8,100.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: The population estimate for 2019 was 26,720 according to a Comhairle nan Eilean Siar report which added that "the population of the Outer Hebrides is ageing" and that "young adults [...] leave the islands for further education or employment purposes". Of the total population, 6,953 people reside in the "Stornoway settlement Laxdale (Lacasdal), Sandwick (Sanndabhaig) and Newmarket" with the balance distributed over 280 townships.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: In addition to the major North Ford ("") and South Ford causeways that connect North Uist to Benbecula via the northern of the Grimsays, and another causeway from Benbecula to South Uist, several other islands are linked by smaller causeways or bridges. Great Bernera and Scalpay have bridge connections to Lewis and Harris respectively, with causeways linking Baleshare and Berneray to North Uist; Eriskay to South Uist; , and the southern Grimsay to Benbecula; and Vatersay to Barra. This means that all the inhabited islands are now connected to at least one other island by a land transport route.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: There are more than fifty uninhabited islands greater in size than in the Outer Hebrides, including the Barra Isles, Flannan Isles, Monach Islands, the Shiant Islands and the islands of . In common with the other main island chains of Scotland, many of the more remote islands were abandoned during the 19th and 20th centuries, in some cases after continuous habitation since the prehistoric period. More than 35 such islands have been identified in the Outer Hebrides alone. On Barra Head, for example, Historic Scotland have identified eighty-three archaeological sites on the island, the majority being of a pre-medieval date. In the 18th century, the population was over fifty, but the last native islanders had left by 1931. The island became completely uninhabited by 1980 with the automation of the lighthouse.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: Some of the smaller islands continue to contribute to modern culture. The "Mingulay Boat Song", although evocative of island life, was written after the abandonment of the island in 1938 and Taransay hosted the BBC television series "Castaway 2000". Others have played a part in Scottish history. On 4 May 1746, the "Young Pretender" Charles Edward Stuart hid on with some of his men for four days whilst Royal Navy vessels patrolled the Minch.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: Smaller isles and skerries and other island groups pepper the North Atlantic surrounding the main islands. Some are not geologically part of the Outer Hebrides, but are administratively and in most cases culturally, part of . to the west of Lewis lies St Kilda, now uninhabited except for a small military base. A similar distance to the north of Lewis are North Rona and , two small and remote islands. While Rona used to support a small population who grew grain and raised cattle, is an inhospitable rock. Thousands of northern gannets nest here, and by special arrangement some of their young, known as "", are harvested annually by the men of Ness. The status of Rockall, which is to the west of North Uist and which the Island of Rockall Act 1972 decreed to be a part of the Western Isles, remains a matter of international dispute.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: Most of the islands have a bedrock formed from Lewisian gneiss. These are amongst the oldest rocks in Europe, having been formed in the Precambrian period up to three billion years ago. In addition to the Outer Hebrides, they form basement deposits on the Scottish mainland west of the Moine Thrust and on the islands of Coll and Tiree. These rocks are largely igneous in origin, mixed with metamorphosed marble, quartzite and mica schist and intruded by later basaltic dykes and granite magma. The gneiss's delicate pink colours are exposed throughout the islands and it is sometimes referred to by geologists as "The Old Boy".


title: Outer Hebrides

text: Granite intrusions are found in the parish of Barvas in west Lewis, and another forms the summit plateau of the mountain Roineabhal in Harris. The granite here is anorthosite, and is similar in composition to rocks found in the mountains of the Moon. There are relatively small outcrops of Triassic sandstone at Broad Bay near Stornoway. The Shiant Islands and St Kilda are formed from much later tertiary basalt and basalt and gabbros respectively. The sandstone at Broad Bay was once thought to be Torridonian or Old Red Sandstone.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: The Outer Hebrides have a cool temperate climate that is remarkably mild and steady for such a northerly latitude, due to the influence of the North Atlantic Current. The average temperature for the year is 6 °C (44 °F) in January and 14 °C (57 °F) in summer. The average annual rainfall in Lewis is and sunshine hours range from 1,100 to 1,200 per year. The summer days are relatively long and May to August is the driest period. Winds are a key feature of the climate and even in summer there are almost constant breezes. According to the writer W. H. Murray if a visitor asks an islander for a weather forecast "he will not, like a mainlander answer dry, wet or sunny, but quote you a figure from the Beaufort Scale." There are gales one day in six at the Butt of Lewis and small fish are blown onto the grass on top of 190 metre (620 ft) high cliffs at Barra Head during winter storms.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: The Hebrides were originally settled in the Mesolithic era and have a diversity of important prehistoric sites. in on North Uist was constructed around 3200–2800 BC and may be Scotland's earliest crannog (a type of artificial island). The Callanish Stones, dating from about 2900 BC, are the finest example of a stone circle in Scotland, the 13 primary monoliths of between one and five metres high creating a circle about in diameter. on South Uist, the only site in the UK where prehistoric mummies have been found, and the impressive ruins of Dun Carloway on Lewis both date from the Iron Age.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: The earliest written references that have survived relating to the islands were made by Pliny the Elder in his "Natural History", where he states that there are 30 ', and makes a separate reference to "Dumna", which Watson (1926) concludes is unequivocally the Outer Hebrides. Writing about 80 years later, in 140–150 AD, Ptolemy, drawing on the earlier naval expeditions of , also distinguished between the ', of which he writes there were only five (and thus possibly meaning the Inner Hebrides) and . ' is cognate with the Early Celtic "dumnos" and means the "deep-sea isle". Pliny probably took his information from Pytheas of Massilia who visited Britain sometime between 322 and 285 BC. It is possible that Ptolemy did as well, as Agricola's information about the west coast of Scotland was of poor quality. Breeze also suggests that might be Lewis and Harris, the largest island of the Outer Hebrides although he conflates this single island with the name "Long Island". Watson (1926) states that the meaning of Ptolemy's ' is unknown and that the root may be pre-Celtic. Murray (1966) claims that Ptolemy's ' was originally derived from the Old Norse ', meaning "isles on the edge of the sea". This idea is often repeated but no firm evidence of this derivation has emerged.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: Other early written references include the flight of the Nemed people from Ireland to "Domon", which is mentioned in the 12th-century ' and a 13th-century poem concerning , then the heir to the throne of Mann and the Isles, who is said to have "broken the gate of '". " means "the plain of Domhna (or Domon)", but the precise meaning of the text is not clear.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: In Irish mythology the islands were the home of the Fomorians, described as "huge and ugly" and "ship men of the sea". They were pirates, extracting tribute from the coasts of Ireland and one of their kings was (i.e. Indech, son of the goddess Domnu, who ruled over the deep seas).


title: Outer Hebrides

text: In modern Gaelic the islands are sometimes referred to collectively as ' (the Long Island) or ' (the Outer Isles). "" (islands of the foreigners or strangers) is also heard occasionally, a name that was originally used by mainland Highlanders when the islands were ruled by the Norse.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: The individual island and place names in the Outer Hebrides have mixed Gaelic and Norse origins. Various Gaelic terms are used repeatedly:


title: Outer Hebrides

text: In Scotland, the Celtic Iron Age way of life, often troubled but never extinguished by Rome, re-asserted itself when the legions abandoned any permanent occupation in 211 AD. Hanson (2003) writes: "For many years it has been almost axiomatic in studies of the period that the Roman conquest must have had some major medium or long-term impact on Scotland. On present evidence that cannot be substantiated either in terms of environment, economy, or, indeed, society. The impact appears to have been very limited. The general picture remains one of broad continuity, not of disruption ... The Roman presence in Scotland was little more than a series of brief interludes within a longer continuum of indigenous development." The Romans' direct impact on the Highlands and Islands was scant and there is no evidence that they ever actually landed in the Outer Hebrides.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: The later Iron Age inhabitants of the northern and western Hebrides were probably Pictish, although the historical record is sparse. Hunter (2000) states that in relation to King Bridei I of the Picts in the sixth century AD: "As for Shetland, Orkney, Skye and the Western Isles, their inhabitants, most of whom appear to have been Pictish in culture and speech at this time, are likely to have regarded Bridei as a fairly distant presence." The island of Pabbay is the site of the Pabbay Stone, the only extant Pictish symbol stone in the Outer Hebrides. This 6th century stele shows a flower, V-rod and lunar crescent to which has been added a later and somewhat crude cross.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: Viking raids began on Scottish shores towards the end of the 8th century AD and the Hebrides came under Norse control and settlement during the ensuing decades, especially following the success of Harald Fairhair at the Battle of Hafrsfjord in 872. In the Western Isles Ketill Flatnose was the dominant figure of the mid 9th century, by which time he had amassed a substantial island realm and made a variety of alliances with other Norse leaders. These princelings nominally owed allegiance to the Norwegian crown, although in practice the latter's control was fairly limited. Norse control of the Hebrides was formalised in 1098 when Edgar, King of Scotland formally signed the islands over to Magnus III of Norway. The Scottish acceptance of Magnus III as King of the Isles came after the Norwegian king had conquered Orkney, the Hebrides and the Isle of Man in a swift campaign earlier the same year, directed against the local Norwegian leaders of the various islands‘ petty kingdoms. By capturing the islands Magnus imposed a more direct royal control, although at a price. His skald Bjorn Cripplehand recorded that in Lewis "fire played high in the heaven" as "flame spouted from the houses" and that in the Uists "the king dyed his sword red in blood". Thompson (1968) provides a more literal translation: "Fire played in the fig-trees of Liodhus; it mounted up to heaven. Far and wide the people were driven to flight. The fire gushed out of the houses".


title: Outer Hebrides

text: The Hebrides were now part of Kingdom of the Isles, whose rulers were themselves vassals of the Kings of Norway. The Kingdom had two parts: the ' or South Isles encompassing the Hebrides and the Isle of Man; and the ' or North Isles of Orkney and Shetland. This situation lasted until the partitioning of the Western Isles in 1156, at which time the Outer Hebrides remained under Norwegian control while the Inner Hebrides broke out under Somerled, the Norse-Celtic kinsman of the Manx royal house.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: Following the ill-fated 1263 expedition of Haakon IV of Norway, the Outer Hebrides along with the Isle of Man, were yielded to the Kingdom of Scotland a result of the 1266 Treaty of Perth. Although their contribution to the islands can still be found in personal and placenames, the archaeological record of the Norse period is very limited. The best known find from this time is the Lewis chessmen, which date from the mid 12th century.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: As the Norse era drew to a close the Norse-speaking princes were gradually replaced by Gaelic-speaking clan chiefs including the MacLeods of Lewis and Harris, the MacDonalds of the Uists and MacNeil of Barra. This transition did little to relieve the islands of internecine strife although by the early 14th century the MacDonald Lords of the Isles, based on Islay, were in theory these chiefs' feudal superiors and managed to exert some control.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: The growing threat that Clan Donald posed to the Scottish crown led to the forcible dissolution of the Lordship of the Isles by James IV in 1493, but although the king had the power to subdue the organised military might of the Hebrides, he and his immediate successors lacked the will or ability to provide an alternative form of governance. The House of Stuart's attempts to control the Outer Hebrides were then at first desultory and little more than punitive expeditions. In 1506 the Earl of Huntly besieged and captured Stornoway Castle using cannon. In 1540 James V himself conducted a royal tour, forcing the clan chiefs to accompany him. There followed a period of peace, but all too soon the clans were at loggerheads again.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: In 1598 King James VI authorised some "Gentleman Adventurers" from Fife to civilise the "most barbarous Isle of Lewis". Initially successful, the colonists were driven out by local forces commanded by Murdoch and Neil MacLeod, who based their forces on in . The colonists tried again in 1605 with the same result but a third attempt in 1607 was more successful, and in due course Stornoway became a Burgh of Barony. By this time Lewis was held by the Mackenzies of Kintail, (later the Earls of Seaforth), who pursued a more enlightened approach, investing in fishing in particular. The historian W. C. MacKenzie was moved to write:


title: Outer Hebrides

text: The Seaforth's royalist inclinations led to Lewis becoming garrisoned during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms by Cromwell's troops, who destroyed the old castle in Stornoway and in 1645 Lewismen fought on the royalist side at the Battle of Auldearn. A new era of Hebridean involvement in the affairs of the wider world was about to commence.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: With the implementation of the Treaty of Union in 1707 the Hebrides became part of the new Kingdom of Great Britain, but the clans' loyalties to a distant monarch were not strong. A considerable number of islandmen "came out" in support of the Jacobite Earl of Mar in the "15" although the response to the 1745 rising was muted. Nonetheless the aftermath of the decisive Battle of Culloden, which effectively ended Jacobite hopes of a Stuart restoration, was widely felt. The British government's strategy was to estrange the clan chiefs from their kinsmen and turn their descendants into English-speaking landlords whose main concern was the revenues their estates brought rather than the welfare of those who lived on them. This may have brought peace to the islands, but in the following century it came at a terrible price.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: The Highland Clearances of the 19th century destroyed communities throughout the Highlands and Islands as the human populations were evicted and replaced with sheep farms. For example, Colonel Gordon of Cluny, owner of Barra, South Uist and Benbecula, evicted thousands of islanders using trickery and cruelty and even offered to sell Barra to the government as a penal colony. Islands such as were completely cleared of their populations and even today the subject is recalled with bitterness and resentment in some areas. The position was exacerbated by the failure of the islands' kelp industry, which thrived from the 18th century until the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 and large scale emigration became endemic. For example, hundreds left North Uist for Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. The pre-clearance population of the island had been almost 5,000, although by 1841 it had fallen to 3,870 and was only 2,349 by 1931.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: The Highland potato famine (Gaiseadh a’ bhuntàta, in Scottish Gaelic), caused by a blight, started in 1846 and had a serious impact, because many islanders were crofters; potatoes were a staple of their diet. Violent riots became common. Charities, encouraged by George Pole and others in the Commissariat (a military agency) encouraged charities to come to the rescue. The Free Church was particularly helpful, "delivering oatmeal to famine-affected families all across the West Highlands and Islands", according to one report. Another report states that the Church "was prompt in organising an efficient system of private charity across the Hebrides and on the Western seaboard. It cooperated with the Edinburgh and Glasgow Relief Committees".


title: Outer Hebrides

text: An interdenominational charity was in place by early 1847 and took the most significant role in famine relief. Some landowners also provided a great deal of assistance, according to one history of the region: "MacLeod of Dunvegan bought in food for his people, some eight thousand of them" ... MacLean of Ardgour provided food, and introduced new crops into the area - peas, cabbages and carrots ... Sir James Matheson on Lewis spent £329,000 on improving his lands, hoping to provide a more secure future for his people". The government of Britain provided some assistance, thanks to Sir Charles Trevelyan, who arranged for food distribution at Portree and Tobermory. The "British Association for the Relief of Distress in Ireland and the Highlands and Islands of Scotland" also helped as did donations received from North America. The blight struck again over the next two years, requiring an extra tax on landowners to help feed the population. The British government began encouraging mass emigration.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: For those who remained new economic opportunities emerged through the export of cattle, commercial fishing and tourism. During the summer season in the 1860s and 1870s five thousand inhabitants of Lewis could be found in Wick on the mainland of Scotland, employed on the fishing boats and at the quaysides. Nonetheless emigration and military service became the choice of many and the archipelago's populations continued to dwindle throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries. By 2001 the population of North Uist was only 1,271.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: The work of the Napier Commission and the Congested Districts Board, and the passing of the Crofting Act of 1886 helped, but social unrest continued. In July 1906 grazing land on Vatersay was raided by landless men from Barra and its isles. Lady Gordon Cathcart took legal action against the "raiders" but the visiting judge took the view that she had neglected her duties as a landowner and that "long indifference to the necessities of the cottars had gone far to drive them to exasperation". Millennia of continuous occupation notwithstanding, many of the remoter islands were abandoned — Mingulay in 1912, Hirta in 1930, and in 1942 among them. This process involved a transition from these places being perceived as relatively self-sufficient agricultural economies to a view becoming held by both island residents and outsiders alike that they lacked the essential services of a modern industrial economy.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: There were gradual economic improvements, among the most visible of which was the replacement of the traditional thatched blackhouse with accommodation of a more modern design. The creation of the Highlands and Islands Development Board and the discovery of substantial deposits of North Sea oil in 1965, the establishment of a unitary local authority for the islands in 1975 and more recently the renewables sector have all contributed to a degree of economic stability in recent decades. The Arnish yard has had a chequered history but has been a significant employer in both the oil and renewables industries. , the local authority, employs 2,000 people, making it the largest employer in the Outer Hebrides. See also the " area plan 2010" and the 's "Factfile – Economy".


title: Outer Hebrides

text: Modern commercial activities centre on tourism, crofting, fishing, and weaving including the manufacture of Harris tweed. Crofting remains popular especially on Lewis and Harris (population 21,000) with over 920 active crofters according to a 2020 report: "with crofts ranging in size from as small as a single hectare to having access to thousands of hectares through the medium of community grazing". Crofters can apply for subsidy grants; some of these are intended to help them find other avenues to supplement their incomes. Some of the funding schemes available to crofters in the Hebrides include the "Basic Payment Scheme, the suckler beef support scheme, the upland sheep support scheme and the Less Favoured Area support scheme and the Crofting Agricultural Grant Scheme (CAGS), as of March 2020.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: According to the Scottish Government, "tourism is by far and away the mainstay industry" of the Outer Hebrides, "generating £65m in economic value for the islands, sustaining around 1000 jobs" The report adds that the "islands receive 219,000 visitors per year".


title: Outer Hebrides

text: Some of the larger islands have development trusts that support the local economy and, in striking contrast to the 19th and 20th century domination by absentee landlords, more than two thirds of the Western Isles population now lives on community-owned estates. However the economic position of the islands remains relatively precarious. The Western Isles, including Stornoway, are defined by Highlands and Islands Enterprise as an economically "Fragile Area" and they have an estimated trade deficit of some £163.4 million. Overall, the area is relatively reliant on primary industries and the public sector, and fishing and fish farming in particular are vulnerable to environmental impacts, changing market pressures, and European legislation.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: There is some optimism about the possibility of future developments in, for example, renewable energy generation, tourism, and education, and after declines in the 20th century the population has stabilised since 2003, although it is ageing. A 2019 report, using key assumptions, (mortality, fertility and migration) was less optimistic. It predicted that the population is "projected to fall to 22,709 by 2043"; that translates to a 16% decline, or 4,021 people, between 2018 and 2043.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: The UK’s largest community-owned wind farm, the 9MW Beinn Ghrideag, a "3 turbine, 9MW scheme" is located outside Stornoway and is operated by Point and Sandwick Trust (PST).


title: Outer Hebrides

text: The Isle of Lewis web site states that Stornoway's sheltered harbour has been important for centuries; it was named Steering Bay by Vikings who often visited. A December 2020 report stated that a new deep water terminal was to be developed, the Stornoway Deep Water Terminal, using a £49 million investment. The plan included berths for cruise ships as long as 360 meters, berths for large cargo vessels, and a freight ferry berth.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: From the passing of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 to 1975 Lewis formed part of the county of Ross and Cromarty and the rest of the archipelago, including Harris, was part of Inverness-shire.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: The Outer Hebrides became a unitary council area in 1975, although in most of the rest of Scotland similar unitary councils were not established until 1996. Since then, the islands have formed one of the 32 unitary council areas that now cover the whole country, with the council officially known by its Gaelic name, ' under the terms of the Local Government (Gaelic Names) (Scotland) Act 1997. The council has its base in Stornoway on Lewis and is often known locally simply as "the " or '. The is one of only three Councils in Scotland with a majority of elected members who are independents. The other independent-run councils are Shetland and Orkney. Moray is run by a Conservative/Independent coalition.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: The name for the British Parliament constituency covering this area is , the seat being held by Angus MacNeil MP since 2005, while the Scottish Parliament constituency for the area is , the incumbent being Alasdair Allan MSP.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: During the 2014 Scottish independence referendum the area voted against independence by a margin of 53.42% (10,544) to 46.58% (9,195) in favour on a turnout of 86.2%


title: Outer Hebrides

text: In 2022, as part of the Levelling Up White Paper, an "Island Forum" was proposed, which would allow local policymakers and residents in the Outer Hebrides to work alongside their counterparts in Shetland, Orkney, Anglesey and the Isle of Wight on common issues, such as broadband connectivity, and provide a platform for them to communicate directly with the government on the challenges island communities face in terms of levelling up.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: The Outer Hebrides have historically been a very strong Scottish Gaelic ("Gàidhlig") speaking area. Both the 1901 and 1921 census reported that all parishes were over 75% Gaelic speaking, including areas of high population density such as Stornoway. However, the Education (Scotland) Act 1872 mandated English-only education, and is now recognised as having dealt a major blow to the language. People still living can recall being beaten for speaking Gaelic in school. Nonetheless, by 1971 most areas were still more than 75% Gaelic speaking – with the exception of Stornoway, Benbecula and South Uist at 50–74%.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: In the 2001 census, each island overall was over 50% Gaelic speaking – South Uist (71%), Harris (69%), Barra (68%), North Uist (67%), Lewis (56%) and Benbecula (56%). With 59.3% of Gaelic speakers or a total of 15,723 speakers, this made the Outer Hebrides the most strongly coherent Gaelic speaking area in Scotland.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: Most areas were between 60-74% Gaelic speaking and the areas with the highest density of over 80% are Scalpay near Harris, Newtonferry and Kildonan, whilst Daliburgh, Linshader, Eriskay, Brue, Boisdale, West Harris, Ardveenish, Soval, Ness, and Bragar all have more than 75%. The areas with the lowest density of speakers are Stornoway (44%), Braigh (41%), Melbost (41%), and Balivanich (37%).


title: Outer Hebrides

text: The Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act was enacted by the Scottish Parliament in 2005 to provide continuing support for the language. However, by 2011 the overall percentage of Gaelic speakers in the Outer Hebrides had fallen to 52%.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: Scheduled ferry services between the Outer Hebrides and the Scottish Mainland and Inner Hebrides operate on the following routes:


title: Outer Hebrides

text: National Rail services are available for onward journeys, from stations at Oban and Mallaig, which has direct services to Glasgow. However, parliamentary approval notwithstanding, plans in the 1890s to lay a railway connection to Ullapool were unable to obtain sufficient funding.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: There are scheduled flights from Stornoway, Benbecula and Barra airports both inter-island and to the mainland. Barra's airport is claimed to be the only one in the world to have scheduled flights landing on a beach. At high water the runways are under the sea so flight times vary with the tide.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: Bus na Comhairle (meaning "Bus of the Council") is the council-owned local bus company of the Western Isles of Scotland. The company serves the Broadbay area of Lewis with 7 buses - 6 Optare Solos and 1 ADL Enviro 200.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: The archipelago is exposed to wind and tide, and lighthouses are sited as an aid to navigation at locations from Barra Head in the south to the Butt of Lewis in the north. There are numerous sites of wrecked ships, and the Flannan Isles are the location of an enduring mystery that occurred in December 1900, when all three lighthouse keepers vanished without trace.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: "Annie Jane", a three-masted immigrant ship out of Liverpool bound for Montreal, Canada, struck rocks off the West Beach of Vatersay during a storm on Tuesday 28 September 1853. Within ten minutes the ship began to founder and break up casting 450 people into the raging sea. In spite of the conditions, islanders tried to rescue the passengers and crew. The remains of 350 men, women and children were buried in the dunes behind the beach and a small cairn and monument marks the site.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: The tiny Beasts of Holm off the east coast of Lewis were the site of the sinking of during the first few hours of 1919, one of the worst maritime disasters in United Kingdom waters during the 20th century. Calvay in the Sound of Barra provided the inspiration for Compton Mackenzie's novel "Whisky Galore" after the ran aground there with a cargo of single malt in 1941.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: Christianity has deep roots in the Western Isles, but owing mainly to the different allegiances of the clans in the past, the people in the northern islands (Lewis, Harris, North Uist) have historically been predominantly Presbyterian, and those of the southern islands (Benbecula, South Uist, Barra) predominantly Roman Catholic.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: At the time of the 2001 Census, 42% of the population identified themselves as being affiliated with the Church of Scotland, with 13% Roman Catholic and 28% with other Christian churches. Many of this last group belong to the Free Church of Scotland, known for its strict observance of the Sabbath. 11% stated that they had no religion. This made the Western Isles the Scottish council area with the smallest percentage of non-religious in the population. There are also small Episcopalian congregations in Lewis and Harris and the Outer Hebrides are part of the Diocese of Argyll and The Isles in both the Episcopalian and Catholic traditions.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: Gaelic music is popular in the islands and the Lewis and Harris Traditional Music Society plays an active role in promoting the genre. Fèis Bharraigh began in 1981 with the aim of developing the practice and study of the Gaelic language, literature, music, drama and culture on the islands of Barra and Vatersay. A two-week festival, it has inspired 43 other "feisean" throughout Scotland. The Lewis Pipe Band was founded in 1904 and the Lewis and Harris Piping Society in 1977.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: Outdoor activities including rugby, football, golf, shinty, fishing, riding, canoeing, athletics, and multi-sports are popular in the Western Isles. The Hebridean Challenge is an adventure race run in five daily stages, which takes place along the length of the islands and includes hill and road running, road and mountain biking, short sea swims and demanding sea kayaking sections. There are four main sports centres: "Ionad Spors Leodhais" in Stornoway, which has a 25 m swimming pool; Harris Sports Centre; Lionacleit Sports Centre on Benbecula; and Castlebay Sports Centre on Barra. The Western Isles is a member of the International Island Games Association.


title: Outer Hebrides

text: South Uist is home to the Askernish Golf Course. The oldest links in the Outer Hebrides, it was designed by Old Tom Morris. Although it was in use until the 1930s, its existence was largely forgotten until 2005 and it is now being restored to Morris's original design.


title: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

text: The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is an American country rock band formed in 1966. The group has existed in various forms since its founding in Long Beach, California. Between 1976 and 1981, the band performed and recorded as the Dirt Band.


title: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

text: Constant members since the early times are singer-guitarist Jeff Hanna and drummer Jimmie Fadden. Multi-instrumentalist John McEuen was with the band from 1966 to 1986 and returned during 2001, staying 16 years, then departing again in November 2017. Keyboardist Bob Carpenter joined the band in 1977. The band is often cited as instrumental to the progression of contemporary country and roots music.


title: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

text: The band's successes include a cover version of Jerry Jeff Walker's "Mr. Bojangles". Albums include 1972's "Will the Circle be Unbroken", featuring such traditional country artists as Mother Maybelle Carter, Earl Scruggs, Roy Acuff, Doc Watson, Merle Travis, and Jimmy Martin. A follow-up album based on the same concept, "" was released in 1989, was certified gold, won two Grammys, and was named Album of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards.


title: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

text: The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band was founded around 1966 in Long Beach, California, United States, by singer-guitarist Jeff Hanna and singer-songwriter-guitarist Bruce Kunkel, who had performed as the New Coast Two and later the Illegitimate Jug Band. Trying, in the words of the band's website, to "figure out how not to have to work for a living", Hanna and Kunkel joined informal jam sessions at McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica. There they met a few other musicians: guitarist-washtub bassist Ralph Barr, guitarist-clarinetist Les Thompson, harmonicist and jug player Jimmie Fadden, and guitarist-vocalist Jackson Browne. As Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, the six men started as a jug band and adopted the burgeoning southern California folk rock musical style, playing in local clubs while wearing pinstripe suits and cowboy boots. Their first paying performance was at the Golden Bear in Huntington Beach, California.


title: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

text: Browne was in the band for only a few months before he left to concentrate on a solo career as a singer-songwriter. He was replaced by John McEuen on banjo, fiddle, mandolin, and steel guitar. McEuen's older brother, William, was the group's manager, and he helped the band get signed with Liberty Records, which released the group's debut album, "The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band", during 1967. The band's first single, "Buy for Me the Rain", was a Top 45 success, and the band gained exposure on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson", as well as concerts with such disparate artists as Jack Benny and The Doors.


title: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

text: A second album, "Ricochet", was released later during the year and was less successful than their first. Kunkel wanted the band to "go electric", and include more original material. He left the group to form WordSalad and of the People. He was replaced by multi-instrumentalist Chris Darrow.


title: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

text: By 1968, the band adopted electrical instruments anyway, and added drums. The first electric album, "Rare Junk", was a commercial failure, as was their next, "Alive".


title: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

text: The band continued to gain publicity, mainly as a novelty act, making an appearance in the 1968 film "For Singles Only" and a cameo appearance in the 1969 musical western film "Paint Your Wagon", performing "Hand Me Down That Can o' Beans". The band also played Carnegie Hall as an opening act for Bill Cosby and played in a jam session with Dizzy Gillespie.


title: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

text: The group was inactive for a six-month period after "Paint Your Wagon", then reformed with Jimmy Ibbotson replacing Chris Darrow. With William McEuen as producer and a renegotiated contract that gave the band more artistic freedom, the band recorded and released "Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy", issued in 1970. Embracing a straight, traditional country and bluegrass sound, the album included the group's best-known singles; a cover version of Jerry Jeff Walker's "Mr. Bojangles", Michael Nesmith's "Some of Shelley's Blues", and four Kenny Loggins songs including "House at Pooh Corner", the first recordings of Loggins's songs. Their version of "Mr. Bojangles" became the group's first hit, peaking at No. 9 on Billboard's all genre Hot 100 chart, with 36 weeks on the chart.


title: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

text: The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band next sought to solidify its reputation as a country band when band member John McEuen asked Earl Scruggs and then Doc Watson if they would record with them. Both responded that they would. This set in motion the further addition of other artists, and with the help of Earl and Louise Scruggs, they traveled to Nashville, Tennessee, and recorded what was to become a triple album, "Will the Circle Be Unbroken". Nashville stalwarts Roy Acuff, Earl Scruggs, and Jimmy Martin, country pioneer Mother Maybelle Carter, folk-blues guitarist Doc Watson, Merle Travis, Norman Blake, and others appeared on the expansive set. The title is from the song, "Will the Circle Be Unbroken (By and By)", as adapted by A. P. Carter, and reflects the album's theme of trying to tie together three generations of musicians: long-haired boys from California and older veterans of the middle American establishment. The track "I Saw the Light" with Acuff singing, was a success, and the album received two nominations for Grammy Award. Veteran fiddler Vassar Clements was introduced to a wider audience by the album, and a new career. The band also toured Japan twice soon after this period.


title: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

text: After the next album Les Thompson left the group, making the band a foursome. "Stars & Stripes Forever" was a live album that mixed old successes such as "Buy for Me the Rain" and "Mr. Bojangles" with "Circle" collaborations (fiddler Vassar Clements was a guest performer) and long storytelling spoken-word monologues. A studio album, "Dream", was also released.


title: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

text: During July 1974, the band was among the headline acts at the Ozark Music Festival at the Missouri State Fairgrounds in Sedalia, Missouri. Some estimates put the crowd at 350,000 people, which would make this one of the largest music events in history. At another concert, the band opened for the rock band Aerosmith.


title: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

text: Jimmy Ibbotson left the band at the end of 1976, leaving Fadden, Hanna, and McEuen to add John Cable and Jackie Clark, brought in on guitar and bass. In May 1977, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band became the first American group allowed to tour the Soviet Union playing 28 sold-out concerts, and a televised appearance that is estimated to have been watched by 145 million people. In 1977, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band first appeared on the second season of the PBS music program Austin City Limits.


title: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

text: The band released its first 'greatest successes' compilation album "Dirt, Silver & Gold" in 1976. After that release, the band shortened its name to The Dirt Band, and the group's sound became more pop and rock oriented. Saxophonist Al Garth, drummer Merel Bregante, and bassist Richard Hathaway were also added to the lineup in 1978 and Jeff Hanna became the group's producer for a few albums.


title: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

text: Keyboardist Bob Carpenter (who would occasionally sit in with the band from 1975 on) contributed to their 1978 album "The Dirt Band" and joined the band permanently in 1980.


title: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

text: Albums during this period included "The Dirt Band" and "An American Dream". The single "American Dream" with Linda Ronstadt reached No. 13 on the popular music charts. The band also appeared on "Saturday Night Live" in their own slot (performing the instrumental penned by McEuen, "White Russia", with Steve Martin accompanying on banjo); and again later, billed as The Toot Uncommons, backing Steve Martin on his million-selling novelty tune, "King Tut." They also played on the commercial version, recorded in Aspen earlier that year.


title: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

text: In 1979, Bregante left the group and drummers Michael Buono and then Michael Gardner replaced Bregante on stage with the group on tour, only to be succeeded by Vic Mastrianni in 1981. Al Garth moved on to Pure Prairie League in 1982 and later joined the Eagles’ live lineup.


title: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

text: The albums "Make a Little Magic" and "Jealousy" were released in 1980 and 1981, with the single "Make a Little Magic" featuring Nicolette Larson reaching the Top 25 on the pop chart. The group also performed the song on a 1980 Steve Martin television special, "All Commercials", with an added comic element in which Martin lip-synced the Larson vocal for the last segment of the song.


title: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

text: The band returned to its original name and its country roots in 1982. With the lineup paring down to Hanna, Fadden, McEuen and Ibbotson rejoining in 1982, with Carpenter, who was not touring with the group that year, rejoining for recording sessions in Nashville, Tennessee for the album "Let's Go" (May 1983), which yielded the success "Dance Little Jean" that became a Top 10 country hit. The next album, 1984's "Plain Dirt Fashion" had the band's first No. 1 success, "Long Hard Road (The Sharecropper's Dream)".


title: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

text: There were two more country No. 1's: "Modern Day Romance" (1985) and "Fishin' in the Dark" (1987), the latter of which became the band's biggest-selling single, eventually being certified platinum in 2014 despite never reaching the Hot 100. Other successful songs were "Dance Little Jean" (1983); "I Love Only You" (1984); "High Horse" (1985); "Home Again in My Heart", "Partners, Brothers and Friends", and "Stand a Little Rain" (1986); "Fire in the Sky", "Baby's Got a Hold on Me", and "Oh What a Love" (1987); "Workin' Man (Nowhere to Go)" and "I've Been Lookin'" (1988); and "Down That Road Tonight" and "When It's Gone" (1989).


title: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

text: Performances included the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games and the inaugural Farm Aid concert in Champaign, Illinois. A 20-year anniversary concert at McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado featured such guests as Ricky Skaggs, Emmylou Harris, Doc Watson, and John Prine.


title: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

text: John McEuen left the band at the end of 1986, replaced by Bernie Leadon, formerly of the Eagles. He was with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1987 and 1988. The band's 19th album, "Hold On" featured the No. 1 singles "Fishin' in the Dark" and "Baby's Got a Hold on Me." The band appeared on the "Today Show" and "The Tonight Show" in the same week, and toured Europe. After contributing to "Workin' Band" as a musician, songwriter and lead singer on the cut "Corduroy Road", Bernie Leadon departed the band.


title: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

text: During 1989, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band again returned to Nashville, to record "". Returnees from the first "Circle" included Earl Scruggs, Vassar Clements, and Roy Acuff. Johnny Cash and the Carter Family, Emmylou Harris, and Ricky Skaggs joined the sessions, as did John Prine, Levon Helm, John Denver, John Hiatt, Bruce Hornsby, and former Byrds Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman. This album won two Grammy Awards and was named Album of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards for Best Country Vocal Performance (duo or group) and the Country Music Association's Album of the Year Award in 1989.


title: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

text: As a foursome of Hanna, Fadden, Ibbotson and Carpenter, the band again toured the former Soviet Union, as well as Canada, Europe, and Japan. A 25th anniversary concert was recorded on "Live Two Five" in Red Deer, Alberta, produced by T-Bone Burnett.


title: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

text: During 1992, the band collaborated with Irish folk music's The Chieftains for the Grammy Award-winning "Another Country". Other efforts included the album "Acoustic", spotlighting their "wooden" sound, a duet with Karla Bonoff, "You Believed in Me" for the MCA Olympic compilation, "One Voice", and a cover version of Buddy Holly's "Maybe Baby" for the Decca tribute album, "Not Fade Away". "The Christmas Album" was released in 1997, followed by "Bang! Bang! Bang!" in 1999.


title: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

text: John McEuen rejoined the band in 2001. During 2002, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band celebrated the 30th anniversary of their landmark "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" with a remastered CD reissue of the 1972 album and a new compilation, "". An album of all-new material, "Welcome to Woody Creek", was released in 2004. Jimmy Ibbotson again left the band a few years later.


title: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

text: Also during 2004, country group Rascal Flatts released a cover of "Bless the Broken Road," which the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band had recorded on "Acoustic," from 1994. Songwriters Jeff Hanna, Marcus Hummon, and Bobby Boyd won a Grammy for Best Country Song for this work in 2005.


title: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

text: During 2005, the band donated use of the song "Soldier's Joy" for the benefit album, "Too Many Years" to benefit Clear Path International's work with landmine survivors. Also in 2005, the band was recognized by the International Entertainment Buyers Association for 40 years of contributions to the music industry.


title: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

text: In 2009, the band released a new album, "Speed of Life". Produced by George Massenburg and Jon Randall Stewart, "Speed of Life" is composed of a series of live, freewheeling studio recordings that purposefully avoid overproduction and demonstrate the band's collaborative spirit and spontaneity. Of the 13 tracks on "Speed of Life", 11 are new songs penned by the band, and two are classic covers: Canned Heat's Woodstock hit "Going Up the Country" and Stealers Wheel's "Stuck in the Middle".


title: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

text: In September 2015, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band commemorated their 50th anniversary with a sold-out show at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium. Produced for PBS by Todd Squared, the producers of "Bluegrass Underground" (now re-branded as "The Caverns Sessions"), the special debuted in March 2016 and included guests John Prine, Sam Bush, Vince Gill, Jerry Jeff Walker, Alison Krauss, Rodney Crowell, Byron House, Jerry Douglas and Jackson Browne in addition to former member Ibbotson. On September 30, 2016, "Circlin’ Back: Celebrating 50 Years," a live CD and DVD of the PBS Special was released. In a 2016 review, the "Los Angeles Times" wrote that the original release "helped knock down barriers then separating the traditional country and rock music communities, setting the stage for the eventual emergence of what came to be known as Americana music". John McEuen announced his departure from the band in December 2017 at the conclusion of their 50th anniversary tour. In 2018, Jaime Hanna (Jeff Hanna's son) and Ross Holmes joined the band on tour, along with Jim Photoglo, who began touring with the band in 2016. Photoglo is the co-author of "Fishin' in the Dark".


title: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

text: Jeff Hanna and John McEuen's sons, Jaime Hanna and Jonathan McEuen, recorded for DreamWorks Records in 2005 as Hanna-McEuen.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: Rafael Ferdinand van der Vaart (born 11 February 1983) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, and is currently the assistant manager of Danish 2nd Division club Esbjerg fB.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: Van der Vaart began his career at Ajax's youth academy and worked his way into the first team, debuting as a 17-year-old. Known for his playmaking skills, he drew comparisons to Johan Cruyff. He was named Dutch Football Talent of the Year and became the first recipient of the Golden Boy Award while at the club. He moved to Bundesliga club Hamburger SV, then to Real Madrid, then on to Tottenham Hotspur before returning to Hamburg in 2012. In the latter stages of his career, Van der Vaart had brief spells playing in Spain and Denmark before announcing his retirement in 2018, and return in 2019 with a testimonial match.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: Van der Vaart earned 109 caps for the Netherlands between 2001 and 2013. He represented the country at three UEFA European Championships and two FIFA World Cups, reaching the final in 2010.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: Van der Vaart was born in Heemskerk to a Dutch father and a Spanish mother from Chiclana de la Frontera, Cádiz, who had moved to the Netherlands weeks after birth. Before joining Ajax, he played for a local club called De Kennemers based in Beverwijk. He grew up on a trailer park, with him belonging to a Dutch cultural minority called the Woonwagenbewoners, with them sharing ties with Irish Travellers and the Yenish people, and often pretended to be Romário while playing football. It was at the trailer park that he learned how to play football and, at the age of ten, he joined the AFC Ajax Academy. Van der Vaart has said of his upbringing, "That was the way my family lived. My father was born there and it is a lifestyle. Maybe it is not a normal lifestyle but I always liked it. I always played football on the street. It was an easy life, then I was 10 years old and went to Ajax and played there for almost 12 years."


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: Van der Vaart came through the ranks at Ajax with national teammates John Heitinga and Wesley Sneijder. Initially, he signed for Ajax on a trial basis as a ten-year-old, but was eventually enrolled permanently after impressing the coaches. At the age of 17, Van der Vaart made his debut for the Ajax senior side in a 1–1 draw with FC Den Bosch on 19 April 2000 in the 1999–00 season. After he broke into the Ajax first team, Van der Vaart was "hailed as the new Johan Cruyff".


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: In the 2000–01 season, Ajax manager Co Adriaanse increased Van der Vaart's playing time by moving him to the attacking midfielder position. He was voted European Talent of the Year by Italian football website CalcioManager.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: The next season, Van der Vaart suffered a serious knee injury against RKC Waalwijk on 10 February 2002 which required an operation that involved the removal of his entire meniscus. This injury forced him to miss the run-in to Ajax's successful Eredivisie campaign and their Dutch Cup triumph against Utrecht in the 2001–02 season, but it did not stop him being named the Netherlands' Talent of the Year, mainly thanks to the 15 goals in just 27 games that he scored before the incident.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: In 2002–03, Ajax won the Amsterdam Tournament, though injury limited Van der Vaart to 21 league appearances, in which he scored 18 goals. After his return to fitness, he scored a vital goal in the UEFA Champions League away to Lyon, which propelled Ajax into the knockout stages.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: In the first half of 2003–04, his performances were poor. Van der Vaart admitted he was overweight, and the media criticized his celebrity lifestyle with his then-fiancée, "The Music Factory" VJ Sylvie Meis. He became an influential figure once again as Ajax claimed another league title. By that stage, Van der Vaart had firmly established himself as one of the stars of the Ajax team, as well as one of the most popular players in the Netherlands.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: Van der Vaart was named team captain by coach Ronald Koeman for the 2004–05 season. During an international match against Sweden on 18 August 2004, he was injured by then-Ajax teammate Zlatan Ibrahimović, which led to the sale of Ibrahimović to Juventus two weeks later, following controversial accusations that the Swede had intentionally tried to hurt Van der Vaart. He was unhappy at being played out of position, and following his refusal to play on the wing in a Champions League match in December, he was stripped of the team captaincy by Koeman.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: His ongoing injury problems that resulted in an average of only 23 league appearances in five seasons with Ajax, led him to announce that he was leaving the club at the end of the year.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: At this point, Van der Vaart's performances were attracting interest from some of Europe's top clubs. He had previously been strongly linked to Milan, but in the summer of 2005, he signed for Bundesliga outfit Hamburger SV in Germany. Van der Vaart's €5.5 million transfer to Hamburg, on 1 June 2005, raised many eyebrows. Many other top-flight clubs had shown interest in the midfielder but he chose Hamburg. Ajax legend Johan Cruyff himself commented in his "De Telegraaf" column, "I don't know what to say about it or what Rafael van der Vaart is doing in Hamburg." He played a massive part in Hamburg's impressive away form that season, scoring in each of their first four games on the road; in fact, in the course of his first one and a half seasons with the German club, they did not lose a single match away from home while he was on the pitch. Van der Vaart finished his first season as the team's top scorer as Hamburg finished third in the league and won the 2005 UEFA Intertoto Cup.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: He assumed the team captaincy for the 2006–07 season. This season proved to be a difficult one for his club, and despite Van der Vaart's three goals in the Champions League group stages, they made an early exit from the competition, while languishing for several months in the bottom half of the Bundesliga table as Van der Vaart was troubled by injuries throughout the season. The arrival of Van der Vaart's countryman Huub Stevens as head coach, however, saw Hamburg march up the standings and they finished the season in a respectable seventh place, qualifying for, and also winning, the Intertoto Cup.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: After garnering interest from Real Madrid from Spain, Van der Vaart responded by saying, "I am set to spend another season in Hamburg," of which he told "Welt am Sonntag". He further added, "Now we have the team to achieve something." In the 2007–08 season, Van der Vaart scored 12 league goals as Hamburg finished fourth in the league, while reaching the round of 16 in the UEFA Cup. During the UEFA Cup away win at FC Zürich, he tore ankle ligaments and was out of action for several weeks. Despite interest from other clubs such as Chelsea and Valencia, he stated that he would stay at Hamburg until the end of the season, but opted out of signing a contract extension.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: Towards the end of the 2007–08 season, Van der Vaart was linked to a move to several clubs including Atlético Madrid and Juventus. Atlético made a €15 million bid for the Dutchman, which Hamburg rejected, and in the end, it was their cross-town rivals who got Van der Vaart's signature instead.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: On 4 August 2008, Real Madrid and Hamburg reached a €13 million agreement for Van der Vaart's transfer, Real Madrid's only summer signing. He signed a five-year contract for an undisclosed amount. Van der Vaart debuted in a 2–1 pre-season win four days later, against Colombian side Independiente Santa Fé, where he scored the equalising goal and provided an assist for the winner.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: He changed his squad number from 19 to his favoured number 23 after teammate Wesley Sneijder took number 10 following Robinho's departure to Manchester City on 31 August. He marked his league debut for Real Madrid with a strike against Numancia in a 4–3 victory. On 24 September, he scored his first career hat-trick in a 7–1 thrashing of Sporting de Gijón. In October


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: 2008, Van der Vaart was one of the many La Liga players to be nominated for the Ballon d'Or, but the award eventually went to Manchester United forward and future teammate Cristiano Ronaldo. For the latter part of the 2008–09 season, Van der Vaart was mostly utilised as an impact substitute by coach Juande Ramos, which led to speculations of a fall-out between coach and player. Despite transfer rumours linking him with Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool, he denied having any links with the English clubs.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: During the summer of 2009, it was speculated that van der Vaart would leave Real Madrid after being told he was not going to be part of the team's plans by coach Manuel Pellegrini. His number 23 jersey was even handed to Esteban Granero in preseason, leaving him without a squad number. Towards the end of the summer transfer window, however, he eventually came to an agreement with Real Madrid to stay with the club after the squad size had been reduced to 25 players as Dutch compatriots Sneijder, Arjen Robben and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar were forced to leave the club. Van der Vaart was handed his original number 23 jersey while Granero was given number 24. After a wait of four games, Van der Vaart was finally included in Pellegrini's squad list to face Villarreal on 23 September. An injury to Kaká gave Van der Vaart a chance to establish himself as a key player for Real Madrid again. On 20 December, he scored two goals in a 6–0 win against Real Zaragoza. He scored his last goal for Real Madrid against Málaga on 16 May 2010. Van der Vaart stated his desire to stay at Real Madrid, at least until the end of his contract.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: On 31 August 2010, two hours before the transfer window closed, Tottenham Hotspur made an offer of £8 million for Van der Vaart. According to Spurs manager Harry Redknapp, an £18 million transfer to Bayern Munich had collapsed the day before and Van der Vaart had suddenly become much cheaper, although such a price reduction was later denied by Real Madrid. Due to problems with computer servers used in the transaction between Tottenham and Real Madrid, preventing the necessary paperwork from being completed, Spurs requested special dispensation from the Premier League to allow the transfer to proceed. The Premier League confirmed on 1 September that the transfer had been permitted after they gave Tottenham special dispensation due to "technical problems". He signed a four-year contract at White Hart Lane. It was announced that Van der Vaart would wear the number 11 shirt for Spurs. Van der Vaart later denied speculation that he had been a failure at Real Madrid, stating that he always gave his best over the last few years for both club and country, and that he wanted to show his quality for his new club.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: Van der Vaart made his Premier League debut for Spurs in a 1–1 draw against West Bromwich Albion on 11 September 2010, and his Champions League bow for the club three days later against Werder Bremen, providing an assist for Peter Crouch in a 2–2 draw. Van der Vaart scored his first Premier League goal from the penalty spot in a 3–1 win against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 18 September. After starting his Spurs career by scoring three goals in four Premier League matches, and with a goal and an assist in two Champions League matches, Van der Vaart was named Goal.com World Player of the Week on 4 October 2010. He was later named Premier League Player of the Month for October.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: A hamstring injury kept Van der Vaart out of action for much of December, but he returned to the Tottenham side on 26 December, scoring both goals in a 2–1 away win over Aston Villa. On 20 April 2011, Van der Vaart revived Tottenham's Champions League ambitions by scoring twice to hold North London rivals Arsenal to a 3–3 draw at White Hart Lane. After losing to Manchester City and being knocked out of the Champions League race, Spurs travelled to Anfield. Van der Vaart scored from 25 yards out in a 2–0 win that put Tottenham in position to secure qualification for the Europa League. He ended the season as Spurs' top scorer in the Premier League, scoring 13 goals – nearly a quarter of Tottenham's total – while also providing the most assists, with nine.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: Van der Vaart scored his first two Premier League goals of the following season against Wigan Athletic and Arsenal.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: Van der Vaart scored a penalty away against Newcastle United on 16 October to keep up a good run of goal scoring form and also scored twice in the 2–1 win over Blackburn Rovers. On 30 October, scored in a 3–1 win over Queens Park Rangers, equalling a Tottenham record by scoring in five consecutive Premier League matches, a record he shares with Teddy Sheringham and Robbie Keane. On 31 December, he scored away to Swansea City, converting a Benoît Assou-Ekotto cross. Van der Vaart scored a long-range effort against Watford in the FA Cup to send Tottenham through to the next round of the competition with a 1–0 victory. He was on the pitch at White Hart Lane on 17 March 2012 when Bolton Wanderers midfielder Fabrice Muamba went into cardiac arrest; Van der Vaart later described it as "horrible to witness ... the absolute low in my football career".


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: On 31 August 2012, Van der Vaart returned to his former club, Hamburger SV. He would wear his favourite 23 number on the shirt and was announced as club's vice-captain. On 16 September, he made his second debut with HSV in a match against Eintracht Frankfurt. On 22 September, Van der Vaart provided two assists against Borussia Dortmund, contributing to two crucial goals in a 3–2 win. He scored his first goal of the season in a 2–2 away draw against Borussia Mönchengladbach, later suffering a serious injury that left him out of action for several months.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: Van der Vaart made his return to action on 20 January 2013 against 1. FC Nürnberg in a 1–1 draw. On 9 April, he was named the club's captain, succeeding Heiko Westermann. Not having scored for almost two months, Van der Vaart scored a brace on 20 April 2013 against Fortuna Düsseldorf in a 2–1 home win. Hamburg later decided not to give van der Vaart a contract extension.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: Van der Vaart joined newly promoted Spanish club Real Betis on a free transfer in June 2015. He made his debut for the club on 24 September in a 2–1 La Liga defeat to Deportivo de La Coruña. His performance turned out to be a fiasco. He finally left the club on 30 June 2016, accumulating just 296 minutes of playing time in the 2015–2016 season.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: On 31 July 2016, Van der Vaart was spotted in a skybox at MCH Arena just outside Herning alongside agents Alan Hvedehave and Mikkel Beckmann, both before and during the league game between Danish Superliga clubs FC Midtjylland and Silkeborg IF. Following the match, in a live interview with Danish Eurosport 2, Midtjylland sporting director Claus Steinlein denied any ongoing negotiations, stating that Midtjylland would not be able to live up to Van der Vaart's economic demands. Just four days later, however, ahead of the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League third round qualifying match against Videoton, Steinlein confirmed that the club was in fact trying to work out a deal with him.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: On 10 August, Van der Vaart joined Midtjylland on a two-year deal. Eighteen days later, he made his Superliga debut, as a substitute for Paul Onuachu in a 0–0 draw away to local rivals Viborg FF. Less than a month later, in his fourth appearance for his new side, he scored his first goal in a 5–2 win at home against promoted team Horsens. After coming in as a substitute in a match against Lyngby BK on 28 May 2017 he was selected for only one of the first team's matches until 9 February 2018 where he was on the bench in a 2–0 win against AC Horsens. On 18 February 2018 Van der Vaart made his first appearance for the first team in the 2017–18 season coming in as a substitute in the 90th minute. He told NOS, "I wasn't selected for half a year. That's why this is a celebration for me. Not playing is awful."


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: On 4 August 2018 it was made public that Van der Vaart had signed a one-year contract with Esbjerg fB in the same league. He had been training with them since his FC Midtjylland had ended. He was presented to the fans at the Esbjerg Stadium before a league game against Randers FC, which ended in a 3–3 draw. On 4 November, having been struggling with recurring injuries, he announced he would retire from professional football with immediate effect.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: On 22 August 2019 Van der Vaart confirmed, that he would play a game for Esbjerg's reserves in the ninth tier of football in Denmark. Due to his relationship with handball player Estavana Polman, he was still living in Esbjerg, as she was playing for Team Esbjerg.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: Van der Vaart gained the notice of the youth team coaches and was called up for the youth squads. He played in the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship with present senior teammates Maarten Stekelenburg and John Heitinga and former Real Madrid teammates Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Arjen Robben.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: The 18-year-old Van der Vaart then made his senior international debut against Andorra on 6 October 2001. He was a member of the squads that participated in Euro 2004, Euro 2008, Euro 2012, the 2006 World Cup and the 2010 World Cup. Despite figuring prominently in a number of qualifying stage matches, Van der Vaart has had a lack of luck when it came to the final tournament. He was however, vice-captain during the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 behind Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Mark van Bommel respectively. On 15 August 2012, Van der Vaart earned his 100th cap for the Netherlands in the 2–4 loss against Belgium in a friendly match.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: A sub-par performance by the Dutch during their opening game of Euro 2004 persuaded then manager Dick Advocaat to change the side's formation into one which he felt the talented Van der Vaart did not fit into. With Advocaat's new system seemingly working, Van der Vaart would be reduced to play a bit-part role at Euro 2004, as "Oranje" reached the semi-finals.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: Despite that setback, Van der Vaart produced some superlative performances in the Bundesliga the following season, and it seemed that Van der Vaart's turn to shine on the big stage was to finally come – at the 2006 World Cup. However, niggling injury problems resurfaced, and Van der Vaart was not risked by Dutch coach Marco van Basten for the opening World Cup encounter against Serbia and Montenegro. With victory in that opening game, the national team coach would once again decide to continue fielding a "Van der Vaart-less" lineup. And once again, Van der Vaart was reduced to a bit-part role in the squad although since then he has become a more regular fixture in the starting XI.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: Van der Vaart was called up for Euro 2008 despite missing several qualification matches due to an ankle injury. As Van Basten had decided to change their formation to 4–2–3–1, Van der Vaart was deployed in the midfield along with Wesley Sneijder and either Dirk Kuyt or Robin van Persie, behind lone striker Ruud van Nistelrooy to great effect. In the opening game of the competition, the Dutch team won 3–0 against the world champions Italy with Van der Vaart playing a role in the build-ups. Van Basten decided to field him again in the starting line-up in the next match against France; the "Oranje" later went on to win 4–1.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: Despite enduring a tough time at club level, Van der Vaart remained a first-choice player for Van Basten's successor Bert van Marwijk in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers. On 10 September 2008, he ended a ten-month goal drought with a vital strike against Macedonia in a 2–1 win. He ended the campaign with 2 goals and several important assists.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: On 12 August 2009, Van der Vaart captained the Dutch in the absence of Giovanni van Bronckhorst in a friendly against England. He scored the second goal off a Gareth Barry mistake to put the Netherlands two goals up in the first half but Jermain Defoe netted a brace to seal a 2–2 draw.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: Van der Vaart was in the starting line-up for the three group matches in the 2010 World Cup, against Denmark, Japan and Cameroon, but eventually lost his spot in the starting line-up to his recently recovered fellow midfielder Arjen Robben after being substituted in the match against Cameroon. He was brought off the pitch after giving away a penalty to Cameroon by blocking the ball with his arm from a free-kick. However, he made another appearance in the semi-final against Uruguay, after coming on for the injured Demy de Zeeuw. He helped "Oranje" win the match with 3–2, thus sending them to the final. He also played in the final against Spain, substituting Nigel de Jong just before injury time. Netherlands lost the game 1–0 to a goal from Andrés Iniesta. He was handed the captain's armband during the match, after Giovanni van Bronckhorst was substituted off.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: Van der Vaart made his Euro 2012 debut as a sub in the first match against Denmark – a match they went on to lose. In the second match against Germany, again he was a substitute, but came on for Dutch captain Mark van Bommel and took the captain's armband. In the second half he created more attacking chances, which led to a goal, but they again lost the match. In the final group match against Portugal, Van der Vaart started as captain, and scored a goal that gave the Netherlands a glimmer of hope to get out of the group. However, two goals from Cristiano Ronaldo gave Portugal a 2–1 win and knocked out the Netherlands.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: Van der Vaart was named in Louis van Gaal's provisional 30-man squad for the 2014 World Cup, but withdrew on 28 May, three days before the final squad was named, due to a calf injury that he suffered in training.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: On 10 June 2005, Van der Vaart married Sylvie Meis and on 28 May 2006, their son Damián Rafael was born. Some of the media have described the couple as the "new Beckhams" but both of them denied the claims saying that they prefer to just live a normal life.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: In the summer of 2009, Real Madrid wanted to sell Van der Vaart, but the player decided to stay in Madrid because his wife was undergoing cancer treatment there. A year later, upon his move to England, Van der Vaart stated, "She had a very serious illness and it is true that she had to be treated at the Clinica Quiron. Last season, they wanted me to leave but I couldn't leave for that reason. Now she is well and the only thing that happened was that Madrid wanted to sell and I wanted to get back to enjoying playing football, and Tottenham are a great team that are going to give me the football opportunities that I need."


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: In 2010, Van der Vaart found out through emails that his wife was having an affair with a KLM airline pilot. On New Year's Eve 2012, Van der Vaart and his wife separated.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: As of August 2016, Van der Vaart is in a relationship with Dutch handball player Estavana Polman who played for Danish club Team Esbjerg. This was the main reason he moved to Denmark and chose to play for Midtjylland. On 27 December 2016, they announced that they are expecting a child. Their daughter Jesslynn was born in June 2017.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: On 10 August 2021, van der Vaart was hired in his first coaching role as an assistant coach to Peter Hyballa at his former club Esbjerg fB. Van der Vaart had lived in Esbjerg for the past five years due to his relationship with handball player Estavana Polman, who was playing for Team Esbjerg.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: In April 2019, Van der Vaart began a professional darts career, joining the British Darts Organisation. On 4 May, Van der Vaart made his debut at the Denmark Open, winning his first round match 4–2 against Thomas Anderson before being knocked out in the second round 4–0 by Mogens Christensen.


title: Rafael van der Vaart

text: "Scores and results list the Netherlands's goal tally first. Score column indicates score after each van der Vaart goal."


title: Ordinal number

text: In set theory, an ordinal number, or ordinal, is a generalization of ordinal numerals (first, second, th, etc.) aimed to extend enumeration to infinite sets.


title: Ordinal number

text: A finite set can be enumerated by successively labeling each element with the least natural number that has not been previously used. To extend this process to various infinite sets, ordinal numbers are defined more generally as linearly ordered labels that include the natural numbers and have the property that every set of ordinals has a least element (this is needed for giving a meaning to "the least unused element"). This more general definition allows us to define an ordinal number formula_1 that is greater than every natural number, along with ordinal numbers formula_2, formula_3, etc., which are even greater than formula_1.


title: Ordinal number

text: A linear order such that every subset has a least element is called a well-order. The axiom of choice implies that every set can be well-ordered, and given two well-ordered sets, one is isomorphic to an initial segment of the other. So ordinal numbers exist and are essentially unique.


title: Ordinal number

text: Ordinal numbers are distinct from cardinal numbers, which measure the size of sets. Although the distinction between ordinals and cardinals is not always apparent on finite sets (one can go from one to the other just by counting labels), they are very different in the infinite case, where different infinite ordinals can correspond to sets having the same cardinal. Like other kinds of numbers, ordinals can be added, multiplied, and exponentiated, although none of these operations are commutative.


title: Ordinal number

text: Ordinals were introduced by Georg Cantor in 1883 in order to accommodate infinite sequences and classify derived sets, which he had previously introduced in 1872 while studying the uniqueness of trigonometric series.


title: Ordinal number

text: A natural number (which, in this context, includes the number 0) can be used for two purposes: to describe the "size" of a set, or to describe the "position" of an element in a sequence. When restricted to finite sets, these two concepts coincide, since all linear orders of a finite set are isomorphic.


title: Ordinal number

text: When dealing with infinite sets, however, one has to distinguish between the notion of size, which leads to cardinal numbers, and the notion of position, which leads to the ordinal numbers described here. This is because while any set has only one size (its cardinality), there are many nonisomorphic well-orderings of any infinite set, as explained below.


title: Ordinal number

text: Whereas the notion of cardinal number is associated with a set with no particular structure on it, the ordinals are intimately linked with the special kind of sets that are called well-ordered. A well-ordered set is a totally ordered set in which every non-empty subset has a least element (a totally ordered set is an ordered set such that, given two distinct elements, one is less than the other). Equivalently, assuming the axiom of dependent choice, it is a totally ordered set without any infinite decreasing sequence — though there may be infinite increasing sequences. Ordinals may be used to label the elements of any given well-ordered set (the smallest element being labelled 0, the one after that 1, the next one 2, "and so on"), and to measure the "length" of the whole set by the least ordinal that is not a label for an element of the set. This "length" is called the "order type" of the set.


title: Ordinal number

text: Any ordinal is defined by the set of ordinals that precede it. In fact, the most common definition of ordinals "identifies" each ordinal "as" the set of ordinals that precede it. For example, the ordinal 42 is generally identified as the set . Conversely, any set "S" of ordinals that is downward closed — meaning that for any ordinal α in "S" and any ordinal β < α, β is also in "S" — is (or can be identified with) an ordinal.


title: Ordinal number

text: This definition of ordinals in terms of sets allows for infinite ordinals. The smallest infinite ordinal is formula_1, which can be identified with the set of natural numbers (so that the ordinal associated with every natural number precedes formula_1). Indeed, the set of natural numbers is well-ordered—as is any set of ordinals—and since it is downward closed, it can be identified with the ordinal associated with it.


title: Ordinal number

text: Perhaps a clearer intuition of ordinals can be formed by examining a first few of them: as mentioned above, they start with the natural numbers, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, … After "all" natural numbers comes the first infinite ordinal, ω, and after that come ω+1, ω+2, ω+3, and so on. (Exactly what addition means will be defined later on: just consider them as names.) After all of these come ω·2 (which is ω+ω), ω·2+1, ω·2+2, and so on, then ω·3, and then later on ω·4. Now the set of ordinals formed in this way (the ω·"m"+"n", where "m" and "n" are natural numbers) must itself have an ordinal associated with it: and that is ω. Further on, there will be ω, then ω, and so on, and ω, then ω, then later ω, and even later ε (epsilon nought) (to give a few examples of relatively small—countable—ordinals). This can be continued indefinitely (as every time one says "and so on" when enumerating ordinals, it defines a larger ordinal). The smallest uncountable ordinal is the set of all countable ordinals, expressed as ω or formula_7.


title: Ordinal number

text: In a well-ordered set, every non-empty subset contains a distinct smallest element. Given the axiom of dependent choice, this is equivalent to saying that the set is totally ordered and there is no infinite decreasing sequence (the latter being easier to visualize). In practice, the importance of well-ordering is justified by the possibility of applying transfinite induction, which says, essentially, that any property that passes on from the predecessors of an element to that element itself must be true of all elements (of the given well-ordered set). If the states of a computation (computer program or game) can be well-ordered—in such a way that each step is followed by a "lower" step—then the computation will terminate.


title: Ordinal number

text: It is inappropriate to distinguish between two well-ordered sets if they only differ in the "labeling of their elements", or more formally: if the elements of the first set can be paired off with the elements of the second set such that if one element is smaller than another in the first set, then the partner of the first element is smaller than the partner of the second element in the second set, and vice versa. Such a one-to-one correspondence is called an order isomorphism, and the two well-ordered sets are said to be order-isomorphic or "similar" (with the understanding that this is an equivalence relation).


title: Ordinal number

text: Formally, if a partial order ≤ is defined on the set "S", and a partial order ≤' is defined on the set "S' ", then the posets ("S",≤) and ("S' ",≤') are order isomorphic if there is a bijection "f" that preserves the ordering. That is, "f"("a") ≤' "f"("b") if and only if "a" ≤ "b". Provided there exists an order isomorphism between two well-ordered sets, the order isomorphism is unique: this makes it quite justifiable to consider the two sets as essentially identical, and to seek a "canonical" representative of the isomorphism type (class). This is exactly what the ordinals provide, and it also provides a canonical labeling of the elements of any well-ordered set. Every "well-ordered" set ("S",<) is order-isomorphic to the set of ordinals less than one specific ordinal number under their natural ordering. This canonical set is the "order type" of ("S",<).


title: Ordinal number

text: Essentially, an ordinal is intended to be defined as an isomorphism class of well-ordered sets: that is, as an equivalence class for the equivalence relation of "being order-isomorphic". There is a technical difficulty involved, however, in the fact that the equivalence class is too large to be a set in the usual Zermelo–Fraenkel (ZF) formalization of set theory. But this is not a serious difficulty. The ordinal can be said to be the "order type" of any set in the class.


title: Ordinal number

text: The original definition of ordinal numbers, found for example in the "Principia Mathematica", defines the order type of a well-ordering as the set of all well-orderings similar (order-isomorphic) to that well-ordering: in other words, an ordinal number is genuinely an equivalence class of well-ordered sets. This definition must be abandoned in ZF and related systems of axiomatic set theory because these equivalence classes are too large to form a set. However, this definition still can be used in type theory and in Quine's axiomatic set theory New Foundations and related systems (where it affords a rather surprising alternative solution to the Burali-Forti paradox of the largest ordinal).


title: Ordinal number

text: Rather than defining an ordinal as an "equivalence class" of well-ordered sets, it will be defined as a particular well-ordered set that (canonically) represents the class. Thus, an ordinal number will be a well-ordered set; and every well-ordered set will be order-isomorphic to exactly one ordinal number.


title: Ordinal number

text: For each well-ordered set formula_8, <math>a\mapsto T_{ defines an order isomorphism between formula_8 and the set of all subsets of formula_8 having the form formula_11. Formally:


title: Ordinal number

text: The natural numbers are thus ordinals by this definition. For instance, 2 is an element of 4 = , and 2 is equal to and so it is a subset of .


title: Ordinal number

text: It can be shown by transfinite induction that every well-ordered set is order-isomorphic to exactly one of these ordinals, that is, there is an order preserving bijective function between them.


title: Ordinal number

text: Furthermore, the elements of every ordinal are ordinals themselves. Given two ordinals "S" and "T", "S" is an element of "T" if and only if "S" is a proper subset of "T". Moreover, either "S" is an element of "T", or "T" is an element of "S", or they are equal. So every set of ordinals is totally ordered. Further, every set of ordinals is well-ordered. This generalizes the fact that every set of natural numbers is well-ordered.


title: Ordinal number

text: Consequently, every ordinal "S" is a set having as elements precisely the ordinals smaller than "S". For example, every set of ordinals has a supremum, the ordinal obtained by taking the union of all the ordinals in the set. This union exists regardless of the set's size, by the axiom of union.


title: Ordinal number

text: The class of all ordinals is not a set. If it were a set, one could show that it was an ordinal and thus a member of itself, which would contradict its "strict" ordering by membership. This is the Burali-Forti paradox. The class of all ordinals is variously called "Ord", "ON", or "∞".


title: Ordinal number

text: An ordinal is finite if and only if the opposite order is also well-ordered, which is the case if and only if each of its non-empty subsets has a maximum.


title: Ordinal number

text: There are other modern formulations of the definition of ordinal. For example, assuming the axiom of regularity, the following are equivalent for a set "x":


title: Ordinal number

text: These definitions cannot be used in non-well-founded set theories. In set theories with urelements, one has to further make sure that the definition excludes urelements from appearing in ordinals.