1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:18,480 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:22,639 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales right there on display, just waiting 5 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:28,880 Speaker 1: for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:38,680 Speaker 1: Most of us have a passion that we want to 7 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:41,319 Speaker 1: share with others, something that draws us out of our 8 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:44,360 Speaker 1: shell and can get us so invested that meals get missed, 9 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:47,920 Speaker 1: laundry gets ignored, and dishes can really pile up. For 10 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:51,600 Speaker 1: King James the Fourth of Scotland, that passion was language. 11 00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:55,400 Speaker 1: James the Fourth was a true renaissance Man in every sense. 12 00:00:55,840 --> 00:00:58,760 Speaker 1: This term meant as an homage to Leonardo da Vinci, 13 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:02,920 Speaker 1: the original renaissance man, refers to someone who is well studied, 14 00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:06,280 Speaker 1: well rounded, and skilled in many areas, either through natural 15 00:01:06,319 --> 00:01:09,840 Speaker 1: talent or hard work. During the period that James the 16 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:13,240 Speaker 1: Fourth lived in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, 17 00:01:13,480 --> 00:01:16,480 Speaker 1: the Renaissance was just kicking off and the ideas coming 18 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:19,760 Speaker 1: out of it were spreading far and wide. Suddenly it 19 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:23,560 Speaker 1: wasn't enough for a learned person to master languages and histories. 20 00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:27,480 Speaker 1: They should also be intellectual, a philosopher willing to debate 21 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:31,640 Speaker 1: different ideas, an artist, a scholar, maybe even an inventor 22 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:35,000 Speaker 1: of some sort. The ideal renaissance man was all of 23 00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:38,800 Speaker 1: that and more. James fourth was very young when he 24 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:41,640 Speaker 1: came to the throne, at just fifteen, He still should 25 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:43,800 Speaker 1: have been in the school room instead of succeeding his 26 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:47,480 Speaker 1: father to the throne. His courtiers were still jockeying for position, 27 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:50,240 Speaker 1: and as a boy with relatively little power and no 28 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:53,280 Speaker 1: parents to support him, he couldn't rule in his own 29 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:56,840 Speaker 1: rights until around fourteen ninety five. The young king was 30 00:01:57,040 --> 00:02:01,160 Speaker 1: very good looking, with an interest in physical activities like hunting, falconry, 31 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:05,280 Speaker 1: and jousting. However, james good looks in athletic skills weren't 32 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:08,280 Speaker 1: the only qualities to recommend him. He was also very 33 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:11,919 Speaker 1: intelligent and well educated. He took an interest in different 34 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:17,040 Speaker 1: scientific pursuits, including chemistry, alchemy, and dentistry, practicing all of 35 00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:19,959 Speaker 1: them himself. While the idea of the king as a 36 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:23,480 Speaker 1: practicing dentist makes me nervous, he was dedicated to the 37 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:26,560 Speaker 1: advancement of medicine, founding the first department of medicine in 38 00:02:26,639 --> 00:02:29,679 Speaker 1: a university in the British Isles in fourteen ninety five. 39 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:32,440 Speaker 1: He was a great patron of the arts as well, 40 00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:36,120 Speaker 1: supporting everything from music to poetry, and he threw lavish 41 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:40,360 Speaker 1: parties and pageants. Unfortunately, all the spectacles and science in 42 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:43,440 Speaker 1: the world didn't make James the Fourth any better liked. 43 00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:47,320 Speaker 1: He was deeply unpopular with the nobility, and his predilection 44 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:52,400 Speaker 1: for siring illegitimate children was causing problems. Still, the dislike 45 00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:55,440 Speaker 1: wasn't enough to oust him from his throne or from 46 00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:59,320 Speaker 1: his experiments. Now. Like I said, James was fascinated by 47 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:02,600 Speaker 1: different language. He spoke eight of them himself. He was 48 00:03:02,639 --> 00:03:06,520 Speaker 1: the last Scottish monarch to speak Scott's Gaelic alongside English, 49 00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:11,680 Speaker 1: but his repertoire also included Latin, French, German, Italian, Flemish 50 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:15,600 Speaker 1: and Spanish. This obsession led James the Fourth to design 51 00:03:15,639 --> 00:03:19,040 Speaker 1: a bizarre experiment in fourteen ninety three. The king was 52 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:23,160 Speaker 1: particularly interested in what came before modern language, not ancient 53 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:26,560 Speaker 1: hieroglyphs or anything taught by parents, but the spoken word 54 00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:31,160 Speaker 1: with no interference. James reasoned that whatever language came about spontaneously, 55 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:34,119 Speaker 1: to someone who had never heard spoken language before must 56 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:37,080 Speaker 1: have been given that by God. So James the Fourth 57 00:03:37,160 --> 00:03:39,600 Speaker 1: ordered two newborn children to be sent to live on 58 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:42,720 Speaker 1: the remote island of Inchkeith, where they would be raised 59 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:45,480 Speaker 1: by a woman who was deaf and mute. He reasoned 60 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:48,000 Speaker 1: that with no adult there to teach them language, they 61 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:51,040 Speaker 1: would grow up only speaking the first language that God 62 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:55,320 Speaker 1: gifted to mankind. This experiment sounds strange and even cruel 63 00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:59,080 Speaker 1: to us today, and to be clear, it very much is. Also. 64 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:02,040 Speaker 1: He wasn't the stored the last to try this. One 65 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:06,120 Speaker 1: of James's possible inspirations was Holy Roman Emperor Frederick the Second, 66 00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:08,560 Speaker 1: who lived in the twelve hundreds, and another may have 67 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:10,920 Speaker 1: been a more ancient source. You see, in the seventh 68 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:14,760 Speaker 1: century BCE, an Egyptian pharaoh sent two infants to live 69 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:17,680 Speaker 1: with a shepherd in an extremely isolated part of Egypt 70 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:20,440 Speaker 1: and told the man the children could never be spoken to. 71 00:04:20,839 --> 00:04:24,359 Speaker 1: According to Herodotus, the children babbled often, but one of 72 00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:28,000 Speaker 1: the words was recognizable, the Phrygian word for bread. The 73 00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:32,760 Speaker 1: pharaoh then concluded that Phrygia was mankind's oldest civilization. He 74 00:04:32,839 --> 00:04:35,799 Speaker 1: was wrong about that, but the story of the experiment remained. 75 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:39,800 Speaker 1: James the Fourth had no qualms about essentially shipping a 76 00:04:39,839 --> 00:04:42,440 Speaker 1: woman and two children off to a deserted island with 77 00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:44,960 Speaker 1: no way to send for help. He only provided the 78 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:49,480 Speaker 1: bare minimum of material necessities, including food, clothing, and kindling, 79 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:54,880 Speaker 1: and then he waited. So what happened to the children, Well, 80 00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:57,880 Speaker 1: that's where the story tends to get a little fuzzy. 81 00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:00,799 Speaker 1: Some theorized that the children got sick and died before 82 00:05:00,839 --> 00:05:04,040 Speaker 1: they could be recovered from the island. Others have proposed 83 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:08,080 Speaker 1: that they rejoined society and may have become minor celebrities. Still, 84 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:10,400 Speaker 1: others claimed that they were brought back and presented to 85 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:13,920 Speaker 1: the king, where, weirdest of all, they spoke perfect Hebrew. 86 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:17,240 Speaker 1: We'll never know for sure, largely because there aren't any 87 00:05:17,279 --> 00:05:20,919 Speaker 1: contemporary records of the experiment taking place, and maybe it 88 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:23,719 Speaker 1: never did. But even if it did happen, it's doubtful 89 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:26,359 Speaker 1: that James got the answers that he wanted. Sir Walter 90 00:05:26,440 --> 00:05:28,679 Speaker 1: Scott summed it up best when he said the children 91 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:31,560 Speaker 1: likely left the island sounding more like the goats and 92 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:34,280 Speaker 1: sheep that called it home. But regardless of all that, 93 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:37,200 Speaker 1: it's thrilling to speculate what people sounded like in a 94 00:05:37,279 --> 00:05:41,000 Speaker 1: time before our own language is ever changing. And maybe 95 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:44,200 Speaker 1: someday distant descendants of ours will want to know what 96 00:05:44,279 --> 00:05:48,480 Speaker 1: we sounded like, and hey, maybe our cabinets of curiosities 97 00:05:48,880 --> 00:06:05,560 Speaker 1: will still be around to show them. For those of 98 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:08,280 Speaker 1: us who study history, there seems to be nothing new 99 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:11,200 Speaker 1: under the sun. As Mark Twain put it, it's actually 100 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:13,560 Speaker 1: impossible to have a new idea, but that it can 101 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:17,000 Speaker 1: be beautiful for old notions to be remade into something new. 102 00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:19,520 Speaker 1: We might see that in the stories we tell over 103 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:23,040 Speaker 1: and over, from books and plays to movies, the emotions 104 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:26,479 Speaker 1: and delight carry through to new generations while preserving the 105 00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:31,000 Speaker 1: original intent. My Fair Lady has gone through many iterations, 106 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:34,080 Speaker 1: starting as a Greek myth before becoming a stage play 107 00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:38,120 Speaker 1: in nineteen thirteen, then a Broadway musical in nineteen fifty six, 108 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:40,720 Speaker 1: and finally the nineteen sixty four movie that we all 109 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:44,040 Speaker 1: grew up with. For anyone not as musical crazy as 110 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:47,000 Speaker 1: some members of my research team, I'll give you a 111 00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:52,719 Speaker 1: quick recap. Eliza Doolittle is a Cockney flower seller in Edwardian, London. 112 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:55,840 Speaker 1: When she comes to the attention of phonetic scholar doctor 113 00:06:55,880 --> 00:07:00,320 Speaker 1: Henry Higgins. Egomaniac. Higgins boasts that he can reform her 114 00:07:00,400 --> 00:07:03,240 Speaker 1: accent and manners so well she could pass as a 115 00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:06,479 Speaker 1: duchess at a high society ball. The story goes on 116 00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:10,240 Speaker 1: to follow their experiments highs and lows, and each learns 117 00:07:10,320 --> 00:07:13,120 Speaker 1: something from the other along the way. Supported by a 118 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 1: colorful cast of characters, It's always a delight to watch, 119 00:07:16,320 --> 00:07:20,600 Speaker 1: albeit a little dated now. The Broadway show was incredibly popular, 120 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:24,840 Speaker 1: starring to young Julie Andrews as Eliza and industry giant 121 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:29,960 Speaker 1: Rex Harrison as Higgins. Their chemistry, along with Andrews's spectacular voice, 122 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:33,200 Speaker 1: made the show a hit, and distant bodies in Hollywood 123 00:07:33,240 --> 00:07:36,080 Speaker 1: began to talk, Yes, my fair Lady would make the 124 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:40,760 Speaker 1: perfect movie musical, so Jack Warner of Warner Brothers snapped 125 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:43,640 Speaker 1: up the rights. As production got off the ground, many 126 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:47,040 Speaker 1: expected Andrews and Harrison to reprise their roles. They had 127 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:50,040 Speaker 1: made the stage show a success after all. Audiences were 128 00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:52,800 Speaker 1: delighted to learn that Harrison would once again be bringing 129 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:56,600 Speaker 1: his unique charms to the Priggish professor, but were stunned 130 00:07:56,600 --> 00:07:59,880 Speaker 1: to hear that Andrews had been snubbed. Instead of keeping 131 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:03,920 Speaker 1: Julie Andrews, who had little screen experience or draw outside 132 00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:06,880 Speaker 1: of theater crowds. Jack Warner decided the movie needed a 133 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:09,960 Speaker 1: bigger name. At that time, no one was bigger than 134 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:13,000 Speaker 1: Audrey Hepburn, and she was delighted to take the part. 135 00:08:13,320 --> 00:08:16,200 Speaker 1: She had no singing experience, mind you, but she hired 136 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:18,640 Speaker 1: a vocal coach and worked hard to step into the 137 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:22,480 Speaker 1: role of Eliza. Although she was disappointed at the loss, 138 00:08:22,760 --> 00:08:25,920 Speaker 1: Andrews herself was hardly idle at the time. She was 139 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:30,320 Speaker 1: performing in Camelot as Queen Guenevere alongside Richard Burton. She 140 00:08:30,520 --> 00:08:32,920 Speaker 1: stood out in the cast so much so that she 141 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:36,640 Speaker 1: had a special visitor backstage. One night. Walt Disney was 142 00:08:36,679 --> 00:08:39,600 Speaker 1: in the crowd and loved her performance so much that 143 00:08:39,679 --> 00:08:42,800 Speaker 1: he offered her a role in an upcoming project right 144 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:47,000 Speaker 1: there on the spot. Andrews smiled and demurred, and finally 145 00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:48,880 Speaker 1: admitted that she wouldn't be able to be in his 146 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:53,000 Speaker 1: movie because well, she was pregnant. Disney was not about 147 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:56,040 Speaker 1: to lose a budding star and firmly told her that 148 00:08:56,120 --> 00:08:59,960 Speaker 1: they would wait, and they did. In nineteen sixty two, 149 00:09:00,160 --> 00:09:03,000 Speaker 1: Andrews gave birth to a daughter, and in nineteen sixty three, 150 00:09:03,160 --> 00:09:07,079 Speaker 1: began her work as a no nonsense nanny Mary Poppins herself. 151 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:10,560 Speaker 1: Both Mary Poppins and My Fair Lady premiered in theaters 152 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:14,320 Speaker 1: in late nineteen sixty four, and both were smashed successes. 153 00:09:14,679 --> 00:09:17,760 Speaker 1: It was a golden moment for Andrews, but was likely 154 00:09:17,880 --> 00:09:20,720 Speaker 1: at least a little bittersweet for Hepburn. You see, Jack 155 00:09:20,760 --> 00:09:24,320 Speaker 1: Warner wasn't taking any chances with a commercial success. He 156 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:26,840 Speaker 1: had promised Hepburn that she could sing the parts, but 157 00:09:26,880 --> 00:09:29,160 Speaker 1: without anyone realizing it, they had brought in one of 158 00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:33,400 Speaker 1: Hollywood's worst kept secrets, a woman named Marnie Nixon. Nixon 159 00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:35,760 Speaker 1: was what you call the ghost singer. You can hear 160 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:38,400 Speaker 1: her voice in classics like Westside Story when she sang 161 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:42,880 Speaker 1: Maria's parts, or other roles like Grandmother Faugh in Disney's Moulan. 162 00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:48,479 Speaker 1: Nixon sang a majority of Eliza Doolittle's numbers, albeit uncredited, 163 00:09:48,679 --> 00:09:52,679 Speaker 1: which reduced Hepburn to a largely speaking role even after 164 00:09:52,760 --> 00:09:55,920 Speaker 1: she had tried so hard. We don't know Hepburn's reactions, 165 00:09:56,000 --> 00:09:59,360 Speaker 1: but she was likely devastated. I've heard the original cuts 166 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:03,320 Speaker 1: when Hepburn's and honestly, while She's no Julie Andrews. She 167 00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:07,160 Speaker 1: might have made a lovely Eliza if left alone. Regardless, 168 00:10:07,200 --> 00:10:10,320 Speaker 1: award season was going to be contentious between the two movies, 169 00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:14,040 Speaker 1: especially The Golden Globes, which pitted Hepburn and Andrews against 170 00:10:14,080 --> 00:10:16,920 Speaker 1: each other for Best Actress. It could have devolved into 171 00:10:16,920 --> 00:10:19,200 Speaker 1: a squabble that would have given Betty Davis and Joan 172 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:21,600 Speaker 1: Crawford a run for their money. But of course, neither 173 00:10:21,600 --> 00:10:25,400 Speaker 1: Hepburn nor Andrews begrudged each other the success. In the end, 174 00:10:25,559 --> 00:10:28,520 Speaker 1: Julie Andrews won the award for her performance as Mary 175 00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:32,680 Speaker 1: Poppins and rose to make the expected acceptance speech. After 176 00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:34,840 Speaker 1: she thanked everyone who had helped her get where she 177 00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:37,679 Speaker 1: was that night, she took a deep breath and closed 178 00:10:37,679 --> 00:10:40,560 Speaker 1: by saying these words, my thanks to a man who 179 00:10:40,600 --> 00:10:43,000 Speaker 1: made a wonderful movie and who made all of this 180 00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:46,640 Speaker 1: possible in the first place, mister Jack Warner. It was 181 00:10:46,679 --> 00:10:49,240 Speaker 1: a small little dig that caused the place to irrupt, 182 00:10:49,360 --> 00:10:51,880 Speaker 1: and the camera caught Warner laughing along with the rest 183 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:54,720 Speaker 1: of the crowd. It's a snub that's been mostly forgotten. 184 00:10:54,960 --> 00:10:59,040 Speaker 1: But as we know, Andrew's career was just beginning. To blossom. 185 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:01,920 Speaker 1: Over the years, Ulie Andrews has taught so many kids, 186 00:11:02,080 --> 00:11:06,560 Speaker 1: including myself, so many important life lessons, including, as it 187 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:09,800 Speaker 1: turns out, how to throw shade with a smile. It's 188 00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:12,800 Speaker 1: true a spoonful of sugar can make even the bitterest 189 00:11:12,800 --> 00:11:20,720 Speaker 1: sentiment go down in the most delightful way. I hope 190 00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:24,040 Speaker 1: you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. 191 00:11:24,400 --> 00:11:27,480 Speaker 1: Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about 192 00:11:27,480 --> 00:11:32,079 Speaker 1: the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show 193 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:35,520 Speaker 1: was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership with how 194 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:39,200 Speaker 1: Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, 195 00:11:39,440 --> 00:11:43,080 Speaker 1: which is a podcast, book series, and television show, and 196 00:11:43,120 --> 00:11:45,719 Speaker 1: you can learn all about it over at the Worldoflore 197 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:51,840 Speaker 1: dot com. And until next time, stay curious.