Blenheim

Blenheim is a small town in Ontario with a population of about 4,800. It's located in south-central Chatham-Kent, near both Lake Erie and Rondeau Provincial Park. The town is also noted for excellent freshwater fishing.

The region began to be settled in the late 1700s, soon after the area was purchased from the Indians by the British. Thomas Talbot, a wealthy resident, set out to build roads in southwestern Ontario in 1800, though the project was put on hold during the War of 1812. Soon after the end of the war, settlers began to arrive, and Blenheim itself was founded between 1825 and 1850; it became an official town in 1885, though development of the town was slowed by its location in the middle of very dense forest. After the timber was adequately cleared around 1900, farming became the major factor in the town's economy, though an economic boom hit during Prohibition, when many residents got involved with rum-running.

In 1998, Blenheim and the rest of what used to be Kent County were amalgamated into the Municipality of Chatham-Kent.

Research from http://city.chatham-kent.on.ca/blenheim/

(I've never been to Blenheim. This writeup was part nodeshell challenge and part demonstration that even small towns are worthy of complete writeups.)

The original Blenheim is a village in Bavaria, 50 km north-east of Ulm. The modern German name for it is Blindheim, but in the form Blenheim it became known to the English-speaking world on 13 August 1704, with the great victory of English and Austrian forces against those of France and Bavaria. It was one of the main engagements of the War of the Spanish Succession.

The English commander was the Duke of Marlborough, and the Austrian commander was Prince Eugene of Savoy; the French were under Marshall Tallard. The Battle of Blenheim crowned Marlborough's ascent as a general, and among other rewards he was given a new palatial mansion near Oxford, to be called Blenheim Palace.

Probably the most famous poem of the dreadful poet laureate Robert Southey is called The Battle of Blenheim (1798), in which he ironically says "'twas a famous victory".

It was a summer evening,
Old Kaspar's work was done,
And he before his cottage door
Was sitting in the sun,
And by him sported on the green
His little grandchild Wilhelmine.

And this clunking rubbish goes on for another ten verses, with little Peterkin discovering a skull. The old man explains that Marlborough and Eugene had a famous victory there, despite all the dead people and burned houses, but he can't now tell them what it was all about.

Blenheim is also the name given to a specific color pattern when seen on two breeds of dogs, the King Charles Spaniel (known in the United States as the English Toy Spaniel) and the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. It consists of auburn and white patches over the entire coat.