The cowl (from the Latin cuculla, meaning "a hood") is an item of clothing consisting of a long, hooded garment with wide sleeves. Originally it may have referred simply to the hooded portion of a cloak. In contemporary usage, however, it is distinguished from a cloak or cape (cappa) by the fact that it refers to an entire closed garment. Today it is worn primarily by most Catholic and Anglican monks when participating in liturgical services.
Developed during the early Middle Ages in Northern Europe, they became the formal garment for those in monastic life. Originally they were worn simply to give greater warmth than would an open cloak to people who regularly spent long hours in unheated and draughty churches.
The cowl is traditionally bestowed upon the monk at the time of making solemn, or lifetime, profession. Prior to their solemn vows, the monks still in training wear a hooded cloak. The cowl is generally worn in conformity with the color of the monk's tunic, with the Benedictines wearing black, and other groups which follow the Rule of St. Benedict, e.g., the Camaldolese and Cistercians, wearing differing shades of white. Though not Benedictines, the Carthusians make use of a cowl as well. The Camaldolese of Monte Corona, however, always wear a cloak instead of a cowl.
Cowl is a 2004 science fiction novel by Neal Asher. The novel deals with time travel and an epic time war between two factions from the 43rd century. Asher first started working on the novel as a novella named Cowl At The Beginning, which he eventually developed into the full novel Cowl.
The novel follows Cowl, a human male that was genetically engineered to be the perfect specimen of human evolution. However he is also on the run from the Heliothane Dominion, which considers him their enemy. In an attempt to stop the rule of the dominant Heliothanes, Cowl travels back into the past in order to make himself the dominant force. Cowl intends to create this through the use of human samples collected throughout time, samples that he quickly disposes of once he's finished with them. When Cowl pulls the twenty second century prostitute Polly and the government soldier Tack through time, his plans might not be as easily executed as he thought.
A Cowl is a device used on a kiln to keep the weather out of, and induce a flow of air through, the kiln. They are normally associated with oasts but can also be found on breweries (Letheringsett, Norfolk), maltings (Ware, Herts; Hadlow, Kent) and watermills (East Linton, East Lothian).
This section deals with the traditional cowls found on oasts, with particular reference to the South East. From the outside, a cowl appears to just sit on the roof of the kiln. High in the roof of the kiln is a beam spanning the centre, called the sprattle beam, this carries a bearing which the pintle on the bottom of the centre post sits in. At the top of the kiln, the centre post passes through a two or three armed top stay iron. At the top of the centre post is carried the back board which carries an elm curb ring at the bottom, and one or two curb rings higher up on all except the smallest of cowls. A tie beam could also be carried, either at each curb level, or just the bottom curb level, spanning the width of the cowl. The top of the backboard carries a shaped top plate to which the weatherboards were affixed. The whole is covered in tapered weatherboards, widest at the bottom and narrowest at the top. Slotted through the centre post and attached to the back board is the distinctive finger which sometimes carried a motif. The finger assisted the turning of the cowl in light winds. Weatherboards would be attached to the cowl with nails made from copper. Cowls were usually painted white, although some were cream. The cowl is constructed so that when looking down vertically on a kiln, it covers the whole of the opening. It also covers some ⅔ to ¾ of the circumference of the kiln opening, the remaining section being open to allow air to vent from the kiln. An illustration of a cowl and the cross-section of a kiln can be seen here.
I just hung up the phone
I was talking to you
We said good bye
I sat down and cry
Coz' I remembered the things
That we've done
When we were sitting together
And our love has begun
For more and more
I want to go back in time
I'll always love you
I hope you know
But on and on
I need to wait
Chorus:
7 1/2 years that was our pact
7 1/2 years there is no turning back
7 1/2 years till I get to see you again
I am looking at the pictures
Of me and you
Both of us were smiling
For this damn photo-shoot
That was the day when it all began
But all I want to now
Is to see you again
For more and more
I want to go back in time
I'll always love you
I hope you know
But on and on
I need to wait