THE CANTUARIAN VoL. XXV.
No. 4
DECEMBER,
1953
EDITORIAL I sometimes wonder, Flavian, at our pride in making vain prophecy
of centuries to come without flinching when we envisage their verdict on our generation. And then again I reflect how at any rate we of this School will be remembered by our children, and I am satisfied, and confident even to the point of pride.. .. For we are, I tell you, our own court of excellence. Here we move day by day among treasures richer than we may ever again see: and if you doubt me, look up at the Cathedral tower in the white sunlight of a clear morning; finger the exquisite pieces of illumined writing and printer's ski ll in the Walpole Collection; remember the clapping after the first and every song of Elizabeth Schwarzkopf when she visited us; recall the sensible exhilaration when our fifteen scored
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CONTENTS PAGE
EDITORI AL TH E SCHOOL VIRT UTE F UNCTI MO RE PATR UM DUCES VA LETE SA LVETE ... THI S AND T HAT SPEEC H ES .. . PR ESENT HOLDERS OF EX HIBITIONS ACADEM ICAL AN D OTH ER DI STI NCTIONS G A INED 1952- 53 PRI ZES 1952- 53 ... BLI SS WALTER PATER AN D CANTERB URY BRUCE HA RVEY WI LLS ( 1944- 53) S MOOT HN ESS AN D SOA P SOCRATES BEFO RE TH E COM M ITTEE FO R UN-ATH EN IA N ACT IV IT iES TH E REVE REND JOSEPH PRI C E EA RTHQUAKE IN CEPH ALO NIA ... BLA KE- LON ELY GEN IUS .. . BREA K TH E BAC KMOAN OF TH E NATION ON SEEING " T H E TE MPEST" KI NG'S WE EK , 1953 LEIDER R EC ITAL TO ANY IN H UMAN EDJTOR LUC I FER MO RN ING .. . A SET PI EC E IMPR ESSIONS T H E PRI CE O F F R EEDOM RECENT AN D PRO POSED BU ILD ING DEVELOPMENTS IN CANTERB U RY T H E SOMERSET MAUG HAM MSS. A NEW HISTO RY OF T H E SCH OOL TO MY TR UE LOVE ... POETR Y COLUMN PATR IOTS ALL .. . A NOVEMBER MO RN ING LES TE MPS DES L!LAS BOOKS BEAUTIF U L O PERATI C REC ITA L .. . TH E LAST DAYS OF LEE PRIO RY LOG ICAL NIHILI SM ATO M IC P H YSICS BOOK R EVIEWS ... YEARS AGO I N KENT LECTU RES ... T H E SOC IETIES .. . R UG BY FOOTBALL SW IM MING BOXING
C.C. F. O. K.S. N EWS CA MBRIDG E LETTER ... CA NTUA RI AN MASON IC LOD GE ... OBITUA R IES O UR CONTEM PORA RI ES T H E SCH OOL ROLL CO RR ESPON DENCE MiLNER COU RT
235 237 238 240 240 241 247 247 248 250 253 254 256 257 . 259 262 266 267 269 270 270 27 1 273 273 274 276 276 277 278 279 280 280 281 282 283 284 285 287 288 289 29 1 293 294 295 296 297 303 303 304 305 310 31 0 311 311 3 12 3 14 3 16
F. H . Matthews, Rev. L. G. Mason, ~----
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MASTERS IN 1886 Rev. E. J. Campbell, J. Ritchie, Rev. F. J. 0 . Helmore, Rev. L. H. Evans, Rev. R. G. Hodgson, Rev. G . J. Blore, R. G. Gordon
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the first try against some very dear rivals; think too of the scholarly charm cast over us all by Arthur Bryant when he spoke of Samuel Pepys; and then do not forget the last, exultant, grateful hours of this Christmas Term. To this spiritual plenty there is no bound ; and we shall be remembered as the most exalted of Epicureans. Our School is the nearest we may approach to the city-state of the Ancient Greeks. We may live by it ; we may live in it; and at the last, and in whatever degree we wish, we may live for it. And like those more compact cities, jt is easier to li ve by, easier to live for, than any sprawling state or nation. It is so of every small society. But our historians will surely discern in us the most democratic, the most Athenian of such societies. For in our spiritual plenty we have not neglected to tolerate the extravagances of those who live by, as well as those who live for, the School; and we have nurtured, and profited from, many whom the Spartans would have condemned to exposure as unfit. Will it always be so, Flavian? Will the School for ever be so remembered? If nothing else, I should like them to write of us some day, that we have not entirely wasted His beneficence.. . . Yes, I hope that none of us may pass from this sequestered existence without plucking for his memory some of earth's finer fruits which here abound.
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THE SCHOOL Captain of the School : R. H. C. SYMON, K.S. Vice-Captain of the School: J. A. RowE, K.S. Head of The School House ... Head of The Grange Head of Walpole House Head of Meister Omers Head of Luxmoore House Head of Galpin's House Head of Linacre House Head of Marlowe House
A. J. BRIGGS, K.S. R. A. LAWRENCE M. U. SLEE D. C. MOOR D. J. KIRscH P. G. ROBERTS, K.S. R. H . C. SYMON, K.S. G. E. HARE
MONITORS R. H. C. SYMON, K.s., J. A. RowE, K.s., A. J. BRIGGS, K.s., R. A. LAWRENCE, D. C. MooR, P. G . ROBERTS, K.S., A. H. M. HOARE, K.S., D. J. KIRSCH, M. u. SLEE, J. M. BODGER, J. E. PAWSEY, G. S. SPATHIS, G. E . .HARE, C. B. STROUTS, K.S., P. J. ALLEN HOUSE PREFECTS The School House: R. J. BEATTY-POWNALL, S. J. LAINE, K.S., J. S. NYE, K.S., R. W. SPARROW, K.S. The Grange : M. DuDGEON, M. FISHER, K.S., M. C. HoLDERNESS, K.s., E. R. G. JOB, D. A. R. POOLE, C. R. SINCLAIR, N. J. B. WRIGHT. Walpole House: R. M. BASTBR, K.S., N. M. S. BROWN, R. A. DEWHURST, I. M. ORR-EWING, K.S., J. C. ST. C. REAR, R. N. B. THOMAS. Meister Oroers: J. R. M. HARVEY, R. B. P. LINTON, G. M. LYNCH, J. B. MORGAN, W. H. WOOLSTON. Luxmoore House: J. C. ALABASTER, J. de V. ALLEN, K.s., W. J. LANCASHIRE, K.S., w. E. s. THOMAS, K.S., w. N. WENBAN-SMITH, K.S. Galpin's House: G. G. JONES, K.s., P. B. K IRKBY, M. J. MOORE, K.s., J. G. H. NELSON, J. E. L. SALES, R. A. G. WILLOUGHBY, K.S. Liuacre House: J. P. M. DAVIES, H. R. J. HOARE, K.S., A. G. RODGERS, l. D. MAITLAND, T. H. PITT, R. c. RICHARDSON. Marlowe House: J. H. COBB, M. S. R. COZENS, M. S. REID, P. RHODES. Captain of Rugby Football. .. J. A. Rows, K.S. Captain of Fencing .. . G. S. SPATHIS Captain of Boxing . . . M. S. REID Captain of Squash Rackets... D. C. MooRE Captain of Fives D. J. KIRSCH Captain of Shooting ... I. D. MAITLAND The Cantuarian: Editor:; : THE CAPTAIN OF SCHOOL, J. de V. ALLEN, K.S., W. E. S. THOMAS, K.S. Sports Editor: J . A. Rown, K.s. Secretary: G. S. SPATHIS 237
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VIRTUTE FUNCTI MORE PATRUM DUCES K. D. AGNEW.-Entered School, Sept., ' 46; Upper Sixth, Sept., '51; House Prefect May, '51; School Monitor, June, '51; Captain of School, Sept. , '52; Editor of The Cantuarian (ex-officio); Boxing, '49; 1st XV, '49, '50, '51, '52 ; Rowing, lst Vlll, '53; 1st Athletics, '51; C. Instructor, C.C.F. (R.N.); Mason Scholarship in History to Jesus College, Cambridge. M. HEROERT.-Entered School, Sept., '47; Upper Sixth; House Prefect, '51; School Monitor, Sept., '51; Head of House, Sept., '51; Vice-Captain of School, Sept. '52; 2nd XI, '5 1; 2nd Hockey XI, '52; 1st XV, '49-'50; Captain of Cricket, '53; Vice-Captain of Rugger, '51 ; lst Hockey XI, '53; C.S.M., C. C. F. D. C. RYELAND.-Entered School, May, '46; Upper Sixth; House Prefect, May, '51; School Monitor, Sept., '5 1; Head of House, Sept. , '52 ; 2nd Boat, '49; 1st Boat, '50, '51, '52, '53; Captain of Boats, '51; C.P.O., C.C.F. (R.N.). N.C. G. R AFFLE.-Entered School, Sept., '47; Upper Sixth ; House Prefect, '51; School Monitor, Head of House, '53; 2nd and 1st XV, '49 ; 1st XV, '50; Captain 1st XV, '5 1, '52; Athletics, 1st, '51, '52; Captain of Athletics, '53; Secretary of the Harvey Society. D. CLIFT.- Entered School, Sept., '47; Upper Sixth; H ouse Prefect, '49; School Monitor, Head of House, Sept., '52; Honorary Secretary Walpole Society; Captain Fencing, '52 ; Sergeant, C.C.F. J. C. D uNN.-Entered School, Sept., '47; · Upper Sixth; House Prefect, Sept., '51; School Monitor and Head of House, Sept., '52; 1st Athletics, '53; 2nd XI, '53 ; Fencing, '50; Secretary of the Archery Society; Sergeant, C. C. F. P. DAWSON.- Entered School, Sept., '47 ; U pper Sixth, House Prefect, '51; School Monitor and Head of House, Sept., '52; Editor of The Cantuarian; Sergeant, C. C. F.; Open Scholarship in Modern Subjects, Corpus Christi College, Oxford. P. H. Moss.-Entered School, Sept., '47; Upper Sixth ; House Prefect, Jan., '51; School Monitor, Sept., '52; Editor ofThe Cantuarian; Secretary of The Boat Club; Secretary of Marlowe Society ; C.Q.M.S., C.C.F.; Open History Exhibition to Clare College, Cambridge. N. PAINE.- Entered School, Sept., '48; Upper Sixth; House Prefect, '51; School Monitor, Head of House, Sept., '52; 1st Boat, '52; 2nd XV, '52; Cadet Petty Officer, C. C. F.; Open Scholarship (Natural Science) to Trinity College, Oxford. W. E. EusTACE.-Entered School, Jan., '46; Upper Sixth; House Prefect, Sept., '51; School Monitor, Sept., '52; Secretary to Arts Society; Exhibition to Trinity Hall, Cambridge. C. W. FREYER.- Entered School, Jan., '48; Upper Sixth; H ouse Prefect, '51; School Monitor, '52; C.C.F. Sergeant; Open Scholarship (History), Lincoln College, Oxford. D. H. W. KELLY.- Entered School, Jan., '48; 2nd XI, '51; lst XI, '52, '53; 1st Hockey XI, '52, '53; Captain of Hockey, '53; 2nd XV, '51; 1st XV, '52; Platoon Commander, C.C.F. S. N . BURBRIDGE.-Entered School, Sept., '48; Upper Sixth ; House Prefect, Sept., '52; Lance-Sergeant, C.C.F.; Parker Exhibition to Corpus Christi, Cambridge; Open Scholarship (History) to Christ Church, Oxford. 238
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K. W. FENTON.-Entered School, Sept., '48; Upper Sixth; House Prefect, Dec., '52; Treasurer of Walpole Society; Sergeant, C.C.F. · A.M. J. HALSEY.-Entered School, May, '49; Upper Sixth; House Prefect, Sept., '52; 1st Boat, '53; Lance-Sergeant, C. C. F.; Choral Scholarship to King's College, Cambridge. B. D. S. LOCK.-Entered School, Sept., '48; Upper Sixth; House Prefect, Sept., '52; Honorary Secretary of The Cantuarian; Honorary Treasurer of Pater Society; Open Exhibition in Classics, New College, Oxford; Open Mackinnon Scholarship in Classics, Magdalen College, Oxford. H. A. SMITH.- Entered School, Sept., '47; Upper Sixth; House Prefect, '51; Athletics, Jst; Cross-Country 1st, '50; Captain of Cross-Country, '53; Honorary Secretary Modern Languages Society. A. P. MARKS.-Entered School, Sept., '48; Upper Sixth; House Prefect, Sept., '52 ; 2nd XI, '52 and '53; 2nd XV, '52; 2nd Hockey XI, '53. R. G. MILNE.- Entered School, Sept., '48; Upper Sixth; House Prefect, Sept., '52 ; Lance-Sergeant, C.C.F. G. F. NASH.-Entered School, Sept., '48; Upper Sixth; House Prefect, '51; 2nd XV, '50; 1st XV, '52; 2nd Hockey XI, '5 1; Captain 2nd Hockey XI, '52; 1st Hockey XI, '53; C. S.M., C.C.F.; Open Scholarship in Natural Science, Wadham College, Oxford. J. W. NoRTON.-Entered School, Sept., '47 ; Upper Sixth; House Prefect, '52; 2nd Boxing, '49, '50; 1st Boxing, '51 ; Captain Boxing, '52; 1st Boat (cox), '52, '53. M. MeG. GARDNER.- Entered School, Sept., '48; House Prefect, Sept., '52; 2nd Athletics, March, '52; 1st Athletics, March, '53; Cross-Country, '5 1-'53; Honorary Secretary Cross-Country Running Club. M. C. TURNOR.-Entered School, Sept., '48; House Prefect, Sept. , '51; 1st XV, '51; Sergeant, C.C.F. J. R. CAPURRO.-Entered School, Jan., '49; House Prefect, '52; 2nd Athletics; 2nd Hockey, '52; 2nd Rugger, '52; 1st Athletics and 1st Hockey, '53; Platoo n Commander, C.C.F. M. H. ROBERTS.-Entered School, Sept., '47; House Prefect, '51; 2nd XI, '50, '51, '52; Captain 2nd XI, '53; 2nd XV, '51; 1st XV, '52 ; 2nd Hockey XI, '52, '53; 2nd String Athletics, '52, '53; Flight Sergeant (R.A.F.), C. C. F.
THE CANTUARIAN
VALETE E. C. Ash, W. J. Bacon, G. Bailey, D. W. V. Barsted, V. E. Barton, P. N. Baumann, E. H. T. Bayliss, J. D. Bell, M. J. Cederwell-Brown, A. M. Davidson, J. S. Davis. E. W. Donald, J. N . Fisher, S. J. Freebairn-Smith, A. C. L. Gibson, D. G. Griffith, D. J. Gunter, J. C. Harding, J. S. Harvey, B. J. Hill, C. G. C. Haury, A. R. Johnson, L.A. Kinghorn, J. A. D. Macmillan, R. C. Macpherson, E. B. Mercer, M. C. Patterson. J. R. Peck, J. R. Philip, W. J. Ruttledge, B. S. Salmon, P. J. Sanderson, D. S. Sandy. J. S. Savery, J. C. Tappin, R. Thompson, R. E. Tilman, R. S. Walters, N. B. Ward, D. T. Warner, R. W. K. Wilson, B. C. M. Cardew.
SALVETE L. P. Alston, J. M. Bacon, P. W. Barker, J. E. Bates, C. H. Bayston, S. Beaumont, E. D. Bell, M. E. Billinghurst, H. K. Bray, D. S. Bree, D. D'A. Brewester, R. Browne, A. G. H. Camp, P. A. Campbell, P. Chaffin, W. H. J. Chippendale, R. A. H. Clarke, P. A. H. Clothier, L. G. Coley, J. C. Cook, M. J. Coram, S. F. Docksey, C. G. L. Dodd, D. M. Edwards, G. A. Elcock, A. A. Elworthy, D. J. Evans, S.C. Farmer, D. I. Fisher, R. G. Forrest, A.M. Forster, J. R. Freedman, G. Garrard, N.D. Gillett, P. J. B. Grainger, N. R . Granville-Smith, R. D. Gray, J. D. Griffith, M. D. Ham, P. E. Hammond, C. J. Hanson, R. M. Harvey, J. G. A. Headley, R. F. Hervey, R. G. B. Hewson, P. W. HopeJones, V. G. lbbetson, D . W. L. Jenkins, W. N . Jenkins, C. F. Jevons, C. J. M. Jervison, D. G . Jones, P. F. King, T. C. Kinross, G. W. Lane, R. K. R. Large, M. A. Levitt, J. K. McDonald, G. D. K. Marchmont, W. E. J. Minns, R. E. B. Mitton, A. R. M organ, N . J. Muller, M. J. Niblock, P. R. Nicholson, S. F. Oldrey, M. A. Passmore, R. H. Pawsey, R. L. Pengelly, A. W. Perry, P. J. Pilzer, J. R. H. Pringle, A. G. Robiette, J. P. Roche, A. G. Rodgers, P. A. M. Scott, W. T. Seabrook, R. P . Spicer, T. J. Stevens, N. W. Stevens, D . B. Stiven, M. F. Sullivan, J. A. Taylor, C. H. G. de B. TempestRadford, H. R. Templeton, J. I. R. Thompson, A. Turner, J. A. Turner, C. W. H. Twallin, J. G. Underwood, G . M. A. Wallis, J. V. Watson, K. R. Wilkins, S. C. Wilkinson, D. J. Williams, P.R. Wilson, G. A. Wood, R. F. L. Wood.
THE CANTUARIAN
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THIS AND THAT Examination Results
We also congratulate T. V. Scrivenor (1920- 27), Chief Civil Service Commissioner, N igeria, on his appointment as D eputy High Commissioner fo r Basutola nd, the Bechuanaland Protectora te and Swaziland. O.K.S. Distinctions
O .K.S. at Oxfor(l JESUS COLLEGE
T. H. Birnberg ST. JOHN'S
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We congratulate the eleven members of the Sixth who gained Sta te Scholarships in last summer's Examina tions.
B. I. G. H ya tt MAGDALBN
B. D. S. Lock J. R . Ca purro
The following are in residence:-
I. Fowler A. D. Tymms I. Burt H. A. Smith
K EBLB
B. K. Newton
P EMBROKE
P . Le Pelley H ERTFORD
J. A. B. D enton
ST. EDMUND HALL
M. Herbert A. B. Pollok J. M. Skinner J. F . Foster O.K.S. at Cambridge CORPUS CHRISTI
R. D. J. Agnew M . Allen B. M . Birnberg M. C. 0 . Mayne J. R. C. Turner
D. S. Jenkins G. N. Brealy P. D. de Lisser
M ERTON
D. J. C. Snoxall J. E. M. Lucie-Smith C. A. R. Hoare BALLIOL
TRINITY
A. Young
P. J. Walker R . 0. A. Norris A. R . Wayte
CHRIST CHURCH
R. E. W. Roberts
The following are in residence :PEMBROK E
ST. CATHARINE'S
R. G. Moffatt A. E. H . Pedder P . J. S. Murray B. E. Lee
R. M . V. Beith
B. Cassidy R. W. G. Reed QUBBNS'
CHRIST'S
B. J. Stafford
M.D. A. Manning-Press SIDNEY SUSSBX
E MMANUEL
J. H . T. Morga n T. T. Morgan N.G.C.RatHe
M. A. Chawner
KING'S
A. M. J. H alsey M. Carnes (B.A.) J. P. D. Burbridge 241
WESTCOTT HOUSE
D . L. Edwards (B.A.)
THE CANTUARIAN TruNITY HALL
JESUS
E. R. Strouts C. G. S. Paterson J. M. Watt J. Cassidy R. D. H. Roberts CLARE
R. G.
WEST (B.A.)
University Letters Prayer Book
W. E. Eustace
SELWYN
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R. G. White J. M. Brown
M. A. S. Burgess, (Fellow)
PH.D.
Now that each University contains a respectable number of our men we hope that somebody among them will send us the Oxford and Cambridge Letters as in former days.
The second edition of our Prayer Book has appeared ; it is much fuller than the former book a nd seems to cater for a ll our wants.
Owing to the growth in numbers, the enlargement of the Sixth, and the retirement of two former masters, we met no less than six new "dons" this term, and they are all welcome; we have seen enough of them to know that we like them and are sure that they will come to have that affection for the School that "takes" everybody who comes. to it.
New Masters
History of the School
We are delighted that the authorities have recognised the need for a freshly-written History, and nobody could do it better than David Edwards, to whose letter on the subject we refer readers.
The Fairservices, father and son, have entered our employment and we cordbily welcome them. William (known as "Bill") Fairservice played for Coaches Kent in the days when Kent led English cricket; he took 857 wickets for Kent-and the first one was W. G. Grace's! Fairservice senior has already started with us, teaching the keen ones in the Winter Practice Shed. Next term, his son Colin comes; he is himself a former Kent player who has established a remarkable reputation as a coach both at rugger and cricket. He has been coach for both games at Stonyhurst for the last 14 years or more. In his last game for Kent he hit Notts' fierce bowlers Larwood and Voce for 83. It was genuinely distressing to us to learn that, owing to ill-health and stern medical orders, Paddy Purcell was obliged to relinquish all his outsideLondon work, and that therefore we should be entertained by him no more. We take this opportunity of expressing our sense of real loss and our gratitude to him for the amazing achievement wrought by his devotion and enthusiasm. Surely never before has any man created out of nothing a Band which in three years became first class, and better than many regimental bands. lt is a tribute to him and to the School's reputation for music that Lieut.-Colonel Meredith Roberts, M. v.o., M.B. E., was willing to resign the Directorship of Kneller Hall in order to come to us full-time to take over the Band and to help as Assistant-Director of Music. We look forward with confidence to the development of music in all its branches.
The Band
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From an "Endorser's" papers last Summer:Latin (a) Prolapse equo paene exanimabatur, septuaginta annes iam natus. "Soon he WAS been looked at by a broken-down horse now 27 years old." (b) Pell ibus et !axis arcent mala frigora bracis. " Ill-clad with hip and thigh trousers." Pre-war boys will remember a charming night when John Drinkwater read to us his poems and chatted with us about them. He was a great friend of Hugh Walpole. We are sure that the Editors of the Magazine of his old School- the Oxford High School- will not be angry if we print a short poem of his about his school lately published in a brief history of the school. Tt rings so true of so many of us. "And you, 0 gracious dom inies, Who sought in vain to give me ease In classic tongues and used to vex My soul with screeds of y and xAibeit not The Scholar's crown 1 bore from out your storied town, Yet somethjng of a man in me You forged against the days to be. Some courage comely faith to wear, To bear what lance might be to bear; Some laughter in the teeth of wrong, A memory to shape in song. 0 gravelled plot, 0 crumbling walls, 0 playmates whom the great world calls To this or that, 0 masters gownedThough now no longer is the sound Of all your voices in my ears, And news comes dimly down the yearsUnscarred, unbroken by the fret Of days, the dream is with me yet."
John Drinkwater
This seems now to be a title of courtesy extended to all save the proletariat; even boys at School addressing post-cards to themselves for Examination results arrogate this distinction to themselves. Strictly, we believe, nobody has a right to this description, unless he is of a family which bears "arms", or is a Barrister of one of the Inns of Court. In the XVIII Century the title appears-judging from mural tablets in Churches- to have been equivalent to "armiger" in Latin and "gent" in English.
"&quire"
A lovely name belonging to the three wives of the Kirk Minister in Galt's Balquhidder superb Annals of the Parish. This Editor did not know that a village of the name in fact existed; but it does-and isquitenear to a railway in the Scottish Highlands; not that that is much use, for the railway does not now function. But the village is lovely itself, even in the rain-and there is a good deal of that. There you may
THE CANTUARIAN
see the 19th century Church alongside the remains of a 17th century one which itself incorporates considerable parts of a mediaeval Church . In the Churchyard lies the redoubtable Rob Roy- the whole valley was a McGregor stronghold- and in the Church there is the oldest font which perhaps exists : it dates from about 700 A.D. and may have been used by St. Angus, who first attempted to Christianize the wild inhabitants of the Braes of Balquhidder. Valley, Church, Font are more than worth the while of a long journey. Enterprising Americans conti nue to publish volumes of Boswell's James Boswell diaries and letters. Are they so wonderfully worth while? Do they tell us more of his time than we already know? Need we be informed annua lly by Mr. Boswell of his thoughts and fa ncies and whims? Ja mes Boswell does here appear in a rather poor light. He did his work when he gave us Johnson's Life. As a diarist and a utobiographer he has not enough meat, a nd his inner man might well be left alone in the obscurity that the recently-discovered papers have so long enjoyed. He does not even make it attractive-it is not humorous-it is not real flesh and blood. What a relief to turn again to Benvenuto Cellini. The Headmaster took his vacation in Scotland, and daily saw a youngster of 17 waxing the floors, running errands, man-handling the luggage of Glasgow brokers and their wives. He was a Schoolboy on holiday earning money for subsistence till he could get to the University to read Medicine.
A Tough Scot
The Bursar
Mr. D. R . Lawrence,
M.A.,
has been appointed Bursar of the School.
The kind of programme which has almost become traditional will be King's Week shorn for next Summer, we understand. A play in the Chapter House and an orchestral concert in the Nave of the Cathedral are the only items contemplated. The Week wo uld be from July 19th to 24th; the Concert on Sunday the 25th; and this arrangement wo uld more conveniently sui t parents and O.K.S. who propose to be here for Speech D ay as well. The death of this lovely singer has removed from us someone whom we thought of as a friend, although she had only o nce sung to us. But tha t will be a treasured life-long memory to those who heard and saw her. It will not be widely known that Miss Ferrier wanted to come for our last Festival, but, of course, she could not: nonetheless she wrote to say that as soon as she could she wou ld come again and sing to the School.
Kathleen Fenier
Portrait
The portrait of the Headmaster, commissioned by the O.K.S. Committee has been finished by Mr. Anthony Devas, A.R.A., and is to be presented t~ the School, we believe, in the near future.
Combe House has been admirably adapted as a boarding-house and now forms part of Lux moore. In a ll material ways it is probably the most comfortable quarters the School possesses. Work on the gardens and the meadow has begun, and before long their conversion into playing-fields should be complete. The Dean and Chapter have built an additional storey to Linacre House so that the boys there have more commodiotis premises. '
¡Extensions
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The Senior School is now 540 and the Junior ISO. It is impossible that we should be more. There are no more premises, nor do we desire to be bigger, for this present number is excellent for all purposes. lt follows that there will be fewer vacancies and greater demand for them. The School authorities will now be able to be very selective, and it may be that those to whom wo rk is repugnant will be called upon to justify their existence! We understa nd tha t the Governors have passed a resolution, limiting the number of dayboys to a maximum of 70 a nd 45 respectively at the Senior and Junior Schools. Numbers
We are sorry to hear of the death of this well-known historical novelist who wrote under her maiden name of Iris Morley. Her husband was at school here, and has himself written a book based on his school life: to h im we offer ou r condolences. Mrs. Alaric Jacob
The School VI reached the third ro und of the Youll Cup P ublic Schools Lawn Tennis Competition, to lose (2- 0, retired) to Marlborough, who had in the second round already defeated Rugby, last year's holders.
Public School Tennis
We were glad to hear that A. P. Marks, who left us last term, was successful both as a batsman and a slow bowler in the "C" X I of the Yorkshire Public Schools Cricket Week at Harrogate. A School
Congratulations coach for 2010? From Crete to the Caribbean
Welcome to another book to the name of Patrick Leigh-Fermer, His new work is entitled The Violins of St. Jacques, and again concerns the West Indies. Let us hope, meanwhile, that it is but one O.K.S.
of many to come. Heard after the Initiation of Scholars Charmed, I'm sure
Mr. Waddell
" When the Dean put his hand on my head, I felt as if my hair was going up to meet it." " I always thought a Cantuaria n was a man with a hundred soldiers under his command ."
We are very sorry to hear that Mr. Waddell is leaving us this term, but glad to know that he is going to a senior classical post at his old school, Aldenha m. Our best wishes, and let us hope that he will visit us again and often.
The School again enjoyed a visit from this dynamic man of God from Chicago this term. He came on Monday, N ovember 2nd, for three days, a nd returned again for the week-end to preach on Remembrance Sunday. As before, he created a remarkable impression on one a nd all.
Pastor Brown
The Boathouse
Mr. Somerset Maugham's boathouse now stands completed, a visible improvement on its predecessors and an inestimable asset to our rowing accommodation. 245
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One Sunday evening late in the term the School experienced the novelty of singing hymns to the accompaniment of a stringwoodwind chamber-music group. Never let it be said that we are content to sing to the organ in vespers; much less to this orchestra on its present standard. But a second hearing may change our views. 'The silent organ loudest chants .. . ,
Miss Leaver, of Nunnery Fields, Canterbury, who was in charge of the Walpole Collection before the war, has presented to the Collection two letters from Warwick Deeping. Deeping was one of the most successful novelists in the 1920's, and these two letters written in 1921 and 1922 were written to give encouragement and advice to Miss Leaver in the art of story-writing. T hey will be bound in two volumes of miscellaneous a utograph letters which will soon be added to the collection. Warwick Deeping
In our account of Queen Sa lote's visit in the last issue we omitted to mention that Her Majesty was accompa nied by Mr. J. B. Sidebotham, c.M.G., o.K.s., of the Colonial Office. The Sidebotham family has had a long connection with the School: it was Prebendary J. S. Sidebotbam who in 1865 wrote the first brief history of the School.
T he Queen of Tonga's Visit
l n order to discover early talent fo r acting (since, we understand, house plays ha ve been reduced in number to two between all houses), a new boys' play is to be produced on December 7th. This year's choice is Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet S treet, and we are sure that under the expert guidance of Mr. D. R. Lawrence it will be a success.
New Boys' P lay
Third Programme listeners will have heard, in the series of modern poets, a talk on his own work by P. J. Fison, o.K.s. A number of his poems have been printed in The Cantuarian; and perhaps those who heard his talk will agree that he has every likelihood of making a great name for hi mself.
O .K.S. Poet
We are greatly indebted to Colonel A. R. A. Iremonger, O.K.s., for a very welcome gift of interesting old books for the Library, including a complete set of the Harleian Miscellany a nd a very attractive edition of La Fontaine's Fables illustrated with woodcuts. We understand that there may be some further treasures for us on Colonel Iremonger's shelves! Ad1litions to the Library
Chaplain to the Queen
Our warmest congratulations to the Ven. J. K. Bickersteth on this new a ppointment. His father, Dr. Samuel Bickersteth, was Chaplain to King George V.
Q. What is the noun from melancholic? The New English
A.
M alanqualification .
A.
It is what you have when everybody has ' flu, Sir!
Q. Wha t is meant by academic? 246
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(Desmond 0 ' Neill)
S PEECH DAY The audience in the Cloisters Lord Hardinge of Pcnshurst and Lady Hardinge Lord Harris and Lady Harris with Mr. A. B. Emden
Visiting the School buildings The Speeches discussed over icc-cream The Band on the edge of the Green Court
THE CANTUARIAN
SPEECHES We have come to look forward to Speeches with some trepidation. They mark the climax of a very full day, and, looking at the form idable programme provided, the parent or visitor might have feared boredom. Happily this was not the case. The Dean read out a most impressive list of academic and other distinctions, ranging from University Scholarships to Military Awards to O.K.S., an appropriate prelude to the distribution of prizes and the Headmaster's Speech. We were told that the School was flourishing in all respects, that the Boat Club was going from strength to strength (thanks to the generosity of the many friends of the School), that the standard in every sport was excellent, and that the School would soon reach the point where no more extension was possible. Tn this way the audience, crammed into the Chapter House, and filling half the cloisters, were put in a happy mood, ideal for the reception of a number of speeches in a bewi ldering diversity of tongues.
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We must confess that the finer points of the Greek Speech, an extract from The Frogs of Aristophanes, were lost on us, but the Classical Sixth acted their parts with such elan that all were satisfied. The French Speech was from Moliere's Les Precieuses Ridicules, a lesson in the consequences of over-foppishness, and affording a rich variety of gestures to clear up any ambiguities. The Russian Speech, which is a tradition in its second year, was again chosen from Gorki's The Inspector General and provided a jolly, if not cogent entertainment for us. The last and most comprehensible was the English Speech, a well-known extract from Sheridan's The School for Scandal. This was the end of a very pleasant exhibition of the linguistic and dramatic powers of the Sixth Form, some speakers taking part in more than one Speech, and one, D. Clift, taking part in three. After Speeches we flocked out on to the Green Court for tea, talk, and "a little music out of doors". The sun shone, as it always should on Speech Day, and there prevailed a general atmosphere of content at the end of one more great school year. W.E.S.T.
PRESENT HOLDERS OF EXHIBITIONS R. G. White, Selwyn College, Cambridge. R. D. H. Roberts to Jesus College, Cambridge. C. H. McCleery, St. Thomas's Hospital.
ROSB EXHIBITION STANIIOPB EXHIBIT ION CRAWFORD EXH IBITION
ELECTED JUNE, LEATHBRSELLERS' EXHIBITION CRAWFORD EXHIBITION BuNCE EXHIBITION ANDERSON
...
WAR MEMORIAL GIFT ...
EDMUND DAVIS EXHIBITION
1953
A. P. Marks to St. Bartholomew's Hospital. D. H. W. Kelly to St. Thomas's Hospital. K. D. Agnew to Jesus College, Cambridge. To be awarded. To be awarded. ~47
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ACADEMICAL AND OTHER DISTINCTIONS GAINED, 1952-3 A. J. BRIGGS .. . S. N. BURBRIDGE M. A. CHAWNER D . CLIFf P . DAWSON W. E. EUSTACE C. W. FREYER G. HAMBER .. . B. D. S. LocK B. D . A. PHILLIPS D. H. TAYLOR R. G. MILNE .. . D . H. TAYLOR A. J . BRIGGS .. . W. E. EUSTACE P. H. Moss
.. .
M. A. CHAWNER S. N. BuRBRIDGE B. CASSIDY
B. D. S. LocK B. I. G. HYATT
G. F . NASH
.. .
B. D. S. LocK P. DAWSON S. N. BURBRIDGE N. PAINE C. W. FREYER
K. D. AGNEW
State Scholarship. State Scholarship. State Scholarship. State Scholarship. State Scholarship. State Scholarship. State Scholarship. State Scholarship. State Scholarship. State Scholarship. State Scholarship. State Scholarship. Open Exhibition in Natural Science to Queen's College, Oxford. Open Exhi bition in Natural Science to Pembroke College, Cambridge. Open Exhibition in History to Trinity Hall, Cambridge. Open Exhibition in History to Clare College, Cambridge. Open Exhlbition in Mathematics to Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. Parker Exhibition in History to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Choral Exhibition to St. Catherine's College, Cambridge. Open Exhibition in Classics to New College, Oxford. Open Exhibition in History to St. John's College, Oxford. Open Scholarship in Natural Science to Wad ham College, Oxford. Open Scholarship in Classics to Magdalen College, Oxford. Open Scholarship in History to Corpus Christi College, Oxford. Open Scholarship in History to Christ Church, Oxford. Open Scholarship in Natural Science to Trinity College, Oxford. Open Scholarship in History to Lincoln College, Oxford. Mason Scholarship in History to Jesus College, Cambridge. 248
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THE CANTUARIAN B. S. SALMON ...
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MOOR
J.D. HEARTH ... D. L. EDWARDS P. R. PHILLIPS
II.
J. G.
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R. F.
MOFFATT
M ILNE
A. B. CURRY ...
J. MOOR G. D. LINDLEY J. R. DOWNES B. M. BIRNBERG
C.
G. S. PATERSON
M. C.
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MAYNE
P . F. LUCAS .. . J. J. BRADLEY . . . J. PESCHEK M.
Choral Scholarship to St. John's College, Cambridge. Sutton Prize for Horticulture, Reading University. Exhibitioner of Brasenose College, Oxford; 1st Class Honours, Final Honours School of Jurisprudence. Demy of Magdalen College, Oxford, 1st Class Honours, Final Honours School of Modern History. Scholar of Pembroke College, Cambridge; 1st Class Honours, Natural Sciences Tripos, Part
A. S. BURGESS
Rev. G. I. SODEN D. L. Edwards Dr. M. A. S. BURGESS R. G. WEST .. . A. J. WYLSON .. .
Scholar of Trin ity College, Cambridge; 1st Class Honours, Natural Sciences Tripos, Part I. Scholar of Pembroke College, Cambridge; 1st Class Honours, Natural Sciences Tripos, Part I. Scholar of St. Edmund Hall, Oxford; 1st Class Honours, Final Honours School of Music. B.Sc. 1st Class, Reading University. Exeter College, Oxford, 2nd Class Honours, Final Honours School of Jurisprudence. St. Edmund Hall, Oxford; 2nd Class Honours, Final Honours School of English Language and Literature. Scholar and Parker Exhibitioner of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge; 2nd Class Honours, Division I , Historical Tripos, Part I. Jesus College, Cambridge; 2nd Class Honours, Division 2, Modern and Mediaeval Languages Tri pos, Part I. Corpus Christi College, Cambridge; 2nd Class Honours, Division 1, English Tripos, Part I. M.D., Cambridge. M.B., B.S., London. Late Choral Scholar, King's College, Cambridge; Mus.Bac., Cantab. Late Foundation Scholar, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge; Ph.D., Cantab. Lincoln College, Oxford; D.D. Oxon. Late Demy of Magdalen College, Oxford; elected Fellow of All Souls. Elected Fellow of Downing College, Cambridge. Research Studentship of Natural Conservancy. Henry Jarvis Scholarship for Construction, R.I.B.A. 249
... 'tHE CANTUARlAN A. w. SKINNER A. M. J. HALSEY E. R. G. Jon ... B. C. M. CARDEW B. C. M . CARDEW
Cadetship, R.A.F. College, Cranwell. Pass, Grade VIII (Orga n), Associated Board. Distinction, Grade VITI (Pianoforte), Associated Board. Distinction, Grade VII (Vio loncello), Associated Board. Distinction, Grade VIII (Pianoforte), Associated Board. Credit, Grade Vll (Pianoforte), Associated Board . Pass, Grade Vll (Pianoforte), Associated Board. Credit, Grade Vlll (Orga n), Associated Boa rd. Cred it, Grade VI (Pianofo rte), Associated Board. Created C.M.G.
B. M. MORRISON B. S.SALMON ... B.S. SALMON ... J. A. W. BEWLEY L. H. GOBLE ... BRIGADIER G. H. FANSHAWE, O.B.E., Created C.B.E. late R.A.C.... COMMANDER B. W. GALPIN, R.N. (ret.) Awarded O.B.E. Created C.B.E. BRIGADIER W. L. GIBSON, M.B.B. W . G. S. FERRIS, Assistant Divisional Awarded M.B.E. Officer, Nigeria P. A. GouLDSBURY, Assistant Superintendent, Federation of Malaya Awarded Colonial Po lice Medal. Police Force
PRIZES, 1952-53 K. D . Agnew K. D. Agnew M. Herbert R. A. M. Baster J. W . R. Lodge N. J. B. Wright M. C. Turnor C. B. Strouts J. M. Bodger S. N . Burbridge M. Herbert N . C.G.Raffie P. H. Moss, D. C. Ryeland A.M. J. Halsey W . N. Wenban-Smith Upper School: B. D . S. Lock Middle School: C. M. J. Whittington Upper School : M. Fisher Middle School: S. J. Laine G. F. Nash
Captain's Prize (Mitchinson) Lady Davidson Prize Headmaster's Prizes
O.K.S. Gift .. . Gilbert Gift .. . Shepherd Gift Waddington Gift Classical (Broughton) Greek Prose (Dean Farrar) Latin Prose (Horsley) Mathematics (Mitchinson) ... 250
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R. G. Milne
Natural Science (Mitchinson) Modern Languages (Mitchinson) ... (Scratton) Reading and Elocution (Harvey Boys)
H. A. Smith A. J. Redpath D.· Clift J. R. M. Harvey }3. D. s. Lock .J. de V. Allen Senior: · B. C. M. Cardew Junior: E. R. G : Job R. A M. Baster P. J. Allen D. C. Moor Upper School : P. N. Baumann Middle School: M.G. Sayer P. Dawson A. Seal D. J. Mortimer K. D. Wilkinson Open: T. J. Chenevix-Trench Lower School: A. G . Woolcott Senior: Junior:
Latin Verse (Biore) ... Greek Verse ... Music (Ryley) (Courtney) (Military Band)
Natural History The King's School, Parramatta, Prizes History (Stanley) (Everitt) English (Evans) Gough Prize for Photography Drawing Prizes
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Divinity Prizes: Upper School (Broughton) Middle School (Marshall Wild) Lower School (Lady Hertslet) ... Blore Prize for the Harvey Society Streatfeild Prize for the Marlowe Society Merton College Prizes: Classics Mathematics and Science Alan Baker Prize for Musical Appreciation Oliver Johnson Gift (Physics and Chemistry) H. V. Crawford Essay Prizes: Upper School Middle School Lower School J. Crawford Essay Prizes: Upper School Middle School , Lowe~ ~c!l,<?ol . ZSl
...
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P. H. Moss M. J. Ricketts N.J. Drew G. G. Jones P. H. Moss B. D. S. Lock G. F. Nash B. S. Salmon· A. J. Briggs P. H. Moss ... { J. H. Cobb M. J. Ricketts A. G. Woolcott ... P. Dawson ., . 0. R. F. Davies . ,. ... . A. E. Mitchell
THE CANTUARIAN
Cathedral Prizes
Geoffrey Wells Archaeology Prize Latin Prizes: Upper School Middle School Lower School Greek Prizes: Upper School Middle School Lower School Ancient History Prize: Upper School Mathematics Prizes (Harrison): Upper School Middle School Lower School Modern Languages Prizes (Greaves) : Upper School: French ... Russian Middle School : French ... German Lower School: French ... German Science Prizes: Upper School Middle School (Physics) ... (Chemistry and Biology) Lower School
N. J. B. Wright · · ·.. { B. K. Jeffery M. J. Ricketts M. J. Gregory No award J. de V. Allen R. J. R. Miller N. Devoil W. N . Wenban-Smith G. c:. Fletcher H. A. S. Bancroft D . Clift N. Paine G . C. F letcher T. J. Hird M. J. Moore H. A. Smith B. A. E. Duerinckx M . P. Miller R. B. Horton B. F. Papenfus A. J. Briggs A. R. Johnson J. C. Alabaster K. R. Nightingale
English Prizes: Upper School Middle School (Galpin) ... Lower School
M. J. Moor.e E. R. G. Job J. P. D. Moore
History Prizes: Upper School Middle School (Gordon) ... Lower School
P. Dawson E. R. G. Job R. H. Williams
Geography Prizes: Middle School (Gordon) .. . Lower School
D. A. S. Hodge W. G. Stanley 2,2
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Form Prizes: Fifth Arts A Fifth Arts B Fifth Arts C Fifth Science A Fifth Science B Fifth Science C Up,per Shell Arts ... Upper Shell Science Arts Shell A Science Shell A Arts Shell B s¡cience Shell B Remove A Remove B ... Fourth
0. R. F . Davies J. C. Trice R. E. Tilman M. Warrander J. F. Love W. J. C. Kemp R. H. Williams K. R. Nightingale J. J. Richardson R. D. Gregory B. D. Foord J. W. Studt J. M. B. Gingell P. R. Leggatt J. J. Lewis
BLISS Sofas: Sofas is to lie on. No they aren't; Sofas is for reclining into, While dreaming away the hours In musing sadness . . As the diluted sun Moves across the walls We recall Times past; And reassess the human race, Always busying about nothing: But for me Only to arrange cushions, Arrange body, And lie: And think of those who don't. Sofas
... Yes ... Sofas is to lie on. LOQUAT
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WALTER PATER AND CANTERBURY "Here everything, one's very games, have gone by rule onwards from the dim old monastic days, and the Benedictine school for novices with thy wholesome severities which have descended to our own time." Pater was writing with his old school in mind in his autobiographical romance, Emerald Uthwart. It was composed and published in 1892, thirty-four years after Pater had left Canterbury, and two before his death. During these his memories of Canterbury had mellowed. We do not know for certain whether he renewed them by visits in later life, but it is evident that he was not happy at school. He came here at the age of fourteen, in 1853. He was an unusually serious, retiring boy, much given to reading and contemplation, and if he held aloof from his schoolfellows, it was through something more profound than personal distaste, for he was acutely sensitive to the beauty of his surroundings. Pater's contemporaries at school have presented him as an unsociable boy. By their own standards this must have seemed true. It is illustrated, perhaps rather painfully, by an incident which occurred in the autumn of 1856. Pater, who did not join in games or snow-fights (he cowered shivering ingloriously against the wall during the latter), was set upon by a group of boys near the Norman Staircase. In the scuffie that ensued, he received such a severe kick from one hooligan, that he was taken ill and lay in bed some weeks. Mr. Wallace, the headmaster, threatened the culprit with expulsion, but a plea from Pater's sick-bed dissuaded him from such a course. For Pater was not simply unsociable; he had deep sympathy even for those who disliked him, although this sympathy cannot have amounted to a kindred feeling. It is said that the incident left him with an awkward gait which remained with him all his life. The roughness of publicschool life in the nineteenth century, wbich we cannot comprehend to-day, only increased his retiring habits and his active and susceptible imagination gave him ample compensation in his own thoughts. Particularly he seems to have developed a love of symbolical ceremony. So the young Marius, with whom Pater undoubtedly tended to identify himself, was brought up to "a religion of usages and sentiment rather than of facts and belief". To Gaston, the hero of the unfinished romance, Gaston de Latour, Pater tells us that "relic worship came naturally". Indeed we cannot read Gaston .de Latour without thinking, rightly or wrongly, that its writer is thinking constantly of the Cathedral town of Canterbury, not Chartres. Emerald Uthwart is himself inspired by the "mannerly, decorous" services of the cathedral (which is never mentioned by name). This sensitivity ¡and sympathy for past traditions developed in Pater in his later years, mingled with a romantic affection for the middle ages and for classical antiquity which formed part of the Victorian birthright. Pater had few friends and almost none of his correspondence survives. We know almost nothing of his development save what he has left us in his writings. In one of those "golden moods of retrospect" of which his works are full, he wrote of this peculiar mellowing faculty of his imagination: "How insignificant, at the moment, seem the influences of the sensible things which are tossed and fall and lie about us in the environment of early childhood."
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These "sensible things" clearly made a deep impression on Pater. He stored them up, his imagination working into them a strange, fanciful quality which emerged in later life in the mellifluous prose of The Child in the House, Marius the Epicurean, and the Imaginary Portraits. It is significant that his sweetest, most serene reminiscences were produced in and after middle age. Pater's intellectual development was gradual. His thought had a "seeming indirectness or Jack of purpose" based on his education and introverted character, and gives us no revelations. His outward life was uninterrupted by great events, his philosophy contains little that is original and his feelings and artistic opinions were voiced also by Ruskin. But this lack of inspiration was his strength, for it is as if the poet in him had turned from the unacknowledged legislation of the world to the idyllic, ordered beauty of prose poetry. H is idealism is somethin g more than a fine frenzy, a more satisfying preoccupation with the texture and loveliness of word-combinations. He suggests rather than describes. His effect on the reader is calming, a nd it is a relief to escape from the miry complexities of our modern life into a land "where it is always afternoon".
It is a temptation to regard Emerald Uthwart as a n accu rate r epresentation of Pater's life here. But we sho uld remember that in his later years he embroidered his early reminiscences so that the impression we receive is full of warmth and soft pathos, but which is nevertheless misty. Emerald U thwart is, as his creator was, a sensitive boy who comes from a Sussex home of "oldish brick and raftered plaster". He fi nds in school life the widening of outlook he needs, and in the cathedral precincts an exciting fulfilment of his ideals, tinged with a nostalgia for things spiritual in their outward manifestations. He is popular with his fellows and experiences none of the misgivings of first acquaintance. He is shown his cubicle, the old schoolroom with its deep-dug desks, "crowded as an old churchyard with forgotten names", the Norman stairs, the old monastic buildings round the Green Court, and the "rich heraldries of the blackened and mouldcring cloisters". Tn the services of the Cathedral, the processio n of surpliced scholars, and the prevai ling atmosphere of tradition and ceremony, he finds satisfaction and his wilder inclinations disappear with disuse. The "Angel Steeple", representing the centuries in patiently wrought stone, seems to symbolize Emerald's new life. So he settles into a life of "incessant cheerful industry" , mixes with his fellows "in their quaint confining little cloth gowns", enjoys Homer and Virgil and Horace (indeed, he keeps the latter under his pillow), plays cricket, and comes to be r egarded as "incapable of pain". Jn this respect, however, he is somewhat unreal. For instance, he is made to say to the headmaster after a caning (over which Pater becomes euphemistic), "And now, Sir, that I have taken my punishment, I hope you wi ll forgive my fault" , a little oversubmissive, even for the hero of a novel. But Emerald does escape prudery, although his subsequent progress is fra ught with unreality, and the end of his schooldays approaches. The last Speech D ay comes and he delivers a recitation in Greek which charms his hearers ; cheers, general admjration, and he leaves with his friend, Ja mes Stokes, for Oxford. His stay there is short, and he joins the Army with a commission. War breaks out, and he a nd Sto kes find themselves in F lan ders, waiting in foggy, monotonous surroundings before a beleaguered town. 255
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The two lead a little expedition in search of military glory, but on rejoining their regiment are court martialled on a charge of desertion and condemned to death. Stokes is shot Uthwart spared but degraded and dismissed. After wandering aimlessly, he at last return~ home to the fields he has loved, and there dies of an old wound exacerbated by misery and disgrace, and too late to hear that he has been exonerated. The last part of the story is unconvincing, even rather far-fetched . Pater tried to depict an ideal type of young Englishman with rather Spartan ideals and the physical energy he himself lacked. He had retired into a life of scholarly seclusion, but found that he was misunderstood by many and his unconventionalism criticized . It is no wonder then that in old age he returned to a vision of youthful daring and vigour, and we should find it easy to ignore the unreality of this vision in the flowing harmony of the prose composing it. W.E.S.T.
BRUCE HARVEY WILLS (1944-53) Born 7th April, 1936. Died lOth November, 1953 At the end of the Summer Term, 1952, a cheerful smiling youngster waved a friendly good-bye to me; in the course of that holiday he developed cancer in the knee. Amputation became necessary by the autumn if his life was to be spared even for a time. There never can have been a happier, more unself-centred patient than Bruce Wills. His leg was removed on a Monday night, a nd on the Wednesday night he telephoned to us from his bed that he was in fine form and that we were not to worry. In due time he came back to the School he loved, a perfect master of his artificial limb: he walked, rode a bicycle, a nd this last holidays managed his boat as well as ever. It had always been a delight to see such a cheerful and good youngster a bout, but to those of us who knew that his time would probably be short he was a constant source of strength and encouragement. We knew- and he did not- that by May last a secondary growth had appeared in his chest, a nd that, humanly spea king, his days were numbered. He returned to School this term looking well and in excellent spirits: but during October he began to walk with more difficulty; he could not use a bicycle, and stairs troubled his breathing. For some short time he rested in the Sanatorium, to be taken home in the latter part of the month. He died peacefully (at 1.25) on Tuesday, November lOth, to the last ignorant of the nature of his illness. On Friday, November 13th, he was cremated at Plymouth, after a service in his home Church of Wadebridge, and later his ashes were put in the River Camel which he loved so much. On that same day the School held a Memorial Servicea Requiem at 7. 15 a.m.-in the Chapel of Our Lady Undercroft. About 250 came-a tribute to the esteem in which this gallant boy was held. Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to his father and mother- he was their only child- and to his grandmother. We shall never forget him. F.J.S. 256
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SMOOTHNESS AND SOAP A ha ircut had always been one of his pleasures at school. For half a n hour, his Macchiavellianism wo uld take a subtle turn- the mask of a bright, embarrassable English Public School boy. It was a sip of that refreshing soft-drink, Civilization : holidays' atmosphere of comforta ble cha irs and polite talk, cigarette smoke and dead magazines. But on this occasion he concealed a certa in nervousness beneath his usual hail-bellow. For he had decided it was time to put an end to the fur tha t had recently crept over his face. Some of his contempora ries shaved themselves, but for him it was untrod la nd, and Mr. Littimer offered security. H at at the appropriate a ngle, he walked urba nely down the High Street. ("Comi ng on the left, remember to ta ke hat off, 'Good a fternoon, Sir'.") He felt quite the popular fellow. " A visit to the barber's"- like a French phrase boo k. He chuckled falsely to himself. A chorus of "Good day, Sir's" reached him at Mr. Littimer's. Mumbling back, " G ood morning" , he sat down next to a wo man with a fig ure like a pop lar tree and protruding teeth. H ot and uncomfo rtable, he looked around the shop, a nd saw an older King's boy. (Half smile, look away quickly, meet again in the mi rror, blush, and blow nose.) His wing-collar had softened considerably by the time his tu rn came, a nd he said casually, " Hair-cut and shave, please." Mr. Littimer settled into h is usua l stride. He prided himself on his patter, a nd the time when a customer had called him "an eighteenth century conversational" had been among the ha ppiest of his career. "Why not have a n oil-shampoo, too, Sir? T hey a re very fashiona ble j ust now, Sir." He was about to refuse; but the aide contributed, " Yes, that's it, oil sha mpoos very fashionable these days." And the expert again, " I thin k it would be wise, Sir. It does get tha t scurf out of the scalp." The very wo rds were like a bell, a nd he weakly submitted . " And how is the King's School, Sir?" " Oh, alright, thank you." " Yo u' re in Wa lpole House, aren't you?" (Mr. Littimer's knowledge of the School was a living legend.) "Grange, actually." " Ah, yes, Sir; and how is Mr. D artington in Gra nge, Sir?" "I don' t know that he is." "Sir?" " He's a lright." "Playing cricket this afternoon? I tho ught so-annoyed about it, aren' t you, Sir? I have a personal theory cricket is out of date-too slow for the modern generation. You youngsters want something more dynamic." Since he had spent the entire term so far worrying a bout getting into the Colts' Cricket Team, the speech irrita ted him, but he was too ill a t ease to say a nything. H owever, after failing to reach his handkerchief through the white shrouds which surrounded him, he said, " Oh, no, the slower, the better." 257
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"Ah, but yo u can't get past the ult imate fact th a t it is a slow ga me, a nd I'm sure you're the exception that proves the ru le." "Proves the fool", he said absent-mindedly wondering whether it meant a nyth ing. Mr. Littimer was unruffied: "I see you have a ready wit, Sir." Just when he was deciding that he was not r eally at all good-looking (or was it the mirror?), the irritating clippers ceased a t the back of his neck. Act Two : Opera tion Oil Shampoo. Scene : Same. Suddenly, a piping hot towel was thrown over his face; he opened his mouth to protest, a nd got a mouthful of towel. He could not see o r hea r o r thin k; and then, just when the towel had become bearably cool, it was taken off- freedom, air, gasp, swollen red face in mirro r, and then a nother towel, hotter tha n the first. "N ot too hot, Sir?" he heard a voice from reality; a nd he muffled back, " No." T hree times he went through this ni ghtmare, and when it was finished, he sagged back, safe but defeated. Unimportant tha t Mr. Littimer rubbed the oil in so ha rd that he was jerked backwards a nd forwards in his scat ; unimportant that his hair started falling out and M r. Littimer reckoned that it had not been washed for three months; unimporta nt, even, that it eventually finished and the shavi ng began. For this he was made to lie prostrate (what wo ul d the other King's boy thin k? Never, never again !) With the manner of a tribal Zulu prepa ring fo r th e Da nce of Death, Mr. Littimer was zealously sharpen ing a I on~ naked knife against a lea ther th ong. Then his face was covered with delicious frothy wh iteness, li ke the Shavallo Man who has put on Too Much. Then the razor itself, and the drop-down-deadness-of-heart which he usually only felt before going in to bat. 1t wou ld be so easy for his throat to be slit; perhaps the "customers" were in on the plot. He thought of Sweeney Todd , and involu ntarily looked down to see if there were a ny sig ns of a trap-door under the chair. A second later, he felt a thin trickle of blood on his chin . " Steady o n, don't j erk like tha t, Sir ! I'm no t going to ki ll you, hal ha l ha ! Sir! " And then Mr. Littimer dabbed a t h im to stop the blood . ("Better lie quiet, use cunning." ) For the remainder of the shave, he moved not a muscle. Eventually, it finished , a nd he spra ng swiftly, cleansh aven, a nd gratefull y from the chair, realizing the ridiculousness of his fears and forgetting them in the sa me moment. But he had not, of co urse, eno ugh money to pay for his excesses, a nd left the shop with the words stinging in his ea rs, "We never mind our very yo ung customer s paying la ter, Sir. Good day, Sir." The most unkindest cut? Not quite-he had still to be shouted at across the street : "Your hat, Sir!" Hurry back, thank awfu lly, and stumble away. It was some way down the street before he recovered his urbanity. Next time he would know all the ropes. Back at the shop, Mr. Littimer was smiling to himself. He felt pleased. AMINADAB
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SOCRATES BEFORE THE COMMITTEE FOR UN-ATHENIAN ACTIVITIES Tell me, noble McCarthides, why have yo u brought me here? We have evidence, Socrates, that yo u and your confederates have been acting contrary to the interests of Athens, perhaps in the service of some foreign power. That is indeed interesting. But tell me, in what way have r been doing what you say l have been doing? Tn many ways. For instance, d id you not accept an invitation some years ago to attend the revels at the Persian Embassy? r did once. A nd d id not Co nctus hear you saying that the Athenian Government was mistaken in its attitude to Persia ? Moreover, we can prove that, ever since your visit to the Persian Embassy you have been exchanging perfumed notes with the Persians. My private correspondence is no concern of yours, McCarthides. That depends upon the nature of you r correspondence; but do not try to evade the iss ue. Now for a long time you have been a close friend of Alcibiades, saving his life on one occasion, I believe. Can you explain this conduct, seeing that Alcibiades, who has even now fled from the charges against him to Persia, has always been undemocratic in his sympathies? Do you really think that because I a m a friend of Alcibiades, he must necessarily influence me with his political views? Besides, I can remember to this day that you, too, knew him well, and used to borrow books from him when you were at school together. lt is not you who are inquiring into my li fe, Socrates, but l who am questioning you. That hardly appears to be the case. Nevertheless, you will curb your tongue. All the same, yo u cannot deny, McCarthides, that thi s matter T have raised has some bearing o n the case. Surely, Socrates, you cannot believe that I, who have so long been prominent among the accusers of Alcibiacles, have not yet shaken off his foul influence? And yet it is true, is it not, McCarthides, that when a pupil at school learns in his ea rliest years that two and two a re four, that knowledge never leaves him? Certainly that is so. And you wou ld not deny that the same applies to learning the rudiments of fencing? It does. And to the learning of politics? 1 will not deny it. Is it not then probable, most venerable McCarthides, that the same thing applies to yo ur attitude towards Alcibiades? I mea n, of co urse, that the undemocratic influence which Alcibiades bad over you then may still be with you.
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You are trying to fool me, Socrates: your arguments are invalid. Nevertheless, you cannot den y your acquaintance, and, indeed, your friendship with Alcibiades. Since, however, it is you who are questioning me, I wi ll give you reasons for all those activities of mine which you call un-Athenian. The fact that you admit those activities is sufficient for us. We do no t wan t your reasons. Yes, r know your attitude: you will have me punished whatever my reasoning, because you fear what the leaders of your faction may say. But I will not have justified myself if I do not give you my defence. Well, be brief. My visit to the Persian Embassy took place during the archonship of Ped ieus, when good relations existed between Athens and Persia. It was then no cri me to be fri end ly with Persians. But that does not excuse your scandalous statements in the market place, which you have been making ever since. Let me quote to you some of your a buse of our government: 'There is obviously much confusion in the governmen t. Its members continually make contradictory statements in public. Obviously the government does not know its own mind , and thereby violates the first principle of every wise man, which runs " Know thyself".' Surely these are irresponsi ble and libellous sta tements about the internal working of the government-or ¡ wi ll you deny even that? Tell me, good McCarthides, are you a member of the governmen t? That question is irrelevant ; but since you a re so difficult to satisfy, L will answer you. I am a member of it, in a manner of speaking. Good. Now, McCarthides, can you tell me who is best a ble to judge whether a statesman is a great one or not: the statesman himself or an observer? Why, an observer, naturally. And who can judge best whether a child has been spoilt by his parents, the parents or some other person? Someone else, of course. And who can judge whet her a horse has been properly trained, the trai ner or another expert on horses? The other man, naturally. Why then, McCarthides, do you think that yo u are a better judge of the government to which you belong than is anyone else-for instance, myself-when in every other case you admit that an impartial observer is the best judge? [ see that you are, as usual, trying to trap me with your pseud o-logic. But it is part of my duty to the government to act like a watch-dog, to smell out corruption and treason in influential places. This is a duty I am proud to perfo rm. But to return now to your case, can you deny that, by your harangues, you are corrupting the yo uth and are turning them to atheism, so that they become critical of our d emocracy and are as such useless nwmbers of our city?
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I do most certainly deny it, 0 McCarthides; for l, like you, am proud to have done my duty towards the city. By making the young men examine the workings of our democracy, I am helping them to find out how good it really is. Not at all; for, having once questioned the democracy, they will all the more easily succumb to the autocratical doctrines of Persia. Answer me th is, 0 McCarth ides: does a runner run more slowly when he has to strive against the competition of other runners? No, of course not; for the runner's desire to win is always increased by the challenge of another runner. And does not the same th ing happen in horse-r acing? I have never seen a horse race. Then you have missed something-but I ca n assure you that it is so : a horse does run faster with stro nger opposition. I will take your word for it. Is it not then obvious to yo u, McCarthides, that our democracy wi ll be made all the stronger if people question it; fo r if it is as good a thing as you say it is, it will try to meet the challenge of criticism. I suppose, therefore, that you claim that by detracting from the goodness of the city, you are in fact strengthening it?
J certain ly do think that; fo r without a perso n li ke me to keep on infuriating you, like a gad-fty, your democracy will weaken in a very short time. By condemning me, you are departing from the true Idea of democracy. You cannot purify democracy by becoming intolerant and autocratic. The power that has been given to you to persecute me shows plainly that the decay has already entered our democracy. And if you condem n me, a punishmen t far heavier than you have inflicted upon me will surely await yo u. Jf you thin k tha t by persecuting men yo u can prevent someo ne fr om censuring the life of this city, you are mistaken; that is not a way of escape wh ich is either possible or honourable. The easiest and noblest way is not by defaming others, but by improving yourselves. We did not come here, 0 Socrates, to discuss the decadence of the city. Let us no longer contin ue with this futile procrastination: you k now very well that the verdict is inevitable. How elegantly you talk, McCarthides, about inevitable verdicts and futile procrastinations. But let me tell yo u that justice, es pecially since we are not in agreement about what justice is, cannot be hurried. I have refuted all your arguments, but still you are not convinced. P erhaps yo u will have some more valid charges ready for tomorrow's session. HYPHEN- SMITII
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THE REVEREND JOSEPH PRICE The only reasons why this reverend gentleman is interesting to us are that he lived his last days in the Mint Yard- in a house on the site of the Parry Hall- and that he knew a lot of people more or less intimately connected with the King's School of his day, notably Osmund Beauvoir, Headmaster from 1750 to 1782. Mr. Price was very much a beneficed clergyman of Kent, for he was Vicar of Brabo urne from 1767 to 1786, Rector of Monks Horton 1776-86, Vicar of Herne 1786- 94; and finally Vicar of Littlebourne from J794 until 1807, when he died at the age of 70. Geographically he moved nearer and nearer in his ecclesiastical course to Canterbury, where he longed to be at least a Six Preacher. His remains lie in the churchyard of Littlebourne. He .leased the Mint Yard house from the Chapter in 1785, a house formerly inhabited by Jacob Janeway, himself a King's Scholar and Exhibitioner of St. John's, Cambridge, and perhaps a descendant of the well-known Nonconfo rmist divine of the 17th century. Joseph Price was in no sense a famous ma n- he was not even a graduate, though he studied at Cambridge-and no body would ever have been able to recover him from oblivion had he not kept a diary. A volume of it was found as recently as 1949, since when another couple have been discovered: their evidence reveals the writing of others but as yet they have made no appearance. He kept his diaries in a shorthand not dissimilar to that of Pepys, and with great patience and skill the City Librarian of Canterbury has translated them. J n places they are as interesting as Parson Woodforde's remarks; here and there they are more eye-brow-raising than Samuel Pepys' observations. Joseph Price was a most curious mixture of a man. Price was not at all well-off, though possessing some slight degree of private income. His ambition was to better that income, and two ways were obvious: a r ich living or a rich wife, or both. The Livings to which he was presented were not negligible in value (and for ten years he held Brabourne and Monks Ho rto n together). Earlier in the century those benefices were valued thus:Brabo urne approx. £ 100 Monks Ho rton £42 Littlcbourne £ 130 Herne £80 and for present-day values we may multiply the figures by perhaps 10. But as to marriage, this clergyman of convivial ha bits wanted the best of many worlds, as may be seen when he was weighing up the question whether o r not to propose to Peggy Drake. He lists the pro's and con's thus : ADVANTAGES
DISAOVANTAGES
Tail of a great fami ly No fellowships No Regiment No Travelling No residence at Cambridge May disgust my widow
£80 or £100 income Inquire about sister being dead and how fortune went May get a slice of Miss Dra ke' s fortun e 262
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I may die worth £ 10,000 having an active man for brother
D o n't know how to behave to my own family Buying furniture What fami lies to visit a nd what not to visit Will extinguish ambition Shall not have so much command of money as now Taedium vitae will increase in this situation Who knows what another war may do for bro ther
All he could be s ure of- should Miss Peggy consent- would be her £80 or so a year, fo r a slice of her elder sister's for tune was problematical. Should he sell himself into domestic slavery for such a sum, when his elder brother (who was wo rth something) might die through over-activi ty or be killed in the next war? Besides, P eggy was an insignifica nt member of the family, a nd he would have to aba ndon a ll hope of College Fellowships (held only by bachelors) and even of completing his degree; the lucrative job of a Regimental Chaplaincy would not be for him; his trips to Paris had whetted his a ppetite for continental travel- good-bye to that. His widow, probably his comfortable ho use-keeper, would be upset, a nd on the whole the prospect looked boring. His heart rea lly yea rned for Mrs. Lane. "A charming woman", he wrote on May 28th, 1750, " I would have been infinitely happy with her. An uncommonly delicate woman, fond of poultry and fish".
1t would appea r that Mr. Price did not much like Dr. Beauvoir of o ur School. Strange, for he was held a celebrated Headmaster, and boys from the County fa milies and the homes of Church dignitaries came here in quantities. He was intimate with Archbishop Wa ke, and a scholar of no mean order. Willia m Marsh (O.K.S.), Margaret Professo r at Cambridge and later Bishop of Peterborough, said he had never seen the equa l of Bea uvoir in taste, precision and facility in the learned languages. But Joseph Price ca nnot away with him. "Don't like Beauvoir's pom p", he wri tes, "and being the Schoolmaster in company", and mea nly noted a friend's opinion that the Headmaster has had no more than £3,000 with his wife. She was Anne Boys, who died in 1762 and lies buried in Blean Church. But the good doctor can ha rdly have needed her financial suppo rt, for while he was Headmaster he held the livings of Littlebourne and Milton by Sittingbourne in plurality a nd apparently lwade also, to say no thing of bei ng in additio n a Six Preacher in the Cathedral. Price quo tes his neighbour Fausset who "called Beauvoi1· an impudent, shewy, pushing, boshy, florid man. Too expensive for him. Gave a most gra nd entertainment last Christmas to Dr. Tatton and his lady. Green peas one dish. Had been preserved in salt till that time. Mrs. T . entertained the same com pany soon after and gave them 2 dishes more than B . . . . . Faussett wonders how B. manages, has 5 children and ought to save something for them."
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Later on Price reco rds gossip that Dr. Beauvoir is pushing to get Miss Knatchbull or to marry well somewhere. His last reference to him runs thus: " Beauvoir much hated at Littlebourne on account of tithes". 'We have spoilt a grea t man,' said Dean Lynch ... 'in making him Schoo lmaster' ; and the dia rist finishes, "it is a musing what nonsense he preaches at Littlebourne, more than one would think him ca pable of deliverin,!!''. Beauvoir did, in fact, marry again: 20 yea rs after his first wife's death. But others with King's School co nnexi on beside Dr. Beauvoir come before us, though we hope that Pattenson of Ashford was not brought up here; who "before he married (was) called Sir by his sisters because dependent upon him and they had not often the honour of d ining or sitting in the sa me room with him". There is Dr. John Lynch, King's Schola r and Dean of Canterbury, who had the reputation of a man of wide charity- and H asted says loyall y devoted to the School- but Mr. Price d ismissed him simply as "famous fo r cou rting great men at Eton an d Oxford " . The Dennes figure, father and so n, both King's Scholars and antiquaries. John Denne, the father, was Archdeacon and Prebendary of Rochester; his so n John Vica r of Maidstone for many years. He married Mary Lynch , the Dean's niece. But Price has not much good to say about him : "some undoubted marks of insanity appeared in John D. before the scene of the gaol. He a nd his wife drank too much old Port after dinner till they jumped about the room like squi rrels". The gaol scene must anyhow have been unnerving ; it is described in Rowles' History -of Maidstone (1809) thus: "On Wednesday. the 7th of August, 1765, at about I I o'clock in the forenoon, the prisoners (then under sentence of death) were admitted to come up in the hall o r kitchen, to attend Divine Service, which was admin istered by the Rev. John Denne: during which time Simon Pingano and Andrew Benevenuto (two Genoese) seized the fire-arms and cutlasses, and murdered John Stevens (the keeper of the gaol, murdered by Simon Pinga no) and John Fletcher (murdered by Andrew Benevenuto), and made themselves masters of the gaol. It was with great difficulty Dr. Denne was dug out from under the wall." Geo rge Lynch, a medical docto r and the D ean's brother, is frequent in Price's pages. Hasted, the later fa mous historia n and antiqua ry, is made to look foolish in one place. Dr. Walwyn (one of the Canons) asked him what I M in large letters stood for- as on the roof of the Eastern Crypt-and Hasted is repo rted as saying they were the builder's initials: " says the doctor, ' I thought it had been Jesu Maria .'" Another King's Scholar and Master displayed ingenuity: proposed when houses were numbered in London that one side and (the) other odd numbers. As I . 3. 5. of the other 2. 4. 6. you might with certainty go to the house." Tucker deserves
"Tucker of Canterbury o f the way would be even Then knowing a number this memorial.
It is not easy to discover how Mr. Gurney really fed his boys. He was Usher at the School and had boys boa rding with him. "Mr. Gurney of Canterbury never had any hashes nor minces at his table," writes Mr. Price: "nor meat pies I think. The boys say they have the bones after the ma ids have picked them. What was left always cold a nd every boy chose cold first. If they had not joint, he would say 'Well yo u have won the tablecloth but l will buy it again off you with a jug or two of strong beer.' Gurney never gave a cold Dinner alone. Always a sallad or cucumber with cold victuals,"
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ft is doubtful if "young Knatchbull" was a King's Scho la r ; he " spit in Heb. Rand o lph's face a t D r. Rutten's upon which H. corrected hi m for it before all the co mpa ny, very sma rtly. Some say turned him up a nd flogged hi m." Heb. Ra ndo lph was in a ll pro bability the eldest son of the Recorder of Ca nterbury ; he was a King's Scholar a nd a Fellow of All So uls. Jn o ne light Dean Lynch shows up poorly. Jo hn Francis was a boy a t the School and later Headmaster; he died in 1734 a nd was buried in the Clo isters. T he Second Mas ter, James Eva ns (also K.S.) wro te a La tin epitaph, two li nes of which were by the Dean's orders chiselled out. The offendin g lines were: "Vir erat inter pa ucos pro positi tenax, quodque rectum censuit, in eo consta nter perstitit ;" which may be ro ughl y rendered to mea n that like a ll too few men he stuck to his principles a nd adhered to what he tho ught was rig ht. All this was well enough kn own and is to be read in Sidebotham's M emorials, but no t ti ll Price's sho rtha nd was translated has the reason for the Dean's actio n come to lig ht. T he Dean had asked him fo r some vo te which Francis had refused: and so he too k hi s revenge "witho ut an o rder of Chapter which he had no right to do." Ano th er day P rice heard "tha t young Gostlin g hac! got Milto n because his fa ther showed G enera l Ho neywood how to put his leg in a chair when tro ubled with gout witho ut pain" . Young Gostling (?K .S.) was pr o bably the bro ther of the Minor Ca non and A ntiquary, a uthor of the Walks in and about Canterbury, who lived in the Mint Yard where School Ho use now sta nds. So these men belo nging to Canterbury a nd the School come and go, and space does no t permit researches into them: Deri ng, K ingsfo rd, Lukyn, Conant, Sprackling, Chafy a nd the rest. Long dead, they are strangely alive under Price' s shorthand, and so is Joseph Price himself. Not much gossip escaped him. When Cornwa llis was translated to Can terbury, D enne sa id, "We have now go t what we wa nted, a gentleman," for he detested Seeker, "who had preceded him at Maidsto ne". " 'This day I dra nk tea with the amia ble Mrs. C harles Milles a nd then went home to my disagreea ble wife.' An entry fo und in the dea n's pocket-book in his own ha nd-writing after his dea th . " So Joseph writes : and how did he know? He was pro bably acc ura te eno ugh, fo r he no tes that A rchbishop Cornwa llis has " a large straggling ha nd like one that had the palsy o r wrote with his left hand, as he is said to do", a nd his description is true. A great cleat of intimate history is to be picked up fro m his pages, interested as he must have been in everybody he mel a nd in all places of his travels; and a great deal is unprinta ble. Bu t specia ll y is his d ia ry vividly interesting to those who love the School. As l write this collection of sna tches l have before me the Minute Book of the K.S. Feast Society of Price's ti me, and here are the sig natures of the men he traduces or a pproves of: Jo hn Ly nch, Herbert Ra nd olph, Jo hn Ho neywood (whose handwriting shows no sign of gouty affection), Osm und Bea uvoir, William G urney, Jo hn T ucker, G eorge Ly.1ch, a nd the rest ; a nd somehow one feels they are a goodly company, despite the Reverend Joseph Price.
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EARTHQUAKE IN CEPHALONIA We had been looking forward to our holiday in Cephalonia. True, the sea is no clearer, the sky no bluer, nor the mountains higher, than in any other part of Greece; yet Cephalonia seems more beautiful, more comforting, and safer tha n a ny other place l know. It is a mountainous isla nd. The people are hard but not harsh, simple but not primitive. Villages of some twenty or even a hundred houses are scattered over the island, little dots of colo ur a midst the olive trees and vineya rds in the valleys or the brambles and cypresses on the hills. Sami, where our house was situated, is the port, but it is only a village of about three hundred inhabitants. The streets are dusty, rutted, and few. But there are some fine houses, because it is the ambition of all good Samians to return in their prosperity to their native village. Soon after 10 o'clock on the morning of Sunday, August 9th, we were all happily engaged in our various pursuits. Everything was peaceful save for the lorry that was trying to start up outside. It was making a dreadful noise; it seemed to be shaking the whole house. The house was shaking; there was a noise of a great roaring; the sound of the lorry was drowned in the more terrifying and overwhelming sound of a n earthquake. The maid rushed in, crying to the Blessed Virgin and to her own particular saints for mercy; we all kept very still except my grandmother who was fi nishing her cup of coffee. Behind her a cupboard was rocking drunkenly; the roar was deafening, louder and louder, round us, abo ut us, everywhere, even within us. I ran to pull my grandmother away from the cupboard. I shouted to the ma id to help me, but I could not hear my own voice. Or was it that I had no voice, that I was only a shadow, a cloud of dust? Would it never stop? Earthquakes last only for a few seconds. But this was different, and every second seemed an age. Everything- the house, the island, the Earth's roaringwas lost in a shattering onrush of time. Even now the roof, a solid sla b of concrete, was shaking. It was only a matter of seconds. We waited; the maid was crying; my grandmother still held her coffee-cup. All sound died away; the house still stood; plaster fell in a fine dust from a crack. T he maid still cried, and I was panting with exhaustion. Not much damage was done in this first shock: only a few houses had fallen, but there were very few that were a ny longer habitable. One of the walls of my bedroom had opened up, and the ceiling had partly collapsed . T hat night we slept in the garden. The world seemed awed and silent a nd beautiful with starlight; but I was afraid. The ground beneath was only a thin leaf between me and some dark abyss below. 1 felt as if 1 were the only human being awake in the whole world. On the next day, Monday, there were only two feeble shocks. Life became normal, and in the evening there was a film in the village- its title was Above all, calmness. We slept in the garden again, and perhaps that is why the worst shock of all, which woke us at 5.30 on Tuesday morning, seemed somehow less malevolent and more impersonal than that on Sunday. T his shock lasted for forty seconds; only one house was standing when it was over, and that was built upon sand. A church on the mountain side crumbled to dust a nd the graves in its little cemetery opened so that the coffins rolled down to the village. Many people were kil led: some were caught indoors as they were mak ing ready for the day, others as they made their way to the sea. The earthquake was not to stop 266
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yet. Every few moments there was a shock, sometimes just a hollow booming, sometimes it was strong enough to knock down a crumbling wall. That was the worst part of it, the uncertainty. Wo uld the island sin k into the sea? Wo ~Jid any of us live to tell of the d ay when the mo untai ns rushed together and roads parted under our feet? [n the meantime we could only wait- sit in the bright sunlight a nd wait. Some of the more badly injured had been taken o ff in the morning by a ship bound for Corfu and Italy, a nd were tended by a party of French medical students. It was not till 4.0 in the afternoon th at the fi rst rescue ships came with bread and ftour, a medica l chest and so me tents, but they had no rescue equipment. On Wednesday night Argostoli was destroyed, a nd the ships of the British and America n navies arrived. But we had left; we had collected as many chi ldren as we co uld accommodate and were o n our way to the Piraeus. A s we looked back we could see the lighted cigarettes of the two pol icemen of Sami gua rdi ng t he ru ins aga inst looters in t he haunted a nd deserted village. There were many theories a bo ut the cause of the ea rthqua ke. Some said it was to do with Vesuvius erupting, so me that it had happened because the peo ple had not fasted in Lent. Man y said that we must have been near the centre of the eart hquake. It was o nly afterwards that we knew that we had been the centre. G.S.S.
BLAKE-LONELY GENIUS The life o f Blake is comparatively well known: how he began to dra w a t ten, was apprenticed to an engraver at fourteen, and, reach ing manhood during the American War, shared with countless o ther artists, craftsmen an d workers abject poverty dur ing the cruel yea rs of the Napoleonic Wars a nd the subseq uent social repression ; and how, supported in his last days by the publisher Linnell, he ga thered a circle of fervent admirers who remained with him unti l his death in 1827 . The influences that worked on hi m are of great importa nce, for they largely dictated the style a nd co ntent of his work s. He came of a Nonconformist fa mily, and found the Bible a continuous so urce of inspiration. The Old Testament references to the "firmament" a nd the "foundations of the earth" stirred him deeply, a nd formed much of the basis for his subject matter. The Medieval a lso fascinated him. Basire, the engraver, had sent him when still an apprentice to copy Gothic monuments in Westminster Abbey. This proved of the utmost importa nce to him; not only did it help to mo uld his style, it nurtured his romantic instincts a nd influenced him in his love for Time, Death and Eternity as frequent themes in his work. His chief inspiration, however, was Michaelangelo. As a boy he had shown a preference for this artist when Caracci and the like were in fashion, and this predilection remained with him throughout his life. For a hundred years after his death Blake was known by little more than Jerusalem and Tiger, Tiger. His a rt, indeed , is not easy of a pproach. Wordsworth, Southey, La mb thought him mad, and there is no doubt that he tried to shock and mystify. He was always himself, and never fell into mere mannerism, however consistently strange his
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style of drawing was. He had, however, to draw merely from the memory of engravings from Michaelangelo. His desig ns are essentially a n engraver's; he was never an oil painter, and he reacted aga inst the academic style of Reyn o lds. His design, says Bronowski, peters out in pattern; his drawings are flat, as of a ma n taught to make pictures from those of others, his workmanship often vague and mechanical. It is true that in his emulation of Michaela ngelo he spreads a pattern of almost flat shapes rather than a volume and that in imitating he fell short of his inspiration; but we must appreciate him as Blake and not as a mock-Michaelangelo. He was not concerned with abso lute rea lism, but with the expression of his own intense feeli ngs. He is great as an engraver, an arranger of beautiful or terrifying forms, and as the recorder of a weird and fascinating imagination. Tt is often said that he suffered from a mental d isease, but we need not bemoan this fact, for the world of ideas it created is more stirring than his wo rld of shapes, and alo ne wo uld raise him high in the r anks of British artists. Blake the mystic was very close to the spiritual world. He dreamed strange d reams and sketched his Visionary Portraits by imagining the subject to be before him: "Work up the imagination to the point of vision," he said, "and the thing is done." His very subject matter denotes a more than ordinary imaginative fa ncy. The Grave, with its peaceful visions of death and resurrection, The Book of Job a nd the Prophetic Books, with their fantastic medley of gods, evil spirits a nd terrible happenings show a n invention unequalled in English art. H is subject matter is nearly a lways concerned witl1 the inner vision, seldom with the external world. Where he shows landscape, it is but as symbolic backg round for his pictures, not for its own beauty. He painted portraits rarely. Like the series of tempera heads of contemporary poets, which he executed for his patro n, Hayley, they are only good when they are symbolic of the personality drawn, and "essences rather tha n likenesses". He is intensely intellectual in approach; a literary artist, his work is always illustrative, or "a pictorial representation of a literary idea". Besides his many engravings for booksellers, he worked mainly in water colours (as in his 102 sketches illustrating Dante), or in a colour printing process revealed to him, so he said, in a dream. The main flat colours were printed from copperplates, the details fi lled in later with a brush. This process was used to illustrate, a mo ngst other works, his Songs of Innocence and Experience which are full of the fres h rapture of the youth they represent. He painted several biblical subjects in a kind of tempera he invented, an experiment which has resulted in the partial disintegration and darkening of the works, though the form and colours of some are still striking.* The masterpieces of his engraving are the illustrations to Blair's poem The Grave and to the Book of Job.t Here we see Blake at the height of his inspiration. The Grave was processed by the more a ustere a nd graceful Schiavonetti, but the Book of Job is Blake's alone. In the former the inspiring vision of Christ with the keys of Death a nd Hell, the tenderness of the M eeting of the Family in Heaven, the calm beauty of the Counsellor, King, Warrior, Mother and Child in the Tomb, and the superb Death's Door, although not remarkable in technique, are unequalled for the imaginative power of their design and the intense feeling which they cannot fail to arouse.
* Excellent prints or some or these may
be seen in the Lardergatc building. t An 1825 folio of these is contained in the Walpole Collection. 26~
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The Book of Job is more interesting in technique, and, though less graceful, more powerful; and it reveals what has been called Blake's "tortured imagination". We are thrust into a universe of his own fancy, we are hurtled through the visions he conjured up when reading the Bible, we see not only the pastoral beauty of Job's last days but the horror of his dreams and visions, the terrible forms in such plates as Satan Smiting Job with Boils, and the sorrowful face of Job throughout. No more impressive or startling work has ever been conceived in art, and every stroke of the burin is charged with feeling. A good Romantic, he was deeply distressed by the social wrongs of the time ("this sorrowful drudgery to obtain a scanty pittance of bread"). The Prophetic Books show the same feelings. Urizen is here the creator of an evil world, and therefore an evil spirit. [n one of his greatest paintings God crea tes Adam, who is at once entwined by the serpent of materialism. The House of Death (1805), with a silent God brooding over the scene of human misery and anguish, is at once ugly and terrifying. Blake stands a great a nd lonely figure. Ln his poetry he formed no school : he lacked the balance of Wordsworth, his technique was never worked out in detail. He left no school of painting; his followers only thrived in his presence, and of them only Samuel Palmer is remembered to-day as an artist. Blake sought for a freedom which he could never attain; he was almost the only Romantic who stood firm in those precious ideas enunciated in the American a nd French Revolutions. His conceptions of Biblical events a re noble and inspiring, poetic and tender, shocking and terrifying. They vary from the superb and horrific designs of the Book of Job to the delicate Gothic beauty of The Grave. For him the spiritual world was close to the reality, both in his life and in his works, and the imagination it fostered was unparalleled. As Palmer said: "his aim was single, his path straight-forwards, and his wants few; so he was free, noble and happy". R.A.D.
BREAK BreakSacred spell Of hurried brief hiatus; Crammed minutesBreak The spell of Slowly moving morning school. Cram food-to Break Off: bell rings : Move! Schooled reprobates hurry Late. End of Break. POP!NO
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THE BACKMOAN OF THE NATION He is a basta rd child of every government, but o ur own has ta ken him into the fold. And yet his wa iling is but do ubled, his hypocrisy ex posed . Wh o has no t met the Sta te T ory? H e confo unds socialism with Co mmunism, communists he co ndemns. The Tribune is his stand a rd 'testim o ny against the whole Labo ur Party, yet his own pristine eyes visit o ne pa per alone, no r tha t with co mplete compre he nsio n. C irc umsta nces seldo m force upon him a positio n of duty or d ependence to those whom he criticises; but his de meano ur towa rd s their acti vities is one of disg usted to lera nce, his policy towards their beneficence one o f loath accepta nce. From the fortress o f his club armc ha ir he waxes eloquent upon the immine nt menace of Nationalisation, Welfa re State, a nd the other mammon s; alike to the bo red d efe rence of yo uth and the sentim ental o beisa nce of middleage he preaches the necessity o f unco nditional resista nce to their treache rou s advocates; bu t the State Tory h imself is not a militant ge ntleman. The Dawn he rejects no t as pre mature but me rely as rosy-fin gered . What his very pa rty has accepted as perpetrated no t with o ut advan tage he will not acce pt eve n as irrevocable. He has never visited a coal-mine. He kn ows no thing o f railways. He could forme rly- a nd can still- a ffo rd a physicia n, a de ntist, a n oc ul ist- not that his beliefs com pel him to a void free services (altho ugh his railing pl aints see m to cla im that he pays for mo re tha n he receives). N or was he tbe last to de precate the re-institutio n of nomina l fees in recent yea rs. ¡ The Sta te T o ry ha unts the Press vehe mentl y but ra rely, less thro ugh sca rcity tha n through slo th ; his co nvictio ns deepe n whe n he is a mong only his own kind . His political career is loca l ra the r than na ti o na l, o bst ructi ve ra the r tha n e ne rgetic, his politica l t ho ught vocal rather tha n ra ti o nal, less constructive than a pa th etic. Long may he live ! DtOCLETIAN
ON SEEING "THE TEMPEST'' T his is the age of Publicity Bureaux, Of lifeless sensations and pious pretensions, When nobody thinks but everyone knows, And a ll is made false with overmenti.o ns. Jtem, five hundred "Gra nd O ld Me n" , Item, a tho usand " Living Legends", Item, a million superl a tives, then A million more, so tha t all mea ning e nds. And it is pleasa nt to r emembe r Sha kespeare, Brave, hum ble, humorous; how he wen t thro ugh life With his Players, pla nning the future over beer ; And whe n he went, no sentimental strife, Just a few word s a bo ut life's dream, no t deep Or caring if they understood, and so to sleep. J.P.M.D. 270
" THE TEMPEST" Miranda : "Alack, what trouble was I then to you!"
(Photo- Eutwistle)
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KING'S WEEK, 1953 ORCHESTRAL CONCERT IN THE CATHEDRAL
i1 I
J
On Sunday night, July 19th, the King's School Orchestra gave the opening concert of King's Week to a large audience of over 2,000 in the Nave of the Cathedral. The Conductor was Mr. Malcolm Boyle (Director of Music). The programme was an ambitious one a nd it included three concerti in which all the soloists were directly connected with the King's School, either as scholars or members of the Staff. The concert opened with the Homage March from Sigurd Jorsalfur (Grieg) which with its trum pet fanfares and rhythmic sections made a good opening for the rest of the programme. Then' followed the Serenade for Strings by E lgar. Jn this, the string section of the Orchestra, accord ing to a well-known cri tic, displayed a wide range of expression and a sympathetic understanding of the work. Then followed the Pianoforte Concerto No. 2 (in C minor) by Rachma ninoff with our own Mr. Ronald Smith as Soloist. The Orchestra is very fortunate in being able to rehearse so often with such a pianist, and it was evident that there was complete accord between the Soloist and the Orchestra. After this concerto, the Headmaster thanked the Soloist and the Conductor. The second half of the programme opened with a performance of The Lark Ascending by Vaughan Willia ms. The Soloist, Miles Easter, deservedly received high commendation in the D aily Press for his sympathetic and musical performance. The next item was a Concerto for Organ, Strings and Timpani by Poulene. In this the Conductor was Mr. David Goodes, who is to be congratulated on his skill in keeping the Orchestra so well in touch with the organ which is situated so far away. The Soloist was Mr. Malcolm Boyle whose organ playing was brilliant, and made some of us realise that we ought to hear an organ recital by him at a later date. Barry Salmon, who played t he drums, is to be congratulated also, for he managed to produce a fine result in a work that demanded chromatic drums. The concert concluded with a stirring performa nce of William Walton's Crown Imperial March, and everyone left the Cathedral with the feeling that here was an orchestra of which to be proud. We are very grateful to all those members of the Staff who so kindly give their time and encouragement to the Orchestra.
THE TEMPEST "The eloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces, the solemn temples" of Prospera's imagination aptly describe the setting for the play in the Archdeacon of Canterbury's garden. With memories of the Merchant of Venice setting still fresh the problem of using this beautiful garden in a new and appealing form was overcome by setting the stage at the opposite end of the lawn, with the Cathedral as the soaring backcloth. The red brick archway framed the adventuring galleon on the one side, while Prospera's logbuilt cell balanced the other. 27 l
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The play depends very much on the ability of Ariel. R. Thompson gave a wonderful performance which set the tone of the production. Wearing the briefest of costumes and made-up in glistening green, he flashed amazement in our eyes from all corners of the stage, encircling the earth with the nimblest ease and bewitching all with his graceful movements. His sudden appearances on the walls, especially in the floodlit evening performances, were most effective. His diction was good and he was blessed with a pleasant singing voice. His grosser counterpart, Caliban, was played by N. C. G. Raffle, who last year gave us such a memorable Falstaff. Caliban is admittedly a monster of the grossest kind, but surely not so far removed from human resemblance as Raffle's make-up implied. The impression left was too theatrical, if one can term it thus- too much of the pantomime beast. But nevertheless Raffle's presentation was sympathetic, a mixture of filth and poetry, the realization of a deformed and crabbed mind. His scene with Trinculo, J. C. Dunn, and Stephano, B. D. S. Lock, when Caliban found his new master, was one of the best in the play. The creator of the storm fa ntasy, Prospero, was played by M . Herbert. As a .writer in a previous Can tuarian has said a lready, Prospero is not an enthralling person. He is a tedious bore rather than a n august and commanding tyrant, but Herbert gave a dignified and regal presence to the play. P. H. Moss as Gonzalo gave a portrayal of the old man which made one regret that he had not been seen more before. A. N. A. Browner was as charming a girl as any of our sister seminaries might produce and a comely partner for the handsome Ferdinand, M . C. Patterson. The success of the play was largely due to the excellent acting of all the minor characters and it would be invidiot:1s to pick out any by name. The music was directed by Mr. Malcolm Boyle, who conducted the School Orchestra and, at long range, the three goddesses, who are to be admired for singing so confidently out-of-doors. The spectacle or pageantry, demanded by an out-of-doors production, was partially satisfied in the dances of the nymphs, the sun-burnt sicklemen and the shapes. Mrs. Stanger is to be commended on such a charming and colourful show. But it was the setting which gave most of the colour. This, of necessity, was permanent and was dominated by the ship. Such an exotically decorated shi p complete with rudder, sails, rigging and lanterns was rightly the cause of much admiration. For weeks beforehand the carpenters, under Mr. David Lawrence and C. B. Strouts, had worked laborious hours constructing this, and the resultant craft, painted under the supervision of Dr. Malcolm Burgess, was magnificent. The grassy mount, the cell and the fishing tackle completed the picture. Mr. John Sugden is to be congratulated on a well-knit and imaginative production.
'tHB CAN"fUARlAN
LIEDER RECITAL ELIZABETH SCHWARZKOPF On Tuesday evening, September 29th, in the Chapter House, we had the great pleasure of a Lieder recital by the famous International Soprano, Miss Elizabeth Schwarzkopf, who was accompanied on the pianoforte by Mr. Gerald Moore. The first half of the programme included songs by Bach, Gluck, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann a nd Brahms, which were all sung in German. After the interval Miss Schwarzkopf altered her advertised programme as a concession to the younger members of her audience, and she sang Kennst Dudas Laud from the Goethelieder, and four songs from the Italienisches Liederbuch by Hugo Wolf. These were followed by . Cherubino's area from Figaro a nd Zerlina's area from Don Giovanni which were sung in Italian. The programme concluded with a group of three songs by Richard Strauss, sung in German. In response to ovation and spiri ted applause of her audience, Miss Schwarzkopf sang Where the bee sucks (Arne) and Songs my mother taught me (Dvorak) to English words. The whole recital was a wonderful experience. Miss Schwarzkopf's effortless singing and superb artistry were enhanced by the masterly accompaniment of Mr. Gerald Moore, who also acted as compere and delighted the audience by his pithy and amusing precis of each song. M.C.B.
TO ANY INHUMAN EDITOR You're a bit smug And not a little pedantic: You like the poetry To rhyme When it obviously won't: Like putting big empty ideas In small round dust-bins. So my advice to you (You're an important fellow, And ought not to forget your station) Is just To let the poets know best, And take a sample of all. You might (you never know) Inoculate your readers Against reading any more of it. In which case (they would say) you were wiser Than the poets. GUAVA
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LUCIFER MORNING "-He with the bright Hair- 111e Sun Whose Body was spill on our fields to bring us harvest"
[ am a beggar shadingJstreeticorners where Winds sell Bowers of passing names And, meeting the hearts and voices Of each one-I mould them to my bones. For now the bittered silks and satins Glance the mirrors and leave the rain To one who waits and watches The lights go out, and scorns the gain Of living and only speaking to shadows, Macabre and faint. It is useless to discuss The dying of the hour That will not shine its last Too soon, but wiU Jean out To scourge the primal navigators Sailing round and round Their sister moon, so Let us face and turn A newer time in all respectsA period with a Length and breadth Not formed by multicolored hands With loose and gaudy rings, Crystal and translucent, Telling the probable past, The blistered present and the future silhouette. Hollow hands pray incantations, Silver, brushing Laughter and the leaves falling Filter through the window light Of days dedicated.
Here the windHere the leaves Bounce against The stained glass window And the figures stand Released but dead. Here the prayers Still fall from The lasting chaos Of the sky and the world. Here the leaves still fall ..... . By some small thought Reduced to water, Ashes and the dust, Dismembered suns and moons Redeem the time that with The noon will seem to die. 0 midday hot, blood-trapped and tortured sun! I walked the mountains of your skin Echoing with the name of summer-<:rucified.
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THE C ANTUARIAN A year is long to wait for one Who with one purpose Comes to stare upon My midnight-cold Despair. Remember the evening and The afternoon's thought When, coming through paths And flood-lit flowers Shrinking the twilight We met and spoke Of Adam's gold and Delilah's Benuty. This air once hung with flowers And Banners speaks Alone to Midnight. Memories still torture with The last despair of Summer's orisons. So let us both descend until we mix The Roman mists and Gaza tearsSamson, chained To throbbing stones cries out To sexless forms and prison doors. Eyes, eyes, Sightless, pitiless, Cold and sappWre Pierce the city flowing With the Ash and sewer, Of the god's feast day. Strong God Samson is grinding in the street The Cyclops' eye and the cold's pure wheat. Let us both descend The frothy way of ash And rhododendron- meekly rolling purple Fountains falli'ngTill we meet in passing forms The warmth and sloth of winterFor We are cut off, We are the alien. Resigned, we sacrifice The wine and oil For faded monuments Raised up in shrouded streets. And in the midday, spin The wheels of prayer- our last entreaties Mean more than the primal rending Of the womb for the Rose has withered In the morning of her bloom And we are become Great Lucifer's morning. M.J.R.
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A SET PIECE "THE OLD LIBRARY" In the province of Haute Marne, sheltered from the progress of civilization by woodland, there stands the tiny village of Ecot. In this carefree pa radise I was born and brought up. My father died wh ile l was very yo ung, and my mother spent the day working at the chateau round which the little community is grouped, so tha t I was left completely to myself. I used to spend the long summer evenings in the village library. In the old gate-house of the chateau a single disused room had been set aside to house the many books that had once comprised the great bibliotheque du chateau. I used to sit reading alone in the window of the dusty room, looking out over the still Ja ke, with the dying yellow sunlight playing through the window on to the stained pages of my book. When a light in our kitchen window procla imed my mother's return, 1 would go home and sit reading again with her. The cold da rk evenings of winter did not deprive me of my pastime. 1 took with me my rug from my bed and my own gr ub by bit of candle, which I lighted first at the kitchen stove. Along the cobbled a lley-way, up the five famil iar steps on the left of the gateway, a nd through the heavy oak door wh ich wo uld not shut behind me. Then came the eager hunt among the dusty shelves; the moment of joy as my little flickering world of candle-light picked out for me a golden title¡ nearly worn off the brown leather back; and the feeling of pride and anticipa tion as I drew out the old treasure. I would hurry back to the wide window-ledge, where, swathed in my r ug, with the precious candle wedged into a crack in the frame, 1 carefully opened it. Then I would let my mind, my self, floa t away into the adventures of history, the elusive realms of imagination and the lovely dreams of vain ambition. A.J.R.
IMPRESSIONS Grey wild-wandering above you see the torn clouds, and made rain-ready by the urging wind, whipping the branch-bare trees back, and worn stone dripping-damp green now, marvel of man's mind born. The morning sun edges it with gold, still hoar-hazed is the blue sky behind and beyond; far beneath, to the towertraceries trees reach up their leafed branches; dazed, it seems, to see such glory, nature's Gloria raised. The wind whirls gustily the red leaf-packs curling down to the ground, round and round swirling, past the hands of boys, to catch them themselves hurling. The dull lead shows dark, glass glows, but white is the snow that lies on it: do yo u bear those voices bright, raised praising God cheerfully, remembering His birth tonight? V ERRES
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"THE PRICE OF FREEDOM" He was twenty-one at the time, and, much though his devoted father might want him to, he could not stay at home always ; and so, before losing him, his father took him on a last holiday, their best of all. There had been just the two of them, men together. Mother had died some fifteen years before, of tuberculosis, but they did not talk about that. Father had educated his son as well as he could, but it had not been an easy life for either of them. The son often wondered, though he never asked, how his father earned their living, but did that really matter? It certainly never entered his mind that it might be ill-gotten; the main th ing was that they had saved enough to go on a glorious holiday. It was the night of David's twenty-first birthday; for the first time in his life he had been allowed to stay out as late as he pleased. What a wonderful evening he had had: first a cinema with an an attractive girl and then on to the pier, where they danced and sang, ate a nd drank, and made merry; until he really felt that there was nothing in life more wonderful than living it. To-night everything seemed to hold a new fascination for him, he felt at last he was free .. . ... free to hold the world and examine it in his own good time. He bore his father no grudge; in fact, now that he was free in the world to choose his own way of life, he felt rather thankful that he should be allowed to experience the th rill of freedom all at once, rather than gradually, as so many less-cared-for children have done. And now, on his way home, David glanced at his watch, and remembered his father's words of advice to him: any advice from father was worth remembering: "Always be back by midnight, son. I'm not very good at it myself, but maybe I have an excuse". He wondered what the excuse might be; he had often wondered, but he'd rather not ask his father. David could not help looking again at his twenty-first birthday present and admiring it. It was gold, and a lthough it was not new, he thought it must have cost his father a lot of money. Then suddenly he saw it was an hour past midnight. He must hurry back to the hotel. It would take him ten minutes; only five, if he took a short cut through the back streets. He set off at a light trot, but slowed down to a fast walk, trying not to feel afraid of the dark, trying to control himself; but the whole time he felt his legs running away under him. He heard a scuffle of feet down a nearby alley; fear welled up inside him. He came to a lighted house; how welcome that was. Then once more he stepped into darkness, his imagination was too much for him; he ran until he had regained his self-control. The dirty houses and eerie bomb ruins cast horrible shadows across the road, but he reassured himself that they could not harm him. He was coming near the hotel when suddenly, from a dark doorway, a masked figure stepped out towards him, obviously with evil intent. For a moment, David was petrified with fear- then he doubled his fists and dealt the assailant a heavy blow. He fell, D avid, hard ly aware of what he was doing, kicked the body hard, and again, and again. The man on the ground stopped writhing. Then as David bent over the prone shape and removed the mask that was covering his face, a wave of sudden awareness ran down his spine. Unsteadily, he turned and walked towards the hotel, but he turned orr before he reached it and went into a guest house. There he stayed throughout the next morning without stirring from his room, even for a meal; but in the afternoon, feeling as if the very backbone of his life had been removed, pale and haggard with worry, he emerged from his room and went into the town. He bought himself an evening paper. Yes, the police were looking for anyone who could help them in their enquiries about a man who had been found dead in the early hours of the morning, by a milkman making his rounds in Last Lane. Donald went straight to the police station. As he entered the Sergeant at the desk looked up. "What can I do for you, Sir?" he asked. "I believe that I can identify the man found murdered this morning." The Sergeant began to show some interest, opened a drawer, took several photos from a file and handed them to David. Without so much as glancing at them, he said: "It was my father". The Sergeant drew a sheet of paper towards him: " If you wouldn't mind, Sir ... . " he began. "I did it", said David tonelessly, concentrating his gaze on the flies floating here, there, this way, that way, dark against the white ceiling. R.B.H ,
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RECENT AND PROPOSED BUILDING DEVELOPMENTS IN CANTERBURY Tt will be genera lly remembered that a fter 1945 Canterbury was faced with the need for a great deal both of reha bilita ti o n and, on completely destroyed sites, of reconstruction. The immediate problems of accommodation ;tere solved by prefabricated housing estates (nota bly on the Sturry a nd New Dover Roads) ; and wherever possible restorati on was carried out, as in the case of our own Dining H a ll. Similarly, temporary sho ps were erected in the Longmarket for most of the establishments wh ich had lost their premises. Now at last not only has the housing question been solved more perma nently, but the larger-scale reconstructi on can be said to be well under way, a nd we are interested to note the a rchitectural styles employed. The first notewo rthy building to be opened within the City was Burgate House, so called from its position. On the ground fl oor is a row of seven shops with arched windows and a covered arcade in the neo-classical style stretching a short distance fro m each end; a nd above there are two more floo rs of flats of two different designs. The purist might o bject to the inclusion of a rounded a rch in a classical architrave, but from the majo rity the buildings earn every praise-particularly since more new buildings have arisen nearby. The mellow grey-gold brick and red-tile roof are not obnoxious amongst the many older buildings in and surrounding the Precincts; a nd the pillars of the a rcade combine with the well-proportioned arches to give a n impressio n of graceful solidity and stylised utility. Of the arcades the objection has been raised that they a re redundant, but they serve the double purpose of porch and window-blind, and are a blessing to window-gazers in the rain .
Tn the High Street the o utlook is less pleasa nt. On the Burgate side next to the tower of St. G eo rge's is Woolworths' new building, completed some months ago, and the new Dolcis premises. Opposite, next to M arks and Spencers, Barretts are in the process of putting up a fa irly la rge shop. All three a re of the nondescript red-brick, fla t-roofed, right-angles and plate-glass category, impressive by neither ancient no r modern standards, and deser ve little comment. A new W. H. Smith is in construction next to Woolworths', and a fairly large addition is being made to the row of new s ho ps across the road, which, with their thin, unfinished pillars supporting a dispro po rtionately deep arcade, show up in a very poor light in comparison with Burgate H ouse. J ncidenta ll y, we und erstand that Do leis has been criticised for the uninterrupted levelness of its roof, a nd that false chimneys are to be added for bea uty's sake. D avid Greig's new shop is at any r ate more adventurous. It is to extend the whole length of Canterbury Lane (between the High Street a nd Burgate), and will be divided into three ma in sections. On the High Street will be the shop premises proper, almost entirely plate-glass, with a novel, massive concrete switch-back roof. In the centre there will be four or five stories of brick-and-plate-glass fla ts, offices, etc. At the fa r end are to be the dispatch ya rds and storing-sheds. One sto ry has it that the centre portion was origina lly designed to be suspended on four pylo ns lifting the huge structu re off the ground. We cannot vo uch for the truth of the story, but arc gratefu l that the idea is no t to be put into practice!
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(P!toto- Entwistlc)
The first manuscriiJt page of Mr. Somerset Mangham's first novel, " Liza of Lambeth". (The Walpole Collection)
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(Phoro- Eur,visrle)
A page of the manuscript of "Catalina", M r. Mangham's last novel. (The Walpole Collection)
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THE CANTUARJAN
Four more new buildings have been or shortly will be erected. Next to the Regal Cinema a new Marti n Walter's Garage is a lready half-completed, mainly of glass and corruga ted as bestos, not unlike their rivals', Rootes, opposite the Dane John. Nearly opposite the Kentish Gazette is establishing itself in a ver y deep, red-brick a nd plate glass bui lding with right-angles relieved by quadrants. But rather more pleasant are the Hallet Garage near the West Station, a simple, dormer-windowed style; and a new modern Georgian house opposite the Post Office. The latter looks remarkably like the upper storeys of the Westminster Bank, at the end of Butchery Lane, reproduced on ground level. rt wo uld be a shame to give the impression that we automatically oppose modern architecture in Canterbury; but there is no doubt that such experiments as have been made have not been successful. And it is unfortunate that the old Canter bury, so nearly unspoilt as the Cathedral town full of old and quiet buildings should be ruined, at any rate to the visitor enterin g from the South, by these unashamedly new constructions. They are too few to fo rm a " modern qua rter"; they do not even harmonise with each other as well as they might. And the sting is made a ll the sharper by the difference between them and those which have made a conscious effort to ha rmonise. The best examples of these are in the Precincts. The new canon's house built beside the Oaks with its large arched wi ndow, unobtrusive brick, and well-concealed size, is a masterpiece of quiet taste and spacious elegance. And next to the Chapter House on the North side is the new Cathedral Library in stone and flint, designed by Mr. Denman, and built by a local firm. Externally it is dignified without grandness, and its so ber colouring will soon fit in well with its surro undings. T he plan of the inside is interesting. The two entrances are in the arcade at the East end or from the Cloisters. On the ground floor are only storage rooms and the strong room ; the remainder of the building consists of one large room, with several reading rooms at the side. There is also a gallery running aro und the room at the height of the third floor. A certain dignity is added by the wood mouldings with which the walls are faced . Would that such care might be taken over all the new buildings in Canterbury!
N.H.C.
THE SOMERSET MAUGHAM MSS. J n 1948 Somerset Maugham gave the complete MSS. of his first and his last novels to the School, to be placed in the Walpole Collection. The first novel is Liza of Lambeth, and the manuscript, which consists of 218 pages in a ll, is written in three school exercise books and dated 1895. [n this manuscript the book is called A Lambeth Idyll, a nd the author's name is given as William Somerset. The last few pages of the original manuscript have been torn out and lost and were re-written on loose sheets by the author, and dated July 15th, 193 1. The first page of this manuscript is reproduced overleaf. Thereproduction on the next page shows one leaf of Catalina. This manuscript, written 52 years la ter, consists of 381 pages bound in blue morocco in a single quarto volume. It is dated January 28th, 1947. This very beautiful manuscript is corrected throughout in red ink. 279
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A NEW HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL All Souls College, Oxford. Dear Editors, I have been asked by the Governors of the School and by the Committee of the 0. K.S. Association to write a new History of the School. Will you allow me to tell your readers something about the plan? The last history of the School, by the late C. E. Woodruff, O.K.S., a nd H. J. Cape (then an assistant master) was published in 1908 . It has won a distinguished place in this difficult form of literature, and will of course be the basis of my book. But since 1908 there have been many advances in our knowledge of the history of Canterbury and the School itself has undergo ne its most importa nt changes since the Reformation: Before their deaths Mr. Woodruff a nd Mr. Cape therefore agreed that their work should be freely revised a nd completed ; indeed, Mr. Woodruff agreed that I should put the work in hand while I was still a t School! For the earlier part of my book, 1 shall be able to draw upon the scholarshi p- surely unrivalled in the field of local history- of Mr. William Urry, Archivist to the Dean and Chapter. For the modern period, 1 shall rely partly on The Cantuarian, partly on the records of the School, and partly on the descriptions of the School by Dickens, Pater, Walpole, Maugham and other writers. We shall arrange that the book shall be well illustrated and we hope it will be published from London by Mr. Rupert Hart-Davis. lt will be my own fault if out of this wealth of material I do not make a book worthy of its subject. Later, a scheme will be published to enable friends of the School to obtain subscription copies below the published price. But what matters most is that the book should be a full and interesting narrative; and I should be delighted to receive from any reader of The Cantuarian any information about, or comments upon, the history of the School in any period. I shall acknowledge all such letters, and carefully note their contents. They should be sent to me at All Souls College, Oxford. Yours sincerely, D. L. EDWARDS (K.S. 1942-47)
TO MY TRUE LOVE There in the wild-high grass you can fling me, Or deep in dusty heather tossed away Commingle me in a vague and purple Fragrance of delight: lap me in loving Foliage of fern-oh! the torment Of unrequited passion cold! Lust-lorn I fall to the open earth. And the wide sky In sympathy of solitude looks down On N ature, constant lover, and her love. DAVID SLADEN
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POETRY COLUMN (Chairman: Sir M.P. Bradleyson, S.R.N. Panel of Experts: N. 1. L. Cavendish, Esq., George Thomson, Esq., Mrs. Adele Hearnshaw) Hallo, young poets everywhere. Remember the ÂŁ20 "in lighter mood" competition we told you about in o ur last issue? Well, we did have a busy week-end with all your entries; and, though the talents of many of you have not yet matured to that ripeness which makes a Donne or a Rilke, you a rc all on the road, and that is the ma in thing. A rolling stone may gather no moss but it makes a poet (witness Stanislavski) ; a nd we (as the oldest Competition Panel unsponsored and entirely without funds) believe the Arts to bear a proud place in this world of to-day, thus maintaining singlehanded the cultural heritage of the la nd that speaks the language of Shakespeare. Now for yo ur exciting entries and exciting is the word . They were so evenly matched, indeed, tha t we fo und it well-nigh impossible to pick the one most deserving of the first prize. A 10/6 postal order, however, must certainly go to Miss Anne Cavendish ( 18 yea rs 6 mo nths) for her enchanting lyric The Birds- vibrant with an all too rare mingling of yo uthful outpouring with Miltonic self-d iscipline, of Saxon sincerity with Celtic courage, of the vernacula r with the virgina l. For it is the spirit of the bird (and am r right in thinking she had a cuckoo in mind?) that is left pulsing with the reader long after the end has been reached. If not, perhaps, of the highest poetic intensity (remember my standards!), the poem is at least the equal of anything in its line that has been produced by a major poet in recent yea rs. Unfo rtunately, we have room to quote but o ne startling verse-the third: "0 beauteous bird of shape divine, I cannot catch you with a line, The voice is yours, the joy is mine, 0 pretty bird so sweetly flyin'." The q uadruplet rhyme ties the thought up with originality; the subtle all iteratio n of " b's" in the first line is effective; and there is a simplicity pleasing to the panel, when so ma ny of the entries (we mentio n no names- our a im here, as a lways, is to encourage, not discourage, yo ung poets) showed a vain searching after originality. Eschewing this, Miss Cavendish has, with her acute o bservation of nature (see the quotatio n above, for instance), found a natural affi ni ty with (dare one say it?) Wordsworth in his youth. We wish her I uck. Next prize (a copy of Rimbaud's notes o n Dryden's criticism edited by Mrs. Adele Hearnshaw), goes to a mixed assortment entitled Epigrams by Ro bert Young (17 years I month), and here, I fear, censure is clearly needed for a verse entitled "The waste-land by a Victorian Poet": "I celebrate the waist-land, No higher or lower games, For I do hate being embarrassed By names." First, one must remind him that it is not necessary to be obscene in order to be witty, indeed rather the reverse; a nd secondly that the cheap jibe at Victorian poetry is unwa rranted a nd irreverent. Reverence, in its true form, is an essential quality for the poet. 281
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If you will allow me a personal reminiscence, Robert, I think T can help you. I, too used to try to be clever in my early poetry; it is little read to-day. In my later work' on the other hand, 1 always a imed at emotiona l directness, spontaneity. Now 1 hav~ done preaching, and 1 must tell you I enjoyed your other aphorisms immensely. My favouri te, though many will vow it is almost too light, is: "You are so big a nd bad and cruel, And what is more you are a fool." This sort of diabolically clever satire seems to spring easily to Robert's pen. In a great critic's words, "We stand and are silent." T he work of James Snuftleton, Miss 0. 0. Ogg, Tdwel Jo nes (in the true tradition of Welsh Bards), and Stanley Bowie, we single out for special recognition from a galaxy of fine materia l. We can o nly sigh again for more room for quotatio ns. When wi ll the E nglish Public become mo re cul ture- minded? And now, fina lly, a word o n this problem of light verse. It need not, as Miss Cavendish has so expertly shown, be humoro us, still less flippant, nor must it be too serio us or complex (M iss A. Stonehouse's interesting piece was excl uded o n these gro unds). Whilst r do feel strongly that you should write what yo u want to, your models might well be Shakespeare's songs, Lewis Caroll and Edward Lear, the P ope of The Rape of tl1e Lock a nd the Sergiliev-Manouska of "Dnobroye Shckvalsnic Vlyoyayachni" ("Three cup~ of Arsenic" in translati o n). The ÂŁ20 Prize Competition this month will be "Serious Poetry"- not more than fifteen li nes, please, and mind you don't get the competitions mixed up and send your light verse tlus time! That would be a waste, wouldn't it? T ill o ur next issue, then, 1 wish yo u happy hunting in the g reen fields of Poesy, and remain Your friend, MIC IIAEL BRADLBYSON
PATRIOTS ALL Comedy in weekly parts, Odiously enacted: Routine Angst, habitual hatePlay at inept soldiers in Sullen humiliation. PAROLLES
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A NOVEMBER MORNING The mo rnings a re colder o n the marshes. I woke in the d ecoy co ttage to a dawn of thin and g hostly mist. Fifty ya rds away the end of the fleet, coldly pale, melts into the white o paque wall. The bulrushes stand stiff and brown, glittering with dro ps of moisture. It is very still. Yet, in the wh ite, unseen world there is a new a nd urgent stir of wings and of bird voices which was not there a week ago. In the stillness of the ni ght, unde r a coldly golden moon- a pale gold, which no lo nger has the ric h co ppe ry russet of September's harvest nights- they co me in over the sea on tired wings. T he lo ng green Zos g rass sways silkily as the slow tide floods. Early in the morn ing, whe n the fog sta nds sho ulder-dee p on the mar shes- a wh ite a nd tideless lake- the re is a s udden commotion, the wh istle o f wings, which sets the gunn er's blood tingli ng. They a re th e g rey geese, fresh from the Lithua nian ma rshes a nd from the white fla ts of Spitzbergen. At abo ut three o'clock that morning, a gale had got up a nd moaned in the sky. It roared across the marshes a nd battered the incoming tide. It was a true wi nter gale. Gone is the su mmer, with all its days of white yachts glid ing up the creeks a nd of sun lit waters g littering to a th ousand suns. And now, dow n he re on the marsh, wi nter roa rs in from the sea on uproario us wings. The pa th to the decoy is fa int in the mist. A snipe rises from the fleet and vanishes into the wind. Curlew go over in a mob, and the eronkling of the Brent geese sounds out on the mud. Ahead, the ga unt o ld willows, the twisted thorns, a nd the one or two birches sha ke and shive r in the wind. Dawn co mes, a thin grey streak out over the sea wa ll. The sky turns to sealing-wax red, broadens to appl e green. Presently, a ll my birds are gat hered: three mallards, a teal, and a t ufted d uck. With Winsto n, my labrador , L turned. With squelching boots and feel of ice, [ made my way slowly homewa rds, the mind of a countryma n fi lled with the wo nd er o f t he beauty of natu re, and a still greater wonder tha t men can live in towns and e njoy the crowded, artificial amusements to be found there. C.C.P .K .
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LES TEMPS DES LILAS So silently, so silently, T he ebony da rk came down, L ike a whispering of trees in the moonlight, A sad, sti ll-floating gown ; Until in the o paque still ness We saw no mo re t han t he stars, Only o ur hea rts still beating Anew. O r, aga in, later, Sta nd ing hereSeeing how t he wind Sways the leaves to a tired bea uty, And the blue s ky kisses them With smooth, wet lips, A nd the silence murmu rs across the fieldsOccurs to me the cowa rdice o f wa iting for Heaven. The loveliness of this li fe Being fo r t he waki ng. So when o n Id a's s unset sho re Yo u a nd I go tread ing, Let us swear to have no regrets But know tha t all was fine" Fo r now my heart is a n April rose That cares not for rig ht or wrong", Tha t lives each day as heath er blown fres hl y fo und a nd ga thered together, Seeing the wo rld as a n o pen field, a n excitemen t stocking O n a mist-cold mo rn ing. Desired, we d eftly pick a way to a gay-gone light ness, Yo uthfull y fingerin g the exquisite emptiness, With time to examine the cha nces a nd toys, time in which to make a noise And listen to the echoes ... With everythin g possible, everyth ing pleasa n t, And friendships a lways becko ni ng like the wind in clear la kes On a ho t day. T he emerald gold of t he s un-cold ea Caug ht on t he fringe of dawnThe eyes of Spring open inn ocently . . .. D ORIMANT
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BOOKS BEAUTIFUL Among the books and munuscripts- ' the result of twenty years' exciting collecting'- which Sir Hugh Walpole gave to his old School in 1937 are some of the finest books produced by famous Private Presses in the previous half-century: books such as the Kelmscott C haucer, the Ashendene Ecclesiasticus and Don Quixote, the Golden Cockerel Troi/us, Canterbury Tales¡ and Four Gospels, to name the most notable. Hand-printed in limited numbers on thick hand-made paper or on vellum, often illustrated or richly decorated, many of them superbly bound, they are among the masterpieces of the printer's art; more, they may be considered as milestones in that revival of good printing which today we take almost for granted, but which not sixty years ago was still a crying need. For although practically every modern English book is clearly printed, well bound, and of unobtrusively pleasing design, a quick glance at almost any book published in the last century will show by its pale, uni nteresting type and lack of clear design how great an advance has been made during recent years in sta ndards of commercial book prod uction. And for the principle> that lie at the back of this change we must refer to the work of the Private Presses. Limited in appeal, amateurs perhaps, orten doctrina ire in outlook, outside the main stream of' book pro duction, they have yet had a lasting innuence on the design of ordinary books today. The Kelmscott Press, of whose work we have six examples, was the first in date and in importance. It was founded by William Morris at Hammersmith in 1890 and was wound up, two years after his death,
in 1898. ' I began p rin ting books', he wrote, 'with the hope o f producing something which would have a definite claim to beauty, whi le a t the same time they should be easy to read and not dazzle the eye, or trouble the intellect of the reader by eccentricity of form in the letters'. Captivated as he was by the medieval ideal of craftsmanship, it was to those early printed books of the Middle Ages which were broadly imitative of the scribes' manuscripts that he turned for inspiration. He designed fi rst a Roman type based on that of the fifteenth century Venetian printer Jenson; a nd we may note that although his version was too heavy and suffered from the over-large capitals of the original, it was of sumcient merit for the Vale a nd Doves Presses-both represented in our collection-to follow with types of similar inspiration; more modern versions, too, have been cut, and with greater success- a mong them the type used fo r the original edition of the King 's School Prayer Book. Morris called his new type the 'Golden', after one of the first books for which it was to be used: CaxtOn's English version of Jacques de Voragine's Golden Legend. It is a pleasant coincidence that alongside the Kelmscott volumes of our collection stands another, fatter book, bound like them in vellum, though this time by the Doves Bindery; it is a fifteenth century French copy of the same Ugende doree, form erly in the possession of Wa lter Crane, one of Morris's illustrators. And this juxtaposition of old and new is not inappropriate, for here, in a limp vellum cover secured by silk ties, arc the Poems of Shakespeare in the original spelling, an octavo volume printed in red and black (one o f the only ten copies on vellum), its woodcut title-page clearly reminiscent of the med ieval style. Of this volume Sir Sydney Cockerell wrote in his Bibliography of the Press (the last Kelmscott book printed) : 'This has become one of the rarest books issued from the Press'. It is, in other words, a collectors' piece; a nd such has been the fortune, some would say the inevitable fate, of many of Morris's books. 'The majority of Kelmscotts,' remarks Holbrook Jackson in his The Printing of Books, 'are in a mint state; it is not easy to meet a copy bearing the honourable a nd endearing scars of use'.Thc leaves of our volume are largely uncut. But to say this is not to say a ll. As Ruari McLean in his excellent booklet Modem Book Design has well said: 'No o ne can j udge typography, least of all the typography of hand-printed books such as the Kelmscott, witho ut having handled, as well as seen, the actual books. The feel of the paper and the colour of the ink and impression of the types on the paper are essential parts of the whole.' We turn then, without consideration of our other Kelmscotts, to the supreme achievement of the Press, the celebrated folio Chaucer. For this, Morris, working from an early German origi nal, designed a new and deliberately simple Gothic. 'T he task I set myself was to redeem the Gothic character fro m the charge of unreadableness which is commonly brought against it. ' Tn this task he largely succeeded, and the volume finally produced, printed in double column on paper supplied hy 'my friend, Mr. Batchelor, of Little Chart, Kent,' is in a ll respects a staggering achievement. Quite apart from his large woodcut tille-page, the profusion of Morris's designs in decorated initials and richly ornamented borders is quite amazing. Add to this the eighty-seven woodcuts by Sir Edward Burne-Jones, a ll of which were designed to harmonize with the appearance of the text on the page-the text itself and its surroundi ng margins being scrupulously arranged according to the still valid scribal principle that 'the unit of a book is not one page but a pair of pages'- and the picture is complete. And an amazing and impressive picture it is. Whatever our opinion of Morris's taste, there can be no doubt of the magnificence of the achievement,
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THE CANTUARIAN Defore passing in review the books of more modern appeara nce in our collection, it is appropriate to quote so me words of Charles Ricketts from the introduction to his Ribliography of the Vale Press, 18961904. For Ricketts, who is represented by an Omar Khayyam printed throughout in the Jensonian capitals of his Vale type, as well as by the work from wh ich we quote, was at one with Morris in many points though himself a designer of books only and not a printer. 'Unity, harmony, such arc the essentials of fine book building .... A book should be alive in every part, an aggregate of living parts harmoniously controlled.' And the existence of this harmonizing control he rightly traced back to the fact that for the Vale and Kelmscott books one man had been at once designer of type, planner of the book and supervisor of printing-a figu re unprecedented in the past but of enduring influence for the future. Leaving aside an Essex House Psalms of David of Kelmscott inspiration, we turn now to our one Doves Press book: A Decade of Poems by William Wordsworth. Printed in 19 11 in a light Jenson ian type, but like all Doves books, without illustration or ornament aparL from red headings against the black print' its austere s implicity shows the direction that modern book design was to take. The lesson o r co-ordinatio~ and careful arrangement of type demonstrated by Morris had been learnt and his exa mple then purged of its excessive medievalism. Our volu me is one given by T. J . Cobden-Sanderson (the co-founder with Sir E mery Walker of the Press) to his wife, 'the first copy bound'. Six years after this vol ume was printed Cobden-Sanderson, like Ricketts before him , but not so certai nly fo r reasons of ar tistic integrity, consigned all his type to the Thames off Hammersmith Bridge.
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Mea nwhile, C. H. St. John H ornby had been inspired by a visit to William Morris and by his acquaintance with Sir Emery Walker and Sir Sydney Cockerell to set up h is Ashendene Press. He soon had a new type cut, based on a fifteenth century transitional model which Morris had intended to use¡ it was called after its place of origin, 'Subiaco'. Tn this ty pe were printed two volumes of our collection' both on vell um, the illustrated Francesco di Assisi of 1922 and the superb Ecclesiasticus of ten years later~ the latter is a quarto volume with initials drawn in colour or gi lt a nd burnished by Graily Hewitt, who' like Eric Gi ll , was a pupil of the renowned Edward Johnston, inspirer or the modern revival of calligraph/ The rich da rkness of the Subiaco type and the hand-colou red initia ls (an early precedent for which may be seen in the original leaf of a Caxton book, also in the Wa lpole Collection) remind one of the medieva lizing Kelmscott style. But the austerity of arrangement, which may be set alongside that of our splendid two-volume folio Don Quixote, with its double column of Ptolemy type, published by the Ashendl'ne Press four years previously, is rather to be compared with that of the Doves books. Of the Quixote we may remark that it is a m asterly solution of the problems that confront the printer of folios. Not only must he arrange a s ufficiently black and yet well-balanced mass of type on the page, without at the same time detracti ng from its legibility, but he must a lso overcome the techn ica l difficulty of producing an evenly inked yet not indented impression over a very large su rface--and that on paper the essence of which is roughness, not to say recalcitrance. In these volumes we may see proof that the Ashendene Press, before it was wou nd up in 1935, achieved as much excellence in this exacting field as in the smaller one re presented by the Ecclesiasticus. The last Private Press represented in our collection is the Golden Cockerel. Of our eight volumes, five are the Chaucers, splendidly bound in red niger decorated in gold. Printed on vellum in black with coloured initials and wood-engravings by Eric Gill, they were produced between 1926 and 1931 under the direction of the author and wood-engraver Robert Gittings, who had recently taken over the Press. These books are quite different in feeling from any we have so far considered . The influence of Morris and Ricketts is there, and magnificently there, for each page of combined text and illustration is conceived as a typographical whole and carried out with supreme craftsmanship. Yet one has only to turn the pages of the Troilus and C,.iseyde (ours is the first vellum copy, and is autographed by Gibbings and Gill) to realize that here all that is best in tradition is expressed in a truly modern idiom. The clean, shapely type-in great contrast with the deliberately ' period' founts of the other presses- the bold yet economical style of the borders, the absence of extravagant detail in illustration are all essentially present-day. It is interesting to observe how the firm, sculptura l style of the wood-engravings shows clearly the influence of Gill 's early tra ining as a sculptor and letterer in stone (we may see it too in the title-page of the new King's School Prayer Book, set in Gill's ' Perpetua'). The same element reappears once more in the great, a ppropriately bound Four Gospels, a volume which embodies the results of Gill's previous experiments. H ere there is a highly effective use of different sizes of type; the illustrations are buill even more firh1ly into the text on plinths of massed capital letters; gracefully nourished initials are carefully and significantly placed ; fi nally, the blackness of the type area on its vellum page--an essential of good printing as Morris had emphasized- is obtained not by using a very heavy black type but by keeping all words closely spaced without 'j ustifying' the line to the trad itional fi xed right-hand margin .
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THE C ANTUARtA N T he other two Goldeu Cockerel volumes have a close connexion with Sir Hugh Walpole himself. Of one, The Apple Trees, a small volume charmingly decorated and bound, he was the author. The other, Llewelyn Powy's Glory of Life, was given to him in a specially bound copy, by its printer and illustrator, Robert Gibbings. Finally, we must mention Sir Hugh's copy of the Cresset Gulliver's Travels. And it is appropriate that we should end our survey with these two finely bound volumes. For here we may see applied in essentially commercial printing the lessons learned from the Private Presses. The Gulliver was printed in this splendid limited edition by one of the best of ordinary printers (the Oxford University Press) for an 'ordinary' careful publisher. The type, too, is but a large size of the fine re-cut Baskerville so largely used, for insta nce, in the best school text-books of today. True, the personal element survives in the hand-made paper and in the steel-engravings by Rex Whistler, many of which arc coloured by his own hand (the books were also charmingly inscribed by him for Sir Hugh); but it is not too great a step from volumes of this specialized kind to the standard productions of reputable publishers, where the revivifyi ng infl uence of the Private Presses may once more be discerned. From here it is comparatively easy to sec the same influence at work in, for instance, many cheap reprints of the classics, as also in those unpretentious little books of admirable design- the ubiquitous Penguins. 'The Kelmscott Chaucer,' writes Ruari McLean, 'made possible the Penguin Shakespeare.' To be convinced of the truth of this apparent paradox-and that not merely painlessly, but with genuine enjoyment- one need only visit the Walpole Co!Iection. H. W.O.
OPERATIC RECITAL On Sunday, November 1st, the School heard a recital of operatic songs given by Miss Anna Pollak, Miss Maâ&#x20AC;˘:iorie Shires, Mr. Denis Do Niing and Mr. Stephen Manton. They were accompanied on the piano by Mr. Albert Knowles. The programme was very full, and consisted of a wide range of songs from eight different operas, by Mozart, Donizetti , Weber, Smetana and Rossini. However good the artists (and on this occasion they could hardly have been better), it is impossible to explain by a few words and gestures the full significance of a dramatic situation, which, in the opera itself, may have required a whole Act to build up; not to mention scenery, costume, and effects. Therefore the songs which gave most satisfaction were either those for which no synopsis was required, o r those in which the dramatic situation was absolutely obvious. In the first category one might place the famous "Tell me, fair ladies" from Figaro, which we had heard sung in ltalian by Miss Elizabeth Swarzkopf during her Lieder recital. On this occasion it was sung beautifully by Miss Pollak, in English. In the second ca tegory we might place the amusing "Stuttering" d uet from Th e Bartered Bride, which was delightfully sung and acted by Miss Shires and Mr. Manton. It follows that the least pleasing songs were those which, when taken out of their context, lost their dramatic meaning. Luckily these were very few, but one was the duet, "I'll play my part" from Don Pasquale, which was preceded by a long recitative. English, especially a translation, is not a comfortable language for musical recitative!
The singers performed their task admirably. Their diction was clear, their tone (especia lly that of Mr. Dowling) was rich and fuJJ, their stage presence easy and unaffected. For those whose appetite for opera in English has been whetted by this much appreciated recital, the obvious course is to go and see the operas perf'ormed by the company at Sadlers Wells; their enthusiasm will be amply rewarded. J.S.S.
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THE LAST DAYS OF LEE PRIORY Lee Priory stands on a slight rise, surrounded by beautiful parkland, just off the main Canterbury-Sandwich road at Littlebo urne. Alth ough at first gla nce, the present exterior of the house might not suggest that it was built before the Nineteenth Century, it is in fact of great antiquity, and has a not inconsidera ble history. The first known record of the estate da tes from 864, when the bouse and la nds of Lee were granted for a priory (and as such it is mentioned in the Domesday Book). There is now little doubt that the mon ks of Saint Augustine used the house when they were at Littlebourne attending to the fishponds and vineyards which they owned there. Presuma bly its history followed the conventional pattern, a nd little more is known until 1352, when the house was owned by Sir Richard de Leigh, a knight of Edward I. In 1560 the house passed to the Southlands fa mily, who sold it in 1676 to Sir Paul Barrett, recorder of Canterbury, in whose fami ly it remained until 1810. Mr. Thomas Barrett, who was M.P. for D over in 1773, decided to remodel the house completely. The architect entrusted with the work was James Wyatt, who had been recommended to Barrett by H orace Walpole. The original dining-room was removed, and in its place the present drawing room, with the libra ry over it, and the octagonal tower were built. The tower was formerly surmounted by a spire, which was visible for some dista nce, but this had to be removed for structural reasons about thirty years ago. The interior of the library is a reduced model of the la ntern of Ely Cathedral, and is also known as the Tower Room or Chapel. Wyah worked in the gothic style, taking many of his ideas from Walpole's own house, Strawberry Hill, and Walpole himself described Lee Priory as "a child of Strawberry, prettier than the parent". The earliest date that can be assigned to Wyatt's work is 1782, and it was not completed until 1803. In 1813 the house was sold to Sir Samuel Egerton-Brydges, who was as artistic as he was eccentric. He set up a private printing press at the house, and issued reprints of valuable pamphlets, beautifully produced and illustrated, the series being known as the Lee Press. Most of the printing was done by Sir Samuel himself, who also composed and printed several volumes of poetry. Perhaps poetry was also composed there by William Wordsworth, who stayed at the house in 1823, and in a letter from it says, "I have time for little more, as in an hour and a half we must leave our good friends here, this elegant, conventual mansion (with its pictures and its books), and bid farewell to its groves and nightingales, which this morning have been singing divinely." Extensive additions were made by Sir Gilbert Scott for a Mr. Philips in 1864, to celebrate the thousandth year of the Priory's known history. T he third storey and a new wing of domestic offices were added, and the original white stucco of the exterior was removed and replaced by red brick. The house unfortunately is shortly to be demolished. T he only room which is to be preserved is the Strawberry Room, which with its arched doorway and vaulted ceiling decorated with the gold strawberries which give the room its name, is typical of early Gothic revival interiors. The room was the favourite of Horace Walpole, and was always used by him when he stayed at the house. It is to be taken to the Victoria and Albert Museum, and will, we understand, be re-erected there intact. J.C-P. 288
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LOGICAL NIHILISM Writing autobiograph ically, Mary Agnes Hamilton recently declared that it seemed to her that twentieth-century materialism was on the wane. And so one would have supposed: for Existentialism seemed already to have a "dated" air about it, and to have shot its bolt; while logical positivism had made little attempt to recover from Joad's Critique, and Professor Ayer seemed chiefly to be busy whittling away the dogmatism which he displayed in his Language, Truth and Logic. But such a supposition would presumably be wrong; logical positivism still flourishes at the universities, and in his recent Vocabulary of Politics T. D. Weldon resumes the attack, with more dogmatism than ever, and regardless of the arguments which Joad long ago put forward against his philosophical assumptions. Weldon's book is an insidious one in the hands of the young, for there is a simplicity and completeness about it which is appeali ng at a certain age. It is at first sight alluring to learn that all the great questions of traditional philosophy are wrongly phrased; that they are meaningless, and that it is therefore a waste to spend any further time on them. It is a breath-taking assertion, compared with which L uther's Ninety-five Theses would be of small moment. But if the reader sto ps to ask what grounds there are for making it at all, the only answer is that philosophers have never been able to give an agreed answer to these questions; a n answer, that is, to which Plato, Aquinas, Kant and Bertrand Russell would equally subscribe. This argument is worth no more than the assertion that there can be no God, because the Christian and the Mohammedan (or, for that matter, two Christians) have different conceptions of Him. What right, we are forced to ask, has Mr. Weldon to declare meaningless questions which have occupied the greatest intellects of the world for some two-and-a-half millennia? Such radicalism is however necessary to the system of logical positivism, for Mr. Weldon knows that he must first demolish all that is left of Platonic idealism if his system is to be accepted. Thus he insists that words do not have meanings but only uses. This in a sense is true, for words constantly in the course of time shift their meanings, contract or expand: the reader is therefore lulled into agreement, only to find that the insidious argument has led him into acceptance of a different proposition a ltogether. For Weldon goes on to assert that " 'Justice' has no single nuclear meaning", a nd again "There is nothing divine or magical about 'justice' or 'freedom'." "There is nothing divine about justice": there you have the poison, inserted when you were not expecting it ; and poison it is, for if you accept it, it will not be long before yo u reverse it and hold that there is nothing of justice in divinity. Questions like "What is the State?", "Do rights exist?", or statements like "We hold it as self-evident that all men are created free and equal", are pronounced as meaningless. But they were not meaningless to the philosophers who propounded them; nor are they really meaningless to Weldon, for he proceeds to answer the questions. The State is just an association, like any other form of association; the laws of the State do not differ in essence from the laws of cricket. They are mere conventions. You do not say that cricket ought to permit thirteen players a side; you either play eleven a side or you choose another game. Similarly "rights" mean nothing more than what is customary. The whole philosophical basis of democracy is rejected, because Weldon can find nothing substantial in the idea of rights, equality, or freedom.
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Ideas such as rights, equality, freedom, are in fact rejected because they are metaphysical conceptions, and it is the fundamental dogma of logical positivism that metaphysics is nonsense. A statement has meaning only if it is ana lytic or empirically verifiable. Ayer himself says that "a proposition is genuinely factua l if any empirical observation would be relevant to its truth or fa lsehood". It follows therefore that intuitive and intellectual experience (and all non-sensory experiences of the mind), are not deemed relevant to the truth or falsehood of empirical propositions. Such a view is in fact the crudest sort of materialism, which it wou ld be easy enough to answer if space permitted. All T might say is that, if it is true, I do not know how to explain the imagi native experience gained, say, from read ing poetry. The result of all th is is to reject the conception of objective truth in philosophy and politics. Weldon admits that "6 x 7 = 42" is an objective tr uth , but he says that it has no equi valent statement in philoso phy. We might point o ut that, as Bertrand Russell has shown, the statement "6 x 7 = 42" is itself based o n phi losophical conceptions, but we will let that pass. The important thing is that Weldon asserts that all statements of political principle are merely subjective; that is to say that the statement " the individual is important" means no more than " I happen to think well of the individual". The wheel has come a full circle since the days of Lord Acton, when he could think of Truth, Freedom, and the like as the ultimate realities, and when he could declare that Liberty was the supreme Good- not liberty for this or that purpose, but Liberty as an end in itself. Lord Acton, like Malvolio, "thought nobly of the soul"; but Mr. Weldon does not. He lives in a curious world where good and bad, right and wrong do not exist at all, a drab and sordid world, without criteria and without hope. Do 1 exaggerate? Take for instance his attitude to freedom. "The notion of freedom", he writes, "does not provide the basis for a clear, straightforward comparison between constitutions, or for the intelligent criticism of legislation." But then, he adds-and herein is the sting- in any case "freedom is not the o nly important thing in the world". Nor is Truth, nor any other supreme Good. It is a world in which there is really nothing to choose between Democracy and Communism, Freedom and Tyranny, Christ a nd Anti-Christ, for these words have never really meant anything; there is no measuring-stick by which we can judge between them. All we can do appa rently is to make feeble protests against the one we happen not to like, protests which are promptly la belled "subjective", " having merely appraisal value". As a warning to us to " define our terms", to be certai n what we mean by the words we use, Mr. Weldon's book is useful. As a guide in a troubled world, as a substitute for a philosophy of politics, it is a lamentable failure.
R.W.H.
THE
CANTUA RIAN
ATOMIC PHYSICS (On November 7th a film of this title was shown to the School by the Harvey Society) In the minds of the general public there exist a great many misconceptions of this subject ; and these are magnified a hundred-fold by its fatal importance in the world to-day, and by the consequent hysteria. This fear is due to ignorance ; man is always afraid of things he does not understand, and comes to wild and irresponsible conclusions. Science is mostly inaccessible to those who have no scientific background, no experience of the ways of science (which can only be developed in years of study); and few books have catered for this, or have been able to simplify their subjects to a degree which all can understand, or be bothered to understand. Lord Rutherford, whose work in this realm was so grea t, once said, "These fundamental things have got to be simple." And this was the guiding principle of the makers of this film, G-B. Instructional, Ltd. (a subsidiary of J. Arthur Rank): not only should the su bject be simplified for the layman, but, as Lord Rutherford implied, the simpler the basic conceptions of the expert, the further his thoughts can lead him. T he film was made for the layman as well as for the student, and its object was to present as simply as possible the ideas and theories which have developed Dalton's original theory of the structure of matter (1808) into its present form. The most outstanding experiments in the history of the subject were repeated, often with the original apparatus, and they and the various theories were explained by frequent an imated diagrams, which were the best thing about the film . Intermingled with the explanations of the theories and the experiments were little pieces of play-acting- Dalton working in his laboratory, an alchemist doodling at his dreams, and so on; these were a waste of very valuable space. Also incorporated were actual recordings of speeches made by Sir Joseph Thomson and Lord Rutherford, and by Professor Einstein; Lord Rutherford's speeches acted as summaries of the various parts of the film. Apparently no ne of these great men were used to public speaking, and in the main one could not make out what they were saying. Thus, although it was a musing to see these great figures and hear them speak, the ideas of such great thinkers, which should have helped so immensely, were here lost. Some compla in that, as the story came to deal with more complex matters, so it was unfolded the faster ; some, that too much attention was paid to detailed experiments, and not enough to the basic ideas- which, after all, was what the least informed were struggling to grasp; certainly a more detailed study could have been made of much of it. And these criticisms arc not unconnected. For whom was the fil m intended? The makes were bound to fall between two stools, because they tried to make it of general as well as of academic interest; and, as the subject developed, there was more to be detailed aboutif it was to be in deta il; otherwise the film could have been better balanced. But it was a fi lm which set out to give correct conceptions and proportionate ideas to the ill-informed, at the same time providing the scientists with a fa irly complete exposition of Atomic Physics, which has a fund amental approach common to all modern physics and chemistry; and as such it was successful. Our main regret is that it should have attempted to cater for both the expert and the layman. C.B.S.
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THE CANTUARIAN
BOOK REVIEWS More for Timothy. By Victor Gollancz. Only St. Paul and Mr. Gollancz (to the best of my knowledge) have composed two successive works, each addressed to a T imothy: and the comparison is not uninstructive. T he most noticeable d ifference between the two is that the Apostle was a professional, while Mr. Gollancz is an amateur. St. Paul learned the hard way, sitting at the feet of Gamaliel: Mr. Gollancz seems (when he was not treading on them) to have sat at the feet of almost every teacher and writer in history. St. Paul was primarily interested in Providence: Mr. Gollancz is interested in everything from Providence to postage-stamps. More for Timothy contains some of the demerits, and most of the virtues, of amateur writing- in the best sense of that word. Some idea of the author's breadth of vision can be gained from his anthology A Year of Grace, which contains, in general form, many of the moods and concepts which pervade his autobiography. He is a man of many ideas and many feelings: but the prime merit of More for Timothy is that it possesses a clarity and intensity of feel ing which is unusual in amateur writers, and impossible for dilettantes. It is this quality of intensity which makes the book amusing, and makes it alive. Moreover, he does not use the form of autobiography merely in order to preach. For him, the impor tant realities of li fe are thoughts and feelings; and he succeeds admirably in impressi ng himself upon us as a man whose mind and heart arc both receptive a nd creative. His success as a writer essentially depends on the same quality. He is often careless and sometimes wanders unnecessarily from the point, but redeems himself by making every feeling and every incident vivid and important to us; and even where his theme is a popular one, as it usually is, he manages to infuse fresh life into it. We are not surprised to find that he was a schoolmaster, nor that, as he tells us, he has followed that vocation in one form or another ever since. His remarks (or should one say disclosures?) on schools and teaching, as on other subjects, are always intelligent enough to be interesting, and sometimes too intelligent to be comfortable. But that he has the spirit of a teacher is apparent throughout the book. His purpose is primarily to educate, and only secondarily to entertain. Many readers will, no doubt, prefer merely to be entertained, and they will not find it d ifficult. It is easy to find fault with the views and arguments which Mr. Golla ncz puts forward. Though always interesting, they are nearly always tendentiously expressed: and not even his bitterest enemies could say that he was a slave to logic. But though his opinions are sometimes more picturesque than philosophical, they have the merit of stimulating rational thought: a rare quality in the twentieth century. We must always remember, as we read, that the book is not intended primarily as a logical critique of our t ime, but as an autobiography of a man who has read widely, thought deeply, and felt keenly. Provided we approach it with an open mind, we shall find the range of our own thoughts and feelings incalculably widened. For that reason, if for none other, it is a book supremely worth while reading. J.B.W. Down with Skoal ! by Geoffrey Willans and Ronald Searle. (Max Parrish, 8/6.) The male youth of England must have looked forward to the day when Ronald Sea rle would turn his p!n to their sex; and here, following the cremat ion of St. Trinian's, we have St. Custard's, and its hero (or, as he describes himself, curse) Nigel Molesworth. It is not a large book, and the majority of it is dedicated to Mr. Searle's illustrations. I n fact, the impression gained is that the writing is entirely a background to the illustrations, scarcely for coherent reading, but to be referred to en passanl for stray pearls. And stray pearls there arc; no one can fail to smile, for instance, at the chapter-heading on parents ('For whom we are abow lo decei11e may /he Lord make us truly thankjitl') or school food ('The piece of cod which passelh understanding'). But l doubt whether the prose is there for reading; not least, because it is written in a New English, such as even Shaw never dreamt of- 1 give an example: 'In fact instead of thinking of NOTHING which is wot most masters do they look more dopey than ever they are in luv'. This sentence is chosen at random, but it illustrates another point : 'wot' is not infrequently spelled 'what'. The likelihood of confusion is not enormous, but l estimate the risk of irritation high. However, whatever we may say about the prose-and it may be that the prose style of n. molesworth i is the most amusing medium for such a work- the illustrations ar~ superb. Mr. Searle has generally sacrificed a certain amo:mt of the detail of his earlier works to characterisation and variety. We include two illustrations which show the excellent effect of this characterisatio n combined with detail . But I cannot end without special reference to the small characterising sketches of type-masters and typeparents. These are really excellent, and deserve the closest scrutiny from both masters and parents-! do not think I need exhort boys I
V.A.
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YEARS AGO IN KENT Proposed Kentish Railway A very numerous Meeting of the Landed Proprietors in the county of Kent was held on Monday, at the Crown and Anchor Tavern, for the purpose of declaring their hostility to this undertaking, and to oppose the passing of the Bill now being brought before Parliament. The Earl of D arnley was called to the chair. His Lo rdship declared his determination to o ppose the meas ure with a ll his mig ht, both in and o ut of Parliament ¡ because he, in th e first place, could not conceive it to be of any public utility; and was' in the next place, highly calculated to injure the in terest of private individuals. ' Sir E . Knatchbull concurred in the sentiments of the Noble Chairman, and proffered his Parliamentary exertions towards opposing the Bill. (From The Kentisll Gazette, Ma rch 3rd, 1826) (Ed.-The Darnlcys possessed the manors of Nealhampton, Gravesend , Cobham Cobhambury, Randa ll, East a nd West Chalk, Cliff, Bekele, Chattenden, etc. ' The Knatchbulls had lands in Linsted, Ospri nge, Mersha m, Ivychurch, and other places, besides the Mano rs of Hatch, Tiffenden , Brabo rne, a nd Postling.)
Wanted WHER EAS on Sunday last, Joh n Scutt, apprentice to Chas. Page, shoemaker, of D enton, did absent himself from his Master. Whoever harbours or employs him after this notice, will be prosecuted as the law directs. I f he immedia tely returns he w ill be forgiven. J. Scutt is a bo ut 17 years of age, slight made, sallow complexion ; had on when he left home a sho rt fustian coat, corded trowsers, black ha ndkerchief, and bootshoes; the eye bloodshot from a blow. March 3rd, 1826. (Ed.- It is to be hoped that both eyes were not bloodshot as a 'result of forgiveness. And what is a bootshoe?) A New School Mrs. T revor R espectfully informs her Friends and the Inhabitants of CANTERBURY, that she purposes, after the ensuing Vacation, to OPEN a BOARD ING AND DAY SCHOOL for the I nstruction of a number of YOUNG LADIES, in the usual branches of Female Education. Mrs. T. begs to add, that having conducted a respectable Seminary in the North of England for some years with considerable success, she flatters herself she shall be enabled to give that satisfaction to those who may kindly intrust her with the Tuition of their Children, wh ich wi ll ensure her th eir favor a nd patronage, and a lso ass ures them it shall be her constant endeavour to promote the improvement of her Pupils. No. 8, Watling-street, Canterbury. D ec. 18th, 1826. (From The Kentish Gazette, December 29th, 1826) 294
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LECTURES Mr. A. L. RowsE visited us on October 14th, and spoke to the Sixth Forms about the first Elizabethan Age. He had, he said, lived in the Elizabethan Age for a good many years; and we could well believe it. He took us down some unfamiliar by-ways, which eventually brought us, via remote country houses and churches, to Hardwicke where we were invited to renew our acquaintance with the great Bess, "who will write up beautifully one day". One hopes that Mr. Rowse will do this before he is overtaken by the fate of Leland. Mr. Rowse himself hinted at this awful possibility; and indeed his unrestrained disgust with our own age made us fear that the first symptoms might already have appeared. However, he ended with a magnificent peroration, in which he showed how successive generations of Englishmen have in years of crisis drawn strength from recalling the spirit of Elizabethan England. On N ovember 20th, the whole School was privileged to hear DR. ARTHUR BRYANT speak on Samuel Pepys. Those who heard him felt that Dr. Bryant was talking about a great friend whom he introduced to us with a charming modesty and without in any way interposing his own personality between his subject and his audience; he was content to indicate the character of an extract from the Diary with no more than the slightest inflection of the voice. Pepys, we were told, was a kindly man: he could not have had a friend more kindly than Dr. Bryant. It is so easy to find faults of character in a record as frank as are Pepys' volumes. Dr. Bryant tried no more than did Pepys to hide these peccadillos; but they merely rounded out the character of a great artist and a great Englishman. When Dr. Bryant came to read the words of Dr. Hicks on the death of Pepys, we felt that they were about a man whom we, too, had known as a friend. Those members of the Sixth Form who heard StR HAROLD NICOLSON will agree that the occasion fully lived up to our high expectations. He wore his authority lightly; his gentle approach and humorous interpretation of his subject, biography, made it much more of an informal admonition. He spoke first of the three 'poisons' of good Biography; the commemorative, written-by-or-for-friends-and-relations attitude; the over-literary, Thophrastan style; and the didactic, often moralising species. H is mild but not inapposite observations on the English aptitude for this particular medium of writing were interesting as well as amusing, but most laughs arose from anecdotes of his experience and lessons in Royal biography. We were proud to hear him and enjoyed it very much; may he often come again!
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THE SOCIETIES The Pater Society has thrived modestly on a few excellent papers including "Ciubsmen in Greece" by M. F isher and "Ancient Musical Instruments" by R. G. S. Adams, two interesting talks by Mr Hope-Simpson and Mr. Wilson, and refreshments a t every meeting. ¡ The Walpole Society has had several talks from members on visits to foreign countries; it has heard readings of short stories and an American play, and enjoyed the innovation of a musical evening. Mr. Berridge and Mr. Lindesay have been elected Vice-Presidents, and C. R. Grainger and T. J. Osborne Fellows of the Society. The Tenterden Society erupted once more early this term, when Mr. Ball forwarded and Mr. Blumenau opposed a motion "That this House deplores Change". Neither the course of the evening not the subsequent complete silence suggest that the Society has yet recovered, but a new constitution has been drawn up! A junior branch of the Modern Languages Society has been formed so that boys below the Sixth Form may meet to read plays and hear talks in French and German. Its membership is already fairly large and ¡ its meetings have been frequent. The Somner Society has heard talks on "English Domestic Architecture" from A. Baring, "Early Musical Instruments" from R. G. S. Adams. Mr. Owen has given a " Defence of Victorian Architecturo" and Mr. Blumenau a talk on "The English Parliament". The Society's excavations are postponed till next term, but it has made an expedition to the Abbey and Church of Minster-in-Thanet. The Caxton Society has as usual been very busy printing concert programmes and producing Christmas cards. Members wish to thank Messrs. Smith and Young for a most enjoyable day at the end of last term. The Natural History Society has heard talks from B~rk and Furneaux on botanical subjects, and short lectures from Hudson and Barber. Major-General F . A. Jenkins showed the Society his colour films on December 5th. Three members took part in the A.S.N.H .S. Exhibition in London, and others attended meetings of the Kent Ornithological Society. The Farming Club met twice to hear lectures from R. W. Sparrow (Hon. Sec.), R. A. G. d'E. Willoughby, and others, who later a nswered questions. The Harvey Society has as usual been active. Its members have had a series of lectures rangi'ng from " Ghosts" to "Soap-bubbles", visited the Workshops of Thos. Headley & Co. at Grays, Essex, and the British Moulding Machines at Faversham, a nd organized the film Atomic Physics which was given to the School. They are optimistic under the new Hon. Secretary, J. P. Moss. Mr. R. K. Blumenau has succeeded Mr. Ward as President of the Photographic Society. The new enlarger is now operating and the dark room in constant use. Among its activities have been visits to the projection room of a local cinema, a visit to a programme of prize-winning films from the Canterbury Amateur Cine Society, and a discussion night. Mr. H. Blumenau talked to the Society on colour photography, and showed some of his excellent colour slides. The Railway and Transport Engineering Society (its constitution has been revised and its name changed), has visited Ashford Railway Works and seen a film show consisting of four films. The model railway room has been cleaned out and the terminus reduced in size. Subscriptions, it is hoped, will make further progress possible. The Madrigal Society would like to express its gratitude to Mr. J. K. Waddell for all his unselfish services to the Society which he himself founded. It was fitting that the last performance of the Music Circle, under his direction, was very well received. The Society welcomes Mr. D . R . Lawrence as the new President.
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RUGBY FOOTBALL RETROSPECT For the first time for a number of years the XV has completed a season without being defeated by another school side. On the other hand it has only once reached double figures in its score, and its total of points for the season must be the lowest for years. For all this there is reasonable explanation. The avoidance of defeat was due to well-organised covering, and to some stout-hearted work by the forwards who carried the main burden when the backs were disorganised by injury early in the term. The K.C.S. match, for which four mid-field backs as well as two forwards were missing, stands out in this respect. The poverty of scoring can be chiefly attributed, apart from the absence of any outstandingly constructive midfield player1 to the disorganisation caused by so many injuries to backs early in the season. Rowe, the captain ana a centre three-quarter, was missing for the first three games. Thus the back division was not settled until late in the term and it had little chance to develop its full potentiality. Uncertainty of aim and consequent lack of confidence in execution, to say nothing of deficiencies in elementary techniques of kicking and passing, were its greatest weaknesses. Had it been possible for it to have seen the lessons shown it by the LX Club, a nd to have felt the lessons so severely taught it by the Greyhounds at Oxford early in the season, much of its uncertainty of aim would have been removed. Those lessons, that the best way of beating a defence is by swift changes in di.rection, attacking first on o ne wing and then on the other, and that the easiest place to cross one's opponents' line is by the corner flag, came too late to be of use this season. If, however, future aspirants for places in the XV will mark and learn them now, they will not have been entirely wasted; and if those aspirants will see to it1 that when their time comes to compete for a place in the team, they do not need to be taught how to kicK with either foot, how to pass and how to tackle, they will find that their prospects will be immeasurably enhanced. KING'S SCHOOL, CANTERBURY v CANTERBURY R.F.C. Played on Saturday, 3rd October King's, 8; Canterbury, 27 Considerably shaken by the loss of Rowe through an injury during practice, and with only just over a week's training behind us, we went out to play our first match against a strong, hard-playing Canterbury side. On our side the game was chiefly noted for very poor defence. In the first-half Canterbury were allowed to score two tries, one after a slipped tackle and the other from an unchecked run down the wing. Duerinckx then succeeded in scoring from a dropped pass, and Woolston added 3 more points by touching down a penalty kick which narrowly failed. In the second-half the Canterbury defence continued to press hard and two more tries were scored by the Canterbury back division, one after a run through practically the whole of our defence, and their forwards added a further two tries. The chief lesson learned in this match was the need for faster covering by the forwards, and this improved with more training. A hard match such as this certainly was, taught a rather raw side a great deal.
THE 1sT XV KING'S SCHOOL, CANTERBURY v KING'S COLLEGE SCHOOL, WIMBLEDON (Home) Played on Saturday, lOth October King's, 6; Wimbledon, 6 The team went on to the field with morale rather low after the large number of injuries in the match against Canterbury, and with IT!emories of hard fought battles against K.C.S. in the past. It took the scoring of a penalty against a nervous serum-half to goad the forwards into action after a very slow start. Our opponents were heavier and had the best of the ball in the line-outs, but one of our few quick-heels gave Woolston the chance to cut through and score. Weak tackling gave their fly-half an opening and they scored in the centre, giving them a lead at half-time. In the second half, Nelson brought the scores level with a brilliant kick from outside the 25-yard line. On remarking on the distance the K.C.S. fly-half stood back-we discovered this was an anti-Raffle tactic! After a poor start with five reserves in the team, some of whom had come to stay, we put up a creditable performance, even, in the second half, gaining the upper hand in the set serums. Amongst the newcomers were Malcolm, who led the pack for the rest of the season, and Maitland, who remained for the rest of the season on the wing. 297
THE CANTUARTAN KING'S SCHOOL, CANTERBURY V BLACKHBATH "A" Played on Saturday, 17th October King's, 6; Blackheath, 0 This was the team's first experience of wet conditions, and the match started 35 minutes late, as our opponents got lost in Canterbury. Nevertheless the forwards had the best of opponents .who, though they knew all the tricks, were probably not quite so fit. Our three-quarters handled the ball well, but the absence of Rowe from the attack made it lack the extra pun::h necessary against a club side, which is always very quick on the ball. The first score was a try touched down by Hoare, after he had forced himself over from a loose serum on the Blackheath line. In the second-half Nelson, with the aid of advice from the touch-line as to the placing of the ball, brought the score up to six from a penalty kick. A rather unconstructive match; its chief importance was the boost given to the morale of the team by a win, after set-backs caused by so many injuries. KTNG'S SCHOOL, CANTERBURY V EASTBOURNE COLLEGE (Away) Played on Wednesday, 21st October King's, 6; East bourne, 0 The return of the Captain to the side restored the confidence but not the full co-ordination of the team after a series of injuries which marred the beginning of the season. Owing to rather poor defence, especially in the centre, the first five minutes of the game were spent in a rather desperate but successful attempt at preventing Eastbourne from scoring. This had the good effect of stimulating very hard play in the forwards right from the start, and though our opponents dominated the line-outs by their size, we held our own, and in the set serums had the lion's share of the ball. ¡Our reward came when Woolston, given the ball on the 25-yard line, ran through their defence to score a spirited try near the corner flag. A second try was scored in the next half when Maitland sprinted to touch down a kick-ahead from Rowe. We were fortunate in that two penally kicks against us failed to score and the match ended with Eastbourne again pressing hard. ' This was a hard-fought match against a rather bigger and heavier side, but was not notable for good three-quarter play. Apart from Woolston's good work on the wing and Nelson's good kicking, there was no outstanding play. KING'S SCHOOL, CANTERBURY v ST. LAWRENCE COLLEGE, RAMSGATE Played on Wednesday, 28th October King's, 9; St. Lawrence, 0 A wet day made this a close, muddy game in which the two packs, evenly matched, had a hard fight the St. Lawrence forwards being, perhaps, slightly quicker on the ball. ' The side was very lucky in having Harvey for the first time; two very impressive penalty kicks provided 6 out of the 9 points scored. Woolston scored the other 3 after a good run up the wing, having gained the ball, from one of our few quick-heels. Collins appeared at fly-half for the first time in this match, but his tendency to kick-ahead whenever he got the ball was hardly justified by the conditions of play. Davies, also in the team for the first time, played very well at full-back. No-one would claim that this was one of our best performances, indeed, in the last fi ve minutes St. Lawrence came very near to scoring, but cond itions were far from ideal. KING's SCHOOL, CANTERBURY v DovER CoLLEGE Played on Saturday, 31st October King's, 14; Dover, 3 A rather unnecessary infringement in the serum in the first few minutes of the game enabled Dover to make their only score and gain a lead which they held for the first fifteen minutes. A clever run by Davies, carried on by Maitland and left to Slee, who was backing up well inside, to score, provided some spectacular play. Only now did we really get going. In the second half, we pressed hard most of the time and scored nine more points. A kick-ahead by Rowe, well caught by Maitland, provided one try, and stout work by the serum enabled Woolston to score twice in the last ten minutes from quick passes out. Dover played a defensive game and were not at all anxious for open play, their backs keeping a very shallow line throughout. Collins played well and restrained his passion for kicking-ahead in this match, but most credit must go to Woolston, Maitland and Davies. The influx -of Dover supporters had a stimulating effect on the School who for once really used their lungs. ~ . , .. ..
298
THE CANTUAR I A'N KING'S SCROOL, CANTERBURY v FELSTP.D (Away) Played on Saturday, 7th November King's, 6; Felsted, 0 A strong wind was blowing straight down the pitch throughout the game, and Felsted chose to play with it during the first half, most of which was consequently played in our half of the field. Occasionally a long run or dribble would take us into their twenty-five, or even on to their line, but they always succeeded in immediately relieving the pressure by high kicks, which the wind carried into touch often forty yards away. On the whole we defended stoutly this half, and Felsted deserved no more than the score of 0-0 at half-time. ln the second half we did almost all the attacking; but it soon became obvious that, while kicking was the best and easiest method of gaining ground, the most likely method of scori ng was through passing movements. We scored two tries; for the first Woolston was over in the left-hand corner, after Maitland, from the other wing, had joined in the line; for the second, Woolston gathered a well-judged kick-ahead by H. R. J. Hoare, and passed outside to Rowe, who touched down in almost the same place. These won us the game, but, as so often this season, we should have won by much more. Slovenly handling wasted many opportunities; and once or twice tries were thrown away by last-minute selfishness. KINo's ScHOOL, CANTERBURY v RICHMOND "A" (Home) Played on Saturday, 14th November King's, 3; Richmond, 9 Richmond scored all their points in the first half; hesitation in falling on the ball in the first instance let one of their forwards over for an opportunist's try; weak tackling in mid-field allowed them to score their other two tries, in both of which their fly-half played a large part. Although we played much better thereafter we were unable to wipe out that lead; we were perhaps a little too stereotyped in a ttack, and, although we came very near to scoring tries on several occasions, we only scored through a good drop goal by Collins. In attack, we were often our own worst enemies by giving away penalties which drove us back down the field again. Yet play in the second half represented some improvement in current form. KING'S SCHOOL, CANTERBURY v ST. PAUL'S (Home) Played on Wednesday, 18th November King's, 8; St. Paul's, 3 This was a thrilling ma tch, and the School on the touch-line gave tremendous support throughout. Yet by any absolute standards of Rugby Football it was not a good game, and both sides were probably playing below their best. The St. Paul's backs consistently fumbled, their halves being particularly ill at ease; yet we were far too slow to take advantage of this, our backs generously allowing them time to recover, our forwards (who on the whole, however, played magnificently) being slow on to the loose ball. Had St. Paul's played at their best, only then, I suppose, would we have played at ours. On one of the very rare occasions on which the ball reached him, Woolston cut inside his opposite nwnber, and kicked over the full-back's head to score in the corner; Harvey converted this with an excellent kick. In the second half another fine kick by Harvey gave us a penalty goal. They need never have scored at all; but in the last minute of the game Maitland, only a few yards from our line, quite inexplicably ran back across the field straight into their pack. KING'S SCHOOL, CANTERBURY v HARLEQUINS "A" (Home) Played on Saturday, 28th November King's, 0; Harlequins, S We are grateful to the Harlequins for bringing down such a fine side, which set out to play a fast, open game. The result was one of the best games of the term, from which we should have learnt much. We rose to the challenge well, and played better than before in every department. Our forwards were beaten in the line-out by sheer height, but held their own in the tight against superior weight, and fought hard in the loose. Our backs were closely marked, and had to pull out all their tricks if they were to get openings. 299
THE C ANTUARIAN Th~ Harlequi~s immediately show~d theit: intention of ope~ing the _game up, swinging the ball from one stde of the pttch to the other, backmg up m attack and covermg well m defence. They were particularly quick on the loose ball, and in recovering after a tackle, a lesson we could well afford to learn. One mistake cost us the game; their serum-half was allowed to sell two dummies, and thus they gained the extra man on the blind side, who scored in the corner; this was converted by an excellent kick. They thus led 5-0 at half-time, and it was this lead which enabled them in the second half to close up the game by kicking to touch. We attacked hard, and with a certain amount of initiative, but failed to score.
KING'S SCHOOL, CANTERilURY V STOWE (Away) Played on Wednesday, 2nd December King's, 0; Stowe, 0 This was a dull game, which somehow lacked the punch which usually distinguishes a game of that importance. A light shower on an already muddy pitch made the ball difficult to handle throughout and in general defence proved master of the attack. Occasionally we had a good movement when Smith or Colli ns backed up outside Woolston, and sometimes a kick-ahead of some kind would look dangerous Their full-back tackled and fell courageously on a day when foot-rushes were the most frequ ent form of attack; they seemed most dangerous when their serum-half was allowed to run from the base of the serum. Some extremely scrappy line-out play wasted time and temper. Although both sides came very near to scoring, the game ended in a pointless draw. From our point of view, it was not so much that we made tactical errors, but that our play lacked some of that life and whole-hearted effort which is the essence of the game. KING'S SCHOOL, CANTERBURY v O.U. GREYHOUNDS (Away) Played on Friday, 4th December King's, 0 ; Greyhounds, 31 The Greyhounds fielded an extremely strong side, including ~ve who have played for the University. Under no circumstances would we have beaten them ; but wtth more confidence and determination especially early on in the game, we would have been beaten by a much smaller margin. At half-tim~ the score was 0--12; we had fai led to keep up with our opponents' sudden changes of direction, or to tackle a1_1d hold faster and hea vier opponents;_ worse still, perhaJ?S, we l~ad fai!ed to initiate any really penetrating attack of our own, for although a ktck to touch or a dnbble tntght gam ground, and occasionally the ball went along the line, yet, partly, perhaps, through nervousness, we lacked the thrust to convince them we were dangerous. This only came late in the second half, with a few good concerted movements, but of course then it was too late. Playing against a faster and heavier side was bound to result in fatigue, and, as the points mounted, despair. Our tackling was always the weakest part of our play, and a tired tackle is ev~n less. lik~ly to succeed. Nevertheless, we never gave up completely ; A. H. M. Hoare desperately tned to msptre the forward s, who had spent the afternoon corner-flagging¡ D avies remained cool at full-back; and it was only late in the game that we produced our best movements:
THE
2ND
XV
The latter half of the season, characterised by the fewness of the matches, the small amount of attention given to training, and the consequent lack of enthusiasm, tends to throw a shadow on the earlier matches. We have played ten matches, of which six were in the first month of term; we won four, lost three, and drew three. The first match, against Canterbury, the usual keen, beginning of the season game, we lost 12-6; the second we won easily against a tea m which appeared with twelve men, few of whom knew very much about rugger. Against R .M.S., Dover, we first lost 3-6 and later, reinforced by rejects from the 1st XV, drew 9- 9 rather undcservedly. Dover we beat 32-3, and St. Lawrence first 24-nil, and later 11- 3. Sutton Valence distinguished themselves by failing to appear for o ne fixture; when we eventually played them during the " 0 " Level Exams., a combination of our 2nd XV and 3rd XV drew 6-6 with a combination of their 1st XV and 2nd XV in a close, scrappy a nd rather muddy game. This year we managed to beat K.C.S., Wimbledon 9-nil in a hard, open game chiefly notable for the number of injuries. We were well captained throughout by Strouts, who is an excellent hooker. No less than eleven members of the team played in the 1st XV, but this is not necessarily an indication of any merit. The team was: J. G. Nelson ; B. A. E. Duerinckx, R . D. F . Bream, C. E. von Bibra, C. J. Reed; R.N. Coombes, C. N. Laine; M.A. Murch, R.N. Murch, C. B. Strouts, J. E. Pawley, J. Henbry, A . G . Rodgers, D. E. Balfour, M. F. Sparrow. 300
THE
C A NTUARIAN
T HE 3Ro X V The 3rd XV had a most successful season. Up to the tim~ of writing (with one match still to be played) they were not only unbeaten in all matches, but they beat the 2nd XV on the second occasion on which the two teams met. D. A. Goate, the Captain, contributed greatly to the team's success at fly-half, where his strength in attack and powerful kicking were invaluable to his side. He combined well with C. D. Russell, a p lucky serum-half. Also notable among the backs were J. C. T rice and D. R. Nevile, who between them accounted for most of the tries scored . M. J . Dailey was an outstandi ng hooker, and he was also the most d angerous forward in the loose. D . E. Mellish was another very hard-working fo rward and in J. F . Love, the leader o f the forwards, and S. T. S. Blackall, the 3rd XV had an exceptionally good pair of wing forwards. T here was, in fact, no obvious weakness in the side, and all members of the team deserve p raise for playing good, open rugby against some strong opponents. T he best s ingle performance probably consisted in beati ng an R .M.S. Dover side which included ten members of their 1st X V 8-3 at D over. A Kent College XV of similar strength was defeated 5-0 away, while their 1st XV, in a desperate struggle at ho me, was held to a draw 8- 8. St. Lawrence, Ramsgate were soundly beaten 12-0 and 31- 0, while the Royal Marines School of Music at Deal were defeated 39-0 and 14-0. 3Ro XV.-D . J . Loveridge; K. S. Adams, D. R. Nevile, P. F. Lamb, J. C. Trice; D. A. Goate, C. D. Russell ; J. E . L. Sales, M. J. Bailey, D . E. Mellish, A. D. Jones, W. J. C. Kemp, S. T . S. Blackall, I. M. Young, J. F . Love. ALSO PLAYEo.-D . C. Moor, D. J. Kirsch, C. E. von Bibra, W. A. H. Dodger, C. J. T . Featherstone, C. P. Lawrance, and others. D.W.B.
COLTS The Colts' team has usually been successful, sometimes brill iant and always unpredictable. Jt has won six matches by playing fast and intelligent football and lost three by starting at half-pace and allowing the o ther side to dominate play- but this was a failure in temperament. There is plenty of skill. Snell, at full back , fields and kicks beautifu lly, but is slow to recover when out of positio n. Read has played with determination on one wing and Paterson has used h is pace effectively on the other. I n attack, Blake is penetrating a nd elusive, while the o ther centre, Agnew, has shown everyone how to tack le. We have had two fly-h alves; Graham, a mature and resourceful player but slow off the mark, and Vincent, who has all the qualities of an attacking outside-half. The former has also played well at full back and the latter on the wing. Sainsbury was the obvious choice for serum-hal f and has p roved tough and competent. The forwa rds are vigorous and enthusiastic. Farrant as hooker, Whitt ington and R obinson in the second row and H utton as open wing forward all show considerable promise. Aylott, Campbell and Sargent arc st rong and willing but rather clumsy in the open. The hard-work ing Barwell and Og ilvy have alsodom well . There are, of course, many weaknesses. The backs could improve their handling and the forwards their heeling; and the whole team could use passing movements more as a means of attack. Both Hutton and Whittington have captained the side successfully in their different ways. Our thanks arc due to Mr. Wenley, who has refereed many games, and to those other members of tho Colts' game who played hard but were never selected for the team. T he usual team was from: Snell ; Paterson, Agnew, Blake, R ead; Vincent, G raham, Sainsbury; Aylott, Farrant, Ogilvy, Campbell, Robinson, Whittington, Hutton, Sargent, Barwell . A lso played : Tomkins; James, Orchard, Miller.
301
THE CANTUAR lA N R ESULTS Of MATCHES
Oct. 17. 24. 28. 31. Nov. 7. 14. 21. 28. Dec. 5.
Sir Roger Manwood's (Away). Won 3-0. Dover College (Home). Won 35- 0. St. Lawrence, Ramsgate (Home). Won 21-0. R.M.S., Dover (Home). Lost 11- 14. Felsted (Away). Lost 3- 9. R.M.S., Dover (Away). Lost 0-46. St. Lawrence, Ramsgate (Away). Won 8-0. Eastbourne (Home). Won 13- 3. Kent College (Home). Won 26-0. B.J.M.S.
THE JUNÂŁ0R COLTS With three exceptions this year's regular XV has been drawn ready-made, as it were, from the UnderFourteens of the '52-'53 season. From the start no difficulty was found in maki ng everyone play together as a team and, with the enthusiasm of the other twenty members of the Junior Colt game as an added incentive to keen a nd unselfish football, the side has so far had a successful season. The largest margin of points was scored against St. Lawrence while the narrowest victory (although the score would seem to belie it) was against Eastbourne. This was probably the best game of the term and one which showed that the pack, which has hunted intelligently and with speed in every game, was a good match for a heavier set of swift forwards; the backs also gave evidence of having learned something- primarily the lesson of the value of immediate feeding of the wings and of short punts and cross-kicks. Every other match with the possible exception of that at home against R.M.S., Dover, has been comfortably, and almost ta~ely, won. M. T. Thorburn a nd T. J. Chenevix-Trench have led the team firmly and imaginatively throughout the term. RESULTS OF MATCHES
Oct. 10. 17. 24. 28. Nov. 14. 21. 28.
R.M.S., Dover (Away). Won 15- nil. Sir Roger Manwood's (Away). Won 13- nil. King's School, Rochester. Won 14-nil. St. Lawrence. Won 41 - nil. Sutton Valence. Won 40-nil. R.M.S., Dover (Home). Won 14-3. Eastbourne. Won 20-9. J.G.O.
UNDER 14 XV The season so far has been marked with an impressive amassing of points rather than sound football. The side in six matches scored 129 points and conceded only 12. King's, Rochester and Kent College failed to provide worthy opposition and were overwhelmed. The most interesting matches were against Sutton Valence and Duke of York's, Dover, where our weaknesses were fully revealed. The duel with Duke of York's, notoriously tough antagonists, ended favourably but not entirely convincingly. Headley's splendid kicking gained 5 of the 8 points which were scored in the return match. Play in the back line has improved appreciably, though it is still spoiled by selfishness. The occasional concerted forward rushes have proved highly successful, but the forwards have not yet learned to play as a pack. Poor tackling is the major weakness and here Dunning alone deserves honourable mention. RESULTS Of MATCHES
Oct. 10. 24. 28. Nov.14. 21. ;28.
Duke of York's (Away). Lost 3-6. King's School, Rochester (Home). Won 45-0. St. Lawrence (Away). Won 19-0. Sutton Valence (Away). Won 11- 6. Duke of York's (Home). Won 8-0. Kent College (Home). Won 43-0. J.A.K,
1
VISCOUNT MONTGOMERY AT THE ZAGREB INTERNATIONAL FAIR
The Director of the Fair
The Director of the British Section
Mr. Beaumont with F.-M. Lord Montgomery
(P. G. Beaumont)
THE CANTUARTAN
SWIMMING T he last match of the season, against Tonbridge, took place on July 7th at our baths. The Juniors swam very well, having four out of a possible five individual wioners, and ga ined a fairly easy victory. The Senior match, however, was much closer and the result was in doubt until the last event, the straight relay. This Tonbridge won by a touch-both teams returned the same time-and so deservedly the match. T he Swimming Sports were held, as usual, on the last Sunday of the term. We were blessed with fine weather and consequently there were some fine performa nces. Six records were broken, five of them Senior. The House Competition was, for the third year in succession, won by Luxmoore, who defeated their nearest rivals the Grange by over a hundred points. But the Grange had their revenge in the final of the Water Polo, a new event, win ning by the only goal scored. Mrs. Shirley very kindly presented the Cup. The season has, on the whole, been a success, the two teams winning five of their eight matches. T he freestyle swimmers have been of a fairly high standard, particularly C. G. C. Houry and M. Fisher for the Seniors a nd D. E. Balfour, T. G. Blake, A. P. G. Stanley-Smith, and P. J. Sargent for the Juniors. Among the backstrokers, T. Fyfe-Smith, A. D. Jones, and R. H . C. Croxford have a ll done well, particularly the last, who should do well next year. But it is the breast-stroke swimmers who have been the success of the season. R. N. Coombes and R. G. Paterson have swum brilliantly a nd have annihilated all opposition with unfail ing regularlity. The diving in both teams has been competent, but seldom more. C. E. von Bibra and A. S. Pitch are both extremely reliable and T. B. H. Phillips varies from very good to moderate. The standard of competitive swimming in the School has risen appreciably, mainly because of the considerable enthusiasm shown by all members of the Club. And it will rise higher if we pay more attention to style, for style is the be-all in swimming. Divers should venture furt her afield, for real diving only begins with somersaults, etc. As usual, our thanks go to Mr. Paynter and Mr. Pollak for their constant encouragement and advice. The following have swum or dived for the School:- C. G. C. Houry, M. F isher, C. E. von Bibra, D. B. Malcolm, R. A. Lawrence, R. N. Coombes, R. G. Paterson, J. Fyfe-Smith, C. D. Russell, A. D. Jones, M. E. W. Vincent, J. G. Blake, D. E. Balfo ur, J. K. 0. Campbell, R. H. C. Croxford, P. J. Sargent, A. S. Pitch, M. R. A. Matthew, A. P. G. Stanley-Smith, J. Kearin, T. B. H. Phillips, P. R. Gourmond, N.J. B. Wright, K. S. Robinson, P. E. I. Lilly, R. D. Baker, T. H. Davy. W.J.L.
BOXING The House Boxing Cup was again competed for this term, and the competition was well-supported both by competitors a nd spectators, showing that there is still a wide interest in Boxing in the School. The Cup was won by Galpins, with Walpole a close second. There will be three matches next term. M.S.R.
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THE CANTUARIAN
C. C. F. The term has been chiefly notable for the kindness with which the weather has treated all the Corps activities, even though in October at least it rained on practically everything else. And this term we have, after one false start, found a means of using films for training which promises well for the future¡ this is through the kindness of the Home Counties Training Depot in Canterbury, who have an operata; and a number of films ready at hand. A most useful N.C.O. Cadre Course was run, which should prove particularly useful to those who have just passed Certificate "A" Part Ir, though others more senior learned a lot too. It was very good to see the R.A.F. glider in action at last, and it is amply justifying the trouble we had in getting it. Camp.- This took place at Stanford Battle Area in Norfolk, and was far the best camp since the War. The ground is excellent, the food was very good, and the training was most efficiently run. An innovation which proved of great value was the issue, to those officers who could drive, of a 3-ton lorry for the period of the Camp; this abolished at a stroke the shortage of transport which has a lways been one of the main difficul ties. There were demonstrations, and field exercises, and a lot of shooting; but more memorable perhaps, were the rides on tanks and armoured cars, the field firing, and a highly unmilitary half-hour with assault boats on the lake. Field Day.- This took place on October 29th, and while the three platoons of recruits underwent training, with some .22 shooting, in the area of the School and the Old Park, the other five platoons, with the Signal Platoon, marched out to Godmersham, and finished up with a short field exercise in Godmersham Park. This was by the kindness of Mr. Tritton, as it was last year, and was much apreciated more especially because it was a lovely sunny day, the only one in a soaking fortnight. Unlike last year' however, the transport turned up at the right time a~d place, to conclude a successful day. ' Promotions.- The following promotions were made on 27th September, 1953, to the ranks stated:Contingent Sergeant-Major : R . H. C. Symon. Company Sergeant-Major: J. A. Rowe, M. J. Moore. C.Q.M.S.: M. C. Holderness. Sergeants : R . A. G. Willoughby, M. U. Slce, A . H. M. Hoare, J. M. Badger, G. S. Spathis, A. J . Briggs, P. G. Roberts, J. B. Morgan, C. J. Reed. Lance-Sergeants: M.D. H. Peacock, I. M. Orr-Ewing, D. A. R. Poole, J. S. Nye, G. E. Hare, P. B. Ki rkby, R. A. Lawrence, J. E. Pawsey, J . G. H. Nelson. Bdrs.: W. T. Lamb, C. B. Strouts, P. J. Allen, R. J. Beaty-Pownall, J. Hembry. Corporals: H . R . J. Hoare, J. P. Moss, M. S. R. Cozens, J. H . Cobb, M. S. Reid, T. H. Pitt, S. T. S. Blaekall, P. M. Knoller, D. H . Livesey, M. P. Miller, B. H. McCleery, J. Hadfield, C. J. Laine, T. P. Nicholson, J . E. L. Sales, I. M. Young, J. M. Baragwanath, D . R. Nevile, P. J. van Berckel, J. D . R. Spooner, M. Williams. L/Bdrs.: N.H. H. Graburn, J. Hamilton-Paterson. L/Cpls.: B. A. E. Duerinckx, R. C. Richardson, T. J. Aldington, J. W. E. Thatcher, W. E. S. Thomas, K. N. W. Bott. Certificate "A" Part H.- This was held on 13th October, and the following passed, in order of merit:E. J. Smalman-Smith, K. H . Bingham, F. D. Wooru¡ow, D. E. Mell ish, R. Collingwood, R. D. F. Bream, R. G. Adams, R. L. Holford, J. D. Walker, R. M. BlackaU, J. F. Love, B. A. J. Walshaw, R. N. Murch, J. C. St. C. Rear, S. F. M. Sander, M. Fisher, R. M . Sutton, D. F. Hodge, P. Leggatt, M. J. C. Weller, B. D. Hughes. The examination for Part I will be held on December 15th. K.A.C.G. R.N. Section Notes.- C.P.O. Thomas is now the Senior Cadet in Charge, and we are very glad to have another officer to take Mr. Lanning's place. Mr. D. W. Ball has also done service in the R.N. Many people have tried the Proficiency Tests this term, but success has only been moderate. It is hoped that Leading Seamen Sparrow and Baird will be passed for P.O. by the visiting officer at the end of term.
c.w.w.
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O.K.S. NEWS (The Hon. Secretary, Major D. J. B. Jervis, Dawn C/1//, Goodwin Road, St. Margaret's Bay, Dover, would welcome information for inclusion in the O.K.S. News. Changes of address should be notified to him and not the Editor.) The O.K.S. Dinner will take place at the Connaught Rooms, London, on Thursday, 6th May, 1954. J. W. S. CARPI!NTI!R (1948-52) is a Student Apprentice with a London firm of Heating and Ventilating Engineers. M. M. FtNNIS (1946-49) has obtained a commission in the R.A.S.C. After 18 months in Aldershot, he was posted to the Canal Zone and then to Nairobi in East Africa. In the Canal Zone he met General Witt ( 1909-14). G. F. H owELL (1902-08) is now living at Otjiwarongo, South-West Africa, and will be visiting the United Kingdom in 1954. CAPTAIN (E) C. PRATT, R.N. (1921-24) is relinquishing command of the Naval Air Station at Anthorn and taking up a new appointment as Chief of Stan¡ to the Rear Admiral Reserve Aircraft in Arbroath, Angus. T. V. ScRIVIlNOR (1920-27) has been appointed Deputy High Commissioner for Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swa7.iland. W. WATKINS ( 1947-52) passed out of "Mons" in May, having obtained the rank of J.U.O., and has now joined the 40th Field Regiment R.A., in B.A.O.R. 14. R. D. WlltDENBACKER (1938-41) is in Philadelphia and has met Michael Mayer (1948- 52), who is attending Swarthmore College. P. S. HASK1NS (1945-5 1) is working on Flight Planning in the R .A.P., and is at present stationed at Benson, near Oxford. P.R. H . ELLIOTT ( 1914-22) has been appointed Manager of the Cliftonville Branch of the Westminster Bank. We hope this means that we shall, from time to time, see not only him but his eldest son, D. H. Elliott (1945- 51), a nd a lso the twins who head the en try list for May, 1964! J. L.A. GtMBLETT ( 1947- 52) is stationed at Changi, Singapore. He writes that he is getting quite adept at intercepting 'Enemy' aircraft with jet fighters by means of Radar and Radio Telephony. He is also an active member of the Changi Players. An O.K.S. Dinner might well be held at Park Hall Camp, Oswestry, judging by the number of letters which have reached the Headmaster from there in the last few weeks. S. N. BURBRIDGE (1948-53) has just passed his W.O.S.B., and is shortly leaving Salop for A ldershot. K. D. AGNEW (1946- 53), P. H. Moss (1947- 53), P. BAUMANN (1948-53), D. G RI FFITH (1947- 53), G. BAtLEY (1948-53) have a ll done their preliminary training there, and we now hear that S. YouNG ( 1945- 52) has been posted there on gaining his commission. Moss is leaving shortly to do a Surveying Course on Salisbury Plain. He wrote recently: "We have passed out today as Champion Squad, which gives us all a very exhilarating feeling". We were sorry to hear that he had recently broken his wrist, with the result that he was detailed to paint the barrack rooms instead of doing training. Agnew played Rugger for the 64th Regiment's 2nd XV and had been training as reserve for the 1st XV but when he wrote was orr for a week at least with a slight injury. We hope to see him and Moss at any rate before term ends. Agnew has recently passed his W.O.S.B. M. U. WILLIAMS (1948-52), who has changed his name to Hicken, is also there. J. B. PuGH£ (1939-43) was due to take B.A. (Sc.) at Trinity College, Dublin, in September, and hopes to get a job as a Radio Engineer. J. NORTON (1947-53) has been accepted for the R.A.F. and has volunteered for Air Crew. J. F ISHER (1948- 53) has been graded unfit for National Service and is hoping to go into Lloyds Insurance. We were glad to have news of R. C. KILLIN (1938-40), who was admitted as a Solicitor in 1950 and has since been practising in St. Austell and in Aldershot. He hopes before long to set up on his own. 305
THE C ANT UA RIAN S. W. BROOKS (1939-43), who is a master at The Old Ride School, ncar Blctchlcy, has obtained a 2nd Class External Honours Degree of London University in Russian and Spanish. He wrote to the Headmaster: " I am very grateful that you did not allow me to chuck Latin". His brother MICHAEL (1941-45) has almost completed his training as a Surveyor. J . B. H . JACKSON (1943-48) and G . D. L INDLEY ( 1943-47) both passed their Bar Finals recently and hope to be called next term. Lindley was hoping to get a temporary job, pending his ca ll, with the S.P.G and also assists with Ward Services at Guy's Hospital on Sundays. He is at present living in a Toe ii " Mark" near Victoria, where he is Chapel Wa rden. Jackson got his LL.B. at Cambridge last Summer with 2nd Class Hono urs and is doing welfa re and personnel work in a large group of Companies in London. S. FREBBATRN SMITH (1949- 53) has been doing his preliminary training at The Buft's Depot, and has passed W.O.S.B. P. H . BENTLEY (1948-52) is in the Royal Signals 4th T.R. at Cattcrick.
J. E. P. SAMPSON (1934-39), a lso in the Roya l Signals, is now a Major, and is serving at H.P. British Troops, Sudan. Congratulations to A. C. L. GIBSON (1949-53) on gaining a Cadctship to the R.M.A., Sandhurst. D. R. BRIGGS (1947-52) is serving in the Malay Signal Regiment as a radio mechanic and has been playing rugger for their successful team. R. M. BUTLER ( 1942-47) has ga ined his B.Sc. in Anatomy with 2nd Class Honours and has now started on his Clinical Course. He is at St. Thomas's Hospital, and is Secretary of the Hospital Mountaineering Club. He met DAvlD MOREAU (1941-46) at the Farnborough Air Show and thinks he has some connection with the Foreign Office. P. SANDERSON ( 1948-53) is doing a preliminary Medical Course at Queen Mary College and hopes to ¡ start at London Hospital Medical School next year. A. J. WYLSON (1945-48) was awarded the R.l.B.A. Henry Jarvis Scholarship for construction. CoL. R. A. W. BINNY ( 1924-28) is now General Secretary of the Hampshire County Cricket Club ' the County which seems to provide the School's strongest connection with first-class cricket. We extend our deep sympathy to C. J. M. COOPER (1947- 52). The sudden death of his father about a year ago necessitated his leavmg the School prematurely, and less than three months later his lost his mother in an accident. We were glad to have a visit towards the end of last term from A. W. S. LuoOATER (1883-87) and thank him also for some School photographs of his own day. He writes that at 83 his memory is not too good but that one incident of his School career left a permanent mark on him. " I pushed my right arm through the plate glass swing door in the Day Boys' H all; and the falling glass cut off the end of my nose! There were 13 stitches. I believe one of the Wacher Doctors did the mending, while Mrs. Blore held my hand." He reminds us that Dr. Field introduced the straw hat with the different ribbons. (The special Boat Club 1st Colour ribbon is a post-war introduction.) J. C. PEARSON (1946-5 1) gives us some news of O.K.S. at Trinity College, Dublin, where T. HuDSON (1945-49) is rowing in the Senior VIII. J. S. BuTLER (1944-48) is also there. J . G. JELL ( 1946-49) has shown considerable enterprise in forming a " Broome-Bearers' Society" at Broome Park, near Canterbury-once the home of Lord Kitchencr. The Society organises concerts, recitals, a rt exhibitions and many varied activities. E. DONALD (1949-53) is doing his National Service in the R.A.S.C. G . A. LoMAS (1935- 39) has sent us some news of himself after a long silence. Du ring the war he flew Spitfires and did dive-bombing with the Desert Air Force, and later flew Rocket Firing Typhoons with the 2nd Tactical Air Force in Northern Europe. We are sorry to learn that he was shot down and so much injured that he was no longer fit to continue operational nying. After spending a short time in Canada after the war he has now setlled down as Managing Director of a business in Sheffield. W. J. BACON (1949- 53) has enlisted in the R.A. and expects to do his preliminary training at Oswestry before going to Sandhurst in March.
THE CANTUA RIA N G. F. NASK (1948-53) and C. W. FREYER (1948-53) both found themselves at the R.E. Training Camp at Worcester. We wore glad to sec tho latter recently, when he was on leave after passing W.O.S.B. C. M. BRENNAN (1947- 52) seems to be finding life fairly exciting in Kenya, where he is serving with the Royal lnniskill ing Fusiliers. His truck was fired on during a midnight dash. "They hit, amongst other things, the windscreen and front tyres. As a result we turned over twice in a most spectacular manner and, presumably, were left for dead. Fortunately they didn't hit the load-high octane aviation petrol- and surprisingly enough, it didn't explode as we crashed. My two escorts were thrown clear and left without a scratch. By the time our several bits had been gathered together it was about three o'clock on a cold Kenyan morning- with nine miles to walk home, which we did by dawn. The slow progress was due to a little doubt and apprehension concerning the whereabouts of our erstwhile ambushers. However, they did not reappear and the next day saw me sitting up and taking nourishment at the hand of a rather pretty nurse. You sec, 1 wasn't very ill." While on leave he has been getting plenty of fishing, riding and hunting, including jackal. A propos of a letter he had had from D. J . SNOXALL (1946-52) about life at Oxford, his comment is "Rather ironical that the fellows whose country it is don't have to endure National Service". We hope to see him in Canterbury about the end of the year. D. CLIIT (1947- 53) is an Officer Cadet, R.A.F., and is on a course of initial training for pilots. At the Reception Unit at Cardington he met J. C. DUNN, PETER DAWSON, J. G . NORTON, M. H . Ronmns and J. D. MACMILLAN. He has been playing Hockey for the Station team. D. W. KELLY (1948- 53) writes from St. Thomas's Medical School that he has seen quite a lot of C. H. McCLEERY (1948- 52) who is a year senior to him and that P. J. MURRAY (1945-50) and B. E. LEE (1946-50) hope to go there next year when they come down from Cambridge; so that the School's contingent there is becoming quite large. D. F. LEPINE (1942-46), late Organ Scholar of Bede College, Durham, has been appointed Director of Music at Cheltenham College. At Durham he won the John Brook prize for Choir Training awarded by tl1e Royal School of Organists. Congratulations to StR CAROL R EED (1917-22) on his new film The Man BeiiVeen and on being given a " Profile" in the Observer, from which the following is a quotation: "There are not many directors in the whole film business who have so impressed their personality on the public; certainly, in this country, Reed is outstanding." I. N. A. JONES (1946- 51) saw service in Korea with the 1st .Battalion Royal Fusiliers and was in the Line when the Armistice was signed. Since then he bas been stationed in the Canal Zone, but was hoping to come home on leave and then to pass WOSB. D. N . WILMER (1933-38) has been appea ring in Blind Man's Buff at the St. Martin's Theatre. M. M. GARDNER (1945-53) is serving with the R.A .C. CoL. (T/BRJO.) G. D. G. HEYMAN (1917-22), Deputy Adjutant and Quarter Master General, I Corps, will take up his appointment as Chief of Staff, East Africa, in December, 1953. K. W. FeNTON (1948-53) is in the R.A.M.C. R. P. M. DAvms (1946-51) is doing his National Service in the Life Guards. M. P. D. MALLINSON (1946-52) is gaining practical experience in Electrical Engineering with the Pulsometer Engineering Co., Ltd. G. A. C. EvANS (1937-45) writes: "1 wear a bowler now-working for a long established Wool Brokers, and delving in the New Futures Market". The Headmaster was unable to officiate at his wedding on November 14th, and his place was taken by the Rev. S. B-R. Poole. J. N. MuRRAY USHER (1946-47) is on the Beagles Committee at the R.A.C., Cirencester. J. C. C. CoLEMAN (1940-44) is now farming at Martell, Little Newcastle, near Haverford West. C. J . BELL (1945-52) has been commissioned in the Royal Norfolk Regiment, and was serving in Jamaica when he was appointed A. D.C. to the Caribbean Area Commissioner, and went off to Georgetown in H. M.S. Superb-a most exciting and interesting experience. J. S. MACARTNEY (1939-43) met D . G. CARTER (1934-40) recently in Kampala. He himself is working for Tootal's in Nairobi and thinks Kenya takes a lot of beating. Carter's small son is on the School lists for 1966. We congratulate M.D. LAMBERT (1944-49) on following in the footsteps of David Edwards, and being placed in the First Class in the Final Honours School of History at Oxford last July. 307
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TH E CANTUA RI AN H. L. AcKERS (1942-46) has seen service in Korea, where he spent nearly two years. He also had a year in Trieste and has recently been attending a fire-fighting course before joining a new unit in B.A.O.R He married about three years ago. He came down to visit us one week-end recently. ¡ H. J. FRAMPTON (1947- 52) has been a Junior Under-Officer at Mons O.C.S., training for the R.A.S.C At Mons he met D. Cmws (1947-52), who hoped to be commissioned in the 5th Inniskilling Dragoo~ Guards, and B. C. G. HAZELL ( 1947-50), who is training for the R .E. Congratulations to the REv. G. I. SODEN (1918-21) on being awarded the Degree of D.D. (Oxon.). L. A. BASSETr ( 1941-46) is now in charge of the Technica l Library of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. The Headmaster was delighted to have a long letter not long ago from H. M. BeEBY (1895-6), who is farmi ng in Canada near Winnipeg. He runs no fewer than three fa rms. He is a keen philatelist and has promised to send some stamps over for us. LIEUT.-COL. J. A. GutLLUM Scon (192 1- 29) is Secreta ry of the Church Assembly and was, until recently, in command of the Inns of Court Regiment. P. H. GUILLUM Scon (1924) is Financial and Development Secretary in Northern Nigeria. D. B. AINSWORTH (1944- 6) and his bride are both appearing in a West End M usical. I nstead of a honeymoon, Mrs. Ainsworth, the day after her wedding, had to rehearse for the Royal Variety performance at the London Col iseum. B. E. LEE ( 1946- 51) docs not tell us much about himself, but from his Prep. School's magazine we learn that he had a Seniors' Cricket T rial at Cambridge; that he is Captain of Pembroke College Cricket Club and Vice-Captain of the H ockey Club; and that he went on tour with the Cambridge University Wanderers H.C. at Easter, 1953. J. M. BROWN (1944-49) is Captain of Boats at Selwyn College, Cambridge. C. G. S. PATERSON (1943-49), Captain of Boats of Jesus College, Cambridge, has been awarded his Trial Eights Cap. J.D. Moss (1937-39) was in the Ice Revue Champagne on Ice during the Summer and Autumn and is now in Sinbad the Sailor at the Empress H all for a 14 weeks season. M. J. H. GtRLtNO ( 1928- 33), Town Clerk of Bury St. Edmunds, has been appointed Town Clerk for Tunbridge Wells a nd will take up his new duties next May. D. C. RYELAND (1940- 53) is working with Dexion Ltd., an engineering firm in London. To Friends of the late Mrs. Ral}lh Juekes Mr. Laurence Irving, M rs. Beer and Mrs. Withers ask all who would commemorate her work at Milner Court and Carlyon Bay to subscribe towards a memorial window in Sturry Church. Please send whatever you can to Mrs. Juckes Memorial F und, Lloyds Bank, Ashford, Kent. O .K.S . Hockey Club T he O .K.S. a rc raising a hockey team this season to play on Sundays. It is hoped that there will be sufficient support to make a Sunday O.K.S. Xl a force in the hockey world. The Club is starting with ten fixtu res this Season, excluding the match against the School. lt can be seen from the fix ture list that the Club is playing aga inst good cl ubs, and it is therefore essential in the future to field in all matches as strong a team as possible. Oct. 18. Old Dovorians, at Bank of England Ground, Roehampton. Nov. 15. Stevenage, at Stevenage. 22. Blueharts, at Hitchin. Dec. 6. Stevenage, at Stevenage. 1954 Jan. 17. Old Aldenhamians, at Aldenbam. 31. Rickmansworth, at Rickmansworth. Feb. 21. Old Comfordians, at Surbiton. Mar. 7. Beckenham, at Beckenham. 21. Old Kingstonians, at Hampton Wick. 308
THE CAN TU A RIA N O.K.S. Dance A successful Dinner Dance was again held at the Rembrandt Rooms, Kensington, on 17th April, as a result of which eight guineas has been donated to the O.K.S. Bursarship Fund. O.K.S. Suppers The London O.K.S. Suppers have been held as usual on the first Wednesday of the month, meeting at the Garrick Hotel, Charing Cross Road, at 7 p.m. Sometimes the party have gone on after Supper to the Players' Theatre Club.
BIRTHS LAYLAND.- On 31st December, 1952, at Norwich, Matthew James, son of Dr. R. M. Layland (1935-40). CARTER.-On 29th May, 1953, at Kampala, to Joyce, wife of D. G. R. Carter (1934-40), a son, Richard David. SwiNHOJJ-PHELAN.-On 24th July, 1953, to Pat, wife of M. W. Swi nhoe-Phelan (1937-43), a daughter, Susan Mary. KENT.- On 4th August, 1953, to Jean, wife of Dr. Philip Kent ( 1931-35), a son, Charles Philip. BARNBTI.- On 27th September, 1953, at Princess Christian Nursing Home, Windsor, to Eileen (nee Hollington), wife of Christopher S. Barnett (1919- 1925), a son. PESCHEK.- On 14th October, 1953, to Anne, wife of J . Peschek (1940-43), a daughter, Elizabeth.
MARRIAGES KENNY- Ct.ARK.-On 29th August, 1953, Laurence Amberton Kenny ( 1934-38) to Cynthia, daughter of Major and Mrs. P. R. Clark of 8 Park Avenue, Wokingham. SMITH- BREWER.- On 5th September, 1953, Colin Smith ( 1945-49) to Joyce E. E. Brewer. Twsu.s-GROSSE- DONALD.- On 3rd October, 1953, John Dcvenish Twells-Grosse (1935--44), son of J. Twells-Grosse (1898-1904) of Brackenhurst, Pembury, Kent, to Gillian, elder daughter of the late Major A. G. Donald, I.A.o.c., and of Mrs. Donald. JucKES-MAYNil.- On 23rd October, very quietly, Ralph Juckes ( 1907- 11), of Fiddington Manor, Tewkesbury, to Diana Mayne, eldest daughter of the late Major E. M. Mayne, and of Mrs. Mayne. AINSWORTH- MORRISON.- On 31st October, 1953, Desmond Brunskill Ainsworth (1944-46) to Aleta Morrison. EvANS- REEVES.- On 14th November, Guy Antony John Culver Eva ns, second son of F. L. Evans (1905- 8) and Dr. Celia Culver Evans, Millfield, Cobham, Kent, to Elizabeth Ann, only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. R. W. C. Reeves, of Beckenham.
ENGAGEMENTS ELLIS-SHEASBY.- The engagement is announced between John Donne Ellis (1942-46), only son of Mr. S. J. C. Ellis and Councillor Mrs. Ellis, St. Lloye, Old Dover Road, Canterbury, and Josephine Anne, elder daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C. L. Sheasby, of Handsworth, Birmingham. SMITHERS-0RCU1T.-M. H . Smithers (1940--44) to Barbara Elizabeth, only daughter of Mr. a nd Mrs. R. H. Orcutt, of Lapworth, Warwickshire.
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CAMBRIDGE LETTER Cambridge. 1st December, 1953.
Dear School, Tf this letter gives the impression that it was written over coffee on K.P., between a lecture and a supervision, or composed on a bicycle between two rehearsals, both of which one had promised to attend simultaneously, then at least that is a fair picture of Cambridge during the last week of any term. Without quoting the figures, there are probably more O.K.S. in Cambridge than ever before. At least there were well over thirty at the meeting in Doctor Budd's house on November 2nd. Once again we are indebted to him for his unstinted kindness and hospitality. Tt is also perhaps true to say that we arc playing as large a part in Cambridge as ever. Cambridge is becoming Canterbury conscious. Malcolm Burgess, naturally perhaps, in his new-found Fellow's dignity, seems to head the bill. His name resounds in most circles. Michael Mayne is President of the University Actors, the very peak of Cambridge drama . Their production The House of Bernardo Alba had an entirely female cast. Michael grew very weary of the eterna l well-meant question, "Which part do you play?". David Manning-Press has played at several Music Society concerts this term. In the athletic world, J. H. T. Morgan is Secretary of the Boxing Club and he and Robin Reid, of Caths have both boxed for the University this term. Nick Raffle, mak ing a most prom ising debut, has hooked at least once for Cambridge, and played consistently for the XL C lub. Pat Murray is a great squash player and one of several O.K.S. members of the Hawks. Pat returned from Yugoslavia with a magnificent auburn beard, which has defied the taunts of the envious, and wisely, for it suits him. On the river, Colin Paterson, in addition to (I almost sa id 'despite') being Captain of Boats at Jesus is to be most warmly congratulated on winn ing a Trial Cap. Michael Brown, Captain of Boats at Selwyn' was also in Trials for some time. Ted Strouts has been rowing in the 1st Jesus VII I this term, and Anthony Halsey in the 1st VIII at King's. Johnny Cassidy's medical studies have temporarily forced him to give up rowing, which is sad. There arc, of course, too many of us to mention individually, but we assure you we are always busy with something, however odd. We have met from t ime to time in Woolworth's, in Agnew's sumptuous rooms in Corpus, in Eustace's at the Hall, at Lectures, and at the Fairbairn Ball. To those of you who arc coming up for scholarships we send our very special wishes, and if you find yourselves quartered in my rooms ' there is. T think, a little sherry on the bottom sideboard shelf. Yours sincerely, O.K.S. CANTAB.
CANTUARIAN MASONIC LODGE At the Installation Meeting held in April at the Kingsley Hotel, Bloomsbury Way, W.C. I, Dona ld F. Kellie (1909- 11) was installed as Master fo1â&#x20AC;˘ this year by the out-going Master- R. A. Finn (1916-25). The following O.K.S. were also invested as officers:- A. Fox-Male, D. A. Venner, Kenneth Thomas, C. E. 0. Box, R. A. T. Anderson (Secretary), J. R. Pearson, J. V. Kent, D. K irby Johnson, E. W. Gardener, B. L. Hooper, J. S. Linnell, E. Oliver Harris, and, representing the School, P. G. Reynolds. The Canterbury Meeting took place on the Saturday of the Speech D ay week-end at the fine old Masonic Temple in St. Peter's Street. On this occasion E. K. Lewis ( I 946-49) was finally admitted as a full member. Members of the Lodge were also glad to welcome back one of the Founders- J. S .. Linnell, who is now living in London after a long spell in Scotland. The remaining meetings in our year a re those on November 18th, February 25th and April 22nd, 1954. These will be held at 5 p.m. at the Kingsley Hotel. ¡ The accommodation and the meals are excellent and inexpensive. Full details regarding membership are always available from the Secretary-R. A. T. Anderson, 18 Queen Anne's Gate, S.W.I (Telephone: Abbey 1565), or from any of the officers mentioned,
THE C ANTUARIAN
OBITUARIES CH ARLES WILLIAM ARTHUR LOVATT (1937-41) We deeply regret to record the accidental death of Charles Lovatt (better known at School as Bill) at the age of 29 at Tivoli, ncar Rome, on 15th November, 1953. He was the second of three brothers, all members of School House, whose combined School careers covered the years 1935-1944; but his fam ily connection with King's goes much further than that, for Bill was the son of a former Captain of Boats and member of the XV, W. H. Lovatt, o.K.S. (1901-4), while his Mother is a sister of Colonel Charles Budd, o.K.S. (1899-1904), to whom Cambridge O.K.S. in particular owe so much. Possessed of a cheerful and winning personality, Bill early showed that he had also a great capacity for making friends. His interests were strongly literary and cultural, and it is tragic that his death occurred before these gifts could come to fruition. It was mainly in pursuit of these interests that he was staying in Italy this Autumn, and the accident occurred when, with a couple of friends, Bill was spending a day at the Villa of Hadrian. He had climbed up pa rt of the ruins in order to take a photograph of the whole villa. Intent on what he was doing, he stepped backwards to get a better position for his photograph, slipped on the edge of a deep hole, a nd fell a considera ble distance. His skull was badly fractured in two places and he had other severe injuries and died within half-an-hou r. One of the friends who was with him writes: "Till the moment of this hateful fall he was happy and had, 1 know, the fu llest contentment that life can give- he told me so the day before- and his fall and his death were so sudden that nothing could have changed. " With his parents, his uncle and brothers, we mourn a young life ended before its prime. Bill was buried at Cambridge on November 23rd, and the School was represented at the funeral by Dr. Malcolm Burgess, o.K.s. PHILIP JAMES WATTS, O.B.E. (1886-1889) It is inevitable, but always sad, that the older generations one by one pass from us. P. J. Wa tts was the son of the Reverend James Watts, Vicar of Crundale, a nd from School he went to Faraday House to train as an Electrical Engineer. In h is profession he was distinguished, becoming in the First World War the Superintending E lectrical Engineer of the Admiralty, and for h is services he was awarded the O.B.E. From Admiralty service he retired in 1934 and lived for some years in Spain; from 1939 he made his home at Tiverton. He died on 31st July last at the age of 80. His brother Donald was also here at School from 1884 to 1890, while his still older brothers Henry and Arthur came here as far back as 1873. Both Arthur and Henry were well-known solicitors in Folkestone ; and D onald took Holy Orders.
OUR CONTEMPORARIES The Editors gratefully acknowledge receipt of the following contemporaries, and apologise for any inadvertent omissions:Ampleforth Journal, The Barrovian, Benenden School Magazine, Bradfield College, Bryanston Saga, The Cholmeleian, City of London S chool Magazine, The Cranbrookian, The Denstonian, The Elizabethan, The Epsomian, The Felstedian, Forest School Magazine, Glenalmond Chronicle, The Gresham, The Haileyburian and J.S.C. Chronicle, The HurstJohnian, The Impala, Kent College Magazine, King's House Magazine, King's School Magazine, Lancing College Magazine, The Lawrentian, The Lorettonian, The Manwoodicn, The Marlburian, The M eteor, Mill Hill Magazine, The Ousel, The Radleian, The Roffensian, Royal Agricultural College Journal, St. Edmund's School Chronicle, The School Tie, Stonyhurst Magazine, The Stortfordian, The Suttonian, The Tonbridgian, The Wellingtonian, The Wish S tream. 311
THE CANTUARIAN
THE SCHOOL ROLL [Scholars' names for the year Michaelmas 1598- 1599 are to be found in the rough version of the Chapter Accounts (Misc. Accounts, 41, If. 135v.- 139r.). In some cases the Chapter Clerk gives surnames in others surnames and Christian names. Opposite each name there is a signature, usually that of tb~ boy, giving receipt for his quarterly allowance (of 20s.). In certain cases, however, it is clear that a friend or relative signs. If the Christian name is not given by the Chapter Clerk, it is not a lways safe to assume that the Christian name in the signature is that of the boy in question. Anyone using this list in a study of the period is strongly urged to have recourse to the original MS. John Ludd, the later Headmaster appears as a scholar. Peter Gunning must not be confused with his namesake the Bishop of Peterborough' who was not born until 1614.) '
Headmaster Usher
Roger Raven Rufus Rogers
Christmas, 1598 [fol. 135 v.) Joel Harbert John Bungey Thomas Gaunt Thomas Pettit Thomas Murton William Hutchinson John Challenou1· William Monilye Robert Webb John Mosse John Johnson Richard Plumley Robert Austen John Marson John Mustured Matthew Wariner Jefferey Mason
*Thomas Cockes Thomas Sellers Alexander Reed Peter Rogers James Bromwell John Lorkyn Thomas Pilgrim Theodore Backthurst Richard Kelsbam [fol. 136r.) Richard Bargar (Hargrave) Edward Monday Elmer Aggas Roger Karslake (Castlake) Christopher Philpot Edmond Godwin Cha1·les Ospringe Peter Gonninge
John Plumley Joltn Pashley John Crumpe John Ludd Thomas Martin Anthony Carew John Bishopp Edward Hearne William White Walter Berna rd Samuel Bates Ed ward Mychell William Broke Edward Marsh J ohn Windebank Thomas L1ngworth
Ladyday, 1599 [fol. l36v.) John Pashley Robert Austin Matthew Warriner Roger Winter Roger Karslake (Castellock) Anthony Carew Edward Munday John Coldam John Marson Walter Bernard John Windebancke Thomas Cockes John Mosse John Lorkin Richard Plumley Christopher Philpot Edward Heron
William Brooke Edmund Marche John Chalener Theodore Batthurst John Plumley Thomas Pilgrim William Hutchinson John Crumpe Richard Kelcham Jefferay Mazon [fol. 137r.) James Bromwell Sampson Kennard John Mustard Alexander Read Thomas Martin William White Peter Gunninge
Charles Ospringe Peter Rogers Thomas Pettit Thomas Longworth William Monelyc John Ludd Robert Webb Edmund Goodwin John Bishopp Samuel Bates Elmer Agas John Johnson Edward Michell Francis Tench Richard Hargrave Thomas Sellers
• Son of Thomas Cockes, Cathedral Auditor 312
THE CANTUARIAN
Midsummer, 1599 [fol. 137v.) [ ) Pettit ( ) Maso n ( ] Kclsham [ ] Monelyc Thomas Cockcs (Coxc) ( ) Challener Cnristopher Philpott Peter Gunning John Johnson Walter Barnard Richard Plumly Elmer Agas [ ) Lork in Roger Ka rslake (Castlocke) Robert Webbe l ) Sellers John Mosse [ ) Bates
[ ) Marson [the signature appears to be Sc. Marson, but the boy must be John Marson. Sec above a nd below) John Pashlye William White [ ) Bromwell [ ) Winter [fol. l 38r.] Alexander Reade Anthonye Carew [ ] Ospri ng W. Brokus (Brooke) [ ] H utchinso n [ ] Monday T homas Pilgrim John Bisshop John Plumly
Edward Heron (Herne) Richard Bargroe Ed. Marche [ ) Austine Th. Batthurst [ ) Michell John Crumpe Matthew Wariner Thomas Longworthe John Windebanke Th. Martin Jo hn Ludd Francis Tench Samuel Kennard [ ] Caldom Christopher Bacheler [ ] Hawkes Edmund Goodwin
Michaelmas, 1599 [fo l. l 38v.) J ohn Mosse J ohn Marson John Plumley Richard Plumley Roger Castlake [ ) Mason Richard Ketsham John Chaloncr James Bromwell Wi ll iam Brooke T homas Petit William Monylc William Hutchinson Samuel Bates T homas Cockes John Pashley
[ ) Windebanke Elmer Agas Alexander Reade Ma tthew Wa riner John Ludd Samuel Kennarde ( ) White [ ) H aukes [ ] March Richard Bargar John Johnson Robert Austine John C rumpe Edward Hero n (Herne) Ro. Webbe John Lorkin [fol. 139r.)
~ 13
Edmund Goodwin Thomas Batherst Walter Bernarde Anthony Carew Edward Monday C hristopher Bacheler Edwa rd MycheU Peter Gunninge John Byshoppe T homas Pilgrim [ ] Martin John Winter John Caldom Christopher Philpott F rancis Tench Thomas Seller (Sellers) Charles Ospringe
THE CANTUAR I AN
CORRESPONDENCE To tlte Editors of"Tite Cantuarian".
The Grange. December 6tlt, 1953.
Dear Sirs, I have just come back from the last and perhaps the most exhilarating of this term's Music Circle concerts, and I feel impelled to thank them through your columns for the great pleasure that they have throughout the past year so regularly given to "non-playing members" like myself. It was not only the " experts" who gave us of their excellent best: the Second Orchestra, too, made such a brave noise, and had obviously put in q uite as much work for our benefit as had our celebrities. We know that all the performers at this and at other concerts have devoted many hours to practice, and if making music gives them pleasure, we are grateful for always being invited to enjoy the finished article. The best thing about the Music Circle is the feeling of informality at its concerts: anybody who can play something can perform there; and it does not matter if his performance has not yet achieved the pet:fecti<;>n of the professional o r even of the p_rodigy. Th~t the spir!t of the Mu.sic C!rcle is not wholly senous ts shown by the fact that on one occasiOn four emment mus1c teachers v1ed wtth one another in the production of the loudest noise in an eight-hand arrangement of Percy Grainger's Shepherd's Hey: needless to say, this item was encored. But it is as an instrument for the production of amateur music, the spirit of which is unfortunately slowly dying out elsewhere, that the Music Circle is most welcome; and we arc truly grateful. You rs, etc., R . G. s. ADAMS.
To tlte Editors of"Tite Cantuarian". D ear Sirs, We all looked forward eagerly to having the Blue Book once more; having been out of print for five years, it had become almost a legend and had acquired the glory proper to a legend. Nor at first sight were many disappointed. Here was the gospel on whose authority fags could refute their monitors, and monitors the fags. On a closer inspection, however, it was found that much of the information it contained was out of date, and that it had only been "very slightly revised" was all too obvious. It was to be presumed that the Customs and Privileges laid down in the Blue Book would bear some resemblance to the existing state of affairs. But this was not to be: none of the laws peculiar to Luxmoore House are mentioned at all, and those relating to the number of buttons to be done up are obsolete. Many more outworn customs have not been duly discarded; those concerning Rugger caps, house-monitors' bed-time, and the posting of notices are but a few. Let us hope that one day recognition will be given to those customs actually' existing in the School. Yours, etc., D ISILLUSIONED PBDANT.
To the Editors of"Tite Cantuarian". Sirs, There is a feeli ng about that new life should be infused into the Societies of the School. This feeling is only diffidently expressed, because the births and rebirths of Societies, far from being greeted with enthusiasm as in the past, are now merely accepted with resigned disillusion. There must be a solution to this situation. It seems not that new proposals are choked by the hostility of the uncultured, but that they languish in an atmosphere of indifference. It is surely desirable that boys should be given the opportunities to develop their minds independent of class work. They should, moreover, come to feel that they belong to such groups and that they are, in a certain sense, indispensable to them. The difficulty, I think, lies in the fact that there are too many Societies in the School for a start, and some of them might show more vigour if a quantity of obsolete lumber were cleared away so that the rest might flourish in new enthusiasm and increased membership. Yours sincerely, REVIVALIST,
~14
r
THE CANTUARlAN
To the Editors of"The Canluarian". Sirs, T hank you for letting me see Revivalist's letter. It touches on a n important problem, but I do not think that the writer has found the real cause of the Societies' somnolence. (Some of them, inc identally, are by no means somnolent!) A few Societies sutTer from a malady the main symptom of which is a lack of constructive interest on the part of the boys. Obviously, certain activities a t this School are vigorously a nd constructively pursued: boys throw themselves into music, rugger, and theatricals, for example, with a splendid enthusiasm-and they miraculously find the time for these activities (and not at the expense of their school work, either!) when other boys, who would like other activities to flourish equally, somehow can never spare the time. Which proves that, if the interest is keen enough, both the time and the energy can be found . The trouble is tha t the inquisitive spirit and the delight in discussion, which must be the mainstay of ma ny soc ieties that are now moribund, has somehow not got beyond the class rooms; and until a suffic iently large number of boys, particularly in the Sixth form s, feel the desire to sharpen their wits on discussio n with their fellows as well as on textbooks, outside as well as inside school hours, this depressing state of a ffairs will continue. And depressing it certa inly is at a great Public School. I understand tha t next term a Society will come into be ing which will bring classic ists, scientists, historians, a nd linguists together for discussions of subjects tha t a re both importa nt and of general, rather tha n of specia list, interest. The Society will have a limited membership; but it is hoped that its members, so far from forming a cl ique, will do something towards stimulating interest in this type of activity in the rest of the School. F inally, don' t let us ascribe to outside c ircumstances the weakness of this or the strength of that Society. In the last resort, we get the kind of soc ieties we deserve. Yours sincerely, RALPH BLUMENAU.
3 15
T HE
CANTUA Rf AN
MILNER COU RT Perhaps r ought by now to have outgrown any surprise at the adaptability of the small boy. All the sam:, the speed with which twenty-one new boys became members of the fami ly in September still ama7 es me. Both day boys and boarders come with different ideas of what their new school is going to be like. Some know a little, from what fond relations have told them. Some have had fathers or elder brothers here before them. Others have read school stories; some really believe in stories of the Billy Bunter sort; while others are making a plunge into the completely unknown. And by the first bed-time there is not much difference to be seen in the attitude of any of them. At the end of the second day it is hard to tell the new boys from the old hands. Our 1st Xf (Soccer) is naturally made up mostly from the experienced. We must congratulate them on an excellent start to the season, having defeated Betteshanger 2-0, and Westbrook House 4- 1¡ then they lost to Tormore 4-3, and (alas to have to record it) we scored one of our opponents' goal~ for them. The team is the best we have had for some years, playing with a dash and elan which we have not always seen. Perhaps over-confidence (before the T ormore 1,11atch) is a fault which they might have avoided. The half- term week-end produced the wettest weather we had so far seen. T h is did not seem to damp the e nth usiasm of the audiences for As You Like II , of which three performances were given in the Barn . Th is was our fi rst major production for fo ur terms, and did, we th ink , enable us to Jive up to o ur reputation for good Shakespeare. The Wednesday performance, mainly for par ties from other schools was not perhaps appreciated as it should have been; actors, who k now the play inside out, do not always realise the difficulties of an audience who are hearing it for the first time. A stolidly silent audience greeted most of the best jokes. T he audiences of grown-ups on Thursday and Friday were more help to inexper ienced actors, and the result was two sparkling performances, of which any producer might be proud. Truth to tell, this producer had been distinctly depressed after the Wednesday show. But by Friday he was convinced that this play was an excellent comedy, and entirely suitable for boys of our age, in spite of the emphasis on emotions of which they can know very little. As for other matters; the band, orchestra, and choir have c6ntinucd their regular practices. All these slumped badly at the beginning of term, having lost reliable senior members. That is the state in which any preparatory school organisation inevitably finds itself at the beginning of a new year. Other people always reap the harvest of the hard work which our staff have put in ; we face that, and are ready to take our form or game or choir, or what you will, back to the elementary s tages. The orchestra and band are preparing for another combined schools' orchestral concert next term. The choir showed what they could do, in some songs in As You Like It, which spoke well for the future; and by some very pleasant singing in school prayers and Sunday services. The Railway Club is going through one of its frequent re-organisations. Much work is obviously going on in its haunts in the Oast House. A table-tennis club keeps a busy table at one end of the Barn. Roller-skating has not been so popular since the edict went forth that o nly rubber-tyred wheels arc allowed ; but a few remai n fai thful to that pastime. T he Young Fa rmers still look after their hens, geese, and rabbi ts; but it is not their busy season. The library is well used, and could do with mo re books, if any of our Old .Boys fi nd they have books, in good condi tion, which they have themselves outgrown . We face end-of-term exams. wit h fo r titude, a nd a brea k-up supper with pleasura ble ant icipation. In fact, we sha ll say good-bye to 1953 much as we said it to I952, and the year before that, and the yea r before tha t ... and there is enough variety in ou r routine to keep us all on tip-toe. W.H .O.
316
CONTENTS PI\GL
I r
(
f
r
T r
EDITORIA L THE SCHOOL VIRTUTE FUNCTI MORE PATRUM DUCES VALETE SALVETE ... BRIGHT SPOT OF EVERLAST INGNESS THIS AND THAT DESTINY ... MR. SOMERSET MAUGHAM ... EIGHTY IN THE SUN ... A CRAZY WORLD PRIDE FRAGMENT OF A MYSTIC TO RIGHT A WRONG .. . INDEPENDENT EDUCATION AND HOW TO DEFEND IT ... THE POETRY OF DYLAN THOMAS INTE RTEXTA VERBA DREAM FALSE TEETH JOKE OVER FLEMISH PICTURES AUTUMN PARTING PLUS CA CHANGE MODERN PHILOSOPHY AVRA DOMVS ... TIR NAN OG JAZZ .. . A GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TEST ... THE SCHOOL ROLL .. . CAMBRIDGE LETIER .. . OXFORD LETIER HOUSE PLAYS .. . BOOK REVIEWS .. . THE LIBRARY .. . LECTURES ... THE MUSIC CIRCLE SCHOOL CONCERT, DECEMBER, 1953 CORNISH SEAS COLD NIGHT THE SOCIETIES ... HOCKEY ... THE BOAT CLUB RUGGER ... MINOR SPORTS .. . POPLAR WINDS .. . C.C.F. NOTES RETROSPECT OBITUARY ... O.K.S. NEWS COR RESPONDENCE OUR CONTEMPORARIES F ROM THE PARROT HOUSE
319 32 1 322 322 322 322 323 328 329 330 332 333 333 334 336 337 342 343
344 345
346 349 349 350 352
353 354 355 360 360 361
362 363
365 366 366 367 367 368
369 369 372
373 374 374 375 376 377
378 38 1
382 383
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WATER-COLOUR NOW IN THE POSSESSION OF THE SC HOOL
THE CANTUARIAN VoL. XXV.
No.5
M ARCH,
1954
EDITORIAL Our School is, of necessity, very familiar with the spirit of the past. The venerable calm of ancient buildings, the austere endurance of stone pillar and spire, the subdued cheerfulness of old birch, the testimony of stairs to the passage of time, the mellow mystery of stained glass, the carved cemeteries of desks, all bear witness to the past with us and about us. We are dimly aware of the successive generations of our forebears through them.
THE CANTUA RIA N
But these are superficial; their value lies in pointing the permanence of something much more important, a tradition of thought, of Christian discipline, a spirit of service, service to individuals and to the community. This tradition fashions us imperceptibly, and we are heirs to it, and in our actions must carry it on. Without it, the past is dead for us, and we will be dead for future generations. With it, our lives have significance for others and for our successors. And our School must be great and glorious, not only for its buildings, its ceremonies, its achievements on the playing fields or in the classrooms, but for what is at the centre of all these and common to them all, the capacity among its members to put others first and themselves last. Without this all the outward show is vain and will fall unnoticed into decay.
320
THE CANTUARTAN
THE SCHOOL Captain of the School : R. H. C. SYMON, K.S. Vice-Captain of the School: J. A. RowE, K.s. Head of The School House... A. J. BRIGGS, K.S. Head of The Grange R. A. LAWRENCE, K.s. Head of Walpole House M. U. SLEE Head of Meister Omers D. C. MooR Head of Luxmoore House D. J. KIRSCH Head of Galpin's House P. G. ROBERTS, K.s. Head of Linacre House R. H. C. SYMON, K.S. Head of Marlowe House G. E. HARE MON ITORS R. H. c. SYMON, K.S., J. A. ROWE, K.S., A. J. BRIGGS, K.S., R. A. LAWRENCE, K.S., D. c. MOOR, P. G. ROBERTS, K.S., A. H. M. HOARE, K.S., D. J. KIRSCH, M. u. Sr..EE, J. M. BODGBR, J. E. PAWSEY, G. S. SPATIIIS, K.S., G. E. HARE, c. B. STROUTS, K.S., P. J. ALLEN HOUSE PREFECTS The School House: R. J. BEATTY-POWNALL, C. N. LAI NE, K.S., J. S. NYE, K.s., R. W. SPARROW, K.S. The Grange: M. DUDGEON, M. FISHER, K.S., M. C. HOLDERNESS, K.s., E. R. G. Jon, D. A. R. POOlE, C. R. SINCLAIR, N.J. B. WRIGHT. Walpole House: R. M. BASTBR, K.s., N. M. S. BROWN, R. A. DEWHURST, I. M. ORR-EWING, K.S., J. c. ST. c. REAR, R. N. B. THOMAS. Meister Omers: J. HEMBRY, W. T. LAMB, R. B. P. LINTON, G. M. LYNCH, J. B. MORGAN, W. H. WOOLSTON. Luxmoore House: J. C. ALABASTER, J. DB V. ALLEN, K.s., P. B. HARDING, D. B. MALCOLM, W. E. S. THOMAS, K.S., W. N. WENBAN-SMITH, K.S. Galpin's House : P. D. KIRKBY, M. J. MOORE, K.S., J. E. L. SAlES, R. A. G. o'E. WILLOUGHBY, K.S. Linacre House: J.P. M. DAVIES, H. R. J. HOARE, K.s., L D. MAITLAND, T. H. PtTT, R. C. RICHARDSON, A. G. RODGERS. Marlowe House: J. H. COBB, M.S. R. COZENS, M.S. REID, P. RHODES. Captain of Hockey .. . J. A. Rowe, K.s. Captain of Boats P. G. ROBERTS Captain of Athletics .. . W. H. WOOLSTON Captain of Fencing .. . G. S. SPATHIS, K.s. Captain of Boxing .. . M. S. REID Captain of Squash Rackets... D. C. MooR Captain of Fives D. J. KIRSCH Captain of Cross-Country Running G. E. HARE The Cantuarian: Editors: THE CAPTAIN OF SCHOOL, J. DE V. ALLEN, K.S., W. E. S. THOMAS, K.S. Sports Editor: J. A. Rowe, K.s. Secretaries: G. S. SPATHlS, K.S., W. N. WENBAN-SM!TH, K.s. 321
THE CANTUAR£AN
VIRTUTE FUNCTI MORE PATRUM DUCES J. R. M. HARVEY.- Entered School, Sept., '48; Upper Sixth; House Prefect, '53; 2nd X£, '53; 1st XV, '53; Lance-Sergeant, C.C.F. G. G. JONES.-Entered School, Sept., '49; Upper Sixth; House Prefect, '53; Corporal (R.A.F.), C.C.F. W. J. LANCASHIRE.-Entered School, May, '49; Upper Sixth; House Prefect, '53; 2nd Hockey XT, '53; 1st Hockey XI, '53; Captain of Swimming, '53. J. G. H. NELSON.- E ntered School, May, '49 ; 2nd X£, '52, '53; 1st XV, '52, '53; LanceSergeant, C.C.F. C. H. REED.- Entered School, May, '48 ; House Prefect, Sept., '52; 2nd Athletics, '52; 2nd XV, '52; Cross-Country, '5 1; Sergeant, C. C. F.
VALETE R. D. F. Bream, C. C. P. Kaye, A. 0. Longmate, D. R. Nevile, B. R. H. Perkins, J. R. L. Petherbridge, M. A. Thomson, B. Tilman, M. Warrander.
SALVETE J. E. Barren, J. G. E. Clegg, S. Cresswell, K. D. Dent, D . C. Halton, C. L. Horspool, P. G. Kemp, R. D. Lebish, R. D. J. Lysaght, J. A. C. McElwee, D. Masters, J. G. Moss, J. A. Murdoch, A. Philpott, P. W. Rollason, A. Syme, D. N. Whiteside, A. M. Williamson .
BRlGHT SHOOT OF EVERLASTINGNESS Selene- for so the Greeks knew herThe pa le, pure Goddess of the darknessDiana, the Holy Huntress, who has watched The sleeping earth, since her first daysWhat has she not seen? She saw the lost lands, when they lay ln the clear night air; yet now They are sunk in the seas of time- Atlantis, Lyonesse-she alone knows where they lieShe who lives on. Her silver-drifting beams led The sharp-prowed ship of Odysseus The crafty, cleaving the wine-dark deep, Borne to Ithaca on the sweet-breathing wind Of the moonlit Islands. IERNIKOS 322
THE CANTUA RTAN
THIS AND THAT Although an article appears elsewhere in this issue, we cannot let this opportunity pass without congratulating this distinguished O.K.S., and one of our Governors, on reaching his eightieth birthday. On January 26th Mr. S. S. Sopwith and the Captain of School visited London to attend a private view of an exhibition of manuscripts, first editions and associated items (many lent by the school) displayed in honour of his birthday in the Times Bookshop, Wigmore Street, where they both had the honour of being presented to Mr. Maugham. The heavy fall of snow and subsequent frosts during this term quite Precincts revolutionized the usual complexion of the Precincts. Some may have .in enjoyed it- to those who perpetually clamour for novelty it must have been Wmter a welcome change; and certainly it was a blessing to the militarists and the anti-monitorial sections of the community-but the Precincts is probably one of the few places whose beauty is not improved by snow, and we were all glad when it at length disappeared. On Friday, January 29th, the entire School saw the film of the conquest Everest Film of Everest. Perhaps the most striking aspect of this film is that it was taken almost wholly by the members of the expedition themselves-the sequences on the South Col, for instance. Considering this, its coherence and dramatic unity are remarkable; and in view of its epic subject-matter these qualities are particularly gratifying. It is no wonder that those who had seen it before were not distracted, and that many already have or presently will see the film again. Mr. Somerset Maugham
Austrian Holiday
Over thirty boys from the School visited Seefeld, a Tyrolean winter resort, last January. Mr. and Mrs. Meadows and Mr. and Mrs. Simpson were in charge of the party, and it was from everybody's point of view a complete success. It is to be hoped that the holiday may be repeated next winter.
Snow and the generally deplorable weather has to a certain extent delayed operations on the new playing-fields near Luxmoore. But the levelling has nevertheless reached a n advanced stage and the fields have taken a definite shape. We are most indebted to Mr. F. N. Nash, and his well-known and long-standing firm of Dunn's Farmseeds, Salisbury, who not only have provided all the grass-seed but have kept a careful eye on all the preparatory work. We cordially welcome Miss Spiess, who came this term to take over Miss Newcomers Swayne's domain, the School catering; Mrs. Campbell, who succeeds Miss Lambert as House Matron of Linacre; and Miss Pearson, who has been House Matron in Luxmoore's Junior House since September. The Playing-Fields
Undiscovered Grange
That House returned this term to find its changing-room accommodation substantially increased. Where before was darkness is now light; the labyrinth is resolved; and now one lofty changing-hall extends from the Old Grange to the Hall. 323
THE CANTUARIAN
We were particularly glad to hear that, as a result of the Conservative victory at the II ford North bye-election on February 3rd, Col. I. L. Iremonger (1930-34) was elected to represent that constituency in the House of Commons. The Iremonger family have maintai ned a long connection with the School: we hope that they may do the same with Parlia ment. O.K.S. M.P.
As we mentioned in the last issue, celebrations will be restricted to a play in the Chapter House and a concert in the Nave. At other stages in the term, however, we may be visited by Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears, and, on July 8th, by the Yale Glee Club. The former we have hea rd before and will be pleased to hear again; the latter we have not heard, but their universal recommendations make us certain that their singing will be appreciated. King,s Week
Elizabeth Schwarzl<opf
The School is delighted and honoured that Miss Schwarzkopf has agreed to visit us again; and we all look forward to 27th June whenagain to the accompaniment of Mr. Gerald Moore-she will sing to us.
March 23rd is the centenary of the birth of Viscount Milner who, besides The Milner being one of the most famous names in British Imperial history, was a Centenary great benefactor of the School. On that da te a Commem01ation Setvice will be held in the Cathedral, with a n address by the Right Hon. Alan Lennox Boyd, M.P. This will be followed by a luncheon given by the Headmaster and Mrs. Shitley, and celebrations during the afternoon at Milner Court, the former home of Viscount and Lady Milner. Unfortunately this will happen too late to be recorded in this issue of The Cantuarian. On Sunday, January 31st, the preacher in the evening service was Mr. A Lay Sermon K. A. C. Gross. The School looks forward to similar sermons in the future. This fall s on Tuesday, July 26th this year, and the Commemoration preacher will be the Rev. A. J . W. Pritchard (1917- 22), Vicar of St. John's, Newbury, and holder of double first class honours (in Jurisprudence and Theology). From King's he won the Ford Studentship to Oxford.
Speeches Day
The story goes that some Russian students on a visit to Oxford were shown over Pembroke College. "And this", their guide told them, "is the room in which Dr. Johnson lived when he was an undergraduate here." The Russians removed their caps in awe. "He is a great fighter fo1 peace, Dr. Johnson", the leader of the delegation said solemnly. We are very pleased to have with us this term Mr. R. F. Stittle as a Student Master student master. Quite apart from his academic duties, he has been of great assistance coaching in the Boat Club. Johnson and Johnson
In spite of the rumour that the number of House plays was to be cut down, we reverted this term to the practice of one evening's entertainment provided by each two Houses. Two of these evenings occur early enough in the term to be reviewed in this issue; on the rest we must postpone judgement. House Plays
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Mr. Ronald Groves
Those who remember Mr. G roves, who was an assistant master here between 1935 a nd 1943, will join us in congratulating him on his election to be Master of Dulwich College this March. He left King's to be Headmaster of Campbell College, Belfast.
It is a specia l disappointment for members of the School who know him to learn that the Rev. Clarence May has had to joi n the parish of St. George's, Bloomsbury, in view of the dem oli tion of St. Peter's. H e has been created "The Lecturer of Bloomsbury" and a Prebendary of St. Pau l's: with these titles we wish him well, and hope that he will visit us aga in shortly.
St. Peter's, Piccadilly
Visitors fro m the School have expressed unreserved admiration a nd approval of the interior of this new bu ildi ng, which is now complete and occupied- the days arc again in sight when K ing's Schola rs will have access to work in the seclusion and comfort of the Cathedral Library. We hear it will be opened about M idsummer. The Cathedral Library
The Sergeant-Major
It is with very real regret that O.K.S. will lea rn of the resignatio n, after thirty-two a nd a half yea rs, of Sergeant-Major Marshal l. Mention of his services is made elsewhere; but we are glad to hear that we will not lose sight of him altogether, since he is to join the gro und
staff. An Engagement
We offer o ur warmest congratulations to the Bursar, Mr. D. R. Lawrence, a nd Miss J. Symo n, the Headmaster's Secretary and sister of the Captain of School, on their engagement.
Many will lament the sudden death of A. J . Russell on 30th December last: he could ill be spared. Arthur James Russell, known to his friends as "A.J.", was born in the Christian Isle of Wight in the year 1886. He worked as a reporter on local newspapers until 1909 when he left for Lo ndon. That same year he married Flora Lucy M acqueen. J-fe joined the staffs of vario us newspapers and eventua lly beca me Literary Editor of the Daily Express and Genera l Manager of the Sunday Express.
A Great
The late '20's and early '30's saw a great cha nge in his life for he left Fleet Street and went to America. There he joined the Oxford Group where he fo und the material for his fa mous best-seller For Sinners Only . Then followed his One Thing I Know and Christ Comes to Town. Just before the war " A.J. " started a publishing business with that famous devotio nal diaLy God Calling. He called his business " Arthur James", his two Christian names. The war and the move to Worcestershire prevented him from expanding but directly the war finished he was able to forge ahead. ¡ In spite of his 6 ft. 2 in. in height he was kind a nd gentle a nd never refused to help anyone in difficulties. He lived each day according to his deep Christian faith. 325
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New Masters
Dr. Robert Dodd, Scholar of New College, Oxford, and the Hon. Simon Stuart, of Trinity College, Cambridge, have been appointed to the Staff.
This runs from The Grange to the Old Palace, bounded on East and West by the Pentise wall and Palace Street respectively. The enclosure was originally the property of the Archbishops and never belonged to the Monastery. Since Laud's execution in 1645 no Archbishop lived in Canterbury until, in 1890, a part of the ancient palace was adapted and added to. Meantime by prescription the Chapter in the long interim acquired that part of Palace Street and somewhere in days long back the School got a prescriptive title to the land within. This is the only possible site for an Assembly Hall, and without one the School limps along. A Hall would, however, be impossible but for two factors-one, the Archdeacon of Canterbury has a bit of garden projecting into the Court which he (and the Chapter) are willing to surrender; and second, access. The proper access to the Court was made in 1565 by Archbishop Matthew Parker when he e1ected the Gatehouse and Entry which are now a shop known as Featherstone's. The Chapter have offered-and Messrs. Featherstone have cordially agreed- to build new shop premises for them in Burgate. Thus the School will be able to have its Hall- 125 feet by 55-and this wonderful entrance; wonderful because the property was largely slum in the 18th and 19th centuries and therefore never "restored"; it is much as Parker built it. The School owes much to the friendliness of the present Chapter, the co-operation of Messrs. Featherstone, the courage of the Governors, and the generosity of those forty people who enabled the Headmaster to go to the Governors with a substantial financial beginning.
Palace Court
lt has been decided by the Governors to ceil the Gymnasium, removing the present unsuccessful sky-light; the walls are then to be raised, and both ground floor and upper floor pierced with windows. The upper floor will merge into School House.
The Gymnasium
We were delighted to have three representatives this year in the 'Varsity Hockey match. R. 0. A. Norris and P. J. Walker represented Oxford for the third year in succession and B. E. Lee played full-back for Cambridge. J. H. T. Morgan is a Cambridge Boxing Blue. Other O.K.S. who have done well at Cambridge ' are C. G. S. Paterson, who was well in the running for a Rowing Blue and who reached the Finals in the Fairbairn Pairs, and R. H. G. Reed, who came second in the Long Jump by t inch in the C.U.A.C. Sports. Several Oxford O.K.S. have been elected to the Oxford Occasionals, including J. M. Skinner, who has kept goal for the University on several occasions. Blues
We did not really expect this year to reach last year's record total of 12 State Scholarships and 17 successes at Oxford and Cambridgewhich placed us 8th in the whole country for Oxford and Cambridge awards. However, we started well this year with 11 State Scholarships and in December and January the following boys were successful:-
University Scholarsbips
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THE CANTUARIAN OXFORD
G. S. Spathis, Open Scholarship in Natural Science to Exeter College. J. A. Rowe, Open Exhibition in History to Christ Church. R. A. Lawrence, Open Scholarship in Natural Science to Worcester. P. G. Roberts, Open Scholarship in History to Corpus Christi . CAMBRIDGE
A. J. Briggs, Open Exhibition in Natural Science to Pembroke. M. C. Holderness, Open Scholarship in Natural Science to Gonville a nd Cai us. H. R . J. Hoare, Open Exhibition in M athematics and Physics to St. John's. Several others will be sitting at Oxford this month in various subjects. We extend a hearty welcome to Mr. Colin Fairservice, who has come from Stonyhurst to organise the Games a nd to coach Rugger and Cricket. We are glad to have the help of Mr. Fairservice Senior also, both he and his son are Kent County players of distinction. Games
By the death of Victor Halward the O.K.S. Bishops now number only six. An obituary notice of Bishop Halward is included in this number of The Cantuarian. It is good that most years now somebody from the School enters the Ministry of the Church. Bishop Hahvard
Sir Francis Drake
Was he a member of the School? Most probably not, but it seems reasonably certain tha t his younger brother Thomas may be identified with the Thomas Drake who was a Commoner here in 1561.
Everyone will be delighted that on March 9th the Governors elected David L. Edwards (Milner Scholar 1942-47), Fellow of All Souls, to their number. It will be splendid for the School to have as a representative one who has lived in it during its critical years of the war and post-war reconstruction. A New Governor
The Rev. J. F. Martin
The many friends whom he made here when, just after the war, "Jim" Martin was our Assistant Chaplain, will be pleased that he has been appointed Rector of the parish of Branford, Connecticut. It is a large and important charge, two hours' run from New York. The new Rector has done heroic work in Canada and America, and we hope that this appointment is herald to something even greater. We are sure that no people can have a kindlier or more devoted clergyman. After the war, Mr. W . A. R. Gorman-who did so much for Classics, A Former Master Cricket and Rugger here-joined the Colonial Service, and now holds an impottant post in Northern Rhodesia. But despite the climate and the travail, he looked as young and buoyant as ever when we had the good luck to lunch with him in London. He is in charge of Educational Administration in a vast area, including the famous Copperbelt, with a population of half a million Africans and 35,000 Europeans. He speaks three African languages and has published grammars of two of them. On top of all this, he is as keen on building as we are in Canterbury. Squash and Cricket keep him fit.
THE CANTUARIAN
This valuable Collection, consisting of original manuscripts of famous authors, of rare printed books and of beautifully-printed modern books, was handed over to the School by Hugh Walpole in 1937. Occasional additions have been made since-most notably the manuscripts of Somerset Maugham's first and last novels given to the School by the author- and the whole Collection has now been moved from the rather inaccessible room in Prior Sellingegate to the lovely Oriel window room in Lardergate, where it can play a more effective part in developing interest in writing. It is thought fitting that the Arms of Sir Hugh Walpole, with those of Somerset Maugham and Walter Pater, should be emblazoned in the window. Many of those visitors to the Precincts who shyly but thoroughly Notice Boards scrutinise our notice boards must be surprised by what they see. Those unfamiliar with the names of forms, for instance, might be surprised to see a list of marks for a U.S.A. Grammar Test; Tank Games and Hockey Greens are calculated to mislead; but of course it will be members of the School who most appreciate a recent notice on the Headmaster's board: "The Headmaster will not take his Latin Set on Wednesday as usual". The Walpole Collection
We offer our warmest congratulations to Sir Cuthbert Headlam Golden Wedding (1889-1893) and Lady Headlam, who celebrated their golden wedding on March 22nd.
DESTINY I am the ineluctable invisible pillar Of the mysterious whirlpool of life. Existing in non-existence, I give Meaning to all life, to fling it spiralling Down to Oblivion. I win to lose, But take all in the last mad whirl of Death. J am a swirl of gust-caught leaves; a spin Of ultimate roulette. 0 vicious circle! Some imagine evolution from your Static revolution. As a corkscrew Enacting hedonistic hopes I serve To give brief delight, and empty bottles. I am winding steps, rooted in creation, Ascending to some infinite end, trodden To any purpose, gyration on gyration: Till centripetal Death take you as moths Who flutter to the flame they living fanned. And when at my behest you cease to climb This mortal stair, then soul, it is for you To know me as I am, the newel of Life.
D .S.
¡.
1'HB CAN 1' UARfAN
MR. SOMERSET MAUGHAM As we started this term, Mr. Somerset Maugham celebrated his eightieth birthday. The literary world seized the opportunity to pay tribute to the man who has dominated it for so long. While other writers, as he has said more than once, have their ups and downs, for half a century his own success has never ceased to grow. For twenty years or more he has enjoyed a unique supremacy in the world of letters. Although- or perhaps because-he has always been popular among those who read for interest and entertainment, Somerset Maugham's work has often met with severe opposition from critics who have approached it with certain predilections and prejudices. For a long time after he deserted the highbrows who had enjoyed his first play, A Man of Honour, to achieve spectacular success in the commercial theatre as a writer of social comedies, " the elite"-to use Henry James' contemptuous phrase-refused to recognise him as a serious writer. To earnest young ava nt-guardists who were absorbed in politics and sociology and who demanded of a writer an inspiring message or philosophy, his work seemed flippant, trivial, and ephemeral. It was held that " he stood for nothing" and that he was merely "an entertainer". Only in the changed atmosphere following the Great War did the critics exhibit more sympathy, and only in the still more harassed and disillusioned years after the Second World War has his matter of fact and unsentimental attitude, tinged as it is with fatalism in his view of life and tolerant, sceptical amusement in his view of people, been fully appreciated. He started his literary career in 1897 with the novel Liza of Lambeth, a vivid and brutal story based on his experiences as a doctor in the squalid streets of London. Encouraged by the favourable reception of this book, he decided to abandon medicine for literature. On the strength of some money he had been left, he went abroad and set himself to become a writer. In the next few years he wrote A Man of Honour, which was eventually produced by the Stage Society, a nd several novels, which were reviewed respectfully and at length. But he was earning a bout ÂŁ100 a year; "I wanted money and I wanted fame". In 1908 they suddenly came to him. A play failed at the Court Theatre, and his play, Lady Frederick, previously turned down by several managers, was put on to fill the gap until the next play was ready. It ran for over a year. Within a few weeks he had four successes running concurrently in the West End, and Punch had a cartoon showing Shakespeare enviously eyeing the playbills. From then until the outbreak of war he wrote exclusively for the stage. It brought him wealth a nd social standing. He planned never to write another book. But his easy success on the stage palled. He found himself living more and more in his own past. "It became", he wrote, "such a burden to me that I made up my mind that I could only regain my peace by writing it all down in the form of a novel. " That novel, Of Human Bondage, was published in 1916. England was preoccupied with war, and it created little stir. The very qualities that have enabled it to interest later generations prevented it from succeeding then. It dealt with permanent problems at a time when the public was concerned with the day's events. Only in America did this, perhaps his greatest novel, receive the praise it deserved. At this time personal unhappiness after the failure of his marriage increased his dissatisfaction with the life he was living and the work he was producing. "I was tired of the man I was", he wrote, "and it seemed to me that by a long journey to some far country I might renew myself. " His wartime duties in Intelligence simplified the cutting of his links with 329
THE CANTUARIAN
EIGHTY IN THE SUN
u For William Somerset Maugham, born Ja11uary 25th, 1874 I bask in Antibes and in honour, a nd consider the works of my pen That have made me in one full lifetime all things to all literate men: The rich man's MARIE CoRELL!, the poor man's ANDRB GIDE, A S·l llVIlNSON told of the facts of life, a KrPLJNO shorn of his creed. 0, l was TeRENCE RATI'lOAN when TERENCE was still in his cot, And the films and TV will call on me when USTJNOV's long forgot. Though the Ale 1 brewed was bitter, my Cakes were as sweet as si n, And they brought me the Moon I sighed for, with a bit over Sixpence thrown in. The world's delectable secrets turned to Ashenden in my mouth, And the fetters of Human Bondage hold me fast in the suns of the south.
B.
A. YOUNG
(Reproduced by kind permission of the proprietors of PUNCH) 330
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England, and he departe_d to visi.t the South Pacific and then the Far East. In the South Seas he found the matenal for h1s most famous short story, Rain, and for The Moon and Sixpence, a novel about Gauguin's escape from conventionality a generation earlier, which in addition to being a great popular success, also persuaded many hitherto hostile critics' that he was, though "popular", a serious writer with an original approach to life and to the novel. In the Far East, however, he found still more. In the seaboard towns of China and, more particularly, in the isolated plantations and small up-river settlements cut off from civilisation by the steaming jungle of Malaya, he found human characters no longer cloaked by the artifices and conventions which regulated the social life of England. He probed the activities of these communities with a shrewd and ironic eye, and filled his books with people pent up and robbed of outside interests by their environment people living violent and impulsive lives against the colonial background of meanness 'and gossip, jealousy and pettiness, people driven often to morbid and vicious introspection, and sometimes to suicide or adultery. For ten years be travelled and wrote. His output was remarkable; it included two novels The Moon and S ixpence and The Painted Veil; two travel books, On a Chinese Screen' and The Gentleman in the Parlour; one of his best plays, East of Suez; the secret service stories of "Ashenden", the South Sea stories of The Trembling of a Leaf, and the Malayan stories of The Casnarina Tree. With the success of two or three more plays and the publication in I930 of the gay and malicious Cakes and Ale, he became the most discussed literary figure in England. But now, after years of travel and discomfort, he returned from the Far East and settled down in the Villa Mauresque on Cap Ferrat, his home to this day. He continued to write a little, but the main creative period of his life was over: he had exhausted his Far Eastern material; the South of France, the West Indies, and the French convict settlement on Devil's Island gave him little. He declared in his autobiography, The Summing Up, published in 1938, that the main fabric of his work was complete. He had everything "that should accompany old age". He expected to be able to pass his last years quietly among his books and friends. But war intervened. He escaped from France to England, and thence to America, where he wrote The Razor's Edge, in which are distilled the human and literary experiences of a life-time. lt was his last major work. With typical modesty, he said recently that "A very strange thing has happened in the past five years. During that time I have produced nothing of consequence-yet I have had more success than ever before. My collected short stories (some of them thirty and forty years old) have sold 277,000 copies in a year. You know how funny the English are about old age-once they take someone to their hearts, they are loyal to the last, whether it's a singer who has lost his voice or an actor who forgets his lines. That seems to have happened to me!" But Somerset Maugham's popularity does not rest simply on England's sentimental attachment to a Grand Old Man of letters, or on the fact that his detached, sceptical, disillusioned attitude to the world around him is one which finds an echo in the hearts of a generation disrupted and wearied by war. Every generation is inclined, in order to secure the recognition of its own deity, to dethrone that of the generation that preceded it; doubtless there will be a reaction against Maugham's work, for it has been held for a long time in very high esteem. But the reaction will not last long. His youthful standards of "lucidity, simplicity, euphony" ~31
THE
CANTUAR ! AN
are such as will stand the test of time. He is, too, a su preme stor yteller, with an almost unrivalled capacity to enthrall his reader and to carry his interest on from page to page. Apart from his plays, which represent the life and ma nnerisms of an age already past, his work will not date. Shaw, Wells, and Galsworthy, the giants of Maugham's younger days, embroiled themselves in ephemeral issues of politics or social reform, and they tend to be forgotten as the issues with which they concerned themselves are forgotten. Somerset Maugham, on the other hand, has never identified himself in any prominent way with causes or movements. His works treat of the timeless problems of human character, and of human weaknesses and relationships. They have given pleasute to millions of contemporaries and, by revealing to them many of their foibles, idiosyncracies, and ulterior mo ti ves, have given their readers a heightened awareness and a deeper knowledge of their own lives. And yet he has neve1 been content sim ply to draw a realistic picture of the world around him, to indulge- only a French word gives the exact sense- in mere reportage. Out of the "scrappy and pointless" ma terial of life he has constructed stories which are "coherent, dramatic, and probable", so that his wo rk contains "more truth in essence", as T hackeray put it, "than the work which purports to be all true". And just as his works have entertained his contemporaries, so they will continue to interest Englishmen as long as novels are read. His books are too vivid and forceful and full of t eal people ever to be put aside to accumulate dust on library shelves.
S.P.J.
A CRAZY WORLD The American experts on Atomic War have put out some results of the explosio n of the Bikini hydrogen bomb. If their statements are accurate, it is incredible that newspapers as a whole had nothing to say. Is it true- can it be true- that a Japanese craft reeled with the blast 91 miles away, that the sailors were burnt, and the very fish were radio-active? Can it be true that an aircraft 50 miles away and 30,000 feet in the air, flew as fast as it could to escape the mushroom cloud which rose 17 miles into the sky? Is it true that the bomb was 600 times more powerful tha n that which destroyed Hiroshima, that the scientists envisage even more powerful bombs? Is a ny defence possible against such weapons? Is war now even th inkable if- as the new Conservative newspaper, the Recorder, states-Russia is at least as a tomically armed if not ahead? After a very few bombs there surely would not be a world! If the experts' cabled statements are accurate, it is puzzling to understand the silence of the Press on a matter which vitally (literally vitally!) concerns old and young and the yet unborn.
THE CANTUARIAN
PRIDE Pride is a deadly sin ; yet there are times when I would extol it. For there can be beauty in pride- beauty for example, in the pure, joyful feeling of a wild stallion, black as midnight, glossy, strong, lovely, every superb line conscious of its own perfectionand all men gaze with wonder and think, "How fine, how proud!". Then there is the pride of precious stones. How many poets have written of rubies, attracted by their sinister pride. They smoulder darkly in a rich sullenness of wild beauty; and the strangeness a nd wonder of Pacific islands, palm-fringed lagoons, and terrible death glow dully; fu rious almost, but hold them to the light and they glitter with a hard, cruel glow which summons thoughts of blood pouring from a sacrificial cup, and of the chants of pagan priests beneath a moon which seems itself a vast ruby, dripping with the blood of victims from the dawn of time. The ruby's is a cruel pride, fascinating as the snake is to the rabbit, as the spider to the fly; sinister, proud, evil- but beautiful. Then consider the sapphire, which has a cold, distant command. The glitter of ice, of frozen beauty hangs abo ut it. But it Jacks the wildness of the r uby, and freezes the romantic imagination of poets with its arctic glitter. I ts pride would seem to "thick men's blood with cold". Pride can, oddly enough, be sad. Velvet's rich, heavy lustre hangs with sadness, dreaming deeply of the glory that might have been, and of the days that have gone for ever; of Cleopatra's revels that smashed a civilization; of Tamburlaine ; of Persian kingdoms falling in ruin, crumbling glory falling before barbaric vigour. Sadness, the sorrow of the ages, even, belongs to velvet which dreams proudly of what has been. The stars have held Man since he has existed; but only lately has he admitted their distance, their utter inaccessibility. They are proud on a magnificent way; theirs is pride beyond all other pride. Before nothing else does Man feel so completely insignificant. They shimmer in immeasurable distance, humbling all else. Their pride is overwhelming, compelling obedience, even worship. They have watched the world when it was young, and will watch for ever, long after Man has gone. B. H. McC.
FRAGMENT OF A MYSTIC I stood one night upon the brink of time And saw the years as sand upon the shore. Where myriad humans played their little life, To leave one fading footprint as their mark Upon the quicksands of Eternity. SWJTHll:-4
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TO RIGHT A WRONG Ever since the days of Horace Walpole the tongue of scandal has belittled the name and character of Edward Thurlow, the most dominant of all the Lord Chancellors of the 18th century. Walpole was his enemy and it may well have been that man of letters who first set in motion the charge that Thurlow had seduced Hester Elizabeth (known as Kitty) Lynch. She was the daughter of Dean Lynch, and the grand-daughter of William Wake, the most notable Archbishop of Canterbury in that century. If we can remove this stain, or show better reason than has yet been produced why it should be removed, we shall do justice to two- indeed, three- Old King's Scholars; Thurlow, Lord Chancellor ; John Lynch, the Dean of Canterbury; and Charles Thurlow, the Chancellor's son. From the University Thurlow went to the Bar, and loyal to the place of his education often visited Canterbury, where the young barrister fell in love with Kitty Lynch; they kept company here and in Thanet, nor was there any doubt the couple were truly in love. In 1764 Kitty bore a child- Charles- and died in doing so. Thurlow lived a long life and never married another. Nobody at the time seems to have doubted that Thurlow and Kitty were married, but scandal subsequently got busy ; pamphlets, magazines, semi-official "Peerages", insinuated the illegitimacy of Charles, though perhaps the rough forthrightness of Thurlow in his professional and political life may have helped this on, for he was never one to suffer fools gladly. From that time we may say till now this scandalous insinuation has been accepted as pretty well fact. Even the sober D.N.B. says that Thurlow never married <>wing to an early disappointment. It is true he never did marry again, but it is not incredible that he remained a widower faithful to his Kitty's love. Few men can have had more obvious and outstanding qualities and shorte<>mings, but to a dispassionate unprejudiced reader faithfulness would appear among the Chancellor's richest qualities. He remained loyal to his School and sent his son here (which was more than Lord Chief Justice Abbott, Lord Tenterden, did, who owedfrom his father's barber's shop in the Precincts- everything to his School and sent his son to Eton); faithful to his friends; faithful to Johnson, who was indebted to him for his ÂŁ300 p.a. pension; faithful to his mistress; faithful to his several daughters by her ; faithful to his King sane or mad; and faithful to his principles in an age when political morality was dirt cheap. All the evidence examined to date has been marshalled and recently published in a biography of Thurlow by Mr. Gore-Browne. The book was so critically and severely reviewed at Christmas-time, that the Lord Chief Justice himself wrote to the Press in protest. On the question of the marriage of Kitty Lynch and Thurlow the author has been scrupulously fair, has placed the pro's and con's before the reader, and left him to his own decision. It is to be much regretted, however, that no examination seems to have been made in the places where naturally evidence might be looked for. The present article, therefore, will advance four items of evidence, tending to establish that Kitty bynch and Thurlow were indeed man and wife. The first item is from the Baptism Registers of our own Cathedral, a nd the extract is thus :"Charles, son of Edwa rd and Hester= Elizabeth Thurlow was baptized Novembcr31 764 Richard Leightonhouse Sacrist." 334
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If anybody could have known the truth about the daughter of the Dean, the granddaughter of the late Archbishop, the sister of a Prebendary of Canterbury and Archdeacon, whose child was born here in the Precincts, it would have been the Clergy of the Cathedral : and it is incredible that the Sacrist should have written down in onicial and historical records a lie, and have been content in his long life here to leave it as a lie. The second piece of evidence is to be found in the Burial Registers of the Church of St. James, at Staple, near Wingham . The extract runs: "1764 MRS. Hester Elizabeth T hurlow buried November 13". Kitty was buried at Staple in the fami ly vault made by her father. The Lynches were property-owners in the parish : their "place" was Grove Mansion. Now the Rector of Staple at the time was Francis Walwyn, S.T.P., himself a Residentiary Canon of Canter bury. Here again, he must have known the facts; and if he conspired with the Sacrist of the Cathedral that each should fo rge his own Register, then clerical mora li ty was no whit better than that of the politicia ns. What they both wrote they wrote either honestly because they knew the truth, or honestly because they had reason to be satisfied the couple were married, or falsely and dishonourably, lying deliberately for all ages to come. These two extracts should be sufficient of themselves, especially if they are added to the list of reasons published by Mr. Gore-Browne; the Baptism Register proclaims Kitty a lawful mother, the Burial Register states she was a lawful wife. And in a Court of Law th is evidence, unless clearly proved false, would surely be taken as definitive. The third item has no such legal value but is of interest since, like the Registers, it has never yet been published. In the Headmaster's Register (Ma nuscript) of King's Scholars, we read : " May 1, 1772 Charles Thurlow, son of Edwa rd Thurlow, now Attorney-General : born in the Precincts of Cathedral Cant. 30 Sept. 1764; admitted Scholar Oct. 8, 1773; went to France 1774; retu rned 1775; went to Benet Coli: died." The H eadmaster was an extremely well-known man, Dr. Osmond Beauvoir, the friend of Archbishop Wake and of Dean Lynch. Lastly, readers may remember that in the previous issue of The Cantuarian we gave some extracts from the Diary of the Reverend Joseph Price. It has come to light only in recent years a nd has lately been translated. P rice lived in this part of Kent as a curate from the middle of the century and then held benefices in East Kent from 1767 till he died in 1807; he a lso had a house in Mint Yard. The Diary shows him as an inexpressibly vulgar and low-minded gossip and backbiter, and markedly unfriendly to the Lynch family; he refers to "disagreeable reports" a bout the Dean's improper affections for a certain person; and it is unthinkable that this reverend gentlema n would not have revelled in a scandalous tit-bit about the daughter of the Dean that he loathed.
THE CANTU ARIAN
INDEPENDENT EDUCATION AND HOW TO DEFEND IT R eprinted from
INDEPENDENT
SCHOOL- November 1953
That independency in ed uca tion is a good thing and worthy of defence I shall not a rgue a t any length in this article. It is enough to point to the hundreds of thousands of parents who prefer it and pay heavi ly for it, to the multitude of pupils in whom it breeds loya lty and pride, and to the teachers who find in it more sco pe for their gifts and their devotion than elsewhere. Its need of defence is less obvious, or at least less real ised, than its merits. For many hundreds of years the o nly ed ucat ion in the land was conducted by volunteer persons and bod ies who were convinced of the need for it, and strove to surply the need. Last century the State entered the field, a nd its work and organisation now cover so much of the field that some claim a monopoly for it. This fo rmidable development of State activity has, in effect, brought education into politics. The forthright sections of the new Socialist Party manifesto on educatio n (pages 20, 21 , 22) declare war on independency. This attitude will not surprise those who have watched the trend of Socialist feeling about schools, no r those who appreciate that the Socialist Party turning away from Nationalisation, has found a new hope i n Equalitarianism and Uniformity, a nd especia lly in their application to ed ucation. The attack has taken unawares the defenders of independency. Who are they? In the main, and indeed almost entirely, the heads a nd proprietors of independent schools a nd their Boards of Governors, where these exist, and the vario us bodies in which they have organised themselves. These sectional organisati ons are extremely diverse, and being exclusive and out of touch wi th each other and unused to acting together, they are far from being a united force for defence. An a ttempt to unite them would enco un ter at once a number of social and psychological difficulties which are too well known to need to be recounted, and which would pro bably prove prohibitive. But these sectional bodies are not the only hope, or the true ho pe. Independent schools owe their origin and their continuance to the parents who prefer them to a ny o ther mea ns of ed ucati ng their children. Those parents who pay not only educatio n rates but also the fees cha rged by the schools of thei r choice may fairly be assumed to be specially interested and exacting about ed ucation. To put it bluntly, they know wha t they want for thei r children, and they are resolved to pay fo r it. To be debarred fro m this would be, for them, a n infringement of their natura l li berty as citizens. And they exist by the hundred thousand. Add to them the past parents and the parents who intend to send their chi ldren to independent schools, and the Old Boys a nd the O ld G irls of the schools, whether members of al umni organisatio ns or no t, and the outside friends of the schools and the believers in fai r play. All these together wield great social and political influence, and wou ld ma ke an army if only they were mobilised. I am suggesting that the burden of defence sho uld be placed fairly and sq uarely where it really belo ngs- on the sho ulders of the clientele, past, present and to come, and of divers other friends. They can take their stand convincingly o n their righ ts as citizens. The claims of heads, proprietors and staffs of schools can be disco unted in controversy as pleas in defence of personal interest. Boards of G overnors are a somewhat amateur and in termittent force a nd largely dependent on their staffs. It is with the clientele in the widest
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sense that the ultimate responsibility rests. The greatest force that can be brought to bear is theirs, but it needs to be awakened and organised. This is the task that awaits the defenders of independency. It is a task to which the Consultative Committee for Independent Education is giving its attention, and for which it hopes to enlist the help of bodies and individuals who feel as it does in this matter. Those who are willing to affiliate with such a movement are invited to communicate with the Chairman of the Committee, Dr. John Murray, 62 Porchester Gate, London, W.2, or with the Secretary, Mr. L. J. Thompson, The Elms, 20 Northwick Park Road, Harrow, Middlesex. J.M.
THE POETRY OF DYLAN THOMAS Time held me green and dying Though I sang in my chains like the sea lt is a mistake to approach the poetry of Dylan Thomas, or any "modern" poetry, in a spirit of militancy, determined not to be carried away by a mere flow of words, not to mistake obscurity for erudition or ambiguity fo r paradox, not to Jose sight of our artistic values, without which we might be deluded into liking anything. The poet is never concerned primarily with an audience; he is always self-conscious, but thereby selfcritical. This is never more true than of Dylan Thomas. He is a descendant of the tradition in English literature that finds its most forceful expression in the work of George Herbert, Vaughan, Blake, in a more refined form in Matthew Arnold, and in our own century, in the poetry of Alun Lewis and of Vernon Watkins. All these poets have tried to come to terms with the problems of life through their own problems and perceptio ns, attempted their own solution in an unusual, individualistic way. Dylan Thomas is, and fittingly so, in an age of upheaval and uncertain ty like ours, the least conventional of them, the most obscure, and (in my opinion) the most thrilling. Here I should say that this attempt at appreciation has no claims to originality, only to the expression of an enjoyment that has been genuine, if sometimes rather blinded. And I have followed Montaigne's advice : "If in reading I fortune to meet with any difficult points, I fret not myself about them, but after I have given them a charge or two, I leave them as I found them". Since his tragic death in November last year, a host of appreciations, memoirs, and obituaries have filled a number of periodicals and the main facts about the poet's life have become fairly well-known. He was born in Swansea in 1914 and was educated at the Grammar School, where his father was English master. Those who knew him during this stage of his life record that he was disappointingly poor in all subjects but Engl ish, at which he was outstandingly good. In his Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog, a collection of semi-autobiographical stories, he has left a delightful picture of himself in school. He is described as "small, thin, indecisively active, quick to get dirty, curly"; he is particularly prone to lurid dreams, strange impressions which are all stored up in a rich imagination, whimsies, heinous plots against his neighbours which never 337
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materialize, equally passionate enjoyments and loves, and all this finding an escape in a precocious gift for verbal symbols and word-combinations and vivid self-expression. Certainly his earlier poetry shows this gift. He later edited his school magazine and poured into it lyrics, parodies, comic verse and prose. He was mainly concerned with the expression of his own feelings and experiences; politics never interested him. It is curious to note that the distressing social conditions in the industrial areas of Wales at this time find scarcely any recognition either in his poetry or his prose. In 1931, at the age of seventeen, Dylan Thomas left school. At first he occupied his time in some journalism for local newspapers, and though it is hard to think of him as a reporter, the world of a small provincial newspaper obviously made a deep impression and met with great sympathy from him, as the latter parts of Portrait of the Artist show. His poetry first came before the public eye in 1933, when the Sunday Referee first started to publish his poems in its section "Poet's Corner", and his first book of verse, entitled 18 Poems, was published in the following year. Much of his early poetry appeared in Grigson's New Verse and Dylan Thomas became recognised as one of the leaders of a school of poetry which has been called "The New Apocalypse", or more simply, Nec-Romantic. In 1935 was published Twenty-Five Poems and four years later, The Map of Love. Then came the war, and illness. His early poetry was criticized for incoherence, for a lack of any theme, and for the poet's un willingness to emerge from his web of obscure over-laden metaphors, intricacies of style and tortuo us turns of phrase. It ~as a lso condemned for its lack of rhythm and of a nyth ing approaching metre. All this criticism seems just if our view is confined to a few examples, but the only adequate criticism of Dylan Thomas' poetry must be drawn from a ll, or the greater part of it. Individual poems may appear wordy wildernesses, but there is an a ttitude to life reflected in them all, a struggle to express ideas by metaphor which would , in any ordinary speech, seem bald, and even trite. Any understanding of his genius lies in a knowledge of this. In his ()a rly poems, Thomas was groping for a meaning to life. Everything he wrote was stamped by personal characteristics; he saw the world as it appeared in himself. The first steps towards seeing this meaning are very hard to distinguish, but it is expressed clearly in the lines : I, born offlesh and ghost, was neither A ghost nor man, but mortal ghost. Here is a rea lization, poetically expressed, of the death implicit in all life. As life goes on, death grows in it. This he sees in all life, but he sees it through himself. lt is the theme of that magnificent short poem, The force that through the green fuse. Here he sees the same corrosive force at work in nature, a t work also in himself: And I am dumb to tell the crooked rose My youth is bent by the same wintry fever. In this way ti me, as a worm, as pursuer and as the rot-bringing element in all things, plays an important part. Time is the "running grave"; the world of time is analagous to man's life. Man is used frequently as a metaphor of the world: This is the world: the lying likeness of The strips of stuff that tatter as we move Loving and being loth: 338
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There is a general rejection of the normal paths to knowledge. The purely practical considerations of life, eating, personal and momentary inclinations, do nor emerge as they do for instance in the poetry of MacNiece: I have been told to reason by the heart, But heart, like head, leads helplessly The poem Here in this Spring contains a more vivid expression of this idea: I should tell summer by the trees, the worms Tell, if at all, the winter's storms Or the funeral of the sun,¡ I should learn spring by the cue/cooing And the slug should teach me destruction. In passing, it is as well to note that the reaction against mere "social commentary" in poetry, and a movement towards a more personal relation to external considerations, is a quality common to all the Apocalyptic poets, like George Barker and David Gascoyne. They might all say: "I am a part of all that l have met", rather than attempting a synthesis of social conditions. But the philosophy of life that emerges from Thomas' work is more hopeful than one would expect. It is not the existentialist "maturity of disillusion". Whether to embrace death or escape from it in love or in nature seems to be the root of the conflict. And this question is not left unresolved. The poet realises the cowardice of " not facing up to it", and in a beautifully stirring poem, I have longed to move away, he approaches a solution: I have longed to move away but am afraid,¡ Some life, yet unspent, might explode Out of the old lie burning on the ground, And, crackling into the air, leave me half blind. In more drab words: I have not probed the question enough, but I want to excape from it. The poem ends on a truculent note. Having given, in three tight lines, a picture of the inglorious ways of dying, the poem ends: By these I would not care to die, Half convention and half lie. Thomas has left an account of his creative method, which reveals that an understanding of his more 'obscure' poetry lies in the reader's attitude to it, and not in any research he might do as to origins or influences. "The life of any poem of mine," he wrote, "cannot move concentrically round a central image, the life must come out of the centre; a n image must be born and die in another; and a ny sequence of my images must be a sequence of creations, recreations, destructions, contradictions." This is the real reason why so many of Dylan Thomas' poems have a rare emotional power. They demonstrate that emotional force need not at first be dependent on a very critical understanding. The best illustration of the success of this technique is the fa mous poem After the Funeral, written in memory of a faithful old Welsh servant, Ann Jones. Here no centJal theme dictates the imagery of the poem, as for insta nce it dose in a parallel poem, John Crowe Ransom's Dead Boy. Instead, the centre of the poem consists of a number of images by no means in harmony with each other. Broadly, the images fall into two groups, 3~9
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the first group, those centring ro und the simple humility of the dead person: I know her scrubbed and sour humble hands Lie with religion in their cramp, her threadbare Whisper in a damp word, her wits drilled hollow, Her fist of a face clenched on a round pain: and those emphasising the immortal monument of her memory, following this passage: And sculptured Ann is seventy years of stone. These cloud-sopped, marble hands, this monumental Argument of the hewn voice, gesture and psalm, Storm me forever over her grave until The stuffed lung of the fox twitch and cry Love And the strutting f ern lay seeds on the black sill. These contradictory images are closely knit together, although they do not proceed out of a central idea. The poem is coherent because the relati on of the poet to his subject is a personal o ne. The method would not, for instance, be so effective or so emotive in a descriptive poem: its power in After the Funeral is symbolical. There arc other poems which contain no similar thread holding the structure together. Such a one is the admirable but strangely unsatisfying poem A Grief Ago. Although many would d isagree, the theme of the p oem does not emerge at al l for the normal reader. Perhaps it may for the psychologist. It is fuJI of tyrianthine phrases and striking pictures, but it fails as a poem because the images are both contradictory and disconnected. Yet in anothe1 poem, Where once the waters of your face, it succeeds perfectly, and the teeming pictures and towering la nguage have tremendous emotional appeal. In this way, the imaginative method Thomas adopted, while it is probably more effective with modern forms, can be bo th a disadvantage and a defect. The later poems, collected in book form in Deaths and Entrances (1946) show that Thomas' poetry, while losing none of its superb power, was becoming more personal in theme. It is as though, in poems like The Hunchback in the Park, Poem in October, or Fern Hill the poet is no longer preoccupied with his relationship with nature, love and death, but rather is concerned with tr ansmitting a bea utiful persona l experience. It is poetry used m ore as a means than an end, it is more objective a nd consequently more satisfying to the reader. Yet in this transition none of the poetic intensity is lost. His command of language is as satisfying in Poem in October as in any of the profoundly psychological earlier poems: Pale rain over the dwindling harbour And over the sea wet church the size of a snail With its horns through mist and the castle Brown as owls Yet this personal character is by no means commo n to all the poems of Deaths and Entrances. There are still grotesque, gusty word collections, such as the Ballad of the Long-Legged Bait, as macabre and compelling as the Rime of the Ancient Mariner or the brilliant, brittle poems like There was a Saviour with its religious theme and apocalyptic structure. The variety of the poems collected in this book makes one wonder bow the poet's talent would have developed had it not had so sad an end, ~40
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It seems superfluous, if we have enjoyed the poetry of Dylan Thomas, to make comparisons or point to influences, but the question is not without its interest fo r contemporary readers. Imitators invariably imitate the more superficial traits of the poet they follow, perhaps because they feel unable to emulate those things in which he has come ncar perfection. If this is so, Thomas will have few great poets following in his footsteps; but it is a matter of mere speculation. Thomas' poetic imagery abounds in biblical allusions. We find a mixture of Old Testament references, the figures of Noah, Adam, Jacob, references to biblical places, Ed om, Anan, Eden, and many others. These are used to enrich the normal imagery, a nd always to good effect. For example in the line: Oh, Jericho was falling in their lungs I or: I make a weapon of an ass's skeleton. It seems Ulllikely that Thomas ever read Freud, though his poetry may contain stro ng suggestions of this. Thomas' intensely personal view of life, and his tendency (already mentioned) to speak of the world as he saw it in himself, acco unt for the sensual metaphors, the interpretation of life with birth in metaphor, and the a pplication of emotional words to ordinary things or occurrences as in the phrase "a grief ago" or "blind days" or again "hunch-backed in mockery".
The most striking quality in his prose and poetry is his command of words. This needs qualification: it is not a vast vocabulary such as displayed by T . S. Eliot; it is full if simple words, but these words are exploited to the full, for their emotional significance and for their sound . So the word coinages are seldom incomprehensible: throughout his poetry we find made-up words like 'altarwise' , 'blowcock', ' natron', 'fingerman', 'caesared'; compound words : 'fair-formed', ' the dry-as-paste', 'grave-groping', 'insectfaced' ; and queer, twisted, but very striking phrases; 'parliament of sky', or 'breakneck of rocks'. More cloaked is the poet's trick of changing a cliche into a poetic halfmetaphor: 'minstrel angle' for 'ministering angel', or 'jaw for news' instead of 'nose for news'. All these linguistic tricks (which never pall as in the work of imitato rs) combine to produce a poetry that can be feverish, almost hysterical, or refined, yet with a colourful, cold vigour, never over-fastidious or patronizing, always rewarding a nd worthy of close study. Any attempt a t the criticism or appraisal of poetry must run the risk of mis understanding, truncating, or distorting the subject, for that is in the nature of a ny subjective judgement. It is a risk that I have taken, in the hope of transmitting a series of experiences to others. It may seem to many that this strange poet wrote in a n unnecessarily d1unken, introverted, and even shocking way. After disillusioned poets with thei1 preoccupation with culture and their fea r for its decay, after 'common-sense' poets writing of pylons a nd factory chimneys, afte1 Marxist poets and socialist poets, to read Dylan Thomas is to drink at a mountain spring. Not only have we lost an exacting craftsman, a pure poet, and a lively personality, we have also lost a pioneer in poetic technique, one who might have done much to restore sanity to our poetry in an age where artistic values are confused, traditions shallow, and large sections of the reading public baffied by variety and contradiction. 341
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INTERTEXTA VERBA
ARGUMENTA TRANS
DE
l. Praeclarus poeta qui pontem defendit. (8) 8. Unum ex septem leliferis peccatis. (3) 9. 'Tu quoque' ut dixit Caesar. (2, 2) 10. Qui occidere 16 trans. conatus est. (8) 12. Procedis, aut ille? (2) 13. Sonitus (ace.). (5) 15. Ita imperant Lachesis et Atropos sorori suae, cum non fungitur officio? (2) 16. 0 fortunatam natam illo consule Romam! (6) 20. "Tu Marcellus - -" (Vergilius). (4) 21. Allior aer. (6)
l. Sic imperatur sepullis cadaveribus? (3, 4) 2. Littora, precaris. (4) 3 and 11. Linter mutatae artis. (5) 4. Letum ab hoc fit, et a leto mutatur. (4) 5. Intrat. (2, 2) 6. Haec verba, non 15 trans., scribenda sunt cum de consecutis dicis. (2, 3). 7. Muta aes, reus. (7) 11. Si revertitur, habebis. (2) 14. Et procede e pugna. (4) 17. In rati rapida apparet. (3) 18. Nisi esuriens hoc facit, gulosus est. (3) 19. In eo per Jaborem invenies. (3)
NOTES l.
All the words which compose the answers should be well known to anyone nearly up to "0" Level standard: all but two are in Kennedy's grammar.
2. As in English cross-words, the clues are of various sorts: sometimes straightforward, sometimes anagrammatical, sometimes hidden, and sometimes simple synonyms. 3. The figures in brackets refer to the number of letters in the answer: thus in 9 trans. the answer is in two words of two letters each. J .B.W. 342
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DREAM Night has answered night With sepulchre stones Pounding the silver chords That lead from glowing heat To pools of bleak oblivion. Gargoyle men pra nce nakedly About the Autumn-vested trees Tossing like rich monsoons About my hair and stealing The rose-infected breeze. Merged in that air, night shut By some dark damson-lust Straining the sap of web-worn fears I sprang from star to star Piercing the morning sky with blood. My dream will come, two-masked And blowing trumpet-rain Before his wind and unfleeced hair. He is the sap of summer and the oil Flows richly in his August heat. Each member of his body Works li ke little Ant-men Shouldering loads of vermin Feathers to a lost abode, Racking my side Like apples living In ferment on the Barn. Funeral speaks Sun-studded Flower and budded Like a rose In Lethe's summer flow. Pressing on the pillow Stigma colours cross the air. The snake has fanged survival And the snake-dove flows her kisses Through the doors of dreams And candle-love. Figures through the day have brushed Polluted noon and basking time Until they clash, and then a meaning Will evolve, some meaning I alone should know. But for the present, let it die, It troubles lifted hands and raises Eyes to stare and look on high. M.J.R. H3
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FALSE TEETH I had just entered the club when I ran into old Abercrombie who'd just got back from Scotland after his annual trip with Lord Foxhound's shooting party. He told me that he had been up to the shores of Loch Claggan this time, with his wife, and had had a good time on the whole, although the grouse seemed to have been holidaying elsewhere. But I soon saw that he didn't want to talk about his excursion very much, and, looking at him more closely, I thought him a bit under the weather. I asked him if anything was the matter. He shook his head at firs t, then changed his mind, nodded, and drew me into the corner of the club where Norris, who suffers from insomnia and can ta lk of nothing but Golf and Deep Freezes usually sits. We sat down and he said in a low voice, " I say, you don't believe in ghosts, do you?" ' " Good Heavens, no !" I said. "Neither did I till a few days ago," he replied. " Not spooks in the a ttic?" I ventured . "No," he said, "Teeth!" It appeared that they'd gone up to Loch Claggan and stayed with a married couple who were co nnected with the (hft Hydro-electric scheme in the next glen. They had a cottage about a mile from the shore of the Loch and it was really very comfortable, all things considered. Well, as the grouse seemed not to favour the area, the party, who were either in the Hotel or boarded out with the villagers in C laggan, used to move down the Loch to l vertulloch where there was better shooting. Abercrombie didn't always go with them, because his wife isn't at a ll keen on shooting a nd wanted to stay at home, and he didn't like to spoil her holiday by going away the whole time. H e used to potter about the loch a bit and walk in the woods above. Now Loch Claggan has had the reputation of rivalling Loch Ness with a monster that's every bit as good ; though I ought to have said that it did so because when the Hydro-Electric people drained part of the Loch last year they found a perfectly wonderful skeleton. It was quite thirty feet long in all, and the colour of its bones was a luminous green. The sllape of its head was odd too, and it had a set of most unpleasant-looking fangs. I f you want to see it for yourself, you will fi nd it in the Marine Section of the Prehistoric Fauna and Flora Museum in Baker Street any time except Thursday afternoons. Well Abercrombie thought he'd li ke to have a look at the place where this submarine animal was found, so one morning he set off up the Loch to look. It's quite some way up, for the Loch is six miles in length in all, and he walked for an hour without seeing a soul. I know that Abercrombie's always been one for company and he didn't like the loneliness of the place. The black woods towered above him like eagles waiting to pounce, and the sky was livid too. H e had walked with a growing sense of uneasiness for an hour, when he beheld in the far d istance one of the local fishermen standing by the shore looking out over the Loch. Relieved to see a fellow human being, he went up to him and asked him if that was the spot where the monster's shell had been found. "Aye," said the Man. A nd that was all he said. Abercrombie looked a t h im in sur prise because there seemed to be something off-hand in his manner and he had found most of the local people very fr iendly. This fellow seemed quite ordinary except that his eyes were watering and that he seemed very pale. Abercrombie decided to be pleasant. "I suppose you were here when the thing was dragged out?" he enquired. "Aye, 1 was," said the man. Abercrombie heard h im quite dis tinctly, but his lips hardly seemed to move. " Er ... A very interesting animal," Abercrombie continued hesitantly. "I saw photographs in the papers." " Its body was large, aye; but its teeth, they were a rare sight. " The look on the man's face had not changed. "Oh," said Abercrombie, "I should have Liked to see one .... " The man put his hand into his pocket and without a word produced a long pointed tooth which he handed to Abercrombie. It was several inches long and jagged all round and appeared to be of a pale green hue, very distinctive. Abercrombie was interested and asked if he might show it to his wife whose fa ther was a keen student of aquatic life. The man replied, "Keep it. I'll be collecting it. Mac 'name's Willie Tulloch." He extended a cold and clammy hand towards A bercrombie, who felt the disagreeable sensation of it in his palm all the way back to the village. 344
THF. CA NTUAlUA N The party was due to leave four days later. As by the third day Willie Tulloch had made no effort to collect his property, Abercrombie went down to the Post Office, which is the only kind of shop for miles around, and enquired after Willie Tulloch. The girl behind the counter sa id that she'd fetch her mother. " What'll ye be wanting Willie Tulloch for?" that good woman asked. " Ye'll no find him here, he's been gone now nigh twelve months." " Oh!" said Abercrombie, somewhat surprised. " He gave me to understand two days ago that he was living here." "Ye'll no find him here or anywhere at the moment; he died last year, drowned in the Loch, soon after they pulled that monster out." And the woman bustled back to her tea. Abercrombie was more than startled; but his astonishment changed to fea r when he learned that there were no other Tullochs nearby, and that there were only MacTullochs in the glen anyway. His description of the man he'd talked to fitted with that of the dead man. H e asked other locals in the village too, and he came to the conclusion that his experience had been unreal and that he had seen a ghost. And yet , when he put his hand in his pocket, he found the tooth still there, and that was real enough. He stared at it worried a nd concerned. It was certainly a n evil-looking thing, and Abercrombie had never seen one like it. They set ofT down to London by the night train. Abercrombie was so worried that he did not sleep a wink, and he assured me that he had always slept well on trains before, because of the rhythmic rumble of the wheels. On this occasion the wheels only tormented his nerves. When they got to London, he was feeling quite ill; but he determined to settle the matter, and in the afternoon he took the bus for .Baker Street and the Museum. He found the object of his search in a dark corner in the basement of the museum. It certai nly looked very odd in the faint light. There was a luminous qua lity about it which made it shine out quite brightly in the gloom. He looked at the teeth of the animal and they seemed unmistaka bly the same as the one he had got. He had just finished his inspection when he saw, rcnected in the glass that surrounded the specimen, a familiar face. It was Willie Tulloch and his damp and sallow countenance wore a faint and twisted grin. Abercrombie spun round, but there was no one there. For reassurance that it had been only a trick of the light or his imagination, he put his hand into his pocket and felt for the tooth ; but it had disappeared. C.R.S.
JOKE OVER The wheel is cracked in the courtyard, Like the frozen heart of the well; Turned the spit, torn the veil, The go blet is dead on the stone. Here kisses and wine went dancing Down the stairway into the light, With twirl of silks round the table To the drums that throb in the night. And down came the mist from the rafters While the centuries burned in the grate, 0 the Peacocks were fine in their feathers As we snapped sweaty fingers at Fate. The lute is silent in the hall, A beard has grown on the page-boy ; The moat is dry, the Sphinx slit, And the Phoenix merely ashes. BBNJE
345
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FLEMISH PICTURES The Royal Academy Exhibition of Flemish art from 1300 to 1700 on view at Burlington H ouse this winter may well have prompted the question: "What common features are there in this school? Can we reconcile Gerard David and Rubens, Breughel and Van Dyck and see in them a distinct 'Flemish' style? H ow were the earliest traditions followed by the later masters?". Although common feat ures exist throughout this period the apparent disparity which exists between the primitives and the later schools was caused by the advent of the Renaissance. While in Italy the effl orescence of art was simultaneous with and an integral part of the Renaissance, in Flanders and Germany the Renaissance influence at first took no effective hold. The early, almost Gothic styles of Memling and Bouts, with their stiff little figures and delight in the smallest a nd most irrelevant details are in complete contrast to the intoxicating delight of the Florentines and Venetians in the new powers they were discovering in themselves. Rubens, who soaked himself in Italy, its colour, sunshine and art, was a dynamic contrast to all that had gone before. Van Dyck and Brouwer, following him, are far more akin in feeling to this warmer style. All F lemish painters, however, have delighted in visual truth ; they have painted what they have seen. This curiosity is to be seen in all the great artists of Flanders f rom the Eycks to Teniers; their art is down to earth, unmystical, unspiritual. The Flem ings delighted in the world of their own homes and only wished to see it reflected in the canvasses of their artists; there is no searching for "pure science" or "pure aesthetics" as in Italy. All possessed perfect technique (their pictures a re as fresh as when first painted) and a masterly control of their medium; their craftsmanship, minute detail, richness of colour astonished contemporary Italy however much the latter disagreed with the northern styles. It was an indigenous art concerned with what could be seen with the eyes. Hubert van Eyck's skill and love of detail could be seen in the first picture of the exhibition-a tiny St. George and the Dragon, five inches by four, containing astonishing detail and yet complete harmony- a distant and inspired descendant of the illuminated manuscript. Dirk Bouts, Hans Memling, Gerard David, with their simple piety and faith, record everything they see with scrupulous fidelity. Breughel is fascinated with real life; with gusto and no attempt at sophistification he paints the life of the peasants with all its hardships and vulgarities. Van D yck loved the dresses of his sitters as much as their faces; Rubens at his most superficial still attracts us by his delight in handling the brush a nd representing objects as a pleasure to the eye. The art of Flanders is never far from the earth ; Rubens' figures may be wafted in cloud, but they are still flesh and blood Flemings. Flemish art is not as bourgeois as Dutch. It is more violent in its subject matter, more German in temperament. "Hell" Breughel or Joachim Patinir, with their scenes of Hell and the D ay of Judgement, have no counterpart in Dutch painting which reflects a settled and prosperous world where civilization has advanced to a state of comfort and security. The people who defeated the Spaniards are seen in the full prosperity of their triumph. Flemish art in its early stages reveals a harder and more brutal world; some of its more fearful scenes remind one of the Germans Bosch and Grunewald. 346
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The Flemish school sprang from the Gothic manuscript tradition. In these minute pictures immense skill, literal imitation of details which never fuse coherently make contemplative vision impossible. Decorative symbolism in miniature painting needed a totally different technique from that of the sweeping Italian frescoes where unity of form and co-ordination of Jines and masses is essential. These miraculously painted sheets with their irrelevantly rich colours were to the birth of Flemish art what large church frescoes and mosaics were to Italian painting. Hubert Van Eyck was the first to fuse his whole picture into one emotional key; there is much detail, but none psychologically out of place; the picture is never distorted for detail's sake. His landscapes are never mere backcloths but an integral part of the design. His more prosaic but equally gifted brother Jan was represented at the exhibition by a copy of a large Madonna with saints and two portraits-of a monk and of his sister Margaret. These superbly realistic pictures are nevertheless still lacking in an advanced grasp of volume a nd space. Jan died in 1441; it was nearly a century before Italian influence took a firm hold on Flanders. More fully represented at the exhibition were Memling and Mabuse. Memling, active in the second half of the fifteenth century, was a German who completely associated himself with the Flemish school. His work owes its inspiration to Rogier van der Weyden and Dirk Bouts (also well represented), the heirs of the Eycks. His gentle and intimate style and warm sense of colour could be especially enjoyed in the Floreins Altarpiece, one of the loveliest of early Flemish pictures. It is interesting to contrast his style with that of Mabuse, a generation later. Memling reHed on the native Flemish style contemporary with but not influenced by the Italian Renaissance: still rather Gothic, still devout but a little stiff in its execution, with plenty of colour but the cold, clear colour of the Primitives. Mobuse, like Rubens and Van Dyck, journeyed in the train of a wealthy nobleman to Italy, the Mecca of the cultured. His visit in 1508 with Philip of Burgundy was typical of the benefits to be gained from enlightened patronage in those days of hard living and harder travel. Mabuse duly returned to Flanders as the leading "Italianate". His pictures show a much greater realism, more sense of drama, warmer colours. Here are real flesh and blood figures. It is hard to believe that the panel portraits of a "Donor and his Wife" represent people dead four hundred years. They are solid burghers and the pictures live with their personality. His "Edam and Eve" is a canvas of more Italian size-five feet high; it contains two large and magnificently luminious bodies. That they are nude, that they are solid and treading heavily on solid ground yet at the same time relaxed and natural, that their figures are almost impeccably drawn reveals the extent of Italian influence. In Mabuse's picture of "St. Luke Painting the Virgin", the latter appears in a yellow cloud-a dramatic effect that no earlier Flemish painter with his matter of fact vision would have produced. The exhibition paid welcome attention to Gerard David (1460-1523), a Dutchman whose work, like Vermeer's, was completely forgotten until the 1860's. He was influenced by Eyck, Weyden and Memling, after whose death he headed the Flemish school. Gentle piety and faith inspire his canvasses; his restful scenes are enlivened by a love of detailjewellery, cloth, hair, the pebbles and grasses on the ground or the fading sun shining through the leaves of a wood. His love of natural scenery for its own sake gives his canvasses a distinctive beauty. ~47
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The bad taste and vulgar over-decoration that was bound to follow the introduction of Italian styles left no maxk on Pieter Breughel, the great master of the sixteenth century. Although he visi ted Italy when he was twenty-seven, he was never seduced into slick imitation. His "Fall of Icarus" may have been inspired by views of the Mediterranean, but the foreground peasant with his plough, and indeed the whole feeling of the picture is Flemish. It has been suggested that his rollicking and satirical view of peasant life reveals an illustrator rather than an artist; a man with moral and psychological, but not visual, interpretations. Those who saw " The Bird T1ap" landscape, with its hushed world wrapped in the mists of winter, or the "Peasants Wedding", where the villagers stroll across a meadow to the church in the wood, o r even the blazing sunshine in the "Fall of Icarus", cannot doubt that Breughel was a poet and a supreme artist besides the owner of a great satirical gift. His shrewd view of life and awareness of hardships and cruelties is well in evidence in another of his large canvasses in the exhibition, a copy of the "Massacre of the Innocents" entitled "The Sack of a Village". It was Rubens who pomed the sunshine of the South into Flanders. Volumes a nd their relations in a pictme could no longer be ignored, flat contours and their silhouettes had to be transformed in the face of a new sense of plasticity. This awareness of volume is the great contribution of Rubens to northern art. A Baroque exuberance filled the new studios of Flanders; vast canvasses of swirling peasants a nd vomiting cornucopiae were turned out by Rubens, Jordaens, Brouwer and their pupils. To Rubens light was the unifying scheme in a painting and local colour could be expressed by the slightest variations in tint. Movement and ¡life vibrates in all his pictures, and if we cannot help feeling it is often overdone and seldom goes deep we can still admire the freshness and spontaneity and astonishing facility of technique. The giant figure of Rubens inspired painters all over Northern Europe ; not the least of these was Van Dyck. There were at the exhibition over ninety of this artist's canvasses, mostly from the period of his most mature style when he was staying in England. There were several earlier ones; amongst others: "St. Martin Dividing his Cloak" (for years this was thought to be a Rubens), and "Christ Taken in the Garden", the latter a splendid and moving picture. The best, however, were the portraits : the striking" Abbe of Stapherde", "Thomas Killigtew and Thomas Carew", o ne of his finest double portraits, and "Lords John and Bernard Stuart", a superb painting of two r ather overbeatingly aristocratic you ths. In this and in the many portraits of the ladies at the English coutt VanDyck shows a fascination for beautiful clothes-the same love of visual beauty that inspired all Flemish art. 1n, for instance, the full length of Lady Spencer, the face is the focal point, yet it is part of a pattern to which the great golden dress, the background sky, the architectu ral stonework, the vegetation and the curtain hangings contribute. These paintings are not portraits in Rembrandt's sense of the word, they are patterns of splendour. As Roger Fry said, they are "the last perfection of furniture fot the drawing rooms of the great". These are the grea t masters of Flemish art who imposed their personalities on succeeding generations. There is no room for discussion of other wayside attractions : the sparkling little Madonnas of Dirk Bouts, the dignified and Holbein-like portraits by Joos a nd Cornelis van Cleve, the stilllifes of Cluytens a nd Verendael, or the almost Dutch peasant scenes painted by David Teniers. Eyck, Memling, Mabuse, Breughel, Rubens, Dyck form a school which has common the most attractive characteristic of being in love with life and devoted to the business of representing it upon canvas. . R.A .D . 34~
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AUTUMN PARTING Now fade the leaves from May-time's virile green To reds and golds, and deck the wind-wet earth With her a utumna l carpet: the sadness of the year Sighs in the wind tha t mocks the summer scene. Yet even in this death see thou a birth; Let hope carouse, not memory breed fear. So draws the autumn of our parting nigh, To break the halcyon summer of my love And print another line in history. For jealous gods have seen from up above That hair whose scent is spice from Samarkand, That skin as freshly clear as morning dew, Those eyes that drown me deep in love's command, Those lips li ke those that Helen's lovers knew. But yet, be never absent from my mind, For Time that's cruel must, in a time, be kind. SWITHUN
PLUS CA CHANGE I thought I saw the Mighty Four Decide that Peace Should Reign. I looked again and saw it was T he Same Old Thing again: "You threaten us; so we won't budge"; So runs the old refrain. l thought I saw a President Begin to put things right. I looked again and saw with grief That he remained polite. The Senator was unabashed; It was a sorry sight. I thought I saw an army clique Remove its handsome chief. I looked again and saw him back To everyone's relief. "We had the right idea", they said, "Had we not come to grief". R .B. 349
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MODERN PHILOSOPHY By "modern philosophy" I do not refer to the exotic and esoteric works of men like Kierkegaard, Sartre, or Jacques Maritain. They illuminate more by their powers of imagination than their powers of reason: their force and persuasiveness are poetic and emotional rather than rational: a nd though their psychology is worth studying, their logic is not. "Philosophers" in my sense are not mystics, theologians, or moralists; and they do not catch glimpses of ineffable truth and goodness in the same way as ordinary men catch glimpses of tables and chairs. They are simply people whose job it is to think rationally about what other people say. Most people are not particularly interested in thinking rationally at all. They are too occupied with their beliefs, emotions, prejudices, desires, and other feelings like " intuition" a nd "conscience". These may interest the psychologist, but not the philosopher. The philosopher is only interested in ra tional knowledge. If one is to understand any philosophy at all, it is imperative to stop attending to one's own feelings and beliefs, and to begin attending to reaso ns. In my experience there are not many people who are prepared to do tlus for very long: though there are plenty of people who are only too willing to give you their own views, or express their own feelings, on any subject under the sun- particularly on questions of morals. That is why there are very few philosophers, but plenty of moralists. Socrates always tried to make people realise that they knew less than they thought they did, even about the things they were most sure of. No wonder he was killed. But if we follow his advice, and allow ourselves to doubt and to question, we can begin to examine what people say and trunk with some hope of being objective instead of prejudiced. We hear people say things like "Human beings have free will", "Might is right", "The survival of the fittest", "What is truth?"," God is on the side of the big battalions", a nd so on. Now if we have really followed Socrates' advice, we shall not try to deny, affirm, or a nswer what they say immediately. We shall first try to find what they mean. Many words have different meanings: and some have hardly any meaning at all, but are used like slogans or ba ttle-cries, to express emotion or disapproval. Next we shall try to find out what combinations of words, or sta tements, mean, which is rather more difficult. After that we can discover what sorts of reasons or evidence could possibly be used to support the statements, or "verify" them, as philosophers say: what the criteria for their truth or falsehood might be. Until we have done this, there is not much point in affirming or denying them. If you do not know the mea1ling or the verification of a statement, you would be a fool to agree or disagree with it, because you would not know what you were agreeing or disagreeing with, or why. These are the tasks of a philosopher: indeed, of anyone who prefers to reason instead of just expressing beliefs. They are not easy tasks, because language is more deceptive than it appears. Philosophers do not need to be very intelligent or wise: but they do need to be completely unprejudiced, a nd very calm. We can see now that when philosophers consider questions like "What is democracy?" or "What is justice?" they are not trying to debunk the British notion of democracy or the Platonic notion of justice, nor to recommend them. Philosophers do not recommend or warn as politicians do: and they do not presume to guide the young or to rebuke the old, except by pointing out confusions and misunderstandings in arguments. They only 350
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try to clarify. Jf you ask the question : "What is mass?", a Roman Catholic might tell you that it was a church service, a scientist that it was a property of bodies, a nd a Layman that it was simply a large amo unt of anything. There wo uld be no point in asking "What is mass really?". Many words, like "mass", do not have "real", single meanings: they have many meanings, or many uses. "Justice" and "democracy" are words of this kind. A Russia n, an American and an Englishman would all give different answers to the question: "What is democracy?", none of which would be more "right" than the other. We must ask the right sort of questions if we want useful answers. A question like "Is it good for a country to have more than one political party?", though still rather vague, is at least sensible and fairly intelligible. T he question "What is democracy really?" is neither. Just because we may decide that words like "justice", "honour", "patriotism" and so on do not refer to things or entities, but are used to describe certain conduct which some people think valuable, we need not think that our moral edifice is tottering. On the contrary, the invention of mythical entities seems to me a subtle and insidious form of idolatry. The organised wickedness and vice accomplished in the name of such mythical entities as "justice", " patriotism", and even "honour" shows that we are misled by words in our actions as well as our thoughts. Such inven tions do nothing to assist argument. It is foolish to argue with a Pharisee that an eye for an eye is not "really justice". or wi th a Jingoist that aggressive wars are not "really patriotism". You wi ll not convince tbem that way. You can only try to show these metaphysical fanatics that such actions lead to a state of affairs of which they, as well as yo u, would disapprove, once the results of their work had become clear. lf, for instance, I a m arguing with another Christian, a bout whether some action is good or bad, then we can try to see whether the action leads to the sort of life which we both think best, the sort of life we think God wan ts for us. It is true that, when we think we know which actions are good, we like to classify them under different headings-"just", "honourable", and so on . But this is of no help when we are trying to determine whether an action is good or not; and in any case, our classifications may be wrong. Unless at least this much "modern philosophy" be accepted, 1 do not see how our discussions of morals and politics can be rational or useful, except per accidens. We shall simply be sho\Jting our prejudices at each other, like Russian politicians on the radi o: even though we may do it with traditional British decorum. The influence of modern philosophy is likely to be as great and as lasting as that of the scientific movement which was star ted (or carried on) by Charles Darwin. As a Christian, I should be very sorry to see Cluistian authorities failing to understand the former as, at first, they fa iled to understand the latter. For failure to understand means failure to integrate new knowledge within the body of Christianity. For years we have lived with the false distinction between "believers in Christianity" and "believers in science", because each party regarded the other as an enemy. Let us not make the same mistake twice. To refuse to " give reason for the faith which is in us" is not, to my mind, an attitude worthy of any Christian! But nobody, Christian or otherwise, can deny the importance of truth. Philosophy is primarily a study of the techniques necessary to arrive at the truth: and if we rea lly value the truth, we must place a corresponding value on the techniques. J.B.W.
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AVREA DOMVS As the day of the decisive meeting approached, tension mounted high; and the anxiety of the Councill ors was further increased by an eclipse of the moon, which occurred on the very night before the meeting; and in that state of nervousness they became victims to nightmares which plagued them, afflicting them with subconscious doubts, and playing on their superstitions. Thus, when the Princeps heard of their sleeplessness, and perceived their anxiety, he was able the more easily to harangue them. "How long will you resist the inward promptings of your souls? How long will yo u allow your consciences to be burdened by doubt a nd hesitation? Your dreams and the portents last night can only mean one thing, that th is marvellous work must be undertaken . .By carrying through this project yo u will be remembered for ever as the blessed benefactors of the Roman people; by condemning it as impracticable you will risk the whole fut ure of Rome. Can 1 not persuade yo u? Surely yo u are men of judgement, surely you can discern between unfounded optimism, and the real hope of glorious possibili ty? As generals in war yo u took advantage of every opportunity, in peace as business-men yo u have always exercised the greatest initiative, as literary and academic fi gures you have never hesita ted to express yo ur true intentio ns: will you now, under the name of Councillors, dash the hopes of your citizens who have put their trust in yo u?" Then, praising their caution and commending their discretion in that momentous decision, he yet exhorted them, with all the power and eloquence he could command, not to forget their motto, not to be unworthy of their forefathers, not to depdve Rome of her most illustrious achievement. Finally, the applause of the Councillors, who were even before anxious to increase the renown of their city in every possi ble way, showed their belief that both sound judgement a nd inspired enthusiasm could be united in the same un dertaking. So the Ha ll of Gold was to be built, a hall worthy to contain the Senate, wo rthy of the Capitol, worthy of R ome. T he Princeps' good tidings on his return, giving no indication of the recent stress of debate, at once sent the mob into ecstasies. Not realising in their joy that it was they who would have to pay for this great undertaking, they behaved as if the Hall were already built, giving full rein to their eager a nd yo uthful imaginations. Nor did they allow the rea l meas urements of the building to curb their impetuous dreams: some thought that every aspect of society would be provided with a room reserved for itself, others that there would be a stage having every new contrivance for assisting actors: make-up rooms, special lighti ng, a revolving stage, such were the things they envisaged. But just as each individual considered only what he himself desired the princeps considered the needs of the whole community : the most distinguished architects a nd engineers had been commissioned for the planning and building; a nd the Princeps himself was never afraid to g uide the architects by his own experience and tastes. The edifice was to be two hundred feet long and a hundred feet wide : stretching right across the Imperial Court, it would dominate that part of the Capitol. Simple in design, and by so much the more impressive, it was to be ninety feet high. It is in complete harmony with the a ncient buildings surro unding it, having its massive walls faced with the same stones that were once used to build the now ru ined temple of Jupiter, and a tiled roof of the greatest.austerity. To contrast with this exterior, no ble by its simplicity, the princeps has lavished all his extravagant tastefulness on the decoratio n of the inside. Surely a prince would envy the sight which the R oman citizen looks on as he enters by 352
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the del icately-carved door at the western end. The door itself is of the finest walnut, presented by Rome's daughter foundation in the farthest South. Passing through a well-proportioned vestibule (the archway is inscribed with the names of those who shared in the creation of the building, and were the authors of its magnificence), you would be stupefied by the gra ndeur of the place. At the far end is the stage, decorated with velvet curtains, and visible from every one of the thousand seats: great windows on either side allow at the same time the light of the sun to reveal the spaciousness of the hall, and those inside to view the beauty of the Emperor's palace. In summer the air is cooled by hidden fans, in winter pipes beneath the floor make the very paving stones warm. The walls are adorned with the crests of those who have brought the greatest honour to the Roman people by their individual distinctions, while the brilliant lights which illuminate the place at ni ght are hung from the gilded ceiling. But yet one thing remained, one th ing without which nothing co uld be done, o ne thing which has been the stumbling block for men and nati ons and in every age: the money. The Princeps by the most passiona te appeal had wrung a tenth of the sum he needed. On all sides a malignant govern ment taxed the citizen's income, his purchases, his very pleas ures of drinking and smoking. Nevertheless the Princeps knew ways by wh ich such difficulties could be surm o unted. SUTICAT
TIR NAN OG I hear the far calling of my loved land Low-sounding in the red-riven spaces of sunset, Soft-murmured through raindrops that the home wind drives Sibilant-spraying fr om the rock-rack Western surge : Sudden heart-twist turf-smoke smeliOh, the white of cabin walls by far green hills! Longing memory of Tara of the K ings, Widespread richness of Meath pastures To the purple distance, mountain-WestEmerald to Connemara purple, a nd the curlew sings By Tara of the Kings .... The South-West wind brings-sweet-fleece flockClouds, soft nurses of the hill-grass-greenThey come, they come to me, longing .... But no . . .. And the grass-sweet summer dusk falls silently On larks' wings, to Tara of the Kings .... R.G.S.A.
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JAZZ It would be difficult today to find a word so utterly misused a nd misinterpreted as Jazz, for surely never in the history of music have so many misconceptions prevailed about one word. The initial roots of Jazz spring from Africa n negro melody and rhythm which was essentiaUy functiona l music ; yet it is futile to attempt to compare even traditional jazz as we know it today with these a ncient rhythms and melodies. With the coming of the slave trade, thousands of these unfo rtunate African negroes were transported across the fa mo us ' black passage' to the West Indian Colonies a nd the Southern States of America. H ere, under the inhuman conditions of slavery, their music thrived, for it was their only means of expression. It was still very functional, for many of the plantation songs were warnings or means of communication between the negroes whilst they were working. Others were archaic blues influenced by the English Ballad idiom and expressing sorrows and griefs.
With the slackening of the slave trade, foreign instrumental influences crept into the music, mainly because the negroes were at last a ble to get hold of a few battered instruments. These came from brass bands a nd the foreign idiom was that of brass band march music, the basic themes of which the negroes would learn by ear-a practice at which they had a mazing abilities-and would then perform remarkable variations on these themes, usually by basically syncopating them. The essentia l purpose of these negro ba nds was to provide the music for negro funeral processions in the negro quarters of New Orlea ns. The march tunes would be played in solemn manner whilst the body was carried to the burial place. The body being lowered into the ground was the sign for the festivities to begin, and the bands would stri ke up with heart-ra ising syncopated variations on the march themes, setting off down the streets accompan ied by ' processions' of negroes. These burial ceremonies were the birth of classic jazz as we know it today. The human voice, though no longer the onl}' instrument of the negroes, nevertheless played an important part in the developmen t of jazz. The archaic blues became influenced by the English Hymn idiom and then came the evolution of the negro spirituals. This branch of development merged just befote the beginning of the twentieth century with the instrumental syncopated march rhythms becoming a n important factor in the formation of classic jazz. The great period of the classic jazz of New Orlea ns lasted until the end of the First World War. A contemporary branch which similarly flourished until round about the beginning of the First World War was the Piano Ragtime Jazz under such great individualists as Turpin, Cha uvin a nd Joplin. The influence of this Piano Ragtime Jazz clearly emerges nearly eight years later in the fo rm of Jelly Roll Morton's piano rags. The New Orleans Classic Jazz thrived in the no torious Stonyville district of that fa mous city. This was a district off the French Quarter where, it was said, organized prostitution had never been conducted in such a 'grandioso' ma nner nor at such a sordid level. Many negro jazzbands were employed in the brothels and night clubs of this district and, when a more morally conscious council cleared it up, the majority of these bandsmen were put out of work.
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With the exodus from New Orleans these musicians turned to the River Boats which played up and d~wn the Mississippi. Bands were en~ployed on t_he boats ~hemselv~, whilst the influence of Jazz extended Northwards up the n ver, becommg establtshed particularly at St. Louis and finally at Chicago, where bands were introduced in the night clubs. Similarly a contemporary development took place amongst the pianists who likewise moved North. From the St. Louis and Chicago pianists sprang 'boogie woogie' whilst 'Fats' Waller, one of the great individualists in Jazz, carried the influence of the Chicago pianists on into the Renaissance of nineteen-forty. On the other side of the picture, it was two other great individualists who carried jazz through that difficult period when swing with 'Tin Pan Alley' was becoming so popular. These two were Louis Armstrong and Sydney Becket, household words in jazz today. It was through external influences that so many other types of jazz emerged indirectly from the New Orleans classic period. Jazz was influenced by European orthodoxy in arrangement and technique and, above all, the influence of American commercial exploitation. Though we get ma ny swing bands from nineteen twenty-five onwards which do not play pure jazz, as soon as we introduce written music, orthodox arrangement and large bands, jazz loses its essential feat ures, its element of surprise and above all its pure expression. If we are to define music as, amongst other things, an expression of emotions, then our staunch classica l musicians should think first before despising jazz, as so many of them do. Yo u have got to accept the fact that nobody knows exactly what was in the mind of a composer when he wrote his music down on paper; we all have various ideas, hence we have various interpretations. In jazz, however, the music comes absolutely straight from the musician's heart and is surely the p urest form of expression of emotion one can find in music. Jazz is therefore not superficial as most of the more narrow-minded music lovers maintain. It is like classical music-call it high-brow if you like-in that it a lso expresses emotion-even perhaps more purely; and is much more than mere rhythm and a few screeching trumpets. C.J.T.F.
A GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TEST I. (a) (b) (c)
(d) (e)
(f)
(g) (h)
(i) (j)
SECTION A Who was the daring pilot who was pleased with the danger when the waves went high? Whose library was dukedom large enough? Who saw Eternity the other night? Who was willi ng to wound and yet afraid to strike? Who hath tilled his lands with a spade? Who was seen glittering like a morning star just above the horizon? Who are these coming to the sacrifice? Who was the doctor whose practice was never very absorbing? Who was a literary man- with a wooden leg? Who sat amidst the ruins of the Capitol on October 15th, 1764? 355
THE CA NTUARIA N (k) Who loved to talk with mariners that came from a far countree?
(/)
Who was sneered at for leaning all awry?
(m) Who bought poison to quell his rats? (n) Who was total gules from head to foot?
(o) Who decided to wear the bottoms of his trousers rolled?
2. Where do we find the following characters? (a) Thwackum. (b) Holofernes. (c) The Reverend St. John Rivers. (d) Sergeant Cuff. (e) Usumcasane. (f) Friday. (g) Sunday. (h) Plantagenet Palliser. (i) Mrs. Poyser. (j) Don Guzman . (k) Jasper Petulengro. (/) Dr. Strong. (m) Commodore Hawser Trunnion. (n) Herman Dousterswivel. (o) Harry Bailey. 3. Who do you think would say? (a) They spell it Vinci and pronounce it Vinchy ; foreigners a lways spell better than
they pronounce. (b) I couldn't help it. I can resist everything except temptation.
(c) Boston's a hole, the herring-pond is wide, V-notes are something, liberty still more. Beside, is he the on ly fool in the world? (d) Angling may be said to be so like the mathematics that it can never be fully learnt. (c) For the great Gaels of Ireland Are the men that God made mad, For all their wars are merry, And all their songs are sad. (f) He spoke with a certain what-is-it in his voice, and I could see that, if not actually disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled. (g) Sir, I perceive that you are a vile Whig. (h) Defer not charities till dea th ; for certainly, if a ma n weigh it rightly, he that doth so is rather liberal of another man's than of his own. (i) For me, one flowery Maytime, It went so ill that I Designed to die. (j) "I can repeat poetry as well as other folk if it comes to that-" "Oh, it needn't come to that!" she said hastily. 356
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(k) But cared greatly to serve God and the King,
and keep the Nelson touch. ' Orses and dorgs is some men's fancy. They're wittles and drink to me- lodging wife, and children- reading, writing and 'rithmetic- snuff, tobacker, and sleep. (m) Behold the child, by nature's kindly law Pleased with a rattle, tickled with a straw. (n) To burn always with this hard, gemlike flame, to maintain this ecstacy, is success in life. (o) Transcendental moonshine! (/)
SECTION B 4. Explain what is meant by each of the following:(a) true blue- the blues- the Blues- a blue bag- a blue book- a blue printblue devils- Blue Mantle- blue mould- the Blue Peter- the blue ribbona blue rock- a bluestocking- the blue water school-a bolt from the blue. (b) a black list- black magic- to blackball- a blackcap-the black cap-a blackleg- the Black Country- the black flag- a black friar- a black Maria-a black-jack- a black pudding- Black Rod- a black sheep-the Black Watch. (c) a Red Admiral- a red cent- a red- a redcoat- the red cross-the Red Crossthe red flag- redhanded-a red herring- a red-letter day- a red rag- the red ribbon- red tape- the red ensign- in off the red. (d) whitebait- the white lily- a white elephant- the white ensign- the white feather- white horses-the White House- white-livered-white magicwhite meat-a whitethroat- a white paper- Chinese white-a white man-a white friar. 5. What is (a) a palimpsest? (b) a coelocanth? (c) an apophthegm? (d) phthysis? (e) a zeugma? SECTION C 6. What rulers had the nickname (b) the Bald. (a) the Bold. (d) the Fair. (c) the Fat. the Redeless. (e) the Wise. the Fowler. (g) the Martyr. (j) the Morally Weak? (i) the Physically Strong. 7. Which Queen of England came from (a) Aquitaine. (b) Bohemia. (c) Portugal. (d) Spain. (e) Hainault?
<a
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8. Who was (a) the last Roman Emperor. (b) the last Holy Roman Emperor. (c) the last Austrian Emperor. (d) the last Byzantine Emperor. (e) the last Indian Emperor? 9. In whose reigns did the following Benefactors of the School live:(a) Archbishop Theodore. (b) Archbishop Pole. (c) Archbishop Parker? SECTION D 10. Who is the present (a) Lord Plivy Seal. (h) Lord Chancellor. (c) Lord Chief Justice. (d) Attorney General. (e) Solicitor General. (f) Warden of the Cinque Ports?
11. Who were the predecessors in office of (a) Mr. Dulles. (b) Mr. Eden. (c) Monsieur Bidault. (d) Mr. Molotov? 12. What are (a) MRP. (b) MRA. (c) UNICEF. (d) UNESCO. (e) ANZUS. (f) WHO. (g) TVA. (h) ROK? SECTION E 13. In which operas do the following happen and who composed them? (a) A love-potion is drunk instead of poison. (b) Two women fail to recognize their lovers when these come disguised to test their loyalty. (c) A brass band marches on to the stage playing a soldier's chorus. (d) Portraits 'come to life' and walk out of their frames. (e) A knight in shining armour arrives on the stage carried by a swan,
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14. In what connection are the following technical terms used and what do they mean? (a) (b) (c) (d) (e)
pas seul. arco. the 'lead'. a 'straight'. a 'take'.
15. Who made these parts famous and in what plays or operas? (a) The Prince Regent. (b) Professor Higgins. (c) Annie. (d) Ko-Ko. (e) Mathias.
SECTION F
16. What is the Mecca of: (a) (b) (c) (d)
Cricket. Tennis. Rugby Football . Association Football. (e) Golf. (f) Yachting.
17. In what contests are the following awards made: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e)
The Goblets. The Calcutta Cup. The A shes. The Davis Cup. T he Tourist Trophy. (f) The America Cup. 18. What is the length of: (a) A cricket stump. (b) A tennis court. (c) The Boat Race course. (d) A rugger pitch. (e) The Grand National Course. (f) The Inter-Varsity Relay course. A Guinea Book Token wi ll be awarded to the first correct answer to be sent in by a boy a t the King's School. Jn the absence of a fully correct answer, a Book Token of Half a Guinea will be awarded to the a nswer scoring the highest number of points above 80 % of the possible maximum. Entries sho uld be sent to "The Editors of The Cantuarian", Luxm oore House, New D over Road, Canterbury. The date of posting should be clearly marked on the first sheet. T he closing date for entries is May 1st, 1954. 359
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THE SCHOOL ROLL , [Information relating to Scholars can sometimes be recovered from sources other than the Chapter or School Archives. Archbishop Parker made arrangements for money from the revenues of Eastbridge Hospital, Canterbury, to be aUocated to support two Exhibitioners at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge (by indenture dated 22nd May, 1569). The information below is to be found inserted in the admission book of the Hospital covering the period 1585- 1694. The volume is unfoliated.] Memorandum that the xijth of ffebruary, 1592 Christopher Denn scoller in the free scole of Christes church of Canterbury caulled the Minte, by and with the consent of my Lord of Canterbury his grace, was by the maister of the Hospita ll chosen and sent to Corpuschristie Colledge in Cambridge to supplie the scollershippc of Sr Boys which hee lately cnioyed, and became voyed by his proceeding. And the saide Christopher Denn was by the maistcr and fellowes of the sa ide Colledg admitted to the said scollershippe, according to an ordinaunce of the late archbishoppe Mathew Parker made in that behalfe. [another entry fo llows in the same terms, mutatis mutandis, relating to selection of Jarvice Partrich scholar in the 'Minte' to succeed to scholarship held by Samuel Wybourne at Corpus Christi, Cambridge: 12th July, 1593.]
CAMBRIDGE LETTER Dear School, Whenever, in the years to come, there is a freeze-up, our generation at Cambridge will fill the correspondence columns of The Times. We shall recall skating on the "Backs", we shall point out how decadent subsequent generations of undergraduates have become, in whose wash-basins, I hope, the water will no longer freeze overn ight. We shall remember that if you wished to go in or out of Magdalen after the gates were shut it was simplest, in those happy days, to walk straight across the Cam. We shall proudly recount how, on those few occasions when it was possible to break the icc and launch an eight, icicles would form on the blades as we rowed, and we shall no doubt reinforce our letters with blurred yellow photographs, to show how scantily and hardily dressed we were, when we faced these sub-zero temperatures. Meanwhile, O.K.S. seem to have been as busy as ever, and mostly they seem to have made their mark playing games- there is time enough fo r the tripos to show what else they may have been doing. Michael Mayne, however, gave a most attractive and well-received performance in Heartbreak House at the A.D.C. , earlier in the term. Basil Lee we congratulate most heartily upon his Hockey Blue, and we can only regret that the unfair proportion of O.K.S. in the Oxford XI resulted in their victory. J. H. T. Morgan, who, like his brother, is at Emmanuel, boxed as light-heavyweight for the University, and Nick Raffle has played for the Cambridge XV on severa l occasions tl1is term. R. M. V. J3cith was to be seen in the thick of the St. Catharine's serum, which won the College " Cuppcrs" recently. Colin Paterson, who gained a Trial Cap at the end of last term, and came very near to a Blue, was, naturally, barred from rowing in the Lents himself. A. J. M. Halsey was unlucky to have to give up his place at " 7" in the King's 1st Boat on the first three nights of the races, but he was probably glad to escape the distinction of being bumped, as he would otherwise have been, by Ted Strouts and Richard Roberts, who gravitated together in the bows of Jesus H. We are most grateful to Dr. Budd, who once again gave us the opportunity to meet one a nother at his house one evening. It is, by the way, sad, but no doubt significa nt, that Pat Murray has shaved ofT his magnificent ginger beard. Finally, we should like to congratula te those of you, who ga ined scholarships and so on in December, and if you did not, well, neither did most of us. Yours sincerely, O.K.S., CANTAB. 360
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OXFORD LETTER Oxford. 25th February, 1954. Dear School, The Oxford O.K.S. have been jolted into action by the Editor's kind promptings in the last issue of The Cantllarian. We are very grateful for the Editor's researches into our numbers in Oxford, and are pleased to add the name of Robert Darling to the list of eight O.K.S. at St. Edmund Hall. Robert is now in his Second Year, and is reading Modern History. Perhaps the most ubiquitous of our present number is J. E. M. Lucie-Smith, whom we meet at least half a dozen times in every issue of the Isis. His poetry is widely read; his voice is frequently to be heard in the Union; and we were not at a ll surprised to sec him at the opening of the Art and Sculpture Clubs' exhibition at the Ashmolean, wearing a most distinguished brocaded-si lk bow-tie. He certainly sets something of a fashion in Oxford. Paul de Lisser tells of parties in Trinity, at one of which he heard the remark: "Everyone here seems to be from either Eton or King's, Canterbury!" Certainly Trinity has its share of O.K.S., notably Richard Norris, who continues to be Oxford's biggest goal scorer, both on the University and the Internat ional field. Then there is Pat Walker, equally well-known for his superb hockey, and for his goal-scoring capacity. Also in the sporting world, and at Trinity, is David Jenkins, who was asked to accompany the combined Oxford and Cambridge team, the Woodpeckers, to Belgium and Germany last vacation, while this Easter promises another tour in Cornwall. Michael Herbert plays for the Greyhounds, while J. R. Capurro, Aubrey Denton and Monty Skinner are all O.U. Occasional players. Aubrey Denton captains Hertford's hockey,. Teddy Birnberg rows for Jesus, and Derek Snoxall, who is Secretary of Merton's hockey, went on tour in Belgium at Christmas. Ivor Burt helped to fill up two pages in the Sketch, together with a party from Brasenose, who went ski-ing in Austria during the Christmas vacation. Derek Snoxall has been playing Bertram in Merton Floats' production of All's well that ends well, while Ronnie Roberts had a devilish chorus part in last term's magnificent Opera Club production of Marschner's Hans H eiling. Ronnie may also be heard in the Bach and other choirs, singing works as different as the B minor Mass and Orff's Carmiua Burana. Amongst those of us who work are Peter Le Pelley, now in his fourth year on a Colonial Service Course and hoping for a posting to Kenya. Then there is John Foster, who has still another year to do in the Medical Faculty. We suspect that Ian Fowler, Derek Tymms and H. A. Smith, all at St. Edmund Hall, are very busy too; while Tony Hoare at Merton is taking Classics Mods. this term. He says that everything else goes by the board as the day approaches, and hopes that he will be able to tell us something interesting next term. We have two University Club personalities. Anthony Young has been Chairman of the University Communist Club for two terms, and has done very well to get a number of well-known speakers down to the University to present the other side of the picture. The other is Brian Newton who is Secretary of the German Society, and has a hand in a ll German affairs in Oxford (though it is rumoured that he does not speak a word of the language). Nor must we forget Bruce Hyatt, who has been seen in the Slade Art School as well as in St. John's from time to time; while Barry Lock fills a big place at Magdalen. Several of us met members of the School Rugger XV in Oxford last term, but we were sorry they had to be on their way again so soon. We hope that next time the School will give us warning, so that we can perhaps entertain the team with something that does not interfere with training! We were also pleased to see Fred Norton from Cambridge at the Union Presidential Ball at the end of last term. We look forward to the Headmaster's visit to Oxford in the summer, and hope that he will spare us time to meet him after the celebrations at St. Barnabas'. Yours sincerely, O.K.S., OxoN.
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HOUSE PLAYS SCHOOL HOUSE AND GALP rN'S The first pa ir of houses started in traditional style with a comedy, Haul/or the Shore, by Jean McConnell. Their choice had its advantages and disadvantages; the advantages were its simple set (the living-room of a cottage in a Cornish fishing village) which remained the same throughout and also most of the parts were straightforward character parts. Its ma in disadvantage was its extraordinary lack of any plot; the scenes went by a nd nothing happened, we longed for some action. One wonders how dull the play could have been in the hands of a less expert producer: it says much for the direction of Mr. J. G. Owen that the play turned out a success. The interest of the play lies in the appearance at this corrupt village of a young parson; how he first eagerly tries to convert his parishioners and how during the course of the play he is himself gradually converted to the way of life at Trcmarran Cove. The part of this zealous young curate, the Rev. Leslie Fox, was brilliantly played by M. J. Moore; he acted with ease and confidence and his speech was clearer than the others, perhaps because almost every other player spoke with varying success in Cornish dialect. Here and there the dia lect tended to obscure the sense but on the whole they said their lines well and certainly little was missed by the audience. J. A. Rowe as Jem Burden and P. G. Roberts as Petrock Pook carried off their parts excellently; their reactions were good and each made the most of his lines. Specia l mention must a lso be made of P. J. B. Grainger, who took the leading fema le role of Polly l pplepen, fianc~c of R ichard Pengelly, played by R. A. G. d'E. Willoughby; not only did he speak like a girl but he acted and walked like a girl; unfortunately, however, he sat like a boy. A high standard has been set for the remaining houses. We must thank School House and Galpin's for giving us such a n enjoyable evening and we hope that tl1is will be the first of many successful productions by Mr. Owen.
MEISTER OMERS AND LTNACRE Meister Omers and Linacre took the bull by the horns in producing a light thriller instead of a farce. The play they chose was Barre Lyndon's The Amazing Dr. Clillerhouse. It was an ambitious choice, not only because a thriller makes particularly high demands on acting ability, but also because this particular play involves no less than five scene changes. All these were carried out smoothly- a triumph of organization when one remembers the difficulties of the Chapter House stage. When the curtain went up on the roof scene, the ingenuity of the set deserved the round of a pplause it received. Jt is a pity, however, that the curtains were not very effectively handled at the end of the scenes, they thus ma rred some of the climaxes of the play. B. H. McCleery played the long title role very well; J. G. Underwood's Nurse Ann was fu ll of devotion to her chief; whilst the Special Sixth produced as fine a set of amiable shady characters as one could desire: 0. R . F. Davies showed outstanding acting ability as 'Pal' Green, A. P. G. Stanley-Smith was perky a nd loyal as 'Oakic', and A. N. A. Browner seemed thoroughly at home in the part of the moll out for a good time. R. L. Holford was suita bly sinister as Benny Kellerman ; J. Hembry and M. B. Chester played their parts with gusto; and the solid forces of the Law were solidly, if a trifle stolidly, portrayed by D. F. Riceman, R. L. Bates, D. H. Livesey and S. T. S. Blackall. The play was produced by Mr. J. G. Sugden.
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BOOK REVIEWS The Penguin Book of Modem American Verse, edited by Geoffrey Moore. (Penguin Books, 3/6.)
Since the middle of the nineteen-thirties contemporary criticism has become the writer's occupational disease. Few attempts are made to justify it and seldom does the reader have the chance to judge a book without the, at best, subconscious preparation of his mind for it by daily, weekly, and quarterly reviews. When a collection of American verse appears for the first time on this side of the Atlantic there is, in virtue of the obscurity of the majority of the names, an opportunity to judge it on its own merits alone. The chronological scope of this collection is wide and extends from Emily Dickinson (born 1830) to w. S. Merwin (born 1927). In Europe the norm of both poetic content a nd of form has changed radically at least twice in that period and the surprising uniformity and cohesion of the American verse here represented appears difficult to understand only until one realises that the use of the same language does not necessarily imply that words have the same mean ings and, more important, that the American poet is a creature very different to his English counterpart. In Britain there is a distrust of the professional which extends even to the art of letters. Poets are thought of somewhat as cranks who are not fully sane unless they are completely amateur and have a bank, or a parish, or a schoolroom, or a coalmine at which to earn their daily bread. It would seem to be far different in a society where more than half of the practising poets who are here introduced are university lecturers or professors and where the others arc held in awe rather in the manner of prophets. At first sight this protectiveness would appear to be the reaction of a reading public which suffers from a much maligned materialist set of criteria but, if nothing else emerges from this anthology, it is made quite clear both by the verse itself and by the generally helpful introductory remarks of the editor, that t11e maker of verse is jealously guarded in the United States principally because he is, or appears to be, the spokesman in each case of a minority. One finds a national minority of immigrants, represented by the strange verse, reminiscent of Joyce and Virginia Woolf, of Carl Sanburg, the in-bred minority of New Englanders, finding their champion in Amy Lowell, the socially underprivileged with the savage verse of Kenneth Fearing to give them voice, the bemused intellectuals spoken for by Archibald MacLeish and Edmund Wilson. The list is a long one. That the minority-writer Jacks universality is not surprising and it is somehow shameful to find the editor using Procrustean (and rather precious) arguments to justify the inclusion of the giant Eliot in order to restore the balance. Unfortunately part of the justification is that Mr. Eliot is typical of twentieth century America-an observation which not only militates against the concept of universality but also puts the poet into the category of contemporary observer which he has himself stated to be the least valuable of any role filled by the writer, whether in prose or verse. Again the failure of the editor to represent Conrad Aiken with at least one of the sensitive "Osiris Jones" poems or to make more of the genius with which Marianne Moore is blessed for the wholly convincing use of symbolism is a typical anthologist's method of exasperating the reader. These particular whims are made even more unintelligible by the fact that, with Eliot, these two poets would seem the most expert and persuasive at synthesising foreign subject matter with a style of imagery intelligible to European readers and, one would think, would have provided the perfect means of bridging the gulf between two cultures. Apart from the already acknowledged masters of poetic craft there appear to be only two poets in this collection- Randall Jarrell and Karl Shapiro- who will be significant in the year 2054 in any manner other than that of recorders of the intellectual climate of tllis half-century. The others are witty, frank, and sometimes moving, but on the whole are too content to act as commentators on Ia condition humaiue rather than as catalysts. Jn the middle of such painful honesty as is evinced in the verse of this volume it is a pity to find, on the editorial side, too much praise accorded to the adolescent bombast of Ezra Pound and too little made of E. E. Cummings' clinical accuracy of observation. J.G.O.
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IJest Science Fiction Stories, edited by Bleiler and Dikty, New York. (Grayson & Grayson, Ltd. , 9/6.) Science fiction is rather like Jane A usten, Oliver Cromwell, Latin elegiacs, prunes, and the music of Wagner : either you like it, or you do not. The d ifference is that (accord ing to a reputable daily paper) the maj ority of the reading public does like it. Even the most aloof pedagogue or literary critic should at least know what people like to read: and in any case it would be a rash man who denied the merit of science-fiction writers like Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, Olaf Stapledon, Aldous Huxley and George Orwell. The covers of many science-fiction novels are painted in lurid colours, depicting blondes in the grip of a T hing from Outer Space. This is a pity, but one should not be put ofT by it: after all, Trollope and J ane Austen were considered equally vicious reading matter by the puritans of their time. Best Science Fiction Stories are, generally speaking, typical of science-fiction in that their authors are not in the least interested in sex, love, or cheap emotion: nor, indeed, in any more complex or subtle psychological portrayal which forms the basis of most fiction. They are interested only in telling a good s tory, and they have t11e supreme advantage of using facts which arc remote eno ugh to be exciting, yet near enough to be real and comprehensible. The best writers, like van Vogt, Sturgeon, Seabright, Sprague de Camp, A asimov and others, never allow themselves to wander irresponsibly in the realms of extra-galact ic travel, telekinesis, multi-dimensiona l space, hyper-space drives, and so for th. They use these ideas, but not simply to p rovide escapist excitement: as every good artist must, they keep to the cond itions of their own story, and the formal d iscip line of incidents arising from it. T he style of writing is crisp, and sometimes laconic enough to be baffling. There are no unnecessary exclamation marks, ejaculations of horror, o r any of the trite cliches used to convey cheap sentiment. The frequent references to scientific theory are usually accurate, and if the reader has any scientific kno wledge it will be extended rather than insulted. Many of the stories, however, are futuristic rather than scientific, and deal with sociological, political and ethical problems arising out of a highly-advanced technology. By this method, they often illuminate contemporary problems with great clarity: admirers of Plato's Republic will not automatically discredit utopia-building as a form of escapism. C. S. Lewis' trilogy " Out of the Silent Planet", "Perelandra", and "That Hideous Strength" shows how valuable this method of investigation can be, when it uses the medium of science fiction. But, of course, the chief attraction of the stories is that they provide plausible and imaginat ive answers to quest ions which everybody, except intellectual ostriches, cannot help asking. What will happen when we land on Mars? I f there is life in the universe, what will result from the contact between two alien cultures? Are we j ustified in colonising other planets? W ill the ethics of extra-terrestrials be basically similar to ou r own ? Can someone who moves backward in time alter the past? The answers to such questions involve the writers in some very stimulating, if on ly quasi-logical, remaJks of a philosophical and political nature, as well as some excellent imaginative constructions. I n the hands of these authors, as well as many other science-fiction writers, science is not a religion nor a cheap form of entertainment: it is o nly a pointer to a number of new and fascinating possibilities. T hese stories should form an excellent introduction to what must be, to those of fugitive and cloister'd ver tue, an entirely novel form of literature. J .B.W.
The Story of Eng/and- Vo/. 1: Makers of the Realm, by Arthur Bryant. (Collins, 16/-.) The writing o f mediev~ h istory presents problems a ll of its own. A lt hough o ne o r two histo rians have recently produced massive works of scholarship covering periods of ha lf a century or so, the bulk of recent medieval research has dealt with much smaller fragments of history, and has appeared in the form of monographs which are either collected in slim volumes of unco-ordinated essays or are scattered throughout learned journa ls, where they are relatively inaccessible to the lay reader. Under the impact of this scholarship, many of the traditional pictures of medieval monarchs have disintegrated. Kings are no longer "good" or "bad": they arc "efficient" or "inefficient" . "By the usc of their seals shall ye judge them"- and inevitably much of the warmth and colour of history crumbles into the dust on the records of medieval bureaucrats. It is th e g reat achievement of Dr. Bryant's volume that it breathes new life into medieval history. H is pictures come splendidly a live. The monarchs are no longer stiff medieval effigies. When we read of Henry ll's "eager, freckled face" or that he looked " rather like a good-natured lion"; wh en John is described as "a tough, sallow, moody, h ighly intelligent li ttle man" ; or when Dr. Bryant describes Henry Ill, with his " long, delicate hands", we can so much more easily see these kings as living people.
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THE CANTUARIAN Dr. Bryant thinks above all pictorially, in tableaux. Nothing could be more vividly written than his description of the Battle of Hastings, of the controversy between Henry II and Becket, or of the impact of the Franciscans on England. Dr . .Bryant states his aims in writing the book in the following words: " 'By this sacredness of individuals', wrote Emerson, 'the English have in seven hundred years evolved the principles of freedom.' I have tried in these pages to show how they did so and how our present grew out of their past. And T have tried to trace how the values in which we believe were formed." In the humble opinion of this reviewer, this aim has led Dr. Bryant to weaken his book in two respects. In the first place, it leads him to concentrate only on what was enduring, to the neglect of other aspects of English history which, though less lasting in their effects, were nevertheless the main political preoccupations of Englishmen at the time. The treatment of the reigns of William IT, Henry I, and Stephen is weak¡ and this is because Dr. Brya nt does not show how William 1I and Henry I were trying to tighten the hold of the monarchy on the country, nor how they were trying to weaken the power of the barons by exacting the last penny of their feudal dues or by taking away from them the administration and the perquisites of justice. The disorders of Stephen's reign become understandable when they are seen as a reaction of the baronage against this steady increase in royal power. The struggle between the Crown and the barons from the days of John onwards have rightly received much attention in the past. The struggles in the reigns of the early Normans, though quite as important, have received less attention because they did not give rise to any great "Whiggish" consti tutional principles. In this respect, Dr. Bryant has a Whig view of history. The second weakness of his approach is that it has tempted him to look for the roots of Englishry in an age before England was really differentiated from the rest of Eu rope. It is true that the Saxons, like all barbarian peoples on the move, had a rough and ready fellowship a nd sense of equality among themselves. They were "brave, loyal, and true to their kin a nd leaders; there was no shame in their eyes like that of the man who turned his back in fight or betrayed lord or comrade." It is true also that the Saxon "was wont to speak his mind out freely in the court of the village or tun, for among this simple people the man who spoke truth fearlessly was as honoured as the man who fought bravely. Though ready to enslave others, the English were great lovers of their own freedom." These virtues of a warrior race were shared by all the Germanic barbarians; but these same characteristics developed quite differently in Germany, for instance; and they bade well, for a time, to develop quite differently in England also. Semi-independent dukes like Godwine of Wessex were not really very different from their turbulent contemporaries, the tribal dukes of Germany. It was probably not until the Normans tamed these fierce petrels that the aggressive energy of the Engl ish warrior race was turned outwards. It was ceaseless warfare abroad and security at home that made England a nation (as Dr. Bryant well describes) and gave her at home that tolerance and gentleness which Dr. Bryant stresses so much. Still, these are relative terms: the England of Stephen or of the Wars of the Roses, the massacre of the Jews in York or the wasting of France by the Black Prince were fearsome and ugly enough. In his introduction, Dr. Bryant writes that every generation needs its popular history written anew, and that he has attempted to write a popular history for his generation. In content and outlook, this volume is in the tradition of the great popular histories of the past. Dr. Bryant shares with his predecessors a human rather than an economic or administrative interpretation of history, a deep affection for things English, and a wonderfully lucid style. It will be a great day in English historiography when his trilogy is completed.
R.K.B.
THE LIBRARY With the completion of the repairs and decorations to the Rabbit Hutch, the Main Library and the Durnford History Library are fittingly connected into a whole worthy of the School. Many books have lately been added; and we acknowledge with gratitude gifts from the following: Messrs. P. C. V. Lawless, J . R. M. Harvey, J. M. C. Harke, M. C. Trowsdell, B. Money, K. D. Walker, R. F. Glover, D. Stainer, B. I. G. Hyatt, D. C. Ryeland, H. Freebairn-Smith, H. A. Smith, J. Bailey, P. T. Sanderson, A. Ratcliffe, A. G. Davies, P. H. Moss, M. C. Turnor, J. C. Pearson, J. K. Waddell, M. Burgess (a shelf of Russian novels), A. J. Eyre, A. S. Mackintosh; Miss Wigram, Col. Iremonger, Major Joyce, a nd the Headmaster; we have also received a large number from J. W. Marshall, We are always grateful to receive volumes from O.K.S. and friends.
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LECTURES SHAKESPEAREAN LECTURE-RECITAL Miss Jane Phillipson, a well-known authority on Shakespearian drama, came to lecture here on F<.bruary 28th. She approached her widely-differing audience with great verve and understanding, and greatly amused us with her vignettes from the plays we knew best. The most skilful of these was from As You Like It between Rosalind, Phebe and Silvins- "Who ever loved, that loved not at first sight?"- where she gave a solo performance of the three-cornered dialogue. She drew our attcntiOil, moreover, to many details of Shakespeare's own life which were new to us; and emphasized an aspect of his success as a dramatist which is oflen overlooked- his eye fo r the box-office. The ova tion she received was proof of the School's appreciation. E.R.G.J.
MR. LIONEL BUTLER On February 19th, Mr. Lionel Butler, Fellow of All Souls, cam~ to lecture to the Sixth Forms on "Kings, Barons, and Commons in the Middle Ages". He brought home two points particularly clearly: the first, that constitutional theorists in the Middle Ages had not yet formulated the concept of sovereignty, and therefore saw no contradiction in believing, on the one ha nd, in the sacredness of the King's a uthority and, on the other, in the right of his people to check the King if he did not act in accordance with the laws to which he, no less than they, were subject. Secondly, Mr. Butler showed that the 14th century House of Commons was far from being the passive instrument of royal policy that it was to become in the I 5th and 16th centuries ; and for those of the King's School historians whose knowledge of history only begi ns with the I 7th century, it was particula rly interesting a nd instructive to sec that the Commons had been a real force in England before the Stuart t~riod . Mr. Butler's lecture showed once again how good it is that we should occasionally hear a talk on a subject "outside our period". R.K.B.
THE MUSIC CIRCLE On Saturday, March 6th, members of the Music Circle gave the term's main concert. The programme opened with two pieces from the Second Orchestra, who had clearly rehearsed hard under Mr. Sugden's coaching. It is encouraging for the future of the School's music to know that there is a body of young and keen players such as this. The concert continued with Bach's Third Brandenbnrg Concerto, given by nine soloists with a piano and 'cello continuo. Unfortunately the first violin, Miles Baster, had just fa llen ill, so that a reshuffle of the three violins would have been necessary, had not Mr. Reid kindly volunteered to play at the last moment. The players' tone was firm and the attack on the whole was good, producing a competent performance all round. After this came a Concerto for Two Violins by Vivaldi, with Mr. Sugden and Mr. Robertson as soloists. Vivaldi wrote an immense amount of music which is rarely heard to-day, and it was good to hear some of it being played; it is very easy to listen to, and eminently suitable for amateur orchestras. The second part of the concert consisted in extracts from Gilbert and Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore, with the Madrigal Society providing chorus and soloists. This was obviously ef\ioyed as much by the performers as by the audience. All the solo parts were represented, except that of the hero, Ralph Rackstraw, there being no operat ic tenor available. This music is great fun to sing, and the acting of the singers added to the humour of the words. All the soloists sang very well, and it would be invidious to single out any one for especial praise. The orchestra played a not very interesting accompaniment with gusto, and the chorus sang out well. It was a most enjoyable performance, and we must pass a vote of thanks to the performers and especially to Messrs. Sugden and Goodes for providing us with such a good all-round ~oncert.
J.B.D.W.
'tHE C ANTtJARtAN
SCHOOL CONCERT, DECEMBER 1953 Before the concert began, Mr. Anthony Devas's portrait of the Headmaster was unveiled by the Captain of School and presented to the School by Sir Harry Townend on behalf of the O.K.S. Sir Harzy's speech was answered by the Headmaster. The strings of the orchestra opened the concert with Corelli's Christmas Concerto, the solo parts played by R. A. M. Basler and Mr. J. G. Sugden (violins) and E. R. G. Job (piano-continuo). The music of this period is well suited to school orchestras; it is not technically difficult yet it is rewarding to play as every part is interesting and pleasant to listen to. The strings gave a lively performance full of admirable vigour and zest which made it the most enjoyable of the orchestral pieces. The orchestra then played the first two movements of Beehoven's Symphony No. 4 in B flat. This went well but got off to rather a bad start. The symphony opens with a long high note on the flute and somehow or other this was not in tune; uncertain intonation and lack of confidence were evident in the slow movement and occasionally in the first. One felt, that though the louder parts were successfu l and the climaxes splendidly built, they should have attempted something more within their scope. Next E. R. G. Job played a piano solo, Scherzo in Bflat minor by Chopin. Job is a pianist we hear often nowadays and each occasion makes us look forwa rd to the next. He played tltis difficult Scherzo with great skill but at times his apparent nervousness tended to make his tone less full than it might have been; however, it was a sparkling performance. The Choral Society then joined the orchestra to sing Allelujah to the Father from The M ount of Olives by Beethoven. This is Beeth~ven in his best :domin~nt-tonic' mood; it seems he can never make up his mind when to stop. One hes1tates to suggest tmprovmg Beethoven, but could he not have excluded some of the last bars without undue loss? Anyway, it provided a good chance for the Choral Society to display its power, though its volume was at times less than we should have liked. The first part finished with a performance by the orchestra of the suite Ballet Egyptien by Alexandre Luigini. This is a light-hearted suite and it seemed the orchestra was really enjoying itself and entering fully into its gay spirit. The orchestra was conducted by Mr. Malcolm C. Boyle. In the second half we heard the Military Band under its new conductor, Lt.-Col. Meredith Roberts. It was immediately obvious that Col. Roberts is a conductor of extremely high class; his methods are economical and precise and the general performance of the band was refreshingly different from what we are used to. The playing especiaiJy in Gavolle by Gluck and the Passepied from Le Roi s'amuse by Oelibes was even delicate and restrained; yet they showed us in the March from Aida by Verdi and the March The High School Cadets by Sousa they had not forgotten how to be exuberant. We came away from the Chapter House realising how lucky we were to have with us such a fine conductor.
CORNISH SEAS White pebbles and bones Of sun's bleach carved Blood-fired on the shore, sea Storm-pulped and calm Blue-clear, and green-deep Whitehorsed waves Dancing in the brisk breeze, Seas-flash, foam at the Wintered windows, Clashed hard in frost, Liquid-melting in gold Down the ocean paths of the running west, Flay at the gull-rabbled Sun-parched sand beach, All these and more is the sea I know. 367
J.D.B.W.
'tHE CANTU ARlA N
COLD NIGHT My house Is in my own little suburbia Up a long empty road: Which I must climb alone Nightly, conscious of being watched In the lamp-light. My shadow clings to the cold hard concrete, Lengthens away murkily To grow up under me again ; As the next street-lamp Diffuses liquidly o'er street And into secrecy of garden: Where a smug little cottage Squats mid its well-kept lawn a nd well-fed flowers, Surrounded by a personal hedge Keeping out the world, Keeping in our little bourgeois. As I in muffled warmth go by, Tapping my heels In a frigid lullaby; Peering into each tiled nest I see a shape in each open doorway, With a cigarette Redglowing in the dark : A silhouette Of a man staring out into the night, Cut off, For an ecstatic moment, From his world of habit In the ha bits of the world: Searching sightless For a sight in the starry sky; Caught In Time, Gazing At all Eternity. D.S.
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THE SOCIETIES The Pater Society will have had two meetings this term. W. N. Wenban-Smith read a paper on "Piracy in the Mediterranean", and J. D . B. Walker, at the time of writing, is about to give a talk on "The Early Coiners of Western Greece". The Somner Society has flourished this term, and an expedition was made into the new Cathedral Library. Four papers were given: Mr. J. Hope-Simpson discussed Greek Architecture, and Mr. R. K. Blumenau the Origin and Development of the English Parliament; while N. H. Cooper and Mr. J. B. Wilson gave talks entitled respectively the "Saxon Shore" and "Roman Propaganda". The Marlowe Society has been re-formed, and has had three very successful meetings this term. It has heard papers by J. A. Rowe on "The Russian Revolution", R. H. C. Symon on "Modern Music", and A. J. Briggs on "Capital Punishment". The Photographic Society has, as usual, had an active term, and the Dark-room has been in constant use. The Society is looking forward to increasing its stock of equipment in the near future. The Natural History Society has had two meetings so far this term and another is yet to come: members of the Society attended Eric Hosking's illustrated lecture on British Birds in the Slater Hall, and also held their own film show in the Parry Hall, while W. Stephen-Jones, Esq., of St. Edmund's School is due to give a lecture on Entomology. In addition Major-General Jenkins gave a film-show last term, too late for our last issue. The Farming Club is to become a branch member of the Young Farmers' Association. The Walpole Society has had almost its usual quota of meetings this term, the most memorable of which was probably an Academic Enquiry, in which Mr. William Urry, Mr. Stanley Hickson, Mr. Purnell, Mr. Pollak and Mr. Lindesay answered questions that had previously been censored by the President acting as Question Master. A talk by Dr. Harvey, the Medical Officer of Health for Canterbury, and another by Jeffery on Prior Chillenden have had to be postponed, because rehearsals for House Plays have depleted the Society's meetings. The Caxton Society has been active with three weekly meetings. On 27th February Mr. Hickson, head of the printing department of Canterbury College of Art, gave a talk on the layout of print. Several new founts of Perpetua have been bought as an alternative to the existing Times faces. The Madrigal Society's main work this term was the selection from H.M.S. Pinafore, reviewed elsewhere in this issue. After this five days were left in which to practice a selection of madrigals and part-songs for a B.B.C. audition. This was most successful and the Society has hopes of a broadcast in the not-toodistant future. Besides minor developments in the model room, the Railway Society has had only one major event this term. This was a most interesting visit to the Old Oak Common Motive-Power Depot, where several "King's" and "Britannia" class locomotives were seen.
HOCKEY It would be hard to imagine weather more depressing for a hockey season than that which has persisted this term. Snow and ice followed by deluge prevented any real practice under normal conditions. However, the team has shown ability and an appreciation of some of the finer points of the game, and the form of several of the new players promises well for the future. The strength of the side has lain in the half-back line. Rowe, as captain and centre-half, has been the mainstay of the side. Always steady and sound in defence, he has fed the forwards with accurate and constructive passes. Sutton and Wenban-Smith have both shown great tenacity and the ability to turn defence into attack. Woolston, with his speed and eye for an opening, has led the forwards with dash. Bailey's stickwork was neat and clever, but he sometimes tried to do too much on his own. Hoare always worked hard in covering back. Adams and Collins on the wings were fast and always looked dangerous. The main fault of the inside forwards was their tendency to bunch towards the middle and to ienor~ the win$S, thus failing to open wide the opposing defence.
THE CANTUARIAN R ussell and Laine were reliable backs, who stopped the ball cleanly and cleared well. Houry, who also played in some matches, was neat and safe. Kirsch in goal was always reliable, and on occasions brought off some almost miraculous saves. In addition to Rowe, 1st X I Colours were re-awarded to Woolston, and new Colours awarded to D. J. Kirsch, C. D . R ussell, R. M. Sutton, W. N. Wenban-Smith, M. J. Bailey, K. S. Adams and R. J. C. Collins.
JsT XI MATCHES KINO'S ScHOOL, CANTERBURY V DOVER COLLEGE Played Away on 6th February, I 954 King's 2; Dover 0 This was a good game in spite of the frozen condition of our bumpy ground, which made the ball difficult to control. Considering that the severity of the weather has considerably limited opportunities for practice, the School played very well, with speed and (usually) constructively. We attacked, with spasmodic exceptions, for most of the game, except in the last quarter of an hour, when play became a little scrappy; and scored one goal in each half- Bailey tapping the first into an empty net after Woolston, straying out on to the wing, had centred well, and also scoring the second with a good shot from a narrow angle. There were, of course, individual faults; at forward some chances were thrown away; wings sometimes delayed their centres for too long; once or twice a half dribbled fussily; and the backs were occasionally too slow to cover back when beaten. But altogether the team played with a zest and speed on the ball that promised well.
KINO'S SCHOOL, CANTERBURY v A HOCKEY ASSOCIATION XI Played at Home on 1Jth February, 1954 King's 0; Hockey Association 8 Bringing down an extremely strong side, including an international and several divisional players, the H.A. thrashed us, scoring 4 goals in each half. They adapted themselves much more quickly than we did to the wet a nd heavy conditions, hitting the ball hard and purposefully, while we persisted with too much pushing a nd flicking ; they gave a perfect demonstration of the effect i.veness of the through pass, which remains rare on o ur side; a nd some of their shooting was quite magnificent, in contrast to the awkwardness and hesitancy shown o n the few occasions when we got into their circle. Nevertheless we never gave up trying, and should have learnt a great dea l. We are most grateful to our opponents for staying behind after tea, and giving us some of the benefit of their experience d uring a valuable discussion.
KINO's ScHOOL, CANTERBURY v CLJFTONVILLE H .C. Played Away on 13th February, 1954 King's 0; Cliftonville 3 We were beaten by a strong side on a good fast ground. It was a good game, but we were again hampered by bad shooting, and a tendency not to hit the ball hard enough in mid-field, although this improved during the second half, when we played better altogether. The attack found itself up against a very experienced pair of backs, whom they rarely mastered; and they did not help themselves by too much bunching in the middle of the field. Cliftonville scored two goals in the first half, one in the second, 11nd thoro ughly deserved their win. ~7Q
THE 1st HOCKEY XI Back R owt(!eft to rig/a ): R. J. C. Collins, K. S. Adams, W. N. Wenban-Smith , C. N . Lain~, H. R. J. Hoare S eated: R . M. Sutton, W . H. Woolston , J. A. Rowe (Capt.), C. D . Russell, M. J. Bailey D. J . Kirsch
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KINO'S SCHOOL, CANTBROURY V TONDRIDOE SCHOOL Played Away on 25th February, 1954 King's 4; Tonbridgc I Prolonged rain during the previous night, together with a heavy shower just before the start of the game, made the ground very wet, although it absorbed it a ll remarkably well. We elected to play downhill, and fo r the first ten minutes played very well, hitting the ball crisply, and switching the direction of attack frequen tly, being rewarded when a good shot by Woolston found the corner of the net. Thereafter, however, for the rest of the first ha lf play veered in favour ofTon bridge, who became even more confident when they equalized, and might well have taken the lead, but for some desperate defence, nota bly a spectacular effort by Sutton, who dived across an empty goal-line to save. We were, perhaps, fortunate to change ends on equa l terms. In the second half, however, we showed some superiority, our inside trio combining better than ever before. Woolston gave us the lead with a well-placed flick; and very shortly afterwards, Coll ins dribbled from the half-way line for a good individualist goal. Later another goal, this time by Bailey, clinched the issue. Jn many ways this was quite our best game yet; mid-field play was, on the whole, excellent, altho ugh defence in our own circle was sometimes ragged, shooting in theirs still sometimes too hesitant .
KrNG'S SCHOOL, CANTERBURY V ST. LAWRENCE, RAMSOATE Played Away on 27th February, 1954 King's 3; St. Lawrence 4 The keen St. Lawrence supporters cheered on a very exciting match, through which never more than a goa l separated the two scores. Before the game had really settled down, we were retrieving the ball from the back of our net; yet after only a quarter of an hour's play we were leading by two goals to one, through a penalty bully, which Woolston snapped up, and a good shot by Ba iley following a corner. But it did not last; St. Lawrence soon equalized, and from then until half-time maintained an almost constant pressure, which, in spite of some spirited resista nce, was fina lly rewarded with a goal just on ha lf-time which gave them a slender but valuable lead. Play after the interval continued to be more in o ur half of the field than theirs, but several of our break-away attacks looked dangerous. Following one of these, Collins equalized for us, and it seemed then that we might pull the game out of the fire. But no ; about ten minutes from the end they scored the winning goal, which on the play they deserved. For once it was ow¡ mid-field play which was chiefly responsible for our defeat. Our inside forwards tackled back o nly spasmodically, leaving wide spaces of the field dominated by their opposite numbers; and defensive clearing was at times unaccountably feeble-perhaps partly because the flick up the middle was too often made the substitute for hard hitting up the wings (one of the worst offenders in this respect was the centre half!). In spite of two mistakes, Kirsch came out of a very busy game with credit.
KiNo's ScHOOL, CANTERBURY v O.K.S. Played at Home on 13th March, 1954 King's I ; O.K.S. 5 The O.K.S. had an impressive forward line, including Walker a nd Norris, the Oxford Blues, and against their experience we always appeared a little flustered. Yet it was only during quite a short spell late in the second ha lf that they took a decisive lead, and until then we had a fair share of the play. In the first half Norris narrowly missed with several shots-one in particular Russell only just mant ged to deflect outside the upright-but succeeded in slamming one home from a short corner. This remained the only score until about ha lf-way through the second half, a spate of O.K.S. goals clinched the result; Walker bagged two with fine shots, Kelly slammed one in with his back-stick, and a goal by the centre half made their total five. The School's on ly reply was a goal by Rowe in the closing minutes of the game, fo llowing a corner. In general we showed signs of lack of practice, a nd hard diagonal hitting, especia lly from left to right, was neglected. 37I
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The 2nd XI was well led by Lawrence, who was backed up by useful performances from Slee, Thomas ' Smith, Waynforth, Goate and von Bibra. Results:v Dover College (Home). Lost, 2- 5 v Cliftonville H.C. (Away). Lost, 1- 3. v R.M.S., Dover (Away). Lost, 0-6. v St. Lawrence, Ramsgate (Away). Lost, 1- 2. v O.K.S. (Home). Won, 6-3. 2nd XI Colours were awarded to the following: H. R. J. Hoare, C. N. Lain6, R. A. Lawrence, R. G. c. Houry, M. U. Slee.
THE BOAT CLUB Serious boating has been hampered this term by both the weather and river conditions. The river level at the beginning of term was so low after the shortage of rain that, at Fordwich and Pluck's Gutter it was not possible to launch boats. This was followed by the cold spell, during which the river froze' so that virtually the first month of term was wasted. The two eights kept fit with daily P.T., but thi~ was no real substitute for hard work in the boat. Once river conditions improved, no time was lost, and there was plenty of rowing both at Fordwich and Pluck's Gutter, where the new boathouse is now in commission. At Fordwich the new scullers have arrived and, in the time available, they have had very full use. We should like to welcome Mr. W. J. Smith, who has come to us as boatman from the O.U.B.C. and who is rapidly bringing all the Fordwich equipment back to working order. ' The 1st VIII made a start to training at Putney at the end of the Christmas holidays, under the auspices of Thames R.C. and covered about sixty miles. The good progress made during this week was largely nullified by the enforced rest, and the position complicated by the fact that two of those at Putney were no longer available to row because of March scholarships. When rowing began again in the middle of February, trial eights were run for a week instead of the fortnight origina lly planned, and the idea of a third eight had to be abandoned for this term. The crews for the Schools' Head were chosen after the trial week, thus leaving about three weeks before the race. During this period, the lst VIII made slow progress; they found it difficult to get on their feet and never really learned to cover their blades properly, but they worked cheerfully and improved towards the end of training. The 2nd Vlll, after an unpromising start, made rapid progress and developed into a rough, but cheerful and hard-working crew, so that by the time of the race, there was little to choose between the pace of the crews. The Schools' Head of the River Race, from St. Paul's boathouse to Westminster School boathouse, was rowed on Tuesday, March 16th, in cold, blustery conditions. Choppy water and a stiff head wind made the start and the first half-mile unpleasant going, but from Harrods' to the finish, conditions improved. The 1st VIII, starting 7th, got their boat away well, but for the most part, it was a disappointing row. The bladework became ragged, and the crew lacked the life which they had shown in the last few days of training, so that they were placed 14th in the final order, which is based on timing. The 2nd VIII, who were the second clinker boat to finish, were placed 11th and are to be congratulated on a spirited row. The race, for which there were 57 entries, was won by Winchester A for the second year in succession. Our thanks are due to Thames R.C. for their hospitality at the time of the race, and a lso to Mr. Lynch, for arranging the transport of the boats to Putney. Crews: 1st Vlll: R. H. C. Symon, bow ; R. L. S. Fish lock, 2; N. M. S. Brown, 3; A. J. Briggs, 4; P. G. R oberts, 5; P. J. Allen, 6; G. M. Lynch , 7; R. N. B. Thomas, stroke; M. N. Doidge, cox.
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2nd VIII : M.D. H. Peacock, bow; P. J. Van Berckel, 2; D . E. Mellish, 3; D. A. R. Poole, 4 ; P. R. Leggatt, 5; T. M. Orr-Ewing, 6; J. P. Moss, 7; R. L. Bates, stroke; H. A. S. Bancroft, cox. It is too early to say much yet about next term. The 1st and 2nd VIlis will enter for a programme of regattas similar to last year's, and a 3rd VIII will enter for the 3rd VIII and Colts' Regatta at Pangbourne. There is clearly much to be done before the 1st VIII reaches a reasonable Henley standard, which will mean much hard work and concentration on bladework. The crew will be lighter than last year's, but there is keen material available and we look forward to an enjoyable season's boating.
RUGGER SEVEN-A-SIDES This term we welcome Mr. Colin Fairservice, an acknowledged expert o n this particular perversion of Rugby Football ; and under his experienced management a team is to be sent to compete in the Richmond Tourna ment on 31st March and 1st April. It would not do to hope for too much at the first attempt, especially since the team has been somewhat weakened by the claims of the Oxford H ockey Festival; but we wish them every success.
COLTS Bad weather cut down the programme for this term. The team showed considerable skill and enthusiasm in winning two good games against some large opponents. Results:Feb. 13. Dover County School 1st XV. Won, 33- 8. 20. Maidstone Grammar School. Won, 5-0. Colours were awarded to: Snell ; Read, Blake Agnew, Paterson; Vincent, Graham, Sainsbury; Aylotl, Farrant, Campbell, Robinson, Whittington (Captain), Hutton, Sargent, Barwell. B.J.M.S.
J UNIOR COLTS The weather this term has reduced the number of matches to three; a ll were easy victories, and allowed the team to practice open football on each occasion. The backs, with Burnham much improved at standoff and Williams at last solving the problem of the left wing three-quarter, showed greater pace and more intelligence than in the games befo re Christmas, and, on the whole, they promise well for the futu re. The fo rwards, with faster heeling, surpassed their already fi ne earlier form. Those who have played regularly in this year's unbeaten team a re: J. A. Tum or, J. A. G . Stewart, J. Kearin, J. W. Boekmann, P. S. Burnham, D. J. Williams, M. T. Thorburn, C. A . Morgan, B. D. Foord, B. A. Isbill, H. A . .Brown, R. H. T. Dawkins, P. W. Niblock, T. J. Chevenix-Trench, I. C. Potter, and J. M. B. G ingell. Of these Potter, N iblock and Foord, in addition to C hevenix-Trench and Thorburn, have o n occasion borne the burden of captaincy. M. R. Jenner, C. W. Yates, C. 0 . Barber a nd S. J . Laine have also played. The results this term have been : Feb. 13. D over County G rammar (Away). Wo n, 33-3. 20. R.M.S., Dover (Away). Won, 14-0. 27. Aylesham County G rammar (Ho me). Won, 96-0. J.G.O.
U NDER 14 XV The team, almost the same as that of last term, played only two matches this term. Results:Peb. 20. R.M.S., D over (Away). Lost, ~9. 7.7. Maidstone G .S. (Home). Lost, ~11.
THE C ANTUARIA N
MINOR SPORTS SQUASH RACKETS This game, which has been somewhat neglected in the past, has aroused great keenness thls season. There have been la rge entries for the Open and Under 16 Competitions, and matches were played against Ha rrow, Marlborough and Tonbridge. Although we were beaten in each case the standard of play has improved enormously, and we hope for better things in the future. The team (and many others) are indebted to Mr. D. W. Ball for his encouragement and hard work in coaching. Team : D. C. Moor (Captain), R. A. Lawrence, P. J. Allen, W. H. Woolston, R . Collingwood.
FENCING This term the Club received a severe set-back in the loss of its Captain through illness; although his deputies were capable, they were too inexperienced to warrant any real hope of great success. We were defeated by Tonbridge a nd the City of London ; we have yet to meet Eastbourne and Harrow. Nevertheless hopes for the future arc raised by the addition of C/Sgt. Hurst to our permanent Staff. The team has consisted of: Foii- W. H. Woolston, G. M. Lynch, P. K. W. Cashcll, A. P. G. Sta nleySmith. Sabre- W . H. Woolston, D . H. Livesey, J. M. Skinner.
BOXING CLUB On the whole the Club has had a successful term, although the results of the matches cannot show how close the contests were:Feb. 27. St. Lawrence, Ramsgatc. Lost, 3-4. Mar. 6. Tonbridge. Lost, 5- l . 10. City of London. Drawn, 3- 3. 17. Eastbouroe. Lost, 5-3. We are, as always, most grateful to Mr. Gross and C/Sgt. Hurst for their constant help and advice.
POPLAR WINDS Bending and swaying in the bighhorsed wind, the trees Spring-green bow over the trotting road Between long hedges of thorn-white, where the corn showed In gaps behind bends its ears to the breeze; They lea n their tops together like wise old men Nodding and conversing, while the streaky clouds Stream jostling overhead, in tatter and shrouds Of torn white before the gusting wind ; then Bare through branches the poplar wind sighs Thin, cold and shaking the rain down, dries The tall trees as the midnoon sun glimmers Through a mist of damp in the sullen spring skies: N ow wilder sways and faster, damp, flies The poplar wind, as springnoon draws dimmer. THEOCRJTUS,
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C.C.F. NOTES Training this term has proceeded normally as far as the weather has allowed; we made use of films on one parade but generally we have been able to work out of doors. The Field Day is still to come, and will, I hope, take the form of .303 shooting at Lydden Spout Range for "A" Company and No. 5 Platoon, and training around the School with miniature range shooting for the junior platoons. Training for the Artillery Section has been rather better organised this term, and the Signal Platoon are lucky to have Mr. J. G. Sugden to take them, in place of Mr. Waddell who left last term; he had a long experience of Signals in the War, finishing up as a major in Ceylon. This term, however, is chiefly memorable as being R.S.M. Marshall's last term with the Corps; he came to the School in October, 1921, and for 32t years he has served it with the greatest loyalty and devotion. Very many O.K.S. will have affectionate memories of "Barch", and if they read the O.K.S. Report, they will find a way of giving that regard a practical form. It is good to know that he is not leaving the School, but, having always been an enthusiastic gardener, he is going to continue working here with the groundsmen's staff. He is being succeeded by Colour-Sergeant Hirst, who has for two years instructed the Fencing Club. He joined the Royal Marines in 1926, and after seeing something of the Spanish Civil War from the sea, served most of the War in H. M.S. Valiant in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, at Oran, Malta and Crete. In 1943, after a spell in the Indian Ocean, he returned to England, where he served till h is discharge this February. He fenced for the Navy and the Combined Services between 1947 and 1953, and for England in 1951, and at various times has been in the Navy teams for swimming, hockey, soccer and athletics (pole vault, javelin, weight and hammer). CERTIFICATE "A", Part II, 9th March, 1954.-The following passed, in order of merit: R. A. Smith, N.J. Steward, A. J. Hamilton, N. H. Cooper, R. J. W. Sainsbury, P. R. Gourmand, R. D. Stuart, M. J. Gregory, J. C. Trice, S. Collier, C. S. Stevens, P. J. S. Furncaux, T. B. Phillips, H. B. Waynfortb, T. J. Osborne, G. A. Mickleburgh, G. W. Newkey-Burden, J. C. Alabaster, R. A. Lane, J. K. Morriss, M. F. Sparrow, C. W. Watkins, C. D . Sladen, P. J. Snow, D. A. Goate, K. S. Adams, R. J. Cornwell, A. D. Jenkins, R. B. P. Linton, B. G. H. Page-Thomas, P. F. Valpy, A. J. Agnew, P. B. Harding, J. W. S. H. Young, D. H. Ogilvy, T. I. Hurst, J. J. C. Mallinson, G. H. D. R. Chapman. Four failed. In Part I, on the same day, 47 passed and three fa iled. PROMOTIONS.-These were made to the ranks stated with effect from 19th January, 1954: Sgt. M.D. H. Peacock, Sgt. D. A. R. Poole; L/Sgt. J. H. Cobb, L/Sgt. H. R. J. Hoare, L/Sgt. T. H. Pitt, L/Sgt. W. T. Lamb; Cpls. B. A. R. Duerinckx, R. C. Richardson, T. J. Aldington, J. W. E. Thatcher, W. E. S. Thomas; L/Cpls. R. G. Adams, R. M. Blackall, M. Fisher, R. L. Holford, P. Leggatt, J. F. Love, D. E. Mellish, J. C. Rear, R. M. Sutton, E. J. Smalman-Smith, J. P. B. Walker, M. J. C. Weller, F. D . Woodrow, K. H. Bingham, R. Collingwood, D. B. Hughes, R. N. Murch, S. L. M. Sander, B. A. J. Walshaw. K.A.C.G.
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RETROSPECT The new Sergeant Instructor found the Corps paraded on the asphalt of the Mint Yard; the whole School, 180 or so of them, were a ll there in khaki tunics, breeches and puttees, and peaked caps, for every boy had to be in the Officers' Training Corps in 1921, when Sergeant John Marshall first came to King's. The Headmaster, Mr. Latter, had previously commanded it, but now Mr. Egerton-Jones ran it, and handed over some years later to Mr. Reynolds. Three separate periods of an hour during each week gave time for the usual basic training, of Map Reading, Tactics and Weapon Training, though the recruits had nothing but drill for their first term. The Gym was used for miniature range shooting three times each week, and the Armoury was in the ground-floor room the other side of the Grange Passage which now leads to Walpole House. The first two years' training led to a Certificate "A" which was divided into a practical part and a theoretical part, and when that was passed the young N.C.O. found his place in training the others: there was no other choice. Much of that training took place on the Old Park, and once a year at least, a glorious battle took place among the forces of King's, Tonbridge, Dover, St. Lawrence and Sir Roger Manwood's, generally on the Old Park: the staff set the exercise, but subsequent developments usually passed beyond their control, and various unmilitary incidents occurred. The St1mmer Ca mps were held either in Wiltshire or Aldershot, or at Strensall in Yorkshire, where all the training was run by the regular staff, and contingen_t officets merely did what they were told. It was in 1935 that the Corps acquired the present Armoury, while it a lready had a proper Miniature Range, opened by General Mullins, who presented the House Shooting Cup. The training, too, was better organised on one whole afternoon a week, and the numbers, which had dropped to 120 or so when it was ruled that boys could no longer join before they were fifteen, began to rise again. One of the most noticeable changes, from breeches and puttees to battledress, took place when the School was in Cornwall, and the Corps was naturally much limited in its activities. The School platoon of the Home Guard functioned as part of the St. Austell Battalion, quite separately from the Junior Training Corps. The training was carried out on the golf course, but there were no camps or proper field days; but Certificate "A" had taken its present form of Part I and Part II. With the School's return to Canterbury in 1945, the J.T.C. began to pick up its numbers of cadets, and wi th only two officers, much work fell on the Sergeant-Major. The Uniform Store was instituted, so that uniforms were no longer kept in houses, and, with the rise in numbers to 180, more r ifles were acquired for the Armoury. The most immediately obvious change occurred in 1948, when the J.T.C. was changed to the Combined Cadet Force, and the King's Contingent started a Royal Naval Section and a Royal Air Force Section. A Signal Platoon was already just formed, and with addition of an Artillery Section in 1952, the present pattern of organisation and training was complete. Through all the changes, of form and of personnel, one figure remained, constant and unchanged throughout thirty-two and a half years, R.S.M. John Marshall, late Sergeant of The Buffs. K.A.C.G. 376
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OBITUARY ffiNTON ERNEST BATEMAN (1873- 75) Dr. H. E. Bateman died at Micklegate, Yorkshire, on February 9th, after a long and courageo us fight against fa il ing health. He was 94 years of age. Hinton Ernest Batema n (1873-75) received his medical training at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London, where he qualified in 1883. In 1886 he started wor king at the Dispensary in York and practised throughout his long life in that city. He is still remembered in York as an impressive figure riding in a brougham in winter and a victoria in summer to visit the many eminent people who were his patients. He became a pioneer of radi ology, and during the 1914-18 war worked unceasi ngly at the Military Hospita l in York as a radiologist. In consequence of exposure to irradiation by the inadequately screened a pparatus of those days he became a victim of progress in his own branch of med ical science. As the years went by he had numerous operations, and finally, when he was 9 1 yea rs of age, his left arm was amputated. H e bore his trials with admira ble courage and showed a strength of character worthy of the J1ighest traditions of his profession. Dr. Bateman was married twice and had two sons, one of whom entered the medical profession, and the other served in the Forces as an Army chaplain. He had the sadness to lose both sons in the course of his lifetime. His wife, who nursed him courageously throughout his long illness, survives him.
THE RIGHT REV. N. V. HALWARD, M.c., (19 12-16) T he Right Rev. N. V. Halward, M.c. (1912- 16) died peacefully at a Walmer Nursing Home on December 17th, 1953, after a long illness. At his funeral, the Right Rev. G. F. Allen (Bishop of Egypt, 1946-52, and now Principal of Ripon Hall, Oxford) gave a short address, in which he mentioned his view that Christian funerals had been allowed to become far too sad. And, while sympathising with his mourners, we cannot but agree that Bishop Halward's peacefu l death was the perfect culmination of a fine Christian's career on this earth. True, a t the age of 56 he might have been expected to have some future ahead of him, but, in all fairness, it is unlikely. Like so many who have passed through this School, his brilliant career in the ministry raised him early to a bishopric, and he was consecrated Assista nt Bishop of Hong Kong and South China (Canton), and later of British Columbia. He retired to Kent, his family's county, and, whilst he could, he lived the life of a fine gentleman a nd a Christian one. The extent of his ecclesiastical activities may be best calculated by the numbers present at his funeral, including Chinese clergy, Hong Kong clergy, a nd representatives from the Mission to Seamen, the Church Missionary Society, the Imperia l Headquarters of the Boy Scouts' Association, and the Canterbury Cathedral Old Choristers' Association. 377
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O.K.S. NEWS (The Hon. Secretary, cfo M essrs. Clemetson and Co., 34 Pencester Road, Dover, would welcome information for inclusion in the O.K.S. News. N.B.- Changes of address should be notified to him and not to the Editor.)
The O.K.S. Dinner will take place at The Connaught Rooms, London, on Thursday, 6th May, 1954. Details can be obtained from W. C. Young, Fair Acres, Tydecombe Road, WarHngham, Surrey. J. W. ALLISON (1943-48) is serving as Signal Officer, 1st Bn. The Gloucestershire Regiment. He goes to Hythe on a Course in April and hopes to go abroad in August. J. R . C. ARMSTRONG (1946- 51) is serving with The Black Watch and hopes to pass his WOSB in the near future. K. D. AGNEW (1946- 53) is at Mons Cadet School, Aldershot, together with S. N. BURBRIDGE (1948-53) and D. G. GlUFFITH (1947-53). These three are Gunners and C. W. FREYER (1948-53) and G. F. NASI-I (1948- 53) are also there as Sappe1s. T he latter is soon going to Chatham to complete his training. W. J. BACON (1949-53) has finished his " other rank" training and was a member of the Champion Squad; he goes to Sandhurst this mo nth. E. H. T. BAYLIS (1947-53) returned fro!TI Pakistan just when winter began in England, and is now with the Royal Signals at Catterick. J. H . L. BREESE (1937-42) asks the Headmaster to encourage younger O.K.S. to turn up at the monthly O.K.S. suppers. He is taking a party of Classics specialists to Rome in April. J. P. BuLL (1943-46) is in the Export Division of Ford Motors. We congratulate D. N. BuRRELL (1909- 12) on the award by the President of Brazil of the Order of the Southern Cross in recognitio n of his services to Anglo-Brazilian friendship while Secretary of the Brazilian Chamber of Commerce and Economic Affairs in Great Britain from 1943- 52. He was presented with the insig nia of the Order by the Brazilian Ambassador in January. A. L. CHICK (1920-22) has been ser ving as Fiscal Commissio ner in Nigeria, and is now acting as Chairman of a team sent by the Internatio nal Bank to make a general economic survey of Malaya and Singapore. D . CLIFT (1947-53) is in the R.A.F. training as a pilot; he finds the life extremely active and interesting; he has played Hockey for the Station team and had a little Fencing. At the Reception Unit at Cardington he met J. C. D UNN, P ETER DAWSON, J. W. NORTON, M. H. ROBERTS and J. A. D. MACMILLAN. R. P. M. DAVIES (1946- 51) when last heard of was at the Guards' D epot at Caterham and hoping to pass his WOS.B for the Life Guards. H. J. FRAMPTON (1947- 52) is seeing ma ny parts of Malaya and finds the experience most interesting. M. J. H. GIRLING (1928- 33) who has been Town Clerk of Bury St. Edmund s since January, 1952, has been appointed Town Clerk of Tunbridge Wells from May next. 378
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We congratulate T. L. !REMONGER (1930- 34) on his election to Parliament as Member for North Ilford at the bye-election in January. J. L. A. GIMBLBTI (1947-52) is still with the R.A.F. at Changi, Singapore, where R. H. KNIGHT (1928-32) now a Squadron Leader, R.A.F., has recently arrived . The latter reports that M . F. CowAN (1947- 51) is commissioned in the R .A.F. Regiment. J. C. HARDING (1946-53) is serving with the R.A.M.C. J . A. B. D ENTON (1946-50) is Captain of Hockey at Hertford College and has been playing for the Occasionals. He is now reading E ngineering and still indulges his passion for mountaineering. Last August be went climbing in the Oetztal valley and led a new North face climb, which he was relieved to finish in one piece. P. C. F. BASSETI (1944-49) is teaching in a School at Reading, studying the Oboe at the Guildhall School of Music and taking his A.R.C.M. examination in June. He hopes to start a four-year course at Goldsmiths' College next October. J. D. D. PORTER (1947-52) has been withdrawn from Aircrew for medical reasons and is now in the Secretarial Administrative Branch. D. D. RENNIE (1929-34) is Director of Production with the Chad Valley Group of Companies in the Midlands. K. V. JONES (1938-41) recently wrote hls first complete film score f01 a documentary for Shell-Mex. His Wind Quintet has recently been broadcast and a String Quartet has had its first London performance. I. N. A. JoNES (1947-51), who is in the Royal Fusiliers, has served in Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and the Canal Zone, and hopes shortly to pass his WOSB. SIR LESLIE JosEPH (1919-23) is very active in the rebuilding of Swansea and is a prominent member of the new company formed to take over the Festival Gardens funfair; he was in charge of the Festival Gardens in 1951. D. H. KENNEDY (1947-52) is serving as Midshipman R.N.V.R., a nd has been in H.M.S. Roebuck on the Mediterranean Station, but was expecting when he wrote to be transferred to a very much smaller ship. We apologise for the error in the last issue of The Cantuarian regarding D. LEPINE (1942-46). He is Director of Music at Dean C lose School, Cheltenham, and not at Cheltenham College. M. J. LEWIS (1943-7) after obtaining an Honours Diploma at Faraday House did a graduate app1enticeship with G .E.C. Ltd. at Birmingham. He is now serving in the Fleet Air Arm and training as an Observer. C. J. JARMAN (1947-51) is on the same course. He has been in touch with M . D. BRISTOWE (1944-7), who is training as a pilot and with R. A. BEDINGFIELD (1942-7), who is rubber-planting in Kedah, Malaya. M. G. LUPTON (1947-52) is serving with the R.A. TI'!B MosT REv. H. W. K. MowLL, (1905-09), Archbishop of Sydney and Primate of Australia who was awarded the C.M.G. in the New Year's Honours List, recently received the insignia of the Order from the hands of H.M. The Queen at Sydney. J. G. MACARTNEY (1943-46) finds a business life unsatisfying and hopes to enter the Colonial Service in Kenya. 379
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G. D. LINDLEY (1939- 47) has been appointed to a legal Probationersh.ip in the Colonial Service. C. J. M c CLEERY (1948- 52) passed his 1st M.B. last summer. At St. Thomas's one of the O.K.S. whom he met was J . C. MACMILLAN ( 1944-48), who was his fag-master. R. W. L. MURPHY (1941-42) is Director of The English School at Canea Crete which is sponsored by the British Council. H e has a lso been reviewing poetry and criticism in The Times Literary Supplement the Spectator a nd other papers. He tells us that his brother C. J.D. MuRPHY (1939-42) was ma rried in Jamaica at the end of January, but sends no details. J. W. NORTON (1947-53) hopes to specialise in F ighter Contr ol while with the R.A.F. L. F. PARIS (1898- 1903) was recently elected Chairman of the Solicitors' Benevolent Association. He hopes that all O.K.S. Solicitors who a re not a lready members of the Benevolent Association will j oin forthwith. M. C. PATTERSON (1948-53) has been elected lo the Edmund Davis Exhibition at Middlesex Hospital Medical School. J. R. L. PETHERBRJDGB (1950-53) is with a firm of Shipping Brokers, having obtained the post through the Public Schools' Appointment Bureau. J. W. RIDSDALB (1915- 23) is Solicitor to Imperial Chemical Industries. K . G. STUART (1944-48) has been working for an Insurance firm since¡ corning down from Oxford but hopes to get into a Government Depa1 tment which is an off-shoot of the War Office-civilian but not Civil Service. C. WoRSFOLD (1916-22) is Assistant Queen's Proctor. From the St. Edmund Hall Magazine, which seems to be better informed than we are in some cases we glean the following :J. R. ALLCHURCH (1943-48) has been appoi nted to a traineeship with British Insulated Callenders' Cables Ltd. \ J . R. DowNES (1943- 48) has joined the staff of the Media Department of Messrs. J. Haddon & Co. Ltd. Advertising Agents. A. B. CURRY (1945- 50) is preparing for ordination at Wells Theological College. M. B. FosTER (1944-47) is registered as a Student-in-Accounts with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario, with a view to membership. P. R . SNOXALL (1946- 50) has joined the firm of J. Holt & Co. Ltd., Liverpool. THE REv. A. T. RousE (1930-33), became Vicar of St. John's, Torquay in February. Previously he was Chaplain to the British and American Consulates in Pa lmero, Sicily; and, more recently, has been doing a considerable amount of religious broadcasting.
O.K.S. Dance The next Dinner Dance will be held at the Rembrandt Rooms Kensington on 29th October, 1954. 380
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o.K.S. Golfing Society The team is drawn against Sherborne in the first round of the Halford Hewitt Cup. The Spring Meeting wi ll be held at Knole Park Sevenoa ks, on Saturday, 22nd May. ll is hoped that as many members as possible will turn out. The Society is growing, but there is plenty of room for more members. The Hon. Secretary, G. Arnold, 1· Chasewood Avenue Enfield wm, be glad to supply details. ENGAGEMENTS PORRITT- Hows.- Peter Norman Porritt (1937-41) to Mary Veronica H owe. BULL- WA LTHEW.- Patrick J . F. Bull (1943-46) to Jacqueline Walthew. SWAYNE-BARDER.- Timothy C. B. Swayne ( 1944-49) to Jean Barber. MOFFATT-LBESE.- Robin F. Moffa tt (1945- 50) to Patricia Leese. MBBK-CORNELL.- Ian Kingsley Meek (1938- 41) to Elizabeth Laura Cornell. MARRIAGES WR!GHT-LADRUM.- On 2nd May, 1953, in Hong K ong, J. C. Wright (1941-45) to Rosemary Ann Labrum. ALLISON- HACKETT.-On 29th December, 1953, James W. Allison (1943-48) to Barbara Lindsay Hackett. BIRTHS CusHMAN.-On 16th Ja nuary, 1954, to Jane and Jeffrey Cushman (1940- 44), a daughter, Julia. FosTER.- On 14th January, 1954, toM. B. Foster (1944-47), a daughter, Elizabeth Ann. HuosON-EVANS.- On 13th January, 1954, to Winifred (nee Groom) and Dr. Michael Hudson-Evans ( 1929- 32), a son, Simeon, brother to Timothy, Sarah and Jonathan. PuTTlFER.- On 16th March 1954, to Patricia, wife of J ohn D. Pettifer, (1935- 39), a son. CoLLIBR.- On 22nd November, 1953, in Tripoli (Lebanon), to June (nee Hall) wife of J. V. Collier (1936- 40) a son, Stephen Jo hn.
CORRESPONDENCE The Mint Yard. 26th February, 1954. To the Editors o[THE CANTUARIAN. Sirs, There is in this School a custom of giving three cheers after entertainments and lectures to indicate the School's appreciatio n of the performance. Is it no t time that this rather juvenile custom was abolished, since the School seems quite capable of showing its appreciation by spontaneous applause. It seems to us that this custom cheapens the performance, especially after operas and recitals. We remain, Yours, etc., R .G.S. R.A.G.o'E.W. N.B.W. 38 1
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THE CANTUA RIAN Galpin's House. 15th March, 1954.
To the Editors of THE CANTUARIAN. Dear Sirs, For some years now there has been gross overcrowding in the Chapter House for the School Concerts and Ho use Plays. We feel that it is now time to decide whether these functions are for the entertainment of the School or the general public. While a ppreciating that friend s and relatives may naturally wish to attend, it is only too obvious that there is insufficient room for both .the School and the public. As improved accommodat ion is not likely to materialise for some litt le time, a solution should be fo und. If more than a certain number of guests is expected the School should be informed beforehand that attendance will be voluntary. While understanding that whatever solution is devised, some hardship is bound to occur, we d o feel that the present state of affa irs is unjust, as it is fo r the School that these entertainments are arranged. It is surely undesirable that members of the School who wish to be present sho uld have to be excluded. Yours sincerely, R.A.G.o'E.W. M.J.M. P.B.K. J .E.L.S.
OUR CONTEMPORARIES The Editors gratefully acknowledge receipt of the following contemporaries, and apologise for any inadvertent omissions:Ampleforth Journal, Ban¡ovian, Bilton Record, Bryanston Saga, Campbe/lian, Cholmelian, Chronicle, Denstonian, Dovorian, Forrest School Magazine, Felstedian, Glenalmond Chronicle, Gresham, Hall School Magazine, Haileyburian and !.S.C. Chronicle, Hurst-Johnian, Impala, Kent College Magazine, Lorettonian, M amvoodian, Marlburian, Milner Court Chronicle, Novaportan, Ousel, Roffens ian, Stonyhurst Magazine, Windmill, Worksopian, Radleian, Ampleforth Journal, Lancing College Magazine, Crambrookian.
LATIN CROSSWORD SOLUTIONS
Trans.-1, Horatius; 8, Ira; 9, Et tu ; 10, Catilina; 12, Ts; 13, Solos; 15, Ne; 16, Cicero; 20, Eris; 21, Aetlter. De.-1, Hie iacc; 2, Oras; 3 and II , Rat is; 4, Telo; 5, It in; 6, Ut non; 7, Suasere; 14, Acie; 17, Ira ; 18, Est; 19, Ope. 382
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FROM THE PARROT HOUSE Wise headmasters never arrange much for the so-called Spring term, knowing that epidemics and bad weather often combine to make their plans unfulfillable. We have had our fair share of trouble at Milner Court during the last few weeks. The frost and snow, followed by rain, fell on the just and unjust alike. As a result, we have not played many games of Rugger ; which is a pity, as we do not play the game for very long anyway. We have so far had two matches, and 'two more are in prospect. That against the Duke of York's under 13! XV was not such a poor exhibition as the score against us (29- 0) might suggest. But our opponents had the advantage of experience. They had played Rugger all last term, while Soccer was claiming us with some success. The first match against Westbrook House we also lost. Here the teams were better matched. Our opponents, like ourselves, play Rugger only in the Spring term. There was no score in the first half, but in the second half their greater experience told. We await the return match, on our ground, and our match with Bettesha nger, with interest. A highlight of the early part of the term was the visit to the Everest film, and a byproduct of this was a perfect flood of pictures of mountain peaks, Tensing, Hillary and Hunt, and even Abominable Snowmen wherever one looked in the Art Room . The projected Variety Show fell a victim to the influenza epidemic, not indeed because boys were ill, but because the producer had to face the job of keeping the school timetable going when two masters caught the germ, followed shortly by two more. So we sajd good-bye to any chance of a performance of that old friend, The Crimson Coconut, by Ian Hay, and a new thriller by Philip Hollingworth- new to us- The Stroke ofTwelve. The actors were disappointed, but rehearsing thus far had been fun. The band and orchestra are, at the moment of writing, busy practising for two concerts. We join again in the Combined Schools' Orchestras concert in Simon Langton's hall on March 20th, and we repeat some of the ite ms then played at a concert of our own in the Barn, on March 23rd, when we do our share of commemorating Lord Milner's centenary. This will be in the presence of Lady Milner, and distinguished guests, who are coming to see the use to which we now put Lord Milner's home. Again we have to blame 'flu and colds for the absence, from time to time, of important players. All the same, we have hopes of assembling enough people enough times to do ourselves justice. W.H.O.
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CONTENTS I'AOI!
EDITORTAL THE SCHOOL VIRTUTE FUNCTI MOR E PAT RUM DUCES VALETE SA LVETE ... THIS AND T HAT TH E MI LNER CENTENERY CELEBRATIONS TH E MILNER CENTENERY .. . A TWELFTH CENTURY PAINTING UNDER THE GREEN COU RT GAT E NOTHING AT ALL WILLIAM SOMNER HISTOR IES, BOOK IX ... TH E A RT OF THOMAS ROWLANDSON ... TH E FOOD OF THE GODS ... SALVETE PUERI! FR EDERI CK ROLFE, BARON CORVO BACON VERSUS SHAKESPEAR E ... REASON AND RELIG IOUS PROBLEMS AN AME RICAN AT KING 'S ... " I CAME, I SAW, I PONDERED!" ... TH E SCHOOL CONCERT TH E BAND CONCERT ... CLOU D CAPP' D TOURS HOUSE DRAMA ... ANTONIN DVORAK AND LEOS JANA CEK TH E YALE GLEE CLUB BOOK R EVIEWS .. . TH E SOCIETI ES .. . THE LlBRARY .. . OLD MEMOR IES .. . TENN IS SWIMM ING THE BOAT CLUB CRICKET ... ATHLETfCS RUGGER ... C.C.F. NOTES SONS OF O.K.S. O.K.S. NEWS OBITUA RY ... TH E SCHOO L ROLL CORR ESPONDENCE MILNER COURT ... OUR CONTEMPORARI ES Coutiuued overleaf
387 390 391 391 391 392 398 399 404 405 406 408 41 0 414 417 419 424 426 436 442 444 444 446
447 450 454 454 457 457 459 459 460 460 463 474 476 476 478 479 482 482 484 485 486
POEMS :SUMMER SUMMER STOR MS ... NOX PERPETUA DREAM AGA IN EVER EST PEARLS OF A PESSI M I ST FOUR ASPECTS OF T H E YEAR ANONYMOUS DEPARTURE HYPOTH ETI CA L NOSTALG I A RH ODESIAN SONNETS WAYS AND MEANS F~T E ... ILLUSTRATIONS:TH E H EADMASTER'S PO RTRA IT TH E DEAN 'S STEPS TWELFT H CENTURY PAINTING TH E NORM AN STAIRCAS E BY T H OMAS ROWLANDSON COU RTYA RD OF AN INN BY THOMAS ROWLANDSON T H E ASSEMBLY HALL ... THE F IRST EI G HT ... HENLEY : T H E PRINCESS ELIZABETH C HA L LENGE CU P THE F IRST ELEVEN PR IO R SELLING EGATE AND T H E CATHEDRA L
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THE HEADMASTER from a portrait by Mr. Antony Devas
THE CANTUARIAN VoL. XXV.
No. 6
JULY,
1954
EDITORIAL From time to time this Editorial is given up to our own magazine, to appraise its aims, define its policies, and lay down its principles. That we choose to do so again does not mean that these things have changed, although new editors must introduce some new ideas. Nor can we hope to quiet for long the voices of those whose views on how The Cantuarian ought to be produced, or even is, do not coincide with ou r own. But to have formulated our opinions and reduced them to writing, will be of advantage not merely for our own reference and quotation, but for the reader's greater appreciation of the contents; of which, we sometimes feel, much is lost, not for want of interest, but through a Jack of understanding and expectation. The dilemma of The Cantuarian is very evident: we would pretend to be above the stock school magazine, with its pretty poems-by¡G.C.F.(Form IV, 14 yrs.), its what-the-Fifth-Form-saw-at-Barnstaple essays, and its . preponderance of sports reports, prize lists and school social
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co mment: but at the same time we a re not o ur own masters, The Can tuarian is the School's magazine, a nd must serve in the office of reco rd , ad verti sement, and instrument of self-expressio n both for the School a nd for individuals in it. Again, we would perhaps like to produce a fine publication with some fifteen articles of historical interest or literary mer it ; a nd generally we wo uld have the resources to do so: but we must remem ber that of our readers a third are members of the School, and at leas t a nother half Old Boys or others closely co nnected with the School- at the best we could only claim to be a Precincts periodical ;- and, for our contributors, we cannot dema nd the absolute right of rejecting or editing their work on the gro und that it does not reach a required literary standard, since our responsibi lities as a school magazine forbid us to disco urage in a ny way or to distort individual composition. W e may aim as high as we wish, but we must not lose the character of a school magazine nor neglect the contents which will interest the majority of our readers.
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The difficulties are, as it happens, not great. For the most part the articles have so me connection with, or present interest for the School and those associated with it- it may be the history of the Cathedral, or an O.K.S.'s life perhaps, or some controversial topic, such as musicand it is not impossible to do justice to the School events in a proportionately smaJJ space. We may hope that the parent who looks to see the son's na me or the notice of Speech Day may be diverted by some more worth-while subject; and that the stranger who seeks to discover what magazine this is may not t hrow it down again immediately he realizes, as undoubtedly he will, that it is a school magazine. And we hope that many of the School may look a little further tha n "This and That" and the photographs- not necessarily to read every article, but to read at least some, and to glance at others. For even those articles that have no connection with Canterbury a re generally of co ntemporary interest or significance. 388
THE
C ANTUARLAN
It is our constant care that The Cantuarian shou ld not fall easily into two halves, the first counting as education and poetry- to be ignored by members of the School,- and the second including School events and sport, of little interest to other readers, but wh ich some of the School will scrutinize for flaws and criticize for tedi um. We have confessed that we cannot expect all our readers to appreciate every single pastiche or exegesis that any number may include: but of those who try most will discover a substantial amo un t of interest a nd amusement. It is not necessary that an article sho uld be illustrated with cartoon sketches before it is acceptable to the School as humorous. And for those who read The Cantuarian outside the Precincts it is possible that play reviews and reports of lectures and recitals at which they were not present may nevertheless be of interest whether for subject matter or for style. So it is that we hope to proceed by compromise and yet produce something that is not a mediocrity. It will be a val id criticism of this School if future litterateurs point out that '- -'s best early work was rejected by his school magazine', because if any school magazine has room for such work it is ours. And it will also be a valid criticism if it can be truly said that The Can tuarians of this or that period give no picture of the School. Indeed, this tradition can be carried on only as long as the School thrives and flourishes, providing insp iration and stimulating ingenuity enough to make such high criteria possible, but meanwhile nothing can come of it but success.
389
THE CANTUARIAN
THE SCHOOL Captain of the School: R. H. C. SYMON, K.S. Head of School House A. J. BRIGGS, K.S. Head of The Grange R. A. LAWRENCE, K.S. Head of Walpole House M. U. SLEE Head of Meister Omers D. C. MooR D. J. KIRSCH Head of Luxmoore House Head of Galpin's House P. G. RoBERTS, K.s. Head of Linacre House R. H. C. SYMON, K.s. Head of Marlowe House G. E. HARE MoNITORS R. H. c. SYMON, K.S., J. A. ROWE, K.S., A. J. BRIGGS, K.S., R. A. LAWRENCE, K.S., D. c. MOOR, P. G. ROBERTS, K.S., A. H. M. HOARE, K.S., D. J. KIRSCH, M. u. SLEE, J. M. BODGER, J. E. PAWSEY, G. s. SPATHIS, K.S., G. E. HARE, c. B. STROUTS, K.S., P. J. ALLEN, G. M. LYNCH. HOUSE PREFECTS The School House : R. J. BEATY-POWNALL, K. H. BINGHAM, C. N. LAINE, K.S., J. S. NYE, K.S., R. w. SPARROW, K.S., J. c. TRICE. The Grange: M. DUDGEON, M. C. HOLDERNESS, K.S., E. R. G. Jon, D. A. R. POOLE, C. R. SINCLAIR. Walpole House: R. A.M. BASTER, K.s., N. M.S. BROWN, R. J. C. CoLLINS, R. A. DEWHURST, I. M. ORR-EWING, K.S., J. ST. C. REAR, R. N. B. THOMAS. Meister Omers: J. FYFE SMITH, J. HEMBRY, P. M. KNOLLER, W. T. LAMB, R. B. P. LINTON, J. B. MORGAN, W. H. WOOLSTON. Luxmoore House : J. C. ALABASTER, J. de V. ALLEN, K.S., P. B. HARDING, D. B. MALCOM, B. G. H. PAGE-THOMAS, J. w. E. THATCHER, K.S., w. E. s. THOMAS, K.S., w. N. WENBAN-SMITH, K.S. Galpin's House: R. J. H. BAIRD, P. B. KIRKBY, C. P. LAWRANCE, D. E. MELLISH, J. E. L. SALES, R. A. G . D' E. WILLOUGHBY, K.S. Linacre House: H. R. J. HoARE, K.s., D. H. LIVESEY, I. D. MAITLAND, B. H . McCLEERY, T. H. PITT, R. C. RICHARDSON, A. G. RoDGERS. Marlowe House : J. H . CoBB, M. S. R. CozENS, K.s., M. S. REID, P. RHODES. Captain of Cricket ... R. A. LAWRENCE, K.S. Captain of Boats P. G. ROBERTS, K.S. Captain of Swimming M. FISHER, K.S. Captain of Tennis W. H. WOOLSTON The Cantuarian: Editors : THE CAPTAIN OF ScHOOL, J. de V. ALLEN, K.s., W. E. S. THOMAS, K.s. Sports Editor : J. A. ROWE, K.S. Sub-Editor: J. D. B. WALKER, K.S. Secretaries: G. S. SPATHIS, K.S., W. N. WENBAN-SMITH, K.s. 390
THE CANTUARIAN
VIRTUTE FUNCTI MORE PATRUM DUCES J. P. M. DAVIES.-Entered School, Sept., '48; Upper Sixth; House Prefect, '52; 1st XV, '53. M. J. MooRE.-Entered School, Sept., '49; Upper Sixth; House Prefect, '53; Senior King's Scholar; Shooting VIII, '51; Captain of Shooting, '52, '53, '54; CrossCountry, '54; Cadetship, R.M.A., Sand hurst, '53; C.S.M., Sept., '53. N.J. B. WRIGHT.-Entered School, Sept., '44 (J.K.S.); Senior School, May, '49; Upper Sixth; The Grange House Prefect; L/Cpl., C.C.F. and R.A.F. Section; Hon. Sec. Photographic Society.
VALETE T. H. Butler, J. Hadfield, J. K. Orchard, R. D. Stuart.
SALVETE D. S. C. Ashenden, P. F. S. Blunt, C. R. Brown, A. G. S. Douglas, H. C. S. Hall, D. G. Hazelton, P. H. Holmes-Johnson, N . M. S. Loudon, J. P. Martin, R. B. Phillips, J. Riceman, F. Webster, A. J. C. White, W. A. B. Wright.
SUMMER The tender meadow grass sweeps to the stream, In which the cows rest from the midday sun, And in the depths the grey-backed fishes flit Amid the tropic splendour of the water weeds. The rich green forest spreads its kindly shade Upon the other bank and rises till The barren jutting summit of the hill Where scaly lizards bask upon the rocks, Bakes silent in the burning summer's heat. But 'neath the trees the butterflies of light Flutter o'er the chocolate forest loam And midst the old black roots the lacy Ferns sway to the lightly dancing leaves. But soon the halo of the setting sun Spreads crimson fingers o'er the tired land The birds no longer sing. A few gold clouds On the horizon's brink tell that the day is past The night, a dark blue mantle, hides the sleeping field~ . A.N.A.B. 391
THIS AND THAT The Headmaster's portrait, painted by Mr. Antony Devas, and presented to the School by the O.K.S. Association last December, has been hanging in the Royal Academy Exhibition, where it has aroused considerable interest. It was also reproduecd in The Times Educational Supplement of May 7th. The Frontispiece
These have been the object of a good deal of attention recently. The Grange windows have all been replaced with small rectangular leaded panes, and archbishops' bearings have been inserted in some of the dormitory windows. The Oriel window of the Walpole Collection Room has also been embellished, with the arms of Pater, Maugham, and Walpole himself. And in the Parry Hall three windows have been made opposite the main entrance, looking out onto Northgate, making the hall much lighter and better balanced in appearance. Windows
General Knowledge Test
All the answers received by the Editors were of such a high standard that finally four prizes were awarded : J. D. B. Walker received a half-guinea prize, and R. A. Dewhurst, J. M. B. Gingell and S. Creswell seven and sixpenny ones.
The Cathedral Library
The new building was opened on June 18th by Lord Kilmaine, Secretary of the Pilgrim Trust, on behalf of Dr. Thomas Jones, the Chairman, who was indisposed.
Engagements
We offer our congratulations to Mr. J. G. Sugden on his engagement to Miss J. Machin; and to Mr. J. B. Wilson on his engagement to Miss A. de N. Eckhard.
The Walpole Collection
The catalogue is now completed and has been published, and copies are on sale to all at one shilling apiece. For help with the printing, which has made the catalogue well worthy of the collection itself, we are indebted to Mr. Stanley Hickson of the Canterbury College of Art.
Miss Monica Whately
Golf
The Upper School was very interested to hear Miss Whately speak early this term on the racial problem in Africa. She has lectured to us on this subject before, and we hope she will do so again.
The Kent County Junior Championship was won during last holidays by R. M. Sutton of Walpole House.
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
It was indeed a great disappointment to us all that Miss Schwarzkopf was unable through illness to give us her recital this term. In her place Mr. Gerald Moore gave us a lecture on the accompanist and his task. 392
THE
CANTUARlAN
The following list showing the order of schools who won University Scholarships Scholarships to the Universities is taken from The Times
Educational Supplement:SU CCESSFUL S CiiOOLS,
1953-54
The following schools have won five or more awards during the year ended Easter,
1954:Manchester G oSo Bristol GoSo St. Paul's o { Winchester K.E.oS., Birmingham Eton Westminster Christ' s Hospital oo o Clifton KoSo, Canterbury Kingswood oO O Marlborough Harrow Charterhouse { King Edward VII, Sheffield Merchant Taylors', London Ampleforth Radley ooo { Rugby Shrewsbury Bradford GoSo City of London Epsom oo o { Sherborne Stowe Dulwich ooo Nottingham HoSo o Repton Wellington Wolverhampton GoSo } Bedford ooo Blundell's Brentwood Liverpool Collegiate Tonbridge .. o Downside { Oundle Aldenham Beckenham and Penge G oS. Birkenhead Haberdashers' Aske's Sir J. Williamson's Mathematical Maidstone GoSo Northampton GoSo Stonyhursto William Hulme's GoSo Wyggeston G oSo 000
00 0
Cambridge Oxford Scholo Ex!lib. Schol. Exhibo Total 14 3 36 14 5
00
00 0
~
00 0
000
00 0
0
000
00 0
00 .
00 0
000
0
0
0
000
393
4
6
6
I
5
9
2
19 19 18 17 15
3 3 9 2
2 0 I 3
5 4
4
2
2
14 14 14
3 7
7
0
0
13 13 12
4
I
3 4
5 2 5 0 2
11 11 II 10 10 10 10
2
2
6 5
0 2
3 2
I 1 1
2
0 0
0 0
7
3
2
0 5
3
3
4
2
1
2
0
I
2
6
1
6 3 3 3 2 0 3 1 5
4 2
2 2
I 2
0 0
3 3
1 3
0 3
1 1
3 4 3 1 0 4 3 2
1 1
0 4
2
I 1
0 1
2 1
3 4
2
2
0 3 0
I 0 1
2 1
1 3
0
0
1 2
3 3
2
0 0
0
0
2
4
0
2
0
4 2
1 I
0
0
0
1
1 3
1 1
I
000
2
20
3
2
0 0
5
6
2
00 0
5
3
0
2
000
I
5
6
5 0
000
i
4
1 3
00 0
00 0
9 5
5 6
000
0
4
6
00 0
000
000
5
2
00 0
00 0
5
7
0
0
3
9 9 9 9 9 8 8 8 8
8 7 7 7 7 7
6 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
THE CANTUARiAN
Heard on St. Stephen's
"Now is the moment to press just a bit harder, and one of you must break the other's neck!" During April a wall was erected in place of the wooden fencing around the bath, and sun-bathing room has been increased.
The Swimming Bath
Among this term's preachers were Mr. D. L. Edwards, Mr. A. B. Curry, and Mr. R. H. Prior. We hope that it will not be misunderstood if we seem to express approval only of the more novel sermons; but we cannot fail to register our appreciation of these hitherto less frequent lay sermons which arouse so much interest in the School. Preachers
One of the term's minor excitements was a fire at Hooker's Mill, the well-known land-mark on the road to the Games Fields. The blaze could be seen clearly from the Precincts, and extensive damage was done, but the building, though gutted, was not razed to the ground, and reconstruction has started. Hooker's Mill
A General's Lot
"He sighted the canons and made sure they worked . ... " (From an essay by an 0 Level _candidate on Marlborough's military genius.)
The Nathaniel Bishop Harman Prize, established by the British Medical Association to promote systematic observation and research among consultant members of the staffs of hospitals who are not attached to recognised medical schools, has been awarded for 1954 to Dr. H. R. E. Wallis (1923- 33) for his essay on "Tuberculous Messenteric Adenitis in Children". An O .K.S. Honour
For the King's School boys the visit of the Russian Folk Dancers to the Dean was remarkable for the appearance of a Russian Embassy car whose make they could not identify. Their delight at finding the hidden machine-gun was cruelly dispelled by a passing master who pointed out that this was only the hand-brake. A Bullet in the Ballet?
We are interested to note that a new Complete Works of Shakespeare includes the play Sir Thomas More" .. .. of which Shakespeare was probably part author". To our knowledge the play has been produced only twice in recent years, by Birkbeck College in 1922, and by our own School in 1938.
A New Shakespeare Play
A Cricket Record
Congratulations to this season's opening batsmen against St. Lawrence, Ramsgate, D. J. Kirsch and D. C. Moor, who put up 191 runs to win the match without a wicket falling. This is a
School record. 394
ThE CANTUARIAN
Mr. Somerset Maugham has invited Dr. Charles Etheridge, who was at school here with him for some years, to dine with him in the Bear and Key Hotel at Whitstable this Summer. The two both lived in Whitstable and later qualified as doctors in London.
Cakes and Ale
Oxfordshire Chess
The Chess Club has long become extinct in the School, but we notice a fair number of players around; and we are pleased to hear that J. D . B. Walker was runner-up in the Oxfordshire Junior
Chess Championship. At the last annual dinner of the O.K.S. Association the Headmaster was delighted to be told by one of those present that he intended to give or bequeath to the School a not inconsiderable amount of Eighteenth Century silver to decorate the High Table in the Dining Hall. He told the Headmaster that he never used it- rarely saw it nowadays-and expressed the view that others might have suitable pieces perhaps, packed away, unlikely ever to be used again in an ordinary household, but which might well enhance the appearance of the Dining Hall! At present the High Table depends for its adornment on any trophies which may be won, chiefly by the Boat Club.
Silver Plate
From the Notice Board
"Tennis Club: No Cricket today."
Scholars : This is an interesting question. In the reigns of Elizabeth I and , Q , ? of Queen Anne, the Scholars of Canterbury were officially known King 8 or ueen s ¡ as Queen's Scholars, as may be seen on page 81 of the School's history. There is much to be said for reviving the Elizabethan tradition, even if nobody thought of it in the days of Queen Victoria. We welcome the news that Dr. Dodd, Scholar of New College, is coming to help with the Modern Languages, and the Hon. Simon Stuart of Trinity, Cambridge, to teach English. But we are sad to part with Mr. H. J. Meadows, who goes to Dartmouth for a different and wider experience; he has done so much for the School and given himself unsparingly to its welfare. Mr. B. J. M. Simpson, who started Russian teaching here, has secured an appointment at Harrow, where we wish him well. Mr. J . H. Corner becomes Housemaster of Walpole in succession to Mr. Reynolds, and Mr. D. R . Lawrence succeeds Mr. Dartington in Luxmoore. We are glad that both Mr. Reynolds and Mr. Dartington are remaining on the teaching staff. Mr. J. G. Owen takes Marlowe House from Mr. Corner, and Mr. D. W. Ball goes to Lattergate in place of Mr. Lawrence.
The Staff
Among the arrangements for nex.t term are lectures by Mr. L. A. G. Strong; Mr. Alan Pryce-Jones, the Editor of The Times Literary Supplement; the Reverend David Knowles, Professor of Modern History in Cambridge; and recitals by Maurice Eisenberg, and Benjamin Britten with Peter Pears. Professor B. Willey bas kindly promised to lecture on some aspect of English in the Lent Term, and Professor A. P. d'Entreves, with equal kindness, has agreed to talk on Dante ip that same term.
Next Term
39~
THE C ANTUARIAN
The wittingly humorous epitaph is notorious; but there are also those unintentionally amusing. For instance, the following was found on a North Devon tombstone last holidays: "Within the Silent Grave lies sleeping here A Tender Husband and a Parent dear. Alas, he's gone, released from Care and Pain Until the Trumpet Call to rise again." It does not take a great mathematician to equate the wife with the Care and the children with the Pain: one almost wonders whether he may not have written it himself, leaving it to them to inscribe on his grave.
An Epitaph
On page 278 of the School History (Woodruff and Cape) there is a report of a Latin hexameter written on the wall of what is now School House Hall, but was then the Dining Hall: "Inquinat egregios adjuncta superbia mores." (A dose of pride defiles a first class character) There is no longer any trace of the words ; but perhaps it is not too late to enquire whether any of our readers would know the source of this motto, why it was there, or at any rate what happened to it? Again, there are in a Lattergate Dormitory two Greek epigrams printed high up on the walls and still quite visible. The first, Medieval Wali-Scribblings
'Ef wp111
f' OX80 if i KII I' W TII T IU ' cci fi£ f 1t' T
0
<IVTII•
"fiJIIII/Iti CTL fiELKI' IIf ll11•11 L 1;·'} ()1 h E"(OIJ ITI f3p oTOI •
appears in the Oxford Book of Greek Verse, and is there translated: "Six hours fit labour best: and those that follow, shown forth in letters, say to mortals 'Live' ". but the other, oin w r riT aA.n c7rwpo •
To cr
11'0hh oc• ~
l;tp'}a• •
Ktll i 1r1
Ttl ho'l'"
JWhAov TpE1rO VTtll
comes from Thucydides, 1. 20, and means: "For the majority the search for truth is so careless a matter, and they turn rather to what is ready to hand." How long they have been there, and why, we cannot find out. Perhaps some O.K.S. might be able to help us in our inquiries? We have before us a copy of a Comic Latin Grammar, written, according to a note pencilled in after the Introduction, about 1840, and written, according to the same pencil, by Percival Leigh, illustrated by John Leech. This appears to have been a text book in use in the school shortly afterwards, for on the fly-leaf is written 'Wharton, 1886,' and the records show that there were two Whartons here at that time. It is interesting to think that even in the midVictorian era the urge to "make Latin fun" had overcome some earnest academician. The humour was scarcely to our taste, although to judge from some contemporary Punches it was quite advanced. The normal method of introducing it was in the form of a totally irrelevant remark or sketch, no1mally of the stock schoolroom type, or by dreary interlinguistic puns. Occasionally a "Doggerel Latin" verse appears, of which the following is an example:Latin Without Tears
THE CANTUARIAN
EXEMPLI GRATIA Musa musae, The gods were at tea, Musae musam, Eating raspberry jam, Musa mus4, Made by Cupid's mamma, Musae musarum, Thou "Diva Dearum," Musis musas, Said Jove to the Lass, Musae musis, Can ambrosia beat this? We can at least learn how their pronunciation differed from ours!
The Most Rev. H. W. K. Mowll, O.K.S., preached before the Queen The Archbishop in St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney, during Her Majesty's visit to Australia. Her Majesty also bestowed in person the C.M.G. awarded of Sydney
to the Archbishop in the New Year Honours.
The Prophet Wordsworth
Birthday Honours
" .. . . and when, returned After long absence, thither I repaired, Gone was the old grey stone, and in its place A smart Assembly-room usurped the ground That had been ours. Then let the fiddle scream, And be ye happy!" (From "The Prelude", 11, 36) We offer our sincere congratulations to Mr. Somerset Maugham on being appointed a Companion of Honour; and also to Dr. Arthur Bryant, an old friend of the School, on his Knighthood.
"No. 29 Palace St., the House immediately adjoining the Mint Yard, has been acquired for the School. It is proposed to use this as a Ago . .â&#x20AC;˘." scout Headquarters, and a museum, for the time being. Before long it is hoped that the School may be in possession of all the Palace Street site from the Mint Yard to Featherstones." (From "The Cantuarian", March 1936, on the acquisition of the present School Shop.)
"Nineteen Years
397
THE CANTUA RIAN
THE MILNER CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS It was mentioned in the last number that March 23rd was the centenary of the birth of Alfred, Viscount Milner; and on that date it was the privilege of the School to entertain Lady Milner and her guests after a special service in the Cathedral. We were very honoured by the occasion, and a t the same time it was fitting that Canterbury Cathedral which Lord Milner lived so near, and the King's School, in which he had so much interest, should be the scenes of his centenary celebrations. The Memorial Service was held in the Quire, and was attended by, amongst others boys of Milner Court, the Sixth Forms of the Senior King's School, and by Milne; Scholars past and present. The lessons were read by two O.K.S., Mr. D. L. Edwards a past M ilner Scholar and now of All Souls' College, Oxford, and a governor; and Mr. A. A. Kneller, now a ba rrister-at-law. An address on Lord Milner's life and its significance was given by the Rt. Hon. Alan Lennox-Boyd, M.P., of which the text follows. The service was followed by a luncheon party given by the Headmaster and Mrs. Shirley in the Societies' Room. Among those present were Viscountess Milner, the Earl of Selborne, Lord Hardinge of Penshurst and Lady Hardinge, the Rt. Hon. L. S. Amery, the Minister of Transport and Lady Patricia Lennox-Boyd, the Hon. Mrs. George Hardinge, the Dean of Canterbury and . Mrs. Hewlett Johnson, the Archdeacon of Canterbury, the Archdeacon of Maidstone, the Rev. Canon A. 0 . Standen, Mrs. D. Mowll, the Second Master and Mrs. Harris, the Headmaster of the Junior School and Mrs. Oldaker, Mr. and Mrs. Edward Crankshaw, Mr. a nd Mrs. Godman Irvine, Major and Mrs. J ohn Ready, Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Juckes, Mrs. l verach McD onald, the Captain and Vice-Captain of School, and past and present Milner Scholars. ln the afternoon the orchestra, choir, percussion band and military band of Milner Court gave a concert for the guests in the Sturry Barn. Earlier, Lady Milner spoke to the entire Junior School, particularly tha nking them for their welcome, and she was followed by the Rt. Hon. L. S. Amery, who estimated Lord Milner's 'greatness' and the mea ning of the word in this context. The concert was followed by tea at Milner Court. The centenary of Lord Milner's birth was widely noticed, and many tributes were received. Both the Minister of Transport and the Rt. Hon. L. S. Amery stressed that Lord Milner was to be remembered not only for his deeds- his services to the imperial ideal, his personal unification of the Allied Command of the 1914-1918 War under Foch, the foundation of the Royal Army Educational Corps, and many other achievements which will always be associated with his name,- but also for his thought and principles, and for the policies he initiated and the ideals he left behind him.
398
THE CANTUARIAN
THE MILNER CENTENARY AN ADDRESS IN CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL ON MARCH 23RD BY THE RIGHT HON. ALAN LENNOX-BOYD, .M.P. Lord Milner was born 100 years ago to-day. He died just under twenty-nine years ago. No boy for the last few school generations could have known him at all: and none even of my own age could have known him very well. I was at school when he held his last official posts. I was at Oxford when he wrote his last book. How well I remember its publication. Reading it again now it is far more help through the jungle that lies ahead than anything as far as I know that is being written to-day. Many problems face all of us, and not least those who will soon be leaving school. At times they seem overwhelming in their complexity. "I often see the jungle before me," he wrote in the South African war. "But I know that if I walk up to it in a certain way 1 shall find a path through to the other side." And where can it be more fitting through his help to try and equip ourselves to get into the right mind for the problems of our day, than here in Canterbury. For here there is a living memorial to him: in Milner Court given to T he King's School: in the Milner scholars elected each year mainly from sons of Colonial officers, and some of these themselves are now serving in the Colonial Empire. What sort of a man was he ? He once gave a Memorial address himself. He spoke of Arnold Toynbee, a great Oxford friend and pioneer social reformer. Lord Milner knew him intimately, but even he could say, and how much more true must this be of me: "I am painfully conscious that all I say may seem a mere string of words, and that I may not at all be able to call up the picture of a living man." Lord Milner was certainly a great man judged simply by the record of what he did. He was also a very great man judged by what he has left behind. I once heard a story of a small boy who was given a jigsaw puzzle by his parents: they thought it might keep him quiet for a long time. When after a couple of hours they came back, much to their disappointment he had finished it! It was a very complicated map of the world, full of all sorts of intricate pieces. On the back of it there was another picture: this time of a man. When they said: "How on earth did you manage to finish so quickly," he said, "Well, there was a picture on the back of a man: I put that together first and then I turned it the other way up. The thing is, I knew once I got the man right, the world would come right"; and where the world may seem to be going wrong, if in places his work may be said to be frustrated, perhaps we may be going wrong because we are not listening to what he said. What exactly did he do ? At sixteen, in 1870, he went walking with his father in the track of the German Army invading France. He saw what happens when a well-organised nation of trained men descends on a rich and ill-prepared one. He returned constantly to this lesson, All his 399
THE CAN TUARTAN
life he strove for a fair social system, but towards the end he said: "This country must remain a great power: or she will become a poor country, and if those who are seeking, as they are most right to seek, social improvements are tempted to neglect national ¡ strength, they are simply building their house upon sand." He then went to Oxford. ' "What is the best scholarship in Oxford?" "The first scholarship at Balliol", so I made up my mind to go in for that.' And at eighteen he got it. His first essay, based on his experience in Alsace, was "Were wars more likely to diminish as nations become more civilised?". He had no money, and no influence save his own commanding personality. "It was not so much," as a contemporary said, "this or that individual quality as the sum total of the whole and the impression of intellectual force which even as a n undergraduate he left on all who came in contact with him. It was insta nta neous." He won the Hertford, Craven, Eldon and Derby scholarships : a Fellowship at New College and the love and respect of the men who really mattered. And of the others he could say even then " Pray to God to be delivered from the fear of the opinions of those whose deeds have proved them worthless.'' And then a series of glittering triumphs. In journalism, as his editor was later to say, "Cool, true, strong, steady, lucid." The closest adviser of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Then Egypt, as financial expert; "Egypt, with", he said, " its one radical defect, it is never simple, its one ineradicable charm, that it is never commonplace- with a genius for eccentricities that no change can exorcise, a nd with Paradox rooted in the Soil.'' Then, still a young man, to run the Board of Inland Revenue. Of this a future Prime Minister was to say : "There has been nothing more fruitful of advantage to the public service." Then, with his departure involving, it was said, a loss to the revenue of millions of pounds, he went off to be Governor of the Cape Colony and High Commissioner in South Africa. Then followed a career of unsurpassed courage and distinction. And later in the first World War he is now known to have been the very centre of direction. But he was a great man not only in what he did but in the pattern of conduct that he has left behind. "I am afraid I shall never make a good party man," he said, "but I hope to make a fairly decent Englishman ." And it is with this sublime under-statement that we a re most concerned to-day.
What lessons has he left behind ? One is of absolu te application to the task in hand. Of doing what he said of Kitchener, "practising himself and enforcing upon others the highest standards of workmanlike strenuousness, indefatigable industry a nd iron perseverance," a nd if true then, how much more true to-day. "Great qualities these in a wishy-washy world.'' And the task could not be handed over until it was done: not even to be Colonial Secretary which he at that point refused. He knew with Francis Drake that " it is not the beginning of any great matter but the continuing of the same until it be thoroughly finished which constituteth the True Glory.'' When the task in Africa was over, the then Colonial Secretary, Alfred Lyttelton, wrote to him: " Jn the world of shadows I was called your political chief but in the world of realities you must know that I always thought of you as mine.'' 400
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Next all the other real attributes of greatness. Nobility of mind, charm of manner, sense of fun, absolute absence of ambitious scheming or self-conceit or pomposity. Then again the power to see problems as a whole, and when that is done it is so much easier to understand and even overcome them. One of the things that worried him abo ut politics was the lack of understanding, "the difference in size of the questions submitted to the people, so that they are capable of the same levity with regard to the biggest things as with regard to the trifles." And a problem bad enough then but worse to-day: "A system which does not separate the local and the imperial, the great and the small, and under which the pressure of day-to-day work prevents Ministers giving continuous thought and study to the vital, being eternally distracted by the local and the temporary." Not that he thought of Home Affairs as not being vital. All his life he saw social and imperial development as part of the same policy. The year he left school he met Arnold Toynbee. " At a University", he said, "young men are brimming over with interest in things and above everything else, they are intensely interested in one another." And there, he said, in Toynbee, he found "a Prophetic Power; the kind of influence exercised in all ages by men of religious and moral inspiration." They wanted to improve material standards not by discouraging self-reliance or weakening character for that they said could not possibly lead even to material well-being. They saw the danger in a modern democracy "of the estrangement of th( men of thought from the active leaders of the people." They sought to provide the informed leadership without which much of the zeal and devotion in the world would end in delusion. And not only at home but in Africa and elsewhere. When the war in Africa was over, he turned as Cecil Headlam said, " with the speed and energy of a racer who has been held up at the starting post to the stupendous task of building up a new civilisation based on clean administration and economic and agricultural development." "And by that," he said, "I should prefer to be remembered." Again, the power to see what really mattered. While most other people in the years of growing crisis and war in South Africa thought of the Dutch/English problem as the most important, to him it was the Colour question that mattered most "and nothing else is of the same seriousness." Political development at that time was rightly postponed for future decision but on other privileges he urged his fellow countrymen in Africa to take their stand on " the firm ground of civilisation as against the rotten and indefensible ground of colour." He spoke, as he said, "as a man on a Watch Tower who may see further than the man on the veldt, not because he is a better man but because of the mere accident of his topographical position." But if you are going, as he said, "to raise the mass of Africans, and mind you it will take years and years to raise them even so far as the level of your waist, it stands to reason that a certain number of them will rise to the level of your shoulder. Are you going to put back the whole progress of civilisation by banging them on the head the moment that they do so?"; and, at a time when courage of this kind in other hands could have united Dutch and English in South Africa in opposition to our policy of native protection, he firmly adopted Cecil Rhodes' saying that "civilisation, not colour, should be the test of fitness for civil rights." 401
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And he had many other new ideas too; and, as he said, there is no Pain like the Pain of a new Idea. He thought of a time when labour would hire capital, and not capital labour. He saw long ahead the problems that are worrying us: the Indian problem in Africa; Dominion and British industrial competition in world markets; the need for migration to the Empire, but its effect on our agriculture and industry here; the emergence of great countries within the Empire who do not share our race or language¡ and the pressure for self-government in Colonial territories. Of this he said, "We should by every means in our power seek to encourage it. This is the greatest, as it is the most difficult, of our duties of trusteeship. There can be no standing still in this matter. In every part of the dependent Empire, even the most backward, there is some stirring of the waters. Our business is to guide and direct the natural desire of human beings to be their own masters: not to run counter to it. We may even to some extent have to sacrifice efficiency of administration in order to promote contentment, though we cannot as honest trustees afford to sacrifice it too much. It is a matter of delicate judgment in every case." And he saw the future not least in the South Africa he knew and loved, where, as he said, "The Dutch can never owe a perfect allegiance merely to Great Britain. The British can never without moral injury accept allegiance to a ny body politic which excludes the Motherland. But British and Dutch alike could, without loss of integrity, without any sacrifice of their several traditions, unite in loyal devotion to an Empire State in which Great Britain and South Africa will be partners." And for this, as he said, we shall need "ceaseless effort and infinite patience." He was sometimes called, as if it were a criticism, an Imperialist. "The word 'Empire' and the word 'Imperial' are," he said, "in some respects unfortunate. They suggest domination and ascendancy, the will of a superior state over vassal states. But as they are the only words available all we can do is to make the best of them and to raise them in the scale of our language by a new significance." All his life the higher conception of the British Empire as a world-encircling group of nations in full and equal partnership gripped him. This "was our long assured and well testified possession, and if in stretching out after the Pax Mundi we were to let slip from our grasp the Pax Britannica we should be sacrificing the substance for the shadow." ¡ He had a continuing faith in our people; particularly in the young people. He did not think we lost all our decency, tolerance and fair p lay when we went to work or settle in British Colonies. He would, I think, have been encouraged and yet saddened by a story told me three years ago when there was much controversy over Central African Federation. The District Commissioners in Nyasaland had been asked not to give a lead but to leave the Africans to make up their own minds. An old chief went to a young District Commissioner and said : "Is Federation a good thing or a bad thing?" The reply was: "I cannot tell you, chief, whether it is a good or a bad thing: I can only tell that it is a thing." The Chief replied: "I have been a Chief for forty years and whenever I asked advice of the young English officers here and it has been a good thing they have told me so. If you do not tell me it is a good thing, it must be a bad thing, therefore I am against Federation." All of you who are what he called "at the outset of your voyage of exploration into tho task of most importance to the future of mankind, the strength and unity of the British race," will have him on your side. 402
. TH E DEAN'S STEPS
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TWELFTH CENTURY PAINTING DISCOVER ED UNDER TH E GREEN COURT GATE lN 1840 From a painting by George Austen (O.K.S.)
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He was a Nationalist: not a cosmopolitan. Not, as he said, "as a man who necessarily thinks his nation better than the other but one who thinks his duty is to his own nation and its development." It does not matter where one lives and works. All sorts of problems lie ahead. We shall have to do even more than in his day to use what he called the British trump card, "the power of our individuals overseas to fit into the most incongruous situations and make the best of limited opportunities without troubling their heads about the imperfections of systems." Many of you will, I hope, serve in the Colonies, where, apart from administration, medical and other scientific work desperately needs trained and enthusiastic minds. You can, as he said, "feel a t home wherever you are, serving directly or indirectly the interests of Great Britain." And to the others whose work lies on English soil, you will not, as he said, "cease to be ours because you have been transplanted. Our horizon must widen. That is all." In one way, anyhow, our task is different. It's much quicker to get about. When Peel became Prime Minister to Queen Victoria it took him as long to get from Italy to England as it took the Emperor Hadrian in the second century A.D. Things hurried up after that. The journey from Capetown to Southampton when Milner left South Africa would have taken about sixteen days. Seven years ago it only took seventy-eight hours to reach Johannesburg; three years ago, thirty-three ; two years, twenty-three. To-day a "Comet" is flying to Johannesburg and hopes to get there in twenty-one hours-seventeen hours flying time. One hundred years ago it took emigrants one hundred days to reach New Zealand. Someone starting to-day could be there to-morrow. Our task, as Milner said, will be aided, perhaps (if we do our part) made inevitable, by "the shrinkage of the world." To-day and for the rest of our lives we can thank God for Alfred Milner, of whom it can be as truly said, as he said of a great friend: "For every trace of his influence that ever comes to the surface there were a thousand seeds sown of which we may not recognise the fruits. All those who knew him" (whether personally or through his ideas, it is the same) "will be infinitely the stronger in the long struggle to hold fast to unselfish objects and ideal aims which the daily difficulties of life are always wearing away."
403
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A TWELFTH CENTURY PAINTING UNDER THE GREEN COURT GATE In the Cathedral Library is a large book, containing paintings of stained glass windows and other works of a rt in the Cathedral and Precincts, compiled by George Austen (1820- 90, O.K.s.). His father, George Austen senior, who died in 1848, had been the Cathedral Surveyor, responsible for the rebuilding of the N.W. Tower in 1836; he had built The Grange as a house for himself and his fami ly. He had two sons, Harry and George, both O.K.S. According to his great-nephew, Mr. Caldwell, head of the Cathedral Glass Works (whom I must thank for his information), Ha rry became Surveyor after his father and lived in what is now Walpole House, while George became a lawyer and also a glass-painter, and is now buried in St. Martin's Church. George's magnum opus was this collection of his copies of a great deal of stained glass a nd paintings which were in the Cathedral a nd Precincts in his time. It is very valuable, because it shows many items no longer in the Cathedral, and the copies are extremely well and exactly made. An illustration of one of the very interesting paintings is given here. This is a copy of a painting which was discovered under the Green Court Gate on October 18th, 1840, when the masonry under the arch on the south side was being demolished for a door to be made into Lattergate. This door can still be seen today. When the first stones were taken out, the painting was fo und, but a n ote by Mr. Austen says that the air soon destroyed it- "it lasted a bout half-an-hour after its exposure to the air, scarcely allowing time for the above sketch" . Its purpose is probably explained by the fact that at the same time a stone was discovered projecting from the wall beneath the painting. This is very likely to have been the support for an alms-box, for it was a common practice in medieval times to have paintings above these boxes in the entrance gates to monasteries. T he Green Court Gate must have been one of the most profitable positions for one in the Precincts, for it was the chief entrance to the monastery for all visitors, and later for the thousands of pilgrims to Becket's shrine. The subject of the painting, as may be seen from the illustration, is Christ on the Cross, with four other figures, two of whom are angels with most beautiful golden wings. Austen says: "it appears to be much the same style a nd date as t he more ancient of the Stained Glass in the Cathedral", and the style seems to place it in the 12th century. B. K. JEFFERY
SUMMER STORMS Over the brown hill's weeping back comes the rain Racking steadily down the granite side to the town Huddled mistily underneath, and knocks at the pane D rearily stained by tears and coursing down. The wet elms shiver like rooks in a summer storm When lightning diamonds the black-paned sky and flares At the trees cowering below, wet-hearted and warm, And at the harbour wall the great waves tear. VERRES
404
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NOTHING AT ALL I can think of nothing to write, nothing of all. When I have no need of ideas, my head is full of them. But ask me suddenly to formulate them, and my imagination fails me. I hope others suffer from this mental inadequacy. If they do not, I must have a phobia. An eager psychologist will tell me that my subconscious mind is repressed, or maybe that I am a schizophrenic. However, my "disease" has its interesting aspects. I am told that I look extreme!)' intelligent (for me) when my mind is utterly blank. Herein lies the art of sleeping with one's eyes open. Many a master has been deceived by my look of intense awareness. While the chalk on the blackboard spells out mathematical formulae of the greatest complexity, my brain is blissfully unaware tha t Pythagoras ever existed. Perhaps you will think that I have the art of deep relaxation at my finger-tips. I have not. Lay me on a cushioned couch, bring me honey and sweet nectar, lull my senses with the sweetest melody, and I remain harshly awake; I burst with ideas. When I retire to bed, I determine to convince myself that I shall fall asleep quickly: hypnotic suggestion, visualising black, counting sheep, I try them all, ancient or modern remedies as they are. It is of no avail. [ feel crystal clear, keenly perceptive, definitely awake. The remedy for this insomnia is self-evident: I should listen to something interesting-as for example, a tape-recording of my biology master explaining ectotropic mycorrhiza. The remedy for this insomnia is self-evident: I should listen to something interestingas for example, a tape-recording of my biology master explaining ectotropic mycorrhiza. During stretches of boredom, when I feel that genius could be unlocked at any moment, I look around for a piece of paper. Then cautiously I pick up a pencil, and with a nonchalant air advance towards the parchment. But it is of no avail ; directly my brain realises that it is expected to produce results, it shuts away its talent. When I am busy working, I day-dream that I am a potential poetic craftsman, a literary artist; if only 1 didn't-didn't what? Can you guess what has happened now? I can think of nothing to write, nothing at all ..... . FIGARO.
NOX PERPETUA Life is a dark summer, they say, Through which few can pass unmoved; Where storms break the beamed light, And shatter the fragile dreams of sunshine. And to each one comes that choice, Whether to endure the harsh acid rain Racking the soul- (and sears deep Black heat in torrent of pain)And thus win those crystal days That come mystic like swallows, And vanish like golden shadows to memory; Or to take the easier way, and withdraw From such uncertainty into grey safety. J.D.B.W. 405
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WILLIAM SOMNER Although there is a portrait of Somner in the Dining Ha ll, and the School's archaeological society is named after him, the majority of the School know nothing of his historical importance. There is a most enjoyable, flattering, and rather inaccurate account of his life prefixed to his Treatise of the Roman Ports and Forts in Kent, written by White Kennett. He has always been thought to have been born on either 5th November, 1598, or 30th March, 1606, but, set in the margin of a copy of Somner's Grave/kind which belongs to the Cathedral Library, one Samuel Norris, Auditor a nd Chapter Clerk, has written that according to Somner himself he was "nineteen a little before Ladyday 1626". He was the son of the Registrary Officer of the Court of Canterbury, who lived at 5, Castle Street, where 20 gold coins were recently discovered ; these coins da te from the period of Somner's youth a nd must have belonged either to him or to another of his family. When he came of age he was sent to the King's School, known at that time as the Free School, where the H eadmaster was Mr. Ludd. Somncr undoubtedly imbibed a great interest in antiquity whilst at school, and he did not follow up his education with a 'University career. In fact, this grea t schola r received his entire education from this school, where he acquired his taste for Greek and Latin and met many colleagues who were later to become great names of the century. Indeed, this century seems to have been a great one for the School both in its boys and in its scholastic standards. Amongst ¡Somner's schoolfellows was Peter Gunning, with whom he contracted a life-long friend ship. Later, when the latter was Bishop of Ely, the two men were both ardent Royalists, and both suffered financially and were imprisoned for their regardless support of the king. Of them Ken net says: "Let the School be proud of this honour, that at the same time it instructed two of the greatest men of their age and nation, one of the best of Divines, and one of the best of Antiquaries". After leaving school he became clerk to his father, a nd was soon advanced by Archbishop Laud to the office of Registrar of the Ecclesiastical Courts of the Diocese. According to Kennet, Somner carried out his duties "with prudence and integrity", but Laud mentions in his Works that Somner failed to supply the yearly report on the conduct of the clergy in the diocese. Such negligence may well have been caused by Somner's love of antiquity, for he probably spent more time in the pursuit of hiscory than in the duties of his office. Somner "much loved and much frequented the Cathedral service", and when it was over he often used to walk about in the Nave studying its architecture. At other times he would go out into the country to look for Roman roads, monasteries and Norman churches. When not engaged in historical research he would enjoy himself shooting with the long bow, which, Kennet shrewdly suggests, Somner loved as much for its antiquity as for its health and exercise. ln 1640 Somner produced his first work, The Antiquities of Canterbury, which was at that time the only extant history and description of the city. When, during the Civil Wars, the Roundheads plundered and pillaged the Cathedral, breaking all the stained glass, tombs, and other accessible valuables a nd adornments, much was completely ruined and would, but for Somner's book, be lost to our knowledge. The work was much admired by his contemporaries, a nd justly so:- it was even the subject of a Latin ode. One Dr. Meric Casaubon, who was much taken with Somner's "sagacious wit and wonderful industry in searching for the Antiquities of his country", suggested 406
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to him that he should Jearn Anglo-Saxon. Somner seems to have accepted the suggestion, and set about this extremely difficult task. At this time there was no book on the language, which was truly extinct, and Somner had to learn from old documents and a few scanty word-lists. He worked with typical determination, and when he had acquired a competent knowledge of the language he wrote Observations on the Laws of King Henry I, which was published in 1644. For some time Somner had been making collections for a History of Kent, which he was preparing to write when, in his own words, "I was overtaken by that impetuous storm of civil war, and was necessitated to betake myself to other thoughts". What Somner did for a living during the Civil War has never yet been satisfactorily explained. There are no registers for the Ecclesiastical Courts during the War, so he must have done some kind of clerking. He was a zealous Royalist, but did not apparently partake in a ny of the fighting. However, he was later roused to action and, according to Kennel, he rescued the Cathedral archives from the plundering Roundheads and collected the fragments of the demolished font, which he produced at the Restoration. In 1647 he produced A Treatise on Grave/kind, Both Name and Thing, which may prove that he was not idle in historical research during those turbulent times. He also contributed to Dugdale and Dodsworth's Monasticon Anglicorum by sending in an account of Canterbury and the religious houses in Kent. Three years before the Restoration, Dr. Meric Casaubon and many other of Somner's literary friends encouraged the antiquarian to compile an Anglo-Saxon Dictionary. Somner Jacked the money necessary for this ambitious work, but Archbishop Ussher suggested that John Spelman should bestow the annual stipend of the Anglo-Saxon Lecture on Somner. With the aid of this, Somner was enabled to compile his dictionary, which was of great use to the study of Anglo-Saxon by his colleagues and successors. For the last year or two of the Commonwealth Somner spent all his time, it seems, in local Royalist agitations. He was imprisoned for a month in Deal Castle for trying to petition for a free Parliament. At the Restoration Somner received just rewards for his loyalty. He was re-appointed Registrar of the Ecclesiastical Courts, and, in addition to this office, nominated Auditor of the Dean and Chapter and Master of St. J ohn's Hospital, Northgate. He was now in complete charge of the Archives, and doubtless spent the last years of his life in real happiness. His first wife had died just before the Restoration, but he married for a second time and raised another family. He lived in a house which used to be situated just by the Infirmary ruins opposite the Choir School, and there, beside his beloved Cathedra l in the town he had scarcely left throughout his life, he must have died a very happy ma n. C.C.W.A.
407
HISTORIES, BOOK IX. About the middle of Summer, certain of those who had been exiled invaded Guatemala. Now some say they were aided by H onduras, others by the United States; but both of these denied this implicitly. It seems to me likely, however, that those who were connected with the United Fruit Company, which indeed had just been diminished as to the extent of its property by a decree of the council, were becoming so disaffected with the government, that they were ready for anything new: also the neighbouring countries, which were for the most part governed by such as were opposed to eq uality, were probably ready to take part in any enterprise against a country which was at this time ruled by those who favoured complete equality in theory if not in practice. As soon as it became known. that the country had been invaded, the Archon at once prepared the Army a nd sent it off to face the enemy: however, conflicting reports began to circulate concerning both the number of soldiers engaged on each of the two sides and the position of the armies (for this was still uncertai n). Both sides claimed to have inflicted heavy defeats on the others, and, which seems to me to be the more improbable owing to the number of killed each side claimed, to have both slain and captured many of the enemy. Meanwhile, the citizens of the neighbouring countries and even of more distant lands were watching the situation keenly, being eager to know the result of the war, which they thought (and in my opinion r ightly) would have great effect on their plans and deliberations elsewhere and especially at Geneva. After ' th.e space of a few days, it was reported to those of other countries who were interested in the war that the invaders had begun to use machines of war against the dty itself, causing, so it was said, no little damage and also some wounds and even deaths to the citizens: however, this seems to me in the light of future happenings to have been o nly a tale invented by the enemies of Guatemala with the purpose of causing some confusion, and if possible fear, among the inhabitants of the country itself. At aboutâ&#x20AC;˘ the same time, the government claimed to have made reprisals against the invading army, using the same kind of machines, which they stationed both on the ridges and the peaks of hills, a nd to have either killed or wo unded many: and this also appears to have be~n largely a fabricated story, for it is credibly reported by such as are impartial that the machines were in number only ten, and those old and, as it were, almost worn out by excessive use and old age, having been made for the war previous. Also the ambassador. from the United States, who was then residing in the city of Guatemala, denied thaf ~ny damage had been caused, saying that the invaders had merely shown the m achines as if to cause fear. ¡ Now the General of the invading army called together his men and spoke, saying these things: "Men and comrades in danger, let no man of you think to seem clever by calculating the danger in which we stand, for that would be the height of folly, seeing that it might dishearten those of you who are less inclined to warlike matters, and might tend to make such as are brave and warlike less headlong towards battle. But rather let each man of you encourage his comrades to be strong and valiant, for in this way we shall both reach the maximum pitch of efficiency as regards purely military affairs, and at the same time we will be inclined to regard the troubles in which we find o urselves (for I well know that you are armed only with mattocks and hoes such as a re used by you yourselves on the land when you are occupied in more peaceful pursuits, and are lacking in many 40~
1'Ht=:·· C'ANTUi\ RlAN
·of·'the· accustomed necessities · of life) as -less vexatious than you might other.wise he disposed to think. For consider; men, by how much we have progressed in our enterprise .since we entered the country: we have on the one ha nd captured many towns and villages, bringing over to our side such of the inhabitants as were of the same way .of .thinking as us ; a nd we have, on the other hand, made frequent demonstra tions of ou'r power to the enemy, both by machines of war and by proclamations ~ nd notices. Therefore take courage and enter the battle bravely, fearing neither for yo urselves and your ·bodies nor for the outcome of the fighting : for if you should suffer anything as to the former you would not indeed need to know the latter." So saying, he led his men forward a nd came to grips with some of the enemy forces : of these, however, the greater part were either openly or secretly in favour of the rebellion, and even the rest were not inclined to fight such a n unequal fight. Therefore they desisted fro m the battle soon, and :fled back to the city, announcing to the council and elders that the General of the invading army had both a most persuasive tongue a nd a most numerous army: a nd thus they began to cause fear and dissension a mon·g the citizens of Guatemala .. ., . The Archon now saw that it was fast becoming dangerous for him to continue in the city, fo r several reasons a nd especiall y since those who were dissatisfied were beginning to stir up trouble, being incited, as it seems to me, by secret envoys from the General commanding the invaders. He therefore called the council together and made a short speech to them, saying thus: "Citizens, let none of you reproach me for the step I am about to ta ke: for in such danger as now surrounds us it wo uld be foolish to cause diss~nsion. As it seems to me that those who desire rebellion a re becoming more powerful day by day, I have decided to resign from power, a11d give the government over to the Polemarch, a man not inexperienced in all kinds of war, a nd more especially the que!Jing of revolts. Be not angry with me, citizens, neither wish to desist me from this course; for I have decided" . Having said this, he left the council and shortly afterwards flea toe country. Those who opposed him did not, however, stop persecuting him, but even now continued to clamour for his recall and puni~hment. · . The Polemarch, although it seemed at first that he would both be able to quell the trouble-makers inside the city and drive away the invaders outside, soon showed himself ·as··not having the confidence of the people or the army. Soon after this, therefore, the assembly passed a v.ote ostracising him, and he too fled from the city a nd took refuge-in a neighbouring country. After this the people decided to give the power into the ha nds of the ten Generals; this, however, did not please the General commanding the invaders and.tebels, who thought that the city ought at last to acknowledge him as one of.its true leaders,. seeing that he was now. controlling much of the country. · He therefore sent ·a .messenger to the council, demanding that he be given a share of power, to which they readily agreed. Then he speedily returned to the city, a nd was welcomed in triumph by as many of the citizens as supported him openly or secretly ; and not only they, but also the ten Generals welcomed him as he entered the city, their leader throwing hi:; arms around the Geperal and kissing him, as is the custom among these people, and even ~bedding many tears for joy. · • ' · .At once being elected a member of the council and prytany, and being given the powers and honour of a General, he began to search out those who had opposed him either in word or deed since the invasion had started, evert taking some whom he merety·suspected 409
---'rHE CANttJAiUAN or hated for personal and private reasons, and put some to death, and cast others into prison until he should be pleased to attend to their trials. Such was the punishment of the gods that fell upon the city, because of the civil strife and party dissension within, that over two thousand are said to have perished after the invasion had ceased; and in this way did those who were opposed to complete equality gain the superiority over those who desired equality in all things. SEDIDYCUTH
THE ART OF THOMAS ROWLANDSON It is surprising how many artists, long forgotten, have undergone a revival in the last fifty or a hundred years. England in the eighteenth century and Regency period seems particularly attractive to us today, and the awakening of interest in Jane Austen, Henry Fielding and others has been shared by Thomas Rowlandson. This attractive personality seems to hold a particular charm for collectors, and his revival, now nearly fifty years old, shows no sign of abating. His light-hearted watercolours have almost no parallel in art: less stylised than the colour prints of Japan, with infinitely more artistic sensibility than the work of Gillray or Cruikshank, less serious than that of Girtin and Turner and totally different in technique from the work of Fragonard, whom he perhaps most nearly resembles, they possess a peculiar charm for our own day. Rowlandson's sixteenth century forbears were Dutch, and it is not too great a stretch of the imagination to ascribe to this ancestry his love of Dutch paintings, the style of which is often reflected in his art: luminous skies and clear light shining on placid waters, and a concentration of the impromptu aspects of human life with all their movement and vitality. He was born in 1757 in the Huguenot quarter of Spitalfields. His father was a dealer and warehouseman, and managed his affairs so badly that he was declared officially bankrupt two years after Thomas' birth. William Rowlandson was helped in this crisis by his brother, whose French wife was later to be the benefactress of the artist's life. The boy must have found ample stimulus for his imagination in the charm of Spital:fields and the picturesque squalor of Old Jewry, and heredity and environment played a large part in the evolution of his distinctive art. When he was seven his French aunt, who had virtually adopted him, moved to Soho, where he could receive instruc.tion. He was a pupil for several years at the Royal Academy Schools, passed out and spent six years in the life classes; the comparatively easy execution of later years was the result of hard work and bitter experience. His first publicly exhibited picture was a biblical subject. He produced many effective watercolour portraits in these years, of which the best is probably that of the Prince of Wales. It is attractive, slightly flattering and technically¡ excellent, but no soul lies behind the plump face. Rowlandson was wise to avoid portraits and oils, and to concentrate upon the watercolour scenes in which he excelled. His rugged good health and lively personality would never have submitted to the despotism of studios and the caprice of sitter&; he was always in the crowds or strjding the country lanes. 410
Reproduced by kind permissicn of the Headmaster
THE NORMAN STAiRCASE by Thomas Rowlandson, c. 1800
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Rowlandson early succumbed to the demon of gambling. One O'Kelly, a guttersnipe who had made a fortune on the turf with his horse, Eclipse (and who thereafter preached abstinence from gambling) led him into a life of drinking and dicing. His aunt encouraged him to cultivate the acquaintance of a worthy magistrate named Henry Wigstead, a caricaturist who overflowed with ideas but whose skill in execution lagged behind his invention. This proved an acquaintance which Wigstead was zealous in cultivating, and a friend ship, destined to last for twenty years, sprang up. Wigstead seems to have worried little about Rowlandson's exterior swagger and vanity, or his fondness for the company of rakes like Morland and Gillray. In Rowlandson's eyes Wigstead made up for his sedateness by his love of the country. 1782 was ma rked by the artist's portrayal, in a masterly series of drawings, of their tour of Spit head to see the wreck of the Royal George. Not only do we see Rowlandson as an irresistible gallant and Wigstead as the duller companion groaning at the sight of enormo us bills, but lovely scenes of the sun peeping in at inn doors, or the morning haze on a glassy sea from which float the distant sails of drifting ships. These sixty-nine pictures a re full of humour and are all impeccably executed ; they afford a fine glimpse into the eighteenth century and its "gallant dream". La Place des Victories aParis caused a stir in artistic circles in the following year; people commented on his freshness, his delicate charm a nd fine line. He travelled on the Continent sketching Flemish and French towns, and in 1784 confounded all his critics by his Vauxhall Gardens, exhibited at the R.A. Here was the answer to those who accused him of overcrowding: a picture full of people, yet so superbly manipulated, with each figure fitting into the rhythmic pattern and the delicate colour schem~ , that no sense of confusion was created. The whole crowd slides naturally and seemingly effortlessly into place; we can recognise Dr. Johnson and his friends Boswell, Goldsmith, and Mrs. Thrale, the Duchess of Devonshire, Gainsborough's "Perdita" and George IV as Prince of Wales. In these great years, 1784-6, he produced Skaters on the Serpentine, a lovely scene with all the Dutch sense of atmosphere, and The English Review and The French Review, in which the marching troops, the motley crowds of spectators and the luminous skies are fused into an effortless whole. These four are perhaps Rowlandson's greatest works, and their publication left him on a pinnacle of fame, praised and envied by fellow artists.
Seeing what he could produce, it seems all the more regrettable that this fine artist descended so often in his career to the cheap humour and crude satire typified by the hundreds of engravings and etchings produced to meet the desire of a very vulgar public. He must have felt that as a regular source of income was forthcoming in this direction, it was foolish to waste it, especially since the sales of his best watercolours steadily dropped during the years. He presents the strange spectacle of a man who could work with the soul of a poet and a country lover with that of a gambler and a tavern crawler. If we must judge him, it should not be by these crudely coloured shilling sheets, nor yet by the etchings of his better works which never quite approach the standard of the drawings, but by the originals of his hundred or so best paintings. In 1789 he received two thousand pounds from his aunt's will, a sum which he quickly dissipated in gambling. He lost heavily, and frequently represented in his art his loathing of a vice he could not resist. This theme continued into his old age, when he reformed himself; gambling can degrade the best people to a state little better than bestiality. 411
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With Wigstead he visited Brighthelmstone, then at the height of its popularity. The result, besides the loss of considerable sums of money, was a folio of drawings with a text provided by the magistrate. It was dedicated to the Prince Regent, who held his work in high esteem. In collaboration with Morland he produced a series of sporting prints in aquatint, a happy blend of the styles of the two artists. Living at the pace of the nobility, however, and spoiled by a friendship with the rakish Earl of Barrymore, he began to fall into debt. His ideas, too, were less prolific, and more and more he relied upon Wigstead and the inebriated company of Morland, Gillray and John Raphael Smith for inspiration. He portrayed odds and ends of the life of the time: balloon ascents, theatre fires, boxing contests, and so on. From 1793 to 1795 poverty drove him to living in a basement, his robust health and high spirits sapped, his invention flagging. H e became more sensitive to the injustice of poverty a nd the sufferings of the underdog, more hateful of the callousness of the rich; perhaps "perceptive" is a better word, for he was too good- natured to entertain violent hatreds. The proceeds from the sale of many hundreds of unpleasant prints enabled him to move to a spacious attic in James' Street, Adelphi. In 1797 he toured Wales with Wigstead a nd recovered his health and spirits, but in the pictures of this journey Rowlandson is no longer portrayed as a Byron or Casanova, but as a lean and ascetic artist, brilliant but disillusioned. At this period he became acquainted with Matthew Mitchell, Sheriff, J.P. , a nd banker, a Johnsonian figure variously described as a "walking turtle" a nd "a most facetious fat gentleman" . He weighed twenty-four stones, and in his jovial company, to uring the riverside taverns, visiting his house in Cornwall, or journeying on the Continent, Rowlandson recovered his old assurance. Mitchell became his best patron, and bought many scenes of Continental life and prints of the D evon and Cornwall countrysides. His association with Wigstead became more and more a business arrangement, the two colla borating in the production of many prints. Besides these, he produced in 1798 the "London Turnpikes" series, and from 1808 to 1811 the "Oxford and Cambridge Views". These, finely printed in colour by Rudolf Ackermann, catch to perfection the atmosphere of the life of the times. Wigstead died in 1800, and the following years were devoid of great inspiration. The various "Tours of Dr. Syntax" were, however, immensely popular, a nd won him new fame, not only in England, but in France, Germa ny and America. Syntax is a parson, "a skin-and-bone hero, a pedantic old prig in a shovelhat, with a pony, sketching-tools, and rattletraps", who journeys in search of the Picturesque, of Consolation, and finally of a Wife. R owlandson's last days were saddened by loneliness; all his old friends were dead, and in 18 17 Mitchell passed away. The artist followed him in 1827, and was buried in St. Paul's Churchyard, Covent Garden, where lay Girtin, Lely and Stra nge. Known only as a clever book illustra tor, his best watercolours had not been bought for twenty or thirty years. The vogue for his work only began at the beginning of the present century; nowadays even etchings of his cruder prints may fetch a guinea or two, while the originals of his best watercolours command sometimes hundreds of pounds. The long-lost Vauxhall Gardens was bought for ÂŁ3,000 at a Christies' sale in 1945. Perhaps his genius is most apparent in the masterly groupings a nd arrangements of crowds. Where other artists may imply a crowd by meaningless squiggles, Rowlandson achieves a rhythmic pattern, each individual with his own character, yet contributing to the whole. This is clearly seen in The English R eview, or in his market scenes;
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individuals differ, but do not rob the picture of its a tmosphere. Rowlandson's composition equals that of many fa r grea ter artists. This gift is enhanced by a fine sense of colour. Grey-green, violet and orange predominate; individual colo urs are often very brig ht, but the effect of the whole picture is nea rly a lways one of light, harmonious washes. He experimented at great length with various colours of the spectrum, an.d his gift of colour, like h_is line, was !he res ult of lo ng practi~e. His finished pictures, unhke Constable's, never stnke us as bemg the result of long tnal and frequent sketching, but as completely spontaneous. A fine sense of atmosphere suffuses them. Whether it be one of his town scenes or a country vista, where he is hampered sometimes by poor technique-his trees fo r instance are very mannered- there is a quality which many artists never capture-the sheen o n still water, the morning haze over the sea, the clear brightness of the morning in the co urtyard of some inn, o r the dusty bustle of market afternoons. His line was masterly and unerring, a nd his drawing owes m uch to Rubens, Breughel and Teniers, who figured largely in his collecti on of prints a nd drawings. He cannot be accused of plagiarism, despite the fact that many of his groups are bo rrowed, for he worked upon this raw materia l and tra nsformed it into his own conception. He inherited much of his zest for life and ro bust humour from these artists, as from Hogarth and Fuseli, yet he admired the great Dutch la ndscape-painters above a ll, Cuyp a nd the de Veldes, and we find in Rowla ndson reflecti ons, not quite full-blooded, of their calm beauty of sky and water. Durer a nd Lucius C ranach also had some influence on him. He is unlike any of these artists, yet he draws a little from each. His charm for our century lies perhaps in his delicacy, and at the same time his robust enjoyment of life-an enjoyment which has partly disappeared in our own day. He transports us to a smaller, less disturbed, if more vulgar world, whose unspoilt natural scenes and gay and humorous life are something of a relief. His Jack of emotional depth makes him easy to live with. A great draughtsman and colourist, with a natural gift for composition and a fine sense of humour, he was prevented by the very nature of his art from being a great artist. R.A.D.
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THE FOOD OF THE GODS Ambrosia was the food the ancients most coveted. Plainly they did so because they found it difficult to obtain, for it was granted to the immortal gods alone. Indeed the very word "ambrosia" came to mean "immortality". Hence the word was used adj;ctivall y to mean "divine"; and Homer's successors used it more loosely, as we might today say "How divine!" without any thought of divin ity entering ou r minds. It is now, of course, accepted that ambrosia was the food, and nectar the drink of the gods, but the doubt some ancient a uthors throw upon th is assumption shows that we must not too el;lsily be led astray by the common usage. I am inclined to think that in fact nectar and ambrosia are o ne and the same thing. If this is so, we must presume that this substance was of the consistency of axle grease (but beyond this the com parison is not valid). Ancient authority supports this idea. We find ambrosia used a5 an unguent in both the Jl iad and the Odyssey. Tn Euripides we have a reference to "honeyed nectar", and the impression that nectar was sticky is strengthened when we find that Thetis bathes Patrocl us' body in nectar to preserve it from decay. Th is bathing is certainly poetic hyperbole; one would, more accurately, rub the body with a preservative. And since the early Greeks owed very much to Egyptian art and culture, is it no t reasonable to suppose tha t they used the same preservatives for their dead as the Egyptians? I would go further: if it was nectar that the Egyptians used, this is a possible reason for its early .association with immortality. Moreover, in the Greek Anthology, nectar is described as scented. What, then, can this remarkable substance be? Here, like the panel in a certain radio parlo ur game, we reach the end of our resources, and must proceed on intelligent guesses. First, however, let us dispose of the more or less obvio usly ridiculous theories. Even the Greek writer, Athenaeus, for example, is of the opinion that ambrosia is a mixture of water, oil, and various fruits used for religious rites. This blatantly unjustifiable view will bear not the briefest scrutiny. But worse, and (to the English at least) more insidious is the where-the-bee-sucks-there-suck-[ concept, the belief that nectar is nothing more than the substance found in fl owers. This is the result of many centuries of cheerful Anglo-Saxon superstition abo ut sprites and fairies, a nd, in particular, Puck. It is a sort of Lilliputian pastoral convention, sentimental and old-fashioned. These two misconceptions disposed of, a more serious objection to my theory remains, for Homer expressly describes nectar as red. The best explanation for this chimerical obstacle is that Homer is using a transferred epithet. Wine is red, and nectar has the same reviving properties, so nectar is red. There is nothing wrong with this argument, for Homer applies the epithet " noisy" to dogs which he definitely says a re silent. Moreover, colours had no great significance to the Greeks; all hai r was tawny, a ll grass was yellow, and most other things were "variegated". Ambrosia/ nectar, then, is sweet-smelling, glutino us, a nd has great preservative qualities. Wha t is more probable, therefore, than that it should be what we now call yogurt? Yogurt is sweet-smelling, yogurt is gluti nous, a nd yogurt is said more than anythi ng else to preserve the human body. (Junket-J a nticipate a reader's objection-does not answer to this description). This elixir was rediscovered for modern nations by Metchnikoff, a bacteriologist, who sought a reason for the amazing longevity and vitality of the otherwise primitive Bulgarian peasants. He red uced the remarkable pro perties of yogurt, as it was 414
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his duty as a bacteriologist to do, to complete dullness, ascribing them to the minute organism at work in it, Lactobacillus Bulgaricus. "When science comes in at the door", someone has well said, "enchantment flies out at the window", and we shall pursue no further this crude materialist side of the subject. But it is interesting that it should have been in Bulgaria that yogurt survived through the centuries following the collapse of classical Rome. For Hesiod mentions a Scythian tribe known as the "Galactophagi", the " Milk-eaters". Now let us note first that modern Bulgaria covers much the same territory as ancient Scythia; and secondly that it was yogurt, and not milk, that tllis tribe consumed. Had they been milk-drinkers, they would have been called "Galactopoteis"-the Greeks, as one might expect, had a word for it, whose authenticity is proved by the fact that it was used by both Herodotus and Euripides. I would add to these two facts the hypothesis that the extraordinary vi tality of the Scythians, who were largely responsible for the invasions of Rome in the second and third centuries, was due to their diet of yogurt. Here we may mention that Homer also testifies to the strengthening properties of yogurt. Melantheos, a shepherd, a buses Odysseus (disguised as a beggar) and suggests that he go and work on a farm, that "he might thrive on whey, and work his muscles up". But, you will object, whey is not the same thing as yogurt. True; but where will you find whey without curds, or, as Tweedledee would put it, contrariwise, where would you find curds without whey? Where indeed? The Romans, however, used yogurt not so much for strength as for beauty. The most notable example was, of course, the Empress Poppaea, who is traditionally reported to have bathed in asses' milk. It seems unlikely that large supplies of fresh milk were obtained in Rome : refrigerators and early-morning milk trains were not, after all, in existence; and in summer the milk would certainly go sour long before it reached Poppaea's bath. Thus I would say (though it cannot be proved conclusively) that Poppaea's beauty and vitality-and hence her great political power- may be ascribed to yogurt. Since that time (the first century A.D.) little is known of this potent substance; only the " barbarian" peasants of the Danube region kept the secret alive. It is true that in India also, the Hindus used, and still use curd for washing their hair; but apart from these two lands the use and indeed the very existence of what alchemists sought for throughout the Middle Ages- an elixir of life-was completely fo rgotten. Cheese took the place of yogurt. But cheese is like lead: just as lead is the lifeless "fossil" of the radio-active radium, so cheese has lost the lifegiving properties of ambrosial yogurt. The objection to any theory about ambrosia is that if it were confined to the immortals, how could it be at the same time within the comprehension of men? On the other hand, if there was a substance known to mortals which was in fact yogurt, how is it that it was not more widely used? The solution is probably that, while the civilised Greeks and Romans had heard of ambrosia, they would not think of associating it with the crude substance on which some obscure Scythian tribe thrived. Even Poppaea did not think of connecting her milk bath in any way with ambrosia, knowing that ambrosia was confined to the gods alone. But what she did not know was that ambrosia, even if in a somewhat dilute form, was consumed by mortals. It is a well-known fact that Prometheus first brought fire to men. That he did this in the Caucasus mountains is plain from the fact that it was there that he was chained for his punishment; for ~he gods do not, as men do, take several months to d.ecide a case. It seems, then, not improbable that Prometheus 4!5
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brought down with him a container of his immonal food to sustain himself on his mission. What is then more likely than that some wandering Scyth should pick it up? Tasting it he would find it delicio us but much too potent. He would therefore mix it with his ow~ curd; for curd is the staple diet of such nomads. It did not take him long to discover that a small amount of his almost pure ambrosia would "ambrosiate" the curd of others. And so the immortal element has remained (being immortal) in the curd of these tribes until this day. HYPHEN-SMITH
DREAM ¡ AGAIN Night has answered night, yes, But it hasn't answered me. I go a-goggling through your cool lagoon, Where fickle gaudy fish-words Swirl away as I try to grasp Meaning which is there but lost. What I want is aquarium poetry, For I am out of depth in your great sea: And the kaleidoscope's appeal soon languishes. Obscurity is not profundity, And mixed rickety-rock images, half explained, Wholly confuse; a child am I Plunging on desperately to the end of a rainbow. Yours is a mosaic, Where taunting tesserae elude To no pattern, no purposeWhile you seem to enjoy Our sour grapes. D.S. 416
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SALVETE, PUERI! Not so very long ago to " defend the classics"-that is, to give reasons why the Latin and Greek languages should be widely learnt-would have been considered a work of supererogation. Today it seems to be thought an urgent necessity; and a somewhat hurried search has been made by many writers for the appropriate arguments, in which many eminent men have joined, such as Rex Warner, Sir Richard Livingstone, and the Bishop of Peterborough, quos honoris causa nomina, and o si sic omnes. Even the Ministry of Ed ucation, temporarily shelving the stringent claims of naturecraft and eurhythmics, has joined in the hunt. Many of these arguments, though full of sound and fury undoubtedly signify something, though it is often difficult to see what is a rgument and 'what is mere dogma or eulogy. Following the example of Caesar and Gaul, however, J shall divide them into three parts. The first typ,e of argument is very modern. It is that Latin a nd G reek are worth learning because they are such terrific fun. In an attempt to remove the sting from the insult that Latin is a "dead" language, it is suggested tha t it be considered wholly as a modern one, and taught by the "direct method". According to this method, the master conducts a Latin lesson wholly in Latin. He addresses the class on entering with "Salvete, pueri !", to which the boys, with an al most Oriental courtesy, reply: "Salve, 0 nobilissime magister!". This teaches not only politeness, but also the comparison of adjectives ending in-ilis (except, of course, facilis and difficilis, similis and dissimilis, gracilis and humilis). The boys pick up all the rules they need as they go along, in a jolly sort of way. Unfortuna tely words like "fun", "amusing" or "jolly" are not applicable to most of the classics, nor to many other worth-while studies or achievements which people want to, and ought to, learn. Aeschylus' Agamemnon is far from jolly, and in treating of Paradise Lost, the St. M atthew Passion, the French Revolution, relativity and the binomial theorem "amusing" is not quite the mot juste. By the classics we do not mean the light chit-chat of the Roman mob, or what Aristides said about Themistocles in a weak moment. We do not admire Cicero and Vergil because they wrote the most amusing Latin, or the easiest Latin : we admire them because they wrote the best Latin. And the nature of the best Latin, and the best Greek, is not such that it can be learnt en passant, by imitation or instinct. The second type of argument is traditional, to the effect that the classics, representing one of the best and most influential human achievements, are an end in themselves, and that therefore learning them is a necessary means to that end. To this it may fairly be objected that the end is either irrelevant to a defence of classical la nguages, or that in most cases it is not achieved. To say that learning the classics is good because it helps you to learn English, or because it helps you to learn about Roman and Greek art and history, is not to defend the classics, but to defend a certain method of teaching English, or the importance of classical art and history. Both these are far removed from Kennedy or Abbott and Mansfield. Secondly, if it be the reading and appreciation of Homer and Vergil, Aeschylus, Horace, Pindar and so on that is the end, then out of every twenty people who learn the classics, only one ever achieves this end : a fact which is not entirely due to bad teaching. Nobody who, by good fortune not unmixed with hard work, is able to enjoy and appreciate the great classical writers would ever deny their greatness: but it would be unrealistic to think that we can find a sound defence in terms of that appreciation for any 417
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except a few. D oubtless it is desirable that people should know that there was a poet called Homer, who wrote some good stuff, even if they can only construe (at most) ten lines in an hour: and certainly it is desirable that those who can and will, should be able to read him at a somewhat more encouraging speed. But it is on the actual learning of Latin and Greek, rather than on the sonorous names of classic writers, that we must base our defence. It looks as if we shall have to explain and justify the old view, that learning the classics "trains the mind". This is the third type of argument, and in my view the correct one. But its cogency is not immediately obvious. We cannot simply say, for instance, that Latin a nd Greek are good languages, and that linguistic studies train the mind: for French and German, to say nothing of English, are also good languages, and might perhaps give us all the training we need. Nor can we say merely that learning the classics develops the powers of reasoning, for mathematicians and (I believe) historians also reason, to say nothing of scientists. Nevertheless, the answer lies in a combination of these two points. Briefly, learning the classics trains one to reason about words syntactically: about their meaning, their grammar, and- in a very literal sense- their construction. For in Greek a nd Latin it is the construction, the logical building up of the phrase and sentence, that is important: more important, I believe, than in any other language, not excluding German. In technical terms, they are syntactic and not paratactic languages. You have to work out the meaning of a sentence in order to get it right, rather like a cross-word puzzle: logic plays a more important part than guesswork. ¡Without a firm grasp of the basic grammar, of course, neither logic nor guesswork will get you very far: but granted that graspan essential though often unfulfilled condition-you will find more structure, more verbal tension and interdependence, and in a sense more meaning, in classical sentences than in those of any other language that I know. The importance of reasoning would not be denied: but there is, I think, a peculiar importance to be attached to reasoning about words, which are the basic tools of man's expression. It makes for an intelligently critical attitude towards all forms of verbal expression, and provides one with a defence against nonsense, propaganda and bad style. It is the antidote to the common attitude: "What does it matter what words I use, so long as I am understood?". For it does matter greatly, and not merely for aesthetic reasons. To be able to distinguish between sense and nonsense, between different shades of meaning, and in general between groups of words that are properly organised and those that are not, is not only the mark of a civilised man: basically, it represents the difference between a rational human being and an irrational animal. Communication has a more than stylistic importance. It is on some such grounds as these, at any rate, that I would base my defence. J.B.W.
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F REDERICK ROLFE, BARON CORVO Literary magazines have recently expressed some alarm that this country should no longer possess a "literary avant-garde" of young writers. There is no such thing worthy of the name, it is true. It may reflect a reaction against the idea prevalent before the war that a writer, or indeed a ny artist, should epitomise the period in which he lives. In his book The Condemned Playground, a collection of essays written between 1927 and 1944, Mr. Cyril Connolly wrote: "Of course, there is no law compelling anyone to belong to his period, but not to belong to it, is to take sanctuary, to eke out a whimsical existence and an archaic style in a half-timbered Utopia, visited .... by the most insipid of the public one would wish to avoid". We would not agree with this today, when we look at the proliferating biographies, memoirs, biographical memoirs, reprints, travelogues and nostalgic excursions into our litera ry past which now fill our bookstalls, because we know that a rtists should fashion and not be fashioned by their cultural environment. We may like our " half-timbered Utopias". But the remark I have quoted contains the truth that there are periods in art when trends are so strong that many fall by the wayside in attempts to gain recognition by changing them. For, in periods like these, the broad arterial road of taste is so easily and readily followed by the timorous, that the adventurous, who ignore it, are themselves ignored or misunderstood . And the literary historians, coming afterwards, so to speak, with their brooms and litterbaskets, overlook the outlying deposits in their preoccupation with those that first draw the attention. Which is a pity, for every age should profit by the tastes or fads of other ages. In fact, the question is not one of profit only, for in our desire for conformity, we may ignore, and by doing so, stultify, genius. This was the fate which overtook Frederick Rolfe. This article is based mainly on two books, each of them remarkable in its own sphere; the first, R olfe's best-known novel, Hadrian the Seventh, a nd the other, The Quest for Corvo, by A. J. A. Symons, Rolfe's own biographer. The greatest merit of the second lies in its sympathy, a pre-requisite of any great biography. Here, perhaps, events were on the author's side. He was led on by a curiosity to know more about the author of Hadrian the Seventh, a curiosity sharpened when he read some of the letters, written in squalid poverty from Venice, which Rolfe wrote shortly before his death. T he various, often conflicting accounts of Rolfe given by his acquaintances made his task more difficult. Evidently Rolfe was a man who provoked widely different reactions in different individuals. T he portrait is nevertheless a full and satisfying one. Rolfe emerges as a complex, introverted character; for some he was charming, entertaining, brilliant; for others, a parasite and hypocrite; many found his haughty reserve and self-conscious difference insuffera ble; many could not tolerate his propensity to regard his helpers as so many potential enemies; few understood him or tried to do so. Frederick William Rolfe was born in Cheapside of Nonconformist parents in 1860. He received a n adequate education, but left school at the age of fifteen evidently against his father's will. His attempts to find recognition in the ways he considered suited to his talents divide his career into three parts. The first of these comprised those years of his life in which he strove to gain entry to the Catholic priesthood, years of drifting from one post to another, mainly teaching and tutoring. These periods were short and
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unremunerative. After Rolfe's conversion to Catholicism in 1886, he was sent by the Bishop of Shrewsbury to Oscott Ecclesiastical College, which he left after a few months, and then by the Archbishop of Edinburgh to the Scots College in Rome. He was compelled to leave this establishment too, for the same reason, an apparent lack of vocation. At neither was he very happy; he held aloof from his fellow students and was unmercifully ragged, and the two experiences made him prepared to dislike any Catholics he might meet. After a brief stay with an Italian noble family, the Cesarini-Sforza, from whom he claimed to derive his title of Corvo, he returned to E ngland in 1890, his desire to en ter the priesthood frustrated. He now tried to make a name for himself as a painter and photogra pher, wandering from one place to another, making enemies in them all, being, as he thought, exploited and defrauded. There was a humiliating incident at C hristchu rch in Hampshire, another in Aberdeen, where he was actually cast from his lodgings into the street, and another in Holywell, near Flint, when he was employed painting banners for the shrine of St. Winifride, but never paid. Then fell the heaviest blow of a ll, a vicious personal attack on Rolfe, on his pretensions to Catholicism, his veneer of nobility, and his penury, which was published in an Aberdeen newspaper, a nd, most damaging of all, reprinted later, when Rolfe had further stirred up hatred by his activities under the name of Fr. Austin, in the Catholic Times. From this attack he never fully recovered. But he sought escape, this time as a writer, and he set out for London to gain employment on the strength of a volume of short stories entitled .Stories Toto Told Me, which had already met with some success. He was commissioned to write a History of the Borgias which was eventually finished in 1901. It was a history to be read rather than believed, but was written in a most grandiose style, enriched with archaisms and all the twists a nd fancies peculia r to Rolfe's superb prose, but it never achieved the public it deserved . Two years later appeared a translation of Omar Khayyam from the French of Nicolas. In 1904 was published Hadrian the Se venth, one of the most remarkable novels ever written. Rolfe's misfortunes all left their imprint. His was a sensitive and fastidious soul. Yet he was impractical and naive a nd he grafted his own particular interpretation on to all that happened to him. His love of the bizarre and the quai nt, his medievalism and his love of historical romance are quite compatible with his gulli bility and suspiciousness. He interpreted any fortuitous reversal of his fortunes as the result of ill-will on the part of individuals. He saw himself as a maligned, blameless man of talent, compassed about by a hostile crowd of humans without his sense of beauty, whose machinations were all directed against his ha ppiness. Particularly he came to detest his fellow-Catholics at whose hands he felt he had suffered most. All these stored-up aversions and prejudices find expression in Hadrian . We begin with a picture of its hero, George Arthur Rose, living in very strai tened circumstances in a suburban attic apartment, striving to eke out a living with his pen, on one side of him a dictionary of hybrid words of his own making culled from a Latin and a Greek dictionary, on the other a yellow cat, and exercising a rigid economy in matters of smoking by carefully shredding the stubs of his cigarettes in order to make others. This we may take as a fairly accurate description of the kind of surroundings with which Rolfe in his career as a writer became familiar, although he seems to have had fewer funds than his hero.
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So, too, we are given a fictitious realization of Rolfe's own dream, when Rose is at last accepted for the priesthood, but calmly dictates his own terms, and goes to Rome. Here the election of a new Pope has reached a deadlock, and Rose is elected (be it confessed, after some difficulties) the new Pope, taking the title of Hadrian VII. It is not necessary to outline the plot of the book. It is sufficient here to say that the brief summary I have given of the opening events can only make it seem incredible. But to the reader of the book it does not seem so. For the style in which Hadrian the Seventh is written, intense, unreal in itself, yet powerful in its cumulative effect, lifts the reader out of the plane of the ordinary, into the realm of Rolfe's imagination, not a "half-timbered Utopia" but a colourful, splendid country, full of the romance in which its author revelled . The paragraphs are studded with strange word coinages and mixed derivatives, "hybrist", "tolutiloquence", "incoronation", and others. Occasionally, it must be admitted, Rolfe's contorted sense of the real comes near breaking down, as for example in the following dialogue between the Pope and a theological student, who, like the author, is reticent, fastidious and exalted above his fellows: "How old are you?" "Twenty-nine." "In which month were you born?" "In July." "In England?" "In England." A rapid horoscopical calculat ion let Hadrian know the lines on which to proceed.
But the narrative also rises to the grandest peaks: Hadrian is finally assassinated by Jerry Sant, a socialist fanatic, and this is Rolfe's description of the scene that followed: The Apostle raised himself a little, supported by imperial hands. How bright the sunlight was, on the warm grey stones, on the ripe Roman skins, on vermilion and lavender and blue and ermine and green and gold, on the indecent grotesque blackness of two blotches, on apostolic whiteness and the rose of blood.
and although "the world sobbed, sighed, wiped its mouth; and experienced extreme relief", the book ends with an epitaph Rolfe must often have thought applicable to his own case: "Pray for the repose of his soul. He was so tired". An enthusiastic critic of The Chronicles of the House of Borgia was Henry Harland, editor of the Yellow Book. He wrote to Rolfe: "In any land save England such a book would make its author at once famous and rich". This was unhappily true of all Rolfe wrote. The reasons for this lack of public appreciation are fairly clear. They lie not only in factors peculiar to England, but also in the prevailing tastes of the age in which he wrote. First of all, Rolfe, as a Catholic, proud, poor and introverted, had little in common with the figures that frequented the literary coteries of his day. Artists and writers enjoyed a social position which Rolfe, given fame and a public, would have found it difficult to gain or keep. The second reason is probably more decisive. We have seen some of Rolfe's prose and subject matter. Symons points out a parallel between him and Aubrey Beardsley, and it must be admitted that Rolfe belonged in spirit to Beardsley's generation and not his own. The eighteen nineties were a period of artistic mixture. The "aesthetic movement", represented by Oscar Wilde and Aubrey Beardsley, was dying. Wilde's Portrait of Dorian Grey was published in 1891. Beardsley ceased to contribute his 421
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drawings to the Yellow Book in 1895 and died in 1898, the year tha t Rolfe came to London. A more realist school of writers replaced the Aesthetes. George Moore's naturalistic novel Esther Waters was produced in 1894, a nd his Confessions of a Young Man as early as 1888. In 1897 appeared Mr. Somerset Maugham's novel of the slums, Liza of Lambeth. Now let us look at Rolfe's dates. Hadrian was published in 1904, Don Tarquinio in the following year. In 1907 Rolfe left England for Italy, where he remained till his death. A year later Arnold Bennett gained fame with The Old Wives' Tale. Undoubtedly his obscure circumstances contributed to the oblivion which followed his death in 1913. But he had never fitted into an age in which the reawakening social conscience, the new trade unionism, and socialist and economic thought were transforming literary modes and tastes. It was remarked by one who knew Rolfe as a painter, tha t all the portraits of ecclesiastical subjects painted by him bore some resemblance to hi m. And this applied also to his writings. Hadrian VII is the man of R olfe's dreams, dreams of which he was denied even partial fulfilment. Hadrian the Seventh is peo ple with Rolfes, the maligned student, the penniless painter, the stoical writer. Those with whom Rolfe had come into contact a lso appear in these pages, but they are bled of their true colours and presented by Rolfe's pen in black and white, the bad characters with no trace of good about them, and the good too snow-white to be credible. And so with Rolfe's other novels. Don Tarquinio, A Kataleptic Phantasmatic Romance, is full of him. Rolfe's last novel, The Desire and Pursuit of the Whole, not published during his life-time because of its many libellous passages, contains a middle-aged ¡ Rolfe, Nicholas Crabbe, hardened by his many misfortunes, but with some youthful buoyancy to make him likea ble: He tolerated the most fearful revilings, humiliations, losses, without turning a hair. He had none. Even his enemies .... freely admit (in their less excited moments) that nothing, at any time, ruffled his cruel and pitiless and altogether self-possessed serenity of gait and carriage; and they account it to him for natural haughtiness.
Even his most serious work, The Chronicles of the House of Borgia, bears the imprint of Rolfe's personality, of his misfortunes and his difficulties. Modern readers will perhaps be only irritated by the a utobiographica l element in all Rolfe's work. In fact, it is possible that The Quest for Corvo, by the very excellence of its presentation, may lead readers to expect too much of its subject's work. After reading the biography one is very naturally on the alert for such autobiographical passages, and this detracts very much from the enjoyment the book otherwise affords. If then, this Baron Corvo was an introvert who filled his writings with his own loves and hatreds, if his classical learning sprinkled throughout his books is inaccura te and superficial, if his imagination is lia ble to carry his readers into ridiculous places, why has he been called a genius? To us living in a welfare sta te, and accustomed to art-nurturing instituti ons such as the Arts Council, it may seem rather difficult to believe that an a rtist can be spoilt by his time and his surroundings. T he writer is not obliged to bow to the dicta tes of his public; but there are times when, by not doing so, he must accept oblivion. Another writer, George Gissing, a contemporary of Corvo, experienced similar difficulties in the literary world at the close of the last century. He lacked the deep sense of the romantic and the macabre of the author of Hadrian the Seventh, but he possessed a panacea for the bitterness he felt in his profound compassion for the sufferings of those whose poverty he shared. 1t is hard to imagine Rolfe sitting down to right the wrongs of such 422
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as these in a novel like Gissing's Demos or The Unclassed. It is equally hard to imagine Gissing dipping his pen in vitriol and retalia ting against the people at whose hands he had suffered. Yet it is interesting to compare each writer's a ttempt to justify himself in the eyes of the literary world. For both wrote autobiographical novels: Gissing's Hadrian was The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft. We would be very unfair, therefore, to discount the fact that Rolfe was never really happy in his surroundings when we come to estimate his literary merit. For such an estimate I can only refer my reader first of all to Hadrian the Seventh and secondly to The Quest for Corvo, where he will find a story, a reconstruction and an excellent clarity of style which will be more satisfying than this short introduction. There is preserved a portrait of a ma n who, with all his foibles, vices and superficialities earns all our sympathy and even admiration. W.E.S.T.
EVEREST A mountain not desired as beautiful, Merely the highest, something men could see In terms of what they wished and hoped to be, Something to conquer: savage, brutish, dull. The pole of courage, its magnetic pull Drew not to worship but to energy; The body strove to climb, the mind was free To range the inner ocean like a g ull. Last year it fell, and, being trampled on, At once became a deed a nd not a gage, No longer challenged that our powers might fail. The measure of our littleness is gone, And we have entered on our heritage Little forever, lacking heights to scale. 1.!E. M.
LUCIE-SMITH
Tltis poem recently won the Eugene Lee-Hamilton Prize and is reproduced by kind permission of "The Oxford Magazine".
T H E C A NTU ART AN
BACON VERSUS SHAKESPEARE ANOT HER SOLUTION .. .. this even-handed j ustice Commends the ingredients of our poison'd chalice To our own lips. (" Macbeth" ) In this materialist and scientific age it is pleasant indeed to escape into the dimnesses of the past, where earnest scholars have not yet swept away the co bwebs of enchantment in which we will now become entangled. Such a n atmosphere we breathe upon entering the entourage of F ra ncis Bacon. This man, through his evident glut of learning and the other's lack, has by some been taken as the more appropriate author of the plays of Sha kespeare than the Ba rd himself: and much ingenious abstrusity has been exercised to correla te the works of the two. But none on the other hand has thought it profitable to show, by the use of much of the same schola rship, tha t Shakespeare actually wrote Bacon. The versatility of Bacon has been claimed equal to the " infinite variety" of Shakespeare; but the diversity of the latter was his own gift, whereas that of the former was the product of more than one mi nd. Baco n's works can be divided into three : those that he wrote himself, his professiona l works; those tha t others wrote with him, his philosophical works; and those that Shakespeare wrote fo r him, his literary works. T he first grou p consists of various disquisitions on law a nd the experiences of his career : upon which ought his reputation chiefly to rest. The philosophical writings, while owing something to his by no means insignificant intellect, were the fruits of a clandesti ne coterie of religio us savants, the Rosicrucians; under Bacon's guidance this sect was establishi ng a new a nd eminently practical p hilosophy, basing itself on scientific experiment a nd making great use of the ind uctive method of reasoning, called the Instauratio Magna. This was never completed, but Bacon must have drawn extensively on their research fo r his New Atlantis, published in the year of h is death, 1626. Shakespeare had proba bly some part in th is great undertaking, but his more obvious achievement is in the litera ry section, for almost a ll the Essays must have been written by hi m. Evidence of this is again willingly supplied by the Baconians, who, by means of apt parallelisms, links in imagery, and connexions of style, have exhaustively proved that the literary genius behind both the p lays a nd the essays ema nated fro m a single soul. Florio, the translator of Montaigne's Essays, upon which these were modelled, was an intimate friend of both . Accord ing to the Baconia ns, their hero had not acknowledged a uthorship of the Shakespeare plays lest he jeopardise his position as a man of letters and his place at Court by appearing as a popular dramatist; conversely therefore, we have the equally j ustifia ble reason for Shakespeare's not putting his name to the Essays. We have thus fou nd the explanation for Bacon's cryptic uttera nce that he was "a concealed poet": he was not a poet also concealing his playwriting, but his name concealed in part the poet-playwright Shakespeare, as it al!iO concealed the Rosicrucians mentioned a bove. That he a nd Shakespeare were close friends is not to be doubted ; 4;14
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Bacon may even have let his companion into the closely guarded secret of his parentagefor he was actually the son of Queen Eliza beth a nd Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. â&#x20AC;˘ Shakespeare for his plays must have gained knowledge of the Classics and of contemporary French and Italian litera ture from Bacon, though no doubt both were considerably helped by that master-linguist F lorio. Baco n himself believed that Latin was the only enduring language and endeavoured to tra nsla te a ll his works into it; it is significant therefore, tha t despite three editions of the Essays, these never ascended out of the vern acular- Bacon had some rega rd for his friend's tastes. Another ma tter which has puzzled the critics for some centuries, is why Sha kesp;:are published so little in his lifetime, and made no mention of his writings in his will. Perhaps the answer is that Sha kespeare was prepa ring a "complete edition" of his works in his last years of retirement, but felt the end closing in too soon, a nd sent off a ll his manuscripts and texts- in fact, his whole library- to his old friend Fra ncis Bacon for him to arrange for publication. Sha kespeare died in 1616, but this was the dawn of Bacon's period of ascendancy at Court, a nd pres uma bl y the great man was too busy to attend to this task. By the time of his fall in 162 1 he had Ben Jonson as his private secretary. This man in 1623 bro ught out, with his own la udato ry preface, the First Folio of nearly a thousand pages- a great achievement for printing in those days. Thus comes a bout the connexion between Sha kespeare and Bacon which has ba ffled men for so long. And although the deprival of his Essays may put him lower in our estimation, the revelation of Baco n, (in Pope's words) ..... The wisest, brightest, meanest of mank ind, as a brilliant mouthpiece of the intellectual voices of the time, will serve to reinstate him in his former position ; and his re-examined career will serve as a warning to those who like to tear the veils off the past, and are then ashamed at the nakedness they disclose. D .S. â&#x20AC;˘ Wo are indebted for the positive affirmation of this fact to Mrs. Wells Gallup through her work on Bacon's Bilateral Cipher.
PEARLS OF A PESSIMIST The tragedy of life is that too many people do the right things from the wrong motives. Everything in excess is said to be evil-especially moderation. What is social conscience if not a nother name for mass hypocrisy? Reason is but the Quintessence of Emotion. A Critic is a person who spends his life sucking blood out of literary stones-some precious, most not. Time is a waste of money. God: the greater the truth, the more it is disputed. All historians are secretly inhibited: whence otherwise comes their love of making moral judgments? Optimism is the mask of mediocrity. But originality breeds contempt. GULLI VER
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REASON AND RELIGIOUS PROBLEMS This is the first of two articles on this subject which will shortly be printed together as a pamphlet for use in the School. The second part will be printed in the next number o.f " The Cantuarian". 1. INTRODUCTION I think most people would admit that the general attitude to religion has changed considerably in the last fifty years. Two wo rld wars, the advent of the atomic age, the rising power of science and psychology, and greater freedo m in ed ucation and th oughtall these things, a nd many others, have made young people question the truth of religious beliefs far more than they used to. They wa nt to be sure that what they have been taught is true. Now r do not know very much a bout other religions, but I do know t hat Christianity is no t afraid of having its beliefs questioned, a nd does not object to people questioning them. Indeed, the creeds in which Ch ristia ns believe today have been formed largely as a result of such questio ning. This is because Christians believe that t here is nothing in their faith which is contrary to reason; more than this, they believe that their faith can be suppo rted by reason. Nobody, therefore, need feel ashamed of do ubting or questi oning, or of trying to use his reason about religious problems. The gospels were written for that very purpose-to give people evidence about something very important, to quote historical facts which could change our whole lives, to provide concrete grounds for belief: in a word, to bear witness to the truth. But I think that we ought to be very careful about our questions and doubts, on behalf of reason as much as of religion. There are three things which we must especially consider : ( I) The Christian Church has had a very long histo ry; and though (like a ll human institutions) it has no doubt made many mistakes, it has included, and still includes, amongst its members men and women of the highest intellectual ability and of the utmost sincerity. These people have come from many d ifferent natio ns and classes, and their backgrounds have not been at all similar. What is remarkable about the great Christian saints is their incredible diversity: they include men as different as St. Paul, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Francis, and many others. Yet despite their differences of temperament and environment, they were united in their belief in the truth of Christia nity. Today the Church includes just as great a diversity of people: it has members who are theologians, philosophers, poets, historians, artists, scientists and ma ny others. We must admit that if people wiser than o urselves have accepted Ch ristia nity, we ought at least to be very careful before rejecting its beliefs completely. At any rate they need careful in vestigation, and deserve to be approached with that intellectual humility which is the basis of all true scholarship and reasoning. For if there is not at least some truth in Christianity, then it is certainly the greatest hoax that has ever been inflicted o n mankind.
(2) The second point is even more important. It is not always reasonable to doubt and to question. By all means let us apply our reason to religio n, but let us make sure 426
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that it is reason that we are applying, and not just our own prejudices or vices under a mask of reason. All of us, when we have to do something which isn't immediately attractive to us, are quite capable of inventing reasons for not doing it. I know from my own experience that I often search for arguments which will "justify" me in doing what I want to do, and arguments to show that it would be foolish to do anything else. If, for instance, we only want to be kind in a half-hearted sort of way, it isn't difficult to find "reasons" for not being kind in each particular case: "reasons" for not helping our friends in simple ways, for not being tolerant to those we dislike, for not bothering to do all we can for our fellow-men. Sometimes I can catch myself inventing reasons, but at other times I'm sure I deceive myself into thinking that I'm being not only reasonable but virtuous: whereas the truth is that I am being stupid and lazy. This applies not only to actions, but to beliefs. There are some things which it is so much more convenient for us not to believe, because to believe them means that we have to make the effort to live up to them. For instance, one of the most difficult things to believe truly and sincerely is that all men are brothers and that God is their Father. Plenty of people would give a casual assent to this belief: but it is very easy to invent reasons why the belief ought not to be acted upon in a particular case. The Nazis convinced themselves that the belief didn't operate in the case of Jews, negroes, and other "non-Aryan" people: so they thought they were entitled to treat them just as they pleased, which meant persecuting them, torturing them, kiJiing them and doing everything they could to hurt and destroy them. This is an extreme example: but we cannot feel complacent because of that. To some extent we all believe what we want to believe, and not what is true, in order to cover up some moral weakness: just as the Germans did not believe that the Jews counted as people, in order to cover up their hatred. We must not, therefore, invent reasons against the truth of Christian beliefs because it suits us. For some people, myself included, this is a very real temptation: because there is no doubt that, in one sense, some Christian beliefs are not easy to live up to. But, of course, this does not mean that they are false: it means only that we are weak. There is also another temptation which leads people to attack the Christian faith unreasonably: it is the temptation of thinking that to doubt and to question, to criticiseand to be sceptical, is always evidence of intellectual superiority. People who fall victims to this temptation call all religions "superstitious", and their adherents "ignorant", "backward", or "primitive". To do this is not to enquire intelligently: it is a cover for not only moral laziness, but intellectual laziness as well. To fling abusive epithets at religion saves one the trouble of taking it seriously. All that the Christian asks of someone he is trying to persuade is that he should have an open mind and be honest with himself. Nobody could have been more anti-Christian than Saul; but because he could not allow himself to be morally or intellectually dishonest, he came to see the truth of the sect which he had persecuted so assiduously before. St. Paul was a man of great intelligence and many talents; and if he found that he could not "kick against the pricks", that he could not convince himself dishonestly, then we ought also to be truly reasonable and truly impartial. (3) The third thing that we must remember is this: we should not and must not expect "reasons" for religious beliefs in quite the same way that we expect reasons for
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belief in matters of fact or history. St. Bernard writes : "Expert us potest credere"-the man who has tried it can believe. This does not mean that no reasons can be given: but it does mean that reasons look very different if you have as it were a n inside view of something. H ave you ever tried to give someone reasons for believing that playing cricket is a worth-while activity, or learning history, or listening to music, or anything else that you think worth doing? It isn't easy ; because you have had inside experience of the activity, and the person you' re trying to convince hasn' t. The reasons won't mean much to him unless he has had the experience: a nd he won't get the experience unless he genuinely seeks it- unless he really tries to play cricket, or learn history, or whatever it may be. In other words, you can only really appreciate some sorts of reasons by seeking experiences which you may not have had befQre. As you will see from what follows, I believe that many so-called religious " problems" only arise because people have asked for the wrong sort of reasons. Of course there are genuine problems, though I do not think any of them is insoluble: but I think many difficulties arise because people think that religious beliefs are like scientific or historical beliefs. This is not true. For every branch of knowledge, one gives different reasons for one's beliefs. Scientific beliefs are beliefs about the natural world, and the laws that govern it : and fo r them, we use the methods of observation, ex periment and hypothesis. Historical beliefs a re beliefs about the actions and institutions of men in the past: a nd for them, direct observation and experiment are denied us. We give different sorts of reasons in each case. People who demand " reasons" for their religious beliefs usually mean the sort of reasons that would be appropriate fo r some quite different bra nch of knowledge-usually science. But there is no reason why the technique of science, or any other study, should be appro priate to religion. I ought perhaps to add that, though God has given us brains whereby to learn more a bout Him and His creation, I do not think that the most important part of Christianity can be described as " intellectual". As can be seen from its early history, Christianity is not a highbrow religion, any more than it is a religion intended only for a certain social class or a certain racial group. Religion is primarily something which you either accept and try to practise, or do not. Christ did not come to us and say "Here is an interesting religion, which I should like to commend to you as being more intelligent than any you've tried so far". He came and lived for us; lived, and died. T o talk about Christianity or religion is in some ways misleading: for it is really not Christianity or religion which we have to accept, but Christ Himself, a nd through Him, God. No Christian would say that his chief business was to reason abo ut his religion: his chief business is to practise it. Christians are not trying to be theologians, but trying to be men as men were meant to be- the sons of God. So in wha t follows I a m not trying to " present" Christianity, or even to give an outline of its most important beliefs. Nobody can really present Christianity properly except by living it, by being a true follower of Christ; and that is a job which many Christia ns can do much better than I can. All I am trying to do is to follow St. Paul, and to remove .a few stumbling-blocks: obstacles to belief that have been erected in the name of reason, but that can be pulled down in the name of reason also. 4Z~
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2. THE EXISTENCE OF GOD I have often hear it ask, "How can you prove that God exists?". The important word here is "prove". As I have already suggested, there a re many different kinds of "proof", "evidence", and "reasons", a nd we must not look for the wrong kind in the wrong place. Consider the statements: " The three angles of a triangle add up to 180 degrees", "The sun will rise tomorrow", "Caesar crossed the Rubicon in 49 s.c.", " The Prime Minister exists", a nd " I exist". If you think, yo u will see that each of these has a different kind of proof: in fact, there are almost as many different sorts of proofs as there are statements. But apart from this point, we need not bother about them: for I do not think that "God exists" is really like any of these statements.
Ma ny of you will already be familiar with a number of arguments which claim to prove that God exists, and which a re given by many text-books on religion (though not the most modern ones). Here are some of them:(a)
Everything must have a cause, a nd so there must be a first cause who is not caused by anything or anyone else. This first cause is God.
(b)
We constantly use comparisons of moral value : thus we speak of one person being better, kinder, nobler, and so on than another. This implies that there is an ideal standard by which we compare these virtues: a being who is perfectly good, kind, noble, etc. This being is God.
(c) The evidences of design, purpose a nd order which exist in the natural world imply the existence of a designer and creator. This creator is God. (d) The moral and spiritual nature of man is such that he could not have arisen merely
from the natural world: therefore there must have been some spiritual agent who gave man his spirit a nd his sense of right and wrong. This agent is God. These are the stock arguments, and many of them are very old. (a) dates right back to Aristotle, a nd (b) to Plato. I will be quite fra nk with regard to these arguments: I do not think that they are logically valid. This, however, is only my personal opinion, though it is an opinion that would be shared by an overwhelming majority of logicians; and in any case to say that an argumen t is not logically valid is not to say that it is worthless. But I do not think these argumen ts should convince anyone who is, as I have put it, on the outside of religion: that is, an atheist or an agnostic. Their value, I believe, is to illuminate the truth about God for those who already believe in Him ; and this is a very different thing from proving His existence. The reason (speaking generally) why the arguments are not convincing, however, is very illuminating. They are not convincing, because they try to treat God as one would treat a natural object, and offer the sort of proofs one wo uld expect in seeking evidence for the existence of something in everyday life. To some extent this is inevitable, since we cannot help thinking a bout God in human terms and human analogies. But I do not think it is necessary to compare God to a sort of standard measuring-rod, as argument (b) does, or to a sort of divine watchmaker, as argument (c). I think we need to cling more firmly to the Christian belief that G od is a spirit: we cannot expect to prove His existence as we would prove the existence of a table. 429
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1 think that a better analogy (though still only an analogy) could be found by considering the beauty, say, of a piece of music, or the love that may exist between two people. Now someone of a very sceptical turn of mind, who did not appreciate music or love, might claim that the beauty of the music, or the love of two friends, did not exist. "How can they prove they exist?", he might say: "Where is there any concrete evidence?". All he experiences is just a number of sounds coming from an orchestra, or a series or musical notes on a piece of paper: aU he sees is the friends shaking hands, or smiling at each other, or clapping each other on the back. To him, these are the only things that are real, because they are the only things that he can see. But we, who can appreciate music and love, know that it is not only the sound of the music, or the expressions .of love, which are real: there is more to it than that. There is also spirit, which is just as real as concrete matter. It affects us as much, and is valuable to us far more: to refuse to call it "real" is merely silly. Now obviously the way to convince this sceptic would be to get him to listen to some music that he did appreciate, or to form some lasting friendship in which he could see what love meant. But unfortunately, for some people at least, it seems to be more difficult to experience God than to experience music or friendship. I think myself that this is not because God is remote or hidden: it is rather because He is all about us-so obvious that we miss him. Looking for God is rather Hke looking for a room when you are already in it. Someone who didn't understand what a room was might say, "Yes, I see a floor and walls, and tables and chairs and so on: but where is the room?". He is not looking in the right way. Similarly, there are many people who look for God rather as they would look for anything else in the world, like a haystack on a farm: or, more desperately, as they would look for a needle in a haystack. God is not in the world; He is the world, and more than the world: He is set over and above it. Many people have come to believe in God through experience of the world. They become convinced that the world is beautiful; even more important, that it makes sense; that man need not live blindly, but that he can respond to the world and its creator in a significant way. But there are many other roads to God. There is the road of prayer, and the road of worship, to name but two. People who pray and worship sincerely, who genuinely try to get in touch with the Spirit Who is the sustainer and guardian of us all, become convinced as a result of their experience that God does indeed exist. The sceptic will say that these people are indulging in wishful thinking. But he might also say that people who found beauty in music, or love amongst their friends, were also wishful-thinkers: and in that case, one can only say that this sort of wishful-thinking seems to bring one nearer to the truth than the thinking of sceptics. For, in fact, we do not doubt the existence of beauty or love; yet we must admit that they cannot be "proved" as one would prove the existence of a table. But this does not mean that they cannot be proved at all; and it certainly does not mean that it is unreasonable to believe in them. On the contrary, it seems to me that the only reasonable course is to try to experience enough of God (to put it crudely) to be able to talk about Him meaningfully at all; just as the only reasonable course for a man who did not appreciate music, and who was arguing about whether there was any beauty in Mozart, would be to listen to some Mozart first, and talk afterwards. Apart from doing that, all we can do is to take the word of those who have tried it. Expertus potest credere. 430
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3. CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD Another thing I have often heard people say is "Why should I believe that Christ is the Son of God? Why shouldn't He just have been a very good man-the best of the prophets, for instance?". Now there is one thing to notice about this: and that is that in one very real sense, to be "a very good man" is to be a son of God. Christ Himself tells us that even we, ordinary, average people, partly good and partly bad, can become the sons of God. For being good is not just having an unimportant quality, like being tall or being fair-haired: it is something that changes a man's nature, a nd brings him nearer to God, and more like Him, in a very real sense. But it is true, of course, that Christ is the Son of God in a special sense. Briefly, we may say that He was exactly like God, and has the full sta tus which God enjoys. Unlike us, He was not created: He was "begotten by His Father before all worlds". But most importa nt of all, He was not just "a very good ma n"; He was a perfect ma n. What is really startling, however, is this: He Himself made these claims. He claimed that He was the Son of God. As C. S. Lewis points out, we must either believe Him, or think Him to have been a liar, a charlatan, or a megalomaniac: for only that sort of person could have made such an outrageous claim. Yet Jesus does not seem to have been that sort of person at all. Moreover, He managed to convince people of His claim who believed far more passionately in one God that most of us do. On the whole, I suggest that it is more reasonable to believe Him. There have been other "very good men" ; but 1 do not think that there has been anybody else who could have legitimately claimed to be perfect. Again, it is necessary to try to live the life of Christ in order truly to appreciate His perfection; but we can dimly appreciate it even from the outside. The more we look into His actions, His character, and His teachings, the more we can see that represents for us all that is highest and best-all that we most admire at the bottom of our hearts. Then, perhaps, the time comes when we come to take His perfection, if 1 may so put it, as a working hypothesis; when we begin to judge our lives by His, and not His by our own. 1 think that it is essential to do this if we really want to understand that Christ was the Son of God, and shares the qualities a nd attrib utes of His Father. [f we do not, we shall be li ke a boy who judges a La tin dictionary by the standard of his own Latin proses, instead of the other way round . Of course, if we are really bent on it, we can try to find fault with a Latin gramma r or a Latin dictiona~y: often we cannot see why one thing should be right, and another wrong: some of thei r injunctions seem unreasonable or absurd: they c~ntain many "hard sayings". But it is not rea lly so: though we shall not understand that'it is not so, unless we are first prepared to trust them as authorities. The acceptance of the belief that Christ is the Son of God consists partly of the acceptance of His authority. He is not just an authority, li ke any other "very good man": not just a reasonably efficient standard which we can judge by if we like. He is the authority and the standard of all our judgments: He is the pattern to follow. To follow a pattern is not slavish or stupid, or unworthy of a reasonable person. If we are trying to improve our strokes in cricket, or to compose Latin verse, the opposite is true: the only reasonable thing to do is to try to imitate the style of the best and fi nest masters. T his is not slavery: it is merely good sense. That is why one of the finest books on the Christian life is entitled lmitatio Christi. 431
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But, of course, there is much more to it than this. When Christians say that Christ is the Son of God, they do not only mean that H e is the standard for all our moral judgments and behaviour. They mean much more than this. The disciples and the fathers of the early Christian Church were driven to go far beyond the acceptance of Christ's moral authority. They were driven to believe that He was God, in the fullest sense of the word, as well as man. I say "driven", because we cannot account for their acceptance of His divinity just by saying that they were deceiving themselves, or indulging in wishful thinking. On the contrary: they believed in One God just as firmly as the ancient prophets had done, and yet they accepted as God, not a triumphant Messiah coming in power and glory visible to human eyes, but a ma n Who was crucified, by His own people, in the company of common murderers and thieves. Why did they do this? The a nswer, I think, lies chiefly not in His moral perfection, but in His power. Socrates a lso was a good man, killed by his people; yet there is no Platonic church, or Socratic creed, which has lasted through the centuries like the Church of Christ. The power was Jacking. Not so with Christ. No thing is more amazing than the contrast between the broken, dispirited group of followers whose Master had just been crucified, and the living, driving energy of those same men soon afterwards, inspired and fortified by His resurrection and the inestimable power of His Holy Spirit Whom He sent to them. That power was foreshadowed even by the centurion at the foo t of the cross, who said: "Truly, this Man was the Son of God". The power of the Holy Spirit, the power of Christ, and the power of God the Father was recognised by these men to be the same: to be the power of one God, Who had sent His Son to us, that through Him we might attain salvation and everlasting life. This was the message of those early Christians, who had go ne through the living experience of the power of Christ and the Holy Spirit. They called on all men to believe, not merely to accept a set of ethical or moral doctrines; and they offered them the power and the grace of the divine and risen Christ. To us, perhaps, the momentous reality of their experience may seem dim and remote; that, I think, is why we sometimes question the formulation of that experience in the doctrine of Christ's divinity. But it need not be so. Not only is the Church the living witness of the reality of that experience, but each one of us may have that experience for ourselves, if we will only seek it. The power of the di vine C hrist can be real to all of us; a nd no-one who has ever experienced that power can doubt its source. If we do want to question the formulation of that experience, I do not think we shall find anything unreasonable in it. But we must not expect to find the whole matter cut and dried, neatly tied up in a parcel of human words, which are mostly tailored to fit human concepts. The best we can do is to use analogies, or human ideas which seem to express the living experience most aptly. Such analogies and ideas may be useful: St. Augustine writes: "Holy Scripture, which suits itself to babes, has not avoided words drawn from any class of things really existing, through which our understanding might gradually rise to things divine and transcendent". Yet, as the same writer warns us, we must also take care not to "surmise concerning God, what can neither be found in Himself nor in any creature". All analogies break down in the end; could we expect otherwise, when we are trying to understand Him Who made us a nd gave us our understanding? 432
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Some writers, in trying to shed light on the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity, use the analogy of the sun, the sun's rays, and the light and heat of those rays. All these we speak of by one word, "sun", and indeed they are, in a real sense, all one. Yet we can divide them. The analogy brings out some important points. The sun is God the Father, the origin of all things; the energy and creative power which streams from it to us men is God the Son, the bringer of grace to men ; a nd the light and heat which we feel, which keeps our bodies alive and healthy, is the H oly Spirit Who nou rishes our souls and gives us comfort. Another and different truth can be brought home by remembering that God is love, and that love is not a static thing, but a dynamic; and some writers have spoken of the Trinity as an eternal triangle of mutua l love, ever fl owing from and to each of the Three Persons. Some people have found these analogies helpful, and they show at least that there is nothing unreasona ble in the doctrine : that is, nothing contrary to reason. That it transcends reason is to be expected. Whether they are helpful or not, however, the important thing is to seek the living experience, and to try to understand the wo rds of those who, after more reaso ned and sincere debating than we could possibly achieve in a lifetime, have formulated the experience, in our great Christian creeds. The rest, as Newman once said, is "only useful as impressing on our mind wha t it is which the Catholic Church means to assert, and to make it a matter of real faith and apprehension, and not a mere assemblage of words". To sum up what I have tried to say :- the prime concern is what we accept a nd experience; how we formulate it- though very important to the Church as an organisation- is, to the individual, only secondary. My advice would be : try to accept Christ's mora l authority, and to experience His grace and power, a nd the Holy Spirit. Then, but not till then, will the theological doctrines made by men about Him come to have a true meaning for you. All I hope to have shown is that there is nothing unreasonable, nor superstitious, about these doctrines, and that no man need compromise his intellectual honesty in accepting them. J.B.W.
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A perspective drawing made by Mr. Charles Knight (R.V Hall. The estimated cost is not less than ÂŁ60,000, and almos is hoped that work may start before the year is out, in whicl parallel to the Old Palace on the South and Grange House o each approximately the size of the Mint Yard. In due cours the School. Parker's Gate-the former Entrance Gatehous Matthew Parker, Eliza beth's first Archbishop: this building thirty years ago, and remains much as Parker built it. 434
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Parker's Ga te Vll'l the design of Mr. Darcy Bradell, F.R.I.B.A. , for the Assembly ft that sum has been subscribed this term by present parents. It hle Hall should be ready for use during 1956. The Hall is sited ~rth; it will thus convert the Palace Court into two quadrangles, elontaining full information will reach O.K.S., and the friends of ~ Archbishops to their own Precincts-was erected in 1565 by 1'o15caped "restoration" until it was converted into shop premises
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AN AMERICAN AT KING'S Imagine a timid little boy being brought to his prep. school by his parents, having l felt something f like this when Jeremy Davies led me out of a foggy, drizzling night into the confines of Linacre House. I was greeted by Roger Symon, who told me that he was Captain of School. As we had no such animal at our school I was about to counter with, "Well, I was Captain of Basketball", when it struck me that silence might be golden. I am sure that by remembering this principle I have avoided many faux-pas.
r some idea of what school is like, but not knowing quite what to expect.
If comparatively few amusing or awkward things have happened to me this year, I suppose it is because I am more English than the average American boy-much more so than what you like to picture as the average American boy. Having met many English people at home, I was not engrained with any of the notions popularly entertained by Americans about their former mother country (you know: hip-hip, a spot of tea, huge estate mansions, a nd all that). However, I did receive several set-backs from this new way of life, so similar a nd yet so different from ours. After six heaving days on the Atlantic Ocean, my stomach was not in a contented mood; nor was it settled after my first meal at school. We were graced with one sausage (somewhat akin to our hot dog) and some beans. Like a fool, I plastered mustard all over the food, gulped it down amid dashes for water, and was sick all the next day. Rumour had it that the bea ns had got me. I was given a very warm reception here, but, as I realise now, I must have been a new phenomenon to many. 1 got many wide-eyed stares, but few were actually curious enough to approach me. Once in a while a boy would come up to me and declare that he had been to America or had relations there, but he would rush off quickly before I had time to open my mouth. But maybe 1 should be thankful for this, because I soon got tired of ex plaining our games of football and baseball. I even changed my name here, being la belled by my initials instead of my two Christian names. I tried to call boys by their Christian names, but in most cases only the initial was available, and I was politely told that it was not the done thing until boys had become good friends. It seemed an awful waste of energy to say, "Hello, FreemantleSmith", when a first name would have been so much easier. But of course, overfriendliness can be just as irksome as the propensity to crawl into one's shell. I was struck by what seemed to me the incredible length of an English boy's hair. Long hair does serve some useful purposes: to keep one warm in winter, perhaps, or to cover up a bald spot, or to give one the appearance of an intellectual ; but at times it must be a severe hindrance to the sight and hearing. Not that a Yank crew-cut is the surefire remedy, but somehow I am reminded of the shaggy dog that looks amazingly similar from in front and behind. The only surprise I received from the school dress was of a financial nature. After discarding my "loud" clothes and putting on my wi ng-collar upside down a few times, I settled down to being an "all-black" . Then there were the boaters, those circular catastrophes which defy all semblance of beauty. It is my own private theory that the stooping postures of some boys are caused by leaning forward to prevent their boaters from flying away in the wind. But there were still difficulties. Pants were trousers, underdrawers were pants, undershirts were vests, vests were waistcoats, bathrobes were dressing-gowns, garters were suspenders, suspenders were braces, 436
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sneakers were gym-shoes, loafers were casuals, a nd boots were not the heavy monstrosities workmen wear but heavy shoes. Yet all these clothes would surely be in rags now, were it not for the matrons; we are not blessed with these hard-working souls at our schools. I was not expecting to lead a gay social life over here, but I did hope that King's would have a few dances. About half-way through the year I learned that association with members of the female sex was frowned upon while one was at school. In our Southern States we have segregation of white from black, but it never occurred to me that some people also believe in separating boy fro m girl. It was colder in our study tha n outside during the winter, and at times 1 felt like lighting a fire on the flo or. At the moment I am patiently waiting fo r the summer weather to come.
I had never played much of our football because I was not big enough, and would have been knocked around by all the padded monsters who excel at the game. But I certainly did enjoy playing rugger, even if it was not fun having my ears mashed between the hulks of the second row fo rwards. I t took me a long time to comprehend all the rules of the game, but f do not think that r have had more fun in any sport. I expected to be bored by cricket, but as it happens I really enjoy watching the game. And on the academic side, 1 have never quite got over the fact that boys anywhere can take their work so seriously. In my Anglo-American dictionary I have filed over two hundred words, but there are undoubtedly many more than I have missed. At first I actually had trouble understanding what people were saying. Some American expressions, such as "he hit the trail of reform", appeared in my essays, a nd were circled, with a large question mark placed alongside. Many boys were shocked when I told them about their "English accents". But many English expressions have become engrained in my vocabulary, and my friends at home will undoubtedly "ma ke hay" over that. I cannot thin k of a better experience for a boy than to study in a nother country. I shall certainly count this year as a mong the best of my life. Everyone here has been so good to me that no words can express my gratitude. Perhaps I have been luckiest in being able to spend my year in the free a nd frie ndly atmosphere of King's. Whatever I may do in the future I know that one thing is certain : the first chance 1 get 1 am coming back to England. A.G.R.
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FOUR ASPECTS OF THE YEAR I
Which of the seasons do you best like? The golden heat, and brown-withering sun's dazzle flashing on the country rivers, flying on the salmon-leapt, bittercool (torrid, scorched air on a burnt umber earth) green sliding banks, tall trees in leaf arrayed, gratefully acknowledging the breeze which dances over the roads and fields in their agony racked by Helios, and the grasshoppers' breathless ceaseless whispering in the chtrruping corn, the infinitesimal rustle in the bird-fluttering branches, and the heavy siesta in a season that overbears all life, drowses in mad midnoon its perspiring boredom under blue Mediterranean skies which saw the swaying (winedark sea of Homer) sea bearing lthacan Odysseus past bewitched, enchanting isles, and the cruel Seilenus' fawning; with long soliloquies to the widenight seaAh, is the lotus the best way after all, no more to long for the wooded shores and rocky crown of Ithaca, (last seen in a golden halo over the passage of blind wateroh Helen, did your summer end all other summers for me?) but to sleep and laze for ever in this dreaming southern land, an eternity of siesta in the afternoon sun- is not that the easiest way out? But here, under the golden boy's swift headlong chariot path, there is no such way, and it must be endured to the end, and all you see and hear , the dreamlike twitterings of the swallow in the heavy, hay-sweetened air, (under that whitewashed wall lies a cat basking in the flowerbed, glorying in reflected sunlight between flaming messes of crimson-bunched sprawling nasturtiums, and ignoring with slit-lidded quick-flashing eyes the persistent buzz in the flowerscent) and the subtle interweave of light and dark on the silver-knotted dustat the edge
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of the golden, molten road how cool trickles the green-bowled water from a broken wayside pump!all the magnificence of the sultan, Sun, and all the savage tawny beauty of summer in winter longing will be recalled for everStranger, do you then love summer so?
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Or do you choose pale Autumn, mellow and over-ripe, season of russet mists and chill sunlight wanly hiding behind damp thick-piled cloudbanks and November fog over all the heath (rust-red and orange leaves tumble everywhere in the street gusts, whirling wildly like dervishes, torn by mournful Zephyr, while beyond the giant moon throbs in the magic sky, blood-maddened, over stark elms in the pungent night), when the wind drags his weary fingers through the matted mist, old Pan lurks in the sodden orchards and rotten woods horned fungus and slimy horror maiming the crawling bark, and the festering leaves smell of trampled death(when summer's joy returns brief, short as a showercloud in April, lighter than the shadow-blue summer breath, swift as the last swallow to Martin)like pale Eurydice to lyre-souled Orpheus and is suddenly gone, swallowed by the dead, mouthing mist: and his limp hands drop the useless instrument and the brittle strings snap one by one on the soggy weed-fattened groundCan you then love Autumn so7
Ill
Against the leaden winter sky show the old green roofs dully, whiteribbed with lingering snow (which Hoats over all the hushed earth, settling under the singing pines of the Northstretched away into the blue, cold distance, down to the hidden lakes where the ripples ride lyrically~39
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weighting the taut branches with gossamer, etching the spider's forgotten webs into timeless silver, shimmering mystically in the chanting forests) and brilliantly crystals lace up and down the running lines of white on the bare, cold grass, bleak silver trellising the black trees' foo t, (and engraving deep magic palaces on the grass, surrounded by harsh haunted forests, where eternally the sad wind drifts snow deep against the walls), and a strange liquid sun shines through the morning haze now, moming come, beyond the faint blue traceries of stone (in the distant air Roland winds his golden, echoing horn on the sultry, jagged rocks, ca rved before the moon, and the yellow-gray dust is crimson-splashed, dried under the furnace of a mid-day sun and tra mpled by men's bodiesover the crushed, sleepy smell of poppies drifts the terrible smell of shrieking death)the pure cold veil of evening fa lls, and the whitened air shivers ice freezes in night's grip (the tumbled footprints chasing in the crisp snow round solemn snowmen dim in the webbed darkness and the fainting snow fades in hushed sleep) in the fastening dusk soft-dying snowfa ll patterns in the air a nd settles floating silver in the grey . . . .
IV Misty April sweeps over the sky, and the tattered clouds spiral and twist in the gusting wind, that bends low the spring-green trees over the trotting road, where thorn-white long hedges hide the corn behind bending to the wind, (and in a clear open pool the thin poplars are mirrored against the sky, which breaks out now crystal blue in the frost, green slender branches swaying in the gently rippled water diamond-touched below, where a solitary swan arches its whiteplumed neck, and preens itself at the water's edge graceful and proud in the rustling, jostling rushes at the shallow side where the clear pool rises to its banks). 440
THE CANTUARIAN And from over the dark elms below this hill the bar roars softly, telling storm's approach, and the white wavetips dance and dazzle in the pale hanging sun : the towcrouched d unes hazed by rising spray stretch out dully, and the fleeti ng yachts scatter like birds, like a swan, a nd dip inside the grey stone harbour to avoid the violent flashing of spray. (And suddenly the rain springs in shower, fa tting fro m a t ranspa rent sky, driven by winds that bring on their blue lion backs strange scents of Eastern luxury, silken-overhung in heavy o pulence of Araby, and stawing their cruel way through the resisting air, twisted by the sibilant sprayed rain), then the poplar wind sighs thin through the bare bra nches, shaking the cold rain down as a dim midnoon sun glimmers in the su\\en lead skies: the swan arcs its silver wi ngs fo r fli ght, a nd the clear pool mirrors under the open sky ta ll poplars swaying and bending their heads, and the scattered yachts re-fo rm and dip out into the bay towards the now tow murmuri ng bar and the ta ttered clouds swirl overhead again veiling the pure blue aira nd fickl e Spring continues its wild way. J. D.B.W.
ANONYMOUS DEPARTURE In the darkness of their pa rting They kiss and promise, hushing Those empty wo rds spun by chance Silken out of wrung lips 1nto the tear-stained silence; But the clocks tha t watch them See the begetting of the weeds Of memo ry's death, which cover in fecundity The fra il pla nts of love, until The last guttering fla me goes o ut. For blue curved shadows Have crept over them now slowly, Extinguishing their tra nscendental pass io n In material lo neliness Which lives in Time and unreality, But is, ah, so real thro ugh ten thousand miles. V ERRES.
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"I CAME, I SAW, I PONDERED!" We're off to Rome! It's 44 B. C., and Julius Caesar reigns. As we catch our first exciting glimpse of the great city, with its noble buildings rising above its quaint medieval streets, we realise at once that this is a holiday, and all the citizens are out enjoying themselves before watching Caesar enjoy the games. Their faces and costume seem oddly familiar; have we not seen them before somewhere,-in Robin Hood perhaps,-or was it A Tale ofTwo Cities? We can't catch a word they're saying, but never mind, we can tell they are enjoying themselves by their deep-bellied laughs, and by the expressions on the faces of that rotating stream of extras (sorry, citizens) in the background. But hark! the trumpet sounds! Caesar comes.! A noble figure, leaning on the shoulder of Anthony. He turns. We catch the profile, and then the Imperial glare. By and by we realise that he suffers, poor man, from the permanent affliction of an arched right eye-brow- making him look like a fr ustrated Roman schoolmaster, who is always asking questions expecting the answer "yes" and receiving the answer "no" (or the other way round; it is a long time since we were at school). But still, the citizens shout wildly for Caesar, and so will we, for we know he is in for a sticky time. (Beware the Ides of March). What is this? Two or three Senators declaiming on the stairs in loud undertones? A conspiracy is afoot. A lean and hungry-looking man speaks with another, who is less lean, but our suspicion is later confirmed that he suffers from indigestion and insomnia: Cassius and Brutus, villain and hero respectively. Cassius gradually sows the seeds of hate and jealousy in the mind of our hero against that unhappy but noble Emperor. The lightning flashes, the thunder crashes, the splendid edifices of Rome shake;-the plot is hatched. The next scene is the Senate; the Ides of March have come, and so, reluctantly, has Caesar. He meets his fate calmly, and it is Brutus who, after a momentary spasm of conscience (or is it indigestion?) plunges the final dagger into that tottering but noble frame. The deed is done, and the blood-bespattered conspirators consider their next move. What is to be done about Anthony, Caesar's friend? Cassius urges for his blood also, but Brutus refuses; we think he is foolish. There is something about the words of Cassius which demand attention: we know not what it is, but in any case he is our villain and we must not let him steal the show. Brutus has said his say to the citizens, and now he slinks-we beg his pardon-strides off, leaving the stage to Anthony. The citizens are clamorous. " Friends, Romans, countrymen!" he shrieks, in ever mounting hysteria. And then it starts; a great and memorable speech, spoilt only by some occasional hysterical lapses which drown the words. They suffer too much from 20th century nerves, these Senators. They would do well to exchange one of their toothless soothsayers for an honest-to-goodness psychologist. The shouting and the tumult die, and here we are in the primitive war-time tent of Brutus, our hero. He is engaged in a quarrel with Cassius, and, surprisingly, he gets the better of it. Did we say there was something about the speech of Cassius which demands attention? It is with us again, here in the tent. His words seem out of rhythm with the rest. But enough of that. The trumpets sound, and we must gird our armour on for battle.
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The rocky defiles of Philippi glisten in the blistering heat of the Arizonan sun. Here come the legions of Cassius, marching in a step which is peculiarly at odds with the beating drum, as if they were rehearsing for an annual general inspection. While all the time, perched up on the heights around, the forces of Anthony lie in wait. It is a trap. First one, then another, and another of Cassius' valiant Roman Redskins bites the dust. The noise of battle recedes, and evening comes. The tale is nearly told. First Cassius, then Brutus dies of his own will rather than fall into the ha nds of the enemy. We feel sorrier for Cassius, which is wrong, because he is a villain. Brutus is laid to rest in his tent and is visited by¡Anthony, who looks upon him as a disapproving customer views a piece of cod on a fishmonger's slab, flings off a brief and disinterested epitaph, and that is that. Except for one thing; we have now realised what it was a bout Cassius which so captured and held our attention;-he was speaking Shakespeare's words as they should be spoken,- in verse. The others were speaking them as if they had been written in screenscript prose.
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HYPOTHETICAL NOSTALGIA Somewhere the wailing of a jazz-mad gramophone Is luring me back down the channel of years; Leaves whispering in my dry gutter-can they bring tears In the soft autumn dusk singing to me alone? Faces I remember, and beyond the faces Deeds of my environment. I never sought To sublimate my passions on the field of sport, Nor bury them in books; with none would I change placesYet none with me- . Am I so sated with the world That I have lost my say for ever? As an outpost Empty milk-bottles in the wilds of fancy range, Skittles of memory, by reckless Time soon hurled To oblivion: a nd I a melancholy ghost Return to haunt the midnight corridors of Grange. D.S. 443
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THE SCHOOL CONCERT The School Concert last term was given in the Chapter House on Saturday, March 20th. The programme began with Beethoven's Egmont Overture, which was played with great verve by the Orchestra. After this, E. R. G. Job joined them as soloist in the First Movement of Schumann's Piano Concerto. This movement was written originally as a work complete in itself, and it is indeed satisfying as a unity. Especially well brought out was the fact that it was intended as a solo for piano, with the orchestra very much in accompaniment. There are no great technical difficulties for the pianist, but the work requires thought, which it had clearly received. The concert continued with two short pieces for a 'Cello Ensemble, written by Matthewson and Hendel and performed by Miss White and seven of her pupils. The group was well together, and played with a good sense of style. The Choral Society now joined the Orchestra to sing three choruses from Dyson's The Canterbury Pilgrims. This is good music to sing, and it was enthusiastically performed; though the necessary attack was perhaps lacking at a few entrances. The strings alone played the St. Paul's Suite by Gustav Holst. This is a difficult work for a school orchestra to play well, and all the players deserve congratulations for their invigorating performance. Because it is by no means easy to play such music, one or two false notes appeared; but these may, after all, be condoned. The concert ended with two movements from Tchaikowsky's familiar Nutcracker Suite, the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, in which B. M. Morrison played the celesta solo on the piano, and the Trepak, which was encored by the School. It was altogether a very good concert for the Easter Term. CASSIUS
THE BAND CONCERT On Tuesday, March 25th, the Military Band gave its first full-scale concert under its new conductor, Lieut.-Col. Meredith Roberts. The occasion was notable not only for the novelty of most of the music, but because the audience was fortunate enough to hear Professor H. G. Pipe, A.R.C.M., a former colleague of Col. Roberts at Kneller Hall, playing Weber's well-known Concertino for Clarinet. The programme started with Sousa's march The Liberty Bell, which was well-received by the School, but was not really played with all the verve and volume with which it might have started the evening, or which it might have acquired played later on in the evening when the band was in full swing. The second item was Dvorak's Humoresque, a piece so light and lilting that one wonders whether any band could do it full justicealthough it was creditably performed on this occasion. This was followed by a selection from Grieg's Song of Norway, a technically difficult number well played and well received. The Theme from the Andante of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony was less well received, less because of the rendering than because of the setting; there are few sufficiently broad-minded, either musicians or laymen, to appreciate as a new experience a military band playing symphonic themes with music-hall finales, however well played they may be. The fifth item was the Clarinet Concertina. Professor Pipe is Professor of the Clarinet at Kneller Hall; and his manifestly expert playing held the audience spellbound. 4¡14
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Beethoven's Creation Hymn we have heard before, but it is one of those pieces from the band's repertoire that we can hear again and again for its simple splendour. Technically, the Allelujah from Mozart's Exsultate, Jubilate is also simple, but once again it was up against an audience not entirely sympathetic to a band rendering: however, we have learnt to ex pect much of Featherstone's trumpet solos, and we were not disappointed. Of the Theme from Chopin's Fantasie Impromptu the same may be said as of the Beethoven Theme: it was very difficult to appreciate, however well played-the difference being that it was less well played, being somewhat rowdy. The programme closed with La Cinquantaine, which we have not heard for a long time, nor so well then, and R eview Pageantry, a selection of regimental marches, troops, trots a nd galops such as the band can play so well: a suita ble end to their concert.
RHODESIAN SONNETS INYANGA: EARLY MORNING High grass-clad hills in swirling mist and cloud, Lean moorland pastures strewn wi th rocks and stone, Two solemn cranes stalk through the mist alone, A few wet wattles to the wind a re bowed, While from the Pungwe gorge there comes a loud Clamour of rushing waters deep in tone Tumbling from Inyangani's mountain zone To plunge headlong in furious torrent proud. This could be Westmoreland without the lakes; If I let Fancy lead me I may meet Rogue Herries, Wordsworth, Coleridge, or greet John Peel with coat so grey as morning wakes. Wherever in Rhodesia I roam 1 hear the tales and poetry of home. THE ANT "Go to the ant, thou slugga rd", says The Book,In Proverbs, chapter six, to be precise,"Copy her ways and study to be wise". But when in Africa around 1 look I find the ant a most destructive crook Whose brick-hard city-tenements arise In all my fields to house vast families Who go out foraging in every nook. But there's one useful lesson I can take; They say that when the white ant gnaws a beam With fellow-ants he always tells the team To halt when tension tempts the wood to break. He knows just when to stop and save his friends: A tip for sundown-parties when day ends I R EGINALD SAW, O.K .S.
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CLOUD-CAPP'D TOURS The Tourist Industry-as is the way with the English, a euphemism conceals the canker beneath; nevertheless this all too visible addition to the country's economy grows ever larger: here we will stand and reckon with it. For already landladies have been banding together in an endeavour to upset the Christian year, by regulating the feast of Easter in not allowing full play to the time-honoured lunar exigencies by which it is now governed. This blasphemous suggestion they claim to be necessary, because in certain financial years the Easter holiday manages to occur twice, thereby adding to their profits for that year, but depriving them of their Easter offering for the next. This type of mentality shows the whole spirit of vandalism with which tourism is imbued. So great is this menace that if we ever neglectfully stray onto the sea-coasts of this country, we immediately become aware of the truth of the remark, that one half of the country is employed in amusing the other half. Of the holiday-makers who do not take the extra-peripheral jump a Ntranger there are two kinds; those who go straight from home to beach, and those who prefer to linger inland: some combine the two, and we suffer the worst of both worlds. The inland peregrinator differs from his littorally luxuriating brethren, in not allowing himself to be so passively satiated with the mass-produced blandishments of the omnicompetent pleasure-caterers as they are. No; he must for a change do something for himself: here we have the prying, cavilling, querulous, critical (if that is not too exalted a word) tourist qua tourist. These sightseers are an eyesore: ¡but some, the very exploiters of natural or man-made beauty, gain appropriately enough from this very ugliness. Families of these locusts disgorge themselves from their charabancs, specially hired for the Dentists' Assistants' Annual Outing, or some other worthy function, and are positively embraced by the green fields they are about to devastate, provided that they give adequate compensation to those who seek to benefit from this spoliation. Chattering, clumsy, tedious gapers toy with their cameras and take bad photographs of the objects of their journey: whereas better reproductions can be obtained more cheaply in the form of the inevitable sepia postcards on sale everywhere. Guide books of varying stages of relevance are preciously clutched and pored over, so that none may miss one jot of the architectural or other splendour which they are assured is theirs for the looking. This done, they relinquish one antiquity for another. One of the most curious manifestations of the tourist spirit is their almost Carlylean predilection for the past: Olde Tea Shoppes and knick-knack bric-a-brac antique shops amply minister to this need. They go away in the evening with their unaesthetic souvenirs, leaving their unaesthetic debris of orangepeel and banana-skins behind. By their fruits ye shall know them. By comparison, the sea-side tourist is less offensive, for here practically the whole population is given over to his service; anyone who objects can withdraw, whereas in less saturated areas this is not practicable. Here blatantly, gaudily, heavily, holidaymakers succumb with no qualms to the semi-synthetic pamperings of the professional satiaters. Is it not strange that the sight of so much happiness is more repulsive than attractive? Hedonism is an excellent philosophy, provided that its baser vices are not allowed to outweigh its virtues, as they have done all too glaringly here. Escapism also is a tendency not to be begrudged; only when it is reduced to the petty level displayed here, and has become a perversion of its true nature must it (unlike some perversions) be
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righteo usly hated and needfully fulminated against. Tourists after their fashion eat, drink, and are merry, for to-morrow they mercifully die away. Sic transit gloria mundi. Of course, one's attitude to tourism is much influenced in the degree to which one participates in it. Few nowadays living in rural areas are lucky enough to escape the ever increasing encroachment of the madding crowd, whose prolific ubiquity, like an incoming tide, swamps the ineffectual breakwaters of their sequestered lives. The sensitive Wordsworth and his co-agitators may have succeeded a century ago in keeping the Lake District relatively untrammelled by the railways so zealously championed by the Philistines of those days. But it was a hollow victory: the roads, such as they are, manage with even greater facility to take even further into the depths of this wonderland even larger hordes conveyed with too much ease by the awful symbol of the charabanc. The reason, however, for most people's guarded hostility to tourism, is that in another season they become tourists themselves: to comport themselves stiltedly around the Continent behaving (it is still believed) like typical E nglishmen. At the risk of being called a bigoted reactionary, I would like at this stage to recall the old and happier ideas of travel. It was not only more leisurely, but also less fixedly activated by the pleasure motive. The traveller then was the spectator interesting himself in the normal lives of people with whose way of life he was not familiar: he did not come as the object of the whole population's financial gain. He did not come to be passively pounded into helpless, senseless, pointless befuddlement by the heavy-handed pleasure-purveyors of today. He journeyed as much for education as for entertainment; but the ratio nowadays is as one cool art-gallery to a hundred hysterical "pleasuregalleries". In this age it would seem that travel narrows the mind. Tourism is fast becoming another ideology; it is another manifestation of that Imperialist spirit that Rome bequeathed to Britain. And we (to take a parallel from that very age) the reactionaries are in the same position as the unconquered tribes of Britain, rallying for their last desperate stand against Agricola and Imperial Rome-"nos ten¡arum ac libertatis extremos ipse ac sinus famae in hunc diem defendit"- and the crisis we face is no less cataclysmic. D.S.
HOUSE DRAMA LUXMOORE AND MARLOWE (27TH MARCH) AND GRANGE AND WALPOLE (28TH MARCH) Luxmoore and Marlowe Houses decided not to combine, but to allot one half of the evening's entertainment to each house. Luxmoore, who were first, made a bold, and nearly successful attempt to put across John Galsworthy's The Little Man. The characters were easily a nd on the whole well cast, but a good deal of the speech was lost, quite apart from reasons of inaudibility, because of the periodical lapses into German. Furthermore, justice was not always done to the 'international' characters of the play by the comparatively young actors, and the shape of the play was distorted, and the plot hindered, by the pre-eminence of R. A. Brewester in the longest role of the American preacher. Especially by comparison with him, J. B. W. Padley, as the little man, only barely filled the part. H. L. Clark and B. G. H. Page-Thomas, as an hysterical Scandinavian and a surly German respectively, showed their characters well, but, and especially the latter, did not really enunciate their words clearly enough to be heard at the back of the Chapter House. As the English couple N. H. Freeman and R. K. R. Large may have been inadvertently sufficient for their roles, but scarcely did them justice, and the same may be said 447
THE CANTUARIAN of A. R. Morgan as the German mother. A success, but from the. point of view of the audience an uninteresting one, was J. A. G. Stewart as the Reich police officia l, who spoke mainly in German. The success of the play, however, rested almost entirely on R. A. Rrewcster who, by a music-hall rather than a sta!.le imitatio.n of a certa in A~1e rican evangelist, carrie<! t~e play througt: as pure co~cdy. The settings, a rallway ca rnage a nd a Statton platform, though on gma l and tngemously contnvcd, made action constricted and awkward, and this, together with the inexperience of most of the actors, may account for much of the nat ness of the play. It will be generally agreed, however, that the producer, J. F. Foster ' who left the house in 1952, made the best of a play which was badly chosen in the circumstances. Marlowe House put on a play also dominatect by a single character (this time on purpose), but otherwise tota lly dissimilar and scarcely compat ible with Galsworthy: we ca n only restate our view that, if two houses cannot combine to perform a three-act play (and it is understandable that in the cases of Lux moore and Marlowe this might well be difficult) then the least they can do is to arrange two compatible plays if they hope to compare favoma bly with houses that perfo rm three-act plays. Marlowe's choice was Scenario, a light comedy about the film world by L. du Garde Peach. The main part, that of an American fi lm director, was played very convincingly by R. J. Snell, whom we would mention especially for his harrassed audibility. However, as the play progressed, the general impression of form lessness increased, in spite of many jokes a nd interesting situations, at least unt il the ent ry of P. A. Campbell as the temperamenta l star. The other characters, including M. S. Reid, P. R. Lcggatt and M. D. H. Peacock, did not come to life a t all , whether through inexperience or inaudibility, and once again, a lthough the play was not a failure by any mea ns, the second half of the evening's enterta inment was not one we would be prepared to sit through aga in if we could help it. G range and Wa lpole combined to produce a well-known drawing-room comedy in three acts, The White Sheep of the Family, by L. du Garde Peach and Tan Hay. To judge from results hitherto, there is no doubt that a single three-act play will almost inevitably go down better than two single-acters; and this product ion was an agreeable return to the traditionally high standard of act ing and of scenery. The latter was possibly the more ambitious: granted a ¡number of people who can act (which these houses proved that they could provide) the play chosen did not make too many demands on any characterthough it is only to their credit that the houses did not choose to make a ' brave attempt' a t something perhaps beyond their power- but to circumvent the conventional scenery a nd convert the Chapter House stage into a credible drawing-room set, this was something new, bravely attempted if you like, a nd achieved, I would say, a t the risk of making invidious comparisons, to a degree of originality, artistry, a nd stage skill unparallellcd in the history of house drama. The acting was gratifyingly uniform, and it would be misleading to mention anybody as a star turn. R. A. Lawrence in the part of James Winter, J.P. , was easily adequate, always audible; and it is scarcely a valid criticism to say that he reminded one always of R. A. Lawrence, since it is a disadvantage peculiar to school actors to be known persona lly to so many of their audience: but let us say that he might perhaps have been a little older, a little more j udicia l, and occasionally more expressive. Alice Winter, his wife, played by D. B. Hughes, was a very creditable performance, though occasionally fa iling in audibility due to her position on the stage. Janet, the maid (C. H. Bayston) and Pat Winter, the daughter of the house (M. R. Jenner) were both admirably played and deserved all the praise they received. J. St. C. Rear as the son of the house who 'went straight' also performed well ; although he was very occasionally inaudible, probably because of the speed at which he talked, and once or twice one felt he had missed a chance in his part- an intonation of voice perhaps, or a facial expression unregistered. C. D. Russell as Sam Jackson and C. R. Sinclair as the intermina ble vicar were both excellent, although the interminable vicar is a type many would like to sec die out of English comedy, especia lly as played by Sinclair. And finally Asst. Commissioner Preston (P. J. D. Allen) and his daughter Angela, Peter's fiancee (M. E . Jones), maintained the high standard , the only comment being that again a few of their words were missed. On this issue of inaudibility, it must be stressed that it is less reprehensible to be unheard in the Chapter House than elsewhere, on account of the accoustics of that building; and it would be unjust to suggest that in Tfte White Sheep of tfte Family any of the audience missed very much or for very long: but it is always a noticeable difference between school and house productions that in the former every single word is audible. As a matter of fact it made very little difference on this occasion, since the play was fa irly well carried along by a straight-forward plot. And it is to the choice of a play ideal not only for this reason but a lso because it could be so suitably cast, and to the designers and constructors of the setting, N.J. B. Wright a nd J. S. P. Sales, and the producer, Mr. R. W. Harris, that we are indebted as much as to the actors themselves for a very good evening's entertainment.
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WAYS AND MEANS I'll tell thee everything I can; There's little to relate, For from the time he first began To teach me, I was late. " And what is your excuse?" he said, "Or have you none to hand?" Excuses flooded through my head Like traffic through the Strand.
I said, "But listen, sir, to meSir, here is my excuse: I could not do my prep. for thee'Tis not that I'm obtuse, Nor am I quite without a brain{ had to write, you see, An essay on 'Effects of Rain On Fishes in the Sea'. "l searched my littered desk for space To put my Latin on, But, clearing it, I lost all trace or work I should have doneAnd that's the way (I gave a sigh) l spent my last night's prep.So, sir, for mercy now I cry: You would not want to whip . . .?"
I said "I didn't hear the bell And couldn't find my pen, And when at last I found it- well1 wasn't able then To fi ll it, 'cause there was no ink; And finally," I cried, "I'm not so guilty as you thinkTwas very hard I tried."
He heard me then, for he had just Completed his design To keep his silverware from rust By pickling it in brine. He thanked me much for telling him The way I spent my prep., But chiefly for-'twas rather grimReminding him to whip. And now, if e'er by chance I'm late For class, or games, or meals, Or have some crime to expiate Like flicking orange peels, Or cannot find a tale to try And give as an excuse, l weep, for to my memory Again those old excuses fly; And those remind me of that guy Whose look was wild, whose wit was dry, Whose ha ir was lost (I know not why), Whose face was very like the sky, With eyes, like wells, about to cry, Who seemed to need some theraJ?Y. Who burbled squawkingly and htgh, As if his mouth were fu ll of pie, Who used to teach me Botany Those periods when I used to sigh A-sitting at my desk.
But he was thlnkjng of a scheme To take my time from me, And finally to make me dream That work was nice as tea. So being wholly unaware Of what it was I said, Cried "What you say I do not care", And thumped me on the head. My accents vague took up the tale: I said "I searched the Grange For books until I was quite pale, But, sir- 'tis not so strangeThe study seemed to lack my fi le, And somehow it seemed wrong Fileless to come; I wept awhile And when my tea rs were gone ... " But he was thinking of a way To keep my mind on school, And so go on from day to day Making me work to rule. He shook me well from side to side Until my face was blue: "Come show me now your prep." he cried, "For this will nover do."
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ANTON1N DVORAK (died May 1st, 1904) LEOS JANACEK (born June 27th, 1854) Most people only know Dvorak by his Humoreske in G flat and by the New World Symphony (No. 9); the first of these is a beautiful little work, of excellent craftsmanship, but it is not great music: and the New World is unquestionably the worst-written of D vorak's last five symphonies. It is certainly beautiful- it could otherwise never have re.ached the popularity it enjoys; but, especially in the fina le, the music shews signs of lack of care and sometimes of inspiration. It is difficult to see why the Symphony in F (No. 5) has not reached the same popularity; it shews many of the fau lts of the New World- th ough here they are the faults of inexperience-but its tunes are quite as delightful, and few symphonies open more poetically. The 8th Symphony, in G, is beginning to rival the New World's popularity, though even it has a ra ther weak finale; but the 7th, in D minor, and the. 6th, in D major, are by no means so well-known. The interesting thing is that they are by far the best of all his symphonies, and among the best of all his works. The 6th is a delightful work, which should be a strong rival to Brahms' 2nd, if it were more often performed: the 7th was inspired by a first hearing of Brahms' 3rd, but its tone is more that of the 1st, with a tragic opening and a tri umphant finale. While D vorak was writing it, he said: "Everywhere I go, I think of nothing else than my work, which must be such as to shake the world, and with God's help it will be so"; and he produced a symphony worthy to stand in the very highest rank of music. The four earlier symphonies are of less importance than these five, but are still full of good things. D vorak was a Czech nationalist, but his nationalism was not as strong as that of his older compatriot, Bedrich Smetana, who is known as "the father of Czech national music". The music of " the most musical nation of Europe" was in his blood: he was the son of the village innkeeper and butcher of Nelahozeves, a nd he was from his earliest years acquainted with the folk-music of Bohemia. He never consciously quotes a folktune, as Tchaikovsky often did ; but nearly all his melodies have the spirit of these folktunes. The best example of this imitation without quota tion is the Slavonic Dances, which are probably the best of their type : every one of their tunes is original, although they sound exactly like folk-tunes. In spite of his nationalism, much of D vorak's music is of a more Western European character. He set one opera to a German libretto (Alfred the Great); and much of his piano music is of the Schuman type. (Incidentally, this side of Dvorak's music is the least successful ; he never really understood the piano, and, though some of the true D vorak appears in the piano music, much of it is insipid, in spite of Oscar Wilde's description"curiously coloured, scarlet music". The solo-writing in the Piano Concerto in G minor is marred by over-elaboration; D vorak's best piano music is in the Quintet in A and the duet version of the Slavonic Dances.) Alfred the Great found even Jess success than his others ; it has never been published. The only really great non-nationalist work he wrote was the 7th Symphony; there is no nationalism in the first three movements except for a trace in the Trio, and only in the great soaring theme of the finale does th; pational spirit return. 4~0
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The chief aim of Dvorak's music is euphony, and no composer has ever bettered him in this respect. His harmony is such as is expected from a composer with this aim: often, however, its beauty lies in its strangeness. Much of his harmonic language is derived from Wagner, whom he passiona tely admired; but he ra rely lapses into chromaticism. The final cadence of the 12th Slavonic D a nce must have sounded very strange to those hearing it when it was new; and the final bars of the B minor 'Cello Concerto can sound surprising even to our ears. D vorak bas often been called the first atonalist, not unjustly; but his atonal ism was always perfectly unconscious. A good example of a "whole-tone" scale appears in the Te D eum, where it sounds as natural as that in Glinka's overture to Ruslan and Ludmila. But Dvorak's supreme contribution in the sphere of euphony was his orchestration. Sir George Grove's Dictionary of 1890 calls him "the greatest living mas ter of the orchestra"; this praise is full y justified. Dvorak was not a mong the greatest orchestral innovators-this title must be given to Beethoven, Berlioz, Wagner and Ma hler. He took over the innovations of others, and enriched them with his own charm. No composer has ever used the woodwind so beautifully as he, especially flute trills, and his horn-writing is unequa lled, except perhaps by Bruckner : there can have been no better or more lovely horn themes ever written than those in the first movement of the 'Cello Concerto a nd the slow movement of the 7th Symphony. His orchestral writing is full of a warm th and richness of colouring: a nd this, combined with the beauty of his tunes and harmonies, gives his music a quality that distinguishes it from all other. Perhaps the most neglected side of D voUtk's output is his choral music and the operas. H e wrote ten of the latter, in varying styles : Wanda, Dmitri (both Polish stories), Alfred the Great a nd Armida (this his last large-scale work), in the tragic style of Smetana's Dalibor; the comic operas Tvrde Palice, Selma Sedlak and Cert a Kaca; the na tiona list Krdl a uh/ir and Jakobin; a nd the delightful fairy-tale, Rusalka. Only Rusalka and Cert a Kaca ("The Devil and Kate") have so far been performed in England, though the others enjoy some popularity in Czechoslovakia. Why they have been thus neglected is incomprehensible; they contain much fine music, and it would surely be possible for the best parts of them at least to be heard in England. Dvorak's religious music also deserves a far wider hea ring than it has so far received. He wrote a Mass in D, commissioned for the consecration of a private chapel; it has never been performed in England, but is said to be a little unequal. The firs t Czech oratorio, his Stabat Mater, is better known here; it also is a rather unequal work, of his earlier period (1876), but is well worth more frequent performance. His next large choral work is the Requiem of 1890, composed in memory of his mother ; this is said to be a most moving and beautiful work, but again has never been heard in England. The best of all his choral works is the Te Deum of 1892, which was performed in the Dvorak Memorial Concerts las t May; this is the most original setting of the Te Deum ever composed. It is scored for soprano and bass solo, choir and orchestra, and is planned like a symphony, with two outer fast movements, a slow movement, and a scherzo: its orchestral writing is superb, with specially beautiful parts for the woodwind and brass. Altogether it is one of the most beautiful pieces of church music in existence. Dvorak's other choral works include the magnificent "patriotic hymn", Heirs of the White Mountain; a rather feeble secular cantata, The Wedding Shift, which title offended Dvorak's indefatigable mistranslator, the Rev. Dr. Troutbeck, causing him to rename it The Spectre's Bride; the unjustly deserted oratorio, S t. Ludmila, written specially for the Leeds Festival; and several excellent partsongs. 451
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DvoUtk's output includes most forms of orchestral music. There are th ree concertos¡ for piano, violin a nd 'cello, of which the latter, the best of its kind is deservedly th~ best known. The Violin Concerto, a charming but slighter work, foll ows Mendelssohn rather than Brahms, and should have almost the same popularity as its model. The two Serenades, in E major a nd D minor, are in the best D voHtkian tradition, as is also the "Czech" Suite in D. The Slavonic Dances need no comment; but the three Slavonic Rhapsodies, Op. 45, lack the wonderful vitality of the Dances. The five Symphonic Poems, of 1896, are generally considered to be failures; this is an unduly harsh judgment. Most of the stories are too complicated for any but the cleverest composer-and this Dvorak was not- but the music in them is beautiful a nd often very clever. The potrayal of the fractious child in the Noonday Witch is very well done, as is the Witch's entry in the same work. The Symphonic Variations, Op. 78, are D vor¡ak's best essay in this difficult form, and are of great merit. The best of all his smaller orchestral works is the Scherzo Capriccioso, Op. 66, a gay a nd beautiful work, which displays his magnificent powers of orchestration, and which stands very high among all compositions of this type. Dvorak's chamber music occupies an important place in his work. The best things in it are the Quintet in A, "simply one of the most perfect chamber-music works in existence" ; the Dumky Trio in E minor (the Dumka is a So uth Russian form much favo ured by Dvorak, and the Trio consists of six consecuti ve Dumky); the Quartets in G and A flat, Opp. 105 and 106 ; and the delightful Quartet in F, Op. 96, miscalled the Nigger. It would be apt here to mention D vorak's alleged negro influences. T he best things said on the subject are D vorak's own words to Ottokar Nedbal: "Leave out all that nonsense abo ut my using original American melodies". Just beca use the second subject of our first movement of the New World resembles Swing low, sweet chariot, there is no reason for calling it a negro spiritual; the same phrase appears in Czech folk-music. This year is a n important one for Czech music: not only is the 50th anniversary of Dvorak's death commemorated, but also the centenary of the birth of Leos Janacek. He is, with Smetana and Dvorak, the greatest figure in Czech music, a nd occupies one of the most important positions in modern music. He was born at Hukvaldy, in Moravia, the son of the village schoolmaster ; he became a chorister at Brno, where he remained for the rest of his life. He founded the Brno Organ School in 1880 ; he died in 1928, still feeling, as he said, "that whole new worlds are opening out before me" . Those who, coming new to his music, expect to hear another Dvorak, will be disappointed ; they should first look to Mussorgsky to find a parallel to his work. His supreme originality is in the melodic basis of his music. All his work is based on "speechpatterns"; he claimed that not only opera, but also orchestral music, could be based on the patterns of a people's speech. It is said that he could tell a person's feelings by the tempo and modulations of the voice. The jerkiness of much of his music, which can be disturbing to new listeners, is derived from the Moravian dialect; his own speech was " like a cross between a typewriter and a machine gun". Janacek's first masterpiece, the opera Jenufa, was written in 1904; when it was offered to the Prague Theatre, it was rejected as "unplayable and unsingable". So little was Janacek's genius recognised in those days. He had to wait untill916, when he was already 62, for the first performance of Jenufa. It was immediately recognised as a masterpiece, 452
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and soon gained fame outside Czechoslovakia. From the years following this performance dates most of Janacek's greatest music. Five more operas appeared in the next eight years, including Katya KaMnova, which was revived this year: it is in a more lyrical style than Jenufa, though it retains many of the staccato utterances of that work, particularly in the violent endings to the acts. Its rather sordid story was perhaps the generator of such later plots as Alban Berg's Wozzeck. Janaeek produced a quantity of orchestral music, which is fully worthy of his reputation. One of the earliest is the Suite for strings ( 1877), a pleasant, if not very distinguished work in the style of Dvorak's Serenade in E . The magnificent Taras Bulba, a symphonic poem as powerful as any ever written, even by Sibelius, has a grandeur that is typical of Janacek's music. It is interesting to compare Janacek's Lachian Dances with Dvorak's Slavonic Dances; Janacek's Dances more closely resemble Borodin's Polovtsian Dances than D vorak's. They are full of a wild, abandoned grandeur that does not appear in many of the Slavonic Dances (No. 15 is a n exception); and their orchestration and ha rmony are far harsher and more strident than Dvorak's. The most important of Janacek's orchestral works is the Sinfonietta of 1927. This work shews concisely all the best features of Ja nacek's style. The opening movement, scored for brass and percussion alone, is full of his grandeur; it is a vast a nd magnificent fanfare, imbued with thoroughly Czech feeling. The slow movement is in his lyrical vein; and the scherzo is a lively movement, like a Czech peasant dance. It is in the scherzo that Janacek's jerky, dissonant style comes most to the fore. The finale is an even more magnificent version of the opening. The Sinfonietta is as a whole one of the best of modern orchestral works. T he other great work Janacek produced in his last year of life is the Glagolithic Mass. The G lagolithic alphabet was introduced to the Western Slavs in the 9th century, when they were Christianized, and a type of Mass grew up from it: the Mass became extinct in the 15th century, when the Roman Mass became general. Janacek's Mass was probably intended for the milleniary celebrations of St. Wenceslas in 1929. It is a work of a tremendous, primitive vigour, like that of Stravinsky's Rile of Spring, and is full of the wild joy of a peasant celebration. It is difficult to imagine it being performed in a village ch urch ; it is too powerful a work fo r anything but a great cathedral. l n DvoNtk and Janacek Czech music reaches its highest point, for they are, in their best wo rks, worthy to rank with the very greatest composers of the world. Dvol¡ak, tho ugh his music is sometimes not of a very high quality, always writes beautifully; his naivete, which often surprises the listener, is never conscious, as Mahler's often is. He was naturally naive, like another great peasant composer, Bruckner; he was a countryman and pigeon-fancier who put his love of the country into his music, which as a result is fu ll of the freshness of the country. He is often unfa irly judged, even by the best critics, by his least well-written works; but, at the often-neglected peaks of his acllievement, he really does "reach the snows". Janacek was a great composer, "full", as Dvorak himself said, "of the true Slavonic spirit". He is now beginning to be allowed his rightful place in the musical hierarchy, which is one of the highest in modern music. In the present struggle for a thoroughly satisfactory modern musical idiom, it is surprising that no-one has ever followed his teaching ; this could, in the hands of a master like Janacek himself, become the basis of the music of the futu re. R,G,S,A, 4~3
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THE YALE GLEE CLUB On the 8th of July the School was treated to a show the like of which none of us had experienced before. Sixty students of Yale University visiting England on their European tour held the School spellbound to such a display of choral singing as must be rare even in Canterbury. From their first entrance as they filod up the Chapter House and took their places on the stage, everything they did was incredibly well driUed and executed with the utmost precision. They began with two pieces by Tomas Luis da Vittoria that left the School stunned; never before had we heard such control of tone and volume, such electric response to the conductor's gestures; diminuendos died away to nothing without a waver or tremor; attacks were absolutely unanimous and there was no end to their variety of expression. A group of sixteen sang three madrigals which had been so well rehearsed that they could sing such complicated syncopations as there are in The Nightingale by Thomas Weelkes with a nonchalance that was quite unnerving. They also sang songs of France, Scandinavia and Germany all of which were received with thunderous applause from the School. But fo r the last two groups-American Folk Songs (which included negro spirituals) and Student Songs- the handclaps turned into cheers of "encore". Some items stand out in one's memory: Cindy, The Battle of Jericho, The Serenade in the Snow (Swiss), and The Switzer Boy a triple yodel. The evening was a tonic for all who were there because the Glee Club so obviously enjoyed singing and because they succeeded in conveying this spirit across to their audience.
BOOK REVIEWS Freedom: A New Analysis. By Maurice Cranston. (Longmans, Green & Co., 12/6.) If I were on the staff of some philological magazine, and had to choose This Year's Most Popular Word, or perhaps a Miss Abstract Noun for 1954, I think I should pick Freedom: proxime accessit, Democracy, with Communism highly commended. There are hundreds of books sold nowadays about various kinds of freedom, such as I chose freedom, Freedom and Social Chaos, Th e Four Freedoms and What They M ean, Freedom among the Eskimos, and even, by an interesting feat of metaphysical acrobatics, Is God free ? Naturally, however, most of them are political works, such as the book called Our Choice: Freedom or Slavery ? This latter is a purely rhetorical question, whose answer will surprise nobody: it is Freedom, carefully spread out through eleven chapters. For freedom is not only a popular word, but is generally considered a necessary qualification for respectability: as the advertisers say, no institution can afford not to have it. There cannot have been such a boom in freedom since Harmodius and Aristogeiton. This book, however, does not consist of eulogy or harangue; it is the careful and well-reasoned work of a trained philosopher who has no axe to grind, and as such consists exclusively of argument, not propaganda. All the individual arguments are interesting, and some of them, particularly those concerned with the freedom of the will, constitute a palpable advance on any previous arguments. This is chiefly due to the author's ability to see one important point which has usually been missed. The point is briefly this: We normally speak of people as "free" when they are not subject to compulsion: and under the heading of "compulsion" we include only such things as physical violence or the threat of it, harsh laws and their penalties, and rare cases of psychological compulsion, such as hypnotism or kleptomania. But, as the author points out, why should we stop there? Is it not clear that things like moral pressure, propaganda, sectarian education, together with many other unknown psychological forces that operate upon us, are also forms of compulsion? And just because they are less overt, why should we think that they are less ~ompulsivc?
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tHE CANTUAR I AN Nobody can really understand freedom without appreciating this point, for it is undoubtedly a sound one. We are all familiar, for example, with the type of mother who says to her child, "I don't want to force you to be a good boy, but I shall be so hurt/ashamed/angry if you're not." This sort of emotional blackmail exercises a compulsion that is more permanent (and in my view, more damaging) than the fear of mere physical punishment. We are therefore driven to seck a more positive concept of freedom. The author finds it in terms of unpredictability. For him, a predictable action is a compelled one, and the man who performs it is not free. He argues that certa in types of actions are in principle unpredictable, and therefore must be freely performed; though as regards other actions, he leaves the issue in doubt. I cannot criticise Mr. Cranston's style, for his writing is both lucid and intensely readable, which is all one has the right to demand of a philosopher; nor his general clarifica tion of freedom, which seems to me to be excellent. My main criticism of his thesis is that r do not think predictability need have anything to do with freedom at all. Just because I can predict, without (I hope) any real possibility of error, that my classics form will not murder me when I next step into the classroom, that in itself docs not entail that they are not morally free to do so. It may be that in fact they are not free to do so, but one would more natura lly seek for compulsions not in terms of predictability, but in terms of their education, their background, their fea r of punishment, and so forth. We might perhaps prefer to say that people were truly free when they acted rationally, thereby excluding the possibility of any psychological compulsion, either in terms of their own character or their environment. This would mean that they were free when they were their true selves: that is, when they were being reasonable and not prejudiced, fanatical, slaves to their own desires or to externa l pressure. This is something like Plato's view; and though it undoubtedly requires elucidation, I think it is a more promising one. But this is a debatable issue, and cannot be taken to detract from the value of the book as a whole. At a time when there are so many people indulging in what Wodehouse would call light political chitchat about freedom, when there are so many purely dogmatic statements about free wiiJ, and when the presence (or alleged presence) of freedom in any country or institution is invariably produced as grounds for self-congratulation, it is certainly worth discovering what we are talking about. For anyone who is concerned to know what he is talking about, instead of merely talking, this book will be invaluable. J.B.W.
The Historian's Craft, by Marc Bloch. (Manchester University Press, 12/6.) The author of this book did not live to complete it. He was shot by the Nazis in June, 1944, for his connexion with the F rench Resistance. The book, now published in a form substantially the same as he left it and still incomplete, is a historian's testament. In his dedication (addressed to his friend and colleague, Lucien Febvre) Bloch tells us that it was written "as a simple antidote by which, amid sorrows and anxieties both personal and collective, I seek a little peace of mind". What was written as an antidote turns out to be an absorbing, wise and valuable book. The study and writing of history has seen many revolutions since some form of critical method was evolved a t the end of the seventeenth century. Now, we flatter ourselves, the muddy waters clear, and we are able to take a more objective view of a subject so manifestly prone to abuse and distortion. At least, the many books on historiography which have appeared recently would suggest this conclusion. And here is another contribution to this process of clarification. As the title suggests, the book is not intended to be a discussion of the theories which compose the so-called Philosophy of History. The reader who looks for a refutation of Historical Determinism, or another vindication of the concept History as an Art, will be disappointed. This is a sane, practical book by a most competent historian, and the lessons it imparts are those gleaned from first-hand experience of the writing of history, lessons learnt by a historian and not a theorist. It is designed to answer the time-honoured question (given so inadequate an answer by some of the most competent historians) "What is the use of history?" The answer it provides is that of a practitioner rather than that of a hired apologist. History is first of all treated as a science (if a very imprecise one), "the science of men in time". This is not put forward as a definition or a dogma or borne as a burden, but is intended as a loose description. Bloch anticipates the howls of the historians of the artistic camp and rejects what he caUs "the idol of origins", the explanation of an event in terms of its remotest causes, which in popular language have
THE CANTUA RIAN come to signify "the beginning which is a complete explanation". He then examines "the prerogative of self-intelligibility", the claim that every period should be appraised in its own right, and without reference to any other period, and finds it to be unsound. After this exposition, we are introduced to the problems of historical observation, criticism and analysis, again treated from the craftsman's point of view. A knowledge of the past, Bloch says, is only "a knowledge of its tracks", a knowledge that requires as much painstaking erudition as intelligence. It is not to be gained without difficulty, if we are to be successful "in knowing far more about the past than the past itself had thought good to tell us". Hence the need for a constant cross-examination of the evidence not mere passive observation: documents "only speak when they are properly questioned" . The dangers of divorcing preparation from execution result, if not realised, in blurred interpretation and the stereotyped "text-book history". The historian must learn the " psychology of evidence" and not only repeat the evidence itself, if he is to resist the subtle and compelling deceptions in which history abounds. The problem of the historian's impartiality may, according to Bloch, be resolved in the double problem of judging and of understanding; both must be merged and employed together. Impartial judging distorts impartial understanding. Human variety needs both. Bloch concludes that "human time will never conform to the implacable uniformity or fixed divisions of clock time. Reality demands that its measurements be suited to the invariability of its rhythm, and that its boundaries have wide marginal zones. It is only by this plasticity that history can hope to adapt its classifications, as Bergson put it, 'to the very contours of rea lity': which is properly the realm of any science." The writer makes his exposition more weighty by illustrating it at every turn with examples from histo ry. These banish any dullness, and if the reader regrets that the chapter on " Historical Causation" was unfinished, he has the three chapters on observation, criticism and analysis to compensate. The book is made more readable by the competence of its translator, who smooths over any passages left unpolished at the author's death. The Historian's Craft is warmly recommended as a useful, informative and interesting book, not only to students of history but to all who are concerned with the problems practical or philosophical centring round a knowledge of the pa~t. W.E.S.T.
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One. By David Karp. (London: Gollancz.)
The last two decades have been particularly fruitful in imaginative studies of obsession and persecution. At least four or five of these have shown marks of possible excellence, and the appearance of One may mean an addition to the list; for it too, in an age¡of excessive self-consciousness, projects the examination of human weakness into the self's objective embodiment, the State. The story is of an university professor in a benevolent police state in the unspecified future. In his part-time role of State spy, watching for heresies among his colleagues, he is himself subjected to routine examination. And the examination reveals that in the professor too there exist some of the profoundest and most dangerous heresies. The plot is concerned with the re-education of the spy and with the substitution of a new personality for his old, heretical, one. ("I'm going"-says the inquisitor- "to pulverize this man's identity. I'm going to reduce him to a cipher, from one to nothing.") The reader's witnessing of this process is not entirely pleasant, principally because Mr. Karp has profited from the weaknesses of his predecessors and has rendered his dupe more sympathetic. In Canetti's Auto da Fe the subject is rather too mad to be credible; in this book the professor could be any intelligent man of sensibility. In Kafka's Th e Castle the hero, K, sometimes appears incredibly obtuse and weak; Mr. Karp allows his victim to respond with an anger and cunning which appear entirely normal. In Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four Winston Smith is insensitive to the point of disapproving of Big Brother in a manner occasionally reminiscent of the disapproval of the popular press for the Liberal Party ; in One, however, the central character appreciates, and even at times sympathises with, the State's aims. And again, in this book we Jack both the morbidity of Sartre's Antoine Roquentin and the fanaticism of Koestler's Dark ness at Noon. But to make these comparisons is only to indicate some of the improvements in form for which Mr. Karp is responsible. In content he deprives himself of the implicative force of allegory but in doing so he raises important and, because explicit, more controversial questions. 456
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THE CANTUARIAN If for example, the human personality is something largely verba l and if, in hypothesis. one personality can 'be substituted for another by brain-washing and the development of a new vocabulary, what must be the position of the language philosophers? Mr. Karp's answer would seem to show with more than usual force that it is impossible not only for the philosophic " truths" which are formulated from answers to factua l and, in turn, logical and ethical questions, to have the status of metaphysics but also to have any except a purely arbitrary and temporary validity. Again, the point which was first forcibly and imaginatively made by Kafka- that the destructive Aaw in rigid political theory is primarily a fault of logic-is given greater clarity by Mr. Karp in that he shows the impossibility of success for any system of all-embracing political logic as stemming from nothing other than a refusal to accept the Kantian categories of thought in which, simply in virtue of being human, one "cannot but" think. However fast one ta lks, black cannot be shown as white. Ont' possible cause for regret with this novel may be t hat Mr. Karp appears to correlate too closely the holding of faulty logic and its opposite with the distinction between fanaticism and humanism. If the threads were held separate each argument would be stronger. But despite this One succeeds in underlining very clearly that the indelible trace of individualism in human personality is, to the totalitarian theorist, merely an infuriating blind spot. And that while this is so the human spirit, however conceived, is safe. Even apart, then, from the dust-cover's blurb and the author's remarkably fortunate style, One is recommended reading-for the simple reason that it makes sense. J.G.O.
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THE SOCIETIES The Pater Society has again had a busy term. After two meetings early in the term, when Mr. Owen gave a talk on "Something about the activities of the early Greek poets", and Mr. Robertson a paper on Julius Caesar, entitled "Multos annos regnare meditatus", work for the General Certificate precluded further activities. After the examinations, however, a most interesting and enjoyable expedition was made to St. Albans, where much excavation of the Roman remains has been carried out. It is hoped that opportunity will be found, before the end of term, to hold a meeting at which Greek and Roman food and wine will be discussed. The Harvey Society's activities this term have been almost stopped by the claims of G.C.E., but a visit to Faversham Brewery is planned to take place before the end of term. Earlier the Society spent an interesting afternoon at Chartham Paper Mills, where tracing paper was seen being made from woodpulp and waste paper. Next term's programme will include the usual film-show, an excursion to the De Havilland Aircraft Works, and a demonstration for November 5th. The Caxton Society is now very well off for type. In addition to its display faces, it has for bookwork both the 'Times' series used tiU now, and also a corresponding range of 'Perpetua', newly bought. This type has been used in the Yale Glee Club programme. The Photographic Society has increased its membership to fifty by the election of eleven new members this term. The arranged visit to Kodak's works could not take place, but has been postponed until October II th. Two visits to the projection room of the Friars' Cinema took place, and twenty-four members went in all. The dark room has been in constant use.
THE LIBRARY We gratefully acknowledge gifts from the following: Miss Mills, Col. A. R. A. Iremonger, Mrs. Mowll, P. C. V. Lawless, Esq., A. Kent, Esq., E. Baldock, Esq., K. D. Walker, Esq., R. W. Marshall, Esq., and the American Library.
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FETE " .... Les migrations plus enormes que les anciennes invasio ns" Angry lay the sun in afternoon. I walked with fut ure, past And voluptuo us thoughts Echoing, stuttering, Veining richly Jnto your hair And body shimmering. Shadows dreamed On the vine-spread wall. Soft grapes devoured Tongue-lusted juices Burning my steps To zig-zag out Fast beating pulses Of noisy crowds Kissing each syrup-lashed Wasp as his fellow of love. Red castanet land glows Dreaming, Dreaming Of castles and sky-scra pers Leaning. Dreamer, lower your safety-curtain Painting to a udiences powerless and stunted Wet springtime in gardens where Pigmy-flowers and Bones in pregnancy hunted, Piping to birth Predestined sorrow. But intervals are times Between roses blooming And roses perfuming Constructed by Moments falling And events happening - Intervals are harsh. Open your sunThe play has begun And summer spins flowers To dance in your room. Smile- laugh, For I have come And winter for ever is going. M.J.R.
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OLD MEMORIES EXTRACTS FROM TWO LETTERS WRITTEN BY J. M. EDMONDS TO THE HEADMASTER
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As the only surviving member of your predecessor Galpin's staff of 1899-1903, I feel I ought to pass on to the younger generation of King's School my knowledge of an incident of which I was told about 1900. It seems that, some little time before I came, there had been a fire in the part of the Cathedral which contains the tomb of the Black Prince. When he (Dr. Galpin) heard the cry of "Fire", one of the masters named Hodgson-afterwards Canon Hodgson- ran at once for a ladder and went in and "rescued" from above the tomb these accoutrements of which replicas have just been dedicated.* When I was at Canterbury, Hodgson was Master of the Preparatory School, which in those days was housed in the Archbishop's Palace-an address which the Hodgsons duly stamped, 1 remember, on their notepaper. 1 gather from the newspapers that the School is thriving, and its Boat Club-which, by the way, r started: I still possess the photograph of the Four of 1900 or 1901. Your kind letter prompts me to reply with the enclosed ... a word or two more of reminiscence. The masters' common room in my time was in the Grange, and after dinner we played bowls on the lawn. Old Mason- known to the boys as "Tar" (for Tartar)-claimed the bowls were his own and expected to be asked for them . As he was merely the survivor of a syndicate of masters who had bought them for the use of the common room, we younger men revolted and took them without his leave; which ended in war- he keeping his and we buying a new set, and neither side speaking to the other more than was necessa ry- all this so like the umbrella episode in Mr. Perrin and Mr. Trail/ that 1 have wondered if Hugh Walpole was ever a master at ](jng's School after I had left. Dr. Galpin's study was divided by a curtain into " the holy place" and " the holy of holies", and we masters used to assemble every morning in the former and wait till he came out of the latter to make any announcement before we all went into "School" (above the arches) for prayers. One morning, thinking he had not come in from his breakfast, I stamped on the noor and said "Shop", whereupon, rather to our consternation, he emerged. This was long remembered against me, as was a phrase I coined at confirmation times, when Galpin, whose small stature made him careful of his dignity, was long said to have put on "his confirmation face". When I told you that I started the Boat Club I should have said " with C. W. Bell", though he dropped out very soon, getting married .. .. In those days we had to race one boat behind the other with two winning posts at Fordwich, ending a J-shaped course. Which brings me to Arthur Bryant's History of England, where he describes Becket's return from exile and the welcoming crowds all along the road "from Canterbury's own port of Sandwich". I have suggested that this must be a mistake for Fordwich, and he agrees. * The Achievements of the Black Prince
!
TENNIS After having decisively defeated Wye College and St. Lawrence, Ramsgate, the Tennis VI has not fulfilled its earlier promise. We have suffered a narrow defeat at the hands of Eastbourne, and heavier defeats by K.C.S., Wimbledon, and Tonbridge. The inability to kill the easy return has perhaps been the greatest single factor in these defeats. On June 5th our 1st and 2nd VIs entertained Benenden School, and a pleasant afternoon was passed in their company. Once again the Club extend their thanks to Major Gross and Mr. Gray for their loyal assistance. The 1st VI has been: W. H. Woolston, B. A. E. Duerinckx, A. G. Rodgers, J. C. Rear, R. B. P. Linton, A. H. Taylor. 459
THE CANTUARIAN
SWIMMING Although the weather killed much interest in the sport this term, the team, the seniors at any rate showed a slight improvement on last year. In the triangular match with the City of London School and Highgate, although we did not win a senior event, we beat Highgate albeit being beaten, as usual, by the City of London. Eastbourne were a vastly improved team and defeated us in a very close match by one point. In the free-style relay race for the Bath Club Challenge Cup we came twenty-first out of thirty as compared with twenty-fifth out of twenty-eight last year; and in our new fixture, the Public Schools' Medley Relay Race at the Marylebone Baths we came sixteenth out of twenty-eight. At Tonbridge we were victorious in every event but two, Fisher, perhaps helped by a watch fault, even breaking the bath record for fifty yards with the impossible time of 25.2 sees. The juniors met unexpectedly strong opposition and lost every fixture. The free-style and backstroke exponents were on the whole better than last year's while the breast-stroke and divers were little inferior. They were not however strong enough to conquer their opponents. Although there was a dearth of outstanding talent we have many good swimmers who will be young enough to swim next year and we have great hopes for the future. The departure of Houry and Lancashire left a large gap which Fyfe-Smith ga llantly contrived to fill¡ indeed in the first match he was only .3 sec. behind Houry's hundred yards record. Paterson and Coombes considerably improved their times and gained many successes, although they could not repeat their last year's triumph against the City of London. Von Bibra in the diving a nd Russell and Jones in the backstroke events always tried, and gained a fa ir measure of success. Colours have been re-awarded to Fyfe-Smith, Paterson, von Bibra, Coombes, Jones, Balfour, and awarded to Russell and Morgan. In addition Malcolm, Pitch, Matthew, Elcock, Greene, Stevens Croxford, King, F inburgh, Stiven, Robinson, Lebish and Evans have appeared for the School. ' M.F.
I.
I I
THE BOAT CLUB
t
THE 1sT EIGHT The results at Putney showed that much work would have to be done if the 1st VIII were to reach a good Henley standard, and so we were fortunate in being again invited for a week's training at Jesus College, Cambridge, at the end of the Easter holiday. The VIII had valuable help in coaching by M. J. Marshall, this year's Cambridge stroke, and by Colin Paterson. As in previous years, the mileage covered was to prove the foundation of good rowing during the term, and by the end of the week, the boat was already moving faster than at any time in the Easter term. Excellent weather and the kindness of our Jesus friends combined to make this a most enjoyable week for us all. Back at Pluck's Gutter, the crew continued to improve, though rather slowly, and they were unfortunate to lose P. J. Allen two days before Twickenham Regatta. R . L. Fishlock rowed in Allen's place at both Twickenham and Reading and is to be commended for his good work.
r.
f.
RICHMOND AND TWICKENHAM REGATTA We entered for the Junior-Senior Eights, to defend the Mayor of Twickenham Trophy, and the day's rowing proved good experience. After beating Horseferry R.C. by a comfortable margin, despite a poor row; the VIII rowed well to beat London R.C. in the semi-final. In the fina l a combined ctew from Burway and Staines R.C.s proved too strong and we lost by three-quarters of a length.
I(
THE CANTUARIAN
READING REGATTA We again entered for the Junior-Senior Eights, for which there was a strong entry of 14 crews, including some Oxford colleges. The first heat on Friday evening against Christ Church, Oxford, was most exciting, though unnerving for the coach. A poor start by the School gave Christ Church a i length lead, but the school gradually regained this distance and a fine spurt by Thomas a long the enclosures gave us a win of three feet. On Saturday, after fa irly comfortable wins over Eton Excelsior R .C. and Jesus College, Oxford, we met St. Edward's School in the final. The School led from the start and after an excellent row seemed assured of victory, when an unfortunate "crab" only 50 yards from the finish robbed them of their success. However, despite this disappointment and despite the rain which poured unceasingly the whole day, it was an excellent regatta with some fine racing. Once again Dr. and Mrs. Cashell were kindness itself and we arc all most grateful to them for their entertainment and hospitality.
HENLEY ROYAL REGATTA The confidence gained at Reading was reflected in some excellent rowing and paddling in the preHenley fortnight. The fo rm of the crew was not consistent but the trial courses rowed were promising. At Henley, where we entered for the Princess E lizabeth Cup, we managed two outings a day in between the many examinatio ns, including two excellent outings with King's College and Jesus College, Cambridge. WEDNESDAY: v Bryanston School. Bryanston were very fast off the start and led by i length after a minute. But the School rowed them down steadily and took the lead just after Fawley to win by t length in 7 min. 19 sees. This was a splendid row, with the boat running well between the strokes. THURSDAY: v Shrewsbury School. We were again led from the start and this time, despite repeated efforts by Thomas, the VIII was unable to get on terms again. The School pressed their opponents all the way, but the row lacked the life and stdde cf the previous day and Shrewsbury won by It lengths in 7 min. 25 sees. Conditions were about 10 sees. slower than on Wednesday. Shrewsbury lost the semi-final by ! length to Winchester College, whose strong crew won the fina l from Oundle School on the Satur¡day. The standard of school rowing a t Henley is rising and was particularly good this year. The performances of several schools, including ourselves, compared favourably with those of many Ladies' Plate and Thames Cup crews. Thus, despite its inauspicious beginning, the 1st VIII was again of good Henley standard; it lacked consistency in its performance, but at its best, it had the pace of the 1953 crew and was always a pleasure to coach. D.S.G.
THE
2ND
EIGHT
Despite changes due to the loss to examination work of two old colours-N. M.S. Brown and M.D. H. Peacock- the early choice of the 2nd VIII was justified in the speed with which the newcomers improved, and the crew showed a cheerful zest for l1ard work. At Richmond and Twickenham Regatta, after comfortable victories over Baling Grammar School and Bedford Modern School, the 2nd VIII lost the F inals of the Schools Eights to St. Pau l's by t length in a hard-fought tussle. This was a good day's experience. In these races and for nearly three weeks of training J. B. C. Ba lkwill joined the crew at 3 in place of R. L. S. Fishlock who was with the 1st VIII. At Marlow the 2nd VIII again had invaluable practice outings and when rowing alongside the Queens' Cambridge crew they discovered their fastest pace off the start. In the first round of the Public Schools' Challenge Vase, the School drew the far station, with Beaumont in the centre and Bedford Modern on the towpath side. After early clashing of stroke-side blades with Beaumont the School drew right away to a comfortable win of over a length from Bedford Modern. In the Semi-finals King's were in the centre station between St. Paul's on the towpath side and Radley, a very powerful crew. Bates took the VIII away well at 38 to St. Paul's 43 and for nearly a minute the three crews were still together. In the second minute, with Radley drawing ahead steadily, St. Paul's gained half a length and came across so that for some while the blades were disconcertingly close. At halfway Radley had taken advantage to gain a lead of nearly two lengths and St. Paul's were second by a canvas. Bates then gathered the crew well and fought home to finish 1; lengths behind Radley but ! length ahead of St. Paul's. Radley went on to win the Finals against Eton in a time faster than the winners of the Marlow Ei$hts,
~
liI I
THE C ANT UA RIA N This year's crew was nota bly faster than last year's. While still allowing their boat to run without check or dipping of the bows, the crew achieved greater power with more consistent bladework and in this second appearance in VIlis at Marlow gave an excellent account of themselves. To Mr. and Mrs. Whalley, a mongst many friendly helpers, our especial thanks are again due for their very kindly and welcome hospitality to us before the races at Marlow. J.H-S.
THE
3RD
EIGHT
The 3rd VIII went into training d uring the last ten days of the Easter Term, so that by the beginning of the Summer Term, the order was almost settled. Most of the crew were newcomers to rowing in eights and they made good progress in their short period of training. Their fi rst fixture was the Junior Eights at Reading Clinker Regatta, h eld for the first time this year; they had a very close race with Southampton University 2nd VIII and lost by t length. The Public Schools 3rd VIII's Regatta was held at Pang bourne on June 17th ; the School lost the first round to Bedford by 1 length, and were then drawn in the losers' races. In these they had a good row to beat Westminster by :t lengths but lost the final to St. Edward 's. N.H.S.
THE FOURS We have again this year had two representative School fours and considering that they were chosen after the three eights, both fours gave a good account of themselves. They had mixed fortunes in races with the 2nd a nd 3rd IVs ofTonbridge a nd Eastbourne; in a home fixture, Ton bridge proved too strong for both crews, but at Eastbourne, "A" IV won by I t lengths in a good time, and "B" IV had a close race which resulted in a dead-heat. " A" IV a lso competed at R eading Clinker and Erith Regattas, and at E rith they won the Junior Fours from several local clubs. P. Barwell also won the Junior Sculls at this regatta. An additional and p leasant fixture was a race a t Fordwich between "A " IV and R .E., Chatham, which resulted in a comfortable win for the Engineers; their crew was very powerful and we were delighted to note their victory in the Wyfo ld Fours at H enley.
. THE CREWS 1sT VIII.-P. J. Allen, bow; J . E. Pawsey, 2; P . Rhodes, 3; A . J. Briggs, 4; T. M. Orr-Ewing, 5; P. G. Roberts, 6; G. M. Lynch, 7; R. N . B. Thomas, stroke; M. N. Doidge, cox. 2ND VIII.- A. J. D. Smith, bow; C. B. Strouts, 2; R. L. S. F ishJock, 3; D. A . R. Poole, 4 ; P. J. Van Berckel, 5; J . S. P. Sale, 6; J. P. Moss, 7; R . L. Bates, stroke; H . A. S. Bancroft, cox. 3Ro VIII. -J. B. C. Ba lkwill, bow; E. A. J. Gardener, 2; T. J . Chencvix-Trench, 3; D. G. Barber, 4 ; P. Leggatt, 5; C. T. Davies, 6; R . J. H. Baird, 7; D. E. Mellish, stroke; G. A. Gray, cox. " A" JV.- R. A. G. d'E. Willoughby, bow; M. F. Sparrow, 2; M.A. Murch, 3; A. H . M. Hoare, stroke; G. I. Allen, cox . "B" IV.-K. H. Bingham, bow; R. J.D. Beaty-Pownall, 2; R.N. Murch, 3; J. G. C. Evans, stroke; D. S. Bree, cox. A fourth eight has also boated at Pluck's Gutter and gained useful experience for next year, while at Fordwich there has been sculling and rowing in fours on a larger scale than ever before. Junior rowing has been put successfully on a house basis, and the three League divisions were won respectively by Marlowe, Meister Omers and Galpin's. We are most grateful to Jesus College, Cambridge, and Thames R .C. for their help during the year; to Mr. Lynch for his generosity and encouragement; and to Miss Spiess for her help in arranging late meals. Mr. Smith, the boatman, has been largely responsible fo r the smooth running of Fordwich and has been a never-failing support at regattas. Senior House IVs will be rowed before the end of term a nd, a ll being well, the Canterbury Pilgrims will send an ei$ht to compete for the Woodhurst Cup for Junior Eights at Ma idenhead Re~a tta ,
THE CANTUARIAN
CRICKET BAITING AVERAGES Not Innings Out R. A. Lawrence................ ............ 10 3 D. C. Moo r .................................. 11 I 9 2 R. C. Richa rdson.. .. .................... 9 1 D . J. Kirsch.......... ...... .... .... .. .. .. ... J . A. Rowe................ .. .............. .. 10 1 3 R. J . C. Collins.................... .. ...... . 7 c. N . Laine.......... .. .. .. .. .. .. ...... .. ... 9 o M. E. W. Vincent................. ...... .. . 6 2 I. C. Potter........ ............ ............. .. 5 1 J. Hembry: 13 n.o., 0 n.o. , I n.o., 0 n.o., 10 n.o. P. B. H arding: 5 n.o., 0 , 0, 0, 0 n.o., 0. *Not Out
Highest Score 93* 90* 98 95 80 32 51 28 25
Total Runs 333 421 281 291 308 112 209 61
56
Average 47.57 42.1 40.01 36.38 34.32 28.00 23.22 15.25 14.00
BOWLING AVERAGES Overs Maidens R. A. Lawrence.......... .................. 98.1 12 P. B. Harding ................... .. .... ...... 195 44 r. C. Potter.................... .. .. .... ....... 137.4 37 J . C. Trice.................................. 49.3 9 M. E. W. Vincent.. ........................ 59.4 11 R. J. C. Collins.................. .... .. .. ... 66 10 M . R . B. Read.......... ........ .. .... .... .. 10 7
Runs 346 527 335 179 171 234 6
Wickets 23 30 18 9 8 9 0
Average
15.0 17.6 18.6 19.9 21.4 26.0
RETROSPECT, 1954 Cricket, being one of the most complex and complicated of all team games, has an interest and a fascination for many people for its own sake, but when the game is played at a school it is, so to speak, put on the syllabus, and becomes an integral part of the life of the school. Even so, and in spite of the fa ct that much of this year's 1st XI play has been of a very high standard, and many of the games unusually interesting and exciting, the average attendance of boys at matches has been disappointingly low. On the face of it, and judged by figures and results, this cannot be otherwise described than as a very successful season for the XL However, no matter how good any school team happens to be, there must always be room for improvement. In the skills of batting it is right that players learning the game should aim for perfection in their play, but what a dull game it would become if this ideal could ever be achieved. Players cannot, and should not, expect it of themselves : rather they should retain a proper sense of proportion, and allow some credit to the bowlers of the opposing side. Too many of this year's team, after only one or two failures, have persuaded themselves that they are out of form, and a subsequent loss of confidence with its usual after effects has followed. On occasion, however, one has suspected over-confidence in the team, and unless this is ca refully controlled a neglect of deta il may develop. Maybe the fact that o ne game was a tie in the last over after nearly 400 runs had been scored, tha t another was won by 3 runs with only minutes to spare, and that two o r three other games were finished very close on time, will serve to underline the importance of every single run made or saved, a nd of every minute lost when time is precious. 463
'THE CANTUAR1AN Runs were expected from such good players as Lawrence, Moor, Rowe, R ichardson, Kirsch and Laine, and we were not d isappointed. Some of their innings were most impressive and more mature in quality than one usually sees from schoolboy ba tsmen. These few completely dominated the batting in the early part of the season, and it was only later on that Collins, Vincent and Potter were given much opportunity of showing on the middle how very promising they a ll are. This year's Xl must certainly have been one of the strongest schoo l batting sides in the country. The fielding was generally good but ca nnot be said to have improved as the season advanced. So me excellent catches were taken, and some easy ones were missed, but one or two of the good ones were made to look mo re difficult by slowness off the mark. The only match we lost was to Trinity Hall Cambridge, and this could have been won if the catches had been taken. ' One of the most pleasing features of the season has been the success of Hembry as wicket-keeper. He stood up to everything, and his taking of the ball on the leg side from the fast bowling of Trice, and from Harding's in-swingers, was at most times excellent. As No. lJ batsman he served the side well against Dover and the Band of Brothers. The early matches revealed a looseness in the bowling and very many runs were given away by bowling o n the leg side. This was tightened up by the introduction of Potter into the team, and he and Harding have worked very hard in some long spells of good length and accurate bowling. They deserve grea t credit for their very gallant efforts, and it would not have been unjust if their rewards had been greater. The spinners seldom found a wicket to help them, but Lawrence does not need help from the pitch and seldom fa iled to obtain his wickets a t the right time. Va riety of length and spin must be the secret and the spice of his bowling. Collins does need more help from the wicket and therefore got fewer opportunities. If Vincent can get mo re va riety in pace a nd night into his off-spinners he will do well. As it was his stead iness was at times useful.
1sT Xf MATCHES v N ORE CoMMAND Laine and Moor gave the School a good start by scoring 104 for the first wicket, and later, with Rowe and Lawrence at the wicket, runs continued to c<>me at a good rate. Nore Command were never far behind the clock, but the game finished abruptly when Harding took the last three wickets in five balls. Both Richardson and Collins took exceptionally good catches in the gully. KINO'S S CHOOL, C ANTERBURY
KING'S SCHOOL
NORB CoMMAND
C. N. Laine, lbw, b Harwood.. ............ .. .. D . C. Moor, b Christian-Smith.................. J. A. Rowe, c R o uting, b Moore.... .... ...... .. R . A. Lawrence, not out........ .. ................ R. C. Richardson, c I-Iouting, b Moore.... .. R. J. C. Collins, not out.......... .. .... .. .... .. ... M. E. W. Vincent I. C. Potter J. C. Trice JD id not bat P. B. Harding J. Hembry Extras.............. .... .. ..... .... .... .... ..... ..
l
Rogerson, c Vincent, b Trice........ .. .......... E. A. Thomas, b Harding.......................... Perkins, c Collins, b Trice......................... Brown, lbw, b Lawrence......................... Vernon, c Laine, b Harding.... .. .. ...... .. .... . Pratt, st Hembry, b Lawrence................... Christian-Smith, c Richardson, b Potter.... Routing, b Harding.... .. .. .. .......... .. .. .. .. .. . Moore, b Harding........ .............. ...... ...... Pidgeon, not out........ .. .... .. .. .. .. ...... .. .. .. .. Harwood, c Lawrence, b Harding........ .... .. Extras............ ..... ... .. .. ... ....... .. ........
51
50 42 69 0 12
4
Tota l (4 wickets dec.).............. .. ... 228 Harwood .............. Pidgeon ............. .. Moore............ .. ... Vernon ............. ... Christian-Smith .... Pratt....... ... ... ..... Perkins ............ .. ..
o.
M.
R.
w.
16 8 10
1 1 1 1 0 1 0
51 30 39 8 48 31 17
1 0 2 0 1 0 0
5 12 11 3
7 32
9 29
47 0 9 25 0
4
17 14
Total.. ........ ... ... .... .. .......... .... ... 193
Trice............ .. ..... Harding........ ...... Collins ........ ........ Lawrence.... .... .... Potter.............. .. .. Vincent.. ..... .... .. .. 464
o. 11 14 2 7
4 2
M.
R.
w.
1 4 0 1 0 0
52 39 22 31 23 12
2
5 0 2
1 0
TH E
C A N TUAR TAN
K1NG'S SCHOOL, CANTERBURY v M.C.C. Lawrence and Richardson came together with the score at 46 fo r 3 and this partnership put on 190 runs in 135 minutes of competent and a ttractive batting. Richardson was caught at slip when rightly trying to force the pace. The school bowlers fo und d ifficulty in bowling accurately aga inst the left-bander, Nelson, but the M.C.C.'s target of just over 5 runs per over never looked like being reached. Some excitement was occasioned by Lawrence taking three wickets in the course of two overs, but with Nelson still at the wicket the game aga in settled down and eventually petered o ut. T he School fielding was excellent. K INo's Sc HOOL C. N. Laine, c Moor, b Hill................. .... .. D. C. Moor, c Eckersley, b Hill.... ....... .. .... J. A. Rowe, c Easdalc, b Price.. .... ...... ..... . R. A. Lawrence, not out.................... .... .. R. C. Richardson, c Nelson, b H ill.......... .. M. E. W. Vincent, not out. ............. .... ...... R. J. C. Collins ) (. C. Potter I J Did no t bat J . C. Trlce P. B. Harding J. Hembry Extras..... ..................... ...... .. .. ..... ...
10
M.C.C. B. H . Lock, c Collins, b Trice................ .... 13 P. J . M. Nelson, not out ......... ................. 10.5 J . M. Jennings, c Vincent, b Lawrence...... .. 34 D. H. G. Goodliffe, c Rowe, b Lawrence.. 0 P . L. Eckersley, st Hcmbry, b Lawrence... . 0 R. F . H . Hill, e Lawrence, b Harding... ... .. 22 J . L. Price, not out.............. .. ... ..... .... ..... IS L. D old ing } J . Springall Did not bat H. J . Easdale G. W. Moore Extras................................ ..... ....... .5
Tota l (4 wickets dec.) ................ ... 238
Tota l (5 wickets)....... .... .... .... ..... 194
18 7 12 93 98 0
w.
o.
M.
R.
Nelson........ ........ 20 Hill..................... 22 Price.................. I I Dold ing.. .............. 9 Eckersley.............. 4 3 Moore.. .......... .....
6 3
60 68
4
27
I
0 0 0
35 24 14
0 0 0
0 3 Trice................... Harding.......... ... . Vincent........... .... Lawrence............
o.
M.
R.
w.
8 16 10 10
1 1 0 2
38 65
1 1
37
3
46
0
KING'S SCHOOL, CANTERBURY V ST. LAWRENCI! C.C. T he School batting was again good, with Rowe's innings outstandingly correct. Richardson was shaky at the start, but played better later. T he chance of winning this match was lost when Mackenzie was missed at slip, but apa rt from this one lapse the field ing was very good.
15
ST. LAWRENCE c.c . G. Hayer, c Kirsch, b Trice................... ... . 7 E. Pettit, b H arding..... ...... .. .... ..... ...... ... 6 J. Brett, st Hembry, b Collins.... ...... ........ 23 P. A. Mackenzie, not out.......................... 53 J . H. Edmonds, e Harding, b Collins......... 4 B. H . Robinson, e Richardson, b Collins.... 1 J. Higgs, b Collins.................... ...... ... .... .. 18 B. J. M. Simpson, not out.. .... ... ..... ..... .... . 15 P. Mason l L. G. Pass ~ Did not bat J. Hirst ) Extras.......... .. .... .. ............. ..... ..... ... 3
Total (4 wickets dec.) ................... 218
To ta l (6 wickets)........ ...... .. ........ 130
K.tNG'S SCHOOL D . J. Kirsch, c and b Mackenzie............... .. D. C. Moor, b Mackenzie..................... .. J. A. Rowe, c Higgs, b Pettit..... ................ R. A. Lawrence, lbw, b Brett.................... R. C. Richardson, not out......... ........... ..... I. C. Po tter, not out............... .... ......... ..... M. E. W. Vincent } R. J. C. Collins P. B. Harding Did not ba t J. C. T rice J. Hembry Extras.... ..... ............ ........... ... ..... ....
21 42 54 0 64 22
465
THE CANTUA RTAN o. Pettit.. ................ 12 Pass ................ ... 3 Mackenzie .......... .. 18 Brett.. ................ 7 Mason ... ............ 2 Hayer .................. 4
M. I
0 0 0 0 0
R.
w.
43
I
II
0 2
82 30 12 25
Trice ................... Harding.............. Collins................ Potter.................. Lawrence............
I
0 0
0.
M.
R.
4 10 16 3 7
I I 2 2 I
14 27 61 I
25
W.
I I 4 0 0
KINO's SCHOOL, CANTBRDURY v HIGHGATE SCHOOL During the short period of play before heavy rain caused the abandonment of the game, Hembry had again demonstrated his excellent abilities as wicket-keeper, and Trice took a fi ne slip catch. HIGHGATE SCHOOL
R . D. Brown, c Harding, b Trice.............. A. J. Reader, st Hembry, b Trice............... C. D. Drybrough, c Trice, b H arding......... D. M. Bland, not out............................. J. B. Buchanan, b Harding............... .... .... J. K. Fawcett, not out. .......................... .. P. Feldman A. J. Camden J. G. Jenkins Did not bat B. W. Pearce P. C. Lewis Extras......... ........................ ...........
l
KING'S SCHOOL
R. A. Lawrence D. C. Moor J. A. Rowe R. C. Richardson R. J. C. Collins M. E. W. Vincent I. C. Potter D. J. lGrsch J. C. Trice P. B. Harding J. Hembry
18 0
5
10 2 6
J
3
Total (4 wickets).................. .. .... 44
KINO' S S CHOOL, CANTERBURY v EASTDOURNI! CoLLl!OB Harry and Fraser batted soundly for Eastbourne and Wilson threatened to score some quick runs until he was caught at deep fine-leg. Four fairly easy catches were missed, and thus encouraged, the Eastbourne batsmen reached the respectable total of 168. The School bowling maintained its recently improved form. Left with a mple time in which to get the runs, the King's batsmen showed no hurry. The occasional bad ball was hit hard, a nd although the runs were made for the loss of only 3 wickets, the batsmen were, in the main, made to work for their runs. The fielding of both sides in this game fell well below the standard one expects. KI NG's S c HOOL
E ASTDOURNI! CoLLI!OI!
D. G. Harry, c Lain6, b Lawrence............ 44 A. W. Mellows, c Hembry, b Lawrence...... 12 J. Watt, c Collins, b Vincent.................. II D . A. Atkins, run out............................. 2 J. R. B. Fraser, c Hembry, b Potter....... .. .. 36 T. C. Wilson, c Rowe, b Harding... ............ 22 C. J. H. Skinner, b Potter.. ...................... 0 A. K. Hutchinson, b Harding.................. 7 C. H. Lane, not out................................ 17 P. Botcherby, c and b Harding.................. 3 M. W. E. Hind, c Rowe, b Potter.............. 4 Extras......... .. .... ............................. 10
D . C. Moor, c Botcherby, b Fraser............. D . J. lGrsch, lbw, b Watt.................... .. ... C. N. Laine, b Fraser.............................. R. A. Lawrence, not out......... ... .............. J. A. Rowe, not out............ .................... R. J. C. Collins ) I. C. Potter M. E. W. Vincent Did not bat D. A. Goate . P. B. Harding J. Hembry Extras............. ... ............................
19 37 46 36 28
j
Total (3 wickets) ........ .... ......... ... 171
Total.. .............. ....................... 168 46<}
THE FIRST ELEVEN
Enllllistle Standing: I. C. Potter, P. B. Harding, D. J. Kirsch, J. Hembry, R. C. Richardson, M. A. W. Vincent Seated: C. N. Laine. D. C. Moor, R. A. Lawrence (Capt.), J. A. Rowe, R. J. C. Collins
Ji l II lli
!Ill
'"'
••"
"'
u ...
U lr
••• ,,
J. H . Corner
PRIOR SELLINGEGATE AND THE CATHEDRAL, WJTH THE NEW LIBRARY VISIBLE THROUGH THE TREES
THE 0.
Potter.................. Harding.............. Vincent.. ......... .... Lawrence............
19.4 18 12 II
CANTUARiAN
M.
R.
w.
4 6 3 0
44 43 27 44
3 3 I 2
0.
Fraser................. Botcherby........... Wilson ......... ....... Wa tt. ................. Atkins................
KINO'S SCHOOL, CANTERBURY
18 8 14.2 7 3
M.
4 I I 2
0
R. 50
34 42 24 18
w. 2 0 0 I
0
v SCVENOAKS VINE
Lawrence and Richardson both batted extrcm"IY well against some of the best bowling the XI has encountered this season. Collins showed commendable patience, and Potter played some good shots after havinll made a very shaky start. The Vine made a good start to their innings, but a spell of good¡bowling by Collins and Potter slowed them up. However, they aga in caught up with the clock, though they lost several wickets in doing so. N. P. Golds played very soundly before hitting across a straight one from Harding. When the last over was started 4 runs were required to win and there were 2 wickets to fall. The first ball of Vincent's over was hit for 3 to level the scores. Briars was run out off the next, and from the fourth ball Buckland was caught by Moor for the game to end in a tie. KING'S S CHOOL
SEVENOAKS VINE
D. C. Moor, st Axten, b Collins............... 29 D . J. Ki rsch, c Collins, b Greenwood...... II C. N . L?ine, c Golds, b Buckland............ I R. A. Lawrence, c Eastman, b Collins...... 54 J. A. Rowe, st Axten, b Collins........... ...... 3 R. C. Richardson, st Axten, b Golds......... 43 R. J. C. Col lins, not out........................... 23 I. C. Potter, b Sagar................ .. .............. 25 P. B. Harding, b Sagar........... .... ............. 0 M. E. W. Vincent } Did not bat J. Hembry ' Extras............................................ 2
N. P. Golds, b Harding............................ D . J . Eastman, c Harding, b Potter........... F . R. Axten, st Hembry, b Collins............. R. B. Dwall, c Collins, b Vincent................ J. B. Parkin, c Rowe, b Potter.................... R. E. Pyle, c and b Harding.... ................. R. J. Briars, run out................. .... ........... J. G. Sagar, b Vincent............................. A. D . Greenwood, c Collins, b Harding... A. F. E. Collins, not out........................... W. P. Buckland, c Moor, b Vincent............ Extras............................................
Total (8 wickets dec.) ................... 191 0.
Greenwood .......... 7 Buckland .............. 13 Sagar ............ .. ... 22.4 Collins................ 22 Golds................ . 6
M.
R.
0 0 6 9 0
27 51 47 35 29
8S 16 I 30 10 14 14 3 2
0
0 16
Total.. ............. .. ....... ..... .......... 191
w. 1
Harding .......... ... . Potter.................. Vincent.. ............. Collins................ Lawrence............
I 2 3 I
o. 13 15 8.4 13 4
M.
R.
w.
2
50
0 2 0
36 37 33 17
3 2 3 1 0
s
KINO'S SCHOOL, CANTERBURY V ETON RAMBLERS
Once again the School batting looked good, although Moor's innings was far from being a confident one. Towards the end Richardson and Collins forced the pace splendidly. Potter got two quick wickets but Montgomery and Boughey played well for the visitors, and the game looked like being drawn until Lawrence came on to bowl. Although runs came faster from his bowling wickets began to fall, and a superb catch by Rowe and a lucky run-out gave the School their chance to win. KINO'S S CHOOL
D . C. Moor, run out......................... ..... C. N. Laine, c Miller, b Beaver................ D. J . Kirsch, b Forbes............................ M. E. W. Vincent, lbw, b Leschallas... ......
R. A. Lawrence, b Montgomery................. A. Rowe, c Leigh-Pemberton, b Montgomery..................... ......... .. ....... R. C. Richardson, not out........................ . R. J. C. Collins, not out....................... .. .. I. C. Potter } P. B. Harding Did not bat J. Hembry Extras.. ....... ..... ......................... .... .
ETON RAMBLERS
.B. H. D. Montgomery, b Potter............... R . T. Leigh-Pemberton, b Potter............... P. E. Lewis, b Potter.................... .......... R . J. Boughey, hit wkt., b Lawrence......... T. H. F. Raison, run out.......................... T. G. Denne, c Laine, b Lawrence..... ........ A . G. P. Leschallas, c Rowe, b Lawrence... R. P. Leschallas, b Harding....................... W. F. E. Forbes, r un out......................... M. J . Beaver, not out.. ........................... H. D . Miller, b Lawrence............. .. .. ... ..... Extras............................................
Sl 13 15 21 45
J.
14 21 30
211
61 0 0 65 I 28 10 0 3 4 0 7
Total.. ......... .. .... ...... .. .... ........ .. 179
Total (6 wickets dec.)................... 238 467
1'HE CANTUAR1AN Beaver................. Miller .................. Mo ntgomery ...... . Fo rbes ............... Lescha llas .. .........
o. 5 II
10 18 16
M.
0 2 I
3
4
R.
18
w.
30 60
I I
59
o. Potter ...... >.......... . 16 Harding .............. 20 Lawrence ............ 6.4 Collins ............ .... 3 Vincent.. ......... .... 4
I
0 2
43
M.
R.
3 5
42
0 0 2
71
29 18 12
W.
3 I
4 0 0
KI NO'S S C HOOL, CAI'ITI!RBURY V KEI'IT C LUO AND GROUND
On a wicket which affo rded some help to the bowlers the School gave their worst batting performance of the season. Moor was always struggling and missed many runs o n the leg side. Laine showed some confidence and Rowe's innings had mo r~ character a bout it than a ny of the others. Ho wever, the bowlers were allowed to domina te the game to such an extent tha t Luckhurst. a slo w left-a rm bowler, had two silly mid-offs and no man o ut. His three wickets were a ll catches to silly mid-off, and no batsman made any real attempt to move their feet to the pitch of the ball. Heavy rain brought a prema ture but perhaps merciful end to the game. KINO'S S CHOOL o. M. R. W, D. C. Moor, b Spanswick........................ 30 Spa nswick ......... .. 14 7 18 2 D . J . Kirsch, lbw, b Spanswick................. 4 Herdson ........... .. I 8 21 2 J. A. Rowe, c Lucas, b Luckhursl.. ............. I 7 Dixon ........... .... . 10 4 9 I R. A. Lawrence, c Lucas, b Luckhurst.. .... 3 Luckhurst.. ........ . 14 3 30 3 0 R. C. Richardson, c Luck hurst, b Lucas... Lucas.................. . 9 2 IS I C. N . Laine, c Lucas, b Luckhursl.............. 27 R. J. C. Collins, c Catt, b Herdson........ .. .. 0 M. E. W. Vincent, c Catt, b H erdson......... 6 I. C. Potter, b Dixon...... .................... .. ... 6 P. B. Harding, no t out............................. 0¡ I . Hembry, not out.. .............................. 0 Extras.......... ............ .... ... ... ... ......... 6 Total (9 wickets)......... .. .......... ...
99
Rain stopped play. KINO' S S CHOOL, CAI'ITI!RBURY V THE BAND OP BROTIIERS
Laine and Rowe figured in a good partnership for the second wicket, but after La ine had gone it was only Rowe's courage that saved the side from complete collapse. He faced every single ball of the first 6 overs from Kimmins who bowled very fast, a nd successfu lly sheltered his pa rtners at the wicket. Vincent's innings was sound and attractive, and Hembry helped him to add 32 very valuable runs fo r the last wicket. The B.B.'s innings was marked by some of the best bowling of the season. Harding and Potter maintained length and accuracy over a very long period, a nd in a close and exciting finish Lawrence came on to claim his customary vital wicket. The fielding was good. KTNO'S S C HOOL
THe BAND OF BROTHERS
C. N . Laine, c Moulsda le, b Grace.... .. ..... 40 D . C. Moor, hit wkt., b Woodhouse........... 8 I . A. Ro we, b Kimmins.... ...................... 49 R . A . Lawrence, c Ha le, b Clay........ ...... .. 0 R. C. Richardson, b R . S. Fletcher............ 8 D . J. Kirsch, c Woodhouse, b R. S. Fletcher 4 I. C. Potter, c Moulsd ale, b Kimmins........ 5 R. I . C. Collins, b Kimmins..................... 3 M. E . W. Vincent, st Hale, b Grace............ 28 0 P. B. Harding, c Ha le, b Kimmins........ ..... J. Hembry, not o ut.. ............. ............ .. ... 10 Extras......... .......... .... .. .. .............. ... 5
C. 1. A. Matteson, b Ha rding.... .. ............ 0 R. J . S. Fletcher, b Harding....................... 21 I . G. Mo ulsdale, b Harding.... .... ............. 12 A. I . P. Woodhouse, c Kirsch, b Potter...... 20 B. Tassell, c Hembry, b H arding.. ............... 5 J. A. Baiss, c Lawrence, b Potter................ 19 0 . J. Grace, not out.... .... ....................... 39 S. E. A. Kimmins, c Kirsch, b Harding...... 9 R. A. C lay, c Rowe, b Potter..................... 0 R . P. A. Hale, c Richardson, b Po tter........ 7 R. S. Fletcher, c Hembry, b Lawrence..... . 15 Extras...................... .. ...... .. ... ...... ... 10
Total.......... ....... .. .. .. .. .............. 160
Total.. ..................... ............... . 157
468
THE CANTUA RIA N
Woodhouse........ . Grace ............ .. .. . Clay ..... ............ . Fletcher ............... . Kimmins ......... .. .
0.
M.
R.
w.
6 12 4 14 15
I 3
22 30 28 39
I I I
0 3 4
36
Harding.............. Potter.................. Lawrence............
2
4
0.
M.
R.
29 28
7
63
5 0
5
.4
79
w. 5 4 I
KlNG'S SCHOOL, CANTERBURY V ST. LAWRENCE ( RAMSOATI!)
Tembe and Dyer batted well for St. Lawrence, especially the former who was se ldo~ in any difficulty. Lawrence paid rather a high price for h is wickets, and Vincent should have been made more use of in attack, especially against the left-handers. Potter was the best of the School bowlers, most of whom gave away too many runs by bowling down the leg side. Moor and Kirsch played very well indeed and runs came free ly, 96 being scored in the first hour. They kept pace with each other throughou t their long partnership which constituted a new record for the first wicket, and during which Moor gave two chances. KINO's SCHOOL
ST. LAWRENCE COLLEGE
M. J. Dyer, b Lawrence......... . .. .......... . . ... 51 R. H. Croydon, b Harding..... ... .... ........... 4 G. Tembe, c and b Lawrence.......... . . .. .... .. 62 P. Cherry, b Lawrence.......... .... .. .... ... . .... 15 J. M. Page, b Vincent...................... .. ....... 9 M.G. M. Henry, lbw, b Vincent................ 10 M. A. L. King, c Potter, b Vincent............ 0 B. L. Crouch, c Rowe, b Lawrence........ .. . . 9 A. S. Pegley, b Lawrence..... .... ... ... . . ...... . 12 4 E. J . Coomes, b Lawrence........................ 6 M. D . Joyce, not out... .... ........... . ............. 7 Extras............................................
D. C. Moor, not out................................ 90 D. J . Kirsch, not out................ .. ......... .. .. 89 J . A. Rowe , R. A. Lawrence R. C. Richardson R. J. C. Collins r. C. Potter Did not bat M. E. W. Vincent J . C. Trice P. B. H arding J. Hembry . Extras .............. ............... ... ... ...... .. . 12
Total. ....... ............................... 189
Total (0 wickets)........................ 191
0.
Trice................... Harding. ............. Collins....... ... ...... Potter....... ......... .. Lawrence....... ..... Vincent. ..... ..... . ...
9 7 4 9 18.5 7
M.
R.
0
41 21 16
2
0 3 2 3
19
78
7
l
I
w. 0 I 0 0 6 3
KrNO'S S C HOOL, CANTERIIURY v DOVER COLLEGE Without wishing to detract in any way from the skill and courage of the Dover batsmen it must be said that they should not have been allowed t o score as many runs as they did. A study of the analyses will show that the School bowlers were no t employed to the best advantage, and that more use should have been made of Trice and Read. The most cheering incident of the morni ng's play was a fine one-handed catch at leg-slip by Vincent. Set to get runs at just under 100 per hour the School made a nother good start, Kirsch and Moor adding 92 for the first wicket, and in doing so got well ahead of the clock. Moor's d ismissal, to a stroke which was hardly worthy of such a good player, started an a lmost unaccountable landslide from which there was to be no recovery. Kirsch played a splendid innings which lasted for 80 minutes and included 14 fou rs, but the fall of another two quick wickets swung the game completely about. With the middle and lower batsmen offering little or no resistance to bowling that was never more tha n just steady, it was left to H arding and Hembry, aided by good fortune, to hold out for the last 18 minutes. Woodman maintained length and accuracy in a long spell of bowling,
I I
469
THE CANTUAR IA N KING'S S CHOOL
DOVER CoLLEGE
A. McVittie, b Trice............. ................... R. Proctor, b Lawrence.............. ............. D. J. Biggs, c Vincent, b Harding. .............. P. W. Daniel, c Hembry, b Vincent....... ..... R. P. Heaton, b Collins............... ............. J. R. Widgery, b Trice.................. ...... ...... E. M. Woodman, st Hembry, b Collins..... R. E. Bates, b Collins....................... ........ B. M. Rogers, c Kirsch, b ColHns.............. M.G. Weston, not out..................... ...... G. V. Sherren, st Hembry, b Trice............. Extras........ ....... ........ ... .............. ....
0 12 I 44 45 49 0 17 16 7 0 15
D . C. Moor, c Bibbs, b Heaton.................. 34 D. J. Kirsch, b Woodman............... ....... . 95 J. A. Rowe, c Procto r, b Woodman............ 2 R. A. Lawrence, b Woodma n. ...... .......... . 1 R. C. Richardson, lbw, b Woodman.......... . 8 R. J. C. Collins, c Heato n, b Rogers......... 7 M. E . W. Vincent, b Woodman................ 2 M. R. B. Read, b Rogers.......................... 0 J. C. Trice, c Sherren, b Woodman............. 0 P. B. Hard ing, no t o ut... .......................... 5 J. Hembry, no t out.. .............................. 13 Extras........................... .. ............... 3
Total.. .. ..... .... .. ...... ... ... ...... ..... . 206
Tota l (9 wickets) .... .. ... ........ .. .... . 170
0.
Trice........ .. ... ... .. . 8.3 Harding........ ...... 13 Lawrence..... .. .. ... 16 Collins ......... .... ... 25 Read ................... . 10 Vincent.. ..... .. .... .. 12
M.
R.
w.
3 3 3 6 7 2
15 30 41 73 6 26
3 I I 4 0 I
Rogers ................ Woodman ......... .. Sherren ............... Heato n ................
0.
M.
R.
12 23 1 ll
2 4 0 0
28 64 11 64
w. 2 6 0 I
KTNG'S S CHOOL, CANTERBURY V TRI NITY H ALL (CAMBRIDGE)
Because of dropped catches this very enjoyable game was lost by 3 wickets. Trice, who had been lent to the visitors, was the most successful of their bowlers, and in his second spell, which brought about the collapse of the School's ba tting, he took 3 for II in 8 o vers. Fo ur of the School XI were well caught behind the wicket on the leg side, Moor a nd Rowe perhaps unluckily. Harding and Potter bowled steadily, but two easy catches were missed, either of which would have turned the course of the game. ¡ KING's ScHooL TRINITY HALL D. C. Moor, c Davies, b Lancaster............ 51 D. J. Gillespie, b Ha rding......................... 28 D . J . Kirsch, lbw, b Trice................ .......... 10 P. M. Davies, b Harding.. ....................... 17 C. N . Laine, c J . Clements, b Singh.. ......... 3 S. S. Jaywickrama , b Potter..................... 14 R. A. Lawrence, c Blake, b Clements......... 24 J . W. Clements, b Potter.... ........ .............. . . 2 B. W. Clements, b Lawrence.... ............. ..... 36 J. A. Rowe, c Davies, b Trice...... .. .. .. ...... 24 R. C. Richardson, e Allies, b Singh.......... .. 33 D. C. Allies, c Hembry, b Potter.............. . 15 R. J. C. Collins, c Davies, b Singh.............. M. K. Jai Singh, not out.. .. ...... .... ...... ..... 34 5 P. B. Harding, b Trice......................... .... . 0 7 A. H . Green, b Potter...... .... .. .................. I. C. Potter, c Davies, b Singh.............. ...... I 3 J . P. Blake, not out.... ........................... ... M. E. W. Vincent, b Trice.................. ... .... 2 J . C. Trice } D 1'd b C. Lancaster not at J , Hembry, not out............................... . 0 Extras.......... .................................. I I Extras ........ .... ..... ... .... .............. ..... . 9 Total.. .... ...... ........................... 164 Singh .... ............. Trice............... .... Allies ............. .... Lancaster............. Clements ... .........
o. 15 14. 1 9 11 2
M.
R.
3 4 0 3 0
41 37 48 20 7
Tota l (7 wickets) .......... .. .. .......... 165
w. 4 4 0
0.
Potter ............ ..... . 24 Harding .............. 24 Vincent. .............. I Lawrence .... ........ I
1 I
M.
R.
5 7 0 0
78 70 3 6
w. 4 2 0 1
KTNo's S CHOOL, CANTERBURY V K .C.S ., WIMBLEDON Moor, Rowe, and later C ollins, who helped Rowe to add 72 for the 6th wicket, a ll batted well. They were the only ones to do so against some good length bowling, particularly by Bean, on a wicket which took some spin. R owe played especially well and held the side together. 47(,)
TH E
C ANT U ARIAN
Tho sta rt of the K.C.S. in nings was quiet, with Ha rding a nd Potter each bowling three maiden overs: Potter's next two overs were also maidens, and included a wicket. Harding, who was moving the ball, and bowling a very good length, then took 5 wickets fo r 4 runs in 3 overs, and the sco reboard read 17 for 6. Kelly now began to ' fa rm' the bowling, and a ltho ugh he was beaten several times by Lawrence's googlic, he played a splend id innings. When Lawrence took 3 wickets in one over the score became 58 fo r 9 with 35 minutes left fo r play. Kelly was a llowed to cont inue stealing a run fro m the fifth o r sixth ball of ever over, a nd so cleverly sheltered his No. II fro m t he attack. He saved the game for his tea m, eight of whom had failed to score. KING'S SCHOOL K.C .S., WIMBLEDON o. C. Moor, b Bean.................. .. .... .. ...... 40 1. F . Dowden, lbw, b Potter...... .. ........ .... . 0 K. M. AI'nott, c R owe, b Harding...... ...... 8 D. 1. Kirsch, r un o ut.. ................ .. .... 00 .... 00 9 1. 1. Peters, b Harding........ ........ .... .... ...... 0 c. N . Laine, b Bean ...... .. .................... oo. 10 R. A. Lawrence, c Arno tt, b Plumridge .. .. .. II P. D . Kelly, not out.. ...................... .. .. .. ... 74 P. Y. C heesman, b Ha rding................ .. .. ... 1. A. Rowe, c C heesman, b Elkington .. .. .. 80 0 R. C. Richa rdson, st Harris, b Bean.... .. ... 6 R. B. G . Kelford, b H arding.................... 0 R. J. C. Colli ns, c Peters, b Cheesman...... 32 B. H. Elkington, b Harding.. .... .......... .. .. .. . 0 I. C. Po tter, c a nd b Elkington .......... 00.. .... 3 D. H . Harries, lbw, b Lawrence...... .......... . 5 M. E. W. Vincent, not out.... ............ .. .... .. 8 M. 1. Hynes, b Lawrence...... .. ................. 0 P. B. Harding, b Cheesma n.. ...... .... .. .. .... .. 0 C. E. H . Bean, lbw, b Lawrence................ 0 1. Hcmbry, not out.. ...................... 00...... I A. P. Plum ridge, no t o ut.... .. .. .. .......... .... . 0 Extras........... ....... ..... ............ ... ..... . 13 Extras........... ... ........ .. ..... ... ...... .. .... 14 Total (9 wickets dec.) ...... ............. 213 Cheesman........ .. . Kelfo rd.............. .. Bean............ .. .... Hynes................ Plumrid ge........... Peters........ ...... .. . Elkington .. ..........
o.
M.
R.
18 4 29 8 10 8 7
2 I
47 17 54 26 18 18 20
9
2 3 I 0
Tota l (9 wickets) .......... .. .. .. .. .... .. 10 1
w. 2
0 3 0 I
0 2
0.
M.
R.
w.
Harding ...... .. ...... 2 1 Potter ............ ..... . 16 Collins ................ 3 Vincent.. .... 4 Lawrence.. .. ...... .. 13
7 10 0 2 3
26 13 11 4 33
5 1 0 0 3
2ND XI The 2nd XI have had a n interesting and enjoyable, if sometimes frustrating, term. They started the seaso n with a first-rate victo ry over R.M.S., D over, 1st X I, who had been the o nly side to defeat the 2nd XI for severa l years. After three weeks witho ut a fi xture, the Schoo l played their next game against Dover College. They ado pted a totally wrong attitude to a weaker side, and were most deser ved ly beaten. It is a mistake in any game to u nderestimate the opposition : in cricket it is disastrous. In the next three matches the School held the initiative t hroughout, but time was always against them. In an effort to reach a conclusio n with Sutton Valence, the doubt ful po licy of putting the o ther side in to bat on a perfect wicket was followed, and a victo ry wa s duly recorded. It is a matter for regret, however, that such tactics should be needed. The side has been well led by Tomkins, who took o ver the capta incy after the Dover match, a nd he has also played some graceful and accomplished innings. T he batting has been very good o n the who le, Ogilvy and G oate having batted stylishly, and Snell, Slee and Su tton effectively, on several occasio ns. The bowling has been moderate; T rice a nd Ogilvy have been too inconsistent, and Waynforth, who is potentially a bowler of quality, has only once made sufficient effort to realise his fuH potentiality. The ground fielding has been fa ir, but the catching deplorable. It is a pity that the fixt ure-list has been so ill-arranged and that there have not been more fixtures. The importance of the 2nd XI as a t raining ground for the 1st XT can be seen from the fact that five o f the present 1st XI spent at least one full season in the 2nd XI, a nd this number is sma ller than in some previo us years. It would be a good thing fo r schools' cricket if longer playing periods could be given to 2nd XI matches than is now allo tted t o them. Definite results might thus be reached more often, witho ut the standard of play degenerating to the level of " tip-and-r un". -471
...... THE CANTUARiAN The writer would like to conclude on a personal note by congratulating D. J. Kirsch on having gained well-merited 1st XI colours in what would have been his fourth season in the 2nd XI. His example should encourage future 2nd XIs, although it is to be hoped that merit will not again go so long unrecognised. The team was: R. C. Tomkins (Capt.), D. A. Goate, M. U. Slee, J. C. Trice, R. M. Sutton, H. B. Waynforth, M. J. Bailey, D. H. Ogilvy, J. M. G. Hutton, M. R. B. Read, R. J. Snell. RESULTS May 15. v R. M. S., Dover (Home). Won. King's: 156 for 5 wickets declared. (Kirsch 88 n.o.; Ogilvy 28.) R.M.S.: 48 (Waynforth 5 for 16). J une 5. v Dover College (Away). Lost. King's: 100 (Siee 27 n.o.) Dover: 101 for 9 wickets. J une 17. v St. Lawrence, Ramsgate (Away). Drawn. King's: 154 for 5 wickets declared (Sne11 42 ; Goate 28; Sutton 22 n.o.) St. Lawrence: 89 for 4 wickets. June 19. v Sir Roger Manwood's (Home). Drawn. King's: 128 for 6 wickets declared (Tomkins 37 n.o.; Read 23 n.o.). Sir Roger Manwood's: 102 for 6 wickets (Trice 4 for 30). June 26. v Eastbourne (Away). Drawn. King's : 141 (Ogilvy 34; Tomkins 31). Eastbourne: 80 for 9 wickets (Ogilvy 4 for 30). July 8. v Sutton Valence (Home). Won. Sutton Valence: 118. King's: 119 for 5 wickets (Bailey 37 n.o.; Snell 30). H.J.M.
COLTS The Colts have had a satisfactory season that might well have been a good one if the chief batsmen had been more consistent. The duty of making runs has nearly always fallen on one player (usually Barber) with the result that last year's pattern of dramatic collapse and heroic rescue has again been repeated far too frequently. Kearin and Thorburn, the opening batsmen, have done well on occasions without ever making the large scores of which they are capable. Laine also has been partially successful, and has played some worthy innings. Potter captained the team well when not playing for the lst XI (his deputy being Thorburn), and took many wickets, but was disappointing with the bat. White, whose style is a bewildering mixture of the classical and the agricultura l, has scored at great speed, but has often thrown his wicket away by picking the wrong one to hit out of sight. Barber, despite his awkward style, has consistently saved the day, and his innings have once again proved that technique is of little use unless supported by vigilance and determination. Isbill is a good wicket-keeper who can bat effectively; and the bowlers, Redpath, Whittington and Price, form a most promising attack. The team was selected from: Potter, Thorburn, Whittington, Barber, Isbill (who were awarded Colours); Redpath, Kearin, Laine ii, White, Price, Burnham, Cartwright. There also played Aucott, Mortimer and Stanley-Smith. RESULTS May 29. St. Lawrence, Ra msgate, 87 for 9 dec.; K.S.C., 87 lor 5. June 5. K.S.C., 137 for 7 dec.; Maidstone G.S., 82 for 9. 19. K.C.S., Wimbledon, 105; K.S.C., 86. 26. K.S.C., 138 for 4 dec.; Eastbourne College, 129. 29. Tonbridge, 200 for 5 dec.; K.S.C., 96. July 3. K.S.C., 133 for 5 dec.; St. Lawrence, Ramsgate, 89. 8. K.S.C., 129 for 7 dec. : Sutton Valence, 35. B.J.M.S. 472
THE CANTUA RI AN
JUNIOR COLTS With two matches still to be played the season has, apart from one loss, been s uccessful. How much of this success is a ttributable to the team's efficiency and how much to the weakness of the oppositio n is still in doubt. The bowling has been determined and occasionally deceptive but both the fielding and the batting have at times been lamentably slow and half-hearted. In the batting the weaknesses have stemmed largely from slow footwork and from the inability to lean sufficiently into forcing strokes on the off. And there has, at times, been too much gentility, as it were, and insufficient character in a ll departments of the game. Good performances have been given by M. J. Minns with 5 for 5 and by M. J. Niblock with 5 for 25 (v Sir Roger Manwood's), by L. P. Alston with 6 for 21 against St. Lawrence, Ramsgatc, and , in the same match, by D. J . Williams with 62 not out; M. J. Minns has supplied the only competition to this score, with an undefeated 50 against the same team. 1. P. Roche has shown consistent enthusiasm and ability as captain; he has always bowled intelligently (taking 7 for 20 against Dover College) and has deserved higher scores with the bat. The foll owing have played: J . P. Roche, M. J . Niblock, M. J. Minns, D . D. Valpy, C. P . Alston, D. J . Willinms, J. A. Turner, H. R. Templeton , D. J . Evans, M. J. Bibby, A . G. H . Camp, A . A. Dunning, R. T . Wigg.
G.P.R. J.O .O.
UNDER 14 XI This year's XI has been unbeaten, though not universally victorious : it was unfortunate that two of our bowlers should have been unable to play in the final match with St. Lawrence. Though the team's fielding was not always as sound as it should have been, superiority in batting and bowling was always evident, and increased during the term. R ollason has proved himself a most competent captain and wicket-keeper, and his excellent batting was well supported by the rest of the team, especially Masters, Sullivan and Jones. Of the bowlers, McElwee was undoubtedly the most consistent, though Barren and Jones were also very successful. Altogether the team co-operated very well as a whole, and thoroughly deserved their success. May 15. R.M.S., Dover: Won. June 5. Maidstone Gra mmar School: Won. 17. St. Lawrence, Ramsgate: Wo n. 19. Wellington Ho use: Won. July 3. St. Lawrence, Ramsgate: D rawn. J.B.W.
THE HAYMAKERS We have had a most enjoyable season, if not a very successful one. Only one win has been reoorded out o f nine ma tches played so far, but for us the result is only a minor factor. However, our solitary win deserves mention, as it was not in the least expected-our opponents, Lower Hard res and Nackington, arc considered to be one of the strongest tea ms in the district, and two of their players recently received rewards from a local newspaper. Following a time-honoured tradition, we won the toss and put our opponents in to bat. Within 45 minutes they were a ll o ut for 18, Trice and Woolston sharing the bowling honours; and we won by 9 wickets. In spite of a subscription of 1/-, membership has risen to well over 50; this may be due to t he fact that a smart Club tie may be had at the School Shop for a modest sum. Mr. E. L. Baldock has captained the side in his inimitable style. Messrs. Kent, Robertson and Wenley have strengthened the team and supplied t ransport on several occasions. We are sorry to say farewell to our treasurer, Mr. H . J . Meadows, and we wish him "happy haymaking" in his new appointment. PeTER KIRKBY, Chief WagfOIItr, 47~
THE CANTUARIAN
ATHLETICS, 1954 The standard of our athletics continues to rise, and with increased competition should rise still higher: for there is considerable talent in the middles and juniors. Eight School records were broken or equalled during this season. In spite of bad weather many of the Club were able to train from the beginning of the term. Our training was intensified a fortnight before the Ton bridge match by the visit of a team from the Polytechnic Ha rriers. We are very grateful to them for coming such a long way, and coaching us so enthusiastically¡ ' it was a great stimulus to the whole of our team.
K.S.C. v TONBRIDGE SCHOOL Unfortunately we had a bad day for the match ag3.inst Tonbridge, which took place at St. Stephen's on March 20th. Tn the Long Jump, 100 yards and 440 yards W. H. Woolston did not do as well as we had hoped ; nor were our expectations for the Discus and High Jump r"alised. In the 880 yards, however J. B. Morgan put in a strong finish to win his race, and D. B. Malcolm made one very good put to wi~ the Shot by over two feet. These were the only bright moments in a n otherwise rather depressing afternoon, although the match was a good experience, and taught us the va lue of team-work. RESULTS: K.S.C. 42; TONBRIDGP. 51 100 YARDS.- 2, W. H. Woolston; 3, A. D. Rutherford. Time: 10.4 sees. 440 YARDS.- 2, Woolston. Time: 56.8 sees. 880 YARDS.- !, J. B. Morgan. Time: 2 min. 10 sees. MILE.-2, W. N. Wenban-Smith. Time: 4 min. 53.6 sees. 120 YARDS HURDLES.- !, I. D. Maitland: 2, J. S. P. Sale. Time: 18.6 sees. LoNG JuMP.-3, C. J. T. Featherstone. Distance: 19ft. 7 in. HIGH JuMP.- 2, P. J.D. Allen. Height: 5 ft. 2 in. JAVELlN.- 1, J. Fyfe Smith. Distance: 129ft. 5 in. Discus.-2, T. M. Young; 3, R. A. Lawrence. D.istance: 110 ft. 7 in. WEIGHT.- !, D. B. Malcolm. Distance: 38ft. 9! in. RELAY.- Tonbridge, 3 min. 50 sees.; K.S.C., 3 min. 51.5 sees.
K.S.C. v WESTMINSTER SCHOOL The match against Westminster was held at Vincent Square on March 23rd. We all greatly enjoyed this keenly contested match, and the result was most encouraging. The match started well for us with Rutherford and Woolston taking the first two places in the 100 yards, and then Woolston and Featherstone repeated this in the Long Jump. In the 220 yards Woolston set up a new School record, with Rutherford close behind: in the Mile we gained the first three places; and Lawrence won the Discus, again with a new record throw. The Mile Relay was won by King's in a very fast time. The Juniors also won their match, and some of them show great promise for future seasons. RESULTS SI!NIOR 100 YARDs.- !, Rutherford; 2, Woolston. Time: 10.2 sees. 220 YARDS.- 1, Woolston; 2, Rutherford . Time: 23.5 sees. 440 YARDS.- 3, Barton. Time: 51 sees. 880 YARDS.- !, Morgan (J. B.}. Time: 2 min. 12.1 sees. I MILE.- 1, Morgan (G. P.); 2, Wenban-Smith ; 3, Lane. Time: 4 min. 57.4 sees. I MILl! RELAY.- K.S.C. (Trice, Lawrance, Fyfe Smith, Woolston}. Time: 3 min. 44.2 sec~. HIGH JuMP.- 1, Allen; 2, Maitland. Height: 5 ft. ll in. LoNG JUMP.- 1, Woolston; 2, Featherstone. Distance: 19ft. 10 in. Discus.-1, Lawrence. Distance: 115ft. 21 in. W!!IGHT.-2, Malcolm; 3, Lawrence. Distance: 37ft. 10 in. JAVI!LIN.-2, Fyfe Smith. Distance: !54 ft. 3! in. JUNIOR 100 YARDS.- 2, Paterson. Time: 10.7 sees. 220 YARDs.- 2, Paterson. Time: 25 sees. 440 YARDS.- !, Davy. Time: 56.5 sees. 880 YARDS. -!, Hutton; 2, Pilcher. Time: 2 min. 14.7 sees. 880 YARDS RELAY.- K.S.C. (Turner, Scott, Davy, Paterson). Time: I min. 44.6 sees. HIGH JuMP.- !, Stewart; 2, Scott. Height: 4ft. 106 in. LoNG JUMP.- 2, Turner. Distance: 16ft. 3! in.
474
THE CANTUA RiA N
L.A.C. SCHOOLS CHALLENGE CUPS MEETING, 1954 Despite the inconvenient dates of this meeting at the White City, there were three entrants from King's. Rutherford did extremely well to come fifth in the 100 yards. It is a great pity that the dates are not more convenient, and that we do not make a larger entry.
THE INTER-HOUSE COMPETITION This was held on Saturday, March 27th, and Monday, March 29th. The performances this year were very good; many new records were set up. Rutherford won the 220 yards in 23 seconds, bettering Woolsto n's record set up earlier in the term .. Promising form was shown by some Middles and Juniors, especially R. G. Paterson, who broke two mtddle records. RESULTS SENIOR . 100 YARDS.- 1, Woolston (MO) ; 2, Rutherford (G); 3, Tnce (SH). Time: 10.1 sees. 220 YARDS. -1, Rutherford (G); 2, Woolston (MO) ; 3, Lawrance ii (Gal). Time: 23 sees. 440 YARDS.- 1, Woolston (MO); 2, Lawrance ii (Gal) and Tdce (SH). Time: 54 sees. 880 YARDS.- 1, J. B. Morgan i (MO); 2, G. P . Morgan ii (MO) ; 3, Hare (M). Time: 2 min. 11 sees. MILC.- 1, G . P . Morgan (MO); 2, Hare (M); 3, Wenba n-Smith (L). Time: 4 min. 52.6 sees. HuRDJ.ES.- 1, Maitland (Lin); 2, Sale (G); 3, Lamb ii (MO). Time: 18.1 sees. LONG JuMP.- 1, Loveridge (Lin) ; 2, Featherstone (W); 3, Trice (SH). Distance: 18ft. It in. HIGH J UMP.- 1, P. J.D. Allen (G); 2, Sale (G); 3, Maitland (Lin). Height: 5 ft. o1scus.- l, I. M. Young (W) ; 2, R. A. Lawrence (G) a nd Rodgers (Lin). Distance: 114 ft. 2 in. Wl!IGHT.- 1, D . D . Jevons (Lin); 2, Malcolm (L); 3, R . A. Lawrence (G). Distance: 36ft. JAVELIN.- ! , Rodgers (Lin); 2, Fyfe Smith (MO); 3, Malcolm (L). Distance: 136ft. 4 in. 880 YARDS RELAY.-1, Meister Omers; 2, Grange; 3, School House. Time: 1 min. 38.8 sees. MIDDLE 100 YARDS.- 1, Paterson (L); 2, Scott (MO); 3, Davy (SH). Time: 11 sees. 220 YARDS.- 1, Paterson (L); 2, Vincent (MO); 3, Davy (SH). Time: 24.6 sees. 440 YARDS.- ! , Paterson (L); 2, Davy (SH); 3, Tomkins (Lin). Time: 55.2 sees. 880 YARDS.- ! , Hutton (W); 2, James (M.O.); 3, Pilcher (M). Time: 2 min. 13 sees. MlLE.- I, Hutton (W) ; 2, James (MO); 3, W. G. Stanley (L). Time: 5 min. 4 sees. HuRDLES.- !, C. R. Alabaster (L); 2, Paterson (L) ; 3, Bewley (Lin). Time: 18 min. 9 sees. LONG JUMP.- 1, Stewart (L); 2, Scott (MO); 3, Smith iv (MO). Distance: 17ft. 1 in. HIGH JUMP.- 1, Stewart (L) ; 2, Scott (MO); 3, Tomkins (Lin). Height: 4ft. 11 in. Dtscus.- 1, Pilcher (M); 2, Mullins (SH); 3, Gingell (L). Distance: 94 ft. 3 in. WB!GHT.- 1, Pilcher (M); 2, Barwell (SH); 3, Orchard (M). Distance: 29ft. 5 in. JAVELIN.- 1, Vincent (MO); 2, Stewart (L); 3, Campbell (L). Distance: 115ft. 9 in. UNDER 16 RELAY.- 1, Luxmoore; 2, Meister Omers; 3, School House. Time: 1 min. 41.8 sees. JUNIOR . 100 YARDS.- 1, Turner (MO) ; 2, A. A. J. Williams (Lin) ; 3, Clark iii (L). Time: 11.4 sees. 220 YARDS.- 1, Turner (MO); 2, A. A. J. Williams (Lin) ; 3, Clark iii (L). Time: 25.2 sees. 440 YARDS.- 1, Turner (MO); 2, Clark iii (MO); 3, Bowen (Lin). Time: 1 min. 880 YARDS.- !, Passmore (M); 2, Camp (M); 3, Matthew ii (L). Time: 2 min. 16.6 sees. HIGH JUMP.- 1, Stevenson (Gal) ; 2, Williams vi (SH); 3, Campbell iii (M). H eight: 4ft. 10! in. LoNG JUMP.- 1, Frew (G); 2, Kearin (W) ; 3, Turner (MO). Distance: 16ft. 11 in. JAVELIN.- ! , Huxley (L); 2, Apcar (Lin); 3, Evans ii (L). Distance: 89ft. 10 in. PENTATHLON: 1, Woolston (MO); 2, Featherstone (W); 3, Lawrance (Gal) and Maitland (Lin), TuG-OF-WAR.- Linacre beat Grange (2 pulls to 0). New School records set up this term are as follows:SENIOR: 220 YARos : 23.5 sees., W. H . Woolston. 23 sees., A. D. Rutherford. DISCUS: 115ft. 2t in., R . A. Lawrence. RELAY: I min. 38.8 sees., Meister Omers. MIDDLE: 220 YARDS: 24.6 sees., R. G. Paterson. 440 YARDS: 55.2 sees., R . G. Paterson. JUNIOR: 220 YARDS: 25.2 sees., J . A. Turner. HIGH JUMP: 4ft. 10! in. (equals old record), D. C. C. Stevenson. UNDER 16 RELAY: 1 min. 41.8 sees., Luxmoore. In conclusion we would like to thank all those who have made this season so successful, and who have officiated at our Sports; and more especially Mr. Lawrence and Mr. Wilson for spending so much time on coaching. 475
THE CANTUARIAN
RUGGER 1sT XV FIXTURES, 1954 Sat. Sat. Sat. Tues. Sat. Sat. Sat. Wed. Sat. Sat. Wed. Fri. Sat.
Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Oct. Nov. Nov. Nov. Nov. Nov. Dec. Dec. Dec.
9 16 23 26 30 6 13 17 20 27 I 3 II
Canterbury R.F.C. .. . Blackheath R.F.C. .. . K.C.S., Wimbledon .. . St. Lawrence ... Dover ... Felsted Richmond. R.F.C. St. Paul's Eastbourne ... Harlequins R.F.C. Stowe ... O.U. Greyhounds O.K.S....
Home Home Away Home Away Home Home Away Home Home Away Away Home
SEVEN-A-SIDES In the Public Schools Seven-a-Side Tournament at Richmond we lost our 'first game with Kingswood 11-8, after two periods of extra time. We took the lead early in the first half, and again early in the second, but on each occasion allowed our opponents to equalize; so play dragged on for two further exhausting "halves", until at last they scored a good try from one of our free kicks, which was driven straight and hlgh into the air for the follow-up instead of being safely put into touch. It is to be hoped that next year more people wi,ll be available for selection who have had previous experience of the game. Meanwhile the gratitude of the VII is due to those "stooges" who generously gave up some afternoons for our practice, and we hope that they got some fun out of it. J.A.R.
C.C.F. NOTES The term's training has had a rather chequered career. It was somewhat stunted at the start by the early date of the Inspection- May 19th- which meant some intensive rehearsal on the first two parades. However, it got that rather dull, but unavoidable, part of the summer's activities over early, and for two weeks training proceeded normally. Then came the Field Day, and the weather was most unkind . After that, "A" level and "0" level examinations began to interfere with parades, so it is just as well that the next Certificate "A" Part II examination is not till October. The Part I was held as usual at the end of June, and the results were good. ANNUAL INSPECTION.- The Contingent was inspected on May 19th by Brig. A. E. Chessells, Commanding 1 A.A. Brigade at GiUingham. The report criticised the fitting of belts in the Army Section, but otherwise praised the turn-out as a whole. The Brigadier liked the instruction by Platoon Commanders, but though the Junior N.C.O.s should have given more instruction on their own: on a normal parade he would probably have seen this being done. FIELD DAY.- Thls was held on Friday, June lith, and took the form of a series of platoon attacks, finishlng with a company attack on a two-platoon front. The weather was bad on the top of Beach borough, above Hythe, thou~h Canterbury had no rain all day; lacking storage space, we have not enough capes for the whole Contmgent, and depend on a reasonably accurate forecast, whlch on this occasion did not work, and most of us got pretty wet, and the training value was much reduced. CERTIFICATE "A", PART I.- Out of 47 candidates, 4I passed; there was some general weakness in Weapon Training, which has since been remedied. PRoMOTIONS.- The following have been promoted to the ranks stated. 29th April: C.S.M. A. J. Briggs; Sgt. G. E. Hare; L/Sgts. S. T. S. Blackall, M.S. R. Cozens, D. H. Livesey, J. P. Moss; Cpls. R. Collingwood, D. B. Hughes, P. Leggatt, D. E. Mellish, R. N. Murch, J. C. St. C. Rear, R. M. Sutton, J. D. B. Walker, B. A. J. Watshaw, M. J. C. Weller; L/Bdr. D. F. K. Ho.dge; L1Cpl. R. P. B. Linton . .
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' THE C ANTUARIAN 27th May: Sgt. I. Orr-Ewing; L/Sgts. P. M. Knoller, M. P. MiiJer, M. S. Reid, C. B. Strouts; Cpl. L/C pls. P. J. S. Furneaux, C. S. Stevens, J. C. Tnce, H . B. Waynforth. 3rd July: Sgt. T. H. Pittwith effect from lith June, 1954. K.A. C.G.
s. L. M. Sander;
R.N. SECTJON.- Leading Seaman Lynch was passed out in Proficiency Test Part 2 in March and will be Petty Officer in charge next term.
A small party spent an interesting and enjoyable week in H. M.S. Glory at Po rtsmouth in April. They learnt a great deal. The ea rly part of the term was spent in working up for the general inspection, when the usual high standard was maintained. lt was most unfortu nate that the Section was unable to avail itself of an offer of a day at sea for the termly "Whole Day Tra ining"; instead the day was spent in H.M.S. President, which was something quite new. Several members have now passed in the brain work of Proficiency Test Part I but their power of command is too weak to put them in charge or give instructio n. Able Seamen Murch ii, Miller ii and Williams were passed. There has been more trouble with the boats and we have beenâ&#x20AC;˘ unable to get any sailing at Whitstable this summer. After repairing and just before launching the whaler was rocked on the shingle by children and very severely damaged. We badly need a more handy boat, about 18ft., for the difficult conditions we have; the chances of getting one seem remote, however. The whaler, which we are now going to hand in (it may be condemned by the surveyor), has seen good service during the past six years, and even took some of us to Holland.
c.w.w.
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THE CANTUARIAN
SONS OF 0. K.S. SONS OF THE FOLLOWING O.K.S. ARE ALREADY IN THE SCHOOL OR ARE ENTERED FOR IT E. A . Allard J. A. S. Allen D. Ashenden N . V. Bacon J. F. Baker J. W. Blackmore D. S. Blunt G. A . W. Booker J. D. Brockman L. G. R. Campbell D . G. R. Carter J . G. W. Charnaud J . H. Clark K. H. Clarke B. H. Cooper-Poole M. M. Courtney M . B. Creed J. G. East S. L. E. Edwards P. R. H . Elliott W. E. Elvy F . A . Eustace P. J . Evans G . V. Evans H . A. Fisher B. Garei-Jones N. F . Gordon-Wilson W. A. P. Gostling P. A. Gouldsbury W. V. Graham H. St. J . Grant J . A . G . P . Griffiths F . R. Hamp W. N . Hayes P. I. Hill S. W. Hinds
C. M. Hipwood P. C. H. Holmer G. M. Housden D. Hussey B. A. James J. H. S. Jenkins J. R. B. Jones H. G. Kain A. R. R. Kent B. S. Kent J. V. Kent P. D. A. Kent J . N. B. Laine W. A. E.arge C. E. Latter R. M. Layland W. T. Lock P . F. Lucas P . Magnus P. R. Mallorie A. W. Martin C. MeG. Martin W. D'A. Maycock C. I. Meek J. I. Mitchell W. R. Monro-Higgs D. J. Moor C. P. Murch D. F . Murray J.D. Neil J . D. Nettleton S. Norton-Taylor N. C. Oatridge R. H. Osborne P. F . Page C. G. A. Paris
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G. L. Payne J . D. Pettifer A. G. Porter W. S. Price J . S. Reacher D. D. Rennie E. S. E. Rerrie P. S.tW. Ro berts A . Robertson G. S. R . Robinson J . A. Rundall J . E. P. Sampson L. C. Saxby T . V. Scrivenor M. C. A. Spencer R. F. Stiles R. G. Strouts J. Sunter F. B. Tomkins D. G. Trickett R. T. Tripp M. C. Trousaell K. F. Valpy L. G. Valpy R. Walter J. T. Weekes J. P . Whalley D. G . W. Whitall J. M. Williams R. L. Williams A. G. R. Willis G. G. E. Wiseman T. G. Yearwood J. G. Young W. C. Young
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O.K.S. NEWS (The Hon. Secretary, c/o Messrs. Clemetson & Co., 34 Pencester Road, Dover, would welcome information for inclusion in the O.K.S. News. N.D.-CHANGES OF ADDRESS SHOULD DB NOTIFfllD TO HIM AND NOT TO THE EDITOR.)
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The O.K .S. Dinner will be held on Thursday, 5th May, 1955. Further particulars will follow at a later date. A. C. S. ADAMS (1923-28) has been appointed H.M. Consul-Genera l in Texas and New Mexico. R. A. T. ANDERSON (191 1- 15) is Secretary of the Cantuarian Lodge. This Office was inadvertently quoted on Page 4 of the Annual Report as going to Lt.-Col. B. L. Hooper. N. BARTON (1944-47) was articled to a fi rm of Chartered Accounta nts in the City and bas passed his final examination. He has now been transferred by his firm to S. Rhodesia. He was married in October, 1951. C. R. BROWN ( 1932-43) has recently taken up an appointment in Durham as an architect and is working on the design and construction of Colleges of Further Education in the County. He qualified in 1952- 3 as an Architect and Town P lanner at Liverpool Un iversity, attaining the letters B. Arch. (Livpl.), M.C.D., A.R.LB.A. P. J. H . BILLJNGHURST (1942- 51) passed out of Sandhurst 39th out of 298, and was gazetted 2/Licut. last July. He has since attended a junior officers' course at Larkhill and sailed for Hong Kong in March. SrR A. L. CHICK ( 1920- 22) has been appointed Chairman of the White F ish Authority from September tst in succession to Admiral Sir Robert¡ Burnett who is retiring. A. G. DAVIES ( 1949- 53) is working with the British Iron and Steel Research Association in London. K. HuBBARD ( 1942-46) is a Captain in the 3rd King's Own Hussars, and is at present holding an appointment at Catterick. I. HUBBARD (1950- 52) is doing his National Service with t11e R oyal Engineers. T. D. H ILL (1939- 50) has, since leaving School in 1950, joined the Army, and was commissioned in the 3rd Hussars in Germany, then posted to Canal Zone and served there for the rest of his National Service. He is now in Casablanca with a para military standing with the United States Air Forces. He says he would be delighted to meet any O.K.S. passing that way. His address is: 3 rue de Lille, Casablanca, Morocco. J. PutLLIPS ( 1945-49) was commissioned last year a nd is stationed at Catterick with the Royal Signals. He would be pleased to meet any O.K.S. coming into the Signals. He played cricket for Signals last summer and n 1gger for Catterick Services and his Unit. He has met D. CHILDS (1947- 52), B. PHILLIPS (1947- 52), and D. BRIGGS (1 947-52). 0 . H. RANDS (1944-48) hopes soon to be running his own farm in Leicestershire. R. G. W. SAW (1901-03) is now living at lnyanga, S. Rhodesia, and has had much of his poetry published in the Rhodesian Press. BRIGADIER A. F. COTTRELL (1906-09) has succeeded N. J . WILDING COLE ( 1892- 94) as Vice-Chairman of the East Ashford R.D.C. C. C. SMYTHE(1909- 12) has recently been appointed a Deputy Lieutenant for the County of Hampshire. E. C. ASH (1948- 53) has been teaching a t a preparatory school in Somerset, and hopes to get into Worcester College, Oxford, by 1955. P. G. BENNETT (1934-39) is on Home leave from Northern Rhodesia. He had to undergo a minor operation in June, and is trying to find a job in more temperate countries. R. G. C. DAVY (1945- 50) emigrated to New Zealand soon after leaving school, and has been in the fruit-growing business. He finds the openings limited and is hoping for a position in the N.Z. Broadcasting Service. He is to marry a New Zealand girl in December. J. E. C. HINCHLIFFE(1940-44) nearer home, has applied for a post with the B.B.C. He has been in J.C.I. D. L. WALLER (1944-47) is Personnel Manager in Rolls Razor Ltd. He intends entering for a year's course in the London School of Economics. 479
THE CANTUARlAN E. B. BUNNeLL ( 1943-46) was demobilised last year and is at present teaching in To rquay. J . R. M. HARVEY ( 1948-53} has been finding life interesting in Oswcstry, where he has been training with the R oyal Artillery; and hopes to be posted to the lOth Hussa rs in three months' time. H . CoLLINS (1947- 52) has "gone to sea at last"; he sailed for Scandinavia in June. M.D. C. EVANS ( 1938-45) has a post-graduate post in the City of London Matern ity Hospital and is searching for a practice in or near Canterbury. His son is entered for the School. H . J . FRAMPTON (1947-52) is enjoying himself with the R.A.S.C. in Malaya, where he claims to mind neither the heat nor the monsoons. C. M. BRENNAN ( 1947- 52) is here to take an R.C.B. He continues to be fascinated by Kenya, but hopes the rumour that his battalion will shortly be posted to Austria is true.
J. DAVIS (1951 - 53) is in Paris. He has just finished a course at the Hotel School in Lausa nne. He is doing his "stages" at the Hotel Prince-de-Oalles, and intends studying Spanish at the So rbonne in his spare time. C. JARMAN (1947- 5 1} has qua lified as an observer with the Fleet Air Arm, and is to do 2~ years with the Royal Australian Navy. P. J. SANDERSON (1948- 53) is to be congratulated on winning the Price Entra nce Scholarship in Science to London Hospital Medical College. K. D. AGNEW (1946-53) has been commissioned, and posted to Egypt. This will, he hopes, give him an oppo rtunity to read some History before going up to Cambridge. C. 0 . S. PATERSON ( 1936-49) has accepted a n offer to go overseas soon with the Burmah Oil Co. P. N. BAUMANN ( 1948- 53) has just completed an Assistant Radar Instructors' course in the Isle of ¡ Wight, and is about to take his W.O.S.B. P. BURDRtDOil ( 1946-50) having acquired his B.A. at Cambridge, is now proceeding to New College, Oxford , where he has obtained a n Academical Clerkship to read the Honours School in Theology for two years. D. LoNG (194 1-46) is now a Solicitor of the Supreme Court. He was one o f seven to obtain secondclass honours in the Final Examination- o nly one obtained first-class honours: seventy-nine were sitting for the honours papers. His brother, Michael, is in India a t the moment with an export firm, but hopes to return this year o r early next. J. E. MACARTNEY ( 1939-43) has been appointed a n Assistant Secretary under the C hief Secretary and Administrative Secretary in Kenya. Altho ugh the hou rs arc long he is finding the work most interesting a nd enjoyable. He has met two o ther O.K .S. there, T . DEAN ( 1909- 18) and BRIO. GtosoN ( 1911 - 17), who is the Director o f Info rmatio n. M. B. FosTER ( 1944-47) is now in Canada . 1-le is working as a Chartered Accountant in Ontario. He writes that, so lo ng as one is prepared to fit into the Canadian way o f life witho ut criticism, prospects fo r an educated man in Ca nada arc extraordinarily good. His wife, d aughter and baby son are joining him in August. W. E. EUSTACE (1946-53) has been perfo rming in the West End in the "Ca mbridge Footlights Revue" .
J. W. BoootNOTON ( 1912- 22} is working with British R ailways, and is a lso a keen organiser of his local Young Conservative Association. J. L. A. GIMDLI!TT (1947- 52), who is still doing his National Service with the R.A.F. at Changi, near Singapore, has recently managed to get a fortnight's ho liday in H ong Kong. During this he went on a border patrol: he found the barbed wire, etc., quite out of keeping with the otherwise peaceful situation. With temperatures of soâ&#x20AC;˘ and over, he finds it difficult to imagine the sort of weather here since the spring. He has mel C. H. P. WILLIAMS ( 1945-48} and R. S. WALTERS (1950-53). D. W. STEEL ( 194 1-48) and A. J . WYLSON ( 1945-48) have passed thei r Finals at the Architectural Association School of Architecture and Wylson has been awarded the Henry Flo rence Travel Scholarship. G. G. JONES ( 1949- 53} is in his second year at Cranwell. He represented Cranwell in the fencing team for the Young Officers' Inter-Service Competition in June. 480
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we s hould like to offer our congratulations to the following whose names appeared in the Queen's Birthday Honours:SoMERSilT MAUGHAM- C.H. ACTING AIR CoMMODORE M.D. 0MMANNBY-C. B.E. L!EUT.-Col.ONEL F. A. EUSTACil, R.M.- O.B.E.
o.K.S. Golfing Society The O.K.S. G olfing Society Spring Meeting was held at Knole Park Golf Club, Sevcnoaks, on the 22nd May 1954. The Bovenschen Salver was played for in the m orning, and the results were as follows :â&#x20AC;˘ I . R. Orinda! 80 less 10 = 70 2. V. E. Barton 78 less 6 = 72 3. H. G . Arnold 78 less 5 = 73 4. G. Arnold 79 less 6 = 73 5. J. S. Brett 93 less 20 = 73 80 less 5 = 75 6. F. R. Hamp 7. G. A. Young 80 less 4 = 76 8. N. V. Bacon 85 less 6 = 79 fn the afternoon a foursomes competition for the Bovenschen Cups was played, and the results were as foll ows :V. E. Barton and J. S. Brett 4 up G. A. Young and F. R. Hamp 4 down G. L. Braidwood and R. Grindal 7 down D. E. Bacon and J . B. Booth 8 down N. V. Bacon and H. G. Arnold 9 down During this meeting P. R. Ramp did the 8th hole a t Knole Park in one. HALFORD H eWITT.- The 0. K.S. Team was narrowly beaten by Sherbo rne, who afterwards went through to the semi-final which proves that the Society is gradua lly getting stronger. Pa rticula rly good form was displayed by V. E. Barto n and R. Grindal, who both won their matches. During the course of some Golf at Princes', Sandwich, B. W. Graves, by holing the 16th in one, became the first person ever to do this particular hole in one, and also he was the first to do a one in the re-constructed Princes' Course.
ENGAGEMENTS RANDS- CLARKB.-0. H. Rands (1944-48) to Jean Margaret Clarke, eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A. C. Cla rke, of Great Easton, Market Harborough, Leicestershire. CuRRY- JACKSON.- A. B. C urry (1945- 50) to Anne, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H. Jackson of Burton Joyce, Wena let Road, Cardiff. BROWN-DAVIES.- Lieut. F. E. B. Brown, R.N. (1935-44) to Miss Susan Davies.
MARRIAGES ELLIS-SHBASDY.- On 2nd April, Lieut. John Donne Ellis, R.E. (1942-46), only son of Mr. and Mrs. S. J . C. Ellis, of St. Loye, Old Dover Road, Canterbury, to Josephine Anne Sheasby. HuNTDACH-SPRINGIS.-S. G . Huntbach (1945-48) to Z igrida Vikto ria Springis, of Bradford. PRICE- Mlt.t..- On 12th June, by the Most Rev. R. W. H. Moline, Archbishop of Perth (1903-09), uncle of the bridegroom, John George Moline Price, to Alice Barbara Mill .
BIRTHS BAKI!R. -On 8th March, 1954, to Peggy (nee Hopwood), wife of Michael Baker (1938-43), a son, Richard William. 48 1
THE CANTUARIAN
OBITUARY CAPTAIN (S) W. S. SKINNER, R.N. (RETD.) WiUiam Shelford Skinner (1899-1903} died on March 7th, 1954, at his home in Blackheath. He was the third of three brothers to come to the King's School, sons of Allan Skinner, C.M.G., formerly of Combe House. In December, 1903, he passed into the Royal Navy which he entered a month later as Assistant Clerk. In 1914-1918 he served with the Dover Patrol, and later as Secretary to the F lag Officer Gibraltar. He was awarded the O.B.E. and the Crown ofltaly in 1920. Between the wars he was Secretary to the C.-in-C., West Indies, and Fleet Accountant in the Mediterranean Fleet. During the Second World War he was Accountant Officer in a shore station, and in 1945 was awarded the C.B.E. (Mil.). In his retirement he was Secretary to the Association of Retired Naval Officers. We express our deep sympathy to Mrs. Skinner and his two daughters, and to his sister, Miss Skinner, of the Cathedral Cho 1r Sehool.
THE SCHOOL ROLL [Names of scholars are printed from the rough version of the Chapter Accounts (Misc. Accts., 41 , ff. J70v.- 17lr.). The corresponding fair copy for the period has evidently not survived. A minor correction may be offered irl the school History (p. 338), which indicates th.a t Accepted Frewen (1588- 1664), O.K.S. Archbishop of York, entered the School in 1598. The list below shows that he became a schola r in th~ quarter ending Ladyday, 1600, and it is difficult to see where the compilers of the History found the earlier date. They give no authority, and it is clear from the list of scholars 1598-1599 (Cantuarian Dec. 1953) that the future archbishop was not one of them within the last-mentioned period.) ' Headmaster Roger Raven Usher [Rufus) Rogers Christmas Ladyday Midsummer Michae/mas 1600 1599 1600 1600 Yes Yes Yes Geoffrey Mason Yes Thomas Cock Christopher Philpot Peter Gunning ,, John Johnson Walter Ba rnard Yes Yes Richard Pl umley Elmer Agas John Lorkin Roger Karslake Robert Webbe Thomas Seller Yes Samuel Bates John Pashley William Whit James Brumwell " Alexander Read Anthony Carewe Charles Ospringe Yes Yes William Brooke
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THE C ANTUARIA N Christmas
William Hutchlnson Edward Munday Thomas Pilgrime John Bishoppe John Plumley Edward Heron Richard Barga r Edward Marche Robert Austen Theodore Bathurst Edward Michell Jo hn C rumpe Matthew Wa riner Tho mas Langworth John Windeba ncke Thomas Ma rline John Ludd Francis Tench Samuel Kennarde John Coldom R oger Winter Christopher Bachelor Michael Hauk William Nevill Edward Nevill Thomas Karslake John Webb Nicholas Yonge Ambrose Grett Willia m Jervis Richard Salter George Putter Ja mes Wolmer Roger Bungey John Carpenter John Luken Simon Railton John Evans Accepted F rewen J May
1599 Yes
Ladyday
1600 Yes
Midsummer Michae/mas
1600 Yes
1600 Yes
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Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
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CORRESPONDEN CE To the Editors o[THE CANTUARIAN. Sir, "JULIUS CAESAR" Thank you for letting me see an advance copy of the review of the film Julius Caesar. There is surely nothing more intellectually decadent tha n Oippancy without humour-except perhaps vulgar facetiousness. f consider your reviewer demonstrates both these weaknesses in abundance. Tn the first place, a film of the importance of Julius Caesar must be considered on it s merits as a film not from the uncomfortable saddle of some hobby-horse like the way Shakespeare's verse should b~ spoken. As an attempt to bring the great scenes of the play to life (which must be the c hief aim of any suc h film) it was an unqualified success. The savage fury of the crowd whe n shown the dead Caesar by Antho ny; the quiet serenity of Brutus' villa; the splendid battle scenes- all these were the a rt of the cinema at its best. Again , your reviewer makes no mention of the ca me ra-direc tion : the occasio nal close-up, for instance of a citizen during Anthony's speech; the superb glimpse of the bl ind soothsayer's face as Caesar's body is carried out o f the Senate house; the fleeting view of the boy Lucius' harp, broken in pathetic pieces after the battle. Finally, as I am sure many of your readers will agree, the film provided fine entertainment, in the best traditions of serious screen drama. Yours, etc., VERITAS. Our reviewer writes:I never denied tha t the film Julius Caesar was good entertainment; but to take it seriously seems to be just about as foolish as to take every word of my review seriously. "Veritas" talks about the "art of the cinema" as if it was something sacred; but the examples he gives of it show that his experience of cinema techn ique (or, if you like, the fund of photographic trickery up the sleeve of any Director) is about as d a ted as the Forum itself. ff we go to the cinema prepared to be affected by every bit of sentimental slobbery which Ho llywood has to offer, there is no end to the number of cheap heart-throbs in store for us. Et 111 Dupe?) To the Editors o[ THE CANTUARIAN. 6th July, 1954. Dea r Sir, The Cantuarian has so many excellent qualities that it seems almost churlish to write and point out a minor failing. It is surely an essential function of a school magazine, however, that it should serve as a record of the school's activities. The absence of "characters" and of a 1st XV photograph from this year's magazine means that the re is no record of who were the 1st XV in 1953. The 1953 team were not as brilliant as some o f their predecessors, but they hardly deserve oblivion- at least they were the fi rst team for sixteen years to be unbeate n in school matches. If you consider that your readers a rc interested neither in their characters nor their features, you may, perhaps, at least fin d room for their names: J. P. M. Davies; W . H. Woolston, J. A. Rowe (Captain), W. W. Smith, I. D. Ma itland ; R. J. C. Collins, H . R . J. Hoa re; A . J. Briggs, A. H. M. Hoare, J. R. M. Harvey, D. B. Malcolm, D. D. Jevons, J . B. Mo rgan, R. B. P. Linton, M. U. Slee. Yours faith fully, H . J. MEADOWS. To the Editors of THe CANTUARIAN. Dear Sir, May f, on behalf of the Ruggcr C lub, offer our sincere thanks to Mr. H. J. Meadows, who is leaving this term . The consistent success of the l st X V over the past five years must be attributed in large measure to his work and his inspiration. We are sorry to see him go, and wish him every success in his new a ppointment. Yours sincerely, J. A. ROWÂŁ. To the Editors ofTH E CANTUARIAN. Galpin's House, Dear Sirs, We should like to take this opportunity of thanking all those well-wishers who encouraged us with their telegrams at Henley. Yours sincerely, THE 1ST VJII.
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MILNER COURT Tt is sa id somewhere by St. August ine (the fierce African bishop of that name, not St. Augustine of Canterbury) that the joy of the saints in Heaven is greatly enhanced by the fact that they can see the sinners in thei r state of torment. I hope T do not misrepresent the Saint; perhaps he has modified his opinion by now; but his feelings correspond exactly with those of our choir who were given a special treat, by way of celebrating their successes in the Kent Festival. Six first places, six seconds, and a handsome array of cups show that they did very well indeed. With Mr. Armitage training the choir, and Mr. Selby the readers, they had all worked hard to attain such results. The expedition to Pegwell Bay was to have taken place on a Friday, in school hours. In th is present rainy June it had to be postponed, but it took place eventua lly, on the following Monday, June 28th, a nd it was generally considered a happy day. we were proud indeed to see in the King's School scholarship list three of the first four places taken by Milner Court boys. Congratulations to Selby Brock, Christopher Rudgard and Tony Budgen on their successes. Ch ristopher Rudgard, besides being chosen a King's Scholar, is the first holder of the Sir Layton Blenkinsop scholarship for Mathematics. Having one's photograph taken by a Panora camera is not one of the pleasures of life i n the sen ior part of the King's School, as it is with us here. Our group this year was taken on a windy day, and the wind a lmost comes o ut in the photograph. It needs a great eR'ort of will to keep still while the camera's clockwork whirrs away. It almost seems to be squirting you with invis ible rays as it turns o n its turntable. The whole process is most self-conscious-making. The photographic evidence thus collected shows a very st iff lo t of grown-ups, in all sorts of impossible postures. But there is no self-consciousness among the boys. But who can look at this group, and then say that the camera cannot lie? Ou r cricket season so far (lam writing on July 1st) must be considered quite the best we have had in the last nine years. The 1st XI has played seven matches; won three of them, drawn three, and lost one. The successes were against Betteshanger (J.K.S. 95, Betteshanger 91), Friar's School (J.K.S. 102 for 4, Friar's 67) and Cliftonville (J .K.S. 133, Cliftonvillc 34). We drew with Tormore ; after we had scored 80 (all out) Tormore knocked up 52 for 3 wickets, and then rain stopped play. We meet them again on Wednesday, J uly 7th, when we hope for a decisive result. All three drawn matches produced interesting and exciting cricket- how often preparatory school matches end in a draw-and in all three of them we can fairly say, that while we succeeded in making excellent scores ourselves, we had not the bowling necessary to get our opponents out. Against Westbrook House we made 105 for 9; Westbrook making 147 for 9. Against a Duke of York's School team of the same age as ourselves we made the highest score for nine seasons, 167 for 6; Duke of York's countered th is with 63 for 8. The o ne loss, against St. St. Edmund's, who made 58 all out, can only be explained by an attack of nerves inspired by the great god Pan ; we were all out for 19 runs. The " A" team beat Canter bury House I st. XT 47 to their 44. The 2nd XI has done nearly as well as the 1st XT. T hey have played five matches, won one, drawn two, and lost two. We beat Betteshanger, scoring 106 for 5, to their 63 all o ut. T he d raws were against St. Edmund's; after we had made 126 for 7, St. Edmund's scored 55 for 6; and against Cliftonville, who scored 67 for 8 to our 11 6 fo r 5. Westbrook House 2nd X I beat us, scoring 91 to our 89, so did Friar's School 2nd X I with 88 to our 65. Having experienced the thrills, last term, of playing in a very large orchestra of Canterbury schoolchildren, we arc doing something of the same sort again, in the Barn. We have arranged a joint concert with Dulwich College Preparatory School and Betteshanger on Saturday, Ju ly lOth. D.C.P.S. are specialists in, and famous in the educational world for, their string playing. They are bringing 22 violinists, 6 viola players, 9 'cell ists, and 3 players of double basses, all boys. We can fie ld 12 violinists, 3 'cellists, and one bass; Betteshanger can provide 12 violins, 2 'cellos, and one bass. Three Betteshanger boys will appear in the wind department (2 clarinets and an oboe). The remainder of the wind is in our hands; 2 nutes, 3 clarinets, an oboe, a bassoon, 2 cornets, 2 horns, 2 trombones, and a tuba. We also provide all the percussion; all that is necessary-some might say rather more than is necessary. The only grown. ups allowed in this band are the regular players, being members of the staffs of the three schools. I add that my specia l affection for D.C.P.S. is because it was my own preparatory school, more years ago than I like to remember, and that on a recent visit 1 was stil l conscious of a little pride in seeing my own name on their scholarship board, where it had been put in 19 14. W.H.O. 485
THE CANTUA RIAN
OUR CONTEMPORARlliS The Editors g ratefull y ackn owledge receipt of the fo llowing contemporaries, and a pologise for a ny inad verte nt omissions:-¡
The Ampleforth Journal, The Barrovian, The Bilton Record, The Bryanston Saga, The Campbellian, The Cholmelian, The Chronicle, The Cranbrook ian, The Denstonian, The Dovorian, The Forrest School Magazine, The Felstedian, The Glenalmond Chronicle, The Gresham, The Hall School Magazine, The Haileyburian and !.S.C. Chronicle, The HurstJohnian, The Impala, The Kent College Magazine, The Lancing College Magazine, The Lorettonian, The Mamvoodian, The Marlburian, The Meteor, Tlze Milner Court Chronicle, The Novaportan, The Ousel, The Radleian, The Ro.lfensian, The Stonyhurst Magazine, The Windmill, The Worksopian.
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