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frititiarr Magazine of the Oxford Women's Colleges MARCH, 1 924 CONTENTS Page
.. Editorial .. Capital Letters .. The Fall of Chloe Points of View Poor Poll Epstein ..
Hamlet Gillian
.. ..
1 2
3 4
7
8
to 12
.. On Sitting How Fashions Begin .. Safety First The Playhouse .. .. A Character
Hedges .. .. Play Reviews .. Notices and Reports
Page 12
13 1
4
15 17
18 18 22
Ebitoriat NTER simultaneously the last week of term and a new Fritillary, featuring, as the Super Cinema would say, E. M. Delafield. Looking through the copy for this number, we wonder whether reviews of plays have been given a disproportionate amount of space. But with O.U.D.S. as its presiding genius the Hilary Term inevitably assumes a dramatic character, and play follows play at such a rate that a critic must take taxis if he is to attend them all. However, if sport enthusiasts will submit articles on ' Renwick the Runner' or `Sorrows of a Scrum-Half,' we will (perhaps) print them and restore the balance. We are extremely glad that an increasing circulation allows of our putting down our price and indulging in illustrations. The committee hope more of these may be forthcoming before the next number. Could someone, for instance, submit a series of Playhouse caricatures'? Spurred on by the example of The Isis, we devote a long page to our furred and feathered friends. The thought of these poor creatures 'missing so much and so much' through neglect of that allure which a kindly providence has given them, and of those ' simple little rules and few' concerning cleanliness, diet, etc., when a few well-chosen words from Aunt Polly's pen could set the matter right, convinced us that the women of Oxford would willingly spare a page or so for the improvement of a lower, but still entertaining order of creation.
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We should like to thank the many and various people who have been encouraging and helpful about Fritillary. If only prose writers from the five societies will give us a little more support we will do our best to deserve the pleasant judgments which have been passed upon us. We acknowledge with thanks the receipt of the Smith Alumnae Quarterly, the Girton Review and the Paulina.
Capital fetters A child, I think, often feels a pitying sympathy for the small letters. They are so young and so long-legged (especially p and b) and so obviously kept in order by a small minority of very grown-up capital letters. Some even are unhappier than others ; for though a little p, when it looks up to a big P, may feel, ' Perhaps some day I too shall be as large,' an r can never feel that it will grow up to be an R. And i, that one so often forgets to dot, and that is only half itself until it is dotted—how uncomfortable it must be to go about with half of your personality detached, and liable to be left behind like an umbrella . . . It is for things like these that one pities the small letters. But they are not really to be pitied, for in any struggle their colourless multitudes carry the day. Look down any page of an ordinary newspaper, and you will see how level and monotonous are the rows of small print ; how the few words that keep their capitals stand out with an accent of sincerity, of almost startling vividness, against the grey background. This is from the Daily Mail: Marconis were run up to two buyers; and there was liveliness among Textiles . . . Tobacco shares were firm, and Bryant and Mays hardened.' Does not the capital T itself give you in a single letter the sense of that unlooked-for liveliness in the sober breast of textiles? Or take this sentence from the fashion page : ' Some of the best Maisons do away with the waist-line altogether, and remain faithful to carefully fitted casaquin bodices.' You would never know how really best those Maisons were without the capital M. Or, for a final example, take this sentence : Toblerone is very good Swiss Milk Chocolate, with. Selected and carefully Blanched Almonds, and Pure Alpine Honey.' Strip it of its gustatory capitals, and it no longer excites interest. For who would want to eat milk chocolate? These are crude examples ; but they serve to show what, in prose, should be the function of the capital letter. The capital letter exists to lift words for the moment out of their anonymity ; to help the words that mean more than other words to seem for that moment different from them. It is therefore absurd to use capitals mechanically, as we do, for proper names and the beginnings of sentences. Why should Manchester and Birmingham have capitals wherever they go, when there is no beauty or significance in them that demands it? Arabia is different ; and San Yago de Leon, and the Golden City of Manoa, and Troy, and Bablock Hythe ; these words bring capitals with them, and one does not know whether it is the word or the capital that so colours the air around it. But some-
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thing of this colouredness capitals can give to even ordinary words when their meaning is strongly felt. ' That the colour of the Caterpillar will show again in the Butterfly with some latitude is allowable,' says Sir Thomas Browne, and one knows at once that it was no ordinary caterpillar. ' But patient Meekness,' he says somewhere else, 'takes injuries like Pills, not chewing but swallowing them down, Laconically suffering.' The L is full of silent heroism. And to take for a moment a poet's use, Donne could not have said so well : ' Dear, I shall never have Thee All,' if the capitals had not helped him to say it. I do not mean that we should sprinkle our pages with capitals, without considering whether they are justified by the words. That would be to make them as commonplace as the other letters. But when a Word, by some Beauty_ or some Emphasis or some Significance of its own, calls for a Capital, let us write it with one ; and feel it gradually Detach Itself from its background ; and grow from a mere word, uncoloured and unformed, into a Word that has Life and Meaning of its own. R.A.C.
the fait of Cbloe First Year. CHLOE—A Third Year. CLARISSA-A Tutor. SCENE : A College Garden. AMARYLLIS-A
AMARYLLIS :
How fair and fresh these ample lawns ! how green Sure constant pleasure fills the jocund scene; Well was it that I left my Mother's knee To seek the torch that lights Posterity. CHLOE :
Misguided nymph, within thy youthful brain Swarm vain delusions and ambitions vain, Think'st that thy present spiritual thirst Will win for thee at length a Double First? Nay ! Not for toil that beauteous form was made, Insidious pleasures will thy mind invade. e I came, Behold me ! Once to S My mind illumed with Pallas' holy flame ; But my first year to revelry I lent. My second year was not much better spent—. Each morning I repaired elate and gay To the Cadena, not the Camera— So now ! My Tutor, closeted in state With our most reverend Head, decides my fate. Oh, angered gads ! Oh, Fickle Fortune's frown ! Ominous Day, if Chloe must go down ! Therefore if sojourn in these halls thou prize, Acquire some merit in thy Tutor's eyes By show of work, attention to the rules, A perfect manner, and a Third in Schools,
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AMARYLLIS : Ah, Chloe, I confess my youthful mind Is now to Wanton. Pleasure much inclined, And the divine Ambition to be blessed With First class Honours cools within my breast ; But I shall temper revelry with care, Not, not as thou, will Amaryllis fare . . . But lo ! What Form unbending do I see Crossing the lawn beneath yon linders tree? CHLOE : My learned Tutor comes. Ah, woe is me ! (Enter CLARISSA.) CLARISSA : Nymph, I arrive with tidings sharp and sore, Oxford must know thy beauteous face no more ; Remember now the years thou hast mis-spent And thou wilt yield to this just banishment. Recall thy Essays ! Oh, notorious wrong ! Weaker than pallid whey, but two-page long ; Recall thy loud-expressed contempt for Schools And hatred of our most insistent rules ; Dry then in haste thy streaming tear-drops wet, And let me call you a cabriolet. CHLOE : Ah, Tower in which resides the clanging bell And Gardens trim and noble Halls, farewell ! I do repent for all I've done amiss And beg, Clarissa, for a farewell kiss. CLARISSA : I marvel much at thy repentant mind, Some seeds of virtue there must be enshrined ; Gladly my lips touch thine, unhappy fair, Depart and lead a better life elsewhere . . . . Learn Amaryllis, learn by 'Chloe's fall— Come here to work, or do not come at all.
'Points of View Alice and Cecily were Medicals, and Tim was a Dental. All three had matriculated together. Tim, who was very susceptible, had at first thought himself to be in love with Cecily. He was twenty, and she was twenty-six. Alice and Cecily, between them, had laughed him out of this, and then the great and wonderful three-fold friendship had come into being. They were never sentimental about it, but they were rather proud of it. It was, they considered, unique. Alice was thirty-five, musical and artistic. She had chosen to become a doctor because she honestly and passionately desired to be of service to her fellow-creatures. Cecily, who lived with her, was a keen. psychologist. The reason why she wished to qualify in medicine was her intense ambition to specialise as a psycho-analyst.
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Tim, who cared principally for games and sport, had reluctantly taken up dentistry because he had no money and no relations, and a godfather was paying his bare expenses at the University. ' No three people could differ from one another more radically than we do,' Cecily sometimes said in her analytical way. ' And yet look at us ! Could any three people enjoy one another's company better than we do?' It went on for more than five years, until Alice and Cecily were approaching their Finals, whilst Tim, in spite of their anxious coaching, had several times come down' already. At last the godfather sent for him to Birmingham. He had to go. ' I'll write to you,' he said to his two friends. But I shan't expect to hear from you because• of the dear old Finals. Mind you send me a telegram the minute you know you're through.' They had never been able to cure Tim of extravagance. Tim's first letter told them that the godfather was ill, the next one that he was probably going to die. Tim and a trained nurse were looking after him. Perhaps he'll leave. Tim some money,' said Cecily. They wrote to the absent member of the trio and then once more got to grips with Osler. Six weeks later, they heard that Tim's godfather was dead and had left Tim five hundred a year. And Tim, alone, defenceless, in Birmingham, deliriously excited by his unexpected fortune, was immediately married by the trained nurse. ' Needless to say,' he fatuously wrote, ' this will make not the slightest difference to our Triple Alliance. Judith knows all about it, and is longing to meet you both. We are coming up to town the very minute all the business is settled. Of course, I'm longing for her to see you.' [` Not for us to see her, mark you,' interjected Cecily.] Judith is a little bit older than I am, although one would never guess it to look at her, but she said I was to tell you. However, as I said, we three, of all people, know that difference in age hasn't anything whatever to do with companionship.' They knew Tim too well not to understand that he was feeling nervous, and that he already felt afraid that Alice and Cecily would not approve of his rash act. 1ney said very little to one another about it, and they wrote nice letters to Tim. Really nice,' said Alice, wistfully. ' After all, it's done now. And perhaps she'll turn out to be our own sort and the right person to make the boy happy.' If she was our sort, she wouldn't have married him. Not like that,' said Cecily. She was right, as usual. It was evident, from the very first unhappy tea-party to which Alice invited the pair, that Tim's wife was not their sort. And she wasn't Tim's sort, either. Of course, they couldn't talk Hospital shop any more. They'd expected that. And when Tim, rather laboriously, explained to his wife the origin of one or two allusions, or foolish old jokes and catchwords, that passed between the three from sheer force of habit, they ceased to be in the least amusing. She smiled in rather a puzzled way, and said oh yes, she saw, and wouldn't Tim tell them that funny one about the Lord Chancellor, that they'd heard at the Birmingham pantomime.
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She's a fool,' said Cecily, afterwards, to Alice. I saw her wondering to herself which of us it was that had tried to marry Tim. Didn't you notice that she became more cordial about half-way through tea? That was when she'd decided that you weren't young enough, and I wasn't pretty enough. That type of mind always suspects that sort of motive behind everything.' Tim came to see them by himself sometimes, but it wasn't a success. There was too much that they didn't talk about. His wife carefully invited them to tea about once a week. She does really try, you know,' Alice said to Cecily. I know she does. That's what makes it so hopeless. And poor old Tim does mind so dreadfully.' They saw less and less of Tim, who naturally no longer went to the Hospital. Cecily shrugged her shoulders, and let it go. She admitted frankly that she saw no hope. A psychologist can't be an optimist as well,' said Cecily grimly. The two don't square.' But Alice made a last attempt. She went by herself to visit Tim's wife, and desperately—for she was timid—forced the conversation round to the wonderful friendship of the trio. ' Yes, Tim told me that you and your friend had been so kind to him.' Oh, but it wasn't that. We—we just fitted in, somehow, the three of us.' Alice gazed pleadingly at her hostess, trying to make her understand, and seeing, for sole response, the kind, bored expression of the wholly non-comprehending. I hope you'll come and see us often—and your friend.' Thank you. Then Alice made her final effort. I daresay it seems absurd, but Tim has been—is—so like a younger brother' to' us both. That's—that's really how we feel about him . . said Alice desperately. Tim's wife looked kinder, and more puzzled, than ever. But—but there's no real relationship, is there?' she asked earnestly. February 14th, 1924. E. MI. DELAFIELD.
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Poor VOli MY DEAR FEMALES AND MALES,
I am sure we are all very glad of this chance to air our plumage (those of us who have any) and very grateful to the dear Editor. Now before I begin let ID me tell you that you all know me, though you may not be aware of the fact. I am amongst you and of you, and not a horrid giraffe from the Zoo with nasty superior airs ; so I want you to write to me and tell ( me all your difficulties, and I will endeavour to advise IL Ili you on any questions, vertebrate or invertebrate. We hope that some day we may have a paper of our own, like the ' Fritillary ' ; for our needs are not quite satisfied by even ' Tiger Tim's Annual,' or ' Pip, Squeak, and Wilfred,' or ' The Adventures of Teddy Tail and Nipper Nimble.' But for the present we must be content with what we have. There has been a heated discussion as to what our page should be called, and fur and feathers have been flying. Many suggestions have been brought forward, and rejected on various grounds. Thus ' The Pelican's Page,' propbsed by the Corpus canary, was vetoed by the Old Tom. ' The Canine Craze ' was objected to by those whose relatives had been victims of rabies, while ' Jaws and Paws ' was condemned in view of the recent outbreak of foot and mouth disease. ' The Beagle's Ballot ' was ruled out by the hares, and ' The Cassowary's Crèche ' met with the disapproval of Our Ostriches. Finally, it was decided to adopt the title ' The Parrot's Parade ' ; by this means, it was felt, the voice of everyone would reach the ears of the public. Now the first thing I want to say to you is that I feel much might be done to increase our powers of attraction. Of course there must always be ' pusses ' and ' pigs ' among us, but still, even the plainest can become quite alluring by careful use of his or her advantages. Those of us who have voices should use them as much as possible ; those of us who have a good line in our figure should produce it by the poise 4. of our tail or the tilt of our nose. Above all, we ought to keep our fur and feathers in good condition. I hope you 474 won't mind my saying that nothing is more important than cleanliness. A bedraggled tail or a dusty comb may entirely ruin the effect of an otherwise perfect toilette. Our feline friends set us a good example in this ; let us follow it as best we may. -
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Have you heard the very latest thing in fur-trimming ? It is known as ' poodling,' and, as you may guess, consists in shaving certain portions of the anatomy while leaving the rest modestly furred. I imagine it would impart a great chic to Persian tabbies ; and o VI., I understand it is very striking for slim, sinuous mammals, such as the otter ; but I do not recomas Z lc mend it for the short stout figure—the hedgehog, for instance, or the bumble-bee. "'I wonder how many of you tg realise the value of natural comat..., ments ? I think we should all do i• well to make more use of the lovely things Nature spreads about us in such profusion. They are far more decorative than manufactured articles. Delightful as the Lamb always is, are not his gambols the prettier when the Flag is his adornment ? It will be found that a few cypress leaves or sprigs of yew twined about the tail lend to the appearance an air of great distinction ; indeed, I hear a rumour that the ' tempus fugit ' ornament is to be the leading motif in the toilettes of the coming season. But always at the tail, remember—introduced elsewhere it has no chic at all. After all, la queue, c'est l'animal!
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Your affectionate AUNTIE POLLY. E. D. P.
Epztein The work of Epstein now being exhibited at the Leicester Galleries seems to offer perplexing problems to critics. Is it Sculpture ? Is it Art ? If it is art, in what terms are we to describe it ? If it is not art, why does every beholder come away with the feeling that he has undergone a new and staggering experience, that for a time new eyes have been lent him wherewith to view the world ? Mr. Fry refuses the title of sculpture on the ground that he does not find in these works that harmonious balance and adaptation of planes which he considers the essential quality of true sculpture. Yet it is possible to plead that portrait modelling of this kind gives little scope for anything more than harmony and pattern of line ; and this is a quality very clearly to be seen in many of the best of the models on view. Old Pinager's head, for instance, is a study in curves—the lines round the eyes, the wrinkled brow, curved mouth and drooping nose, work into a design of semi-circular sweeps that is steadied and enforced by the bowed head and curve of the clasped hands. With Cunningham-Graham a certain irregularity of feature is taken as the base for a pattern of rhythmical contrast in the two sides of the face. In Peggy Jean Asleep it is marvellous how the lines have melted into a pattern of shadowy curves without destroying the soft, smooth surface of sleeping babyhood. There is a different point to
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notice in another model where a great mass of hair swinging out at the back accentuates the forward dive of the head, that is thrust forward with a tense energy reminiscent of the Greek Charioteer in the Mausoleum. In all these Epstein makes use of design to point and lend force to his main conception. It is difficult, too, to evolve any criterion out of the distinction sometimes made in art between realism and idealism. Generally speaking, one may say that the work is idealistic, in the sense that the artist aims at expressing his own intuition of his sitter's personality and not at verisimilitude. There never were people with those enormous sunken eyes and heavy eyelids, the exaggerated lips and raised cheekbones found in: nearly all these models. But, on the other hand, many people are offended by such brutally realistic touches as the open, toothless mouth of the Weeping Woman. Again, his general practice is to block the clay in rough masses without any attempt at surface finish. But here and there, as though to show that this is deliberate, we find a delicate bit of modelling, as in the chin of Eve Dervish or the hands of Old Pinager, indicating the capacity for accurate representation. Consideration of these qualities suggests certain reflections on the general nature of Epstein's art. There is in all of it a tremendous human appeal—a truculent onslaught on the emotions that for a time paralyses judgment. The small room at the Leicester Galleries is packed with people of every kind, and one hears everywhere the same comment on the extraordinary aliveness and vitality of his models. Few artists manage to express their intuition of reality with such sincerity and concentration. This we are bound to grant him. But what one misses is the sense of the eternal. And surely it is this quality, above all, that we demand from the supreme artist—that out of all the shifting web of phenomena that sways and flickers past us on the loom, he should select and isolate some moment, so eliminating and combining accidentals as to focus the light upon that little portion of existence in its relation to eternity. Perhaps, too, Sculpture, depending as it does upon the austere medium of line and plane, is more exacting in this respect than any other art. Design, therefore, proves essential as a means to this end by imparting a counterpoise and equilibrium, a concentration of focus that is eternally self-complete. In Epstein's work his measure of artistic achievement clearly depends in part upon the extent to which this quality finds expression. But there must exist, further, in the mind of the artist himself, to mould and direct his expression, a sense of the eternal value of his subject. Without this no technique, however conventional, however bizarre, will succeed. It may perhaps be urged that restlessness and disquietude are essential features of modern art, as of modern life, and make such a criterion absurd and impossible. And yet there is surely an aspect, which it is the artist's business to identify and to illuminate for other eyes, in which our very striving and windrush of effort belong to eternity. C. M. C.
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bamiet Of making criticisms of the O.U.D.S. there is no end, but a review of this term without one would be as incomplete as the play they chose without its hero. ' Hamlet' is essentially a one-man play, and the O.U.D.S. undertaking it without a Hamlet born could only produce it as a many-man play. The most unfavourable criticism we can offer Mr. Isham is that he left us thinking of the play and not of him. This he may take as censure or compliment as he pleases : to an actor in practically any other part it would certainly be compliment. But Hamlet is meant to dwarf ' the state of Denmark.' We should like to see Mr. Isham play the prince again in ten years time. He has not yet shown us Hamlet, but ' a piece of him.' The parts of the Queen and Ophelia were fortunately cast. Miss Glossop-Harris' acting was one of the best things of the week : Gertrude and Hamlet lifted the closet scene on to a different level from the rest of ' the play. The one criticism we should like to make is that her rendering of the part was too fine. Neither she nor the King stresses sufficiently the repellent sides of their characters. We identify ourselves with the general complaint of hardness made against Ophelia sane. But we have seen no rei view which did justice to her acting in the mad scenes. It was so good that one forgot for the time that it was acting. HAMLET. _ _ _ With regard to Polonius, however, we cannot agree with earlier criticisms, some of which commend him for avoiding buffoonery while others even censure his emphasis of the comic side of the part. It is not perversity which makes us wish he had been a great deal funnier. For the sake of the play Polonius must be a joke, and this is possible without much loss of dignity or any loss of the tragic spirit of the whole. In addition to his office as councillor, his function in the early acts is that of the gravediggers and Osric in the HORATIO. later ones. Moreover, if he is not humorous, his `behind the arras' policy is so repellent that, setting him beside a rather humorous Claudius, one wonders which to label ' villain,' and the perspective of the plot is destroyed. But if we, and his children, accept Polonius as a joke, a sympathetic connection is established between The Polonius family and the audience, which is otherwise entirely lacking.
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And while we are on the comic tack, it is curious that such a society as the O.U.D.S. cannot produce a funnier `funny man' than the gentleman who sustained the part of the first gravedigger (nor a better grave for him to dig on). This scene was the least convincing both in setting and playing. Also we confess we are sufficiently tradition bound to prefer a grave spacious enough to accommodate a fight. Among the other minor parts there were compensations. Mr. Speaight's Player King was the most finished and one of the most effective pieces of acting. He reproduced Elizabethan rhetoric without for a moment becoming either ludicrous or monotonous. We have never seen a rendering of the part which so gave force to the subsequent 'John-adreams ' soliloquy. The most amazing thing about the production was its speed, giving the play continuity and vigour. HAMLET,.
All the settings—particularly that of the battlement scene—were beautiful. But in the first scene the actors did not play upi to the scenery. Apparently because they were afraid of being theatrical, they dropped into a pleasant conversational tone which ruined their chance of setting the pitch OPHELIA. for the whole play. Two visits to the New Theatre during O.U.D.S. week confirmed us in the suspicion that ' Hamlet ' is the best play going, and the 0. U. D. S. a Hamlet among amateur dramatic societies. K.L.M. K.I.M.
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3iLtian Yesterday morning Gillian heard From home. Her mother sent her word That surly death had ridden by And stolen Simon Timothy. Gillian was twelve. She thought, and then She read the letter through again. ' Simon had caught a chill,' she read :— So, Simon Timothy was dead. Gillian sat very white and still, Nor answered, when her friends called, ' Jill Come out, we're playing tip and run, Oh do come out, it's awful fun.' Then the hell rang, and she went in (With sorrow tilting up her chin) To sums and sewing, though her breath Still flickered with the fear of death. K. I. M.
On Sitting The dignity of it and yet the ease, the relaxation and yet the grace ! This man, sitting, becomes a nonentity, while the personality of another is only enhanced as he lounges comfortably and elegantly in his long, low-backed chair. There are some who, rather than a chair, would choose a shapeless padded hassock, or even a cushion on the floor, but these are sordid souls who deserve to lose what they cannot appreciate. For me, sitting implies a low, deep and well-sprung armchair, a plentiful supply of cushions and my feet within a yard or less of the fire. What is civilisation but the art of finding more and then still more means towards comfort? And what is the purpose of this grateful posture of the vile and pampered human body? It is a privilege vouchsafed to no other living thing. But animals you will say—does, not the cat sit for hours before the fire, her tail curled affectionately round her fore-paws, her coat glossy in the soft red light—and others, too—the dog hopeful by his master's dinner-table, the proud sparrow on her first nest of eggs? But this is not sitting, only an attitude mid-way between standing and lying. Man has been described as an animal that laughs---shall we not speak of him also as an animal that sits. Undoubtedly man was promoted to his singular privilege for some special purpose, and primarily that it should be conducive to thought. Lying suggests sleep, heavy, drealnless, vulgar and unbeautiful. Standing means motion, energy; preliminary to effort either violent or sustained. But what of sitting? It educates man's powers of conversation, and while it indulges the body it inspires the mind to efforts either reflective or creative. Did Darwin produce his theory of evolution balanced on a humpty, or is it conceivable that the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire would ever have been finished if Gibbon had written it as he
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reclined on his sofa? Rather picture the' historian, sitting on a hard, straight-backed chair drawn up to a table on which are placed, in front of him, ink and piles of thick white paper. The table groans with the weight of heaped-up books of reference, and standing by his side is his globe—round and bald and shiny and a little discoloured, which creaks and groans on its hinges as he turns it round to trace with his finger the marches of Hannibal. When Parliament is not sitting, legislation is at a standstill ; while seated at the council table, statesmen have discussed and signed momentous international treaties. To sit is the privilege of judge and prince. The king does not kneel for his coronation nor rise to receive his court. Rather, ' seated on his throne,' he is regarded as enjoying the consummation of his sovereignty. The highest lady in the land sat and watched the tourney between the rival knights who aspired to her hand, and rose only to welcome the victor and lead him to the place of honour by her side. Achilles sulked in his tent. Look at him, as he sits there on a low stool, legs under him and chin in hand, his mantle thrown on the ground, his water-pot overturned in his impatience, while scowling he stares out at the sunset, brooding over his grievances and multiplying the wrongs done him. Build up the fire, poet or financier, talker or dreamer—draw up your chair and let undisturbed peace and comfort nourish your plans and imaginings. Thoughts crowd thick and fast and elusive ideas materialise. The impossible grows possible. Memories and dreams return and become more vivid—happiness and sorrow are lived over again. The morning's conversation is recalled—the heavy rain, the game of chess, a story heard, the crowded station, something forgotten, last night's dream, the social crisis, poverty, ease, wine, to-morrow's orde al. The muscles relax and a cinder falls in the grate. The rain patters on the window, the curtains rustle and billow in the wind, to-day, yesterday—to-morrow. ' It is a wondrous thing, that blessed sleep.' W. G. D.
bow Jfa5bions negin ' The King was wearing white gloves.' —Daily Mail, February 18th, 1924. My dear,' said the King, remind me not to forget to send to thank the Lord Chancellor for that excellent lunch we had the other day. I have never tasted such fine oysters '—and he' fell musing upon their superlative qualities. Very well, my own,' replied the Queen, but in case I also should forget let us adopt the immemorial custom which has never failed.' So saying, she took from her work basket a bobbin of white cotton, of the purest and finest possible, and severing a piece about three inches in length with her pearly teeth, she wound it round the little finger of the right hand of the King. This will remind you, my dear,' she said, and after kissing her royal husband on the top of his royal nose she went to order supper. The next day, their Majesties visited the theatre—[matinee, as the King had to be in bed by ten]. The mighty concourse, which was assembled, not to see the play—a mere triviality l—but to gaze upon their Sover'eig'ns and criticise the cut of the Queen's gbwn, rose in rtaterckic .
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greeting as they entered. Then, as •the afternoon wore on, a whisper of import flitted like a summer breeze from lip to lip. Journalists glared at one another, and fought for precedence at the exits. That night the 6.30 edition of the State Express held this paragraph : ,' at The King and Queen, attended a matinee to-day of ' K the S ' Theatre. We note that His Majesty has adopted a fashion much in vogue at present abroad—:that of wearing a narrow grey cotton band upon the right little finger. It greatly enhances the smartness of the entire costume.' The next night every worthy member of the beau monde ' sported a similar decoration, and prices in the cotton markets rose at a record rate. But, sad to relate, the King had entirely forgotten what was the reason for his wearing the cotton, and he absent-mindedly removed it before remembering to ask the Queen about it. So the Lord Chancellor was not thanked after all, poor man ! O. M. D. -
%afar jfirst A PROPAGANDIST POEM. (With apologies to William Allingham). Up the hustling High Street, Down the crowded Corn, It's dangerous a-biking Upon a week-day morn. He-bikes, she-bikes, trooping in their hordes, Motor-bikes, side-cars, and rattling Fords. Some in the Cadena, Their mid-morning home, Rebuild the tissues wasted O'er many a gloomy tome. Some to the Radder Must speedily hie, To court my Lady Learning, Retiring and shy. Majestic at Carfax The constable he stands, Stemming the swirling flood-tide With large official hands.
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A tyrant in his circle, As to the manner born, He keeps them, inly raging, For hours in the Corn. Then with a surge and shiver The forward rush begins, And woe to any laggards Who waver, for their sins. They pitched off a Third Year, Her head against the stone, And when she came round again Schools had come and gone. They took her to a lecture To lubricate her brain, They saw her gently fall asleep ; She never woke again. The Schools have kept her ever since, Labelled, under glass, A warning to the thousands Who must hither pass. Up the hustling High Street, Down the crowded Corn, It's dangerous a-biking Upon a week-day morn. He-bikes, she-bikes, trooping in their hordes, Motor-bikes, side-cars, and rattling Fords.
R.P.
the Playbouse To appear week after week on the same stage before the same audience is a severe test of dramatic powers. While it increases the sense of individual interest, it sharpens critical faculties and makes it less easy to grant the necessary `willing suspension of disbelief.' Preconceptions in the audience must always be one of the repertory player's greatest enemies. Moreover, anything in the nature of a mannerism, which might be negligible or even attractive in a single play, becomes intolerable in degree as it becomes familiar. It seems to us that the Oxford Players have overcome this difficulty to an amazing degree. To Mr. Denham the first congratulations on this score, as on all others, are due. He has played, so far, five parts this term : Felix Drinkwater, garrulously sanctimonious; Sir Samson. Legend, father-in-literature to last term's Sir Anthony • Trivwlzio, serpentine intriguer ; and finally last week Anatol and The Lieutenant., Only one of these—and that in a twenty minutes' episode—was a name part, but he made of each a finished and individual piece of work. His gift for nailing a character down is shown by the fact that in ten minutes as Trivulzio he gave us a clearer idea of the man and of the play than the rest of the cast in three acts. The others might have belonged to any period or country : Mr. Denham was a Florentine of the fifteenth century.
ib
FRITILLARY.
The arrival of three new players has very much widened the company's possibilities. Miss Mary Grey's professional knowledge and experience are a real asset to the Playhouse. The studied technique of her style balances that of Mr. Earle Grey, with whom she is usually cast, and whose singularity in this matter put him last term, as we pointed out, a little out of perspective with the rest of the players. Like many of the company she is at her best in Shaw; her Lady Cicely Waynflete was delightful, and in ' The Man of Destiny ' she successfully became a Shavian again and yet avoided repetition. Excepting, of course, Mr. Goolden, it was largely the new players, and especially Miss Doris Lytton, who saved 'Mr. Pim Passes By' from the fate of ' The Importance '—ruination by heavy handling. In a part which depended both on powers of acting and on attractive personality, she disarmed criticism; as Kate Hardcastle she was still charming, but distinctly less in her element. Mr. Gielgud shows promise of that versatility which no repertory actor can afford to be without. He caught the inconsequent lightness of Milne as well as any of the cast • as Valentine, though less consistent, he had excellent moments; and in anna Vanna,' while failing to grasp the full force of Prinzivalle, he was at least a convincing and entirely different type. Of the old stagers, Mr. R. S. Smith has come to the fore beyond all expectation. He has made a good thing of every part for which he has been cast, and has latterly begun to free his acting from the shadow of his own personality. Mr. Grey has made two `distinct hits' : Captain Brassbound was very much his part, and Tattle was a masterpiece. It is a pleasant discovery to find such an excellent old man in Mr. Cresswell. Among the remainder of the company there have been• no startling discoveries, but they have fulfilled our agreeable expectations'. We like the result of Miss McArthur's hand in the dresses, and think the clothes generally are a great improvement on last term's, but that more care might still be taken in the selection of those which are hired. Why, for instance, were Miss Robson and Mr. Grey allowed a whole scene together in ' Love for Love,' wearing dresses made of the identical yellow brocade? The settings have been delightful, and the effect of heat achieved in 'Captain Brassbound's Conversion.' by the careful combination of dresses and scenery was remarkable. The players certainly have a flair for Shaw, and we hope he will continue to find a place on their programme. The. Schritzler ' Episode,' too, was entirely delightful, and was also a triumph because before it the players had never successfully achieved the lightness necessary to modern comedy outside Shaw. But what we are really waiting for', when the difficulty of a large cast can be overcome, is Shakespeare at the Playhouse. K. L. M.
K. I. M.
P
FRITILLARY.
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R Character I forget precisely how I made his acquaintance. At the time he seemed in no way different from the other small boys one meets in dozens on the Italian beaches. A wiry, active, mahogany-hued little body with gesticulating hands and eloquent eyes. Then he smiled—and there and then captured my heart. It was a large smile for so small a thing generous and attractively mischievous. One wanted to keep him smiling. The one great annoyance of his life was being mistaken for a girl. At such times his indignation knew no bounds. I have come upon him, the centre of a delighted throng on the beach, refuting the obnoxious charge in fluent Piedmontese. But I tell you I am a man and if you make me waste any more breath, I shall pick up the sea and throw it at you ! ' Another time he would vow to throw a bathing-hut or the nearest hotel at his accuser's head. Another favourite threat was : Look here —he careful or I shall make the sea run dry ! ' His fancy was always extravagant and people loved to crowd round him to hear it run riot. His free use of colloquial Piedmontese, his lavish gestures, were a constant delight. On arriving in the morning among the bathing tents, he would greet everyone with a firm handshake and then sit dawn confidingly near to change into a striped bathing costume. It was usually pale blue and he was always anxious to assure people that it was not meant to be wetted. His arrival being a signal for persiflage, someone would then remark that no true man would parade the town in a pale blue bathing costume, or that only donnette young ladies '—wore stripes in the water. In a few astonishing sentences—astonishing because of his paltry five years— he would demolish his adversary's argument step by step. Then. becoming tired of the conversation he would remark in a tone of bored exhaustion : Ma ! vate cate un, casul,' which is• very bad -Piedmontese for : Oh I go and eat coke,' and retire to sport in the sea. Supported by his grandmama, who considered that no one was ever too young to learn, he was put through his daily course of swimming exercises. With hair plastered down over his eyes, he writhed and kicked and was thoroughly filled with salt water. At other times he would cast himself with reckless abandon into three feet of blue Mediterranean (he was only two feet nine inches himself) as he had seen the men do. Now and again one would hear him call : Little mother (Mammina) where' are you? Are you having a good time?' And a voice far out at sea would call back : Yes, little one—are you?' Then he would scramble out of the wav4s and make frantic signs in the direction of the sound. One day, just before returning home, I asked him where his mother was that day. Gone to Savona, far over the water.' Oh,' said I, but I'm going farther than that to-morrow; I'm going to England.' He' was silent a minute under this tremendous discovery ; then turning quickly to me : What ! You will sail in one of those great big ships? ' He hardly noticed when I left him. He was still pondering the news. And now I often wish I might hear again the familiar dialogue : Well, little girl, how are you this morning?' and the shrill little voice, ' But I tell you . . . .' and the rest drowned in the roar of the sea. S. I. R. I. —
FRITILLAkY.
'(hedges
J. M. Across the grave green land The laughing hedges run, Stoop to the river's brink, Then up into the sun, And shaking the silver drops Out of their green hair Wander over the hills, And into the April air. Among the winter land, The hedges, stilled and bare, Feel the cold-fingered wind Playing among their hair A hollow and tiny tune Of frost and snowfall and rain, And silver budding of palm, And sun, and the spring again. R. A. C.
play 'Reviews ' THE CARELESS LOVERS.' The good fortune of the Oxford Home Students' Dramatic Society came in a rush at the beginning of their preparations. To have a President who is able to find for you in the Bodleian a new play which is at the same time an old play, a light play and one which does not exact too much from a woman's representation of a man, and gives scope for clever caricature in the minor characters, is a thing to be desired. But the luck did not hold. Miss Rea, who was producing the play, had to return to America less than a week before the first performance, and after all her dusting and polishing had no chance to admire her treasure. Miss Cooke rose to the occasion and stage-managed, and when on the eve of the
FRITILLARY.
t9
performance her voice gave way, Miss Symes was a gallant Mr. Careless for the first performance. In spite of all disasters, the play was a success. If the men were not always convincing, it was only to be expected under the circumstances. They preserved their types most skilfully and we liked to see the puppets dallying. Among the women, Hilaria was delightful ; she was, as no doubt Ravenscroft had intended, the main, spring of the play, and we had the impression (an admirable deception) that the• briskness of the play emanated from her and not from the stage-manager. Toby and Beatrice were as inspired by their parts as Mistresses Clapham and Kettle fish by their names. The tavern-dances, arranged by Miss Samson, were most attractive with the little bobbing lights and the pipe-music. Nor were we disappointed when the lights were turned up, for there was the Drawer ! The dresses', especially those of the women, were good ; the colours chosen had the hard bright effect of paint which was entirely suitable. The corpse—in its own sphere—was very successful. But it was rather by the temper of the whole production than by the excellence of individual actors or scenes that the play was satisfactorily presented to us. Taking Ravenscroft's forced wit languidly, as in the heraldry controversy, its true quality was brought out. The farce, which, taken heavily would have been intolerably dull, slipped from scene to scene with admirable flippancy. We had no pre-conceived ideas, and our pleasure was therefore fresh. K. M. L. ' THE GOLDEN DOOM' AND ' THE MOLLUSC.' Both actors and audience, at Somerville, on February 22nd and 23rd, were grateful to the anonymous donor through whose generosity an adequate and beautiful stage transformed the Hall into an excellent playhouse. ' The Golden Doom' (D'unsany) was apparently chosen to give the producer her chance. The •spectacular possibilities of the play were' exploited very successfully. A colour scheme of black, red and white contrasted with the grey hangings of the stage, and the grouping of the characters was generally effective. The actual interpretation of the play was less satisfactory. An audience, uncomfortable! and uncertain of what was expected of it, was only slightly more bewildered than the actors themselves. Everything in a play of this kind depends upon striking the right note, but unfortunately each member of the cast struck a different one. The acting of each was unrelated to the rest; and discords, which had been carefully eliminated from the settings, ruined the harmony which alone could have made the play a complete success. Under these circumstances the good work of individual members of the cast was a little obscured, but delightful performances were given by Miss Crook, as the poetical Sentry, and Miss Walker, as the Boy. ' The Mollusc' (H. H. Davies) quickly re-established the sympathy between audience and actors which had been a little endangered during ' The Golden Doom.' Any mistake in casting a play which contains only four characters would have been fatal to its success, but though here also there was a certain lack of harmony between the actors, it was a matter of minor importance, and the excellence of the individual actors makes carping ungrateful. The vitality of the production was largely due to Miss E. D. Powell, who took the part of the molluscular ' Mrs. Baxter; her energy and apparent enjoyment of her part never failed, and she
20
FRITILLARY.
wasted no one of the opportunities which the part offered. Miss V. Coit, as Miss Roberts, understood exactly what was required of her ; her restraint and naturalness threw into stronger relief the legitimate exaggeration of Miss Powell, while she succeeded in presenting a finished and charming character study. Miss. I. Watkins; and Lady I. Capell, in the male parts, were almost masculine in appearance. Miss Watkins, though inclined occasionally to wander too near the borders of farce, was extremely funny as Mr. Baxter, the husband of the Mollusc. Lady I. C'apell, as Ian Kemp, the reforming brother, did not make the most of her opportunities, but her reading of the part was consistent, and the rapid pace at which she took it made the points which told so effective as to atone for what was lost ; her voice was excellent. The performance as a whole was well-balanced and truly comic, and both scenery and lighting were good. A. T. ' THE SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL' AT ST. HUGH'S. Can it be true, as some say, that the wheel has gone full circle, and we, heirs of the Romantic Movement, tired out with wars and rumours of wars, are quietly relapsing into the Age of Reason? Detractors; of the ' Modern Girl' will hold up their hands in horror and say we were never further from the courtesy and polish of the eighteenth century. Be that as it may, St. Hugh's Dramatic Society, in its presentation of the ' School for Scandal,' definitely proved that the modern girl can successfully recreate the courtly atmosphere of the Age of Manners. It is on the atmosphere of the play that the Society is first to be congratulated. The least suggestion of heaviness, the slightest trace of boisterousness, and the wittiest of Sheridan's comedies becomes unreal or, which is worse, illnatured. We must feel, with Lady Teazle, as we watch it that it is all done out of ' pure good nature.' This, I think, was; the prevailing feeling all through the play, and the delighted laughter of the audience at each sally was good testimony that the actors had hit the right note. There is, however, a hint of tragedy throughout the play in the character of Sir Peter Teazle. This Miss Andrews certainly realised, and she is to be congratulated upon her sympathetic rendering of the part. We feel that the audience did not always give her a fair chance, being too ready to laugh at Sir Peter with his provoking lady. We are glad that Miss Andrews consistently maintained the dignity and pathos of the part to the end. It would have been difficult not to have laughed with Lady Teazle, and Miss Harvey gave her all the joie de vivre and whole-hearted gaiety that the part requires., The most difficult and interesting character of the play is, of course, the villain-part, Joseph Sur, face. Miss Morrah showed real understanding of the character, and her restraint and command of technique was invaluable. It is upon the character of Joseph that the whole play hangs, and we feel that the success of the evening was largely due to her presentation of the part. Miss Sargeaunt was excellent as Sir Oliver. She is one of the few really convincing stage ' men' whom one has met, and she and Miss Steel, as the prodigal Charles, kept things going at a rollicking pace whenever they were on the stage. Lady Srieerwell (Miss Awdry Hicks) and Mrs. Cainclom (Miss; Young) were most attractive representatives of the ' scandalous college.' We must congratulate Miss Percival on a most successful and interesting groduttion. E. E. S.
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' WILL SHAKESPEARE' AT LADY MARGARET HALL. To congratulate the Lady Margaret Hall Dramatic Society on a courageous effort would be to damn their production with the faint praise of ' a laudable endeavour,' and that is the last thing we would wish to do. Every amateur dramatic society is faced with the difficulty of choosing between light plays obviously within the powers of the available actors, and plays which are good enough in themselves to create their impression without much help from the acting. Lady Margaret Hall Dramatic Society attempted the latter. The fact that ' Will Shakespeare' was a complete failure in London and that it centres round a male character, while the society is an amateur one composed entirely of women, are not in themselves formidable arguments against its production—any more than is the probability that an Oxford audience would dismiss an unorthodox view of Shakespeare's life with a passing sneer at Frank Harris. ' Will Shakespeare' is, after all, a ' costume ' play ; that mainstay of societies in which women are compelled to act men's parts, and, although e of the play the central character is masculine, yet the whole atmospher is a feminine one. It is Ann Hathaway, Mary Fitton and Queen Elizabeth who dominate the scene, not Shakespeare or Marlowe. The real difficulty lay not here, but in, the fact that in spite of the beauty of its language and the interest of its characterisation, Miss Dane's play does not contain sufficient action to balance the length of its speeches. There are places in which the necessary dramatic quality would have to be supplied by exceptional acting in order to preserve life in the play. This was particularly noticeable in the second scene in Act II, where even Miss Moseley's obvious talent was insufficient to maintain the interest at a critical point in the action. For the rest, the necessary life was given whenever Miss Moseley, as Mary Fitton, or Miss Kathleen Lea, as Henslowe, were on the stage. Miss Moseley's abilities are well known and, if the professional touch which she is able to give to her acting threw into relief the performance of some others in the cast who did not possess her powers, this was probably inevitable and a result for which she obviously cannot be blamed. Miss Lea as Henslowe was in every way excellent. She was good in the first act and in the scene in the tavern, but she was even better in the difficult scene with Shakespeare in Act III, where she manipulated her long speeches with remarkable dexterity, showing her feeling for the quality of the words which she was speaking without once losing her hold on the interest of the audience. Miss Nichols made a colourless and somewhat unsympathetic character of Shakespeare himself. Miss Martelle and Miss Williams as Mrs. Hathaway and Queen Elizabeth were adequate ; Miss Crossmann was uneven in the difficult part of Ann• Hathaway, while Miss Miller-Jones as Marlowe did not in her later scenes fulfil the expectations which her first appearance aroused. The minor characters were, on the• whole, well played, and the revellers in Act III revelled with considerable enthusiasm. Miss Miller-Jones may be congratulated on the production. The costumes were uniformly good, although a possible exception might be made for Shakespeare's appearance in the first act which was slightly reminiscent of Dick Whittington. G. M. N. •
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FRITILLARY.
14otices anb 1Reports O. U. W. D. C. The O.U.W.D.C. has so far held one debate this term, on the motion : ' That in the opinion of this House the Liberal Party has signed its deathwarrant.' Though the attendance was small, and the motion too nearly out of date to leave much room for originality, yet on the whole the standard was high enough to be encouraging. Both the opening speeches were good. Miss E. V. Williams (0. H. S.), in supporting the motion, said nothing unexpected, but covered a wide extent of subject-matter with a fluency and clear-headed sense of construction too rare in the Club. Her three main points—that three parties are unnatural to the English habit of mind, that the Liberal Party has no longer a distinctive and useful policy on which to take its stand, and that the all-important issue of Capitalism v. Socialism must inevitably divide the nation into Conservative and Labour—were well emphasised and formed so excellent a basis of debate that scarcely anyone ventured beyond them for the rest of the evening. One at least of her remarks—that electoral franchise without economic independence for the workers is no true democracy, though well and clearly applied to the point, was shamelessly ignored by the other side of the House, and would have been clear gain to her own side if she had returned to it in summing up. The impression of completeness left by her speech was broken considerably by Miss A. Headlam-Morley (Somerville) in her vigorous and penetrating attack upon it. She admitted the first point, confuted the second, and substituted ` Liberal' for Conservative' in the third. The Liberals, she said, had a policy : they had the only foreign policy which could restore. British commercial prosperity ; they had the only economic policy which was an adequate alternative to Socialism. In the coming issue of Socialism v. Capitalism it would therefore be the Liberals, not the Conservatives, who represented the capitalists ; and their present move, by which they put into office a Labour Government which could not carry the non-Liberal measures of its own programme and would not carry those of the Conservatives, was an argument not of decay but of extreme vitality. For combined clearness of delivery and argumentative backbone this was the best speech of the evening, but it was perhaps too severely argumentative to make a thorough appeal. Miss Johnston. (L.M.H.) and Miss Saunders (S.H . H. ), seconding the affirmative and negative, made an attempt to bring the House down from principles, programmes and general history to the facts of the last few years. Miss Johnson asked if various inconsistencies of the Liberal Party at the election and since had not something of the hectic excitement of a death-bed rally ; she spoke with an• air of reflective conviction, and a certain picturesqueness of imagery, but her hesitating delivery made her points less effective than they might be. An unfortunate German soldier, whose funeral she described by way of illustration, was exhumed repeatedly in the course of the evening and re-appeared each time fraught with deeper and deeper symbolic significance, until the House could visualise him in Mr. Bernard Partridge's page of Punch. Miss Saunders pertinently justified the Liberal Party on the strength of its four and a half million voters, of its use as a bulwark between two opposing extremes, and of its intrinsic excellence as a Party with advanced ideas and yet
24
FRITILLARY. OXFORD UNIVERSITY FRENCH CLUB.
Vice-President—M. E. EuaNuroN Secretary—M. E. HEARN (S. C. ). Treasurer—N. MOON (0. H. S. ). In spite of the excitement and exertion caused by the production of ' Les Deux Pierrots ' and ' La Poudre aux Yeux,' at the end of last term, the French Club has not ' settled down ' to recover, but is being as active as ever. On Wednesday, February 2oth, we had the great honour of entertaining His Excellency the French Ambassador and la Comtesse de Saint Aulaire at a banquet given by the Club at the Randolph. The Ambassador showed a warm appreciation of the work done by the Club, and hoped that it would help to form a closer relationship between the youth of France and England. Only two speakers come into our programme this term; on February 12th M. Firmin Roz, directeur adjoint de l'office ;rational des Universites, Paris, gave a most interesting lecture on ' Les Revues litteraires, I'Edition et la Presse,' and on March 8th M. A. E. Sorel spoke on ' Les poetes de l'Intimite.' At the beginning of term we had the first sharp practice debate in the history of the Club. A large number of members were present and, although the speaking was rather weak, it caused much amusement. Next term we hope to have several interesting lectures, including the visit of Mr. Joseph Conrad. O. U. W. H. C. Captain—A. F. BULL. Secretary—D. LEESMITH. Treasurer—V. FOWLER. The team, as a whole, is good this year, though it still seems impossible to get two wing-halves who are up to the standard of a united eleven. On, the forward line Slaney has played very well, shooting beautifully. Howell and Leesmith are very fast left-wings and ought to be passed to in mid-field more by the defence ; they have both improved their shooting. Wilson is now a good forward, though she is still much too slow at making up her mind what to do with the ball. Berwick in goal has not yet been properly tested, but she is always very sure of the ball and clears well. The two backs, Crichton and Muller, have played excellently in every match. Fowler is a. very good centre-half, though she seems to tire towards the end of the match. The second united eleven is much better this year than it has been for some time; the forwards combine very nicely, but lack dash in the goal circle ; the defence are slow, but they work hard. Macnaughton and Ashmore are both promising players. The team to play against Cambridge has not yet been decided ; the match will take place either in London or in Cambrige. Matches :Midlands—Won, 6—i. Cheltenham,—Won, 7 2. Bedford P.T.C.—Lost, 4-2. Etceteras—Won, 3-2. London University—Won, 4-2. Manchester University—Won, 5 1. -
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East Gloucester Won, 6-2. Chelsea P.T.C.—Won, 8—.3. America—Won, 5—o. Dartford—Won, 3-1. Cambridge—March 17th, at 2.30 p.m. (The Athletic Ground, Richmond, London.)
O. U. W. L. C. Captaim—I. RAE (L.M.H.). Secretary—B. TIDD PRATT (L. M. H.). Treasurer—E. IRVINE (0. H. S.). The Club has had a more successful season than would appear from the results of the matches, of which eight have been played—three won and five lost. Latterly the standard of play both in the ist and znd XII's has been much improved, this being particularly noticeable amongst the attacks, who are at last finding each other and making good use of their opportunities. Individually the play is not brilliant, but the combination and team work in general have certainly made progress during the term, a result which it is hoped will bear fruit when we meet Cambridge on March 7th. 1st XII.—M. McAfee (S.C.), A. Leask (O.H.S.), I. Ree (L.M.H.), B. Tidd Pratt (L.M.H.), I. Brooke (S.H.C.), N. Muller (S.H.H.), M. Thomas (S.H.H.), E. Welbourn (0.H.S.), N. Osborne (S.H.C.), M. Elkington (L.M.H.), K. Miller-Jones (L.M.H.), E. Irvine (0.H.S.). znd XII.—Mandeville (S.H.H.), Ding-wall (S.H.C.), Perry (0.H.S.), Bull (S.C.), Henson (0.H.S.), Barker (S.H.C.), Batchelor (L.M.H.), Fremantle (L. M. H.), Ashford (S. H. C.), Young (S.C.), Salt (O. H.S.), Thompson (S. H. H.).
Result of match v. Cambridge: Won, 7-3. 0. U. N. C., SEASON
1923-24.
Captain*Miss OGILVY (S.C. ). Treasurer—Miss ANDREWS (S. H.C.). Secretary—Miss KELLY (0. H. S.). This season has shown a marked improvement in numbers and keenness, especially from certain colleges. Several matches have been played. In the Michaelmas Term we beat Birmingham and Bristol Universities, but lost rather heavily to London on December 15th. This term we played two teams against Bedford P.T.C. and lost both, being partly disorganised by having to play several reserves. We have yet to play the return match against Birmingham, and having had the valuable assistance of a coach recently, we hope to do well in this game and against Cambridge, whom we visit on March 8th. The chief fault to find with the team is that they do not play together enough. The team is not definitely fixed, owing to difficulties arising from clashing with other games. The following have played in most matches :—McDowall (S.H.H.), Russell (S.H.C.), Cruden (S.H.H.), Ogilvy (S.C.), Dormor (S.H.C.), Andrews (S.H.C.), Shrigly (S.H.C.), also Bumstead (L.M.H.) and Fowler (S.H.C).
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LADY MARGARET HALL. We have first to offer our very hearty congratulations to E. G. Wilson on winning the George Webb Medley Junior Scholarship, open to all members of the University. Of a very different order of interest are the jiu-jitsu classes which have been held by Captain McLaglan, this term ; the members of which now make life dangerous to their friends by throwing them unexpectedly in the passages. It all looks efficient, if painful, and we are sure the diplomas have been gained by hard work—on other people. The Dramatic Society has concentrated most of its attention on the production of Will Shaksepeare ' on February 21st and 22nd. There is to be a reading of ' Fanny's First Play' with the Mermaid Society, New College, on March 7th, and the Society hopes to extend its activities in this direction next term. The activities of the Beaufort Debating Society have been limited by quarantine, but a lively debate was held with Ruskin College on February 8th on the motion, That this House would welcome. Prohibition,' and there is to be a debate with Hertford on March 5th. Members. are reminded that debates are not the place for inarticulate spectators, however appreciative. The French and Italian Clubs have both flourished with the usual small but enthusiastic attendance at meetings. The French Club has held a debate, and readings from Francois C'oppee and L'Aiglon,' and a paper was read in French on the Eighteenth Century Theatre. The Italian Club has tried by means of papers and readings from Leopardi and Mazzini to explore the literary side of the Risorgimento. The Hockey Club results are as follows :— ist XI v. London College and Hospital United—Lost, 5-6. v. Milham Ford School—Won 7-6. CUPPERS.
S. H. C.—Lost, 3-4• 2nd XI v. S.H.C.—Lost, 1-4. Teams.-4st XI: Hopper, *Bumstead, *Campbell, *Leesmith (captain), *MacInnes, *Mitchell, *Miller-Jones (Secretary), *Ashmore, *Han, sen-Bay, *Kelsall, *Benzie. I St XI
V.
*Colours. 2nd XI.—Monro, Natzio, de Peyer (captain), Owen, Crossman, Wilson, Emmet, Drury, Thompson, Wolfe, Stiff. SOlVLERVILLE COLLBGE. Mrs. Aitken is giving an interesting course of lectures on the Tewa tribes in North East Arizona. On February 29th Mrs. Clarke Hall gave a lecture on work in the children's courts as a career for women. Captain McLaglan gave a lecture on jiu-jutsu on February 12th, and a Somerville jiu-jitsu class has been arranged. The college dance was held on February 3rd, and dances have also been given by the Netball and Swimming Clubs (January 26th and February 3rd).
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27
On February 18th the Debating Society held a joint debate with New College on the motion, That the present three-party system will lead to political demoralisation.' The Literary Society held a meeting on February 19th, at which Mr. R. W. Chapman read a paper on Landscape Gardening in Literature.' The standard of hockey has improved this season, and we now have quite a good third eleven . On February znd an A' team played the Royal College of Music and beat them 6-3. In this match Badock played very well, shooting four of the goals. The defence was sound, and played a thoroughly good game. In the second round of the cup matches we played St. Hilda's, and beat them 3—o after a very good game. Smylie, who has• played consistently well throughout the season, and Glover were given their colours. The second eleven beat the Home Students in the first round by three goals to one. It is very sad to think that we are losing some of the best players in our first eleven. Crichton and Berwick, who have been the mainstay of the defence for four years, and Badock, Headlam-Morley and Edwards on the forward line, are all going down at the end of this year. They have done a great deal to pull up the standard of the hockey. .
ST. HUGH'S COLLEGE. Measles and other calamities not unworthy of record have beset our path this term so that the activities of College have not been so flourishing as usual, but in spite of everything the School for Scandal' was produced by the Dramatic Society and received enthusiastically at its three performances. Of the Classical Society we are tempted to say, ' de mortuis nil nisi bonum,' in the hope that it will revive, as a protest. With the exception of a successful meeting on January 31st, when the Iphigenia in Tauris ' of Euripides was read, enthusiasm has flagged, although an expedition to the Villa at North Leigh and another to the Ashmolean have been arranged. The informal concerts given by the Musical Society have on two occasions this term become even impromptu. These two sing-songs have revealed unsuspected talent, of which the Secretary has taken due: notice. The orchestra has provided music for the• College Play, and it is whispered will join with the part-singers to perform the ' Beggar's Opera' early next term. The Literary Society was fortunate in the visit of Mr. Lascelles Abercrombie who lectured on Modern Tendencies in Poetry.' This was a well-attended meeting and much appreciated. Mr. Abercrombie expressed his points in a forceful and vigorous manner, and by way of illustration read a delightful selection from modern poets, The Debating Society is holding an inter-collegiate debate this week with St. Edmund Hall. The First XI has won the four matches it has played this term : University College, London, Lady Margaret Hall, the Etceteras and King's College, London, and has now to meet Somerville in the final Cupper. Team : V. Russell; M. C. Field, B. Nickalls - H. Fieldler, E. V. Fowler, M. Cowell-Smith ; M. Steel, D. Awdry, M. Slaney, H. Moss, H. Gent. The Second XI played the Morris Motor Works and won 5-1, and won the Cupper against Lady Margaret Hall, but lost to the Etceteras 3-2.
28
FRITILLARY.,
The number of lacrosse players has increased considerably this term, the practices have been fairly regular and the general standard of play has improved. There are several promising beginners. On the whole the passing is accurate and the shooting slow, but both are improving. The First XI is to be congratulated on its play in the Final Cupper, in which Miss Barker and Miss Osbourne won their colours. We have had only one outside match, v. Reading University, the score being 7-6. The First XI attacks show marked improvement this term, the defences are consistently good, but still lack combination. The assistance of a qualified coach has greatly improved the standard of the net-ball, which made progress this term. Quarantine rules have prevented some of the matches and the Cuppers have not yet btgun, but we played and lost an exciting match against St. Paul's Girls' School last week when C. Dormor, V. Russell, E. V. Fowler, G. Barker, S. Andrews, N. Osborne and I. Shrigly represented the First VII. Floods and frost would have temporarily extinguished the Boat Club were it not for the ardour of a few who have persevered in their pursuit of captaincies even at half-past six in the morning during the coldest weather. Doubtless the acquisition of a new raft and the return of the cuckoo will stimulate its natural popularity. ST. HILDA'S HALL. We have achieved a negative glory this term in being the only women's college to escape an epidemic. The Musical Society has certainly suffered through the indisposition of others. Sir Hugh Allen has twice arranged to lecture to us, and twice has been forced to postpone that pleasure. We hope, however, to amuse one another at a Hall Concert which, though it has been put off once through illness (not an epidemic) will probably take place shortly. The Literary Society has held two meetings. The first took the form of a reading of ' The Skin Game.' At the second two members read lively and interesting papers on ' Magic ' and ' American Literature.' The Debating Society has practice debates every week. A joint meeting was recently held with Queen's. The motion, ' That it is better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied,' was carried. The Dramatic Society held one meeting, when The Romantic Age ' was read. A joint meeting with the Davenant Society at Lincoln is shortly to be held for a reading of ' The School for Scandal.' Professor Gilbert Murray has kindly promised to come and speak here this term. The subject of his address is to be War.' The record of hockey matches for this season does not do justice to the team's work, and they never played with a full team, except in the first Cup match. Both ist and 2nd XI's have good individual members, but they do not combine well. In both teams the defence is stronger than the attack, which must get better combination and stick-work. It has not been possible to arrange any Lacrosse matches this season, but friendlies have been played against the other colleges. N. Muller, M. Thomas and G. Thompson have been playing regularly for United, and M. Mandville has also been up to several United practices. To these four Colours have been awarded. The general keenness and standard of
play has much improved.
FRITILLARY.
29
The Netball team has shown a great deal of enthusiasm this term, but unfortunately we have been much handicapped by having no ground of our own. We drew against St. Hugh's in the first round of the Cup matches, and were defeated by 29-10. The weather this term has interfered with other forms of boating, but there has been a considerable amount of rowing and sculling. Two members have qualified as sculler captains, and four are half-captains ; and more are likely to qualify this term. The Eight has been provisionally fixed as follows :—(Stroke) M. V. Robinson,* N. Beck,* C. A. McDowell, D. B. Hall, M. L. Dick, M. Leishman, M. E. Dacombe,* K. M. T. Chrimes. Two gig-pairs are entering for the Fitz-Randolph Cup. Crew A.—K. M. T. Chrimes, M. E. Dacombe. Crew B.—M. V. Robinson, N. Beck. The competition is to be held at the end of term. OXFORD HOME STUDENTS. The Society has ' come out ' ; it has been to its first dance, in the J.C.R., and we may now hold the customary four dances a year. To turn to more serious subjects, the Society has decided to take up a form of social work in London in connection with the Old Scholars' Club ' of the Vauxhall Street County School. We have, as a body, made ourselves financially responsible for it, and trust that many of us will be able to give personal help. We hope to arrange for some of the members of the Club to come to Oxford next term, and meet not only Home Students, but also members of our St. Thomas' Club. In games our most conspicuous and happy triumph has been the selection from the United Lacrosse team of E. B. Welbourn for the AllEngland trials. The Boat Club, determined to spend more time on the river next term than has so far been possible, has pursued a bold course this term on dry land ; its programme being a dance in the J.C.R., a concert in Arlosh Hall, most kindly lent by the Principal of Manchester College, and Sports,' which were held on March 3rd on the Hockey Ground, Summertown. At present the numbers of the Musical Society are small, but it seems reasonable to hope that they will increase as the Society becomes a little older. Although in a way it is newly-born, the activities of the late SingSong Club have guaranteed it a healthy childhood. The choral work done this term shows much keenness and enthusiasm—shared by the little knot of members who constitute the nucleus of what it is hoped will develop into the O.H.S. Orchestra. The Dramatic Society, now that all the wild passion of the last term is spent, and the Careless Lovers ' safely and happily bestowed upon each other, has so far contented itself with reading Clemence Dane's Bill of Divorcement ' and, with the Apollo Society, Stephen Phillips' Paolo and Francesca.' It will read two more plays this term.
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