FRIDAY 24TH APRIL

This week’s quote:-

In youth the days are short and the years are long. In old age the years are short and the days are long. (Pope Paul VI)


This week’s haiku:-

too old to travel -
far away places are mine
on the internet

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IT WAS TOWARDS THE END of the 19th century that four of my father’s uncles went to the USA with the idea of settling there. Two of them Robert and James decided to stay and within a few years their families had joined them.

Today there are Jaaps in different parts of America, and many of them are direct descendants of Robert and James.

Since we created the Jaap website, quite a few of our American cousins have contacted us from time to time, and one in particular sends me most interesting e-mails.

So - a big “Thank You” to Walter for what he sent last week. The message started with this great picture of a 1909 Ford, and was followed by some fascinating statistics showing how Americans lived 100 years ago.



The average life expectancy was 47 years.

Only 14% of homes had a bath.

Only 8% had a phone.

There were only 8,000 cars.

Only 144 miles of paved roads.

In most cities the speed limit was 10 mph.

90% of doctors had no college education.

Most women washed their hair just once a month, and used borax or egg yolk for shampoo.

The main causes of death were pneumonia, influenza, tuberculosis, diarrhoea, and heart disease.

2 out of every 10 adults were illiterate.

18% of homes had at least one full-time servant.

More than 95% of births took place at home. (In Scotland I believe that most births took place in the home throughout the 1920s and 30s. I was just reading today that in Holland the trend has been reversed and only a third of births are now taking place in hospital.)

Walter’s message ends with the thought - what will things be like in another 100 years’ time? What, indeed!

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THE FIRST TIME I went on holiday without my parents I must have been aged 26. Of course during and immediately after the war holidays were out for most people, and for me those years were followed by the time I spent in the RAF.

My sister Rita and I went on this holiday together and for 6 days we lived on a cargo ship, along with perhaps a dozen other cruise passengers. From Glasgow we sailed down the Clyde over to Ireland where our first port of call was Dublin, then on to Waterford and finally Cork.

We had ample time ashore, for cargo had to be loaded and unloaded at each port. From Dublin we visited the popular resort Bray and from Cork we had two trips - one to Killarney and the other to Barney Castle where Rita kissed the famous Blarney Stone.

No, this isn't Rita! I include this photo just to show the position you need to take to kiss the stone.



I remember the sea was very rough indeed when we left Cork for the homeward journey, and most of us were unwell. When we woke the next morning however, the weather was just perfect and we had a great sail all the way home. Since it was Sunday an ecumenical service was held, conducted by the wireless operator, and guess who played for the hymns?

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This is an Irish song I remember singing at Sunday School parties. It was written by the poet and singer Thomas Moore (1779-1852) whose other songs include The Minstrel Boy and the Last Rose of Summer.

Believe me, if all those endearing young charms,
Which I gaze on so fondly to-day
Were to change by to-morrow, and fleet in my arms,
Like fairy-gifts fading away,
Thou wouldst still be adored, as this moment thou art,
Let thy loveliness fade as it will,
And around the dear ruin each wish of my heart
Would entwine itself verdantly still.

It is not while beauty and youth are thine own,
And thy cheeks unprofaned by a tear,
That the fervour and faith of a soul can be known,
To which time will but make thee more dear;
No, the heart that has truly loved never forgets,
But as truly loves on to the close,
As the sun-flower turns on her god, when he sets,
The same look which she turned when he rose.

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I’VE BEEN IN IRELAND twice only, the second time was perhaps 10 years ago when Jean I went on a coach tour to Sligo on the west coast.

From Glasgow we travelled to Stranraer, by ferry to Belfast and then through Northern Ireland into the Republic.

One of our day excursions took us to Knock which has become a world-famous tourist attraction since the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1979. A hundred years earlier there had been many reports of the Virgin Mary along with St. Joseph and St. John appearing to local people. We were surprised at the large number of shops whose windows were absolutely crammed with statuettes, ornaments and religious souvenirs.

When we assembled for breakfast on our final day, we were shocked to learn that the fuel had been siphoned from the tank of our bus. There was considerable delay waiting for the Gardai, and we just made the ferry minutes before it was due to sail.

There are some lovely views in this little video “Portrait of the Emerald Isle”



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HOW I CUT MY FIRST (and only) DISC

It would probably be in 1946 just after the end of the War that one of the big music shops in Glasgow opened a recording studio. Of course I thought how exciting it would be to listen to me playing the piano ON A GRAMOPHONE RECORD!

I can’t remember the cost, but I don’t think it would be too expensive. There were a number of sound-proof studios, and the one allocated to me had a lovely grand piano. The engineer explained that the duration of the record would be 3 minutes, and I had one run-through before the actual “take.” On one side I played a medley consisting of Love is All, Ain’t Misbehavin’ and Lady be Good, on the other side my own arrangement of Rubenstein’s well-known Melody in F (lots of arpeggios and jazzing up the final 16 bars.)

I don’t know what the record itself was made of - a very hard material which required special needles to play it. I was very proud of my record, the only problem being the fact that I didn’t have a gramophone!!!

In case you’re wondering if I still have it - no, I don’t, and I don’t know where it went. Probably just as well!

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Remember this photo from last week’s blog?



The explanation is that I was having very painful back trouble. I had been sitting in that chair, but because of the pain couldn’t get up. What I managed to do was to slide down on to the floor and there I was stuck! Jean brought me a small plate of grapes, and after a while, the pain having eased a bit, I was able to get up. I hope you had a good laugh at my expense!!!

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SURFING THE NET

There are many music sites nowadays and I’m always pleased when I find one where you can listen free of charge. This is one where you type in what you’re looking for, and, if the song is reasonably well known, there’s a good chance of it coming up.

http://www.seeqpod.com

If you like looking at paintings, I’d recommend the Art Magick site. There’s a huge number of 19th century pictures available, and, if you sign up (no charge), you’re able to assemble collections of your particular favourites.

http://www.artmagick.com

This is another unusual picture I found on the internet. Does anyone know what kind of insect this is?



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Finally, something a bit different - this short clip features clever hand shadows by Raymond Crowe, and the song “What a wonderful world” with the unmistakable voice of Louis Armstrong.



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FRIDAY 17TH APRIL

EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY



What’s the story here?

A) I’m pretending to be a reclining buddha.

B.) I’ve had too much to drink.

C) I’m going to a Roman banquet and I’m practising how to recline.

D) I’m trying to entice a mouse to come out.

E) Other possibilities.

Answer next week

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This week’s quote:-

Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter. (Mark Twain)


This week’s haiku:-

from start to finish
Saturday’s match is replayed
in the old men’s hut

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ANYONE WHO HAS READ all my 80plus blogs since I began will know that I was brought up in a strict family to whom respectability was most important. I had never heard of any scandals in the family, and until a few years ago I always joked that there were no skeletons in our cupboard.

It was only when I began creating our family tree that certain things came to light - things that had been hushed up. I discovered that, in the family of my great-grandparents George Jaap and Jean Armour, the eldest girl Elizabeth was not George’s. However we know that he was happy to bring her up as one of his own.

A cousin of mine once told me that my grandmother Jaap forbade any of her family to talk about her own mother’s background. Her mother was born Charlotte Champvraie though later she took her step-father’s name Wilson. During the Napoleonic Wars, a number of French prisoners-of-war were brought to Scotland and were detained in a camp at Penicuik. At the end of hostilities one or two of them chose to remain in Scotland and among them was one called Champvraie. Little is known about him. He travelled around the country as a knife grinder and eventually had a son. We know that the latter worked as a Gentleman’s Gentleman and that he married someone called Elizabeth Arnott. They were the parents of my great-grandmother Charlotte who was born in 1827. Obviously the French connection was not something to be proud of!

I wonder if my family knew about the Jaap who killed his wife? Perhaps that was something else that was hushed up. Now, I must emphasise that Fiona and I have been unable to find any connection between this man and our family. On the 8th of May 1891, the Glasgow Herald reported that James Jaap aged 70, who lived in the Anderston district of Glasgow, appeared in court charged with the murder of his wife Isabella. The jury found him guilty and the judge Lord Young said that, in view of the prisoner’s age and the fact that he was “a religious man who endeavoured to preach to others” he would restrict the punishment to 18 months imprisonment. Surely a very lenient sentence in those days!

When we began researching our family tree, quite a few of my friends said that they would be afraid of discovering unpleasant secrets. Well, I suppose there’s good and bad in most of us, and it’s probably best to bring things out in the open.

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This painting "The Tease" is by another of the Pre-Raphaelite painters, John William Godward (1861-1922)



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I found this poem in an old book “Scots Story Recitations.” I haven’t been able to find out anything about the poet John Taylor.

OOR AIN WEE WAY

Some folk are unco proud an’ stiff, an’ dignified an’ gran’,
They look as if they thocht themsels the cheeny o’ the lan’;
Puir folk of course are only delf, or pig, or common clay,
But we’re maybe jist as happy in oor ain wee way.

They may ha’e a’ that wealth can gi’e, an’ treasures rich an’ rare,
An’ jist the very finest, aye, to eat an’ drink an’ wear;
But though they get the cream o’ life, while we get but the whey,
We’re maybe jist as happy in oor ain wee way.

To live within the castle wa’s is nice enough, nae doubt,
But the strongest wa’ that e’er was built ‘ll no’ keep sorrow out;
An’ e’en the king himsel’ may lack some joys that we have aye,
So we’re maybe jist as happy in oor ain wee way.

I daursay some that keep a coach, an’ never walk a bit,
Are often jist as weary as them that gang on fit;
So though our burden’s heavy, an’ the path o’ life is stey,
We’re maybe jist as happy in oor ain wee way.

[cheeny==china, fit=foot, stey = steep]

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I’ve gathered a few unusual photos from the internet and I thought you might be interested. This is the first one:-



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I REMEMBER that it was a rare occurrence to hear of any ordinary people getting divorced. I knew of only two cases, and it was really considered quite shocking.

I REMEMBER that, when we lived in the tenement, a mother and her family occupied one of the houses. We soon learned that her husband was in prison for embezzling what was in those days a very large sum. They had been forced to sell their house and I imagine that, until her family were old enough to go to work, things would be difficult.

I REMEMBER that one year we went on horse-driven canal barges for our Sunday School trip. We were taken to a field about 6 miles away where we had the usual games and picnic. Strangely enough I can’t recall any other trips, which makes me wonder if perhaps I didn’t go on them.

I REMEMBER having a disturbing déjà vu experience when I was 10 or 11. We were on holiday in Dunoon, and I was sure I had been there before. There was a large family of children in a house near where we were staying, and I was convinced I seen them before. It was rather like being a film being played for a second time. Strange!

I REMEMBER taking our little dog out one winter’s day. It had been snowing and as usual we took our walk along the canal bank. Considering what the weather was like, I was surprised on our way back to meet a woman coming towards us. She paid no attention to me and I forgot all about it. Sadly she was found later in the canal, and we learned that she had mental problems. In those days every so often there would be cases of suicide by drowning in the canal.

I REMEMBER my first girl friend was a singer. I met her at a concert when I had to play the piano for her. Every Saturday night we went to the local cinema. How long did our friendship last? I don’t know - 3 or 4 months perhaps. One song I always associate with her - “I’m going to see you today”. Some years ago I was shocked to meet her in one of the old folk’s homes where I entertained. She was a resident there and was suffering from Altzeimer’s.

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Last week there was a letter in the Daily Mail from Bert Norburn who related how he had given two goldfish to his little granddaughter. They were discussing what names to give them and she wanted them called One and Two. When asked why, she explained that if they lost One there would still be Two, and, if they lost Two there would still be One. Great thinking!

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For this week’s music, I’ve chosen a clip featuring a modern Slovak band which plays in the 1920s style. You’ll either love this or think it’s awful - the Bratislava Hot Serenaders and “Living in the sunlight”. It’s right up my street!



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FRIDAY 10TH APRIL

This week’s quote:-

I'd like to grow very old as slowly as possible.(Charles Lamb)


This week’s haiku:-

steam clearing slowly
from the bathroom mirror -
an old face takes shape

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IN LAST WEEK’S BLOG I mentioned that in my young days the best room or parlour in a tenement house was used only on special occasions.

During the past week I’ve been reading a book “Lost Glasgow” by Carol Foreman. From it I learned some interesting things about how people lived in the early part of the 18th century. It seems that even wealthy folk lived in tenements and they too kept the best room for very important occasions.

Every room in the tenement house contained a bed. Meals were taken in bedrooms and that’s where the lady of the house would entertain her visitors.

I suppose I’ve always had the idea that taverns weren’t very respectable places, and so I was surprised to read that the well-to-do people frequented taverns. Gentlemen’s clubs were popular and lawyers, doctors and business men would meet their clients there.

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This picture is by Thomas Fairbairn (1820-1884 ) of the Wheat Sheaf Inn in Old Dumbarton Road, Glasgow.



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While I was a student, my particular friend Adam and I had helped to run a church youth club, and later he became involved with education authority youth work.

At that time social work was expanding and community centres were opening in most towns. Adam got a full-time job as warden of a local centre, and I became quite fascinated with all the interesting projects he was supervising.

I had been working in a foundry office for a couple of years, when I saw a newspaper advert from a church community centre in Glasgow looking for an organising secretary. I applied for the post and got it.

The centre was a converted church and consisted of two main halls, two smaller halls, an upstairs lounge, a committee room, a kitchen and canteen area, and an office. Part of the area in one of the smaller halls was laid out as a little chapel. The caretaker’s house was upstairs.

A number of organisations used the premises - toddlers’ creche, Boys Brigade, crafts classes, old folks club, youth clubs, girls keep-fit, dramatic club, weekly old time dancing, weekly whist drive, and the canteen was open most nights for tea, soft drinks, biscuits and crisps. There were occasional social functions at which I often provided the music.

I enjoyed working there, but the most important thing about my time at the centre was the fact that it was there that I met Jean. She was Brown Owl and often was involved in helping in other activities. We married on 12th June 1954.



The marriage was conducted by my uncle George, my cousin John was best man, Jean's best friend Mary was matron of honour, my sister Rita played the organ, and Jean’s brother-in-law Angus was church officer.

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BIRD’S NEST a poem by John Clare (1793-1864)

‘Tis spring, warm glows the south,
Chaffinch cherries the moss in his mouth
To filbert hedges all day long,
And charms the poet with his beautiful song;
The wind blows bleak o’er the sedgy fen,
But warm the sun shines by the little wood,
Where the old cow at her leisure chews her cud.

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Now, here’s some good advice for us all. In case you’ve forgotten any French you had, there's a translation below.



Take the time to love - it’s the secret of eternal youth.
Take the time to laugh - it’s the music of the soul.
Take the time to weep - it’s the feeling of a generous heart.
Take the time to read - it’s the source of knowledge.
Take the time to listen - it’s the strength of intelligence.
Take the time to think - it’s the key to success.
Take the time to play - it’s the freshness of childhood.
Take the time to dream - it’s a breath of happiness.
Take the time to live - because time quickly passes and never returns.
Follow your path -
Go, live and become!

The last line will mean more to people in France for “Va, Vis et Deviens” is the title of a film released in 2005.

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DO YOU KNOW what a waggity-wa is? (Not to be confused with wag-at-the-wa which is a household goblin.)

Well, a waggity-wa is an unenclosed pendulum clock that hangs on the wall. When I was small, we had a little wooden clock which had a long chain dangling, with a weight on each end. You didn’t wind it up, because it was the action of the chain that kept the clock going. We called it the waggit-the-wa.

Very often folk would have a clock on the mantlepiece in the living room, usually the kind with a glass door covering the clock face and the pendulum. Those old clocks are quite valuable now and make good prices at auctions.

In my maternal grandparents’ house a big round clockface hung on the wall halfway up the stairs. This was the kind of clock you used to see in railway stations, and in fact this one had come from a station in Glasgow. When it was being replaced by a more modern one, Uncle Hugh who was a railway clerk had been given it.

I’m reminded that another of my uncles was very clever at repairing clocks and watches in his spare time. Uncle Alex continued with his hobby right up to the time when watch mechanisms were becoming much smaller, and I suppose by then his eyesight wouldn’t be quite as good.

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Celtic Woman is an Irish group of talented singers who have become popular over the last few years. Very often they feature a violinist. Their repertoire covers folk music and modern songs. Their first album “Celtic Woman” reached number one on Billboard’s World Music chart and stayed at that position for 68 weeks.

The song on the clip “Orinoco Flow” I understand is well-known, though I didn’t know it.



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FRIDAY 3RD APRIL

This week’s quote:-

Youth is a blunder, manhood a struggle, old age a regret. (Benjamin Disraeli)


This week’s haiku:-

memory failing
and no one left to confirm
how things used to be

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I REMEMBER seeing American comics. They were the size of broadsheet newspapers and had lots of pages. And the content was so different from “The Rainbow” and “Tiger Tim.”

I REMEMBER that cigarette packets each contained a picture card. Many subjects were covered including sports personalities, film stars, dance band leaders, comedians, cars, locomotives, birds, animals, fish and many more.

I REMEMBER that the best room or parlour was used only on special occasions. That’s where the piano would be and the instrument was generally kept locked. Sometimes there would be a long soft cushion, specially made for the purpose, which would lie over the keys. (Did they keep it locked to prevent a burglar stealing the keys?)

I REMEMBER that news bulletines on the wireless were introduced with “Here is the news copywrite by Reuters.” When World War II began, the announcers added “and this is _ _ reading it.” This was to familiarise us with the BBC news readers, so that we wouldn’t be fooled by German broadcasts in English.

I REMEMBER that SOS messages were frequently broadcast usually addressed to a particular individual, telling them to go to a certain hospital where a relative was dangerously ill.

I REMEMBER that, when drivers parked their cars on a hill (even on a slight hill), they would place a brick or a large stone at a front wheel to prevent the vehicle moving off.

I REMEMBER after the war brand new cars often carried a notice on the back “Running in. Please pass.”

I REMEMBER when television first came to our town. The pictures were black and white of course, not nearly as clear as they are today, People watched the programmes with curtains drawn and no lights on. When the TV set was not in use, a big sheet was draped over it, presumably to keep it clear of dust.

And this reminds me of the Good Old Days, when I enjoyed watching television. I probably enjoyed it even more when the little girl in the Test Card was in black and white.



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A poem by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)

I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,
And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.
He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;
And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.

The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow--
Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;
For he sometimes shoots up taller like an india-rubber ball,
And he sometimes goes so little that there's none of him at all.

He hasn't got a notion of how children ought to play,
And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.
He stays so close behind me, he's a coward you can see;
I'd think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!

One morning, very early, before the sun was up,
I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;
But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head,
Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.

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One of my favourite painters is Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836-1912). Born in the Netherlands, he settled in England in 1870. This painting is called “Silver Favourites.”



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MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH THE ELECTRONIC ORGAN (Part 2)

It was early in the 1970s that I had a notion of getting my own portable electronic organ. By then my connection with Jimmy and David had ended, and Johnny a drummer I had known for many years was keen to link up with me.

When I got an instrument, we were able to take on dances and social functions, and I had my first experience of backing cabaret. Sight-reading music had always been easy for me, and so I managed the accompaniments all right provided the artistes had scores for me to follow. Playing by ear was a bit of a problem at first, but after a few years it started to come naturally to me.

A short time later we were engaged by a local club to provide music for dancing and backing for the cabaret turns. I appeared solo for bingo sessions, when I played popular music and accompanied the sing-song. (This was before the days of karaoke.)

One regular evening was particularly enjoyable for me, and that was the Ladies Night of Old Time and Select Dancing. Figure dancing is always lovely to watch and those women, some of them quite old, did extremely well.

Saturday night was Cabaret with two different acts, each appearing twice, with the inevitable bingo in the middle. There were singers (some played guitar), comedians, impressionists, etc. For the drummer and me, the hardest work was the conjuror/magician type of act. Before the show began, we had 15/20 minutes in the dressing room to see and discuss the music with the artistes. Very often the magician would hand us a thick book of manuscript, containing music which would be played continuously throughout the act. During the performance, we had to keep one eye on the score and one eye on him, for at the end of every trick, we had to give a loud chord and a bang on the drums, and then continue.

Sometimes the artistes were well-known. We had Elizabeth Dawn (Vera Duckworth from Coronation Street), Johnny Beattie (Malcolm Hamilton in BBC Scotland’s River City), Andy Cameron, Joe Gordon and Sally Logan, and Roy Walker who used to present the TV game “Catchphrase.”

With one or two breaks in between, I spent 10 years at that club and enjoyed it very much. During that time I was also organist and choirmaster in a local church, so I suppose I had a split personality in those days!!!

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Now, this clip may not be to everyone’s taste, but I just had to include it because of the fantastic pedal work of Barbara Dennerlein. Born in Munich she has gained a formidable reputation as a “hard bop” and “post bop” Hammond organist. Perhaps someone can tell me what that means!!!



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