Perhaps I had ambitions to be an MP - or an undertaker!

Thursday, July 30, 2009

FRIDAY 31ST JULY

To get back my youth I would do anything in the world, except take exercise, get up early, or be respectable. (Oscar Wilde)



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THE KIRKINTILLOCH BOTHY FIRE

I mentioned this disaster in EIGHTY PLUS on 24th October last year. I reported that the enquiry into the fire, in which 10 young Irishmen died, had been unable to discover the cause.

A few weeks ago a reader wrote to the Daily Mail asking about the tragedy, and the facts were given. However, a letter followed from someone from Achill, County Mayo (where the unfortunate men lived), saying that he had been told that a Kirkintilloch man on his deathbed many years later had confessed to starting the fire, but had no intention of causing injury or harm.

If this is true, how awful!

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This famous painting takes me right back to my childhood, for it was featured in magazines and on posters everywhere.

“Bubbles” was the work of another Pre-Raphaelite John Everett Millais. With its copyright, it was sold to the owner of the Illustrated London News. Thomas Barrett, the Managing Director of Pears Soap, was a good bit ahead of his time as regards advertising, and he bought the painting to promote his product. As one might expect, the artist was very upset when a cake of soap was added in the foreground of the picture, but since Pears owned the copyright he could do nothing about it.



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In the 1930s Sir Alan Cobham the aviation pioneer was well known for his solo flights all over the world.

He had been a test pilot for the de Havilland aircraft company, but I remember the years when he toured the country with what he called his “Flying Circus.” With a dozen or so planes, pilots and ground crew, he came to Kirkintilloch on at least two occasions, setting up a temporary airfield just outside the town.

Of course this was a tremendous thrill, not just for me but for absolutely everyone, for in those days planes flying over our town were few and far between, and there was the added excitement of seeing them on the ground.

The highlight of the afternoon was provided by the stunt pilots doing the falling leaf, looping the loop, swooping down to pick up a piece of cloth on the wing tip, walking on the wing, etc.

Probably there were short flights for the public, but I can't remember. My father and I were to have that experience a few years later, when planes were doing pleasure flights from the sands at Prestwick.

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FROM MY ALBUM

This a rather a nice picture of my great-uncle Andrew, his wife May, and their daughters Elizabeth and Jean. Andrew (1875-1948) was one of my grandfather’s brothers. I'm guessing the photo was taken about 1920.



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This poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox is another piece of my childhood. She’s rather looked down on nowadays, but back then she was certainly held in high esteem.

There are two kinds of people on earth to-day;
Just two kinds of people, no more, I say.
Not the sinner and saint, for it's well understood,
The good are half bad, and the bad are half good.

Not the rich and the poor, for to rate a man's wealth,
You must first know the state of his conscience and health.
Not the humble and proud, for in life's little span,
Who puts on vain airs, is not counted a man.

Not the happy and sad, for the swift flying years
Bring each man his laughter and each man his tears.
No - the two kinds of people on earth I mean,
Are the people who lift, and the people who lean.

Wherever you go, you will find the earth's masses,
Are always divided in just these two classes.
And oddly enough, you will find too, I ween,
There's only one lifter to twenty who lean.

In which class are you? Are you easing the load,
Of overtaxed lifters, who toil down the road?
Or are you a leaner, who lets others share
Your portion of labour, and worry and care?

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Finally, this video is a strange one! But I love it!!

Arnold Dolmetsch (1858-1940) was a French musician/instrument maker who played a vital part in re-awakening interest in early music. The music here is pleasant to listen to, but what can be said about the film?

I fancy the dancer - she’s a real raver!!!



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Thursday, July 23, 2009

FRIDAY 24TH JULY

This week’s quote -
I don't believe one grows older. I think that what happens early on in life is that at a certain age one stands still and stagnates. (T.S. Eliot)

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A MEMORY

It’s strange how something that happened long ago suddenly comes into your mind.

When I was a boy I collected stamps, and I remember that any time we had visitors, my precious collection had to be produced for inspection. On one occasion we were entertaining a family of four and, as the boy was roughly my own age, I proudly showed him my stamps.

A few evenings later, when there was torrential rain, there was a knock at the door, and there on the doorstep absolutely drenched was the boy with his father. Once they were inside, the father said something to his son, who brought out of his pocket a handful of stamps. Yes, he had taken them out of my album. I was shocked and angry! He had done a terrible thing!! He had stolen something of mine!!!

A long time later, we learned that in his family he had been somewhat neglected, and his mother had always made very much of his sister, while belittling him.

There was one amusing aspect of the incident. That night, when he returned the stamps to me, he was wearing his cap inside out - his mother had made him do that to protect it from the rain!

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The painting I’ve chosen this week is a real Victorian tear-jerker. There’s obviously a story here and it’s up to the viewer to decide what’s going on. “The Doctor” is by the English painter Luke Fildes (1843-1927)



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MONOLOGUES with musical accompaniment used to be popular in old time variety shows. I recall two names in particular - Billy Bennett who did a parody on “The Green Eye of the Little Yellow God” and Nosmo King whose monologues were more serious. The latter, whose real name was Vernon Watson, blacked up for his act and in the 1930s appeared with his son Jack Watson, who later became a well-known actor on TV and in films.

I may be wrong, but I think that “The Lady without a Lamp” was one of Nosmo King’s monologues. When Jean and I entertained at women’s guilds and retirement homes, this was one that she often recited -


He was telling his class of the Crimean War
Of the soldiers who fought and who died,
And of how Florence Nightingale bearing a lamp
Could be seen at the wounded men’s side.

“That woman,” said he, “is a lesson to all
Of steadfastness, courage and love,
Just one fine example of what can be done
With the power that comes from above.”

Then a boy’s hand shot up and a voice said “But sir,
She wasn’t the only one,
There must have been others out there at the front
Or the work never could have been done.”

“Why, yes,” said the teacher, “some forty or more
Were helping to work at the camp,
But hers was the name that found honour and fame
As the lady who carried the lamp.

“So today in this world there are those who find fame
For the wonderful things they have done,
Some deed of courage, some generous act,
And they soon find their place in the sun,

“While others just carry on with their job
And the world never makes any fuss,
They just struggle along, even when things go wrong,
Like the Smiths or the Browns or like us.

“No limelight for them, no newspaper headlines,
No royalty claim them as friend.
They just play their part in the drama of life,
And then quietly slip out at the end.

“Yet this old world could never keep going
On its long and its difficult tramp
If it weren’t for the fellow without a name
Or the lady without a lamp.”

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A big "thank you" to Anne for sending this to me - a real fun video. I'll bet quite a number of folk were late for work that day!



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Today John's Quiet Corner includes a Chinese poem, a Turner nightscape, a 1940s love song and Clair de Lune (Debussy).
http://john-quietcorner.blogspot.com

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Monday, July 13, 2009

FRIDAY 17TH JULY

This week's quote:- Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been (Anon)

Here are three photos of the road leading in to our village. In the first one, the road is just a rough track. The third one was taken a few weeks ago.







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I REMEMBER Sunday afternoons when I was a boy. If the weather was fine, families, dressed in their best clothes, would go out walking together, very often ending up at the house of a relative. It would be unusual to see anyone without a hat of some kind. Boys of my age would wear their school cap, and would be in short trousers. Short trousers were worn right up to the age of 14 or 15.

I REMEMBER that people like the minister, the doctor, and the headmaster were treated by grown-ups and children alike with great respect. No adult would ever refer to or address them by their Christian name. However, it’s not unusual nowadays for youngsters to speak to their minister using his Christian name.

I REMEMBER that among neighbours first names were rarely used. I know that my parents always referred to the other folk around us as Mr ------, Mrs ------ and Miss ------ . It seems as if one had to be really close to a person before one could call them Jean or John. I must mention that in my father’s shop Christian names were used among the staff, so obviously the rule didn’t apply in the workplace.

I REMEMBER that school holidays in the summertime seemed VERY long. In fact they were 8 weeks, much longer than today’s, but then we had fewer holidays during the year. My father always took his holiday during the first fortnight in July. I have vague memories of holidays at Prestwick, Girvan, Dunoon, but clearer recollections of Lower Largo and Lundin Links.

I REMEMBER nothing of the important days in my childhood - my first day at school or my first day at secondary school. This disappoints me, for I’d really like to know what my feelings were on such big occasions. Pity!

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One of my favourite painters is Jan Vermeer (1632-1675) and this is "Young Woman with a Water Pitcher."



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I’VE ALREADY TOLD how I was a club organist for many years, backing cabaret artistes and playing for dancing.

Very often those evenings would come to a close with a short session when members of the audience had the opportunity to do their party pieces. Some were good singers - I remember one older woman who made an excellent job of Deanna Durban songs, others were pretty average. The MC usually got the ball rolling by singing “They try to tell us we’re too young” - all the more entertaining since a long time had passed since he was young!

At one time a certain committee member used to annoy us when we were playing for dancing. He would come on stage uninvited, pick up the mike and begin singing the number we were playing. He wasn’t much good and we could see the dancers didn’t like it.

And then I thought up a way of putting him off. Halfway though a song I would suddenly move into a key a semitone lower, and, since he had a poor ear, he didn’t realise what had happened and would carry on with dreadful results. Another ploy was for us to start in a key which we knew would be far too high for him! He soon gave up singing with the band!!!

There were occasions when I myself was persuaded to sing, and, having once sung “I wish I was single again”, that was the number for which I kept getting requests.

Here are the words -

I married a wife, O then,
I married a wife, O then,
I married a wife, the plague of my life
And I wished I was single again.

Again and again and again,
Again and again and again,
For when I was single
My pockets did jingle,
And I wished I was single again.

My wife took a fever, O then,
My wife took a fever, O then,
My wife took a fever, I hoped ‘twouldn’t leave her,
For I longed to be single again.

My wife she died, O then,
My wife she died, O then,
My wife she died and I laughed till I cried
With joy to be single again.

I married another, O then,
I married another, O then,
I married another, far worse than the other
And I wished I was single again.

Young men who have wives, O then,
Young men who have wives, O then,
Be kind to the first, for the next may be worse
And you’ll long for the first one again!

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Peter, Paul and Mary were an American folk-singing trio who became well-known in the 1960s. They split in 1970 to go their separate ways, but didn’t have a great deal of success.

In 1978 they re-formed, picking up where they left off. Mary’s health has been poor since 2004 however, and they’ve been unable to appear much since then.

I was pleased to compare their singing and their appearance in those two clips - the first one is 1966 and the second 1990 in Japan.





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Wednesday, July 8, 2009

FRIDAY 10TH JULY

The older I grow the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom. (H. L. Mencken)

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Last year we were amused at the antics of a crow in our garden, and I composed this haiku -

a crow on the bird
feeder does acrobatics
to reach the suet

This year we have a squirrel who is a trapeze artist. (I haven’t thought up a haiku so far.)



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These familiar words were written by Ben Johnson (1572-1637). I don’t expect younger people will know the song, but I remember I sang it one year at a Sunday School party.

Drink to me only with thine eyes
And I will pledge with mine.
Or leave a kiss within the cup
And I'll not ask for wine.
The thirst that from the soul doth rise
Doth ask a drink divine;
But might I of Jove's nectar sip,
I would not change for thine.

I sent thee late a rosy wreath,
Not so much hon'ring thee
As giving it a hope that there
It could not withered be;
But thou thereon did'st only breathe,
And sent'st it back to me,
Since when it grows and smells, I swear
Not of itself, but thee.

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This week’s painting is “The Jewish Bride” by Rembrandt (1606-1669)



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Very few folk today will remember the name Christopher Stone. I was very young when he was “on the wireless.” He was the BBC’s first disc jockey.

Some time in the mid 1920s he had approached the BBC with the offer of playing gramophone records on the air. This was quite a novel suggestion, and the powers-that-be didn‘t think it would be popular. So the idea was rejected.

However they must have had second thoughts, for in 1927 this Army major began regular broadcasts playing records of light music. He soon became popular, for his manner was much more relaxed than the stiffness of the announcers of that time.

After some years on Radio Luxembourg and then Radio Lyons, he re-joined the BBC. In 1941 he created a serious incident when he broadcast birthday congratulations to Victor Emmanuel the King of Italy, adding “I don’t think any of us here wish him anything but good, poor soul!” Now, remember, we were at war with Italy!

Christopher got a telling-off, but the Senior Controller of programmes was sacked, and there followed a major tightening-up of rules about what could be said on the air.

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For many years the names of Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth were well-known in opera, musicals, radio and records, and here they are singing the main theme from “The Merry Widow” by Franz Lehar. Webster Booth died in 1983 aged 82, and Anne Ziegler’s death was in 2003 when she was 93.



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It’s astonishing to realise that Rubik’s Cube first came on the scene in 1980. Invented by a Hungarian sculptor/architect Emo Rubik, its popularity soon spread around the world. I was amused by this little video. .



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Wednesday, July 1, 2009

FRIDAY 3RD JULY



The principal objection to old age is that there’s no future in it. (Anon)

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One of my American cousins regularly sends me interesting e-mails which often feature quite extraordinary pictures. His latest included those amazing 1911 photos of Niagara Falls completely frozen over. Thanks, Walter.







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I've been noting a number of anniversaries lately - 55 years since we got married, 66 years since I left school, and on Monday first it will be exactly 60 years since I was demobbed from the RAF. Unbelievable!

And I can't let this subject pass without announcing that EIGHTY PLUS is 1 year old today!!!

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This is an unusual painting. I like the title - it’s called “An Omnibus Ride to Piccadilly Circus, Mr Gladstone travelling with Ordinary Passengers”. The artist is Alfred Morgan (1862-1904)



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ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SIX YEARS ago today there occurred what many believe was the worst accident ever on the River Clyde.

The launching of a ship in Glasgow was always a great event attracting many sight-seers, and this occasion was no exception. Some of the tradesmen of Stephen’s shipyard were still working on the packet streamer Daphne when the launch was taking place, and others had come on board just to experience the thrill of it.

Going down the launching pad, the ship seemed to keel over, and on striking the water capsized and sank immediately. The death toll was 124 men and boys, and some families lost both father and son.



Among those drowned was a relative of ours, John Murrie. He was in his mid-twenties and on the 9th June the previous year he had married into our Graham family when he took as his wife Isabella Graham (1852-1936).

Although the subsequent enquiry failed to find any criminal negligence, recommendations were made which led to important safety regulations in shipbuilding.

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A haiku -

in Grandpa's garden
held together by creepers
an old wooden hut

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Before the Second World War there was a well-known pub in Springburn, Glasgow which had small room beneath the stairs reserved for older clients. I was pleased to come across those few verses recently. I think it's likely that there's a tune to them -

Doon in the wee room underneath the stair
Everybody's happy and everybody's there,
We're a' makin' merry, each in his chair,
Doon in the wee room underneath the stair

When you're tired and weary and you're feeling blue,
Don't give way tae sorrow, we'll tell you what to do,
Just tak' a trip tae Springburn and find the Quin's Bar there,
And go doon tae the wee room underneath the stair

The king went oot a-hunting, his fortune for tae seek,
He missed his train at Partick and went missing for a week,
But after days of searching, of sorrow and despair
They found him in the wee room underneath the stair

When I'm auld and feeble and my bones are gettin' set,
Ah'll no get cross and grumpy like other people get,
Ah'm savin' up ma bawbees tae buy a hurly chair
Tae tak' me tae the wee room underneath the stair

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This next clip is a bit of fun from the ballet “La Fille mal gardee” by Ferdinand Herold. Here William Tuckett suitably attired does a clog dance. Great!



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A reminder - My Quiet Corner blog is updated every Friday.
http://john-quietcorner.blogspot.com

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