Ruby

TODAY'S BLOG (WEDNESDAY 02 SEPTMBER) IS THE ONE BELOW THIS ONE!

Hi There!

It’s Ruby here.

First Birthday Party

with lots of my toys

You’d never have guessed it, but it was my second birthday yesterday, and I was expecting a party – just like I had for my first birthday – but it seems that all the family have forgotten! I haven’t even seen so much as a birthday card!

Really! You’d think after all the fuss they make of me they might have been able to remember my birthday!

I’ve heard that they are all busy getting ready for the start of school. I understand that Tom starts on Wednesday morning, and Mollie starts her new school at Beckfoot on Thursday morning. I think that Olivia has an extra day off because the teachers have a training day.

Well it’s not long to the holidays now, and I’m really looking forward to a romp on Bamburgh Beach when we get up there. His nibs tells me that we are going to the Isle of Arran again first, and that we went there last year, and I was so busy sniffing all the new and exciting smells that I missed seeing the two red squirrels that visited us every day. He’s also told me that we may see some seals in the water around Arran, so I shall be looking forward to that!

Lots of Love

Ruby

Dragon Under the Hill by Gordon Honeycombe

Just a quick message from Ruby-

Guess what - Sarah and Olivia arrived yesterday with some delicious bones and meaty spiral chews for me as well as a Birthday card and a new tug toy! Thanks for my presents!

I've had one of the meaty spiral chews already and it was delicious. In fact I'd more or less finished it by the time Sarah and Olivia got to the bottom of the road!

Lots of love,
Ruby xx

For some years, usually before going on holiday, I made it in my way to purchase a book or two which are guides to the area I would be visiting. Having spent a goodly number of years visiting Lindisfarne, over the years I have collected 21 booklets and 20 books on Lindisfarne. Of these “The Magic of Holy Island” is a first edition by Henry Tegner , and no longer available. “Lindisfarne” was the book published by Magnus Magnusson, and this is also a first edition, which is autographed by the Author.

Some years after purchasing these books, I put “Lindisfarne” into my computer search engine, and discovered a novel called “Dragon under the Hill” by the newscaster Gordon Honeycombe. The story is set on Lindisfarne and many of the places mentioned in the story can be quite easily recognised. Sadly this book is now out of print, but can still be obtained on E Bay and one or two other literary sources – in some cases the paperback version can be bought for as little as £1.00. If you want a really entertaining read it is well worth tracking the book down.

In 1972, former ITN newscaster Gordon Honeycombe published Dragon Under the Hill.

Gordon Honeycombe

It tells the story of a young historian, Edmund Wardlaw, who moves with his Norwegian wife and their son into a cottage on the island of Lindisfarne, site of St Cuthbert's pre-Norman priory and scene of possibly the first Viking raids on Britain when, in the eighth century, a Norse king was killed by a ruthless English nobleman, and the king's son swore revenge.

The supernatural is introduced very quietly, with the sight of an apparently one-eyed man with a walking-stick on the Wednesday after the family's arrival; and if I had remembered Wagner's Ring cycle, I would have known who he was well before little Erik drew him astride his eight-legged horse, accompanied by the ravens Hugin and Munin.

The boy's discovery of an ancient burial mound, and the haunted treasures within, coincides with increasingly odd behaviour and increasing dislike between Erik and his father, culminating in a terrifying visitation which Edmund does his best to dismiss as poltergeist phenomena.Edmund's heroic good looks, his self-centred, mercurial character and his inability to get along with his offspring conjure up echoes of King Arthur; a Merlin figure also appears, in the shape of an elderly academic who has discovered a fragment of an ancient chronicle mentioning the Norse king's death.

But for all his arcane knowledge of language and history, and his insight into the Wardlaw parents ("They had apparent faults of character - of self, of pride and possessiveness. But nothing seemed subconscious, all was known"), this Merlin is no magician; even when "all is known", the knowledge counts for very little as the ghastly ancient vendetta is played out through the Wardlaw family. Reflecting the interpenetration of ancient and modern, Honeycombe adroitly varies his style, moving between the matter-of-fact and the near-incantatory without any jolting transitions.

The novel is beautifully structured, without a wasted word or a superfluous detail. There are some highly effective supernatural signs, notably the drawing by Erik's mother which he alters in a particularly unsettling fashion; but one of the book's many virtues is the way perfectly ordinary details, which less subtle hands would have used as mere background or local colour, are made to serve as portents equally grim. Edmund's casual jokes about returning to his roots and coming into his rightful inheritance, his chafing at the restraints placed on him by civilised life (he seems to have become a historian as a substitute for making history), and even his eccentric fondness for pigs, all take on new meaning as the story unfolds, just as the hatreds and resentments of everyday domestic life take on ever deeper and more sinister significance.

Moonfleet by J Meade Falkner

Some months ago in one of my blogs I mentioned some of the inspirational teachers I had had. One was the English master at Grammar school who had introduced me to the novel Moonfleet by J Meade Falkner. (See “Education Policy - What Education Policy?” 02 July 2009) I still have a copy of this novel, and have re read it a few times since leaving school. The front of the book contains a shield with what looks like a large capital Y on the shield. This immediately triggers in me memories of the story.

If you have never read Moonfleet I have outlined the plot of the story below.

Moonfleet was written in 1898 by John Meade Falkner

John Meade Falkner

and it begins as a mystery and an adventure story, a tale of smuggling set among the cliffs, caves, and downs of Dorset. The novel is set in a fishing village in Dorset during the mid 18th century. The story concerns a 15 year old orphan boy, John Trenchard, who becomes friends with an older man who turns out to be the leader of a gang of smugglers. One night John chances on the smugglers' store in the crypt beneath the church.

Moonfleet Church

He explores the crypt, but hides behind a coffin when he hears voices. He finds a locket which contains a parchment, in the coffin belonging to Colonel Mohune. Unfortunately after the visitors leave, he finds himself trapped inside, and is only rescued two days later when two of the smugglers, Ratsey, the sexton and Elzevir Block, the innkeeper of the Why Not?, the local pub, investigate his disappearance. His aunt insists he leaves her house and Elzevir Block takes him in to live at the pub. The local magistrate, Maskew, is engaged in the struggle to put a stop to smuggling, and outbids Block for the lease to the pub when it comes up at auction. Maskew discovers the time and landing point of a smuggled consignment, and tips off the militia. Unfortunately for him, the smugglers become aware of the tip-off and change the time. During a struggle with Block, whose son Maskew had previously killed, Maskew is shot by the soldiers by chance. John is also shot in the leg, and is carried up the cliff path by Elzevir to safety in an old quarry on the Isle of Purbeck. John and Block are now outlaws, as they are believed to have murdered Maskew. John, with some inadvertent help from Ratsey, deciphers the coded parchment which allows him to locate a missing diamond of huge value. The diamond was obtained as a bribe from King Charles I during his imprisonment at Carisbrooke Castle and was hidden in a deep well by Colonel Mohune. Block and Trenchard recover the diamond from its hiding place. They flee the country to The Hague in Holland, where they are duped by a diamond merchant while attempting to sell him the diamond. They attempt to recover the diamond by burglary, but set off an alarm, are arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment. They spend over a decade at a prison camp at Ymeguen, where they are branded with a Y which strongly resembles the coat of arms of the Mohune family and a symbol often seen around Moonfleet. They are eventually condemned to be transported to Java. A storm breaks out and by coincidence, their ship is cast ashore in Moonfleet bay. Elzevir drowns in the surf on the beach after going back into the waves to rescue John. John recovers some semblance of his old life, marrying his childhood sweetheart, Maskew's daughter (Grace), and unexpectedly inheriting the diamond merchant's wealth which he spends on charitable causes to appease the spirit of Colonel Mohune.

The village of Moonfleet is based on East Fleet in Dorset by Chesil Beach. The headland in the book called The Snout is Portland Bill.

East Fleet Dorset

(The Snout in Moonfleet)

The book was filmed by Fritz Lang in 1955 and released under the same name, with a screenplay adapted by Jan Lustig from the novel, and starred Stewart Granger.

The movie altered the novel's plot substantially. Among other changes, its young hero was given a newly-invented aristocratic mentor (played by Granger),

while the role of the working class Elzevir Block was minimized. Lang's film has enjoyed some cachet among French film critics.

I have a copy of the film, and it is quite disappointing compared to the book, leaving out much of the story and altering the importance of the characters and inventing a new character (played by Stewart Granger). However I can thoroughly recommend the book. which is a rip roaring tale of adventure and triumph over the odds.

I was talking to one of my blog followers on Friday evening, who had looked at some of my reviews of Videos & DVD’s, and he asked me how I had the time to watch all the films I had listed. The truth of the matter is, some of the films I reviewed, I have probably not seen for more than five years, and my collection has been built up over the last 15 – 20 years, but a really entertaining storyline will stay fresh in your memory for a goodly number of years, and the sight of the Video or DVD sleeve can instantly recall the pleasure and enjoyment of watching the film!

I find it is the same with books and CD’s too. If I have read a particularly interesting book, a mere look at the cover many years later can instantly recall the pleasure of reading it. An enjoyable recording of a piece of music can be recalled just by looking at the CD sleeve.

To give you a particular example of this – the very first recording I bought, of a classical piece of music, [I’m talking of sometime about 50 years ago here!] was on a ten inch Phillips label record. The front cover was mainly white, with a photograph in the centre of an old fashioned ink pot with a feather or plume pen stood in the ink pot. This instantly reminds me of the two pieces of music on the record. They were Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture and Smetana’s Vltava, played by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Karel Ancerl. These two pieces have stayed in my “favourites list” from that time on. I just wish I’d still got that ten inch LP now!

The 1812 Overture, Op. 49 is a classical overture written by the Russian composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1880. The piece was written to commemorate Russia's defense of Moscow against Napoleon's advancing Grande Armée at the Battle of Borodino in 1812. The Overture was first performed in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow on August 20, 1880. It is best known for its climactic volley of cannon fire and ringing chimes.
On his 1891 visit to the United States, Tchaikovsky conducted the piece at the dedication of Carnegie Hall in New York City. While the piece has no connection with United States history, it is often a staple at Fourth of July celebrations, such as the annual show by the Boston Pops Orchestra, and at Washington DC's annual programme called A Capitol Fourth.

Antal Doráti's landmark 1954 Mercury Records recording with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra (was recorded in mono in 1954 and in stereo in 1958). The stereophonic version was recorded on April 5, 1958 using the bells of the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Carillon, at Riverside Church, and two six pound smooth bore bronze cannons and a twelve pound howitzer, French Charleville pattern muskets and British “Brown Bess” muskets. On this Mercury Living Presence Stereo recording the spoken commentary was given by Deems Taylor and was coupled with Tchaikovsky's "Capriccio Italien". Later editions, on CD, coupled the 1812 Overture with Dorati's recording of Beethoven's Wellington's Victory which featured the London Symphony Orchestra and real cannons, as well as the Tchaikovsky Capriccio Italien.

I possess what some CD aficionados regard as the definitive CD recording, and that is the recording described above. This was a very popular recording when it first came out on LP and over 2,000,000 were sold!

The warning on the sticker on the back of the cover caught my eye. This was intended for those folk who played their music at "full throttle" as the noise of the cannon fire and muskets was reputed to wreck the speaker cones if played at full volume!

Scarecrow Festival (Hog Theme)

Enlarging on the theme of yesterdays visit to Ripley…….

There seems to be a new tourist venture afoot, and that is the “Scarecrow Festival”. Quite a few of the local dales villages now have an annual festival, and Malham and Kettlewell are both well known on the “scarecrow circuit.” I get lots of queries about them when I am doing my voluntary day at the TIC - Tourist Information Centre.

As I mentioned in yesterdays blog, we took the grandchildren up to Newby Hall for a day out and some outdoor activities in the adventure playground there, but on the way there we were tempted to call in to the village of Ripley, which is famous for the delicious ice creams you can buy there.

On entering the village we saw signs proclaiming a “Scarecrow Festival”, and never having been to one we stopped to have a look at the exhibits, which were placed all around the village. The locals had certainly used their initiative, and there were scarecrows of all shapes and sizes – some dressed to depict topical events, and others making a play on the word pig or hog (because all the scarecrows were pig faced – I think the pig or hog theme probably came about because the village hostelry is called the Boars Head Hotel.

The Boars Head Hotel in Ripley

Incidentally I came across this little piece about the Boars Head in a travel guide:

The Boar's Head Hotel is one of the country's celebrated inns, and was named in remembrance of King Edward III's brush with death when he fell from his horse in the forest and was nearly gored by a wild boar. Thomas Ingilby of Ripley, hero of the hour, swiftly killed the animal which was promptly turned into the main course at the ensuing banquet, and earned himself a knighthood and family crest for his trouble. The hotel wasn't opened until 1990, however, when Lord and Lady Ingilby re-opened the former Star Inn after a 75-year dry period. There was such relief among the villagers that the vicar called in on the opening night and blessed the beer taps.

But back to the scarecrows (Hog Crows?) - a selection of some of them follows below

City Banker punished for having his snout in the trough


I don't recall the two on the left and the one on the right being mentioned in the list of exhibits!


Miss Pigtails

The Butchers Hog

Note the wings on the large pig
- this was called "Swine Flew (oops!) Flu"

Hoglets (Hogwarts) School

Borat Hog (in Ripley Stores)

Michael Jackson

Hog (Bob) the Builder

High School Musical (in the local school playground)

The Statue of Liberty

This part of the day was totally unplanned, and due to the sunny weather, (and delicious Ripley ice cream which we all partook of) was a most enjoyable added extra! Who knows? - next year we may be tempted to visit the Kettlewell or Malham Scarecrow Festivals!

Ripley Hog Scarecrows and Newby Hall

Yesterday we took the grandchildren to Newby Hall, which is a minor Stately Home quite near Ripon. The original Manor of Newby was owned by the Crossland family, who sold it to the Sir Edward Blackett MP in the 1690’s. The old manor house was demolished in 1697 and a new spacious house was built to replace it.

In 1748 the estate was acquired by William Weddell MP, and the house was enlarged during the 1760’s. The present owners (the Compton family) are descended from William Weddell and have restored the Hall and gardens which are now open to the public.




In 1974 a miniature railway was constructed, and this was enlarged in 1985. The train is a 1/5th scale model of the Royal Scott. Sometimes the 'Countess De Grey' or 'Lady Mary Vyner', both of which are LPG powered Diesel-Electric locomotives, operate on the line.

Sir Jackie Stewart (the racing driver) opened an adventure playground in 1979.

On the way to Newby Hall we called in at Ripley to sample some of their famous ice cream, but before we had chance to do that we discovered that we were surrounded by lots of scarecrows disguised as hogs, and in all shapes and sizes, and in all kinds of dress.

After getting to know some of the scarecrows (I particularly liked Hog the Builder,

Michael Jackson,


and the Statue of Liberty,



we got down to some serious ice cream consumption.

The ice creams are sold at the local Ripley Stores and they have a lovely old van to deliver their ices in. This was parked outside the shop.

After looking at lots of their Hog Scarecrows

High School Musical

we then moved on the Newby Hall, and as it was dinner time we sat down for a picnic in the picnic area.

The first thing that met our eyes as we walked into the children’s adventure playground was the miniature railway. Two of the engines were running, The Countess de Gray and The Lady Vyner.

Tom managed to climb to the top of the fort, whilst the two girls queued for the pedalos. By the time their turn had come, Tom had joined them, and they set off on their journey along the shallow lake which surrounds part of the adventure playground.

going flat out and soon to disappear from view.....

After all three safely returned from their trip round the lake, Tom decided to have a go on a rope swing

and Olivia had a try of the Zip Slide.

Mollie and Olivia then decided that a swing in the old fashioned swing boats would be in order.

Then it was on to the miniature railway for a trip around the grounds.

The day was concluded with a fish and chip meal at Murgatroyds - a local fish and chip restaurant, and three tired grandchildren were returned to their respective parents!