No.17

BITS AND PIECES

. . . . A small selection of unrelated items which I hope will be of interest.

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[from “A Highland Parish” by Norman Macleod 1812-1871,]

When I was young, I was sent to live among the peasantry in “the parish,” so as to acquire a knowledge of the language; and living, as I did, very much like themselves, it was my delight to spend the long evenings in their huts, hearing their tales and songs.

These huts were of the most primitive description. They were built of loose stones and clay; the walls were thick, the door low, the rooms numbered one only, or in more aristocratic cases two.

The floor was clay; the peat-fire was built in the middle of the floor, and the smoke, when amiable and not bullied by a sulky wind, escaped quietly and patiently through a hole in the roof.

The window was like a porthole, part of it generally filled with glass and part with peat.

One bed or sometimes two, a “dresser” with bowls and plates, a large chest, and a corner full of peat filled up the space beyond the circle about the fire.

Upon the rafters above, black as ebony from peat-reek, a row of hens and chickens with a stately cock roosted in a paradise of heat.

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I so liked Spring last year
Because you were here; -
The thrushes too -
Because it was these you so liked to hear -
I so liked you.

This year’s a different thing, -
I’ll not think of you.
But I’ll like Spring because it is simply Spring
As the thrushes do.
[Charlotte Mew 1880-1914]

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[from the Introduction to English Parish Churches, by John Betjeman 1906-1984]

Bell ringing in England is known among ringers as “the exercise,” rather as the rearing and training of pigeons is known among the pigeon fraternity as “the fancy.” It is a classless folk art which has survived in the church despite all arguments about doctrine and the diminution of congregations.

In many a church when the parson opens with the words “Dearly beloved, the Scripture moveth us in sundry places . . . “ one may hear the tramp of the ringers descending the newel stair into the refreshing silence of the graveyard.

Though in some churches they may come in later by the main door and sit in the pew marked “Ringers Only,” in others they will not be seen again, the sweet melancholy notes of the “exercise” floating out over the Sunday chimney-pots having been their contribution to the glory of God.

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MINSTREL MAN

Because my mouth
Is wide with laughter
And my throat
Is deep with song,
You do not think
I suffer after
I have held my pain
So long?

Because my mouth
Is wide with laughter,
You do not hear
My inner cry?
Because my feet
Are gay with dancing,
You do not know
I die?
[Langston Hughes 1902-1967, African-American novelist and dramatist]

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[Some thoughts by Boutros Boutros-Ghali b.1922, Secretary-General of the UN 1992-1996]

Ever since my youth I have been inspired whenever I contemplate the Nile, the river-god my ancestors worshipped.

The Nile flows on indifferent to mere events. It carries a message from the heart of Africa, our common home. It brings life to all who live near its banks. It contributes its water to the Mediterranean and the great civilisations which surround its shores. And ultimately it flows and merges with all the world’s oceans which link every continent and all the people of our planet.

To me, it is a constant reminder of our common humanity.

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Happy the man, and happy he alone,
He who can call today his own;
He who, secure within, can say,
Tomorrow do thy worst, for I have lived today.

Be fair or foul or rain or shine
The joys I have possessed, in spite of fate, are mine.
Not Heaven itself upon the past has power,
But what has been, has been, and I have had my hour.
[John Dryden 1631-1700]

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[Portia’s speech, from The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare 1564-1616]

The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway;
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God's
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That, in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much
To mitigate the justice of thy plea;
Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice
Must needs give sentence 'gainst the merchant there.

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[A popular song of 1919 by Buddy DeSylva 1895-1950]

Look for the silver lining
When e'er a cloud appears in the blue.
Remember somewhere the sun is shining,
And so the right thing to do,
Is make it shine for you.

A heart, full of joy and gladness,
Will always banish sadness and strife.
So always look for the silver lining,
And try to find the sunny side of life.

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