Funeral of Miss West

Miss (Dorothy) Ruth West, Headmistress of Christ's Hospital, Hertford, from 1942 to 1972, died on 19 December at the age of 94.

Her funeral will be held at St Andrew's Church, Alfriston, East Sussex, at 11.00 am on Thursday 11 January.

A thread on the Unofficial CH Forum responding to her death

A quick bleat

Can anyone explain why the 'Older Posts' link at the foot of this page leads, not to the older posts, but to a box saying 'No posts match your query'?

Admittedly there's then a link called 'Show all posts', but that doesn't seem to get us any further.

And if any of you can show me how to increase the number of posts per page, I promise to leave you everything I own (old donkey jacket, partial denture, two dozen assorted soot-covered sacks, etc).

Looking at the stars

In the intervals of shovelling nutty slack, I'm re-reading Richard Ellmann's 1987 life of Oscar Wilde.

A significant figure in the story is Harry Marillier (CH 1875-84), who seems to have been the first young man Wilde fell for. (An 'unconsummated attachment', Ellman calls it. ¹)

They originally met when Marillier was still a CH boy, who was allowed to keep his books and to study in the London house where Wilde happened to be living.

Before long Marillier was bringing Wilde coffee in the mornings, in exchange for help with his Greek.

Presently he went up to Cambridge, where Wilde visited him, and it was to Marillier's undergraduate circle that Wilde first told the tale of The Happy Prince.

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Another Old Blue who rears his head is the writer C Lewis Hind (CH 1872-78). In 1881, when Wilde was accumulating outlandish garb for his American tour the following year, Hind chanced to see him emerging from a furrier's, wearing 'a befrogged and wonderfully befurred green overcoat' and a Polish cap.

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Ellmann notes also that Wilde, a superstitious man, 'refused to join the sceptics of the Thirteen Club'.

Was this the same Thirteen Club that Percy Giles (CH 1902-06) says was founded by William Harnett Blanch (CH 1843-51)?

Its members, Giles tells us ², dined on Fridays in sets of thirteen, entered the room under a ladder, spilled the salt when they sat down and were attended by cross-eyed waiters.

Not sure of my ground here, because Googling on 'thirteen club' yields more than 600 hits, which seem to be predominantly American. Is Ellmann referring to an equivalent club in the States, to which Wilde was invited during his tour of that country?

If so, was there any link between the two clubs, or did the sceptics of Britain and America come up with the same idea independently?

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When he was disgraced and in prison in 1897, one of the books Wilde asked to be allowed was A J Butler’s Companion to Dante.

Aha, I thought. This must be the A J Butler who attended CH in the 1860s and went on to a scholarly career at Oxford, author of (among other things) The Ancient Coptic Churches of Egypt (1884). A Fellow of Brasenose College, he could have been personally known to Wilde through Walter Pater, another Brasenose Fellow.

But no. The author of the Dante book was Arthur John Butler; the Old Blue scholar was Alfred Joshua Butler. I publish this information for the purpose of, as Wikipedia would say, DISAMBIGUATION.
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¹ Neil McKenna in The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde says the pair were lovers, but gives us no reason to believe him. He does however bring another OB into the narrative: the author and translator Osman Edwards (CH 1872-83, Senior Grecian), whom Wilde met through Marillier.

² In his history of the Christ's Hospital Club, the forerunner of today's CH Association and not to be confused with the Thirteen Club.

Jerry 'not killed by cars'

The Mirror reports fresh developments in the case of Jeremiah Duggan (TA 92-99), who died mysteriously in Germany in 2003. For more information visit Justice For Jeremiah; click here to offer help or money to the cause.

Dance like a monk

Too late now to catch the latest exhibition of paintings by Kezia Noël-Paton (Medical Officer 90?-01), but this West Sussex County Times article about her can still be relished.

Celebrating being African

A glowing write-up of the cultural entrepreneur Yemisi Mokuolu (BB 88-96), 'dynamic young MD of one of the capital's fastest growing event management companies.'

Check out her company site.

Unshaven, nailbiting, party-wrecking?

Here's more on Steve Hilton (MA 81-83, LA 83-86) , this time from Newsweek, which profiles him jointly with David Cameron in a 'Who's Next in 2007' feature.

Ann Elliott

Sorry to report the death of Ann Elliott, widow of David Elliott (Horsham Staff 72-92, Bandmaster 74-92). Funeral in Horsham on Friday 8 December – details here.

Only Seven

A parody of Wordsworth's We Are Seven by H S Leigh (CH 1846-52)

I marvell'd why a simple child,
That lightly draws its breath,
Should utter groans so very wild
And look as pale as Death.

Adopting a parental tone,
I ask'd her why she cried;
The damsel answered with a groan,
'I've got a pain inside!'

'I thought it would have sent me mad
Last night about eleven.'
Said I, 'What is it makes you bad?
How many apples have you had?'
She answered, 'Only seven!'

'And are you sure you took no more,
My little maid?' quoth I;
'Oh, please, sir, mother gave me four,
But they were in a pie!'

'If that's the case,' I stammer'd out,
'Of course you've had eleven.'
The maiden answer'd with a pout,
'I ain't had more nor seven!'

I wonder'd hugely what she meant,
And said, 'I'm bad at riddles;
But I know where little girls are sent
For telling taradiddles.

'Now, if you won't reform,' said I,
'You'll never go to Heaven.'
But all in vain; each time I try,
That little idiot makes reply,
'I ain't had more nor seven!'

POSTSCRIPT

To borrow Wordsworth's name was wrong,
Or slightly misapplied;
And so I'd better call my song,
'Lines after Ache-Inside.*'

* A punning reference to the poet Mark Akenside (1721-70, Assistant Physician at CH Newgate Street 1759-?70).

Tory Tales

An interesting Guardian profile of David Cameron's spinmeister Steve Hilton (MA 81-83, LA 83-86) has provoked this response at ConservativeHome, accusing him of control freakery but conceding nonetheless, 'What is certain about Steve Hilton is that no Tory adviser has ever enjoyed such influence on a party leader in modern times. It is also true that he has managed to combine his dominant role with being very well liked.' The Telegraph seems not to agree with the last bit.

From Hell or Newgate Street?

Don't read this if you don't want to know the plot of From Hell, the 2001 Johnny Depp movie about Jack the Ripper.

I saw it last week for the first time.

After numerous twists and turns, the person responsible for the five gruesome Victorian murders turns out to be Queen Victoria's physician Sir William Gull, splendidly played by Sir Ian Holm.

Now, when Sir William died in 1890, his Times obituary said he'd been an Old Blue.

Can this be true?

When the horrors of life allow, I'll try to have a hunt through a few reference books and report back to you.

After all, in these sad times a suspected serial killer is considered a rather exciting thing to be, and surely CH wants to be at the cutting edge, no particular pun intended?

Even if he wasn't Jack the Ripper (and he was 71 at the time of the murders, and in seriously declining health), Gull would be the third Old Blue to be portrayed on screen by a knight of the realm.

Sir Louis Cavagnari (CH 1851-56)* was played by Sir John Gielgud in The Far Pavilions (1984), and Sir Barnes Wallis (CH 1900-04) was impersonated in The Dam Busters (1954) by the future Sir Michael Redgrave.

Or does anyone know of a fourth?

* This link is to a photo of the school's own bust of Sir Louis. Click on the image to enlarge it, and the detailed text on the plinth should become legible.