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WALTERS WHISPERS

Court Jesters

Dr. Doran, in his 1850 History of Court Fools gives a completely exhaustive account of licensed and unlicensed court fools, jesters and mirth men throughout the ages.

The following brief selection is just a few.

Walter Canham

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WALTER'S WHISPERS

He Went Too Fast

On 28th January 1896, Walter Arnold of East Peckham, near Tonbridge, Kent, became the first motorist ever to be convicted of speeding. On 20th January, he was spotted by the local police constable doing 8 m.p.h. in a built-up area of Paddock Wood, where the speed limit was 2 m.p.h. The police constable, who was having his dinner at the time, selflessly abandoned his pork chop, grabbed his helmet, mounted his bicycle and gave chase. He eventually managed to overtake and flag down the felon after a breathless pursuit of some 5 miles.

Arnold appeared before magistrates at Tonbridge Police Court and was charged one shilling plus costs for the outrage. Walter Arnold, however, was undeterred and he went on to become the first man in Britain to manufacture petrol-driven motor cars. The Arnold Motor Carriage Company of East Peckham, Kent, salesmen for Benz cars since 1894, manufactured an Arnold motor, based on the Benz design, but with many innovations, in August 1896, the first petrol-driven car ever manufactured for sale in England. Called an Adam, it was also the first car in the world to have an electric self-starter.

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Genetic Fingerprinting

Genetic fingerprinting was first discovered at Leicester University in 1985. Leicestershire Constabulary was the first police force in the world to use genetic fingerprinting for criminal detection in the case of Colin Pitchfork who appeared at Leicester Crown court in 1987, charged with the murder of two school-girls. Pitchfork became the first murderer in the world to be convicted on the evidence of genetic fingerprinting.

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Christmas Stockings

When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings at Christmas time. G.K. Chesterton once said - Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs?

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A Great Thinker and Inventor

'Opportunity is missed by most people because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work - Thomas Edison. A thought to ponder? Happy Christmas!

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Royal Retreat

The Isle of Wight, almost an England in miniature, has for a long time been a retreat for troubled royals trying to get away from their cares and problems on the mainland. In the 11th century, Odo, half-brother to William the Conqueror, having been accused of treasonable acts, sought sanctuary at Carisbrooke Castle, but was caught and arrested by William himself.

In 1647, Charles I fled to the Isle of Wight hoping that the Governor, Colonel Robert ammond, wouldHammond, would assist him in getting away to France. Instead, Hammond imprisoned the King in Carisbrooke Castle. Charles tried to escape by climbing out of a window and sliding down a rope, but was caught after becoming wedged in the window bars. He was kept there until 1648 when he was taken away to await his execution at Whitehall on 30th January 1649.

Charles I's daughter, Princess Elizabeth, born in 1635, was sent to Carrisbrooke Castle by Parliament after her father's execution. She died there, of a fever, aged just 14, and was buried by the altar in the church at Newport, where her grave was marked by a simple ES. In 1865, Queen Victoria restored the grave from obscurity and erected a monument in her ancestor's memory.

Queen Victoria herself retired to Osborne House on the Isle of Wight after the death of Prince Albert and spent much of her time there. She died at Osborne House in 1901.

Walter

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WALTER'S WHISPERS

The Instant Way of Life

The simple press of a button, a click of a switch and we get what some people call the 'instant way of life'. Or click the mouse beside a computer and a letter can be delivered many thousands of miles away.

It is all modern progress but too often, it seems, life depends on forever trying to beat the clock. When we slow down we start to experience a real quality of life. It gives us a whole new perspective on what living is all about.

I think that the author H.G. Wells put it well when he said: "We must never allow the clock and the calendar to blind us to the fact that each moment of life is a miracle and a mystery.

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Focus on this...

It is all too easy to live for tomorrow, continually putting things off, but as these words translated from ancient Sanskrit show, today is, and always has been, a good time to focus on:

Look to this day: for it is life, the very life of life. In its brief course lie all the verities and realities of your existence. The bliss of growth, the glory of action, the splendour of achievement are but experiences of time. For yesterday is but a dream and tomorrow is only a vision; and today well-lived, makes yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well therefore to this day; such is the salutation to the ever-new dawn!

So, why not start something useful today?

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Gallileo

In his day few men understood the universe like Galileo. His real wisdom was to look for wonder, not only in the vastness of space or in the minute detail of the everyday world, but in both at the same time.;

The majesty and intricacy of Galileo's world were summed up in these words: The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent upon it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes like it has nothing else in the universe to do.

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The Birthplace of English Theatre

Standing at the crossroads of the Icknield Way and Watling Street, the ancient town of Dunstable is the unlikely birthplace of English Theatre. Here, in the 12th Century, Geoffrey de Gorham wrote and directed the first play ever seen in England.

While he was waiting to become Prior of St. Albans, de Gorham established a school in Dunstable where he was living. The town possessed a large colony of weavers and he decided to compose a play as a way of teaching his pupils about St. Catherine, the Patron Saint of Weavers. The play proved such a success that others copied his example and put on the first mystery plays, which tell stories from the Bible and are still performed today.

Dunstable Priory was the scene of the trial and divorce of Catherine of Aragon. It was here that Archbishop Thomas Cranmer pronounced the Queen's marriage to Henry VIII illegal. The document he issued to record this was the last ever to describe the Primate of England as an official of the Church of Rome.

Walter

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WALTER'S WHISPERS

He Built His House on Sand

Down on the beach, amongst the sand dunes of Bude, in Cornwall, is Bude Castle, a remarkable building that was the world's first permanent structure to be built on shifting sands.

It was put up in 1830 by Sir Goldsworthy Gurney [1793-1875], who overcame the problem of instability by laying a strong concrete platform directly on to the sand for the foundations, thereby inventing a building technique widely used in the modern construction industry. Thanks to this ingenious Cornish inventor, engineers knew how to build the world's tallest building, the Petronas Towers at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on soft, wet limestone.

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Walter

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WALTER'S WHISPERS

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Walter

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PERSISTENCE

Walter

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WALTER'S WHISPERS

Walter

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WALTER'S WHISPERS

Walter

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SPLATT!!!

On the wall of the dining room in a renowned Ilfracombe residential home is a notice posted for the guidance of residents. The notice is headed 'SEAGULLS'.

The text reads:

Now, the population of seagulls in Ilfracombe consists of a bunch of highly sophisticated and educated birds, and those gulls have decided to retaliate! Observers have seen flocks of birds gathering and then dive-bombing the home, leaving their marks on the windows. The local window cleaner is certainly kept busy!

Did Homer nod, or did I hear someone say 'tut-tut'? But after all, the birds have got to eat, haven't they?

Walter

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PAST TIMES WITH WALTER

Cinque Ports

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The First Recorded Fatal Motor Car Accident

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PAST TIMES WITH WALTER

Although I have lived in Devon for nearly ten years, my county of residence was Sussex since 1945, when I bought a house in Lancing, a coastal town between Shoreham and Worthing. My daughter still lives in that house. So, for this issue of the Newsletter, may I be permitted to share with you a few of the historical features of my former home county.

At Worthing, a plaque on the esplanade marks the site of the house where Oscar Wilde wrote 'The Importance of Being Earnest'. He was staying there in the summer of 1894 to escape from his creditors in London, and was inspired to write a play by an article in the Worthing Gazette about a baby in a hamper that had been found at Kings Cross station. It took him just 21 days to write the play which he described as "the best play I have ever written". He named his hero Jack Worthing in honour of the town.

The Saxon church at Sompting, half a mile from Lancing, has a four-gabled Rhenish helm style spire, unique in England. In the early days I passed that church daily on my way to work.

William Blake [1757-1827] lived in a cottage in the village of Felpham, where he wrote 'Jerusalem', later set to music by Hubert Parry [1848-1918], who lived along the coast at Rustington.

In 1906, the writer Hillaire Belloc [1870-1953] bought the white smock windmill near his home at Shipley, close to Horsham. He would doff his cap to his 'beautiful Mrs. Shipley' whenever he passed by and there is now a plaque to his memory above the windmill door.

John Pellwas born in Southwick, near Brighton.

Well-known resorts in Sussex are, of course, Brighton, Hove, Eastbourne and Hastings. For a time I lived in Hove, then moved to Eastbourne with the beginning of 2000, when my son persuaded me to come to Devon, where he has lived for some time. So it was that I took up residence at Goosewell, Berrynarbor. The rest is history!

The church at Steyning, not far from Lancing, possesses what is often described as the most magnificent Norman arch in England, dating from around 1100. A notable student at the Grammar School was John Pell [1611-1685], who became a mathematician and gave his name to Pell's Equation which was first studied 1000 years previously by Brahmaguptra. Of wider interest, perhaps, is the fact that Pell invented the division sign.

Walter

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AMBROSE BIERCE 1842-1914

The other day I took some time off to do more digging into the Devil's Dictionary, that interesting publication by Ambrose Bierce, who was also known as 'The American Swift'. The caustic and cynical definitions survive the test of time and continue to bring delight to those readers who prefer dry wines to sweet, sense to sentiment, wit to humour and plain English to slang.

Enjoy some more of the gems from this remarkable book -

• Actually :  Perhaps, possibly
• Auctioneer :  A man who proclaims with a hammer that he has picked a pocket with his tongue
• Court Fool :  The Plaintiff
• Dentist :  A conjurer who, putting metal into your mouth, pulls coins out of your pocket
• Envelope :  The coffin of a document; the scabbard of a bill; the husk of a remittance; the bed-gown of a love-letter
• Erudition :  Dust shaken out of a book into an empty skull
• Forefinger :  The finger commonly used in pointing out two malefactors
• Frog :  A reptile with edible legs
• Ghost :  The outward and visible sign of an inward fear
• Habit :  A shackle for the free
• Hospitality :  The virtue which induces us to feed and lodge certain persons who are not in need of food and lodging
• Illustrious :  Suitably placed for the shafts of malice, envy and detraction.
• Impiety :  Your irreverence toward my deity
• Influence :  In politics, a visionary quo given in exchange for a substantial quid

Walter

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GLEN MILLER 1904-1944

The music of Glen Miller and his Orchestra has become inextricably associated with the Second World War and the mood, spirit and social history of the era. The recordings which have been preserved are taken from the CBS radio starring Glen Miller and sponsored by Chesterfield Cigarettes, which were broadcast from 1939 to 1942, and naturally cover a substantial chunk of the war years. The recordings admirably capture the flavour of the period.

Born in Iowa in 1904, Miller was brought up in the rural environments in Nebraska and Missouri. He acquired a trombone in his teens, and played in the high school orchestra after the family removed to Colorado. He became immersed in the new dance band music and by the time he graduated in 1921 he was bent on becoming a professional musician.

He started touring with various small bands and then landed a job with Ben Pollack's group in Los Angeles, moving with the band to New York in 1928. He worked with the Dorsey Brothers outfit in 1935 and then put together an American orchestra for Ray Noble. Glen Miller became known, and his success with a new routine and use of a musical approach in which the clarinet shared the melody line with the tenor saxophone formed the central sound of a Miller band for ever.

The radio was king in the 1940's and recordings of that period very much serve to recreate a bygone era, where families sat round the radio, glued to their regular bit of entertainment and news, and able to hear the very biggest stars of the day.

In the autumn of 1944, with the Allied Forces secured in France, the Glen Miller Band was scheduled to do a tour of the bases over a six-week period. Miller was to go ahead and arrange the music and other details of the trip, and on 15th December 1944 he boarded a single-engined Noorduyn Norseman monoplane at RAF Twinwood at Clapham, Bedfordshire, to fly to Paris.

The aircraft disappeared over the English Channel and was never found.

A great loss to music, Glenn Miller was at the height of his career and only 40 years of age.

Walter

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PAST TIMES WITH WALTER

Albury - Albury Park is a Tudor House remodelled by Pugin, who also designed the village of Albury in Surrey. The gardens were laid out by John Evelyn for his friend and neighbour Henry Howard, the sixth Duke of Norfolk, and include the longest yew hedge in England. Later, the house was owned by the Duke of Northumberland and the Dowager Duchess of Northumberland was there until her death in 1965.

Albury St Peter and St Paul
©SuzanneKn at English Wikipedia
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The house was used as the location for the Scottish wedding in the film Four Weddings and a Funeral. Buried under the ruined chancel of the redundant Saxon church next door William Oughtred [1575-1660] who, as well as being parson there for 50 years, was one of the leading mathematicians of his day. He invented the slide rule and the multiplication sign [x]. He died from joy when he heard of the restoration of Charles II to the throne.

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Walter

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PAST TIMES WITH WALTER

During the construction of the Forth Railway Bridge, it appears a problem arose which had not been foreseen. When the engineers were laying the final section that would complete the links between the two sides of the bridge, they found they were too short. The holes in the girders were not in line with the holes they would need to match before the bolts could slide through.

Some bright spark in the construction team told the workers not to panic, but to wait as the rising sun shone on the nearly completed bridge. So they waited, while the sun warmed the metal and expanded the bridge.

©Henk Monster, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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In 1787, the regal copper coinage being very scanty, pennies and halfpennies were struck by a number of firms, among them the Anglesey Copper Mining Company, and there began a fresh token epoch.

Those token coins presented an immense variety of types - persons, buildings, coats of arms, local legends, political events and so on, all drawn upon for subjects of design. They were struck by many firms in most cities and towns in the country and are to be found in good condition. It is quite good fun to browse in shops which sell antiques, asking to see their collection of coinage and spotting some of the token money which circulated many years ago.

With the issue of the copper coinage of 1898 tokens were made illegal, but the dearth of silver currency was still felt. During the Napoleonic Wars there came a small wave of prosperity in the industrial districts and the inevitable need of small change, so in 1811 tokens again made their appearance. These were suppressed before the last coinage of King George III in 1830.

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Walter Canham

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PAST TIMES WITH WALTER

IT KEPT THE QUEEN QUIET

David Simpson was the village baker in Bathgate. He had seven sons, all of whom went into the Bakehouse to work in the family business when they were old enough. That is except James, the youngest.

His brothers felt that he especially warranted a good education, and they resolved to club together to pay whatever it cost. So James went to Edinburgh University as a teenager, and later qualified as a doctor of medicine.

He became one of the outstanding physicians of his day and pioneered the discovery of chloroform, describing it as one of the greatest discoveries ever made in medicine, saving thousands of lives and first used during one operation in 1847.

Queen Victoria appointed him her Physician in Scotland, and six years later, when she gave birth to her fourth son, was prescribed chloroform.

We continue to remember today the importance of James Young Simpson, who was knighted in 1866. His achievements were made possible by those who gladly sacrificed their prospects for his.

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REMEMBER THE CRYSTAL SET?

It is easy for us to turn a switch and within seconds hear people talking on the radio. Yet we have had radio for only just over one hundred years.

What about television? I hear you say. But that's another story.

In 1898 Marconi set up a crude, experimental transmitting station at Poole, in Dorset. In 1899 he opened the world's first radio factory in Chelmsford, Essex, moving to a new purpose-built radio factory in 1913.

Marconi inaugurated Britain's first broadcasting service in 1920, and on 12th February 1920,the world's first wireless news service was transmitted from Chelmsford. Remember London 210?

Following that, in June 1920, Dame Nellie Melba became the first professional artiste to broadcast in Britain with a half-hour show which was commissioned by Lord Northcliffe of the newspaper Daily Mail.

Since those early days technology has given us the power and ability to speak to anybody in the world - all by radio. The sophisticated equipment of today is a long way from the crystal set of the early days - I remember it well - when earphones had to be used to pick up the indistinct voices whispering over the ether.

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APT REMINDERS

Voltaire, the French writer and philosopher, born in 1694, was a witty but ruthless critic of the corrupt ruling powers of his era. He was a man whose refusal to ignore injustice not only offended the authorities, but also led to periods of imprisonment and exile.

His was a turbulent existence, so it is not surprising to read that he once described life as a shipwreck. But he went on to say, "We must not forget to sing in the lifeboats." That sort of shipmate would be invaluable.

There are times when most of us have a compelling desire to tell the world what we think of a certain person or problem, and other occasions when we realise that it would be wiser not to do so.

Each time I am temped to let off steam, I am reminded of this advice, given to me in my younger days - true wisdom is the skill to know just when to speak your mind and when to mind your speech.

Walter

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KING EDWARD VIII [1894-1972]
Succeeded to the throne: 20th January 1936
Abdicated: 10th December 1936

Edward was not a traditionalist, evidenced on patterns for the proposed coinage, where he insisted against all advice on having his effigy face the same way as his father's, instead of opposite. He also let it be known that in the inscriptions of the coins, he preferred to do away with the normal Latinisation of Edward - Edwardus - leaving the inscription plain Edward.

No coins of Edward VIII were issued for currency within the United Kingdom bearing his name and portrait. However, proof sets of the gold five pound, two pound and sovereign were struck but not issued. Similarly with the silver crown, half crown, florin, shilling, sixpence and threepence, proof sets were struck but not issued. Also patterns of the bronze penny, half penny and farthing were prepared but no struck coins issued.

This was the same with the Maundy Money which was to be issued in 1936 - proof sets were struck by the Royal Mint. Several sets of those Maundy coins, four in number, found their way on to the market and were offered at auction. I was fortunate enough to acquire a set of the coins.

From my archives I have selected the Instrument of Abdication and the complete text of the King's farewell message on the radio on 11th December 1936. The Instrument of Abdication is signed by King Edward and witnessed by his three brothers, the Duke of York, the Duke of Kent and the Duke of Gloucester.

Edward's Farewell

LONDON, Dec. 11 - following is the text of the farewell broadcast of former King Edward, who was introduced to the radio audience as 'His Royal Highness Prince Edward':

At long last I am able to say a few words of my own. I have never wanted to withhold anything, but until now it has not been constitutionally possible for me to speak.

A few hours ago I discharged my last duty as King and Emperor. And now that I have been succeeded by my brother, the Duke of York, my first words must be to declare my allegiance to him. This I do with all my heart.

You know the reasons which have impelled me to renounce the throne, but I want you to understand that in making up my mind I did not forget the country or the empire which, as Prince of Wales and lately as King, I have for twenty-five years tried to serve.

But you must believe me when I tell you that I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge my duties as King as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love.

512px-King_Edward_VIII_and_Mrs_Simpson_on_holiday_in_Yugoslavia,_1936.jpg

And I want you to know that the decision I have made has been mine and mine alone.

This was a thing I had to judge entirely for myself. The other person most nearly concerned has tried up to the last to persuade me to take a different course.

I have made this the most serious decision of my life only upon the single thought of what would, in the end, be best for all.

This decision has been made less difficult for me by the sure knowledge that my brother, with his long training in the public affairs of this country and with his fine qualities, will be able to take my place forthwith without interruption or injury to the life and progress of the empire, and he has one matchless blessing, enjoyed by so many of you and not bestowed upon me, a happy home with his wife and children.

During these hard days, I have been comforted by Her Majesty, my mother, and by my family. The Ministers of the Crown and in particular Mr. Baldwin, the Prime Minister, have always treated me with full consideration.

There has never been any constitutional difference between me and them and between me and Parliament. Bred in the constitutional traditions by my father, I should never have allowed any such issue to arise.

Ever since I was Prince of Wales and after on, when I occupied the throne, I have been treated with the greatest kindness by all classes of the people wherever I have lived or journeyed throughout the empire. For that I am very grateful. I now quit altogether public affairs and I lay down my burden.

It may be some time before I return to my native land, but I shall always follow the fortunes of the British race and empire with profound interest and if, at any time in the future, I can be found of service to His Majesty in a private station I shall not fail.

And now we all have a new King. I wish him and you, his people, happiness and prosperity with all my heart.

God bless you all! God save the King!

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1936 saw the unprecedented situation of the country having three monarchs on the throne:

• George V - 1910 to January 1936
• Edward VIII - January to December 1936
• George VI - December 1936 to February 1952