EPILOGUE

So there you have a brief exploration of two perfect English locations created by E F Benson.

For me Riseholme will always mean Piggy and Goosie romping about the stocks on the Green, Daisy Quantock falling prey to her curry cook guru and the fraudulent Princess Popoffski, Georgie Pillson's very platonic crush on Olga Bracely and Lucia reading Pepino's Flotsam and Jetsam next to Perdita's border at the Hurst.

Favourite images of Tilling include the question "Any news" when friends meet during morning marketing, Major Benjy shouting Quai Hai for his breakfast, Quaint Irene always behaving endearingly badly, Diva Plaistow failing to control the mangy Paddy, the Padre's strange talk in archaic Scotch and mouse-like Evie's squeaks.

Susan Wyse, swathed in sables and wearing her MBE, waves from the Royce with the late Blue Birdie pinned to her hat and Algernon bows to one and all.

In the meantime Georgie dusts his bibelots whilst Lucia, in mayoral robes, yet again gives a rendition of the Moonlight Sonata.

Through all this, a resentful Elizabeth Mapp-Flint looks on with gritted teeth.

Bridge, gossip, snobbery, drama and conflict: Riseholme and Tilling have it all. I normally re-read the Mapp and Lucia canon at least once a year - usually in that dreary few weeks after Christmas. It's always like a pleasant holiday to revisit unchanging Riseholme and Tilling: I commend it.

Until next time, Au reservoir!

APPENDIX 1

Here are some brief answers to the Mapp and Lucia Reference Quiz in the Introduction. I emphasise that they are intentionally pithy and are generally amplified in the relevant entry in the Glossary. Subject to that, here they are:

1. Who was Miss Wethered: Joyce Wethered (1901-1997) , arguably the greatest female golfer of all time
2. What does "lobgesang" mean: hymn of praise.
3. Who was Sir Sidney Lee : editor of the Dictionary of National Biography and expert on Elizabethan art and politics and much else.
4. What are the Vanderbilt Conventions: opening bids in bridge devised by Harold S Vanderbilt.
5. What is a "schwarm" : a sentimental enthusiasm or crush.
6. Who was Mr Montagu Norman: Governor of the Bank of England 1920-1944.
7. Who said "Wait and see": the Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith, repeatedly in about 1910.
8. What is a Commination Service: a service marking the beginning of Lent, including a general accusation of transgressions.
9. Who allegedly said "My lips are sealed": PM Stanley Baldwin on 10 December 1935. He actually said, "My lips are not yet unsealed."
10. What is Culbertson: a bidding system in contract bridge devised by Ely Culbertson (1891-1955).
11. What does "Sursum corda" mean: Lift up your hearts.
12. What is "shikarri": big game hunter or his guide.
13. What was "Pretty Fanny's way": whatever goes with the territory and must be accepted from some kinds of exceptional person - from"An Elegy: to an Old Beauty" by Thomas Parnell.
14. What does "Wigs on the Green" mean: a warning that an altercation will ensue.
15. What was the Chantrey Bequest: a large bequest of funds to the Trustees of the Royal Academy to buy British art of the highest quality for the nation.
16. Who was Quintus Curtius : actually the biographer of Alexander the Great. Uncharacteristically, Fred seems to have confused him with Mettus or Marcus Curtius who, according to legend, jumped into the abyss and saved Rome.
17. Who was Coue: a French psychologist and pharmacist (1857-1926) who introduced a method of psychotherapy and self-help based on optimistic autosuggestion.
18. What is samite: heavy fabric of silk often woven with gold or silver thread, used in the Middle Ages for expensive clothing.
19. Who said "I shall not pass this way again" : Stephen Grellett (1773-1853).
20. What was the Carlisle Holbein: possibly the gift to the National Gallery in 1909 of Hans Holbein's portrait of Christine of Denmark by Rosalind Frances Stanley, Countess of Carlisle - unless you know better!     

    


                                                        
                        APPENDIX 2

Here are some brief answers to the Mapp and Lucia New Year Reference Quiz 2012 in the Introduction. They are reletively pithy and are generally amplified in the relevant entry in the Glossary. Subject to that, here they are:


1. What is an Elzevir?

The Elzevirs were seventeenth century Dutch booksellers renowned for printing, with high typographical standards, reliable yet inexpensive classical texts in a small format, largely serving university needs – which came to be known generically as “Elzevirs”. Their classical series in the petit form opened with Horace and Ovid in 1629

2. What does “Desipere in loco” mean?

"to indulge in trifling at the proper time." It appears to be taken from Horace: 4 Odes, xii. 28 Dulce est Desipere in Loco - "It is delightful to play the fool occasionally" or perhaps even "it is nice to throw aside one's dignity and relax at the proper time."

3. What does “scalloped” mean?

Scalloping is usually achieved by baking in a casserole with milk, cream or a sauce and often with bread crumbs

4. What was unusual about the inhabitants of the dovecote at “The Hurst”?

Lucia had several pigeons of Copenhagen china, which were both immortal as regards cats and also carried on the suggestion of humour in furniture


5. What is a “burning ghaut”?

Based on the Hindi "ghat" (or steps), the term "ghaut" refers to a series of steps leading down to water, often a holy river, such as the stairs in Benares or Varanasi to access the Ganges. A "burning ghaut" is a level spot or funeral pyre at the top of a river ghaut, often on a levee or raised bank, on which Hindus cremate their dead. The term is used in the writings of Rudyard Kipling.

6. Who or what is a “Contadina”?

A Contadina is a female Italian peasant or perhaps, more lyrically, "a woman of the fields”


7. What is “stertorous”?

Marked or accompanied by heavy snoring or breathing in this way - like Lady Ambermere’s pug

8. Who was Hermes?

An Olympian god in Greek mythology, Hermes, the son of Zeus and the Pleiade Maia, is messenger of the gods - identified with the Roman god Mercury - sharing his role with Iris. He is the patron of boundaries and travellers who cross them, and also of shepherds, the cunning of thieves, orators, poets, athletics, weights and measures, invention and of commerce generally

9. Who was Gemaliel?

Grandson of the great Jewish teacher Hillel the Elder, Gamaliel the Elder was a leading authority in the Sanhedrin in the mid first century. He is celebrated in the New Testament as a highly respected Pharisee doctor of Jewish law who advised his fellow members of the Sanhedrin not to put to death St Peter and the Apostles. His authoritative advice was unwelcome, but acted upon.

10. Who wrote “Sally in our Alley”?

The "Sally in our Alley" mentioned appears to have been the original 1725 song of Henry Carey (1693 - 1743), "Sally in our Alley," which had long been a traditional English country dance. Since "Queen Lucia" was published in 1920, it does not appear that Fred was referring to "Sally in our Alley" the romantic Ealing comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey which made a star of Gracie Fields, which included what became her signature song. The film was not released until 1931 - but its title and theme clearly referred back to Carey's original song

11. Who was Madame Blavatski?

Controversial theosophist, traveller and prolific writer Helena Petrovna Blavatsky/Blavatski (nee von Hahn) (1831 - 1891) set up the Theosophical Society. As Editor of "The Theosophist" magazine, she influenced spiritualism and related fields. Many critics were very sceptical of her views and denounced her as a fraud - and much else besides

12. Where does the phrase "All the perfumes of Arabia" come from?

The line "All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand,” comes from Act V, Scene 1 of Shakespeare's "Macbeth."

13. Who wrote "Sweet Thames, run softly till I end my song”?

This is a quotation from "Prothalamion" by Edmund Spenser (1552 -1599). The line is also echoed in The Fire Sermon in "The Waste Land" by T.S.Eliot, whose publication in 1922 pre-dated that of "Lucia in London" in 1927.

14. Who wrote “The very pulse of the machine"?

The line comes from "She was a Phantom of Delight" a poem written by William Wordsworth (1770 -1850) in 1807, probably about his wife Mary Hutchinson

15. What links Miss Mapp and Clement Scott?

Poppies: Miss Mapp adorned an outfit with cut-out red poppies and Clement Scott (1841-1904) wrote a popular poem called "The Garden of Sleep" where the term "Poppy-land" first appeared

16. What have Miss Mapp and King John in common?

Both lost items in the Wash. Miss Mapp was extremely cross that the laundry in Tilling mislaid items in the wash that appear to have been unmentionable if not invaluable. Similarly, in his final campaign King John reputedly lost an invaluable part of his baggage train - including the Crown Jewels - as he crossed one of the tidal estuaries which empties in to the Wash.

17. What does Pepinos’ late Aunt Amy Lucas have in common with singer and writer Sandy Denny, actors Kenneth More and Daniel Massey, comedian Arthur Askey and J Bruce Ismay, MD of the White Star Line?


They were all laid to rest at Putney Vale Cemetery. Opened in 1891, it stands on 47 acres of parkland, surrounded by Wimbledon Common and Richmond Park.

18. What does Fred have in common with Sir Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones?

Both quoted from the poem "Adonais" - an elegy on the death of John Keats, author of Endymion, Hyperion etc - by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Benson quotes the line in Chapter 7 of "Miss Mapp" whilst Mr Jagger recited verses from the piece on 3 July 1969 in Hyde Park at a memorial concert following the death of guitarist, Brian Jones.

19. Who was the “Infidel poet”?

Referring to the tragic early death of perhaps the finest English Romantic lyric poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) an obituary in "The Courier," a leading Tory newspaper in London remarked somewhat ungenerously : "Shelley, the writer of some infidel poetry, has been drowned: now he knows whether there is a God or no."

20. When or where is “The voice that breath’d over Eden” usually sung?

At weddings

APPENDIX 3

Here are some brief answers to the Mapp and Lucia Spring Reference Quiz 2012 in the Introduction. They are reletively pithy and are generally amplified in the relevant entry in the Glossary. Subject to that, here they are:


• What item did both Algernon Wyse and his sister Amelia, Contessa di Faraglione wear? A monocle

• What motto is inscribed upon Lucia’s bench in Perdita’s garden? A stone bench bore the carved motto "Come thou north wind, and blow thy south, that my gardens spices may flow forth."


• What is an odontoglossum? An orchid.  Amongst the most varied and colourful of the orchid family, the intricate veining and spotting of the spectacular and flamboyant flowers of the odontoglossum (Greek odon (tooth) and glossa (tongue)), has led to it being called the "Butterfly orchid."


• What is suttee? Suttee is the Indian custom of a widow burning herself soon after her husband's death, either on his funeral pyre or by some other means of immolation. It was outlawed in India by the British in 1829 and became rare in India - and even more infrequent in Riseholme in Worcestershire.


• What is “La ci darem?” The beautiful duet "La ci darem" is performed in Act I Scene 2 of "Don Giovanni" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, premiered in October 1787.

• What is a palfrey? "Palfrey" usually refers to expensive, well-bred riding horses in the Middle Ages and later, which were often popular with ladies - even some queens - and nobles for ceremonial occasions, hunting and riding generally.


• What is Della Robbia? Italian sculptors, the della Robbias from Florence were noted for terra cotta roundels of the kind featured above the archway in the garden of "Mallards.” Luca della Robbia (1399/1400-1482) developed a pottery glaze that made his pieces more durable outdoors and suitable for the exterior of buildings. Luca's nephew Andrea della Robbia (1435-1525) was also a sculptor as was his grand-nephew, Giovanni, specialising in ceramics, especially altar pieces made of glazed terra cotta which were more colourful, less costly and cheaper to transport than marble.

• What was the Neapolitan Narcissus? The original of the Narcissus was discovered in 1862, in what has been described as a "non-descript house in Pompeii" and was perhaps the last antique statue from Italy to enjoy considerable fame, or at least sufficient to merit replication in a garden in Tilling in Sussex.

• Who was Duse? Often simply known as "Duse," Eleonora Duse (1858-1924) was a famous Italian actress, a rival to the great Sarah Bernhardt and arguably of equivalent stature in the history of theatre.

• What happened at Richborough? Evocatively set amidst the east Kent marshes, close to the Isle of Thanet to the north of Sandwich, is the settlement of Richborough (Rutupiae). It is recognised as the landing place of the Claudian Invasion in AD43, comprising four legions under Aulus Plautius. Now some two miles from the sea, Richborough stood at at the southern end of the Wantsum Channel, which is now silted up. It was recognised as the Gateway to Britain, long before Dover. A Roman fort was built on the site of this first landing to which walls were added in AD287 with an 80 foot arch. It became an increasingly large civilian settlement with temples, an amphitheatre and mansio.

• When did the Churching of Women take place? The Churching of Women is a ceremony wherein a blessing is given to mothers after recovery from childbirth. While not a required ritual it should be carried out as soon as the new mother is able to leave the house.

• Whom did Lucia, as a child, see perform Lady Macbeth? Dame Ellen Terry (1847-1928), perhaps the leading Shakespearean actress of her time. In a career spanning nearly seven decades, Ellen Terry appeared in Shakespeare - notably Portia in the Merchant of Venice and Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing - Shaw and Ibsen. Ellen Terry appeared as Lady Macbeth in "Macbeth" in 1888, in a production featuring incidental music by Arthur Sullivan.

• Who was President of the Browning Society? Isabel Poppit, free-spirited daughter of Susan Poppit, later Susan Wyse. Let Mallards Cottage to Georgie and took a small unplumbed brown bungalow with extremely limited facilities amongst the sand dunes where she could pursue her taste for a more uncomplicated life and a regime of regular sun baths. Isabel's sun baths each usually took about three hours - if fine. Her mother Susan commented that Isabel called it the Browning Society and she must not miss a meeting.

• Who enjoyed a “villegiatura” and what is it? Algernon Wyse usually came back to Tilling about mid-October, and let slip allusions to his enjoyable visits to Scotland and his villeggiatura (so he was pleased to express it) with his sister the Contessa di Faraglione at Capri. The term "villeggiatura" means a country holiday or stay at a country seat.

• Who wrote “Home is the sailor, home from the sea”? The line came first from Robert Louis Stevenson who in "Requiem" wrote:   Home is the sailor, home from the sea,  And the hunter home from the hill."

Later, as a tribute to Stevenson, referred to as "RLS," A.E.Hausman wrote:   XXII - R.L.S. Home is the sailor, home from sea:  'Tis evening on the moorland free...

• Where did Georgie, Lucia and Olga lunch after the gala opening of “Lucrezia”? The Ritz in Piccadilly

• Where did Olga Bracely hold her villa party? The fashionable resort of Le Touquet in Northern France

• Where did Lucia hide and weather her replica of Major Benjy’s crop? Amidst the foliage of a Clematis Montana outside her bedroom window at “Mallards House”

• Who said “Peccavi”? Elizabeth Mapp-Flint regarding her unilateral rejection of Lucia and Georgie’s submissions of pictures to the art exhibition in Tilling. "Peccavi" is Latin for, "I have sinned." Most famously the word reputedly formed the short, notable message dispatched to his superiors by General Sir Charles Napier (1782-1853). Napier had been ordered only to put down the rebels in the area and, by conquering the whole of Sindh Province, in what is now Pakistan, he had greatly exceeded his mandate. His punning message "Peccavi" (I have sinned (Sindh)) therefore cleverly encompasses both his conquest and transgression. Some authorities contend, however, that the true author of the pun was a teenage girl, Catherine Winkworth who submitted it to "Punch," which then printed it as factual report in 1844

• What was the Portland Club? Reputedly the oldest bridge club in the world, founded some time before 1815 as the Stratford Club. The Portland Club was named as such in 1825. Based in London, it was the recognised authority on the games of whist and bridge