Elizabeth Khan
I know all of you on this group will agree that's it's the best bread in the world. It's amazing how the taste and texture is the same for all these years. God knows how many cooks / bakers the recipe has been handed down to and all of them have managed to get it right on !
July 15, 2009
Does anyone have the recipe and the secret?
Yummmmm- thinking bout it makes me hungry- dip the thick in whatever we are drinking- tea or milk- remember dipping it in water when it was too dry!!
Those were the days.Someone asked me what bundies was- bananas.
July 15, 2009
Imran Sait
I have tried bread all over the world....and nothing is even remotely close to our Georgian Bread! You just cant beat it...! I'm sure if somehow we can market it....no one will ever eat any other bread again!
July 15, 2009
Babu Rajasabai
There was a time in the seventies when we bought bread for .25 paisa from Nelly Clay our matron in Oakshott ....and how we used to share it down the banks with our sharing gang :) ...fond meories ... the bread was fab when it was coated with margerine and also the fresh peanut butter at teatime :)
July 31, 2009
#
Suresh Rajarethinam
Do remember words used in the dinning hall, Sixer- Crust of the bread, oldly- taking the mugs back to the hatch after a meal, 1st pick , jigs-peanuts, suji-bonda on thursdays, fried banthi's on fridays....
August 1, 2009
#
Nadir Sahib Abdul Muthu
Bread with rusum.... amazing taste.... handy when you need to get rid of cold or fever ;)
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Good Old Traditions by Paul Chater
I was stunned to learn that the House system has disappeared... and the old House names now simply represents the buildings as opposed to the fierce rivalry those names used to engender... Lewis and Preston the brother and sister Houses... Oakshott and Blackburn the other rivals..
The rivalry is still there as i have my son and daughter in school. the colours are still the same red, green, blue and yellow. The names of the houses have changed but the comradary is still there. They still play cricket hockey basketball, and football with as the same intensity as we did at least during the time i studied there 69-74.
The other activities added on are TT, tennis, Dramatics, Quiz , debates, chess. these are played and the school takes place at the inter-school competitions. The chief rivals are still St Josephs and Lawrence and we manage to come in the first 3 places. In fact the school records at inter-school level still stand in the name of Safira and Imran Sait children of Sattar (1971) and Jenny Sait.
Of course how can i forget the singing competetion group , solo and duet. For all the inter-house matches the winners are given a 2 kg cake nothing close to our cake pud etc. I find the battle of the houses doesn't end at school.It continues even during the hols just light a fire under one of them and u have a battle royale in the house.
So much said about comradeship in school. i do agree with you the old days were different and if i tell my kids that they tell me that I am old fashioned.
This was the first time after over 30 years that Stanes visited Ketti and we lost in the cricket by a run and the overall to Stanes. The return match is to happen in 2005. Maybe we will take home the trophy then.
Happy Reading...
Regds
Paul Chater written in January 2005
The rivalry is still there as i have my son and daughter in school. the colours are still the same red, green, blue and yellow. The names of the houses have changed but the comradary is still there. They still play cricket hockey basketball, and football with as the same intensity as we did at least during the time i studied there 69-74.
The other activities added on are TT, tennis, Dramatics, Quiz , debates, chess. these are played and the school takes place at the inter-school competitions. The chief rivals are still St Josephs and Lawrence and we manage to come in the first 3 places. In fact the school records at inter-school level still stand in the name of Safira and Imran Sait children of Sattar (1971) and Jenny Sait.
Of course how can i forget the singing competetion group , solo and duet. For all the inter-house matches the winners are given a 2 kg cake nothing close to our cake pud etc. I find the battle of the houses doesn't end at school.It continues even during the hols just light a fire under one of them and u have a battle royale in the house.
So much said about comradeship in school. i do agree with you the old days were different and if i tell my kids that they tell me that I am old fashioned.
This was the first time after over 30 years that Stanes visited Ketti and we lost in the cricket by a run and the overall to Stanes. The return match is to happen in 2005. Maybe we will take home the trophy then.
Happy Reading...
Regds
Paul Chater written in January 2005
Memories - Class of 1974
Mark Paul - written in Jan 17th 2005
Forty years ago, this class would have been preparing to go to ‘Upper KG’. I’m sure there are some mistakes in the list – Mike. Briony, Tinkerbelle, PC and Jakes please check. I’ll send you an Excel file attachment separately so you can download work on the list. It goes out of alignment when I copy/paste it on the message. Those
from the 63 to 73 and 65 to 75 batches will also be able to contribute – either you contributed to our batch or we did to yours.
I’ve put question marks against those I’m not sure of – eg. I don’t remember if Christopher Cunningham was in our class or if I just used to play with him during
the holidays. His mother was a matron in either Blackburn or Preston.
I started this list one night while I was traveling in Orissa. The first 50 names came quite easily. The rest kept popping up at odd hours. I had to keep getting up
(at least about 20 times) and adding them to the list, lest I forgot them in the morning. When Mike and I met a few years ago, Mike started on some line from our 3rd standard Reader and we found we could almost recite quite a bit verbatim. The line
were :
‘ Through the long grass, creep, creep, creep came the Hobbiyahs(sp?) etc etc
But little dog Toby could neither slumber nor sleep etc’ not bad at all after all those years.
Markey Paul
No. NAME Std.
1 Diana Allen 1
2 Ashley Bailey 1
3 Stewart Bird 1
4 Sheryl Cummins 1
5 Christopher Cunningham 1 ????
6 Shireen Cuxton 1
7 Robert Debra 1
8 Vernon Dillen 1
9 Desiree Ford 1
10 Vilas Nath Govind 1
11 Satish Gowda 1
12 Briony Hammick 1
12 Humphrey Hughes 1
14 Ivan Hughes 1
15 Raju Jayaveer 1
16 Aruna Jyoti 1
17 Nallaswamy P.N 1
18 Mark Paul 1
19 Althea Rodrigues 1
20 Arasu S 1
21 Tinkerbelle Sargon 1
22 Vijay Urs 1
23 Thirumalaiswamy V 1
24 Eric Walton 1
25 Balaram 1
26 Kumar 2
27 Bobby Bhasklar 3 ??
28 Jehangir Gopal 3
29 Satish Gopalkrishnan 3
30 Gary Jackson 3
31 Michael Kerr 3
32 Davey Krishnan 3
33 Surosh Kurvilla 3
34 Richard Menasse 3
35 Rajkumar Pandian 3
36 Christine Scully 3
38 Joy Sengupta 3 1st or 3rd ???
39 Sam Thomas 3
40 Ravi Timothy 3 1st or 3rd ???
41 Ashokan 3
42 Siddarhth 3 2nd or 3rd
43 Kathrivel Ratnam 3
44 Subramaniam 3
45 Kandaswamy 3
46 Keith Harding 4
47 Preston Tully 4 ???
48 Jaya Chandran 5 ???
49 Gerald Corfield 5
50 Jacqueline Graham 5
51 George Ninan 5
52 Mary Thomas 5 ??
53 Rajasekharan V 5
54 Peter Suares 5
54 Halid 5
56 Paul Chater 6
57 Michael Harding 7 ??
58 Gerry Hearne 7 ??
59 Ivan Jacob 7 ??
60 Selvi S 7 ???
61 Clifford Terry 7 ??
62 Anne Thomas 7 ??
63 Howard Thompson 7 ??
64 Ronnie Varghese 7 ??
65 Alan Young 7 ??
66 Corrine Young 7 ??
67 Sathyanarayanan 7 ??
68 Anand Kumar K.R.S. 8 8th or 9th ???
69 Prakash Raman 10
70 Hyacinth Ritchie 10 9th or 10th
71 Cheryl Smith 10 9th or 10th
72 Raju Tehrani 10
Forty years ago, this class would have been preparing to go to ‘Upper KG’. I’m sure there are some mistakes in the list – Mike. Briony, Tinkerbelle, PC and Jakes please check. I’ll send you an Excel file attachment separately so you can download work on the list. It goes out of alignment when I copy/paste it on the message. Those
from the 63 to 73 and 65 to 75 batches will also be able to contribute – either you contributed to our batch or we did to yours.
I’ve put question marks against those I’m not sure of – eg. I don’t remember if Christopher Cunningham was in our class or if I just used to play with him during
the holidays. His mother was a matron in either Blackburn or Preston.
I started this list one night while I was traveling in Orissa. The first 50 names came quite easily. The rest kept popping up at odd hours. I had to keep getting up
(at least about 20 times) and adding them to the list, lest I forgot them in the morning. When Mike and I met a few years ago, Mike started on some line from our 3rd standard Reader and we found we could almost recite quite a bit verbatim. The line
were :
‘ Through the long grass, creep, creep, creep came the Hobbiyahs(sp?) etc etc
But little dog Toby could neither slumber nor sleep etc’ not bad at all after all those years.
Markey Paul
No. NAME Std.
1 Diana Allen 1
2 Ashley Bailey 1
3 Stewart Bird 1
4 Sheryl Cummins 1
5 Christopher Cunningham 1 ????
6 Shireen Cuxton 1
7 Robert Debra 1
8 Vernon Dillen 1
9 Desiree Ford 1
10 Vilas Nath Govind 1
11 Satish Gowda 1
12 Briony Hammick 1
12 Humphrey Hughes 1
14 Ivan Hughes 1
15 Raju Jayaveer 1
16 Aruna Jyoti 1
17 Nallaswamy P.N 1
18 Mark Paul 1
19 Althea Rodrigues 1
20 Arasu S 1
21 Tinkerbelle Sargon 1
22 Vijay Urs 1
23 Thirumalaiswamy V 1
24 Eric Walton 1
25 Balaram 1
26 Kumar 2
27 Bobby Bhasklar 3 ??
28 Jehangir Gopal 3
29 Satish Gopalkrishnan 3
30 Gary Jackson 3
31 Michael Kerr 3
32 Davey Krishnan 3
33 Surosh Kurvilla 3
34 Richard Menasse 3
35 Rajkumar Pandian 3
36 Christine Scully 3
38 Joy Sengupta 3 1st or 3rd ???
39 Sam Thomas 3
40 Ravi Timothy 3 1st or 3rd ???
41 Ashokan 3
42 Siddarhth 3 2nd or 3rd
43 Kathrivel Ratnam 3
44 Subramaniam 3
45 Kandaswamy 3
46 Keith Harding 4
47 Preston Tully 4 ???
48 Jaya Chandran 5 ???
49 Gerald Corfield 5
50 Jacqueline Graham 5
51 George Ninan 5
52 Mary Thomas 5 ??
53 Rajasekharan V 5
54 Peter Suares 5
54 Halid 5
56 Paul Chater 6
57 Michael Harding 7 ??
58 Gerry Hearne 7 ??
59 Ivan Jacob 7 ??
60 Selvi S 7 ???
61 Clifford Terry 7 ??
62 Anne Thomas 7 ??
63 Howard Thompson 7 ??
64 Ronnie Varghese 7 ??
65 Alan Young 7 ??
66 Corrine Young 7 ??
67 Sathyanarayanan 7 ??
68 Anand Kumar K.R.S. 8 8th or 9th ???
69 Prakash Raman 10
70 Hyacinth Ritchie 10 9th or 10th
71 Cheryl Smith 10 9th or 10th
72 Raju Tehrani 10
Principals - 1914- Now
THE REV.J. BREEDEN 1914 - 1921
DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFTER 1921
DR.A. FRANCIS 1922
THR REV. W. HERBERT SPENCER 1923 - 1925
THE REV.S.F. STREATFIELD, B.A 1926 - 1930
G.H. CUTLER, ESQ., M.A., 1930
C.S. ROWBOTHAM, ESQ., 1931
E. CLARENCE SMITH, ESQ.,M.A.,(OXON) 1931 - 1937
THE REV.C.T. KEY., M.A.,I.C.P.,M.R.S.T.,V.D., 1937 - 1941
M.A. WYNTER BLYTHE, ESQ., M.A., (CANTAB) 1941 - 1945
THE REV. C.F. ASH, A.K.C., 1945 - 1957
E.A. HAMMICK, ESQ., B.A., 1957 - 1976
T.D. WALSH, ESQ., B.A.,B.T., 1977 - 1981
W.R. GARDNER, ESQ., 1981 -
DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFTER 1921
DR.A. FRANCIS 1922
THR REV. W. HERBERT SPENCER 1923 - 1925
THE REV.S.F. STREATFIELD, B.A 1926 - 1930
G.H. CUTLER, ESQ., M.A., 1930
C.S. ROWBOTHAM, ESQ., 1931
E. CLARENCE SMITH, ESQ.,M.A.,(OXON) 1931 - 1937
THE REV.C.T. KEY., M.A.,I.C.P.,M.R.S.T.,V.D., 1937 - 1941
M.A. WYNTER BLYTHE, ESQ., M.A., (CANTAB) 1941 - 1945
THE REV. C.F. ASH, A.K.C., 1945 - 1957
E.A. HAMMICK, ESQ., B.A., 1957 - 1976
T.D. WALSH, ESQ., B.A.,B.T., 1977 - 1981
W.R. GARDNER, ESQ., 1981 -
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Fishing & other stories
Fishing & other stories by Pat Kerr
There are probably one or two tigers around in the parts of the Kumaon
that I frequent but it's infested with leopards. The river sands -
especially at the confluences -are full of leopard tracks & pugmarks.
One early morning, I tracked the movement of a leopard to a rock
overlooking our fishing camp of 6 tents. He had, at first, crouched
behind the rock & sort of spied on us & then eventually gathered up
the courage to climb onto the rock & watch us as we ate dinner around
the campfire. He crept closer when things quietened down as we got
into our tents, and then he walked through the camp to the outside of
the kitchen tent where he sniffed around before going down to the
river for a drink of water. Finally, he ambled back into the forest!
Then there was this cow/bufflow-herd who was set up on the opposite
bank to where we were once camped. We would boat over to his bank for
a chat & to share a 'Bidi' or a cigarette, but primarily for a supply
of fresh milk for the camp.
One morning, I went across to his bank to fish while my camp boy went
up to get some milk. About 20 minutes later, the camp boy & the
cowherd were down on the river besides me. The cowherd wanted me to
come up & take a look at one of his cows. Now I'm no Doctor, but a
self-taught paramedic & first-aider so I asked him what the hassle
was. "The cow was attacked by a leopard last evening" he said.
Apparently, the previous eveniing, at dusk, when calling in his cows &
bufflows, he noticed that one cow was missing. He went into the forest
to look for the animal thinking that it may have got it's horns stuck
in a bush or slipped into a hole or something. He went around a bend
on the forest track & almost walked onto the leopard!
The leopard had the cows face in it's mouth. It was hanging on &
trying to bring the cow down with it's weight before going for the
neck/windpipe. The cowherd yelled at the top of his voice - probably
in terror & shock - and hit the leopard a couple of times with the big
stick he was carrying. The leopard ran away.
The cow, when I saw it, was all swolen-faced & quiet. I could see the
deep puncture marks that the leopards canines had made & where the
claws had scraped the cows neck. Our hill cows are probably the size
of your sheep & this little one was in quite a bad shape.
I sent my camp boy back to camp to bring me the first-aid box. I had a
large bottle of iodine in it. I poured the iodine onto the wounds of
the unflinching cow & dabbed the neck scrapes down with an
iodine-soaked wad of cotton wool. I left the bottle with the cowherd &
told him to keep dabbing on iodine over the next week.
When I visited the spot again two years later, I asked about the cow.
That particular cowherd was not there and no one else remembered the
incident - it was probably too much of a day-to-day thing to remember!
Now here's the real unbelivable part - I've never seen a leopard or a
tiger in the wild - ever - in my whole life!
I've seen plenty of tracks, pugmarks, kills, victims, heard roars from
very close up, yes, but I've never ever seen one with my own two eyes!
We still have the dynamiters around, but yes, we're trying to educate
them and get them to change their ways - showing them how to farm a
tract of the river & for a sustainable existance rather than dropping
in a stick of dynamite & destroying the complete eco-system of that
stretch!
Also, the Mahseer being the wiley fish that it is, has learnt, again,
this is my theory, to recognise the hiss & splutter of a burning fuse
for what it is. The big guys get out of the way in a flash - you
should see a Mahseer run/swim when it has to move - as fast as a flash
of lightning - a glitter of a silver scale & the're gone!
Then again, you have to experience the gut-wrenching 'take' of a big
Mahseer in fast, heavy water - it's got to be experienced as it cant
be described with the justice due!
Anyway, the dynamiters have noticed this 'hearing ability' of the
Mahseer too & being the lazy bums that they are, out to earn a quick
buck, have started cutting down the fuse to a stub & yes you've
guessed it....they're blowing their hands off!
Another grusesome operation is when these guys go into partnership
with the local Pujari (priests).
You have a poor family coming down to a confluence to perform the last
rites & cremate the body. The priest rushes thru the whole process &
announces it's done & gets these poor & illiterate people to immerse
the half-burnt corpse (medium -rare? juicy? in BBQ terms ;-) and the
Mahseer, being on the top of the food chain of a healthy river, moves
in for the feast.
The dynamiter & his gang are waiting around the next bend in the river
when down floats the bait with maybe a couple of dozen or more
Mahaseer, big & small feasting.....
Boom!
Belly-Up!
Net stretched across the river.
Into the bags & a truck.
Race up to the local "Mandi" to sell the day's "catch".
Share the spoils of the outing.
Have a drink & get ready for the next poor soul on his way to heaven!
There's a great book writen by one A St J Macdonald titled
"Circumventing the Mahseer and Other Sporting Fish in India & Burma",
first published in 1948. As a tip to anglers in the Kumaon Hills, at a
beautiful confluence named Pancheshwar where the Sarju & the Maha Kali
meet, Macdonald suggests lighting a huge fire on the banks of the
river if the action is slow. This signals 'cremation' to the fish &
they get worked up! You then start getting into some action.
I've fished at this very spot on a very slow day, one of those days
when you've resigned yourself to going through the mechanical
movements of tossing out a plug & reeling it back in, over & over
again & again, knowing that you're not going to get a bite but you're
still enjoying being out of the city, on the river, listning to the
sound of the water, watching the sky, the clouds & the birds, soaking
in the jungle.....
& then it happned.....
A group of villagers came down to the confluence on the side of the
river where I was fishing - I was about 200 yards upstream from them -
and started the Hindu ritual of a cremation.
As I fished, another group came down to the river on the far bank
opposite me & it was another funeral.
Now you'll never believe this, but out of the jungle on the third
bank, (a confluence has three banks, I'll try to illustrate this with
a 'Y', now put a dot at each section of the Y & you'll see what I
mean) down came another funeral procession & I witnessed three
simeltanous cremations, spaced out by about 10 minutes between each
other !
I reeled in my plug.
I checked the hooks.
I snipped my knot & re-tied it with a couple of extra turns.
I inspected the last 20 feet of line for frays & nicks.
Satisfied, I re-set the 'drag' on my reel & was finally ready to catch
the 'fish of my dreams'!
I mean, Macdonald said 'build a fire if the action is slow'.
Now the action was definately slow & I had not one but THREE huge
fires going - "The fish must be going mad down there!" I gleefully
told myself, as I started casting.
I fished continously for three hours from that moment onwards & I
didn't get a saussage!
"It must have been one of those very bad days", I muttered to myself
on the way back to camp!
There are probably one or two tigers around in the parts of the Kumaon
that I frequent but it's infested with leopards. The river sands -
especially at the confluences -are full of leopard tracks & pugmarks.
One early morning, I tracked the movement of a leopard to a rock
overlooking our fishing camp of 6 tents. He had, at first, crouched
behind the rock & sort of spied on us & then eventually gathered up
the courage to climb onto the rock & watch us as we ate dinner around
the campfire. He crept closer when things quietened down as we got
into our tents, and then he walked through the camp to the outside of
the kitchen tent where he sniffed around before going down to the
river for a drink of water. Finally, he ambled back into the forest!
Then there was this cow/bufflow-herd who was set up on the opposite
bank to where we were once camped. We would boat over to his bank for
a chat & to share a 'Bidi' or a cigarette, but primarily for a supply
of fresh milk for the camp.
One morning, I went across to his bank to fish while my camp boy went
up to get some milk. About 20 minutes later, the camp boy & the
cowherd were down on the river besides me. The cowherd wanted me to
come up & take a look at one of his cows. Now I'm no Doctor, but a
self-taught paramedic & first-aider so I asked him what the hassle
was. "The cow was attacked by a leopard last evening" he said.
Apparently, the previous eveniing, at dusk, when calling in his cows &
bufflows, he noticed that one cow was missing. He went into the forest
to look for the animal thinking that it may have got it's horns stuck
in a bush or slipped into a hole or something. He went around a bend
on the forest track & almost walked onto the leopard!
The leopard had the cows face in it's mouth. It was hanging on &
trying to bring the cow down with it's weight before going for the
neck/windpipe. The cowherd yelled at the top of his voice - probably
in terror & shock - and hit the leopard a couple of times with the big
stick he was carrying. The leopard ran away.
The cow, when I saw it, was all swolen-faced & quiet. I could see the
deep puncture marks that the leopards canines had made & where the
claws had scraped the cows neck. Our hill cows are probably the size
of your sheep & this little one was in quite a bad shape.
I sent my camp boy back to camp to bring me the first-aid box. I had a
large bottle of iodine in it. I poured the iodine onto the wounds of
the unflinching cow & dabbed the neck scrapes down with an
iodine-soaked wad of cotton wool. I left the bottle with the cowherd &
told him to keep dabbing on iodine over the next week.
When I visited the spot again two years later, I asked about the cow.
That particular cowherd was not there and no one else remembered the
incident - it was probably too much of a day-to-day thing to remember!
Now here's the real unbelivable part - I've never seen a leopard or a
tiger in the wild - ever - in my whole life!
I've seen plenty of tracks, pugmarks, kills, victims, heard roars from
very close up, yes, but I've never ever seen one with my own two eyes!
We still have the dynamiters around, but yes, we're trying to educate
them and get them to change their ways - showing them how to farm a
tract of the river & for a sustainable existance rather than dropping
in a stick of dynamite & destroying the complete eco-system of that
stretch!
Also, the Mahseer being the wiley fish that it is, has learnt, again,
this is my theory, to recognise the hiss & splutter of a burning fuse
for what it is. The big guys get out of the way in a flash - you
should see a Mahseer run/swim when it has to move - as fast as a flash
of lightning - a glitter of a silver scale & the're gone!
Then again, you have to experience the gut-wrenching 'take' of a big
Mahseer in fast, heavy water - it's got to be experienced as it cant
be described with the justice due!
Anyway, the dynamiters have noticed this 'hearing ability' of the
Mahseer too & being the lazy bums that they are, out to earn a quick
buck, have started cutting down the fuse to a stub & yes you've
guessed it....they're blowing their hands off!
Another grusesome operation is when these guys go into partnership
with the local Pujari (priests).
You have a poor family coming down to a confluence to perform the last
rites & cremate the body. The priest rushes thru the whole process &
announces it's done & gets these poor & illiterate people to immerse
the half-burnt corpse (medium -rare? juicy? in BBQ terms ;-) and the
Mahseer, being on the top of the food chain of a healthy river, moves
in for the feast.
The dynamiter & his gang are waiting around the next bend in the river
when down floats the bait with maybe a couple of dozen or more
Mahaseer, big & small feasting.....
Boom!
Belly-Up!
Net stretched across the river.
Into the bags & a truck.
Race up to the local "Mandi" to sell the day's "catch".
Share the spoils of the outing.
Have a drink & get ready for the next poor soul on his way to heaven!
There's a great book writen by one A St J Macdonald titled
"Circumventing the Mahseer and Other Sporting Fish in India & Burma",
first published in 1948. As a tip to anglers in the Kumaon Hills, at a
beautiful confluence named Pancheshwar where the Sarju & the Maha Kali
meet, Macdonald suggests lighting a huge fire on the banks of the
river if the action is slow. This signals 'cremation' to the fish &
they get worked up! You then start getting into some action.
I've fished at this very spot on a very slow day, one of those days
when you've resigned yourself to going through the mechanical
movements of tossing out a plug & reeling it back in, over & over
again & again, knowing that you're not going to get a bite but you're
still enjoying being out of the city, on the river, listning to the
sound of the water, watching the sky, the clouds & the birds, soaking
in the jungle.....
& then it happned.....
A group of villagers came down to the confluence on the side of the
river where I was fishing - I was about 200 yards upstream from them -
and started the Hindu ritual of a cremation.
As I fished, another group came down to the river on the far bank
opposite me & it was another funeral.
Now you'll never believe this, but out of the jungle on the third
bank, (a confluence has three banks, I'll try to illustrate this with
a 'Y', now put a dot at each section of the Y & you'll see what I
mean) down came another funeral procession & I witnessed three
simeltanous cremations, spaced out by about 10 minutes between each
other !
I reeled in my plug.
I checked the hooks.
I snipped my knot & re-tied it with a couple of extra turns.
I inspected the last 20 feet of line for frays & nicks.
Satisfied, I re-set the 'drag' on my reel & was finally ready to catch
the 'fish of my dreams'!
I mean, Macdonald said 'build a fire if the action is slow'.
Now the action was definately slow & I had not one but THREE huge
fires going - "The fish must be going mad down there!" I gleefully
told myself, as I started casting.
I fished continously for three hours from that moment onwards & I
didn't get a saussage!
"It must have been one of those very bad days", I muttered to myself
on the way back to camp!
School Song
We will hand down to future generations
A past that in our presence has been made
Traditions good and strong whose first foundations
That in those earlier stressful days were laid
Now we are striving in the way they trod
Our watch word "Self Reliance" - thanks to God.
Now time has flown on kodi's Hills no longer
Our School from Ketti's Vale Spreads influence wide
We looking back will own its power the stronger
And praise our founders with deep thanks and pride
That we, like them with courage and renown
May follow George our Saint and win the Crown.
A past that in our presence has been made
Traditions good and strong whose first foundations
That in those earlier stressful days were laid
Now we are striving in the way they trod
Our watch word "Self Reliance" - thanks to God.
Now time has flown on kodi's Hills no longer
Our School from Ketti's Vale Spreads influence wide
We looking back will own its power the stronger
And praise our founders with deep thanks and pride
That we, like them with courage and renown
May follow George our Saint and win the Crown.
My Stage Career
My Stage Career by Henry Marriott
Hitherto, I’ve kept my stage career a secret. I’ve appeared internationally in a number of plays, here follows my acting curriculum vitae.
My career started when I was 7 or 8 at school when eight of us were dressed in Little Lord Fauntleroy costumes, velvet shorts, cream silk shirts and socks and shoes, at a time when we children went unshod in school. We had to dance the “Sir Roger de Coverley “(aka the Virginia Reel) an ancient English country dance. I think I went OK, in any case if anything did go wrong there were eight of us to blame, we were very young and were wearing shoes which pinched.
My next effort was during Rev Ash’s reign. I don’t know why all Protestant Vicars seem to be frustrated Stage Directors, and at the first opportunity would force people into a spot of Am. Dram. On this occasion Rev Ash directed us in a play rivaling any Bollywood epic, all dancing, and all singing and with a spot of drama thrown in, the offering was “Jan of Windmill Land” with practically the whole school in the cast. I hitherto thought, and maintained this belief for years, that I had the lead and Ernie Bamford was my village idiot friend. I was discussing this with Anna Yates (nee Ricketts) and Joanne Dillon and they both told me that I had the subordinate part and Ernie was Jan, and to underline this Anna stated that she played Jan’s mother so she should know, so there. I don’t know what effect if any this had in the course of the play. The play was about Jan and not by him, we had very few lines and they were all asides spoken at stage left front. The choreographer for the many dance sequences was Miss Dennis with whom I was in love. I was only ten or so, and she was very understanding and as a keepsake she gave me one of her handkerchiefs, I suppose because I sniffed a lot. I washed the wisp of lace hemmed scrap of material and when still wet I folded it very precisely into a 2 inch square and kept it next to my anguished heart.
My next foray was as the Duke of York in Richard 11, not the Laurence Olivier “Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this sun of York….”That one is Richard 111. But the one which has John of Gaunt’s patriotic speech on England, which inter alia says”……This royal throne of kings, this scepter’d isle, This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars……” etc, etc see King Richard 11, Act 11 Scene 1. Just before that speech the Duke of York, that’s me says:
“No; it is stopp’d with other flattering sounds,
As praises, of whose taste the wise are fond.
Lascivious meters, to whose venom sound
The open ear of youth doth always listen;
Report of fashion from proud Italy,
Whose manners still our tardy apish nation
Limps after in base imitation……’
This was written in 1593 or 1594 and is still true today.
The play was rehearsed but never staged, I think because Miss Grey introduced Rabies into the school
My next experience of Am Dram was at MCC; here the director was Rev Dr Martin, a protestant priest again. I was an extra, without a speaking part in “She Stoops to Conquer” by Oliver Goldsmith. I was ‘man in pub’ and left the stage soon after the opening. Originally, it was proposed that my companion and I should exit singing, but on hearing our effort it was thought more advisable that we should leave silently. My next effort was again at MCC, this time in an inter collegiate contest of Shakespearean plays. The set piece was from ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream” Bottom’s play within the play, I think it was. Here the chief of the judging panel was kind enough to specially mention me. He said that my speeches were the fastest he’d ever experienced. I don’t think it was a compliment.
I now fast forward to my Military Dramatic career in Malaya, here the Rev Willis, the padre, was the director and I was cast as a Welsh father whose child had been accidentally abducted. I only appeared in the final act to reclaim the child. Now, I don’t know if you have any knowledge of acting, but you keep quiet and avoid bumping into the furniture, until your cue is uttered and then you jump in and say your piece. In this play the person who had to speak the cue for me had herself got her speech in early, so having heard my cue, I uttered my speech, only to find that a great slab of the last act was in this way subtracted. It caused confusion among the other cast members, the director who was the prompt, and of course the audience. However, it appeared that the piece that was extracted in this way was not germane to the story and the curtain came down at a convenient moment with understanding restored. I was not cast in the next play.
Hitherto, I’ve kept my stage career a secret. I’ve appeared internationally in a number of plays, here follows my acting curriculum vitae.
My career started when I was 7 or 8 at school when eight of us were dressed in Little Lord Fauntleroy costumes, velvet shorts, cream silk shirts and socks and shoes, at a time when we children went unshod in school. We had to dance the “Sir Roger de Coverley “(aka the Virginia Reel) an ancient English country dance. I think I went OK, in any case if anything did go wrong there were eight of us to blame, we were very young and were wearing shoes which pinched.
My next effort was during Rev Ash’s reign. I don’t know why all Protestant Vicars seem to be frustrated Stage Directors, and at the first opportunity would force people into a spot of Am. Dram. On this occasion Rev Ash directed us in a play rivaling any Bollywood epic, all dancing, and all singing and with a spot of drama thrown in, the offering was “Jan of Windmill Land” with practically the whole school in the cast. I hitherto thought, and maintained this belief for years, that I had the lead and Ernie Bamford was my village idiot friend. I was discussing this with Anna Yates (nee Ricketts) and Joanne Dillon and they both told me that I had the subordinate part and Ernie was Jan, and to underline this Anna stated that she played Jan’s mother so she should know, so there. I don’t know what effect if any this had in the course of the play. The play was about Jan and not by him, we had very few lines and they were all asides spoken at stage left front. The choreographer for the many dance sequences was Miss Dennis with whom I was in love. I was only ten or so, and she was very understanding and as a keepsake she gave me one of her handkerchiefs, I suppose because I sniffed a lot. I washed the wisp of lace hemmed scrap of material and when still wet I folded it very precisely into a 2 inch square and kept it next to my anguished heart.
My next foray was as the Duke of York in Richard 11, not the Laurence Olivier “Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this sun of York….”That one is Richard 111. But the one which has John of Gaunt’s patriotic speech on England, which inter alia says”……This royal throne of kings, this scepter’d isle, This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars……” etc, etc see King Richard 11, Act 11 Scene 1. Just before that speech the Duke of York, that’s me says:
“No; it is stopp’d with other flattering sounds,
As praises, of whose taste the wise are fond.
Lascivious meters, to whose venom sound
The open ear of youth doth always listen;
Report of fashion from proud Italy,
Whose manners still our tardy apish nation
Limps after in base imitation……’
This was written in 1593 or 1594 and is still true today.
The play was rehearsed but never staged, I think because Miss Grey introduced Rabies into the school
My next experience of Am Dram was at MCC; here the director was Rev Dr Martin, a protestant priest again. I was an extra, without a speaking part in “She Stoops to Conquer” by Oliver Goldsmith. I was ‘man in pub’ and left the stage soon after the opening. Originally, it was proposed that my companion and I should exit singing, but on hearing our effort it was thought more advisable that we should leave silently. My next effort was again at MCC, this time in an inter collegiate contest of Shakespearean plays. The set piece was from ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream” Bottom’s play within the play, I think it was. Here the chief of the judging panel was kind enough to specially mention me. He said that my speeches were the fastest he’d ever experienced. I don’t think it was a compliment.
I now fast forward to my Military Dramatic career in Malaya, here the Rev Willis, the padre, was the director and I was cast as a Welsh father whose child had been accidentally abducted. I only appeared in the final act to reclaim the child. Now, I don’t know if you have any knowledge of acting, but you keep quiet and avoid bumping into the furniture, until your cue is uttered and then you jump in and say your piece. In this play the person who had to speak the cue for me had herself got her speech in early, so having heard my cue, I uttered my speech, only to find that a great slab of the last act was in this way subtracted. It caused confusion among the other cast members, the director who was the prompt, and of course the audience. However, it appeared that the piece that was extracted in this way was not germane to the story and the curtain came down at a convenient moment with understanding restored. I was not cast in the next play.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
